ComicBase 15 Has Arrived! – ComicBase.com

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ComicBase 15 Has Arrived!

ComicBase 15 has shipped: it has all the features collectors love, such as thorough data on more than 450,000 comics; easy data entry, with or without the optional bar code scanner; and (with paid subscriptions) a year’s worth of issue and cover updates.

We’ve also improved our mobile device support, so among other things, you can now preview cover with reports on your iPad, iPhone, Android or other internet-capable smart phone. And our New Comics Wednesday feature lists the new comics expected each week–so you can check off what you’ve bought and enter it to your collection as soon as you get back from your favorite comics retailer.

If you’re a registered Pro or Archive user, you can upgrade to the ComicBase 15 Archive (with full size covers and the ability to download new covers at any time–even filling in subscription lapses) for just $99.95 until September 15, 2010. That’s a $200 savings!

Go to our Products section and log in to see all our deals for buying or upgrading your copy of ComicBase now! Or give us a call at 408-266-6883.

Update on Teen Titans: Games from George Perez

From the George Perez facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/pages/George-Perez-Fan-Page/385542437272

As many of you have already learned, The TEEN TTANS: GAMES graphic novel has been taken off the November release schedule and will be re-solicited. The fault is entirely mine. I’m afraid that a confluence of events, including my worsening eyesight which prompted the ongoing surgical procedures that I’ve already covered here and the bad timing of committing to LEGACIES before I knew that GAMES’ deadlines had been compromised.

With LEGACIES being an ongoing series, as opposed to GAMES being a one-shot, it was determined that the monthly series had to be prioritized since my involvement with that series had already been publicized. Due to some attendant light sensitivity issues, my ability to stare at a white sheet lit by studio lamps was definitely getting a bit difficult, which is one of the reasons I switched to inking Jerry Ordway for Issue 6. Oddly enough, looking at pages already grayed by pencils was easier on my orbs than starting with a clean white page.

In all likelihood, I will still have several surgeries to get through and, according to my doctor, the prognosis is good. I will be returning to GAMES after I finish LEGACIES and will progress as best as I can in between surgical procedures. After I finish that long, long, long delayed book, I will request to be used primarily as an inker for the following year (with the exception of some covers or pin-ups here and there) until my eyesight is normal (or at least stabilized). After that, I intend to kick some serious comic art butt!

I sincerely apologize to all of you who are now disappointed, yet again with the continuous delays on this decades-old project. I particularly want to apologize to my friend and TITANS cohort Marv Wolfman who’s shown the patience of a saint throughout all this, even during times when I was too overwhelmed to return his calls.
I have about 25 pages left to draw and I’m hoping that, when the book is finally re-solicited (and it will be!) that it will be at least a tiny bit worth the long wait.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Quick and the Read #11 – CHOKE!!! The Return of Comic Book Reviews?!?!?!?!

Ok I’m just going to admit it now.  I suck at this comic blog.  Basically I am a lazy SOB who likes to do a little as possible and play computer games whenever I can, watch TV and read comics when I am not doing that.  Every once in a while (five days a week unfortunately) I have to go to work for a while and pretend I care so I can make money to eat, buy more comics, and pay other bills I am forced to pay.

I already get comics late through the mail/UPS, and I take way too long to read them when I do.  By the time I get around to writing about what I have read, they have already been blogged to death, and no one cares anymore.

So from here on out, no more excuses; no more grand exclamations that I am going to do things different, because we all know that is a bunch of shit.  I will do comic reviews when I do them, so let’s just all move on from here shall we?

There it is, I said it; and I feel so much better.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are a few reviews that I took some time out of my busy schedule to do.  Hope you get something out of them.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #35 (Dark Horse Comics) – Wow, serious jumping the shark here guys. Last issue was way over the top with the partial nudity, and this one was barely incomprehensible.  I have to admit that I have been buying this out of habit for a while now (something that I need to change on a lot of titles).  It started out great at first, but after “the gang” had to go into hiding when vampires got popular, things started to go downhill fast.  I love Brad Meltzer’s stuff I have read on other comics (Lighting Saga being the first that comes to mind) his arc on this book was really out there (though I did like the Superman references), and hard to follow.  I was glad to hear that this title is taking a breather for a while, because I think this run has more than run its course.

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Astro City: The Dark Age Book Four #4 (WildStorm) – I am big fan of Kurt Busiek’s writing, and it was his work on Astro City that made me that big of a fan.  Astro City was probably my first try outside of the “Big Two” (or three or four, depending on who you talk to) and I have never regretted it for one second.  The Astro City stories have always been great, and this last issue of the “Dark Age” saga is no exception. Kurt Busiek is one of the greatest comic book writers of our time.   I can’t wait to read what he has for us in the “Silver Agent” series!

