RSS Feed

Monthly Archives: August 2012

Who’s Excited for Fall TV?! Part Two

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Kristi McDowell

Hold on to your hats, readers! Um, because reading blogs can be windy work. No! Because this is part two of my Fall TV series. And be excited!

So damned exciting!

This blog is dedicated to shows that didn’t get cancelled and really should be going away. And usually not just because I hated them, though I don’t doubt there won’t be some of that here. The first one really shouldn’t surprise anyone here.

American Idol (Fox)- Even Randy Jackson bowed out. Randy. Jackson. The only one left is Ryan Seacrest and he looked so bored last season that I think the only reason he’s even sticking around is to win some kind of bet. And look at who’s won the last five seasons: Philip Phillips, a white guy with a guitar; Scotty McCreery, a white guy with a guitar; Lee DeWyze, a white guy with a guitar; Kris Allen, a white guy with a guitar; and David Cook, a white guy with a guitar. Even America is getting bored. They keep voting for the same kind of guy because they don’t even know that a new season has started, that’s how uninspiring each season has been. I hate to say it, Fox, but maybe you should have quit when Simon Cowell did. No one cares anymore.

It’s a tween girl or soccer mom’s dream come true!

The Biggest Loser (NBC)- This is another example of a show that should’ve quit when the real star did. Or, to be fair, when half of the reason people watched left. Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper made The Biggest Loser what it was. They could “good cop/bad cop” the fatties until the pounds fell off, with Bob whispering sweet motivational nothings into the contestants’ ears while Jillian tiny hot chick raged at them until they were sweating fear and fat. When Jillian left, they tried to replace her with two new trainers, Dolvett Quince and Anna Kournikova, but that combined with the really poorly set up “Battle of the Ages” format, where old people competed against younger people, just made for an unmemorable season. Besides, the contestants that last few seasons have just been whinier than usual, with two actually quitting the show last season in a “shocking twist” that happens every damned season. None of these people deserve the show and, frankly, there just isn’t any show without Jillian. Sorry Bob, you’re only half of a winning team. And sorry, Dolvett, you’re no Jillian Michaels.

Not many can be Jillian Michaels.

Glee (Fox)- I used this as an example of a good show that should not have been allowed to last long enough to implode. It was a fun, great concept: loveable losers who sing their way to fame, fortune, and popularity seemed like it might be a great show but, unfortunately, the machine that is Ryan Murphy and company allowed fan feedback to bastardize what could have been a fun show for many seasons. With the potential to let kids graduate away and make room for new talent, I’d have really liked to see a constant change-up of vocal abilities, new stars, new stories but it seems like after seeing fans freak out about things like Klaine and Brittana, all stories started to revolve around similar pairings, lines were blurred between who was popular in New Directions and who was actually a loser, and no one learned a damned lesson. For three seasons, the stories suffered from an inability to keep any character consistent and the only way to start new arcs was to vilify a new member of the cast. One week, Quinn was the villain, the next week, Sue Sylvester, the next, that weird kid with the red ‘fro. And when someone else was a villain, someone like Sue would suddenly be redeemed for an episode. It was all just absurd. Glee should have been a Fox miniseries and ended after Regionals.

I just stopped believin’.

Not too many shows sticking around that shouldn’t, thank goodness. And I’m pretty fortunate that Sarah won’t be making me watch any of those shows this season. I have so many shows to watch this fall and now have more room in my schedule for them! Speaking of having more room in my schedule, come back here for Part Three to see which shows I’m adding to my fall lineup.

2 Comments

Posted in fall tv and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Who’s Excited for Fall TV?! Part One

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Kristi McDowell

MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Oh, dear God, I am excited about Fall TV. I’m decidedly less excited about all the campaign commercials I’ll have to fast forward through this season but besides that, I am just beside myself excited about the shows that are coming back, coming out, and even beside myself excited about some shows that will not be returning. This isn’t counting shows like Dexter that are on Showtime or Archer, which is on FX. This is just the basic cable networks that I’m pulling from a list on TV Guide.

I tried to find an image that didn’t look too much like I stole it from someone else’s site. I don’t think I did a good job.

Part One, which shows are coming back that I cannot wait for this fall?

Community (NBC)- Holy hell, this show is fracking amazing. I blogged a while back about how frustrated I was that it might be going away. Now that the insanity is over and the show has been renewed, I am waiting eagerly for the first episode of season 4. Dan Harmon won’t be returning as showrunner this season, due to some major conflict between Chevy Chase and him so I’m foreseeing some speedbumps on an otherwise hilarious humor highway.

Heck yes, there was a video game episode!

Cougar Town (TBS)- I only started watching this show last season, part way through, and I was pleasantly surprised. Courtney Cox and Busy Phillips are just hysterical and the premise is pretty easy to get right away. I was, initially, baffled because I expected it to be Courtney Cox throwing herself at men that are way younger than she is but, as every episodes opening credits inform us, Cougar Town is just the unfortunate name from the pilot concept. What Cougar Town is, in actuality, is a group of people who love each so much that they’re willing to walk across the beach to participate in an illegal public wedding and distract the cops will the newlyweds escape on the bride’s father’s horse. Yeah, that happened. This was a fantastic find last season. I hope that it’s change over to TBS isn’t the beginning of the end of this quirky show.

