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{"id":1229,"date":"2016-06-01T10:49:01","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T15:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/?p=1229"},"modified":"2016-06-01T10:49:01","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T15:49:01","slug":"somanythings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/2016\/06\/01\/somanythings\/","title":{"rendered":"So. Many. Things."},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, everyone.<\/p>\n

We have a lot to discuss. I\u2019ve been writing my silly little articles and supporting games that I really love (Savage Rifts only<\/i> beat their Kickstarter goal by $430,000 over, so, let\u2019s all take a moment for how great that is) or what happens in the ending credits at a film that shot for; and attained; mediocrity, but that has been a means of avoiding the real issues that I want to approach (which is why I missed like five weeks of articles).<\/p>\n

So, in this article, I\u2019m going to touch on some important stuff I missed, then focus on some current things that I enjoy, and finally, talk about some stuff that\u2019s coming up.<\/p>\n

Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice<\/b><\/p>\n

As the incomparable Jordan Spencer was unloading tons of praise upon this film, I, the comic book historian with encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel and DC, failed to comment on my thoughts of this film. A great deal has been said in praise of BvS and a great deal more in condemnation of it. In fact, it could be argued that the internet hate of this film has altered the course of DC films, from this point forward.<\/p>\n

A couple weeks ago, comic book writer Geoff Johns (pronounced jee-OFF j\u2019ONZZ) has been asked to co-chief the DC Movies, taking the role of \u2018DC\u2019s Kevin Feige.\u2019 Now, it should be noted that Feige started his career in films and was made an associate producer on the first X-Men<\/b> film due to his knowledge of the Marvel Universe (which really makes me wish I had just gone to LA to work in film rather than try to write comics for years and years), and went on to hold the reigns on ALL the creative elements of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Meanwhile, although Johns\u2019 focus has been on comics, he does have some films and television credits to his name, including writing some episodes of Justice League Unlimited<\/i><\/b>, Blade: The Series<\/i><\/b>, Smallville<\/i><\/b>, Arrow<\/i><\/b>, and co-producing the Green Lantern<\/b> film which starred Ryan Reynolds.<\/p>\n

Which\u2026 well\u2026 you know.<\/p>\n

To be fair, Johns was also an executive produced on Batman V. Superman, so it would seem as though he, at the very least, shares some level of vision with Zach Snyder, which probably means less of a sea change than people are expecting from him. However, to comic book fans of DC Comics in the 1990s, Johns is best known for having been responsible for the return of Hal Jordan (after having turned evil, redeemed himself while sacrificing his life, and returned as the host of the Spectre) and Barry Allen (who had given his life to save the universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/i><\/b>).<\/p>\n

My immediate concern with Johns brought in as a pinch-hitter on the newly-Christened DC Extended Universe (where they totally missed the boat, because if they had called it the \u2018DC Universe – Extended,\u2019 we internet personalities could go around holding our plastic wine glasses filled with box wine saying D-CUE, which would be amazing), is that he\u2019s generally brought in to fix things that are only broken to a certain segment of the population which management seems to believe is all of the population.<\/p>\n

I was enjoying Green Lantern comics before Hal Jordan returned and I haven\u2019t bought a single issue of the series since the last one of Green Lantern: Rebirth. I will always choose Wally West as the best Flash, with the many stories revolving around being in the shadow of his mentor being powerful and moving tales (and Mark Waid\u2019s talent shining through on every page). In fact, with the return of Barry, I ended up just quitting collecting comics for some time (and still haven’t returned, although my subscription to Marvel Unlimited and my occasional purchases on the Marvel Comics and DC Comics apps fill in the blank that comics once occupied). So, for me as a fan, Geoff Jones represents a return to course that concerns my continued enjoyment of these films.<\/p>\n

And, to be clear, I enjoyed Man of Steel<\/b> (it was my pick for movie of the year, 2013) a great deal and Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice a great deal more (it will probably be in my top five\u2026 2016 has been a great year for films, though). I thought Affleck gave an excellent performance as a grizzled, veteran Batman; a version we\u2019ve never seen in live action, before; Henry Cavill gave another excellent performance as the Last Son of Krypton, Gal Gadot stole the show as Wonder Woman, and Jesse Eisenberg gave an amazing performance as a twisted, obsessive Lex Luthor. I think that all these characters exist so firmly in the zeitgeist that the fact that they are owned by a comic book company, making them mercurial and evolving, is lost on the vast throngs of the populace who expect Bale\u2019s pursed-lipped brooding, Hackman\u2019s scene-chewing real estate scams, and Reeves\u2019 pablum-filled delivery of something he had read a few minutes prior.<\/p>\n

