The Whispering Dead

The Whispering Dead

Well, it's been a little over a week since the Walking Dead ended its very short season and while I said I wouldn't write another one for a while... well, it's a show about zombies, you should figure that zombification of topics would come about. Don't try to shoot this in the head, it wont work. Just let it consume your brains

Especially since it just was nominated for a Golden Globe. I mean.. really? REALLY? I like the show and all, but there was some major issues with it that it shouldn't have been nominated. I mean, on the season finale of the walking dead, the CDC doctor whispered something in Rick's ear.



This isn't a new concept for film at all, it makes you wonder what exactly was said to the character for a while and they can plug and play and old bullshit that they want on there. But it does leave the viewer with one thing it shouldn't really hope for... time to inflate the expectations to levels that the writers would never be able to meet said expectations.

You might as well say that it's what Murray whispered into Scarlet Johansson's ear in Lost in Translation. Oh yeah, for the record he told her the name of a really good divorce lawyer. But as we speak, a crack team of internet nerds are running through possibly every different combinations of words that Doctor Jenner could possible whisper into a persons ear. Here's a couple of guesses....

"We would have had an extra hour if your son didn't plug in and play Ms. Pac-Man for four hours last night."

"I think that Daryl guy might be a little nuts."

"I'll see ya in anotha life, brotha"

"Never tell Daryl about the button that opened the door. He just looked so satisfied that his hacking with an axe opened it, and I can't take that away from him."

"Rick... they just brought back the McRib... don't let them take that away from us."

"Rick, if you ever go into a bookstore, whatever you do, do not read the comic book titled The Walking Dead or else you will be spoiled on what may or may not happen in this version of the story"

"FYI that big guy with the shotgun tried to rape your wife last night in the game room....purple monkey dishwasher"

"I can't believe no one in your group has ever seen a zombie movie."

"You know, when you first told me your name I thought you said "Riddick" and I thought, just maybe, humanity stood a chance against these damn Necros. Now I think you're all fucked though, Rick."

"Had to use all that hot water, eh? Couldn't you just fuck like normal people on a bed?"

"Never trust a guy with a mustache"

"They look like monsters to you?"

"Three words. Marvel Zombies Crossover"

"Strike that motherfucker out."

"Sometimes you have to roll a hard six."

"I've been peeing in the CDC showers for weeks"



"You'll never guess what were in those diplomatic cables"

"Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down."

"Dogs can't look up."

"I killed Mufasa..."

"I hid a stash of whiskey down the street, it's in the bank's vault."

"Smoke weed everyday"

"Live every day of your life as if it was shark week."

"Have you ever seen 'The Accused?' Because I think your wife and buddy were reenacting a scene from it in the rec room."

With the CDC destroyed, I suppose that means the only thing left for them to do is to go to the Air Force base south of Atlanta that Shane mentioned. But when you think about it, Shane seemed pretty okay with the idea of heading to a military base, despite seeing how the Army butchered unarmed patients in the hospital who looked to be uninfected in an attempt to spread control of the zombies.

And what was up with the abuse victim stealing the grenade? No wonder Ed beat her. She was always stealing his grenades. How do you forget that you found a grenade? Yeah, he just got laid for the first time in a month, but you'd think that you'd remember a round ball in your pocket. "Hey, I'd swear that I had a grenade when I came into camp. Did someone steal it?"

"Look guys, when I came to camp, I had a fucking grenade with me.. well, now I don't. Look, I'm not even mad. I realize that in these hard times a grenade may be like a good thing, but it's mine. I'll tell you what, I'm gonna shut the lights out and whoever has my grenade can bring it up to the desk and I won't even know. Clean slate and it's all behind us, alright?"

Now back to the guesses...

"..... and we call it the Aristocrats!"

"The blood test revealed who the final cylon is.."

"Live every week like it's Shark Week."

"I'm sorry, Rick, but the military is trained only to shoot at center mass"

"Paul is dead."

"Rosebud's the sled."

"Love actually kinda sucked"

"Snape kills Dumbledore."

"All this has happened before, and it will happen again... "

"There was a camera in the shower. Thanks for that fresh material"

"You've had a piece of toilet paper hanging out of the back of your pants all morning."

"Do you like books about war? Do you like to watch movies about... gladiators? Have you've ever seen a grown man...."

On a final serious note, the two guesses that make the most sense are "Everyone is already infected with it and it's activated when you die" or "Your wife is pregnant." Remember what the doctor said after Rick came to ask about the blood test - "No surprises."

