ED BRUBAKER, MARCOS MARTIN & MUNTSA VICENTE SURPRISE READERS WITH  FRIDAY, A POST-YA HORROR SERIES

Posted on 04/17/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

INTRODUCING A NEW SERIES FROM THE WRITER OF CRIMINAL

AND THE ARTIST OF THE PRIVATE EYE, AVAILABLE NOW ON PANEL SYNDICATE

“This book feels like Lovecraft’s New England is colliding with Edward Gorey’s.”

—Writer Ed Brubaker

 

April 15, 2020) Award-winning writer Ed Brubaker, acclaimed artist Marcos Martin, and colorist Muntsa Vicente have surprised readers with the debut of FRIDAY, a previously unannounced comic on Panel Syndicate. In the series, Friday Fitzhugh—girl detective—and Lancelot Jones—her best friend and also the smartest boy in the world—spent their childhoods solving crimes and digging up occult secrets. But that was years ago. And now Friday is in college and starting a new life on her own. She’s moved on. Until she returns home for the holidays and is immediately pulled back into Lance’s orbit. This is literally the Christmas vacation from Hell and neither of them may survive to see the New Year. FRIDAY Chapter One, “The Girl in the Trees,” is available now on Panel Syndicate in English and Spanish, with fans paying what they want to read the story.

 

“One of the first things I said to Marcos was that this book feels like Lovecraft’s New England is colliding with Edward Gorey’s,” said Brubaker. “And I like to describe FRIDAY as post-YA, which is a genre that doesn’t really exist. It’s an idea I’ve been circling for a long time, that lets me tap into my own nostalgia for my youth and the YA books I loved back in the 70s and 80s – stuff like The Great Brain, or John Belliars books, or Harriet the Spy, or Encyclopedia Brown. I want to take that concept of the teen detective and those supernatural mysteries aimed at kids, but then let the protagonists grow up, so they have all the same problems we all do… and they encounter a much more dangerous world.”

 

FRIDAY marks the first major collaboration between Brubaker and Martin.

 

“Ed Brubaker has always been one of my favorite comic book writers,” said Martin. “There’s a unique quality to his writing, like a sober sadness that permeates all his work and always shines through, whether it’s on his crime noir stories with artist extraordinaire Sean Phillips or on his superhero projects at Marvel or DC. We had the chance to collaborate briefly on a Captain America Annual almost 15 years ago and I remembered the experience fondly, so when the time came last year to start thinking about what creator owned project I wanted to tackle next, I was hoping he’d had a similar positive memory of our past work together. But most importantly, I had his email address.”

 

“When Marcos wrote to me last summer asking if I wanted to work with him on his next big thing for Panel Syndicate, I think I wrote back within a minute to say yes,” said Brubaker. “I’ve been a longtime fan and watching his style evolve over the years has been amazing, and I was also really interested in what he and Brian K Vaughan created when they released The Private Eye on Panel Syndicate. For a while now a lot of cartoonists I follow—like Emily Carroll and Tillie Walden—have been publishing their work digitally as they complete it, and then putting out these gorgeous collections in print, and I’ve been curious to try something like that… to serialize a graphic novel in chapters, then put out the book in print (and knowing me, with all sorts of extras) when it’s done.”

 

“I had been wanting to experiment a bit with my drawing style and get away from my comfort zone for a while now, contemplating the possibility of cross-hatching, a technique I’ve never really looked into,” said Martin. “So when Ed pitched me the idea for FRIDAY with its mixture of Edward Gorey and Lovecraft set in a New England-ish town in the late 60s/early 70s, I was surprised to find the concept fit perfectly with what I was hoping to develop.”

 

FRIDAY will be released on Panel Syndicate in two formats: one for computers and laptops where it’s a double-page spread, and one for iPad, where it’s a single page view. In 2013, Marcos Martin founded the online platform Panel Syndicate with writer Brian K. Vaughan and illustrator/colorist Muntsa Vicente, in order to distribute their creator-owned comic, The Private Eye.

 

“Panel Syndicate was born as an example of a distribution model I felt was fair to both readers and creators, and eventually, comic publishers and retailers who can make more informed decisions with the books they were publishing and stocking on their shelves,” said Martin. “Our payment model also establishes a direct relationship between readers and creators. As creators, we’re responsible for creating quality comics to the best of our abilities, and the reader then gets to decide the value they think those comics have, according to their own perception and personal circumstances.”

