All posts by Adam Popovich

I once shot a man named JR. Incidentally it was in Reno, but it wasn't frivolous, it was for many deeply personal, guarded reasons I shall not share.

Comic Rack: Ottley & Howard Talk Invincible, Vertigo Brings Us ‘Time Warp’ & ‘Before Watchmen’ Is Done?

Welcome to Comic Rack! My pick of the top five comic news stories in no particular order…

Before Watchmen Is Done, Most Likely

J. Michael Straczynski is one of those guys in the comics industry who you either love or hate. I mean, he’s not on any kind of Jeph Loeb level or anything, but most people I know either think he’s a genius or a total asshat. I’ve got mixed feelings, as there are parts of his work that I thought were really smart but poorly executed, though through no fault of his own, (His Back In Black Spidey run), or others were weirdly interesting yet flawed, like his infamously unfinished Superman arc, Grounded. So when he goes out to say something, I tend to listen, if only because I know it’ll be interesting to hear. That being said, he’s not said anything this time that I’ve found that surprising, but it’s good to know.

“Insofar as I know, this is it for the Before Watchmen books,” JMS told PREVIEWSworld. “Dan [DiDio] had a very specific vision of the cycle he wanted to investigate, and never once mentioned anything about this turning into some kind of long-term franchise. Not to say that might not happen someday, but I don’t think it’s on his or DC’s radar at this juncture, and if it’s not on theirs it’s sure as heck not on mine.”

I didn’t imagine the Before Watchmen books expanding into some kind of monthly series or any kind of ongoing, and to be honest if they did it’d be pretty terrible. I’ve yet to read any of the Before Watchmen books, not out of any protest or anything, but simply because I have no interest. Watchmen is pretty perfectly told story, and doesn’t need much expansion or background detail added. I’m glad to find out it’s being put to rest.

Find out more here.

Ottley And Howard Talk About Invincible, SUPER DINOSAUR, & More

Invincible was at one time, by far the best superhero book out there. Every week it rocked my socks off and had me anxiously awaiting next months issue. Nowadays, while it’s by no means bad, it doesn’t have me crapping my pants with glee every time I pick it up at my LCS. That’s not to say it isn’t still entertaining or engaging either, it is. I guess at some point you’ve invested enough into a story that you’re just committed to seeing how it folds out, despite lacking its previous passion or intensity. That must be why soap operas still exist. Well, regardless of my ennui about Invincible, Jason Howard and Ryan Ottley are still both very pumped for the book, and for good reason. They’re pretty pumped about getting the years worth of books done, and rounding up to the 100th issue, which has a pretty solid teaser:

Yeah that’s… one hell of a teaser.

It’s pretty interesting to see comics writers and artists talk freely about their projects, especially when one is about A SUPER DINOSAUR. (Truthfully, I just really like writing the words SUPER DINOSAUR!)

Find out more here.

American Vampire‘s Taking a Hiatus, Snyder Assures Us It’s Temporary

One of the worst things a comics fan can hear about their favorite book, is that the author is going on “hiatus” and will return to finish the book “soon”. This is code, usually for “I’m sick of working with my editor/publisher/whatever and I am finding a way to weasel my way out of this contract”. At least that’s usually the case in my cynical opinion. However, sometimes that’s not the case, and in this interview Scott Snyder basically assures fans of his book that this hiatus definitely IS temporary, and that he’s committed to finish the popular series. This is refreshing to hear, because I recently bought the first trade digitally and was looking forward to following the series in trades from now on. While I’ve still yet to read it, perhaps this hiatus will give me time to catch up and get current, and the dastardly prospect of waiting for the trade, or buying the issue monthly can come to pass. On second thought, I’ll probably hold off on reading it longer, just because of this reason. My wallet hates me enough already.

Find out more here.

From Hellblazer‘s Ashes, Constantine Rises Anew!

While it’s not exactly news here at Comic Rack, it’s still reassuring to find out that our favorite con-man magician, John Constantine will still have his own monthly title at DC. Who’s to say if it’ll be a new, weird watered down version though? Well, the guy who’s writing the book, for one, and he’s pretty adamant that Constantine will stay the same character we know and love.

