Happy Holidays. I'll see you the first week of 2015.

May you have a great Thanksgiving, a fantastic Christmas, and a Happy New Year. Like I did last year, I'm signing off until January 2015. If you need to get a hold of me, you can contact me through twitter or email. Stay warm and drink lots of hot chocolate, and may you finish all of your books. 

Is J.J. Abrams killing off Han Solo in The Force Awakens?

The new rumors surrounding the much anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens makes me wish that happy endings would stay "happy." But I guess if there's money in it, happy endings be damned because there's a story to tell and money to be made!

Rumors abound with regard to the plot of the new story. I've been following some over at Episode 7 News and basically, they all involve Luke having gone insane with some of them speculating that it's Han's son that ends up going bad and Luke tries to kill him. Of course Han Solo doesn't want his son to die so he puts himself between Luke and his son and ends up getting killed. So yeah...one of the best characters of the original trilogy ends up dead and of course this emotion sets Han's son on a path to the dark side just like Luke saw in the future. Strange how that works out, isn't it?

In Tina Fey's words, "BLURG!"

More rumors say that Luke (after Jedi) went back to Tattoine and the Force got so powerful within him that it devastated the planet, causing a cataclysm in the place he once called home. So basically everyone on Tattoine is dead. This forces him to go into exile on a planet called Mon Cal in the fortress of some old Sith Lord because the dark side is the only thing that can kind of keep his powers in check as he's essentially a god now.

If any of these things are true, I'm probably going to be pissed. It just sounds like they are setting up a storyline that is really dark. I understand that there's a need for a villain, but to go and just kill off beloved characters when they deserve a happily ever after seems unnecessary and even mean. I think the world of J.J. Abrams but these rumors legitimately have me worried because he's destroying all the things that the rebel alliance gained by the end of Jedi. Grrrr.

If you had to choose which society to belong to in the Walking Dead in order to survive which one would you choose?

The Walking Dead is really about the survivors, and ultimately how they cope with the apocalypse. It makes me wonder which society you would choose from were you to find yourself suddenly in this world (no, you do not get to be part of Rick's group). At this point in season five, we've seen societies formed by survivors that have embraced principles of:

1) Delusional ignorance, a.k.a., Hershel's Farm. This group of survivors thought that the undead were just really sick people. So even though there were no "moral" boundaries broken with this group, if you ended up with them, your chances of survival were low because a herd of walkers was being kept secret in a barn. At any time, they could have gotten out and overran the farm and then you'd be dead because of someone else's stupidity.

2) Psychopathic leader, a.k.a., the Governor and "Woodbury." This group was led by a charismatic "Jim Jones" leader-type that willfully murdered outsiders for their weapons and resources and just lied about everything. He also tried to rape Maggie, but if you found yourself in Woodbury, and you "towed the line" there's a good chance you'd be better off at the end of the day. But keep in mind that the Governor is completely insane and can commit mass-murder at any sign of displeasure.

3) Institutionalized cannibalism, a.k.a. Terminus. The "Termites" were a functioning society that had only one small quirk: they slaughtered people like pigs so that they could feed themselves delicious BBQ. They had accepted their institutionalized evil to such an extent that it was just part of the day, like taking a bathroom break. If you landed here, you'd obviously have to be part of those that do the killing and eating, and not the ones that get slaughtered.

4) Institutionalized rape, a.k.a. the Hospital Crew. This is where Beth ended up. They have food, clean clothing, even electricity. They have safety, a doctor, and the ability to mend you when you get wounded or sick. But at the same time, they (much like Terminus) look the other way for the "rapes" designed to keep the men happy. I call it "institutionalized" because that's they way they viewed it, basically keeping a schedule kind of like breakfast, paperwork, lunch, a rape, checking in with the doctor, dinner, etc. So if you choose this particular society, I guess you'd have to be okay with the occasional rape. And you're also basically a slave. You work every day that you are able, and you can't just up and leave.

If you had to choose which one of these societies to land in, which one would you choose and why? I look forward to reading your comments. And again, you don't get to choose Rick's group because everyone would choose Rick's group.

Or would you try to go it alone? 

The Internet is abuzz that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is setting up the Inhumans movie in 2018.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has gotten really interesting in the second season. But probably the most interesting revelations have been coming with light speed on the internet. If you are a watcher of the show, then you know that Coulson has been drawing a strange alien language on the wall, and it would seem that all those given a drug sample from the mysterious blue guy (so that they could have second lives) have been stricken with a similar compulsion.

Well the community over at io9 has been working together in comments and in articles to figure it all out, and guys...it's really got me excited. So let me be clear, this is all theory stuff so it may or may not be true, but I love theory crafting because the payoff (if I end up being proved right) is kind of awesome (yes, I'm one of those irritating people that actually loves spoilers).

Okay, so what is the writing on the wall? Well, if you watched Tuesday's episode you know it's actually supposed to be seen in three dimensions and Coulson gave us the reveal when he said, "It's a city." Interesting, right? Well what city exactly?

See, I like reading comics but again, I was as lost as you until I started data-mining nuggets from comments left by nerds with more Marvel cred than myself. Apparently, this is all a "lead up" to the 2018 Inhumans movie (which seems a long time off but hey, I've now lived in Salt Lake City for almost seven years, and that went by in the blink of an eye).

So who are the Inhumans? Descended from our prehistoric ancestors, the Inhumans were experimented on by the alien Kree (picture the blue guy in the glass tube). An important thing to note is that the Kree would fit the description of the thing in the tube being "Older than the pyramids." Now according to io9, "The Inhumans built a city called Attilan before the rest of humanity even started farming, and they go through a rite of passage known as Terrigenesis that grants them amazing powers." Most people that watch the show think that Skye and Raina are both Inhumans. If that's the case, we'll probably be getting our first "super-powered" regulars on the show.

Attilan in the comic books is now located on the moon, but at one point it was in the Himalayan mountains and before that, in the ocean. I kind of like the concept of a city whose inhabitants are so powerful they can just move it around. And we're about to get our first Inhumans in the form of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in the second Avengers movie (so the timing seems about right).

What do you think? Is Marvel starting the Inhuman thread so early for a huge payoff in four years? 

