Monthly Archives: November 2015

@Gotham Season 1 Discussion #Gotham

 @GothamTVWriters @robinlordtaylor @ErinRRichards @camrenbicondova #SelinaKyle @ben_mckenzie @mister_CMS @realdavidmazouz @seanpertwee

John Mayo, of ComicBookPage, and Kay Kellam, of PopArtsPlace, have a spoiler filled discussion about the first season of Gotham.  Discussing the show set in the city that inspires Bruce Wayne to become Batman, set in the time when Oswald Cobblepot is just becoming the Penguin (and starting to embrace the name that was once a derogatory nickname he avoided) and when gangster like mobs ran the city under the leadership of more family like structures led by Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni.

Links:
Gotham @ IMDB.com: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3749900/
Discount Comic Book Service: http://www.DCBService.com
Comics Podcast Network: http://www.comicspodcast.com
League of Comic Book Podcasts:http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league/

Email us at TheGuys@ComicBookPage.com

Join the discussion on our forum at: http://forum.comicbookpage.com

This podcast episode originated on the Comic Book Page website:http://www.ComicBookPage.com

@WizardWorld Austin 2015 #WizardWorld

John Mayo, of ComicBookPage, talks with Kay Kellam, of PopArtsPlace, about Wizard World Austin 2015.

Unfortunately Austin and surrounding areas were under a flash flood and Tornado warning the first day of this 2 day convention, which prevented many from being able to attend, it did not however dampen the enthusiasm of those who were present Saturday.  (CNN and other national news outlets covered the flooding in Austin and the region.)

Not only did the weather mean some attendees found attending an obstacle, but Brent Spiner (Data of Star Trek the Next Generation among other credits) was unable to get to the convention to attend, and Jason David Frank (Tommy of Power Rangers) left early since his flight was cancelled but he had figured out how to drive home if he left immediately after his final panel.

The official rain totals reported Saturday by  Jared Plushnick  (@JaredP_KVUE) of the local ABC Affiliate for that flash flood period were:

Flash Flood Rain Totals in Austin Area

Among other things, while at the convention John and Kay attended several panels including:

12:30 – 1:15PM CREATING WORLDS AND STORYTELLING (BALLROOM E)
Creators, Novelists, and Narrative Designers discuss the ins and outs of creating worlds and storytelling including the realities and opportunities when seeking a creative career. Genese Davis (The Holder’s Dominion), Hall Hood (Studio Lead Writer at BioWare Austin), Jack Conner (The Atomic Sea) and Eric Kieron Davis (Senior Producer) will divulge their experiences and their secrets for developing and selling creative projects in this one-of-a-kind panel.

3:30 – 4:15PM THE ART OF SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON PRODUCTION WITH ANIMATOR/DIRECTOR TOM COOK (BALLROOM E)
Wizard World is proud to present world-renown animator Tom Cook (Tarzan; Flash Gordon; He-Man and the Masters of the Universe; She-Ra Princess of Power). This panel will be a demonstration of the steps taken to bring an idea from script to screen. Cook will begin with a short story of how he became an animator back in the late 1970s and then describe the different departments in an animation studio and what they do to move the development of the cartoon forward. Tom will have a few scenes he has worked on over the years on video and then will open the floor for questions about either the process or any other question you may have. So come out and see first-hand how your favorite cartoons were made!

4:30 – 5:15PM FROM CAP’S SHIELD TO AGENTS OF SHIELD TO ANT-MAN! MARVEL COMICS AT 76 with SPIDER-MAN’S DANNY FINGEROTH & THE HULK’S PAUL BENJAMIN (BALLROOM E)
In 1939, Marvel Comics #1 debuted, unleashing The Sub-Mariner and The Human Torch on the world, and launching what would come to be known as the Marvel Universe. Danny Fingeroth (Deadly Foes of Spider-Man; The Stan Lee Universe) and Paul Benjamin (Amazing Spider-Man; Marvel Heroes MMO) present an illustrated tour through the seven decades of comics, movies and TV series that make up the phenomenon that is Marvel.

5:30 – 6:15PM 1940: WORLD WAR II AND COMICS: THE JOKER, ROBIN, THE FLASH, CAPTAIN AMERICA, CAPTAIN MARVEL, AND THE SPIRIT! With SEDELMAIER, LANGLEY, BENJAMIN, ROYAL & FINGEROTH (BALLROOM E)
75 years ago, in 1940, as the Nazi conquest of Europe continued and the Battle of Britain raged, the United States watched from the sidelines while instituting the first peacetime draft. At the same time, the world of comics was experiencing an incredible sustained period of invention, as The Joker, Robin, Green Lantern, the Flash, Hawkman, the Spirit, Catwoman, and Captains America and Marvel all debuted! (Not to mention the debuts of pop culture icons Bugs Bunny, and Brenda Starr, and classic movies Fantasia and The Great Dictator!) Showing and discussing historical and cultural factors that made that year so important is a panel including moderator Danny Fingeroth (Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics and the Creation of the Superhero) as well as an array of history and pop culture experts, including J.J. Sedelmaier (Tek Jansen), Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight), Paul Benjamin (Amazing Spider-Man), and Derek Royal (University of Texas, Dallas).

