Indie SFF Publisher Launches New Anthology

Stars and Sabers, the industry-acclaimed science fiction publishing imprint, has announced a new anthology, the magic-themed Of Enchantment, Enigma, and the Infinite.

The collection is currently available for pre-order via crowdfunding here. This new anthology is a follow-up of sorts to the imprint’s first collection, Of Shadows, Stars, and Sabers. Award-winning authors Jendia Gammon and Gareth L. Powell founded the publisher in order to showcase high-quality works.  Determined to offer their writers and artists professional rates of payment, the publisher is currently using crowdfunding to make this happen.

Gareth Powell said, “We’re currently experimenting with many funding options. In the future, we may invite select investors to help support our ambitious publishing schedule.”

 Gammon told the press, “We see Stars and Sabers filling a niche in the industry, marrying the quality and professionalism of a large publishing house with the innovation and flexibility of a small press. We seek to publish works across the spectrum of speculative fiction, featuring both new and established writers from around the world.”

The company already has a strong roster of authors with whom they are working to produce and publish work. This includes.  Antony Johnston, Cynthia Pelayo, Anna Smith Spark, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Eugen Bacon, Jack Grimwood, Ai Jiang, Alex Segura, Greg van Eekhout and David Quantick.

You can find out more here.

Hasbro Celebrates STAR WARS Milestone

Hasbro Pulse will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith with a series of releases of cool toys.  Announced this week are Star Wars The Black Series: Tactical Ops Trooper and Kit Fisto. 

Kit Fisto is a favourite for Star Wars fans. The Force-sensitive Nautolan is a big green guy with a huge smile and plenty of tentacles, who’s also a master swordsman. This articulated, lightsaber-wielding Jedi is a must for any collection.

Also available is Star Wars The Black Series Tactical Ops Trooper.  This clone trooper has a removable helmet and some very big guns.  Perfect to pair with your Jedi collection if you like your toy display slightly grim in tone.

Both come in a special retro box, celebrating Revenge of the Sith’s 20th. They can be pre-ordered via Hasbro Pulse.

Warhammer Community Goes International

Warhammer Community, the official voice of all things Games Workshop related, has expanded its international platform. Launching French Instagram and Facebook channels, as well as Spanish Instagram and Facebook. Similarly, Italian channels will launch later this week.

Warhammer has been an international affair since its early days, with Warhammer 40,000 and  Warhammer The Old World being filled with references to Europe from the start. Games Workshop is also encouraging fans to add these new accounts to their news feed with a fun promotion, details of which can be found here.

The news comes on the back  of announcement that streaming service WarhammerTV has expanded its roster of shows to feature more ‘hobby’ craft activities, with names such as Painting Desk and Citadel Colour Masterclass.  

DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN Makes Its Mark In Manchester

Blue and Red Comic Book superhero mural. You can see both hero and villain, as well as the artist on a mini-crane.

In a move that we can’t really ignore,  Disney has taken to the streets of Manchester to promote the Marvel TV series Daredevil: Born Again. Namely by unveiling a huge ‘double exposure’ mural at Manchester’s Corn Exchange.

The ‘double exposure’ style used by artist Insane51 allows for three different ways to see the artwork – through a red lens, a blue lens and just with your regular eyes.  The work has been produced in collaboration with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and includes a tactile version for those with sight loss, who can also enjoy the piece. An audio description is also available.

STARBURST Magazine, of course, is based in Manchester, so we definitely noticed this fun piece of marketing.  Artist Insane51 told the press,  “As a huge fan of Daredevil, working on this mural was an incredible experience for me.

“I still remember seeing Daredevil on my screen for the first time when I was 10, and now, getting to bring my own artistic vision to this character feels surreal.  It’s amazing to see how my art style connects with the show’s themes, and I love that people will be able to engage with this piece not just visually but also on a tactile and auditory level. 

“Bringing this new interactive element into my work was something I hadn’t done before, and that made the whole process even more exciting.”

Daredevil: Born Again is Disney’s latest Marvel TV series, and Charlie Cox reprises his role as the infamous vigilante Daredevil, who must take on the Kingpin, played by the excellent Vincent D’Onofrio.

Dragonlance Gets Humble

Fans of the fantasy series Dragonlance can now get their hands on the full series (including books you’ve most likely missed), thanks to a collaboration between Wizards of the Coast,  Penguin Random House and Humble Bundle.

The bundle includes 26 of the classic fantasy novels, in digital format, including the original Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The whole bundle can be obtained in a digital format for £14.27, and a percentage of that goes to Room to Read, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting children’s literacy and education.

The Dragonlance series came out back in 1984, and is an early example of a multi-media fantasy franchise. The books tied-in with the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game, and also spawned video games, board games and toys. It came back from D&D’s fifth edition, with a new board game and rule books.

The series is also listed as an inspiration by the likes of Justice League star Joe Manganiello and Final Fantasy voice actor Matt Mercer.

You can find out more about the bundle here.

First Image Of Peter Dinklage’s THE TOXIC AVENGER Revealed

peter dinklage as the toxic avenger first-look image

The Toxic Avenger will soon return to the big screen with a new reboot of the 1984 movie classic from director Macon Blair. Peter Dinklage is, of course, taking over the iconic role of the Toxic Avenger in the film, and we now have a couple of first-look images of the new Toxie.

“In this bold new chapter of the classic midnight movie franchise created by Lloyd Kaufman and Troma Entertainment, a shocking accident transforms downtrodden janitor Winston Gooze into a mutant vigilante. Armed with his signature mop, the unlikely hero battles freaks, gangsters and corrupt CEOs while trying to save his relationship with his son.” Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood, Jacob Tremblay, Julia Davis and Taylour Paige also star in this darkly funny take on the Troma anti-hero.

Blair told Entertainment Weekly of the new design: “The goal was to try to stay true to the vibe of Lloyd [Kaufman’s] original Jennifer Aspinall/Mitch Cohen creature, with some influence from the Toxic Crusaders cartoon’s look, while also trying to do something new and weird and lovable with Toxie’s design. I love what Millennium FX did with it — part human, part mutant, all heart.”

The Toxic Avenger will release in cinemas from August 29th, 2025. Check out the images below:

THE NATURAL ORDER Sci-Fi To Star Glen Powell, Barry Jenkins To Direct

twisters star glen powell to star in the natural order

Glen Powell is set to star in the Universal feature The Natural Order, a sci-fi thriller centring on the pursuit for eternal life from filmmaker Barry Jenkins. The film is based on author Matthew Aldrich’s unpublished manuscript. Jenkins is in talks to direct, and Jenkins and Aldrich will write the script. Plot details are scarce, but the project has been described as an “elevated sci-fi thriller”.

This is the first project to fall under Powell and Dan Cohen’s Barnstorm banner’s first-look deal with Universal. Producers on The Natural Order also include Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak for Pastel, along with Jewerl Keats Ross.

Jenkins’ most recent film was the Disney prequel film Mufasa: The Lion King, which released in cinemas late last year. He is best known for his Oscar-winning feature debut, Moonlight. Aldrich most notably wrote Coco for Disney and Pixar, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Warner Bros and DC Studios also recently greenlit his screenplay for Dynamic Duo, a Robin origin story.

Powell, meanwhile, is already set to have a busy year starring in the upcoming The Running Man from director Edgar Wright, appearing opposite Margaret Qualley in Huntington, and leading the eight-episode Hulu series Chad Powers.

Space Marine 3 Announced

Games Workshop and Focus Entertainment have announced that a sequel to the incredibly successful FPS video game Space Marine 2 is in the works.  It is currently titled Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3.

The first two games feature a Space Marine from the Ultramarine Chapter, who is called Titus. This same character also had its own animated short story as part of the Prime TV show Secret Level.

John Bert, Deputy CEO of Focus Entertainment Publishing, told the press, “We have been honoured by the incredible response from fans following the launch of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. We will continue to support the game with exciting content and regular updates in the coming years. Today, we are thrilled to announce that the adventure will continue with Space Marine 3. Players can look forward to an immersive campaign, a multiplayer mode, and innovations that will redefine the standards of third-person action games. Developed in close collaboration with Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 3 will take the genre to new heights by introducing large-scale battles that are even more spectacular.”

Matthew Karch, CEO of Saber Interactive added, “Space Marine 2 has proven to be a transformative game for Saber. It is the culmination of everything we have learned about game development in our 25 years in the business. We are now starting to develop Space Marine 3, a game that carries with it tremendous expectations from our rapidly expanding fanbase. While we will continue to support and grow the Space Marine 2 universe over the coming years, we will take all our learnings and apply them to an even bigger and more spectacular game for the third instalment. We view this as an opportunity to create a true love letter to the Warhammer 40.000 universe.”

Games Workshop have been working hard recently to bring cool spin-offs to the gaming public, and Space Marine 2 has been an excellent example of that. Though over at STARBURST towers, we’re still waiting for a triple AAA adaptation of the Troll-based bodybuilding board game Oi! Dat’s My Leg. In the meantime, we’re delighted to learn that there will be a sequel to the high-octane, bolter-shell fuelled game series that is Space Marine.

NYC’s Twenty-Sided Tavern Prepares For Tour

Officially Licensed Dungeons & Dragons Live Show, The Twenty-Sided Tavern, will be ending its New York City residency to tour North America later this year, it has been announced. The NYC run ends on May 11th, 2025, before touring the rest of the US.

The show uses a mix of actors, comedians, professional gamers and technology to present a fun stage experience.  Travis McElroy, Darin De Paul, Devora Wilde, Samantha Beart, Anjali Bhimani and Becca Scott are all guests for this final pre-tour run, with the Dungeon Master being the legendary Aabria Iyengar. 

“Bringing The Twenty-Sided Tavern to New York has been an unforgettable journey,” said Executive Producer and Co-Creator David Carpenter. “We’ve built an incredible community here, and we’re beyond excited to celebrate this chapter with some of the biggest names in the D&D and gaming world before taking the adventure nationwide. This is the Tavern at its absolute best – you won’t want to miss it.”

STARBURST randomly encountered The Twenty-Sided Tavern at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe back in 2022. The show has been selling out over in New York from 2024 through to this year, filling seats at the iconic Off-Broadway Stage 42 venue. The show is unusual for a D&D-themed improv theatre show because it uses live voting from the audience to navigate the story, using an app-based thing called Gamiotics. (Most shows use either a hat filled with suggestions or yelling.)

Twenty-Sided Tavern will then head to Washington to begin its tour. (You can find out more about future dates via their Discord ).  

Tickets are on sale now through May 11th, 2025, at thetwentysidedtavern.com and telecharge.com.

BAD KARAOKE Pits Cover Band Against Cursed Karaoke Machine

cruel summer star lexi underwood cast in comedy-horror bad karaoke

The horror-comedy Bad Karaoke is announced to begin shooting this month in Lost Angeles, from District 78 Films and Father Greg Productions. The film will star Cruel Summer’s Lexi Underwood, Monster High: The Movie‘s Case Walker, and Purple Hearts’ Kat Cunning.

It follows a group of friends in a cover band making their way from Portland, Oregon, to perform at a wedding in Napa, California. When they discover an abandoned karaoke machine in the back of a dive bar, the motley crew must find a way to defeat the cursed machine before it eliminates them.

Underwood plays songwriter Emily and Walker plays bassist Noah, with Cunning as lead singer Hannah, who has come to terms with a career as a cover band musician only to learn it might become the death of them. Bad Karaoke is the feature directorial debut of Chris Lightbody and Robert J. Steinmiller Jr. The script hails from Lightbody and Spencer Yaras. Producing are Yaras, Adam Bradshaw and Brendan Petrizzo.

Yaras said, via Deadline: “We knew we wanted to do something that paid tribute to our love of horror comedies as well as music, so we thought ‘what if karaoke killed you?’” Lightbody added: “Which happens a lot, actually.”