The Mix : What are people talking about today?

Heroes and live toons

Heroes and live toons

While waiting for Heroes to return on April 23, fans can now help Hana, the former Mossad agent.  She’s looking for interested viewers to aid her attempts to stop Linderman’s still-unexplained plot.  Details are at NBC.com.

Meantime, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman have been named as Speed Racer’s parents.  The Wachowski Berothers’ are set to begin filing this live-action adaptation of the popular Japanese anime this spring for a summer 2008 release.  Whether Goodman will sport Pops Racer’s trademark mustache remains to be learned.

DENNIS O’NEIL: Who knows what evil lurks…? Part 1

DENNIS O’NEIL: Who knows what evil lurks…? Part 1

Meet Anthony Tollin.

I did, more than 30 years ago, at DC Comics. Anthony was tall, friendly, didn’t look like a New Yorker, and wasn’t. He came to Manhattan from Minneapolis in 1973, worked a couple of jobs, and then landed at DC, where he stayed for 20 years, proofreading, color-coordinating, helping Jack Adler manage the production department – necessary chores, done well away from the spotlight, that transform the raw materials of artwork and script into a printed artifact. Along the way, Anthony got married, and divorced, moved to another state, and when he retired from DC, settled in Texas, where he lives and single-parents his lovely and gifted daughter, Katrina.

If you talked to Anthony much, you soon discovered that he had a number of pop cultch enthusiasms, not the least of which was comic books. But his real passions – I don’t think the word is too strong – were always The Shadow novels, mostly written by Walter Gibson under the pseudonym Maxwell Grant and published in the 30s and 40s in the pulp magazine format, and old radio shows, particularly the crime and adventure programs that were the first cousins of the pulps and comics. If ever I had a question about either of these subjects, Mr. Tollin was always my first go-to guy. I never needed a second.

Those passions are still part of the Tollin gestalt, and now he’s found a new way to both share and make a living from at least one of them. Since July, a company Anthony started has, in partnership with something called Nostalgia Ventures, been issuing reprints of The Shadow books. The price is $12.95, quite modest considering that in one volume you get two novels and reprints of the original illustrations, a feature that’s both unusual and, I think, a real value-adder. The book that’s on the desk next to my computer would certainly be mistaken for one of the old pulps – same size, same kind of cover and font – until you picked it up and found that, in fact, both the cover stock and the interior stock are considerably better than anything that bore the original work. Inside, there are the novels, plus a couple of pieces by Will Murray, another expert and go-to guy, and an adaption of a Shadow radio show.

And as a comics fan you should care… why?

(more…)

At the Carnival

At the Carnival

Thanks for continued forbearance whilst we ready our comments section and your news editor gets back up to speed.

To see what I’ve been doing this afternoon, hie thee over to the 12th Carnival of Feminist SF and Fantasy Fans, presented as an Iron Chef homage because my brain is fried.

The Carnival of Feminist SF and Fantasy Fans was begun by feminist comics blogger extraordinaire Lisa Fortuner, who is doubtless now seeking someone to host lucky #13.

 

April’s Fool round-up

April’s Fool round-up

Man, I’m disappointed in you guys.

We were expecting lots of joke entries from all over the web — you know, Joe Quesada buys Forbidden Planet, Jenette Kahn buys down coat filled with Donald Duck’s feathers, Classics Illustrated adapts Portnoy’s Complaint, Rob Liefeld reads an anatomy textbook — but no. Nothing from the regular comics haunts.

C’mon, I know April Fool’s day was the same day as Palm Sunday, but we all know it’s all Jews in the comics industry anyway. (And stop trying to convince us that Macdonald isn’t a Jewish name, Heidi.)

Luckily, we were able to find a few items:

And we tried to do what we could, but sadly, we accidentally put a real piece in with our April Fool’s coverage. We’re sorry, and promise to do less real news next year.

Dying to get on television?

Dying to get on television?

