Daniel Cudmore (Colossus) to appear at Indiana Comic-Con

With roughly six months until the Indiana Comic Con is set to debut at the Indianapolis Convention Center, Daniel Cudmore is confirmed to attend the event. Cudmore portrays the part of "Colossus" in the upcoming summer blockbuster, X-Men: Days of Future Past. He also portrayed Colossus in X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand, as well as Felix in the Twilight Saga. Cudmore is the second celebrity guest confirmed to attend, along with Maisie Williams who portrays Arya Stark HBO's hit series, Game of Thrones.

In addition, numerous comic creators have been confirmed to attend:

- Bob Camp: co-creator of Ren & Stimpy, storyboard artist on Tiny Toon Adventures, Cow and Chicken, Jimmy Neutron, Ice Age II and many others.

- George Perez: legendary artist in the world of comics having illustrated numerous titles including Avengers, Wonder Woman, JLA/Avengers, Infinity Gauntlet and many others.

- Ken Kelly: highly renowned fantasy painter (taught by the legendary Frank Frazetta) known for his work on Conan, Tarzan, KISS and many others.

For a full list of attending creators, please visit:

www.IndianaComicCon.com

The Indiana Comic Con has recently been expanding in anticipation for a larger than originally expected attendance. The original event space of approximately 40,000 sqft has now been enlarged to over 100,000 sqft.

The Indiana Comic Con will be held on March 14-16, 2014 at the Indianapolis Convention Center.

Indianapolis Convention Center

100 S. Capitol Avenue

Indianapolis, IN 46225

Single-day admission is $20 for adults and free for children 12 years old and younger. Three-day admission is $45 for adults.

Please email: info@indianacomiccon.com

www.IndianaComicCon.com

Flashback- Mr Wizard's World

As a child there were few things that interested me more than science. I was especially (and still am!) fond of astronomy, but all studies caught my attention. I poured over books from the public library containing do-it-yourself experiments that you could do at home. The fascinated and awed me. That fascination and awe carried over to watching one of my favorite television personalities: Don Herbert, better known to the world as "Mr. Wizard".

Herbert began his science program in 1951 under the title "Watch Mr. Wizard". The show was broadcast on
NBC, and ran until 1965, producing 547 live broadcasts. It was shortly revived from 1971-72 on the Canadian NBC affiliate, producing 26 more shows.

Herbert then developed a show for the fast-growing kids channel Nickelodeon. The showed was faster paced, and now titled "Mr. Wizard's World". It aired three times a week, with 78 episodes produced until the show was cancelled in 1990, but it continued on for over another decade in reruns.

Mr. Wizard continued to produce materials for science teachers until his death in 2007. Don Herbert fascinated children all over the world, and sparked an interest in science in many. His fun and easy-to-understand explanations of scientific principals laid a foundation for future science personalities to follow.

Music pick of the week: New Politics

This week "Indiana Geek" music pick of the week is the band the New Politics. The band hails from
Copenhagen, Denmark and formed in 2009. They made released their debut album "New Politics" in 2010, which featured the singles "Yeah Yeah Yeah" and "Dignity". Their follow-up "A Bad Girl In Harlem" was released in 2013 along with their newest single "Harlem"

The Eleventh

This past Wednesday it was reported that the read through for the Doctor Who 2013 Christmas special was held. This is a emotional occurrence for Who fans everywhere, as this year's Christmas special will be the final episode for Matt Smith, the actor who has played the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor for the past three series.

The regeneration of the Doctor is always a magical moment in television. The scenes are very emotional, and rarely do we see an occurrence that elicits both sadness and joy at the same time. Fans are always sad to see the current actor leave but simultaneously excited about the unknown of the new incarnation. How will he be played? What will he wear? What will be his quirks? What color of the emotional spectrum will he project? These are the moments in the show's history where the Doctor is at his most raw, exposed, and vulnerable.

Discussions among fans is already on the topic of how the fall of Eleven will occur. Speculation lately has turned to longtime series monsters the cybermen as possibly playing a role in the special. Stuntman Darrelle Parker tweeted "Great to be stunting again for Dr Who in the Christmas special playing a cyberman!" providing fuel for this fire of discussion.

One thing is for certain... while I am excited and anxious to see Peter Capaldi man the helm and to get to know his version of the Doctor, until the moment the regeneration occurs Matt Smith is still the Doctor. Until he fades from the scene, I will enjoy every bowtie-wearing moment. Geronimo Matt Smith... and thank you!

Geek vehicles

One piece of geekdom that has always captured my attention are the various cars and vehicles that have littered the geek world. Many of the movies and shows from my childhood featured vehicles... including Knight Rider, A-Team, Ghostbusters, Dukes of Hazzard, and many more.


There, of course, has also been the various incarnations of the Batmobile, my favorite of which is the classic '66 television ride. Batman's primary transportation has changed and evolved many times through his cinematic history.


One often forgotten vehicle from television history was Airwolf, the helicopter that was the centerpiece of the mid-80's show of the same name. Piloted by Stringfellow Hawke (played by Jan-Michael Vincent) it was a key weapon in the battle against evil.

What are your favorite vehicles from pop-culture history?

In this corner...

Today I'm going to tell a tale that only a handful of people that know me are aware of. It's a part of my past that seems almost forgotten at times, but it's a fun part of who I am...

I once was an independent professional wrestler known as "Downtown" Dave Dynasty.

For about five years (2000-2005) I competed in the squared circle throughout Indiana (with an occasional gig in Chicago). My home promotion was Hoosier Pro Wrestling based in Columbus, Indiana (http://hoosierprowrestling.bravehost.com) but I competed in any group that would have me, often wrestling 3-4 times a week during my busiest period.

I began as a manager with HPW. My debut match was managing a wrestler named "Psycho" Sam Cody as he wrestled "The King" Roy Presley. I will never forget how nervous I was as Sam and I stood behind the curtain waiting to go out. As his music played, "Psycho" looked at me and said "Lead me out kid, but don't get too far ahead of me. If I can't see you, I'll never be able to find my way to the ring". Sam had horrible vision. My wrestler lost that night, and I took a guitar over the head from Mr. Presley. I would spend most of time managing "Outlaw" Jesse Houston, who's in the picture to the left with a very young me.

Eventually I worked my way into actually wrestling. I almost always played the heel, or bad guy. It's a weird gig to go out each night and try to make people dislike you. One night I must have been particularly wicked, as I remember a fan telling me he was carrying a knife and he would "get me after the show". Needless to say, I made sure to walk out in a group that night. The world of wrestling was very exciting, and being in front of a crowd always gave me a rush. It was very much like being a part of a live comic book, with heroes and villains battling for control.

I eventually won the HPW Heavyweight Championship, and although some people say there's little value to holding a title, I was very proud that for a time I was the top man in the promotion. My time as a competitor was cut short however, as to many blows and falls caused discs in my neck to compress. A doctor warned me if I continued to wrestle, I could begin to lose use of my arms and suffer more severe back and neck problems. To this day, I sometimes feel numbness and tingling in my arms that is a result of some of the damage done.

So I dropped the title in my final match, hung up the boots, put my villain days behind me, and Dave Dynasty was no more.

Writing comics

Most people who know me are aware that I'm a writer. I'll write anything... I freelance for the local newspaper and am always jotting down something. My passion as a writer lies firmly in writing comics.

I've self published a comic, Jedidiah Starr #1, that I co-created with artist Louie Hernandez. It's a labor of love, as we both have worked hard producing a very old-school superhero comic that harkens back to books we read as children. Nothing ground breaking, but very fun for us. We've decided to continue our work on and publish Jedidiah Starr #2 as an ongoing webcomic, two pages released every Monday on our publishing website www.ViewComics.com. I'm very excited as we dive back into the world of our fallen space hero.

I also write an ongoing short series for Pronto Comics (www.ProntoComics.com) titled Nerdtastic. I produce these shorts with artist L.Jay Patterson. These are fun bits in which I draw from many of my personal experiences and observations in the world of geekdom. It's very tongue-in-cheek and often used to poke fun at myself and my past, all in the name of good humor.

I have other projects is various stages, and am always looking for new genres to write in an attempt to continually grow and expand as a writer.

I'd love to hear from fellow writers... what are you working on? Give me a comment, or drop me an email at dave@indianageek.com.