Star Wars Rebels seems to be hitting its stride at last

Star Wars Rebels is about seven episodes in now, and I have to say it's growing on me. At first, the series seemed like all it wanted to be was a family-friendly show. For example, the first couple of episodes didn't have the feel of any kind of "dark" villainy which is an essential component to Star Wars. After all, things are either black or white in the Star Wars universe; there is no gray. Oh and the second rule of Star Wars is that things are big as in VERY big. But I digress.

So yeah, it's growing up a bit as we're getting plot lines where characters are actively pursuing undercover roles in an Imperial academy to get good intel that the alliance can use to fight the Empire. That and Star Wars Rebels is investigating the Force more (and I like that too). Finally, it's also tying itself to The Clone Wars, which as far as cartoons goes, rates as one of the finest ever made. For example, we got a plot line that led to a prison world to free captured Jedi Master Luminara Undulee only to find out that she'd been killed, and that the Imperials under the Inquisitor were just using her bones to lure Force users out of hiding.

Now as for the Inquisitor himself, I love his appearance and voice, but his lightsaber is kind of ridiculous. You see, it has the ability to spin like a fan, and this seems kind of pointless if not an all out desperate to appeal to the "under thirteen" crowd who will no doubt think "it's cool" without considering if the weapon is even practical (which it isn't). However, if one thing is cool about this series, it's the artistic license that they're taking with respect to Ralph McQuarrie's old illustrations. The lightsabers are thinner and more pointy and the animated hair even moves in the wind.

I am wondering if (at some point) Ahsoka Tano might put in an appearance. By the end of The Clone Wars season five, she decided to leave the Jedi order but she was incredibly powerful. I think it would be interesting if she decided to help the galaxy that is now under the foot of her former master, i.e. Darth Vader, who I'm sure "Rebels" is waiting to introduce in a season finale or something similar just to drive up ratings.

If you've been watching Star Wars Rebels, what do you think? Yay? Nay? It's definitely got my appetite primed for the movies that start arriving as early as next year.

Don your armor boys and girls because there's elf and dwarf blood to be spilt in the aftermath of Smaug's death!

From what I understand, at the time that the Hobbit was written, J.R.R. Tolkien didn't really have an idea that it would be more of a story than it was. He'd only started to expand on possibilities racing through his head, i.e., the war of the ring, and so on and so forth. So is it really all that bad that Peter Jackson (in adapting the Hobbit) has made so many changes for the sake of continuity in what may be the finest example of a six volume film edition of the best that fantasy has to offer?

I know many people who are fans of the books, and some of them insist that the Hobbit is supposed to be a personal story about Bilbo. I say boo hoo. So Peter Jackson pretty much shoved that concept off the planning table and decided to approach it on a grand scale; I think if you're one of his critics that you should be thanking him for it.

He's given increased speaking parts to the dragon (who here would not leap at the chance at having Benjamin Cumberbatch do your voice mail?), explained the story much better by borrowing from the Silmarillion, and inserted female characters (and Legolas) where there was none before. And there are the complaints that center around the question: where are all the songs? Honestly, when I read the Hobbit I skipped the songs and continued with the text underneath them. In my defense, I read the book when I was a kid and I really had no mind for poetry at the time (although now I quite enjoy it).

In short, I like the drama, the seriousness of it, and how (tonally) the movie is a far cry from being a children's story. Anyway, this is the end of my "mini-rant." I'm very excited for the Battle of the Five Armies, and the first trailer hit the interwebs this week. If you haven't seen it, click on the trailer below.

Don your armor boys and girls because there's elf and dwarf blood to be spilt in the aftermath of Smaug's death! And the huge rock trolls with trebuchets on their backs is really f'ing cool, if I say so myself.

What say you? Are ye a fan of the Hobbit films or do you think Peter Jackson has done a terrible job at adapting Tolkien's books?

Give yourself time because sooner or later everything will happen as it's supposed to and you'll write again

When I was growing up, the song that I liked the most was probably "Time in a Bottle." Sure, X-Men: Days of Future Past brought the song a whole new level of cool for me, but the reasons that I like "Time in a Bottle" still haven't changed. With November, and the start of Nanowrimo, I've decided to participate to basically combat my own "writer's block." And thus far, it's worked.

I suppose that this is always going to be an insecurity for me...the fear that I won't have anything to say or that my ideas will dry up, and I'll be caught with nowhere for my characters to go. Maybe that's why I stayed away from my stories for a few months, putting off the dreaded task of facing a blinking cursor. But the return to writing wasn't so bad. Once I started on November 1st, the words began to flow. First a thousand, then another and another. I can feel the end of my book approaching whereas before, it seemed so far away.

And admittedly endings are the hardest things for me to write. For me, starting a new project and being full of new possibilities is always far more tempting than revisiting the idea I've been spending time with for years. But always starting and never finishing is the hallmark of failure. The first cardinal rule of writing is to always finish. And that, my friends, is what I'm trying to do.

So here's some advice from me to you if you happen to share my insecurity toward writer's block...

Just give yourself time. Soon or later, everything will happen as it's supposed to.

Today Brandon Engel remembers legendary writer Ray Bradbury for the magician he was

Today Brandon Engel is remembering Ray Bradbury. If you're a fan of the late science-fiction great, please tell us your favorite Ray Bradbury story in the comments below. And also, please follow @BrandonEngel2 on twitter so you can network with him.

Wicked Reading: Remembering Ray Bradbury
When Blackstone the Magician visited Waukegan, Illinois in 1927, before it multiplied into a metropolis of 90,000, he met there a seven-year-old black-haired boy named Ray Douglas Bradbury. Seventy-five years later, a gray-haired Bradbury would write, “I decided at that time also that I wanted to grow up to become a magician.” And he did, in a way. He became an accomplished horror and mystery fiction writer of the 1950's, his work an unrelenting commentary on Cold War paranoia, and he remains one of the most celebrated American authors of his century.

The Halloween Tree
Pipkin is kidnapped. His eight friends must follow Mr. Moundshroud around the world, to the mummy tombs of Egypt and the gargoyles of Notre Dame, to learn the history of Halloween and, in doing so, save Pipkin. Begun as a screenplay for a movie that was never made (although a televised animated special was made decades later) and published as a refinished young adult book, The Halloween Tree won an Emmy Award for its gothic spunk. Like James Michener, Bradbury educated as he wrote, blending challenges of friendship with dark druids and gaping jack-o-lanterns.

Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 was written on a rented UCLA typewriter for $9.80. It was composed in two drafts across two 9-day periods. Set in a dystopian future, the story centers around Guy Montag, a fireman whose primary job is burning books. His wife, addicted to opioid pills, intoxicated by state-sanctioned entertainment, betrays Guy when he illegally peers into the book, Dover Beach, igniting a vicious manhunt. Bradbury’s award-winning, savage prophecy was written in the era of rabid McCarthyism. “I wrote this book at a time when I was worried about the way things were going in this country,” said Bradbury, who lived to see his book both censored and expunged by fearful parents and teachers.

Something Wicked This Way Comes
Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show visit Green Town, and two 13-year-old friends, William Halloway and Jim Nightshade, soon grow to fear the sinister carousel and supernatural Mirror Maze. Ray Bradbury’s seminal work puts a new spin on the sage advice, “Be careful what you wish for.” Unlike hollow gore, his hypnotic tale tackles themes of transition to adulthood and good versus evil.

The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury called it a “half-cousin to a novel.” Published in 1950, the book contains 28 stories with interstitial vignettes about the apocalypse of Earth and the ensuing colonization of Mars. Many science-fiction authors projected their imaginations onto Mars in the 1950s, but Bradbury was one of the few who followed people, not machines, and who tackled themes of imperialism and Manifest Destiny. “There Will Come Soft Rains” is the penultimate story in The Martian Chronicles. A secret homage to Sara Teasdale’s poem of the same name, Bradbury tells the biography of an automated house made empty by global nuclear fallout. Bradbury’s horror is in his prose, the tragedy set offstage. And it’s all the more eerie that home automation is now authentically part of the fiber of modern life (more details here). The short story is a master compilation of symbolism, allegory and personification, and is notable for its silent warning to 1950’s warhawks about the hazards of nuclear warfare.  Ray Bradbury considered himself more than a science fiction and mystery writer. He was a magician, too. “People call me a science fiction writer, but I don't think that's quite true. I think that I'm a magician who is capable of making things appear and disappear right in front of you and you don't know how it happened.”

*****

So I think I'll kick start the comments with this: My favorite Ray Bradbury story is "All Summer in a Day." It takes place on Venus, not Mars and it's quite good. If you're looking for a short story that will whisk you away for an hour, I recommend it highly.

An interview with fellow writer Brandon Engel on all things science fiction

Brandon and I met through the blogosphere and have been corresponding via email about science fiction for a little while now. He already wrote one post for my blog regarding the "Deans of Science Fiction" and you can find that post HERE. I intend to post his next article on Monday. However, I thought all of you might like to know a little more about Mr. Engel, and you're all in luck because he allowed me to interview him.

So if you have twitter, please follow @BrandonEngel2 and without further ado, let's get started.

Q: Brandon, please share with us that special moment in your life when a story really grabbed you and you had that "this is really cool" moment.

Brandon being inspired by The Cask of
Amontillado is just in time for Halloween.
Oh the horror of being buried alive!

A: One of the defining moments of my childhood was picking up an Edgar Allan Poe anthology and reading The Cask of Amontillado. I was spellbound. That book (along with One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish) made me recognize the escapist value of literature. Conan the Barbarian comics, and the work of Robert E. Howard, were also hugely significant to me early on.

Q: What kinds of things do you write? Someone as creative as you must have a pretty wild imagination.

A:  I write mostly non-fiction these days; typically analyses of vintage speculative fiction or films. I'm working on a few scripts for comic books now (with the goal of ultimately handing them over to friends who are trained illustrators) and I've also written a few plays. Ultimately, I'd love to tap out a novel, but it will be a few years before that happens.

Q: If someone were to ask you if Star Wars were science fiction or fantasy, how would you answer and why?

A: That is an excellent question. It's only science-fiction superficially. Science-fiction tropes and textures are integrated, but I've always had the sense that the primary focus of Lucas with this film is the mythology and his treatment of archetypes. Hard science, or musings about sciences in the future, seem to be largely absent or intellectually pedestrian when you measure that aspect of Lucas's work against say, Arthur C. Clarke's work. So much of his mythology is also so metaphysical, that it's hard to think of it as true science-fiction.

I was thinking of World War Z when I
asked the question about movies being
adapted from books. But there are many
others out there. Last Airbender anyone?

Q: If a movie is adapted from a book, how do you feel about the film maker taking liberties with the source material and changing the ending or altering the story significantly?

A: With film and literature you are dealing with two completely different forms. And what's more, because film integrates virtually every known artistic discipline there are more devices that can be employed. Music and imagery go a long way towards providing the tone that a reader might have to otherwise infer for themselves. The problem with film is that everything is basically being handed to you, having already been per-interpreted.  But with that being said, a filmmaker, who has an understanding of how to employ cinematic devices, is perhaps best equipped to understand what works on the screen as opposed to what works on the page, and should, therefore, have artistic input. I'm okay with it, so long as it serves the story.

Q: What is your opinion regarding young adult dystopian fiction (examples being The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner)?

Actor Reeve Carney plays my favorite Dorian
Gray in the Showtime series, Penny Dreadful.

A: Children will always have grim/macabre fantasies, and I don't have any issue on principle with contemporary authors pandering to that. That's one of the true values of escapist literature, in my opinion it enables us to confront real-world anxieties in a safe way. This is especially important for kids. With that said, though, I think younger readers would be better off reading something like Harry Harrison's Make Room! Make Room!

Q:What is your favorite story of all time (film or book) and why?

A: My all time favorite has to be The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. It's sharp, quotable, self-reflexive, and really calls into question both the role of art in modern society, and the struggle that creative people face to reconcile their ideas and perversions with the (often hypocritical and counterproductive) puritanical mores of modern society.

If the Odin Force determines who is worthy to receive the power of Thor then Loki may have a thing or two to say about that

What makes a person worthy to wield the hammer of Thor? Screen cap
from the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron. The clip aired last night
during the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. scheduled broadcast. 

