Everyone, meet The Mary Sue. The Mary Sue, meet everyone. I'm making introductions for a very important reason - TheMarySue.com is my new home!
Now I know what you're saying, 'Jill, aren't you busy enough?!" True, I am an incredibly busy woman but my new position at The Mary Sue is FULL-TIME. Yup, I've got a honest-to-goodness grown-up job where I wake up early, go into an office and EVERYTHING!
"But Jill, you stay up until sunrise and sleep past noon!"
Not anymore! (Give me a moment to sob)
Yes, I am going to miss my freelancing schedule but it's totally worth it. The Mary Sue is pretty darn cool and I'm very excited to start working for them this coming Monday.
So what does this mean for the other 1600 places I write for? Well, I can still contribute to all the sites you're used to finding me on (including this one!) but I obviously won't have as much time for that. You will, however, continue seeing my weekly column, Hey, That's My Cape! at Newsarama and video interviews from New York Comic Con coming up in a couple of weeks!
This is a big move that I'm very happy about. Thanks to everyone who has supported me along the way and I hope you'll now follow me to TheMarySue.com! (and follow them on Twitter!) :)
In my weekly column on Newsarama, Hey, That's My Cape!, I talk about pretty much anything having to do with comics. This week I had to start my column with the words, "It’s a tough time to be a woman who likes superhero comics."
I'm fortunate to know a diverse group of people whose eyes are open to what's going on in the world around us. Sexism, not just in comic books, but in the media at large. Of course comics are my main focus and something that has been in the news even more as of late.
People wonder why women like myself get so angry when we see things like this happen. I have a good guy friend who listens to his geeky girl friends when they tell him all the terrible things that are spewed at them on a daily basis (usually anonymously online). I will have to remind myself to think about what he just said to me, "You can't fix stupid."
But it's difficult.
It's difficult when someone says, "Who cares?" about something you care a great deal about. If they don't care at all, why are they bothering to fruitlessly add to the discussion? They say, "Go read something else." But I *like* these characters. I want to read about *them*. "Males are demeaned just as much as females in comics." If you really thought that, you wouldn't be reading them or you'd be online complaining about it like we are. How about, "Comics will never be for women?"
Hello, my name is Jill. I like comics. I like them so much I made a career out of them. Are they perfect? No, but I can certainly do my part to help make them better or more accessible for other women to read.
I don't necessarily think people who don't see sexism in comics at all or that don't see it as a problem are stupid or neanderthals that need a few more centuries to evolve. Ok, maybe I do think that but I also like to give those people the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they just need to hear or see it in a certain way and then it will finally click? Or maybe their minds will never see it the way we do. It's a hard thing to accept when you are so strongly in the opposite corner of the ring.
But then you run into someone (of any gender) online who does get it and who is or has become enlightened and it gives you hope. Yes, we're not just spinning our wheels here, we're not making things up and we're not the only ones who want change. When the naysayers are calling you names or saying what you're doing doesn't count for anything, try and remember that.
It’s a tough time to be a woman who likes superhero comics.
Some people scoff when women separate themselves from the fandom pack but in this instance I would hope that they understand. While the issues I’m about to discuss are shared by both men and women, I’m discussing my perspective as a woman and what I hear from other women. The DC relaunch was billed as changing the comics game, gaining new readers and making drastic changes to characters. I’m not going to paint the entire relaunch with one brush but it’s safe to say last week’s controversy put a black mark on it. For women, everything seems to have stayed the same.
Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws drew the ire of countless individuals, men and women alike. The problem? New readers were introduced to breasts instead of female characters. And I mean that literally. If you’ve somehow managed to miss all of this up until now, the first page of Catwoman is focused on her breasts. Her face isn’t even shown. In Red Hood and the Outlaws, Starfire is introduced by her actual breast size. Thirty-eights, in case you where wondering. But wait, this is superhero comics, right? This is what they’re about, right?
Wrong. That’s what superhero comics used to be about. The DC relaunch was supposed to be a new beginning, one that would get people who weren’t interested in comic books before, into comics books.
