The Weird West Emporium is Now open on Facebook!

Howdy folks, its been a long time i know. Life gets in the way sometimes and that's whats been happening recently. New Job, plus little personal time has caused me to neglect the Emporium, but fear not, the Emporium isn't dead...even when it feels like it sometimes.

in fact, we just opened a new location!

I haven't had the time (or gumption) to sit down and write articles lately, So instead Ive opened up a brand new second location, right on Facebook! Things are just gearing up so there isn't a lot just yet, but rest assured that things will pick up as the days roll by.

There will probably be less articles, and more pictures, Links, and videos for your viewing enjoyment....and the Main Location isn't going anywhere, it's just taking a bit of a hiatus (until i can fix my computer keyboard.....ergh, Long story)

But come on by and stay a spell, maybe there will be something there to keep you interested. Hope to see you guys soon!

http://www.facebook.com/WeirdWestEmporium

First Picture from The Lone Ranger!

They've released the first image from Gore Verbinski's take on the Lone Ranger! At first I was a little disappointed by how normal the Ranger looked, but they are clearly trying to ground the character by not putting him into a "Costume". I can live with that, as the Pulps have shown us, you don't need to dress up in a fancy costume to make an impression, plenty can be done with a suit, a tie, and a mask. However in this case I almost feel like the Ranger should be a LITTLE more dressed down, not so formal. If he lost the coat and had gloves he'd look a LOT better. Like Robert Vaughn in The Magnificent Seven or Johnny Depp as the Blind Gunman in Once Upon a Time in Mexico....except with a Mask. Ill wait to make a judgement call however, there are some visually cool stuff that can be done with a coat.

Depp looks great as Tonto, except for the bird, a lot of people have been critical of the bird. To me, by putting the bird on top of his head it feels like they went one step too far. He looked great and then they said what ELSE can we do with him. Right now he looks like an over-stuffed version of Captain Jack that doesn't completely work. He looks too formal now, like he's going off to do a rain dance or a War dance, or maybe that's war paint...but both him and the Ranger look a little too formal to be riding across the desert righting wrongs.

This is just one picture however, Ive been wrong before. How they look, and how their look is used in the film can be two very different things, so reserving judgement is probably good thing for now.

This is picture is actually about a week old, but Ive been having 'puter problems and can't log onto Blogger. Its giving me trouble with anything related to Google....Hmm, very strange....but I'm reformatting this week so I should be right as rain soon.

Anyway, As more Lone Ranger pics and info start popping up I'll post them here. There really hasn't been enough to judge how the film will be yet, so as new stuff is released it should be very telling.

New Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter Trailer!

Wonder Con was this week and at the Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter panel they showed a clip and the new Trailer for the film! Unfortunately, the clip hasn't made its way online, but the trailer HAS, and its even better than the Teaser that was released last month.

I have to say, for a film to make a simple axe as interesting as this one has is quite a feat. Not only does Lincoln wield it in a completely organic way (Like he's a super hero or something) but the axe itself has more to it than is evident at first. I won't spoil anything, you'll have to watch the trailer, but its very cool. I REALLY hope this film is good.

Also, if you are interested, a short synopsis of the Wonder Con panel can be found HERE.

Ill post more Abe Lincoln stuff as its released!

The Long and Sordid Tale of the Lone Ranger Film.

As many of you know, there has been a Lone Ranger film in the works starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer as John Reid (aka The Lone Ranger). After Cowboys and Aliens didn't do as well as hoped at the box office, They cut back the budget significantly. There was actually a point when it wasn't even assured the film would be made but its back! Originally there was going to be Werewolves and supernatural elements that the Lone Ranger and Tonto would go up against.

The budget was supposed to be around 260 Million and they cut back the CGI which may mean that they cut out the supernatural elements. I hope this isn't true, with Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, and Johnny Depp involved this could be next years new Pirates of the Caribbean in the West and an interesting take on the Lone Ranger.

