Transmissions from the Buffyverse, an introduction

Hey guys! Welcome to the Hellmouth! I'm embarking on an adventure, and dragging you along for the ride. 

I promised I would, and here I am, ankle-deep in the Buffy Universe. For those of you who missed it: I'm a Buffy virgin. Or, I was until about two weeks ago (Was it that long ago? My goodness!) when I took it upon myself to take a nosedive into watching ALL of Buffy, including the movie and give my thoughts on this piece of pop-culture geek love that had missed me by miles. The final straw was a gang-up by friend and fellow podcaster, Joshua Unruh, and my husband Kevin, who has been hinting around at this idea for awhile. They finally accomplished convincing me of something I have thus far avoided.
I do have some personal bias, I admit. I am also a bit of a contrarian. Those were two contributing factors, and the fact that myself and roomie had no TV nor the time, the primary was -- and I know this is possibly unfair, but Julie Powell, author of Julie & Julia and Cleaving is a huge fan. She talks about it frequently and passionately in her books. While I find her to be a first-rate writer, I don't particularly care for her as a person. Julie, if you're reading this, maybe we could sit down and talk about it and find some common ground. But while I adored both books, I am a bit judgy about your personal life. Like I said, perhaps a bit unfair. But as people know, I have compulsive honesty. And while the people in my life get a pass on a lot of choices they make, most of them, in fact, it's much easier to judge.
So, here I am, having waded through season one and, well -- I'm in. 
I needed something light-hearted, but with some depth and the timing couldn't be better. I have so far enjoyed the show, am already invested in many of the characters, and season one shows glimmers of Joss Whedon's narrative talent and strength. World-building is not an easy task. Supernatural world-building is the booger of the bunch, and he does it with a style all his own. From the dialogue to the exposition, which is basically the entirety of this season, his strengths are already shining. And I have trust that I am not jumping on a plane to nowhere, a la Lost, which I am still angry about. 
So, here we go -- and I am pleased to say that there is nowhere to go but up. I'll get into the technical details about said season soon, but I know already that my time will not be wasted. 

That's all I've got time for right now, but hey - we're in no rush, right? Thank you for coming with me. Maybe I'll add something fresh to the discussion, which is now almost 20 years old - WOW. I welcome feedback -- critical or otherwise. Hell, I'm just happy to have a chance to engage in this and have you along for the ride. 

In the meantime, I leave you with a question: go back. All the way back, to the days of day-glow and Doctor Martens and riddle me this: who was your first love, character-wise? 

We'll talk more, and soon. Until then -- break's over and back out into the real world. Although I don't think I'll be making any special trips to Sunnydale anytime soon. And damn, I miss Firefly. 

Devon

What Superhero Means To Me

If you're reading this post, it's likely that you've heard at least an episode or two of the Okie Geek Podcast. If that's the case, then you've probably heard me wax poetic about one superhero or another. If I'm still describing you accurately, it is entirely possible that one of my statements on superheroes rubbed you the wrong way.

The bad news is, I'm not sorry about that at all! If you disagreed, then it means we can have a discussion. And there is almost nothing I love discussing more than superheroes. I love the actual stories, the theories of them, why they work and when they don't. I love it all.

But I also come at these conversations from a very specific view of superheroes. I firmly believe it's an informed opinion, but when I say that I mean informed by objective things like history (both in- and metafictional), but also extremely subjective things like my own tastes.

At this stage of my life as author and cultural partaker and commentator, I'm way past the point of apologizing for my tastes. However, it occurred to me that it might at least illuminate my future podcast commentary on superheroes if I spelled out a few things I feel are fundamental to the concept.

Conventional Wisdom on Genre Conventions

Genres are pretty fluid things. But while an individual genre is pretty malleable, they can be knocked all out of shape if you work hard enough at it. There's a moment after you strip the wings and jet engine from your genre that it starts to resemble a car way more than an airplane.

You all followed that analogy, right? Okay, good, carry on.

Superheroes are one of my favorite genres. I learned to read on superhero comics and have done more thinking about that subject than nearly any other in my life. I have spilled more ink and more pixels about superheroes than any two other subjects. In doing so, I've developed some absolute bare minimum requirements of the genre.

I've discussed on my own blog how superheroes are almost infinitely malleable. But while you can keep adding things to a superhero story and still (probably) have a superhero story, there must be a point where subtracting elements leaves you without one. Otherwise the words don't mean anything. So what are these bare minimum elements? I'm glad you asked!

First, a caveat. Although each of these elements is important, a story doesn't have to have every single one of them to be a superhero story. Neither do all the elements have to be of equal intensity. But you do require a quorum of these elements and at least a few of them turned up to 11. Otherwise your jet is just a car.

For instance, Batman has no super powers, but he's demonstrably a superhero. The Fantastic Four don't have secret identities, but they're also still squarely in the superhero genre. Sherlock Holmes and Doc Savage fight crime, but they are not superheroes.

Will there be fringe cases that could go either way? You betcha. But I think they're going to be the minority because I am aiming squarely for a baseline definition of superhero that makes sense with the history of the genre as well as pointing into the future of superhero characters.

Superheroes Must

• Possess Super Powers - Superheroes must have powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Concussive force fired from the eyes. The proportional strength and speed of a spider. Unbreakable knives popping out of knuckles. Titanic strength, flight, freeze breath, et al. Bottom line, the superhero is super.


• Possess A Colorful Costumed Identity... - Superheroes wear costumes. You can call them uniforms or action suits if that makes you feel better. Whatever you name it, the superhero has a unique and visually striking outfit she wears when fighting crime (we'll get to that one) that could not possibly be confused for street clothes.
• ...Which Hides Their Civilian Identity - Only a handful of trusted associates or dedicated allies can know the true identity of our hero or heroine. Naturally, this brings with it the attendant hiding-a-double-life shenanigans.


• Fight Crime... - Superheroes punch muggers, bank robbers, mobsters, terrorists, Nazis and whoever else is foolish enough to commit nefarious deeds in front of our hero.


• ...Which Also Cloaks Itself In Colorful Costumed Identities - Run-of-the-mill gunsels and fourth columnists are fine for a while, but eventually a superhero needs somebody who does evil as flamboyantly as the hero does good. Superheroes simply must have supervillains.


• Battle Internal Conflicts Literalized Externally - This is admittedly a little esoteric. It also might be easier to explain with examples. Peter Parker's internal conflict is deciding what is the greatest good. On one side of town, his loving, ailing aunt needs the pills Peter just picked up for her. On the other side of town, the Scorpion is blowing things up and robbing banks. Peter is literally faced with the dilemma of having great power, yet not knowing where the greater responsibility lies.
  
  Or to take another example, consider a slowly dying Superman who has always been empowered by solar energy literally facing his own mortality by fighting an evil computer in the shape of a sun. The source of his power is killing him at both the micro and macro scale. That's pretty heady stuff.


• Be Better People Than Us So As To Inspire Us - For some reason, I feel like this statement is going to be the most controversial. But it's also the one that most defines superheroes. Superheroes are selfless. They sacrifice to protect their fellow men and women. And while they are people (albeit fictional ones) and far from perfect, they are still heroes. I'm going to quote Chris Sims of Comics Alliance at length here for a minute.

...superheroes are a fundamentally optimistic proposition. They all descend from Superman, a character who’s built around the idea that this person with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men would use them exclusively for the benefit of others.

They have to be better people, because they serve to inspire us to be better people.

Optimism. Inspiration. Selflessness. An example of how to be better. I'm down with that stuff. Somewhere along the line it became cool to be cynical. Like, hoping for the future or having compassion for your fellow man became less important than how hip you are.

To hell with that noise! I want to be inspired! I want to be inspiring! And if optimism is the new counter-culture, then Superman is the most punk rock thing in the universe! It also means all those guys who think they're too cool for superheroes the way they ought to be are really just sad sacks who want to drag down an ideal. Good luck knocking down a guy like the one pictured below. And me too, super powers or not.