Plus, the released scene that is called ‘Communion’ explains a lot<\/em> of stuff that is going on with Luthor…<\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\nIt\u2019s my hope that Johns is able to do what Feige has done, but I, as a fan, have been burned by Johns a bunch of times (like a painful run on JSA\u2026 yeah, Geoff, I liked<\/i> Damage, damn it!) and I fear for the future of the DCEU (pronounced dee-SUE).<\/p>\nCaptain America: Civil War<\/b><\/p>\nI\u2019ll keep this short and sweet.<\/p>\nCivil War was, ultimately, the third Avengers movie and it far surpassed the second one. For me, the Black Panther arc was the most compelling aspect of the film, whereas the actual events that led to the \u2018Civil War\u2019 came off as somewhat forced. Still, the outcome offered a lot of fodder for future films and makes me excited for Thor: Ragnarok and the coming Avengers films, not to mention the new Spider-Man flick.<\/p>\nCaptain America: Steve Rogers<\/b><\/p>\nI wanted to give this some analysis because the meme of Cap saying \u2018Hail Hydra\u2019 in the last panel of the first issue of Nick Spencer\u2019s new series has led to some truly terribly response from the fans.<\/p>\nI\u2019m not talking about the goofy memes that are popping up or the theories that range from plausible to completely insane, I\u2019m talking about the legions of fans that are calling for Spencer to suffer a multitude of terrible fates, including unemployment and even death. Most of these fans (I would even go so far as to say the overwhelming majority of them) don\u2019t read the comics and did not read the issue in question. Instead, they are simply responding to a single panel of a\u00a0 33-page comic book story and deciding that it is bad enough to wish harm on another human being.<\/p>\nThere is something wrong with this. Jordan wrote a great article last week talking about how we aren\u2019t focusing on the real issues, as a people, and I published it, proudly. When a single panel becomes a major news story that infuriates people while the battle for leadership of the United States has devolved into a circus, we have some real issues. I can\u2019t help but think that, if this were ten years ago, this comic book wouldn\u2019t have even been on the national radar, but after three successful solo films and two films as a member of the Avengers, Cap is now in that realm of \u2018Untouchable Public Content\u2122,\u2019 not dissimilar to that of the characters in BvS.<\/p>\nFor those of us that actually read the issue, it is clear that there is some kind of manipulation going on there. It\u2019s clear that the story is still being told and NONE OF US<\/i><\/b> have any idea where it\u2019s going to go.<\/p>\nI will, however, make one thing very clear: the flashback in that first issue is back to 1926. It shows a very well-established Hydra recruiting Sarah Rogers, Steve\u2019s mother, who is disenfranchised, just as many were during that time period. This is the year after the publication of Mein Kampf and occurs during a period where the National Socialist Party of Germany was still in the process of establishing itself. This flashback takes place a full 7 years before Adolph Hitler is appointed Chancellor.<\/p>\nTo say that Captain America as an indoctrinated member of Hydra is the same thing as a Nazi is tantamount to simply proclaiming pride in one\u2019s own ignorance. The story makes it clear that there is some twist occurring, and for those of us that have read many, many years of Captain America comics, that twist will likely come in the way of the Cosmic Cube, a reality-altering artifact that has been used by the Red Skull on a variety of occasions.<\/p>\nHistorically, the best Captain America stories are, in general, about the question: \u2018How does Cap get out of this one?\u2019 Red Skull captures him and puts him on an island full of villains from around the world? \u2018How does Cap get out of this one?\u2019 Nightshade turns Cap into a werewolf? \u2018How does Cap get out of this one?\u2019 Cap shot in the chest by the love of his life? \u2018How does Cap get out of this one?\u2019 Arnim Zola pulls Cap into a dimension he controls where time moves differently? \u2018How does Cap get out of this one?\u2019<\/p>\nAnd, when the first issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers ended, I was left asking that very question.<\/p>\nPlease, I beg of those of you who are reasonable and have only been caught up in the torrent of ignorance, please stop these ruthless attacks on creators of entertainment. It\u2019s not too late to pull away from the brink of complete Idiocracy. I have to believe it!<\/p>\nPreacher<\/b><\/p>\nSo, onto something more positive. I read Preacher when it was first coming out and about 20 issues in, I sort of dropped collecting it, for whatever reason. Years later, a good friend would loan me all the Preacher collected editions and I proceeded to tear through them and read the entire story.<\/p>\nAnd loved it.<\/p>\nRumors of a Preacher series\/film or whatever have been circulating forever and, when people found out that Seth Rogan was going to be the show runner, there was palpable backlash (not quite \u2018Captain America is a member of Hydra\u2019 backlash, but greater than \u2018our banks have deliberately bankrupted our planet\u2019 backlash). Personally, I wanted to see what he did with it and I paid only cursory attention to how it developed. In a way, I wanted to see what it looked like from a purer lens than I have been consuming media, as of late.<\/p>\nIt was damn good.<\/p>\nThe primary casting was as near perfect as you can get, but some logical alterations had to be made to the story in order to transcend mediums and there was some minor push back on the casting of Ruth Negga as Tulip (come on, now), but I feel like that first episode justified those changes. Frankly, I enjoyed the hell out of the Preacher comic books, but my wife will never read them. Instead, she and I have this series to look forward to, each week and I get to experience Preacher anew, through her eyes.