Geek shows have gotten more recognition in recent years than they ever did in the past. Once upon a time the height of genre television was the Star Trek franchise, which, while always intelligent and ambitious, was still shunted by society into that niche of fandom reserved for the obsessive and the dateless. Thankfully, with the success of shows like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and True Blood (and we’ll just ignore the unjust deaths of shows like Firefly, Dollhouse, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles for the moment), genre television seems to have entered into a new golden age, much like comic book movies did ten years ago.

Two of the most recent — and, it could be argued, most anticipated — such shows share a unique mission statement, despite their vastly differing subject matter. Both are adaptations of decidedly adult material, from mediums often given the short shrift in live-action television. Both will attempt to subvert genres that come heavily burdened with the preconceived notions of the common audience. And both feature a surprising pedigree of creators who are dedicated to their success. Those two upcoming shows are AMC’s The Walking Dead and HBO’s A Game Of Thrones.

Dusk Vol. 1
Written by David Doub
Pencils by Maki Naro, Jerry Gonzales, Franc Czuba
Inks by Chris Scott, Jerry Gonzales
Letters by Jaymes Reed
Independent

A newly turned vampire must resist his own unnatural urges in order to save his wife’s life. A chance encounter with a private investigator leads to a reunion between a vampire hunter and the husband she’d almost forgotten. A teen’s mystical dalliances place a curse on his school that few, if any, may survive.

These are the tales of Dusk, David Doub‘s independently published Gothic horror comic. Collected in this trade paperback volume are the first four issues of the black & white series, created and written by Doub, illustrated by Maki Naro, Jerry Gonzales, Franc Czuba, and Chris Scott, and lettered by Jaymes Reed.

This was a difficult review for me to pin down. Typically, I have a prevailing feeling after finishing a given book that will guide me through the process of writing about it, but in this case, I was left very much in limbo. I have negative things to say, yet I can’t bring myself to give a wholly bad review. I have positive things to say, yet I’d be remiss if I just fluffed it and went on my way. So, I’m going to try something new…

This fun little story does our geeky hearts proud, and comes to us from Bizarre New World creator, Skipper Martin.

Towards the beginning of 2008, Skipper ran a contest on his website in conjunction with the release of a recent BNW story, Population Explosion. The winner of the contest would receive a custom-built light saber from Advanced Light Weaponry (a prize that made perfect sense in the context of the book).

The winner, Frank Wilson, was chosen, and the saber was shipped to him in Texas, with a request that he send back a picture of himself holding the saber to be posted on the website. It wasn’t until a year later that Skipper finally received the picture, along with an explanation of the delay…

Long-time GoD contributor and San Diego Comic-Con ’08 correspondent Neverwanderer gives the play by play of his very first San Diego Comic-Con experience this past July.

“The San Diego Convention Center is so huge that if you were to stand at one end of the exhibit hall and face the room, you couldn’t see the other end because of the curvature of the Earth.”
-William O’Neil, Co-Creator of Violent Messiahs

“NO! I’m not going to “˜sand eggo.’ I get twitchy just thinking about SDCC! I’ll be home watching the Sex & the City movie.”
-Brian Michael Bendis, Writer of Secret Invasion, among many, many others…

“Nerd Prom! NERD PROM!!!”
-Comic-Con Attendee

“If you ever have an opportunity to see J.M. Straczynski speak live, do it.”

Seems like you can’t read a single article regarding the man’s work without having this piece of advice thrown your way. Indeed, the creator of hit sci-fi show Babylon 5 and prolific writer of such comic titles as Amazing Spider-Man, Supreme Power, and The Mighty Thor has built himself a reputation as not only a groundbreaking creative force, but an entertaining public speaker as well! “¨

This fact made my decision to attend his “Spotlight on”¦” panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con all the easier.

I’d sat through two panels before his (one of which — the Grant Morrison/Gerard Way affair — can be read about here), both of which had that sort of low-calorie rock concert feel to them. You know what I’m talking about”¦ a room the size of a school auditorium”¦ a small stage upon which sits a few long tables and a row of chairs”¦ the lights go dim and the deep-throated announcer welcomes you to the show and introduces the guest(s) of honor”¦ moderate applause fills the room as the speakers mount the stage, waving to the crowd”¦ and then sit down and sip from their plastic cups of water. It’s the Diet Coke of venues.