Nerd Alert! TV's original Batgirl dies; Christopher Nolan curates Quay tour

Welcome once again to your weekly round-up of news from the world of science fiction, fantasy, comic books, animation, and all things nerdy. This time I'm relegating all the Star Wars content to one sublisticle. (That's right: "sublisticle". It's a word now. Deal with it.)

YVONNE CRAIG, BEST known for her portrayal of Batgirl on the 1960s Batman TV series, has died. According to a statement posted on her official website, the 78-year-old actor died at her home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, on Monday from metastatic breast cancer that had spread to her liver. Originally a ballet dancer, Craig moved into acting in the late 1950s. Her on-screen credits include two films opposite Elvis Presley—1963's It Happened at the World's Fair and 1964's Kissin' Cousins—and a memorable part as a dancing green-skinned alien on the third season of Star Trek. She is most closely identified, however, with the character of Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon; Barbara was a mild-mannered librarian by day and Batgirl by night. Batgirl appeared in 26 episodes of the campy late '60s ABC series Batman. Oh, and she had her own groovy theme song, too:

THE BROTHERS QUAY have been making darkly beautiful—and frankly heebie-jeebies-inducing—animation for over 35 years. If you're a fan of their nightmarishly breathtaking work, you'll be delighted to learn that Christopher Nolan has curated a touring program featuring new 35-mm prints of three of the brothers' films, plus his own short documentary on the cinematic siblings. You will be less thrilled, however, to discover that The Quay Brothers in 35mm won't be coming to Vancouver. The silver lining is that it does have a scheduled stop at Seattle's SIFF Film Center on October 9. 

THE SMALL PRESS EXPO has released the list of nominees for its annual Ignatz Awards, recognizing excellence in independent comics. There are quite a few Canadian nominees, including Ethan Rilly's Pope Hats #4, Jillian Tamaki's SuperMutant Magic Academy, and the landmark Drawn and Quarterly: Twenty-Five Years of Contemporary Cartooning, Comics, and Graphic Novels. Winners will be announced on September 19 during the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland. See the full list of nominees at the SPX website.

THE NEXT EDITION OF Vancouver Comic Con will take place at its usual HQ of Heritage Hall on September 13 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sepecial guests are slated to include Simon Roy (Prophet, Tiger Lung, Jan's Atomic Heart), Jason Copland (Kill All Monsters, POP), Mel Levrault (Phobiasoft), and Michelle Zhu. Visit the website for more info.

STAR WARS ROUNDUP

• At the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, earlier this week, Disney chairman Robert Iger announced the creation of two Star Wars–themed parks, which will be part of Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland in Anaheim. Each "land" will cover 14 acres and will feature attractions such as a Millennium Falcon ride and the famous Mos Eisley Cantina (where fans will presumably have the chance to settle for themselves the question of who shot first). If that doesn't fill your little heart with gleeful anticipation, peep the concept art below, because holy sheepshit.

• Also at D23 Expo, Sony unveiled its new limited-edition Star Wars Battlefront PS4 bundle, which includes a Darth Vader–inspired console and controller, plus the Battlefront game itself and digital voucher to download four classic SW games. Because you have unlimited free time, right?
• Have you seen the cast photo for Star Wars: Rogue One yet? If not, click over to the Straight's Movies Blog to have a look and to read Craig Takeuchi's commentary about the visibility of Asian actors and characters in science fiction.
• It's official: Episode IX will be directed by Colin Trevorrow. You might have heard of his last film, a little indie feature called Jurassic World? Or the one he made before that, Safety Not Guaranteed? That one actually was a little indie feature, and while it wasn't heavy on special effects, it was concerned with time travel. It's definitely worth seeing, especially if you're a fan of stars Aubrey Plaza or Mark Duplass.
• Benicio Del Toro has revealed that he is in talks to star in Episode VIII. Which leads us naturally to...

CASTING NEWS AND RUMOURS

• Shakira has been added to the cast of Walt Disney Animation's Zootopia. The talking-animal feature, helmed by Byron Howard (Tangled) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) with Jared Bush, will also be voiced by Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin.
• Luc Besson has announced that Clive Owen will appear in his $180-million cinematic adaptation of the French-Belgian comic book Valerian. Owen joins Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne in the sci-fi flick's cast.
• Lydia Wilson (About Time, Never Let Me Go) joins the cast of Star Trek Beyond, now in production right here in Vancouver.