Happy Thanksgiving, Y’all!

Say hello to Mr. Gobble:

“We’re Having an Apocalypse.”

Way back in the day–before the internet phenomenon that is Dr. Horrible, before the Buffy comic–there was talk of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer animated series.  Actually, there was a lot more than talk, but we’ll get to that in a second.  As I remember it, Joss Whedon and Jeph Loeb were going to be in charge, and most of the cast would be returning to voice their animated selves.  It was going to be set during the tail-end of season 1 and take place in the new “Dawn Timeline.”  Sadly, no one seemed willing to buy the series and it died.

Anyways…like I said, there was more than just talk.  There was, apparently, a pilot of sorts put together.  Here it is:

Coming to Theaters Summer 2009*

*: Well, not really…unless you have some extra money laying around, then we can talk.

**: No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post.

It’s Funny What Stays With You

I’ve always had a good memory for useless information (sometimes some useful stuff will find its way in there, too), but there are times when even I am amazed at what’s rattling around in there.

Case in point: about 16 years ago, I saw a little movie called Rock-a-Doodle (shut up!). I won’t bore you with the details, but it was an animated affair about a rooster who became this music superstar. The villains in the movie were a group of owls (makes sense, if you think about it, a rooster crows at dawn and ushers in the day; owls are nocturnal. See, perfect sense). Well, there was this one stupid little owl (voiced by, believe it or not, Charles Nelson Reilly) who was tasked with dispatching our heroes. He decides to drown them, forcing their little boat down what he proudly called an “adequate pipe.” It was, of course, an “aqueduct pipe”, meaning he didn’t so much dispatch them as aid in their escape.

Okay, you ask, what’s the point? Well, the point is, you’ve got a lot of nerve, mister. But, another point is this: this was not a movie that I watched more than once or twice. This was a movie that, before I looked it up on wikipedia today, I couldn’t tell you much about, except that the main character was a cock (literally and figuratively). But, the whole adequate/aqueduct thing stuck with me. In fact, it apparently made such an impression that whenever I’m watching a show about the Roman Empire–which, lets be honest, for me could be any day of the week–and the Roman aqueducts are mentioned, I immediately think (and yes, sadly, sometimes say out loud) “adequate pipe.”

Today’s lesson, kids: I’m a huge dork.

Last Temptation of the Geek

From Joel Watson’s Hijinks Ensue webcomic:

Is it wrong that I think the idea of Katee Sackhoff stabbing and then making out with a hobo is really hot?  Yeah…it probably is.

Four on the Floor #12: Radically Rambunctious Redheads

The Situation: Hey, who doesn’t love a redhead?  Of course, if science is right and the gene that’s responsible for red hair is dying out, there may come a day when gingers are no more.  If everyone is so fired up trying to save the manatee and the giant panda, why isn’t anyone trying to preserve the endangered redhead?

The Criteria: The criteria is…umm…they need to be redheads.  Does that work for you?  Of course, being me, they also happen to be superheroes, geeky witches, and secret agents.  I was tempted to include Ginny Weasley on the list, too…but somehow it just felt wrong.

1. Barbara Gordon

Babs was the original Batgirl and that should be enough for most people.  But, when she was crippled by the Joker and confined to a wheelchair, did our girl give up?  No.  She used her tech savvy and photographic memory to become the ace hacker/information broker known as Oracle.

2. Willow Rosenberg

Redhead.  Geek.  Witch.  Lesbian.  What’s not to love?  Mousy little Willow went from shy wallflower to red-hot magic mama right before our eyes.  Sure, she got addicted to dark magic and almost destroyed the world, but no one’s perfect.  Well…Willow might be.

3. Jean Grey

Not only is Jean a gorgeous redhead, but with her telepathy and telekinesis, she probably could kill you with her brain.  Sure, she got addicted to dark power and almost destroyed the universe…wait, umm…huh?

4. Scarlett

As lethal with a crossbow as she is with a roundhouse kick, Scarlett has no problem keeping up with the boys that make up the G.I. Joe team.  Scarlett’s trained in martial arts, acrobatics, and counter espionage–and that’s pretty hot.  And, not only is she a redhead, but she’s a southern redhead.

The Real Calvin and Hobbes

Damn funny!

By: Nina Matsumoto

Yeah…I’m a dork.  So what??

Good Grief…It’s the Watchmen!

My buddy Rob sent me this:

It’s by an artist named Evan Shaner. I have a suspicious feeling that this illustration is probably far better than the Watchmen movie will be.

This Is Pretty Freakin’ Sweet

If anyone knows what program she’s using, let me know…I want to give it a try.

Webhead Done Right?

Kids WB recently started airing a brand-new Spider-man series–The Spectacular Spider-man.

There certainly has been no shortage of Spider-man cartoons, but if this one stays the course, it might be the best. The original 60s ‘toon, despite a certain nostalgic charm, wasn’t that great (yes, it had a kick-ass theme song, but did it have anything else?). Spider-man and His Amazing Friends was downright laughable most of the time. The 90s Fox revamp had promise, until lackluster animation and unnecessarily convoluted multi-part story arcs did it in (but what a voice cast: Martin Landau as the Scorpion?! Now that’s brilliant!). I don’t even want to talk about that CGI mess that was on MTV for that three-day weekend a few years back.

This brings us to The Spectacular Spider-man. The producers of this new series realized that the only way to focus on Peter Parker having a crap life is to set their show during his high school years. Think about it.  If Peter was a twenty-year-old college student, moaning about money and getting picked on by bullies, we’d think he was a complete loser.  No disrespect to cinema classic Revenge of the Nerds, but people don’t get picked on by bullies in college…there’s just no effing time to pick on anyone.

So, in this new series, Peter’s sixteen years old and he’s only been Spider-man for a few months.  It’s not an origin show, but we still get to watch Pete’s learning curve. The audience gets to watch him discover the balance between keeping his alter ego a secret and standing up to bully Flash Thompson. Helping Pete along the way are best friends Harry Osborn (once again the pointy-headed little dweeb he’s supposed to be, sorry James Franco) and Gwen Stacy (shifted from Pete’s college years to his high school years and geeked-up slightly, but still secretly carrying a torch for our hero). The show also casts Eddie Brock as an older student who befriended and protected Pete from bullies until graduating and moving on to Empire State University. Normally, I wouldn’t care about a change like that, except that it means that at least three people that Pete considers his friends will become his enemies–Dr. Connors, Harry, and now Eddie.

The animation of The Spectacular Spider-man is clean and fluid. It’s neither overly complex (like the X-Men ‘toon of the 90s) nor is it overly simplified (like the juvenile Teen Titans). Also, unlike the recent Fantastic Four series, there isn’t a fetid stench of anime coming off the new Webhead. Were I forced to choose something to compare the design of The Spectacular Spider-man to, I would say that it is a mix of X-Men: Evolution and Ben 10. Is it really so hard to capture the essence of a character in just a few lines? No, I don’t think so. And this show is the proof.