Babs is Back as Batgirl!

I know this is a controversial move. I know that there are people who prefer Oracle, and have very compelling reasons to do so. I know that there are people who have grown to love Stephanie Brown as Batgirl. I know there are some Cass fans who still wish she was wearing the cowl but all I can say is ....YES!!!!!!!!!!

Read more about the development here.

Guardians of Destiny: The Specter of War

Specter of War, the first book in my Guardians of Destiny young adult series, is now on sale.

After two dikas of peace, the United Republic of Planets now finds itself on the brink of war. The newly crowned queen of the Maraudan Empire, Mursela Mornall, is determined to return her realm to its glory days by destroying The Republic she despises, but her desire for war is dividing her people. Senator Abrecus Judi and his daughter, Dena, find themselves on the forefront of the debate, and soon their family is heading towards a collision course with The Queen that will change their lives forever.

For the citizens of The Republic, this couldn’t have come at a worse time. Graduating cadets Akeen and Connor Star have enough problems living up to their legendary heritage, and balancing their complicated relationship with Kayla Dylan, without being thrust into a war they do not want. Meanwhile, Major Van Dylan finds himself an unlikely hero while on a peace mission in Maraudan space, and Parnell Star, the great hero of the last war, must find a way to stop history from repeating itself, as young and old, human and non-human alike, band together to beat back the specter of war.

For a LIMITED TIME, you can purchase the book for .99 cents. Check it out and enjoy the journey.

Amazon

Barnes and Nobles

Pirates of The Caribbean : On Stranger Tides

I am a huge fan of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. However, the last two Pirates were a mixed bag for me. I was not a fan of the convoluted plots and increasingly darker tone, but I enjoyed them for the most part, and was very much looking forward to On Stranger Tides. While most people seemed disappointed in the movie, I felt that it was a decent addition to the series, but that’s not to say I didn’t have real problems with it.

Based on Tim Powers’ novel of the same name, my main problem with the movie is that it makes the strange decision to gloss over the main plot --- the search for the fountain of youth--- to focus on tedious fight scenes, undeveloped relationships, dropped plot threads and one of the most boring “romances” in cinema history.

When both the Spanish and British Empires find proof that The Fountain of Youth has been located, there is a rush to beat each other to the amazing find. Captain Jack, however, has no interest in the search, but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) his ex-girlfriend Angelica does. Her father, the dreaded pirate Blackbeard, has been marked for death, and desperate to save him, she lures Jack onboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge to help them find the immortal elixir.

I thought Penelope Cruz was magnificent as Angelica and she and Johnny Depp had a lot of chemistry. Their scenes crackled and you believed that they were once/and maybe still are in love. I also enjoyed Ian McShane as the morally bankrupt Blackbeard.

The movie was bloated, though. They spent a half an hour on an “impersonation plot” that was little more than a way to introduce Angelica in a “cool way”. They could have cut that subplot out entirely and went directly into the search.

The fight scenes were over the top, and at times unnecessary, but that has become par for the course for Pirates movies.

My biggest gripe with the movie is the plot. The Search for The Fountain of Youth is ingrained in our imaginations, and is really a set-up for an amazing, fantastical adventure. But in On Stranger Tides it’s almost an afterthought, and by the time the search reaches its obligatory ending, you realize they could have been looking for treasure, a lost continent, or Jack’s socks and it wouldn’t have mattered. It seems like a waste of a tantalizing topic.

The characterizations were also weak. Jack and Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) have a complicated history, but somehow I never felt like I was watching the same guys from the past movies. There was something missing. But Rush was brilliant and hilarious as a pirate trying to act like a gentlemen solider.

With Will and Elizabeth’s storyline wrapped up in that last movie, there are two new love young birds in the mix, which brings us to the weakest link in the movie --- the “romance” between the ship’s kidnapped clergyman (Sam Claflin) and a mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey).  I personally didn’t think they needed the young blood. The Angelica/Jack banter filled the romance quota just fine. Maybe it would have worked if the clergyman wasn’t such a boring waste of celluloid. The only amusement I got from him was the guy sitting next to me periodically begging his mermaid girlfriend to eat him! That was funny.   

Jack also felt off too, but that really didn’t bother me so much. Even though Captain Jack became the most popular character in the franchise, the movies were really about Will and Elizabeth, and he was their sidekick. This movie reboots the franchise so it’s Captain Jack’s story. It delves more into his background and personality, so we are seeing a new Jack. It’s a bit jarring, and takes some getting use too, but as the new movies progress I’m sure we’ll all come to love this new Jack, as much as we love the old one.

 My verdict? If you want to see a fun movie go see On Stranger Tides. If you want to see a good movie rent or download The Curse of the Black Pearl on Netflix.

Torchwood --- Miracle Day

I have a love/hate relationship with Torchwood. I wanted to like it, but the story lines were weak and the characters forgettable, worst of all, Captain Jack seemed nothing like his Doctor Who self.  Then came Torchwood: Children of the Earth, one of the best science fiction miniseries I ever saw. That miniseries went places that few television shows would have the guts to, and when I saw what this show could have been, I found myself lamenting that this was the end.

Although I felt COE was a phenomenal warp up to the series, I'm excited about the reboot on Starz.
Learn more about Torchwood at the Official Site.

