Astonishing X-Men #17

(I hate when I can't think of more interesting titles for my blog entries.)

OK, that post about Heroes was a brief respite from the recent theme of this blog, but really, we must be getting back to the Joss Whedon gushing. I've actually been meaning to do some gushing on this topic for almost a week. That's right, it's time to throw some praise on Astonishing X-Men #17. Did you read this thing? It was amazing. Up to this point, #14 had been my favorite of this arc. Then issue #16 comes out and it's a pretty dead heat. (That issue did teach us just how badass Kitty's powers can be, after all.) Now #17 comes along and blows away, not only every other issue in this arc, but possibly of the entire series to date. So now I give you random bits of Astonishing X-Men #17 love:

• Kitty Pryde continues to be my new favorite character - I thank god that she's on the side of the angels, 'cause that thing with the pipe in the head was scary
  
• Victorian child Logan
• The end of Victorian child Logan - apparently beer is his spinach, which is just priceless
• Whedon and Cassaday fucking pulled focus in a comic book. Unbelievable
• Lockheed: WTF? That's just...really unexpected
• Cassandra Nova is the scariest looking old bald lady ever
• Cyclops: badass!
• the cover

I also have a question. What is Teenage Negasonic Warhead's power, besides having the coolest name ever? Have I just completely forgotten seeing her use it? I'm going to have to go through the past issues and check that out. I hope I don't have to pull out my E is for Extinction trade paperback, because I have no idea where it is. While I'm at the question asking, why does Scott have a gun?

Honestly, I just can't say enough good things about Whedon, Cassaday, and the whole team on this book. I had forgotten why I once loved the X-Men, and while I have recently decided to give Uncanny and adjectiveless X-Men another chance, and am finding that I mostly enjoy those titles, it's such a joy to be able to just pick up and read an X-Men title without having to worry about whether I am caught up on all the crap baggage that normally comes with reading an X-Men title. With Astonishing I can just enjoy the story and the characters. I can't wait to see how Whedon is going to wrap "Torn" up in the next issue. There are so many balls in the air. We have two Emmas, Ord, Danger, Cassandra Nova's psyche (which was just all kinds of ewww), Teenage Negasonic Warhead (I just like the name), and whatever Emma did to Cyclops' powers. I can only imagine some of that stuff is going to carry over into the next arc, because surely not even Whedon and Cassaday can cram that all into one issue.

On a non-X-Men, but still comic books related note, is anyone reading and Sensational Spider-Man and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man? I had given both titles up for being completely sucktastic, but now I feel like I'm missing out on stuff. I'm still not sure I am happy about the events of Civil War with regard to Spidey, but I can't deny that it has put Amazing Spider-Man back at the top of my pile of books to read whenever it comes out. JMS is just handling it incredibly well. (The fact that it gets us away from crap like "Sins Past" and "The Other" doesn't hurt at all.) Have the other two books experienced the same bumps in quality?

Shows Named After Bowie Songs Rock

First of all, I have to admit that I am already a bit confused by Heroes. I felt a bit like I started watching it halfway through. However, I am more than willing to go along for the ride and try to make sense of everything that is going on. I thought the premier was fantastic. My favorite character so far is Hiro. He quotes Star Trek, references the X-Men (and Kitty Pryde no less), and you just can't beat the pure unadulterated joy he feels about being superpowered. Conversely, the cheerleader from Texas (I think) really annoyed me, but I am going to cut her some slack for now because her mom is weird and her dad is clearly evil. The character I was expecting to hate but actually kind of liked was the guy played by Milo Ventimiglia (the nurse who thinks he can fly). The press painted him as some whining, mopey youth and he really wasn't. He was just a guy trying to make sense of his place in the world, which I think makes him very identifiable. Sure he was a bit broody, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Some of my favorite characters brood. The storylines I am finding most intriguing write now is the internet stripper and how she did what she did (it was awfully messy), not to mention what the hell is up with her reflection, and the Indian geneticist, because he obviously has some of the answers.

Next week we get to see Greg Grunberg. YAY! I love him and I hope that this role really gives him a chance to shine. He deserves it. Also, I just found out that Tim Sale is doing the heroin addict psychic's art, so keep an eye out for that because Tim Sale is amazing.

(I posted the answers to the Buffy trivia questions in the comments, so if you're interested, go check that out.)

Buffy Sing-A-Long

I know this is several days later than I said it would be, but look! I have visual aids! Those are the "instructions" for the audience participation. I was going to type them out until I remember I've had a scanner since February that I have never used and that Blogspot has a nifty little photo insert feture that makes it really easy. This is a momentous event. I posted my first picture on this blog. Look forward to many more in the future...or not. The fact that I now how to do it now doesn't really preclude my laziness. Anyway, on to my account of the Buffy Sing-A-Long...

