Monthly Archive: December 2007

An Editor’s Night Before Christmas, by Mike Gold

An Editor’s Night Before Christmas, by Mike Gold

 ‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house

Deadlines were mounting, so I emailed Herr Claus

The scripts were all posted on the Internet with care

In hopes that the editing elves would soon be there

The artists were nestled, all snug in their beds,

While visions of royalty checks danced in their heads.

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Hot Who Links and Much More!

Hot Who Links and Much More!

OK, so we get a little sappy this time of year. Just bear with us and accept ComicMix Radio’s gift of some cool web links. And in the spirit of giving, a few of these haven’t even made it to the podcast yet!

• In two days, a lot of us should be treated to the first new Doctor Who adventure in months when the BBC airs this year’s Christmas special (and the Internet Fairies drop it somewhere online). In the meantime, did you know there is an online adventure calendar poster here. If this doesn’t put you in the mood for more Who, nothing will. 
 
• As we told you on Saturday, Shadowline is creating a contest geared toward writers to create a super-heroine for the 21st Century. The character will be 100% creator-owned as all Image and Shadowline books are (trademark and copyright to be shared by writer and artist). The winning entry will be featured in their own self-titled three issue mini-series to be drawn by Franchesco!, artist for She-Dragon and Green Lantern Corps Quarterly. Contest will be divided into three parts and for Round One: Contestants e-mail a BRIEF one paragraph story synopsis by January 31, 2008 to: superheroinecontest@gmail.com. Stories/concept must be original with original characters. No pre-existing characters may be used unless owned by contestant. 
 

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A blog war during Christmas

A blog war during Christmas

Science fiction writer John Scalzi started it. He tried to make our heads explode with a particular music video.

I’ve grown rather attached to my head over the years, and so I returned fire on my own weblog with this find.

Within ten minutes, he parried with this retort.

Oh, it is on, bucko. Of course you realize, in the words of the great philospohers, this means war.

Ball’s in your court, fella.

Tidings of comfort and joy

Tidings of comfort and joy

On the off-chance that anyone else out there is spending their Christmas holiday engaged in online reading rather than in more traditional pursuits (eating, opening pressies, eating, singing carols, eating, watching heartwarming holiday specials on TV, and eating), we herewith present this past week’s ComicMix columns:

Have a safe and peaceful Christmas, everyone!

Neil Gaiman’s Coraline footage up

Neil Gaiman’s Coraline footage up

Neil Gaiman proudly presents, as an early Christmas present, the first Coraline footage to be released to the world.

(It’s not really from me. Laika and Focus chose it and did all the hard work, the Web Goblin did all the building it in the background. I just claim the glory and bask in the reflected wossname.)

It’s still about a year away from it coming into cinemas. But here’s a first look…

Fake Hallmark e-card linking to malware

Fake Hallmark e-card linking to malware

A heads-up: I’ve gotten a lot of emails in the past 24 hours purporting to be links to Hallmark holiday e-cards– they aren’t, they’re links to some sort of overseas malware site. Be careful out there.

Conversations with Roy Rogers, by Michael H. Price

Conversations with Roy Rogers, by Michael H. Price

The opening Jan. 8 of Texas’ Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, a hardy and adaptive survivor of the 19th century, marks not only a continuation of the region’s most emphatic reminder of its economic basis in agriculture. The occasion also nails the 50th anniversary of a major-league show-business breakthrough for the Stock Show. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans arrived in Fort Worth in 1958 to serve as hosts for the first comprehensive network-television coverage of an authentically Western rodeo.
 
The presence of the “King of the Cowboys” and the “Queen of the West” in Fort Worth marked a showy progression from the name-brand entertainment presence that the Stock Show’s main-event rodeo had begun developing during World War II, starting with an appearance by Texas-bred Gene Autry. Both Autry and Rogers had been on furlough, in a sense, from the movie industry at the respective times of their visits to Fort Worth – Autry, on military duty, and Rogers, in hopeful preparation for a new teevee series – and both had pursued a friendly rivalry since the 1930s.
 
By the middle 1950s, too, both Autry and Rogers had lapsed from competitive movie stardom to more of an iconic presence within the popular culture, with comic books and signature toys and apparel and lunch-boxes to show for their influence. Autry’s Flying A Productions had discontinued a long-running Gene Autry Show during 1955-1956, and Rogers’ independent company had wrapped the final episodes of The Roy Rogers Show in 1957. A briefer Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show surfaced during the early 1960s. Such programs remained in syndicated-teevee play well into the 1970s – as would the stars’ numerous big-screen movies, recycled for television.

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