Frank Darabont shocked fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead last November when he fired the entire writing staff of the successful show. Turns out, Darabont wrote most of the episodes himself anyway but it still raised some eyebrows. The director is finally speaking out about the decision.

Speaking with Deadline, Darabont said the whole thing was “pretty overblown.” “It left the impression that I walked in one day and murdered 12 people. Would you like to know how many writers we were talking about? Two,” he said, “My thought had been that they’d under-delivered, and a change was necessary. I had to do too much of it by myself last year, and that was only six episodes.”

Season 2 is slated for thirteen episodes and the director is not going to be sitting in a room by himself to write all of them. “We hired Glen Mazzara as our Number Two in the room. We consider him our head writer and he’s just a fantastic asset,” he said, “We’ve also got three other staff writers in Scott Gimple, Evan Reilly from Rescue Me, and Angela Kang. Plus Executive Producer Robert Kirkman, who wrote the original comic book, is also writing for us.”

So what’s on tap for Season 2? “It’s fair to say that the first six episodes were teeing up a lot of conflicts that will be more fully explored in our second season,” said Darabont, “We find a growing conflict with our two main guys, Rick [Andrew Lincoln] and Shane [Jon Bernthal]. We’re really excited about putting all of the characters on a chessboard and seeing how wonderfully and effectively we can toss conflict into the game.”

Darabont also mentioned how grateful he is to Kirkman for his understanding when it comes to transferring his beloved comic to the small screen. “He realizes how different the mediums of comics and television are from one another,” he said, “One of the things that really attracted me to this material in the first place was how smartly Kirkman incorporated the characters and their journey in trying to survive and better themselves in this world. It was a really adult approach. And because we’re a TV series, we’ve hopefully got years to flesh out that story and all of the aspects of who they are.”

The director also said he worked for five years to get The Walking Dead on television before AMC picked it up but that the network has been good to them. “We certainly get notes, but nothing that we believe doesn’t make sense. We feel very much in partnership with AMC,” he said, “Sometimes we have to compromise, sometimes they do. But we have to admit that a lot of the stuff they’re telling us is sensible, and none of it’s dumb. Believe me, I’ve gotten a lot of dumb notes in my time, and after 25 years in the business I can tell the difference.”

Asked if he’d given much thought to the upcoming Emmy Awards Darabont said, “You know, a little bit. And it’s awesome to be a part of that chatter. We were just blown away to get nominated for a Golden Globe, a DGA award, and a WGA award in our first year. But that stuff is out of our control.”

The Comics Code may be dead, but it seems as if DC Comics may have accidentally created its successor. Image Comics has announced today that, beginning with next month’s titles, they will be adopting DC’s ratings system on their own books. Publisher Eric Stephenson explained,

Retailers have been asking us to more clearly define which audiences our various comics are aimed at for some time, and we’re pleased to finally comply with those requests. It’s been nearly a decade since the comics industry began the process of abandoning the Comics Code Authority, but during that time there hasn’t been one consistent rating system. The system DC employs is by far the clearest, so it makes sense to go with that.

DC’s system, unveiled in January to replace the defunct Comics Code Authority seal, runs along similar lines to videogame ratings:

E – EVERYONE (all ages, may contain minimal violence)

T – TEEN (12 and up, may contain mild violence or mild profanity)

T+ – TEEN PLUS (16 and up, may contain moderate violence, moderate profanity use and suggestive themes )

M – MATURE (18 and up, may contain nudity, profanity, excessive violence and other content not suitable for minors)

How long before other publishers adopt the same system, and it becomes the new norm for retailers and publishers?

Bad news from John Layman for Chew fans:

Good news from John Layman for Chew fans:

If this is glow-in-the-dark all the way through, I am totally on board with this idea.

Robert Kirkman’s updating people on the status of The Walking Dead‘s television incarnation over at the Hollywood Reporter:

We’re well into [second season pre-production on] the show; scripts are all completed and the final touches are being made and I think the cameras will be rolling in a few weeks. We’re all very excited to get back to Atlanta and sweat.

