My review of the 1st Annual Senoia Dead Bash

My review originally published at comiconverse.com

Senoia Summer Dead Bash

The 1st Annual Senoia Dead Bash is over and i the books! If you missed it, I am just plain sad for you because this event was spectacular. It was a unique and intimate fan experience. The event was the brainchild of Oscar Rodriguez, Scott Spillman and their, without a doubt, better halves Casey and Becky. The vision was to host a Walking Dead themed art event in the heart of Walking Dead Country, Senoia, Georgia. For the backdrop they decided to use the historc Veranda Bed and Breakfast for the venue. A quant BandB was the perfect setting for this event.

We arrived in Senoia a couple of days ahead of the event, we were give the grand tour by Oscar. He showed us the grounds and explained the layout of the event. Being a huge fan of historic homes, I was impressed with the Veranda. The house itself would feature the main artists Oscar, Scott, Robin Overton, known as the Black and White guy and special guest artist and Walking Dead actor Xander Berkeley. The outside area where most of the event would take place was well laid out and gorgeous. Oscars's passion and enthusiasm for the Dead Bash could not be ignored as he excitedly pointed out the layout to us and whipped us into a frenzy of excitement.

The initial idea behind the Dead Bash was to promote artists but, it grew beyond that quickly! As a brilliant move they added vendors and meet and greets with Walking Dead cast members. The event was sold out but people were allowed to gain entry before 5pm without a ticket. During this time they were able to access some meet and greets and check out the vendors. But, after 5pm it was ticket only entry and the party started! The attendees were able to access ALL the meet and greet opportunities with the actors like IronE Singleton (T-Dog), Peter Zimmerman (Eduardo), James Chen (Kal), Sabrina Gennarino (Tamiel), Josh Mikel (Jared), Jake Kearney (Nelson), WF Bell (Savior), Karen Ceesay (Bertie), Jeremy Palko (Andy) and Nicole Barre (Kathy). And, if you were on your game you would have seen Jayson Warner Smith and Seth Gilliam milling about. Other awesome guests were Addy Miller (Teddy Bear Walker), Steven Vining (Hero Walker), Tim Proctor (Hero Walker), Kylie Szymanski (Walker Penny), and Melissa Cowan (bicycle walker). Being a comic-con veteran I can tell you it was much more intimate and exciting than fighting through a crowd of thousands. The actors took their time to engage with their fans, laughing and joking and my husband even got a big ol' bear hug from IronE.

As if this event could have been any more awesome with all its Walking Deadness it was also a fundraiser for Animal Hope and Wellness and Royal Animal Refuge! It was such a great idea to bring in the puppies! Who doesn't want to cuddle a puppy? There was a silent auction with amazing items available for bidding with the proceeds benefiting both of these charities. 

For the nights entertainment the MC was  Chris from BeaztModeNY. He did a fantastic job of keeping the crowd engaged and did amazing interviews with the celebrities. DJ on 1 wowed the crowd and kept the dance party going until the very end.

Oscar and Scott, if this event doesn't have a sequel you two better have a damn good reason because THIS girl had one hell of a time!!

Keep your eyes out because you won't want to miss next year's 2nd annual Senoia Summer Dead Bash!

The Walking Dead - What is left to be explored

This is my submission for comiconverse.com find it here: 

https://comiconverse.com/the-walking-dead-what-is-left-to-be-explored-24008

Season 8 of The Walking Dead didn’t leave us with a cliff hanger which is sometimes the route the writers like to take. I for one, am happy for the fact that there seemed to be a little bit of closure for this season. I think cliff hangers are great most of the time but when they become the norm it’s too predictable & loses its impact. I wasn’t too thrilled about how quickly the War was over. This has been built up for MANY episodes and then it was over that quickly? To quote a friend “lazy writing”.

We leave Season 8 with Negan being injured but patched up. Rick has told him he will be locked in a cell for the rest of his life. Will they follow the comic story for Negan? Who can tell but I don’t think he will be locked in that cell and leave it at that. Negan is too badass of a character and Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays this character too well to just let him sit in a cell.  It will be interesting to see how his prison term plays out.

By request of Rick, Morgan approaches the Scavengers’ leader, Jadis or Anne, and extended an invitation for her to join Rick & his crew. She was left alone in her junk yard after Simon killed all her people. He was mad at Negan and had to take it out on someone.  We end the season with Morgan extending the invitation to Anne to join Rick and his crew. She seems to be a survivor and might make a good addition. She has betrayed them multiple times, so I am a bit leery about her. There has been talk on the web that she could possible be Alpha from the Whispers. I am excited to see where the writers take Anne in season 9.

We finally see Maggie have some emotion where Glenn’s death is concerned. She wanted Negan dead to avenge Glenn’s death. Rick didn’t let him die & she finally had her break down about losing her husband. I was glad to finally see some emotion regarding the brutal loss of Glenn. She has been so hell bent on revenge that she really hasn’t taken the time to mourn him. And what about her baby? She has been under a HUGE amount of stress. Will the baby even make it? The final scene with Maggie, Jesus & Daryl makes us believe they are all turning on Rick & Michonne, I don’t believe that is the case. I think they all want Negan dead and that is what they will be planning. They have finally re-signed Lauren Cohen so Maggie’s story can continue.

The Saviors seemed to give up too easily. Are they just going to roll over, give up and be peaceful? I can’t see that happening. There were many of Negan’s followers who seemed to be just as brutal and die hard about their arrangements with neighboring groups as Negan. I just can’t see them happily planting vegetables are going about life peacefully.

Even though Daryl had every reason not to, he let Dwight go. His parting words were “Find her.”  Are we to assume Dwight understood the note Sherry left for him and will go off to find her? I imagine that will be the end of it, but I hope not. I think they could both be excellent additions to Ricks group.

The Kingdom saw the return of their King along with Jerry, Carol & Henry. Exciting things could happen there. Carol is an awesome character that the writers just kind of push off to the side & bring her out when they need some badassery. We will she come along side Ezekiel and become his Queen?

There are many other loose ends that would be interesting to explore. A few I would like to see more on: where the heck did Heath end up? That frickin helicopter? Is this all we will see of Oceanside? Filming has started on Season 9 and I am anxious to see what is coming next.