President Barack Obama smiles in the rain as he and French President Nicolas Sarkozy attend an event honoring the alliance between the United States and France and their efforts in Libya at Cannes City Hall, after the G20 Summit in Cannes, France. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

With the help of YouTube user baracksdubs, President Barack Obama sings Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way.” The mashup is created from clips from the president’s speeches.

The clip begins with a speech the president gave to the Human Rights Campaign in which he references Lady Gaga.

- Matt Price

I was a fan of the now-defunct Gorilla Comics, which published great titles, including Kurt Busiek’s “Shockrockets” and Mark Waid’s “Empire.”   One of the titles from the line, “Section Zero,” by Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett, is being revived online at Karl Kesel’s Mad Genius Comics.

The planned six-issue miniseries saw three issues released in 2000.  Kesel will post the previously released, but tweaked and re-lettered, pages on his site, with new material to follow, Robot 6 reports.

“Tom and I are working on new SECTION ZERO material now, squeezing it in around our day jobs,” Kesel writes at Mad Genius Comics. “At the same time we’ll be posting all the previously published storyline— starting with today’s 5-Page Prologue, followed by 3 pages every Thursday. By the time all that’s posted, we’ll have a ton of new stuff ready. If you haven’t read these comics before, this is your chance.”

- Matt Price

Two Oklahomans are working on a weekly webcomic aimed at bibliophiles with a love for classical history. With a strip that aims to mix high and low culture in humorous ways, “Howling at the Gates” introduces a mad scientist, her boyfriend, and their time machine.

Writer Rob Vollmar, nominated for an Eisner award, the comics’ industry’s highest honor, is taking on a more humorous tone for this new strip. He’s working with artist Shayna Pond, a University of Oklahoma graduate with a degree in visual communications. She and Vollmar work at the University of Science and Arts in Chickasha.

“She was born in Texas but has recovered nicely since,” Vollmar said. “As I collaborated with her on university projects, I was blown away by her skills and design sense. Though ‘Howling’ is her first comics project, she’s absorbed the skills of visual storytelling at an amazing rate.”

Pond also trained for three years as an illustrator at Oklahoma State.

“In the past I’ve mostly done stand-alone illustrations for websites, posters, brochures, T-shirts — and I illustrated a children’s book two years ago,” Pond said. “Working on an ongoing project like this keeps me drawing every day. I can see myself dramatically improving and adapting my skills for the comics medium with every strip.”

Vollmar was motivated in part by the immediate gratification of working on a webcomic.

“After a decade of working on graphic novels that took years to bring to market, I wanted the opportunity to work on something with more immediacy to it,” Vollmar said. He started working on the ideas for “Howling” in August, and web publication began in November. The comic is being posted at the official blog for the strip, howlingatthegates.blogspot.com, as well as on LitStack.com.

“LitStack is a place for bookworms and bibliophiles to discuss classics and recent releases, check out cool stuff for readers and get the inside scoop from popular authors,” Vollmar said. “As they also publish original fiction, I approached them early on to see if they might be interested in running the strip. Their enthusiasm for Howling was one of the early factors in nurturing it into existence.”

Vollmar said it’s been noted to him that all of his graphic novels — including “Castaways,” “Bluesman” and “Inanna’s Tears” can be “a bit on the dour side.”

“I got my feet wet doing lighter material on my stint with ‘Tales from the Crypt,’ and this just felt like a good direction to extend on that,” Vollmar said. “There will be unexpected moments of seriousness in Howling, but the goal is mostly to have a good time.”

The cast will build slowly over time but starts out with Hypatia, the scientist, and her slacker boyfriend Grant.

“Despite the fact that he’s in a relationship with someone a thousand times smarter than he is, he serves as the populist voice in the strip, bringing common sense to bear on uncommon, nonsensical situations,” Vollmar said.

- By Matthew Price
WORD BALLOONS
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

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.

