Years ago my second-favorite Warren Ellis comic, Global Frequency, was developed as a pilot for the old WB network. As that was the original home of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a number of other good dramas that successfully mixed both younger audiences and mature themes I figured that was pretty much the natural home of something like a television adaptation of a serialized, violent but ultimately optimistic and good-natured property like Global Frequency. The pilot had some great talent in it and floated around online like crazy after the WB decided not to pick it up.
Now the web is abuzz that the CW - offspring of a merger of the WB with UPN - is developing a completely new adaptation of Global Frequency with Scott Nimerfro writing the script. Nimerfro has a number of writing credits on other shows that occupy roughly the same aesthetic neighborhood: Pushing Daisies, Stargate, The Outer Limits and Tales From the Crypt, titles that might not seem like they'd ever have much in common but Global Frequency is the kind of book in which one issue might be about wacky alien hijinks in NYC and the next might be about an incredibly bloody showdown between two professional killers in some lonely locale far from anyone else's notice.
The book is highly episodic and in two trade paperbacks, so the whole thing can be gotten and read as a self-contained story. The comic is largely Ellis at his best, focused on the interconnectedness of all people and the way societies really are just networks of personal relationships that must be maintained and their constituents respected for those social bonds to remain strong. The set-up is that Miranda Zero and her network of 1,000 sleeper agents around the world - each an expert in something extremely specific - wait for problems to appear and then solve them in a hurry. Much of the fascination for me is that almost every issue is about different agents, so we get to see how they react to their lives being abruptly interrupted by the call to service as hero for a day. The whole concept is given over to creativity and diversity of themes and tones so that there really is a little something for everyone and the book emphasizes the value of a highly diverse resource pool. Highly recommended.
However, I am a little worried that the developer here is the CW. They were also home to one of my favorite shows in years, Reaper, and I'm not quite sure they gave it the right chance or the right support. Its same sort of Bug of the Week approach to serial narrative with a similarly slow exploration of the larger, quirky world it inhabited never got entirely on its feet and the network seemed to try to strangle it to death after a very few episodes.
At any rate, I hope the TV adaptation of Global Frequency comes to pass and that it's good. Ellis won't say anything other than that something is in the works, which is for the best. If they said Ellis was writing the script, honestly, I'd lose hope fast. How many shows could make it when the writer can only manage two scripts in a year?
With Smallville in its ninth season, it's a fair bet to assume that you've caught an episode or two, if not for the story, then for the shirtless Tom Welling. And when that's not enough of a draw, the show reinvents itself with superhero collaborations and stunts like bringing on Geoff Johns as a guest writer. February will see a combination of both these factors in the form of a two-episode 'TV film" centering on the Justice Society. The story will feature Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Stargirl, Martian Manhunter and Amanda Waller. But I'm mostly focused on the casting of Stargate's hunky Michael Shanks as Carter Hall. The stuff of slash writer's dreams was fulfilled when Ben Browder locked lips with his Stargate SG-1 costar at the 2008 Comic-Con. Unfortunately, his Hawkman costume calls for a bronze breast plate instead of our favorite avian superhero's regular bare-chested burliness, but the idea of a Hawkman team-up was already enough to make sure I'm tuning in.
"Justice" and "Legends" will air on the CW on February 5th.
Fire up those DVRs, kids, because on Friday of this week, 23 October, the multi-talented and fabulously out Neil Patrick Harris is going to be playing - and singing - the part of a villain named the Music Meister on the cartoon series Batman: The Brave and the Bold. One synopsis I've read suggests that the Music Meister's unnaturally persuasive voice will cause multiple heroes and villains to burst into song-and-dance routines illuminating their various feelings for one another and towards Batman in classic Broadway style. If The Bat himself sings a song I might actually faint dead away.
I am studiously avoiding comment on that, um, baton.
Of course the big in-joke is that NPH's sudden second career as a song and dance man seems to have started when he played the equally musical villainous title character in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, but we're all on the Internet so we all already know that, right? I'm sure it - or possibly this episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold - is not to everyone's tastes, but as one of the stereotypical drama refugees who lived for the high school musical every spring I am having trouble imagining an episode I'd want to watch more. Even if one doesn't particularly like NPH or musicals, one has to marvel at how Harris' agent must be the most pleasantly surprised person in LA.
And please, can the media stop referring to him as "Doogie?" It is over. Let it go.
I know we have a lot of Buffy/Angel/Whedon fans here, so I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Andy Hallet, who played the demon Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, or 'Lorne', has died heart disease. He was 33. Apparently he had been fighting heart disease for five years. His father was with him when he died.
Sad news, and our condolences go out to his friends and especially his family.
