Back from San Diego

So so tired. Just got back from Comic-Con, must now enter regeneration cycle.

Thanks to everyone who came by for our panel on how to break into the games industry. The whole room was packed out with even more people standing in the back. We were scheduled for an hour but had so many questions to field from the attendees that we ran over by an extra half-hour. While I waffled on aimlessly, some great advice was dispensed by my co-panelists Chris Charla (Foundation 9), Mark Vitello (Sony), John Middleton (Mad Catz) and Christian Svensson (Capcom).

Here's a pic, courtesy of Kotaku:


Next, off to Blizzcon in Anaheim on Friday and Saturday for two days of hardcore Warcraft/Starcraft/Diablo fandom.

Comic-Con details confirmed

Yes, it's that time again. Here are the two places to catch up with me at this year's Comic-Con:

THURSDAY JULY 26 - 6PM-7PM
BREAKING INTO THE VIDEOGAMES INDUSTRY
Chris Charla of Foundation 9 Entertainment and industry friends Gary Whitta (Death, Jr.), Mark Vitello (Sony), Bob Stevenson (Planet Moon), Christian Svensson (Capcom), Jon Middleton (Mad Catz), and Frank O’Connor (Bungie) talk about how to weasel...er, work your way into the world of video games!
Room 30AB

FRIDAY JULY 27 - 3PM-4PM
"DEATH, JR. 2" SIGNING
Ted Naifeh and I will be signing copies of the recently-released "Death, Jr. 2" graphic novel. Come by and say hello! That's at the Foundation 9 Entertainment booth, #4630

Hope to see you there!

"Death, Jr. 2" online order details

If you want to grab a copy of the new graphic novel online, here's at least one reputable site where it's available: Things From Another World.

Here's a direct link where you can put it in your shopping cart and earn a whopping $1.50 discount.

Oh, and here finally is a proper look at Arvin Bautista's cover artwork.

Now appearing on Facebook

I really hate most of these social networking sites and resisted them for a long time. Particularly MySpace, which looks to me like someone dialed the internet ten years back in time to when almost all sites were hosted by Geocities *shudder*.

But Facebook I guess is pretty cool and my old chum Gary Liddon convinced me to give it a go. So here I am.

"Death, Jr. 2" trade paperback

Yup, it's in stores NOW - just picked up my very own copy from the excellent Isotope Comics here in San Francisco.

Turns out the cover image I posted previously (culled from Image Comics' very own site) was not the actual cover. I can't find an accurate cover image online, so this will have to do:

San Diego Comic-Con

Wow, is it that time again already? AWESOME!

I'll be there again this year for the fourth year running. Come by on Thursday 26th July where I'll appearing on a panel about how to break into the games industry.

There's a chance that Ted Naifeh and I may also be signing copies of the new "Death, Jr." graphic novel too, but nothing confirmed. Stay tuned...

San Diego Comic-Con link.

"The Book of Eli"

Here's some big news in Gazland: I recently sold an original movie screenplay called "The Book of Eli" to Warner Bros. for Silver Pictures to produce. It's a post-apocalyptic drama, and we're currently in development. Allen and Albert Hughes (Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, American Pimp, From Hell) are directing. You can read more about the project here in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.

This is all very exciting - more news as it develops. In the meantime I'm working on a couple of other really cool film projects which I hope to be able to talk about in more detail soon...

Hey, I met Simon Pegg

Recently I attended a screening of the excellent "Hot Fuzz" attended by Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost. Thanks to my awesome chum Darick Robertson who is buds with the Peggster, we all got together at Simon's hotel after the screening to bitch about the Star Wars prequels and drink lots of beer. Fried gold!

"Death, Jr. 2" trade paperback out now!

According to the Image Comics website the latest "Death, Jr." trade paperback, collecting all three issues of the most recent comic series, is shipping to comic-book stores right now! WOOT! And here's a glimpse of the excellent cover art by Arvin Bautista.

This is probably the last excursion into the comic-book world of "Death, Jr." for myself and artist Ted Naifeh as we're both busy with other projects for the forseeable future. But DJ keeps going strong with new videogame titles for both PSP and Nintendo DS, and a Pandora-centric manga spin-off. There's even a range of Halloween costumes! And there's always the chance of a "Death, Jr." movie at some point down the road. Stay tuned.

"Death, Jr." is complete

Well, we have at last wrapped up the latest (and probably final) run of "Death, Jr." comic-books. The second and third (and final) installment were recently published and they look great - as usual Ted Naifeh did a fantastic job on the artwork.

Here are the covers for Issues #2 and #3:

GameTheory podcast

The Next Generation Online podcast is no more, but it's been replaced now by the Game Theory podcast, which is run independently by myself, co-host Colin Campbell and producer Jeremy Williams. We're 12 episodes into the show already and it's going great. Hit the link for the site, or catch it via an iTunes subscription.

Next Generation podcast

Seems I can now be heard on not one but two weekly videogame podcasts. In addition to my regular guest spots on the PC Gamer podcast, I'm now one of the voices of the Next Generation Online podcast, which has a broader, all-formats scope. So for anything from The Nintendo Wii to PlayStation 3, the Next Gen podcast is the podcast for you. Seriously.

In other, completely unrelated news, my good friend - and brilliant artist - Chris Weston has published an interesting little oddity on his blog, the result of our brief (and hopefully not last) collaboration. Check it out here.

Another DJ 2.1 review

Sabrina Peyton of Fractal Matter has given the new "Death, Jr." a thumbs-up! Check out her review here.

First DJ 2.1 review

Well, at least the first one I've spotted. Comics blogger Johnny Bacardi gives the new issue of "Death, Jr." an A-, making it one of his top picks of the last two weeks. Hey, any time I get a good review from someone named after a hard liquor, I'm happy.

Check out The Johnny Bacardi Show for all his comics reviews.

Comic-Con signing... it's over!

Just returned from San Diego, where Ted Naifeh and I once again sat down together to sign copies of "Death, Jr." In addition to the Series 1 graphic novel, we also scrawled and sketched on copies of the newly-released first issue from Series 2.

Thanks to everyone who came by to say hello and say nice things about the book! I love you guys.

"Death, Jr." nominated by ALA

So this is kinda cool - "Death, Jr." has been nominated by the American Library Association to its list of "Great Graphic Novels for Teens". The final list will be published next year, but in the meantime it's an honor just to be nominated etc etc. This may be the last time that I am ever on the same list as Alan Moore, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts, thankyouverymuch.

Check out the ALA's complete list of nominations here.

TV and podcasty things

The latest PC Gamer podcast hit the internet today, once again featuring yours truly among the panel of "experts" discussing all things computer gaming related. Check out the PC Gamer Podcast page to listen in.

Also, I appeared recently on G4TV's "Attack of the Show" alongside Chris Gore and Richard Garriott debating the ever-thorny subject of videogame movie agaptations. G4 just added the video segment to its online archives, so head on over to their video download page to check it out.

PREY now in stores

PREY, the long-anticipated PC and Xbox 360 videogame for which I co-wrote the screenplay, is now in stores. Developed by 3D Realms and Human Head Studios and published by 2K Games, it's been receiving some great reviews. So if you've been looking for a good old-fashioned first-person shooter with some really original gameplay twists, check out PREY - you won't be disappointed. You can also check out a free playable demo, downloadable from the 3D Realms website and on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Comic-Con signing scheduled

Ted Naifeh and I will be appearing at the San Diego Comic-Con to sign copies of the newly-released first issue of "Death, Jr. Volume 2". Come by the Backbone Entertainment booth (#5561) on Saturday July 22 from 2-4pm to say hi and pick up your signed copy!

"Death, Jr." Volume 2, Issue #1 out today

The latest issue of "Death, Jr." - the first in a new three-part series - hits comic-book stores nationwide today, so go grab yourself a copy!