<\/p>\nIf you’ve read the comic and can deal with changes when a thing translates from format to format, check it out! If you\u2019ve not read the comic and like weird things, check it out!<\/p>\nI\u2019m already a fan.<\/p>\nStar Trek<\/b><\/p>\nWith the new Star Trek: Beyond<\/b> trailer out and the new CBS streaming Star Trek<\/b> series getting a teaser, Trek fans are getting those same goodies that Star Wars fans have been enjoying for half a year, now.<\/p>\nWith its third installation, the film series has the chance to reclaim some of the good will that was spent with the poorly-received Star Trek: Into Darkness<\/b> (which, frankly, I didn\u2019t hate as much as other folks), especially as the new trailer seems to indicate that Kirk and the crew will be exploring some of the classic themes of the original series and, perhaps, some of the early films. The aliens look great, the action looks insane, and Kirk looks confused.<\/p>\nThe forthcoming series, debuting in January, 2017 on CBS and moving to CBS All Access, soon after, will revolve around a new group of characters exploring the Star Trek galaxy in the classic mold of the original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation. The biggest news about this is that it could alter the way we get network television (well, at least, new<\/i> network television).<\/p>\nI\u2019ve been a Trek fan since I was quite young, so it\u2019s exciting to see this return to form.<\/p>\nMacGyver<\/b><\/p>\nSo, this is happening.<\/p>\nThe new MacGyver series will be about Cyclops\u2019 brother, Havok, as he struggles to learn to control his powers while maintaining a relationship with the love of his life, Magneto\u2019s daughter, Polaris.<\/p>\nWait, what?<\/p>\nOh, I\u2019m being told that, not only is this not the case, but it would make no sense if it was.<\/p>\nInstead, Lucas Till (who did play Havok in the X-Films) plays a young MacGyver who uses his unique skills to deal with various issues while building a clandestine organization to help him take over the planet and battle G. I. Joe.<\/p>\nOkay, I\u2019ll admit it, I don\u2019t know crap about this series, but I don\u2019t hate the trailer. I had a passing enjoyment of MacGyver, back in the day, but the main thrill of the show was seeing what weird combination of things he would use to get out of hairy situations. In this new era of DIY videos all over social media (check out Jordan Spencer\u2019s YouTube page, by the way) and LifeHacks, is this kind of thing actually relevant?<\/p>\nSupergirl Moves to CW<\/b><\/p>\nI haven’t watched a lot of the new Supergirl<\/i><\/b> series. I watched the pilot early on, and I watched a handful of episodes prior to the Flash crossover (including the excellent<\/i> retelling of a classic Alan Moore Superman story in \u2018For the Girl Who Has Everything\u2019), however, I found those episodes I watched to be, for the most part, insipid. It seemed to be attempting to establish itself as a show for women in their 20s and 30s, but it also seemed as though it was insulting that group, repeatedly. It will be interesting to see what happens on CW; whose DC series have managed to appeal to a wide range of fans.<\/p>\nThe big news is that Supergirl<\/i> will be included in the \u2018Arrowverse’ series of shows and will be brought in through a crossover that will include Arrow, Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow, as well as the Girl of Steel. Is this the first live-action crisis? We\u2019ll have to wait until September to find out.<\/p>\nMe? I can\u2019t wait to see what they do.<\/p>\nBuckaroo Banzai<\/b><\/p>\n\u2026Is being developed by Kevin Smith for MGM.<\/p>\n*Glee!*<\/p>\nI\u2019ll be paying very close attention.<\/p>\nDC Rebirth<\/b><\/p>\nFinally, some more recent info.<\/p>\nDC Rebirth looks to bring back some of my favorite components of DC from the 1980s and 1990s and this makes me very excited. There were some really<\/em> big reveals in that first issue and I may break it down in a week or two when people who want to read it have, but here was my favorite one\u2026<\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13315266_10209980624771766_2166917952597727182_n.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1230\" src=\"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13315266_10209980624771766_2166917952597727182_n.jpg\" alt=\"13315266_10209980624771766_2166917952597727182_n\" width=\"960\" height=\"564\" srcset=\"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13315266_10209980624771766_2166917952597727182_n.jpg 960w, http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13315266_10209980624771766_2166917952597727182_n-300x176.jpg 300w, http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/13315266_10209980624771766_2166917952597727182_n-768x451.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\nLong Live the Legion!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hi, everyone. We have a lot to discuss. I\u2019ve been writing my silly little articles and supporting games that I really love (Savage Rifts only beat their Kickstarter goal by $430,000 over, so, let\u2019s all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11,9,13,12],"tags":[229,253,117,251,250,252],"class_list":["post-1229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comics","category-culture","category-film","category-newagenerd","category-television","tag-batman-v-superman","tag-buckaroo-banzai","tag-captain-america","tag-dc-rebirth","tag-preacher","tag-supergirl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1232,"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1229\/revisions\/1232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/docpalindrome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}