POWERS Casts Michael Madsen as SuperShock

Was this as good for you as it was for me?

Comic Book Resources has word that the Sony PlayStation Network series Powers has cast Michael Madsen as the mysterious superhero known as SuperShock.

SuperShock is described in the article as "a perfect physical specimen with an unparalleled presence that catapulted him to global fame.  After retiring at the height of his career under mysterious circumstances and disappearing from public view, he emerges for the first time in forty years after the death of Retro Girl."

Madsen, 57, is best known as Vic Vega (Mr. Blonde) in Reservoir Dogs and as Budd in Kill Bill Vols.1 & 2, all films by director Quentin Tarantino.  His other more notable films include WarGames, Wyatt Earp, Species, Donnie Brasco, Die Another Day, Sin City, and the upcoming Tarantino film The Hateful Eight.  Madsen has also appeared in the television series Quantum Leap, CSI: Miami, 24, Axe Cop, the current Hawaii Five-O, and voiced the Green Lantern known as Kilowog for the animated direct-to-home video movie Green Lantern: First Flight.

"Super-Shock is the most powerful superhero in the Powers universe," said co-creator Brian Michael Bendis.  "With him comes a whole new set of problems and achievements.  With Retro Girl's death, Super-Shock comes out of wherever he's been and we'll discover a lot about the Powers universe through him and Walker and Deena's relationship.

"This is the biggest superhero in the world," Bendis added.  "Superheroes were named after him.  He never took an advertisement dollar, he never was in product placement.  He kept it pure for decades and decades."

Created in 2002 by Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, Super-Shock first appeared in Powers (vol.1) #24 and was featured in the storyline "The Sellouts" as one of the older Powers that wandered the Earth for millennia before revealing himself to the world as a superhero.

For years, he was a member of a popular superteam known as Unity that was active in the 1980s, but after time, he started to lose contact with reality and went on a destructive killing spree before being stopped by Ultrabright, his previous colleague and paramour.  As a result of his actions, all Powers are declared illegal by the United States government.

Powers is expected to return to the PlayStation Network for Season 2 sometime in 2016.

THE FANDOM ZONE 026: "Damned If You Do" is Up!

"I beg of you my son, please choose happiness, unless you feel a calling.  A true calling."
-- The late Thomas Wayne to his son Bruce, Gotham: "Damned If You Do"

With our episode posting back on track, Karen Lindsay and I have another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Birds of Prey 1x13 -- "Devil's Eyes" (SERIES FINALE)
Fear The Walking Dead 1x04 -- "Not Fade Away"
Gotham 2x01 -- "Damned If You Do"

We talk about things like my exhaustion from Salt Lake Comic Con, the awkwardness of being hypnotized into acting like King Kong, Harley Quinn's Hypnotoad eyes, why Batman doesn't kill The Joker, Harley Quinn's total Oracle mindfuck, Birds of Prey's failure as a series, dreading Melissa Rosenberg writing Jessica Jones, wondering when Travis Manawa became The Man of the People, Nick finally washing himself (albeit in the pool), Travis and Madison's backseat sex, the passing of Catherine Coulson from Twin Peaks, Nick's total douchebag move with a morphine drip, the awkwardness of reflecting lights becoming muzzle flashes, The Penguin's plans within plans, Bruce Wayne's password fail, a special appearance by Karen's cat, Barbara Kean finally finding a personality (even if it's Harley Quinn's), Zaardon's blue gas, Batman villains Amygdala and The Tigress, revealing the official name for fans of The Fandom Zone, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

Be sure to come back next week as we review the Season 3 premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, the next episode of Gotham, and the fifth episode of Fear The Walking Dead, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

THE X-FILES Revival Teaser Trailer Debuts on Fox

The truth is still out there...and I couldn't be happier.

Last night, viewers of the Fox series Gotham got the first good look at the upcoming revival of The X-Files, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.  In a two-part teaser totaling 45 seconds, we see the return of Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner, and a very familiar hand holding a cigarette.

