Tagged: True Blood

IDW Unleashes Zombies Vs. Robots Prose Program

HIT GRAPHIC NOVELS GET LITERARY TREATMENT

ZVR artwork © Ashley Wood. All Rights Reserved.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:

IDW Unleashes Prose Program for Breakout Comic Series: ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS
35 Writers Explore, Expand and Remix ZvR World

San Diego, CA (September 6, 2011)—IDW’s gleefully subversive ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS comic book series from creators Chris Ryall and Ashley Wood will soon be eating readers’ brains from the inside via a series of short stories, novellas and more. As announced at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con in July, the company plans for an ambitious slate of original prose stories set at different points in this epic adventure of a zombie apocalypse. In ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS, the clanking robots are built to fight the shambling braineaters, in a desperate attempt to save Earth’s dwindling population.

“It’s gratifying to see that ZvR has taken on an unlife of its own,” asserts Ryall, series co-creator and Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief for IDW. “Expanding from comics into prose is a logical progression, though as the heretofore sole writer of the series I must admit that letting other writers into our subversive little world was at first troubling. But now I’m fine with it. Really. Mostly. Especially since editor Jeff Conner has corralled such a talented array of writers to tackle some really bizarre and creative prose stories. As long as no one expects me to let them write ZvR comics, too…”



ZVR artwork © Ashley Wood.

 A lurching cohort of writers—including such notable talents as John Shirley, Nancy A. Collins, Rio Youers, Brea Grant, Steve Rasnic Tem, Amber Benson, James A. Moore, Rachel Swirsky, Norman Prentiss, and John Skipp & Cody Goodfellow, led by Ryall himself—has been assembled to pen original stories of life during wartime in the ZVR world. “It’s our biggest project so far,” states Conner, the IDW contributing editor helming the ZVR prose program. “In a way it’s a follow-up to our Classics Mutilated release, at least in terms of its anything goes spirit. The results so far have been—um, riveting.”
The rest of the ZVR writer roster includes: Dale Bailey, Amelia Beamer, Jesse Bullington, Simon Clark, Lincoln Crisler, Stephen Dedman, Rain Graves, Rhodi Hawk, Robert Hood, Stephen Graham Jones, Nicholas Kaufmann, Steven Lockley, Nick Mamatas, Jonathan McGoran, Joe McKinney, Gary McMahon, Mark Morris, Bobby Nash, Yvonne Navarro, Hank Schwaeble, Ekaterina Sedia, Sean Taylor, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Kaaron Warren, and Don Webb.

A film version of ZVR is currently in development through Sony Pictures, with Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes as producer.

Visit IDWPublishing.com to learn more about the company and its top-selling books.

About IDW Publishing:

http://www.idwpublishing.com/

IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star Trek; HBO’s True Blood; the BBC’s Doctor Who; Toho’s Godzilla and comics and trade collections based on novels by worldwide bestselling author, James Patterson. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio. IDW’s original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. More information about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.
 ###

Read more about Zombies Vs. Robots at http://www.idwpublishing.com/news/article/1951/

This edition features “The Wall!” a story by one of All Pulp’s Spectacled Seven, Bobby Nash. Learn more about him at http://www.bobbynash.com/.

REVIEW: Griff the Invisible

REVIEW: Griff the Invisible

Where do you draw the line between fantasy and reality? Can that line be the same for everyone, or can it be redefined from person to person? Those questions are addressed in the charming and quirky Griff the Invisible, opening nationwide this Friday.

Griff lives in a fantasy world, one with electronic surveillance and a red hot line phone connecting the costumed Griff with the commissioner of police. He is an athletic threat to the scum and villainy that prowl the streets of an unidentified British city. The real Griff literally blends into the scenery as shown early on by the writer/director Leon Ford. He works in a nondescript job, trying to keep to himself but becomes the butt of jokes from office bully Tim.

