Ken's Alternate Universe!

Louisiana Comic Con 2015 (Lafayette Edition)

Lafayette, LA

For a city that has been growing rapidly over the past few years, Lafayette has yet to attract a solid pop culture convention. Sure, there have been a few fan-run conventions, but they seem to be primarily focused on anime (LouisiAnime is a prime example). While there’s nothing wrong with having an anime-centric convention, it would be nice to have an event that takes in all aspects of geekdom, from horror to science fiction and everything in between.

On the weekend of October 17th, AVC Conventions changed all of that for the Lafayette area. Louisiana Comic Con (which took place earlier this year in Bossier City, LA, had its first event in Lafayette and, at least in my opinion, it was a major success. The event was attended by a solid amount of fans, nerds, geeks, and collectors. There was a long line waiting to enter the convention and there was also a long line for day-of-event ticket sales.

Foot traffic grew with each hour of the event on Saturday, and Sunday had a very nice crowd as well. The venue was sized right for the convention and there was a decent mix of vendors, comic artists, and celebrities. A few guest cosplayers were also on hand.

A highlight for me was getting to meet Lew Temple (Axel from The Walking Dead) and Donald Fullilove (Mayor Goldie Wilson from Back to the Future). The Walking Dead cast members have consistently been some of the friendliest celebrities that I’ve ever met, and Lew Temple did not disappoint. I talked to him about his character’s death in TWD and his character’s death in The Lone Ranger. I told him that he was becoming another Sean Bean and he quickly told me that he was actually killed in a film by Sean Bean (whose character later died in the same film)! It was fun moment that bled over into talking about Carol from TWD with the people in line behind me.

Meeting Donald Fullilove was my primary goal at this convention. Mayor Wilson (particularly 1950’s diner employee Goldie Wilson) has always been one of my favorite characters from the Back to the Future franchise. Fullilove was extremely cordial, and was taken aback by my “very Louisiana, very French” last name. He was a very cool guy and I’m glad that I got to meet him.

I also got to hang out with some of my friends from the Lafayette area as well as the lovely lady’s of Orion’s Envy. The Just Us League showed up on Sunday (with the Discount Dark Knight trying to keep them in line). On Saturday evening I attended the convention after party at City Bar. There was an artist’s Draw Off with an auction of their work immediately after they finished working on it.

For a first year event, there was a large amount of cosplayers in attendance. Their level of skill ranged from novice to pro and everybody seemed to be having fun getting dressed up as their favorite characters. My favorite cosplays for the weekend were Chef from South Park and Penguin from Batman Returns. Sooner or later I’m going to create a decent costume and show it off at an event.

AVC has already confirmed that they will be returning to Lafayette next year. I’m happy to hear that. Why? For starters, there’s a quick drop off in conventions close to my home after Space City Comic Con in August. Also, I don’t always get to go to CoastCon in Biloxi in March due to work and distance. I’ve given up on Wizard World events for the most part because they are both expensive and not as fun as they used to be. CyphaCon and Bayoucon are excellent local events in April and June, respectively. With Louisiana Comic Con guaranteeing a return next year and Southern Geek Fest opening its doors for the first time next April, I now have five conventions to look forward to next year. CyphaCon and Southern Geek Fest have already announced a few guests, and I’m sure that Space City and Bayoucon aren’t too far from making guest announcements on their respective websites and social media pages.

So, Louisiana Comic Con is my last convention for the year and that makes me both happy and sad. I’m happy because the event was fun, but sad that there are no more conventions in my area until next year. I do plan on attending a few nerdy events to end the year (including Halloween Comic Fest at Paper Heroes and local comic shops all over the country on Saturday, October 31st), but LCC is definitely a nice way for me to end my convention season.

I’ll be writing posts about any and every other nerdy event I attend this year and will most likely write a review of that little Disney/Lucasfilms project that’s coming up in December as well. I’m also hoping to snag an interview with a cosplayer or two before the end of the year and plan on featuring more of them next year.

As always, thank you very much for reading my post. Feel free to comment or share photos from any events that you’ve attended in the comments section and don’t hesitate to throw suggestions about things you’d like for me to blog about as well.

Late To The Game

The Wonderful World Of Pop Culture

Next year will be my fortieth spin around that big ball of flaming gas at the center of our solar system. That means that I’ve been a nerd for almost forty years. My passion for and dedication to certain imaginary universes throughout my life have burned bright for a select few characters and tales. Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Batman are three fandoms that I’ve been a part of for pretty much my entire life. Sure, there are other characters, stories, books, films, and shows that I’ve loved over the years, but those three in particular have always had a special place in my heart.

