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10 Things I’m Looking Forward to at NYCC 2011

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New York Comic Con is fast approaching (I’m going on October 15th), and while last year rocked, this year is looking to outdo it. Here’s what I’m looking forward to, in no particular order:

  • Robert Kirkman, who is going to be promoting The Walking Dead comics, the spinoff novel The Rise of the Governor, and the new season of the TV series (which starts on the 16th)! I’m not sure which issue to have him sign.
  • Brandon Seifert, who will be promoting Witch Doctor, and according to the letters column, may have some cool syringe pens with the WD logo on them. He also told me on Twitter that he’s going to be doing a panel, so I’m going to try to make that. Again, I’m not sure which issue to have him sign; I’m torn between #0 (which is a flipbook of one of The Walking Dead issues), or #1.
  • Being in New York, because hello, it’s New York! I can’t wait to walk through Times Square and down Broadway again. At night, it really comes alive. I’d like to eat at one of the restaurants — maybe find a hole in the wall — but that’s all going to depend on how my paycheck looks that week.
  • Patricia Briggs, author of the Mercy Thompson books — Moon Called is the first in the series — is one of the literary guests. I might have to bring my copy of Moon Called, just in case I get a chance to meet her.
  • James Marsters, the actor who played Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was also at NYCC last year. I got to meet him last year, so I’m not going to be disappointed if I don’t get to say hi this year, too, but it’d be nice.
  • Felicia Day, writer, director, and actress of web series The Guild, as well as comic book writer, and actress on Dollhouse, is going to be there, so I may have to have her sign the jacket of one of my Dollhouse DVDs.
  • Kevin Smith is going to be there. I’m not sure what he’s promoting, but I know he writes comics occasionally, and of course we all know the Jay and Silent Bob and Clerks movies.
  • Patton Oswalt was also on Dollhouse, but he also wrote a one-shot for Firefly, Serenity: Float Out. I’ll be bringing that along, for sure.
  • Seth Green, AKA Oz on BtVS, and the guy behind Robot Chicken, will be there. I’m so bringing one of my BtVS jackets for him to sign.
  • Ben Templesmith will be there again. Mike is working on a drawing for him. I’m just looking forward to hanging out with him for a few minutes again; he was quite a gentleman.
  • Greg Capullo, most notably known for his work for Image Comics (Spawn), will be there promoting his new Batman series, which is probably the only good thing coming out of The New 52. (You have got to see his Batman artwork!) Last year, there was virtually no line to his table, so Mike and I were able to chat with him and his wife for quite a while. This year, I expect things to be different since he’s working for DC now and the series started last month, but a girl can dream.
  • Meeting so many comic fans again will be fun, too. I’m not sure which of our friends are going to make it with us, but Mike, Robbie, and I are definitely going either way.
  • Seeing all of the costumes last year was a lot of fun. I would never do cosplay for that kind of convention (because A, I don’t have the patience to make something so elaborate and B, I don’t have the patience to wear a costume all day like that), but there were some really cool ones last year.

Okay, so that’s more than ten, but still. I’m really excited!

Most of the people from the entertainment industry will probably have signing fees, but I’m going to bring stuff anyway, just in case; I definitely cannot afford $40 an actor!

Also, I lied; I’m probably most excited about meeting Brandon Seifert. Witch Doctor is a blast to read, and through his emails and tweets he seems like an awesome guy, so I can’t wait to actually say hello in person.

Are you going to NYCC? What are you most excited about?

Review | Dollhouse: Epitaphs #2

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Dollhouse: Epitaphs #2

Dollhouse: Epitaphs #2

Admittedly, I’ve had a small stack of comics waiting to be read for a few weeks now. I’m a terrible comics fan when I’m reading a novel (in this case, I was reading A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and A Disobedient Girl by Ru Freeman). Mike tells me all of the time that my comics collection would be nothing without him… and he’s kind of right; he remembers to pick mine up when I don’t. That being said, I finally read this month’s Dollhouse: Epitaphs book a few days ago, and I freaking loved it.

While I don’t care too much about Maggie, Zone, and company — because come on, we’ve already got their story from both of the “Epitaph” episodes in the TV series — it’s a little handy because it gives us a kind of time frame for the goings-on in Alpha’s army. While Team Maggie is kind of less concerned with where they’re going and more concerned with surviving at the moment, Alpha wants to find Echo and then take down Rossum with this army he’s been building. It’s cool to see the origin of the tech that Anthony and his gang in “Epitaph Two: Return” are wearing, even though it’s on a kid. I don’t mind too much, though, because damn, can Trevor think on his feet! When one of the wielders came at him while he tried to save one of the Ivys, he swapped out hearing, making him immune to the frequency.

