Love for “From Paris…”
The more I see about “From Paris With Love” the more I think I’m gonna really enjoy it.
“The Walking Dead” Moves Closer
Patrick Sauriol at Coming Attractions has posted an exclusive review of Frank Darabont’s pilot script for AMC’s “The Walking Dead”. Darabont, who will also be directing the pilot is perhaps best known for his work as the screenwriter/director of “The Shawshank Redepmption”, “The Green Mile” and “The Mist”.
Saurol’s review is extremely positive and the following paragraph gives the best indication of why he thinks “The Walking Dead” will be a great series:
Contained in Darabont’s 60-page pilot script are all the elements to make the show a success. There’s plenty of horror that happens in those 60 pages. The director’s script covers the broad range of the zombie horror emotional spectrum, such as giving us moments of extreme gore (hey, any zombie TV show wouldn’t be a zombie show if it didn’t have folks being munched on!), moments of shock value (hey, you didn’t think that there was a zombie hiding behind that car, did you?) and the moments that I believe are the best indicator that The Walking Dead TV series has what it takes to transcend the boundaries of being simply labelled a horror show, the psychological horror scenes. Those scenes are the hammers that you’re going to remember and the ones that are going to propel this show to be viewed as something more important than just a scary show.
You can read the full piece by clicking here.
As a long-time fan of “The Walking Dead” comic series, I’m psyched as the television adaption moves closer and closer to my tv screen.
Dick Giordano’s Demolition Man #6
Dick Giordano, the comics legend is back! During his fifty plus years in the biz he’s done everything from ink all the greats (including himself) to serve as Editor-in-Chief of DC Comics, to co-founding his own comic company.
I had the good fortune to pick up six model sheet headsketches of Sly that Mr. Giodano did before starting work on DC Comics adaptation of “Demolition Man”. This is the sixth. To see all of the other headsketches, click here.
Hang the Batman
I’ve always liked this drawing of Batman. It was pencilled by Mike Nasser [aka Mike Netzer] and inked by Joe Rubinstein with colors by Cory Adams. The art appeared as a panel in a comic story written by David V. Reed called “Hang the Batman” which was part of Batman Spectacular, Summer 1978.
As a kid, I loved those big comic anthologies. You always got more bang for your buck! The Batman Spectacular, Summer 1978 also featured a Marshall Rogers cover; “I Now Pronounce You Batman and Wife” comic story written by Denny O’Neil with art by Michael Golden, and a prose story by Denny O’Neil called “Death Strikes at Midnight and Three” with spot illustrations by Marshall Rogers.
At any rate, I’ve always liked this drawing of Batman. I hope you do as well.
Avery Cates on the Silver Screen
I’ve been on the Jeff Somers bandwagon since before I even read his first Avery Cates’ novel, The Electric Church. It was described as “Blade Runner meets The Dirty Dozen, with a dash of Sergio Leone” and that was enough to check it out. I read the first chapter for free and then discovered Jeff Somers’ blog. I then ordered The Electric Church and totally loved it. It’s hard to believe, but I dug the next Avery Cates’ novel, The Digital Plaque even more! The third in the series, The Eternal Prison, was another fine addition.
Today it was announced that Sony Pictures has picked up movie rights to the Avery Cates series. Congrats to Jeff Sumers [who should take a day to celebrate and then get back to work on the next Avery Cates adventure]!
Dave’s New Deal: Everyone is a Winner
Less than a week ago, I wrote about a neat idea that Dave Wachter had to encourage folks to make a donation to aid the people of Haiti. Dave was doing a raffle for free drawings to anyone who donated to Doctors Without Borders to aide earthquake victims in Haiti. Several people took Dave up on his offer and some of the raffle winners’ art has started to show up on his blog.
Today Haiti was hit with another devastating earthquake. They’re going to need help more than ever so Dave decided to make a new offer to those considering a donation to help the Haiti relief effort:
NEW DEAL: No more raffle, everyone gets a sketch
That’s right EVERYONE who makes a donation to Doctors Without Borders and sends a copy of the receipt to Dave will get a FREE SKETCH CARD. Click HERE to read Dave’s post.
It’s a cliche that the worst times bring out the best in people. It’s also true. If you can spare a few bucks or more, why not send some to help the folks in Haiti? You’ll feel good and get a great drawing for your troubles. And if you believe in karma, you’ll earn some points… you know Dave should surely have some good mojo heading his way!
Robert B. Parker – R.I.P.
I was shocked to read the news this morning that Robert B. Parker had passed away yesterday. Although Parker was 77, his death was unexpected. He seemed to be in good health and as prolific as ever, writing as many as three books a year. The cause of death has been determined to have been a heart attack. Parker died at his desk working on his next novel.
