Former Marvel Comics editor Nel Yomtov was named executive editor at Hammond World Atlas, a division of Langenscheidt. In addition to working with the century old map publisher, Yomtov will also be charged with developing new lines for the parent firm.

The map company provides graphics to WCBS in New York and CNN nationally.

Yomtov was a long time editor at Marvel before leaving during the turbulent bankruptcy years.  He served as a special projects manager at DC Comics before moving to Rosen Publishing.  While there he rose to editorial director and was largely responsible for the educational publisher’s move into graphic biographies and histories. Yomtov also worked as a creative director at Parachute Press, a consultant to Major League Baseball and colored The Transformers for nine years. Yomtov is considered one of the friendliest guys in the field and played a mean softball game when he played on the DC and Marvel teams.
 

Fantasy Flight Games will release their new board game, Android in December, according to ICv2. Designed by Kevin Wilson (Arkham Horror, Descent), the game has been two years in the making and is described as “a groundbreaking game of murder and conspiracy set in a dystopian future that is made to order for Bladerunner fans.  Players assume the role of detectives who must travel between the city of New Angeles and the moon colony Heinlein to chase down leads and in the process they must balance their pursuit of the murderer against the turmoil in their personal lives while wrestling with their inner demons.”

After months of teasing the game through viral marketing, the $59.95 game is ready for release, designed for 3-5 players and takes between 2-4 hours to play. A trailer previewing the game is now available on the company’s website.

The Last Templar, a four hour miniseries starring Mira Sorvino, Victor Garber and Scott Foley has been scheduled to air on consecutive nights, January 25 and 26, at 9 p.m. Directed by Paolo Barzman (Grand Star), the miniseries was written by Suzette Couture (The Terrorist Next Door) based on Raymond Khoury‘s novel.

Sorvino will be Tess Chaykin, a Manhattan archaeologist who is drawn into a fast-paced, romantic adventure concerning the lost secrets of the medieval Knights Templar. Garber (Eli Stone) is Monsignor De Angelis, who steps in to help with the investigation to retrieve the lost artifact.

The Last Templar opens with the fall of the Latin Kingdom’s reign in the Holy Land in Acre in 1291. As the burning city falls to the Sultan’s forces, a lone galley escapes out to sea, carrying a young knight from the historic order of the Knights Templar, Martin of Carmaux, his mentor Aimard of Villiers, and a mysterious chest entrusted to them by the Order’s dying Grand Master. But the ship never reaches its destination.

Later, in present-day New York, Chaykin witnesses four masked horsemen, dressed as Templar Knights, who storm into the Metropolitan Museum, scattering Manhattan society gathered for the gala opening night of an exhibition of Vatican treasures. She watches in silent terror as the leader of the horsemen hones in on one piece in particular–a strange-geared device that he grabs as he disappears into Central Park.

As the horsemen’s dead bodies start turning up–and the importance of the stolen device becomes more apparent–Tess and FBI Agent Sean Reilly are drawn into the dark, hidden history of the crusading knights and of the last surviving Templars’ fateful journey from Acre. The pair is soon propelled into a dangerous adventure that takes them through the cemeteries and sewers of Manhattan, across continents to desolate Turkish highlands, to a violent storm on the Mediterranean that shipwrecks them onto a remote Greek island–and into the very heart of an incredible Vatican secret.

The99 is a comic book published by Kuwait-based Teshkeel Media about super-powered beings, each also embodying one of 99 global values, hailing from 99 countries, coming together to battle evil. They debuted in May 2006 as a one-shot released throughout the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region, with an ongoing series debuting the following September. North American editions began to see print in 2007. The books appear in seven languages including English, Arabic, Hindi, Malaysian and French

The book is edited by former Marvel Comics editor and colorist Marie Javins and is mostly written by comics veteran Stuart Moore.  Drawn in a Western style, it could pass as a title from most of the major North American publishers. The subject matter, though, is heavily influenced by Islamist values including the number 99, which defines the number of attributes the Quran, says are possessed by Allah.

Forbes named The99 as one of the “Top 20 Trends Sweeping the Globe”. On Monday, Endemol has announced a deal that will have them produce an animated series based on the comic. Additionally, plans call for six The99-themed amusement parks with the first set to open in Kuwait come January.

The animated series will be created in India with post-production done at Endemol’s United Kingdom facilities. Both Endemol and Teshkeel are contributing funds to cover costs until revenues begin flowing. Teshkeel has raised $23 million from private investors and has yet to show a profit according to the Wall Street Journal. (more…)

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced a February 24 release date for the fourth and final feature-length Futurama epic Into The Wild Green Yonder.  Joining the standard and Blu-ray DVD saga this time as guest stars are illusionist Penn Jillette, hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg, talk radio superstar Phil Hendrie, and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. In addition, fans of the series will be thrilled and relieved to finally discover the truth about “Number 9 Man,” a deeply mysterious character from the earliest days of the series. 

Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder is jam-packed with bonus features, including audio commentary from Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, writers and animators, a making-of mockumentary, deleted scenes, How to Draw Futurama, “Bender’s Movie Theater Etiquette,” “Zapp Brannigan’s Guide to Making Love at a Woman” and much more.

The Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $29.98 U.S. / $37.98 Canada and on Blu-ray for $39.98 U.S. / $49.98 Canada.

Synopsis:

All the other galaxies will be green with envy! In this all-new Futurama extravaganza, mankind stands on the brink of a wondrous new Green Age.  But ancient forces of darkness, three years older than time itself, have returned to wreak destruction.  Even more shocking: Bender’s in love with a married fembot, and Leela’s on the run from the law – Zapp Brannigan’s law!  Fry is the last hope of the universe… so if you’re in the universe, you might want to think about going somewhere else.  Could this be the end of the Planet Express crew forever?  Say it ain’t so, meatbag!  Off we go, Into the Wild Green Yonder! (more…)

Iron Man 2 screenwriter Justin Theroux told MTV’s Splash Page that the Entertainment Weekly reports as to why Terrence Howard was dropped from the cast in favor of Don Cheadle were not entirely accurate.

“I can’t really speak to the plot stuff and all the rest of it but Rhodes is completely present in a very strong and big way,” Theroux said Tony Stark’s friend and the future War Machine. “He’s completely present.”

“All that stuff that was in the EW article,” said Theroux regarding statements Howard was being dropped when the story being crafted minimized Rhodey’s role,. “I don’t know. I can only tell you what I know which is that from a writing standpoint we didn’t do anything differently [with the character]. It’s not like we were sitting there going, we need less of this or that. We just approached the characters and the story on their own terms.”

Meantime, Spoiler TV found some casting sheets for parts in the sequel which is set to shoot in April 2009 for a May 2010 release.

The parts being cast include:

[MALE LEAD]
30s, Eastern European, brilliant, gritty…

[FEMALE LEAD]
20s, beautiful, speaks several languages fluently and is equally proficient in martial arts…

[BRUISER]
Russian, 20s or 30s, at least 6’2", able to perform own stunts, has the build of a MMA fighter…