Plympton's IDIOTS AND ANGELS screens October 6 in Big Apple

Oscar-nominated director Bill Plympton has an exclusive engagement opening on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, of his Terry Gilliam-sponsored animated feature IDIOTS AND ANGELS (run time 78 minutes) at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd Street, NYC.

Bill Plympton and Postcard

IDIOTS AND ANGELS is a black comedy about a man's battle with his wings and his soul. The feature will be preceded by Plympton's new, multi-award-winning animated short film, THE COW THAT WANTED TO BE A HAMBURGER, which won the Grand Prize for animation at the Florida Film Festival.

Plympton will make personal appearances at the last screening of the day on Wednesday, October 6, and Thursday, October 7, followed by a Q & A. The animator will be signing postcards at this event and there will be a quiz and signed poster and DVD prizes.

Tickets: $13 general admission.
$9 seniors (62+) and children (under 12).
$8 for IFC Center members.
$10 for discounted group tickets
(Group Tickets by arrangement email: pbscreenings@gmail.com.)

The IFC Center is located at 323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd Street, NYC
Box office #: 212 924 7771. Web:  http://www.ifccenter.com

For more information, visit http://www.plymptoons.com/news/appearances.html.

Elvira Charms Crowd at Montreal Comic-Con

Fans line up for Elvira

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (Cassandra Peterson) was a key draw at Montreal Comic-Con on September 11 and 12, 2010. Appearing in trademark black gown and bouffant hair, the Queen of Halloween charmed the many fans who lined up to get autographs and photos.

Elvira was extremely sweet with her fans, who loved telling her how beautiful she is and how excited they were to meet her in person.

Elvira charmed her fans

As reported at Sam Tweedle’s Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict website in July, Elvira is returning to TV on September 25.

Ronn Sutton and I were seated right beside Elvira, and were happy to enjoy interest from her admirers as they looked through our artwork, asked questions and snapped up copies of the Claypool Comics issues of Elvira: Mistress of the Dark that we had worked on, as well as Ronn’s original comic art pages.

Ronn Sutton signs artwork

Montreal Comic-Con was a smaller show in comparison to Comic-Con International in San Diego or Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, but it still drew lots of genre-hungry con-goers who turned out in costume and went shopping for cool merchandise.

As for me, I purchased an “alien” egg, a Star Trek phaser replica and two communicator pins. I also got to “bump” fists with actor Brent Spiner, who played Data on ST:TNG (that’s Star Trek: The Next Generation for you non-Trekkers). Spiner was a headliner too at Montreal Comic-Con, along with Billy Dee Williams and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca).

Costumed fans enjoy Montreal Comic-Con

Because we were seated next to Elvira, Ronn and I were a distance away from Artists’ Alley, where Marvel artist Leonard Kirk and other comics artists were seated. Our friend, science fiction artist and Godzilla collector extraordinaire Jean-Pierre Normand, was also exhibiting there and reported brisk sales.

Montreal was short, sweet, busy and fun!

New Janet Hetherington Art for Wonder Woman Day V

I'm contributing two new pieces of original full-color Wonder Woman art for Wonder Woman Day V, to be held on Sunday, October 24, 2010.

One piece of this art will be auctioned off in conjunction with the Portland event held from 12 noon to 6 pm at Excalibur Comics, 2444 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, Oregon, while the other will be auctioned at a parallel New Jersey event held at Comic Fusion, 42 Main St., Flemington, New Jersey.

Wonder Woman Day V is deemed a part of national Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This is the fifth year that organizer Andy Mangels has called upon artists to contribute Wonder Woman art for this important cause. Past contributors have included Adam Hughes, Gary Frank, Nicola Scott and many more.

The first four years raised over $89,000 in aid of four domestic violence programs.

The community-based event, from which 100 per cent of proceeds go to registered 501(c)3 charities, is meant as a celebration of the Wonder Woman character and the heroic values shown throughout her history, and of upholding those same values within the greater community.

However, Mangels says that this is the last year that the event will be Wonder Woman-specific. The website states: “Join us for the FINAL celebration of Wonder Woman Day as it metamorphosizes towards the future... art auctions, guest creators, and costumed characters will mark this as one of the year's most heroic events!”

Visit the website (http://www.wonderwomanmuseum.com/WWDay5/WWDay5.html) for details of the events, auctions and details on how you can bid on the Wonder Woman Day V art. -- Janet Hetherington

Comics Fix at Fan Expo Canada Toronto

Fans needed super-hero stamina to brave the San Diego-esque long lines and crowds at Fan Expo in Toronto August 27-29, 2010. Ronn Sutton and I were seated in Artist's Alley, and heard story after story of how some fans waited up to four hours to get in, then lined up again to get autographs from such stars as Stan Lee, William Shatner, Summer Glau, Felicia Day, Adam West and more. One fan reported that he went outside for a cigarette, heard the click of the door behind him, and had to get in line for another two hours to get back inside!

