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DC Comics’ ‘iZombie’ from Rob Thomas premieres March 17th on CW, trailer up

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Chorazin

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The comic was a lot of fun, looking forward to seeing how they adapt it. She better still have her hot ghost best friend.....
 

anaron

Member
First look at the title credits/logo

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Kevin

Member
I feel like this is one of those shows that could be either really good or really bad. I'll definitely tune in and watch it if the reviews for it end up being solid.
 
Well....Reaper still got two seasons of greatness (more like 1,5, but whatever). But yeah, I miss it too. It's funny, because similiar, but infinitely worse Chuck got so many damn seasons, why Reaper so little :(

I blame Kevin Smith. He put some weight behind it, boom. He was on Veronica Mars, boom. He wanted to direct some Heroes, boom. Comic Book Men seems to be the odd one in this.
 

anaron

Member
iZombie CREATOR CHRIS ROBERSON INTERVIEW - PLANS VIEWING PARTY FOR "IZOMBIE" TV DEBUT

"iZombie" was well received by readers and critics alike, earning an Eisner nomination for best new series in 2011. Why do you think folks responded to it so well?

I don't know, you'd have to ask every individual reader but I would think that its strength included that it was different than most of the books that were out at the time. And certainly Mike's art is going to carry with it a certain amount of charm regardless of what story he's illustrating. That gives any series a big leg up. But it was also very important to me to try and build a cast of characters that were all likable -- even the villain. I wanted to make them all relatable in some way. I like stories where there are people that are friends and get along and have adventures other than the constant conflict that we so often see.

And I think that's something that people have always responded to whether it's Joss Whedon's stuff like "Buffy" or Rob Thomas' stuff like "Veronica Mars" or Bryan Fuller's shows. They all have likable characters that get along and have adventures. Not to say that there can't be conflict but it's not people constantly antagonizing one another -- these mean, broken characters. There are characters that you would want to be friends with and you want to see what happens to them next.

You mentioned Rob Thomas, and he's behind the "iZombie" TV series. Are you a fan of his work and specifically, "Veronica Mars?"

I was a very latecomer to the show because my daughter was born just a few months before it debuted and I didn't watch any TV for a while. [Laughs] But we have started catching up on the show. Everyone we know has raved about it forever and now we're reliving the experience circa 2004 and enjoying it.

As the TV series started to come together what was your level of involvement?

The first that we knew of it was a call that I got from [DC Entertainment CCO] Geoff Johns last September and at that time, it was only that the possibility existed. And Geoff and Hank Kanalz and Pornsak Pichetshote kept us up-to-date as the months went on. Having done this as long as I have, you develop thick skin and a fairly jaded sensibility because I've gotten really close to TV and movie things happening before so as my wife, Allison Baker, puts it, we are cautiously optimistic.

And to be honest, we visited the set in April and even then it was like, "Yeah, this would be cool if it happened but I'm not banking on it." And we didn't know that the series had been picked up until it was on Twitter and everyone else knew.


While Roberson is not involved in an official capacity, and plenty of changes have been made for TV, the writer says the show maintains the spirit, tone and more similarities with the comic
You mentioned that you were on set. Are you going to be involved in the TV series?


Not in any direct creative way at this point but it was really interesting visiting the set. They've taken the basic idea and gone in a very different direction. It's a similar character with a similar personality but with a different cast of characters around her and a different setup. But they've worked really hard to capture the tone and feel of the comics to the extent that any everyone on the cast and crew has read the whole comic. And there are certain wardrobe choices and other elements of the show that are being influenced by the comic. Basically, I'm in the same position as the audience. I will be watching it when it comes on the air.

You mentioned an effort to capture the tone and the feel of the comic for the TV series. Obviously, Mike Allred is a special talent and you already touched upon what he brings to a project but can you talk about how you hooked up with him on "iZombie?"

My relationship with Mike started with me being a fan of his work in the early '90s, dating back to "Graphique Musique" and "Madman." When the idea of "iZombie" was first being put together and proposed at Vertigo, it was now-executive editor Shelly Bond, who played Chuck Woolery in making that love connection. She was looking for a Vertigo project for Mike and she sent the early, rough proposal that I'd put together, which had the basic cast of characters and the basic premise of the series and a bit about the tone that I was trying to capture and Mike liked it and that was it. We started working together and it's been fantastic. He and his wife Laura, the artist, colorist, collaborator, are just fantastic people and it's been great working with them.

You mentioned the show's Liv is a similar character with a similar personality to Gwen, who was the lead in your comic. What are your first impressions from what you've seen of Rose McIver's Liv?

I read the script for the pilot and when I visited the set, I saw a couple of scenes shot and it's been really interesting because they are different characters but in terms of personality and voice, Liv is very similar to Gwen. And the characters around her, even though they're not Spot and Horatio and Ellie, they are very similar types of characters and they have very similar types of relationships with Liv.

The one thing that I was very gratified to see was how diverse the cast is on the television show because while lots of readers noticed that we had a fairly diverse lineup in the "iZombie" comic, I don't know if they realize that by the end, there were no straight white men in that book, which is something that just kind of happened over time. By the end, every character that has a main/speaking role is something other than a straight, white man. What's been released, so far, of the TV cast, it's really nice to see that it has a similar kind of diverse lineup

If Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero asked you to be involved in the TV series, either writing an episode or script consulting, would that interest you?

Absolutely, I would be delighted to. As I said, I read the script for the pilot and it has a solid lineup of characters and it's a solid idea for a TV show. The producing team, Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero, are fantastic and have been nothing but accommodating to us. Again, I would be delighted to participate. We've actually had interesting conversations with them about some things from the comic that they might be able to incorporate. Not necessarily characters or things like that but just ideas or character types or plot devices. There are certain elements of the comic that I think might translate well to television and I think that's something that they are still investigating.
 
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