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ComicMix and the David Family invite you to join us in celebrating Peter David’s life and legacy at San Diego Comic-Con 2025. We’re giving you several opportunities to do so…

While you’re on the exhibition floor, stop by the ComicMix Booth (#2308), where we will be selling the new release of Completely Howling Mad. This is a numbered hardcover edition, and limited to 500 copies. Completely Howling Mad reprints Peter’s 1989 novel Howling Mad with his never before reprinted sequel novelette, Moonlight Becomes You. This is a Comic-Con 2025 exclusive, and all proceeds will go to the Davids.

Over the course of the weekend, we will be hosting a silent auction...

Who is the creator of the Marvel Comics universe? It's a trick question, with too many possible answers for a correct one, but most would probably say former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Stan Lee. Others, though, will contend more credit should go to Lee's greatest collaborator (with apologies to Steve Ditko): Jack Kirby. In "Fantastic Four," writer Mark Waid and artist Mike Wieringo depicted the Marvel Universe's God, the one above all, as being Jack Kirby himself.

The co-creator of Captain America with Joe Simon back in the day, Kirby saw his most prolific work in the 1960s. He and Lee created the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, Galactus and the Silver Surfer, the Hulk, the X-Men, Magneto, the Mighty Thor, and more. The dispute comes from the idea that Lee misrepresented his earned credit; that Kirby was doing most of the work and Lee was only performing his duties as an editor.

Despite its cast of modern stars, including Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez, the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves throws back to the game’s heyday in the 1980s. In addition to cameo appearances by a gelatinous cube and the green-flame blade, Pine’s bard Edgin Darvis and Rodriguez’s barbarian Holga Kilgore pass by a notable sextet.

Viewers of a certain age might recognize the six fellow adventurers as Hank the ranger, Eric the cavalier, Diana the acrobat, Presto the magician, Sheila the thief, and Bobby the barbarian. Fans first met these six heroes in 1983, when the cartoon show Dungeons & Dragons premiered on CBS. Produced by Marvel and Tsr, publishers of the game guidebook, Dungeons & Dragons ran for 27 episodes across three seasons.

As shown in the opening that ran with each episode, the six heroes were regular teens in the real world who boarded a Dungeons & Dragons roller coaster,...

When it comes to the Justice League, there are few villains who can survive crossing Darkseid, let alone triumph over the New God of Evil. However, it's a big omniverse, and there are a select few who are not just able to stand up to Darkseid, but could finally kill him if they ever decided it was necessary.

Here, then, are the eleven Justice League villains (and one bonus entry) who could kill Darkseid, ranked by power. Not included on this list are the Anti-Monitor and the Spectre, as while both these beings gave Darkseid a run for his money, they ultimately only proved they could fight him to a standstill under their own power.

Related: Why DC's Darkseid is Scarier Than Marvel's Thanos

Starro the Conqueror

A surprising entry comes first, as while Starro the Conqueror is a major threat - and the Justice League's first villain -...

Welcome to this brand-new feature here on Nerdly, where one of our comic gurus, Ian Wells, delves into comics history and dissects Comics Interview, the long-running journal of interviews and criticism from David Anthony Kraft.

Up Front With Dak

From this point forward I will be referring to David Anthony Kraft as Dak. He kicks things up this month by saying how well-received the first issue was. So well received in fact that starting with this very issue Comics Interview will be going monthly! The new monthly schedule will result in some fine-tuning issue by issue for what articles appear. One idea he has already is to have colourists and letters rotate month to month. In this issue the Mark Evanier interview doubles up as writer and editor feature, also an inker interview is absent. Dak makes the point to say everyone working on Ci with him is doing so...

Rick Scheckman, who worked with David Letterman for more than 30 years, died Friday at Bellevue Hospital in New York, according to friend Leonard Maltin. He was 67 and reportedly had “multiple health issues.”

Scheckman joined “Late Night With David Letterman” in 1982, coming aboard just one month after the show’s premiere on NBC. He quickly caught the attention of staff, and was made a full-time employee with the title of film coordinator. He later moved to CBS with Letterman and worked on “The Late Show” with him, sometimes appearing as an actor in a sketch. He stayed until the show ended

Scheckman was known as a film collector and for his ability to find obscure film clips at a moment’s notice.

“If twenty minutes before tape time, the writers suddenly came up with a bit that required film of a monkey washing a cat, Shecky knew where to find it,...

Rick “Shecky” Scheckman, who for more than 30 years came up with oddball footage for David Letterman’s late-night programs while also finding his way on camera for wacky comedy bits, has died. He was 67.

