In conjunction with the release of Game of Thrones: The Complete Sixth Season on Digital HD, HBO invites viewers across the land to the launch of a brand new political movement: The GoT Party!
One party that everyone can get behind, TheGoTParty (GoTParty.com) is an unique, interactive and engaging online campaign asking the seriesâ fans to help select the very first Game of Thrones Party ticket, pledge their support for their candidate and purchase of Game of Thrones: The Complete Sixth Season on Digital HD (or individual episodes) from all leading digital platforms.
Choosing from beloved and controversial GoT leaders including Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Cersei Lannister and Petyr Baelish (and their potential running mates Tyrion Lannister, Lyanna Mormont, Maester Qyburn and Sansa Stark), voters will have the singular opportunity to shape the very first GoT party and its ideals. On TheGoTParty.com, âvotersâ can learn more about the candidates, compare platforms and cast their ballots for the leader they feel can carry the GoT Party into the future.
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Running until August 31, TheGoTParty.com will be continually updated with original video content, real-time polls and infographics, adding to the interactive excitement. With a dedicated hashtag (#GOT2016) and multiple social media channels, the electorate (read: fans) will be able to stay abreast of the campaigns, as the GoTParty candidates do pitched battle (at the polls). Then, on September 1, TheGoTParty.com will announce the winners, adding a singular and highly enjoyable chapter to HBOâs record-setting series.
As the winds of change swirl around Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms, GoT fans have, at long last, the opportunity to let their voices be heard loud and clear with The GoT Party. So, if your audience is feeling disenfranchised or left behind with current goings-on, we invite you to point them towards GoTParty.com, where they can help to separate the contenders from the pretenders, and shape the future of TheGoT Party forevermore.
Like most geeks, I picked up my very own copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child last weekend. It was definitely cheaper than a ticket abroad to see the play live and waiting for the show to make it stateside would take way too long. I eagerly went home to read it immediately and to once again delve into the world created by J.K. Rowling.
In case you aren’t a Potter fan and are still reading, this latest addition to the Potterverse is a play based off an original short story (that as far as I know hasn’t been released to the public) by Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne. The play was actually crafted by Jack Thorne. A quick note about what I thought about the play. It was enjoyable to be back in that world, if even for a short time. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed that due to the play format we lost some of the usual detail I’ve come to expect in a Potter story.
I also thought that the path of the story was a little boring. It just seemed like an imitation of Rowling’s own work rather than imagined by her, which makes me wonder how much involvement she really had. However, I am glad that I read it and did enjoy that another story made it into the Potterverse. I would love to see it live; to see the special effects described in the story would make it worth it.
My biggest pet peeve of the play isn’t the story or the play itself. It’s that there is no listing of characters with a short description at the start of the play. If you have ever read a playscript, a listing of characters is always at the start, usually with a short description. This just jumped right into the play with no thought to the characters. If you read a play, this is how you are initially introduced to characters, versus watching a play where characters are distinguishable by actor, costume, makeup, or acting style. While I was reading, characters whose names that I did not know just popped up with no introduction or reason for being there and I was forced to go along without understanding. Granted, the main characters I know from years of reading but new characters deserve an introduction.
I went on a long, overdone rant about this oversight to my poor roommate, who happened to be within earshot. She agreed with me, partly to shut me up and partly because she studied theater in college. And I don’t think my concerns are unfounded; I’m positive some high school is already planning their own illegal production of Cursed Child with photocopies of the same edition I own. And these students will not learn about theater in the accepted way. The play format was thrown out by Scholastic, a company that, until now, I considered a standard bearer for youth education.
On the other hand, I have to wonder if I am nitpicking just a little too much. We’ve just watched the four actresses from Ghostbusters (and especially Leslie Jones) get verbally attacked for starring in a female-led version that didn’t conform to fan’s vision. Fans attacked Marvel over the Captain America hails Hydra plot rather than see how it played out. The entertainment culture has changed that if I wanted to, I could repeatedly harass Rowling, Thorne, Tiffany, the editors at Scholastic, the executives at Warner Bros., and so on.
It has become a trend to not just share your opinion on the internet but to shove it in anyone’s face/feed repeatedly until they block you or leave social media.
I see the irony in writing a nitpicky post and then complaining about nitpicky fans. The difference is that beyond this post, I won’t do much. I’ll probably just talk about it with friends, family, and random geeks that I meet and converse with. Do I think I’m right about this oversight in publication? Yes, I really do. Do I think that others will agree with me? Yes, I really do. Am I starting an Internet protest about this? Nope, it just isn’t worth it to me.
Listen up. I’m going to tell you a horrible, horrible secret. And it’s about me!
