James (and Troy) interview Jon Polito!

A plug for the BacktoFrankBlack interview with Jon Polito that's just been released. A few comments before the press blurb...

I've always been a massive, massive, massive fan of Homicide Life On The Street, particularly it's early seasons where the cast choices made for a very real show. The decision to pull Polito on the basis he wasn't a charismatic character was the first signal of Network pressures damaging the show's integrity.

Thankfully the scenes Polito's character Det. Steve Crosetti had in the first two seasons were strong and worthy of both the show and the real-life police man Terry McLarney whom Polito's character was based on (at least from what I read of McLarney in the show creator's original study of the Baltimore police department).

So it was a thrill to interview Jon for his work in Homicide AND his GREAT work in Millennium. Certainly the most endearing guest character in the show and a real boon to the episode Omerta. A cold blooded killer, come anti-hero, come genuine hero - Eddie Scarpino is a delight to watch and I'm so glad that the man behind the character was as charming and captivating to interview as he was to watch.

Enjoy.

Press Blurb!

BacktoFrankBlack: The Millennium Group Sessions, hosted by Troy Foreman and co-hosted by Jim McLean is now available for free download via our website AND on ITunes!

Please download our free podcast to support the campaign and the guests who have graciously contributed their time to the campaign!

To download from BacktoFrankBlack.com

• For the enhanced image podcast (with some pretty exclusive photos) for Itunes and Ipod lovers: Click here! 20MB 80 mins)

• For a high quality podcast (no images embedded into this one): Right click here and select "save link as.." (approx 73MB 80 mins)

To download from ITUNES

• To subscribe to the Itunes podcast, simply load up the Itunes store on your Itunes application, search for BacktoFrankBlack and wait for the podcast to pop onto the list. Then click "subscribe" - you will need to sign up to a free Itunes account to do this - but Itunes does run a great service for podcasts of all types (including our friends ThaDarkSideVibe and Spooktalkular)

BacktoFrankBlack: Millennium Group Sessions 07 - Omerta Pt 2

In the seventh episode in the Millennium Group Sessions series, Troy and Jim speak to Omerta guest star Jon Polito (Homicide: Life On The Street, Miller's Crossing, The Big Nothing) and talk about his prolific career and his love for Millennium. It's a fun, informative and charming interview. Expect an abridged version on the blog in the future along with a great hi-res image of Jon on set.

Also, Millennium Group Sessions #7 has more news, updates and informal chat with your hosts Troy Foreman and Jim McLean.

This free podcast is available on a fortnightly basis via ITUNES and BacktoFrankBlack.com. We'll naturally update you all on information on the podcast from this blog as well.

With ITUNES, anyone who has an Itunes friendly account will be able to subscribe easily and download the podcasts as they are released. We recommend the ITUNES friendly enhanced podcast because each episode will have its unique set of images to accompany the chatter!

James (and Troy) interview Klea Scott!

This was a great interview. The wonderful, talented and oh-so-charming Klea Scott, chatted to Troy and myself for nearly an hour and a half. Time shot by. She really does take the reins for this interview and imparts lots of juicy, fun and candid information about her career, Millennium and of course, Lance Henriksen (whom she worked with closely on Millennium for those silly people not in the know).

Monday brings another big interview. Along with Troy we'll be interview X-Files and Millennium writer/producer/legend, Frank Spotnitz. A little bit excited about that.

A couple of reviews will be blogged during the week that I did for Toon Zone. Need to add some variety to La Blog methinks.

La Plug:

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to inform you of a very special edition of our Millennium Group Sessions Podcast to be released on Sunday 21st June. Klea Scott, Emma Hollis herself, spoke exclusively to BackToFrankBlack about her recollection of her time on Millennium for the first time since she provided the Season Three DVD commentary almost a decade ago.
We, as fans, owe a debt of gratitude to the sheer exuberance Klea still has for Millennium and for the way in which she has rallied to support this campaign and here's where you can help. Use your Blogs, Twitter accounts, Myspace pages and more to tell all you know about this very exclusive scoop. Let everyone know, Klea Scott is in the house!