Scheckman had “multiple health issues” and died early Friday morning at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, his friend Leonard Maltin told The Hollywood Reporter.

The Queens native was an avid film collector who had acquired obscure footage from decades and decades of celluloid that could be repurposed for commercials, TV shows and the like.

“This meant organizing and cataloging hundreds upon hundreds of 16mm reels and figuring out a way to provide quick access to individual shots,” Maltin noted in a blog post.

Scheckman joined Late Night With David Letterman in March 1982, a month after the show debuted on NBC. The writers called on Scheckman so often, he was given a full-time job as film coordinator.

“If 20 minutes before tape time,...

Welcome to this brand-new feature here on Nerdly, where one of our comic gurus, Ian Wells, delves into comics history and dissects Comics Interview, the long-running journal of interviews and criticism from David Anthony Kraft.

Credits

I am going to kick things off by delving into the credits box, just to do a quick round-up of who’s, who. Now this feature may not come back every week depending on how much the credits change issue to issue. If a new name crops up I will call them out and maybe with the people I can’t find anything about online I can find out about them with the reading of each issue. There is no better place to start than with the main man himself, David Anthony Kraft. Before publishing this very magazine we are about to dive into Kraft has a more than substantial body of work both...

What’s the greatest Batman comic of all time? It’s a question that will never be definitively answered, but one serious contender is a comic parody that most fans likely haven’t read, let alone heard of…

Fanboy was a six-issue series from 1999, created by the Groo The Wanderer team of writer Mark Evanier and artist Sergio Aragonés. The series focuses on Finster, a young comic fan who gets so caught up in his own imagination, he sometimes has difficulty separating his imaginary life from the real one. As the title suggests, it’s a skewering satire of comics and the fans who love them, although the series also acts as a love letter to comics history. While Aragonés is the primary artist, each issue also features a host of guest artists from DC Comics past and present, an impressive list of legends including Gil Kane, Russ Heath, Jerry Ordway,...

Darkseid's single-minded search for the Anti-Life Equation makes him one of DC Comics' most evil villains. As the ruler of Apokolips, a hellish planet mired in violence and hate, Darkseid sees the Anti-Life Equation as the ultimate way to achieve his goal: to destroy free will in the universe. While the Anti-Life Equation has been defined in numerous ways since Jack Kirby first created it in his Fourth World Saga, Kirby's original intention for it casts Darkseid's ambitions in a starkly human light, and recalls antiwar sentiments of the 1960s.

Kirby originally created the Anti-Life Equation in his Fourth World Saga, which spanned the titles Forever People, Mister Miracle, New Gods, and Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen in the early 1970s at DC Comics. Over the years, the Anti-Life Equation has evolved to contain specific elements, but its core purpose has changed little. The Anti-Life Equation, at its most basic, would...

Los Angeles, CA – Entrepreneur Josh Jones has acquired the animated film and television rights to Groo the Wanderer, legendary cartoonist Sergio Aragonés’ beloved comics character, with the intent of producing the character’s first-ever animated entertainment via Jones’ Did I Err Productions company.

Groo the Wanderer, now in its landmark 40th year of publication, is the longest currently-running independent and “creator-owned” comic book property – outlasting many of the companies that published it. The brainchild of Aragonés, who creates the stories along with wordsmith Mark Evanier, the Eisner Award-winning Groo the Wanderer has been published by Dark Horse Comics since 1998.

Jones, and his Did I Err partner Scott Nocas, will serve as executive producers on the film and/or series with Aragonés and Evanier. Did I Err is focused on partnering with creative talent who understand Aragonés’ vision and characters. Projects are being packaged for streaming services and global distribution, with...

Groo the Wanderer, the long-running comedic comic from legendary Spanish cartoonist Sergio Aragonés, is on its way to animation.

Entrepreneur Josh Jones, who counts businesses in venture capitalism, cryptocurrency and airlines among his portfolio, has acquired the animated film and television rights to Groo, with the intent of producing the character’s first-ever animated adaptation via his film company, Did I Err Productions.

Jones and his Did I Err partner Scott Nocas will serve as executive producers on the possible projects along with Aragonés and Groo writer Mark Evanier.

Did I Err will seek out creative talent who understand Aragonés’ unique vision ...

Groo the Wanderer, the long-running comedic comic from legendary Spanish cartoonist Sergio Aragonés, is on its way to animation.

Entrepreneur Josh Jones, who counts businesses in venture capitalism, cryptocurrency and airlines among his portfolio, has acquired the animated film and television rights to Groo, with the intent of producing the character’s first-ever animated adaptation via his film company, Did I Err Productions.