I really don’t care for most Disney animation. The earliest black and white stuff is fun, and there are a few shorts here and there that I enjoy. The features? Not as many. Alice in Wonderland… that’s about it. As Craig Ferguson might ask, “how long have you been in ISIS?”
Disney comics is a totally different thing. Every time I’m forced to list my all-time favorite comics creators, Floyd Gotfriedson and Carl Barks are always on that list. Gotfriedson’s Mickey Mouse newspaper strip brought depth and characterization to the popular rodent. His adventures were truly adventures, full of wit and charm, brilliant craftsmanship, on-the-button pacing, and heart. Lucky for us, our pals at Fantagraphics have been reprinting them in brilliant hardcover editions.
Carl Barks was the master behind Disney’s Donald Duck family of comics, published by Dell and later Gold Key. You’ve probably heard of him: he’s one of the very, very few Disney comics creators who’s adapted work was screen-credited, in Duck Tales. Unca Carl created Uncle Scrooge, the Beagle Boys, Magica De Spell, and a great many other pillars of the Disneyverse. His comics are that good; even better. You will often hear geriatric baby boomers mentioning Barks in the same breath as Will Eisner and Jack Kirby. Here, too, Fantagraphics been reprinting them in brilliant hardcover editions.
But three years ago, my animation preferences expanded to include some work produced by the current Disney studio. I haven’t opened my heart to more of the “original” material; I’m enjoying the new series of Mouse cartoons (featuring the entire Disney-toon cast), available on the appropriate Disney cable channels – excluding ESPN – and on sundry Disney apps for smartphones, tablets, AppleTV… they made it really easy for me to find this stuff.
And who do we have to thank for it?
I’d say Ren and Stimpy.
These shorts, which average a paltry 210 seconds, have damn near everything the classics do not: they are anarchistic, irreverent, self-parodying, and wacky as shit. In other words, they’re entertaining – even to a guy un-American enough to not worship about a half century of Disney animated output. The style, also reminiscent of Ren and Stimpy (and even more reminiscent of small budgets and short deadlines), works perfectly for the pacing.
Of course this material won’t replace those I consider to be the masters of animation such as Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, and the Fleischer family. Cartoons aren’t profitable enough to warrant such budgets. But after more than two decades of soulless mainframe computer hyper-modeled “3-D” crap, these new Disney shorts are a breath of fresh air. Damn near all of them. And there’s a lot out there, too.
Give a few a test-drive. Like I said, each takes about three-and-one-half minutes out of your life.
And, because I now like some Disney animation, there’s one less reason to send me to Gitmo.
When I heard that Neil Gaiman’s bestselling novel American Gods was being made into a TV series, I was super-interested. I’ve been a fan of American Gods (and Neil’s body of work oh, generally speaking, for many years and even had the privilege of bringing Neil and the book to The National Press Club in D.C. during its limited Tenth Anniversary Tour. And although the novel is such an epic that I had a bit of trouble picturing how the adaptation would work, I’ve always wanted to see what it would be like on screen.
As the news started filtering in about who would be running the show, writing the show, and playing all the parts, I got more and more excited. And now that I’ve been to the <a href=”
SDCCbooth experience (which was appropriately otherworldly and included some cool swag!), attended the panel where I got to see the first trailer and hear those involved discuss their roles, and had a chance to chat with a few of the key cast and crew at the SDCC Starz American Gods/Ash vs. Evil Dead cocktail party, I am, if you can believe it, even more eager for the show to begin.
If you haven’t encountered American Gods before, it’s theoretically not a hard novel to sum up, and yet a blurb doesn’t do it justice because the book is much more than the sum of its parts. At base, the story is a complex mix of the mundane and the mythic, and in tone it ranges from dark, brutal “real life” experiences to eerie, almost hallucinogenic scenes involving gods and mythical creatures. It encompasses everything from the personal difficulties of protagonist Shadow Moon as he is released from prison to find that the life he left has disintegrated while he was away; to a lofty examination of religion, where gods come from, what purposes they serve, and how the changing priorities and beliefs of people shape the world they live in.
The novel contemplates the meaning of death; the rise of the information and social media age and shift in celebrity and media that accompanied it; the loss of old beliefs in the wake of new; the American spirit; and even the vagaries and peculiarities of small-town life. And although American Gods was published fifteen years ago, the conflicts it examines have not diminished in importance and relevance today.
Given the shifting tones of the story, and the deep research and detailed embodiments of the old gods and beliefs that are in American Gods, it needed a seriously talented team to successfully bring it to the screen. Fortunately, along with Neil being directly involved, Starz was up to the challenge; pulling in showrunners/writers like Bryan Fuller and Michael Green and directors like David Slade. Those choices reassured me from the start that Starz had the right idea, particularly after having seen Fuller and Slade’s work on Hannibal, a show that mixes dark, gruesome, gritty scenes with absolutely beautiful and haunting cinematography and sound for an almost disturbingly tactile viewing experience. Given their past work, I have no doubt we are in for a treat with the upcoming show. And that belief was reinforced when, at the SDCC panel, we got to see the <a href=”
first trailer, which literally sent chills down my spine.
