So San Diego 2007 was the usual exhausting but invigorating whirl of parties, panels and bumping into old and new friends. Highlights for yours truly:
I scored an invite to the world premiere of SHOOT 'EM UP, the upcoming Clive Owen action picture, and sat directly in front of Mr. Owen during the screening. SHOOT 'EM UP was produced by my pals Don Murphy and Susan Montford, and here's my early pre-review: WOW. Just when you think there isn't a new action scene under the sun, SHOOT comes up with five or six insane set pieces, along with a bodycount that rivals 300.
Each of my panels were fun in their own way, but most touching was the "Spotlight" panel, when the San Diego folks gave me an Inkpot Award for Lifetime Achievement. It was a total surprise, totally unexpected and greatly appreciated.
I wasn't on it, for obvious reasons, but the Women Of BSG panel wound up packing the convention's biggest hall and was a lot of fun. Yes, Lucy Lawless is coming back to BSG and her Cylon character, D'Anna, will play a pivotal role as we careen toward the conclusion...
I only came home with one box of old comics, but I found the usual slew of interesting/oddball books, including three issues of "Sue And Sally Smith - Flying Nurses!" (a nutty Charlton title from 1960), some in-your-face 40's era Fox Publishing Tarzan ripoffs like JO-JO and ZAGO, and many others.
And I guess I was lucky, too. The gaslamp district in downtown San Diego was a total zoo in the wee hours... follow the link for one man's unfortunate experience...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/comiccon/2007/07/pow-bam.html
Monday, July 30, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
San Diego Con...
Got in last night, got our badges and goodie bag, then braved the preview night crowd... and it was, indeed, pretty crowded. As my friend Randy Stradley at Dark Horse said, "Welcome to Preview night, Saturday morning." (Saturday is traditionally the busiest day of the show.) I've heard that the show is totally sold out at this point, another first...
More reporting as the day(s) wear on... see below for my post re: times and places for my panels!
More reporting as the day(s) wear on... see below for my post re: times and places for my panels!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
On The Battlestar Front...
Blogging has taken a back-seat to duty the last week, as I've been in lovely Canada attending to my Battlestar Galactica production duties. We're well into season four now, with more twists and turns coming than whatever snake metaphor you care to employ. Edward James Olmos thinks its the best run of shows yet, and I'm not going to argue with him.
As always, I stand in awe of the cast and crew. One example: when you call for a new location in a show like Battlestar, you don't just drive around Vancouver looking for the right garage or steel mill. In space, location almost always means "new set," and our guys come through for us time after time with remarkable work. That's true of almost every design decision. The writers can suggest, but the designers and craftsmen who put this stuff together inevitably create something far better and more interesting.
One big "oh no" is realizing that when all is said and done, the CIC and sickbay and Adama's Quarters are all going to the great scrap-heap in the sky, recycled for other projects. The Galactica CIC especially is an amazing set, two levels, a myriad of gauges and handsets and switches that looks fully functional. You walk on that set and you're ready to start plugging in Jump calculations yourself...
Don't look for spoilers from me, BTW, but remember there are a couple of BSG panels at the big San Diego show next week, including one panel with Richard Hatch and another with the "woman of Galactica." Maybe they'll spill some beans...
As always, I stand in awe of the cast and crew. One example: when you call for a new location in a show like Battlestar, you don't just drive around Vancouver looking for the right garage or steel mill. In space, location almost always means "new set," and our guys come through for us time after time with remarkable work. That's true of almost every design decision. The writers can suggest, but the designers and craftsmen who put this stuff together inevitably create something far better and more interesting.
One big "oh no" is realizing that when all is said and done, the CIC and sickbay and Adama's Quarters are all going to the great scrap-heap in the sky, recycled for other projects. The Galactica CIC especially is an amazing set, two levels, a myriad of gauges and handsets and switches that looks fully functional. You walk on that set and you're ready to start plugging in Jump calculations yourself...
Don't look for spoilers from me, BTW, but remember there are a couple of BSG panels at the big San Diego show next week, including one panel with Richard Hatch and another with the "woman of Galactica." Maybe they'll spill some beans...
