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Here's all the Archived News items for December, 2005. Back to Current News.
29/12/05
HU Faith @ FivebyFive Wednesday, December 28, 2005 IDW PUBLISHING FOR APRIL ANGEL SPOTLIGHT: ILLYRIA
Written by Peter David, art by Nicola Scott. Presenting an all-new series of Angel one-shots focusing on different members of the supporting cast. Each issue will be presented by a different creative team. First up, Peter David and Nicola Scott focus on Illyria‹a goddess without worshippers, existing in a world not her own, surrounded by humans whose emotions she is trying to comprehend. And her greatest sin was the means by which she arrived here in the first place: she destroyed Winnifred Burkle's body and soul in order to use it as her own vessel to exist. Now witness Illyria as she tries to find a personal touchstone by which she can at least understand the human‹she returns to the remnants of Fred's old life to try and make herself feel guilty over having destroyed Fred's very existence. This first issue features covers from Nicola Scott, Zach Howard, Russell Walks, and Steph Stamb. Covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio. 32 pages, $3.99. SPIKE: LOST AND FOUND
Written by Scott Tipton, art and cover by Fernando Goni. There's a vampire preying on the citizens of Los Angeles‹nothing new for Spike and company, right? Only one problem: the attacks are happening in broad daylight! As Spike and Angel try to track down the killer, Spike finds himself struggling with something even more unexpected‹his own guilty conscience. Can Spike put aside the demons of his past in time to face the vamp feeding on L.A.? 48 pages, $7.49. SPIKE VS. DRACULA #3 Written by Peter David, art by Joe Corroney. The third installment of the centuries-spanning Spike saga. With Darla a prisoner of the Third Reich, Spike must become an agent of Hitler and help deliver gypsy tribes into the hands of the Nazisforcing our vampire hero into an unlikely and uneasy alliance with his foremost rival, Dracula. Artist Joe Corroney will also provide covers for all five issues, as will variant cover artists Zach Howard, Sean Murphy, and Eric Wight. Covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio. 32 pages, $3.99.
22/12/05
HU Marsia @ JossBtVS All right, now I have to jump in and set the record straight. EW is a fine rag, but they do take things out of context. Obviously when I said I had 'closure', what I meant was "I hate Serenity, I hated Firefly, I think my fans are stupid and Nathan Fillion smells like turnips." But EW's always got to put some weird negative spin on it. But so we're clear once and for all: If you read a quote saying "I'd love to do more in this 'verse with these actors in any medium" all I'm saying is that Nathan has a turnipy odor. It's not his fault, he doesn't eat a lot of them but everyone else in the cast noticed it and tht's not really something I'm prepared to deal with any more. And Jewel said outright she wouldn't do scenes with him except stuff like the SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER funeral scene which was outside in a high SPOILER wind. So if I do manage to find another incarnation for my beloved creation, it will have been totally against my will. I hope that clears everything up. Oh, and when I say I want to do a Spike movie, it means I have a bunion on my toe. -joss (by which I mean Tim) (no, actually me.) joss | December 21, 02:12 CET
22/12/05
WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT IN 2005. HERE’S HOPING FOR A KICKASS 2006 AND MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO SHARE THEM WITH ALL MY AMAZINGLY LOYAL FANS. JAMES XO
22/12/05
HU Dru @ jamesmarstersfans
James Marsters, so great in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," is now on "Smallville." Anything else?
He's shopping a TV pilot about "a conflicted hero who attacks with chains and razors." Marsters, 43, admits that as a kid, "superpower and the whole proving yourself physically and fighting was very interesting to me." Does his Brainiac intrigue his son, 9? Not at all, says the divorced Marsters. "It's more important I know the rules of Yu-Gi-Oh! and how to throw a Frisbee."
22/12/05
MARSTERS SHOPS NEW SHOW Former BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER star JAMES MARSTERS has hatched plans for a new superhero TV show. The 43-year-old actor, who also appeared in the US TV show ANGEL, is currently shopping a pilot about a "conflicted hero" who attacks with chains and razors. He says, "(As a child) superpower and the whole proving yourself physically and fighting was very interesting to me." 18/12/2005 21:33
22/12/05
http://www.whedonverse.org/news/2005/12/spike-up-new-year.html Spike Up the New Year! The clean slate provided by the dawning of a New Year holds the promise of second chances. The Whedonverse Multimedia Project is working to give people who may have never experienced Buffy, Angel, Firefly or Serenity a second chance to catch the shows by making them available in their public libraries. As promised, it is also holding a second chance drawing for fans to win a copy of "Spike: Old Times". Spreading the 'Verse For over a year now, the Whedonverse Multimedia Project has been spreading the 'verse to reach out to new fans. We've provided DVDs to 12 public libraries and to 3 military units stationed overseas and we continue to rely on fan support to make the donations possible. If you'd like to help, please send us a donation so we can provide DVDs to the libraries on our waiting list, contact you local library and arrange a donation to them, or purchase a copy of Serenity for one of the 12 libraries we supported prior to the release of the film on DVD. Celebrate the New Year with Spike Congratulations to Heather S. for winning the "Spike Up My Holiday" drawing! Out of the 200 entries we received hers was the lucky one chosen at random. To celebrate the New Year, fans have another chance to get their hands on this comic book. From Now until Midnight December 28th fans can enter to win a copy of "Spike: Old Times" a one-shot comic written by Peter David. Rules: 1. To enter the drawing, email us with "Spike Up My New Year" in the subject line. Please include your name and be sure to use a valid email address as we will need that to contact you. 2. One entry per person. 3. The winning entry will be chosen at random. 4. The winner will be announced on Wednesday December 29th via the email provided with the entry and on the website's homepage. The winner will have a week from that day to claim the prize and provide us an address to mail the item. If the winner does not claim the prize in that time another winner will be chosen at random from the remaining entries. 5. No donations are necessary to participate in this drawing, nor will they improve your chances of winning. Privacy The winner's first name and the first initial of their last name will be posted on the website solely for the purposes of announcing that they have won the prize. All other information will remain private, confidential and will not be shared with any third party. All email entries will be deleted after the prize has been shipped to the winner. More ... We will be having additional drawings in the future for Angel and Serenity comics. Thank-you for your support!
15/12/05
15/12/05
15/12/05
15/12/05
15/12/05
11/12/05
12/01/05
SMGFAN.com's DRESDEN FILES Audiobooks (narrated by James Marsters) Giveaway is now OPEN! This contest is sponsored by Buzzy Multimedia Publishing.
11/12/05
08/12/05
ENJOY 2006 WITH JAMES MARSTERS ON DVD The eagerly-awaited DVD of Words & Music will be officially released on January 17 and features around two hours of James in performance on the London stage. The DVD special includes James performing his own haunting adaptation of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Macbeth, with American actress Cheryl Puente followed by an acoustic concert with James performing several songs which have yet to be recorded. This site is only selling the NTSC version. For the PAL version please go to www.jamesmarsterslive.com Advance orders for the DVD are now being taken.
08/12/05
HU Dru @ jamesmarstersfans & FivebyFive IDW PUBLISHING MARCH 2006 SOLICITATIONS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Direct from IDW Publishing, here are the publisher's solicitations and preview images for books which are scheduled to ship in March, 2006. Click a thumbnail below to see the full-sized preview image in a new browser window. Compiled by Zachary Jian Morrison
SPIKE VS. DRACULA #2 (of 5)
In the heat of 1930s Hollywood, Bela Lugosi is giving a live, on-stage performance of his immortal "Dracula." Little does he suspect that the real immortal Dracula wants his performance to be much less than live... and only Spike and a young Ed Wood can stop him! $3.99 FC 32 pages
03/12/05
A NTSC version DVD (made to play on U.S. DVD players) of “Words and Music” will be made available shortly – details to follow in the next few days!
03/12/05
Screencaps of James in the Nothern Exposure DVD Blooper Reel can be found @ http://www.livejournal.com/community/marsters_daily/451733.html?#cutid1
03/12/05
JAMES MARSTERS
Best known for his role as the evil/good second vampire with a soul, Spike, on the cult hits Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, James Marsters has bitten his way into the hearts of legions of fans across the world. Further cementing his place on the radar of fans, Marsters has been appearing on Smallville this season as the villainous Brainiac as part of a 10-episode deal. James Marsters arrived in fine form at the Canadian National Expo this past August though the closest many could get to him, including a group of reporters, was standing on the opposite side of a large grey cubicle wall hoping to catch a glimpse as fans went, one by one, behind it to get a photo snapped with the actor. Marsters’ status as one of the most popular characters from the Buffy mythology explains why the actor had so many security personnel, PR reps, and convention organizers shooing people away (those who didn’t pay upwards of $500 US for a VIP weekend pass, anyway). But once the actor gets in front of his fans, he appears incredibly humble despite the numerous awards he’s received for playing Spike. “I put all of them in a box labeled James’ ego trips. I shy away from compliments. If you take too many, you start to believe them,” Marsters tells the audience, on day three of the epic Intimate & Interactive event. At the time of the event, Marsters had put two episodes of Smallville into the can. Audiences may be a little shocked to see the actor without his bleached-blond hair (now a deep brown), arrogant swagger, and his British accent. Marsters is actually a native Californian, but his accent was so convincing that not only did viewers accept it as real, but many cast and crew were also fooled. On Smallville, Marsters plays the incredibly smart villain, Brainiac, who comes to Earth aboard a Kryptonian spaceship. The entity assumes the identity of Professor Milton Fine who begins to mentor Clark (Tom Welling). Marsters displayed a genuine enthusiasm both for the character and show creators, Al Gough and Miles Miller. “They have a clear idea of what they want to do with the Superman mythos. My character, Brainiac, has a clear objective which is fantastic. So many seasons of Buffy I’d wonder what Spike would be doing this year. I mean, why was he still in Sunnydale? I dunno, looking for milk I guess,” Marsters says. “Brainiac is intelligent and arrogant,” Marsters continues. “On Buffy, to make a character cool, they’d have them dominate Spike. With Smallville, the same thing is happening to Lex. They set me up as cool by having me come out on top.” With the deteriorating friendship between Clark and Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) being an ongoing focus of the show, Marsters says his character is set to exploit the cracks as much as possible. “I’m going to wake Clark up,” says Marsters. “We’re superior beings and humans are inferior creatures, especially Lex Luthor.” Marsters claims that the only teacher he follows in his acting career is the audience. “They see through the bullshit. If you’re performing for a live audience and no one is breathing, it’s a sacred noise. You hear rustling programs and you know you’re in trouble. You can think you’re great, hear the rustle, and know you have to simplify what you’re doing.” Marsters likes to act a lot with his body. On screen, Spike was hypnotic to watch as he would make arm gestures, bob his head, and walk around about freely. “It drives the cameraman crazy. They like bad acting from people whose arms are glued to their bodies. It’s easy to film. I like to give cameramen whiplash,” Marsters chuckles. Though many actors would want to get out from under the shadows of past characters, Marsters seems to have a genuine affection for Spike, though early into season four the character was almost lost forever. Marsters reveals that he was concerned Spike was being played for too many jokes and when his comments got back to the powers that be, the character was nearly axed. Obviously things worked out for the best as Spike went on to be one of the most memorable small screen hero/villain dichotomies of the past decade. What would Spike be, however, without murderous other half, Druisilla, played by Juliet Landau? “I would pray they’d write another episode with her in it. Spike needed her more. They had an artistic passion, that fire in the belly and we’d both want to get every scene right,” Marsters says. Though the crew would have to hurry them on to the next scene, it didn’t stop them from making obscene hand gestures at each other. “If you watch closely, you can make some of it out. People must have been thinking ‘what are they doing?’” Later in the series, after Spike and Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), began their unlikely screen romance, Marsters recalls one bizarre instance where the script called for him to lick Gellar. “I couldn’t do it,” he says to laughter. “Sarah was so funny. She said “you could rape me last year, but you can’t lick me?” “I told her that I loved her like a sister, warts and all. Kissing is one thing, but licking?” Another favorite moment for Marsters was the fifth season Angel episode in which the title character, played by David Boreanaz, is magically transformed into a puppet. One of the episode’s key scenes involved a throw-down between Spike and the all-too cuddly Angel puppet. “It was fun fighting that puppet,” Marsters says. “They wired it to me and just said ‘go.’ Just totally low tech and let the actor do his thing.” The end of Angel had Spike and the rest of the cast in an alleyway facing a horde of creatures. Just as the team attacked, the screen went dark, and the credits rolled. For months, rumors of a Spike movie, either for TV or straight to DVD, have been circling the web with all corners talking about it, including Buffy creator Joss Whedon. The rumor mill seems to be ramping up again, suggesting former co-star Amy Acker (Illyria) may be due to appear in the film. Should it not come to pass, however, Marsters seems content with his contribution to pop culture. “I’m willing to put Spike to rest,” Marsters says. “Though there’s been constant rumbling about this movie. When Angel finished, I told Joss he had five years. I’ll be 43 then, and Spike isn’t supposed to age. The point of a vampire is that he beats death every day, but if you take that away, and it just declines quickly.” “All I know is that I don’t want to be second best, so I told Joss to get going or forget about it.” Brian Wilkinson is a Canadian journalist based in Toronto, Ontario. His work has been featured in the Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun, eye Weekly and Kidscreen magazine, among others. In the comics world,Brian is best known for his role as the co-publisher of the long-standing comic news site, Comixfan.com. He aspires to be more than he is while never losing sight of who he was.
03/12/05
HU Dru @ jamesmarstersfans & FivebyFive On accents We’re in the middle of casting the two lead roles for Ops. As I predicted, the audition scenes have now become gibberish to me. The only advantage to having them so fully etched in my brain is that when an actor makes an interesting choice for a line reading, I suddenly snap back and pay attention. The two roles are written as Americans, but Jordan and I are both more than willing to change the backstories to accommodate Britons, Australians or other nationalities. After all, almost every country has soldiers. So in addition to hiring on New York and Los Angeles casting agents, Fox was generous enough to bring on casting directors in Sydney and London. We’re getting in new tapes every few days. Unfortunately, the overseas casting agents aren’t taking us at our word. Almost every actor is trying an American accent. Almost every attempt fails. Here’s the thing: If you’re an Australian actor, you can probably suppress your give-away twang, just like most Canadians can — with a lot of effort — distinguish between “about” and “a boot.” But just because you don’t sound Australian, doesn’t mean you necessarily sound American. Often, this lack of accent is worse. We can hear that something’s not quite right, but we don’t know what it is. And while we’re wondering what’s wrong, we’ve lost track of your performance. Now, obviously, there are some cases where an international actor will simply have to try for a specific American accent, just as an American actor may need to hit a certain British dialect. But if a producer or director tells you to use your natural accent, trust him. It’s not because you suck. It’s because you’re better when you can use every part of who you are. As a side note, two actors we met with yesterday were Americans whom I’ve only seen play British. James Marsters and Alexis Denisof both come from the Buffy/Angel universe. It was jarring hearing them speak, because I kept expecting the same voices I’d heard for eight seasons or so. But even more interesting was recognizing the actors’ own cadences that were the same even without the accent; on a fundamental level, Spike sounds like James Marsters. To me, it’s further proof that actors shouldn’t dwell so much on accents, but rather focus on giving the words meaning.
03/12/05
LOOK WHAT SANTA'S BROUGHT YOU! JMLive has presents for you... not only has the website (http://www.jamesmarsterslive.com) been completely revamped and given a brand new look for winter, but there are lots of goodies you've been waiting patiently for. The website now includes new photographs from the recent London concerts and the only available shots capturing the highly acclaimed Words & Music performances. You're also invited backstage to see an exclusive video clip of James rehearsing in his dressing room at the Carling Academy in Islington. For those who missed the Words & Music performance specials - or who want to relive the experience - we can also finally announce the arrival of the much anticipated Words & Music DVD, capturing all the excitement of the live event. The DVD is being officially released on January 17 but you can pre-order your copy now. The DVD comprises around two hours of footage featuring James performing his own haunting adaptation of Macbeth with American actress Cheryl Puente followed by an acoustic concert including several of James's songs not previously available on CD or DVD. Details of how to order are available on our website. If you are planning to order the Words & Music DVD as a Christmas gift for a friend, you can also download a special gift certificate that lets them know their present will be arriving shortly after its official release in January. Please note that all DVDs from JMLive are multi-region PAL-enabled. If you live in the USA, please check that your DVD player is PAL enabled before ordering. _________________________________________________
James Marsters Live
03/12/05
11/29/2005 Spike Up the Holiday! The Whedonverse Fandom Charity site would like to add some Spike to your holiday spirit and we're not talking about the punch. We're giving away a free copy of the "Spike: Old Times" comic book to one lucky fan just in time for the holidays. We'd also like to encourage fans to spread the holiday spirit by helping us to provide a complete set of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly DVDs to to a public library. Your donation will make the gift of the Whedonverse to a whole community! Free "Spike: Old Times" Comic Book From Now until Midnight December 13th fans can enter to win a copy of "Spike: Old Times" a one-shot comic written by Peter David. Rules: 1. To enter the drawing, email us with "Spike Up My Holiday" on the subject line. Please include your name and be sure to use a valid email address. 2. One entry per person. 3. The winning entry will be chosen at random. 4. The winner will be announced on Wednesday December 14th via the email provided with the entry and on the website's homepage. The winner will have a week from that day to claim the prize and provide us an address to mail the item. If the winner does not claim the prize in that time another winner will be chosen at random from the remaining entries. 5. No donations are necessary to participate in this drawing, nor will they improve your chances of winning. Privacy The winner's first name and the first initial of their last name will be posted on the website solely for the purposes of announcing that they have won the prize. All other information will remain private, confidential and will not be shared with any third party. All email entries will be deleted after the prize has been shipped to the winner. And more .. We will be holding an additional drawing for this comic book as a way to toast in the New Year, so if you don't win this time around you'll have another opportunity. There will be other free comic give-aways as well. Also, please vote in our poll on the homepage which asks you for input about our website and our projects. Thank-you. posted by Jennifer at 12:34 PM
The Don't Kill Spike Club is owned and operated by Jamie Marsters.
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