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San Diego Comic-Con Tips, plus one or two extra

  • News
  • July 20, 2009

It’s that time of year again, the time when San Diego Comic-Con goers, grizzled veterans and fresh faced newbies alike, are reading Tom Spurgeon’s 100 tip list and seeing if they forgot anything. Tom’s list is long enough this year to qualify for a novella, but is either the most or second-most useful piece of reading for the con, right up there with the program schedule.

That said, Tom missed a few tips:

Keep your cell phone on vibrate. At all times. You may not be able to hear it ring on the main exhibit hall floor or any late night bars, and you will disrupt a panel if it rings there. Better: when possible, text a message instead of calling– again, because ambient sound levels where you are may be too high to hear anything or because they should be very low.

When asking a question at a panel, if it’s too long to put in a Twitter message, it may be too long to ask. Consider rephrasing.

And you have no excuse for not having a business card. No matter who you are. They’re cheap, easy and quick to get. You don’t have to go crazy on one, but you do have to have something. You never know when you’ll need one– buying a drink for a Playboy Playmate, for example. At worse, buy blank cards and prepare to write your name a lot– but write a few in advance, for speed’s sake.

Michael A. Burstein and wife welcome twin girls (UPDATED)

  • News
  • July 19, 2009

Mazel tov! Reprinting the SFScope announcement:

Award-winning science fiction writer (and SF Scope contributor)
Michael A. Burstein and wife Nomi Burstein welcomed two twin children,
their first, to their family today.

The twins are fraternal, and both are girls. The first baby was born at 9:20AM, weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces, and is 17″ long. The second baby was born at 9:21AM,
weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces, and is 19″ long. The twins were delivered by
C-section at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. The attending
physician was Dr. Rafik Mansour. The delivery was originally scheduled
for this Thursday, but was moved up for medical reasons.

As befits a science-fiction couple, the Bursteins are banking the babies’ cord blood for the blood’s stem cells.

Per Modern Orthodox Jewish custom, the babies will not be named
until the parents attend a Torah service at their synagogue,
Kadimah-Toras Moshe in Brighton, which is currently planned for
Saturday 25 July.

Mother and babies are recovering in the hospital.

Congratulations, Bursteins!

UPDATE: Now with pictures!

And yes, that’s a copy of Sci-Fi Baby Names: 500 Out-of-This-World Baby Names from Anakin to Zardoz
.

Review: ‘Pushing Daisies’ Season 2 on DVD

When Pushing Daisies debuted in the fall of 2007, I wrote
on my blog the show “is a delight. With its oversaturated color palette and
Jim Dale narration, this is a fairy tale with a set of off-kilter characters
that you immediately warm to. The leads and supporting cast are equally strong
so it’s up to the writers to make the most of them. I can see why ABC pushed
this so hard; it’s the most original series of the season.”

Somewhat retooled during the writers’ strike, ABC brought it
back this past fall and by Christmas it was gone with three episodes unaired.
Those finally got seen in June and now the entire second season is available as
a four disc box set, being released Tuesday from Warner Home Video.

The second season continued to have the feeling of a fairy
tale and maintained the basic tenants of the series from Jim Dale’s delightful
narration to the everything is slightly over-the-top but you buy it visuals.

Still, the cast probably had a few regulars and recurring
players too many and the storylines reflected that.  We have Olive hiding as a nun, taking away
from the core cast and concocting stories to bring the cast to her. Ned’s daddy
issues continued to flare up along with the improbable introduction of half-brothers
that only bloated the stories for a while. No sooner were they dispatched than
we turned to Chuck’s daddy issues complete with Daddy’s resurrection. The best
part of that was how he reacted and took advantage of the situation, causing fresh
problems for Ned and Chuck. Coupled with Chuck’s story was her aunts and the
arrival of Dwight, a recurring antagonist who got caught up with Vivian.

It felt messy and overdone, and for those trying to sample
the show, it was probably dense and off-putting. For those of us who watched it
regularly, we delighted in the bizarre cases, highlights including the
honey-based cosmetics murder, the death of Colonel Likkin and the case of the dead
window dresser.

Clearly, the writing was on the wall, allowing Bryan Fuller
to try and tidy things up in the final three episodes. The penultimate story,
which possibly had the best script of the season, allowed some closure to
Emerson Cod’s search for his daughter, allowing the finale to wrap up Chuck’s
issues with her Aunts, one of whom turned out to be her natural mother.

