The second season of NBC’s GRIMM has turned the characters upside down, especially “Juliette” played by Bitsi Tulloch. She fills us in on how it all happened – and what’s coming up on the show when it returns in 2013. Plus CBS’ PERSON OF INTEREST is a Top 5 rated show which has been a surprise to a lot of folks including stars Michael Emerson & Jim Caviezel who talk about putting the show together. Meanwhile, STAR WARS gets two more writers and WOLVERINE gets a Marvel NOW launch.

The Point Radio  – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or on any mobile device with the Tune In Radio app – and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

I’m not going to show you the spoiler.

I’m not going to link to the spoiler.

I’m not going to allude to the events in the spoiler.

I’m going to discuss the REACTION people are having to the spoiler.

Now, Dan Slott has a Scorched Earth, Zero-Tolerance policy on spoilers for both this issue, and the two that follow, leading to the 700th (and LAST) issue of Amazing Spider-Man:

“Heads up: People are getting their hands on review/advance copies of ASM #698. I see anyone spoiling it ahead of time (before November 21st): I will BLOCK you for life on ALL social media. Very serious. We’ve worked VERY hard to keep this stuff under wraps and make this fun for people WHEN they read the book. We’ve done all we can on this end– now it’s up to you.”

He’s kept the pressure on by thanking the few people who have seen the page for keeping their mouths shut.

So as I say, I do not intend to discuss the spoiler itself, That is, other than to say it is as ground-shaking as he’s promised, or more precisely, threatened.

In honesty, it’s not technically a spoiler, in that it’s not the end of the story. It’s a single leaked page, upon which is a pretty cool plot twist. To say it’s a spoiler would be like saying the “spoiler” of Deathtrap (out today on Blu-Ray via the Warner Archives) is “And then they kiss!” That’s not the spoiler, it’s a major twist in the middle of the story, one that turns the tale on its ear. It does not tell you the ending, not even close.

The issue is expertly written.  You read it through, and then this happens, and you immediately go back and re-read it, saying, “When did…” and you realize the answer is BEFORE THIS ISSUE EVEN STARTED.  And you read it through again, and now every line means something WILDLY different.  It’s a delightful twist, and if you went and looked at the page online yesterday, you did NOT get the full impact of the moment, and if you go and read the issue today, you will.

If you’re a Doctor Who fan, I can best compare this to the big WTF moment at the end of The Almost People.  This is as good a conversation starter as that – when did it take place, how was it done, and most importantly, how will he get out of it?

People who have seen the page or read the issue seem to be making what is likely an incorrect assumption. They presume that the event in question is a harbinger of the status quo for the new series. They seem to forget that there’s two issues to go after this one. Dan Slott has started, whipped fans into a frenzy, and ended bigger storylines than this in less time. If this same exact,event occurred in, say, 648, people would be kicking up their heels and licking their lips and saying “THIS is gonna be fun!”

But the assumption is that the event will not change, not end, and represents what we will be reading in Superior Spider-Man in a few months. People who have been reading comics all their lives are suddenly convinced that this event is a fixed point in time.

And I have to wonder why.

If Superior Spider-Man was to be taken over by a new creative team, I’d be right there with you, convinced that we were in for months of A Bold New Direction, until cooler heads prevailed and we got back to reading about Spider-Man again.

This is DAN SLOTT. The man who successfully washed the taste of One More Day from our mouths with a narrative mix of peppermint schnapps and Sprite. The man who, when seeing that all the creative teams were being spun about like deck chairs in a storm on an ocean liner, lashed himself to the mast and nailed his feet to the deck.

You don’t know how it happened.

You don’t know what happens in the next one, two or three issues.

You can only look back at past performance, and extrapolate as to whether or not he’s going to write something you’ll enjoy. Not “agree with”, not “won’t get upset about”, but ENJOY.

I am not worried.

