„Arrow“, die TV-Adaption der Geschichte des Bogenschützen Green Arrow aus dem Universum von Batman, Superman und Co., lief auf VOX zur Prime Time so gut, dass Pro7 sich die Rechte an den neuen DC-Serien „Gotham“ und „Flash“ sicherte, obwohl letztere im selben Universum wie „Arrow“ spielt und es auch immer wieder kleine Crossover zwischen den beiden Serien gibt.
„Flash“ folgt den Erlebnissen des Polizei-Forensikers Barry Allen, der nach einem Unfall zum schnellsten Mann der Welt wird und als kostümierter Flash andere Meta-Wesen jagt, die auf der Seite des Verbrechens stehen. Außerdem sucht er den Mörder seiner Mutter, wegen dem sein Vater unschuldig im Gefängnis sitzt. Eine spannende, packende, äußerst sympathische Serien-Umsetzung.
„Gotham“ indes spielt clever mit den Anfängen des Batman-Mythos und verarbeitet diese in einer starken, düsteren Krimi-Serie, die „The Mentalist“-Macher Bruno Heller mitverantwortet. Im Mittelpunkt stehen der aufrechte, verbissene Cop Jim Gordon, der sich mit brutalen Irren, der Mafia und korrupten Kollegen herumschlagen muss, sowie Batman Bruce Wayne, Catwoman Selina Kyle und Pinguin Oswald Copplepot in jüngeren Jahren.
As these photos are, apparently, really getting into certain peoples minds and making them angry I thought I’d upload this one again just for them!
“Someone” told me to brace myself over some internet group chat going on about what can be done about me. he seemed rather taken aback that I wasn’t shocked!
So part of the comments shared by some of those “really nice guys” of UK comics and passed along to me by someone I can’t name for obvious reasons!
“We all know the con organisers and if we keep chipping away we’ll make sure the twatt never gets his much sought after table to sell his crap”
The “twatt” by-the-by, is me.
No such thing as a “UK comics Mafia”? They’ve helped destroy UK comics and try to pitch themselves the golden boys of comics to be admired and worshipped. Ask me again WHY I think the UK is dead comics-wise….
On the lighter side of things the new trend amongst former comic ‘die-hard fans’ has emerged. Live reviews of comics are in the minority now. The “New Thing” is watching movies or TV programmes live -via Google chat where 3-4 people link up via video- so we can get their comments and views and even outrage at the way something was done. We don’t get to see the programme or movie just the, uh, ‘reviewers’ sitting there. Some really do need to improve the decor of their basements/rooms because spending 2+ hours looking at them…well, I sort of went comatose.
But it does get…”better” -reviews and thoughts on comic books series…from 30+ years ago. Yeah, everyone linked up and totally talking crap and confused because 30+ years ago they weren’t even born so “don’t get all this 1980s doom and gloom war stuff”. Right.
All very annoying -almost as annoying as the comment: “Until, say 2004, comics were not very original -Marvel and DC have thrown continuity out the windows and the reboots make comics fresh!” I’m assuming that the person who said that has a mental illness. He is talking about comics being “throw-away” -every time a new reboot comes in get rid of that old crap and buy the new. This is why comics are in trouble: there is no emotional investment in characters or titles any more.
We return to the Cardiff Masonic Hall with a mini-Expo – a ‘Showcase’ event just in time for Xmas – once again focusing on our exceptionally talented Small Press Creators and Publishers.
Advance Tickets are now on sale – only £3.50 for the first 50 tickets, then rising to £4.50 once the first 50 have been purchased. The first 50 ticket buyers will also receive a Goody Bag on the door.
He wrote and directed the first ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ film, helmed the first four ‘Scream’ movies and guided Meryl Steep to an Oscar nom for ‘Music of the Heart.’
Wes Craven, the famed maestro of horror known for the Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream franchises, died Sunday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 76.
Craven, whose iconic Freddy Krueger character horrified viewers for years, died at his home in Los Angeles, his family announced. Survivors include his wife, producer and former Disney Studios vice president Iya Labunka.
Craven was a longtime summer resident of Martha’s Vineyard, where he moved permanently three years ago before returning to L.A. for work and health reasons.
Craven claimed to have gotten the idea for Elm Street from living next to a cemetery on a street of that name in the suburbs of Cleveland. The five Nightmare on Elm Street films were released from 1984-89 and drew big crowds.
Similarly, Craven’s Scream series was a box-office sensation. In those scare-’em-ups, he spoofed the teen horror genre and frequently referenced other horror movies.
Craven’s first feature film was The Last House on the Left, which he wrote, directed and edited in 1972. A rape-revenge movie, it appalled some viewers but generated big box office. Next came another film he wrote and helmed, The Hills Have Eyes (1977).
Craven re-invented the youth horror genre in 1984 with the classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, which he wrote and directed.
He conceived and co-wrote Elm Street III as well, and then after not being involved with other sequels, deconstructed the genre a decade after the original, writing and directing Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, which was nominated for best feature at the 1995 Spirit Awards.
His own Nightmare players, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon, portrayed themselves in that film.
In 1996, Craven reached a new level of success with the release of Scream. The film grossed more than $100 million domestically, as did Scream 2 (1997).
Between Scream 2 and Scream 3, Craven, offered the opportunity to direct a non-genre film for Miramax, helmed Music of the Heart (1999), earning Meryl Streep an Academy Award nomination for best actress in the inspirational drama about a teacher in Harlem.
“We had a very difficult time getting an audience into a theater on my name,” he said in an interview with writer-director MickGarris in October. “In fact, we moved toward downplaying my name a lot on Music of the Heart. The more famous you are for making kinds of outrageous scary films, the crossover audience will say, ‘I don’t think so.’”
Also in 1999, in the midst of directing, he completed his first novel, The Fountain Society, published by Simon & Shuster.
Craven again pushed the genre boundaries with the 2005 psychological thriller Red Eye, starring Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy and Brian Cox. And in 2006, he wrote and directed a romantic comedy homage to Oscar Wilde featuring Emily Mortimer and Rufus Sewell as a segment in the French ensemble production Paris Je T’aime.
Craven then produced remakes of The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and The Last House on the Left (2009).
His most recent written and directed film, My Soul to Take (2010), marked his first collaboration with Labunka, who also produced Scream 4.
Craven directed several other thrillers and horror movies during his career, including Swamp Thing (1982), Deadly Friend (1986) and The People Under the Stairs (1991).
Craven had recently signed an overall television deal with Universal Cable Productions and had a number of projects in development, including The People Under the Stairs with Syfy Networks, Disciples with UCP, We Are All Completely Fine with Syfy/UCP, and Sleepers with Federation Entertainment.
He also was executive producing the new Scream series for MTV. The season finale of the series will pay tribute to the writer/director, an MTV spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Craven had recently written and was to direct the Thou Shalt Not Kill segment for The Weinstein Co.’s Ten Commandments miniseries for WGN America. And he is listed as an executive producer of The Girl in the Photographs, a horror thriller directed by his protege, Nick Simon, which will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month.
Wesley Earl Craven was born Aug. 2, 1939 in Cleveland. His father died when he was 5. Raised in a strict Baptist household, he graduated from Wheaton College with degrees in English and psychology, then earned a master’s in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins.
“Lifesize Artstatues – in fiberglass – for sale at php 12,000 from artist sculptor Gerald Asilo of Geraplica Sculptoys – ASILO’s sculpture for a “January Promo” price. Batman is a sure bet, Wonder Woman is a shoo-in, while I am on personally the fence with Superman LOL
“Buy this statues for 10,000 each plus 2,000 for delivery charge in a total of 12,000 pesos only , you can now save 6,000 pesos. Original price php18,000, now on sale for php 12,000”
Contact them via their Facebook or email direct to g_asilo@yahoo.com According to Gerald on his Linkedin page:
“In the 1990s my father was a sculptor for the Japanese company Craftwood. The company asked him to sculpt their own design like life-size Disney characters, Loony Toons, etc. That was 1996 and I was only 12 years of age at that time. I was also practising how to sculpt because it’s in the blood to sculpt. Here I am now, following my father’s legacy and sculpting my own designs and also what any client requires.”
I just have to say that these are freaking incredible! Now some of those “comic book cafes” need things like this! Imagine inviting a friend into your apartment and finding The Avengers or JLA standing there -or maybe even a Swamp Thing or Man-Thing to go in your garden!
I think that it is a little sad that absolutely nothing changes in comic publishing. In 2015 when this was first published people were bragging on You Tube and in their blogs about hgow “I believe in putting my money where my mouth is and support Independent comic companies like Image”…Image has not been a small Independent company since it took off. It is considered one of the “Big Five”.
Something has changed…out of the 30 or so comic channels I followed on You Tube only one is still going and that tends to be a little hit-or-miss.
When I have sold books (usually once or twice a year via the online store) it is generally to the United States which means I earn about £2.00 because the US taxes me. So after the printer and print in demand company take their cuts -which is far more than I ever get- not much left.
