Archaia debuts Bleedout webisodes

Publisher Archaia Entertainment is adding another layer to their digital offerings by hosting the worldwide debut of 10 original graphic webisodes centered on their latest graphic novel, Bleedout.  The webisode series is set to launch on Wednesday, July 20, opening day of the 2011 San Diego Comic Con.

Based on the expansion to the Massively Multiplayer Online shooter, CRIMECRAFT, from Vogster Entertainment, Bleedout tells the frighteningly plausible tale of a world destroyed by its own greed and shortsightedness. When every oil well on the planet mysteriously runs dry, utterly dissolving the cornerstone of modern civilization, global economies wither and nations fall like bone-dry dominoes, including the seemingly impervious United States. Caught in a zenith of chaos, Sunrise City now lies in the hands of a criminal cabal who may or may not hold the key to the future… and the secrets behind the planet’s tragic ruin.

The deluxe hardcover graphic novel, which also hits store shelves on July 20th, collects chapters from some of the comic industry’s hottest superstars, including Nathan Fox, Zach Howard, Sanford Greene, David Williams, Ben Templesmith, Gary Erskine, Howard Chaykin, Glenn Fabry, Vince Proce, and Trevor Hairsine, with cover art by Tim Bradstreet. Written by Mike Kennedy, this graphic novel presents the world of Bleedout in all of its grim, pulp noir glory, with page after page of supplemental graphic and story material that further explores this tragic future, and the frighteningly familiar current events that lead there in the first place.

The webisodes will go even deeper into Bleedout’s ambitious storyline, taking fans on a visual whirlwind tour through the graphic novel’s gritty and frightening world. The short films, written and directed by creator, Mike Kennedy, feature high-quality animation illustrated by the same stellar line up of artists featured in the book. The webisodes also feature original music by industrial legend Jason Novak of Cracknation, and narration by animation veteran Tom Fahn.

After the July 20 debut, new episodes will roll out every day leading to the dramatic conclusion on Saturday July 30. A sneak-peek can be checked out at http://vimeo.com/channels/bleedout.

Archaia will host several signings at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con to celebrate the launch of this exciting new book and webisode series, with featured signings by artists Tim Bradstreet, Nathan Fox, and Sanford Greee, as well as author Mike Kennedy.  Vogster will be distributing a limited run of free CRIMECRAFT game discs at each signing as well.

Torchwood premiere shines bright

I admit, I'm coming in very late on this. I've seen very little Dr. Who, and no Torchwood to date, until tonight's premiere of Series 4, which is set in Los Angeles. Let it be known that today I officially became a fan of Torchwood.

Why?

Let me count the ways, in no particular order:

1) High production value. Every minute of this show looked fantastic. Every location was lush and nothing looked cheap or thrown together or like a little sound stage. They weren't afraid to do night shots, driving in the rain shots, sweeping vistas of Wales (that house!), hospital interiors with that weird lighting they have, the inside of an airplane, dark hallways, high-tech command centers, and just about every other kind of location you can think of. And it all looked great! On top of that, the makeup and special effects were flawless.

2) John Barrowman. Hunky but not overly Hollywood, not afraid to be who he is, and a very funny and gracious human being off the set. He's extremely likable and easy on the eyes in a friendly way, and I wish we'd seen more of him in this premiere, but I do understand why we didn't.

3) Fascinating premise. I did go to Wikipedia to see what I'd been missing, and to fill in some of the information that the premiere hinted at but didn't give directly. Obviously, modern day alien hunters in Los Angeles and the whole X-Files feel is straight up the alley of Urban Fantasy News. Within that, the story introduced in the premiere episode is a fascinating mystery that is not neatly tied up in one episode, leaving the viewer wanting more in a good way, not with a frustrating cliffhanger that smashcuts to black.

4) Stellar writing. I sat down to watch this premiere without having seen one minute of the previous incarnations of Torchwood, and I was introduced to the premise and characters in ways that made sense and fit with the tone of the show, but that never felt like forced exposition. The only "I am explaining everything to you now" scene worked flawlessly as a natural result of the action. The humor was understated and, again, a natural result of the interactions of the characters. The pacing flowed well, the dialog was completely believable.

I predict a Torchwood sweep at the next Saturn Awards. I could not find any flaw big enough to be worth mentioning except maybe the Jeep chase scene at the end which seemed a little contrived, but it was fantastic eye candy, I have to admit, and made me want to get in a Halo Warthog and drive around for a while.

Torchwood fills in the holes left by such shows as Heroes, X-Files and Millennium (yes, I'm a geek, I still miss Millennium!) and does it with class, mystery and humor. You can see every dollar on the screen, and it's money well-spent, because I will definitely be back for more.

San Diego Comic-Con 2011 is Go!

