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Well, that was a long week and a half of new TV, and with not much to show for it in the end.  These write-ups represent a small minority of the new shows to premiere this fall--I haven't said anything about the season's new comedies, which run the gamut from terrible (Partners), to underwhelming (Ben and Kate, The Mindy Project), to competent but uninspiring (Go On, Animal Practice), to bizarre

Well, here we are again, in fall pilot season.  As has become traditional, we have a drizzle of new shows this week, followed by a deluge next week, so for now I'm fresh and energized enough to write quite a bit about each new show.  By next week, I suspect, I'll be a little more punchy. The Mob Doctor - I try not to be one of those people who assume that cable television is inherently superior

The Millions kindly provided this vital link to the recent Rolling Stone interview with David Cross about the next season of Arrested Development, which will be released on Netflix:

It's really audacious and amazing. I think a lot of people will miss the work that is involved, the story, the Venn diagrams that are being created, the domino effect that characters have with each other in their various episodes. I know what he's doing, and this has never been done on a TV show like this. This makes Lost look like a Spalding Grey monologue. You'll have to watch each episode more than once.

Even if you don’t work in a school media center, I’m guessing your life still tends to run on an academic schedule when you work with teens. So welcome to the new school year! Here’s what I think might be interesting, useful, or intriguing to you and your patrons this month.

• If your teens are interested in what’s new in the going green movement, have them look more globally to see what’s going on. In coastal Ecuador, young people from farming families are heading up efforts to save, cultivate, and redistribute heirloom seeds to revitalize the environment and help farmers prosper. Part of an organization called FOCCAHL, 20-year-old Cesar Guale Vasquez travels throughout nearby areas collecting seeds from farmers and also hosts swapping events so that farmers can trade seeds with each other in order to have more vibrant and diverse crops. Now take that for inspiration and add to it your own library’s resources on climate change, farming, and nutrition and plan an interesting program that combines science with activism and see what your advisory board wants to do with it. Many libraries now are creating their own seed libraries, and whether they’re for wildflowers or corn, they can be a great way to bring communities together, get young people to work with older people, and freshen up your local environment while doing your small part to keep the world cleaner and greener.
  Matthews, J. (2012). Ecuador’s seed savior. World Ark, May 2012: 10-15.
• At the beginning of the school year, many teens are interested in refining or experimenting with their personal style. There is generally no shortage of mainstream fashion and beauty advice in the magazines and books you have in your collection already, but there might be a population you’re missing, and they’re getting bigger and more vocal. While the natural hair trend has been growing for years, the recent O Magazine cover presenting Oprah Winfrey with her hair relaxer-free has sparked a lot of talk. The social news web is blowing up with discussions of hegemony (the prevalence of hair relaxers in the African American community has been linked to unrealistic standards of white beauty), harassment (nearly everyone with natural curls, regardless of race, has experienced strangers touching their hair without asking first), and self image (who decides what’s beautiful, and is it more important to do what you think is pretty on you or to make a political statement with your hair?). Take a look at the reports of the Oprah cover at Sociological Images and Jezebel (it’s worth taking a look at the comments, too, but they’re probably NSFW and can get heated), and then consider hosting a discussion club or making a display of books on beauty. If you’re not sure where to start, I suggest Naturally Curly, one of the premiere websites (with social components, news, and shopping) for natural hair of all textures.
• STEM, STEM, STEM. Everybody wants students to engage with science, technology, engineering and math. Federal money is pumped into it. Grants support it. But do teens and tweens care for it? In a study of middle school students, researchers analyzed both boys’ and girls’ wishful identification with scientists on television shows to see what factors influenced positive feelings (possibly indicating an interest in pursuing a science career or hobby). They found that boys were more likely to identify with male scientists and girls with female scientists, which is unsurprising. What was more interesting is that the genre of the television show affected the positive feelings. Scientist characters on dramas were more likely to elicit wishful identification than those on cartoons or educational programs. What can you do with this information? Plenty. For your next film screening, try a drama or documentary that presents scientists in a good light, like Cool It, And the Band Played On, or Einstein and Eddington. If you want to take a crack at those who think that being good at science or math makes you a loser, connect STEM with the things teens already love, like working out, YouTube, and the Web by taking a look at the 35 fittest people in tech, videos by Vi Hart, who turns mathematical concepts and history into snarky audiovisual narratives, or how-tos at Lifehacker.
  Steinke, J., et al. (2011). Gender Differences in Adolescents’ Wishful Identification With Scientist Characters on Television. Science Communication, 34(2): 163-199.
• Whether you’re in library school or you’ve been working for years, you might find Hack Library School’s new starter kit series interesting, especially their post on services to children. Anyone want to volunteer to write the starter kit for youth services? On a related note, Teen Librarian Toolbox has a post on what to do about all that stuff they don’t teach you in library school (I’m taking notes).
• If you’ve been trying to find a way to collaborate with nearby schools, see if you can get an advisory group to have a meeting with local teachers (it might be a good idea to make sure that the teachers are not teachers of the teens in your group so as to encourage openness and honesty) and start a dialogue. The topic? Standardized tests. Students may feel like teachers are against them, while teachers probably feel as if it’s administrators who are forcing them to be uncreative. So how do you get all sides to understand each other when schools are still tied to federal standards? For background information, try the journal Rethinking Schools‘ spring 2012 issue, which featured a special section on standardized tests. After a good discussion, maybe everyone can take fun “standardized tests” on personality types, books, or any other fun topics. Then see if students, teachers, and you can work together and form some sort of coalition that bridges the gaps between inside- and outside-of-school education, engagement, and issues. Start a collaborative blog. Take turns hosting book clubs at different places that feel like home to the different stakeholders in your group. What might be an interesting year-long project is to get everyone in the group to develop their ultimate standardized test to replace the ones they’re taking or proctoring in school. What skills do teachers and students think are most important to have before leaving the K-12 system? What topics do people in the real world need to know? Is it better to test knowledge orally? With essays? With student-led, student-designed creative projects? With their perspectives and your skills with information seeking, along with your vast collections, you should be able to create a really interesting partnership. And if you need more inspiration, check out these roundups of education blogs by both students and teachers, both here and here.

