Avengers: Infinity War - The Re-Watch

Like all folks looking forward to the new Avengers: Endgame movie this coming Friday, I rewatched last year's Avengers: Infinity War on Netflix.

We all know how good this movie is, so I won't bother recapping the film. If you're a fan of the movie, you know the best parts. All of it? Yeah, a case can be made that's this is the culmination of ten years of movie making.

When you first watch the film, you're all into the action and the team-ups. Iron Man and Spidey fighting together in New York. The Guardians and Thor. Captain America and Black Panther standing their ground in Wakanda.

But the second viewing brings home the human factors to a much greater degree. Wanda having to sacrifice Vision. Peter Parker's death. Thanos killing Gamora. Actually, the thing that stood out last year when I saw this movie the first time--it was Thanos's movie and he wins--is even more obvious now. When we keep writing the history of CGI characters who really tug at your heartstrings, Gollum and Thanos will certainly top the list.

Josh Brolin is magnificent in this movie as the villain. And, like the best villains, you actually see why he's doing what he's doing. He's got a point. It's harsh, yeah, but you can at least understand where he's coming from. I imagine he was on set speaking the lines, stuffed into one of those motion capture suits, so he was able to interact with the other actors. I've love to hear an interview from him talking about the process.

Now that we've all see the Captain Marvel movie, the tag ending where Nick Fury calls Carol Danvers is much more meaningful.

You only have about five days before Avengers: Endgame debuts. Oh, and I still trust Doctor Strange. He told Tony--and us--that all we saw in Infinity War was the only way to win. But if the Strange told us this was the only way, Thanos also spoke the truth about the cost of the victory. It costs him everything.

How much will Thanos's defeat cost the Avengers? We only have days to wait. I'm seeing the movie Friday night...and leaving social media Thursday night. I don't want to be spoiled. I'll have a review next week, and I'll provide plenty of spoiler warnings.

Year of an Indie Writer: Week 16

Crap, I need an extra chapter.

Proofing Aztec Sword

I wrote Aztec Sword last year and have read it through a couple of times. I check for spelling--and I always miss a few--word choice, the odd punctuation or misplaced word. You know. The usual suspects. Moreover, I start and keep a separate word file in which I outline the book as I go, noting the introductions of various characters and their descriptions, little nuggets I threw in about the characters, locations, and, the like. I also make note of where the text indicates I should start a new chapter versus merely a sub-section as in the original version. I also always include the end-of-chapter and end-of-section sentences so I know where my cliffhangers are.

Well, imagine my surprise that, upon re-reading this book again, my original ending seemed to lack something. It has been months since I last read this book, and dang it if I, as a reader, wanted an epilogue. So I'm writing one.

And I know that by writing this out in public, everyone can compare all the chapters of the book to the last chapter, but who cares? This blog series is my journey through a year of writing and publishing independently, and if I don't make a point to show certain trials and tribulations, then what good is it?

I wonder what that says about me the writer from 2018 and me the reader in 2019. I'd like to think my storytelling abilities have progressed in that time. Heck, don't we all hope that?

A Rod Serling Biography

Last week, I watched "The Comedian," the premiere episode of the Jordan Peele version of The Twilight Zone. It's on YouTube and it's free. Immediately after that episode, YouTube led into a short piece from CBS Sunday Morning talking about creator Rod Serling, Peele, and the massive undertaking it is to reboot a franchise such as The Twilight Zone.

My wife's a fan of Serling's other major television series, Night Gallery, and a thought came to mind. Serling wrote something like half of all Twilight Zone episodes and probably something like half of the Night Gallery episodes. As a writer myself, the feat is extraordinary, especially considering the quality of Serling's writings remained high.

That led me to the internet. Was there a biography of Rod Serling? Yup. And it was published just last year. Quickly I placed my order for Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination by Nicholas Parisi. It came in the mail on Wednesday and I'm only on chapter 1, but it looks to be precisely the book I want to read about Serling. I'll let y'all know later.

That Little Voice in Our Heads

Two separate blog posts jumped out at me this week, arguably talking about the same thing.

One is directly related to writing. Kristine Kathryn Rusch's Thursday article on "Critical Voice" is a must read for all creative types. She talks about that critical voice that's in our heads and how it impedes the childlike nature of our creative brain. She quotes an article in which said critical voice is personified. Were that a real person, would you even want to talk to him or her? Then why the heck is that voice in our heads? She provides some answers.

On another blog entirely is Leo Babauta. I cannot remember how I ran across his Zen Habits blog years ago, but I have it linked up in my Feedly feed. This week, he wrote a piece entitled "The Universal Narrative: When You Feel Unworthy." Like Rusch's piece, he takes you through a thought experiment about how we often feel ourselves unworthy of things. Most importantly, he offers new habits we can develop to, hopefully, offset those unwanted feelings.

These two pieces go well together.

Quote of the Week

To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.
- Leonard Bernstein

Considering I found a perceived defect in my book--and I do not plan on changing my 1 May publication date--Bernstein's quote is particularly apt. Guess what I'll be doing this weekend when not in church?