A quick informal post to let everyone know that UFN will have two reporters on site at San Diego Comic-Con later this month! We're lining up interviews already, so if you have someone you'd like us to try and interview and any questions you'd like us to ask, be sure to message us here or on our Twitter.

Possible interviews we're working on obtaining include actor Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor Who), actor Todd Stashwick (Heroes, Supernatural), artist Dennis Calero (Batman, X-Factor, X-Men Noir, Legion of Superheroes), Heroes writers Oliver Grigsby, James Martin and Chris Zatta... and more! Often, surprise interview opportunities present themselves on site, so you never know who will show up here on Urban Fantasy News during convention coverage. Stay tuned!

Foz McDermott: Helix Reminiscence

Foz McDermott was with Heroes on its first day, all the way to its last day. This is the first in a series of posts on his blog recalling what it was like to be there:

"It has been 5 years almost to the week where we started up production, so I figured no better time than now. What you will get in this series is a look back on my time at Heroes. I was one of the very few that were there from the very first, to very last day of the show. What you will NOT get in this series will be any huge insider secrets, or bashing, or tidbits of any huge dirty laundry piles. As I have said before, that show and it’s people were the closest thing I had to a family since moving to the West coast and I would never say anything horrible, mostly because there really isn’t anything horrible to say about people and experiences that you truly love."

For the rest of this terrific post, Click Here.

Walter Simonson’s The Mighty Thor: Artist’s Edition at San Diego Comic-Con

Legendary comics writer and artist Walter Simonson will appear at the IDW booth every day during the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, signing copies of Walter Simonson's The Mighty Thor: Artist's Edition. In addition to the regular edition available in July at comic stores, IDW will offer a limited Comic-Con exclusive edition featuring a variant cover, only available through IDW at the convention. Readers can now pre-order both editions direct from IDW Publishing for pick up at Comic-Con.

“I wrote and drew The Mighty Thor for Marvel more 25 years ago now, at a time when it was the fate of old comics to be deployed to the back issue bins in comic shops and at conventions.  No one had any expectations of reprints or trade collections.  Now, it’s a new day,” said Simonson. “I’m pleased that IDW and Marvel have seen fit to go back and revisit this work as they have. I couldn’t be more delighted to know Thor, Beta Ray Bill, and all their friends turned out to have a much longer shelf-life than I would ever have imagined.”

The oversized, hardcover collection will present Thor 337-340, Simonson’s first classic story arc, which introduced Beta Ray Bill, and Thor 360-362, Simonson’s choice for the second arc in the book. All the pages in the Artist's Edition have been scanned from Simonson’s personal original art to ensure the highest possible quality reproduction. While appearing to be in black and white, each page was scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art—for instance, white-out corrections and blue pencil notations.

“Walter’s run on The Mighty Thor is one of the best ever in comics—period,” said editor Scott Dunbier, “and to be able to see it now as an Artist’s Edition, printed the same size as drawn, and scanned from all the originals… well, I just can’t wait to get my paws on it!”

This will be Simonson’s first visit to San Diego Comic-Con since 2004. Joining Simonson will be his wife, Louise “Weezie” Simonson, a noted comic book editor and writer. This book will be the first in a series of Artist’s Editions featuring legendary creators and comics from Marvel.

Dark Destinations

I stumbled on a neat website today, or rather, my husband did. In reading about the happenings over at Atlantis Fantasyworld comics in Santa Cruz, CA, his old hometown, he clicked on the Lost Boys link. The classic 1980s vampire movie was filmed in and around Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, with the staff of Atlantis comics being featured in the film when the Frog brothers go to buy a comic book about vampires. My husband, knowing this, wanted to see what Atlantis had on their Lost Boys page, and ran across the Dark Destinations website.

If you have GPS and a little bit of wanderlust, visit their website to find the macabre location you're looking for, punch in the numbers, set a waypoint, and you're off on an adventure. Want to see where Lost Boys was filmed? How about the locations for Halloween? Or, if you're feeling less cinematic, you can search by type of destination (Cemeteries, Infamous Crimes, Mysterious Creatures, etc.) or by location, just in case you happen to be in the neighborhood and want to drive by Stephen King's house. Happy haunting!

Jill Thompson first woman to win NCS award in comics

Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother) was awarded the highly coveted National Cartoonists Society (NCS) award this past weekend at the Reuben Awards Ceremony.  She was presented this award in regards to her work in the Dark Horse comic Beasts of Burden.

Jill Thompson is the first female creator to win in the comics category in the history of the Rueben Awards. To add to her list of credits, Jill Thompson is a New York Times Best Selling graphic novelist, as well as having received multiple Eisner awards for her work on Scary Godmother (2001), The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings (2004) and The Dark Horse Book of the Dead (2005).

The collected trade Scary Godmother: Comic Book Stories will be on sale in stores June 15th.

Beasts of Burden returns this fall in issue #4 of the eighty-page anthology, Dark Horse Presents!, on sale in September.