The Durmstrang Champion Viktor Krum flies to our rescue!

Stanislav Ianevski plays the brooding, burly Bulgarian, Viktor Krum, in the Harry Potter movie franchise, and he’s soon to visit Supanova fans in Sydney and Perth!

Stan has just joined Supanova’s all-star cast for the imminent expo tour, and we’re very excited to have Durmstrang’s International-level Quidditch Seeker as one of our constellation of celebrity guests.

As Viktor Krum, Stan had an important role in The Goblet of Fire as a Triwizard Tournament competitor for Harry, a possible love interest for Hermione, and Professor Moody’s bewitched slave who brings about the demise of Cedric Diggory [Robert Pattinson]. As well as bringing Viktor Krum to the silver screen, Stan has also appeared in the Hostelhorror movie series and the UK feature film Resistance. In his native Bulgaria he appears in Pod Prikritie [Undercover], a popular TV series about an undercover cop embedded within the local mafia.

Viktor will be signing autographs and posing for portraits with fans at Supanova’s SupaSstar Signing Area in both Sydney and Perth, as well as sharing juicy behind-the-scenes tales from the set at his panel and Q&A in each city. Meet Stan in person to find out if he is really “A ruddy pumpkinhead” (as Ron believed) or, as The Daily Prophet reports, the Bulgarian bon-bon!

GAO YANG JONG DUH GOO YANG! 

Adam bows out of this tour due to work.

Adam ‘Jayne’ Baldwin of Firefly must postpone his Supanova appearance

Supastar Adam Baldwin’s trip to Australia has fallen victim to his own popularity as an actor. Adam, a performer beloved of fans of Firefly, Serenity, Castle, Chuck and The X-Files has been cast in a brand-new, top-secret production and so he can no longer attend this tour for Supanova. he sends his apologies and hopes to visit Supanova in the near future.

Appearing in Sydney and Perth:

• Christopher Paolini - author of the world wide phenomenon ‘Inheritance cycle’
• Matthew Reilly - Scarecrow, Contest, Area 7
• Marianne De Pierres - Burn Bright, Parrish Plessis, Tara Sharp

Sydney Exclusives:

• Michael Pryor - Steampunk author of ’10 Futures’ and the ‘Extraordinaire’
• Garth Nix - award-winning fantasy novelist of Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen
• Richard Harland - Steampunk author of Liberator and World Shaker.
• Kate Forsyth (Saturday only)- acclaimed author of the Witches of Eileanan series and now her newest title ‘Bitter Greens’.

Perth Exclusives:

• Juliet Marillier - Historical fantasy writing at its best.
• Marc McBride - Illustrator of the Deltora Quest books.
• Bevan McGuiness - Author of ‘The Eleven’ and ‘Triumvirate’ trilogy.
• Duncan Lay - Author of ‘The Dragon Sword Histories’ trilogy.

All the authors are looking forward to meeting their fans and signing copies of their books.

We are also extremely excited to announce the return of Rooster Teeth to Supanova! Following on from the wonderful Joel and Marshall we are pleased to welcome two more awesome creators of the hit web series Red Vs Blue!

• Burnie Burns - The Creator of the Red Vs Blue phenomenon and director of Season 10!
• Gavin Free - Director of the entire Season 7 of Red Vs Blue and creator of “The Slow-Mo Guys“

Best-seller Matthew Reilly comes to Supanova!

The Walking Dead rides to Supanova!

Comics are the big business these days, the highest grossing films, the highest rating TV shows and the biggest computer games are all coming from the pages of the medium we love! As such we’re bringing you the creators that get it all started! We are pleased to announce our line-up of comic-book talent for Sydney and Perth!

Tony Moore: Incredible artist from Smash hit comic The Walking Dead, Co-creator of Fear Agent and The Exterminators!

David Mack: Critically acclaimed comic-book illustrator and creator of the Kabuki series and returning celebratory 10th Anniversary guest from Supanova 2002

Jim Cheung: British illustrator renowned for his work on Marvel Comics’ Scion, New Avengers: Illuminati, Young Avengers, and Avengers: The Children’s Crusade

Tom Taylor: Writer of Darth Maul: Death Sentence, Star Wars: Invasion, Star Wars: Blood Ties, Green Lantern and The Deep.

David Yardin: Supa-Star artist on X-Force and Storm.

Jeffrey Cruz: Kinetic artist on Street Fighter II: Turbo and much more!

Peter Nguyen: Awesome artist on Secret Six, The DC Halloween special, Boom Studios and more!

Nicola Scott: (Sydney exclusive) Rising star Illustrator of Earth 2, Birds of Prey, and Teen Titans

Billy Tan: (Sydney exclusive) Incredible artist for X-Men: Schism, Shadowlands and much more for Marvel.

Stewart McKenny: (Sydney exclusive) Artist on D.C. Super-Friends, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures and more!

