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How a Low-Power Phone Turns You Into an Old-Timey Hobo

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More Tom! More Tom!

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Tolkien Finds Out They Made a Hobbit Movie

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EMERALD CITY COMICON

I’ll be at ECCC at Booth 1720 — however! I may not be there on Friday during the day, due to some unforeseen parental duties. I will still be on the Stripped panel in the evening though! And I’ll see everyone Saturday and Sunday!

NEW MORNING RUSH

Have you heard Morning Rush with Kris and Mikey? It’s our new fake morning radio show, and the latest episode just dropped — hard — in the morning. This episode is a pretty good one to start with if you’re new to it!

buy this print!

When I was signing books in Frankfurt, someone asked me to draw The Enchantress, and I had never heard of her, so he produced a picture, and I asked questions about her while I drew. It turns out I think she is pretty great.

The brand new German edition of my book is available from Zwerchfell Press, with a pretty great title: OBACHT! LUMPENPACK

Game of Thrones season 5 premieres next weekend. Soon all of us will be swept back into the world of Ice and Fire and the drama of Westeros. TV-show-only watchers will discuss who the show will rudely kill this time. Book readers will sit smugly knowing exactly who will die next. All will wonder if GRRM is going to die before the next book comes out.

I’ve read each book, watched the show, and spent hours I could have been otherwise productive on the Wiki of Ice and Fire, so you could consider me a fan. I wanted to combine my love of football and GoT. I’ve seen several designers make Game of Thrones Sigils for NFL teams and many other projects bringing GoT into football. But I’ve never seen anyone do the opposite before, bring football into GoT. So that was what I decided to do.  What if Westeros had a football league?

The goal of the project was simple. Take the biggest and most important castles and invent a football team for them based around their book history. Then try to incorporate the major houses into logos and uniforms. I decided to go with 12 teams, and split the league into a Northern Conference and a Southern Conference.

The base Doug Martin Uniform template was created by my friend Darth Brooks
The base helmet template was found on the forums of CrisCreamer’s Sports Logos by user Davidson
Everything else is my own.

Lets begin

THE WNC- Westeros North Conference

The Winterfell Wolves

Owner  – The Starks
Stadium – Weirwood Park
History – The Wolves are one of the storied franchises of the WFL. One of the first seven teams to be created, the Wolves have had a winning tradition and generally compete for the conference. The Starks are no-nonsense owners who are patient and come from a family of football. They tend to be viewed as boring by their rivals. Recently though they have been going through hard times since their franchise quarterback Robb had to retire early due to injury. These days the Wolves are trying to find themselves again. Their colors are white and grey to resemble the snow that so frequently falls on Weirwood park, and also to “disguise” them during the storms.

The Iron Island Krakkens

Owners – FiftyShade O’Greyjoy
Stadium – Pyke Place
History – The Krakkens are another storied franchise with a known renegade owner. Twice O’Greyjoy has rebelled against league ownership circle and generally just pisses everyone else off. The Krakkens were the best team two decades ago, with famous coach Harren Black leading the team to multiple championships. For the past decade however it seems O’Greyjoy has gone senile and the Krakkens have been in the privy. They hold the worst record in the league over the past six seasons. Their most recent terrible draft bust, Theo Reek, really stunk. Things aren’t looking up yet for the Krakkens.

The Eyrie Eagles

Owner  – Lysa Arryn
Stadium – Moonlight Stadium
History – The Eagles are a small market snakebitten franchise. They’ve never won a championship. Once owned by Jon Arryn, after his passing the team fell under the ownership of his wife Lysa, and she’s clearly more interested in making money than earning a championship. The Eagles struggle to fill seats, mainly out of fear. Lysa Arryn is known to have security throw troublemakers out the moon door. It’s also a very difficult stadium to reach, being isolated in the mountains. The Eagles have been competitive now and then, but the mismanagement keeps the Eagles from putting together a real roster, and no free agent wants to play in the Vale, where there is no nightlife or party scene to be found.