I’ve become a passionate member of other fandoms over the years, some of which have been around a whole lot longer than me. For multiple reasons, I was somehow late to the game on these shows, books, etc. For instance, take Star Trek. Even though Trek has become a pretty big part of my life, it wasn’t until Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan that I really took notice of the series. I was born well after the show was taken off of the air, and even though it ran in syndication and on cable television, I was unable to watch it for the simple fact that my family lived too far out of town for cable and none of the channels that we caught with our antenna showed the program.

My brother was old enough to have seen most of the old series in syndication, and he was my sole source for all things Trek until I became an unknowing (at the time) pawn in a dating game involving one of my relatives. I was lucky enough to have a relative that really, really loved science fiction and fantasy, and that relative also had a significant other who was deemed too much of a rebel by said relative’s parents. In order to keep my relative from going astray, I was sent with the couple on dates to act as a buffer. That meant that I got to see all of the really cool 1980’s science fiction and fantasy films with two people that I believed were as cool as a person could ever be (and I still believe that about BOTH of them to this day).

Wrath of Khan got the Trek ball rolling in my life and whenever it was announced that Star Trek: The Next Generation was coming to television, I was ecstatic…..until I found out that the only channel that aired it in my area was also one of those channels that I could only watch whenever the planets aligned perfectly and there was a frost on the ground!

Eventually I made it to a college dorm and cable television, which meant that I played serious catch-up on ST: TOS and ST: TNG. DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise all came later and, with varying degrees of interest, I watched them. However, TOS is, was, and always will be my favorite Trek.

Another show that I fell in love with long after its inception (and cancellation, in this case) was Firefly. I actually saw Serenity before seeing the television series and found it to be bland and not-at-all cool in any way. After finally seeing the series a few years ago and then re-watching the film, though, I’ve grown to love the entire series and the film.

I consider myself a Browncoat and have a mad crush on Jewel Staite. I’ve had the opportunity to meet her, but I’ve never actually committed to getting in line and talking to her. Eventually I will meet her, but she’s always made me very nervous. It’s nothing personal against her, I just get very nervous in her presence. She’s one of a very short list of actors and actresses that make me a bit afraid to meet.

The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, were always at the back of my mind as a book series that I wanted to read. I had already consumed some of Lewis’ other works such as Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, The Four Loves, and (my personal favorite) The Screwtape Letters, but I was two books into Harry Potter before I ever picked up my first Narnia tale. The films that were released a few years ago whet my appetite, but I didn’t fully commit to the series until after the first film was released. After seeing it, I decided to read all of the stories and I fell in love with them.

Another series or, perhaps better stated, another character that I was late to take interest in was Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow. I always viewed Oliver as a second-rate Batman and a Robin Hood wannabe. It wasn’t until the New 52 and the CW television series hit that I took a greater interest in the character. I actually got hooked on the show via The Flash crossover episodes. I’ve read a few of the comics as well, but the show is what I really enjoy. I’m working my way through the series and hope to be caught up by the end of the current season.

Finally, one show that I’ve never really gotten into but have always wanted to learn more about is the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. Again, my brother was my sole source for the classic show, and I everything he taught me about it, but when the new series came out, it just didn’t hold my interest. I felt that something great was waiting in the wings, but after missing a few episodes and lacking the drive to catch up on them, I gave up on the show.

Oddly enough, Caprica was much more interesting to me. Of course, it didn’t last nearly as long as its predecessor, but seeing how much I enjoyed it has made me wonder if I should give BSG another shot. I have friends that love the series, so maybe I can look to them for even more inspiration.

As always, thanks for reading. I hope to meet some of you this weekend at the Louisiana Comic Con in Lafayette, LA. Look for Charlie Brown on Saturday and The Discount Dark Knight on Sunday. I hope to see you there!

The Walking Dead Has Returned!!!

Alexandria Safe Zone

After what seemed like ages, The Walking Dead finally made its triumphant return to the small screen with a brand new season and a few new characters. While Fear The Walking Dead did its darnedest to satisfy our hunger, it can’t hold a candle to its daddy. I hope that Fear The Walking Dead gets better with its next season, but I don’t have a lot of hope for it. With no intentions of beating a dead horse, I just can’t commit to any of the characters. They are shallow and forgettable, and the show’s future looks bleaker in my mind than The Walking Dead’s future.

Okay, enough about that. Let’s get to last night’s premiere.

****WARNING!!! WARNING!!! SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE****

STOP READING NOW UNLESS YOU WANT SPOILERS!!!!!

Last night’s episode opened up with a bit of craziness. That whole quarry full of walkers was interesting to see, and my old school Whovian vibe hit full speed. Why? Because anybody that watched classic Doctor Who during the runs of Tom Baker or Peter Davison know that a lot of serious stuff went down in quarries for both of those Doctors. Whenever I saw that quarry, I didn’t think about it being the primary reason that Alexandria appeared to remain fairly safe. Nope, I figured that it was a massive walker pit set up by the Wolves. I’m sure that they will play a much larger part during this season of TWD, and I can’t wait to see where their story will collide with Rick and the gang.

