Dark Horse to Give Away Buffy and More at ALA in New Orleans

DARK HORSE TO GIVE AWAY A COMPLETE BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER GRAPHIC-NOVEL LIBRARY AT NEXT WEEK’S ALA CONFERENCE

JUNE 17, MILWAUKIE, OR—This past April at the Texas Library Association event in Austin, Texas, Dark Horse partnered with Graphic Novel Reporter and Brodart to give away a selection of titles to the Weslaco Public Library, facilitated by Diamond Book Distributors. In total, the library received over seven hundred hand-selected titles from fifteen different publishers.

Dark Horse is proud to again take part in a similar giveaway at the American Library Association conference in New Orleans next week. This special giveaway, open to all attending public and school librarians, will include every Buffy the Vampire Slayer graphic novel from Dark Horse’s successful line. The winning library will receive over seven hundred hand-selected graphic novels in total, as well as fixtures and furniture. The prizes, including shelving, spinner racks, and more, will be displayed in the Great Graphic Novel Library Giveaway booth, #1760. The sign-up period will be during ALA exhibit hours on Friday, June 24, through Sunday, June 26.

The entire display, worth over $20,000, will be awarded to the winning library with a drawing that will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, June 27, in booth #1760. The contest is open to public, school, and academic librarians within the continental United States. ALA attendees must register in person at the Great Graphic Novel Library booth during the show. One hundred semifinalists will be notified on Sunday evening and the winner must be present to accept the prize.

All attending librarians are also encouraged to visit Dark Horse in booth #1740, part of the Diamond Book Distributors display, for an exciting look at our fall titles!

M.J. Butler and Mark Wheatley Present "Skultar"

DARK HORSE PRESENTS GETS BARBARIC WITH M. J. BUTLER AND MARK WHEATLEY’S SKULTAR!

JUNE 16, MILWAUKIE, OR —Sometimes the finest works in art and literature are those of parody. Such is the case with Skultar, a new comic from M. J. Butler and Eisner Award–winning artist Mark Wheatley (Black Hood, Lone Justice, Mars).

In an age before recorded history, in a brutal world ruled by myth, magic, and monsters, a hero rises to fight for the oppressed. His name is Skultar. Unfortunately, he dies shortly after our story begins . . .

In his place, another rises up to be mistaken for Skultar, to claim the riches and reputation his legend brings. Similar to Skultar in strength, and nothing else, he nevertheless must stumble his way through his adventures, aided by Skultar’s right-hand man. If Skultar’s enemies ever find out he’s an impostor, nothing would stop them from imposing their dark rule over all the lands.

Born into slavery, trained as a warrior, it is his destiny to rule a kingdom by his own hand.

It’s just a stolen destiny.

Now, this forlorn hero comes to the celebrated Dark Horse anthology in its seventh issue.

Mark Wheatley takes his parody seriously. “I think the best humor grows out of a true love for the source material—and I’ve been a fan of Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, C. L. Moore, and sword-and-sorcery stories for half an epoch! That doesn’t mean I can’t see where it gets silly! And trust me, Skultar is where it gets silly!”

Look for Skultar: The Unconquered in Dark Horse Presents #7, on sale this December!

Green Lantern Film Reviewed

I saw Green Lantern and posted a review at Negromancer.  The movie has its moments, and it is visually striking, but way too noisy.  The visual effects are mostly good, but some of them are surprisingly bad for a big budget flick from a major studio.

The script is bad, although, by the end, Green Lantern becomes the hero he is supposed to be in a rousing finale.  Mark Strong is utterly wasted as Sinestro.  Most of the characters are extraneous, and once again, the very talented Angela Bassett is way under-utilized.

So far, the box office looks good, perhaps coming in at $55 to $60 million for the weekend.  This may be enough to get the studio to greenlight a sequel - hopefully with at least new writers.

"Falling Skies" Comic Book Sells Out

FALLING SKIES GIVES A SOLD-OUT PERFORMANCE!

June 15, MILWAUKIE, OR—With the highly anticipated launch of the TNT television show Falling Skies, the Falling Skies prequel graphic novel has completely sold out!

Dark Horse Comics began working with TNT a little under a year ago, publishing a free webcomic prequel to the television series. In the heart of Boston, following the devastating events of an alien invasion, history professor Tom Mason and his sons meet up with the Second Mass, a militia group determined to wipe out the aliens. But with the militia’s supplies running low, Tom must locate an old friend to equip him and his team in order to ensure the survival of the human race.

Falling Skies is from DreamWorks Television and stars Noah Wyle. Watch for the TNT original series debuting on Sunday, June 19!

About Dark Horse Comics
Since 1986, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent like Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Gerard Way, and comics legend Will Eisner, Dark Horse has developed such successful characters as the Mask, Timecop, and SpyBoy. Additionally, its highly successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Emily the Strange, Tim Burton, Trigun, Serenity, and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic-book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of licensed comics material.

"Green Lantern" Star Honors Military Dads

Warner Bros. and Ryan Reynolds Join Forces to Honor Military Dads

“Green Lantern” Star Flies by Miramar to Kick Off Father’s Day Weekend with Advance Screening

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ryan Reynolds, the star of Warner Bros. Pictures’ epic action adventure “Green Lantern,” made a special appearance at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar today to herald the opening of the new film and introduce an advance screening in the on-base Bob Hope Theater. In appreciation of our troops, he also announced that the Studio will be hosting Father’s Day weekend showings at 12 additional military bases around the country, in recognition of the “Joining Forces” campaign initiated by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden (www.whitehouse.gov/joiningforces).