The New York Times reported that several movie studios may be dropping or lessening their presence at Comic-Con this year, noting that films including “Sucker Punch” and “Scott Pilgrim” made a splash at Comic-Con, but underperformed at the box office. Still, many studios like to play their plans close to the vest in order to make a big splash, so don’t be surprised to see lots of film news and star appearances at next week’s Comic-Con.

Movies or no, the enthusiasm for comic books hasn’t lessened at Comic-Con. In fact, ComicsPRO, the trade organization dedicated to the progress of direct market comic book retailers, anticipates a busy and successful show for its members.

“Comic-Con is another great opportunity for ComicsPRO members to meet with publishers and distributors and talk about the state of our industry,” said Amanda Emmert, executive director of ComicsPRO. “The convention also allows us to meet with potential new retailers who are interested in the Mentoring Program and fans who support comic book stores through the ComicsPRO Backer program. We appreciate Comic-Con’s support of ComicsPRO and of comic retailers!”

More information for stores and those who want to own comic-book stores can be found at www.comicspro.org and www.comicspro.org/mentoring.

Comic-book publishers will be out in full force.

DC Comics will feature “The New 52” at Comic-Con, the upcoming historic renumbering of the entire DC line of superhero comic books with 52 first issues. Marvel has panels on the comic-book series “Amazing Spider-Man” and “X-Men,” among others.

Publishers including Image, IDW, Dark Horse, Archaia, Abrams, Titan and more will have a presence at the convention.

And, despite the talk, some film events have already been announced, with others a strong possibility.

Sony, which is producing the new “Amazing Spider-Man” film, will have a panel in Hall H, the largest Comic-Con panel room, which seats more than 6,000. Chris Evans of “Captain America: The First Avenger” is also expected to be in San Diego for a promotional event tied to Comic-Con.

Television and Web series seem to find Comic-Con a great home for debuting and promoting new products. TV Guide will dedicate an issue to Comic-Con, with covers focusing on shows including “Chuck” and “Fringe.”

“Doctor Who” stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan make their first Comic-Con appearance for a panel and Q&A with “Doctor Who” writer Toby Whithouse (“Being Human” creator) and executive producers Piers Wenger and Beth Willis. They’ll have exclusive footage in their Hall H panel at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, July 24.

Actress Tara Platt, who lived in Oklahoma from age 7 to 11, and Yuri Lowenthal will debut a trailer for the new live-action Web series “Shelf Life” at the convention. It features the irreverent antics of four action figures come to life.

“It’s a high-concept idea, and it was very important to us to have high production values and high quality scripts as well,” said Platt in a news release.

Comic-Con International will begin with a preview night on July 20, then run on July 21-24. More information and a full schedule is available at Comic-Con.org.

- By Matthew Price
WORD BALLOONS
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

This week’s Planet 46 comics podcast features a Robot Chicken: Star Wars III giveaway! Just tell us your favorite Star Wars character for a chance to win.

CAPTAIN AMERICA MELTS

For Independence Day, Kyle created a cool stop-motion featuring Captain America, his shield, and a Bomb Pop.   Kyle talks about the making of the movie in the Planet 46 Comics Podcast.

SUPERHERO TOY COMEDY

Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, Travis Willingham, and Bryan Enk are set to star in the new live-action web series “Shelf Life,” which stars four action figures on a young boy’s shelf.  The series will follow the action figures’ irreverent antics and was co-written and directed by Paul Jenkins (“Wolverine: Origin”).

The first season of Shelf Life introduces us to Hero Man (Travis Willingham: Thor, Transformers, Marvel Super Hero Squad), Hero Lass (Tara Platt), Bug Boy (Yuri Lowenthal) and Samurai Snake (Bryan Enk).

PALICKI TO PLAY LADY JAYE
Adrianne Palicki is set to play female lead Lady Jaye in “GI Joe: Cobra Strikes.”  According to

Adrianne Palicki (AP)

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has signed on to play the beefy soldier Roadblock in the Jon M. Chu-directed film.

REVIEW FILE: Flashpoint 3, Elric 1, Fear Itself 4.

Comics read in 2011: 914 Still to go: 1097.