My grandfather was a prolific reader and I can remember the evening that he told me about this new author, Robert B. Parker, and this wise-cracking detective that Parker had created. Grandpa thought that I’d enjoy the novel and passed me The Godwulf Manuscript. I was hooked. And I wasn’t the only one. Parker’s detective, Spenser, would return in 36 other novels as well as a television series and made for tv movies. Parker is said to have influenced a new generation of writers. Perhaps best-selling novelist Harlon Coben said it best: “When it comes to detective novels, 90 percent of us admit he’s an influence, and the rest of us lie about it.”
Parker eventually branched out to write other series characters [Jessie Stone – a small town sheriff; Sunny Randall – a female detective; a Western trilogy featuring a couple of gunfighters that many called wild west versions of Spenser and Hawk] as well as some stand alone novels. But it was always the new Spenser novel that I wanted to read as soon as it became available. I’ve written many times on my blog that each new Spenser novel is like meeting up with an old friend. I’m going to miss meeting up with Spenser.
I already miss Robert B. Parker.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, and fans.
Conan vs Leno
If you’re at all interested in the whole Conan vs Leno debacle then you owe it to yourself to read Mark Evanier’s summary of “What Went Wrong”. Evanier breaks it down to show how a series of immediate decisions created a long term disaster.
Both Conan and Leno were suffering in the ratings. I tend to agree with the thought that if all of the people rallying to Conan’s “side” had been watching his program to begin with, he wouldn’t have been bumped. I don’t watch either show, so I have about as much interest in how this turns out as I do who’ll be the next WWE champ. When this all settles perhaps Conan and Leno should schedule a grudge match on Monday Night Raw. Now THAT could be a ratings winner.
“The Invaders” Are Coming
Tomorrow morning starting at 8am EST, the Syfy channel is running a “The Invaders” marathon. “The Invaders” premiered January 10, 1967. I was 8 years old and can still remember that scary, ominous music and then the opening…
The Invaders, alien beings from a dying planet. Their destination Earth. Their purpose? To make it their world. David Vincent has seen them. For him it began one lost night on a lonely country road, looking for a short-cut… that he never found. It began with a closed deserted diner, and a man too long without sleep to continue his journey. It began with the landing of a craft from another galaxy… Now, David Vincent knows that the Invaders are here… that they have taken human form. Somehow he must convince a disbelieving world that the nightmare has already begun.
I probably haven’t seen any episodes of “The Invaders” since they originally aired, but you can bet I’ll be tuned in tomorrow. In fact, I’ve got the DVR ready to record ’em all. I’m hoping that the eight year old in me won’t be disappointed.
“The Human Target” a Bullseye?
I really like this ad for the new Fox series “The Human Target”. Seeing it reminded me that I should post a reminder about tonight’s premiere. “The Human Target” comes from a DC comic series about a body guard / security specialist. In the comic, Christopher Chance usually worked alone and would assume the identity of the person he was protecting. The tv series has tweaked the concept a bit [nothing wrong with that] and provided a supporting cast [nothing wrong with that].
From all reports the series works. Entertainment Weekly gives it a “B+” and the commercials that I’ve seen make “The Human Target” look like a fun ride. You can see if “The Human Target” hits the mark when it premieres tonight at 8pm EST on Fox.
Jon Riggle’s Freddy
Today’s piece is Jon Riggle’s take on Sly as Freddy from “Cop Land”. Jon is an illustrator and photographer. He also created the Sci-Fi comic strip Sonic Jack and is available for commissions. You can see more of Jon’s art here.
Thanks to Jon for the bang-up job and John Beatty for the gift.
Gorn “Star” [Trek]
The MTV Movies Blog is reporting that when asked about the Star Trek sequel, JJ Abrams responded:
“I have to admit the [‘Star Trek’ sequel] is really all about the Gorn.”
I hope that JJ Abrams was just throwing out an idea and is really considering using the Gorn for the next Star Trek movie.
Sure, looking back, the alien costume is really funky looking [yeah, I guess it was even when the original show aired], but that episode was always one of my favorites.
Can you imagine how scary-repulsive-cool the FX crew could make the Gorn look with today’s technology?
Yeah, bring on Kirk [Spock and the crew] vs the Gorn!
“Predators” Behind-the-Scenes
AVP Galaxy.net scored several behind-the-scenes photos from the now in production “Predators”. My guess is that the pics won’t be around for long, so if you’re at all interested, I’d head over there now.
Wachter’s Charity – Drawings for Drawings
If you’re considering a donation to aid the people of Haiti, then you might want to check out Dave Wachter’s blog. Dave is doing a raffle for anyone who donates to the Doctors Without Borders in aide of earthquake victims in Haiti charity. That’s right, Dave’s doing drawings for folks to win drawings. There are a few simple rules which you can read here.
I’ve always thought of Dave Wachter as an excellent artist. It’s even nicer to know that he’s an excellent human being.
Gulacy & Glory Days
As promised yesterday, here is my favorite non-MOKF cover by Paul Gulacy, my favorite artist from junior high through high school.
This cover is for Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #8. It has a publication date of July 1977.
I would have been 18 years old [on my way to 19] and just graduated high school. As Bruce Springsteen says, Glory Days.
