Off the Cuff - #28 – Star Trek & Star Wars: the end
By Eric Barrett
Comics, Cartoons, and all things related
*So I saw Star Wars this weekend, and I have to say I kind of enjoyed it. It wasn’t as great as it should have been, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. And that puts me in a bit of a bind. Because, you see, now I want to see more Star Wars movies.
When the first Star Wars prequel came out I was pretty excited. I figured Lucas’ new movie would have to be as good as the other ones. Boy was I wrong. Of course I wasn’t alone with that reaction. And then came the second movie, which was quite possibly worse than the first movie. So by now, my expectations have been destroyed and I no longer care about Star Wars (not that I cared much to begin with).
But now Lucas has gone and made an enjoyable movie. What was he thinking?! Now I actually would like to see another Star Wars movie. What am I thinking?!
So instead of being content that I’d never have to watch another Star Wars movie, I must live with that feeling of longing. Maybe, just maybe, we could get another Star Wars film.
*I think I experienced the same thing with Star Trek Enterprise. The first season was pretty good, and I was excited. Especially since if followed the awful Voyager series. And then, suddenly, it just totally sucked. The Suliban?! What were they thinking?!
So I became content to accept that Enterprise was an awful show at worse, and “watchable” at best. Then suddenly they start writing the episodes they should have written in the first place, and season 4 was remarkable. It became my second favorite show, only following StarGate.
So what happens, yup, you guessed it, they cancelled the show. I could have been completely happy if they cancelled it after season 3. But they didn’t. No, they showed me the glimpse of potential, and now I must be depressed because they’ll never have a chance to live out that potential.
I hate that.
*One last thing to tie this train of thought up…
If you check out the other threads around here at SOTS (you are doing that, right?) you’ll notice that we’ve been talking about the “death of geekdom.” Now I think this is a bit of an exaggeration. However, the general idea is sound. To many, the end of Star Wars is the end of an era. And considering Star Trek ended a week before the final Star Wars movie that’s a pretty big blow to geeks everywhere.
I think the big thing is that for 30-40 years there was anticipation for MORE Star Trek or Star Wars. And now that’s gone. There’s no anticipation to replace what we’ve lost. As good as StarGate is, it’s NOT Star Trek. And as much of a following as Andromeda has, it’s not Star Wars. It’s as if the Michael Jordan of geek culture retired – you can’t just fill a void like that. Something intangible is irrevocably lost. And I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that.
*I often feel that way about story arcs in comic books. The best part of the story is never the ending, which always seems to be a let down. It’s all about the build-up.
*I was watching Animaniacs the other night, and I came to the startling realization that it would be difficult to ever make a show like that again. I mean the Warner brothers (and the Warner sister) sexually harass people, they break and enter, they destroy property…I could go on.
But it’s violent, rude, and perhaps worse of all, un-PC. But I suppose that’s why I love it so!
*As I mentioned last week Smallville is finishing up its fourth season. But it looks like they’ll be brining it back for season 5. I’m kind of curious to see where they’ll go with this one. I’m hoping that they back off the whole teen-angst angle, but I’m not holding my breath. It also looks like Lois Lane might not be back (not a big loss to me, I didn’t really like her anyway).
One additional note, it’s moving to a Thursday timeslot instead of its Tuesday timeslot.
*A couple of movie notes? I just don’t see Kelsey Grammar being a good casting choice for Beast. I could be wrong I suppose – I think he’s a talented actor – I just can’t see him as Beast.
But I’ve been wrong before, and I think I might be wrong about Nicholas Cage playing the role of Johnny Blaze in the new Ghost Rider movie. I thought he was a horrible cast. However this image of him makes it look like he might have some promise. Now a lot depends on how the movie turns out. But I am a little more optimistic.
*Speaking of optimism….I saw the Fantastic 4 movie trailer with Episode 3. I’ve panned the F4 movie here and here. Mostly because the screen shots I saw just looked awful. And worse than that, they also looked cheesy. Awful and cheesy - not a good combination. But the trailer I saw made the movie look pretty good. While I’m not excited about seeing the movie, I do think I’ll try to go.
*Frank Gorshin died this last week. He’s best known as playing the Riddler on the 60’s Batman TV show. And frankly, when I think of the Riddler I think of Gorshin. I thought it was interesting that The Batman (which is a good show in it’s own right) introduced the Riddler for the first time in it’s stories this week. I doubt it was timed like that on purpose, but I thought it turned out to be a nice little tribute.
*That’s it for another week. We may have some regularly scheduled interruptions in the coming two weeks while I travel for work. I’ll try to get something posted, but since I won’t be able to guarantee internet access, I’m not sure I’ll get something posted.
