Friday, August 31, 2012
Put down the shotgun if you see a swarm of the "undead" come strolling through your neighbourhood. No, the zombie apocalypse has not plagued Mother Earth, but the third annual Fort St. John Zombie Walk is returning on Saturday, September 15.
Organizer Kim Large, says it's the perfect opportunity for zombie fanatics to do some good.
"Well, first it’s to help a good cause, and it’s something different for people to do in Fort St. John. The majority of the people are like myself and have a love for the genre, so it’s something fun and interesting for us to do."
In the walk’s first year, the event drew a crowd of close to 100 zombies, who raised a total of 366 pounds of food for the Fort St. John Food Bank. Last year, the event gathered 75 undead walkers, who raised 289 pounds of food.
This year, Large hopes the event can produce even better results than the Zombie Walk's inaugural year.
"I’m hoping we can meet out first year attendance and I’d even like to exceed the amount we raised for the food bank."
Helping to raise more food but keeping with the zombie apocalypse theme, this year will feature an extra portion of zombified fun, as the walk will culminate at the Aurora Cinema, to conclude the evening with some classic zombie movies.
The Corpse Bride will be showing for the youngsters, while the older, more experienced zombies will get to watch the classic, Night of the Living Dead.
Admission to the movies will be a donation of survivor food (non-perishable food items) to the local food bank, and it’s this added feature that Large feels will help the event achieve its goal.
Seating is limited so if interested in watching the movie, make sure you make it to the front of the pack as seating will be first come first see.
Zombies will begin their town takeover at 4 p.m., starting from Centennial Park, with all the undead set to meet at the theatre at 5 p.m.
Due to the notoriously insatiable appetite of zombies, food is the name of the game for the Zombie Walk. A Fort St. John Zombie Walk non-perishable drop box will be open for donations starting Saturday September 1, located at the Totem Mall.
For more information on the event, email fortstjohnzombiewalk@gmail.com.
The event is open to anyone interested in participating, but parents are asked to use their own discretion when considering bringing their child into what could be a somewhat scary environment.
~http://energeticcity.ca/
'Dead Island Riptide' is not a sequel says developer, slated for 2013 launch
It's hard to find a zombie game that's worth playing these days. Over the last few years, game developers have been putting zombies into every possible game format you can think of. First person shooters, check, third person shooters, check, twin stick shooters, done. Seems like a game can't come out without a zombie mode attached to it.
Then there are games that are built from the ground up with zombies in mind, and even though they aren't tacked on game modes, you'll find that there's plenty of zombie games and few of them are worth playing. We can tell you that "Dead Island" is one of the few worth your time.
In "Dead Island" you and three other people, if you choose to play co-op, are trapped on a resort island infested with zombies. There's not much gun play, the majority of the game you have to melee the undead, putting the pressure on to strike first and strike hard. There's plenty to loot, there's plenty to do, and you'll spend days going over everything on the island.
We've been waiting to hear if "Dead Island" would get a sequel. There was a rumor about a "Dead World" game being made but Techland, the guys behind "Dead Island", denied they were working on a sequel. Instead, we're getting a lateral move with "Dead Island Riptide".
The game is set to be a spin off, a companion piece to "Dead Island". The close melee combat returns, along with a new weather system and some upgrades to the engine used in the first game. The weather can now cause floods and do damage to strongholds that you'll have to keep fixing up.
Those of you who sunk hours of work into "Dead Island"will be happy to hear that you can import your character and their stats into the game. Also, the game is not taking place on the same island, just in the same world.
There's plenty of screen shots to see at the top of the page, and we'll be honest, the news and shots have gotten us excited. If it's half as good as the first game we'll at least have another zombie game worth playing.
"Dead Island Riptide" is set to launch in 2013, but there's no concrete release date yet. As expected, it will launch on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
~Examiner.com
~Examiner.com
Plants vs. Zombies shambling to Zen Pinball 2 and Pinball FX2 next week
Don’t be fooled by any poorly written notes you might find that say otherwise: Zombies are definitely invading a pair of popular digital pinball games next week, and they almost certainly are trying to eat your brains. Luckily, you can fend them off in the new Plants vs. Zombies-themed DLC table for Zen Pinball 2 (playable on both PlayStation 3 and PS Vita) and Pinball FX2 for Xbox 360.
