Podcast Catch-Up, Pt 1: Dragonfly Ripple's Star Wars episode

During writing breaks, I like to record a podcast or three and I just realized that I haven't mentioned some of the recent ones. This blog is very Bond-focused right now, but in Podcastland I'm all about Star Wars lately. Dragonfly Ripple is the Nerd Parenting podcast I do with Carlin Trammel and our respective kids and the newest episode is all about the Wars. Carlin interviews David and I about our experiences watching animated Star Wars, including both Clone Wars cartoons and Rebels. Then I talk to Carlin and Annaliese about her first experience with the original trilogy. There's also a Jetpack Tiger segment on the Lego video games and a discussion about whether or not it's necessary to introduce kids to all the backstory of a thing before they watch or read the thing itself. As always, I hope you'll give it a listen and then help us continue the discussion here, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

Following up on the previous episode, we'd all watched some weird Westerns and the topic of steampunk came up. Carlin and I admitted that we love the concept, but haven't actually read or seen much steampunk that we liked enough to share with our kids. We put the call out for some recommendations and got a couple.



First was The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Gibson and Sterling are both fathers of the cyberpunk genre and they also helped popularize steampunk with this novel. I've never read anything by either of them, so this sounds like a good way to correct that in a genre that I'm also curious about (unlike cyberpunk).



The other recommendation came from the author himself, Beyond the Rails by Jack Tyler. Jack is a super nice man who came to Dragonfly Ripple by way of Nerd Lunch and Carlin and has commented here a few times. If I enjoy his book half as much as I enjoy talking with him, I'm in for a great read. He offers a free sample of Beyond the Rails on his site and as soon as I get a spare moment, I'm going to check it out. Thanks, Jack!

10 Movies I Didn't Care For in 2011

47. Immortals



It sure was pretty, but the story made no damn sense beyond the general outline of the plot. All form; no substance.

46. Season of the Witch



I really wanted to like this movie; partly because I wanted to see a spooky story about a lone warrior taking on the medieval church, but also because I wanted to like Nicholas Cage in a movie again. I can't talk about why I disliked this without going into spoilers, so I'll just say that I wasn't at all pleased with either the major plot twist or the way the climax was executed in general. There's some nice mood in this movie, but it supports nothing.

45. Killer Elite



It's partially disguised by the device of having an antagonist who's not entirely a bad guy, but there's no hiding that it's filled with cliché after action-movie cliché, starting with the former assassin who's new, peaceful life is threatened when he's forced to perform One Last Job. So many actors that I like - especially Yvonne Strahovski - wasted.

44. Tower Heist



There were a couple of hilarious moments that weren't spoiled in the trailer, so that's good. I even liked a lot of the characters; especially the ones played by Michael Peña and Matthew Broderick. But the hitch in the heist was lame and led to an unbelievable and unsatisfying conclusion. And though Eddie Murphy was funnier than he's been in a live-action film in years, this wasn't the role to spotlight his comeback. He's playing essentially the same function that Jamie Foxx did in Horrible Bosses, but Foxx was funnier. Way funnier.

43. Your Highness



So unfunny. The only redeeming quality is Natalie Portman's butt.

42. Unknown



Not anything like Taken, which is what it wanted you to think it was. Characters do things for no good reason and January Jones' performance is unwatchable. Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger are fun to watch together though and it sure was nice to see Aidan Quinn again, even in something like this.

41. The Ides of March



Great performances, but the movie's only message seems to be that Politics Suck. I already knew that.

40. Hugo



I feel guilty about putting Hugo behind Cowboys & Aliens, but let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Hugo presented itself as a steampunk story with a central mystery about an automaton and a secret key. That's the movie that I went to see, but it's not the movie that Hugo is. Hugo is a love letter to the history of cinema; a concept I can get behind, but not while I'm waiting for mystic doors to open and reveal an awesome world of clockworks and magic. I'm interested in seeing this again and re-evaluating it for what it is, but until then I'm stuck with disappointment.

39. Cowboys & Aliens



Some of my favorite fimmakers got together and hacked out this SyFy original movie. The low point in several people's careers. And yet, they're all people I love.

38. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides



I've already talked about this one at length, but the gist of my complaint is that it's cartoonish and doesn't follow through on the themes or characterizations from the first three films. What saves it is Penélope Cruz' complicated character and its just being a Pirates of the Caribbean movie with all the jungle/island/sea adventure that comes with that (even if it doesn't make a lot of sense).

Western Wednesday: This Guy

I don't know what this is, but that's my kind of steampunk. [From the Files of the CCoC]

Steampunk Girls Hate Cephalopods

By Shannon Finch. [GirlsDrawinGirls]

Western Wednesday: Comics in August

Western Wednesday is a weekly tribute to six-guns, steampunk, and sasquatch. Here are some comics coming out next month that celebrate one or more of those themes.



Jonah Hex #70 (DC)
Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; Art by Ryan Sook and Mick Gray
August 3; $2.99

For a man like Jonah Hex, death is a constant presence – always looming, always ready to strike. But how and when will it come for Hex?



