Mid-Ohio-Con 2009

Now in its twenty-ninth year, Mid-Ohio-Con is one of America’s longest-running and most successful comic book and pop-culture conventions, carrying on a fun and family-oriented tradition of bringing fans of all ages together with leading comic book writers and artists, film and television stars and creators, and publishers and retailers from across the nation.

Mid-Ohio-Con 2009 will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 3–4, in Exhibit Hall E of the Greater Columbus Convention Center, 400 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43215. The show is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

One-Day Passes are $15 per person, per day.
Weekend Passes are $25.

For more info visit www.MidOhioCon.com

Star Wars In Concert

Worldwide concert tour plays
October 29 at the
Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena

Tickets go on sale September 25, 2009 at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster Outlets, by phone(800) 745-3000, and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket Prices: $34.00, $54.00, and $74.00 plus applicable service charges.
On Sale: Friday, September 25, 2009; 10 a.m.

Massive multi-media event features stunning visuals,
a live orchestra, choir and narration, plus an exclusive exhibit of
Star Wars costumes, props and production artwork

September 17, 2009 – Star Wars™: In Concert is a unique multi-media event featuring music from all six of John Williams’ epic Star Wars scores. As part of its worldwide tour, it will play October 29, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

Narrated live by Anthony Daniels (the actor who portrayed C-3PO in all six films), the production features a full symphony orchestra and choir, accompanied by specially edited footage from the films displayed on a three-story-tall, high-definition LED super-screen – one of the largest ever put on tour. The live music and film elements are synchronized in order to create a full multi-media, one-of-kind Star Wars experience.

“We’ve taken the key themes from the music and cut together all the images that fit with each theme, so you can really get a sense of how the music played into the images,” said George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars Saga. “The whole soundtrack is a testament to John Williams’ creativity and his extraordinary ability to enhance the emotional aspects of the films.”

“Creating the music for the Star Wars films has been an exciting and wonderful experience for me, and I therefore have derived particular pleasure in assembling a compendium of themes from all of the films to be presented in Star Wars in Concert,” said Williams. “The editors at Lucas film have created original film montages to accompany each of the musical selections, and in the process, I believe that a singular and unique Star Wars experience has been born.”

“This event has been crafted to present Star Wars from many points of view; for the first time, the full dramatic sweep of Williams’ iconic scores can be heard performed live in one evening,” said Another Planet Touring Producer Spencer Churchill.” “The show is a new way of experiencing the epic scope of the saga.”

Accompanying the concert is an exclusive exhibit of Star Wars costumes, props, artifacts, production artwork and specially created behind-the-scenes videos from the Lucasfilm Archives. Many of these pieces are leaving Skywalker Ranch for the first time. The exhibit features many classic fan favorite artifacts, as well as several new and never-before-seen items, including:

·Full costumes for Jedi Masters Kit Fisto and Plo Koon will be on display.

·For the first time ever, pages from John Williams' original hand-written sheet music for Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace will be exhibited for the public.

·Also on display will be various never-before-seen props from the films, including blasters and helmets from Coruscant, Tatooine and other iconic Star Wars locations.

Star Wars: In Concert is produced by Another Planet Touring in association with Lucasfilm Ltd. Performances will be conducted by Dirk Brossé and the production is directed and designed by Steve Cohen. Star Wars in Concert had its world premiere at the 02 Arena in London on April 10 and 11, 2009.

For more information and to view the trailer:
www.starwarsinconcert.com

Terrance Zdunich's THE MOLTING is now available + ATLANTA & L.A. APPEARANCES!

Terrance Zdunich, your friendly neighborhood GraveRobber, is excited to announce that issue # 1 of his new graphic novel series, THE MOLTING, is now available. This limited edition first printing is available only through www.TheMoltingComic.com for $7.99, so order your copy today!