At today’s screening at Miramar, Reynolds announced that screenings will be held on Saturday, June 18, and Sunday, June 19, for the servicemen and women and military families who are currently stationed at Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard bases from coast to coast. Screenings will take place on either Saturday or Sunday at the following locations:

Army: Ft. Belvoir, Alexandria, Virginia; Ft. Campbell, Clarksville, Tennessee; and Ft. Huachuca, Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Air Force: F.E. Warren AFB, Cheyenne, Wyoming; Little Rock AFB, Jacksonville, Arkansas; and Seymour Johnson AFB, Goldboro, North Carolina.

Navy: NAS in Fallon, Nevada; NAF in El Centro, California; and NAS JRB in Fort Worth, Texas.

Marine Corps: MCAB in Yuma, Arizona; and MCAS in New River, North Carolina.

Coast Guard: USCG in Petaluma, California.

“Green Lantern” opens nationwide in 3D and 2D tomorrow, June 17, 2011.


About the Film:
In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, an elite, powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. Warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him the ability to create anything his mind can imagine. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan.

Bringing the enduringly popular superhero to the big screen for the first time, “Green Lantern” was directed by Martin Campbell, from a screenplay by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg, screen story by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim, based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.

“Green Lantern” stars Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett and Tim Robbins. The film was produced by Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti. Herbert W. Gains and Andrew Haas served as executive producers, with Lucienne Papon and Geoff Johns co-producing.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, a De Line Pictures production, “Green Lantern.” The film is being distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

“Green Lantern” has been rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action.

http://www.greenlantern.com/

I Reads You Review: WORLD’S END (Yaoi)

Creator: Eiki Eiki (cartoonist); Douglas W. Dlin (translation)
Publishing Information: Juné Manga/DMP; B&W, paperback, 232pp, $12.95 U.S.
Ordering Numbers: ISBN 13: 978-1-56970-766-1; ISBN 10: 1-56970-766-9

Drama/Romance; Rated “YA” for “Teens 16+”

World’s End is the sequel to the yaoi manga, Dear Myself. Both books are the creation of mangaka Eiki Eiki (Train Train). Dear Myself focused on Hirofumi Mizui, a freelance writer, and his possessive boyfriend, Daigo Furubayashi, a businessman and college freshman.

If I understand the story correctly (and I may not because I’ve never read Dear Myself), there is a third character in this scenario, a character known as “Alien Hirofumi.” At one point in the story, Hirofumi loses his memory, and he essentially becomes someone different from the real Hirofumi – thus the term “alien.” It is “Alien Hirofumi” who falls in love with Daigo. This Hirofumi writes “Dear Myself” letters so that when he regains his memories and goes back to being the “real” Hirofumi, he’ll have written memories of his time with Daigo.

As World’s End, a continuation and conclusion of Dear Myself, opens, Hirofumi and Daigo have been living together for a year. However, Daigo has become frighteningly possessive of Hirofumi and starts imposing restrictions on when and where Hirofumi can go. Determined to be independent, Hirofumi insists that Daigo not accompany him to a high school reunion. There, Hirofumi meets an old female acquaintance, Nanae Maeda, who may have romantic feelings for Hirofumi. Meanwhile, his psychological scars lead Daigo to taking drastic action for fear of losing Hirofumi.

This volume also includes the short story, “The Last Spring,” a side story to Dear Myself, featuring the amnesiac Alien Hirofumi. Here, Hirofumi worries that regaining his memory will mean losing the part of him that loves Daigo, so he makes a promise involving cherry blossoms. The only new story in World’s End is the short story, “The Next Spring,” a follow-up to “The Last Spring.”

Eiki Eiki is one of my favorite Boys’ Love (BL) creators. I love her drawing style and the sensibilities of her graphical storytelling, even when I’m not impressed by the core story and characters. This is straight melodrama, but what makes it work is character motivation. The fact is that the characters are selfish and self-centered, even in romantic relationships. They are so focused on their own good feelings and fear of pain, and that gives this drama some edge, as well as potent conflict, both internal and external. A love story that involves stalking, deception, and false imprisonment is a spicier read than a straight love story.

This book also includes stories featuring two more young couples. In “Kiss on a Honeymoon,” Fumiya Yoshino and Ayane Kumagai are a gay couple who married before they graduated from high school. However, school obligations kept the duo from honeymooning. Now, they’re trying to make the class graduation trip to Hawaii double as a honeymoon, but classmate, Takagishi, is a full-on cock block. What to do?

In “Papa’s 18,” former street punk Chiharu Daisawa is now a 20-year-old college student, and he wants his mother, Kayoko Daisawa, to be happy. He approves of her engagement to get married until he discovers that her fiancée is an 18-year-old kid just out of high school. This kid has even taken the family name and goes by the name, Noboru Daisawa. What’s worse to Chiharu is that his new “dad” is a sleepwalker who likes to get in bed with his new “son.”

“Kiss on a Honeymoon” is just a trifle, a cute BL story that really plays out like a high school shojo manga romance. “Papa’s 18” is funny simply because its not-so-farfetched scenario plays out with raunchy, mini-set pieces. There are so many possibilities here for outrageous and scandalous comedy that “Papa’s 18” should be a full-length graphic novel.

At 232 pages, World’s End is packed with entertaining boys’ love manga. None of it is great. Some of it is quite good, and even the average stuff can be entertaining.

A-

20th Century Boys: Expo Hurray

I read Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Vol. 15

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).