Jones and his Did I Err partner Scott Nocas will serve as executive producers on the possible projects along with Aragonés and Groo writer Mark Evanier.

Did I Err will seek out creative talent who understand Aragonés’ unique vision ...

Fantastic Four No. 1: Panel by Panel

By Chip Kidd, Geoff Spear, Mark Evanier, and Tom Brevoort

Abrams ComicsArts, 240 pages, $40

The first title to usher in the Marvel Age of Comics has been previously annotated in other books, most notably one five years ago. But here, designer Chip Kidd does his usual in-depth look with incredible blow-ups of each panel of each page of the story that introduced us to Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm, and Benjamin J. Grimm.

The vast majority of the book is filled with these detailed looks, shot by Geoff Spear from a 1961 copy of the comic. It’s an interesting look, forcing you to examine things in extreme close-up, so much so that some panels lose detail in the spine.

It’s all too much and somewhat overwhelms you visually. And then, when we get to the meat of the book, Tom Brevoort’s analytical breakdown of the comic,...

Written by Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier | Art by Sergio Aragones, Thomas Yeates | Published by Dark Horse Comics

After reviewing a lot of very good, but very mainstream, superhero books I was looking for something a little different to cast my eyes over this review. Someone upstairs must have been listening, as you don’t get much more removed from Superman or Moon Knight than Groo and Tarzan. Tarzan of course has a massive literary pedigree. Groo doesn’t, but he probably thinks he does.

I’ve been a fan of both characters for some years, I collected the Marvel Tarzan run a few decades back and loved it. Tarzan has, of course, been around in magazines and novels since the 1910’s, created by the great Edgar Rice Burroughs. He’s got quite the pedigree in comics too, not only starring in quite a few runs, but also inspiring characters like Ka-Zar.

In time for the digital streaming release of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, I had the chance to see a digital version of the film which I reviewed here.

Warner Home Entertainment sent out the 4k Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and Digital HD combo pack for further examination. The feature itself is just lovely to watch on 4K, both audio and video are superb.

The real fun this time are the Special Features starting with the DC Showcase: Adam Strange (16:05). J.M. DeMatteis wrote a fine tale, tragically updating the story of the archeologist who found himself becoming the hero of distant Rann. We see Adam (Charlie Weber ) on Rann, too late to stop a Thanagarian attack that seemed to kill his wife, Alanna. A Zeta beam transports him back to an asteroid mining colony located cheekily in Space Sector 24601, where he succumbs to despair and alcohol. Until… It’s an...

Dungeons & Dragons fans can finally be at peace. Series developer Mark Evanier recently reported the long-ago cancelled CBS TV show has gotten an ending in a new Renault commercial.

Based on the popular role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons was an animated series that ran on CBS from 1983 to 1985. The show centered on a group of friends who are sucked into the Dungeons & Dragons world.

Read More…...

Friday's Comic-Con schedule is packed with horror panels and events, including the first look at The Walking Dead Season 9, a panel dedicated to the new Halloween, Scream Factory's reveal of new titles, the world premiere screening of Castle Rock, and much more.

To view the full Friday panel schedule, visit: https://www.comic-con.org/cci/friday

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Reunion

In 2008, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog became a beloved webseries. The show tells the story of Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris), an aspiring super-villain; Moist (Simon Helberg), Dr. Horrible's minion; Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), his nemesis; and Penny (Felicia Day), their shared love interest. Celebrate the 10th anniversary of this popular show by attending this lively discussion and celebration with creator Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, and Maurissa Tancharoen!

Friday July 20, 2018 10:00am - 11:00am

Hall H

That '70s Panel

The seventies...

Don Pitts, longtime voice-talent agent and radio personality, died on April 7. He was 90.

Pitts represented a who’s-who of classic voice talent, including Orson Welles, Casey Kasem, June Foray, Wolfman Jack, Mel Blanc, Paul Winchell, Janet Waldo, Gary Owens, and many more. He was well-known for his kind and friendly personality, and was much loved by his clients.

“His clients treasured him and he treasured his clients,” says Cindy Kazarian, CEO of Kazarian/Measures/Ruskin & Associates, who worked with Pitts when it was the Jhr Agency in the early 1980s. Kazarian, Pammela Spencer, and Pitts purchased Jhr in 1988 and renamed it Kazarian/Spencer and Associates. It later became Kmr.

“He was an incredible man, very special. They don’t make them like him anymore,” says Kazarian. “He never had a mean word or negative thing to say about anybody. He was not who you would expect to be in this business.

