Dark Horse Launches Adult Coloring Book Program with Serenity and Avatar the Last Airbender

I'm trying really hard to control my excitement of this, but I can't! This is something Browncoats and Avatar: The Last Airbender fans (like me!) have been waiting for.

Since Avatar: TLA went off the air in 2008, fans have wanted more. We got the awful movie, which never should have been made, we've gotten to read about the continuing adventures of Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko in the graphic novels, and we got Korra. But you know fans, we always want more, and luckily, Dark Horse knows how to deliver.

I don't think I need to go into anything about the Serenity coloring book, because Browncoats, and Whedonites, and most of geekdom know the story of Firefly's stupid cancellation and its resurrection with Serenity. We've all been there. Dark Horse is now giving us more. Because we always want more. The press release states:

"Dark Horse proudly announces a brand-new adult coloring book program hitting bookshelves and coffee tables this fall.

Kicking off the coloring books line are Avatar: The Last Airbender and the fan-favorite Serenity series. Each adult coloring book features forty-five pages of original artwork created specifically to be colored on thick, heavyweight 10 x 10–inch pages at a $14.99 value price point!

Relive your favorite scenes from Avatar: The Last Airbender with this beautifully detailed coloring book. Filled with original black-and-white illustrations by artist Jed Henry and produced in collaboration with creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, this book is sure to be a hit with the Avatar fanatic in your life.

Review: House of Penance #2

By Reboot

After enjoying Dark Horse’s House of Penance #1 by Peter Tomasi (w) and Ian Bertram (a) as much as I did, I figured I should give issue #2 a go. So, did issue #2 keep the momentum going after House of Penance came charging strongly out the gate last month?

One of the first things I noticed as I read this issue is the pacing. As the first issue is a slow, methodical build-up to the unknown, the second issue wastes no time jumping in head first. References the characters bring up hints at the time period, such as how the construction workers mention the Spanish-American War and Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, but as the first issue takes the time to slowly drag you down into this world via the time period, issue #2 focuses nearly exclusively on the psychological horror of it all.

NYCC '11: Brian Wood & Becky Cloonan talk about Conan

With all the awesome contained at NYCC, this one was at the top. I got to speak with the brand new Conan team mere hours after they were announced. That's right, I got to chat with Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan. Thanks again to the team at Dark Horse for giving me this chance!


With such a great team taking over this classic book, how did they both get involved in this project? Dark Horse approached Wood first, because they were looking to change up the series' feeling. He actually thought that Cloonan wouldn't be available to join the book, but her name kept coming up as the perfect fit. Eventually, she came on board.


These two have been working together for a long time. Wood and Cloonan clicked right away, from their very first project in 2001. Since then, their relationship hasn't changed one bit. As Wood put it, they have a lot of trust with each other.  Side note: They actually finished each others sentence at one point during this answer. Definitely a top-notch team.

NYCC 11: Quick Chat with Christos Gage and Rebekah Isaacs

While at NYCC, I was able to continue doing interviews with amazing people.  Thanks to Dark Horse Comics for letting me loose on the unsuspecting team of Angel & Faith, Christos Gage and Rebekah Isaacs.


This was a new comics team to the Buffyverse so I was curious how they got on board.  Isaacs actually landed this role though her work on DMZ, with Brian Wood. She was asked to audition by Sierra Hahn, and I am so glad she did!


Gage had a much more interesting road to Angel & Faith. Joss saw some of his work during the Buffyverse writers summit to plan out S9. He liked it so much, Scott Allie approached Gage at C2E2....in the bathroom. (My only regret is not knowing this before I interviewed Allie.) All jokes aside (and many sprang to mind, all very inappropriate), it is how we got this team in place.


The big question in every existing series is if the new writer/artist is a fan.  Gage had always loved Joss' work on Astonishing X-Men but wasn't a Buffy fan before his infamous bathroom visit. He actually had to watch all 12 seasons of Buffy and Angel to get up to date. On his list next is Firefly and Dollhouse but not for a while. "I'm afraid if I watch them, I will want to write for them and not concentrate on Angel." said Gage.


Isaacs had already taken her first steps into the Whedonverse through Firefly and Dollhouse. She had always avoided Buffy though because she had hated high school. Her fiancee encouraged her to watch and she loved it. As she put it "It was exactly as I thought of high school; it was hell."