Production Still from Season One of Shelf Life, featuring Tara Platt as Hero Lass, Travis Willingham as Hero Man, Yuri Lowenthal as Bug Boy and Bryan Enk as Samurai Snake! photo by Matthew Matt Swanson, from the Shelf Life facebook page

Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, Travis Willingham, and Bryan Enk are set to star in the new live-action web series “Shelf Life,” which stars four action figures on a young boy’s shelf.

The series was co-written by comic book writer Paul Jenkins and Lowenthal.  Jenkins will direct.  Created and produced by Lowenthal (Terminator: TSCC, Ben 10: Alien Force, Legion of Superheroes) and Platt (The Gilmore Girls, Charmed, Afterworld) the series will follow the action figures’ irreverent antics.

The first season of Shelf Life introduces us to Hero Man (Travis Willingham: Thor, Transformers, Marvel Super Hero Squad), Hero Lass (Tara Platt), Bug Boy (Yuri Lowenthal) and Samurai Snake (Bryan Enk) and is set to debut in late summer.

It was produced under Lowenthal and Platt’s Monkey Kingdom Productions shingle in conjunction with Stephanie Thorpe’s (Elf Quest: A Fan Imagining, Night of the Zombie King, After Judgment) Ultimatum Entertainment. The series was shot at Monkey Kingdom Studios in downtown Los Angeles.

“It’s a high concept idea, and it was very important to us to have high production values and high quality scripts as well,” said Platt, who lived in Oklahoma from age 7 to 11.

Lowenthal said he wanted to make a show for nerds.

“Technology has made it easier and cheaper to shoot and distribute shows via the Internet, but we didn’t want to use that as an excuse for putting out a show that wouldn’t be competitive even if you were watching it on TV.” Lowenthal said.  “I’m a nerd. I wanted to make the kind of thing that my friends and I would watch. It’s got the four S’s: Sex, Social commentary, Slapstick and Superheroes. It’s like Toy Story only we say (expletive deleted) a lot more.”

- Matt Price

Felicia Day in Dragon Age: Redemption

Felicia Day, who comes in at #23 on Nerdage’s “Actresses with Geek Appeal,” has almost-unassailable geek cred.

She writes and stars in “The Guild,” a hilarious web series about a group of hardcore gamers.  Season 5 was recently announced.   She is also collaborating with with Bioware to write, produce, direct and star in a six-part web series is based in the Dragon Age universe called “Dragon Age: Redemption.”

She’s set to appear in season 5 of “Eureka” and a film called “Rock Jocks,” in addition to writing comics based on the “Guild” characters for Dark Horse Comics.

- Matt Price

Josh Mackey

The following guest post by Josh Mackey of PeekYou takes a look at the growth of the internet and his theory that it’s time to leave usernames behind.  What do you think?

What would happen if at a school’s talent show some parents stood up and started heckling the child playing the piano or dancing in front of them? “You’re awful!” or “You call yourself a dancer?” For one thing, it would never happen. And if it did, the rest of the audience would turn on the heckler and defend the 13-year-old performer. Even if every parent in the audience inwardly agreed that the child was talentless, they would keep their opinion to themselves for the time being and clap at the end of the performance. Why? Because of the negative consequences of behaving uncivilly—to one’s reputation and even to one’s standing in the community. Common sense, right? How come then common decency is thrown out the door in the case of Rebecca Black’s YouTube performance? Why can so many people not refrain from publicly ridiculing this 13-year-old girl trying to be a singer and songwriter?

What explains the essential difference in behavior when the medium is the Internet? What changes people when they interact online? Why do they behave so savagely so often? Could it be the anonymous username? Could it be that when they hide behind an alias, they feel invisible, and hence not accountable for their actions? Is the anonymous username the modern-day Ring of Gyges?

Going by a username instead of one’s real name is attractive to those who:

1) Value privacy above all else.

