Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com.

PTG Episode 101 is brought to you by “Adventure Chefs: Making Danger Delicious!“, the new reality show being developed for television by our good friend Terry Cronin of Students of the Unusual. As part of PTG’s MegaCon 2010 coverage this past weekend, the first panel I attended on Friday was the “Adventure Chefs” panel, which showed audience members clips of the first couple of episodes shot, as well as introduced the audience to director Steven Shea, who directed Episode 2, and Lisa Corrao, stand-up comedienne and guest judge in Episode 1. I have to say that I’m not all that big on cooking shows. Shows about EATING, like Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and Man vs. Food, on the other hand, will get my attention every time. This concept, sending competitors out into the wild to forage and hunt for what they’re going to cook up for the judges, takes a few elements from those Travel Channel shows in the sense that, in addition to the food preparation portion of the show, the crew and competitors travel to different picturesque locales each week and makes the most of those settings in order to engage the audience. It looks like a lot of fun for everyone involved and a fun show to get into watching every week. Click on the link for Adventure Chefs above and check it out, or find them HERE on Facebook.

This entire episode is devoted to all things MegaCon. In addition to talking about my coverage of the Adventure Chefs panel, the 5th Annual MegaCon Indie Film Festival, and the DC Nation panel on Day 2, The Man from Slacker and the Man joins us on the phone to talk about his adventures (and misadventures) on the convention floor, including his brief but oh-so-unforgettable (and enviable!) encounter with a particular Star Trek: The Next Generation luminary who happens to be VERY active on Twitter!

Speaking of Star Trek, let me take a moment to call your attention to Vulcan Events, the new science-fiction based entertainment venture from Fernando Martinez, a man with over 25 years experience in organizing fun and exciting conventions and events geared towards sci-fi fans. Their first convention will be in Tampa this upcoming April 30th-May 2nd and features special guests Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future, Star Trek III) and Michael Shanks (Stargate SG-1, Smallville), along with a growing list of bonus guests. Even though it happens to fall in the same weekend as Free Comic Book Day, you’re not going to want to miss this show, so find a way to do BOTH!

Also in this episode, The Man and I banter about the various parties over that weekend, including the truly EPIC Wolf Pack Elite MegaCon Attendees After Party, which well exceeded all expectations we might have had, so congratulations to them, because I’m sure they could not have been more pleased with the results. From the Sci-Fried show that started the evening, the all-out transformation of Backstage at the Rosen Plaza Hotel into Bartertown, to the auctioning off of “slave” men and women to the highest bottle-cap holding bidder, this party set a new standard in theme parties that I daresay the WPE is going to have to work hard to beat next year!

All in all, everyone involved with MegaCon this year had to be absolutely thrilled at the success of the show, if you measure that success in terms of attendance numbers alone. Three-Day weekend passes to the convention were sold out by late afternoon on Friday, and Saturday the main exhibit hall was packed to capacity, to the point where no one else could enter until someone left the room! I’d say that’s a pretty good indicator of success for a convention.

Originally posted at PrimeTimeGeek.com

PTG Episode 48 is brought to you by the art of comic book artist Ed Benes. Now, before I lose any of my female listeners upon sight of the image accompanying this article, there is a point to this, and it IS related to this hour’s content. Benes is the artist currently working on Blackest Night Titans, one of two Blackest Night tie-in titles to hit stores during the week ending 8-28-09 that we cover in this week’s ‘Blackest Night Spotlight.’ Though normally I’m a fan of Benes’ comic book work, I think his particular style works against him and the story being told in Blackest Night Titans. In the course of describing that style and why it doesn’t quite work for this book, it was necessary to talk a bit about Benes’ recurring … ahem … artistic focus. I certainly admit that Benes seems to show a preoccupation with a particular portion of the female anatomy, but I don’t think he deserves all the “hating-on” he seems to get from a great portion of comic fandom. I just wish he’d work on making his women look a tad more distinct from one another. Aside from hair color, hair style, and uniform/costume, his female characters attributes seem at times to be interchangeable. More on that during the episode.

In this installment we also talk a little bit about Fan Expo Canada 2009, the largest comic book, sci-fi, and pop culture convention in Canada, and one bit of news that was announced at FEC 2009 that we didn’t get to during the broadcast was Marvel’s announcement of its upcoming Hulk family crossover event … (wait for it) … WORLD WAR HULKS!

