The Buzz: Viral Fury in Vienna

{Originally appeared in Man of the Hour Magazine on October 25th, 2014}

After an action-packed New York Comic-Con and Halloween fast approaching, the Buzz has everything you need to get through the week. Demons? Check. Robots? Check. Tanks? Whole lotta check. We swap out a look at some Blu-Rays for some good ol’ fashioned V/H/S (with a twist), some TV and a final horror short to ring in this most chilling of seasons. So bust out them candy buckets (and UNICEF boxes if you were an overachiever like me), cause its time for this week’s Buzz.

Movies: When stills first came out for David Ayers WWII drama, everyone expected an Oscar frontrunner. After all, period pieces are always an Oscar darling, and war movies (especially ones with a “war is hell” angle) tend to get voters all giddy. Yet, upon its release, reviews were positively mixed, with most saying “It’s alright”, and some declaring it’s “changed the war movie forever”. So what did we really get from the guy who gave us Training Day and a forgettable Schwarzenneger movie?

In truth, he gave us a really good distraction. No, Fury didn’t “reinvent the war movie”. In fact, its pretty much your standard Vietnam “the first casualty of war is innocence” set up for the first half before a triumphant battle in the second. Spoiler alert that’s also the only reason to see the film: It ends in the most brilliantly thrilling tank firefight ever filmed. The introduction of a scrawny newbie joining a tank full of two-dimensional supporting characters whose actions for the entire film you can predict from their brief introductions ought to tell you what you’re getting. It feels as though Ayers had great action sequences in mind and needed a story to make them happen, so we get the Perks of Being A Wallflower kid as the poor man’s Charlie Sheen fromPlatoon, refusing to kill Germans (who the film makes great pains to completely vilify until its final moments, confusing what its message actually is). Brad Pitt does a fine ob as the tank commander, if his motives are a bit unclear. In truth, the biggest distraction to the more avid filmgoer is how it feels as though Brad Pitt had already played the cartoonish parody of his Fury role 5 years ago as Aldo Raine, especially when he conspicuously calls all German soldiers S.S., as though telling Logan Lerman’s Norman his “job” is killing S.S. as though saying “Nazi” would lead him to start demanding scalps and talking about the Bear Jew.

As a whole film, the narrative lacks the impact of more personal accounts, and those looking to feel a connect with the boys on the battlefront would benefit more from seeking out The Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan or most especially a film that far more effectively conveys the “war is hell” mentality Fury tries to fit between its fight scenes, The Big Red One. Honestly, they need only wait a few months for not one but two emotionally powerful WWII period pieces whose trailers run before Fury and pack more honest humanity into their 2 minute spots than Ayers film does in its whole run time, The Imitation Game and Unbroken.

Yet make no mistake, Fury is a hell of a good time at the movies. Like the uber-masculine version of a rom-com, it hits all the story beats you want it to, the ones you know it will and see from a mile away, the story existing solely to link between memorable sequences. When all hope seems lost and the men decide to stand their ground aboard their tank, the titular Fury, the film launches into the most thrilling battle on the big screen this year. Admittedly, the first hour is essentially filler building up to this moment, and the film’s only true shot at Oscar gold is in the sound mix category (in a year where Fincher dropped the mic like a true frontrunner with his murder drama, the typical shoo-ins ought to start quaking in their period accurate boots), but when it finally hits, its enough to make you glad climbed aboard.

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From The Twilight Zone to Creepshow, horror has always worked well in the anthology formula, and Magnet Releasing’s recent success with the V/H/S franchise is proof that short scares in the hands of skilled directors send better chills than any killer with a chainsaw and a feature run time can. The premise, introduced as a framing device in the original 2012 film V/H/S, is a group of young men break into a house and discover old VHS tapes, each one filled with found footage horrors. The shorts, directed by indie horror figures of little note (with the exception of Ti West who had made some waves with The Innkeepers and House of the Devil), range from hauntingly effective to frustrating miss, but the remarkable thing is how fans of the film bicker over which segments fall into which category (The only segment routinely agreed upon as a success appears to be “Amateur Night” by David Bruckner). The follow-up, V/H/S 2, brought out bigger names like Hobo With A Shotgun director Jason Eisener, Blair Witch Project’s co-directors (and reinventors of the found footage genre) Eduardo Sanchez and Gregg Hale, and The Raid helmer Gareth Evans. While the segments in the sequel proved overall weaker than the first, the all out insanity and scope of Evans’ segment, “Safe Haven”, stand out as the highlight of the entire franchise thus far (its a must see this Halloween season).