What are your plans for this upcoming academic year? As always, your questions, comments and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged!

In the beloved tradition of their Star Wars and Green Lantern smash-ups, Robot Chicken is taking on the DCU, and here’s the trailer. Clocking in at 2 minutes, that’s more than 10% of the shows running time, so hopefully some jokes still await.

The special airs September 9th at Midnight on Adult Swim. Voices include: Nathan Fillon, Megan Fox, Alfred Molina, Seth Green, Neil Patrick Harris, Tara Strong, Matt Senreich, Tom Root, Zeb Wells, Clare Grant, Alex Bornstein, Abe Benrubi, and Kevin Schnick as the narrator. Whew!

Realizing it is never too soon to start a preemptive strike, the Outhousers website has already started a much-needed campaign to save Joss Whedon’s unknown Avengers-related TV show from cancellation:

The Outhouse hates to see fans suffer like the Browncoats, fanatical fans of Whedon’s popular Firefly, also known as Firebronies, have for the past decade since their beloved space western was canceled, after only one season, by Fox. The network appears to have a personal vendetta against Mr. Whedon, as it also canceled Dollhouse in 2010. Some rumors even suggest that the only reason the new Whedon show is being produced by Disney is so that it can later be canceled as a show of good faith to Fox in their Daredevil movie right negotiations. Fox might be more inclined to return the movie rights to the characters Silver Surfer and Galactus to Disney if they can experience the delight of seeing another Whedon show canceled too soon as part of the deal. In any case, it is clear that drastic action must be taken if fans want to see the show last longer than its ill-fated predecessors.

Just revealed at the Image Comics Presents panel was the news that writer Kurtis Wiebe has secured a deal with QT Productions, which could potentially lead his series Peter Panzerfaust to television. Set during the Second World War, the comic deals with the eponymous Peter, an American boy stuck in Europe during the conflict. Trapped with no sign of help, he attempts to raise an army out of the French to fight back. Baguettes at dawn!

