Hollywood Studios promoted a record 18 different films at this year's San Diego Comic Con International and it appears that it acquired the rights to an equal number of comic book properties over the past few weeks as well.  Among the latest comic book-related projects acquired by Hollywood are Will Eisner's The Spirit, Ted Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin, and Neil Gaiman's Death: The High Cost of Living.

Odd Lot Entertainment (The Wedding Planner) and Batfilm's Michael Uslan (Batman Begins, Constantine) have acquired the rights to Will Eisner's classic comic strip The Spirit, which was created in 1940.  The Spirit, who battles a raft of sexy femme fatales in his adventures, would appear to be a natural for Tinseltown, but creator Will Eisner hasn't felt comfortable giving up control of his most famous creation until now.

Neil Gaiman will have a considerable control in how Death: The High Cost of Living is brought to the screen since according to Variety he will make his feature film debut as a director of the movie version, which is currently titled Death's Day.  Warner Bros. had the rights to Gaiman's popular graphic novel for years, but fellow Time/Warner studio New Line Cinema (LOTR) has now acquired the project and appears set to allow Gaiman to direct.

Competition among the studios appears to be a factor in Fox's acquisition of Ted Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin graphic novels, since the deal will give Fox a teen fantasy property at a time when the Harry Potter franchise has proven to be a consistent moneymaker for Warner Bros.  Fox has acquired the rights to Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things, Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics, and Courtney Crumrin in the Twilight Kingdom, all of which are published by Oni Press.