Pads & Panels

Title: Stargate Universe: The Complete Final Season

Format: DVD

Created By: Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper

Starring: Robert Carlyle, Louis Ferreira, Brian J. Smith, Elyse Levesque, David Blue, Alaina Huffman, Jamil Walker Smith, Ming-Na

Studio: Syfy, MGM Television

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Review By: Thomas Braaksma

The Season

There are not many writers that would expect to be writing a review for a series that is a distant relative of a Kurt Russell film named Stargate. This is even more unbelievable considering the fact that he saw it back in 1994, in a seedy Madison, Wisconsin theater. That theater has long been shut down, yet the Stargate name has survived through television series, animation, and straight to DVD movies, all the way up to 2010 with the final season of Stargate Universe. (more…)

Title: White Collar: The Complete Second Season

Format: DVD

Created by: Jeff Eastin

Starring: Matt Bomer, Tim DeKay, Willie Garson, Tiffani Thiessen

Studio: USA Network, 20th Century Fox

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Review by: Bill Jones

The Season

In 2009, White Collar debuted as a fantastic addition to USA Network’s weeknight lineup, another inoffensively good (but not necessarily great) bout of mostly PG entertainment. On first glance, its premise — former con man turns FBI consultant — sounded like it could have been any trite piece of network primetime drama, but creator Jeff Eastin and company did a good job of taking themselves just seriously enough, keeping things fun while driving the action forward with good characters and an ongoing story arc. White Collar cemented itself as worthy of an hour spent watching each week.

But boy did Season 1 end with a cliffhanger. With Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) on the verge of re-hooking up with his longtime sweetheart Kate and fleeing the custody of Agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) and the FBI, the plane exploded before his eyes, with his girlfriend aboard. So in Season 2, Caffrey tries to unlock a music box holding secrets, while trying to track down Kate’s killer with the help of Mozzie (Willie Garson). (more…)

The Walking Dead

Interview with Robert Kirkman

Interview by: Bill Jones

Robert Kirkman may be one of the greatest ambassadors to the comics medium alive. As a writer, he has created the best ongoing zombie series comics have seen in The Walking Dead, carved his own space in the realm of superheroes with the popular Invincible, and has tackled the horror-meets-superhero genre with The Astounding Wolf-Man. All of this while keeping control of his properties through the creator-owned publishing model of Image Comics. That is all, of course, in addition to his work at Marvel, where he became known for his run on Ultimate X-Men and launched the Marvel Zombies series. He also earns cred for starting his career with a concept as awesome as Battle Pope.

In addition to juggling a number of comics franchises, Robert Kirkman has been hard at work in the position of executive producer of AMC’s television series adaptation of The Walking Dead, set to debut this October, directed by Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile). Kirkman took some time earlier this month to answer some questions about his long-running zombie series and delve into the gory details of the upcoming show. Kirkman talks about seeing his comic come to life as a show, his philosophy on adaptations of his work, AMC, working with Frank Darabont, how fatherhood influences his work and what fans can expect from both the show and comic. (more…)

Title: X-Men [TV Series] Volume 5

Format: DVD

Producer: Marvel Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Review by: Thomas Braaksma

There was a simpler time when children’s television screens weren’t a barrage of Hannah Montana, Zac and Cody and numerous other Disney abominations. The simpler times held greats like Batman: The Animated Series, Beast Wars: Transformers and even Power Rangers. Among these, standing tall was a cartoon of one of the greatest superhero teams ever created, the X-Men. Marvel has been releasing this stupendous animated series over five volumes, either as a marketing ploy to make more money, or just a way to spread the 76 episodes out for easier purchase…most likely marketing. (more…)