Hopes For Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the galaxy is opening this weekend, and I sincerely hope it does well.

A few months ago I was telling people they needed to get out and see it opening weekend to help it do well in the box office.

I should have known Marvel/Disney wasn't going to let this weekend come without a ton of hype.

I am now fairly certain with all the advertising that has been done that many fans an non-fans will flock to see the picture.

Now I'm just hoping it is good.

While I'm certain it will be, I'll know for certain by Saturday.

So why is it important for GOTG to be good and have a big box office weekend?

Guardians is taking Superhero movies where they have never gone before: away from planet earth.

Secondly, the movie stars characters which aren't that familiar to everyone.

It's easy to fill seats when you have a Batman or Superman or even an Iron Man, but Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Racoon and Groot?

These are not characters the non comic reading public knows.

Heck, even some comic book fans might not have known who they were before the announcement of the movie.

Marvel/Disney is taking a big risk with this show.

The only way film producers can feel confident in giving second or third tier characters screen time is if this one succeeds.

I am hopeful that GOTG will suceed leading to more adventurous comics, but hopefully finally lead to a true female superhero movie.

Are you planning to see Guardians of the Galaxy? Let me know in the comments...

Okie Geek Blog Applauds Marvel For New Female Thor

News has come out that coming up in October a new series of Thor is coming out where the famous hammer, Mjolnir, is going to be wielded by a woman.

The better news is that this character will be named THOR!

Not Thor Girl or She-Thor or Thorina or anything like that, just Thor.

What a fantastic idea!

Marvel is recently finding success in its female characters with She-Hulk, Black Widow and Captain Marvel all having fantastic solo ventures.

(FYI, Did you notice none of those covers in the links above had the women scantily clad)

The biggest new female superhero to drop recently was Ms. Marvel.

The character who takes up the moniker of Ms. Marvel after Carol Danvers promotion to captain isn't just a female, but a Muslim!

Marvel was certainly taking a big risk, but it paid off.

Ms. Marvel #1 succeeded probably better than anyone could imagine as it's already getting a 4th printing.

The funny thing is Marvel execs are no longer hiding the fact that the goal of these books is to appeal more to women.

Over the past decade more and more women are getting interested in all forms of geek culture including comic books.

And more and more women are finding success in the industry as writers and artists.

But, the truth is there are many of us men, myself very much included, who enjoy the stories where the main character is a woman.

While the comics are finally starting to enter the 21st century in putting women in their own works, Hollywood has yet to figure it out.

Since the modern superhero movie began with Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000 there have only been two major superhero motion pictures with women in the lead role: Catwoman and Elektra.

That's right the only two female superhero movies in 14 years focused on a thief and an assassin.

Neither film found much success, but let's face it, neither of them has the star quality of someone like Wonder Woman.

Comic book movies are at their height, and, sadly, that won't last forever.

Before the genre comes to an end let's make sure to give women the chance to save the world while the men watch in awe!

So what female super heroes would you like to see on the Silver Screen? Let me know in the comments...

OKC Needs a Mini Comic Con

The other day I was reading about an event which happened over the July 4th weekend known as "Nerdtacular" in Utah.

Organizers called it a mini-con and that's exactly what it was.

The event included nerd/geek panels, board games and even a costume contest.

It looks awesome, and I think it could happen here.

Oklahoma City is experiencing a renaissance of culture and art.

Everyday people are becoming more aware of the geek/nerd culture.

What we need are more outlets for fans to express their passions.

That's why Geekdom in Oklahoma City needs to put together a miniature Comic Con.

Fortunately the city already has a large scale gathering known as Sooner Con, but that only takes place once a year.

I would love to see someone put something like this together, maybe for next year.

What do you think? What would you like to see in an event? Is there something like this I don't know about?

Let me know in the comments...

Doctor Who Season Eight Just Around the Corner

The new season of Doctor Who staring Peter Capaldi airs on BBC and BBC America in about a month and a half.

BBC has finally released a full trailer of the upcoming season featuring Daleks, dinosaurs and doubt.

I am extremely excited to see the new series and new incarnation of the Time Lord.

However, I'm not interested in checking out the scripts which were accidentally leaked online.

In fact, I have to say I 'm very proud of how the BBC handled the leaks, by just asking the fans not to give into the "spoilers".

Instead, I thought I would indulge in a little fantasy of what I would like to see from the new season of Doctor Who.

The following is not a spoiler or any sort of insider information, I just think it would be fun to speculate.

To start we need to return to 1986 and Doctor Who's 23rd Season.

The show was already waning in popularity, so BBC decided to run a full arc known as "Trial of a Time Lord".

While the 6th Doctor would ultimately prevail during the trial, the actor playing him, Colin Baker would not.