The Dreadfort Flayers

Owner – Nutsan Bolton
Stadium – The Dreadfield
History – The current reigning champion, the Flayers have largely been an overlooked until recently when they put together a stifling defense and an offense built around trick plays and deception. Their stadium is affectionately referred to around the league as “The Dungeon” because of how utterly terrible it is. The fans come to the games with fake blood makeup and giant foam knives on their hands and pretend to stab each other. It’s a known hostile place for opposing fans to visit. They have a fierce rivalry with the Wolves and lately have been coming out on top.

The Castle Black Crows

Owner – Everyone!
Stadium – Queenscrown Stadium
History – The only team owned by the public and not a singular owner (Though one is elected and dubbed “Lord GM”), the Crows were the first real premier franchise. Everyone wanted to play for the Crows, because the Crows won. They won with an unbelievable defense nicknamed the Wall of Humans. But as the league expanded into the south and became more about passing, players lost interest in playing in frigid temps in a small market with few fans to cheer so the team now struggles. The team has also earned a reputation in the past decade of signing locker room cancers and players with criminal histories that other teams don’t want, earning them the nickname of “The Convicts”. Certain analysts appear to think the Crows might be on the verge of making a significant impact on the league while everyone else continues to assume they still mean nothing.

The Dragonstone Dragons

Owner – Stannis DaMannis
Stadium – Blackwater Field
History – Dragonstone is a small, brittle place with a failing economy and residents who have seen tough times, but those tough times are starting to lift as the Dragons have made some great moves recently and are genuinely competitive with the other big teams of the conference. The locals love their Dragons and they love their weed, a strain of which grows on the island remarkably well. The Dragonstone government legalized weed years ago and now the Stone has become the place to be, seeing resurgence in lighting up. The locals have large communal fires on the beaches and burn weed for group highs. Players are not technically allowed to smoke but team officials tend to look the other way, as long as they are winning games.

————

THE WCS – Westeros Southern Conference

The Kings Landing Conquerors

 

 

Owner – The Targaryen Siblings
Stadium – The Great Sept of Fooball
History – The Conquerors are the biggest market team in the league, which makes it really funny that they tend to be completely mediocre. The glamour and glitz of playing in Kings Landing takes its toll on the franchise, as expectations are usually sky high and any semblance of failure gets players and coaches run out of town. It doesn’t help that the Targaryens are more concerned with marketing and control than building a real winner. The Conquerors have had a couple of Cinderella teams and have taken home a pair of Championships, and they aren’t as bad as the local fans say, but they’ve gotten jettisoned in the playoffs three years straight now, they can’t get over the hump.

The Storms End Stags

Owner- Take Baratheon-Me
Stadium – Thunderstorm Park
History – The Stags are currently one of the league powerhouses. They have a history of strong play and have won more championships than anyone else (and their fans are sure to tell you about it each time you meet one). The Stags are built around strong defense and bruising offense and their longtime front office knows how to build through the draft. They aim for big strong players, which make them vulnerable to faster, trickier offenses, but they can usually still beat up most teams they face. The fans have a tradition of waving their “Bad Bandanas” like weirdoes during games.

The Lannisport Lions

Owner – Tywins Gaymes
Stadium – Casterly Rock Stadium
History – The Lions are another major market franchise with a history of success and a bitter rivalry with the Stags and Wolves. The Lions are owned by the richest owner in the league and they have had a couple of separate dynasties. The Lions’ frequent success and constant media coverage has given them a legion of bandwagon fans who call themselves the Kitties. The Lions are a divisive franchise who is either loved or hated, and you can’t find a pub in the realm that won’t have someone wearing a Jamie jersey somewhere in there, being a dick to people around him.

The Highgarden Gardeners

Owner –Ratts Tyrell
Stadium – The Garden
History – The Gardeners are another middling franchise. They have a large market and make the playoffs at a fair enough rate to matter, but they’ve always played second fiddle to the Lions or Stags. Never being able to get over that hump (The Gardeners have won no championships) hasn’t gotten the team down too much, as Highgarden is probably the easiest place to live in the league and players have a tendency to come to camp overweight due to the surplus of food in the area and general laid back nature of the city. The Gardeners have been making good moves as of late and are also viewed as a dark horse candidate to take home the Valyrian Trophy this year.