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Zatanna #1 (DC Comics) – I was really disappointed in this one.  Paul Dini is a good writer, I have liked his work on “Batman: the Animated Series” and on “Detective Comics” in the past.  However this book’s concept is a complete and total robbing of Jim Butcher’s “The Dresden Files” novels in my opinion.  So much so I think Butcher should sue.  Other than that the art was pretty good.  This is the only issue of this I will be getting.

Well that’s it for this time around, hopefully it won’t be almost a year before I do another one of these; but I’m not making any promises.

Start in at the ground floor on the Comic Book Chat e-mail list!

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Kleefeld on Comics: Sad Health Updates On Giordano & Sarno

Its a damn shame.

Kleefeld on Comics: Sad Health Updates On Giordano & Sarno

Sad Health Updates On Giordano & Sarno
Jon Cooke (via Maggie Thompson) has news about Dick Giordano…

Just spoke with Pat Bastienne and she tells me that Dick Giordano… is not doing very well and is in the hospital in Florida. The greatest of the DC Comics artist-slash-editors has suffered leukemia in recent years and has now taken a turn for the worse. God bless the gentle man.

More tragically, Doc Boucher notes that Joe Sarno has passed away. As I reported here yesterday, he had been in a coma since a nasty fall on Sunday. Mike Gold has this remembrance.

20th Century Danny Boy: Dick Giordano In Hospital

Very sad news…

20th Century Danny Boy: Dick Giordano In Hospital

Thursday, March 18, 2010
Dick Giordano In Hospital

Some very sad news has just crossed my desk and as well as posting it over at the Inkwell Awards site, I thought it might be worthwhile giving it a run here. Long-time DC Comics editor/artist Dick Giordano is in the hospital and is very ill, Well wishers can send cards and letters to him:
c/o Florida Hospital Oceanside,
264 S. Atlantic Ave.
Ormond Beach, FL 32176.

I urge everyone to send him a get well card and, like always, tell the man what you think of him, and how much he means to you, as an artist, and has done throughout the years. I’ve been wracking my brains to find something to write and have, instead, decided to run a recent article that I wrote for Dick’s Hall Of Fame page at the Inkwell Awards web-site. Have a read and send Dick some well-wishes asap.

Turner Newsroom: TNT Picks Up Acclaimed Drama SOUTHLAND

WE DID IT!!!

Turner Newsroom: TNT Picks Up Acclaimed Drama SOUTHLAND

Release Date: 11/2/2009
TNT Picks Up Acclaimed Drama SOUTHLAND

TNT has picked up the critically acclaimed series SOUTHLAND, closing a deal with Warner Bros. Television that will bring the drama from Emmy®-winning producer John Wells (ER, The West Wing) to the network in January. TNT has obtained exclusive rights to air all six episodes that have been shot for the second season, as well as the seven episodes from the series’ first season. SOUTHLAND will air on TNT Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), beginning with the first episode of the series on Jan. 12.

“This is a great win for fans of SOUTHLAND and a perfect opportunity to introduce the series to new viewers,” said Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks. “It’s also another outstanding example of how TNT has established itself as the go-to place for the best dramas on television.”

“We are extremely pleased that TNT has acquired all 13 episodes of SOUTHLAND, giving devoted fans the opportunity to watch a show that they passionately support,” said Peter Roth, president of Warner Bros. Television.

“We’re delighted that TNT has stepped forward to pick up SOUTHLAND. We are all extremely proud of the show,” Wells said.

SOUTHLAND premiered on NBC in April to rave reviews. The series was called “tough-minded [and] suspenseful” by The New York Times, which also said, “SOUTHLAND is commendably stinting and cold, a series that doesn’t aim to please, and is all the more pleasurable for it.” The Hollywood Reporter called SOUTHLAND “exciting, smart, realistic and brilliant,” while Daily Variety said, “[John] Wells and company have delivered a cop drama with its own racing pulse. The crisp execution … has a decidedly elite cable feel.

In SOUTHLAND, John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz – A River Runs Through It) is a veteran cop assigned to train young rookie Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie – The O.C.). Cooper attacks his job with a no-nonsense firmness that sometimes leaves Sherman wondering if he’s really cut out to be a cop.

The series also follows Detective Lydia Adams (Regina King – Ray, Jerry Maguire), who spends her off-work hours serving as her mother’s primary caregiver. Her partner, Detective Russell Clarke (Tom Everett Scott – Boiler Room), is a father struggling with an unhappy marriage. Detective Daniel “Sal” Salinger (Michael McGrady – The Thin Red Line) oversees a unit of gang detectives, including Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro – Drive, Ugly Betty) and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy – Alpha Dog). And patrol officer Chickie Brown (Arija Bareikis – Crossing Jordan) is a single mom determined to make her mark as the first woman in the SWAT unit.

SOUTHLAND is from John Wells Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Created by Emmy winner Ann Biderman (NYPD Blue, Public Enemies), the series is executive-produced by Biderman, Emmy winner Chris Chulack (ER, Third Watch) and Wells. Chulack is also a primary director of the series.

Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) is one of the entertainment industry’s most respected providers of original content, producing award-winning drama and comedy series for both broadcast network television and cable. For the 2009-2010 television season, WBTV is producing more than 25 primetime series, with at least one show on each of the five broadcast networks. New programs include the one-hour drama The Vampire Diaries, the #1 show on The CW; one-hour shows Human Target and Past Life for Fox; the hourlong V, Eastwick and The Forgotten, as well as half-hour comedies The Middle and Hank for ABC; and an untitled medical drama from Jerry Bruckheimer Television for midseason on CBS, among others. Continuing programs include TV’s #1 comedy among households and total viewers in Two and a Half Men, TV’s #1 comedy among adults 18-49 in The Big Bang Theory, the #1 new program of 2008-2009 among households and total viewers in The Mentalist, the Julia Louis-Dreyfus-starring comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine and veteran drama Cold Case for CBS; the #1 new program of 2008-2009 among adults 18-49 in Fringe for Fox; Chuck for NBC; and Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Smallville and Supernatural for The CW. WBTV also produces The Closer for TNT and Nip/Tuck for FX.

TNT, one of cable’s top-rated networks, is television’s destination for drama and home to such original series as the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter; HawthoRNe, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; Raising the Bar, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben and Jane Kaczmarek; and Dark Blue, starring Dylan McDermott. TNT also presents such powerful dramas as Bones, CSI: NY and Numb3rs; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards®; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Contact(s):
Susan Ievoli
(212) 275-8016
New York Eileen Quast
(310) 788-6797
Burbank Heather Sautter
(404) 885-0746
Atlanta

‘Southland’ cancelled: Can it still survive? Yes! | EW.com

‘Southland’ cancelled: Can it still survive? Yes! | EW.com

‘Southland’ cancelled: Can it still survive? Yes!
by Ken Tucker
Categories: Cancellations, Fall TV 2009, News, Talk Shows, Television

southland_l

As EW reported last night, Southland has been canceled by NBC. A combination of so-so ratings and, more significantly, the lack of the 10 p.m. time-slot a grown-up cop drama a series such as Southland requires are undoubtedly the chief reasons.

This is a cryin’ shame. Southland had all the makings of what used to be considered a classic NBC show: Good serialized stories, a fine ensemble cast, and that comfy workplace-drama feel that ER and Homicide: Life On The Street used to have.

Oh, but NBC doesn’t care that Southland’s Regina King was probably well on her way to an Emmy nomination if her cop character had remained as strong as it did last season, or that Ben McKenzie had found a fine post-O.C. role to grow into. Naw, the network just wants a couple million people to yuk it up while Jay Leno is stuck in that hour, making jokes with Gerard Butler about being naked in the latter’s film roles, as Leno did last night.

Give us all a break. Where can producer John Wells and creator Ann Biderman take Southland? I wouldn’t trust its chances on the already-crammed ABC, CBS, and Fox networks. It won’t fit on pay-cable — not edgy enough. Yet it’s too edgy for a basic-cable channel such as USA. But why not TNT? If it’s Saving Grace, why can’t it save Southland?

Are you irritated that Southland was cancelled? What NBC show will get the axe next? Maybe they’ll decide that one of the Law and Orders isn’t pulling in enough viewers at 8 or 9 p.m., when it should be on at 10 anyway?

Beyond that, where do you think a wounded Southland could resurface, and thrive, on TV?

Shopping ‘Southland’ | Company Town | Los Angeles Times

This is a travesty

Shopping ‘Southland’ | Company Town | Los Angeles Times

Shopping ‘Southland’
October 9, 2009 | 2:36 pm

So the folks behind the recently canceled “Southland” are working the phones today, hitting up every cable network they can think of that might be interested in the cop drama.

First on everyone’s list for taking the departed NBC drama is TNT. For starters, “Southland” is produced by Warner Bros., which like TNT is owned by Time Warner, so there is a family connection. Second, while “The Closer” is still going gangbusters for TNT, the network recently lost “Saving Grace,” and its other dramas, including “Dark Blue,” have not been setting the world on fire.

SOUTHLAND While “Southland” certainly would be a good fit on TNT, it remains to be seen if the network would want to buy someone else’s castoff. With six episodes of “Southland” already in the can, TNT may be able to negotiate a decent price, and since Warner Bros. will already be getting paid for those shows by NBC, it might be willing to cut a slight break on the license fee. Then, if the show were a success for TNT, it could ask for more money. NBC was paying about $1.5 million per episode for the show, people close to the production say. That is not a huge fee for a cash cow like TNT.

Another likely network would be A&E. However, we’re told A&E has already passed. And A&E is partially owned by NBC, so that might have been a problem politically even if it did want it. USA Network is totally owned by NBC and “Southland” is much too dark for them, so that’s out.

That brings us to AMC, home of “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.” They like to spend money there, but everyone thinks they are the new HBO, so they might not want to sully their image with a show from a (cough) broadcast network.

FX already has a ton of programming, and while “Southland” may be gritty (there’s that word again) for NBC, it’s “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” for FX.

People will say it should go on HBO or Showtime, but it’s not nearly quirky enough.

So unless Food Network or The Weather Channel (whoops, that’s NBC again) want to go in a completely different direction, the only real candidate out there may be TNT.

Let’s see if blood is thicker than money.

– Joe Flint

Comcast to monitor and inform subscribers when their PC is infected – Tech Products & Geek News | Geek.com

This can’t be a good thing…

Comcast to monitor and inform subscribers when their PC is infected – Tech Products & Geek News | Geek.com

Comcast to monitor and inform subscribers when their PC is infected
Oct. 9, 2009 (9:01 am) By: Matthew Humphries

Comcast alert

One of the biggest problems with an infected PC is that unless the user of that PC notices or realizes their machine is infected there is little that can be done about it. The emphasis is on the user to secure and monitor their own machine and therefore malware writers go to great lengths to ensure their infections remain silent and unnoticeable.

Comcast has decided it is going to take action and aid its subscribers by informing them if a machine is suspected of being compromised. It will do this by regularly monitoring the network activities of individual connections looking for the common signs of a machine being used as part of a botnet, for example. If such a machine is identified then a warning will be sent to that user as a service notice stating the following:

Comcast has detected that there may be a virus on your computer(s). For more information on how to clean your computer(s), please visit the Comcast Anti-Virus Center.

A security center link then takes that user to a page where they can find tools to clean up their machine. The message, as seen in the image above, is displayed on the Comcast website and a follow-up e-mail is sent, but other than that the company will not be contacting the user directly, so this warning can be ignored. No further action will be taken if the user doesn’t do anything, as this is just meant to be a helpful hint rather than the start of a process to get them running virus free.

Comcast has made it clear that the monitoring involved will remain anonymous with no data stored or looked at during the process. In order to determine what classes as a potential infection Comcast will employ independent help such as known infected IP lists from the likes of Spamhaus as well as its own analysis system. At worst a user may get to see one of these messages as a false positive. At best users who had no idea they were infected take action and clean up their machine.

Read more at DSLReports.com and a detailed description of the monitoring posted by Comcast on the DSLReports.com forums

Matthew’s Opinion

Malware writers are very good at covering their tracks and can make an infected PC act as normal while in the background it works as part of a botnet helping to spread spam. Most users wouldn’t even know their machine has been compromised and unless they run security checks how will they ever know? Some malware even blocks users going to security sites in an attempt to stop the compromise ever being found.

With that in mind this monitoring by Comcast should be welcomed. It is an anonymous check that just looks for the common signs of an infection and then its an unintrusive warning with no further intervention. You can’t get much more hands-off while still being helpful and it’s an important action to take. Spam levels are so high because there are so many machines out there on botnets pumping the stuff out to inboxes. Unless those PCs are cleaned up the spam will continue to flow and unless users know their machines are infected this will never change.

I’d argue Comcast should go further than just the message on a website and an e-mail. Why not phone up that subscriber and inform them that they may have an infected machine. Nine times out of ten I bet the response is one of “what do I do?” at which point they can be helped. A message or e-mail on the other hand may get overlooked or looked at with suspicion as a possible scam.

What do you think? Is Comcast’s idea one that should be copied across all ISPs? Should it go further than just a warning message on a website?

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