Saying goodbye to WindowsSecrets.com

I got a call from the Managing Editor of WindowsSecrets.com last night, letting me know that he had decided to discontinue my column effective immediately.? He plans to have one of the other editors combine the same kind of content? into their columns.? My last column was published on Aug, 16th 2007

I can’t say that I am surprised? but it couldn’t have? happened at a better? time.? That small column was beginning to demand more time that it was supposed to when I first signed up for it, and with the book deadlines coming up, it would have been impossible to keep up.

Working for that newsletter was a great opportunity for me, and I enjoyed working with the other editors as they were real professionals and very passionate about what they do.

I wish them all the best in the future.

COMING SOON: Review of the first DC Comics animated film Superman: Doomsday!!

 

I am excited to announce that I was recently contacted by a representative of Warner Brothers, M80 Services, Inc., wanting to know if I would be interested in doing a review of the first DC Comics animated film, Superman: Doomsday!

Being a HUGE DC Comics fan, and a fan of the “Death of Superman” story, I jumped at the chance!

I am now anxiously waiting my copy of this movie, and I PROMISE somewhere in-between the busy time I am going through, I will get a review posted for the readers of this blog and the New Comic Webblog Updates.

I hope it gets here soon, I can’t wait!!

Here is the official trailer and a “sizzle reel” to get you all fired up like I am:

 

The Scoop: Savvy Sites: Spectacular Spider-Man Trailer Online

Savvy Sites: Spectacular Spider-Man Trailer Online

Spectacular Spider-Man Trailer Online

Savvy Sites, Scoop, Friday, August 24, 2007

Marvel.com has unveiled the exclusive trailer for its brand new animated
Spidey series, Spectacular Spider-Man, which is slated to debut on Kids
WB in 2008.

Watch it here: http://www.marvel.com/videos/Spectacular_Spider-Man_Animated_Series_Trailer.

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The Scoop: Did you Know…?: Who is the Scarlet Pimpernel?

Did you Know…?: Who is the Scarlet Pimpernel?

Home

Who is the Scarlet Pimpernel? Did you Know…?, Scoop, Friday, August 24, 2007 Everyone’s heard of the infamous legend of Zorro. But have you heard of The Scarlet Pimpernel? Some speculate it was Johnston McCully’s inspiration to write the tale of the much adored Zorro. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a play and adventure novel written in 1905 by Baroness Emmuska Orczy and set during the early days of the French Revolution. It tells the saga of a secret society of English aristocrats, known as “The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.” Their leader, The Scarlet Pimpernel, is a man of many disguises who is always one step ahead of his enemies. As one of the richest men in England, he keeps his true identity known only to his closest ally and masked to all others. He has helped scores of captured French aristocrats escape from France, thereby prolonging their lives by helping them avoid the dreaded guillotine. All of his messages to his aristocrats are always signed by the drawing of The Scarlet Pimpernel. The parallels to the legend of Zorro are undeniable. Both Don Diego (Zorro) and Sir Percy (The Scarlet Pimpernel) are known throughout their towns as fops; and both men hide their true identities and personalities from everyone, even their closest family members. Each man is also romantically involved with a beautiful woman who is not fully satisfied with his personality and instead is in love with his alter-ego; Zorro or The Scarlet Pimpernel. Furthermore, each character marks his work with a certain trademark; a special drawing or signature that ties each of the masked men to a particular action or event he has executed. From this, it is quite possible that Johnston McCully had read The Scarlet Pimpernel, which in turn inspired him to create The Curse of Capistrano in 1918, where Zorro is referred to as The Curse of Capistrano just as often as he is referred to as the name we know and love, Zorro. Other inspirations have also been aroused and credited to The Scarlet Pimpernel. Take for instance, “The Tartan Pimpernel.” This was a nickname given to the Reverend Donald Caskie for aiding in over 2000 Allied service personnel to escape from occupied France during World War II. Or how about “The American Pimpernel,” who is known as the man who saved the artists on Hitler’s Death List. And finally, Nelson Mandela was given the name, “The Black Pimpernel” prior to his arrest and long incarceration due to his effective use of disguises when evading capture by the police because of anti-apartheid activities in South Africa. Click the images for a close-up view (when available)

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Announcing “Mastering System Center Configuration Manager 2007″ Book

This is why i haven’t posted anything in a while, I have been very busy..

Well its official, I will be taking over the primary writing duties on the “Mastering System Center Configuration Manager 2007” book that will be published by Wiley. Chris Urban (former MVP now Microsoft employee) will be writing the rest.