Something can be both an obvious idea and a bad idea. I think we’ve all had that weird vertiginous feeling when looking down from a great height, like we want to jump off.

Nearly all of us manage to foil that impulse, and, of the few who don’t, a large proportion have tethers or parachutes or other safety apparatus to save them from immediately dying. But that’s the feeling I mean: the sense that doing this thing would be really dumb, and yet wanting to see what it would be like anyway.

I have to assume some such impulse led to the 2014 comics series Groo Vs. Conan . It’s such an obvious idea — two barbarian adventurers! utterly different worlds and personalities and styles of story and even art! — and just as immediately a bad idea.

And yet, as we can see, it happened.

The story is by...

Mark Evanier has been writing and collecting stories from various other comics editors about freelancers who do or do not get their work in on time, and the motivations for why they might end up delivering late:

The artist was a freelancer who worked for many companies and editors. I absolutely sympathize with anyone in that position because that’s been my entire career for 49 years now — juggling assignments, working for several places at the same time.

By his own admission, this artist worried incessantly about not having enough work to meet the expenses of life. Even when he had a full dance card and was turning down work, he was fretting, “What if there’s nothing more after I hand in my current assignments?” When I asked him to draw the story for me, he should have said no, he didn’t have time. He was already committed to...

Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This December will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.

To sign up for a free two-week trial here.

Friday, December 1

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World*: Criterion Collection Edition #692

Stanley Kramer followed his harrowing Oscar winner Judgment at Nuremberg with the most grandly harebrained movie ever made, a pileup of slapstick and borscht-belt-y one-liners about a group of strangers fighting tooth and nail over buried treasure. Performed by a nonpareil cast, including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy, Jonathan Winters, and a boatload of other playing-to-the-rafters comedy legends, Kramer’s wildly uncharacteristic film is an exhilarating epic of tomfoolery. Supplemental Features: an audio commentary featuring It’s a Mad,...

Would you like to know how to make a baby boomer fanboy’s head explode?

O.K. That was a trick question. There are plenty of ways to make a baby boomer fanboy’s head explode. It’s our fault, really. Many of us had children. But I digress.

One way to make a baby boomer fanboy’s head explode is to ask him (well, I said fanboy) which Neal Adams’ project is his favorite. My knee-jerk response would be Green Lantern / Green Arrow #80 for personal reasons, and The Spectre #3 (the one from 1968) to prove I’m still a fanboy at heart.

That is, until last week. Now I’ve got a clear favorite. And it’s not a comic book… although it is about a comic book. And a damn good one at that.

Last week, our pal and mystical production overlord Glenn Hauman, who occasionally writes something or...

You pick up a lot of baggage when you live to be 100, a sentiment confirmed by the long, long movie career of Bob Hope. His unofficial status as the preeminent entertainer of the 20th century is open to debate but he was without a doubt that era’s most conspicuous comedian. Marlon Brando’s infamous dismissal, “He’ll go to the opening of a market to receive an award”, was mean-spirited but it had the sting of truth; for over eighty years Hope was everywhere, for better or worse.

Living up to his nickname, “Rapid Robert”, the 31-year old Hope shot out of the gate in 1934 with a series of quick-on-their feet comic shorts revolving around his unique presence as a leading man and comical sidekick rolled into one. It wasn’t long before he was starring in pleasantly prosaic musicals like The Big Broadcast of 1938 and handsomely mounted...

There’s a common refrain from longtime fans that San Diego Comic-Con isn’t about comics anymore. I understand that point of view, but I don’t really believe it. In fact, I’m developing a theory that San Diego Comic-Con is really about a lot of different things, but each and every one is so big and boisterous that they eclipse comics. But that doesn’t mean that comics aren’t there.

With that in mind, here are a few comic discoveries from this year’s Comic-Con:

New publisher Black Mask had a modest booth, but it was bursting with talent and creativity.

Black – Jamal Igle was a friendly face in the Black Mask Booth. He’s a tireless creator and was proud of his latest comic, Black. It’s a super hero comic that takes place in a reality where only black people have superpowers. It’s gutsy and compelling.

When Leonard Nimoy died, several comic conventions paused for a moment of silence as fans offered up the Vulcan salute. Those were lovely gestures as the nerd community showed how beloved the actor, and his signature role, was to them.

I wish that Batman’s Adam West had a signature gesture like that. A hands-on-hips pose means Superman. The Vulcan salute embodies all of Star Trek’s mythology. Television’s Wonder Woman had a spinning motion (it enabled her to change from her meek self into her heroic costume) that we of a certain age remember. Iron Man kind of owns that punching-the-ground-while-crouching pose. But TV’s Batman really could’ve used an iconic pose.