 

“When we started work on the series last summer, we had no idea our surprise drop would come during a global pandemic, with a comic market that’s completely shut down,” said Brubaker. “But I know that my level of reading comics and books, and marathoning everything on Netflix, has gone through the roof the last month, so hopefully FRIDAY will be a nice surprise for comic readers today, and maybe a small escape from the real world right now.”

Posted in Comics | Comments Off on ED BRUBAKER, MARCOS MARTIN & MUNTSA VICENTE SURPRISE READERS WITH  FRIDAY, A POST-YA HORROR SERIES

Expanded LudoNarraCon 2020 Exhibitor Lineup and Panels Revealed

Posted on 04/14/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Pioneering digital games festival returns to Steam on April 24-27 with more games added due to physical con cancellations

MELBOURNE, Australia – April 14, 2020: Indie games label Fellow Travellertoday announced the full lineup of over 40 exhibiting games for LudoNarraCon 2020, the global digital festival held on Steam celebrating narrative video games. LudoNarraCon 2020 will run from April 24-27 and is available for free to everyone via Steam. More than 850,000 people attended the 2019 event and the organizers are aiming to achieve more than double this number in 2020.

Those keen to attend can visit the event page on steam to sign up for notifications

LudoNarraCon 2020 has been months in the making, and despite the current pandemic of COVID-19 sweeping the world, Fellow Traveller is proud to be able to offer this unique opportunity for indie developers to have their moment to shine. Following the cancellation of GDC and other gaming conventions, Fellow Traveller reopened applications for the event, doubling the size to over 40 exhibiting games. Along with the exhibitor lineup, the initial list of panels has been revealed, with more panels to be confirmed before the event begins.

“With a COVID-19 vaccine 12-18 months away, we need to accept as an industry that it will be a very long time before we get back to large physical conventions and it’s almost unimaginable that any will happen this year,” said Chris Wright, Managing Director at Fellow Traveller. “With LudoNarraCon we hope to bring a convention experience to your home, wherever you are and provide an opportunity for indie developers to shine. We’re also keen to help others create similar festivals in the coming months and happy to share what we’ve learned. ”

Organized by Fellow Traveller, an independent games label focused on innovative narrative games, the first LudoNarraCon debuted in 2019 as a pioneering event, replicating many of the aspects of conventions like PAX or Eurogamer Expo but through a digital format and hosted on the Steam platform.

  •  Developers exhibit by streaming behind the scenes content to their Steam store pages and many will provide a demo, downloadable only for the duration of the event.
  • A series of panel discussions will be streamed on the central “theatre” stream.
  • More than 50 narrative games will be on sale in a special LudoNarraCon sale
  • Media are able to apply for a press pass, get early access to media-only demos, press assets and contacts for each participating exhibitor.
  • The entire event is tied together on a special LudoNarraCon page on Steam and will also use Steam’s new events functionality.
  • It’s free to attend and free to exhibit with Fellow Traveller picking up the costs of organizing the event.

Those interested in attending LudoNarraCon 2020 should sign up for updates at http://ludonarracon.com or follow Fellow Traveller on Twitter for updates.

Exhibitors

We are proud to announce these additions to the LudoNarraCon 2020 exhibitor lineup:

  • An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs – Strange Scaffold
  • Backbone – Eggnut / Raw Fury
  • Beholder 2 – Alawar
  • Best Friend Forever – Starcolt
  • Beyond the Veil – Sun’s Shadow Studios
  • Coda – GoodbyeWorld Games
  • Coffee Talk – Toge Productions
  • Curious Expeditions 2 – Maschinen-Mensch
  • Do Not Feed the Monkeys – Alawar
  • Frog Detective 2 – Grace Bruxner, Thomas Bowker
  • Garden Story – Picogram / Rose City Games
  • Lost Words: Beyond the Page – Sketchbook Games
  • N1RV Ann-A – Yrsbd / Sukeban Games
  • Nowhere Prophet – Sharkbomb Studios / No More Robots
  • Over the Alps – Stace Studios
  • Ring of Fire – Far Few Giants
  • Roki – Polygon Treehouse
  • Still There – Iceberg Interactive
  • Sunless Skies – Failbetter Games
  • The Flower Collectors – Mipumi Games
  • Wide Ocean Big Jacket – Turnfellow

These games will join the previously announced exhibiting games participating in this year’s event:

  • Boyfriend Dungeon – Kitfox Games
  • Chinatown Detective Agency – General Interactive Co.
  • Eliza – Zachtronics
  • Genesis Noir – Feral Cat Den / Fellow Traveller
  • Heaven’s Vault – inkle
  • Hypnospace Outlaw – Tendershoot / No More Robots
  • In Other Waters – Jump Over The Age / Fellow Traveller
  • Mutazione – Die Gute Fabrik / Akapura Games
  • Neo Cab – Chance Agency / Fellow Traveller
  • Not Tonight – Panic Barn / No More Robots
  • Paradise Killer – Kaizen Game Works / Fellow Traveller
  • She Dreams Elsewhere – Studio Zevere
  • Solace State – Vivid Foundry
  • Sometimes Always Monsters – Vagabond Dog / Devolver
  • Suzerain – Torpor Games / Fellow Traveller
  • Tangle Tower – SFB Games
  • Telling Lies – Drowning a Mermaid Productions / Annapurna Interactive
  • The Church in the Darkness – Paranoid Productions / Fellow Traveller
  • Wayward Strand – Ghost Pattern
  • Welcome to Elk – Triple Topping
  • Yes, Your Grace – Brave At Night / No More Robots

Panels

Below is a list of confirmed panels and participants with more panels still to be confirmed. Please check the LudoNarraCon website and/or follow Fellow Traveller on Twitter for updates.

Creating Emotional Touchstones in Emergent Narratives

Matthew Farber, Sande Chen, Kimberly Unger, Juliana Loh

  • Games have a unique ability to establish empathy between a player and a world and characters, but game players don’t always follow the path the narrative lays out for them. This panel discusses how designers and storytellers can build in empathic elements that can be found and engaged with even when the larger narrative gets delivered out of order.

 

Cultural Dissonance: Avoiding Bugs in Cultural Understanding

Mohammad Fahmi, Oli Clarke Smith, Fernando Damas 

  • Three developers from three different parts of the world discuss their experience and lesson in making a narrative heavy game set in The United States with a heavy influence from Japanese media.

 

Emergent Narrative VS Traditional Narrative

Panelists: Daniele Giardini, Glen Pawley, Pietro Polsinelli 

  • Daniele Giardini (aka Demigiant) is both a comic and game writer/artist—and a coder, game designer, UI/UX lover, tools developer: yes, sometimes he feels a little overwhelmed. He wrote Still There (for which he also developed the writing tools), drew Football Drama, made DOTween, Goscurry etc. He likes deranged perspectives, he doesn’t have a cat anymore.
  • Glen Pawley is the developer of Star Dynasties, a sci-fi empire management strategy game with a procedurally generated narrative of human drama and feudal politics. Trained as a software engineer, he has a long history of building complex systems and is putting that to use in designing an emergent narrative engine of the life stories of the nobility in a decaying human civilization.
  • Pietro Polsinelli is a game writer, designer and developer. Created Football Drama, now working on Roller Drama, both sports games blending narrative and management. He also works on applied games and is a researcher on “games for health” at Milan Bicocca University.

Evolution of Game Narrative

Panelists: Brenda Romero, Steve Meretzky, Brian Moriarty, Clara Fernandez-Vara, Richard Rouse III

  • This panel brings together some well traveled game writers and narrative designers to talk about how game stories have changed over the years and how they’re likely to evolve in the future. With decades of experience from text adventures (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) to graphical adventures (Loom) to horror shooters (The Suffering) to strategy games (Jagged Alliance and the upcoming Empire of Sin) our lineup of panelists have worked in many different genres that embraced narrative in many unique ways. Join us for this panel and hear us explore where game narrative will go next!

 

Holistic Storytelling

Panelists: Alex Kanaris-Sotiriou, Thomas Jones

  • The creators of upcoming indie game Röki (Polygon Treehouse) discuss their approach to interactive narrative, namely ‘holistic storytelling’. Video games are an interactive medium and a script is just one of the tools we have at our disposal to craft stories. Tom and Alex will step through:
  • Gameplay mechanics/situation and as a narrative device
  • Archaeological storytelling, “narrative soup”, and world-build via exploration
  • The player as an active agent
  • Story gaps and narrative “breathing space”
  • Do not underestimate the power of audio
  • Cinematography is not just for cutscenes

 

Let’s Do The Time Warp Again: How To Keep The Narrative Interesting In A Game Built On Repetition

