Author: Glenn Hauman

Sunday Cinema: What’s wrong with “The Amazing Spider-Man”?

  • News
  • December 16, 2012

watch-the-amazing-spider-man-super-preview-550x207-7911974

Now that The Amazing Spider-Man is out on DVD and Blu-Ray, there is now a short video, “<a href=”

target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Everything Wrong With The Amazing Spider-Man In 2 Minutes Or Less”, that gives us 53 different Movie Crimes crimes throughout the film, like Peter Parker’s Comics-Code safe usage of the phrase “Mother Hubbard” and his magic skateboard. (Warning: There are spoilers in this video.)

And we also have a take on how it should have ended:

I do have to admit that we glossed over a lot of these in our review when the movie first came out in July. What about you? What do you think was missed?

MARKOSIA LAUNCHES ENDANGERED WEAPON B FOR FREE

  • News
  • December 15, 2012

endangered-1507312

Markosia Enterprises has announced that the publisher will be one of the few 2013 Free Comic Book Day sponsors in 2013. Markosia is proud to announce that ‘Endangered Weapon B’ by David Tallerman and Bob Molesworth will be their first foray into Free Comic Book Day.

Learn more at www.markosia.com.

AMAZING STORIES-CLASSIC TITLE PRESENTED IN ALL NEW WAY!

  • Uncategorized
  • December 13, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AMAZING STORIES are just one click away!

Amazing Stories, the world’s first science fiction magazine, opens for Beta Testing of Phase 1 on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013.

Fifty+ Bloggers Sign On to provide oodles of genre-related content!

The Experimenter Publishing Company is pleased to announce the reintroduction of the world’s most recognizable science fiction magazine – AMAZING STORIES!

Set to relaunch with a Beta Test of its new Social Magazine Platform, Amazing Stories will feature content from 50+ bloggers, covering an enormous array of subjects of interest to genre fans.

“We’ve got authors and agents, bloggers and editors, podcasters and broadcasters; we’ve got gamers and game designers; artists and art collectors; pulpsters and indie authors; we’ve got Hugo winners, John W. Campbell Memorial Award winners, John W. Campbell Best New Writer winners, Nebula and Hugo Award nominees and winners and nominees of other awards; people who review films, people who make films; we’ve got fanboys and fangirls; we’ve got former editors of Amazing Stories, writers who’ve become synonymous with the field and writers who are just getting started; comic artists, book reviewers; traditionally published authors, self-pubbed authors and authors who’ve done it all. The response to my request for participation was phenomenal – it couldn’t be more perfect if I had set out with a list of must-haves!” said Steve Davidson, publisher. 

Amazing Stories’ Social Magazine platform is designed to create an interactive environment that will be familiar to fans – especially those who attend conventions or enjoy club activities – with blog content designed to encourage discussion and take things beyond the usual user-generated content model for social networks.

The Amazing Stories Blog Team will cover (for now – more coming!) fourteen popular topics – Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Literature, Film, Television, Gaming, Comics and Graphic Works, the Visual Arts, the Pulps, Audio Works, Anime, the Business of Publishing, Science and Fandom itself. 

At this year’s Worldcon (Chicon 7, Chicago), Toastmaster John Scalzi offered up these words during the convention’s opening ceremonies:

…who are we as a community?
This year at least, we are bloody fantasy, we are epic-scale space opera, we are an intimate picture of growing up geeky, we are ready to take on the zombie apocalypse.
We speak in alien tongues, we are super heroes and we are on the spectrum.
We cry like children and we cradle our awards.
We sing, we write, we draw, we edit. We talk on every subject science fictional or fantastical.
We’re men and we’re women. We’re gay and straight. Cis gender and trans. Majority and minority. Left and right. First time nominees and old hands.
We are diverse – and we are all in this together. 

“We are diverse – and we are all in this together”, a sentiment that captures the heart and soul of what it means to be a fan. Amazing Stories aims to be the vehicle through which the diversity of fandom can come together. 

Amazing Stories’ relaunch will take place in two phases. Those interested in participating in the Beta Test of Phase 1 should contact the publisher atsteve.davidson33@comcast.net. Phase 2 will introduce additional interactivity and user-customization to the site. Following the completion and testing of Phase 2, the magazine, featuring both new and reprint fiction, essays, photo galleries, reviews and more will begin publication. Readers who are interested in what the magazine will look like can read two Relaunch Prelaunch issues on line, or download them from the Amazing Stories store. (Additional Amazing Stories themed product is also available here.)

