Ken's Alternate Universe!

The Heat Is On!!!

Central City

!!SPOILER ALERT!! If you didn’t watch The Flash last night, stop reading NOW!!

Last night’s episode of The Flash turned the heat up to nuclear with a deeper look into the life of Firestorm. One of the most unique things about Firestorm in the comics is that he has always been a pairing of two individuals, one body and two minds. Thankfully the producers of The Flash kept that particular bit about Firestorm alive in this live action incarnation.

This time around, Firestorm features the body of Ronnie Raymond (portrayed by Robbie Amell) and the mind of Martin Stein (Victor Garber). These two characters were part of the original character and, much like in that version, the pair have quite the identity crisis in the beginning. Of course, viewers weren’t made aware of this pairing until last week, when the Pied Piper (Andy Mientus) revealed security footage to Cisco (Carlos Valdes), showing him how the two men became one during the particle accelerator accident at S.T.A.R. Labs.

In last night’s episode, we learn that Firestorm (both men inside of his mind) struggled to find his identity for a long time, with Stein apparently managing to control Raymond’s body for the most part. Stein tries to contact his wife who is afraid of him and calls the police when he tries to convince her that he really is her husband even though he is in a different body. The revelation of his internal struggle also shows why Ronnie/Martin told Cisco and Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) to stop looking for him in a previous episode.

Once Firestorm is convinced that the Flash and the crew at S.T.A.R. Labs are trying to help him, he agrees to join them at the lab. After some hard convincing from Caitlin, Dr. Wells decides to use his tachyon belt (part of the Reverse Flash’s suit, but Wells does not reveal his true identity) in an attempt to split the two men apart. However, when Dr. Wells (Tom Cavanagh) reveals that Firestorm could destroy everyone in the city (by exploding) if the atoms of the two men continue to struggle against each other causing Ronnie/Martin to go nuclear, Firestorm leaves the city in order to protect everyone from him.

Flash and Caitlin race to save Firestorm and attach the device to him, but Firestorm still goes nuclear. Whether or not he survives is not revealed, but his explosion draws the attention of an old government foe we’ve seen in previous episodes.

Now, that might seem hot enough for most fans of The Flash, but the show turned things up even hotter with the revelation that one of the two men that are present during the death of Barry Allen’s mother is actually a future version of Barry Allen! This is revealed when Cisco reluctantly runs blood tests on blood found at Barry’s old home while he’s out helping Joe West (Jesse L. Martin). Joe believes that Wells has something to do with Barry’s mother’s death, and he convinces Cisco to play detective for a day.

BUT WAIT….THERE’S MORE!!! To make the whole situation even hotter, the show introduces Chase Masterson in a guest role as Sherry, the lady who currently lives in Barry’s old home. Her spot on the show was brief but both steamy and humorous. Her interaction with Jesse L. Martin and Carlos Valdes was a real highlight of the show and I hope beyond all hope that she returns again!

I had the great pleasure of meeting Chase Masterson a few years ago at a small convention in Lake Charles, LA. Not only was she amazingly beautiful, she was fun to interact with as well. She also sang some wonderful tunes in a small concert for convention goers. I picked up a copy of one of her CDs and an autographed photo as well. She’s on a very short list of people that I would love to meet again at a convention! I hope she does return to The Flash very soon!

Oh, and one more thing. Old flames and new flames heated up as Iris (Candice Patton) squared off against Barry’s (Grant Gustin) new flame, Linda (Malese Jow), when she “kinda, sorta” mentioned that Barry used to have a thing for her.

This series is definitely getting better as it goes. The show has an excellent balance between humor, action, and drama. Characters are developing quickly but not so fast that their changes don’t make sense. The Flash has set the pace for future comic-based television shows, and it shows no signs of slowing down!

Thanks for reading!!! Let me know what you think of the show in the comments section!

Gotham Gets Scary!!!

Gotham City

!!SPOILER ALERT!! Read at your own risk! If you didn’t watch Gotham last night, you don’t want to read this post!!! Stop reading now!

Last night’s episode of Gotham gave us a deeper look at one of my personal favorite villains of Batman: the Scarecrow. I’ve always felt that if the character were done right in either a film or in a live action television show, Scarecrow could become one of the scariest villains that Batman ever faced. While his appearance in Batman Begins and briefly in Christopher Nolan’s two films that followed was well received by myself and others, I felt that the Scarecrow could have done so much more if his character was allowed to be fleshed out a bit more.

