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MOONSTONE MONDAY-ED CATTO INTERVIEW

  • News
  • September 20, 2010

Ed Catto, Retropeneur, C & A Enterprises, LLC, partnered with Moonstone Books

AP: Ed, welcome to ALL PULP and to Moonstone Monday!  Tell us about yourself, some personal as well as professional background?
EC: Sure, thanks for having me!
 I’m a marketing professional and have spent my career building brands such as OREO, Snuggle, Chips   Ahoy!, Lysol, KIA and Napa.  But I’m also a long-time comic fan, and have worked with Marvel, DC, Valiant and Reed Expo’s New York Comic Con developing strategy and marketing initiatives.  Developing Captain Action Enterprises, LLC, with my partner Joe Ahearn, seems a natural extension of both my marketing skills and my passion for comics.
AP: What is your involvement with Moonstone Books?
EC: We shopped our first property, Captain Action, around a bit when we were looking to develop the new comic series.  Moonstone was really the best place for us to find a solid partner committed to working together to build an engaging series. 
We work closely with the whole Moonstone team to develop our series, manage the monthly ebb and flow of producing the comics, and to develop new initiatives. Examples include our digital relationships with ComiXology and Panelfly and our new partnership with Overdrive, the group that manages digital comics and books for libraries worldwide. Some of the other programs have been more straight forward, like the enamel/cloisonné pins we created for The Phantom and for Captain Acton.
We’ve been thrilled with our partnership with Moonstone. It’s been a great place to be creative and work with fantastic talent.  And now our titles with Moonstone are growing to include Zeroids, Savage Beauty, Lady Action and Captain Action Classified, the new 60’s series featuring the “original” Captain Action.
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AP: Captain Action seems to be your primary property. Can you give us some background on Captain Action as a character?
EC: After the success of G.I. Joe, Stan Weston created the Captain Action toy line for Ideal.  Just as G.I. Joe could change into an army soldier or an astronaut, Captain Action could change into superheroes.  Originally he could change into a plethora of heroes including Spider-Man, Captain America, Batman, Superman…even The Green Hornet and Buck Rogers.
On the very basic level, Captain Action is all about imagining the possibilities of oneself.  The idea is that “you can be anything you want to be” but always tempered with “being yourself is pretty cool too.”  We try to bring that into our Moonstone series.
He has a rich cast of characters too, including his arch-enemy, Dr. Eville, his sidekick, Action Boy and his amazing amphibious car, the Silver Streak!
AP: Can you talk about the process of how you came to be involved with Captain Action on a business level?  This is also probably a good place to have you explain the term you use on your facebook page to refer to yourself..Just what is a retropreneur?
EC: Our company, CAE, LLC is based on the idea of taking old properties that still have appeal or a nostalgia value, polishing them up and getting them out there once more – both for original fans and a whole new audience too.
So –we’re kind of entrepreneurs with throwback/retro perspective. We get a lot of positive feedback when we offer our business cards to folks and they see Retropreneur. It’s a little whimsical, but it’s memorable!
AP: Why Moonstone for Captain Action?  What about Moonstone appeals to you to help get the legend of Captain Action out to the masses.