Friday, July 13, 2007
MY NAME IS BRUCE IS #1
If you check the ratings over at the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com), you'll discover that MY NAME IS BRUCE is the highest rated horror film AND comedy EVER, going by viewer ratings. There is something truly disturbing about seeing MY NAME IS BRUCE towering over DR. STRANGELOVE (!). Considering the movie hasn't been released yet, and has only been seen by a few hundred people in unfinished form, I guess there's nowhere to go but up from here!
Speaking of "the release", work continues on the special FX and other post-production stuff. Last I heard, we're still hoping for an October release.
Speaking of BRUCE, as in Bruce Campbell, interested folks should check out BURN NOTICE, his new series over on the USA Network. Bruce plays Sam Axe, a burned out, acerbic ex-spy who reluctantly helps the hero solve various cases. If you take the Axe character and double the sleaze/wise-ass factor, you'll have some idea of the "Bruce Campbell" character that Bruce Campbell plays in MY NAME IS BRUCE. If that makes any sense...
Speaking of "the release", work continues on the special FX and other post-production stuff. Last I heard, we're still hoping for an October release.
Speaking of BRUCE, as in Bruce Campbell, interested folks should check out BURN NOTICE, his new series over on the USA Network. Bruce plays Sam Axe, a burned out, acerbic ex-spy who reluctantly helps the hero solve various cases. If you take the Axe character and double the sleaze/wise-ass factor, you'll have some idea of the "Bruce Campbell" character that Bruce Campbell plays in MY NAME IS BRUCE. If that makes any sense...
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Contribute to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
If the following story causes you as much head-scratching as it does me, then do what you can to support the defense fund. I've seen the comic book in question, and as the article notes, there's nothing sexual about Mr. Picasso's nudity... he's just, well, nude. There is more to the story (I don't think the retailer meant to hand that comic to a minor, it was an accident) but the point is, does the guy deserve to be persecuted and run out of business? Me, I say no.
Gordon Lee Trial Date Set – CBLDF Needs Your Help!
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund urgently needs your help. This August, the long-running case of Georgia v. Gordon Lee will finally go to trial, with court costs expected to hit $20,000.
For nearly three years the Fund has defended Georgia retailer Gordon Lee, seeing him through multiple arraignments and procedures, and racking up $80,000 in legal bills. The charges stem from a Halloween 2004 incident in which Lee handed out, among other free comics, an anthology featuring an excerpt from the critically acclaimed graphic novel The Salon. The segment depicted a historically accurate meeting between 20th Century art icons Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, the latter depicted in the nude. It was a harmless sequence, no more explicit than the nudity displayed in the award winning Watchmen. Yet because the title found its way into the hands of a minor, Floyd County prosecutors hit Lee with two felony counts and five misdemeanors. The Fund eventually knocked out most of the charges, but must now defeat the two remaining misdemeanor counts of Distribution of Harmful to Minors Material, each carrying a penalty of up to one year in prison and up to $1,000 in fines.
The case is slated to go to trial the week of August 13. We urgently need your support in order to wage the best defense possible against these remaining charges, and that means raising the $20,000 that the trial is expected to cost. Here’s how you can help:
Make A Monetary Donation: Every dollar counts, so please make a tax-deductible contribution today. As a thank-you for making a donation of $30 or more, the Fund will give you a brand new t-shirt displaying the text of the First Amendment in the shape of an American flag. Show your commitment to free speech, and your support for this very important case.
Join The CBLDF: Now is the time to join or renew your membership in the Fund. Your member dollars provide the baseline of support that we need to perform our casework, and defend your right to buy whatever comics you wish. If you join now with a basic membership of $25 you will receive a CBLDF Member Card, featuring new Groo art by the one-and-only Sergio Aragones, as well as a subscription to our news publication Busted!, and special admission to CBLDF events across the country. If you join at a level of $100 or more, you will also receive one of the new
First Amendment t-shirts.
Donate Original Art & Collectibles: With summer conventions upon us, the Fund needs original art, high-grade comics, and other collectible items to make the most of our summer auctions. Please e-mail cbldf1@gmail.com for more information about how to donate to our auctions, or with a description of your intended donation. If your donation is accepted for our summer auctions, you will receive a letter of acknowledgment and a 2007 membership. To ensure that your donation is received safely, please do not send physical items until accepted by the CBLDF.
