Stargate Universe.

Wow, it's been awhile since I have posted here.  Sorry my fellow bloggers.  My bad.

This week I would like to talk about my addiction to SG-U.

And what an addiction it is.

When I had first heard about the original series I had my doubts.  I was a big fan of the movie and thought to myself that the series would be cool.  I sat down and watch the pilot episode when it had premiered on the SyFy (then Sci-Fi) channel and was disappointed.  It was not all that I had thought it would be and with the cheesy and campy-ness I immediately wrote it off.

Flash forward about 10 years later.  I was at the San Diego comic con heading into a Rob Zombie panel where he was going to promote his movie Halloween.  As many of you Con goers know, when you go to a big panel you have to show up at least 2 or 3 panels beforehand and wait for the between panels to move forward into a better seat.

The panel we jumped into was the Stargate panel.  This panel started of with SG-1 and ended with SG: Atlantis.  Admittedly I sat there mocking the fans for their lack of taste and general wanna-be Star Trek nerdiness over this show.

Then something happened.  The cast of Stargate: Atlantis came out and I saw Jewel Staite of Firefly and was taken aback.  Woah there is one of my favorite actresses from one of my favorite (albeit short lived) TV shows.  So I sat up and payed attention.  They showed the trailer for the upcoming season and did the whole Q&A thing and then it was over.


I figured, OK, I'll go home and grab the first mini-movie/pilot thing and check it out.

I was hooked.

I loved the show.  I ended up grabbing the entire series.  I inhaled it.  For 2 weeks that's all my life was.  Come home from work, pop in the DVD and watch the entire thing before bed.  I didn't realize just how empty my Sci-Fi needs were with the absence of Star Trek or Firefly on TV.  This show filled that void.

In between season 4 and 5 I took a break and started watching SG-1.  While not as great as Atlantis, SG-1 was still good.  By then I was so deep with in the lore of Stargate I grew to love it as I had with Atlantis.  Go Teal'C.

Oh and the episode where Teal'C and Ronan were sparring...AWESOME!!!!

Best episode is when Teal'C and Colonel O'Neil are having a groundhogs day type of day and they are caught golfing into the Stargate itself.  Classic.

Anyway.  It disappointed me to learn that Atlantis was not doing to well and that season 5 would be it's last. I held off for as long as I could in my complaints because it was turning out to be a really great season.  I thought after the final episode that I would no longer be able to enjoy my SG fix.  Even with the release of the 2 SG-1 direct to video movies I will still left wanting.

Then the announcement of SG-Universe came out.  I was all giddy again.  The trailer looked awesome, the cast seemed perfect, even the Star Trek Voyager type storyline was cool with me.  And that's where we are today.  Just watched the season 1 finale of the show and now I want to tell you all about it.

Well not necessarily the episode itself but the show.  For those of you who aren't fans of SG I must implore you, take a chance.  If you are like me, and are fans of shows like Buffy and Angel and Firefly (yeah yeah yeah I know they are all Whedon shows) and a fan of any of the Star Treks, then I can almost guarantee that you will enjoy all of the SG shows.  If not all at least one of them.  Because they are indeed good.

SG-U is slowly turning into one of my favorites though.  SG-U is basically about a group of military personnel and scientists that were on a remote outpost when it gets attacked.  They pop into a Stargate to escape and wind up on the ship Destiny. Destiny is an Ancient ship (you would know what this means if you watched any of the other shows!) and has been lost in space for thousands of years.  The show takes you through the misadventures the new crew has while trying to not only figure out how to operate the ship, but also how to use the ship to get home.

This series takes a more dramatic turn in relation to the other shows.  It dives in to more personal character driven stories while combining them with science fiction elements.  It's almost soap opera-esque.  I am digging it.

It's like they took aspects of Atlantis and mixed it with Voyager and gave birth to this.  Where as the other shows (SG-1 & Atlantis) focused more on the military, this one tries it's best to combine both soldier and civilians as they learn to live together for a common goal.

I love the visuals, the acting, the stories and the environments.  I think it has some of the coolest characters that I have seen in a while.  Granted it is no where near the level of awesomeness as BSG but it does have some of the seriousness from Caprica.

I think fans of the SG series will enjoy the show and new visitors will like what they see.  It is part of the SyFy networks Friday night lineup and I am sure will be on repeats through out the summer.  It's a good time to catch up as we await it's return next season.

Panelcast #53

PanelCast#53

Please either right click and choose save as or open in new tab/window.  Or just click and listen.

In this episode of the PanelCast I say goodbye to a dear friend of mine Wes Buel.

Then we get right down to business as Bryan discusses all the news that's out there.

I review 

The Losers:

As well as Area 10 by Christos Gage

Panelcast #52

PanelCast #52 To listen right click to download or open in new window.

Welcome to Episode #52 of the PanelCast.  In this episode Bryan drudges up more news as usual and I talk about the midnight showing of

Here are some images from the Midnight Showing.

Panelcast #51

Right click to open in new window and listen

Yes we know it's been awhile and they you guys missed us.  It's ok cuz we missed you too teehee.

In this, our 51st episode, you get to listen to us talk about some of the latest news that's out there.

Bryan breaks from the norm and has something nice to say about BlueWater Productions.

I talk God Of War 3 and Captain America casting.

Bryan talks about Atomic Robo.

And some other stuff.

Oh yeah and we bring you interviews from WonderCon!!!
Have some pics.

Me comparing tattoos

The Kitchens!

Some Kick-Ass! chicks

Me and Max Brooks.

Joe Kelly author of I Kill Giants.