Not "you're all fine," not "everybody's safe," but "no surprises."

It could have been that the blood test was a chance for Jenner to confirm something that he might have been hypothesizing about before the lab screw up and the low fuel situation. He'd probably saw that all the people in the CDC had it in their system and it was dormant. So getting a blood sample from outsiders to confirm that it's in their system as well, just would show that everyone has this in them.

And the final guess is "Your wife is pregnant" Because let's face it.. we're going to get to that part of the comics sooner or later. Let's hope the show doesn't pussy out on talking about that subject of who was the father like the comic book did.

Walking The Dead Into The Sunset

Walking The Dead Into The Sunset

Tonight's episode of the walking dead is the last we'll see till around October. Which means that we're faced with a lot of non-zombie downtime. A year to be exact. Yeah, That's what I said! How the fuck are we going to go a year without more AMC's awesome zombie hit The Walking Dead!?

I mean, I could just read the comic book, but that would require me doing something I already am doing. Not to mention that only 10 issues will come out by the time the new season starts.. Hmmm, on second thought that's not too far away. Trippy how time flies like that.

In any case, I wonder if the next episode finally reveals the cause of the outbreak and everyone eating each other being the fault of Jewish British Catholic Homosexuals.



And I guess the rumors are true that Frank has shit canned the entire writing staff...

I hear The Walking Dead writer/ executive producer/ director Frank Darabont has let go of the writers on the hot freshman AMC series, which has already renewed for a second season. That includes Darabont's No. 2, writing executive producer Charles “Chic” Eglee. Writer turnover on series between seasons is commonplace but wholesale overhauls are unusual. What's more, I hear Darabont is looking to forgo having a writing staff for the second season of Walking Dead altogether and assign scripts to freelancers.

Darabont, who hails from the feature world with The Young Indiana Jones as the only series credit before Walking Dead, ended up writing 2 of the first season's 6 episodes of Walking Dead - the pilot and the second episode - and co-writing/rewriting the other 4. Two of those 4 were written by non-staff writers, one by executive producer Robert Kirkman, on whose comics the series is based, and one by Glen Mazzara. The freelance model is employed by the Starz/BBC series Tourchwood, which in turn borrowed it from the U.K. where the show originated. Having BBC as producer has allowed Torchwood to proceed with no writing staff but I hear such a plan on an U.S.-based network series such as Walking Dead may face issues with the Writers Guild. And, while the first season of Walking Dead was only 6 episodes, its second-season order is for 13, which may prove harder to manage in pre-production, production and post-production with no writing staff. Sources tell me that no final decision has been made yet with all options open, including using some combination of a writing staff/freelances. There is time - AMC is mulling launching Walking Dead's second season the way it did the first one - in October during Fearfest.

But let's be honest here. Frank wrote the first episode and another one in the 6 that aired. Robert Kirkman wrote one himself. That's 3 episodes covered. Of the remaining 3, Frank had to do extensive re-writes on all four of them to get them to where he wanted them. So it's clear that this loss isn't a bad sign



Besides, Frank Darabont is a serious control freak. From first hand experience and from reputation, he likes to make sure his hand is in everything he's working on and has been known to be difficult to work with over the years. If you think he sat back and let the writers do all the work, you're a bit delusional. It seems like a simple case of Frank not thinking the writers were up to par and just cleaned house.

So don't go around speaking doom and gloom for next season. He'll probably be better off doing this series solo with Kirkman as producer. Just hear it from the horses mouth.. From io9-whatever the site is.

"Chic Eglee is a high-level television writer. He was brought onto The Walking Dead with the idea that Frank was going to work on the first season and then go off and do movies. Chic didn't want to be second-in-command on a show when he's used to being a top dog, and so he decided to go off and do something else, which is something that happens and is not a big deal."

It's a little premature to be nailing down. I don't know if it's going to be a freelance situation or if we're going to have writers in a writers' room. That's something that's being worked on now. Everybody knows what they're doing. AMC has done a few television shows before, and Frank Darabont is a professional. Whatever is decided, I don't think it will affect the show one way or another."

So see, nothing to worry about. How about we divert your attention from that news with a tour of the 1977 Winnebago?



So till next October, I'm putting a bullet in the head of talking about The Walking Dead...

Okay, that's not realistic. I know I'll be reporting about it during Comic Con (if tickets ever manage to go on sale) and I'm sure I'll bitch about the comic if Kirkman decides to wipe the slate again of a lot of main characters with this upcoming comic arc.

