New in Comics: Vampirella and Barnabas Collins Meet Face to Face

A few choice selections from the comics due out August 1st:

Dark Shadows Vampirella #1
D.E.

Description: Two classic vampires meet for the first time! When the disappearance of a family friend brings Barnabas Collins to New York, he is ill-prepared for the seedy underworld of clubs that awaits him! And Vampirella's quest to find the 'big apple butcher' sends her on a collision course with the vampire of Collinsport! Will Vampirella and Barnabas uncover the shocking identity of this madman before they kill one another?

By: Marc Andreyko, Patrick Berkenkotter, Fabiano Neves

Harvest #1 (of 5)
Image Comics

Description: Human traffickers. Rogue medical teams. Yakuza run organ mills and a six year-old drug fiend. Welcome to Dr. Benjamin Dane's nightmare. His only way out? Bring down the man who set him up by reclaiming organs already placed in some very powerful people.

If Dexter, ER and 100 Bullets had a three-way and that mind blowing tryst somehow resulted in a kid, that kid would read HARVEST. Medical Grade Revenge.

New from the author of Cowboy Ninja Viking and Term Life!

By: A. J. Lieberman, Colin Lorimer

Planet Of The Apes Annual #1
Boom! Studios

Description: The PLANET OF THE APES ANNUAL leaves no stone unturned! Join superstar writer Jeff Parker (HULK, THUNDERBOLTS), acclaimed writer/artist Gabriel Hardman (HULK, AGENTS OF ATLAS), red hot writer Corinna Bechko (HEATHENTOWN, FEAR ITSELF: THE HOMEFRONT), and Apes mega-scribe Daryl Gregory as they pit man versus ape. And with art from Gabriel Hardman, Carlos Magno (TRANSFORMERS), and John Lucas (UNCANNY X-FORCE), this is a special issue you won't want to miss. Discover the untold stories of the PLANET OF THE APES, with stories spanning from the first human rebellion, to Ape society's glorious renaissance, to a simple story of a boy and his pet human. There's something for every Apes fan in this Annual!

By: Jeff Parker, Gabriel Hardman

More of This Week's Comics at This Link 

New on DVD: Wolverine Anime, Misfits Season One, and More

DVDs and Blu-rays Due Out July 31st:



More New and Recent Releases at This Link

Web Series Review: RCVR

Status: One Season of Six Episodes Completed
Credits: David Van Eyssen – Creator/Director, Daniel Bonjour (Weber), Lexi DiBenedetto (Charlene)
Winner IAWTV Awards: Best Drama Web Series, Best Male Performance (Drama), Best Cinematography.  Also Nominated for Best Writing (Drama), Best Directing (Drama), Best Design (Art Direction/Production), Best Makeup/Special Effects, Best Visual Effects (Digital), Best Editing, Best Web Site Design

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: Taking place in 1974, a mysterious organization known as SIGMA investigates UFO sightings and alien contact and tries to convince people who have had these experiences that extraterrestrial beings are not involved. The agents of this organization, though, are actually looking for people known as RCVRs, humans who receive knowledge from alien intelligence that results in huge leaps in the human race’s technical skills.

Commentary: This 2011 web series snagged the Best Drama Web Series category at the recent IAWTV Awards, and I can see why as it has first rate production values (it also won Best Cinematography), decent special effects, and good acting as well (picking up the Best Male Performance Drama award). Think of it as somewhat of a retro-X-Files, but with Mulder and Scully demonstrating a more sinister intent (at least based on what we saw from the first season). The six episodes from Season 1 (which average about seven to eight minutes each) set up the premise and establish the main characters and the central mystery driving the story. And Van Eyssen’s very professional directing helps propel the series forward so that it never wanders or goes astray. It does fall a bit short of fully exploring its potential during its first season, but that effectively just leaves the viewer eager for the story to continue with a second set of episodes.

RCVR is an ambitious, transmedia property that also offers a conspiracy-laden Twitter account and blog (lings below) where the fictional Alvin J. Peters is tracking the government cover-up of the people who have had contact with alien beings. And Van Eyssen has visions of this branching out to a TV series and possibly a movie as well. And currently the web series has something that few other similar productions can boast: a corporate sponsor in Motorola. I’m not certain how much they contributed to the funding of the project, but they can definitely help this one get some good exposure, and with the show grabbing some big wins (and a ton of nominations) at the IAWTV Awards, a second season seems almost assured.

