Golden Age Creator of Green Lantern Dies

Ever since I was a young kid Green Lantern has been my favorite superhero. When asked the deep geekosophic question "Who is the best, Batman or Superman?" I would always answer with the non-sequitor Green Lantern. Much like when asked the rock-n-roll question regarding the Beatles and Stones, I answer The Who. At first my love for Green Lantern was aimed at test pilot Hal Jordan, but as time passed and my skill ranks in Geek (Comic Books) and History (Comic Books) increased I found a new (or rather old) Green Lantern to love. It all started with Roy Thomas's All-Star Squadron with its stylish and original lineup of Golden Age characters. Once I was introduced to Dr. Midnite, Doctor Fate, Starman, and the Golden Age versions of the Flash (Jay Garrick) and Green Lantern (Alan Scott) I was hooked.

The 80s were a time when the "modern" heroes were entering into dark phases where morality was grey and justice was hard to find. The stories were great, but the part of my soul which longs for fun, adventure, comedy and justice (an interesting combination to be sure) found the Bronze Age heroes lacked these traits, but the Golden Age heroes had them in abundance. The Golden Age heroes also had a kind of laissez faire attitude about where superpowers come from and how superpowers worked. The Silver Age had begun the scientification, and pseudo-physics justification, of superpowers. Heck, the Silver Age Green Lantern's powers were powered by piece of technology, and the changes from the original Green Lantern were inspired by Doc Smith's wonderful Lensman series. Bronze Age Green Lantern could "red shift" his green energy beam to inflict damage on another Green Lantern, but the Golden Age Green Lantern's powers were mystical (and his vulnerability to wood was a classic mystic weakness).

The more I read, the more I liked Alan Scott and the more I spent on Archived editions of All-Star Comics and dreaming of being able to afford All-American Comics #16.

The Los Angeles Times has an obituary dedicated to Alan Scott creator Martin Nodell. It is a solid piece, but typical of the Times the obit is provided by Newsday and not written by a Times writer. Monkeybrain Press editor Chris Roberson had a link to a nice piece by comic scholar extraordinaire (and creator of the D&D cartoon) Mark Evanier on Sunday. Boy...the Times are sure prompt aren't they?

The Number One Reason to Watch CSI:Miami

I was having a conversation with David Chute and Tulkinghorn of The Hungry Ghost a couple of weeks ago, we went out for dumplings, and mentioned that I have a deep and inexplicable affection for CSI: Miami. In particular, I am a huge fan of Horatio Caine. H, as he is called on the show, is who brought me back week after week and made me a fan. I started out merely making fun of the character, but I eventually got sucked in to what is actually quite a good show.

I still make fun of H, but now I both mock and adore him. You see, the character of Horatio Caine is a combination of all my entertainment vices. He is overly dramatic like Captain Kirk. He never has to fill out paperwork for any of his many shootings. He is the CSI equivalent of Doc Savage: the Man of Bronze, he's even semi-bronzish. As Ray Richmond of Past Deadline states, "a character name that tells you all you need to know in two words." In addition, I can think of almost no better representation of the D&D Paladin class than Horatio Caine, the obvious exception is Paksenarrion. He is Lawful Good to the core, but is also smart/savvy enough to defeat those who manipulate the law in order to gain freedom. God help you if you ever raise his wrath in a situation where he has the legal authority to cap your ass, because he will. He is relentless in the pursuit of evil, sympathetic to the victim, and punishes those who take the law into their own hands. If there was anything "supernatural" on CSI: Miami, I am certain that H could "turn undead."

Long story short, David Chute sent me a link which included this collection of H one liners. It really is absurd how seriously David Caruso delivers these lines, but he is extraordinarily consistent in his performance of Caine. In fact, my next D&D character is totally going to be based on him.

H
"What do we have Rogue?"

ROGUE

"A Locked Door."

H

"Somebody doesn't want us going in..."

ROGER DALTRY

"YEAH!"

