Steve Harvey Participant in "Roopster Roux" Graphic Novel

Press release from Bluewater Productions:

STEVE HARVEY’S “ROOPSTER ROUX” HOPS ON OVER TO BLUEWATER

Many know Steve Harvey as one of the Original Kings of Comedy, but he is also the face and narrator of the children’s book series Roopster Roux. Now this series is being adapted by Bluewater Productions into an original story graphic novel.

The series chronicles the adventures of a sports-loving rooster who enjoys reading and whose heroic deeds are due in large part to the knowledge Roopster gains through various books. Aided by his super-charged skateboard, Roopster delivers positive educational messages while keeping readers entertained with action-packed adventures.

Harvey will serve as the on-page narrator for the newest comic adaptation written by series creator Lavaille Lavette. The graphic novel is scheduled for release in 2010. The graphic novel with be written by Ryan Burton (Female Force: Stephenie Meyer & Flying Saucers Vs the Earth) and drawn by Erik Thompson (Steve Lawlis & Atlas).

“I’m pleased and excited to partner with Bluewater Productions, said Lavette. Bluewater has a proven success record in the graphic novel universe. The Roopster Roux graphic novel series will be full of exciting adventures, destined to take the Roopster Roux character to new heights”.

The new adventures look to draw on the series’ core audience of children 6-12 and will incorporate Steve Harvey as an interactive character much in the same vein as the Bill Cosby 1970’s animated series “Fat Albert.”

"I really like Roopster Roux," said Harvey. "The series is fast-paced. Roopster is a hero to kids and a lot of adults as well. Readers from all walks of life identify with Roopster Roux".

The four “The Adventures of Roopster Roux” books and tapes series (Slammin Slim , Escape From Vultures Roost, Surfing The Net and Monster All Stars) have sold over half a million units. The series has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, Reading is Fundamental (RIF), School Districts and local and national levels of Government entities. Eighteen major cities have proclaimed Roopster Roux Day to promote reading and literacy, including the four largest cities in the United States.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to present quality storytelling in a comic format to a younger audience,” said Bluewater president Darren Davis. “If it gets just one more kid to start reading, then it’ll be a great success. I was one of those kids and comics helped me to become a better, more engaged, reader.”
More information about Roopster Roux can be found on its official website: http://www.roopsterroux.com.

Steve Harvey is widely-acclaimed comedian, actor, entertainer, and radio personality. He is probably best known as the star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy. Currently, he is the host of The Steve Harvey Morning Show, a nationally syndicated radio program.

November 2009 DVD Releases from VIZ Media

Press release from VIZ Media:

DVD RELEASES FOR NOVEMBER 2009 FROM VIZ MEDIA

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced their list of DVD titles scheduled for release in November 2009. This includes the first NARUTO Shippuden Movie as well as the latest episodic releases of the popular BLEACH, NARUTO Shippuden and POKÉMON series. November DVD releases also include the newest NANA, BLEACH and NARUTO Box Sets. VIZ Media DVD titles are distributed (in English) in the U.S and Mexico by Warner Home Video and in Canada by Allegro.

New NARUTO Releases Include:

NARUTO Shippuden The Movie • Rated 'T+' for Older Teens • MSRP: $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN • Available November 10
A powerful spirit that once threatened to destroy the world is back! Naruto's mission is to protect a priestess named Shion, who is the only one with the power to seal away the monster. She also has the uncanny ability to predict someone's fate. her latest prediction: Naruto will soon die. Naruto's only hope is to abandon Shion, but that's not Naruto's style. He decides to face her fatal prediction head-on--and die!

NARUTO Shippuden, Volume 3 • Rated 'T+' for Older Teens • MSRP: $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN • Available November 24
Gaara of the Sand has been kidnapped, and Team Kakashi are on their way! Sakura uses her skills as a medic ninja to treat the wounded Kankuro, impressing everyone with her sure and steady hands. Granny Chiyo of the Sand decides to accompany Team Kakashi, but before they can get to Gaara and the Akatsuki lair, the team is confronted by a familiar enemy--Itachi Uchiha.
Episodes: 9 – 13

NARUTO UNCUT Season 1, Volume 2 DVD Box Set • Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens • MSRP: $39.97 US / $57.99 CAN • Available November 24
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura face deadly enemies and dark powers as the Chunin Exam continues in the Forest of Death. While they search for the Heaven and Earth scrolls, something evil is afoot, and it's after Sasuke! Then the genin must take on each other in one-on-one battles. Does Naruto have what it takes to stand up to his peers--and win?
Episodes: 26 – 52