The trailer opens with Scully answering her spiffy 2015 iPhone, after checking that Mulder is calling.  "I'm here," says Mulder, looking at her from behind the doors of a hospital intensive care unit.

"They police us and spy on us, tell us that makes us safer," Mulder remarks as we see fleeting images of Scully at the Capitol Building, a flying drone, and Mulder in his empty former FBI office (pencils are still stuck in the ceiling tiles after all these years) with a bearded Skinner. "We've never been in more danger."

Scully sees the words "Don't give up" handwritten on the dirty rear winshield of a car as Skinner replies, "Then do something about it, Mulder."

"This is my life.  This is everything I believe in," continues Mulder as we then see soldiers from the past with the dead body of a child.

"You are on dangerous ground here," Scully tells Mulder, who replies, "I know what I'm doing."

We see more of the soldiers on a remote military outpost and Scully drawing her gun on someone wearing a possible hazmat suit.

And then, we hear the voice of William B. Davis, reprising his role as the Cigarette-Smoking Man as his hand is shown with (suprise!) a cigarette.  "We have a small problem," he says, somehow still alive after being supposedly killed by a rocket launched from a helicopter in the final X-Files episode "The Truth."

If you'd like to check out the teaser, you can view it below thanks to Television Promos on YouTube...



The X-Files returns to Fox following the NFC Championship Game on January 24, 2016.

THE FANDOM ZONE 025: "The Dog" is Up!

"Good people are the first ones to die."
-- Daniel Salazar, Fear The Walking Dead: "The Dog"

We know you've been patient once again, but Karen Lindsay and I have finally returned with another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Birds of Prey 1x12 -- "Feat of Clay"
Fear The Walking Dead 1x03 -- "The Dog"

We talk about things like Edna Mode from The Incredibles, horses and dogs being killed by zombies, Joe Pantiliono, Smallville's stupid "no flights, no pants" policy, Mr. Pink from Reservoir Dogs, Muhammad Ali's real name, Battle of the Network Stars, American Ninja, Batman villain Clayface as Dr. Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs, the awkwardness of your boyfriend showing up as you're coordinating a mission to take down a supervillain, Madison's coping mechanism of playing Monopoly as gunshots ring out, Nick totally giving up on hygiene, the awkwardness of having to kill your neighbor, Karen's hubs' surprise dinner, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

Be sure to come back next week as we review the Season 2 premiere of Gotham, the fourth episode of Fear The Walking Dead, and the final episode of the 2002-03 WB series Birds of Prey, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 037: "The Magician's Apprentice" is Up!

"Tell me the name of the boy who isn't going to die today."
"Davros.  My name is Davros."
-- The Twelfth Doctor and Young Davros, Doctor Who: "The Magician's Apprentice"

At long last, Series Nine has begun and my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson are back with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast! 

Recording this episode immediately after "The Magician's Apprentice" premiered on BBC America, Jesse and I discuss things like the awkwardness of saving one of the most evil beings in the cosmos as a young boy, the creepiness of hand mines, Clara remarking that Jane Austen is a good kisser, Clara and her Claracycle, freezing airplanes in mid-air, why telling Missy/The Mistress that she's good is a really bad idea, the sheer awesomeness of the Doctor entering a medieval arena on top of a tank riffing on an electric guitar and wearing sunglasses, the creepiness of someone breaking down into a pile of snakes (Snakes...Why did it have to be snakes?), Davros playing audio clips of his encounter with the Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Doctors, the importance of the Tom Baker classic "Genesis of the Daleks" making the easiest Reverse the Polarity segment ever, the Daleks exterminating MIssy and Clara (Yeah, right), the return of cliffhangers that make waiting one week simply unbearable, and more!

And for those who still aren't aware of this yet, we're available on iTunes RIGHT HERE as well as Stitcher RIGHT HERE, so please subscribe and tell your friends about us. If you're looking for direct MP3 downloads, you can find them RIGHT HERE as well. Oh, and don't forget we have an officially official Next Stop Everywhere Facebook page and Twitter account, so be sure to Like and/or Follow us, okay?