Be sure to check out this site.  It's pretty sweet.
SemantInk

Wondercon

Ye know, I've been to plenty of cons in my day. I could sit here all day and list them off like crazy. But I won't. To much to type to be quite honest with ye.

Normally with big cons you get an mass influx of Movie studios trying to promote there upcoming releases. Because of that, you fail to get true comic fans and instead are stuck with a bunch of screaming teens clamoring over us geeks in order to stare at a Twilight star from 500 yards away. (I'm looking at you San Diego). Because of that the comic fan themselves get lost in the shuffle and are once again made to feel belittled and ashamed and outcast.

The smaller cons are no better. It's filled with 3 or 4 truly great indy comic gems buried underneath a calamity of 50 year old has been 1 movie forgotten "stars" or 20-30 or so comic book shops trying to sell you a comic worth $2 for $20 with a slash through it trying to make you feel like you got a deal because you're not spending $30 on it.

I personally kinda like the little cons because as a press site we are able to find those small indy comic gems that I speak of and read something not to many people have seen before. Also, as an indy comic creator myself, I like to think I am one of those gems teehee.

The bigger cons for me have always been an insane experience in wishing I had a machete to hack through the crowds and being able to watch as people we think are big names wander through the floor showing off how much of a geek they are as well. But sometimes it just becomes to much to handle. Each day is work. Not just to promote your comic but to walk on the floors and geek out. So much effort to weed through the thousands of people just to get to the bathroom that was only safe to use the first hour of the doors being open. Exhausting I tell ye.

Wondercon was something new. A wonderfully joyous experience that reminded me of why I fell in love with comics in the first place. It was ALL comics ALL the time. For those of you who have been to SD Comic Con, imagine the convention center. Ye know how it's 2 really big buildings with the glass elevator in the middile? Well imagine the right side building. Now imagine half of that. That is Wondercon. 1/4 of the space 1/4 of the people 100% comic books. No movies or big name entertainment ruining everything. Just a bunch of really awesome people and really awesome fans in a perfect setting. I was able to not only meet but geek out with some of my favorite authors and artists without feeling uncomfortable, pressured, or crowded. It was awesome. You could literally turn left or right and talk to that random person about comics and instantly gain a friend. I loved it.

I got a bunch of great interviews and some decent pics, all of which I will post at the end of the week to accompany this weeks PanelCast. Don't worry, I think you'll enjoy them. If you haven't been and always wanted to go, then head to WonderCon next year and remember what it means and feels like to be a geek.

The time of year.

I awake each morning a peasant amidst a bed of strips of ink soaked parchment and dismissed imagination. I slowly trudge the dreary halls of my dank and decrepit castle filled with piles and piles of wasted manuscript and strewn about keyboards and back issues of dreams. I don the armor of future hope as I contemplate the day that lies ahead of me. To intertwine my thoughts and insipid four color plans with my fellow travelers as we gather to take our dreams and lay the nay sayers to waste. For this is the season were we petty and frowned upon outcasts of society rise above to take our place amongst the Gods of the wicked and painters of the deep dark corners of the mind. We are the ones that do battle this day, we determine the outcome of future wars with Dragons of our creation and Heroes of our tongues. Our fingers change the course of history and timelines upon which you lie your head in peace upon at night. We say yay to the nightmares of elation where creatures and man may walk behind your eyelids, penetrating the manner of which you base your life upon. You inhale our words and breathe our name and sing the praises for those that cause you to smile and hold your head up high during this time of year. We are that which cause your life to have meaning, for your immaculate, plastic wrapped and cardboard backed golden tickets of commerce derive from our blistered and blood soaked hands are but mere shards of our soul and shrapnels of our fragile hearts. I sit amongst those that share my desire, to be that for which you lay hope upon, a Knight in which my ingenuity my weapon, my laptop my shield and my fellow creators my brothers in arms and the Con our round table. Come stand by my side, my friends, as we travel to that for which we ourselves have wished upon to land in the waters of Geekdom and kneel before our Lady of the Lake and she kisses our forehead and blesses our journey.

Welcome to Con Season.

Kicking it Kratos style

I spent this week playing God Of War 3. Wow. What an amazing game. They really pulled out all the stops on this one.

Many many many moons ago I started playing God Of War on the ps2. I was immediately impressed with the game-play and cinematics of the game. With an in-depth well thought out story line and perfectly cast voice acting, it was hard to not become engrossed in this game. They took what was basically a button mashing third person action/adventure game and added layers upon layers of style. I beat the game in 2 days.

Soon after saw the release of God Of War 2. I was afraid that it would be found wanting as so many other game sequels such as the Devil May Cry series. Nope. This game took what was already a perfect gaming engine and actually improved on it without losing any of the style or panache of the original. Once again we joined Kratos on his journey to extract revenge on those that would deny him 1 nights sleep without any nightmares. They added better cinematics and more weapons to complete a package that reminded us all why we loved the first game. It was a perfect companion. I beat the game in 3 days.

This week saw the release of God Of War 3. This would be the finale of the series and promised to take advantage of all the hardware improvements found in the PS3. Holy crap they weren't kidding. This game is EPIC.

The first thing you notice is the graphics. Crisp, clean, sharp, detailed images flood the screen it 1080p/bluray glory. I found myself just staring at the screen and noticing the in-depth detail that they lavished on this game.

The gameplay was just as fluid as ever. With the seemles integration of the QTE's and game-play there is never a dull moment.

Voice acting, wow. Staring the likes of TC Carson, Rip Torn, Kevin Sorbo and Malcolm Mcdonald, they really managed to pull out all of the stops with this. Rip Torns character of Hephaestus was my favorite.