New Blog Added to the Blogroll

I recently googled the name of a professor I admired as an undergrad and discovered that she had a blog. Part of the motivation for the googling was that I just returned to her a book she loaned me, Slan by A.E. Van Vogt, which had been in my possession for over half a decade since the initial loan, a near unforgivable slight. I can only plea for mercy and admit that the book had been in storage and I only discovered still being in possession of the book during our recent move. The move was in March, but I didn't completely finish unpacking books until a little over a month ago.

Needless to say, guilt and the fact that the professor hasn't written back have led me to worry that the said professor is at this very moment Tuckerizing me as some sort of mishapen, forgetful, and evil being from the inter mundia. My guilt led to the google which in turn led to the discovery of the blog. I have since added the blog, Rickety Contrivances of Doing Good, to the blogroll. The blog is an interesting glimpse into the mind of the professor, Susan Palwick, who describes herself as:

"SF/fantasy writer. English professor. Episcopalian. Licensed lay preacher. Volunteer ER chaplain (but not clergy). And a few other things, less easily labeled. The title of this blog is a phrase John Clute used to describe the plots of my first two novels. It both amused and annoyed me, and I finally decided to reclaim it as a badge of honor. Would you prefer rickety contrivances of doing bad?"

Professor Palwick falls squarely into the school of science fiction writers that Rick Klaw would refer to as progressive, but she lacks the underlying cynicism of many of the writers in that class. Where Michael Moorcock's writing is clouded in despair, Palwick's writing often has an underlying sense of hope, faith if you will.

As I wrote the above paragraph, I was reminded of the other reason she might have for not replying to my hand-scrawled note included with her book. I spent more time on a brief rant against a couple of critics of her last book, The Necessary Beggar, including a brief critical sentence about Charles Stross's Clan series, and not enough time discussing how much my wife and I missed her writing classes and her wonderful and encouraging criticism.

Snakes and Transportation and an Idea That Won't Die

First there was Snakes on a Plane, then there was Snakes on a Train. Now in a continuation of the concept that won't die...there is the Cobras in the Cockpit boardgame. The twist? The players are the snakes.

An Overlooked Reason for Casino Royale's Quality

Let's face it, Casino Royale is one of the best Bond films to come to theaters for quite some time. Martin Campbell, who directed both recent Zorro movies and had previously directed Goldeneye, has been rightly praised for his work on the film. But I thought Martin Campbell's last Bond film, Goldeneye, was one of the worst Bond films to date. The tank chase was fun, but I found most of the character development elements of the film weak and I didn't think the action of Goldeneye was anywhere near as sophisticated as the action in Casino Royale.

What is the difference, the key element, that most critics are missing?

Alexander Witt.

Goldeneye's Second Unit Director, the job most in charge of action sequences, was Ian Sharp. Sharp is a competent director, with limited Second Unit work, which is apparent in his work on the classic iTV Robin of Sherwood series. He directed one of my favorite episodes of that show, Robin Hood and the Sorcerer, but his overall "action street cred" is relatively low.

Alexander Witt, on the other hand, is the Second Unit Director's Second Unit Director. Witt is maybe the best director of action sequences in the industry today. This is not to say he is a great film director, Resident Evil: Apocalypse amply displays his limitations in character work, but a quick look at his action resume reveals the reason that the action in Casino Royale was so viceral. Witt was the Second Unit Director in all the below listed films:

• The Bourne Identity
• Blackhawk Down
• Gladiator
• Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse ofthe Black Pearl
• xXx

The above list is obviously cherry picked, it doesn't include She's the Man, but it only scratches the surface of a career that also includes Always (DP on the aerial photography), Hunt for Red October (Second Unit DP), and the first Speed. These are all quality films, obviously I'm not including She's the Man in that statement, where the action sequences move quickly, stylishly, and convincingly. That is the trademark of a film where Witt is the Second Unit Director. Many have commented on the similarity of the action in Royale and that of Bourne, the common denominator is Alexander Witt who seems to be involved with films that reshape our action expectations.