So in the words of Yakko….Goodnight everybody!
The opinions stated in here solely reflect the opinions of the author. If you would like to comment on some of the items in this article, please feel free to post in the forum or send an e-mail. All characters, titles, and etc. are owned and ©; their respective publishers and creators- the author and StillontheShelf.com makes no claim towards them. This column is intended as an opinion piece only. Off the Cuff is ©; Eric Barrett. Please report any broken links!
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May 17, 2005
Off the Cuff - #27 – Archetypes, Smallville, DC
By Eric Barrett
Comics, Cartoons, and all things related
*One of the things I both hate and love about anime is the character archetypes they use. In virtually all anime you have your annoying/whiney female, your over-dramatic reactions to good/bad news, your former evil character seeking redemption, etc…
Sometimes this is annoying; sometimes it’s kind of humorous. But I think this is a relatively unique trait to Japanese work. Yes, I realize that we have our own stereotypical characters. But it just seems like these character archetypes are in EVERY anime/manga that gets released. Even in the more serious shows like Cowboy Bebop. Whereas, you can’t find every basic type of character in an American show/comic book.
I don’t know if this is good or bad, it’s just different.
*Cartoon Network must have about the worse website I’ve seen in years. It is virtually impossible to get it to display a page with any reasonable speed. And I’m on a DSL connection! If you want pretty graphics and tons of pictures, fine. Just make sure the stupid page loads first!
*So Smallville is poised to head into it’s fifth season. It’s hard to believe that show’s been on that long actually. I used to watch it regularly in the first two seasons. But I noticed that they were slowly shifting away from a superhero story about a boy growing up, to a teen drama. And then when they canned Pete, that was the final nail in the coffin – full fledged teen drama.
I think Smallville still has its good moments, and every so often I’ll catch an episode or two. But I just can’t stomach all of that teen angst.
*I do love the way they make subtle references to the Superman legacy. In one episode, Lana tells Clark that he “looks good in blue.” I think that’s brilliant writing. It’s a subtle nod to what will become Clark’s legacy, while at the same time it’s a subtle use of foreshadowing.
*Decline of civilization example #4,102: “Batman Begins 400 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race” on June 19th.
Sheesh, I don’t know if I need to make a joke about movie promotion gone awry, or the horrible cash pandering of NASCAR. On second thought, I think I’m too depressed to do either now…
*So is it me, or do there seem to be a lot of characters being killed recently? It seems like every title I’m opening up or every TV show I’m watching a character is being killed. I don’t want to spoil anything, because a lot of these characters have only recently been killed. But I think this is something I’m going to return to in a few weeks. Or do you guys think I’m totally off base on this?
*Apparently the “big news” is DC’s new logo. I’m not really sure what I think about it all. I personally like the look of the logo better, but is it going to do anything for the company? Are sales going to increase because of it? I doubt it. I can’t imagine ever hearing someone at my local shop saying, “boy I was going to pick up this issue of ‘X-men: Yet another book’, but that DC logo is so hot I think I’ll have to buy nothing but DC now.”
I realize that’s an exaggeration, but what was DC really trying to accomplish? Maybe I just don’t get it. Personally unless there is some tangible benefit to the switch, I think DC should have stuck with Tradition. After all, it’s not like their old logo was bad or anything.
*Well I finished the Green Lantern: Rebirth saga the other day. And I have to say I enjoyed it. I think it was a reasonably believable (in a way that only comic books can be) way to bring back Hal Jordan. But was anyone else skeptical that he could sucker punch Batman? I mean, it’s Batman, how do you sucker punch Batman?
*I also finished Phoenix: Endsong this week. Let me start off by saying that the you learn the meaning of the word “Endsong” in this book. Let me also say, it made the meaning of the word lame. It was one of those “too cute by half” moments. Sure I get the fact that the warrior “Endsong” is a tribute to those about to fall in battle, and that’s ultimately what happened to Jean, but still, it just made it cheesy.
Otherwise, the book was just all right. It wasn’t awful, but it certainly wasn’t good. And it seems like we just had a 6-part story that could have been something special, and instead, returns everything to the exact status quo at the end. Well almost.
*If you want to compare Green Lantern: Rebirth with Phoenix: Endsong, it’s definitely another victory for DC. After finishing GL: Rebirth you get the distinct sense that the DC Universe just changed in a major way. Like you just read something that was of profound importance to the story of many characters. With Endsong you get the distinct sense of “eh, whatever.”
*Well I guess that about sums things up for the week. But before we go, one quick questions for you guys out there, am I the only one who’s stack of unread comics keeps piling up? Or does that seem to happen to everyone?
