Archive for April, 2009

The Austin Browncoats have teamed with QMx to auction off the right to name some cities of the 'verse in the upcoming QMx Serenity Atlas:

Quantum Mechanix (QMx) is sponsoring the "Name the Crappy Town Where You’re a Hero" charity auction. Starting on April 20th, 50 town names will be auctioned via eBay with all proceeds supporting Equality Now. If you win an auction, your name will be submitted, and pending studio approval, will be used in the upcoming official Atlas of the 'Verse, Volume One: The Trader's Guild Guide to the New Canaan Run made by our favorite mild-manner graphic designer, Ben Mund.

The auctions have begun! Head to austinbrowncoats.com/crappytowns.php and click on the planet of your choice to start settling your own crappy town. Statues of yourself are not included.

Donations for blues master Sonny Rhodes, the vocalist in the Firefly theme song, have helped a lot,  but he's still in a bad place, physically and financially. From Brian Wiser:

The donations and supportive emails did make a big difference in a variety of ways and Sonny continues to be very grateful. He's still not in good shape with health or finances, and continues to perform as much as he can to raise money.

Some of the donated money has been used for medical tests. From what I was told, most of the needed surgeries have not yet happened. When I saw him a few weeks ago on the set of Browncoats Redemption, he looked a little weak and naturally wasn't moving around too well, but made a beautiful performance for the film and realized a dream of his to be in a movie. This experience made him quite happy

Because donations have slowed a lot, they have disabled PayPal donations to save on fees, and the physical address for donations will remain. Sonny's MySpace page receives periodic updates.

The address is:

SONNY RHODES
2974 Delta Fair Blvd
324
Antioch, CA 94509

If you can help, please do so. The folks who met him during the Browncoat Cruise can attest that he's a wonderful and generous person as well as being an amazing artist. You can see updates and send him messages through his MySpace page.

You may not recognize Len Wein's name, but you may recognize some of the things he's done. He co-created Swamp Thing, Wolverine and some other X-Men like Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus. He was the editor on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons'
epic story Watchmen. He wrote for just about every major character in mainstream comics: Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Hulk, etc. And he lost his house.

OK, you might not know that last part, but it's true. On April 6 he lost his home, belongings and beloved dog to a house fire. Now friends and admirers are working to help him rebuild his comic collection. Not the ones he owned, but the ones he worked on. And you can help.

Go to the Len Wein Project and check out the latest list of needed comics to see if you have any you can provide. Then e-mail comix4len@povonline.com to let them know, and you'll get instructions on what to do next.

Len has provided many of us with many happy memories over the years. Let's give a few back.

As Star Trek's inquisitive science officer Spock, he searched for answers across the galaxy. As the host of In Search Of, and any number of documentaries throughout his career, he has investigated topics that range from technology to aliens and the last days of the Romanovs. And over the past 40+ years he has handled countless conventions and interviews with wit and aplomb. But last Sunday morning, Leonard Nimoy finally heard a question that stumped him.

"My favorite color?" he asked incredulously as the audience howled with laughter. "Who sent you? Who are you?"

"Have you never been asked that before?" the fan asked.

"No!"

"Maybe that's why I asked."

Nimoy considered, then smiled broadly. "Well, good for you!"

(It's blue, by the way.)

Nearly one hundred and fifty people were listening to "A Discussion with Leonard Nimoy" Sunday morning at the FX International convention at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Eager fans shelled out admission fees from $125 to $250. Each received a goody bag with a movie poster, various collectible items and a voucher for an autograph from the man himself (Nimoy was holding court).

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At any science fiction, comics or anime convention, you'll see people in costume. Superheroes, TV and movie characters, cartoons, characters from Japanese anime and manga and video games and more. While it's easy to dismiss them as kids dressing up — and there are certainly plenty of those — in many cases you're witnessing performance art.

"Cosplaying," short for "costume playing," has grown from throwing on a Halloween costume to a full-fledged subculture of people who devote great amounts of time, money and attention on crafting their characters in every detail. Cosplayers often attends cons in themed groups, posing for pictures and role-playing their chosen characters as much as a convention center will allow.

For most cosplayers it's a fun hobby, but Yaya Han, professional costume designer, model and cosplay entertainer (and celebrity guest at this weekend's FX convention in Orlando), does it full time.  She spoke to me recently about being other people for a living.

Why dress up for a convention? What do you get out of it?

It started out as a way to express my fandom. At the beginning it was just fun to portrait my favorite characters and interact with other fans. Costuming makes the most bold statement about what your fandom is, anyone can see what show you like from across the hall. It's a lot more creative and eye-catching than, say, wearing a shirt with the show's name on it, and it brightens the whole convention hall, which without costumers would be just a bunch of people in T-shirt and jeans.

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QMx is gearing up to do another set of Serenity Travel Posters like the ones done by Adam Levermore, and they want your help deciding where to go! From the QMx Facebook page:

Hey all. We're working on Series 2 of the Blue Sun Travel posters. To comment on what worlds you'd like to see us visit next, go to our discussion group here on the QMx Facebook page or over to the Firefly Ship Works.

Go check out the suggestions or add your own!

If you had to pick a word to describe Ben Templesmith's body of work, it would be…

Well, you wouldn't, actually, because trying to boil it down to a single word would probably do nasty things to your brainmeat. But then again, so does his work. It might be easier to describe the sorts of things this Australian commercial-artist-turned-comics-superstar does, and let you draw your own conclusions.