The core cast was nothing but superb from beginning to end. They
played everything straight in a wacky world and each appeared as fully-fleshed
out people with surprising quirks and hobbies (Emerson’s knitting for example).
The chemistry between Lee Pace and Anna Friel helped the romantic fairy tale
feel and they were more than ably supported by Kristen Chenoweth and Chi
McBride.  The guest cast was a nice blend
of the familiar and the less familiar but everyone played their parts larger
than life, adding to the unreal feel of the series.

The 13 episodes are complemented by four short featurettes:
The Master Pie Maker which was heavy on clips and not enough interview material
with the cast about the show overall; From Over to Table, which focused on
bringing the scripts to life that could have benefitted with a little more on
the props and set design; Secret Sweet Ingredients, a strong piece on the
wonderful music from composer Jim Dooley; and, Add a Little Magic, which was a
brief look at the visual effects. They, like the pie Ned served, were sweet
morsels leaving you wanting more.

Much like the series, this may be gone from television but
will live on as a maxiseries from WildStorm. For now, though, the second season
comes recommended.

Viper Comics wants you!

  • News
  • July 18, 2009

Not much to say about this one, folks, except that Viper Comics, of Middleman fame, is holding a talent search. What’s different about this one, you ask? Well, in addition to looking for artists, as most of these talent searches  do, they’re going to take writers off the street. What are they looking for in writing samples? Man, you’re just full of good questions today. From the horse’s mouth:

<

p class=”bodyBold”>In order to have your writing accepted it must:

  • be a self-contain story that runs no more than 5 (FIVE) comic-pages.
  • be about an existing character in the comic book world.
  • be presented in something resembling a professional comic book script.
  • make sure you include ALL your contact information on your submission.

If you’re at San Diego Comic Con, they’ll accept samples and portfolios there. If you can’t make it out, they’ll accept a digital copy up until the convention ends, Sunday, July 27th at 5pm Pacific.
So what’re you writers and artists looking for? Get going!

The Point: Twilight, Trek & ComicCon

  • Uncategorized
  • July 17, 2009

TWILIGHT is finally headed to comics and it will be manga, HARRY POTTER kicks DARK KNIGHT off the Box Office Record Chart and a 21st Century STAR TREK DVD is coming. Oh yeah, ComicCon is here in FIVE days!

PRESS THE BUTTON to Get The Point!

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

Follow us now on and !

Don’t forget that you can now enjoy THE POINT 24/7. Updates on all parts of pop culture, special progarmming by some of your favorite personalities and the biggest variety of contemporary music on the net.

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



frank-elle-frazetta-5524025

Eleanor Frazetta, 1935-2009

  • News
  • July 17, 2009

frank-elle-frazetta-5524025Eleanor ‘Ellie’ Frazetta, the wife of celebrated artist Frank Frazetta, passed away today after a courageous one-year battle with cancer.

Eleanor Kelly was born in Massachusetts and moved to New York where she married Frank in November, 1956. She acted as his business partner as well as his lifelong companion. Known for her feisty personality as well as her intuitive business acumen, she was instrumental in successfully establishing record prices for Frank’s work throughout her life.

She is survived by her husband Frank, her four children, Frank Jr., Billy, Holly and Heidi, numerous grandchildren, and many friends.

A public memorial is planned and details will be announced shortly. In the meantime, the family requests privacy.

Our condolences go out to the Frazetta family.

UPDATE: We originally listed Mrs. Frazetta’s birth date as 1956. We regret the error.

ComicMix Six: Comic Book Folks to #FollowFriday on Twitter

  • News
  • July 17, 2009

comicmixsix300px1-3557915It’s #followfriday on Twitter, and these are some of the comics folks you should be following if you aren’t already doing so…

  1. Warren Ellis – If you’ve ever read anything by him, especially The Authority, Planetary, or Transmetropolitan, it probably won’t surprise you
    to learn how angry he can get on his Twitter. What will surprise you—and
    probably make you laugh–is how flowery his language can get when he’s on a
    tirade. Oh, and he also has a lot of really interesting links to share and
    interesting insights on the medium to discuss. Besides, who else do you know
    that’ll greet you every morning with “Good morning, sinners?” http://www.twitter.com/WarrenEllis

  2. Ben Templesmith – Possibly the handsomest man in comics, Ben
    Templesmith is the Australian-born artist behind Fell (with Warren Ellis) and
    several Steve Niles projects, most famously 30 Days Of Night. His Twitter feed
    is chock-full of goodies, including insights as to the life of a professional
    artist, many interesting links, and a healthy dose of political opinion, if
    that’s your thing. He’s still one of the friendliest folks around, too—almost
    seven thousand followers, and he’ll often still take the time to answer a quick
    question from you here and there. http://www.twitter.com/Templesmith