Last night, during Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s broadcast, they ran a cut scene from the upcoming Avengers movie, Age of Ultron. Gathered around the coffee table in Stark's tower were the Avengers, all taking turns at lifting Thor's hammer Mjolnir. The only one that even came close was Steven Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America. Thor's hammer budged, which made Thor just about spit his beer, but the scene resolved itself in that this is all that happened, leaving Thor self-assured that he alone remains the possessor of the "power of Thor."

But it does make me wonder what makes a person worthy to lift Mjolnir in the first place? Do you have to be a warrior? Do you have to be pure of heart? Do you have to be willing to kill? Do you have to be honorable? Do you have to be humble? Or is it all of the above? The comics have given us over a dozen characters through the years that share all or some of these traits (and yes, Captain America was one of them).

So here's what I think: the enchantment placed on Thor's hammer that reads: "Whosoever holds this hammer, be he worthy, shall posses the power of Thor" has to do with Odin's will (or perhaps his bias). And since Odin wields the "Odin Force," which is the most powerful magic in existence possessed by the king of all Asgard, I am drawing a strange but inevitable conclusion: if my theory is correct about the Odin Force being ultimately responsible for judging the wielder of the hammer "worthy" then at some point Thor's going to be in big trouble.

Thor without Mjolnir from a screen capture of the Avenger's Age of Ultron
trailer. Is Loki responsible because he now wields the Odin Force?

Recall please last year's movie Thor: The Dark World. At the end of The Dark World (weak spoiler warning but you've had a year) Loki deposes Odin to sit on the throne of Asgard. If Loki now wields the "Odin Force" then the magic that serves as the enchantment on Mjolnir will have to start reflecting upon the new ruler's biases. Loki has no honor, so it's quite possible that Mjolnir at some point will find its way into a villain's hands. I think we may have gotten a small hint of this in the Avenger's: Age of Ultron trailer with what looks like a very upset Thor turning his eyes to the heavens and screaming (and he doesn't appear to be holding Mjolnir at all). Now keep in mind that this is purely my speculation. But don't you think it would be interesting if Thor no longer being able to lift Mjolnir was the first clue that all is not right with the Asgardian throne?

An animated guide to breathing displays the awesome power of GIF animation

If you've ever been to tumblr, then you know what a GIF is. The acronym stands for "graphics interchange format" and was first introduced to the world by CompuServe in 1987. All you really need to know about GIF's are the words "animated image." I presently have two friends that design their own GIF's in Blender (an open-source free software downloadable on the internet). Both have had exhibits at UMOCA here in Salt Lake City (UMOCA stands for "Utah Museum of Contemporary Art"). They have thousands of fans on Tumblr and have even been contacted by the likes of Miley Cyrus for custom-designed GIF's to play in the background of their stage shows.

However, what designer Eleanor Lutz does with GIF's is pretty darn amazing. Rather than splashes of color, Ms. Lutz uses GIF's to teach people science. Her latest work is what io9 calls "a mesmerizing look a the weird and wonderful ways that animals breathe." Cool right? I kind of sort of knew how humans breathed. But grasshoppers? No idea. Below is her illustration of three species she picked.

Click to EMBIGGEN

Assuming Black Panther is in Age of Ultron my vote goes to Dave Ramsey to be cast as the Wakandan King

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer is now live online. I guess Marvel decided to dump it early instead of airing it during Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. next Tuesday because it got leaked. Their loss and our gain. Embedded within the trailer is a lot of information. Intriguing to me is a shot of Andy Serkis who is rumored to be playing Ulysses Klaw. So what does that mean exactly?

This is Ultron's hand taking a vibranium bath. That's bad for people who
don't like Ultron. 

Well one, it means that vibranium is a big part of Avengers 2. According to the Marvel Wiki, "Vibranium is a rare, naturally occurring meteoric ore, theorized to be extraterrestrial in origin, and mostly comes from the country of Wakanda. It is capable of absorbing vibratory energy in its vicinity (such as sound waves) and it stores this energy within the bonds between the molecules making up the Vibranium. As a result, a chunk of Vibranium which has absorbed a considerable amount of vibratory energy would be exceedingly hard to demolish." Captain America's shield is made of vibranium, and the trailer suggests that Ultron (built by Tony Stark?) also takes a bath in it, making him essentially invulnerable. A foe for the Avengers indeed!

The scientist Ulysses Klaw is the guy that found all the vibranium in Wakanda. Chieftans (known as kings) had guarded the mound for generations. In order to get some, Ulysses kills King T'Chaka. His son, Prince T'Challa is the superhero Black Panther. So yeah, the idea that Ulysses Klaw is in the Avengers basically means that we are getting Black Panther, and this is very exciting.

WHO IS BLACK PANTHER?

Who should be cast to play Black Panther? I'd love to see David Ramsey (he
plays "Diggle" on the CW's Arrow). 

This is Dave Ramsey. As "Diggle" in Arrow, he's Oliver Queen's "Voice of Reason."

First off the name is a title. The "Panther" gets to eat a special heart-shaped herb which forges a connection to the Wakandan Panther God and grants superhuman senses, increased strength, speed stamina, reflexes, and agility. As king, the Panther has access to a vast collection of magical artifacts, advanced Wakandan technological and military hardware, as well as the support of his nation's wide array of scientists, warriors, and mystics. In the comics, the Wakandan military is one of the most powerful on Earth. In addition to all of this, Prince T'Challa is also one of the eight smartest people on the planet (Reed Richards is the smartest).

WHY AM I EXCITED ABOUT THIS?

This question is pretty easy to answer. Having Black Panther in the stories means that we're probably going to get a Namor storyline pretty soon. Plus, to be honest, I'm a little jaded with all the white washing that Marvel has. I mean these are great stories, but women and men of color or minorities in general have no "leading" roles. The big heroes are Thor (white), Captain America (white), and Iron Man (white). Black Widow is basically a footnote, although outcry over her super tiny role is starting to build momentum. Maybe Marvel will someday invest some money in a franchise actually starring Scarlett Johansson, but as of this writing I've heard of none. And I'm also pleased that Don Cheadle may have a guest star role in Avengers: Age of Ultron because he's pretty much a supporting character. The same goes for Falcon...supporting character material in Winter Soldier, and the pessimist in me says there's no way he makes the transition to the Avenger's movie despite having nailed the role.