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EC:  Moonstone has been a great place to serve as a launch pad for many of our own ideas, but publisher Joe Gentile also provides great guidance and insight.  Plus, he’s a tireless worker, so there’s always a sense that he’s working hard for us and our books.  The Moonstone extended family, with Dave Ulanski, Lori G and the whole crowd, including solid folks like Marshall Dillon have been a joy to work with.   And Mike Bullock, the Phantom/Black Bat/Lions, Tigers and Bears writer, has been a great compadre.  We worked with him on our Phantom/Captain Action miniseries and are working even more closely developing our upcoming Savage Beauty Series!
Moonstone’s also a publisher with a big tent. We’re publishing a superhero comic, and robot/Zombie/Sorority Girl comic and a jungle comic..and they all seem to fit perfectly under the Moonstone banner.
In 15 years, Moonstone’s been good and honest with creatives too.  So when we call up our favorites to say, “Hey, wanna work with us”, they know that Moonstone is a reliable outfit.
AP: How do you make a concept like Captain Action, one that started as a toy decades ago, relevant to the modern audience?
EC:  We ask ourselves that every day. And I’m not sure if there’s an easy answer. But we’ve worked hard to  be true to the characters, while finding fresh voices and innovations.  We want to keep the core of what made the toy interesting in the first place (otherwise, why bother with it?) and yet spin it out so you’ll be pleasantly surprising the old fans and still providing engaging, welcoming entertainment for new fans.
AP: Do you have any other projects with Moonstone currently?
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EC: Zeroids was another Ideal property from the sixties. They were a sort of early Transformers – robots from space.   We’ve brought that back with a vengeance. The first issue just met huge critical acclaim and the second issue will be out in about 2 weeks.   Then we’ll continue on in 2012 with an ongoing Zeroids monthly comic.    For this one, we worked with writer Aaron Schapps to create a SciFi mash up of several concepts, including robots, zombies, aliens and, of course, sorority girls.  In fact, the series real protagonist is a college sophomore named Destiny Zero. She has sort of a Dorothy-in-Oz relationship  to the Zeroids!
After that we have a Captain Action Winter Special! And what a special this is! It’ll include:
A classic Captain Action tale of a beautiful French double-agent and a communist Yeti penned by Beau Smith and expertly rendered by the great Eduardo Baretto. 
1.       Lady Action in “The Spy Who Snowballed Me” by our favorite British madman, Tony Lee with art by Reno Maniquis.
2.       For the first time ever, Green Hornet will team up with Captain Action in a prose story by Matthew Baugh.
3.       Covers are by Mark Wheately and Ruben Propocio – it’ll be a quite a package.
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Then we’ll debut Savage Beauty in February! This is a re-imagining of the old Jungle Girl Comics, but with a modern day twist.
Starting with a generous sneak peek at New York Comic Con, we’ll be inviting readers to take a walk on the wild side with Savage Beauty, our new comic series that tells the stories of sisters Lacy and Livvy Rae. This series focuses on their travels throughout modern-day Africa as they are called upon to help right wrongs, protect the innocent and punish evildoers. As reporters for Africa Adventures Online, the Rae sisters are guided by the mysterious Mr. Eden to assume the identity of the mythical goddess Ayana. Disguised as this “Savage Beauty”, the two girls fight modern-day pirates, hard corps militias, corrupt politicians and various other real-world adversaries torn from today’s headlines.

