I’m continuing to cover the highlights with the understanding that expanding coverage is coming once I compile my information and edit my video & media. Understand, these are only my FRIDAY picks!
I’ve got two more days to cover!
Stay tuned for more in-depth coverage in upcoming weeks!
“Slayers: A Buffyverse Story” Stars And Creators Panel And Visit To “The Slayers Society” Activation!
Slayers: A Buffyverse Story premiered October 12, 2023 on Audible, twenty years after the series finale of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’
The scripted audio original picks up in the Buffyverse 10 years after the events of the final episode. Since then, Spike (James Marsters) has gone deep undercover in LA, convincing the forces of darkness that he’s back to his evil ways.
When his cover is compromised by sixteen-year-old Indira Nunnally (Laya DeLeon Hayes), Spike finds himself on baby-slayer-sitting duty once more.
While he attempts to track down a watcher for his eager new protégé, their paths collide with the veteran Slayer of a parallel reality where Buffy Summers never existed…a reality where Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) is the one-and-only Slayer. She needs Spike’s help with a classic big bad terrorizing her world…his old flame, Drusilla (Juliet Landau).I had roundtable interviews with Writer, director and original cast member Amber Benson, writer and director Christopher Golden, and original cast members including Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield Ford, James Charles Leary, Juliet Landau, James Marsters, along with newcomer Laya DeLeon Hayes.
Audible celebrated the premiere of Slayers: A Buffyverse Story and the kick off of NYCC with the opening evening of “The Slayers Society” activation – an audio-led experience that immerses NYCC attendees into the Buffyverse. At “The Slayers Society,” a meeting place for existing and wannabe Slayers, guests grabbed fortifying beverages from the Potion Bar, discovered their destiny at Tarot Reading listening stations, trained like a Slayer with a themed photo opp, entered a magical multiverse portal, and received mystery Slayers swag.
The full cast of Slayers: A Buffyverse Story also stopped by “The Slayers Society” activation to celebrate the new Audible Original series.
Welcome back to the Hellmouth! I had my fanboy moment of the Con interviewing @juliet_landau “Drusilla” and an ensemble cast!
Listen to Slayers: A Buffyverse Story now exclusively on Audible. In addition, Slayers: A Buffyverse Story joins Audible’s growing catalog of Originals that can be listened to in immersive spatial audio with Dolby Atmos from the Audible app. For more information, visit Audible.com.
Super 7 Booth tour with Brian Flynn at NYCC!
Under Lead designer and founder Brian Flynn, Super7 has cultivated a reputation for being one of the premiere pop-culture destinations for graphics, aesthetics and energy of Brian’s youthful obsession with science fiction, giant monsters, comic books, punk rock, skateboarding, robots and more, Super7 has built a unique and innovative business that crosses all categories.
Now’s your chance to join the Cobra ranks with the Cobra Mothership this crowdfund vehicle inspired by the opening sequence of the animated series, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. Custom built to scale with 3.75” ReAction Figures as well as vintage G.I. Joe O-Ring Figures, the Cobra Mothership is a massive 32” in diameter and comes with three vertical Thruster display stands to display your ship as it begins to take flight!
Here’s a walkthrough of my childhood with Brian!
Their last crowdfund item, the Thundercats Cat’s Lair Ultimate Playset, launched at SDCC this past July to great fanfare and Super7 is set to release additional products across famous IPs including G.I. Joe, Transformers and Peanuts as well as for music legends Iron Maiden, the Misfits, O.D.B, Beastie Boys, and more at NYCC and beyond!
Comixology Originals Meet & Mingle
Access the growing library of exclusive digital content from Comixology Originals for free with your membership including titles from Scott Snyder, Stephanie Phillips, and Chip Zdarsky.
Bestselling cookbook author Kim-Joy (Turtle Bread, Bake Me a Cat) was a highlight for me. I’ll have a transcript of her speech soon. Her graphic novel Turtle Bread is endearing and features actual recipes!