Moriarty #4 (Image)
Written by Daniel Corey; Art by Anthony Diecidue
August 3; $2.99

"The Dark Chamber" story comes to a climax in this installment, which sees Professor Moriarty finally confronting Tartarus in an epic battle that will change his destiny and decide the fate of London and the world.



Reed Gunther #3 (Image)
Written by Shane Houghton; Art by Chris Houghton
August 10; $2.99

Reed and his best bear buddy Sterling are separated when the legendary steel-driving man, John Henry, returns from the dead while the sneaky Mr. Picks escapes to the East Coast with the mysterious monster-creating Idol.



Deadlands: Death Was Silent (Image)
Written by Ron Marz; Art by Bart Sears
August 17; $2.99

Visionary Comics and Pinnacle Entertainment present the third one-shot of the weird Western world of Deadlands. A silent bounty hunter rides into a remote town, but the town holds dark secrets that may turn the hunter into the hunted.



Alpha Flight #3 (Marvel)
Written by Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak; Art by Dale Eaglesham
$2.99

Heroes on the lam! Having escaped imprisonment at the hands of the corrupt Unity Party, Alpha Flight find themselves hunted by the government they’d sworn to protect. Outmanned and outgunned, the Flight decide to go guerilla, but what will they do once the government raises the stakes by revealing their leverage against the team, including Northstar’s boyfriend and the child of Guardian and Vindicator held hostage?

[What? It's got Sasquatch in it. - mm]

Western Wednesday: Deadlands

The first of several Deadlands one-shot comics hits shops today. Thanks to its creative mixture of Westerns and Horror (resulting in awesome monsters like man-eating tumbleweeds and ghostly hangmen) as well as Steampunk, Deadlands was one one of my Top Five role-playing games back when I used to play. One of my criteria for an excellent RPG was an extremely developed world to play in and Deadlands had that in spades with its wide swaths of Indian-controlled territory, outlaw settlements (based on real, Western towns), and a maze of pirate-filled waterways where California used to be. There's a ton of story potential there for some truly awesome comics.

Ron Marz is editing the series of one-shots and has hired creators like Steve Ellis, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Bart Sears, Steve Niles, and Francesco Francavilla to contribute. I lamented on Robot 6 that I wished it was an actual series with characters I could get to know instead of a series of one-shots, but C Edward Sellner, Creative Director for the studio that's producing the book assured me that they're "just warming up with these first one-shots, to introduce the world and the property to the comics fans. We have plans a’plenty for more Deadlands goodness, including more traditional mini-series and if sales warrant, even a monthly dose with an ongoing character you’ll meet in these first one shots." Sounds good to me.

According to the press release: "The first book out of the gate is Deadlands: The Devil's Six Gun by the Harvey award-winning team of David Gallaher and Steve Ellis. In classic Faustian tradition, a weapons maker comes to America to pursue the American dream in the former colonies. Instead, he becomes immersed in plots and manipulations to gain unearthly power through the supernatural Ghost Rock. His goal? To make a gun that can kill anything, including the powerful Hellstromme! Its a journey that will cost him everything he loves, including his soul!

"Deadlands (APR110410), the first 32 page full color one shot in this series of weird westerns, will be available in stores June 15, 2011 for $2.99."

Western Wednesday: Art Show!

By Robert McGinnis. [Illustrateurs]



By Robert McGinnis. [Illustrateurs]



By Robert McGinnis. [Illustrateurs]



By Modest Stein. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]



By Charles Copeland. [Illustraeurs]



By Leo Morey. [Illustraeurs]



By Jessada Sutthi. [CGHub]

Western Wednesday: Comics Covers

By Chris Houghton.



By Anthony Diecidue.

[Comic Book Resources]

Western Wednesday: Comics Covers

Western Wednesday

In honor of this summer's Mondo Sasquatch anthology and my Western Bigfoot Steampunk story therein, the middle day of the week will henceforth be known as Western Wednesday on this blog and will celebrate all things Western, Bigfoot, and Steampunk.



By Alex Schomburg. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]



By Craig Wilson.



[Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool]



[From the Files of the Canadian Cave of Cool]



[Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool]

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

The movie's ten years old, but in case you haven't seen it and think you might some day: SPOILERS BELOW.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is an almost perfect film.Typically when I'm watching an adventure movie I spend a lot of time thinking about how I'd improve it. Even if it's one I really like. Especially if it's one I really like. "Oh, that's so good, but if he did this..." Or, "That was awesome except for the ending. What if this happened instead." Since those thoughts often turn into actual stories, I find that flawed movies are even more inspirational to me than perfect ones.

Take Atlantis, for instance. When I watch it, I enjoy it so much on almost every level: the steampunk setting, Mike Mignola's production designs, the quest for Atlantis, the eclectic team of diverse characters who are searching for it, the fantastic voice cast, the humor in the script and animation, the plot twists and how they're resolved, the giant robots... There's little that I want to change. If anything, the film kills my interest in writing a story even vaguely similar to it, because it's already been done and done so well.

