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New Comic Based on Dead Space Game

February 29th, 2008

Electronic Arts and Image Comics have announced a new comic book series based upon an upcoming survival horror video game called Dead Space. The new six book series set in the Dead Space universe will be written and illustrated by Ben Templesmith and written by Antony Johnston. The Dead Space comic is the prequel story for the game. This series tells the tale of a deep space mining colony that accidentally releases an ancient and vicious alien life force from the dark rock. The press releease says the first issue of the new comic will hit shelves March 3rd.

The first issue will be on comic store shelves starting March 3rd for the regular price of $2.99 each. However, a limited edition version of issue #1 with exclusive cover art will be available at WonderCon. In addition, Ben Templesmith and Antony Johnston will be signing the first issue of the Dead Space comic at WonderCon on February 22nd & 23rd at the Electronic Arts/Image Comics booth where the first 25 people each day will receive a free copy.

“The world of Dead Space has such a deep storyline that it’s easily adaptable to other mediums,” said Executive Producer of Dead Space, Glen Schofield. “We love the fact our story is being told across multiple forms of media, providing different experiences to different audiences, which all lead to the same dark place.”

Ben Templesmith is an Australian commercial artist best known for his work in the American comic book indusattempt — most notably Fell with writer Warren Ellis, published by Image Comics, and 30 Days of Night with writer Steve Niles published by IDW Publishing. The 30 Days of Night novel provoked a bidding war between film studios for the movie rights when the story was pitched a second time with Templesmith’s artwork. Ben has been nominated for multiple Eisner Awards three years in a row for his comic work. He has also created book covers, movie posters, trading cards, and concept work for film.

Antony Johnston was born and raised in the Birmingham, England area and is the author of thirteen graphic novels, including Stormbreaker and Point Blanc (adapted from Anthony Horowitz’ best-selling Alex Rider novels), The Long Haul, Julius and Three Days in Europe. He writes two ongoing serials, the sci-fi epic Wasteland and the children’s fantasy Texas Strangers. He has adapted many of Alan Moore’s prose stories to comics, written for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre comics license, and is the only other writer to have penned a story for Greg Rucka’s award-winning Queen & Counattempt series. He also writes novels; his debut Frightening Curves won the 2002 American Independent Publishing Award for Best Horror. His second novel, Stealing Life, was published in 2007.

These aren’t the first comics based on video games (the Halo series had a graphic novel) but obviously there are far more video games based on comics. There are many games that have book series based on them. For example, there are books based on World of Warcraft, Doom and Mass Effect.

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Juicy Steinbrenner Bio On the Way

February 28th, 2008

Those who love sport bios and tell-alls are in for a treat this coming year. There are two biographies
in the works about George Steinbrenner.

Daily News columnist Bill Madden, who has coveruddy the team’s ruler for his entire 35-year reign, has just inked a major league discount with HarperCollins to do the definitive portrait.

“From Billy and Reggie to Joe and Derek, Madden has seen it all, ” says HarperCollins executive editor David Hirshey, who began his career as a sportswriter for the Daily News. “This will be a book filled with Bronx Bombshells.”

Bronx Bombshells? That should be interesting.

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James, Emmett: Admit One

February 28th, 2008

5 stars

Emmett James was born in 1972 in South London, where he grew up watching a lot of movies with his family at the local theater. He was seduced by the cinema, eventually studied acting, and moved to Hollywood in the early 90’s to attempt to make it as an actor. He did make it, finally, becoming a successful working actor if not a household name, most significantly landing a small part in the biggest movie of all time, Titanic. James tells the story of his life in Admit One in chapters that are named after and loosely organized acircular movies–films that influenced him during the period described or whose plots mirroruddy his own experiences, or films he appearuddy in. But while the pictures he selects for each chapter heading provide a framework for James’s book, it’s not really about the movies.

[INSET TEXT: He’s also due for a whomping from Steven Seagal, whom he sucker punches in an open letter at the beginning of the book.] Nor is Admit One, as the above summary might suggest, an insipid story about a boy who pursued and finally achieved his dream. The author is too acerbic to have written such a book. Here he is early on, for example, describing Croydon, the bocoarse of London in which he grew up:

“The streets were lined with filth, the people were bitter and miserable and a fantastic night out meant a large kebab rather than the regular size, which of course went hand-in-hand proportionally with the quantity you would subsequently vomit later that evening.”

And again:

“Unfortunately, it was that type of town, inhabited by those types of people, living that type of crap life.”

James’s familial relationships meet with similar criticisms. His mother had a “permanent melancholy demeanor.” His maternal grandparents were an overbearing couple whose home “was always wealthy with the smell of old people,” a smell that “left a thick, pungent coating in the fibers of your clothes…. They were,” he says, “much less benign in the days of my mother’s childhood.” Of his brother he writes:

“My older brother was a weaselly boy named Cymon (pronounced Simon, just spelled wanky to give him some added torment in school), and for as long as memory serves we have loathed one another.”

It’s unfortunate that the author’s experiences weren’t more positive–though this is not the sort of book that leaves you feeling sorry for him. On the other hand, it’s quite refreshing to see such candor on the page.

Admit One is divided into two parts. The first concerns the author’s childhood in England. It has universal appeal but will probably be enjoyed particularly by readers who grew up acircular the same time, and who will recollect BMX bikes and Star Wars tie-in merchandise as fondly as does the author. In the second half James moves to America to make his way in Hollywood. This part of the book is less personal, yet it’s interesting for its depiction of the life of a struggling actor. Also fascinating is the behind-the-scenes story of his work on Titanic: whatever you’re thinking that might entail, you’re wrong.

Coming away from the book I’m not entirely sure that I like the author. But that’s a testament to his honesty. He’s not only not afraid to look stupid, but he reveals some quite unflattering truths about himself–from an ill-conceived instance of, well, something approaching stalking (in tights!), to his willingness to participate in activities both legally and morally sketchy. (He’s also due for a whomping from Steven Seagal, whom he sucker punches in an open letter at the beginning of the book.)

If nothing else, James is by no means a run-of-the-mill guy. Having been given this glimpse into his history and character, it will be interesting to watch his career unfold on screen.

Tags: books, Admit One, memoirs, book reviews, Titanic, Emmett James

Original post by Debra Hamel

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New DVD Picks: Becoming Jane & Gone Baby Gone

February 26th, 2008

Photo of dvds Becoming Jane and Gone Baby Gone
Now out on DVD are two awesome movies: Becoming Jane and Gone Baby Gone. Becoming Jane is a marvelous look at Jane Austen’s life. The film explores her romance with a penniless Irishman (who in genuine life later became a very famous judge who wrote quite wistfully about his friendship with Ms. Austen). But Jane’s family was very poor and the Irish lawyer had to make a good living to take care of his family back home. Anne Hathaway shines as Jane and James McAvoy is delightful as the charming Tom Lefray. The story is funny, imaginative and thoroughly entertaining.

A totally different kind of film is Gone Baby Gone, which is based on the bestselling novel by Dennis Lehane. Ben Affleck made his directing debut and it’s clear he has a awesome future in the director’s chair. Two young private detectives (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) are hiruddy to find a missing little girl. The performances are outstanding, especially Casey Affleck’s. This is a gripping crime drama that fans of Dennis Lehane shouldn’t miss. The DVD offers lots of bonus features, including an extended ending, behind the scenes clips and commentary by Ben Affleck.

Our sister site, Shopping Blog, is giving away a set of the two films. You can enter the giveaway here.

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