Hawaii Five-0 (CBS)- I’m so glad that this show is entering it’s third season. I really only started watching this show on a whim because of that damned catchy theme song and Grace Park. I fell in love with her in Battlestar Galactica so watching another show where she can play a total bad ass just made sense. That, and sometimes she’s in a bikini. Rawr. But the show is just fun, suspenseful, and cheesy. You can definitely feel the influence of the series this is rebooting, with the one-liners, cliche drama, and the buddy cop dynamic provided by Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan but the show also provides just some great action sequences that can definitely bring you to edge of your seat.

You’re welcome.

New Girl (Fox)- I have a love/hate relationship with Fox. I feel like Fox does nothing good with any of their shows, keeping garbage while letting great shows fall by the wayside. I’m always a little hesitant to watch something on Fox because I feel like if it’s any good, it’ll get cancelled (if we’re lucky, in the case of Firefly) or it will be allowed to fester into something unrecognizably awful that we wish it had gotten cancelled before someone could ruin it (like with Glee). But Zooey Deschanel’s New Girl was just too awesome a concept not to try last season. Dorky grade school teacher (who happens to have a model for a best friend) moving in with three completely different bachelors, all of which are actually not trying to sleep with her? Sign me up! The show can be formulaic but I don’t think that, as a concept, it can help that. It does break the mold occasionally, such as when Nick was diagnosed with cancer, and it’s absurd sense of humor somehow makes his plight all the more tragic. How can someone as silly as him get cancer? It’s not fair! (Nick pulled through)

Once Upon a Time (ABC)- I talked about this show, comparing it to Grimm, last season, and I still stand by my decision to keep watching Once Upon a Time but I was getting tired of the story by the end of last season. I just felt that maybe it could’ve been a short first season. There was some repetitiveness that I could’ve lived without, especially when the whole thing, by the time the finale aired, felt like it had been plodding along for just that moment. I won’t give anything away but they spent the whole season establishing something that went right out the window in the last two minutes of the finale. I’ll be watching the second season but warily. The first episode had better be out of this world to keep me hooked.

Up All Night (NBC)- I love everything Will Arnett is in. Seriously, from Arrested Development, to his Hulu commercials, to his bit part in Wristcutters: A Love Story, I think he is one of the funniest men on television. And with Christina Applegate, who might be one of the funniest women ever, he is at the top of his game, bringing a masculine and endearing touch on the role of stay-at-home-dad to little Amy. Special mention goes out to Maya Rudolph, who plays a very strong supporting character as Ava, Christina Applegate’s boss, though she can steal the scene on occasion but I’m pretty sure that’s intentional. If it’s not, it just works for the character. I thought this would be hard to relate to, since I have no plans to be a parent, but the entire cast seems to draw anyone who knows what it’s like to have to adjust to sudden change in their life in and keep them laughing the whole time.

Don’t let this sweet scene fool you: hilarity is about to ensue.

Whitney (NBC)- Whitney Cummings’ show is something I can relate to, as she plays a woman living with her boyfriend of several years, with no sign of marriage in sight and that’s her choosing. They’re a happy, functioning couple that doesn’t need to get married to show their commitment to one another. Much of this season’s B-story had to do with two characters who were planning a wedding but really shouldn’t have been trying to get married to one another, thus providing hilarious “proof” that marriage is for chumps. At least, that’s what it started out as. Eventually, by the end of the season, Whitney started coming around to the idea of marriage with “I Love Lucy”-like results. Huh. I just compared Whitney Cummings to Lucille Ball. Weird.

You’re right, Lucy and Ethyl, I have no idea what I’m talking about.

And that’s it for the shows I’m glad are coming back. Stay tuned for Part Two, where I talk about the shows that didn’t get cancelled and I have no idea why. I’m sure you’re very excited! I know I am!

2 Comments

Posted in fall tv and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Cedar+Gold Sneak Peek

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Kristi McDowell

And by “sneak peek”, I mean all speculation on my part. So keep that in mind while you’re reading this.

Tristan Prettyman’s latest album, Cedar+Gold, is available for pre-order. Because I am such a fan, I immediately jumped at the chance to make sure that I had her album as soon as it became available. Eagerly, I read the track list to see what’s in store come October 2, 2012 (the date got pushed from September 27).

After hearing “My Oh My”, the first single from the new album, I knew that there would be some Jason Mraz angst on this album. How could there not be? Their breakup, their responses to the breakup, and that “I Won’t Give Up” song that’s playing on every Top 40 station twice an hour keeps putting their relationship’s dissolve in our faces every day so I’m sure it’s constantly on her mind. Well, that and the fact that that man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with leaving her and then telling the world that she doesn’t care about the issues he cares about. I’m sure that songwriting is her way of dealing with the pain of her break-up and her album immediately following said break-up would reflect that method of therapy.

Happier days.

But after looking at the track list and looking up the lyrics of some of her new songs, I have to say that I am shocked that it appears as though the entire album is a big “Go to hell” to the popular singer that broke her heart. Look at some of the lyrics from that first single:

You got me under a spell
You look like heaven, oh, but you put me through hell
God knows there’s nothing to gain
Well who am I to deny, we’re both playing the same game
All too familiar, the moment it blows up
Now everything I know seems to fly

-as taken from sing365.com

Obviously this a reference to their on-again/off-again nature of their relationship. I won’t belabor the point of it all but you can tell that she’s fed up with the back and forth. I get it, sister, you’re pissed and you’re not going to take it anymore. You go, girl!

Watch out, Jason, she’s about to fuck your world up. In song!

I really don’t have any complaints about someone writing their anger into their songs. Heck, one of my favorite artists, Chad Perrone, writes some of the most angsty music out there and I can’t get enough of him. But check out some of the lyrics of her other songs from Cedar+Gold:

Just so you know just so you know
I never thought you’d let me go
I don’t even know the truth
Yeah we were fine, yeah we were fine
Then all at once you changed your mind
And I was gonna marry you

-also from sing365.com, titled “I Was Gonna Marry You”

Or:

You said you would never let me go
You promised me, our love written on the wall
Felt so easy but I should’ve known better
To never say never

-taken from sing365.com, titled “Never Say Never”

And:

Promises get broken
Details go unspoken
I never say too much
Spend too much time thinking
And the weeks lead up to leaving
Summer’s gonna get crushed

-once more from sing365.com, titled “Come Clean”

Don’t worry, Jason Mraz fans, he’ll be able to use his Jesus-like powers to walk across the ocean to get away from the music.

All of these songs are lamenting Mraz’s departure from her life and the rest of the album’s song lyrics are very similar. I’m suspecting a tear-jerker in Cedar+Gold. I’ll definitely be listening to it, because I loves me some Tristan Prettyman, but I worry that an album dedicated to be very angry at one person, especially someone that I do typicaly enjoy like Jason Mraz, is going to be something of a buzz kill.

5 Comments

Posted in cedar+gold, tristan prettyman and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Crush of the Week #10

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Kristi McDowell

Holy heck, 10 (11 if you count #0) Crushes of the Week! That’s 2 1/2 months of an almost on time feature! Hooray! I should come up with other features to keep this going. Maybe with fall TV coming up, I can do a weekly recap of the shows I like. That might be fun. What do you think, readers?

But you’re not here for me to slowly come into my own for this blog. You’re here for my Crush of the Week! This one I’m quite excited about. It came down to two character who you all already know I love with the passion of a hundred fiery suns: Starling from Birds of Prey and Maggie Sawyer from Batwoman. Starling was quite awesome in Birds of Prey this week, really throwing herself into harm’s way to protect her team, but as a member of a superhero team, I somewhat expect that from her. So this week’s Crush is Maggie Sawyer, because she’s easily one of the unsung heroes of the DC Universe.

Since Maggie isn’t overly popular, here’s a picture of the two women that implies heavily that they’ve had sex.

The character’s been around forever, as a cop in Metropolis in Superman stories before being transferred to Gotham. I don’t really know much about her incarnation prior to the New 52 so I can’t really speak to that. I started collecting the trades of Gotham Central, where she’s in charge of the precinct, I guess, and features the adventures of the GCPD dealing with a city full of super powered criminals and the capes that come in and do their policing for them. I haven’t read much of it yet but the first few pages I fumbled through were good. It’s a bit of a tough read, for me, very cerebral, but I’m getting through it.

Anyway! Maggie Sawyer is just amazing and I’ve been so into her since I read Batwoman: Elegy, where she and Kate Kane meet for the first time. Their first date was completely adorable and started a really great rapport between the two of them. They banter well, they have a good time together, and they have a lot in common with their obsession with fighting crime (which, of course, Maggie doesn’t know about on Kate’s end). Maggie knows all about Renee Montoya, Kate’s other cop girlfriend (who disappeared inexplicably from the DC Universe) and is totally cool with the fact that her girlfriend is a serial cop dater.

Maybe my crush isn’t just on Maggie but as the two of them as a couple.

Basically, Batwoman’s story has really been Maggie’s story. For all 12 issues so far, Maggie has been trying to solve the case of the disappearing children, all of which have been Hispanic, and it’s been going poorly for her. On top of it all, she’s got Kate who needs to act like a selfish, entitled socialite in order to maintain her secret identity so she’s gotten very little support from her girlfriend all while dealing with barely veiled accusations of not caring about children because she’s a lesbian (despite the fact that she has a child). There are people who are demanding that Maggie be taken off the case because she’s not trying hard enough.

Meanwhile, Batwoman has just been messing up Maggie’s case by getting involved. She keeps getting into things, chasing off leads, and even gives Maggie a pretty high-level sedative while the detective was just trying to catch the person stealing the children!

Stabbing your girlfriend with a needle full of sedative is not as hot as it sounds.

It doesn’t matter that Maggie doesn’t really have a chance to catch Medusa, the Crying Woman, Falchion, anyone else. She just cares so much about her job. She cares so much about her daughter. And she cares so much about Kate. It’s the fact that she is so dedicated to the things she cares about it that makes her so damned appealing. She’s such a strong character, has no misconceptions about what kind of person she is and what she expects from the people she has in her life. And that is starting to come out in how she deals with Kate Kane’s heiress cover. Her last panel of issue #12 has Maggie showing Kate the door after her girlfriend’s astonishing lack of support in response to a very poor showing at a press conference earlier. We all know that Batwoman’s got a job to do but Maggie has no idea that Kate is a masked vigilante.

