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| | | | Thursday, July 27, 2000 |
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Buy Neil's Leather Jacket!
Posted by puck at 1:34 AM PDT
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http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=393010433
Neil has owned it since 1989 and wore it all through the writing of The Sandman. As I post this, the bid is a measly $321. As all proceeds go to the CBLDF I'm hoping this low bid is completely wiped out soon.
Go forth, Gaiman fans, and BID! |
| | | Tuesday, July 25, 2000 |
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Death and Delirum beanbags!
Posted by puck at 11:18 PM PDT
| Comments (1)
Steven Cohn wrote:
The bean bags for Death and Delirium are supposed to be on sale starting in end of Oct.
Deliruim includes her goldfish too.
http://www.toymania.com/sdcc2000/dcdirect.shtml
Scroll down a bit and you'll see 'em. |
| | | Saturday, July 22, 2000 |
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Dream Hunters wins the Eisner for Best Comics Related Book
Posted by lucy_anne at 1:28 AM PDT
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from CBR's Comics Brief for today:
EISNERS LIVE: Best Comics-Related Book
Posted by Jonah Weiland - 21:29 PST
- The Art of Nick Cardy by John Coates (Coates Publishing)
- From Girls to Grrrlz by Trina Robbins (Chronicle Books)
- From Maus to Now, designed by Raw Books (Sellario Editore/La Centrale dell'Arte)
- Opus, vol. 1 by Barry Windsor-Smith (Fantagraphics)
- The Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano (Vertigo/DC) - WINNER
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CBLDF auctions
Posted by lucy_anne at 1:20 AM PDT
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From eBay's CBLDF page:
This July and August, the CBLDF will bring you not one, but four huge comics auctions -- three on eBay and one live auction at Wizard World in Chicago. These auctions will feature unique items like Neil Gaiman's famed leather jacket, the Shi:Year of the Dragon Customized Motorcycle, original superhero cover art by Frank Miller, rare collectibles, signed stuff, and lots of original art. The action starts on July 13 and climaxes at Wizard World in Chicago on August 5.
Check http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/cbldf.org for the latest list of eBay auctions: bidding is not only an easy way to get hard to find Neilstuffs, but it's for a great cause, too.
And yes, there is a picture of the jacket online, last I checked - if it's not at CBR's Comic Brief, check the archive for July 21th. |
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Green Lantern/Superman: The Legend Of The Green Flame.
Posted by lucy_anne at 1:02 AM PDT
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From the Daily Feed for June 7 at Comics Newsarama/Another Universe:
Miller Covers Gaiman
Cover image
No, it’s not a preview of Frank Miller’s upcoming Batman: The Dark Knights Strikes Again, which promises to feature lots of DC’s classic heroes, but it kinda/sorta could be. It’s actually the cover to Neil Gaiman’s upcoming special Green Lantern/Superman: The Legend Of The Green Flame.
The special, which was written over ten years ago by Gaiman, is now being illustrated by Matt Wagner, Eddie Campbell, John Totleben, Mike Allred, Jason Little, Eric Shanower, Arthur Adams, and according to DC, "many more cool entries from the Rolodex of Senior Editor Bob Schreck."
The story teams Superman, Green Lantern and a host of familiar DC characters in an adventure to Hell and back, spanning more than four decades.
Last year, Gaiman told Newsarama a little more about the special, explaining to us that the script was originally meant to be the "last episode" of DC’s former Action Comics Weekly series. "But it was scrapped for continuity reasons which were at the time incredibly important but which are pretty much forgotten today," explained Gaiman. "In brief, I`d written a story about Superman and the Hal Jordan Green Lantern as old friends, one of whom has problems, the other doesn`t. It was decided the week after I`d written it that too many people knew Superman`s secret identity and henceforth no one would know it. The story didn`t really work if they weren`t old friends in their secret identities, so it was scrapped. In it, Superman and Green Lantern go to Hell."
The story was originally commissioned by then DC editor Mark Waid and features cameos by all the characters featured in ACW at the time - including, amongst others, Deadman, the Blackhawks and the Phantom Stranger.
The one-shot is not on DC`s schedule yet but tenatively slated for late this year.
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Vertigo Secret Files: The Endless
Posted by lucy_anne at 12:11 AM PDT
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From Another Universe:
Continuing the series of in-depth Secret Files with a Vertigo twist, this collection of inside info on The Endless, featuring three stories written by Neil Gaiman himself, as well as other creators including Paul Pope, who will provide a family portrait of the family that lives just beyond our world. DC promises sordid family secrets and all sorts of hitherto unknown family secrets, and editor Karen Berger stated that Gaiman has expressed interest writing the character profiles for the special.
