Iron Man 4

One of the biggest questions coming from the Marvel Studios camp right now is whether or not Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to reprise the role of Tony Stark; a part that seems to be ripped from the pages of our beloved comic books. It’s hard for fans to imagine anyone else taking on the role of Iron Man, but it’s a possibility we may have to face. As it stands now, RDJ’s contract with Marvel Studios is complete and the high-profile actor has made it no secret that he’d like to take on new characters in smaller films. Not to mention, he is getting up there in years in regards to action films (yes, I know there are actors who are older and are still tearing it up on the big screen, but RDJ isn’t an action star at his core). Recently, RDJ said  “I’d go start another one tomorrow, but it’s not tomorrow,” Downey tells EW. “ And there are a lot of other considerations. But I also don’t like the idea of leaving people hanging or leaving people in the lurch.” He goes on to say that he’d like to start a new franchise, independent of anything he is doing right now, including his work on Sherlock Holmes.

Feige confirms that Marvel is talking with RDJ in regards to a new contract to return as Iron Man, but he also says that the character is one of those like James Bond and Batman, one that can on and on, no matter who is suiting up. So, after all that, we don’t really know where we stand. I think we can expect to see RDJ one more time in the upcoming Avengers sequel, but after that, who knows.

Daredevil, Punisher, Ghost Rider & Blade

Some good news for hardcore Marvelites in recent weeks, as we learned that character rights for Daredevil, Punisher, Ghost Rider and Blade had officially returned home so to speak. All four of the characters can now be included in future Marvel Studios films, which opens the door to numerous possibilities, including a Marvel Knights film or series of films. But before you get too excited, Kevin Feige has a bit of depressing news.

“So Punisher, Ghost Rider, … Blade, all those characters are back,” Feige told EW. “They all have potential, but I think we need to find the right time.”

It’s good to know that these characters are back where they belong, but it looks as though we’ll none of them are a priority for Phase Three. We haven’t seen Daredevil in about 10 years, when Ben Affleck donned the red leather. Fox nearly had a film get into production as late as last year when Joe Carnahan pitched a gritty, 1970′s-esque style reboot, but the studio ultimately passed and the rights reverted back. Two Ghost Rider films were made, starring Nicolas Cage, both of which failed to capture audience attention and box office success. As for Blade and Punisher, Wesley Snipes found himself in jail and no one else has made an effort to touch the project and Punisher, despite having three films over a near 30 year time-span, couldn’t quite get it right.

Inhumans

Before Guardians of the Galaxy was announced, many fans were hoping that Marvel would be announcing that the Inhumans would be included in the Phase Two set of films. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but stay optimistic, as a film based on the super beings may still have some traction. Back in 2011, Feige told EW that a film centered on the Inhumans, a group of highly intelligent beings that stem from the result of testing, was in the works and he was quite enthusiastic about the idea.

“Inhumans is cool, they’re really great characters,” he said in a recent interview, getting more animated about this title than almost any other he discussed. “The most powerful guy is the king who doesn’t say a word and if he does — lookout. That’s awesome. And the notion of the Terrigen Mists, this notion that you go through and don’t know what you’re going to be on the other side, is incredibly compelling dramatically.”

The idea of this group is a bit out there, but with Guardians in the pipeline, the idea of some of the more “cosmic” concepts from the comics may not seem so out there. After all, if folks can take to an impressively armed, trash-talking racoon and a warrior tree, a group of super-smart aliens shouldn’t be too hard to place on the big screen. Feige goes on to say that a lot of the “craziness that comes with Inhumans, we’ve done in the other movies already,” but the Inhumans would add a new aspect of social drama that we haven’t seen yet in a Marvel film, but Fox’s X-Men has been touching on for a while now.

Runaways

Back in 2011, a film based on this group of super-powered teens nearly made it into production, with directors and actors being looked at. Series creator, Brian K. Vaughn, had put together a script that was later re-worked by Iron Man 3 scribe Drew Pearce, which caused the project to delay for some time. The characters had a hard time fitting into the planned Phase One group of films, which as we know all lead up to Avengers, and the project was put on indefinite hold, where it has stayed ever since.

“It’s a matter of where it fits,” Feige says. “The way the business is working now, you either have really inexpensive, sort of surprise movies that can come out and be hits, but don’t cost much. Or you have the big giant summer blockbusters that really swing for the fences. Right now, we’re just swinging for the fences every time. Runaways sort of falls in between those, in a way. We just haven’t found where or how to do it… right now.”

There was no issues with the script at all, which Feige and numerous other Marvel folks are still quite fond of. The group was som impressed by it, they hired Pearce to co-write the script for Iron Man 3. There is still hope for this film as Marvel film over-seer Joss Whedon is a big fan of the series and even did an arc for the series a few years back. Anyone know what Whedon has planned after Phase Two and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Feige closed this portion by simply shrugging his shoulders and saying “I’d love to do it someday.”

Marvel Zombies

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but Zombies are kind of a big deal right now. We have Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead on television right now and is extremely popular, an adaption of Max Brooks’ World War Z headed to theaters in a few months and numerous other takes on the the flesh eaters. While it’s a very long shot, EW asked about the possibility of ever seeing the Marvel Zombies run ever adapted for the big screen. Not surprisingly, Feige shot it down fairly quickly.