I have sold Some Things Strange and Sinister twice over the last 5 years -one copy to Italy and one to France.
You need to sell a good few books to live off of the money and that is not happening. But I’ve been over all this before and watched the tumbleweed roll by.
I am re-posting this for a very good reason. The same kind of offer highlighted before has been made to people fairly new to comics and they bit. And lost money as there were no follow up orders. The shop probably had no intention of ordering more. They chanced it and you fell for it. You sent them free comics at your own expense under their terms -they decided what to sell the books for and pocketed every single penny. They probably then made the offer to someone else. Back in the 1980s Forbidden Planet in London took copies of my Previews Comic. All sold out. That was about £45 (a lot in the 1980s). I went to collect my money accompanied by the person who was with me when I dropped the books off and got the signed invoice. They would not pay -never heard of the comic. The official invoice -well, they had no idea who the person who signed that was IF it was genuine. the shop made a lot of money out of my ‘free’ comics that they ‘never had’. It’s a very old trick. Do not fall for it -learn by the mistakes of us Oldies! ********************************************************************************************
Right, I’ve had to sit down and look long and hard at what I can do based upon the financial situation and the move into Europe.
Firstly, there are about ten stores who will all stock and sell copies of my books to “gauge the market”. This means that I pick a certain number of titles I want to go with, say five, and I order them, send them to the store but get nothing back if they sell, however, the store will then decide if they want to then order and pay (at a discount) more copies -postage, etc., payable by me which means IF they took books I would have to sell a lot to even try to make money.
I was explaining this to the old chap runs a stall in St. Nicholas Market, Bristol -he’s been in business since the 1940s! He looked at me, mouth slightly open almost as though stunned: “You have not, have you? You haven’t?” I told him “no” but that was the deal on offer. His response: “Well, why not ask them if they want ten copies of each of your books and in a year or two they can decide IF they want to pay you or not?” The look of disgust!
He is quite right, though. Say I want to send one copy of the Collected Phantom Detective -I pay for the book but then getting it to the comic shop I have three postal options:
Priority Mail £2.99 Delivers 1 to 3 business days after printing. Note: This option does not allow tracking
Ground £6.99 Delivers 1 to 2 business days AFTER printing.
Express £12.99 Delivers 1 business day AFTER printing.
These are standard rates. I DO NOT decide these -the printer has the contract all sewn up so there is no choice.
If I sent a bunch of books this increases and even if the shops were to split the sale 50-50 (which they are not -they have made it clear THEY will decide on what I get) I am quite literally giving these books away (well, I am giving them away). No way am I ever going to get 3% of what they are costing me back. The shops are in fact demanding the same deal as Amazon and others.
This will not get the readership base I need. “Get someone to sell your books at events -you send them the books and organise the table but they will know the way things work” to which I respond: “Oh, like whom?”
Even if I sent books to a relative so I could pick them up for an event it is still going in cold and with no prior build up and I honestly could not afford to lose more money like in 2015!
However, I have had an idea that will help people purchase Black Tower books at a lower cost than via the store front.
Firstly, remember: the postal costs are out of my hands. If you want to order a book I’ll let you know the postage options before placing an order.
What I will be doing is, initially, offering ten titles at a discounted price. If you want to order one or more of those books you email me and I will ask which postal option you want and then tell you the total amount. You will then need to send me the postal address and payment via PayPal which protects me and the buyer. That done I will then place the order for you. It then all goes through automatically.
I think it worth trying and you get a book at a cheaper cover price.
So I will decide which books in the next week and then list them here along with single copy postal options if you only want one book.
Am I going to book that world cruise in advance? Give me a break!
I just went on Google+ for the first time in a week. Views stand at just under 2 million. What surprised me was the fact that the only comic related posts on there were from….me.
Normally, the site was chocked full of comic book or comic book related movie news and I’d wade through them all. As I pointed out a week or two ago, things had gotten quiet. But this!
People on comic forums are talking about the lack of activity, too.
Meanwhile, Star Wars and even Jurassic Park are big topics. Interesting to see how figures go for the next super hero movie.
Yes, I like their work and known them a few years but part way through the post I realised something. I have repeatedly, over 25-30 years, promoted and pushed their work and posted links for them. I double-checked and, yep, every single time I asked them to just mention a book or share a link they flat-out refused.
So, and you know who you are, there will be no post, no links and no promoting your work. Trying to get around me don’t work no more. Everybody has been getting a free ride while I pay double fare.