With Gordon Lee's freedom in the balance, the CBLDF needs everyone who values Free Expression in comic books to do his or her part to support this very important case. Please make your contribution today.
Gordon Lee Trial Date Set – CBLDF Needs Your Help!
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund urgently needs your help. This August, the long-running case of Georgia v. Gordon Lee will finally go to trial, with court costs expected to hit $20,000.
For nearly three years the Fund has defended Georgia retailer Gordon Lee, seeing him through multiple arraignments and procedures, and racking up $80,000 in legal bills. The charges stem from a Halloween 2004 incident in which Lee handed out, among other free comics, an anthology featuring an excerpt from the critically acclaimed graphic novel The Salon. The segment depicted a historically accurate meeting between 20th Century art icons Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, the latter depicted in the nude. It was a harmless sequence, no more explicit than the nudity displayed in the award winning Watchmen. Yet because the title found its way into the hands of a minor, Floyd County prosecutors hit Lee with two felony counts and five misdemeanors. The Fund eventually knocked out most of the charges, but must now defeat the two remaining misdemeanor counts of Distribution of Harmful to Minors Material, each carrying a penalty of up to one year in prison and up to $1,000 in fines.
The case is slated to go to trial the week of August 13. We urgently need your support in order to wage the best defense possible against these remaining charges, and that means raising the $20,000 that the trial is expected to cost. Here’s how you can help:
Make A Monetary Donation: Every dollar counts, so please make a tax-deductible contribution today. As a thank-you for making a donation of $30 or more, the Fund will give you a brand new t-shirt displaying the text of the First Amendment in the shape of an American flag. Show your commitment to free speech, and your support for this very important case.
Join The CBLDF: Now is the time to join or renew your membership in the Fund. Your member dollars provide the baseline of support that we need to perform our casework, and defend your right to buy whatever comics you wish. If you join now with a basic membership of $25 you will receive a CBLDF Member Card, featuring new Groo art by the one-and-only Sergio Aragones, as well as a subscription to our news publication Busted!, and special admission to CBLDF events across the country. If you join at a level of $100 or more, you will also receive one of the new
First Amendment t-shirts.
Donate Original Art & Collectibles: With summer conventions upon us, the Fund needs original art, high-grade comics, and other collectible items to make the most of our summer auctions. Please e-mail cbldf1@gmail.com for more information about how to donate to our auctions, or with a description of your intended donation. If your donation is accepted for our summer auctions, you will receive a letter of acknowledgment and a 2007 membership. To ensure that your donation is received safely, please do not send physical items until accepted by the CBLDF.
With Gordon Lee's freedom in the balance, the CBLDF needs everyone who values Free Expression in comic books to do his or her part to support this very important case. Please make your contribution today.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
My San Diego Comicon Schedule: ENHANCED!
Here's the official dope, straight from the convention website...
11:30-12:30 Writing with Mark Verheiden—Comic-Con special guest Mark Verheiden, co-executive producer of Battlestar Galactica and writer of the upcoming live-action Teen Titans movie, offers advice to aspiring writers in a lively Q&A session. Want to write for television? Features? Comic books? Bring your best nuts-and-bolts questions! Room 4
10:30-11:30 The Art of Adapting Comics to the Screen—As the cinematic renaissance of comic book–based films continues, here's your chance to learn what it takes to adapt these dream projects to the screen. Moderator Jeff Goldsmith (senior editor, Creative Screenwriting magazine) hosts a panel featuring Stan Lee (Fantastic Four), Don Payne (co-writer, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer), Mark Fergus (co-writer, Iron Man), Kevin Feige (president of production, Marvel Studios), and Mark Verheiden (Teen Titans). Room 6A
6:00-7:00 Spotlight on Mark Verheiden—The popular writer of movies (The Mask, Timecop), television (Smallville, Battlestar Galactica), and comics (Superman Batman, The American) comes to Comic-Con as a special guest. Mark Verheiden talks to writer and friend Jeff Gelb about his career storytelling on the big screen, the small screen, and the printed page. Room 2
I understand some very lovely actresses and swell executive producers will be plugging a show called BATTLESTAR GALACTICA on Saturday, too. Jeez, is that thing still on?
