Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com

PTG Episode 59 is brought to you by the Halloween Season. Yes, it’s getting close to All Hallow’s Eve, and that means it’s time for more horror movies at the Cineplex, more horror-themed episodes on TV, and of course, costumes, make-up, and gore galore. This past weekend here in Orlando, Spooky Empire’s Ultimate Horror Weekend was a celebration of all of the above, and in this episode EricathePimp and I spend some time talking about our visit to the festivities, a first for us both. Thanks to Todd and Stu over at Heroes Landing for providing the voucher we used for our admission to the show, and many kudos to Petey Mongelli, the mad genius behind Spooky Empire and this now-7-year-old convention, and his many minions for putting on what we’re certain was a hugely successful show. We were only there for a few hours, but we saw many friends, like Terry Cronin from Students of the Unusual, Abyssmal Entertainment, the Wolfpack Elite, and the Orlando Ghostbusters. We also met and spoke to the Florida Ghost Team about their efforts to bring everyday people a chance to conduct their own paranormal investigations in haunted houses across the state of Florida. Please visit their websites through the links above and let ‘em know that Prime Time Geek sent you!

Also in this episode, we spent some time reviewing the “feel-good” comedy of the season (snicker), Zombieland, David Doub’s independent graphic novel Dusk, and the latest episode of Smallville, Rabid (yup, you guessed it, it’s the zombie episode). Enjoy!

PTG Episode 42 is brought to you by every G.I. JOE episode ever made. They’re all now in one big collector set by Shout!, available over at http://www.gijoecollectorsset.com/. Watching any portion of this really is great preparation to watch the new film, G.I. JOE: Rise of Cobra, because the film really IS just a live version of the cartoon, for better or worse. Not sure what that means? It’s all in the podcast.

Also in this episode, Gary Holmes from Just Push Play takes a quick break from his adventures in beer over at Willow Tree to call in and talk more about AFO X and Swords of Orlandia 3, which he helped write as well as reprising his role as Prince Hesperis (sp?). We also take time to remember and reflect upon the work of screenwriter/director John Hughes, whose works in the 1980s, including Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Weird Science, but also Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , National Lampoon’s Vacation, Home Alone, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Career Opportunities, and so many more, are considered by many to be genre classics and the finest, funniest films to come out of that decade. His most memorable works always seemed to be able to strike an emotional cord with just about everyone, because he often would start with stereotypes we all were all familiar with and them humanize them, turn them into 3-dimensional, real people with real problems that we could relate to. He had an amazing sense of humor and a true talent for writing comedy, but all that laughter was grounded in a sense of genuineness–though his lead characters might appear at first glance to be stereotypes, they are never caricatures unless he wished them to be. John Hughes, thank you for sharing your tremendous talent with us, and rest in peace.

PTG Episode 40 is brought to you by the Kronos Corporation. Don’t know who they are, you say? You must not, then, have been a fan of The Guyver, Takaya Yoshiki’s long-running and oft-adapted manga series. Kronos, you see, is in the business (secretly, of course–you won’t tell anyone, will you?) of turning humans into monstrously powerful beasts they call “Zoanoids.” They’d also VERY much like to get their hands on a little item called “The Guyver” which … well, if I told you, then you wouldn’t go read the manga or watch any of the television or straight-to-video adaptations, now would you?

Anime is very much like a long, lost friend to me. It’s that guy or girl from grade school or high school that you swear up and down was your best friend back then, the one you hung out with every day, shared countless laughs and good memories with, and you can’t, in fact, imagine what that part of your life would have been like without them … BUT when you see them again after 20 years you both have changed so much that you can’t even hold a conversation with the person unless you’re talking about “the good ol’ days.” It really is sad to me that my relationship with this genre is in such a sad state, and I’d do just about anything to revive it, but it’s just a matter of knowing where to start. It’s the great paradox of anime in North America, in my humble opinion: so many people LOVE it, and there’s so much of it out there on video and on the web, but it’s all so homogeneous, and so few properties stand out from the crowd, that actually ACCESSING all of that content in a meaningful way on your own, without an expert guide at your side to steer you toward the good stuff and away from the bad, is damn near impossible. Others with a greater sense of adventure (and perhaps more free time on their hands to spend on an anime title they know nothing about that could be soul-shatteringly bad) may not have this problem, but it’s certainly one that I understand quite well.