Links:
Wizard World: Austin: http://www.wizardworld.com/home-tx.html
Discount Comic Book Service: http://www.DCBService.com
Comics Podcast Network: http://www.comicspodcast.com
League of Comic Book Podcasts:http://www.comicbooknoise.com/league/

Email us at TheGuys@ComicBookPage.com

Join the discussion on our forum at: http://forum.comicbookpage.com

This podcast episode originated on the Comic Book Page website:http://www.ComicBookPage.com

Librarians, among others

This is a site where we write articles when we have meaningful things to say, or share.  When we want to bring shows to people’s attention, have podcasts we are releasing, but this is not a site dedicated to making sure an article is posted hourly or daily.

With that in mind, I found it hard to not flood the site with articles today, which felt ironic given we do not guarantee to write even 1 article every day.

While Sundays are not famous for being the best night on Television, it looks like tonight is going to be a very good night for a lot of viewers.

The second season of The Librarians, on TNT, is starting.  While John and I have not yet recorded a podcast about the first season, we do have one about the movies that led up to the show, and this is another example of a show doing a nice job of taking a character from the movies, and world where viewers had come to understand the logic and how that world operated, and from those things a fun and entertaining show was created.

 If you have not already listened to the podcast we did about the movies, now may be a great time to do so.  Noah Wyle’s character is in all three movies, and recurs in season 1, and he and the Library itself serve as the binding threads if you will between the movies and the series.  The podcast discusses  The Librarian: Quest for the Spear television movie including a little about the other two television movies The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines and The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice.

Madam_Secretary_CBSAlso on Sunday night’s is Madam Secretary, a show I do not write about often, but do watch by appointment every Sunday Night.  There are several reasons for this, one of which is they way they blend stories that are “ripped from the headlines” with things that have not happened, and yet once they toss out the possibility, you realize how they could, and there is something enjoyable about seeing a working government (and yes, this show strives to show a WORKING government) strive to tackle the problem.   This CBS show avoids talk of specific political parties, instead it has scenes where two people who really ought to be working together but come from different divisions of government make statements along the lines of, “this isn’t your time to shine,” or you aren’t on  “my time” and later discover why our government functions so much better whenever everyone in those positions is working towards the single minded goal of the best America possible.  (An idealistic view, no doubt, and yet one that perhaps we need to see if we are not to become to cynical to both survive, and find a way through, gridlock.)

Quantico - ParrishFinally a show I have not yet taken an opportunity to write about, in part because I am still forming an opinion on it.  Quantico on ABC.   If you watched the ABC show The Nine several years ago, Quantico has a similar format to the episodes — flashing back to FBI training 9 months ago in Quantico, while currently trying to solve the question of who is responsible for a present day terrorist  attack, using 1 clue — a tip that the person responsible for the attack was a member of that class of trainees at Quantico.  Their trainer Liam O’Connor, played by Josh Hopkins, is working the case in New York, and is convinced it is Alex Parrish (played compellingly by Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra), in part because she was found, unconscious, within the blast radius (ie where someone who had just set of the device might have been.)  

Quantico - BOothWhy am I wavering in how I feel about the show?  It is pretty solid entertainment, but most weeks it feels like we get the back story, or a reason to mistrust, yet another member of the trainee class.  A bit expected to be honest.  We are getting a lot of 9 months ago drama, which I am enjoying, but little in the way of compelling information today, few people being introduced as truly believable or viable terrorists, for me.  I keep watching thinking I missing something, that they are giving me a set of characters I like, especially Ryan Booth (Jake McLaughlin) the one FBI agent that Alex Parrish is sure from the moment she knows she has been framed that she can trust.   Part of me does not want one of Alex’s fellow trainees to have been the terrorist, and another part of me is begging the writers to have been playing fair with us as viewers.

In addition, I am particularly enjoying Yasmine Al Massri‘s portrayal of twins who are taking turns as 1 recruit, trying to prove that 2 people could go undercover as 1 person and share the responsibilities and role of an FBI agent.  She has had some particularly good scenes with Aunjanue Ellis as the head of FBI training, Miranda Shaw.

Sunday has suddenly become an evening where my DVR and I are very busy… and very happy.

kay