Gotham appears to be doing just that as last week’s episode and last night’s episode have shown to viewers of the series. Last week we caught a glimpse of a young Jonathan Crane and his sadistic father’s search for a “cure for fear” by stealing the adrenal glands of people at their most fearful moments. By preying on phobics, Crane’s father would literally use people’s greatest fears against them in order to force their body to produce maximum amounts of the “fear chemical” (it was named in the show but I don’t recall what it was AND I’m too lazy to google it) in their adrenal glands and then cut those glands out of their bodies. From a fear of drowning to a fear of pigs, Dr. Crane scared the bejeezus out of people in that episode and continued doing that in last night’s episode as well.

Last night we also got to see the reason for Crane’s attempt to cure fear in both himself and in his son. As Gordon and Bullock attempt to catch him, they uncover the fact that Gerald Crane couldn’t (or wouldn’t) save his wife from burning to death in their home and then lied about what really happened to her. Once Crane cured himself, he began “treating” his son, Jonathan. The show climaxed with a shoot-out between Gordon, Bullock, and Gerald Crane. Prior to the shoot out and his eventual death, Dr. Crane pumped Jonathan full of his cure and sent the kid into a spasmatic fit. The episode ended with Jonathan in a hospital room reliving his greatest fear over and over. What was that fear? A scarecrow, of course!

The element of fear was cranked up big time in this episode, and there were moments of true horror scattered throughout as well. I LOVED this and I hope that they continue with it as the series continues.

While the Crane arc developed over the course of the evening, we also got to catch up with Fish Mooney. We find Fish as a captive of someone (I’m thinking it might be the Dollmaker, but I could be wrong) and she and a whole lot of other kidnapped people are being held in what appears to be an underground chamber. She befriends one of the other prisoners and soon decides to establish herself as the leader of the group in a very violent way. Overacting ensues, and one of the other prisoners arrives back from somewhere with her eyes torn out. Oh, yeah!

However, it wasn’t Jada Pinkett Smith’s overacting that was the highlight of the evening, it was the first meeting of two of Batman’s most iconic villains on the show. The man who will eventually become the Riddler, Edward Nygma, had his first meeting with Penguin at GCPD. The encounter was brief, humorous, and simply wonderful. Nygma annoyed Penguin (which is saying a lot considering Penguin’s current “snitch” rep) and Penguin rebuffed him quickly by telling him that if he knows who he is then he knows that he’s “Standing too close.” It was quick and great, and I can’t wait to see more encounters between villains as the show progresses.

Also of note was Penguin’s slow rise to power under both Falcone and Maroni. An uneasy truce was called between the two mobsters, but Maroni swore that he would get revenge on Penguin for double-crossing him as soon as Falcone passed away. Penguin has gotten out of tighter spots before (as seen last week), so I have no worries about him making it out of this one alive.

We were also given a little more insight into Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth’s relationship. Sean Pertwee has proven to be the best actor in this series so far (even though there are many brilliant performances) as he has managed to make Alfred one of the most interesting characters in the show. Fans of the comics know that Alfred is SO MUCH MORE than just Bruce Wayne’s butler, and I’m glad to see Gotham give him his due.

Overall, last night’s episode was excellent. The writing, direction, and acting (except for Smith) seems to get better with each episode. Gotham has managed to take us back into the history of Batman and build (or rebuild) core characters from the beginning. You would think that the general public’s familiarity with some of these characters (especially Bruce Wayne, Penguin, Riddler, and Gordon) would make the show boring since we all basically know how things are going to turn out, but the writers have managed to revise characters or give them different origin stories to keep things interesting. It’s excellent.

At the end of the episode there was a teaser that hinted at the Joker. Fans of the comics know that there have been many origin stories for the character over the years, but none of them have ever taken hold as gospel truth. Heck, even the Joker has said he isn’t sure who he is or where he came from at times. It’s the chaos of the character that makes the Joker so great, so I wonder just how the show will play out his origin (if they will play it out at all)!

Stay tuned, true believers, and thanks for reading!

That Game Last Night And The Nerdy Connection

Glendale, AZ

Like a whole lot of other people in the good ol’ US of A last night, I tuned into that football game that featured the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. In all honesty I didn’t care one bit about who would win the game. I just wanted to watch it in the hopes that the two teams involved would put on a good show, and they did just that. I also watched for the commercials, which were super depressing for the most part. Mountain Dew and Pizza Hut did their best to lift spirits, but all of the other commercials were just…blah. Of course, the Kim Kardashian commercial was wretched. Not only did it prove to the world just how clueless she really is, it showed us all that she has no charisma whatsoever, leaving me puzzled even more about her popularity.

