Heath Ledger Out as the Joker...

...and Katee Sackhoff's character from Bionic Woman is in.

Reaper Interview

Besides providing a good review, Magnetic Media Fed has brought to my attention a very cool NPR interview with Ray Wise and Kevin Smith about the cool show Reaper (CW).

Bill Hader Loves the Gaiman

The New York Times just ran a great profile of comedic actor Bill Hader (Superbad, SNL). In it, Hader confesses his love of Neil Gaiman and how he has good luck when there's a Gaiman book around.

In 2005 Mr. Hader was rereading “The Sandman,” the supernatural comic-book series by Neil Gaiman, when he learned he was being considered for a spot on “Saturday Night Live.” He decided the two events couldn’t simply be a coincidence.

“I got all superstitious about it,” he said on a recent stroll through the science fiction section of the Chelsea Barnes & Noble. “Like, when I have Neil Gaiman books around me, I just do better.”

At his “SNL” audition Mr. Hader performed with a copy of Mr. Gaiman’s novel “Neverwhere” in his back pocket. Sure enough, he got the job. And on a restless Friday night before his first appearance on the show that October, Mr. Hader reread the final issue of “The Sandman” to calm his nerves.

Click for the full story.

Star Trek X Friends

Found on an awesome Star Trek post on the Sinful Caesar blog.

Mini Trend: Graphic 3D Text

U R MR GAY?

Megaton News is reporting that on the box cover for the upcoming Wii game, Super Mario Galaxy, that some letters in the title have white sparkles on them. If you spell them out in order the sparkle-laden letters read: U R MR GAY. Coincidence?

I touched Barry Bonds balls

Well more specifically, I touched Barry Bonds' record-breaking 756th home run ball yesterday. My employer won the auction for it and if you haven't already heard, set up a website where you can vote on what to do with the ball. Ecko had a little employees-only viewing last nite for the ball, as well as an exclusive Anton Kandinsky gallery. In your face, Todd McFarlane!

Back in Action!

Sorry for the blog delay. I was in Arlington, Va. for my friend Amber's wedding. Some of you early adopters might remember Amber as the original co-founder of this here website. Good for her, though, as she married a guy who likes comics. Well, DC Comics at least.

On the 4-hour bus ride to and from Virginia I was able to sink my teeth into the Jack Kirby Fourth World Omnibus. Can I tell you how much I love Mister Miracle's costume? Can I?

Tim Gets Called a Tool

The nice guys over at Variant Edition, a long-running video podcast about comics, just reviewed the first issue of Comic Foundry Magazine. It's pretty funny and overall pretty positive. We're about 16 minutes in, but obviously it'd behoove you to watch the entire episode.

Let Them Eat Cake

Apparently this Muppet cake was a blue-ribbon winner at the 2007 Kentucky State Fair.

Reminder - Tim on the Comic Book Club Tonight!

No plans tonight? No problem.

I'm going to be at the Comic Book Club, where I will be a featured guest on the weekly live talk show about comics. Bonus: there's a pre-show interview with Pulp Secret while you wait.

The deets:
The Peoples Improv Theater
154 W. 29th st.
8 pm
$5 cover

David Hyde promoted at DC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DAVID HYDE NAMED VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLICITY, DC COMICS

(September 10, 2007 - New York, NY) —David Hyde has been promoted to Vice President of Publicity, DC Comics, it was announced today by Paul Levitz, DC Comics President & Publisher. Hyde will continue to report directly to John Cunningham, VP of Marketing.

Hyde, who joined DC Comics in November of 2003 as Director of Publicity, oversees the publicity campaigns for all graphic novels, trade paperbacks, and the 80-plus monthly ongoing periodical titles published by DC Comics, Vertigo, MINX, WildStorm, CMX, Zudacomics.com and MAD Magazine.

In his new position, Hyde will continue to represent DC in coordinating publicity opportunities for Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Home Video, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Licensed Publishing releases of DC comics-related properties.

Tim on the Comic Book Club - 9/11

What are you doing on 9/11? Want to laugh and talk comics? If so, come on down to the Comic Book Club, where I will be a featured guest on the weekly live talk show about comics. If you realllllly can't wait, why dontcha peruse this pre-show interview avec moi.