Storyline..well they really brought it this time. You felt like you were right there with Kratos, sharing his emotions and will to fight.

Hands down this game has to be one of the best that I have ever played. It reminded me as to why I choose the PS3 over the 360. It was a perfect ending to the series and I for one will be sad to know that there will not be another in the series.


If you haven't already, do yourself a favor and pick up this game. You will not regret it I promise.

BTW, this one took me 4 days to beat hehe.

New Panelcast

PanelCast #50 http://bit.ly/a5gU5K

A letter to Tom Hanks

Dear Tom Hanks,

Fuck You.

Please understand that I mean this as the most sincerest form of flattery humanly possible. And if you believe that, keep reading.




Band of Brothers still remains, in my opinion, one of the best TV Mini-Series ever made. It's storyline, cinematography, settings, and deep characterizations remain one of the most spectacular forms of film making ever. The way you took what was essentially a group of under appreciated and little know cast members and placed them in a heart wrenching story and made us fall in love with them is without equal. Yes I know you were just the executive producer and as such did not cast, write, or create the story, you still chose to back it up with your drive and desire and bring it to light. Kudos to you sir.

I have followed your career since Busom Buddies and Bachelor Party and have marveled and the growth and maturity to which your career has reached. You went from a funny, comedic player to one of the biggest heavy hitters in Hollywood. You have chosen to rise from your smalled status and use your abilities to bring amazing and high quality films to screen and I applaud you for that.

Now having said that, I have grown to learn that when it come to War Films to expect a higher caliber of film making from you. I know when I sit down that I need to turn down the lights, grab a box of tissue, crank up the surround sound, and absorb every minute of cinema coming out.

On March 14th I sat down and watched The Pacific, your newest executively produced series. Having previously experienced Band Of Brothers, I was fully aware of what I was getting into. And sure enough, the show did not disappoint. You were able to use the same feel as Band Of Brothers and put forth something that I know will tug on the same heartstrings and you have done before.

And for that, for the plain and simple fact that you make me feel emotion in a show. That I must once again invest myself into another of your War Time shows has me coming back to my originial statement. Fuck You. And thank you at the same time.

It's HERE

That's right everyone our first comic book Z.K.S. #0 is finally out!!!

Does this explain where I have been and why I haven't posted in awhile lol.

Well let's see what's been going on.

Finally started reading Fables. Wow what an awesome comic book. That is up until the Great Fables crossover that is.


Fables is a comic about fairy tale characters having been outted of their fairy tale lands and having to exist in the real "mundane" world. It's an awesome series and if you have a chance you should pick it up.

Movies....wholy crap have I seen some movies lol. I don't even know where to start. Let's start with the latest movie I saw. That would be Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Which in my opinion was a kids version of Clash Of The Titans. Pretty good story and effects and I would recommend it. The only really problem I had was the fact that all the kids were played by 20-30 year olds. Meh oh well.

You know I could go on for hours about all the stuff I have been up to in the past few months but honestly you could probably just listen to our podcast PanelCast to catch up on what's going on and what we've seen. I swear I will keep up with this more often.

Come out and see us at Rose Bowl Comics and Collectors Show every second sunday of the month!!!

It does indeed rain in Southern California

That's right it raining!!! Woot!!

Yes I am one of those weird Californians that love the rain. I love the snow I love all weather associated with Winter. When it gets cold like this I like to sit on my patio with a cup of coffee and a smoke and enjoy the cold.

Weather like this is also a great time to bundle up in the house and turn on some good music and do some reading. It is also a good time to chill out and watch some movies. I have done both in the month since my last post. Aren't you proud?

First I want to talk about the movie 9. Now I know a lot of people out there were complaining about this movie and how they didn't like it. I have no clue what the hell they were talking about. I liked this movie. In fact I almost loved it. Almost.

Here's the synopsis: Basically it's your average Scientist creates a machine to help mankind and the military comes in to take the project to use it for a war weapon. Common theme right? Here is the twist it takes. Basically this scientist creates the perfect machine. This machine is capable of independent thought when it comes to the creation of other machines. The military wants to use it to create war machines and it does. The machines, of course, become sentient and eradicate the human race. In desperation and out of guilt, the scientist creates 9 sack dolls and stores a piece of his soul into each of them killing himself in the process. The 9th doll wakes up to a post apocalyptic world and through a series of misadventures he comes to discover their true purpose in recreating the world of man.

Yes while it is a story we have seen before, I still liked it. The soundtrack was fairly cool and the visuals were outstanding. The voice acting was top notch as well. I don't understand what everyones complaint about the movie was. I have even heard some people say they didn't understand what the movie was about. After watching the movie I was wondering if we were all talking about the same movie. If you haven't had a chance to watch this movie then do so. I am sure you will enjoy it. If not then pop me an email and lets discuss it.

Pandorum is a movie that has Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster waking up in a space ship and wondering where they are. They quickly come to realize that they are the crew of the ship put into hypersleep and awoken to relieve the crew before them. Unfortunately for them all is not what it seems.

I heard a lot of people not digging on this movie as well. In fact the box office numbers even show this. I, however, dug the hell out of it. I am a sucker for cool sci fi and this one didn't let me down. It was creepy and depressing all at the same time. This one will look awesome on blu-ray when it comes out.

On the comic front, I haven't really been reading to many new series. I am still loving the Deadpool series and all the other regular series that I have been reading. I am glad to see that the Dark Reign storyline is coming to an end. I am excited to see The Siege and War of the Hulks beginning to start. Powers Vol 3 #1 came out and I ran down to grab it up. I was not disappointed.