Sure, a username gives you some extra privacy, but of what use is such privacy? If you can’t publicly stand by what you do online because doing so would damage your reputation, then maybe just don’t do it. Show some integrity and stand by your comments on an Internet forum. There are legitimate concerns over privacy, I don’t deny it, but ultimately people need to understand that public identity and privacy are two different notions, and that you can declare who you are without violating your own privacy. It’s not even hard to manage. Simple steps go a long way; steps such as thinking twice before posting personal details, and keeping off the record birthdays, phone numbers, street addresses, medical and financial records, and SSNs. Disseminating this kind of information on the Internet can be disastrous to your privacy. Divulging what your favorite music bands or movies are? Not so much.

2) Seek free speech for political reasons

Free speech is another catch cry in behalf of the anonymous web, and sure, if you live in Iran, and wish to speak out against the government, then you have a case. But if you yearn for “free speech” as nothing more than a cover for bad-mouthing people while not exposing your identity, then your tirade about anonymity and free speech on the Internet doesn’t garner much sympathy from me.

3) Wish to live vicariously

Some people need the web to be a fantasy land, a valve of release.

I understand people not divulging their real identity on sites like IMVU or Second Life. Doing otherwise would defeat the purpose of such virtual worlds premised on escaping reality.But should we commiserate with someone who wants to live vicariously as a bully on YouTube, or as a jerk on TechCrunch or the WSJ? I think not.

4) Are bad players

Simply put, some people are straight up bad players who are planning to do illegal or immoral things online, which can’t possibly be done without the use of an anonymous username or fake identity. Think “How to Catch a Predator.

I predict that one day a transparent online identity will become the norm, and lurking behind anonymous usernames, the exception. More and more people will put a premium on interactions with other people whom they can identify, and who can be held accountable for their online actions. One’s Internet reputation will become almost as valuable as one’s offline reputation. Even today, we’d all rather know who left that comment, wrote that article, sent that email, or is selling this car. It’s already happening and, in my opinion, it’s the main reason why Quora has been so successful: because it requires some form of verified, public identity. More illustrations of the trend include successful sites such as About.me, card.ly, flavors.com, etc. On the Internet, we want to deal with people of clout, who don’t hide their name and face. “BigBizDog88″ is so 1999.

The web is emerging from its chaotic and troubled adolescence, where anything goes and you can be anyone or no one. There are more and more people to interact with nowadays, and on many more levels than in the past. The potential for clutter grows exponentially, along with the size of the Internet itself. So pretty soon, we won’t have the time of day to give to anonymous nobodies. My prediction is that in the not-too-distant future, a deep chasm will open throughout the Internet. On one side of it will be a transparent market of ideas, where people network and transact with their cards on the table and virtual name tags on. And on the other side will be the black market, so to speak, of shady dealings, casual encounters, cyber bullying, and other unsavory activities, all of which thrive only under the shade of the anonymous username.

Going by an anonymous username, even for what are today considered legitimate reasons (i.e., privacy considerations and the like), will be considered your “opt out” from the open and accountable Internet and will leave you on the dark side of the chasm. Unfortunately, even if you have the best intentions, you’ll be left in the company of the BigDog’s and hotdude’s of the web, untrusted and ignored, like spam.

Josh Mackey

@joshmackey

GM Product at PeekYou

Felicia Day

In just the latest sign that geeks rule the earth, Felicia Day has topped Katy Perry with the No. 1 best-selling pop music video on iTunes in the United States and United Kingdom.

On Aug. 4, “Game On,” a Bollywood-themed gamer anthem by Day and the cast of the Web series “The Guild” topped Perry’s “California Gurls” on the chart. It’s the second music video for the “Guild” crew, who last year released “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?”

“The Guild” is in its fourth season online as a Web series; the third season was recently released on DVD. “The Guild” follows the wacky real-world antics of a group of gamers who play a “World of Warcraft”-like game.

In a recent interview with The Oklahoman, Day, who created, writes and stars in the Web series, talked about the differences between creating a Web series and a traditional television show.

“The privilege I have with a Web series is that it doesn’t have to be as episodic as TV would be, where characters kind of stay emotionally static, and they go through different ideas every week,” Day said. “I think it’s important that like, just in real life, people are changed by what happens to them.”

She also said because people tend to watch Web series on a browser, they need to stay shorter and more on point.

