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Marshall Rogers obituaries

Marshall Rogers obituaries

The untimely passing of Marshall Rogers has not gone unnoticed by the mainstream media, as there have been obituaries from both the  New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. Both laud his landmark work on Detective Comics as being a touchstone for many later artists’ interpretation of the Batman.

Hugos for Who?

Hugos for Who?

The 2007 Hugo Awards, most prized of the science-fiction awards, just might wind up in the hands of longest running s-f teevee series of all time

Three episodes of Doctor Who from the past season were nominated in the best dramatic presentation – short form category: "School Reunion," the episode that reintroduced Sarah Jane Smith and written by Toby Whithouse,  Steven Moffatt’s "The Girl in the Fireplace," where the Doctor saves Madame de Pompadour from really neat looking robots, and the season’s two-part finale, "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday," written by executive producer Russell T. Davies and featuring the Cybermen and the Daleks in a battle scene that made 300 look like a Disney flick.

These three shows are up against an episode of Battlestar Galactica ("Downloaded) and an episode of Stargate SG-1 ("200."). As usual, the winner will be announced at the World Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Yokohama, Japan from August 30th to September 3rd.

The new season of Doctor Who begins in England this Saturday.

BSG’s Apollo, WWE’s Mick Foley Speak To ComicMix Podcast

BSG’s Apollo, WWE’s Mick Foley Speak To ComicMix Podcast

Only at ComicMix can we draw a line from Cactus Jack to Billie Gray to Major Apollo to Walter Brennan – and not even break a sweat! We interview the WWE’s Mick Foley AND Battlestar‘s Apollo, share some big Sin City casting news, reveal the details behind the new Shazam! action figures, and take a hard look at the early 60s.

All this on ComicMix Podcast #20 – available by pressing this button right here:

Going to Hell?

Going to Hell?

Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, the man who battled with Opie and Anthony and the creators of South Park, is now picking on producers Randy Weiner and Jeff Beacher over their new Off-Broadway show, Stairway to Hell, which performs every Friday Night at Snitch in New York City.

Donohue stated in his press release: "Men and women are dying everyday in Iraq to keep America free. It is sickening to note that some young Americans think freedom means the right to insult, degrade and abuse the sensibilities of Christians. The man behind this barbaric assault is Randy Weiner. In a sane society, he would be run out of town. Unfortunately, there are elements in our society that see him as a champion of liberty."

Says Weiner, "It saddens me that Mr. Donohue is trying to exploit the suffering of our American soldiers to further his own crusade."

Mr. Beacher is scared that Mr. Donohue’s statements might incite violence among his more radical followers against the Stairway To Hell cast and crew. Mr. Beacher has gone so far as to hire bodyguards for Weiner and the actors until any threat of violence that might be stirred up by Donohue’s press release dies down. "Weiner’s a genius; I can’t let anything happen to him because Donohue has called out his Storm Troopers. As with any form of art, we have the right to say what we want. It is called the first Amendment." Beacher believes this is not an issue of the bible vs. the first Amendment, this is about one man’s distorted interpretation of the bible to serve his own personal agenda.

Beacher concludes, "Donohue hates Stairway To Hell, which makes it a perfect show for my audience. Donohue says the show deserves to be in Hell, so I’m taking it to Vegas where it belongs!"

Go Speed Racer!

Go Speed Racer!

Emile Hirsch, the relatively unknown actor, has been cast as Speed Racer in Joel Silver’s live-action adaptation of the beloved Japanese anime from the 1960s.

Hirsch has already been seen in Alpha Dog and Lords of Dogtown and will next be seen in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, opening in September.  He told E!  the film would be “Blade Runner meets Andy Warhol meets pop art.”  No other casting has been confirmed thus far.

Speed Racer is on track for its May 9, 2008 release with filming set for Potsdam, Germany this spring and summer.  Silver has already announced that the film will be intended for all audiences and is aiming at a high octane G-rating.

USA Sci-Fi Summer

USA Sci-Fi Summer

The USA Channel announced premiere dates this week for their returning sci-fi series to make summer television watching a little less boring.

