BOOM! Studios Debuts WYND Character Designs by Michael Dialynas

Posted on 06/12/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Discover the Star-Studded “Must Read” Original Series from BOOM! Studios Starting in June 2020

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 12, 2020) – BOOM! Studios today is proud to reveal character designs by acclaimed artist Michael Dialynas (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) for WYND. The all new original series reunities award-winning superstars James Tynion IV (Something is Killing the Children, Batman) and Dialynas, with letterer Aditya Bidikar (Isola). Tynion IV and Dialynas previously collaborated for three years on the GLAAD Award winning series The Woods.

WYND #1 introduces readers to a world where magical heritage is punishable by death, so a young boy named Wynd must keep his true identity – and pointy ears – a secret from everyone in Pipetown, even if it means he’ll never have the normal life he wants. But when his secret is threatened, Wynd is forced to leave his home behind to embark on a dangerous quest that will put him at the heart of a royal conspiracy beyond his imagination.

This is the first original series from BOOM! Studios to be announced and solicited outside of the traditional solicitation cycle, which normally involves soliciting product three months in advance to retailers and fans. Though WYND was originally announced as an original graphic novel from the BOOM! Box imprint for a November 2020 release, the company saw a unique opportunity to deliver fans and retailers a new Must Read series at a crucial time in the comics industry.

WYND #1 features a main cover illustrated by series artist Michael Dialynas and variant covers by acclaimed artists Dan Mora (Once & Future) and Peach Momoko (Batman: The Adventures Continue).

WYND is the newest release from BOOM! Studios’ eponymous imprint, home to critically acclaimed original series, including Once & Future by Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora; Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera; Faithless by Brian Azzarello and Maria Llovet; Folklords by Matt Kindt and Matt Smith; The Red Mother by Jeremy Haun and Danny Luckert; King of Nowhere by W. Maxwell Prince and Tyler Jenkins; and Alienated by Simon Spurrier and Chris Wildoose. The imprint also publishes popular licensed properties including Joss Whedon’s Firefly from Greg Pak and Dan McDaid; Buffy the Vampire Slayer from Jordie Bellaire and David López; Angel from Bryan Edward Hill and Gleb Melnikov; and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from Ryan Parrott and Daniele Di Nicuolo.

Print copies of WYND #1 will be available for sale on June 17, 2020 at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one) or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and Madefire. 

For continuing news on WYND and more from BOOM!, stay tuned to boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.

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ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO MEETS TARANTINO’S PULP FICTION IN ACTION-PACKED GRAPHIC NOVEL—GUNNING FOR RAMIREZ—OUT THIS SEPTEMBER

Posted on 06/11/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

The breakout hit was originally published in Europe from Glénat to great critical acclaim

PORTLAND, Ore. 06/08/2020 — Image Comics invites readers on an action-packed new thrill ride in the forthcoming Gunning for Ramirez original graphic novel by Nicolas Petrimaux. It will be available in English for the first time this September.

Already an international breakout hit, Gunning for Ramirez was originally published by Glénat to great fan and critical acclaim. It has won an Angoulême Award for best publication 2018 (category youth 15/17), Canal BD Award for best publication 2018 (retailers awards), and Best Series BD Gest Award 2018 (press awards).

What if the deadliest assassin in all of Mexico, a man with dozens of kills to his name, was actually a vacuum repairman in Arizona?

Set in Falcon City, Arizona, Gunning for Ramirez follows Jacques Ramirez, a man who works at Robotop, the leading home appliance company in the Southwest United States. Jacques is efficient, thorough, and discreet. That last one is easy: he’s also mute. But everything changes when two members of one of Paso del Rio’s largest drug cartels stumble upon Jacques and believe him to be the deadly hitman who betrayed them in the past: the ruthless Ramirez.

Could it be that the cartel’s legendary clean-up man is really a legendary vacuum cleaner expert? Now that they’ve found him, the men of the cartel will do everything they can to kill this traitor.

Petrimaux’s Gunning for Ramirez presents a tribute to the action thrillers of the 1980s and ’90s—a brutal narrative with never a dull moment. This story is perfect for fans of Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A., Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, or Rodriguez’s Mexico Trilogy.

Gunning for Ramirez (ISBN: 978-1-5343-1697-3) will be available on Wednesday, September 30 and in bookstores on Tuesday, October 6. It can be pre-ordered at your local comic book shop or independent bookstore via Bookshop or Indiebound or it can be pre-ordered on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Indigo.

Gunning for Ramirez will also be available for purchase across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.

 

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Play NYC Returns in 2020 With a Special Online-Only Show, Free to Indies, and Open to All

Posted on 06/10/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

The 4th annual Play NYC game convention moves online Aug. 10-16, 2020, to highlight the power and influence of gaming and celebrate the spirit of New York City.


NEW YORK — The 4th annual Play NYC convention — the biggest, multi-day game convention in New York — expands to a week and goes online-only this summer with the support of the New York City Mayor’s Office for Media and Entertainment, Playcrafting announced today.

“Playcrafting founded Play NYC in 2017 to give New York a game convention of its own,” said Dan Butchko, founder and CEO of Playcrafting and the convention organizer. “Each year, we welcome over 5,000 people and 150 games for two days, unlike any other. Last fall, we announced the 4th Play NYC. A lot of games were already confirmed for the show. It was shaping up to be our biggest yet. Then COVID-19 changed life as we know it.
“New York has been on pause. Our community has struggled through this pandemic. Yet
despite trying times and ongoing tensions, we’ve seen so much hope in how folks have risen up to face the challenges of our reality. This is the greatest city in the world with the strongest people in the world. And games have the power to unite, inspire, educate, and heal. Especially now. That’s why I’m excited to re-announce Play NYC 2020. For the first time, this year’s show will be online, free to join, and a full week-long.”

The seven-day event, which kicks off on Aug. 10 and runs through Aug. 16 at Play-NYC.Com, is open to all indie developers, larger studios, and anyone interested in virtually attending.

For the first time in the show’s history, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and
Entertainment is also supporting Play NYC with an advertising campaign in July that includes bus shelters and phone kiosks throughout the city.

While this year’s event has moved online, Play NYC will still feature an eclectic mix of powerful talks, demos, and panels, and will continue to harness, elevate, and celebrate the essence and impact of New York City on the international gaming community.

Where more than 5,000 people packed the Metropolitan Pavillion during last year’s paid-event, this year’s event will take place on a variety of platforms all brought together through the Play NYC website. Among the many exciting events taking place during Play NYC 2020 will be the annual Graffiti Games installations created exclusively for Play NYC. This year’s initiative will amplify the work of Black game developers and be curated by indie game company Decoy Games.

Graffiti Games installations celebrate the diversity that makes the American gaming industry and New York City so special. Previous installations have featured the talent and stories of first-generation immigrant developers, and celebrated the voices, talent and impact of the LGBTQ community in gaming and the importance of creating safe spaces.
“Games bring people together, but they’re nothing without the people who make them. We’re honored to amplify the important voices of Black game creators through this year’s Graffiti Games. In these challenging times, it’s more important than ever for Play NYC to represent the vital contributions that the Black community makes to the art and culture of games, in New York and beyond.”

More details on this year’s speakers, live-streams, panels, and demos will be released in the coming weeks. Play NYC runs Monday, Aug. 10 through Sunday, Aug. 16.

Visit play-nyc.com and follow us on Twitter @Playcrafting and #PlayNYC for more updates.

Posted in Conventions, Events & Expos, PLAY NYC, Video Games | Comments Off on Play NYC Returns in 2020 With a Special Online-Only Show, Free to Indies, and Open to All

Pearl Jam: Art of Do The Evolution Provides a Behind-The-Scenes Look at One of Rock’s Greatest Music Video Triumphs

Posted on 06/08/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Engaging New Art Book Provides an All-Access Pass to the Collaborative Vision of Todd McFarlane, Kevin Altieri, and Pearl Jam

SAN DIEGO, CA (June 8, 2020) – Twenty-two years after legendary rock band Pearl Jam debuted their Grammy Award-nominated “Do The Evolution” music video, its hypnotic and shocking imagery is perhaps even more relevant to social and environmental issues than during the band’s 1998 Yield tour.

Directed by visionary comics legend Todd McFarlane (Spawn) and veteran animator Kevin Altieri (Batman: The Animated Series), this achievement in animation told a graphic and dark history of the world in four gripping minutes and is widely considered one of the best music videos of all time.

In October, IDW Publishing (OTCQX: IDWM) will release Pearl Jam: Art of Do The Evolution, a 200-page, full-color hardcover revealing the full story behind the creation of this historic video. Lushly illustrated by the video’s striking animation cells with never before seen storyboards and designs from the video, the video’s co-producer, Joe Pearson, will guide readers through the fascinating process of bringing the band’s vision to life in this one-of-a-kind art book.

Todd McFarlane, in the book’s introduction, describes the Do The Evolution music video as “the history of mankind in as condensed a version as you will ever see. In this book, you’ll see and read about some of the process of how we pulled off such a Herculean task… It’s filled with so many wonderful examples of how dozens of creative people come together to put together what would soon become a Grammy-nominated video.”

“Being able to produce this seminal animated video at my studio for Pearl Jam and to work with super talents like Eddie Vedder, Todd McFarlane, and Kevin Altieri was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Pearson. “And then to see the positive and continuing worldwide reaction of millions of fans to our group effort was the icing on this dense cake of edgy music and animation.”

Justin Eisinger, IDW’s Editorial Director of Graphic Novels & Collections, says, “Pearl Jam’s Do The Evolution brings the threat of man’s quest for domination into stark, relatable terms, a theme that remains at the forefront of current conversation. Filled with bold imagery and layered visual storytelling that accentuates the already searing lyrics, McFarlane and Altieri created a video that spans the history of mankind. And now their groundbreaking work can be fully appreciated in this in-depth, behind-the-scenes book that explores how it all came together.”

The Art of Do The Evolution hardcover is essential reading for new and longtime Pearl Jam devotees, animation and graphic design fans who recognize “Do the Evolution” as a high point in the field, and anyone with an acute interest in music video history.

Pearl Jam: Art of Do The Evolution is currently available for pre-order via online booksellers and comic book specialty retailers. Visit www.comicshoplocator.com to find a store near you.

Pearl Jam: Art of Do The Evolution
by Joe Pearson, Terry Fitzgerald, Brad Coombs, Jim Mitchell and Lisa Pearson
ISBN 978-1-63140-741-3
$39.99 US / $53.99 CAN
200-page, full color hardcover, 12” x 9″
October 6, 2020

 

 

 

 


About Joe Pearson

Joe Pearson is an artist, writer, director, producer with more than 30 years of experience in the animation and games industry. His studio, Epoch Ink Animation, has produced numerous animated TV series, shorts, specials, and music videos, and, recently, the animated feature War of the Worlds: Goliath.

About IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing (IDWP), a subsidiary of IDW Media Holdings Inc. (OTC PINK: IDWM), is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, trade paperbacks, and tabletop games. IDWP is one of the top four publishers of comic books and graphic novels in the U.S. with a library of world-renowned licensed content and original series. IDWP’s critically-acclaimed imprints include Top Shelf Productions, Artist’s Editions, EuroComics, The Library of American Comics, Sunday Press, and Yoe! Books.

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Al Ewing and Simone Di Meo Debut WE ONLY FIND THEM WHEN THEY’RE DEAD from BOOM! Studios

Posted on 06/08/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

 “A thing to provoke awe, fear, and wonder.” – Kieron Gillen, Once & Future

“Sign me the hell up.” – Jason Aaron, Thor

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 8, 2020) – BOOM! Studios today announced the new original comic book series WE ONLY FIND THEM WHEN THEY’RE DEAD by superstars Al Ewing (Immortal Hulk) and Simone Di Meo (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), about one man’s unrelenting quest throughout space to discover the truth—no matter where it takes him. Available in stores September 2020.

Captain Malik and the crew of the Vihaan II harvest resources from the giant corpses of alien gods found on the edge of human space. While other autopsy ships race to salvage the meat, minerals, and metals that sustain the human race, Malik sees an opportunity to finally break free from this system by being the first to find a living god. But Malik’s obsession with the gods will push his crew into danger at the darkest reaches of space—unless the rogue agent on their trail can stop them first…

Al Ewing is best known for his work for Marvel, including writing Immortal Hulk, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ultimates, Loki: Agent of Asgard, Avengers: No Surrender, and many more. Other work includes Judge Dredd and Zombo for 2000AD and Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor for Titan Comics. We Only Find Them When They’re Dead is his first project for BOOM! Studios.

“WE ONLY FIND THEM WHEN THEY’RE DEAD is a concept I’ve been brewing for some years now, something that merges a few of my favorite things – high-concept action, world-building, quests for the meaning behind existence and heavily metaphorical science fiction – and uses them to create a universe we’re building out into something truly vast, rich and strange,” said Ewing. “No matter which parts of my work you’ve enjoyed before, there’ll be something here for you to love.”

Simone Di Meo is a comic book artist from Italy. He was the artist for the blockbuster Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series at BOOM! Studios. His previous work includes high profile projects at Marvel Entertainment including Venom, Old Man Logan, and Immortal Hulk: The Best Defense.

“I had been waiting for years to work on my own sci-fi series and Al wrote a story so intense that I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” said Di Meo. “Sci-fi, passion, mystery, and giant gods make these pages an absolute blast to draw.”

WE ONLY FIND THEM WHEN THEY’RE DEAD #1 features main cover art by series artist Di Meo, as well as variant covers by Toni Infante (Champions), Christian Ward (Invisible Kingdom), Matias Bergara (Coda) and more.

“Al and Simone are delivering career-best work on this project — and that’s saying something,” said Eric Harburn, Senior Editor, BOOM! Studios. “Visceral, challenging, experimental, contemplative… Get ready for a science-fiction epic unlike any other, that seeks to answer why WE ONLY FIND THEM WHEN THEY’RE DEAD.”

Print copies of WE ONLY FIND THEM WHEN THEY’RE DEAD #1 will be available in September 2020 exclusively at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the one nearest you) or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers like comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and Madefire. Due to the ongoing impact of the current global health crisis, the final release schedule of this series is subject to change.

For continuing news on WE ONLY FIND THEM WHEN THEY’RE DEAD and more from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.

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P.A.M.E.L.A. Leaves Early Access on June 18th with Much-Anticipated Story Mode

Posted on 06/07/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum
Are you ready to explore, fight, and survive?

Mississauga, Canada, June 4th, 2020—Prepare yourself for an intense and unforgiving survival experience—NVYVE Studios is excited to announce that their open-world survival horror game, P.A.M.E.L.A., will be launching into full release on Steam and GOG June 18, 2020. The full release features a new story mode, a new main quest, exciting new side missions, and extensive dialogue from Pamela throughout the game.

Since launching into Steam Early Access back in 2017, fans have been eager to uncover the story behind the downfall of the once vibrant utopian city of Eden, where the game takes place, and how P.A.M.E.L.A. became to be Eden’s once trusted and favored AI overseer. The new P.A.M.E.L.A. story mode takes players on an emotional journey through the city, revealing exactly what happened through flashbacks from P.A.M.E.L.A.’s memories.

While struggling to survive alongside P.A.M.E.L.A., players must make difficult choices, such as deciding how to wisely use the city’s finite energy resources, and how to best customize and upgrade modular weapons and equipment. This new story mode will see players test more than just their survival skills as they embark on a desperate mission to cure an unforgiving virus, defend themselves against the denizens of Eden and build a safe haven for survivors.

The full release of this nail-biting and unforgettable sci-fi survival gaming experience fueled by the studio’s own creativity and passion and feedback gathered from the game’s engaged community.

Find out more at https://www.pamelagame.com/

P.A.M.E.L.A. will be available on Steam and GOG for $24.99 USD, with a 30% discount available for a limited time.

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BOOM! Studios Celebrates Prestigious 2020 Eisner Award Nominations

Posted on 06/05/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

 Premier Publisher Honored By Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Committee in 2020

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 4, 2020) – BOOM! Studios is proud to announce it has received three nominations and one shared nomination in the 2020 Eisner Awards, honoring the best in the comic book industry. This includes three nominations for BOOM! Studios’ new original series and graphic novels – along with one shared nomination for letterer, Jim Campbell.

The full list of nominated comics and talent are below:

  • Best New Series: Once & Future, by Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora (BOOM! Studios)
  • Best New Series: Something is Killing the Children, by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera (BOOM! Studios)
  • Best Graphic Album- New: New World, by David Jesus Vignolli (Archaia)
  • Best Lettering: Jim Campbell, Black Badge, Coda (BOOM! Studios); Giant Days, Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship (BOOM! Box); Rocko’s Modern Afterlife  (KaBOOM!); At the End of Your Tether (Lion Forge); Blade Runner 2019 (Titan); Mall, The Plot, Wasted Space (Vault)

“It’s an honor to receive this recognition from the Eisner Awards committee,” said Matt Gagnon, Editor-in-Chief, BOOM! Studios. “We’re incredibly proud of the brilliant work that our creative partners and the BOOM! Studios team consistently put into our titles. On behalf of everybody at BOOM! we congratulate all the creators that have been nominated!”

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are presented under the auspices of Comic-Con International, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular artforms, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of comics to art and culture. 

A full list of nominees can be found at the Eisner Award website.

For continuing news on BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.

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Poly Bridge 2 is now available on PC with a simultaneous launch on Steam and the Epic Games Store!

Posted on 05/28/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum
The popular bridge-building simulator is back and better than ever with a new extension that allows streamers and viewers to collaborate with ease.

Paekakariki, New Zealand – May 28, 2020 – The acclaimed bridge-building simulator that sold almost 3 million copies is back with even more bells and whistles! The brand-new extension allows streamers and viewers to work together in building their best, and worst, bridges. Developer and publisher Dry Cactus is excited to launch Poly Bridge 2 simultaneously on both Steam and the Epic Games Store today! Players can now unleash their creativity on PC (Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux) for $14.99 USD.

Poly Bridge 2 introduces new levels, new mechanics, a custom physics engine, workshop campaigns, and much more. Rediscover your engineering creativity with even more hours of puzzling fun!

Relax to the soothing new soundtrack as you try, and retry, to keep your bridges standing long enough to get to the other side. Pinch every penny and cut every corner to edge your way up the separate verified Unbreaking and Unrestricted leaderboards. Create, upload, and play a never-ending variety of levels in Sandbox or Workshop. Challenge yourself, friends, and the world with your own puzzles.

If you get stuck on a puzzle while streaming, the Poly Bridge 2 Twitch Extension allows viewers and streamers to work together to solve it. Viewers can design and submit bridges directly to their favourite streamer for them to test in-game! Learn more at http://twitch.polybridge2.com.

Here’s what else you can expect from the new and improved bridge-building simulator:

New Soundtrack

Adrian Talens returns with a new full-length Soundtrack! Relax to the soothing and critically acclaimed music with 13 completely new tracks plus 18 of the original Poly Bridge songs remastered! Enjoy over an hour and a half of the familiar and gentle acoustic guitar rhythms.

Springs!

Take on levels with some added cushion and bounce your way to victory with the new Spring material. Now your bridges can be even more flexible!

New Physics

The team above and beyond this time, crafting a custom physics engine optimized and fine-tuned specifically for bridge simulations. Accurate and predictable, it guarantees the same simulation outcome for everyone, keeping the competitive aspect of the game alive!

Verified Leaderboards

Compete against other players in the new separate general and unbreaking leaderboards! Leaderboard entries are verified on submission to ensure a fair experience for all players.

Improved Sandbox

Create unique levels from scratch and submit them to the in-game Workshop with an improved Sandbox level designer with new objects, customizable ramps, and over twenty vehicles to choose from! Show off your creativity, make your own puzzles, and find an endless variety of levels made by other players!

Workshop Campaigns

Group and order your workshop levels together in the new Workshop Campaigns! Design entire campaign worlds including multiple levels with a common theme and difficulty progression. We’ve also included over 100 original Poly Bridge levels to replay in the Workshop Campaigns section of the in-game Workshop!

And More!

  • First Break Indicator: When your bridge is falling down it can be tough to see where it all goes wrong. Diagnose and fix problems easily with this new simple tool that highlights the first piece broken.
  • 3-Way Split Joints: Drawbridges and hydraulic contraptions can now be enhanced with 3-way split joints. Employ complex moving designs into your bridge with multiple moving parts.
  • Higher Resolution Video Replays: Record high-resolution video replays to show your funny and crazy failures and amazing successes with your friends or on social media. Share your bridges with the world!

For the latest updates, visit the website, follow on Twitter, and check it out on Steam or the Epic Games Store.

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BookConline (Online BookCon 2020) Schedule

Posted on 05/28/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

There are some definite highlights here but everything it worth your time! Head to Bookcon’s website with full details on the panels.

Posted in Books, Conventions, Events & Expos, Music, TV and Movies | Comments Off on BookConline (Online BookCon 2020) Schedule

Book Expo Online Schedule.

Posted on 05/27/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Wednesday’s session of Book Expo Online was absolutely amazing.  Make sure to follow facebook.com/BookExpo for these amazing sessions!

Book Expo Online 2020 Schedule

Posted in Book Expo America | Comments Off on Book Expo Online Schedule.