Andrew Constant: (Sydney exclusive) Writer of Gestalt’s Torn!

Christian Read: (Sydney exclusive): Writer on Star Wars, The Witch King  and Gestalt’s The Eldrich Kid.

Ashley Wood: (Perth exclusive) Creator of Popbot, 3-A Toys and illustrator extraordinaire of Metal Gear Solid.

Justin Randall: (Perth exclusive) Brilliant western Australian artist of Gestalt publishing’s incredible Changing Ways.

PLUS Seattle’s own fabulous Nerd Rock band, KIRBY KRACKLE - see kirbykracklemusic.com/

And…

Supanova Proudly Announces the Australian Comic Book Industry Awards!

Supanova’s roots, and our first love, has always been comic books. We’re proud to announce the commitment to these roots in the form of Australia’s only dedicated comic book awards. The details, the criteria, the awesomeness is still under wraps but will be revealed soon, allowing plenty of time for creators, publishers and fans alike to prepare for Melbourne Supanova 2013 and the first of this annual event.

Taking the mantle of the respected but sadly inactive Ledger Awards, Supanova will be running this important event with the blessing of The Ledgers’ founder legendary Australian comics creator Gary Chaloner. Named after pioneering Australian cartoonist Peter Ledger (1945–1994), the awards were first held in 2005 to help promote and focus attention on Australian creators and their projects, both in Australia and overseas. We’re committed to making The Ledgers inclusive, transparent and relevant. But most of all, we’re committed to helping Australian comic books stay awesome!

Much, much more very soon but in the meantime please send all inquiries via email to ledgers@supanova.com.au.

Now its time to turn up the heat in Sydney (June 16/17) and Perth (June 23/24) with an another volley of wonderful Supa-Stars:

• Adam Baldwin – Chuck’s John Casey, Serenity & Firefly’s “man called Jayne”, star of Full Metal Jacket & many voice-credit including Superman/Clark Kent in Superman/Doomsday and Breakdown in the current series Transformers Prime.
• Verne Troyer - he ‘completed us’ as Mini Me in Austin Powers and guarded Gringott’s as Griphook the goblin in Harry Potter.
• Noah Hathaway - beloved character Atreyu in the 1980s favourite, The Neverending Story, and Boxey from the original Battlestar Galactica
• Elisabeth Rohm – Brainy bombshell from Angel (Detective Kate Lockley), Heroes (Lauren Gilmore), and Law and Order (ADA Serena Southerlyn)
• John Viener - voice-over actor (and writer/ producer) of Family Guy, as well as voicing characters on The Cleveland Show, American Dad and many more.

Further, as part of the ongoing 10th Anniversary celebrations, Supanova is once again hosting some of the original guests from the first ever Supanova 2002 in Sydney:

• Yvonne Craig - from the Golden Age of television, Adam West’s original Batgirl
• David Mack - critically acclaimed comic-book illustrator and creator of the Kabuki series
• Stephanie Nadolny - voice of DragonBall’s young Goku and DragonBall Z’s Gohan

They join already announced guests from:

• Christopher Lloyd - the legendary Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown from Back to the Future
  
• Hayden Panettiere - Heroes’ indestructible cheerleader, & passionate activist seen in The Cove
  
• Callum Blue - British star of The Tudors and Dead Like Me, and Zod in Smallville
  
• Colin Cunningham - USAF Major Paul Davis in Stargate SG-1; plus Falling Skies & Sanctuary
  
• Mercedes McNab - This ‘Scream Queen’ is best known as Harmony from Buffy & Angel
  
• Natalia Tena - Harry Potter’s heroic ally, Nymphadora Tonks, and currently Game of Thrones
  
• Jennifer Hale - videogame superstar Hale voices characters in Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
  
• Vic Mignogna - popular star of Fullmetal Alchemist (Edward Elric), and Dragonball Z (Broly)

And just so you don’t think we’re ignoring you, fans of COMIC-BOOKS, AUTHORS and ROOSTER TEETH will have separate news items focusing on them over the next two weeks.

Lastly, apologies have been delivered from Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum and Enter the Dragon champion kick-boxer Bob Wall, who can no longer attend due to unforeseen professional commitments. Michael needs to stay in LA for directorial and editing duties associated with his directorial debut but even with this sad news comes his commitment to see us during the April tour of 2013.

Supanova Brings you Neverending enjoyment!

Also we are pleased to announce the launch of the official Supanova Tumblr! Now you can subscribe and get all the latest updates straight away!

Click on the image below, or go directly to http://tumblr.supanova.com.au

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Here are the details:

• Note: Please confirm your travel options below by visiting the Public Transport Victoria Site for any last minute changes.

