We know you’ve all been itching for news about The Walking Dead since the season 1 finale last December. There have been tidbits coming from the set, messages snuck out by cast and crew from around the time they began filming season 2 in Georgia last month. However, there has never been so much divulged until this week when The Walking Dead took over San Diego Comic-Con.
Cast and crew alike gathered together to face a horde of TWD fans and discuss the upcoming season. And while we couldn’t get a ZSC agent in, the folks at TWD live-tweeted the panel discussion (@WalkingDead_AMC). There was a lot of talk about the rough journey all of the characters would go on; most notably creator Robert Kirkman voicing how he hopes the show continues on to delve into the dark places he’s taken Rick.
“The comic book series has been going for so long, I’ve been able to do all these horrible things to Rick. I think the plan is to get there, but we’re not going to rush.”
What did we learn from the Comic-Con panel? Frank Darabont and Robert Kirkman are in the process of discussing the potential addition of comic characters Tyrese, Micchone, and The Governor. (Both admitted to really wanting Ed O’Neill involved some how.)
Season 2 of The Walking Dead picks up right where season 1 left off. “It literally begins with them driving away from the CDC. There’s none of this six months later BS,” says Darabont.
And the biggest news of the day is a CONFIRMED date for the premiere of season 2. The Walking Dead shambles back onto our TV screens on October 16th, two weeks earlier than the previous rumor being passed around. If you heard strange noises from Command during the TWD panel, don’t worry. Zombies haven’t invaded; we all are simply really excited to see our fellow commanders on screen again.
Below is the season 2 trailer that was played after the panel ended. You will see commanders IronE Singleton and Norman Reedus in action. Keep your eyes on the background as well as the action. They’ve put a few clues in about what the future holds for our favorite band of Zombiepocalypse survivors.
Want to know just how strong IronE Singleton and his Green Brigade are? What keeps them moving forward with a host of undead horde on their heels? What they carry in their Go Bags?
Login to the site, or take the chance to sign up, and you will learn what it takes to be in the Green Brigade.
Warning: The information herein is Top Secret and NOT to fall into the hands of the UGA.
Would you like to know just what the Lt Blue Brigade is all about and how they operate? Login to the site to get the skinny on Anthony Guajardo, Commander, and the Lt Blue Brigade’s survival secrets for when the Zombiepocalypse hits.
All information herein is CLASSIFIED and as you’ll see, Anthony Guajardo and his Lt Blue Brigade members know exactly how to deal with unsavory folk. Watch out for that machete!
As with most girls, Addy Miller kept her doll close to her while at the Comic Con in Philadelphia. The difference? Addy’s doll was missing part of it’s face…because it was a doll modeled after her part as a zombie in The Walking Dead. As our booth was right next to hers, I was able to keep an eye on for the entire weekend, making sure she was made of the stuff to be a 2nd lieutenant in the Zombie Survival CrewTM. Let me tell you, she may be the youngest to join the command, but Addy Miller is grace under pressure — something necessary in a leader. With creatures like Chewbaca, zombie Hulk, and Zumby (Zombie Gumby) wandering by Addy kept her cool — even when the worst of all… the StayPuft Marshmallow dude, who caused our fearless leader to tremble, didn’t rock our new 2nd lieutenant one iota. And doesn’t she look sweet with her 1st lieutenant, Sean Patrick Flanery?
In a continuation of our Member’s Only Monday feature (must be a member to view), we bring you the Blue Brigade.
The easiest way to get nice and dead in the Zombiepocalypse is to wander around lost. The ZSC’s Blue Brigade is here to help you stay alive and intact. Login to the site, or take the opportunity to sign up, and delve into the tactics used by Norman Reedus and his brigade to keep the rest of us on the map.
Warning: Any information herein is CLASSIFIED. Leaking such information about brigades is considered a grave offense and will be dealt with using the pointy end of a crossbow bolt.
Saturday morning found ZSC Command members gathered round the resort’s Starbucks in search of coffee cups big enough to hold the amount of caffeine we all needed before the Con doors flew open.
And when the doors opened – it sparked a 10-hour onslaught of zombies, demons, bloody priests and people with chainsaws where their hands should have been.
The Walking Dead and Boondock Saints casts were in front of us, Night of the Living Dead to our right, with Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi and Anthony Michael Hall behind us.
Rocco came over to work the Zombie Survival Crew table and lend some extra Command support. Rocco’s move brought Blue Brigade Commander Norman over for a bit. Norman jumped right in and completed a few ZSC Command missions, and got so enthusiastic about it we had to physically stop him at one point.
The Command support of his two Boondock Saints cohorts drew Sean’s attention as well – though it later became apparent Sean has a different take on what ZSC Command structure should ultimately look like. It’s a disconnect I thought we had settled out after the Albuquerque Comicon – but he and I are trying to work it out. Or rather, I’m running from, hoping Sean won’t go jujitsu on me!
Norman, Greg Nicotero, Jon, Steve, Anthony and the rest of The Walking Dead took off mid-afternoon for their panel which many fans later picked as one of the highlights of the weekend. Nicotero thrilled the fans with information about effects and the magic he and his team work on The Walking Dead zombies.
While the gang was gone Lisa and I took the opportunity to scarf down the chicken ZSC loyalist Leigh-Anne procured for lunch, and found ourselves embroiled in impromptu Command strategy sessions with Anthony Michael Hall, Ted Raimi and Michael Kenworthy.
Within an hour all three gentlemen convinced me they were valuable assets to ZSC Command – and I enthusiastically issued rank assignments on the spot.
As the sun began to set, the Con wound down and the after events ramped up. Leigh-Anne volunteered to act as scout and went ahead to scope the VIP party crowd for potential UGA attackers. She immediately felt the eyes of surveillance upon her, but communicated the belief it was safe for Command to enter – as long as we were careful to avoid predator drone attacks.