“You can’t have as much space or time to tell the stories,” she said. “So you really have to kind of be ruthless and say we have to cut down to the bone.”

At Comic-Con International, it was announced that further “Guild” comics would be released this fall, following the well-received miniseries written by Day. She talked about writing the “Guild” miniseries and how it focused on some of the drama behind the characters.

“The comic, especially the way it started, is a lot more dramatic than some people actually expected,” Day said. “Because to me, these characters do come from a place of loneliness, and that’s why they’re together. So there is a hint of reality and a little bit of sadness in everybody. And for me, that’s kind of the basis of everybody finding themselves online.”

Day said she was pleased with the response, especially from comic-book fans.

“The biggest compliment is when somebody who’s a hard-core comic reader (gives) me a compliment, because I feel like comic guys and geeks are the most hardcore of the bunch, and I know they aren’t going to cut me any slack,” she said.

This fall, five one-shots featuring the main characters of “The Guild” will be released by Dark Horse. The first one-shot, “Vork,” will be co-written by Day and Jeff Lewis, who plays the Vork character.

“There is a lot more to be told in that format; because the great thing about comics is you don’t have to worry about the production values or how expensive something’s going to be to shoot, you just write it,” Day said.

- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

DC Comics has announced a digital platform, kicking off today, on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as well as a second app for the PlayStation Network.

“Today’s launch provides an additional opportunity to convert new readers and recapture lapsed readers while serving existing fans,” said John Rood, Executive Vice President, DC Entertainment, in the release at DC Comics’ Source blog. “We look forward to working with our partners in the industry—the creators, the retailers and the fans—as we experiment with our digital strategy, in a manner that remains additive to our traditional business models.”

Comics available include “Batman: Hush” and “Green Lantern: Rebirth.”  Price points will range from 99 cents to $2.99.  DC plans royalty payments for creators, and plans to work with existing print retailers.

“At DC Comics, it has been a top priority that DC forges a meaningful, forward-looking digital strategy,” said Jim Lee, Co-Publisher, DC Comics in the release. “As both a comic book creator and Co-Publisher, it was incredibly important that our plan includes not only creator incentive payments, but also an innovative component that supports comic shop owners. We see digital as an opportunity to grow our entire business.”

Probably the most surprising part of the announcement is that The Justice League: Generation Lost mini-series will be available through both platforms day and date with each issue’s print edition on-sale date, with both the digital and print editions priced at $2.99.  It will be an interesting experiment to see if this helps, hurts, or has no effect on the print sales of the comic book.

- Matt Price

comiXology has announced it is extending its popular mobile comics-reading application, Comics by comiXology, to the web.   Fans will be able to view comics bought in the original app online. Using existing comiXology credentials, fans can login to the web-based application at Comics.comiXology.com to explore their personal comic collection from anywhere without downloading additional software, according to the comiXology release.

“Building a web reader is a significant step toward making comic books universally available to the global comic market,” said David Steinberger, CEO of comiXology, in the release. “The key to uniting the comic community– retailers, readers, publishers and creators—is making discovery easier for everyone. With Comics by comiXology now on the web, we’re opening up the excitement of comics to an even larger audience”.

The site is launching in beta for current comiXology users, and the company is actively seeking feedback.   The Comics by comiXology web beta is now available to current users of the app on other devices. To access the web reader, users can login at Comics.comiXology.com.   The Comics by comiXology reader will launch publicly this summer.  New users can sign up at www.comiXology.com/signup.

- Matt Price

Alison Haislip in "Trading Eights."

The noir comedy web series “Trading Eights,” starring G4′s Alison Haislip, has its mid-season finale airing online today.  The episode, “Take Five,” follows unlikely couple, Hildy (Alison Hailsip) and Grant (Sean Owens), as they attempt to capture and transfer another Zodiac assassin to the city, according to a release.

Check out the show at tradingeights.com, or click past the cut to watch.

Trading Eights, Ep. 5: Take Five, Chapter 3 from Trading Eights on Vimeo.

Marvel Comics' iPad app.

