Optimus Prime speaks
If John Wayne were a giant robot with a gun, he would be Optimus Prime.
Now Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime from the original Transformers Generation One cartoon series (as well as the voice of Eeyore, Monterey Jack from Disney’s Rescue Rangers and Murky Dismal from Rainbow Brite) has given an interview on tformers.com . For those who don’t want to read the entire interview, Alan Kistler sent us the major highlights.
On deciding to audition for the new movies:
Cullen: "[I thought,] okay, what the heck. I’m going to go in and fand out what they want … Had they asked me to do changes in the character, I would have declined.
"It was interesting. I didn’t have any problem trying to find him … it was like riding a bike and he came right back … And he still stands for the qualities the writers gave him from the get go.
"The qualities of [all the Transformers] are still there. It’s like an elastic band and stretching it, but it’s still the eastic band and the strength of the characters are still there.
Comic books aren’t the only media who are having bad times with circulation drops. Comic strips are feeling pinched too, perhaps even more, as many of the large metro newspapers across the country are experiencing significant circulation drops, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Circulation at The New York Times fell by 1.93%, at Tribune’s Newsday by 6.9% and at Belo’s Dallas Morning News by 14%. National dailies fared slightly better, remaining flat compared to last year.
There won’t be a new Doctor Who episode a week from this Saturday, also known as May 12th here on Earth. The hit show is leaving this time–space continuum to make room for the Eurovision Song Contest and if they didn’t bump it the BBC would have to move the Doctor’s starting time up and the earlier the starting time the lower the ratings so screw it, they’re taking the week off.
I guess the first question is, what took them so long?
Via 
Quoting Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Making Light:
The comics industry stands at an exciting crossroads. International acceptance of graphic literature is starting to have a positive effect on how Americans see non-superhero genres, as manga saturates teen audiences and award-winning autiobiographical novels like Fun Home and Persepolis enthrall adults. When you factor the geek contingent into that, as even the superhero genre (the one most non-comics readers associate and conflate with the medium itself) gains mainstream acceptance in blockbuster movies and hit TV shows, it would seem to be another Golden Age for the artform. The future of print and online comics looks healthier than ever.
