How Lost Should Have Ended

Lost: The End

I'm way late talking about this, so just some quick thoughts on the end of Lost.

I've held off buying the DVDs because I wanted to see how the show ended before deciding if I wanted to own the whole thing. I won't be buying the DVDs.

The SPOILER-filled why not, after the break.

Art Show: Waaaallttt!

The Black Buccaneer



By Mead Schaeffer. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Lost Island



By Greg Ham.

Centrosaurus brinkmani



By Mark Schultz [Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs]

GI Robot



By Declan Shalvey. [Comic Twart]

Bat Noir



By Andy Kubert. [DC Universe: The Source]

Daphne



By Kristin Palach. There seems to be a movement lately to proclaim Velma as the hot one, but Linda Cardellini aside, those people are crazy.

Hulk



By Otis Frampton.

Zatanna and the Demon



By Josh Eddings.

Mary Marvel



By Chris Samnee.

Painter of AHHHHHHH!



Artist Unknown, but Thomas Kinkade should be taking notes. [Brother Cal]

The Importance of Lost

NPR's Linda Holmes (whom I mention a lot in Quotes of the Week) wrote a great, convincing article on how Lost is the most important show of the decade. I won't summarize her argument here because you should read it for yourself and see what an entertaining writer she is.

And Now the News: These are the Daves I Know I Know

Lost Photos



/Film's got the whole Final Season cast. So nice to see Emilie de Ravin back.

New Kids in the Hall



No, I'm not confusing lame boy bands with awesome comedy troupes. There really is going to be some new Kids in the Hall. This has nothing to do with adventure stories; I'm just excited and need to share.

And Now the News: One of these things is not like the others

Chuck and Lost premieres



Chuck gets going again on January 10. The final season of Lost kicks off February 2.

Burn Notice renewed

In related news, the sun will also come up tomorrow.

Gilmore Girls movie still possible



Not likely, necessarily, but it's still on everyone's wish list, including the series' creator and stars. I know this falls far outside the field of what this blog's about, but I can't help it. I loved that show.

And Now the News: BOOM! POTATO POTATO!

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides



Pirates of the Caribbean 4 has a sub-title and it's the same as the name of Tim Powers' pirate novel. What's more, Powers' book features the Fountain of Youth, the very thing Jack Sparrow was setting off in search of at the end of Pirates 3. Some quick Googling reveals that I'm not the only one who's made this connection. I haven't heard anything from Disney yet about the the movie being an adaptation of Powers' book, but it can't be coincidence.

Lego Pirates Advent Calendar



Nothing says Christmas like pirates, mermaids, and crazy monkeys. Unfortunately, we're not allowed to get into the proper spirit here in the US. I hope Calvin has room for me in the Canadian Cave of Coolness, 'cause I'm willing to defect over this. Jason Copland's Canadian too. Hm...

Empires of the Deep



Robert Hood catches that the title of Mermaid Island has been changed to the more serious and epic-sounding Empires of the Deep. Unfortunately, Catwoman-director Pitof is still directing it, but I'm maintaining my optimism that it could be fun. That's based purely on its huge budget and my blind belief that it should be really, really hard to mess up a movie about merfolk fighting giant sea monsters.

Unexplained Lost



Carlton Cuse and some other Lost bigwigs have begun warning fans that not all of the series' mysteries will be explained by the finale. I'm guessing that that sounds scarier than it actually is unless you're one of those fans who's been meticulously cataloging every hint, clue, and revelation from the very beginning. I'll be very disappointed if there are any huge dangling plot threads, but yeah... we probably shouldn't expect every "i" to be dotted and every "t" to be crossed.

That said, I've been holding off on buying the DVDs until after the show finishes and will be paying very close attention to the reaction of hardcore fans to the series finale. It's one thing to sort of casually enjoy the show as it's unfolding, but if I'm going to watch it all over again as a complete story, I'll want that story to be cohesive and make sense.

Some Jungle Girl Comics



Rulah vs. the Death Image [Comic Book Catacombs]



Zegra the Jungle Empress and the Games of Havoc [Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine]

Knockout



Steven Soderbergh's making a spy movie starring mixed martial artist Gina Carano.

I know you know that we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are.



Allison Reynolds turned up in Psych last season as a serial killer. Now John Bender's signed up for an episode. Three to go.

Dark Days movie update

Steve Niles talks to Shock Till You Drop about the challenges of adapting Dark Days to film. "I'd say there's about as many changes as there were from the first graphic novel to the first movie, but not as drastic." Click the link for some details of what he's talking about.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter update



/Film's got all kinds of concept art and a video that give a real nice idea of what Universal Studios' new Harry Potter theme park's going to be like.