His only friend appears to be his older brother Tony, who has protected his brother and intimations are made that Griff has suffered in the recent past, forcing his sibling to relocate his life in order to keep an eye on him. Tony, though, has met Melody and is besotted despite her own shy and quiet ways. She lives in her own fantasy world, certain she can find the exact point where her molecular structure can line up with that of a wall allowing her to pass right through the seemingly solid barrier. While Griff has trouble interacting with the exterior world, Melody functions better but is clumsy and apt to trip over her own feet with amazing regularity.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVZdQE93Jkw[/youtube]

When Griff and Melody meet, it is also the meeting of two complementary fantasy worlds, igniting a truly unique love story. (more…)

Did you hear about Griff the Invisible?

With everyone buzzing about the revamped DC Universe or the surprisingly sweet Super 8,  there’s another super-hero movie coming out this summer that you might not be aware of. A few weeks after Captain America opens, you can try the quirky romantic comedy Griff the Invisible, on August 19. Starring Ryan Kwanten and Maeve Dermody.

The official synopsis tells us:

The world can make us invisible. Courage can make us incredible. Love can make us invincible.

Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) stars in this totally unpredictable romantic comedy about the superhero in all of us. Griff (Kwanten), a shy and awkward office worker by day, finds escape from his ordinary life by assuming the identity of a fantastic superhero each night. Griff’s secret is jeopardized when he meets Melody (Maeve Dermody), a cute but unconventional daydreamer. She quickly becomes fascinated by his idiosyncrasies, which are equal only to her own. In the face of mounting pressure to live in the “real world,” it’s up to Melody to rescue GRIFF THE INVISIBLE for the sake of herself, Griff and their newfound love for each other.

The 93 minute PG-13 film was written and directed by Leon Ford, an actor perhaps best known for his work on HBO’s The Pacific. It currently has a limited release schedule so if you’re in the vicinity, you might want to check it out.

RELEASE SCHEDULE:

August 19, 2011 – Los Angeles, Berkley, San Francisco, New York

August 26, 2011  – Boston, San Diego, Seattle, Denver

September 2, 2011 – Washington DC, Philadelphia

September 9, 2011 – Atlanta, Minneapolis

September 16, 2011 – St. Louis

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpSKP0u30uY[/youtube]



 

Review: “Vamped” and “ReVamped”

Summer will be here before we know it. That means vacation and beach reading time! And what summer would be complete without a vampire to cozy up with? (We remind you that [[[True Blood]]] season 4 premieres on HBO June 26th.)

This summer, let me recommend that you bring along installments 1 & 2 of Lucienne Diver’s Vamped series (Vamped, [[[ReVamped]]]; installment #3, [[[Fangtastic]]], comes in January, but watch for her urban adult fantasy Bad Blood out June 28th). They’re upper-level Young Adult novels, but I say, why should the kids get all the goodies? And these vamps do not sparkle, as if, thank-you-very-much! These books are the paperback equivalent of umbrella drinks – sweet, tasty, gone before you know it, go to your head, and can’t drink just one!

So, y’see, there’s Gina Covello (Hey! Diver’s Italian from the ‘burbs—she writes what she knows and kicks it—y’got-a-problem-wit-dat?!), the snarky, high school fashionista and, well, she has a bad day and suddenly she is, indeed, a vamp. Now what?! No mirrors—how do you do hair and make-up?! OMG! ‘Cause it is All About Gina—only it’s not. After all, she’s got a posse—and an anti-posse of evil to defeat! She may be snarky, but she’s a righteous chick! And, of course, she’s got a heart-throb BF by the name of Bobby Delvecchio (“of the old ones”…nice pun, that!) and the road to romance and adventure is full of twists and turns and…stakes! ‘Cause who wants to spend eternity being bored?! A whole lotta vampy goodness goin’ on.

(more…)

We are the Night

It takes a lot to make a noticeably different vampire film these days. The genre has been seemingly mined to death through the inanity that is the Twilight series to the more visceral thrills offered in the HBO adaptation of Charlaine Harris’ work in True Blood. Maybe that’s why it fell to a foreigner to offer us something messy but thought-provoking. Director Dennis Gansel conceived of his story, We are the Night back in 1996 and let is gestate in his mind before finding willing financial backers. Apparently, vamps don’t inspire moneymen in Germany so when the film failed to launch in 2006, Gansel went off to direct his acclaimed film, The Wave, and that finally got him his money.

