Off the Cuff: Batmobile & Dr. Horrible
Back in February I mentioned that video game papercraft was far surpassing it’s cousin (comic book papercraft). However, I think the tide may be turning in this battle. In a major couter attack we now have the Batmobile created entirely in papercraft.
Just looking at it gives me paper cuts…
In last week’s column I was talking about how great Joss Whedon’s new project Dr. Horrible was. I considered it one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long, long time. Sure I recognized it’s darker aspects (for instance, the fact that Dr. Horrible never really showed any hint of remorse for his actions).
But I wasn’t prepared for the much darker third act.
The problem is, since Whedon relied so much on viral marketing (i.e., you and I spreading the word in emails and forums) I feel a bit mislead as to what I was marketing.
While I still recommend Dr. Horrible to just about anyone. I wouldn’t claim it’s “funny” or “light hearted”. It’s a significantly dark story. Which isn’t bad, it’s just not what I was led to believe.
Now maybe I told myself it was going to be a comedy. And maybe I shouldn’t have jumped to that conclusion. But that’s the challenge of marketing like this. Whedon may create a new way to market creative content – but he (and others) better be careful to not alienate their “marketers.”
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July 16, 2008
Off the Cuff: Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along
Joss Whedon has been wildly successful (at least creatively) with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. He’s one of the most original and talented creators I can think of. And there’s no question he’s at it again with Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along.
As any good comic book fan knows not all villains are cut out for the lime light. Some just don’t quite have what it takes to become the next Black Mask.
I don’t want to spoil too much of the action, but you should check this out. And you’d better do it in a hurry. The whole series disappears on July 20th.
You can catch Act 1 here. With Act 2 and 3 arriving later this week.
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June 26, 2008
Off the Cuff: Tell me already Blizzard!
I can’t take it.
I just can’t take it anymore. I need to know what Blizzard is up to. Of course I only have to wait a few more days and it will all be over. But those few days seem like an eternity right now!
Blizzard has a tradition of building up suspense and speculation prior to a major announcement. Last year they did it with Star Craft 2.
But this year seems particularly rough. I have been looking forward to a new Diablo for a very long time. I thought I might get my fix with the much anticipated Hellgate: London. But since that game seems to be a flop, I am stuck playing Diablo 2 several times a week.
In the end if the game announced isn’t Diablo 3 I’ll be disappointed. But I also know that Blizzard only seems to make good games, so I trust that this trend will continue. As much as I want to see Diablo 3, I want to see it done the right way. Better for it to take another decade and be done well, then come out this weekend and be a disappointment.
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June 12, 2008
Off the Cuff: Iron Man
I did it. Something I was convinced I would never do. I finally went and saw Iron Man.
After several years worth of columns saying how horrible I thought this movie would be, it turned out to be one of the best comic book films I’ve ever seen.
Apparently admitting you’re wrong isn’t quite as hard as I thought it would be.
Before I get to the stuff I liked, let me talk about the one thing I didn’t – the pacing. There was something about the movie that made me keep looking at my watch. What’s strange is I can’t pinpoint what. It’s not like the movie wasted a lot scenes like the Transformers movie. And it’s not like there wasn’t a lot of action to keep my attention. The only thing I can figure is that since I knew the origins of Iron Man, I just wanted to get to the giant suit of armor!
Outside of this one object though, I really enjoyed Iron Man.
I thought Robert Downey Jr carried the movie. Now lets be honest – that’s not a sentence I ever expected to type. He was truly the perfect cast as Tony Stark: impulsive, playboy, technological genius, and a bit obsessive compulsive. He really did a great job.
As most fans of Iron Man will tell you, one of the secret joys of the character is “the montage” of technology. There’s something that appeals to fans in that sequence. It’s the same thing that makes us want to go and upgrade our own computers. And the movie perfectly captures this.
Think about it, the A-team had an entire TV series built around the montage. As did MacGyver and The Pretender. The montage is such an important part of this “culture” that Team America and South Park even wrote a song about it.
So what’s not to like about a movie where you get at least three extended montage sequences?!
I probably won’t watch Iron Man in theaters again for a second time (who can afford that with $10 tickets?) But I will watch it again in the future. Iron Man is one of the classics, and I look forward to a sequel.
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May 30, 2008
Off the Cuff: Spectacular Spider-Man
There’s no doubt about it – we live in a golden era for superhero acceptance. We’ve had dozens of movies come out. Some better. Some worse. We’ve also had maybe a dozen TV shows based on comic books come out in the last few years.
So if you’re a fan, this is a good time to be alive! Or at least glued to your couch.
But despite this acceptance, there really are only a handful of exceptional superhero TV shows. Since this is the part where I list my 5 favorite comic book shows, let’s just begin:
1. Batman: The Animated Series – a classic no matter how you define that word. It still sets the standard for the genre.
2. Teen Titans – sure the anime influence annoyed people, but I found it refreshing. The stories were both clever and fun. And the animation was just the right style for the zany action.
3. Avatar the Last Airbender – ok, this might be a bit of a stretch to include as a “superhero”. But this is a fantastic show, with sharp writing, and good action.
4. Justice League Unlimited – when this show was simply “Justice League” it was awful. When it became “unlimited” it was one of the best shows on TV.
5. Spectacular Spider-Man – admittedly the jury is still out on this one, but with one season under its belt, it has signs of great potential. Even as it stands today, it’s the first Spider-Man cartoon ever created.
Honorable Mention: Samurai Jack - if Jack were based on a comic book character he might be able to steal the #1 spot from Batman: TAS. But he’s not. So he doesn’t quite qualify for this list. That said, it’s such a brilliant cartoon that it deserves to be mentioned.
Now I know some of you are complaining that all of these cartoons are “recent.” And I admit that’s true. But I would argue that the quality of cartoons continues to improve each decade. While I really enjoyed the 90’s version of Spider-Man, it has not aged well. You can clearly see serious flaws in both the plot and the animation. And if you go further back to cartoons from the 1970′s or 1960′s, you see even larger holes in the plot or animation.
Let’s face it, sometimes the “classic” shows just aren’t as good as the new stuff.
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