 “I know… Zombies is such a funny thing because its such a cool comic and it’s such a cool idea, but the bigger profile becomes what starts to happen [with fans]”

More specifically, why spend years putting together one of the biggest franchises in history only to bring it to a close with what is essentially a joke. The Zombies run, which Robert Kirkman wrote, is a fun take on the characters, but there are so many other issues you run into, the first being character rights. More importantly though, is the wide array of audience that Marvel’s films have covered, from older fans to younger kids and to all of a sudden place these characters in a zombie apocalypse would alienate many of those fans.  As Feige put it: “Are you going to draw figures in chalk with your 3-year-old with Hulk eating someone? Or Captain America with his brains coming out of the top of his head? Probably not.”

That being said, I think if Marvel were to tackle this series with their animation team, they may have something. Not only are the character rights issues pushed aside, you are free to do a lot more in regards to style. I’d like to say get Pixar involved, but something tells me they wouldn’t go for that. One can dream though, right?

Phew! There are your most up-to-date Phase Three plans from Marvel! Are there any of these projects that you’d like to see happen more that the others? This just proves how large of an arsenal that Marvel has to work with and it’s quite encouraging to see them getting into some of the characters and teams that I never thought would ever make it to the big screen. While some of them may never get that far, it pleases me that they are even discussing them.

Be sure to read up on Doctor Strange and the Hulk, as well as what Edgar Wright had to say about his upcoming Ant-Man film that is in the works!

Josh "ecksmanfan" Johnson, Kevin Feige Gives Updates on Phase Three of Marvel Films

Aliens have landed in the separatist town of Carbon Falls… and—worse—they’ve reanimated the town’s dead, too. As Hux Robertson and the rest deal with these crises, they also have to contend with a traitor within and the ATF, too!

The crazy aliens vs zombies vs separatists story continues this month in The Colonized #2. The story is written by Chris Ryall with art from Drew Moss. Jay Fotos handles colors with Tom B. Long providing letters. So does this issue keep up the insane and hilarious thrill ride or was this a one trick pony?

The story, like most other zombie stories, picks up a few days after the outbreak. The zombies that were reanimated by the aliens’ tracto beam have spread out and is no longer a tightly contained incident. The separatist and the aliens have formed an uneasy alliance to try and keep a lid on things before the government can step in and ruin the separatist community’s way of life. There is even more tension between the more liberal Huxley Robinson, the new leader, and Randy Roy Grist, a hardline militia type. Randy Roy has broken off from the group with a few men to try and kill as many zombies as they can. Huxley is trying to work with the aliens and get them flying again. They think they can help fix the zombie mess they caused in the process. All the time an ATF agent that has infiltrated the community to investigate Randy Roy’s weapons cache is trying to stay in the shadow and keep calm while he sees all this mess unfold. The zombie hoard is on its way to Huxley’s house on the hill and the aliens are hiding their true motives. Can this motley crew come together and fix things before it gets big enough to warrant government attention?

Ryall writes an absolutely insane story. The opening scene is a zombie cow attack. That bears repeating- there are zombie cows and sheep hunting down people in this book. Colonized is a funny, yet complex story about aliens, zombies, and separatist groups. The groups views on the government and the inner political conflict in the community would make for an interesting story by itself, but you get a crazy aliens and zombies story on top of it. Ryall has put together something unique. The art is great. From the humans to the rotted flesh of the zombie cows, Moss makes everything look fun in the face of the zombie apocalypse. His alien designs are fantastic. Fotos colors are great. He makes the zombies work and gives the aliens a NASA-like spacesuit.

Bottom Line: Chris Ryall has combined several different genres to make one absolutely insane story. The opening scene with zombie cows is worth the price of admission alone. With an interesting story and great art, The Colonized is one mini-series worth joining up with 5/5

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Review: The Colonized #2

With his move to Random House author Peter Clines novels Ex-Heroes and Ex-Patriots have made the move and are being re-released as well. Check out the press release below and stay tuned for some more superhero zombie mash-up news!

The even-better-than-the-first sequel to Ex-Heroes, featuring a terrifying and ingenious new threat

Ex-Patriots

A Novel

By Peter Clines

 Originally published by a small, print-on-demand press without any publicity or marketing support and almost no physical distribution, Peter Clines’s fantastic debut, Ex-Heroes, still managed to draw an incredible cult following and had genre fans all over the blogosphere raving when Broadway released the paperback in February. Now, Broadway is thrilled to introduce the second in Clines’s sci-fi, thriller, and horror fiction mashup series, Ex-Patriots (Broadway; on sale April 23, 2013; $14.00). Featuring the same cast of brilliant original superheroes (including Zzzap, able to transform into white-hot energy, power a small city, and transmit messages directly to phones and radio, among his other talents), expert thriller plotting, cinematic action scenes, and tons of fun geek and pop-culture references (and set in L.A., where a number of celebrities make rather humorous cameos as zombies), Ex-Patriots is one of those rare sequels that is even more gripping than the first and is sure to establish Clines as one to watch for byfans of such hits as Watchmen, World War Z, and Ready Player One.