Pop Tarts vs. Trader Joe's Toaster Pastries

For the second installment of my Foods From Childhood series, I wanted to try Pop Tarts. Like I mentioned in my Cap'n Crunch episode, as a child, my sugar intake was restricted. I was a hyper boy, always chatting, always moving. With the Feingold Diet, my parents limited my intake of sugar, but that particular diet also included artificial colors and preservatives.

Pop Tarts fell nicely into both categories, especially the frosted kind.

And really, what other kind was worth eating?

None.

As an adult, I watch what I eat pretty strictly. No, the irony's not lost on me that my parents implemented a low-sugar diet and now that I'm fifty, I realize the less sugar I consume, the better I feel. On my own, I've limited the amount of sugar I eat everyday. I love dark chocolate, and Trader Joe's has an excellent 85% dark chocolate bar. So when I saw a Trader Joe's version of a Pop Tart, er, toaster pastry, I bought it.

Then I noticed the vending machine at the office had strawberry-flavored Pop Tarts. With a quick $1.25 deposited, I had my Pop Tarts. Now, the obvious thing entered my head: Taste Test!

The Ingredients

Into the toaster went the Pop Tarts and the pastries from Trader Joe's. The Pop Tart had white frosting with colored sprinkles dotting the top. The toaster pastry featured a light brown frosting.

Also, I noticed the Pop Tart was noticeably thinner.

While I waited, I compared the ingredients. As you can imagine, the pastries from Trader Joe's listed items I could actually pronoun and knew from which they came. On the Pop Tart? Well, there were a LOT more ingredients, and I didn't recognize them all. Plus, you had the oddball coloring agents red 40, blue 1, and others.

What the heck are those? A cursory internet search will reveal some troubling findings.

So Trader Trader Joe's wins on ingredients.

The Appearance

Taking both pastries out of the toaster, the thinness of the Pop Tart nearly toppled it over as I moved it to my plate. Trader Joe's pastry held its shape easily.

I broke them both in half, and the bright red center of the Pop Tart burst out. Looks like red 40 did its job. The Trader Joe's pastry's filling was noticeably darker, not the red of the Pop Tart. So, for visual appeal, the Pop Tart clearly wins.

The Taste Test

I took a bite of each, Pop Tart first. The thinner crust kind of crumbled in my mouth. The taste was nice and sweet, but not overly sweet, surprisingly. The strawberry flavor was exactly what you'd expect.

But when I tasted the Trader Joe's pastry, I experienced something quite different. The thicker crust held its shape until my teeth did their thing. I realized the brown frosting was more maple-syrup like. The strawberry felt fresher in my mouth. And it was less sweet, but way more flavorful.

Clear winner: Trader Joe's Toaster Pastry.

Unlike Cap,n Crunch cereal which I continue to enjoy, I think any hankerings I have for a toaster pastry--which is so rare that before this little test, I couldn't remember the last time I'd had one--I'll be driving to Trader Joe's.

Superman the Movie: A Forty-Year Appreciation

[With the recent success of Shazam, I thought I'd revisit the first major superhero film.]

“You’ve got me! Who’s got you?”

Is this the best line in a superhero movie? Forty years on, when I think of SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, this is the first thing that comes to mind. And the helicopter rescue sequence associated with it. I waited in rapt attention for this scene because it is likely the quintessential Superman moment. It did not disappoint last night. In fact, as the goosebumps rippled over my arms, I got a tad emotional.

This was Superman.

The tagline of the movie was “You’ll believe a man could fly.” Here’s the thing with Christopher Reeve’s performance: You’ll believe he really is Superman. Maybe it was my ten-year-old self seeing this hero on the big screen for the first time, but of all the actors who have played Superman, Reeve is the one who made me believe it was actually a man from another planet. Who was also from Kansas. And it did it all with acting. No CGI. No special effects. Just Reeve, in costume, changing his voice and posture, making you believe Clark Kent and Superman were different people.

Speaking of Clark, Reeve sells himself as the bumbling country boy from Kansas to a T. I really loved his sly winks *to himself* when he, say, catches the bullet or when he shows up, as Clark, in Lois’s apartment after flying over the city with her as Superman. There’s a reason Reeve’s version of Clark is also probably the best out there…although Henry Cavill, if given a chance, could have done it well. But, again, he would be channeling Reeve, too.

He and Margot Kidder exudes chemistry. I really appreciate how she, in 1978, portrayed Lois Lane as a modern woman, smoker, working in a newsroom which had been a mostly males club for so long, but one who still needs a little help when she’s hanging out of a helicopter. She’s always out for the hustle, making sure she’s on the front lines. The rooftop interview scene is so good. You even get Superman basically falling in love with Lois on screen. Heck, both of them. And he’s not saving her from some giant robot. They are just talking and acting. Let’s be honest: in this day and age, when you have lots of side projects on TV, how cool would it have been to have had a Lois Lane TV show with Kidder?