On the FP front, I am proud to announce that ZKS #0 is finished. Unfortunately we ran out of funds in getting it created and may have to delay printing. We would like to ask for donations though (we aren't THAT proud) and if you feel like donating please do. Make all checks out to AJ Herrera and send them to:

Forbidden Panel
P.O. Box 692
Redlands, ca 92373

Any and all donations will receive a free signed copy of the comic as well as a limited edition poster. Let me just thank you now for it heh.

We will also be appearing at the Rose Bowl Comics and Collectibles Show on Dec 13. This is going to be a big event as it takes place during the Rose Bowl flea market which in itself brings in 10,000-15,000 people. Please come out and see us!!

Dec 17th at midnight will find us at the IMAX in Ontario, California to see the midnight release of AVATAR in 3-D. Please come join us for that as well.

Well that's all for now. Stay tuned for some more awesome news coming as well as Panelcast!!!

please send any and all feedback to aj@forbiddenpanel.com or just reply here.

Somebody check my brain!!!

Whelp here I am again with another song stuck in my head and you have to suffer from it. I have the new Alice In Chains sung playing in the background and I am steadily groovin out to it. No one can replace Layne Staley but it looks like they went out and did there best. It's not bad and he does a good job but it's just not the same.

Ye know the other day I tried to put in an entry on Wiki for FP and I got denied. I am a sad monkey now because of it. So if any of you are inclined to do so and know the ins and outs on how, please do so and shoot us a link.

I hope everyone had a good Halloween. I spent the evening on the patio reading comics and handing out candy. I loved it. hehe.

Now on to the reviews and news. First bit of news is the lack of PanelCast. Last week being Halloween we decided to take that week off. Though many a Zombie conversations could have been had, but we needed a break. Same with this week. No cast this week folks and we are sorry about that. But there have been plenty of news bits on the site so head on over and check it out!!!!!

So this week I read I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly and put out by Image. I jumped into this comic thinking it would be some what reminiscent of the Shadow of the Colossus/Ico video game series as is implied by the name and boy was I wrong. This series is about a little girl who believes the world is infested with fairies and giants and that they are out to get her and her family. She spends her days DM'ing local D&D games and setting up traps for the giants. The comic takes a nice twist at the end that had me all kinds of pissed at Kelly for invoking emotions of me. He does a great job of foreshadowing the events that are about to come and wraps it all up in a nice little bow. JM Ken Niimura does a great job with the art in that it takes on kind of an anime feel but not really. He keeps it simple and poignant so that when the important images appear they strike a cord and stand out thus showing their impact on the story.





The series is short and sweet and only takes 7 issues to complete. It's out right now and if you have a chance I recommend you pic it up.

Next up is Boom Studio's Irredeemable. This one is written by Mark Waid, with artwork by Peter Krause. This series is the shit. I mean that. It starts off with a superhero, The Plutonian, doing...well....killing the fuck outta folks would be the most simplest way to describe it. I really want to talk more about it but I can't without giving it away. Let's just say he seems to have lost his way and the series seems to plot out how and why and what is being done about it. The writing is superb and the art complements it perfectly. Please please please pick up this series right now and let me know when you have so I have someone to geek out about it with!!!





Northlanders is a series put out by Brian Wood. It's a series that contains multiple different storylines all pertaining to the Viking era. Brian Wood does some of the coolest series out there. Demo, Local, DV8 and my favorite DMZ just to name a few. I love this new series as well. It's something I have had to add to my "must read" list on a monthly basis. The stories are nice and indepth and though they rarely ever focus on the same character(s), he spends enough time with them to make you give a shit. That's whats nice about it. You can pick up any trade and not worry about not getting what's going on or not. Each arc is also drawn by a different artist and all of them seem to know what they are doing with the story and give you just enough to draw you in. Add it to your list too, you won't be disappointed.





Last comic I want to talk about is 28 Days Later. Another series that's put out by Boom! Studios. This one takes place between the 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later movies. It serves to bridge the gap between both. Currently it is only on issue #3 so my review can only be up to that point. Having said that, this series really pisses me off. It's written well enough by Michael Alan Nelson but it's what in the story that angers me.

Basically this group of guerrilla style reporters want to hop into the infected zone to try to report on it. They recruit Selena (the hero from the first movie) to act as a guide through it all. The reporters think that because they have seen war and horror that they are experts walking in and do their best to bring that point up a lot. No one listens to Selena and thus keep getting led into the most retarded situations.

This book angers me in that the characters are all idiots and deserve to die. I am basically reading this book expecting all of them to get turned due to their own incompetence leaving Selena stuck in the same situation she was in during the first movie. Please tell me if that is the case so I can stop reading the comic now. If it isn't than rock on!!

The art is done by Declan Shalvey and is probably the only redeeming part of this series. If you are a fan of the movies and zombies in general than please pick up this book if for anything than to share in my misery.



On to movies!! Well only one movie that I feel like talking about and as it is I don't feel like talking about it to much. So let me just say this, I watched Jennifer's Body this week and am reserving my comments from when I have a chance to read the Graphic Novel that accompanies it.

There.

On to the video game front. I have been playing Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. Never heard of it? Don't worry. Neither have I for the most part. I came across it while cruising through Gamefly's new release list. I took a look at the videos and decided to give the game a chance. FUCK THIS GAME. I fucking hate it. I feel bad because every time I load it up I want to toss my PS3 out the window and bury it Office Space style.