 In March, Venditti and artist Renato Guedes will be launching Constantine, a new solo series for the character that takes place in the “New 52” DC Universe. And according to the writer, fans of Constantine shouldn’t fear that the long-time Vertigo character is going to be drastically different. Younger? Yes. Unmarried? Sure. But otherwise, Venditti says, “I wouldn’t say he’s all that much different from who John Constantine has always been.”

While the sentiment is appreciated, I’m still wary. I can’t say I’m necessarily dreading it, because I’ve more or less liked everything that’s come out of the New 52, but Constantine is a tricky one to handle, and I’m just not sure how he’s going to work when played out against the whole of the New DCU. I haven’t read any of Justice League Dark, but I’ve heard he works pretty well in that, so that’s reassuring, but at the end of the day I still am not entirely convinced. I’ll just have to wait and see how things turn out.

Find out more here.

Vertigo Adds Another Anthology to its Collection

Vertigo has been on a roll lately, especially when it comes to anthologies. There’s the previous Ghosts, which I previously mentioned on this column a few weeks ago, and I’m learning there’s two others, by the names of Strange Adventures and Young Romance. I love a good anthology, the fact that this one is called Time Warp #1, bodes well for me. First off it sounds like it’s Sci-Fi, which is by far my favorite genre, secondly it sounds like it’s time travel related sci-fi, which is my favorite kind of sci-fi, and lastly it’s got that #1 in the title, which implies that it’s not just another one shot. Factor in that it’ll include stories from Damon Lindelof AND Jeff Lemire, and it’s almost like they’re trying to make a comic JUST FOR ME! Well, aside from those two big names, there’s plenty of others that any comics fan will recognize and get giddy for:

 The issue will feature stories by the likes of Damon Lindelof, Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt,  Toby Litt, Mark Buckingham, Dan Abnett, Peter Milligan, Ray Fawkes, Simon Spurrier, Gail Simone, Rafael Albuquerque and Tom Fowler, with covers by Eduardo Risso (in full below) and Jae Lee.

Well that just sounds mighty damn fine.

Find out more here.

That’s all for this week’s edition! We’ll see you next time at the Comic Rack!

Game Of Thrones Season 3 Update: Mance Rayder In The House!

It has been, and is going to be – a long wait until Season 3 of Game of Thrones premieres. In that meantime I’m stuck with the terrible debacle between hating having to wait, and loving the speculation, hints, teasers and every other little tidbit of information leaked in between about the third season. It’s what I call Lost syndrome. Back when Lost was on TV, all I ever wanted was to keep watching, to find out what was going to happen next, and hated the agonizing wait in between weeks of the show, and the truly excruciating wait in between seasons. Now that it’s all over with, I find myself missing all of that time spent in between seasons, wildly speculating on what would happen next, forming bizarre, out there theories, or just plain being baffled and wondering what the hell else could happen.

Game Of Thrones is like this in a way, only there’s a bunch of books with the spoilers right there in them, just waiting there, tempting me. I gave in for the third season/book, and now am stuck in a rock and a hard place between wanting the show to be fresh to me, and desperately wanting to continue the story right here, right now. So believe me when I say that little featurettes about the making of the show, tend to be particularly difficult for me to watch, knowing what’s coming up, and simultaneously NOT knowing what’s coming up. I’m envious of those who haven’t read any of the books and just watch the show, and I’m envious of those who have read all the books, and get to enjoy all of the show-watchers’ reactions. For me it’s a little private hell where I have to compromise between my love of over analyzation, and my impatience. For the rest of you who are in either camp that I’m not in, I’m sure this featurette will bring you lots of joy.

Ciarin Hinds: The King Beyond The Wall aka Mance Rayder

One of the more interesting things aside from that featurette, is the casting of a crucial character only spoken about as of yet in the series, that book readers will no doubt know. That would be the role of Mance Rayder, The King Beyond The Wall.

Playing him is the pretty excellent character actor Ciarin Hinds, who you may be more familiar with from his work than his name. He played Caeser in Rome, Dumbledore’s brother in Harry Potter, and his finest work yet was his role as The Devil in Ghost Rider 2. In no way am I knocking him for that, because that movie was awesome, [No it wasn’t] and he was awesome in it [Yes he was].

