NYCComic Con

The X-Files

The truth is out there. And so is irony.

Chris Carter and Frank Spotnick, the creative team behind the cult shows The X-Files, Millennium, The Lone Gunmen and Harsh Realms, unveiled the official trailer X-Files: I Want To Believe.

Last month the trailer was leaked, albeit a bad shaky, grainy bad telesync version. It was still enough to set the X-philers on the edge of orgasm.

The official, and dear I say clean, trailer features a frantic Fox Mulder in search of… Well, I don’t know. The trailer doesn’t say and nether would Carter nor Spotnick during the Q&A that followed the screening.

A few gems they did let go are (1) the film will be a stand-alone story, a creature-of-the-week episode in X-Files parlance; and (2) the story is promised to be more “intimate” and focus a little more on “Mulder and Skully’s relationship in a way you can do in a film and not on television. [We] can service more of the story.”

X-Files fans tend to be paranoid [trust no one] so when an audience member queried on whether the current neo-conservative political arena would be represented with in the film, Spotnick quickly answered,” X-Files is a not a political film nor is it political in nature.” Carter, however, had a different take: “The X-Files was closed [in the show] for political reasons. The show itself existed during a certain political environment and X-Files: I Want To Believe takes place in the current [time] we live in. I grew up during Watergate. You reap what you get if you believe what you read and see in the news. In the film there are similar things to worry about.”

So basically…, Mulder is taking time off from exposing the alien conspiracy to finding… who knows what while the truth behind the major political events in the past ten years languish. Who cares, it’s Mulder and Skully, all’s well with the world.

Featured Artists
Comic Conventions attract everyone from major comic book publishers to small kitchen sink press companies. The people who attend the convention are all, for the most part, good natured, friendly and excited about commercial sequential art. You gotta love watching four-feet-five green skinned Incredible Hulks, three-hundred-pound spidermen, transsexual Sailor moons and enough Naruto, Deathnote, Bleach anime fiends to make you wince, whistle and shudder all at once.

Some of the most interesting folks you meet are the independent comic creators like Jason Becker, creator of Hero Corps: The Rookie and Killing Pickman. Hero Corps is a take on the theme of following in your father’s footsteps. Following the death of a veteran superhero cop, Max takes the mantel of the Hammer, a powerful instrument that imbues its wielder with powerful strength and the ability to fly. The story takes place in the backdrop of a society over run with super-humans where the conflict of between those with powers and regular people clash. It is illustrated with affect by Greg Moutafis.

Another book to look out for is Killing Pickman, also by Becker. This tells the story of Richard Pickman, a religion obsessed serial killer playing a psychological cat-and-mouse with his arresting officer, Detective Zhu. Sounds cliché, right? Wrong. Becker weaves in a supernatural subplot that makes the reader question the responsibility of the child killing Pickman. Two issues in and I’m hooked. Both of these books are put out by Achaia Studios Press, an ambitious studio publisher that puts out great comics. http://www.aspcomics.com

Anime
Chuck Collins and Esteban Valdez have started their own anime content based website. I had a chance to speak to the two artist entrepreneurs and here’s their pitch: “We’re interesting in creating art’ movies where when you look at it, you connect as viewer; where when you see it five years later, you’re like where was I at that time in my life? The film still holds, that’s what you get with art.” Check out their website at http://enemyoftheindustry.com/.



For you gamers out there…

True Game Headz is a website dedicated to all things videogames. They cover any and all conceivable video game platforms from reviews to technical assistance. The site is all at once informative, entertaining and addictive. I spoke with Gerard Flannory, co-founder and creative director as he was running around taping the Con. “True Game Headz represents all of the gamers and provides a forum for video game media producers, especially urban producers to showcase their work and what’s happening in the gaming community.” Access the website at http://www.truegameheadz.com

The convention was awesome. I got to see alot of people I only get to see at cons and spent my time languishing over impossibly cool people and their t-shirts.