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Friday, October 27, 2000 Moore and Campbell's "From Hell" barred from Australia Posted by lucy_anne at 9:48 AM PDT | Comments (0) The award winning From Hell has been ruled as an prohibited import by the Australian Customs office, due to what was felt to be excessive violence represented therein. The violence in question being a depiction of a true event: the breasts of a prostitute being removed during the course of an autopsy. As noted in the press release at Eddie Campbell Comics. We here at Quality Comics feel that the Customs officers have made an error in judgment. We want to pursue the matter further. If we allow this book to be taken how long will it be until Sandman & Preacher are taken?" The full press release and updates on this situation can be found at www.eddiecampbellcomics.com, and Neil has made some comments on this in the situation on the Well. Original Neverwhere Manuscript sold for $2,655.00 Posted by lucy_anne at 9:23 AM PDT | Comments (0) Check eBay for more information. And congratulations to the bidder!   Tuesday, October 24, 2000 Gaiman's Last Angel Ascends New Heights Posted by lucy_anne at 3:00 AM PDT | Comments (0) First, an apology on being so behind on clippings. Suffice to say that there have been mentions of Good Omens and the Death movie everywhere from the Hollywood Reporter to Cinescape.com to SFX Enough from me...this is from a press release from the CBLDF. -la NEIL GAIMAN's LAST ANGEL TOUR reaches its conclusion this week with a reading TONIGHT in PORTLAND, OR and another in LOS ANGELES on OCTOBER 26. Gaiman, who read to sold-out theatres in Chicago and New York last week, was enthusiastic about this, his final tour. "It's really been the best Guardian Angel Tour ever," he said. "I'm having a good time road-testing different parts of "AMERICAN GODS," as well as digging out some old favorites. And the receptions have been wonderful. It's great to meet so many dedicated fans and CBLDF Members." All proceeds from the Last Angel Tour benefit the nonprofit COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND and help protect the First Amendment rights of the comics community. The Last Angel Tour features Gaiman giving dramatic readings from his work, including short stories, poems, passages from his novels, as well as a few surprises. Gaiman has been performing a completely different set for each stop of the tour, unveiling many new pieces and bringing out some Guardian Angel Tour standards for a final reading. The highlight of each event has been the extended passages from Gaiman's forthcoming novel, "American Gods." Gaiman also takes time during the evening to answer questions from the audience. Each reading is preceded by a private cocktail RECEPTION with the author open to CBLDF Members and Premium Ticket holders. Tickets are available for Gaiman's final tour stop at the WRITERS' GUILD THEATRE in LOS ANGELES on Thursday, OCTOBER 26. Demand for tickets for the tour's finale was so high that the event was RECENTLY MOVED to the Writers' Guild Theatre from the smaller Pacific Design enter. All tickets purchased for the Pacific Design Center will be honored at the new venue. The move to a larger theatre means that additional tickets, both Premium and General Admissiontickets, are now available. Tickets can be purchased from TICKETMASTER by calling 213-480-3232 or by visiting http://www.ticketmaster.com General Admission ticket holders who would like to upgrade to Premium Tickets may do so by requesting a refund from Ticketmaster for the original ticket, and then purchasing a new Premium Ticket. The Writers' Guild Theatre is located at 135 South Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills, just over a mile from the event's original venue. The reception begins at 6:00 pm, but the reading itself has been pushed back to 8:30 to allow for extra travel time and for a slightly longer reception. For complete tour information, please visit http://www.cbldf.org or call the Fund toll-free at 1-800-99-CBLDF. In conjunction with the Last Angel Tour, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is featuring a special LAST ANGEL AUCTION on EBAY, http://www.ebay.com The centerpiece of this all-Gaiman auction is the author's ORIGINAL SCRIPTS for "NEVERWHERE," the television series he created for the BBC. In addition to the scripts, the portfolio contains the first chapter of what