If you continue, you run the risk of SPOILERS.  
If you are allergic to spoilers,

go read another tasty article on [insertgeekhere].

NYCC '11: Interview with Dark Horse Editor Scott Allie

The Whedonverse is very precious to me. It kept me sane as a teenager, and Buffy: Season 8 was my gateway drug into comics. So when the chance to talk to Whedonverse editor Scott Allie, I lost my cool and went total fangirl. Luckily, I got myself together before I met him at NY Comic Con.


I was desperate to talk with him about Buffy, so I immediately asked about what challenges he wants to see Buffy take on in Season 9. He responded that she needs to figure out what the next stage of her life will be. As he puts it, "Her life was on this trajectory that was kinda up, up, up, up and now all that's behind her. She just has to be a girl living a life in San Francisco, and it's like the epic scope of that part of her life is behind her, and she just has to figure out how to move forward."


Then I asked him about the pressures of dealing with such dedicated fans. As he puts it, there are many differences between each fan groups. Even the Whedon subgroups are radically different. Then he gave me a great quote....

NYCC '11: Oh God, It's Saturday

Well, we survived the biggest day at the con. The crowds were insane and way too big but once again, I'm amazed with how much I got done. Here are some of our highlights from the biggest day at the con:

- Getsuyobi met the CEO of Zlango and got to test out their new messenging app featuring Walking Dead icons.

- I went to the DC The Edge/ Dark panel and saw so much upcoming art! iVampire looks so amazing and is definitely a must read.

- Wysefyre and Getsuyobi camped out in IGN for 6 hours and saw all of the major announcements, including The Walking Dead and Avengers panels. Apparently Mark Ruffalo surprised the crowd with an appearance and Tom Hiddleston & Clark Gregg even broke into song.

- While they camped out, I went on a huge walk through the floor. I spoke with Diamond Comics about their October FCBD and I have so much more to share with you!

- I spent over an hour hanging at the Dark Horse booth and spoke with Angel and Faith's Christos Gage and Rebekah Isaacs and Conan's Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan.  Dark Horse has been so great to us during the con!  

- I also swung by I Am A Stuffed Animal for a very special photo...

Finally, we all ended the night at Geek Girls Network's Geek-Out, with a bunch of very, very tired geeks.

We are definitely spending more time on the floor for the last day of con. Sunday is a great day for deals, since no vendor wants to lug too much stuff home. Make sure you go prepared to shop!!!

See you on the floor!!!

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NYCC '11: Friday's Fun

I'm two steps closer to being a zombie after today, we are all just dead tired. NYCC is packed and it's not even Saturday yet. Still, I can't complain because it has been a whirlwind of adventure. Having a press pass for the first time has opened up so many doors to places of awesome. Here are some highlights:


- Getsuyobi got to see the pilot of Once Upon A Time and was pleasantly surprised.


- I got the chance to see the season finale of Husbands! If you aren't watching this web series from the fantastic Jane Espenson, just drop what you are doing and watch it.


- Wysefyre got an awesome surprise at the Spider-Man panel.....really wish I could say more but she threatened me with Twilight.


- I got to chat with Dark Horse's Scott Allie. I got a lot of interesting details and will be getting even more when I sit down with Christos Gage, Rebekah Isaacs, Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan tomorrow!


- Wysefyre went to the Mark Hamill panel and will be stalking him at the Next Gen booth for the rest of the weekend. If you see her there, ask her for a prezzie!


- We are all really excited that Getsuyobi went to the Felicia Day panel and didn't get arrested.


- I made some good connections that might kick our Seth Green for SNL host into high gear....and got to hear some fun tales from Matt Senreich!




I know I haven't given you a lot of detail but I promise more is on the way. We are just in so many panels that we don't have time to write! Keep following us on twitter; we will be updating every time the signal comes through.


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Video Friday! 8/19/11

Happy Friday!!! Here's what's been floating around the web.

This has to be one of my all time favorite "celebrities doing awesomely funny things on tv" moments. Not only does Anne Hathaway prove she can rap but her "I can't believe I just did that" expression and blush makes the whole thing even better.



