Zoinks!

I, like many Gen-Xers and subsequent generations, grew up on Scooby-Doo. When I was a kid, I would watch it all the time. As I grew up, my love for the show turned into the kind of ironic love that hipsters had for it- you'd watch it because as an adult, you realize it was kinda stupid.

I especially loved episodes with guest stars- Don Knotts, Sandy Duncan, and Jonathan Winters are all favorites.

I bring this up because this summer, Cartoon Network (or CN, feh!) debuted Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. It's GENIUS. It's got the same kind of attitude that the first live action movie had. More to the point, it has much stronger writing than any previous incarnation (except for the movie). There's continuity between episodes (including an overarcing metaplot), call backs to previous Scooby series, and romantic subplots. Daphne's trying to woo Fred, not to mention the Velma-Shaggy-Scooby love triangle. There are also some celebrity voices, including Gary Cole, Patrick Warburton, and Lewis Black.

Sadly, Scooby-Dum has yet to make an appearance.

Not only is this show great, but apparently they'll continue the old Scooby tradition of guest stars and crossovers. Allegedly, WB animation is in the works to have Mystery Inc team up with this guy...

OUTRAGEOUS!

That's right. In an instance of corporate synergy done right, the new Scooby cartoon will have a crossover with Batman: The Brave and the Bold. This is brilliant; I mentioned I loved the guest appearances, but THE best were the ones with Batman and Robin. Said cartoons brought us the greatest sentence ever uttered by the Dark Knight until Frank Miller's "I'm the Goddamn Batman" line. To wit-

"Look at that adorable chipmunk, Robin!"

Upon hearing this news, I was filled with nerdish glee. Here is my reaction, captured for posterity...

New episodes air Mondays at 7pm on Cartoon Network; several of the episodes are On Demand, if you have that and aren't living in a cave.

"To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good"

I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love it's spin-off series Angel. In fact, I'm favorably disposed towards anything Joss Whedon does (though I skipped Dollhouse).

BtVS still counts as one of my favorite franchises. I've got quite a few of the DVDs, I've bought several of the tie-in novels (I especially recommend the Tales of the Slayers series) and a few of the comics (though I dropped Season 8 fairly quickly in).

I've also purchase Eden Studios Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG. Originally released in 2002 (if memory serves), this game and it's various sourcebooks (and it's sister game, the Angel RPG) really capture the flavor of the show and setting.

The system uses a modified version of Eden's Unisystem, referred to as the Cinematic Unisystem. The game offers a lot of options; using the original corebook (which covers up to Season 5; the Revised Corebook, which you see a link for, covers up to the end of the series), you can make Slayers, vampires, robots, witches, and more. It also allows for Xanders and Dawns to stand alongside superpowered Buffys and Spikes and hold their own.

Actual gameplay is incredibly stream-lined; most things are resolved with a D10 roll added to the score of attributes or skills. And that's for the players- GM's have things even more simplified as the NPCs have pre-rolled stats; a flat number (I want to say six) is added to the existing scores so the GM can prep ahead of time.

The sourcebooks add quite a bit too. The Slayer's Handbook is a grab bag of options (making the title a misnomer, as there's not a lot of specific Slayer info); Monster Smackdown adds a whole lot of NPCs with a few options for monstrous characters; The Magic Box expands the rules for magic and adds a few other paranormal options; and there's a few other features in Eden Studios Presents, a magazine for all Unisystem lines.

The Angel RPG is similar, though it has a bit of a different focus. There are more supernatural options, plus vehicle rules (as they're always driving in Angel), and rules for groups and factions.

Sadly, Eden lost the license before they could finish the line. Fortunately, I was a play-tester, so I got to read the early drafts for these books. Unfortunately (for you) I am still bound by the non-disclosure agreement, something I take very seriously, so I can't divulge how awesome these would've been, though my crack legal staff tells me I can say "very awesome".

Neither of these came out, unlike Ryan Seacrest.

Along with Welcome to Sunnydale (which was a guide to Chattanooga, I believe), and the Investigator's Casebook (which was going to deal with police, crime, and low-key supernatural occurences, like that episode of Angel that had drug-dealing demons), there was going to be an Initiative sourcebook (some fans HATE the Initiative, but soldiers going full auto on vampires always tickled my fancy), a Watcher sourcebook, a monster book for Angel (which would've had even MORE crazy options for supernatural PCs), and a Wolfram & Hart sourcebook, which never even got to the writing stage.