Yes, the brain trust behind the current assortment of Hulk comic book titles (Hulk, Incredible Hulk, Incredible Hercules, Savage She-Hulk) are bringing all their storylines together in this mega-event that finds all the various Hulks (Banner Hulk, Red Hulk, Skaar, son of Hulk, original She-Hulk (we think), “new” Savage She-Hulk (from the future!!), Red She-Hulk (WTF?!?), and who knows who else) facing off against a conglomeration of the world’s greatest evil geniuses, including The Leader, MODOK, Dr. Doom, Egghead, Mad Thinker, and probably a few more would-be world conquerors calling themselves “The Intelligencia.” Sound like silly, crazy, Hulk-Smash fun? YOU BET! Honestly, I don’t read the Hulk books, and Jeph Loeb’s work on “Hulk” was offensive enough to my comic book reading sensibilities that I wanted to fight ANYBODY who willingly shelled out money for the title on a monthly basis. But just for the sake having all the mysteries behind the Red Hulk and who’s who and what’s what in that messed up gamma-irradiated family, I might be tempted to give this a try and report on it for PTG. Don’t hold your breath, though–I passed on the entire World War Hulk storyline from a few years back, David Finch and John Romita Jr. artwork and all, just because, well, I’m not a Hulk fan. End of story. I may have to overcome my distaste, however, for the sake of covering the “news.”

Who says I’m not devoted to my craft? Watch out for World War Hulks coming to comic book stores starting in December. Yay.

Iron Man Armor photo by Rob Allstetter

PTG Episode 38 is brought to you by, well, what else: San Diego Comic-Con. Yes, we weren’t ACTUALLY there, but with all the information we’ve tried to digest over the past four days, it certainly feels like we were there … without all the cool swag, pictures with VERY cool people, and jet lag, that is.

Speaking of information, though PTG’s two volunteer on-site correspondents for this episode, Jeremy Reinhard and James Wright, did an awesome job of conveying what they had seen and heard up until Saturday evening, there was certainly so much more information that came out of this show that I know folks are going to want to read about, if they haven’t already. So here are a few links to check out for news and articles covering topics we didn’t get to cover during this episode:

From Thursday:
-James Cameron presents a first look at “Avatar” (Hero Complex)

-Superman: Two Worlds Panel, featuring Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, James Robinson, Sterling Gates, and Superman editor Matt Idelson (Newsarama)

-Mondo Marvel Panel, featuring Marvel writer/editor Jim McCann, Jason Aaron, Matt Fraction, and Spider-Man editor Steve Wacker (Comics Continuum)

From Friday

-Caprica/Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Panel, featuring BSG producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, Caprica showrunner Jane Espenson, and actors Edward James Olmos, Esai Morales, and Grace Park (Newsarama)

-24 Day 8 Panel, featuring actors Kiefer Sutherland, Katee Sackhoff, Freddie Prinze Jr., and showrunner Howard Gordon (Hero Complex)

-Marvel Cup ‘O Joe Panel, featuring Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, also with writers Jim McCann, Jeph Loeb, Dan Buckley, C.B. Cebulski and Steve Wacker (Comics Continuum)

From Saturday

-DC Universe Editorial Presentation, featuring DC Comics Editor-in-Chief Dan Didio, Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler, and writers Gail Simone (Wonder Woman, Secret Six), James Robinson (Justice League: Cry for Justice, Superman), and Andrew Kriesberg (Green Arrow/Black Canary)(Newsarama)

-Iron Man 2 Panel, featuring director Jon Favreau and actors Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johanssen, Don Cheadle, and Sam Rockwell. (Hero Complex)

From Sunday

-Smallville Panel, featuring showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Petersen, actors Tom Welling, Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Justin Hartley, Cassidy Freeman, and Callum Blue, and special guests Jeph Loeb and Geoff Johns (Comics Continuum)

-DC Universe Online Panel, featuring creative director Jim Lee and writer Marv Wolfman (Newsarama)

And of course there was tons and tons more … good luck soaking it all in!

I just need to say this right now: Dan Didio and DC Comics, just this once, I apologize for doubting you.

Months ago, prior to MegaCon, I complained in this space about DC Comics robbing Blackest Night of some emotional impact by allowing the identities of certain Black Lanterns to surface long before the comics reached the hands of readers. I looked at the revelations of Earth-2 Superman and Martian Manhunter as Black Lanterns as a catastrophic misstep, because what other revelations could they possibly throw at us that could match the heart-rending reveals of Kal-L and J’onn J’onzz to Earth’s heroes as the Blackest Night descended upon the DCU?

Yeah, well, shows what I know.

Unless you’ve somehow had access to Geoff Johns’ scripts or Ivan Reis’s sketches, Blackest Night #1 is certain to leave you in shock. Everything we’ve seen to this point–the emergence of the other Corps, the Sinestro Corps War, even the prophesy of Cosmic Revelations at the end of that story arc that first revealed the coming of ‘the Blackest Night,’–will do NOTHING to lessen the impact of the events that unfold in these first pages. Think back to when you read the Sinestro Corps War Special that kicked off that story, when all the villains, all of the Anti-Monitor’s heralds, stood revealed, and the dread you felt in that moment, the fear you might have felt (along with the need to see what happened next).