While I did imagine Mance Rayder a bit younger in the books, it’s certainly a role I can see him be great in.  Now pardon me while I eagerly hate/love waiting for Season 3.

‘Amazing Spider-Man 2’ Is Testing For The Role Of Harry Osborn.

Despite my protest, violent anger, seething rage and fairly open contempt towards The Amazing Spider-Man, and this ludicrously shallow movie franchise Sony is trying to build, the editors here at Grizzly Bomb seem to find some sick perverted joy in making me cover Spider-Man movie news. [Ed. Note – This is true.] I tell them, why not get someone who likes this movie? Or the series of previous movies? Or even the character for that matter? But they shun those words, and laugh as my tears are like some salty opiate nectar to them. [Also true.]

Because the last one inexplicably made so much damn money, despite being complete and total trash, they’ve moved forward with carrying out the development of the sequel. As we all know, that was the whole point to begin with, and certainly there was never any intention to tell an interesting, new, captivating, well acted, funny, engaging, non-boring story to begin with. Since we’ve established Gwen Stacy as Spider-Man’s totally hot, awesome babe of a girlfriend, we’re next gonna bring in Harry Osborn, to set up the foundation of what will presumably be the second sequel’s story, which is the introduction of the Green Goblin. Again.

They’ve currently auditioned four different actors for the role of Harry Osborn, and they’re the same type of namby pamby, limp wristed sissy boys that our current Peter Parker is. I’m positive they’ll all have multiple layers of coats and undershirts, and constantly mope about how awful their lives are while being incredibly rich, handsome, famous and generally leading amazing lives.

via [SpinoffOnline]

Douglas Booth, Sam Claflin, Boyd Holbrook and Eddie Redmayne, in order from left to right. All sissies.

[quote]According to The Hollywood Reporter, studio insiders say four young actors tested for the role on Monday: Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger TidesSnow White & the Huntsman); Eddie Redmayne (The Good ShepherdMy Week with Marilyn); Douglas Booth (NoahChristopher and His Kind); and Boyd Holbrook (Hatfields & McCoysThe Host).[/quote]

Because the current sequel is rumored to have Jamie Foxx as Electro, we can probably expect Green Goblin to show up in the third movie, which will tie in to explain something or other about Peter Parker’s parents, and people will blow their gaskets over it and laud it and oh my god the whole thing already makes me sick. Jamie Foxx as Electro already sounds stupid enough, so I can only hope these movies go full-retard into something that can actually entertain me. Until then, I’m stuck covering the news of this movie, in some sort of Sisyphean torment put upon me until the end of time, or whenever these movies stop being made. By the likes of things, they’re probably one and the same.

Comic Rack: The Age Of Ultron, ‘Chew’ Is Half Done!, & Dexter Gets His Own Comic!

Welcome to Comic Rack! My pick of the top five comic news stories in no particular order…

Grace Randolph’s ‘Superbia’ brings capes down to Earth.

Admittedly I’m not very familiar with Grace Randolph’s work. It looks like she’s most notable for her Warcraft and Starcraft comics, and there’s probably a big chance I’m missing some vastly important, seminal work of hers and I’m going to look a fool for not knowing it. As I’ve previously said here before, you should own what you don’t know, and be willing to admit your ignorance, rather than feign knowledge. So why am I bringing up her work here today?

Because the pitch of her new book Superbia sounds pretty interesting, if fairly derivative. On first glance it appears to be a story about superheroes putting down the capes and accepting a normal life in the suburbs, hence the name. While that’s been the focus of countless superhero stories, it’s never really been the focus of an entire book. How would you approach your ordinary, everyday life if you had superpowers? I know I’d mess with people a lot. How much only depends on what power I had. As for the book, it looks interesting, and I’m always supportive of original creator owned indie books any day of the week.

You can find out more here.

The Age Of Ultron Has Arrived!

