The Prairie Geek

And Who will the New Kirk Face in Round Two?

More importantly, will he be able to keep his shirt on and in one piece? The answer to the second question is no. The answer to the first question is Khan. Yes, kids, Khan Noonien Singh, originally portrayed by Ricardo Montalban and to be revised by Benedict Cumberbatch, will be tasking the good captain once again. While his role will be different, falling in line with the new timeline concept, Khan will inevitably be a poweful thorn in Chris Pine’s side.

Other bits of news for Star Trek 2 in 2013? Klingons and Leonard Nimoy. Bring it.

(Source: bigshinyrobot.com)

Dan Harmon’s Firing: A New Timeline for Community

Community does not appeal to everybody. It is weird, inventive and creative but it is also has unapologetically dark sense of humor that never lets go of you. If you get why this show is brilliant, then you love this show fully and completely. And that is why a battle cry was issued across the multiverse when NBC put the show on hiatus just before Christmas.

The principal cast of Community.

Fans fought back, finding numerous ways to let NBC know how they felt until Community returned to finish out Season Three. Those fans rejoiced and ratings, relative to where they had been, soared in the wake of the media attention the little show that could received. Even better, NBC ordered 13 more episodes for fall of 2012. Season Four would hit the air.

Without Dan Harmon.

Dan Harmon is the creator, writer and show runner that made Community, for better or worse, what it is. He is to Community what Joss Whedon is to any of his projects or Mitch Hurwitz to his gold-standard show Arrested Development. He is, in no uncertain terms, the driving force of Community. You might as well remove Tina Fey from 30 Rock and see what is left.

Inexplicably, Sony Pictures Television has removed Harmon from Community and replaced him with producers from Happy Endings with NBC seemingly doing little to protest the move. For their part, the ailing network has moved the show from Thursdays to Fridays for their fall schedule. This is yet another move that makes no sense as fans look for Community as part of the NBC Thursday night comedy block that includes 30 Rock, The Office and Parks and Recreation.

The cast in the recent episode that was done as an 8-bit video game.

When you look at the two moves together, only one paranoid conclusion can be reached; someone wants Community off the air. The recent outcry from fans kept the show on the air when others wanted it gone. Harmon’s removal will inevitably change the tone of the show, most likely for the worse, and moving it from it’s traditional time slot will put another nail in the coffin. Will the show’s small but ferociously loyal following stick with their morphing favorite? If they do, the show will move again and the cast will change without reason or rhyme. Fox pulled similar stunts with Family Guy, Futurama and Arrested Development by bouncing them around their schedule until fans could not find them and they were gone. But all three returned to the air when more savvy minds took hold…

The cast from the claymation Christmas episode.

As for a reason, none seem to be forthcoming from any party. There are those that have speculated that the Dan Harmon/Chevy Chase feud was the source. Even Dan Harmon can provide no reason and was not informed in the most professional of channels. He had to find out from online news, as per his Tumblr blog.

I have speculated in the past that Community is simply on the wrong network. Instead of NBC, Community belongs on a station that understands and embraces its uniqueness, like FX. Can you imagine a Community/It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover event? Another fan favorite, ABC’s Cougar Town, has made the jump from ABC to TBS for Season Four this fall. This includes TBS purchasing the rights to Seasons One through Three. A similar move could be good for Community. Oddly enough, there has been crossover between Community and Cougar Town as Community’s character Abed is obsessed with show and even appears in an episode of Cougar Town. The two shows reference each other often.

Unless Harmon returns as part of a jump to another network, the death knell has ultimately sounded for Community as we know it. I like Happy Endings and think the incoming producers from the show will do a fine job but Community is Dan Harmon’s voice. While I will give Community 2.0 a chance, I know that the show I love will be gone and what remains will pale in comparison. It will be hard for fans such as myself to accept the new, darker timeline this move is creating.

Dan Harmon, the man (formerly) behind Community.

(Source: The A.V. Club)

Back to the Future Lego is Late. I Need a Time Machine…

Did you know that Lego has a system used to test the market for licenced Lego sets? It’s name is Cuusoo and fans submit sets which are placed online to be voted on by other fans. After that, it takes a minimum of 10,000 votes to get Lego to seriously consider pursuing the concept. The key word is consider.

A recent set, which has since been rejected, that almost got there was for the cult classic film Shaun of the Dead…

Now, Lego has been presented with the idea of a Back to the Future license. Do I need to explain why that is an awesome idea?