Be sure to come back next week for our review of the second Series Nine episode "The Witch's Familiar," and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

Wizard World Columbus 2015: Day Two Photos

Wizard World Comic Con Columbus 2015 was all kinds of busy today at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, with William Shatner, Mike Tyson, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker, Emily Kinney, and others signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans. Sadly, David Ramsey was a no-show.


Even with a pretty flimsy celebrity guest roster and the lack of major comics creators, there was still a surprisingly heavy Saturday attendance.  I did some more bargain hunting, picked up a great Constantine t-shirt, and of course, got a lot of great cosplay photos.

Here are some of my photos from Day Two...

The Batman v Superman Batman armor starts off Day Two

Emily Kinney (Beth from Walking Dead, The Bug-Eyed Bandit on The Flash)

Genderbending Marty McFly is all dressed for 2015

Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy is probably hunting Dave Bautista and Michael Rooker

See?  Melissandre brought Jon Snow back from the dead for Game of Thrones Season 6

Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend Day Three this year, but if you'd like to see more pics from Wizard World Columbus, I've set up an album on my Facebook page HERE.  See you next year!

Wizard World Columbus 2015: Day One Photos

It was an unseasonably warm first day at the Wizard World Comic Con Columbus 2015 inside the Greater Columbus Convention Center.  Even though most comic creators are down at the Cincinnati Comic Expo this weekend, there was a decent-sized crowd for what was essentially half a convention day at a rather overpriced convention.  On a personal level, I scored some serious bargains on two early Frank Miller Daredevil issues with Bullseye, and a few early issues of Marvel's original Star Wars series.  Oh, and I splurged on a big bunch of dollar bin comics to fill some gaps in my collection.

And yes, I managed to get some photos from inside the convention...Enjoy!

New 52 Harley Quinn

The Tenth Doctor with an Empty Child

Baymax from Big Hero 6

Loki being Loki

Team Rocket is probably wondering where Meowth is

If you'd like to see more pics from Wizard World Columbus, I've set up an album on my Facebook page HERE.  On to Day Two!

First Official JESSICA JONES Cast Photos Released

Alias Investigations is about to open for business.

Entertainment Weekly has the first official photos from the upcoming Netflix series Jessica Jones, based on the Marvel Comics MAX series Alias by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos.

Ever since her short-lived stint as a superhero ended in tragedy, Jessica Jones has been rebuilding her personal life and career as a hot-tempered, sardonic, badass private detective in Hell's Kitchen, New York City.  Plagued by self-loathing, and a wicked case of PTSD, Jessica battles demons from within and without, using her extraordinary abilities as an unlikely champion for those in need...especially if they're willing to cut her a check.

And here are more photos in addition to the one shown above...

Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones

MIke Colter as Luke Cage

David Tennant as Kilgrave, a.k.a. The Purple Man

Jessica with Rachael Taylor as Patsy "Trish" Walker

Jessica with Carrie-Anne Moss as Harper

And in case you'd like to check out the teaser for the series, you can view it below thanks to Netflix's official YouTube account...




All thirteen episodes of Jessica Jones will be released November 20, 2015 on Netflix.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 036: "Series Nine Preview" is Up!

"Look after the universe for me.  I've put a lot of work into it."

-- The Twelfth Doctor to Ohila, Doctor Who: "Series Nine Prologue"

Finally back on track, my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson and I have returned with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  And this time, we're joined by returning special guest companion Karen Lindsay as we explore the Series Nine prologue and the upcoming season of Doctor Who!