I may cried a lot a little.

I hate that Kate and Maggie are so rocky but it makes sense that trying to maintain a relationship with a secret as big as Batwoman is going to be really hard. I feel like they’re either going to make it work or Renee Montoya is going to show up out of nowhere and she and Kate will be badass lesbian crime fighting girlfriends and Maggie will continue to be awesome.

Me? I’m hoping Maggie solves the mystery of the Batwoman and decides that she loves Kate no matter what and they work together clandestinely solve crime together, Maggie doing the detective work and Batwoman doing the ass kicking. But no matter what, Maggie Sawyer will likely be my fictional forever crush because she is just so awesome. Detective Sawyer, you are my Crush of the Week and I don’t even care that I’m the only one who loves you.

Leave a comment

Posted in crush of the week, maggie sawyer and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

The Invasion of the Bat-Ladies

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Kristi McDowell

No, I didn’t forget that last week Batwoman dropped in on Batgirl in the battle against Knightfall. I spent quite some time poring over Batgirl #12, really going over it with a fine-toothed comb. Considering it’s a comic written by one of my favorite writers in the comic book industry, Gail Simone, and co-starring perhaps my favorite character in comics ever, Batwoman, I went into it expecting to have my face rocked off like I was at a concert.

Is it wrong that I think this is hot?

Sadly, my response to this issue is tepid at best. And I don’t think that’s anyone’s fault but my own. I got myself SO excited and worked up for this issue that it wasn’t really capable of ever meeting the expectations I’d set for it. So I can’t blame the comic for my letdown. Everything about this issue was quite good.

Ardian Syaf’s art was superb. Every time Batwoman graced a page, the panels shifted to mirror the unique layouts that her own comic is known for and that was just damned impressive. That level of detail was just spectacular and made the comic worth it just for that. And while I don’t often comment on the colors of a comic, I have to say that Ulises Arreola managed to make Batwoman look gothic pale without making her look skeleton dead. That was a happy surprise to come out of her appearance in Batgirl.

The issue itself was pretty good. As much as I like Batwoman, I can’t help but feel that Batgirl didn’t really need her. The beginning fight was neat, I liked the idea of Batgirl sizing up Batwoman. One of my favorite things about Batgirl as a character (and the way Simone writes her) is that she has a running dialogue in her head at all times. We always know what she’s thinking so to hear her thoughts on Batwoman was pretty fun and her realization that the other hero is just a clever and calculating as she is was spot on, I think. At least in terms of being a bat-hero. I think if they were competing in an academic decathlon, Barbara Gordon might have an edge on Kate Kane.

For three years, she had a lot of time on her hands to study.

In any case, I did think that Batgirl and Detective Melody McKenna might have been able to do this without Batwoman. Of course, I won’t know for sure until the next issue (after issue #0 next month)  what my favorite hero brings to the table. After that initial fight, we don’t see Batwoman again until the last couple of pages, when she and McKenna bust in to back up Batgirl’s sneak attack. I do think it fits the “soldier” aspect of Batwoman’s background. That’s something I’ve felt is missing from Batwoman as a character, is the fact that she never set out originally to be a crime fighting vigilante. She had joined the military to be part of something bigger. And when she took the Batwoman mantle, I always thought it was so that she could work alongside the other Bats in an almost military fashion, being part of the larger group alongside characters like Lieutenants Batgirl and Nightwing and PFC Robin, operating under General Batman’s orders. I’d have loved for her to be a part of Batman Inc.

But now that she’s part of the DEO, following orders relayed by Cameron Chase, I have to settle for that as Batwoman’s way of still being part of some kind of pseudo-military. It’s good but it’s not quite what I like for the character.

In any case, I’ve done some reading from other fans and have heard the complaint that Batgirl was somehow diminished as a character because of the way Batwoman beat her up in the first couple of pages. I can see that argument. Batwoman really did throw her weight around in that skirmish but once the fight ended and they were chatting with McKenna, we got to see that Batgirl had a concussive trick up her sleeve. I think if the battle had gone on for the entire book, we would have seen Batgirl really hold her own. I couldn’t say who would have actually won a drawn-out slug fest between the pair of them. They’re both entirely different characters, but I think ultimately, as much as I love Batwoman, Batgirl might have have had the upper hand. She’s had more experience, more vigilante training, and more support from the big (Bat)man in charge to go down so easily. Batgirl’s got a lot of resources at her disposal and simply more time in the cowl, despite her absence while she was injured.

Is it wrong to think this is also hot? Yes, in this case, yes it is.

All in all, it was a good issue and I’m eager to see how this Knightfall plays out and what Batwoman’s place in it is. McKenna hints that the DEO is somehow involved in Knightfall, so what will that mean for Batwoman’s role in that organization? They’ve got her by the short hairs, really, so she can’t just up and leave them. I doubt that in the next issue of this story that Batwoman’s position in the DEO can change all the much, considering it’s not really Simone’s story to tell but it’s nice to see another writer approaching that dynamic. So far, it’s been an interesting path for Batwoman.