This game is basically an FPS done in the style of Call Of Duty Modern Warfare. Except if you take COD, mash it into a ball, shove it up a Rhinos ass, make him puke it out, then rub it all over a leprosy ridden body and teabagged it onto your dead and toothless grandmas forehead then put it in my PS3 then you would have this game. The physics engine sucks, the graphics are glitchy and the controls are retarded. Your POV has no peripherals, there is no active radar or UAV and your squad is filled with a bunch of stupid dipshits that I as a Veteran of the US Army wouldn't take with me to the bathroom much less into combat.

Avoid this game.

Please.

Well that is all the ranting that I am ready to give you guys this week. Stop by your local comic store and show them some love and please leave me some comments!!!

Nooowwww waaaaiiiitttt a minute!!!!!!

Ye know you make me wanna SHOUT!!!

Hehehe sorry. Songs stuck in my brain right now. Don't know why. It just is.

So this week has been pretty cool. Saw Zombieland. It rocked. Saw some other stuff and it got me through the week I guess. Nothing to exciting as my life had been all Uncharted 2 all the time. That's right Uncharted 2 ruled my life this past week and I am not ashamed to say it.

Uncharted 2 is the continuation of the adventures of Nathan "Nate" Drake, a fortune hunter badass. The story picks up a few years after part 1 with Nate on the trail for Marco Polos journals and the time missing from them.

First off, the cinematics of this game are astounding. It's so pretty that it looks great even on my non hd tv.

The gameplay mechanics are the same as the were in the first game. Easy to control and basic yet fun. My only complaint is the camera control. Sometimes you are messing with the camera and suddenly some douche from outta nowhere snaps your neck. Aggravating.

But other than that, it's a pretty sweet game. And the story is so deep that you want to keep playing just to see what else happens. They extended the gameplay so that the gamer could enjoy it more and become more enthralled with the gameplay.

They also added a multiplayer aspect to the game. I haven't had a chance to crack it open yet but if it's anything like the beta then I know I will be devoting even more time to it.

So yeah it's #1 on all the charts right now and deservedly so. Run out and pick up a copy now!!!!

Last night I went out to Hyaena Gallery in Burbank, Ca in support of Girls Drawin Girls showing their artwork their. The Gallery itself was very awesome in that it was littered with amazing paintings and sculptures. I had fun seeing the GDG stuff incorporated into everything. Stay tuned to some pics and such from the event and in the meantime head over to the site to see some of the artwork on display.

We just wrapped and edited and posted Episode 42 of the Panelcast. Please head over and give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Sanctuary season 2 started last week and so far it is off to a disappointing start. Me no likey. Smallville has taken a turn this season in that it is focusing more on the dramatics than the normal smushy teen love story crap that it follows. Not saying that it is better but it is a tad bit more tolerable. Stargate Universe and Defying Gravity are 2 of my new favorites on the air right now. Though Defying Gravity is already facing cancellation. Luckily enough they finished filming the first season and since it is a joint production there is a chance that it will continue in Canada or even on ScyFy. But right now those are the 2 shows that I get upset over the fact that I am watching on the weekly basis. I hate having to wait a week between eps in order to continue the story. Grrrrr.

Well that's all I got for this week. Make sure you head out and see Where the Wild Things Are. And please, don't hesitate to drop me an email and let me know about what you think about my opinions.

Save Me!!!

Man there are a crazy amount of Medical Dramas on TV now. It seems like since ER went off the air the networks are scrambling to put something up that will take its place. It a practical madhouse right now.

Let me go through the ones that I have seen or come across and give you my opinion on them.

Mercy: Man this show is all kinds of cutesy wah wah let's bang type of show. Definitely not my bag, but I can totally see how people would get into it. It's more Grey's than ER but it still falls short in my book. If you are watching this then please drop me a line and tell me what you think.

Nurse Jackie: This one is one of my favs in that it has Edie Falco as a fallible woman trying to juggle home and work. But she almost juggles it to much because she has a husband and kids at home and a lover and co-workers who know nothing about her family at home. She is a no nonsense ball breaking breathe of fresh air and I am grateful that it's on Showtime as opposed to any of the Primetime channels.

Three Rivers: Caught the first episode of this the other night. This one is about a transplant hospital and it has the whole "We can fix it for you" feel on it. I think it's ok in that it's trying to create its own Niche, but I don't see it lasting long.

Trauma: Another one of my favs. This one is a balls to the wall, action packed, drama filled, non stop rollercoaster of fucked upedness. And I dig it. It has a great approach in that it's not actually about what happenes in the hospital but more about what happens with the paramedics. I like this one because it doesn't have that happy ending bullcrap that most of the other shows have. Less love story, more WTF!!. Plus it has Jamey Sheridan in it and any show that has Randall Flagg in it is worth the watch heh.

Anyway, I know that there are a metric buttload more but I think that it's way overkill. We shall see who will rise to the top and who will fall by the way side.

Stargate Universe started this week. I don't know if it's my love for the Stargate or what but this show lived up to it's expectations for me. I loved it. But of course we can't judge it by the first episode. I am going to have to get a few more under my belt before I can differentiate my love for it. Whether they go back to the cheesiness of the previous incantations or if they branch out into their own entity, I hope at least the ride will be great.

24 hour comics day was this past weekend. Thanks to all those that made it out. It was a lot of fun. Brandi Auset sat with us and between her and Justin White and I, Forbidden Panel made a good showing. We all managed to complete the challenge and now have our first comic book. I couldn't be more proud. Thanks to 4 Color Fantasies for being awesome hosts. Stay tuned soon as the comic we completed will but up as a digital download as well as in print sometime soon.

