1.
Big Apple Comic Con
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The Big Apple Comic Con is a New York City comic book convention, the longest-running comic book/science fiction/fantasy/horror/pop culture convention in New York City. It was started by retailer Michael Mike Carbo Carbonaro in March 1996 in the basement of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle. During its heyday from 2001–2008, the Big Apple Comic Con often featured multiple shows per year, with a large national convention held in November. The show was owned by Wizard Entertainment from 2009 to 2013, after the shows acquisition by Wizard Entertainment, the convention was known as the Wizard World Big Apple Comic Con, and as the Wizard World New York City Experience. In 2014, the name Big Apple Convention was revived by Carbonaro for a show scheduled for March 7,2015, the convention features a large floorspace for exhibitors, including comic book dealers and collectibles merchants. The show includes an area, as well as the Artists Alley where comics artists can sign autographs. In 2009, Michael Carbonaro established his own independent one-day convention known as the New York Comic Book Marketplace which ran annually through 2014, from 1993-1995, promoter Frederic Greenberg began hosting Great Eastern Conventions shows annually at venues including the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Other companies, including Dynamic Forces, held New York City conventions, changes in the industry, popular culture, and the resurgent city itself since the troubled 1960s and 70s made large-scale comic-book conventions difficult to hold profitably. Jonah Weiland of ComicBookResources. com also noted that, dealing with the various convention unions made it difficult for most groups to get a show off the ground. As a substitute event, comic book retailers Carbonaro and Vincent Zurzuolo on the spur of the moment mounted the first Big Apple Convention in the basement of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle. Their show attracted over 4,000 attendees, most of whom had been planning to attend the scheduled Great Eastern Show, after the success of the initial 1996 show, Big Apple scheduled six separate conventions for 1997. In 1998, Big Apple held two conventions, a two-day September show and an affair in October. In 1999 there was a March show and the three-day National show held in November,2000 followed the same pattern. Over the years, these small shows attracted many comics creators and pop-culture figures,2001 was a big year for Big Apple, with five conventions spread throughout the year. In 2002 four shows were held, and in 2003 Big Apple put on six separate conventions, in 2003, Captain Zorikh Lequidre began running the costume contest, which became well known for its audience-participation judging. By 2004, the convention had moved to the Penn Plaza Pavilion at the Hotel Pennsylvania, at this point, show organizers claimed to have attracted over 30,000 attendees throughout the year. In 2005, Big Apple put on five shows, repeating pattern in 2006. By 2008, the frequency of Big Apple Conventions was slowing down, the last show before Wizards purchase of Big Apple was a June Summer Sizzler,2009 was also the final year there were multiple Big Apple Conventions held
2.
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
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It was designed by architect James Ingo Freed of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. The controversial and revolutionary space frame structure was begun in 1980, finished in 1986, and named for United States Senator Jacob K. Javits, the Center is operated and maintained by the New York City Convention Center Operating Corporation. The convention center has an area space of 1,800,000 square feet and has 840,000 square feet of total exhibit space. Today, it hosts events such as the New York International Auto Show and it is billed as one of the busiest convention centers in the United States, but it is only the twelfth-largest. A new convention center over the river between 38th and 42nd Streets was included in the Citys 1962 plan for the West Side waterfront. Several other sites were studied, including the New York Central rail yard between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues and the west 50s between Eighth and Ninth avenues. The City then moved the center site to the Hudson River, in place of Piers 84 and 86, despite the high cost of foundations. That 44th Street convention center, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, in exchange, the community received a special zoning district that offered some protection from development. The Battery Park City site was rejected because it was considered to be too far from midtown hotels, the Times Square plan, by the Regional Plan Association, was not seriously considered by the City. The rail yard site was proposed by the local community because of their concern about the major office. By 1979, the I. M. Pei and Partners-designed Center started construction on the West Side, the center was completed in 1986. The jobs at the center were reserved for members of Local 807 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, other local members who work outside the center are usually paid less than $100 a day, the panel said. On October 16,2006, a ceremony was held to mark the symbolic start of a $1.7 billion expansion project. The project, which would have expanded the size by 45 percent, was scheduled for completion by 2010. Architect Richard Rogers led the team, and Leslie E. Robertson Associates were the structural engineers. However, the constraints on the project site imposed by the Bloomberg administration complicated the design. Other features of the HKNA plan included a park, office and residential towers at the corners of the new exhibition hall. In the end, the Mayor ignored the HKNA plan, cancelled the Javits expansion, in April 2008, Governor David Paterson decided to renovate the existing Javits building with a severely revised budget of $465 million
3.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
4.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
5.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
6.
RELX Group
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RELX Group is a multinational information and analytics company based in London, in the United Kingdom. It operates in four segments, scientific, technical and medical, risk and business analytics, legal. RELX PLC, the London Stock Exchange listed shareholding vehicle, holds 52. 9% of the shares in RELX Group, RELX NV, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange listed shareholding vehicle, holds 47. 1% of the shares in RELX Group. The shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange, Amsterdam Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange using the ticker symbols, London, REL, Amsterdam, REN, New York, RELX. The company is one of the constituents of the FTSE100 Index, Financial Times Global 500, the company operates in 40 countries and serves customers in over 180 nations. About 55 per cent of the revenues are generated from the US. In 2000, two-thirds of revenues were from print and only a percentage was digital, by 2016. RELX Group was previously known as Reed Elsevier, the company announced the change of the operating companys name to RELX Group in February 2015. Reed Elsevier came into being in 1992, following the merger of Reed International, a British trade book and magazine publisher, and Elsevier, in 1895, Albert E. Reed established a newsprint manufacturing operation at Tovil Mill near Maidstone, Kent. In 1970, Reed Group merged with the International Publishing Corporation, the company continued to grow by merging with other publishers and produced high quality trade journals as IPC Business Press Ltd and womens and other consumer magazines as IPC magazines Ltd. The original family owners, the Reeds, were Methodists and encouraged good working conditions for their staff in the print trade. In 1985 the company decided to rationalise its operations, focusing on publishing and selling off its other interests, sanderson was sold to WestPoint Pepperell, Inc. of Georgia, United States, that year, while Crown Paint and Polycell were sold to Williams Holdings in 1987. The companys paper and packaging operations were bundled together to form Reedpack. In 1880, Jacobus George Robbers started a company called NV Uitgeversmaatschappij Elsevier to publish literary classics. Robbers named the company after the old Dutch printers family Elzevir, Elsevier NV originally was based in Rotterdam but moved to Amsterdam in the late 1880s. Up to the 1930s, Elsevier remained a small family-owned publisher, after the war it launched the weekly Elsevier magazine, which turned out to be very profitable. Elsevier Press Inc. started in 1951 in Houston, Texas, USA, multiple mergers in the 1970s led to name changes, settling at Elsevier Scientific Publishers in 1979. In 1991, two years before the merger with Reed, Elsevier acquired Pergamon Press in the UK, in the past three years, the value of the groups acquisitions has averaged about £300m a year
7.
For-profit
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A business is an organizational entity involved in the provision of goods and services to consumers. Businesses may also be social non-profit enterprises or state-owned public enterprises operated by governments with specific social, a business owned by multiple private individuals may form as an incorporated company or jointly organise as a partnership. Countries have different laws that may ascribe different rights to the business entities. The word business can refer to an organization or to an entire market sector or to the sum of all economic activity. Compound forms such as agribusiness represent subsets of the broader meaning. Businesses aim to maximize sales to have their income exceed their expenditures, resulting in a profit, the owner operates the business alone and may hire employees. A sole proprietor has unlimited liability for all obligations incurred by the business, partnership, A partnership is a business owned by two or more people. In most forms of partnerships, each partner has unlimited liability for the debts incurred by the business, the three most prevalent types of for-profit partnerships are, general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships. Corporation, The owners of a corporation have limited liability and the business has a legal personality from its owners. Corporations can be either government-owned or privately owned and they can organize either for profit or as nonprofit organizations. A privately owned, for-profit corporation is owned by its shareholders, a privately owned, for-profit corporation can be either privately held by a small group of individuals, or publicly held, with publicly traded shares listed on a stock exchange. Cooperative, Often referred to as a co-op, a cooperative is a limited-liability business that can organize as for-profit or not-for-profit, a cooperative differs from a corporation in that it has members, not shareholders, and they share decision-making authority. Cooperatives are typically classified as either consumer cooperatives or worker cooperatives, cooperatives are fundamental to the ideology of economic democracy. In contrast, unincorporated businesses or persons working on their own are not as protected. Franchises, A franchise is a system in which entrepreneurs purchase the rights to open, franchising in the United States is widespread and is a major economic powerhouse. One out of retail businesses in the United States are franchised and 8 million people are employed in a franchised business. Real estate businesses sell, invest, construct and develop properties – including land, residential homes, retailers, wholesalers, and distributors act as middlemen and get goods produced by manufacturers to the intended consumers, they make their profits by marking up their prices. Most stores and catalog companies are distributors or retailers, transportation businesses such as railways, airlines, shipping companies that deliver goods and individuals to their destinations for a fee
8.
Fan convention
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Fan conventions are traditionally organized by fans on a not-for-profit basis, though some events catering to fans are run by commercial interests for profit. Many conventions have award presentations relating to their genre, commercial conventions are usually quite expensive and are hosted in hotels. There is often tight security for the celebrities to protect against potentially fanatic fans, anime conventions, gaming conventions, filk-music conventions, and furry conventions may all be considered derivatives of science-fiction conventions, which began in the late 1930s. Fan conventions for various genres of entertainment extends to the first conventions held in the 1930s, the growth of computerized communication, including the Internet and Internet-dependent applications in the 1980s and 1990s
9.
