• These gorgeous prints from Mondo went on sale today, but were sold out in mere minutes.

• FP still has some stock left on what’s sure to be a hot-ticket item this weekend- Deluxe Identity Discs.

• Make your own TRON paraphernalia on the cheap with these papercraft models of BIT. (Thanks for the heads up, Live for Films.)

END OF LINE.

If you find yourself needing a fix in that time I suggest you pick up a copy of the TRON The Betrayal TP.

Yes, I’m well aware that I have been known to rail against the formulaic, cliched, now-requisite prequel comic before (see: Inception for example).  However, Betrayal has enough interesting moments and relevant plot details to make it at least worth a read.

END OF LINE.

Redemption:  The sequel to one of the most ambitious SF cinema flops of all time is expected to become one of the biggest films of all time.

What’s happening to my special purpose?  Action Flick Chick as The Baroness NYCC

Vanity: Jeff Ayers on Jeff Ayers’ job. 26 minutes of me pontificating upon the vagaries of NYC comic retail on the hottest day in recorded NYC history. In reality I know the difference between Detective Comics #27 and #37 and tensile and tactile.  Saw a doctor and got rid of it.

Lord loves a workin’ man:  Grant Morrison on Twitter.

When you’re rich and famous you’ll send me a postcard:  Thank you, Messrs. Gaiman and McKean for all the conversation pieces you’ve provided me throughout the years.  Thank you DC for changing The Sandman’s trade dress all old-timey and shit.

Don’t trust whitey:  Comics cover price = $2.99?

In other TRON Legacy news I picked up a neat-o Identity Disc slash frisbee at the shop yesterday.  Looks great, flies like poop… but who cares about functionality when you’ve got something so badass (and relatively cheap!) in your eager paws.

END OF LINE.

Been a helluva day but I’m dogged and relentless (LET ME AT ‘EM!).

END OF LINE.

• Actor Peter Jurasik, who played a compound interest program named Crom in the original film, showed up in an article in the Star News (North Carolina) over the weekend chatting about his experience while shooting the original classic film.

“Steve Lisberger who created it, first of all, he hired all of us for almost the entire run of the thing. So people became almost like a little family,” Jurasik said. “He put all those TRON video games right on the set, they served us breakfast, lunch and dinner right on the set. … I remember Jeff Bridges bringing his guitar and plugging in. It was a really nice set to be on because we were like … science fiction outlaws.”

Jurasik is a veteran bit player and SF television icon who co-starred with Tron himself,  Bruce Boxleitner, in the superlative Babylon 5.

• A new Hungarian poster reveals Jem, a character played by Beau Garrett (below).

• Similarly, there’s also a new poster depicting Jeff Bridges as Flynn, though I’m not so keen on this one for some reason.  Maybe I’m just waiting for a de-aged Bridges as CLU in some badass pose or something.  This one strikes me as something out of The Big Tronbowski, and I keep mentally replacing the Identity Disc with a bowling ball… comma dude.

END OF LINE.

Pretty rad, huh? More footage was reportedly shown at the panel, but this represents what’s officially been released to the web. It’s enough, though, as there’s plenty for any fan’s tongue to wag at. Recognizers, Identity Disc battles, a rather nifty de-res shot, a de-aged Bridges as CLU looking reasonably seamless, Light Cycle races, and some kind of Light Jet contraption (looks like an X-Wing fighter, actually) to cap things off… Oh my, have I got the vapors!

I’ve watched this video… um… let’s just say more than once.

END OF LINE.

• Empire Magazine’s new issue features, among other geeky pursuits, a TRON piece and two covers featuring Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedland) on a Light Cycle…

The cover story has insight from Legacy director Joe Kosinski, and the original’s director and TRON creator Steven Lisberger.  To add sauce to goose, Empire‘s offering exclusive stills, including this one of the reclusive Kevin Flynn…

• The MTV Movies Blog has an on-set interview with actress Olivia Wilde, who plays Cora, the female lead and an acolyte of Flynn,  and the lady seen lounging around for a heartbeat in the film’s trailer, a heartbeat that set many a dork’s tongue-a-waggin.

Question: Do you have your own entire storyline, or are you just there to support the men?

Wilde: Oh god, no! I’m not just there to support the men, which is what’s so fantastic about this film. I often say that, you know, the reason you see so many … actresses taking television roles is because there are more roles where you can play an independent woman, not just someone’s sister or girlfriend and it’s become rare in film, I think, to play an independent woman. This is one of the films where I get to do that. So, to answer your question, thank god no, I’m not just there!

• Got $35, 000 lying around?  Parker Brothers Custom Choppers are customing five working, street legal Light Cycles, though they appear to have all been sold.

END OF LINE.

Stan is digitized a la Kevin Flynn and sent to the Game Grid for having the audacity to attempt to delete his profile… and Facebook the MCP will have none of that!

So what sort of games are the conscripts profiles forced to play to gain their freedom? Jai Alai?  A Light Cycle race to the death?

NO!  Yahtzee!

Looove the episode’s Tron parody segments (the little touches go a long way- Facebook Saark is a more accurate cartoon depiction of a real person/character, actor David warner in this case, than any featured on The Simpsons in a long time… The MCP’s voice and the line, “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Stan Marsh.” ), but the episode’s real strength is its biting commentary on the Facebook phenomenon and the various social changes it has loosed upon the world. For better, but mostly worse.

Great episode.

END OF LINE.

• Coming soon: Battlestar Galactica MMO.  Slated to be a browser-based space strategy game, offered exclusively on syfy.com for its first 30 days, this is being developed by obscure (and relatively unproven) Norwegian developer Artplant- which leads one to assume their app (or bid) wowed the Bigs behind such a high-profile and expensive license.

• Comic Book Resources has an exclusive preview of next week’s big release, Siege #3.

• Tor Books is offering 200 free copies of Cory Doctorow’s next YA novel For the Win to video gamers under 19 years old to review.  Says Cory:

If you’re under 19 and want a free early look at the book for review on your blog/paper/whatever, send a note with your address to torpublicity@tor.com with “FTW” for the subject-line.  Also include the name of your blog or school paper.  For fun, also share a game you enjoyed recently and why.

We did this with Little Brother a couple years back, on the grounds that books for young people should be available for young reviewers to write about, rather than just adult reviewers who try to figure out whether young people will enjoy them.  It was a real success and I’m happy to be repeating it.

• And because I think it’s effin’ funny that I could probably start my own Tron blog at this point (“Daily Recognizer” anyone?  Or how about “Bits?”), Disney is renting a Hollywood billboard (Santa Monica and Westwood) through December 2010 and posting new teaser images from Legacy every six weeks.  Here’s yesterday’s, the third poster (click to enlarge and bask in its total radness):