Posted at 3:30 a.m. - Wednesday, January 7

Here's a little sumtin'-sumtin that came to me via 'Geek Mail':

'Who loves Chicago? The Fuglees love Chicago and the Fuglees love to rock! Polygroin Records recording artist “The Fuglees” will be performing in Chicago this Saturday (January 10th) at Martyr’s. You may already know this entertaining power-pop trio for their hit songs “Crazy Girls” and “David Lee Roth”. Their high energy midwestern sound is reminiscent of Cheap Trick with the humor of Ben Folds. You can take a listen at thefuglees.com.'

'Comic book nerds may know the band’s bass player, comic book artist Andy Kuhn. For the past 15 years he has drawn comics for just about everyone including Marvel and DC. Andy’s current comic book “Firebreather” (published by Image Comics) is being produced as an animated feature for The Cartoon Network. The band’s third CD is due out this summer. If you’re wondering how Andy finds the time to do both, you can come out to Martyr’s this Saturday and ask him in person.'

Sounds like a good time to me!  Tickets are available online through MusicToday.Com.

And as always, if you've got an event that Geek & Nerd Nation should hear about, just drop me a line!

Posted at 1:30 p.m. - Wednesday, January 7

The 'internets' are just chock full of free content from aspiring writers and artists trying to get themselves noticed.  Most are talented folk who have yet to catch that 'big break' to make it into publishing.  And others are established professionals who just have a project that they're passionate about and want to share it in any way they can.

This is one of those 'others.'

Dan Jolley is an established professional writer who has worked for just about every major comic book company and is currently making a name for himself in the YA market.  He's written Batman, Superman, characters from the X-Men universe and numerous others, but today he brings us something...different.

REDEEMER'S LAW is, as Dan puts it, 'a contemporary pulp action sci-fi horror superhero story.'  That's a mouthfull indeed!  And better yet, you get to read Mr. Jolley's entire novel, chapter by chapter, for free and even get to comment on how the narrative is progressing!

That's an opportunity that doesn't present itself every day, y'know.

So I encourage all you superhero/sc-fi/horror/pulp fiction fans to check out Redeemer's Law...

And tell Mr. Jolley that you heard about it on the Geek To Me Blog!

CHECK IT OUT!

Posted at 7:20 p.m. - Tuesday, January 6

Courtesy of Trailer Addict comes this nifty new Japanese movie trailer for the Watchmen movie! It has some new footage that has yet to be seen in any North American promo, revealing some more scenes from the comic and some scenes that Snyder came up with on his own.

I have but one fear: TOO MUCH NIXON!

Ok, I have another: THE COMEDIAN WAS ON THE GRASSY KNOLL?!?!

Comments please and tell me I'm being unreasonable.

Posted at 9:45 p.m. - Monday, January 5

Courtesy of my friends at Dreamland Comics in Schaumburg, IL comes this week's new releases!  Of note this week: The soldiers of Easy Company are back in Billy Tucci's revival of the classic war comic in Sgt. Rock the Lost Battalion #3; Warren Ellis explores the price one will pay to become a superhero in No Hero #3 ; and the time-traveling adventures of Ashley J. Williams and Xena the Warrior Princess continue in Xena Vs Army of Darkness: What Again? #3 (co-written by yours truly!); and much, much more!

Visit your local comic shop and check out one of these titles this week!

MARVEL
Amazing Spider-Man #582
Cable #10
Dead of Night Featuring Werewolf by Night #1
Eternals #7
Invincible Iron Man #9 (DKR)
Marvel Illustrated Kidnapped #3
Marvel Spotlight Dark Reign
Marvel Super Hero Squad Hero Up #1
Marvel Zombies 3 #4
NYX No Way Home #5
Official Index To The Marvel Universe #1
Punisher #1 (DKR)
Secret Invasion War of Kings
Spider-Man Fear Itself #1
Sub-Mariner The Depths #4
Wolverine and Power Pack #3
Wolverine Switchback
X-Men Manifest Destiny #5
X-Men Noir #1 (2nd Printing)
X-Men Noir #2

DC
Black Lightning Year One #1
Detective Comics #852 (FoE)
El Diablo #5
Faces of Evil Grundy #1 (FoE)
Jonah Hex #39
Mirror's Edge #3
Secret Six #5
Sgt Rock the Lost Battalion #3
Superman Supergirl: Maelstrom #5
Terror Titans #4
Trinity #32
Vixen Return of the Lion #4

DC/VERTIGO
Haunted Tank #2
House of Mystery #9
Sandman Dream Hunters #3

DC/WILDSTORM
Authority #6

OTHER PUBLISHERS
Anna Mercury #5
Bomb Queen V #5
Boys #26
Broken Trinity Angelus
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #21
Doktor Sleepless #11
Gravel #7
Hellboy The Wild Hunt #2
Hexed #1
Kull #3
Last Reign Kings of War #2
Mercy Sparx #2
No Hero #3
Phantom #26
Rest #2
Shrapnel #1
Shrugged #8
Sword #14
Transformers Maximum Dinobots #2
Walking Dead #57
Xena Vs AoD What Again? #3

ALL-AGES
Betty and Veronica Double Digest #167
Looney Tunes #170
Sabrina #99
Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade #2

MAGAZINES
Classic Marvel Figurine Collectors Magazine #82 Moon Knight
Classic Marvel Figurine Collectors Magazine #83 Deathlok
Doctor Who Magazine #403
Torchwood Magazine #12
Wizard the Guide to Comics #208 

GRAPHIC NOVELS
Agents of Atlas
American Splendor Another Dollar
Birds of Prey Club Kids
Classic GI Joe Vol 1
Complete Little Orpan Annie Vol 2 HC
Daredevil by Frank Miller Vol 3
DC Universe Illustrated By Neal Adams Vol 1 HC
Fantastic Four Worlds Greatest HC
Green Lantern Wanted Hal Jordon
Groo Hell On Earth
Gunnerkrigg Court Vol 1 Orientation HC
Infinity Crusade Vol 2
Justice Vol 3
Marvel Illustrated Three Musketeers HC
Marvel Zombies Dead Days
New Avengers Vol 9 Secret Invasion HC
Rasl Vol 1 Drift
Runaways Pride & Joy HC
Secret Invasion
Showcase Presents Strange Adventures Vol 1
Spider-Man Blue Premier Ed. HC
Tales Of The Batman Tim Sale
Transformers Movie Prequel Saga of the Allspark
Ultimate Origins Premier Ed. HC
Universal War One Vol 1 Premier ED. HC
Walking Dead Vol 9 Here We Remain 
Warhammer Fire & Honor
WEird Detective Adventures of Wade Hammond Vol 2

MANGA
Astral Project Vol 2
Four Constables Vol 3
Kurosagi Corps Delivery Service Vol 8
Oh My Goddess RTL Vol 31
Shonen Jump Feb. 2009

Posted at 4:00 p.m. -Monday, January 5

As I had stated in a previous post, after meeting Rich Koz on the set of the Svengoolie show, I was inspired to come up the with idea I propose in this video:

If you are interested in participating in what is now being called The Coffin Building Project, drop me a line!

It's my hope that we can have a new casket to present to Rich in 2009 as his 30th anniversary gift, celebrating 30 years as Svengoolie!

Posted at 8:20 a.m. -Monday, January 5

Ok, this is the very essence of awesome geek-film making:

A bunch of Evil Dead fans get together and create their own version of Army of Darkness via Be Kind To Rewind.  You just have to appreciate the energy and sincerity in the effort.  Oh, and the 'This is my BOOMSTICK!' scene?  With the characters from 'other' geek/nerd franchises?  HILARIOUS!

Thanks to DEADITES ONLINE for uncovering this gem!

Posted at 5:20 p.m. -Saturday, January 3

BEHOLD!  The face of the NEW DOCTOR!  (Or at least he will be in 2010.)

From the Telegraph UK: 'Matt Smith, the 26 year old star of the BBC comedy drama Party Animals, has been named as the new Doctor Who due to take over from David Tennant in 2010'

Doctor Who has gone through a tremendous revival since the show was resurrected a few years ago.  I myself, being a fan of the Tom Baker era, was won over by David Tennant's portrayal of the Time Lord and have returned to the cynicism that engulfs fanboys when faced with change in their poly-bagged and boarded, static universes.

But hey, I'm sure I'll get over it soon enough.  The showrunners for Doctor Who have shown a fine instinct for taking the character in new directions when the times required them, so I'll trust them with this move as well.

What do other fans of the good Doctor have to say?

Posted at 7:40 p.m. - Friday, January 2

Just got home from seeing Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler.  Wrestling geeks are sure to enjoy this touching look into the life of a past-his-prime grappler, and even non-geeks will appreciate the performance of one Mickey Rourke, who is just astounding as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson.  'The Ram' is one part Randy 'Macho Man' Savage, one part Hulk Hogan (without the video residuals) and one part Ultimate Warrior.  He's a sad-sack who can't handle success, frittering his fortune from the 80's on drugs and women, left to scrounge for whatever scraps his fading reputation can get him.  But damn if you don't feel for the guy.  I was never a big fan of Rourke's back in his bad-boy sex symbol days, but he really played on my sympathies in this role which is sure to get him Oscar consideration.

Now, while the 'Ram' came off as a combination of all those wrestlers I mentioned before, his plight was straight out of another wrestling film that I really enjoyed: Beyond The Mat.

Beyond the Mat told the behind-the-scenes story of the 'feud' between Mick 'Mankind' Foley and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in the WWF (before it became the WWE).  There's some nice backstage footage of Vince McMahon and Foley discussing their characters' storylines and how to further develop the drama, thus exposing the true nature of 'competition' in the world of pro wrestling.

But the real drama takes place as the camera follows Jake' The Snake' Roberts, one of the WWF's top heels in the 80's, now doing the local wrestling circuit and still living in the past.

THAT is who I thought of as I watched The Wrestler.  'The Ram' was living Jake Robert's life, all the way down to the estranged daughter.  And I have to admit that I got pretty choked up there in the end.

Great, great stuff in both these films and I'd encourage geeks and non-geeks alike to check them out!

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.

 

Posted at 1:40 p.m. - Thursday, January 1

My recent feature on the Svengoolie show makes mention of the scripts that Rich Koz hand-writes for each episode, and was to include some images of the script itself, but couldn't due to space considerations.  But now, via the wonder that is the internet, here's a look at a Svengoolie show script:

The cover to episode #680 (the episode I got to see them taping) courtesy of Rich Koz.  The Sven image is drawn by Koz himself, an image he's drawn over 680 times!

And here's a page from the script.  As stated in the feature, Koz eschews a word processing program and writes each one by hand.

Visit the WCIU website for lots of great behind-the-scenes webisodes, including one that features my visit to the Svengoolie set!

Posted at 12:40 p.m. - Thursday, January 1

Happy New Year everyone!  As we look forward into 2009, one of the most anticipated films of the year has to be Zack Snyder's adaptation of the classic DC 'maxi-series' WATCHMEN.  With all the legal wrangling between movie studios aside, this film looks to be a geek's dream come true:

Now, courtesy of the good folks over at Comic Book Resources, we have this nifty new video package from Snyder, featuring some new, never-before-seen footage from the film. I just finished re-reading the epic a couple weeks ago, and there are some scenes in this sequence that aren't in the book, so it appears as if Snyder's taking a few artistic liberties with the story. And if what I'm hearing about the ending being 'adjusted' is true, some Watchmen purists may not be getting the flick that they want. But so far, this looks like its shaping up to be something special.