Speaking of Ivy, I really want to know where the original Ivy is. I always wanted to know what happened to her after Topher told her to go. I’m glad to see her character alive and well, even if she’s in the form of several imprints. I thought it was hysterical in Dollhouse: Epitaphs #1 when one of the female Ivys and the male Ivy decide to have sex just for the hell of it.

Meanwhile, Zone finally caught the “I’m going to do something about this!” bug and took off at the protests of Maggie to destroy a broadcast tower in Hollywood. I honestly don’t care about any of these characters. I didn’t mind them on the show. I love Felicia Day and they were only in the spotlight for one and a half episodes, but now they’re seriously taking away from my Alpha time.

After watching “Epitaph Two: Return,” and seeing Echo and Alpha hug each other like they were good, old friends, I’d been dying to know how crazy Alpha became sane and willing to fight for the cause. Even though I was stoked to see more of Alpha’s story when I started reading the comics, I still desperately missed crazy Alpha. It seems that writers Andrew, Jed, and Maurissa read my mind, because at the end of #2, Alpha got attacked by one of the wielders. He survived because he’s able to take on multiple imprints, but it severely tipped his brain’s already fragile ecosystem of imprints, and the Alpha we know and love seems to be back! Are you glad to see him all serial killer again?

My only complaint about this book is the weird sort of immunity that Maggie and Zone had when the radio played the broadcast. Their two companions were immediately wiped and imprinted, but they were both able to stand there and gun them down. I guess I can live with that, but it seemed kind of weird to me. Was it just me?

This month’s issue had no letters in The Imprint Room (and neither did #1), so I sent them an email. Keep your fingers crossed that it gets printed! With my luck, a whole slew of letters will suddenly come in and there won’t be room for mine. ;)

If you wrote in to them, what would you say? Leave me a comment and tell me what you’d say!

Review | Dollhouse: Epitaphs #1

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Dollhouse: Epitaphs #1

Dollhouse: Epitaphs #1

Dollhouse dream team Andrew Chambliss, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen collaborate again to bring fans of the series a story that will hopefully answer some questions that couldn’t be answered on-screen.

WARNING: This review may contain spoilers of the Dollhouse TV series. If you haven’t watched it yet, you might not want to read this review. If you don’t care… carry on. This review also contains spoilers of the Dollhouse: Epitaphs one-shot.

When the Rossum tech goes rogue and, because of frequency bug in the phone, people get wiped and imprinted on an international level, Dollhouse disaster Alpha begins building his own army to take Rossum down.

There isn’t a whole lot of action in this issue, so if you’re looking for things going boom or a lot of ass-kicking, you’re going to be horribly disappointed. The “Epitaphs” series has been set up to be more of a character development story and filler to answer questions that the Epitaph episodes couldn’t (thanks, Fox); the aim of this series is to show views of the show what Alpha was up to between the regular series and the “Epitaph One” and “Epitaph Two: Return.” In “Epitaph Two: Return,” Alpha and Echo are good buddies, and Alpha is rainbows away from his conglomerate personality of multiple serial killers, schizophrenics, and other brains that go bump in the night. The episode never explained how Alpha cured himself or why he decided to help Echo and company. We could, of course, guess that he hated Rossum for messing with his noggin, but I always wondered how he went from not caring and killing to waging war against his creators.

We find Alpha in the midst of the outbreak of the dollhouse technology. In the one-shot, he shows up at the very end, and we’re not sure whether he’s still cuckoo in the coconut or if he’s at least on his way to the Alpha at the end of the TV series. Dollhouse: Epitaphs #1 starts off with Alpha building his little army. He recruits a young boy who is eight or nine, outfits him with the technology we see Victor/Anthony rocking in “Epitaph Two: Return,” and begins his training.

Working alongside Alpha are several imprints of a character I always wondered what happened to… but I’m not going to spoil it for you and tell you who. I will tell you that we still don’t know exactly what happened to that character, but I think it’s safe to say we’ll know soon. Another familiar character is mentioned later in the issue, and the group sets out to find that person. In the letters section, we’re told that this character will definitely be showing up, but I have a feeling that this is all going to be starring Alpha… which I love! (Originally, I thought the story was going to be focused on Maggie, Zone, and their crew, and while I was okay with that, I like this much better.)

These comics are definitely not intended for people new to the series. I read a review of the one-shot

I was a little disappointed in Cliff Richards’s art in this book, as it seemed to be a little more rushed than in the one-shot, but it’s not horrible.

Format: Comic
Publisher: Dark Horse
Pages: 40
Release Date: July 13th, 2011
Cover Price: $3.50
Price Paid: $3.50

4/5 Freaking Stars

Spoiler Alert

What was your favorite part in this issue? Mine was when Ivy walked in on Ivy and Ivy taking each other’s clothes off and getting ready to do the dirty. It was classic Whedon humor, and just more proof of how in tune with each other all of the writers for this — and all of Joss Whedon’s other shows — are. It made me wonder how I’d react to an imprint of myself. Would I find them attractive, even though they acted like me, or would I be turned off by my own personality? ;)

Review | Dollhouse: Epitaphs (One-shot)

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Dollhouse: EpitaphsFinally, us Dollhouse junkies get a fix!

In this one-shot, prelude to the upcoming miniseries, we get to see how the world ends. (Well, okay, so the focus is on Maggie and Zone as they try to survive, but we also get to see what a certain special guest is up to during this time frame!)

Issue #1 of Dollhouse comes out July 13th, but I thought that this was an excellent kickoff.

(Click here for my review of the “exclusive” — my ass — comic that came with Dollhouse Season 2.)

(Disclaimer: I totally don’t take responsibility for how weird I am in the following video review. It was late last night. What can I say? I really need to suck it up and buy some video editing software… even though it is too late, and you guys now know exactly who you are dealing with.)

What did you think? Are you excited for the July 2011 launch of the miniseries?

4 of 5 Freaking Stars

Review | Dollhouse: Epitaphs

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Dollhouse Season 2 came out yesterday. I may or may not have charmed Mike into loaning me some money so I could buy it. See, a limited number of DVDs came with a comic. And I? Was going to get that comic, no matter how many babies I had to slay or how many Mikes I had to use my womanly wiles on.

Dollhouse: Epitaphs

Dollhouse: Epitaphs

The day before release, I even visited our FYE and got one of the guys there to hide a copy for me.

I do not have a problem.

There was a lot of uncertainty revolving the comic: Did you only get it with preorder? Was it digital or hardcopy? Where exactly in the story does it pick up?

Because of my problem dedication, I can answer these questions for you.

The comic is only guaranteed with preorders, and only a certain number of DVDs have it. It is hardcopy, and fits right inside of the DVD case. It’s a little guy.

It seems to me that it picks up between Echo and friends’ stories and Maggie, Zone, and company’s stories — right at the beginning of all of the chaos.

This panel gave me chills.

This panel gave me chills.

Basically*, this mini comic bridges the gap between the regular Dollhouse series, the episodes Epitaph One and Epitaph Two: Return, and the forthcoming one-shot comic (set to be released in April 2011**). During the Dark Horse panel at New York Comic Con 2010, it was announced that

the comic book treatment of Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” would continue. “This is something that Joss had gone back and forth on at different times,” [Atkins] said. “It started with us doing a small story to be inserted in the ‘Dollhouse’ season 2 DVD that got the ball rolling, and we will do a one-shot in April and a miniseries after that.” The comic will be written by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, the writers of the TV show, and will be set in a future Los Angeles after the Dollhouse technology has reduced the city to ruins.

I can’t wait for more. “Epitaphs” left my heart pounding and reignited my passion for the series. (Luckily, I now have it all on DVD.) I can’t wait to see what’s coming up. The art was gorgeous and colorful, which did not take away from the drama and darkness of the story at all. The dialogue, of course, was awesome. The story was both familiar and new, since we learn exactly how Maggie and Zone end up in this whole mess, as well as a few other stragglers. We still don’t know how they end up in the same group, but maybe that will be explained in the one-shot.

Really, this little comic was a tease, but also a promise of more to come, and as a fan who loved the TV show, I can’t thank Joss, Jed, Mo, and the team at Dark Horse enough.

Have you read this little teaser? What did you think of it? Will you be counting down the days until April?

*In my opinion, anyway; this is not an official statement.

**This, however, is an official statement.