I’m excited to report George Takei is coming to Emerald City Comicon in 2012. The Star Trek legend is best known as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the U.S.S. Enterprise and later Captain of the U.S.S. Excelsior.
In addition to his iconic Star Trek role, Takei thrilled a new generation of sci fi fans with this role on Heroes as Kaiten Nakamura, mysterious father of the time jumping Hiro Nakamura.
George Takei come out in 2005 revealing he and his partner, Brad, had been in an 18 year relationship. The couple was married in 2008. George Takei will be appearing Saturday and Sunday, March 31st and April 1st.
Congratulations to Emerald City Comicon for this stellar media guest and to all the happy Seattle Trek fans who will have a chance to get close to this icon.
The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Poster from thedarkknightrises.com. Courtesy: Warner Brothers Entertainment
After Christian Bale’s final performance as Batman the Oscar winner will be the first Westerner to play a lead role in a Chinese movie.
After filming The Dark Knight Rises and Bale and Director Zhang Yimou talked with the Hollywood Reporter about their collaboration. The Flowers of War is the most expensive Chinese movie ever made.
Bale plays an American mortician in a Catholic cathedral and becomes caught in a war. The film is based on The Rape of Nanking when Japan invaded China in 1937.
“I like the adventure aspect of making movies, to the opportunity to work in China, not on an American movie, but on a Chinese movie appealed to me” Bale said and added this film “could be China’s Saving Private Ryan.”
For more of Bale’s interview and what this film could mean for the movie industry in China visit this link. Batman fans will learn more about The Dark Knight Rises when the 6 minute prologue debuts in IMAX later this month.
Daniel Craig made a lasting impression with some fans in his first James Bond film with this swimsuit scene. Bond came out of the water in a blue squarecut swimsuit in the Bahamas in Casino Royale. It was almost a male version of Ursula Andress breakthtaking first appearance in Doctor No.
Daniel Craig is swimming again at the Four Seasons in London on the set of Skyfall.
MI6 reports that Skyfall is filming at the hotel’s rooftop pool. This Canary Wharf hotel is doubling for scenes in the movie set in Shanghai. No word on 007’s swimsuit cut this time but I suspect a Bond girl will appear in the scene.
What if Buffy the Vampire Slayer series never ended? Joss Whedon brought the Scooby Gang back an in comics only follow up to Season 7 from Dark Horse Comics. Now Season 8 is collected in a deluxe hardcover collection Dark Horse announced today.
Buffy, Xander, Willow and a very different Dawn regroup with an army of Slayers after the Season 7 finale. Dracula returns, Buffy does more than kiss a girl and the rebellious Faith teams up with Giles for their own mission. The series is filled with new and old enemies in adventures around the globe all leading up to a confrontation with this season’s big bad: Twilight.
One of my favorite arcs is Wolves at the Gate. To defeat vicious new vampires in Tokyo, Xander is forced to seek out the legendary master in Transylvania. This new hardcover edition has all the arcs, one-shots, a cover gallery and never before seen sketch art.
Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega preview art by Mark Brooks courtesy Marvel.com
Marvel had a presser today with Brian Wood about his upcoming Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega limited series.
While Logan’s team is fighting off the new Hellfire Club to save the school in the new series, this 5-parter will focus on an enemy within. Psychic teen Quentin Quire picks a huge fight with Logan kicking off a showdown between the Headmaster and student.
“I know people think Quentin is a brat or annoying, that’s why I love him” Wood said.
In this earlier post I talked about the sudden return of Quentin AKA Kid Omega to the X-Men front burner in Schism and gave you a primer on the rebellious mutant.
Wolverine and The X-Men Alpha and Omega preview art courtesy Marvel.com
The presser confirmed an earlier post that Armor will be caught in the clash between Logan and Quentin and expect to see Rachel, Toad, and Bling ensnared into Quentin’s agenda.
On writing Logan,”I find him very intimidating to write, just because everyone on the planet has written Wolverine, ” Wood said and added that he and Jason Aaron see Logan as the “weary old man” but don’t expect Wolverine to be as button down in this 5 parter as he is on the ongoing series. Moderator James Viscardi called Logan the “grumpy old man of the X-Men.”
When Wolverine and the X-Men #1 debuted I posted how much I enjoyed seeing this side of Logan and the other surprises in this new book.
This series marks Wood’s return to Marvel after years writing his own creations like DMZ and Northlanders. Wood said it feels totally new and he gravitates to the X-Men.
Wolverine and the X-Men Alpha and Omega preview art courtesy Marvel.com
This is one of my most anticipated series of 2012. How will such a physical brawler like Wolverine handle matching wits with an Omega level psychic mind like Quentin? Emma Frost proved she can take down Quentin so maybe she’ll make a guest appearance?
Preview Art of Batman Inc: Leviathan Strikes! via Tumblr, Art by Cameron Stewart
Stephanie Brown was a vigilante called the Spoiler and then became Batgirl in the pre-DC New 52 continuity. Creator Cameron Stewart teases that the fan favorite may be coming back in Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes!
The artist released an image of Stephanie as a schoolgirl in jeopardy via Tumblr. In the revamped DC Universe Bruce Wayne had sent Stephanie to a boarding school.
The issue is a one-shot written by Grant Morrison and hits comic book stores December 21st. Morrison and Stewart worked together on the Batman and Robin series.
On a personal note – KEEP BARBARA GORDON AS BATGIRL! Let Stephanie Spoil.
Mike Carey’s final X-Men: Legacy arc begins. X-Fans already know which side of Schism Rogue chooses but this issue explores how she reaches her decision. Issue 259 arrived in stores yesterday and Carey filled it will several exciting and moving moments.
One surprise in this issue was the appearance of Northstar as X-men gathered around Rogue in an experiment after her embrace of Magneto revealed a big new mystery. In the Regenesis books so far we haven’t seen Jean Paul listed on Cyclops or Wolverine’s team. In my earlier post I made the case for Northstar’s official return back to the X-Men now that Alpha Flight has been cancelled.
While I’m at it – if Archie Comics is bold enough to have a gay wedding for Kevin Keller how about more screen time for Jean Paul? Gay or straight, Northstar is a powerful character, an asset for any X-team.
A near mint issue featuring the first appearance of Superman soared to a new auction record tonight. The copy of Action Comics #1 sold tonight for $2.16 million. This issue was stolen from Nicolas Cage’s home. He was insured. This 1938 issue is graded at 9.0. The previous auction record was $1.5 million for an 8.5 grade issue of the same issue. About 100 copies of this famous issue are out there.
Thanks to Robot 6 for tonight’s news update. I don’t have any issues that old but oh how I wish I’d taken better care of my 80’s X-Men, Hulk and Avengers issues!
