Geekklesia

Now that season one of Supergirl is in the books, and the initial back and forth over the merits or crimes present in the film Batman v. Superman: the Dawn of Justice  has died down, I have an observation I wish to share: The best presentation of Superman on screen today is in Supergirl . There.  I said it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the near-mythical blur that pops up every so often to prove the Man of Steel exists in this universe, or exchanges text messages with his cousin is what many die-hard Superman fans have been clamoring for. Nope. The best Superman on screen is, in fact, Kara Zor-El, Supergirl herself. Why do I say these things? Well, it's only slightly based on my own readings of comics from the seventies, a small but eclectic collection of DC and Marvel titles that my aunt had at her house for her grandkids to read when I was very young.  I've also done some reading on various histories of the comics and even one specifi...

I have mentioned here and elsewhere that I am not fully a comic book geek.  My younger self was entertained by the small reading collection maintained at my aunt's house for her grandchildren (who were themselves closer to my own age than my cousins), but I never really maintained anything other than small collections of limited run series (like Ambush Bug and Car Warriors ).  Even today, I have more comic books than I have ever in my life owned, but will most likely be culling that down to a very small, non-negotiable pile of less than twenty or so in the next few months.  I have read my fair share of Superman, Batman and Justice League comics, and I faithfully watched the Superfriends cartoons on Saturday Mornings (I preferred the Wonder Twins to Wendy and her idiot brother). So it should come as no surprise that I consider myself "conversant, not fluent." A couple of years ago, I saw Man of Steel and didn't hate it. It didn't cause me anger when a young, un...

First of all, let me say that it is great to be back. I have been on hiatus while I transitioned from an administrative role in my church in Mississippi to a pastoral role in a local church in Virginia. The transition has taken longer than I anticipated, but I have a number of notes for posts in the hopper that need a bit of work, but this is one I was able to finish.  Hopefully , it will be of help to someone. In the film,  Fools Gold , a character refuses to let himself be called the sidekick. In fact, his line is "I don't think of myself that way. I am the lead character in my own story." This quote reveals an underlying truth in nearly everyone's life: everyone is the hero/star of their own story.   In the live-action version of the superhero satire  The Tick , Arthur bristles  at the notion that he's the Tick's "sidekick." He prefers to be known as his 'partner.' He cannot accept that he might have second billing to someone els...

Note : this post will contain major spoilers from THE MAN OF STEEL film . If you haven't seen it yet , feel free to watch it and come back . I'll wait . In the film, Kal-El (not yet called Superman) calls attention to the fact the symbol that looks like a big red "S" to American earthlings is actually the symbol for his family on Krypton, and that it also stands for hope there as well. Throughout the film it seems as if writer David Foyer and director Zack Snyder are going to reinforce this theme: several times in the course of the film (presumably due to the upbringing of his adoptive earth parent's the Kents) he is seen finding a way to save lives.  Indeed, this has been a major refrain of most reviewers that I've heard that it is this stubborn refusal to end a life that marks Superman as an iconic comic book hero. So what happened in the third act? Why was Superman not able to save both the family in the Metropolis train stat...

" OMG Casting Ben Affleck as Batman just set us back another 10 years in our efforts to cure cancer, end poverty and bring peace to the Middle East. OH WAIT IT'S ONLY A MOVIE" - Berin Kinsman, from his Facebook Page (used with permission) Why do we in the geek/nerd community get so bent out of shape abut things like the recent announcement that Ben Affleck has been cast as the new Batman in Zack Snyder's upcoming Batman/Superman film?  People have been bringing up disastrous Affleck films like Gigli , Daredevil and Armageddon . Others have defended the choice citing his recent directorial triumphs like last year's Argo , which won him an Oscar for Best Director. Me? I'm willing to give Ben a chance, although I must admit he was not my first choice. But the question remains: why the vitriol here, when other things are so terribly wrong with the world? To begin, I'm not sure that individuals in the geek/nerd community were not outraged by the...