Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Star Wars officially sells out

I'm still not 100 percent sure how I feel about this personally. Expect a blog with my opinions on it soon.
I did however come across this video on Youtube.

George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, co-chairman of Lucasfilm, discuss the future of Star Wars movies. 

Lucas, who created the franchise, will serve as a creative consultant on the new project, with Kennedy, running the show as executive producer. Kennedy will also take over the role of president of Lucasfilm, reporting to the chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and become the "brand manager" for the Star Wars franchise.


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Clark Kent leaves the Planet

   That's right sports fans, err comic fans, media aficionados etc. The world of journalism lost one of its own this week.
   Clark Kent got fed up with entertainment reporting, bloggers and citizen journalists, all things that my own company tends to be pushing toward, and he quit. In the latest edition of DC Comics "Superman" title, which hits news stands today, Kent told longtime editor Perry White that he couldn't take it any more and he left.
   Speculation tends to point that he will start his own website, vis-a-vi the Huffington Post but nothing has been confirmed just yet.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Third annual FanFare kicks off Friday



   DEARBORN  — Pending a last-minute deal, the Hyatt Regency could shutter its doors at 11:59 p.m. Oct. 31, but that won’t stop the Detroit FanFare from rocking out there this weekend. Starting Friday and running through Sunday the hotel will host a convention that is open to all ages that will celebrate the comic book industry and pop culture as a whole.

   The third annual FanFare is a throwback to the Detroit Triple Fan Fair which was the nation’s first ever annual comic convention beginning in 1965 running through 1978.

   “We are the resurrection of the original Detroit Triple Fan Fair, which was held in downtown Detroit in 1965 at the Book Cadillac Hotel,” Tony Miello, co-promoter the Fare said.

   The festivities will kick-off with a 5 p.m. Zombie Walk outside of the convention entrance. Anyone dressed in zombie attire will get into the opening night of the convention free. Undead of all ages are welcome to participate.

Michael Jai White
A re-issue of Black Dynamite #1 will
be available.
   The convention will also feature more than 100 comic creators, panels, discussions, seminars, auctions and a costume contest among other things. Michael Jai White, who starred in the 2009 film “Black Dynamite” and 1997’s “Spawn” as well for doing several voice acting roles in animated superhero TV series and Sam Jones, from 1980’s “Flash Gordon” will be the two big movie draws along with David Prowse who was the man inside the Darth Vader costume during the original “Star Wars” trilogy.

   Among the weekend's featured activities are Blood 4 Comics and Sci-Fi Speed Dating. Stop by the Detroit chapter of the Red Cross on the convention floor to donate blood and get a stack of comics free. For those attending the convention stag, stars of the TLC show Geek Love will be at Detroit FanFare for some rapid fire love connections. Preregistration is required for the speed dating event.

Black Dynamite
   “Our aim is to pay tribute to all those in the comic book industry who came before us,” Miello said. “And to acknowledge the importance that Metro Detroit played in the industry's history.”
   A weekend pass for the convention is $15, children 12 and under are $5 on Saturday or free on Sunday for kids day. Tickets include admission into Friday night's preview party from midnight to 2 a.m. in the Marquee Ballroom, featuring music by the Buddy Black Band. The official convention party takes place Saturday, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the Marquee Ballroom. The party will feature a Best Costume Contest. The parties are only for ticket holders over 21-years old.

   The hotel is located at 600 Town Center Drive.

   For more information, visit detroitfanfare.com. Visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/detroit.fanfare.

   Contact Video Coordinator Dave Herndon at 1-734-246-0867 or dherndon@heritage.com. Follow him on Facebook and @NHDaveH on Twitter.



Friday, October 19, 2012

Destination Star Trek: London

A woman dressed as the Star Trek character
 'Leeta' (C) and man dressed as 'Rom' (2R)
 arrive to attend the 'Destination Star Trek London' convention
 at the ExCeL centre on October 19, 2012 in London, England.
 The three-day convention, which opened to the general public today,
 will be attended by all five actors who played captains
 throughout the 46-year-old series. 
   Damn, I REALLY want to be there for this.

   I may be mistaken but I think that this is the first, and potentially last time that all five actors to have captained a ship in the Star Trek Universe (at least on TV, sorry Chris Pine) have been in one place at the same time. I suppose it's not "all" since the actor that played Capt. Pike isn't there, but it's as close as we can otherwise get.
 
Actors William Shatner who plays Captain James T. Kirk the original
 version of Star Trek and Avery Brooks who plays Captain Benjamin Sisko in Deep Space Nine
 arrives at the Destination Star Trek London event in London October 18, 2012. 
   The problem we have here, is that the convention in is London. I have no way to get there. The heart is willing, but the body is unable. (As is the pocket book...)

   Maybe I could get my boss to finance a trip as long as I filed reports from there next year? That's totally something that a bi-weekly community newspaper should cover right? Many more photos at the link.

Check out about 20 more pictures here.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Arrow premiere leaves lots for improvement

Tonight's premiere of the CW's Arrow left a lot to be desired in the eyes of this comic book fan.

There were just way too many changes to the origin of the character and in key aspects for a long time fan to enjoy.

The action sequences were the only thing worth sticking around for in this one.

Monday, October 1, 2012

MANCHILD REVIEWS: Castle Season 5, Episode 2

    "Cloudy with a chance of murder," opens up with Beckett heading back to work for the first time after her suspension.
   Castle joins her and the rest of the team in trying to solve the murder of a local weather girl that is on the wrong side of 30.
   Beckett and Castle work to try to hide there blooming romance, and are relatively successful. Overall a solid episode.


MANCHILD REVIEWS: Star Wars, The Clone Wars: Darth Maul Returns

   I love the Clone Wars cartoon, and with this collection the series stays just as strong as it ever was.
   The voice acting from Sam Witwer as Darth Maul is fantastic, and the animation is on par with the great stuff from the rest of the series.
   This is edited together to for a director's cut "feature film" presentation that stays as strong as the episodes were individually.






MANCHILD REVIEW: Marvel One Shot, Item 47

   This is the first film of its kind, and hopefully not the last.
   I absolutely love the concept, and the execution of this film. It was well planned and well thought out. I'm glad that the executives at Marvel were willing to take a shot on this.
   Hopefully it goes over well and we get to see more in this series.