You want everyone to read comics? Comics should be for everyone.
Head on over to Newsarama to read this week's Hey, That's My Cape! where I talk about how we need to talk about *it*.
You and your friends may have a fun time debating who would win in a fight, Darth Vader or Batman, but what would happen if they were one in the same? We'd all be doomed, of course.
From Malmey Studios comes one of the coolest cosplay creations I've ever seen. People have adapted traditional Star Wars costumes for years now but I've never found one this unique, not to mention, well done.
Here we have a custom made Latex body suit that has dark Knight armor and a bat symbol. It also has ribs designed into it like the vader body suit and the veder chest box. We also placed 96 nuts into holes cut for them to give the armor a bolted on look. We decided to use Arkham gauntlets as they seem to be the most ruthless. I mounted the fins on the top to give it a meaner look and fabercated custom gauntlet bottoms! I got a rubies Vader Helmet in a trade which kinda started this whole thing and fastened ears to it! This part sucked and took over 6 hours. Lastly We got an urethane belt with a silver buckle and placed the vader belt boxes on it! We painted some silver on the suit to tie it all together added some gloves and boots we had here and BAM!!!!! Rise Lork Knight!!
Jeremey Adams and his fiancee Mallie Jane Little created the tremendous Batman/Darth Vader mashup which has been making the rounds the last week or so. The new CNN Geek Out blog even got in touch with them for an interview. Turns out, Adams got the idea from artist Jay Fife. "I was at Mid-Ohio Comic-Con in 2007 and ran into a local Ohio artist by the name of Jay Fife. He and his daughter thought up this awesome concept, a Bat-Vader Mashup," said Adams, "I bought a print of the Art because it was so different. I fell in love with the concept and wanted to attempt the costume. In March of 2010 We got a Vader Helmet as a trade so we built the costume around it!"
Adams said the costume took him and Little just over a month to complete since they both hold full-time jobs and that it will debut at the Mid-Ohio Comic-Con at the end of October. As to why mixing these two characters together gets such a big response, Adams had this to say, "I feel these characters have endured the test of time because anyone can relate to them on some level, there is an element of good and bad to both of them. One's a father and one is a son! There is also a darkness and mystery to both of these characters even though there is a ton of backstory on both. People love mystery. It also helps that they both from some of the biggest toy, comic and movie franchises of all time."
My father is proud of all I've accomplished in my life but I knew I had finally "made it" in his eyes when I told him WNYC Public Radio wanted to interview me. He's a faithful listener of 93.9 here in New York and knew the name of the show I was set to guest on, Studio 360, immediately.
The show's producers were looking to do a special on the DC relaunch and wanted to speak to me specifically about the Oracle/Batgirl change. They even went one step further and asked me to recite my original op/ed on air as well.
The show will be airing on WNYC (93.9) today at 4pm and again Sunday at 11am. It's a nationally broadcast show though and you can find your local broadcast station here. But, if you can't get access to a radio or won't be around at those times, you can also listen to the entire show online. There's lots of great content in this episode but if you'd like to skip to my section you can find that here.
This week I was also asked to be a guest on Pop Goes the Podcast. We chatted about the relaunch, Ultimate Spider-Man, Doctor Who and lots more. Take a listen!
And if you haven't been listening (shame on you!), the latest CRAZY SEXY GEEK podcast is now up. This week Alan Kistler and I discuss how Starfire goes from a person who saw no limits to love to dismissing emotion almost entirely, DC Comics offers a lunch for charity and Marvel offers a dinner for... itself? And folks ask us about comic book pick-up lines and how to deal with parents.
The entire time I’ve subscribed to Netflix I had the unlimited streaming account with one hard disk out at a time. It worked fine for me other than the times I’d find a movie’s sequel on the streaming service but not the original or when I’d find that one hard disk that had been sitting on my TV stand for five months. So, a few issues but nothing to really complain about for $10 a month. In my opinion, the recent price hike, while steep, is still a fairly reasonable price to pay for the entertainment you receive.
