This week’s edition of The Digital Wire is a tad on the slim side and for that I blame that 50 Shades of Grey mania that has gripped the nation harder than…..never mind. There’s also heavy snowfall in some areas and that usually slows the march of progress down. Okay, enough of the blame game.

Below you’ll find info on several future home video releases complete with technical specs, release dates, and links to pre-order at Amazon, as well as the DVD/Blu-rays that will be available this week. We would greatly appreciate it if you use those links to order because a small percentage of each order helps keep this website running at max power. The cover art for certain titles has yet to be finalized.

Richard Matheson, celebrated novelist and scriptwriter, passed away earlier this week at the age of 87 in Los Angeles. At this time, no confirmed information is available as to how or why he died. He is survived by his wife and four children (three of whom are authors, as well). He was scheduled to receive the Visionary Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Films this Wednesday. The 39th annual Saturn Awards ceremony will be dedicated to him and he will receive the award posthumously.

Best known as an author, Matheson wrote stories that inspired artists from all walks of life. His best known novel, I Am Legend, has been adapted for film three credited times and has been an obvious influence for quite a few others. And while that is always the first book that leaps to mind, there are many others that have also been given life on the silver screen. His book What Dreams May Come is a favorite of mine, both in prose form and the film adaptation from 1998. Other adapted works include A Stir Of Echoes, Hell House and The Shrinking Man. Probably the most interesting adaptation was Duel, directed by a young Steven Spielberg, that was produced by Universal Studios as a made for TV movie.

IDW Publishing has announced that they will be releasing Road Rage, a new comic featuring a team-up of the father/son team of Stephen King and Joe Hill. Joining them on the book will be sci-fi legend Richard Matheson (I Am Legend). The series will be four issues long, with two issues (subtitled Throttle) written by King and Hill, and the second two (subtitled Duel) written by Matheson. Art for the Throttle part of the series will be done by Nelson Daniel, who has been handling colors for IDW’s The Cape (among other books) and steps up to pencils for this book. The artist for Duel will be Rafa Garres. The whole series is co-written and coordinated by IDW Chief Creative Officer and Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall. The first two issues will feature incentive covers by Tony Harris. The series will launch in February.