Jesse, Karen and I discuss things like how desperately dull the Fourth Doctor story "Underworld" is, watching the Series Nine Prologue over and over, the return of Ohila from "The Night of the Doctor," what we've been doing to get ready for Series Nine, Hannah Hart speaking in a wacky radio voice every other sentence on BBC America, Chris Hardwick, Steven Moffat reusing lines from the Rowan Atkinson sketch "The Curse of Fatal Death," speculating who Maisie Williams will be, the return of River Song, lightening up the Twelfth Doctor, the longest-running companions, breaking down what we know of Series Nine so far, Jesse's adventures at DragonCon, meeting Julian Glover from "City of Death," Jesse's fantastic Stephen Amell story, some Torchwood news, and more!

And for those who still aren't aware of this yet, we're available on iTunes RIGHT HERE as well as Stitcher RIGHT HERE, so please subscribe and tell your friends about us. If you're looking for direct MP3 downloads, you can find them RIGHT HERE as well. Oh, and don't forget we have an officially official Next Stop Everywhere Facebook page and Twitter account, so be sure to Like and/or Follow us, okay?

Be sure to come back next week for our review of the first Series Nine episode "The Magician's Apprentice," and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher and the Southgate Media Group website!

THE FANDOM ZONE 024: "Gotham" is Up!

"I promise you, however dark and scary the world might be right now, there will be light."
-- Jim Gordon to Bruce Wayne, Gotham: "Pilot"

You guessed it, Karen Lindsay and I have returned with another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Birds of Prey 1x11 -- "Reunion"
Gotham 1x01 -- "Pilot"

We talk about things like Batman: The Animated Series, writing female characters well, Wash being killed off in Serenity, the awkwardness of having your boyfriend's parents wanting him to dump you because you're paralyzed, jerky drunk bras, knowing how to use the index at the back of a high school yearbook, Dean Craig Pelton on Community, the evolution of Harvey Bullock, Sean Pertwee as Alfred, Barbara Kean only existing when Jim Gordon is on screen, Bruce Wayne as The Crow, theorizing who had Thomas and Martha Wayne murdered, dumping Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen,  little comics on TV news, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

Be sure to come back next week as we review the third episode of Fear The Walking Dead and the penultimate episode of the 2002-03 WB series Birds of Prey, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

Jenna Coleman Leaving DOCTOR WHO at Series Nine's End

Well, at least this may get some of the Clara haters to shut up, shut up, shuttity up up up...

BBC News has word that Jenna Coleman, who plays companion Clara Oswin Oswald on Doctor Who, will be leaving the show at the end of Series Nine.  According to The Mirror, her next role will be as Queen Victoria in an eight-part drama series about the former monarch's life.

Coleman's last episode as Clara should be "Hell Bent," the Series Nine finale.  Showrunner teased this episode in the Radio Times with the following description:

“Is it a sad song?”

“Nothing’s sad till it’s over. Then everything is.”

“What’s it called?”

“I think it’s called Clara.”

“Tell me about her."

If you took everything from him, and betrayed him, and trapped him, and broke both his hearts... how far might the Doctor go? It is time, at last, for the Doctor's confession.

Rumors of Coleman's departure began after the announcement of River Song returning for the Doctor Who 2015 Christmas Special, which failed to mention Coleman appearing as Clara.  Also, there was the recent guest change at Salt Lake Comic Con, where Alex Kingston was forced to cancel her scheduled appearance to film the Christmas Special, only to be replaced at the convention by Coleman.  The BBC has so far declined to comment on Coleman's departure.

In an interview published in the Radio Times this week, Coleman remarked on her eventual departure from the series.  "You're in Doctor Who knowing it will never last," she said.   "It's constantly regenerating, so you want to make your time count and enjoy the adventure for the fleeting time you're here."

First appearing on Doctor Who as Oswin in the 2012 episode "Asylum of the Daleks," Coleman originally planned to leave in 2014 during the Series Eight finale "Death in Heaven," only to return for "Last Christmas," and then return again for Series Nine.

