Simply Everything

My employer, BowTie, Inc., is hiring a number of positions in the internet department. Here are links to the jobs if you are interested:

Chief eBusiness Officer
Senior Internet Designer
Senior Web Producer

All three positions are located in Irvine, CA. Feel free to apply for these positions or forward this information to friends who may be interested.

By Peter K. Lam

The Surrogates Movie Teaser Poster

A recent SciFi Wire article believes that the metaphor behind the new film, The Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis, is an examination of how people struggle to remain human in an increasingly technologically dominated world. That’s an interesting stance on the film’s metaphor but I have another idea on the matter. The Surrogates is a metaphor for people living their “perfect” life thru someone else.

In society today there are various ways people are able to escape their own reality and live another life. Some times this is for fun but other times it is very real for the user. Over the last decade there have been numerous video games released where users are able to essentially create their own perfect self and “live” through them in a virtual world. The two most popular of these games are The Sims and Second Life.

The Sims is made mostly for fun and is usually played by most just for entertainment. Second Life, introduced a few years ago, is far more sinister and dark. Second Life creates a virtual world where people can go and pretend to be their perfect self. The game emulates real life so closely that some may say it’s almost a replacement of real life. There are businesses inside Second Life where you actually earn money which can be transferred to your bank account in the real world. There are even murders and other crimes in Second Life which at times have crossed over into real life.

The Surrogates takes this whole idea to a new level by allowing people to essentially stay at home and remotely control their “surrogate” to live their everyday lives. So this in turns lets people live their life as they would like without actually having to do it for real.

People these days continue to immerse themselves more and more in virtual worlds and not really connecting with people in the real world. People form virtual friendships, engage in virtual communities and become part of this whole virtual world without ever stepping away from their computers. Why do people do this? Perhaps its because being behind a computer is sort of a safety net so that they can engage in the life they like without having to deal with the consequences of doing the real thing.

I have not read the Surrogates graphic novel but I will try to pick it up some time soon. I’m sure there is a whole lot more to the story than the movie will take on. The general premise of living the perfect life thru a shell of a body is very interesting to me. Hopefully the film will paint a better ending than the endings we’ve seen far too often on the evening news.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

First Born/Broken Trinity Deluxe Hard Cover

LOS ANGELES, Calif., August 18th, 2009 – Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced today that they will be expanding the deluxe edition hard cover containing Broken Trinity to include First Born. The limited edition volume will now contain both epic crossover miniseries that forever altered the course of the Top Cow universe.  Presented in a new oversize prestige format, the 352 page First Born/Broken Trinity Deluxe Hard Cover collects all three issues of Broken Trinity, the three tie-in issues featuring The Darkness, Angelus, and Witchblade, and Broken Trinity: Aftermath. In addition, the collection will now also include all three issues of First Born as well as the Harvey Award winning tie-in issues of Witchblade #110–112. The hard cover also reprints the previously uncollected First Born: Aftermath, making the entirety of the First Born epic available in a single volume for the first time.

The First Born/Broken Trinity Deluxe Hard Cover reprints the ground-shaking stories from current Witchblade creative team of writer Ron Marz and artist Stjepan Seijic and current The Darkness Phil Hester.  The story of First Born explores the conflict between the forces of Light and Dark as New York City Police Office Sara Pezzini prepares to give birth to her first child.  Desiring a tip of the power balance in their own favor the forces of Light and Dark covet the offspring of the Witchblade bearer! Broken Trinity acts as a thematic bookend, when a new Angelus bearer rises and two brand-new Artifact bearers make their first appearance in the Top Cow Universe. With new players on the board upsetting a delicate balance, a Trinity will be broken and one bearer will die.

The First Born/Broken Trinity Deluxe Hard Cover is fleshed out with art by industry heavyweights Luke Ross (Captain America), Stephen Sadowski (Avengers/Invaders), Rick Leonardi (Vigilante), Kevin Nowlan (Wednesday Comics), Mike Mayhew (Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps), Lee Moder (Dragon Prince, Red Sonja), Jorge Lucas (The Darkness), Brian Stelfreeze (Wednesday Comics), Nelson Blake II (The Darkness), Tyler Kirkham (Fusion) and Ryan Sook (X-Factor).

Additionally, the oversized 9” x 12” slipcased hard cover will feature an extensive behind-the-scenes section delving deep into the development process, a new wraparound cover by artist Stjepan Sejic, and a 24” x 36” full color poster.

“We were so incredibly pleased with the way that the Midnight Nation Deluxe Hard Cover turned out, and wanted the Broken Trinity edition to be just as impressive,” explained Top Cow Publisher, Filip Sablik, “So we decided to increase the content and page count and give the fans more value without increasing the price. There’s no doubt this is a premium collectible item, but one that really highlights some of the high points in the Top Cow Universe in the last few years. Plus as a fan, I really wanted to see Stjepan Sejic’s beautiful painted work in an over-sized format.”

Orders for the previously solicited First Born Deluxe Hard Cover will be cancelled through Diamond and retailers will have an opportunity to adjust their orders for the new First Born/Broken Trinity Deluxe Hard Cover through Diamond’s FOC program.

Media contact:
Filip Sablik
Top Cow Productions, Inc.
(310) 282-8062
fsablik@topcowent.com

About Top Cow Productions Inc.
Top Cow Productions, Inc., a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, was founded in December of 1992 by artist Marc Silvestri, who also co-founded Image Comics earlier that same year. Top Cow currently publishes its line of comic books in 21 languages in over 55 different countries. The company has launched 20 franchises (18 original and two licensed) in the industry’s Top 10, seven at #1, a feat accomplished by no other publisher in the last two decades. Its flagship franchise, WITCHBLADE, was TNT’s #1 original film of 2000 and the subsequent TV series was released on DVD on July 29, 2008. A feature film, co-produced by Platinum Studios, Inc. and Arclight Films, is slated to begin production in Australia with director Michael Rymer. WITCHBLADE is also the first American property to be fully adapted in Japan as an original anime and manga by Studio GONZO in 2006. Top Cow’s other flagship property, THE DARKNESS, was developed into a major next-generation video game release by Starbreeze and 2K Games and achieved platinum sales status. WANTED, an Eisner-nominated miniseries published by Top Cow from 2003-2005, is now a major motion picture from Universal Pictures starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. Virtually all of Top Cow’s other properties are in development as feature films, live-action television, animation or video games. Top Cow has also successfully licensed and merchandised its franchises into toys, statues, clothing, lithographs, puppets, posters, magnets, shot glasses, lighters, lunch pails, wall scrolls, mouse pads, die-cast cars, calendars, Christmas ornaments, Halloween masks, trading cards, standees, video games and roleplaying games.