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| | | Saturday, July 15, 2000 |
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Clippings
Posted by lucy_anne at 9:32 PM PDT
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Video Interview from Dragoncon
If you have access to RealPlayer or Windows Media Player, you should be able to access this Neil interview from the just past DragonCon, courtesy eHobbies (and Nextplanetover). There was also another video interview on the site, but I have no idea where or when it's from.
http://www.ehobbies.com/tv_show.asp?category=COMICS_ACT&see=COMICS_ACT_NeilGaimanatDragonCom
http://www.ehobbies.com/tv_show.asp?category=COMICS_ACT&see=COMICS_ACT_NeilGaiman
Neverwhere movie info updated at Corona Coming Attractions
Corona's Neverwhere page was updated with the following tidbit from CONvergence.
July 14, 2000... Ah, yes, the anonymous con-goer. We know him well. And he sends us stuff. Like...this: "Neil Gaiman was in Minneapolis this weekend at a convention, and he was (once again) asked about the status of Neverwhere. He said that Andrew Birkin (of the 'Lost Boys' miniseries and the movie The Messenger) is currently working on the script, and once it has reached a point that The Powers That Be are happy with, it will be sent to him (Neil) for his opinion. Apparently, it had gotten to the point where Neil felt like he would never stop working on Neverwhere, what with the BBC series, the novel, the American version of the novel, and then multiple scripts." [The Anonymous Con-Goer has spoken.]
And speaking of CONvergence
The Quotable Sandman To Be Released Separately At Lower Price
From the DC Comics Newsletter:
Originally packed-in with THE SANDMAN MINI-BOOKENDS from DC DIRECT, the 96- page hardcover book entitled THE QUOTABLE SANDMAN will now be offered separately at a lower price of $9.95, instead of its previouslyannounced price of $19.95. The book features many of the wisest, wittiest and most memorable quotations from writer Neil Gaiman's remarkable series and artwork selected from THE SANDMAN's entire run.
Nova Express
Lawrence Person posted this to alt.fan.neil-gaiman a while back, but Locus Online noted it just came out.
The first half of a long (approximately 15,000 word) interview with Neil Gaiman will appear in the forthcoming Spring/Summer 2000 (Volume 5, Number 3, whole number 19) issue of Nova Express. This half of the interview talks about The Sandman in great detail, as well as Stardust, his relationship with fans, the Goth movement, and his forthcoming novel American Gods. There will also be interpretations of Sandman characters by various Nova Express artists.
Other work in this issue includes in-depth articles on Greg Egan and Gene Wolfe, plus the usual dozens of reviews of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and slipstream works.
In the U.S., single issues of Nova Express are $4 postpaid, while 4 issue subscriptions are $12 and 8 issue subscriptions are $20. Foreign subscriptions are $16 for 4 issues in Canada and Mexico, and $22 international. (Inquire for single issue rates outside the U.S.) Send checks to Nova Express, P.O. Box 27231, Austin, Texas, 78755.
Nova Express
Fellow Travellers
Charles Vess has updated his website with info about Neil and Miracle Pictures meeting about the "Land of Laughs" project; he also put up scans of the artwork he did for it.
Speaking of Jonathan Carroll, Joe del Tufo posted information to alt.fan.neil-gaiman about a hardcover novella he has written called The Heidelberg Cylinder; the art on the cover is by Dave McKean. For more information, go to http://www.jonathancarroll.com
And on a sadder note, Eve found this one:
I found this on the Locus site. It's by Gene Wolfe for a friend of his named Joe Mayhew. It looks like he was a friend of Neil's as well. http://www.locusmag.com/2000/Issues/07/WolfeOnMayhew.html |
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X-Men!
Posted by puck at 3:24 AM PDT
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Ok, it's off-topic, but I just got back from the X-Men movie, and I have to admit that I loved it.
The direction, acting, script, action, cast, and all the "little bits" fit together into a damned fine movie that stands alone outside of being "an X-Men movie". Finally, a great comic book adaptation of a movie.
Sandman (or Death or Good Omens or...) fans should be so lucky. Unfortunately, with Hollywood's limited vision, they'll react to this movie's success by thinking "Hmm... superheroes good. Make more, have cheesy fights in tights." when THIS IS NOT WHAT X-MEN WAS.