Panelists: Nick Pearce, Luis Antonio, Katie Chironis 

  • Nick Pearce – Developer of The Forgotten City, a murder mystery investigation in an ancient Roman city caught in a time loop.
  • Luis Antonio, Developer of Twelve Minutes, an interactive thriller about a man trapped in a time loop.
  • Katie Chironis, Senior Game Designer at Riot and writer of Elsinore, a time-looping adventure game set in the world of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

 

Localization and Writing: Evolving the Worlds

Panelists: Vladimir Konoplitsky, Natalia Nesterova, Anthony Jauneaud, Fabio “”Kenobit”” Bortolotti

  • Game writers and localizers will tell dramatic stories how cultural and language specifics challenged their work. How game worlds are transformed on the way from original language to localization. We will see what translation and writing have in common, and how narrative games evolve real life cultures through localization.

 

Narrative Design: The Secret Sauce of Game Storytelling

Panelists: Jim Rossignol, Chella Ramanan, Tori Schafer, Sarah Longthorne, Antony de Fault 

  • Ever considered that writer and narrative designer are separate disciplines? What makes them unique? Join us in exploring this topic with the brains behind beloved videogame stories!

 

On Essay Games: The Diary, The Documentary, and The Satire

Panelists: David Cribb, Nathalie Lawhead, and Angela Washko. Moderated by Nicholas O’Brien.

As video games communities continue to mature and nurture pockets of avant-garde exploration, this panel investigates emergent practices of game development/design called “essay games.” Similar to the essay film and video genres of avant-garde cinema, essay games explore how the medium can tell critical, research-based narratives about political, cultural, or interpersonal themes. This discussion will outline three primary narrative design strategies that distinguish essay games from traditional independent games: the diary, the documentary, and the satire.

 

Personal Storytelling in Games

Panelists: Tanya Kan, Miriam Verburg, Gabby DaRienzo, Paloma Dawkins 

  • Indie games can have the flexibility and innovation to embed many personal tales from their lead creators. These game writers and creators discuss how their lived experiences lead them to write and direct games that are unflinchingly about their passions, perspectives, and questions in life. Join us on a panel discussion about how indie game creators have combined art, interaction, and storytelling to create resonant and unique journeys. From tales of belonging, to finding art in unusual places, these stories are sure to inspire.
Posted in Conventions, Events & Expos, Video Games | Comments Off on Expanded LudoNarraCon 2020 Exhibitor Lineup and Panels Revealed

NETFLIX STRIKES FIRST-LOOK DEAL WITH COMIC BOOK AND GRAPHIC NOVEL PUBLISHER BOOM! STUDIOS

Posted on 04/13/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

The Woods? Hexed? Lucy Dreaming, Eugenic. All primed to be developed into Mini-Series or full shows. We at PC-S are super excited by this news.

    

 

 

 

Deal Gives Netflix Access to the Largest Library of Controlled Comic Book IP Outside of Marvel and DC 
LOS ANGELES, CA (April 13, 2020) – BOOM! Studios, the publisher behind best-selling Eisner Award-winning and fan-beloved comic book franchises, including Lumberjanes, Something is Killing the Children, Once & Future, and Mouse Guard, has signed a two-year TV first look deal with Netflix for live action and animated series.

“BOOM! characters are innately special, they’re colorful, diverse and varied and their stories have the power to ignite something in all of us,” said Brian Wright, Vice President, Original Series at Netflix. “We can’t wait to bring these stories from the page to the screen to fans in every corner of the world.”

“We generate 20+ new original series a year and are thrilled to partner with a streamer that is as prolific as we are,” company CEO and Founder Ross Richie said. “BOOM!’s unique partnership model benefits creators by positioning them to be packaged with high-end directors, screenwriters, and producers. We’re thrilled to continue our track record of translating our best-selling award-winning library with the best TV talent in the business but now with the undisputed leader of the new streaming era.”

BOOM! Studios CEO and Founder Ross Richie and President of Development Stephen Christy will Executive Produce all shows developed through the pact.

20th Century Fox bought a non-controlling minority stake in BOOM! in 2017 to secure a franchise pipeline putting into development BOOM! Box hit Goldie Vance from Hope Larson and Brittney Williams with Kerry Washington producing and Rashida Jones directing, cartoonist Sean Rubin’s Bolivar with Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) producing, Imagine Agents with Richie Keen directing, and Ladycastle written by Delilah Dawson and drawn by Rebecca Farrow and Ashley A. Woods at Fox Family. In 2019, Fox greenlit $150m Mouse Guard movie with Matt Reeves producing and Wes Ball directing. Disney canceled the project two weeks before production.