Also, the episode played with flashbacks to the setup of the walker parade with black and white footage. While I can appreciate the artsy attempt to differentiate between the past and present, I didn’t see it as much of a help or hindrance. If anything, I would have gone with a darker filter (maybe brown out the flashback sequences) instead of the old B&W standby. Still, that was just a minor bug up my backside.

For the most part, the episode was very solid. It wasn’t my favorite season opener (Season Four and Season Two are tied for that spot), but I really appreciated how it used confusion (with the flashbacks, keeping us guessing as to what really is going on), group tension (the uneasy truce of Rick and Carter and the different reactions of characters to Glenn and Nicholas’ relationship), downright idiocy (Abraham’s seeming fall into goofiness), and humor (I’m looking at you, Eugene, and that glorious hair of yours).

We also got to meet a few new characters. I’d like to focus on two of them specifically. First of all, let’s take a look at Carter (Ethan Embry). Carter pops into the group as the primary source of resistance to Rick’s master plan to get rid of the walker quarry herd. Rick being Rick, he patiently waits for Carter to screw up and, surprise, he does. He pulls a gun on poor ol’ Eugene (who plays off the whole interaction with a “Hello” that is hilarious in the minds of the audience). This is when Rick lays down the law and Carter meekly agrees to help him out.

Carter almost derails the plan when he is grabbed by a walker that has somehow twisted itself into the branches of a tree just off of the road that the herd is being paraded on to their eventual destination twenty miles away. Carter, not used to being monster meat, screams in terror and then screams in pain as the walker takes out a chunk of his face. This draws the herd into the woods for a bit, but leave it to Rick, Morgan, and Michonne to put an end to all of that nonsense. It must have been very fulfilling for Rick to shut Carter up!

The other character I’d like to talk about is Heath (Corey Hawkins). While we don’t get to see much of Heath, his few moments on the screen are golden. From his first encounter with Eugene, who immediately recognizes him for the follicly fashion-forward man that he is, to his nervous but much-needed assistance given to Glenn and Nicholas, I can see Heath being a key character for at least a few episodes. Hopefully he will stick around longer than Carter.

The show held my attention for its entirety and gave myself and others brief glimpses into the development of Morgan as a character (he’s a bit miffed about his peanut butter protein bar and appears to be on to Carol’s deception of the natives of Alexandria), Michonne becoming even more sure of herself, and Deanna trying to keep things together after losing her husband and a bit of control over Alexandria.

I see this season as one where a few major characters will bite the dust (my money’s on Glenn and, possibly, Abraham) and a couple of newer characters (Deanna and Heath) will take key roles in the new chaos that awaits them just outside the walls of Alexandria.

Oh, and that HORN!!!!!!!

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll be at Louisiana Comic Con this weekend in Lafayette, LA. I’ll be sure to post photos and a write up about the event in the week that follows. If you are attending the event, be sure to track me down. I’ll be cosplaying as Charlie Brown on Saturday for most of the day and on Sunday I’ll be the Discount Dark Knight along with a few other members of the Just Us League. I hope to see you there!

It’s Been Awhile….

In A Busy Place

It has been quite a long time since I last posted anything. The reason? I’ve been super busy with life. I promised you all that I would post something about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show that I took some of my family to a few weeks ago, so here’s the rundown and a few photos as well.

For starters, the show was a bit disorganized. The group putting on the show relies on local volunteers to serve as ushers, ticket collectors, merchandise sellers, etc., in order to keep show costs down. That’s a good thing, but the volunteers that they had (local sorority and fraternity members) made quite a few mistakes. I’m not blaming them (the show was a sellout, after all), but I do wish that they had been given better instructions and possibly a little more assistance from the venue.

I felt especially sorry for the young lady pictured above on the right (sorry about the photo quality, I was using my phone since I forgot my camera). She had to deal with a ton of young Turtle fans and a bunch of immature parents, many of which paid general admission for the show and got angry whenever they tried to sneak in on the VIP seating area and/or VIP perks. One family’s matriarch in particular raised a lot of cane whenever she was busted for sitting on the front row. Police had to be called in to assist with the angry “adult.”

My family got a photo with the Turtles (as a rule, I never post my family’s photos on this page) and once the show started, the entire audience really enjoyed the action. It was a mixture of martial arts performance, dance, comedy, and a bit of seriousness about bullies. The primary message was that you can control your own destiny and prevent others from bringing you down.

Before the show, VIPs got autographed photos from the Turtles and when it was picture time, they signed any and everything the kids wanted them to autograph. It was a very fun evening and I hope that the Turtles return very soon.