11:30-12:30 Writing with Mark Verheiden—Comic-Con special guest Mark Verheiden, co-executive producer of Battlestar Galactica and writer of the upcoming live-action Teen Titans movie, offers advice to aspiring writers in a lively Q&A session. Want to write for television? Features? Comic books? Bring your best nuts-and-bolts questions! Room 4
10:30-11:30 The Art of Adapting Comics to the Screen—As the cinematic renaissance of comic book–based films continues, here's your chance to learn what it takes to adapt these dream projects to the screen. Moderator Jeff Goldsmith (senior editor, Creative Screenwriting magazine) hosts a panel featuring Stan Lee (Fantastic Four), Don Payne (co-writer, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer), Mark Fergus (co-writer, Iron Man), Kevin Feige (president of production, Marvel Studios), and Mark Verheiden (Teen Titans). Room 6A
6:00-7:00 Spotlight on Mark Verheiden—The popular writer of movies (The Mask, Timecop), television (Smallville, Battlestar Galactica), and comics (Superman Batman, The American) comes to Comic-Con as a special guest. Mark Verheiden talks to writer and friend Jeff Gelb about his career storytelling on the big screen, the small screen, and the printed page. Room 2
I understand some very lovely actresses and swell executive producers will be plugging a show called BATTLESTAR GALACTICA on Saturday, too. Jeez, is that thing still on?
Monday, July 09, 2007
BATTLESTAR IS NUMBER 12!!
Apparently a bunch o' TV critics got together and picked their favorite shows from Jan to June 2007. BATTLESTAR came in #12, tied with those wacky kids at ENTOURAGE. We're actually in some pretty esteemed company...
Go to...
http://tvweek.com/news/
...and look for the 2007 Best Critics Poll!
Go to...
http://tvweek.com/news/
...and look for the 2007 Best Critics Poll!
New Release: ALIENS OMNIBUS
Long before I was involved with BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, SMALLVILLE or PERVERSIONS OF SCIENCE (look it up on the IMBD.com database), I wrote a bunch of comics spinning off from the second, James Cameron ALIENS movie. Dark Horse Comics has just reissued all 14 issues of the three mini-series I did, along with the very first short story from DARK HORSE PRESENTS, in a nice, full color collection called ALIENS OMNIBUS. These were some of the most successful comics I ever wrote, with the 14 issues collectively selling several million copies.
These are the "remastered" versions, with the names of the characters changed from the original release. "Billie" was originally "Newt", etc. Unfortunately, after ALIENS 3 came out, some of the story points in my tales were, umm, mooted by the deaths of several main characters from the Cameron ALIENS movie, so Dark Horse re-lettered the stories in the 90's to put the books back into continuity with the movie franchise. Doesn't really change the story, just a piece of trivia for you ALIENS buffs...
I also did three PREDATOR comic series "in the day" that I'm hopeful will also get the OMNIBUS treatment. There's quite a story behind that bunch of comics, too, but I'll save that for if and when they're released...
Here's a link if you have a mind to pick a copy up...
These are the "remastered" versions, with the names of the characters changed from the original release. "Billie" was originally "Newt", etc. Unfortunately, after ALIENS 3 came out, some of the story points in my tales were, umm, mooted by the deaths of several main characters from the Cameron ALIENS movie, so Dark Horse re-lettered the stories in the 90's to put the books back into continuity with the movie franchise. Doesn't really change the story, just a piece of trivia for you ALIENS buffs...
I also did three PREDATOR comic series "in the day" that I'm hopeful will also get the OMNIBUS treatment. There's quite a story behind that bunch of comics, too, but I'll save that for if and when they're released...
Here's a link if you have a mind to pick a copy up...
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Things I've Seen In L.A...