We also got to see some of the great cast of the show at the panel. American Gods has some serious all-stars in its ranks, including the likes of Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday. Based on previous work I’ve loved them in, I’m also super excited to know we’ll be seeing Gillian Anderson (Media), Pablo Schreiber (Mad Sweeney), Peter Stormare (Czernobog), Jonathan Tucker (Low Key Lyesmith), Crispin Glover (Mr. World), Orlando Jones (Mr. Nancy), and, as announced at the SDCC panel, Kristin Chenoweth (Easter). At the panel, along with Bryan Fuller, Michael Green, David Slade, and Neil Gaiman, we also got to hear from Ian McShane, Pablo Schreiber, Kristin Chenoweth, Bruce Langley (Technical Boy), Yetide Badaki (Bilquis), and Shadow Moon himself, Ricky Whittle. Every time a cast announcement has come out so far, I’ve thought, “What an incredibly perfect fit that actor will be for that role,” and it was clear from the panel that everyone (including moderator Yvette Nicole Brown) was very into and excited about the show. Fortunately, you can observe the same, if you want to watch the whole panel <a href=”
here.
I got a chance to talk further with some of the American Gods panelists at the super-cool Starz American Gods/Ash vs. Evil Dead cocktail party – and, bonus, got to meet Bruce Campbell, who we all know and love from Evil Dead, but who I also adore as Sam from Burn Notice. I really enjoyed getting to briefly chat with him about the important role Sam played in bringing humor and heart to Burn Notice, and loved his totally Bruce Campbell-confident attitude as he discussed bringing his own instincts and understanding of how Sam needed to fit into the show to the role.
On the American Gods side of the party, I was delighted to have a visit with one of my favorite people and friends, Neil himself (as he is actually known on Twitter). I’ve known Neil for years, and it was great to see him amidst the excitement of his epic novel being adapted into the TV medium, particularly since he’s been very involved with the process. I was also happy for a chance to talk with Bryan Fuller again (with whom I have previously discussed Hannibal). As with Hannibal, Bryan shared that adapting American Gods is akin to creating grand-scale fanfiction. “It’s a love letter to the source material,” he noted; and he was clearly overjoyed at the chance to create such fanfic (seriously, excitement and exuberance for the opportunity just leaks out of that man’s every pore, and it’s great to see). I also talked with Michael Green, who mused that faith is whatever you put your passion into, and the way those things become real is something that is examined “with reverence” in the show.
And I had a fascinating, in-depth conversation with David Slade (who makes the best selfie faces, seriously), who first read American Gods on a plane traveling from England to America and has wanted to make it into a TV show since 2005. He shared that he loves being able to make the story continually “cinematic but weird,” and from our chat, is clearly deep in the weeds of the source material. (Side note: Neil has said he has, e.g., 400 years of history on how Mad Sweeney became Mad Sweeney, and many other bits of backstory that didn’t make it into the final novel; and the show’s writers and directors have speculated that perhaps we will see bits of that (or whole episodes of it!) in the show. Not gonna lie, I would totally watch Pablo Schreiber acting 400 years of Mad Sweeney’s backstory.)
Everything I saw and heard of American Gods at SDCC makes me now slightly-hyperventilating-excited for its premiere in early 2017; and if you want to share my experience and excitement even further, you can check out my con photos here. Also, to keep up on the latest, don’t forget to follow Starz American Gods accounts on Twitter and Instagram].
And until next time, stay tuned for more recaps from SDCC, and Servo Lectio!
Lately I’ve found myself backing more comic related Kickstarters. From a successful campaign by Drew Ford reprinting Joe Lansdale and Sam Glanzman’s Red Range to Michael Sarrao’s new graphic novel SID: Special Intergalactic Detective that was just successfully funded. The latest Kickstarter I’m backing is Fyodor Pavlov, Lawrence Gullo, and Kelsey Hercs Bash Back.
I’ve written about Fyodor Pavlov here before. Bash Back is a comic project he’s co-created that he, Lawrence, and Kelsey have been posting new pages of on Tumblr since March of 2015 with frequent updates, often weekly, through April of this year finishing up Issue 0. They are currently on hiatus working on the next issue, promoting their Kickstarter to print physical copies, and getting ready for Flame Con.
