… and we’re back. Sorry for the gap, but I had some trouble posting last week. Things should be okay now. I’m taking precautions this time.

DC Special: Cyborg #1 (of 5)
Ken Lashley’s Draxhall studio
Wikipedia entry on Cyborg

The long-time Titan gets his own mini-series at last, with pencils by Ken Lashley.

Also this week:
Batman and the Outsiders #7. Cover by Braithwaite.
Justice League of America #21. Written by McDuffie.
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #3 (of 12). Pencils by Igle.
Perhapanauts #2
Spawn #178
Black Panther #36. Written by Hudlin.

Also notable:
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull #1 (of 2). The official comics adaptation.
Pilot Season: Twilight Guardian #1. Common Grounds writer Troy Hickman is an old friend of mine, and I remember when he did this as a mini-comic back in the 90s. You’re gonna like this new book of his too.
Mighty Avengers #14. Secret Invasion tie-in.
Star Trek: Assignment Earth #1. John Byrne’s take on the aborted Star Trek spin-off series.

ECBACC was last week, and it went well, though in all honesty it wasn’t quite as big a crowd as it was last year, which is surprising given the appearance of Nichelle Nichols. I was part of the brief press conference that interviewed her, and she is everything I thought she’d be. She really does have a presence about her that is almost regal - her diction, the way she sits in a chair, the way she talks about her life - all of it is elegant yet down-to-earth at the same time.

She talked about the forthcoming Star Trek movie and expressed her approval of both director JJ Abrams and Zoe Saldana, the new Uhura. She talked a bit about her role in Heroes and about her recent film Lady Magdalene’s, as well as about her days doing the Star Trek series and about her craft as an actress. Her panel with the fans came shortly afterwards. I wasn’t there for that, but still, just to be in the same room with her, getting to talk to her, however briefly, was a thrill beyond words.

My only regret was that she didn’t have time to sign my copy of her autobiography, Beyond Uhura. I was so determined to not come across as a fanboy, and yet in the end when I got my question out I was tongue-tied. At least she understood me.

Regarding the GCAs: if it seems a bit odd that Story of the Year and Best Writer split, consider that this was the closest race ever in both categories. The GCAs are voted on with a weighted ballot system, in which the judges distribute a total of five points among each of the nominees in a given category. This way judges can throw their support behind more than one contender if they wish. The nominee with the most points wins the category. Story of the Year had to be settled by a tie-breaker vote between Sentences and Satchel Paige - they each finished with the same amount of points. Also, James Sturm won Best Writer by a single point over Percy Carey and Dwayne McDuffie. It was a real horse race, but when you’ve got as many high-quality contenders as we did this year, it’s no real surprise.

My thanks to everyone who helped make it another successful season for the GCAs, including my judges, Bill Foster, Katherine Keller, Tony Isabella and Cheryl Lynn Eaton; Maurice, Stephanie and the rest of the ECBACC crew; and of course Jamar Nicholas for hosting. We’ll begin receiving submissions for the 2009 GCAs December 1, so be prepared!

You know by now that Blade co-creator Gene Colan is very sick. Here’s the latest update on what’s being done to help pay for his medical costs and how you can help.

S’more Hancock photos.

SLJ as the Octopus in The Spirit.

Will Tyrese play Luke Cage? He ain’t sayin’ for sure.

This article contains highlights from interviews with the original and new Uhuras about the forthcoming Star Trek film (which, in case you may not have heard, has been pushed back to May 2009). There might be spoilers.

Gunplay GN
Platinum Studios website
Christopher Priest blog

The horror Western GN about a Buffalo soldier gets released this week, with prose backup stories by Christopher Priest.