I’m not sure who made the call—actor or director or scriptwriter—but, for my money, having Lex Luthor be humorous is genius. Yes, it’s likely a product of the times, but Gene Hackman’s portrayal of Luthor is probably the best. The only other one I truly enjoy is Clancy Brown’s sinister version in Superman: The Animated Series. But Hackman’s Luthor is sinister in his own way. When he delivers the line “By causing the deaths of innocent people,” you honestly believe it. I enjoyed seeing him make deductions and use his intelligence to figure out Superman’s weakness. Lastly, In an age when every aspect of a franchise has its own backstory, I don’t always need a backstory. But I would enjoy at least learning how Luthor and Otis got together.

Oh, is Ned Beatty’s Otis the only henchman in superhero movies who has his own theme song? It reminded me of the theme for Jabba the Hutt which would arrive five years later.

The music. John Williams was at the height of his powers in 1978. Star Wars and Close Encounters and Jaws were already under his belt. So were three Oscars. I haven’t heard the entire score is so long that it came out of the speakers fresh and new. Look, I know his Star Wars theme, his Raiders of the Lost Ark theme, and the ET flying theme are all good and light and positive, but is it possible to hear the Superman March without a grin on your face? I don’t think so. The Krypton music is eerie and otherworldly. The love theme is lush and romantic. And in sitting through the credits listening to the music, I found myself awash in greatness. I know there are folks who think Superman is the best soundtrack of Williams’s career. While I still hold Empire Strikes Back as my personal favorite (with Star Wars and Raiders close behind), I can certainly see their point.

On the subject of Krypton, I was again reminded of the very 70s-ness of it all. I have a great fondness of 70s SF films pre-Star Wars. The Krypton sequence fits perfectly in that pocket. Ditto for the flying sequence as Kal-El rockets off to earth. Oh, and the training montage.

As the opening credits rolled, I leaned over to my friend and said Superman: The Movie hit the jackpot with casting. Marlon Brando, of course, but Terrence Stamp, Glenn Ford, Jackie Cooper, Hackman, Beatty, Valerie Perrine, and Susannah York. To say nothing about then newcomers Reeve and Kidder. I can’t think of a single character who needed to be recast.

The first hour of the show is near perfection. We see Krypton, the trial and banishment of Zod, Ursa, and Nan (and the setting up of Superman II), and then the destruction of the planet. Now, forty years later, as a parent, the longing and desperation of Jor-El and Lara sending baby Kal into the void with only the hope that he would be safe is poignant. But the Smallville scenes? Holy cow. Those hit me. And those shots of Clark and Jonathan, his death, the funeral, and then Clark and Martha out in the field? You honestly forget you’re watching a superhero movie. Brilliant stuff.

Alas, the movie is not without its flaws. With an additional forty years of consuming stories—including writing my own—much of the latter half of the film is disjointed. It would have been so much better if there were words on screen like “Three week later…” or some such. As it is, the film comes off as almost happening in the same day. Which it doesn’t, but it feels that way.

But all that is nitpicking, especially when you get the best of both worlds: you get to see Superman doing super things—helping the bus on the bridge; making sure the railroad doesn’t derail; making a new dam—but then he turns back time and it’s all good. And with Luthor’s intelligence, you ever wonder if he figured out Superman changed time? Or would he merely realize his plans were foiled? Ditto for the other characters, too.

But that’s neither here nor there. They’re just fun things to ponder.

Forty years. Hard to believe and, yet, not. I was ten when I saw it in 1978. I’m nearly fifty now. Lots of life, lots of events, lots of other Superman stories, both in print and on screen. But this film remains a gold standard in superhero films and Superman films in particular. I’m keen on finding and watching the Donner cut of Superman II. I’ve never seen it, but always enjoyed Superman II. Superman The Movie is that perfectly placed film and story that straddles two eras: the Golden and Silver Age (and a little Bronze) of comics before the current era we’re in. It’s like a love letter to all that came before. From the vantage point of forty more years, it’s stature grows even more. Heck, as the credits rolled last night in the theater, applause erupted from the gathered few—young and old alike.

We now live in a golden age of superhero films. There’s nothing filmmakers cannot do when you couple their imagination with computer technology. Make no mistake: it’s awesome when we get to see Cavill’s version of Superman fly or punch Zod or slam into Doomsday. And I really enjoy The CW’s Superman as played by Tyler Hoechlin. And I watched Lois and Clark loving it…mostly. Didn’t watch Smallville.

But I think we can all agree that when you think of a live action Superman, one name comes to mind: Christopher Reeve. He was and is and will forever be Superman. He made me believe a man could fly in 1978. Forty years later, he still made me believe he’s the best Superman. And, despite its flaws, Superman The Movie is the best version of Superman on film.

[This was originally posted on 26 November 2018 over on my author site.]

When Cutting Up a Comic Book Was Charming

Recently I was reading through a comic published in 1976 and I was struck by something: DC Comics actively encouraged kids to destroy their comics.

Bicentennial Mania

To help celebrate the American Bicentennial summer, DC Comics published a total of 23 issues in June, July, and August 1976 with a special banner across the top that read “DC Comics Salutes the Bicentennial” in red, white, and blue. In the upper right corner was a number. Nice, huh?