Walking Dead is Going To Be Awesome

Walking Dead Is Going To Be Awesome

It's just a couple more weeks before the walking dead hits AMC and we all get to enjoy zombie television at its finest.

Maybe you need a reminder in the form of a new ad for the show?



Now doesn't that look awesome? Yes. I believe it does. In an attempt to not have to write much today, let's take a look at the main character. Rick Grimes. Who is Rick Grimes? This British person will tell you..



British?! What? Yes. A British person is playing a Kansas police officer. Yup, that seems a bit strange but it looks like it works.

So who else are we going to focus on? How about Rick's best friend in the world Shane;



So you see, this daily blog was nothing more than a shameless plug for AMC in hopes they send me free things. Watch the Walking Dead on AMC on Halloween. 10pm.

The Dead Walk San Diego Comic Con

The Dead Walk San Diego Comic Con

Reporting from Comic con here on the first full day of this nerd con and I have to say, it's still a mad house. It's still in Sandy Eggo, and thankfully doesn't look to be moved anytime soon and the madness... oh the madness. As Danny Glover would say it best "I'm getting too old for this shit."

Actually I'm not. At least I don't think I am. It's crazy but all that craziness is worth it to make the pilgrimage to the mecca of nerdom. I love it. I'm loud and proud. Thankfully though, I am not shambling. Unlike this TV show, which feels like it's shambling in a very slow fashion to your television screen this October, is "The Walking Dead" on AMC. If you haven't read anything about this piece so far, then it's clear you haven't been reading my blog all that much.

As much as I love zombies so much that I got bored with the overuse of them causing me to stop writing about them. For the love of all things holy, there's even a ZOMBIE DATING WEBSITE. But even with the over saturation of zombies in the world, I had to write a piece up about the upcoming comic book turned television show - The Walking Dead.



The story follows a small group of survivors trying to stay alive in a world overrun by Zombies. While other stories tend to stay focused on the zombies contingent, this story is completely focused on the survivors. For you see, it's not the zombies that are the title character, it's the Humans. They are the walking dead.

Just look at Carl, he's wearing a Science Dog t-shirt. A good nod to the comic creator's other works. And in the event that you haven't picked up the book or just don't want to read some funny pages, here's the motion comic in action.



At Comic con there was a panel for the show and while I was a little disappointed that it wasn't in a bigger hall way, it was still really good. So much so that I just need it to hurry up and be October already. There's really no time to waste since this looks so good.

It's really amazing to see a well written comic book get picked up by the director of The Mist, a film that broke the mold of Stephen King novel to films suckage and turned out an amazing ending. Besides that, Kirkman is very character heavy. Having met him a good handful of times, it's always been a pleasure and I just wish the best for him in this.



It was learned that the full roster of writers and directors for the six season 1 episodes is as follows:

#1.1: Written and directed by Frank Darabont

#1.2: Written by Frank Darabont; directed by Michelle MacLaren (recurring director for Breaking Bad; recently nominated for an Emmy after she melted faces with the final act of "One Minute")

#1.3: Written by Frank Darabont, Charles H. Eglee (The Shield; serves as the show's co-showrunner), and Jack LoGuidice (Sons of Anarchy); directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton (Sons of Anarchy, The Shield, Battlestar Galactica)

#1.4: Written by Robert Kirkman (the comics; this will be his first credited teleplay); directed by Johan Renck (Breaking Bad)

#1.5: Written by Glen Mazzara (The Shield); directed by Ernest Dickerson (The Wire, Dexter)

#1.6: Written by Adam Fierro (The Shield, Dexter, 24); directed by Guy Ferland (The Shield, Sons of Anarchy)

All in all, Darabont's put together a fine group of storytellers to push this through. I really can't wait to see this on the small screen. It sounds like an amazing line up.

You can see some of the behind the scene footage that they're currently working on right now via MTV here.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

What Darabont and AMC's Walking Dead team are able to achieve on the streets of downtown Atlanta on a summer day is no easy feat. This is talking about hot and humid summer days and closing up blocks to simple living folks.

"We have blocks of Atlanta shut down here, and there's a tank behind me if you can't see it," Kirkman told MTV News. "Just the scale of everything... Everything is being done exactly the way I would've wanted it, and it's better than I could have ever envisioned it. The whole thing is just amazing."

So really, I just can't wait to see this on the best damn channel on cable television.