In the meantime I shall be organising Europe 2015 since it seems that unless you are a student or have an “in” with the people who own exhibition venues comic events are not wanted. Someone did ask about the old Bristol Comic Expo venue at Temple Meads Train Station. As Mike Allwood pointed out recently: they want £2,500 PER DAY. If I had that kind of money….!
Netherlands ought to see my books first so I’ll let you know when that happens.
Just continuing the gangsta theme. Mind you, I am currently listening to the fantastic Christine and the Queens, from France.
I ramble in the bramble while others scramble. Kah-chaaa!
Only problem cosplaying Tarzan when you walk to the shops or sit on a bus is the willy tends to pop out a lot.
Ahhhh. Yes, scarily, not in a great deal of pain at the moment but I’m sure that will change when I wake up properly.
AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!
ah. There we go.
So, before anyone calls the police and tells them I’m sitting naked on the roof singing let’s get to the point. Hang on…..YES! Yes got the postman with a piece of the chimney.
above; 54mm Crescent hollow lead
Anyway, it has been pretty grim on the comics front for a while and so I’ve been relaxing by painting up some old toy soldiers and finding out what makes they were -I’ve had some of these things 40 years and last night I spent three hours trying to identify cowboys. My old hollow lead ones are, of course, Britain’s. I also have a couple of the 1960s plastic Crescent cowboys.
But the biggest pain-in-the-arsch was a set of seven figures (one without a horse but I have that in a box). I looked for every make and type of plastic cowboy from the 1950s to the 1960s made in the UK. Nothing.
There was, however, a distinctive look. With most cowboy figures the neckerchief has the main part usually at the front or to the side (figures 4 and 6 above). However, with the tie-knot and ‘tails’ at the front is a mainly European look such as from Elastolin (and, no, I do not have these!):
Europeans seem to like this more formal look -even tewart Granger, actor and man of style displayed this -here Winnetou has a chat with Old Surehand (oo-er!) Stewart Granger who has his knot and ‘tails’ proudly on show!
But these were not Elastolin. Then I had this idea: “Terry, why not turn them over and look at their bases?” and I then banged my head repeatedly on the table –that might explain why this post started the way it did. Bugger.
So, the blue plastic cowboy (the paint hardly existent on it now) base had “W. Germany” stamped on it. d’uh! The others, in a cream plastic, had numbers -1, 3 and 5 (I know there are others here “somewhere”!). And “Made in Hong Kong” which confused me. However, with “made in W. Germany” stamped on them I had a clue -I’ve written books on things that started out with less!
Jean Höfler. A German manufacturer of Burghaslach in “Middle Franconia”. Renamed BIG in 1962. 1960s and it seems some production may -well, obviously!- have gone to Hong Kong though I am not sure if this was legit the figures WERE sold in Germany in the 1960s and that would not have been allowed (legally) without BIG permission.
So, I have figures from Set 1 (below) and here is the Winnetou link because the second figure (blue) in row two was rumoured to be based on Granger -it’s stated that a lot of figures seem based on stills from Western movies so……?
And set 2 -brother Mike did a nice paint job on my version of the first figure in row one -with checked shirt (cowboy not Mike).
You want to grovel to me then send me Höfler (one US site writes it “Hoeffler”) figures! I also have a few other figures including knights that seem to be Höfler.
But you sit there asking what this has to do with comics?
Well, in the photo I uploaded to Army Men Home Page, I have my (re-issued) Timpo Cowboys on a shelf next to my Charbens 60mm “Ancient Romans” and next to those are 1990s 50mm astronauts and behind them is the Deluxe Edition of Winnetou starring Pierre Brice and Stewart Granger and that was sent to me by German blogging supremo Subzero!
You see? Synchronicity, man. Synchronicity (and I don’t mean that 1980s album by The Police).
Off for a coffee….then finish off the zombies…toy zombies obviously.
“What are you going to do now?” asked the postman.
I turned to him and gave a creepy smile and said:
“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I take a look at my life and realize there’s nothin’ left ‘Cause I’ve been blasting and laughing so long, That even my mama thinks that my mind is gone But I ain’t never crossed a man that didn’t deserve it Me be treated like a punk you know that’s unheard of You better watch how you’re talking and where you’re walking Or you and your homies might be lined in chalk I really hate to trip but I gotta loc As they croak, I see myself in the pistol smoke, fool I’m the kinda G the little homies wanna be like On my knees in the night saying prayers in the streetlight”
He backed up. “Yes, but are you going to get a pen to sign for the package cus mine’s broken!”
Comic Bits 20 