dimfuture.net

For you Buffy fans (and yes, once again, that includes me), via ICV2:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon is writing a new six-issue Buffy mini-series for Dark Horse Comics. The first volume is due out in October. A Dark Horse spokesperson has confirmed to ICv2 that the new series chronicles events that happened to Buffy and her friends after the conclusion of their televised adventures and will function as a “Season 8″ to the highly popular cult hit TV series that ran for seven seasons (see “Buffy Returns”).

This is great news. I’m not a big comics collector, but the Buffy finale, superlative as it was, needed a bit more denoument than we got. Fifteen minutes would have sufficed, but I guess a comic miniseries is good too. Having recently just finished watching the entire run again, I’m looking forward to this.

I’ve heard continued rumblings about a Spike movie too, though as the years roll by, I’m slowly going from hoping that happens to hoping it doesn’t.

From Dark Horizons:

George Clooney is apparently in talks to play a role in Paramount Pictures’ remake of Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” reports Bloody Disgusting.

It’s unsure which role he has in the remake which was written by Dave Kajganich, Mike Werb and Michael Colleary. One suspects though that it will be the role of either the leading man Louis or the neighbour Jud. The film is based on Stephen King’s 1983 novel of the same name that was previously adapted onto film in 1989.

The plot follows a doctor and his family moving to an idyllic home next to a highway running through a small Maine town. When their pet cat dies, a neighbour shows them not only the nearby pet cemetery, but an Indian burial ground beyond it which has the ability to bring things back from the dead with horrific results.

Boy, this’ll be great. I can’t wait for the Skeet Ulrich remake of Christine, the re-imagining of Carrie with Molly Shannon as Mary Catherine Gallagher, and it’s really time we saw another adaptation of Trucks. Emilio Estevez brought too much class and prestige to Maximum Overdrive — I say we go for Matthew Dillard this time around. And then… honk honk! The car honked its own horn!

Manga Yanked from School Library

Found this over on Cinescape.

The Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of suburban San Bernadino County, California, has ordered the county’s libraries to remove Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics from circulation. He called the book “obscene comics” and also stated the “book is absolutely inappropriate for a public library and as soon as I was made aware of it yesterday, I ordered it to be removed immediately.”

Problems arose after a 16-year-old checked out the book and then teen’s mother complained.

The County Library Collection Development Coordinator said in defense of the book, “It is the parents’ responsibility since the library does not act as a parent. It is the library’s responsibility to offer a broad spectrum of materials, not to exclude materials… Library policy affirms the American Library Association’s Library Bill of rights, Freedom to Read, and Freedom to View statements.”

While I certainly agree with the coordinator’s notion that parents should take some responsibility, that phrase is becoming more and more of a fart in a stiff wind. What’s even more troubling is that the title in question is a history of the art form, not a manga comic itself. If they were removing, say, Initial D from the school library, I’d find it a little hard to complain, as it’s doubtful that’s going to enrich anyone’s academic life.

There were probably illustrated boobies.

Sad news today from Newsarama.

Tim Hildebrandt has passed away. And, with him, so has an era.

Tim, 67, died today from complications due to diabetes. He is survived by his mother Germaine, twin brother Greg, sister Janie, wife Rita, son Charles, nieces Mary and Laura, and nephew Gregory.

Tim was an otherworldly artist. For 47 years, his captivating work fostered the dreams and fantasies of millions of fans, young and old.

Best known as part of the Brothers Hildebrandt team, Tim’s career transported him to—and through—many worlds. Technically speaking, Tim and Greg worked side by side. But their work together on such masterpieces as the original Star Wars poster and 70’s J.R.R. Tolkien
calendars proved that their individual talents could coalesce seamlessly into one.

Tim was a wonderful man with a great sense of humor. While he loved and appreciated all forms of art, he had a particular passion for animation and illustration.

While he will be greatly missed by all of us who love him, we take comfort knowing that he will live on in the art that he created.

The brothers Hildebrandt are a fantasy art legend. Rest in peace, Tim. Thanks for all the great images.

I am so behind the times when it comes to art damage, apparently. I also found this little bit at IMDB, and just had to take a moment to pick my jaw up off the floor.

Elton John’s Broadway musical Lestat, inspired by Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, will close on Sunday after poor reviews and attendance. The $10 million show, which opened last month, has been savaged by critics and failed to attract big enough audiences.

They made a Lestat Broadway musical? I had to do a bit of checking to make sure this wasn’t just some horrible dream. Sure enough, it’s real — well, for a few more days, anyway. While I can’t, with a straight face, say I’m sorry I missed it, I’m willing to bet that it was nothing short of hysterical.

It’s also interesting in that it’s another case of pop culture gleefully devouring its own. The once-lauded Anne Rice has gone from oft-mimicked subculture phenomenon to amusing-but-scary Internet personality in the space of nary a decade. And yet, in an age when even Rice’s most hardcore fans are probably more than a little annoyed with her, one of her works gets its own Broadway musical. But then, this is hardly reason for surprise. Even the characters from LOST are getting their own action figures.