Below is the embedded video for the trailer so you can watch it again and compare notes with me.

The Flash got poisoned after Firestorm got born and Harrison Wells is a very bad man

Barry got poisoned by "The Mist" who is now trapped in their fancy
prison for meta-humans built from the ashes of a state-of-the-art particle
accelerator. Convenient that one of those was just lying around.

We are three weeks into The Flash on the CW, and it has shattered the CW's ratings records as the most watched series premiere in the network's history. I'm not surprised that it has now been given a full-season order (yay!). Honestly, the trifecta of Flash, Arrow, and Gotham (Fox) is a renaissance for cinematic quality genre TV, and I'm really loving it.

So where are we exactly with The Flash? Well, by the end of the third episode Barry Allen is finally growing comfortable with his powers. He can save someone behind Iris's back while she's on the phone arguing with her boyfriend and be back in time to see if she wants to go get something to eat (even though they already had dinner and a huge bowl of buttered popcorn--what I wouldn't give for that kind of metabolism?)

Barry's world emerged from the first episode as fully realized. It's the objective of what so many of us strive for in our writing, because who hasn't been told at some point or another by an agent that you need to start in the middle of the action and you only have fifteen seconds to grab the attention of your reader (or maybe that's just something literary agents say). Anyway, all of you writers out there know what I mean, and all of you writers know just how hard that is to pull off.

So we have Barry now grown comfortable in his role as the Red Streak. We have Iris who is the obsessive stalker of "The Red Streak" and falling into the role that makes Lois Lane such an interesting character. We have Cisco and Caitlin Snow playing scientists that support Team Flash, and Harrison Wells as (from what I can tell) the ultimate villain of the first season, Reverse Flash or Professor Zoom. This hasn't been confirmed by anyone. It's just what I think.

From little things that Wells has dropped in dialogue, I know he's at least two-hundred years old, has been to the future, knows a hell of a lot about Barry Allen and engineered the accident that created him. Wells also isn't shy about killing people (lots of people if you consider all the meta-humans his experiment created). My guess is that Barry's whole life has been a manipulation by Wells. What I can't piece together is what does he get out of it?

Perhaps Zoom wasn't trying to kill Barry's mother but instead, murder Barry the kid in the pilot episode. Barry stopped that from happening by rescuing his kid self and Zoom took his rage out on Barry's mom? Does that sound plausible? So that would mean that (in the pilot) when we see red and yellow streaking around, the red is in fact Barry from the future trying to stop Professor Zoom from completing his objective, which then leads to Barry's mom being murdered and Barry's dad going to jail for it. That one scene is like a huge time paradox that blows my mind. Because Barry stopped him from completing his objective, Zoom has to create Flash in order to satisfy paradox.

Are you lost yet?

And for Flash fanatics like me, there was another Easter egg planted: we got to see the birth of one part of Firestorm. Ronnie Raymond (in a flashback), who is Caitlin's dead boyfriend, got trapped inside the particle accelerator and had a moment very reminiscent of Dr. Manhattan from The Watchmen. Firestorm (in case you don't know) is also known as "The Nuclear Man." He has the ability to rearrange the atomic and subatomic structure of inorganic matter. In other words, more special effects are incoming. I don't know about you, but when I watch comic book shows, I like to see special effects.

So in conclusion, in last night's episode the Flash got poisoned after Firestorm got born and Harrison Wells is a very bad man. Ayep, and now I'm ready for next week's episode. Hopefully, I will start getting some answers.

Common Sense is in short supply on the Walking Dead as Bob goes for a walk in the dark woods alone.

I kind of expected what happened to Bob in last night's episode of The Walking Dead, but I was hoping they wouldn't go there. In the comics, it's Dale that gets his legs amputated and eaten by the Hunters (in a world with no refrigeration a tourniquet is a handy cannibal item). However, Dale died in season two, so that wasn't a possibility. And then there's the whole fact that the guy that threatened baby Judith in the season premiere last week, remains alive. So yeah, Tyrese didn't kill him even though he was hitting him so hard I thought it plausible that the guy wouldn't survive. But did Tyrese know the guy wasn't dead? He stopped Carol from going into the cabin covered in zombie guts, reassuring her that he finished the job. Oy, I just don't know. Needless to say, it's disappointing. In Rick Grimes words to Carl, "You are not safe. You are never safe." And leaving loose ends of the "cannibal" kind will always come back and bite you in the ass.

But "Bob B Que" aside, the title of last night's episode, Strangers, is probably a nod to Father Gabriel, a preacher incapable of protecting himself who has been hiding out in a church, eating what remains of the food drive before the apocalypse started, and apparently the subject of something scrawled on the backside of the church that reads, "You will burn for what you did." Hmm. He did lead the group to the food bank, but the imagery of his arms against the wall in the pool of slime was too much like a guy just accepting his fate in a crucifixion to a walker that we later learned was probably his wife before the apocalypse. I'd be remiss to say that I don't trust Father Gabriel all that much at this point, and this leads me to my next subject: trust (or the lack thereof).

Trust is what makes societies work, and it's probably one of the single elements that has the most impact on a story being considered "dark." We've all seen or read stories where there's violence and death, and there are plenty of examples of such stories that I wouldn't brand as "dark" fiction. Rather, I'd consider them "action" stories or possibly in the "thriller" genre but not "dark." However, when you start to mess with trust, that turns a story away from the sunlight. American Horror Story: Murder House is a masterwork in this respect. The first season eroded all trust that Vivien had for Ben by exposing lie after lie after lie.

By contrast, the world of The Walking Dead is a place where trust is a scarce commodity. Rick and crew decided to trust that Terminus would be a sanctuary for them and instead, it became a slaughterhouse. They escaped, but only because Carol decided to morph into the most badass female heroine of all time, single-handedly assaulting the prison with a zombie army and facilitating the implosion of a place that was a hive of institutional evil. This is the push and pull of this world, and is its most hopeless aspect.

Sigh. Oh Bob, why oh why did you go for a stroll in the dark woods away from the church? The world may never know. It kinda sucks though that I was just starting to like his character. 