The deets:
The Peoples Improv Theater
154 W. 29th st.
8 pm
$5 cover

Web Comics Showcase at MoCCA - 9/13

This Thursday I expect you New Yorkers to be at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art for the opening of the new Art of Web Comics exhibit.

This exhibit incorporates original artwork, prints of finished art, and digital displays. Featured in the exhibit will be the immensely popular Penny Arcade, PhD, Sluggy Freelance, User Friendly, Diesel Sweeties, Mom’s Cancer, Finder, Supernatural Law, Questionable Content, Something Positive, Scary Go Round, Achewood, Narbonic, Goats, and “My Obsession with Chess” by Scott McCloud, among many others.

The exhibit also includes a new installment of MoCCA’s New York Artist Showcase, focusing on the NYC members of the webcomics collective ACT-I-VATE.

James Jean Art Book

While at the fabulous Rocketship party this past weekend I was flipping through James Jean's fantastic new art book. The book itself is a work of art with fold-out pages and great printing. I was in even more awe when I turned the page and saw he included an illustration I assigned him for Complex Magazine. Very, very cool. I have a print of the same illustration in my apartment, and actually the anthology C'est Bon Kultur is using it as their cover right now.

Pulp Secret Interview

So this is weird. Usually I'm out interviewing artists and writers — but now the tables are turned. Not literally. There's an interview with me up at Pulp Secret. Click it!

It's a preview for Tuesday, Sept. 11 when I'll be a guest on the Comic Book Club, a live talk show in NYC at the People's Improv Theater.

Iron your capes, unplug the Bat Signal and set your decoder rings on awesome: the Comic Book Club is in session! The Comic Book Club is a weekly comic book talk show featuring the best comedians in New York talking shop with industry professionals from all corners of the comic book world. Hosted by Justin Tyler, Pete LePage, and Alex Zalben. Plus every show we give away a 25$ gift card to midtown comics!

The People's Improv Theater is at 154 W. 29th st. Show starts at 8 pm. Only $5 cover.

Comics Events in NYC

9/8 BRIAN WOOD, MF GRIMM AND RON WIMBERLY AT ROCKETSHIP
Saturday, September 8th, at 8 pm, BRIAN WOOD will be signing the highly anticipated DMZ volume III, and musician/writer PERCY CAREY (aka M.F. GRIMM) will be signing his debut graphic memoir SENTENCES, along with artist RON WIMBERLY!

DMZ kicks ass, obviously, and if you haven't picked up Sentences, you should. While you're at it go listen to Grimm's last album, American Hunger. It's three discs of great lyrics and ill beats.

Other Media

Music: Kanye's new Graduation album is better than 50's Curtis album. However, M.I.A.'s Kala is better than both.

Video Games: Metroid 3 Prime: Corruption is THE Wii game to get this summer. Possibly the best Wii game thus far.

Movies: Balls of Fury. I'm a ping pong fanatic, so it had me at Balls.

Wired Magazine + Buffy

Obviously I'm a magazine guy. I work in the industry both professionally and in a self-publishing sense (not to say the two are mutually exclusive). One of my favorite mags is Wired, which I mention here frequently.

I was flipping through the most recent issue (again) and noticed an illustration that was very Sean McCabe-like on a Daft Punk story. But no, the credit was not Sean McCabe. Not at all. The credit belonged to a one Cordy Chase. Hmm. I'm pretty familiar with most of the editorial illustrators out there and Cordy Chase was not a name I recognized. So a quick google search of "Cordy Chase" and "illustrator" turned up zero results outside the Wired story. But if you just search "Cordy Chase" you get a ton of sites — Buffy fan sites, that is. Cordy Chase, as in Cordelia Chase — the lovely Charisma Carpenter.

What does that mean? I would wager a bet that someone on staff at Wired did the illustration but went with a pseudonym. Cleva. And that same person happens to be a big Buffy fan. Or I could be way off and there could be an illustrator out there named Cordy Chase who I've never heard of and doesn't have a website.

Rejoice, Buffy fans. Someone at Wired has your back.