New BLEACH Releases Include:

BLEACH UNCUT Box Set 4, Part 1 • Rated ‘T’ for Teens • MSRP: $49.95 US / $71.99 CAN • Available November 3
Ichigo and his friends return from the Soul Society to the World of the Living and try to resume their normal lives. But when strange abductions start happening, it's up to them to solve the riddle. More Soul Reapers arrive to help uncover the truth behind a mysterious clan known as Bounts. Will these allies be strong enough to stop the Bount leader from stealing human souls and feeding his dangerous ambition?
Episodes: 64 – 79 (Original and Uncut)

BLEACH Volume 22 • Rated ‘T’ for Teens • MSRP: $24.92 US / $35.99 CAN • Available November 17
Rangiku Matsumoto and several other Soul Reapers arrive to help in the battle against the evil Bounts. Entering the cave hideout, they soon discover they've stumbled into a trap! Just in time to back up their comrades, Ichigo faces the Bount leader Kariya and must summon his bankai if he is to survive, while Uryû must rediscover his lost powers as well.
Episodes: 88 – 91

New POKÉMON Releases Include:

POKÉMON: ELEMENTS, Volume 5: Ice • Rated 'A' for All Ages • MSRP: $9.98 US / $14.99 CAN • Available November 24

POKÉMON: ELEMENTS, Volume 6: Dark • Rated 'A' for All Ages • MSRP: $9.98 US / $14.99 CAN • Available November 24
Following the POKÉMON All Star series set, the POKÉMON: ELEMENTS collection consists of the most important episodes commemorating the different types of Pokémon characters. Each disc showcases a Pokémon type with three all-time favorite episodes. Collect them all!

Volume 5 Includes 3 Ice–type episodes:
1. Freeze Frame
2. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let it Snorunt!
3. Spring Fever

Volume 6 Includes 3 Dark–type episodes:
1. Absol-ute Disaster
2. Pop Goes The Sneasel
3. A Bite to Remember

New Shojo Releases Include:

NANA BOX SET, Volume 2 • Rated ‘M’ for Mature • MSRP: $59.90 US / $85.99 CAN • Available November 24
Careers, friendship, love--can two bright young women named Nana manage to have it all?
Nana K.'s Tokyo experiment is in jeopardy when she finds herself strapped for cash and her relationship with Shoji on uncertain ground. Nana O.'s love life takes an unexpected turn when she's reunited with her old flame, Ren from Trapnest. With such a close connection to her favorite band, will Nana K. get to meet the man of her dreams--Takumi? Sometimes dreams do come true... Episodes: 12 – 22[END]

CSI Manga - Miss it at Your Own Risk

I had the pleasure of reading TOKYOPOP's OEL/Global Manga CSI: Intern at Your Own Risk

The review is up at Comics Bulletin. This is not the first comic book based on CBS' long-running series, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. IDW published some CSI miniseries about mid-decade. I think some were collected in trade paperbacks. Still, this is my first CSI comic book experience, and I am frankly flabbergasted that this is so well done, even if the concept (CSI interns having free run of the crime lab) is far fetched. I hope TOKYOPOP publishes a sequel.

Howard Chaykin's Power & Glory is Back!

In this CBR article, acclaimed writer/artist Howard Chaykin talks about the return of his out-of-print work, including the recently re-released Power & Glory. Apparently Midnight Men (formerly of Marvel/Epic's Heavy Hitters line) and Black Kiss (formerly of Vortex Comics and then Eros Comix) will also be returned to print.

Power and Glory

From Me to Review

I finished reading Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Volume 2

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin. It's a good shojo manga (comics for teen girls) series, but nothing special, so far.

TOKYOPOP to Publish U.S. Edition of "Shutter Island" Graphic Novel

Press release from TOKYOPOP:

TOKYOPOP & WILLIAM MORROW PRESENT: SHUTTER ISLAND Graphic Novel

Dennis Lehane's masterpiece of mystery and suspense is brought to life for the first time as a graphic novel

TOKYOPOP and William Morrow, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, are thrilled to announce the release of the graphic novel adaptation of SHUTTER ISLAND, Dennis Lehane's bestselling novel. International comic book artist Christian de Metter's dramatic artwork, crafted in a noir, painterly style, compliments this edition of the dark, chilling story, which also marks the debut of Lehane in the graphic novel market.