Welcome to Il Palazzo's Weekly Heroes Rant! Each week, I hope to inspire you to get off your couch (after watching Heroes), and jump into your computer chair (so you can read about Heroes). Beware though, I'll be recapping each episode as it airs, so spoilers will abound. Look forward to my often-wrong theories, erratic comments, and comparisons to the comics the show steals material from is inspired by. Hit the jump for my rant on this week's episode!
Since it is Saturday morning, now's a perfect time to present the opening to the oft-maligned yet totally underrated Watchmen animated series back int he 80s. Shocking that Alan Moore himself worked on the show and did the voice for Rorschach. Crazy.
This morning, Goblin threw down an interesting article on my e-desk. Apparently, back in November, Unreality Magazine finally answered that 3 season-year old question: Who would win in a fight between the cast of Heroes and the X-Men? It's a very good read (even if a little outdated now that volume four of Heroes is running), and I suggest you check it out. There are a few minor gripes though:
One being Arthur vs. Rogue:
Both have the power to zap the ability (and life) out of another mutant, but Arthur's power seems much more advanced and dangerous. Rogue only keeps the power for a short period of time, but there doesn't seem to be a limit on how long Arthur can keep his stolen goods. He also can absorb so much of a person that they literally turn into dust on the spot, even if they've been rumored to be immortal. I've never seen Rogue pull that off.
Yeah, Rogue can easily kill people with her touch. She put the first guy she ever kissed into a coma, remember? They don't even have to be immortal for her to suck the life out of them.
The other one is for the Sylar and Magneto fight. Mags could win in under five seconds. "Oh? Is that some scrap metal lying around? Let me just levitate that into the back of your skull while I float up several yards away. There we go."
I would like to see Heroes Vs. Watchmen next. Just throwing that out there.
The new Iron Man series debuts in April on the Nicktoons Network (home of Wolverine and the X-Men). Check out this preview for the show.
I'm less than thrilled. Aside from the stiff CG animation, why are they making Tony a teenager? Aside from the best forgotten post-The Crossing status quo of Iron Man back in the 1990s, the best part of the Iron Man film was that it was adult without gratuitous sex and violence. Obviously Nickelodeon wouldn't be aiming for "adult," but it just muddles the mainstream audiences even more by introducing another version of the character.
Welcome to Il Palazzo's Weekly Heroes Rant! Each week, I hope to inspire you to get off your couch (after watching Heroes), and jump into your computer chair (so you can read about Heroes). Beware though, I'll be recapping each episode as it airs, so spoilers will abound. Look forward to my often-wrong theories, erratic comments, and comparisons to the comics the show steals material from is inspired by. Hit the jump for my rant on this week's episode!
Don't you just love it when your favorite funny book creators mix it up in other mediums?
Well, Captain America scribe extraordinaire Ed Brubaker has come to the world of the internet with a new web-only series called Angel of Death. And this ain't no comic book, folks. This is a flesh and blood series with bona fide humans.
Head on over to Crackle.com to check out the first episode of Angel of Death and then you can head back every weekday for the next chapter.
Welcome to Il Palazzo's Weekly Heroes Rant! Each week, I hope to inspire you to get off your couch (after watching Heroes), and jump into your computer chair (so you can read about Heroes). Beware though, I'll be recapping each episode as it airs, so spoilers will abound. Look forward to my often-wrong theories, erratic comments, and comparisons to the comics the show steals material from is inspired by. Hit the jump for my rant on this week's episode!
Welcome to Il Palazzo's Weekly Heroes Rant! Each week, I hope to inspire you to get off your couch (after watching Heroes), and jump into your computer chair (so you can read about Heroes). Beware though, I'll be recapping each episode as it airs, so spoilers will abound. Look forward to my often-wrong theories, erratic comments, and comparisons to the comics the show steals material from is inspired by. Hit the jump for my rant on this week's episode!
Northstar's Boyfriend Coming In January!
You guys may recall I was a bit cranky about Northstar and his lack of lovin' about a year and a half ago. In fact, at the time, I issued a challenge to Marvel to get him a kiss by June 2009 or I would declare him not really gay. I have not forgotten about this. However, when the X-men moved to San Francisco this year, we were teased with the existence of what looked to be Northstar's boyfriend (and manager), so I delayed judgment until we could see more. Since then, Northstar hasn't had a lot of major appearances, as there have been about a thousand major crossover events in the Marvel universe in the last six months, and each one tends to disrupt the normal storyline for most books, including the many X-books. So I waited. Our patience seems to have been rewarded! Artist Tim Fish revealed on his blog that his upcoming story in Nation X #2 (which comes out in Jan.) is a story about Northstar, and will feature Kyle, his boyfriend in an 8-page story. I'm not sure if an actual kiss is in it, but it's implied that there is some lovin' going on. Check out some sketches of Northstar, Kyle, and Aurora below, and we'll keep you up to date when we get closer to Jan. NATION X #2 1/6/10 [TimFishWorks]...