I've been down in Southern California for a lot of years now, and in that time I've seen some "things." Some fun, some not so fun. Here are a couple:
FUN: Driving home from the studio the other day, I passed Jay Leno into some 1930-ish classic car, and Ed Begley Jr. behind the wheel of an all electric Rav. It's a weird world when you have more star sightings sitting in traffic than you do at a movie studio. Aaron Douglas popped by the BSG offices the other day, but kibitzing with the cast of your own show doesn't really count as a sighting...
NOT SO FUN: I was waiting in traffic on La Brea Avenue awhile back (going South toward the 10 freeway, to place the scene for L.A. natives) when I noticed the tell-tale flash of police lights up ahead. Usually this means an accident and a still longer wait, but this time it was evidentally a police action involving some sort of "problem" Because as I sat in the crush of cars, an African American man charged down the middle of the street, weaving between cars, laughing and swinging a Samurai sword as a couple of LAPD officers (toting shotguns) made chase. The odd thing is how L.A. motorists more or less took the event in stride. I watched the guy approach, bounce off my side mirror, then continued to follow his progressio in the rear view as he continued down the street, swinging and laughing that sword as the cops and their shotguns made chase...
FUN: Driving home from the studio the other day, I passed Jay Leno into some 1930-ish classic car, and Ed Begley Jr. behind the wheel of an all electric Rav. It's a weird world when you have more star sightings sitting in traffic than you do at a movie studio. Aaron Douglas popped by the BSG offices the other day, but kibitzing with the cast of your own show doesn't really count as a sighting...
NOT SO FUN: I was waiting in traffic on La Brea Avenue awhile back (going South toward the 10 freeway, to place the scene for L.A. natives) when I noticed the tell-tale flash of police lights up ahead. Usually this means an accident and a still longer wait, but this time it was evidentally a police action involving some sort of "problem" Because as I sat in the crush of cars, an African American man charged down the middle of the street, weaving between cars, laughing and swinging a Samurai sword as a couple of LAPD officers (toting shotguns) made chase. The odd thing is how L.A. motorists more or less took the event in stride. I watched the guy approach, bounce off my side mirror, then continued to follow his progressio in the rear view as he continued down the street, swinging and laughing that sword as the cops and their shotguns made chase...
Monday, July 02, 2007
So You Wanna Be A Writer...
The fine folks at the San Diego Comicon asked if I'd be up for a seminar-ish sort of session on the wonderful world of writing, and fool-heartedly, I agreed. The session is scheduled for 11:30AM on Thursday 7/26...
I've done this sort of thing before, but this time I want to try something a little different. Rather than pontificate on topics that intrigue me (Fletcher Hanks? Elvis Costello? SEP/IRAs?), I want this session to address your writing questions and concerns.
So, umm -- what are they? Do you want tips on how to get a job in television? Are you curious what a BATTLESTAR outline looks like? Want a rundown on the process involved in taking a TV script from idea to production to what finally goes on air? Are you curious about agents? Managers? Want to discuss the typical structure of a TV episode VS a feature? We can talk comics, too. Would you like to see samples of comic scripts, TV scripts, movie scripts?
Or rather than nuts and bolts, do you want to talk about scene construction? How to develop a story? "Where do you get your ideas?"
Pick your poison!
So talk to me. I'll publish the best suggestions in comments and take your thoughts into account when facing the music down San Diego way...
ADDED 7/7 -- thanks for the suggestions, both in comments and via e-mail!
I've done this sort of thing before, but this time I want to try something a little different. Rather than pontificate on topics that intrigue me (Fletcher Hanks? Elvis Costello? SEP/IRAs?), I want this session to address your writing questions and concerns.
So, umm -- what are they? Do you want tips on how to get a job in television? Are you curious what a BATTLESTAR outline looks like? Want a rundown on the process involved in taking a TV script from idea to production to what finally goes on air? Are you curious about agents? Managers? Want to discuss the typical structure of a TV episode VS a feature? We can talk comics, too. Would you like to see samples of comic scripts, TV scripts, movie scripts?
Or rather than nuts and bolts, do you want to talk about scene construction? How to develop a story? "Where do you get your ideas?"
Pick your poison!
So talk to me. I'll publish the best suggestions in comments and take your thoughts into account when facing the music down San Diego way...
ADDED 7/7 -- thanks for the suggestions, both in comments and via e-mail!
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