The #1 digital comic platform, Webtoon, is set to return to New York Comic Con with an unprecedented five panels, lanyard sponsorship, and annual Green Room event, announced today. Webtoon will celebrate NYCC with an admirable slate of new and returning titles launching this week including the return of 2018 Eisner Nominee for Best Webcomic Brothers Bond (Kevin Grevioux, Ryan Benjamin), the next installment of Ringo Award Winner for Best Webcomic 1000 (Sanford Greene, Chuck Brown), Backchannel (Stan Lee, Tom Akel, Andie Tong), season 2 of The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn (Tri Vuong), Caster (Austin Harrison, Zach Howard, Mike Raicht, artist Jason Masters, original score and music by Robert Glasper and original song by Common), Finality (Warren Ellis, Colleen Doran), season 3 of Dents (Beth Behrs, Matt Doyle, Sid Kotian), Shadow Pirates (Sean Galloway, Ian Hopps, Cassey Kuo), season 2 of Nothing Special (Katie Cook), and Eat Fighter (Fred Van Lente, Crystal Skillman, Fernando Pinto) – more information below or visit webtoons.com.
Webtoon’s Road to NYCC follows an impressive number of Ringo Awards at last weekend’s 2018 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards at Baltimore Comic-Con with a total of seven including Favorite Hero: Mags (Assassin Roommate), Favorite Villain: Arlo (unOrdinary), Favorite New Series: I Love Yoo, Favorite New Talent: Quimchee, Favorite Publisher: Line Webtoon, Best Comic Strip or Panel: Sarah’s Scribbles, and Best Webcomic: 1000, Chuck Brown and Sanford Greene! Webtoon featured creator Katie Cook (Nothing Special) – returning October 9! – gave the keynote address celebrating the success of this digital frontier. Click to watch the Ringo Awards.
Road to NYCC Launch Summary:
Dents (Beth Behrs, Matt Doyle, Sid Kotian) – Available NOW
Dents is an apocalyptic journey to the year 2111, where more than half of the world’s population has been wiped out by an ancient plague. After a vaccination is developed, there is a massive increase in the birth of identical twins possessing extraordinary powers, known in society as “Dents.” Following an incident at school, Eleanor learns that she herself is a Dent, separated from her twin at birth, and is quickly swept into an underground society of other Dents trying to survive. Dents returns for its final season and epic conclusion.
Link: https://www.webtoons.com/en/sf/dents/list?title_no=671
Shadow Pirates (Sean Galloway, Ian Hopps, Cassey Kuo) – Available NOW
Mao, leader of The Yakooza Group, is stuck behind bars in Old San Diego following an unfortunate run in with The Shadow Pirates. After convincing a group of teenagers to aid in his escape by promising them a greater power than they can imagine the ultimate burst they are transported to New San Diego where they begin their adventure to unlock the burst in the form of The Four Horseman: war, pestilence, famine, and death.
Link: https://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/shadow-pirates/list?title_no=1455
Brothers Bond (Kevin Grevioux, Ryan Benjamin) – Available NOW
2018 Eisner Nominee for Best Webcomic – An exiled prince and his two blind samurai protectors set on a dangerous journey to reclaim their kingdom from demonic forces.
Link: https://www.webtoons.com/en/action/brothersbond/list?title_no=1458
Backchannel (Stan Lee, Tom Akel, Andie Tong) – Available NOW
From Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment comes a sci-fi story following teenager Tom Tanner, a comic loving, engineering prodigy who was raised by his single father Martin, a police detective. On the surface, Tom is having an average high school life – struggling to stay on the lacrosse team, hiding his affections for his friend Sally, and trying to keep his head down and grades up. What his father and friends don’t know is that Tom is being recruited by BACKCHANNEL, a decentralized hactivist group causing havoc at prisons across the U.S.
Link: https://www.webtoons.com/en/super-hero/backchannel/list?title_no=1456
The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn S2 (Tri Vuong) – Available NOW
Continues to follow the journey of the world’s greatest paranormal investigator – Oscar Zahn. Friend to lost souls, enemy of evil, he may lack a body but that doesn’t mean he’s missing a heart!
