Eric Goldberg's CHARACTER ANIMATION CRASH COURSE!, published by Silman-James Press, is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. It's 240 pages of cartoon goodness, all geared to getting great performances from your characters on the screen. It comes with an accompanying CD that has animation movie files of selected sequences in the book.
DC Comics will release a prequel to upcoming TV show FRINGE, according to USA TODAY. FRINGE, from J.J. Abrams (ALIAS, LOST, CLOVERFIELD, upcoming STAR TREK) is set to start airing this fall on Fox.
Writers and artists are still being hired, but DC will release the comic on August 27, two weeks before the two-hour premiere on September 9.
The sixth book in the d'artiste series -- DIGITAL PAINTING 2 -- features Master Artists Don Seegmiller, Melanie Delon, Daniel Dociu, and Marta Dahlig. For the first time, Ballistic Publishing offers pre-order customers the opportunity to download the majority of the Photoshop/Painter brushes used by the Master Artists in their tutorials.
The Walt Disney Studios has signed a multi-year deal with Ahmet Zappa, Harris Katleman and Christian Beranek to oversee the newly christened Kingdom Comics. It is designed as an innovative new venture of developing graphic novels to create new film projects for the studio as well as re-imagining and rejuvenating motion pictures from the Disney live-action vault.
Comics publisher Devil's Due and Capcom have signed a deal to turn some of Capcom's popular video games, starting with BIONIC COMMANDO and LOST PLANET, into graphic novels.
The first in the four-property deal will be BIONIC COMMANDO, VARIETY reports, with writer Justin Marks hired on for writing duties.
Marks has been busy recently spinning pop culture properties into pictures, including VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE, HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, GREEN ARROW: ESCAPE FROM SUPERMAX and Fox's upcoming STREET FIGHTER: LEGEND OF CHUN LI.
With HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY coming to theaters in July, there's no better time to get up to speed on what's happening with the characters in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.).
Dark Horse will be releasing three new B.P.R.D. titles by Mike Mignola and B.P.R.D. vet John Arcudi into the Hellboy Universe for summer reading pleasure -- with new revelations for Liz Sherman and the origin story for Johann Kraus, as well as a bit of backstory for the Bureau's battle with the infamous frog creatures.
Corus Ent. will develop its successful book series SCAREDY SQUIRREL, by bestselling author and illustrator Melanie Watt, into a multimedia entertainment property.
The scope of this multiplatform venture, which is a collaboration between the company's book division Kids Can Press, Nelvana Studios and Nelvana Enterprises divisions, includes plans to publish additional titles in the series, produce a television series, develop animated shorts for on-air, online and on-mobile distribution and launch an international merchandise and licensing program for the series.
The Savannah College of Art and Design along with Walker Publishing announce the upcoming release of ROD SERLING'S THE TWILIGHT ZONE graphic novel series.
Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the cult phenomena comes the only graphic novel series based on the legendary show. The first two of eight graphic novels will be published this fall: WALKING DISTANCE and THE AFTER HOURS. These two classic THE TWILIGHT ZONE episodes from October 1959 and June 1960, respectively, are based on the original and unedited scripts in their entirety, written by Rod Serling.
Ballistic Publishing announces EXPOSE 6, the latest book in its groundbreaking series celebrating the world's finest digital art.
EXPOSE, the flagship title of Ballistic Publishing, has become an institution in the digital art world. Acclaimed for their high quality, every year the EXPOSE books showcase the best digital art from all over the globe.
Free Comic Book is Saturday, May 3. Participating comic book stores across North America and around the world will give away comic books for free to anyone who comes to their stores.
The annual promotion is sponsored by Dark Horse Comics, DC, Marvel, VIZ Media, IDW, Virgin Comics, Image Comics, Archie Comics and Dynamite Ent., among many others.
To find a retailer near you, go to www.freecomicbookday.com.
Offering a behind-the-scenes look at the shooting of PRINCE CASPIAN (out May 16 from Disney/Walden Media), an excerpt from unit publicist Ernie Malik's book THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN follows:
Making a full-scale motion picture like PRINCE CASPIAN is a journey unto itself -- not only a physical one that took hundreds of filmmakers thousands of miles across two hemispheres, but also a spiritual and emotional voyage for the film's family members.
Miley Cyrus, the 15-year-old star of HANNAH MONTANA, will write a memoir about her journey to stardom, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The book will be published by Disney-Hyperion Books and will hit the shelves next spring. It will follow Cyrus from her early childhood in the South to Hollywood celebrity and will have pictures of her famous family, including country singer dad Billy Ray Cyrus.
Sci Fi/Virgin Comics, the year-old joint venture between Sci Fi Channel and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Comics, announced today the imprint's second title, SUPERBIA.
