Orbit expands
Publishers Weekly reports that the new Hachette science fiction imprint, Orbit, will publish Kevin J. Anderson’s new series, The Terra Incognita trilogy, starting in 2009.
Anderson is co-author of six Dune prequels, written with Brian Herbert. His current series, Saga of the Seven Suns, will be published by Orbit, with volume six, Metal Swarm, part of the imprints debut line this fall.
With the launch of Orbit, Hachette will probably end the Warner Aspect line. In fact, PW reported yesterday that Warner Books, bought by Hachette, will change its name to Grand Central, starting real soon.
For a lot of years I didn’t know much about Arnold Drake beyond some minimal biography: he was a first-generation comic book writer, he had written a movie or two. Then, last summer, we were thrown together for a public conversation at a small convention and for an hour I found Arnold to be charming, witty, a good raconteur, a treasury of information about the history of our medium, and way younger than his years. When we parted, Arnold gave me his card and we made vague noises about getting together in Manhattan, some time or other. We never did, and last week an email from Danny Fingeroth informed me that Arnold had died.
Imagi, the Hong Kong based animation house, has had a heck of a weekend, with TMNT opening at #1 in America.
Marshall Rogers, the legendary artist of such diverse characters as Batman, Mr. Miracle, Doctor Strange, the Silver Surfer, and Green Lantern, died this weekend at the age of 57. Details have yet to be disclosed.
