Green Lantern Animated Series to appear at New York Comic-Con
“Green Lantern: The Animated Series” will be among the properties promoted by Warner Bros. Television at New York Comic-Con next weekend. Stars and producers of Nikita, Green Lantern: The Animated Series and MAD will appear on Saturday, October 15 and Sunday, October 16.
The world premiere of the first episode of “Green Lantern: The Animated Series” (coming soon to Cartoon Network) will be presented by Bruce Timm during the show’s panel session.
Click past the cut for the full Warner Bros. Television schedule at NYCC.
- Matt Price
Chicago Comic Con starts today
Bruce Campbell and Patrick Stewart are among the headliners at the Chicago Comic Con, which starts today in the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. The show continues through Sunday.
There’s also a great lineup of former “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” actors: James Marsters, Julie Benz, Charisma Carpenter, Felicia Day, Nicholas Brendon, Kelly Donovan, Mercedes McNab & Clare Kramer are all scheduled to appear at the “BuffyFest Chicago.”
I’d also be excited to go see writer/artist Mike Grell, who is making an appearance at the convention. Check out the full guest list and more info here.
- Matt Price
ComicsPRO Annual Membership Meeting dates set
In retailer news from this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, direct-market retailer organization ComicsPRO has announced that its Annual Membership Meeting will be held February 9-11, 2012, in Dallas, Texas.
This is the second year for the meeting to be held in Dallas; previous locations include Las Vegas, Nev. and Memphis, Tenn. This will be the sixth Annual Membership Meeting of the organization.
ComicsPRO is the only trade organization for direct-market comic book retailers. ComicsPRO’s goals are to promote advocacy, education, and opportunity for its members.
ComicsPRO has a full line of retailer programs set for Friday at Comic-Con. Click past the cut for the full schedule.
- Matt Price
Limited edition He-Man and the Masters of the Universe DVD set for Comic-Con
Mill Creek has announced a special edition of the second season of “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” will be available at Comic-Con International in San Diego.
It will be on sale at booth #4135, the FUNimation booth. This special Comic-Con release is available nearly two months before the regular edition release of the second season.
The complete 8-DVD, 65-episode second season, features exclusive artwork on collectible holographic foil packaging. It will be on sale for $25, with bonus features including interviews, audio commentaries, character profiles and scripts.
The fantasy series features the hero, He-Man, who gets his powers from the mysterious Castle Grayskull. He faces off against the evil Skeletor and protects the planet Eternia. The cartoon series originally aired from 1983-1985.
The “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” program was based on the Mattel toy line, first launched in 1982.
- Matt Price
Thundercats fans can attempt to win replica Sword of Omens at Comic-Con
Warner Bros. has announced that fans at Comic-Con can enter to win a replica of the Thundercats’ Sword of Omens at next week’s Comic-Con International in San Diego.
Here’s more info, from Warner Bros:
Big crowds again expected at Comic-Con
Fans dressed as the Justice Society of America (Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Black Canary and Hourman) at Comic-Con International in 2009. Photo by Matthew Price, The Oklahoman
Movie studios may cut back a bit at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, but more than 125,000 fans are still expected, as comic-book companies and retailers prepare for the second half of the year.
Oklahoma creators among Harvey Award nominees
Oklahoma City artist Eric Sandhop illustrated this page from "Popgun" Vol. 4.
Three comic-book creators with Oklahoma ties are among the nominees for the Harvey Awards, comic-book awards selected exclusively by comic-book creators.
The awards will be presented as part of the 2011 Baltimore Comic-Con on Aug. 20 in Baltimore, Md.
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“On Stranger Tides” author Tim Powers visits SoonerCon
“On Stranger Tides” author Tim Powers will visit Oklahoma City this weekend as part of SoonerCon 20 at the Sheraton Hotel, 1 N Broadway Ave., from Friday through Sunday.
With the theme of “Heroes & Villains,” guests include Powers, local horror host John “Count Gregore” Ferguson, native Oklahoman and star of SyFy’s SFX series “Face Off” Tate Steinsiek and award-winning illustrator Darrell K. Sweet.
Downtown Oklahoma City welcomes SoonerCon
SoonerCon, Oklahoma’s longest running scifi/fantasy/pop culture event, will be held Friday through Sunday in the downtown Oklahoma City Sheraton, 1 North Broadway Ave.
This year’s convention will include a larger exhibit hall and more than 100 guests and performers. Headliners include Tim Powers, World Fantasy Award winning author of “On Stranger Tides,” which was the basis of the fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie; science-fiction/fantasy cover artist for the Wheel of Time series Darrell K. Sweet; and Tate Steinsiek from the Syfy series “Faceoff.”
Other highlights include a zombie walk, costume contest, video game tournaments, the largest science fiction/fantasy themed art show in the region, a writers workshop, and the Saturday night zombie prom.
For more information, visit www.soonercon.com or call 310-9255.
- Matt Price
Fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” looked good, says “On Stranger Tides” author Tim Powers
Author Tim Powers, who’s coming to Oklahoma City’s SoonerCon in June, said he enjoyed the fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film – but he admits to a bias.
“It looked good to me,” he said. “You know, I’m partial.”
He’s the author of “On Stranger Tides,” the novel on which the film was loosely based.
“My wife and I went to the premiere at Disneyland,” Powers said. “We got to walk up the ‘black carpet’ … and saw Johnny Depp, and Keith Richards, and Jodie Foster somehow.”
The movie features Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth, which are featured in the “On Stranger Tides” novel, but Powers says much of the rest was changed for the “Pirates” film.
“Given that it was the fourth installment of a fairly complicated series, there was no way it could have a lot to do with my book, so I wasn’t expecting much overlap. But even when people make movies specifically of books, I don’t think they’re under any obligation to follow the book very closely. Whole different form and all.”
Fans of adventure fiction with a supernatural twist will find much to enjoy in Powers’ “On Stranger Tides,” which features a former puppeteer drawn into a world of the supernatural when he’s pressed into service on a pirate ship. Powers said he extensively researches the real world events and settings in his books so that when fantastic elements are introduced, they seem believable.
“I want it to be not too big of a speed bump when the supernatural stuff begins to intrude,” Powers said. “I really am always aware that the supernatural stuff is plain bogus, and we’ve moved from reality into just imaginary. And I don’t want that shift to jolt or jar the reader, I want them to sort of go along.”
Powers says he never considers whether any of his books will be optioned or filmed.
“I think it would be a handicap, because you’d think, ‘Oh wait, this would be too expensive to film this scene.’ You’d be restricting yourself with the eventual thought of the movie in mind.”
Powers will appear at SoonerCon, June 3-5, 2011 in the downtown OKC Sheraton, 1 North Broadway Ave. For more info or discounted pre-registrations, visit www.soonercon.com or call (405) 310-9255.
Look for a more extensive interview with Powers in an upcoming edition of the Oklahoman’s Weekend Look.
- Matt Price
