Awareness Test – In Less Than 30 Secs Find Out How Aware You Are!
How aware are you? In less than 30 seconds you can find out. – Craig
How aware are you? In less than 30 seconds you can find out. – Craig
How aware are you? In less than 30 seconds you can find out. – Craig
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
CBS has announced that Jericho has been cancelled. This is pretty sad news for fans [myself included] who’ve followed the show since episode one.Jericho was one of those shows that seemed to gain momentum as the season progressed. The season one premiere left me feeling that Jericho had a great concept, and the potential to be really good or it go the opposite direction and become a “new romance / save one of the townsfolk” of the week dramas. Instead it became a compelling vision of life in a small town cut off from the rest of the country after the US was the victim of multiple nuclear attacks. Increasingly, I found myself anticipating each new episode. I was sad to learn that Jericho was cancelled at the end of the first season.
Of course we’re all aware that Jericho was saved by a massive fan base and brought back for an abbreviated season two. Unfortunately, season two got off to a slow start. There was a new focus — instead of being about how the folks of Jericho were going to survive life after nuclear attacks, the show took a broader canvas and became about how the country would survive a potential overthrow from within. The change was jarring, but for those of us who stayed with Jericho, we were treated to a show that had the potential to be even better than the first season. I was diggin’ the direction of the show and again looking forward to each new episode.
Unfortunately, Jericho has been cancelled yet again. One thing I’ve learned from the show and it’s fan base, is it ain’t over until it’s over. Hopefully Jericho will find new life on a different network [perhaps the SCIFI channel?] and the story will continue to unfold. If so, I’ll be coming along for the ride.
What Joe Said
The extremely talented Joe Bluhm is interviewed here. It’s short, sweet and worth a look!
Hugh Jackman Set to Drive
Way back in November of 06 I posted how much I enjoyed James Sallis’ noir-crime novel Drive. Today Variety announced that Neil Marshall is set to direct Hugh Jackman in the big screen adaptation. I’m just hoping that I dig it as much as the novel!
It’s a Wolf, Man!
I’m a sucker for a good werewolf movie. I’m hoping “Wolfman” will join the list of great ones. EW.com has a couple of photos of Benicio Del Toro as the “Wolfman” and a short interview with Rick Baker [make-up genius] here.
Tropic Thunder Trailer
I’ve got to admit that Harry Houdini Movie Star
Long time ZONErs probably remember how much I was into Harry Houdini and magic when I was a kid. [Weren’t we all?] Despite the fact that I’ve read books, seen movies, newsreels and more about Harry Houdini, I’ve never seen the movies that he made. That should change once Harry Houdini Movie Star is released.
Look Out for Femme Noir
Next month, the first issue of Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries, written by Chris Mills and drawn by Joe Staton, will be listed in Diamond Comics Distribution’s Previews. If you get Previews, I’d like you to check it out. My guess is after doing so, you’ll want to order a copy. If you don’t get previews, then please ask your local comic shop owner to take a look at it.Femme Noir is a cartoon crime comic inspired by Eisner’s The Spirit, Gould’s Dick Tracy, plus a healthy mix of cliffhanger serials, B-movies, pulp magazines, and more. Each issue will feature a 28 page standalone story [how rare is that!] plus two pin-ups by guest artists!
Issues #1 and #3 are inked by Horacio Ottolini, issues #2 and #4 by Mark Stegbauer. Colors are provided by Melissa Kaercher and Matt Webb. As an added bonus, each issue is offered with two covers: one pencilled by Joe Staton and then digitally painted by Alfredo Lopez Jr, with the second by a guest artist. Those guest artists are Brian Bolland, Matt Haley, Phil Hester, and the late Mike Wieringo. [Some fans will buy the issues just for the guest covers!]
The official Femme Noir website is http://www.femme-noir.com. Check out the website and if you like what you see, help me spread the word. [And no, I’m not getting any kickbacks. I like Chris Mills’ work — especially his crime comic Gravedigger — and I’d like to see Chris and Joe Staton get the audience they deserve on Femme Noir. If it wasn’t a worthy comic, I wouldn’t be talking it up… and you wouldn’t still be reading this.]