Feast is to Big Hero 6 what Icing is to Cake

I love the fact that running in front of animated films from Pixar and Disney are delightful shorts that are so good they're like icing on a big delicious cake. With Big Hero Six set to come out soon, Disney's released a trailer for its new short film Feast, and it looks pretty awesome. I'm reminded of when Julia Child said, "People who love to eat are always the best people." In this case, I think it applies to puppies too. But really, food is one of those things through which we are all connected kinda like the Force (is it ironic that Star Wars is also owned by Disney? Hmm).

From what I can tell, the plot of Feast is pretty simple. An adorable and hungry Boston Terrier puppy gets fed all kinds of nice things, and we get taken along for the journey through some pretty amazing animation. Seriously, I love the style of this animation and wish that more films got made that use the techniques on display in Feast. So if you haven't stumbled across this trailer for the short film yet, then click play on the embedded video below.

Will we see Gorilla Grodd in the new Flash series?

Last week's premiere of The Flash featured many Easter Eggs. Among them was a cage with busted doors that had the word "Grodd" scrawled upon it. For the uninitiated, this refers to a Flash villain called Gorilla Grodd, and I have hopes he may turn up in the series.

Gorilla Grodd is a hyper-intelligent psychically-endowed gorilla that has the "Professor X" (Marvel) power of mind control. He got his powers after an alien spacecraft crashed into his African home. I kind of think (for the television series) that they're going to use the explosion at the super collider to give Grodd his powers. His psionic abilities allow him to place other beings under his mental control, project force beams, transmute matter, transfer his consciousness into other bodies, and absorb intelligence through the consumption of human brains! Flash basically has immunity to Grodd's psychic abilities because he moves so fast that his thoughts process Grodd's illusions in slow motion.

Grodd has potential to be a launching point to introduce Wonder Woman as there's this whole plot arc with Gorilla City (a super advanced civilization existing somewhere in Africa).

So what do you think? Will we see Gorilla Grodd in the new Flash series?

The Batman of today is closer to Master Chief than the hero he was fifty years ago

Has anyone else noticed that the Batman's costume is becoming more and more reminiscent of something you'd find in HALO or another first person shooter? Take for example this latest iteration done by Kingdom Hearts creator and Final Fantasy designer Tetsuya Nomura:

What you're seeing is a re-imagined caped crusader for Square Enix's Play Arts Kai line of action figures. And yeah, the Batman looks like he's ready to kick some ass but it also looks like he's just a wee bit evil (which I guess is the point).

Seriously though, with regard to other superheroes I don't think I've noticed costume changes that have slowly morphed from tights in the 1960's into full on body armor like the kind worn by Master Chief in other characters. Superman is pretty much the same as he was. The same goes for Spider-Man and Thor. Iron Man was always in a prototype body armor so that doesn't count. But the Batman? No, he wasn't. In fact, this is what he used to look like (golden-age Batman):

Nowadays, instead of holding a gun, the Batman would have one just pop up off of his armor and shoot some kind of weapon out that blows our minds for its flashy effectiveness.

So my question to you is this: why is this happening? Why is his costume changing so much?

I thought about it last night and the only thing I can come up with is that Batman is a very popular character with boys, and boys play video games. The marketing department at DC Comics knows this, and they've chosen to make the costume more and more sinister with ridges and spikes. It's been a slow process...so slow that I haven't really taken note of it until I saw the picture up top. Note the similarities between what the Batman is wearing and the lean armor worn by this hunter in the video game Crysis (click to EMBIGGEN).

Muscles are well defined, weapon is very spikey, and there's lots of detailing all over the skin-tight bodysuit. Anyway, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this matter. Would you agree that the Batman's uniform is slowly turning into video game military-style combat armor? And if you do agree, do you think it's being driven by first-person shooters like Crysis? I look forward to reading your comments.

The Flash pilot hit all the right notes of awesome and makes me ask if Thawne is going to be Professor Zoom

The pilot ended with this ominous headline that's obviously an homage
to "Crisis on the Infinite Earths" and indicates that Harrison Wells is
definitely not restricted to knowledge from the present timeline. Let's just
hope that The Flash handles time travel well.

The pilot for the Flash was awesome, and both the CW's budget as well as its special effects have come a long way since the Superman prequel, Smallville. Sure there are some similarities. It looks like we are being setup for a "freak of the week" version of storytelling. Instead of kryptonite being the source of the powers, we have an experimental particle accelerator like C.E.R.N. that's gone awry. It also looks like they might be following the love triangle of Clark, Lana, and everyone else that Lana dates by creating a love triangle with Barry, Iris, and everyone else that Iris dates. However, this might end up much better than Clark and Lana because in the former, we always knew Clark would end up with Lois Lane. In the latter, things aren't so set in stone.

Additionally, the Flash has never been a "brooding" character like Superman. The Flash is a wise-cracking, fun, and loving superhero and to this extent, Grant Gustin fits the bill. And for fans of the comic books, we all know that Barry Allen meets his end ominously, but saving the world. We got some of that foreshadowed last night when we were given a closing scene that included a front page from "The Central City Citizen" on which the headline "Flash Missing: Vanishes in Crisis" appears. Well in a "Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Flash sacrificed his life to save Earth."

Is this guy Professor Zoom? He's Eddie Thawne and the name is just too
similar to Eobard Thawne who is known as the "Reverse Flash" or "Professor
Zoom," the nemesis of Barry Allen in the comics (and responsible for
killing Iris who ends up as Barry's first wife). 

So here's the things that I noticed. First, the main villain of last night's pilot was "Weather Wizard." Nothing really to write home about there. He's basically Storm from Marvel's X-Men only less cool and now he's dead because Iris's father shot him after Barry unwound his tornado by racing around it in the opposite direction at a thousand miles an hour. Two, the Flash (and by extension Arrow since they are in the same universe) both exist in a world where time travel is possible through speed. Barry Allen's mother was killed by a flash of yellow light. I think the villain responsible might be Eddie Thawne who is the attractive blond police detective currently dating Iris, who is Barry Allen's friend.

Cover to Time Masters: Vanishing Point #5. This is what
Reverse Flash, a.k.a. Professor Zoom, looks like.