In promotion of the release of The Molting, he is making September appearances in ATLANTA and LOS ANGELES:

GEORGIA FOLKS: come join him this Saturday, 9/19, at GALACTIC QUEST COMICS in Lawrenceville followed by a live performance by GA’s REPO! shadowcast, “21st Century’s Cure” at Atlanta’s PLAZA THEATRE. For tickets and info visit:http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=471145739&blogId=510076346

CALIFORNIA PEOPLE: get your copy of The Molting autographed by Brian Johnson (colorist), Oceano Ransford (letterer), and Terrance (writer/illustrator). They will be appearing at the REGENCY FAIRFAX CINEMA on Friday, 9/25, followed by a live performance by LA’s REPO! shadowcast, “Addicted To The Knife”. For more info visit:http://addicted2theknife.com/SeptInfo/index.html

http://www.TerranceZdunich.com

Wizarding World of Harry Potter First Look

Universal Studios Orlando, FL reveal the first look into the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park at Islands of Adventure opening in the spring of 2010. Included is a map of area and over a dozen conceptual images of the rides and shops including Zonko's, Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade and of course ... Hogwarts Castle.
http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/

The Bouncing Souls Announce New Fan-Made Comic Book, "Sing Along Forever," Available Now at Chunksaah.com!

The Bouncing Souls are known to embrace their fans like few other bands of their stature around today. Be it a fan-created lego-rendition of their new video, or a meet-and-greet appearance at their favorite punk rock clothing store, The Souls make sure they support and shine a spotlight on their biggest fans whenever possible.

Now, coming from the the city of New York, a fan by the name of Liz Baillie has made a Bouncing Souls comic book, entitled, "Sing Along Forever: A Love Letter To The Bouncing Souls." Comic book publisher Tony Shenton explains:

"Sing Along Forever is an autobiographic reminiscence of Liz Baillie's love for the Bouncing Souls. She goes to see the band with a friend and recalls some earlier attempts to see them, with some incidents humorous and some ridiculous...but all heartfelt. As her own story's narrator, she breaks the 4th wall from time to time, usually resulting in at least a chuckle or a guffaw. Will she succeed in her quest to get a photo with the band for the back cover of her comic? Will the rules be bent or broken? Will her friend Robin walk away on his own? He functions as both a greek chorus and a gadfly at times, helping to give the story more balance and an anchor in reality. This autobiographic gem is for anyone who has ever been, or ever will be, a true fan of any band."

* The 44-page, black and white comic has been pressed and made available at the Chunksaah Records Store for the fan-friendly price of $5.

Kevin Smith on Batman!

Once again, Kevin Smith – the fan-favorite creator behind GREEN ARROW and Daredevil – teams up with Walter Flanagan – the artist on the series BATMAN: CACOPHONY – for an all-new adventure starring The Caped Crusader. The stakes are high as Batman encounters a new vigilante under his wing amidst what Smith describes as a "backdrop of romance, intrigue, and geek-bait guest stars galore." Trust us when we say that it's as awesome as it sounds. BATMAN: WIDENING GYRE is just the start of things for Kevin in the Bat-Universe so get on board now!

Pick up a copy at your local comic shop, or right the hell here.

Lament, True Believers...

For the Mighty Marvel House of Ideas has been consumed by a planet devourer that Galactus would be hard-pressed to keep up with: Disney.


It remains to be seen how this change will effect Marvel's output, but one worries that the merger might hinder the comic giant's creativity, leaving us with dumbed-down two dimensional children's stories.

We can only hope that, as both companies have stated, Disney will actually keep their fingers out of Marvel's day to day operations and let them keeping creating the great stories we've been reading for the past few years.

And as far as the movie side of things go... well, so long as Miley Cyrus and Whatever-Their-Names-Are Jonas aren't going to start taking on leading roles as our favorite spandex-clad heroes, then this could actually be a good thing. Sure, Disney fails from time to time, but no one can deny that they hit it out of the park just as often, (the first years of Miramax, anyone?) and if Marvel really will get to maintain creative control and make movies the way they've been making them these past few years, then yippee for a huge new weapon in their arsenal.

So, we'll keep an eye out and hope that the House of Mouse doesn't bring down the House of Ideas like a ...house of cards?

Excelsior, indeed.