comics

No doubt about it, the TV viewing world loves Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In fact, there are some of us ... ahem ... who just can't seem to let it go.

Yeah, I just called the kettle black, as I mourn for Buffy like no other show in the history of television. However, now that a massive mulitiplayer online Buffy game has been announced, I am wondering if all the Buffy love has gone just a bit too far.

I could stomach the previous video games, mostly because they weren't purchased by anyone in my household, and I have even been known to read the season eight comic books (which may or may not have something to do with the storyline of the MMO game). Maybe, just maybe, I am wondering if it is time for all of us to just let Buffy rest in peace.

It seems that a guest-stint on Heroes isn't enough, William Katt must further prove himself by starting his own comic book company, Catastrophic Comics. Their debut comic, called Sparks, is being released today.

According to the press release, the series is set in 1948 and follows Ian Sparks, a masked vigilante who discovers the high price of being a hero. Sparks was co-created by William Katt and Christopher Folino, the writer/director of the cult comedy film "Gamers."

"My goal for Catastrophic Comics is to tell original stories, with amazing art work, that don't suck. And I can't imagine a better book to launch our company with than Sparks. JM and Chris have done a superb job with this gritty book," commented William Katt.

Between this and his upcoming TV appearance, it seems that Mr. Katt is milking his former television glory for all its worth. Not that I blame him. The Star Trek actors have been doing it for decades.

When Smallville premiered a little over seven years ago, a few fans were unhappy about the addition of Chloe Sullivan, a character that never appeared in any Superman comics, movies, etc. As time went by, fans embraced this Smallville-created character to a point that they were unhappy when rumors of her being written off the show a while back were leaked on the web. Luckily, it never happened and Chloe Sullivan not only stayed on the show, got a job at the Daily Planet but was given a power.

TV Guide reports that DC Comics' Superman will take cue from The CW's show and include Chloe in an upcoming edition of the comic book.

What are you going to do? The Office, How I Met Your Mother, and even new shows like Pushing Daisies and Chuck are either out of fresh episodes or quickly running out. Well, you don't need to spend the "strike season" curled up in the corner of your bedroom crying through a pile of TV Guides, remembering the good old days when you didn't already know what was going to happen this week on House.

Television is alive and well, and even growing ... just somewhere else. Want to know what happened to Jack Bauer before Season One of 24? How about Buffy and the Scooby Gang after the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? More and more shows are expanding their horizons by telling prequels, sequels and even in-between-quels in comic books, or graphic novels.

Do you like comedy? Sure, we all do. If you especially like your comedy in written and audio form, these two news items should have you clapping your hands and doing the happy dance:

First, that Comedy Death Ray CD I mentioned earlier will be out on September 12. The 150-minute CD, comprised of sets recorded during the all-night fourth anniversary Comedy Death Ray show at the UCB theater and sets from the SF Sketchfest, will feature such comedians as Patton Oswalt (King of Queens, Comedians of Comedy), Maria Bamford (Comedians of Comedy), David Cross (Mr. Show, Arrested Development), Paul F. Tompkins (Mr. Show, Best Week Ever), Doug Benson (Best Week Ever, Last Comic Standing), Brian Posehn (Mr. Show, Comedians of Comedy, Just Shoot Me, The Sarah Silverman Program), Neil Hamburger (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job), and many more.

"Rogan Vs. Ant" sounds like a Japanese monster movie.

In this instance, though, I'm not talking about mutated monsters battling over Tokoyo, I'm talking about comedian Joe Rogan's recent accusation that comedian Ant, the openly gay judge on Last Comic Standing, steals jokes.

If that sounds familiar, it's because Rogan made the same accusations against Carlos Mencia not too long ago (and others have accused Mencia of stealing, as well).

I'm not going to comment on whether Rogan's allegations against either of these men are true, but I will say that no idea exists in a vacuum. If you're a comedian and you've come up with a funny joke or concept, it's likely someone else has thought of it, too. I'm not a comedian, but even I've had funny ideas that I later see pop up on The Onion, or Comedy Central, or any number of places. It's probably a comfortable delusion to think everything your brain concocts was pulled from some realm no one else's mind can touch, but that's just not how it works.

(S01E22) This episode got off to a quick start picking up right where we left off last week with Peter Petrelli on the verge of combustion. Peter nearly had Claire shoot him as they had previously discussed, but fortunately, he seemed to gain control of his newly absorbed power.