would become the "Neverwhere" novel, written out in long-hand by Gaiman while on the set of the show. To find out more about this unique auction, which includes many other items as well, please visit http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/cbldf.org # # # For additional information please contact Chris Bleistein at (413) 586-6967 or cbleistein@cbldf.org   Monday, October 23, 2000 Comment Registry Posted by puck at 11:22 PM PDT | Comments (1) If you'd like to register to post comments, go here and sign up. Renaissance Sees 'Omens' Posted by lucy_anne at 5:10 PM PDT | Comments (0) Right on the front page of Variety.com and everything! RENAISSANCE SEES 'OMENS' Co. to finance, sell pic along with Dworet-adapted 'Alamos' By ADAM DAWTREY Terry Gilliam will direct the $50 million comic fantasy "Good Omens," and Nicholas Hytner will helm the $25 million romantic thriller "Los Alamos," both for Renaissance Films. Gilliam and Tony Grisoni are adapting "Good Omens" from the worldwide bestseller by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Charles Roven's Atlas Entertainment is co-producing the pic with British producers Marc and Peter Samuelson. The film is slated to shoot in the U.K. toward the end of 2001. It's a knockabout story of an angel and a demon who are sent together on a mission to track down the Antichrist, who has been misplaced somewhere on Earth. Laurence Dworet will adapt "Los Alamos" from Joseph Kanon's novel. Ted Hope and James Schamus at Good Machine are developing and producing the project. Story concerns a murder investigation set against the backdrop of the race to develop the nuclear bomb in early 1945. Pic reteams Hytner with Renaissance, the company that produced his first movie, "The Madness of King George." London-based Renaissance will finance and sell both movies. In the case of "Good Omens," which reunites Gilliam with Roven for the first time since "Twelve Monkeys," pic will also go through Roven's own output deals in selected territories. Renaissance itself has an output deal with Entertainment Film Distributors in the U.K. The Gilliam pic, which has been long in negotiation, reps the first fruit of Renaissance's policy to make larger A-grade projects, co-financed through its newly inked $210 million credit line with the bank Dexia BIL. Renaissance is picking up all the development costs. Gaiman, creator of the graphic novels "The Sandman" and "Neverwhere," and Pratchett, author of the "Discworld" series, both have huge cult followings. "Terry Gilliam, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett are all certifiable geniuses; we have now set the fuse on behalf of their millions of fans around the world," said Marc Samuelson. Renaissance has two pics in production -- Rose Troche's "The Safety of Objects" and Paul McGuigan's "Morality Play." It is also understood to be in negotiations to board Brian De Palma's "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind."   Saturday, October 21, 2000 Interview on Fandom.com Posted by puck at 4:13 PM PDT | Comments (0) Fandom.com interviews Neil while on the Last Angel Tour. Thanks to Jean Prouvaire for posting that to the alt.fan-thingie. Last Angel Tour -- LA Tickets Still Available! Posted by puck at 4:11 PM PDT | Comments (0) Darrien posted this to the alt.fan-thingie: From the inkwell discussion with Neil: Neil Gaiman (neilgaiman) Fri 20 Oct '00 (01:39 AM): --- A brief request -- any of you who've been to the Chicago or the New York readings: Get the word out. Tell people you liked them, and how much -- particularly tell people in LA or who can go to LA. Spread the word, or post reviews to mailings lists and newsgroups and whatevers. Between Ticketmaster, and having to change the venue from a sold out 300 seater to a not-sold-out-at-all 600 seat theatre, I'm really concerned that the place will be half empty. And it's the last one of the tour, and it's the last tour, and I really want it to go out with a bang. The new theatre also means there are more premium seats available in LA. -- they were also sold out for a while there. I'm really really pleased with how the first two gigs have gone. I'm sure Portland will be fine (and it's being filmed for posterity as well). LA's the wild card, so please, help spread the word.   