Category: News

Eoin Colfer, best known for the Artemis Fowl series, has been tapped to write new novels set in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Adams’ widow, Jane Belson, personally selected the author.

According to a profile at the BBC, Colfer said the opportunity was akin to "being offered the superpower of your choice".

Penguin International will make the announcement in London today including the news that the new book will be titled And Another Thing… to be published in October 2009.  Colfler joins a growing list of authors brought on to write works in another author’s world, a practice that has seen very mixed results from John Gardner’s underwhelming James Bond pastiches to Alexander Ripley’s hated sequel to Gone with the Wind.

Years ago, Adams said, "I suspect at some point in the future I will write a sixth Hitchhiker book…I would love to finish Hitchhiker on a slightly more upbeat note.

"Five seems to be a wrong kind of number; six is a better kind of number."

There are already 16 million copies of the five books in print in addition to television, radio, and film adaptations.

Hey, kids. Have you ever watched someone on TV and thought to yourself  "Man, that presidential candidate seems almost like a parody of Frank Miller’s aging Batman from The Dark Knight Returns"?

Well evidently, Matt Sheperd at www.shep.ca had that very thought cross his own noggin. And here is what he did with it.

Enjoy!

Time Inc. is hoping to do for magazines what Netflix has done for movies and if successful, could open a new avenue for comic book readers. Maghound has opened up, allowing people to subscribe to tiers of magazines for reading.  It has opened up a beta site with 240 titles from not only Time Inc. but also Men’s Health, ELLE, Martha Stewart Living, Maxim, Ladies Home Journal, Parents, Better Homes & Gardens, Woman’s Day, Best Life, Popular Science, Prevention, Runner’s World, Women’s Health, VIBE, Car and Driver, PC Magazine, Gardening and Bicycling.

At present, no comic books, including any from sister division DC Comics, are available for purchase. Mad Kids, though, is available.

A reader can choose one of four tiers starting with three titles for $4.95 per month up to eight or more titles for $1 each per month. A reader can alter which titles read month to month so a first-timer could try Time, Runner’s World and PC Magazine then the following month swap out PC for ELLE.  Should a title not be published monthly, the site will offer substitute selections.

The site was in development for four years and was announced about a year back. When the launch date was announced, they had expected 280 titles so this comes in under estimates.

“It’s vital for circulators even more so than ever in this economy to test innovative new ideas," Peter Winn, director of planning and development, consumer marketing for Bonnier Corporation, told Folio Magazine. "Maghound has potential to be an important program for the industry and that is why Bonnier is in."
 

Slash Film is reporting that Clark Duke has been added to Kick-Ass’ cast as Marty, the would-be hero’s civilian pal. Duke has been previously seen on the internet series Drunk History Part 2, television’s Greek, and will next appear in the October comedy Sex Drive.

Moviehole’s description of Marty says he’s: “About 17, a chubby Caucasian high school student who loves comic books. He is Dave’s funny best friend. Together with Dave and Todd, he loves to go to comic book stores, and checks out the latest issues, while talking about school, girls, the futility of teenaged life, and the exciting adventures of MySpace insta-celebrity Kickass. He never suspects that Kickass is in fact Dave Lizewski — and neither would you if you knew Dave.”
 

Between Friends, an internationally syndicated comic strip, will tackle a spousal abuse storyline between now and November. The strip, conceived in 1994 by Canadian cartoonist Sandra Bell-Lundy, is carried in 140 papers via King Features Syndicate.

The strip, according to its website, is a contemporary comic strip that celebrates the essence and angst of three forty-something women friends. Maeve, Susan, and Kimberly have evolved with time, ala For Better or For Worse, with Susan and Kimberly now parents.

The mostly humorous strip is veering into serious territory for a change because "a friend of mine was involved in this type of situation when she was in her early 20s," the cartoonist told Editor & Publisher. Bell-Lundy. "She confided in me years later…." Bell-Lundy did field research, visiting women’s shelters to gain insight before embarking on the story.