TRAMS – Route 57a – Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 April 2012

There are three extra special Supa-trams being added to the usual timetable with the first one leaving at 9:00am from the corner of Elizabeth and Flinders streets. The trams stop at Melbourne Showgrounds / Coles Supermarket on Epsom Road near the entry to Supanova. The last of the three extra special Supa-trams returns from Epsom road at 7:00pm and it would be remiss of us not to remind you to make sure you have a valid Metcard / Myki for your journey.

TRAINS – Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 April 2012

On the weekend, fast, frequent trains will run to and from Melbourne Showgrounds especially for Supanova.

SATURDAY TRAINS

TO: The Supa-trains will depart Flinders Street Station (Platform 8 & 9) stopping at Southern Cross Station (Platform 14) and North Melbourne (Platform 6), then express to Melbourne Showgrounds Station.

The first train to Melbourne Showgrounds station will depart Flinders Street Station at 8:00am and arrive at Flemington Racecourse at 8:16am. From then on, Supa-trains will depart from Flinders Street every 20 minutes until 1:20pm, then the train services will stop until the return services start at 4:15pm.

FROM: Train services will return from Melbourne Showgrounds from 4:15pm, stopping at North Melbourne, Southern Cross and terminating at Flinders Street Station, then as follows:

4:15pm – 7:15pm every 20 minutes

SUNDAY TRAINS

TO: The Supa-trains will depart Flinders Street Station (Platform 8 & 9) stopping at Southern Cross Station (Platform 14) and North Melbourne (Platform 6), then express to Melbourne Showgrounds Station. The first train to Melbourne Showgrounds station will depart Flinders Street Station at 9:00am and arrive at Flemington Racecourse at 9:16am. From then on, Supa-trains will depart from Flinders Street every 40 minutes until 1:00pm, when the train services will stop until the return services start at 5:00pm.

FROM: Return services commence at 5:00pm, stopping at North Melbourne, Southern Cross, and terminating at Flinders Street Station. After that they’ll be  as follows: 5:00pm – 6:20pm every 20 minutes.

Don’t forget your Multipass – ahem – we mean your valid Metcard / Myki.

We can’t wait to see you on the Supa-tram and Supa-train this weekend!

With thanks to:

For current pass-holders Foxtix will be in touch shortly to refund you the difference in price between the normal weekend Supa-Fan Pass and the MasterClass one.

In Melbourne that means that the exclusive special event masterclass in web-comics with Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub (PvP, Blanimations and Penny Arcade TV), and then another hour of traditional comic-book storytelling from ‘Marvel Architect’ Brian Michael Bendis is FREE!

Then on the Gold Coast its a TWO HOUR brain dump from the Marvel maestro Brian Michael Bendis.

Both these MasterClasses start at 7.00pm on their respective Friday nights and are now open to ALL Supa-Fan Pass holders!

What more can we say other than THANK YOU and ENJOY

The "Marvel Architect" behind Ultimate Spider-man!

And for the mobile app check out Guidebook.

See you real soon!

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• Melbourne – Event Guide 2012

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For holders of the Whedonverse Pass however this places us in a difficult position; we have been trying to find a replacement but at this short notice we are unable to secure one. We’re very sorry but with no time left, we have no choice but to refund Whedonverse ticket holders. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.

All is not lost for fans of the Whedonverse though. As a special apology to all Whedonverse fans we’re offering up to ALL Supanova patrons, a special Serenity Sirens photo op with Morena and Summer. That’s you in between the two screen goddesses at no extra charge other than the usual price of a photo with each of them.

We know that it may not be as exciting as the full Whedonverse experience but we do hope you appreciate it!

Who, Me: (Melbourne Exclusive) Rob Lloyd presents a one-off preview performance of  his Melbourne Comedy Festival show about Dr Who! (11 am on the Sunday)

Outland: (Melbourne Exclusive) We present two of the creative team behind this ABC series about a group of gay sci-fi fans; Adam Richards, the lead actor (and co-writer), and John Richard the co-writer.

Lance Fensterman: (Gold Coast Exclusive) The man behind some of the biggest pop culture events in the world; Star Wars: Celebration, C2E2, NYCC, PAX, PAX East.

Iron Sky: In each city we will be hosting a panel with some of the creatives behind this exciting independent film. In Melbourne on Sunday prepare to meet with lead actor, Christopher “James Washington” Kirby, who is hosting a Q&A and signing at the FILMINK booth afterwards. On the Gold Coast, Saturday only, its a party with Christopher being joined by Michael Kalesniko (writer), Cathy Overett & Mark Overett (producers), and maybe even more! They’ll be signing at the Gold Coast Film Festival booth only two days after their red carpet Australian Premiere, Thursday night.

Melbourne patrons please note that Jaimie Alexander will not be attending the Saturday of the Melbourne expo as her filming schedule has changed unexpectedly. She will be in attendance on the Sunday however and is looking forward to seeing you all then!

Rob Lloyd in his comedy festival show Who, Me!

