Monday, August 31, 2009

Disney to buy comic book powerhouse Marvel for $4B

The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee.

Analyst David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co. said the acquisition will help Disney appeal to young men who have flocked to theaters to see Marvel's superhero fare in recent years. That contrasts with Disney's recent successes among young women with such fare as 'Hannah Montana' and the Jonas Brothers.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Mercy Thompson's (Graphic Novel) Homecoming

When I was a kid, my father used to take my older sister and me to 'the green striped store' once a week and give us each a dollar to buy comic books. I can remember getting to buy five each (which should date me!). Oddly enough I don’t remember the ones I used to buy, probably because I read them to shreds and they ended up, after a suitably long time under my bed, in the garbage. But I remember the ones my sister had. She was OCD about keeping them looking new, organizing them, and keeping them away from me. She had more success in the first two tasks than she had in the last.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

I'm at the Post office right now, but not to mail a letter. I am here to try to keep our St. Pete Beach post office open. More to follow...

Monday, August 24, 2009

An Appeal: Call to Time Spirits, Thundercats, Silverhawks Fans…

This is from the website of artist Steve Bissette:
I hate to do this — in fact, I’ve never done this. I hate doing this. But the situation is dire.

If you are or ever have been a fan of the work of writer Steve Perry of Time Spirits, Thundercats and Silverhawks – not to be confused with either the prolific and popular sf writer or the rock star — and you can afford to help a man on his last legs, please, do so.

Despite the best efforts of myself and others, Steve is in dire straits at this very moment, suffering terminal cancer and lack of any support, and sorely in need of any help that can be sent his way.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Murder of Wealthy Florida Businessman Reveals Bizarre Family Troubles

Best blog post evar!
The discovery of the body of a wealthy Florida businessman and hotel heir has turned out to be only the beginning of what has become a multi-state investigation involving reports of kinky sex, catfights and Batman comic books.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Truth, Justice And Superman Is Totally Ours, You Stinky, Greedy Siegel Family

When I saw this quote:
No matter how many times it's asserted in moral terms, fans do not own anything because they're fans of something, even if they feel entitled to that ownership. This is the same kind of ownership a three-year-old feels playing with another kid's toys while the moms sit and visit, combined perhaps with the lovely impulse of an angry drunk bellowing out the hit song's name from the audience when a band is playing their newest stuff and a sprinkle of one of those jerks writing an article that starts with them pulling into JD Salinger's driveway. Just stop.

linked from Steven Grant's Permanent Damage column over at the Comic Book Resources website, I knew that I had to put this quote and this article out for further consumption.

While, I don't think the "feud" that Spurgeon's post hits upon is really about this at its root...I think that this quote does cut to the chase of a lot of the overdeveloped feelings of entitlement that develop among fandoms, whether those of comics, movies, RPGs, novel series or whatever people might want to "fan" about. Basically I saw this quote and decided to spin it out into a mini opinion piece for this blog.

Fans do not own what they are fans of and they are also not "owed" anything by whomever owns and/or produces material that they are fans of. (I know, that is a horrible way to end a sentence but still...) Being a consumer, or being a fan, does not entitle you to anything more than further materials to consume and obsess about in various fora online.

In a response to the article above, this was written: "In the case of Superman, the character should have become the property of the public and the fans of the character already." (find the original article here) This is, really, nothing more than the usual misunderstanding of how copyright works among laymen bolstered by the above mentioned sense of entitlement. Being a fan of something does not give you any greater moral authority towards that something than anyone else, certainly not more so than the creators of the something (or their heirs in this case). To think otherwise is nothing but an overdeveloped sense of entitlement.

Sadly, this is something that is becoming more and more prevalent in the "geeky" communities (look around for comments being made about the announcement of a new Battlestar Galactica movie to be made by Bryan Singer). Fortunately, the more frothy and irrational that people act over these topics the easier it becomes to discount them.

Being a fan of something, anything, and producing whatever (web site, fan forums, print zine, fan fiction) over that something doesn't give you a piece of the ownership pie. It never has, and it isn't going to at any point in the future. Really, all that it does is make the rest of us dorks and geeks look bad by comparison.

On a last note for this posting, I want to remind people that this blog isn't a democracy, nor are you guaranteed freedom of speech. Just as you have the ability to post your opinions in comments to this post, so do I have the right to not publish your comments. And as this is my blog, my rights win out over yours.