The Riverrun Fighting Fish

Owner – Dana Tully
Stadium – The Riverlands
History – The Fighting Fish have historically been a whipping boy for the league. Never quite terrible, the Fish nevertheless have always been largely ignored as a threat and, outside a few glorious years after the Krakken Dynasty fell apart, the Fish haven’t put forth a team more than three games over .500. Riverrun tends to be viewed as a crossroads city without enough money to keep the big name talent in town, and they have a history of starting apprentice level quarterbacks instead of true gridiron knights. They’ve gotten slightly better as of late, but they are still a long way from challenging the Stags or Lions for domination over the conference.

The Sunspear Sand Snakes

Owner – Salty Dornish
Stadium – Joy Tower Field
History – The Snakes have the unique ability to claim hold of the only undefeated team in WFL history. The Snakes have earned a deep following from their legendary season and historically great quarterback Quentyn Martell, who never actually won a Championship but is considered by some the best quarterback to ever play. The Snakes however struggle to maintain an audience in their home city of Sunspear simply because Sunspear’s weather makes it hard to want to sit in the stands in 100+ degree heat. Most Sunspearians just decide to go surfing instead. The Snakes are frequent visitors to the finals, winning it all about 50 percent of the times they’ve visited. They put up a great fight against the Lions in last year’s semifinal but were unable to bring down the Lions bruising running back Greg Clegane, “the Mountain that scores.” Expectations are high for this year and many have picked them to win it all.

Final league notes
– The Main trophy is the Valyrian Trophy, sometimes referred to as “The Aegon”
– Everyone hates commissioner Joffrey, who seems to hand out punishments at random
– The League is attempting to expand into Essos, specifically Braavos, but has been unable to convince most people of it being a feasible idea at this point.
– Many wonder why White Harbor doesn’t have a team. It’s one of the biggest markets in the north. League officials say the plan is to get a team to WH in the next five years, but right now it’s just used as a blackmail plan for teams that need new stadium funding.
– There are rumors the League might also expand into Oldtown, but many feel that Oldtown wouldn’t support a WFL team simply because the city has a different sort of vibe, full of people who would rather support ELS, Essos League Soccer, a shameful thing.
– The residents of Harrenhall are still waiting for their team to come back. The Harrenhall Cursed skipped town to become the Dragons a while ago, but the city fought for the right to retain the name should pro football ever return to Harrenhall.
– Of course, the league may not exist in 10 years if they continue to ignore the growing concern over player safety. A player on the Wolves, Bran Stark, was recently paralyzed from a vicious impact by Lions quarterback Jamie Lannister. Some will always say Bran was a wuss for getting taken out by a QB, but some are waking up to the problems  that the game causes.

———-

This was probably my most ambitious project ever undertaken for KSK and I thank you for reading it.

Warner Bros and Michelle McLaren have parted company over creative differences. That is what WB announced yesterday, letting folks know that the Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones director would not be helming the upcoming Wonder Woman film starring Gal Gadot. Creative differences is a nice catch-all saying that two sides wanted to make different movies.

Now, rumors always come out when something like this happen, but this may be one of the most interesting. Badass Digest claims to know one of the differences… according to the report McLaren had some ideas that may have alienated fans including wanting Wonder Woman to have a tiger sidekick she could talk with. If this is true, perhaps she should have just been moved over to direct Shazam…

Wonder Woman is still scheduled for release July 23rd, 2017.

Wonder Woman Loses Her Director

Hypothetically, if VR were to take off, one of the really interesting possibilities would be seeing what existing franchises did with it. Could we get some kind of Gears of War, The Last of Us or Halo experience inside of a VR headset, that put us in those environments? Existing in these franchise could be very powerful.

While not quite set in a new world, here is another pitch for you. What about Rock Band in VR? When talking to Gaming Insiders, Harmonix’s CEO Steve Janiak said that he could see it. On the topic of VR, he said:

Harmonix prides itself on being at the forefront of new technologies. VR is an intriguing frontier, and a great opportunity to fundamentally reinvent how people connect to music.

