Clark Kent meets Peter Parker?

Now's this is what you call a GRABBER of a headline, from one of the L.A. Times fanboy blogs.....at least it got my attention!

SUPERMAN MEETS SPIDER-MAN!?

(by: Geoff Boucher)

Ah, one of the great moments of my childhood was in 1976 when all the rules of physics seemed to stop and the impossible happened: Superman met Spider-Man. What happened? Well, they started punching each other, of course.

The book had GREAT cover drawn by Ross Andru (based on a Carmine Infantino layout and tightened by Dick Giordano inks) and a fun story by Gerry Conway with Lex Luthor and Dr. Octopus as the bad guys. It was sold as one of those great oversized tabloid editions.

I was thinking of that landmark DC-Marvel crossover this morning when I saw footage of Brandon Routh, the most recent Man of Steel on the silver screen, meeting the considerably shorter Tobey Maguire, who was pitch-perfect as Peter Parker in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" films. If Warner Bros. brings Routh back as the last son of Krypton (that's no done deal, of course) perhaps we'll see a summer showdown between the two signature heroes of the top comic-book companies. That would be cool.

The two actors met at a charity event, here's the lowdown from MTV: "They were on hand at Abram Simon Elementary to perform some community service as part of the president-elect’s call to community action on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. But the momentous meeting was the kind that comic geeks salivate over. Maguire was hard at work with volunteers in a classroom at the school trying to figure out how to build the IKEA-style shelving units, when Routh walked by just behind him, but the superheroes-in-street-clothes barely acknowledged each other as they pitched in while wearing their civvies ... Though Maguire was kept busy screwing panels of the shelves together, a short time later, as Routh pulled books from boxes to stack them in the newly built cubbies, he happened across a — no joke — Spider-Man book, and walked it over to his super-brethren. 'I think this is yours,' he said, handing Maguire the book. The web-slinger laughed, and the actors shook hands and chatted for a few moments before Routh walked back across the room to shelve 'I Can Read: Spider-Man 3, Meet the Heroes and the Villains.' 'I think I can probably beat them all up,' Routh said. 'Just kidding.'" [MTV]

Scribes of the World, Take Heart!

Here's another one of those stories from a writer who's made it big that can help prop up the spirits of all us writers (or wanna-be writers) who are still waiting for their big break.

Stephenie Meyers, ( http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/), the Phoenix mother of 3 kids, whose Twight series (about Vampires and Werewolves...so take heart Sue Dent/http://www.shoutlife.com/profile_view.cfm?uid=2236...LOL), has become a bonafied hit among teen and young adult readers, has sold over 5.5 millions copies in 28 countries. Last month she was named one of the 100 Most Influencial People of 2008, by Time Magazine.

Her original idea for the characters in Twilight came in a dream back in 2003. Her sister encouraged her to submit the idea to publishers. A year later, after being rejected by nine agents, the story was discoverd in a "slush pile" of unsolicited manuscripts at Writer's House (the Literary agency responsible for Nora Roberts, Neil Gaiman among others/http://www.writershouse.com/content/independent.asp ).

Four years later, Meyers has been dubbed "the next J.K. Rowling", as her Twilight is now being developed for the big screen. The final book in the series, Breaking Dawn, will release this August with a first printing of 2.5 million copies.

The moral of the story?...don't give up on your manuscript, just because it may have been brushed aside by a publishing house or agent or two, or nine! Of course this may not happen for you, like it happened for Ms. Meyers, but if you don't believe it can, who will?
(source: Edward Nawotka/Dallas Morning News).

bob luedke
inspried writer of graphic novels
www.headpress.info

Hollywood Festival Honors Acts of the Spirit

(Hollywood, CA/ August 2nd, 2007): The second book our my graphic novel series, Eye Witness: Acts of the Spirit, took home the top honors in the category of Comics at this year's Hollywood Book Festival, which was held on Saturday July 28th, (see: http://www.hollywoodbookfestival.com/ ).

The purpose of the festival and the awards, is to honor books that deserve greater recognition from the film, television, game and multimedia communities. Criteria used in selecting winners are the story-telling ability of the writer and the potential of the work to be translated into other forms of media.

This is the second major book award for Acts of the Spirit. In June, the book was awarded a Silver medal in the Independent Publisher Awards, (which were announced at this years BEA Convention in New York; see: http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1157 ), in the category of Dramatic Graphic Novels, as well as being named as a finalist for the FOREWORD magazine Book of the Year Awards.

This was a very surprising and ironic event for me after returning from a week at the Comic Con International. After listening to enthusiastic fans of the series ask me all weekend about whether I had began development of the books in other media...especially an animated version... then to come back to Texas and see that the Hollywood Festival's judging panel also believed the book deserved further recognition by other media, really blew me away. Although I created the series as a way to convey the story of the birth of the Christian Faith, in an entertaining and attractive way to lovers of comic books and graphic novels, I am not opposed to seeing it adapted into other media, as long as those wishing to do so, do not stray from the original core goal of the project.

We are currently in production on Eye Witness (Book Three): Destiny Road...which is slated for a later summer 2008, release date. We just came to terms with a "world class talent" cover artist for book three, that will blow everyone away! Stay tuned for more details!

For more information about Eye Witness series, come visit our main website: http://www.headpress.info/