Savage Beauty will take you on an exciting journey as the Rae sisters discover their purpose in life, even as they make a real difference in the world.

Plus the comic book series intends to make a difference too – each issue will donate a full page to partner causes such as Oxfam, Just A Drop and Invisible Children, among others.

And our first issue will be oversized, with a Savage Beauty story, a classic reprint of the first Jungle Girl – Sheena, and special features including lost promotional art to 60’s Raquel Welch Jungle Girl movie pitch…and we’ll be offering it all for just $2.99.
And future covers read like a who’s who of comics – Paul Gulacy, Mark Wheately, Dave Hoover, Chris Short and even a few non-traditional surprises!  Series write and co-creator Mike Bullock has a long list of hot stories that we can’t wait to publish.  We’re really excited for this project!
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So much else going on too: Our Phantom-Captain Action Hardcover is coming out and it looks gorgeous.  Wait till you see the wonderful John Byrne cover on issue #1 of Captain Action Classified. Future storylines in that title include a Berlin Wall story with Nazi’s and LSD, and a story that features the Beatles in Paris right before their historic Ed Sullivan appearance.  And be on the lookout in November when that British Bombshell, Lady Action appears in the prose collection of short stories in the anthology: Chicks in Capes, edited by Lori G!  Look for the lovely Nicola (Wonder Woman/Secret Six) Scott cover!
And convention-wise, we have two more this season. I’ll be a guest of Honor at the 35th Annual Ithacon in Ithaca, NY September 25th, and then we’ll have strong presence again at booth #2380 at New York Comic Con October 8-10th.
AP: What is the appeal of reviving old toy characters/lines and giving them new life in the modern era? 
EC:  In one sense, it’s a big-boys-big-toys kind of thing.  We like to play with entertainment properties and get down to their essence, and then build them back up again in an engaging story.
In another sense, it’s what every kid does with every Imagination-based toy. They make their own story up. We’re doing just that- with a talented group of collaborators- and it’s a great challenge to put it out there and see if anyone likes it!
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AP: Any future projects you care to let the ALL PULP pulpsters in on?
 EC: Our biggest news isn’t quite ready yet, but it’s so very, very close. We’ll be making a big toy announcement soon – hopefully before New York Comic Con – that both new and old fans will be jump-out-of-their-seats excited about!
AP: Thanks a lot, Ed!
EC: It’s been a pleasure – thanks for having me!

NEW QUIZ FROM SARGE’S P.O.P QUIZ CENTRAL!!

  • News
  • September 19, 2010
P.O.P. QUIZ CENTRAL: PULP ART
Well, here’s another pop quiz from P.O.P. QUIZ CENTRAL, where the P.O.P. in P.O.P. QUIZ stands for Periodic Outcome Profile (Sounds pretty test happy ta me!). While our last P.O.P. Quiz was fairly general in content, this one concentrates on pulp art, comicbook art and artists. Again only circle one choice per line! With this particular P.O.P. QUIZ don’t feel obligated to answer every item. If you’re not familiar with the following names just look ‘em up later. Consider it homework that will amaze and astound you! Many of us Many of us are not familiar with the names of the authentic pulp artists of yesteryear but are quite familiar with the comicbook artists of the 1940’s to the present. Others have become quite familiar with the cracklin’ crop of artists who are posting their awe inspirin’ artwork on fb.  Again, don’t sweat the small stuff, it’s only a test! If it were the real thing I’d sit you down at Disney with a drawing table and a mess of markers and tell ya ta draw a caricature of every guest that plunks themselves down in front of ya!  I think you’ll be happier with the end results and analysis here. Well, here we go again!
(Circle only one answer per line, please. It’ll make it a lot easier for self-scoring. Don’t worry, I still trust you!)
  1. Hal Foster or Alex Raymond?
  2. Little Nemo or Popeye?
  3. The Magnificent Seven or Seven Angry Men?
  4. Dennis the Menace or Peanuts?
  5. Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko?
  6. Gil Kane or Neal Adams?
  7. Gil Kane or Bob Kane?
  8. Wayne Boring or Paul Reiman?
  9. Joe Kubert or Jerry Robinson?
  10. John Buscema or Johnny Romita?
  11. Will Eisener or Jules Feiffer?
  12. Jay Piscopo or Delfin Barral?
  13. Wally Wood or Mark Wheatley?
  14. Battle Star Galactica or Star Trek?
  15. Seascapes or Still Life?
  16. Nik Poliwko or Lawrence Leeson?
  17. Monopoly or Clue?
  18. Carl Barks or Walter Lantz?
  19. Art Deco or Craftsman?
  20. Evan Quiring or Del Hewitt, Jr.
  21. Law & Order or Dragnet?
  22. Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers?
  23. Dave Lung or Danny De Bruin?
  24. Twin Earths or Lost In Space?
  25. Jeremy Billadeau or Mike Spicer?
  26. Danny Kelly or Pete Hernandez II?
  27. Addams Family or the Munsters ?
  28. Jim Steranko or Peter Max?
  29. Desperate Housewives or All My Children?
  30. James Bama or Frank Frazetta
Well, did you find a pattern here? No? Look again, if you circled mostly names on the left you enjoy going to the movies. If more of your choices were on the right than you most likely enjoy live theatre. Now how does this translate to pulp art and design? Easy! The more names and titles you circled on the left the more you’re drawn to a cinematic angle and perspective. The more answers you circled on the right tells us you enjoy a dramatic feel and approach that can only be achieved on stage. If your choices even out between, let’s say 14 of one and 16 of the other, then you’re comfortable with more styles and techniques than most pulp artists, fans and writers.