RCVR shows the potential of the web series format and it makes good use of supplemental content on the web to help build up its mythology. It is definitely worth checking out for all sci fi fans whether they are new to web series or well-seasoned with the format.

Links/More Information:
You can begin watching the series from episode 1 on YouTube at this link.
You can watch the entire first season in one video (46 min) on YouTube at this link.
Browse through the Sigma Agency mock website at this link.
Visit the ProjectRCVR website where Alvin J. Peters provides more info on the government conspiracy at this link.
Follow Alvin J. Peters’ Twitter site at this link.
Read an interview with series creator David Van Eyssen at AssignmentX.com at this link.
Trailer for RCVR:

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Why Were They Cancelled? 
The Plight of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television in the Face of the Unforgiving Nielsens and Networks

Ever wondered why your favorite science fiction and/or fantasy show disappeared from the television schedule, never to deliver anymore new episodes? The reason why, most likely, is that it was cancelled because its ratings were low. And this book looks at those many cancelled sci fi/fantasy shows as well as the Neilsen ratings and television networks that dictate their fates. Available now for only $2.99 on Kindle from Amazon.com.

Cancellation Watch: Warehouse 13 and Alphas Have So So Season Premieres

Syfy tried to spin the season premieres of Warehouse 13 and Alphas this past Monday as big ratings wins, but as the guys over at TV by the Numbers point out, both shows are actually down from their debuts last Summer.  Warehouse 13 pulled a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 2.1 million total viewers which was down a little bit from last year.  And Alphas pulled a 0.6 rating and 1.7 million total viewers, down on both counts from the prior Summer.  Syfy's press release compared both of this season's debuts to their finales, which is still a decent enough comparison.  But the numbers for both shows are only so so, especially when you compare them to the much higher ratings that Summer shows like Falling Skies and True Blood are enjoying.  But both Warehouse 13 and Alphas are safe with these numbers for now, and I expect them not to drop too much during their current runs.

Also on Monday, MTV's Teen Wolf improved by a tick as it pulled a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demo and 1.65 million total viewers.  Viacom and DirecTV settled their dispute, so the show was not impacted by the blackout like it was the previous week.

On Sunday night, HBO's True Blood won amongst cable shows yet again, pulling a 2.6 rating in the 18-49 demo and close to 4.5 million total viewers.  And TNT's Falling Skies continues to hold steady at a 1.2 rating while also pulling 3.45 million total viewers.   On Wednesday night, Comedy Central's Futurama slipped a bit to a 0.6 rating and 1.2 million viewers, but the Viacom blackout on DirecTV had not been lifted by that point and may have contributed to the drop.  Stilling languishing in the ratings are NBC's Canadian import Saving Hope which once again drew a 0.5 rating and Disney XD's Tron: Uprising which has barely pulled more than a 0.1 rating in its initial season.

You can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page. 

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers (and Blastr.com for Tron: Uprising)

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New in Comics: Darth Maul - Death Sentence, Burt Ward - Boy Wonder, and More

A few choice selections from the comics due out July 25th:

Star Wars: Darth Maul - Death Sentence #1 (of 4)
Dark Horse

Description: By now the galaxy has learned the terrible truth: Sith Lord Darth Maul still lives. Worse, he has joined forces with his brother Savage Opress!

The Jedi are searching for them and, after Maul and Opress cut a murderous swath through the Outer Rim, so is an army of mercenaries hired by a wealthy mine owner.

Darth Maul has a price on his head, and for him there is only one way to deal with such a problem: go directly to the source!

*A direct follow-up to the events in the television series The Clone Wars!

By: Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Dave Dorman


Burt Ward Boy Wonder #1
Bluewater Productions

Description: It's been more than four decades since Burt Ward starred on TV's Batman series, but he's about to plunge back into the hero business. After chasing his dogs through a time-travel portal, Burt finds himself on Pluto where he must thwart evil plans to switch the planet's orbit with the Earth's!. Another spin-off from the popular series The Mis-Adventures of Adam West.