In other news, Louisiana Comic Con is just a couple of weeks away. I am excited for this event as it’s been a couple of months since my last convention (Space City Comic Con, which rocked). I’ll be spending the whole weekend down there, so if anybody that’s reading this plans on attending the event, drop me a comment and maybe we’ll get to meet one another!

Fear The Walking Dead has one episode left in the season and I have to admit that I’m not impressed by the program. I keep watching it hoping that the characters become more likeable, but it’s just not happening for me. The show is bland and very slow moving. The lack of a bunch of Walkers doesn’t bother me, but the lack of interesting characters is agitating. I’ll watch the last episode, but I’m not expecting much. Hopefully it will get better next season.

The Big Bang Theory and Gotham premiered their newest seasons last week, and I’ve only been able to catch a portion of Gotham. What I did see was great, however, and the upturn in writing quality near the end of the first season has definitely carried over into the second season. I’ll give an in depth review of that show and TBBT in a later post.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll do my best to write more often. It looks like things will be slowing down for me a bit in a week or two, which means I can get back to geeking out with my friends real soon.

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll have more to talk about in the upcoming weeks.

Louisiana Comic Con (The Lafayette Version), Cosplay Bullies, And More!!

Lafayette, LA

In just over a month from now, Lafayette, LA will be getting a big dose of geekdom when the Louisiana Comic Con takes place October 17th and 18th. I have plans to be there and you should too. Why? Because this is the first pop culture event to hit Lafayette in a long time. Yes, there have been conventions here in the past (MechaCon and LouisiAnime, for example), but those conventions have been fairly anime-centric (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and have also moved on to a larger city, New Orleans. Louisiana Comic Con, which is being put on by the same group that hosted an event in Bossier City earlier this year under the same name, appears to be bringing something to the table for everyone.

Lafayette is a really cool town in south central Louisiana, and I’m glad that they are finally getting a convention that offers a little bit for every fandom out there. For more info (and a few more cool photos taken by Leslie Westbrook like the featured image), check out the article on The Advocate’s website here.

If you do plan on attending this event, be sure to look for me on Saturday as Charlie Brown and on Sunday as the Discount Dark Knight. I’ll be hanging around with the JustUs League on Sunday as well, so if you want to have a good time, just look for us!

In other news, I recently watched a video that you can see here, that really touched me. It appears that the young lady in the video, who goes by the name Oppai Queen (she’s on Facebook, by the way), was bullied on social media for her cosplay, specifically her body size. She was called “Shamu” and a few other not-so-nice names and has apparently been picked at before both on social media and in person.

I can’t tolerate this sort of BS. Why do people feel the need to pick on others just because a person doesn’t fit their particular concept of beauty or their definition of a certain character? The young lady in the video is very attractive in my opinion and shows a ton of courage for the costumes that she wears. If you don’t like her costume or her body type, avert your eyes and keep your opinion to yourself! If you believe that she or any other person is too tall, short, skinny, fat, pretty, ugly, or any other adjective that comes to mind for a specific cosplay, KEEP IT TO YOURSELF!!!!! If a person is bold enough to wear something like a Slave Leia costume or a skintight Spider-Man costume, show them a little respect for putting themselves out there and taking a chance!

With that said, I want to challenge each and every person reading this post. If you see somebody at a convention in a costume, compliment them. Tell them that you really like whatever it is that they are wearing or ask them how they created a certain piece of their costume. Not only will it make them feel good about themselves, it might even be the start of a great friendship. In short, don’t be a jerk to anybody!!!!! It’s that simple!

Now we’ve arrived at the “more” portion of my post. This weekend I am bringing some of my family out to see a live Ninja Turtles production on, oddly enough considering the previous topic, bullying. I’ll be sure to post photos and give a brief write up after the event this weekend. I really hope that it’s a good show, as certain members of my family really love TMNT.

I’ve also fallen in love with the album Behind The Black Veil by Dark Sarah. I’ve been listening to a lot of Beauty and the Beast Metal lately and Dark Sarah was a band that was suggested to me. While it’s not Beauty and the Beast Metal, it definitely has the Beauty element with the wonderful operatic voice of Heidi Parviainien (formerly of Amberian Dawn) who portrays Dark Sarah as the character spins into darkness as she is left at the altar by her would-be husband. The album is steeped in theatrical metal and has hints of Danny Elfman scattered throughout, particularly in the song Violent Roses. I love this album and can’t get enough of it!

I recently watched the second episode of Fear The Walking Dead and while it’s a definite improvement over the first episode, the show is still lacking. I still don’t care about any of the characters and I don’t make a mad dash to the television set to watch it like I do whenever The Walking Dead is about to come on. I still have hope that this show will find its footing and win over audiences, but it better do so quickly, or it will end up just as dead as a walker with a tire wrench through its brain.