Hollywood people, if you happen to visit this page, please realize that X-Men is great because a lot of work went into making it a quality film - and not Hollywood's idea of "quality" (big explosions, cheesy one-liners and a script put together two weeks after filming began). Good direction, good cast, GOOD SCRIPT. And no Jon Peters, dammit.
Addendum: I'd post my own review, but it'd probably read exactly like Moriarty's on Ain't It Cool News. So go there and read his instead. :) |
| | | Wednesday, July 12, 2000 |
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Biography cites
Posted by lucy_anne at 1:15 AM PDT
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This is the listing for Neil Gaiman from Gale's Biographical Sources database. You should be able to find many of these books in larger sized public libraries or college libraries.
I have made notes next to the references I have seen, and those that were available as text have been hotlinked.
Many thanks to Puck for turning the text files into web documents and providing a place for them!
-la
- The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Edited by John Clute and John Grant. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.
I haven't seen the updated version of this, but the previous edition covered up to Neverwhere. If you're looking for a concise article that's probably on the shelf of your local bookshop, this is a lovely reference. The book also has articles for the character of the Sandman and biographies for many of the artists involved with the comics.
- The International Authors and Writers Who's Who. 11th edition. Edited by Ernest Kay. Cambridge: International Biographical Centre, 1989.
- Something about the Author. Facts and pictures about authors and illustrators of books for young people. Volume 85. Detroit: Gale Research, 1996. Biography contains portrait.
Of all the sources I've seen, this has the most up to date biographical data. Pretty good non-short story biblio. too, although dated ("The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish" and a the Neverwhere TV show are works in progress) - and the only one I've ever seen that listed introductions he's written to other people's comic books.
- St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost, & Gothic Writers. Edited by David Pringle. Detroit: St. James Press,1998.
- St. James Guide to Science Fiction Writers. 4th ed. Detroit: St James Press, 1996.
- The Writers Directory.11th edition, 1994-1996. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994.
- The Writers Directory. 12th edition, 1996-1998. Detroit: St. James Press, 1996.
- The Writers Directory. 13th edition, 1998-2000. Detroit: St. James Press, 1997.
- The Writers Directory. 14th edition, 1999. Detroit: St. James Press, 1999.
- Authors & Artists for Young Adults. Volume 19. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. Biography contains portrait.
If you need a starting point for biographical research, this as good a place as I've seen. Besides the critical treatment of his work that you'll find in many of the other entries, this one includes an interview with Neil that I haven't seen elsewhere.
- Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 21: September, 1995-August, 1996. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1996.
- Contemporary Authors. Volume 133. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991.
Updated in Current Authors, New Revision Series, Vol. 81 (1999) but in terms of bibliography and discussion only; Smoke and Mirrors and Neverwhere are summarized and quotes from their reviews are included in the newer entry.
- Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature, 1975-1991. A bibliography of science fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction books and nonfiction monographs. By Robert Reginald. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992.
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Harry’s Older Brothers: Fantasy Authors Don’t Resent Potter’s Success
Posted by lucy_anne at 12:03 AM PDT
| Comments (1)
Sascha Segan was kind enough to forward this article from ABCNews to the Books of Magic mailing list on egroups.
Harry’s Older Brothers: Fantasy Authors Don’t Resent Potter’s Success
July 7 — A bespectacled, British 12-year-old boy with a pet owl is told he may become the most powerful magician in the world.
The typical intrigues in a prestigious, coed English boarding school are complicated by the presence of wizardry.
Sound like Harry Potter? These are actually the plots of The Books of Magic, a comic book series started by Neil Gaiman in 1991, and Witch Week, a 1982 book by Diana Wynne Jones. The first Harry Potter book came out in 1997.
“There are terrific similarities, I don’t deny that,” says Jones, an acclaimed writer of children’s fantasy who is currently working on her 40th book in a 30-year career.
Jones’ popular “Chrestomanci” novels deal with young wizards and witches who are helped by Chrestomanci, a powerful, benign sorcerer.
“I suspect that this lady [Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling] must have read all my books when she was quite young and let them go down to that marsh everybody has at the bottom of their minds, and out things came bubbling,” she says.
Peter Gross, who wrote The Books of Magic for two years until June, says he sees resemblances between his Tim Hunter and Harry Potter, but writes them off.
“When you talk about comparisons between Harry Potter and other works in the genre, it’s hard to tell what you can call borrowing ideas, because this is an idea that is as old as myth,” he says.
A Rising Tide
Jennifer Lavonier, manager of Books of Wonder, a children’s bookstore in New York City, says the Harry Potter tide has upped the overall interest in children’s fantasy fiction.
