Category: Superheroes
Wizard World returns to Des Moines this weekend for second big year
Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment
The national Comic Con promoter Wizard World is bringing a banner slate of celebrities and comic creators to the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines this weekend as Iowa sees its second Wizard World show, one of the best conventions in the Midwest. Check out our coverage of the inaugural Wizard World Des Moines here at borg.com last year. Celebrity headliners include The Lord of The Rings' Billy Boyd, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. star Chloe Bennet, DC's Legends of Tomorrow star Casper Crump, The Killing Joke's Batman, Kevin Conroy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Nicholas Brendon, WWE's Sasha Banks, Once Upon a Time stars Rebecca Mader, Sean Maguire, and Robbie Kay, The Walking Dead's Austin Nichols, and Hercules from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys himself, Kevin Sorbo.
As with last year's roster of well-known comic book creators, Wizard World will feature another pantheon of comic book world greats, including Tom Cook (He-Man, Superfriends), Michael Golden (Batman, Spider-Man), Clinton Hobart (Disney), James O'Barr (The Crow), Barbara Slate (Betty and Veronica), Peter David (All-New X-Factor), Colleen Doran (Sandman; A Distant Soil, The Vampire Diaries), Arthur Suydam (Army of Darkness) and many others. Returning to Wizard World this year are Iowa's own fan favorites Phil Hester (Green Arrow, The Flash) and Ant Lucia (DC's Bombshells).
Wizard World comic and gaming con events expect to bring together again thousands of fans of all ages to celebrate the best in pop culture, movies, graphic novels, cosplay, comics, television, sci-fi, toys, video gaming, gaming, original art, collectibles, contests and more. Wizard World Des Moines show hours are Friday, May 13, 3-8 p.m.; Saturday, May 14, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, May 15, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Tags: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ant Lucia, Austin Nichols, Back to the Future, Barbara Slate, Batmobile, Billy Boyd, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Casper Crump, Chloe Bennet, Clinton Hobart, Colleen Doran, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, DeLorean time machine, James O'Barr, Jurassic Park explorer, Kevin Conroy, Kevin Sorbo, Lord of the Rings, Michael Golden, Nicholas Brendon, Peter David, Phil Hester, Rebecca Mader, Robbie Kay, Sean Maguire, Supernatural Chevy Impala, Tom Cook, Wizard World Des Moines, Wizard World Des Moines 2016
First look–Cruise, Rhames and Pegg return in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
Filed under: Movies, Superheroes — Leave a comment
How does he do it? How does Tom Cruise keep churning out exciting movies, over and over again? We can count 27 of his movies that we'd watch all over again, out of a total body of work of 37 movies. Taps, The Outsiders, Top Gun, Rain Man, Far and Away, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Jerry Maguire, Minority Report, The Last Samurai, Collateral, War of the Worlds, Valkyrie, Jack Reacher, Oblivion, Edge of Tomorrow–any actor would love to have just a few of these in their portfolio, and Cruise was the lead in all but two. (We hid several Tom Cruise movies in a review of Jack Reacher a year ago here at borg.com–can you find them all?). Then you have Cruise's own version of James Bond–only there he is Ethan Hunt and the series is Mission: Impossible.
The fifth entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise is coming your way soon. Each of its predecessors had something new to offer, although none better than Brian De Palma's 1996 original, derived from the classic TV series. Mission: Impossible co-starred Jon Voight, Ving Rhames–a staple for the entirety of the series, and Kristin Scott Thomas. Every action director wants to try his hand at making a Mission: Impossible movie. Director John Woo helmed Mission: Impossible II in 2000, co-starring Brendon Gleeson and Dougray Scott. In 2006, J.J. Abrams and writing duo Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci gave it a try with Mission: Impossible III. This best of the sequels so far co-starred Philip Seymour Hoffman and Michelle Monaghan, Billy Crudup, Lawrence Fishburne, and brought comedic actor Simon Pegg into the mix. Then in 2011 Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol, directed by Brad Bird of The Incredibles fame, added Jeremy Renner to the team.