Now the franchise is back with the upcoming V/H/S Viral. The premise of the framing device appears to be different from the previous installments, described as “A police chase after a deranged ice cream truck has captivated the attention of the greater Los Angeles area. Dozens of fame-obsessed teens flock to the streets with their video cameras and camera phones, hell-bent on capturing the next viral video. But there is something far more sinister occurring in the streets of L.A. than a simple police chase. A resounding effect is created onto all those obsessed with capturing salacious footage for no other purpose than to amuse or titillate. Soon the discovery becomes that they themselves are the stars of the next video, one where they face their own death.” The film will feature segments by Dance of the Dead’s Gregg Bishop, Resolution’s Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead, Deadgirl’s Marcel Sarmiento and most intriguingly, Oscar nominee Nacho Vigalondo, whose low-budget brilliance Timecrimes is a must see for any genre fans.

The first two V/H/S films are available for streaming on Netflix, and V/H/S Viral is currently available on VOD services.

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TV: Constantine has already been discussed to some degree in our New York Comic Con coverage, but with the official air date of the supernatural comic book drama looming, it felt best to advise our readers as to the inevitable “to watch or not to watch” dilemma. Yet, after seeing the fate of comic book shows like Arrow,Smallville and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (among countless other programs), the best advice that can be given with a pilot like Constantine’s is “wait and see”.

Its a flawed pilot, not nearly the out the gate great like The Flash, and not the fumbling failure of a show likeThe Cape (that was a thing. Ask Abed). It’s bland, feels tired, and lacks a lot of the spark and the grit of the original source material. It’s introduction of a female foil to, I’d assume a network note requested, “soften his [let’s just note, non-existent] edge” is painful, and will likely drag the narrative down the longer she remains a part. The actor playing the titular role is admittedly a much better John Constantine than Keanu Reeves (this guy at least tries to maintain an English accent, even if it is all over the place sometimes), and you sort of hope NBC will give him and the show runners room enough to breathe, and moves the punk elements it shoves in the background of shots into the foreground of the show. Get dark, get dirty NBC. Then folks will have a reason to tune in. As for you, dear reader, don’t write it off just yet. If you need background noise for aCandy Crush game, this will do fine, and then you’ll be all caught up if (and hopefully when) this show finds its footing, gets its wings, and goes nuts.

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News: After months of waiting, word finally came along when we’d see footage from everyone’s most anticipated superhero movie (well, except those firmly planted on team Cashgrab vs. Superman), Avengers: Age of Ultron. During next week’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, those willing to endure the underwhelming TV spinoff would be treated to a first look at the next Marvel movie. Then, lucky for those of us with less time on our hands, some intrepid internet dweller released the footage early on various video sites before Disney shut it down. To their credit, rather than let bootlegs circle for a full week, Marvel released an HD version of the trailer on Youtube themselves, saying nothing of the leak except a tweet: “Dammit Hydra” (Hydra is the evil organization within the MCU).

The trailer gives us a first listen and two first looks at James Spader’s villainous and chilling Ultron, in the comics invented by Hank Pym (also known as Ant-Man) but in this film appears to be at least part a Tony Stark creation, as he laments the Avengers unwillingness to do what must be done to protect the planet. He describes them as puppets tangled up in strings, before a haunting rendition of Pinnochio’s “I’ve Got No Strings” scores a sequence of shouting and destruction (anyone who had any issues with the Disney/Marvel merger can now relax and bask in this brilliant mix of intellectual properties). The full trailer can be seen below, but the most striking images include a thankfully no longer hypnotized Hawkeye running through snow, a close up of character actor Andy Serkis and a shot of ballerinas. All the other images within the trailer were to be expected, as we knew well in advance about the Hulkbuster armor, or Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlett Witch. But in a film whose concept art has also shown the humanoid Vision (to be played by Paul Bettany), why show the yet unnamed character Andy Serkis plays in the film? What role does he play, so crucial that we need see him so early? The same can be said for the inexplicable ballerina shot. Joss Whedon isn’t one for MacGuffins, so one can only imagine when we finally see the film, such shots will make perfect sense, like stray pieces from a puzzle, the rest of which will come together in time. No matter what, this is a brilliantly cut, intensely intriguing trailer for what promises to be the biggest film of the year. Check it out below:

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Short Film: Our final short for horror movie month is more in the vein of Sam Raimi than Wes Craven. Yes,Vienna Waits For You is a horror comedy (which is interesting, since Ryan Murphy apparently just invented the genre) one that delights in its silliness while still trying to maintain a creeping sense of dread. In the first part, the film succeeds fairly well, taking on a Jeunet-esque sensibility of the strangely mundane. As for actual scares, the film lacks any at all. So whether or not Vienna Waits For You is worth your time depends, really, on whether you prefer Evil Dead 1 or 2. Those who enjoyed the disturbing, gory scares of the first film will be disappointed in the bland predictability of the short, but those who preferred the zany lampoon of Evil Dead 2, and those who like the ambience of horror films without any of the real scare will delight in Vienna Waits For You’s tone and delivery. It’s not a scary movie for the hardcore horror fan, but maybe for their middle aged mother.

Headphones: Cohen and Kinney Came Back {MotH Original}

{Originally published in Man of the Hour Magazine on October 22nd, 2014}

October is almost over, the leaves are changing color and fluttering from the trees. Its is a time of death, and a time of rebirth, best rung in with the somber intonations of Canada’s greatest poet and the resurrection of one of music’s greatest girl groups. Without furth ado, let’s get to this week’s Headphones.

Album: Popular Problems- Leonard Cohen

The remarkable thing about Leonard Cohen is that his music always has enough of a current feel to not rob it of its timelessness. Like Dylan, you can simply listen to the track and know what decade its from, and not just from the painfully (in the most beautiful way) deteriorating voice. The master songwriter/poet was once known for his work’s inclusion in McCabe & Mrs. Miller, but now at 80 after a stellar Buckley cover and one to many American Idols’, he’s now “the Hallelujah guy. It’s a shame, because tracks like “Dance Me to the End of Love”, “Famous Blue Raincoat” and “Dress Rehearsal Rag” are equally if not more profound and embed with a perfect pain (which perhaps might be why they aren’t as well known. “Hallelujah”, a song about sex, at least has some optimism in it, unlike most of his catalogue, which was once described as “music to eat a gun to”;). This new album kicks off with “Slow”, whose synth-y electric blues beat fits perfectly with Cohen’s low grumble. As it has been since around Natural Born Killers, his voice has changed from the wounded young man of The Songs of Leonard Cohen to a haunting etherial whisper, accompanied by a disembodied choir, and “Slow” despite its lyrical simplicity, packs a vicious bite that feels both personal and universal (a remarkable quality to Cohen’s lyrical writing). “Almost Like The Blues” gets much more vivid, and more grim, in its imagery and burns with an incendiary bitterness. “Samson in New Orleans” has an introspection in its melody that speaks to a far deeper hurt than its saddened lyrics let on. The truth is you could go song by song on this (unfortunately short) album, and save a few compositional issues with “Did I Ever Love You”, whose backing track is a bit too bluegrass for the pained music (hopefully, like “Hallelujah” someone strips it down and finds the beauty at its heart), all you could discuss is how exquisitely hurt every beautifully composed track was. Cohen has succeeded where even Dylan has faltered, by still retaining the same level of poise, control and emotional honesty in his songwriting today as he did back when he first put pen to paper. Long live the true poet laureate of the Great White North, and of every broken heart that ever sought comfort in song.

Single: “baby Don’t Lie”- Gwen Stefani

After the smashing success of Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (which truly feels like forever ago), it seemed like Gwen Stefani could do anything. And apparently what she chose to do from that “anything” was disappear off the face of the earth. Thankfully, the former No Doubt singer decided to come back with a catchy pop track. The track itself we shouldn’t be so thankful for, because as catchy as it is, it’s not the right song for her, and her punk-y vocals feel kind of clunky against a Latin beat more befitting a J-Lo or a Shakira, but thankful because its ear-worm quality should get enough airplay Gwen’s more self-aware stylings can come back and bring back some of her trademark humor to pop radio.

Music Videos:

Electronic: “Slow Acid”- Calvin Harris

Kicking off with a tracking shot that looks fresh out of The Purge: Anarchy, we’re instead treated to a silver faced figure and flickering lights leading us down a rabbit hole that feels as though we’ve taken a bad hit of acid thats sinking in slowly.

