Taking a Break w/ Heroes

Man, have things been hectic around the Zablo homestead the last couple of weeks. With the end of the school year, some major home remodeling and other stuff, there just haven't been enough hours in the days... or weeks.

But we're all about to take a bit of a break, so I'll be off the boards and internet for awhile. We're going to get away for some time with family and friends that we haven't seen in a while. That's going to be great!

Then on June 11th through the 13th we're going up to Charlotte, North Carolina for the annual Heroes Convention. I'm really looking forward to this as well. Big Beatty will be there sketching away. He's already done a couple of sketches for fans that are really sweet. [The sketches -- I'm not sure about the fans.] I hope to get a few more Stallone pieces commissioned. This time I hope to get something from Bill Sienkiewicz and Jason Pearson... and maybe a few others if I'm lucky.

I'll post the next SZ and ZONE updates when I get back on the 14th or 15th at the latest. But never fear, Jazzman and Big Beatty are on standby and if any Stallone news breaks they'll post it on the message board.

Talk to you again when I return!

Femforce Animation

My longtime buddy, Bill Black, [publisher, editor, artist, writer, and chief bottle washer of AC comics] sent word that Paul Monsky has been spearheading a brief FEMFORCE animation piece by Shawn Van Briesen.

I thought that you all might get a kick out of seeing it.

I did.

A Lot About Salem's Lot

Salem's Lot is one of my favorite Stephen King books.

It's probably second only to King's The Stand. Stephen King has written some of the scariest and without a doubt most popular horror fiction ever. The sad thing is, as good as his books have been, most of the movies made from them have been mediocre at best.

That's why I was pretty excited when TNT announced that there would be a new Salem's Lot mini-series. This would be the second time that Salem's Lot would be turned into a tv production. The first time was in the late 70's and starred David Soul and James Mason. And it was actually pretty good.

When the cast [Rob Lowe, Rutgar Hauer, Donald Sutherland and James Cromwell] for the re-make was announced things continues to look rosy. Then publicity stills began to be released and they looked pretty cool.

Things were all seeming to come together positively well... until I read Quint's review today.

But you know me... I'll still tune in and check it out for myself. Hopefully I'll like it better than Quint, but if not I can still go back and re-read the novel.

Incredibles Look Incredible

"The Incredibles" just looks better and better with each new peak we get at it.

There's a new a new trailer on-line now and the official site has opened.

We're in for a lot of fun on November 5th!

ElectricArtists & Riddick

Terry Goldman of ElectricArtists, one of the main guys behind "The Chronicles of Riddick" vidoe game, e-mailed to say that he wanted to give SZoners access to their assets page which has key art, images(new images posted every 2 weeks), synopsis, and trailer: www.electricartists.com/darkfury/assets.html.

Terry went on to say that he would interested in partnering with ZONE to do an online promotional contest if he can work out the deal with Universal.

Just how cool is that?

So check out their site and tell them that I sent ya!

Collatoral a Hit?

The trailer for Michael Mann and Tom Cruise's Collatoral is now on-line. Mann and Cruise have individually done some very good films. Movies like Last of the Mohicans, Heat, Top Gun and Mission Impossible II. But they've also had some misses Ali and Eyes Wide Shut.

I'm hoping that Collatoral will be a hit, but I'm not sold on it yet... even after seeing the trailer.

Full Length Riddick Trailer

If you liked the new teaser trailer from yesterday, then you're going to love today's new all action packed ful length trailer. Yeah, baby! Yeah!

Riddick Teaser!

Did you catch the latest advance teaser trailer for The Chronicles of Riddick?

Don't sweat it, you can see it here!

Tomorrow Looks Great

I've been telling you how cool-looking The Day After Tomorrow looks. I could say more but...

...a picture is worth a 1,000 words.

Check out this video.

See you in the theaters on opening day!

Shield Back for 4th Season

FX has picked up The Shield for a fourth season. This is the first time FX has ever brought back any of its original series for a fourth season. Fifteen new episodes are scheduled to begin airing in early 2005. This is great news -- especially since we have another month to go before this season ends.

As most of you know I've been talking up The Shield since the very first episode. The series started strong and unlike many shows just keeps getting stronger. The cool thing is that The Shield is a hit with viewers and critics alike.

In tonight's episode Michael Chiklis, who won the best-actor Emmy winner in 2002 for his role as Vic Mackey, makes his directing debut. David Mamet [Glengarry Glen Ross] directed the episode which premieres on May 18th!

3 for the Road... Internet Highway

It seems as if the blogging and website update bug has hit a couple of people lately...

Bill Ray Marimon aka "The Playa from the Himalaya" aka "The Raytrix" has created a website to show off his art. Bill is one of the best kept secrets in the comic world. He's easily approachable, available for commissions and his prices are very reasonable. Check out his site and tell him I sent ya!

Jeff Parker, author and artist of The Interman [highly recommended] has redesigned his site with a really cool retro look that you just gotta love. Jeff provides entertaining updates on his blog, a gallery, some of the best con reports in the business, and so much more. Stop by and tell him... aw, you know what to say!

Finally we get to my ole buddy John "Big" Beatty.

I have to give Big J an "A" for effort since he really does try -- it's just that the big guy gets so excited about "this" and then "that" comes along.

At any rate, Big John has redesigned his web site again and has a blog going. Please, please, post a message telling him you checked it out, and while you're at it ask him to bring back his Beatty slant on the news. Always topical, always irreverant, and always a blast.

I sure miss my Big Beatty News.