Interviews Archives

The character of Wonder Woman is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic figures in comics.  She's the embodiment of female strength and will.  And yet, Megan Fox has called her 'lame.'  Brian Bendis (writer of Marvel Comics' Spider Woman) has called her 'a walking STD farm.'  And Joss Whedon dropped out of producing a feature film that would bring her to the silver screen.

On the other hand, the number of little girls who will want to dress like the "Amazing Amazon" this Halloween will be countless.  And there is one young lady who not only wants to dress like Wonder Woman, she wants to be Wonder Woman!

In the proposed feature film that is...

Read more after the jump!

Pro wrestling fans are familiar with Total Non-Stop Wrestling, a promotion that has positioned itself opposite the WWE, offering fans of 'sports entertainment' an alternative to the progamming offered by Vince McMahon and Co.  TNA founder Jeff Jarrett has taken a blend of established names like Mick Foley and Kurt Angle, combining them with young stars like Alex Shelley and Consequences Creed and have given the grappling genre a new spin.  This Friday, TNA will hold a house show at the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park.  (Click here for tickets!)  On the card will be TNA World Heavyweight Champion 'The Phenomenal One' AJ Styles who took time to speak to me by phone from his home last week.

AJ Styles - photo courtesy TNA Wrestling

In our interview, AJ talks about life at home, what the TNA locker room is like behind the scenes and what video game you'll find him playing the most this year:

Read more after the jump!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!  What a way to celebrate Gamer Tuesday!  The good folks at Atom.com are setting up a live cyber-chat with the creators and cast of The Legend of Neil along with the scrum-diddly-umptious Felicia Day (The Guild, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog, Dollhouse).  Here's the 411 from Atom.com:

"...how's this for some real talk. Sandeep and the cast of Legend Of Neil are coming in to Atom HQ this Tuesday, October 20th at 6:00pm Pacific Time.

Legend of Neil, Season 2, Ep. 7 -- A Date With Destiny

"Here's how it'll go down. On Tuesday at 6:00pm Pacific (9:00pm Eastern), check back to this very space, and there should (will) be a video window here with show creator Sandeep Parikh, Tony Janning (Neil), Mike Rose (Old Man and Old Man) and Felicia Day (Fairy) and more! They'll be answering your questions, chatting, and enjoying some nice snacks. Did I mention Felicia Day will be there?"

So if you're a total mark for The Guild and would like to ask the lovely Ms. Day about what it's like to be tortured by Joss Whedon or put in a jar, be sure to check in TONIGHT!

If you're like me, you grew up watching Ultraman, Inframan and Johnny Sokko and his Giant Robot; or perhaps you were part of the next generation to get into Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and Voltron.  Whatever the case may be, you're definitely going to enjoy Megabot, a new web series premiering on Atom.com. This fun and funky sit-com sends up those Saturday morning shows with loads of adult humor and snarky self-awareness.

With the premiere of the second episode days away, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, writer for the Megabot web series, called me from his home in Los Angeles.  Micah talked about where the idea for Megabot came from; the challenges they faced in filming the series; and which member of the crew you'll find wearing the Megabot costume:

Getting down to the last of my interviews from the Chicago Comic-Con (formerly Wizard World) and now present to you this fun chat I had with the Chicago-based creators of The Apocalypse Plan, Rafael Nieves and Dan Dougherty:



You can learn more about The Apocalypse Plan at their website!

Also, learn more about my new arch-nemesis, Mark Rahner, by visiting his web site.  (The dude is creepy looking, isn't he?)

Here's the first of the interviews I recorded while at the Windy City Comic Con this past weekend!  First up, local comic-book artist and all-around funny gal, Jenny Frison:



Is it me, or was she saying I'm not that bright? I dunno...

Wednesdays are hereby designated 'web comic day' so if you're a creator with a web-comic that you'd like to see featured here on the Geek To Me blog, just drop me a line with the url and description of your web-comic.

For the inaugural edition of 'Wednesday Web Comics' we talk to Eisner Award winning indie creator Becky Cloonan who tells us about her new Korean Hip-Hop web comic K.G.B.:

Geek To Me:  So, you're kinda like the Ron Burgandy of comics in that folks may not know it, but you're kind of a big deal. Can you tell the noobs about yourself and what you've done?

Becky Cloonan: I'm probably best known for my work with Brian Wood on Demo and Steve Seagle on American Virgin. I've also worked with Tokyopop on my graphic novel East Coast Rising, and Dark Horse just put out a hardcover of Pixu, a collaboration of sorts with Fabio Moon, Vasilis Lolos and Gabriel Ba. I keep it real by self-publishing short stories. Currently I'm working with Brian on six new issues of Demo, a few short stories, and I'm gearing up to work with Gerard Way on The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, to be published by Dark Horse. Oh yeah, and webcomics: I syndicate a weekly webstrip on my blog called Comic Attack. And K.G.B.

KGB Promo Card - copyright Becky Cloonan & Hwan Cho

Courtesy of MTV.com comes this snippet with Harrison Ford. The bulk of the video deals with Ford's efforts as an environmentalist, but the reporter manages to sneak in a quickie inquiry about a potential Indiana Jones 5:


If you know me, you'll know that I am a total Indy fanatic and one of the few who actually enjoyed Indy 4, but if Indy is going to age along with Ford, I'm not all that confident that the character has that much mileage left.

What do YOU think?

Listen up comic-book nerds!  If you weren't already aware, the Windy City Comic Con makes its return this weekend on Saturday, September 19th from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm at The Center on Halsted (3656 N. Halsted, Chicago IL 60613).

Some of the guests who will be in attendance are names like Gene Ha, Tony Moore and the GUEST OF HONOR Geof Darrow.  The guest list is just chock full of comic-book luminaries!

I went last year and had a great time!  The show is a smaller, more intimate affair than Wizard World and gives you the opportunity to really interact with your favorite creators.  Here are a couple interviews from last year:





I'll be roving the show again with my camera and microphone so be sure to say 'hey' and let me know what you think about Geek To Me!

Michael E. Uslan is a man of many talents with a very impressive pedigree.  He has been involved in the comics and entertainment industry for decades, having written some of the most iconic characters in the medium (The Shadow, Batman) and helping usher in the Batman franchise of films as a producer.

Now, he's working with another iconic character, Archie Andrews.  Last month, the world was stunned when it was announced that after 60-plus years of waffling, the ageless redhead would finally resolve one of the longest-running love triangles in four-color fiction and propose to the raven-haired Veronica Lodge, breaking the heart of Ms. Betty Cooper and angering fans worldwide.

But it wasn't written that way to simply outrage the fans, insists the creative team behind 'The Proposal' and Uslan, writer of the six-part story, spoke with me to tell me about why he decided now was the time to tell this story, and why Archie made the choice that he did.

(SPOILER ALERT!:  HUGE REVELATION about Archie #601 ahead!)

The city of Chicago has a lot of top-talent from the comic book industry.  One of its unsung heroes is Tom Stillwell, a comic book writer and publisher who works diligently to promote the medium to young readers.  He's currently producing a comic called Honor Guard through his label Spinner Rack Comics.  He has also started a new website called Sequential Chicago which is geared towards promoting local talent.

Tom took a few minutes to talk to me while attending Chicago Comic-Con this past summer:

Finally, I get to share some of the interviews I recorded for G2Mtv at the Chicago Comic-Con last month!

Nomad: Girl Without a World (Cover) - Marvel Entertainment

First up is my talk with Sean McKeever, writer of The Waiting Place and Marvel's Nomad: Girl Without a World, which is out TODAY at comic shops everywhere!:

I've finally gotten to the last of the G2Mtv segments from San Diego and this one is a fun one!  I met 'The Fro' as he wandered the halls of the SDCC, an interesting dude to say the least:



Next up: Chicago Con!

Posted at 9:25 p.m. - Friday, July 31

In the Be-Careful-What-You-Ask-For category, here's my interview with Actor/Director/Writer Ted Raimi at San Diego Comic-Con.  When I asked Mr. Raimi if he'd like to sit down for an interview to talk about his cameo in Ed Brubaker's Angel of Death, he was kind enough to do the interview in his hotel room. If I only knew what was coming next:

Posted at 10:15 p.m. - Wednesday, July 29

Here's another treat from San Diego Comic-Con, my talk with local-boys-done-good Marcus Dunstan & Patrick Melton, the folks behind the new horror-thriller THE COLLECTOR, joined by the film's star, Josh Stewart:



Just after we finished recording the interview, Marcus commented that he and Patrick 'got no love' from the Chicago media in regards to THE COLLECTOR.  So I say we in Chicago show them some real love and be sure to see THE COLLECTOR this Friday!

Posted at 11:05 p.m. - Tuesday, July 28

Here's my interview with Rich Johnston of BleedingCool.com at San Diego Comic Con! I wonder if I tasted salty?

Posted at 2:20 p.m. - Thursday July 2

Some cool stuff going down on G4TV this week...

First off: tonight on Attack of the Show, the Man, the Myth, the Legend, Captain Kirk/Denny Crane HIMSELF, WILLIAM SHATNER, will be on Attack of the Show to talk about his new Tek War comic book.

(I, for one, would LOVE to see a Boston Legal comic, but y'know that's just me.)

I've read the Tek War books, watched the show when it ran on USA Network and have seen the previous comic-book incarnations.  I wonder what the good Captain has in store for us now?

Catch AOTS TONIGHT on the G4 Channel (check your local listings for showtimes)!

Oh..and in case you thought I could possibly forget her...

The lovely Blair Butler talks to Eisner Award-winning comic-book writer Grant Morrison about some past and future projects....a We3 film perhaps? What I'd like to know is whatever happened to his MBX animation project with Virgin Comics?

As always, your comments and e-mails are always a treat to read and respond to!

Posted at 9:30 p.m. - Tuesday June 30

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting actor/author/director Amber Benson at Challengers Comics + Conversation.  Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer know her as 'Tara' and she was in town to promote her new young-adult fantasy novel "Death's Daughter." She was as sweet and personable as her character. Here is our talk:

You can check out Amber's Blog for the latest news on her projects and appearances!

Posted at 10:45 p.m. - Tuesday, June 23

If you ask me, pro wrestlers are a special breed of people. They put their bodies on the line each night, enduring countless injuries performing for the sake of entertaining their fans.  Chicago can lay claim to a few stars of its own, among them Scott Colton AKA Colt Cabana.  Scott is currently plying his trade in the Ring of Honor wrestling promotion after a stint in the WWE.  While preparing for his Chicago Street Fight this weekend at the next ROH event, Scott took some time to talk about his career, his faith, what it was like to work in the WWE and what he looks for in a tag-team partner:

Geek To Me: So Scott, where are you from?

Scott Colton: Well Elliott, unlike you, I'm not from some crazy mythological planet.  I'm from Deerfield!  Currently I have a place in Wicker Park.  Well...I guess, Wicker Park is kinda like some crazy alien nation.  There's so many different types of eclectic people roaming around.  In a great way.  So it's kinda like some crazy awesome planet for the awesome...and crazy.

G2M: Does your faith/heritage have any influence on your work?

SC: I'm of the Jewish faith.  I'm Jewish.  I'm a Jew.  OY!  In the WWE I wrestled as Scotty Goldman.  Very jewey.  So that was influenced heavily by my faith and heritage.  Unless Vince McMahon thought Goldman was of the scientology faith...but I got a feeling he knew it was Jewish.  As a performer and an entertainer, I love using my Jewish humor and comedy in my wrestling.  By Jewish humor I mean more Spaceballs and less Caddyshack 2.