Some of you may have been on the site recently and seen random bits of a live broadcast. I was testing out the new stuff we have for it to see if it would be a viable option to start doing the Panelcasts in such a manner. For those of you who saw it, I apologize for any confusion or possibly offensive things I may have said during the testing phases. Oh, what the hell, it's us and you can't expect anything different hehehe.

Been playing the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Beta. It's awesome. I dig it alot. If you have a Playstation 3 then you should definitely get the beta. It's available to DL on the Playstation store right now. Feel free to add me as a friend on the PSN as well. Drayvn or ForbiddenPanel are the screen names and I try to balance out the time between the two.

Not sure if you have added us or not but you can find Forbidden Panel on twitter. Forbidden Panel or Drayvn. Feel free to add both. The rest of the staff have twitters as well but I will let them advertise their own.

Going to put up a poll on the site asking if anyone would like to participate in a live Panelcast. You will be able to listen to us chatter away live and even be able to ask questions in the chat room while doing it. Here is the Ustream link. Please vote in the poll or just comment here with your opinion.

Well that's it for another week. Remember, we love feedback and would love to hear from you. Also, Bryan is looking for my people to interview for Geek Girls, and Forbidden Panel is looking for more people to network with and talk to.

Email me at aj@forbiddenpanel.com or panelcast@forbiddenpanel.com

Thanks.

24 Hour Comics Day.

Well here we are and another week has past. Not to busy of a week but I have been getting a lot of behind the scenes stuff done. This update will be kind of light because I plan on updating like crazy on Saturday ala 24 Hour Comics Day.

What is 24 Hour Comics Day you ask? Well please allow me to fill you up...I mean in. Heh. 24 Hour Comics Day is, well, here is the Wiki:

A 24-hour comic is a 24-page comic book written, drawn, and completed in 24 hours. Scott McCloud originally came up with the challenge for himself and Steve Bissette as a creative exercise. McCloud drew the first 24-hour comic to prove it could be done on August 31, 1990, and Bissette did his on September 5.

On this day, comics creators around the world were invited to spend the day making a 24-hour comic. All participants were requested to send their completed comic to McCloud, who keeps an archive of all completed 24-hour comics on his webpage. Many comic book stores supported this event by setting up space for participating artists to work on their comic. It attracted many writers and artists, working both in print and web media.

On this year the event falls on Oct 3rd. Justin White and I will be joining other comic creators from around the world and challenging ourselves to spend 24 writing and drawing a complete comic book. It's going to be an awesome time and we invite people to come by and say hi and show your support. There is still plenty of room for those of you who want to sign up. The event we will be at will be located at our favorite comic store 4 Color Fantasies in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

We (Forbidden Panel) will be doing interviews and taking pics and stuff to post on the site as well as posting the finished product here as a free digital download. It will eventually be incorporated into the ZKS storyline. I am pretty amped to do this as it will be our first completed project. Hehe.

As I am writing this I am editing the PanelCast so if you hear and misques there or see me mistype here then you know why.

I had a chance to watch The Super Hero Squad, which is Marvels newest animated cartoon to appear on Cartoon Network. This show sucks. It was kinda cool to see almost all of the characters from the Marvel universe show up on screen again. Yet, this show was obviously designed and aimed at ADD and ADHD kids as it was all over the place. It was exhausting to watch this show. I couldn't handle it and had to shut it off. Blah.

I also went and watched The Surrogates. It was...ok I guess. I mean they changed a lot from the comic, which was to be expected. But, I think they changed to much. I won't give away any spoilers but this movie as well as others as of late has made me change my mind about reading the comic before seeing the movie. Now I am of the opinion that you should see the movie the read the comic afterward just so you can enjoy the movie and then enjoy the comic more after.

Well that's really all I got for this week. Remember on Saturday to find your nearest 24 hour comics location and go out and support them!

It Has Begun!!

So this week saw the beginning of the Fall season. As much as I enjoy the summer season of tv shows I am always glad when the regular season starts back up. Summer season is always full of nothing to watch and shows trying to stretch out their longevity.

First up was Big Bang Theory. I love this show and if you haven't been watching it then you should be. The first episode did a great job of picking up where the last season ended. Funny as all hell.

Watched Heroes. Now this season looks like it might actually be decent. With the inclusion of Robert Knepper and Ray Park it looks like we may actually get good storylines.

Caught the new Castle as well. I really dig this show as I am a fan of Nathan Fillion and it's nice to see him on a show that actually has a second season. Plus, being a book nut helps as well.

Finally got Ep #39 of the PanelCast up. It was painful for me to edit because I could hear how sick we were on the show and felt it made for a bad show. But still I put it up in hopes of it inspiring us to put on a better show for our 40th ep.

So, Chris Brady of 4 Color Fantasies and John Narcomey of High Tower Comics and I started working on a new project called Geeks Place. It's basically just a weekly video podcast of the 3 of us geeking out over random topics. We shot the second one last night. As it turns out we will be using it as the first episode since our first try failed horribly. It's a lot of fun doing and we all love having someone to geek out with. It should be done editing soon and will be up on all of our prospective sites.

24 Hour Comic day is coming up. If you are unfamiliar with it, please, allow me to explain. Basically it's a group of comic book pros getting together for 24 hours to create comics. It's set up with teams of 2. The writer writes 24 scripts while the artist draws 24 strips. After which we submit it and have it published. It should be a blast. It's a world wide event where tons of shops host while creators come out to participate. Forbidden Panel will be at 4 Color Fantasies in Rancho Cucamonga and we invite you all to come out and show some support. Hopefully we won't be to wiped out as we all have to sit in one location for 24 hours and do all of this. Be sure to bring us some coffee heh. It will be a lot of fun and it will be our first outing in such a fashion. Tons of people signing and drawing and such.