The Amazing Stories Blog Team:

Cenobyte, Mike Brotherton, Ricky L. Brown, Michael A Burstein, 

Catherine Coker, Johne Cook, Paul Cook, Gary Dalkin, Jane Frank, 

Jim Freund, Adam Gaffen, Chris Garcia, Chris Gerwel, Tommy Hancock,

Liz Henderson, Samantha Henry, M. D. Jackson, Monique Jacob, 

Geoffrey James, J. J. Jones, Peggy Kolm, Justin Landon, Andrew Liptak, 

Melissa Lowery, Barry Malzberg, C. E. Martin, Farrell J. McGovern, 

Steve Miller, Matt Mitrovich, Aidan Moher, Diane Severson Mori, 

Kevin Murray, Ken Neth, Astrid Nielsch, D. Nicklin-Dunbar, John 

Purcell, James Rogers, Doug Smith, Lesley Smith, Bill Spangler, 

Duane Spurlock, Michael J. Sullivan, G. W. Thomas, Erin Underwood, 

Stephan Van Velzen, Cynthia Ward, Michael Webb, Keith West, 

John M. Whalen, Ann Wilkes, Leah Zeldez

Originally launched in 1926 by the father of science fiction, Hugo Gernsback, Amazing Stories helped to launch both the science fiction genre and its most enduring feature, science fiction fandom. The magazine is well known for its Frank R. Paul covers and for publishing the first stories by many iconic authors such as Isaac Asimov, Jack Williamson and Ursula Le Guin. Published continuously from 1926 until 1995, followed by two brief resurrections from 1998 till 2000 and from 2004 thru 2005. In 2008 Hasbro, the then current owner, allowed its trademarks to lapse and publisher Steve Davidson applied for and eventually received them in 2011.

For additional information, to find out how to join the Amazing Stories Blog Team or to request an invite to the Beta Test of Phase 1, please email the publisher, Steve Davidson.

  • News
  • December 13, 2012

Pariah, Missouri: The Graphic Novel Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Local Man Uses Kickstarter to Realize His Hollywood Dreams

Ventura, California – December 7, 2012 – Doing something creative that you love is a challenge.  Finding an audience for your work and getting paid for it is even harder.   Andres Salazar understands those struggles.  Andres is a stand-up comedian,  has directed and produced short films, written screenplays even sells his paintings at craft fairs.  Most recently Andres has turned to the crowdfunding website, Kickstarter.com to find an audience and realize his dream of being a creator.

His latest project is a graphic novel titled Pariah, Missouri–a supernatural story set in pre-civil war.  He wrote it originally as a television pilot script in hopes to get attention from the cable networks.  “I pitched it as Deadwood meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but nowadays you gotta have the script, a cast and director attached and half of it shot before they will look at you, and that’s only if you have an agent, manager and have previously worked on three shows,” says Andres. 

So instead of beating his head against Hollywood’s doors, he turned to other mediums to tell the tale.  “When I conceived Pariah, I wanted something that I could tell graphically since comics have been my love as a kid.  It’s much cheaper of course to generate a comic and this is a good way to build a fan-base and that is always something that Hollywood wants to see,” says Andres.  Turning an hour drama script into a comic book is not without it’s challenges.  An artist needed to be found so Andres turned to sites such as Deviantart.com to find affordable and dependable artists. 

“That was a challenge.  I mean, I could have drawn it myself, but comic book art takes an incredible amount of time, plus there is value in adding others creative juices to the mix.  I was lucky to find a great artist like Jose,” says Andres.  Jose Luis Pescador is no stranger to the comic book world.  He studied at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and has worked on a number of independent graphic novels and has shown fine art in galleries across the country. 

His super-team was assembled, but Andres still needed funding.  Enter Kickstarter.com  Kickstarter is a new phenomenon in what is dubbed crowdfunding which gives creators a chance realize their ambitions by asking others to “back” their project.  From films, music albums to food, Kickstarter generates hundreds of projects daily in the hopes that they meet their funding goal.  If the goal is achieved, backers then receive rewards according to their pledge amount.