  3. Bryan Lee O’Malley – The mastermind behind the Scott Pilgrim
    series hates just about everything on the Internet and doesn’t mind saying so.
    That said, following him is really the best way to get news about the upcoming
    Edgar Wright-helmed movie adaptation. Basically, if BLO doesn’t say it, it’s
    not official—regardless of what Matt Fraction (www.twitter.com/MattFraction)
    might suggest. http://www.twitter.com/Radiomaru

  4. Brian Michael Bendis – His Twitter feed might be the only
    thing the New Avengers scribe has written in the last five years that didn’t
    somehow involve Luke Cage or Spider-Woman. What it does include is Bendis’s
    take on just about everything going on in the comic book world, along with
    reposted links to just about everything Bendis-related going on in the world.
    As an added bonus, you’ll get a new appreciation for comic book editors once
    you see how bad his grammar and punctuation is. http://www.twitter.com/BRIANMBENDIS

  5. Gail Simone — If Twitter gave out a prize for “crazy
    mysterious,” this Wonder Woman writer would surely win it several times over.
    Until recently, apart from the occasional fake flamewar with Mark Waid (http://www.twitter.com/MarkWaid),
    she mostly appeared, gave an assignment—for example, “TODAY’S ASSIGNMENT:  Fictional convention panels that SHOULD
    exist, but never, EVER EVER EVER will” or 
    “Today’s Assignment: Tweets as sent by participants during epic comic
    stories. What did they twitter to friends as it all went down?” —and then vanish
    again until the next time. Now, she tweets more regularly, if only to tease Geoff
    Johns about Blackest Night. http://www.twitter.com/GailSimone

  6. ComicMix — Okay, seriously, if you’re not
    reading our Twitter feed, what the heck are you waiting for? http://www.twitter.com/ComicMix

Iron Man, Black Widow, and Hollywood pushes south for San Diego

  • News
  • July 16, 2009

A semi-deep thought re: San Diego: I can’t be the first person to make this observation, but if they keep spending more and more time promoting movies and TV shows, regardless of whether they have anything to do with comics or not, we’re going to have to start calling it the San Diego Comic Cannes.

Lord knows it’s how everybody else seems to be treating it, including this week’s Entertainment Weekly. The coverage is promoting it like the major film festival it is, only without all of those French people.

We’re even going to have our own geek version of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Sure, Angelina has Lara Croft and might be there pitching Salt, and Brad Pitt has Inglorious Basterds coming out next month, but they’re nothing compared to the new power couple of Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool and Green Lantern) and Scarlett Johansson (as the deadly Black Widow, which is a cue to run that picture.)

‘Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters’ shambling suddenly in September

  • News
  • July 16, 2009

From Quirk Books, the people who brought you Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, comes a new tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters
 expands the original text of Jane Austen’s beloved novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, swashbuckling pirates, and other seaworthy creatures… and this time, there’s a trailer.

From the press release:

As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels?

This masterful portrait of Regency England blends Jane Austen’s biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of biting sea monsters. It’s survival of the fittest… and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!

Featuring fifteen black-and-white illustrations and including A Reader’s Discussion Guide for book club and student use, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is sure to delight Austen fans as well as seafaring adventurers.

JANE AUSTEN is coauthor of the New York Times best seller Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies, which has been translated into 17 languages and
optioned to become a major motion picture. She died in 1817 and is
buried in Winchester Cathedral. Ms. Austen is not available for media.

BEN H. WINTERS is a writer who lives in Brooklyn with all the other
writers. He has written musicals for children and adults, all sorts of
magazine and newspaper articles, and some books. Mr. Winters is
available for media.

It will be available on September 15, 2009– yes, that’s the same day that Dan Brown’s new book ships. Think there will be crossover?

And what’s this about Austen not being available for media? I want to interview the Zombie Jane Austen! …mmmmm… tea and braaaains…

‘Twilight’ manga coming from Yen Press

  • News
  • July 15, 2009

Yes, a manga version of the monster hit is coming. Entertainment Weekly has the scoop: Yen Press will be publishing Twilight in graphic-novel form,
publication date still to be determined. Though Korean artist Young Kim
is creating the art, Stephenie Meyer herself is deeply immersed in the project,
reviewing every panel.

More illustrations will be in the EW issue hitting the stands this Friday.

What does this mean for comics? Well, it’s probably going to be the best selling comic book of whatever year it comes out. By far. Remember, one of every seven books sold in America in the first quarter this year was Twilight or a sequel.

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