Heroes Aren't Hard to Find

I'm going to be heading off for a little R&R so you might not see me around here much in the next week or so. One of my stops will be the HEROES CONVENTION in Charlotte. It's been part of the Zablo family vacation for years and this one should be the best ever. Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

Big Beatty, Jazz and Papa will hold down the fort while I'm gone.

Talk to you soon!

I'm Shakin' for Chaykin -- Pass Me That Blade!

One of my all-time favorite comic creators, Howard Chaykin, is taking over the art chores on Blade.

What to know more? Click HERE.

They're Coming to Get All of Us, Bar-bar-a!

Better watch your step. Zombies are everywhere this week.

Just this week it was announced that Brad Pitt beat out Leonardo DiCaprio to see who could bring "World War Z" to the silver screen. Seems kind of strange that two of the biggest stars in the world would be in a bidding war over a zombie movie. But there you go... World War Z is Max Brooks' follow up novel to his cult classic The Zombie Survival Guide.

It was also announced this week that Josh [”Lucky Number Slevin”] Hartnett is set to star in the movie adaptation of 30 Days of Night. I think that Harnett is an excellent choice for the lead and so does 30 Days author Steve Niles. Filming is set to begin in early August.

What's That Saying About Going to the Mountain?

I just received a booklet advertising Comic-Con International and it had this cool cover by Adam Hughes.

Held annually in San Diego, Comic-Con International is one of the biggest comic conventions in the country [probably the world]!

Although I've never attended, I've thought about going. Each year the con gets bigger and bigger... I guess if it keeps expanding and I wait long enough, it'll come to me.

A Man With Grand Ideas

I get a lot of e-mails from people who have all kinds of grand ideas about things. 99% of the time, these ideas go nowhere.

Thomas "Tiger" Vidmar recently contacted me. Tiger hosts a talk show program in Vegas. He said he was going to send me a copy of one of his programs [a call in with Elvis!] and a t-shirt.

Today the package arrived. It contained a nice workout t-shirt, a very nice golf hat, a soundtrack album [?] that he produced [!], and a copy of his call in show with Elvis.

So I listened to the call-in with Elvis. Funny and strange. I listened to the soundtrack for "Puckhead" which is a Tigar Vidmar production. It was an ecclectic mix of everything. Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong,. Gene Autry, Dean Martin, The Mighty Mouse Theme song and more are on it. I've listened to it twice! LOL! I like the crazy mix.

So then I visted Tiger's website. There I discovered that in addition to hosting a radio program, creating a "soundtrack album," and producing shirts and hats [with his "Hombre de Palo" character], Tiger has also written a book which will be available this fall, and created a series of prints featuring his character!

Tiger seems to be a man with all kinds of grand ideas... but he's doing something with them!

"Gargantarma" is Coming!

I've told you many times before about the Comic Book and Toy Show that Tim Gordon puts on several times a year in Tampa. Tim started doing the conventions about 3 or 4 years ago and they were pretty small affairs - but boy, were they fun.

My son Mike, John "Big" Beatty, John "Johnny Star-Warz" Higashi and James "The James" Howell and I would always try to make the shows because we always had a blast. Over the years the convention has gradually gotten bigger [adding multiple guest artists per show, costume contests, an independent film room and more], but was able to retain that small show feel.

Tim will have his next show on August 20th. My buddy, Bill Black will be on hand [along with star Brenna Barry] to screen "Gargantarma" a documentary which explores the history of giant women in cinema. Legendary comic artist, Nick Cardy, will be the guest of honor! Several other guests will be on hand. You can see the full details by clicking HERE.

If you're able to make it, you should plan on joining us!

The Shield: One Last Season

This is the best news I heard all day:

Variety reports that:

FX has greenlit The Shield for a final batch of 13 episodes, which will premiere in early 2008.

The sixth season is currently in production and will begin airing early next year.

At this point it looks like the episodes in 2008 will be it for the show. FX president-general manager John Landgraf has said, "Shawn (Ryan -- creator of The Shield) and I have been discussing how it will end.. I know what the arc is of the final season, almost through the last episode, and this is definitely the end of it."

I'll be sad to see The Shield end, but I do like the idea of it following it's course to a definite conclusion. [Hopefully Lost will do the same.]

Gnarls Barkley is Crazy!

If you haven't heard the song "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, you should give it a listen. Better still check out the video by clicking HERE.

I can't remember the last time I liked both a song and the video for it so much.

Mr. T Calls Out Superman

rambo89 posted THIS on my message board and it was just too good not to share with everyone.

Twenty Years for a Quarter

It's hard to believe that the comic company that brought us Black Cross, Sin City, Concrete, Hellboy, Monkeyman and O'Brien, Conan, The Rocketeer, Grendel, Aliens, Predator, Hard Looks, Groo, Tarzan, Star Wars, etc., etc. etc. is twenty years old.

But it is.

I can remember buying the first issue of Dark Horse Presents right off the rack. Chris Warner's Black Cross was on the cover and in the lead story. [For the record, I really think it's time for a new Chris Warner Black Cross mini-series.] The rest of the book featured Concrete [Paul Chadwick's story and art], Mindwalk [Randy Stradley and Randy Emberlin], and Brighter [art and story by Paul Chadwick]. I knew this little comic company had a bright future...

So here we are twenty years later. Dark Horse has decided to publish a celebration comic of sorts. Aptly titled, Dark Horse Twenty Years, will feature art by Art Adams, Sergio Aragonés, Paul Chadwick, Adam Hughes, Frank Miller, Cary Nord, Eric Powell, Matt Wagner, Chris Warner, Joss Whedon, Mike Mignola, and many others!

What will make this even more fun is that every page will feature a different piece, with each showcasing a character from the company's rich history. As an added bonus, instead of drawing their own creations, the artists have traded titles, so they can provide an unexpected take on the characters that made Dark Horse famous!

The final kicker? As a gift to fans, Dark Horse is pricing this bad boy at just a quarter!

Mike Zeck: Limited, Signed, Rare and Original

My buddy, Mike Zeck has a few ebay auctions going right now.

Here's what he's offering:

* One of his limited edition signed and numbered sketchbooks

* Preliminary art that Mike created as possible covers to a Wally Wood tribute book

* A rare [#1 of six] Marvel Punisher portfolio [Mike has autographed all plates and is including an original sketch]

* The first preliminary sketch that Mike worked up for the portfolio

* The second prelim that Mike created for the portfolio

You can't go wrong if you win any of the auctions. Zeck is the man. [But you already knew that, didn't you?]

Checking in on 300

It's been a while since we checked on on "300." There's a lot of stuff going on.

Head over and check it out. I'll be here when you get back.