Walking Dead Script Walk Through

Walking Through The Walking Dead Script

On Sunday was a sad night.. It was the season finale of Break Bad on AMC. Now what will I watch? Classic Movies from America? I think not! With one amazing drama ending and the long 8 month to a year wait till the next season. How the fuck do they expect us to go so long without something awesome on AMC to watch? Well, I guess there's Mad Men. That's great and all, but it doesn't have senseless violence with the main character's downward spiral.

Thank goodness we have something to look forward to come this October during Fright Fest.... The Walking Dead.



Yes, you've heard me talk about this before. It's a comic book.. being turned into a Television show. If there's any network that can do it justice, it's AMC. They showed a man get turned into liquid in an acid bath. A hallow point going through some cousins head and a science teacher make meth. They can do this one justice. Don't believe me? Look at this picture;



The show runner and director of the first episode is Frank Darabont. He's the guy who did THE MIST and he combined with AMC to get this comic book off the funny pages and turned into a live action TV show. For that, as well as his other work, I'm very pleased.

So let me introduce you to the characters. There's Rick Grimes (He's the main character) who is being played by Andrew Lincoln who is British which even though it sounds odd, let's face it, there's a lot of actors who have strange accents who do great American ones. So him playing a small town Kentucky Sheriff isn't to bad



Then we have Sarah Wayne Callies will play his wife Lori who was in the show Prison Break. So it's a little odd to see her go from one prison to yet another one. If the show goes according to the comics, should be an interesting turn of events.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the "Prison Break" actress has landed the leading female role of Lori Grimes, the wife of series protagonist and small town police officer Rick.

And then you have a series of other characters who... well, if it's anything like the comic book, let's just say that you really shouldn't get comfortable with them.

Now, I got a chance to read through the pilot script. I have to say that I loved it and it's not just because I'm a huge fan of the comic book series. It's very faithful to the comic book. You have to remember that Frank Darabont is directing it and Shawshank was probably the only Stephen King book that didn't get fucked up when translated to the big screen. If you want to avoid spoilers, then you should stop reading the blog right now and just scroll through the pretty pictures. But nothing I say will ruin anything if you've already read the first few issues of the comic.



The script starts off with Rick driving down a deserted highway. He stops at a gas station because a lot of cars are making it difficult to get past on the road. In the process he finds a little girl. Whoops, guess what, she's already a zombie. To cement it home that they're going to push limits in the series he shoots her. Then again, violence towards zombies has always been A-okay. He turns around to realize that the dead bodies sitting in those cars blocking the road were actually zombies. That gunshot alerted them and now Rick is stuck dealing with a zombie mob.

It cuts to a couple weeks ago. The same events as the comic happen. Rick and Shane have a shootout with some criminals. Rick gets shot and ends up in the hospital only to wake up weeks later in the hospital bed. What's powerful about the script is there's a lot of it that doesn't have any dialogue. Rick escaping the hospital and seeing all the dead bodies are all part of this. After realizing what has happened he comes across Morgan and Duane. A black man and his son hiding out from the zombies in his old neighborhood.



The three of them head over to the police station so Rick could suit up. He then parts ways with them as he's looking for his wife, Lori and son, Carl. All the while he's driving to Atlanta he keeps on trying the radio to see if Shane and his group can hear him.

It then cuts to a scene between Shane and a woman (who is clearly Lori but she's only identified as "Woman" in the script) who are now scene as a couple. We jump back to Rick and the events of the prologue with the dead girl, road block and zombie mob.



Rick escapes the zombie mob and makes his way to a farm where his car breaks down. He finds a horse in the barn and changes modes of transportation. Eventually making it to Atlanta and we get a shot of the city ruined to hell. They turn the corner on a street and are met by another swarm of zombies. You horse lovers are going to cry because the zombies get some fresh horse meat but Rick escapes under a tank. Zombies start to surround him and he's about to kill himself but then sees a hatch to get in.

Now Rick's just stuck in a tank while the zombies are still all around it with no hope in sight. Suddenly a voice comes over the radio in the tank. Someone somewhere spotted him getting in the tank. The script ends with the camera pulling out to a wide shot over the tank and we see it surrounded by hundreds of zombies clawing at it.



End of Episode one. If that doesn't get you hooked and shambling for more, I don't know what will.

Walk Like The Undead

Walk Like The Undead

The season of Breaking Bad is about to come to an end in another two weeks and that means that it's going to be another long wait till the next season of it. Sure, I have Mad Men to look forward to in the summer but then what? Oh, let me tell you... The Walking Dead is what!