This episode of Beyond the Trailer can tell you, better than I can, about the current development of the Lone Ranger movie and what we can expect from it:



The Lone Ranger is no Stranger to the Weird West, his forays into it, however, have usually been in comics and animated TV Shows. Joe Lansdale and Tim Truman did a Lone Ranger for TOPPS Comics that was FULL of Weird West goodness and then, of course, there was THIS which populated the Steampunk region of the Weird West. I love the old Filmation cartoons, although they weren't the best that animation had to offer.

Ill keep you informed on any new developments!

Also, I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful 2012. I'm sorry the Emporium has been so quiet lately. I'll admit, Ive been getting a little burned out and needed to recharge my battery. I might still need too, but the Emporium isn't going anywhere. I might not be ready for weekly updates just yet, but I'm not going anywhere.

See you soon!

Tim Truman returns to the Weird West with Hawken!

Besides Joe Lansdale, the other comics creator that does Weird Western Comics really REALLY well is Tim Truman. Both him and Lansdale worked together on the DC Jonah Hex Vertigo Minis, they also did a great Lone Ranger Weird Western for Topps. Well Timothy Truman is on his own (with his son Ben) on a new Mini Series called Hawken coming out in November. Here is the Official (very long) Press release:

Continuing the assent to San Diego Comic-Con, IDW Publishing today announced HAWKEN, an all-new, six-issue comics series illustrated and co-created by comics legend Tim Truman, best known for his reinvention of Jonah Hex and Hawkman, as well as his groundbreaking work on Scout and Grimjack. HAWKEN will be scripted by Ben Truman, who co-developed the series with his father.

HAWKEN tells the story of aging gunman Kitchell Hawken and his bloody, one-man vendetta against the Tucson Ring, a brotherhood of arms merchants and corrupt politicians who once employed him.

“Hawken has been many things in his day,” said Tim Truman. “Scout, tracker, scalp-hunter, raider, hired gun… But mostly, he’s been a nasty son-of-a-bitch.”

In each issue, the team will reveal new pieces of the character’s past. “Suffice it to say that after a lifetime spent doing some very bad things, Hawken had one last shot at redemption. The Ring took it away. Just what a any good Western revenge epic needs. However, in HAWKEN, that’s where things get strange.”

Strange indeed. Hawken has unusual companions on his war trail: The ghosts of every person he's ever killed, cursed to assist the old man against their wills. “In many ways, it’s not the ghosts who haunt Hawken. It’s Hawken who haunts them. They try to trip him up at every turn.”

Renowned for depicting hard-scrabble, violent heroes, Tim admits that the new book ups the ante. “Folks would be hard pressed to find a character as ruthless and pissed-off as Kit Hawken. He has good reasons for his rampage, and believe me, a rampage it is. For once, the bad men have truly messed with the wrong guy.”

Scripter Ben Truman, who also works as an educator in Tucson, described the project starting almost by accident. “My parents were visiting here in Arizona, and while driving through Sunset Crater Park I asked Dad if he’s ever seen any accounts where a man had survived a scalping. Somehow, that kicked it off. Hawken grew from the landscapes of each new place we visited: His name in Flagstaff, his past in Bisbee, the curse in Tempe, his vendetta in Tombstone. By the time we left San Xavier Mission, the first issue was plotted. A year later, we signed a contract with IDW. We all hope this story will grab people like it did us.

“HAWKEN takes people to unexplored corners of the Wild West, paying homage to spaghetti westerns and the like.” Along the way, the creative team grabs familiar Old West themes by the throat and twists them inside out.

“When I first heard about this project, I jumped at the chance to work with an industry legend,” says editor Denton J. Tipton. “Tim continues to produce at the highest level, and working with Ben has pushed him even harder to exceed expectations. And they surely don’t disappoint with HAWKEN.”

HAWKEN #1 (of 6, $3.99, 32 pages, duo-tone) will be available in stores in November 2011.