Based on PopCap’s popular lawn-defense game, the downloadable table will have players using adorable plants and adorable plant-related powers to hold back an ever-approaching horde of the undead (who are also surprisingly adorable). In the original game, you do this by strategically placing your plants in order to create an impenetrable anti-zombie defense. Here, you accomplish it by whacking the zombies with pinballs.
The Plants vs. Zombies table is available as a download next week, with the Playstation Network version (playable on PS3 and Vita) available for $2.99 and the Xbox 360 version for 240 Microsoft points (which actually comes out to $3). You can see the game’s trailer below:
We’ve also received word from someone (who assured us that they were definitely not a zombie) that the table is very easy and the best way to get a high score is to simply let the zombies win … but they could just be a zombie trying to eat our brains.
~http://venturebeat.com/
How To Create a Gruesome Zombie Illustration
October is near, which means designers and illustrators get that extra excuse to include skulls, zombies and monsters in their work with the arrival of Halloween. Follow this step by step Adobe Illustrator tutorial to create a hand-drawn zombie illustration. We’ll use a photograph as a basic reference then use our Wacom tablet along with Illustrator’s vector brush tools to draw up various gruesome elements on our zombie character.
I’ve never been much of a hand-drawn Illustrator myself but I’ve always admired the style of artwork and researched into the techniques often used. In this tutorial we’ll look at how Illustrator’s brushes can be used to create crisp vector linework to achieve that digital inked appearance. We’ll be using Pen tablet throughout the tutorial so we’ll see how variances in line weight can help build up areas of contrast and detail in the artwork.
Even the pro artists sometimes struggle to achieve spot on proportions when drawing human faces or bodies. For our artwork we’ll use a stock photograph as a reference. Search for a suitable image of someone in a ‘screaming’ or ‘shouting’ pose. Go to File > Place to import the image to Illustrator, turn down the opacity to around 30% then lock it into place (CMD+2).
The method used in this tutorial is the hand-drawn technique using a Wacom pen tablet. It’s perfectly possible to use vector shapes or mouse-drawn brushes but this guide will cover the steps for illustrating by hand. Double click the brush tool and alter the settings to 1px Fidelity and 0% Smoothness. Make sure none of the options are active.
Double click the default small round brush in the Brushes palette to change its options. Change the Diameter option to Pressure and increase the Variation to the max. This will allow us to vary the weight of the lines depending on our pressure with the pen.
Select a cyan stroke colour for the brush, then begin roughly sketching out an evil zombie appearance over the reference photograph. Use the facial features as guides but add in sharper lines for an aggressive apperance.
Continue sketching out the rough zombie artwork on top of the original photograph using the basic facial features as a guide.
Use your imagination to include gruesome features such as exposed zombie brains or torn flesh. The detail of the sketch can be very rough and basic at this stage. Free flow with the pen and don’t worry about mistakes, just draw right over them.
Group all the blue linework that makes up the rough sketch, change the opacity to 30% then lock it into place. We’ll now use this blue sketch as a guide for the main artwork.
Use the same brush settings but this time with a black stroke to begin illustrating the final linework. It can be easy to remain in rough-sketch mode but try to take your time to make every line as neat as possible.
Work outwards from a key area such as an eye and try to include variances in weight with every line by adjusting the pressure with the pen.
Keep your hand on the CMD+Z shortcut to undo unwanted lines. Use heavier weight lines around the outline of the artwork while keeping the finer details much lighter.
Aim to draw lots of short lines rather than long flowing outlines. The short lines are much easier to draw with the limited space on the tablet surface and the tails of the lines help achieve that traditional inked appearance.
Use Illustrator’s Blob brush to fill enclosed areas with a solid fill. The brush tool creates individual stroked lines, whereas the blob brush will create a solid shape.
Finish off drawing in the linework until you’re happy with the final appearance. Don’t forget you could make duplicates of the artwork at various stages. For instance if you’re unsure if your artwork needs more or less detail, make a copy then compare the two.
Once the final inking is complete group together the elements and move them to one side to see a clear view of the linework alone.
