Post-Traumatic Tech Disorder

Not this Saturday but the next Saturday, I’ll be an exhibitor at the one-day STAPLE Independent Media Expo. Also at STAPLE, you’ll find a number of fun comic creators…Terry Moore, Michael Lark, Scott Kurtz, Lea Hernandez, Shannon Wheeler, Antarctic Press, Viper Comics, and more. If you’re in the Austin area the first weekend in March, stop on by and say, “Hello.”

Suspension of Disbelief. Recommended by Gail Simone over at her messageboard, this blog takes a look at comics and points out when creators get real world facts wrong…and they’ll probably point out some times when they get them right too (at least they say they will). It’ll be interesting to keep an eye on. Maybe I’ll bring back my science-based Education Rebellions and give them a comic book theme for a bit.

Below is a press release from GeekPunk…Dan Taylor’s a great guy, and even though HHH is going on hiatus, I know he’ll still be out there writing, and hopefully, he’ll still make it to some conventions this year. Good luck Dan and Chris–you put out a fun book, and I hope things work out for the both of ya!

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Costa Mesa, CA – February 23, 2005 – GeekPunk, the independent comic book publishers of the critically acclaimed and fan favorite superhero comedy comic book Hero Happy Hour, regrets to announce that the title is now on a temporary hiatus for an undetermined amount of time.

Due to unforeseeable circumstances, GeekPunk and the creative team of Dan Taylor and Chris Fason will temporarily be unable to publish future issues of Hero Happy Hour. “Unfortunately,” Hero Happy Hour writer and co-creator Dan Taylor states,“ both Chris Fason, artist and co-creator, and I have experienced life changing events – both good and bad – that have forced us to forfeit our independent self-publishing efforts.”

Taylor adds, “I want to express the most sincere gratitude to every reader that took a chance on us by picking up a copy of our comic book, to the loyal readers that stood behind the title and helped spread the word, and to the helpful people within the comic book industry: writers, artists, publishers, and distributors that stood in our corner and backed us up. We will forever be in your debt.”

“I’d like to say thank you to everyone that has supported Hero Happy Hour and GeekPunk,” says Hero Happy Hour artist and co-creator Chris Fason. “Hero Happy Hour is not ending and GeekPunk will continue. Unfortunately, due to life circumstances involving family and a real money job, I am unable to continue as HHH’s regular artist. It’s not fair to you as fans or Dan as my collaborator to say that I am going to try and do a bi-monthly or even a quarterly book when I know that I am unable. Making comics is truly a great experience and joy that I share with Dan and on some level; I plan to keep making them. Comics take a lot of love and time when you’re just starting out, and though I have plenty of love I just don’t allow myself the time to produce the volume necessary to be a part of a regularly scheduled book. Again, thanks to everyone for all the support and kind words and thanks to Dan for helping make at least one goal a reality.”

While Hero Happy Hour may be on hiatus, the property is far from over according to Taylor. “While there is no current time schedule set, my plans are to re-launch Hero Happy Hour as a comic book once again as soon as I possibly can, in addition to other projects that I am currently working on. I’m in the process of looking for a new artist to take on Chris Fason’s art chores. Also, finding another publisher to help deliver the title on a more regular basis is also a definite possibility. Hero Happy Hour will find its way back onto comic book store shelves and into the hands of readers looking for a fun alternative to superhero comic books.” Plans also continue to move forward regarding the Hero Happy Hour property as a possible animated television series.

Hero Happy Hour #5 “Reality Shots” and the 2004 Hero Happy Hour Super Special, both published in the summer of 2004 are not the last that readers will see of the regular gang of superheroes that hang out at The Hideout Bar & Grill. Digital Webbing Presents #22, to be published by Digital Webbing in March 2005 (Diamond Code: NOV04 2610) will feature the first full color story written by Dan Taylor with art by Chris Fason and Ralph Hédon. Also, the Hero Happy Hour back-up story entitled “I Thought This Place Had a Cellar” by Josh Fialkov and Scott Keating that was originally scheduled to appear in the cancelled Hero Happy Hour #6 will now be appearing in the Free Comic Book Day issue of Mortal Coils Presents Free Bodies FCBD Edition by Caption Box.