But, before the ending, it was revealed that the prosecutor in the case who was called the Valeyard was the Doctor from the future. 

The Master calls the Valeyard a dark version of the doctor which happens sometime between his 12th and final incarnations.

I remember watching this at the time and wondering if at some future date we might actually have that revealed.

Of course the answer was "no" because the show ended with the seventh doctor just three years later.

But times have changed with the eighth doctor in 1996, and subsequent ninth through 11th since 2005.

Now we have the 12th incarnation in Peter Capaldi.

We already know show producer Steven Moffat loves the classic series, and pays homage to the old shows on a regular basis.

It also seems apparent that Capaldi's Doctor will go a little darker according to the trailer. 

So, I'm just hoping we might see some tease as to the creation of the Valeyard. 

Either way I know I am ready for August 23rd to kick off the next chapter. 

Getting Ready for August 23rd: New Who!

In case you hadn't heard, which would be very strange if you've been following my blog at all, a new Doctor Who is coming out, and, finally, a date has been set.

BBC announced Doctor Who season eight would start on August 23rd.

Fortunately, BBC America is showing on the same day so the risk of spoilers on Twitter or Facebook from friends across the pond diminishes.

I know a lot of people are excited, and I can certainly be counted among them.

But, I heard an interesting question on the latest Kasterborous Podcast: "Would you quit Doctor Who if you didn't like any changes made to the show."

The question is timely as some people aren't too crazy about Peter Capaldi driving the Tardis.

Many detractors are citing his age as a problem which is strange as he is the same age as William Hartnell when he was cast as the first doctor in 1963.

But, the question itself had me recalling the times I myself stopped watching Doctor Who.

The first was in the mid 80s.

Doctor Who aired on Saturday evenings on OETA at 10:00.

I loved watching it as a kid, but as I got older I found other things to do on a Saturday night, so halfway through the Peter Davison era I stopped watching.

I returned to the show in the early 90s when I moved to Denver and found the show on the local PBS station on Sunday morning.

Then it got cancelled.

Then there was the 1996 Movie which was an attempt by Fox to revive the show.

It was awful, and Doctor Who again disappeared for nearly a decade.

The Time Lord and his beautiful blue box returned triumphantly in 2005, and since that time the show has undergone changes, but I have enjoyed every minute.

So, except for a time in the late 80s I have been a faithful fan.

Would I ever leave?

I am reminded of the song in Camelot "If Ever I Would Leave You" where Lancelot convinces himself he could never leave Guinevere at any time of the year.

I feel the same way about Doctor Who: I don't think I could ever leave the show again because I know what it's like to be without it.

Of course there might be those "Fair Weather" fans who have been watching only since young Matt Smith took over in 2011 and have never known anything different.

Some of them might leave, but the show will hopefully still be here when they decide to return.

So what, if anything, would it take for you to stop or maybe even start watching Doctor Who? Let me know in the comments.

Summer Geek TV

So, it's summer television which at one time used to mean nothing but boring reruns until the fall.

Then along came basic cable and that all changed.

Most cable channels started airing their big shows over the summer so as not to compete with big rating episodes from major broadcast networks the rest of the year.

But, the shows some of which tended toward science fiction, fantasy, suspense or horror started getting a major following.

This forced even the major networks to start producing original summer shows.

This summer's lineup includes the return of old favorites from last year: Defiance on SYFY(so ready for that name to change back to SciFi), True Blood in its final season on HBO, Falling Skies on TNT and Under the Dome on CBS.

I do want to mention a couple of new shows I think are well worth watching.

First, there's the Wil Wheaton Project on SYFY(please NBC/Comcast change that name).

This show is hilarious.

First off, I think Wil Wheaton is amazing and not just because he was in Stand By Me and Star Trek: TNG.

He has grown into a talented young Generation Xer and a very funny fan of geekdom.

The show follows the same pattern as The Soup or Web Soup, where Wheaton stands before a green screen which airs videos from geek culture.

It's a very funny show: I highly recommend it.

On the other end of the spectrum is the TNT Drama The Last Ship.

At first, I thought the show had an overused premise of a disease which kills most of the world's population, but after watching just a couple of episodes I am hooked.

The crew was in the arctic doing military drills under radio silence for four months while the disease was killing 80% of the population so they had no idea what was going on.

They also didn't know the scientists they brought along weren't just doing experiments they were trying to find a cure for the now global pandemic.

Governments have collapsed and the world is in turmoil while this ship tries to save mankind.

Also, it has Adam Baldwin who I have enjoyed since 1980's My Bodyguard.

So far The Last Ship is turning out to be intense and entertaining.

Overall, it's a summer of good television watching until the return of my favorite Time Lord on August 23rd.

What shows are you watching? Let me know in the comments: