Monday Mix-Up: Stephen Fry, Klingon Warrior
Because… well, when I think Klingon Warrior, I immediately think, “Of course, that’s just the role for Stephen Fry.”
Via The New Adventures of Stephen Fry. Hat tip to Allyn Gibson.
Author: Glenn Hauman
Paula Garcés Brings Comic Book Character To Video Game
Independent game maker S2 Games is joining up with actress and producer Paula Garcés to add a brand new main character, Aluna, to the session-based, multiplayer, action-RPG Heroes of Newerth (HoN). Seen in Clockstoppers, the Harold and Kumar film franchise, and Warehouse 13, Garcés adds her attractiveness and ability to HoN as the personality and voicepowering the Legion hero Aluna, the character made for Aluna Comics. To watch Aluna come alive fans can visit the Nvidia booth at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco where Garcés is going to be appearing to sign autographs on March 2nd and 3rd.
Aluna blurs the lines of the entertainment and gaming fields by delivering the look of a Maxim Hot 100 model with the powers of a Latina superhero to life in Newerth. “I wanted to bring the Aluna character to new mediums and HoN is a perfect fit,” said Garcés. “The HoNfans will appreciate Aluna’s unique story and welcome her as a hero inthe game.” Stunning and spirited, Aluna bears within her the essence of Earth itself – the old Earth long since lost to the decay of ages. Carrying the power of the moon within a magical gem, Aluna attacks her daemonic enemies with lethal swiftness. Because of her expertise in battle, she’s expected to be a star among the heroes of Newerth, resembling the life of the celebrity behind the hero.
Paula Garcés is known for her part as “Officer Tina Halon” on the FX series The Shield, where the role earned Paula a 2008 Alma Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her tv credits include repeat roles on Law and Order: SVU, CSI Miami, and SyFy’s hit show Warehouse 13. Paula most recently finished her notorious role as “Maria” for the third installment of the Harold and Kumar film franchise, expected to launch Christmas Day 2011. Paula also just announced the season two premiere date for The Look, a style magazine show she co-created and executive produced. It airs Saturday, March 5th, 2011 at 3 p.m. on mun2 network.
Related articles
- Interview: Actress Paula Garces talks about bringing Aluna to Heroes of Newerth (news.bigdownload.com)
FX producing ‘Powers’ pilot
Image via Wikipedia
FX has ordered a pilot episode for a series based on Powers, the comic series from Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming.
The network’s SVP of public relations made the announcement yesterday on Twitter. Bendis himself twittered:
Powers pilot was just greenlit by FX! it’s official! your window of reading Powers while it was still cool is running out :)
The potential series is a co-production between FX Productions and Sony, and the pilot episode will be scripted by Charles Eglee, who has bonafides in both mysteries and cop shows (executive producer of The Shield and Dexter and the creator of Murder One) and comics and SF (exec producer of The Walking Dead and creator of Dark Angel).
Powers follows a pair of detectives as they investigate a number of murders in a superpowered world. The creator-owned series was launched by Image Comics in 2000, before moving over to Marvel’s Icon imprint in 2004. A television series has been rumored for years, and was known to be Eglee’s next project after leaving The Walking Dead months ago.
Bendis writes too much stuff for Marvel to list, while Oeming is known for Hammer Of The Gods with Mark Wheatley for ComicMix, as well as Mice Templar, Thor, Alpha Flight, Bluntman and Chronic, Hellboy, Catwoman, and Quixote. Congrats to both of them.
Saturday Morning Cartoons: Here to clean up Gotham City
Criminals are a superstitious, unsanitary lot…
2010 Nebula Award Nominees Announced
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have announced the nominees for the 2010 Nebula Awards, including a nomination for ComicMix contributor Adam-Troy Castro for his short story “Arvies“.
The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of SFWA. The awards will be announced at the Nebula Awards Banquet on Saturday evening, May 21, 2011 in the Washington Hilton, in Washington, D.C.. Other awards to be presented are the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Science Fiction or Fantasy for Young Adults, the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation and the Solstice Award for outstanding contribution to the field.
Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees!
Dwayne McDuffie tributes
From all corners of the comics internet, the only word to describe the reaction to Dwayne McDuffie’s death has been shock… although dammit is running a very close second. His passing has become a trending topic on Twitter, which only partially shows how far his influence really was.
Andrew Pepoy sent the image above, which he inked over Glen Muramaki’s pencils. Dwayne liked it a lot and used it on his blog and Facebook page, it’s nice to see the original at a decent size.
From Peter David:
I will never forget sitting in his office as we worked out storylines. There was more than just his physical presence (he was well over six feet tall). He seemed to radiate confidence in his abilities, which was entirely warranted, and he was determined to roll with whatever curves Cartoon Network might throw his way and turn them into the best stories possible. He had boundless enthusiasm not only for his work, but for the sheer creative process. To say he will be missed is to understate it. I offer condolences not only to his family, but to the entirety of fandom for losing one of the great ones.
Geoffrey Thorne:
he was a great man. he was good friend to me. he was the only person in my life i’d refer to as a mentor. i can’t fucking believe it. i really am not a person right now.
Dwayne McDuffie: 1962-2011
Noted comics and animation writer Dwayne McDuffie died Monday evening, reportedly from complications due to a surgical procedure.
Dwayne joined the comics industry in the 80s working for Marvel Comics editorial and special projects. He quickly made his name as a writer creating series such as Damage Control, helping to redefine Deathlok for the nineties, and having She-Hulk break razors while trying to shave her legs– a throwaway gag which became notorious. He soon left the staff job to become a full-time freelance writer.
This led to Dwayne’s co-founding of Milestone Media in 1992, with creators Denys Cowan, Michael Davis and businessman Derek T. Dingle, which expanded the role of minorities in comics both on the page and off, launching a line of comics in 1993 that included Hardware, Blood Syndicate, Static, Icon, Kobalt, Xombi, and the Shadow Cabinet, all of which McDuffie had a hand in creating or co-creating.
Dwayne moved to animation when Static was turned into Static Shock for KidsWB, which led to becoming story editor for the Justice League Unlimited, Ben 10: Alien Force and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien animated series and writing a number of DC’s recent direct-to-DVD animated projects– his latest work was the script for the All-Star Superman animated adaptation, which went on sale today.
He wrote damn fine comics, most recently on Justice League of America, Fantastic Four, and Firestorm. He was a giant in just about every aspect you care to mention, including size.
Dwayne was a major talent and will be greatly missed.
UPDATES: Apparently Dwayne’s death was due to a heart issue. More details as we get them.
And Heidi found this great interview with Dwayne, to show you a bit of what he was like:
UPDATE 6:40 EST: AP now has the first obit.
Related articles
- RIP Dwayne McDuffie (comicsbeat.com)
Meet Your New ‘Wonder Woman’, Adrianne Palicki
Deadline Hollywood reports that Friday Night Lights alumna Adrianne Palicki has been tapped for the title role in NBC’s Wonder Woman pilot, executive produced by David E. Kelley for Warner Bros. TV.
Palicki won the role of Wonder Woman, closely associated with Lynda Carter, who played Diana Prince in the 1970s series, in a decisive manner – she was the only actress invited to test for it.
The Daily Beast got a look at the current draft of the script for the pilot, wherein Wonder Woman/Diana Prince is a vigilante crime fighter and a successful corporate executive and a modern woman trying to have it all. It’s a bit… oh, lordie:
Diana’s first appearance, here in her guise as Wonder Woman, is a Hollywood Boulevard-based action sequence set, cringingly, to the outdated tune of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” the first of many musical cues—including tracks by Lady Gaga and Kanye West—in the script, all of which seem to prove that a) Kelley is a few years behind the times, and b) he watches a lot of Glee, since nearly all of these songs have been covered by the show choir.
Batmobile Inspires British Tank Design
In the movies, Batman fights crime with a collection of, to quote Jack Nicholson, wonderful toys. Hisham Awad, project leader of defense company BAE System’s future protected vehicles group, liked some of those ideas so much he used them to build an assault vehicle:
While Awad was showing one of his team’s concept vehicles, the unmanned skirmisher known as Raider, another of the assembled journalists gave a low whistle.
‘I like that,’ he said. ‘Looks like the Batmobile.’
‘Ah!’ Awad replied, with a grin. ‘Glad you said that. That’s what we based it on.’
Pardon?
‘Yes, we liked the look of that, so we designed something similar.’
What, the Batmobile in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight?
‘Yes, that one. You see, it turns like a motorbike and it has the same wheel configuration.’
Yes, yes, but you’re basing a future fighting vehicle on something you saw in a film?
‘Well, why not?’ Awad replied. ‘In all seriousness, we decided that we didn’t have a monopoly on inspiration, and if we saw something in a film that we thought might be a good idea, why not take a look at it and see if there’s something practical we can develop?’
Hat tip (I can’t believe I’m saying this): FoxNews.com.
Borders Files For Bankruptcy, Owes Diamond Nearly $4 Million
The axe has finally swung. From PW:
After a drawn out process that began at the end of last year when it missed payments to top publishers, Borders Group has given in to the inevitable and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company has received $505 million in debtor-in possession financing led by GE Capital, Restructuring Finance. And as part of its turnaround plan, Borders said it will close approximately 30% of its current store base, about 200 locations, within the next several weeks.
According to Borders, the financing should enable the company to operate the stores that will remain open in a “normal course” including honoring its Borders Rewards program, gift cards, and other customer programs. Additionally, the company said it expects to make payroll and continue its benefits programs for its employees.
The announcement made this morning was foreshadowed last night when Borders implemented an ordering freeze and Ingram, its lifeline to the publishers, stopped shipping books. Publishers are now on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars, led by Penguin Group (USA) which is owed $41.1 million, followed by Hachette at $36.9 million, Simon & Schuster at $33.8 million, Random House at $33.5 million, and HarperCollins at $25.8 million. Neither major book distributor, Ingram or Baker & Taylor, were among the leading creditors, and only one book distributor, National Book Network, is owed money with $2 million outstanding. The top 30 unsecured creditors are owed $314 million. The filing listed $1.27 billion in assets and $1.29 billion in liabilities. Borders said it expects to be able to pay vendors for merchandise shipped to it after today’s filing; those owed money prior to the filing will only be paid with the approval of the bankruptcy court.
As of Tuesday, the company had instituted an ordering freeze and book distributor Ingram, the company’s major lifeline to publishers, had stopped supplying the retailer. Diamond had already stopped orders to Borders weeks ago, and according to Heidi at ComicsBeat, court filings reveal Borders owes Diamond Comic Distributors $3,906,549.94.
To say this portends major disaster is an understatement. Diamond is already in precarious financial straits, and they can no longer hide the fact that they have an account that’s millions behind which they may never collect. And their losses will ripple through to publishers, many of whom have no slack to survive the sudden hit to the bottom line.
Stay tuned. This is not going to be pretty.