AMC just released a couple of images of the upcoming Robert Kirkman television translation of the very popular comic book of THE WALKING DEAD. So here, enjoy this snapshot of what's to come...



So what is The Walking Dead and why should you be reading and/or excited as hell about the news that this is the latest AMC show? The Walking Dead is a monthly comic book published by Image, written by Robert Kirkman and drawn mostly by Charlie Adlard, who is a really cool guy and I have an original zombie sketch by him. Before Charlie, Tony Moore was the original artist and the one that most people seem to enjoy. It's been going on for about six years and is currently at issue #71

The premise is that a Kentucky police officer wakes up in the hospital to find himself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. From there, the book hits a lot of familiar notes often found in zombie literature. There is little focus on the macro. Society has collapsed, but we don't get the specifics of how that went down. Instead we focus on a relatively small group of survivors and slowly learn-as in most zombie literature-that the real threat is man's inhumanity to man. It really becomes a case of doing George Romero's original concept a lot better than Romero can.



What makes this book special is its format more than anything else. Being a comic book with no end in sight, Kirkman is able to really show the characters grow, form a real group, and how they survive. It's really what zombie fans have always asked for and it's in black and white. So the fact that it still sells amazingly well goes to show you that not even a lack of color can stop how well received this is.

The important aspect to this is the characters and how they develop over the course of stories. The pacing is a tad slow at the start, but it reads nicely in trades. In fact, this is the one book I actually encourage people to avoid the single monthly issues and wait for a new trade paper back to come out because it becomes slow torture to actually wait for it month after month.



If you're a zombie fan, then I have to question your sanity if you aren't reading this book. It's definitely best to start from the beginning. Don't worry that we're 72 issues into it - you will seriously pick up the first trade and plow through it and be upset that you have nothing new to read. The book is collected in many different formats that you can browse on amazon. Earlier this year, a compendium collecting the first forty-eight issues was released. It might be the best bang for your buck.

But that's if you want to read the books. Let's focus on the TV show here. The show follows Rick Grimes, a small town Sheriff of Cynthiana, Kentucky, who wakes up from a coma into a world that has suffered a zombie apocalypse. As you can see, they're not going to change much on that angle. It will be interesting to see how the show translates to TV as it's well known for being vicious towards its character survival and safety. Not to mention that it has, you know, zombies who eat flesh in it.



This shouldn't worry anyone that the show will be censored or watered down. I remember reading an interview where AMC's one note for The Walking Dead is that you can't say "fuck." And as you can see from the images above, they're going to go for the gore and not apologize for it. You know what you are getting into when you tune in.

The show will debut during AMC's horror marathon Fearfest, so they are taking the marketing into account here. In fact, that's an even better cross promotion. It seems that AMC is running on a good cycle where they show Mad Men through the summer months and will have The Walking Dead take over Halloween as well as lead all the way till the start of the year when Breaking Bad comes back. Clearly this is the most awesome line up possible.

It really makes me glad that AMC is the one making this. I've been really impressed with their other series and I think they will have no problem pulling it off. Especially considering how much support they put behind their productions. Going the extra mile to actually show on location. Breaking Bad is done entirely in New Mexico and the Walking Dead will be shot in Atlanta.



If I were writing the series bible, I'd break the first seasons down like so:
Season 1 (6 episodes) introduction; Rick vs Shane
Season 2 (13 episodes) Journey to Prison
Season 3 (13 episodes) Prison

But veering off the plot as necessary. This way you folks wouldn't worry about reading the books as being a method of ruining the show for yourself. The first season is going to adapt the first volume, but around 1/3 of it is going to be new stuff. In fact, the creator of the comic book has insisted that they deviated from the comic book.

KIRKMAN: I've told Frank flat-out that I do not want him to follow the comic to the detriment of the show. I encourage him to veer off if he has something that will work really well on TV that wouldn't work in a comic. I don't want people who enjoy the comic to be watching the TV show and going, "Oh, this is leading to that one thing I already know about from the comic."

I believe that sounds like the best approach. Some things happen in the comic that just wouldn't work on TV, and like wise there's somethings you could do on Television that would not work in the comic book. I feel like capturing the tone of the comic is a lot more important than following the plot panel by panel. I loved Watchmen, but maybe somethings didn't needed to be literal translations.

Two shows that nailed this perfectly are Dexter and TRUE BLOOD. It stuck with the books as long as it made sense to and then veered off on a total tangent at just the right moment. I mean, Have you've read the True Blood books? Those things are god awful. The worse piece of literature you could possibly read. Dexter did somewhat the same in the later books. Becoming something that I would hate it to be if they did a literal translation of it.

I guess I'm just waiting for someone to complain about them not doing it in black and white. While it would ensure that you kept a low profile to the FCC in the terms of blood and violence, it would also ensure that nobody would watch it.

And with that I'll leave you with this most awesome google map. If you're so inclined to do your own Walking Dead road trip, you can use this google map as it has the locations where the comic has taken place thus far.

AMC Now Stands for American Moving Corpses

AMC Now Stands for American Moving Corpses

Did I do a Zombie piece for July? I really don't remember. I mean, I seem to always do them once a month but with the rush that was Comic con, I'm not even sure if I did. Well, if I didn't, this one will make up for it and then some. Get ready folks because the Walking Dead are coming to you through your television screen.

When I first heard that AMC was going to produce original television series I was a bit shocked. A little more shocked than I was hearing SciFi changing its name to SyFy and a whole lot more when I realized that Cartoon Network was showing live action stuff. In the time since they started producing their own shows I have eaten crow and loved it.



The original shows they have aired have been amazing. Mad Men is one of the best shows on televisions, even if you don't want to remember a time when women had no rights and you could market cancer sticks to the masses via a doctors recommendation. Breaking Bad has also been one show that, like the meth they have, once you try it, you'd stay hooked.

As well as creating a Prisoner miniseries that will air later this year, AMC has been completely on a roll So when I heard that The Walking Dead is coming to AMC as a television series. I was floored!

AMC is venturing into zombie-drama territory with multi-hyphenate Frank Darabont.

Cabler is close to finalizing one of the richest development deals ever with Darabont to write and direct a series adaptation of the Image Comics graphic novel series "The Walking Dead," penned by Robert Kirkman. Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Motion Pictures and David Alpert of Circle of Confusion are also on board to exec produce.

Project is set among a group of zombie survivors of an apocalypse who are led by a police officer, Rick Grimes, in search of a safe place to live. Numerous editions of the "Walking Dead" graphic novels have been published since 2003.

Joel Stillerman, AMC's senior veep of programming, production and original content, said the project appealed to the cabler because of "the quality of the storytelling" in Kirkman's work. The series will stay faithful to the tone of the original novels, he said.

"This is not about zombies popping out of closets," Stillerman said. "This is a story about survival, and the dynamics of what happens when a group is forced to survive under these circumstances. The world (in 'Walking Dead') is portrayed in a smart, sophisticated way."

Darabont and Hurd pitched the project to AMC and several other outlets. There is no studio attached yet. The duo's involvement made the project a must-have for the cabler, Stillerman said.

"These are two world-class filmmakers who are also brilliant storytellers with experience in the fantasy genre," he said.

While this is me posting what some would consider me re-writing an AP piece, I'm going to go above and beyond on this. The Walking Dead is one of the best comic book series I have read and followed monthly. I picked up issue one when it came out on the shelf because it was zombie themed and the last time I checked to see the value of the book, it was ranging in the $150 area for a single issue.



Especially surprising considering the comic book market in terms of value placed on books, the first issue of The Walking Dead was printed in October of 2003. The debut issue sold a little more than 7,000 copies and was right behind the sales numbers for Sonic The Hedgehog and Powerpuff Girls. It wasn't a big seller and at the time, Kirkman didn't have much of a name for himself as Invincible was just starting out as well. In 2008 and 50 issues later, the sales of The Walking Dead are well into their 20,000's and the trade paperbacks are extremely great sellers.

So why is this news especially good to hear? Beyond a good source material getting the television treatment, Darabont and Hurd are big names and with AMC putting out some of the better shows on TV now, how could not see a lot of promise in this. Even if people are going to jump towards a view that "This should be an HBO series" because of the graphic violence that must be involved with a zombie film.



And to those worried that this wont be as good because it's not on HBO, a place were redneck vampires run around and have sex, I can only point you to Breaking Bad. A show about amateur meth cookers that don't know how to do much else, that show does not pull any punches. With the right hands and a proper cast, I can see this turning out amazingly well.