As far as the ongoing Batgirl story is concerned, I like that her brother, James Gordon, is becoming a more prominent villain. So far we’ve seen that he’s skirting the outside of Barbara’s life, getting to know her roommate, Aysia Yeoh, all while keeping his escape from Arkham Asylum a secret. Plus, he’s in league with Knightfall, having presumably befriended her while they were both locked up. As such, he’s gained some amnesty from her violent desire to erase Gotham’s criminal element. I can tell he’s going to be a much larger problem as the story continues and I have to wonder if it has anything to do with their mother’s return into Barbara’s life.

“I got you a kitten. It’s full of dynamite. I mean, love. It’s full of love.”

Oh God, I hope he doesn’t kill Barbara’s mother!!!

We’ll see what happens. My verdict on Batwoman’s part in this story is that, right now, she’s an unnecessary addition but that might change. I’d feel a little better about it if she gets a more prominent role in the defeat of Knightfall, to make it feel like she’s needed in order to do it.

Leave a comment

Posted in batgirl, batwoman and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Crush of the Week #0

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Kristi McDowell

I’m going to take a page from DC’s book and do an origin Crush of the Week. So this week will be zero and we’ll go back to our regularly scheduled program. It has almost nothing to do with the fact that no one in pop culture really stood out for me this week, okay? Okay?!

All right, right. There wasn’t anyone in pop culture that made me take notice. Sheesh.

This, being an origin Crush of the Week, will be a little more personal. If that’s not what you’re looking for, then I’d suggest you just move along and check out the kitten video that you were really looking for when you stumbled across my site.

I want to talk a moment about my fiancee, Sarah. I’ve mentioned her in passing once or twice but I don’t think I’ve given her the amount of attention she deserves. And considering that we were supposed to get married last night but were unable to, due to circumstances beyond our control, it’s fitting that I share with the world just how important she is to me.

Three years ago in August, I was a mess. My life wasn’t going anywhere that it was supposed to, I was lonely, and I was so broke I had to make decisions about whether to feed myself or my dog. I was dating but very unsuccessfully and when I wasn’t working, I was sleeping off my depression. It was a dark time in the life of this future blogger extraordinaire.

Finally, I started putting myself out there on the internet. Scary and dangerous, I know, and made worse by the fact that I was so fed up with dating sites that I’d turned to Craigslist. Do some mental math, folks. You know what was happening three years ago last July? Craigslist Killer. Seriously! I thought that amidst everything else that was going on in my life, I’d put up an ad on a site that was literally drawing the attention of a serial killer. I assure you, that wasn’t an “unintentional accident.” I really just wasn’t thinking.

My ad was stupid and ridiculous but, for some reason, the chicks dug it and I went on a few dates as a result. They were fun girls and all decent but nothing really clicked with them. But serial dating was better than staying home and crying into Samson’s fur so I kept doing it.

And then one day, I got a message back that would literally change my life.

You’re a winner!

Sarah responded to my ad, I’m pretty sure as a joke, but I was so drawn to her first email that I knew I had to meet her. However, coy lady that she is, we waited a couple of weeks before meeting. In the meantime, we emailed and texted and I even called her and left her the most amazingly awkward voice message in the history of voice messages. You would think that after all that correspondence with someone like me, she’d have run for the hills long before our first date.

Let me tell you a little about Sarah. Sarah is the sweetest, kindest, most genuine person on the planet. There’s not a mean bone in her body (believe me, three years with someone like me would’ve been plenty of time for her to show one, if it existed) and she surrounds herself with decent, amazing people. But you couldn’t find two more different people than the pair of us. You, I think, read my blog so you know what I’m into. Sarah likes People magazine, American Idol, and KISS 108. She likes manicures and drinking wine and movies based on books by Nicholas Sparks. What could we possibly have to keep us together?

She never knew what hit her.

I still haven’t figured that out. All I know is that since our first date, where I nearly scared her away with my opinionated rants and sketchy minivan, I couldn’t wait to see her again. So I didn’t. We went out again the next night. And the night after that. And the night after that. We saw each other everyday from July till October, where our relationship had its first test. I went away to Baltimore, MD for Comic Con. There, I geeked out with my buddies for a few days but spent most of my trip texting her. And even though she’s not into comics at all, I brought her home a Peanuts collection, my very first present to her. Oddly enough, she loved it.

After that, it would be another couple of years before we were separated again. In that time, we’ve moved in together, gotten a cat together, gotten engaged, gone through some hard times, gone through some amazing times, and I’ve even gotten her to read exactly two comics and a web comic. She, in turn, has gotten me to watch American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, the Voice, the Sing-Off, America’s Got Talent, more romantic comedies than I can even name, and I’ve read two Chelsea Handler books and a Max Tucker book.

Oh, and she’s also shown me never-ending patience and support in everything that I do. The fact that I manage to update my blog at all is because she has faith in me and that someday someone out there is going to care about what I have to say. The fact that I’m graduating college this December is because she never let me quit, no matter how hard it got. And the fact that we’re managing to stay afloat right now is because she has a strong, level head that keeps me optimistic when it’s in my nature to panic and fall apart.

Can you believe she said yes?

Sarah is my Crush of the Week, this week, last week, and every week for the rest of my life. I’m the luckiest person I know because as long as I have her, I have everything I need.