It appears good ol’ Brian Michael Bendis is at it again, this time he’s writing yet another story that’s gonna be the be-all, end-all story of stories that he’s been alluding to and foreshadowing all this time all along. Ultron, our favorite evil robot that occasionally runs amok, has gained the upper hand over everyone else, and has decimated the Marvel Universe. The cover even implies that he’s killed a bunch of the fan faves in his conquest, leaving everything in his wake destroyed. Will Ultron be killing Iron Man and Captain America? Maybe. Even if he does though, it’s not like they won’t come back.

via [ComicsAlliance]

[quote]Age of Ultron, a 10-issue event series beginning next March. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Bryan Hitch, Brandon Peterson and Carlos Pacheco, the book begins with the villainous robot Ultron, a corrupted creation of Avenger Hank Pym aka Ant-Man, having completely taken over and seemingly killed a good deal of the Marvel Universe. Foreshadowed for years throughout numerous Bendis comics including this year’s Age of Ultron 0.1 special, Age of Ultron is said to conclude in a fashion so shocking that only six people actually know what will happen.[/quote]

Six people! They’re locking it down like nuclear launch codes, or the secret 11 herbs and spices for The Colonel’s recipe! Zounds!

America’s Favorite Serial Killer Comes To The Funny Books!

I don’t think they’ve been called “The Funny Books” since 1958, but it doesn’t change the fact that Dexter is making his way to having his own Marvel branded comic miniseries. Fun Fact: I never finished the second season of Dexter, and thusly have never caught up with it. Unfortunately I now know all the spoilers from it and will probably never catch up, but that doesn’t change how much I dug the first season. I wonder how a show with such a time sensitive premise would last beyond a season or two (how has he not been caught yet? Seriously?), but it’s not like I hate the thing.

I am a bit surprised to see it come to be a comic now, but at the same time it makes sense. I would have thought Dynamite would have optioned it first though, if anything, so the fact that Marvel is picking it up is a bit shocking. My main problem is that the guy on the cover looks NOTHING like Michael C. Hall, and I’m guessing he’s either some other character, or they’re trying to adapt what he looks like more directly from the original source material description in the novels. Either way, Dexter fans will probably dig it.

Find out more here.

‘The Unwritten’s Cover Artist Wins The Society Of Illustrators Medals.

Yuko Shimizu has done covers for The Unwritten for 46 issues as of now, and every single one is a damned masterpiece. Her style is evocative of Japanese wood-cut style paintings, but with a flowing, hauntingly beautiful style all her own. It’s enough that The Unwritten is singlehandedly one of the best written, and most innovative comics still being printed today, but that every single cover is a beautiful masterpiece. Her work being recognized not only cements her place in mainstream artistic press, but brings legitimacy to the comics medium as a whole through that recognition. Too often are comics looked down upon as lesser forms of art by other artistic organizations, and seeing this happen is pretty darned awesome.

Pictured: The award winning cover from issue #43

Find out more here.

 ‘Chew’ is gnawing at it’s halfway point! 

In some news that surprised me, apparently Chew was planned to be around 60 issues. Some may call me out on this, but what they don’t know is I’ve actually met John Layman, and asked him how long he planned for it to go. Back when Chew #2 was coming out, and Layman wasn’t the huge name he is today, there was a pretty big buzz around Chew and my LCS managed to get him to show for a signing. I showed up because I was there to game that night anyway, and bought the comic on a whim after hearing its premise. I decided I might as well meet the guy and have him sign my book, figuring it might be worth something later. Little did I know just how big he, or Chew would grow to be, because If I had known, I would have asked him some better questions. I asked him how he got the idea for such a nutty book, how long he expects it to go on for, and then we talked for a bit about The Walking Dead. He seemed like a really nice, down to earth guy, but I distinctly remember him telling me he didn’t have any idea how long Chew would last, other than he wanted it to be a monthly.

Well time has passed, and it certainly seems like we’re bound to see the beginning of the end for the book, as the book is wrapping up story lines to prepare for its second half. Considering the humorous ingenuity of the book, I predict the ending will pleasantly mirror the beginning. A theme of repetition has been pretty prevalent in the book, as well as it’s delightfully non-linear approach to storytelling. Frankly, I look forward to meeting John Layman again some time in the future, and asking him then if he remembers my LCS, and meeting me. Until then, I’ll keep enjoying Chew, and so should you.

Find out more here.

That’s it for this week’s edition of Comic Rack!

Tyreese Joining the Cast of The Walking Dead?