My friend and I arrived at the IFC Center at around a quarter after 11PM and there was already a really long line of people waiting to get in. Soon after we arrived, the line became much longer. All the tickets sold out in advance of the show and there were actually people going up and down the line offering a minimum of $20 for the $10.75 tickets.

Inside, the theater was small and very crowded. The organizer, a thirty-something, heavy set man dressed like a watcher, was selling paper bags with the various items that would be used during the show for $2. Some of the bags were "special challenge" bags, meaning that there were some extra things that the people who chose those bags would have to do. My friend and I didn't take those bags because we didn't want to be made to do anything we didn't know about in advance. Next time I am so going to take one of those bags.

Before the show, there were a couple of competitions, or whatever you want to call them. First up was a Spike line reading competition, followed by an Anya line reading competition where three people were chosen to read a line in the manner of the character with the winner being chosenby the audience applause. The Spike line used was from "Tabula Rasa," when an amnesiac Spike realized he was British: "You english men are always so... bloody hell! Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bollocks. Oh god.. I'm english." The Anya quote was from her seduction of Xander in "Harsh Light of Day": "I like you. You're funny and you're nicely shaped. And, frankly, it's ludicrous to have these interlocking bodies and not... interlock. Please remove your clothing now."

After that was Buffy-oke where three sets of people were chosen to act out a scene karaoke style. For this competition, the organizer chose the scene from the season 2 episode "Innocence" where Buffy went to go find Angel in his apartment the day after they had sex not knowing that Angel was now Angelus. He chose it because, in his opinion, it was the most heart breaking scene in the history of the show (and I agree that it deffinitely ranks near the top of the list) and because "a dulcet choir of pretty little birdies" was one of the best lines ever. While the other two competitions were entertaining, this one was especially hilarious, especially because two of the pairs chosen were same sex, one made up of two women, the other of two men. It was the mixed gender pair that one though, since they were by far the best actors.

Then they showed the musical, "Once More With Feeling." Finally. This was so much fun. I, of course, did not need the subtitles to know the lyrics to any of the songs. They are indelibly etched on my brain from numerous home viewings of the episode and countless hours spent listening to the soundtrack. Anyway, everyone sang and cheered and waved their little monster finger puppets around. During "They Got the Mustard Out," some of the people with special challenge bags had to get up on stage to dance around with dry cleaning bags. During "Walk Through the Fire," other people with special challenge bags had to throw around red streamers. Unfortunately, neither my champaign popper nor my kazoo worked. My odd vampire mouth noismaker did though.

After the show, they showed the unaired half hour production pilot, which I had seen in college when it was making its rounds on the internet, but that was several years ago. It was very bad, and there was the "very bad, terrible, wrong Willow" (an actress named Rif Reagan, not Allyson Hannigan, played Willow in the production pilot and she could not act at all), but all the seeds for what would become an amazing show were there. Having just watched the two hour premier, "Welcome to the Hellmouth" and "Harvest," on Sunday I can say that the production pilot may not have had the production values, or the Willow, of the final product, but the humor, charm, and originality were all present. Thank god the WB had the foresight to see past the low-budget to see the brilliant concept.

Well, that's it. Hopefully, this will become a widespread phenomenon and everyone will get to enjoy it in their own cities. The IFC Center already has another Buffy Sing-A-Long weekend planned for November. I'm going to finish up by posting the questions from the Buffy Trivia Challenge that was also in the goody bag. If you reply to this entry with your answers, I will post a reply with the correct answers in a few days.

1. Name the Broadway musicalthat launched Hilton Battle's career. (hint: It was made into a 1978 film staring Diana Ross)

2. Name one of the songs sung by Giles on BTVS before the musical episode.

3. In which episode does Anya forst reference her fear of bunnies?

4. "Respect the cruller and tame the doughnut!" is a reference to what movie?

5. What pop singer was going to provide Buffy's singing voice before SMG decided she needed to do it herself?

6. Which season 7 episode features a flashback sequence with another musical number from Anya?

7. Who is the only character to appear in the original Buffy production pilot and the series finale of Angel?

Farewell, Old Friend

I fully intended to post an update about the awesome Buffy Sing-A-Long I wet to last night, but I think there is something I bit more pressing and monumentous that I should address first. Today marks the final day of programming for the WB before it becomes the CW. To honor the event, The WB aired "A Night of Favorites and Farewells," including the series premieres of Felicity, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dawson's Creek. Naturally, I felt obligated to tune in for the networks final five hours.

