Joker's next move will shock

(CNN) -- Warning: This article contains potential spoilers for the upcoming issue of "Batman."

He's one of the most famous villains in pop culture for a reason.

The Joker, Batman's archenemy, has been terrorizing the Dark Knight and his allies over these past few months in a number of "Batman" comic books, and it's all coming to a head in Wednesday's issue of "Batman" 17 (published by DC Comics, which is owned by Time Warner, as is CNN).

The book's writer, Scott Snyder, promises an ending that is sure to shock Bat-fans to their cores. The crossover story's title, "Death of the Family," recalls a 25-year-old story -- called "A Death in the Family" -- in which the second Robin, Jason Todd, was brutally murdered by The Joker (after a poll in which fans voted by phone as to whether the Boy Wonder should live or die).

Snyder is mum as to whether Batman and all of his friends will survive this encounter with the Clown Prince of Crime, but he did speak to CNN.com about what readers can expect.

CNN: What themes did you aim to explore with "Death of the Family?"

Scott Snyder: The story came to me after I had my second kid.

You sometimes wish that you didn't have to worry about your kids all the time. Batman has all these allies, this "family." Bruce Wayne has to sometimes wish that he wouldn't have to worry about Robin, Nightwing or Batgirl. Who to take that wish and twist it into a nightmare but The Joker?

He says, "I will take care of that, I will kill them." Batman would say he never wished for that. The Joker would tell Batman, "Yes, you wished that, you just don't want to admit it."

The Joker in this story is a devil's tongue. He makes you frightened of yourself, which the best villains in literature do.

For my story, The Joker sees himself as serving Batman. Historically, the court jester was the only one who could deliver terrible news to the king. He sees Batman as this wonderfully twisted Bat-king. He sees himself as making him a tougher, stronger king. He sees Batman as deep down wanting to be the protector of Gotham, but his allies are his "false court."

CNN: Aside from the reference to "A Death in the Family," what is the meaning of the title?

Snyder: We wanted it to echo that horrible moment in Batman's life. We wanted Joker for the first time ever to come after the Batman family with this murderous mission in mind. He usually does it to get at Batman. He says he's coming after them to bring out Batman's worst nightmare for the first time ever. This is The Joker's war on Batman and even more so, on his family.

CNN: Why the changes to The Joker's appearance?

Snyder: The way he looks now came about in "Detective Comics" 1 (in 2011). The writer on that book, Tony S. Daniel, wanted to take The Joker outside of Gotham for a while, to create new bad guys. We thought that would be a great place in which to leave him. We decided this would work thematically for this story.

In "Batman" 17 you'll learn why he did it, why he had his face cut off and strapped back on. This final issue will bring everything crashing down.

CNN: Why is Joker such a threat? What is his biggest weakness?

Snyder: The Joker is my favorite villain in literature in general. My folks have embarrassing Halloween pictures of me dressed as The Joker.

Down at its core, he's scary in and of himself. Clowns are scary, but he's physically scary and capable of doing horrifying things. He scares Batman about himself. He makes Batman afraid there's a hint of madness in him. He tries to make Batman believe the madness is true. "You're as crazy as me, you belong in Arkham."

He feels that Batman deep down wants this to happen. Exposing the scariest things about ourselves, the scariest things we have in our hearts, and to laugh at them -- in its purest and most vicious form, that's what a great and monstrous villain does.

His weakness is he doesn't see things coming outside of Batman. If Batman didn't care and didn't look for him, it would hurt The Joker in a way he's not expecting. It's a vicious cycle. There's an Achilles heel in his own obsession with Batman.

CNN: Does any villain come in second to The Joker in your mind?

Snyder: Each one represents a different weakness or fear Batman has for himself.

The Riddler -- who I'm about to use in a big way in 2013 -- is a manifestation of Batman's fear that he's not smart enough, he's not able to solve the puzzle in time to save the city. Riddler keeps him as sharp as he can be. All of these villains figure in "Batman" 16 and 17 too. Joker sees them representing some facet of Batman's psychology.

Two-Face is kind of the nightmare of Batman's life. Will you become this horrifying version of yourself, like Two-Face?

Each represents some deep fear in the rich and complicated personality that is Bruce Wayne. Riddler, Two-Face, Ivy -- all of these characters will figure into Batman in the coming year.

CNN: So how big and dramatic is this finale? How much of an impact will it have on Batman and DC Comics' current universe?

Snyder: It has a big impact on the whole mythology of Batman, and certainly with the stories coming afterward, it will have a big effect on many of the books -- emotional and lasting effects I don't want to give away.

CNN: It feels like the stakes are being raised in superhero comics more and more in recent years, with more dramatic changes. Why do you think this is?

Snyder: It's not so much to make the books as dramatic as possible or to be shocking, but to try to tell the best story you can that feels organic.

Via: Joker's next move will shock

The Grammy show you don't see

Los Angeles (CNN) -- If you are parked in front of your TV to watch the Grammys, you only saw a fraction of what happened at the annual music awards show Sunday.

In fact, 70 of the 81 trophies were handed out in a pre-telecast ceremony in the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, next to the Staples Center where the last 11 Grammys were presented between a record 20 star-studded performances.

Plenty of action takes place backstage where the winners go to talk after they leave the stage, as well.

There were hints backstage that the Zac Brown Band, which claimed the best country album Grammy, may be veering into other music genres.

"I love great music of all different kinds," Zac Brown said. "We're just getting started.

One project ahead is an acoustic album, Brown said.

"We really control all of our destiny now and all of our rights to everything we do now, so we can really experiment," he said.

He especially enjoyed the Grammy performances of Rihanna, Sting, Justin Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson, Brown said.

Brown used the Grammy weekend to develop relationships with other artists. "My rolodex got strong this weekend," He said.

After Carrie Underwood won her sixth Grammy, the latest for best country solo performance, she made it clear backstage that she's sticking to country music and would never cross over into pop music.

"I love that world," Underwood said. "I love the people in it. I love making country music that anybody can get into. If it ever crosses over, then it does it on its on. I don't think I can see myself making a pop album."

We learned backstage why Jay-Z teased The Dream about the "Boyz in the Hood" he was wearing when they accepted their Grammy for best rap/sung collabotation.

"I would like to thank the swap meet for his hat," Jay-Z said in his acceptance.

"He was just digging on me," The Dream explained backstage. "Yeah, we do that." The trigger for the kiddng was that Jay-Z's wife, Beyonce, had just said she wanted the hat. And in fact, he bought the cap at a swap meet in Compton, Caifornia, he said.

The Dream also revealed he would fly to Paris soon to work on an album with Kanye West, who shared the collaboration Grammy with him. "Hopefully we can get another Grammy together," he said.

The televised presentations target pop, country, urban, rock, and rap categories, leaving the jazz, gospel, classical, Latin and other categories to the pre-show.

The Nokia Theatre was far from full, because many of the 754 individual nominees and their teams were on the red carpet or still getting ready for the big show while the pre-show was under way.

But if you were there for the pre-show -- or watched it streamed online -- you would have heard Rihanna, Drake, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Usher, Beyonce and Paul McCartney win Grammys. You still would not have seen them, however, because those stars were not present to accept.

You would have seen Taylor Swift making an effort to appear excited and surprised as she accepted a Grammy for best song written for visual media. She won it because she was a co-writer of "Safe & Sound," a song made for "The Hunger Games" film. "This is unbelievable!" Swift exclaimed. It was her sixth Grammy in her young career.

The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson also took the pre-telecast stage to accept the Grammy for best historical album. He co-produced "The Smile Sessions," a resurrection of an abandoned Beach Boys album project from 45 years ago. He hinted that the Beach Boys have "a lot of stuff in the can that hasn't been heard" and that the group would "try to get an album together" this year. Wilson, 70, appeared frail, requiring two men to walk on each side backstage.

Janis Ian, another major star from the past, was there to accept a Grammy. Ian called it a "big upset" when she beat first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres and Rachel Maddow in the best spoken word category. "I keep thinking there must be a punchline here," Ian joked. "An ex-president and the first lady and three lesbians walk into a bar." Ian won for narrating "Society's Child: My Autobiography."

It was just her second Grammy after nine nominations in eight different categories. "I made a choice to be a songwriter and not be part of the circus all the time. I don't do popular music because that's not what I'm good at," Ian said backstage.

Bonnie Raitt was there to get her 10th Grammy, the latest for best Americana album given for "Slipstream." "I didn't expect this," Raitt said. "I have enough."

Jazz legend Pat Metheny took home his 20th Grammy out of 36 nominated. The latest for best jazz instrumental album, given to him for "Unity Band."

Esperanza Spalding, the bass-playing jazz singer whose best new artist win upset Justin Bieber fans two years ago, was present to win two more Grammys in the pre-telecast. Spalding, 28, won for best instrumental arrangement accompanying vocalists and for best jazz vocal album for "Radio Music Society."

Drake, whom Spalding also beat two years ago for best new artist, may now wish he had been there because the rapper was awarded his first Grammy after 13 nominations. Then again, he also lost twice Sunday when Jay-Z and Kanye West beat him in the best rap song and best rap performance categories.

Paul McCartney was a no-show to pick up his Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album. It was awarded for his "Kisses on the Bottom" album.

While there are plenty of household names announced in the pre-show, it is also the chance for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to honor people who perform important jobs for the music industry.

For example, Billy Vera won a Grammy for writing the best album notes. He composed the notes for an album of Ray Charles music, "Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles."

Via: The Grammy show you don't see

'Identity Thief' box office winner

(EW.com) -- Identity Thief (CinemaScore: B) fared even better than expected, bringing in $36.6 million over the weekend across 3,141 theaters. For comparison, Melissa McCarthy's last major film Bridesmaids (though it was in a supporting role) opened at $26.2 million, in 2,918 theaters. With an opening like this, big things are surely expected from Seth Gordon's R-rated comedy which has already surpassed its $35 million production budget. Though Bateman and Gordon had a successful run with Horrible Bosses after a $28.3 million opening weekend in July 2011, Bateman hasn't had this kind of luck with most of his starring roles. Universal's The Change-Up (with Ryan Reynolds) opened at $13.5 million in August 2011 and went on to gross only $37.1 million domestically, on a $52 million production budget.

Jonathan Levine's Warm Bodies took second place for its second weekend with $11.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $36.7 million. This breaks Levine's record, beating the lifetime domestic gross of his last feature, the cancer dramedy 50/50 with Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, which brought in $35 million.

The R-rated Hitchcock-style, prescription-drug thriller Side Effects (CinemaScore: B) ended up beating director Steven Soderbergh's January 2012 weekend opening of Haywire, earning $10 million weekend this weekend and averaging $3,845 per theater. We talked a little bit about stars Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum's box office history yesterday. Another star of Side Effects is Jude Law, and he's got a varied track record at the box office. He generally participates in ensemble casts -- Anna Karenina, the Sherlock Holmes franchise, Soderbergh's Contagion, The Holiday -- making his singular box office appeal somewhat more elusive. Side Effects has Soderbergh's name and another strong ensemble, and could go on to a respectable run, even though it won't reach Contagion heights (the epidemic thriller eventually grossed $76 million).

EW reviews: 'Identity Thief'

Rounding out the top five are Silver Linings Playbook and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. The Academy Award-nominated Silver Linings Playbook is now at a cool $90 million domestically. The Weinstein Company's $21 million David O. Russell feature is steadily on its way to becoming a $100 million movie. This would be a first for Russell whose The Fighter came close with $93.6 million in domestic grosses. The $83 million Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters came in fifth place this weekend with $5.8 million, bumping its domestic total to $43.8 million. Notably, the Jeremy Renner vehicle is doing quite well overseas with $84 million.

1. Identity Thief -- $36.6 million

2. Warm Bodies -- $11.5 million

3. Side Effects -- $10 million

4. Silver Linings Playbook -- $6.9 million

5. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters -- $5.8 million

EW reviews: 'Side Effects'

Top Gun 3D also opened in 300 theaters to a $1.9 million weekend, and awards favorite Argo expanded its release to bring in $2.5 million, bumping its domestic total to $123.7 million.

See the original story at EW.com.

Via: 'Identity Thief' box office winner

Grammys rock the night

(CNN) -- Sunday night's 55th annual Grammy Awards were as much about the performances as it was the actual statues handed out.

The evening saw some powerful collaborations among artists, and all eyes were on one controversial performer. Here are the top 5 moments of the night:

1) Killer performances

Take your pick. From a spirited performance of "The Weight" by an all-star group including Sir Elton John, T Bone Burnett, the Zac Brown Band, Mavis Staples, Mumford & Sons and Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes, to the many duets like R&B crooner Miguel with Wiz Khalifa and Miranda Lambert with fellow country artist Dierks Bentley, it was all thrilling.

Fun. reminded us as to why we loved them when they performed "Carry On." But they won a big award of the night, song of the year, for their hit "We Are Young." And the stars in the audience were grooving along during a tribute to Bob Marley led by Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Sting, Ziggy and Damian Marley.

Even Taylor Swift won us over when she took to the stage dressed as a ringmaster and surrounded by circus/carnival types to kick off the ceremony with her hit "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."

Grammy coverage on Marquee

But one of the most eagerly awaited performances was:

2) The return of Justin Timberlake to the stage

The Grammys went sepia-toned for Timberlake's performance of his new single "Suit and Tie," which offered plenty of homage to the Rat Pack era with Timberlake in a tux with a bow tie and a big band with similarly suited backup singers billed as "JT and the Tennessee Kids."

Jay-Z left his seat in the audience to run up on stage for his rap portion of the song. And Timberlake was cooler than cool as he segued into his new single "Pusher Love Girl." The performance marked the return of Timberlake to music since he took a four-year break to focus on acting.

Welcome home JT.

3) LL Cool J pulls triple duty

Sure, he's a big acting star now, but don't forget that LL, aka James Todd Smith, got his start in the hip hop game.

So it felt right when the Grammy host donned a knit cap, a black T-shirt and some subtle bling to perform alongside Chuck D, Travis Barker, Tom Morello and DJ Z-Trip. They closed out the show with "Welcome to the Terrordome" and shouted out the late Beastie Boy, Adam "MCA" Yauch, with a "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" chant.

He also kept the audience informed of what folks were saying on social media, reading tweets and responding to some. The Grammys got its monies worth with him.

4) Adele didn't wear black

You can't not love her as she sings like an angel, is hilarious and just seems so normal.

But just like you can always count on a practically flawless performance when she grabs the mic, we thought she was also a sure bet to show up in a black frock. It's kind of been like her thing.

But no. When Adele took to the stage to claim the first award of the night, best pop solo performance for "Set Fire to the Rain," she was wearing a flowery, red and black Valentino dress.

New life as a mom and clearly new fashion choices: It was almost as surprising as Prince showing up to present Gotye and Kimbra the record of the year award for "Somebody That I Used To Know.

5) The somewhat anticlimactic appearance of Chris Brown with Rihanna

Despite a few cutaways of the pair sitting together in the audience and Brown standing and clapping following her performance, seeing the two together was not as big a deal as the run up felt like it should be.

Friday marked the fourth anniversary of Brown's assault on Rihanna, which occurred before that year's Grammy ceremony.

The pair had been a huge focus of this year's Grammys as fans waited to see if they would arrive at the ceremony together and how much "togetherness" they would exhibit.

But in the end it felt like really no big deal.

More surprising was six-time nominee Frank Ocean not winning any of the big awards he was up for.

Ocean scored best urban contemporary album and shared best rap collaboration with Kanye West and Jay-Z for "No Church in the Wild," but lost best new artist to Fun. and album of the year to Mumford & Sons.

55th Grammy Awards: The winners list

It was also more fun checking to see which artists ignored the reported Grammys memo asking them to cover up (we are looking at you and your rather exposed bosom Katy Perry). Jennifer Lopez even joked about it while presenting.

Via: Grammys rock the night

Stars take stage at Grammys

(CNN) -- Sunday night's 55th annual Grammy Awards kicked off swiftly: Taylor Swift that is.

The popular singer took to the stage dressed as a ringmaster and surrounded by circus/canival types as she sang her hit "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."

"I'm sorry. I'm busy opening up the Grammys, and we are never getting back together," Swift said, changing her lyrics to fit the evening.

The night was as much about those who took to the stage to entertain as it was about who won trophies.

There were plenty of duets: British artist Ed Sheeran was joined by fellow countryman Sir Elton John for a duet of the former's hit song "The A Team," nominated for song of the year. R&B crooner Miguel who was joined by rapper Wiz Khalifa for a rendition of "Adorn." Miranda Lambert was joined by fellow country artist Dierks Bentley for a performance of their hits "Over You" and "Home." Maroon 5 was joined by Alicia Keys for performances of "Daylight" and "Girl on Fire" respectively.

Fun. performed "Carry On" and won a big one for the night: song of the year for their hit "We Are Young." Mumford & Sons offered a rousing rendition of their song "I Will Wait."

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres made singer Beyonce laugh during their introduction of Justin Timberlake, who returned to the stage after a four-year absence from the music scene.

The Grammys went sepia-toned for Timberlake's performance of his new single "Suit and Tie," which offered plenty of homage to the Rat Pack era with Timberlake in a tux with a bow-tie and a big band and similarly suited backup singers billed as "JT and the Tennessee Kids."

The first award of the night, best pop solo performance, went to Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain."

"We work so hard; we make it look so easy," Adele said in sending "big love" to the other nominees.

Jennifer Lopez presented the first award to Adele, with co-presenter rapper Pit Bull, and joked about the Grammys' reported memo asking stars to cover up.

"As you can see I read the memo," Lopez joked, wearing a black dress cut extremely high and fully exposing one leg.

Frank Ocean beat out Miguel and Chris Brown for best urban contemporary album for his "Channel Orange," and Kelly Clarkson stopped to hug -- and got stuck to via their dress beading -- Lambert after winning for best pop album.

"Miguel, I don't know who the hell you are, but we need to sing together," Clarkson said, complimenting that singer on his Grammy performance.

Host LL Cool J referenced last year's tragedy of the death of singer Whitney Houston the night before the Grammys before launching into some remarks about the importance of the award to the various performers. While they came from different parts of the world and different genres, the artists shared the same desire to make it in the industry, LL Cool J reflected.

"Cause when you get right down to it a Grammy isn't just a shiny trophy to hold on to," he said. "A Grammy is a dream come true."

It was expected to be a bit of a boys' club on CBS Sunday with a six-way tie among Mumford & Sons, Frank Ocean, Fun., Kanye West, Jay-Z and the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach for lead nominee, as each received six nods apiece.

55th annual Grammy Awards: The Nominees List

In keeping with the "guys night" theme, much of the Grammys occurs pre-show and some of those who won before the ceremony even aired included Skrillex, who snagged awards for dance recording, dance/electronica album and remixed recording non-classical; the Black Keys, who won rock song and rock album. The group's Dan Auerbach was named producer of the year, non-classical.

This year's Grammy awards ceremony had plenty of news leading up to it, with much of it involving singer Chris Brown.

The days leading up to Sunday's ceremony found Brown being investigated for an alleged brawl that resulted in Grammy nominee Ocean later saying he was declining to press charges or file a civil suit.

On Feb. 6 Brown was in court as a prosecutor asked a judge to order the singer to restart the community labor portion of his service tied to his probation for assaulting Rihanna. Friday marked the fourth anniversary of that assault, which occurred before that year's Grammy ceremony. Rihanna was in court with Brown this time around as the pair further fueled chatter surrounding their renewed "friendship."

The pair have been a huge focus of this year's Grammys as fans waited to see if they would arrive at the ceremony together and how much "togethernes" they would exhibit.

Via: Stars take stage at Grammys

'Walking Dead' trudges on

(CNN) -- When we left "The Walking Dead" crew in the midseason finale in December, the original survivors were coming head-to-head with the Governor and his followers in the isolated community of Woodbury.

Gunbattles ensued, as did dramatic rescue attempts that led to a cliffhanger involving two of the show's central characters -- brothers Daryl and Merle Dixon -- in a ring, surrounded by an angry mob calling for their heads. Will Rick Grimes and the original survivors integrate into Woodbury? Or will human-on-human violence prove to be more dangerous than the roaming flesh-eaters?

AMC's popular zombie series resumes on Sunday, and CNN spoke with Robert Kirkman, executive producer and creator of the original comic book series, about what fans can expect for the last half of season 3, life after outgoing showrunner Glen Mazzara and how long even the undead can survive the apocalypse on TV.

CNN: "The Walking Dead's" ratings have exploded this season. What's connecting with audiences?

Robert Kirkman: AMC has a really great program with building viewership. They do a tremendous amount of work, running marathons, promoting those marathons, promoting the DVDs and working with partners like Netflix and iTunes to make sure everything is available. So while people are hearing news about the show, AMC is doing a really good job at helping develop the audience. Also, we're awesome. People seem to like the show.

CNN: Was there concern in the beginning that the adaptation might not be able to transition from the comic world to a broader audience?

Kirkman: I'm somewhat of a pessimist. I never expected this to get made; I never expected the pilot to get picked up; I never expected the episodes to make it to air. I didn't really treat this show like it was happening until it premiered and until the ratings came in. There was a good 24-hour period where I was thinking, "this is not going to last." I think that's relative to its success. There's really nothing like this on television. There's really no comparison. I never thought it would succeed or succeed as well it has. It's all been pretty surprising. AMC took this risk and put something really unique on television, and people are responding to it on the level where it's having other networks try to think outside the box. As a television fan, when I see things like "American Horror Story," these kind of crazy shows that you wouldn't expect to see on television, things like "The Following" -- it's really exciting to see all this new stuff coming in.

CNN: Obviously, the story and the art in the comic books stand out. Is the aesthetic of the show taking a certain direction that you're noticing?

Kirkman: Not necessarily. We try to focus on the struggle of human survival. That's really what's at the core of this show: the appeal of watching people persevere and endure and succeed. This show is very much about trying to rebuild civilization in a micro sort of way. It's about keeping a family together and keeping your loved ones safe. It's much more about that heart and emotion than the more splashy stuff you see with the zombies, the action and the horror.

CNN: The hook is "you get to see zombies eat people. Who doesn't love that?" But there's the mental anguish that the viewers are put through.

Kirkman: Yeah, the zombies eat people, and that's cool and everything, but you really care about those people that are getting eaten. You feel for the other characters when they run around, and you hope that the rest of the characters don't get eaten. That's a very important component.

CNN: As executive producer and a writer, how much input do you have on each episode that we see?

Kirkman: Well, I mean, I'm one of the writers in the writers' room. There's a piece of every writer in every episode, little suggestions here and there. Things that make it into the final episode that we sort of throw out on the fly in the writers' room. I, like all the writers, have tremendous influence in terms of what goes into the show. I go on set as a producer, I oversee visual effects with a lot of the other producers; I'm giving notes on edits and cuts. I work hand-in-hand with all the other executive producers and Glen Mazzara in season 3 and craft the show into what it is.

CNN: Speaking of Glen, it was recently announced that he'd be leaving at the end of season 3 for "creative differences." Where do you see the creative direction of the show going?

Kirkman: I think the creative couldn't be at a better place. I think we have a really strong season 3. Moving forward, it's important to note that television is a collaborative medium, and there may be an element that changes from season to season, but the core group, the core people that make "The Walking Dead" what it is, changes a little bit from season to season. The majority of people remain, so the show is still going to have the same flavor. I couldn't be more excited about all the things we're going to be doing in season 4.

CNN: Let's talk about the rest of season 3. What can viewers expect? What are some of the issues and themes that manifest?

Kirkman: I think we have some really cool stuff ahead. If you've seen the first half of the season, you know the people in Woodbury are there. They're led by the Governor, and they're definitely going to be a problem. You got Rick with his people, and they're trying to survive, and you have these two groups who are on this collision course. It's going to be coming to a head. You're going to see big conflicts and pretty huge stakes, and some pretty dangerous things are going to happen to these people. Some of them may not survive. As fast-paced and explosive as the first half of the season has been, we're really going to be upping the ante and escalating things where we reach a finale, where some pretty crazy stuff is going to go down.

CNN: Who do you think is the most compelling character at the moment?

Kirkman: It's really hard to pick. I could gush about every single character. The work that Chandler (Riggs) is doing on Carl is amazing. I think all the actors would agree: Watching his transformation over the first three seasons of this show is a really cool piece of this show. He's been expanding his role in very cool ways, becoming this child soldier that we've gotten to know. He's a character that I would recommend people pay attention to and watch. It's watching these characters grow and change over time. That's really the core aspect, and you don't really see that in a lot of television shows. When you look at season 3, sure, Glenn's there, Rick's there, Daryl Dixon's there -- but they're vastly different than they were in season 1.

CNN: With a show that's become so engaged with its fans, do you pay attention to reactions, either positive or negative?

Kirkman: I've gotten the benefit of working in the comic industry for 10 years. I've always been very tuned in to fan reactions, message boards and all that kind of stuff. I'm pretty good at ignoring the negative comments and not letting them get me too much. There's always going to be negative comments. Honestly, I've learned if you don't have negativity in fan reactions, you're just not reaching enough fans. With "The Walking Dead" being as popular as it is, I actually enjoy the negative comments. We're reaching people to a point where they care so much, they voice their opinions.

CNN: You've written two novels about "The Walking Dead." Have you had talks about turning those into films?

Kirkman: There's always stuff like that thrown out, but there's no plans like that right now. It's enough for "The Walking Dead" to be a television show, a comic, a video game, another video game and another video game. There's quite a lot going on in "The Walking Dead" world. I can't say there's never going to be a movie; it's just not on our radar yet.

CNN: In a perfect world, how many seasons do you see this show lasting?