Perhaps it would be holding a bomb, with a lighted fuse, above one’s head? Perhaps that silly/sexy Batusi dance move, evoking a bat’s eyes and ears? Somehow they just don’t seem right.

Is The Garfield Show ending? Recently, head writer and supervising producer Mark Evanier announced Boomerang will air a shortened fifth season of the animated series.Based on the comic strip by Jim Davis, the CGI show follows the adventures of Garfield, Odie, and their own Jon Arbuckle. The voice cast includes Frank Welkner, Gregg Berger, Wally Wingert, and Julie Payne.Read More…...

Last month we said goodbye to the great comics artist, Murphy Anderson. He had such a body of work, and given his impressive talents, it’s not surprising that he was working as a professional comics artist over six decades.

My gorgeous wife, Kathe, had come to love Murphy too. She was so impressed with the man, his lovely wife Helen and his son, Murphy Anderson III. (This is one case where you can’t parrot that old saw, “There will never be another Murphy Anderson” – because there is!) She and I were talking to some friends about Murphy’s passing and we were trying to put it into perspective for these folks who weren’t comic fans. I stumbled into the analogy that Murphy was the “Tony Bennett of comics.” Upon further reflection, I think that’s pretty fitting. He was the consummate professional, always delivering high quality work and was always consistent.

Comic-Con International has announced the nominations for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for 2015. The nominees, chosen by a blue-ribbon panel of judges, highlight the wide range of material being published in comics and graphic novel form today, from companies big and small, in print and on line. The awards will be given out during a gala ceremony on Friday, July 10 during Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Best Short Story

“Beginning’s End,” by Rina Ayuyang, muthamagazine.com

“Corpse on the Imjin!” by Peter Kuper, in Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World (Simon & Schuster)

“,” by Lee Bermejo, in Batman Black and White #3 (DC)

“,” by Max Landis & Jock, in Adventures of Superman #14 (DC)

“When the Darkness Presses,” by Emily Carroll, http://emcarroll.com/comics/darkness/

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)

Astro City #16: “Wish I May” by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson (Vertigo/DC)

Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers, by Evan Dorkin...

Cast

Captain T. G. Culpeper Spencer Tracy J. Russell Finch Milton Berle Melville Crump Sid Caesar Benjy Benjamin Buddy Hackett Mrs. Marcus Ethel Merman Ding Bell Mickey Rooney Sylvester Marcus Dick Shawn Otto Meyer Phil Silvers J. Algernon Hawthorne Terry-Thomas Lennie Pike Jonathan Winters Monica Crump Edie Adams Emeline Finch Dorothy Provine Cabdriver Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Tyler Fitzgerald Jim Backus Man driving in the desert Jack Benny Union official Joe E. Brown Biplane pilot Ben Blue Police sergeant Alan Carney Detective Chick Chandler Mrs. Halliburton Barrie Chase Mayor Lloyd Corrigan Police chief William Demarest Sheriff of Crocket County Andy Devine Ginger Culpeper (voice) Selma Diamond Cabdriver Peter Falk Detective Normal Fell Colonel Wilberforce Paul Ford Deputy sheriff Stan Freberg Billie Sue Culpeper (voice) Louise Glenn Cabdriver Leo Gorcey Fire chief Sterling Holloway Mr. Dinckler Edward Everett Horton Irwin Marvin Kaplan Jimmy the Cook Buster Keaton Nervous motorist Don Knotts Airport...

Day 3 of Sdcc '14 marks the end of an era with "True Blood's" last panel. It's joined by fellow fangers "The Vampire Diaries," the witches of "Salem" and "Ahs: Coven," "Grimm," Sin City, "Constantine," Troma, and lots more.

Per usual, we have the horror highlights along with info on a few other panels that should be of general interest (plus a couple of things for the kids). Be sure to visit the official 2014 San Diego Comic-Con website for the full lineup.

Day 3: Saturday, July 26, 2014

10 Am - The Simpsons

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Simpsons-no gifts please-with creator Matt Groening, executive producer Al Jean, supervising director Mike Anderson, and director for life David Silverman. Topics include the new Treehouse of Horror, Simpsorama, a visit from Homer Simpson and much, much more.

Saturday July 26, 2014 10:00am - 10:45am - Ballroom 20

10 Am - Idw: Summer Blockbusters!

Idw...

