Author: Glenn Hauman

The most impressive science fiction collection in the world— and yes, I say it’s even more impressive than the one at Skywalker Ranch– will be going on the auction block today starting at 12 noon Pacific time, and continuing tomorrow, May 1st, at 11am Pacific time.

How impressive is it? Look at that photo to the right, which is lot #660 in the auction..

That’s a first edition of Dracula. Not impressed? It’s a first edition signed by the author, Bram Stoker.

That would be enough for most people– but not Forry. He went farther and got it autographed by Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Bill Obbagy, Ingrid Pitt, Karl Freund, Donald A. Reed, Barry Atwater, Maila Nurmi a.k.a. “Vampira”, Carla Laemmle, Carroll Borland, John Carradine, Raymond McNally, Ferdy Mayne, Paul Naschy, Barbara Leigh… and Bela Lugosi.

Take a look.

You can bid by phone or online. Or you can just download the catalogs and drool over…

• The dress Rita Hayworth wore in Gilda.
• The original art for Vampirella #1.
• Darth Maul’s lightsaber.
• The original head of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. 
• Dracula’s cape and signet ring.
• Cylons. Full size.
• Adam West’s Batman uniform and Lee Meriwether’s Catwoman outfit.
• Paintings from Rod Serling’s Night Galllery.
• Inspector Clouseau’s trenchcoat.
• The Voight-Kampff test manual from Blade Runner.
• Rambo’s bow and arrows.
• The hero crystal shard from The Dark Crystal.
• Ferris Bueller’s leather jacket.
• Swimsuits from Baywatch.
• The Shadow’s cloak, scarf, and fedora.
• Judge Dredd’s helmet.
• Lara Croft’s pistols.
• The Jumanji game.
• Terminators of all shapes and sizes.
• Batman’s cowl and cape.
• Riddler’s cane.
• Mr. Freeze’s armor.
• The Green Goblin’s trident.
• Zorro’s mask, cape, and whip.
• D’Artagnan and the Musketeer’s swords.
• Uncle Junior Soprano’s revolver.
• Alien eggs. 
• Wolverine’s dogtags– hell, Wolverine’s claws.
• Autographs and photos and title cards from everybody.
• And yes– even a Golden Ticket.

Download the Catalog here as a .zip file, or download the PDFs individually.
Lots 1-166 | 167-349 | 350-522 | 523-753 | 754-939 | 940-1114 | 1114-1174

The debut of Iron Man: Armored Adventures this past Friday, April 24, gave Nicktoons Network a ratings record.  Based on Marvel’s Iron Man character, the series premiered with back-to-back episodes at 7-8p, with the 7:30p episode earning Nicktoons Network its highest-rated original series premiere among Boys 6-11 125,000.  The hour-long block of Iron Man debuts also boosted the network’s ratings during the 7-8p time period by +43% with K6-11 and +55% with B6-11.  The Iron Man premiere helped NicktoonsNetwork.com reach its biggest week ever, earning 239,000 visitors, an increase of +389% vs. last year.

Chris Claremont has encountered more success than most writers ever dream of. Although best known for his work on the X-Men series, he has written other seminal characters as Batman and Superman; originated several creator-owned series such as The Black Dragon and Marada, the She-Wolf (artist: John Bolton), and the contemporary superhero series, Sovereign Seven; is published throughout the world in many different languages; authored nine novels including the science fiction series First Flight, Grounded!, and Sundowner, and the contemporary dark fantasy Dragon Moon; and even had his first video game premiere in Spring 2006.

Matthew K. Manning has written numerous comics for a variety ofpublishers, including Marvel and DC. His work has appeared in the pagesof The Batman Strikes!, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century, Justice League Adventures, Spider-Man Unlimited, Looney Tunes, and Marvel Romance Redux. For DK, he has penned the updated versions of Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide and Hulk: The Incredible Guide, the children’s title Marvel Heroes: Greatest Battles, and contributed to the Marvel Chronicle.

Come with me, ladies and gentlemen, as I reveal the secret hidden messages in Farscape: D’Argo’s Lament #1, written by Keith R.A. DeCandido, drawn by Neil Edwards, published by BOOM! and out in stores tomorrow.

Some spoilers of jokes ahead, along with the truth of where writers really get their ideas, so we’ll put them behind the cut.

(more…)

This recording, taken straight from the text of Watchmen, is incredibly creepy and dark. You’ll listen to this and think Jackie Earle Haley was an amateur:

Twentieth Century Fox has decided to postpone the premiere of X-Men Origins: Wolverine set for Wednesday in Mexico City, as the city remains paralyzed by the virus that has killed over 150 people. In addition, the major cinema chains in Mexico City have already announced they will be closed for the weekend, and may end up being closed for much longer.

Hugh Jackman, who was expected to attend the premiere, will now pull back. “We were not only concerned about Hugh’s welfare – and we would never send anyone into harm’s way – but we also have an enormous office filled with people we care about,” says a rep for Fox quoted in People. “There was no point in proceeding under the current conditions.”

Mexico’s film market share is about 13% of the US, so a misfire will make a dent in worldwide box-office. But the bigger concern may be the US– New York is a major market, and more swine flu cases have been reported here. In any pandemic situation, people will be told to avoid gathering in crowds– like movie audiences.

If this keeps up, the only way to watch this film at all will be online. Which, considering how an early version of the film hit the Internet a month early, would be terribly ironic.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) announced the winners of their annual Nebula Awards tonight in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies was toastmastered by Janis Ian— yes, that Janis Ian. Ian Randal Strock of SFScope stayed up extra late to cover the ceremony and post the results in real time, and we’re shamelessly cribbing from him here.

And the winners are:

Best Novel (presented by Joe Haldeman): Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt, September 2007)

Best Novella (presented by Mary Robinette Kowal): “The Spacetime Pool” by Catherine Asaro (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March 2008)

Best Novelette (presented by David Gerrold): “Pride and Prometheus” by John Kessel (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 2008)

Best Short Story (presented by M.J. Engh): “Trophy Wives” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Fellowship Fantastic, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes, DAW Books, January 2008)

Best Script (presented by Wil Wheaton): WALL-E by Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon. Original story by Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter (Pixar, June 2008)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy (presented by Karen Anderson): Flora’s Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room) by Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt, September 2008)

Other, non-Nebula awards, previously announced but awarded tonight, include:

Grand Master: Harry Harrison

Author Emerita: M.J. Engh

SFWA Service Award: Victoria Strauss

Solstice Award: Algis J. Budrys, Martin H. Greenberg, and Kate Wilhelm

Bradbury Award: Joss Whedon (accepted by Jane Espenson)

Hey, wait, we have Joss’s acceptance speech right here! The wonders of the future…!