This opportunity kind of fell in my lap after the original author, Brad Price; decided to change careers and go into business for himself. Thanks go out to John Hann for introducing me to the right people, which led to this great opportunity.

This has happened fairly recently but I am already hard at work on the book, and I have been having a lot of fun playing around with ConfigMgr. So far from what I have seen, it is a truly awesome product.

More information on the book can be found here? Note that my name isn’t on the book here yet, hopefully it will get updated soon.

The Scoop – Auctions/Prices: CGC Batman #200 9.8 Sells

Auctions/Prices: CGC Batman #200 9.8 Sells

CGC Batman #200 9.8 Sells

Auctions/Prices, Scoop, Friday, August 10, 2007

A CGC-certified copy of Batman #200 graded 9.8 with white pages
realized $2,211.56 after receiving 26 bids. The CGC Census currently notes 266
copies certified with the highest graded copy tied with two copies grading
9.8.

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The Scoop – Mondo Media: Jonny Quest Revived?

SWEET!!

Mondo Media: Jonny Quest Revived?

Jonny Quest Revived?

Mondo Media, Scoop, Friday, August 10, 2007

Would you watch a series of live-action Jonny Quest films? Warner Bros.
hopes so. The production powerhouse has hired co-producers Adrian Askarieh and
Daniel Alter (Hitmen, Hack/Slash) and screenwriter Dan Mazeau to come up with
multiple action films based on the animated character popularized in the
1960s.

Great idea… or not? Let us know.

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NEWSARAMA.COM: MIKE WIERIGNO PASSES AWAY

Awww, man this sucks!  I really liked his art.  One of the highlights of starting up the New Comic Weblog Updates page was getting an e-mail from him being asked to be put on the list.

NEWSARAMA.COM: MIKE WIERIGNO PASSES AWAY

MIKE WIERIGNO PASSES AWAY

The comics industry
lost a luminary this weekend – Mike Wieringo passed away Sunday
of a sudden heart attack. Details are still sketchy as of this time,
but according to close sources, the acclaimed artist had chest pains
at some point during the day and called 911, but the responders
did not make it in time.

Wieringo was
44 years old. He was a vegetarian, and “one of the healthiest ones
of us in the bunch,” as his longtime friend and collaborator Todd
Dezago described him. Currently, there are no details about services or a funeral.

Wieringo worked
every day, updating his blog and website with a constant stream
of sketches at MikeWieringo.com. His last sketch was posted
on Friday.

I
had to keep the sketch pretty quick today if I was going to get it done
and posted at all. I spent the morning with an electrical contractor
here at the house. I’ve been having trouble with my heating and air
conditioning unit switching its breaker off during the height of the
heat of the day the past few afternoons (and for those of you in the
southeast dealing with these 100-plus degree days, you know just how
sweltering and oppressive this week has been). As it turns out, my
entire wiring setup outside is horribly old and doesn’t meet code. It
also contains quite a bit of aluminum wiring– which the contractor
tells me is very dangerous and not in use anymore. So I got the great
news that it’s going to cost me thousands of dollars to bring
everything back up to code…. and not have the danger of causing a fire
at any point as well. Ah, the joys of being a homeowner….!

I’ve had several
folks inquire about my 2007 sketchbook and whether it would be for sale
here on the site. Steven Gettis has set up a store link in the PERSONAL
section of the column at the right for selling the sketchbook and
prints I’ve produced. So anyone interested in the things offered there,
I’ve got a PayPal account set up to handle the sales that way.

OK… have a great weekend, everyone.

This is Entry 412.

Mike

Wieringo was born
June 24th, 1963 in Venice, Italy, and first caught the attention of
comic book fans when he joined writer Mark Waid on DC’s The Flash
with issue #80 in 1993. Together, the two co-created the character
Impulse, the future speedster brought back to the present. Wieringo
(or, ‘Ringo as he was better known by then) moved on to Robin
at DC, and then moved to Marvel, where he settled in on Sensational
Spider-Man with writer Todd DeZago.

The pairing
with DeZago was something of fate, as the two co-created and launched
their creator-owned property Tellos, which saw several projects
and miniseries published over the years. Ringo moved back to DC
for a run on Adventures of Superman, and then, in 2002, reunited
with Waid for a run on Fantastic Four that was perhaps best
known for fan outcry when Marvel announced that they were going
to replace the team. Marvel quickly reversed their decision, and
the two completed their run on the series.

Ringo then
moved to Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man with writer Peter
David, and most recently, completed a Spider-Man and the Fantastic
Four miniseries written by Jeff Parker. His next project had
not been announced, although, as readers of his blog knew, he was
very excited at the prospect of doing more Tellos work, with
an eye on being able to debut something at next month’s Baltimore
Comic-Con.