Friday, October 20, 2000 Dark Horizon's NY Guardian Angel Tour Report Posted by lucy_anne at 11:28 AM PDT | Comments (0) This is from Thursday's Dark Horizons. And the David Lynch story was funny. Why ever would someone want to be making a plaster cast of a sink? :) -la Neil Gaiman's Next The fantasy writer did a reading last night in NY and both 'Matthew' and 'Jason' have reports: "I was at Neil Gaiman's "Last Angel" reading in New York City last night and picked up some tidbits for you. Gaiman again confirmed that Gilliam is "signed, sealed and delivered" for Good Omens. He also mentioned that there will never be a sequel to the book, because the first one was about fun and this one would be about money. The other thing that was brought up was the Death movie, currently at Warner Bros. Gaiman said that the execs at Warners were ticked at him because he promised that he'd start on the script for the film after completing his new book "American Gods" in March. Apparently, he's still not done with the book, but he is on page thirty seven of the Death movie script which he described as being "essentially Death: The High Cost of Living, but bigger." "Last night I attended Neil Gaiman's NYC stop on his Last Angel Tour, and he did a Q&A session during which he answered a bunch of questions about his various movie projects. Here's a rundown: He had agreed to get started on the Death movie as soon as he completed his novel, American Gods. That was about six months ago, and he thought it was on the verge of completion when he said that. He's just completed the first draft of the novel, and says he's on page 37 of the Death screenplay. He described it as, "The High Cost of Living - only much larger." Terry Gilliam is set to do Good Omens as soon as he finishes his current movie (Don Quixote, I believe). This is signed, sealed and locked in stone. He just read a draft of the screenplay for The Books of Magic - and he says it's great. He was working on a strange detective story with David Lynch, although he says he couldn't keep working on it...David was a little too strange for him. He would like to work with him again in the future, though." Neil Wins Geffen Award! Posted by puck at 1:08 AM PDT | Comments (2) Stardust is this year's winner of the Geffen award for Best Fantasy Novel of the year. The Geffen award is voted by the participants of Icon, the annual Israeli SF&F convention. All of the books published in Hebrew over the course of the past jewish year are eligible, and announced this evening. An interesting side-note is that Stardust beat out the first three Harry Potter books.   Thursday, October 19, 2000 Aint-It-Cool's NY Guardian Angel Tour Report Posted by lucy_anne at 9:17 AM PDT | Comments (0) Thanks to Zooberres for posting this to alt.fan.neil-gaiman. And just in case anyone is interested, Neil read "Wolves In The Walls" for the little girl's birthday. She has excellent taste for an eight year old. ;) http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=7223 Luke Cage Checks In With All Sorts Of NEIL GAIMAN Goodies!! Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab. I think Harry and I have both had the lovely opportunity to sit down with Neil Gaiman in the past, and I know that I walked away thinking even more of him after the conversation than I did before. He's one of those guys who is in it for all the right reasons, whose gift has somehow managed to stay pure even as he's become a marketable name. I'm always interested in what he's got to say, and our good buddy LUKE CAGE has the scoop for you. Reasonable rates, satisfaction guaranteed, Luke Cage, Hero For Hire is ready to serve you. What's happening Harry et al, I hope everything's fine. As for me, I am one happy superhero. I just came back from St. Mark's Church in beautiful downtown NYC, where I was lucky enough to see one of my favorite authors in the flesh (which DOES NOT mean naked) for the second time. Neil Gaiman, writer of The Sandman, Stardust, Neverwhere, co-author of Good Omens, winner of more fantasy writing awards than I have brain space to recall, is finishing up his last tour in support of the noble Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. He'll be reading some works, including selections from his soon-to-be-published novel "American Gods". As a card-carrying member (all superheroes should join the CBLDF), I get to work security. First of all, let me tell you what a nice guy Neil Gaiman is. Guys like Harlan Ellison, Grant Morrison, they're fantastic writers, I worship them and their work. But if you ever meet