All I can say about this is WANT!



via Geeks Are Sexy

Dark Horse Comics posted this on their Facebook page and it was too good to resist. Who knew Ewoks could move?



This one raises a very good point. If they had the ability to go back in time, why not use it? Why leave it to a child to save the world? Just sayin'



via Dorkly

Finally, this shows us what people are really thinking when dealing with others in the game of office politics. Is it exaggerated? Of course, but it is also pretty true and that's what makes it great.



via The Awesomer

Have a fantabulous weekend!

Sunday Links for April 24

Welcome to the Spring Holiday edition of Sunday Links!


This week, humanity dodged a bullet because Skynet was supposed to begin the attack on April 21, 2011. Action Flick Chick was ready with a list of supplies to take on the machines, but we lucked out. Just in case, here is a list of other scifi dates that are supposed to bring the apocalypse.


Dark Horse's Digital release date is getting closer, and I am getting more and more excited. They released a list of the comics that are going to be available for download. Despite the fact that Buffy isn't on the list, I am still satisfied with what is available.


It was a sad week for Doctor Who fans with the passing of Elisabeth Sladen. She was the famed Sarah Jane Smith, partner to the Doctor for a time. Our thoughts are with her family.


Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark shutdown this past week for a three-week overhaul to the script. Surprisingly and happily, Christopher Tierney, the badly injured acrobat/actor, is able to rejoin the show in time for its new reincarnation. Hopefully, things go better this time.


MTV Geek complied a great list of 10 Definitely Not Racist Comic Book Characters That Are Actually Totally Racist. Just really interesting to read and think about.


For everyone that celebrating, have a Happy Passover/Easter!




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Sunday Links for April 17

This week brought a lot of endings to a lot of geek culture but hopefully this will just signal some new beginnings!

It was announced this week that Tokyopop is shutting down their North America Operations. Don't worry though, they will continue to operate in their Germany offices. I just want to say thank you for Sailor Moon!

Dark Horse Comics announced layoffs this week, with seven staff members being let go. On the heels of this announcement, Dark Horse finally announced the launch of their digital app with giving away free comics for every few hundred people that sign up.

Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark is ending today as it goes in for a major overhaul away from the vision of former director Julie Taymor. In case you are like me and haven't seen the original version, check out Wysefyre's review.

In a geek's dream come true, Virgin Galactic just put out a job opening for a Corporate Astronaut. Sorry to squash your dreams but you do need some flight training, so if you have some piloting experience and a Han Solo fetish, go ahead and apply. They are accepting applications until April 30.

In case you ever wondered what happened to Mario after you failed to make that jump over the pit, Geekologie has found out exactly what happened and it ain't pretty. Nintendo will never be the same.

Review: Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale

Finally released (after years of impatient waiting) is The Shepherd's Tale by Joss and Zack Whedon. This story answers the questions of the mysterious Shepherd Book, such as how does a preacher shoot a kneecap so well?

Minor Spoilers Ahead!!!!

The story starts on Haven, the planet community that Book starts after he leaves Serenity (the ship). We actually are watching the very scene from the movie where Haven is destroyed, which is kind of depressing but does fill in some interesting backstory. Here is where we get my favorite quote of the book, from the good Shepherd himself:

"Well, if you look at your life as a chain of events, each responsible for the next and caused by the last, where does any story begin?"

As the scene continues and the fight begins, Shepard Book begins to flash back on his life and we jump back in time a few years to Book living on Serenity (the ship), observing the crew we all know and love. We see them through Book's eyes, as he observes them in their daily scraps, such as Jayne being Jayne or Mal fighting with a arms dealer. We can see the sadness in Book's eyes when he goes to his quarters to pray. As he prays for the crew, we jump backwards again to the Abbey he lived in before joining the Serenity. And back and back we go through his life, learning about how that man got to be our Shepherd Book.

This is a powerful story that really tries to explore what makes a man choose a path and how he lives with that choice. I, along with many Browncoats, did predict some of his past but Joss and Zack threw in a few twists that shocked and surprised me. I like surprises. Best of all, this helps to sum up a mystery left hanging for the past few years. I particularly like the one scene when Book really begins to see how the whole universe is connected and how everything depends on each other.