"New" Pooh



/Film also has a round-up of Disney and Pixar animation news including the announcement of a new Winnie the Pooh film that "ape(s) the watercolour style of the books with the white 'page' showing through." It'll also adapt five of AA Milne's stories that haven't been adapted yet.

I wonder if they'll also use the character designs from the original books. That would be really cool. I think they've done everything that can be done with the Disney versions. Time for a reboot.

Project Waldo



Nate Simpson is blogging his way through the production of his graphic novel, Project Waldo. There's some great stuff there for process junkies like me, but there's also some fantastic art if you don't care about the craft-talk. [Robot 6]

No BOOM! POTATO POTATO! for you! (Or me or anyone else for that matter...)

The Rejectionist - written by "a foul-tempered, snack-needing, whiskey-craving, ill-paid assistant at an Important Literary Agency in New York" - is one of my favorite blogs about the publishing industry. It's as funny as it is informative.

But I'm deeply dismayed to hear her say that no one's going to publish a book called BOOM! POTATO POTATO! and the Princess of Papyrion. Because I really want to read that book.

Nations all over the damn world

Action Girl Pulp of the Day



By Arnold Kohn.

Lost Women

Season Five cast photos have been released. You can see the guys too over at Grant Gould's LJ.






Oops!

Kalinara picked up on something I totally missed when I mentioned the casting for the live-action Avatar movie. The Avatar heroes aren't white.

The Evolution of Women in Fantasy Movies



AMC has a brief survey of the role of women as they've appeared in fantasy films, starting with Jason and the Argonauts and moving towards Stardust. It's not a deep article, but their choices of representative films are interesting.

Whiteout

CBR has a couple of new stills from Kate Beckinsale's Antarctic murder mystery, Whiteout. You gotta scroll past the Watchmen ones to get to them though.

Lost 5 cast

I didn't have any luck in my search for a larger version of this photo of Lost's Season Five cast. If anyone knows where I can find one, I'd be most grateful.

Found this one at /Film.

(Edited to add: My awesome pal Shara came through for me with a much larger image, so click that baby to super-size. Thanks, Shara!)

Something besides a man

The Hathor Legacy

Paul Taylor, one of the artists on The Cownt, was recently interviewed for the Hathor Legacy site about his popular webcomic Wapsi Square. It's a cool article with some great insight into Paul and his work, but I'm also linking to it because it introduced me to the Hathor Legacy site itself.

I haven't browsed much yet to see how much our specific tastes and opinions align, but I love the concept and the tag-line, "the search for good female characters." You can read their mission statement here and catch up on the conversation here. What I can't seem to find there is any mention of who Hathor is, but a quick Google tells me that she was the Egyptian goddess of love, music, and beauty.

The Bechdel Rule

One of the things the Hathor Legacy mentions is Alison Bechdel's famous movie test. It's an easy test to remember and sets up some great criteria that more writers should implement. To pass it, a movie just needs to have 1) at least two women in it who 2) talk to each other about 3) something besides a man. The Hathor Legacy adds that the women should be named characters, which I suppose is an okay amendment, but it's worth noting that it's not in the original comic strip that the Rule came from.

Also not in the original strip is any sort of suggestion about what this Rule should be used for. It's in the context of one woman sharing her personal preferences with another woman and it's never said that all movies should have these elements. I don't see that suggestion in my initial look-over of the Hathor Legacy either. What I'm getting - and what I totally agree with - is simply that more movies should be that way. The Hathor Legacy also includes TV shows, books, and comics, but admits that this is less of a problem in those formats.

I'm looking forward to finding out what the Hathor Legacy writers are into and what they think should be better. In the meantime, NPR also recently had this discussion and came up with its own, short list of shows that meet the Rule's criteria (giving special mention to The Middleman, yay!).

Did you know NPR had a pop culture blog? How have I been missing that?

Okay, on to other stuff that may or may not meet the Bechdel Rule, but that's okay too...

Kitty Hawk



I started reading this webcomic expecting a typical action/adventure story, but it's a lot more than just that. Sure there are jet packs and robot pilots and mysteries, but there's also a beautiful, quiet story about a young woman trying to figure out where she fits into the world around her. And the art's amazing. Start here and click Next.

Atomic Robo and the Sparrow

I'll have more to say about Atomic Robo's awesome Sparrow character later, but for now, you can see what her creators have to say about her here, including how she was initially going to be a dude until it became apparent that a lot of Atomic Robo readers are girls. Very cool.

Miss America



Pappy's got a Golden Age story about everyone's favorite teen super-heroine from the '40s.

Lost: Season Five



Gettin' excited! (Thanks, /Film!)

Courtney Crumrin and the Prince of Nowhere



Newsarama talks with Ted Naifeh about the latest installment in his awesome series of charmingly spooky graphic novels.

Resident Evil 4

It's coming. I'm nervous about it, but I liked the first two enough that I'm still excited to see more. (The third one was okay.)