While the commercials were predominantly lame and the game was pretty fun to watch, it was the half time show that really blew me away. I’m a metal head first and foremost, but there are dark corners of my brain that indulge in sugary sweet pop and other musical stylings that might shock a lot of people. Katy Perry is gorgeous, and she isn’t half bad at singing either. She flaunted everything she had last night in the half time show and put on a spectacle that even made this old KISS fan smile many times.

The funny thing is that Ms. Perry (or perhaps the show choreographer) revealed to us a bit of her nerdy side with the show. For starters, she came out on a massive golden lion that walked across the field. Now, a lot of football nerds (and yes, there are football nerds out there) immediately started joking about how Perry’s lion was the only lion to ever be in the Super Bowl (a Detroit Lions jab), but myself and a few others immediately thought of that mightiest of lion-based warriors: Voltron!

I kept waiting for the rest of the lions to show up to form Voltron but, alas, it was not meant to be!

Then she went into a brilliant display of light and choreography on that nerdiest of game boards: a chess board! She did this with a full set of human chess pieces that danced along with the music and moved with the board as it tilted over the field.

After that, she went into a few other chaotic numbers that hinted at everything from Spongebob (beach motif, complete with dancing sharks and palm trees), brought in Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott, and topped it all off with a “The More You Know” looking shooting star.

Yes, I know I’m probably grasping at straws here, but to see so much nerdy goodness in an event that is considered by the majority of people in this country as “not nerdy” was very refreshing. Oh, and let us not forget the Wii remote strap and the very “Girl On Fire” looking costume! I know that this post will probably never reach Katy Perry’s eyes, but I do want her to know that I’ve seen her nerdiness and I have exposed her for what she is: an extremely attractive closet nerd!!!

In other news, there’s a new episode of Gotham tonight and a fresh episode of The Flash tomorrow night. Also, later this month I will be attending the Louisiana Comic Con in Bossier City, LA. If any of my readers are attending, lemme know!

That’s all for now, true believers. Thanks for reading!

Getting Up To Speed With The Flash, Gotham, King of the Nerds, And More!

The World Of Television

The CW has a definite hit on its hands with The Flash. Much like Arrow (which I seriously need to catch up on), it has taken a character that could have become either extremely excellent or terribly silly on the small screen and turned it into one of the most enjoyable new shows of recent memory. The CW took more of a lighthearted turn with the Scarlet Speedster when compared to Arrow, and I’m glad that they did. With so many recent heavy-handed shows and films centered on superheroes (Gotham, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Man of Steel, etc.), it’s nice to have a few laughs while watching the blurry one bring justice to Central City.

Grant Gustin has won me over as Barry Allen/Flash, and I look forward to seeing him interact with his brilliant costars on each episode. The special effects are very good for the budget, and as long as the show is successful, I see these effects getting better. The writing is superb, easily navigating the waters between young adult drama, superhero action, the ever-present danger of making a hero or villain look hokey or silly, and moving the story along with just enough laughs, thrills, and suspense.

Also, considering the fact that most of the Flash’s enemies have names like Captain Cold, Heatwave, Pied Piper, and Weather Wizard, this makes the writing and acting that much more important to a story that is trying to reach beyond the comic reading audience. Overall, The Flash is no flash in the pan. It’s going to be around for awhile.

Fox has a hit of its own with Gotham, although that show definitely has a few wrinkles to iron out before it becomes a sure thing. Much like The Flash, a second season has been ordered. Unlike the speedy series, however, Gotham still seems to be finding its footing, especially with writing and a few of the characters and/or actors that portray them. Robin Lord Taylor is the breakout star of the series. His portrayal of the Penguin has made me look forward to his presence in the show. He’s intelligent and lethal, but just enough of of goof up to sometimes get in trouble with Fish, Falcone, Maroni, or others. He’s still learning the ways of being a crime lord, but he’s well on the way to becoming the villain that runs the show in Gotham City.

Ben McKenzie does a solid job as Jim Gordon, as does Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock. However, the writing for these two characters sometimes gets jumbled in my opinion, and leaves the actors’ performances a bit wanting. Sean Pertwee is brilliant as Alfred, and the younger cast portraying Bruce Wayne, Ivy Pepper, and Selina Kyle are also excellent. The bulk of the supporting cast, particularly Cory Michael Smith (Ed Nygma) and John Doman (Falcone), are also coming into their own and I expect more of them as the series rolls along.