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Hip-Hop: “Hennessey Angels”- Federal X

Yes, it does have two-thirds of the trifecta of rap cliche: hot girl and car. Yes, the rhymes can be weak (Why…why did we just name drop Alec Baldwin). The real appeal is the flickering light scenes in the parking garage that show the director can do some interesting things when he doesn’t have to just focus on an admittedly attractive woman.

Pop: “Speak in Tongues”- Ferras

Frequent readers know I’m a sucker for a good piece of black and white cinematography in a music video. Even if the track itself is sub-par, the visuals (including a burning heart wrapped in barbed wire) are stunning and well worth a watch.

R&B: “Call My Name”- Morgan James

Not every video needs a high concept or an epic story. Sometimes just a striking shot, a woman singing on the sidewalk, staring ahead at a silhouette which may or may not be the man she’s singing to is enough to enthrall before the video reveals its conceit (a world frozen save Morgan James herself). Even without the frozen time visual, Morgan’s pained eyes gazing into the lens is enough to engage the viewer.

Rock: “Bury Our Friends (feat. Miranda July”) - Sleater-Kinney

You guys…you guys…Sleater-Kinney is back. The riot grrl indie rock act from Olympia, which split up back in 2006 (sad, yes, but it helped give us Portlandia, which vocalist Carrie Brownstein stars in) is finally back with a new single, and it still has the brilliant drive which fueled every album in their discography. It’s a bizarre type of lyrics video comprised entirely of one person moving in a mask, but really, it could have been anything because, hey, you guys? SLEATER-KINNEY IS BACK!

The Buzz: Special New York Comic Con Edition {MotH Original}

{Originally published in two parts in Man of the Hour Magazine on October 20th and October 22nd, 2014}

The Buzz is back this week, but a little different. That’s right, this week its the Special NYCC Edition (not to be confused with Special Edition NYC, which is in June). Man of the Hour sent Entertainment Editor Mike Natale out to New York’s biggest pop culture event (and technically the biggest in the entire country, now that the numbers are in), and in full Lone Ranger costume, no less. Here with the play by play of a crazed four days, Mike chimes in:

Forget The Book of Mormon, there’s a new hottest ticket in town. Where once badges to enter the Jacob Javitts center on its most nerdy weekend could be obtained even on the day, this year 4 Day Passes sold out within a matter of minutes, and for good reason: NYCC is the Media Mecca, bringing together retailers, creators and fans in a massive collective of pop-culture passion. Ever since Marvel united (most of) their Avengers on stage to debut new footage, NYCC has been fighting its way up, gathering steam to overtake its West Coast rival, and the fans have been reaping all the benefits. From The Walking Dead and Gotham to the upcoming Big Hero 6 and the Netflix exclusive Daredevil, anybody who was anybody to the comic book culture was there. I decided to join in the fun, costumed as the original costumes hero (well, ok, besides the Shadow, Zorro, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh and the Scarlet Pimpernel), the ghost of failed blockbusters past, The Lone Ranger.

As the line to get in stretched down two avenues, the anticipation grew amongst the crowd for all that would be revealed. The first panel of the day in Main Hall D (the biggest room in the building, home to the biggest bombshells every year) was for two upcoming Disney films, the comic book adaptation Big Hero 6 and Brad Bird’s mysterious new project Tomorrowland. Thanks to a far more efficient wristband system (until this year, NYCC used to have a first come first served policy for the main panel room wherein those who got to the room first could sit for the entire day awaiting an evening panel, forcing those who were delayed to wait outside in the hopes one seat would free up), I walked right in, though not before taking a picture with a 5 year old Captain America who repeatedly told me how he “had [me] in Disney Infinity” (an interactive toy-based video game featuring Disney characters that’s cool enough to make you wish you were a kid again).

Sitting down, one discovers that beneath each seat was a collection of items, including an exclusive poster for Big Hero 6, a mysterious T shaped pin (the meaning of which would be explored as the panel drew on) and a preview sample of the upcoming Tomorrowland prequel novel. Some bags (though not this intrepid masked journalist’s) contained a white wristband as well. After a warm-up set from a DJ and comedian (a new addition to NYCC just introduced last year) who had to stall while the panel was allegedly stuck in an elevator, it was time for the festivities to officially begin, with moderator and media icon Chris Hardwick taking the stage to introduce the team behind Disney’s newest animated adventure. As the behind the camera team first took the stage, director Don Hall explained that it was at this very convention where the idea to make the film first came together and revealed a picture of himself taken years prior at the Marvel booth holding Captain America’s shield. “I grew up loving two things more than anything: Marvel comics and Disney animation” Hall stated, and that loved shined through as we were introduced to, in an exclusive clip yet to leak online, the full colorful cast within the film’s fictional fantasyland dubbed “San Fransokyo”, including protagonist Hiro Hamada (voiced by Ryan Potter), an robotics prodigy and underground illegal bot-fighter, his older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) and Tadashi’s college friends GoGo Tomago (Jamie Chung), Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez) and Fred (T.J. Miller).

After the clip, Hardwick brought out the cast, including 30 Rock’s Scott Adsit, who gazed upon the room with emotional eyes. “…I have always been, you know, in the crowd and to be up here and being something so kind of central to this movie is mind-blowing” the frequent con-goer expressed, before stating that he himself has never been able to get into Main Hall D in any of his times coming to the convention as a regular attendee. We were then introduced to Baymax, the character for which Adsit provides the voice, a healthcare robot designed by Hiro’s brother Tadashi whose pleasant voice and chubby, soft, inflated body will soon be reprogrammed by an ambitious Hiro to create the ultimate fighting machine to square off against a strange, evil force known thus far only as the “man in the kabuki mask”. After a thrilling chase scene that plays likeFrozen meet Bullitt, Hardwick dismissed the cast with a final surprise for the crowd: that nifty white wristband would grant the wearer access to an early screening of Big Hero 6 that evening. The crowd went wild as the stage cleared and Hardwick introduced the team behind Disney’s Tomorrowland, director Brad Bird, best known for The Iron Giant and the Oscar-winning The Incredibles, and Lost producer and Star Trekslaughterer Damon Lindelof, both of whom delightfully danced around providing any real information on the enigmatic endeavor short of admitting the film was inspired by the Disney Park of the same name. Hoping the cast would shed some light, Hardwick beckoned Raffey Cassidy, Britt Robertson and House M.D.’s Hugh Laurie to the stage, yet beyond people describing their characters as “good” or “not good”, not much was revealed until Bird finally relented and presented the crowd with the Tomorrowland teaser trailer (which would debut online later that day).

Finding an opportunity to finally get the panel moving (thrilling as the brief flicker of a trailer was), Hardwick pressed the cast as to what it was like working with George Clooney, who appeared in the footage shown. The two actresses recited the usual kind words about the Oscar winner, explaining how Clooney would play music on set, and they’d dance, before Laurie turned his usual dry British wit towards the former Sexiest Man Alive. “I’m glad he’s not actually present at the moment because it frees me up to say one or two things about George Clooney, who has constructed, painstakingly this image of the good guy, the nice guy, everybody’s friend, the chivalrous saint. Well, there’s been no mention of the drinking. There’s been no mention of the shouting, the ceaseless shouting. Lying about his age, he’s 75 if he’s a day…” Laurie’s continued speech was drowned out by a dawning realization as the well dressed man who had begun walking across the stage became recognized. Low grumblings began as soon as the sight of the greying yet immaculate hair was hit by the light, and before the cameras of Main Hall D found their target, the audience was already well aware that the big momentous moment of NYCC, the one that would make the papers and be the “I was there” event of the whole convention was happening on what was usually the slowest day. Yes, the former Caped Crusader himself, George Clooney, strode across the stage of Main Hall D and took his seat alongside another former TV doctor, but Hardwick wouldn’t let him forget his comic book connection. After Clooney pointed out that he was spending his honeymoon at Comic-Con (his first, in fact), Hardwick complimented him on his “excellent Bruce Wayne cosplay”. “I think since my Batman I was disinvited from Comic-Con for 20 years” Clooney remarked, to which Hardwick retorted “No one would say that…out loud” before George continued to comically apologize for 1997’s disastrous Batman & Robin (a film notable for both killing the lucrative franchise until Nolan’s trilogy and for its full-length apology DVD commentary by its director). “I met Adam West [backstage] just now and I was like ‘Hey, I’m really sorry’. He goes ‘Give me a fist bump’ and I was like ‘Just hit me’.” Clooney then playfully badgered Bird about the lack of footage, segueing into a thrilling piece of action as Clooney’s cantankerous Frank Walker and Robertson’s Casey Newton are chased through Walker’s high-tech house, trying desperately to evade terrifying humanoid robots who seem to be hunting Casey for an unexplained reason. Though little was revealed about the actual plot of Tomorrowland (though Entertainment Weekly would get the exclusive scoop on the story), its bits of footage and book sample showed enough promise to absolutely be the film to watch out for this coming year, and the panel itself quickly became the talk of the con floor.

It’s worth noting that this convention had not just one but four former Batmans on hand, as though to continue the celebration DC had launched to commemorate the dark knight’s 75th Anniversary, with Adam West 9 present to promote the upcoming Blu-Ray box set of the 1966 Batman television series, Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman from the beloved and groundbreaking 1990’s animated series) signing autographs for fans and 1989’s Batman Michael Keaton on stage alongside Edward Norton to promote his upcoming Oscar-buzzed Birdman. Forgoing a traditional booth on the convention floor for a strip outside the Empire E-1 stage (similar to what they did last year for the man of steel’s diamond jubilee) DC crafted a loving tribute to the caped crusader rife with Bat-artifacts, including the memorial statue from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, and a costume from (almost) all of the cinematic Batmans, from Keaton and Kilmer to Christian Bale and, yes, even Clooney (complete with infamous Bat-nipples). Before the convention floor even opened, the US postal service was on hand to launch the official US Postal Stamp to honor the costumed hero, featuring four different incarnations of the character made available for sale at the convention (now available at post offices everywhere), including artwork from revered comic book artist Jim Lee and the original Batman design as crafted by creator Bob Kane. Even if no “big reveals” came from the upcomingBatman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (though Affleck’s cowl, as you can see in the above video, was present), from the booth to the Batmen to the 75th Anniversary panel (which featured basically any comic book artist present who had ever drawn a Batarang), it was clear the legacy of the caped crusader hadn’t faltered at all in three quarters of a century.

Time, as always at a bustling event like New York Comic Con, was not on my side, as I rushed from gawking at gadgets from a utility belt over to the McFarlane Toys booth, where Man of the Hour was invited to an unveiling of the popular adult collectibles company’s newest endeavor, introduced by the company’s founder, Todd McFarlane. For those unaware, McFarlane was a comic book artist who rose to prominence in the 90’s for his stunning and distinct visual style, revamping the character of Spider-Man (as well as co-creating the beloved villain Venom) before casting aside his contract with Marvel Comics in order to try and make it on his own. Marvel, like its rival DC, had a policy of retaining exclusive the rights to any characters published in its books, to do with as they pleased without the consent of the creators. Though independent comic books did exist before Todd and his crew broke free of the chains of the “big two”, they’d always been a faltering, extremely niche genre. That all changed with the dawn of Spawn, the “superhero from hell” that spread like wildfire across the cultural consciousness and established Todd’s Image Comics as a viable contender, at times even outselling the “big two”. Always ambitious, Todd set his sights on conquering another medium he felt had untapped potential, the toy market. “Go into a toy store and ask yourself one question” Todd explained as the impetus of his endeavor “Say ‘I’m a 13 year old, what’s in this toy store for me?’ There’s not a lot. Bicycles, skateboard, video games…why can’t we make toys for people who are older?” Originally crafting toys around his own characters, McFarlane branched out to tackle movies and even athletes (McFarlane, an avid sports fan, even bought Mark McGuire’s record breaking ball, truing it around the country). His collectibles were and are revered for their extraordinary detail, as McFarlane is meticulous in his design and craft, seeing toys as another form of expression. “I’m an artist first” McFarlane told Man of the Hour, and his newest endeavor shows that more than anything he’s done before, as it brings a level of interactivity heretofore unseen in this type of toy.