“It has boosted young-adult sales across the board. Kids want to know what else they can put their hands on,” she says.
That includes C.S. Lewis’ famed Chronicles of Narnia, Susan Cooper’s Dark Is Rising series, and Jones’s English-tinted fantasies, bookstore clerks in New York say.
“I’m getting letters from kids who have been into shops saying, ‘Isn’t the latest Harry Potter out yet?’ and they said, ‘Sorry, but try [Jones’s books]’ — they read them and enjoy them thoroughly,” Jones says.
She says Rowling’s fantasies are quicker reads than hers.
“[My books] take a little more trying if you’re going to read them. Kids don’t want to be trying all the time,” she said.
A Nod to Potter
The Books of Magic, whose hero is a dead ringer for Harry, hasn’t been caught up in the wave. DC Comics chose not to market the comic book to children, freeing Gross to write much darker story lines than Rowling — in one of the many alternate worlds featured in the series, Tim Hunter ends up selling his soul to a demon to save the world and becomes a bearded vagrant living in a cardboard box.
That didn’t stop Gross from putting in a nod to Potter in his final issue of The Books of Magic. Tim’s obnoxious stepbrother Cyril puts on a “glamour stone,” which turns him into a familiar face. Cyril steps onto a platform at King’s Cross Station … and he’s off to Hogwarts.
“What the hell,” said Gross. “It’s nice to acknowledge Harry a little bit.”
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| | | Tuesday, July 11, 2000 |
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Forbes article on Dream Hunters
Posted by lucy_anne at 11:48 PM PDT
| Comments (2)
A short piece - and obviously dated - but as it is the mainstream media, it should probably get noted here. Mind you, I'm biased - I was one of the people in the queue. :)
-la
Easton, Thomas. "Comic Relief (business of graphic novels)". Forbes, Nov 29, 1999 p60a.
THE OTHER DAY A LONG LINE OF people waited outside a Virgin Megastore in New York. No, a pop star wasn't the lure. They were hoping to get a signed book from author Neil Gaiman. Neil who? Gaiman is a celebrity in the growing world of comics aimed at adult readers. His latest book, The Dream Hunters, is a "graphic novel" featuring the Sandman, an ethereal deity who lords over Gaiman's world of disconcerting dreams. The entire first printing of 70,000 has been shipped out with a minimum of publicity.
Gaiman has been writing these books since 1989, when he resurrected a dormant figure from the 1940s (the "Golden Age" of comics) called the Sandman. Some 75 stories later, publisher DC Comics is sitting on a literary gold mine. More than 7 million Sandman books and magazines
have been sold. Remarkably, in a business that, like news magazines, sells in fresh installments, every story remains in print.
The new book sells for $30 and is bound as carefully as a piece of art. Many of the eager buyers became addicted while in their late teens, but lots of older readers migrated over from the adult fiction
aisles.
Gaiman had put the Sandman to sleep in 1996. Then DC Comics commissioned a tenth anniversary poster by Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano, making his first foray into American comics. Gaiman loved the poster and agreed to write again, but only if Amano illustrated the book.
Two days before release, The Dream Hunters hit number 70 on Amazon's bestseller list. Readers of the series weren't caught sleeping.
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Jonathan Carroll's Land of Laughs
Posted by puck at 4:36 AM PDT
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Sarah Brandel emailed with a note:
Just wanted to make a comment. On "News" on June 15th you mention something about a project involving Jonathan Carroll's "Land of Laughs." Yes, this is currently out of print, but Tor/Orb is bringing it back in trade paperback around Febuary of 2001. Why do I know this? I'm currently interning at Tor, and I just saw the new cover, so I know a new edition is actually in production. |
| | | Thursday, July 6, 2000 |
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Neil on NPR
Posted by puck at 3:24 AM PDT
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Eden says on alt.fan.neil-gaiman
The Public Radio International show Sound and Spirit will be rerunning the program that featured Neil the week of July 9th (times vary depending on station). It's from a couple of years ago and I had this on tape at some point, and it's lovely. There is a real audio version of the interview on the website if you can't get the program or are impatient, both of which I understand. There are also some webstreams available at set times. All the info is on the website.
Sound and Spirit's website is:
http://www.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/pri/spirit/
Eden
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| | | Tuesday, July 4, 2000 |
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Bibliographies, Sandman and Non.