3 Comments

Posted in crush of the week, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Marvel NOW and Kelley Sue DeConnick

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Kristi McDowell

I don’t usually report on news that I hear about but I literally squealed like a crazy person when I saw the potential creative team for a new Avengers book coming with the Marvel NOW relaunch. I’ve been singing Kelley Sue DeConnick’s praises for a while now with her work on Captain Marvel and on Avenging Spider-Man and I doubt that will end any time soon. Especially now that she might be writing an Avengers title featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Spider-Woman.

Stefano Caselli’s art is just fantastic.

I’m already excited about Marvel NOW. I can’t wait to see the teams shaken up, creative teams moved around, and new characters getting a focus. When DC started the New 52, I was one of the people swept up in an easy place to start some new titles. DC saw a boost in their sales as new and old fans picked up some books to see what this whole reboot was all about. I’m sure Marvel will experience something very similar and I think that’s a good thing. Maybe they’re false numbers but I think a spike like that indicates that, love it or hate it, people are drawn to something new.

Some new looks, some old faces, and, of course, Wolverine in every book!

Hopefully Marvel will take advantage of that and do something spectacular. I think people are so upset still with DC is that, despite rebooting their line, there hasn’t been anything to make anyone say “Ooooooh, I get it! THIS is what made this a big deal.” Even as a new reader, I can’t say specifically that there has been a defining moment that has made the reboot worth it. Marvel has a distinct advantage in having had an entire year to see what DC did right and what they did wrong. That means I, and I would hope that many others, have high expectations of this relaunch (which is different than a reboot, in so far as at least Marvel isn’t pretending to rebuild an entire universe). Marvel has had some time to really consider what a relaunch might mean to new and old fans and, most importantly, what the point of a relaunch might be.

The New 52 in which they promised pants for Wonder Woman and then promptly took them away!

One of the best writers Marvel has in its house right now is Kelley Sue DeConnick. For one thing, and the thing most important to me, is that she writes strong female characters that aren’t parodies of their male counterparts. Captain Marvel is the epitome of her writing strength and Carol Danvers couldn’t have a better person continuing her legacy. And on Avenging Spider-Man, she has proven just how creative and quippy she can be, writing such different characters like Spider-Man and Captain Marvel with ease. Every word she chooses these characters to say is just perfect, serves to identify the character and push the plot forward. No part of her dialogue is throw-away. She’s just fantastic.

So to give her an opportunity to write one of the most iconic superhero teams in comic-dom is a bold but smart move on Marvel’s part. There aren’t enough powerful female writers writing enough big titles. So for DeConnick to be writing the Avengers would be just huge. On the flipside of the coin, DC does have Gail Simone writing Batgirl but, as much as I like Batgirl, it would be more impressive if Simone was writing Batman. Or any female was writing Superman or even Wonder Woman. I will say, Becky Cloonan’s art in Batman #12 looks absolutely spectacular and she’s the first woman ever to be drawing a Batman book. So, strides are being made.

We can do it!

As a long-time Marvel fan, I am kind of glad those strides are bigger in their house.

I am just over the moon excited about Marvel NOW. I want to read Uncanny Avengers and FF and All New X-Men and keep reading Wolverine and the X-Men. My only concern, really, is the fate of Avengers Academy. I’ve fallen in love with that book over the last few months and I’ll be terribly depressed if it gets cancelled. Unless, of course, they make a new title featuring that cast and maybe the Runaways doing something. I love Karolina Dean and Julie Powers together so much, I’d love to see them interact more. Maybe they’ll get lumped into the Jean Grey School. That would be amazing. Jason Aaron writing all of those characters would be amazing. But maybe it would be too cluttered.

I digress. Hooray for Marvel NOW and hooray especially for Kelley Sue DeConnick!

1 Comment

Posted in kelley sue deconnick, marvel now and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Gambit #1

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Kristi McDowell

Remember when I was complaining a lot about Catwoman? One of my biggest complaints was that she was barely competent as a thief. What kind of cat burglar constantly gets her ass handed to her and rarely actually gets what she’s going after? How was I supposed to root for her? And on top of it all, right away in issue 1, she leaps right on top of Batman’s junk, proving that she’s not really a solo character at all, just an extension of his pelvis.

But that’s not the point of this article. I’m over being upset about Catwoman. Right now, I want to talk about another thief who is getting another shot at a series from Marvel. Remy LeBeau, Gambit of the X-Men, started his own ongoing series this week and I picked up #1 on a whim. Waaaaaaaay back in my early days of comic reading, I was an enormous Gambit fan but really only because of the role he played in Rogue’s life. I was very invested in their relationship and read everything they were in forever. And then I started my comics hiatus and have come back and really haven’t paid any attention to what they’re up to recently. Both are semi-involved in Wolverine and the X-Men and my taste in comics have changed a lot since I was reading as a teenager.

I’m pretty sure Gambit has no intention of sleeping with Batman. But he does wear a lot of pink and purple…

So Gambit was kind of an impulse buy and, I’ve got to say, I’m not disappointed. The first few pages essentially summed up what he’s been up to: he and Rogue are on the outs (because Rogue keeps dating Magneto, which is so weird), he teaches occasionally at the Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters, and he hasn’t really stolen anything in quite some time. He’s pretty famous as an X-Man and as a thief, so any kind of “extracurricular activities” would be quite difficult.

