Hello and Welcome to the 10/21/14 edition of The Comic Shop!
Lots of big comic news hitting the web here in the last few days as mega-distributor Diamond has released previews for what's coming up in the next few months. Big news for "Iron Man", "Uncanny Avengers", "Batman & Robin", and many more. I won't go into it here, but suffice it to say there are plenty of interesting twists coming up, and the info is out there on the web if you want to know.
First.......As you know my last column was regarding my first impressions of Fox's superhero entry "Gotham". I have to say as we sit here after 5 weeks with another 15+ episodes to go I am still on the fence. It's not a bad show and the plan is rather ambitious to try to go ten years with this cast and this premise. I just don't get this obsession with having to have everything be relative in storytelling now.
Not every character has to know one another, and our hero and villain don't have to be old friends to tell a powerful story. Sometimes mystery is good, sometimes it's good to have a stark contrast in ideals & upbringing, & many times the most real danger is what we do not know. Gordon doesn't have to be involved in the Wayne investigation to make the show go.
I also would've been happier with a 20-something Bruce traveling the world while a late 30's Gordon struggled with the corruption in the GCPD. It's a small criticism, but I think it's something that would've made for a more compelling show. What we have gotten to this point is not really that clever and more or less a paint by numbers picture of who will become what villain/hero.
One of the common defenses is that "It's not a Batman show...it's about Gotham". That's not a bad defense, but it has a big hole in it when Bruce and Alfred are shoe horned in to every episode. Like the with the Ballonman and Bruce made the not so subtle realization that Ballonman was a bad vigilante because he killed people. It would've been even more compelling for the creators of the show to have the origins of Gotham itself play a pivotal role in their storytelling. It's just my feelings on it at this point and it is just an opinion.
Second....In contrast I am in absolute love with what they are doing with the new incarnation of "The Flash" on television. It's not the drab, dark, superhero story that we have come to expect from WB. In contrast it is bright and a lot of fun. Grant Gustin was absolutely wronged by the big wigs at WB when they passed him over to play Flash on the big screen, but I digress. This is a fantastic show that introduces a lot of new characters and concepts to the DCTVU, and is a contrast to the dark world of "Arrow" (not that I'm complaining). I am only left to wonder which character they will choose as the third figurehead of this powerful CW alliance. Here's hoping for GL because the three shared so much time and friendship in the pre-52 universe, but it could be difficult to do GL on a TV budget.
Third....Arrow returned for third go-round and it was fantastic as usual. Brandon Routh has stolen the show early on as genius, billionaire, playboy Ray Palmer. Ollie's journey to becoming a true light and hero continues to be the driving force of the show, and each week brings with it a little more character evolution. Along with Mr. Queen the city itself is going to be changed from the Starling name to Star City as it was in the comics. While New 52 Ollie is operating out of the Emerald City, Seattle, Star City played home to the vigilante billionaire for years.
Fourth....It has come to my attention that some of the things that I have suggested on this blog have come to pass (the return of pre-new 52 continuity, x-men television show, the rumored punisher netflix series, and others). So to anyone reading this and benefiting from it in the words of Paulie from "Goodfellas" "Fuck you, pay me".
Fifth.....RDJ has really agitated me in his tour of support for his new film "The Judge". In sequential days he claimed he would return for "Ironman 4" if.....Mel Gibson Directed....if.....Howard Stern produced....that negotiations were underway....and finally that superhero movies were reaching a point of over saturation. This is a man who's career was revitalized by his success as Tony Stark in Ironman, that has made a LOT of money from his appearances in Marvel movies, and has continued to ask for more. I'm not saying he owes the fans anything, but it would be nice if he could just not jerk us around so much.
Sixth....Breaking the BvS rule here, but the Jena Malone news has got me fired up again. <pulls out soap box> WB knows what they are doing. It's as simple as that. Not everyone has to do their movies "the Marvel way". This is a company that has managed the likes of "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings/Hobbit". They understand how to manage their properties and to make them successful. I know that I have complained about their decisions in the past, but I even have to remind myself sometimes that WB has been around a long time and they have the benefit of experience. They have a bonafide leading man for the Justice League going forward with the A+ star/Director of "Argo" and "The Town", and the leading man of current hit "Gone Girl" in Ben Affleck. I believe in Ben and I hope that you will too.
Seventh.....This one is straight from the rumor mill, but you may have seen by now that Sony has suggested that if "Sinister Six" does not perform well at the box office that they will use that film to reboot Spidey so that he could cross over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spidey, but I think they should not hesitate to make this move. It would bring a proven winner to the Marvel Universe and it would help to legitimize Sony's endeavors. Also it would finally prove to Avi Arad that he is a moron, and that's just good for everybody.
I know I had more to discuss, but I'm spacing on what that might be. Pull list is a little light the next few weeks, but I will be back some time in November to discuss issues as always.
Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time at The Comic Shop!