See you all very soon.

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Morena first caught geek and genre TV fans’ attention in Joss Whedon’s ‘space western’ series Firefly and its spin-off movie, Serenity, in which she appeared as the beguiling ‘Inara’. Her profession and high level of education was a benefit to her onscreen shipmates and was appreciated for it’s depth and complexity by viewers.

Morena went on to achieve further sci-fi celebrity in Stargate: The Ark of Truth, then as the reptilian alien queen in the creepy series reinvention of V.  She has also delved into the world of voice acting, lending her voice to the fan favourite ‘Black Canary’ in the Justice League Unlimited animated series, a well as the character of ‘Cheetah’ in Batman: Brave and the Bold.

Currently she is appearing in Showtime’s intellectual thriller Homeland. As the wife of returned U.S. marine and P.O.W Nicholas Brody, Morena brought complexity, gravitas and sensuality to her role. Series one of Homeland is currently airing on Australia’s Ten Network.

And in sad news for ‘Buck Rogers’ fans, Gil Gerard can no longer attend the April tour after being signed to appear in a theatrical production. Fortunately for Stargate fans not only is Morena now attending; Gil’s replacement is Stargate Atlantis actor, Rainbow Sun Francks, whose other credits include Aliens Vs. Predator – Requiem and the TV series, The Listener.

So if you’re listening closely, fans of ours, there’s a lot to be excited about!

Morena Baccarin as the stunning 'Inara' in Firefly

In June the Sydney Supanova Expo celebrates its 10th Anniversary with Perth receiving collateral benefit as we reach for the stars with returning original guests from 2002 while adding new stars!

We’re even running with a new celebratory version of our logo that will appear on most everything for the rest of the year!

Back to the guests, we’d like to introduce for you, our initial Supa-Star line-up for June 2012:

• Christopher Lloyd - the very popular Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown from Back to the Future
• Yvonne Craig - from the Golden Age of television, Batman’s original Batgirl and an original alumni from 2002
• Michael Rosenbaum - Smallville’s Lex Luthor and Justice League’s The Flash
• Hayden Panettiere - Heroes’ indestructible cheerleader & passionate activist seen in The Cove
• Callum Blue - The lovable Mason from Dead Like Me and the complex villain General Zod from Smallville!
• Mercedes McNab - This ‘Scream Queen’ is best known as Harmony from Buffy & Angel
• Natalia Tena - Harry Potter’s heroic ally, Nymphadora Tonks, and Osha from Game of Thrones.
• Colin Cunningham - From Stargate SG-1 to Falling Skies, with stops by The 6th Day and Elektra on the way!
• Bob Wall - World champion kickboxer who featured in Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon and Game of Death with Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.

Voice actors:

• Jennifer Hale - videogame superstar, Hale voices Shepard in the Mass Effect Trilogy and many other characters in Metal Gear Solid, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Vic Mignogna - fan favourite Vic voices Edward Elric in the Fullmetal Alchemist anime series, Broly in Dragonball Z, Ikkaku in Bleach, and hundreds more

Authors:

• Christopher Paolini - the American novelist is best known for his Inheritance Cycle, comprising Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance.

Comic-book creators:

• David Mack - critically acclaimed comic-book illustrator and creator of the Kabuki series and another returning 2002 guest
• Jim Cheung, British illustrator renowned for his work on Marvel Comics’ Scion, New Avengers: Illuminati, Young Avengers, and Avengers: The Children’s Crusade

PLUS Seattle’s own fabulous Nerd Rock band, KIRBY KRACKLE - see kirbykracklemusic.com

This June is going to be a huge time for Supanova fans as we really look forward to celebrating with all of you in the best way we know of saying “thank you” for your wonderful decade long support…

With epic, awesome events! Supanova, it’s a BLAST!!!

Smallville's 'Lex Luthor', Michael Rosenbaum, comes to Supanova this June!

Best-selling fantasy writer, Christopher Paolini, is visiting Australia this June as a special guest of Supanova thanks to our friends at Random House!

This will be Christopher’s first trip to Australia and Random House Australia is delighted to announce that as well as appearing at our Sydney and Perth events, he will be visiting Hobart and  Melbourne as well! (With further details to be released soon)

When ‘Inheritance’ was released in Australia last year it debuted at #1 on the Bookscan charts and held the 2011 record for the fastest and highest first week sales in the country. Sales to date have topped 200,000 copies – making it the best per capita sales result for Inheritance in the world. It was Random House Australia’s biggest book of 2011 and the 3rd bestselling title in Australia last year. Sales of the Inheritance Cycle’s backlist have also been exceptional and have now tipped 1 million copies sold into the Australian market across the series.

Featuring spectacular artwork by cult artist John Jude Palencar, this stunning book brings the bestselling Inheritance Cycle to a breathtaking conclusion.

