Jimmy Palmiotti is a writer and inker of comic books. He has also written for video games as well as television and film. In 2013, DC Comics tapped Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti to relaunch the Harley Quinn series. The 30-issue series would consistently be a top seller at DC. 

I got to sit down and talked about how Todd McFarlane reached out to him about working on new Spawn series The Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger.  Jimmy talks about how with fans who haven’t read the Spawn comics can jump in on this series. It will show how he became the Gunslinger. The interior art is by Patric Reynolds, and cover A is also by Patric. 

We also talked about his Kickstarter for The Deadly Trio: Doomsayer #1. It’s an all new sci-fi action-adventure series by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Brian Pulido & Billy Tucci! Its goal is $15,000. There are 25 different tiers you could pledge. Each tier includes an exclusive. It starts at $5 and goes all the way up to $699. There are 6 days left, and they have just unlocked 65K. You can go to their Kickstarter page and check out all the cool stuff.

There are a lot of great artists contributing covers. Giuliano Peratelli, Amanda Conner, Hedwin Zaldivar, Ben Caldwel, Joel Gomez, Billy Tucci, Jose Varese, Chad Hardin, Joseph Michael Linsner, Dan Lawlis, Leandro Oliveira, Diego Bernard, Rain Beredo, Eve Sousa, Wes Hartman, Ezequiel Dominguez, and Fred Marinho.

Later in the interview Jimmy blew my mind when he said at one point, we could have had a Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez team up on a Marvel movie. Go check out the full interview. 

Jeff Finn is a documentary filmmaker who has set out to uncover the real story surrounding the death of Jim Morrison of The Doors. Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrison is a first of its kind “documystery” series that will make its global TVOD/Digital release on January 13, 2025, following Morrison’s 81st birthday, and will be available on all the major platforms of Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and YouTube TV, with more to follow.

A dozen years in the making, Before the End’s cryptic tagline encapsulates its investigative approach: “One Man. Countless Myths. And in between lies the truth.” Z-Machine founder, Jeff Finn’s extraordinary detail work breaks the decades long hermetic seal on the traumatic formative years that forged a brief hellacious life, through Morrison’s controversial career as lead singer of legendary 1960s rock band, The Doors, to his reported 1971 death by “heart failure” in Paris at age 27. Morrison’s ostensible demise, technically an unsolved cold case, formed its own rabbit hole of reasonable doubt, which inspired Finn to consult with private investigators and forensic analysts.

Before the End transcends “rock doc” in the same sense that Jim Morrison was more than a rock star. Featuring unprecedented content, from shocking corroboration about Morrison’s early life, to harrowing revelations about his stardom, and fresh evidence that contradicts his professed death, Before the End: Searching for Jim Morrisonisproudly unauthorized because it “seeks the unvarnished truth.” The documystery reverse-engineers long-controlled narratives while it explores the notion of Morrison the nonconformist as neurodivergent, and deconstructs – through on-camera interviews with family, friends, lovers, classmates, and associates – key distinctions between Jim Morrison, “rock god,” and James Douglas Morrison, introverted outsider.

Among those interviewed and/or featured are Morrison’s cousins, Ellen Edwards and David Backer, lovers, Anne Moore, Gayle Enochs, Judy Huddleston, and Suzanne Roady-Ross, friends, Mirandi Babitz and Salli Stevenson, Elektra Records founder, Jac Holzman, The Doors booking agent, Todd Schiffman, The Doors roadie, Gareth Blyth, screenwriter, Randall Jahnson, rock critics, Ellen Sander and Richard Meltzer, UCLA classmates, Philip Oleno and Richard Blackburn, UCLA roommate, Ron Cohen, UCLA professor, Dick Adams, Florida State University roommates, Bryan Gates and John McQueen, FSU professor, Ralph Turner, Alameda High School swim coach, Ash Jones, childhood friend, Jeff Morehouse, Paris-era acquaintances, Philippe Dalecky and Gilles Yepremian, and exclusives via Jim’s brother, Andy Morrison, Robyn Wurtele, Morrison’s enigmatic Paris-era assistant, and “Mr. X,” a mind-blowing anonymous source.

Z-Machine is a truly independent production company helmed by writer and filmmaker, Jeff Finn, whose tie-in book, 127 Fascination: Jim Morrison Decoded, is forthcoming.