Last but not least, I want to touch on the whole Force Friday business that happened on September 4. I read a ton of posts whining about the lack of selection, the limits set on customers, and the long hours in line only to get to the shelves and see that all of the Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma figures were gone. You know what? It’s not that big of a deal! Yes, I hate it when scalpers go in and buy up all of a certain figure only to resale it for a crazy price, but as long as people are willing to pay that price, scalpers will exist. If fans and collectors would simply wait until more figures are released (and they almost always will be), they’ll get that sacred Kylo Ren or Captain Phasma that they just gotta have! Sure, you miss out on a few exclusives every now and then but nobody has to have absolutely every single item that is released!

I didn’t go out on Friday to pick up any Star Wars items. Nope, I went on Saturday to a local Wal-Mart that (luckily for me) is in an area where collectors are almost non-existent. I picked up a Kylo and a Phasma in 3.75″ size and paid retail for it. I left a ton of Black Series 6″ figures on the shelf because I just didn’t feel like getting them and, yes, there were two Kylo Rens on the shelf!

Collecting is supposed to be fun, not a Black Friday bar fight! Be patient, refuse to pay scalper prices, and eventually you’ll get your hands on whatever must-have you are tracking down.

Well, that’s all of my ranting for now, folks. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for reading!!!!

A Huge Film About A Tiny Hero

Lake Charles, LA

I know that Marvel’s Ant-Man has been out for a few weeks now. I also know that I’m late to the game on this film. I fully intended to see it on its opening weekend, but LIFE happened and I just never could seem to get my butt in a chair at the theater. After seeing the film, though, I’m both happy and sad that I waited so long to see it.

Why am I both happy and sad? Well, I’m happy because the theater wasn’t jam-packed full of people when I finally got to see the film. This meant that the odds of running into an idiot with a loud mouth or a screaming child with a parent who just won’t leave the theater were pretty low. I really, really, REALLY dislike constant interruptions during films, and for this reason I will often wait a week or two before checking out some films.

I was sad because the film was no longer available in 3D in my local theater. Since Marvel has been releasing films in 3D, I’ve only missed seeing them as such once before watching Ant-Man, and that was Thor, because I didn’t think it would be worth the extra bucks to see in 3D. I was wrong then and I wish that I had the chance to watch Ant-Man in 3D as well. The visuals were awesome, particularly the scenes involve ant action.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW AHEAD!!! KEEP ON READING!!!

Ant-Man was extremely well-paced, finding the perfect balance between humor, action, and drama. It follows Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), a man recently released from prison who is looking to start fresh, support his daughter, and change his ways. As is often the case for ex-cons, though, getting and finding a job is tough, so he ends up in a situation where his hand is forced and he has to take on a “job” that’s a sure thing.

That sure thing, though, was anything but.

Lang finds himself under the tutelage of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a scientist who is just as sharp (if not sharper) than BOTH of the Stark men involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. Lang agrees to help Pym put a stop to his former protege, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), who has plans that involve tech based on Pym’s own research. Without revealing too much, Cross’ plans involve selling his tech to a certain secret organization that has posed a threat to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for some time now and shows no signs of slowing down.

In order to stop Cross, Lang, Pym, and Pym’s daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly), put a huge scheme into play that involves three “associates” of Lang who have experience in illegal affairs. This trio, Luis (Michael Pena), Dave (Tip Harris), and Kurt (David Dastmalchian), provides a lot of the humor in this film, with Pena stealing just about every scene that he’s in.

In fact, I would say that of all of the Marvel flicks that have been released so far, Ant-Man‘s supporting cast is the strongest one yet. From the aforementioned supporting cast to actors such as Judy Greer, Wood Harris, Bobby Cannavale, Martin Donovan, and a few surprises from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this film is loaded with brilliant acting.

The primary villain in this film (and I promise that this isn’t a spoiler since this guy is in the trailer) is Yellowjacket (Stoll), and while his actual screen time as Yellowjacket is brief, Stoll excels as Darren Cross on the screen. Cross danced on that fine line between being a good guy that’s broken emotionally/mentally and being a bad guy who just wants to have his own piece of the pie (albeit a pretty big piece).

The action scenes were excellent. The powers of the heroes and villains in this film could have looked ludicrous and silly as all get out on the screen, but production nailed each and every scene involving Ant-Man and Yellowjacket. Sure, some of the scenes were played for gags, but they didn’t take away from the plot or break the flow of the film in any way.

In short, I LOVED Ant-Man. Action, humor, drama, perfect direction, excellent music, and flawless editing made this easily one of my top five Marvel films. I highly recommend it and if you haven’t seen it yet, GO SEE IT!!!!! You will not regret watching this excellent film!

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll be posting about the second episode of Fear The Walking Dead in a few days.

