Coming to Forbidden Planet NYC: Lloyd Kaufman!!!
Holy cats! Two weeks from tonight! Midnight release!
This Week in NYC: Spidey Editors @ MoCCA 2/11
The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art here in NYC is running an exhibition of the original art for the entire issue of Amazing Spider-Man #50, as pencilled by John Romita Jr. with inks by Scott Hanna, and to kick this puppy into gear they’re hosting an evening with Spidey editors past and present.
In honor of our exhibition of original art from the entire issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #50 by J. Michael Straczynski, John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna, MoCCA presents an unprecedented roundtable discussion of the past quarter-century of all things Peter Parker with the editors who have helmed the title since the Reagan Administration! Axel Alonso (editor of ASM #50), Tom Brevoort, Danny Fingeroth, and MoCCA Trustee Jim Salicrup join current AMAZING editor Steve Wacker for the panel chat and audience Q&A. Moderated by MoCCA Trustee and current Spidey scribe Fred Van Lente.
MoCCA
594 Broadway, Suite 401
(btwn. Houston and Prince)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Admission: $5
Free for MoCCA Members
In addition to this MoCCA’s also running The Art of Archie Comics (both thru 2/28). It’s only a few blocks from Forbidden Planet, so I encourage comic fans of all stripes to visit us both this coming Thursday.
Take a Gander: Jonah Hex Film
Jimmy Palmiotti’s shares some pics from the forthcoming Jonah Hex flick with us. Josh Brolin looks fantastic in the titular role, if nigh on unrecognizable, no?
The film is slated for a June 18th, 2010 release in The States.
Heavy Metal Pulp Debuts
Heavy Metal magazine and Tor Books are joining together to produce a line of books combining noir fiction and fantastic/SF art.
Heavy Metal Pulp aims to partner the top illustrators and designers from Heavy Metal with today’s most talented science fiction writers to create a new series with a 21st century edge, blending the sensuous artistic style and graphic imagery of the iconic fantasy magazine with classic noir storytelling.
Their first foray, Pleasure Model, penned by Christopher Rowley, is out this week.
PLEASURE MODEL stars down-and-out police detective Rook, who gets his break when he’s assigned to a bizarre and vicious murder case. The clues are colder than the corpse and the case looks like it’ll remain unsolved—until an eyewitness is discovered. But the witness is an illegal gene-grown human with no emotion or empathy—Plesur’s only purpose is to provide satisfaction to her owner, in any way. When the murderer targets Plesur in order to eliminate the one witness, Rook takes her into hiding to protect her. Thus begins a descent into the dark world of exotic pleasure bots and their illicit international buyers and manufacturers as Rook frantically looks for clues. But is Rook falling under Plesur’s spell . . . ?
Around the Web: Millar’s Nemesis, The Beat Moves, and More
- Marvel’s giving us a chance to peruse the first six pages of Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s (both of Civil War fame) next project (due to release 3/3/10) here. This being a Millar book from the publisher’s Icon imprint, you’d be correct in assuming the guy in the chair’s fate ain’t pretty.
CIVIL WAR? Nothing. KICK-ASS? A warmup. What if the smartest, toughest costumed bad ass in the world was totally evil? Meet Nemesis. He’s systematically been destroying the lives of every police chief in Asia, and he’s now set his sights on Washington, DC. Between you and me, the police don’t have a chance. Do not miss the book that EVERYONE will be talking about by the creative team that made CIVIL WAR the biggest book of the decade.
- Heidi MacDonald’s superlative comics culture blog The Beat has moved!!! And what a snazzy logo:
THE BEAT, now in its sixth year, is dedicated to providing the timeliest and most pertinent news and information about comics, the people who make them, the readers who love them and the world that shapes them.
HEIDI MacDONALD is an award-winning writer and editor and a veteran entertainment industry journalist. As an editor she has worked for Disney, Warner Bros., and Fox, among many others.
- “I hope I look like God.” -Anthony Hopkins on playing Odin in the now-in-production Thor film directed by Kenneth Branagh. More at Sci-Fi Wire.
- VGrevolution reviews Star Trek Online…
- …and MTV Splash Page’s Rick Marshall reviews the new Planet Hulk DVD favorably.
And to finish off your meal you can wash it down with this from Warren Ellis regarding Iran’s launch into orbit of an experimental capsule containing live animals:
Ahmadinejad may be an evil prick, but his black, kinky sense of humour is undeniable. Obama just cut the nuts off NASA, and Iran (it claims) puts a capsule in orbit.
CIVIL WAR? Nothing. KICK-ASS? A warmup. What if the smartest, toughest costumed bad ass in the world was totally evil? Meet Nemesis. He’s systematically been destroying the lives of every police chief in Asia, and he’s now set his sights on Washington, DC. Between you and me, the police don’t have a chance. Do not miss the book that EVERYONE will be talking about by the creative team that made CIVIL WAR the biggest book of the decade.