What happens when you breakdown what you’re getting when you pay for comics?
Check out this week's Hey, That's My Cape! on Newsarama where I pose the question, what if there were a Netflix for comics?
Before I say anything else, these videos were done by a porn star but they are safe for work. I've seen UK adult actress Tanya Tate cosplaying at a few conventions and while I'm not sure how regularly she reads comics, she did manage to put together two pretty decent video reviews of two of DC's New 52 titles. Here's what she thought about Justice League #1...
And here's her take on Batgirl #1:
Besides those two titles, Tate had quick thoughts on a few others, "I did however find Deathstroke and Justice League International, well done. So there are some hits as well as some misses. Can I just say, though I find it odd, that this is suppose to be a jumping on point for new readers, but picking up Green Lantern #1, I had no idea what was going on? Just sayin'." Interesting she says that seeing as how Green Lantern is one of the few DC titles that did not actually get rebooted.
And for this week's releases? "Wonder Woman #1, of course! I can't wait to give this one a read and see how things go for my favourite amazon in this new universe. Other DC Comics' titles that have piqued my curiosity include Catwoman and Supergirl. It's a girl power week!"
Now I'm really interesting in hearing her thoughts on the new Catwoman. Although I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet, I'm hearing some terrible things.
Ugh. Ok, so you know how Netflix pissed off millions of their customers a few months ago when they announced a 60% price increase? Yeah well, it seems like they've figured out a way to screw people even further. They're splitting their streaming and mailing services into two separate companies.
Initially, this may not seem like a bad idea. The blog post from Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings started with, "I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation. It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming, and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. " Oh, finally, I thought, here it comes. He's going to apologize for his ridiculous marketing strategy. The thing is, that's not really what we got. What we got was a "sorry we did it this way" explanation instead of a "sorry we did this at all all" type of thing.
I've been a Netflix customer since January of 2009. I never had a complaint about the company until they jacked up their prices drastically and unexpectedly. For those who aren't aware, on Netflix you can have a streaming-only account, a physical DVD-only account or a combination of the two. Before the big change I was paying around $10 for unlimited streaming plus one DVD at a time. If I hadn't downgraded my account, I'd be paying around $16 for that plan after the changes took affect. That price is still not a lot considering the service you are getting but a 60% increase all at once took me and countless others by surprise. I expect incremental price jumps from companies due to inflation etc. but this seemed egregious. Not just that, but there was the fact that the price you were paying for the combo service was the same price the services were being offered separately cost. Any other service or product would give you a deal for choosing to get both. Not Netflix.
So, months later we get this statement from Hastings, not scaling back the price increase but saying he could have gone about it better. Fair enough but then he goes on to explain they are now splitting the streaming and DVD services into TWO DIFFERENT COMPANIES. The streaming will remain branded as Netflix while the DVD service will be known as Qwikster. W.T.F?
You might think this meant hastening the demise of the DVD service. Well there's one addition to the separated service that will prevent that. "Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies," writes Hastings. "One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games."
Oh you genius marketing bastard.
"Members have been asking for video games for many years, and now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done," writes Hastings. So basically, all those folks who have been waiting for Netflix to offer video games? If you chose to go only-streaming like I did, you'll now have to join Qwikster if you want that specific fix. Ergo, the 1 million subscribers Hastings lost with the price increase? He may get a good portion of them back.
"It is merely a renamed version of the Netflix DVD website, but with the addition of video games," wrote Hastings. There's no specific explanation of which games will be available (i.e. new releases) but the new Qwikster CEO, Andy Rendich, said the site should be up within a few weeks.
It gets better/worse. Hastings continued, "A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated. So if you subscribe to both services, and if you need to change your credit card or email address, you would need to do it in two places. Similarly, if you rate or review a movie on Qwikster, it doesn’t show up on Netflix, and vice-versa. There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). Members who subscribe to both services will have two entries on their credit card statements, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as the current charges."
