For the past week or so, the web and Hollywood has been buzzing about the leaked workprint of the new Wolverine film, which opens May 1st. If you haven't heard, somehow a DVD-quality copy of the movie, with some incomplete special effects, has been downloaded millions of times through P2P file-sharing networks. Apparently Fox is so freaked out it that they called in the FBI to investigate.
On today's show we mentioned FaceYourManga.com, which is sweeping the internets by storm. Half my Twitter friends are discernible only by their new cartoon mug. As sickeningly cute as they might be, it IS fun to build your own manga avatar. The process is just like building your Mii on the Wii.
Check out what the EPIC FU crew looks like in manga form, above. Top row, from left to right: Steve, Zadi, and Rick. Second row: Annie and Sarah, Third row: Daniel, MIX members, and Mike.
Steve's note: what follows is a guest blog post from Adam Wallenta, the owner of American Mule Entertainment, an independent comic book publisher responsible for a number of titles including the official Public Enemy comic book.
By Adam Wallenta
First off let me say that I love going to the San Diego Comic-Con. I have been attending as an independent publisher since 1997 and I have had a lot of success. I have met some of my best friends there. Made invaluable connections and learned a great deal. Most importantly, attending the con, provided a great opportunity to get my work out to the people and I have had the honor and pleasure of meeting some of the greatest fans and supporters a guy can ask for.
That being said, The San Diego Comic-Con has always been the hardest convention to sell books at, even back in my early days. It's a huge show with tons to see, do and spend your money on. Throw in the cost of admission for the attendees, hotel and travel costs and food and there isn't much money left over for fans to go out of their way to try new books. Even with a great product, you have to be an even greater salesman to get the attention of the fans and hope that they haven't spent all of their hard-earned money elsewhere.
The sad truth is that many of us can't make it to the San Diego Comic Con this year. During the next few days our Twitter feeds will fill up with the mad-cap adventures our friends our having and there will be jealousy -- a lot of jealousy. The good news is that we don't have to sit around and act all mopey -- thanks to this wonderful invention called the internet, we can take things into our own hands and create our very own ALTERCON!!
Ready to ride the digital tubes? Lets GO!
In the spirit of Comic-Con 2008, this week's artist of the week is Paul Duffield, a newcomer to the comics world. I found him through the online comic FreakAngels, where he and writer Warren Ellis shaped a future steampunk universe about a group of telepaths who brought about the apocalypse. For Duffield it was a major score to work with an established writer like Warren Ellis on his first major project, and for fans we get to enjoy all twenty episodes of the comic online for free.
Is Buffy better than Batman? OH NOES, I say! RedEye's "Best Superhero" Tourney is down to the Elite Eight. This past week the Sweet Sixteen matched up The Batman vs. The Vampire Slayer. Not only did Buffy take down the Dark Knight, but she did so fairly significantly...37.7% to 62.3%. With 6276 total responses to this pair, more than any other match up in the Sweet Sixteen, the Buffy fanboys & girls were making a statement.
Thanks to our comic book industry friend Adam Wallenta, the big news this week is the return of Captain America after the assassination of Steve Rogers, the original Cappy.
That Alex Ross cover art on the right (above) is sick, but I'm not sold on the new uniform. Who follows comics out there and what do you think of the new Cappy? I'm a reformed comics junkie (I once owned over 10,000 comics, and read every single one of them) and I once owned issue #100 of Captain America from the original series.