G2M: You go by the alias 'Colt Cabana,' can you tell us where that name came from?

SC: My last name is Colton.  Shhhhhh.  Don't tell anyone.  That's where the Colt comes from.  I always wanted part of my name to be in my wrestling name, hence the "Colt".  Picking a last name was hard.  I went through a list of them including McCullah, Nevada, Brooks and Hogan (ok maybe not).  Eventually I was thinking of the Barry Manilow Song, Copa Cabana.  It seemed to be a natural fit and COLT CABANA was born.  That was over ten years ago.

G2M: Can you give me a wrestling moniker?

SC: A nickname...huh.  How bout Nerd Eye Blind? No wait, ES Dorkenhiemer!  Or maybe the Iron Geek!  The Iron Geek sounds good.  IRAN number 1.  USA number Zero, Hacccchhh Tooooeeey.

G2M:  Awesome!  I'm going to make that my new Twitter handle!  When did you decide you wanted to be a pro wrestler?

SC: I've wanted to be a pro wrestler forever!  I literally popped out, slapped my doctor in the face and strutted around the room.  At least that's how I can only assume it went, right?  Since I was a little kid I've wanted to be a pro wrestler.  I was about three or four when I started watching.  In Jr High School, I used to research different wrestling schools that I could go to when I grew up. 

G2M: What does your family think about your chosen career path?

SC: My parents are cool with it.  My mom always supported me fully, but definitely wanted me to do something with more security and some kind of 401K or something.  My dad's just happy with whatever I want to do.

G2M:  Any other career choices you wish you had made?

SC: Well...I did actually go to college and got a degree in Business Marketing at Western Michigan University.  That being said, I really didn't have any desire in getting any kind of 9 to 5 as my desire to sleep until noon is way too great.  I would like to, along with my wrestling career, enter a different kind of entertainment.  I'd love to do some comedic acting and maybe some commercials.  I think I'd be a natural at that stuff as a lot of my wrestling persona was really built with my strong ability to cut promos and talk on the fly.

G2M: What did you think of Mickey Rourke's performance in The Wrestler?  On the mark or total fail?

SC: That movie was boss.  I'm not really trying to bring back the word "boss", but it was used because Springstein sang the main song for the movie.  Maybe I should bring back "boss", and rad.  I've been thinking about bringing back "raising the roof" too.  "Raising the roof" catches a bad rap in my book.  Mickey definitely hit it on the head.  The company I work for right now, ROH, was a huge part in that movie.  The Necro Butcher is a big star in ROH and he was the guy staple gunning Mickey.  ROH was also where Mickey wrestled at the end.  So the movie parallels the real life underground wrestling circuit, legitimately.  They didn't even make up wrestlers or promotions, they used the real thing.

G2M: What's the weirdest thing you've ever had to do in a match?

SC: I once lost to a Little Person in front of 10,000 people in Indianapolis.  I did it with pride and a huge smile on my face.  Me and CM Punk also once raffled off a lap dance for one lucky woman.  I think we hit her from each side while Whodini's Freaks Come Out At Night blasted on the speakers.

G2M:  Most painful experience?

Mentally it would probably be being fired by WWE.  I'd never been fired from anywhere...ever.  I've had some random jobs including teaching, counseling and selling lemonade on North Beach, but I've never been fired.  In terms of physical pain...I've torn both AC joints in both shoulders.  I've torn my quad.  I've torn my MCL.  I've broke my nose, broke fingers, chipped teeth, broke a cheek bone and so on...and so forth.

G2M: You were once part of the WWE roster, what was that like?

SC: It was pretty sweet while I was there.  I was most proud of the internet show that WWE gave me on WWE.com.  I originally named it, "What's Crackin with Scotty Goldman".  The "man" later renamed it "Good as Goldman".  They're floating around on youtube.  Doing that was a blast.  I got to come up with my own stuff and have fun while becoming a cult star on the internet just like the dude with the tight crotched Tron outfit and the guy who cried "It's still real to me!". 

G2M: Is Vince McMahon as tough a boss as he appears to be?

SC: I went into his office to have a talk and I almost shat myself.  He's an intimidating dude.  At the end of the day though, everybody's just a person, right?  He's takes poops just like you and I.  His probably smell worse though because of all the protein and supplements he takes.  He's like 62 and jacked.  Definitely in better shape than me, and I work out all the time.

G2M: Honestly, are those chair shots really all that bad?

SC: Yeah man.  Having someone swing a chair at you hurts no matter what.  If I'm wrestling someone and I'm gonna hit them with a chair, if I don't do it, the fans can tell and will call you out on it.  People come to the shows to believe and get sucked into this crazy world of pro wrestling.  If you don't crack someone good, the fans know and then you're not doing your job correctly.

G2M: What advice do you have for all those kids who are thinking about becoming pro-wrestlers.

SC: You have to be tough.  You have to heart and a desire to do this.  If you don't, wrestling will eat you alive and spit you out.  Kind of like that giant plant from Little Shop of Horrors.  The key is to go to a school and learn from the best.  Wrestling schools are just like trade schools.  It's like ITT Tech but sweeter.  ROH has a great school in Philadelphia.  That's in Philadelphia though.

G2M: You've got a street fight match coming up this month at "Ring of Honor", tell us more about it.

SC: Ever since I came back to ROH, there's a group called the Embassy led by Prince Nana who's kinda been on my case the whole time.  Nana just came back to the company himself, along with former TNA star Jimmy Rave.  I guess they both don't like that I've taken their spotlight.  Things have gone down, things have broken down, and basically it can only be settled one way.  Chicago street Fight baby!  Come live, it should be nuts.  I'm gonna bring some dudes with me and we're gonna take on the Embassy full fledged!

G2M: Need a tag-team partner?  Hey, you just gave me a new moniker, why not ME?

SC: Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana and The Iron Geek...together?!?!  This could be history.  Pros:  You seem nice.  Cons: You seem nice, Being good at THQ's SmackDown v. Raw 2009 won't actually help you in the ring, reading and writing comic books don't ACTUALLY give you comic book hero strengths.  Cons are outweighing the Pros...but I'll think about it.

G2M: I'll be waiting by my phone!

Check out Colt Cabana in his Chicago Street Fight this weekend, Saturday June 27th at the Frontier Fieldhouse in Chicago Ridge.  Also, get a chance to meet the legendary "Nature Boy" Ric Flair!  Visit the Ring of Honor website for information and to purchase tickets!

You can also check out Scott's MySpace page at myspace/coltcabana where he has t-shirts and DVDs for sale.  COOL SWAG!

Thanks to Scott Colton for his time, humor and generosity, and a special thanks to Marc Kruskol of MJK Public Relations for setting up the interview.

Posted at 8:00 a.m. - Thursday June 18, 2009

After spending some time talking about his upcoming match against Diego "The Nightmare" Sanchez at the Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Finale on Spike TV this coming weekend, Clay "The Carpenter" Guida cheerfully accepted an offer to take the GNAT (Geek Nerd Analysis Test).

He may have found this challenge more difficult than any fight he's had in the "Octagon", but I think he managed just fine:

G2M: First, do you think you’re a geek or a nerd?

CG: I don’t know, aren’t they kind of the same thing?  When I was in 4^th or 5^th grade I had glasses and my buddies called me a nerd, so I guess I would be a nerd.

G2M: Ahh see, many people think that, but there is a difference.  Well, this test will help determine which one it is.

Would you rather hang out on the Millenium Falcon with Han Solo or on the Enterprise with Jean-Luc Picard?

CG: I’ve never been a Star Trek fan, that’s before my time, so I’ll go with the Star Wars (answer).

G2M: Would you rather hang out with Hobbits in the Shire or Dr. Who in a TARDIS?

CG:(laughs) The Hobbits for sure!  I saw the movie when I was young, it was great, I loved it.

G2M: Would you rather have a magic wand like Harry Potter or a tricorder like Captain Kirk?

CG: (laughs) A magic wand would be awesome!

G2M: Would you rather take a trip to Comic Con International or the International Space Station?

CG: The International Space Station?  That would be my choice, definitely.  I’ve never been into comics and going and space travel is something that not too many people get a chance to do.  That would definitely be unique.

G2M: Would you rather have Superman’s dog Krypto for a pet, or Dr. Who’s robot dog K-9?

CG: Aw man…I’d go with the real dog.  Krypto, yeah.

G2M: Would you rather travel via broomstick or Star Gate?  Have you seen the movie Star Gate or the tv show?

CG: No I haven’t, but I know about it…StarGate would be cool.

G2M: Well, as you've selected 3 from column A and 3 from column B, you are neither a 'nerd' nor a 'geek', but that rarest of breeds: The Neek!

CG: (laughs) A neek!

G2M: You can straddle both worlds, so to speak.

CG: (laughs) That was fun, thanks.

Clay Guida will be fighting Diego Sanchez on Spike TV's "Ultimate Fighter" on Saturday, June 20th.  Check your local listings for showtime.

Also, be on the lookout for Guida's endorsement of Bennigan's on "150 N. Michigan." Eagle-eyed viewers win a Geek To Me "No Prize" for spotting it!

Posted at 7:55 a.m. - Friday, June 12

In advance of his fight at the UFC Ultimate Fighter season finale, I got the opportunity to talk to rising MMA superstar Clay "The Carpenter" Guida for a REDEYE article.  Here is the COMPLETE AND UNCUT interview!:

Geek To Me: You’re going be going up against Diego Sanchez, a very formidable UFC opponent, in the Season 9 Finale of UFC's Ultimate Fighter on Saturday, June 20th.  What are some of the challenges that you expect to encounter in that match?

Clay Guida: We (Diego and I) have a very similar style in that we carry a high pace in our fights.  There’s no breaks, y’know, we don’t take our time and push a very high pace.  We expect a lot out of each other.  He’s a larger opponent in the lightweight division.  As you know he was the original Ultimate Fighter and 185 lbs., now he’s down at lightweight which is 155 lbs. I’m gonna be giving up some size but what I give up in size I make up for with a lot of heart, brute strength and just being non-stop, in-your-face.  Also, he’s got a little bit longer reach than me, but all my opponents are bigger than me, so it’s nothing new, (or something) I haven’t dealt with before.

G2M: It’s said that you got your love of competition from high school wrestling, is that correct?

CG: That’s correct.  I’ve been wrestling since I was 5 (years old).

G2M: So here’s the obvious question: wrestling and UFC are (in my opinion) two different worlds, so what keeps you going into that cage every match?

CG: Oh, I guess it’s the love of competition, y’know.  Performing in front of thousands – or in this case millions – of people who are watching on television.  I think wrestling a (MMA) fighting are very similar.  30 seconds into a fight, I treat it like a wrestling match, intense.

People ask me ‘are you nervous before or during’? And it’s normal to be a little bit nervous.  I think champions are made – it’s a nervous excitement.

I think wrestling and fighting go hand in hand.  Some of the most dominant fighters have a wrestling background.  Or were at least average wrestlers at one point in their career, whether in high school, junior high, elementary (school) or college.  If you look at their track record, most of them have some sort of wrestling base.  I’ve had a thousand wrestling matches, so it makes me feel right at home when I’m in the cage.