Back Back is a queer mafia story set in contemporary New York City. The story follows a young trans man, Bastion, who gets saved from being bashed by a young queer man, Angelo, that gives Bastion a card for the New Oxford Youth Shelter. From there, Bastion meets Stephen, the older man that maintains this sanctuary for queer youths. From there, we meet an ambitious cast of characters through the eyes of young Bastion, with minor narrative shifts to further develop the world and its threats.
This comic is easily one of the most authentic looks into the queer experience and the dark places that the mind can go. It’s a story about overpowering our oppressors using the same violence and hate used against us. It’s about taking our rightful place back from those who took our place from us with fear and disdain in their hearts. Ultimately, it’s about pride.
The only way a comic like this can reach this level of authenticity is by having a creative team behind it that reflects the characters in it. All three of the creative talents behind this comic are queer and cover both trans and cis representation. That combined with all their unique life experiences and deep, rich understanding of queer history really shines through. I’m hardly the only person to notice all this as well, as Bash Back has been praised by all sorts of queer comics professionals from rising star Steve Orlando to veteran gay cartoonist Howard Cruse.
Though the Kickstarter for Bash Back is going very well and has a couple of weeks left, it still needs more help crossing the finish line. If you want to see more queer comics succeed, you need to strongly consider backing this project. We’re seeing more and more queer comics succeeding on Kickstarter. The more these projects succeed and the more money they bring in will be noticed by publishers. If we prove that audiences for these projects exist, more publishers will take the risk and publish projects like Bash Back.
We are already seeing the effects of a changing mindset and a better understanding of queer audiences over the past few years, as DC Comics has increased Batwoman’s profile, created a series for Midnighter and will soon be debuting a series for Midnighter and Apollo, which I believe will be a first in terms of a superhero duo book with gay male leads. It’s important to note that DC Comics has queer talent like James Tynion IV and Steve Orlando working with these queer characters.
Marvel has been increasing queer presence as well with Iceman being out and Wiccan and Hulkling becoming more prominent in the Avengers. Even smaller publishers are taking risks with queer leads like Kevin Keller at Archie Comics and Kim and Kim at Black Mask Studios created by trans writer Mags Visaggio.
So please, if this is an issue you care about, back it and share it. If you know anyone who might care about this, share it with them. Let’s help Fyodor, Lawrence, and Kelsey succeed in a big way because if they succeed, we succeed.
H.P. Lovecraft, famed horror and fantasy writer, was once just Howard Lovecraft, a strange and lonely child. Howard was a boy of infinite imagination and boundless curiosity. His family however was not without peculiarities of their own… This fall, loyal fans and enthusiasts of Lovecraft’s literature are invited to venture into the imaginative Lovecraft universe through the new animated feature HOWARD LOVECRAFT AND THE FROZEN KINGDOM. Written, directed and produced by Arcana Studio’s Sean Patrick O’Reilly (Pixies), HOWARD LOVECRAFT AND THE FROZEN KINGDOM is the highly-anticipated movie adaption of Arcana’s popular graphic novel of the same name and features an all-star voice cast of Emmy®-winner Jane Curtin (3rd Rock from the Sun), Golden Globe®-winner Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Academy Awards®-winner Christopher Plummer (Beginners, Up), Doug Bradley (Hellraiser), Kiefer O’Reilly (Legends of Tomorrow) and Alison Wandzura (CW’s Van Helsing). A veritable love letter to Lovecraft himself, HOWARD LOVECRAFT AND THE FROZEN KINGDOM is a fantastical movie adventure that entwines new storytelling, actual events of H.P. Lovecraft’s life, iconic elements of his writings and literary characters Cthulhu, Shoggoth and more.
On September 27, 2016, Shout! Factory in association with Arcana Studio present HOWARD LOVECRAFT AND THE FROZEN KINGDOM on two-disc Blu-ray™+ DVD combo pack (with digital copy), DVD (with digital copy), Digital HD, VOD and Redbox. The highly collectible Blu-ray™ combo pack and DVD set comes with bonus content, including audio commentary and featurette! HOWARD LOVECRAFT AND THE FROZEN KINGDOM is available for pre-order at ShoutFactory.com and will be made available in stores and other fine retailers.
** Avid fans of Lovecraft and Arcana please take note: those who directly order HOWARD LOVECRAFT AND THE FROZEN KINGDOM from ShoutFactory.com will receive an exclusive poster. Available while supplies last!
Movie synopsis:
Before he becomes the famed horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, young Howard Lovecraft is a curious and imaginative boy living with his mother. But after she unwittingly gives Howard the legendary Necronomicon, he is transported to a dangerous and frozen world populated by horrifying creatures. After saving and befriending one such creature – Spot – Howard and his new friend set off on a perilous quest to save the kingdom and get Howard home. But Howard soon finds out that not everything is as it seems and not everyone is to be trusted.
