Month: May 2010

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Sue reveals two new Essentials, updated schedule

So I finally do an EUbits and then we get more news? Such is the life. But Sue Rostoni posted an updated book schedule today – and revealed two new reference/nonfiction books – so no sitting on/twittering this, thank you very much. Here’s what’s new:

  • Jason Fry is taking on The Essential Guide to Warfare – previously known as The Essential Guide to the Military. Folks have been clamoring for this for a while, so good to see it finally get pinned down. It’s due in June 2011
  • Meanwhile Internet Rockstar/Man Who Never Sleeps Pablo Hidalgo will be penning The Essential Reader’s Companion. And I am forced to devolve into aged memes. (I hate you, Pablo. Okay, not really.) Seriously now, Sue describes this as “a non-fiction guide to fiction, with side-bars calling out related comics and events.”
  • We also get a timeframe for Visions: November!

Meme or no meme, our schedule is updated, so go check out a new sneak peek at The Making of The Empire Strikes Back. (Holy heavy metal!)

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Mark Hamill to direct Black Pearl movie

Hamill will be directing an adaption of the 1996 comic he co-wrote with Eric Johnson.

“It’s kind of daunting,” said Hamill, 58, who previously directed a straight-to-video movie but is making his first try at the big screen. “The pendulum swings from great confidence to what did I get myself into? But I want to. This is going to be really a culmination of years and years of wish fulfillment on my part.”

His previous directing effort, the straight-to-DVD Comic Book: The Movie was fairly well-received (at least as I recall) and may even have featured a CJer (or two?) They hope to begin shooting on Black Pearl next year.

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EUbits: Webcomics leap to print, Generation Star Wars on hold, August comics

From web to print. The Clone Wars webcomics from Pablo Hidalgo and a revolving crew of artists (Jeff Carlisle, Katie Cook, Grant Gould and Tom Hodges) will be available in a trade paperback collection in time for August’s Celebration V. StarWars.com has a first look at the book, which also contains concept art, development sketches and a forward by Dave Filoni.

Nonfiction: Sue Rostoni says that Generation Star Wars, the fandom-centric book by Bonnie Burton, Mary Franklin, and Pete Vilmur has been put on hold “to develop the concept and content.”

Comics. The cupboard is bare for Dark Horse’s August 2010 comic solicitations. (Any chance they’ll launch something I’d actually want to read in the next year?) More hopeful, at least theoretically, are the previews for Invasion: Rescues #1 and Legacy #48.

Finish him. The last of StarWars.com’s Head to Head previews is up… And the book should be out.

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Hallmark’s 2010 Star Wars ornaments feature Clone Wars, Empire Strikes Back

May is still showering, but in the land of Hallmark, spring means only one thing: The 2010 Dreambook is out. There are several Star Wars selections: One set of Yoda and Captain Rex (page 56) and several Empire Strikes Back-themed ornaments (pages 60-61) that you can check out below the cut. Luke in flight gear, a snowspeeder, and Vader chatting with holo Palpy are full size, while the mini set is Boba Fett and Han in Carbonite. Continue reading “Hallmark’s 2010 Star Wars ornaments feature Clone Wars, Empire Strikes Back“

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The Clone Wars reviews: ‘R2 Come Home’ and ‘Lethal Trackdown’

Throughout this entire second season of The Clone Wars, I’ve only had one constant complaint: the portrayal of R2-D2.  Right from the start, R2 would just pop into stories for no reason, appearing out of nowhere whenever the heroes needed help.  And now we know the reason.  He’s Lassie!  That’s right, everyone’s favorite astromech – the droid with a mission, the original “size matters not,” the guy who repairs hyperdrives while swearing at C-3PO – is pretty much a collie with gadgets.  (Note to self: pitch “Gadget Collie” as a 6-episode limited series for the Disney Channel.) Continue reading “The Clone Wars reviews: ‘R2 Come Home’ and ‘Lethal Trackdown’”

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Harry Potter meets America’s Next Top Model? It’s pronounced “Modelland,” thank you very much

Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking? I came here to lambast Tyra Banks’s YA book deal, but this thing is just so bizarre I’m going to have to let Tyra herself do the honors:

The story happens in a make-believe place called Modelland – every girl in the world wants to go there because it’s where “Intoxibellas” are trained. Intoxibellas are drop-dead beautiful, kick-butt fierce and, yeah, maybe they have some powers too. (But I’m confirming NOTHING! Ha. You gotta wait for the book.) The story follows a teen girl and her friends who find themselves magically transported to Modelland, even though they’re really not supposed to be there. (Okay, now, that’s ALL I’m saying!)

…How can any mere mortal top that? To their credit, a Gawker reader has tried to capture the proper tone:

Mr. and Mrs. Catalog, of number four, Unfashionable Drive, were proud to say that they bought everything at Target, thank you very much. They were the last people you’d expect to be involved in anything fashionable or stylish, because they just didn’t hold with such fabulousness.

I’ve seen enough of America’s Next Top Model to figure that Tyra is either kind of nuts or happily playing such for TV, but this? Beats me. I’m just hoping for a rival school of drag queens.

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Take a first listen to Fate of the Jedi: Allies

An audio excerpt of Christie Golden’s Allies – the fifth book of the series, out on the 25th – is up at Random House.

In related news, Sue Rostoni has revealed on the boards that Kenth Hamner, not Saba Sebatyne as previously announced, will get the back cover spot on the sixth book, Denning’s Vortex. (It’s due out in December.) A model has been hired, so presumably he won’t be a dead ringer for William Shatner this time around.