Tag Archives: Arrow

C2E2 2015

John Mayo, of ComicBookPage, and Kay Kellam, of PopArtsPlace, talk about the recent C2E2 convention in Chicago. Sharing their experience at the 2015 convention, discussing panels they attended, booths that caught their eye on the floor, encounters with fellow fans as well as the talent and professionals in attendance, this podcast covers everything from local restaurants that offered excellent food and atmosphere to a reminder panelists might want to remember where the edge of the stage is in relation to their feet.

Links:
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/
Equilibrium Urban Survival Gear (Backpacks): http://www.equnit.com

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

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The Flash Welcomes Robbie Amell

It is hard to say what the most anticipated show of any television season is, even if you narrow it down to a network or genre, but while many were talking about FOX’s Gotham, lovers of the super-hero were also eagerly awaiting the arrival of the CW’s Flash.

Gotham was the subject of a great deal of conversation and buzz in large part because so little was truly known before the first episode was aired. Bruno Heller is a name in television, in so much as he is the man behind Patrick Jane and the Mentalist, but that is to the eyes of many a show of a different genre and thus could fans rely use that show to judge what they would be getting in Gotham?

The Flash on the other hand had several advantages. Not only is it coming from the same production team behind Arrow, but Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) appeared in two episodes of Arrow which laid the groundwork for The Flash. The episodes were not created to feel like a backdoor pilot, but rather introduced Barry Allen as a character that most of the audience knew, or suspected, would have a show of his own in the coming season and was worth paying that extra little bit of attention to.

Tonight in the season’s third episode, The Flash introduces Ronnie Raymond / Firestorm, played by Robbie Amell (real life cousin of Stephen Amell aka Arrow.) This is something fans have known about for quite some time and have been eagerly anticipating. Thus far The Flash has built it’s world, and helped the audience to understand the circumstances in which the characters are existing. S.T.A.R. Labs particle generator turned on, and for a while seemed to work — and then it didn’t. And with something like that, when things go wrong, they go very wrong. Then we take into account we are in the DC Universe, and when gamma radiation and magically scientific sounding things are flung out into the air — superheros are created! (Or so the non-science version goes.)

So far the audience has gotten to know Barry Allen’s work life, and Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) who raised him and is now the cop he works with most often. His personal life, or what there is of it, in the form of his one true friend, and psuedo foster-sister, Iris West (Candice Patton) who is in College studying journalism, and the S.T.A.R. Labs team who stabilized Barry while he was in a coma and is now helping him to find other meta-humans and make sure the accidents consequences aren’t more than Central City can handle.

At S.T.A.R. Labs, the equivalent of The Flash’s Arrow Cave, Barry is working with Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker), Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes), and the hard to decipher and trust, Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) who was the director of S.T.A.R. Labs when everything went up in smoke.

With the introduction of Ronnie Raymond, not only are fans getting a glimpse of Caitlin Snow before the accident, but we are also getting our first addition to the show, a recurring character who will be introduced in a manner where it feels from the start that he is meant to be here, meant to be a part of the world and the audience is intended to want him to survive and recur. No offense to Chad Rook who played Clyde Mardon in the pilot, but his evil self was there for our hero to battle and conquer, much as Michael Smith’s Danton Black, aka Multiplex, was in the second episode for The Flash to discover the hero within and just what he was capable of. Neither of those characters felt like integral parts of The Flash’s world, but rather stepping stones the plot and characters needed to keep us moving forward.

Where some shows need an entire season to lay the foundation before they can start digging deep, it appears with episode three The Flash is ready to dive in and start giving fans the good, the bad, and the back-story.

The Flash airs Tuesdays on the CW at 8PM / 7 Central

Arrow vs. Gotham

Gotham – Another Great Image (C) CW, this one found on Facebook

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I want to take a moment to talk about the DC Universe currently being brought to life on the small screen. Taking Starling City as presented in CW’s Arrow and Gotham in Fox’s Gotham as the two shows currently shining brightly and with the most episodes to date to talk about. Yes, Flash now has two episodes out of the box, and will probably garner a few remarks, but Arrow is entering its third season, and with four very solid episodes already out Gotham has a head start on Flash in the department of world and character building.

Over the course of two seasons the CW has shown on Arrow that they can build a solid world. Without a doubt that may be one of the show’s greatest accomplishments. Someone who has never read the comic books (myself for instance) can come to the show, a novice when it comes to all of the characters, jump right in with the first episode, and understand virtually everything they are seeing and being exposed to. Arrow takes the time to explain the things that need explaining, and speaks with authority about things like ARGUS so even when I am not sure what the abbreviation stands for, I am positive it holds meaning in their universe and if I needed to know, they would, in that moment at least, make sure I knew (whether or not I retain the information for the long haul).

Gotham‘s first four episodes do a wonderful job of bringing to life the complex world in which Bruce Wayne evolved from a confused boy seeing his parents brutally murdered into the man we will all come to know as Batman. He is, right now, learning, discovering, in so many ways he is witnessing and becoming. Directly and indirectly Bruce Wayne is being influenced by Gotham, and Gotham is helping the boy (whether it means to or not) form the foundation that will in turn create Batman. Alfred and Detective James Gordon are solid male role models in his life. Trying to help to understand what he is seeing, trying to explain the complexities of the world around him, and make sense of the way the adult world operates — recognizing that it is not always right, and sometimes our first instinct of what to do, what feels like an easy way to help is not necessarily the best way in which to offer aid.

Where Arrow is full of action and intensity as Oliver Queen and team Arrow take down those who have failed Starling City, Bruce Wayne feels powerless as he is forced by his age and lack of skills to sit by and watch the goings on of a corrupt Gotham. Gotham is a show about the underside of a city, about the mob-era the inspired a boy to become so much more than it is likely anyone ever imagined he might be, and the criminals who challenged him, inspired him, and convinced him someone had to stand up for what was right, and give his city hope that Gotham could become a better place to live.