SHUTTER ISLAND is set in 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his partner, Chuck Aule, are sent to Shutter Island to find a mass murderer who has escaped from Ashcliffe Hospital, a fortress-like federal institution for the criminally insane. As their investigation deepens, and an intense hurricane bears relentlessly down on the island, the marshals are forced to piece together clues to a shocking puzzle hidden within Shutter Island. And as hints of radical experimentation add more sinister undertones to an already bizarre case, the investigation takes the marshals on a twisted journey in which the line between sanity and madness disappears...

"SHUTTER ISLAND's paranoia and overall creepy vibe is tailor-made for a graphic novel, and Christian De Metter's art work is haunting, even unforgettable," observes Dennis Lehane.

"It's an honor to publish a graphic novel with an author of such stature as Dennis Lehane," says Marco Pavia, TOKYOPOP Associate Publisher. "In all candor, I'm a huge Lehane fan, and I was stunned at how De Metter's artwork enhanced the prose experience, adding a discernable layer of anxiety to this unnerving and, ultimately, profoundly moving story."

Originally published in France, the SHUTTER ISLAND graphic novel was listed as a 2009 Official Selection at the annual Angoulême BD Festival, the Cannes of the comic world. TOKYOPOP and William Morrow will promote the graphic novel with an extensive online marketing campaign that will include online comics previews, a book trailer, and a Dennis Lehane interview.

The TOKYOPOP/William Morrow co-publication will be on sale January 5, wherever books are sold, and timed to release before the feature film from Paramount Pictures, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio.[END]

Shutter Island Graphic Novel
Shutter Island

VIZ Cinema Screen Naruto Shippuden Movie

Press release from VIZ Media:

VIZ CINEMA TO HOST THE EXCLUSIVE THEATRICAL PREMIERE OF NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE

World’s Most Popular Ninja Returns To The Big Screen In A Dangerous New Mission Where Death May Be The Only Way To Succeed

VIZ Cinema, the nation’s first and only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese films and anime, has announced a special U.S. theatrical premiere of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE on October 6th and 7th. Two showings are scheduled each day, at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., and will be presented as part of the theatre’s Weeknight Anime People programming.

In the newest animated adventure, which is the fourth in the popular NARUTO movie series, a powerful spirit that once threatened to destroy the world is back! Naruto’s mission is to protect a priestess named Shion, who is the only one with the power to seal away the monster. She also has the uncanny ability to predict someone’s fate, and her latest prophecy is that Naruto will die. His only hope is to abandon Shion, but that’s not Naruto’s style. He decides to challenge her prediction head on, but it may very well cost the young ninja’s life!

VIZ Cinema is a 143-seat subterranean theatre owned and operated by VIZ Pictures and located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building in the heart of San Francisco’s historic Japantown. The theatre features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system. Ticket information and details on all of October’s films are available at: http://www.vizcinema.com/.

The NARUTO Shippuden manga and animated series pick up two years after Naruto left to train with his teacher and mentor Jiraiya. Now a teenager, the stories in the new series take a more mature and sometimes darker approach as Naruto returns to the Hidden Leaf Village to reunite with his old friends and discover that they are stronger than before – and maybe even stronger than he is! For Naruto, the spirit of a nine-tailed fox spirit trapped inside him is a metaphor for adolescence. There is a powerful force in this spunky teenager and he must learn to conquer it and overcome his own uncontrollable spirit and emotions while battling an array of villains and completing near-impossible missions. VIZ Media is scheduled to release the DVD of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE on November 10th.

Created by Masashi Kishimoto, NARUTO was first introduced in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan in 1999 and quickly became that country’s most popular ninja manga targeting tweens and teens and has sold more than 92 million copies to-date. NARUTO has also become an international phenomenon captivating millions of fans across North America, Europe and South America. VIZ Media publishes the manga series (rated ‘T’ for Teens) and distributes the animated counterpart (NARUTO rated ‘T’ for teens, and NARUTO Shippuden rated ‘T+’ for older teens) which are some of the company’s most successful properties. NARUTO is a co-production of TV TOKYO, VIZ Media parent company Shueisha Inc., and Pierrot Co., Ltd.
For more information on NARUTO Shippuden, and to view NARUTO Shippuden episodes (subtitled), please visit the official NARUTO website at http://www.naruto.com/.

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: http://www.newpeopleworld.com/.