Norman, Sean, Rocco and Anthony held their own, and ultimately it was Leigh-Anne – our brave volunteer – who suffered the first real loss of the evening when a UGA agent managed to procure her room key. As volunteer keeper of the Communication network she would be repeatedly targeted throughout the evening. We have yet to discern the “why” behind these assaults but can only assume it is an attempt by the UGA to remove Command’s support systems.
We bobbed, weaved and shimmied – and unlike the previous night it was because of the rockin’ music at the poolside party. We even managed to eat at a relatively decent hour. I just wish I could report we actually went to bed at a decent hour. Oh, don’t worry. We all paid the price…
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Sunday
My alarm might as well have had laryngitis for all the good its squeaking did in terms of waking up the living dead (me) that occupied my room Sunday morning. A text message on the other hand seems to have miraculous regenerative powers. Just sayin’.
The call to Anthony and Lisa – to see if they were still among the living – turned into an exchange of moans and groans any zombie would envy. Pretty sure none of us understood what any of the others were saying.
I didn’t quite realize how bad things were until I turned on the light in the bathroom. And I’ll be honest. I screamed. Puffy swollen eyes. Blotchy skin. A general green tone to the skin. For a few heart-pounding moments I feared the UGA had somehow unleashed another assault and infected me. But no. I was thinking, so I couldn’t be a zombie. I think, therefore I am, right?
Phew. Disaster avoided.
Sort of.
Sunday was a blur of monster assaults and UGA probes that seemed to be occurring within a live-action role play of a Marx Brothers routine.
As I attempted to decode an early morning email from Anthony Michael Hall, and Lisa helped Anthony try out a coffin, Leigh-Anne volunteered for a desert mission under extreme conditions. I couldn’t quite believe she still had enough left in the tank to take on a mission of mercy to resupply ZSC command – but she did, and reported back with biscuit sandwiches and coffee.
It was around this time that I ended up with Anthony Michael Hall’s bank card. The scenario that led me to be guarding the card reminded me of an old Danny Kaye movie scene from The Court Jester where he’s trying to remember this tongue-twister: The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true… What? Oh forget it, don’t ask.
On a mission to get something from the ZSC Command vehicle, I opened loading docks doors only to find myself nearly tackled by one Jon Bernthal, who had apparently managed to get stuck outside under the burning Florida sun for some time. Jon did better than Norman, Rocco and I when we all ended up in the Sahara ourselves a little while later.
When Michael Kenworthy decided to don his new ZSC Command tshirt, he changed mid-room without thinking it through – and ended up with people throwing dollars at him. To say he blushed when he realized his mistake would be the understatement of the decade.
Steve played a quick game of ball with The Walking Dead cast mates Chandler Riggs, Adrian Kali Turner and Addy Miller that involved a ninja strike from Norman before he had to take off for his next mission.
As a result of events at Spooky Empire, Zombie Survival Crew, we now have a new standard operating procedure for all future Cons. ZSC cadres are requested to check in with Command as early as possible to set parameters for Command protection and integrity for the duration of the event.
Let me tell you why….
It was apparent pretty early on that Spooky Empire May-Hem was going to live up to its name.
My eventually successful attempt to retrieve Light Blue Brigade Commander Anthony Guajardo and his mother Lisa from the airport involved about 35 minutes of driving around in circles – which, I have to say is vastly less exhausting than running around in circles, but still kind of crazy. Shortly after we got to the resort, Lisa crashed in my room. Within minutes? Anthony crashed. Shortly thereafter yours truly was dreaming about sugar plum fairies.
When we awoke – now hopelessly late for set up and early meetings – we immediately discussed the possibility that the Unnamed Government Agency had somehow infiltrated the event and put us all out for reasons we probably wouldn’t want to guess.
Set up involved a crazy mad dash into the celebrity signing room where we would spend the weekend recruiting new members as personalities from The Walking Dead, Boondock Saints, Night of the Living Dead and Evil Dead thrilled the fans.
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ZSC loyalist @buttrscotchboom (a.k.a. Leigh-Anne) showed up shortly after the event opened and adopted a defensive position to assist Command. And she got there just in time – as I was soon to fall victim to a gruesome attack by Bill Hinzman, better known as Zombie #1 from George Romero’s masterpiece Night of the Living Dead. I did manage to escape with an assist from Leigh-Anne and Lisa only to discover that Anthony was passed out on the ZSC table. We revived him – debriefed around the assault that left him incapacitated – and proceeded to scour the room for potential UGA moles.
By the time Norman arrived on the scene we were in full defensive deployment mode. We – with our allies from the Dixon’s Vixens – informed Blue Brigade Commander of the multiple attempted attacks just as a predator drone strike took aim at Norman. He was able to escape but inadvertently left Rocco in the line of fire. We bobbed. We weaved. We even retreated at one point to try and regroup. The UGA was relentless. I left Rocco and Anthony with armed guards Leigh-Anne and Lisa and ventured – at 3 a.m. – to find us some food to keep up our strength.
The food resupply was just what we needed to help us strategize – we crafted code words, evac plans and communications to aid us in predator evasion and keeping Command intact for the weekend.
With that, we were ready to face the hordes. Or so we thought ….
We know you’ve all been itching for news about The Walking Dead since the season 1 finale last December. There have been tidbits coming from the set, messages snuck out by cast and crew from around the time they began filming season 2 in Georgia last month. However, there has never been so much divulged until this week when The Walking Dead took over San Diego Comic-Con. 
In a continuation of our Member’s Only Monday feature (must be a member to view), we bring you the Blue Brigade.
