Wizard World, Inc. (OTCBB: WIZD) continues its 2015 schedule with its first trip to the Alliant Energy Center at Wizard World Madison Comic Con, February 6-8. William Shatner (“Star Trek,” “Boston Legal”), Brett Dalton (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), Emily Kinney (“The Walking Dead,” Concussion), “WWE® Divas The Bella Twins™, Josh McDermitt (“The Walking Dead,” “Retired at 35”), Kristin Bauer (“True Blood,” “Once Upon a Time”), Eliza Dushku (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” True Lies) and George Wendt (“Cheers”) headline the roster of celebrity guests scheduled to attend the pop culture extravaganza.

Shatner will attend on Friday and Saturday, February 6-7; Dalton, Kinney, McDermitt, Bauer and Dushku will appear on Saturday and Sunday, February 7-8; Wendt is scheduled for all three days of the event. Other well-known Wizard World Madison Comic Con guests include Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy, “The Walking Dead”), Adam West and Burt Ward (“Batman”), Jason Mewes (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks), Adrian Paul (“Highlander”), Billy Dee Williams (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Brian’s Song), Edward James Olmos (“Battlestar Galactica,” Stand and Deliver), Cassandra Peterson (“Elvira, Mistress of the Dark”), Scott Wilson (“The Walking Dead,” “CSI”), William Kircher (The Hobbit trilogy), James Marsters (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Caprica”), Lou Ferrigno (“The Incredible Hulk”), Jason David Frank (“Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”) and Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, “Heroes”).

Wizard World is also the home of the most creative comics artists and writers on the planet. Artist Alley at Madison Comic Con will feature Phil Ortiz (“The Simpsons,” “Muppet Babies”), Mike Grell (“Green Arrow,” “Green Lantern”), Valerio Schiti (“Mighty Avengers,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”), Joanna Estep (“The Fantastic Four,” “Bravest Warriors”) and many others.

In addition, all full-price Wizard World Madison Comic Con attendees will receive a limited edition exclusive variant cover “The Walking Dead” comic, drawn by one of Wizard World’s talented artist guests (to be announced shortly). Comics will be issued at registration while supplies last and VIP attendees will receive an additional black & white sketch version. Wizard World Comic Con events bring together thousands of fans of all ages to celebrate the best in pop-fi, pop culture, movies, graphic novels, cosplay, comics, television, sci-fi, toys, video gaming, gaming, original art, collectibles, contests and more. Wizard World Madison Comic Con show hours are Friday, February 6, 3-8 p.m.; Saturday, February 7, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday, February 8, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Madison Comic Con is also the place for cosplay, with fans young and old showing off their best costumes throughout the event. Fans dressed as every imaginable character – and some never before dreamed –  will roam the convention floor and participate in the famed Wizard World Costume Contest on Saturday night.

 For more on the 2015 Wizard World Madison Comic Con, visit http://wizd.me/MadisonPR.

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Steven Yeun, Michael Rooker and Jon Bernthal of “The Walking Dead,” Adam West and Burt Ward of “Batman”, Manu Bennett (The Hobbit, “Arrow”), Dave Bautista (a.k.a. WWE® Superstar Batista™, also starring in the summer blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy), WWE® Hall of Famer Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat™ and James Marsters (“Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” “Torchwood”) are among the celebrities scheduled to attend the inaugural Wizard World Richmond Comic Con, September 12-14 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.It is the 11th of 16 events scheduled in the 2014 series produced by Wizard World, Inc. (OTCBB: WIZD) and will also feature a top-drawer collection of well-known comics artists and writers and a variety of activities, exhibitors and special attractions.

Yeun will appear on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 13-14; the WWE stars will attend on Saturday only; the others are scheduled for all three days.

Other notables scheduled include Eliza Dushku (“Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” “Angel”), Giancarlo Esposito (“Once Upon a Time,” “Breaking Bad”), Alan Tudyk (“Firefly,” Wreck-It Ralph), Michael Madsen(Reservoir Dogs, “24”), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, “Heroes”), Lou Ferrigno (“The Incredible Hulk,” “The King of Queens”), Jason David Frank (“Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers”), Sara Underwood (“Attack of the Show”) and the Boondock Saints duo of Sean Patrick Flanery and David Della Rocco.

Superstar comics creators scheduled to attend include Eisner Award Hall of Famer Neal Adams(“Batman,” “X-Men”), Ethan Van Sciver (“Green Lantern,” “Flash”), Kevin Eastman (Co-Creator, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”), Kevin Maguire (“Justice League,” “Batman Confidential”), John Tyler Christopher(“Amazing Spider-Man,” “X-Men”), Michael Golden (“Hulk,” “Star Wars”), Arthur Suydam (“Marvel Zombies,” “Army of Darkness”) and Greg Horn (“Guardians of the Galaxy,” “The Avengers”).

Wizard World Comic Con events bring together thousands of fans of all ages to celebrate the best in pop-fi, pop culture, movies, graphic novels, cosplay, comics, toys, video gaming, television, sci-fi, gaming, original art, collectibles, contests and more. Wizard World Richmond Comic Con show hours are Friday, Sept. 12, 3-8 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 13, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

A first-class lineup of topical programming takes place all three days at the event, with celebrity Q&A’s, the Wizard World Film Festival, comics-themed sessions, costume contest, movie screenings, evening parties and more. Sunday, Sept. 14, is also Kids Day, with an array of activities and programming specially designed for the younger Wizard World fans.

Richmond Comic Con is also the place for cosplay, with fans young and old showing off their best costumes throughout the event. Fans dressed as every imaginable character – and some never before dreamed – will roam the convention floor, often stopping by the Show Stage, the ideal place to see and be seen.

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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will officially unveil the details of its highly-anticipated November 2014 release of “Batman: The Complete Television Series” at a Comic-Con International panel – featuring special guests Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar –on Thursday, July 24 from 6:00-7:00pm in Hall H.

The actors behind Batman, Robin and Catwoman will give fans their first inside sneak peak at the most anticipated home entertainment release in fanboy history. All the details will be revealed, including an initial look at exclusive content, limited edition packaging, and dazzling HD remastered footage from the landmark series.

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IDW And The Library Of American Comics Next Team-Up!

San Diego, CA (December 11, 2013) – Renowned for its Eisner and Harvey Award-winning archival work, IDW’s The Library of American Comics will continue its collaboration with DC Entertainment by collecting the Batman’s Silver Age newspaper strips in a matching format to the Silver Age Supermanseries!

Hot on the heels of the successful hit Batman television show starring Adam West and Burt Ward that resulted in what can only be described as “Batmania,” the Batman newspaper strips debuted in 1966. Written by longtime Batman editor Whitney Ellsworth, with art by DC Comics giants Shelly Moldoff, Joe Giella, and Carmine Infantino, the newspaper strip was a huge success.

The first volume, reprinting all B&W dailies and color Sundays from 1966 and 1967, features an all-star list of Batman and Robin characters, including Catwoman, the Penguin, the Joker, Poison Ivy, and Batgirl! The 11 x 8.5” hardcover designed and edited by Dean Mullaney will feature a dust jacket cover by Pete Poplaski, and will be 256 pages, including an introduction by Joe Desris.

“Ellsworth and the artists perfectly captured the flavor of the television show,” Mullaney says. ‘It’s a tremendous amount of fun, both as nostalgia and as a unique creation of its time.”

Created in 1939 by Bob Kane, Batman has become an icon, a catalyst, and one of the most revered comic book properties of all time. With countless series, animated television shows, video games, and feature films under his utility belt, Batman perches on the top of American pop culture.

About IDW Publishing

IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE and MY LITTLE PONY; Paramount’s Star Trek; Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; 2000AD’s Judge Dredd; The Rocketeer; Toho’s Godzilla; Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons; and the Eisner-Award winning Locke & Key series, created by best-selling author Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints, Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio, and the multiple award-winning Artist's Edition imprint.

IDW’s critically- and fan-acclaimed series are continually moving into new mediums. Currently, Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney are creating a feature film based on World War Robot; Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Warner Brothers are producing a film based on Ashley Wood's Lore; Michael Bay‘s Platinum Dunes and Sony are bringing Zombies vs. Robots to film, Kurtzman/Orci are producing a movie based on Locke & Key at Universal. 

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– Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle to be shown in one three-hour programming block, beginning at 8pm ET (check local listings) –

Host and narrator Liev Schreiber Credit: Courtesy of Stephanie Berger

ARLINGTON, VA;  SEPTEMBER 5, 2013 – PBS announced today that Tuesday, October 15, 2013, is “Superheroes Night,” featuring a three-hour block dedicated to the groundbreaking program SUPERHEROES: A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE.  The newest film from Emmy Award-winning producer/director Michael Kantor (BROADWAY: THE AMERICAN MUSICAL; MAKE ‘EM LAUGH: THE FUNNY BUSINESS OF AMERICA) will premiere at 8:00 p.m. ET and include insightful interviews from Stan Lee; actors Adam West (TV’s “Batman”) and Lynda Carter (“Wonder Woman”); Geoff Johns (chief creative officer, DC Comics), Jeph Loeb (head of television for Marvel Entertainment); Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay) and cartoonist/author Jules Feiffer (the long-running strip “Feiffer”), as well as appearances by the late comic book icons Joe Simon (co-creator of Captain America) and Jerry Robinson (who helped create the Joker). A full list of interviewees who appear in the show is located at the end of the release.

SUPERHEROES, cowritten by Kantor and Laurence Maslon, was initially to premiere October 8 and play over three weeks, but the series will now be a one-evening event of super entertainment.

Narrated and hosted by Liev Schreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Showtime’s Ray Donovan), SUPERHEROES: A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE is the first documentary to examine the dawn of the comic book genre and its powerful legacy, as well as the evolution of the characters who leapt from the pages over the last 75 years and their ongoing worldwide cultural impact. It chronicles how these “disposable diversions” were subject to intense government scrutiny for their influence on American children and how they were created, in large part, by the children of immigrants whose fierce loyalty to a new homeland laid the foundation for a multi-billion-dollar industry that is now an influential part of our national identity.

 

“SUPERHEROES: A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE is one of the most comprehensive surveys of the vibrant comic book industry ever created; it explores cultural histories in an entertaining and educational way — just as PBS viewers have come to expect,” said Donald Thoms, Vice President, Programming and Talent Management for PBS. 

SUPERHEROES will be presented in three one-hour parts:

PART ONE, 8 PM: “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” (1938-1958)
During the Depression, the popularity of dozens of superhero characters opens the door for a new generation of artists and writers. World War II creates a patriotic fervor for star-spangled adventurers to represent the American spirit at war and on the home front, but in the 1950s, superheroes are caught in the fire of government scrutiny and regulation. When the thrilling “Adventures of Superman” is broadcast on the new medium of television, America’s first and greatest superhero leads the entire comic book industry to renewed strength.

PART TWO, 9 PM: “Great Power, Great Responsibility” (1959-1977)

In the 1960s, a new breed of superhero emerges in the pages of Marvel Comics, inspired by the age of atomic energy and space travel and, in turn, inspiring the pop culture and pop artists of the time. Spider-Man, the Hulk and others are the first to have “problems” with which an adult audience can identify, and contemporary social issues make their way into comic books. Black powerhouses such as the Black Panther and Luke Cage appear on the scene, and the pages of “Green Lantern/Green Arrow” explode with relevant storylines as comic books are forced to confront the reality of an increasingly complex world.

PART THREE, 10 PM “A Hero Can Be Anyone” (1978-Present)
Modern enthusiasm for superheroes has been embraced in all forms of media and by all demographics, beginning with the historic Superman movie featuring Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. In 1986, Batman is overhauled as The Dark Knight to reflect the nocturnal underside of his character, and Watchmen bring new sophistication to comic book narratives, illuminating a violent and politicized world. In the burgeoning new millennium, superheroes have taken over popular culture with feature films, television shows and video games complementing a new generation of web-based comics that bring superhero adventures to every corner of the world. 

A new book based on SUPERHEROES: A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE, titled Superheroes!: Capes, Cowls, and the Creation of Comic Book Culture and penned by series co-writer Laurence Maslon and filmmaker Michael Kantor, will be available October 1, 2013, from Crown Archetype, a division of Random House. This stunning companion volume tells the story of the superhero in American pop culture, with interviews, character biographies and more than 500 illustrations both essential and rare.

PBS Distribution will release the DVD and Blu-ray version of SUPERHEROES: A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE on October 15, 2013, coinciding with the PBS broadcast. The DVD will be available for a suggested retail price of $24.99 and the Blu-ray will be available for a suggested retail price of $29.99. The running time is 180 minutes and will include exclusive extra features. 

SUPERHEROES: A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE is produced by Ghost Light Films in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Along with PBS, major funding for the series was supplied by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Founded in 1996, Ghost Light Films created the critically acclaimed and Emmy-nominated six-part PBS series Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, which was hosted by Billy Crystal and produced by Thirteen/WNET New York, in association with BBC-TV. In 2005, Ghost Light Films produced three hours of documentary material to accompany the 40^th anniversary re-release of the film The Sound of Music, including a documentary hosted by Julie Andrews. That same year, Ghost Light garnered the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction series for Broadway: The American Musical with Thirteen/WNET New York, NHK Japan and BBC in association with Carlton International. Most recently Ghost Light created Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy (narrated by Joel Grey) for the GREAT PERFORMANCES series on PBS. For more information, visit www.ghostlightfilms.net

In addition to the names listed earlier in this release, the full list of interviewees who appear in SUPERHEROES includes: artist Neal Adams, Ed Catto (Bonfire Agency), writer Chris Claremont, writer Gerry Conway, writer Paul Dini, writer Mark Evanier, writer and editor Danny Fingeroth, historian William Foster, artist Ramona Fradon, artist Irwin Hasen, the late artist Carmine Infantino, writer and artist Phil Jiminez, writer Gerard Jones, publisher Jenette Kahn, the late artist Joe Kubert, artist and co-publisher of DC Comics Jim Lee, comic store owner Mike Malve, artist/writer Todd McFarlane, screenwriter Ashley Miller, writer Grant Morrison, writer Gary Phillips, writer/editor Denny O’Neil, writer Trina Robbins, chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment Joe Quesada, casting director Andrea Romano, artist/designer Arlen Schumer, writer Louise Simonson, writer/artist Walt Simonson, Man of Steel director Zack Snyder, artist/writer Jim Steranko, writer J. Michael Straczynski, colorist Christina Strain, writer/editor Mark Waid, writer/editor Len Wein, writer Marv Wolfman and author Bradford Wright. The SUPERHEROES website is online at PBS.org/superheroes.

About PBS

PBS, with its over 350 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches nearly 120 million people through television and over 29 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’ broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12^th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS’ premier children’s TV programming and its website, pbskids.org, are parents’ and teachers’ most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the Internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile devices

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