Once Upon a Geek

I read “Final Crisis: Requiem” and one thing is really bothering me. There are three pages where Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen grieve together over Martian Manhunter’s body. Hal talks about the rage he’s feeling and the revenge he wants to inflict because of his friend’s death. What bothers me is that I don’t believe historically there has been a really strong connection between Hal Jordan and Martian Manhunter.

If you look at their respective JLA appearances, they don’t actually overlap much. Both were founding members of the League, however, Martian Manhunter left the League with issue 71. Of those 71 issues, Martian Manhunter only appeared in 43 of them. After that, every run of the JLA that featured Martian Manhunter as a member, Hal was not a member at the same time. If you add up Martian Manhunter’s time in the Detroit League, the JLI, Justice League Task Force, and the JLA (Grant Morrison’s series), that’s something like 230 issues that he didn’t appear with Hal Jordan.

I just feel that the writer is shoehorning Hal Jordan into the grieving, whereas there are many other characters that Martian Manhunter appeared with more frequently that would have made more sense. I think I know why they are using Hal Jordan.. to prepare for “Blackest Night” where numerous dead superheroes are supposed to come back. That is probably where we’ll see Martian Manhunter next, so it makes sense from a plotting point of view to use Hal Jordan. I just feel as a fan of Martian Manhunter, it could have been other folks. Maybe there were some nice character moments between Martian Manhunter and Hal at some point in history, I just don’t happen to remember them. There are many other characters they’ve shown time and time again to have a close bond with Martian Manhunter. For example, characters that have starred in the JLA with Martian Manhunter more frequently and have been shown to have a bond with him include: Batman, Vixen, Gypsy, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Believe it or not, even Kyle Rayner have appeared with Martian Manhunter more often than Hal Jordan. While Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman did feature prominently in this story, the big emotional scene was given to Hal and Ollie. I just didn’t work for me.

Okay, rant over. “Final Crisis: Requiem” was a decent read, its just this one point really stood out to me. I admit part of my rant probably comes from the fact that I’m still bitter they brought Hal back to life.

Oh yeah, it’s also worth mentioning that Aquaman had a really strong bond with Martian Manhunter and appeared more frequently with Martian Manhunter than Hal. However, Aquaman is current dead. Interestingly enough, apparently death wasn’t enough to stop Aquaman from coming to the funeral. Check out the Aquaman Shrine for details on this.

I recently read the trade paperback of Sean Wang’s “Runners”. Wow, this was a great sci-fi comic! The story chronicles the misadventures of reluctant smuggler Roka Nostaco and his ragtag alien crew as they struggle to complete hazardous runs through outlaw space and against all odds. I agree completely with James Mishler’s review from Comic Buyer’s Guide, “This is what Star Wars comic books should be like: fresh stories, living characters, non-stop banter, action and adventure.”

I stumbled across “Runners” in a recent Diamond Previews issue. Previews featured an ad for the trade paperback along with a recommendation. The art looked great, so I gave it a shot. This was one gamble that paid off. The illustrations in this book are top-notch! Sean Wang got his big break years ago drawing some of the Tick comic books. Obviously that training paid off here. Wang really has a grasp of body language and expressions. He’s also bursting with creativity. In regard to alien design, it seemed that Wang’s pencil was channeling George Lucas’ creative energy (on one of George’s good days). On top of that, he has a good grasp of pacing, panel design, background detail, and incredibly clean lines. After I read each issue in the trade paperback, I would flip back just to look over the art and make sure I didn’t miss any brilliant details.

In addition to great art, it’s a solid space romp about smugglers doing their best to complete a job. The main characters run into roadblocks along the way that make for an interesting story. The banter is great; each character has a distinct personality; and you really get caught up in the cinematographic feeling of each action scene.

This first trade paperback is called, “Runners: Bad Goods” and is available from Sean Wang’s website, or your local comic book shop can probably order it for you. The next mini-series still awaiting publication is called, “Runners: The Big Snow Job“. It’s scheduled to be published by Archaia Studios Press, but they’ve suffered some delays recently. If you want to see some preview pages of the fantastic artwork, there are several on Sean Wang’s website.

I can’t recommend this series enough. Give it a try! If you don’t want to commit the money, contact me. Maybe I’ll loan you my copy!

Since I’ve already had a couple action figure posts this week, I thought this might make a fun one.  

These are plushes I got from the WB store back when they were still open.  Man I miss that store.  They had the coolest merchandise.  In fact, you can find two other items I got from the WB store posted on my buddy Rob’s blog, The Aquaman Shrine.  The items are a JLA winter coat and a DCU animated picture frame.  While you’re there, poke around his site.  It’s really impressive (even if you aren’t an Aquaman fan).

And so my daughter’s TRUE education continues this week with a new toy.  You may recall a few weeks ago I did a post about my daughter’s new educational toys.  Well, this new one goes hand-in-hand with the educational value of those. 