TokyoPop Manga: Psy-Comm

TokyoPop Manga: Dark Metro

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Fantasy Flight Games Announces Warhammer ® Fantasy Roleplay ™ 3rd Edition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12th 2009.

Fantasy Flight Games ('FFG') announced today they will release Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition, a new version of the classic roleplaying game set in Games Workshop's Warhammer world. This version features an entirely new innovative approach to role-playing, one that FFG hopes will attract a whole new generation of gamers to the role-playing experience.

'We're proud to re-introduce the Warhammer world to role-playing with this revolutionary approach,' said Christian T. Petersen, CEO of FFG. 'It is one that harnesses the flavor of prior WFRP editions, but brings about that experience in a more evocative, tactile, and visual way than the past,' he continued. 'We’ve worked long and hard to to publish a game that we hope will represent a positive paradigm shift in roleplaying game design, production, and play experience. This is not another re-tread of the traditional RPG approach, this is something new, something exciting. Something that existing RPG fans will want to test for themselves.'

The massive Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition box, which will retail for $99.95, contains everything a group of adventurers will need to play – four different rule-books, 36 custom dice, over 300 cards, counters, 'character keeper' boxes, and much more.

'We're bringing something new to the table,' added Jay Little, Senior RPG Developer for the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay line. 'This is a roleplaying system that captures the grim and gritty Warhammer world that fans have grown to love, wrapped up in an innovative design and shipped with the stunning production quality that FFG is known for.'

Jay Little will be hosting seminars showcasing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition at the Gen Con games convention in Indianapolis, IN August 13-15, where a preview of the core set and its components will be on display in FFG’s booth. Preview articles will begin their publication on FFG's website – www.fantasyflightgames.com – in the weeks following the Gen Con convention and will continue leading up to the game's release this Fall.


About Fantasy Flight Games:
Fantasy Flight Games is a publisher of board, card, and role-playing games based in Roseville, MN. Founded in 1995 by Christian T. Petersen, Fantasy Flight has published hundreds of successful titles, including Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game, the Lord of the Rings series of board games; board and card games based on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos and George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, and many original board games such as Twilight Imperium, Runebound, and Descent: Journeys in the Dark.

For more information, visit the Fantasy Flight Games website at www.fantasyflightgames.com.

For further information:
Fantasy Flight Games
Jeremy Stomberg
jstomberg@fantasyflightgames.com
Phone: (651) 639 1905

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay © Games Workshop Limited 1986, 2005. This edition © Games Workshop Limited 2009. Games Workshop, Warhammer, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, the foregoing marks’ respective logos and all associated marks, logos, places, names, creatures, races and race insignia/devices/logos/symbols, vehicles, locations, weapons, units and unit insignia, characters, products and illustrations from the Warhammer World and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game setting are either ®, TM and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 1986-2009, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. This edition published under license to Fantasy Flight Publishing Inc. Fantasy Flight Games and the FFG logo are trademarks of Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners.

Friday, August 07, 2009

Six Years of Bootie


It's the 6th Anniversary of BootieSF and BootieSL and Club Republik are part of the show. There's a cover charge to hear the music in real life, but in Second Life all you have to do is show up and have fun (and maybe tip your DJs too).

For the 6th Anniversary of Bootie in San Francisco, they're throwing a party that is not just one but two nights long -- tonight and tomorrow. Plus, come to BootieSL in Second Life and hear Second Life's best mashup DJs: DJ Walton Vieria and Miss Cyberpink setting the tone for the nights with their opening DJ sets. Friday hear a special edition of DJ Walton Vieria's Boot Camp for the anniversary party and Saturday drop in to hear Miss Cyberpink's Mash and Grab start things off. The fun in Second Life starts at 7pm SLT with these DJ's sets and then continues at 9pm SLT with a live free of the party in San Francisco.

Click here for a SLurl to take you to Club Republik in Second Life.