It's a shame the license ran out, by the games hold up pretty well, and allow you to create your own stories, as their are stats for both the actual cast and original characters. You could even rewrite a season that your felt wasn't as good as they others, though none come to mind. *COUGH*Season 6*COUGH*.

The BtVS is simple, fast, imaginative, and fun, and I recommend it highly.

Gotta love the internet....

Apparently, there was a brief dust-up today about an Authority movie. Fans immediately started conjecturing and complaining and hoping.

Well, it turns out, at present, that there isn't an Authority movie.

On the one hand, an Authority movie, done properly, would be really cool. On the other hand, Watchmen was done properly, at least in my opinion, and people still bitched. An Authority movie would be much, much more problematice than Watchmen.

For starters, the first story arc starts of in media res. Hollywood LOVES rehashing origins for comic book characters, which is hard to do with the Authority.

Then, you have Apollo and the Midnighter. As two of the most prominent and popular characters, they would be a natural focus for marketing and merchandising. Unfortunately, they're gay. Now, America has come a long way, but I don't believe we've come far enough that Hollywood is willing to have gay characters as action heroes in a big budget blockbuster.

And then, of course, there's the villains. Evil superpowerd Asians, dimensional-traversing alien rapists, and God... Yeah, I'm guessing they'd drop all that for a more traditional, bland villain.

Honestly, I think it's for the best that there won't be a movie anytime soon.

Death-Defying 'Devil TPB- A review!

Another 4-issue miniseries, Death-Defying 'Devil, much like the Black Terror arc, helps to bridge the gap between Chapters 1 & 2 of Project Superpowers. The star for this story is the Golden Age Daredevil, who might have the best "look" of any of the characters of PSP.

In Chapter 1, the 'Devil, rendered mute by his time in the Urn, reappears in Paris. There, he befriends a French counter-terrorism agent, Justine Boulet. Together, the two begin to investigate the Claw, an international terrorist organization that just so happens to share the name of one of the 'Devil's greatest villains.

The DDD mini-series continues their quest. Joined by Silver Streak and the Ghost, two heroes with their own history with the Claw, the heroes attempt to foil a plot to destroy Hong Kong. Complicating matters is the appearance of the Deadly Dreaded Dragon, a mysterious figure claiming that the 'Devil is a fraud!

The art is WONDERFUL. Edgar Salazar does a phenomenal job with this title, so much so that I'm tempted to say he's the best artist associated with Project Superpowers thus far.

As for the story, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's action packed, and sets up a good deal of mystery later down the line. On the other hand, the story falls into the same trap that most of the Meet the Bad Guys miniseries did; the story has two antagonists, and neither are dealt with in a decisive fashion. The whole thing just screams "Stay Tuned!".

While I really, really like this, it's not nearly as stand-alone as Black Terror or Masquerade. If you're already reading P:SP, it's a great book; if not, then don't start here.

Masquerade TPB- A review!

This book collects the 4-issue Masquerade mini-series. This book is a bit different than some of the other Project Superpowers offerings for a few reasons.

First, it's set almost entirely in the past. The story follows Miss Masque's adventures in the late '40s and early '50s. Specifically, it revolves around the one case she was never able to solve. That leads into the other differentiating aspect- it's a very personal story with personal stakes. It doesn't engage the ongoing metaplot of the Project Superpowers. That perhaps makes this the best place for readers new to the PSP setting to jump into the action.

Carlos Paul, the artist for Chapter One, returns for this story, and I must say there's a marked improvement. Not that he was bad before, but there's a good deal more consistency in the art. This is possibly due to the smaller scale of the story; Paul doesn't have to worry about large battle scales and can focus on the details.

The main attraction, though, is the star, Miss Masque. This is a very character driven piece, and Phil Hester and Alex Ross deftly showcase the strengths of her character. As a character who is both (initially) non-powered and female, the story showcases the condescension she's often subjected to by her peers and how she overcomes it.

Masquerade is a story that combines emotion and action in healthy amounts, making this a fine offering from Dynamite Entertainment.

Black Terror Volume 1 TPB- A review!

Black Terror, Volume 1 collects the first four issues of the first (and thus far only) ongoing series set within the Project Superpowers Universe. The Black Terror was a fairly popular Golden Age character and, as such, is a natural focus for the PSP brand.

The story picks up right where Chapter 1 left off. The forces of the U.S. government send their superhuman goons, the Crusaders, to apprehend the newly emergent Superpowers. During the scuffle, BT learns that there are heroes being held underneath Washington, D.C.; believing his sidekick Tim the Kid Terror is among those being held, the Terror heads straight to the White House to hold the Commander-in-Chief, President West, accountable for what has transpired so far.