This "tale" was written by Joss and Zack Whedon, with the art of Chris Samnee. The brothers came together to write this, with Joss penning the outline of the story and Zack taking it from there. This has a strong resemblance to the show and really supports this character. I have read that the timeline in the book doesn't exactly match up to the show but in my opinion, it doesn't hurt the story at all. The art takes some time to get used to. At first, it did bother me because it seemed so dark and shaded, but once I began to see the whole book as a memory, it began to feel more comfortable. The story made the art work.

This is the third Firefly/Serenity comic from Dark Horse Comics and they have hinted that there will be more to come. If you haven't gotten it, go already and pick it up!!! This is a great story that everyone (especially Browncoats) should read. It would even make a great TV show...... :(

Special Events During New York Comic Con

We have less than two weeks to go and there are more and more amazing things getting announced.  As we get closer, there are many fun events happening that need to be on your radar.  As we hear of additional events, we will be updating this post, so keep checking back in!

Dave & Busters NYCC Fan Meet Up

Thursday Sept. 30th at 6pm

According to their tweet, there will be a chance to get tickets.  This will also be a good chance to meet some fellow fans.

Nicholas Brendon Meet and Greet Dinner with Fans

Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 pm

This is your chance to spend time with Nick Brendon face to face without a line of screaming fans behind you!  There are still a few tickets available so get them quick!  They are available on his website here.

The New York Comic Jam
Thursday, Oct. 7 at 7pm


At this event, they gather the best from New York's indie comics community to get drunk and draw comics.  Sounds like a night to remember and a great way to kick off the con!  This event is hosted by House of 12 Comics and you can learn about them here and here.



 

CBLDF NYCC Welcome Party 
Thursday, Oct. 7 - 8 pm


Spend time with some of your favorite creators as you enjoy an open bar, free apps,  and giveaways while supporting free speech. For more information, check out the Facebook link here.


GGN Geek Tweet Up @ NYCC

Friday, October 8 · 8:30pm

Have you ever wanted to meet all of those people you tweet with?  Now is your chance!  Geek Girls Network is doing a Geek Tweet Up during NYCC and  it looks to be a great time!

Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers at Radio City

Friday and Saturday, Oct 8-9

They are showing the movie on a giant screen while playing the score live.  They did this last year with the first movie and it was a hit!  It is sponsored by NYCC and if you use special offer code of TTT to buy tickets, it includes a custom-designed poster, autographed by award-winning composer Howard Shore. Hurry, this special offer will end October 4th!

UGO & 1UP Present "Hells Yeah, NYCC!" Meet-Up 
Saturday, Oct. 9


The wacky folks over at UGO Entertainment are having the be-all-to-end-all meet ups. Kick back with a brew, hang out with friends, make new ones, dress in costume, or get into Star Trek vs Star Wars debates.... anything goes. Find out more here


iFanboys Meet Up/Party 
Saturday, Oct. 9


Meet the iFanboys. Explore Brooklyn, enjoy an open bar, and hang out with special guests GEOFF JOHNS AND FRANCIS MANAPUL! For more info check out their site, www.ifanboy.com

Rock Comic Con NYC's Nerd Rock Festival *updated

Saturday, Oct. 9 

The premiere NYC Nerd Rock Festival featuring great, rockin' nerd bands, Kirby Krackle, .H2Awesome, Fortress of Attitude & Bedlam Rock! Find out more allthingsfangirl

Dark Horse Comics Night *updated

Saturday, October 9 

Join Dark Horse Comics staff and creators for a special New York Comic Con celebration at St. Marks Comics on St. Marks Place, with the event featuring Q&A, trivia, giveaways and more!  More info here.

 
Books of Wonder Signing 
Sunday, Oct. 10


Eleven of 2010 debut tweens/teens authors will be on hand to talk about their books, take questions and do a signing. Some of those who will be in attendance are Emily Horner, Shaun David Hutchinson, Josh Berk, and AMBER BENSON. Join them and the rest at Books of Wonder and bring the kids!


Unofficial NYCC After Party *updated
Sunday, Oct. 10


A fan asked Lance Fensterman if there was going to be an after party and when Lance said no, this fan, Chris Pacicca, took matters into his own hands. Hang out at Perdition at 692 10th Ave starting at 9 until whenever.


You can check out our last post about New York Comic Con here.