Will California Walkers Have Perfect Tans???? A Quick Look At The Premiere of “Fear The Walking Dead”

AMC

On Sunday night, a record setting 10.1 million viewers tuned in for AMC’s premiere of Fear The Walking Dead. Teased for months and pushed as a series that begins with the beginning of the zombie outbreak, expectations were high for Fear. The record viewership doesn’t surprise me one bit, as the show has a loyal, built-in audience thanks entirely to its predecessor, The Walking Dead. I’m one of those loyal fans, and I was extremely interested to see just what Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson (the creators of Fear) had planned for me and other fans.

!!!!!!WARNING!!!!!! MILD SPOILERS (FOR BOTH FEAR AND TWD) POSSIBLY AHEAD!!! You’ve been warned!

So how was the show? Well…..it was a start. In all honesty I wasn’t that impressed. Now before you get angry and accuse me of being a mouth-breathing simpleton that only watches zombie movies and television shows for the zombie action, know that the primary reason that I watch and love The Walking Dead is for the brilliant character development. I love how characters like Beth (RIP), Carol, Glenn, and Carl have developed from stereotypical characters that would end up as nothing but window dressing in other programs into fully fleshed out characters that have matured, become empowered, and transformed into entirely different people as the show has progressed.

But wait, Ken, this was only the first episode of Fear The Walking Dead! You can’t judge the show’s character development after just one episode! Really??? Why not? After one episode I knew that I liked Rick and wanted to learn more about him. I didn’t trust Shane, but he seemed like a guy who was at least trying to keep it together. Morgan moved me, particularly in the scene where he sees his zombified wife in the street and he can’t bring himself to shoot her. Glenn’s cocky voice over the radio to Rick made me want to meet the kid attached to it. That first episode hooked me.

The characters in Fear The Walking Dead didn’t hook me at all. Frank Dillane’s drugged out Nick opened the show, waking up in a haze in an abandoned church. He fumbles around looking for a girl named Gloria and quickly finds out that some serious business had gone down in the house of worship. He’s so high, though, that he’s not entirely sure if what he’s seeing is real or a byproduct of bad medicine. He then runs out into the street and is hit by a vehicle.

Enter his mom, Madison (Kim Dickens), his future stepfather, Travis (Cliff Curtis), and his sister, Alicia (Alycia Debnam Carey), who are getting ready for another day at school. Madison is the local school counselor who is attempting to blend her family with Travis’ family. Travis is a teacher at the same school where Madison works. Alicia is super smart and ready to move out on her own in college.

More characters were introduced and more are on the way in future episodes, but the first batch of characters we get to see were unlikeable, annoying, and bland. Nick is a putz. Perhaps he will develop into an interesting character (I’m especially interested in seeing him fight his drug addiction in a world that is falling apart), but I honestly do not care if this character lives or dies before the end of the season. Alicia didn’t draw me in either. She’s just sort of there for the entire episode. Travis has potential, as he seems to be the only person that is honestly trying to get to the bottom of Nick’s story about seeing Gloria eating people in the church. His heart is in the right place, but again, he didn’t grab me like Rick or Shane did in the TWD premiere. The most unlikeable character of all (with Nick being a close second) is Madison. She’s abrasive and the stereotypical uber-attack mother/cool school counselor who defends her loser kid against the cops even though he’s done something illegal (and the cops say that they have no intention to arrest him while interviewing him). I can understand her being a mama bear, but she also needs to let her kid take responsibility once in awhile.

The episode spent a lot of time with Madison and Travis trying to find Nick and Nick stumbling around town looking like a walker and calling his dealer. Alicia watches a video with her friends of a man getting shot multiple times (and only the head shot taking him down) and arguing whether it’s real or not. Madison and Travis finally come face-to-face with a walker after a confrontation between Nick and his dealer. Then the episode calls it a night.

Is their potential for this show to get better? Absolutely. It will be interesting to see how the characters react to what’s happening around them in the early stages of the zombie outbreak and how society as a whole breaks down in response to the world collapses right in front of them.

I have high hopes for this show, but the characters lack the charisma that the characters on TWD had right out of the gate. I’ll give it a couple of more episodes, but as of right now it’s not must-see TV.

Let me know what you think about the show in the comments section and, as always, thanks for reading.

A True Hero Dies And A Brief Update

Maryland And In Hearts Big And Small

I never knew Leonard Robinson. Up until a couple of years ago I didn’t even know that he existed. However, today my heart grew heavy when I heard the news that he passed away on Sunday in an accident on a Maryland highway. Robinson was a self-made success story that dressed up like Batman and rode around in a Lamborghini that was tricked out to look like a Batmobile. That might sound silly to some people, particularly the general public, but in reality, Robinson was not just a Batman enthusiast. He was much more than that. He was a hero, a TRUE hero, that dressed as Batman and spent his own money to visit sick children in hospitals as the Dark Knight.

