Grok #4: Potentially Awesome
Jan 12We’re very keen on doing our part to ensure that 2009 kicks a ridiculous amount of ass. Part of this will involve homemade shirts featuring our all-time favorite fanfic fantasy pairings (watch for Jeff’s “Edward Cullen + Havok: 4-Ever Angst” tee at NYCC!). The other part is making more issues of Grok.
If you’ll recall, Grok is our little PDF zine about nerd stuff. Check out the sidebar for further explanation. Every issue has a theme: Grok #3 was “Nameless Horror,” which means everyone who read it had countless nightmares about monster ticks and the suspiciously delicious hashbrowns at the Arkham Waffle House.
For #4, we’re going a little more game-y and calling it…
Extra Life.
And! And! We want you to contribute. Write something, draw something, whatever. Check out previous issues for an idea of what we’re looking for. And remember that the theme can be interpreted as broadly or as specifically as you choose.
If interested, please drop a line to fangirl@earthlink.net, tell us your idea, and take us from “potentially” to “definitely awesome.”
Wintermen
Jan 12
There’s no real reason for this post other than the fact that Winter Men is awesome, and the finale is finally on stands after more than two years of waiting, and really no expectation that it would ever come out at all.
I bought issue 1 right when I was getting back into comics, thanks to a raving e-mail from Warren Ellis’ Bad Signal list. I faithfully bought the single issues, but somehow missed issue 4; just a month ago, I magically found it for 33 cents in a clearance bin. I dug them all out of the short boxes in my closet just this weekend. They sit pregnant with possibility, awaiting the arrival of my copy of the Wintermen Winter Special from my mail order service. I will read them all in one delirious sitting, a glutton for good comics.
A Question Mark Away
Jan 07Clearly, we need some new words.
Right now, the term “blogging” covers anyone who writes online on a regularly updated site. Whether you are doing robust traditional journalism for an online outlet or reporting on what you had for lunch today at LiveJournal, you are a blogger. This means the expectations of the reader have no context whatsoever, other than the other posts on each blog itself; the site you click on could offer any range of content, and there’s no standards or benchmarks with which to measure what you’re reading.
This occurred to me upon seeing the story at Blog@Newsarama about the sale of 1UP and Electronic Gaming Monthly to Hearst. This has led to speculation that EGM will shutter its doors with the next issue.
Watchmen Is Okay: An Alert Nerd Public Service Announcement
Dec 29Message boards and blogs have been alight for a week with the news that Fox was awarded some stake in Warner Bros’ Watchmen film. Today, a Fox spokesperson revealed they’d be seeking an injunction to delay the film.
I’m no industry expert, just a yokel in Orlando with an internet connection and a full bladder, but let me prognosticate for just one second:
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE THAT THE RELEASE OF WATCHMEN WILL BE DELAYED IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.
There’s no precedent for delaying a film that’s in rights limbo, especially not a film where there’s upwards of $100 million in production costs, marketing dollars, and merchandising on the line. Usually, the case is resolved and settled in some fashion. Even if it means eating serious crow and forking over cash, WB will do it…and even if it means taking a lower offer than they’ve proposed to date, Fox will cave in.
Fox said that bit today about the injunction because they are HUFFING and PUFFING. They’re trying to make WB flinch. WB will not flinch.
These are high-paid powerful lawyers whose job is to protect their clients and make them money wherever possible. A shelved Watchmen film makes no one money. A released Watchmen film could make everyone lots of money. There will be lots of shit talking for the next couple weeks, and then on January 20, the trial will begin, and maybe as soon as that afternoon, a settlement/deal will have been reached.
Mark my words: WATCHMEN IS OKAY. Let’s complain about something else instead.
Matt's Fave Comics 2008 – Batman: Gotham After Midnight
Dec 28I’m a sucker for Batman comics, even half-baked ones, but I don’t think this Steve Niles/Kelley Jones maxiseries is half-baked at all. It’s pretty fully baked. It probably helps to be baked when you read it. I wouldn’t know. Just a guess.