The opinions stated in here solely reflect the opinions of the author. If you would like to comment on some of the items in this article, please feel free to post in the forum or send an e-mail. All characters, titles, and etc. are owned and ©; their respective publishers and creators- the author and StillontheShelf.com makes no claim towards them. This column is intended as an opinion piece only. Off the Cuff is ©; Eric Barrett. Please report any broken links!
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May 10, 2005
Off the Cuff - #26 – Avatar, The Simpsons, and Greece
By Eric Barrett
Comics, Cartoons, and all things related
*I have to say I’ve been diggin’ on a new cartoon called “Avatar.” It’s on Nickelodeon. I’m not really sure what time it airs regularly, because I only seem to catch it when I’m flipping the channels. In fact, I only seem to catch the same two or three episodes!
The animation is pretty remarkable, but the story is the real star of the show. It’s a compelling story where each episode is closely intertwined with the others. In short it’s one of those “continuous” stories.
The show follows a young boy who’s the long-awaited “Avatar.” In the time since the last Avatar, the world has become controlled by an evil group of “Bender’s” with the power to control fire. Shockingly they are known as the Fire Bender’s. Naturally it’s up to the Avatar to master the four elements, Earth, Fire, Water, and Air in order to turn back the threat.
Yeah, I realize it sounds kind of like your typical “young boy learns to become powerful and save the world” story. And I suppose it is. But there is a level of depth to the characters, and the story, that you just don’t see in a lot of cartoons. Especially Nickelodeon cartoons.
The other part of the show that I really enjoy is that in order to use their elemental based attacks they have to perform kata. These kata are the special forms or movements required to unleash their elemental powers. That means that the creators of the show had to come up with unique martial arts for each discipline. This is easily one of the best “martial arts cartoons” I’ve ever seen. Very well done, and everyone should do themselves a favor and check out the show.
*Okay, confession time. Part of what makes that show appealing to me is that it almost feels like you’re watching a video game. A very cool video game!
*Holy Cow! As I was looking for some Avatar images, I came across a page that claims that each Avatar episode costs around $1,000,000 dollars to produce! That’s amazing, I had no idea it cost that much. I guess it’s a good thing that the cartoon is leading it’s targeted age group (5-11 yrs).
*I’ve noticed a significant increase in “continuous” story shows, like Avatar. I’m not sure why this is exactly. I have to think that it has a lot to do with the success of anime in this country.
But it seems to really have exploded after Dragon Ball Z proved to be such a phenomenal success in this country. I don’t if that’s just my own perception or if that’s really the case. In any case, just some food for thought.
*I was a little concerned while reading the last issue of Space Ghost. I’ve enjoyed this title more than I expected. And as I cracked the cover of the last issue I was afraid that I’d never be able to read more about Space Ghost’s exploits. But luckily when I finished the issue there was a note in the back that said in a few more weeks the same creative team will come back to do another Space Ghost mini.
I’d love to see this turn into a regular title, but I’ll take it one mini at a time.
*I was looking at a Greek newspaper today, and you know what they say about that…”it’s all Greek to me!” Ba dum bum.
Okay, enough with the corny jokes. While looking at the paper I noticed that out of the 30 pages of print, there must have been 6-10 comic strips. Interestingly (at least to me) none of them were on the same page. Instead of a “comics page” they were spread fairly evenly throughout the entire publication.
I suspect that some of them were political cartoons, but since I couldn’t read them, I don’t know that for sure. Just thought it was interesting how different cultures treat the comic medium.
*On a slightly related note, I have yet to run into Wonder Woman or Hercules.
*This is the first OTC I’ve ever typed on Word 2003, and I just discovered the “reading” layout. It rocks! I need to use this layout more often…assuming I ever used 2003 again.
*While at this conference I’ve been working, 
I saw a couple of Germans who were using their laptop to watch The Simpsons on DVD. The DVD was in English, and they laughed at all the correct places. I say you can consider yourself funny when you can get different cultures to laugh at the same jokes.
*Speaking of The Simpsons, I find it unbelievable that The Simpsons has reached the 350 Episode mark. I’ve written about a total of 45 columns for two websites, and I feel the strain of that. I can’t imagine doing another 305 columns.
*I guess that about wraps up another column….so now I only need to do 304 more…
The opinions stated in here solely reflect the opinions of the author. If you would like to comment on some of the items in this article, please feel free to post in the forum or send an e-mail. All characters, titles, and etc. are owned and ©; their respective publishers and creators- the author and StillontheShelf.com makes no claim towards them. This column is intended as an opinion piece only. Off the Cuff is ©; Eric Barrett. Please report any broken links!
Post your comments in the Forum!
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