Iron Man, Spider-Man and the X-Men have become movie stars in the past decade, but their original home was comic books. While comics showed growth in the direct-sales market of comic shops and in the bookstore market of the past decade, some question if comics will change as more media becomes available digitally.

With Apple’s iPad device being showcased as a next generation of print, what does that mean to people who still make their living with print, in particular, Oklahoma’s comic book retailers?

“In a way, the progression towards digitized comics is an inevitable one,” said Rob Vollmar of the

Rob Vollmar (drawn by Pablo G. Callejo)

Atomik Pop comic book store in Norman. But, he doesn’t think that sounds a death knell for printed comics and those who sell them.

The publishers at the 2010 ComicsPRO members’ meeting of retailers in Memphis, Tenn., reiterated their support for the direct market of comic book sales. Most expressed the hope that digital comics will work primarily to reach readers outside the direct-market system and a desire to point digital readers back to the direct market.

Chris Staros of publisher Top Shelf said some print fans will switch to digital comics, but some fans will be introduced through digital and migrate to print.

While every publisher represented aimed to increase its digital presence, each stated that it was doing so with the hope of also increasing its print market. Keynote speaker Robert Kirkman said “The Walking Dead” and “Invincible,” two books that he writes, have been available on the iPhone for seven months, and sales in print have gone up in the same period.

“I don’t think that we’re in a position where we’re going to start losing the (print) readers that we do have,” Kirkman said.

David Steinberger, president of ComiXology, which has an online app selling digital comics for the iPhone and iPad, says he hopes digital will help push new customers to print.

“We have the retailer finder in the iPad, and we hope to have more and more innovative ways to move readers from digital to print in every new version of the app,” he said.

Buck Berlin of New World Comics

Buck Berlin, of New World Comics in Oklahoma City, said while the retailers will be cut out of that initial digital sale, it is retailers’ responsibility to find ways to draw new readers into stores.

“It’s good for getting comics into the hands of people who normally wouldn’t read them,” he said. “It’s up to us to find a way to deal with it.”

Vollmar pointed out that the problem of piracy in comics, as that in the music industry, means that thousands of comics are already changing hands digitally — and illegally — without making the publishers a dime.

Marvel Comics’ app for the iPad ranked among the top apps in the opening weeks of the iPad’s availability, which is good for the visibility of Marvel. But will that positioning translate into sales?

“The question that we’re going to have to answer in the years to come is how much of that business is new business, and how much is siphoning off the print product,” Vollmar said.

- by Matthew Price
From the Outlook 2010 section of The Oklahoman

Cryptic Studios, developers of Champions Online and Star Trek Online, has partnered with Lolapps to create a Facebook adventure set in the world of Champions Online.

According to a release, The Champions Online mini-game expands upon the story told within Champions Online, giving players a view into the events leading up to the alien Qularr attack on Millennium City. By working with Lolapps, creator of games such as Yakuza Lords and Diva Life, Cryptic Studios intends to introduce a broader audience of Facebook users to Champions Online.

“This is a great way for us to reach a new audience and introduce them to Champions Online,” said John Needham, CEO, Cryptic Studios, in a release. “The team at Lolapps has created a fun new adventure that dives into some of the back story of the Champions Universe and we’re very excited and happy to see their efforts go live.”

In the Champions Online Facebook mini-game, players will fight against a number of classic Champions villains and discover the origins and goals of the mysterious Sinister Syndicate.

Find out more at http://apps.facebook.com/championsonline

The five finalists — from Los Angeles, New York, New Hampshire and Australia — will each receive $2,000 to expand their motion comic into a full-length story. These five, plus one additional “Wildcard” finalist, will compete for the grand prize of $10,000 and the opportunity to showcase their work across Marvel’s digital network, according to the release.

The winner will be announced Nov. 16, after a week of voting at aniboom.com.

Click past the cut to see the five finalists’ videos.

- Matt Price

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom

Watch more cool animation and creative cartoons at Aniboom

Broadcasting & Cable announces that News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey says “Hulu … needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”  And Carey assumes that will happen by at least 2010.

