Read It: Alex Robinson Webcomic
Oct 02A funny little short story about some hard-on-their-luck creatures lookin’ for love.
The Graysons
Oct 01This is getting yakked up all over the damn place, but it’s Wednesday and I’m tired and it feels good to just riff on something dumb and easy, so let’s have at it.
From Variety:
Holy prequel, Boy Wonder, the CW is prepping a series based on Batman sidekick Robin’s pre-Caped Crusader days.
“Smallville” exec producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson, as well as “Supernatural” exec producer McG, are behind “The Graysons,” which has landed a put pilot commitment at the netlet.Just as “Smallville” focused on Clark Kent in the years before he became Superman, “The Graysons” will follow the world of Dick “DJ” Grayson before he takes on the iconic Robin identity and aligns himself with Batman.
I do love Variety-speak. “Netlet.” So cute!
This show is naturally an awful idea. We don’t even have to discuss it to know that it is. Nerds like us smell the stench of death on a project with this level of idiocy from fifty paces. Were we together right now, physically in person like, we would exchange knowing glances, nod slightly, and move on with our lives. That’s just how we would roll.
And yet–again, the tiredness and the urge to riff overtake me.
I don’t understand what this show will have to do with Dick Grayson at all. I don’t think he’s going to be the teenage son of a pair of circus acrobats, although if the CW is really willing to commit development dollars to a show about a family of circus acrobats, then GOD BLESS THEM.
It might be cool if they slowly started to weave in Batman as the series went on, so that by the end of the first season, maybe Dick Grayson actually meets the caped crusader…but I seriously doubt that will happen. For one thing, Warners has a perfectly successful Batman film franchise going on right now that doesn’t really need to be polluted by some dumb hour-long drama.
For another thing, apparently the appeal of a show like this is the same as the appeal of a show like Smallville–the chance to witness absolutely pedestrian high school soap opera that just happens to star characters with the same names and possibly the same futures as comic book characters. Clark Kent on Smallville is Dawson Leery with heat vision. Which I guess will make Dick Grayson Pacey but with better athletic ability…?
It has never made sense to me, the appeal of Smallville, and if The Graysons is anything like it, that show will make no sense to me either. In fact, it may actually make LESS sense, since there won’t be any superpowers or sci-fi kerfuffle to at least give the show some minor geek appeal. It’ll just be a crappy CW drama, with a character who shares the same name as the first Robin.
I mean, shit–don’t they know Dan DiDio was gonna KILL the guy a couple years ago, because he couldn’t see the point? I’m no fan of the guy but he may have been onto something there. Hell, make a TV show out of Jason Todd–at least he started out as a homeless rapscallion stealing hubcaps off superhero vehicles. That could be a show.
This is not a show, but it will be a show. So, wonderful. I’m rooting for the CW, cause I need my One Tree Hill fix at this point, like a heroin addict needs his methadone. But damn, this is a stupid idea.
Unless they go this route, in which case, I WILL BE THERE EVERY WEEK WITHOUT FAIL:
(Image courtesy Night Graffiti)
Heroes Pop Quiz #2
Sep 29Time for another thrilltastic edition of the Heroes Pop Quiz! Will this happen every week or just until Sarah finally deletes the show from her TiVo? You’ll see! It’s like all those season 1 cliffhangers!
SPOILERS within.
The 50 Things That No Great Comics Collection Needs To Have
Sep 29Inspired by Tom Spurgeon, my own public service.
1. Lady Death
2. Chuck Austen
3. Brute Force
4. Milo Ventimiglia
5. Water damage
6. Psycho Pirate getting his eyes poked out
7. Three copies of Watchmen
8. CGC
9. The cast of Guiding Light
10. Polybags
11. Alan Moore’s WildCATS
12. Shitty minicomics
13. Power Girl’s rack
14. Alf
15. Film adaptations
16. Film adaptations of movies based on comic books
17. Mold
18. Liefeld
19. James Robinson’s WildCATS
20. The death of Justice League Europe
21. Nancy Reagan
22. Male superheroes becoming females briefly
23. The Beyonder’s hair circa Secret Wars II
24. Dust mites
25. Silverblade
26. Collectible trading cards
27. Ed Benes
28. Magical marriage retcons
29. Ass shots (see #27)
30. Henry Kissinger
31. A collection of webcomics printed off your computer on a dot-matrix
32. Nicholas Cage
33. Archie
34. Jason Todd…alive
35. Grant Morrison’s WildCATS
36. Anybody’s WildCATS (okay, maybe Joe Casey’s)
37. Mara Jade
38. Foil covers
39. Wonder Dog eating Marvin
40. Postcard inserts inviting you to get more information about the Navy
41. Danity Kane
42. Bloodwynd
43. Sagas involving clones
44. Harley Quinn
45. Freddy Krueger
46. Al Bundy
47. Cockroaches
48. Simon Cowell
49. Anything co-written by William Shatner
50. A blog
Well, that's just about perfect
Sep 26Steeped in the hip hop of the 80s, me and rap have slowly parted ways over the years, only occasionally agreeing on a track. And while I can appreciate a Young Jeezy track, I consider guys like this home. The video is fun, but the kicker starts at 2:10