The deal seems to be initially only for a motion comic produced in association with the BBC. However – if the motion comic is successful – the comic could then be adapted by the BBC for pilot. The book is still a long way away from getting turned into a series, yet! But this could be very promising indeed.

As soon as I hear any news about new cuddly toys, you can bet I’ll let you all know about it! And I’ve already got one such announcement for you already, you lucky cuddlers of the Internet. StylinOnline have unveiled a set of San Diego Exclusive Big Bang Theory plush figures today, available both at their SDCC booth and online, as part of a combo pack.

You have your pick of either Leonard or Sheldon, as presumably people were worried about making a cuddly Penny figure. Each doll comes with a T-Shirt so you can dress up like your nerdy cuddle-buddy. Sheldon, who isn’t afraid of who he is and what he loves, wears a Flash shirt. Leonard, the perpetual worrier/one who looks suspiciously like a male model whenever he takes his glasses off on the show, wears a hoodie.

To the booth, cuddly toy fans! To the booooothh!!!

School’s out, I’m no longer sick, and the blog is no longer down! In honor of the evolving focus of this column, I’ve changed its title and broadened my scope. But don’t worry; I’ll still be trolling the various databases for hard-hitting research, too. The first month of summer is usually the busy one, in which students are still finishing school, are already in summer school, or have begun to embark on busy summer adventures, like camp and travel. So the ideas I’m offering you are a bit more low-key or focused on the librarian, rather than the patron, since I gather that your patrons are not exactly in the mood yet for anything that requires a lot of commitment.

Seriously, the PR is getting so weird it’s getting hard to believe. Here’s another offsite, this one at 1st street and J, which promotes COMA, a TV mini-series by Ridley and Tony Scott, by helping them go through the torment that people in Michael Crichton’s original novel went thought via being “evaluated” for the tour and getting a surgery scar. Make sure you wear your brain-wave activated cat ears when you go through the surgery!

We’re sure this will not be as fun as it sounds. Why couldn’t there be a BLACK JACK carnival at Comic-Con instead?

This year at Comic-Con, fans can partake in an immersive experience into A&E’s “Coma,” a modern day retelling of the Robin Cook novel and iconic film by Michael Crichton. Produced by Ridley & Tony Scott, the two-night event premieres this Labor Day on A&E. Fans walking the grounds outside of Comic-Con can come and join the thriller experience of “Coma” from Thursday, July 12 through Saturday, July 14 at 11am – 9pm on 1st Avenue and J Street right outside of the San Diego Convention Center. Doctors will be handing out patient bracelets for admittance to the 15,000 square foot “Jefferson Institute,” the ominous leading institute in coma patient care from the mini-series. The “Coma” Experience is free and will include:

Reception – Participants will be greeted by Jefferson Institute nurses who will admit them into The “Coma” Experience. The nurses will guide the visitors to the security monitors so they can get a glimpse of what they’re about to step into as well as see exclusive, first-look footage from the mini-series.

Surgery – Nurses will then take fans to the experiential surgery room where they’ll meet surgeons who will decide if they’re good candidates for the tour. If so, fans will have the option of getting a 3-D surgical scar tattoo.

Area 2 – As part of the experience, visitors will be allowed to access The Jefferson Institute’s highly secured Area 2, where they will get a glimpse of the doctors at work. In this room, Jefferson Institute human specimens will be on display designed with the chilling look and feel that’s authentic to the mini-series.

Area 8 Green Screen – Finally, visitors will be able to step into Area 8, which will be the end of The Jefferson Institute tour. Area 8 will offer visitors the opportunity to get an up close and personal view of an actual “Coma Pod” that was used in the Ridley & Tony Scott production. In addition, visitors may participate in a green screen photo opportunity that places them into the iconic Coma Pod as if they themselves are the victims of the Jefferson Institute.