I thought the shows that they chose to show were very interesting. All were shows that have been of the air for a few years, and while Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek were both flagships that helped define the network, none were the huge rating successes along the lines of 7th Heaven and Smallville. Felicity and Angel never even seemed to be all that appreciated by the network when they originally aired. That said, I do think that these shows, along with the aforementioned 7th Heaven, will be what the WB is remembered for. And I think the reason for choosing these shows was to showcase the talented young creators (J.J. Abrahms, Joss Whedon and Kevin Williamson specifically) that were given their start by the network.

Over the years, I have bitched about the network's handling of shows, meddling, fostering of the likes Joey Potter and Lana Lang as positive female characters, the overemphasis they place on the hair length of their stars, and the continued existence of 7th Heaven, but there really was a lot of good there. After all, The WB gave Buffy the Vampire Slayer a chance when no other network would (for that alone I can forgive almost all sins). They also gave us Gilmore Girls and four wonderful seasons of Everwood, one of the most intelligent and interesting family dramas ever. Many of the actors and actresses have gone on to bigger and better things as well. Who would have ever expected Jaime Fox to go on to win an Oscar?

I also loved that their final five hours of programming included showing some of the old WB ads, which were always entertaining, if completely bizarre. I especially liked the "Watch the Frog" campaign, which is hard to explain. Essentially, two of the network's stars would be engaged in a supposedly candid conversation (two that were aired tonight featured Michael Rosenbaum talking to Tom Welling about padded bras and Kristin Kreuk and some actress I did not recognize talking about how going to couple's counseling is easier than going through all the work of a break up) and then happening upon Michigan J. Frog, the network's former mascot, and one of them saying "Watch the frog," presumably before the other actor or actress stepped on him. Like I said, the ad campaigns were bizarre. They also re-aired a series of ads that featured James Vander Beek and Scott Foley on a road trip. There were also montages of the bumps featuring all the actors and actresses throughout the years. Say what you will about the talent level of most of the shows, but you can't deny that they were among the most attractive people to ever grace television screens (well, aside from Vander Beek).

Think of me what you will, but most of the shows I watched since the start of the WB have been WB shows. They were very much the pop culture touchstones of my generation since the beginning. I don't know if the CW can really live up to that legacy. Their line up barely features much new programming, let alone anything innovative, and it seems much more focused on reaching out to advertisers than gaining a following with young viewers by providing an alternative programming to the other networks. Veronica Mars is the only risky show they have in their line up and it's going into it's third season. It's a bit depressing really, since burgeoning networks have in the past built themselves up on shows like The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer before they went all corporate. However, like the WB before it, the CW will be showing the majority of the shows I will be watching.

Tomorrow: the Buffy Sing-A-Long, a.k.a. the geekiest thing I have ever been a part of.

Best. News. Ever.

Joss Whedon is going to take over writing Runaways after Brian K. Vaughn leaves. I had actually hoped this would happen, which is what kept me from being completely devastated when I heard that BKV and Adrian Alphona were leaving the book after issue # 24. This is just so cool. I read about it late last night and I got entirely too happy. What can I say? I am a total Joss Whedon fangirl. I would not have even discovered Runaways if it wasn't for him since I had never heard of the title until I read that it was Whedon's favorite.

Joss, of course, has some interesting and entertaining stuff to say about taking over the titles. He also made some comments over at Whedonesque.com (scroll down and you'll find all three). This is what a big fangirl I am. Even Whedon talking about Runaways delights and entertains me, but when he's joking about jockeys hitting eachother with baseball bats, putting Molly on Planet Hulk, and how he's going to kill half the team, it's hard not to love the guy. Also, putting Molly on Planet Hulk isn't such a bad idea, though I'd rather see her beat up Wolverine. (But Whedon's got Wolvie acting all Victorian and wussy over in Astonishing X-Men, so I'm happy for now.) I'm excited about putting the Runaways on the run again too. This is going to be so cool, and anyone who isn't reading this book should deffinitely catch themselves up by next April so that everyone can share in my joy.

In unrelated, but still comic booky news, I think I may have found the very first Manga title that I am interested in checking out. Return to Labyrinth sounds pretty cool, and I would really love to know if the Goblin King can possibly be as cool in print as he was when brought to life by David Bowie. I have no idea if the too tight pants, crazy big hair, and disturbingly sexual nature of his performance can be captured on the page, but I really want to find out. I suspect it will involve a lot of inappropriate, yet essentially harmless touching.