Via: 'Walking Dead' trudges on

The making of a No. 1 song

(CNN) -- Don't ask music super-producer Benny Blanco to whip up a No. 1 song for an artist because it ain't gonna happen.

Sure, the man knows how to make hits: His work on Rihanna's "Diamonds" and Ke$ha's "Die Young" landed both at the top of the Billboard charts. But he's the first to tell you that trying to compose a chart topper is almost always guaranteed to fail.

"When you're like, 'Yo, we gotta write a hit song, we need a hit song right now," that never works," Blanco told CNN. "Every time that happens, I never write a hit song. I write a s****y song that sounds like someone trying to make a hit song."

Blanco knows of what he speaks. Two of the songs he helped produce are up for Grammys this year: Maroon 5's "Payphone," nominated for best pop duo or group performance, and Trey Songz's "Heart Attack," which is competing for best R&B song.

Blanco said in an era where singles rule (seriously, when was the last time you bought an entire album?) the pressure is on labels, artists and producers more than ever to produce a song that will head straight to the top of the charts.

But what does that song look and sound like? Is it an earworm such as Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe"? An intensely personal tale such as Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain" or a breezy "I can relate to that" poppy tune such as Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."

The answer is yes.

"Everything needs to be a hook," said Blanco, who snagged the Songwriter of the Year Award at the BMI Pop Awards in 2012 along with Ester Dean and Pitbull.

"Everything needs to be catchy because a listener is either going to stay with the song or lose interest in the first five seconds. But people also like those songs they can relate to and say, 'Yeah, I went through that.' "

Chris Mooney, senior director of artist promotions at TuneCore, said artists looking for a No. 1 song have to prepare their fans for a release by using every social media tool available: YouTube videos, tweets, Facebook postings, etc.

TuneCore distributes music for artists through partners such as iTunes and Spotify for a nominal fee. The company does not, he said, take a percentage of the revenue of the music distributed, and that business model has attracted such well-known acts as Nine Inch Nails, Ziggy Marley and the Civil Wars to use the service.

But if an artist wants to have a true No. 1 smash across the country, he or she will have to resort to some old-fashioned methods, Mooney said.

"You really need radio play, and that's not something everyone can do," he said. "But I still think that's key to having a No. 1 song."

That type of marketing to get airplay can be a pricey proposition. Just ask Sarah Stennett, an A&R executive and manager who works with singers Ellie Goulding and Jessie J. There are plenty of songs that are good tunes, Stennett said, but "when you've got a record that works, you need a record label that will then work that record."

But for a label to justify the expense of promoting an artist, the singer and song have to gel in a way that will connect with the audience, she said.

"There are certain songs that just encapsulate all you need to know about an artist," Stennett said. "They are like personality records. For instance, 'Get the Party Started' by Pink. It was a hit, but it also told you a great deal about who Pink was as an artist."

Stennett said the machine involved in promotion has to remain enthusiastic about the project.

"Everyone has to be about the message," she said. "It's about spreading the message. Have you heard this song by ...?"

Silvio Pietroluongo, director of charts for Billboard, said the conundrum the music industry faces is that while albums aren't selling nearly as well as before, the music is bigger than ever.

"I think music is more popular and accessible today than it's ever been," he said. "It's a major component of advertising campaigns, sporting events and anything multimedia."

That means the industry now has varying degrees of success, he said, from an artist such as Adele, whom he calls "lightning in the bottle" able to sell both singles and albums, to some such as Jepsen, who has sold millions of singles but not as many albums.

Pietroluongo said any artist is one hit away from that big break or even a comeback. But today's hit can easily come from performers such as Flo Rida, who, Pietroluongo said, is one of the all-time, top-selling digital download artists despite a lack of recognition as a hitmaker.

"They are catchy tracks," Pietroluongo said of the rapper's music. "I think the challenge with Flo Rida has been to put a face with the hits. I'm not sure if you locked 10 people in a room that half of them would realize that all the songs they love are Flo Rida."

Producer Blanco is also not easily recognizable, though he may increasingly be responsible for some of the most played music out these days. The process of putting it all together is as much fun as work, he said.

It often starts with a roomful of friends and lots of food. He likes to write with friends, he said, since as soon as he writes anything he usually shares it with them anyway. And a hit could occur while he's chilling in a hot tub or taking a walk: anything as long as the ideas keep flowing.

Via: The making of a No. 1 song