Some 30 years ago DC and Marvel produced a series of ads featuring their characters (except Superman) in one-page adventures hawking Hostess products. That campaign ran forever, so when we relaunched E-Man at First Comics I thought it would be fun to get people to do Hostess ad parodies featuring their creator-owned characters. John Byrne did Rog-2000, Max Collins and Terry Beatty did Mike Mist, Lee Marrs did Pudge Girl Blimp, Reed Waller did Omaha The Cat Dancer, and so on.

A few years later I was at DC Comics where I edited (interm-ly; Marv Wolfman was moving to the west coast and had some health issues) Teen Titans Spotlight. Mike Baron wrote a story featuring The Hawk (of the original Hawk and Dove) wherein the lead character uttered the epitaph “Bite My Twinkie!” Whereas it was completely in character, one of DC’s top-most executives took great offense at this. In an act of astonishing courage, our young photocopy-kid – who later became a full editor – demanded said executive to point to his Twinkie. That, I felt, was more salacious than Baron’s original line.

Twinkies became a metaphor long ago. Those childhood memories are exceptionally powerful: we all grew up on Twinkies and Ding Dongs and Zingers and those of us who were baby boomers routinely rediscovered that ancient passion around 2 AM after giving the nation of Columbia a boost in their GNP. In fact, Chicago’s hippie district bordered a Dolly Madison thrift shop (before the company was bought out by Hostess) and, to the best of my knowledge, it was the only said thrift shop to have overnight hours. It was a great place to meet up with friends.

So it is no surprise that last week’s sudden closure of Hostess has traumatized so many people. No matter how unhealthy the product was, those childhood attachments more than compensated. Millions of us who hadn’t eaten much of that stuff in the past four decades felt a genuine loss. My daughter is upset about the prospect of having Wonder Bread-less peanut butter sandwiches and she’s right: it will not be the same.

Sure, there’s a handful of Food Nazis who have been quoted as saying “well, now people can eat vegetables and other healthy stuff.” These people are dangerous lunatics. People who think somebody who can no longer procure a Ho-Ho will now reach for broccoli should not be allowed to operate heavy machinery.

We’d like to think that in comics we’ve progressed past the nostalgia connection, and to a certain extent we most certainly have. But the power of those childhood memories is so great that it would be ridiculous to assume they are no longer relevant. I got over the loss of Ipana toothpaste, but our culture is worse off for the absence of Shinola. It is no surprise to me, at least, that we started making “serious” comics movies when those who grew up with comics as a vital part of their childhood lives started working behind the camera.

So when I went to the local Stop and Stop Saturday afternoon and noted how the joint was totally cleared out of Hostess/Drakes/Dolly Madison products, I chuckled. Loudly.

And then I went over to the comics rack to see what was still on sale.

THURSDAY: Dennis O’Neil

The Destroyer’s Warren Murphy, along with Gerald Welch, launch a new Destroyer spin-off called Legacy.

PRESS RELEASE:
FORGOTTEN SON BY WARREN MURPHY AND GERALD WELCH

It’s the second coming of Warren Murphy and Gerald Welch is riding shotgun!

Forgotten Son is the first book in the new Destroyer spin-off series, Legacy. Violence is escalating at the US/Mexico border. Smugglers run rampant while decapitated heads decorate billboards like Christmas tree lights. But the cartels choose the wrong place to conduct their business when they decide to cross the Arizona border belonging to the Sinanju tribe.

That’s where Ex-Mossad agent Benjamin Cole comes in. Ben has just been tapped to head a secret new government agency responsible for stopping terrorist acts. He is only given two field agents, but fortunately for him, Freya Williams and Stone Smith are the daughter and son of a certain Remo Williams.

This is old-school Murphy at his best, with explosive action, biting satire and engaging characters. Welch, coming off strong from the first five books in his Last Witness series, brings a spark of magic to the mix, but you kind of expect that from someone who has an honest-to-God lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Fans of the Destroyer are going to love Forgotten Son and if you’re one of the four people on Earth who have never heard of the Destroyer, then buckle your seatbelt, because you’re in for a ride. If this book is any indication of what we can expect from future Legacy books, then Forgotten Son will be long remembered.

Learn more about Legacy: Forgotten Son at www.destroyerbooks.com.