Unfortunately we are still having to put up with the train wreck that is Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney. While it appears that her character is meant to be a cornerstone in the rise of the Penguin, I feel that Fish is just too outrageous and unnecessarily overacted. Now, whether or not Smith is directed to overact is unknown to me, but she’s definitely not helping her career with this role. Erin Richards is also rather disjointed as Barbara Kean. I feel that it’s not so much her fault, though, as the character itself (so far) is bland. She’s basically the polar opposite of Fish.

I will say that recent episodes have shown that the writing is starting to develop a solidity that was lacking in early episodes. The direction is also improving. Hopefully we’ll see these improvements continue as the show goes into its second season.

The last show that I’m going to talk about today is TBS’ King of the Nerds. The first season was fun until the finale, in which the “king” was determined not by the actions of the final nerds, but by a popularity vote. It left a lot of fans with a bitter taste in their mouth, especially those who felt that Genevieve Pearson was robbed considering the fact that she competed in (and won) more nerd-offs than any other nerd. She’ll always be the king of season one in my opinion.

The second season attempted to somewhat remedy the whole popularity vote situation and succeeded to a degree, but it also introduced a “villain” element in the program with certain nerds. I understand that first and foremost this show is a game, but to make certain nerds look like villains (intentionally or unintentionally) seemed a bit too much in my book. It felt like the show was hoping to make viewers cheer harder for certain members of the cast than others.

The newest season seems to be cranking up the villainy a bit as well, but there’s no definite villain yet (there’s only been one episode). However, Ori seems to be well on his way to being a potential thorn in the side of some of the nerds and Kaitlin’s attitude seems ripe for villainy as well. Hopefully things will even out a bit and we’ll see nerds leave the show with no ill feelings towards any of them.

In other news, I’ve been a bad boy when it comes to my exercises lately and, as a result, have put a few pounds back on. I’m jumping back on the Insanity wagon again and hope to get myself back on the straight and narrow soon enough.

Next month I’m headed to Louisiana Comic Con and Mary Kate Smith of the second season of King of the Nerds will be there. That in and of itself is pretty cool. I’ll give a full report after the convention.

That’s all for now folks. If you agree (or disagree) with anything I’ve posted, lemme know! Thanks for reading.

February Can’t Get Here Fast Enough!

Lake Charles, LA

I am soooooo ready to start hitting conventions this year. Since I started going to conventions a few years ago, this has been the longest stretch between conventions for me (excepting the year-long wait I had between the now defunct ConDuLac I and ConDuLac II). By this time, I’ve been to Wizard World NOLA, but that didn’t happen this year, so I’m really stoked for Louisiana Comic Con in Bossier City next month.

The Discount Dark Knight has also been very busy rounding up a sweet prize for his first-ever “live” contest that he will be executing at Louisiana Comic Con. The winner will receive a Funko Pop Heroes Earth 2 Batman figure just by following three simple steps. For those of you that aren’t in the know, here they are:

Attend Louisiana Comic Con. I should state here that the convention, Funko, Facebook, nor WordPress have anything to do with this contest. The Discount Dark Knight purchased the prize with his own money and will happily give it to a fan that follows all three contest rules.
Find DDK at the convention. That’s pretty easy, right?
This is the most important step, as the first person to complete it properly will win the figure. Whoever says this line, “The Discount Dark Knight is my favorite superhero,” first and loud enough for those congregating around DDK to hear will win the prize. After winning, DDK will get a photo with the person.

Now, if anybody else performs all three steps above after the prize has already been given away, DDK will say “Thank you” to them and then give them a handshake, fist bump, hug, high five, or even a peck on the cheek if they ask nicely!

So if any of my readers plan on being at Louisiana Comic Con next month, be sure to hunt down the Discount Dark Knight. He’ll be roaming the convention all day and will be more than happy to hang out with everybody there.

See you soon!

It Has Begun!!!

Lake Charles, LA

It’s convention season again, and my alter ego, the Discount Dark Knight, will be in attendance at a few conventions this year. He has a little contest going on over on his Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/discountdarkknight, so feel free to check it out if you’d like.

The first event that DDK will hit is Louisiana Comic Con. It will take place at the Bossier Civic Center in Bossier City, LA. Louisiana Comic Con looks to be a pretty cool event, especially for a first year event. Guests include author Greg Burnham, illustrator Marcus Williams, comic artist Rob Guillory, anime voice actress Trina Nishimura, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake of old school WWF fame, and the lovely Mary Kate Smith, best known as a contestant on TBS’ King of the Nerds Season Two. Of course, there are tons of other artists, celebs, and cosplayers attending, so be sure to check out the convention’s website at http://www.louisianacomiccon.com.