Moving beyond 20th Century Studios, BOOM! set up a slate across town that includes the feature film Memetic with Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg producing and The Batman screenwriter Mattson Tomlin at Lionsgate; along with a slew of TV projects to Amazon, HBO Max, Peacock, CBS All Access, Disney+, and the publisher’s new home – Netflix.

BOOM! has close to 20 movies and TV shows in development currently.

2019 saw BOOM!’s biggest publishing year ever as new original series grew 63% boosted by hits like Diamond Gem Awards “Comic Book of the Year” and “Best New Comic Series” winner Once & Future and Something Is Killing the Children from Diamond Gem, GLAAD Media, and Prism Award-winner author James Tynion IV. For 9 of the past 11 years BOOM! has won “Best Publisher (under 3%)” in the prestigious Diamond Gem Awards.

This marks a brand new partnership between the two companies, though Netflix and BOOM! have always been close collaborators, including partnering on the upcoming feature film The Unsound directed by David F. Sandberg, based on the graphic novel by Cullen Bunn and Jack T. Cole. BOOM! also debuted a graphic novel series in 2019 tied into Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

BOOM!’s feature film first look deal remains at 20th Century Studios/The Walt Disney Company through January 2021. In August the studio will release BOOM!’s supernatural thriller The Empty Man.

The Netflix first look deal was brokered by UTA and attorney Matt Saver.

Posted in Books, Comics, TV and Movies | Comments Off on NETFLIX STRIKES FIRST-LOOK DEAL WITH COMIC BOOK AND GRAPHIC NOVEL PUBLISHER BOOM! STUDIOS

‘A Fold Apart’ is Launching April 17

Posted on 04/09/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

A poignant story about a long-distance relationship, love, and the technology that connects us all.

Ontario, Canada – April 9, 2020 – Lightning Rod Games announced today that their paper-folding puzzle game A Fold Apart will release next week, April 17, 2020 on Apple Arcade for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV, and Mac alongside Nintendo Switch and Windows via Steam.

An interactive, narrative-driven puzzle displaying the emotional ups and downs of a couple’s long-distance relationship, A Fold Apart offers a beautiful acknowledgment of both the challenges and wonder that come from how we communicate with loved ones while living apart. The launch trailer reveals a familiar yet unique gameplay mechanic — flipping and folding paper — to bring the couple closer together over the course of their everyday lives.

“When we first started developing A Fold Apart in 2015, my goal was to tell a touching story about the romantic, sentimental, but fundamentally lonely feelings that my significant other and I experienced while living apart,” explains Lightning Rod Games Co-founder Mark Laframboise.

“We never would have imagined that we’d be releasing the game in an environment where nearly all of us around the world are physically separated from loved ones and experiencing that loneliness firsthand. Whether you are self-isolating, distance learning, telecommuting, or keeping in touch online, we are all in one form of long-distance relationship or another. Creating A Fold Apart was a way for me to navigate those difficult emotions and I hope that the game can help others find some hope and comfort (and, most importantly, fun!) in these challenging times as well.”

A Fold Apart features over fifty handcrafted paper-folding puzzles — in fact, the very first versions of these puzzles were made with simple grid paper and stored in a binder — in a colourful, tactile paper aesthetic. Choose which couple to play as, and unfold both sides of their story as they navigate the complexities of (mis)communication and the emotional rollercoaster that separation brings.

In a world of folding paper, there are two sides to every story. Discover yours on April 17.

Posted in Video Games | Comments Off on ‘A Fold Apart’ is Launching April 17

PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER THE SHATTERING COMING TO PC APRIL 21st

Posted on 04/07/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Super Sexy Software and Deck13 Spotlight are proud to announce the release date for their psychological thriller “The Shattering”. The psychological thriller indie title will be available on Steam April 21st.

About The Shattering

The Shattering is a work of passion coming from a small group of 5 close friends. It has its roots in 2013, when the first echoes of the game started to take form in the mind of Marta Szymańska, who was studying the contrast of white and black in horror entertainment, games, and culture. The core theme draws on the premise that horrors and fear can be achieved through embracing white and the absence of information, rather than darkness and the obvious, though unseen, enemy.

Players will experience the key moments of John’s life that have defined and shaped him – they will be tasked with discovering the truth, shattering the lies and, ultimately, finding out what happened to him… and to remember her name.