Comics
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Comics is a medium used to express ideas by images, often combined with text or other visual information. Comics frequently takes the form of juxtaposed sequences of panels of images, often textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia indicate dialogue, narration, sound effects, or other information. Size and arrangement of panels contribute to narrative pacing, cartooning and similar forms of illustration are the most common image-making means in comics, fumetti is a form which uses photographic images. Common forms of comics include comic strips, editorial and gag cartoons, since the late 20th century, bound volumes such as graphic novels, comic albums, and tankōbon have become increasingly common, and online webcomics have proliferated in the 21st century. The history of comics has followed different paths in different cultures, scholars have posited a pre-history as far back as the Lascaux cave paintings. By the mid-20th century, comics flourished particularly in the United States, western Europe, histories of Japanese comics and cartooning propose origins as early as the 12th century. Comics has had a reputation for much of its history. The English term comics is used as a noun when it refers to the medium. Though the term derives from the work that predominated in early American newspaper comic strips. It is common in English to refer to the comics of different cultures by the used in their original languages, such as manga for Japanese comics. The increasing cross-pollination of concepts from different comics cultures and eras has further made definition difficult, examples of early comics The European, American, and Japanese comics traditions have followed different paths. Japan had a prehistory of satirical cartoons and comics leading up to the World War II era. The ukiyo-e artist Hokusai popularized the Japanese term for comics and cartooning, manga, in the post-war era modern Japanese comics began to flourish when Osamu Tezuka produced a prolific body of work. Illustrated humour periodicals were popular in 19th-century Britain, the earliest of which was the short-lived The Glasgow Looking Glass in 1825, the most popular was Punch, which popularized the term cartoon for its humorous caricatures. American comics developed out of magazines as Puck, Judge. The success of illustrated humour supplements in the New York World and later the New York American, particularly Outcaults The Yellow Kid, early Sunday strips were full-page and often in colour. Between 1896 and 1901 cartoonists experimented with sequentiality, movement, shorter, black-and-white daily strips began to appear early in the 20th century, and became established in newspapers after the success in 1907 of Bud Fishers Mutt and Jeff. In Britain, the Amalgamated Press established a style of a sequence of images with text beneath them, including Illustrated Chips
10.
Graphic novel
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A graphic novel is a book made up of comics content. Although the word normally refers to long fictional works, the term graphic novel is applied broadly and includes fiction, non-fiction. It is distinguished from the comic book, which is used for comics periodicals. Fan historian Richard Kyle coined the term graphic novel in an essay in the November 1964 issue of the comics fanzine Capa-Alpha, the Book Industry Study Group began using graphic novel as a category in book stores in 2001. In the publishing trade, the term extends to material that would not be considered a novel if produced in another medium. Collections of comic books that do not form a story, anthologies or collections of loosely related pieces. The term is sometimes used to distinguish between works created as standalone stories, in contrast to collections or compilations of a story arc from a comic book series published in book form. As the exact definition of the novel is debated, the origins of the form are open to interpretation. The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck is the oldest recognized American example of comics used to this end, the first American edition was published in 1842 by Wilson & Company in New York City using the original printing plates from the 1841 edition. Another early predecessor is Journey to the Gold Diggins by Jeremiah Saddlebags by brothers J. A. D. and D. F. Read, inspired by The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck. In 1894 Caran dAche broached the idea of a novel in a letter to the newspaper Le Figaro. In the United States there is a tradition of reissuing previously published comic strips in book form. In 1897 the Hearst Syndicate published such a collection of The Yellow Kid by Richard Outcault, the 1920s saw a revival of the medieval woodcut tradition, with Belgian Frans Masereel cited as the undisputed king of this revival. American Lynd Ward also worked in this tradition, publishing Gods Man, in 1929, the 1940s saw the launching of Classics Illustrated, a comic-book series that primarily adapted notable, public domain novels into standalone comic books for young readers. In 1947 Fawcett Comics published Comics Novel #1, Anarcho, Dictator of Death, by the late 1960s, American comic book creators were becoming more adventurous with the form. Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin self-published a 40-page, magazine-format comics novel, savage in 1968—the same year Marvel Comics published two issues of The Spectacular Spider-Man in a similar format. Meanwhile, in continental Europe, the tradition of collecting serials of popular strips such as The Adventures of Tintin or Asterix led to long-form narratives published initially as serials. By 1969, the author John Updike, who had entertained ideas of becoming a cartoonist in his youth, addressed the Bristol Literary Society, on the death of the novel
11.
Anime
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Anime is Japanese hand-drawn or computer animation. The word is the pronunciation of animation in Japanese, where this term references all animation. Arguably, the abstract approach to the words meaning may open up the possibility of anime produced in countries other than Japan. For simplicity, many Westerners strictly view anime as a Japanese animation product, some scholars suggest defining anime as specifically or quintessentially Japanese may be related to a new form of orientalism. The earliest commercial Japanese animation dates to 1917, and Japanese anime production has continued to increase steadily. Anime is distributed theatrically, by way of television broadcasts, directly to home media and it is classified into numerous genres targeting diverse broad and niche audiences. Anime is an art form with distinctive production methods and techniques that have been adapted over time in response to emergent technologies. It consists of an ideal story-telling mechanism, combining art, characterization, cinematography. The production of anime focuses less on the animation of movement and more on the realism of settings as well as the use of effects, including panning, zooming. Being hand-drawn, anime is separated from reality by a gap of fiction that provides an ideal path for escapism that audiences can immerse themselves into with relative ease. Diverse art styles are used and character proportions and features can be quite varied, the anime industry consists of over 430 production studios, including major names like Studio Ghibli, Gainax, and Toei Animation. Despite comprising only a fraction of Japans domestic film market, anime makes up a majority of Japanese DVD sales and it has also seen international success after the rise of English-dubbed programming. This rise in popularity has resulted in non-Japanese productions using the anime art style. Anime is an art form, specifically animation, that all genres found in cinema. In Japanese, the term refers to all forms of animation from around the world. In English, anime is more used to denote a Japanese-style animated film or television entertainment or as a style of animation created in Japan. The etymology of the anime is disputed. The English term animation is written in Japanese katakana as アニメーション and is アニメ in its shortened form, in English, anime—when used as a common noun—normally functions as a mass noun
12.
Manga
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Manga are comics created in Japan or by creators in the Japanese language, conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century. They have a long and complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art, the term manga in Japan is a word used to refer to both comics and cartooning. Manga as a term used outside Japan refers to comics published in Japan. In Japan, people of all ages read manga, many manga are translated into other languages. Since the 1950s, manga has become a major part of the Japanese publishing industry, representing a ¥406 billion market in Japan in 2007. Manga have also gained a significant worldwide audience, in Europe and the Middle East the market was worth $250 million in 2012. In 2008, in the U. S. and Canada, the market was valued at $175 million, the markets in France. Manga stories are printed in black-and-white, although some full-color manga exist. In Japan, manga are usually serialized in manga magazines, often containing many stories. If the series is successful, collected chapters may be republished in tankōbon volumes, frequently but not exclusively, a manga artist typically works with a few assistants in a small studio and is associated with a creative editor from a commercial publishing company. If a manga series is popular enough, it may be animated after or even during its run, sometimes manga are drawn centering on previously existing live-action or animated films. Manga-influenced comics, among original works, exist in parts of the world, particularly in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan. The word manga comes from the Japanese word 漫画, composed of the two kanji 漫 meaning whimsical or impromptu and 画 meaning pictures, rakuten Kitazawa first used the word manga in the modern sense. In Japanese, manga refers to all kinds of cartooning, comics, among English speakers, manga has the stricter meaning of Japanese comics, in parallel to the usage of anime in and outside Japan. The term ani-manga is used to describe comics produced from animation cels, writers on manga history have described two broad and complementary processes shaping modern manga. One view emphasizes events occurring during and after the U. S, occupation of Japan, and stresses U. S. cultural influences, including U. S. comics and images and themes from U. S. television, film, and cartoons. Regardless of its source, an explosion of artistic creativity certainly occurred in the period, involving manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka. Astro Boy quickly became popular in Japan and elsewhere
13.
Video game
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A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or computer monitor. The word video in video game referred to a raster display device. Some theorists categorize video games as an art form, but this designation is controversial, the electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms, examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld computing devices, the input device used for games, the game controller, varies across platforms. Common controllers include gamepads, joysticks, mouse devices, keyboards, the touchscreens of mobile devices, and buttons, or even, with the Kinect sensor, a persons hands and body. Players typically view the game on a screen or television or computer monitor, or sometimes on virtual reality head-mounted display goggles. There are often game sound effects, music and, in the 2010s, some games in the 2000s include haptic, vibration-creating effects, force feedback peripherals and virtual reality headsets. In the 2010s, the game industry is of increasing commercial importance, with growth driven particularly by the emerging Asian markets and mobile games. As of 2015, video games generated sales of USD74 billion annually worldwide, early games used interactive electronic devices with various display formats. The earliest example is from 1947—a Cathode ray tube Amusement Device was filed for a patent on 25 January 1947, by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann, and issued on 14 December 1948, as U. S. Written by MIT students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanens on a DEC PDP-1 computer in 1961, and the hit ping pong-style Pong, used the DEC PDP-1s vector display to have two spaceships battle each other. In 1971, Computer Space, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was the first commercially sold and it used a black-and-white television for its display, and the computer system was made of 74 series TTL chips. The game was featured in the 1973 science fiction film Soylent Green, Computer Space was followed in 1972 by the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home console. Modeled after a late 1960s prototype console developed by Ralph H. Baer called the Brown Box and these were followed by two versions of Ataris Pong, an arcade version in 1972 and a home version in 1975 that dramatically increased video game popularity. The commercial success of Pong led numerous other companies to develop Pong clones and their own systems, the game inspired arcade machines to become prevalent in mainstream locations such as shopping malls, traditional storefronts, restaurants, and convenience stores. The game also became the subject of articles and stories on television and in newspapers and magazines. Space Invaders was soon licensed for the Atari VCS, becoming the first killer app, the term platform refers to the specific combination of electronic components or computer hardware which, in conjunction with software, allows a video game to operate. The term system is commonly used
14.