Voice cast: Jane Curtin, Ron Perlman, Christopher Plummer, Kiefer O’Reilly, Doug Bradley, Scott McNeill, Alision Wandzura, Tyler Nichol.
ARCANA STUDIO presents a film by Sean Patrick O’Reilly. HOWARD LOVECRAFT AND THE FROZEN KINGDOM, based on the bestselling graphic novel by Bruce Brown, is written, directed and produced by Sean Patrick O’Reilly; producer, Michelle O’Reilly; art director & senior modeler, Gary Yuen; senior editor, Brendan Hansell; CG supervisor, Haqui Gbadamosi.
In the spring of 1971, I met a girl. The first time I saw her, we were, appropriately enough, in a class on political and civil rights. She had thick blond hair, big glasses. Wore no makeup. And she exuded this strength of self-possession I found magnetic. –President Bill Clinton, 2016 Democratic National Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Lock Her Up!!! – Rallying Cry at 2016 Republican National Convention
In my not so humble opinion, the Wonder Woman trailer definitely shows a lot of promise.
But I’m not talking about Princess Diana of Themiscrya. I mean that other Wonder Woman – Hillary Rodham Clinton.
You may be thinking “What trailer? I mean the one starring Mrs. Clinton for the last 50 or so years of her life, during much of which she has been in the public eye – or bull’s-eye – and not just as FLOTUS, New York Senator, and Secretary of State. Hillary’s extensive involvement in politics goes back to 1960, when, as a 13-year old, she helped canvass for Richard Nixon, and then, four years later, she worked for the Goldwater campaign.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Hillary Rodham started her political life as a Republican.
I have never understood the incredibly vicious vitriol directed towards Hillary, or her husband, for that matter. And so much of it is not political; it’s personal. The other day a woman at work said to me that she hated her. I asked her why. She said it was (and I’m paraphrasing) “because she stayed with her husband despite his many adulteries. What woman would do that? I wouldn’t. Would you?” For the record, well, no, I wouldn’t, but, I said, “It’s her marriage, not mine, and not yours.” (And also for the record, this woman did not say anything about Hillary staying with her husband for her own personal political ambitions.) I’ve heard variations of this theme for just about forever.
Sometimes I think television itself, as a media form, just doesn’t like her, the way it didn’t like Richard Nixon when he debated John F. Kennedy back in 1960. It’s just one of the mysteries of the modern media age that some people just don’t come across well on the screen. Hillary, despite being a baby boomer – so that you would think that she would be very comfortable with the television camera – always looks, well, not nervous, but tense; and yet I have never seen a better display of pure aplomb than that 13-hour grueling Benghazi kangaroo court trial that Mrs. Clinton was forced to endure. And even then, Hillary haters, including Fox News and other right-wing media, boldly declared that the reason she was so relaxed was because she was on Valium. This claim was quickly ignored by the next news cycle.
Before I sat down to write this column, I did a bit of research and found a great article over at the webzine Slate. In “The Hillary Haters” (July 24 2016), writer Michelle Goldberg went out and actually asked some “common” folk just exactly what they have against her. Here are some of their answers:
“She strikes me as programmed and robotic.”
“She is disingenuous and lies blatantly.”
“If I could make her a profit she’d be my best friend.”
“She’s a sociopath.”
There were lies upon lies upon lies, and misquotes piled on misquotes piled on misquotes and misconceptions following misconception. But when Ms. Goldberg answered with facts, the subjects just didn’t want to listen, discounting them and/or shrugging their shoulders.
Look, I feel it too. There is “Something About Hillary” that annoys me. I know she capable, I know she’s brilliant, and I know she’s been demonized. But she lacks that something that stops me from being crazy about her. I don’t know what it is. I’ve never met her, not even to shake her hand, but there is a but there….well, let me tell you a story.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, in an enclave out on Eastern Long Island called the Hamptons, my mother’s friend noticed a big brouhaha across the street from her. She looked, and she saw Bill Clinton surrounded by people and press and, of course, secret service agents. Mom’s friend said that she never felt such a wave of pure charisma in her life, it could have knocked her over with a feather, and not only was he in a crush, a mob, but he was also at least 100 feet away from her.
She was telling this to my mother over a cup of coffee in our kitchen. I was there as well.
“Was he with Hillary?” asked my mother, who was (and is) a big fan of the lady.
“Yeah, I think so. Who cares?” said her friend.