The director says his inspiration came from the 1872 novel Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and it shows. Louise (Nina Hoss) has been seeking the reincarnation of her one true love, thinking she has found her time and again in attractive young women she converts into vampire lovers. Spotting the punk-styled thief Lena (Karoline Herfurth) at a throbbing nightclub, Louise doesn’t hesitate to bring her over to the dark side and only then begins the seduction, which backfires when Lena rebuffs her advances. Louise gives in to her needs rather than slowly explain things to the terrified young woman.

As a result, we get some sense that the male vampires have been killed off by the women and that very few vampires remain active in the modern world. Louise, therefore, fronts a trio of vamps, the other two being women she incorrectly thought had been the reincarnation she sought. There’s the lustful Nora (Anna Fischer) and the smoldering Charlotte (Jennifer Ulrich) and the three have reveled in being vampires, giving in to their temptations without a second thought. They eat, dance, drink, fornicate, and drive real fast, sexy cars. All the while, Louise works on Lena, who rebuffs her attempts without a real sense of why.

Meantime, Lena has encountered a cute cop, Tom (Max Riemelt), just before her transformation and he is the only one she thinks she can turn to when it’s clear this is not a lifestyle she wants forever. Tom, though, is investigating cases that bring their worlds onto a collision course.

Shot in and around Berlin, the film is dark and gritty when it’s not being slick and seductive. The dialogue is sparse which is a shame since more character development would have been appreciated. There are some story logic flaws mixed in with some terrific character bits. Gansel can certainly evoke mood, creating an erotic vampire thriller without nudity or copious amounts of blood and gore.

This should be Louise and Lena’s story but instead, the emotional core of being a vampire is stolen by Charlotte, the one-time silent film star, who has the most emotionally powerful scene in the film.

As vampire films go, this one is way above average but far from perfect. It’s currently playing the festival circuit in America and IFC films has already made it available as a digital download. A DVD will be released later this year and it’s certainly worth a look.

NYCC/NYAF After-Concerts: Tales of HYDE, K.A.Z., the Beauty and their ‘Beast’

NYCC/NYAF After-Concerts: Tales of HYDE, K.A.Z., the Beauty and their ‘Beast’

Japan’s nicest bad boys are, as one of their new album cuts says, causing “Trouble,” out on their first world tour, appearing to frenzied fans. And they’re stopping at NYC’s Roseland Ballroom for only the second time in their 6-year history of music-making together on Saturday, October 9th to rock our world.

The concert is part of a weekend here that begins with their
appearance at NYAF on Friday 10/8 at 4:30 p.m. Long associated with the genre,
Hyde, via L’Arc and solo, can be heard on the opening themes to popular animes such as Fullmetal
Alchemist
(second season’s opening, “Ready, Steady, Go!”), Moribito (“Shine”), and Blood+ (second season’s opening,
“Season’s Call”).

L-Arc~en~Ciel’s HYDE and Oblivion Dust’s K.A.Z. are back as Vamps, with their second full album together, Beast. The album is more of what the guys of this Japanese supergroup are famous for over their decade of music making… from the
delicious crunch of the darkest cuts from Hyde’s 2006 solo album (his first
full-collaboration album with K.A.Z., who was co-producer on HYDE’s 666 in 2004), Faith,
such as “Jesus Christ” and “Countdown,” with the trebly, joy-filled,
optimism of “Season’s Call,” and pure emotions of “Evergreen” on new
tracks like “Devil Side,” “Angel Trip,” and “Get Up”. They are driven by
K.A.Z.’s guitar that is very much in the world of U2’s The Edge, with a
rhythm section that is at once lyrical and full of quirky cross-rhythms
that keep
things interesting, all very tight and energetic. And above it all soars
and
snarls, with promises worthy of a vampy vampire that True Blood’s Lafayette might describe as “sex on a stick,” is
Hyde’s unmistakable voice that just gets better with age – he’s
40-something and is a tattooed, leather-clad, pouty Peter Pan, in perfect
shape, lately sporting blond hair that is at once striking and strange. Darkly
fey. K.A.Z. is all spikey hair, sunglasses, and guitar hero.