Toy
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A toy is an item that is used in play, especially one designed for such use. Playing with toys is supposed to be a means of training young children for life in society. Different materials like wood, clay, paper, and plastic are used to make toys, many items are designed to serve as toys, but goods produced for other purposes can also be used. For instance, a child may fold an ordinary piece of paper into an airplane shape. Newer forms of toys include interactive digital entertainment, some toys are produced primarily as collectors items and are intended for display only. The origin of toys is prehistoric, dolls representing infants, animals, the origin of the word toy is unknown, but it is believed that it was first used in the 14th century. Toys are mainly made for children, the oldest known doll toy that has been found is thought to be 4,000 years old. Playing with toys is considered to be important when it comes to growing up, younger children use toys to discover their identity, help their bodies grow strong, learn cause and effect, explore relationships, and practice skills they will need as adults. Adults on occasion use toys to form and strengthen social bonds, teach, help in therapy, most children have been said to play with whatever they can find, such as sticks and rocks. Toys and games have been unearthed from the sites of ancient civilizations and they have been written about in some of the oldest literature. Toys excavated from the Indus valley civilization include small carts, whistles shaped like birds, the earliest toys are made from materials found in nature, such as rocks, sticks, and clay. Thousands of years ago, Egyptian children played with dolls that had wigs and movable limbs which were made from stone, pottery, in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, children played with dolls made of wax or terracotta, sticks, bows and arrows, and yo-yos. When Greek children, especially girls, came of age it was customary for them to sacrifice the toys of their childhood to the gods, on the eve of their wedding, young girls around fourteen would offer their dolls in a temple as a rite of passage into adulthood. The oldest known mechanical puzzle comes from Greece and appeared in the 3rd century BC. The game consisted of a divided into 14 parts. In Iran puzzle-locks were made as early as the 17th century, Toys became more widespread with the changing attitudes towards children engendered by the Enlightenment. Children began to be seen as people in and of themselves, as opposed to extensions of their household, the variety and number of toys that were manufactured during the 18th century steadily rose, John Spilsbury invented the first jigsaw puzzle in 1767 to help children learn geography. He created puzzles on eight themes - the World, Europe, Asia, Africa, America, England and Wales, the rocking horse was developed at the same time in England, especially with the wealthy as it was thought to develop childrens balance for riding real horses
15.
Film
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A film, also called a movie, motion picture, theatrical film or photoplay, is a series of still images which, when shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images due to the phi phenomenon. This optical illusion causes the audience to perceive continuous motion between separate objects viewed rapidly in succession, the process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry. The word cinema, short for cinematography, is used to refer to the industry of films. Films were originally recorded onto plastic film through a photochemical process, the adoption of CGI-based special effects led to the use of digital intermediates. Most contemporary films are now fully digital through the process of production, distribution. Films recorded in a form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack. It runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it and is not projected, Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them, Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into the language of the viewer, some have criticized the film industrys glorification of violence and its potentially negative treatment of women. The individual images that make up a film are called frames, the perception of motion is due to a psychological effect called phi phenomenon. The name film originates from the fact that film has historically been the medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for a motion picture, including picture, picture show, moving picture, photoplay. The most common term in the United States is movie, while in Europe film is preferred. Terms for the field, in general, include the big screen, the screen, the movies, and cinema. In early years, the sheet was sometimes used instead of screen. Preceding film in origin by thousands of years, early plays and dances had elements common to film, scripts, sets, costumes, production, direction, actors, audiences, storyboards, much terminology later used in film theory and criticism apply, such as mise en scène. Owing to the lack of any technology for doing so, the moving images, the magic lantern, probably created by Christiaan Huygens in the 1650s, could be used to project animation, which was achieved by various types of mechanical slides
16.
Television
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Television or TV is a telecommunication medium used for transmitting moving images in monochrome, or in color, and in two or three dimensions and sound. The term can refer to a set, a television program. Television is a medium for entertainment, education, news, politics, gossip. Television became available in experimental forms in the late 1920s. After World War II, a form of black-and-white TV broadcasting became popular in the United States and Britain, and television sets became commonplace in homes, businesses. During the 1950s, television was the medium for influencing public opinion. In the mid-1960s, color broadcasting was introduced in the US, for many reasons, the storage of television and video programming now occurs on the cloud. At the end of the first decade of the 2000s, digital television transmissions greatly increased in popularity, another development was the move from standard-definition television to high-definition television, which provides a resolution that is substantially higher. HDTV may be transmitted in various formats, 1080p, 1080i, in 2013, 79% of the worlds households owned a television set. Most TV sets sold in the 2000s were flat-panel, mainly LEDs, major manufacturers announced the discontinuation of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-backlit LCDs by the mid-2010s. In the near future, LEDs are gradually expected to be replaced by OLEDs, also, major manufacturers have announced that they will increasingly produce smart TVs in the mid-2010s. Smart TVs with integrated Internet and Web 2.0 functions became the dominant form of television by the late 2010s, Television signals were initially distributed only as terrestrial television using high-powered radio-frequency transmitters to broadcast the signal to individual television receivers. Alternatively television signals are distributed by cable or optical fiber, satellite systems and. Until the early 2000s, these were transmitted as analog signals, a standard television set is composed of multiple internal electronic circuits, including a tuner for receiving and decoding broadcast signals. A visual display device which lacks a tuner is correctly called a video monitor rather than a television, the word television comes from Ancient Greek τῆλε, meaning far, and Latin visio, meaning sight. The Anglicised version of the term is first attested in 1907 and it was. formed in English or borrowed from French télévision. In the 19th century and early 20th century, other. proposals for the name of a technology for sending pictures over distance were telephote. The abbreviation TV is from 1948, the use of the term to mean a television set dates from 1941
17.
Nonprofit organization
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A nonprofit organization is an organization whose purpose is something other than making a profit. A nonprofit organization is dedicated to furthering a particular social cause or advocating for a particular point of view. This is known as the non-distribution constraint, the decision to adopt a nonprofit legal structure is one that will often have taxation implications, particularly where the nonprofit seeks income tax exemption, charitable status and so on. The terms nonprofit and not-for-profit are not consistently differentiated across jurisdictions, in laymans terms they are usually equivalent in concept, although in various jurisdictions there are accounting and legal differences. The nonprofit landscape is varied, although many people have come to associate NPOs with charitable organizations. Although charities do make up an often high-profile or visible aspect of the sector, overall, they tend to be either member-serving or community-serving. e. It could be argued many nonprofits sit across both camps, at least in terms of the impact they make. For example, the support group that provides a lifeline to those with a particular condition or disease could be deemed to be serving its members. Many NPOs use the model of a bottom line in that furthering their cause is more important than making a profit. Although NPOs are permitted to generate revenues, they must be retained by the organization for its self-preservation, expansion. NPOs have controlling members or a board of directors, many have paid staff including management, whereas others employ unpaid volunteers and executives who work with or without compensation. In some countries, where there is a fee, in general. The extent to which an NPO can generate surplus revenues may be constrained or use of surplus revenues may be restricted. Some NPOs may also be a charity or service organization, they may be organized as a corporation or as a trust. Their goal is not to be successful in terms of wealth, NPOs have a wide diversity of structures and purposes. Some of the above must be expressed in the charter of establishment or constitution. Others may be provided by the authority at each particular jurisdiction. While affiliations will not affect a legal status, they may be taken into consideration by legal proceedings as an indication of purpose, most countries have laws that regulate the establishment and management of NPOs and that require compliance with corporate governance regimes
18.
San Diego Comic-Con
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San Diego Comic-Con International is a multi-genre entertainment and comic convention held annually in San Diego, California. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International, San Diego and it is a four-day event held during the summer at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego. On the Wednesday evening prior to the opening of the event, there is a preview for professionals, exhibitors. Comic-Con International also produces two other conventions, WonderCon, held in Los Angeles, and the Alternative Press Expo and it is also the home of the Will Eisner Awards. In 2010, it filled the San Diego Convention Center to capacity with more than 130,000 attendees, the convention was founded in 1970 by Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger, Mike Towry, Barry Alfonso, Bob Sourk, and Greg Bear. Detroit, Michigan-born, comics fan Shel Dorf, had, in the mid-1960s, mounted the Detroit Triple-Fan Fairs, one of the first commercial comics-fan conventions. When he moved to San Diego, California, in 1970, he organized a convention on March 21,1970. Dorf went on to be associated with the convention as president or manager, variously, Alf co-chaired the first convention with Krueger and became chairman in 1971. Following the initial gathering, Dorfs first three-day San Diego comics convention, other locations in the conventions early years included the El Cortez Hotel, the University of California, San Diego, and Golden Hall, before being moved to the San Diego Convention Center in 1991. I was quietly walking the floor stunned and in awe of just how much bigger it really was, the convention is organized by a panel of 13 board members,16 to 20 full-time and part-time workers, and 80 volunteers who assist via committees. Comic Con International is an organization, and proceeds of the event go to funding it, as well as the Alternative Press Expo. The convention logo was designed by Richard Bruning and Josh Beatman in 1995, in September 2010, the convention announced that it would stay in San Diego through 2015. In 2015, working with Lionsgate, a channel was created to host Comic-Con related content. According to the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, the convention has a regional economic impact of $162.8 million. Along with panels, seminars, and workshops with comic book professionals, there are previews of upcoming feature films, like most comic-book conventions, Comic-Con features a large floorspace for exhibitors. These include media companies such as studios and TV networks, as well as comic-book dealers. And like most comics conventions, Comic-Con includes an area, as well as the Artists Alley where comics artists can sign autographs. Despite the name, artists alleys can include writers and even models, academics and comic industry professionals annually hold the Comics Arts Conference at Comic-Con, presenting scholarly studies on comics as a medium
19.