The second convention on my hit list is CoastCon in Biloxi, MS. Although it’s one of my favorite conventions, it has been a couple of years since I last visited this wonderful event. CoastCon will take place March 20-22 and I’m positive that it will be a great event. This year guests will include Battlestar Galactica alum Aaron Douglas, Tony Amendola who has portrayed a multitude of characters in film and on television, author James S.A. Corey (Daniel James Abraham and Ty Franck), anime voice artist Tiffany Grant, cosplayers Destine Magique Cosplay, and other artists, authors, and gaming gurus. Hopefully I will be able to attend this year. To find out more about CoastCon, visit http://www.coastcon.org.

One event that I will be sure to attend after Louisiana Comic Con is CyPhaCon in Lake Charles, LA on April 17-19. It’s the best convention in the Lake area and one of the fastest growing conventions in the Gulf South. It’s a little convention with big aspirations, and they always go above and beyond for their guests and attendees. This year is their fifth anniversary and to celebrate, they’re bringing in Miltos Yerolemou (Syrio Forel from Game of Thrones), anime voice over artist and actor Chuck Huber, Larry Nemecek, who knows just about everything there is to know about Star Trek, and cosplay guest Marie Doll. Also in attendance will be the Suzaku 7, an epic anime band that has played the convention before. They do not disappoint! CyPhaCon is still adding to their lineup, and it looks to be a big year for this convention, so check them out at http://www.cyphacon.org!

Late last year I blogged about my reasons for skipping over Wizard World New Orleans, so my only major event this year might be Comicpalooza in Houston, TX. I won’t nail down any plans just yet, but you can definitely check out this event http://www.comicpalooza.com.

Whether or not I make it over to Houston for Comicpalooza, I definitely plan to attend Bayoucon in Sulphur, LA June 19-21. This event has bounced around venues over the years (all of them were in Lake Charles at various locations) but this time it will take place at the West Cal Arena & Event Center in Sulphur. Guests for this event will include anime voice artist Todd Haberkorn, Michael Koske, a featured Walker from The Walking Dead, and stuntman/actor/cosplayer John Mangus. Hopefully Orion’s Envy will also be returning. As of right now, Bayoucon has not had a lot of updates or additions to their website, http://www.bayoucon.net, but hopefully my favorite green ladies will be added to the mix soon enough!

Last year I attended the Houston Con in Houston, TX in August. The website for that particular convention has been very quiet (their Facebook page, too), but the bunch over at http://www.thehoustoncon.com were very quiet last year as well until right before the convention. When they did speak up, they did so loudly and proudly. The Houston Con was one of my favorite conventions last year and I hope they return.

I’m also going to attempt to attend a few other conventions this year that I’ve never attended before. MechaCon and Louisianime are on my “to do” list and hopefully I’ll get to them this year.

I’ll be sure to post reviews of all of the conventions I attend this year and will definitely post photos. If you’re attending any of these events this year, let me know and maybe we can meet up and chat for a bit!

Thanks for reading. I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything, but now that the new year is a few weeks old, I’m ready to blog my brains out! See you all very soon!

A Balloony Surprise!

San Fransokyo

Last weekend I took one of my children to see the film Big Hero 6. In all honesty, I had no clue as to exactly what this film was about. I wasn’t familiar with it at all. Basically I went in blind.

I also went in with very low expectations and prayed that I could make it through the length of the film.

I was wrong!

I LOVED this film!

It had action sequences on the same level as The Incredibles and an excellent story that was funny, heartwarming, and family friendly. I laughed throughout the film and loved watching the action sequences. It was a perfect blend of ‘splosions and laughs.

My child loved it as well. He laughed just as much as I did and was just as wowed by the action.

The film centered around kid genius Hiro, whose older brother is trying to convince to attend the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Once he’s convinced, Hiro attends a science fair at the institute where new students will be chosen. His experiment wows the crowd, but a terrible accident leaves him without a brother and intent on finding the person responsible for his brother’s death.

The story could have gone into full “good guy with vengeance in mind” mode but instead took a higher road through Baymax, Hiro’s brother’s creation. Baymax is a health diagnosis android that Hiro turns into a fighting machine in order to find the film’s villain. As the duo work together, they begin to learn from each other. Baymax becomes a fighter, and Hiro grows as a person.

