Fiction: Buying Dark Horse Presents #1 (which features an all new COLOR Concrete story) will make you as cool as me.

O.K. so it may not make you as cool as me, but it is packed from cover to cover with amazing comicy stuff by Richard Corben, Frank Miller, Harlan Ellison, Howard Chaykin, Neal Adams, and more.

Oh Lordy! Just buy it already…

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali Deluxe HC- Oh, happy day.  One of my most coveted comics of all time is finally reprinted!  No hyperbole there- I’ve literally yearned for a copy of this since it first landed on my comic-loving radar nearly 25 years ago.  Scarcity, lack of timely funds, and other circumstances have led me to a frustrating wait for this lovely day when DC Comics finally reprints this historic work by Dennis O’Neil (writer) and Neal Adams (artist).

In 1978, an alien race called the Scrubb demands that Earth’s greatest champion battle their world’s own greatest fighter. Both Superman and Muhammad Ali step forward – and to determine who is truly Earth’s greatest fighter, Superman temporarily loses his powers and faces Ali in the ring. Ultimately, the duo must work together to defeat the Scrubb, with Ali taking on their champion while Superman battles their space-armada.

As an added bonus, DC is republishing the comic in two hardcovers.  Retailing at twenty bucks, the deluxe edition has a trim size of 7.0625″ x 10.875″ and features a new cover by Neal Adams, previously unpublished artwork and various other extras.  At forty bucks, the facsimile edition features the original, iconic cover, and is reprinted in the classic’s 10″ wide by 13.25″ high trim.

Decisions, decisions.  I may just have to go with both.

On a very tangential note, by the time I was old enough to grasp the cultural significance of Ali he was hawking roach motels all over television.  Around about the same time (maybe a few years later)  Billy Dee Williams was schilling for Colt 45 malt liquor in commercials as well.

Do you solely associate Ali with roach motels to this day?  Not at all.  He was one of the most charismatic and inspirational figures of the 20th Century.  Billy Dee Williams played Lando Calrissian for the love of Pete!!!  Yes, he was smooth, but why the hell are we still lumping the man with the booze he pushed?  Surely we can respectfully retire the “Works Every Time” refrain in deference to Mr. Williams’ acting geek-cred as surely as Mr. Ali will be remembered for his achievements outside of bustin’ up household pests.

Right?  Please?

Marvel is teaming up with Forbidden Planet NYC next Wednesday, October 28th, to bring fans an astonishing event in Union Square.  The shebang kicks off with a chance to meet and get autographs from Neal Adams, Chris Claremont, and Dan Slott at the store, followed by a costume contest and the world premiere of the Astonishing X-Men motion comic on the wall of the former Virgin Megastore in Union Square.

From Marvel.com:

Hey Marvelites, if you’re in the New York area be sure to mark October 28 down on your calendar as a historic day for the future of comics as we host the world premiere of the ASTONISHING X-MEN Motion Comic at Union Square.

The festivities begin at 4 PM ET at Forbidden Planet (www.fpnyc.com) where you’ll get a chance to meet and get autographs from comic book greats such as Neal Adams (UNCANNY X-MEN), Chris Claremont (UNCANNY X-MEN, X-MEN FOREVER) and Dan Slott (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN).

Then be sure to march down to Union Square by 6 PM ET to get ready for the world premiere of the ASTONISHING X-MEN Motion Comic and Marvel Costume Contest!

Dress up as your favorite Marvel character (Aunt May costumes are TOTALLY in vogue this year) and be in the running for some great prizes including the chance to be featured in a Marvel comic! All Marvel Costume Contest participants will receive an exclusive Nick Fury action figure (while supplies last) and more goodies!

Remember, originality and faithfulness to the characters count so be sure to crack open some comics for inspiration.

If you can’t make it to the event be sure to get the ASTONISHING X-MEN Motion Comic on iTunes. It debuts the same day as MarvelFest NYC 2009, Wednesday, October 28!

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Forbidden Planet* Creator Signings

•Neal Adams
•Chris Claremont
•Dan Slott

6:00 PM – 6:30 PM

Marvel Giveaways
Marvel Costume Contest Sign-Up

6:30 PM – 7:15 PM

Marvel Costume Contest

7:00 PM

Astonishing X-Men Motion Comic Book Premiere

*Forbidden Planet is located at 840 Broadway on the corner of 13th and Broadway.
All other events are located at 14th and Union Square.

And the costume contest prizes? Pretty derned enticing.

1st prize

§  Featured in a Marvel comic book editorial page

§  $200 worth of Marvel comics and $50 Forbidden Planet gift card

§  Marvel statue (to be determined in Marvel’s sole discretion)

2nd prize

§  $100 worth of Marvel comics and a $25 Forbidden Planet Gift Card

§  Marvel statue (to be determined in Marvel’s sole discretion)

3rd Prize

§  $50 worth of Marvel comics and a $10 Forbidden Planet Gift Card

Marvel statue (to be determined in Marvel’s sole discretion)

The costume contest’s official rules can be seen here.  Be sure to join us for what’s sure to be a very fun time.  And on new comics dat, to boot!