San Diego Comic-Con has released the full schedule of events for Saturday, July 26, following the Thursday and Friday schedules that were released the past two days. You can clickHere to view the lineup in its entirety, which includes numerous comic book panels and events, but we have pulled out all of the movie, DVD and TV-related panels for your convenience.

San Diego Comic-Con has released the full schedule of events for Saturday, July 26, following the Thursday and Friday schedules that were released the past two days. You can clickHere to view the lineup in its entirety, which includes numerous comic book panels and events, but we have pulled out all of the movie, DVD and TV-related panels for your convenience.

Saturday, July 26

The Simpsons

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Simpsons-no gifts please-with creator Matt Groening, executive producer Al Jean, supervising director MikeAnderson, and director for life David Silverman.

The Supreme Court is being urged to rule in the ongoing legal battle between Marvel Entertainment and the heirs of comics legend Jack Kirby.

The highest authority of the Us judicial system has received several friend-of-the-court (amici curiae) briefs supporting the case of the Avengers, Thor, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Captain America and X-Men co-creator, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed.

One comes from former director of the Us Patent and Trademark Office Bruce Lehman, who once served as chief advisor to President Bill Clinton on intellectual property matters. He writes on behalf of the Artists Rights Society, the International Intellectual Property Institute and more.

Former Kirby assistant and comics creator Mark Evanier, Kirby historian John Morrow and Pen Centre USA have also delivered an amici curiae brief.

In August 2013, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's ruling that Kirby's heirs could not terminate Marvel's rights to the iconic characters,...

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Hollywood Goes "Mad"

By Raymond Benson

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the 1963 classic epic comedy directed by Stanley Kramer, is one of those Hollywood train wrecks that you can’t help but like. It’s a one-of-a-kind all-star extravaganza featuring some of the biggest names of mostly 1950s and early 1960s comedy (and a good number of them were known primarily as television actor/comics rather than big screen performers). The United Artists release was one of a current trend of movie star ensemble film in which the producers attempt to throw in as many big names as possible (e.g. Exodus, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Longest Day). As Kramer himself states in a reunion extra that appears on Criterion’s new Blu-ray/DVD combo set, “It would be impossible to make today,” due to the salaries stars demand now.

This week, Community comes back to NBC for a fifth season and this time they have Dan Harmon running the ship again. Series regulars Joel McHale and Jim Rash talk about the joys of the new season and the woes of the last, plus Rocky & Bullwinkle bring Mark Evanier back to comics and Marvel kicks Barnes & Noble while they are down.

The Point covers it 24/7! Take us Anywhere! The Point Radio App is now in the iTunes App store – and it’s Free! Just search under “pop culture The Point”. The Point Radio - 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for Free. Go Here and Listen Free on any computer or on any other mobile device with the Tune In Radio app - and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

Originally published on ComicMix as The Point Radio: Community Gets Their Pilot Back...

The forthcoming Criterion Blu-ray/DVD special edition of Stanley Kramer's 1963 comedy classic It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World won't be released until January 21 but you can pre-order it now on Amazon and save $10. The set will contain a combined five discs, making this Criterion's most ambitious release to date. 

Here is breakdown of what you can expect from the press release:

Stanley Kramer followed his Oscar-winning Judgment at Nuremberg with this sobering investigation of American greed. Ah, who are we kidding? It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, about a group of strangers fighting tooth and nail over buried treasure, is the most grandly harebrained movie ever made, a pileup of slapstick and borscht-belt-y one-liners performed by a nonpareil cast, including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy, Jonathan Winters, and a boatload of other playing-to-the-rafters comedy legends. For sheer scale of silliness, Kramer's wildly...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Jan. 21, 2014

Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $49.99

Studio: Criterion

The comedy legends of yesteryear come together for It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Stanley Kramer followed his Oscar-winning Judgment at Nuremberg with the much-loved 1963 comedy spectacular It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Concerning about a group of strangers fighting tooth and nail over buried treasure, the film is the most grandly harebrained movie ever made, featuring a pileup of slapstick and borscht-belt-y one-liners performed by a nonpareil cast, including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Dick Shawn, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy, Jonathan Winters, and a boatload of other playing-to-the-rafters comedy legends.

For sheer scale of silliness, Kramer’s wildly uncharacteristic film is unlike any other, an exhilarating epic of tomfoolery.

Criterion’s release features a new high-definition digital transfer of a 197-minute extended version of the film, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris...