So is it a lack of charisma or her gender that is hurting “Hill?” Many a feminist writer has argued that the two are related, that a woman cannot have that charisma-bias because of her sex, but I don’t agree. There are plenty of women with it, from Sophia Loren to Senator Elizabeth Warner, so it’s not about looks. But here’s a thought…
Sophia Loren, Senator Warren, Rachel Maddow, Princess Diana, Melissa McCarthy… all these women and many more just have that natural élan, that certain something, that charisma which draws people in, makes us like them without knowing them, makes people pay attention –
Hillary doesn’t have that inborn gift. But the woman makes us pay attention, demands us to see her, to hear her, to listen to her…
Once again fangirls led the way at the San Diego Comic-Con. It’s not “new news” anymore, but I’m again reminded how far we’ve come from the days when a woman or girl entering a comic shop was met with a universal hush of curiosity and awe. Today, convention attendees are just about equally split between men and women. And the influence that fan girls, beyond female creators, have on Geek Culture is important.
One observation is that so many fan girls who step up to the plate are essentially pioneering entrepreneurs. There’s no real guidebook or established plan about how to make it in a historically male dominated industry. Although there may be historical precedents, the intersection of fandom and social media has provided opportunities for nimble fan girls to make their voices heard both to influence the conversation and become an important part of it all.At last week’s San Diego Comic-Con, I again moderated the She Made Me Do It: Fangirls Lead the Way panel. As has been the case when I’ve led this panel at conventions in the past, our panelists consisted an impressive lineup of women.
Jamie Broadnax is the founder of Black Girl Nerds. She’s all about fan passion and she isn’t afraid to point out when big organizations fail to provide adequate seats at the table for a diverse line-up of creators. She’s tireless, upbeat and inspiring. Sam Maggs is a brilliant author and commentator who recently released her second book, Wonder Women. This book showcases “25 Innovators, Inventors and Trailblazers Who Changed History.” It’s a charming book that serves up bite-sized background stories of impressive women in her classic fun and irreverent way. I snagged a copy for my young nieces, but I plan to get another copy to keep in my own library.
Connie Gibbs is the TV critic of Black Girl Nerds, and she kicked off part of our discussion about what are the most fangirl friendly TV shows. Connie brings a spark, and deep insights, to every topic and entertainment property that she passionately discusses. We talked about shows including the CW’s The 100 and the new blockbuster on SyFy, Wynonna Earp. It’s fantastic to see Wynonna Earp get its due and hitting the right notes with such a diverse range of demographics. Wynonna Earp was created by Beau Smith and has been in comics off and on for more than 20 years.
The Lootcrate style business is thriving, and entrepreneurs Rose Del Vecchio and Jenny Cheng are right in the mix. They fight the good fight with their creative FanMail enterprise, a box with a unique fangirl focus. Visit them at www.myfanmail.com. Rose is no stranger to San Diego Comic-Con as she’s helped her dad run his booth on the convention floor showroom for many years.
New this year to the SDCC Fangirls Lead the Way panel were two fantastic entrepreneurs. One lives in Canada while the other is in the Baltimore/DC area. They collaborate on Fangirl Shirts. Their startup creates T-shirt and other merchandise emblazoned with the “Fangirl” name, but the logo is modified to be evocative of the fan property it’s celebrating. And they celebrate everything from Star Wars to Wynonna Earp.
The common, unstated theme of the panel was how each of these fangirls found their path through the entrepreneurial grit and determination that, along with a little courage, makes for the very best entrepreneurs.
I can’t wait to see where fangirls will lead us next!
On August 1, the Suicide Squad movie premieres in NYC and I’ll be there. I’ve watched the trailers and the hype and, I must say, I’m hyped up. From everything I can see, David Ayer (the writer/director) and the cast have read my work on the Squad comic and are using it. Viola Davis as Amanda Waller especially seems pulled from what I did and for me personally that’s very exciting.
I don’t expect the film to be a direct translation of the comic; this is a different medium and has different needs. I love my fans a lot but there’s not enough of them to fill a single theater for a week. The movie has to appeal to those who never heard of the comic. However, in its DNA, this is the Squad I created. At its core is the concept of The Dirty Dozen with supervillains. That was my concept. Amanda Waller was my creation. So – yeah, that’s my Squad up there.
The Squad as a comic and I suspect as a film will also reflect, to a certain degree, some of my sensibilities. The main one will be the moral tones of gray. For a long time, despite being in four colors, comics were very black and white. There were Heroes (white) and Bad Guys (black) and the Good Guys beat up the Bad Guys. Comics were very primal in their Good Vs. Evil.
I don’t see things like that and I don’t write that, especially with the Squad. With the Squad, the bad guys are forced to “do good,” with that “good” defined by Amanda Waller who herself is morally very gray. Even the “heroes” who went along to keep the Squad in line were themselves compromised morally, often just by being associated with the Squad. They had their own problems. No one was 100% good – or 100% bad either.
That’s how I see people so that is how I must write them if I am to write honestly. Shakespeare has Hamlet say
I am myself indifferent honest;
but yet I could accuse me of such things that it
were better my mother had not borne me. . .
