If you haven’t seen the incredible bestselling book The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey Chronicles: Art and Design, check out our earlier review here at borg.com.  It’s a superb behind the scenes look at the artistry of the real-life wizards at Weta Workshop in New Zealand.  Weta hones in on the development of various species and beasts of Middle Earth in their new companion book in the Chronicles series: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles–Creatures & Characters.  As with the earlier book in the series, Creatures & Characters features first-hand accounts from the actors, makeup artists, digital effects specialists, dialect coaches, prosthetics technicians, movement coaches, and other artists and designers from the production.  High quality, close-up and detailed photos of every major character in the film will make this a must-have for Middle Earth cosplayers.

Weta Workshop designer Daniel Falconer has created a book equal to the first volume he created in the series while taking a different approach to the film’s subject matter. Where the first volume highlighted costumes, props and set design, the second volume focuses on make-up, prosthetics and hair creation, casting the actors for the differing Middle Earth races, stunt and movement work, and dialect creation.  As compared to The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, The Hobbit expanded its use of digital characterization, freeing up the production to create new fantastical scenes beyond what was possible before.  Actor and second unit director Andy Serkis and Gollum’s co-creators discuss the character’s role in the story and Serkis’s creation of the character compared to his work in the original trilogy.

Each creature group and race gets its own chapter: hobbits, wizards, dwarves, trolls, elves, stone giants, goblins, orcs and other beasts, with a chapter entirely about Gollum.  The actors share insights on the characters they played, giving a unique look at character development for film.  Particularly interesting because of J.R.R. Tolkien’s exploration and use of language in his stories, the production’s dialect experts discuss their rationale for using real-life language influences and even casting decisions to form the final look and feel of key characters.

You can order The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles–Creatures & Characters directly from Weta New Zealand here.  If you missed the original volume in the Chronicles series, you can find it here at Amazon.com frequently along with combination purchase deals.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

By C.J. Bunce

Last June we first reported here at borg.com on breakthroughs in 3D printing technology allowing scientists to begin creating actual borg replacement body parts–all printed via modern 3D printers.  This included organ printing–actually printing a human jaw bone and soft tissue 3D printed artificial human heart.  Princeton scientists have created a bionic ear via 3D printing, using calf cells, polymer gel, and silver nano particles.  Oxford Performance Materials has used 3D printed plastic to make artificial bones, to replace damaged bones in humans.

Researchers have used 3D printing recently for other novel uses.

This year Caroline Wilkinson at the University of Dundee in England used a 3D printer to show the world how King Richard III actually looked.  McGill University’s Redpath Museum has used 3D printing to replicate women’s hairstyles from ancient Egyptian mummies.  One group even put together a rudimentary rifle this year that fired a small-caliber bullet.

Make no mistake–3D printing is the technology of the future and this week NASA showed its interest by funding a $125,000 study in printing food.  It’s not a lot of money for a project with such profound possibilities, but it’s a good start.  Systems and Materials Research Corporation (SMRD) of Austin, Texas, won the contract.  A NASA representative indicated they should be able to get through phase one development with the funds.  SMRD used a prototype to print chocolate via its food synthesizer.  For the sci-fi-minded, think food replicator.

Food printing is not new.  Some news agencies like Fox News have reported in error this week that the NASA-funded project will make the world’s first 3D food printer.  Not so.  The Los Angeles company Sugar Lab and Cornell University researchers have already used 3D printers to make desert products from printed sugar, batter and corn dough.  No doubt several creators demonstrating their 3D printers at Maker Faires have used food products in their printing.

Casein coated frozen pizza–yum!

When you think of the paltry ingredients on some frozen pizzas, it’s easy to imagine using a substance like sodium caseinate–the white, tasteless, odorless protein made from cow’s milk that is the basis of some cheeses and is used to make plastics, adhesives, paints, and other foods–to be easily used to make NASA’s future 3D printed pizzas.

In fact, you can start your own 3D printing now.  Check out this great Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing produced by Make Magazine.  We would wager that NASA could launch a contest across Maker Faire and the creators and contributers at Make Magazine and you would probably get some creative and successful concepts for printing food in space.  Probably even without a stipend or grant.  Who wouldn’t give it their all just for NASA acknowledgement?