Well, inside there’s a house ad. Here it is.

If you take a read, you’ll see that kids back then could get a free Superman belt buckle *if they cut out and sent in at least 25 cover headings*!

Yes, you would actually have to cut up the covers to 25 brand-new comics.

I did this sort of thing for Star Wars figures when I cut out and sent proofs of purchases to get my Boba Fett action figure. But those were cardboard boxes.

This situation was comic book covers. I’d like to think that, even then, I wouldn’t have done that. And even then, the comic book collector market was in full swing. Did they just not think comics from 1976 would be worth anything?

The Charm Factor

But here’s what I like about it now. I like the charm factor of it all. Over the decades, companies always had drives like this. “Eat 5 boxes of [insert cereal] and send in the box tops for [insert cool toy].” Yes, campaigns like this promoted binge buying, but it was actually kind of fun, no?

Do companies even do that anymore, or has our culture just moved on to kids simply asking parents to buy them whatever they want? Not sure, but at least by buying 25 DC Comics in the summer of ’76 or however many box tops of cereal, you felt like you were actually working for your prize.

The Twilight Zone (1985) - Gramma

After watching and enjoying "The Comedian," the first episode of Jordan Peele's 2019 revival of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, I told my wife how much I enjoyed an episode from the first revival in 1985. With the internet being a thing, a quick search landed on a version on YouTube. So, still in the afterglow of the new series, we went back in time.

And, like a Twilight Zone episode itself, I should have been careful what I wished for.

Good Pedigree of Creative Talent

Gramma is based on a Stephen King short story. The story was adapted by Harlan Ellison. Yeah, the Harlan Ellison. With a pedigree like that, the episode should have been better. Well, it was back in 1985. It's mostly okay, just not knock-it-out-of-the-park territory.

A Standard Horror Story

The story centers around a boy of probably twelve. His name is George, and his mom leaves him alone with his bedridden Gramma. George knows she's a monster, and dreads her asking for her tea. But she does, and he delivers it. She scares him and he drops the tea, the liquid seeping into the cracks of the wooden floor...

...and to the red, fiery light below a trap door. There are screams. Frightened though he is, George opens the door and pulls out a couple of old books. Like every young kid, he's curious about things of this nature. He manages  to phonetically pronounce out the words like Cthulhu and Necronomicon before slamming the book closed.

Gramma dies on his watch, but George needs to verify. Which means touching her fat, bloated arm with a hand that isn't quite right. Then he tries the mirror trick, hoping to see if she's still breathing. She is, and she grabs him.

The twist ending is when George's mother returns, George confesses Gramma's dead. The mom mentions he should comfort himself with the knowledge Gramma will always be with them...and then George opens his eyes.

They are the eyes of Gramma.

The Problem of Memory

Now that I just wrote that, I realize it makes for a pretty good introduction to the ideas presented by H. P. Lovecraft who created the Cthulhu mythos. My guess is that this 1985 episode might have been the first time I'd ever been exposed to that kind of horror. At that point, I was still two years away from my first Stephen King novel, Pet Semetary.

In 2019, having read Lovecraft's work and seen Cthulhu stories and inspired stories for thirty-four years, the impact isn't as great. To be honest, my favorite King-written Cthulhu-type story is "Crouch End," a short story from his collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes, as narrated by Tim Curry. Talk about narrator perfect for a story.

But back to Gramma, it is a decent episode, I suppose. And, considering it's only one of two I can remember from the 1985 version of the Twilight Zone, I should continue to think highly of it. I will, but I won't have to see it again.

I guess that's problem with memory: sometimes, something is better in your memory rather than visiting it again. Like going back to your growing up house or the town of your youth. Everything just seems a little smaller.

Twilight Zone (2019) - The Comedian

Surprisingly, when Star Trek: Discovery was announce as the major first show used to draw in viewers to CBS All Access, I was largely indifferent. But when I heard about Jordan Peele was going to executive produce and host a revamped version of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, I was there.

A Difficult Show to Follow

For a myriad of reasons, all subsequent efforts to reboot the original Twilight Zone proved unsuccessful. Other than the on-set accidental deaths of Vic Morrow and his fellow actors, I can barely remember the movie. The 1980s TV  version  was better, but I can only recall two episodes. And the one early in the 2000s? I had to be reminded it existed via a CBS Sunday Morning piece.

But the Peele version looked to be something different. One view of the trailer, debuting after the Super Bowl, told me the franchise was in good hands with a healthy dose of homage being paid to the original while eyes focused on the here and now.

So it was with eagerness I watched the first episode, "The Comedian," free on YouTube.

The Moody Color Palette

 Perhaps the most crucial aspect of the original series--aside from the writing--was the black-and-white  film. It added the somber ambiance to the stories being told, with the high contrast between light and dark. The other series didn't quite match the mood.

At least with this first episode, the producers have figured out how to make a moody color program. The story follows comedian Samir Wassan (Kumail Nanjiani) as he constantly bombs on stage. His act is overtly political, and, as he tries to explain to his live-in girlfriend (Amara Karan), he's trying to make people think. They don't want to think. They want to laugh. His fellow stand-up comedians pretty much say the same thing.