I think that’s true of all of us. We are all only indifferent honest.
These days that may not be a popular view. There’s a lot of black and white thinking out there. People are viewed in black and white terms; issues are defined in black and white terms. Too often discussions these days start from the premise “I’m right and you’re wrong.” Politics and religion are prime culprits in this but fandom can be the same way. Example: when Wil Smith was cast as Deadshot some people were outraged – the film was going to suck because Deadshot wasn’t white. No discussion was allowed.
I can go that route as much as anyone. I really don’t like Donald Trump and I’m not prepared to reconsider it. I don’t understand people who are in his corner; I find him to be a dangerous megalomaniac. However, my job as a writer to to find a way to understand him and his supporters. Where is something like them, like Trump, in me? If I wanted to write a Trump-like character and not make him just a cartoonish buffoon (well, any more of a cartoonish buffoon than he already is), I have to find those parts of myself that resonate with him, with them.
Once, in Wasteland, I wrote a story from the perspective of a serial killer. I wanted the reader to identify with him, to find out where he lived in them so first I had to find those points in myself. That took me to some very creepy places but, I think, the story worked. From what I’ve read, Jared Leto felt he had to do something like that to play the Joker in the Squad film. It’s a weird contradiction – you have to use empathy to create a character without empathy. And then I ask the reader to go there as well.
Ultimately, with the Squad stories I wrote, I asked the readers to identify with the villains. As Will Smith’s Deadshot says in one of the trailers, “Don’t forget – we’re the bad guys.” If the film works (and I think it’s going to), it will ask the audience to identify with these “bad guys” – just as we did in the comic.
Hopefully, we will all be uncomfortably entertained.
As you undoubtedly know, San Diego’s Comic-Con International happened this past weekend, and I was fortunate to be amongst the tens of thousands of attendees. There was, as always, a mega-ton to see and do, and it was hard to keep the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) from getting completely out of control over the 4.5 days of the con. To stay sane, though, at some point you just have to accept that you’re going to miss a bunch, and focus on what you do have the opportunity to see.
This year, one of my main interests was what Nickelodeon was showcasing. Of course, Nickelodeon is always on my radar, and particularly the current TeenageMutant NinjaTurtlesanimated series, which I adore. But even beyond the coolness that is the TMNT, this year, Nickelodeon was focusing on its past – in the best way possible. Through its late-night programming block of “The Splat,” which has been airing from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Teen Nick since it took over for “The ‘90s are All That” late night programming in October of 2015, Nickelodeon has been tapping into the deep, deeeeeeeep nostalgia that a lot of us have for shows like Clarissa Explains It All, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Double Dare, All That, Doug, Hey Arnold!, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Ren and Stimpy, Rugrats, You Can’t Do That on Television, and more. And given that all of those shows were amongst my favorites growing up, I just love that, and was looking forward to experiencing some nostalgia up close and in person.
Of course, for SDCC people are always going to want to see what’s new. But since this is the 25th Anniversary of Nickelodeon Animation; Nickelodeon’s upcoming movie lineup includes updates and sequels from popular ‘90s properties – including Hey Arnold! and Legends of the Hidden Temple; and “The Splat” has proven to be a hit, it made sense that to celebrate that. Therefore, Nickelodeon’s Comic-Con 2016 celebrated the ‘90s with “an immersive retro experience” at its booth, panels, and party.
The booth was a well-set-up and eye-catching blast from the past. It featured a virtual reality experience and King Olmec head from Legends of the Hidden Temple (on which the King was voiced by the ever-talented Dee Bradley Baker), and the King’s head was festooned with 3-D characters from classic shows like Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, CatDog, Rocko’s Modern Life, and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. There was also a backdrop area where you could get photos with characters from shows like The Fairly Oddparents. The signing area and schedule included everyone from the TMNT to the cast of All That to legendary creators of the animation world. To purchase merchandise, you went up to windows set in the lenses of the purple glasses that bespectacled a giant Chuckie head from Rugrats (the only thing that would have made it better would have been if you could actually go inside Chuckie’s head. Next year’s virtual reality experience, Nickelodeon?). And, to top it off, the setup featured photo ops with the Hey Arnold! stoop and the original giant nose and red glassesfrom Double Dare. The merchandise on offer was also cool – including The Nick Box (similar in idea to LootCrate and other monthly “mystery boxes” of merchandise), which featured items from classic Nicktoons for its first release.
Nickelodeon’s panels this year included “Happy Happy! Joy Joy!: 25 Years of Nickelodeon Original Animation,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Return to New York,” “She Made That?: Nickelodeon hosts Women in Animation,” “ and “Back to the ‘90s: Nickelodeon’s All That Reunion and Legends of the Hidden Temple!” They all sounded amazing, but even my FOMO couldn’t bend time and space so that I could experience them all. However, I did get to attend the first two panels, and had the privilege of sitting down with the panelists for interviews.