Link: https://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/the-strange-tales-of-oscar-zahn/list?title_no=685
Caster (Austin Harrison, Zach Howard, Mike Raicht, artist Jason Masters, featuring original song by Common and score by Robert Glasper) – October 4
Caster is an original multi-media comic series created by the team at Noble Transmission and featuring an original song and score from Oscar-Winning artist and actor, Common. Bringing together action-packed art and storytelling with original music to set the tone, Caster follows the adventures of a world traveling rare antiques dealer who gets caught up in a world of international espionage.
Finality (Warren Ellis, Colleen Doran) – October 5
Finality is a heightened crime drama about Felicity Rockall, the world’s greatest criminal investigator, and Amy Ash, the young DCIS special agent assigned to try and control the eccentric genius as they deal with a frightening murder mystery that may prove to be Felicity’s final case.
Eat Fighter (Fred Van Lente, Crystal Skillman, Fernando Pinto) – October 6
Eat Fighter is a competitive eating, zombie murder epic that follows Miss, a thirty-something fitness nut who throws away her kale and step-counting ways to become a superstar on the competitive eating circuit.
Nothing Special (Katie Cook) – October 9
Callie thinks that in the grand scheme of the worlds at large, she’s nothing special. With the unexpected addition of friendship and adventure into her life, she’s about to find out that she was very, very wrong.
Link: https://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/nothing-special/list?title_no=1188
1000 (Sanford Greene, Chuck Brown) – October 11
2018 Ringo WINNER for Best Webcomic – Set in a modern world of aliens, warlocks, zombies, and ancient beasts, 1000 transports readers to a world like no other. The series follows Dragon Son – a supreme entity who’s abandoned all creation – as he struggles to return to his true Dragon form by completing 1,000 acts of repentance.
Season 1:
https://www.webtoons.com/en/action/one-thousand/list?title_no=1217
Webtoon embark on the Road To NYCC celebrating the 2018 New York Comic Con at the Javits Center in New York, October 4 -7, 2018. Webtoon is the lanyard sponsor and have five panels featuring appearances by top creators including Dean Haspiel, Sanford Greene, Common, Monica Gallagher – more information on panels below.
Thursday, October 4
WEBTOON PRESENTS “CASTER” FEATURING COMMON
Time: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Location: Room 1A10 – Javits Center
Description: Please join us for the launch of Caster, an all-new original digital comic series premiering on Webtoon from Noble Transmission and Freedom Road Productions and featuring original music and score by Common and Robert Glasper. Join Academy Award, Golden Globe, Emmy and 3x Grammy Award winner Common, Freedom Road Productions Managing Partner Derek Dudley, co-creator Austin Harrison, artist Jason Masters, writer Mike Raicht, and Webtoon Head of Content Tom Akel for a special look at the series and discussion of this unique series.
Link: http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/Sessions/66475/Webtoon-Presents-Caster-Featuring-Common
Friday, October 5
SPOTLIGHT ON MONGIE (LET’S PLAY)
Time: 3:15pm – 4:15pm
Location: Anime Fest – Mirai Stage – Pier 94 – NOTE: TIX STILL AVAILABLE
Description: Fans will get a one-on-one experience with the popular creator of Webtoon’s Let’s Play (1.7million subscribers, more than 88 million views, with more than 3 million views per week–and it’s her debut comic!), Leanne “Mongie” Krecic. Her artwork can be seen on IGN, AdultSwim, YouTube, Freeblades, and ImagineFX Magazine.
Speakers: David Lee, Leeanne “Mongie” Krecic
Link: http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/Contributors/6647236/Leeanne-Krecic-aka-Mongie
WOMEN INCORPORATED: WEBTOON EMPOWERS CREATORS
Time: 6:45pm – 7:45pm
Location: Room 1A21 – Javits Center
Description: Webtoon has one of the most diverse rosters of creators, with more than 65% female creators and 75% female readership – astonishing figures in the entertainment community! Our female creators cover multiple genres including Fantasy, Slice of Life, Horror, Romance, and more. Hear from some of Webtoon’s top creators on how they broke into the business, found their voice, and some of the challenges they met along the way.
