The new series based on Green Arrow must be on target! The CW has given a full season order to Arrow. Stephen Amell (Hung) stars at Oliver Queen and Katie Cassidy played Dinah Laurel Lance. My favorite cast member so far is Colin Donnell. He steals the show every week at Tommy Merlyn and I’m looking forward to the upcoming clash between Ollie and Tommy.
DC Comics fans are finding plenty of the publisher’s top villains on the series. Kelly Hu played China White in episode two. Deadshot is the guest villain in this week’s episode. Deathstroke will strike in episode five.
The Huntress will appear in a multi-episode arc as a love interest for Oliver Queen. John Barrowman (Torchwood) will guest star in upcoming episodes. No word on who he will play yet.
Have you seen Arrow yet? What do you think? Which DC Comics character do you want to see on the show?
Adam West as Batman, courtesy Emerald City Comicon
Make way for pop royalty! A hometown boy made good is coming home! Adam West will appear at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle March 1-3. 2013. The Seattle native played Batman on the camptastic 1960’s ABC television series and in the first Batman feature film.
That voice. That delivery. That style. Adam West is an icon. Every weekday I would rush home from school to watch Batman reruns in the afternoon. I watched the first Batman movie over and over.
In recent years West has become a popular voice actor on Spongebob Squarepants, Johnny Bravo and as “Mayor Adam West” on Family Guy.
West was born in Seattle and raised in Walla Walla, Washington. The iconic actor will appear at Emerald City Comicon 2013 all three days – his first public appearance in Washington state in nearly 20 years. This will be his first Northwest convention appearance in 3 decades.
Adam West will always hold a special place in the hearts and memories of comic book fans. The campy classic series was the gateway to comic books for young geeks like me at the time. No matter how dark the Dark Knight turns there is always a special for in pop culture for West’s Caped Cruader.
Emerald City Comicon will make the Washington State Convention Center a giant Batcave March 1-3, 2013 in Seattle.
Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes in AMC’s The Walking Dead
Emerald City Comicon will bring the youngest zombie killer from AMC’s The Walking Dead to next year’s big event. Chandler Riggs (Carl Grimes) will be appearing all three days to meet fans. Emerald City Comicon is March 1-3, 2013 at the Washington State Convention Center. Tickets are on sale now.
The third season (Michonne, The Governor, the Prison!) of The Walking Dead premiered showing a very different kid who has grown up fast. Carl is not just a kid sneaking out of the house anymore. He’s a formidable soldier and zombie killer.
Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson in The Avengers courtesy Marvel
At New York Comic Con Marvel announced Clark Gregg will reprise his role as Agent Phil Coulson in the SHIELD live-action television pilot by Joss Whedon. Gregg played Coulson in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor and The Avengers.
The actor is the voice of Principal Coulson on the Ultimate Spider-Man series.
Maybe the clever agent used his life model decoy in the his encounter with Loki in The Avengers? Phil Coulson recently joined the Marvel comic universe in the Battle Scars mini-series.
The CW recruit DC Comics’ ultimate assassin for their new take on Green Arrow . Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke the Terminator will appear on an upcoming episode of Arrow.
In this week’s first episode there was a glimpse of the classic mask in a scene on the island where Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was stranded before returning to Starling City to become a vigilante.
Here’s a first look at the assassin courtesy IGN who says to watch for Deathstoke (played by Jeffrey Robinson) to appear in the fifth episode of Arrow. Could this mean Oliver was trained by Slade on the island during those missing five years?
The showdown in Starling City is next month.
Kelly Hu plays China White in the second episode. Watch for the Huntress to appear in multiple episodes as a love interest.
I’m thrilled to share that Gillian Anderson will appear at Emerald City Comicon 2013. The actress is best known for playing Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files television series and two feature films.
Anderson won an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for playing Scully on the series. 2013 is the 20th Anniversary of The X-Files. She will appear Saturday and Sunday. Emerald City Comicon is March 1-3, 2013 in Seattle.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #14 courtesy Dark Horse Comics
This week Buffy, The Vampire Slayer Season Nine #14 introduces a new twist on the famous vampire killer. Jane Espenson and Drew Greenberg will introduce Billy: a gay male without “slayer” powers.
The series went off the air in 2003 but adventures in “Buffyverse”continue in Dark Horse Comics. Joss Whedon (The Avengers) executive produces the continuing comic book series. In Buffy mythology only young girls are “chosen” to become slayers so why Billy?
Espenson says she developed the character while working on her web series Husbands.
“I already knew [the character] Cheeks, and he has a line in Season 1 of Husbands, that Brad [Bell] wrote, that really struck me about how Cheeks has an ‘exotic femininity’ that’s equated with weakness,” she told OUT.
“I thought: ‘Gee, all the work we’ve done with Buffy is about being female, and how that doesn’t mean that you are lesser’. It suddenly struck me: If being feminine doesn’t mean that you’re lesser, then liking guys also doesn’t mean you’re lesser.”
“For very good reason, we’ve focused on the female empowerment part of Buffy, but I wondered, ‘Did we leave something out? What if someone in high school is looking up to Buffy as a role model, and we’re saying: You can’t be a slayer’.”
Billy is a new character who trains himself to fight like a slayer.
“He may not have the actual powers of the slayers, but he’s determined to be his own kind of hero, one who’s sort of modeled after those who do have the power, and he sets out to make due with what he has,” said Greenberg.
“Batman doesn’t have super powers. He wasn’t gifted with an exotic foreign birth. So we take the Batman route; Billy is earning the Slayer mantle,” Espenson adds.
Billy’s introduction is the latest chapter in GLBT characters (Willow and Tara)and storylines of the “Buffyverse.”
“We’re hardly pandering when we make a comic book,” Espenson said. “There’s always growing pains when making progress, but I think cynicism in the face of inclusion may not be a profitable route in making progress.”
Editor Scott Allie tells Comic Book Resources part of Billy’s introduction is tied to the wedding of Northstar in Astonishing X-Men and revelation of Alan Scott in Earth 2.
“It’s funny. When we started seeing what Marvel and DC was doing, we thought, ‘Damn. They’re racing to get these stories out one after the other, so it’ll look like we’re chasing them. But we’d had this story planned for quite a while,” Allie said. “But I think you can see this as a natural extension of stuff Joss has done all along. Getting a gay male character doesn’t seem unusual for ‘Buffy.’ And it wasn’t so much that we wanted to get a gay character out in the mainstream for whatever reason. It was more that this is a story that Jane Espenson and Drew Greenberg wanted to tell. When you read the story, you’ll see that it’s responding to things in the culture beyond just representing gay male characters. There’s a bit of a response to the whole ‘It Gets Better’ campaign in a way that’s more than subtext. For Jane and Drew in particular, with the kinds of stories they’re used to telling and what they care about, the Buffy mythos was an extremely appropriate place to empower this young guy who needed to find a way to stand up for himself.”
Buffy, The Vampire Slayer Season Nine #14 comes out Wednesday.
Kristin Bauer of True Blood at Fan Expo Vancouver, photo by ComicsBlend.com
I’m thrilled to share two big celebrity guest announcements for my hometown con!
Emerald City Comicon is bringing Kristin Bauer (Pam of True Blood) and Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson of Stargate SG-1) to next year’s big event!
Bauer was recently cast as Maleficent on Once Upon a Time. I had the privilege of meeting her this year as Fan Expo Vancouver. She is even more gorgeous in person!
Both stars will be appearing Saturday and Sunday. Emerald City Comicon is March 1-3, 2013 in Seattle.