The 4400 – fourth season debuts June 17 at 9pm

The Dead Zone – sixth season begins June 17 at 10pm

Monk – sixth season premieres July 13 at 9pm

Psych – returns July 13 at 10pm

JOHN OSTRANDER: Fire-bombing Dresden

I’m a big fan of The Dresden Files. Which is why I can’t take The Dresden Files.

Maybe I should explain.

About a year ago or so I picked up a novel by Jim Butcher about a wizard-for-hire working out of modern day Chicago. It meshes the hard-boiled detective genre with the wizard and fantasy genre. If you know me, then you know I’m already into what I’ve called narrative alloys – the blending of genres. And I’m still a Chicago boy at heart so of course I was drawn to the book series. Butcher, not a Chicago native, sometimes gets his Chicago geography wrong – one book refers to what is obviously Hyde Park as Lincoln Park which is a very different neighborhood – but he generally gets the feel right.

As the series has progressed, the world of his hero – Harry Dresden – gets richer. He has an army of wonderful supporting characters and an overall interlocking story has emerged. While each book can be read on its own (I read them way out of order); they’re all connected and events in one book have ramifications in later books. Butcher has thought out his magic pretty well, its consistent and believable. In short, he’s created not only a wonderfully interesting main character but his own world that just happens to intersect the real world in a city that I love a lot.

In short, I’ve become a fan and I was really excited when I learned that it was going to be made into a series on the SciFi network. I remained excited – up until I started watching it.

(more…)

Tributes to Marshall Rogers

Tributes to Marshall Rogers

Our friend Alex Ness asked a lot of people for eulogies to Marshall Rogers, which he posted at his Pop Thought website.

Contributors include Erik Larsen, Paul Levitz, Paul Gulacy, Mark Waid, Alex Sheikman, Kurt Busiek, Christopher Jones, and ComicMixers John Ostrander, Mike Grell, Timothy Truman, and yours truly.

Double Virgin

Double Virgin

Because we’ve already bought the DVD the first time, Universal today announced the release of a two-disc set of The 40 Year-Old Virgin: 2-Disc Double For Your Pleasure edition.  The new version is timed to hype director Judd Apatow’s new movie, Knocked Up, which is the funniest trailer we’ve seen lately (yes, that includes The Simpsons Movie).

The press release mentions these extras:

  • Deleted Scenes — More than 17 additional minutes of  deleted scenes, with commentary by director Apatow and actor and co-producer Seth Rogen.
  • Judd’s Video Diaries — Follow the evolution of the film through theeyes of the writer and director as he shares entries from his video diary.
  • Poker Game Rehearsal — A rehearsal of the scene that starts the guys on their quest.
  • Reel Comedy Round Table
  • Cinemax Final Cut — "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"
  • Exclusive Raw Footage — The cameras didn’t stop rolling at the end of three of the movie’s funniest scenes –  the poker scene, the waxingscene and Elizabeth Banks in the bathtub.
  • You Know How I Know You’re Gay? — David (Paul Rudd) & Cal (Seth Rogen)  with commentary by director Judd Apatow and actor and co-producer Seth Rogen.
  • Date-A-Palooza — Additional footage of Andy’s first fumbling foraynto the fast-paced world of speed dating.
  • Line-O-Rama — How many different ways can an actor find to deliver a single a line? Find out when the cast otakes one simple line and gives it worlds of meaning.
  • My Dinner with Stormy — Actor and co-producer Seth Rogen has an intimate dinner with adult video queen Stormy Daniels.
  • Cast Auditions — Actors Jonah Hill, Elizabeth Banks, Romany Malco, Shelley Malil, Jane Lynch, Gerry Bednob and Jazzmun  in the readings that earned them their roles.
  • Waxing Doc — Watch as four cameras record what went on behind the scenes when Steve Carell got his chest waxed for the first — and only — time!
  • "Knocked Up" Trailer — A sneak preview of Judd Apatow’s newest hilarious and irreverent comedy.
  • Unrated Feature Commentary by Judd Apatow and actor and co-writer SteveCarell
  • Sex Education Film from the 1950s
  • Gag Reel — Enjoy  on-set moments with the cast and crew.

This marks the sixth different version (at least) of The 40 Year Old Virgin available on DVD, with unrated, R rated, theatrical, widescreen, pan-and-scan and HD-DVD releases out there as well. As all seem to feature pretty much the same cover art, buyer beware!