Recap given, Remy goes off to an ESU (Empire State University, a fictional school that’s supposed to be kind of like Columbia University) fundraiser as a representative of the school he teaches at. But, in reality, he is after the rumored treasure trove of super objects kept in the home of the host, one Mr. Borya Cich. Of course, he is recognized as a threat right away and Cich keeps his guards on the Cajun thief.

Fortunately, our anti-hero knows the cards are stacked against him, as it were, so has planned for such difficulties. He meets a mysterious, tattooed young woman at the party and uses her as his cover as he sets a fire in one part of the house, helps her to escape the flames, and then backtracks to find an entire wing of Cich’s home which is invisible. Gambit, of course, has used his sunglasses to copy Cich’s retinal pattern, his phone to copy Cich’s voice pattern, and his gloves to copy Cich’s fingerprint pattern. And the humorous response to a password request is “Please” which turns out to be correct.

This is a man who prepares.

The reward is a room full of strange and unusual objects. Gambit has no specific agenda in mind but he is drawn to some kind of strange jewel. When he attempts to take it is when all hell breaks loose. The security system kicks in for an unauthorized attempt at removing an object from its case. Gambit uses his considerable acrobatic prowess to duck and avoid major damage from lasers and the object’s own apparent security system.

Gambit gets away and is back with his alibi, who vouches for Gambit’s presence during the time of the robbery when Cich’s men accuse him of being involved. Feeling as though he’s won, Gambit tries to pick up the woman who helped him (she declines) and goes home satisfied that he’s pulled one over on Cich (he hasn’t). But he does have what he’s stolen!

And as soon as he gets home, it turns into that weird bug thing from Matrix and jumps into his chest.

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN… To be continued.

This is what a heist comic should be. Sure, Gambit didn’t exactly come out on top by the end but he did gain some ground. He pulled off a marginally successful job and didn’t need to hookup with a bigger, more powerful hero in order to feel worth something. I’m excited to see how Cich retaliates as well as find out exactly what it was that Gambit stole. Why did it enter him in such a hostile manner? What will Gambit go after next? How will his theft affect his role as a teacher? As a friend to Rogue? I actually care about the repercussions of Gambit’s actions.

I don’t need a solid win every time. Heck, if I spent all my time rooting for a thief to actually get away with it, there might be something wrong with me. But Gambit is competent, smooth, and the things that happen to him happen more, I feel, because of bad karma than just bad stealing. I’ll definitely pick up issue 2 to find out what else happens to him.

2 Comments

Posted in gambit and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Crush of the Week #9

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Kristi McDowell

I picked up my comics on Saturday instead of Wednesday/Thursday of this week so I’m trying to bang out as many opinions in a day so that I can stay reasonably relevant. Whew! This is stressful!

But I can’t deny my readers a Crush of the Week! And this week’s was an easy one. If you read last month’s installment of Avenging Spider-Man, you were introduced to a rather unusual woman calling herself Robyn Hood. Robyn with a Y for justice. But there’s no Y in justice, you may say. Exactly.

I was charmed immediately by this bank robbing would-be hero to the people. I spent most of last issue focusing mostly on Captain Marvel and Spider-Man’s interactions, since that was the primary point of that book. But issue #10 of Avenging Spider-Man placed much of the emphasis on Spider-Man and Robyn’s interactions. You can tell that Robyn’s heart is in the right place, even if she’s a little misguided.

Also, I like my women big.

What appealed to me about Robyn Hood was her genuine goodness. She didn’t rob a bank with any intention of keeping the money. And she’s got a jet pack! Awesome! And when she’s hit, she grows into a giant lady! There’s just so much going on! Eventually, the jet pack fails, because of… science… and Robyn falls and is knocked out. Poor girl. But she stays enormous. Also, presumably, because of science.

Science!

Threat dealt with the General Counsel of the National Federal Bank arrives and informs Spidey and Captain Marvel that Robyn is actually RG-026, a computer program placed inside of a robot designed to infiltrate the Occupy Boston movement. However, somehow while amongst the people, Robyn began to sympathize with the 99% and decided that she would use her abilities to help the downtrodden. So she robbed her own bank to help the people! She adopted the name Robyn Hood and was fleeing National Federal Bank’s private security force of flying armored men after robbing her own bank!

But it’s not the fact that Robyn overwrote her own programming in order to become a real hero to the people that makes Robyn my Crush of the Week. That would be too easy. Robyn’s story doesn’t end when the bank comes to collect it’s property. Because of science, Spidey determines that giant lady Robyn is going to explode!

Captain Marvel starts to try to evacuate the area and Robyn’s creator arrives to further explain the situation. Her name, by the way, is Shelley Godwin. God. Win. A little heavy-handed there, Kelley Sue DeConnick, but we get what you’re trying to say. Anyway, while they’re all trying to figure out what to do about the giant exploding lady, Robyn decides to take Spider-Man for a little walk.

They got really close last issue.

Spider-Man is, understandably, trying to get Robyn to get as far away from people as he possibly can. Robyn, however, decides that she wants to sit atop the bank, as though to blow it up. She listens to Spider-Man tell her about her responsibilities as the hero of Boston (we all know Spidey’s schtick is responsibility) and giggles while talking about the view of the city from the top of the bank.