The chemistry of
this collaboration is totally apparent and fun to see and hear on the tracks
and production and live-concert videos. This album may not be my favourite of
Hyde’s work to date (that’s still Faith
and L’Arc cuts such as “Ready, Steady, Go!” and “Shine”). Lyrically, it’s not
up to the power and beauty of past work and the English can be rather raw,
though some of the playful double-entendres
do tempt and tease as they ought. Nonetheless, it is a fun album, a dancin’,
jammin’, party album, worth having in a fan’s collection and a good entry piece
for those new to the HYDE-K.A.Z. multi-verse. I anticipate an electric atmosphere
for the show with NY audiences who rarely get to hear their fav J-Rockers live,
stoked and hungry and rarin’ to go!

I’ll return with a review of
the show and backstage goings-on sometime after the event. Stay tuned!

Zombies Avoid Federal Trial, Get Paid $165,000

Zombies Avoid Federal Trial, Get Paid $165,000

As we reported back in March, a group of Minneapolis zombies sued after having been arrested during a peaceful protest in 2006.  Though they had never been charged with a crime, they were detained for two days, and police claimed that their sound equipment was thought to be “weapons of mass destruction.” The Zombies’ (actually a group of seven people protesting mindless consumerism) original lawsuit was dismissed, but their request to appeal was granted in February.

On Friday, August 20th, the Minneapolis City Council agreed to settle out of court by paying $165,000 to the zombies. If the case had gone to trial, the group could have stood to receive $350,000 plus legal fees.

Apparently, Minneapolis City Attorney Susan Segal feels that juries would be sympathetic to the walking dead (or might use gavels to defeat them…). She did not apologize for the actions of the Minneapolis police who arrested the group of zombies at the 2006 Aquatennial, but stated “We believe the police acted reasonably, but you never know what a jury is going to do with a case.”

Zombies continue to be a pop-culture phenomenon, and their popularity continues to grow. In addition to the upcoming AMC show Walking Dead (based on the comic of the same name) and the next installment in the Resident Evil movie series, Resident Evil: Afterlife set to hit theaters in 3-D September 10th, there are countless podcasts, blogs, and fan sites devoted to our culture’s obsession with the shambling hordes of undead.

(more…)

#SDCC: The 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International Masquerade – UPDATED

#SDCC: The 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International Masquerade – UPDATED

The 36th annual Comic-Con Masquerade, sponsored by HBO’s True Blood, happened last night with 36 entries and 126 performers scheduled to entertain and awe thousands of convention goers. The Masquerade has been a runway for all the best costumes the Con has to offer. 

To participate in the contest, the costumes must be original, and participants are required to send photos of themselves creating their costumes. Costumes that have been entered in previous SDCC Masquerades or have won in previous contests are not allowed– which means that means audiences get something new to be dazzled by every year.

Since there is no theme, costumes can depict characters from movies, comics, video games, anime… anything the creator wishes. There’s no telling what to expect, which is part of what makes the Masquerade so exciting. Coordinator Martin Jaquish and other staffers look forward to the contest every year, and are eager to see what people can come up with.

This year, entries included “12 Signs of the Zodiac”, Mothra girls, and a mashup between the hit show Glee and Marvel’s X-Men, titled Mutant Directions.

We’ll have more photos and video up over the next few days as decent copies become available, along with the final results of the judging.

Updated 9:45 7/25: Videos from the Masquerade are slowly being posted online. Here are the “Best in Show” winners, the Vegas Villains.

Be sure to check out these performances, too. There were some great sketches this year!

(more…)

Are You Ready for Sookeh? ‘True Blood’ Will Tell

Are You Ready for Sookeh? ‘True Blood’ Will Tell

It’s hard to deny that vampires remain one of the most popular supernatural creatures in entertainment. Through the ages many vampires have been portrayed as seductive and alluring, with an ability to charm humans into doing almost anything. And while werewolves are volatile and messy, ghosts are hard to hold, and zombies are, frankly, stinky and gross, vampires are most often presented as sexy. Any fan of HBO’s hit vampire drama True Blood will tell you that vampires transcend sexy and are intoxicatingly hot, so it is no surprise that fans are excitedly gearing up for the third season of the show, which begins Sunday at 9pm EST.