Tagging along for the ride are a few friends of Hiro and his brother. They take on their own superhero roles and help Hiro find the man responsible for his brother’s death.

The film moves at a very quick pace and was very, very enjoyable. After watching the film, I did a little research about it on the webz. Suprisingly, the film is based on a comic series of the same name. There are some major differences in the characters including their abilities as heroes (especially Baymax), twists in the “origin” of Hiro and Big Hiro 6, and a few more changes as well. This didn’t bother me in the least (as I stated, I wasn’t even aware that the film was based on a comic).

I highly recommend Big Hero 6. It’s a great family film that’s fun for everyone.

Highly recommended!

Wizard Wipeout????

In Dark Corners Of The ‘Verse

For over thirty-eight years now I have been a geek, a nerd, the odd man out, and that shy kid that never drew much attention to himself. While many kids were playing baseball or jumping rope, I was watching 3-2-1 Contact, Doctor Who, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Super Friends, and anything else that the four local channels (sometimes five if the weather was right) had to offer. I read books about the Universal Monsters and the making of films like Star Wars. I also loved to draw superheroes, write my own stories involving said superheroes (and at one point a lengthy set of Indiana Jones adventures) and use my imagination a lot when playing with my toys.

Over the years I acquired a very small group of friends. Some of those friends are gone now. Many of them moved away with their families or their futures. One good friend died in a car accident. Others simply lost interest in me or I lost interest in them and we faded out of each others lives. Throughout all of those friendships, though, the one thing that bonded us together, nerdiness, has remained.

I started hearing about San Diego Comic Con earlier in this century. I became very interested in this seemingly wonderful event. A home for all things nerdy from comics to science fiction novels to films and beyond. It sounded wonderful. I wanted to go to this event or something similar to it, but never did I expect that any type of comic or pop culture convention would make its way to southwest Louisiana.

That very thing happened in 2009 when a local Star Trek fan group put on ConDuLac. It was a very small event, but it was the first of its kind (as far as I can tell) in the Lake Charles area. The media guest was Richard Hatch of Battlestar Galactica fame, and other regional conventions came in to assist with the event. It was pretty cool, especially for it being so new to the area.

Fast forward to 2011.

With only one other event under my belt (ConDuLac 2010), I attended my first major event, Wizard World New Orleans. There were tons of vendors, comic artists, and cosplayers in attendance. There were also plenty of media guests including the likes of Ray Park, Billy Dee Williams, Adam West, and Burt Ward. A few castmembers of the a little show that had just started up on AMC, The Walking Dead, were there too.

It was a really cool event. It was loud, crowded, and I met a lot of people (many of which I consider friends now). It was Mecca as far as I was concerned and I was in love.

Wizard World New Orleans gave me the convention bug, and soon enough I was attending events like CoastCon, CyPhaCon, Space City Con, and Comicpalooza. I even ventured into the world of convention running in 2011 when I became the vice president of BayouCon, created when a member of the crew that started the now defunct ConDuLac started his own event. My marriage with that event was short, however, and I left a much wiser man.

Jump to the present.

The fourth edition of Wizard World New Orleans is just a little over a month away. Sadly I will not be attending this event. It will feature a few media guests that I want to meet and some comic artists that I’d like to buy from, but at $75 (pre-ordered online, $85 at the door) for a three-day general admission pass and anywhere from $30 to over $100 for autographs and goodness knows how much for photo-ops, I just cannot afford to go to this event. While I understand that Wizard World sets prices to maintain some sort of control over the size of the crowd, it makes me wonder just how greedy they are when there are smaller events with similar guests and attractions that are offering weekend passes for fifty dollars and autographs that are ten to thirty dollars cheaper than the same autograph at Wizard World.

On top of this, Wizard World is now demanding fan groups to shell out around $650 to have a table at the event despite the fact that most, if not all, of them are non-profit and sell nothing at the convention to recover any costs.

Greed is an ugly thing, people, and Wizard World looks mighty greedy to me.

I plan to attend more smaller conventions in 2015, and will most likely return to Comicpalooza for the first time in a couple of years. They will get the dollars I would have spent at Wizard World, but I just cannot justify shelling out so much money to an event that seems to care more about the bottom line than the fans that made it the massive creature it is today.

While I won’t tell my readers that they should boycott Wizard World or any other event, I will suggest that they take a look at what these events stand for before deciding to attend one of them.

Thanks for reading!

