Comic-Con International, the nation's biggest comic book convention, is this week in San Diego. We asked members of the Dallas-area comic book community what they're looking forward to the most and what they're dreading the most.
BRIAN DENHAM, artist of The X-Files
Looking forward to: "DC Comics has asked me to sign at their booth this year. When I got hired by Image Comics in 1994 and moved away from Dallas, the first thing I did at my first Comic-Con was to have a picture taken of myself next to the 6-foot DC logo. Fourteen years later, I'll be there signing."
Dreading: "The possibility of not meeting people at my booth. I spend almost every day of the year inside my house, drawing for sometimes 17 hours a day. I'd like to know there are people out there who enjoy the work. It's a very isolated career."
KRISTIAN DONALDSON, artist of Supermarket
Looking forward to: "Seeing friends in the industry that I only get to see at cons like this one. A close second is going out to Mission Beach and getting submerged in some salt water."
Dreading: "The trip back, weighed down and bags bulging with books, screen prints, hard-to-find art supplies and other impulse purchases. Last year, I almost missed my flight when my bag literally ripped apart in the airport."
JESSIE GARZA, publisher of Viper Comics
Looking forward to: "Interacting with fans and the release of the new books."
Dreading: "The long waits at the end of a long day to get something to eat."
JOSH HOWARD, writer/artist of Dead@17
Looking forward to: "Meeting fans and debuting my new art book."
Dreading: "The 22-hour van ride."
SCOTT KURTZ, writer/artist of PvP
Looking forward to: "The atmosphere. Not just the literal atmosphere of that fantastic San Diego sea air, but the charged excitement that comes from brushing up against thousands of other people who are creating their own worlds inside of comic books."
Dreading: "My eventual return to the heat after a week of breezy, 72-degree weather."
JEREMY SHORR, owner of Titan Comics
Looking forward to: "Spending time with the creators and publishers who make up this great industry."
Dreading: "Crowds."
KRISTOFER STRAUB, writer/artist of Starslip Crisis
Looking forward to: "Seeing cartoonists I only get to hang out with in person once or twice a year."
Dreading: "Con food, and a two-hour wait for a table at every restaurant in the Gaslamp district. This is going to be the most crowded Comic-Con yet."
I'm a big FX fan, and I've been meaning to blog about a couple of things related to its shows, so here goes:
The Shield returns for its final season Sept. 2. On the Web site, they have interviews cast members conducted with one another. So you can see CCH Pounder and others give their impressions of the show and its "farewell ride," a phrase from the song used in promos.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia returns Sept. 18, and there's a hilarious spoof called "Going Back to Philly" airing in commercials and in its entirety on the Web. And here's the original, for comparison.
Rescue Me doesn't air again until March, but they're showing "minisodes" every Tuesday at 9 p.m. to tide people over. Last week's, although only five minutes, was pretty good.
Radio host Russ Martin had been expected to return to the airwaves this afternoon, but KLLI-FM (105.3) abruptly reversed course today and said he won't be returning immediately. The 47-year-old host of the highly rated Russ Martin Show was arrested Friday on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a July 14 incident at his home in Southlake. The 27-year-old woman who said she was attacked told police she was Martin's fiancee. Martin and his attorney have declined to comment on the substance of the allegations against him.
Officials at KLLI did not characterize Martin's absence from the air as a suspension. Neither, however, would they say when he might return.
A copy of Martin's arrest warrant and affidavit can be found here.
Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 on TV's The Golden Girls, has died. She was 84. Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 this morning at her Hollywood Boulevard home. On Golden Girls, Getty played Sophia Petrillo, the feisty 80-something mother of Bea Arthur's character. She also starred with Sylvester Stallone in Stop or My Mom Will Shoot.
There's a new Olympic documentary coming out called let it out: the movie.
Kleenex and its production team went to several U.S. cities to document Olympians, Olympic hopefuls and fans sharing their favorite memories from past Games. You'll see Mia Hamm, Michael Johnson, Kerri Strug and Jackie Joyner-Kersee in the trailer.
Oh wait...that's last week's news. But the news from this week's episode of The Next Food Network Star, featuring Dallas resident Lisa Garza, is the same - they decided to let everyone into the finale because they just couldn't decide whom to cut. Or maybe they were taking a page from Top Chef's playbook?
In any event, Lisa's still around and looks like she could win this thing, especially after displaying a set of pipes on Sunday's episode (skip to the 1:39 mark). Who knew the girl could sing?
If you missed this weekend's VH1 Rock Honors show for the Who, you missed a good show. Bands including the Foo Fighters, the Flaming Lips, Pearl Jam and Tenacious D covered classics from the Who, and then the old guys themselves took the stage. One of the highlights was Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips coming onstage in a giant inflatable ball (a pinball?) and then rolling out into the crowd. "This is going to be pretty cool," I thought, "until he suffocates." But he emerged from the ball unscathed for a medley of songs from Tommy.
Here are the Foo Fighters playing "Young Man Blues."
To recognize National Make Someone Smile week, which started Sunday, Tiff's Treats will give away 120 dozen cookies to its fans. Cookie monsters need to tell Tiff how her cookies made you or someone else smile before Wednesday. I know the couple of times we've had them in the Quick office, there's been smiles all around. The top 20 entries will each receive SIX DOZEN cookies. So if you win, be prepared to buy a lot of milk!
Dallas-area radio host Russ Martin is free on bail after being arrested on an assault charge, authorities say. Martin, host of the highly rated "Russ Martin Show" on KLLI-FM (105.3), was arrested Friday on a charge of aggravated assault with bodily injuries with a deadly weapon, Southlake police spokesman Mike Bedrich said. Official details were sketchy, but the Dallas Observer's Sportatorium blog says Martin was accused of assaulting his girlfriend.
The arrest has already spawned freerussmartin.com, despite the fact that the radio host already posted bail.
Click here to check out my FAQ-style review of The Dark Knight. I saw it in IMAX on Monday morning, and I might just be back in line at the theater this weekend.
And click here to read an interview with one of the badasses who taught cast members how to fight.
Oh, and I can't mention Batman without playing you this:
If so, you should enter this race Saturday so you can proudly display your shirt and hat saying so. You have to be one of the first 2,000 people to pick up your packet at Run On! so you can get the hat in addition to the shirt, though. The event has a 5K and a 15K, and it really is hot, even at 7:30 a.m. I was a hot mess o' sweat last year, and I only did the 5K.
Sadly, I'm not participating this year because my money went to the Iron Girl Triathlon, which also offers a duathlon Sunday in Irving. You can still register online through Friday for $85 or Saturday at packet pickup for $100.
We're in the thick of the presidential race, and that can only mean one thing: JibJab is back with another animated song-and-dance routine poking fun at the candidates. And President Bush, Dick Cheney, Hillary and Bill Clinton, etc. ... You can also put yourself in the video.
Comedian Andy Dick was arrested early today on suspicion of drug possession and sexual battery in California. Police said they arrived at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Murrieta at about 1:15 a.m. after receiving reports of an intoxicated man urinating outside. They found Dick in a truck that was leaving the scene. A 17-year-old girl told police that Dick, 42, had left the restaurant, walked up to her and pulled down her tank top, exposing her breasts.
Police said Dick was "extremely intoxicated" and that marijuana and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax were found in his pockets.
Katy Perry (above), singer of the ubiquitous summer hit "I Kissed a Girl," says that if she could taste the cherry chapstick of any fellow celeb, it would be Miley Cyrus. "Maybe we'll have another Britney-Madonna moment on stage," Perry said. "How hilarious would that be? Although I don't think it would help her career. However, it would definitely help mine!"
Until people realized that Perry is 23 and Cyrus is 15.
Craig Marquis, an amateur poker player from Arlington, has made the final table at the World Series of Poker's main event in Las Vegas.
So now, we wait five months to find out how the event shakes out, thanks to the revamped schedule that allows the entire tournament to air on ESPN so that the final table can be played live. The poker world's been in somewhat of an uproar over the decision, with critics saying it allows the participants to study their opponents and learn too much about them to make the table fair. Also, it completely deters the run of anyone who was getting dealt great cards.
As a viewer, I like this change because it'll make watching the tournament from now until Nov. 9 more exciting. But if I were a player, I'd rather just have it over with so I couldn't overanalyze the situation and my opponents for five months. Any thoughts?
* The first two elimination rounds of Voice of Pride 2008 are this week: 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Eagle (2515 Inwood Road, Suite 107) and 9 p.m. Thursday at Buddies (4025 Maple Ave.).
* Catch a stellar act starting at 10 p.m. Thursday at the Rose Room's Shining Star competition. 3911 Cedar Springs Road.
* Bring a swimsuit and beach towel Friday and Saturday nights to S4's Wet Dreams beach party. 3911 Cedar Springs Road.
* Vie for a $100 cash prize at the Woody's bathing suit contest starting at 10 p.m. Saturday. 4011 Cedar Springs Road.
Well, what do you think about Josh Hamilton's performance in the home run derby? Wow!
I don't even think it matters that he didn't win. Who will remember Justin Morneau as the champion? Hamilton is what people will be talking about for the next few days.
Only days after local dancer Comfort Fedoke (left) was kicked off of Fox's reality competish So You Think You Can Dance, the hip-hopper is set to return to the show.
According to an Associated Press story, an injury forced Jessica King to voluntarily drop out of the show, so Comfort has been called back into dance duty. Although I find Comfort to be somewhat of a one-trick pony (don't get me wrong -- she's SUPER-talented at her particular genre), I don't mind Jessica being gone. Although Jessica was a technically strong dancer at times, her confidence seemed to flag, she never dazzled as a performer and was often carried by her much abler partner, Will.
I hope Comfort manages to bring it these next few weeks, because I do enjoy her sparkling personality.
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