G2M: From a non-fighter’s perspective, how do you condition yourself to take some of the shots that you take in that ring?

CG: It’s one of those things people ask, (but) you’re either born with a solid chin (laughs) or you can work on keeping your chin down, because if you keep your chin out there your gonna get hit on it like a button and that’s when the lights go out.  You can’t train yourself to have a ‘tough chin.’ Being able to take punches, I think, is something you’re born with. 

As far as getting hit, we get hit every day in the gym.  Don’t get me wrong, we wear head gear, sparring gear, 16 ounce boxing gloves when we spar; we’re very cautious in the gym, but at the same time we’re very intense when we train.

It’s one of those things that you expect (to get hit), it’s a fight.  You throw punches.  There will be kicks and punches and thrown elbows, so you expect that to happen in a fight and (sometimes) get the hell out of the way! I’m always moving, looking to put together a combination, score a takedown and get a more dominant position. 

Conditioning yourself to take a punch (on the chin) you can’t really do it, you can learn to keep your hands up and your chin down.

G2M: What are some of the most important lessons you think you’ve learned in the time you’ve been competing in UFC?

CG: In not just my UFC career, I’ve had about 30 fights outside of UFC as well, that built me up and got me ready for the UFC…sacrifice.

I say this lot in my interviews for the UFC or whatever: sacrifice.  This is a full-time job, this is what I love to do.  I can’t always take time off to go out with friends, family, this and that.  I gotta be – I LOVE being – in the gym.  It’s a passion.  I love staying in shape.  I love helping the other guys in the gym that might help me get to being a champion, but I’m gonna help them get beyond what I’m planning on accomplishing.  I want them to be far better than me. That’s the sign of a true team mate and a true champion is brining people along with you, y’know, to help them get the best and the most out of themselves. 

Sacrifice, dedication, commitment, non-stop having the never-say-die attitude.  A lot of heart.  Some say people are born champions, They have a lot of heart.  Quit is not in their vocabulary.  Quit is not in their heart.

G2M: You’ve got a young man in high school who wants to follow in your footsteps, what’s the one piece of advice that you’d give them?

CG: First, find a good gym that you’re gonna get pushed and you’re gonna (find) people/opponents that are better than you.  You don’t wanna go to the gym where you’re dominating everyone in the gym, because you know what?  You’re gonna plateau before you ever get your feet off the ground.  You’re not gonna excel.  You know what I’m saying?  You don’t wanna be on a level playing field.  You want people better than you that can help teach you.

I’m in a gym where I’ve been working out and I got the crap kicked out of me for an hour and a half! And also, it’s one of those things, you’ve gotta have it in your heart.  If it’s something you wanna do, find the fun in it.  I always tell kids, my teammates, my brother, friends who I like to watch fight, have fun.  If you’re not having fun doing this, you’re not cut out for it.  Don’t get me wrong. I’ve always loved professional fishing growing up, I’ve always played baseball – to be a professional baseball player would be amazing – football.  But to be a professional mixed-martial arts UFC fighter?  It’s so much fun man.  You can’t put a label on it.  I can’t describe it, it’s such a great feeling to get in there and see people on their feet cheering for you and your opponent to put on a good fight.  Kids come up to you on the street and their eyes light up, it’s just you and them.  I make money a little bit differently and I’m having a good time doing it.

G2M: Since you bring it up, if you had decided to go into professional fishing, what would have been your nickname then?

CG: Oh man. (laughs) I dunno, “The Angler”?  That’s a tough question that caught me off guard. (laughs) “The Angler” is kinda lame. 

Meet Clay "The Carpenter" Guida at Bennigan's (150 S Michigan Avenue) @ 9 pm on June 13, 2009 during UFC 99 The Comeback.

NEXT UP: Clay "The Carpenter" Guida takes the G.N.A.T. (Geek Nerd Analysis Test!)

Posted at 8:25 a.m. - Wednesday, May 20

Rob Weiner is a 'pop-culture author and guru' as well as an associate humanities librarian for the Texas Tech University Libraries.  He has recently released a book titled Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero.  Now, folks who know me know what a fan I am of the good Captain.  A copy of the Treasury-sized Captain America's Bicentennial Battles by Jack Kirby made a significant impact on my life as a youngster, so my interest was piqued as to what Mr. Weiner had to say about the Sentinel of Liberty. He was kind enough to answer a few questions about his new book and comics in general for Geek To Me:

Geek To Me: Of all the heroes you decided to write about, what was it about Captain America that stood out?

Robert Weiner: Captain America is ultimate superhero. He is not a government stooge and he does what is right. He is not a “yes man” like Superman or a fanatic like US Agent. He represents the best in humanity.

G2M: In your opinion, what was it about CA that helped him endure over the decades, as opposed to the other 'patriotic' heroes that were created during World War 2?

RW: I think the fact that Captain America represents the best of America is. He is the American Idea and represents what is positive about America and its history without being tied to a political  party or ideology. Cap is not a Zealous go-getter. He is not trying to “convert” anyone, but represents the best traits of humanity, liberty, and freedom.

G2M: What do you think comic superheroes say in general about American society?

RW: Well I think it says we like to see the Good guys win. Despite everything else, I think Americans have an innate desire to see bad guys get caught and suffer.  True Justice needs to be served.

G2M: Do you think that Captain America would be a different character if created today?

RW: I don’t think you could create a character like Cap today. It just would not work. There have been recent patriotic type characters and they just seem to me to be fanatical without any real substance.

G2M: In your opinion, how have comic books changed over the decades?

RW: Well, comics are darker than they used to be. Although comics from the 1940-early 1950s did deal with adult themes and ideas. You have to understand that comics were never ONLY just kiddie literature.  I think, however, that sequential art as a storytelling medium has become very sophisticated and that is the main difference.

Much of what has been done in the past 20 years really is on par with any piece of literature/film/etc,,  Just take a book/graphic novel like Moonshadow.  It's as good as Tolstoy!  Now we have classes on books like the Dark Knight, Maus, etc,, so the academy has finally gotten into it.

My goal with the book was to show how characters like Captain America can be studied as cultural icons. I wanted to up the ante on comic book scholarship to be perfectly frank. Dunno if I succeeded or not, but there are not many books out there like mine. Scholars from ALL different areas have come together to share their views and I hope that both the academic and CAP/comic book fan will find something useful out of it.

G2M: What is your opinion of the state of the comics industry in today's media age?

RW: Well, I do think it is a niche market for the floppy comic book, but graphic novel publishing is booming by leaps and bounds. It is the only area of publishing that seems to be growing year by year. More and more people are reading ALL kinds of graphic narrative books, not just superhero stuff. Barnes and Noble/Hastings etc., have BIG Graphic Novel displays.

Q: Were you a comic reader as a young person?

RW: Yes, I was. I read Silver Surfer (my other favorite), Legion of Superheroes, Moon Knight, Human Fly and my favorite the 3-D Man. I loved comics and still do.


[Author Robert Weiner - photo courtesy of the author]

Q: Do you read them today?

RW: Well, now that I am OVER 40, I am more into superheroes and sequential art storytelling than I ever was before.  I guess I am true geek boy!  But I have not gotten into gaming and that kind of thing.

G2M: Captain America was 'assassinated' and then 'replaced' by his former partner - and Cold War operative - Bucky 'The Winter Soldier' Barnes.  What do you think about this change in the characters' status quo?

RW: I think it is a sign of the times. We live in a darker America and need a darker hero like Bucky. I originally thought it was a cheap shot to kill the warhorse Rogers, but it does make sense. In the post 9/11 world, I don’t think Rogers' innocence really fits, unfortunately.


[The NEW Captain America - design by Alex Ross]

G2M: Who do you think is the 'better' Captain America: Steve Rogers or Bucky Barnes? 

RW: As much as LOVE Steve Rogers as Captain America as he is my favorite of all the characters, I don’t think they should bring back Rogers. Let Bucky take the mantel. I like the original Cap better of course, but there is a good reason why the recent Cap books are considered in the top ten best of pop culture. Let’s face it (Captain America writer) Ed Brubaker is one hellva of yarn spinner!  He tells a good story and those books are good. I still think stories about the original Cap should still be written, but place them back in (previous) comic book time.

G2M: What do you think the impact of an actual 'super-soldier' like Captain America would have in the war effort during WW2?

RW: We would have kicked Hitler’s bootie, Cap would have liberated the Camps and there would not have been such a horrible Holocaust.

Q: What if we had a 'Captain America' today in Iraq?  Afghanistan?

RW: I am not gonna touch this one with a ten foot pole.

G2M: LOL.  Fair enough.

************************************************

You can order Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero from McFarland Publishing or find it on Amazon.

Posted at 2:25 p.m. - Tuesday, May 19

Earlier today I told you about the Pinball Tournament that's being held at Gameworks, at the Streets of Woodfield in Schaumburg, IL.  Now, local pinball pro Zach Sharpe (showing off one of his tournament trophies below) shares some tips on how to improve your game:

4. Dead flipping - Sometimes it's better to NOT flip and to let the ball bounce over in order to regain control.
5. Probably the best tip and staple of pinball.....shoot the flashing lights!  Games are very good at showing you what to shoot for via lights.

Posted at 8:20 a.m. - Tuesday, May 12

Recently, I discovered the book "Deus Ex Comica," a chronicle of a man getting back in touch with his inner fanboy.  As this is a very celebrated phenonmenom in the comic-reading community, I reached out to the author of Deus Ex Comica, Adam Besenyodi, to get the low-down on why he decided to write a book about rediscovering his love for comics and the challenges that followed.  Adam was kind enough to take time out of his busy promotional schedule to answer some questions for Geek To Me:

Geek To Me: In a nutshell, what is the book about?

Adam Besenyodi: Deus ex Comica: The Rebirth of a Comic Book Fan is equal parts nostalgia and exploration of today's comic culture on a personal level, chronicling the geek version of a lapsed Catholic returned to the faith.  It's about remembering all those things you loved about being a kid.  It's about the importance of connecting with even just one other person through a shared pastime.  It's about passing on the things you love to the next generation.  The book traces my journey and explores the influence of Marvel Comics on my youth, what it was like to rediscover the medium as an adult, and the pleasure of sharing this larger world with my young son. I made up the title as a play on the Latin theatrical phrase "deus ex machina," meaning "God is in the machine."  To me, "deus ex comica" means "God is in the comics."

G2M: Where did you get the inspiration to write a book about re-discovering your inner fanboy?

AB: I had long forgotten about my childhood comic book collection until my parents somewhat ceremoniously dropped them off at our house a few years ago.  Flipping through the contents of those boxes reawakened the long-dormant comic book fan inside me, and I happen to be wired for the kind of examination of personal history and the larger pop culture argument that this turned into.

After immersing myself in the current comic book culture, I realized my experience of drifting away and returning is both unique and universal.  I was encouraged by both old and new friends to pursue this line of thinking and it somehow led me to this point.

G2M: What were some of the challenges of putting the book together?

AB: Outside of the struggles that come with self-publishing a book, most of the challenges I experienced were self-inflicted.  Because I was writing about comics, a monthly medium that is constantly changing, there were always new chapter ideas popping up (still are, actually).  Drawing a line in the sand and not crossing it was difficult.  I'm also a bit of a perfectionist, so just the effort to stop tweaking the book and letting it go was difficult for me.  My views and opinions are always changing, so I had to really step back and say "this is a snapshot in time of who I was when it was written" and let it go.

The other big challenge has been the awkwardness of self-promotion.  It's not my nature to get out there and sell myself and my talents, so the whole post-publishing experience has been an exercise in stepping outside my comfort zone.

G2M: How long did it take to write?

AB: It took about a year from original idea to finished book.  I started out writing about the experience of rediscovering the comic book culture in a series of columns on the Field's Edge website in February 2008.  Four or five months into that, I realized what I was writing about had the potential to be turned into a book.  I stopped writing them as web installments and started crafting my thoughts as chapters.  Then I went back and reworked and rewrote the web columns into chapters as well.  The first draft of the book was finished around the end of last year, then my editor and I went through seven rounds of editing and revisions before finally completing the book in mid-March.

G2M: What did you discover about the medium of comics along the way?

AB: I am discovering new things at every turn, but I think the best personal discovery I have made is just how much larger the world of comics are beyond the Marvel Universe.  I was definitely a Marvel zombie back in the day, and their books provided a great reentry point into the culture for me, but there is so much more out there that I have discovered through friends’ and local comic shop owner recommendations, comic book podcasts, and the like.  I still love my Marvel, but I am having a great time broadening my comic book reading horizons.

G2M: Did you make any discoveries about yourself?

AB: "The Original Collection" chapter was pretty eye-opening.  I didn't necessarily realize just how deep the collector's completist mentality I have as an adult runs until I started writing that chapter.  Pulling out that file card box and flipping through the handwritten tracking of my comic books I did as a kid was surprising.

Also, in becoming a part of the online community of comic book fans, I have realized just how small my collection is.  I always thought my 400 or so comic books from the '80s constituted a big collection.  Growing up, I didn't know any other comic book fans beyond my friend Mark (who I mention in the book), so compared to all my other friends who didn't read or collect comics at all, I guess my collection was big.  It's all relative I suppose.

The other discovery I made is how little I really know about comics, particularly the art.  I listen to the 11 O'Clock Comics podcast or the Around Comics podcast and I'm stunned by how informed the hosts are.  It's highly unlikely I could recognize a specific penciler's work, and I don't understand the impact of an inker on the work of a penciler.  Stuff like that.  I appreciate the art, but I'm sure I see it much differently than those guys do, and it's much more of a gut-reaction type response for me of what I like or don't like.

G2M: In your opinion, how have comics changed or evolved - if at all - over the years?

AB: Comics appear more sophisticated to my eye today than they did in the '80s.  I recognize the complexity of something like Chris Claremont's "Dark Phoenix Saga", but I never felt the stories being told in my youth were inappropriate for me to be reading.

Everything from storylines to graphic content to price point seems to say comics are made for adults today.  As the father of a young son who is falling hard for this four-color world and developing hopefully what is the beginning of a lifelong love of reading as a result, it's frustrating.  He gets one or two monthly books, but it just makes more sense to hook him up with the digest-sized trade paperback collections after the fact from a value and durability perspective.

G2M: Do you think they've gotten better?  Worse?

AB: Comics haven't gotten better or worse since I enjoyed them in the mid-'80s, they're just different.  And more expensive.

G2M: Who were some of your favorite creators growing up?

AB: John Byrne is at the top of that list, but not necessarily for the typical reasons.  His X-Men run with Chris Claremont predates my mutant love, and his take on Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four, didn't stick for me back in the day.  It was his writing on Alpha Flight and The Thing solo title that were huge for me.  I was able to jump on at the beginning of both of those books and loved them.

Larry Hama is another icon of my comic reading youth.  While I was never a fan of the animated cartoon, Hama's G.I. Joe meant the world to me.  There was something about that book that really struck a chord with me.  Chris Claremont on X-Men and Frank Miller on Daredevil are also quintessential to me.  There isn't anything surprising on my list, but there's a reason their legacy has endured.

G2M: Who are the creators you admire most today?

AB: My tastes are pretty mainstream so, again, no surprises here.  Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Brian K. Vaughan, Matt Fraction.  Their collective body of work is accessible and connected with Marvel, so it has served as my gateway.  The whole reason I'm back in the throes of the comic book culture is because of Ed Brubaker.  If I hadn't caught wind of the second wave of publicity around the death of Captain America (when the Director's Cut of issue #25 came out) and been so taken by the story, I might not have fallen back into the world of comics as hard or in quite the same way.

G2M: Are you a Marvel or DC guy?

AB: As a kid I was most definitely a Marvel guy.  It's only been in the few years since I've returned to comics that I have really started to acknowledge everything else out there.  I seem to be most attracted to DC's Vertigo imprint, but I'm also exploring IDW, Dark Horse, Image, the Distinguished Competition, and really anything that strikes my fancy.

G2M: What would you change - if anything - about comics today?

AB: I'd scale back the scope of events like Secret Invasion.  While I don't mind events that affect an entire universe, I don't know that they need to sprawl across a dozen titles for the sake of appearance.  If the story is compelling, it will have a strong impact regardless of how many or how few issues or tie-in titles it takes place in.  The way Marvel handled the Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest events are good examples of less being more.

G2M: What does your comic collection look like today?

AB: The Original Collection is bagged and boarded.  The current runs are still primarily Marvel, but with some IDW and Vertigo numbers creeping.  I read New Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Black Panther, and G.I. Joe monthly among others.  And a lot of collected editions.  I always have at least one trade paperback or hardcover collection in play, and I trade-wait for stuff like Transformers: All Hail Megatron, Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, Air, Walking Dead, Umbrella Academy, Runaways, RASL, and others.

G2M: What would you say to up-and-coming comic readers?

AB: Read what you like. Because I was away from the culture for two decades and was always cocooned in the Marvel Universe, I still feel like an up-and-coming comic reader myself.  The only facet of the culture I'm an expert on is my own likes and dislikes, and those are prone to change at will!  I just count on my instincts, rely on trusted recommendations, and follow creators who've made a positive impression on me.  And I'm not afraid to try something new.

G2M: Any ambitions to write comics yourself?

AB: Not at this point really.  Ironically, script reprints are some of my least favorite extras found in collected editions today.  But that's not to say my ambition won't change.  If you'd asked me a year ago if I wanted to write a book about comics, that question would have been met with a skeptical response.  Given my druthers of industry jobs, I'd probably choose to be an editor.

G2M: Would it be for one of the Big Two (Marvel, DC)?

AB: If with the Big Two, working for Marvel would be the dream.

G2M: What would the Adam of today say to the Adam of yesterday?

AB: The same things I'm saying to my son now: Enjoy this.

***********************************************************************
You can find Deus Ex Comica on Amazon.com!

Posted at 8:30 a.m. - Tuesday, May 5

In Part One of our interview, SPORT SCIENCE host John Brenkus told me about his show and some of the sport 'myths' they've been able to 'bust.'  Now, John decides to take a break from the world of sports and get into some geeky territory by taking the G.N.A.T. (Geek Nerd Analysis Test).  Is he a geek or a nerd?  Read ahead and find out (BTW, at the end of the interview I've included a fun video segment where John experiences what it's like to be a Major League Umpire.  It's an eye-opener for sure!):
 

[John Brenkus - photo courtesy BASE Productions]

Geek To Me – Okay, so let’s see. We’re going to put you to the test. We already know you’re pretty much the weekend warrior jock, so let’s see if you’re a jock geek or a jock nerd. I watch the show; you’ve got tons of nerds on there.

John Brenkus – true, funny

G2M – Alright, first question: given a choice, you would rather a) Hang out on the millennium falcon with Han Solo or b) Jean Luc Picard on the Starship Enterprise?

JB – A.

G2M – What’s your reason behind that?

JB – Fun, but for whatever reason growing up Star Wars, I mean I was a Star Wars fan and Star Trek completely missed me.

G2M – Second question, provided you had to work in a service industry, would you rather a) Housekeep for Hobbits in the Shire or b) clean conduits on the TARDIS for a timelord? You get the Dr. Who reference there?

JB – I do, um, you know I would probably say housekeep for the hobbits. It would simply be interesting. It would be interesting and far more amusing.

G2M – How so?

JB – It would just be amusing because I would be like this giant fellow, you know picking up little tiny socks.

G2M – (laughs) That’s true you would be much bigger than them.

JB – So it would be constantly amusing and I’d be shaking my head. May not be learning a lot but it would be fun.

G2M – For once you’d get to be the biggest guy in the whole place.

JB – (laughs) Exactly

G2M – Next question, forget the new iPhone, I would rather have a) a magic wand from Ollivanders or b) a tricorder from Star Fleet?

JB – Can I say I can’t live without my iPhone?  It’s inconceivable! I have to register I can’t live without it. It is inconceivable to pick something else

G2M – Okay, but with a wand, if you got good enough you can make another iPhone. And the tricorder can do everything the iPhone can do and more. I mean tricorders can do, every test that you guys run on your show you can do with a tricorder

JB – The wand for me, you see I’m a huge Apple enthusiast. The wand would make me feel like I’m not violating the Apple world.

G2M – Alright, you can have a pet, would you rather have a) Superman’s dog Krypto or b) Dr. Who’s robot dog K-9?

JB – K-9, yeah I’m just a dog lover

G2M – you have a choice between going to a) ComicCon International in San Diego or b) the International Space Station?

JB – International Space Station, I’d much rather break new ground, then tapping someone else’s imagination.

G2M – Final question: Would you rather travel a) via broomstick or b) stargate?

JB – uh, stargate, I would much prefer stargate. The possibilities are endless

G2M – well you have answered 3 a’s and 3 b’s according to the test you are not a NERD or a GEEK but that rarest of species: the NEEK.

JB – (Laughs)

G2M – So you are comfortable in both worlds.

JB – That's good! That means that I can straddle the fence. And I can speak credibly in both camps.

G2M – You have the cred. Okay, John, before I let you go was there anything else you wanted to let my readers know besides when the show is on?

JB –Yeah, I think its Sunday’s on Fox Sports Net. And just, I think that this show we deem to transcend just appealing to a sports fan. It’s a general interest show of human performance. So if you marvel at what humans can do, this is definitely the show for you.

G2M – Awesome, well thanks, John. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me about this very fascinating, and from what I’ve seen, very cool show. I wish you the best of luck with it.

JB – I appreciate it.

Posted at 8:30 a.m. - Monday, May 4

As I had mentioned previously here on the Geek To Me blog, I had a chance to talk to John Brenkus, host of SPORT SCIENCE an uber-cool show that airs on Fox Sports Net every Sunday at 9pm.  The show is sort of 'Mythbusters meets CSI' in the world of sports and is fun to watch, even if you aren't a big sports fanatic. The new season of SPORT SCIENCE is underway and John spoke with me via telephone to talk about his show:

GEEK TO ME - Hi John, how are you doing.

John Brenkus – Doing great.

G2M – For those who are not familiar with SPORT SCIENCE, in a nutshell, explain how it works.

 JB – SPORT SCIENCE is taking the world’s greatest athletes and pushing them to the limit. What we want to do is figure out how do the world’s greatest athletes do what they do. What separates the world’s greatest athletes between the average Joe you know and a lead athlete the world’s best.

What we’ve done is constructed the best sports lab on the planet. With every possible gizmo, that we could use to test athletes everything from accelerometers to pressure plates to crash test dummies to motion capture systems, anything that can record movement, motion and measure force, reaction time, or speed, agility and we put calls out to the world’s greatest athletes to come down to the lab and involve themselves in creating the experiments. Where our goal is to teach the athletes something, to sort of enlighten them and say this is how you do what you do and is how great you are. You know you’re great, but we’re going to tell you how great and why.

So we’ve had great success in getting very big A list athletes down to the lab to participate cause every time you have an opportunity to teach the world’s greatest athletes something. It’s a great day at the office.

G2M – You guys do some really extensive analysis, I mean I’ve seen the tech that you guys have you have at your disposal is really impressive. We’re talking it’s almost like CSI. Have you ever had athletes say to you “WOW, I’ve never realized that.”  Or, there’s the whole argument how anecdotal evidence tends to differ a bit from empirical evidence.  Have you ever had to squash a legend or rumor and say like “buddy, you might believe that this is what’s happening but it’s not true”?

JB – To answer the question, we don’t pay any of our athletes to come down, I mean, our attitude is these guys make a lot of money and to get them to do anything for free is pretty difficult.  But, we offer something that no other show does. We offer them an opportunity to test themselves and to learn something. So we’ve had great success in getting people down to the lab. Because they do learn something and we show people how great they are and really sort of show the world sports in a completely different light. So we’ve had amazing experiences where athletes, every single athlete that’s come into our lab, learns something and literally they all go “WOW”. Truly they all stay longer than we ask them to stay and do more than they’re asked. Most guys when we ask them to come down, they end up doing more just because they’ve already taken the day off and are like “hey, test something else on me, I’m curious to find this out”.

So when we’re testing something, like hang time, like is hang time real? Is it possible to stay afloat longer than anybody else? Was Michael Jordan’s hang time for real? Why are people with accelerometers showing that it is true that no human being can jump off their feet, land on their feet and stay airborne for more than one second. It’s impossible. And Michael Jordan’s jump from the free throw line, actually only took .93 seconds. And when you challenge somebody, it sounds wrong but that’s what the physics are. You cannot stay airborne more than one second, if you want to land on your feet.

And if it causes to debunk myths and push things to a limit, measure punching power or strength and tell people Rampage Jackson generated 18 hundred pounds of force can you beat that? You know it’s a really fun show to do.

G2M – You put yourself into some situations too. One of the spots you proclaim yourself as “aggressively average” which is great. What made you think that it’s not enough to have all these test dummies and stuff to go through, you decided you had to put yourself in that position?

 JB – Well, one thing that we found is that you know when the show is looking at all of these amazing athletes you sort of lose perspective on just how amazing they are. We use me as the average athlete, you know I’m definitely not the average couch potato, I’m an athlete but I’m definitely an ‘aggressively average’ athlete - sort of the average weekend warrior.  I think that I represent most of the audience, you know guys who sit back and are good enough athletes they actually think enough of themselves to yell at the TV screen and say “what the hell, how can you possibly let him get to the quarterback?” when you’re 5’8” and 160 lbs. what would (New York Jets Tackle) Kris Jenkins do to you?

It’s pretty fun just to see, to get that perspective that the guys on the field are, you know, giants. And when you see you would get thrown around like a rag doll that maybe you should shut up. (laughs) You know, it makes it pretty fun.

G2M – Back to the science of the show, what have been some of the interesting discoveries that you’ve had with the different experiments that you’ve done in the past two seasons?

JB – To be honest with you, every experiment that we’ve done, in order to make the show (has to be very interesting). There are plenty of experiments that we do that don’t turn out really all that interesting and they just don’t make the show. So if they make the show, it’s something that is really on the level of being something interesting so every program, in every segment if it’s something new and we really didn’t know then it makes the show. And it’s like “WOW that’s interesting”.

You know it’s everything from the sex test, you know the greatest myth in boxing is that sex depletes your energy; we literally put the sex test to the test. You know, let’s test two time heavy weight champion, Chris Byrd, his father has been his manager and told him his whole career not to have sex two weeks before his fight. That you got to store up the energy and you are stronger when you sort of feel like you’re a caged tiger. That somehow that makes you stronger. So we put it to the test, and the results are sex makes you stronger. Sex increases your athletic performance. Because it actually releases testosterone, it does the exact opposite - that when people actually think that it does make you tired - it does give you more energy. This season we put it to the test with females. So we said if that’s true for males then what about females? So we actually did a female sex test. And the results are … we can tease the results, its fun man.

We (also) did punching power with Million Dollar Baby, you know the best female boxer ever. Can a woman punch as hard as a man? And is there any reason a woman could not punch as hard as a man? So literally (we) wire her up and pit her against another professional boxer at the exact same size and weight and measure the power the force of the female punch vs. the male punch. And it’s a really cool show where every single segment there’s something new around the corner.

G2M – Back to the sex test, if only Jake LaMotta had known. Maybe his life wouldn’t have been so rough.

JB – (laughs) I could have gotten paid a lot of money back in the day. Erwin would have been like “your legs are gonna be weak” and I’d be like give me some money and I’ll tell you to go have sex.

G2M – There you go. You say that you’re an average type guy; in fact from your description we are very similar in height and build, so although I don’t have near the cajones to put myself in the position you have. When you were growing up, you know high school, college; did you consider yourself more of a jock or a nerd?

JB – Um, I was a little bit of both. In general I was a straight A student.  I did well in school. And I played sports, I played football and I was a JV football starter. Then when I got to varsity the guy in front of me ended up playing professionally and was State Champion in the 100, 200 and 400 so that pretty much put me in my place where the disparity between a guy who plays in high school and one who’s ultimately going pro is gigantic.

You know I was a decent athlete; I played football, basketball, baseball, track. I’ve done some endurance events but a really good example of the sort of disparity is last season I did the Iron Man in Kona, Hawaii, and it took me 14 hours to do it and the winner did it in 8. People are like "oh my God it’s amazing that you even finished!" I mean I almost friggin killed myself!

People are just superhuman, when someone is doing it in half the time you are; swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and  running a full marathon and the winner not only does it in 50% of (your time) you understand that there’s no way you’re ever going to be one of the superhuman freaks. You know that average can only get to be so good.

NEXT UP: John Brenkus takes the G.N.A.T. (Geek Nerd Analysis Test)

Posted at 8:00 a.m. - Thursday, April 2

In advance of his triple threat match against John Cena and Paul 'The Big Show' Wight at Wrestlemania 25, WWE Superstar and World Heavyweight Champion Edge (AKA Adam Copeland) talked to me in a phone interview.  Speaking candidly, Edge tells why he likes wrestling in Chicago, what it's like to work with the many different personalities in the WWE and what he wants to remember about his good friend, the recently deceased Andrew Martin: 

Geek To Me: Good Morning, sir.

EDGE: Good morning Elliott, how are you doing?

G2M: I’m doing good!  I’ll fess up right now: I’m a big fan and I was at the Rosemont Horizon back a little over ten years ago when you debuted here in Chicago, so this is kind of a treat for me.

EDGE: Wow!  Who did I wrestle that first time in Rosemont?

G2M: Oh goodness, y’know I’ll be honest, I remember your entrance, that’s about it.  (laughs)

EDGE:  Yeah, it sucks, I wish I could remember that cause that’s one of my favorite buildings.  I remember watching Wrestling Classic on VHS, and just being a huge fan of that show, I always wanted to wrestle in the Rosemont Horizon because of that show.

G2M: They call it the Allstate Arena now; it’s had a lot of renovations.

EDGE: Oh, it’s not the same! (laughs)

G2M: Yeah, it isn’t but I’ll tell you it’s a great place to have shows at.  Well, you know.

EDGE: It really is.  Chicago, I’ve always said, and not just because I’m talking to you, Chicago(ans) per show they are always the best crowd.  And you can go up and down the board and ask the guys that and they’ll tell you the same thing.  Best crowd in Chicago.

G2M: Awesome.

EDGE: Yeah, Toronto’s always in there too, but for different reasons since they always go against the grain. (laughs)  Chicago is like, you just get a really loud interactive crowd and that always makes it a lot more fun.

G2M: So, we’re leading up to Wrestlemania 25 right now and you’re going to be involved in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship with the Big Show and John Cena.  You’ve got this great, soap-opera type storyline going right now.  My question is: what’s it like working with these different personalities on this angle right now?

EDGE: You know, its fun in the respect that you get to do different things than ‘I’m angry at you, you’re angry at me, rrrrrr.’ 

G2M: (laughs)

EDGE: It’s fun to have a different perspective sometimes. (laughs) You know I get a chuckle out of it. I guess that’s the best way to put it.  You know I get to be the conniving, scheming guy who's trying to figure out how to keep his powerful wife with him. Meanwhile he’s cheated on her..dah-dah-dah…

G2M: (laughs)

EDGE: I hate talking in third person when it comes to the character but it just ends up that way. But um…it’s fun.  It’s definitely fun.  You know I would prefer the build up I had with Undertaker last year (at Wrestlemania 24).  To me, I could sink my teeth into that more, but this is fun.  And I guess that’s the difference in the two mind sets.  Last year I was like ‘alright man, I got Taker one on one.’  This year the build up is more fun driven, I guess would be the way to put it.  It's two entirely different ways to look at it.  They’re both fun, they really are.  I just tend to say ‘ok, what are we doing this week?  Cool!’ Go out (and) try to have fun with it.  (I) don’t get too wrapped up into where it’s going, or anything like that.  Just fill me in on what you want this week and go.

G2M:  When you talk about the creative process in putting these angles together, how much input do you have as opposed to what the writers might say?

EDGE: I’m sure I could have a lot more than I choose to take.  Um, I’m seriously, really hands-off now.  I’ve found that’s the best, least stressful way of life.

G2M: (laughs)

EDGE: (laughs) I just show up and have fun and leave it there.  Really, that’s my mentality now.  Put me in the ring and that’s when the serious side will turn on.  That’s when I can turn up that volume knob.  Or if you want that side of me in a promo, like leading up to Summer Slam and the Hell in a Cell. That’s when I’ll do that kind of thing.  When it comes to actually putting things together, things like that, I become really laid back.  I used to always throw suggestions before, get really involved in that process, now not so much.  Maybe it was that time off, I kind of re-prioritized.  I just realized it’s a lot more fun doing it the way I’m doing it now, for me.  You know, if I’m asked what opponents I’d like to wrestle, or ‘what you think about working this guy. Great! Cool!’  I pretty much like the challenge of figuring out how to have a good match with anyone on the roster.  Basically I’m trying to say is that I’m really laid back and whatever you put in front of me I’m gonna try to knock it out of the park.

G2M: You talk about your opponents, when you reflect on ten-years-plus in the business, who were some of the opponents you enjoyed working with the most?

EDGE:  Well, you know it’s weird.  You always think of the guys you’ve worked more recently. Guys you’ve connected with, clicked with, over the years.  Y’know I’ve clicked with so many guys, painfully-

G2M: (laughs)

EDGE: (laughs) Otherwise I guess I’d suck. (laughs) You know, recently and throughout my career, Jeff Hardy has been a guy that from day one he and I have just worked.  Whether it was the Hardys against Edge & Christian, or this latest incarnation where it’s been Jeff and I for the WWE or the World Heavyweight Championship.  I don’t know, it’s always been there. 

Undertaker was a guy that I had so much fun trying to – and that’s where I’ll get involved – putting a match together, with layers of story and counters to counters to counters to counters.  And to take the last match and adding two new wrinkles to it, things like that, I had a lot of fun doing with Undertaker.

(John) Cena and I, for some reason (really work). On paper you wouldn’t necessarily know it was going to work they way it did and has.  I always liken him and me to Yankees/Red Sox.  The rivalry is just there and it’s always kind of worked, from the initial point when we locked horns.  I don’t know if it’s that we look like polar opposites, I don’t know.  But our audience has always really gotten into that. 

So those are three guys, recently, that have jumped to the forefront.

You know, any time I’ve wrestled Randy Orton, that’s another guy – a lot like Jeff – from the very first time we wrestled (I thought) ‘wow, we could have some really good matches here.’  And any time we have wrestled, I’ve always been very, very happy with the result.

(Dave) Batista was another guy who I didn’t know going in what would happen.  And it was fun to figure out ways to wrestle him, to figure out how to chop down this mountain of muscle.  How does a guy that looks like me figure out how to do this?  That was a lot of fun and Dave is really good.  I don’t think he gets the credit for being as good as he is – maybe he does, I don’t know.  But, um, I really, really enjoyed wrestling him too. He’s uh…yeah, there’s a lot of guys man!

G2M: (laughs)

EDGE: (laughs)

G2M: Let me reach back just a little bit, you did wrestle Andrew Martin (AKA ‘Test) at Survivor Series about ten years ago – he passed away recently – any reflections on him?

EDGE: Well, I really enjoyed that match.  Speaking of that, I put it on my DVD and I’ve always been really happy with that match.  But that’s from my professional standpoint.

When I think of Andrew, I’ll think of him from a personal standpoint, because we knew each other so well.  And for me, it’s just disappointing, disheartening. Jan and Christian and I and Andrew have known each other for so long.  So, it’s weird to think that you’re not going to hear that deep voice say  [lowers voice] ‘jobber.’  It was his big line that he’d call everybody a ‘jobber.’  And all you can try and do - at least for me – I’ll think of laughs and good times.  If I think anything besides that I think you pull yourself down to the ‘aw man, what if I had done this?’  And it’s not going to help at the end of the day. 

G2M: Well thanks for taking the time to share these reflections with me.  Best of luck at Wrestlemania 25, have a good show and don’t get hurt.

EDGE: (laughs) Gotcha. That’s the key.  Thanks man.

Posted at 8:20 a.m. - Friday, March 20

Here's another interview from the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, this time with 'horror hunk' Justin Alvarez.  Justin talks about his newest film 'Stronger Than Death' and his part in the Hot Hunks of Horror Calendar fundraiser for the Lynn Sage Foundation and breast cancer awareness.

You can learn more about Justin by visiting his web site!

Posted at 9:25 a.m. - Monday, March 16

Here's another Geek To Me TV segment from Fango Con, this one with horror movie actor/director/sfx artist Tom Savini.   Note: No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get on Mr. Savini's good side.  :-(

You can learn more about Tom's school for aspiring movie makers at Savini.com.

Posted at 9:00 a.m. - Thursday, March 12

This past weekend saw the many personalities of the world of horror descend on Rosemont, IL for the 2009 Fangoria Weekend of Horrors.  Horror movie geeks of all kinds came to meet their fave celebs and share in their love of all things spooky and gory.  Braving the torential rains that were coming down outside, I grabbed my digital cam and managed to get a few 'Blair Witch Project' style interviews with some of the nice folks who were in attendance.  My first interview is with the 2009 Fangoria Spooksmodel, Shannon Lark:

Check back for more interviews!

Posted at 1:30 p.m. - Friday, January 30

Chris Yost is a writer for comics and animation who is well known for his work with Marvel Comics' titles like X-Force and is currently writing the adaptation of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.  He is the co-writer for the newest Marvel Animation feature 'Hulk VS', a direct-to-DVD title that I reviewed in a previous post.

Yost took a few moments from his busy schedule to answer questions about Hulk VS, what it was like putting the features together and if we'll ever have a Deadpool feature:

Geek To Me: Where did the idea of a 'VS' series of Marvel videos come about?

CHRIS YOST:  My understanding of it was that Lionsgate really wanted a Hulk feature, and Marvel also wanted to expand their animated universe, so the idea of the Hulk teaming up with other Marvel heroes seemed a natural.  But as Marvel executive and producer Craig Kyle observed, there's nothing the fans love more than hero versus hero, as in the recent and tremendously successful comic series 'Civil War.' So looking through Marvel's history, everyone looked for the characters that the Hulk had some really good tangles with... and Wolverine and Thor were the top of the list.

G2M: You're no stranger to the Marvel U, having written several titles before, so what were the challenges you encountered going from writing for animation as opposed to comics?

YOST:  The challenge in animation is usually how to not to get tied up in all the history, the 70 years of baggage that the characters bring with them.  To tell a story that even people who don't know the characters like the hardcore fans do can enjoy and understand. Now, in the case of 'Hulk Vs,' we were really making the movie FOR the fans.  So we were able to get more into the shared history, the references, the 'easter eggs'.  We put so many nods to the larger universe and to comic history, that I'm still kind of laughing about it.

G2M: Was there a scene or idea that you really wanted to include that was left out for some reason?

YOST:  This was the first project I've worked on where the animation studio came back to us and said, 'MORE!'  We actually went back in and added scenes.

G2M: Do you imagine these films taking place in the 'animated Marvel Universe' or in the one established in the comics?

YOST:  For me, I imagine it as a shared universe... as much as I can.  There are two animated series coming out that will help with that... 'Wolverine and the X-Men' and 'Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.'  It's easy to see Hulk Vs existing in those series, as they're more the classic comic look and feel. As any comic fan will tell you, shared universes are where it's at.

G2M: What's your favorite scene from either film?

YOST:  There's a bit in 'vs Thor' where Hulk is trying to pick up the hammer, and Thor takes it back from him.  And then Thor shows him why he's the God of Thunder.

G2M: Deadpool practically steals every scene he's in, so when are we getting a Deadpool feature?

YOST:  The sooner the better.  We'll see how many people are sick enough to demand it.  I know I am.

You can visit the HULK VS web site for more info!

Posted at 10:15 a.m. - Tuesday, December 30

In advance of my feature on Svengoolie tomorrow, I'm posting this video that we took on the 'svet' of Rich Koz' alter-ego's program:

For those who are unfamiliar with the GNAT (Geek Nerd Analysis Test) that ran in the RedEye a while back, here's a link to it and what the final categories are.

And yes, I do realize that I screwed up and didn't add up the A's and B's correctly.  (You can even see by the look on Sven's face that he realizes I've goofed, but is too nice to correct me.)

Check back later this week for another video where we take a look at Sven's coffin and I throw an idea out to Sven involving the Chicago artistic community that can make television history!

Posted at 3:25 p.m. - Wednesday, December 24

Here's my last holiday treat of the week before I get all caught up in family activities and whatnot:  Vanity Fair has a great retrospective on the STAR WARS Holiday Special that ran on television back in the 70's.  For those who are old enough to remember, the SWHS was a campy variety show that 'featured' the cast of A New Hope as well as some additional characters, namely Chewbacca's wookie family.  And yes, Carrie Fisher even SINGS at the end!

The show has never been aired again, mostly due to the fact that Lucas hated it, but can be found on bootleg video at most comic conventions.  Enterprising individuals with a fair bit of Google-Fu can also find it available for download on the internets.  Trust me, unless you are the most die-hard of SW geeks, you do not want to be paying money for this thing.

Check out the article, and you'll get a sense of what a comedy of errors the whole show was.

Posted at 10:35 p.m. - Tuesday, November 25

Robert Kurztman has been working in the horror movie genre since his college days, starting off as an effects artist on Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series before going on to building an impressive resume on a number of different genre features, including The Rage, a movie he directed and co-wrote with John Bisson.  The Rage will be shown as part of the MonstersHD Thanksgiving Day of the Dead Marathon.  Kurtzman spoke with me about the marathon, his experiences in film and what it’s like to work in Bollywood.

Geek To Me: Where did the idea of having a monster movie marathon on Thanksgiving come up?

 

Robert Kurtzman: I would guess,[it's like] when I was growing up there was the ‘monster movie weekend,’ you had the late night horror host on Friday night, Saturday horror host – afternoon super host – and then your afternoon movie which was always a genre movie.  Most of the time King Kong played on the holiday weekend, y’know on Thanksgiving.   So when I was a kid I was looking forward every year as I got to watch King Kong.

 

So I would suppose that they [Monsters HD producers] had a similar thing when they were growing up, so they’re thinking ‘hey, Thanksgiving weekend marathon! Plus, it’s a zombie marathon and you eat a lot!’

 

G2M: What are some of the projects you’ve worked on that you look back on with the most fondness?

 

RK: Probably working on the Evil Dead movies, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness.  I’m most fond of the ‘hey day’ movies when creature effects was kind of the burgeoning industry, y’know in the eighties, that’s when I got into it.  Movies like that, Bride of Re-Animator and films like that, I really enjoyed working on.

 

Army of Darkness is probably the best time I’ve ever had working on a film.  You’re a big kid out there, you get to play with skeleton puppets, and guys on horseback with swordplay.  That’s great.

 

The second one (Evil Dead 2) was a blast to work on too.  We were kids, I was probably about twenty, and they stuck us in this ‘Texas Chainsaw’ type house, the effects guys were all in this house out in the country, a scary barn with the pillars out front.  We all stayed in the house while making a movie, being shot in an abandoned middle school, which is were they built all the stuff for Evil Dead, all the cabin sets and interiors.  It was three months in North Carolina, with Sam Raimi who’s a big kid, having a blast with a bunch of rubber monsters.

 

G2M: And beating the crap out of Bruce Campbell.

 

RK: Yeah, that’s the other thing.  Sam’s whole thing is ‘the innocent must suffer.’  Which is great because that’s the great things about the Die Hard films too, John McClane gets his ass kicked.

 

Then there’s other movies like Dances With Wolves and Misery, films like that, more main stream, aren’t so much genre movies, but I enjoyed them as well.

 

G2M: What is it about zombies that you think really strike a chord with people?

 

RK: Probably just the primal fear of having your flesh eaten by another human being and being eaten alive.  And the taboo of eating human flesh, it all plays into the thing, the phobia.  [It] continues to resonate over the years, as do vampires and werewolves for various reasons.

 

G2M: There are those that say that the zombie genre is played out, that there's nothing new you can do with them.  What are some of the challenges that you find as a creator to make these types of archetypes, like zombies, effective and resonate with people?

 

RK: There are two kinds of [approaches]: the very realistic approach to them, [recreating] what they would really look like decaying which is what you always try to make using the technology and make-up effects, creature effects and advances and that. You just try to make them more realistic and more anatomically correct.

 

And then you have the fantasy element, which [are] the goofier movies that are [created] really to be more fun than anything. 

The genre is never dead because someone eventually puts a twist on it and revives it somehow and comes up with a new idea.  Same with vampires and whatever, they get into that rut where it kind of overused and everything’s kind of similar, and then, you know, it dies out for a few years, and then – bam – somebody comes up with something real interesting.

 

I don’t think it ever truly dead.

 

G2M: Have you seen any of the current work in comic books being done with Zombies, like Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead or Garth Ennis’ Crossed?