What follows is straight up super-action at it's finest. There are some brilliant gags to be found; for example, the Black Terror is super-strong and nigh-invulnerable, but he can't fly, but that doesn't stop him from becoming airborne, and how he does it is a work of genius.

This arc also introduces several more characters to the PSP universe. In addition to the captured heroes, we see the formation of the Super-Patriots, five Americana-themed heroes who, upon their release from the urn, pledge themselves to the Presidency, as well as the Inheritors, the PSP equivalent to the Teen Titans.

The art is by Mike Lilly, who turns in a superb job. The action scenes pop, and he's got a pretty good handle on facial expressions.

The story, by Ross and Kruegger, is similarly good. First off, it gives the reader more insight into who the Black Terror is. Making his "quest" about saving his sidekick adds a needed personal stake into the story.

Like PSP Chapter 1, this arc is rather political, but not quite as obviously. The Superpowers and the Super-Patriots both end up with members on their team that don't necessarily agree with the party line. The message here is that a dissenting voice is needed in any philosophy to foster healthy debate and policy. Likewise, the "bad guys" of the piece actually make compelling arguments for what they're doing. Sometimes, an argument about a topic isn't quite as simple as "right versus wrong".

Most importantly, the story starts and ends with the idea of checks and balances. Initially, the Superpowers promise to be an additional check on the established government, but end with the acknowledgment that for all their power they might need checks on themselves as well. This a powerful message that can (and SHOULD) carry over into our real world. Granted, we don't have superheroes in reality, but there are forces that exert a good deal of influence on many aspects of society. Perhaps if we had some more checks and balances on, and I'm just spitballing here, say mass media or big business, we might have avoided some of the problems facing America today.

While BT Volume 1 does serve as a bridge between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of Project Superpowers, it does serve as a complete and satisfying story in its own right.

Project Superpowers Chapter 1 Review!

As I mentioned previously, Chapter 1 of Project Superpowers is an 8-issue miniseries. Since you all saw the link I provided for issue #0, I'll skip that and talk about the rest of the series.

The story follows the Fighting Yank and the Green Lama as they attempt to rescue their fellow heroes from Pandora's Urn and strike back at the corrupting forces in modern society. It's fairly straight-forward, with action and intrigue galore.

Now, some folks have argued that one of the faults of PSP is that there are too many characters, and yes, there are quite a few. However, comics have done stories like that for YEARS (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Secret Wars, etc.). Really, there are only about 5 or 6 main characters who drive the story forward in Chapter One- the Yank, the Lama, Black Terror, Samson, the Scarab, and Dynamic Man.

While the remarkable Steven Sadowski did the art for #0 (and did a fine job), the rest is done by Carlos Paul. Paul is a relative newcomer, and it shows, as his art for this project is a bit inconsistent at times. Mostly, it's very good, but at certain points (especially large battle scenes), he starts skimping on the detail.

The story, written by Ross and frequent collaborator Jim Kruegger, was written in the waning days of the Bush administration, and it shows. One of the key plot points is that the U.S. is deployed in the "Middle East" waging a war about oil. Similarly, when the heroes reappear, they are labeled "terrorists" as they might upset the long-range policy goals set in place by the powers-that-be. Now, some folks may get upset about this, to which I say- Get over it. The "Evil Government Conspiracy" plot has been a staple for decades now, regardless of what party is in control; Ross and Kruegger just use modern analogs to make it more accessible for modern readers.

Another interesting aspect is how strongly the issue of faith comes into play. In most superhero comics, the issue of religion is usually glossed over (have often have you seen Superman go to church?). In PSP, however, it is an integral part of many of the characters backgrounds. The Green Lama is Buddhist, the Flame is Christian, and Samson is (presumably) Jewish. All three characters mention their religious beliefs as key elements for why they do what they do. It's something that's I find remarkable and quite refreshing.

Now, you'll notice their are two different trade paperback editions. The cheaper one is a softcover; the pricier one is hardcover, and includes a LOT of bonus material- the Fighting Yank's War Journals, character sketches by Ross, etc.

Overall, it's a good story, and one I recommend; the only problem is that the ending, while not a cliffhanger, does feel more like a "Stay Tuned For More" than an actual, decivise conclusion. Granted, Ross and company planned it as several insallments, but in this age of continuous crossovers, one yearns for a story that's complete unto itself.

Still, I like what they've done. They've taken old characters and made them seem fresh and exciting again. It's good stuff.