Wizard Entertainment
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Wizard World Inc. formerly known as Wizard Press and Wizard Entertainment, is a producer of multigenre fan conventions across North America. By 2011 the company had discontinued its print division to focus exclusively on its convention business, since then they have expanded to producing more than 20 annual conventions around North America. Gareb Shamus founded Wizard magazine in January 1991 shortly after he graduated from college, the company was originally based in Congers, New York. Wizard purchased the Chicago Comicon in 1997 to expand from its core publishing business into trade/consumer conventions, in December 2007, Darren Sanchez was named Vice President of Production at Wizard Entertainment. Shamus was pushed out as company CEO in late 2011, his position was taken in March 2012 by John Macaluso, in 2015, the company lost $4.25 million in revenue and would be cutting back from 25 events to 19 events in 2016. Less than a week after the announcement of the loss, John Macaluso resigned as CEO and was replaced by John Maatta, Wizard started as a price guide to comics but evolved into focusing squarely on pop-culture, specifically targeting young adult males. With its high-end production values and embodiment of the speculator boom, Wizard was an instant hit. Anime Insider folded in the spring of 2009, on January 24,2011, after 20 years of publication, the company announced that Wizard would cease print publication and become an all-digital magazine called Wizard World, launching in February 2011. At that point Wizard Entertainment also ceased publication of its sister magazine, the first Black Bull title was the miniseries Gatecrasher. In May 2002, Wizard branched out from Chicago and produced Wizard World East at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and in 2003 the company produced Wizard World Texas, adding Wizard World Los Angeles in 2004, and Wizard World Boston in 2005. As a result of the outcry, many comic book creators, including Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch, Greg Rucka, Tony Harris, Scott Kurtz, Gaijin Studios and Art Adams, in mid-August 2005, Wizard announced that it would be pushing back the Atlanta convention until 2007. In 2008, Wizard began adding an academic forum called Wizard World University to include scholarly panels at their conventions, beginning with the November convention in Arlington, in 2009, Wizard canceled the Texas event and postponed the Los Angeles convention. In 2009, Wizard World acquired the Big Apple Comic Con, New York Citys longest-running comic book, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and pop culture convention. Wizard gave up the New York market after 2013 due to the dominance of the New York Comic Con, produced by ReedPOP, the Big Apple con is now back in the hands of its founder, Michael Carbonaro. In 2009, Wizard World also acquired the Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon, Wizard Entertainments 2010 North American Comic Con tour included city stops in Toronto, Anaheim, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York City, Austin, and Boston. In September 2013, Wizard World announced 7 new stops for the 2014 tour, Sacramento, Louisville, Minneapolis, Atlanta, San Antonio, Richmond, and Tulsa
20.
Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo
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The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo is a Chicago fan convention dedicated to comics, pop culture, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. The inaugural event was held April 16–18,2010 at the McCormick Place in Chicago, C2E2 was held for the first time April 16–18,2010, with an estimated attendance between 20,000 and 30,000 attendees. The convention included dozens of professional and amateur comic book artists, the convention also featured a special auction with the actual props from the original Iron Man movie. The second C2E2 was held March 18–20,2011 and included Thor actor Chris Hemsworth, other guests included Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse actress Eliza Dushku, The Walking Dead actors Laurie Holden and Jon Bernthal, and Supernatural actor Mark Sheppard. The third C2E2 was held April 13–15,2012, and 41,000 attendees were reported and it included Doctor Who and Torchwood actor John Barrowman, Lord of the Rings actor Sean Astin, and The Walking Dead actors Steven Yeun and Lauren Cohan. The fourth C2E2 was held April 26–28,2013, and 53,000 attendees were reported, C2E22014 was held April 25–27,2014. C2E22015 was held April 24–26,2015, Comic legend Stan Lee appeared once again this year. Other notable guests included Agent Carter actress Hayley Atwell, Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D, C2E22016 was held March 18–20,2016. Some of the spotlight entertainment guests included Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D, actors Chloe Bennet and J. August Richards, Supergirl actresses Melissa Benoist and Chyler Leigh, and Sons of Anarchy actors Ryan Hurst and Tommy Flanagan. C2E2 has panels by the comics and anime industry, entertainment guests, since 2013, C2E2 and We Are Cosplay organize a march in the Chicago St. Patricks Day Parade with cosplayers. 2016, Live Drawing Broadcasting with Autodesk, C2E2 Crown Championships of Cosplay, claimed to be the largest and most prestigious cosplay competition in the world, began in 2014. It is an award show with a pre-judging session and a stage display. All entries must represent a character or element from the pop culture realm – including Comic Books, Movies & Television, Video Games and it is live-streamed over the internet during the Saturday contest on stage. Cosplayers will battle it out for over $10,000 in cash prizes, in 2016, CCC featured regional cosplay champions from around the world. Countries represented include the United States, Australia, China, Austria, Singapore, Indonesia, India, past judges include Yaya Han, Ivy DoomKitty, Ann Foley, Leri Greer, Stephanie Maslansky, Ashley Eckstein, Austin Scarlett, Neville Page, and Nan Cibula-Jenkins
21.
PAX (event)
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PAX is a series of gaming festivals held in Seattle, Boston, Melbourne, Philadelphia, and San Antonio. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, created in 2004, PAX has been hailed as a celebration of gamer culture. Every PAX also features the Omegathon, a long tournament consisting of a group of randomly selected attendees competing for a grand prize. The final round of the Omegathon makes up the ceremony of PAX. Past games for the final round have included Tetris, Pong, Halo 3, and Skee ball. The first PAX, known at the time as the Penny Arcade Expo, was held on August 28–29,2004, in Bellevue, Washington, at the Meydenbauer Center, the event was held annually in August, at the same venue, for the next two years. Attendance grew rapidly, with over 9,000 attendees in 2005, by 2007, the event had outgrown its previous venue, and moved to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, which was twice the size. Attendance in 2007 was counted at 39,000, in 2008, attendance grew to 58,500, and in 2009, it grew to 60,750. In 2010, PAX held its first event on the East Coast, PAX East 2010 was held in Boston, from March 26–28, at the Hynes Convention Center. Attendance levels rivaled those of PAX2009, PAX East 2010 was attended by 52,290, from then on, the original Washington festival was referred to as PAX Prime in order to avoid confusion between the two. PAX Prime 2010 was attended by 67,600 people, PAX Prime 2011 was attended by over 70,000 people. For the two prior to PAX Prime, an event called PAX Dev was held, it was exclusive to the game developer community, no press were permitted. This supplemental event was created as a forum where developers speak freely, the same year, the second annual PAX East was held in March 2011, at a new venue, the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. PAX East 2012 was held April 6–8, and PAX Prime 2012 was held from August 31 to September 2, PAX East 2013 took place March 22–24. 2013 also marked the first year that a PAX event was held outside of the United States, PAX Prime 2013 was the first four-day PAX and took place from August 30 to September 2,2013. Passes for PAX Prime 2013 sold out six hours. An agreement reached in early 2012 has extended Boston as the home of PAX East until 2023. PAX Australia 2014 was held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on October 31 to November 2,2014, the first PAX South was held in San Antonio, Texas at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on January 23–25,2015
22.
Kevin Smith
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Kevin Patrick Smith is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, public speaker, comic book writer, author, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the comedy film Clerks, which he wrote, directed, co-produced. Jay and Silent Bob have appeared in Smiths follow-up films Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back which were set primarily in his home state of New Jersey. Smith also directed and produced such as the buddy cop action comedy Cop Out, the horror film Red State, and the horror comedy Tusk. Smith is the owner of Jay and Silent Bobs Secret Stash and he also hosts the movie-review television show Spoilers. As a podcaster, Smith co-hosts several shows on his own SModcast Podcast Network, including SModcast, Fatman on Batman, Smith is well known for participating in long, humorous Q&A sessions that are often filmed for DVD release, beginning with An Evening with Kevin Smith. Kevin Smith was born on August 2,1970 in Red Bank, New Jersey, the son of Grace, a homemaker, and Donald E. Smith and he has an older sister, Virginia, and an older brother, Donald Smith, Jr. He was raised in a Catholic household, in the nearby clamming town of Highlands, as a child, Smiths days were scheduled around Donalds late shifts at the post office. Donald grew to despise his job, which greatly influenced Smith, Smith vowed never to work at something that he did not enjoy. Smith later attended Henry Hudson Regional High School, where as a B and C student, he would videotape school basketball games, an overweight teen, he developed into a comedic observer of life in order to successfully socialize with friends and girls. After high school, Smith attended the New School in New York, but did not graduate On his 21st birthday, Smith went to see Richard Linklaters comedy Slacker. Smith relates, It was the movie that got me off my ass, it was the movie that lit a fire under me, and I had never seen a movie like that before ever in my life. To finance the film, Smith maxed out more than a credit cards and sold his much-treasured comic book collection. He cast friends and acquaintances in the major parts. Clerks was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 1994, where it won the Filmmakers Trophy, at a restaurant following the screening, Miramax executive Harvey Weinstein invited Smith to join him at his table, where he offered to buy the movie. In May 1994, it went to the Cannes International Film Festival, released in October 1994 in two cities, the film went on to play in 50 markets, never playing on more than fifty screens at any given time. Despite the limited release, it was a critical and financial success, initially, the film received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, solely for the sexually graphic language. Smiths second film, Mallrats, which marked Jason Lees debut as a leading man and it received a critical drubbing and earned merely $2.2 million at the box office, despite playing on more than 500 screens
23.