Which brings me to this question: Why is it Peter can absorb powers by standing next to someone, but Sylar has to "rip your head open" to quote Claire? I'm sure someone will let me know in the comments. I'm guessing it's not just a personal preference.

Peter's involvement from this point forward was fairly limited, but we can see from the previews that all hell is going to break loose next week, and Peter and Sylar will have their much anticipated standoff.

(S01E21) Every week I walk away with a bit of a headache after watching Heroes. It's not a bad headache by any means. It's more of a sensory/information overload kind of a thing since each episode is filled to the brim with so many details.

That being said, the show is so entertaining, I find the discomfort completely worth it.

I was REALLY looking forward to seeing how Drive turned out. It was just what I seemed to be craving in my weekly TV diet: another bout of addiction to serialized drama and paranormal wonderment. Sadly, FOX gave it the old kick in the proverbial shorts, and I find myself sadly wanting more. You have to wonder, after all the work that goes into a series like that, do the networks plan on giving it a snowball's chance in hell, and only the super lucky survive?

Warning! There be some mild spoilers ahead. Proceed at your own risk, because Hiro ain't here to turn back time. Plus you can click the images for larger versions.

TV Squad was invited to visit the set of Heroes last month, and it's just about time for the episode we saw them filming to hit the airwaves. Tonight's episode is the much talked-about Episode 20 'String Theory', where Hiro and Ando have journeyed five years into the future, and encounter "Super Hiro" -- who is basically normal Hiro with a ponytail, soul patch, Matrix-esque clothes, a flawless English accent, and much more control over his powers. However, something has gone wrong ... right? Because if he had total mastery of those time-bending and teleporting abilities, he could've stopped New York from going boom.

As we saw in the last episode, Hiro and Ando find some sort of mish-mash network of strings, photos, and more in Isaac's old loft, where Future Hiro has clearly set up shop and appears to be working out some problems with the timestream in a sort of A Beautiful Mind fashion. It looks like he's been charting connections between people and events, and I'm sure we'll see more of that. During our visit, we caught up with Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka), Ando (James Kyson Lee), and Kaito Nakamura (Hiro's father, and Trek legend George Takei) while they were filming Episode 21 'The Hard Part', and we got to watch them at work and talk with them about their characters, the show, and what lies ahead.

One of the great things about blogging instead of writing for a magazine or newspaper is that I have absolutely no obligation to be unbiased. In fact, I can be as subjective and biased as I want. If I love a show, you can bet a bucket of monkey meat I'm going to tell you how much I love it, and I won't mince words.

If you do a search for my name and "Adult Swim" on this blog, you know I'm an admirer of that particular block of shows, partly because they provide content that's perfectly suited to my own sense of humor, but mostly because it gives new and weird ideas the chance to find an audience. I'm also not one of those who thinks the block should only consist of animated programming; if this is the only place on the TV landscape that'll let a show try to find an audience without worrying about whether it fits with current trends, I say more power to it.

I love 24. The show is in my blood now and, like millions of weekly viewers, getting near the end of the 6th season we find ourselves wondering if Jack might be running a bit shy on ways of getting people to squeal. Seems like it's a sign of how we might only get another season or so out of this show, or he will have to take a cue from this edition of BewbTewb.

Previously I mentioned a new Web series for Comedy Central's Motherload site called "Crash Course in Comedy." Well, the first couple lessons from comedian Ted Alexandro are up with more to follow over the next month.

These new webisodes are somewhat different than other offerings on Motherload, as amateur comedians can actually upload their own performances to demonstrate what they've learned from the online instructions. In theory, I suppose it's an interesting idea, but the segments suffer from a kind of schizophrenia by trying to be both funny and informative at the same time. I'm not a comedian, but I think most established comedians would tell you that stand-up comedy, or any kind of comedy, isn't something that can be taught. One either has a knack for it, or they don't, and no amount of lessons are going to turn you into Steve Martin anymore than piano sheet music will turn you into Beethoven. The only thing that can turn you into Beethoven is a "spirit meld" orchestrated by a mystical wizard; I think everyone knows that.

Check out one of the first lessons after the jump.

Starting today, TV Squad gets its own regular comic series, from webcomic artist, Scott Johnson of ExtraLife and ExtraLife radio fame. Twice a month you will get a funny mix of his love for TV and his obsession for cartooning. Enjoy the first comic, and keep an eye out for a regular dose of BewbTewb!

You can see more work from Scott over at MyExtraLife.com!