them at a convention, they're a little stand-offish. Like they're not really into the whole "meeting the public" thing. Maybe even a little arrogant. Oh well. Not Gaiman though. See, the lucky CBLDF members and folks who paid for premium tickets got to meet Neil before the reading at a local watering hole, a more intimate, party-like gathering during which I offered to buy him a drink from the over-priced bar. At this little soiree was a young girl, couldn't have been over 8 years old. Apaarently her father has brought her to a couple of Gaiman readings, to the point where Neil can recognize her by sight. When Neil found out that today was her birthday, he scooped her up in a big hug and promised to read her any story she wanted at the reading. What a dude. So I know what you're all wanting to know... Did he drop any movie news? Sweet Christmas, did he ever! 1) GOOD OMENS - From directly out of Neil Gaiman's mouth came these words: "Terry Gilliam". That's right, true believers (sorry Stan), barring any natural disaster, sudden death or destruction of the universe, our American Python will helm the Good Omens movie after finishing his current project. 1a) As an aside, Neil nixed the idea of a Good Omens sequel. He said that although he and Terry Pratchett had kicked around some ideas, if they really started the ball rolling on a sequel, in Neil's words "the entire process would be interrupted by men in nice suits with thin watches and very large cheques." The original was written over nine weeks, during which the two giants of literature had just been trying to amuse each other, completing each other's ideas until the book was done. He loved that magic, he said, but it would probably be impossible to recapture, no matter how much moolah got thrown around. 2) DEATH - Another direct quote: "I've gotten a lot of very nice people at Warner Brothers very pissed off at me." It seems Neil promised them he'd start on the Death script after finishing the first draft of American Gods. He estimated that start date to be in May, but was waaaay off. So according to Neil, he's on page 37 and counting. No words on casting or crew. The script is an adaptation of the miniseries "The High Cost of Living". 3) SANDMAN - Neil shares the general distaste for Bill Farmer's draft, calling it "too much like an action film." He likes elements of the Ross and Avery scripts, but not in their entirety. (NOTE: It was loud in the bar at this point when we spoke, and he was trying to save his voice for the reading later that night, so I may have heard those two names wrong.) He also said that he's unexpectedly seen a very nice draft from David Schow. That's right, the same David Schow credited with "The Crow." 4) BOOKS OF MAGIC - He's a surprise entry! Neil told the audience that he's received an excellent screen treatment/script for the Tim Hunter saga by Matt Greenberg. Is this the same Matt Greenberg who's a co-producer of the Sci-Fi Channel's Invisible Man series and a co-writer of Halloween: H2O? My sources say yes. Not much else to say here. The reading was great fun. Neil reports that American Gods is his most ambitious project since The Sandman: a number of full-length novellas tied together in one over-arching narrative, about the clash between the gods of the old world (lightning, the sea, the sun) versus the gods of our new age (the Internet, taxicabs, fast food). There was an advance reading of a children's story called "Wolves in the Walls" to be published around (Sweet) Christmas 2001. He also read a poem called "The Blueberry Girl", a touching piece written for Tori Amos' newborn daughter. As I said before, what a dude. So there you have it, Harry. A complete Gaiman report from your man-in-the-projects. My bill will arrive in the mail. Anyone else looking to put my superstrength and steelhard skin to the test can E-mail me. Oh yeah, and anyone looking to learn about and join the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund can find them at www.cbldf.org. Peace, love, and disco. -Luke Cage, Hero For Hire   Wednesday, October 18, 2000 Neverwhere Scripts Auction for the CBLDF Posted by lucy_anne at 11:33 AM PDT | Comments (0) And with 8 days to go, it's almost up to $700 dollars... Thanks to Glen for emailing the link ;) -la eBay Item 470588310: Neil Gaiman Original Neverwhere Manuscript   Friday, October 13, 2000 LA Last Angel Tour Changes Location Posted by puck at 2:22 AM PDT | Comments (0) Chris Bleistein from the CBLDF sent this press release: THE COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND - http://www.cbldf.org/ Gaiman's Last Angel Tour Moves to Bigger Theatre for LA Finale Due to the overwhelming demand for tickets, award-winning author NEIL GAIMAN's LAST ANGEL TOUR is moving to a larger theatre for its final stop in LOS ANGELES. The tour, which features Gaiman giving dramatic readings from his fiction and poetry, was originally slated to reach its conclusion at the Pacific Design Center on OCTOBER 26. Strong ticket sales have prompted a move to the nearby WRITERS' GUILD THEATRE, located in Beverly Hills just over a mile from the reading's original venue. All proceeds from the OCTOBER 26 event benefit the non-profit COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND and help protect the First Amendment rights of the comics community. "The Writers' Guild is a wonderful theatre," said Gaiman, "and I'm glad the CBLDF has so many friends and supporters in Los Angeles. As a member of the Writers' Guild myself, I think the theatre is a perfect place to host a reading to benefit the Fund." "I'm amazed and completely gratified by the enormous response we've gotten in LA," said CBLDF executive director Chris Oarr. "There are certainly worse problems to have than finding a bigger venue! The Writers' Guild Theatre has a lot to offer, and should be a great spot for the finale of the Last Angel Tour." The Writers' Guild Theatre is located at 135 SOUTH DOHENY DRIVE in BEVERLY HILLS. The move to a larger performance space means that additional tickets are now available for the Los Angeles reading. General Admission Tickets, which cost $20 each, can be purchased through TICKETMASTER by calling (213) 480-3232 or by visiting Ticketmaster.com The new venue also provides additional Premium seating. PREMIUM TICKETS, which include seats in the front rows and admittance to a private COCKTAIL RECEPTION with Gaiman before the reading, are again available for $60. General Admission ticket holders who would like to UPGRADE to Premium Tickets may do so by requesting a refund from Ticketmaster for their original ticket, and then purchasing a Premium Ticket. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund MEMBERS are welcome at the reception regardless of what level ticket they may purchase. The reception kicks off the evening's festivities at 6 PM. The reading itself has been pushed back to 8:30 PM to allow additional time for travel and for the reception. For complete tour information, please visit http://www.cbldf.org or call the Fund toll-free at 1-800-99-CBLDF. Neil 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. This seventh and final Guardian Angel Tour will bring the author to Chicago, New York, Portland OR, and Los Angeles. To date, these Guardian Angel Tours have raised more than $100,000 to protect free expression in comics. Tickets are also on sale at Ticketmaster for the first three stops on the tour: OCTOBER 16: The Vic Theatre, CHICAGO call Ticketmaster at (312) 559-1212 or visit Ticketmaster.com OCTOBER 18: St. Mark's Church, NEW YORK call Ticketmaster at (212) 307-7171 or visit Ticketmaster.com OCTOBER 24: The Aladdin Theatre, PORTLAND OR call Ticketmaster at (503) 224-4400 or visit Ticketmaster.com 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. # # # For additional information please contact Chris Bleistein at (413) 586-6967 or cbleistein@cbldf.org   Wednesday, October 11, 2000 Inscriptions Interview Posted by puck at 1:05 AM PDT | Comments (0) Thanks to Jade Walker for letting me know that Inscriptions, an weekly e-zine for professional writers interviewed Neil in their October 9th issue.   Sunday, October 8, 2000 The Dreaming ends at #60 Posted by lucy_anne at 3:44 PM PDT | Comments (0) From DC Online Newsletter, via CBEM WARRING NIGHTMARES BRING THE DREAMING TO A CLOSE WHILE THE SANDMAN CONTINUES TO PRESENT VERTIGO favorite THE DREAMING, with its eclectic characters gleaned from literature and ghost tales, will come to a close with its final storyline "Bad Dreams," solicited in Previews Vol. X #10 for release this December. But VERTIGO's exploration of the ethereal land of the Dreaming does not end here; THE SANDMAN PRESENTS line of character-focused titles will become more of a presence than ever as they unify into an ongoing release of miniseries and special projects. VERTIGO Executive Editor Karen