What’s going on in Science Fiction? Find out here as we keep you posted on the latest happenings.
Right now what comes to mind is the fact that the Star War’s TV series looks like it may be coming sooner than we thought!
Rumors have been flying about Star Trek XI – a prequel with no actors from the previous television shows. But some say the movie has stalled because of poor returns on Nemesis and poor ratings for Enterprise. However, producer Rick Berman and writer Erik Jendresen believes everything is right on track. Jendresen says the movie is set about 80 years before Kirk. He reports he wrote a “grittier? story where the crew isn’t saved by a brilliant maneuver by its captain, the audience isn’t wowed by special effects, and it doesn’t end with a few laughs and everyone living happily ever after. See an article at FilmForce for more info. While we are still waiting for a director and cast, the movie is projected for release in 2007.
Last month I finished watching all the episodes of Firefly. Each episode was bringing me closer to understanding River’s unique abilities and the secret of Shepherd Book’s past, but then the series ended abruptly. Without a broadcaster willing to pick up the show, producer Chris Buchanan in Starlog #339 says the adventures may just continue in film. “Someday, when we’re doing episode 10 of this film franchise, we can turn to Fox and say, ‘See everybody likes us.?
I’m glad all the actors from the TV show are playing their characters from Firefly in the movie, Serenity in theaters September 30. I was hoping Inara had been cut from the cast since she had announced her plans to leave Serenity in the last episode, but she’ll appear in the movie. Why don’t I like Inara? I just didn’t feel she added much to the plot. There’s supposed to be this tension between her and the captain as they fight their feelings for each other, but I wasn’t buying it. However in her interview with Starlog, Morena Baccarin says her character changes in the movie and her costumes have changed to allow her to run and jump. I guess that means she’ll be more a part of the action instead of a sounding wall for the other characters. Maybe she’ll be more worthy of the Captain’s attention.
Baccarin has committed to 2 more Serenity movies but it depends on how well the first does in the theaters. With 3 million viewers for the original series, I do believe they have a fighting chance.
The movies focuses on River, a fugitive the government wants back in the worse possible way. Seems they’ve done some experiments and given her some abilities they don’t want running loose in the universe. She was my favorite character in the series and I can’t wait to see what she is capable of doing.
My other favorite was a man named Jayne – fatally flawed and not too bright, but always interesting. Keep the stories coming.
Check out the trailer at:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/serenity/
There is some confusion over the Departure from Krypton statue. The picture in Diamond Comics’ Previews shows both Jor-El and Lara, the picture at DC Direct shows only Jor-El. I contacted my distributor, who in turn contacted DC Direct. The statue will have both of Superman’s parents as in the Preview’s picture and DC Direct has the correct picture at their website.
Designed and sculpted by William Paquet
With the destruction of Krypton imminent, scientist Jor-El and his wife Lara placed their infant son Kal-El in an experimental rocket to send him to Earth and safety. Now that defining moment for the child who would grow up to become Superman is brought to life with this hand-painted cold-cast porcelain statue, which stands approximately 9.12″ tall x 6.75″ wide x 5″ deep. Look for the companion statue, SUPERMAN: ARRIVAL IN SMALLVILLE. Packaged in a 4-color box.
So where is the Final Fantasy XII: Advent Children DVD? If you’re in Japan, it’s probably in your DVD player. According to the Oricon weekly sales chart, the DVD release sold 195,000 units to earn top place for the first week of its release. It also tallied as the third-highest first-week DVD sales of the year.Â
You can verify this at:
http://www2.oricon.co.jp/movie/release/release.asp, but I can’t read Japanese and I’m just going to have to trust GameSpot’s report.
So when will we poor Japanese-impaired viewers get an English version? AnimeNation, Amazon.com, and my distributor Diamond Comics say November 29. It will make a great Christmas present if you think anyone will wait that long. Maybe an early Christmas present.
Watch out Cartoon Network, Adult Swim will soon have serious competition. FUNimation Entertainment, distributor of such hits as Dragonball Z and FullMetal Alchemist, plans to create a 24-hour digital network showing top-rated anime. Sometime next year it should be available in basic and extended digital packages.
However, FUNimation Channel is not the first of its kind. 
Anime Network launched in late 2002 as a 24-hour digital network and as Video on Demand, but it is not available on DirectTV or Dish Network. I have Comcast and in my area I can see some of Anime Network’s lineup On Demand, except I’m cheap and don’t have digital cable yet. I stay up way too late watching InuYasha, FullMetal Alchemist and Cowboy Bebop on Cartoon Network. Watch the funmation website for more information as it becomes available.
It took about 2.5 weeks to arrive, but I think it was worth the wait. Open it and you get the chirping sound, a spinning moire and a green light. Press a button and you hear subspace static. A button on the back generates a starship hail sound. A few months ago I built a prop replica from a Roddenberry kit (http://www.roddenberry.com) and it was a lot of fun, but it was also a lot of work (and a bit of cost) so I hesitate to take it from it’s display. 
But this toy prop is just the ticket for fun and play. I’ve compared it to the Roddenberry prop I built and it’s not exactly the same, as it’s a little shorter in height, but the same width. The sound quality isn’t as good either. But it is a great looking prop none-the-less.