The illustration is currently made up of hundreds of strokes. Go to Object > Expand Appearance to convert the paths into solid shapes.
The illustration is still made up of lots of individual elements, so use the Merge option from the Pathfinder palette to blend all the shapes together.
The final artwork is now made up of one solid object, making it much easier to change colour. Toggle outline mode (CMD+Y) to clean up any tiny stray shapes that may have been created from the conversion from brush strokes to shapes.
Our gruesome zombie illustration is now ready to be used in your next apparel or poster design!
~http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/
Rodney Ho's Interview with ‘Walking Dead’ A. Zombie (or his wife, actually), running for President
In possibly the strangest interview I’ve ever had in more than 20 years in this business, I did a phone interview last week with “Patti,” the “wife” of A. Zombie, a fictional creation cooked up by AMC, which is trying to get back on Dish Network.
Dish and AMC Networks are embroiled in a nasty battle, likely connected with a previous lawsuit.(Read the gory details here.) But Dish is saying AMC is asking for too much bloody money and as a result, won’t air their programming (which includes WE and IFC, too.) This dispute has been dragging on for weeks.
So AMC Networks has had A. Zombie run for “president” with one primary issue: pressure Dish to bring the network back, where “The Walking Dead” will return October 14 – or convince Dish subscribers to go elsewhere. He has traveled to Tampa for the Republican National Convention and will be at Dragon*Con starting this evening.
Here’s his appearance schedule:
Friday, August 31
- 8:30 pm: Dragon*Con Zombie Walk: A. Zombie and Patty will kick off the event with a rousing speech; Westin Hotel, 210 West Peachtree St., NW, Atlanta
- 10:00 pm: The Dragon*Con Zombie Prom: A. Zombie and his wife will judge the entries for the best “King and Queen;” Sheraton Grand Ballroom, 165 Courland Street, NE, Atlanta
Saturday, September 1
- 10:00 am: The Dragon*Con Parade: A. Zombie and his wife will lead the parade, Auburn Avenue NE and Peachtree St NE, Atlanta
- 3:00 pm: Campaign Rally: Official Campaign Rally with A. Zombie and his wife, campaign bus and marching band, Courtland Street Entrance of the Marriot Marquis, 265 Peachtree Center Avenue Northeast, Atlanta
Patti spoke to me because her “husband” (yes, I am going to put a lot of things in air quotes in this article) can’t talk. Why? He’s a zombie. Zombies can only grunt.
Oddly, her “husband” A. Zombie has not eaten her despite the fact she’s a delectable, sentient human being. “He’s mostly hungry for good TV,” she added. And the fact of the matter is, he is a “killer in bed… let’s just say he’s not dead everywhere!”
How old is he? “Seems like an eternity. I do not know. But I do know this: he is willing to share the last 500 years of his tax returns.”
Does he watch “The Walking Dead”? “Are you kidding me? It’s our very favorite show. Finally, zombies are represented on TV. He’s thrilled about it.”
His one-issue platform: “We want people to switch from Dish in time for ‘The Walking Dead’ season debut October 14. We feel this is an issue that is of utmost importance. He could have taken this lying down. He was already lying down. He is standing up for equal viewing opportunities for everyone. He’s dead serious. My husband may be voiceless but Americans should not be choiceless. A blank TV will make people zombies. That’s a bad kind of zombie! Good government starts with good television programming!”
He is looking forward to his trip to Atlanta. “The zombie population there is huge,” as evidenced on the show, Patti said.
The predicted result come November: “One candidate will take the blue states. Another will take the red states. We’re confident we can take the dead states.”
What are upsides of being a zombie? “He’s a good dancer. He’s the death of the party!”
What’s the downside? “It’s not an issue that he can’t talk. He’s a strong man with strong character. A lot of America’s greatest presidents are now dead. He will strive to increase America’s work force even if it kills him again. You know how hard it is for him to get health care? He has a $5 million deductible!”
Slogan: “He may be dead but he’s dead right for America!”
~http://blogs.ajc.com/
Thursday, August 30, 2012
The Midnight Hour launches Season 5 with Zombie Tale
On Saturday, September 1 “Lee Martin’s The Midnight Hour” will kick off its fifth season with an eclectic mix of black humor, sex, family dysfunction…and zombies.