Tuesday Toys 2/2/10
Select toys uploaded to forbiddenplanetusa.com today…
Battlestar Galactica Tigh & Gaeta 2-pack
Accessories included: sidearms, Dradis display, clipboard, and, of course… HOOCH!
Transformers Revenge of the Fallen N.E.S.T. Battlefield Bumblebee & Infiltration Soundwave 2pk.
Classic Monster Funko Force figures:
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Fantastic? Yes. But where’s the frggin mummy????
Have a Cluckety Cluck Cluck Day
The final season of LOST kicks off tonight, and though I am a fan I will not be watching as I’ll be managing FPNYC, hawking wares, getting ready for a big Wednesday, and generally covering for other Lostie employees. Who’s a sweet fella? This guy. There will, however, be a screening of tonight’s episode @ Casa de Ayers soon thereafter.
For those of you who will be watching I offer this bit of perspective from the Onion News Network…
So enjoy, friends. But please, spare the rest of humanity. No public postulating or theorizing (s’funny how LOST discussions in social settings have become bigger conversation faux pas than religion and politics in some circles), and NO SPOILING.
Live Action 20th Century Boys 2
Via press release:
VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, will release the science fiction feature 20th CENTURY BOYS 2: THE LAST HOPE on DVD on February 16th in North America through its distributor, VIZ Media. 20th CENTURY BOYS will carry a MSRP of $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN.
The 20th CENTURY BOYS saga is based on Naoki Urasawa’s manga series, 20th CENTURY BOYS (published in the US by VIZ Media), which has become a national phenomenon in Japan, selling over 20 million copies of the 24 volumes. Urasawa is the creator of many famous works such as the hit manga series, MONSTER and PLUTO also published in the US by VIZ Media.
The film is directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, who began directing commercials and music videos at Nihon Television. One of his most recent films includes Happily Ever After (2007) is also released by VIZ Pictures and distributed by VIZ Media. Both Naoki Urasawa and Music Director Ryomei Shirai are fans of the 1970’s rock music scene and chose “20th Century Boy” by T.REX (Imperial Records) as the main theme song.
The story began in 1969 when a young boy named Kenji and his friends write “The Book of Prophecy” in which they write about a future where they fight against an evil organization trying to takeover the world and bring about doomsday. Years later in 1997, a mysterious cult being led by a man only known as “Friend” emerges and begins to gain strong influence over society. A series of catastrophic events begin to occur mirroring the prophecies made up by the young Kenji and the greatest fear is the climax of “The Book” becoming a reality; December 31st, 2000, a terrifying giant virus-spreading robot will attack the entire city of Tokyo leading to the end of mankind. The only people who know about “The Book” are Kenji and his childhood friends. Who is “Friend”? Will Kenji and his friends be able to save mankind and live to see the 21st Century?
In 20TH CENTURY BOYS 2: THE LAST HOPE it is 2015, and “Friend” rules a disturbing new world. Kenji has been missing since the Bloody New Year’s Eve of 2000, and his niece Kanna is now in high school. Her history textbook contains a fabricated story about Kenji and his friends being the terrorists behind the horrific events of 2000. Kanna, knowing the truth, openly resents this, and as a result she is marked as a problem child by her teacher and sent to the Friend Land program because of her anti-Friend behavior. Friend Land is a facility where people with rebellious behavior are re-educated. As the program begins, Kanna and her classmate Kyoko Koizumi achieve high marks and are sent to the advanced program called the Bonus Stage, where they find themselves in a virtual reconstruction of 1971, when Kenji and his friends were kids. There, each of the girls learns crucial secrets about “Friend.”
The surviving secret base members have been separated since Bloody New Year’s Eve but each has spent the last 15 years in various activities opposing Friend and his regime. As Kenji’s friends all try to find out the truth about Friend, they discover the shocking existence of The New Book of Prophecy, the sequel to The Book of Prophecy. The New Book describes an event: In 2015, at a church in Shinjuku, a savior will rise to uphold justice but will be assassinated. Who is the savior? Once again, Doomsday looms near…
To celebrate this DVD release, VIZ Pictures will be holding a special screening event at VIZ Cinema in San Francisco on February 9th at 7:30PM. Ticket for admission is $25.00, which will include a ticket for the screening, a copy of the 20TH CENTURY BOYS 2: THE LAST HOPE DVD, poster, and pin! Additionally, VIZ Pictures is raffling off 20th Century Boys T-shirts before the show so come watch the film for a chance to win! Tickets are available at the box office or online at www.vizcinema.com. For more information about this event, please visit www.vizcinema.com or www.viz-pictures.com.