By: Burt Ward, Ramon Salas


Dragon Arms Weapons Of War #1 (of 6)
Antarctic Press

Description: Six legendary heroes with nothing to lose and power to rival the gods are in for the battle of their lives! The Dragon Kings return to claim absolute control at any price! Madness, betrayal and death await the last guardians of Humanity in the series fans demanded!

By: David Hutchinson


Kolchak Necronomicon HC
Moonstone

Description: Carl Kolchak, whether he wants the mantle or not, is the world's premier supernatural investigator. Vampires, werewolves, witches, demons, he has seen it all. Or has he? Can even all the horrors he has stumbled across prepare him for the monstrous denizens of the Lovecraft Mythos, let alone its most damned volume, the Necronomicon?

By: C. J. Henderson, Robert Hack, Jason Jensen

More of This Week's Comics at This Link 

New on DVD: Star Trek The Next Generation Season 1 Blu-ray

DVDs and Blu-rays Due Out July 24th:



More New and Recent Releases at This Link

Cancellation Watch: Teen Wolf Gets Season 3 Pickup

MTV has announced that their supernatural series Teen Wolf is good to go for a third season which will run twenty four episodes (the current season is scheduled for twenty two).  The series has not set off any ratings fireworks in its second season, but it has held on to about the same numbers it had during its freshman year, and MTV seems to be happy with the audience it is drawing.  The show did slip this past Monday to a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 1.3 million total viewers, but the drop is likely related to the current battle between Viacom and DirecTV which has led to MTV and other channels getting pulled from the satellite provider (allegedly temporarily).  For those of you impacted by this (like myself), MTV does have the most recent episodes available for viewing online at their website, and it's also on Hulu.com as well.

On Sunday night, HBO's True Blood continues to rule among cable shows as it topped the list again while pulling a 2.7 rating in the 18-49 demo and 4.6 million total viewers.  That series has already received a renewal announcement for a sixth season.  Over on TNT, Falling Skies continues to stand pat as it again pulled a 1.2 rating and 3.6 million total viewers.  The word on that one is that it should be receiving a third season order soon.  Last Thursday, NBC's airing of the Canadian series Saving Hope (starring Stargate's Michael Shanks) edged up one tick to a 0.5 rating, but it's numbers are still way to low to expect it to return to that network in any capacity after its first season is completed.  And on Comedy Central, Futurama stayed even with its prior week numbers (despite also being impacted by the DirecTV/Viacom feud), pulling a 0.6 rating and 1.1 million total viewer.

And on Syfy, Eureka went out on a quite note this past Monday pulling a 0.6 rating and 1.6 million viewers for its series finale.  Next week Warehouse 13 and Alphas return to Mondays for their new seasons.

You can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page. 

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

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New Graphic Novel Releases

Here are some choice new and recent releases in Graphic Novels/TPBs:



More New and Recent Releases in Graphic Novels/TPBs at This Link

New on DVD: Alphas Season 1, Eureka Season 5, Sanctuary Season 4, and More

DVDs and Blu-rays Due Out July 10th:



More New and Recent Releases at This Link

Web Series Review: Fresh Hell

Status: Two Seasons Completed Totaling 10 Episodes
Credits: Brent Spiner (Himself), Kat Steel (Dakota), Christopher Ellis (Director), Harry Hannigan (Writer)

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 Stars

Synopsis: This series follows Brent Spiner playing a fictional version of himself trying to get his career back on track after being typecast as Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation and also after “the incident” which tarnished his image and dropped him out of favor with the entertainment industry. Spiner frequently dreams about being on the Jolinda Show, a celebrity talk show, which would represent him breaking out of his rut and being accepted once again as an actor. He lives next door to aspiring porn actress Dakota (Kat Steel), who is quite naïve but has the best of intentions and wants to help Spiner to revive his career which involves such misguided turns as consulting a psychic and also trying to teach serious acting to aspiring porn stars.

Review/Commentary: Like Felicia Day’s The Guild, this web series is not science fiction or fantasy per se, but it will have immense appeal to genre fans because of the presence of Spiner and the many references to his past career as Data. It is a project that Spiner and several collaborators have put together in the hopes that it might get picked up by one of the networks as a television series, and currently they are working on it between other projects. And it’s definitely a lot of fun and a good chance for Spiner to demonstrate his acting chops and show that he has much more than just one character to offer. Watching this really makes me wonder just why he hasn’t had much in the way of featured acting jobs since his fifteen year stint as Data (he has kept busy with guest star appearances, though, and just recently took up the mantle of the Joker from Mark Hamill for the Young Justice animated series).

