The Needs of the Many...

Leonard Nimoy

1931-2015

Before this blog, before I left school, before my first kiss, before I even loved Batman, there was Star Trek.

 

Some of my earliest memories are of my mother and I (back in the good ol’ days before she remarried) watching reruns of The Next Generation.  I know it wasn’t necessarily her first pick of shows to watch, but I was awestruck.  And she saw that.  I have vivid memories of spring and summer time Saturday evenings watching the exploits the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise and marveling at the technology on the screen.  When Steve Jobs died in October 2011, I remember instantly thinking that the world had lost, not only a genius, but the man that brought us closest to Star Trek becoming a reality.

The vision Star Trek and of Gene Roddenberry, creator of the franchise, was of a better life than what mankind had at the time (and today, if I’m being honest).  No war, no poverty, no hate.  One of the more overt messages Star Trek transmitted was against racial prejudice.  Lieutenant Uhura, portrayed by Nichelle Nichols, was one of the first prominent black actors on television.  In the episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", Captain Kirk and the crew encounter a race of people locked in a constant civil war.  Despite the crew not understanding the basis for their hated, the aliens find their difference to be obvious: half of their race has white skin tone on the left side of their face and the right half is black, whereas the other half of the race has the reverse (black on the left, white on the right).  This lamp-shaded the idiocy of the racial divides of the United States in 2015 1969.

Spock, one of my favorite characters since first being introduced to the character over twenty years ago, is probably the most iconic and influential characters in the entirety of the franchise.  The man behind the ears, Leonard Nimoy, was the reason for that.  Appearing in the entirety of the original Star Trek series, six films dedicated to that cast (directing two of them), two episodes of The Next Generation, and bridging the gap between the original crew to the crew of the reboot films with Zachary Quinto taking over as the character of Spock, Leonard Nimoy was referred to as the “conscious of Star Trek’.  I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Nimoy at a convention years ago.  It was brief, but I knew instantly why so many loved him.

He was an actor.  He was a director.  He was a writer.  He was a poet.  He was a mentor.  He was a husband.  He was a brother. 

He was a father. 

He was a friend. 

He was a good man.

I'll leave you with his final message to the world.  Great words to live by.

 

Live long and prosper.

-Josh

Review Time: The Flash "The Nuclear Man" and Arrow "Canaries"

This week marked the thirteenth episodes of both The Flash and Arrow.  The unraveling of both the mysteries of Ronnie Raymond’s disappearance (and subsequent reappearance), as well as Joe’s unearthing of the past to learn more about the killer of Barry’s mother continue this week on The Flash.  Over in Starling City, the ramifications of Ollie’s return are beginning to be felt.

This is going to be very “stream of consciousness” so bear with me.  Okay, so if you haven’t seen this week’s episodes of either show, STOP READING RIGHT NOW.

SPOILERS INCOMING.

The Flash- "The Nuclear Man"

