Michael Mann will finally sit in The Director’s Chair.

This Sunday, August 9th, the curators of awesome El Rey will air the next installment of The Director’s Chair with renowned filmmaker Michael Mann. From The Keep and Heat to Ali and Public Enemies, Michael Mann is the epitome of badass directing.

Kicking off at 5 pm ET with four select Miami Vice episodes (listed below), The Director’s Chair with Robert Rodriguez and Michael Mann begins at 9 pm ET. Right after that, El Rey will air Mann’s 1986 crime thriller Manhunter, starring William Petersen and Brian Cox as the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (later “Lecter”).

The time to change your iPhone wallpaper have cometh again. Like the Francis Coppola poster from a few months ago, we’ve got the equally stunning Michael Mann poster for your eyeball viewing pleasure. Just look at it. I mean, look at it!

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And for your convenience, here are the four Miami Vice episodes airing this Sunday so you can set your DVR.

5 pm –  Season 1, Episode 7,”No Exit” (guest starring Bruce Willis)

6 pm –  Season 1, Episode 15 “Smuggler’s Blues”

7 pm– Season 1, Episode 16 “Rites of Passage”

8 pm –  Season 3, Episode 2 “Stone’s War”

Oh, sidebar: You do know our very own Jonathan London is the writer for Lion Forge’s Miami Vice series, right? OK, just checking.

It’s been a while since comic book writer Tom Pinchuk has been on Geekscape! Luckily, we correct that oversight in this episode in which Tom drops by to talk to us about his new comic book Max Steel: Haywire, coming soon from Viz Media! Tom also educates us on the differences in some of the various conventions as Con Season starts up and also about the cultural and narrative differences between Manga and traditional US comic books! Also, when is a character’s internal dialogue too much…?

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As promised, one of my Miami Vice artists, Mr. Carl Reed, was in town this week to shoot some promotional videos with me for our upcoming book… so why not have him on an episode of Geekscape to talk comics!?! In this episode, we not only talk about and review the ‘RoboCop’ remake but Carl also talks about his creative process, how deep his love of comic books really goes and what properties he would like to see adapted into a comic. Plus! Is there a way to expand the comic book market through female readers? Will they ever buy comics? And we also give some hints on an upcoming Miami Vice project that we have yet to reveal!

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Here’s a clip from the Lion Forge Comics panel at the 2013 Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo in which my editor Shannon Denton and I talk a bit more about what’s coming up in our Miami Vice comic book series! Is it in continuity? What characters will be included? What’s being changed and what’s staying the same? And of course, will there be any sex? Rampage Jackson himself (who was sitting next to me during the panel) chimes in on that one!

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And listen to the full conversation here:

On the main stage at the 2013 Comikaze Expo, I got a chance to sit down with actor and director Edward James Olmos and talk about Battlestar Gallactica, Miami Vice, Blade Runner and more! As a surprise addition, actor Michael Hogan joins us to talk about playing Colonel Tigh to Olmos’ Captain Adama and doing voice work on Skyrim and Mass Effect!

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And listen to the full conversation here:

I hope it hasn’t become annoying to you Geekscapists since we announced it here back in July, but we are basically family with the Lionforge folks (one of their head honchos is our very own longtime Geekscapist DJ Hyjak!) so you’ll be hearing a bit more about their original titles and the NBCUniversal TV properties they’ve licensed to develop into comic books! And starting today, you can check out 2 of those titles, Airwolf and Knight Rider, on the Comics Plus App and will be available soon on Amazon, Google Books and more.

I’m excited for these books. I know that I have my own horse in the race (Miami Vice comes out next month) but I’ve become friends with Airwolf and Knight Rider writers David Gorden and Geoffrey Thorne over the past few months and also a fan of their work. David and I spent the past weekend at NYCC doing interviews and promotion for the books and when we weren’t at the convention we could be found wolfing down wings with Big Yanks at the Geekscape NYCC Meetup, rooting for David’s Saint Louis Cardinals or hunting ghosts on the streets of New York (really, we found some green ectoplasmic evidence… and I have proof!). He’s a good friend and I can’t wait to see what he does with the property. Geoffrey Thorne was a regular at the Geekscape booth at San Diego Comic Con and I even had a dream a few weeks ago that he had cast me in an adaptation of The Greatest American Hero (really, I had this dream and I do not understand it… and there is no adaptation of The Greatest American Hero that I know of).

Suffice to say, beyond our personal ties here at Geekscape, they are great creators, they are indie creators, and I urge you all to show them your support by checking out these books. There’s more that I could say (and probably will in the coming months) but I’ll let the artwork from the books’ covers and interiors speak for themselves! The press release about the books follows!