Having worked for Howard Chaykin as an assistant, Andres learned much of the business from his mentor.  Andres also wrote and directed SAG short film After Cheri and stated , “We are very excited about our Kickstarter for Pariah, Missouri!  It will be an exciting story for the next 30 days to see how we progress through the campaign.  I will be posting videos and updates often so backers really get a sense of the “behind the scenes” of what it takes to make a comic book.  Please check us out.”

To see the Pariah, Missouri Kickstarter campaign to go: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andresjsalazar/pariah-missouri-the-graphic-novel

###

If you’d like more information about the Pariah, MO graphic novel or to schedule interviews with Andres

Salazar please email andresjsalazar@gmail.com or call 805-746-6884

Doing The Dozens

  • News
  • December 12, 2012

In honor of the day and time, we present this classic from Schoolhouse Rock, “Little Twelvetoes”.

Now if man had been born with 6 fingers on each hand, he’d also have 12 toes or so the theory goes. Well, with twelve digits, I mean fingers, he probably would have invented two more digits when he invented his number system. Then, if he saved the zero for the end, he could count and multiply by twelve just as easily as you and I do by ten.

Now if man had been born with 6 fingers on each hand, he’d probably count: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, dek, el, doh. “Dek” and “el” being two entirely new signs meaning ten and eleven. Single digits! And his twelve, “doh”, would be written 1-0. Get it? That’d be swell, for multiplying by 12.

Hey Little Twelvetoes, I hope you’re well.
Must be some far-flung planet where you dwell.
If we were together, you could be my cousin,
Down here we call it a dozen.
Hey Little Twelvetoes, please come back home.

Now if man had been born with 6 fingers on each hand, his children would have ’em too. And when they played hide-and-go-seek they’d count by sixes fast. And when they studied piano, they’d do their six-finger exercises. And when they went to school, they’d learn the golden rule, and how to multiply by twelve easy: just put down a zero.

But me, I have to learn it the hard way.

Lemme see now:

One times 12 is twelve, two times 12 is 24.
Three times 12 is 36, four times 12 is 48, five times 12 is 60.
Six times 12 is 72, seven times 12 is 84.
Eight times 12 is 96, nine times 12 is 108, ten times 12 is 120.
Eleven times 12 is 132, and 12 times 12 is 144. WOW!

Hey Little Twelvetoes, I hope you’re thriving.
Some of us ten-toed folks are still surviving.
If you help me with my twelves, I’ll help you with your tens.
And we could all be friends.
Little Twelvetoes, please come back home.

SHERLOCK HOLMES RETURNS TO COMIC SHOPS TODAY!

  • News
  • December 12, 2012
Cover Art: Francesco Francavilla

The first issue of Dynamite Entertainment’s Sherlock Holmes: Liverpool Demon series arrives in comic shop today, December 12th. Written by Leah Moore, John Reppion with art by Matt Triano, Sherlock Holmes: Liverpool Demon is a 5 issue mini series.

About Sherlock Holmes: Liverpool Demon–
Sherlock Holmes is busy doing what he does best, solving a case of far-reaching international notoriety. It has landed him at the Port of Liverpool, a bustling hub of commerce both legitimate and illicit. As that chapter closes, ours begins. They head to Lime Street Station, to catch a fast steam locomotive home to London and Baker Street, when violent weather keeps The Great Detective and Watson in Britain’s second city a while longer. Long enough to encounter a monster, discover the Liverpool underworld, and to become embroiled in one of his strangest cases yet.

32 pages
Full Color
$3.99

Watch the new trailer for “Man Of Steel”

  • News
  • December 11, 2012

For those of you that can’t wait for the weekend to see it in front of The Hobbit, we have the new trailer for next summer’s Superman movie, Man Of Steel, starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Michael Shannon, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe, written by David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan, and directed by Zack Snyder.

Useless trivia: it’s been 34 years and one day since Superman: The Movie was released.

TRUST YOUR BETTER ANGELS

  • Uncategorized
  • December 10, 2012

Author Geoffrey Thorne has released Better Angels, a Gray Harbor Novel as an ebook. Better Angels is currently available on mashwords in mulitple ebook formats and on Amazon in both ebook and paperback formats. iTunes and other retail locations are coming soon.