            In Ex-Patriots, it’s been two years since the plague of ex-humans decimated mankind. Since then, the superhero called St. George, together with fellow heroes Cerberus, Zzzap, and Stealth, have protected the people of Los Angeles at their film-studio-turned-fortress, the Mount. But the fight is getting harder every day—and the heroes are wondering how much longer they can hold out. Then hope arrives in the form of a surviving U.S. Army battalion, and not just any battalion. The men and women of the Army’s Project Krypton survived the outbreak because they are super-soldiers, created before mankind’s fall to be better, stronger, and faster than normal humans—and their secure base in Arizona beckons as a much-needed refuge for the beleaguered heroes and their charges. But there is a secret at the heart of Project Krypton, and those behind it wield an awesome and terrifying power.

            With the same wry wit and light touch that bedazzled readers of Ex-Heroes, Ex-Patriotsfeatures great new characters, cool new threats, and jaw-dropping plot twists that will amaze even the most well-versed in the adventure genre.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: PETER CLINES has published several pieces of short fiction and countless articles on the film and television industry, as well as the recent novel 14, named best sci-fi novel of 2012 by Audible.com and voted one of the best horror novels of 2012 on Goodreads and Bloody Disgusting. He lives in Southern California.

____________________________________________

EX-PATRIOTS

A Novel

By Peter Clines

Broadway Paperbacks

April 23, 2013 * Pages: 432

Price: $14.00 paperback * ISBN: 978-0-8041-3659-4

Also available as an ebook

Visit www.CrownPublishing.com, www.facebook.com/PeterClines, or https://thoth-amon.blogspot.com

Michael Worthan, Peter Clines Novel Ex-Patriots Released Under Random House

For a couple years now, there have been two rumors floating around concerning Zombieland, with the most logical being that a sequel was in the works, which is kind of has. Writers have been trying to come up with something, but it doesn’t look like anything will actually come of it. The second rumor is that a television series was being worked on for CBS and oddly enough, that’s the project that may be moving forward, as a casting call just went out.

According to I09, the call went out to cast the series main characters, which would carry over from the film. There are some minor spoilers ahead, so read on with caution. Below are some abbreviated descriptions for the characters, which also includes a couple of new characters. the series looks to delve into the back story of our four heroes.

Tallahassee is still kind of a snarky weirdo, but he seems to have a much less spiky relationship with Columbus. He and Columbus have a pretty amusing thing where they riff on the fact that Steven Seagal movies always have three-word titles like “Marked for Justice” or “May Cause Diarrhea.” But Tallahassee also dispenses homespun wisdom about how to feel happy with your life. He also tells a weird story about being in a trailer park with a perpetually nude Matthew McConaughey. He also has a somewhat heartwarming scene where he tells Columbus that he’s been wandering aimlessly for a long time, but maybe he’s been put here for a reason — to help Columbus and the others.

Columbus is much the same, except that he tracks down his grandma and grandpa (Bubbie and Peepaw) only to find them recently zombiefied. Also, Columbus is trying to deal with his new-found relationship with Wichita, after their first kiss. He has started calling her “Krista,” her real name — but there are some problems, especially after she finds him reading a book about fatherhood. He tries to organize a romantic scavenger hunt for her in the IKEA they’re camping out in, but it goes kind of horribly.

Wichita is still trying to look after Little Rock, trying to teach her math with problems about someone stealing from a liquor store and jumping on a train going 42 miles per hour, with a cop chasing in a car going 88 miles per hour. We also learn a lot more about Wichita’s backstory, including how she ran away from her father after he had her stealing people’s Christmas presents — and later, she found out she had a sister who was also being a grifter with her dad.

Little Rock seems actually kind of excited about meeting Columbus’ grandparents, before they turn out to be zombies. And she shares some of her own backstory, about how her dad parked her at a school while he went off grifting on his own — and then yanked her out of school right before a dance that she was looking forward to.

Fred and Ainsley are two office workers at the start of the zombie apocalypse, obliviously complaining about problems with their iPhones and getting the wrong order at Starbucks, which they admit are “first world problems” with a hashtag — while people are being disembowled just outside the window they’re not facing. Tallahassee shows up to bring them their lunch orders, wearing a green polo shirt.

As you can see, the writers plan to keep much of the same tone to the series that helped make the movie so enjoyable. Not unsurprisingly, they seem to be making the relationship between Columbus and Wichita the main focus, but also seem to be making a family out of the group. Not a terrible concept, especially considering they series will be a half-hour comedy. Things look promising!

__________

UPDATE! It’s been revealed by Broadcast that this series will actually end up streaming on Amazon, rather than be a traditional aired TV series, much like the resurgence of the cult favorite Arrested Development. No mention of time frame, but as with Netflix, it can be expected that Amazon won’t be restrained by the usual “seasons” as with traditional television series.

Josh "ecksmanfan" Johnson, Updated! Zombieland TV Series Begins Casting Process

Welcome to my Halloween special: Zombie Reviews. Today, our host talks about Hocus Pocus, brains, and zombies in today’s media. Hope you enjoy.