Sounds great! Also, here is an INTERVIEW Truman did in July with a few preview pages as well....Enjoy!

9-Page Preview of Helldorado!

What is Helldorado you ask?

Gunfights! Kung fu! Monsters! If Hammer Films had hired a band of Hong Kong filmmakers to create a Spaghetti Western, they’d have created HELLDORADO! An unspeakable act of violence has altered reality itself, and a supernatural evil looms over the town of El Dorado. The most horrific myths of the Far East threaten to engulf the American West in darkness, and the only thing standing between a vengeful Chinese vampire, its army of undead minions, and the end of humankind is an unlikely band of erstwhile heroes: an heiress, a gambler, an aging sheriff, his deputy, and a warrior priest. Horror, fantasy, kung fu, and Western action combine in this bizarre genre mash-up!

Whats interesting about this description is that Hammer actually DID do a mash-up film. It was a co-production with The Shaw Brothers, a Kung Fu Vampire film called THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES. It isn't a Weird Western but it IS a fun cheesy Kung Fu Vampire movie.....and Ive always considered Kung Fu films to be the Western genre of China (Just like the Samurai film is the Western genre of Japan)

But what about Helldorado? Well check it out HERE and see for yourself! It was written by C. Michael Hall with art by Martin Coccolo. No release date yet (that I can find) but Ill let you know as soon as I do.

Enjoy!

DEADLANDS One-Shot Comics!

So one of the bigger Weird West properties out there, that I haven't talked about yet (mostly because I don't know anything about it) has been Deadlands. From what I can gather, its the granddaddy of Weird Western RPGs. The term "Weird West" was even coined by them. I'm certain there has been a select group of people who have come to the Emporium expecting it to be a Deadlands site....but alas, I'm sorry to disappoint. I do hope they have found other things here to scratch their Weird West itch however!

Recently though, Deadlands has ventured into Comics. Before they had a series of Anthology Books called the Trilogy with No Name, that you can read about HERE.

Now, they have a growing series of One-Shot Comics. The First of them being The Devils Six Gun by David Gallaher & Steve Ellis:

In classic Faustian tradition, a weapons maker comes to America to pursue the American dream in the former colonies. Instead, he becomes immersed in plots and manipulations to gain unearthly power though the supernatural Ghost Rock. His goal? To make a gun that can kill anything, including the powerful Hellstromme! Its a journey that will cost him everything he loves, including his soul!

That sounds pretty darn cool! I would be tempted to run out and get this, but the whole series might be collected soon after the last one is published, so I can wait...maybe.

Next Up was Massacre at Red Wing by the writers of DC Comic's excellent Jonah Hex series Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray & Lee Moder:

Clementime is a young woman, a shaman, with a tragic past and a mysterious destiny. She's on a quest to learn the truth of her family and to seek vengeance against the man who ruined her life...her father. A tale of mysticism and mayhem by the writing team of Jonah Hex.

Last week, the next book came out Death was Silent:

A silent bounty hunter rides into a remote town, but the town holds dark secrets that may turn the hunter into the hunted.

And last on the list (At least as far as I know) is a book by the excellent Steve Niles and Francesco Francavilla called Hopeless Roads:

Masters of the macabre and noire, Steve Niles and Francesco Francavilla tell a frightening tale of a family who must struggle against overwhelming odds in the barren Deadlands of the Old West!

If I get a chance, Ill try and pick up Death was Silent and give you guys a report...until then however, you can see art from of the released books at the links above. As I learn more about about Deadlands Ill do more posts about it. Like Joe R. Lansdale, no respectable Weird West site is complete without SOMETHING involving Deadlands. Of course Deadlands is Hardly the only Weird West RPG out there.

There is also Stuart Robertson's RPG Weird West, and it's quite easy to pick up and play from what Ive heard. Ive been meaning to report on this, and will soon, but until then you can read about it HERE.