The Strangers
Now this trailer for The Strangers is one that I can get behind. I love the creepiness of the images. Although it starts out looking like a ghost movie, I hope it doesn’t end up being a “slasher” film.
The Incredible… Yawn
Jim & Mike & Cartoons I Liked
One of my highlight’s from MegaCon was getting to spend a bit of time with two old friends. That’s Jim Ivey on the left and Mike Kott on the right. I’ve known these guys for over 30 years. Jim is an award-winning political cartoonist and founder of the original Cartoon Museum. Mike is the founder and co-owner of The Intergalactic Trading Company. Together they [along with Bill Black] put on OrlandoCon, one of the best comic book conventions you’d find anywhere. I knew them because of their respective business enterprises, but we became friends over countless hands and hours playing cards. I only get to see these guys about once a year now. But when we do see each other, it’s like the years melt away.It’s hard to believe that I’m almost the age that Jim Ivey was when we first met! And speaking of Jim Ivey, he has a new book out called Cartoons That I Liked. It features some of his favorite cartoons from the thousands that he did over the years. It’s available as a or $3.00 pdf download or $9.95 for the actual book. You can even order one from Jim which will come autographed and with a sketch for $20.00. If you’re at all interested in political cartoons, then I’d appeciate it if you’d order a copy. The pdf is a steal at three bucks and getting the autographed copy at $20 is a bargain. If you order a copy from Jim, please tell him I sent you his way. Who knows, I may need some goodwill from him should we ever get into another poker game.
Dave Stevens – RIP
Dave Stevens, illustrator/comic book artist, died yesterday. Probably best known for creating The Rocketeer, Stevens was also known for his “good girl” art and love for Bettie Page. Stevens didn’t have a prolific output, but each piece he created was a beauty. Mark Evanier explains why and writes a worthy remembrance.Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dave Stevens‘ family, friends and fans.
The 4 Stooges
Since everyone here loves The Three Stooges [and don’t try to tease me by saying you don’t], I thought that you’d get a kick out of Costumes or Wardrobe?
As we were waiting for MegaCon to officially start, we were surprised by the huge number of fans in costume. Men. women and children in all sizes and shapes were parading around in costumes adapted from characters in comics, cartoons, movies, video games, tv and perhaps outer space. At some point I noted that some of these folks weren’t in costume. My contention was that if they dressed this way daily, their attire would no longer be considered a costume, but instead wardrobe. Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, the remaining minutes until the show opened were spent debating whether or not an identified person was in costume or wardrobe.
I thought you might like to see some of the better costumes, so I took several photos. I was tempted to also take shots of folks that I felt were probably in wardrobe, but then thought better of it. So off we go with comments as needed… the photo above is dedicated to Judge Monty!
This photo cracks me up. You have a huge group of super heroes [and a couple of villains] just kind of hanging out and then this fella in the far left decides to dash across before the pictures were snapped. Maybe he was trying out for a place in their group since the Flash couldn’t make it. My guess is he wasn’t fast enough.
Here’s another group of heroes that I caught lounging around before heading out on the convention floor. The guy playing Nightwing must have Spidey-sense because he snapped into a pose without me saying I was going for a photo.
The guy in the photo above and the couple in the picture below may have something to do with the fact that I didn’t see anyone at the show who looked like a real Batman. Perhaps these three were in wardrobe and bumped him off!
The guy playing Ghost Rider was probably 6’6″ and looked more menacing in real life. Mr. Freeze was my favorite costume of the show. Look closely and you can see the glass head covering and the ice coming off his blaster. Indiana Jones made an appearance as well.
This is a photo of the design on a fan’s shirt. It’s done by the very popular artist, Alex Ross. I’d never seen the design before. Although I try to keep politics out of the ZONE [since I want to focus on fun stuff], you have to admit that the image quickly sums up the feelings of a lot of people in our country. Now back to more costumes…
Perhaps the guy in the middle is hoping for a try-out to join the Green Lantern Corps. Then again, maybe he’s a sidekick to the second Lantern.
Yeah, I know… Who Ya Gonna Call…
Three of the 300 showed up with a couple of their babes. Things were going well until, and I kid you not, a guy dressed up as Jesus was “attacked” by them for a photo op. Somehow I think the line, “Tonight we dine in Hell!” may come true for these “warriors.”
More on the show to come…