My setlist for the special edition of the Boot Camp:
1. Wax Audio - George W. Bush's Imagine (Full Version) (2:18)
2. Copycat - Film Girls in Town (Little Boots vs. Duran Duran) (5:13)
3. DJ Schmolli - Bulletproof Radar (La Roux vs. Britney Spears) (3:25)
4. team9 - Screaming Pro (Beck vs. AC/DC vs. Micheal Jackson) (3:52)
5. Simon Iddol - Don't Stop The Dance (4:33)
6. DJ Le Clown - U Not Alone (Will Smith vs Michael Jackson vs The Beatles) (4:44)
7. Divide & Kreate - Forever Denser (Alphaville vs The Killers) (3:50)
8. ToToM - Slave to David Bowie (Roxy Music vs. David Bowie) (4:05)
9. DJ Schmolli - The Trooper Believer (Iron Maiden vs. The Monkees) (3:42)
10. Scott Cairo - Macamuppet (The Doors vs. The Muppets vs. The Macarena) (5:36)
11. Chaos Productions - Wordy Girl (Edwyn Collins vs. Tom Tom Club vs. Chicks On Speed) (3:07)
12. Bobby Martini - Killer Client (Extended 'Hattie' Mix)(Killers vs Client) (7:50)
13. Party Ben - Egy Ket Skank (Fatboy Slim VS Belga) (6:52)
14. Jerver73 - Fuck Word Up (Peaches vs. Cameo) (2:11)
15. Lionel Vinyl - Half Arsed Beats Party Favour No. 1 (Deee-Lite vs. Salt-N-Pepa) (6:33)
16. DJ Lumpy - Fight a Hero (Aphrodite vs. Bonnie Tyler) (5:05)
17. DJ Tripp - Busy French Saviour (Beastie Boys vs. Le Tigre & Rapture) (3:42)
18. Agent Lovelette - Une Professional Destruction (3:01)
19. Miss Frenchie - Camisra Slash Nation Dot Com (Fatboy Slim vs. Unknown) (3:10)
20. Scott Cairo - Rhinestone Cowboy (Glen Campbell vs. Disco Assassins) (3:33)
21. DJ Earworm - I've Got Seventeen Angels (Eurythmics vs. Ladytron & Chic) (6:06)
22. Party Ben - Poker Face (Just What I Needed) (3:07)
23. Mike W Twitch - Pop Up the Muzik (M vs. M.A.R.R.S.) (6:05)
24. lobsterdust - I Will Survivor (Gloria Gaynor vs. Survivor) (3:34)
25. Dublxero - Who's Diner (Suzanne Vega vs. Stereo MC's) (3:07)
26. Pheugoo - In Your Pony Eyes (Pony Pony Run Run VS Kylie Minogue) (4:11)
27. Divide & Kreate - Dance Dreams (Lady Gaga vs. Eurythmics) (3:49)
28. MP3J - Youve Got To Hide Your Lighthouse (The Beatles vs. Fireman) (2:51)
29. MadMixMustang (20 Fingers vs. Enur vs. Vanilla Ice vs. Sesame Street) - The Ice Cream Mash (3:23)
30. World Famous Audio Hacker - Piece Of Me (World Famous Audio Hacker Mix-Up) (4:52)

Click here for the SLurl to take you to Club Republik and two night of BootieSL.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Life in Comics: The Shape of the Industry - 8/3/2009 5:27:00 PM - Publishers Weekly

This is an interesting viewpoint that I think gets lost in the shuffle of big budget comic movies and over-hyped summer comic events. Click through and give this a read.
In March, the New York Times inaugurated its Graphic Books best seller list, just in time to acknowledge the runaway sales of Watchmen, as the trade paperback reaped the benefits of movie hype. ('Comics have finally joined the mainstream,' wrote George Gene Gustines in the NYT's Arts Beat Blog, perhaps a little self-servingly.)

At Comic-Con, the line for Bryan Lee O'Malley created a lively wall of fans of his graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim, currently in film production with Michael Cera as its lead. O'Malley has been popular for a long time, but news of the movie seems to have pushed that popularity to comics rock stardom. (I admit that I had a twinge of 'I liked Bryan Lee O'Malley before he was cool! Even before Scott Pilgrim!' as I inched my way around this wall.)