And let’s not forget the feature film, ‘Eragon’. We’re sure this isn’t the last we’ll see of Christopher’s works on our screens.

We are ecstatic to bring such a fantastic talent to you, his fans, and thank Random House for the opportunity to do so!

With thanks to Random House Australia

So its clear that comic-books have always been an absolute passion of Supanova and as such we always try to bring their loving fans the best of national and international talent!

This year is no exception and we’d like to take this opportunity to showcase just some of the talent that will be joining us:

Brian Michael Bendis: The “Marvel Architect” most closely associated with the Ultimate Universe, writer of Ultimate Spider-Man, numerous Avengers titles, Moon Knight, Daredevil and some of the biggest stories in recent Marvel history!

Carlos Pacheco: Supa-Star artist extraordinaire of the Uncanny X-Men, Ultimate Thor, Avengers Forever, Green Lantern, Trinity and SO many others!

Billy Tan: After his fantastic work on Shadowlands, Billy has continued to do stunning art on the X-Men “Schism” books, Ultimate Comics Fallout and then Uncanny X-Force! (Melbourne only)

Tom Taylor: From re-animating Roman zombies to killing Boba Fett, Tom has been a very busy boy! While Star Wars: Invasion was his big break, soon he’ll be bringing Darth Maul back to comics in a big way!

Colin Wilson: He may be well known as the artist on Star Wars: Invasion, but Colin’s known worldwide for his art in 2000AD and his work in French series Blueberry and Du plomb dans la tête (Headshot) which is now an upcoming film starring Sylvester Stallone!

Tristan Jones: A rising star! After making a splash on Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, he gained attention on the Ghostbusters ongoing series with IDW, before taking on The T.M.N.T. again in Infestation 2!

Jeffrey \”Chamba\” Cruz: A fantastic Illustrator and Artist who came to prominence with his work on the Udon Comics of Street Fighter II: Turbo!

Stewart McKenny: Charming raconteur and brilliant artist on Batman: Brave and the Bold, DC Super-Friends and Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures.

Chris Sequeira: Awesome writer on the moody Dark Detective: Sherlock Holmes. Now writing for the anthology, Sherlock Holmes: The Crossovers Cases.

Paul Mason: After starting out as a solo comics producer, Paul has now joined forces with one of Australia’s largest independent publishers Black House Comics to bring us The Soldier Legacy.

And thanks to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s, Video Games Unplugged…

Scott Kurtz began his career with his daily strip, Captain Amazing. His longest running project and smash hit webcomic is PvP. (Melbourne only)

Kristofer Straub is the creator of webcomics Checkerboard Nightmare, Starslip, Time Friends, Origin Story, and more recently Chainsawsuit and F Chords. (Melbourne only)

Together Scott and Kris co-create Blamimations for Penny Arcade.

All these fantastic creators, when added to a huge selection of local talent in both Artists’ Alleys plus numerous comic-book selling retailers, make Supanova the place to be for fans of comic-books!

‘Nuff said!

Brian Michael Bendis, the writer of Ultimate Spider-Man, swings into our April tour in 2012!

Cristina Vee: Cosplayer and fan who went on to voice characters in Madoka Magica, Blazblue, K-On!, Tekken: Blood Vengeance and many more.

Christine Cabanos: Lead voice cast in K-On! and now the title character Madoka Kaname in Madoka Magika.

Richard Horvitz: Hilarious supa-star voice of Invader Zim, ‘Dagget’ from Angry Beavers and many others!

Red vs Blue stars, thanks to Rooster Teeth Productions…

• Joel Heyman: Voice of ‘Caboose’ – Arguably the most popular character in Red Vs Blue.
• Marshall Rimmer: Writer, director and star of numerous RT Shorts, including Angry Birds: The Movie Trailer and the recent hit, Siri: the iPhone Horror Movie

And finally, with thanks to our exclusive cultural partners, the Gold Coast Film Festival, from the hit anime series Bleach, and only for Gold Coast fans…

• Noriyuki Abe: Supa-Star director of Bleach and fan favourite Yu Yu Hakusho
• Masakazu Morita: Best known as the voice of ‘Ichigo Kurosaki’ in the hit series Bleach as well as ‘Tidus’ in FFX!

With these fantastic actors added to our roster Melbourne and the Gold Coast are going to be huge! See you all there!

Cristina Vee is 'Akemi Homura' from Madoka Magica

On to the good news first; we welcome the star of TV’s most outstanding sci-fi series in years; from Battlestar Galactica, ‘Rear Admiral Bill Adama’ himself… Edward James Olmos

From Blade Runner to Battlestar with a little Dexter as well, Edward has been a staple of genre entertainment for decades and an Emmy and Golden Globe winner and Oscar Nominated actor of the highest calibre. We are so happy to be hosting this legend of both TV and film and hope that you, his fans, will be equally happy to see him in Melbourne and on the Gold Coast!

