Forced A-wake-up Call...

We have finally watched "The Force Awakens" today. And of course, after over a week of avoiding *most* spoilers online, my family happened to be seated behind a couple of high school boys who had obviously already seen the movie because they chose to spend their time waiting for the opening trailers by recounting their favorite Episode VII scenes... including the big moment when [name redacted] [verb redacted] [another name redacted]...

I leaned forward and politely said, "Excuse me, young sirs, but not all of us in this theatre have seen this movie. Do you mind not spoiling it for us?"

The two both looked at me askance, probably as much because of my referring to them as "young sirs" as the fact that...

"You haven't seen Episode VII yet?" one reponded, aghast. "We've seen it three times already."

"They must not be *real* Star Wars fans," the other scoffed.

"That is beside the point," I said. "This movie is for everyone, not just the fans. When I first watched 'The Empire Strikes Back', I do not recall anyone spoiling the big surprise of Vader being Luke's father. I am just asking you for the same courtesy to not spoil this movie any further."

"What do you mean 'big surprise'?" The scoffing boy scoffed (again). "Anyone who saw Episode III already *knew* Vader was Luke's father."

That was when it was my turn to look askance. Aika and Isamu tried to stifle their giggling.

Namiko shook her head. "They are *definitely* not *real* Star Wars fans," she said flatly.

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

 
A little background information on this week's submission to The Line It Is Drawn...

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Twenty-five years ago today, at 8 pm Central and Eastern, 7 pm Pacific and Mountain time, "The Flash" television series debuted in the U.S. television airwaves. Since I was living in Asia at the time, I wasn't able to catch the show until it was released on PAL VHS -- and even then, it was only five episodes (on three tapes: the pilot movie, the two Trickster episodes, and the two Nightshade episodes). When I was in Malaysia, the local television station "Metrovision 8" aired the pilot movie (in two parts), and the "Mask of Rasputin" episode, and then the show was inexplicably banned by the Information Ministry. So I had only seen six episodes, but it was enough to make me a fan of the show. It wasn't until the DVD set came out in the mid-naughties did I watch, and rewatch, the rest of the season.

This piece is to commemorate this wonderful programme, which still stands as one of the best comic-book inspired television shows, in my opinion. Another show on this list is the current "The Flash" programme on the CW, which honors the original show (including casting the original Flash himself, John Wesley Shipp [below], in a recurring role) and surprisingly manages to include aspects of the Silver Age Flash comic books that the previous show could not.

Secrets of a Super-Hero Sketch Artist: More Publications from a Parallel Dimension

From the “Did I Not See This Somewhere Before?” department:  Most followers on this blog and Brian Cronin’s “The Line It Is Drawn” feature know that I am a long-time fan of the DC Comics character Green Lantern, and probably know that I believe the most brilliant media adaption of the concept is the wonderful-yet-no-longer-produced “Green Lantern: The Animated Series”(GLTAS) that aired on Cartoon Network from November of 2011 to March of 2013.

A little over a year ago, and with a little help, I have compiled a number of GLTAS fanart pieces to create a mock DVD cover of a speculated Season Two, Part One, which I had arranged to have delivered to a few cast and crew members who attended the WonderCon 2014 as a “thank you” gift for making such an outstanding programme. One of the few positive comments I had received asked if I planned to create a sequel to finish up the speculated second season…  The answer was yes, and I had managed to complete it a few months ago. Attached is a fairly decent picture for those interested (click to enlarge).

On a related note, one can find a mock "TV Guide" article on the "final episode" of this collection that I created as filler for a “The Line It Is Drawn” entry here. I suppose this as about as close (or is it far?) to fan fiction as I ever plan to get.

Enjoy. And please note that just because there is a picture, it did not necessarily happen…  yet.

Wish I Was There: Episode 3: Holy Jalapeña!

A brief excerpt from the Gargoyles 20th Anniversary Panel at the Long Beach Comic Con on February 28, 2015, where lead voice actor Keith David (Goliath) and co-creator Greg Weisman discuss the origin of “Jalapeña “…

Posted for Keith David and Gargoyles fans everywhere. My thanks to the "Ginger-Haired Man" for the audio recording…

Unapologetic Zaree [戯絵]

Number eight in what is now a very irregular series.

A tease of a little side project I have been working on for a while...