Paying for a subscription to Hulu when you already pay for a cable subscription seems like double-dipping.  And if you’re using Hulu without cable, it’s possibly because you don’t want to spend a ton of money on your television viewing.

Hulu provided a way to get caught up on shows that you might be behind on in an easy, cleanly formatted way.  And I never had a problem watching a few ads to do that.  I’m not one who wants to pirate anything — I like obeying the law — so going to get illegal torrents just isn’t going to do it for me.  On the whole, if Hulu becomes a pay site, and the cost isn’t relatively negligible, my response will be to simply watch less TV.

Entertainment Weekly already has 200-plus comments on the story, with most promising to stop using Hulu if it becomes a pay site.

- Matt Price

Congratulations to former Oklahoma resident David Gallaher, whose “High Moon” was named Best Online Comics Work at this weekend’s Harvey Awards in Baltimore.

Check out the comic for yourself at http://www.zudacomics.com/high_moon or in the recent print collection.

The Beat has the full list of winners.

- Matt Price

Related posts:

Oklahoma among inspirations for High Moon series.

High Moon continues on Zuda.

Rather than spending her spare time playing online video games, actor/writer Felicia Day decided it would be more productive to write about them. Thus began “The Guild,” the popular online program now in its third season.

“Around the time I started writing ‘The Guild,’ I was very bored with what I was doing,” Day said in a recent phone interview. “I’m not necessarily your typical Hollywood girl. And I worked enough to keep the bills paid, but not enough to keep me occupied every day.”

She funneled that energy into “The Guild,” based on her experiences with online role-playing games. “The Guild” features the interactions of a group of gamers.

“If I make fun of the characters, it’s only because I’ve lived that or been that myself,” Day said. “So, hopefully there’s an authenticity to it because I am a gamer.”

Day, who plays Codex in “The Guild,” was in the cast of Joss Whedon’s Web series “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” The series, which starred Neil Patrick Harris as a singing supervillain, recently won an Emmy.

“It gave a huge boost to online content in general, as well as to ‘The Guild,’” Day said.

“The Guild” soon will make its debut in yet another medium. A comic-book series, to be written by Day and published by Dark Horse Comics, is in the works.

“I like to write very verbosely, so I have to be a lot more Spartan with the words, and also think more visually,” Day said. One thing the comic book will do that the Web show does not is visit the in-game world of “The Guild.”

“We are going to go in the game world. That was one of the reasons that I wanted to do it,” Day said. “Because I could kind of invent this fantasy world that the characters were living in.”

Meanwhile, the Web series continues. Wil Wheaton is a guest star on Season 3 of the series, and Seasons 1 and 2 recently were released on DVD.

“I think that’s a really cool story of empowerment and how you don’t have to wait for permission to make your art and be able to get your creation out there,” Day said. “I just love the idea of opening the door for other people, and also doing things outside the system. Because I’ve lived in the system for a while, and it can be very frustrating for someone who wants to create.”

- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

At www.twitter.com/robvollmar, Vollmar is tweeting one page each day.  The reading process is a little unusual – as it is, by the nature of the medium, backwards – but this is an experiment that bears watching.

- Matt Price

Olivia Munn and Jason Sudeikis host “Bingathon” at Hulu starting at 7 p.m. Central.

Other than promoting the new search engine Bing, I’m not sure entirely what the Bingathon will be — my best guess judging from Olivia Munn’s blog is that it’s some sort of variety show/telethon parody which will feature Fred Willard.  So, yeah, I’m in.

- Matt Price

Doug Hutchison’s web series “Vampire Killers” features a group of sexy vampires and those who hunt them. An edited version of episode 2 is embedded above from YouTube. To see the complete series, visit www.vampirekillers.tv. See my interview with Doug Hutchison, who currently stars as Horace Goodspeed in “Lost” and recently played Looney Bin Jim in “Punisher War Zone,” in Friday’s The Oklahoman or online at NewsOK.com.