Leonard Robinson brought joy to children that were sick, some even terminally sick. Children who probably saw doctors and nurses more than some of their own family members received love, friendship, gifts, and a smile from Batman. Robinson might have been the Dark Knight, but he was and still is a bright and shining symbol of just how great humanity can be when it decides to do something right.

You can read a bit more about his tragic death here: Baltimore Batman Dies In Accident

You will be missed, Dark Knight. Keep your vigil in the heavens.

Now, on to other things. I’ll be attending Louisiana Comic Con in Lafayette, LA on October 17th and 18th. As of right now they are still adding guests to their lineup. Celebrity guests include Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Lew Temple (The Walking Dead, The Lone Ranger) as well as others. Comic artists include Rob Guillory and Kody Chamberlain and others. There will be vendors, artists, and cosplay guests in attendance as well.

I attended another event put on by the group in charge of this one, AVC Conventions, earlier this year in Bossier City. While the event was fun, it was cramped and there were many people unhappy with the event. Hopefully AVC learned from these growing pains and they won’t have the same problem in Lafayette. One major improvement is having the event spread out over two days. Tickets are fifteen dollars for a day pass or twenty-five dollars for the weekend. If you attend, look for me. I’ll be Charlie Brown on Saturday and the Discount Dark Knight on Sunday.

More info can be found here: Louisiana Comic Con

I still haven’t seen Ant-Man yet, and it’s killing me. Hopefully I can catch it one night this week or if it’s still playing, this weekend. I’ll probably go check out Fantastic Four also, even though the reviews are terrible.

Oh, Fear The Walking Dead debuts this weekend, and I hope it’s at least half as good as its predecessor, The Walking Dead. Convention season is coming to an end for me, but the fall TV lineup is just getting warmed up!

As always, thanks for reading. Hopefully I’ll see a few of you at Louisiana Comic Con in October!

Fall In Love With Comics Again

Comic Book Discussion Circles Everywhere

I’ve read comics off and on for most of my life. As a young child, my favorite heroes were primarily DC characters like Batman, Superman, and The Flash. Some of the lesser known heroes in DC’s stable such as Firestorm, Black Lightning, and Plastic Man held my interest as well. The only Marvel heroes that I liked when I was younger were Spider-Man and Hulk, and that was primarily due to the fact that those two characters were in comics, on television (including Spidey in snippets on PBS), and on cartoons on Saturday morning.

As I matured, the X-Men, Daredevil, Captain America, and to a lesser degree, characters such as The Punisher and Ghost Rider, grabbed my attention. Gone were the brightly colored spandex suits of DC’s big heroes, making way for the grittier, (seemingly) more adult tone of Marvel’s herd tackling issues that I was slowly beginning to understand like racism, gang violence, politics, internal emotional struggle, etc.

When I entered college, I left the two big guys in the dust for titles from Image like Hellshock and Codename: Strykeforce. These titles were tougher than your standard Marvel and DC books (although I now know that DC and Marvel both had some pretty intense titles in publication during the 1990’s) and I loved them.

Now, less than a year away from turning forty years old, I’ve found myself back on the DC train. While I’ve read and enjoyed many recent Marvel titles, DC has won me over, particularly with their New 52 batch that came out a few years ago. Geoff Johns and company got me interested in Aquaman, for crying out loud, and I do believe that I’ve fallen in love with Mera as well.

I’m championing the likes of Black Manta and Ocean Master and have taken a lot of interest in Cyborg, Wonder Woman, and Animal Man. Heck, even Robin, specifically Damian Wayne, has become an important part of my life. Couple that with the brilliant television shows Arrow and The Flash, and the promising looks of Suicide Squad and Batman Vs. Superman coming to the big screen, and I’m pretty much a DC guy through and through.

Granted, I’m still a bit behind on the times as the New 52 has already been replaced recently, but DC has reminded why I loved comic books and superheroes so much as a child. I loved to see Superman enter the fight and wipe the floor clean without breaking a sweat. I enjoyed seeing Batman break cases and dig up clues, all the while fending off attacks from costumed villains such as The Riddler, Penguin, and, of course, The Joker. I couldn’t wait to see these larger than life characters take on insurmountable odds and come out on top.

Why? Why did I love those types of stories so much as a child and have rediscovered that love for them again at my current age?

Because every year that I grow older and become wiser to the insane world in which we live, I NEED an escape, and DC’s heroes provide that escape more than any other stable of comic characters.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I still love to see the X-Men fight super villains and discrimination at the same time, and every once in awhile I prefer to see the young version of Peter Parker fight school bullies, but ultimately I need a getaway, and DC has done that for me in spades.

I know that I’m doing a lot of rambling here and I do apologize for that, but if you haven’t read a comic in recent years, go out and grab one. I highly recommend The New 52 run of Batman and Robin and the Justice League titles from the same series. The rebooted origin story of the JLA is awesome and hilarious at the same time. I also highly recommend the Aquaman series in The New 52. In just a few panels, Geoff Johns blows up any preconceived notions you might have had about everybody’s favorite fishy guy.