Mike
was a regular face at East Coast conventions for years, and was known
to both fans and pros as one of the friendliest, and most approachable
guys in comics. Heck, he was, I think, the first “pro” I ever met,
back when he had just started drawing Flash.
I remember asking him for a sketch at a small convention in High Point,
North Carolina, he said, “Sure – what of?” And I told him it had to be
the Flash – but not with the mask on, with the mask pulled back,
showing Wally West. Mike looked thoughtful for a few minutes, gave me a
look, and got to drawing. A few minutes later, he gave me the sketch
(still framed and in my office) and I thanked him. It wasn’t until
later that my wife pointed out that he’d drawn me in the mask, instead
of Wally. That’s the kind of cool guy Mike was. And with the North
Carolina comics community being pretty tight-knit, Mike and I got to be
pretty good friends after that. He was a great friend, and a friend of
the site – all too happy to help out years back when Mike Doran and I
needed headshots for the then-version of Newsarama. We looked a little
dorky, but I think that was Mike making a little joke that included all
of us.

He loved what he did.

Matt Brady

ps
- I see we’re getting some database errors from the traffic with this
news. Heh – it was the news of Mark and Mike being kicked off of the Fantastic Four
that melted down our server when it happened a few years back. Mike was
the most humble guy you’d ever meet, but I think he’s at least getting
a smile out of that.

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The Scoop – Superstars: Shadow Foreshadows Batman

Superstars: Shadow Foreshadows Batman

Shadow Foreshadows Batman

Superstars, Scoop, Friday, August 10, 2007

What’s the connection between The Shadow and the first ever Batman story?
Find out when Nostalgia Ventures’ ninth volume of The Shadow, part of its
classic pulp reprint series, hits stands later this year.

Batman
co-creator Bill Finger once confessed that his “first script was a take-off
on a Shadow story.” Partners of Peril, a novel by Theodore Tinsley first
published in a 1936 issue of The Shadow Magazine, contains the story in
question and will be reprinted in The Shadow #9.

Nostalgia
Ventures’ The Shadow Volume 9 also reprints Lingo, Walter Gibson’s
1935 novel that introduced the forerunner of the Batarang, and Tinsley’s 1937
novelette, The Grim Joker, which featured a white-faced crime clown.
The Grim Joker was published in The Shadow’s sister magazine The
Whisperer, whose hero’s secret identity was Police Commissioner James
Gordon. The 144-page trade paperback also reprints the original cover art by
George Rozen, all the interior illustrations by Tom Lovell and new historical
articles on the Batman-Shadow connection.

A tenth volume of Nostalgia
Ventures’ Shadow reprint series will feature a foreword by Harlan Ellison and
Alfred Bester’s The Immortal Villain, a 1944 Shadow radio script that
reworked his earlier Vandal Savage story from Green Lantern Comics #10.
Continuing themes from the historic “Foreshadowing the Batman” volume, The
Shadow #10 focuses on the origin of supervillains, reprinting The City of
Doom (the second Voodoo Master story) and The Fifth Face (featuring a
master of disguise called Five-face).

The Shadow #9 and 10 are
available for retail and wholesale orders from Diamond Comics Distributors and
Sanctum Productions (210-679-8556) or orders@shadowsanctum.com.

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NEWSARAMA.COM: WW: CHICAGO – ALEX ROSS, CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE RETURN?

Figured this was coming soon or later…

Read the rest of the article at the link below.

NEWSARAMA.COM: WW: CHICAGO – ALEX ROSS, CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE RETURN?

WW: CHICAGO – ALEX ROSS, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE RETURN?

by Matt Brady

He’s been away from
Marvel for while but later this year or early next Alex Ross is coming
back to Marvel, once again paired with Jim Krueger for an as of now,
unnamed, in-continuity project with…well, you see that guy in the image
to the right?

Yeah – Captain
America. With the promise that more information will be coming soon,
Ross spoke with Newsarama about his return to Marvel, Captain America,
and what the project just might be about.

Newsarama: Alex, you’ve been away form Marvel for a while – what got this whole ball rolling, and what got things started?

Alex Ross: Nick Barrucci of Dynamic Forces. Basically, he had projects like the Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness crossover and Spider-Man/Red Sonja
and things like that that he was working on with Marvel. He’s been
trying to do a project like this with me for a while, so it was really
Nick’s concept for both the story and me that brought this entire
project together and got things started moving forward.

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