 

RK: I don’t really follow [them].  I’d been dabbling with the comics with The Rage release, but I really don’t collect them anymore.  Stopped doing that when I was in my teens, unfortunately.  Couldn’t afford it.

 

G2M : Speaking about The Rage, what do you felt worked best about that project?

 

RK: We set out to make a really fun kind of b-movie, roller coaster ride.  It has a lot of things, elements from films I grew up on, everything from Re-Animator to the old 40’s and 50’s (Bela) Legosi movies; mad doctor films and mix it in with some mutant animals, some living dead mutants; kind of a mix of everything where we just have fun with it.

 

It’s totally kind of a fun throwback movie.  We made it on a shoestring budget.  We kind of did it to experiment.  Me and John [Bisson] kind of wanted to experience the process that they did on Evil Dead when they went out and raised money and shot a movie outside the system kind of on their own in the back yard.  So we put a film crew together, in our home town, on my studio and everything and we made the movie.  Even though we’d made other films over the years, we went ‘hey, let’s go back and make a movie like we were making our first film.’  We basically did everything ourselves.  I was the DP (Director of Photography), John was production designer, and he was also writing and storyboarding the film.  We were doing a little of everything, built our own sets and it was that kind of guerilla movie.

 

G2M: Do you think you would want to re-visit The Rage like Sam Raimi did the Evil Dead movies?

 

RK: If there’s an opportunity, we already have ideas for spinning it off. It just depends on what’s going on at the time, what the market is and raising the financing again.

 

G2M: What do you think is going to be the next thing in horror that is going to strike a chord with fans of the genre?

 

RK: I think it’s going to be somebody coming up with an original concept that doesn’t use any of those creatures like vampires, werewolves and things.  They have been so overused. I think coming up with a new mythology for something, or experimenting with other cultures’ mythology. I just finished a film called ‘Hiss’ which is an Indian production, its all wrapped around their Snake Woman legend.  So there’s things that we’re not familiar with over here that might be a new inspiration for films over here like a golem-type film.

 

[‘Hiss’] is an all Hindi movie which definitely a different thing, working with an Indian crew and translators was an experience.  It was really cool.

 

G2M: Do scary movies go over in India?

 

RK: Yeah, they actually have a lot of horror films that come out, even our [American] films come out.  They had their 'Hammer Films' period over there too.  They made fifty of these snake movies, but they never had any with real transformations and snakes or special make-up.  They’ve been making these types of movies for a long time: supernatural movies and movies with witches.

G2M: Robert, thanks so much for taking this time to speak with me.

RK: Thank you.

******************************************

Visit MonstersHD.com for more info on their Thanksgiving Day of the Dead!

Posted at 3:45 p.m. - Monday, November 24

Last Thursday, my interview with former 16-time heavyweight wrestling champion Ric Flair ran in the print edition of the REDEYE.  For those who missed it, here it is in it's entirety:

The Nature Boy is returning to Chicago.  Former 16-time World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair will be appearing at the PCW Wrestling ‘4Ever Flair’ event to be held at the Oak Lawn Pavilion on Saturday, November 22nd.  (Visit www.pcwwrestling.net for more information.)

Ric Flair spoke to the REDEYE about the event, his current role in professional wrestling and his son Reid Flair who is about to embark on a career in wrestling:

REDEYE: How did you become involved with PCW Wrestling?

Ric Flair: I met the promoter at a function here in Charlotte (NC) in June, he spoke with my agent and struck a deal and I’ve been looking forward to it ever since.  It’s my first time back to Chicago in a while.  It’ll give me a chance to interact with the fans who’ve supported me all the years, hopefully entertain them a bit, have a meet-and-greet, take pictures[and] share a little bit of my life with them…The Nature Boy has had a lot of fun in Chicago for sure.

RE: Do you see yourself as an elder statesmen helping the young up-and-coming wrestlers along?

RF: No.  If that opportunity presented itself, I would, but I’m not working with anyone right now, other than my son (Reid Flair).  I obviously still have a good relationship with the WWE, but I don’t work in that capacity for them. I have a lot of stuff that I would be unable to do if I were working for them, it’s a good situation for me personally, but if the situation presented itself [developing talent] I’d be happy to work for those guys.

RE: What do you feel has changed in wrestling over the years?

RF: The biggest changes have been the marketing strategies, of course with cable television, pay-per-views, with their ability to make us [wrestlers] bigger than life.  We are in my estimation is big as – well let me put it like this – if Brian Urlacher made an appearance he wouldn’t get as many people as I did.  (Laughs)  I’m just kidding, I like Brian, but I’m just saying we put ourselves on the same level exposure-wise, so we’re as big as any pro athletes in the world.

RE: What advice have you given your son Reid as he embarks on a pro wrestling career?

RF: Think positive.  Remember it’s a new day and a new life. [Pro wrestling] is a very difficult life to be successful in.  It’s very demanding so you have to find something unique in yourself, not just skill and ability, something about yourself that makes you a little bit different than anybody else.  I’ve worked on that with him; he has incredible charisma about him already.  [I tell him] don’t stress himself out and try to compete with me, or to be like me in any capacity, like his old man.  People put pressure on him to be like me, and I want him to be like me in some ways, but he needs to find his own character, his own persona and he needs to pursue that.

RE: You’ve spoken about political aspirations in the past, any chance of Ric Flair running for political office in the future?

RF: I think about that periodically.  I think about the time involved and time management.  I weigh the odds, the good and the bad.  And after that all the other things I’m involved with now, [so] that’s not gonna happen right now.

I think a lot about politics, but I don’t want to make it a full time job.  I like to talk politics but don’t want to do it on a full time basis.  I definitely have some views. (laughs) But I can’t state them.

RE: Anything going on besides the event that you want readers of the Redeye to know?

RF: I’m enjoying life and looking forward to coming back to Chicago.

Posted at 9:45 p.m. - Wednesday, November 19

A couple weeks ago, I spent an afternoon on the set of WCIU's Svengoolie show to research a feature for the REDYE.  I interviewed Rich Koz aka 'Sven' took some video and even administered the GNAT to Koz.

While the feature won't see print for another week or two, the folks over at WCIU have posted a video documenting my visit.

CHECK IT OUT!

Posted at 2:20 p.m. - Friday, October 31

My coverage of the Windy City Comic Con concludes with this interview with Len Kody and Jenny Frison, the creative team behind Image/Shadowline Comics' Chicago 1968.

(Geek To Me readers may remember that Chicago 1968 received the Kryptonite Medal in the Geek Factor Olympics, and Len Kody says he couldn't have been happier!)

 

Thanks to the great folks of the WCCC!  It was a great event and I can't wait to see what they have in store for next year!

Posted at 1:20 p.m. - Friday, October 31

Local publisher Avatar Press had a presence at the Windy City Comic Con and I managed to get David Marks to get on camera and talk about what the indie publisher has been doing and what the future will bring (Lord knows my future will involve lots of stomach crunches):

Check back later today for a Geek To Me podcast from Windy City Comic Con!

Posted at 11:20 a.m. - Friday, October 31

With all the craziness going on around him, Windy City Comic Con promoter Chris Neseman took some time to talk to me and give me his take on how the WCCC was going down and if there will be another one next year (and no, I did not swallow a basketball before the interview):

You can learn more about the WCCC at their web site!
Check back later today for more Geek To Me from the WCCC!

Posted at 8:20 a.m. - Friday, October 31

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! My interviews from the Windy City Comic Con continue with this little chat with the nice folks of Evil Squirrel Comics of Rogers Park:

You can check out their website and tell them you saw them on Geek To Me TV!

Check back cuz' there's more to come!

Posted at 1:20 p.m. - Thursday, October 30

This is an interview I've been trying to get since Geek To Me started...Jeffrey Brown, indie graphic novelist and Transformers aficionado:

Keep checking back for more interviews!

Posted at 11:40 a.m. - Thursday, October 30

My coverage of last weekend's Windy City Comic Con continues with my interview with local indie comic book creator Jeff Zwirek!:

(FYI, Jeff will be appearing at Dreamland Comics on November 8th from 1pm - 3pm with Art Balatzar and yours truly for a comic book signing.)

Keep checking back because there's a lot more to come from the WCCC!

Posted at 8:20 a.m. - Thursday, October 30

The Windy City Comic Con gave me a few opportunities to meet and talk with some of Chicago's best and brightest creators.  Over the next couple days, I'll be sharing my interviews with a few creators, a comic shop owner and one of the WCCC's organizers.

Here's one to start us off:

I sit down with local comic book artist/writer Tim Seeley who talks to me about his hit comic Hack/Slash!

Posted at 9:00 a.m. - Sunday, October 12

It was a fun Saturday afternoon at the TNA Wrestling Fan Interactive Event where hundreds of wrestling fans came out to meet their favorite stars.  I managed to get a couple interviews with some of the talent: The Motor City Machine Guns, The Rock n' Rave Infection (w/Christy Hemme) and Consequences Creed.

[Special thanks to Steven Godfrey and the PR Dept. of TNA Wrestling for all their help.]

MotorCity MachineGun Alex Shelley administers the G.N.A.T. (Geek Nerd Analysis Test) to his partner Chris Sabin.

The Rock n' Rave Infection talks to me about their fellow wrestlers, the creative process in wrestling and who they'd like to work with. Now this was FUN...X-Division Contender Consequences Creed takes the G.N.A.T. and really gets into it, truly thinking over his answers.  He even liked a catch phrase I suggested!

Posted at 9:00 a.m. - Saturday, October 11

[Kurt Angle in TNA iMPACT! video game image courtesy Midway Games]

After discussing the nature of the current goings-on within TNA Wrestling with Jeff Jarrett, I was able to sit down with TNA Superstar and former Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle. Angle was open and frank about what he was expecting at Bound For Glory IV and gave a 'shoot' interview, saying what he truly thought about Jeff Jarrett and their upcoming match.  Kurt also gave his opinion about 'gimmick matches', the blurring of fiction and reality in TNA's television storylines, and what Jeff Jarrett should expect in their match at Bound for Glory.

Posted at 10:45 p.m. - Friday, October 10

In town to promote TNA Wrestling's Pay-Per-View event Bound for Glory IV, TNA Knockout Christy Hemme sat down with me to talk about her experiences as a female wrestler; the difference between TNA and her previous employer, the WWE; and what it's like to see the real-life behind-the-scenes drama at TNA inspire the current storylines playing on television.

Posted at 8:30 a.m. - Tuesday, October 7

Following up on my interview with TNA Wrestling founder Jeff Jarrett, I have a conversation with Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machine Guns tag team.  The MCMGs are part of the promotion’s ‘X-Division’, where wrestlers excel with spectacular moves in and above the ring.  Alex and his partner, Chris Sabin, will be part of the Steel Asylum Match at Bound For Glory IV, which will be held at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates this Sunday, October 12th.

It was cool to discuss the culture of the wrestling locker room with Alex, and he was pretty open and happy to satisfy my curiosity about why some wrestlers insist on being called by their ‘stage names.’  He even agreed to take the GNAT (Geek Nerd Analysis Test) to see if he was either a Geek or a Nerd, and I thought he had some pretty well thought out rationales as to why he made each pick:

Posted at 8:30 a.m. - Monday, October 6

When you talk to Jeff Jarrett, you learn that he is a man who has lived a remarkable life, has seen a lot of things and has been a lot of things.  He is a third generation wrestler with a storied pedigree; a multiple time champion who has held the WWF Intercontinental Championship (before the promotion changed its name to WWE), the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship, as well as the WCW World Championship.  He is the self-proclaimed 'King of the Mountain' and he is also the co-founder of TNA (Total Nonstop Action) Wrestling, a fledgling promotion that is testing its mettle against the more established and popular WWE.  Jarret himself will admit that the WWE has a '40 year' head start, which motivates him all the more in his role as promoter and pitch-man for his company.

With TNA holding its first pay-per-view in the Chicago area, Jarrett is hard at work pounding the pavement and getting the word out about his company's latest, and some say greatest, wrestling event.  With a card that features a number of knowns and (except to the most ardent wrestling fans) a few unknowns, Bound For Glory IV is 'the most pretigious' of TNA's many pay-per-view events.  It will not only feature a main event with TNA Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe defending against 'The Icon' Sting, but it will also herald the return of Jeff Jarrett to the wrestling ring after a two year absence.

Posted at 10:20 a.m. - Thursday, October 2

As someone who is a fan of almost all things geeky, I will be covering the upcoming Total Nonstop Action Wrestling events coming to Chicago next week.  Wrestling geeks from all over Chicago and the Midwest will get a chance to see the TNA brand of pro-wrestling live and in person.

Because the folks at TNA are so cool and want to reach as many of their fans as they can, they have agreed to let me interview some of their talent, so I'm asking YOU, my readers, to suggest some questions to ask of TNA founder Jeff Jarrett, TNA Knockout Karen Angle, and the Motor City Machineguns.

If there's something you've always wanted to ask a pro wrestler, now's your chance.

Feel free to comment below or drop me a line!

Posted at 8:30 a.m. - Monday, September 22

When it comes to comic books, true geeks know that there is more to the medium than just  superheroes and more publishers than just Marvel and DC.

When it comes to Chicago, the Windy City is home to many talented and recognized comic book creators like Gene Ha, Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and Jill Thompson.

Then you have those who are still working in the trenches, who are just as talented, but are still trying to make a name for themselves in an industry that can be very competitive.

Like Matt Kubinski, for instance, who is an indie comic creator who created a title called 'Superbia', which he describes as 'The Justice League meets Desperate Housewives' or 'The Avengers meets American Beauty.'

Matt came to my attention when Virgin Comics announced they had a very similar concept in development as both a comic book and a television series.  After catching wind of the announcement at Comic Con International last year, Matt contacted the folks at Virgin to let them know that their new property bore an uncanny resemblance to his own.   When we met to discuss his situation, Matt expressed that he wasn't trying to 'screw up any chances to work out an amiable solution' to the conflict, hoping that he could get his name attached to the project.  Matt made a convincing case, at least to me, but after a bit of back and forth within the company, Virgin decided to cancel development of the series.  That certainly wasn't what Matt was looking for, his hopes being that the spotlight the Virgin deal was shining on his idea would help legitimize his comic-book career endeavors.  Now it appears as if he's left going back to the proverbial 'square one'.

Matt started writing and producing Superbia in 2003, paying for the art and printing out of his own pocket and selling the books through local shops and at conventions.  He's made a bit of a name for himself in local circles and has had some measure of success, even entering a contest for up-and-coming talent sponsored by local publisher Devil's Due.  His entry was the title in question, Superbia, and with it he won first runner-up and had a chance to discuss the business of self-publishing with DDP founder Josh Blaylock.

He's published another book called 'Bleakest' which he's currently developing as a graphic novel, and is working on another concept that he was anxious to tell me about, but was hesitant to because his recent experiences had him a bit gun shy.  I sympathized as I've also had the experience of seeing my ideas miraculously appear elsewhere and under the name of the person I discussed it with.  After we commiserated and laughed, he did reveal that it was in the vein of 'zombie survival story.'  I cautioned him not to mention it to Robert Kirkman.

In addition to being a comic book writer, Matt is also an ardent card player.  Some folks may not know this, but quite a few comic pros are notorious poker players, the most notorious being comic artist superstar Jim Lee (of X-Men and All Star Batman and Robin fame).  Matt told me he has been looking for a match with Jim Lee for years and on one occasion he crashed a Wizard staff party at the Chicago convention, planning to wave a stack of hundred-dollar bills ('I'd just gotten paid' he says) in Lee's face to entice him into a match.  'I never got to meet him,' he told me, 'but I have an open challenge.  Any day, heads up poker. And I have my own money.'

Ya' hear that Jim Lee? There's a young gunslinger out there gunning for you!

For now, Matt is currently working on issue #4 of Superbia and hopes to have some of his other projects on comic book shelves in the near future.  If you'd like to learn more about him, find out where you can buy Superbia, or get in touch, you can reach him via his MySpace page.  Be on the look out, as Matt Kubinski is a name you should be hearing about again in the future.  Perhaps as a comic writer or perhaps in the World Series of Poker.

Later this week I'll be introducing readers to yet another local comic book publisher.  If you are a local creator or publisher and have a project you'd like for me to feature, or know when's the next poker game Jim Lee will be attending, just drop me a line!

Posted at 9:30 a.m. - Wednesday, September 3

For most people, comic books are all about the masks, capes and tights of the super-hero genre.  They don't realize that superheroes are but a part of the wide world of the comics medium. Outside of Marvel and DC, you have smaller press publishing companies that offer a variety of stories that have nothing to do with super-powered knuckleheads in a myriad of styles that appeal to all tastes.

One of my favorite small press companies is Top Shelf Comics which is currently having a '$3' sale on a whole slew of books.  If you've never read an independent book now's a good chance to get a whole stack of these lil' wonders and discover a whole new world in the funny books!

If you'll allow me to suggest a couple:

'That Salty Air' by Tim Sievert is Tim's first foray into indie comics.  It tells a bittersweet tale of love and loss, and reflects the real-life experiences of its creator.

I interviewed Tim at the San Diego Comic Con this past summer and am making the video available again right here:

Another independent production comes from the most revered creator in comics, Alan Moore.  Best known for his work on DC's Swamp Thing, as well as his creations Watchmen and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Moore breaks new ground in comics by fusing it with one of it's earlier cousins, erotica.  The result is the acclaimed and highly controversial Lost Girls which has finally been offered in the UK, so if you want one of the only 50 copies that remain, you better act fast!

You'll also want to check out Alex Robinson's Too Cool To Be Forgotten, Jefferey Brown's HILARIOUS Incredible Change Bots and (one of my favorites) Super Spy by Matt Kindt.

Now I normally don't shill for any specific company (Except for the good folks at Dynamite Entertainment, publishers of Xena/Army of Darkness - written by Brandon Jerwa and yours truly) but it's important that good companies like Top Shelf and great creators like Tim Sievert get the attention they deserve.

Be sure to check out the sale as there's a lot of really cool stuff to discover!

Posted at 10:45 p.m. - Tuesday, August 26

Since it's been mentioned in my latest Geek To Me, I thought I'd save folks the trouble of searching through the G2M archives and re-post my interview with Peter Robbins (the original voice of Charlie Brown) from the San Diego Comic Con.

Posted at 8:30 a.m. - Tuesday, August 19

If you've read V for Vendetta and Watchmen, you know who Alan Moore is, but do you really know who he is?  In anticipation of the Watchmen feature film, a biographical documentary is being released called The Mindscape of Alan Moore...

Posted at 10:30 p.m. - Monday, August 18

'[Bleep] DC Comics.'

That's what Robert Downey Jr. said when asked about the hit film 'The Dark Knight,' which wasn't his cup of tea, apparently. ''That's not my idea of what I want to see in a movie.' I loved 'The Prestige' but didn't understand 'The Dark Knight'.' he said in an interview with Moviehole.com ' Didn't get it, still can't tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character and in the end they need him to be a bad guy. I'm like, 'I get it. This is so high brow and so [bleeping] smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie.'

Hey, give the guy his props for not beating around the bush and trying to give a PC answer.  Then again, his latest flick, Tropic Thunder, is so not a PC film.  And Downey can say he starred in the film that knocked TDK out of the #1 spot.

Man, can't wait for Iron Man 2...and The Avengers!

Read the full interview with Robert Downey Jr. at Moviehole.com.

Posted at 8:30 a.m. - Monday, August 11

Researching my piece on the 'SUPERDOGunderdog: Knuckle Opera for the Socially Challenged' comic art exhibit gave me an opportunity to meet some very talented folks, among them independent comic creator Jeff Zwirek (who featured prominently in the REDEYE Article)...

Posted at 8:25 a.m. - Saturday, August 9

With all the attention that Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog is getting, you'd think that Joss Whedon invented the web-serial, but there are some pretty talented folks out there who don't have the ability to call on Doogie Houser M.D. and can still create compelling content...

Posted at 3:45 p.m. - Wednesday, July 30

One of my all-time favorite comic book heroes is Nexus, so imagine my delight when I'm able to do a video interview with one of his co-creators, Eisner Award winner Steve 'The Dude' Rude...

Posted at 8:38 a.m. - Wednesday, July 30

My Comic Con experience was drawing to a close and I had yet to speak to my last interview, Grant Morrison.  Most comic book readers know Grant from his work at Marvel (Marvel Boy) and DC (Final Crisis), but he was in town to plug his involvement in the Virgin Comics on-line feature tentatively titled 'MBX' based on The Mahabhrata, a considerably epic tome of Indian origin...

Posted at 10:34 p.m. - Tuesday, July 29

Sometimes you get to meet some great personalities during Comic Con.  Some folks are flamboyant, some are just plain nice.  Tim Sievert is a wee bit of both...

Posted at 10:19 p.m. - Tuesday, July 29

So I'm walking down the terribly crowded aisles of Comic Con and this guy asks me a peculiar question...

Posted at 9:38 p.m. - Tuesday, July 29

With news that the Region One DVD edition of SPACED was being released, geek media from all over jumped at the chance to meet Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes and Edgar Wright, even if for only ten minutes.  As part of a group that got to talk to the trio, I was the one who came away with something no other media member was able to get...

Posted at 6:15 p.m. - Monday, July 28

One of the most impressive booths at Comic Con this year was the Imagi Studios promotional booth for their upcoming feature, Astro Boy...

Posted at 8:36 a.m. PST - Sunday, July 27

While at Comic Con in San Diego, I had a chance to sit down with Peter Robbins, the original voice actor for Charlie Brown.  He and the entire Peanuts Gang have reunited to promote a new Peanuts Anniversary DVD set.

Posted at 8:46 p.m. PST - Saturday, July 26

At the Fox booth at Comic Con, I speak with Joe Manganiello & WWE Superstar Ken Kennedy about their action-flick Behind Enemy Lines: Columbia, their entry into the Behind Enemy Lines series...

Posted at 7:42 p.m. - Thursday, July 17

You ever hear that saying 'be careful what you ask for because you just might get it?'  Well, I'm afraid I may have asked for more than I can handle right now and I need YOUR help!

Posted at 5:38 p.m. - Wednesday, July 9

For those who read my piece on Todd McFarlane and wanted to hear the entire interview, here you go!:

Thanks to Todd McFarlane, Brian Holguin and Whilce Portacio for making themselves available for the interview.

Also, special thanks to Carmen Bryant and Jennifer Cassidy of the McFarlane Companies for their help in setting it up!

Visit Spawn.com for the latest on the Spawn re-launch!