Amber Atoms



Coming in February from Image Comics.

AMBER ATOMS #1
story, art & cover KELLY YATES
colors MICHAEL E. WIGGAM

"CHAPTER ONE"
Blast-off with the newest sci-fi adventure heroine Amber Atoms! Follow the ongoing adventures of this modern day "Flash Gordon" as Amber dreams of leaving her mundane life, but not exactly how she imagined. Mercenaries and aliens suddenly invade Amber's world as she learns that her family history could decide the fate of the galaxy.

FEBRUARY 18 - 32 PAGES - FC - $3.50

CBR has more info here.

Adventureblog Theater: Action Girl Trailers

None of these are brand new, but here's some Action Girl stuff that I'm looking forward to.

Lost: Season 5



Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince



Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Awesome List: Psych and Burn Notice, Marvel movies and cartoons, giant monsters, and still more Indy

Josie gets Psyched



Rachel Leigh Cook is going to be on an episode of Psych; playing Shawn's high school crush. Also, Cybill Shepherd will be playing Shawn's mom in a couple of episodes.

Even more important to know: the next season kicks off July 18.

Six gets Burned



Man, I'm just full of the puns today, aren't I? Genuinely sorry.

Anyway, in other awesome USA Network news, Tricia Helfer's going to be in a few episodes of Burn Notice. Season Two begins on July 10.

Jin gets Strained



Okay, I guess I wasn't that sorry.

Finding out that Daniel Dae Kim from Lost is in A&E's Andromeda Strain mini-series on May 26 and 27 makes me sort of want to see it.

Marvel movies and TV

I haven't talked much about Iron Man, because I really don't have anything to add to the discussion. I feel just like everyone else who's seen it: it's the best superhero movie ever made and it makes me want to read about that Tony Stark in the comics. I'm thinking I'll probably start with Enter the Mandarin. I hear good things.

Also, that scene after the credits was awesome and it makes me even more excited to see The Incredible Hulk because I have a feeling we're going to see it repeated there. The weekend Iron Man was released, Marvel announced it's movie plans for the next couple of years: Iron Man 2 and Thor in 2010, then Captain America and The Avengers in 2011. An Ant-Man movie is also supposed to fit in there somewhere.

I've been wondering why Marvel would bother with an Ant-Man movie until I saw this schedule and realized that Iron Man, the Hulk, and Thor are the original Avengers, with Captain America joining soon afterwards. Except that Iron Man, the Hulk, and Thor weren't the entire original team. There was also Ant-Man. (And the Wasp, but she's Ant-Man's wife and could possibly appear in the Ant-Man movie, if they plan to use her at all.)

So, I'm speculating that we'll see a similar post-credits scene in all the upcoming Marvel movies, culminating in an amazing cross-over movie event, The Avengers.

In other Marvel screen news, Marvel recently announced a new cartoon for next year. Marvel Super Hero Squad is a "'super stylized' animated series geared toward 6- to 8-year-olds." It'll be joining Marvel's current cartoon properties: Spectacular Spider-Man (possibly the greatest super-hero cartoon of all time), Wolverine and the X-Men, and Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

Giant, floating, space squid



Undead Backbrain profiles my new favorite giant monster: Dogora.

The Outlander monster



Looks Awesome, doesn't it? It's from that Vikings vs. alien vs. giant monster movie Undead Backbrain has been telling us about.

Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods



The ads for Dark Horse's Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods comic have been frustrating in their lack of information about the story. Here's the solicitation for the first issue:

Dr. Henry Jones Jr. may be the world's preeminent archeologist, but that doesn't mean he's spent his life in the library! Ready and able to do whatever it takes to preserve the final remnants of history's most significant happenings, he'll go head-to-head against Hitler's elite who want nothing more than to exploit objects of ancient power in pursuit of world dominance!

Be there for the beginning of this roller coaster thrill ride of non-stop excitement as Indiana Jones dons his hat, packs his whip, and undertakes an endeavor more awesome than anything ever!

Indiana Jones sets out on an all-new adventure that will take him around the globe!

I'm not looking for spoilers here, but that's not at all helpful, right? It's just a summary of the basic Indiana Jones concept. Like we really need to know what that is. It doesn't tell you anything about when the adventure takes place or even what "the Tomb of the Gods" is supposed to be. The ads for issues 2 and 3 aren't any better.

Fortunately, Comic Book Resources has an interview with some extra information. It's set in between Temple of Doom and Raiders at a time when Indy is transitioning from being all about "fortune and glory" to becoming the "it belongs in a museum" guy. Personally, I'm not sure those two statements show the character growth that Tomb of the Gods writer Rob Williams sees in them, but that's a subject for a longer post. Williams says that the "fortune and glory" Indy would've shot the ark with a bazooka at the end of Raiders and Tomb of the Gods is meant to depict that change. (I agree that Indy has changed by the end of Raiders, but it's a change we see within Raiders itself, not off-camera sometime after Temple of Doom.)