Go ahead, escape for a bit. You deserve it.

As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to comment below about any of your favorite books on the shelf now or from when you were a kid.

Space City Comic Con 2015

Houston, Texas

With the exception of their Galveston winter event a couple of years ago, I’ve attended every Space City Comic Con to date. From the excellent first year event at the Galleria to this year’s event at the NRG Center, I’ve seen this convention do wonderful things, fight growing pains, and, most importantly, learn from their mistakes.

This year’s convention had a whole lot of pros and a few cons as well. Let’s start with the pros first and then work our way through the few cons that I happened upon.

First and foremost, this convention has maintained one thing throughout its existence, and that’s the fact that it’s a big event with a small event feel. I’ve heard many attendees refer to something known as the “Space City feel” which is basically that despite having some big name celebs like William Shatner, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darville, Kevin J. Anderson, and most of the cast of Star Trek: Voyager on the guest list, this event is very laid back. Volunteers were friendly, full of information, and quick to make sure that any and all problems were handled as swiftly as possible. NRG Event staff was awesome as well, making sure that the area was clean, safe, and friendly.

Event attendees were friendly as well. There are always a few bad apples in the basket, but pretty much everybody that attended the convention played “Texas Friendly” throughout the duration of the event. This includes celebs, authors, artists, and vendors. In fact, the celebs at this event went out of their way to interact with the fans. Handlers didn’t stop them, either, which is a plus in my opinion. The highlight for me was getting to meet the lovely, friendly, and funny Michele Specht of Star Trek Continues. Not only did she remember me from a tweet that I posted about a week ago, she hung out with me and a few other chemically imbalanced members of the Just Us League! She’s definitely one of the funniest and friendliest celebs that I’ve ever met, and I hope to see her at another event in the future.

The Just Us League and Michele Specht of Star Trek Continues!

Another pro for this event was their programming app. Yes, I’m a more traditional kind of guy when it comes to programming schedules. I prefer to hold a program in my hand and read it instead of flipping through an app to see what’s going on. However, after using the app for a bit, I grew to appreciate its usefulness when it came to updating any last minute changes or cancellations. It still needs a little work, but I believe it will get better as this event continues to grow.

Something else that I enjoyed about Space City Comic Con was the fact that getting into, out of, and around the event was a snap. The check in process flowed quickly and there were almost no hassles to getting inside the convention hall. The size of the crowd was good, but not cramped like it was for Space City’s second event. A few spots had slower traffic than others, but those spots were usually occupied by excellent vendors, artists, cosplayers, or my favorite green ladies, Orion’s Envy. While they didn’t have an official performance at the event this year, they danced all over the convention floor.

DDK and his favorite green ladies, Orion's Envy! — DDK and his favorite green ladies, Orion’s Envy!

There were also tons of cosplayers at the event. While I don’t like to use the term professional cosplayer, there were a few in attendance at this event. All of them were very cordial and seemed to get along quite well with the crowd. Plenty of “regular” cosplayers also attended the event, and they were all very friendly as well. I had a lot of fun interacting with them and taking photos of and with them. There were more Harley Quinns in attendance than you could shake a stick at, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing in my book!

But was the event perfect? Not at all. However, I’ve come to expect a few bumps in the road from an event of this size. My biggest hangup about this event was the poor signage. Without a physical, in-hand program, and an app that shows promise but needs a little work, it wasn’t easy to keep up with the locations and times for everything. I do see this improving in the future, but it should be mentioned in my opinion.

Another con was finding the entrance to the event (but only the first time). I rode with friends this year and despite the GPS getting us to the event, we had to circle a bit before we found the proper gate to go through. After that initial difficulty, though, getting to the event was no problem.

My only other complaint is that this event should have stayed open a tad longer on Saturday evening (or at least dropped the extra cost of getting into the after party). I didn’t attend the after party and from what I heard from folks who did, it wasn’t worth the extra money to attend the event.

So will I attend this event next year? Absolutely! Houston is one of my favorite cities and Space City Comic Con is one of my favorite events. It’s still growing and as long as the show runners keep a happy balance between the “Space City feel” and the quality of its guests, I’ll continue to attend this event until I become one with the Force!

Next up on my convention agenda is Louisiana Comic Con in Lafayette, LA in October. This will be a first year event by an established convention running group, AVC, that has already put on shows in Mississippi and northern Louisiana. They haven’t announced many of their guests yet, but Lafayette is close enough to home and I have a ton of con family and friends that live in the area, so this is going to be a fun ride no matter how good the convention actually turns out.

As always, I want to thank you for reading this post. Be sure to let your friends know and feel free to comment below if you attended Space City or any other convention recently. Thanks!

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