For Rock Band, the feeling of playing live music, of really being on stage with the lights and the crowd and the sound enveloping you, that’s the experience we’re trying to deliver with Rock Band 4. It could be even more incredible and immersive in the context of VR, and we’re excited about the possibilities.

While the idea of jamming out to a punk rock song in the dingy bar with screaming fans does sound empowering, right now, I don’t think it would work.

Reason? Not being able to see where your fingers are on the controller could be a huge hurdle. Rock Band 4 is only announced on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and Project Morpheus being the only announced VR headset for those systems. Right now that has no motion sensors bundled in with Morpheus, let alone some precise to keep up with minimal ringer movement.

Until you could figure that out, I just don’t see it.

Rock Band 4 Could Be Even More Immersive In The Context Of VR Says CEO

Joss Whedon told Entertainment Weekly that they will not try and out do the Shawarma scene from the first Avengers film. There will be no post credit scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The director said that everyone came to this conclusion on their own and they “don’t want to chase that”.

That’s not to say there won’t be a tag in the film. There will be an epilogue that will appear shortly after the credits begin… but nothing at the very end of the credits.

And thought the film will include a lot of superpower characters, one that will not be appearing is Captain Marvel. There is a surprise female character in the film who will be familiar to fans, but it’s not Carol Danvers. There is also a female instructor we see for the Black Widow and it is a very powerful moment for the Scarlett Johansson’s character.

Linda Cardellini (E.R.) and Julie Delpy (Before Sunset) have been confirmed as part of the cast, though there roles have yet to be revealed.

[Source: EW.com]

Joss Whedon Will Not Try And Out Do Shawarma And No Captain Marvel

At the Flash panel at Wondercon this weekend, one of the big reveals was by actress Danielle Panabaker who not only confirmed that her character of Caitlin Snow will become her comic book alter ego Killer Frost, but that it happen as soon as the end of this season.

It was also revealed that some of the events from episode 15 that were then erased by The Flash’s time travel would reappear shortly… which may be bad news for another panel member Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramon) or it could be romantic news for panel member Candice Patton (Iris West).

Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg got in on the spoilers as well telling attendees that they plan to introduce the classic villains Mirror Master and Doctor Alchemy and that plan for Wally West are being talked about. He also said that characters will get a glimpse into alternate timelines leading to more speculation that the show is heading towards the comic storyline Flashpoint.

And finally, answering an Arrow question, Kreisberg explained the different ways of saying Ra’s al Ghul. They said it was an intentional decision to use the two different pronunciations because of how it was meant to be said and how Christopher Nolan decided to say it in the Batman film trilogy. It breaks down by allegiance. If you side with him then you say Raysh, while those who oppose him say Rahz.

[Source: Deadline]

Killer Frost Is Coming To The Flash Sooner Than You May Think

The radiant redhead from the acclaimed AMC series reflects on Joan Holloway Harris' confident stroll through the '60s.

Seeking to promote the republic’s history and values, officials plan to produce action figures to replace “unhealthy” Western imports like Spider-Man and the Transformers.

Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher discuss Damian's arrival, when Olive and Maps will appear elsewhere in the DCU and "Convergence's" effects on the title.

Executive producer Marc Guggenheim announced the title and the start of production for the "Arrow" season 3 finale with a snapshot of the script cover.

CSBG's Movie Superhero tournament hits the final four! Vote to decide whether Christopher Reeve or Michael Keaton meets RDJ or Hugh Jackman.

In addition to finishing "The Winds of Winter," the "Game of Thrones" author is working on a potential new drama "Captain Cosmos."

Looking back on the acclaimed drama, its creator says, "I don’t feel like there was anything that we wanted to say that we didn’t get to say."

The "Arrow" star will play fan-favorite "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" ally Casey Jones in the 2016 live-action sequel. UPDATED with confirmation from Stephen Amell.

The “Luther” star is reportedly in early negotiations for the Justin Lin-directed sequel.

The "How to Get Away With Murder" star tells CBR News, she sees a bit of herself in the woman who controls Task Force X.