Airship 27 Productions, in conjunction with Dynamic Ram Audio, is thrilled to announce the release of the new audio recording based on the stories of the Airship 27 release, WITCHFIRE by Ardath Mayhar and Ron Fortier. Read by Fiona Thraille.

About Witchfire:
As a young child, Morgan Rein was taught by Mother Kalavela the curative powers of White Witchcraft. Ancient arts and skills employed in the service of mankind. The greatest of these elemental talents is the ability to control fire.

Now, from out of her tortured past, comes a deadly threat in the form of a psychotic warlock bent on murder and destruction. A cruel, sadistic soul who also happens to be her brother.

It will take all of Morgan’s arcane skills, and the aide of a wisecracking cynical scientist, to combat the Dark Forces unleashed against her. To survive she will have to summon the purest flame of all, Witchfire!

A beautiful white witch uncovers a dark power threatening her city and her only ally is a skeptical scientist. Together they battle a sadistic fiend in this romantic thriller by Ardath Mayhar and Ron Fortier. Our first ever audio book brilliantly read by Ms.Fiona Thraille. Available now at our on-line website. Perfect for those holiday drives or daily commutes.

Witchfire is also available as a paperback here and at Amazon and as an ebook here.

One of the best writers the comic book industry has ever seen is Mike Baron. He created two of the greatest comic book properties ever, Nexus and the Badger. Mike has written for all of the major comic book companies and handled some of the biggest characters in comics. Mike has won two, count ‘em, two Eisners and has been nominated for a slew of awards including a Harvey.

On a personal note, Mike is also one of the few people I’ve given a painting to. That may not be a big deal for you but I don’t give away art so it’s a big deal for me.

Mike is a comic book treasure.

Mike is a fantastic writer.

Mike not only writes comics, he writes kick ass novels.

Mike is also a major pain in the ass.

Yeah, Mike is one persistent pain in the ass motherfucker.

In his role as major pain in the ass, Mike wants me to read two of his latest novels, Helmet Head and Whack Job and has been on me like the KKK on Obama to do so. I have not been able to read them as of yet, just as I have not been able to produce a long promised drawing for a fan, more on that completely unrelated to this article later.

Mike bugs the shit out of me and I take it because Mike is not only a great talent he is a dear friend who I love like a brother. Yes, Mike understands that I’m swamped like a bitch with my workload and understands as much as I’d love to read one of my favorite writers latest work I need the time to do it justice but Mike could give a fuck.

It’s a great problem to have. One of the best writers the industry has ever produced wanting my opinion on his work is so damn cool I pinch myself sometimes at the sheer coolness of it. Yes, I could garb a few hours during the week and fly trough the books but I simply cannot read a Mike Baron story like that.

A Mike Baron story you have to sit and enjoy and if it’s a Mike Baron horror story you have to take the extra step of making sure you are not alone in the house while reading. That’s because it’s a certainty that at some point the story will be so scary and/or brutal you will long for the comfort of human contact.

Clearly it’s not just my lack of time preventing me from reading the two novels it’s all the prep that goes into reading a Baron novel. I just don’t want to read it, I want the time to read, enjoy and prepare for it.

Those are not excuses, they are facts. That persistent pain in the ass motherfucker is that good.

Really.

Mike, I know you are reading this so know this, I plan on reading at least one of your books during the Thanksgiving holiday this week. So stop sending me emails with the subject line; What the fuck are you doing that’s more important than reading my books?

Nothing, Mike. Nothing is more important than reading your books, please no more dead cats nailed to my door.

On a completely unrelated yet somehow I see a parallel so I’m working it in here note, I owe a fan a drawing and I have every intention of doing that drawing but if said fan keeps posting shit on Facebook trying to shame me into doing it then he is in for a rude awakening.

Mike’s not the only guy who can nail a cat. Hell, now that I think of it I’ve nailed quite a lot of pussy in my life…

Blam!!! Rimshot!! I’m here all week! Try the chicken! Read Mike Baron!

WEDNESDAY MORNING: Mike Gold