Rumor has it that director Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes" was based on an original comic book concept. But even if that's not entirely true, there is absolutely no question that the latest "Holmes" adventure has plenty in common with the paneled page.

Between the film's director and the four principle actors in the movie, "Sherlock Holmes" has more than a few connections to comic book cinema. Read on for our rundown of some of the links between the cast and crew of "Sherlock Holmes" and the comic book community.

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Back in September, it was announced that the secret comic book movie project that "Sherlock Holmes" director Guy Ritchie has been circling was not in fact, "Sgt. Rock," as many had suspected. Instead of directing a film about an American war hero, Ritchie would get behind the camera for "Lobo" — a movie based on the adventures of DC's violent, white-skinned alien bounty hunter.

However, the reports of Ritchie's attachment to the project could be a bit premature, as he told MTV News during the recent "Sherlock Holmes" junket in London.

"Is it a matter of fact that I'm doing it?" Ritchie asked when told of reports framing his participation in "Lobo" as a done deal. "I don't think it's a matter of fact. In fact, I can tell you it's not a matter of fact." Read more...

Not to be outdone by Disney's acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, DC Comics and Warner Bros. are rolling out some major announcements of their own this week—the latest involving the cigar-chomping, head-stomping antihero, Lobo.

According to Variety, a "Lobo" movie is officially on the way with "Sherlock Holmes" helmer Guy Ritchie attached as director.

The film, said to be "strong on visual effects," depicts Lobo as "a seven-foot tall, blue-skinned, indestructible and heavily muscled anti-hero who drives a pimped out motorcycle, and lands on Earth in search of four fugitives who are bent on wreaking havoc. Lobo teams with a small town teenaged girl to stop the creatures." Read more...

"Sherlock Holmes" director Guy Ritchie has been dabbling in that weird space between the comics and movie worlds for quite some time now. His original creation for now-defunct publisher Virgin Comics, an action series titled "Gamekeeper," has been stuck somewhere in the adaptation phase since the publisher folded, while the filmmaker's name has long been attached to a potential big-screen feature based on DC Comics war hero "Sgt. Rock."

When we caught up with Ritchie recently, the English writer/director of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" got us up to speed on where both of those projects stand—and why his first foray in the comic book movie world could come from an entirely different direction. Read more...

While Guy Ritchie's plans for a live-action "Sgt. Rock" movie have been sidelined by his work on the in-production "Sherlock Holmes" (which happens to star "Iron Man" Robert Downey Jr.), that doesn't mean DC's best-known war hero isn't on his mind.

"I think people are slightly intimidated by the size of the budget," Ritchie told MTV, "but I think we have a good script."

Reiterating the opinion he shared with MTV back in September, Ritchie said he'd "very much like to do 'Sgt. Rock'" -- and even said he had a particular actor in mind for the lead role. Read more...

While on the London set of Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes," producers Joel Silver and Susan Downey provided an update of sorts to a few other comics-themed projects currently on their plate -- namely "Sgt. Rock" and "The Losers" -- and offered up an explanation as to why we haven't seen much forward movement with them.

Silver told SuperHeroHype that the progress of Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" had basically back-burnered Ritchie's plans for a "Sgt. Rock" movie, since both films would share an edgy, WWII-themed story.

"It made sense to kind of jump off 'Sgt. Rock' and jump onto 'Sherlock Holmes,' because it was something that was really different and unique," said Silver "'Inglourious Basterds' is a war movie and I'm looking forward to seeing it, but it's something that was a direct competition to 'Sgt. Rock' so I felt that we should hold off and do that when we can." Read more...

Despite all the news about his upcoming "Sherlock Holmes" project starring Robert Downey, Jr. tearing up the internet, Guy Ritchie refuses to rest on his laurels. In an interview with MTV News, Ritchie spoke about another project that he's still dying to take a shot at -- an adaptation starring DC Comics' flagship war hero, Sgt. Rock.

While Ritchie on "Rock" has been a rumor for some time now, the "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" director was quick to point out that he's still planning on making the film, it's just gotten bumped down his schedule for other projects -- namely, "Sherlock Holmes." Read more...

Virgin Comics -- the high-profile joint publishing venture between Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur -- has officially shut down its New York-based office (which oversaw its comic book publishing division) and laid-off staff, according to Publishers Weekly. This morning, Virgin Comics CEO and cofounder Sharad Devarajan made an official statement which can be read after the jump.

Launched in early 2006, Virgin Comics' goal was to create a series of superhero and adventure comics inspired by Indian/Hindu mythology, which could also be parlayed into film properties. However, one of the publisher's main draws in the hopes of pulling in readers and Hollywood interest was the combinations of established directors -- such as John Woo, Guy Ritchie and Ed Burns -- and well-known comic book writers like Mike Carey, Jeff Parker and Garth Ennis. The company also worked with celebrities like Nicolas Cage, Jenna Jameson and musician Dave Stewart. Read more...