They're still not telling what The Tomb of the Gods is, but I can let that go. Even if I don't agree with him, I appreciate the thought that Williams has put into his story, so I'll be checking it out when it's available in collected form.

Indiana Jones makes everything better, part whatever

This is another travel package, but unlike Expedia's that just lets you visit the locations from the various Indy films, Viajes Con Imaginación have a deal that's part Egyptian travel; part mystery party.

...they not only organize your entire itinerary, but they also plan strange things and make them happen to you. For example: robberies, kidnappings, ghosts coming to haunt you at night...

They also do a Jack the Ripper themed London tour. So very, very cool.

Michael Bay: Crystal Skull is "gonna suck."

You might be surprised to hear it after reading that headline, but I have new respect for Michael Bay.

Awesome Stuff: Galactica cast, buy Ming's cape, new pulp scifi, new Jack Ryan movies, Steam Wars, Chuck and Lost news, Caprica, and more

Battlestar Galactica at SCI FI's upfront



Tons of pictures and a brief report of the event at the Battlestar Blog.

Huge Sci Fi live auction on the Ebay

Includes Charles Middleton's Ming cape from Flash Gordon (1936), a hydraulic velociraptor from Jurassic Park, Michael Keaton's Batman costume, an original King Kong poster, and more. SCI FI Wire has the details.

Didn't like the ending to Cloverfield?

Pick another.

Wonder Woman statue



I'm not enough of a fan to fork out 300 bucks for it, but dang that's a nice statue. Real leather and fabric on the costume and everything. Not sure what the lasso's made of, but it looks real too.

Scifi is dead; long live the Kings

One of the reasons io9 cites critics as saying why the science fiction genre is dead is that "SF is now real life." To which I say, "Fine." I've always been more interested in the fantasy elements of it anyway. Hard scifi bores the crap out of me. Hard scifi is inexcusably deficient in Wookiees, ray guns, and space princesses.

Fortunately though, not all modern scifi authors feel like they have to realistically portray or predict the science. Maybe it's not real scifi, but I'll take S.M. Stirling's version any day. He describes his novel In the Courts of the Crimson Kings this way:

"In [the book's] timeline, we discover in the course of the 20th century that Mars (and Venus) are living worlds, with strangely humanoid inhabitants--[which is] confirmed by Soviet and American space probes in the early 1960s... The Mars of Crimson Kings is a dying but still habitable world, with the wreck of an ancient civilization that once ruled the entire planet under the Tollamune dynasty, when Earthlings were still cracking flints and fighting off cave bears."

New Jack Ryan movies?

Not interested. The franchise has already been killed by the Affleck reboot. Trying to start over yet again is like making a copy of a copy, even if Sam Raimi is directing. Unless of course they get someone really cool to play Ryan, in which case I don't care what the character's name is, I'll see it because it's a spy movie with a cool actor.

But honestly, if they want to just toss a Tom Clancy name on their non-Clancy movies to increase audience recognition, they should make them Mr. Clark movies and let Ryan appear as a recurring, supporting character.

Steam Wars and Undead Backbrain



Robert Hood's Undead Backbrain blog is fricking Awesome and you should be reading it. It would save me having to link to him every single day if you did, which is what it looks like I'll be doing if his content stays as consistent as it has so far. He's the one who turned me on to Automatons and that viking vs. aliens film.

Now though, it's all about Steam Wars, a steampunk giant-monster project by the guy who did The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Even if the film never gets made, it's worth the post just to see the concept art.

Chuck news (and a little bit of Lost)

The writers of Chuck are taking advantage of their strike hiatus to tweak the show a little. According to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello who attended the Chuck panel at Paley Fest, "'The idea is to own the fact that we've been off the air for several months, so there's a reset that's going to happen,' said (co-creator Josh) Schwartz of the second-season premiere, slated for September. 'We're going to bring in some fresh new characters, some new villains.'"

Lost producer Damon Lindelof moderated the panel and snuck in a bit of Lost news "by revealing the real reason the four-toed statue has yet to be seen again. After the monument first appeared 'we got a note back from the network that said, "This is too weird,"' he explained. 'I was like, "Do you watch the show? This is too weird?" Essentially, they said, "Could it be a six-toed statue?" I was like, "Someone explain to me why a six-toed statue is less weird than a four-toed statue?" And they're still noodling on that.'"

Caprica

I might change my mind once Battlestar comes back on and I start getting into it again, but right this second I need some convincing that the Caprica prequel series is going to be worth watching. It sort of sounds like Dynasty in space.