“I kind of wish that there were some things we didn’t have to spoil,” David Benioff concedes, “but we’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

Finally, we got one.

Fabian Nicieza and Gerardo Sandoval are creating the Secret Wars comic Age Of Apocalypse, launching in July, according to IGN who were given the story by Marvel PR.

And it comes with an interconnecting gatefold cover, as seen above. Fabian tells IGN,

IGN Comics: It’s interesting how this will be an alternate take on Age of Apocalypse. Why do that instead of returning to the original world?

Nicieza: Because the original world can’t really exist as it was within the parameters of how Battleworld is set up in the Secret Wars storyline. I’m also pretty sure the original world ceased to exist during the original series. The original world of Age of Apocalypse was intended to be a fractured reality that had to be “rewoven” back into the normal timeline.

So anyway, the Secret Wars Age of Apocalypse is, in nearly all ways, an even WORSE world than the original – if you happen to be human or an X-Man!

Both humans and the X-Men are in a far more compromised, desperate state of existence and time is running out for both of them.

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #1

Written By FABIAN NICIEZA | Art and Cover by GERARDO SANDOVAL

His war has been won. The few humans left alive are enslaved, the mutant rebellion crushed. EN SABAH NUR, the APOCALYPSE, rules his BATTLEWORLD kingdom without mercy, but the terrorist X-MEN plan to end his reign. Success means finding one very special mutant named CYPHER and unleashing a weapon that will kill Apocalypse — and possibly all mutants, too!

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #2

Written By FABIAN NICIEZA | Art and Cover by GERARDO SANDOVAL

The hunt for CYPHER brings MAGNETO’s X-MEN into confrontation with CYCLOPS & HAVOK’s ELITE MUTANT FORCE! Meanwhile, ANGEL has to protect a “flatscan” named JEAN GREY and DR. NEMESIS plans to sabotage DARK BEAST’s quest to become APOCALYPSE’s newest HORSEMAN.

 

Age Of Apocalypse Gets A Secret Wars Series By Fabian Nicieza and Gerardo Sandoval In July

In a really generous tradition, once again Wytches writer Scott Snyder has shared his essay with us as it will be appearing in the back of Wytches #5, drawn by Jock with colors by Matthew Hollingsworth and letters by Clem Robins, out this Wednesday from Image Comics. Snyder’s essays in the single issues of the series have been illuminating and have tackled some heavy subjects, as well as providing delightful anecdotes that always contained their moments of humor as well.

This week’s essay is both heavy and light, and Snyder characteristically presents something observable and true, then turns and considers the multiple perspectives one might take and what each perspective implies. Here he considers his time working at Disney World of all places, because he wrote it while visiting with his family recently, and the tale he has to tell digs deep into fear, responsibility, and the ambiguous role of violence in family relationships.The story this time ties in pretty closely to Issue #5 of Wytches where the relationship between Charlie Rooks and his daughter Sailor becomes crucial to determining their future, as they are fighting for any future at all, that is.

Here is Scott Snyder’s essay for Wytches #5:

[Scott Snyder writes:]

First, I’d like to say thanks for reading these little pieces I’ve been doing in the back of the book. When we started, I figured I’d do one for fun, about the genesis of the series, and that would be it. But your (surprising) enthusiasm for them encouraged me to do more, and honestly, they’ve been a real joy for me to write. For one, it’s a thrill to write prose again in any form, and also, they’ve given me a place to explore my own thoughts on the book, my own fears, my love of horror. They’ve become a place for personal disclosure – a scary place, but a bit wondrous, too, and I appreciate the opportunity. So thank you.

And, speaking of places scary and wondrous… I confess that I am actually writing this one from Disney World in Orlando. And, in the spirit of disclosure, I admit that was never the plan. Honestly, I’d intended to write this piece before I took this vacation with my family, but weather and school closures prevented that. So here I am, writing about horror at Disney World. The kids are asleep in the other room, surrounded by plush Olaf’s and antenna toppers of hitchhiking ghosts. Cinderella’s castle is visible from the hotel window. I can just make out the marching lights of the electric parade. In a lot of ways, there’s no place less inspiring for a horror piece than this.