The suggested sets are limited in scope but there is a lot of potential. And both suggested concepts for Shaun of the Dead and Back to the Future are all custom work. You’ve really got to respect custom toy makers…

P.S. The DeLorean concepts reached 10,000 votes.

(Source: geeksaresexy.net)

The Avengers Review Part II: What’s Next?

In the wake of the obscene amount of money The Avengers has made, Disney has quite shockingly green lit a sequel (2015). If you ever doubted for a second that there would be a sequel, you have been eating a lot of lead paint chips. Additionally, Iron Man 3 (2013), Thor 2 (2013) and Captain America 2 (2014) are all on their way. And properties long in development such as Ant-Man, Dr. Strange and a new Hulk movie are all taking big steps forward. On top of that, another Marvel team, the space-faring Guardians of the Galaxy, are rumored to be making the jump to the big screen.

A more recent incarnation of the Guardians…

None of this should be a shock to anyone anymore. Comic book movies are as common place each summer as a Leonardo Dicaprio/Martin Scorsese team up. Pretty much everything has been optioned at this point, though much of it will never be developed. What is worth speculating on here is where the story will go.

Please note that from here on there are spoilers for The Avengers scattered about the text. Consider yourself warned.

If you sat through the credits, you witnessed the introduction of Thanos to the Marvel movie universe. Thanos is a villain of intergalactic repute who once killed 50% of the population of the universe in a bid to date Lady Death (the embodiment of death). He not only worships Death, he loves her and competes for her affection eternally. He is one of the baddest of the bad and is capable of taking on all comers, including giving the entire Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy teams a beat down on more than one occasion.

The cover to issue 4 of The Infinity Gauntlet by George Perez.

Thanos is closely associated with a weapon called the Infinity Gauntlet. To kill that 50% of the universe, Thanos assembled six gems that control different aspects of the same universe (Mind, Soul, Reality, Time, Space and Power) on one of his gloves. In combination, these gems gave Thanos unlimited power and allowed him to do the unthinkable.

And if you watch Thor very, very carefully, the Infinity Gauntlet is in Odin’s trophy room.

The Infinity Gauntlet in Odin’s Armory/Trophy Room.

While one would be foolish to speculate on the specifics, it does look like the Avengers, or maybe the Guardians of the Galaxy who have had more than their fair share of run ins with the mad Titan, will face off with Thanos over the Gauntlet. One theory has Thor and Loki teaming up in Thor 2 (presumably the first of the next batch of movies) to fend off Thanos as he raids Asgard for his property. This does beg the question of how Odin got it in the first place…

Where the other movies fit in remains to be seen. In the comics, Bucky Barnes survives WWII and is captured by the Russians who then turn him into their own personal super spy along side the Black Widow. He goes by the Winter Soldier. I hope this is factored into Captain America 2 as it could make for a great on screen story.

The Winter Soldier.

It has also been long rumored that Iron Man’s archenemy, The Mandarin, will finally make an appearance in the third movie of Robert Downey Jr.’s comeback franchise. The Mandarin possesses ten alien rings with various powers as well as operating a vast criminal empire with more than enough power to take on Stark. In Iron Man, the terrorists that capture Tony Stark are part of a group called the Ten Rings. This is undoubtedly a reference to The Mandarin. Perhaps Iron Man 3 is the payoff to that nod to Iron Man’s nemesis?

One thing I hope happens is that these characters play a much bigger role in each other’s movies than just bonus footage after the credits. Regardless of what movies are made and how their individual stories play out, Thanos is the man to beat from here on out and all roads will lead to him.

(Source: screenrant.com)

The Avengers Review Part I: Great, Greater or Greatest?

As we drew closer to opening day for The Avengers, the bulk of reviews coming from advanced screenings pegged it as the greatest comic book movie of all time. It would revolutionize the entire genre. It will the be comic book blockbuster to end all comic book blockbusters. I had the pleasure of seeing this movie, unfortunately in 3D as I had no other options.

I loved it. Fully and completely. But to title it the greatest comic book movie of all time…

The first thing to take away from the high praise of The Avengers is that comic book movies are now a genre. These are not adaptations in the traditional sense where the film draws from one specific work. For comic book movies, it is more of a picking and choosing of characters and plot points to adapt for the screen from decades of the same. Also keep in mind these adaptations are designed to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, not just comic book readers.

The Avengers draws from a variety of comic book wells to build this movie and the characters in it. It is well-paced, visually spectacular and snappy. It moves along well, keeping you engaged and involved in story. There isn’t a lot of character development here or introduction to them, so if you haven’t seen Iron Man I or II, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and/or Thor, you are well and thoroughly screwed in that regard.