After the break, check out the new preview released this weekend for Mission: Impossible–Rogue Nation:
Tags: Mission Impossible 5 Rogue Nation trailer preview, Mission Impossible franchise, Mission Impossible V, Mission: Impossible, Mission: Impossible 5, Simon Pegg, Tom Cruise, Tom Cruise movies, Ving Rhames
Time for a Planet Comicon roadtrip? Do or do not, there is no "try"
Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment
Never been to a comic book or pop culture convention before? Always wanted to go to San Diego Comic-Con but you don't have the vacation time to take or the funds? Planet Comicon is this weekend in Kansas City and although it isn't as big as SDCC (and nothing really compares to the size of SDCC) it is a great way to get a complete two-day convention experience centrally located in America's heartland and ideal for a last-minute road trip for the family or you and a few friends. It's less than 8 hours by car from Dallas, less than 7 hours from Minneapolis, a little more than 7 hours from Indianapolis, and a little more than 8 hours from Denver. And you don't need to buy advance tickets–you can get them at the door.
So why make the trip? How about meeting George Takei? Want to know if Vera is Adam Baldwin's favorite weapon or talk him into sponsoring a Kickstarter campaign to make a Chuck movie? Never met your childhood heroes? How about Lou Ferrigno? Lindsay Wagner? Lee Meriwether? Comic book legend Howard Chaykin? Remember reading the first match-up of Green Arrow, Black Canary and Green Lantern? Want to meet Neal Adams–the guy that brought them together? Been following Wil Wheaton on Twitter all year and watching him on Big Bang Theory and want to ask him in person about his guest star gig on Leverage? A fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? How about getting a photo with Nicholas Brendon? Still can't figure out why Lucas killed off Darth Maul so fast? Come talk about it with Ray Park in person.
Want to buy comics, books, or sketches from some of the best creators from across the country? Click here to see everyone who you can meet at Artist's Alley. Get your comics autographed? Do you collect busts of superheroes and missing some key items? Come check out thousands of square feet of dealers selling everything from action figures to T-shirts to limited edition prints and toy lightsabers. Whatever thing you collect, crazy or not, if it's related to TV, movies or comics you'll likely find something there. And that's just part of your day. There will also be panels on all sorts of topics (click here for a full schedule). And cosplay contests that might get you on a Syfy Channel TV show.
Tags: Planet Comicon, Planet Comicon 2013, Planet Comicon event schedule
Buffy the Vampire Slayer turns 20… and 30
Filed under: Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Retro Fix, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment
Originally released to the big screen in 1992, and then moving on to become the now defunct WB Television Network's biggest hit series, Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer would go on to run seven seasons on TV, making its mark as one of the most successful fantasy TV series on any network. The story of the original teen defender against vampires turns 20 this year and Buffy, the character, turned 30 this year in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine
released its fourth issue just last week. (If you're not keeping track, Sarah Michelle Gellar, who played Buffy on TV, turns 35 this year and Kristy Swanson, who played Buffy in the movie, turns 43).
Wait, did you say Buffy the Vampire Slayer Seasons 8 and 9? I thought the series stopped at Season 7.
If you loved Buffy the TV series and find that you have pangs for Spike or Willow or Xander when you drive past graveyards or if you find that you hear a hilarious pop culture reference and automatically envision it coming from Sarah Michelle Gellar AND you haven't checked out your comic book store in the past 3 years, you'll find that you're a little behind on the ongoing story of Buffy & Co. But now is a good time to easily catch up.
Buffy creator Joss Whedon himself wrote and was overseer of the transformation of Buffy from TV to comic book, published by Dark Horse Comics. It is obvious from the storytelling that the trials and tribulations of the second-best known Scooby gang is still in prime form. Pop culture references are a-plenty. And 40 issues of Season 8, continuing a year after the end of the TV Season 7, are available in eight collected editions, easily findable in comic book shops, online retailers and half-priced book stores. It was a very popular series, so it will be easy to find and get caught up.