But this isn't just another commentary about comics and Hollywood. I've been thinking about it in the context of what Comics Reporter writer Tom Spurgeon recently wrote: 'A successful convention rarely leads to increased industry success because the infrastructure is damaged in fundamental ways....' You can substitute 'convention' for 'comic book movie' in that sentence—or anything at all, really—and it remains just as true.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Diana Jones Shortlist

SHORTLIST FOR 2009 DIANA JONES AWARD ANNOUNCED

Two RPGs, a card-game, a mystery and a Scandinavian collective vie for hobby-gaming's most exclusive trophy

The committee of the Diana Jones Award has released the shortlist for its 2009 award. This year the shortlist contains five nominees that in the opinion of the committee exemplify the very best that hobby-gaming has produced in the last twelve months. In alphabetical order, they are:

Dominion, a card game by Donald X. Vaccarino (published by Rio Grande Games)
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, a role-playing game by Rob Heinsoo, Mike Mearls and James Wyatt (published by Wizards of the Coast)
Jeepform, a game-style from Scandinavia (fostered by the Vi åker jeep collective: http://jeepen.org/)
Mouseguard, a role-playing game by Luke Crane (published by Archaia Studios Press)
Sweet Agatha, a mystery game by Kevin Allen Jr (self-published)

The winner of the 2009 Award will be announced on Wednesday 12th August, at the annual Diana Jones Award and Freelancer Party in Indianapolis, the unofficial start of the Gen Con Indy convention.

ABOUT THE AWARD
The Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming was founded and first awarded in 2001. It is presented annually to the person, product, company, event or any other thing that has, in the opinion of its mostly anonymous committee of games industry luminaries, best demonstrated the quality of “excellence” in the world of hobby-gaming in the previous year. The winner of the Award receives the Diana Jones trophy.

The short-list and eventual winner are chosen by the Diana Jones Committee, a mostly anonymous group of games-industry alumni and illuminati.

Past winners include Peter Adkison, Jordan Weisman, the role-playing games Nobilis, Sorcerer, and My Life with Master, and the board-game Ticket to Ride. This is the ninth year of the Award.

CONTACT
For more information, see the website www.dianajonesaward.org or contact the committee directly: committee@dianajonesaward.org

Friday, July 24, 2009

MARVELman Belongs To Marvel Comics


The biggest news of Comic Con International in San Diego was revealed moments ago and jaws are still on the floor-the world-renowned super hero MARVELMAN is now part of the Marvel Comics family! Marvel Comics has purchased the rights to MARVELMAN from creator Mick Anglo and his representatives, finding a home for one of the most sought after heroes in graphic fiction!

'It is an honor to work with Mick Anglo to bring his creation to a larger audience than ever before,' said Dan Buckley, CEO & Publisher, Print, Animation & Digital Media, Marvel Entertainment Inc. 'Fans are in for something special as they discover just what makes Marvelman such an important character in comic book history.'

Originally created in 1954 by Mick Anglo and appearing in some of the most celebrated comic stories of all time, MARVELMAN is Micky Moran, a young reporter gifted with the power to save the world by simply uttering the word 'kimota!'

'I did not think it would ever happen,' said Mick Anglo. 'It's a wonderful thing to see my creation finally back.'

MARVELMAN is back and he's found a new home at Marvel Comics! What's next for Mick Anglo's legendary creation? Stay tuned to Marvel.com for all the news on Marvelman and this exciting new addition to the Marvel family!

And to join in the celebration, visit the Marvel Shop to purchase limited edition MARVELMAN t-shirts! Plus, this September, don't miss the MARVELMAN BY QUESADA POSTER exclusively at comic shops everywhere!

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Court Rules DC & WB Didn't Violate Superman Licensing Agreement w/ Siegels

Another court decision has been made in the Siegel family’s tense relationship with DC Comics. By virtue of previous decisions, the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel have been co-owners with DC Comics of the Superman copyright from 1999 until now. In 2008, the Siegels alleged that DC, in licensing the Superman characters to Warner Bros. Entertainment for audiovisual projects including 'Smallville' and 'Superman Returns,' violated the terms of their profit-sharing agreement.

The plaintiffs felt that because Warner Bros. Entertainment and DC Comics are both part of the same corporate entity, the licensing fees paid to DC Comics in the period between 1999 and 2002 (for the aforementioned 'Smallville' and 'Superman Returns' projects) were below market value. Essentially, the Siegels argued that DC Comics gave Warner Bros. Entertainment a 'sweetheart deal,' which would result in DC (and due to their co-ownership, the Siegels) not receiving as much money as they would in a traditionally 'fair market deal.'