ZenithWillRule, Zombie Reviews: Hocus Pocus

The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego Partners with Make-Up Effects Company KNB EFX Group, Inc. Lead by Co-Executive Producer of AMC’s The Walking Dead Greg Nicotero

The Zombie Apocalypse Event Debuts at Petco Park to Celebrate Robert Kirkman’s
The Walking Dead Issue #100 During San Diego Comic-Con July 12-14, 2012

San Diego, CA – June 19, 2012 – The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego announced its partnership with KNB EFX Group, Inc. and its founder Greg Nicotero, the force behind Special Effects Make-up for TV shows and movies such as AMC’s The Walking Dead, Kill Bill, Predators, Transformers 1-3, Pulp Fiction, Dances with Wolves, Land of the Dead, The Chronicles of Narnia, just to name a few. In conjunction with the release of Robert Kirkman’s Eisner Award-winning The Walking Dead Issue #100 at San Diego Comic-Con, The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego takes place July 12 -14 at Petco Park, centrally located near the San Diego Convention Center. Registration is now open at www.TheWalkingDeadEscape.com.

There are three ways to participate in this epic adventure. Participants can be a Survivor and race through the zombie infested evacuation zone; a Walker who becomes one of the undead, embracing the inevitable; or a Spectator who watches the apocalypse from sidelines at the Escape Party. Greg Nicotero and his team at KNB EFX will transform those who sign up to be Walkers into the most terrifying zombies to grace San Diego.

With their work on AMC’s The Walking Dead, Greg Nicotero and his KNB EFX team have deep experience creating some of the most incredible zombies in the industry. Founded in 1988, they have become one of the most prolific Special Make-up Effects Studios in Hollywood. One look at Nicotero’s creations for the undead and The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego participants will know they are in for a zombie experience like no other.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to have Greg and his KNB EFX team on board for The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego,” said event producer Liam Brenner. “People who sign up to be Walkers will have the opportunity to be completely transformed into zombies by the leader in the Special Make-up Effects industry. It’s really a chance of a lifetime!”

Skybound.com’s The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego is unlike any obstacle course event in the U.S., expanding on the best-selling The Walking Dead comic book series and graphic novel storylines, allowing Survivors and Walkers to explore the initial days of the apocalypse.

Survivors will climb, crawl and slide in an effort to avoid confrontation by hordes of Walkers, while achieving the ultimate adventure on The Walking Dead-themed obstacle course. The Walking Dead Escape is not a race, and Survivors are not timed, but the end is near, and they must move swiftly. If they’re lucky, Survivors will reach the decontamination zone at the end where it will be determined if they have been infected.

For more information or to register for the event, please visit www.thewalkingdeadescape.com.

About Greg Nicotero & KNB EFX Group, Inc.
Greg Nicotero is Co-Executive Producer, Director and Special Effects Make-Up designer on The Walking Dead. In 2011, he received two Emmy nominations and won the Emmy (his 3rd) for Outstanding Prosthetic Make-Up for a Series for The Walking Dead. The web series “Torn Apart” based on the WALKING DEAD Franchise which he co-wrote and directed, won the 2011 Writer’s Guild Award for outstanding achievement in writing for new media.

His company, The KNB EFX Group (KNB) has contributed to such films as Dances with Wolves, The Green Mile, Sin City, Transformers and Pulp Fiction. Prosthetics and character make-up can be seen in everything from Kill Bill, Splice, Drag me To Hell, The Hills Have Eyes to Boogie Nights, Grindhouse, Austin Powers: Goldmember and Army of Darkness. Nicotero supervised make-up effects on no less than 90 films, from Inglorious Basterds to the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks HBO series The Pacific and Predator. He also won a British Academy Award for Best Make-Up as well as an Oscar for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

About Robert Kirkman
Robert Kirkman’s success and passionate advocacy for creator-owned comics led him to become the first person invited to become a partner at Image Comics since the company’s inception twenty years ago and he formed his own imprint there, Skybound, in 2010. Kirkman is the creator/writer of the Eisner Award-winning The Walking Dead, long-running Invincible, all-ages Super Dinosaur, The Astounding Wolf-Man, and new title Thief of Thieves, among many others.

Kirkman has earned the respect of the comic, writing and television communities and topped the New York Times bestseller list for graphic novels in 2011 and in April 2012, he took the top five spots on both the hardcover and paperback lists. He’s the creator/executive producer and writer of the hit television show, AMC’s The Walking Dead, the highest-rated basic cable drama of all time in the U.S, also an international success in 120 countries and 250 million households. AMC is developing Thief of Thieves as a potential series with Kirkman serving as creator/executive producer and writer. www.Skybound.com is your destination for all news and merchandise for Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead and all Skybound titles.

Agent Burgos, The Walking Dead Escape: San Diego Partners With Greg Nicotero

It’s dog-eat-dog out there. And dog-eat-man. A mysterious infection has turned the whole world into a free-for-all feeding frenzy overnight and the forest is alive with infected animals and people out for your blood. They’re after you and they’re hungry! If only they weren’t walking. If only they weren’t dead!

Baby zombie! Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about Rebel Blood #3. It came out on Wednesday, so this review will talk openly about all the happenings in the third act of Riley Rossmo’s four part zombie series. The story picks up right where the second one ends. Chuck Neville wakes up from his car crash to find himself next to an infected woman and the baby zombie he doesn’t know about just yet.

This issue really ups the action and pace of the previous two. Both stories were good, but this issue is one non-stop action scene after another. With a tow truck driver getting football tackled by a zombie buck and then having to face the zombie baby are just the first four pages. Rossmo really knocks this issue out of the park. Chuck is fighting his way to the forestry station to check on Red, who we’ve only heard through Chuck’s radio conversations. I wonder if Red is related to the movie Old School’s Blue, because both quickly become dust in the wind. You’re my boy Red! Rossmo does the art and covers as well as writes the story with Alex Link. Rossmo doesn’t shy away from the blood and gore of a zombie attack. If you’ve been reading this series, you know it’s not for the fainthearted. You see the result of the zombie attack on Red in all its bloody gore.

Chuck has been wondering about his family for the entirety of the three books, he makes stops at other people’s places to check in. The whole time he is dodging his family and his past, especially his job. You can see Chuck losing it with each gory scene he sees, with each kill animal or human he makes. It is all leading up to going to his wife’s house and seeing if she and his son are still alive or if they are zombie chow. It’s all culminating in the final issue. Rossmo will have a lot of story to cover, and I’m very excited to see how this ends.

Bottom Line: What’s surprising about this story overall is that it’s not the people zombies you have the most to worry about, it’s the animals. The animal zombies are a fresh breath for the zombie genre. All of the mutated, deformed looks on the animals face really up the scare factor and make you nervous whether Chuck will make it out. If you like zombies you will really dig this book. You know what you’re getting in to and you know it’s going to be kind of grisly. Because this issue was non-stop action while still furthering the story, as well as the fact it had a zombie baby, I give Rebel Blood #3 a higher score than the previous two with a perfect 5/5.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Review: Rebel Blood #3

Retailers pursued the first issue of the new Image Comics series with equal voracity, as ALPHA GIRL #1 sold out in the week leading up to its release.

“We sold out? Finally, I have something in common with Jay-Z!”

exclaimed writer Jean-Paul Bonjour upon hearing the news.

“In all seriousness though, I am so stoked for everyone to see Alpha Girl, and so appreciative of the retailer support.”

“Wow! I’ve been in this business since 1998 and I’ve never been involved with a sell out,”

added artist Robert Love.

“I work with the best people that had a solid vision that made this possible.”

ALPHA GIRL will continue Judith’s quest to rescue her little brother from the ravenous horde, keep her status as the last uninfected woman on earth, and quite possibly save the world as well with issue #2 (JAN120575), in stores on March 14.

The creators of ALPHA GIRL are celebrating the launch of their new series with a party and books signing at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles, featuring cocktail mistresses Alie and Georgia, Sean Patton, sketch group Diani and Devine, DJ Douggpound, Steve Agee, and Margaret Cho. Tickets are available at NerdMelt.

Agent Burgos, ALPHA GIRL COMES OUT ON TOP

Hey folks day 24 of 31 in 31 and as we start to wind down to Halloween day I figured that Zombieland directed by Ruben Fleischer and written byRhett Reese and Paul Wernick was a great way to go. Normally zombie movies have the sae kind of setup. An eclectic group of people brought together merely based upon their need to survive and the thought that a large group is better then a small one. Now while Zombieland does indeed bring us a varied group of people their meeting up was by coincidence more then a need of anything.

A zombie comdey that joins the ranks of Shaun of the Dead this is definitely a movie to watch during the Halloween season.

Michael Worthan, 31 in 31: Day 24 “Zombieland”

What could be worse then regular zombies walking amongst us? How about Nazi zombies that aren’t the regualr zombies we’re used to seeing. These monsters can think, can move, and more then anything can love to kill. For day 14 of 31 in 31 I bring to you the movie “Dead Snow” from Norway, directed by Tommy Wirkola and written by Tommy Wirkola and Stig Frode Henriksen.

A group of friends go up to a remote cabin for a ski trip and to just basically party and have a good time, but little did they know that they would ru into a group of Nazi zombies, and these living dead creatures want everyone dead. A movie that is more funny then frightening and gory merely for the sake of being gory I recommend grabbing a group of friends together and having a great time with this movie.

Michael Worthan, 31 in 31: Day 14 “Dead Snow”

One of the stars of the show, IronE Singleton who portrays the character T-Dog, spoke with me before (here) the much-anticipated series first aired. Now, he shares updates about how the series has affected his life and talks about his roots in Atlanta, which is both his hometown and the backdrop for TWD.

The following interview has been edited and condensed.

Comic Canuck: How has your life changed since season one of The Walking Dead?

IronE: Lots of excitement and anticipation in the air. It’s really good. I feel with season two on the way there’s about to be an explosion – a ton of excitement – and once season two hits the air we may have to resume the conversation then to really get the full picture. It’s been a phenomenal year.

Comic Canuck: What can we expect from T-Dog in season two?

IronE: Um, I can’t say too much because as you probably saw in the trailer that T-Dog cut his arm so there’s not much conversation happening beyond that point. We’re just going to have to watch that and see.

Photo credit: amctv.com

Comic Canuck: Season one was quite the short season. How many episodes have been ordered up for season two?

IronE: There are 13 episodes for season two.

Comic Canuck: With the addition of episodes in comparison to season one (at six episodes) has there been a point where you get bit tired or do you say, just keep going?

IronE: I think for any actor if you’re doing more than double the amount of episodes you’ve done from the past season then you’re going to get a little tired, but we are trained to deal with that and move on…because we want to produce the very best for our fans. That’s just apart of the business. More work. More fatigue sets in. That’s our job so we’re used to it.

Comic Canuck: Last year we met on Twitter and at that time you were starting to notice a lot of the fans of TWD and just getting to know it yourself. Now fast forward to today. What do you make of the positive comments over social media about the show from such a huge fan base?

IronE: Wow. I guess it‘s just like any other big hit. I did some international interviews last weekend and they asked me about the fan base and how people approach me because of TWD…It’s kind of expected when you’re working on such a huge show like this, to have this major influx of people to tell you that they enjoy you or that they don’t enjoy you so much. Hopefully, I get more of the former than the latter. (He laughs.)

Comic Canuck: What other projects do you have going on outside of TWD?

IronE: I’ve got this big one with Nicolas Cage and I think it should be released within the year. It’s called Seeking Justice. It’s been on the back burner for a short spell, but it’s going to get a release date soon. I play a villain similar to what I did in The Blind Side, but I play one of [actor] Guy Pearce’s henchmen. We are trying to track down Nicolas Cage’s character throughout the movie because he reneged on a promise that he made to us. I am also the commander of the Green Brigade for the Zombie Survival Crew on Twitter @TheZSC and at facebook.com/ZombieSurvivalCrew. It’s a fictional organization where we prepare all of our fans for the coming apocalypse.

Comic Canuck: Now, are you guys still shooting in Atlanta?

IronE: Yes we are. Production is scheduled to end the first week of November.

Comic Canuck: Atlanta is your hometown and it must feel great to be filming such a huge show there with friends and family around you can talk to. How good is it to get up and go to work every day and be at home?

IronE: I have these really emotional moments where I’ve driven to work and think about how I get to do what I love in my backyard. The word I use to describe it is surreal. To have shot, last year, right in the same area where I grew up, it’s really fascinating and a true blessing. Also, when people such as extras come out to the set, and I talk to them and they tell me how they’re big fans of mine because I made it happen from Atlanta, and they tell me how they adore me for what I have been able to accomplish, that makes me feel really good.

Comic Canuck: When you and I first spoke last year, we talked about when you were growing up that sometimes TV was a babysitter and that sort of led you to becoming an actor. Now, when you’re talking to the extras, it must be inspiring for actors and young kids in Atlanta to look and say here’s a guy who I admire who was where I am and maybe I can be there. How does it feel to be that inspiration?

IronE: I’m getting choked up just thinking about that and listening to you there. That’s true. That is what it’s all about. It’s all about us inspiring one another and a phrase I use: The purpose in our lives is to help others search for theirs and on the journey you will find yours. And that’s how we become better as humanity. When I see that twinkle in somebody else’s eyes and particularly the kids, it’s a really good feeling that I have.

Comic Canuck: Season two airs Sunday, October 16 on AMC. I really want to thank you for taking the time today and I look forward to speaking with you again soon.

IronE: Thank you so very much brother Chris and I love you and your fans and you take care.

Check out his website and also follow @ironesingleton on Twitter.

Comic Canuck, EXCLUSIVE: Actor IronE Singleton on Season 2 of The Walking Dead

Welcome back for day 8 of 31 in 31, the movie chosen for today is Slither written and directed by James Gunn, starring Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, and the very popular Nathan Fillion. Not your ordinary horror film Slither is more of a cult sensation mixed with humor and a sensational ammount of gore. When an alien plague takes over a small town turing its residents into zombies, and other types of mutated creatures, it is up to Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) to not only save the woman he loves, but figure out exactly what is happening.

If you are in the mood to be grossed out, and still laugh then this is then Slither is the flick for you. The horrific scenes that occur and the characters reactions to the gore, and the alien invasion will have you wondering how much more gross this movie can get, while at the same time truly enjoying this style of film making.

Michael Worthan, 31 in 31: Day 8 “Slither”

Being a fan of zombie movies has directed me to watch many old and newer zombie movies, but 28 Days Later stays within my favorites because it is a look at something that could potentially happen in the world today. Zombies are used in many ways within the world, but nonetheless still something that scares enough people to think up “what would happen if” scenarios. Although these zombies are what people refer to as”runners” they are still the flesh eating, swarming group of virus carriers we have all come to love and fear.

If given the chance I highly suggest watching this movie, and if you’ve already seen it I say it never hurts to watch it again.

Michael Worthan, 31 in 31: Day 7 “28 Days Later”

Welcome to the beginning of 31 in 31! I and a small group of my friends are fans of Halloween, so muh so that we’ve taken on the task of finding what we consider to be the best 31 films that fit perfectly within this time of the year. Whether it’s horror, sci-fi, suspense, thriller, or maybe something you don’t quite expect. Either way we hope to lead you folks to explore movies that maybe you wouldn’t have otherwise seen, and maybe discover a new favorite for you and your friends to sit around and watch during this time of the year. We will be starting on the 1st of October and going all the way up until Halloween Day, the 31st of October. I hope you guys tune in and read what we have to say!

Michael Worthan, 31 In 31: The Beginning

- Where did you come up with the basis for Ex-Heroes? And did any of your heroes take after heroes from your childhood or did you envision them to be fully unique?
Ex-Heroes came about through some dissatisfaction and a bit of serendipity.  I’ve been a huge comic fan since I was about seven, but as of late I’ve become very bothered by the trend of aiming comics solely at adults.  The Big Two, who traditionally had a very young demographic, are now marketing pretty much exclusively to ages twenty and up.  And one of the ways they do this is by making all the characters as messed up and melodramatic as possible.  Being heroic is the least-important thing.
When I heard that one of the Big Two was going to do a zombie miniseries with a very Romero feel to it, I was thrilled.  Not only did I love the idea, but it was a situation that essentially forced the heroes to be heroic.  I imagined all these great last stands and classic heroes barricading themselves in buildings with civilian survivors.
Needless to say, the story was not that at all.  It wasn’t heroic at all, it was just a gorefest.  These weren’t even heroes—they were just cannibalistic ghouls wearing superhero costumes and talking non-stop.  They had to be tireless zombies to talk that much.
So I channeled my dissatisfaction and scribbled a bunch of notes onto a legal pad of what I would’ve done.  The ideas I would’ve explored with these heroes in this situation.  Super-powered twists on a lot of classic zombie tropes.  That sort of thing.
That probably would’ve been it, but a few months later my girlfriend and I decided to move in together and got a new place.  I finally had a home office and got to unpack a bunch of stuff I’d been hauling around for years.  One of the things I found was a pile of old sketchbooks from grade school and junior high, when my big goal in life was to write comics for Marvel.  There were tons of heroes and villains in there.  And I was paging through these and it struck me that a lot of these characters I’d created when I was ten or eleven would slot into the zombie story I’d hoped to see.
Granted, they needed a lot of work.  Some of them were kind of goofy, in that ten year old way, so there were some revamps and polishes to all of them.  Probably the biggest revision was that all my superhero characters were male.  At age ten I didn’t see what anyone could possibly find appealing about hot women in spandex fighting crime.  So in this revamp a few male characters became female.  Stealth was male, originally.  So were Cerberus and Banzai.  I think it worked out better for all of them.

–How much research did you do for diseases?
For the zombie idea?  I’d stumbled across the bit about the Komodo dragon years ago, and I’m cursed with a freakishly good memory for stuff like that.  It fit well, and I’d never heard of that angle before.
The funny thing is, right after the book sold to Permuted Press I got to interview George Romero for my then-day job at Creative Screenwriting Magazine.  So I was doing some random background research before we talked and found out he’d used the exact same analogy with the Komodo one time in an interview to explain why zombie bites were lethal in his stories.  I was horrified everyone would think I’d just ripped him off.  But then I talked to a few friends who were die-hard Romero fans and they’d never heard it, so I figured I was safe.
And then, as icing on the cake of shame, about a month or so before the book came out a study came out that showed Komodos really are poisonous.  The disease element is just an odd side-effect.
So my research is all crap, apparently…

Peter Clines as taken from his FB page

- Ex-Heroes goes from current story to the past and shows how each hero or hero that is now an ex got to that point in time. This is only the second time I’ve seen this done in a book and I really enjoy it will Ex-Patriots be similar? And how did you come up with that style of story telling?
I’m afraid to say it was laziness.  Well, not entirely, but it definitely wasn’t the case of a careful planned structure right from the start.  When I first started scribbling notes and ideas to myself—with no real idea where it would lead to—I was just doing little character pieces.  One of the first things I tried was more or less a first person short story which eventually became “The Luckiest Girl In The World,” the story of the Zombocalypse from Banzai’s point of view.  A little bit after that I wrote “Subtle Beauty” and “Enter The Dragon.” They were just things to let me get a grip on the characters and some of the backstory.  I knew my real story was going to be the aftermath, not the uprising.
I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but at some point it occurred to me that I could keep all of these chapters for just that reason—they gave a great view of the characters and they told some of the history.  In fact, with the three I’d scribbled, I realized I was telling the backstory sequentially.  Plus it meant I already had about 10,000 words done in the novel.  So I decided to run with it and it let me do a lot of fun stuff.

- Gorgon was my favorite character in Ex-Heroes, did you have a hero that you really enjoyed writing?
It’s tough to say.  I enjoyed them all because I love the idea of superheroes and each of the characters hit a certain archetype.  Gorgon is the gritty, borderline-vigilante.  St. George is the noble, larger-than-life symbol—the boy scout.  Stealth is the dark protector type.  Cerberus is the high-tech armored one.  Zzzap is the energetic one.  Even the ones we only get glimpses of hit a lot of standard tropes.  Banzai’s the super-nimble acrobat.  Cairax is the supernatural guy.  Blockbuster’s the strong guy (because every group has a strong guy).
I couldn’t really pick.  I could say that if I didn’t enjoy writing one of the character, I probably would’ve left them out.  I think that distaste shows through.  I even enjoy the bad guys.