We must however also announce the withdrawal of Smallville star, Allison Mack, from our April tour. We’d love nothing more than to see her here in the future and it’ll be our aim to redouble our efforts to make it so. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this causes.

But on last great piece of news, Wil Wheaton, star of The Guild, The Big Bang Theory, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stand By Me and much more, is now confirmed for both Melbourne AND THE GOLD COAST!

And the crowd goes wild!!!

 

'Admiral Bill "Husker" Adama' from Battlestar Galactica comes to Supanova this April!

Peter Facinelli is renowned for his role as ‘Dr Carlisle Cullen’, the altruistic patriarch of the Cullen clan, and comes to Supanova armed with insiders’ gossip, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and his time working with Robert Pattinson and Kristin Stewart on the final film, The Twilight Saga:  Breaking Dawn Part 2. Aside from Twilight, Facinelli, has also appeared opposite Edie Falco in Showtime’s critically-acclaimed NURSE JACKIE, Glenn Close and Rose Byrne in DAMAGES and Drew Barrymore in Riding in Cars with Boys.

Jaimie Alexander, recognised internationally for playing ‘Lady Sif’, ‘the most distinguished warrior-maiden in all of Asgard’, will delight Australian audiences with a recap of her rigorous weapon and martial art training on the set of THOR and the role that announced her to pop-culture fans, ‘Jessi XX’ on KYLE XY. Interestingly, Alexander also appeared in NURSE JACKIE with Facinelli. A self-confessed comic book geek, Alexander will also talk about her hopes for Lady Sif in THOR 2.

Further, purely on the Gold Coast, Supanova will also be hosting actor, Shane Rangi, thanks to our exclusive cultural partners, the Gold Coast Film Festival. Shane’s performance in Spartacus: Gods of the Arena has become a fan favourite with his career taking off in the last decade including roles in all three Lord of the Rings films, The Chronicles of Narnia series and, as a motion capture performer and stuntman, working on such productions as Tintin, Avatar, King Kong and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Unfortunately these announcements also coincides with the cancellation of Nelsan Ellis, best known for portraying charismatic ‘Lafayette’ in HBO’s TRUE BLOOD. Ellis is currently held up in production for the new series of True Blood and will not be available to travel Down Under.

Tickets go on sale from FOXTIX on Friday 2^nd March for $27.50 for a Day Pass or $47.50 for a Weekend Pass. Children 12 years and under are free with a paying adult.

Peter Facinelli as 'Carlisle Cullen' from the Twilight Saga

Zombster is pleased to announce that it will be bringing the Gold Coast Qualifier to Supanova Gold Coast. The winners of the competition will have their model kits entered into the 2012 Australian finals held in Sydney.

GunPla (Gundam Plastic) models are an international hobby sensation that started over 30 years ago with the initial Mobile Suit Gundam anime series. Over the years, GunPla has evolved to become an interesting model kit experience with no paint or glue required. GunPla hobby enthusiasts also add custom paint jobs and unique modifications. BANDAI GunPla Builders World Cup challenges these hobbyists to bring their works of art forward and have them showcased for all to appreciate.

Winners of the event receive prize bundles including entry into the Australian Finals held in Sydney at the SMASH event on Saturday, 14th of July 2012.

Australia first joined the international circuit only two years ago in 2010 with its first event at SMASH in Sydney. Now cities all over Australia have been organizing local competitions to send their region’s representatives to the Australian finals.

There will be two categories for entry into the 2012 Gold Coast Qualifier competition – Standard and Advanced. An entrant may enter once for each category. For more information on the competition, including the categories, registration, regulations, and prizes, please visit gunpla.zombster.com.au or visit the Zombster store at Toowong Village. Please direct all inquiries regarding the event to Zombster.

Registration closes on the 18th of April. All entries must be pre-registered. Zombster cannot receive entries that have not been pre-registered. Registration is free, but entry into Supanova is required for participation in the competition.

Brisbane entrants are welcome to enter again, but be sure to bring something new to show.

Supanova is proud to announce the Supa-Star authors for the Melbourne and Gold Coast expos.

Melbourne and Gold Coast

Brandon Sanderson: Author of the ‘Mistborn’ and ‘Alcatraz’ series and chosen to complete the epic ‘Wheel of Time’ series after Robert Jordan’s passing.

Marc McBride: Drew The Kraken in 2001. Since then he has illustrated the hugely successful Deltora Quest and Quentaris series, The Deltora Book of Monsters, Old Ridley, Journey From the Centre of the Earth, Tales of Deltora and Secrets of Deltora. Aurealis Award winner for World Of Monsters under the name Edgar Wishbone.

Michael Pryor: Creator of Steam Punk series: ‘The Extraordinaires’, ‘Laws of Magic’ and ‘Quentaris.

Melbourne Exclusives

Bevan McGuiness: Author of ‘The Eleven’ trilogy and ‘Triumvirate’ trilogy.

Alison Croggon: The Gift, Alison’s acclaimed young adult fantasy series ‘The Books of Pellinor’, was shortlisted for two Aurealis Awards.

Ian Irvine: Author of ‘ The View from the Mirror’, ‘The Well of Echoes’ and ‘Song of the Tears’ series, plus eleven novels for children.  Vengeance is the first book in the ‘Tainted Realm’ trilogy.

K.S Nikakis: K.S  Nikakis is an academic at NMIT. A passionate reader and student of fantasy writing, ‘The Kira Chronicles’ is her first series.

Gold Coast Exclusives

Alan Dean Foster: The king of novelisations!  Works include: Star Wars, the first three Alien films, Alien Nation, The Chronicles of Riddick, Star Trek, Terminator: Salvation and both Transformers films – courtesy of Cultural Partners, the Gold Coast Film Festival.

Kylie Chan: Author of ‘Dark Heavens’ and ‘Journey to Wudang’ series.

Keri Arthur: Author of the New York Times bestselling ‘Riley Jenson Guardian’ series and has now written more than twenty-five books. Won RT’s Career Achievement Award for urban fantasy.

Richard Harland: Steam Punk creator of ‘Worldshaker’ and ‘Liberator’

Trent Jamison: SF writer and Silent Motion Picture Actor.  He has written a series of novels called ‘Death Works’ as well as his newest novel ‘Roil’ published by Angry Robot.

Amazing Authors like these and many others will be in attendance to meet their fans and talk about what they do, why they do it and how. Keep an eye out for Q&A Sessions throughout the weekends!

With thanks to Dymocks!

Due to overwhelming demand, Supanova is very pleased to be able to offer a second, and final, opportunity to see the amazing sneak peek into The Untold Story.

Important: Everyone that entered the first draw was successful and will be receiving an email in the next 48 hours. Please do not enter again or you will nullify both entries.

To be in the running to get an admit 2 ticket for the 5.15pm session Tuesday the 7^th of February, you must be one of the first 200 people to send us an email with the information below and you MUST be able to get to Event Cinemas on George Street in Sydney by 5.15pm (for a 5.45pm start). You will need to present your ID in conjunction with the PDF which you will receive if you are one of the lucky 200 people. Your email must include:

• “The Untold Story Begins 5.45pm session” in the subject
• Your full name as it’ll appear on your ID
• Your age

If you are one of the first 200 people, you will receive an email back from us confirming this. If you do not receive an email back from us, it means the 200 passes have been already been claimed.

Only one entry per person. Multiple entries, even from different email addresses will be considered null and void.

Click here to enter and good luck in being fast enough to get your ticket(s)!

Tickets are now gone! Thanks to everyone who requested tickets, we’ll see you real soon at the screenings!

PLEASE NOTE: We strongly advise that you arrive at 4.30pm for the first session or 5.15pm for the second session to make sure there’s no delay as ID needs to be checked and all mobile phones and cameras cloaked as this will be a secure event with night-vision security within the cinema.

In con-junction with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for the Melbourne expo only:

• Wil Wheaton - ‘Wesley Crusher’ from Star Trek: The Next Generation is all grown up and now is one of the best known bloggers in the world. He’s also the mind behind “Wootstock” with recurring roles on fan favourites Eureka, The Guild and Big Bang Theory!
• Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub - The Creator of PvP, one of the words best loved webcomics and his co-Penny Arcade TV performer (Blamimations & The Kris & Scott Show).

They are in town for the fantastic “Video Games Unplugged” the details for which can be found HERE. It promises and evening of beautiful music from such gaming classics as Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy and even Uncharted 2!

In con-junction with our cultural partner, with the Gold Coast Film Festival, for the Gold Coast expo only:

• Alan Dean Foster - Ghost writer of Star Wars known to many as the “King of the Novelisation” whose own fantasy and sci-fi series include the Commonwealth and Spellsinger series.
• Shane Rangi - Stuntman and actor for some of the biggest films of all time including the Chronicles of Narnia films, the Lord of the Rings series, James Cameron’s Avatar and most recently Steven Spielberg’s Adventures of Tintin!

Further, working in con-junction with SwanCon, for the Melbourne & the Gold Coast expos:

• Brandon Sanderson - Fantastic international bestselling author and the man charged with finishing Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga.

And finally, the cherry on the cake to top it all off, in con-junction with Gifts for the Geek, for both Melbourne & the Gold Coast expos:

• Cliff Simon - The system lord you love to loathe, Stargate SG-1′s ‘Baal’!
• Gil Gerard - Nostalgic Supa-Star of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (yes, we’ve already announced Gil, but we forgot to mention his GFTG sponsorship – sorry!)

Without these partners Supanova wouldn’t be as diverse or as rich a tapestry, for you our fans, so we thank them for all their help and support while celebrating with you the collaborative spirit that allows us all to work together!

From Start Trek Next Gen to Big Bang, we love Wil Wheaton!

OLIVER AND JAMES PHELPS - Otherwise known as The Weasley Twins, Ron’s cheeky but courageous twin brothers, Fred and George Wesley, in the epic ‘Harry Potter’ film series.

NELSAN ELLIS - as well as portraying Lafayette, the charismatic gay icon in ‘True Blood’, Ellis starred in feature films ‘The Help’, ‘The Soloist’ and ‘Secretariat’.

GIL GERARD - Forward to the past! A nostalgic journey to 1979 with the original star of ‘Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century’.

ELISABETH RÖHM - Brainy bombshell Röhm appeared in Joss Whedon’s series ‘Angel’  (Detective Kate Lockley), ‘Heroes’ (Lauren Gilmore) and ‘Law and Order’ (A.D.A. Serena Southerlyn), as well as in ‘Miss Congeniality 2’ alongside Sandra Bullock.

ALLISON MACK - Starred as Chloe Sullivan throughout the full ten seasons of ‘Smallville’, as Clark Kent’s closest friend.

JIM KELLY - The original “Afro Samurai”, Kelly was an integral African-American performer and karate champ on the ‘70s Blaxploitation scene. Star of ‘Black Belt Jones’, ‘Enter the Dragon’ and many more.

CHANDLER RIGGS - young Chandler stars as Carl Grimes in the critically acclaimed TV series ‘The Walking Dead’, helping his Sheriff dad fight off zombies in this comic-book adaptation created by Frank ‘Shawshank Redemption’ Darabont.

And expect additional anime, comic-book, gaming, literary guests, and more film/TV stars, to be announced in the coming months.

Supanova’s founder and Event Director, Daniel Zachariou, is looking forward to an epic year in 2012: “It really is fantastic to be celebrating our 10^thAnniversary by expanding and consolidating as we’ve done throughout our decade long desire to be the best we can be for Australian fans of popular culture as we are pop-culture fans ourselves. That we’ve done so using a team drawn from friends, family and local enthusiasts in not only excellent but extremely gratifying. Each challenge has been embraced by the team and we look forward to once again greeting our Melbourne fans with another awesome event while also introducing the Gold Coast to our brand of fun. The Supanova family is grateful to have had the support of Australian fans for so long, and we’re delighted to be able to reach even more fans this year than ever before.”

The Weasley Twins Lead the charge into 2012!

In his current role as Lafayette on the HBO vampire saga ‘True Blood,’ Nelsan Ellis is undeniably charismatic and entertaining. The show, returning this summer for its fifth season, is a certified award-winning hit.

Nelsan appeared in the feature film ‘The Soloist’ opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx and has completed filming ‘The Express’ for Universal Pictures.

Nelsan’s other television credits include the Fox television series ‘The Insider’ for producer Brian Grazer, the HBO Film ‘Warm Springs’ opposite Kenneth Branagh, Cynthia Nixon and Kathy Bates, as well as ‘Veronica Mars’ for the UPN Network.

Born in Chicago, Nelsan moved to Alabama at a young age and was raised in Bessemer, a largely poor and black suburb of Birmingham. At 14, he returned to Chicago and attended Thornridge High, which proved to be an oasis within a hard and bustling city, due to its emphasis on arts education. It was at Thornridge where Nelsan discovered his passion for acting and where he flourished.

In addition to acting, Nelsan found another interest in writing, and while attending Juilliard, wrote the semi-autobiographical play, ‘Ugly,’ which was performed at the school. For his efforts, he received the Martin Segal Award from Lincoln Center.

Cast in True Blood, Nelsan has impressed not only audiences but the show’s executives as well. Director/Producer Alan Ball allows that Nelsan owns most of the scenes he is in as his own. “We just stand back and point the camera in his direction and let him loose,” says Ball. “Nelsan channels his energy from his own planet.” For his efforts on the debut season, Nelson was nominated for a Satellite Media Award.

Because of the violent death of his sister Alice, Nelsan has personally come to understand the nature of domestic violence and child abuse, and he has a unique desire to bring the problems of these epidemics to the forefront of the world’s consciousness.

Nelsan is unfortunately unable to to attend the Melbourne and Gold Coast Expos. We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.

The girls performance included action-packed fight choreography, astonishing puppetry and amazing costumes. As such it is no shock that they will be winging their way to the Tokyo International Anime Fair in 2012!

Congratulations to all the fantastic competitors and the biggest thanks to our judges who were faced with an incredibly tough decision.

Cosplayers! Now is the time to start planning for your entry into the 2012 competition, aim for the skies and you will all be stars!

http://www.madman.com.au/cosplay/