About Better Angels:
A fugitive comes home to settle old scores and gets caught in the schemes of some grifters out to rip off the local mob boss.

It was supposed to be so simple: just scam the local Russian mobster out of some money and drugs, then skip out of town before he knows he’s been fleeced. It looked good on paper. It sounded good when he talked it out but, as usual with Nicky, the minute he brought his dream grift into the real world things went straight to hell. His partner seems to have pulled a double cross, his girlfriend is totally useless, the Russians are coming for their property and all Nicky’s got to get himself out of this are his wits and his mouth. And that’s before Max showed up with his hard guy attitude and quick fists. Yeah, things are going to Hell, all right. Seems like Nicky forgot the first rule of survival on the mean streets of GRAY HARBOR: Always make sure the guy holding the gun is you.

Geoffrey Thorne is currently a writer-producer on the hit TV series, LEVERAGE as well as having written for LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, BEN 10: ULTIMATE ALIEN and the upcoming BEN 10; OMNIVERSE. His work has been nominated for GLYPH and GENESIS awards and he was a multiple silver medalist in the STRANGE NEW WORLDS short story contests as well as a finalist in the prestigious WRITERS OF THE FUTURE AWARD. Thorne is the co-founder and writing partner of GENRE 19, a studio he formed with visual artist Todd Harris in 2008 and the founder and EIC of THE WINTERMAN PROJECT. Learn more about him at www.geoffreythorne.com.

FORTIER TAKES ON SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT-COLLINS STYLE!

  • News
  • December 9, 2012

ALL PULP REVIEWS-by Ron Fortier
SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT
By Max Allan Collins
Illustrations by Terry Beatty
Available 19 Feb. 2013
Hard Case Crime
260 pages
seduc-6876237
What better book to review following our look at a Modesty Blaise strip collection then one that uses the 1950s anti-comic book witch hunt as its thinly disguised narrative skeleton.  “Seduction of the Innocent,” is the third in a series starring former stripper and newspaper syndicate owner, Maggie Starr and her World War II veteran stepson, Jack Starr.  Both appeared in two earlier comics themed mysteries, “A Killing in Comics,” 2007 and “Strip for Murder,” 2008.  Now Collins wraps up the trilogy with a look at the events that nearly destroyed the American comics industry via the publication of the original, “Seduction of the Innocent,” by Dr. Fredric Wertham.
For the uninitiated, Wertham (March 20,1895 – November 18, 1981) was a German born American psychiatrist who made a name for himself by denouncing comics books as a corrupting influence on the children of that era.  Targeting such publishers as E.C. Comics, he posited the theory that the crime, sex and violence depicted in those comics were the principle cause of delinquency among juvenile boys.  Of course he failed to point out that the titles he singled out were clearly intended for an adult audience though no such labeling existed at the time.  His best known book was “Seduction of the Innocent,” and his criticisms of comic books launched a U.S. Congressional inquiry into the industry and the creation of the Comics Code.
Of course the book is a sham using only the most gruesome examples of graphic art to prove a theory that was never corroborated with traditional scientific sampling.  But the public, already molded by McCarthyism was only too eager to start comic book burning events in their noble defense of America’s naïve youth. 
Author Collins has no difficult task in imagining a scenario in which the hated fictional doctor is murdered and then he lines up a half dozen very plausible suspects, each based loosely on past comic industry personalities from publishers to writers and artists.  And therein lies the fun of this tale for any diehard comic book fan; guessing who it is Collins is rifting off of as Jack Starr investigates.  As ever, Collins plays fair and the clues are laid out within the context of the story for all to see and interpret, mystery fans; the challenge being can we solve it before Jack and Maggie do?
This new “Seduction of the Innocent,” is by far a whole lot more entertaining than its predecessors and has the distinction of being Hard Case Crime’s first ever illustrated novel.  Through out the book there are wonderful spot illustrations provided by the super talented Terry Beatty; all done in the marvelous retro golden age style of art.  They add a really nice visual element to what is already a fun read.  It is hoped that Collins’ legion of fans will demand yet more of these delicious murder mysteries starring Maggie & Jack Starr.  In a literary environment overly saturated with dark, somber and depressing cautionary tales these are truly a breath of fresh air.

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