There were two comic book cliches that made their way into this movie. The first is the one that creeps into all comic books when the heroes fight when they meet and/or team up for the first time. That one is pretty self explanatory. It is a comic book trope of the highest order. The second is quite specific to Marvel, aka New York gets destroyed in the final fight. New York is, without question, the center of the Marvel Universe and it gets it’s ass handed to it almost monthly. For someone who reads a lot of Marvel such as myself, seeing it again on the big screen is a little tedious but that is a minor concern at worst.

As much as I enjoyed this movie, I do have a problem calling it the greatest comic book movie to date. Frankly, I enjoyed Thor, Iron Man and Captain America more. And that’s leaving out the breadth of non-Marvel comic book movies I have loved. I like 300 and Sin City more, not too mention Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise. It’s almost unfair to mention that series as it transcends the concept of comic book movies. They are films, plain and simple.

All of that being said, I did truly love this movie. I felt it was a great payoff to what has been building up since the first Iron Man. Additionally, it sets the stage beautifully for whatever is coming next. The fight for New York was an absolutely marvelous scene as was the progression of the movie leading to the formation of the team and how they bonded. All the cast were great but Mark Ruffalo really stole the show as Bruce Banner with an understated performance that owned every scene he was in. And The Hulk was great, too.

While I chafe a bit at the idea of calling this the greatest comic book movie ever, it is certainly one of my favorites and is well worth seeing. I can not recommend seeing this movie enough.

Bill Finger: The Man Who Helped Build Batman But No One Knew

Who created Batman? Bob Kane has frequently been credited as the sole developmental force behind arguably the biggest comic book character. Or was he? The name Bill Finger has been infrequently acknowleged over the years for his involvement in the development of Batman and definitely not to the extent he should have been. In reality, Bill Finger was the writer and Bob Kane the artist in the most classic of comic book development partnerships in the outright creation of Batman.

Bill Finger’s contributions to the Batman mythos are great. In addition to helping develop the look of the character based on Kane’s original concepts, Finger helped develop Batman’s backstory. He is credited with creating the name Gotham City as well as co-creating the Batmobile and the Batcave. He helped create numerous members of Batman’s rogues gallery, including The Joker, The Riddler, Catwoman, Two Face and The Penguin. Additionally, he contributed to the development of Robin, Batman’s youthful ward and crime-fighting sidekick.

As part of his contract with National Comics (the future DC Comics), Bob Kane signed away ownership of Batman in exchange for, among other compensations, a mandatory byline on all Batman comics and adaptations. Alternatively, Finger’s name does not appear as an official credit on Batman stories or films, even the comics he wrote in the 1940s and 1950s.

This “oversight” continued for years, with industry insiders and hardcore comic nerds really the only ones aware of it. After his death in 1974, Finger was posthumously inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2005, Comic-Con International established the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. It is given each year to two writers who created important, inspirational work that has not received its rightful recognition.

The rights of creators versus those of the publishers are a constant argument. Marvel’s ongoing legal battles with (some would say persecution of) the creator of Ghost Rider and the questions raised by DC’s upcoming Watchmen prequels are just the most recent examples. The case of Bill Finger is a special one because the co-creator of an icon has been ostensibly written out of history, with many fighting tooth and nail to write him back in.

Take the new book coming out this July from Charlesbridge Publishing as the next salvo in that fight. Written by Marc Tyler Nobleman with art by Ty Templeton, Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman will be the first book (to the best of my knowledge) about Bill Finger and his important contributions to the development of the Caped Crusader. This book will be a must read for fans of Batman and comics books as well as those who care about the rights of creators, especially those who helped build the industry.

You Don’t Know Who Sharlto Copley is But He’s Awesome

Spike Lee has been tossing around names for the lead villain in his remake of Oldboy for quite some time. Rejected applicants have included Christian “Batman” Bale and Clive “Is There One Specific Role He’s Known For?” Owen. It looks like Lee has settled on the virtually unknown though extremely epic Sharlto Copley. The only movies you might know him from are his lead roles in District 9 and The A-Team.

Copley in District 9

Released in 2004, the original film follows the story of a man who is locked in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing who has done this or why. When he is finally released, he finds himself trapped in a web of conspiracy and violence as his quest for vengeance becomes tied in with romance when he falls for an attractive sushi chef.

Based on the manga of the same name, Oldboy is the second film in director Park Chan-wook’s The Vengeance Trilogy. The film won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival as well as earning high praise from the President of the Jury, director Quentin Tarantino.

(Source: The A.V. Club)