That Guy Tommy and Retro Ray sat down with comic writer Melissa Flores: https://mistyflores.com. We talked about Power Rangers: Prime.

Melissa started writing fan fiction at the age of 12 years old. She was a big fan of Star Trek Voyager. 

When she graduated from USC, she wanted to get into writing TV shows but found it hard to get into the industry. So she got a job with a finance group called Saban Capitol Group, who then bought the rights to Power Rangers back from Disney. Saban’s Brands was created and Melissa interviewed for a distribution job with Brian Centini. When he found out that she wanted to work in the entertainment industry as a writer, he created a job for her. 

She worked for Power Rangers as a creator and development production for 10 years and she worked her way up to director. That’s where she fell in love with the Power Rangers brand. She also worked on Glitter Force and Digimon. 

So, for Power Rangers her job was to look over their stories and make sure they were brand appropriate. At that point, Boom Studios acquired the rights for Power Rangers. Melissa worked with Boom Studios as a licenser and would also give notes about the Power Rangers comics. 

Melissa left Saban when Hasbro acquired the rights to Power Rangers. She wanted to go back to writing. Kyle Higgins who worked on the Power Rangers comics reached out to her and asked her if she wanted to pitch a superhero comic. This led to her series Dead Lucky. 

After the series ended, she reached out to Daphne at Boom Studios and asked her to look at a story she wrote. Daphne asked Melissa if she wanted to come on and write for the Mighty Morphin Power Ranger series. She then wrote Darkest Hour. It was supposed to be a ten-issue run but ended up being 22 issues. 

Melissa was told a new series would start after Darkest Hour. She threw her name into the running. With Darkest Hour under her belt (and her extensive knowledge of Power Rangers) she got the job for Power Rangers Prime. 

I had spotted something in Power Rangers Prime – the refugee ID08293.  I asked her if she had added that as an easter egg and said yes. She did it so Power Rangers fans could feel rewarded when they read the book. That was the date Power Rangers first aired in the US. 

We asked about where the idea for the VR troopers being introduced into the comic came from. She said it came from Boom Studios VP Bryce Carlson. He’s has been with the Power Rangers comics from the beginning. She said he’s been trying to get VR troopers since she was an executive with Saban. It was all thanks to Bryce for getting them. She didn’t want to put the VR Troopers in the first issue. She only wanted to put Ryan Steel in. However, Bryce said we have to put them in because we have a spoiler variant coming out with the VR Troopers on the cover. Melissa said she was happy fans were happy to see the VR Troopers coming in the comic. 

I noticed in the page with Ryan Steele that Valentin is wearing a yellow bandana and a yellow wristband. I asked Melissa if this is foreshadowing that Valentine is possibly going to be the yellow Ranger. She said that Michael, interior artist, is a big Power Rangers fan and everything he does is intentional. She stated she didn’t even notice the bandana/wristband until later. 

She said that we’re going to be able to meet the Power Rangers and get to know them before they become Rangers. 

Melissa was writing Prime at the same time she was writing Darkest Hour. Melissa said Darkest Hour meant so much to her. She wanted to honor the stories that came before her that Kyle, Ryan, Margaret and Matt told. 

She stated Prime is a new world. She said this is like Spider-Gwen Earth 65. What if Gwen had gotten bit by the spider instead of Peter. The Prime world changed so what if there was no Zordon? What if there was an alien invasion on earth and there was no one to save them? And then all of a sudden Altarians came to save them and then stayed? 

Melissa said the reason she picked Samurai Rangers was because they were one of the most ancient Power Rangers that ever existed on Earth and completely independently without Zordon. 

Also, that Rita is not the Rita Repulsa from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. This Rita is halfway between Mystic Mother and Rita Repulsa. There’s an anarchy to this Rita. She give zeros F$&ks. Rita is a disruptor in this world.

After the interview, Boom Studios announced Power Rangers VR Troopers comic will be available on Free Comic Book Day May 3, 2025.  

Melissa also told us that she worked on the first 3 issues of Biker Mice from Mars. It will be an ongoing series next year so keep a look out for it. You can go to YouTube and find the cartoon series to learn about them before reading the comic.

Special thanks to our sponsor: Dragon’s Lair Alamo Ranch