I’m one of those fans who hates The Walking Dead TV show. Passionately. At least, I did anyway. Most people are quick to accuse me of hating it simply because it’s different from the comic, which is erroneous. During Season 1, I was delighted to see the show veering from the comic. I liked guessing what was next, rather than knowing what was coming, and the CDC Lab finale was riveting and unpredictable television for me. I found myself entranced that the show was set to stand on its own legs, and take chances with its source material, and do new, daring, exciting things with the show that hadn’t been done on the comic.

Then season 2 came along, and was singlehandedly one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. Suddenly every character acted in a way that seemed forced, and reeked of writers scrambling for character motivation. Nobody talked or acted naturally, everybody did stupid things constantly, and worst of all, nobody was likable.

There’s been plenty of hate on Lori for season 2, and rightfully so. Her character was singlehandedly one of the worst changes to the series from the books, since the show’s writers decided to make her an insufferable, illogical, stupid shrew-woman who was righteously hypocritical, and defiantly indignant at the same time. [Ed. Note – I hated her in comics too.] It was maddening as each week the show I watched that was adapted from a thrilling, human drama that involves an apocalyptic survival scenario, was turned into an overly melodramatic soap opera that occasionally had zombies in it. My problem wasn’t that the show was “different” from the comic, I mean it was, but it was “different” from the show it had been. Which is a good one.  It was now just a terrible show, in and of itself, and when compared with the comic it became impossible to imagine how insanely dumb the writers were for taking such a brilliant story, and screwing it up that badly.

It was so bad Rick & Carl were even sad about it.

When it came around to hearing about season 3, I had no interest in watching it. I wasn’t even angry the show had adapted the comic poorly, I just was angry the show had gotten so bad. However, by the time the fifth episode of the third season had aired, everybody and their mother was talking about the most recent episode. My disdain for the series notwithstanding, I decided to relent my hatred and give the show a second chance to get better. While it didn’t immediately convince me, sure enough by the time I got to the 5th episode, the show had redeemed itself. Suddenly characters were acting like people again, and not struggling writers trying to shoehorn in exposition. Suddenly the acting had improved, stakes had been raised, and it was back to being a human drama about survival rather than some horror/zombie knockoff of All My Children.

What bodes even better for the show, is the fact that with the recent losses the characters of the show have sustained, we’re getting a new addition, to complement and enhance the show.

via [EW]

[quote]

In an interview with EW.com Kirkman stated the December 2 fall finale of the AMC drama will feature a new character straight from The Walking Dead comic.

“There’s a new character added,” Kirkman told EW. “A big deal fan favorite from the comic book is introduced into the show in this episode, so be on the lookout for that.”

EW speculates that it might be Tyreese, a fan-favorite character from early in the comic series — and Kirkman could neither confirm nor deny.

“I don’t know, man!” he said. “I don’t know. I got no clue!”

While Kirkman is playing coy, rumors have swirled that actor Chad Coleman (best known from The Wire and I Hate My Teenage Daughter) has been spotted in the Atlanta area where the show films and could be playing the comic book fave. Whomever it is —  be it Tyreese, or another character entirely, like, say, friendly scout Aaron or Fu Manchu mustache rocking Abraham — he (or she) will be appearing on Dec. 2

[/quote]

Fans of the comic will no doubt be excited to hear that Tyreese could be making his way to the show. I’ve long though it was going to be Tyreese, as I could have sworn I saw a stocky black guy of the right build to play Tyreese in one of the background scenes at Woodbury this season. At this point, I find it necessary to warn any readers who aren’t up to date on the comics, or the show, to beware that the next section has comic SPOILERS in it (click the + below to read anyway).

[toggle_simple title=”SPOILERS” width=”640″]Fans of the comic know that Tyreese’s death is probably one of the more brutal from the book, but even more interesting is his relationship with Michonne. Considering Michonne has left Woodbury, if Tyreese is already in Woodbury this leads to an interesting divide in storylines and relationships that will contrast interestingly with the established relationships in the book. Does this mean Tyreese could end up with Andrea? It could be the case, since Dale already died a long time ago.

[/toggle_simple]

So if it does turn out that Chad Coleman plays Tyreese, I gotta say that’s pretty good casting. I gotta say, the shows quality has done a hard about-face in quality from one of the worst shows on television, back to being one of the best. It’s pretty wild, but unless everyone takes another trip back into stupid town like season 2, I’ll be sticking with the show.