If you’re wondering who’s written all those episodes after the much-reported “firing” of the writing staff, well, Kirkman would like to set the record straight on that a little. Oh, and tease some, too: (more…)

Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson has worked out the greatest way to sell books:

[W]e’ve got a book in the works from a hot young writer/artist called “Epic Kill.” If you were disappointed by “Sucker Punch,” this is a book that’s kinda sorta in the same vein, but actually delivers.

I fully expect “It’s like that thing you wanted to like, but not sucky” to be the new “This will break the internet in half” within the next month.

Of the four new Mark Millar comics announced at this weekend’s Kapow con in the UK, it’s no surprise that I’m most drawn to the still-untitled project with Frank Quitely. The idea of an ongoing Hit-Girl series does little for me (Wouldn’t the right time for this have been last year, following the movie and when there was more interest around Kick-Ass in general?), Supercrooks sounds fairly generic, and the Dave Gibbons project is still as much a mystery as before. But there’s something about Millar and Quitely’s “huge, 12-issue superhero epic” that catches my eye, and it’s not that it’s got, as Millar noted in a CBR interview, “a mythology as rich as ‘Lord or The Rings’ or ‘Star Wars’ but along the lines of ‘Crisis On Infinite Earths‘” (Although, for anyone that doubts whether or not Quitely can do that kind of thing, I’d direct your attention to Flex Mentallo, where he does it with style). No, it’s that this will be an Image book.

Millar hasn’t done a creator-owned book outside of Marvel’s Icon imprint since… what, the uncompleted War Heroes in 2008? In fact, there are a couple of incomplete projects the writer has at the publisher – in addition to  War Heroes, there’re also the two follow-up chapters to Chosen, which were announced as forthcoming in 2009. Does one new Image book mean that the other Image books might be forthcoming?And what does it mean (if anything) that Millar is publishing outside of Marvel again?

(Also, Millar hasn’t said where the Gibbons project is being published yet, has he? I wonder if that’ll be Image as well… or even funnier, if Gibbons’ connections land it at DC or Vertigo…)

(Also, also: Considering the not-exactly-speedy Quitely is, by his own admission, still drawing the new We3 pages for the new oversized collection and then has the first issue of Grant Morrison’s Multiversity to do for DC, when are we likely to even see this new series?)

It’s been three months since the release of Choker #5 (review here), the penultimate issue of Ben McCool and Ben Templesmith’s retro-futuristic six-issue miniseries starring private investigator Johnny “Choker” Jackson. During our interview with McCool on the WonderCon convention floor this past weekend — where we talked about Pigs, the new Image ongoing series he’s launching in September with co-writers Nate Cosby — we also got a quick update on the status of the final installment, delivered with a heavy dose of dry British wit:

“Choker #6 is on its way our now, Templesmith’s definitely working on that. That should be out, and we’ll have a trade out for Comic-Con, which will be awesome. I can’t wait to bloody see it. I can’t even remember what happens, and I wrote the bloody thing.”

For Chris Arrant’s interview with McCool and Templesmith on Choker, head over here.

Looks like another current creator-owned series may be getting the TV series treatment: Deadline.com is reporting that Image’s Chew, by writer John Layman and artist Rob Guillroy, is in development as a half-hour comedy at Showtime. The script’s from Terri Hughes Burton and Ron Milbauer, who have both worked on Supernatural and Eureka (plus, IMDb tells us that Milbauer wrote the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episode “I’m Dreaming of a White Ranger,” so that’s a plus). Stephen Hopkins, no stranger to Showtime with directing work on Shameless and Californication among his credits, is attached to direct and executive produce.

Chew — the story of “cibopathic” federal agent Tony Chu who psychically receives information of the live and death of whatever food he eats — has been in development from production company Circle of Confusion since July. Circle of Confusion is also behind TV versions of the The Walking Dead, which is headed to its second season on AMC this year, and Powers, currently in the pilot stage at FX. Chew debuted in June 2009, and last year won the Eisner award for best new series.

Fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead have been ready for Season 2 since the Season 1 finale aired. How about a few words from Robert Kirkman to get you even more excited? Did somebody say “Hershel’s farm?”

With the Season 1 DVD hitting stores next week, Kirkman spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the instant hit. He says so far, Season 2 is going great. “We’re mapping out everything. We got a lot of cool ideas. Everyone here is mindful of how well received the first season was,” he said. “We’re breaking our backs, story wise, to make sure the next season is twice is good, or three times as good, with a lot of twists and turns and pushing the envelop of what you can do on TV.”

Kirkman told EW he couldn’t go into too much detail about location settings for Season 2 but said, “I know [showrunner Frank Darabont] has said we’re going to see Hershel’s farm. We’re looking to take some picturesque rural landscapes and playing with that and coming up with some cool zombie visuals. We’ll see some of the locations of the first season, but we’re going to mainly focus on breaking new ground.”

The show will continue to feature the Rick/Shane drama this season as well as focus a lot more on Andrea and Laurie according to Kirkman. He mentioned Darabont is concentrating on writing for the series as of right now. “I’m writing some episodes and he’s writing some episodes,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out what we’re doing with the directing right now. The logistics and also being big part of the writers room will limit his time.”

Kirkman also mentioned Bear McCreary of Battlestar Galactica fame is staying on as composer for the new season and that the cast and crew will once again make an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con. “We’re going to have a 12-foot-tall zombie costume,” he said.

The writer also spoke briefly about the upcoming The Walking Dead video game from Telltale.”Left 4 Dead is much more focused on action. On of the key aspects of Walking Dead is it focuses on characters and the emotion, and that theme is very much alive in the game, and luckily with modern games you can actually do that.”

The Walking Dead, which will premiere once again this October, is sure to keep fans happy with continued blood and guts. “We’ve been talking to [zombie effects master] Greg Nicotero a lot about some cool zombie stuff he has planned,” said Kirkman. “As much as this show pushed the envelope of gore on TV, the joy of seeing the best zombies ever done on a TV show every week, all I can say you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Looks like your TV could get a lot more powerful.

Confirmed on both his Twitter and Facebook page, Brian Michael Bendis announced that his and Michael Oeming creator-owned series, Powers, was greenlit for a pilot on FX. No word yet on a time frame or any specifics, other than the project will be written by Charles H. Eglee and directed by Michael Dinner.

Powers tells the story of detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, that were devoted to special investigations dealing with crimes based about “powers” or super-powered individuals. The series was originally published by Image from 2000-2004, and later moved to its current home at Marvel’s Icon imprint.

The series is being co-produced by Sony and FX Productions.

So, Rama readers, what do you think of this development?

Image Comics is sponsoring a fun contest with Threadless (you know, the t-shirt company that steals all your money with their awesome products).

“The challenge is to create an amazing comic based off of Threadless designs,” says Lance Curran, the warehouse director and founder of Threadless Comics-On Tees. Their last contest winner, Ben Foot, created the comic above from the t-shirt design, “What Did I Ever Do to You?” by David Schwen.

“I’m obsessed with comics and I’ve always felt that designs on Threadless could make great comic characters,” Curran told Newsarama. “Lucky for us, Image Comics thought so too!” Contestants have 30 days to submit their entry at which time Image will choose the winner.

Besides recognition on the website, the winner will this prize pack of books:

Orc Stain Vol 1
The Fantastic Worlds of Frank Frazetta
Morning Glories Vol 1
Popgun Vol 4 (anthology)
Liquid City Vol 2 (anthology)
Phonogram Vol 1
The Nightly News
San Diego ComicCon 2010 Yearbook (art book)

The winner will also receive a $25 Threadless gift certificate. “Threadless has such a talented and inspiring community I knew this challenge would be full of win,” said Curran. “I’m always looking for ways to combine my love of comics with my love of Threadless.” You can enter now at Threadless.com.