Berger said, "Our exploration of THE SANDMAN mythos expands with this change as we plan to explore even more characters and develop more deeply their stories." THE DREAMING writer Caitlin R. Kiernan says: "For me, finishing THE DREAMING is like coming home again from a very long trip to a strange and wonderful place." The 4-part story, arriving in stores in December, begins with issue #57, as Echo makes a play to retain the Corinthian's mantle of "Nightmare." Stirring the forces of Nightmare to revolt within the Dreaming, Echo enlists the aid of nightmares Brute and Glob to capture Abel as bait to snatch members for her Nightmare Army. It's up to Abel's pet gargoyle Goldie to contact the House of Mystery caretaker Cain, last seen in issue #50. According to THE DREAMING Editor Shelly Bond, "Many months ago, Neil Gaiman, Karen Berger, Cait and I thought that it would be best to bring THE DREAMING to a close at issue #60. The monthly series became more and more confining as a format, and in the spirit of THE SANDMAN, we decided to work toward a satisfying conclusion. This gave Caitlin and regular artists Christian Hojgaard and Ron Randall ample time to orchestrate a compelling finishing point to a series that really deserved solid closure." Writer Caitlin R. Kiernan's explosive choreography of the coming Nightmare War will forever change the mercurial landscape of THE DREAMING and open new pages for new writers and artists to explore THE SANDMAN mythos in a new monthly series of THE SANDMAN PRESENTS miniseries and specials. Continuing VERTIGO's successful THE SANDMAN PRESENTS (which served as proving ground for the LUCIFER ongoing series), these new THE SANDMAN PRESENTS projects will feature a startling lineup of provocative artists and writers handling their favorite characters from THE SANDMAN and THE DREAMING mythos with covers by award-winning innovator Dave McKean (THE DREAMING, THE SANDMAN, Cages). Beginning this spring, THE SANDMAN PRESENTS will throw its curtains wide with THE SANDMAN PRESENTS: THE DEADBOY DETECTIVES miniseries, a Hardy Boys-meets-Philip-Marlowe detective yarn that combines elements of Harry Potter with a tongue-in-cheek hard-boiled style. Writer Ed Brubaker is joined by Eisner Award-winner Bryan Talbot and Steve Leialoha in a tale guest-starring familiar THE SANDMAN characters Mad Hettie and Hob Gadling. One of the Sandman's former lovers gets the spotlight in THE SANDMAN PRESENTS: THE THESSALIAD, written by Bill Willingham and illustrated by Shawn McManus. Thessaly (from THE SANDMAN: A GAME OF YOU) is known for her ruthless yet practical approach to magic. Find out what transpires when -- for the first time in history -- the most powerful Thessalian witch meets her match. Some important questions are addressed in the 48-page one-shot THE SANDMAN PRESENTS: EVERYTHING YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT DREAMS BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK, written by Bill Willingham with artwork by Kevin Nowlan, Mark Buckingham, Jason Little, Duncan Fegredo and others. This offbeat book addresses several oft-asked questions regarding the nature of Dreams and The Dreaming in a series of humorous vignettes featuring Nuala, Merv, Lucien, Goldie, Gregory, and other inhabitants of the Dreaming. Other projects in development feature such characters as The Corinthian and The Furies. Further details will be announced as they become available. "Bad Dreams," the four-part conclusion of THE DREAMING, begins with issue #57 (OCT00 0601), arriving in comic-book shops December 20th. Manuscript Auction to Accompany Gaiman's Last Angel Tour Posted by lucy_anne at 3:28 PM PDT | Comments (0) This is part of a press release from the CBLDF - if anyone knows the number or link of the auction in question, please let me know, and I'll post it. Thanks. -la MANUSCRIPT AUCTION TO ACCOMPANY GAIMAN'S LAST ANGEL TOUR Over the past ten years, acclaimed author NEIL GAIMAN has gone to great lengths to support the non-profit Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. He has traveled the country, reading from his work and raising money on six GUARDIAN ANGEL TOURS. He has donated his time and talent to create benefit books, comics, videos, and more. He has literally given the CBLDF the shirt off his back, as well as his famed leather jacket, for wildly successful charity auctions. He has done all of this and more to help the Fund protect free