The Dreaming

GAIMAN TO PREVIEW NEW NOVEL ON LAST ANGEL TOUR

Acclaimed author NEIL GAIMAN has announced that he will be previewing selections from his upcoming novel “AMERICAN GODS” as part of THE LAST ANGEL TOUR. The tour, Gaiman’s last on behalf of the COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, will bring the author to New York, Chicago, Portland OR, and Los Angeles for a series of dramatic, intimate readings from his fiction and poetry. All proceeds from these events benefit the non-profit CBLDF and help protect the First Amendment rights of comics creators and retailers.

Gaiman first attracted critical acclaim for his graphic novels and the groundbreaking comic series “Sandman.” In addition to his comics work, Gaiman is the author of the best-selling novels “Neverwhere” and “Stardust,” and has seen his unique vision translated for film, television, and the stage. He is the recipient of the prestigious World Fantasy Award and is noted in “The Dictionary of Literary Biography” as “one of the top ten post-modern writers” in America.

The four stops on the Last Angel Tour will be Gaiman’s final public appearances until the release of “American Gods,” currently slated for summer 2001. Gaiman describes the novel as “the closest thing I’ve done to ‘Sandman’ since I finished ‘Sandman.’ It’s either a fantasy novel or a theological thriller. A murder mystery or a horror novel. Or a short story collection . . . it includes all those things in its makeup.” Gaiman has previously offered fans glimpses of the work-in-progress at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Members’ Reception at the 1999 Comic-Con International, and aboard Making Waves, the CBLDF Fundraising Cruise.

The Last Angel Tour will be the seventh reading series Gaiman has undertaken in support of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. To date, these Guardian Angel Tours have raised more than $100,000 to protect free expression in comics. Earlier this year, Gaiman announced that the 2000 Guardian Angel series would indeed be the Last Angel Tour. “It’s two weeks that I don’t get to do other work,” Gaiman explained. “I have too many stories to tell right now. So it’s time to call it a day, but this will be one fun last tour, and I think we’re really going to make an impact.”

Tickets are currently on sale at TICKETMASTER for all four Last Angel Tour events:

OCTOBER 16: The Vic Theatre, CHICAGO
call Ticketmaster at (312) 559-1212 or visit
http://www.ticketmaster.com/cgi/artist.idc?searchname=NEIL_GAIMAN&state=il&type=STATE&minorcatnum=21&MajorCatNum=2

OCTOBER 18: St. Mark’s Church, NEW YORK
call Ticketmaster at (212) 307-7171 or visit http://www.ticketmaster.com/cgi/artist.idc?searchname=NEIL_GAIMAN&state=ny&type=STATE&minorcatnum=104&MajorCatNum=4

OCTOBER 24: The Aladdin Theatre, PORTLAND OR
call Ticketmaster at (503) 224-4400 or visit
http://www.ticketmaster.com/cgi/artist.idc?searchname=NEIL_GAIMAN_LAST_ANGEL_TOUR&state=or&type=STATE&minorcatnum=43&MajorCatNum=2

OCTOBER 26: Pacific Design Center, LOS ANGELES
call Ticketmaster at (213) 480-3232 or visit
http://www.ticketmaster.com/cgi/artist.idc?searchname=NEIL_GAIMANS_LAST_ANGEL_TOUR&state=ca&type=STATE&minorcatnum=104&MajorCatNum=4

Tickets are available for $20, or $16 with a valid student ID. PREMIUM TICKETS, which include seating in the front rows and admittance to a private cocktail RECEPTION with Gaiman before the reading, cost $60. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund MEMBERS are welcome at the reception regardless of what level ticket they may purchase. The readings begin at 8 pm, with the private receptions kicking off the evening’s festivities at 6 pm. For complete tour information, visit the CBLDF website at http://www.cbldf.org
or call the Fund toll-free at 1-800-99-CBLDF.

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization protecting First Amendment rights in the comics community. Donations and inquiries should be directed to the CBLDF at P.O. Box 693, Northampton, MA 01061. For more CBLDF news and information, pick up a copy of “Busted!,” the Fund’s free quarterly newsletter, or visit the CBLDF web-site at http://www.cbldf.org.

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Portland, is on sale NOW at Ticketmaster.

Los Angeles will be on sale SHORTLY (end of this week) at Ticketmaster only.

They are ONLY using Ticketmaster. According to Jeff at the CBLDF, they are NOT using The Golden Apple comic shop in LA to sell tickets.

….so again, if you’re in/attending Portland, buy them now! If you’re in/attending Los Angeles, try at the end of the week.

Also, the CBLDF could use volunteers for the shows.

It’s finally official: Terry Gilliam, director of Brazil, The Fisher King and The 12 Monkeys will co-write and direct Good Omens, based on the novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Current plans are for the project to get underway after Gilliam finishes directing The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in Spain. According to Gilliam, the contracts for the project have finally been signed.

“A British company, Renaissance Films, are handing over some money to us to write it and hopefully make it after this one,” Gilliam told FilmForce’s own Kenneth Plume on Friday.

“It’s a good tale. The book is probably the eleventh most talked about sci-fi book,” Gilliam went on to say. “I don’t know that it’s really sci-fi but it involves the anti-Christ. The angel from the Garden of Eden and the serpent from the Garden of Eden have now, thousands of years later, grown to like humanity. Kind of like a couple of diplomats to some banana republic and they’ve been away from their home countries for a very long time and they’ve gone a bit native.”

“Unfortunately, the anti-Christ has been delivered and the whole place is going to come to an end in a few days and they really don’t want it to happen.”

So does this project have all of the elements that fans would expect from a Terry Gilliam film?