To download from BacktoFrankBlack.com

• For the enhanced image complimented podcast for Itunes and Ipod lovers: Click here! (19MB 75 mins)

• For a high quality podcast (no images embedded into this one): Right click here and select "save link as.." (approx 69.5MB 75mins)

To download from ITUNES

• To subscribe to the Itunes podcast, simply load up the Itunes store on your Itunes application, search for BacktoFrankBlack and wait for the podcast to pop onto the list. Then click "subscribe" - you will need to sign up to a free Itunes account to do this - but Itunes does run a great service for podcasts of all types (including our friends ThaDarkSideVibe and Spooktalkular)

Interview with Lance Henriksen: Part Three

Been a night of rushing out some plugs, and the final stop is my own blog. Imagine that: selfishly using my own domesticated word space to promote something I've done. Disgusting.

This is another Millennium/BacktoFrankBlack.com which for those who have just stopped by (fingers proving a little less than nibble in regards to clicking the correct google link, eh?) BacktoFrankBlack is a campaign to return Millennium and its hero Frank Black to our screens.

I did an long phone interview with the lead actor, Lance Henriksen - famous for Bishop in the Alien franchise, and this is the final part in which he discusses politics, art, films and fans! Great guy and a fundamental success to the Millennium show's long lasting reputation.

Read it HERE
Read part one: HERE
Read part two: HERE

James interviewed by X-Files News.com

,James is interviewed for his work at BacktoFrankBlack.com by X-Files News - a FOX endorsed X-Files news site.

Enough of the third person, I was interviewed. It was fun and I must say the staff are splendid. Please support the site whenever you can if you have any Philes blood within you.

"..James Mclean and Kimon, as we know them, describe this campaign as a different and unusual one, “…as it's not really about fans demanding the return of a TV series, or even the main character, but looking to support the interest of Mr Carter, Mr Spotnitz and Frank Black himself, Lance Henriksen - all of which have cited their interest in returning to Frank Black and Millennium in the past year.” In their own words, is this a campaign to support a campaign?

They explain that this movement surfaced recently, and when the guys approached Frank Spotnitz about it he wouldn’t be any more forthcoming but yet realistic: "It’s something we would definitely be interested in, but it’s going to take a massive appeal by fans to get it up." James adds: “we are looking to bring the fans together and create a platform of support based on the actors and producers eagerness to bring it back...”

Click here to read the full interview.

INTERVIEW: Dan Davis speaks to James about Captain Luck! Part One

[Article originally published for Toon Zone News 24.5.08]

Dan Davis is a professional artist working as a penciller and inker for many mainstream titles. He has worked on Justice League, The Batman Strikes!, and Green Arrow. He's currently working on The Simpsons comic, Samurai Jack, a new DC mini-series called Family Dynamic with J. Torres and Tim Levins, and the Harry Potter 6 coloring books.

Dan is also writing and illustrating a brand new comic strip of his own design called Captain Luck starring Captain Luck and his sidekick Wink Goodwin. You can view this comic for free at Zuda.com and vote for it in the current competition that closes on May 31, 2008.

MCLEAN: You have a new comic strip at Zuda.com called Captain Luck - what can you tell us about this story?

DAN DAVIS: Captain Luck is about two treasure hunters who live in the Bermuda Triangle. With the Triangle as a setting you can be sure they'll get mixed up with all the mysteries that the region is known for, like disappearing ships, UFOs, weird lights and sightings under the water, and strange electromagnetic forces. Maybe even time travel and ghost pirates and of course sunken ships, treasure, and ancient mystical relics!

MCLEAN:With the Bermuda Triangle featuring so prominently in Captain Luck, would you have a personal interest in mysterious phenomena?

DAVIS: Yes, I've followed that for years and kind of enjoy the unsolvable mysteries of paranormal phenomena. Is there anything to them? Will we ever be able to prove any of it? I was always reading books about UFOs and strange mysterious places and powers and still catch a lot of those types of shows on cable. And the thing is, I'm somewhat of a skeptic, but I'm always kind of hoping we'll get proof someday and solve some of these mysteries. My personal theory is that there is science out there that we just don't understand yet. And I know that it all makes for great jumping off points for good exciting stories.

MCLEAN: How did Captain Luck come about? What were your inspirations beyond the tale—there seems to be a rather retro vibe in both the framing of the story and the artwork.

DAVIS: I tried to give it a classic comic strip adventure feel, mixed with a cartoony style like the old Sunday comics used to have more of, yet set in modern times. I always wanted to have my own strip, so I set it up kind of like a weekly Sunday comic page so that each page has a beginning, middle, and gag or cliffhanger at the end of the page, yet still advances the story. I think of it as kind of a Terry and the Pirates meet the X-Files by way of Tintin!

MCLEAN: Did you ever have a personal favorite news strip feature?

DAVIS: Loved Alley Oop as a kid. A time traveling caveman with a dinosaur! What's not to love? V.T. Hamlin sent me an original strip in answer to my fan letter and I was hooked on comics! I just devoured all comic strips and later comic books. Too many favorites to name them all.

MCLEAN: Captain Luck is running as part of a webcomic competition hosted by DC's Zuda.com website. Do you enjoy the competitive edge that audience polling brings?

DAVIS: That's a new experience for me. I like the feedback and comments, since I'm usually kind of isolated working alone in my studio, but I wish all the strips could just have a place to present their full stories without the added stress of will they or won't they win the race they're in and get to continue. It may be a way to build interest and involve the readers in the strips though, so that part's good! I've had a lot of great comments, but of course it all comes down to votes and we're going to need every one of them to win, so I hope everyone will stop by check out the strip and hopefully take the time to vote for Captain Luck so I can continue on!

MCLEAN: What made you choose to run Captain Luck as a webcomic?

DAVIS: Adventure strips don't seem to be viable anymore in the Sunday comics, but on the web you can take advantage of all the space and color you want and build an audience that can easily return to follow a story. Webcomics are growing and I wanted to jump in.

MCLEAN: There has always been a question about commercial viability in webcomics. How do you see webcomics finding a place within the comic industry? Is its role more of a showcase for new material or does it have monetary value for creators and the industry?

DAVIS: Zuda sounded like a good step in the right direction, and when I heard about it I thought it might be right for me. It sounded akin to the comic strip syndicates, and since Zuda.com was backed by DC I thought I'd try it. As to the future, I'm sure comics will eventually find themselves making money on the web. It's all going digital and I'm hopeful more publishers will set up sites and use comics to attract readers to those sites just as newspapers did.

MCLEAN: How different is it to be in total control of a comic rather than part of a team effort?

DAVIS: I've enjoyed collaborating, but who doesn't like total control? It's just more satisfying to see something through from idea to the final coloring. And I can rewrite even as I'm lettering and move things around for last minute ideas or to make things more pleasing to the eye, so I think you end up with a better product.

MCLEAN: And somehow you're finding time to work on Captain Luck along side your other commitments? You are doing a lot of work for DC at the moment. How hard is it juggling these various titles and the stylistic requirements from each?

DAVIS: I'm used to the juggling by now. At times I've been the inker on series, and that's about all you have time for, but I truly enjoy the variety of work I'm getting, and bouncing back and forth between styles keeps me from getting bored! I stay busy, but I'll be more than happy to squeeze in some more time for Captain Luck! I've only got to draw the first part of the adventure and I want to see how it all comes out!

MCLEAN: Your website www.dandavisart.com showcases a video of yourself at work as an entirely digital artist. When did this change in approach to your art come about and how difficult was the transition?

DAVIS: I taught myself first by doing some digital coloring with a mouse of my own scanned-in art and then later getting a Wacom tablet for that. Once I was holding a pen it was natural to try to ink and draw. Some things though were still coming out better on paper so I inked half the page on paper and then scanned in the pages and finished them on my computer. Then as software improved I was able to go all digital about two years ago. The Cintiq was the last piece in the puzzle for me. With a tablet there's a bit of a disconnect between drawing on the desk and looking up at a monitor where your art "appears", but with the Cintiq I can draw right on the monitor, and it has a feel of pen and paper that is quite remarkable as to how sensitive and accurate it can be.

MCLEAN: You're penciling and inking some more Samurai Jack. Are you a cartoon fan? Did you watch Jack before getting the gig drawing him?

DAVIS: Yeah, I'm a cartoon fan and of Samurai Jack in particular. It was one of my favorites and I was always impressed with the designs and tone of the series. So when they asked if I'd want to draw some, I jumped through the phone and grabbed it! It delivers what I've always believed is possible, fast action stories with a cartoon style! That's what I hope to do with Captain Luck.

MCLEAN: Wink Goodwin is a classic name! What's Wink short for—and should I name any future children after him?

DAVIS: You could if you want him to be able to bask in the glow of being named after a popular movie character when they make the Captain Luck movie in about 10 years! I have a back story as to how he got the name, but I think I'll save it for the strip. Glad you like it!

(Competition is now closed).

PART TWO TO COME!