Category: News

Don Wilder the writer for the Crock comic strip, died this morning at age 74 reports Editor & Publisher.  According to King Features Syndicate, which distributes Crock to more than 200 newspapers, Wilder was also drawing and went on to get his bachelor’s degree from East Tennessee State University. 

The commercial artist began work as a technical illustrator including a 17 year stint as a visual-information specialist for the CIA.  He also did work for Lockheed Aircraft, RCA and General Electric before moving to comic strips in the 1970s.

The Virginia resident created the strip with Brant Parker, best known for his work on the Wizard of Id, in 1975.  After Parker died, Wilder collaborated with artist Bill Rechin.

No word as yet from the syndicate as to what will happen to the strip, which has been a gentle parody of life in the Foreign Legion.
 

Director Guillermo del Toro has signed with HarperCollins imprint William Morrow for a trilogy of vampire novels which he will cowrite with Chuck Hogan. The Stain, kicking off the event, will be released next summer.

According to Variety, the story will “revolve around an invasion of New York City by a vampiric virus. Series will trace the roots of the vampiric race back to its Old Testament origins.”

Hogan has previously wrriten thrillers including The Standoff and The Blood Artists.  His Prince of Thieves was recently optioned by Warner Bros which Ben Affleck will direct and star in.

Don’t expect the director to adapt his own works, though.  He’s committed through 2017 with the two film adaptation of The Hobbit followed by Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Slaughterhouse-Five for Universal.  He’s also committed to adapting Dan Simmons’ Drood into a feature film.
 

So word is out that Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert, host of the Colbert Report, is going to be teaming up with New York’s  most famous web-slinging vigilante in the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man #573, written by Mark Waid (Kingdom Come) and illustrated by Patrick Olliffe (Spider-Girl). In the Marvel Universe, Colbert is running for President of the U.S. and no doubt this will come into play in the eight-page adventure. It would certainly be in keeping with the atmosphere of several comics these days, such as DC’s True Decisions mini-series which features the JLA acting as security for presidential candidates and the most recent Captain America arc in which the Red Skull attempted to sway the election for his own purposes.

This isn’t going to be the their first meeting, of course. In Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #15, during Marvel’s Civil War crossover, the two met at a bookstore. Of course, Spidey wasn’t in his costume at the time and Colbert was attempting to act incognito, so chances are this won’t be referenced in the upcoming story.

But any true comic book fan should know that celebrity cameos have happened quite often in super-hero tales. And Colbert is by far the first comedy show host to meet a Marvel hero. (more…)

I actually had a comic book article all ready to go this week. Then I turned on the news and heard that McCain wants to cancel tonight’s presidential debate to lend his hand to solving “our” financial problem.

You must be kidding me.

My Manhattan home is mere blocks from Wall Street. Trust me, its still WORLDS away to me. There’s a famous bronze bull that stands tall there. I swear that bull would come to life and chase me away like’s it a German Sheppard and it’s 1964.

“Ours,” my ass. Nope, this is all yours, G.O.P.

Oh, McCain is willing to make up tonight’s debate by substituting it for the vice presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, I guess so Palin will put down her shotgun and help save the country in this time of need.

Obama said he wants to have the debates stating that the county wants to hear from the two people who are running for President to see what they have to say on the subject. He also said a President will be called on to handle more than one thing at a time…duh.

I wonder why the G.O.P will not let reporters talk to Palin? Hey, Mr. Right, why the chuck won’t you let reporters talk to her? This woman will be half a heart beat (that’s right, half) from the most powerful job in the universe (except for mine) and she is being shielded like she’s radioactive.

I would not hire a baby sitter to sit with YOUR kids without talking to them. I can’t believe this. Why is there no OUTRAGE at this?? Remember McCain said “I can’t wait to unleash her on Washington!”

“Unleash her?” “UnLEASH her?” Oh, I forgot. Pit bull with lipstick.

Nope, more like pit bull shit. I have a pit bull; they are not afraid of anything. Palin hides behind her handlers like a scared puppy. I ask again, Mr. Right, why can’t we talk to the bitch? Hey, she called herself a dog; I’m just using the correct word for a female one… bitch.

When in the HISTORY of Presidential politics have the American people been denied access to their V.P. candidate? (more…)

These days, a convention isn’t worth attending unless you can buy show exclusive merchandise.  The 9th annual Baltimore Comic-Con is offering the following for fans this weekend:

•    Aspen – Michael Turner variant cover for Fathom 2.

•    Marvel
   o    Frank Cho Secret Invasion 6 variant cover
   o    Mike Wieringo HERO Initiative:  Marvel Apes cover
   o    John Romita, Jr. U.S. Exclusive Amazing Spider-Man 568 variant cover

•    PopFun – Exclusive Batman Toon Tumbler

•    Top Cow – David Finch Dragon Prince 1 Baltimore Comic-Con variant cover

•    3 Finger Prints – The 3 Geeks:  Can Anyone Stop the Slab Madness?! variant cover

And of course, there are the recently announced show exclusives from ComicMix.
 

Prometheus Radio Theatre has been performing live since October, 2000 at Baltimore Science Fiction Conventions. Its largest project is an the award-winning episodic series called The Arbiter Chronicles, created eight years ago by Steven H. Wilson (who also wrote the tie-In novel, Taken Liberty.) The stories center on a group of young midshipmen (and women) who take their name from their first posting in the space navy – the patrol ship CNV Arbiter.

The first Arbiter Chronicles episodes were released on CD in 2003. Since 2005, they’ve produced over 100 episodes of their podcast, including 15 serialized episodes of the Arbiters, six of SuperHuman Times, a couple of ghost stories, and a reading of the Arbiters novel, Taken Liberty. Along the way, they’ve won the Mark Time Silver Medal for excellence in science fiction audio drama, and the Parsec Award for best Audio Drama (Long Form.)

The story is set hundreds of years in the future, after the human race has all but abandoned an Earth which has been devastated by war, poverty and disease. It is an embarrassment to its descendant worlds, and its people are considered the cast-offs of humanity. As the series starts Captain Jan Atal of Rigel V is one of the Confederate Navy’s most-decorated officers, but is despised by his superiors due to his opinions and success. He is sent on a punitive assignment to command the CNV Arbiter and takes with him four misfit proteges:

• Terry Metcalfe and Kevin Carson, two of the few Terrans ever to graduate the Academy
• Cernaq, a telepath from a world of extremist intellectuals
• Atal’s daughter Kaya, whose phenomenal IQ is matched only by the chip on her shoulder

An elderly Wiccan doctor, and a Boatswain who’s an escaped slave join them as they protect Confederate borders from denizens of the violent Qraitian Empire. The situations they deal with highlight the human condition in a darker future than you might expect. Four of the past 15 episodes are available on CD through Amazon.com. (more…)