Review: ‘The Big Bang Theory the Complete Third Season’

1000149528brdlef1-7176949By the beginning of its third season, CBS’s [[[The Big Bang Theory]]] had crossed over from well-reviewed sitcom for geeks to a ratings blockbuster. The characters remained oblivious to this elevation in esteem while their performers and creators didn’t let the success get to their heads. Instead, the season’s 22 episodes remained sharp and funny, delving deeper into the characters, revealing back stories, and expanding on the work place dilemmas.

As seen in The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Third Season, now out from Warner Home Video, the major arc of the year was Penny and Leonard’s relationship, with her making efforts to understand his working world while he tried to socially adjust to her world. And when they broke up, the repercussions are keenly felt among the others – Sheldon, Raj, and Howard. The show nicely builds up the Sheldon/Penny relationship, which hit a dramatic point halfway through the second season and the chemistry between Kaley Cuoco and Emmy-winning Jim Parsons makes their scenes sheer delights. Penny’s romantic entanglement with Leonard also altered the roommate dynamic with Sheldon, which played out nicely throughout the season.

The four guys remain geeks that ComicMix fans recognize, for better or worse. As a result, episodes such as “The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary” and “The Wheaton Recurrence” with guest nemesis Wil Wheaton and “The Precious Fragmentation” are particularly enjoyable. But, the show begins to bring in stunt casting gimmicks such as “The Excelsior Acquisition” and the legendary Stan Lee, which is fine once a season, but can easily devolve if not kept in check. And as the third season begins, mastermind Chuck Lorre will be overseeing not only this gem, but [[[Two and a Half Men]]] and the newcomer, [[[Mike and Molly]]], so if the show jumps the shark, it could be this season.

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Happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

  • News
  • September 19, 2010

Founded by Cap’n Slappy and Ol’ Chumbucket in 1996, International Talk Like A Pirate Day is celebrated today, the 19th of September here and abroad. The two mates began talking like buccaneers one day, and thanks to some promotion from Dave Barry, we can now all share in this truly amazing holiday.

So, today, unlike any other day in the year, you’re allowed to yell “Avast, ye matey!” when you see your friend at Buffalo Wild Wings. You may refer to the waitress as “a soddy lass” or “a buxom wench”. When you order your wings, you can dust off some phrases like “Ahoy! I’ll ‘ave the cap’n’s order of yer finest wings, and a enough grog to make me loaded to the Gunwales!” And when the waitress gives you the stank eye for speaking pirate, bang your fist on the table and say “By the powers! You land-lubber lass…I said get me a plunder of wings and ale, lest I and me mates turn this table over and make you walk the plank!”

If you still need a little hint or two on how to talk like a pirate, you should double up on your adjectives. Instead of calling your last issue of Brightest Day a “waste of my time”, you can say its “a stinking, rotten waste of me time, arrrrgh!”. Another hint would be to use ‘I be’ instead ‘I am’, and drop your G’s and V’s. That way when you declare “I be throwin’ you this issue of X-Men, and I be wantin’ a refund!” the store clerk will give you a knowing glance.

Tip of our pirate hat to the the fine folks at yarr.org, for gettin’ us up to speed on this momentous day. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to go put on our peg legs, and hoist our sails on for Ford Explorarrrrrgh!