And then Robyn Hood proves herself to be a hero. She asks Captain Marvel for a boost and is launched up into the sky, where she blows up safely away from any civilians. Not going to lie, I may have shed a tear.

Tell me they wouldn’t be adorable.

The rest of the story is more stuff between Peter Parker and Carol Danvers. Cute stuff but I’m worried that they’re not going to be coupled up. They should be. They’d be perfect together.  But the last page, the last page is what brought me out of my Robyn Hood-less funk. Ms. Godwin has gotten a new job at Future Flora Robotics. And she’s uploaded a little program called RG-026 into her work computer.

Sweet, perfect, hero to the people Robyn Hood is my Crush of the Week. Join me in loving this new hero, will you?

Leave a comment

Posted in crush of the week and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

AvX Update

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Kristi McDowell

I’ve been with the Avengers since the get-go, since, admittedly, long before there was a whole lot of evidence to support it. Frankly, I just like taking an unpopular side. I was with Iron Man for the Civil War, after all, and I wasn’t even reading comics much at that point.

Things are getting pretty real in the Avengers vs. X-Men right now. In AvX #9, the Avengers are hiding out in K’un Lun, the mystical city that is providing shelter for Hope (y’ know, the Mutant Messiah) and the rest of the gang. Spider-Man is training her, for some reason, but neither really likes it all that much. But Spidey cheerfully does his thing because that’s what being an Avenger is all about. Remember that, kids, it becomes important later.

Basically, after Namor got his butt handed to him last issue, the other members of the Phoenix Five (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, and Colossus) gained his strength. However, it also seemed to give them his crazy, too. Colossus and Magik are all mob enforcer on Thor while Emma is going certifiably crazy. The only one who’s keeping himself together is Cyclops but even he seems to be struggling with the power he’s been given. I almost wonder if maybe he’s doing all this good in the world just to keep himself from going crazy. That whole “idle hands are the devil’s plaything” kind of reasoning, you know? Not that I don’t think that deep down, Scott Summers is a good guy. He has to be. He’s been the poster child for what the X-Men should be since the 60s. A little something like the Phoenix Force isn’t going to change him fundamentally.

Take over the world or start an X-family band…?

However, the rest of the gang? Of course they’re going to have their lives turned inside out by this. Look at this Rogue’s Gallery of “X-Men.” Namor. Namor? Why the crap was he even on the X-Men to begin with? Was he fading off into obscurity until World War Hulk and then, in a desperate stab at keeping him relevant, someone thought to stick him with Cyclops on Utopia? For whatever reason, he’s there. And apparently has some kind of past with Emma Frost, as we saw previously.

Speaking of Emma, and her craziness, we saw her manipulate Namor into acting on his own in Wakanda. And now we see her holing herself off somewhere to keep from reading every single mind on the planet, blatantly telling Cyclops that she can’t trust herself. And Scott just shrugs and goes on his way. Because his peers going crazy flies in the face of everything he’s been trying to tell the Avengers about being able to handle the Phoenix Force, I guess. Later, Emma kills a man who killed a mutant before. Is she about to be a serial killer? More importantly, will there be repercussions for this? Marvel?

What was that? Did you say something? Must’ve been the crazy wind.

And then there are Colossus and Magik, both of whom have suffered from darkness in their long, convoluted histories. Yep, I’m sure they’re very equipped to handle the Phoenix Force.

The X-Men have been locking up Avengers prisoners in some volcanic hell in Siberia. Guarded by demons and whales with legs, for some reason. Storm, who has had enough of the X-Men crazies, goes to her husband, Black Panther, to offer assistance to get the Avengers back. Black Panther accepts her help as well as informs her that their marriage has been annulled. Because Namor destroying Wakanda last issue warrants divorcing his X-Man wife, I guess. Just another example of the sanctity of marriage in the Marvel U. I’m sure Storm can go cry on Mary Jane Parker Watson’s shoulder.

Anyway, with Storm and Professor X’s help, the Avengers go in to save their teammates. Unfortunately, they run into Magik and Colossus, who are in charge of guarding the prisoners. Earlier, they took down Thor. You know Thor, right? God of Thunder, emphasis on GOD. So Spider-Man decides that this is his moment, the one he had been talking to Hope about earlier. He provides the distraction his teammates need in order to escape. He throws himself between two of the craziest, most powerful beings on earth, and proceeds to get his ass handed to him.

It’s hard to be quippy with your own web around your neck.

It’s a very noble, heroic battle. And, by battle, I mean brutal beat down. Every time Spidey gets up, he gets knocked back down. HARD. And the whole time, he keeps jabbering. Because that’s his thing. He jabbers. Eventually, he jabbers until he finds the last reserves of sanity in the pair of X-Men, and they decide to take themselves out of the struggle.

Giving their power to a certain boy scout and his murderous girlfriend. And now they know where Hope is.

Things are really heating up with AvX. I’m a little over the event at this point but there isn’t much longer before this whole thing gives over to Marvel NOW, which I’m pretty excited about. I just hope the climax is worth the drawn out shenanigans.

Whales with legs. Really?

And for the record: neener neener neener! I was right!

Leave a comment

Posted in avengers vs. x-men and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
→
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 325 other followers

%d bloggers like this: