Category: Books

iZombie, the CW’s new show loosely based off the Vertigo comic book of the same name, has been on the air for a few weeks, and I have been remiss in my duties by not telling you if you should be watching it or not.  Though after watching the first couple of episodes, I am not sure if I can answer that for you.  The cast is good, and it is definitely charming, but it is still feeling a little too much like a standard police procedural.

The show follows Olivia (Rose McIver) who was once a promising young physician, but after being turned in to a zombie has taken a job as a mortician so she will have constant access to her new favorite treat, brains.  Something interesting happens when she eats a person’s brain, she can see parts of their memories, and use some of their abilities.   Like for instance speak a foreign language that the deceased used to know.  This ability has made her quite useful to the local police.

The writers have set the show up well, and they have made the cast believable, but it still kind of seems like just another cop show.  A show about an undead crime solving mortician should be anything but ordinary.  Though it is still in the early going, so the show may still be finding its footing.  I will give the writers a few more chances to make this world a little more fun.

The cast is pretty good.  Rose McIver makes Olivia “Liv” quite charming, and you really feel for her unfortunate fate.  Her medical examiner buddy Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti played by Rahul Kohli keeps the show from getting too heavy, and he provides a good deal of the humor.  Malcolm Goodwin’s Clive Babinaux a Seattle police detective that is bad at his job is less interesting, but maybe the show will turn him around.

I want to like this show, and it has moments I think it is going to escape its procedural trappings, but so far it hasn’t.  I am still willing to give it more time because I think the premise could be a lot of fun, but we will see if the CW is willing to deal with the low ratings long enough for it to find itself, or if iZombie will shamble off the air.  For now I think it is still worth a watch, just to see if you like the concept.  There are definitely worse things on TV.

So you may or may not have heard the news by now, but the CW is making another superhero show, and it is going to be lead by Brandon Routh’s Atom.  The crazy part is that he will not be coming alone.  It looks like he with by joined by Caity Lotz’s undead Canary, Wentworth Miller’s Captain Cold, and Victor Garber’s half of Firestorm.  The even crazier news is that they are going to add three more previously unseen heroes to the mix.  A team of lesser known heroes fighting crime headed by The Atom?  Sounds like the Justice Society to me.  I thought I would help them out by giving my idea for the last three heroes.

Stargirl:

Stargirl in the comics leads the JSA for awhile, so it would be good to introduce her here.  She has a pretty major fan following, and she kicks major butt.  As a matter of fact this could be a good role for Caity Lotz if they decide not to use her as the Canary.

Vixen:

If they are not going to use her for the new Suicide Squad movie, why not use her for this.  She is powerful, but her powers, channeling the abilities of animals, would be easy to show on screen, and she is a great way to introduce magic in to the DC Television Universe.

Hourman:

Hourman is a pretty crazy character.  When he drinks a serum he is super powerful for one hour.  In some instances he can even control time in that hour.  The problem is that the serum is addictive, so the more he uses it the more he risks becoming an out of control addict.  The CW was already working on an Hourman show, so why not put all that work to good use.

Those are my three choices for the new JSA show.  Who would you add?