If there's anything I'd want to change, it's Atlantis' being powered by a sentient crystal that protects itself in times of danger by merging with a member of the royal family. Mostly that's because sentient crystals go into the red section of my New Age Tolerance gauge. I understand that the idea of Atlantis is pretty New Agey to begin with, but it doesn't have to be and the film was doing so well when it was just focused on the conflict between questing for knowledge and searching for good, old-fashioned, non-mystical, material gain.

But while the crystal bothers me, it's wrapped into the plot so well that you really can't pull it out without unraveling a bunch of other stuff. It's a great object for the movie's villains to desire because - unlike gold and jewels - it represents Atlantis itself. The city can't survive without it. That means that the good guys and bad guys can all fight over it and that the victorious good guys can still go home with unbelievable wealth bestowed on them by a grateful city. Which is something I really like: the good guys being rewarded for their trouble. I don't want to pull at the loose thread of the crystal and risk unraveling the whole sweater. It's a really excellent sweater.

There is one other thing that I'd change if I could do it without ruining everything else: Helga's death. Or, no...what it really is is her playing sidekick to Rourke. Her death is just the natural consequence of that. When we meet Helga - all husky voice and legs in the shadows - she's in charge. And she stays in charge up to the point that Rourke appears. Even though she works for Whitmore, she's more than his right-hand, she's his field agent; his eyes, ears, mouth, hands, feet, and weapon outside the sanctuary of his large, spooky house. Once Rourke shows up, she's nothing more than a goon. Such a waste of potential.

I take back what I said about not being inspired by Atlantis: The Lost Empire. I want some stories about a tough femme fatale who works for an eccentric, rich dude who wants to go on collecting knowledge and artifacts, but is too old to leave his creepy, old mansion to go on his own adventures anymore. That's the sequel to Atlantis that I'll never get unless I end up writing it for myself.

(Speaking of sequels, by the way, have any of you seen Atlantis: Milo's Return? Is it as heart-breakingly mundane as it looks?)

Elsewhere...New Blogs!

Here's what else I've been up to online lately.



We started Chapter 2 of Kill All Monsters! this week. I'm curious to know what people are thinking of it so far, but I also realize that it's early days yet and a lot of you are waiting until we have more up so you can read in larger chunks. No worries, I do that too. But if you are keeping up and have thoughts (encouraging or constructive), I'd love to hear them.

I reviewed Return of the Dapper Men for Robot 6. It's a lovely steampunk fairy tale and goes in my Top Five Stories Ever About Childhood and Growing Up (alongside stuff like Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan). It's as thought-provoking as it is charming.

And finally, I apparently went crazy on Friday and started two new blogs. Both are spin-offs of this one, featuring stuff that I used to cover a lot of here, but have had to cut back on for various reasons. Dear Dairy: The Cownt's Blog will cover vampires and other classic monsters while also digging a bit deeper into the Cownt's world. Amazon Village is all about tough, heroic women.

The reason for spin-off blogs is that I still want to talk about monsters and adventurous women, but can do without having that content increasing the size of my daily pile. So this blog will get top priority (focusing mostly on sea and jungle adventures) and I'll work on the other two as I find time. Hopefully that will be regularly. Add them to your RSS reader. Follow them. Love them.

Elsewhere... Best Comics of 2010

Hm. I should've done this yesterday to follow up the movies posts, but bucking years of tradition (and contrary to my earlier prediction), I came up with a list of my ten favorite comics from 2010. I share that link with the other Robot 6eteers, so there are lots of great comics to be discovered there. And for even more comics recommendations, check out Comic Book Resources' Top 100 list. I got to do a few of the write-ups for those too.

It's kind of interesting, I guess, that not all the books I picked for Tom Spurgeon's year-end Five for Friday made it into my final list, but there are a couple of reasons for that. First is that Five for Friday's rules require fast thinking and I never do my best thinking quickly. But I also took to heart Spurgeon's criterion that we simply list five books that we liked without having to take into account their quality relative to everything else we read during the year.

Anyway, you can easily guess my Number One pick and I did a full review of it for Robot 6. I also managed to squeeze in another critical favorite before the end of the year, Charles Burns' X'ed Out. And to start 2011 off, I questioned how much of the Silver Age should really be a model for adventure comics today.

One final piece that I'm pretty happy with is the interview I did with Archaia's Editor-in-Chief Stephen Christy and the creators of Mouse Guard (David Petersen) and Return of the Dapper Men (Jim McCann and Janet Lee) about the sell-outs of Dapper Men and the Mouse Guard spin-off, Legends of the Guard. As I say in the interview's intro, I usually ignore press releases about sell-outs, but Archaia's a great company and at their C2E2 panel I was impressed with how honest and forthcoming they are about their business strategies. Enough so that I felt like this was an opportunity to learn more about what selling out really means - at least for them as a small publisher - and what they did as a company and creators to make that happen. They were even more open and helpful than I hoped and I learned a lot. Hopefully readers will find something enlightening and interesting in the interview too.