Debuting October 28th in Union Square, projected on the side of a building, is the motion comic adapted from the first issue of writer Joss Whedon and artist John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men. Continuity is shepherding the comics pages along, turning them into a cross between comics and animation.

“This is the next step, because this is a new art form,” Neal adds. “It’s never existed before. What you have is comic books and animation. Animation is Bruce Timm interpreting everybody else’s work, and all very nice and semi-complimentary, and not exactly royalty-filled-with. It’s good, but it’s animation: 500 Czech artists tracing animation from some other artist. It’s fine, but it’s not the comic books. This is the comic books. This is taking the work of the artists and words of the writer, verbatim. The thing about Whedon is that [he] is used to doing copy, so he knows how many words need to be dealt with, and he does good personality stuff.

“So, you have vocalizing of the writer’s words, and the artwork being animated by the most modern technology available by computers. The technology, as little as a year ago, is half of what it is today. It’s moving very, very fast.

“I’ve been doing animatics since I was nineteen years old. Animatics are the unknown art form. We’ve been doing it for advertising agencies and making a living, and happy to do it. Now this art form is applied to comic books as a commercial product. So, what do you get? You get the writer’s words and the artist’s artwork. This is what we believe in, and this is what we’re doing: You’re seeing the artist’s line with very little change. We may extend a line or slightly finish an arm, but as often as not we’ll steal another arm and stick it on there, if possible. Like when we do the mouths moving, I’ll draw a moving mouth, but what we’ll do is, in the computer, steal the actual mouth and put it on there to make the mouth fit the actual positions of the mouth I’ve drawn. You get the mouth, line for line, everything that’s there.”

Astonishing is a step up for the ever-evolving motion comic, with the characters moving through their paces with panning camera angles, kinetic bodies, and expressive faces. Chances are, given the rate of the technology’s evolution, that the final issue will be relatively far ahead of the first issue.

“There’s more available every day,” Neal adds. “We just did the first book’s worth, and now the second book’s worth is so much better. That’s how good it is, and it’s joyous for us, because we know we’re going to see it out with the customers. We’ve been doing animatics for years. We do the work. It gets tested, and it’s put/thrown away [after]. And then we look at this. I can see that being the next step in comics.

“You’re going to walk into a comic book store and see DVDs, watch it on your T.V., and on the subway. It’s tech-conscious because it’s not on paper….The thing that’s so wonderful about this is that there’s nothing about it that denies the comic book, but in fact, feeds off the comic books. We do comics, Marvel and DC do comics, so that movies will be made. Everybody recognizes it through the comic book. Everybody gets it, so that it’s still the origin point.”

Be sure to check out the whole piece.  It’s an absorbing read whether you’re a fan or not.

Exhibiting at Big Apple Comic-Con 10/17-10/19 2009

Big Apple Comic-Con looms like a big geeky monster towering above me this week, as FP prepares to exhibit at the newly-acquired-by-Wizard show.  Myself and the FPNYC staff are busy scurrying around the store packing boxes, inventorying our wares, making banners and signs, and yadda yadda yadda… all while trying to maintain and work one of the busiest and most high profile nerd emporiums in the world.

And we all need a nappy-poo.

Regardless, we persevere, trudging on towards the beast, swords (comics) in hand, shields (toys) at the ready, and arrows (t-shirts) in our quiver.  We’re also displaying UGLYDOLLs.

But despite my various conceits I realize FP’s not the only reason to attend this show.  The amazingly spectacular guest list is, bub.  In case you’ve missed some of the eclectic highlights I’ll list them below:

Shatner, baby, Shatner!!! Billy Dee Williams, Gil Gerard, Edward James Olmos, Jim Lee, Adam West, Julie Newmar, Sean Young, Mike Allred, Jim Steranko, The Kuberts, Yogi Berra, Dwight Gooden, Michael Hogan, Nichelle Nichols, Brent Spiner, Ernie Hudson, Linda Hamilton, Neal Adams, Basil Gogos, Joe Madureira, James O’Barr, Paolo Rivera, Brian Wood, Tim Vigil, Joe Simon …. and tons and tons more.

See? Something to give most any fan a case of the vapors.  Not your run of the mill Bi-Mon Sci-Fi Con.

The full guest list can be viewed here. Big Apple Comic-Con’s main page, with details on dates, times, etc is here.

And while I’ll have roughly about 1.2 hours of personal time through the next week because of FP’s involvement I’m nonetheless jazzed that we’ll be at Pier 94 (54th St. between 12th Avenue and Jersey) exhibiting at the really big show.  It’s not often we do Cons (aside from our capacity as fans and schmoozers), so whenever we do we try to whip up the best presence we can possibly muster.  And for this, our first show in two years, we’re pulling out a lot of stops.

Make sure you stop by and say hi.

You too, Billy Dee. We gotta hang, man!!!

Scoundrel.