The Shattering Key Features

  • Beautiful and rich realistic environments painted with a pristine white aesthetic provide a original scenery that stands apart
  • An intriguing story split into five acts that piece together knowledge of the past and an understanding of the present as the player progresses
  • A sublime, gripping and intense original score that breathes life into each moment

Posted in Video Games | Comments Off on PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER THE SHATTERING COMING TO PC APRIL 21st

BOOKCON ANNOUNCES LIVE VIRTUAL READ-A-THON WITH BESTSELLING LINEUP TO SUPPORT BOOKSTORE WORKERS AFFECTED BY COVID-19

Posted on 04/06/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

25+ Popular Authors Read from their Works for 8-Hour Read-a-Thon on Saturday, April 11 in Benefit of the Book Industry Charitable Foundation

NORWALK, April 6, 2020 – BookCon, the event where storytelling and pop culture collide, today unveiled the lineup for its first-ever virtual Read-a-Thon on Saturday, April 11th. The Read-a-Thon will feature more than 25 fan-favorite authors across all genres giving 15-minute readings while also answering questions from readers across the globe. This all-day live event is part of the new BookCon Virtual Author Tour Series that launched last week which offers readers a front row seat to live author interviews, panel-style discussions with authors and publishers about debut books, and more.

The Read-a-Thon will invite viewers to make donations to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC) to assist booksellers and bookstores who are affected by COVID-19.

Taking place from 12:00 PM EDT to 8:00 PM EDT on BookCon’s Facebook page, the Read-a-Thon authors include:

12pm-12:15pm: Introduction and welcome by BookCon and BINC teams

12:15pm-12:30pm: Lamar Giles 

12:30pm-12:45pm: Andrew Eliopulous  

12:45pm-1pm: Kacen Callendar 

1pm-1:15pm: Justina Ireland 

1:15pm-1:30pm: Justin Reynolds 

1:30pm-1:45pm: Becky Albertalli & Aisha Saeed 

1:45pm-2pm: Tobly McSmith 

2pm-2:15pm: Tahereh Mafi 

2:15pm-2:30pm: Layton Green 

2:30pm-2:45pm: Marie Lu (The Kingdom of Back)

2:45pm-3pm: Zan Romanoff (Look)

3pm-3:15pm: Melissa de la Cruz (The Queen’s Assassin)

3:15pm-3:30pm: Cameron Lund (The Best Laid Plans)

3:30pm-3:45pm: Laurie Halse Anderson (Shout)

3:45pm-4pm: Ransom Riggs (The Conference of the Birds)

4pm-4:15pm: Soman Chainani 

4:15pm-4:30pm: Shaun David Hutchinson 

4:30pm-4:45pm: Victoria Aveyard 

4:45pm-5pm: Kelly Yang

5pm-5:15pm: Julian Winter (The Summer of Everything)

5:15pm-5:30pm: Lilah Suzanne (Tack and Jibe)

5:30pm-5:45pm: Makenzie Campbell (Nineteen)

5:45pm-6pm: Emily Juniper (A Strangely Wrapped Gift)

6pm-6:15pm: Hannah Templer (Cosmoknights, GLOW)

6:15pm-6:30pm: Nick Tapalansky and Kate Glasheen (A Radical Shift of Gravity)

6:30pm-6:45pm: Adam Silvera (Infinity Son)

“We give our warmest gratitude and thanks to all those at BookCon and ReedPop for hosting this innovative Read-A-Thon benefiting booksellers and bookstores,” said Pam French, Binc’s Executive Director. “At Binc, we have been amazed every single day over these last few harrowing weeks by the extraordinary ideas, energy, and dedication this community shares for the wellbeing of booksellers, comic retailers, bookstores, and comic shops. I extend my thanks and gratitude to every person who donates.”  

The Virtual Book Tour will continue throughout the Spring with events including a discussion on musical stardom featuring esteemed music journalist, Nelson George and Sarah Smarsh, author of the upcoming Dolly Parton biography She Come By It Natural on April 13th. Also on the schedule is Rocky Callen, author of A Breath Too Late in conversation with Jandy Nelson, author of I’ll Give You the Sun on May 1st, among many others. Fans can visit the BookCon website for regular updates to the schedule.

“BookCon was created from the desire to offer readers a place to meet and interact with their favorite authors alongside people who are as passionate about books as they are. Now, more than ever, we are eager to provide that sense of community to our fans and are excited to debut our first round of virtual events,” said Jenny Martin, Event Director, BookCon.

The BookCon Virtual Author Tour is part of ongoing efforts to connect fans and foster a reader community in the digital world, as well as in the physical world. The Virtual Author Tour comes on the heels of the debut of BookCon Societies, a celebration of every type of reader that offers a community where like-minded readers can come together to discuss favorite genres and core values. After joining a BookCon Society, readers will receive dedicated emails with curated content to help them find the authors, books, and events they are sure to love. If readers are unsure of which Society they belong to, they can take a sorting quiz on the BookCon website.

BookCon 2020 will be held on July 25 & 26, 2020 at the Javits Center in New York City.

BookCon is the consumer extension of BookExpo, North America’s largest gathering of book industry professionals from around the globe. The show is designed to appeal to the modern-day book lover with an appreciation for broader pop culture and where these worlds intersect.  It is the ultimate fan event where storytelling and pop culture collide – offering fans unprecedented access to authors, publishers, celebrities and creators of content that influence everything we read, hear and see.

For tickets to BookCon 2020 and additional information, please visit BookCon.com or BookCon’s social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

Posted in Book Expo America, Books | Comments Off on BOOKCON ANNOUNCES LIVE VIRTUAL READ-A-THON WITH BESTSELLING LINEUP TO SUPPORT BOOKSTORE WORKERS AFFECTED BY COVID-19

HandyGames welcomes Octato to the family with their Metroidvania-style platformer, Airhead.

Posted on 03/31/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

DON’T LOSE YOUR HEAD!

Copenhagen, Denmark / Giebelstadt, Germany, March 31st, 2020: Wallet, keys, phone… Head? If you’ve ever felt like you’ve run out of the house without your head on, then this is the game for you. Join your protagonist Body and his organism friend Head and embark on a journey through a Metroidvania-style world!

Start your adventure as Body, who witnesses the tragic separation of Head and his air-pumping heart by an unknown machine. As the heart is taken away, Body jumps into action to save the abandoned Head. You must use the air tanks scattered around the world to keep Head inflated and uncover the true connection behind the stolen heart and the technology that litters your dystopian world. Wrap your head around unique mechanics and experience brave exciting gameplay, all while collecting sweet upgrades!

“We are incredibly happy to become a part of the HandyGames family. Their devotion to games and the people who play them has been clear from the start and we’re confident that HandyGames are the right people to help us share Airhead with the world.”

– Jacob Honore (CEO and Producer, Octato)

Dive into deep dark caverns, explore ancient structures and survive an industrial dystopia to solve the mystery of Head‘s significance in this world. Experience a beautiful art style while being filled with a sense of responsibility and urgency to help your friend. With a heavy focus on puzzle solving, this unusual challenge will require you to use your Head and Body both separately and together.

“I’m very happy to support Octato on this awesome exploration platformer, that will deliver an incredible atmosphere with constant challenges and a very unique companionship between a body and his head.”

– Reinhard Döpfer (Producer, HandyGames)

About Airhead

Airhead Key Features

  • An immersive 2.5D platform experience in a Metroidvania-style world
  • A beautiful art style, embracing bold color and bleak shadow
  • Challenging puzzles must be solved by clever use of Head and Body’s synergy
  • Loads of powerful upgrades that open doors to new areas
  • A personal story of companionship, discovery, and responsibility
  • A myriad of creatures and machines to hinder or help you on your adventure
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Ahead of National Infertility Awareness Week, Humanoids Publishes IN VITRO

Posted on 03/26/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

An Intimate and Surprisingly Funny Graphic Novel  by Cartoonist William Roy (Hedy Lamarr: An Incredible Life) 

(March 24, 2020) Humanoids—the publisher of some of the world’s most groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy graphic novels—has been showcasing deeply personal and political stories inspired not by science fiction but the world around us with its new Life Drawn imprint. These acclaimed graphic novels run the gamut: from cartoonist Koren Shadmi’s dazzling biography Twilight Man: Rod Serling and The Birth of Television; to runner Sebastien Samson’s memoir of the New York Marathon; to William Roy’s stunning biography Hedy Lamarr: An Incredible Life. Now William Roy returns with the latest Life Drawn release, the intimate and surprisingly funny graphic novel IN VITRO.