Hollywood’s most spectacular comedy is getting the treatment it so richly deserves! On his superb website (add it to your favorites list while you’re there!), newsfromme.com, pop culture guru Mark Evanier has announced the news about the lavish deluxe Criterion Collection edition of 1963′s It’S A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World! It’s won’t be out in time for Christmas, but you’ll be able to use your gift cards and holiday cash to make those cold months a lot cheerier! Imagine curling up on the couch and sharing some hot chocolate with the greatest gathering of comic superstars ever put on celluloid! Here’s the full story: http://www.newsfromme.com/2013/10/16/great-great-great-great-announcement/

And here’s Criterion’s link:

http://www.criterion.com/films/28579-it-s-a-mad-mad-mad-mad-world

And to tide you over, here’s our coverage of last year’s big reunion :

http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com...

We told you last month about the PBS special presentation Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle that would be premiering in October, and tonight’s the night! Tuesday nights are pretty jam-packed for Our Kind of Viewing, but this one looks like it should get some priority.

We have a TV spot and the clip from the first hour to get you primed, and the press release is included again below so you’ll get the full details, including the info on the accompanying book and Blu-ray.

Here’s a quick scheduling note: After the initial broadcast the three hours are broken into three one-hour parts and have slightly different titles, though at least in my area they will still be aired one right after the other. So if you’re thinking of DVR-ing it, check the titles and time carefully so you don’t miss out on any of the three hours.

Click the Above Title to read the Full Story.... PBS Announces “Superheroes Night” On October 15th – Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle to be shown in one three-hour programming block, beginning at 8pm Et (check local listings) – Arlington, Va; September 5, 2013 – PBS announced today that Tuesday, October 15, 2013, is “Superheroes Night,” featuring a three-hour block dedicated to the groundbreaking program Superheroes: A Never-ending Battle. The newest film from Emmy Award-winning producer/director Michael Kantor (Broadway: The American Musical; Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business Of America) will premiere at 8:00 p.m. Et and include insightful interviews from Stan Lee; actors Adam West (TV’s “Batman”) and Lynda Carter (“Wonder Woman”); Geoff Johns (chief creative officer, DC Comics), Jeph Loeb (head of television for Marvel Entertainment); Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) and cartoonist/author Jules Feiffer (the long-running strip “Feiffer”), as well as appearances by the late comic...

The circus tent of geekdom encompasses an infinite number of interests, but when the brainy geeks are also the superhero fan geeks, what do you get? This bit of wonderfulness: a PBS miniseries on superheroes entitled Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle. Three episodes, all in one night, narrated by the excellent Liev Schreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Salt). And just wait until you see the list of people involved.

There will also be a book and a Blu-ray/DVD released in conjunction with the all-in-one-night miniseries; here are the details, followed by links to pre-order the book and the Blu-ray:

PBS Announces “Superheroes Night” On October 15th – Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle to be shown in one three-hour programming block, beginning at 8pm Et (check local listings) –

Arlington, Va; September 5, 2013 – PBS announced today that Tuesday, October 15, 2013, is “Superheroes Night,” featuring a three-hour block dedicated to the groundbreaking program Superheroes: A Never-ending Battle. The...

If I quit my day job, I just might possibly keep up with the output from TwoMorrows Publishing. Sundry regularly published magazines (Alter-Ego, Back Issue, Draw!, etc.), trade paperback and hardcover profiles of significant creators, publishing lines, eras and events – I can’t begin to list them all here. Well, I could, but they do a better job on their own website.

Did I mention they do everything up in both hardcopy and digital? Well, they do, and they’ve made many an otherwise tedious commute into Manhattan a lot more palatable.

I only get to bring to your attention a small fraction of their books. I’m still pissed that travel and work schedules didn’t allow me to review their Matt Baker: The Art of Glamour. So, to paraphrase the great Jack Kirby (and, yeah, they also publish The Jack Kirby Collector), just buy it.

But I...

The schedule for the fourth day of Comic-Con is now available, and it’s a big day for television panels, including Supernatural, Breaking Bad, Under the Dome, and Doctor Who.

You can find the complete schedule here, but check out below for some of the biggest highlight’s from the convention’s final day. San Diego Comic-Con will run from July 17-21.

10:00am-11:00am, Room 6De, DC Comics Superman: The New 52: The Last Son of Krypton is one of the most recognized pop culture icons of all time, and this year, Superman is set to soar to new heights!

Comic-Con is releasing its daily schedules over this long holiday weekend and the schedule for Saturday, July 20 has just come out. The day features panels on TV favorites like How I Met Your Mother (at the Con for the first time!), True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries as well as upcoming shows like Dracula and The Originals, and much more. Many of the major film panels are Saturday, including a look at the upcoming Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the Marvel panel, which will feature the Thor and Captain America sequels, and WB and Legendary’s panel featuring Godzilla, and Gravity.