Here's the official preview blurb:

"Catch up with Death, Jr. and his pals as they take their summer break from school. DJ's going to work with his dad, but may realize he has very unrealistic expectations about what it takes to be Death, while the rest of the gang heads for a less-than-savory summer camp."

And the cover art from Dan Brereton:

PC Gamer Podcast

Nostalgia alert: I've returned to my old PC Gamer stomping grounds this week as a guest on the magazine's regular podcast.

Head on over to the PC Gamer Podcast page to check out what may be the first of a series of semi-regular Gaz appearances. Woot!

Guilded!

It's been a while since I posted anything on this blog, mainly because I've been too busy with various worky type things, while at the same time not having much of any significance to report. But something good did happen this week, good enough that I feel compelled to update with a self-congratulatory post; I finally got my WGA card.

The Writers Guild of America (west) is effectively the Hollywood screenwriters' union, and it has a byzantine and very strict system of criteria for entry. Each piece of professional screenwriting work for a legitimate production entity you do, be it a full screenplay, rewrite, polish, treatment or whatever, is assigned a certain credits value, and when you've accumulated enough credits you're invited to join the guild.

It feels good. Apart from the health plan and pension and all that other good stuff, it finally feels like I've been "anointed" in some way by my peers. Of course joining the WGA is no guarantee of success as a screenwriter; there are plenty of starving WGA card-carrying writers out there, but joining the guild is still a pretty significant step in the career of a screenwriter and a sign that you must be doing *something* right. Those who know me know that I require very little reason to open a bottle of booze in celebration; this will more than suffice.

And the Oscar for Most Shitfaced goes to...

So, a popular thing going around the internet right now is this set of photos of Jake Gyllenhaal looking totally wasted at a party the night before the Oscars, throwing "the horns", sticking his tongue out, faux-smooching Ang Lee and generally doing all sorts of "Hey, look at me, I'm drunk off my ass!" type photo-behavior. I can't be bothered to link directly to them here because it's late and I'm lazy, but do a bit of Google-Fu and they're not exactly hard to find right now.

Fair play to him, I say. It's stuff like this that elevates people in my estimation. I mean, look. If you think those pictures are bad, just you wait. If I ever get nominated for an Oscar, and I'm at some party with free booze the night before, all I can say is I hope there is someone there with a camera following me about, because trust me those pictures are going to be AWESOME.

TGIF

This week I have worked, as Homer Simpson would say, like a Japanese beaver. Among other things, I did the following:

* Finished the script for the first issue of the new series of "Death, Jr." comic books. That will now go to Ted Naifeh so he can start working his magic pencilling, inking and coloring the sequential art. Meanwhile, the cover art is currently being produced by the very talented Dan Brereton. I've seen the first sketches and it looks absolutely great.

* Finished up the latest draft of REAPER, on which I hopefully will have some very exciting news to report soon.

* Wrote up treatments for three (count 'em!) different movies, all very different and interesting projects. One is a re-invention of a world-famous movie hero franchise to which I am attached to write, one is an original horror/thriller to be pitched to producers next week, and the third is for a big-budget movie remake of a popular TV show that I loved as a kid and would kill to write as a grown-up. We'll find out soon if the producers like my take on it.

* Started working on an idea for an off-the-wall comedy which I'm pretty excited about. I pitched the idea to my managers, and they immediately asked me if I was high. I must be on the right track...

Movie stuff

It's been all "Death Jr" this and "Death Jr" that in Gazblogland lately, so let's shake things up a bit with some movie news.

Today I am excited. Excited because the first two feature film projects that bear my screenwritery fingerprints are now actually in production. The first one recently finished its initial five-week shoot in Japan, and the other begins principal photography in Vancouver next week. So yeah, excited. I don't know if I'm allowed to say anything about what these projects are yet, but I'll check into that and hopefully dish some details here very shortly.

I'm hoping also to have some really interesting news on REAPER sometime soon. Good things happening. Watch this space.