As for the Fresh Hell series itself, it can be fun and it does deliver a fair amount of chuckles, though very little in the way of laugh-out-loud moments. Considering the rich history of Spiner’s genre career, you would think they might mine that for a few more laughs (though maybe that’s exactly what he’s distancing himself from here). And the scripts do seem to lack the sharp wit we might expect from a series poking fun at the entertainment industry in general. It has mostly professional production values, though, even if it does seem a bit cheesy at times and some of the ancillary actors leave something to be desired. But for a fun little web series cobbled together by a group of professionals in their spare time, it succeeds more often than not. And they even throw in a few surprise guest star appearances throughout the series including Spiner’s former TNG co-star LeVar Burton stopping by (playing himself) as well as The Guild’s Jeff Lewis showing up in a hilarious scene where he plays a wannabe porn star.

Viewers should note that while this is ostensibly based on Spiner’s career, it has plenty of fictional elements thrown in, most notable the nebulous “incident”. This gimmick (we have yet to learn the specifics of it) was created for the web series to give a reason for the severe down turn of Spiner’s luck and is not based on any actual incident.

Links/More Information: You can watch Seasons 1 and 2 of Fresh Hell at the show’s YouTube channel at this link. Episode 5 of Season 2 seems to suggest that another episode is on the way, but I believe it is actually just teasing Season 3. It could be several months to a year, though, before we see that because the cast and crew have to work filming this series between their paying projects. You can also read an interview with Spiner where he talks about the Fresh Hell series at this link.

Watch Fresh Hell on YouTube At This Link

Cancellation Watch: Renewal Announcement for Falling Skies Expected Soon

TNT's Falling Skies has seen a drop in its ratings during its second season, but as I mentioned last week, the decline is not too bad and I didn't believe the show had too much to worry about.  And that seems to be proving itself out as word is that the network will shortly announce that the show will come back for a third season.  As the guys over at TV by the Numbers point at, despite the slip in the show's numbers, it's still TNT's top rated scripted drama in the 18-49 demographic.  And this past Sunday, Falling Skies did level off its numbers as it pulled a 1.2 rating for sameday viewing in the 18-49 demo and 3.6 million total viewers.  So keep an eye out for the official announcement, but expect this one to be as good as renewed.

Over on HBO, True Blood continues its Sunday night reign as it once again pulled a 2.6 rating in the 18-49 demo with 4.5 million total viewers.  The premium cable channel announced the renewal of this series for a sixth season last week.  On Monday night, MTV's Teen Wolf climbed back up a tick as it posted a 0.7 rating and pulled 1.7 million total viewers.  Comedy Central's Futurama slipped from its season debut two weeks ago, pulling a 0.6 rating and about 1.1 million total viewers.  And NBC's airing of Canadian import Saving Hope nearly slipped off the radar last Thursday as that one could only muster a 0.4 rating and 2.2 million total viewers.

You can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page. 

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

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New in Comics: Eerie Comics #1, The Crow #1, and Space Punisher #1

A few choice selections from the comics due out July 11th:

Eerie Comics #1
Dark Horse

Description: Uncle Creepy's been having all the fun in Dark Horse's revival of classic Warren magazines, so now it's Cousin Eerie's turn! The terrifying treasury of sinister sci-fi and fearsome fantasy returns with two all-new stories to thrill and chill, plus a classic reprint! First up is a dose of robotic paranoia from red-hot writer/artist David Lapham, followed by way-too-close encounters from Creepy veteran Christopher Taylor! Your trip to the comics store is about to get a lot more horrifying!

*All-new frights!

*Featuring star writer/artist David Lapham (The Strain, Stray Bullets)!

*Presented in glorious, ghoulish black-and-white!

By: David Lapham, Christopher Taylor, Rafa Garres, David Lapham, Jim Pavelec

The Crow #1
IDW

Description: THE CROW is reborn-in Tokyo. Can a dark spirit fight for the light? THE CROW has always done just that-striking from the shadows, a kind of shadow himself.