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Review: ‘Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide’

Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide

by Alan Cowsill
208 pages, DK Publishing, $16.99

avengers-guide1-9804420It’s a new Age of Heroes in the Marvel Universe but as always, the clarion call for champions is answered by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. With the hoopla surrounding the Marvel Studios’ announcements regarding the 2012 live-action [[[Avengers]]] movie, the timing is perfect for this book from DK Publishing.

Unfortunately, the book itself is already dated because they made little effort to make certain the status quo matched what was being published in the comic books. This is, of course, an exceedingly tricky proposition but thankfully, both Marvel and DC have recently hit demarcation points where you could say the information contained in these books are concurrent. (I managed to make next month’s [[[The Essential Superman Encyclopedia]]] information reflected the end of the [[[New Krypton]]] story so it can be done.) Reading through Alan Cowsill’s text, it is largely set during he events of Siege although some information is from the subsequent Age of Heroes so its inconsistent and confusing.

A book like this, especially from DK, prides itself on clarity of information and yet organizations and events are referred to and there’s no context or explanation provided, so it’s one thing to tell readers someone belonged to the Initiative, but what was the Initiative? The book also lacks any source material so you don’t have the usual listing of first appearances which is a major factual omission. Even more grievous is that for a book called Avengers, not once is there anything about the team. I was interested to see the line-up by line-up examinations along with explanations for the West Coast and New incarnations of the team.

Instead, this book features just over 200 heores and villains with information blocks, pointless power rankings, and lots of pop-ups with additional details. Visually, the material is mostly showing us the current incarnations of the character with smaller images culled from throughout Marvel history. This, though, may be the first time a book of this nature lacks substantial images culled from the first Marvel Age so Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, and John Romita are severely underrepresented. Heck, titans like John Buscema, John Romita, Jr., John Byrne, and many others are also missing in action.

Over two dozen of the entries are out of date given the end of the Siege storyline. Perhaps the most inaccurate page is the one for Ant Man which gives us the deceased Scott Lang and never mentions the current Eric O’Grady, while the callout image of Hank Pym shows him as Giant Man.

There are some other serious gaffes such as giving us Clint Barton pages, one for Hawkeye and one for Ronin, which was superfluous. Similarly, Hank Pym gets pages as both Wasp II and Giant Man. The [[[Captain America]]] page is Steve Rogers with no page for Bucky as either the Winter Solider or Captain America II. In much the same way, the Black Panther page is all about T’Challa despite his sister being the current Panther (even in comics coming out this fall) but she gets merely a brief mention.

Characters who recently died such as[[[ Hercules]]], [[[Black Bolt]]], and [[[the Sentry]]] are said to be hale and hardy and while Jessica Jones’ page tells us she and Luke Cage had a child, Luke’s page neglects that detail as does the Invisible Woman entry neglect to mention Franklin and Valeria.

Books like these are great to thumb through and make a handy reference work but this one volume is a wee bit too all over the place to be anything more than a pretty picture book.

NEWSDAY SATURDAY!!!!

  • News
  • September 18, 2010

It appears that although there may not be tons of other material today, ALL PULP is having a decent day for news! Check out the announcement on the first ever Pulp Themed Restaurant and the announcement of writing/art teams on a Moonstone Project! And coming later today, convention news even!!!  You got pulp news and want to be a part of the Saturday rush?  Send it to allpulp@yahoo.com! 

Neil Gaiman to Appear on Arthur

  • News
  • September 17, 2010

In the continuing saga of comic book writers appearing anywhere they can, author Neil Gaiman has been animated as part of the PBS series Arthur. Gaiman, whose illustrious career includes the acclaimed Sandman series and Marvel’s 1602, as well as the Newbery Award-winning The Graveyard Book and a number of picture books, is lending his proto-goth façade to the popular kids’ show. His episode is set to debut on October 25. Gaiman isn’t the first comic creator to get himself animated into a popular cartoon, however. We here at ComicMix enjoyed the Simpsons episode where Alan Moore, Daniel Clowes, and Art Spiegelman do a signing at the new Springfield comic shop, Coolsville,  and later fly away (literally) as the League of Independent Comic Creators. We wanted to embed that clip here so you could relive it, but sadly Hulu skipped seasons 11–19 in their listings.