The SCI FI Channel is hosting a national casting call/contest for entrants for its "SCI FI Saturday: The Most Dangerous Night of Television". One viewer will win a Die-On role in a future SCI FI original movie which will debut within the Saturday 9pm time period. The winning entrant will be selected at random and receive a trip for two to the filming location of the SCI FI original movie. The deadline to enter is May 26, 2007.

With any luck, you’ll be cast in Mansquito 2: The Itchening. But personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead in one of those films.

Star Trek Star in Space

Star Trek Star in Space

The Associated Press reports that the ashes of James Doohan have been loaded into a rocket scheduled to launch in New Mexico later this month.  Doohan, as geeks everywhere know, played Scotty in the original Star Trek television show and movies.

Also on the rocket are the ashes of Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and 200 other people, according to Charles Chafer, chief executive of Celestis.  The company contracts with rocket firms to send cremated remains into space. 

You, too, can orbit the earth post-mortem for $495.  This fee allows a few grams of your ashes to be included in the rocket.

Scotty follows the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, which were launched into space in 1997.

Addicted to videogames?

Addicted to videogames?

A new Harris Survey suggests that video games are truly addictive and this addiction is increasing.  The report states that, in the United States, 8.5% of gamers between the ages of eight and 19 can be classified as "pathological" or clinically "addicted.  At the same time, 23% say they have felt "addicted to video games" including 31% of males and 13% of females.

Nearly four fifths (81%) play video games at least once per month, including 94% of all boys.

The survey was conducted online between January 17 and 23 this year.  Harris reports that 1,178 children and teenagers participated.  Among the findings:  The average 8- to 12year old plays 13 hours of video game per week, while 13- to 18 year olds play 14 hours per week.  Girls play about a third less than boys.

Dr. Douglas Gentile, Director of the Media Research Lab at Iowa State University and the director of research for the National Institute on Media and the Family, states, "It is important that people realize that playing a lot is not the same thing as pathological play. For something to be an addiction, it has to mean more than you do it a lot. It has to mean that you do it in such a way that it damages your life. This is why we based our definition on how pathological gambling is diagnosed in the DSM-IV. Almost one out of every ten youth gamers show enough symptoms of damage to their school, family, and psychological functioning to merit serious concern."

The genius of Gollum

The genius of Gollum

Andy Serkis – a.k.a. Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilory – has been cast as Albert Einstein in an upcoming HBO / BBC co-production, Einstein and Eddington. The "Eddington" part of the title refers to astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington, the man who actually understood Einstein’s theory of relativity and promoted it to a skeptical scientific community back in 1920. This particular Sir Arthur will be played by David Tennant, who is wrapping his third season as the lead in Doctor Who.

The script was written by Peter Moffat, who previously brought another genius – Stephen Hawking – to the BBC screen.

It’s hard to imagine Serkis playing Einstein, but at least he’ll be doing so in the flesh and not in CGI.

Serenity beats Star Wars

Serenity beats Star Wars

The BBC is reporting that Joss Whedon’s film Serenity topped a poll by SFX magazine as the best science fiction film of all time.  The magazine polled 3,000 fans.

Star Wars came in second, and Blade Runner was third.  Other films that made the list include Planet of the Apes, The Matrix, Alien,  Forbidden Planet, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator and Back to the Future.

SFX editor Dave Bradley said it was a "massive surprise" to see Serenity beating Star Wars.  "The TV show may have been cancelled, yet the Serenity universe clearly struck a chord with fans, thanks to its likeable characters, witty dialogue and amazing special effects."

Wallace and Gromit Go Sony

Wallace and Gromit Go Sony

Aardman Animation , of Wallace and Gromit fame, signed a three-picture deal with Sony Pictures, it was announced today.  The company, based in England, had been without a Hollywood partner since being dumped by Dreamworks in January. 

"We couldn’t be more excited about working with the entire Aardman team," said Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal.

Aardman co-founder David Sproxton said: "We are delighted to find a partner in Sony that shares our vision.  We are all very excited by the potential and have a number of projects we are keen to bring to fruition with this new relationship."

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit won an Oscar.  However, it lost money, as did Aardman’s following film, Flushed Away.  These losses were blamed for Dreamworks ending a five-picture deal after only two films.