Well that's all I got for this week. Catch up with everyone soon.

Whiteout, Gamer, and all the other things that's been going on.

Sorry for the lack of updates on our behalf. Seems like I am always late on the updates but I can't help it at times. This time it was due to Bryan and I being sick for the past week. So without further adieu let's get going with the updates and such.

First up, Batman: Arkham Asylum. Let me just say that as a consummate gamer I went into this game expecting and hoping for vast improvements over other Batman game. Suffice to say I was blown away. This game pulled out all the stops. I popped it in and didn't do anything but play this game for the next few days (maybe I should have used that as an excuse instead of being sick hehe).

I always look at a game an judge based on Visuals, Action, Gameplay, Story, and voice acting. So when I rate out of 5 stars then you know that if it is less than 5 stars than it was missing on some level on those parts.

Batman: Arkham Asylum gets a 5 out of 5 stars. The visuals were stunning, though admittingly I spent most of the game in detective mode. Action, well this game has it in spades delivering an unrelenting amount of action that guarantees never a dull moment. Gamepley, amazing. Not only do you have a fairly strong linear storyline but the interactivity is something that other games should take a cue from. Story, well it's Arkham Asylum now isn't it. Once of the most celebrated and greatest Batman story ever told. True it doesn't stick to the graphic novel much but the overall feel of it makes up for that. Voice acting, come now really? Bringing back and banking on the fact that most of us watched Batman the Animated Series while it was out, this game recruits the original gang and brings them back to bring that familiar feel to an old friend. At this point in my life, I can't and refuse to imagine anyone other than Mark Hamill as the voice of the Joker.

I can't say enough great things about this game. The few gripes I had were this: I didn't like not having full interactivity with all the objects in the game. That would have been nice. And that's it. A great game otherwise.

Gamer. I was able to catch this movie on opening weekend. I walked into the theater pretty amped at the prospect of the future of gaming caught in a movie. I was not disappointed.

The movie starts Michael C. Hall as a software developer who devises of a way to remotely control people. He first tries out this new discovery by developing a game called Society. This game was designer to be a Sims esq type of game where users get to control other people in real time and determine the things they do in a preset social location. After running this for awhile he begins working on another project called Slayers. Slayers is basically a first person shooter where Gamers control prisoners in what is basically an all out Capture the Flag.

This movie was pretty cool in that it does a great job of appealing to Video Gamers everywhere. From great little easter eggs (such as teabaggin) to the all out non stop violence, this movie does not let down.

Where it excels at apex-ing on the geek scale, it only moderately appeals everywhere else. The story is one we have all seen before. The feel was very Escape From New York. And the cast (except for Butler) basically phoned in their roles and then hung up after 10 mins. I mean really, when you have a cast of Alison Lohman, John Leguizamo, Ludacris, Terry Crews, and Milo Ventimiglia it would have been nice if they were in the film longer than 15 mins a piece. Though it was nice to see Terry Crews play a psycho. Overall I liked the movie even though at the end it felt like it was missing something. Don't take the kids to see this one.

Lastly, let's talk Whiteout. Whiteout is a movie that was adapted from the graphic novel of the same name written by Greg Rucka and artist Steve Lieber. This movie was hard for me to gauge. I had recently read the book and then went to go see this movie. And with the exception of a few minor points, the movie pretty much follows the book. Unfortunately knowing the big surprise that came at the end of the movie pretty much ruined it for me. Not to say it's a good movie, it is, just I wasn't as emotionally involved in it as I should have been.

Whiteout takes place in Antartica and focus's around Marshall Stetko as she tries to solve the first murder to ever take place there. I feel that I would have really enjoyed this movie in that it's just an old fashioned Murder/Mystery but set in a remote location. But due to the fact that I recently finished the book all the magic was taken away for me. So do yourself a favor, go check out the movie and then read the graphic novel. You may enjoy playing the comparison game.

Well that's about all I've got for now. This past week was a sea of thera-flu and old videos. The great thing about being sick is that it gives you a legitimate excuse to play video games and not get out of your PJ's.

On the FP front, I am still currently editing EP#39 of the Panelcast. I am hoping to have it up by the end of the day. Also, [url=www.hightowercomics.com]High Tower Comics[/url], [url=www.4colorfantasies.com]4 Color Fantasies[/url], and Forbidden Panel are going to begin working on a new project. Stay tuned as more info will be coming soon.

In the meantime please enjoy this pic from ZKS!!

Disney/Marvel wonder twin powers activate!!!

So I woke up this morning to find that amidst the fires that are slowly, once again, burning California down, that Disney had acquired Marvel. While some people are freaking out or starting to talk bad about it, I have decided to look at it in a positive light. I mean after all Marvel was bankrupt only a few short years ago, and to now see it land on stable ground makes me happy to see that some of the titles I grew up with might just have some stable ground.

Granted this bit of news will cause rampant speculation in the days to come, but in truth we won't say anything become of this for a least a few years.

I always saw Marvel as The Man when it came to comics anyway. And I don't mean "Yo, dawg you da man!!!" but more of "I will not work for The Man!!". So to see these two come together just means more corporate America at work.

I am way excited at maybe seeing the possibility of Marvel properties with Pixar but at least we won't have to worry about licensing rights when comparing The Incredibles with The Fantastic Four. So who knows, this could work out good for both companies. I mean just look at what it's done for Harry Potter.