Still, I do have one Disney World memory that reminds me of this book – this issue even – and I’ll tell it to you here. This story I’m thinking of, it happened while I was actually working at the Disney parks. I did this for the better part of a year, right after college. I was twenty-two, and I wanted to be a writer and was all about having experiences far away from New York or anything familiar.

Anyway, the story I want to tell happened when I was just starting as a character. Maybe a couple days in. I was hired for custodial at the Magic Kingdom and had worked in that department for a number of months before getting a chance to audition for characters. Custodial had been hard work, pushing a massive garbage trolley around in the sun – thirty-six cans worth of trash – so I was ecstatic to be a character now.

On this particular day, I was Buzz Lightyear. Out of all the characters I played – Eyeore, Pluto, among others – Buzz was far and away my favorite. For one, he was foam and mesh, so way less hot than the other characters. Don’t get me wrong, they were all VERY hot – our coach, Bob, on the first day of training, he suggested we newbies sit in the parking lot in our cars with the engines off to train. But with some characters, like Rafiki, you were wearing huge ass pads and chest pads, tights, full fur, and carrying a fruit staff to boot. That was HOT. But Buzz was foam and mesh and also had great visibility. With certain characters, you only saw through the mouth or nose, which was like looking out at the world through a foggy periscope. On days I was those characters, I learned to swing my head from side to side as I walked to scan the way ahead and avoid stepping on kids.

But so I’m there as Buzz, stamping books, acting the super-hero and I feel something hit my leg. I try to swing around, and I look down through the neck of the suit and I see a boy, about six years old, giving me a hug. I hugged him back and tried to gently direct him to the line but he stayed beside me, telling me how much he loved me, and so on. Buzz was his favorite and he had a toy of me at home and on he went, adorably. My handler, an older man named David, asked him where his mother was, and the boy said he didn’t know, so David began the process of calling this in. In the meantime, the boy – whose name was Chester, he said, hung out by my side, copying my actions, laughing. This little tow-headed guy making muscles and jumping around. I pretended he was my side-kick.

It was only about a minute into this that his mother showed up. She came running over, arms wide, and he ran to her, happy, telling her he’d found Buzz! He’d found him! And I was just about to wave when she smacked his face. I mean I heard it in my costume – SMACK – the clap of her fingers against his little cheek.

I was stunned. She was yelling at him now. Yelling right into his face – HOW COULD HE DO THAT?! HOW COULD HE RUN OFF?!!!

I wanted to go over and say something, but there were kids I was interacting with, and before I knew it Chester and his mother were gone. Lost in the crowd. I told David after about it, about how angry the mom had been at Chester, and to my surprise, he looked at me and said, “Yeah. Get used to it.”

And he was right. Not about the smack; any form of hitting I rarely saw again. But the fury parents displayed toward lost children, now found…. That I saw play itself out over an over again. A parent bearing down on a child, rage in the parent’s eyes as he or she grabbed the little shoulders.

At the time, I didn’t really understand it. There were systems in place for lost children at Disney. Nothing terrible could really happen, could it? So why the rage? But typing this now, my kids asleep in the next room, that electric parade snaking slowly along, I completely get it. Because there is no worse feeling than failing to keep your child safe – especially when you’re right there with them, in a place that’s supposed to be as safe as can be. A place you’ve taken them yourself. You’re at the playground, holding your kid’s hand and he falls and scrapes his chin to shreds. Your kid is standing next to you on the steps of a pool and you turn for a moment – less than five seconds – to say hello to your friend and you turn back and your child is underwater. The little hands, flailing above the surface.

Bad things shouldn’t happen when you’re there next to your child. It’s upsetting. But maybe what’s most upsetting about incidents like these is the notion that your child now knows you can’t keep them safe. You can’t keep them from getting lost or hurt, not if they’re not careful themselves, and maybe not even then. It’s all an illusion. You can’t stand between them and the monster. All the rides here, all the pretending things are going dangerously wrong – you’re in a train in a mine that’s caving in! You’re trapped in haunted house with no way out! – all reinforcing the opposite sentiment – leading to the safe landing on the other side. They turn danger into something to be laughed at. So how infuriating when danger finds its way (on your watch) into your child’s life.