speech in comics. Now Gaiman goes one step further. Gaiman has announced that he will donate his ORIGINAL SCRIPTS for "NEVERWHERE," the hugely popular television series he created for the BBC. These are the actual BBC shooting scripts for all six episodes of the series, along with Gaiman's hand-written notes and directions. Throughout the scripts, there are pages of dialogue that Gaiman re-wrote on the set, as well as many other changes written in his hand. The Neverwhere scripts also include the FIRST 20 PAGES of what would become the "NEVERWHERE" NOVEL, written out in longhand. Gaiman began work on the novel while filming of the television series was underway. "You can actually see all the scribblings out of the first chapter of 'Neverwhere,'" said Gaiman. Together with the scripts, his original manuscript offers a one-of-a- kind glimpse of the author's creative process. And now Gaiman's actual "Neverwhere" scripts can be yours. The CBLDF will offer the manuscripts on EBAY http://www.ebay.com in a very special auction beginning OCTOBER 16 and coinciding with the launch of Gaiman's LAST ANGEL TOUR in Chicago. The auction will end OCTOBER 26, just as the tour reaches its conclusion in Los Angeles. In addition to the "Neverwhere" manuscript, the Fund will offer a number of other rare items sure to appeal to fans of Gaiman's work. All proceeds from the auctions will benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. For additional information please contact Chris Bleistein at (413)586-6967 or cbleistein@cbldf.org   Thursday, October 5, 2000 OT: Censorship in Everquest Posted by puck at 3:28 PM PDT | Comments (1) Seems Verant, the company that makes the wildly popular massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) Everquest has banned one of their players (who goes by the name Mystere) for a story they posted to a message board. The story *is* disturbing, so I'll warn you about that before you follow this link to it, but it was not posted to a Verant messageboard. This Everquest message board (I think it's the official one -- no, I don't play) is discussing this, with some people arguing that Mystere's story violated copyright, and that's the reason for the ban. I'm no lawyer, but I do know that the first reaction to a copyright infringement is almost always a cease and decist order, not something like this. On the second page of that board, you'll find out "Wytche" contacted a Mr. Scotto in Customer Service who said that Mystere was banned because they feel he is not the 'kind of person' they want playing Everquest. Is Verant now responsible for policing the activies of their players outside of their game and their own message boards? What's next? Will they demand inspections of player hard drives in order to search for pornographic images? Unfortunately, with their EULA (End User License Agreement) they are completey within their rights to ban any player for whatever reason they wish, however that doesn't make what they've done right. This is censorship, plain and simple. OT: Batman Beyond Movie to be Censored Posted by puck at 3:01 PM PDT | Comments (1) Thanks to Dylan Verhaul on the alt.fan.thingie for pointing this out to me. It seems that Warner Bros. is re-editing the upcoming Batman Beyond movie to be less violent. Everything I've heard about the movie is that it's a great story for a more mature audience, but from what I've read at Ain't It Cool News it seems that WB execs are thinking that only kids will rent/watch this. Harry (of AICN) has a great idea: petition for two releases -- one for kids and one for the rest of us cartoon fans. Go check it out. Neil at Anime Colony's New York Anime Film Festival - Oct. 7 Posted by puck at 2:25 AM PDT | Comments (2) Kane Tung sent along this info: Just wanted you to know that Neil Gaiman will be attending Anime Colony's New York Anime Film Festival in about 2 weeks at October 7th, where he'll be holding a panel with several other anime artists, including Yoshitaka Amano whom he has worked with on THE DREAM HUNTERS. I've attached the press release that goes with this. The panel will be held at the Director's Guild of America Theatre which is a really nice theatre on 57th St. between 6th and 7th Ave. Tickets for that particular session is $18 and includes the premiere of several anime features. You can get more info at: http://www.scifi.com/animefestival/ Powered by Coranto   Looking for books by Neil Gaiman?