In the comics, a guy named "Eobard Thawne," a.k.a. Professor Zoom, is the archenemy and foil of superhero Barry Allen. Flash wiki says that Thawne is ranked as IGN's 31st greatest comic book villain of all time. It's obvious to me that time travel is going to play a big part in this series, so I'm intrigued. If I'm correct, then that newspaper headline we see at the very end will probably change. Now as for who is Harrison Wells? I initially think he's a good guy. But its obvious he's got other motives and knows about different timelines. Is he the Flash from the future or is he Professor Zoom or related to Professor Zoom in some way? I'm not sure and will need more time to think about it (and more information from the series).

In either event, if you love superhero shows, you should be watching The Flash. It was probably the best superhero-based pilot I have ever seen. Seriously. Below is the trailer for next week's episode, which I can't wait to see!

Star Wars Rebels borrows what worked for Firefly and puts it squarely in the post-Empire universe

I watched the whole pilot for Star Wars Rebels this weekend with my special out-of-town guest, Grumpy Bulldog who is quick to say that his favorite movie of all time is probably The Empire Strikes Back. So I guess between his reverence for Star Wars, and my ability to spot things, I was able to put together a decent opinion about this series.

It is one I'm going to continue to watch. The action comes at you fast and swift, just like all Star Wars movies and television has thus far. In some ways, Star Wars follows a formula: 1) things are always gigantic, 2) there is always a lightsaber, 3) there is always a force user despite the fact that someone/anyone will tell you that Jedi are all dead or that "the Force" is an ancient religion with no modern practitioners, and 5) whenever you deal with anyone associated with the Empire (unless they are a named character) they are utterly incompetent.

Things that Rebels has going for it include: 1) humor, 2) a Firefly-esque crew out to do good but essentially a team of morally ambiguous privateers just trying to eek out a living in the wake of "Order 66 and the fall of the Jedi." 3) a clear homage to Ralph McQuarrie's artwork. One of the aliens is even an early concept drawing of a "wookie" done by Ralph McQuarrie and there's kind of an inside joke when Stormtroopers don't recognize the creature as a wookie.

If you're used to the animation style of The Clone Wars, this will take a little getting used to as it's a little more "cartoony" even though the animation is quite fluid. Ezra (the kid), for example, looks more or less like a cross between the detailed faces we saw in The Clone Wars and a muppet from Jim Hensen's studio. I think I say that because of the shape of his nose. That and his hair is shiny as if he puts a lot of product in it, which he probably doesn't. It's just a "texture" choice that's made by the animators.

In the pilot we got a Jedi Holocron with Obi-Wan Kenobi's message warning all Jedi to stay away from the Temple and to trust in the Force (I assume this thing is loaded with Jedi training from some master at least as good as Yoda since holocrons are ancient and powerful relics of the Order), a droid that smacks of R2, a rogue Jedi and  a kid (wonder where this is going), a grumpy Mandalorian that's a demolitions expert and has rainbow-colored hair, and that "Wookie-esque" alien I mentioned above. He serves the role of muscle and comes from the whole "tough love" crowd with regard to the kid; he's also the butt of some  hygiene jokes.

This is the new "Big Bad." I didn't actually see this lightsaber in the pilot, but
I know they are going with this design. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but the
entire Old Republic did die so that we could get this design.

All in all, Star Wars Rebels did what it set out to do. I felt entertained and the mysteries were enough to keep me questioning. It had the feel of something filmed in the Star Wars universe, and I'm curious as to where it intends to go. Oh and we got a glimpse of this series' "Big Bad" that may be a placebo for Darth Vader, even though we could technically see Vader in this series as much as they want to show him. One reason for not showing him might have to do with "diminishing" his competence, because we all know that Vader meant business in all three of the original Star Wars films.

What about you guys? Any of you out there catch the pilot? If so, what did you think of it? 

The CW's Flash is the most exciting series to premiere this fall and it starts Tuesday

The Flash is one of my favorite comic book heroes. He, the Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman...I've always been more of a DC fan than I have been of Marvel. That doesn't mean that I don't love Marvel superheroes, because I do. But DC just seemed to be my jumping off point. I started with the Batman and Detective Comics, gradually moved to other titles and then jumped over to Marvel in a crossover where I learned about Spiderman and the others. But yeah, I own thousands of dollars in DC comics. It's hard not to when you have to buy four or five comics from different sets just to finish a storyline.

Next week (on Tuesday as a matter of fact) the CW launches its new series The Flash in the same time slot as Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I intend to watch both, but I will watch The Flash first and then go to my DVR for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. That's 'cause, well, The Flash is cooler than Agent Coulson and gang. Some days the truth just hurts.

There have been many iterations of the Flash over the years. Barry Allen is the Flash that I most closely associate with. Barry died in Crisis on the infinite Earths and is the second incarnation of the Flash. Wally West is the third Flash. And we can't forget Bart Allen (who appeared in several Smallville episodes). Bart goes by Impulse and draws his powers from the Speed Force, just like Barry did before him.

As far as the CW is concerned, they're going with Barry, and he's being played by super handsome (and incredibly adorable) actor Grant Gustin (yes, this is perfect casting). In the Silver Age comic books, Barry was a police scientist who gained super-speed when bathed by chemicals after a shelf of them was struck by lightning. The CW is going with this version of the Flash's creation fairly close to the source material, changing only that Barry isn't a police scientist but instead, a C.S.I.

Every Flash draws their power from the Speed Force, which allows them to move, think, and react at lightning speed. It bestows superhuman endurance, they can vibrate so fast that they can pass through walls (quantum tunneling), travel through time, and manipulate kinetic energy in themselves and other beings. They have an invisible aura around their bodies that prevents themselves and their clothes from being affected by air friction. Flash is totally faster than Superman and can absorb information really fast (though the effect is usually temporary), and can punch someone with so much force it's called the infinite mass punch (IMP for short).

I think the CW's Flash is the most exciting series to premiere this fall, and I seriously can't wait. I'm actually more excited for it than the return of The Walking Dead.

So what say you? Are you excited?

Advice about writing can be good or bad so how can you tell the difference?

Today is the one year anniversary of the Insecure Writer's Support Group website. To celebrate, the insecure writers of the world are putting together an anthology. The book's purpose is to assist and encourage other writers on the journey, so they are looking for tips and instruction in the areas of writing, publishing, and marketing. Now, since there is so much of this on the internet already, and I think there is literally nothing I can say that can add to this chorus, I thought I'd write an article on decision-making itself and how a person can separate good advice from bad advice. To be clear, my article here isn't intended for the anthology. Rather it's meant to somehow complement all the advice that's out there by perhaps looking at the giving and receiving of advice in a different light.

