As if this day can’t get any better, what with the big announcement about Metropolis and all, we now hear that our favorite comic book ever, The Goon by Eric Powell, has been optioned to be made into a move by none other that director David Fincher (Zodiac and Fight Club)! And it gets better. Academy-Award nominated Blur Studio will be developing the film!
If you are unfamiliar with The Goon, a masterpiece of zombies and slapstick Lovecraftian humor set in some old-timey world, I highly suggest you walk into your local comicbook store and demand it. You’ll thank us for it.
MTV’s Movieblog released a clip of one of the most anticipated characters from Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Johann Krauss, the powerful psychic whose soul is forced to reside within a protective suit. Why is this character getting fans all a flitter? Because he is voiced by Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy and the voice behind many of its characters.
Granted this clip only gives you a tinny taste of what MacFarlane’s talents will be adding to the film, but being that Hellboy is filled with humor along with all the monsters and goo, I’m pretty sure it’ll be a really good fit into the mythos.
This Saturday we’ll be attending Jeff Mach’s The Totally Normal Event, a benefit show for the SPARC Summer Experience which is a summer program for gifted youth combining elements of summer camp with the multilevel benefits of rigorous academic achievement. In other words a summer camp for really smart kids, much smarter than you and I most likely.
The event includes a tun of performers like The Dresden Dolls, Freezepop, The White Elephant Burlesque Society, The Mighty Mike Saga, Voltaire and many more.
You’ll also find all sorts of vendors and artists, including our big sister Grendel’s Den Design Studio offering spooky art, which we all know you dig.
There’s even a big interactive back-story and plot you can participate in throughout the event. Not too sure what it is but my bet is on some sort of fantasy based theme.
In any case it’s all for a good cause and you should go.
I’m a special effects junkie. I love trying to figure out how something is done. But what I really dig is when someone improves upon a current, or even more so, a seemingly outdated technology. In the case of Guillermo Del Toro’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army they take the animitronic suit and vastly take it steps beyond. And you can really see this in one of the main characters named Wink, a 7-foot-plus-tall troll who is the muscle for the main villain Prince Nuada. Below is a behind the scenes video showing some of Wink’s moves, which are pretty swank and realistic.
Only if I had a dime every time this happened to me. A beautiful woman goes to use the can and they mistaken my Old Ones Containment Unit as the toilet. But more than not it all works out in the end… *badda-bing*!
This fine piece of loveliness is one of the many creepy-yet-naughty delights by artist Ed Mironiuk. He lives in New Jersey, which covers the “it must be something in the water” theory as to why his work is is filled with latex, tattoos and squids. Gotta love it.
Apex Digest of Science Fiction and Horror, a quarterly fiction magazine, is running a subscription drive for its fine publication, including the opportunity of a life time subscription. In addition to the actual subscription drive there’s also a contest to help it along the way and gather more attention to Apex Digest, which is hands-down the best Science Fiction and Horror publication of its kind.
To enter the contest simply create a free account for the Shocklines board (a horror writers and fan community, worth the visit), go to the contest thread and explain “why everyone should subscribe to the magnificent Apex Digest of Science Fiction and Horror. If you’re new to Apex and don’t know why, then just make something up.”
Prizes include:
Michele Lee will buy one random new subscriber a hardcover copy of Jennifer Pelland’s new collection Unwelcome Bodies.
Sara Harvey is offering a free copy of her book A Year and a Day for everyone who buys a lifetime subscription. Anyone buying a one-year subscription can get the book half-priced.
Matt Wallace has offered up an assortment of things… from playing an online game of Scrabble against him, to offering to having him write up the most filthy, hate-filled spiel ever composed at one person of your choice.
Steven Savile has offered to tuckerize five people into his next Stargate SG-1 novel who subscribe.
The viral marketing for Hellboy II: The Golden Army is very much an ARG (Alternate Reality Game). A web address - hetfet.org - was seen throughout the movie trailer, which at the time lead to a simple page with a mysterious logo for something called… HETFET (shocker, no). Fast forward to this weekend and now it’s a full-blown site for the fictitious organization Humans for the Ethical Treatment of Fairies, Elves and Trolls. The site is filled with PETA-like content, making for a fun game filled with photos, forums (need to join to access) and another link to add to the list - thesecretdevice.com, which is a simple Flash based puzzle that when solved offers yet another set of links to delve deeper into the game.
Also of note, The Underwire reports that some media outlets received a press release from a mysterious and untraceable Shera Vellotts about a HETFET protest that was held in New York City:
“Dozens of protesters armed with ‘Save The Trolls’ signs disrupted a gathering at New York City’s Jacob Javits Center this past weekend, intent on raising awareness for…HETFET, but after a short time, police arrived on the scenes to disperse them, forcibly removing several of the protestors in the process.”
And yes, there was an actual protest, signs and all.
I also took a look-see at Unfiction.com, a community forum for ARGs, for more information. Seems to be quite a bit, which if you’re a sucker for these games will be very helpful.
So yeah, yet another ARG to sap your time away from you, your family and friends. Guillermo, Guillermo, Guillermo… you clever marketing whore. God bless you.
This obviously will get all of the Lovecraftian, comic nerds all a’flitter! I know I am. So go and gaze upon what possibly will be a monster fest of gimungus proportions.
And for those of you who are not in the know, the plot outline is as follows:
The mythical world starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth, so as Hellboy and his team returns they must save the world from the rebellious creatures. Now, as the creatures who inhabit the spiritual realm gear-up for an all out attack on the human plane, the only one capable of saving the Earth is a tough-talking hellspawn rejected by both worlds.
The film will hit theaters on July 11th this year.
The newest trailer for 
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