Geek of Oz

To celebrate the upcoming Supanova Comic-Con and Gaming exhibition in Sydney this weekend, I sat down for a phone chat with the cheerful and charming Ricky Whittle earlier this week. You may have seen him as Calvin Valentine on Hollyoaks , Lincoln in The 100 , and as protagonist Shadow Moon in the new series based on Neil Gaiman's beloved book,  American Gods  (it has been blowing up just a tad lately). Below we talk about Australian time zones, Ricky's fandom, some of the American Gods  cast's interesting on-set pranks, and some hints about where Shadow might be headed next year for Season 2 of the acclaimed drama. Chris: First of all, thank you so much for sitting down to talk with me. It's morning here, but I gather it's late night there for you in Los Angeles? Ricky: It's just come into the evening, yeah. It's not too bad. I was just saying that the time difference isn't too bad when I come to Australia. Because you're so far ahead it...

If you weren't lucky enough to visit Supanova on the weekend or just didn't quite make it to the Madman panel, here's a run down on what you missed including general acquisition announcements, a new simulcast series and more! BEN-TO Every day, an epic struggle rages in grocery stores across Japan - the battle for half-priced bento boxes! Once the discount stickers go on, ravenous brawlers start throwing punches in a knockdown, drag-out war over who gets to take home the cheap eats. When a young, broke high school student named Sato joins the ‘Half-Priced Food Lovers Club’, he proves to be a rising talent in the world of insane food fights. But does he have what it takes to become the king of clearance cuisine? From the director of BLACK CAT comes a very different type of hunger games. Welcome to the world of Ben-To, where chopsticks are lethal weapons, the supermarket is a battleground, and there’s nothing more delicious than a deep-fried win. BEN-TO com...

You can guarantee that every convention blessed by Madman's attendance will receive news regarding their recent acquisitions and Supanova Melbourne is no different. In fact, it seems a though they went out of their way to announce a bumper crop to their homeground audience! While details are scant (but not as scant as the clothes in Maken-ki), we'll keep you up to date when further information comes to hand. Noucome - My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with my School Romantic Comedy What would you do if every one of your actions was dependant on a limited set of parameters, like multiple choice for instance. Furthermore, what if those choices were perverse, sadistic and downright weird?  Kanade Amakusa – a boy cursed with the mental power who will turn any multiple-choice quiz he thinks about into a reality.  However, one day in school, he is given another choice: a beautiful girl will fall before him or he will fall from the rooftop in fema...

Usually when events such as these are announced they're met by a song of "what about Queensland?" or "Perth never gets anything!" but this time SYDNEY misses out. Granted, so do a couple of other states as well but this is still a fantastic opportunity for QLD, WA and VIC otaku to get their fill at the Sword Art Online 2014 Exhibition Tour. Following on from the hugely successful Evangelion exhibition, Madman are delivering Sword Art Online to our shores with art, storyboards, character designs, photo opportunities and MERCH available at each event.

Our pals up in Brisbane are celebrating at Supanova this weekend which means, as always, acquisition announcements. Hanabee have 3 MASSIVE announcements for us including ACCEL WORLD,  ORESHURA and BTOOOM! The only negative to these announcements is that we have to wait until February!  As an added bonus, Hanabee have also hinted at the fact that they will have even more announcements for us at Supanova Adelaide next week. What do you think they may have up their sleeves? Follow on after the jump for the new title announcements.

Supanova was positively bursting with talent this year and one of my absolute favourite interview was with Mr Anthony Montgomery. While he may be best known as Ensign Mayweather from Star Trek Enterprise, he's very quickly carving himself a nice little niche as a comic book creator. Not only is he an absolute gentleman and a star in one of my favourite entertainment franchises but he is also the fantastically talented and humble creator of Miles Away. Follow on after the jump for our Supa-Interview.

Released in Japan in October 2012, 009 Re:Cyborg has just been announced as the second title to hit the big screen at Madman's REEL ANIME festival. The film is based on the 1960's manga series by Shotaro Ishinomori, who is also credited as being one of the godfathers of the tokusatsu genre after creating Himitsu Sentai Gorenger. 009 Re:Cyborg is directed by Kenji Kamiyama, long time Production I.G collaborator and director of the fantastic Eden of the East . Also involved in the project in composer Kenji Kawai who has worked on far too many  brilliant works to mention. Hopefully Madman will release further details once they're back from pleasing fans up at Gold Coast Supanova and we'll keep you up to date should an official press release be circulated.

Back in September we reviewed the incredible Wolf Children  as a part of Madman's REEL ANIME and said that it was ridiculously close to perfection. In a splash of fantastic news, Madman in conjunction with NTV Films are bringing director Mamoru Hosoda and animation producer Yuchiro Saito to Australia for a strictly limited time. Even if you're not the type to go gaga over the sight of a brilliant filmmaker, you can also head along to special event screenings of the delightful Wolf Children. 

Like James Earl Jones and Peter Mayhew, Ray Park is one of those iconic actors that you didn't realise you love. Having played iconic characters such as X-Men's Toad, Snake Eyes from GI Joe: Retaliation and Darth Maul from Star Wars Episode 1, Ray Park is one of the most iconic character actors of this generation. The good news is, if you're planning on going to Supanova in Melbourne or the Gold Coast you could meet the man in person!  Full details and guest list after the jump.

Whenever a convention comes around you just know that Madman will be turning up with a handful of new acquisitions and their recent visit to Brisbane Supanova is no exception. Having wrapped up not more than 24 hours ago, the Madman crew have announced their full line up which includes a total of EIGHT new acquisitions and the confirmation of Hellsing Ultimate finally seeing completion. Check out the full line up after the jump and prepare to get excited!

The second part to Madman's Supanova Sydney panel covered comic books and manga! While there weren't a great deal of acquisition or release announcements, Madman brought along a bunch of special guests to sweeten the deal. Check out more details after the jump!

It seems as though Cosplayers are upping the ante each and every year. Costumes are getting more professional and the characters more obscure. No longer can you turn up in a store bought Superman costume and think that you'll fit the bill. Sure, you could whack on a curly wig and a colourful scarf and play Dr Who ala Baker, but there is so much effort going into modern day costumes that you'd better bring your A-game. It was impossible to grab snaps of all the cosplayers but here are a bunch that caught our eye. A very special thank you goes out to our official photographer for the day, Ken. Make sure you click on the images to enlarge them. Check out a quick run down after the jump!

As one of Supanova's major sponsors, Madman always turns up with the goods and a handful of announcements but this year they turned it up to 11. Sure, they had their obligatory announcements but they also announced the films that we can expect to see at this years Reel Anime and let me give you a hot tip, this years will be even bigger, and better, than 2010! Check out all of the details after the jump!

Photo by Kerry Beyer While I was at Supanova Pop Culture Expo a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking with Tiffany Grant! Best known for her portrayal of Asuka in the Evangelion franchise she has also racked up an astonishing career of voice over work. I specifically need to thank the good people at Supanova for organising my chat with Ms Grant, the always obliging and wonderful people at Madman and of course Tiffany Grant herself.