For a fully immersive experience that extends beyond Comic-Con, fans can go to www.comaconspiracy.com where they can activate a thrilling digital experience. The hacker activists that are trying to take down the Jefferson Institute in the mini-series will invite visitors to join their cause, and opting-in will launch a highly-targeted digital cat-and-mouse game that pulls fans into the heart of the Coma Conspiracy. Here, participants will feel first hand what it’s like to go up against the all-knowing, all-powerful and heavily fi

2 Comments on SDCC 2012: Yet another off-site helps con-goers experience a coma through the eyes of Ridley Scott, last added: 7/10/2012

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ed said, on 7/10/2012 2:48:00 AM

I’d rather go to Scott’s ex-collaborator Syd Mead’s appearance/signing at the offsite SEGA Arcade instead…

/SDCC’12 -1

Torsten Adair said, on 7/10/2012 5:01:00 AM

So how soon before someone mashes the cosplay, goes through the Jefferson Institute dressed as Rick Grimes, teams up with a CDC tech named Mark Hall, and then runs the Walking Dead gauntlet?

Call it “The AndromeDead Scenario”.

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ICv2 has the lowdown on another comics shop reality show, this one set in Midtown Comics:

On Friday, July 13th at 8 pm (ET, PT) the National Geographic cable channel will present Comic Store Heroes, a one-hour reality show set in New York’s Midtown Comics.  The documentary-style show will follow the lives of staffers Gerry, Thor, and Alex as they deal with all sorts of geek and enthusiast customers while simultaneously planning their booth at the New York Comic Con.

More seriously, this should be a very interesting contrast to Comic Book Men. And of course it airs during Comic-Con when the news is sure to be filled with those words. Set the DVRs!

It’s not exactly a classic comic in that it ponders the meaning of life and death….but Jean Claude Forest’s BARBARELLA is still one of those iconic Franco-Belgian titles that brings a smile to the face. If the Mad Men-era politics of the original strip won’t do it, young Jane Fonda as the original movie version is guaranteed to do the same.

And you can’t keep a good space explorer down as this incredibly vague story reveals, DRIVE’s Nicolas Winding Refn is going to “bring” Barbarella to TV…whether for a series in France or internationally isn’t spelled out. Nor is “bring” explained…directing, producing? Who knows. It says he’ll “helm” the series but…isn’t that a lot of work for a guy who has two other movies to direct?

“I’m excited for the opportunity to re-invent ‘Barbarella’ with my friends at Gaumont and Martha DeLaurentiis,” said Refn. “And I look forward to bringing this unique character to life for a new generation of fans as I believe she is one of the ultimate counter-cultural characters.”

Julien Forest and Jean-Marc Lofficier will co-exec produce. We have Lofficier on speed email so perhaps he’ll explain more.

A bit surprised that this hasn't had more play: in an interview with Empire last week, Neil Marshall--who directed the penultimate episode of the second season of Game of Thrones, "Blackwater"--has this to say on the subject of the show's use of nudity: The weirdest part was when you have one of the exec producers leaning over your shoulder, going, "You can go full frontal, you know. This is

Two exciting things happened on the last day of the Jubilee holiday weekend. One of them was going to Birmingham's Book Bash festival and getting to see fancy Aston Hall and meet the Lord Mayor and a bunch of other great book creators.



The other was coming back from Birmingham to lots of nice tweets, texts, e-mails and a phone call from Stuart's Auntie Barbara, saying that they'd enjoyed watching me take part in Rolf Paints on the BBC. Hurrah! I didn't get to watch it on live telly, but Stuart and I watched it later on iPlayer. If you live in the UK, you can watch it for a week here on iPlayer. And the BBC has a Rolf Paints website here showing artwork from all the different artists and gives related links. I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to keep this video up, but I've copied some of the clips showing Rolf critiquing my lino cut print, and added a bit about comics artist Steve Marchant, so you could see his work from the day more clearly.



I've had a lot of people contacting me about a commemorative plate that Rolf mentioned on the show. I don't actually know anything about buying the plate, but I've sent an e-mail to the associate producer, asking her about it, and I'll post the information if I find out. The exhibition of our work runs from today until Sunday in the Old Vic Tunnels. (Details here.)


So more festival fun at Book Bash! I was doing a pirate event for You Can't Scare a Princess! so I drew the book's Captain Waffle doing some book bashing. Well, more like eating its cover off, but it's all in the same spirit.