Also this week:
Avengers: The Initiative #12
Black Panther: Little Green Men TP. Written by Hudlin.
Fantastic Four: The Beginning of the End TP. Written by McDuffie.
New Warriors #11. Written by Grevioux.
Thor by J. Michael Straczynski Premiere HC V1. Pencils by Coipel.
Blackbeard Legacy #3 (of 4)
Gold Digger: Tangent #4. By Perry.
Justice For Hire #3 (of 12)

Other notable comics:
Blue Beetle #26. The Spanish-language issue.
DC Universe Zero. The big set-up to Final Crisis and the year to come in the DCU, priced at only 50 cents.
Secret Invasion (2nd printing) #1 (of 8)
Glamourpuss #1. The return of small press legend Dave Sim in a brand new series.
Magic Pickle GN. A re-release of this wonderful kids’ adventure comic by Scott Morse.

I’m sorry for being behind on stuff. This past month has been extremely difficult for me personally, and things will continue to be hectic for me for the next few months. This blog is not my life, and while I try to keep up as best I can, reality has a nasty habit of getting in the way. I appreciate your indulgence.

Greg Rucka interviews Gary Phillips about his forthcoming comic High Rollers.

Here’s a video interview with Gail Simone where she talks about the return of Welcome to Tranquility, among other things.

This Terrence Howard interview about Iron Man contains SPOILERS.

A new Raven Gregory interview.

Jason Aaron talks about his Secret Invasion-related run on Black Panther.

MBQ creator Felipe Smith has a new gig with a Japanese mag.

And a BIG congratulations to Jamal Igle and his wife Karine on the birth of their daughter Catherine!

A family emergency kept me from posting yesterday. Sorry for the delay. (I had a really good April Fool’s gag planned, too. Maybe next year…)

Voting in the Fan Award in the Glyph Comics Awards is now closed. Thanks to everyone who voted. The entire GCA ceremony is set for Friday, May 16 as part of ECBACC 2008. Throughout this month we’ll take a look at all the nominees for this year in all ten categories.

The Kids Comic Con was quite good. I believe I had mentioned here the possibility of an awards program to coincide with the show; unfortunately, that never got off the ground, at least this year. Thanks once again to Alex Simmons for all his work in putting the show together, and don’t forget - Sunday is Kids Day at the New York Comic Con, which Alex is also a part of. Publishers Weekly has a report on the KCC.

Mohawk Media has already announced an upcoming Mr. T graphic novel. Following this book will be a series of “Versus” crossover comics, the first of which will pit the 80’s TV icon against none other than Dracula:

Explaining the series, author Christopher Bunting says: ‘When I proposed these crossovers, Mohawk Media jumped at the chance and went to great lengths to make them happen. Who can blame them? Two legends … a living legend and an undead legend … going toe to toe. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that!’

Bunting continues: ‘Kicking – or should that be biting – off the series is Dracula. How is someone as devious as him going to handle someone as straight talking as Mr. T? And as powerful as Dracula is, he’s not met anyone as tough as Mr. T before!’

As Mr. T says in the story: ‘All these suckers with their fancy powers! They need a reality check, and only one guy can do that, and that’s me, Mr. T!’

‘Ain’t no difference if they’re a vampire, a dinosaur, a mutant, if they’re doing wrong, then it needs Mr. T to set things straight with a swift right!’

Although many details of Mr. T Versus are being kept closely guarded, Mohawk Media has offered an exclusive glimpse into the series at: http://www.mohawkmedia.co.uk/mrtversus.htm

The Mr. T Limited Advance Edition graphic novel is available at Mohawk’s site and will also be available on Amazon beginning this Friday.

More pics and a new website for Will Smith’s Hancock.

South African cartoonist Zapiro gets an honorary doctorate.

I can’t get the link to this Georges Jeanty interview to open for me, so you’ll have to go through Heidi to get to it. Scroll down about a little more than halfway.

Terrence Howard talks Iron Man.

“J.J [Abrams] called and said, ‘I’m a fan and would love for you to do my movie’ and I was said, ‘Great! I’ll call you back.’ I called my agent and was like, ‘Who is this guy’ and he said I need to look at his stuff. I was so impressed with what he does because it parallels a lot of my own stuff… He talked me into it and it’s a good thing I didn’t see the last Star Trek movie or I would have said no.”

Tyler Perry

[article contains some spoilers]

Don’t forget to vote in the Fan Award for the 2007 Glyph Comics Awards!

DC Special: Raven #1 (of 5)
Wikipedia entry on Damion Scott

Former Bat-artist Damion Scott returns with a new mini featuring the Titan Raven.

Also this week:
Buffy TVS #12. Art by Jeanty.
Highwaymen TP. Co-written by Bernardin.
Infinity Inc. #7
The New Dynamix #1 (of 5). A new mini set in the Wildstorm universe and featuring a new black hero named Omni.

Here’s a mainstream piece on DC’s Zuda Comics, with an emphasis on Bayou.

The New York Times reviews Incognegro. (Registration required.)

Levar Burton and Nichelle Nichols compare the last Star Trek film, Nemesis, to the forthcoming one.

Djimon Hounsou will be in a “comic book trilogy.” Which one is open to speculation.

Who the bloody hell made Vixen into a white girl?

Forgot to tell you last week - I lost my Oscar pool. It looked like I had won a tie-breaker, but Derek miscounted. He says he’s gonna send me something as a consolation prize, though.

New Avengers #38
Brian Michael Bendis interview about Secret Invasion

This year’s big megasuperultrasexycool crossover event from Marvel plants seeds with this issue, which focuses on Luke Cage and Jessica Jones.

Also this week:
Connor Hawke: Dragon’s Blood TP
Black Panther #34. Written by Hudlin.

Plus: I could’ve sworn that Incognegro was not on last week’s list, but I have seen it, so it’s definitely out now. Go get it; it’s a fantastic book.

Lots of Hollywood news:

Rapper Common tells MTV he is indeed playing Green Lantern in the Justice League film. And now that the writer’s strike is over, we should expect to hear news regarding progress on this film sometime soon.

The Annie Awards were last weekend, and Eartha Kitt won yet another Voice Acting award for her work in The Emperor’s New School.

Star Trek’s new Uhura, Zoe Saldana gets a taste of papparazzi stalkerdom. She’s also one of the cover girls of the Hollywood Vanity Fair issue.

Meanwhile, the original Uhura, Nichelle Nichols, was honored by the San Diego Black Film Festival for her film Lady Magdalene’s.

Samuel L. Jackson talks about possibly returning to the Star Wars universe as Mace Windu again.

TNG and DS9’s Michael Dorn was named one of Entertainment Weekly’s “Heavenly Bodies of Sci-Fi.”

Larry Stroman audio interview.

I guess it was only a matter of time before somebody turned the Bible into a manga, but who’da thunk it would be done by a Nigerian artist? (Thanks to Pam for the link.)

E&P collects links to all the cartoons involved in the black cartoonists stunt. Later this week I’ll talk about this.

“…I was not a [Star Trek] fan until now and I have so much admiration for what they did, and how much the series continues to grow after 45 years and I had the honor of meeting Nichelle Nichols and working with Leonard Nimoy and it was fantastic.”

Zoe Saldana

Here’s an additional interview with her that’s Valentine’s Day-related.

“I think that Voyager is one of the more popular series they brought back. People really like TNG and they really like Voyager a lot…those two stand out. I think the nature of the storylines really holds up over time. The ones that involve difficult character decisions and involve some very interesting character plots — those stories tend to hold up. You can still get caught up in the story and it wont matter when you watch it. The only thing that wont hold up could be the special effects which could change over years. But looking at the episode I directed, ‘Living Witness,’ it is timeless. You can play that story now or a thousand years from now and that storyline is still relevant.”

Tim Russ

Also: Will Smith’s son Jaden (last seen in The Pursuit of Happyness) will be in the forthcoming remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

“It was such a wonderful exploration of myself. Because what happens is you get into a situation where you don’t have people to create the stimulus for you to respond to. So what happens is you start to create the stimulus and the response. There’s a connection with yourself that where your mind starts to drift to in those types of situations you start to learn things about yourself that you would never even imagine. In order to prepare for that, we sat with former POWs and people who sat in solitary confinement. That was the framework for creating the idea.”

Will Smith