LOL

Harry Potter...

SPOILERS: Click here if you want an update on the next Harry Potter book. However, still no word on when the book will be published.

Celebrity Siting...

I saw Richard Thomas, aka John Boy from The Waltons, walking into Barnes & Noble this morning. Small World.

Heroes...

And here I was hoping that with the end of Alias that I would only have two television shows to watch this next year: Lost ans 24. But I think I may have to give NBC's Heroes a try. A trailer for the show has just been posted here, and it looks like the show could be pretty good. But then I am a sucker for all things superhero. My only worry is that it could be nothing more than an X-Men rip off, but I'm hoping that is not the case. I'm sure I'll give the show a fair shot, and just hope that it's good enough to stick around for the rest of the season (or not; do I really need another show to get addicted to?).

The Return of Batwoman...

The net has been all abuzz with the news that DC Comics is bringing back the Batwoman character...as a lesbian. First appearing in July 1956 (in Detective Comics # 233), the original Batwoman, aka Kathy Kane, was created to be a female counterpart to Batman.



Also, in 1961 Kathy's niece Betty would become the first incarnation of Batgirl.



Why is this important? Just two years prior to Batwoman’s appearance, Fredric Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent claimed that comic books were corrupting the kids reading them, stirring up a public outcry that led to the Comics Code Authority (if you know me very well, you know that ANY form of censorship annoys me to no end). One of Wertham’s main points of contention was the seemingly implied homosexual relationship between Batman and Robin. In his defense, Wertham did not make this up. See the below pics…





So, in response, DC Comics introduced the characters of Batwoman and Batgirl to “prove” that the Dynamic Duo was straight. Of course Batman was always somewhat resistant to Batwoman’s advances, which did not help to disprove anything. For his part, Robin was much more open to Batgirl’s advances than his mentor was to Batwoman. However, both Batwoman and Batgirl, along with the likes of Bat-Mite and Ace the Bat-Hound, were seen--accurately, in my opinion--as making the series too silly, and were written out in 1964. Batwoman has made a few appearances since, but I won’t bore you non-comic-book-geeks with continuity details. (Incidentally, the original Batgirl would evolve into one incarnation of the character named Flamebird. Again, continuity issues become convoluted, but if you want to know more you can click on the above link which, like all the other links in this post, takes you to a Wikipedia article going into more depth than I do here.)

Fast forward to the 21^st Century. Of late, DC Comics has been diversifying their stable of heroes, making the hero known as Firestorm an African American, the new Blue Beetle a Hispanic teenager, and the upcoming incarnation of the The Atom will be of Asian descent. All of these characters were previously Caucasian. Obviously well known characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman have very specific pasts and retconning their race to be more diverse (politically correct) would most likely do nothing but alienate their fan base. But retconning the smaller heroes is (a bit) safer, though even this often times meets with lukewarm if not hostile reception. Continuing this trend of incorporating minorities into the DC Universe is the re-introduction of Batwoman as a lesbian. Although hardly the first homosexual character in the world of comic books (see here), this change to Batwoman has raised a few eyebrows, so I thought I would, after that rather long introduction, post my feelings about this.

Although I fear that this is nothing more than a publicity stunt (Comic book publishers? A publicity stunt??? NOOO!!!), I am hoping that it will actually work well, and be a good story first and foremost. Although I am all for diversifying the world of comics (even now there is a rather large percentage of staright white males dominating the superhero market…though that is also the target audience), when it is forced unnaturally it can end up being worse than the original situation. How will this storyline end up? Only time will tell, but I think it has potential. First of all, there is a great irony in it. Because Batwoman was first created to prove that Batman wasn’t homosexual, making her a lesbian is a rather nice twist of fate. I have also heard rumors that Kate Kane (the newly shortened name of her secret identity) will still be in the closet. The concept of being in the closet and wearing a mask, while not particularly original, does have potential. Plus, this new story is essentially thumbing its nose at the controversy from the 1950's and the Comics Code Authority, which I applaud. (FYI, the Comics Code Authoirty has lost most if not all of it's power by now. Marvel has completely abondoned it, creating their own rating system, and while DC does still work with the Code, they are more than happy to release titles without the Code's approval.)

This new Batwoman will make her fist appearance in the 11^th issue of the series 52, a book I read. 52 is very similar to the TV show 24, but in comics, and each weekly issue will cover one week of the year long 52 issue series. The series is written by Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Greg Rucka, and Geoff Johns. Although I am not very familiar with Waid, Morrison can be good, Rucka is one of my favorite current writers , and Geoff Johns’s re-working/fixing of the Green Lantern series is the reason I got back into comics a year or two ago. Since Batwoman will be in such capable hands, I am hoping that this storyline will be more than just PR hype.

(MUCH thanks to Wikipedia, where all of the above pictures and much of the information came from.)

Funny Videos...

It's been a while since I posted a funny video, so I thought I would post two today. Enjoy!

Which Superhero Are You?

If I answer this quiz's questions in a way to get the answer I want this is my score:

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Hot-headed. You have strong
will power and a good imagination.

Green Lantern 80%
Superman 80%
Iron Man 60%
Supergirl 60%
Robin 50%
Wonder Woman 40%
Spider-Man 40%
The Flash 40%
Hulk 40%
Catwoman 30%
Batman 30%


Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz



However, If I answer them honestly, then this is my answer:

Your results:
You are Superman
You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.


Superman 100%
Green Lantern 70%
Batman 70%
Robin 62%
Hulk 60%
Spider-Man 55%
Supergirl 55%
Iron Man 40%
Catwoman 35%
The Flash 35%
Wonder Woman 30%



Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

The Fountain's Release Date...

This blog is reporting that the Fountain will be released on Friday, October 13, 2006, and will play on 1,200 screens. The site doesn't list a source, but has been reliable in the past.

'Bout time.

Also, you can get a sneak preview of the newest screensaver promoting the movie here (the official site hasn't posted it yet).