I gotta say the dude’s a dead ringer.

Game Of Thrones: Updates – Season 3 Teaser & Photos! Plus Season 2 Blu-Ray Details…

Being a Game Of Thrones fan has been pretty exciting for the last few years. It’s not often that an epic, sprawling, complex fantasy series is adapted near perfectly into a TV show that transcends its initial fandom. I, like many other fans, had only tangentially heard about the Song Of Ice & Fire book series in passing, up until news of it being adapted into a TV show started to surface. Having been a staunch Hard SF advocate most of my life, fantasy fiction was something that never quite held my interest, but I decided to give the first book a go. I quickly found myself really wrapped up in it, and started watching the show while reading the book in tandem. A few weeks later the first season ended, and I found myself addicted to the novels, and read right through and up until the third.

I’ve since finished the third book, and I’ve found myself at a curious standstill, unable to continue. Watching the second season was a curious experiment, as I found myself noticing what was changed or different, rather than just sitting back and enjoying the show. Since A Storm of Swords was such a captivating book, I plan these next two seasons to be the last I spend, with foreknowledge of the novels. I’d rather be surprised by what’s happening in the show, and read the book later, and have it act as a sort of “extended directors cut” version of the story. I have books 4, 5 & 6, but for now I’m content to let them sit on the shelf, until season 4.

Well lately it seems like progress is rolling along for season 3 of the show, which will be adapting A Storm Of Swords, what is considered by fans the best entry in the A Song Of Ice and Fire series. It’s considerable length will come into factor and end up being split into 2 seasons for the show, meaning season 4 will still be events from ASoS. The sad thing is, all we have to go on right now are some meager set photos. HBO is keeping a tight ship on this season, and for good reason, as this season is packing most of the bigger wallops from the books into it, and will assuredly floor fans of the show who haven’t read the books. Everyone else who has, will get to enjoy all of their friends reactions to the twists and turns of the story, and be surprised by what new changes are made….

So while these aren’t the most exciting set photos on the planet, at this point any details of the show I’m ready to gobble up. I’m anxious to see my favorite scenes from ASoS onscreen, and even more antsy to see how horrified my friends reactions will be to what happens this season. In the future, I’m hoping we’ll get some better promo materials, or far more revealing set photos to speculate on. For now, we’ll just have to wait patiently and live with this teaser…

One last thing: For those who are looking to whet their GoT appetites, you’ll be happy to know the DVD/Blu-ray of Season 2 is now available for pre-order. As usual it’s packed with extras, bells, whistles, and comes in a delightful box to hold it in. The good folks over at [IGN] have the full list of extras:

[quote]

Blu-ray with HBO Select – includes all DVD features plus:

  • War of the Five Kings – Track the claims, strategies and key players involved in the battle for the Iron Throne with this interactive guide that follows the movements of various armies detailing their victories and defeats.
  • Histories & Lore – 19 animated histories detailing the mythology of Westeros and Essos as told from the varying perspectives of the characters themselves and featuring, in-part, illustrations from Game of Thrones storyboard artist Will Simpson.
  • In-Episode Guide – In-feature resource that provides background information about on-screen characters, locations and relevant histories.
  • Hidden Dragon Eggs – Find the hidden dragon eggs to uncover even more never-before-seen content.

DVD:

  • Creating the Battle of Blackwater Bay – See how the epic Battle of Blackwater Bay was brought to life in this exclusive, in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the climatic episode. The 30 minute feature showcases never-before-seen interviews with cast and crew.
  • Game of Thrones: Inner Circle – Actors Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Michelle Fairley and Liam Cunningham talk in detail about their experiences shooting season two in this roundtable discussion moderated by executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
  • The Religions of Westeros – Hear author George R.R. Martin, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss discuss the competing religions in the series and how they influence the various characters in Westeros and beyond.
  • Character Profiles – Profiles of seven major characters as described by the actors portraying them including Renly Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Robb Stark, Theon Greyjoy and more.

Audio Commentaries – 12 commentaries with cast and crew including David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington and more.

[/quote]

The best thing out of all of those has got to be the audio commentaries. I remember being disappointed by the limited commentaries for the blu-ray of season 1, and wishing there were more. I can’t wait to marathon the first 2 seasons in preparation for season 3.