In the realm of "advice" I think the word "specious" comes to my mind particularly often. The definition of "specious" is something that has the "ring of truth" but is inherently false, and it's been my observation that all of us are guilty of accepting specious advice because of a thing called "confirmation bias."

Now, if you don't know what this is, "confirmation bias" happens in those moments where everything you see seems to confirm your wisdom. It occurs because of a misconception that your opinions are the result of years of rational, objective analysis when in truth...your opinions are the result of years of paying attention to information which confirmed what you believed while ignoring information which challenged your preconceived notions. Don't take my word for it, but take what Terry Pratchett has to say through his character Lord Vetinari from The Truth: a novel of Discworld:

"Be careful. People like to be told what they already know. Remember that. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. New things...well, new things aren't what they expect. They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don't want to know that man bites a dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people think they want is news, but what they really crave is olds...Not news but olds, telling people that what they think they already know is true."

So I guess if I have any advice to give with regard to accepting advice from others (writing or otherwise), it is this: be skeptical of anything that promises to solve a problem especially if it fits your existing ideology. Instead, consider examining the advice using a method outlined by Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson in Psychology Today and see if it stands up to the following conditions/questions:

1) Is the advice true? Is there evidence that supports a conclusion?
2) Does the advice have actionable steps that can be reproduced by anyone? Take a recipe as an example. If you follow a recipe exactly, you will always end up with the same thing. If you apply this to say...publishing advice...and follow the steps someone has outlined exactly then you should be able to arrive at the same conclusion. If not, then the advice is probably bad.
3) Consider the source and what their agenda might be (if any).

Basically, what I'm saying is to be careful of taking advice that comes from such an ambiguous cloudy thing as "personal experience," especially if the personal experience is not framed properly. No two situations are ever alike, but with a proper frame job you can at least understand not just what worked but why it worked in the first place.

In Outlander time has consequence above and beyond just changing the past to divert the future

I think (for me) the Starz series called Outlander has perfect pacing. Events have been unfolding for Claire at a nice pace ever since she arrived in 18th century Scotland, and she's managed to go from being a woman suspected of being an English spy to one that's married to a handsome young Scot and has earned the loyalty of those who originally shunned her. And in this, I suppose there was some irony because Claire may have earned a portion of that trust by drinking from a magical spring, which legend says would have swollen her throat shut were she to utter a single lie during questioning. I say "irony" because I could tell that Claire didn't believe that a spring could have such properties, even though a circle of cairn stones at Craigh na Dun hurled her through time. It's interesting how she can pick and choose her superstitions when profound evidence that magic is real exists in her own life.

Even without having read Diana Gabaldon's books, it was easy to see that Claire and Jamie Fraser were destined to end up together. But I've absolutely loved the way in which it happened, seemingly as organic as two people first becoming friends and then finding something more a little further in the relationship. Starz even spent an entire episode on the wedding, going through the three demands that Jamie met in order to take his bride: 1) he wanted a real priest to marry them 2) he expected a ring to be made from a key (primarily the "bow" part of a key, which in itself taught me that a medieval key consists of a "blade" and a "bow," and 3) Claire would need the finest dress that they could get on short notice.

Instead of being some horrible plot device to save Claire from the evil "Black Jack" Randall, Jamie's insistence on details for his wedding turned the whole affair into one of the most romantic things I've ever seen. There was even courtship, with an exchange between the two of them that occurred after their wedding that went from Jamie telling Claire all about his lineage to their making love for the first time, to getting food and wine, and more sex, and well...yeah. It was pretty great considering that it could have been pretty awful. But maybe the true magic of the series is Claire, probably the best heroine I've come to enjoy in what seems like ages. Claire has this ability to see the worst of circumstances in the best light, and it's rather wonderful to see what she'll do next to get herself out of a situation. Or in the case of the cliffhanger ending of the mid-season finale, what luck will bring her when she is completely out of options and she's played her best hand only to fail miserably.

The most tense part of last night's mid-season finale though was Claire realizing she was just a hop, a skip, and a jump away from the pile of rocks that we can only assume will whisk her back to her own time period if she can only touch the center rock. Her husband in the future was at the stones at the same time on film, just about to leave when he heard her voice calling to him from the rocks. As romantic and tense as this seems, one thing I'm a little mystified with is the whole time travel mechanic going on here. It would appear that both timelines (Claire's future and her past) are moving at the same pace. So when she does eventually make it back to her timeline, whatever time that she's spent in the past will have passed for her in her future (essentially making her a "missing" person). It's an interesting mechanic because it means that time has consequence above and beyond the meddling one can do in the past that forges a divergent future. As far as time travel devices go, the rocks at Craigh na Dun are pretty stingy in this respect because if you're able to send someone into the past to live a different life, the least you could do when that journey's over is deposit them in the exact time in which they left so that (to an outside observer) you've only been gone a second. But doing it this way, Claire leaves a trail of broken hearts and broken men no matter "when" she goes.

Big Hero 6 shows that Disney is willing to give it another go with diversity in its films. I hope it does really well.

Is it possible that Disney finally got the message that diversity in its films is actually good? The newest film from the animation studio is Big Hero 6, and from the looks of it I'm going to like it. However, as my taste doesn't necessarily predict "blockbuster" status, I'll simply say that I think the trailer is amazing even if it never conquers the records smashed by Frozen (which left me somewhat nonplussed). Guys, I'm seriously doing a happy dance that I'm seeing Asians, Blacks, and all kinds of people of color in this show. What a breath of fresh air.

So the main character is a tech wizard (and a boy) by the name of Hiro. So yeah...an Asian kid that's also a nerd. Nice right? When Hiro's brother dies, he inherits a robotic helper named Baymax. For the rest, I think you should just take a couple minutes and watch the trailer and decide for yourself. I think its filled with funny lines and images and seems to have that uplifting feeling that I like when I watch movies of this nature. And it's fun that Baymax is fat and basically serving in the role of "hero." I like that. It almost makes me want to "clutch the pearls."