I think that what's going to happen is Disney will walk in and trim some of the fat as far as Marvels excessive titles goes. Hopefully we won't see 100 different X-Men titles anymore and maybe even a more cohesive storyline within the Marvel universe. I seriously doubt that they will try to make the comics more kid friendly. They themselves have been quoted as saying "If it isn't broke..."

As far as the films go, they have only one way to go and that's up. Fans such as myself have been somewhat disappointed for years at the quality of films being put out by Marvel studios. I mean there have been 3 Punisher films in the past 20 years and all of them blew. 2 Hulk films. 4 Captain America movies. I think what will happen is Disney will give them their own studio (much like Dreamworks which is owned by Disney as well) and let them make their movies. As long as they stay within the quality standards of Iron Man then it could work out for the better.

If anything, as a comic writer myself, it makes me wonder if we will see more Indy Comic companies more prodominante or if Disney will choke out Marvel and then we will see more Creator owned comic companies like what happened when Image was created. Who knows, only time will tell.

Here is a list of other companies Disney owns. Hopefully, it will help you reach your own conclusions.

The Walt Disney Studios

* Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group
o Walt Disney Pictures
o Touchstone Pictures
o Hollywood Pictures
o ImageMovers Digital
o Miramax Films
+ Miramax Family Films
+ Dimension Films (Disney owns the Dimension Films library for all films released before September 30, 2005)
+ Miramax Television
o Disneynature
o DreamWorks (for films made by Touchstone only, its sister company, DreamWorks Animation SKG, is still distributed and owned by Paramount Pictures)
o Animation
+ Walt Disney Animation Studios (formerly Walt Disney Feature Animation)
+ Pixar Animation Studios
+ DisneyToon Studios
* Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (formerly Buena Vista Distribution)
* Buena Vista International
o Miravista Films
o Patagonik Film Group (joint venture between Disney and Artear Argentina)
* Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (distributes under the following labels: Walt Disney Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Touchstone Home Entertainment, Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment, Miramax Home Entertainment, Dimension Home Video, ABC Video, Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
* El Capitan Theatre
* Disney Music Group
o Walt Disney Records
o Hollywood Records
o Mammoth Records
o Lyric Street Records
o Buena Vista Records
o Disney Music Publishing (see Buena Vista Music Group page for a list of publishers that are part of Disney Music Publishing)
* Disney Theatrical Productions
o Hyperion Theatrical
o Disney Live Family Entertainment
+ Disney on Ice - produced by Feld Entertainment
+ Disney Live — produced by Feld Entertainment
* Disney Character Voices International

Where do I start

Man, what a past few weeks it's been. I don't even know where to start with an update or column.

Let's start with Inglorious Basterds. Did not dig it. I mean it was kinda cool and all in an artistic sense but as an overall movie, I just wasn't feeling it. Sorry. Start shooting me hate responses now lol.

Been busy doing a lotta running around and prep work for the upcoming comic. Justin and I are hard at work and trying to get all the prep done on this so we can send it to the printers as soon as possible. Wanna see a sneak peek at the art for it?



There ye have it.

We are very proud of the comic and how it's coming together. So stick around and you won't be disappointed.

Read The Nobody this week. That was a really good book and was pleasantly surprised by it. Also, Deadpool Suicide Kings wrapped up it's 4 issue run. Really loved that one.



The banter between Deadpool and Spiderman had me laughing.

Well, it's getting late and I need to play me some Batman: Arkham Asylum. Can't believe it made it into the Guinness Book Of World Records already. That's kinda sweet. hehe.

District 9

District 9, wow what a pleasant surprise this movie was. I seriously can't say enough good things about it. But let's see if I can try.

For those of you who don't know, District 9 is a movie about the Alien occupation of a small section of Johannesburg. And by Alien, I mean creatures/being from outer space. In the movie timeline 28 years ago a spacecraft came to Earth and took position over Johannesburg. After two months of speculating, the military decided to take action and try entering the craft. Upon doing so they discovered 1.8 million Aliens, which the call Prawns due to their looks, living in what we would consider poverty. They begun moving the Prawns to District 9 in order to try to learn more about them.

The movie starts off with documentary detailing how their occupation of this District was causing more problems than solving. The MNU (Multi-National United) is about to launch a movement which would evict the tenants of District 9 and move them into another District 200 km away from their current location. And that's where the fun starts.

This movie takes an in-depth look into how we as humans would react in an environment such as this. It shows not only our "PC" stance on the situation but also the true face of horror. Showing not only what we would see on the outside but also alot of what we wouldn't see due to the media spin on it.

I loved it. I loved every second of the movie. It had to have been one of the only movies this summer that I walked into that wasn't a sequel, a comic, or a movie based on a book or story of which I had already read. It was nice to walk into the theater with an open mind, ready to be surprised and that I was. The acting in this was pretty good. Most of the characters that were seen were just side characters of a documentary but they managed to pull off their jobs well. The main antagonist of the story did a great job in not only making me think he was a supreme dork but to also get me to hate him with every ire of my being. In what had to be a twist of irony, the entire theater seemed to the be rooting for the Alien to return home, knowing that he was going to do so in order to get his friends and come back to whip our collective asses.

The FX were also top notch. For what had to be a lower budget film, they did their best to pull out all of the stops. The story had me from the word go and the action at the end had me on the edge of my seat.

This film took the best elements of Cloverfield and Blair Witch and any other "shaky cam" movie and improved on it without making the audience sick or bored. If you haven't had a chance to see this movie yet, then do yourself a favor and get out there and do so. Hopefully you will be as surprised as I was.