Television

Seriously, the PR is getting so weird it's getting hard to believe. Here's another offsite, this one at 1st street and J, which promotes COMA, a TV mini-series by Ridley and Tony Scott, by helping them go through the torment that people in Michael Crichton's original novel went thought via being "evaluated" for the tour and getting a surgery scar. Make sure you wear your brain-wave activated cat ears when you go through the surgery! We're sure this will not be as fun as it sounds. Why couldn't there be a BLACK JACK carnival at Comic-Con instead?

Here's some news that broken prior to Comicon. Diana Rigg, best known for her time as Emma Peel on The Avengers (the British spy show Mark Waid will adapting for BOOM!, not the Marvel movie) will be appearing on Doctor Who. Come to find out, she's going to be doing an episode with her daughter, Rachel Stirling. That's pretty much another royal wedding.

A documentary set at Midtown Comics? Yes.

It's not exactly a classic comic in that it ponders the meaning of life and death....but Jean Claude Forest's BARBARELLA is still one of those iconic Franco-Belgian titles that brings a smile to the face. If the Mad Men-era politics of the original strip won't do it, young Jane Fonda as the original movie version is guaranteed to do the same.

EW has rolled out the first photo of Danai Gurira as Michonne, the sword-wielding zombie slicer from Robert Kirkman's THE WALKING DEAD TV series.

There's so many cartoonists working at Cartoon Network we couldn't fit 'em all in one post! Here is Part Two featuring interviews with cartoonists/animators Calvin Wong, Rebecca Sugar, John Pham and many more.

After a lot of misfires, the WB finally hit the target* with a pilot pick up in the form of ARROW, what they are now calling Green Arrow. We don't know why the Green part was redacted because as you can see from the cast shot, they do wear green. Guess "**** Lantern is not a phrase that is remembered fondly beneath the water tower.

The "Upfronts" have taken/are taking place somewhere in Hollywood and New York and although it sounds like a bra convention, what it really means is the networks are parading their new shows for 2012-13 in front of TV reporters. The big comics news was a greenlight for the Green Arrow TV show—minus the arrow—but Marvel stuff also has some motion.

A brief apology for posting this but the Star Trek nerd in me could NOT help myself. Many a weekend was spent in my youth attending the Star Trek conventions with my mom at the Plaza hotel in Las Vegas, the highlight of course was meeting Brent Spiner and Michael Dorn (Lieutenant Commanders Data and Worf).

For those who want to go all the way on looking ghastly, a newly announced show on The Nerdist YouTube channel should provide all the fashion tips you need. BLOOD AND GUTS will star Anthrax founder and horror expert Scott Ian on a gruesome journey as he learns the secrets of special FX makeup from masters such as Greg (The Walking Dead) Nicotero. The show is a joint venture between Nerdist and Fangoria, the venerable horror magazine.

If you've watched Doctor Who at any point in the... last several decades, you'll likely be acquainted with The Doctor's favorite tool, the "sonic screwdriver," which gets him out of all sorts of jams. Guess what? Scientists at Dundee University have finally gotten around to inventing the real thing.

Marvel/DC comic book artist Dave DeVries is being featured on CBS This Morning tomorrow at 8:45 am E.D.T. for his "The Monster Engine" work. If you're not familiar with this project, it's a thought provoking series of illustrations that takes children's drawings of monsters and paints them in a fully detailed fantasy art style. It's been spun off into books, gallery shows and more.