I just love these figures!  They’re adorable!

Now if they’d only release a Wonder Woman.  I’d like my daughter to have some action figures that represent strong female role models.  Somehow I doubt they’ll make a Black Canary figure for this line.  Fishnets and a thong just don’t scream kid-friendly.

Maybe I’ll see if I can find a Storm figure from the Spider-Man & Friends line.

Just a heads-up… I appeared in a couple recent episodes of The Unique Geek podcast.

The Unique Geek Issue #70 features the usual gang as we discuss the latest mediocre offerings from Lucas as well as the lackluster summer movie season.  Really we are just a bunch of grumpy guys with nothing better to do.

The Unique Geek Issue #71 features the usual gang as we discuss the new Incredible Hulk film.  Well… we try to discuss the film, but as usual we wander off topic a bit.

Be sure to check out these podcasts and the rest of The Unique Geek podcasts.

Other than the Doctor Who dynasty of shows, I don’t watch much television.  However, there is one new show that I have totally fallen for in the past year… “Chuck” on NBC.  The show is about a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government’s most vital secret. With the government’s most precious secrets in Chuck’s head, NSA’s John Casey and CIA’s Sarah Walker assume the responsibility of protecting him. The show is a mixture of action/adventure and sitcom, with just a dash of angsty romance.  Somehow they’ve hit upon a magical formula that just works.

If you haven’t seen the series, you can watch a few episodes (including the pilot) at the official NBC web site for Chuck.  The series features the hilarious and brilliant Zachary Levi as Chuck.  Sara Walker is played by one of the hottest women to come out of Australia, Yvonne Strahovski. John Casey is played by fantastic Adam Baldwin.  The supporting characters are also awesome (pun intended, if you watch the show)!

Recently Wildstorm comics started a six-issue mini-series based upon the show.  It’s being written by series co-executive producer Peter Johnson and series writer Zev Borow, so it’s not just some lousy throwaway spin-off.  The first issue came out last month (hopefully you can still find it in stores), while the second issue is slated to come out this week.  I felt that Issue #1 was well done.  Since its being written by people from the actual show, you get the sense that they got the characters “voices” right.  I love the homage to Gilligan’s Island in the beginning where Chuck plays Gilligan and his boss plays Skipper.  Funny stuff!  Also, some former Chuck adversaries make appearances in the comic, so that was fun.  Finally, there is a one-page back-up called “Captain Awesome’s Tips for Being Awesome!!”  That was great… or dare I say AWESOME!  All told, I think the comic mini-series is off to a good start.

There were also a few recent Hellboy II: The Golden Army commercials featuring Chuck.  Check them out below.

 Chuck hangs with Hellboy…

Better head to the Buy More…

If you can’t view the embedded videos, just head over to the official NBC web site for Chuck.

A while back, I wrote a blog post about the upcoming Indiana Jones comic digest.  Well… it came out this past Wednesday.  Now go buy it!

For all you “Aquaman” haters out there, a special request from me…  Please resist your natural instinct to simply skip reading this post.  The TV show was surprisingly good.  After reading this post, who knows… you might find yourself willing to give it a try.  C’mon, live a little!

Until the other day, I had never seen the live-action “Aquaman” failed pilot from 2006. Here was a show that conceptually should have been really bad. After all it spun-out of Smallville, was not picked up by WB/CW, and c’mon… it’s Aquaman. Let’s be realistic, even though I love the character, how good could a show be about a guy who can talk to fish, right? And if WB/CW turns you down, you know there must be issues.

The amazing thing is that it was actually pretty good. Well, at least as good as Smallville back when it was at its best. Even my wife enjoyed the pilot, expressing that she would watch further episodes if there had been any. This says a lot since she’s not a geek and typically doesn’t enjoy the same shows as me.

After seeing the Aquaman pilot, I’m surprised it didn’t get picked up by WB/CW. The formula for the show was similar to the popular Smallville: a likeable hunky hero with secret powers; a mysterious past even the hero isn’t fully aware of; lots of angsty scenes; strong supporting characters; good special effects; and beautiful women everywhere you turn. On that last note, having the show take place in the Florida Keys allows for a built-in mechanism to show girls in bikinis constantly. You’d think that would have resonated with the WB/CW execs. Even the proposed titles followed the formula; the working titles for this show were “Mercy Reef” and “Tempest Key”.

During season five of Smallville, they did an episode featuring Aquaman. Turns out that was the highest rated episode for the season. While the Aquaman pilot wasn’t exactly a spin-off from this episode of Smallville, it was inspired by it. For the Aquaman pilot, the creators kept some of the same concepts from the Smallville episode, but changed the character of A.C. around a bit and got a much better actor.