With the setting of a late-night comedy club, this episode is lit by dim lights, placed in such a way as to show only certain parts of the scenes. Wassan's apartment looks like an upscale address, yet there are what appear to be headlights passing the windows. Not kidding when I say it came across very Blade Runner-like. So the palette was quite good.

The Set-Up

I'm not sure how many Twilight Zone episodes turn on a bargain being made, but this one is firmly in that tradition. While Wassan wallows at the bar, he sees J.C. Wheeler (Tracy Morgan). He is amazed because Wheeler, at the height of his popularity, simply seemed to vanish. I'm not a huge Tracy Morgan fan, but he nails it here. He's dramatic and enigmatic, restrained in a way you know he's hiding something. He gives Wassan pointers, specifically to draw from his personal life to make the crowd laugh. They clink their glasses, and we viewers know something has happened.

When Wassan next bombs on stage with his political bit, he shifts to talking about his dog. The crowd eats it up. Wassan keeps going. He nailed it. Everyone recognizes he had a good night. He returns home to share the good news with his girlfriend, yet she has no memory of the dog.

It was as if he never existed.

Wassan doesn't figure it out until the same thing happens again, this time with a member of his family. Then he puts two and two together and realizes he has the power to make people nonexistent. It's not murder if they never existed, right?

The Twist

There's always a twist in every Twilight Zone episode, but I'm not going to reveal it here. You'll need to watch it. But I think you can imagine how the rest of the episode plays out. The ending was quite satisfying, echoing more than one Twilight Zone episode and one very famous movie ending.

The Benefit of CBS All Access

Famously, Rod Serling fought with the censors at CBS back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Very quickly in this new episode, with writer Alex Rubens has the characters drop the f-bomb, you know you're in a different realm. One can only imagine what Serling would have produced in an environment like this.

At least with one episode, The Twilight Zone (2019) is a worthy successor to the original series. I enjoyed this episode so much that I'll be subscribing to CBS All Access. And as a bonus? I'll get Star Trek as well.

Reaction to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer

So. Much. Glee!

That's the way I described my feelings Friday afternoon as I watched the trailer for Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker on my iPhone. With Star Wars Celebration occurring this week, I was expecting the trailer, although I had been so inundated with work at the day job that I forgot about it. Imagine my joy when I resurfaced and saw everyone I knew reacting to the new trailer.

Instantly, I grabbed my earbuds and phone and tuned in.

Luke's voice over. Confirmation--if anyone needed any--that Luke Skywalker would play a role in the new film. A desert planet. Of course there's a desert planet. Tatoonie? The camera purposefully moving to see the lightsaber attached to Rey's belt. Boy, does that look familiar. Is that Luke's saber?

And the music! My gosh, whomever decided to use the Force theme back in 2015 (for The Force Awakens) and continuing onto 2017's The Last Jedi and now into 2019 needs a special award. Yeah, the main theme is awesome, but the Force theme tugs at the heart. Beautiful.

Then the cascade of images. Lando! Kylo Red soldering his shattered "Vader-like" mask. Him running through some battle, bright red saber slicing a dude's guts. The Falcon. A large chunk of something (that I recognized only when I got home and watched the trailer on my big TV) that certainly looks like the Death Star's death ray. Oh, and a few scattered shots of the new guys

And then Luke's voice commenting that no one's ever really gone. Followed by Emperor Palpatine's cackling laughter.

And the title reveal. Plus the color scheme.

Goosebumps for sure. Maybe even a little welling of tears, especially upon seeing Carrie Fisher's Leia. Heartstrings were definitely tugged.

Then my brain got involved.

First of all, don't get me wrong. I'm going to see The Rise of Skywalker on Day One. I'm going to get more and more goosebumps every time a favorite character--new and old--show up on screen. I can bet my reaction to seeing Lando again will be over the moon. I'm going to pump my fists and likely yell out when certain things happen.

And I'm going to cry often, especially at the end as the last shot gives way to the credits. Because if this is the final movie of the Skywalker saga, then that last image is going to be the stuff which posters are made of. You know it and I know it.

Disney also knows it.

But then I started thinking about what I saw and what Luke meant by nothing ever dies.

A slight tinge of worry crept into my excitement.

Two years ago, when I saw The Last Jedi. I absolutely loved it. Not only did the story continue, but it progressed forward. It evolved the story and the franchise. Kylo Ren himself said it: Let the past die. That doesn't mean never pay homage to what came before. No, what I took it to mean is don't be shackled by the past in such a way as to hamstring the future.

In my estimation, there have only been four original films in this franchise: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi. Every other film, no matter the quality, have all been, for lack of a better word, fan service.

Yes, we have seen brave new worlds--Endor, Naboo, Coruscant, Kamino, and Crait--with great, interesting characters--Palpatine (in Jedi), Kenobi (Ewan MacGregor), Jabba, Rose, Rey, Poe, Finn, and Holdo--but that's the point. We're supposed to see brand-new things in movies like this. We're supposed to expand the galaxy.

But all the other movies outside of the four I mentioned all are tied down to what came before. As fun as the Prequels are--they are not all bad--there were so many things thrown in for us long-time fans that it became an Easter egg hunt. Again, I loved it, but did the need to scatter Easter eggs hamper the story?

What I'm getting at in regard to the new trailer is that it's a lot of greatest hits. Maybe that's what first trailers are supposed to do. Maybe in the next one or two we'll see strange new creatures and places. That's what I'm looking for.

I sincerely hope the suits at Disney didn't bring writer/director J.J. Abrams into a meeting and basically tell him to forget everything from The Last Jedi and just make another Return of the Jedi.

Anticipation is High

I cannot wait until December when this new movie drops and all our questions will be answered.

And, lest we forget, December 2019 will also mark the conclusion of a story first started in the childhoods of many of us, way back in 1977. All things come to an end, I suppose, but I'll love Star Wars--no matter what my brain thinks--forever.

By the way, we only have 250 days until we find out all our answers.

Year of an Indie Writer: Week 15

Sometimes the day job can get you down.

Day Job Writers Have Security...

I think many a writer also holds down a separate day job. Mine is actually marketing/technical writing, so I'm constantly writing. And sometimes it drains the creative mind of some of its energy.

I'm not the only one. On Thursday, over at Do Some Damage, David Nemeth commented his day job is kicking his ass and it is sapping his creativity. He asked for some tips on how to cope. I offered my own:

"Wake up early and write before the day job. Set a time in which you have time to wake, pee, get coffee, exercise at least 5 minutes (I do jumping jacks, run in place, lift dumbbells, all with a timer), and then have time to write. It's worked for me pretty well. 4:30 am is my wake up time, but I adjust it depending on how late I stay up.

Oh, here's a new thing I've started on workdays since the first Monday of February: no snooze. If you have to adjust because you stayed up late, then adjust. But don't snooze.

If you get a lunch break, take that time to write. Or read. Or basically not to the day job. Helps me every day."

That last bit is my island in the middle of the day. It's my time to turn off the concerns of the day job and return to 1940 (my Ben Wade story) or some blog I'm writing. Plus there is nothing like the thrill of driving to the day job knowing you have already written. It also helps when the day job throws you a curve ball.

...But Still Have to Deal with the Day Job

My company is in conference and trade show season. Lots to do. Lots to think about. And, despite my best attempts, I've found my lunch hours gradually shrinking this past week. Sometimes, it's a 1pm meeting I have to prep for. Other times, it's an 11am meeting that run right up to the noon hour. Either way, the lunch hours grew shorter this week. Bummer, but, like David on Thursday wrote, the work has to get done.

Make Believe is Supposed to be Fun!

In her weekly Thursday column, veteran writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch reminded writers of why many of us first took up a pencil, a pen, or a pixel. The fun and joy of make believe.

So many of us writers constantly strive to learn more about marketing, selling, and doing the little things it takes to run our small business. All important, yes, but when it comes to the act of writing, have a blast! Don't think about selling. Think only of make believe!

A great reminder this week as I found myself getting behind on producing the next story.

An Improptu Shazam-Themed Week of Blogs

Last Friday, I saw the Shazam movie. Loved it. Then I scoured my bookshelves and found a treasury sized comic and read it. I kept going, all the way back to 1941 and the Adventures of Captain Marvel movie serial. Next I shot back to the 1970s and the Shazam TV show. I finally ended up in 1994 and Jerry Ordway's The Power of Shazam graphic novel.

In hindsight, I should have expected my interest in Shazam to be rekindled and read up ahead of time. I've done that in the past, but I actually enjoyed the way I did it this week. Everything Shazam-related thing I consumed I was able to compare to the new movie as well as each other.

By the way, I enjoyed Ordway's comic so much that I'm going to flip through my long boxes and see how many individual issues I bought back in the 1990s. Hopefully more than a few.

Aztec Sword Arrives Soon

In the next week, I plan on finalizing the text of the description of the third Calvin Carter adventure. I'm still proofing the text and dang if I don't enjoy this book pretty well. This one is part an old-fashioned treasure hunt/find-the-maguffin story. Here's the funny part: it's been a minute since I last read the book that I've kind of forgotten the ending. I wonder if Carter gets out of all the scrapes I put him in?

Guess I'll have to read and find out.


How was your week?

The Power of Shazam by Jerry Ordway

Movie review? Check.
Treasury comic? Check.
Movie serial? Check.
TV show? Check.
All that's left are the comics. And what better place to start than 1994's graphic novel by Jerry Ordway?

Yet Another Revision to the Origin

The original of Captain Marvel was pretty solid for a large chunk of the character's history up to the early 1950s when Fawcett Comics stopped publication. After DC Comics brought Shazam into the DC universe in 1973, the origin was unchanged. Roy Thomas revamped the origin a bit in 1987, but Jerry Ordway updated the origin again in 1994.

Here's the funny thing: In our modern world of comic book movies trying to live and breathe in the real world, Ordway manages to straddle both the expectations of contemporary 1990s comic readers without jettisoning the sense of wonder from the 1940s. That is to say, he gives some cool backstory to some of the Marvel tropes we know and love while presenting said tropes in a fresh, new way.

Billy Batson's Parents Are Alive...

The story opens with archaeologists C.C. Batson and his wife, Marilyn, are exploring a heretofore hidden Egyptian temple. With them is Theo Adam. What's fascinating is C.C. looks like the future Captain Marvel so much that I had to double back and re-read the opening pages to verify it wasn't the actual Shazam outside his costume. Nope, it was Billy's dad. Already new stuff.

As you can imagine, when the trio uncover the secret tomb of Shazam, Adam gets a tad greedy. He steals a scarab from the crypt, kills C.C., then turns around and hunts down the wife. She's gone, too. Lastly, he kidnaps Billy's sister, Mary.

...And Now He's an Orphan

Billy's living on the streets of Fawcett City, a town that seems to draw its retro-future vibe from Batman: The Animated Series. You've got art deco buildings and cars seemingly from the 40s yet there's also a car with similar markings of a Ford Mustang. Either way, the city looks great in a timeless sort of way.

Hearkening back to the character's earliest days, Billy's earning meager wages selling papers. A stranger beckons him to follow him into the subway system. This, at least, is a consistent thread through all permutations of the Billy's origins. Surprisingly, the stranger, clad in trench coat and fedora pulled low on the forehead, looks an awfully lot like the deceased C. C.

In the magical caverns, Billy meets the aged wizard Shazam. We get a little backstory, filling in the  gap between his parents deaths and Billy's present living situation. Still, despite everything, Billy says the magic word and boom!

Captain Marvel's Still a Kid Inside

Like the current movie, when young Billy becomes the adult Captain Marvel, he's still got his kid brain inside. And he's really confused. He starts wrecking Shazam's cavern, attacking the old man as the wizard tries desperately to explain everything. He finally gets through, and we move onto the next act.

Sivanna as a Businessman

To jump to a different hero's story for a moment, when John Byrne revamped Superman's story and made Lex Luthor a businessman, it made perfect sense. Perhaps Ordway saw how well that worked for Superman and did the same for Sivanna. He's still the small, scrawny type, but he's like an evil Disney, wanting to use his money to put on a World's Fair. Naturally, we learn Theo Adam is on his bankroll, and, well, things don't go well from there.

A Smart Villain in Black Adam

When Shazam finally makes his appearance, Theo Adam recognizes him as C. C. Batson. And he puts two and two together, especially when he sees the big yellow lightening bolt on the uniform's chest. He returns to his lair and, wearing the scarab amulet stolen from Egypt, actually becomes Black Adam.

This is what I'm talking about when I say Ordway brings a modern sensibility to this story. In an actual 1940s comic, the villain would just be a villain. Here, Adam, an adult, figures things out. He's not just a bad guy trying to do bad guy things.

The Big Fight Feels Familiar

If you've seen the new movie, you realize the villain, Mark Strong's Sivanna, figures out Captain Marvel is really a child inside. He wants the power. Same here. But in 1994, Jerry Ordway did it first. And it's during this fight Billy finally realizes his true potential.

A Great Re-Introduction of Shazam to the DC Universe

In The Power of Shazam, Jerry Ordway gives a modern take on the origin of the first Captain Marvel. He brings modern sensibilities to the  storytelling while laying the groundwork for future stories. His art is, as always, instantly recognizable and gorgeous. He has a way of capturing the true emotions behind the characters at certain times. It can be sadness or, like this panel, remind you Billy is nothing more than a ten-year old kid.

Plus, like the new movie, this story makes you feel like a kid again, with all the whiz-bang verve of a classic comic. As a historian, I also really dug all the nods to the original time period, including the movie serial. Captain Marvel is basically a pulp character come to glorious life in the pages of comic books. Look again at the cover. It's a pulp magazine painting. The interior title page also just rings with a 1940s vibe. It looks like it could have been the title card for the movie serial.

With Houston's Comicpalooza arriving in a month, I'll be on the lookout for issues of The Power of Shazam. My guess is I won't be the only one.

Jerry Ordway Interviewed

Not coincidentally (considering the big movie debuted), Jerry Ordway sat down with Ralph Garman on Garman's The Ralph Report this week. Garman and Ordway chatted not only about The Power of Shazam, but other milestones in comic book history in which Ordway played a role. Great peek behind the curtain with a legendary creator.

The Ralph Report is a subscription-based podcast about which I'll write a full-review in the near future. I listen every day on my commute home. It is a funny, acerbic view of entertainment news, complete with recurring bits. It's not your standard podcast. It's a show, with high production values, and constant interactions between the hosts and the listeners. The podcast is definitely adult in tone, but Ralph and Vice Host, Eddie Pence, deliver every episode with humor and heart.

Shazam! TV Show - The Joy Riders

No Shazam-themed week would be complete without a glance at the 1970s TV show. Between the 1941 movie serial and the 2019 big-budget movie sat the small-screen exploits of Captain Marvel

The Introduction for Many a Kid

For most kids of my Gen-X Generation, the Shazam TV show was the first time we figured out who Captain Marvel was. Coming just a year or so after DC Comics started publishing the Shazam comic, the TV show starred Michael Gray as Billy Batson and Les Tremayne as Mentor. They travel the country (at least California) in an RV righting wrongs and helping kids make good decisions. I had a little Tonka-brand RV in the same color scheme and I imagined it was Batson's RV. But it didn't have that cool Shazam lightening bolt on the front.

In season 1, Jackson Bostwick starred as Captain Marvel and he's the one I remember. Heck, I even had the treasury-sized edition of Shazam with Bostwick standing on that rock. Yeah, I made that pose more than once, thank you very much.

I loved this show, and while I can't say I was there from day one, I certainly remember many a Saturday morning anchored in place to watch the Mightiest Mortal do his thing.

Filmation produced Shazam, the company that brought many a smile to kids' faces. You'd recognize a Filmation program by the spinning circle with the names of Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott going round and round.

Plus there was the same Saturday morning music cues, something I picked up on when I watched episode 1, "The Joy Riders."

The Premise of the Episodes

With each episode, the intro features a voice-over with "The Saturday Morning Cartoon Guy" (you'd recognize the voice if you're of a certain age) giving you the premise of the story, who Billy is, and who Captain Marvel is. Boom, you're good to go. Speaking of boom, when Michael Gray says the magic name, there's a huge lightening bolt that looks not too dissimilar from the bolt that you see in the "Gilligan's Island" intro. When you get the flash, the music changes and there, in front of your eyes, in color, is Shazam himself. Marvelous

The Joy Riders

I actually chuckled to myself when four young teenaged boys meet up at hamburger shack and talk about "borrowing" a car in which to ride around. Just imagine: in September 1974, that was one of the worst things you could do, or at least show on TV. It came across as quaint, in a kind of old-fashioned sitcom-y way, until I remembered I was the target audience at the time. Gulp.

One of the four boys, a red-headed kid named Chuck, isn't too keen on joining in on the stealing. He says what it is, but the other three laugh at him, call him chicken, before they careen away in the stolen car.

Moment before, Billy gets a message from The Elders. He's signaled via...the light ball? There, he hears about his task: he'll meet someone who will have trouble standing up to others, including his friends. The Elders are all animated, with only their mouths moving. How cool it was to hear Adam West's voice coming from one of them!

As you can imagine, Billy and Mentor try to help Chuck with the latter's feelings of inadequacy and fear of being labeled an outsider and his trio of friends turning their backs on him. Chuck's bike is even stolen, giving all four boys a tangible reminder of what they did with the first stolen car.

When the  boys boost another car and force Chuck in with them, it's time for Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel on Screen

Look, I've only seen two episodes of the 1941 movie serial and this episode of the 1975 TV show, but if I'm being honest, the flying sequences in the old serial are better. Granted, the TV show has to operate on a TV budget, but you'd think there'd be some improvement.

Bostwick gets around some of the quirks of editing by having Shazam land feet first. He is shown in the air actually changing his trajectory, so that when you next see the hero on the ground, he's already standing. One fantastic thing they did was film many of his close-ups outside, so you get to see the sunshine on Shazam's face, hair, and cape while the wind machine is cranked up.

The boys take refuge in an old van in a junk yard, and dang if there wasn't a giant claw crane angling to pick up the van. It does, and the boys yell. The Captain hears it and, with his super strength, pulls the van back down, allowing the boys to escape.

Now, it's lecture time.

The Moral of the Story

Look, I was the target audience. I was supposed to know right from wrong. I had great parents, but what about those kids that didn't. Well, the episode ends in two ways. One, Shazam singles out Chuck for his courage in saying no. Even the other three admit that. When the lead troublemaker asks if they're going to jail, Shazam doesn't have an answer. It's up to the juvenile authorities. Have to admit: love that. There's no getting out of jail free card here.

After the commercial break, Shazam is there and Bostwick gives the moral of the story: it's really hard to do the right thing, especially if other people--or your friends--start calling you names. The producers knew their audience and, perhaps encouraged by law, made sure to drive home the message. Cheesy? Perhaps, but not necessarily bad. Cartoons and kids' programming is one way to teach young people about life, and if they listen to Captain Marvel instead of their parents and stay out of trouble, then we're all good.

Conclusion

I have good memories of this show, including the time when it was paired with Isis for a full hour of live-action superhero goodness. Come to think of it, CBS also aired the Tarzan cartoon and, later, the Adventure Hour with Zorro and the Lone Ranger. The network had a good amount of action cartoons. Makes me wonder if I was primarily a Channel 11 guy (the Houston affiliate) on Saturday mornings.

I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching this episode and going back to that simpler time. As I mentioned when I reviewed the movie serial, I hold degrees in history, so I'm always fascinated to research something, especially something I experienced and see it from a difference perspective. I'll certainly watch more episodes of the Shazam TV show.