It Was a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Weekend

Yes. The only connection between Mad Max: Fury Road and Mad Men is the word mad. But, flimsy as the connection may be, I’m using it to justify a post about both the film and the series finale of one of the best television dramas of all time.

I joined fellow Okie Geek Podcast panelist Devon and her husband Kevin at a screening of Mad Max: Fury Road; the long-awaited fourth entry in Director George Miller’s post-apocalyptic franchise.

I’m not going to spoil the plot, because you should invest two hours of your life and see this film in a real-live theater — preferably in 3-D — but its sparse dialogue, punk rock world-building and action packed chase scenes were so beautifully bizarre I can't wait to see it again. George Miller must be a student of silent film because the first third of his movie features a soundscape reminiscent of the fast-paced music associated with movies of that era. Plus, the action scenes have the same stylized herky-jerky sped-up look of an early Laurel and Hardy film. Charlize Theron steals the show. Tom Hardy was absolutely fine in the role, but I was surprised to see how marginalized his Max became as the story progressed.

Fury Road is everything I’ve hoped a big-budget blockbuster summer action movie could be. Thank goodness this movie exists in the world.

As a viewer who had been with the series since the very beginning, Sunday’s Mad Men finale had me feeling all the feels. In marketing/advertising speak, the finale "successfully leveraged content to create maximum impactful engagement”. In non-buzzword speak, it hit all the right notes and had a good mix of happy and ambiguous endings.

Again, no spoilers, but I felt the finale was ultimately true to the series while being somewhat optimistic about the potential for people to change for the better. Unlike many series enders, it didn’t exist solely to service the viewership with happy endings and neat tidy conclusions. My one quibble (and honestly, it’s so minor I worry I’m diminishing the greatness of the episode by mentioning it) was the scene where Joan and beau Richard try cocaine on vacation in Florida. It seemed to exist only as a cultural signpost that screamed, “WE’RE IN THE 1970s NOW!” and served no real purpose to the greater plot.

Don Draper, the main protagonist, the “good guy”, is a serial cheater, an identity thief, a drunk, a negligent father, an unreliably employee/boss and a bad friend. The fact that so many viewers (myself included) still want to see this seemingly terrible person succeed and thrive after seven seasons of two steps forward, two steps back character development is a testament to the acting ability of Jon Hamm and the storytelling genius of creator Matt Weiner. I said on an earlier podcast that Mad Men has done for television what The Great Gatsby did for literature.

I don’t believe the world will ever again see a show as complex and challenging as Mad Men or a series that so acutely captures the inherent contradictions of the American dream.

New Contributors to the Okie Geek Blog

The Okie Geek Blog is getting new contributors.

If you haven't heard the new Okie Geek Podcast, click here.

The podcast features new additions to the Okie Geek Blog: Devon Green, Chase Harvick and Joshua Unruh.

They are very knowledgeable in the ways of the geek, and I value them coming along for the ride.

They are also great writers, so I look forward to seeing what they will bring to the blog..

From here on out they will be joining in the conversation here which I haven't always been able to do on a regular basis.

Also, now that you've listened to the podcast you can rate and review it on iTunes.

The better the feedback, the more we can produce the kinds of content you enjoy.

And please, leave us a comment anytime.

Meanwhile, Keep Calm and Geek On!

First Okie Geek Podcast

The first ever Okie Geek Podcast with Joshua Unruh, Devon Green and Chase Harvick can be found on SoundCloud:

https://soundcloud.com/okie-geek/okie-geek-episode-1

The Marvel Cinematic Universe: An Historical Persective

So I just got a chance to watch Avengers: Age of Ultron with my wife this weekend.

Let me preference this blog, by saying there are absolutely no spoilers.

Suffice it to say, the movie is amazing! Full of heart and comedy and excitement. There are certainly some tense moments, but it wouldn't be a great one without them. The other thing I will add about what is essentially Avenger 2 is that it is a successful sequeal, going above and beyond its predecessor.