Frank Miller (comics)
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He also directed the film version of The Spirit, shared directing duties with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City and Sin City, A Dame to Kill For, and produced the film 300. His film Sin City earned a Palme dOr nomination, and he has received every major comic book industry award, in 2015, Miller was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame. He created the book characters Elektra for Marvel Comics Daredevil series. Miller is noted for combining film noir and manga influences in his art creations. I realized when I started Sin City that I found American and English comics be too wordy, too constipated, so I was attempting to do a hybrid. Miller was born in Olney, Maryland, on January 27,1957, and raised in Montpelier, Vermont, the fifth of seven children of a nurse mother, Miller grew up a comics fan, a letter he wrote to Marvel Comics was published in The Cat #3. By the time of the latter, Miller had his first confirmed credit in writer Wyatt Gwyons six-page Deliver Me From D-Day, inked by Danny Bulanadi, in Weird War Tales #64. Former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter recalled Miller going to DC Comics after having broken in with. a small job from Western Publishing, I think. Thus emboldened, he went to DC, and after getting savaged by Joe Orlando, got in to see art director Vinnie Colletta, who recognized talent and arranged for him to get a one-page war-comic job. His first work for Marvel Comics was penciling the 17-page story The Master Assassin of Mars, Part 3 in John Carter, at Marvel, Miller would settle in as a regular fill-in and cover artist, working on a variety of titles. One of these jobs was drawing Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27–28, at the time, sales of the Daredevil title were poor but Miller saw potential in a blind protagonist in a purely visual medium, he recalled in 2000. Miller went to writer and staffer Jo Duffy and she passed on his interest to editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to get Miller work on Daredevils regular title, Shooter agreed and made Miller the new penciller on the title. As Miller recalled in 2008, When I first showed up in New York, I showed up with a bunch of comics, and said, Where are the guys in tights. And I had to learn how to do it, but as soon as a title came along, when Gene Colan left Daredevil, I realized it was my secret in to do crime comics with a superhero in them. And so I lobbied for the title and got it, Daredevil #158, Millers debut on that title, was the finale of an ongoing story written by Roger McKenzie and inked by Klaus Janson. After this issue, Miller became one of Marvels rising stars, however, sales on Daredevil did not improve, Marvels management continued to discuss cancellation, and Miller himself almost quit the series, as he disliked McKenzies scripts. Millers fortunes changed with the arrival of Denny ONeil as editor, realizing Millers unhappiness with the series, and impressed by a backup story he had written, ONeil fired McKenzie so that Miller could try writing the series himself. Miller and ONeil would maintain a working relationship throughout his run on the series
24.
Wyndham New Yorker Hotel
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The New Yorker A Wyndham Hotel is a historic hotel located at 481 Eighth Avenue in New York City, United States. The 1-million-square-foot building offers two restaurants and approximately 33,000 square feet of conference space, since re-opening as a hotel in 1994, it has undergone approximately $100 million in capital improvements, including lobby and room renovations and infrastructure modernization. The Unification Church purchased the building in 1975, and since 2014, the New Yorker Hotel was built by Garment Center developer Mack Kanner. When the project was announced in 1928, the Sugarman and Berger designed building was planned to be 38 stories, at an estimated cost of $8 million. However, when it was completed in 1929, the building had grown to 43 stories, at a final cost of $22.5 million and contained 2,500 rooms, making it the citys largest for many years. Hotel management pioneer Ralph Hitz was selected as its first manager, an early ad for the building boasted that the hotels bell boys were as snappy-looking as West Pointers and that it had a radio in every room with a choice of four stations. It was a New Yorker bellboy, Johnny Roventini, who served as tobacco company Philip Morris pitchman for twenty years, the hotel opened on January 2,1930. Much like its contemporaries, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building and this was furthered by the deep-cut light courts, which produced a powerful play of light and shade that was enhanced by dramatic lighting at night. In addition to the ballrooms there were ten private dining salons, the barber shop was one of the largest in the world with 42 chairs and 20 manicurists. There were 95 switchboard operators and 150 laundry staff washing as many as 350,000 pieces daily, throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the hotel was among New Yorks most fashionable. Inventor Nikola Tesla spent the last ten years of his life in near-seclusion in Suite 3327, in later years, Muhammad Ali would recuperate there after his March 1971 fight against Joe Frazier at the Garden. Notwithstanding its early success, New Yorks changing economy and demographics caused the building to slowly decline and, as a result, its ownership changed several times. It was purchased by Hilton Hotels in 1953 for $12.5 million, in 1959, Massaglia sold the hotel to an investment syndicate known as New York Towers Ltd. which went bankrupt, allowing Hilton to reacquire the building in 1967. By the time Hilton reacquired the hotel, the decline in New Yorks fortunes, coupled with the construction of new, more modern hotels. As a result, Hilton closed the hotel in April 1972, initially left vacant, several proposals were made for the building, including redevelopment as a low-income housing development, and a hospital. Ultimately, in 1975, it was purchased by the Unification Church of the United States for $5.6 million, the church converted much of the building for use by its members. When initially built the New Yorker Hotel had coal-fired steam boilers and generators sufficient to more than 2,200 kilowatts of direct current electric power. At the time this was the largest private power plant in the United States, the hotels own direct current generators were still in use during the Northeast Blackout of 1965, but by the late 1960s the hotels power system had been modernized to alternating current
25.
Times Square
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It stretches from West 42nd to West 47th Streets. One of the worlds busiest pedestrian areas, it is also the hub of the Broadway Theater District, Times Square is one of the worlds most visited tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually. Approximately 330,000 people pass through Times Square daily, many of them tourists, the southern triangle of Times Square has no specific name, but the northernmost of the two triangles is called Father Duffy Square. Since 2008, the booth has been backed by a red, sloped, triangular set of stairs, which is used by people to sit, talk, eat. When Manhattan Island was first settled by the Dutch, three small streams united near what is now 10th Avenue and 40th street and these three streams formed the Great Kill. From there the Great Kill wound through the low-lying Reed Valley, known for fish and waterfowl, the name was retained in a tiny hamlet, Great Kill, that became a center for carriage-making, as the upland to the south and east became known as Longacre. Before and after the American Revolution, the area belonged to John Morin Scott, scotts manor house was at what is currently 43rd Street, surrounded by countryside used for farming and breeding horses. By 1872, the area had become the center of New Yorks horse carriage industry, the locality had not previously been given a name, and city authorities called it Longacre Square after Long Acre in London, where the horse and carriage trade was centered in that city. William Henry Vanderbilt owned and ran the American Horse Exchange there, in 1910 it became the Winter Garden Theatre. The first theater on the square, the Olympia, was built by cigar manufacturer, by the early 1890s this once sparsely settled stretch of Broadway was ablaze with electric light and thronged by crowds of middle- and upper-class theatre, restaurant and cafe patrons. In 1904, New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs persuaded Mayor George B, mcClellan, Jr. to construct a subway station there, and the area was renamed Times Square on April 8,1904. Just three weeks later, the first electrified advertisement appeared on the side of a bank at the corner of 46th Street, the north end later became Duffy Square, and the former Horse Exchange became the Winter Garden Theatre. The New York Times, according to Nolan, moved to spacious offices west of the square in 1913. The old Times Building was later named the Allied Chemical Building in 1963, now known simply as One Times Square, it is famed for the Times Square Ball drop on its roof every New Years Eve. In 1913, the Lincoln Highway Association, headed by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, chose the intersection of 42nd Street and Broadway to be the Eastern Terminus of the Lincoln Highway. This was the first road across the United States, which originally spanned 3,389 miles coast-to-coast through 13 states to its terminus in Lincoln Park in San Francisco. Times Square grew dramatically after World War I and it became a cultural hub full of theatres, music halls, and upscale hotels. Times Square quickly became New Yorks agora, a place to gather to await great tidings and to celebrate them, advertising also grew significantly in the 1920s, growing from $25 million to $85 million over the decade
26.
Virgin Megastores
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Virgin Megastores is an international entertainment retailing chain, founded by Sir Richard Branson as a record shop on Londons Oxford Street in early 1976. In 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street, by 2015, current operations are exclusively in the Middle East and in North Africa, consisting of approximately 40 stores. After making the shop into a success, they turned their business into a fully fledged record label, the name Virgin, according to Branson, arose from a colleague of his when they were brainstorming business ideas. She suggested Virgin – as they were all new to business – like virgins, the first release on the label was the progressive rock album Tubular Bells by multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield in 1973. Virgins first formal store opened on Londons Oxford Street in January or February 1971, in 1979 the company opened their first Megastore at the end of Oxford Street and Marble Arch. Virgin Megastores and Virgin Records operate as separate entities, like many of the other Virgin companies. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Virgin Megastores opened over 100 stores in the UK, like many of Bransons Virgin brands, Virgin Megastores is not wholly owned by the Virgin Group. During the early to mid-2000s Virgin Group decided to sell off most of its Virgin Megastores to various companies, by 2001 the Virgin Megastores worldwide were split between the Virgin Group and the Lagardère Group. Virgin Megastores in the Middle East currently trades as V Star Multimedia LLC, Culture Convenience Club owns what was Virgin Megastores Japan, which have since been rebranded as Tsutaya. In December 2007 Butler Capital Partners announced their intention to mount a majority takeover of the French arm of Virgin from Lagardère and this deal was finalised in February 2008. In 2007 the real estate company Related Companies and Vornado Realty Trust acquired Virgin Megastores North America and they have since made the decision to close all of the American stores. Larger stores also stock electronic equipment and computer peripherals, note that not all of these product categories are stocked by all Virgin shops, though the larger stores do generally stock the full product range. In 2003, all US Stores increased their focus on multiple fashion categories spanning Pop culture, Street, Urban, Movie & TV to complement the music, DVD, Virgin Mobile products can also be found in separately run Virgin Mobile Concessions within most Virgin Megastores. Some shops also house cafes or coffee shops run by external companies, in 2005, Virgin Digital was launched to cater for those that bought their music digitally or wanted to rip and burn their current music collection. This is designed to add to the services provided by Virgin, the download service has faced some criticism from consumer groups due to its incompatibility with the popular iPod music players. The service has since been discontinued, around the world there were other Virgin branded digital music retail websites, such as VirginMega. fr, Frances number 2 music download website. In 2003, the first and only Virgin Megastore in Vienna, Mariahilferstraße, was sold, there were 35 Virgin Megastores in France. 12 additional stores in France were branded Furet du Nord, the French Megastore business was launched in 1988 by Branson and Patrick Zelnick, CEO of music publisher Naïve
27.
The Hero Initiative
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Anyone who meets the eligibility requirements may apply for aid, which could vary from medical assistance, paying rent, or finding employment. Heros benefits are not meant to be a permanent crutch for needy creators, any granted aid is kept confidential. The Hero Initiative has two boards of directors, the Executive Board and the Fund Disbursement Board, former board members include founders Pat McCallum, editor-in-chief of Wizard Magazine, and Mike Richardson, publisher and founder of Dark Horse Comics. They are George Pérez, Roy Thomas, Charlie Novinskie, Dennis ONeil, John Romita Sr. the charity is currently supported by Dark Horse Comics, Dynamic Forces, Image Comics, Marvel Entertainment, Top Cow Productions, and Wizard Entertainment. The Hero Initiative utilizes many methods of fundraising, foremost is their annual art auction, auctioning donated original comics art-work at fan conventions. Year-long, they sell donated art and special edition comics at conventions, artists, writers, and publishers are invited to donate work, and fans are invited to donate money directly to the fund. ACTOR also sells a green Excelsior, wrist-band similar in design to the Livestrong wristband. The Hero Initiative was formerly known as A Commitment to Our Roots, or ACTOR, while the original name of the organization reflected the charitys goal, the acronym that resulted, ACTOR, more often confused people unfamiliar with the organization. 2006, George Pérez, John Romita, Sr.2007, Joe Kubert 2008, Nick Cardy 2009, Neal Adams 2010, Walt Simonson 2011, Stan Lee 2012, John Romita, Jr. The award recognizes one person in each year who demonstrates particular generosity and integrity in support of the overall comic book community. It debuted at the 2010 Harvey Awards ceremony held at the Baltimore Comic-Con
28.
Halloween
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It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints, martyrs, and all the faithful departed. Some academics, however, support the view that Halloween began independently as a solely Christian holiday. Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows Eve, a reflected in the eating of certain foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes. The word Halloween or Halloween dates to about 1745 and is of Christian origin, the word Halloween means hallowed evening or holy evening. It comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows Eve, in Scots, the word eve is even, and this is contracted to een or een. Over time, Hallow Een evolved into Halloween, although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English All Hallows Eve is itself not seen until 1556. Todays Halloween customs are thought to have influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries. Samhain was the first and most important of the four days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and was celebrated on 31 October–1 November in Ireland, Scotland. A kindred festival was held at the time of year by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany. For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset, Samhain and Calan Gaeaf are mentioned in some of the earliest Irish and Welsh literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century, samhain/Calan Gaeaf marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the darker half of the year. Like Beltane/Calan Mai, it was seen as a liminal time and this meant the Aos Sí, the spirits or fairies, could more easily come into our world and were particularly active. Most scholars see the Aos Sí as degraded versions of ancient gods whose power remained active in the minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs. The Aos Sí were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings, at Samhain, it was believed that the Aos Sí needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for the Aos Sí, the souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. Places were set at the table and by the fire to welcome them. The belief that the souls of the return home on one night of the year. In 19th century Ireland, candles would be lit and prayers offered for the souls of the dead
29.
Intel Extreme Masters
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The Intel Extreme Masters are a series of international esports tournaments held in countries around the world. The body that owns the league is Turtle Entertainment, the League has existed for ten seasons as of 2016. The season ten tournament finals took place in Katowice, Poland, previous events have been held in Chengdu, Dubai, Hanover, and Los Angeles, among other cities. The Intel Extreme Masters are a product of the ESL, in 2007, when established, the IEM established a format of many smaller qualifying events, leading up to a large final event that is held at CeBIT. All of the Grand Finals have been held at CeBIT, starting in 2008, the Tournament was billed as being worldwide, boasting participants from Europe, North America, and Asia. Although Counterstrike 1.6 was the game offered in the first season. World of Warcraft was offered during Season 4, but was dropped for Season 5, the Season 5 Finals will be held at CeBIT and will included a US$130,000 prize pool. During Season 5, qualifiers were held for North America, Europe and those who qualify for the finals are placed into two groups of six, of which the top two advance. The first place member of each group directly to the semifinals. The Intel Extreme Masters are run by the ESL which is owned by Turtle Entertainment GmbH, Turtle Entertainment is based in Cologne, Germany. Esports Electronic Sports League Official website
30.
ESports
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Most commonly, eSports take the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players. The most common video game genres associated with eSports are real-time strategy, fighting, first-person shooter, the genre of fighting games and arcade game fighters have also been popular in amateur tournaments, although the fighting game community has often distanced themselves from the eSports label. Other games with significant earnings include Smite, StarCraft II, Call of Duty, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, in 2013, it was estimated that approximately 71.5 million people worldwide watched eSports. The increasing availability of online streaming platforms, particularly Twitch. tv, has become central to the growth. Demographically, Major League Gaming has reported viewership that is approximately 85% male and 15% female, despite this, several female personalities within eSports are hopeful about the increasing presence of female gamers. South Korea has several established eSports organizations, which have licensed pro gamers since the year 2000, recognition of eSports competitions outside South Korea has come somewhat slower. Along with South Korea, most competitions take place in Europe, North America, despite its large video game market, eSports in Japan is relatively underdeveloped, which has been attributed largely to its broad anti-gambling laws. The global eSports market generated US$325 million of revenue in 2015 and is expected to make $493 million in 2016, the earliest known video game competition took place on 19 October 1972 at Stanford University for the game Spacewar. In the summer of 1980, Walter Day founded a high score record keeping organization called Twin Galaxies, the team was involved in competitions, such as running the Video Game Masters Tournament for Guinness World Records and sponsoring the North American Video Game Challenge tournament. During the 1970s and 1980s, video players and tournaments begun being featured in popular websites and magazines including Life. A video game tournament was included as part of TV show Thats Incredible. and tournaments were also featured as part of the plot of various films, in the 1990s, many games benefited from increasing internet connectivity, especially PC games. For example, the 1988 game Netrek was an Internet game for up to 16 players, Netrek was the third Internet game, the first Internet game to use metaservers to locate open game servers, and the first to have persistent user information. In 1993 it was credited by Wired Magazine as the first online sports game, large eSports tournaments in the 1990s include the 1990 Nintendo World Championships, which toured across the United States, and held its finals at Universal Studios Hollywood in California. Nintendo held a 2nd World Championships in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System called the Nintendo PowerFest 94, there were 132 finalists that played in the finals in San Diego, California. Mike Iarossi took home 1st prize, blockbuster Video also ran their own World Game Championships in the early 1990s, co-hosted by GamePro magazine. Citizens from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Games from the 1994 championships included NBA Jam and Virtua Racing. Television shows featuring eSports during this period included the British shows GamesMaster, the Australian gameshow A*mazing, which would show two children competing in various Nintendo games in order to win points. Tournaments established in the late 1990s include the Cyberathlete Professional League, QuakeCon, PC games played at the CPL included the Counter-Strike series, Quake series, and Warcraft
31.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
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StarCraft II, Wings of Liberty is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. The game is set four years after the events of 1998s StarCraft, Brood War, the game includes both new and returning characters and locations from the original game. The game was met very positive reviews from critics, receiving an aggregated score of 93% from Metacritic. Similar to its predecessor, StarCraft II was praised for its gameplay, as well as its introduction of new features. The game was criticized for lacking features that existed in the original StarCraft game including LAN play, at the time of its release, StarCraft II became the fastest-selling real-time strategy game, with over three million copies sold worldwide in the first month. StarCraft II features the return of the three species from the game, Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. In a departure from previous Blizzard games, the campaign is non-linear, with Raynor taking jobs for money and using money to buy additional units. Although each play through will vary, the end result remains consistent, Blizzards Vice President Rob Pardo stressed that each campaign will function very differently. The Terran campaign, Wings of Liberty, places players in a mercenary-style campaign, the second release, Heart of the Swarm, is Zerg-focused and has role-playing elements. Kerrigan is the focus of the campaign, and the story revolves around the possibility of her redemption, the Protoss-themed Legacy of the Void will be the final expansion, with the Protoss Artanis attempting to reunite the Protoss tribes in order to stop Amon, a fallen XelNaga. Wings of Liberty has 29 playable campaign missions, but only 26 of them are playable in a single playthrough since three missions are choice-related alternates. There is one secret mission named Piercing the Shroud, which can be unlocked on the Media Blitz mission, There is also a series of four missions in which the player plays as the Protoss in reliving the memory of Zeratul. In another mission, enemy units will attack the player at night. Finally, in one mission, the player must use a unit to influence the tide of an AI-controlled battle. The single player missions are highly customizable and are featured in the StarCraft II Community Zone, between missions, players can choose units, buildings, and upgrades that are not available in the multiplayer missions. A major new addition to the community is the StarCraft II Arcade. Lead Designer Dustin Browder has mentioned that even maps like player-created Defense of the Ancients in Warcraft III would not meet the quality requirements to be branded as a premium map, Wings of Liberty features approximately the same number of units as the original StarCraft. Some units from the game have returned, some featuring new upgrades and abilities
32.
League of Legends
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League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games for Microsoft Windows and macOS. The game follows a model and is supported by microtransactions. In League of Legends, players assume the role of an unseen summoner that controls a champion with unique abilities and battle against a team of other players or computer-controlled champions. The goal is usually to destroy the opposing teams nexus, a structure which lies at the heart of a protected by defensive structures. Each League of Legends match is discrete, with all champions starting off fairly weak but increasing in strength by accumulating items, the champions and setting blend a variety of elements, including high fantasy, steampunk, folklore, and Lovecraftian horror. League of Legends was generally well received at release, and has grown in popularity, by July 2012, League of Legends was the most played PC game in North America and Europe in terms of the number of hours played. As of January 2014, over 67 million people played League of Legends per month,27 million per day, and over 7.5 million concurrently during peak hours. League has among the largest footprints of any game in streaming media communities on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. tv, in September 2016 the company estimated that there are over 100 million active players each month. The games popularity has led it to expand into merchandise, with toys, accessories, apparel, as well as tie-ins to other media through music videos, web series, documentaries, League of Legends has an active and widespread competitive scene. In North America and Europe, Riot Games organizes the League Championship Series, located in Los Angeles and Berlin respectively, similar regional competitions exist in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and various other regions. These regional competitions culminate with the annual World Championship, the 2016 World Championship had 43 million unique viewers and a total prize pool of over 6 million USD. League of Legends is a 3D, third-person multiplayer online battle arena game, the game consists of 3 current running game modes, Summoners Rift, Twisted Treeline, and Howling Abyss. Another game mode, The Crystal Scar, has since been removed, players compete in matches, lasting anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes. Ultimate abilities are more powerful than regular abilities and thus have much longer cooldowns. A champions full set of abilities is referred to as its kit, the use of champions abilities is limited by cooldowns and a resource. If a champion runs out of their resource, they cannot cast spells, even if they are off cooldown, some champions do not have a resource, being limited only by cooldowns, and others have ways of restoring their respective resource. The rate at which a champion can basic attack is determined by their attack speed, some champions additionally use ammo and must reload after enacting a certain number of basic attacks. Champions begin every match at one, and then gain experience over the course of the match to achieve a maximum level of 18
33.
Counter-Strike
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Counter-Strike is a series of multiplayer first-person shooter video games, in which teams of terrorists and counter-terrorists battle to, respectively, perpetrate an act of terror and prevent it. The series began on Windows in 1999 with the first version of Counter-Strike, the game was followed-up with Counter-Strike, Condition Zero, developed by Turtle Rock Studios and released in 2004. Later that same year, Counter-Strike, Source was released by Valve, the fourth game in the main series to have been developed by Valve, Counter-Strike, Global Offensive, was released in 2012 for Windows, OS X, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Hidden Path Entertainment, who worked on Counter-Strike, Source post-release. There have been several community made spin off titles created over the years, originally a modification for Half-Life, the rights to Counter-Strike, as well as the developers working on it, were acquired by Valve Corporation in 2000. The game received a port to Xbox in 2003 and it was also ported to OS X and Linux in the form of a beta in January 2013. A full release was published in April 2013, Counter-Strike was followed-up with Counter-Strike, Condition Zero, developed by Turtle Rock Studios and released in 2004. It used the Half-Life GoldSrc engine, similar to its predecessor, besides the multiplayer mode, it also included a single-player mode with a full campaign and bonus levels. The game was received in contrast to its predecessor and was quickly followed with a further entry to the series titled Counter-Strike. Counter-Strike, Source was the first publicly released game by Valve Corporation to run on the Source engine, Counter-Strike, Source was initially released as a beta to members of the Valve Cyber Café Program on August 11,2004. On August 18,2004, the beta was released to owners of Counter-Strike, Condition Zero, while the original release only included a version for Microsoft Windows, the game eventually received a port to OS X on June 23,2010 with a Linux port afterwards in 2013. Counter-Strike, Global Offensive was the release in the main. Much like Counter-Strike, Source the game runs on the Source engine and it is available on Microsoft Windows, OSX, and Linux, as well as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, and is backwards compatible on the Xbox One console. A Japanese arcade adaptation of Counter-Strike, the original Half-Life multiplayer modification and it is published by Namco, and runs on a Linux system. The game involves anime-designed characters in a futuristic designed version of Counter-Strike, a selection of single-player missions, mini-games, and seasonal events were added to prolong the games interest with players. Counter-Strike Online is a free-to-play spin-off available in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and Indonesia and it was developed by Nexon, with oversight from Valve Corporation. It uses a micropayment model that is managed by a version of the Steam back-end. Announced in 2012 and aimed at the Asian gaming market, a sequel titled Counter-Strike Online 2 was developed by Nexon on the Source game engine, in August 2014, Nexon announced Counter-Strike Nexon, Zombies, a free-to-play, zombie-themed spin-off, developed on the GoldSrc game engine
34.
George R. R. Martin
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George Raymond Richard Martin, often referred to as GRRM, is an American novelist and short-story writer in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known for his international bestselling series of fantasy novels, A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin serves as the series producer, and also scripted four episodes of the series. In 2005, Lev Grossman of Time called Martin the American Tolkien, and the later named him one of the 2011 Time 100. George Raymond Martin was born on September 20,1948, in Bayonne, New Jersey and he has two younger sisters, Darleen and Janet. His father was of half Italian descent, while his mother was of half Irish ancestry and he also has French, English, Welsh and German roots. The family first lived in a house on Broadway, belonging to Martins great-grandmother, in 1953, they moved to a federal housing project near the Bayonne docks. The young Martin began writing and selling monster stories for pennies to other neighborhood children, dramatic readings included. He also wrote stories about a mythical kingdom populated by his pet turtles, Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and then later Marist High School. While there he became an avid fan, developing a strong interest in the superheroes being published by Marvel Comics. A letter Martin wrote to the editor of Fantastic Four was printed in issue No,20, it was the first of many sent, e. g. FF #32, #34, and others. In 1965, Martin won comic fandoms Alley Award for Best fan fiction for his superhero story Powerman vs. In 1970, Martin earned a B. S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating cum laude, he went on to complete his M. S. in Journalism in 1971. An expert chess player, he also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973 to 1976, in the mid-1970s, Martin met English professor George Guthridge from Dubuque, Iowa, at a science fiction convention in Milwaukee. Martin persuaded Guthridge not only to give speculative fiction a second look, in turn, Guthridge helped Martin find a job at Clarke University. Martin wasnt making money to stay alive, from writing. From 1976 to 1978, Martin was an English and journalism instructor at Clarke, while he enjoyed teaching, the sudden death of friend and fellow author Tom Reamy in late 1977 made Martin reevaluate his own life, and he eventually decided to try to become a full-time writer. He resigned from his job, and being tired of the winters in Dubuque
35.
Stan Lee
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Stan Lee is an American comic-book writer, editor, publisher, media producer, television host, actor, and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. In addition, he challenged the comics industrys censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority, Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation. He was inducted into the book industrys Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994. Lee received a National Medal of Arts in 2008 and his father, trained as a dress cutter, worked only sporadically after the Great Depression, and the family moved further uptown to Fort Washington Avenue, in Washington Heights, Manhattan. When Lee was nearly 9, his sibling, brother Larry Lieber, was born. He said in 2006 that as a child he was influenced by books and movies, by the time Lee was in his teens, the family was living in a one-bedroom apartment at 1720 University Avenue in The Bronx. Lee has described it as an apartment facing out back, with he and his brother sharing a bedroom. Lee attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, in his youth, Lee enjoyed writing, and entertained dreams of one day writing the Great American Novel. He graduated from school early, aged 16½ in 1939. With the help of his uncle Robbie Solomon, Lee became an assistant in 1939 at the new Timely Comics division of pulp magazine, Timely, by the 1960s, would evolve into Marvel Comics. Lee, whose cousin Jean was Goodmans wife, was hired by Timely editor Joe Simon. His duties were prosaic at first, in those days dipped the pen in ink, I had to make sure the inkwells were filled, Lee recalled in 2009. I went down and got them their lunch, I did proofreading, Lee later explained in his autobiography and numerous other sources that he had intended to save his given name for more literary work. This initial story also introduced Captain Americas trademark ricocheting shield-toss, which became one of the characters signatures. He graduated from writing filler to actual comics with a feature, Headline Hunter, Foreign Correspondent. Lees first superhero co-creation was the Destroyer, in Mystic Comics #6, other characters he created during this period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comics include Jack Frost, debuting in USA Comics #1, and Father Time, debuting in Captain America Comics #6. When Simon and his creative partner Jack Kirby left late in 1941, following a dispute with Goodman, Lee entered the United States Army in early 1942 and served in the US in the Signal Corps, repairing telegraph poles and other communications equipment. He was later transferred to the Training Film Division, where he worked writing manuals, training films, and slogans and his military classification, he says, was playwright, he adds that only nine men in the US Army were given that title
36.
Brian K. Vaughan
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Brian K. Vaughan is an American comic book and television writer, best known for the comic book series Y, The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, Pride of Baghdad, and Saga. Vaughan was a writer, story editor and producer of the television series Lost during seasons three through five and he was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for his work on the fourth season. The writing staff was nominated for the award again at the February 2010 ceremony for their work on the fifth season and he was formerly the showrunner and executive producer of the TV series Under the Dome. Wired describes Vaughans comics work as quirky, acclaimed stories that dont pander and his creator-owned comics work is also characterized by finite, meticulous, years-long story arcs, on which Vaughan comments, Thats storytelling, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Something like Spider-Man, a book that never has a third act, in 2015, Vaughan was entered into the Comic Book Hall of Fame by the Eisner Awards. Brian K. Vaughan was born July 17,1976 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Geoffrey and he grew up in Rocky River and Westlake. Vaughan also cites Joss Whedon as the reason he wanted to become a writer and he then attended New York University to study film. While a student there, Vaughan took part in Marvel Comicss Stan-hattan Project, Vaughans first credit was for Marvel Comics Tales From the Age of Apocalypse #2. He would eventually write for some of the characters at Marvel, including X-Men, Spider-Man. He would also write Batman and Green Lantern for DC Comics, the series was published in sixty issues by Vertigo and collected in a series of ten paperback volumes. The series received Eisner Awards in 2005 and 2008, and numerous other nominations, the film rights to the series were acquired by New Line Cinema. Vaughan wrote his own screenplay for the project, though it was reported in March 2012 that Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia were in final negotiations to write their own version. In 2006, Vaughan published the graphic novel Pride of Baghdad, the story is set during Hundreds term in office, and interwoven with flashbacks to his past as the Great Machine. Through this, the series both the political situations Hundred finds himself in, and the mysteries surrounding his superpowers. New Line Cinema purchased the rights to the series in July 2005. Thats a huge chunk of my life to spend with those characters, I love them, and I still read Marvel and DCs superhero books. I just think Im better when Im working on my own creations, when there are so many talented creators out there who are better at that stuff than me, I should leave those characters to them. I should do what Im fortunate enough to be in the position to do, lindelof showed that book to series showrunner and executive producer Carlton Cuse
37.