The people at SMRD plan to print a 3D pizza, building the food layer by layer mixing proteins, complex carbohydrates, powders, oils, and other edible materials, with a crust, hydrated tomato sauce, and cheese.  If you’ve seen multi-cartridge color printers than you can imagine the look of the food printer, which will have similar feeding cartridges.  Will the news of this grant prompt other creators, companies, builders, and researchers to get a jump-start on food production?  The implications go beyond outer space–where a mission to Mars could last more than 500 days and require extensive, yet compact, food supplies–to back here on Planet Earth, where over-population and feeding the billions of human inhabitants will only be harder as time marches on.

NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research Program is funding the grant to SMRD.

If you want to see 3D printing in person, you can visit one of several Maker Faire events across the world over the next several weeks.  Check out this link to find an event near you.  The future is (almost) now.

Now that the major networks have revealed their new TV series for the Fall line-up, what of the new series is worth adding to your must-watch list?  While we’re curious about the new offerings from the cable networks, we see many reasons to at least try out the pilot for several series, based on the genre, the subject, or the inclusion of some of our favorite actors.  We previewed Marvel’s Agents of Shield last week from ABC, and no other series looks to have as much appeal for genre fans as more Joss Whedon and Marvel characters.  But we’ve found 15 of the two dozen new series that have some reason to take notice, many with trailers that have been released with the announcements.  But be warned, despite some great actors, many of these previews look pretty bad and we’re only posting the trailers for you to judge for yourself.  if you want to save time, go directly to the previews for Almost Human, The Michael J. Fox Show, Dracula, and Sleepy Hollow, which look like the best of the new series the Fall has to offer–at least from the networks.

ABC

Moving past Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the reason you might give Back in the Game a try is because of the lead, Psych’s Maggie Lawson, as well as James Caan.  It looks like a comedy version of Clint Eastwood’s Trouble with the Curve.  As much as we like Lawson and Caan, we’ll probably skip this one.  Check it out for yourself:

ABC also has a spinoff of its Once Upon a Time series, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.  We gave Once Upon a Time a try in its first season and it held our interest for several episodes because of series lead Jennifer Morrison, but an Alice in Wonderland spinoff?  The trailer makes this look better than Once upon a Time and it looks like more of a sequel than a real tie-in to Once Upon a Time.  And it does have John Lithgow playing the White Rabbit.  Check it out:

NBC

The only reason we’ll mention Welcome to the Family is because of lead Mary McCormack, who we loved on In Plain Sight.  Other than that it looks like just another Parenthood series with an overdone culture-clash theme.  Here’s the trailer:

Michael J. Fox is returning to TV with The Michael J. Fox Show.  On paper the description of this show looked almost cringe-worthy:  a series about a celebrity named Mike returning to TV who left to deal with his Parkinson’s.   But then you watch the trailer and only Michael J. Fox could make this look hilarious.  This series may be a very big win:

The creators of Downton Abbey and The Tudors have made a new Dracula retelling, called simply Dracula, and as a fan of Dracula retellings of late I think this looks pretty good.  It also co-stars Jessica De Gouw, who was superb this past year as Helena Bertinelli/The Huntress on The CW’s Arrow.  Here’s the sleek preview:

CBS

CBS has two comedies coming in the Fall with actors we love.  We Are Men stars Tony Shalhoub (Monk), Kal Penn (House, M.D.), Jerry O’Connell (Sliders).  OK, we’ll probably skip this one, too, because we wish they were all starring instead in one of the sci-fi or fantasy series instead.  And because this looks a bit like a less dramatic version of Men of a Certain Age, and we just wish they brought that series back instead.  Here’s the preview:

We will have to watch the pilot for The Crazy Ones, because it stars Robin Williams (Mork!) as an ad industry exec and his smart daughter played by Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy!) in a role that seems like it might be like the character played by Kristen Bell in House of Lies.  Here is the trailer:

FOX

The Fox network seems to have potentially the most interesting new line-up for the Fall.  First up is J.J. Abrams’ Almost Human which looks AWESOME starring Karl Urban (Star Trek’s Dr. McCoy, Judge Dredd, Chronicles of Riddick, Lord of the Rings, Hercules, Xena) with Lily Taylor (Say Anything, High Fidelity).   Urban plays a futuristic robocop borg with his “special” replicant partner in a series that has some of the look and feel of Continuum.  Urban looks as cool as ever in this preview:

Fox’s Sleepy Hollow also looks really good, written by the writers from the new Star Trek movies, with Orlando Jones and the always awesome Clancy Brown and John Cho (Star Trek’s Sulu).  It looks like a mix of Highlander and National Treasure.  Check out the preview:

We couldn’t find a good trailer for Dads, but it’s a comedy that stars Seth Green, Martin Mull, Peter Riegert (Animal House), and Giovanni Ribisi.  Another comedy from Fox is Brooklyn Nine-Nine, starring Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher in a cop show that feels like the movie remake of Dragnet (the one with Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd).  Here’s the trailer:

The CW

Fans of The Vampire Diaries may be happy to see the new spinoff vampire series The Originals. Here is the preview:

And no, that’s not Arrow’s Stephen Amell starring in The Tomorrow People, it’s his little brother Robbie.  They do look alike.  It’s hard to tell what this one will be about.  Here’s the very brief trailer:

Reign is a historical drama about Mary, Queen of Scots. And that’s Megan Follows (Anne of Green Gables) as some unhappy noblewoman.  Check out the preview:

Do you see anything you like?  We’re looking forward to seeing what’s new on channels like USA, AMC, and Syfy Network.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Imagine a movie where Khan from Star Trek is trapped on Seti Alpha VI and Jabba the Hutt puts a bounty on his head and sends several mercenaries to track him down.  Now imagine this takes place in Jurassic Park and Ridley Scott’s aliens invade.  Oh, and Battlestar Galactica’s Kara Thrace is one of the bounty hunters.  And better yet, Khan is played by Vin Diesel.

Imagine no further.  Just check out the new trailer to the latest installment in the Chronicles of Riddick, titled Riddick:

Vin Diesel’s Riddick, the survivor who sees in the dark, is under-rated as one of the coolest sci-fi lead characters in movies.  And the look and feel of this new movie is classic fantasy–like the paintings of Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta come to life.  There’s not a lot of sci-fi/fantasy movies out there, but this one looks like it will be a good blend of the genres.  And it’s directed by David Twohy, who was not only the director of Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick, but he also wrote the screenplays for The Fugitive, Waterworld, The Arrival and the Philip K. Dick’s Impostor.

In March we previewed here at borg.com the teaser and promo photos for Riddick and now we’ve got a better look at what we have to look forward to.  And we think it looks awesome.

But we have a bit of a wait.  Riddick doesn’t hit theaters until September 9, 2013.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

There’s no rest for the weary, and one of borg.com‘s favorite writer/artists, Howard Chaykin, seems to be proving that, producing new stories and art everywhere you turn.  In 2013 he is working on two new comic book series that take a nostalgic look back to the middle of the 20th century.  Chaykin is serving as series artist on Satellite Sam, and artist and writer bringing Buck Rogers and the 25th Century back to comics.  Where the Buck Rogers monthly will be a straightforward classic take on the character, Satellite Sam will look at a TV serial character like Buck Rogers and the actor behind the role.

Chaykin and writer Matt Fraction (Hawkeye) take a dark look at the Golden Age of television with Image Comics’ Satellite Sam.  The innocence portrayed in 1950s television is contrasted with real life Hollywood when Carlyle Bishop, star of the TV series Satellite Sam is found dead in the not so glitzy part of town.  His son Michael finds a box of sleazy photos, which opens up a detective story into a life far different from that portrayed on TV.  It sounds a bit like it may reflect the type of short and complex lives of real-life actors George Reeves (The Adventures of Superman) and Bob Crane (Hogan’s Heroes) in a Sunset Boulevard setting.

Later in the year Hermes Press will release Chaykin’s four issue series Buck Rogers and the 25th Century, bringing back to comic books the “first, best, and original sci-fi hero.”  Chaykin’s unique style will pair nicely with the classic character who first dazzled newspaper comic readers more than 80 years ago.  Chaykin is returning the character to its roots: Buck Rogers, former World War I ace is accidentally suspended in time only to awaken to a new and different earth, 500 years in the future, fragmented by war and ruled by an omnipotent force.  Buck, along with Colonel Wilma Deering, begin a new fight to free the United States… from the future ruling Chinese.

Satellite Sam Issue #1 hits comic book stores July 3, 2013, and Buck Rogers and the 25th Century Issue #1 is scheduled for release in August.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

If you’re tired of the same superhero teams that have been around for the better part of a century (and even if you’re not) two new comic books offer new teams to get to know.  Remember Marvel Comics’ New Universe in the 1980s?  Star Brand, Nightmask, PSI-Force, Justice, D.P. 7, Kickers, Inc., Mark Hazzard: Merc, Spitfire and the Troubleshooters–I read them all.  Nightmask and Star Brand even returned this year in the NOW! series event.  But if you’re looking for something different from The Avengers of the Justice League, give these two books a look.