Admittedly, I’ve been that furious parent. I’ve never hit my kids, but I’ve certainly wanted to when they’ve put themselves in danger while I was watching them. I’ve wanted to shake them until they could somehow promise me they’d always stay safe. Promise me that I hadn’t failed them and would never fail them, nor would they fail me. They’d never get hurt, never get sick, never die.

The thing that I try to remember is that other side of it, too. Because the fear you feel as a parent in those situations is awful. The rage and guilt. But what I saw as a cast member – the only part I really saw and understood – was the kids’ faces when parents came at them that way. Chester looking back at his mother as she yelled into his face… The horror there. A child looking up and seeing that his parent has become the danger… the monster lurking there all along.

********

[As a late night postscript – Because you sat through that, I will tell you my favorite moment working at Disney. It happened the final day of training for characters. I was in a group of three other young people, and all week we’d been practicing. Learning how to move like our characters. Learning how to have fun with the guests, but get off stage quickly. All of the practical stuff. I was Pluto, the young man in my group was Chip and the young woman was Mickey. They were both actors, and they were unequivocally great at their characters. This guys got Chip perfectly. He was all hyped up energy and joy. And the girl just WAS Mickey. She had the friendly, modest pomp down pat. We were in this gynamsium we’d practiced in most of the week. So now it was the last day and our coach, Bob, was congratulating us, telling us to go out and knock them dead and so on. But, he said… he had a treat for us.

Then pulled out this boombox and put a CD in (this was 1998). Bob looks at us and he says conspiratorially: “They don’t like it when I do this, but I think it’s crucial. So keep it between us, but for the duration of this song, you dance however you want.” Micky looked at Chip who looked at me. I could barely see through my fogged dog eyes. “Well go on,” Bob said. “Get it out of your darn system now, because you’ll never get to do it again. For this moment on, you’ll always be in character when you put that costume on. But right here, right now, this is a moment out of time and space.”

He pushed the button. “Rumpshaker” came on. That saxophone. The record scratching, the beat… Chip began to dance. Mickey began to dance. I shuffled around, trying not to pass out. I moved around a couple seconds, turning and such, and then I saw Mickey… Mickey not just shaking it, but like… working it. Dancing up on Chip, grinding… It was like a car wreck. I couldn’t look away and then…Mickey turned to me. I looked away, dancing sheepishly. I looked back, and Mickey was still coming, like stripper dancing coming. And that image – Mickey Mouse working it, coming toward me to the sounds of rumpshaker… It is one of my most cherished memories.]

Wytches #5 hits shelves this Wednesday, March 25th, as the first of a two-part first arc finale for the series. Don’t miss out! Bleeding Cool ran an Advance Review of Wytches #5 right here.

Advance Look At Scott Snyder's Essay In Wytches #5 - 'The Monster Lurking There All Along'

Well this is surprising. Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima is rumoured to have parted ways with Konami. This could be huge news, especially considering there is the small matter of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain landing in September.

This started out as a rumour with eagle eyed members of /r/metalgearsolid noticing that Kojima’s name was systematically being removed from all Konami products. This list of changes has continued to pile up with there no longer being any sign of the creator on MGSV’s Japanese website where before his name was plastered everywhere.

Kojima Production’s logo has also been removed from the site. According to this tweet by @Nibellion, even US based Kojima Productions Los Angles has been renamed Konami Los Angles Studio.

Kojima Production is now renamed to Konami Los Angeles Studio Kojima Productions is dead – pic.twitter.com/mIxPJwqOqt

— Nibel (@Nibellion) March 19, 2015

Konami have provided a statement to VideoGamer about the rumored split. A representative said:

Konami Digital Entertainment, including Mr. Kojima, will continue to develop and support Metal Gear products. Please look forward to future announcements.

That’s hardly a flat denial and could just allude to Kojima being a consultant in the future. Hard to say.