Mid-Season Mayhem!

Atlanta, GA

Last week I made a bold prediction as to which character would bite the dust for the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead. I gave reasons as to why I believed that Carol, Beth, Rosita, or Tara would be saying their farewell to the show.

After seeing last night’s episode, the inevitable happened. I wasn’t surprised at all when the person that did meet their end was offed. Heck, I wasn’t even as shocked as a lot of other people apparently seemed to be. Just peruse any social media site and you’ll see that the death in the episode was shocking, touching, and very sad for anybody that witnessed it.

BEWARE: SPOILERS FOLLOW!!! STOP READING NOW IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE MID-SEASON FINALE!!!

Okay, now that the warning is out of the way, I’ll say that the way that poor sweet Beth met her end was very heroic. She knew that Dawn was fighting a losing battle for control of the hospital, and when the “swap” was made and Dawn then demanded the return of her “ward,” Noah, I knew that Beth was about to make her move.

It was a very sad moment for many people, but I guess that I had just prepared myself for the end of Beth and I felt almost nothing when Dawn shot her (and I do believe that it was a reactionary shot that Dawn took but she still deserved to die). I had friends in Southern Geek go ballistic about the death and others pointing fingers at Beth for her own demise.

What was really emotional for me, though, was the Talking Dead episode that followed. When Emily Kinney broke down multiple times throughout the episode, I could tell that she genuinely loved not only the character of Beth, but the series and her fellow actors as well. I hope that I get to meet her one day, as Beth slowly grew to be one of my favorite characters. I’d love to personally thank her for bringing Beth to life.

Even though Beth was my second choice to die in the show (I figured Carol would go out first), I think I did a pretty good job of predicting that she would die

So, with the major death out of the way, what’s next? It looks like a lot of zombie killing awaits Rick and company after the mid-season break. I believe another major character is going to die as well, and maybe Morgan will finally catch up with Rick.

Until next time, thanks for reading. Comment below if you are so inclined!

“Dead” On Predictions

Atlanta, GA

I watched last night’s episode of The Walking Dead expecting two things: 1) A perfect set-up for an explosive mid-season finale and 2) Clues about who might not make it out alive. After seeing the episode, I’ve come up with some predictions that may or may not be stone cold locks. If they prove to be true, they’ll make me seem really smart or psychic. If I screw up these predictions royally then I’ll just look like a goofus. I’m betting (and sorta hoping) that I look like a goofus.

NOTE: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD. READ WITH CAUTION IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED MOST OF SEASON FIVE!!!

After the whole Terminus debacle at the beginning of this season, The Walkind Dead has featured episodes that have focused on Rick’s group at the church, Beth on her own, Abraham’s group on the road, and Daryl and Carol going after Beth. What I’ve noticed throughout these episodes is that they have all built up key characters that I believe have the potential for not making it to the second half of season five. Seeing this happen and then utilizing what has occurrred over the previous seasons, I’ve devised a hit list of who I think is going to bite it. So, here goes:

There almost has to be at least one major death from the core cast of original survivors. Of the ones that started it all, only Rick, Carl, Glenn, Daryl, and Carol remain. You could toss Morgan in their as well, but he’s been more of a peripheral character since his introduction. I do believe that he’ll be a factor in the mid-season finale, but I don’t see him dying just yet. There was a hint of what’s to come for Glenn early on if you read the comics, but I don’t see him leaving yet. So who will it be? Sadly, I think Carol is going to die this time around.

Why will Carol die? Just look at the growth of her character since last season. She started the series as one of the group’s weakest links, and has slowly become an almost unstoppable force in the zombie apocalypse. She is the strongest female character on the show and has become a fan favorite, possibly more popular than Rick. She’s Daryl’s best friend on the show (with Rick a close second) and potentially his love interest. In fact, her association with Daryl is what makes her a likely candidate for death since he is almost too popular to kill off. I honestly believe that the producers and writers want to knock off a major character, and Carol’s growth, especially with the whole Terminus “Terminator” version of Carol we saw at the beginning of the season makes her the perfect candidate. By killing her, other female cast members like Maggie and (possibly) Rosita can move into the alpha female role and fans lose a beloved character that isn’t Daryl. I’d really hate to see Carol go, but I think her time is up.

Next on my list is one of the second season core members, Beth. Beth has spent most of her time on the show as a background character whose only claim to fame up until she teamed up with Daryl was a failed suicide attempt. When she did team up with Daryl, she became a bolder, bluntly honest woman who proved she could hold her own. At the hospital she has proven herself to be an excellent trickster and quite the rebel, even standing up to Dawn and the rest of the po-po at the hospital.