Speakers: Tom Akel, Yen Ee aka Fishball (My Giant Nerd Boyfriend), Monica Gallagher (Assassin Roommate), Leeanne Krecic aka Mongie (Let’s Play), Katie Cook (Nothing Special), and Chelsey Han aka uru-chan (unOrdinary)
Link: http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/Sessions/65974/Women-Incorporated-Webtoon-Empowers-Creators
Saturday, October 6
WELCOME TO THE DIGITAL AGE OF COMICS
Time: 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Location: 1B03 – Javits Center
Description: Panel discussion from the big three on the success of digital comics. No longer does a creator have to wait for print and ship, you can go live when you are ready and get immediate feedback from fans. For creators what it takes to join a platform. For readers, the diversity of content is endless.
Speakers: Heidi MacDonald (Moderator, Editor The Beat), Tom Akel (Head of Content, Webtoon; co-writer Backchannel), Dean Haspiel (creator The Red Hook, War Cry), Michael Son (Editor in Chief, Tapas), Michi (creator Born Sexy Tomorrow, The God in the Field), Ben Wolstenholme (CEO/co-founder Madefire; creator MO NO)
Link: http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/Sessions/65982/Welcome-to-the-Digital-Age-of-Comics
Webtoon Creators – Interview SyFy Live stage
Time: 5:30pm
Location: Show Floor, Level 3, Booth 174
Details: Fabian Nicieza, Reilly Brown, Monica Gallagher, M. Victoria Robado, Tom Akel
BREAKING IN AND MONETIZING YOUR COMICS WITH WEBTOON
Location: Room 1A02 – Javits Center
Time: 7:45pm – 8:45pm
Description: Looking to break into creator-owned comics with the world’s largest comics publisher? Hear from creators including Shen (Blue Chair), Fabian Nicieza (Outrage),
M. Victoria Robado (#Blessed), Sanford Greene (1000), and Jin Kim (Webtoon Community Manager/Creator Care) on what it takes to break into the industry, how they’ve built their fanbases through Webtoon, and how to survive once you’re a full-time creator. Webtoon Head of Content Tom Akel will walk you through how to publish and promote your own IP on the Discover platform, provide details on Webtoon’s new ad sharing program, their partnership with Patreon, and the eight finalists will be introduced.
Link: http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/Sessions/66890/Breaking-In-And-Monetizing-Your-Comics-With-Webtoon
If you were born in the ’80s, ’90s, or literally ANY decade after those, you know about Super Mario. A cultural phenomenon was brought to life on the big screen this last weekend. One that has not only stood the test of time but reinvented itself time and time again. This wasn’t even the first time it’s been made into a movie but, well, let’s be honest.. some of us choose not to acknowledge the LIVE action adaptation of the beloved game from 30 years ago.
It was pretty bad… But this was animation. ILLUMINATION animation at that. The Universal company that brought us Gru and his Minions, showed us the Secret Life of Pets, and gave us a reason to SING! Still, I had my reservations and even some concerns, especially when the casting was announced.
Eyebrows were raised. As big of stars as they were on paper, could they really deliver on voicing characters from a staple of our childhood? They did.
Chris Pratt and Charlie Day may not be Italian, and Jack Black may not be a King or Turtle creature from the Mushroom Kingdom, but they make the characters their own all while paying homage to the lore of a video game.
From the jump, the story reintroduces us to the brothers that just want to save Brooklyn one clogged sink at a time. We feel an instant connection and relate to these “underdogs of the plumbing world”. The movie is riddled with easter eggs, each of which tugs on the heartstrings of every generation of Mario fandom. And the soundtrack was beautifully put together to not only make us feel like we’re taking a walkthrough of the game but like an experience all its own with some familiar favorites thrown in.
Every word in the movie is pure eye candy for both those that are casual fans, and those analyzing every frame to see what they’ll catch next. Bowser’s ship, the Mushroom Kingdom, Kong’s arena, and the Rainbow Road.. They’re all meant to give us just enough of a “new” look at these amazing worlds, but stay true to how we remember them.
The movie itself moves along at the perfect pace. Although, if you don’t really know ANYTHING about the Super Mario Bros, you may have gotten a little lost and felt left behind in the green tunnel. But that’s ok! It’s an adventure of the imagination and a classic story of a boy that meets a girl and tries to save the world from a monster that wants to destroy it.
What’s funny is that you could easily say this is a story about two characters who couldn’t be more opposite if they tried, battling to win the heart of a princess. Who would’ve thought that the King of the Koopas was just trying to impress his crush?
And that song? Ohhh THAT song! It’s my new ringtone and deserves the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Back to the movie.
Universal and Illumination clearly understood the assignment. Is it missing some things or could things have been done differently or even better? Absolutely! We’re the worst critics of the things we hold nearest and dearest to our hearts. But if you’re up for going on a 90-minute adventure through amazing worlds, with awesome music, and characters that’ll make you smile and laugh, then this is the perfect movie to spring you into that warm summer feeling.
Plus there’s the whole part with karts and shells, and banana peels and oh my goodness how amazing was that?? It’s enough to make you want to stand up and cheer, then go home and destroy your friends and family on your favorite track haha.
The bottom line, it pays homage in all the right ways to the little guy with the mustache, while giving us something new and exciting. Take the kids and go see Super Mario Bros. You’ll be glad you did!
Justice League x RWBY: Superheroes & Hunters Opening Act Saturday, March 25 at 1:30 p.m. on North 200A. Talent confirmed so far to participate in the post-screening panel is Natalie Alyn Lind (Big Sky, The Goldbergs, Gotham) as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and longtime RWBY cast member Lindsay Jones (Camp Camp) as Ruby, Kara Eberle ( RWBY: Ice Queendom) as Weiss, Arryn Zech (Detective Now Dead) as Blake and Barbara Dunkelman (Blood Fest) as Yang – along with Jeannie Tirado (Soul, Saints Row) as Green Lantern and Tru Valentino (The Rookie, The Cuphead Show!) as a cyborg. Also attending the panel will be producer/director Kerry Shawcross (series RWBY) and writer Meghan Fitzmartin (Supernatural, Justice Society: World War II).
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment returns to WonderCon 2023 with the big screen debut from DC Animated Films: highlights this year include the world premieres of the highly anticipated Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham and Justice League x RWBY: Superheroes & Hunters Part One the weekend of March 24-26 in Anaheim, California. Both screenings will be followed by panel discussions with actors and creators. Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham premieres at The Arena on Friday, March 24 at 6 p.m. Tati Gabrielle (Kaleidoscope, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Uncharted) as Kai Li Cain, Christopher Gorham (The Lincoln Lawyer, Insatiable) as Oliver Queen, David Dastmalchian (Dune, Suicide Squad, Ant-Man) as Grendon, producer/co-director Sam Liu (The Death and the Return of Superman), co-director Christopher Berkeley (Young Justice) and screenwriter Jase Ricci (Teen Titans Go! and DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem Across the Multiverse).
Both films will have encore screenings in the Arena on Sunday, March 26. Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen, Part One will screen at 12:15pm, followed by Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham at 2:00pm
No Question Mark Box Here; Super Mario Delivers a 1-Up in Theaters
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment returns to WonderCon 2023
Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Crunnchyroll presents ‘BOFURI: I don’t want to get hurt so I’ll max out my defense’: You’re not twinking!
‘Knock at the Cabin’: Puttin on your boogie shoes!
No Question Mark Box Here; Super Mario Delivers a 1-Up in Theaters
Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Illinois’ financial crisis could bring the state to a halt
The final 6 ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes might feel like a full season
No Question Mark Box Here; Super Mario Delivers a 1-Up in Theaters
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment returns to WonderCon 2023