Oo, and look, it's Nicholas Allan, creator of fabulous book The Queen's Knickers, Cinderella's Bum and loads of other funny picture books. Nick was in the news a lot recently because some glitch at Waterstone's had them accidentally printing out The Queen's Knickers on every receipt.



Heh, this picture made me laugh. It looks like someone made a bad smell.



A lovely visitor named Angela Masterson drew a portrait of me during my event and gave it to me:



Look, it's Peppa Pig! Poor Peppa, she really ought to turn sideways, I think her profile is much more flattering than full-frontal snout.



It was fun meeting Derby-based poet, writer and illustrator Chris White. He's been to Book Bash loads of times, and from the number of kids clustered around his signing table, has a real loyal local following.



Last time I was in Birmingham, I had a total blast with librarian Jen Bakewell. I was sorry not to get more time to hang out with her, but we still had a quick lunch together and swapped over the hat. And here's cookbook writer Fi Bird, who does wonders w

Here in Britain, it's almost the Diamond Jubilee weekend! And what better way to celebrate than to make a lino cut print of a mad corgi? Here you go: In corgis we trust. That's written in my best fake Google-translator Latin. I made this for the BBC! Well, actually, this was a practice run, the night before. I got a call awhile ago from producer Veronica Thorne, asking me if I wanted to spend a full day making a picture of the Queen to celebrate the Jubilee... with Rolf Harris!



Oh my. Funnily enough, because I grew up in America, I didn't really know much about Rolf Harris, except that he had painted a portrait of the Queen. And he's consistantly rated Britain's most popular artist (which irks the fine arts establishment to no end, so hurrah, good for him!).



I thought I'd better look my best for telly, so I bought a new work apron and stamped the corgi onto the front of it. The ink on it was still wet the next morning, so I tried not to touch it, then rub my nose and wind up with a smudgy face on the Beeb.



The Fleece Station studio has a proud history of monarch-related activities, generally involving yarn or silly wigs. So I figured I had everything I needed to do a good job on set.



Oh, and a new fancy hat. With which I surprised Mr Harris when I met him at breakfast.



When I told people I was meeting Rolf Harris, they all reacted very animatedly, and several people mentioned videos I absolutely had to go watch. Here's one from 1969, Jake the Peg. Poor Gary had to listen to me keep accidentally singing this in the studio for the next couple days. So fabulous.



And here's an episode from The Goodies, when they breed Rolf Harrises in captivity and they escape. The guy's originally Australian, but he's a legend here in Britain. (If you like, you can watch that Goodies show from the beginning here.)



So here was our set-up! We filmed in the vaults of the Old Vic, under Waterloo Station. Which was a bit tricky for the camera crew because the trains kept rumbling overhead. But they set up the area like a street party and it looked very welcoming and festive. They'd invited 60 artists in total, one for each year of the Queen's reign.



If you're interested, you'll be able to watch the whole show, Rolf Paints, on Tuesday, 5 June, BBC1, 6:30-7:30pm.





One of these artists was Anneka Rice. She was another person I didn't know much about, but Stuart told me she'd hosted a show called Treasure Hunt and another called Challenge Anneka. (She has a bunch of videos posted on her YouTube channel.)



And another one of the participants was fab comics artist Steve Marchant! Steve was the one who tipped off Veronica to me when s

It seems strange to think that only a few months ago, Smash was being touted as the show that would save network television.  As you'll know even if you haven't been following the show, simply from the tenor of the conversation surrounding it, this has turned out to be most emphatically not the case, but if Smash couldn't be excellent, engaging, fun TV, it has at least proved to be the next best

EW has rolled out the first photo of Danai Gurira as Michonne, the sword-wielding zombie slicer from Robert Kirkman’s THE WALKING DEAD TV series.

As for why they cast the relatively unknown Danai Gurira for the pivotal role, Kirkman says, “We looked at a lot of talented people that were really fantastic, but we were waiting for that one spark, that moment where everyone was completely in agreement and completely excited, and we felt like we had found the essence of this fictional character that just randomly appeared in another person, and that person was Danai Gurira. She kind of came in and really just blew us all away. She’s got incredible presence, and she’s got a theater background, and is very physical, and was just perfect for the role.”

heyoscarwilde:

Won’t you tell me how to get….?