Gotham airs Mondays on FOX at 8 PM / 7 Central
Arrow airs Wednesdays on CW at 8 PM / 7 Central

If you haven’t already — check out our Arrow Podcasts:

Arrow Season 2 Podcast – a spoiler filled discussion of Season 2 with John Mayo of ComicBookPage and Kay Kellam of PopArtsPlace

Arrow Season 1 Podcast – A spoiler filled discussion of Season 1 of Arrow, with John Mayo of ComicBookPage and Kay Kellam of PopArtsPlace

#WWAustinCC Podcast – 2014

John Mayo, of ComicBookPage, talks with Kay Kellam, of PopArtsPlace, about Wizard World: Austin 2014, panels we attended and discuss include:

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A WRITER W/ K.M. TOLAN
A panel on how to know if you are ready to enter the professional writing arena, and the avenues open to you. Presented by K.M. Tolan, a published SF/F author with Champagne Books, the discussion will be a Q&A format dealing with all aspects of fiction writing and how to break in to today’s market.

CON RADIO LIVE – JOIN US FOR THE “CON SMASH” PODCAST
Con Radio is a brand new podcast service that covers all things pop culture – from movie & TV news to comic reviews, action figures to pro wrestling, the scary to the geeky! Join us for the latest recording of Con Radio’s premiere program “Con SMASH,” featuring special guests to be announced, prize giveaways and more, hosted by Mo Lightning (Voice of Wizard World, WrestlingAudio.com) and Aaron Sagers (Editor At Large of Blastr.) Learn more by following us @radioforgeeks and @consmash.

Christopher Judge, Teal’C of Stargate SG-1

THROUGH THE STARGATE WITH CHRISTOPHER JUDGE
You have seen Christopher Judge in Stargate SG-1; The Dark Knight Rises; Stargate: Continuum; Stargate: The Ark of Truth, and have heard his voice as Magneto in X-Men: Evolution. Join him in his very own Wizard World panel where he shares stories from his career and will take questions from you!

COMICS PODCASTING AND BLOGGING – recorded as a podcast, available next wednesday, October 15, 2014
This panel will focus on podcasting and blogging as it relates to comics and comics culture. Panel participants (John Mayo, Derek Royal and Cole Houston) will come from different perspectives of comics reading – mainstream, alternative, indie – and have varying experiences in covering comics reviewing, comics analysis, and comics/pop culture news. This will be an informative panel, providing a how-to introduction to those interested in podcasting and blogging about comics culture. Panelists will strongly encourage audience questions and participation, since much of the purpose of the panel is to inform and encourage audience members interested in social media as a platform to sharing ideas about comics and pop culture.

INSIDE STARLING CITY W/ KATIE CASSIDY
Starling City can feel a little bit safer with Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance) around to help protect its citizens. Join the star of the hit CW show, Arrow, as she discuss her part on the hit show, share a detail or two about the upcoming season, her exciting roles outside of Arrow & much more!

See a video of Katie Cassidy talking about the Salmon Ladder — and whether or not she could handle doing it — on youtube at http://youtu.be/ce2dMHKjHlI

ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE GREEN POWER RANGER: JASON DAVID FRANK
Come see the original Green Power Ranger, Jason David Frank live on the Wizard World stage. Don’t miss your chance to ask your questions in this special audience Q&A session and learn more about his reality TV show My Morphin Life.

REBECCA MADER: ONE WICKED WOMAN
From comedy to drama to fantasy, Rebecca Mader can do it all! You’ve seen her in The Devil Wears Prada, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Ceremony, The Big Bang, Iron Man 3, and most recently in Once Upon a Time as the as delightfully evil and compelling Wicked Witch of the West. She joins us for her very first Wizard World panel where she’ll share stories from her career and turn to YOU for questions!

HOW TO START YOUR OWN PODCAST AND KICK ASS AT IT – recorded as a podcast — available now.
Sit down with a group of local podcasters and learn the complete technical and creative process of starting your own podcast. How to find your own style to stand out amongst all the others and make it last. Whether you want to start a podcast or have no idea what a podcast is, this is sure to be the panel to see! Hosted by David Martinez (Loitering And…), Damon Miller (The Pop Pod), William Howser (Zombie Life Podcast), Angel Mascareno (The Pop Pod) and Michael Holland (Loitering And…) This panel was recorded as a podcast and can be heard at http://loiteringand.libsyn.com/loitering-and-comic-con-panel

WHY TEACH BATMAN IN COLLEGE?! COMICS AND ACADEMIA WITH COMICS SCHOLARS ROYAL, AYRES, CANNON, FRIEDENTHAL & DELWICHE – recorded as a podcast, available now.
Comics and graphic novels have come into their own as subjects worthy of—indeed, demanding—attention from academia. Historians and cultural theorists teach courses, hold conferences, and publish books on various aspects of sequential art. Colleges and universities teach courses in comics as literature and social history as well as how to make them. Here, to give an overview of various ideas about and approaches to comics studies (and to answer the question “Why teach BATMAN in college?”) is a cross-section of comics scholars and teachers, including: Jackson Ayres (Texas A&M University), Sam Cannon (University of Texas at Austin), Andrew Friedenthal (St. Edward’s University), and Aaron Delwiche (Trinity University). The panel is moderated by Derek Parker Royal (The Comics Alternative). This panel was recorded as a podcast and is available now at http://comicsalternative.com/on-location-academia/

Links:
Wizard World: Austin: http://www.wizardworld.com/home-tx.html
Convention Awareness Project Texas
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 feed and website:http://www.ComicBookPage.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download