Episode 40 focuses on, in addition to more on the topic briefly introduced above, Anime Festival Orlando 10 (AFO X)–a good part of the hour is spent on what I saw and experienced, walking around the convention and immersing myself in the world of contemporary anime … or at least trying to. I’m fairly certain that because a) I wasn’t wearing a costume; and b) I had a camera around my neck and a laptop bag slung over my shoulder all morning long, that I looked like a tourist, a stranger in a foreign land, and trust me, that’s EXACTLY how I felt. There’s no small irony in that, and you’ll find out why when you listen to the podcast. But still, all things considered, I enjoyed myself, and one event at AFO this year that I particularly enjoyed I didn’t get a chance to talk about on the air, so I want to give it some space here: the “Whack-a-Nerd” Charity Event, hosted by Sleeping Samurai.

Seriously, wouldn't YOU get in line and pay money to hit THIS guy?

This, of course, reminded me very much of Barbarian Battles, and the show that the late, great Jim Gasser would put on at conventions across the country. But what AFO and Sleeping Samurai have going on here is unique just because … well, just look at the incentive they offer to convention goers to pick up a padded sword and get in the ring! And the meager sum of money you must fork over for the opportunity goes to charity! The whole time this event ran on Sunday, there were people lined up and even more people watching from inside the room or out in the corridor. I’m sure it’s right up there with the Swords of Orlandia LARP in terms of the most memorable parts of the weekend.

Speaking of Swords of Orlandia, many thanks to “Gamalon, Necromancer of the Shadowfowl Army” and “Corens Lissossa, general of the Anarchs Army”, the two gents in charge of the game mechanics aspect of SoA, for their time and participation in an interview Saturday morning that provided much of the information that I talk about during this episode. They were a lot of fun to talk to and I hope the rest of weekend’s SoA activities went well for them. Here’s a pic of Gamalon and Corens:

The Necromancer and the General

To see all the rest of PTG’s pics from AFO, click on the Picasa album below. Enjoy!

AFO 10 (2009)

Imzadi, by Peter David

On Thursday, May 21st, renowned comics writer/novelist/screenwriter Peter David (The Incredible Hulk, Supergirl, Fallen Angel) appeared at Coliseum of Comics at the Fashion Square Mall to meet with fans and sign autographs, ahead of his scheduled appearance the following weekend at the Orlando Area Science Fiction Society’s OASIS 22 Convention. The Eisner-award winner and bestselling author of numerous novels set in the Star Trek, Babylon 5, and Alien Nation science fiction settings as well as in his own original settings (Sir Apropos of Nothing, Tigerheart) took a few minutes to talk to us at the start of the signing, and in those few minutes he lived up to his reputation of being as outspoken in his views as he is prolific as a writer. During the interview he shared his thoughts on advising aspiring writers, the current plight of the publishing industry in North America, and what he would do to fix the business model currently in use by the comics industry. He also talks about the fan fiction project currently exploding on his personal website, peterdavid.net, a farcical sequel to Twilight entitled “Potato Moon.”

Thanks to Aaron Holland over at Coliseum of Comics for allowing PTG to monopolize Mr. David’s attention for the interview, and to Mr. David himself for granting the interview as well as signing my first edition hardcover copy of the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel Imzadi that will never see the light of eBay or half.com as long as I live.

This year’s FX International Show, in addition to being the 20th anniversary show, also featured another milestone: it was the first time that Marvel Comics has sent down such a large group of its current writers to present panels over all three days of the show. Shepherding this collective effort to promote Marvel’s hottest titles was writer Jim McCann, currently the mind and heart behind the New Avengers/Dark Reign tie-in limited series, New Avengers: The Reunion.

Marvel Comics’ Jim McCann (photo courtesy of MySpace)

In our exclusive interview, Jim shares his thoughts about the heroes at the center of the story, Clint Barton and Bobbi Morse, better known as Hawkeye/Ronin and Mockingbird; specifically, he addresses the challenge of creating interest in Mockingbird, a character who has been gone from comics for 15 real-time years, and the possible perception that Mockingbird and Hawkeye were simply Marvel’s Black Canary and Green Arrow. Truth be told, he talks about a lot of things, and they were all too fun to edit out, so rather than cut it down to the size I could use during a live show, here’s the interview in its entirety. Enjoy! (and yes, this interview was also shot on video, so watch for the video version of this interview in the coming weeks, right here at Prime Time Geek!)

PTG Episode 14 Hour 2 kicks off with a clip from a ‘just-eh’ Marvel movie, Daredevil–yeah, the one with Ben Affleck, THAT one. Thing is, this clip isn’t in the movie–its an outtake from the DVD’s gag reel, highlighting Jon Favreau’s improv skills. I think it’s funny, certainly, but it does lose something without the visual of Affleck barely containing his laughter as Favreau goes off.