“Happy Happy! Joy Joy!” featured Craig Bartlett (Hey Arnold!), Jhonen Vasquez (Invader Zim), Butch Hartman (The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom) and Arlene Klasky, who along with Gabor Csupo and Paul Germain, created Rugrats. It was great to hear these innovative and clever creators talk about bringing new ideas to fruition and developing their shows over the years, as well as looking forward to future projects (such as Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie, which Craig Bartlett discussed, and for which we saw some cool production art. We also learned that the movie will finally answer the question of where Arnold’s parents are). Butch Hartman showed animation from his latest show, Bunsen is a Beast! And we got to see a TMNT short, <a href=”
Don vs. Raph by Jhonen Vasquez, that was awesome in its absurdity.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Return to New York” was, as always with the TMNT panels, a total joy. I love this show and everyone involved with it; and this year, we got to meet a new guest, Gwendoline Yeo, who voices new character Shinigami in the upcoming season (airing Sunday, August 14, at 11 a.m.). I also was glad to hear from Mae Whitman, who has been voicing April O’Neil since the get-go, but whom I’d not gotten to see on a panel before (every time she’s been on one I’ve missed it somehow) and from TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman (likewise). And what TMNT panel would be complete without executive producer Ciro Nieli, and more amazing voice talent like Rob Paulsen (Donatello), Sean Astin (Raphael), Greg Cipes (Michelangelo), and Eric Bauza (Tiger Claw). We missed executive producer and head writer Brandon Auman, but apparently he was hanging out at the Sistine Chapel, so I guess that’s an okay reason to miss a Turtles panel. Maybe.
At the panel they showed the entire first episode of Season 4, which introduces Shinigami and features some really cool development of April’s story, as well. I hate to use a cliché and say that Episode 1 was all about girl power, but: well, it was, and that was fun! I like how far April has come in the show; and I’m very curious to see more of Shinigami’s backstory with Karai, who we also caught up with. We also got to see a couple of fun TMNT shorts, which you can watch too! The first was <a href=”
Pizza Friday by Kevin Eastman and Paul Jenkins, and the second was <a href=”
Turtles Take Time (and Space) by Brandon Auman. I loved them. Booyakabunga!
can check out my interview with Greg Cipes, Rob Paulsen, and Eric Bauza here; and my interview with Gwendoline Yeo, Sean Astin, Kevin Eastman, and Ciro Nieli <a href=”
here.
And as cool as everything I’ve just talked about was, there was one more totally rad thing I experienced with Nickelodeon this year; and that was the Nickelodeon Double Dare Party with Marc Summers! It took place at Fluxx Nightclub, and was just So. Much. Fun. For one thing, they literally hosted a mini Double Dare show right on the dance floor – where the obstacle course from the show and physical challenges were set up. To make it even better, the Red Team and Blue Team were composed of great players like Nickelodeon staff, and voice actor Greg Cipes (Michelangelo on TMNT) who had been on the show as a kid. And of course, to make things really authentic, the show was hosted by Marc Summers, who didn’t miss a beat as he ran the teams through their paces (<a href=”
it here!). It was super-cool to be “on set” for the show and watch the Blue Team win it all live.
For another thing, it was fun to have some chill time with some of Nickelodeon’s great talent– including folks from the panels like Craig Bartlett, Butch Hartman, Greg Cipes, Eric Bauza, and Ciro Nieli – and to get to know more of Nick’s cool staff. And finally, after the Double Dare show ended, they cleared the dance floor for some totally ‘90s DJing, and we all had a rockin’ time dancing and being completely unembarrassed at knowing, for instance, all the words to the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.” (Wow, it had been so long since I’d sung that song.) My one complaint about this party is that the dancing ended too soon! And on top of all of that fun, I give high praise to the snacks at this party (especially since I’m always dying of hunger at the end of a busy day at Comic-Con) which included mini burgers, fries, shakes, and eclairs. Small but substantial food, easy to eat, and totally in theme.
All in all, Nickelodeon killed it this year at Comic-Con, and it wouldn’t have been the same without ‘em. I’m already feeling the nostalgia for Comic-Con 2016 and all the Nick fun I had there (which you can see in my photo album here). But that doesn’t mean I can’t wait to see what they do next year, too!
Stay tuned for tons more SDCC reporting from me, and until next time, Servo Lectio!
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In conjunction with the release of Game of Thrones: The Complete Sixth Season on Digital HD, HBO invites viewers across the land to the launch of a brand new political movement: The GoT Party!