Sesame Street illustrated by Glen Brogan :: via albinoraven7.blogspot.ca

Lovely!


Pretty much what the headline says. Both shows experienced very good ratings by airing after the behemoth hit THE WALKING DEAD, and both will return, in a similar time slot, but as 16 half hour episodes.

The Talking Dead is a talk show hosted by the Nerdist Chris Hardwick featuring interviews with WALKING DEAD cast and crew members.

“Talking Dead has been an amazing experience, and I cannot pile enough hugs and thanks onto AMC for renewing it,” Hardwick said in a statement announcing the news. “I CAN’T WAIT for Season 3 of Walking Dead, so that we can finally talk about Rick meeting [SPOILER] and [SPOILER]-ing him with a heavy-duty [SPOILER] at the [SPOILER]. And let’s not forget all the rest of the [SPOILER]s getting in on the action! [EXPLETIVE] me! It’s going to be great.”

COMIC BOOK MEN is a bit more contentious — the Kevin Smith-produced show about guys standing around talking in a comics shop was the recipient of nearly universal fear and dread, with many finding it more horrifying than the zombie feasts and close-up friend killing of THE WALKING DEAD that preceded it.

“Pinch my fat ass, ’cause I must be dreaming!” Smith said in a statement. “A thousand thank-yous wouldn’t cover the gratitude I’m feeling right now. And as you might imagine, everyone at SModcast Pictures is in love with everyone at AMC today! Rest assured, Walt, Bry, Mike, Ming and I are suited up and ready to hit the ice for our second season with Team AMC.”

“AMC set out to build shows around authentic characters and original worlds, and Comic Book Men really delivers on both of these,” said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s exec vp original programming, production and digital content. “Talking Dead is just great synergy, and it gives our audience a destination to continue the conversation about The Walking Dead. We are thrilled that Chris is back to lead the discussion. He is genuinely knowledgeable about the genre and truly entertaining.”

Previously, Smith has hinted a female would join the all-male store line-up in the second season—which would at least defuse one of the biggest criticisms of the show.

Just guessing here, but the half hour format will probably see the program turn into a more Pawn Stars/American Pickers/Storage Wars type-show that revolves around the value of stuff that customers bring in—stuff most likely planted by the producers but it’s TV after all. As long as they don’t just sit around fantasizing about the Invisible Woman, we’ll be happy.

Earlier this spring, HBO cancelled Luck, a show set in and around a struggling Southern California horse-racing track from Deadwood creator David Milch, then several weeks into the filming of its second season, following the death of one the horses used on set.  Two other horses had already died during the filming of Luck's first season, and in the face of intense criticism following those deaths

The “Upfronts” have taken/are taking place somewhere in Hollywood and New York and although it sounds like a bra convention, what it really means is the networks are parading their new shows for 2012-13 in front of TV reporters. The big comics news was a greenlight for the Green Arrow TV show—minus the arrow—but Marvel stuff also has some motion.

Basically, they nixed the Alias show that had been in development, as well as the Punisher show. The latter is probably a good thing, as it would have forced an imminent shortage of fake blood and bullet wound putty. However, the Hulk show, to be produced by Guillermo del Toro is moving forward. Okay, this is doubtless because Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk was one of the very bestest things about the Avengers, which stunned everyone because the last two Hulk movies were kinda…comme ci, comme ca, you know. But you see there is a problem here. And we’ll spell it out for you.

The reason the Hulk in Avengers was so great is because he was a supporting character not the lead.

Don’t you see? Freed from having to support an actual story, the Hulk becomes a fun, anarchic character. Or: The Hulk is green, like wasabi and also like wasabi, you don’t want a whole meal from it…just a little smear on your hamachi roll/ $1 billion movie.

And if you think about it, The Hulk was kind of a supporting character the last successful TV show, too. Or at least he wasn’t the overt catalyst of the action. Generally he just wandered into some situation, Hulked it up and wandered off, all lonely.

Anyway, maybe del Toro will come up with something good, but we’re in no hurry to see a whole Hulk movie any time soon.

• Now, the Guardians of the Galaxy, that’s another thing. Graeme McMillan pieces together all the information that leads him to suspect that the Guardians might just be that elusive May 16, 2014 Marvel movie.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige himself mentioned it as a possibility last month at the Avengers press junket, expressing his fondness for the property and listing it among Inhumans, Doctor Strange and the long in-the-works Ant-Man as non-sequel films being considered. Things started to feel a lot more real following the now-famous mid-credits scene of Avengers, where ****** is revealed as the mysterious force behind Loki's Chitauri army. ****** certainly has a history with the Guardians of the Galaxy crew, and is a big part of the cosmic sphere of the Marvel Universe they inhabit.

Though a Guardians of the Galaxy movie might still seem unlikely by nature, it’s clear that Marvel is looking at lesser-known properties to start widening their scope beyond the world of the Avengers. After all, marquee names like Spider-Man,

15 Comments on Marvel TV update: Hulk yes; Alias and Punisher no, last added: 5/17/2012

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MBunge said, on 5/17/2012 8:06:00 AM

The basic problem with the Hulk movies is they treated the character just like the TV show, as a special effect who shows up every so often to break stuff. The Hulk of the comics, at least the good ones, is an actual person who talks and has a personality and desires and fears and all that good stuff. People seem to have forgotten that Stan and company were inspired by Jekyl and Hyde, not The Fugitive.

Mike

MBunge said, on 5/17/2012 8:07:00 AM

And if Marvel is looking to expand their movie line up, I got 4 words for them.

Devil Dinosaur. Rocket Raccoon.

Mike

Dan Mishkin said, on 5/17/2012 8:20:00 AM

This issue of the difference between a lead character and a supporting character is one I brought up in a conversation with some editorial folks at DC a few years back.

No one was convinced, but I argued that the umpteenth attempt to do a Green Arrow or Aquaman series was a waste of their resources. Those characters can work well in support or in the back-up stories where they originated — stories that are only obliged to provide a small thrill by means of interesting action gimmicks or an unusual setting.

Look at what a tremendous asset Aquaman was in Cartoon Network’s Batman:B&B. Since he didn’t have the burden of carrying stories on his own, the writers could build a quirky and interesting (and still heroic) character around his egotism — what would be insufferable behavior in a lead made him a delight every time he showed up in the series.

The Beat Herself said, on 5/17/2012 8:28:00 AM

Dan, I sort of feel that way about Captain Jack Sparrow in the PotC franchise. As the trickster character in the Will/Elizabeth storylines he works great…as a main character not as much, at least dramatically. Of course, in practice, people would and did pay to watch Johnny Depp run around aimlessly for nearly three hours.

Synsidar said, on 5/17/2012 8:50:00 AM

People seem to have forgotten that Stan and company were inspired by Jekyl and Hyde, not The Fugitive.

But if Banner has a depersonalization disorder, he has an obligation to get treatment. Otherwise, he’s as responsible for whatever harmful consequences his actions cause, including property damage, as anyone else who has a treatable mental illness.

In some respects, the story development process for a superhero character is upside down and inside-out. Whatever the idea for a story is, the characters should be developed as parts of the story, and changed as necessary for the story to work. When keeping the characters unchanged takes priority over everything else, including the ending, how often is the story going to succeed?

SRS

Shark Jumper said, on 5/17/2012 8:50:00 AM

As a fan of GotG, I would absolutely love it if they made a movie with this property. They are some of my favorite characters (new version and old). The potential problem however is would Marvel studios want to spend so much money on unknown characters to the public with a premise that would probably need a lot of special effects/money? And then even comic fans didn’t flock to the brilliant Abnett and Lanning books.

But on the flip side, you have to start from somewhere to build a franchise, audiences might be ready for something new in a few years after Marvel’s steady diet of regular superhero movies, and, really, anything of quality that is marketed well should have a chance. And a movie might spark renewed interest in Marvel Cosmic.

But will that tease in the Avengers movie be saved for this or Avengers 2 or 3?

Richard Caldwell said, on 5/17/2012 9:32:00 AM

What, no Woodgod?

alex said, on 5/17/2012 9:55:00 AM

If the stories are good and the storytelling is good, the lead character could be a pair of scissors sitting on a desk or an amoeba floating in a raindrop. Of all people, I would expect comic fans to understand this.

The Hulk can easily be a leading character and to suggest that he is only capable of being support is hilariously absurd.

The reason the Hulk worked so well in the Avengers can be discussed/debated at length but to simply say the character can’t lead is crazy, IMO.

Synsidar said, on 5/17/2012 10:09:00 AM

The Hulk can easily be a leading character and to suggest that he is only capable of being support is hilariously absurd.

Suppose that you’re going to write one story about the Hulk, any version of him. What are you going to say about him that makes the story worth writing?

SRS

MBunge said, on 5/17/2012 10:13:00 AM

“But if Banner has a depersonalization disorder, he has an obligation to get treatment.”

And exposure to gamma rays will give you cancer, not turn you into a super-human powerhouse. There’s a thousand different threads you can pull on to unravel sci-fi/fantasy melodrama, but I don’t think that’s the issue here.

“Whatever the idea for a story is, the characters should be developed as parts of the story, and changed as necessary for the story to work.”

I’ve got an idea for a story to explain Peter Parker’s real motivation for becoming Spider-Man. It involves Peter being sexually molested by Uncle Ben. Should those characters be changed to make my story work? When you’re adapting something for the big screen, you should start with what’s made that thing successful and popular enough to be worth adapting and build your story around that.

Mike

Matthew Fabb said, on 5/17/2012 10:17:00 AM

“Things started to feel a lot more real following the now-famous mid-credits scene of Avengers, where ****** is revealed as the mysterious force behind Loki’s Chitauri army.”

Only that theory falls apart with a recent interview from Kevin Feige and Joss Whedon mentions that it was all Whedon’s idea to put ****** at the end of Avengers. Apparently ****** is one of Whedon’s favorite Marvel villains from one of Whedon’s favorite Avengers comics.

So not apart of some grand plan, but possibly might be the reason for Whedon to come back and do Avengers 2.

Synsidar said, on 5/17/2012 10:25:00 AM

I’ve got an idea for a story to explain Peter Parker’s real motivation for becoming Spider-Man. It involves Peter being sexually molested by Uncle Ben. Should those characters be changed to make my story work?

But why would you write a story about Peter Parker that you can’t sell to anyone? If you’re going to write fan fiction, then you can do whatever you want to with him, but your audience will be limited.

If you want to write a story about sexual molestation, then you go ahead and write one and try to sell it, based on its merits as a story. The basis for writing stories about an existing character is that the story can be sold to that publisher, or that it’s your job to write about that character, not that the character makes the story succeed.

SRS

Terry said, on 5/17/2012 10:41:00 AM

Not excited about a Hulk TV series, but I’d love to have a She-Hulk series. Pay Ruffalo to show up in the pilot to keep this in the movie-verse and then let Jennifer do her thing.

alex said, on 5/17/2012 11:59:00 AM

Synsidar, that question is probably better suited for some of the other readers in here….Paging Mr. Busiek, paging Mr. Palmiotti!! You are needed in a creative capacity, please report to The Beat asap!

I’m not an author (nor am I very creative) but for argument’s sake…

Grey Las Vegas “Mr. Fixit” Hulk:
A story about how the Hulk/Banner helped people with gambling addiction and problems with loan sharks only to find that he personally suffers many parallel issues.

Green “mindless” Hulk:
A story told from the Hulks mindless perspective where the narrative slowly shows that while he started out the story arc as mindless, by mid-way point we see that his mental abilities are improving at an alarming rate. Hijinx ensue.

TV, “Lou Ferrigno” Hulk: Similar things they wrote about previously, over a five season run, where Banner and Hulk were proven to be successful lead characters—troubled Banner chasing down leads and trying cures for his uncontrollable side. And all the fun people he meets along the way. (Especially reporter Frank McGee!)

Again, the idea is that the story is what’s important, more so than the characters. The characters get to come along for the ride.

Leigh Walton said, on 5/17/2012 12:00:00 PM

Where’s the Runaways movie?

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