Some fun places to peruse on the internet while you listen to the interview:

- Visit Joe Hill Fiction.com

- Follow Joe Hill on Twitter

- Joe’s first published comics work, Spider-man Unlimited #8, featuring the story “Fanboyz” drawn by the late, great Seth Fisher

- Discover the world of Locke & Key

- Keyhouse‘s Design and 3D Model

- Limited Edition Convention Exclusive Keys

- The Locke & Key pilot page at IMDB.com

- Road Rage IDW Comics

John Romita’s The Amazing Spider-Man: Artist’s Edition ($100) is the next book in the ongoing Artist’s Edition series from IDW Publishing. Collecting six classic issues from Romita’s stellar run on The Amazing Spider-Man, each and every page scanned from the original art and presented at full size, the same as it looked on Romita’s drawing table.

Artist’s Editions are printed the same size as the original art. While appearing to be in black & white, each page has been scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art—for example, you are able to clearly see paste-overs, blue pencils in the art, editorial notes, art corrections. Each page is printed the same size as drawn, and the paper selected is as close as possible to the original art board.

The 152 page hardcover will be available in stores on February 1st.

A Wasteland Companion, Ward’s sixth solo album, will be released in the US & Canada on April 10 via Merge Records, April 9 in the UK on Bella Union and April 6th in Australia & New Zealand through Spunk Records.

Inspired by his increasingly itinerant lifestyle Ward set forth to create something of a musical travelogue. He explains, “Between now and when I made Hold Time there has been a lot of traveling which requires a lot of reckoning with what to leave behind and what to carry – material and otherwise – and thinking about what I want versus what I need, creatively and otherwise. I wanted to get a reflection of that on the album. It was a process of stripping away my security blanket, which is the same four walls I always record in.”

The album was made with 18 musicians and recorded in eight different studios in Portland, Omaha, New York City, Los Angeles, Austin and Bristol (UK). A Wasteland Companion features the talents of M Ward (piano, guitars, voice, production), Mike Coykendall (percussion, bass), Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb (piano), John Parish (percussion, marimba), Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis (organ), Susan Sanchez (vocals), She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel (vocals), Jordan Hudson (percussion), Adam Selzer (bass), Nathan “JR” Andersen (piano), Scott McPherson (percussion), Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley (percussion), Dr. Dog’s Tobey Leaman (bass), Devotchka’s Tom Hagerman (strings), Oakely Hall’s Rachel Cox (vocals), Amanda Lawrence (violin), John Graboff (pedal steel) and Tyler Tornfelt (bass). The recording utilized eight engineers, including Tom Schick (Rufus Wainwright) and John Parish (PJ Harvey)

Track listing:

1. Clean Slate (for Alex & El Goodo)

2. Primitive Girl

3. Me And My Shadow

4. Sweetheart

5. I Get Ideas

6. The First Time I Ran Away

7. A Wasteland Companion

8. Watch The Show

9. There’s A Key

10. Crawl After You

11. Wild Goose

12. Pure Joy

The album is available for pre-order now at www.mwardmusic.com

Here is a list of upcoming shows:

Feb 2 Los Angeles, CA Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Apr 11 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore

Apr 12 Santa Cruz, CA The Cocoanut Grove Ballroom

Apr 13 Indio, CA Coachella **SOLD OUT**

Apr 14 Santa Barbara, CA SoHO

Apr 16 San Diego, CA Belly Up

Apr 17 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom

Apr 18 Flagstaff, AZ The Orpheum

Apr 20 Indio, CA Coachella **SOLD OUT**

May 5  Portland, ME State Theatre

May 6  Burlington, VT Higher Ground

May 7  New Haven, CT Toads Place

May 8  Boston, MA House of Blues

May 11 New York, NY Webster Hall

May 12 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer

May 13 Washington, DC 9:30 Club

May 15 Durham, NC Duke Performances at Page Auditorium

May 16 Athens, GA Georgia Theatre

May 17 Atlanta, GA Buckhead Theatre

May 22 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre

May 24 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue

The London URL to sign up for the event is at TheUntoldStoryBegins.co.uk and the U.S. one will be available soon at TheUntoldStoryBegins.com.

Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace opens in 3-D on Feb. 10 and some theaters are offering special giveaways on opening weekend.

- At all RealD theaters, Darth Maul glasses will be handed out (while supplies last) to fans who buy tickets on the movie’s opening day.

- At all AMC Theaters, fans will get the all-new Hasbro “Star Wars” Fighter Pod with the purchase of each RealD 3-D ticket for “Episode I,” all weekend long, Feb. 10-12.  The limit is one per ticket and the offer is good only while supplies last.

- At 10 select AMC theaters in the U.S., starting at 11 a.m. Feb. 11, there will be special events, interactive fun and giveaways. At those sites, fans can expect a Lego feature area, Darth Maul face painting, character appearances, special pod-racer 3-D glasses, a demonstration of the upcoming Xbox Kinnect “Star Wars” game and a Hasbro collectible toy giveaway.

The sites: Atlanta: AMC Southlake 24; Boston: AMC Loews Liberty Tree Mall 20; Chicago: AMC South Barrington 30; Denver: AMC Highlands Ranch 24; Los Angeles: AMC Tustin 14 at The District; AMC Ontario Mills 30; New York: AMC Empire 25; New Jersey: AMC Garden State 16; Phoenix: AMC Mesa Grand 24; San Francisco: AMC Emeryville Bay Street 16.

Everyone’s favorite furious fowl, Angry Birds, is coming to Facebook on February 14! Join in on the fun and mark this date on your calendar. Help make this the biggest Facebook event ever!

Ricky Gervais is returning to HBO in the faux documentary “Life’s Too Short,” starring “Star Wars” actor Warwick Davis and guest starring Gervais and a few of his famous friends.

“Life’s Too Short,” from Gervais and Stephen Merchant, is a fictional documentary about Davis’ life as a little person who’s down on his luck, struggling to get back into the spotlight. Davis plays a fictionalized version of himself and runs a talent agency for little people in show business, called “Dwarves for Hire,” though he often takes the roles for himself. He also serves as a vice chairman of a society for little people.

Each episode will also feature cameos from some big names, including Johnny Depp, Liam Neeson, Sting, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Carell and “So You Think You Can Dance” host Cat Deeley. Gervais and Merchant will also play themselves in supporting roles.

The show premieres on HBO on February 19th.

The poster set, created to commemorate the event, is finally unveiled to the public with each film tackled by a different artist.

The posters, created in partnership with Sideshow Collectibles and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products, will be sold as a set on Thursday, January 26th for $230. This will also include a bonus print “Alamo Drafthouse Wants You To Go Ape!” which is a variation of the famous Twentieth Century Fox poster created for the 1973 re-release of all five films in theaters.

The prints will be sold as a set on Thursday, January 26th for $230. Any remaining individual prints will go on sale on Friday, January 27th.  Follow @MondoNews for on sale announcements.

Planet of The Apes
Artist: Martin Ansin
Size: 24” x 36”
Edition: 415

Beneath The Planet of The Apes
Artist: Ken Taylor
Size: 24” x 36”
Edition: 390

Escape From The Planet of The Apes
Artist: Rich Kelly
Size: 24” x 36”
Edition: 320

Conquest of The Planet of The Apes
Artist: Phantom City Creative
Size: 24” x 36”
Edition: 370

Battle For The Planet of The Apes
Artist: Florian Bertmer
Size: 24” x 36”
Edition of 345

Bonus Print: Go Ape*
Limited Edition Lithograph
Artist: Jason Edmiston
Size: 24” x 36”
Edition: 295
*Only available with purchase of the full poster set.

Variants of the five Planet of the Apes film prints will be available via the Sideshow Collectibles website at a future date.

The new Wilco video for Dawned On Me from the band’s Grammy-nominated new record The Whole Love is a collaboration with King Features that presents the first hand-drawn Popeye cartoon in more than 30 years. The music video was directed by Darren Romanelli.

In this new video, Popeye vies for Olive Oyl’s affections with his usual nemesis, Bluto, and with a new challenger, Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy.

As one of the earliest animated characters, introduced in 1933 by Fleischer Studios, Popeye has become one of the most enduring and iconic cartoon characters of all time and is forever entwined in the evolution of animation.

Above is this week’s Popeye Sunday comic strip, created by Frank Caruso and Ned Sonntag that pays tribute to Popeye and the alternative rock band, Wilco.  The artwork features caricatures of Wilco band members: lead singer Jeff Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt, guitarist Nels Cline, multi-instrumentalists Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen, and drummer Glenn Kotche. The art prominently features the S.S.Wilco sailing into port to deliver Wilco Brand Spinach. Hoards of people are lining up on the dock as Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto and the entire gang assist Wilco in handing out cans of Wilco Spinach to the crowds.

Also please check out the site here www.wilcospinach.com.