Remember what I said about providing your customers with a deal incentive? Definitely no chance of that now. And if it's a negative, why are you doing it? What exactly is the advantage of two different and completely autonomous websites? I don't see any for the customer. Why would it have been so difficult to offer this new addition to their overall service on the Netflix website but have different teams operate them? To that Hastings writes, "Our view is with this split of the businesses, we will be better at streaming, and we will be better at DVD by mail."
Uh huh.
Well you can obviously I think this was a dumb idea. What are your thoughts?
A lot of folks were asking my thoughts on the first week of new number one issues from DC. I’ve made a few random comments here and there but felt a little weird passing judgment on something still so new.
Newsarama staff took a stab at the issues in the form of "Top 10 Questions Raised by Week 1 of DC’s NEW 52". They spoke about what the first week of books didn’t answer and what they’d still like to know, so I thought I’d take a look at some things they did answer or at least a few of the things I found particularly interesting. I didn’t pick up every book that was released but I did get a good chunk.
Read my thoughts on those issues in this week's Hey, That's My Cape! at Newsarama.
Oh, Rory. When you first stepped onto the Doctor Who scene I thought you were just another Mickey Smith. How very wrong I was. Actor Arthur Darvill may be a third wheel in the Doctor/Companion relationship but he's far forgotten by viewers of the hit sci-fi show and in the latest episode, "The Girl Who Waited," he showed us exactly why.
Before the episode aired, BBC America held a press conference call with Darvill to discuss this thoughts on the fan-favorite character, the episode and the show in general. "The Girl Who Waited" is quite a Rory-centric/Doctor-lite episode and co-star Karen Gillan said it could have been named "Rory's Choice" instead. "It's a real one that tests Rory and Amy's relationship actually," he said. "[Amy's] waiting for something and Rory basically has to go in and kind of find her and save her but something's coming for us strictly wrong which really tests them and, you know, tests their emotions to the limits really."
And about working almost solo in the episode? "I think he's gotten to a point now where he's so within this kind of world," Darvill said, "the fact that he can go and travel through time and comes face to face with really horrific things. It's just become almost normal for him." He continued, "As much as Rory can be a bumbling idiot at times I think he's proved to the Doctor and to everyone else around that when everything starts kicking off you can really step up to the plate and deliver."
Darvill isn't used to carrying a lot of the action but took joy in it this time around. "It's funny the way Rory deals with things because he's quite, you know, he's quite nervous and quite - doesn't really want to put himself in danger but as soon as it has anything to do with Amy being in danger he will just throw himself in straightaway," the actor said.
Although he's only been traveling with the Doctor on screen for a short time, Rory has actually experienced a lot during his time with the Doctor (thanks in no small part to his 2000 years as a plastic man). Darvill said the experience of traveling with the Doctor has completely changed Rory. "I think he has matured a lot and it's proved to him that, you know, even though all of these incredible things have happened and these horrible things have happened that his relationship with Amy is still the strongest thing, you know, in the world," he said. "And he's still completely wildly in love with her."
As for what's ahead, Darvill mentioned that next week's episode, "The God Complex" will be a lot like The Shining and include all sorts of creepy things. "If anyone's kind of scared of clowns or ventriloquists I mean [they'll] definitely want to hide behind the sofa," he said. He also happened to mention a Doctor Who villain that will be returning to the show this season - the Cybermen. "And then the finale just blew my mind. And I can't say too much about it but it was - it's about as epic as Doctor Who has ever got," he said. "And it answers some more questions which I think everyone's dying to hear the answers to."
Doctor Who airs Saturday's on BBC America and will air its season final on October 1. Also, if you haven't been checking out the officialDoctor Who tumblr, you're seriously missing out. They always have spoilers for the current episodes immediately but they find some fantastic stuff.
When I heard a pilot was going to be made based on one of my favorite comic books, IDW’s Locke & Key, I was beyond thrilled. Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s story about a family who experience family tragedy only to find themselves the target of a force who is determined to make them keep experiencing supernatural horrors until they give up keys their father may have died trying to protect is a phenomenal one.
I couldn’t make it to the screening of the Locke & Key pilot at San Diego Comic-Con but was recently able to get my hands on a copy. I’ve only seen a few clips from the failed Wonder Woman pilot but I can easily say Locke & Key is the more deserving of the two as far as comic book adaptations go. Here is my mostly spoiler filled review of what I saw in this week's Hey, That's My Cape! at Newsarama.
Kickstarter is all the rage these days. Womanthology had great success with it but not every project gets that same amount of attention. That's why I'd like to point you in the direction of two other projects attempting to fund themselves through the website.
The first is extra special to me since it will help put this little lady in your hands. Len Peralta, creator of the Geek A Week trading cards (sold on ThinkGeek), has chosen to include me in his next set! In the past he's geek icons such as Veronica Belmont, Kevin Smith, Wil Wheaton and more. I was thrilled to pieces he wanted to immortalize me on my very own trading card and happily spoke with him about all things geek related on his podcast. Click here to see the back of my card and listen to the podcast.
Right now, Len is up to $6,800 of his $7500 goal with over twenty days left. Help put him over his goal so you can sell my card for lots of dough when I become REALLY famous. :)
The other project I'd like you to consider is Brandon Jerwa's comic book documentary, "Untold Tales of the Comic Industry." Brandon had asked me to be a part of it but schedules didn't allow us to get together at Comic-Con. Hopefully we'll be able to make it work some other time but until then, he's trying to raise a big chunk of change to make sure he can travel and make the film a whole lot more. In his words:
This documentary takes a look at the comic industry from the inside out, guided by writers, illustrators, editors, distributors, Hollywood storytellers, and global fans of the art form. You'll see the genesis of our shared love of comics, and explore the inspirations that keep creators running. You'll learn what these creators love about the industry today, and what they hope to see improved for the industry's survival tomorrow. No topic is off the table: economics, fan culture, the industry's need to open its ranks to include a wider range of race and gender - it's all discussed. This film isn't a tell-all in the scandalous sense, but it IS full of honest stories and opinions offered up by the people behind the pages.
Brandon is a creator in his own right, having worked on Battlestar Galactica and G.I. Joe comics to name a few. Right now his kickstarter has just over $6,000 of his $18,000 goal with only seven days left to pledge. He's spoken with tons of awesome people already, as you can see in the above image, and it would be great if he could get support to continue his work.
Unlocking doors or unlocking skulls, either is possible within the universe of the IDW comic Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. The horror tale revolves around Tyler, Kinsey and Bode Locke who return to their family home, Keyhouse, when their father is brutally murdered. It’s not long before they discover the name of the house is no coincidence. The building holds keys that can do impossible things like turn you into an animal or a giant and there is an evil force who wants them all. Last year at San Diego Comic-Con, Locke & Key fans were able to put there hands on one of the fictional keys for the first time thanks to Israel Skelton.
Skelton runs Skelton Crew Studio, a design house that creates replicas of famous comic book items as well as produce commission and prototype work of jewelry, wedding cake toppers and more. Thor’s Mjolnir, Hellboy’s Samaritan and Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamatto are just some of the classic comic pieces the artist has made come to life but things really opened up when Skelton acquired the license to create the magical keys from Locke & Key.
I interviewed Skelton recently for Newsarama and found out about the origins of his relationship with IDW, the Locke & Key television pilot and his famous creations based on the acclaimed series. Read all about it here!
You know what time it is...TELETHON TIME!! That's right, Labor Day weekend is here which means it's time for the annual MDA Telethon.
Many of you may already be familiar with my affiliation with the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a type of MD, and the organization has supported myself and countless others for years. Last year I attended my TWENTIETH telethon if you can believe it. It was certainly a momentous occasion. And yes, it's what has kept me from attending the famous Dragon*Con down in Atlanta each year. I'm very excited once again to be participating as a co-host for the New York broadcast of the MDA Telethon but of course things are going to be very different this time around.
Besides the fact that the telethon has been cut from 21 hours to a mere 6, the bigger news is that Jerry Lewis, a long-time advocate of MDA, will not be appearing on the show.
It's a huge deal as you can imagine. I'm very disappointed that Jerry will not be on, even if it was just to sing his trademark "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the end of the show. Originally Jerry was going to appear, and I believe make it his final appearance, but that has since changed. I want to address what I've been hearing a lot online, that people are very angry that MDA "kicked Jerry to the curb." To my knowledge, this is not the case. From what I know it was a mutual decision and since neither Jerry or the organization has given an official statement on it, I believe it's unfair to judge the organization so harshly.
Is the MDA Telethon going to be the same without Jerry? Of course not. Would it have been great to have an official goodbye? Absolutely. But please, I encourage all of you to still watch and donate if you can. I've heard some alarming comments of people boycotting the show because Jerry won't be on. This makes me incredibly sad. Although MDA was put on the map by Jerry Lewis and supported by him a great deal over the years, the show is not about him, it's about finding a cure for these terrible diseases. I even heard David Letterman's band leader Paul Shaffer saying entertainers shouldn't perform on the program to show their solidarity. What an awful and hurtful thing to do to an organization that's trying to help people. Even if there was a "kicking to the curb" moment, which I don't believe there was, I still think it would be wrong to abandon an organization that has done so much good for those afflicted with neuromuscular diseases.
Is it the end of an era? Without a doubt. I'm truly sad that Jerry won't be participating this year. I had always hoped to make it onto the national broadcast and get to meet him in person. I'm also incredibly thankful for all he's done. But times are changing and MDA, like DC Comics, must make changes to keep their organization running far into the future. The changes MDA has made to the show are for the betterment of the organization. More networks will broadcast the telethon if they don't have to block off 21 hours worth of programming time and hopefully more big-name entertainers will perform on the show as well. It's a drastic change but something that I'm sure will continue to evolve over the next few years until they find something that will work.
For my part this year, I will be co-hosting the NY portion of the show along with Ace Young, Russ Salzberg and Brenda Blackman. Things will be hectic I'm sure as the local broadcasts only get two segments per hour and they are even shorter than usual but we'll make it work. And I hope that if you're in the broadcast area for the NY show, which is usually NY/NJ/CT, that you'll tune in and watch for me. I'll be appearing from 8 p.m. through the end of the show at 12 midnight. If not you can always tune in for the national broadcast as well as your local area's breaks.
As always, please give if you can, no matter how much it is. You can do so the day of the show by calling the numbers on your screen or online at MDA's official website. I'll also be doing a big push through social media during the show and if you're on Twitter you can participate with me by using the hashtag #TweetForMD. Also keep an eye on the official MDA Twitter and their hashtag #MDATelethon. Thank you for all your support, not just this weekend but throughout the year at the numerous MDA events near you.
A replica of the Batmobile driven by actor Michael Keaton in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, is being sold on eBay! For $620,000. Or best offer. You know, my birthday is in a few months. Just sayin'.
The Batmobile is being sold by Casey Putsch of Putsch Racing, who says it was built this year and is the world's only turbine-powered bat car. For whatever that's worth. The car has 1,989 miles on it and is street registered in the U.S. It's main features include:
Fully independent, cockpit adjustable suspension with disc brakes
Steel tubular space/monocoque chassis
4 forward speed semi-automatic, sequentially shifted transmission with reverse
365 horsepower Boeing turboshaft engine
Fiberglass and aluminum coachwork
Digital avionics and centrally mounted touch-screen iPad with 3G
Fuel cell and racing approved on-board halon fire extinguishing system
Approx. 2800 lbs.
DOT approved turn-signals, tail, and headlights
On-board air-compressor
Stereo
Air horn
Runs on Jet A, Kerosene, or Diesel fuel
And how! Putsch says the vehicle has gotten media attention from no less than Discovery Channel, AutoBlog, BBC’s Top Gear, Engadget, Wired, Gizmodo, MTV Geek, PC World, Yahoo, CNET, Slashdot, Tecca, Born Rich, YNET, The Escapist, Freshness, MSNBC, Geeky Gadgets, ABC, NBC, FOX, Das BILD, La Presse, Geek Beat TV, GizMag and Most Watched Today. Some more details:
The car drives just as well on the highway as it does on city streets and is operated similarly to any production car.
The turbine engine and its operation are quite simple and anyone with very basic instruction can operate it successfully.
Maintenance is exceedingly simple and the service intervals are actually less than that of normal production cars.
As the engine is US military in origin, it is of the finest quality and componentry.
The ride height of the car is cockpit adjustable much like the front of newer Lamborghinis allowing the owner to navigate different terrain.
Sound level is mostly treble so it seems loud up close, but quickly quiets as the car moves away. Cockpit sound level is acceptable.
Exhaust gasses, while hot, do not have the destructive force that popular myth assumes.
The car takes a few seconds to start and spin up to its idle speed, but is ready to drive immediately with no warm up period needed.
And no ebay listing for a replica Batmobile would be complete without seeing it in action!
Sure, it's a little noisy but needless to say, I need this in my future Batcave. You can get me one of those too, right?
Breaking news today that pop-culture convention WonderCon, which usually resides in San Francisco, California will be making a move to Anaheim.
The news is not yet reflected on the show's official site but the Hollywood Reporter says the next event will take place March 16-18. "Rumblings on comic sites whispered the move in the week after Comic-Con when it was revealed that San Francisco’s Moscone Center, WonderCon’s traditional venue, would be undergoing renovations in early 2012," writes THR.
The construction meant that WonderCon needed to either postpone the show a year and lose momentum and revenue or find a new home. THR says they looked at venues in Los Angeles and other California cities before going with Anaheim.
“It certainly was not our wish to move,” said CCI’s director of marketing David Glanzer in a statement. “However, when faced with the prospect of canceling the show for a year or moving locations, after careful consideration we decided to keep WonderCon on the 2012 calendar at a venue that could accommodate our needs.”
There's just one problem with the new date. It conflicts with dates ReedPop's C2E2 show in Chicago was likely to use as well as veers very close to Wizard World's own Anaheim show in April. Comic-Con International said, “ReedPop’s C2E2, which has been waiting to announce dates for its own show in March 2012, will now seek alternative dates while Wizard World has announced that it will postpone its April 2012 Anaheim show.”
Part of me wonders if the move is a concession on the part of CCI who chose to keep San Diego Comic-Con in that city instead of moving it to one of the possible future sites, one of which was Anaheim.
We've seen and heard so much about the DC relaunch and as far as marketing goes, nothing has really struck a cord with fans. The official DC commercial was well-produced and flashy but didn't really give me a compelling reason to read the new books. That being said, this fan made video speaks for the fans while making fun of them at the same time and oddly parallels my previous story about dating a geek. Watch for yourself.
This is the end, my beautiful friends. Whether you want to believe the DC relaunch will fail and things will return to the status quo or not, the change is happening and it’s truly a turning point. It kinda feels like graduation to me. Is the DCU growing up? No, actually many of them are getting younger, but they are moving on to a new chapter of their lives. They are facing the unknown, just like we are and just like a lot of us were when we graduated from high school or college.
I’ve talked a lot about the DC relaunch in this column, in other forums online and with friends. I’m kind of talked out to be honest. Now I want to see what’s going to happen. So in order to give myself a break, I thought I’d hand the reins over to the Valedictorian of the DC relaunch. I’m talking of course, about Barbara Gordon. Of all the changes being made in the DCnU, Barbara is definitely shouldering the biggest so I thought it only appropriate to have her give us some perspective on the changes.
Head on over for this week's Hey, That's My Cape! at Newsarama to hear what "Oracle" has to say about the DC relaunch.
Now I know what you're saying, 'Jill, aren't you busy enough?!" True, I am an incredibly busy woman but my new position at The Mary Sue is FULL-TIME. Yup, I've got a honest-to-goodness grown-up job where I wake up early, go into an office and EVERYTHING!
