Fan Rants

Well not quite, but its been reported by the Source that J. Michael Straczynski is taking over the writing responsibilities of not only Superman but also Wonder Woman.

Starting in July with SUPERMAN #701 and WONDER WOMAN #601, superstar writer J. Michael Straczynski — a man who’s created layered and compelling characters and worlds on the big screen, on television and across the comic book spectrum — dives head-first into the DC Universe by taking the ongoing writing reins for two-thirds of the fabled DCU trinity.

We’ll have more details about who’ll be teaming with JMS on both titles — not to mention the exciting new directions he’ll be pointing our heroes toward — in the coming months. But today is about JMS and how he sees these great characters and what they stand for.

The press release for this years Small Press Expo came out today!

What: SPX 2010

Where: Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center

When: Open to the public Saturday and Sunday, September 11 and 12, 2010.

Times:
Saturday: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday: noon – 6:00 pm

Admission:
One day memberships: $10.00
Weekend memberships: $15.00
Collected at the door the day of the show

Why: If you did not participate in the past, whether as a fan or an exhibitor, you missed a lot—don’t be left out in 2010. 2009 was another terrific year for the show. Attendance was over 3,000 attendees and exhibitors, along with dozens of printers, distributors, retailers, and other industry professionals.

There were over 450 people registered as exhibitors and we sold over 170 exhibitor tables. SPX has a unique format of only selling exhibitor space to independent publishers and not to retailers. This provides a very intimate and friendly atmosphere for our creators and fans to mingle. At the same time, there’s a wide array of programming for all to enjoy.

For more information on how you can register as an exhibitor, go to the Exhibitor Registration page.

About the Show

SPX 2010 will be held the weekend of September 10 and 11, 2010 at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center in Bethesda, MD, just one mile outside the nation’s capital, Washington DC. In its fifteenth year SPX now serves as the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comic books and the discovery of new creative talent.

SPX will bring together over 400 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, distributors, and each other. SPX will be open to the public September 10th from 11am Saturday,  and run through 7pm that evening. The celebration continues Sunday from noon to 6pm. In addition, expect great programming all weekend long for you to enjoy!

SPX 2010 marks the fourteenth annual presentation of The Ignatz Awards for outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. The Ignatz, named after George Herriman’s brick-wielding mouse, recognizes outstanding work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an artform and as a means of personal expression. The Ignatz is a festival prize, the first such of the United States comic book industry. Winners will be determined by ballot during SPX and presented at the gala Ignatz Awards ceremony.

As with every year profits from SPX will go to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, protecting the First Amendment rights of comic book readers and professionals.

SPX is run by the following people:

Jeff Alexander, Executive Director, Executive Committee
Warren Bernard, Assistant Director, Steering Committee
Karon Flage, Exhibitor Coordinator, Executive Committee
Steve Conley, Executive Committee
Greg McElhatton, Ignatz Coordinator, Steering Committee
Greg Bennett, Steering Committee
Charles Brownstein, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Norah Curry, Public Relations, Steering Committee
Bill Kartalopoulos, Programming Coordinator, Steering Committee
Kevin Panetta, Steering Committee
Joel Pollack, Steering Committee
Eric Reynolds, Steering Committee
Michael Thomas, Steering Committee
Mike Zarlenga, Steering Committee

This just in from E!Online.

Joss Whedon, master of my universe, is teaming up with director and filmmaker Morgan Spurlock to make a documentary about fans that attend the San Diego Comic-con.

“They want to follow people for about three months leading up to this year’s Comic-Con,” the source said. “And then they want to film them there. They’re looking at all types of people.”

I will stay on top of this and as soon as I figure how they will be choosing the subjects I will pass it along.

There were a couple of good tidbits that came out this week on the upcoming Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds.

First up from Variety, we find that Sony Imageworks will be handling the special effects for the film.

Overall vfx supervisors on the project are Karen Goulekas (“The Day After Tomorrow”) and Kent Houston (“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”). Jim Berney (“I Am Legend”) will be vfx supervisor for Imageworks.

Now for the big news. Cosmic Book News has aquired some leaked concept art for the other Green Lanterns. For those not familiar with the mythology, the Green Lantern Corp is like an intergalactic police corp. Each guarding a sector of space. In the film, Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) will become the protector of Space Sector 2814 where Earth is located.

In the film, Hal must go under training by the Corps, probably by Kilowag as that is one of his main roles in the comics. Here are the images:

Guardians of Oa

Abin Sur & Tomar-Re

Kilowag

Good news! According to Ain’t It Cool News, Kevin Falls (creator of the excellent but short-lived Journeyman TV series) has completed a script for a new series on FX called Powers. This will be based on the comic book series Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Oeming.

This is an excellent comic and I have been hoping they would make this into a TV series since reading the first few issues. From Wiki:

Powers is set in a world where superpowers are relatively common but not mundane. It follows the lives of two detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, police officers in a Homicide department devoted to cases that involve “powers” (people with superpowers). Walker himself used to be a costumed superhero named Diamond, but became a police officer after he lost his abilities. Though stripped of his powers, he still retains his contacts within the superhero community, even becoming engaged to an ex-colleague, who is later killed. In later issues, Walker is offered the chance to become the world’s latest secret Guardian as part of The Millennium Guard, a secret group of intergalactic guardians, accepting the responsibility and the powers that come with it.

Lets keep our fingers crossed that this turns out at least half as good as what I can forsee in my head!