Last week, Splash Page's fearless leader Rick Marshall had the opportunity to speak with "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman about the comic book's upcoming move to the world of television. It's perhaps too early on in the AMC show's development to expect any official casting announcements just yet, but when has that ever stopped Secret Identity from speculating?
"The Walking Dead" is known for many praise-worthy qualities, not the least of which is the revolving door of main characters due to the dangerous zombie-infested world they inhabit. Still, there are a few central personalities that I hope aren't lost in the translation from book to small screen—namely, the survivors listed below. Read more...
When it was announced last month that "The Walking Dead," Robert Kirkman's long-running comic book series about life after the zombie invasion, would be adapted as an AMC television series directed by Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption," "The Mist"), it's safe to say that everyone was surprised by the news. Why? Because it was one of the most forehead-slappingly appropriate matches of a filmmaker to a comic book property in, well... I'm hard-pressed to think of any filmmaker/comic pairing that tops it.
I caught up with Kirkman recently to chat about the "Walking Dead" television deal, and the hardworking writer shared some details about why he's just as pleased with the pairing as the rest of us, and what we can expect when "The Walking Dead" and its host of zombies shamble onto TV screens. Read more...
Google Maps just became a valuable resource for "Walking Dead" readers.
Before the Internet Age, fans would have to wait for large-volume hardcovers to arrive in bookstores in order to get a Tolkien-scale map of their favorite comic book's fictional locales. Now, however, the issue-by-issue event coordinates from Robert Kirkman's first 64 issues of ongoing zombie action are as easy to find as the nearest Burger King.
A new, comprehensive annotated "Walking Dead" map contains images and event descriptions, thanks to user Jason McDonald, who created the resource. Read more...
Last week's announcement that the brilliant Robert Kirkman comic book series "The Walking Dead" was headed to AMC as a television series directed by Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption," "The Mist") was easily one of my favorite stories of the week. The combination of Kirkman's bleak, character-driven story with Darabont's considerable talent at bringing exactly those sort of stories to the screen seems like the perfect match—but it's a project that almost went in an entirely different direction, according to a recent report.
According to BleedingCool, "Hellboy" (and "The Hobbit") director Guillermo Del Toro was originally attached to bring Kirkman's tale of life after of the zombie apocalypse to the small screen. Instead of landing at AMC, the series was proposed as an HBO project, intended to be a sister series to vampire drama "True Blood." Read more...
A few tweets I didn't include today indicated that there might have been more than a handful of Marvel employees up late celebrating the company's 70th birthday last night. Nevertheless, executive editor Tom Brevoort was on the ball this morning tweeting a remembrance of deceased comics creators Mark Gruenwald and Mike Wieringo, who I mentioned here a few days ago.
Marvel's anniversary wasn't the only reason to celebrate in Comics Tweetland last night, however. Robert Kirkman was ready to pounce when the news about "The Walking Dead" coming to AMC broke. His zombie-loving comics colleagues, such as Ron Marz and Gerry Duggan, were quick to salute him.
Click on downward, and you'll find all of those, as well as an exceptionally nerdy discussion of Galactus between R. Stevens and Jhonen Vasquez, great news for Tony Moore, and Top Shelf head Chris Staros' annual adventure to Graceland. It's all in the Twitter Report for August 12, 2009. Read more...
Tags ben templesmith, chris staros, gerry duggan, jhonen vasquez, r stevens, robert kirkman, ron marz, The Walking Dead, tom brevoort, tony moore, Twitter Report
"The Walking Dead" became one of the biggest breakout indie series of the last decade after Robert Kirkman launched it at Image Comics. Now, another entertainment upstart may be bringing the zombie serial to wider audiences with an adaptation courtesy of "Shawshank Redemption" and "The Mist" director Frank Darabont. AMC, the cable network who made an Emmy winner out of their original series "Mad Men" when it began dabbling in dramas, wants Kirkman's tale to join its programming schedule.
"This is not about zombies popping out of closets," Joel Stillerman, AMC's senior VP of programming told Variety. "This is a story about survival, and the dynamics of what happens when a group is forced to survive under these circumstances." Read more...
With all the buzz surrounding the upcoming "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," musical, comic fans might be wondering if Broadway will follow in Hollywood's footsteps and develop a healthy appetite for sequential source material. It's too early to tell whether the trend will catch on with musical buffs, but that doesn't mean the possibility hasn't crossed our minds. After all, there are scores of properties ripe for the picking. Read on to examine four franchises with the potential to make fans' hearts sing. Read more...