Synopsis: Yan is looking for a place to belong. She struggles with social anxiety and low self-esteem, making it hard to maintain a job or relationships. When the chance comes along to step out of her comfort zone, Yan joins Baking Club, hoping to share her passion with people who love pastries and cakes as much as she does.
Kim Joy at the event who thought admittedly socially anxious, gave an inspirational speech.
At first, Yan is intimidated by the other members, but as she gets to know them better, she comes to love Baking Club. In fact, Yan realizes that she’s not alone in trying to hide her mental health struggles from her friends. The members of the Club come together to support each other and to bake their way through any problem!
From celebrity baker, cookbook author, mental health advocate, and Great British Baking Show star Kim-Joy, and fan-favorite artist Alti Firmansyah (Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde), TURTLE BREAD is a touching story about community, healing, finding yourself, and–of course–baking!
Other creators included:
Newcomer Scott Hoffman co-founder of the multi-platinum selling band Scissor Sisters (Wag, Nostalgia)
Award-winning writer Scott Snyder (Barnstormers, Canary, Duck and Cover) his son Jack and artist Valeria Favoccia, the team behind the new series By A Thread
Artists Tula Lotay (Barnstormers), Dan Panosian (Canary)
and Jason Loo (The All Nighter, Afterlift)
Stephanie Phillips writer of the new series Black Sight, We Only Kill Each Other, Beatrix Rose
Neil Kleid writer of The Panic and a yet to be announced new series
Mark Sable, writer of The Dark, Dracula: Son of the Dragon and an exciting soon to be announced graphic novel with an AI theme
Award winning writer Alex Segura (Black Ghost and Blood Oath)
I’ll have detailed coverage of this event soon!
With Comixology Originals you can discover a new series. Read Comixology Originals for free as part of your Comixology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited or Prime membership.
Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America at NYCC! Booth Tour with Justin Cavender, Senior Marketing Manager
They had something for everyone with over eight booths and I got the chance to see it all up close and personal hosted by with Justin Cavender | Senior Marketing Manager Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America Inc.
Bandai Namco had an incredible display of your favorite series including Dragon Ball, Gundam, Naruto, My Hero Academia, One Piece, Ultraman, Studio Ghibli and more!
Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles I saw priority products from the Tamagotchi, Vital Hero and Anime sides!
I met Justin at the Gundam booth #2335. media suite near the backside of the booth. checked -in and checked out all things Bandai Namco! Here are GUNDAM model builders at the booth
On the show floor, Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. gave attendees the chance to play its slate of anticipated anime games across several booths. Justin was a trooper breaking down everything in detail! I’ll have sone unboxing samples soon. Here’s my guided tour of all things BANDAI NAMCO !
A massive Godzilla installation based on the figure model.
There was hands-on game play, giveaways, and memorable photo-friendly themed activations for NARUTO X BORUTO ULTIMATE NINJA STORM CONNECTIONS, SAND LAND, and JUJUTSU KAISEN CURSED CLASH.
- NARUTO X BORUTO ULTIMATE NINJA STORM CONNECTIONS (Booth #2705) – Pose with the Nine-Tailed Fox and enter a recreation of the Hidden Leaf Village food stands to play recently announced characters for this action fighting game arriving on consoles and PC on November 17th.
- SAND LAND (Bandai Namco Booth #2319) – Enter a recreation of a vehicle from the game and go hands-on with an action-packed playable demo of SAND LAND, a new action RPG based on the classic manga from Akira Toriyama, creator of DRAGON BALL and DR. SLUMP.
- JUJUTSU KAISEN CURSED CLASH (Bandai Namco Booth #2319) – Play the debut hands-on demo for this first ever game for consoles and PC based on the wildly popular serialized manga and anime. Experience the epic JUJUTSU KAISEN universe in a 3D 2v2 action brawler where players create a team of Jujutsu Sorcerers and Cursed Spirits and unleash powerful attacks using signature Cursed Techniques.
- DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 (DRAGON BALL Booth #2401)– Try out a host of new characters in this acclaimed game, including those who made their debut in the newest Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO movie with Gamma 1, Gamma 2, Orange Piccolo, and Gohan (Beast).
The amount of merchandise was dizzying but Justin broke down the variety of model kits, community areas where folks could assemble figures, play card games and gawk over the hundreds of different games, collectables, toys and photo op opportunities that has made Bandai Namco a world leader in their industry!
It was an unforgettable experience that I will continue to report upon one’s editorial samples are made available. Stay tuned!
“A Place Among The Dead”: Exclusive Premier Screening / Q&A & Reception
“A Place Among The Dead” explores the repercussions of growing up under the sway of narcissism and evil.
While having my fanboy moment of the NYCC interviewing Producer, Director & Actress Juliet Landau, graciously invited me to a special screening of her monumental new award winning independent film. “A Place Among The Dead”
This film isn’t only a taut, psychological thriller, it starts a long overdue public dialogue about Narcissistic Personality Disorder
This film was a brilliant and compelling surprise! It’s a totally scripted “found footage” horror film Produced, written and directed by Ms. Landau in the vein of The Blair Witch Project, where “Jules” (Landau) & her partner, portraying versions of themselves, shoot a “documentary” around the alleged reappearance of Darcel, a vampire that exists in the local legends of a small Santa Monica CA. enclave, who may or may not be responsible for a rash of unsolved serial killings. As “Jules” is drawn down a shocking rabbit hole investigating the murders, the tale spirals towards an unforgettable conclusion.
Juliet, who contacted me while on a major junket for the release, just shared with me how her film is being recognized –
As you may know, our release plan has been an extended period of Worldwide, Interactive, Screening Events and Film Festivals to build the conversation & prestige. This has worked in spades! We only submitted to 21 festivals and not only did it get into all 21, but swept every single major category at every single one with an unprecedented tally of 37 major awards! Please see below…
12 BEST FEATURE OF THE FESTIVAL
9 BEST ACTRESS – JULIET LANDAU
6 BEST DIRECTOR
2 AUDIENCE CHOICE
2 BEST SCRIPT
1 BEST ENSEMBLE CAST – GARY OLDMAN, RON PERLMAN, ROBERT PATRICK, LANCE HENRIKSEN
1 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – GARY OLDMAN
1 BEST EDITING
1 BEST SCRIPTED FAUX DOCUMENTARY
1 BEST VAMPIRE FILM
1 MOST INNOVATIVE FEATURE FILM
You’ll get an idea why this film is so acclaimed when you watch at the bone-chilling trailer here. –
The film features star studded Starring as themselves Gary Oldman, Lance Henriksen, Ron Perlman, Robert Patrick, Juliet Landau, Anne Rice, Joss Whedon
“A Place Among The Dead” is a genre-bending, elevated-horror film, which explores the repercussions of growing up under the sway of narcissism and psychological abuse. Juliet Landau as “Jules” in “A Place Among The Dead” (2020)
Here is a sample of the video shot from the introduction of the world wide streaming & BluRay release of “A Place Among The Dead” –
In the Q&A and post screening interview, the filmmakers have an honest, very personal discussion as survivors of parents with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
I was blown away as I learned the project resonated with a deep and faithful fan base self-identified “A Place Among The Dead Heads”.
This film isn’t only a taut, psychological thriller, it may be the catalyst of a long overdue public dialogue about Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Landau’s inspired and unflinching writing and directing effort empowers survivors of this life experience, here’s some post-screening footage –
A Place Among The Dead is now available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, TUBI, YouTube, and Miss Juliet Productions
I’ll share my film review with an exclusive interview with Juliet Landau in an upcoming All Things Geek!
Photo Credit – Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Audible, Amazon, Miss Juliet Productions, Author