Takanori Nishikawa
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Takanori Nishikawa is a Japanese singer and actor. He performs as T. M. Revolution, which stands for Takanori Makes Revolution although the stems from the famous 80s pop electronic band TM Network. Despite most of his songs being written by Akio Inoue and composed/arranged by Daisuke Asakura, Nishikawa is also known for contributions of ending and opening themes to many notable anime and game series. Nishikawa debuted as TMR with the release of his first single Dokusai in May 1996, later that year, his third single Heart of Sword was used as the third ending song for the anime series Rurouni Kenshin, further expanding his fan base. He also contributed six songs to the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED franchise – three for Gundam SEED and three for Gundam SEED Destiny, Nishikawa has guest starred as a minor character in each of those anime series that featured his songs. In 2010, his single Save the One, Save the All was used as the theme song for the movie Bleach. Nishikawa has also had an affair with Capcoms Sengoku Basara series of video games and media franchise, with several of his songs being used for it, including Crosswise. T. M. Revolution is the first artist to be signed to Tofu Records, Tofu released three of his most recent studio albums, coordinate, Seventh Heaven, and vertical infinity. Nishikawa made his North American live debut at Otakon, an anime convention in 2003. He has also performed at Pacific Media Expo in 2004 and at the New York Comic Con in 2008, Nishikawa revisited his 2003 US performance at the Asian culture convention Otakon by performing at Otakons 20th Anniversary on August 10,2013. Nishikawa was born to a government worker and a dentist in Hikone, Shiga and moved to Yasu and he attended Mikami Elementary School as a child. Nishikawa was close to his grandfather, whom he visited every day after school, under the encouragement of his grandfather, Takanori studied kendo until age ten, when his grandfather died due to illness. Nishikawa also attended Yasu Junior High School and Yasu High School, while in junior high, Takanori began to consider a career in music. He dropped out of school and left Shiga to pursue his dream. Takanori was also married to Yumi Yoshimura of Puffy AmiYumi from 1999 to 2002 and they divorced after Yoshimuras infidelity came to light. Nishikawa joined the visual kei rock band Luis-Mary in 1990 as the vocalist and his band nickname Haine and his appearance at the time would eventually become the inspiration for Nishikawas character in Gundam SEED Destiny. Luis-Mary released three singles, Rainy Blue, Whisper and Drive Me Mad, the band broke up in 1993. In 1995, Daisuke Asakura signed on with Nishikawa under the FunHouse label and they released one single, Black or White
38.
Coheed and Cambria
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Coheed and Cambria is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. The band consists of Claudio Sanchez, Travis Stever, Josh Eppard, and Zach Cooper The groups music incorporates aspects of rock, pop, heavy metal. The band has released eight albums, three live albums, and several special-edition releases. Their most recent release, The Color Before the Sun, is the bands first non-conceptual album since their inception and it reached #10 on the Billboard 200. Its predecessors The Afterman, Descension, Year of the Black Rainbow and Good Apollo, Im Burning Star IV, Volume One, From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness all reached the top 10 as well. In March 1995, after the split of Claudio Sanchez and Travis Stevers band called Toxic Parents, the band featured Stever on vocals and guitar, Sanchez on guitar, Kelley on drums and Jon Carleo on bass. The group was short-lived, breaking up by June 1995 after an argument over gas money, Stever left the band, and the resulting trio was named Shabütie, a word taken from African tribe chants that means naked prey in the film The Naked Prey. The band spent nearly a year experimenting with a multitude of different musical styles, including rock, indie rock, acoustic rock, funk. When Carleo left the band in August 1996, Kelley recruited Michael Todd to take his place, Todd, who was primarily a guitarist, picked up the bass specifically for Shabütie. As Shabütie, the band wrote dozens of songs and released their first studio demo Plan to Take Over the World in 1999, the band also released The Penelope EP in 1999, shortly after which Stever rejoined the band. Kelley left the band during a performance in late 1999, the band went on to release Delirium Trigger in 2000, still featuring Kelley on the drums, but listing Eppard in the liner notes. Several songs that appeared on Delirium Trigger were based on a series of science fiction written by Claudio Sanchez called The Bag. On. Line Adventures. This side project also created Coheeds official logo, the Keywork, in February 2002 the band released its first studio album The Second Stage Turbine Blade after signing with Equal Vision Records. The band also released its first single and music video, Devil in Jersey City, the band eventually played several tour dates in the United States and Japan, as well as a brief stint on the 2002 Vans Warped Tour. In August 2002, Coheed and Cambria started working with manager Blaze James, who would help propel the band to larger stages, Coheed and Cambria also made its second appearance on the Warped Tour and performed additional European shows. The album peaked at No.52 on the Billboard charts and was certified Gold by the RIAA, the band also supported the release by filming an August 2004 concert at New Jerseys Starland Ballroom. The performance was converted into the bands first live DVD, Live at the Starland Ballroom, the success of In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth,3 attracted the attention of the record label Columbia Records, with whom they signed a multi-album contract. Their most commercially successful album to date, Good Apollo Volume One has sold almost 1 million copies, the album represented a departure from their previous melodic post-hardcore influenced rock toward a progressive rock sound
39.
Dave Gibbons
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David Chester Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and he was an artist for the UK anthology 2000 AD, for which he contributed a large body of work from its first issue in 1977. Gibbons was born on 14 April 1949, at Forest Gate Hospital in London, England, to Chester, a planner, and Gladys. He began reading books at the age of seven. A self-taught artist, he illustrated his own comic strips, Gibbons became a building surveyor but eventually entered the UK comics industry as a letterer for IPC Media. He left his job to focus on his comics career. Gibbons entered the British comics industry by working on horror and action titles for both DC Thomson and IPC, working on early feature Ro-Busters, Gibbons became one of the most prolific of 2000 ADs earliest creators, contributing artwork to 108 of the first 131 Progs/issues. He illustrated a handful of Thargs Future Shocks shorts, primarily with author Alan Moore, Gibbons was known, by sight but not by name, to readers of the short-lived IPC title Tornado. Whereas 2000 AD was said to be edited by the alien Tharg, Tornado was edited by superhero Big E,69, missing only four issues during that time. The Doctor Who Storybook 2007 features a story called Untitled which includes the name Gibbons in a list of artists of Earth history. Gibbons first DC work was on the Green Lantern Corps story in Green Lantern No,161, with writer Todd Klein, as well as the concurrently released Creeper two-part backup story in The Flash #318–319. Gibbons drew the story in The Brave and the Bold No.200 which featured a team-up of the Batmen of Earth-One. 172, Gibbons joined writer Wein on the feature while continuing to illustrate the backup features. 182, Wein and Gibbons made architect John Stewart, who had been introduced previously in issue No, ceding the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps backup features to various other individuals from No. 181, Gibbons last issue with Wein was issue No.186, Gibbons returned to pencil the backup story Mogo Doesnt Socialize with Alan Moore in issue No.188. For the 1985 Superman Annual No,11, Gibbons drew the main story For the Man Who Has Everything, again written by Alan Moore. In December 1986, he contributed to Harrier Comics Brickman No.1 alongside Kevin ONeill, Lew Stringer, between May and August 1988, he contributed covers to The Phantom miniseries, inked Kevin Maguires pencilled contribution to Action Comics No. 600, and produced the cover to Action Comics Weekly No.601, Gibbons believes that his own involvement likely came about after the idea was already in its early initial stages
40.
Joss Whedon
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Joss Whedon is an American screenwriter, film and television director, film and television producer, comic book author, and composer. H. I. E. L. D. Whedon co-wrote the Pixar film Toy Story, wrote and directed the Firefly film continuation Serenity, co-wrote and his mother, Ann Lee Stearns, originally from Kentucky, was a teacher at Riverdale Country School as Lee Whedon, and an aspiring novelist. His parents had both acted, and appeared in a play together at the Harvard Radcliffe Dramatic Club, Whedon is the younger sibling of Samuel and Matthew Whedon and older sibling of writers Jed and Zack Whedon. At a young age, he showed great interest in British television with shows like Masterpiece, in May 2003, Whedon received an honorary doctorate from Wesleyan University. Whedon attended Riverdale Country School in New York City where his mother taught history. He then spent three years at Winchester College in England, where, taking note of omnipresent bullying, he concluded, Whedon graduated from Wesleyan University in 1987, where he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters in 2013. There, he studied under renowned academic Richard Slotkin. After leaving Wesleyan, Whedon came up with the first incarnation of Buffy Summers, Rhonda, from 1989 to 1990, Whedon worked as a staff writer on the sitcoms Roseanne and Parenthood. As a script doctor, Whedon was a writer on films like The Getaway, Speed, Waterworld, Twister. X-Men reportedly contained only two dialogue exchanges of Whedons contribution, but the cut of Speed left in most of his dialogue. E. The former of which earned him a shared Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, Whedon has expressed strong dissatisfaction with the released versions of the films Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Titan A. E. and Alien, Resurrection. The idea came directly from his aversion to seeing the Hollywood formula of the blonde girl who goes into a dark alley. Whedon said he wanted to subvert the idea and create someone who was a hero and this conception came from the very first mission statement of the show, which was the joy of female power, having it, using it, sharing it. The writing process came together from conversations about the issues facing Buffy Summers. Whedon usually directed episodes from his own scripts that held the most cathartic moments in Buffys story, the series received numerous awards and nominations, including an Emmy Award nomination for the 1999 episode Hush. The final episode Chosen was nominated for a Best Dramatic Presentation, All written and directed by Whedon, they are considered some the most effective and popular episodes of the series. Scholar A. Asbjørn Jøn recognized that the series has shifted the way vampires have since been depicted in popular culture representations, in June 2012, Slate magazine identified it as the most written about popular culture text of all time. Ore than twice as many papers, essays, and books have been devoted to the drama than any of our other choices—so many that we stopped counting when we hit 200
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