Now if I can only figure out who decided to bring in action influences from last year's District 13, the foot chase after the title sequence is straight out of the Besson produced actioner.

In Casino Royale, like in the Ridley Scott films Witt worked on, we got to see the magic of the collaborative nature of film where the Director and Second Unit Director work together to create a gem. The focus many critics have on the auteur theory of film often neglects the importance of other staff working on a film while overly crediting the Director. Campbell did a great job as the director of the film, Royale had genuine pathos, but it wouldn't have been the same movie if it hadn't had Witt on the Second Unit.

IGN Offers Manga Entertainment and CPM Downloads

IGN's Direct 2 Drive entertainment download site offers movies and videogames for purchase and direct download to your PC. This service has a continually growing library which now includes Ghost in the Shell and Castle of Cagliostro. As a subsidiary of Fox, IGN's service has access to a catalogue of decent size especially when it comes of films of interest to their target audience.

Let me be straight here. I think that download services for movies and games are the future. I think they are great ideas. I am very interested in what Microsoft is doing with the 360 in this regard. What I am not so keen about it the pricing scale.

Let me get this straight. I, as the consumer, incur all the printing costs of the manuals and have to burn the CD or DVD copies of the downloads myself. My movie or television DVDs won't play in a regular player only on my PC, they had better track things like Microsoft is tracking TV shows where a login is all you need. They allow backups only, but at least they allow backups. I need my backups or I'm not even beginning to use a direct to download service. I am an old school gamer. I play Zork every now and then. You know I'll want to play Neverwinter Nights 2 in a decade, so I need the backup capability. And before you ask...yes, I know I will have to have a computer room filled with totally obsolete machines to meet my desires, that doesn't stop me from having the desires.

So let's say I print in color. That's a couple bucks in printing, and I'll have a few more cents of CD cost. Additionally, there is the time I waste waiting for the printing to happen. I am a meticulous instruction booklet reader, so I do need my copy. So I pay a couple of bucks at home for backup and printing, reducing the manufacturing costs of the game I am buying.

Do I get a price break?

Not really. I can buy X-men: The Last Stand for $19.99 and watch it on my computer screen and handheld device or my TV if I have a television card, or I can buy it for $15.87 from Amazon.

Hmm...Not much question as to which way I'll purchase the item. I might be willing to pay more to support my Local Friendly Mom and Pop Shop (LFMPS), but not to support a subsidiary of Fox.

I think that this is a great idea, but I am still waiting for the "working model."

Is This a Sign of a Coming Bollywood Invasion?

Sit Com Producer Rob Long wrote in his book Setup Joke, Setup Joke that rumors in the entertainment industry are "always true." If you want to know whether your show has been picked up by the network no one is going to tell you straight to your face one way or the other (which usually means you haven't been picked up anyway), but you will know through the rumor mill what your fate is. You will deny your fate, but like Oedipus you will end up ripping your eyes out cursing your stupidity.

The rumors are always true, unless they are tabloid rumors.

Then they are mostly true.

What does this have to do with prophesying a Bollywood invasion? Everything. It appears that there are rumors about Warner Bros. having interest in buying a 10% stake in GV Films. The Chennai based firm denies the rumor, and other rumors as well, but I keep hearing Rob Long in the back of my mind. Which makes me believe that there is some interest.

What this means for a Bollywood invasion is unclear. Warner could be interested in owning a share because of the success of the Bollywood market, they may just want some additional profits. They may want a smoother distribution for their American movies, GV Films apparently owns multiplexes and Warner recently lost ground in China. But they might, like Virgin, be seeking a way to leverage the Indian film industry into other markets. Does this mean wider releases of Bollywood epics? While that would make David Chute happy, I doubt it. More likely it will mean Hollywood style films with Indian influences, maybe more mythic tales, more musical numbers, or more multi-genre films.

I don't really know which way the wind is blowing, but I believe the rumor.