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LOS ANGELES and ST. LOUIS – Oct. 16, 2013 – Digital publisher Lion Forge Comics launched two new digital comic books today based on the celebrated 1980s TV shows “Airwolf” and “Knight Rider.” Lion Forge acquired the licensing rights to the properties from NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products earlier this year, along with three additional properties that are set to launch this quarter.
 
Airwolf is developed as a fresh take on the original series, which centers around a high-tech military helicopter named “Airwolf” and its crew, led by pilot Stringfellow Hawke, as they embark on a variety of highly dangerous, international missions. The comic is written by David Gorden (Catalyst Prime: Accel and Catalyst Prime: Quincredible), with Koi Turnbull (Fathom) handling artwork.
 
Knight Rider, written by Geoffrey Thorne (Leverage, Ben 10), focuses on crime fighter Michael Knight, the character made famous by actor David Hasselhoff, and his Knight Industries Two Thousand (K.I.T.T.), an artificially intelligent and technologically advanced Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Jason Johnson (Wetworks, Godstorm) is on board as the artist for the comic.
 
“We can’t wait to let fans relive the action-packed experiences of these iconic shows not only as digital comics, but with contemporary events, technologies and other details incorporated,” said David Steward II, founder and CEO, Lion Forge. “We know readers will appreciate experiencing these stories with a modern twist, while still feeling like they’re reliving past shows.”
 
“It’s always gratifying to see our television properties reimagined in new and unique ways,” said Chris Lucero, director of Global Consumer Products Licensing for NBCUniversal Television. “With exciting artwork that complements updated storylines, I know fans of our shows will enjoy new adventures with these beloved TV icons.”
 
The comics are available now via the Comics Plus App and will be available in the future through the Amazon Kindle Bookstore, Google Books and other e-book stores.
 
Lion Forge will also be releasing the first digital issues of popular NBCUniversal properties “Miami Vice,” “Punky Brewster” and “Saved By the Bell” over the next two months.

We’ve been trying to keep the lid on this one for a while now and Geekscape listeners will have heard me hint at this over the past few episodes on the air. Finally, an announcement has been made that our friends at Lion Forge Comics have joined forces with NBC Universal to bring some of their most iconic 80s and 90s TV show back as digital comics. And I have the honor of writing one of them.

It’s been a lot of fun working with these guys over the past few months and for those of you headed to San Diego Comic Con, there’ll be a lot more revealed at both the Lion Forge panel and the Geekscape booth (which we are sharing with the Lion Forge guys)! Here’s the full press release, with more details to come (like what specific books we’re each working on)!

NBCUniversal, one of the world’s premier media and entertainment companies, has partnered with digital publisher Lion Forge Comics to develop licensed comic books based on popular TV shows from the 1980s and 90s. Under the agreement licensed through the NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products Group, Lion Forge will write, develop and publish digital comics based on the following shows:

 

“Airwolf”

“Knight Rider”

“Miami Vice”

“Punky Brewster”

“Saved by the Bell”

 

“Partnering with the team at Lion Forge to bring classic TV properties to life in graphic novel format was a natural step for us as we continue to identify new ways to entertain our fans in the digital space,” said Chris Lucero, director of Global Consumer Products Licensing for NBCUniversal Television. “We’re excited to give fans a chance to revisit some of their favorite shows and characters in a completely new way.”
 
Well-known writers currently signed on to work on the projects include: Joelle Sellner (Teen Titans, Jackie Chan Adventures, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi); Jonathan London (Geekscape); Geoffrey Thorne (Leverage, Ben 10) and David Gorden (Catalyst Prime: Accel and
Catalyst Prime: Quincredible).
 
Currently, Jason Johnson (Wetworks, Godstorm) and Lion Forge’s own Carl Reed and Lorenzo Lizana are on board as artists.
 
“From hugely popular characters such as Crockett and Tubbs, Zack Morris and Punky Brewster to highly stylized music and clothing choices, these TV franchises have had a significant impact on pop culture,” said David Steward, CEO, Lion Forge. “We here at Lion Forge are looking forward to extending that influence by creating visually appealing and entertaining experiences on mobile devices for a whole new generation of fans.”
 
The comics are planned for distribution in Q3 and Q4 2013, and will be available through the Amazon Kindle Bookstore, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble’s The Nook Book Store and Kobo.
 
Lion Forge executives will participate on a panel at Comic-Con International: San Diego from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. PDT on Saturday, July 20, in Room: 26AB (SDCC), where they will discuss these and other properties in development.