Posted by lucy_anne at 11:02 PM PDT
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Thought this might be useful here - if anyone knows of other bibliographic resources, please email. - la
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Last Temptation
Posted by lucy_anne at 1:10 PM PDT
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From Newsarama for June 23, 2000:
Fans looking for a Neil Gaiman fix will get a second chance at a project they might have missed first time around later this fall. Dark Horse is preparing a trade paperback collection of The Last Temptation a limited series written by Gaiman and illustrated by Michael Zulli originally published by the Marvel Music line. A "dark fantasy/brooding morality" tale based on a story by Gaiman and musician/rock icon Alice Cooper, based on Copper’s album of the same name, DHC will publish the 104-page, 6"x9" collection printed in sepia (brown)-colored ink on cream paper to give it sort of an "Eisner-y touch".
DHC describes the story this way…"Steven is afraid. Afraid of ghost stories, afraid of growing up - just afraid. That is until he meets the mysterious Showman and his Theatre of the Real. Steven takes a ticket and watches the show on a dare, but getting out of the performance will be harder than he ever imagined. And Steven learns what it is to be truly afraid."
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| | | Monday, July 3, 2000 |
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Amano in this season's Bud Plant catalog
Posted by lucy_anne at 12:32 AM PDT
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The front cover image on the Summer Bud Plant catalog is from Biten, the new Yoshitaka Amano art collection. Amano did the illustration for Sandman: The Dream Hunters Here's the entry from the catalog, and thanks to Steve from afng for the head's up!
-la
YOSHITAKA AMANO: BITEN
By Yoshitaka Amano. Introduction by Neil Gaiman. No one paints langorous, sultry fantasy females like Amano. This oversized art book is a full color journey through the imagination of one of the most popular Japanese illustrators. Collects Amano`s gorgeous works that have decorated science fiction and fantasy novels` covers and pages. All full-page and gorgeously printed in stunning coloring.
Blending traditional Japanese technique and Western themes, his style is quite unique and original--not manga-style but fully painted, fantasy works. Superb costuming and ethereal settings. Contains 10 years of works, including Shishioh and his latest creation, Hero. Japanese and English text. Nudity. Asahi Sonorama, 1999.
RECOMMENDED. Mature Readers--by ordering this item you are stating you are over 18 years of age.
SC, 10x11, 176pg, FC
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| | | Sunday, July 2, 2000 |
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Mononoke News.
Posted by lucy_anne at 9:56 PM PDT
| Comments (1)
From Video Business, 7/19/00
Disney delays 'Princess' DVD
By Enrique Rivero
UPDATED JULY 24--Buena Vista Home Entertainment has postponed the DVD release of the anime hit Princess Mononoke on the Miramax label after fans objected to the studio's plans to release the disc in the U.S.without a Japanese soundtrack.
The studio will reschedule the disc's U.S. release pending the availability of the Japanese track and possibly other bonus materials.
"We were just overwhelmed with the interest in this title... from both retailers and consumers," said Robert Chapek, Buena Vista senior VP of marketing.
Princess Mononoke will still be released Aug. 29 on VHS (rental price), with the DVD coming in time for the holidays.
**********
From Aint it Cool News and reportedly Nausicaa.net; this is the more newsy of the bits, the straight opinion piece on Aint It Cool by the same author about why some anime fans feel strongly about the presence of an original Japanese track on anime releases is interesting as well.
-la
Date: Wednesday, June 28, 2000
From: El Cosmico
If you're not aware, Buena Vista has announced that the Region 1, US release of Princess Mononoke on DVD will NOT have the Japanese language track. Needless to say, this has greatly upset anime fans, including myself. Michael S. Johnson of Nausicaa.net is going to speak to and present their collection of messages to a fellow from Buena Vista named David Jessen THIS FRIDAY, who just recently began his position as a liaison for Buena Vista. Now, since he's new, AND since he's asked for feedback regarding the inclusion of a Japanese language track on Mononoke AND FUTURE Miyazaki releases on DVD and VHS, we need to be nice to him. Like I said, he's just started the job. Don't flame him or send him hate mail. From what I've heard, this guy just walked into the situation, so this is probably catching him off guard, and we need to give him time to deal with it properly. So, just let him know how important it is to you that Buena Vista treat Miyazaki's works with the reverence they deserve. His address is:
David Jessen
c/o Buena Vista Home Entertainment
350 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-4691
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h2g2 entries of possible interest
Posted by lucy_anne at 7:45 PM PDT
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h2g2 is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on the internet. No, not the books...the real thing, built entry by entry by people like us. Scary concept, no?
h2g2 start page
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