I did some on-line searching and have heard rumors that it is a knock-off of the one made by Master Replicas. I’ve done a few comparisions via photo’s from the web (I wish I could see it side by side with an MR) and I’m starting to believe that. It has some convincing similarities, like the location of the hailing tone button on the back and how the shape of the bodies look to be very alike. The back panel has 4 screws and is flat just like the MR version. The metal center line that goes around the body is not present on the top, just like MR. Also the spinning moire, the order of the light colors seem to align with that of Master Replicas. But the sound quality pales in comparison to MR from what I’ve read, but for the price, who cares!? Anybody care to comment on a comparison they’ve noted?
Anyway, where did I get this cool prop? I saw them being sold on Ebay (for about $30 more than what I paid for it - including shipping) and found out that they were being purchased from the Star Trek Experience in Vegas and resold. So I ventured over to http://www.startrekexp.com/ and found that I could purchase it on-line! It was painful waiting two and a half weeks for them to process my order, but it was worth the price. If you don’t want to wait, you could try your luck on Ebay.
The Silver Age of Superman figures are based on the comics written between 1950 and 1960 and illustrated by Kurt Schaffenberger. 
In Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane, #21, Lois Lane and Lana Lang develop superpowers. Do they go and save the world? 
No, they spend their time fighting over who gets to marry Superman and now that he doesn’t have to worry about his enemies hurting them, he has no excuse not to choose to settle down with one of them. For pictures from the original artwork and story go to the I Love Lois (Lane) site.
And who is the monkey? Beepo stowed away on the rocket carrying Superboy from Krypton to the safety of earth. Of course, Beepo developed superpowers as well, but being a mischevious monkey, he drove Superboy nuts. See the Archangels website for a great cover picture.
I asked DC Comics if they were going to reprint some of the Silver Age comics to go with the action figures, but they don’t plan on it. Instead they recommended:
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERMAN VOL. 1
Written by Jerry Siegel, Bill Finger and others; Art by Curt Swan, Dick Sprang and others; Cover by Swan and George Klein Kicking off an exciting line of black-and-white reading library titles! This volume collects SUPERMAN #122-133 and ACTION COMICS #241-257, featuring the birth of the Silver Age Superman mythos, including the first appearances of Supergirl, Brainiac, the Fortess of Solitude and more! 560 pages, Black and White, Softcover, $9.99, ISBN 1401207588 which went on sale September 28, 2005.
They also recommended checking out some of their other Trade Paperbacks. I thought this one looked good:
SUPERMAN IN THE FIFTIES
Written by Otto Binder, Jerry Coleman, Bill Finger, Edmond Hamilton, and others; Art by Al Plastino, Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, Kurt Schaffenberger, and others Written in the 1950s, the stories reprinted in this collection reflect the optimism and carefree excitement of that era. 
In a decade of few real life villains, Superman’s adventures became more lighthearted and fun as he teamed up with Robin, the Boy Wonder or battled against such outrageous foes as Bizarro and the Bride of Bizarro. Also included in this collection are the first appearances of Supergirl, Krypto, and Titano the Super-Ape as well as tales of Superman’s Super-Magic Show and Superboy’s last day in Smallville. 189 pages, Color, Softcover, $19.95, ISBN 1563898268
Both are available at Amazon.com
The Terminator is back.
Life is good for Terminator fans. Fox has signed on for a pilot about Sarah Connor and her 14-year-old son, John Connor. The series will chronicle their lives as they live on the run after Terminator 2.
According to writer, Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds), “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” will not be non-stop shoot-’em-up or chase scenes, in large part because of the reduced budgets of television. “There’s going to be a healthy dose of both (action and family drama),” Friedman said, noting that the “Terminator” mythology “has a lot of big ideas in it that don’t cost you a dime to explore.”
C2 Pictures, which produced Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, also reports they are in the “final phases� of Terminator 4 and there are plans to produce another trilogy.
Reports indicate neither Linda Hamilton nor Edward Furlong will reprise their roles for TV. Nor do they expect Arnold Schwarzenegger to be available for more than a cameo appearance in either project.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles would be for the 2006/07 Season.
Bone is a story of 3 cousins – Phoney Bone, Smiley Bone, and Fone Bone. After Phoney loses the race for mayor, the three cousins are driven out of town and travel across the desert to a mysterious valley where they become separated. Each has their own adventures and run-ins with the native rat creatures and locusts before the cousins are reunited. They next find themselves on an epic journey to defeat the Lord of the Locusts and save the world.
Bone is a graphic novel by Jeff Smith published independently from 1991 to 2004 and translated into nine languages around the world. Now Telltale Games (made up of ex-Lucas Arts employees) is bringing the story to the PC as an adventure game. Smith also contributed to the production of this family-friendly point-and-click adventure which closely follows the story of Bone Volume One. According to PCGamer Magazine, December 2005, the story follows the book pretty well except when the games adds interactivity to the story and a mini-game where the Bones flee the locust. There is a variety of dialogue options with different characters which allows for some replayability.
Bone the game is published online and can be downloaded for $20. Telltale also plans to release more episodes – one for each Bone book (a total of 9). Check out http://www.telltalegames.com/home for a free demo and to purchase the full game.
Bone the book received 10 Eisner Awards* and 10 Harvey Awards. **
*Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards given for creative achievement in comic books.
Best Serialized Story 1994 “The Great Cow Race”
Best Continuing Series 1994 &1995
Best Graphic Album Reprint 2005
Best Humor Publication 1993, 1994 & 1995
Best Writer/Artist 1994
Best Writer/Artist Humor 1995 & 1998
**Harvey Kurtzman Awards given for achievement in comic books.
Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003 & 2005
Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work 1994 & 2005