The covers are stunning, and unlike a lot of adaptations of franchises, the characters look a lot like the actors who played on the TV show. As is typical, the covers are often better than interior art. The characters aren't photo-real by any means, but I had no issue at all seeing the actors reciting the dialog of the story and sometimes Georges Jeanty's pencils reflect actors really very well, such as Xander, who looks just like Nicholas Brendan in Volume 1 of Season 8.
Without revealing too many spoilers, Season Eight, Volume 1 "The Long Way Home" collects the first five issues of the series. Buffy and Xander are leading up a compound in Scotland, where they direct the activities of 500 of 1,800 slayers across the globe. Buffy has two decoy Buffys to distract one of fiction's classic, great villains—the United States government—from finding her. In the aftermath of a destroyed Sunnydale, Buffy is now public enemy #1.
Giles, originally played on TV by British TV actor Anthony Stewart Head, is back training slayers, as is Buffy, separately, another key story element. Self-described "gay wiccan jewess" Willow Rosenberg has better control of her magic, Buffy's sister Dawn has been turned into a giant, and the first villain hired by the government to get Buffy is our favorite teenager turned rat and back again, Amy, whose characterization couldn't better reflect her character on TV. And Xander has a cool Snake Plisskin-esque eyepatch.
In Volume 2 of Season 8 "No Future for You," reprinting the comic book series Issues 6-9 by Brian K. Vaughan, and Issue 10's one-off story by Whedon "Anywhere But Here," our second favorite slayer, Faith, returns, originally portrayed by Eliza Dushku. She's back with great "five by five" slang like "haven't clocked you since the Sunny D went from being an outie to an innie." Giles has hired her to do what she has done before, kill a human, this time Lady Genevieve, a British aristocrat slayer, hunting slayers herself. And she in turn, of course, is out to kill only one person… Buffy.
So if this hasn't whetted your appetite for more Buffy, then nothing will, but if it has, eight volumes await you, and then you can get caught up to Season 9, Issue 4, waiting for you at a comic book store near you.
Tags: Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9, Dark Horse Comics, Nicholas Brendon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, WB Television Network
Comic-Con Day Three–130,000 fans, panels and lines
Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — 4 Comments
Day Three of this year's Comic-Con was as big as ever.
Some great panels, including a Young Adult novelist panels focused on alternatives to vampires, along with book signings and giveaways of ARCs (advance review copies) for books not published until the fall–a great perk at Comic-Con. Larry Nemecek, Star Trek author and insider, led a packed room of Trek fans showing previously unseen photos and behind the scenes Trek information. The Mythbusters had a line waiting of fans an entire 45 minutes after the show started. The cast of Fringe signed autographs in the main area at their studio booth.
Some great finds on the floor including nice chats with Michael Dorn (Worf from Star Trek: TNG) and Marina Sirtis (Troi on Star Trek: TNG).
Elizabeth C. Bunce went all fangirl with Eddie McClintock, star of Warehouse 13 and Nicholas Brendan, who played Xander on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These guys love to engage and are genre fans themselves. Brendon has a recurring role on Criminal Minds.
Celebrities look like everyone else, especially in a crowd of 130,000. If you're lucky you catch a star moving incognito across the main floor. We caught Anthony Stewart Head (our favorite librarian/watcher, Giles, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) who ducked away from his handler to snap a photo with Elizabeth on his way to a Merlin event. Awesome!
Great costumes as usual. Here is a great cross section of the crowd. First up this stellar Jawa:
And a super Black Canary:
Here's some great Starfleet jacket replicas from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan:
From The Incredibles:
And it wouldn't be a Con without some Klingon warriors:
One more day then the countdown starts again for next year's show! Next week I'll run down the best and worst costumes at Comic-Con this year.
Tags: Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Comic-Con, costumes, Criminal Minds, Eddie McClintock, Fringe, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, Mythbusters, Nicholas Brendon, SDCC 2011, Troi, Warehouse 13, Worf, YA Authors