No doubt, the highlight of this hour is our chat with ‘The Man’ from the “Slacker and the Man” podcast, which you can find on Switchpod and iTunes. ‘The Man’ talks about the origins of “Slacker and the Man”, the aspects of their show that make them stand out among the many geek-related podcasts out there (including this one), their ongoing work with Team Fanbabe, and their future plans, including a second live audience show on the Friday of the FX Show, April 17th. It was a pleasure to have him on and we hope to have him back soon.

Daredevil is the subject of the Marvel Comics Spotlight in Hour 2, specifically issue #117, part 2 of the “Return of the King” chapter in the ongoing ‘Lady Bullseye’ storyline. The artwork above is NOT from Daredevil #117, but rather from an upcoming issue of Daredevil where the book returns to its original numbering, starting at #500. In discussing this single issue, we hit on a lot of the work Ed Brubaker has done on this book since he took over from Brian Michael Bendis several years ago, and a lot of the characters he’s worked with, including Dakota North, Iron Fist, Matt Murdock’s wife, Milla, and Lady Bullseye, using this image for this week seemed to fit. Plus, it’s a freakin’ awesome piece of artwork by Marko Djurdjevic, who has been doing covers for Daredevil for a few months now.

When I conducted this interview with Jim Gasser of Barbarian Battles at MegaCon earlier this month, I had honestly hoped to send it to him once it was done to get this thoughts on the work, because it truly a great interview in my opinion and he was great fun to chat with. I sincerely hope he would have enjoyed seeing it, had he had the opportunity.

I learned earlier today that Mr. Gasser was killed in a car accident in New Mexico yesterday, March 30th, while on his way to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in California. Those who knew him can perhaps take a little comfort in the fact that he was doing what he so clearly loved and was passionate about. For my part, I only spoke to the man for a few brief minutes, but his story and the fact that he was living his dream was truly inspiring, as was the energy and enthusiasm that simply radiated from him as he spoke about his labor of love, taking Barbarian Battles on the road to Faires and conventions, teaching the fundamentals of swordplay. For my part, I’m glad to have met him–he’s a shining example of how a life spent doing something you’re passionate about shouldn’t just be the stuff of dreams. It can be a reality.

Rest in peace, Jim Gasser. I’m honored to have met you, however briefly.

Hour 2 of PTG Episode 10 kicks off with the funnier of the two clips from Chasing Amy set in the midst of a comic convention, but honestly, in my opinion its only funnier due to Jason Lee’s unique delivery of the f-bomb. Yeah, juvenile, I know–the f-bomb still cracks me up sometimes.

Well, though I swear no one is more surprised by it than I am, I was actually able to keep my promise to you, my listeners, that if Dan Didio, Senior VP-Executive Editor of DC Comics, truly was at MegaCon this year I’d have a few questions for him and I’d corner if I had to in order to get answers. I got him in a corner all right, but as it turned out, he picked out the corner of the convention center, not me. The head honcho of DC’s publishing end was gracious, humorous, and a pleasure to talk to on a range of subjects, including but limited to more DC visits to MegaCon, the work of Geoff Johns, Final Crisis, Green Arrow/Black Canary writer Andrew Kreisberg going on to becoming a writer and producer on FOX’s Fringe, done-in-one stories in comics, and electronic delivery of print products in the future. If you’re a DC reader I hope you enjoy listening to the interview as much as I did giving it. And to my listeners who aren’t comic book readers, you shouldn’t skip over this segment, because I asked Dan to recommend a comic book from DC for fans of sci-fi and fantasy, fans of the genre who aren’t comic book readers right now, to get them hooked, and he in fact gave me TWO recommendations that I wholeheartedly agree with.

In the “b” block of Hour 2, Sports Buzz Ryan calls in to share his thoughts about Street Fighter IV, the latest entry in Capcom’s legendary fighting series and one that seems worthy of all the pre-release hype and anticipation. All you Ken and Ryu fans, you Chun-Li lovers and Bison fanatics, if you don’t have this game yet, GET it. It’s everything you ever loved about Street Fighter II, given the next-gen console treatment with all the trimmings.

No BSG After-Action report in the “c” block, but instead a quick review of Marvel’s New Avengers #50 and some final thoughts on this year’s MegaCon. Hope you enjoy!

There’s only one place you want to party once you’re done mingling at MegaCon this year: the Wolfpack Elite’s 3rd Annual MegaCon Attendees Party! Check out one of the premiere costuming groups in Central Florida as they seek to dazzle you with costumes, dancers, celebrity guests, and more. $5 (and a valid ID) gets you in the door and a chance at over $1,000 in cash and prizes, and all proceeds benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation! For more details, check out www.wolfpackelite.com. So get out there once the ‘Con is done for the day, party it up, do your part for a great cause, and don’t forget to tell them you heard about it through Prime Time Geek!