Military advisor signs deal for comics, films, games

Platinum Studios, which specializes in comic-book-to-film adaptations, has announced a partnership with Colonel John Alexander that will result in the development of new entertainment franchises based on the military advisor's knowledge of future military technologies. Alexander held special operations and intelligence positions in the US Army and has since served as an expert advisor to many governmental agencies, as well as Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton.

"Col. Alexander knows how tomorrow's wars will be fought because he has advised just about every area of the military in this regard, including the Pentagon, CIA, Los Alamos, NATO, and the National Research Council, which is about as high-level as you get in the US for research," said Barry Friedman, CEO of Fog Studios, who crafted the deal. "We are talking about the coolest of the cool military technologies--and the scariest new threats."

The deal will allow Platinum Studios to produce a series of comic books and graphic novels based on Alexander's concepts, which will also be developed in other media, including games. Platinum has enlisted Blue Shift and Handheld Games to develop games based on his ideas. Handheld will specifically focus on producing games for the Game Boy Advance, PDAs, and cell phones.

"At the same time Platinum's creative staff and writers are working closely with Col. Alexander to devise original storylines and characters for the comic book line, and future feature film and television adaptations, we'll be doing the same for the interactive gaming market, heading up story development and designing and programming the game engine and technology that will be provided to third-party software publishers," said Blue Shift president John Brooks.