In today’s decision, the court ruled that DC and Warner Bros. Entertainment did indeed participate in a 'fair market deal,' and that the Siegels are not entitled to any payments beyond the terms of the audiovisual licenses as they presently stand.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Braveheart writer will revise McG's Captain Nemo script

Disney is bringing in Braveheart writer Randall Wallace to rewrite Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a new movie based on the classic Jules Verne novel. Terminator Salvation's McG will direct.

Friday, July 03, 2009

Warner Bros. seals up Midway acquisition

With no other bidders emerging for Midway Games, Warner Bros. has bought most of the company’s assets for $33 million, including the “Mortal Kombat” franchise as well as the company’s legacy arcade games, such as “Joust” and “Spy Hunter”.Mkvsdc

The bankruptcy judge overseeing the sale apparently wasn’t swayed by Threshold Entertainment’s argument that film producer Larry Kasanoff was the driving creative force in the franchise. (The Chicago Tribune quotes the judge as saying the objections, as well as those of Vin Diesel-owned development studio Tigon Games were ‘resolved’.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Yen, TP, Yaoi Gen on latest Diamond cancellation list

Sharp-eyed Tweeter (Twittee? Twitterite? Twittista? ) Sean Gaffney spots several Yen Press books on the latest Diamond Previews cancellation list, and MangaBlog follows up with YP’s Kurt Hassler, who reconfirms the release schedule for said books. In other words, the books are still coming out, but Diamond has passed on them, and DM retailers must rely on another source. Anime News Network lists all the Yen Press books affected, plus cancelled items from other manga/anime companies, which includes Tokyopop, Go Comi (via PGW), and, unfortunately, Yaoi Generation; as a younger publisher with fewer established distribution avenues, YG may be hurt most by this latest round of cancellations, although it is possible they do a significant amount of business through direct online sales like many other yaoi pubs.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Some news for you: Robinson, Bagley step aboard JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA

I hope that Robinson gets more editorial support on this book than McDuffie got.

So, let’s get right to it: Writer James Robinson and artist Mark Bagley will be the new ongoing creative team on JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, starting in October. I’ll give you a minute or two to wipe the drool off your keyboards.

All done? Great. The fun doesn’t stop there. We managed to snag Robinson for a quick second to talk about the upcoming assignment, and how it ties into his current JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE mini-series, with artist Mauro Cascioli. Take it away, James:

'It's a thrill to be given the reins of DC’s flagship team book and to know that my partner in crime(fighting) will be the esteemed Mark Bagley who's dynamic storytelling skills I intend to make full use of. It's further exciting/gratifying for me that I can dove-tail the events of Cry For Justice into the main book where post-Blackest Night will emerge a new team and a new exciting direction as they get caught up in the next wave of events building throughout the DCU.'


A link to the cover image is here.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Group, The Player and The Lonely Universe

This entry is a bit of an essay, some musing that are percolating in my backbrain as I work on other things (like racing to finally finish the Deadworld system manuscript), but it isn't something that I wanted to forget about. So, we have this.

If you find things interesting, please comment.

This is sort of about comic books, a little about pulps, and something about role-playing games as well. Once upon a time, comic book characters were islands in the streams of the larger universes of their companies. Over in their book, The Challengers of the Unknown were the greatest heroes on Earth (despite sharing an Earth with Superman) because they were the stars of their own books. Most comic books, not the mention the pulps that proceeded them, followed this model because the idea was that the main character(s) should be the hero of their own story and not have to have the day saved by a guest star swooping in during the final act.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad way to tell a story. I whole-heartedly condone it. Then Marvel Comics came along and they pushed forth the idea that each and every one of these characters shared the same city, or the same larger world or universe, and what happened in one story touched what happened in the others. This isn't a bad way to tell a story either, and it works great if you want to sell all of your company's books to as many as possible, rather than just selling a corner or two. Two perfectly valid and yet opposing methods for telling your stories.

If your hero, no matter how cool or potent he may be, has to share a world with Superman or Thor there is a good chance that they'll end up becoming a second banana in their own book. This means a balancing act in your storytelling, figuring out a method to make your hero the best without it looking silly in the face of the competition in the larger setting. Some pull it off, some don't.

This also becomes a challenge in a role-playing campaign where your characters are set against a backdrop of a larger existing world. Licensed RPGs come to mind, like the old Marvel Super-Heroes RPG from the golden years of TSR, but big, giant settings with big, giant characters also can be troublesome here. Settings for D&D, Dragonlance and The Forgotten Realms, also fit into here. How does your character stand out when they have such big characters to have to compete against for screen time? The opposite extreme is to make the characters the only heroes of the setting. I did that in a super-hero campaign using the old Marvel game back in college. "'Where are the Avengers?' 'Out of town.' 'What about the Fantastic Four?' 'Negative Zone, probably.' 'Who's left?' 'You guys have to deal with this.'"

The problem is, while it puts a bandage onto the situation, it doesn't actually solve anything and in some places it can strain the credibility and suspension of disbelief for some of the players involved (not to mention the game master). In our case it wasn't always a problem because we ran a humorous game that, at times, thrived on inconsistencies. Could we have come up with a better way to handle it? Maybe. Maybe we could have.

The reason that I'm bringing this up is because my Danger! Patrol setting is popping up in the back of my head again. It'll probably be my next task. The thing is that I want a rich, full world that has got a lot of heroic people to it but they can't overshadow the Danger! Patrol, a group of people who put on jump suits and take on big menaces using just their fists and what they have in their heads to fight them. This can lead to problems if you postulate a Superman or a Thor in the setting.

Right now, I have been thinking along the lines of keeping the setting at a "pulp level" of power. Yeah, there's a history of people pulling on costumes and doing the "right thing" for the greater world, but no super-powered individuals have risen up. Or, if they have, those powers aren't Earth-shattering. The people might be faster, stronger, tougher but they aren't hugely powered. Most heroes in this world are content with keeping the status quo on a larger scale and working at keeping their own corners of the world clean, one fight at a time.

Again, a valid approach. You get the macro and the micro in some semblance of balance and more importantly you don't have to worry about the players in a home campaign being overwhelmed by the off-screen stars of the world. If you keep everyone at roughly the same "level," you don't have to worry immediately about the cool stuff being done by characters besides those being used by the players. And that is what is the most important, the player characters not doing the important things.

This is one of the things that you have to take into consideration when designing a game or a setting for role-playing. One of many, obviously.

Oh, and a part of my thinking for what might or might not go into Danger! Patrol has been the fact that I've been reading Ed Brubaker's great Incognito comic.

Monday, June 15, 2009

John H Williams III: Batwoman Art


batwoman1cover, originally uploaded by JH Williams III.

This is from the flickr stream of artist John H Williams, showing some of his work on the Batwoman run of Detective Comics.

He Might Need That Back Now...

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Sunday, June 14, 2009

Preview: Phonogram 2: The Singles Club #3

This links to some preview pages for the upcoming issue of Phonogram 2. I love these guys and this story.
As the Ice Queen of the Phonogram universe, Emily Aster is only afraid of two things: her past catching up and spending time in dodgy indie venues. In the latest of the seven-stories-in-one-night of the Singles Club, she's having to deal with both. Plus, two complete back-up stories featuring the art of LEIGH GALLAGHER (2000AD, The Witching) and LEE O’CONNOR.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Zombie 'Deadworld' on the horizon

Dark Hero Studios partners David Hayter and Benedict Carver have joined with Pandemonium's Bill Mechanic to turn the comicbook 'Deadworld' into a zombie feature franchise.

Hayter ('Watchmen') will write the screenplay, and he and Mechanic will produce with Framelight's Robert L. Robinson Jr. and Jeffrey D. Erb. Carver and Pandemonium's Suzanne Warren will be exec producers along with Gary Reed, who wrote and co-created the comic.

Pandemonium and Framelight will finance development.

'Deadworld' veers from the popular zombie mythology of depicting an apocalypse in which humans are overrun by flesh-eating corpses. 'Deadworld' picks up four months after that event, where the Dead overtake the Earth, with humans few and far between. Protag is King Zombie, a Harley-riding corpse who holds a grudge against the survivors who made him an outcast.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Downward Spiral of Wizard Magazine

At the above link Newsarama.com reports on the latest goings on with the downward spiral of Wizard Magazine. It seems that the magazine once read by everyone is now being read by fewer and fewer. I know with sites like Newsarama and Comic Book Resources in the mix I can get my comic news and information fix in quicker bites than Wizard could deliver.

I don't think that I've picked up a new issue of Wizard in over a year, personally, preferring to focus on getting my news off of the internet.

Its a shame to see the passing of an era but that's the thing about eras...they all end sooner or later.