In “Resurrection of the Damned,” 13 years has passed since Marco (Matthew Johnston), a small-town serial killer, was murdered by a rogue policeman (James Caudill). Now, the daughter (Courtney Zimmer) of one of his victims finds herself at odds with her family and classmates (Stephanie Yousif, Brad Burkhardt) until she devises a plan to restore Marco to life for one final killing spree.
This entry of the cult TV series blends colorful characters and events to good effect. With its high school setting and vivid scenes of zombie blood-lust, it anticipates the excitement and mood of Halloween.
“Resurrection of the Damned” airs every Thursday and Saturday throughout the month of September. Visit www.leemartinsthemidnighthour.com for channels, times and a live streaming video simulcast link.
Zombie Cliches Plague Master Storyteller Gilbert Hernandez's New Comic, 'Fatima'
MAXIMUM OVERKILL: Gilbert Hernandez, the acclaimed comic artist behind the classic Heartbreak Soup series, goes all zombie in Fatima: The Blood Spinners.
When Los Bros. Hernandez suddenly appeared on the comics scene in 1982, they changed everything. Eventually.
Only indie-comics connoisseurs may have noticed it at the time, but the Hernandez brothers’ Love and Rockets announced a new generation of artists in what was then referred to as underground comix. Robert Crumb and his many associates had defined this niche for two decades, from Zap Comix to Weirdo, infused with an aesthetic that combined drug-fueled doodles and soul-baring biography. While Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly’sRAW Magazine took comics for a sharp turn into New Wave art and European-style “graphix” in 1980 (culminating with Spiegelman’s Maus), it didn’t make much of a dent among traditional buyers of comic books: boy-men with disposable incomes.
Love and Rockets, however, had it all. Jaime Hernandez’s sci-fi Latino punk-rock girls mingled with Gilbert Hernandez’s complicated Central American villagers to create a truly unique piece of comic fiction that appealed to all sorts of readers. It’s difficult to overstate just how important Love and Rockets was in creating the decidedly above-ground independent comics scene that we know today. After it was picked up by Fantagraphics (thereby giving the company the means to expand its own offerings), the oversized black-and-white comic book inspired dozens of artists and publishers to step into what felt like an entirely new culture. Although the brothers may have used some larger-than-life storytelling devices (superheroes, magic realism), they created characters that were instantly recognizable and down to earth, illustrating them in disparate styles that complemented each other perfectly. Self-taught artists, the Hernandez brothers’ talents were nevertheless fully formed right from the start, drawing and inking effortless lines that were full of life.
Gilbert Hernandez’s new series for Dark Horse Comics, Fatima: The Blood Spinners, is pretty much full of death, however. That much is obvious from the opening panels, which consist of two pages of zombies getting their heads blown through by bullets from the futuristic guns of the title character. She’s revealed on page three, standing over their twisted bodies, a blood-splattered wall in the background: a tall Amazon with skin-tight clothes and a bouncy ponytail. “Bring on all you’ve got,” Fatima tells us. “I’m not killing them; they’re already dead. I’m putting them at final peace.”
This is a long way from the dusty streets of Palomar, Gilbert’s mythical village of quirky people with sad stories, collected as Heartbreak Soup. Why are we here?
With only a few issues out so far, it’s difficult to say. Gilbert’s no stranger to tackling money-making projects (Birdland, for Fantagraphics’ adult EROS imprint) or B-movie tributes (The Troublemakers), but if Fatima is intended as a shameless glomming onto a pop-culture trend already on its way out, then it’s an odd one. So far, it’s not exactly a fun romp. Gilbert is clearly investing a lot of effort into creating a serious zombie tale while employing his trademark black-and-white style, setting Fatima apart from the hordes of other zombie comic books already consuming brains. But for someone who’s a fan of his much more nuanced, relatable, and moving tales from Palomar, it raises a few questions: Why is he bothering to draw zombies now? Doesn’t he have his own, fresher ideas?
