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Robert Rodriguez is on hand to produce “Red Sonja,” starring Rose McGowan.  Superhero Hype talked to McGowand and Rodriguez about the film:
Rose McGowan: Well, I thought “Red Sonja” was incredibly badass. The studio brought me the script. I got really excited about it. I’d been getting such boring scripts and after doing Cherry in “Planet Terror,” I was really in a quite a deep depression — I’m not going to lie — at least workwise. I came home and said, “I really want to do this movie. It’s kind of great. Look at these comic books, you ever heard of this person? This is insane!” And then…
Robert Rodriguez: I had been into “Conan” since I was twelve. “Savage Sword of Conan” was the first comic I had gotten. There was lots of Red Sonja in that. Robert E. Howard, who I’m a fan of, was from Texas. I used to collect his books and just knew all about it so I was very surprised when she brought the comic script and offer. I said, “If you want to do that, that’s a great project to do!” That’s like a fantasy project for somebody who grew up with this.

While I’m certain the picture I’ve included here would be enough for the woman who called to complain to me the last time I wrote about Red Sonja, I’m not even stopping there.  Click past the cut for one of the least subtle promotional posters I’ve ever seen.

– Matt Price

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According to Neil Gaiman’s journal, his planned appearance in Tulsa on June 28 has been cancelled. 

Gaiman writes:
An apologetic note to say that I’ve just learned that for various reasons (none of which was really anyone’s fault) the Tulsa Oklahoma event on June the 28th has had to be cancelled. (And, I am assured, all tickets will be refunded.)

I definitely want to come to Tulsa — there are Lafferty archives to see, after all, and old friends to eat with — so I think its been more postponed than cancelled, although it’ll probably be in a slightly different form when next it happens.

This is too bad — I know several people were looking forward to the well-known “Sandman” author’s appearance — but there is some hope that a future trip is in order.

– Matt Price

From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

The swashbuckling Adrian Paul has played Duncan McLeod, the immortal Highlander, through six seasons of television and a threatrical release.

In “Highlander: The Source,” now available on DVD, Paul reprises his role as Duncan McLeod as McLeod joins a group of immortals seeking the source of their immortality.

Paul said he thinks “Highlander” taps into a long-held human wish.

“I think everybody would like to live forever,” Paul said in a recent phone interview just after a day of filming the thriller “Nine Miles Down” in Budapest.

“It’s a nice dream to think we can live through the years and live longer than we actually do.” “Highlander” also appeals to those who are interested in history, Paul said, as the story of the immortals plays across the centuries. And the themes of the show, and films, are universal.

“You’re dealing with romance, love, hate, bigotry, and everybody understands those things across cultures in that respect,” Paul said.

Paul spent 18 years studying martial arts and swordplay, and the athletic Paul played semi-professional soccer as a young man. He’s studied the short sword, the long sword, and the staff, among others.

“Even though it’s sped up in ‘The Source’ in places, it was all me doing it,” Paul said. “It’s something I enjoy delving into.”

After finding success as a model, Paul broke into acting with a role in “The Colbys.” After appearing in films and off-Broadway, Paul guest-starred in “Murder, She Wrote” and “Beauty and the Beast” before joining the cast of “War of the Worlds.” Following that was “Highlander: The Series.”

Paul first brought Duncan MacLeod to motion pictures with “Highlander: Endgame,” where he met Christopher Lambert’s Connor MacLeod, his kinsman from the first “Highlander” pictures.

After “The Source,” “Highlander” could continue in future motion picture projects. On the horizon is a “Highlander” video game, set for release this fall.

“Highlander has a life of its own, and whether I’m attached to it or not, it will probably go ahead in one form or another,” Paul said.

Paul stays very busy as an actor, producer and director, and he’s attempting to add writer to his resume.

“I have a script that’s going to be financed, and I’m going to try to produce some stuff, too,” he said, adding that a mix of different responsibilities keeps him from being bored.

