10 Non-Superhero Comic Series That Would Make Great TV Shows

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Earlier this week, Carl Jansson at WhatCulture posted his choices for 10 Non-Superhero Comic Series That Would Make Great TV Shows.  Here are Carl’s Choices and my thoughts…

10. Drafted by Mark Powers and Chris Lie
My thoughts: This could work… but so much would depend on the budget for special effects. It wouldn’t be my first choice and it wasn’t Jansson’s either.

09. DMZ by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli
My thoughts: This series has run for years and with recent news events, is more relevant than ever.  I’d tune in.

08.  Queen & Country by Greg Rucka and various artists
My thoughts: This has a lot of potential.  My biggest worry would there be an audience for a British spy that wasn’t 007.

07.  Criminal Macabre by Steve Niles and various artists
My thoughts: If I had the power to get a show made, I’d be all over this one.  Steve Niles has created a world that would be fun to visit.

06.  100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
My thoughts: This would be my first choice to bring to tv.  It’s a crime drama that has the potential to breakout on the level of The Sopranos.  Man, I wish someone would make this!

05.  Northlanders by Brian Wood and various artists
My thoughts: With the popularity of Game of Thrones and Vikings, this might be seen as an effort to cash in, and maybe it would be… but if it produces a great tv show, who cares?

04.  Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory
My thoughts: I think the premise (“Tony Chu is Cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. It also means he’s a hell of a detective, as long as he doesn’t mind nibbling on the corpse of a murder victim to figure out whodunit, and why.”)  would turn people off before they tried the first episode.

03.  Skinwalker by Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir (writers) and Brian Hurtt & Arthur Dela Cruz (artists)
My thoughts: This one could work.  I’d tune in, but I wonder if this, like Chew, would turn people off before they even gave it a shot.

02.  Gotham Central by Various
My thoughts: I’d like to think this would work.  I just wonder if the viewing public would want Batman more than he’d be seen.

01.  Damage Control by Various
My thoughts: Do we really want a tv series about a group that has to clean up the mess left by battles between superheroes and villains?  Yeah, I didn’t think so either.

Jansson’s article got me thinking.  So this week, I’ll post my choices for non-superhero comics that should get a shot as a tv series.

New Orleans is a Werewolf Town!

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Victor Gischler and artist Juan Ferreyra have a new series coming from Dark Horse comics called Witch Hunt…

Witch Hunt is the story of Cassian Steele, the boss of the werewolf mafia in New Orleans, who needs to kill an old witch Verona before she exposes a secret that could ruin him. A bounty is put out on Verona’s head, and she is forced to run from werewolf mobsters, vampire maids, voodoo wizards, and zombie ninjas that are out to kill her. What they don’t realize is that Barnabus Black, a demon desperately trying to regain his halo, is her protection.

There’s a short interview at Bloody Disgusting with Victor Gischer that will give you some more intell.

This will definitely be a pre-order for me.

Hey!  I almost forgot to mention the cool Dave Johnson cover!

Z-View: “Iron Sky” a Weak Link

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The Movie: Iron Sky

The Pitch: “Moon Nazis attack the Earth!”

The Tagline:  “We Come in Peace”

The Story: In 1945, Nazis loyal to Hitler escaped to the dark side of the moon.  Unknown to those on Earth, the Nazis survived and flourished.  Flash forward to 2018.  The Nazis are now ready to attack the planet.

The Screenplay: Michael Kalesniko from a story by Timo Vuorensola

The Director: Timo Vuorensola

The Cast: Julia Dietz, Christopher Kirby, Gotz Otto .

The Good: This teaser from 2007 (at that point the movie was just an idea).  Now that you’ve seen that, you’ve seen the best of what Iron Sky has to offer.  Ok, some of the special effects visuals are cool.

The Bad: The movie.  Way too many attempts at humor that fail.  Yeah, we get it. The Nazis are shocked that a black man is an astronaut.  Hardee-har-har.  Yeah, it’s real funny in 2018 that Sarah Palin is President.   What? Another joke about the black guy? Ho,ho, ho!  

The Ugly: How my expectations for Iron Sky were dashed.  After seeing the teaser in 2007, I thought the movie might be cool.  Then in 2012, I saw this trailer and pretty much knew it would be bad.

The Rating: D

 

Behind the Scenes: Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean Ride

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If you’ve ever been to any of the Disney Theme Parks, odds are your favorite ride is Pirates of the Caribbean.

Even if Pirates of the Caribbean is not your favorite, you probably liked the ride enough to really get a kick out of this behind-the-scenes making of video for Pirates of the Caribbean video.  It features interviews with the original artists, sculptors and animatronics-makers.

For those who want even more behind-the-scenes goodies for Pirates of the Caribbean, here’s part two!

Thanks and a hearty, Hi-Ho to Miss Cellania for the link.

10 Terrifying Unsolved Serial Murders

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Serial killers sell.

Most people are fascinated with serial killers.  This fascination translates to big bucks in movies (The Town that Dreaded Sundown, Saw), television (Dexter, Hannibal), and books (The Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon).

We know their names: Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, Hannibal Lector (the only fictionalized serial killer in this group), Son of Sam, The Zodiac Killer, and the list goes on.

Speaking of serial killers and lists, here’s a creepy list of 10 Terrifying Unsolved Serial Murders.  Some of those cases are so out there that you’d think they were made up.  They’re not.  That makes them even scarier than what we see in the movies, on television and in novels.

Which is where we just might see these cases next — in a movie, tv show or book.  Because we know that serial killers sell.

Thanks and 911 shoutout to Bill Crider for the link.

Fan Builds His Own Bat Cave

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I have to admit that after seeing this guy’s personal Bat Cave, the comic nerd in me came out and I thought, “Now THAT is cool.”

I especially liked the hidden door activated through the secret button on the Shakespeare bust. (Holy Adam West Batman!)

Has there every been a better fan-made Bat Cave?  If so, I’d love to see it.  (Oops.  The comic nerd is coming out again.)

UFC 159 Results

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UFC 159 was held last night. 

Here are my predictions and the results:

  • Jim Miller vs. Pat Healy
    Prediction: Miller with a decision win.
    Result: Healy defeated Jim Miller with a rear-naked choke submission in the 3rd making me 0 -1 for the night.
  • Phil Davis vs. Vinny Magalhaes
    Prediction: Davis with a decision win.
    Result: Davis won by Unanimous Decision making me 1 – 1 for the night.
  • Roy Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo
    Prediction: Nelson wins via KO.
    Result: Nelson won with a first round KO making me 2 – 1 for the night.
  • Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher
    Prediction: Bisping wins via decision.
    Result: Bisping defeated Alan Belcher by Technical Decision after an accidental eye poke in the 3rd. This made me 3 – 1 for the night.
  • Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen
    Prediction: Jones wins via stoppage.
    Result: Jones won by TKO in the first taking me to 4 -1 for the night.

Final Thoughts:

– As expected, Jones was the dominate fighter.  Although Jones won, during the post fight interview Jones looked down and realized his big toe had been badly broken.  If the fight had made it to the second round, there is no doubt that it would have been stopped due to the injury’s severity.

To his credit Sonnen had this to say: “If they would have called the match [in Sonnen’s favor because of Jones’ broken toe], I wouldn’t have had any illusions. I knew in those first five minutes who the better fighter was.”

– Jones will need some time to heal before his next fight, but who can challenge him?  Anderson Silva?  I don’t think so.  I think Jones will have to move to heavyweight if he really wants to test himself.

– Sonnen hinted at retirement.  I don’t see that happening.  He enjoys the challenge of a good fight too much.

– Roy Nelson is back in the title hunt with his third straight KO.  Who doesn’t love Big Country… well, except for Dana White?

 

UFC 159 Predictions

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UFC 159 takes place tonight.

Starting at 8pm EST we have the UFC Prelims on FX.  This portion of the card includes:

  • Erik Perez vs. Johnny Bedford
  • Gian Villante vs. Ovince St. Preux
  • Sara McMann vs. Shiela Gaff
  • Rustam Khabilov vs. Yancy Medeiros

Then at 10pm EST we move over to pay-per-view for the main event fights.

  • Jim Miller vs. Pat Healy
  • Phil Davis vs. Vinny Magalhaes
  • Roy Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo
  • Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher
  • Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen

While I’ll be watching the prelims, my interest is in the main event.  So, let’s take a look at my predictions:

  • Jim Miller vs. Pat Healy
    Thoughts:     I give the edge to Miller in both striking and grappling.
    Prediction: Miller with a decision win.
  • Phil Davis vs. Vinny Magalhaes
    Thoughts:     Davis is the better striker.  If it goes to the mat it will be Davis’ wrestling vs Magalhaes bjj.
    Prediction: Davis with a decision win.
  • Roy Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo
    Thoughts:     Anything can happen when heavyweights bang.  Nelson has a better chin and one punch KO power.  You do the math.
    Prediction: Nelson wins via KO.
  • Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher
  • Thoughts: This fight has generated the most trash talk and should be a very interesting and competitive fight.  I give the edge to Bisping’s grappling, and he may need to rely on that.  Belcher has KO power and Bisping may discover that if they stay standing.
    Prediction: Bisping wins via decision.
  • Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen
  • Thoughts: If Sonnen wins it will be the greatest upset in MMA history.  After tonight Matt Sierra will still hold that record.
    Prediction: Jones wins via stoppage.