Japan carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) has launched a five-year “Star Wars Project” that includes a new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner painted with an R2-D2 livery, proving yet again that the astromech droid does indeed have the ability to take flight.
The “Star Wars” themed plane is due to start flying international routes this fall, says the airline.
The “Star Wars Project” includes a special ANA website that plays the iconic theme song and features videos and photos of the plane.
The promotional tie-in comes ahead of the release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Archie vs Sharknado is written by Sharknado trilogy director Anthony C. Ferrante, with art by Archie’s Dan Parent Syfy and Archie Comics have announced that the “shark-tacular” 48-page comic issue will be released in comic shops, and digitally, the same day Syfy unveils Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! onWednesday, July 22.
You know him. You love him. Prepare to see a side of him you’ve never seen before as the galaxy’s smoothest gambler, entrepreneur, and smuggler gets his very own series! Today, Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfillm Ltd. are pleased to announce LANDO #1 – a brand new Star Wars limited series coming this July from Marvel Comics! Join Lando on his greatest caper ever as blockbuster creators Charles Soule (Death of Wolverine, Inhuman, She-Hulk) and Alex Maleev (Daredevil, Spider-Woman, Moon Knight) bring you a new tale of a scoundrel in his natural element – trouble!
“Is Lando Calrissian the coolest character in all of Star Wars? Depends on who you ask, probably. But if you ask me, the answer is yes, and I plan to prove it with this story,” says series writer Charles Soule.
Before he joined the rebellion, before he oversaw mining operations on Bespin – he was just Lando. Making his way in the galaxy and getting by on good looks, charm, and an ace up his sleeve (sometimes literally). With his cyborg aide Lobot at his side, Lando has plans to steal one of the galaxy’s most valuable ships. Yet even with his swindles and unparalleled swagger – has he bitten off more than he can chew?
“Before Cloud City, before his glorious Death Star run,” continues Soule, “Lando Calrissian was just a man trying to make his way through an uncaring universe determined not to recognize that he was undeniably the coolest man in the galaxy. But Lando’s got a plan to change all that… and it starts with the deal of a lifetime.”
Created in close partnership with Lucasfilm, this new Marvel Comics limited series will exist as part of the canon for the Star Wars universe! Once again, Marvel brings the biggest creators in the industry to the biggest characters in a galaxy far, far away. Be there when the Star Wars line expands this July in LANDO #1!
Earlier this week we took a moment to highlight a comment about the on going debate in the comic book industry and on the internet about how women are depicted and or drawn in comic books. Here is that article:
This sparked hundreds of conversation threads on Facebook, and serval members of the comic book industry weighed in on these comment threads or started their own.
Gene Ha, a Korean-American comic book artist and a four-time Eisner winner had this to say about the Frank Cho sketch covers and the continuing debate:
My two cents on the Frank Cho sketch covers. I’m a gorram social justice warrior. A bleeding heart liberal. I am proudly feminist. And I love Frank’s work. You don’t have to agree.
First, let’s leave room for everyone to have their own art. I thought it was stupid when Marvel announced a girl friendly new Spider-Woman run, and then stuck a Manara cover in press releases. This isn’t that: it was single sketches by an artist for his fans. Let young female readers have a Batgirl and Spider-Woman they (and I) can believe in, and let Cho fans (incl. me) enjoy his work too in a different space. I WANT COMICS TO BE BIG ENOUGH FOR ALL OF US. Even stuff I hate.
Cho is not mainly a superhero artist. Frank does real burlesque, which doesn’t mean stripping. It’s the same tradition as cabaret and commedia dell’arte: a theatrical mocking of the audience and our society. Outrage to provoke laughter. Playing with our hopes and fears to make us laugh at ourselves. The video at the link is REAL burlesque [NSFW if your bosses are @$$#oles, safe otherwise].
His work is also sexual. He draws powerful women and men, often in playful, “Oh, my towel is too small, whatever shall I do?” situations. I don’t get turned on by his work but I do think it’s hilarious, beautifully drawn and psychologically rich. His women have agency, even those who aren’t Agents of SHIELD. Again, you don’t have to agree with me but please, everyone, remember that comics is big enough to contain all of our dreams and visions.
These comments where originally post on Gene Ha’s Facebook wall and have been used with his permission.
In 2014 Al Jazeera America published the online graphic novella, Terms of Service: Understanding Our Role in the World of Big Data.The 46-page book is by Josh Neufeld and Michael Keller of Al Jazeera America.
From Bradley Campbell, PRI piece in 2014: It’s the first book, or graphic novella, published by Al Jazeera America. It centers on how we hand over data in the US for our own benefit. And it explores the tradeoffs of such a transaction. You get the benefits and companies get your data. But you can’t control what the companies do with that data, or whom they hand it over to.
“It’s funny because all of those services come under intense scrutiny in this piece, but we’re in a world where we’re forced to use them to get the word out about the piece. So it’s a crazy world,” Neufeld says.
This past Wednesday Isotope Comics in San Francisco starting carring printed copies of the graphic novella. Isotope is claiming they are the first store to carry Terms of Service.
Do you want to see more graphic novellas from Al Jazeera America? As a fan of comic book stores, I would love for you to buy this book from Isotope Comics, but if you don’t live in San Francisco here is a link to online version of Terms of Service: Understanding Our Role in the World of Big Data.
Did you know AL JAZEERA AMERICA made a comic?! Isotope is the first store to have them! pic.twitter.com/uVC0hhqsIj
Here is a recap of Star Wars Celebration: The Force Awakens Panel with reactions from cast member John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac.
Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, opens in theaters December 18, 2015.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.
The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, and John Williams returns as the composer.
Alex Garland and his new film Ex Machina make you feel awkward, but in a good way.
Ex Machina is written and directed by Alex Garland; stars Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, and Alicia Vikander
Alex Garland, writer of 28 Days Later and Sunshine, makes his directorial debut with the stylish and cerebral thriller, EX MACHINA. Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer at an internet-search giant, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company’s brilliant and reclusive CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac).
Upon his arrival, Caleb learns that Nathan has chosen him to be the human component in a Turing Test—charging him with evaluating the capabilities, and ultimately the consciousness, of Nathan’s latest experiment in artificial intelligence. That experiment is Ava (Alicia Vikander), a breathtaking A.I. whose emotional intelligence proves more sophisticated––and more deceptive––than the two men could have imagined.
Lucasfilm and visionary director J.J. Abrams join forces to take you back again to a galaxy far, far away as “Star Wars” returns to the big screen with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, opens in theaters December 18, 2015.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.
The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, and John Williams returns as the composer.
Today in Anaheim, California, J.J. Abrams (writer/director/producer) and Kathleen Kennedy (producer) kicked off Star Wars Celebration with an exclusive new look at STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. They welcomed surprise special guests from the film: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaacs as well as veterans of the original saga Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, and Peter Mayhew. The talented team of filmmakers and actors shared a behind the scenes look at the upcoming film and, to the surprise of fans around the world, debuted a brand new teaser trailer.
Get your first look at the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser #2!
Lucasfilm and visionary director J.J. Abrams join forces to take you back again to a galaxy far, far away as “Star Wars” returns to the big screen with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, opens in theaters December 18, 2015.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.
The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, and John Williams returns as the composer.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, and features a new generation of swashbuckling heroes and shadowy villains, as well as the return of fan-favorite smugglers, princesses, and Jedi.
Starring Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Anderson, Christina Chong and Miltos Yerolemou, the J.J. Abrams-directed film will debut in theaters on December 18, 2015.