“20th CENTURY BOYS has been a mega hit since it mesmerized audiences with it’s U.S. theatrical premiere of 20th CENTURY BOYS 1: BEGINNING OF THE END in the summer of 2009, and we are excited to announce the U.S. debut of 20th CENTURY BOYS 2: THE LAST HOPE,” says Seiji Horibuchi, President and CEO of VIZ Pictures. “We also hope fans in the San Francisco Bay Area can join us for the one night only special screening at VIZ Cinema to experience 20th CENTURY BOYS on the Big Screen.
Needless to say FP will have copies available.
Lynch & Herbert on Dune, Cameron’s Apology to Giger, & More
- Russ Fischer at /Film has posted all six parts of a fascinating conversation between Dune visionaries Frank Herbert and David Lynch, recorded for Waldenbooks in 1983.
- Letters of Note features James Cameron’s response to H.R. Giger’s representation regarding the Swiss artist’s disappointment at not being contacted to collaborate on ALIENS despite “his, quite correct, intense sense of authorship of the creatures and designs.” Despite Giger’s lack of involvement, Cameron’s team remained ultimately faithful to the original film’s design (wouldn’t you think Giger had a hand in The Queen?), but who knows what might have been. Cameron’s letter shows him to be gentlemanly in regret, if not a tad full of Hollywood poopy-cocky.
- Over at CBR, Shaun Manning has some words with Eisner-winner Jason Shiga regarding his upcoming book from Abrams/Amulet MEANWHILE, a sort of choose your own adventure yarn purporting to have “3,856 story possibilities,” all stemming from the protagonist’s choice between vanilla or chocalate ice cream.
- And finally, DC’s Alex Segura previews next week’s Milestone Forever #1, which features the original artists from the much lamented imprint returning to complete the characters’ stories and launch them into the future… presumably the mainstream DCU(?).
Playing With Toys 1/29/10
fptransmissions presents the first in a series of videos in which we demonstrate various toys we sell. A wage slave from the FP toy department, the incomparable Mr. Alec Lewellyn, kicks things off.
WARNING! This episode is not for people who might be offended by Uglydolls faking orgasms.
Daft Punk: The Crash
Could this be an official track from the French duo’s Tron Legacy score? Internet scuttlebutt says so. Very much in line with Wendy Carlos’ iconic music for the first film, with some signature Daft Punk touches, sprinkled with a hint of Vangelis. What a recipe!!!
I had to change my pants around 03:50.
Thursday Toys
Sorry for not getting this out there this past Tuesday, as my plan calls to do every week, but as is the case in the hustle and bustle of my life in geek retail, my time and attention were chewed up by emergencies, other duties, and a unique opportunity… in this instace an on-camera interview for Sequart’s forthcoming documentary on Grant Morrison.
This week’s new toy highlights at FPNYC and forbiddenplanetusa.com include:
Living Dead D0lls: In Wonderland
and Hot Toys’ Terminator Salvation Final Battle John Connor.
If you’re curious about the Unca Grant documentary, which is slated to come out in July 2010, here’s the demo trailer:
The Art of Saskia Lenis
Y’know those sciffy characters above on the DP’s header and sprinkled throughout ForbiddenPlanetUSA.com’s pages? Well, those are the work of Ms. Saskia Lenis, who, aside from having served as the New York City’s Store’s resident toy mistress for a number of years, is a hugely talented artist in her own right. She’s got a flickr page up that I encourage you to visit now if not sooner….
She’s posted a number of sketchbook entries, character studies and such she’s done for various comic and illustration projects. I can’t wait until she gets around to uploading more inkwashes and paintings. Feel free to comment on her work, and/or commission her with a standard Rich and Famous contract.
Countdown to 12/17/10
‘Round this time of year I’d normally be much more absorbed by a wholly different countdown (Mets pitchers and cathers = 20 days and counting), but I’ve just seen something that has set my geekalogical clock a-reeling:
Let the countdown to Tron: Legacy commence!
Heroes 4 Haiti
In light of this morning’s aftershock near Port-au-Prince I thought I’d do my small part in further highlighting a noble effort by members of the comic community to aid the victims of this tragedy.
Heroes 4 Haiti is a grassroots movement of artists seeking to raise money for organizations helping victims of the recent Haitian earthquake. Heroes 4 Haiti is not an organization, it’s a collective response to human tragedy. We’re asking everyone to donate a little bit of their talent, money or time towards helping those in need.
Please join us in helping our fellow human beings by creating art and auctioning it off for charity by listing it yourself using eBay’s Giving Works program, by bidding in these auctions, by donating to relief organizations, or by volunteering your time to helping rebuild Haiti in the wake of this catastrophe.
Please checkout their website for more information and links to benefit auctions. You can also join them on Facebook.