When I read that Frank Darabont was on it, all my concerns floated away. He's the writer of the screenplay to Shawshank Redemption. Darabont will more than likely bring in Rohn Schmidt as his DP because they have a long history together. This should also make you happy as Rohn Schmidt contributed to the photography of The Shield. When Darabont went on to do The Mist, he made a point of hiring Schmidt as his DP and brought in the Shield's camera crew because the idea of a Stephen King horror movie shot like an episode of The Shield gave him something to shoot for. Now that he's doing a TV project, I would not be surprised to see him bring Schmidt along.



But back to the source material. If you aren't a reader, the perhaps you would be interested in reading the first issue, it's online for you to enjoy free of charge.. But be warned, once you read the first one, you might as well be considered infected, you will want to read more and more of this.

The only concern here is that they'll improve on Kirkman's work, because really, Kirkman does a lot of build up for events that he writes completely off in some manner or other. It's great for realism. In life you're not automatically going find out the why of everything, but it can get frustrating in a book. They hinted at Rick's wife sleeping with his best friend and the potential of him being the father was planted early on.. Only to have that story come to a resolution that seemed more like an attempt to wipe that whole issue out the window.



I do like the idea of the show that it's going to take a serious look, in a long version, at what will happen if the "shit goes down". We haven't had many Zombie/Survival stories lately and to be honest, those never get old and are always prime material for long-form treatments to be made of them. It's bad enough that DAY ONE doesn't seem like it will last long on NBC's line up, so a post-apocalyptic survivor stories don't get much love. I mean, look at Jericho.

While a lot of people are going to go crazy about the zombies in this show, the real beef of this book comes from the human interactions and how it all breaks down when such a bleak future is presented to you. Now here we are 64 issues later and the cast has changed and the story arcs have ranged from sometimes being way too wordy without a single zombie for many issues, to having a horde of zombies try attacking them.



This, by all means, is a character driven comic book. Hell, the status quo changes often and while I've, on more than one instance, has cursed Kirkman and said I wouldn't read another issue, I still pick it up monthly. I'm really excited to see how this pans out. Hell, maybe even try to jump in on that if I can. I suppose the best way to describe it to others is that while this is a comic about zombies, the main characters are the ones classified as the Walking Dead.

It's only a matter of time before Kirkman decides to kill them off. Way to have good taste, AMC.

Caution: Zombies - It Must Be A Sign

Caution: Zombies - It Must Be A Sign

In the last few weeks there has been an epidemic going on. A ZOMBIE epidemic! But before you board up your homes, gather weapons and raid any malls you should know where they're coming from.

First it was a spotting in Austin, Tx warning people that Zombies were ahead.

You can find the evidence all over the internet. Dustin Coates and Julie Montgomery were among dozens of people who captured road signs flashing, “Caution: zombies ahead, run for cold climates, the end is near!“ Signs on both sides of Lamar between MLK and 15th were altered some time Sunday.

"This is a first for us. We are new to this kind of thing,” said Sara Hartley, Public Works spokesperson.

Hartley says whoever did this cut the locks to the computer system and hacked in.

"While the content of what it was changed to was amusing to a lot of people we want to make sure that people understand it's a public safety hazard," said Hartley.

Zombies would invade Austin. Godless, bastard town full of Sodomites. This would be perfect if it was placed on a road close to Zilker Park during Austin City Limits. When you walk out of there you're already hung over, dirty as fuck and practically a zombie. And have you've ever been to South By South West? Paint the crowds green and you've already witness the Zombie mobs.


Fucking zombies, I got a ticket once because I didn't slow down to 45 before driving through a zombie area. NO ONE ELSE EVER SLOWS DOWN geeze!

I guess I would suggest that Austin is quite possibly the most prepared city in the country for a Zombie Apocalypse. Why you ask? They have all of the following:

*A well armed, yet liberal minded population.
*4 indoor shopping malls conveniently located around the city.
*Law enforcement trained in herding large gatherings of inebriated people.
*Easygoing populace makes forming "loose-knit band of survivors" simple. Just stand in the middle of an street and yell "Who want's to form a loose-knit band of survivors?" and 20 people will be there in seconds.
*Huge number of aspiring filmakers who have studied every zombie movie made in hopes of being the next Tobe Hooper or Robert Rodriguez.
*Alamo Drafthouse located there. Few entrances that are easily barricaded, large supply of movies to watch, industrial sized kitchen, plenty of alcohol for drinking/molitovs, etc.

Then the zombies showed up on the road signs in the grand ol' corrupt Illinois

COLLINSVILLE, Illinois - Pranksters in at least three states are messing with electronic road signs meant to warn motorists of possible traffic problems by putting drivers on notice about Nazi zombies and raptors. And highway safety officials aren't amused.