"["Death in Heaven"] was her last episode," said Moffat.  "Then she asked me if she could be in ["Last"] Christmas.  So I said, 'OK, I'll write you out in Christmas.'  She came to the read through and did the 'write out' version, and again changed her mind.  But the truth is I never wanted her to go.  And with 'Last Christmas', I'd already written the alternative version where she stayed, and I preferred that version. Frankly, I didn't want to lose her.  She's an amazing actress, and she never stops working to make Clara better.  I was very happy to go the extra mile to make sure we could keep her."

Doctor Who returns to BBC America with "The Magician's Apprentice" on September 19th.

Ready or Not, Here Comes Fox's X-Men Cinematic Universe

You had to know this was coming.

Speaking with MTV News at the Toronto International Film Festival to support his film The Martian as producer, Simon Kinberg verified there's still a plan to have characters from Deadpool and Gambit "cross-pollinate" with future X-Men films in a shared cinematic universe similar to Marvel Studios'.

And yes, anyone who has seen X-Men: Days of Future Past probably realizes that there's a brand-new X-Men film continuity to play around in.  "The idea is that we’ve sort of reset the timeline after Days of Future Past in some ways," said Kinberg, "and if not erased, certainly allowed for change from X1, 2, 3, everything from Days of Future Past forward, 1973, everything we set now becomes canon.  So the Gambit movie, the Deadpool movie, will exist in a world that acknowledges whatever happened in Days of Future Past and moving forward.  Doesn’t mean they’ll always interact with those characters, obviously, it’s not like every movie has all the characters, but they all have to exist within the same rules."

"There will be interplay between different characters in different movies," he confirmed.

Kinberg also said that he keeps track of where and when all of these wacky mutants are in the new shared universe continuity.  "I don’t have it up on a wall, but I have it on my computer, and I have it sort of tattooed on my brain now too," he remarked.  "Nothing external, so that if I get knocked over the head, no one can read it.  It’s literally behind my eyelids.  But yeah, we have a clear sense of the directions we want to take them in and in my my mind at least, how we could start to cross-pollinate sort of with those characters that have their standalone movies."

As for the gradual shift into more bizarre costume designs, as evidenced by Oscar Isaac's character Apocalypse in the upcoming film X-Men: Apocalypse, Kinberg remarked, "I feel like we have been, the X-Men franchise, has been growing a little bit more into science fiction.  I think Days of Future Past with time travel and the Sentinels took us into a slightly broader, more science fiction world than the films had occupied in the past.  We felt like the movies were ready for something that was slightly more, let’s say, cosmic.  Once we made the decision for Apocalypse to be the villain at the center of the movie, we wanted to be true to the comics, which are sort of, like you, say, not costume, but it’s not just a guy in a helmet.  It is more cosmic."

X-Men: Apocalypse is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 27, 2016.

DOCTOR WHO Series Nine Prologue Released

Well, let's meditate on this for a while...

A two-minute prologue to the upcoming season of Doctor Who has been released, giving us a hint of what to expect when "The Doctor's Meditation" debuts in theaters and "The Magician's Apprentice" premieres on BBC America next week.

In this Series 9 prologue, we travel back to the planet Karn, last seen in the 2003 mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor," which featured the long-awaited regeneration of Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor into Sir John Hurt's War Doctor.  This time, we get the return of Clare Higgins as Ohila, leader of the Sisterhood of Karn, as she discusses The Master with Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor.

"He has asked to see you," Ohila begins.  "His servants seek you everywhere.  Will you go?"

The Doctor says no, prompting Ohila to ask why he always lies.  "Why do you always assume I'm lying?" replies the Doctor.

"It saves time," Ohila responds.  "The truth.  Will you go?"

The Doctor says no again, prompting Ohila to ask "When?"  "Soon," the Doctor says.

"Why?  Did something happen?"

The Doctor says no once again, prompting Ohila to ask "Was it something recent?"

The Doctor finally says yes.  "Whatever it was, you owe that creature nothing," says Ohila.

"He and I have known each other a long time."

"You've been enemies for all of it."

"An enemy's just a friend you don't really know yet.  Sorry, what, was that me being cynical again?"