It Came From the NYPL

Chew v. 1: Taster’s Choice
Written & Lettered by John Layman
Illustrated by Rob Guillory
Published by Image Comics

In discussing a previous Fables collection, I talked briefly about one of the many ways in which my preferences fly in the face of common comic fandom’s. Namely, comic fans at large tend to prefer ongoing serials, years of history, long-term commitments. My inclination is toward self-contained books or only-brief serials. Reading Chew v. 1: Taster’s Choice (the pun, I feel, would work better if the series’ hero made more choices) I was, again, reminded of this division between fandom and myself.

I liked Chew. It’s bizarre and strange, and not quite funny, but amusing in its own black-humored way. It’s hero, Tony Chu, is cibopathic, meaning that he gets psychic impressions from any food that he eats – and after being pulled into the FDA (a powerful organization in Chew’s world, where bird flu led to chickens being illegal and food crimes are the norm), his ability is frequently put to use by … how to put this delicately … getting clues to crimes through cannibalism.

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Top Cow has inked another feature film deal, according to word breaking on Deadline late Wednesday, this time it’s a somewhat obscure 2005 miniseries titled Vice.

For this deal, Top Cow is partnering up with Platinum Studios, producers of Cowboys & Aliens, out later this year (and also based on a lesser-known comic book series). Vice, from writer Aron Coleite and artist Tyler Kirkham, told the story of superpowered teen felons working with the FBI as part of a Suicide Squad-esque deal to clear their records. Last summer, the publisher’s Crosshair was also reported as being in development as a film. Andrew Lazar — who recently worked on much-maligned comic book adaptation Jonah Hex — is slated to co-produce along with Platinum chairman/CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, with Top Cow president Matt Hawkins and founder Marc Silvestri executive producing along with Randy Greenberg — if it’s the same Randy Greenberg as this one on IMDb, he’s also working on the Dylan Dog film adaptation.

The story of a man discovering his father was a serial killer, Echoes #1 from Top Cows hit late last month to rampant critical acclaim, including kudos from Newsarama’s own Best Shots team — and we’ve got an exclusive preview of the second issue, out this week, after the jump.

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Cutscene: You’re  a police officer traveling on horseback towards Atlanta, Georgia to search for your family. You enter the city limits only to find it occupied with the walking dead. You quickly get surrounded by a zombie horde as your horse gets pulled to the ground. Gameplay: Fight your way out without getting bitten.

Sound like fun? It could very well be the setting of a new video game from Telltale Games based on The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman.

According to MTV Multiplayer, the game developer is announcing five new multiplatform ventures to press at a big event next month. The news of a The Walking Dead video game was not explicitly released, but hinted at and presumed by MTV. “The title showcased very obviously on the invite, and one that we’ve known about for some time, is an episodic series based on ‘Jurassic Park.’ However, the invite also states that one of the titles announced is ‘based on a just-launched property from the TV and comic book world whose popularity is changing life as some know it.’”

The author of the article points out that besides Frank Darabont’s The Walking Dead, which premiered last October on AMC, FOX’s Human Target is the only other comic property on television right now and does not quite fit the bill as well as the zombie survival drama does. Telltale is no stranger to adapting comic, movie or television properties, the developer has put out games based on Jeff Smith’s Bone, CSI and Back to the Future.

So what do you think? Is The Walking Dead primed to make its video game debut? Would you want it to follow the storyline of the book/show or would you prefer it to house an all-new adventure? I think there’s huge potential here not only for exploring further plot lines from the comic but also perhaps introducing us to a whole new set of survivors as well.

Late today, Image Comics announced that they were “expanding” their day-to-day operations to more directly include Marc Silvestri’s Top Cow Productions, publisher of comics including Witchblade, Velocity and Artifacts.

Save a brief period in 1996, Top Cow has always been an Image partner, but has acted mostly autonomously. Image’s release states that now “Image Central will work more closely with Top Cow to coordinate production, marketing and sales efforts in much the same way it already does for the other Image partners.”