The latest breach came Tuesday during the morning rush hour near Collinsville, Ill., where hackers changed a sign along southbound Interstate 255 to read, "DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES."

A day earlier in Indiana's Hamilton County, the electronic message on a board in Carmel's construction zone warned drivers of "RAPTORS AHEAD — CAUTION."

And signs in Austin, Texas, recently flashed: "NAZI ZOMBIES! RUN!!!" and "ZOMBIES IN AREA! RUN."

Officials in Illinois are concerned the rewritten signs distract motorists from heeding legitimate hazards down the road. The hacked sign on Tuesday originally warned drivers of crews replacing guardrails.

"We understood it was a hoax, but at the same time those boards are there for a reason," said Joe Gasaway, an Illinois Department of Transportation supervisory field engineer. "We don't want (drivers) being distracted by a funny sign."

Authorities haven't figured out how pranksters access the signs. Gasaway believes the Illinois sign was changed remotely, and Austin Public Works spokeswoman Sara Hartley suspected the hackers there cut a padlock to get into the signs' computers.

Some Web sites, such as Jalopnik.com, have published tutorials titled "How to Hack an Electronic Road Sign" as a way to alert security holes to traffic-safety officials. Jalopnik urges its readership of 2.6 million a month not to put its lesson to practice.

"Hacking generally is about showing where there are holes in security systems, and I think this is a great example of that," the site's editor-in-chief, Ray Wert, told The Associated Press by telephone Wednesday. "I'm sure there are all sorts of ways to use that information in a way that's inappropriate, but we're trying to make clear this is an issue that needs to be confronted by traffic safety and transportation officials."

Wert said he had no immediate plans to take down Jalopnik's how-to guide.

In Illinois, tampering with an official traffic control device is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $250 fine — half what a culprit might have to pay in Texas if caught. If convicted in Indiana, a culprit faces up to a year in jail and $5,000 in fines.

They had to deal with political craziness for a while now, I can only imagine that a Zombie situation will be a piece of cake to them. Let's be honest, there's already the zombie mentality for Chicago fans who follow the Cubs. What a bunch of losers!



So the big question is how are they doing this? It's really very simple and whenever I hear people call others "Hackers" for things like this, a little part of me dies inside. This isn't hacking. This is a simple prank. You don't need all that high tech information to do this. All you need to do is learn how to type on a glorified speak and spell. Hell, there was talk at the last defcon about billboard hacking.

This is the ADDCO portable sign. Today, you see what is on the inside, and how they are programmed to display important information.
*** WARNING YOU SHOULD NEVER TAMPER WITH THESE SIGNS ***

1. The access panel on the sign is generally protected by a small lock, but often are left unprotected. Upon opening the access panel you can see the display electronics.


2. The black control pad is attached by a curly cord, with a keyboard on the face.



3. Programming is as simple as scrolling down the menu selection to “Instant Text”. Type whatever you want to display, Hit Enter to submit. You can now either throw it up on the sign by selecting “Run w/out save” or you can add more pages to it by selecting “Add page”

** TIP ** Should it will ask you for a password. Try “DOTS”, the default password.

In all likelihood, the crew will not have changed it. However if they did, never fear. Hold “Control” and “Shift” and while holding, enter “DIPY”. This will reset the sign and reset the password to “DOTS” in the process. You’re in!



If you're not brave enough to break the law, you can always look at these regular signs being "hacked" by others and laugh.

Now you may be asking if this sort of pranks are ever a good idea. Those road signs are there to tell motorist important information like if a Left lane is closing ahead or that they should buckle up. I think it was worth the sacrifice simply because in one of the news stories about this CNN asked DO YOU HAD A ZOMBIE ESCAPE PLAN. I have to simply wonder, Do you?



Apparently only 56% of us have a plan. 22% don't have a plan, and 20% don't believe. By my math, there's 2% missing? Maybe those are just the first to get turned.

Also, you missed the section below the poll. "Your guide to the undead". For those of you who are looking for 'research' projects, the last one listed points to http://www.zombiepinups.com. No, I haven't gone there to see how good/bad it is.



And if you haven't been played out on all the zombie stuff so far, you can always read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy.

Oddly enough, I could see Colin Firth in a zombie film. As much as I hated the Keira Knightley version, she at least had the thin zombie look going.

So I think all this should meet your zombie quota. Hell, with a new Walking Dead issue coming out this week, I think you'll have more than your fill of Zombie to choose from.