Sunday, April 24, 2011
Noted
• Today is Easter. Wouldn’t it be fun to curl up with an Easter with Mother Goose story by Walt Kelly? We posted the first one here and the second one here. (Maggie Thompson)
• Less than two days after its initial discussion of The Sandman: Dream Country, the National Public Radio “I Will if You Will” book club had nearly 100 posts from readers writing about the nature and content of “Calliope,” the first story in the collection. Some of those participants had been familiar with the series for years; some were new to the experience of reading a comic-book story. You can share your views on the series, its stories, and/or comics in general on the thread. Next up for discussion will be “A Dream of a Thousand Cats.” I can hardly wait to see what the commentators make of it. (Maggie Thompson)
• Looking well ahead on the calendar to the next holiday weekend (Memorial Day), the HDNet cable channel will show The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986) in high definition May 30 beginning at 8 p.m. E.T. The double feature marks the first time the films have been on television in more than 10 years and they will only be shown once on the cable network.
In addition, through its association with the Jim Henson Studios, Archaia is producing a Dark Crystal comic book, with a preview being part of its Free Comic Book Day offering this year. And a 3-D sequel, Power of the Dark Crystal, is in production.
Archaia has also announced plans for a Labyrinth comic book and new videogames based on both properties are in development by Sandstorm Productions. (Brent Frankenhoff)
Yesterday’s Panel Quiz Answer
King Aroo’s advisor Yupyop’s first line in comics was, “Thank you — I’ll see that he gets it — ” He said it in the King Aroo strip for Nov. 15, 1950, the third strip in Jack Kent’s series.
Today’s Panel Quiz
It’s time for another twofer where the first character’s first line in comics was “That strange animal – firing lightning bursts from its antlers!” and the second character’s first line was, “We’ve got to shoot it – before it shoots us!” So what duo uttered these lines in their first comics appearance?
Born Today
Howie Schneider (1930), comic strip writer and artist
Al Vey (1955), comics inker
John MacLeod (1957), small press comics creator
Ralph Griffith (1960), Arrow Comics founder
Randy Carpenter (1965), comics creator
Every Wednesday and Saturday. California: City of Industry. Comic Book & Collectible Show.
April 29-May 1 California: Anaheim. Comic Con.
April 29-May 1 Louisiana: Lake Charles. BayouCon.
April 29-May 1 North Carolina: Lumbeton. Sports Card, Comic Book and Collectibles Show.
April 30 Delaware: Bethany Beach. Sports Card, Comic Book & Collectible Show.
April 30 Kansas: Kansas City-Overland Park. Comics convention.
April 30 New York: Ithaca. Ithacon.
April 30-May 1 Massachusetts: Boston. Comic Con.
April 30-May 1 North Carolina: Charlotte. Toy -Hobby & Sportscard Show.
April 30-May 1 Pennsylvania: Reading. Super Show.
April 30-May 1 South Carolina: Columbia. Fandomfest Columbia.
May 1 Connecticut: New Haven. New Haven Comic and Collectibles Spectacular.
May 1 Florida: Daytona Beach. Daytona Beach Comic & Toy Show.
May 1 Indiana: Indianapolis. Comic Book Show.
May 1 Nebraska: Omaha. Comics show.
May 1 New Jersey: Wayne. Comic, Toy & Collectible Show.
May 1 Pennsylvania: Essington-Philadelphia. Comic Con.
Do you have a show coming up? Let us know! You can e-mail the information to showscalendar@krause.com or mail it to Show Calendars, Comics Buyer’s Guide, 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54945. If you have a creator appearance scheduled, let us know by e-mail to brent.frankenhoff@fwmedia.com.
Question of the Week
What would you like to see in Today’s Comics Guide?
Comics-Related Media
• It’s a night of Simpsons repeats on Fox. At 7 p.m. E.T., the network broadcasts Season 22, Episode 7 “How Munched is that Birdie in the Window?,” followed by Season 22, Episode 16 “A Midsummer’s Nice Dream” at 7:30 p.m. Cheech and Chong appear as themselves in the latter, while Danica Patrick and Rachel Weisz have guest voices in the former. At 8 p.m., you can catch The Simpsons Movie (2007).
• If you missed Cartoon Network’s showing of The Wizard of Oz last night, you can catch it tonight starting at 5:30 p.m. E.T.
This is the 55th installment of Today’s Comics Guide.
The Magazine