• “Uptown Funk”- The song begins the episode.  And I like Mark Ronson, I just don’t buy into the Bruno Mars hype AT ALL.  Never have.  It’s a fun song, though, and it fits the theme of Barry preparing for his date with Linda Park.
• Sex joke.  They really went there, didn’t they?  It was funny, but Cisco asking Barry about whether or not he’s worried about his *ahem* “super speed” seemed a little juvenile.
• Joe and Cisco investigating into Barry’s mother’s murder is cool.  It also gives a fresh interaction with characters that have been on the show all season, but really haven’t had scenes with just the two of them.  The explanation of the photos in the mirror due to the super speed  and being able to identify the killer that way came across as a little “well, you know because science”.
• Wells’ mini-speech to Caitlyn about how people "want to go home, where we feel safe, where we feel loved" is a Peter Pan paraphrase.  Which, if you know me, you know I love me some Pan.  So that was cool.  Also, even though I’m not supposed to, I really love Dr. Wells, but I really, really do.
• Barry's adorkableness in the sex scene was hilarious.  Maybe I just identify with him.  Who knows.
• "Flame on".  What you did there?  We see it.
• TIME TRAVEL??  We knew this was coming, with the concept of time travel being so intrinsically linked to The Flash and his mythos, but it’s cool to finally see it mentioned as more than just a passing reference.  Joe’s suspicions of Dr. Wells being involved in Barry’s mother’s murder (which we know to be true) being brought to the forefront is, I think, coming at a perfect time in the season.  With there being ten episodes left this season, now is the time to start ramping up to the eventual showdown between The Flash and Reverse Flash (Dr. Wells).
• Imagine how Caitlyn must feel while talking to her thought-to-be-dead fiancé who has someone else’s consciousness inside him.  It’d be super weird.  And these are people that deal with super weird on the weekly.
• I liked that there was no villain on this episode.  Ergo, there was no "villain of the week" on this episode.  Which is great.  The “villain of the week” concept is pretty prevalent in seasons one of many other shows (Smallville comes to mind), but The Flash has done it in style.  I’m just relieved to have had a break from it this episode.
• Dr. Wheels sure does love killing people, am I right?  He killed Simon Stagg at the beginning of the season, and now he wants to kill Ronnie/Dr. Stein, then he’s got a gun for some reason.  Dude’s creepy.
• Wouldn't Linda kissing Barry after he ate the ghost pepper make her mouth burn too?  Cute though.
• I know I mentioned it earlier, but YAY, TIME TRAVEL!!  I love time travel.  Something to ponder:  Is Reverse Flash Dr. Wells now or is he Dr. Wells from the future?  Or the past?  Did he kill Barry’s mom earlier, or has he not killed her yet because Barry isn’t ready to be able to stop him?  Is that what his “timetable” is?  I know my theory.  What’s yours?
• Ronnie/Dr. Stein- "How can you save me?"  It's a technobabble!  This show has entirely too much technobabble.  I mean, it’s Cisco’s forte, but at least they make fun of it (“I thought ‘super light’ would be easier to say.”
• The reappearance at the end of the episode of Clancy Brown as DC Comics villain General Wade Eiling.  Brown, while a great actor, is an even better voice actor.  Best known, probably for his performance as Lex Luthor in almost every appearance of that character in animation for nearly two decades, but also as Mr. Krabs of SpongeBob SquarePants fame.

Arrow "Canaries"

• Although the Hong Kong stuff is better than the island, I'm so done with the flashbacks.
• Soooo, Vertigo is Scarecrow now?
• DJ Douchebag using "Vine", "fan girls", and "epically epic" is trying too hard to be youth relate-able.  Unless they’re just trying to make him annoying.  In which case, it’s working well.
• Thea's reaction is to Ollie telling her that he’s the Arrow is f****** perfect.  "You're him" and the multiple "thank you"s were great. It’s exactly how a REAL PERSON WOULD REACT to finding out a loved one is a costumed vigilante.  In my opinion.
• Thea: "I did kinda kick your ass" Ollie: "you didn't..."  Fun stuff.  Stephen Amell has good comedic timing.
• And I love that Thea gets mad at Merlyn, EXACTLY LIKE A REAL PERSON WOULD REACT to learning their psychopath father has been lying to them for so long. 
• More Hong Kong stuff.  Snooze. 
• Love the Ollie vs. Laurel stuff.  The “pain doesn't go away cliché” is to be expected with tragic superhero origins, so it gets a pass.  The “Laurel's an addict” is a nice twist, though.
• I rather enjoy the word "detonator".  Random thought.
• Vertigo’s "I weep for thee" could just be a passing “oh look, he’s cultured”, but I think it’s actually a Shakespeare/Henry V quote.
• It is in the midst of this episode that I finally realized that Thea is pretty hot.
• I love fun dialogue.  "You smell like smoke.  Korean BBQ?" "C4, actually..."
• Detective Lance calls Sin “the one with the boy hair”! Lololol.
• Good for Felicity for standing up for the team against Ollie!  I disagree with her... But good for her!
• While I’m on the topic, good god, I love Felicity. Why do I love her so much?
• Thea’s surprise fight scene against DJ Douchebag was super fun. 
• Daggett Pharmaceuticals is a Batman: The Animated Series reference to Roland Daggett’s Daggett Industries, a pharmaceutical company.  A Daggett (named John) also appears in The Dark Knight Rises and is a corrupt businessman. 
• Black Canary got hit with the drug again.  What an amateur.  WAIT, she's hallucinating Lance this time!  So.  IS Vertigo Scarecrow?
• Lance's guess at Laurel's secret starts out kinda funny.  It's like "well, YES. But no..."  The actual reveal that Sara is dead is legitimately heart wrenching.  
• Random note on The League: I like that they use the "of Assassins" name as opposed to "of Shadows" from the Dark Knight Trilogy.  Comic versions trump film/tv any day of the week in my book.
• Next week: OOH, DEATHSTROKE!  Can’t wait.
• Where the f*** is Ray Palmer!?  This is two episodes straight without him!

All around, both episodes were good.  The builds to each season finale will be fun.  Prediction Time:

The Flash Season One will end just as the season began:  Nora Allen’s murder.  This time, it will be from our present day perspective.  Wells’ timetable refers to him having enough technobabble stuff ready to go back in time (and Barry will follow him back) to kill Barry’s mom, which is the inciting incident in Barry becoming The Flash.  It’s a causality loop.  It happens because it already happened.  Gotta love time travel.

Arrow Season Three will obviously end with another Ollie vs. Ra’s fight.  This time, Ollie wins.  Beyond that, I don’t have any bold predictions.

Thanks for reading!

-Josh

 

All characters, and images in this blog are owned and trademarked by DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.

Reboots

Let’s say you’re working along at work, you’re on your computer, and suddenly it stops working properly.  What do you do?  Call your IT Department?  Nope.  Ask the cute techie girl across the office that’s always helping everyone else?  That’s a dumb idea (or in my case, I am the cute techie girl across the office).  Oh, wait!  You have that one friend that knows everything, call him!  Wait, no, you don’t want to look stupid.  You’ve got to fix this yourself.  Here’s a pro-tip for you: When your computer (or phone or tablet or whatever) is not working as it should, the first thing you should try is turning it off and back on, or (to use a slightly more technical term) reboot it.  It’s quick and easy and 99% of the time is the fix for your problem.

Now, let’s say you’re a movie studio head or producer of some sort.  You have the rights to a film franchise that has sucked hardcore underperformed in recent years.  What do you do?  Do a crossover with another waning franchise (hello, Freddy vs. Jason)?  Only if you want to get fired.  Make another sequel (but it worked for Transformers! #sarcasm)?  That’s a genius way to blow a bunch of money and get fired.  Apply the same logic from the first scenario and reboot!

New movie, new cast, new (for the most part) story.  It’s a simple formula with pretty good results.  Star Trek did it.  James Bond did it.  Batman did it.  Just this past year had two movies from franchise reboots (Godzilla and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) that I thought were great movies.  Admittedly, there were some that were not as great (what’s up, 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!).  Next year has a slew more that I’m hopeful for like Terminator Genisys.

Daenerys, Arnold, and The Doctor? YES.

It’s Hollywood’s cash cow now, it would seem.  Take something that was cool 25, 30, or 50 years ago and re-envision it in a modern light.  It keeps things fresh, it gets new eyes on the product, and it helps prevent the use of phrases like “genre fatigue”.  So, if you can imagine audiences tiring of something like Star Trek after ten movies over the course of 20+ years, imagine how difficult of a time the comic book industry has with sustaining readership when an average of between 10 and 15 comics per week are produced 52 weeks out of the year for (in the case of DC and Marvel Comics) 81 and 54 years, respectively.  That’s a lot of stories.

When you have a massive shared universe, much like the DC and Marvel Universes, it’s quite a task to coordinate all of the writers and artists on each title and even more difficult to make these stories published in 2015 jive with those published in, say, 1956.  Even more so than that, though, it’s creatively stifling.  Some writers, like Grant Morrison, are great at taking the concept of “hey, remember that D-list villain from Batman #156 (June 1963)?  He’s now the deadliest enemy The Dark Knight has ever faced!”  Morrison consistently mines continuity to tell present day stories highlighting the legacy of characters like Batman, Superman, and the X-Men.  Morrison’s newest DC Comic, Multiversity, is chock full of these types of plot lines.  Another writer, Geoff Johns is known for taking characters that have lost some of their luster and bringing them back to the forefront.  Just in the last 10 to 12 years, Johns has done that for Green Lantern in epic fashion and Aquaman, killing a lot of the “you just talk to fish” jokes and making DC’s King of Atlantis a legitimate badass.

Johns' New 52 Aquaman #1

But even with writers such as these, problems of negative interpretations of characters, lack of sales, and creative burn out still persist.  If Superman is the most powerful being in existence (as he is depicted at times) and he’s married to Lois Lane, what other stories can be told?  Moreover, in the comic world at least, there’s the thought new readers have of “well, I’ve missed #699 issues of Amazing Spider-Man, why would I buy #700?”  Entry points, from a story telling perspective, as well as from a sales perspective, are a necessity.  Sometimes, you just need a fresh start to get you back to square one.  Sometimes, you just need a reboot.

In 2011, DC Comics announced that they were cancelling their entire publishing line and beginning anew.  This meant that long standing titles like Detective Comics (at #811), Action Comics (#904), Superman (#714), and Batman (#713) would all be renumbered to #1 in September 2011.  This initiative was aptly called “The New 52”, as the DC Universe would be overhauled and 52 separate comic book titles would be published on a monthly basis.  Initially, The New 52 saw great success, with the #1 issue of each title selling out its original publishing run.  Justice League, the flagship title of The New 52, went on to sell out four printing editions.  Over the past three and a half years, a handful of New 52 titles have come and gone, but the core of the original 52 stayed firm.

Alex Ross maintaining his awesomeness.

Many will disagree, but I’m convinced that Marvel Comics has finally decided to follow DC’s lead and reboot their universe and will do so with the recently announced event “Secret Wars”, set to debut in May.  Marvel has an even worse case of “new reader alienation” than DC did prior to September 2011.

Yes, that's my personal copy.

Thirty years ago, DC had its first of these giant crossover, “soft reboot” (getting rid of the bad and keeping the good, rather that losing the baby with the bathwater like a full reboot would) events.  Titled Crisis on Infinite Earths, the universe wide crossover featured all the heroes of the DC Universe battling a villain named the Anti-Monitor, who was hell bent on wiping out their existence.  Ultimately, the heroes were victorious (as they almost always are), but it came at the cost of the lives of certain characters… Like those whose books weren’t selling well.  Now, on the 30^th anniversary of COIE, DC has announced what’s being called “a love letter to the DC Universe and its fans”.  Convergence will be a 9-part series that will serve to end this era of the DC Universe and mark the beginning of a new era.  Half of DC’s current titles will end in March and April as part of another “soft reboot”.  Those titles performing well and are on creative upswing will remain and in June, 24 (so far announced) new titles will launch.  These are a few of those that I’m most looking forward to/intrigued by:

Gorgeous.

Justice League of America.  Written and drawn by Bryan Hitch, a guy best known for his work with Marvel Comics on the Ultimate Avengers.  This book looks to feature the original seven members of the Justice League: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter Cyborg.  I’m more excited about this book than any of the others.

So, Damian has new pet..?

Robin, Son of Batman.  Essentially, this is just replacing the long running Batman & Robin series, but with a larger focus on the Boy Wonder.  Artist on B&R, Pat Gleason will remain and take over writing duties as well.

A street gang of sidekicks maybe?  Okay.  I guess.

We Are Robin.  I have no clue what this title is or what it’s about, but I’m looking forward to it quite a bit.  More Batman centric titles can’t be a bad thing, right?

Or, as she's been nicknamed by Tumblr-ites, Bitch Canary.

Black Canary.  Spinning out of the pages of Batgirl, this book will be written by one of the writers of that title, Brenden Fletcher.

Starfire.  Another spin-off title, this book (along with Red Hood/Arsenal) will take the place of the cancelled title Red Hood and the Outlaws.

Just a sketch, but it's Ivan Reis artwork, so it'll be awesome.

Cyborg.  33 months after The New 52 reboot, one of the original seven of the Justice League will star in his own monthly series.

Other new series include: Batman Beyond, Bat-Mite, Bizarro, Constantine: The Hellblazer, Dark Universe, Green Lantern: Lost Army, Doomed, Earth 2: Society, Dr. Fate, Harley Quinn/Power Girl, Justice League 3001, Martian Manhunter, Midnighter, Mystic U (tentative title), Omega Men, Prez, Red Hood/Arsenal, and Section Eight.

The remaining ongoing titles are: Action Comics, Aquaman, Batgirl, Batman, Detective Comics, Batman/Superman, Catwoman, Deathstroke, The Flash, Gotham Academy, Gotham By Midnight, Grayson, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Harley Quinn, Justice League, Justice League United, Lobo, Secret Six, Sinestro, New Suicide Squad, Superman, Superman/Wonder Woman, Teen Titans, and Wonder Woman.

With the count of ongoing titles down to 49, DC has finally dropped “The New 52” branding that has been on the cover of all of their books since September 2011.

Check back on Thursday for my review of this week’s episodes of The Flash and Arrow!

Thanks for reading!

-Josh 

Sources: excerpts from primary source interviews; Wikipedia; dccomics.com

All characters, and images in this blog are owned and trademarked by DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. or Marvel Comics, a division of The Walt Disney Corporation or Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Viacom.