– Matt Price

Marvel.com has posted the second episode of the Japanese Spider-Man television series.
From Marvel:
When a train suspiciously overturns, Takuya, aka Spider-Man, believes Professor Monster and the Iron Cross Army are responsible, while flashbacks reveal the tragic details surrounding Garia’s arrival on Earth and transfer of power to Takuya.

Marvel.com is streaming episodes of the Japanese “Spider-Man” television series. A new episode will be posted each Thursday.
The late 1970s TV show was produced by Japan’s TOEI Company. According to Marvel, the series follows the exploits of motorcycle racer turned super hero Takuya Yamashiro as he slings and swings, battling the evil Iron Cross Army along the way.

- Matt Price

The Mother Nature Network, www.mnn.com, has brought back “Captain Planet and the Planeteers.”

The world’s first eco-superhero is featured in classic online episodes, along with special bonus footage, trivia and photos.

“Captain Planet and the Planeteers” aired from 1990 to 1996 in more than 50 countries and featured voices including Whoopi Goldberg, Sting, Meg Ryan, Martin Sheen, Ed Asner, James Coburn, Ed Begley, Jr., LeVar Burton, Tim Curry, Dean Stockwell, Helen Hunt and Jeff Goldblum.

– Matt Price

– Matt Price

The new version is only 10.2 ounces and only 1/3 of an inch thick.  It seems like an improvement over the original Kindle, though its lack of color makes it still an unlikely format for comic books.  (Some black and white comics and graphic novels have been adapted to the Kindle.)  Still, it seems another positive move forward in the development of a light, handy e-reader.

The Kindle 2 will be released Feb. 24.

– Matt Price

AMC TV has launched a site dedicated to the 1967 series “The Prisoner,” and all 17 episodes can be viewed for free online.

AMC describes the show as follows:

A secret agent resigns, is abducted and then awakens in a strange town known simply as The Village. He’s been assigned a new name — No. 6. The man-in-charge of the place seems to be someone called No. 2. Why No. 6 has been brought to The Village is never made clear — except for No. 2′s vague demand for “information.” Which side No. 2 represents is also unclear, especially since the person holding the position is constantly changing. And who and where exactly is the omnipotent No. 1?

A recent e-mail alerted me to the existence of Nedor.net, which contains downloads of 14 public domain comics featuring the Black Terror, with more to come.   The Black Terror has been featured in comics from Dynamite, AC and DC Comics.

– Matt Price

comiXology + iPhone…Wednesdays just got better. 
 
comiXology today announced that its native iPhone application will be 
on sale from the iTunes App Store Friday, December 5th. It will sell 
for $1 off, at $3.99, for the first week only. 
 
See a video preview at http://comixology.com/iphoneapp 
 
Never again wonder which comics are coming out! comiXology provides you 
all the shipping information and artwork for comics and merchandise, 
including covers, creator and story info — and many preview pages! You 
can even save what you want to buy and review the list later. 
 
Browse all shipping comics (Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, IDW, and all 
the other independents – comiXology.com has the most complete listings 
on the web) review descriptions and covers for this week, last week and 
next week preview pages from many comics each week “Pull” comic books 
(free comiXology.com account required) read comiXology’s insightful 
articles, listen to comiXology’s weekly interview podcast, It Came Out 
on Wednesday, discover new comics by checking out comics pulled by other 
people, keep comic listings, covers and your pull list on your iPhone, 
even without a network connection. 
 
“I’m thrilled to release this iPhone application to the public,” said 
Iconology CEO David Steinberger. “I knew when I got my hands on the 
iPhone that it’s the perfect vehicle for comiXology.com, and will be a 
great tool for preparing your Wednesday shopping list.” 
 
About Comixology Comixology is the premiere website where comic book 
fans can review upcoming comic books, trade paperbacks, toys and 
related merchandise. Users can browse the best listings of comics on 
the Web, create virtual pull lists, rate and discuss comic books, and 
use Comixology’s tools to post covers and descriptions of comics to 
their blogs and websites. Comixology aims to transform the relationship 
between comic book readers, retailers and publishers. Comixology is 
owned by Iconology, Inc.