I promise you, Blackest Night #1 will top that feeling.

In terms of the art, Ivan Reis is at the top of his game here. Due to the sheer number of DC characters we see in the course of the issue, the fact that everything is coherent and every panel delivers emotional impact, is truly astounding. Add to those pages several double-page splash images that give the proceedings a “widescreen” feel, much like the work of illustrator Bryan Hitch did in his Ultimates work for Marvel. Any one of those splash spreads would make a great poster or gatefold cover, and no doubt at least one of them will when this issue gets into reprints. If he’s able to keep this book on time and it’s his work throughout all eight issues, Reis will have established his claim to succeeding George Perez as THE ‘epic’ artist at DC Comics.

But of course, none of it would matter without Geoff Johns’s seemingly-effortless forays into the minds of his main characters. We as readers experience the events of this issue through the viewpoints of a number of characters, and each of those viewpoints, each of those narrative voices, feels separate and distinct. Of course, its to be expected with Hal Jordan, who Johns has guided in his journey since “Green Lantern: Rebirth.” But the other voices that tell this tale are just as effective and riveting.

Now, seriously, if you’ve been waiting for this as long as most DC fans have been, the chances that you weren’t going to enjoy the story were, in my opinion, quite slim. But so many people picked up Blackest Night #0 on Free Comic Book Day not because they were Green Lantern fans or DC fans, but because it was FREE. It’s to those readers out there who might have been impressed with that issue but still not inclined to grab Blackest Night #1 tomorrow because they’re not fans of Green Lantern or DC that I say this:

Pick this book up. Trust me, you’re going to love it.

For now, here’s an interview with Ned and Margie Cox (Flash and Starfire, respectively), who aside from attending comic conventions in AWESOME costumes also work with the Heroes Alliance costuming group doing charity work all over the state of Florida. Visit http://www.southfloridaha.com/ to find out more about these wonderful people, the good work they do and the fun they have doing it.

Hour 1 of PTG Episode 12 is all about DC Comics, on video, in print, and on prime time television. On video, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies appears to be the next mainstream DC storyline to be adapted into animated form as part of Warner Premiere’s DC Universe Animated Feature line, and I say “appears to be” because the story comes from Harry Knowles and Ain’t It Cool News, or AICN.com and has yet to be confirmed with a press release from Warner Premiere. Regardless of that uncertainty, we here at PTG ran with it as fact for this episode, and covered the reasons why this feature, if done right, should be a great success in this form, as opposed to more recent entries in the series, most notably Wonder Woman. (If you haven’t read it yet, you can find PTG’s review of the Wonder Woman feature on blu-ray HERE .)

In print, Battle for the Cowl #1, which if you recall was one of two titles DC’s head honcho Dan Didio recommended to yours truly back at MegaCon a few weeks ago, hit stores this past Wednesday, and it’s a mixed bag, at best. Yes, lots to enjoy here, lots of things going on, pieces moving into place, and it can feel a bit scattered at time, but the real problems lie in certain easy coincidences and poor characterization of key characters that point to inexperienced writing on the part of first-time writer Tony Daniel. Daniel’s art, as always, is top-notch in this first book, but some of the narrative decisions made to set up the story are real head-scratchers. Listen to the podcast for more details. [UPDATE: To answer SomaCow Geoff's question about Captain Marvel/Shazam! that I so POORLY flubbed during the live broadcast, the powers that young Billy Batson gains when he calls out the Wizard Shazam's name and becomes Captain Marvel are: Wisdom of Solomon ('S"), Strength of Hercules ("H"), Stamina of Atlas ("A"), Power of Zeus ("Z"), Courage of Achilles ("A"), Speed of Mercury ("M"). All those make him easily the match of Superman and the more physically powerful people in the DCU.]

And finally, on prime-time television, Smallville returned with a new episode entitled “Infamous” last Thursday night, and wow, was it a STINKER. I’d love to blame it ALL on guest-star Tori Spelling (pictured above), reprising her role as gossip-reporter-turned-murderous-meteor-freak Linda Lake, but in truth, the whole plot feels like filler and builds-up to an ending that might as well be labeled “reset button” and rendering the events of the episode a moot point, at best. This episode would be best forgotten when the book on Season 8 is closed, but I fear it will actually stand out amidst a season of relatively strong episodes as INFAMOUSLY poor, and a really bad start to the final stretch of new episodes leading to the season finale.

Enjoy this hour, and check back here at primetimegeek.com for Hour 2 on Wednesday!

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!