The basic premise is that A.C. (short for Arthur Curry) is able to breathe underwater, is extraordinarily strong, can sort of sense feelings from sea life (at least dolphins), and can swim at amazing speeds (we see him swimming and keeping pace with a fighter jet at one point). Though he makes efforts to protect the ocean and sea life from time to time, for the most part he’s a slacker with no direction. He’s in his late teens/early 20s and he’s passing time working in a bar and running a dive shop in Tempest Key, Florida. He’s been aware of his powers all his life, but was not aware where they stem from. By the end, he discovers that he’s an exiled Atlantean Prince and that his life will be full of danger now that his fellow Atlanteans know where to find him. He agrees to allow the local lighthouse keeper (also an exiled Atlantean) to help prepare him for the challenges to come.

There was a neat subplot hinted at in the pilot about the Bermuda Triangle and a possible connection to Atlantis. As viewers we were witness to a few people acting strangely that had apparently disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle decades ago, yet were back now and hadn’t aged a day. There was a FBI agent investigating these phenomena and he was trying to recruit a fighter pilot that A.C. had saved. Looks like this could have unfolded into an interesting plot.

The episode had a great cast. A.C. was played by Justin Hartley who later went on to star in Smallville as Oliver Queen (a.k.a. Green Arrow). Hartley really did an great job in all his scenes. Whether he was swimming underwater or above the surface, you could feel a connection with him. He was just as good as Tom Welling (Clark Kent in Smallville), if not better. A.C.’s adopted father was played by Lou Diamond Phillips; the lighthouse keeper and mentor was played by Ving Rhames; his best friend/co-worker was played by Amber McDonald; the investigating FBI agent was played by Rick Peters; and a potential love interest/fighter pilot was played by Denise Quiñones.

They did a good job drawing in elements of Aquaman’s comic book origin, while creating a new and fresh story. The writers of the show obviously cherry-picked the bits of Aquaman’s various comic book origins they wanted to use. For example:

• In the show, A.C. (as an infant) and his mother were found on Mercy Reef lost and with no identification. They were found by Tom Curry, Coast Guard Officer.
• In the silver age comic book origin, Aquaman’s mother was found by Tom Curry, lighthouse keeper. In the modern age comic book origin, Aquaman was left to die by the Atlanteans on Mercy Reef.

• In the show, A.C.’s mother was secretly the exiled Queen of Atlantis and he was the Prince. Eventually, Tom and A.C.’s mother are married, while Tom adopts A.C.. Later in life, the local lighthouse keeper agrees to mentor A.C. and help develop his abilities.
• In the silver age comic, Aquaman’s mother was also the exiled Queen of Atlantis. Tom and Aquaman’s mother do eventually marry and their offspring is Aquaman. In the modern day origin, a teenage Aquaman meets a lighthouse keeper who educates him in the ways of the surface world. This lighthouse keeper is named Arthur Curry.

One of the things I’ve always liked about Smallville is how Clark is always dressed in red and blue. This is done to provide almost a future echo to the viewers as the colors represent Superman’s costume. The same was done here with A.C. He’s always wearing green and orange. I know it’s a bit corny, but I love these kinds of comic book nods.

Funny aside… while the credits were rolling on Aquaman, my wife noticed the name Patrick A Duffy as a First Assistant Director. Well, if you know your Aquaman history, Patrick Duffy (from eventual “Dallas” fame) played in a TV show called “Man from Atlantis” which was basically a live action Aquaman TV show in the 1970s. Turns out the Patrick A. Duffy from the Aquaman pilot is a different guy than the Patrick Duffy from “Man from Atlantis”. Oh well. It still gave us a chuckle to think he would have been involved in this production.

Interestingly enough, the creators of the Aquaman pilot felt so strongly about it (even after being turned down by WB/CW) they released it via the web. It premiered on iTunes and was the most downloaded TV show for over a week. Additionally, it’s been released through other online platforms and done extremely well with those too. Pretty impressive for a guy who can talk to fish.

While there are no plans to pick up this show or concept again, it really merits watching. You can find it through a number of various methods. If you are a comics fan or ever enjoyed watching an episode of Smallville, I urge you to give this a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Hulk + Porn = Gamma Dong.  I’m just sayin’…

Once The Unique Geek Presidential Debate podcast is posted, this will make a little more sense.  Be watching The Unique Geek website for this special event!

To anyone with a sense of humor, I highly recommend the comic ”Maintenance“.  This comic revolves around Doug & Manny, two janitors for the world’s biggest and best evil science think tank.  Some of their misadventures include dealing with toxic spills, getting drunk with a talking manshark, accidentally time-traveling back to the Stone Age, and being shrunk so they can deal with evil micro-organisms that have taken control of the company toilets.  They even have to deal with typical inter-office crap like department meetings and speeches from the boss on morale.

The comic is witty and drawn excellently.  Oni Press publishes the book and you can read a 32 page preview for free online at their site.  There are two trades already in publication, and the third trade is due out within the next couple weeks.

It’s definitely worth your time. C’mon, you know you need a laugh.