“Writing’s a challenge,” Paul said. “I’ve learned a lot about writing over the years. I’ve learned a lot about story elements, and how to do certain pacing in a script at certain times, and the act breaks and that sort of stuff, so it has a flow. And I understand that much better than I did 10 years ago when I first started trying to write.”

Paul won’t consider himself a writer until he has an official credit, though he has unofficially worked on some projects over the years.

“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, I’m a writer,’ and they haven’t had anything published … so, I’m not a writer yet.”

Gary Gygax, who created “Dungeons & Dragons” and by extension the entire role-playing genre of games, died Tuesday, as reported by his publisher, Troll Lord Games.  Gygax was 69.

Gygax adapted miniature war gaming to a fantasy setting, when he and Dave Arneson created “Dungeons & Dragons” in 1974.  In a 2004 interview with GameSpy, Gygax said his main inspirations were fantasy writers Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague DeCamp and Fritz Lieber. 

Gygax was four times named “Game Inventor of the Year” by the U.K.-based Games Day and founded GenCon, the long-running hobby convention, in 1968.  He helped to create nine other games and was a producer on the “Dungeons & Dragons” cartoon series.

“Dungeons & Dragons” was in the news in the 1980s as some groups blamed the game for suicides and linked it with the occult.

“I mean, there wasn’t a shred of evidence or veracity in any of those claims,” Gygax told GameSpy. “I knew it, and a lot of people told me that, including mothers of two of the children who had committed suicide.”

In the GameSpy interview, Gygax told the interviewer how he hoped to be remembered:

“I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else.”

– Matt Price

Having looked at the web site, “North World” seems to me to be a “Scott Pilgrim” type for the fantasy set, and should be pretty funny! 

From Oni:

This spring Oni Press is picking up the sword and shield and heading out for adventure with NORTH WORLD, BOOK 1: THE EPIC OF CONRAD, a new original graphic novel series from cartoonist and webcomicker Lars Brown! Part LORD OF THE RINGS and part GROSS POINTE BLANK, NORTH WORLD is a fantasy epic that has already enjoyed critical success as a webcomic (www.north-world.com) and now joins such Internet stalwarts as MEGATOKYO, PVP, PENNY ARCADE, and PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP in moving to print with an already established audience in tow.

“NORTH WORLD is one of those books that just felt right for us,” said editor James Lucas Jones. “Lars’ sensibilities, both in terms of artistic style and storytelling, fit in line wonderfully with our own and while he’s tackling a genre that people don’t immediately associate with Oni Press, he’s exploring it in a way that is right up our alley.” 

North World really isn’t that different from our own… the biggest difference is the presence of mythical monsters, talking bears, arcane arts, and, of course, the heroes who stand ready to defend the innocent and helpless from these extraordinary threats! Conrad is one such hero and he’s about to experience something scarier than any of the mighty beasts he’s faced down — his ex-girlfriend’s wedding!

NORTH WORLD adds to the impressive catalog of OniGNs—original graphic novels from veteran comic publisher Oni Press that explore a variety of themes and genres. It joins books from critically acclaimed creators like Bryan Lee O’Malley, Vasilis Lolos, Ande Parks, and Rick Spears & Chuck BB. 

“With an already-established fan-base from his NORTH WORLD webcomic and a unique take on the ’swords & sorcery’ genre,” added Jones, “We’re confident that NORTH WORLD will appeal to both mainstream comic fans as well as the more casual sequential art readers looking for something both fun and different.”

NORTH WORLD, BOOK 1: THE EPIC OF CONRAD is a 152 page black-and-white graphic novel for $11.95. The digest-sized volume that’s rated “T for Teen”. It ships to comic book stores this March.

Many of you have probably seen this, but Tor announced last month that Brandon Sanderson (”Mistborn”) has been selected to complete the final book in Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” series.   The final book, “A Memory of Light,” is slated for a fall 2009 release, based on Jordan’s notes for the completion of the series.  Jordan died in September.

I got really into these books in high school and early college, but then I got frustrated with waiting for them to come out.  I always figured I’d go back to them when they were finished.   Since Jordan’s death, I’ve been interested in going back and reading them.  Maybe if I got started now, I’d finish by 2009.