Gamer Girl & Vixen – Punching Out a Script
Good news, everybody! This week, co-writer Kristi McDowell and I will have completed the first draft of our 100 (or so) page graphic novel for Gamer Girl & Vixen. We’d originally planned the story as a 6-issue mini-series, but minds changed, ideas shifted, and now we’re going to have it all in one big, wonderful collection. This tpb is going to sit proudly on my shelf — and hopefully yours too — for the rest of my life, a testament to kicking butt, doing good work and making your dreams come true.
So I thought this week I’d share with you all a little bit about the writing process.
The fan art that won Gemma Moody the job!
I can’t exactly post the entire script on my blog, that would give everything away! But I think I can share a page or two, along with the accompanying art, so you can see how we go from the written word to the drawn picture. It’s a neat process, and I’ve definitely learned so much about making comics just from doing it myself.
So join me after the jump to get a crash course in scripting Gamer Girl & Vixen!
Supergirl Has Been Cast, Should Supergirl Become a Thing!
I’m still generally unsure about what to make of the upcoming Supergirl TV show on CBS. Apparently the show has a series commitment, so it’s definitely going to happen, but it just seems so unreal to me at this point for some reason. Maybe I still can’t accept that we live in a world where DC superhero shows are happening and are amazing!
Despite my inability to grasp reality, CBS has gone and cast actress Melissa Benoist as the Girl of Steel! She was a breakout star on Glee, and appeared in the movie Whiplash. Anybody see Whiplash? I hear it’s good.
“But she’s not blonde!” – Internet nerds
The show is going to be an hour-long drama, similar to Arrow and The Flash, though there is some concern whether or not it will share the same universe. Supergirl will be about Kara Zor-El at age 24, using the Earth name ‘Kara Danvers’. They’re really going all out on the Krypton/comic book stuff, which is great, though no word yet on whether or not Superman exists in this show. Kara will have spent her whole life hiding her powers, but a big event exposes her to the public, and she starts to become a superhero – likely with some relationship shenanigans.
If a Supergirl TV show really happens, you better believe I’ll be there to watch it!
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Review: Teen Titans #6
Let’s all welcome the new Power Girl to the Teen Titans! Hooray! Good, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get back to talking about Manchester Black. What’s that? You’d rather talk more about the interesting new Power Girl and how she might fit in the Teen Titans? I don’t know…Manchester Black is Manchester Black. He’s got a lot of really interesting stuff going on, and writer Will Pfeifer is pretty sure we should focus on Manchester Black.
Teen Titans #6
The new Power Girl is going to have to wait, everybody, because Pfeifer really really needs to write another giant Manchester Black monologue.
Comic Rating: 4/10 – Pretty Bad.
How badly does Pfeifer need to talk about Manchester Black? He literally has Black just pop in and interrupt the new Power Girl’s introductory scene. After that, Power Girl becomes nothing more than a background character. And that’s almost a perfect summation of Pfeifer’s short run on Teen Titans so far.
But I will give the man credit: there’s a glimmer of evidence about where Pfeifer might be going with all of this, and if I’m right, then he may be forgiven.
What remains unforgivable, though, is how little Pfeifer actually seems to care about the Teen Titans. Every opportunity he has in this issue to explore the Titans and their lives is interrupted. He’s constantly cutting himself off instead of staying with a scene or a moment. Pfefier actually starts several conversations exploring the Titans’ living situations and motivations, but then he cuts himself off to move on, usually towards Manchester Black. What he does write is actually pretty good, and I was prepared to give this issue a higher score, but then Pfeifer just flatlines in the entire second half of the issue.
At least Scott Hepburn is still around on art. He’s weird and funky, and I like him.
Join me after the jump for the full synopsis and more review!
6 Characters That Need Action Figures (So I Can Buy Them)
No, I don’t take my action figures down off their shelves and play with them when I’m home alone. That’s silly. But I do take them out of the packages and put them up on my book shelves and Geek Wall. They’re decoration, and cool ones at that. Some people collect porcelain figures or football memorabilia, I collect Spider-Man action figures. There’s nothing wrong with me!
Though it’s an addiction that is always in need of feeding.
I could hold the Justice League in the palm of my hands
I buy action figures because I like owning memorabilia of my favorite characters, be they superheroes, video game stars, cartoon characters or whatever floats my boat that day. Earlier this week, I splurged on Bebop and Rocksteady action figures from the current Ninja Turtles cartoons, because those are two characters I’ve really come to appreciate in the past few years, and I didn’t own any figures of them (plus I love that cartoon). This year my goals are to get action figures for Hobgoblin, movie Ant-Man and Clementine from The Walking Dead video games. All it takes is a little extra cash and a misguided interest in not paying my bills that week.
But of all the action figures in my collection, who am I missing? What characters do I love but lack any sort of decent action figure? Not every superhero gets a toy, especially some of the ones I like. Join me after the jump for six action figures I would love to own – if they ever bother to get made.
Marvel Universe To..Do Something, Possibly End
Marvel revealed the details of their upcoming Secret Wars event today, simultaneously kind of announcing the end of the Marvel Universe. I guess it all depends on what you want to read into Marvel’s marketing dialogue. Personally, I’m in a wait and see kind of mood, but the rest of the comic book Internet media is pretty convinced this is a reboot and will mark the end of the Marvel Universe as we know it. Those are definitely some major headlines.
What we know is that Secret Wars will see a clash between the regular 616 Marvel Universe, the Ultimate Universe and a bunch of other alternate realities. They will combine into Battleworld, and will mostly likely get into a bunch of fights with each other, this being Secret Wars, after all.
Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso said, “Once we hit Secret Wars #1, there is no Marvel Universe, Ultimate Universe, or any other. It’s all Battleworld.”
Beta Ray Bill had better survive
Alonso and company went on to say that at the end of Secret Wars, we’ll have a new, re-shaped Marvel Universe. I guess the idea is that the 616 Universe, the Ultimate Universe, and bits and pieces of the other alternate universes will all combine into a new, singular universe that will be christened All-New Marvel.
Is it a reboot? We don’t know yet. Marvel were quick to point out that all of the characters’ histories remain in tact. Secret Wars is a story moving forward, so everything we already know happened, then Secret Wars happened, then things changed into All-New Marvel. Secret Wars isn’t going to wipe out or rewrite the past, just the future. That sounds like a weak Band-Aid to me, but it’s the sort of Band-Aid a company like Marvel is going to try and use to appease fans. Personally, I’ve grown past the point of getting freaked out over every little change. I’m more interested in the basic idea that Marvel keeps putting out quality comics.
Which means I’m just going to wait and see what Marvel produces in the Fall. Will it be a blank slate reboot? Maybe. Or will it be business as usual, but with a few random characters crammed in, like Miles Morales in 616? Maybe that too.
Something has to happen to him…
I’m more excited than anything else. Marvel is putting out great comics these days, and there’s no reason why my favorite books, like Ms. Marvel or Silver Surfer, can’t just continue in this All-New Marvel. So until the company announces a weak-ass New 52-style destruction of all my favorite comics, I’m just going to coast along and hope for the best. There’s probably very little that will ever get me to stop reading comics.
But I will take it personally if they put the New 52 whammy on Kamala Khan!
What do you henchies think? Are we going to get a full reboot? Is this Marvel’s secret way of making their comic universe more like the movie universe? Are you going to stop reading Marvel forever? Let us know in the comments!
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Henchman-4-Hire 