Last week was another busy one here at the Geekly Factory. First up, we were interviewed for AnotherPassion.com, a blog “created to inspire and motivate creative professionals and those seeking to make a living following their passion”. We were incredibly flattered, not only to be thought of as worth interviewing but also to be associated even peripherally with the words “creative” and “professional”. In addition to being a top notch blogger Rasmus Rasmussen, the man behind Another Passion, is an accomplished photographer and snapped a few pictures of us to accompany the interview. Check it out at AnotherPassion.com.

On Sunday we hit up Mourning Market and ran into a number of goth friends and other superbowl-dodgers including Dmitri from Tormented Artifacts who clued us in on his latest creation; steampunk playing cards. The art on the cards is amazing and I just wanted to share the coolness.

There is a lot of local/follow-up news as well before we get into the official roundup.

Alert listeners will remember our interview with Leo from Geeky Cookies in Episode #47. At the time of the interview the Geeky Cookies website was undergoing a major revamp and was down. It is now all done and available to handle all your sugary snack needs. OMNOMNOM!

Next in the follow-up section, way back in Episode #21 we talked about chiptuners I Fight Dragons as part of our Geek Music 2 show. The big news from them is that they have been signed to a major label! They will be recording and releasing their first full length album for Photo Finish / Atlantic Records and playing live shows around the country as part of the MTV “Too Fast For Love” tour.

Finally, some news for those going to Emerald City ComiCon who want to get something signed by Stan Lee. Obviously Stan Lee is going to be a huge draw, he is only at the convention for Saturday and only doing one autograph session so to help regulate the crowd the con is going to require tickets to get items signed. Here is the word, straight from the ECCC website –

Autograph ticket for Stan Lee’s SATURDAY ONLY signing are now on sale through Brown Paper Tickets. Tickets are $40.00 and each ticket entitles you to one (1) autograph from Stan “The Man” Lee – there is a limit of three (3) tickets per person. Here is the direct link:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/98792

After purchase, you will be e-mailed a confirmation and ticket number. Print this out and bring it along with your matching photo ID to booth #1105 and there you will receive your on-site autograph ticket.

You will be assigned a time slot for signing – this time will be e-mailed to you in advance so you can plan ahead and know when to show up for your autographs. You can show up for later signings, but not earlier ones, and your ticket will still be honored. This ensures that there is a set number of people per signing and everyone gets a chance to get their items signed in an orderly fashion. There will be no photos available during the signing times, there will be a separate photo opportunity with Stan Lee at the show.

All information will be e-mailed by March 7th.

Monday News is under the fold

Boardgames

• Boardgame News has a few details on a future expansion coming for the wildly popular Dominion to be titled Dominion: Alchemy. Dominion: Alchemy will include 12 new Kingdom cards (instead of the 25/26 in the previous releases), along with a new type of Treasury card called “Potion”. The box will include 16 Potions, all of which will be on the table available for purchase no matter how many players are in the game. The official announcement of the expansion is expected at Toy Fair Nuremberg which starts tomorrow.

Books

• Author K.W. Jeter, who coined the word “steampunk”, has signed with publisher Angry Robot, a division of Harper Collins. The short term results of the signing will be the re-release of Jeter’s book Infernal Devices, generally credited with starting the steampunk genre, which has been out of print since the early ’80s. Angry Robot will also be re-releasing Jeter’s Morlock Night, described as “a wild sequel to Wells’ The Time Machine“. Both are planned to be out in the U.S. in December of this year.

Comics

• Shannon Wheeler, creator of Too Much Coffee Man, has a new book from BOOM! Studios. Official press release below:
  

  BOOM! Town, a new imprint of BOOM! Studios, announced today I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE FUNNIER, a collection of rejected cartoons submitted to The New Yorker by cartoonist Shannon Wheeler.

  “This is some of the best work I’ve ever done,” says Wheeler.

  Please note, Wheeler has also had many cartoons accepted by The New Yorker.

  I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE FUNNIER comes in a 8.75” x 8.75” softcover format, priced at $19.99.

  You can also find Shannon Wheeler’s work on his occasional webcomic How to Be Happy

Movies

• There are not one, but two documentaries on the horizon that may be of interest to the geek community. First, premiering South by Southwest next month, The People vs George Lucas “a no-holds-barred cultural examination of the conflicted dynamic between George Lucas and his fans over the past three decades” featuring interviews with Lucas supporters such as David “Darth Vader” Prowse and detractors like, well, just about anyone who saw The Phantom Menace.

  

• Next, premiering at ComiCon in San Diego, a new documentary from director Jeffrey Blitz and producer Sean Welch on the history of DC Comics. Blitz and Welch are the team behind the 2002 documentary Spellbound about eight teenagers on their quest to win the 1999 National Spelling Bee.

TV

• In what has the potential to be one of the coolest guest-writer spots of all time, British science fiction magazine SFX has confirmed that Neil Gaiman has written an episode of Dr. Who. Unfortunately the episode will not be airing until sometime next year “NOT in the upcoming season but early in the one after that”. No further details were available.