FREE: Encyclopedia of Fantasy now online!

Yes, that's right, there's an Encyclopedia of Fantasy that's both free and searchable. Your worldbuilding and reference citing and just got a lot easier! So did wasting massive amounts of time on the interwebs!

Get started!

Via io9

Marvel's ALMOST H.P. Lovecraft comics, circa '72

Did you know that emeritus Marvel Comics writer and multiverse virtuoso Roy Thomas (Conan, Avengers, X-men, etc.) once proposed a horror series based off H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulu mythos back in the 1970s (a.k.a, the coolest era of Marvel comics)?

It's true! Sean Howe, author of the astoundingly awesome and thrillingly, thouroughly researched Marvel Comics: The Untold Story posted this treatment by Thomas to his Tumblr:

Click to enlarge:

Howe says:

Here’s another glimpse at what might have been: A 1972 Roy Thomas memo proposes, among a handful of launches and title changes, a series “hosted” (a la EC’s Crypt Keeper) by the Doctor Strange villain Nightmare.
And what’s this? An anthology comic called THE MACABRE WORLD OF H.P. LOVECRAFT?!? A few months later, an issue of Journey into Mystery would feature an adaptation of Lovecraft’s “The Haunter of the Dark,” but no series ever materialized.

Oh, what might have been!

Dr. Strange to join the Marvel movie universe!

It's been rumored for a while now, but it looks like Marvel is actually planning a Dr. Strange movie! From Screenrant:

Screenwriting duo Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (the upcoming Conan the Barbarian rebooot) were reportedly hired last year to draft a script for the Dr. Strange movie. The project will be live-action and not a computer-animated film by Pixar, as was previously rumored.

According to Twitch, Donnelly and Oppenheimer have turned in their Dr. Strange script and Marvel is forwarding their draft to an undisclosed shortlist of directors “to try and sign someone up to ‘oversee continued development’” of the project.

Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 have already been scheduled for release in Summer 2013, so it seems unlikely that Dr. Strange will make the jump to the big screen before 2014 – perhaps, even around the same time that Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man movie finally arrives.

So in addition to Ant-Man (a film I'm REALLY looking forward to from a director I love) the Sorcerer Supreme could actually be casting his spell in theaters!

 So, who should direct? Who should play Strange?

Crowdfunder: Science Fiction Land--the REAL story behind ARGO

HEY KIRBY FANS! Have you seen Ben Affleck's film ARGO about how the CIA staged a filmmaking ruse for a nonexistent sci-fi film in order to rescue hostages from Iran? Well there's plenty about that story left to tell--but less than 2 days to raise the money to do it justice.

Filmmaker Judd Ehrlich is working on a documentary entitled "SCIENCE FICTION LAND" based on the real concept that inspired the CIA cover...a sci-fi theme park! The parks creators hired the King of Comics himself, Jack Kirby to design the look of the buildings. From the Kickstarter page:

In the mid-1970s, before STAR WARS, an enigmatic young inventor named Barry Ira Geller options the rights to Roger Zelazny’s award-winning novel Lord of Light, writes a screenplay and sets out to produce a sci-fi blockbuster and the world’s first science fiction theme park – Science Fiction Land. Geller dreams of inspiring the next generation of scientists and bringing the technology of the future to everyone.

A complete unknown, through his passion and determination Geller enlists an all-star team: "King of Comics" Jack Kirby; Hollywood makeup and special effects geniuses John Chambers & Maurice Stein; world-renowned architect Paolo Soleri, visionary author Ray Bradbury; and legendary futurist Buckminster Fuller.

On the verge of success, the project collapses amidst scandal, fraud, and mystery. Years later, Geller learns that his script and Kirby designs were used by CIA agent Tony Mendez as a cover during the Iran hostage crisis – his film's title changed from LORD OF LIGHT to ARGO. 

As of this writing, they're in the close-but-not-quite-there range of the $50k they need to finish the film. I pitch a little scratch their way because I'm dying to see what Kirby's designs would have looked like on a massive three-dimensional scale--and to hear one incredible real-life spy story.

There's all kinds of great swag of course, but if you're a MEGA Kirby fan, you'll can fund the film AND get yourself a Kirby Museum membership, which includes MORE Kirby swag. (I asked and they confirmed.) I seriously considered ponying up on that one.

Alas, for a mere $5 you can help out, for $25 you get a download of the film (that's what I kicked in). Not a bad entry fee for the ultimate never-never-was-land!

Check out the Kickstarter page for yourself!

Visit the official movie website!

Images: Judd Ehrlich/Flatbush Pictures 

I posted this at Exonauts as well. :)