If you’ve read the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, you are probably wondering which aspects of the third novel, “Club Dead”, will make it into the new season, and what new twists will be added just for the show. The extended season 3 trailer at HBO.com gives some hints about what’s to come, but doesn’t reveal exactly which direction certain elements, such as the werewolves, will take. Werewolves? That’s right! This season will have warm-blooded supes as well. There has been a lot of buzz about the casting of these characters, and although I haven’t seen the episodes yet (and thus don’t know if the actors have gotten the mannerisms and personalities down), I must say that the physical match to the book descriptions of a few key characters is amazing!

If you’ve read all the books and seen every episode and still can’t get enough True Blood, you might also be pleased to know that a True Blood comic book is going to be released in July (available for pre-order now, though I plan to wait until I can read it on my iPhone) from IDW (Disclaimer: ComicMix’s publishing partner). HBO also has a series of six mini-episodes, which they are calling “A Drop of True Blood” on their True Blood page. The shorts are little character pieces that give us some insight into things that happened around the time of the end of last season while also getting fans revved up for the new one. Be forewarned that two of the videos are not safe for work and require registration before viewing because of mature content.

(more…)

When Vampires Suck: a review of ‘How to Catch and Keep a Vampire’

When Vampires Suck: a review of ‘How to Catch and Keep a Vampire’

Diana Laurence’s How to Catch and Keep a Vampire: A Step-By-Step Guide to Loving the Bad and the Beautiful
(Sellers Publishing, 10/23/09, $14.95 trade
paperback) is advertised as non-fiction and humor. It’s 160 pages, complete
with FAQs, myth busting, case studies, cutesiness with perhaps a nod to Sex and the City, references to the
latest vampire crazes (True Blood and
Twilight), and an underlying
cautionary tale (the danger of the serial-killer-turned-vamp-professor, Dr.
John Grey) of female stupidity, to-turn-or-not-to-turn angst between Diana and
her vamp paramour Connor, and redemption. It tries to be many things. 

I kept
wanting to like it. I love vamp lit. I’m published in the sub-genre several
times over and love to play in that playground. I’ve watched the suckers ever
since I was a little girl and first saw Bela Lugosi as The Count and said,
“Oooh! He’s cool! He wears capes and goes to the opera!” and lusted after
Frank Langella and loved Rice’s The
Vampire Lestat
(and I’m an adult, so I despise Twilight – vampires don’t sparkle!) and can geeble with the best of
them over Vampire Bill and his delicious-but-inaccurate accent! So I get the
whole fascination-not-fear idea and how that can be played for amusement. We
are not amused.

Laurence’s vamps tend toward the True Blood variety, but with added bonuses. Yes, they drink real
blood and synthblood, but they can also eat and they have a drink called Light
Shade that enables them to walk in the sun plus an elixir that makes their pale
skin more normal looking. They aren’t damned, but are immortal (societal
prejudice smear campaign). Flying is merely hypnosis on their victims – they
don’t do it. They used to sleep in coffins out of superstition but don’t,
anymore. They don’t shape shift – more myth and hypnosis. The worst parts
about being a vamp seem to be that they can’t use mirrors and the alienation
they have from loved ones due to prejudice and the mere fact that the vamp will
live forever (barring staking) and other types of humans won’t (oh yeah,
they’re human…they have souls!). Oh, and if you drink a vamp’s blood but are
caught in time, you can be drained of all your now tainted blood, have it
replaced with synth blood ‘til they can get your proper blood type, and prevent
a turning before it’s acted upon all your blood cells and they’ve acted upon
the rest of the cells in your body. But it has to be done fast.

It’s all just a bit too neat and tidy and convenient
and…well…flat. It should be seductive, like its subject. It’s not. Dry. How
can you make talking about vampires, one of the most fun subjects in the world
(every culture has a type of vampire myth!), boring? This manages. Not quite
sure how. But it does. And that sucks. Excuse the bad pun. I just couldn’t
help myself.