So, as we were saying, be sure to set that ol’ DVR to tape Arthur on October 25th, and catch Neil “The Cat” Gaiman’s appearance. We’ve no idea what the show will be about, but we assume Arthur and his pals attend a book signing where Neil will say something that will enrapture the kids in comic book fever. And all will be right with the world.

We hope this is a continuing trend. Our bet? Look for Brian Michael Bendis on the next season of Yugi-Oh.

The Point Radio: Super Powers On The Family Plan

  • Uncategorized
  • September 17, 2010

From DAWSON’S CREEK to the GREEN LANTERN film, families and super people are familiar territory to Greg Berlati. Now with NO ORDINARY FAMILY, her gets the best of both. Plus NEIL GAIMAN morphs into….?

And be sure to stay on The Point via iTunes - ComicMix, RSS, MyPodcast.Comor Podbean!

Follow us now on and !

Don’t forget that you can now enjoy THE POINT 24 hours a Day – 7 Days a week!. Updates on all parts of pop culture, special programming by some of your favorite personalities and the biggest variety of contemporary music on the net – plus there is a great round of new programs on the air including classic radio each night at 12mid (Eastern) on RETRO RADIO COMICMIX’s Mark Wheatley hitting the FREQUENCY every Saturday at 9pm and even the Editor-In-Chief of COMICMIX, Mike Gold, with his daily WEIRD SCENES and two full hours of insanity every Sunday (7pm ET) with WEIRD SOUNDS!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN LIVE FOR FREE or go to GetThePointRadio for more including a connection for mobile phones including iPhone & Blackberrys.

 

 

Review: ‘Forbidden Planet’

Last week, Warner Home Video released six of their science fiction films on Blu-ray for the first time. While all were greatly appreciated by genre fans to one degree or another, it can be safely said that the most eagerly awaited one is also the best one of the set. MGM’s Forbidden Planet is clearly a class act and the loving restoration is evident in just how fabulous the movie looks in high definition.

The 1956 was one of the studio’s last major releases before its decline in quality, and it was also their first real attempt at science fiction. All the resources that made their musicals shine brightly were brought to the feature production and as a result, this is the single best science fiction movie made that decade. Its influences go far beyond imagination considering the enduring popularity of Robby the Robot and how much the film’s look and feel influenced young producer Gene Roddenberry when he conceived Star Trek only eight years later.

Sure, some of the science remains implausible, but it was a terrific story inspired by William Shakespeare’s The Tempest transplanted to an alien world. The strong cast was anchored by Walter Pidgeon’s Morbius and Leslie Nielsen as Commander John Adams. Filling out the ensemble was Anne Francis as Morbius’ innocent daughter Altaira and familiar genre vets Richard Anderson and Warren Stevens.  The Bellerophon expedition had gone silent and Adams’ crew was sent to investigate, discovering two survivors and the remnants of an incredible alien civilization, the Krell. Morbius’ genius is evident in the robotic servant, Robby, he designed and built, but Adams is troubled by the man’s reluctance to leave the world and rejoin humanity. Menacing them, though, was an unseen horror that had to be stopped before anyone could leave the world.

The sets and costumes were unlike any science fiction film previously made and the scope and spectacle to the matte paintings and special effects also raised this film beyond so many of the low budget atomic horror films that categorized the genre that decade. Everyone took the film seriously, playing things straight, and making it a tale of humanity among the stars. Also helping us consider this something different was the electronic score, credited in the release as “electronic tonalities”, a dramatic departure from what had been used before.

Warner had previously released this in a nifty package designed for the now defunct HD-DVD format, so this has been an eagerly awaited release. The care that went into restoring it in 2007, especially boosting the fading Eastman Color stock, has been preserved here and the film has never looked better.