Imagine if the members of the Justice League moved to Wisteria Lane with spouses in tow, and you get a hint of what life is like in Woodshire Village, a planned community for superheroes, their spouses, girlfriends and domestic partners. SUPERBIA is created and written by Lisa Klink and Jordan Gorfinkle. It is expected to be released this summer and is in development for a TV pilot.
Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man and the Marvel Comics Universe of superhero characters, announced he will be forming a new partnership with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Comics.
Leading manga publisher and youth-oriented brand Tokyopop is unveiling the latest addition to its rapidly growing publishing family: Tokyopop Graphic Novels. For years, European and Asian publishers have produced captivating, inspiring, and stunning full-color graphic novels that have not found a home on North American shores until now.
Beginning in February 2009, Tokyopop will cross the color barrier to publish a truly unique selection of rich, inventive, and stunningly original full-color graphic novels from some of the world's most talented artists and writers.
Voted among TIME magazine's 100 Best Novels from 1923 to the present, a perennial bestseller over the past 20 years and widely considered the greatest graphic novel of all time, WATCHMEN is a gripping, labyrinthine piece of comic art.
Written by comics living-legend Alan Moore and featuring the iconic artwork of Dave Gibbons, it has earned an acclaimed place in modern literary history.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY reported this week that Stan Lee and Viz Media are going to create a new manga series for Japanese audiences.
Lee was the former president of Marvel Comics and Viz publishes the bestselling manga series NARUTO and BLEACH. Lee and his entertainment company Pow! Entertainment will collaborate with manga creator Hiroyuki Takei (creator of SHAMAN KING) on ULTIMO.
IDW Publishing is releasing the official continuation of last summer's blockbuster TRANSFORMERS movie, from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, in association with Hasbro.
The first storyline to spin out of the hugely successful movie, TRANSFORMERS MOVIE SEQUEL: THE REIGN OF STARSCREAM continues the story from where the movie ended.
Simon & Schuster's Children's Publishing has signed a multi-book agreement with D.J. MacHale, screenwriter and author of the PENDRAGON series.
The deal builds on the amazing success of the PENDRAGON series (more than 3 million copies in print) and encompasses two trilogies, a four book series and two picture books to be published over an eight-year span under the Aladdin imprint.
These books will be the first major hardcover acquisition for Aladdin under the new S&S Children's Publishing restructure.
Director Jonathan Mostow has taken American politics into his own hands with Wednesday's release of THE MEGAS, an action-packed science fiction comic book series from Virgin Comics.
"I have always admired the medium of comic books and graphic novels, so I am incredibly excited to have my own new entry in the field. From concept to story to visual design, my experience on THE MEGAS has been as creatively rewarding as working on a movie." Mostow said.
Award-winning 3D animator TJ Galda announces the publication of ADVANCED CHARACTER RIGGING, the first of a new series of books on the subject. The initial book explains how to create muscles and tendons using computer graphics software such as Autodesk's Maya, and is designed to make the techniques as accessible as possible, so that even beginners can create and animate lifelike muscles for their animated characters. ADVANCED CHARACTER RIGGING is available through digital publishing site Lulu.com and major outlets such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Teshkeel Media Group, KSC and Cartoon Network have partnered to publish Arabic and English versions of CARTOON NETWORK MAGAZINE in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Under the terms of the agreement, Teshkeel will publish nine issues of the magazine a year, bringing popular characters such as FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS, DEXTER'S LABORATORY, and CODENAME: KIDS NEXT DOOR to newsstands in the MENA region. Each 32-page issue will include comics, puzzles, games, and give-aways targeted at boys and girls ages 6-12.
Bluewater Prods. has expanded the RAY HARRYHAUSEN PRESENTS comic line with nine new titles for 2008.
In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of some of the Harryhausen classic films, Sony DVD is releasing IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA and EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS. Bluewater will release comics inspired by these classics as well. The Sony DVDs will include previews of the comics as part of the special features.
Titan Books has acquired worldwide rights to a deluxe making-of book for the Lionsgate and Odd Lot Ent. production of Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT. Featuring interviews with the cast and crew, color photos, storyboards and production art, plus the full screenplay, the book is slated for publication Dec. 2008, ahead of the movie's release on Jan 16, 2009.
A new coffee-table book chronicling the animated hstory of Nickolodeon's Nicktoons will hit the shelves of major retailers this month. NOT JUST CARTOONS: NICKTOONS (Melcher Media, $40.00), edited by Jerry Beck, is the first book to cover the entire Nicktoons story that began on Sunday, Aug. 11, 1991, when Nickelodeon first unleashed REN & STIMPY, DOUG and RUGRATS on an unsuspecting nation.