- Artist and co-creator with Steve Niles of "30 Days of Night" (and many spinoffs), about a vampire gang living in Alaska. Became a movie with Josh Hartnett, Melissa George and Danny Huston. Nominated for an Eisner Award, comics' highest honor. Won the Spike TV Scream Award for Best Comic.
- Creator of "Wormword: Gentleman Corpse," about an extra-dimensional sentient maggot that embodies corpses in order to drink Guinness and, occasionally, save the world. Hardback collection made the New York Times Bestseller list.
- Artist for "Fell," written by Warren Ellis, about an honorable detective in a city gone feral. Nominated for an Eisner Award three years running.
- Creator of "Welcome to Hosford," where a prison run by Russian werewolves gets a new inmate/hunt victim named Ray Delgado, who turns out to be just the right kind of delusional murderer to fight back.
- Artist for "Groom Lake," written by Chris Ryall, about the day-to-day job of keeping UFOs secret.

Templesmith will be attending the FX convention in Orlando this weekend, and took a moment to talk to me about it.

Vampires, werewolves, corpses, inexplicable Nixon-mask-wearing nuns… Is the inside of your head a safe place to be?

Absolutely. It's the guys that draw cutesy crap, the Mickey Mouse guys, who you need to worry about. They internalize everything, until it all boils over. Me? I get it all out onto the page, so I'm honestly a nice guy if you were to meet me face to face. Well, except for my small baby eating habit.

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As we get closer to FX 2009, the massive pop culture convention coming to Orlando this weekend, it's time to dig a little and see what you can expect. First up, a few words from FX's Director of Exhibitions Michael Herz.

As we get closer to FX 2009, the massive pop culture convention coming to the Orange County Convention Center this weekend, it's time to dig a little and see what you can expect. First up, a few words from FX's Director of Exhibitions Michael Herz.

It's been 20 years. How did FX get started?

The first show was actually in Tampa in 1989, it was promoted by Bruce Zalkin and called the Tampa Toyfest. Meanwhile, I was promoting the Character and Collectible Show in Maryland. Bruce and I got together in 1990 and in 1991 changed the name to the Florida eXtravaganza (FX). We ran it together until 1997, and I bought it back from him in 2004. In 2007, the show became to big for me to run myself anymore and I took a corporate partner, that's when it became FX International.

What have your attendance numbers since it started?

We've gone from maybe 300 in 1990 to 10,000 in 1996, to 3,500 in 2004 and back up to an expected attendance this year of at least 20,000.

How do you set yourself apart from MegaCon and other scifi/comic conventions in the area?

My dream has always been to be different from the other big events. We want FX to be everything for everyone: A collectible toy show, a comic-con, a sci-i-fi show, a horror show, a sports show, with anime and gaming events and panels and celebrities,your basic pop-culture overload circus! I have always strived to bring in new and different genres and cutting edge activities. This year we have added the celebrity poker challenge, the Drink and Draw, The Disney Pin event, the Sports Pavilion and Project Vinyl has been amped up from prior years. I am always very interested in anything that supports art and artists of any genre, so we have a lot of art-centered events this year.

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When FX International general manager Michael Herz plans his pop culture convention, he doesn't think small.

"We want FX to be everything for everyone," he said. "A collectible toy show, a comic-con, a sci-fi show, a horror show, a sports show, with anime and gaming events and panels and celebrities. Your basic pop-culture overload circus!"

This year's FX show, the 20th anniversary of the annual event, is expected to bring 20,000 fans from all over the country next weekend to the Orange County Convention Center on International Drive in Orlando to join together in the great, geeky bliss of a massive costume party that has overrun an indoor fairground during a music festival. So why should you be there?

For The Celebrities

FX has a reputation for attracting cult-favorite media guests, and this year is no exception with Leonard Nimoy from "Star Trek," James Marsters from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Smallville" and "Dragonball Evolution," James Kyson Lee from "Heroes," Lindsey Wagner from the original "Bionic Woman," Scotty "Scotty 2 Hottie" Garland from the WWE and many more from movies, TV and wrestling.

"I try to bring in guests from vintage entertainment that I would consider icons," Herz said.

For some of the guests, doing a con is like coming home. "When I was 10…13…I had a big afro, and I would go to Star Trek conventions with pointed ears and arched eyebrows. I had my Star Trek uniform that I hand-sewed myself," actor James Marsters said in a 2008 interview for Fannish Inquisition, a fan site for TV shows "Stargate" and "Firefly."

"And I found there were — at conventions — people that I enjoyed being around. Intelligent, a little weird and full of life. That's why I enjoy doing conventions now. I just love it."

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Updated, see the end for Amazon's response

So, last week two historical books — "Transgressions" by Erastes and "False Colors" by Alex Beecroft — quietly dropped off Amazon's bestseller lists.

Not because they stopped selling, mind you, because Amazon apparently instituted a new policy of removing the sales rankings from books with "adult" content. De-ranking a book doesn't remove it from Amazon, but it does keep it from showing up in Amazon's bestseller lists (cutting way down on sales derived from browsing) and there are reports that de-ranked books aren't showing up in regular searches with any consistency.

More newly stripped books followed, lots of them. When asked about this by various puzzled authors, Amazon's rep said this: "In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature."

Defensible. Annoying, but defensible. Only… there's still an awful lot of adult material on Amazon with sales rankings. Most of their adult material is still ranked. Nude photography books, explicit romances, everything by Chuck Palahniuk. In fact, judging by what has been deranked, it seems that someone at Amazon is defining "adult" as "gay."

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