The spirit of the Crow is back, transfiguring Jamie Osterberg, an American studying in Tokyo and deeply in love with his Japanese girlfriend, Yumi . . . until the love of his life is stolen.

The Crow must once more make the wrong thing right-but this time he might have to do it by killing his own true love.

By:  John Shirley, Kevin Colden, Ashley Wood

Space Punisher #1 (of 4)
Marvel Comics

Description: Punishment is a dish best served-in Space! Frank Castle shoots his way through the criminal hierarchy of outer spacestarting with the Sym-Brood-ant Queen! From Frank Tieri, writer of Marvel vs. Capcom and Punisher: Noir and gorgeously painted by Mark Texeira (Punisher War Journal, Ghost Rider).

By: Frank Tieri, Mark Texeira

More of This Week's Comics at This Link 

New on DVD: Warehouse 13 Season 3, Plus More Doctor Who Episodes and More Sci Fi Blu-rays

DVDs and Blu-rays Due Out July 10th:



More New and Recent Releases at This Link

Cancellation Watch: True Blood Gets Renewed, Falling Skies Slips Again

Coming as no big surprise, HBO announced this week that True Blood would be renewed for a sixth season.  Its fifth season episodes currently airing have once again been topping the list of cable shows on Sundays and have averaged around a 2.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic.  The series looks set to remain a staple for the premium channel's Summer line up for at least another couple of years.

TNT's Falling Skies slipped again in the ratings this past Sunday, pulling a 1.2 in the 18-49 demo and 3.4 million total viewers.  That's only a drop of one tick from the prior week, though, and the show pulled a higher rating than TNT's Dallas revival last week which they are touting as a hit.  So Falling Skies should still be okay for now, though it really needs to level off its numbers for the rest of the season.

Also slipping a bit was MTV's Teen Wolf which pulled a 0.6 rating and 1.65 million total viewers; a noticeable drop, though not in dangerous waters.  On NBC, the Canadian import Saving Hope improved its ratings from the prior week, pulling a 0.7 and 3.3 million total viewers.  Those are still pretty pitiful ratings for the broadcast networks, though, and this series will almost certainly not return to that venue.  But it still could continue on in its home country where it has done well so far.

Comedy Central's Futurama had its season premiere last week pull a 0.8 rating and 1.45 million total viewers.  That's down a bit from where it was last year, but still a decent enough performance for that network.

You can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page. 

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

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New in Comics: Steve Gerber's Final Man-Thing Story, Zack Penn Writes Hero Worship, and More

A few choice selections from the comics due out July 4th:

Infernal Man-thing #1 (of 3) 
Marvel Comics

Description:  STEVE GERBER'S FINAL MAN-THING STORY! What is the mystery behind the 'Screenplay of the Living Dead Man'? The story no one thought existed!!! NO ADS! BONUS CONTENT!

By: Steve Gerber, Kevin Nowlan, Arthur Adams

Hero Worship #1 (of 6)
Avatar Press

Description:  The biggest superhero screen writer in the World comes to comics for the first time! Zak Penn (writer of the Avengers movie, X-Men II & III movies, and the Alphas TV show) and Scott Murphy (lead writer of Star Wars The Clone Wars) spin a tale about the ultimate celebrity, an indestructible superhero called Zenith, and the rabid fans that worship him. Legions of adoring fans follow every disaster trying to speculate where they can catch a glimpse of their modern messiah. What happens when an unhealthy obsession leads to one fan getting super powers of his own? Available with a Regular, Wraparound, and a special White Knight Incentive cover by Michael Dipascale.

By: Zak Penn, Scott Murphy, Michael DiPascale

Hoax Hunters #1
Image Comics

Description:  'DIE OFF ANOTHER DAY,' Part One The acclaimed backup begins its own series! A rash of mass animal deaths leads the Hoax Hunters to the Louisiana bayou. What they find is a mystery that harkens to Jack's past - and a dangerous cryptid bent on revenge!

By: Michael Moreci, Axel Medellin, Tim Seeley

Before Watchmen Ozymandias #1 (of 6)
DC

Description:  'I have goals to achieve. Dreams to make come true.' Plus, a new CRIMSON CORSAIR backup feature from writer LEN WEIN and artist JOHN HIGGINS!

By: Len Wein, Jae Lee

More of This Week's Comics at This Link