- I was recommended your book by a friend and was very pleasantly surprised at how great it really was. As a fan I have become kind of  jaded with zombie books, but you took a fresh new approach. Are there any zombie novels, comics or anything of the sort that got you started on this unique genre of writing? If so who and why?
It’s funny you ask that.  I don’t think I really did anything that unique.  It wasn’t anything new, it was just going back to a lot of the standards I grew up with.  My zombies are really just your classic Romero shamblers.  They’re slow, they’re mindless, they walk into walls, they’re attracted by noise, and so on.  My heroes, like I mentioned above, are just a lot of standard superhero archetypes.
I think it’s that back-to-basic-ness which seems so fresh and new to people.  I think a lot of writers are determined to find “a bold new take” on classic ideas and they make big changes or shifts.  And, in all fairness, some of them really do some amazing stuff.  But I think after a while most people just end up wanting the classic.  That’s why no matter how many times they revamp Spider-Man or Superman, they always end up back in the same costume with the same powers.  We’ve had, what… the four after-death Supermen, the Electrical Superman (two different colors, even), Kryptonian battle-armor Superman…  In a year he’ll be back in the same fabric costume with the red shorts.  I’d put money on it.
Y’know what it is?  Have you ever gone to a restaurant where it’s impossible to get a cheeseburger?  They’ll have a braised ostrich burger with brie on a croissant, a garlic-seasoned patty with pine nuts and blue cheese crumbles on an oatmeal-sesame bun, or something along those lines.  And these are all good and nice for a little change, but in the end most folks just end up wanting a basic cheeseburger.  I think Ex-Heroes is a cheeseburger in a wave of new-age California cuisine.

- What is the most surprising reaction you’ve gotten to Ex-Heroes fan wise?
Honestly, I’m still kind of surprised people have liked it as much as they have.  I was pretty sure it was a good story when I finished it, but I also knew it was kind of an homage to the type of heroes and stories I grew up with.  Going off what sells in comics these days, I felt very alone in that, so I figured it wouldn’t work for most people.  They’d find it too silly or childish.  So it’s been kind of overwhelming to see the number of folks who’ve enjoyed and—as in your case—passed it on to other friends.
I will say, one thing that completely blew me away was some of the interpretations of how Cairax got infected.  It’s something I left a bit vague, yes, but all the clues are there for what happened to him.  Some of them aren’t even that subtle.  I never dreamed some people’s minds would drop so far into the gutter.  Well, okay, that they’d go on record with it, at least…

- The sequel to Ex-Heroes is coming out in a little while– what can we expect from Ex-Patriots? How far from the end of Ex-Heroes is this book set? And do we get to see maturity from all of the heroes that are still around from Ex-Heroes?
Ex-Patriots starts up about eight months after Ex-Heroes.  To be exact, it’s the summer of 2011 (lucky break, that).  The people of the Mount are settled in and exploring more of Los Angeles, because supplies are getting tight with their increased population.  And, as in any zombie story, this is when the military shows up.
One thing that was important to me, though, was that the Army not be the bad guys.  So often in this type of post-apocalyptic story the military gets portrayed as inept or mad with power.  Whenever you get a military hero, they’re either the rare exception or they’re a deserter—often both.  I knew there’d be a clash of methods and ideas between civilian forces and military forces, but I didn’t want the Army to be a group of deluded psychos going “muah-hah-hah—we’re here to take your food and your women.”
As far as the heroes themselves—the ones who made it out of Ex-Heroes, anyway—their lives have progressed a bit and they’ve all changed a little.   When I sat down to write Ex-Patriots I already knew I had a very, very strong chance of getting a third book, so this time I was able to do a bit more foreshadowing and plant some more seeds, so to speak.  There are some things left dangling in Ex-Patriots that are obvious set-ups for another story.  It’s my Empire Strikes Back, if I may be so bold.

- My questions have been a bit long, but this is the last one. I ask every author I get the chance to interview this same question and everyone has a different take so I would love to hear yours. What does it take to be a great writer?
A great writer?  Beats me.  I’m still trying to figure that one out myself.
To be a good writer, I think it’s pretty simple. Write.  Sit your butt in a chair and start putting words on the page.
I know that sounds kind of trite, but it really is the truth.  Most professional writers wrote and wrote and wrote before they got any small degree of success.  I wrote three or four novels that will never, ever see the light of day and dozens of short stories that didn’t sell.  But that’s how I learned.  I see so many people who want instant results and are furious their genius wasn’t recognized in the first thousand words they ever strung together.  Either that or they get so caught up in classes and how-to books that they never do anything.
Look at it this way, if I can use another food analogy.  Say you wanted to be a really good chef.   Would you really be all that surprised if no one wanted to pay seventy bucks for the first meal you ever cooked?  You could also read all the cookbooks in the world, study every recipe,  and spend every night watching cooking shows, but I think we can all agree that won’t make you a chef either, right?  You have to get in the kitchen and practice again and again and again.  Then maybe on your seventieth or eightieth or one hundred-fiftieth cheesecake someone will say “Wow—that’s totally worth ten bucks a slice.”  But you can’t expect it to happen without that work.
Man, now I want cheesecake…

I would Like to thank Peter Clines for taking the time and doing this interview with me, if you haven’t picked up Ex-Heroes yet I highly recommend it, and keep an eye out for the sequel Ex-Patriots.

Michael Worthan, An Interview with Ex-Heroes & Ex-Patriots Author Peter Clines