Getting Caught Up: August 2009

It’s the last “free day” of the month–actually the day after, thanks to the Disney/Marvel announcement–so it’s time to see what everyone else has been talking about while I’ve been trying to come up with contentduring the month.

comics

• I thought that Mike Kunkle was simply taking time off from Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!, but it turns out that he’s left the series entirely. I now have to reassess the new team, now that they’re the permanent team instead of temporary.
• 4th Letter writer David Brothers has a few issues with Comic-Con’s “Four Color Reality” panel. Mainly that they used outdated data.
• A 14-year-old comic creator uses his media of choice to look into the case responsible for the “Amber Alert” system, the kidnapping and murder of 10-year-old Amber Hagerman.
• You’ve heard about people starting blogs to find a mate, but how about a barely remembered comic from their youth?
• Nashville Beatle of The Beat Down matches my viewpoint about DC’s Blackest Night event.
• X-Ray Studios is getting involved with Boom! Kids The Incredibles! Yay!

television

• Variety reports that Sesame Street will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Daytime Emmy Awards. If you ask me, it’s long overdue.
• Let me see if I understand what this study is saying. Kids think they can’t live up to “TV heroes” and that damages their self-esteem, but sitcoms where people just about make it is live-up-able and boosts their self-esteem? What doesn’t sound right to me?
• The Paley Center in LA will be paying tribute to Hanna-Barbera by screening some of their most famous cartoons. (h/t Toon Zone again)
• The sequel to Family Guy‘s parody of Star Wars has been announced.
• A press release for the new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which is much better than some fans would lead you to believe.

movies

• Stan Berkowitz, scriptwriter for the Superman/Batman: Public Enemies adaptation discusses the changes between Loeb’s comic story and the DVD movie.

internet

• CNet reports that a bill would allow the president to “seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency“. I’m not sure how that affects storytelling sites, but if history shows anything, it’s that giving the government access to anything means they’ll use it, regardless of the owner’s wishes. Anybody remember the “eminent domain” fiasco? It worries me.
• Does Wikipedia’s plan to moderate certain edits mean the experiment failed? No, it just means a few morons ruined it for everyone again, but it’s not that major a change.
• YouTube and Cartoon Network are pairing up, according to Bloomberg. (h/t Toon Zone) Now if YouTube would just allow original production makers (homemade and fan films, not the drunken party antics or video blogs–those tend to be shorter) to put more than 10 minutes of their movie in one clip. This probably won’t lead to less 10-minute copies of CN programs ending, because nobody on YouTube ever checks to see if someone else already has an episode/clip up before putting up copy #15.

video games

• Gammasutra reports on a discussion by BioWare co-founders Drs. Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka about interactive storytelling. The duo’s company is well known for making amazing games with a proper use of interactive storytelling elements. (Their most recent smash is Mass Effect.) h/t to G4TV.com.
• Variety’s Chris Morris isn’t impressed by YooStar, a “Guitar Hero of the film world”.
• Why are gay rights groups upset at Shadow Complex, the XBox Live Arcade sensation? It’s not the game, but the source material. Or rather the author.

in other news

• You can help choose the Winsor McCay Award winner. It’s an animation award “given to an individual in the animation industry in recognition for career contributions to the art of animation”.
• News Corp’s James Murdoch takes a well-deserved shot at the BBC.
• They’re going after the Army Experience Center again.
• I received an e-mail from the webmaster of the Cosplay/Anime Costuming and Masquerade Links Page requesting to link to my article on the cosplay at this year’s ConnectiCon. I thought I’d return the favor.

A few of these items aren’t actually from RSSfeeds, but a folder on my desktop filled with articles I was sure I was going to read, and months later didn’t. It happens.