Image via: ACGArt

A few of us here from GeekTyrant will be hitting up WonderCon 2013, which takes place from Friday, March 29th to Sunday, March 31th at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. We went for the first time last year, and we had a great time, so we're all excited to be going back for more geek goodness!

WonderCon has released the full three-day schedule! There's a ton of great stuff to check out this year! Enough cool stuff to keep you more than busy! Check out the schedule and start planning out your trip! If you're going and you see us around make sure to say hi! We can talk about geek stuff! See ya there!

March 29 • Friday

12:30Pm – 1:30Pm

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35th Anniversary: BattlestarRoom 300De

Host Richard Hatch (Capt. Apollo, Tom Zarek), Kevin Grazier (science advisor, Battlestar, Caprica, Defiance),Michael Taylor (writer/producer, Battlestar, Defiance, Caprica...

Last night marked the 50th anniversary of The Jetsons, the first ABC TV series to be broadcast by the then-newbie network in color. George, Jane, Judy, Elroy and Astro only lasted one season in primetime before being cancelled -- airing opposite the highly-rated Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC -- but the original 24 episodes ended up being rerun over and over for many years.

In the 1980s, Hanna-Barbera produced new episodes for the syndication package but they were aimed at a very young audience. A live-action movie is supposedly still in the works.

In honor of the anniversary, several online outlets have published tributes to the first family of the future -- including animation writer and historian Mark Evanier who recalls watching, and falling in love with, the very first episode.

How I Met George Jetson

Fifty...

Here’s a sucky way to spend one’s birthday: voiceless with a serious summer head cold. Bitch, bitch; moan, moan. Okay, I had a great day-before-my-birthday in Manhattan lunching with Danny Fingeroth and dinnering with fellow ComicMixer Martha Thomases. Nine hours of fantastic conversation in the best thing in life with your clothes on.

Sadly, as the overly-breaded but otherwise tasty General Tzu’s was being presented to me at our Greenwich Village dungeon of culinary delight, I was starting to sound like a frog in a blender. By the time I was on the subway back to Grand Central Terminal, I was grateful somebody bothered to invent texting. The gifted Miss Adriane picked me up and dragged me home. That was birthday-eve.

On birthday day, we first had to ransom my car back from the shop – I can’t complain; 100,000 miles on one battery is pretty damn good...

It was 1978, and the electric current going through DC Comics’ offices could have lit Times Square. Vice-President and Production Director Jack Adler was strutting around like a proud papa. For the first time in what seemed like a millennium, Marie Severin was paying a visit.

If you were from outside the donut shop, you’d think the President was in the house. Work came to a complete stop. Everybody swarmed to the production department to meet, or to see once again, the famed artist and gifted humorist. That she toiled for the company’s competition and yet received this reception is an acknowledgement of her talent and abilities.

The masterful colorist of the legendary EC Comics line, Marie worked at Marvel Comics for decades as an art director, a penciler and an inker. Her credits read like a Who’s Who at the House of Ideas: Doctor Strange, the Incredible Hulk,...

The Comic-Con 2012 schedule has now been released in full, and barring any major updates, is set. The blessing and curse of being an attendee is deciding which panels/autograph sessions/special events to attend, when they conflict. And they always do.

For you to see for yourself, below are what we are calling the “headliner” panels; those panels that are taking place in Hall H, Ballroom 20, Room 6Bdf, and the just-next-door Hilton Indigo Ballroom, the four major venues for panels. There are descriptions of each panel as well as the show(s) and/or movie(s) they are there to discuss.

See how many conflicts you might have, or how you might arrange time and space to somehow attend these plus spend every day in the vendors’ Exhibit Hall and chasing zombies in the nearby The Walking Dead Escape. By the way, if you figure that out, Please let us know.

And now we have the Saturday programming for the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con. For the full rundown on the Con’s website, go here. But I’ve accumulated the highlights, featuring a myriad of our favorite upcoming and ongoing film and TV projects like: After Earth, Planet Of The Apes, Once Upon A Time, True Blood, Hannibal, Mockingbird Lane, Pacific Rim, The Hobbit, Grimm, Being Human, Vampire Diaries, True Blood, The Following, Iron Man 3 and Revolution. Check it out below.

10:00-11:00 After Earth— Enter the world of After Earth with an in-depth panel that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the universe of the upcoming film and comic book. With the film now in post-production and set to hit theaters next June, screenwriter Gary Whitta (Book of Eli) and director of photography Peter Suschitzky(The Empire Strikes Back) will discuss the making of the film. They will be...