 

Guillaume and Emma are newlyweds. Their life together is full of love and happiness, and they have everything they’ve always wanted… well, almost everything. The two newlyweds are staring down a new and menacing foe unlike anything they’ve ever faced together before: sterility. Determined to find a way to become parents, the couple embarks on the confusing journey that is in vitro fertilization.Together Guillaume and Emma navigate unsuccessful attempts, repeated failures, and the menacing hyperbole of WebMD. Guillaume experiences the daily embarrassment of sperm donations, tests with dreaded results, and endless consultations—not to mention the specter of his own estranged father who reappears suddenly in his life…

 

With National Infertility Awareness Week coming up on April 19th, IN VITRO is a timely, honest, and empathetic portrayal of an experience millions of couples have encountered. With self-effacing charm, William Roy humbly and accurately shares a deeply human experience that is propelled by unshakable hope.

IN VITRO will be available where books are sold, in bookstores on March 31st and in comic shops on April 1.

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

William Roy, a passionate, self-taught artist, began his creative career as an editor and a director of documentaries. In 2014, he published his first graphic novel, De Père en FIV (La Boîte à Bulles), an autobiographical account of his experiences with IVF. He then followed up with Hedy Lamarr: An Incredible Life, illustrated by Sylvain Dorange, a project he had been inspired to write for a very long time. William Roy currently resides in Paris.

 

ABOUT HUMANOIDS:

Based in Hollywood, California, with branches in Paris, London, and Tokyo HUMANOIDS was co-founded 46 years ago in Paris, France, by legendary creator Mœbius, and has published thousands of titles since, including international bestsellers and iconic series such as The Incal and The Metabarons.

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BOOM! Studios Announces FAITHLESS III Debuting in 2021

Posted on 03/25/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Discover the Epic Conclusion of The Controversial Erotic Thriller
from Acclaimed Comics Creators in 2021

LOS ANGELES, CA (March 20, 2020) – BOOM! Studios today announced that the critically acclaimed team of writer Brian Azzarello (Batman: Damned) and artist Maria Llovet (Heartbeat) will return to the world of their bestelling erotic series, FAITHLESS, in 2021 with a third and final six-issue series concluding Faith’s magical, erotic, surreal journey of self-discovery, as her true power is awakened in ways that you could never expect.

“There had to be three… It’s a magic number.” said Azzarello.

“Working on this series with Brian has been awesome, an absolute pleasure from the start. Can’t wait for the readers to find out more about what’s coming next in FAITHLESS!” said Llovet.

FAITHLESS II #1 debuts this year on April 22, 2020, featuring main cover art by series artist Llovet and the first in a series of six erotic variant connecting covers by acclaimed artist Tula Lotay (Black Widow) that will be polybagged and not publicly previewed due to sexually explicit material. Each erotic variant cover will be limited to its initial print run and will not be reprinted or collected in any subsequent formats. All issues of FAITHLESS II will continue this variant cover program with similar content, limited release, and packaging.

“I love this cast of characters and watching Faith grow into her own by claiming her power, her sexuality, and her autonomy is—at its core—so relatable,” said Sierra Hahn, Executive Editor, BOOM! Studios.“It takes time, experience, and travails before truly knowing what you’re made of. Brian and Maria give us the raw, unadulterated adventure.”

FAITHLESS 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; Bury the Lede by Gaby Dunn and Claire Roe; Klaus by Grant Morrison and Dan Mora; Folklords by Matt Kindt and Matt Smith; The Red Mother by Jeremy Haun and Danny Luckert; Alienated by Simon Spurrier and Chris Wildgoose; and the upcoming Seven Secrets by Tom Taylor and Daniele Nicuolo and We Only Find Them When They’re Dead by Al Ewing and Simone di Meo.

Print copies of the six-issue series FAITHLESS III will be available for sale in 2021 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. FAITHLESS VOL. 1 is available now in bookstores everywhere. 

For more on FAITHLESS and other projects from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to www.boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.

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GCW’s Acid Cup 2 to stream LIVE exclusively on IWTV starting TONIGHT at 7pm EDT!

Posted on 03/19/2020 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Game Changer Wrestling will make their official IWTV debut TONIGHT AND TOMORROW night at 7pm EDT when the promotion presents their two-day Acid Cup 2 tournament.  The shows are closed to the public and will stream LIVE exclusively on IWTV from an undisclosed location.

In addition to the live streams, GCW is also hosting a campaign to help their wrestlers. You can donate to that campaign here.

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