Once inside, however, fans were more than happy to seek out treasures on the dealers' room floor and attend panels and signings. It was busy for Ronn and myself too, as we both sold original art and did a number of commissioned pieces. There were plenty of cool costumes parading by, and a cute Batgirl was kind enough to pose with a Batgirl original art piece I was working on. Once finished, that art sold along with Catwoman, Supergirl, Zatanna, Dragon Lady and numerous versions of Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman was a hot topic at the show, with many fans pondering what was going on with the live-action feature. My feeling is that Wonder Woman has always been a difficult character to write, and a big-screen version should focus on her mythological roots as well as her super-heroic attributes (magic lasso of truth, boomerang tiara, invisible plane). If Hollywood's listening, I'd be happy to discuss!

One of the most exciting things for me that happened during the show was receiving an email from Arrow Publications saying that the first of my Eternal Romance supernatural love stories, TOO MUCH AT STAKE! was accepted by Apple and posted to its app store for download. In this story, lovelorn vampire Destine reveals her origin to wannabe slayer, Grayce Roy. Other stories are to follow, with a download price each of $0.99. I'm hoping Eternal Romance will reach new and returning fans, with Twilight, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and other paranormal adventures being so hot right now.

Going to Fan Expo also means connecting with friends. I was able to deliver the Barnabus Collins and Angelique Dark Shadows figures I picked up in  San Diego to www.PopCultureAddict.com scribe and publisher Sam Tweedle. Later, Sam, Ronn and Marvel Comics artist Leonard Kirk enjoyed a (late) dinner and Steam Whistle brewskies on Wayne Gretsky's rooftop patio bar/restaurant, Oasis. It took us a bit of a runaround to find the stairs leading to the upstairs patio, but it was a entertaining evening of discussing gory horror movies.

While most of my time was spent behind the table at Artists' Alley, I did get a chance to walk the exhibit floor and do some shopping. I got my pic snapped at the SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND promo booth, and snagged some great merchandise: Star Trek key chain, the Spider-Man / Obama graphic novel, The Nightmare Before Christmas tote bag, Composite Superman action figure, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies graphic novel, True Blood "Fangtasia" hand tattoos and more. Lots to lug home on the train!

Fan Expo 2010 was big, noisy and fun. It seems to be following close on the heels of Comic-Con in San Diego in terms of expansion, but there's still lots of emphasis on comic books. And if by the end of the show,  I look like Death warmed over, I hope it's as good as the lass dressed as Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman.

NEXT CON: Montreal Comic-Con, September 11-12, 2010! -- Janet Hetherington

Reminder: Upcoming Convention Appearances!

Janet Hetherington (Eternal Romance, Elvira) and Ronn Sutton (Honey West, Elvira, Fear Agent) will be appearing at the following conventions:

Can-Con 2010 (Ottawa): August 20: Janet will be appearing with writer-director Lloyd Deane to talk about her role in the short science fiction film M-THEORY.

FanExpo 2010 (Toronto), August 27-29: Janet & Ronn will be in artist's alley. Come by to for great original art or to chat!

Montreal Comic-Con 2010, (Montreal) September 11-12: Janet & Ronn will have a table. Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) will be there too, so here's your chance to get original Elvira comic book art pages from Ronn and get them signed!

Hetherington: Mad as a Hatter?

Johnny Depp made a memorable and totally jiggy Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's 2010 film reimagining of the classic Lewis Carroll tale Alice in Wonderland.

However, it was a Hetherington who purportedly frst went wiggy with a top hat. John Hetherington was an English haberdasher who supposedly modified a riding hat into a top hat, widening the brim and lengthening it.

In 1797, Hetherington and his top hat caused a riot in the streets of London. People are said to have run in terror, with dogs barking and women fainting. The crowd broke the arm of an errand boy as they ran like Tokyo citizens fleeing Godzilla.

Hetherington was charged in court with wearing "a tall structure having a shining luster calculated to frighten timid people" and was fined £50.

Sounds like a great premise for a Zatanna story: "Mood fo tah pot ehT!!!"

M-THEORY Feedback

M-THEORY writer-director Lloyd Deane reports very positive feedback for his short SF film at the Wreck-Beach Film Festival. Lloyd is waiting now to hear if the film has been accepted into other festivals.

Lloyd is encouraging people to view the movie on IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1673609) and asks viewers to rate it using the star rating system on the web page.

"I know lots of people have viewed it but it would be nice to have the movie rated, and it's super easy to do," Lloyd says. " Just drag your cursor over the stars and pick a number of stars out of 10 you think it deserves."

I play Mrs. Dillworth, the Dean's wife, in this parallel-dimension comedic sci-fi adventure. You might want to check out my IMDb listing also. Cheers -- Janet Hetherington