Overheard at my local comics shop this week:
"Yeah, I saw Warren Ellis at San Diego — I don’t know what it was, but he reminded me of Santa Claus."
"You mean fat, bearded, and with millions of underage children under constant surveillance?"
Which is as good an intro as any to Carla Hewitt’s 44 things said at the Spotlight on Warren Ellis panel. Probably not safe for work, and let’s face it, you’d be disappointed if it was.
Look, okay, I knew that when I wrote the first Jewish/Klingon wedding ceremony I knew that very shortly thereafter, some couple was going to use it in their own wedding– it’s just the way we are. So I’m happy to see this:
Congratulations to Jonathan Wagner and Brigitte Flannery. The happy couple received a Marvel-themed ceremony from the St. Louis Science Center on Friday, July 20. Here’s hoping the Black Panther doesn’t find out that Storm a) married someone else, and b) is white. And let’s not even talk about the Spider-Man clone…
"Seems that McFarlane Toys has the license to do toys based on the upcoming Beowulf movie. Y’know, the one co-written by Neil Gaiman. Who’s involved in litigation to get Todd McFarlane to pay the court ordered damages for ripping off his creations and the like (don’t even ask about Miracleman). Which McFarlane avoided by declaring bankruptcy, but still operating various other companies."
Mixing our mythological metaphors for a moment, I have to wonder if this is a Trojan horse so that Neil’s lawyer can get a very close look at McFarlane’s books…
"When I first came to your planet and demanded your homes, property and very lives, I didn’t know you were already doing so, willingly, with your own government. I can win no tribute from a bankrupted nation populated by feeble flag-waving plebians. In 2008 I shall restore your dignity and make you servants worthy of my rule. This new government shall become a tool of my oppression. Instead of hidden agendas and waffling policies, I offer you direct candor and brutal certainty. I only ask for your tribute, your lives, and your vote."
Look, it’s not like the Republicans have offered up anybody better for this election so far. Zod in 2008!
Twenty six years ago this very second, with the launching of a space rocket and a moon landing with a funky flag, MTV launched into the homes of a half million cable subscribers. (For the youngsters in the audience, MTV stood for "Music Television" and they would actually play music videos 24 hours a day.)
So… ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll:
And of course, the first music video played on MTV. C’mon, sing along– you know the words:
On this day in 1930 The Shadow first aired on the radio, as the announcer of Detective Stories, and the announcer proved to be more popular than the show, leading to the creation of the character we know and love. The show became famous for its trademark opening line: "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows…" and drew a listening audience of about 15 million a week during its peak. At least six different actors played the Shadow during the show’s 25 years. Orson Welles played the Shadow (and was the first to voice Lamont Cranston) from 1937 to 1938 for a whopping $185 a week.
The classic Shadow pulps are back, as we’ve mentioned several times here at ComicMix.
And like any good blogger, Geoff Boucher blogs his own attack: "I (literally) bumped into a young guy walking with three friends in the Gaslamp Quarter. They were tattooed and wearing the street uniform of baggy pants, white T-shirts and shaved heads. The guy started mad-dogging me, rasping threats. I told him I was just walking by, no offense meant. He got in my face, and I told him it would be stupid for us to make something out of nothing. "You calling me stupid?" "No, I’m not." Then I stopped talking, because my mouth was bleeding. One of his buddies, standing off to my side, cold-cocked me, and the ring on his fist took a chunk out of my face. I never saw it coming. I was at the emergency room until dawn."
Get well soon, Geoff. We’re all thinking of you. (Link via Tom Spurgeon. Artwork by Carol Lay, who’s a lovely and charming lady.)
If you’re registered as a member of this year’s world science fiction convention, a.k.a. WorldCon (Nippon 2007), you’re entitled to vote for the Hugo awards.
All votes must be received by Midnight (2359hrs), Pacific Standard Time on Tuesday, July 31, 2007. You can vote online here. Please note that it’s an alternative preference ballot, i.e. you rank your choices in order of preference — even voting for one of the contenders as your fifth choice may help it win, if there’s no outright victor in the first through fourth runoffs.
If you’re going to the World Science Fiction Convention – the 65th – you’ll be going to Yokohama, Japan and you’ll b e there between August 30th and September 3rd. Get your passports ready!
In the future, there will be no graves and nothing will stay dead. Motor-shock is coming.
The first original Futurama production since the series was canceled in 2003 will be a feature-length film, Futurama: Bender’s Big Score that will go directly to DVD and be available on November 27th. The new film features the show’s original cast and crew, and its release marks the second time that a Fox cartoon series has spawned a direct-to-DVD film after cancellation (Family Guy: Stewie Griffin, the Untold Story was the first). Previews were shown at SDCC with the crowd going nuts, as you’d expect.
Fox is planning to release three additional Futurama direct-to-DVD features during 2008, Futurama: The Beast With a Billion Backs, Futurama: Bender’s Game, and Futurama: Into the Wild, Green Yonder. In addition to the original cast each Futurama film will feature guest stars. Al Gore, Sarah Silverman and Coolio appear in Bender’s Big Score.
The release of the direct-to-DVD features doesn’t affect the previously announced plans to revive Futurama in episodic form on Comedy Central in 2008 (see "Futurama Revived"). The producers of the series plan on chopping up the features, adding new material and airing the resulting reconfigured new 22-minute episodes on Comedy Central during 2008 along with reruns of the original 72 episodes, much as they did with Stewie Griffin, the Untold Story. Click here to see a faux trailer.
Saying this place is slowing down is like saying you’re better off landing from a plane with an umbrella in hand rather than nothing, but we’re game to hold out to the last…
Right outside the Slave Labor booth: "This is madness!" "THIS! IS! SAN DIEGO!"
Mark Evanier to Peter David at the Quick Draw panel discussing their respective weight losses: "Between the two of us, we’ve lost a complete Tony Isabella."
Warren Ellis on writing Lara Croft as a feminist icon: "In my story she’s stark naked, but she’s wearing an eighteen inch green strap on with the head of Chtulhu, so I figure I’m covered either way."
Melanie McFarland, TV reporter for the Seattle P-I, on ABC’s decision to blow the Lost surprises at the Television Critics convention instead of SDCC: "The very idea that a room full of socially awkward types who get paid to obsess over people and worlds that do not exist would be passed over in favor of a convention center stuffed with socially awkward types who obsess over people and worlds that do not exist — while wearing costumes! — was simply unacceptable. We are the true nerd herd, the gatekeepers of stupid information!"
More SDCC wrap-up as soon as we get back to the office!
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
Stephen Colbert, we have your writer for “The Chronicles of Amber”!
January 20, 2023
The Law Is A Ass #460: Those “For Life” Sentences Are Nonsense
February 24, 2022
You gotta be kidding me