"Aren't we friends, Doctor?"

"That's different.  I don't like you."

Ohila gives a small laugh.  "Which means you can trust me."

The Doctor pulls out a metallic circular disc and places it in Ohila's hands.  "You know who to give that to.  I won't go straight away, I'll hang out for a bit.  Probably meditate on a rock somewhere, get myself ready."

"You are embarking on an enterprise that will end in your destruction," warns Ohila.

"You could say that I'm being born."

"Wherever you go, there are people who care enough to find you."

"Look after the universe for me," says the Doctor.  "I've put a lot of work into it."

"Anyone can hide from an enemy, Doctor.  No one from a friend."

Ohila looks down at the disc in her hands, while the Doctor walks off, presumably to look for a rock somewhere.

If you're interested in checking out the prologue, you can view it below thanks to the official BBC account on YouTube...



Doctor Who returns to BBC America for Series Nine on September 19th.

THE FLASH's Andrew Kreisberg Discusses Season 2 Characters

If you're one of the crazy kids who regularly follow DAMN Good Coffee...and HOT, you probably noticed that the CW series The Flash is adding a bunch of new characters from the DC Comics Universe for its highly-anticipated second season.

Entertainment Weekly spoke with executive producer Andrew Kreisberg about some of the new characters we'll be meeting and how the concept of the multiverse factors into what lies ahead for everyone's favorite Scarlet Speedster.

"We’ve been having a lot of fun with that and getting glimpses of Earth-Two probably sooner than people would’ve thought," said Kreisberg.  "It’s still Flash. It’s still the same show.  It still has those characters and that camaraderie, but our villains are coming from a brand new place and we’re dealing with different concepts, and it’s just really exciting."

Here are Kreisberg's remarks on four of the new additions...

The Flash/Jay Garrick (Teddy Sears)

"There’s a little condescension from Jay.  Jay is a little bit more world-weary and he’s seen a lot.  He’s been The Flash for a while, so he’s a little further along in his career.  He’s seen a lot of darkness, and it’s jaded him a little bit.  He thinks Barry can be a bit naïve about the way the world works.

"One of Barry’s greatest gifts — and truly it’s one of Grant’s greatest gifts, too — is he’s got such an infectious energy and such a purity of heart that he makes you want to be a better person.  As much as Barry learns from Jay about being The Flash, Jay learns just as much about being a good person from Barry."

Wally West (Keiynan Lonsdale)

"I would liken Wally coming in to the way we brought on Colton Haynes on to Arrow.  Just like with Colton Haynes, who eventually one day put on the Arsenal costume, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day Wally West becomes Kid Flash.

"Part of the season is watching Barry mature and grow up not just as The Flash, but as Barry Allen.  Suddenly introducing him to a bit of a wayward kid who has some attitude problems and some authority issues and is quick with a sassy remark — all of which is very Wally West — and then watching Wally integrate into S.T.A.R. Labs universe, but also just the world of these characters, is going to be a lot of the fun of the back half of the year."

Zoom (voice of Tony Todd)

"We wanted another speedster as a villain, but we wanted to do something slightly different. Reverse-Flash felt like a warrior, and what we wanted this time was something more akin to a monster.  When you finally see Zoom, he looks like a demon, and it’s really scary.  It’s more horrific.  You should feel like when one of H.R. Giger’s aliens comes in the room.  The mask is really amazing.

"Like with (Harrison) Wells last year, he has a very specific agenda and a very specific and very clean reason for doing what he’s doing.  When we open the season, he’s a villain of Earth-Two, and now he has access to Earth-One.  Yet again, our team has created their own nemeses for the season.  Watching how Zoom enacts his plan is the plot of the first nine episodes."

Patty Spivot (Shantel VanSanten)

"She’s got a very specific reason for wanting to fight metahumans, which we’ll learn about during the course of the season.  She’s a science nerd, too.  She really loves the science aspect of it, and she and Barry really bond on that level, but she also loves the action.