After Spawn, Youngbloods and the other Image titles of the 90’s had fallen a bit out of vogue, it seemed the once booming independent publisher was doomed until it took a chance on a strange horror title from Robert Kirkman, at the time the writer for Image’s Invincible series. The Walking Dead, with its blend of soap-opera drama and blood-thirsty zombies, would become a smashing success, even moreso after The Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont would bring the comic to life on television with the hit AMC series (currently in its 5th season). Though McFarlane Toys has always produced the Walking Dead toys, up until now their level of customizability has been left to the craftiest of consumers, equipped with model paint and sculpting tools. Now Todd wants to put the power in your hands with the new Walking Dead building sets. With interconnecting pieces that allow the consumer to rearange the blocks in whatever fashion they like, both with Todd’s blocks and other building block toys, including Legos (“The patents have run out” Todd notes, providing the consumer optimal customizing options), McFarlane’s Walking Dead building sets are far more detailed than any other toy on the market. Instead of green blocks representing grass, McFarlane provides the consumer with detailed grass on a base which connects to the pieces, making a complete picture, a complete sculpture ready for display indistinguishable from the other high end collectibles you might own, yet still infinitely customizable. On display at the convention were three sets: Daryl’s motorcycle (seen above), the Governor’s room (picture below) and the famous prison from seasons 3 and 4. In addition to the sets, McFarlane will be introducing “blind bags” or randomized packages of figurines that can be put into the sets, with two designations, human (signified with an H on the bag) and walker (zombies, signified with a W). Exclusive to Toys R Us until 2015, Todd not only anticipates but is excited for how the consumer will use these blocks in their building, not just with his own sets, but others. “I want [the builders] to say ‘I want a McFarlane tree, I want a McFarlane window because its the best one on the market’”.

In addition to his Walking Dead toys, Todd took some time to talk about the character on which he made his name, Spawn. In December of this year, Spawn hits a milestone, publishing its #250th issue, a rare feat for any indie book outside of Riverdale for achieve. Refusing to “re-number” his books as Marvel and DC have done, McFarlane admits to chasing to meet and surpass the mythic 300 issues Dave Sim famously hit in his long running comic book Cerebus (Sim was also a crusader for creator rights and an inspiration to McFarlane, writing issue #10 of Spawn and donating his fee to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund). In addition to brining back the original Spawn, Al Simmons (for the past six years, the mantle has been held by Jim Downing) Todd is introducing a new creative team to the book he’s helmed for over 200 issues: Brian Wood, known for his writing on the X-Men, and Jonboy Meyers. McFarlane gave the team his blessing saying “You will be doing your job if every reader says, 'This is awesome! I don't get why Todd didn't do this years ago.' Make me be the dumbest guy who's ever written the book.””. With #250 being Todd’s final issue not in a solely supervisory role, he relented his stance on “re-numbering” briefly by introducing the new team on a one-shot entitled Spawn: Resurrection #1 which will take the place of February’s usual Spawn entry, in the interest of allowing new readers a chance to enter in fresh. “If you like what you read” Todd says “You can come back next month for Spawn #251”.

The night closed out with a special Warner Bros. Screening Evening (the second edition of the seemingly annual event). The event was originally intended to be solely the second season premiere of the CW showThe 100 and the pilot of NBC’s new comic book adaptation Constantine. However, citing the massive reception to the new CW show The Flash (based on the DC comics character who will be celebrating his 75 year anniversary in 2015), Warner Bros. opted to first present us with the second episode of the superhero drama first (“Fastest Man Alive” which has since aired on the CW). They followed that up with a trailer for the upcoming Adult Swim show The Mike Tyson Mysteries, a satirical take on the Saturday morning cartoon featuring the boxing champ as himself, Jim Rash as a foppish ghost and Norm McDonald as a foul mouthed, alcoholic pigeon. After a second season premiere for a show no one was really there to see (I’d imagine fans of the first season had a much better time watching this episode than those of us completely in the dark. It did have intriguing moments, but not enough to demand a binging of the previous season in order to catch up) it was time for the main event, the chance to see whether the Hellblazer adaptation would join the ranks of Arrow and Flash or stumble into the spiral downward Gotham appears to have hit (for those who didn’t follow our possibly misguided suggestion that they “must watch” the Batman prequel, they recently introduced a balloon based villain too absurd for even the Adam West era). So where does it fall? Sort of in the middle ground. It’s good, but not where Flash or even Arrow were at their pilots. Far better than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but too tame for its own good. The show plays like a watered down Buffy (complete with blonde haired Brit) when it should crank it up to eleven. Matt Ryan makes a fine Constantine, and is indeed the one true highlight of what otherwise is the standard supernatural show we’ve seen countless times. Yet, the show needs more grit, more edge. It needs to get punkier, and that one portrait of Johnnie Rotten they show in the background and a punk take on “Ring of Fire” aint enough to cut it. Overall, its a serviceable distraction with a solid lead actor, worth the watch, and poised to improve once the show finds its footing. If nothing else, it was a fitting end to the first day of New York Comic Con.