So let's start there.

For generations the adage, "The Sequel is never better than the original" has stood the test of time.

While there are certainly exceptions to break the rule: Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Terminator 2: Judgement Day and, of course the granddaddy of them all, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

Usually what follows the original work, can never exceed what came before: Raiders of the Lost Arc, Ghostbusters and of course, Police Academy. I kid about the last one. Actually when it comes to comic movies the best example is to look to Superman with Christopher Reeve, released in 1978. The film had its share of success and was followed by an equally well done, Superman2  in 1980. But, I remember hearing at the time that it was so successful the industry already green-lighted a third and fourth picture which devastated the franchise.

I have lived many years watching sequels which never lived up to the original, until now. Not just Avenger2 but the entire Iron Man trilogy and Captain America: Winter Soldier. Marvel has managed to do something any movie corporation would be thrilled to see: sequels that shine brighter than their progenitors.

But with Marvel, it's something even more amazing.

In 2008, Marvel released Iron Man.  The feature piece was so successful the company decided to make a sequel, but, then, in an absolute stroke of genius decided to do something unheard of: create another movie which on it's face had absolutely no connection with its predecessor.

So right after Iron Man2, Disney/Marvel released Thor and Captain America. The movies which were so much more than spin-offs held their own, and it wasn't long before the world began to realize what Marvel was up to: an eventual massive cross-over team up known as The Avengers.

And the franchise has never looked back. But, now, after seven years, maybe it is time for us to look back. Not just on the lifespan of the current Avengers series, but on the entire history of fiction writing.

What Marvel has done is create a cohesive universe which has now spanned eleven successful movies, one broadcast television show in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.and even a streaming serial in Daredevil on Netflix.

I have spent the past 24 hours trying to recall a time in film history when several different story lines have been created in the same narrative to create standalone stories as well as these epic team up features. I can't recall anything. Even in the realm of fiction itself over thousands of years, nothing even comes close.

If you can thing of anything, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

In the meantime, the future continues to look bright for Marvel with more stories on television, Netflix and of course the big screen,

But, I feel the biggest winner is going to be us, the viewers.

So, what do you think about the historic aspect of the MCU? Let me know in the comments...

Getting Ready for the GEEKend!

I am so excited about the upcoming four day weekend to kick off the month of May.

I'm not saying its a vacation weekend, just talking about all the plans for May 1st through the 4th.

Starting Friday, the newest Marvel Cinematic Universe Feature Film officially hits theaters. Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron looks to be an exciting ride with old friends and new faces. Add to that the genius move of having James Spader voice Ultron, and you've got a movie I have to see opening day. Ny the way, if you watch Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC you might want to make sure you watch Age of Ultron this weekend. Like last year's Captain America: Winter Soldier  it looks like events in the movie will directly impact the characters on the TV show.

So that's Friday.

Saturday is Free Comic Book Day.

If you've got a kid who just watched Avengers and wants to know more, take him or her to a comic book store near you. there are a lot of great things going on in the realm of comics today. With Convergence in the DC universe and Secret Wars in Marvel, there are some fantastic new story lines to get started reading. Also, if you're having trouble getting your son or daughter to read, Free Comic Book Day allows him or her to pick out something enjoyable and possibly move on to a lifetime path of reading.

Finally Monday is May the 4th, as in "May the 4th Be With You."

It's a great opportunity to celebrate Star Wars. And it couldn't come at a better time. The new animated series Star Wars: Rebels is coming off a highly successful first season, and the trailer for the second season looks phenomenal. The fourth in the newest series of canon novels, Lords of the Sith, just came out on Tuesday.

If you're looking for a way to celebrate the galaxy far, far away you and maybe even pick up that book, you can join me at Best of Books on Monday. With Star Wars origami, a scavenger hunt and Jedi traning, we expect it to be a fun day!

So that's my weekend. What's yours look like? Let me know in the comets...