"She earns her metahuman fighting stripes in the second episode.  One of the cool things about Patty is it’s one thing to take on bank robbers, it’s another to take on someone who can turn into poison gas, or another guy who can control the weather.  At a key moment early on, Patty is the only cop who stands her ground, and that proves to Joe that she’s got what it takes."

The Flash returns to The CW for Season 2 on October 6, 2015.

AMC Gives PREACHER Series Order for 2016

Is this considered an act of God?

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that AMC has ordered to series the adaptation of Preacher, the controversial DC Comics/VERTIGO series from Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. Executive producer Seth Rogen revealed the news on his official Twitter account earlier today, with the following post...

Preacher is coming to AMC! @evandgoldberg @SamCatlin123! The beginning is nigh!!! pic.twitter.com/xVgqYrkEK9

— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) September 9, 2015

The series pickup is for ten episodes, the pilot plus nine more.  Created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, Preacher ran for 66 issues (plus some one-shot specials and a spinoff mini-series) and told the story of Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper), a preacher in a small Texas town who was accidentally inhabited by a supernatural creature called Genesis that was created by the mating of an angel and a demon. Custer goes on a quest across the United States to literally find God, along with his former girlfriend Tulip O'Hare (Ruth Negga) and an Irish vampire named Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun). Other previously announced series regulars include Ian Colletti as Eugene Root a.k.a. Arseface, W. Earl Brown as Hugo Root, and Lucy Griffiths as Emily.

"Garth Ennis’ Preacher is, above all, about great characters – something we look for in all of our series," said Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV.  "The fact that it is also darkly funny, has some great supernatural elements, and takes us on an incredible adventure is just the icing on the cake.  The incredible creative team behind this show – led by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Sam Catlin and Neal Moritz – made a pilot that completely blew us away, and we know the series will satisfy and surprise fans of the comics, and captivate fans of great TV everywhere."

"We started reading the comic when it first came out in the ‘90s," said Rogen and Goldberg in a statement.  "In many ways Garth’s sense of drama and comedy and Steve Dillon’s visual aesthetic helped form our style, and the idea that we are actually bringing Preacher to life is a dream come true.  This is the craziest thing ever and we can’t wait to move forward and work our asses off to make it the best it can be."

Preacher is expected to debut on AMC sometime in mid-2016.

THE FANDOM ZONE 023: "So Close, Yet So Far" is Up!

"When civilization ends, it ends fast."
-- Tobias to Madison Clark, Fear The Walking Dead: "So Close, Yet So Far"

Finally back on track, Karen Lindsay and I have returned with another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Birds of Prey 1x10 -- "Gladiatrix"
Fear The Walking Dead 1x02 -- "So Close, Yet So Far"

We talk about things like my pitiful culinary skills, the importance of moving your story arc forward early on, the trailer return of John Constantine, wondering where background people and cars are on Birds of Prey, cheesy '70s gang movie The Warriors, classic rock singer Donovan, our mutual love of The Monkees, Oracle not having time for small talk or teenage angst, Batman villain Amygdala, Karen's dislike of the word "Anyways," how fast a major city would fall in a zombie apocalypse, Madison foolishly ignoring Tobias' great advice, Madison wanting to help Principal Zombie, wanting to make Tobias into a total badass with a Battle Cart, comics on TV news, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

Be sure to come back next week as we review the Gotham pilot and the eleventh episode of the 2002-03 WB series Birds of Prey, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 035: "City of Death" is Up!

"I suppose the best way to find out where you've come from is to find out where you're going and then work backwards."

-- The Fourth Doctor, Doctor Who: "City of Death"

After another strange void in the time/space continuum, my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson and I are back with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  And this time, we're joined by returning special guest companions Karen Lindsay and Ken Schaefer as we explore the Tom Baker classic "City of Death"!

Exploring this Season 17 story from 1979, Jesse, Karen, Ken and I discuss things like the importance of not calling in from your car, using "City of Death" to get people hooked on Doctor Who, the "David Agnew" pseudonym, the ascent of Douglas Adams, Eleanor Bron inspiring the song Eleanor Rigby, the greatness of Julian Glover, the launch of Doctor Who Magazine, Jesse's creepy love of Romana's schoolgirl uniform, watching Doctor Who on Syfy, how the Eleventh Doctor and River Song would work really well in this story, the Sonic Screwdriver as a rite of passage, Jesse's obligatory mention of Classic Who story pacing, our Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segment, how to handle an internet wacko tweeting you strange messages, and more!

And for those who still aren't aware of this yet, we're available on iTunes RIGHT HERE as well as Stitcher RIGHT HERE, so please subscribe and tell your friends about us. If you're looking for direct MP3 downloads, you can find them RIGHT HERE as well. Oh, and don't forget we have an officially official Next Stop Everywhere Facebook page and Twitter account, so be sure to Like and/or Follow us, okay?

Be sure to come back next week for our preview of Doctor Who Series Nine starring Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher and the Southgate Media Group website!

THE FANDOM ZONE 022: "Fear The Walking Dead" is Up!

"If there's a problem, we're gonna know about it. The authorities would tell us."
-- Madison Clark to Tobias, Fear The Walking Dead: "Pilot"

As we continue waiting for our postings to get back on track, Karen Lindsay and I are back with our first Season Two episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Birds of Prey 1x09 -- "Nature of the Beast"
Fear The Walking Dead 1x01 -- "Pilot"

We talk about things like the lameness of titling your first episode "Pilot," the lameness of writer Melissa Rosenberg and director Shawn Levy,True Detective Season 2, replacing a character with a different actor after only four episodes, creating computer composite photos in 2002, resetting Rick Grimes waking up from his coma in The Walking Dead pilot, Nick possibly becoming the new Glenn, the awkwardness of having your drug buyer meet you in a public restaurant, why Tobias is the smartest person on Fear The Walking Dead, where to hole up during a zombie apocalypse in L.A., wondering how a show set before a zombie apocalypse doesn't explain what caused the zombie apocalypse, talking Talking Dead, some comics on TV news, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

Be sure to come back in just a couple of days for our big Season 2 premiere as we review the Fear The Walking Dead pilot and the ninth episode of the 2002-03 WB series Birds of Prey, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 034: "Father's Day" is Up!

"Who said you're not important?  I've traveled to all sorts of places, done things you couldn't even imagine, but you two.  Street corner, two in the morning, getting a taxi home...I've never had a life like that.  Yes. I'll try and save you."

-- The Ninth Doctor, Doctor Who: "Father's Day"

After another strange void in the time/space continuum, my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson and I are finally back with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  And this time, we're joined by special guest companion Wendy Hembrock from TuningIntoSciFiTV.com as we explore the Christopher Eccleston story "Father's Day"!

Exploring this Series One episode from 2005, Jesse, Wendy and I discuss things like Wendy's introduction to Doctor Who, her favorite Doctor, Jesse's son's dog Charlie (DISCLAIMER: No animals were harmed in the making of this podcast), writer Paul Cornell, whether Rose planned to save her dad's life, Rose's mum Jackie, the Doctor getting mad at his companions, forgotten companion Adam Mitchell, Pete Tyler meeting his grown-up daughter, Pete and Rose rickrolling to "Never Gonna Give You Up," past events we'd like to revisit if we had a TARDIS, our Reverse the Polarity segment, and more!

And for those who still aren't aware of this yet, we're available on iTunes RIGHT HERE as well as Stitcher RIGHT HERE, so please subscribe and tell your friends about us. If you're looking for direct MP3 downloads, you can find them RIGHT HERE as well. Oh, and don't forget we have an officially official Next Stop Everywhere Facebook page and Twitter account, so be sure to Like and/or Follow us, okay?

Be sure to come back next week for our review of the Tom Baker classic "City of Death" and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher and the Southgate Media Group website!