Perhaps, but they don’t appear in the first two issues of Fatima, which use many familiar zombie tropes: The zombifying element is a designer drug called “Spin” that sparks euphoric productivity before devolving its victims into hollow-eyed flesh-eaters. It gets out into the public and quickly spreads. Society collapses. The only known cure is a bullet to the head. Our beautiful heroine gracefully shoots first (repeatedly) and asks questions later. She learns that her secret government team, Operations, may have had something to do with the end of the world. She’s bitter about it.
Where do we go from here?
Maybe Gilbert has some surprises for us, ones that have yet to be introduced into zombie mythology—some twist that hasn’t already been undone before in all of the other recent zombie comics, movies, TV shows, and video games. After all, Time named him and Jaime as part of their “Top 100 Next Wave Storytellers” in 2009. But I’d feel more confident inFatima’s upcoming entries if Gilbert’s drawings weren’t so, well, lifeless. In his previous work, with but a few squiggly marks, he was able to create characters that you simply knewexisted in real life, somewhere. Although his style may be described as less polished in comparison to Jaime’s sleek, bold lines, it has a natural warmth that comes through in the decidedly more life-like body shapes and imperfect faces. In Fatima, Gilbert’s “heroes” are mostly robotic in their perfect bodies and lifeless eyes. It’s the zombies that look more human. Right before their heads explode in a spray of black ink.
Perhaps this artistic reversal bodes well for new installments—maybe Gilbert is visually preparing the reader for his story twist. I hope so. Zombies may yet still have some life in them. But based on its first few issues, Fatima has not quite found the antidote to their malaise.
~metropulse.com
Stan Lee’s Comikaze Unleashes A Zombie Apocalypse
Stan Lee’s Comikaze, LA’s largest Pop Culture convention (owned by comic legend Stan Lee and Horror icon Elvira) has just announced a 75k sq ft Zombie Apocalypse obstacle course in addition to their 250k sq ft convention, set for Sept 15-16 2012 at the LA Convention Center .
The website states that a previous convention in the LACC left all attendees infected, and turned into zombies. Making light of a bad situation, Comikaze dares their attendees to run, slide, climb, and crawl through one of the best-planned zig- zagging obstacle courses-all while being chased by flesh-eating zombies. The course is set in a way that any one can make it, even if turned to a zombie! Each obstacle is designed with easy but more zombie infested ways, and takes about 35 min to complete. The Zombie Apocalypse is conveniently located in Hall K, which has been infested next to the main Stan Lee Comikaze expo hall.
The course is not recommended for children under 12, and costs an additional $30.
Tickets are limited-so buy now!
If being a survivor is not your thing (and brains are what you crave), fans can pay between $75-$150 to be transformed into a zombie by SFX artists and receive training. Only then, can they terrorize to their hearts’ content.
Zombies are a big part of our culture; being that we have Norman Reedus (Daryl from Walking Dead) and Tony Moore, original Walking Dead artist.
If the kids or wife don’t want to try their luck with a Zombie, they can check out a panel (while you try to survive). “I am really proud of this course, no other zombie course have been like it. This will set the standard!”, says Comikaze CEO Regina Carpinelli.
Zombies not your thing? Never fear!
Stan Lee’s Comikaze presented by POW! has over 400 vendors and artists, as well as celebrity signings and cast reunions. Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn, will be signing for FREE! My Little Pony voice actress Tara Strong, as well as the cast of Boondock Saints, and the original cast of the BATMAN TV SHOW (ADAM WEST and JULIE NEWMAR). Comikaze also has a large interactive stage with a jumbotron to engage fans with fun surprises from celebrities, surprise screenings from major network tv shows, AND promos for fall blockbusters!
If Gaming is your thing, Star City Games is hosting a Magic: the Gathering tournament with over 20k$ in prizes. World Of WarCraft, and Warhammer 40k tournaments, as well as a live Quidditch match that Comikaze proudly states is the largest outside of a Harry Potter book.
Don’t miss out, and bring the whole family! Get your tickets!
1-day passes are $20, and 2-day are $30. Kids 12 and under are FREE. Those who dare can try their survival skills on our Zombie Apocalypse for an additional $30 Learn more here http://comikazeexpo.com/zombieapocalypse/ – .For more info go to www.comikazeexpo.com and follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/StanLeeComikaze and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ComikazeExpo
This is but the tip of the Comikaze Iceberg! Expect the unexpected!
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