George Romero Brings “Empire of the Dead” to Marvel Comics


Zombie fans are gonna love this.

Starting in January 2014,  Marvel Comics is going to publish Empire of the Dead, a 15 issue series written by George “Night of the Living Dead” Romero with art by Alex “Batman” Maleev.

Romero likes that comics have no budget restrictions on special effects…

“It’s a comic book, which means we don’t have to go out and shoot the stuff,” says the Night of the Living Dead filmmaker, who wrote a 300-page Empire screenplay that is being put to page by Marvel and artist Alex Maleev. “You can let your imagination run wild and do pretty much anything you want, assuming it’s within the bounds of decency.”

Thanks and an extra “They’re coming to get you, Barbara!” to USAToday and CBR.com.

‘Breaking Bad’ Creator Vince Gilligan Explains Series Finale

I believe that Breaking Bad is probably the best television series ever.

There have been other great series, but Breaking Bad was the most consistently good series that did exactly what it set out to accomplish.

Unfortunately all good bad things must come to an end.  If you’re like me, you like to speculate about what happened to the characters after the final fade to black.  Breaking Bad series creator, Vince Gilligan and the show’s writers have their own ideas about what happened next and they shared them with Entertainment Weekly.

Lost 3 Stooges Film Found!

Pictured above is a frame from Hello Pop an early two-color short that featured Ted Healy and The Three Stooges.  No prints of Hello Pop exist. 

Hello Pop along with other early films (the most famous being Todd Browning’s London After Midnight starring Lon Chaney) were lost forever because of a vault fire at the Culver City studio.  

Hello Pop was the only film featuring The Three Stooges that no longer existed.

That is until a private film collector in Australia turned up a copy!  Soon collectors worldwide will be able to see and add Hello Pop to their movie collections.

Now if someone could just find a print of London After Midnight.

Thanks and a nyuk-nyuk-nyuk to the NY Daily Post.

Breaking Bad: Francavilla is Wired & My Predictions for the Finale

We’re about six hours away from the series finale of Breaking Bad.  My guess is you still need a little something to hold you over.

How about Wired’s profile of Franco Francavilla’s Breaking Bad minimalistic episode posters?

Or… my predictions for the Breaking Bad finale?

I think that Walter is going to die, but first he’ll earn a bit of redemption.

Here’s how I see it going down:

  • Walter will free Jesse from the White Supremacists.  I believe he will use the Scarface machine gun for this.  Although Walter initially wanted Jesse dead (blaming Jesse for Hank’s murder), I think the months alone in the cabin have given Walter time to reflect and the desire to set things right before he dies.  Jesse will be given money and Robert Forster’s character will get him away to a new life.
  • Walter will use the Ricen to kill Lydia.  By killing Lydia and the white supremacists, this will effectively stop the distribution of the Heisenberg meth.  This will also allow Walter to get his money back for his family.
  • Walter will set things up for his family’s security.  I’m not sure if they will assume new identities or the money will be filtered to them after the dust settles.
  • Walter will confess to everything.  The dust will settle after Walter confesses to everything and clears Skyler of any knowledge of his drug-related activities.  His confession will do two things: 1) Clear Skyler and 2) Cement his legacy as an “empire builder.”  I do wonder if Walt will turn himself in after everything is set for his family’s security or if he will get the family taken care of and wait until he is close to dying from the cancer.

The great thing about Breaking Bad is, you never know what is going to happen.  So don’t be surprised if I’m wrong.  Dead wrong.

A Decade of Steve Niles…

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a decade since I first recommended Guns, Drugs and Monsters.

Guns, Drugs and Monsters was my first introduction to Steve Niles and his Cal McDonald character.  I loved the concept and immediately ordered Savage Membrane [the book that started the series].  I wasn’t disappointed.

Thanks Steve Niles.  I cannot wait to see what the next decade brings.