“The last two and a half years have been amazing,” says Taylor. “Again, I want to thank everyone who helped play a part in making the dreams of two guys who had no idea what they were doing in achieving their dream of publishing a comic book. I owe each and every one of you a drink. Cheers. And, keep an eye out for the return of Hero Happy Hour.”

About GeekPunk

First and foremost, GeekPunk is a publisher of comic books. We could be called small press, self-published, or independent. But, we prefer the term guerrilla publishers. Formed in order to publish the comic book Hero Happy Hour, GeekPunk hopes to continue to publish additional issues of Hero Happy Hour in the future as well as producing and publishing other entertaining comic books for those looking for something different. For additional information visit the GeekPunk web site at www.geekpunk.com.

According to this Sci Fi Wire article, Tom Cruise mentioned he’s no longer involved with the Iron Man movie project.

“I need to be able to make decisions and make the film as great as it can be, and it just didn’t go down that road that way,” he said. He added: “I’ve never just made a movie to make a movie. I’ve always made them because I really was interested in the story. I wanted to make that kind of picture and see what it would take, and it was an adventure for me. For that, it just wasn’t panning out. So far. You know, as of yet.”

Source: National Geographic

Apparently, research into octopus arme may point the way to new robot designs.

Earlier research funded by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR) suggests that, to keep the arms from constantly tangling themselves up, each arm has an independent peripheral nervous system and neural circuitry (see related-story link below). This allows the brain to essentially give a command—”Arm Four, fetch that tasty crab crawling by”—and have the arm carry out the order without the brain thinking about it again.

Tycho and Gabe have the info up for the next Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). They’ve added a lot more space to the convention (36,000 square feet and a Theater), so they can handle a lot more gamers this year. If you plan on being in this area in August, you may as well have some fun.

Just saw a little blip on the Variety RSS feed about Fox pushing the release of the “Fantastic Four” movie back a week to July 8th leaving the 4th of July spot to “The War of the Worlds”. Think they saw the trailer and went, “Ah crap. What the hell were we thinking trying to go head-to-head against Spielberg and Cruise? We were drunk that night, weren’t we?”

I guess they sobered up.

[Edited to add more to this.]

Since I can link to the Variety story, I’ll link to the Hollywood Reporter story (I don’t think I was logged in at HR, so it should be available to the public…for now). Apparently, they weren’t intimidated in the least by “War of the Worlds.”

“We are not running from ‘War of the Worlds,’ ” Fox president of distribution Bruce Snyder said. “This (new) date just works better for us.”

“We’re not running. We’re walking calmly toward the exit in an orderly fashion.” Well, that new date might be better, but then they’ll be going up against Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell in the “Bewitched” remake. Sure, it’s not Spielberg/Cruise, but those Kidman and Ferrell characters do have pretty wide fanbases themselves. It’s gonna be tough…Nicole Kidman as a witch or Jessica Alba as an invisible blonde? Or a second dose of alien war machines? I think war machines might win out, but we’ll see (if Fox releases another FF trailer, I’ll give it a look and make my decision then).

Anyways, Fox probably should have just stuck to their guns with July 4th just for marketing. I mean, how much catchier can you get than “Four on the Fourth”? Besides, they’re probably getting their powers in the movie through exposure to mystical fireworks instead of cosmic rays, so it would have fit right in with the holiday. ^_^

Scott Kurtz is back from the Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle and left a cryptic message on his blog:

You also may have noticed that the Penny-Arcade site it temporarily down. You know they’re local to the Seattle area right? I’m not saying I’m responsible, but I ain’t saying I’m not.

Muah-ha-ha!!!

Hmmmm…

Those Penny Arcade boys are always on the cutting edge. Check out this sample from their new lo-bandwidth site:

Not sure what happened to them, but I think they mentioned something about getting some performance issues fixed…if that’s not the case, I hope it’s not too bad. On the bright side, this’ll cut a nice little chunk out of their bandwidth. Okay, maybe just a teeny-tiny chunk.

But I know I enjoyed them. ^_^

For the fantasy fans out there, the trailers section of the Apple website has a small behind-the-scenes look at the making of the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia film. The featurette is from WETA (the special effects crew from Lord of the Rings, the new King Kong, and I believe they’re also supposed to be working on the Neon Genesis Evangelion movie).

Info/link via SciFiDaily.