Also, just to add a little more fuel to the fire, here is the last tweet from Kojima, made a few days ago:

Heading off. pic.twitter.com/JWyh4DbeIY” — HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) March 16, 2015

This is a pretty fluid story and I’d stress it is still a rumour. Who knows? Maybe it is just a Kojima sized prank. The amount of evidence here is hard to deny though. Something appears to have happened, even if we don’t know what yet. This really would leave Metal Gear Solid V in a precarious place. Also, it supposedly be a death nail to Silent Hills.

I’ll keep my ear to the ground for any changes of official announcements.

Rumour: Hideo Kojima May Have Parted Ways With Konami

A much-deconstructed formation led to a New England Patriots touchdown drive in the playoffs. Next season, it will lead to a 5-yard penalty.

In 2014, Wizard World brought in $23,060,178 in revenue. This is over double their 2013 revenue of $11,186,134.

This is on the back of running seventeen events in the year, as opposed to nine in 2013, with an average revenue per show of $1,356,481.

With 2014 operating expenses increasing to $6,823,253 from $3,921,585, that’s an increased revenue-per-show a reduced expense-per-show based on 2013’s numbers.

And so the company’s overall income from these events has increased from $343,506 to $1,468,162. A net income of $995,617 has given an income per share of $0.02, as opposed to 2013’s net loss of $3,637,735 and loss per share of $0.09.

In 2015, Wizard World has launched a subscription service CONtv, will run 27 events, including new shows in Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Ft. Lauderdale, and San Jose as well as its first show in China, if things keep going the way they are is this evidence that Wizard World is firmly back on the map?

 

Wizard World Doubled Its Revenue In 2014 And Makes A Million

There’s been a long standing rumour about new Nintendo hardware that I never took as entirely serious. While the Wii U has famously struggled, I was pretty sure Nintendo would see it out for a couple more years.

Turns out I was wrong.

During a press conference, Nintendo announced that they’re working on a new “dedicated game system” with a new ‘concept’ called ‘NX’. Here is the quote as officially translated by Nintendo CEO Saturo Iwata (via Eurogamer):

As proof that Nintendo maintains strong enthusiasm for the dedicated game system business, let me confirm that Nintendo is currently developing a dedicated game platform with a brand-new concept under the development codename “NX”. It is too early to elaborate on the details of this project, but we hope to share more information with you next year.

There really isn’t much more to ellaborate on at the moment. I can’t imagine we will hear anything at this E3, but E3 2016? We might be looking at the announcement of another Nintendo console.

Nintendo Working On New Console Called 'NX'

So few creator-owned comics ever have an issue 100. Cerebus, Spawn, Savage Dragon, Walking Dead, Invincible and… um…

Well there’s not that many. And many other comics like to keep relaunching and renumbering themselves before getting close to some total of issues and announcing a #100 or #200 or the like, occasionally defying maths in the process. Ultimate Spider-Man #200, we are looking at you.

Well, Skullkickers wants to play that game even though it’s only up to 33 issues. So it’s last issue will
be Skullkickers #100, but they are wanting readers to fill in whatver happened in between. Tell them what happened in a missing issue by tweeting with the hashtag #SK100 and the issue number in question (#34-#99) and the best will appear in the back of Skullkickers #100.

You know, that counts as as published writing credit. Just don’t expect royalties.

Here, for the first time, is the June solicitation to that celebratory final issue of the fantasy comedy Skullkickers.

SKULLKICKERS #100
story: JIM ZUB
art: EDWIN HUANG & MISTY COATS
cover: CHRIS STEVENS & ESPEN GRUNDETJERN
JUNE 24 / 40 PAGES / FC / T / $3.99

“INFINITE ICONS OF THE ENDLESS EPIC” Finale

ISSUE 100?! Hey, if other publishers can just slap any old number on a cover and call it an anniversary, then we want in on that action for our final issue.

Yup, this is the big finish. All skulls must be kicked.

Join us in sending off the series in style with a big 3-digit number and tweet with the hashtag #SK100 to let us know what happened in the 66 issues inbetween. The best entries get a place in Skullkickers history.

Skullkickers Ends On #100 - Can You Write What Came Inbetween? #SK100