Ringer

Sarah Michelle Gellar returns to the CW (formerly the WB) for her new series Ringer. The show will air on Tuesdays at 9PM. I'm a huge SMG fan from her All My Children Days, and of course, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer was one of the best television shows EVER, so I am very much looking forward to her new project.

Enjoy the Ringer Trailer here.

The Other World Spotlights --- Life with Archie

The Other World Spotlights --- Life with Archie

Who would have thought that one of the best parallel universe tales currently out there would be Life with Archie? The follow-up to the controversial Archie Marries Veronica and Archie Marries Betty comics that ran last year, Life with Archie allows readers to experience life in Riverdale in two very different parallel universes --- The Bettyverse, in which Archie is Mr. Cooper, and The Veronicaverse, where he is Mr. Lodge.

When the announcement was made that after over six decades of waffling between “sweet” Betty Cooper and “vixen” Veronica Lodge, Archie would get on one knee in issue #600 and propose, everyone assumed that long suffering Betty was about to get her man. But Archie chose Veronica, setting off a firestorm of criticism from both fans and the general public alike.

As a longtime Archie reader, it was always obvious to me that the red headed goof preferred Veronica over Betty, so it made sense to me that he’d chose her.  Popular or not, a writer has to take a story to its logical conclusion, and to me, it was logical that Archie would choose the girl he always wanted.

Also, as a fan of Betty, the chose made me excited.  Betty had wasted too many years of her literary life chasing after a guy who was just was not that in to her. Archie’s choice not only freed Betty from her “girl next door” prison, but it instantly made Betty more relevant than Veronica could ever be. For far too long, Betty had tethered herself to this fantasy that she could find her happily ever after in a man. Now, Betty was forced to face a truth that takes most young women by surprise --- the truth that no matter how sweet, loving and accommodating you are, it doesn’t mean that you are going to get the guy, and that’s alright. I was looking forward to Betty realizing that Archie’s choice was about him, not her, and seeing her building a new life. A few issues later however, readers were told that Archie’s wedding to Veronica was just one possible choice, and we see him go back in time and marry Betty!

Life with Archie shows us the consequences of both choices and it plays around with an idea that never occurred to me --- the idea that Archie marries Veronica, not for love, but for money and security. I find this idea intriguing. Archie has always been a bit blasé about life. He majors in history in college and his only ambition is to be a musician. Marrying Veronica is like hitting the “Perfect Life Sweepstakes.” He gets a gorgeous wife, a high paying job, and all the money he needs. He gets his life all wrapped up for him in a nice little bow.

Take a look at the two wedding covers ---

Archie seems thrilled to finally have “won” when he marries Veronica, while when he marries Betty he is truly happy!    

I never had a real preference when it came to who Archie should choose, however,  part of me always leaned towards Veronica. But this series has firmly put me on Team Betty because this is the first time that I actually believed that Betty was the one he truly loved, even when he didn’t know it himself.

By making Archie’s choice the choice between love versus money, Life with Archie gives us a morality tale about just how much of ourselves we are willing to sacrifice to be comfortable. It would be a lot easier to chastise Archie if Veronica was a shrew who was making Archie’s life miserable, but she is trying to be good wife, a good friend, and a good daughter, and you feel for her, even if you have to wonder if she didn’t know what she was getting into when she said “I Do.”

In The Veronicaverse, Archie has given up his music and settled into his life as a corporate shill, selling out his friends to please his father-in-law.  His marriage to Veronica is strained because they don’t know how to communicate with each other. While Archie is finding it hard to fit into Veronica’s world, Betty, after much hardship,  is coming into her own, finally finding romance with Reggie, a pairing I’ve been rooting for to take off forever.

But I have a feeling that this romance is doomed, because The Veronicaverse is a dark place and it seems as if Archie’s choice has cast a shadow over his own life and created darker futures for his friends as well.

In The Bettyverse, Archie and Betty are struggling to become successful in New York.  They soon return to Riverdale and settle in as teachers at Riverdale High School and I have to tell you, this is a universe that, in my opinion, is ten times more interesting then the corporate espionage going on in The Veronicaverse. We get a whole new generation of Riverdale High School teens who are dealing with contemporary social issues, and who link the new generation of Archie characters to the old. Also, Betty and Archie’s marriage is actually fun to read about. Let’s face it, Archie has always been a bit of a wanker, but in The Bettyverse, Archie FINALLY grows up. Forget about all the should ofs, could ofs, would ofs, the proof is in the pudding. Archie is happier with Betty --- she’s the one. 

One of the biggest complaints that I see about this series is that it’s a young adult drama being packaged as a tween saga. This is because it’s sold in a magazine style very similar to Tiger Beat. But Archie has always been targeted to teens and tweens. Riverdale has always been an idealistic world, a caricature of how grown-ups think teen life should be like.  Life with Archie let’s tweens and teens know that life will only get harder, but you can navigate it being true to yourself and not letting who you were, define who you are going to be.  It’s a more realistic look at life, for a hardened generation.

So, if you can get past the pictures of Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, and the cutesy bits about what Josie and the Pussy Cats think about Justin Bieber’s haircut, you’ll see a rich story that takes a sober look at what it means to be a grown up. Life with Archie dares to tackles the never ending battle between idealism and realism, and it will always leave you wondering, if you had the choice, what world you would choose?

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