So why is Beth a likely candidate for death? Her character has experienced a surge in importance. Since bonding with Daryl, fans have wanted to see either her or Carol form a romantic relationship with him. While Carol has definitely risen above her “Daryl’s girl” status, Beth has not. She hasn’t set herself apart quite enough yet, so I’m betting that she’ll do something very heroic and go out in a blaze of glory in order to save Daryl or possibly Noah. Again, I’d hate to see Beth leave the show, but she has transformed too much to be kept alive much like Merle when he stood up to the Governor.

The next two candidates on my list are Rosita and Tara. Of the two, I believe that Rosita has the best chance of surviving, but I still don’t know if she’ll make past the mid-season mark.

Why? For starters, Rosita came into her own over the last couple of episodes. Instead of being a background character, Rosita has proven that she knows how to take care of herself with our without Abraham and isn’t afraid to stand up to him. She has shown that she can adapt to just about any situation (especially making fishnets out of utility worker jackets on last night’s episode) and seems to be forming some type of relationship with Glenn. Now, as long as Maggie is in the picture, I don’t see Rosita moving in to take her place. However, she could provide a potential plot device for Glenn and Maggie to fight over and then have Glenn die a dramatic death at the hands of someone while Maggie wishes she hadn’t had a fight with him in the first place. So, that may or may not save Rosita’s skin, but the fact that she has been built up more and more over the last few episodes (much like poor Bob’s build up and then his relationship push just before dying) makes me think that her days are numbered.

My last potential death is Tara. Poor, poor Tara. She fell in with the Governor and then fell in with Rick’s group. As this season has played out, we’ve seen her have brief moments with Rick, Glenn, and even Eugene. Most of her moments have been lightly humorous (and very welcome), but I don’t see her as a necessary member of the group. I mean, let’s be honest here, if I said, “Oh, no! Tara died!” I’m betting that a few fans of the show wouldn’t even know who she is!

Also, on last night’s episode, Tara had more visibility than she’s had on the entire show. She made up a “team name” and cracked a joke about getting it tattooed on her knuckles. She joked to the utility pole zombies about D.C. She found a yo-yo and got excited about it. All of this light and steady build up to me says that the writers are saying, “Hey, gang. Remember Tara? You know, the background girl who caught Eugene watching Abe and Rosita???? We’ve established her enough as a character that’s perfect for killing off.”

Now, here’s my breakdown of who will die out of this bunch: 1) Tara. She’s a goner. 2) Carol. She’s too important now to NOT kill off. She’s a female Daryl, but I believe fans will take her death a bit easier than the death of Daryl if and when that ever occurs. 3) Beth. If she goes, she’ll go in a big way. 4) Rosita. The most likely of this group to live, only to die a major death later this season or at the beginning of season six.

Some of you might be wondering why I have only selected female characters as potential mid-season deaths. Well, it’s not because I’m a male chauvinist. It’s because three of the four women I’ve listed are the strongest female characters on the show. As far as men go, Daryl is almost a golden child for the show. If they kill him, I believe it will be in the show’s final season. Rick is the leader (most of the time), and I only see him getting killed whenever Carl rises to the task of leading the group. Tyreese has a ton of development left to do in my opinion. He’ll probably go berserk on the cops at the hospital, and probably because of what happened to Sasha last night. I think Sasha is safe for now, by the way. Noah is a scrappy kid, much like Glenn, but he still needs to “man up” before I consider him worthy of killing off. I believe that Glenn is safe until a certain baseball bat shows up. Abraham and Eugene are sort of loose cannons right now. I think Abraham will survive for a bit longer, and Eugene will be dead before the end of the season, but only after doing something heroic to help the others.

Oh, and don’t think that I’ve forgotten Michonne. Despite not an original group survivor, I believe that she’ll be around for a long, long time. I see her and Rick forming a deeper relationship, and I believe that she’s become the closest thing to a mother for Carl.

As far as the hospital people are concerned, a part of me believes that Dawn will join up with Rick’s group and pretty much all of the other cops are toast. The cop I fear for the most is the guy who knocked out Sasha. Tyreese will unleash the beast on him!

So, we’ll find out next week if I’m right or wrong. Hopefully all four of these characters will make it, but I believe at least two of them are done for the show.

As always, thanks for reading and let me know if you think I’m right, wrong, or a blithering idiot in the comments section!

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