The disc is packed with plenty of special features, making this a true celebration of the film and its legacy. All are carried over from the HD release and none were prepared for Blu-ray so appear in standard format. Still, they are all worth your time and attention. Kicking things off is the TCM special, “Watch the Skies!” as you spend nearly an hour listening to Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, James Cameron, and Ridley Scott discuss what SF films were like prior to Forbidden Planet. Nice perspective, terrific clips and a solid Mark Hamill narration make this a strong entry.

There’s also “Amazing!” a well-produced 27 minute feature talking to the surviving cast and crew of the film, talking about its production. Great archival drawings are unearthed to illustrate this piece. Robby gets his due in the 14 minute “Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon”.

There are plenty of deleted scenes all of which comes with captioning to introduce each one and explain what was changed or why it was dropped from the final print. Some are missed, but most are interesting from a historic perspective only.

The robot’s popularity is demonstrated by the inclusion of the 1957 quickie, The Invisible Boy, a feature about a young boy and his robot. When the robot’s programming is altered, he becomes a threat to the Earth and Timmy, who can somehow turn invisible, is the only one who can stop it. Robby also guest starred on countless television series and The Thin Man episode from 1958 is included as an example.

Walter Pidgeon appears in two excerpts from the prime time MGM Parade series when he appeared to promote the film.

No fan of the genre can be without this wonderful film that has been well-preserved and endures the passage of time. If you haven’t seen it lately, now is the time to rediscover the marvels of intelligent science fiction at a time when paranoia ruled the day.

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Kevin Conroy Discusses his Return to the Batcave

  • News
  • September 17, 2010

bat-dog-3968726That loud sound you hear in the distance is the echo of fanboys cheering the return of Kevin Conroy to his benchmark role as the voice of the Dark Knight for the highly-anticipated Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, the ninth entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies coming September 28, 2010 from Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Home Video.

Conroy, the voice behind the title character of the landmark Batman: The Animated Series, set a standard that has yet to be contested over the past 20 years. Conroy had already been seen on soap operas and television series like Dynasty and Tour of Duty when he aced his first audition for an animated voiceover role in 1991 – earning the title character role for Batman: The Animated Series. It was a casting decision that sounds as good today as it did back then.

Conroy will share that voice in person as the featured guest when Warner Home Video, UGO.com and The Paley Center for Media proudly present the East Coast premiere of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse in New York on September 23. The West Coast premiere will be hosted in Los Angeles on September 21.

The bi-coastal premieres are just part of the ongoing festivities in conjunction with the release of the film. Included in the activities is “Destination Apocalypse,” an interactive online promotion that allows fans to get even deeper into the mythology of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.  Fans can access “Destination Apocalypse” at http://DestinationApocalypse.com and explore the many sections including games, quizzes and information about film. Fans can even send Kryptonian messages to their Facebook friends.  In each section, participants virtually “check in” and earn badges to unlock an exclusive video clip from the movie.  In addition, earning badges for participating in the various activities in each section help to unlock exclusive movie poster downloads.

Conway helps lead a Superman/Batman: Apocalypse cast that includes fan favorite Tim Daly (Private Practice) as Superman, as well as Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age) as the daunting Darkseid, sci-fi heroine Summer Glau (Serenity/Firefly; Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), and multi-Emmy Award winner Ed Asner (Up) as Granny Goodness.

Based on the DC Comics series/graphic novel Superman/Batman: Supergirl by Jeph Loeb, Michael Turner and Peter Steigerwald, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse is produced by animation legend Bruce Timm and directed by Lauren Montgomery (Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths) from a script by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist).

Conroy will speak quite a bit during pre-premiere interviews and a post-premiere panel discussion on September 23. But for those fans who can’t attend the sold-out event, here’s some thoughts the actor offered after a recent recording session.

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