The press release included quotes from Silvestri, Top Cow’s founder and CEO, along with publisher Filip Sablik. What this may mean to readers and the employees of Top Cow’s Los Angeles office is currently unclear.

The full press release follows after the jump.

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I kept looking over my shoulder while reading EmiTown, expecting cartoonist Emi Lenox to burst into the room and demand to know what exactly I thought I was doing—that’s how diary-like Image Comics’ print collection of her sketch diary-turned-webcomic actually is.

The work was apparently originally began without an audience of any kind in mind, which is quite evident from the personal, mysterious nature of a lot of the content, particularly at the beginning, where sticky notes of abbreviations and numbers often appear on the pages.

As the introductions explain, it gradually transformed into something for public consumption, yet throughout the 400 or so pages here, Lenox’s self-named town retains a great deal of mystery.

EmiTown isn’t memoir or biography, and doesn’t really resemble the sort of comics that likely come to mind when one thinks “diary comics,” even James Kochalka’s daily American Elf isn’t a good reference point, as Kochalka generally just chooses a single anecdote from the day to present. Lenox, by contrast, talks and draws about her days, the most personal matters semi-obscured by elaborate symbol-characters.

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Spawn #200 is out today, and Golden Apple in Los Angeles is putting on a day-of-release celebration for the founding Image Comics title with as big a Spawn-related guest as exists (other than Spawn himself, who happens to be fictional): Todd McFarlane, the character’s creator. It’s taking place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific time, and the flier boasts “special guests” — which, according to Twitter, look to include Stan Lee and Rob Liefeld, the latter of which contributed to the issue.

Nick Spencer’s latest high-concept creator-owned Image Comics series, Infinite Vacation, hits stores tomorrow, and as you’ve surely noticed by now, if your comic doesn’t have a teaser image campaign, then you ain’t tryin’. Here are the first three of Infinite Vacation’s clever, copyright-skirting magazine cover send-up teaser images, with the fourth and final one likely to surface tomorrow afternoon. They’re after the jump, and check back for the last one tomorrow! (And a review of the first issue of the series, which also features art by Christian Ward, is right here, courtesy of this week’s Best Shots Advance.)

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AMC’s The Walking Dead, based on the renowned comic series of the same name, is getting a ton of press and rave reviews from all around. Recently, over at The Walking Dead blog, an interview was posted with Sarah Wayne Callies, the actress who portrays Lori Grimes. It gives a bit of insight into how she play Lori and how they get that oh-not-so-fresh look just right.

Q: When it was announced that you were playing Lori, did any fans of The Walking Dead comic approach you?

A: Actually, I was in a comic book store in Vancouver and I was looking through for the latest issue that had just come out and the owner of the comic book store came up to me and said, “I see you’re checking out The Walking Dead. It’s amazing.” I said, “Yeah, I’m a huge fan.” And he said, “You know they’re making a television show for AMC. It’s supposed to be really good.” I kind of looked at him and I froze. I just went, “I’ll keep an eye out for it.” And I ran out of the store. I mean, what kind of jerk goes, “Yeah, I’m playing Lori.”

Q: Do you do a lot of camping in your real life?

A: Yeah. The rite of passage of learning to build a fire that will burn all night with one match is not an insignificant one in my husband’s family, and I grew up camping and backpacking. I love to camp. I think I’m probably much better at the boots and pocket knife thing than I am at the high heels and martini thing. And thankfully, Lori is so comfortable with it. For all the parts of her that were work, that felt like home.

Q: How much time do you have to spend in make-up to–

A: To look that bad! I’ve had so many journalists who see this thing and go, “Don’t take this the wrong way but you look like s—.” It’s dirty out there. It’s hot. Most of the make-up revolves around sunscreen. They paint dark circles under my eyes. This is not a show that is particularly amenable to vanity.

Q: Lori took her family photo albums when she had to leave town. What would you take if walkers were invading?

A: I’ve got a go bag. It’s a backpack that’s ready in the closet at all times for whatever. So that’s all packed.

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