First, coming in two weeks is the second issue of The Movement from DC Comics.   Gail Simone has crafted a new world within the DC Universe yet apart from the current New 52 activities.  She’s created a new team of street urchin types defending the poor and the downtrodden from bad guys and the corrupt police force that should be protecting everyone.  Artist Freddie Williams II has created a cool looking super force with Mouse, the “prince of rats” who enlists rodents in his crusade against the forces for bad, Virtue, who seems to be the leader of the team and has psychic abilities, Tremor, who can control her environment, such as causing an Earthquake with her touch, Katharsis, who is a character that resembles Huntress, but sports a set of mechanical wings and in Issue #1 was all badass against corrupt cops, and finally Burden, who has super powers but believes he is possessed.

Issue #1 of The Movement is primarily an origin issue, so it will be fun to see where these characters go in Issue #2.

Next up, we’re discussed many times here at borg.com the Dark Horse Presents anthology series and the many stories that have been spun off into their own one-shots or ongoing books.  Next Wednesday, Dark Horse releases a one-shot compiling Dark Horse Presents’ stories of The Deep Sea.  You’ve got many reasons to pick up this book, not the least of which is another nice work by the writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey.

The Deep Sea is told in part in flashback as an old man returns to examine the recovery of a downed ship from 50 years ago, a bit like the bookend story in the film Titanic.  We learn a bit about why the ship was lost and how he came to be the only survivor–or maybe not.  The main story of The Deep Sea focuses on the great looking dive team from back in 1960, drawn by artist Tony Akins in a great retro style.  There is something Fantastic Four about their look, and the main character looks a but like Buddy Holly.  And we get to see a number of sea monsters in a story that may remind you of The Philadelphia Experiment.  The ending of this one-shot leaves the possibility for future stories, which would be more than welcome.

Check out Issue #2 of The Movement June 5, 2013, and The Deep Sea is available this Wednesday, May 22, 2013, at comic book stores everywhere.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

If you haven’t seen Paul Giamatti’s incredible performance as comic book writer Harvey Pekar in the 2003 film American Splendor you should add it to your Netflix queue.  The movie follows the Cleveland born and raised Pekar and his rise to fame as underground comic book creator, writing about relationships, holding a job, wrestling health issues, writing about life.  Better yet, track down any of his books.  His book Our Cancer Year, which won both a Harvey Award and American Book Award, was written with his wife Joyce Brabner, recounting his tumultuous yet ultimately successful battle against lymphoma.  It’s an account that takes comic book writing to another place entirely.  His American Splendor series has been praised by many in the field, including other writers like Neil Gaiman. His stories were drawn by a myriad of artists including Cleveland neighbor Robert Crumb.

Harvey wrestled with anxiety during his life and suffered from depression.  He died from an accidental overdose in 2010 shortly after he learned he had a recurrence of cancer–his third fight against the disease.  If you ever are questioned about comic books as a serious medium, you can point to Harvey Pekar and that should stop anyone in their tracks.

Last week a friend sent me a link to website written by a woman named Allie Brosh who uses comic art to talk about her life and experiences, blogging much like any number of people across the Web.  She’d been offline for a long while and returned with an incredible post last week.  Check out this story in comic art form, titled Depression Part Two.  There is something very compelling and striking about her creative way of storytelling.  If you have ever known someone who suffers from depression, or you yourself think you may suffer from depression, you may find your friend or yourself in Allie’s work.  The Bend, Oregon, based blogger has received thousands of comments already for her post about depression, and if the story itself doesn’t convince you that “you’re not in this alone” then all the commenters who have written about being touched by her story should.

I’ve heard that the ability to share feelings with others is part of some people’s experience with depression, and it must have been cathartic (as well as brave) for Allie to get all this down and share it with so many strangers across the vastness of the Web.  Even if depression isn’t a part of your world I am sure you can relate to any number of her accounts of others’ reactions to her attempts at sharing about dealing with feelings of depression.  Ultimately there is an ounce of optimism in her work.  Along with the message “you’re not in this alone” you can see the uncertainty of the future–for Allie and anyone else in her circumstances.  You can’t help but hope those around her are helping her out.  And it makes you look around you to see if someone around you needs help and isn’t getting it.

If you’ve known people with depression you might also know how many people have been able to control their disease by getting a good doctor and getting the right medication to control the chemical imbalances that may be holding them back.  No doubt the decades of societal stigmas have held people back from getting help.  But friends and family who care can help.  Ask questions if you think you need help.  Talk to others or at least try to talk to others who you may be able to help.  Read websites like Allie’s, which she calls Hyperbole and a Half.  Look how many strangers care about someone they don’t even know.  It’s because ultimately we’re all in this thing together.  The good people among us and around you–the only people who matter–want you to succeed, to find the help you need.

Like Harvey Pekar’s many books on life and life’s troubles, Hyperbole and a Half is a use of comic art to help readers learn from others and use others’ experiences to attack their very serious personal issues head-on.

Allie Brosh is also publishing some of her blogging in a book due out October 29, 2013.

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened will feature her insightful stories from her blog that began in 2009 with much from her many posts in 2009-2010.  Eisner judges in 2014 take note.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

BOOM! Studio announced this week that Steven Grant will be writing an adaptation of Frank Miller’s unproduced original RoboCop 3 screenplay, in an 8-issue mini-series titled RoboCop: Last Stand.  The series will be illustrated by Korkut Oztekin with cover art by Declan Shalvey and is expected to wrap up Miller’s early vision of the future cop.

Grant also wrote an adaptation of Frank Miller’s script for Robocop 2 with Avatar Press.  Now holding the RoboCop rights previously held by Dynamite Comics, BOOM! is planning on releasing that earlier series as a deluxe hardcover.  Marvel, Dark Horse, Avatar, and Dynamite have all previously published RoboCop titles, making BOOM! the fifth publisher to take on the classic borg policeman.

So far only this teaser and a few images of the new RoboCop have been released by BOOM!

The classic character made famous by Peter Weller was previously announced as a reboot film scheduled for a 2014 release.  Here is the new RoboCop in town:

RoboCop (2014) will star Joel Kinnaman as Alex Murphy/RoboCop, with Samuel L. Jackson (Jackie Brown, Django Unchained, Star Wars prequels), Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight, Fifth Element), Jennifer Ehle (The Adjustment Bureau, The King’s Speech, Pride and Prejudice), Michael Keaton (Batman, Beetlejuice, Mr. Mom, Night Shift), Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, Bad News Bears), Jay Baruchel (The Sorceror’s Apprentice, Fanboys), and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Without a Trace).

Robocop: Last Stand Issue#1 is scheduled for release in August 2013.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Agent Coulson lives!

Like all characters in comic books, dead doesn’t really mean dead.  And we couldn’t be happier that Marvel Studios is bringing back Agent Phil Coulson, who, played by Clarke Gregg, was the unlikely lynchpin of every one of the recent interconnected movies based on Marvel Comics’ characters.

In the marathon opening night for The Avengers, Agent Coulson served as our guide, speaking directly to viewers as he introduced Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man 2, and Captain America: The First Avenger.  In The Avengers, we saw what was unquestionably the most emotional scene of the franchise as Coulson was killed by Loki.  Or so we thought.

Check out the preview for the ABC Network’s new TV series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.:

As ABC’s answer to the CW Network’s DC Comics universe series Arrow, which had its season one finale last night, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has something unique to overcome for a superhero genre production:  It will feature agents operating in a superhero world, but instead of superheroes as the featured characters the series’ focus will be on what it means to be human in a world of superheroes.  If the idea is going to be successful, attaching The Avengers’ director Joss Whedon to the project is a great first step, adding Agents to his roster of fan favorites TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse.

But Whedon alone probably isn’t enough to make the series appeal to a wide audience.  Since The Avengers was so popular and so well-received, adding Clarke Gregg’s likeable and loyal Agent Coulson is a sure-fire way to bring fans of the movies to the small screen Marvel Universe.

The series also features Ming-Na Wen, recognizable as the voice of Disney’s Mulan and from several TV series, going back to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, As the World Turns, Spawn, ER, Vanished, Two and a Half Men, SGU Stargate Universe, and Eureka.  J. August Richards, seen in the preview, played Gunn on Angel, and he’s appeared in Warehouse 13 and Arrow.  British actor Iain De Caistecker was seen in The Secret of Crickley Hall and Monarch of the Glen.  Shannon Lucio and Arlene Santana were recurring characters on Grey’s Anatomy.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premieres on ABC Tuesdays this fall.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Gulp.  Houston, we have a problem.

The last preview for a movie that made me feel like the new teaser for the sci-fi film Gravity was the gut-wrenching preview for Open Water.

Although it seems like the studio doesn’t care that we see what must be the key scene in the film, this one looks to set up a pretty scary situation of man vs. nature.  It asks the obvious question: How the heck are they going to get themselves out of this disaster?

Check out this new teaser trailer for Gravity:

Starring Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Gravity is scheduled for release in theaters October 4, 2013.

Don’t believe me about the Open Water trailer?  Check this out:

Yikes!

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com