Montreal Comiccon 2012 Report

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Anika

by Gabby

I think Montreal Comiccon (MtlCC) is considered an average sized convention. It welcomed 32 000 attendees this year (as opposed to San Diego Comic Con 2012 which welcomed 130 000+ people). Well, 32 000 is a third of the population of my hometown. So, in size, but mostly in heart, MtlCC was big.

The following contains my thoughts about the con, divided into broad sections.

THE EXHIBITION HALL

Since Martin (my con buddy) and I had deluxe passes, we had access to the floor early. I loved it that way; it permitted us to spend all the time we needed browsing on the first afternoon, and we basically didn’t return afterwards.

The layout was fairly straightforward and logical (two main vertical rows), and the booths had a great diversity of geeky stuff to look at and purchase. Highlights included the Heroes of the North booth, which is a live-action superhero web series set in Canada, made by Canadians. We spoke with Christian Viel, series creator, for a long while. Despite knowing it existed, I had never watched it, thus I learnt that in episode 20 of the first season, my corner of the world will be getting its very own superhero, Acadia.

I loved getting to know the shopkeepers running the booths, and had long conversation about the Whedonverse with many, and New Brunswick beaches with some.

As for the items themselves, I felt they were pricey, though I purchased a gorgeous cameo necklace and Martin treated himself to two geeky-themed t-shirts.

PANELS

This is what I was most excited about, and the thing that leaves me the most ambivalent after seeing them. I think overall the thing to remember is that some actors and public figures are natural born public speakers while some aren’t, and this produces panels with mixed results.

The biggest surprise for me was Adam Baldwin. The only thing I knew about him professionally was his time spent as Jayne in Firefly and his stint on Angel, and I knew next to nothing about him personally, however… Well, take a look at his Twitter profile. My goal is not to start an ideology debate here, it’s just that he’s very vocal about his political views, and let’s just say that they are not in line with mine. So I wasn’t expecting much going into the main room for his panel. What an erroneous perception I had! He was the picture of respect, politeness and professionalism. He had deep insights and interesting responses, even in the face of blatant disrespect. A woman came up to the mic and said (I kid you not): “Adam, do you like asian chicks?” while fanning herself, and upon hearing that Baldwin hadn’t understood the question, she suggested she go up to the stage and ask him personally. I was boiling with unease and embarrassment for him, but he said: “My dad always taught me not to judge people as a group, but if you’re talking about yourself, I’m sure you’re a nice lady”, and moved on.

If I had to sum up the other panels I went to in a couple of words, it would go something like this:

Nicholas Brendon : Surprise guest (Mark Lutz!); unprepared; hilarious; predictable answers to predictable questions (For example: Q: “Did you know beforehand that Xander was a douche, concerning him leaving Anya at the altar?”, A: “Of course I knew he was a douche, I played him for 6 years”).

Wil Wheaton: Authentic; strong introduction; excellent answers to very good questions from a wide range of his works (Stand by me, Tabletop, Star Trek & Sparks McGee).

David Finch: Annoying moderator; David is an artist passionate about his work but gets bored easily; was happy I named Luke Cage as a character I’d love to see in Avengers 2 because according to him “no one ever wants to talk about him”; loved to work with Brian Michael Bendis.

Reboot retrospective: Incredible turnout (500 people instead of the 150 they were expecting); lovely insight into the world of 3D animation in the early 1990’s; very open to questions and willing to discuss easter eggs and creative decisions at great lengths without censoring himself.

James Marsters: The audience didn’t ask any questions about Buffy for the first 30 minutes; was very professional on the set of Buffy; there was supposed to be a Spike spin off (he pitched to Joss a story about Spike losing everything by being the heroic vampire with a soul but in the end gaining a pair of boots); is in love with Dragonball as he finds it’s the best metaphor out there for being a man.

Heroes of the North: Unprepared; only two people showed up (series creator and the actress who portrays Acadia, Christina Sciortino); got to coach Sciortino on the Acadian accent since she has never been to the Maritimes.

Also, Martin went to a couple panels I couldn’t go to because of scheduling issues, so here is what I gathered from his summaries:

Smallville: Surprise guests (Sam Witwer and Sam Huntington!); it was really hot filming in the loft of the farm barn, so Tom Welling would shoot without pants for the close up shots; the cast of Smallville were very welcoming to new regular and guest actors.

Being Human: A big bunch of jokesters, they had to shoot that day but made time for the fans (even signed autographs when they weren’t supposed to); Sam Huntington pranks a lot of people; there were talks about behind the scene stuff because the new season was off limits.

Before moving on, I would be remiss not to post this amazing picture of Sam Witwer that Martin took in the Smallville panel:

THE SPECIAL EVENTS

We only attended two special events. Well, one and a half.

Friday night was the James Marsters concert. We were really confused throughout the whole show: is this a joke? is this serious? is it a joke meant to be serious? I still haven’t figured it out. He performed his own songs, most about hooking up with fans, one about wanting Michelle Trachtenberg if only she wasn’t so young, all with the same chords. He does have a wonderful voice, though.

Saturday was the masquerade. I feel really bad for the people who signed up for this, because I’m sure their cosplays were amazing (in fact, I know they were). Unfortunately, we, along with half of the packed audience, left not even 20 minutes after it started. The MCing was clearly improvised, not structured and the humor was of really poor taste (think the Joker pointing a toy gun at the audience after a member yelled “boring!” and then saying: “too soon?”). The concept was good: the Joker hijacks the stage while the other MC acts as support, but the execution was very miserable. It got so painful that we just had to leave.

THE PEOPLE

I think this was my favorite part of the whole weekend: meeting people. I didn’t make lifelong friends, but I did have very interesting conversations with strangers, which would’ve never happened otherwise.

Costumes are usually a great conversation starter, as well as waiting in line. I met hardcore Buffy fans who were fawning over my “We can slay it” shirt[http://shirtoid.com/45692/buffy-the-riveter/], a mother and daughter who knew all the tricks to get good seats waiting in line for the Wil Wheaton panel and received countless smiles and “how are you?”s wherever we went.

Just to give you an idea at how awesome the cosplayers were…

And finally, myself, in my hommage to Buffy in “Prophecy Girl” outfit:

SIGNINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

To be honest, I thought autographs and photos with the panelists were a money racket. This got partially confirmed by the two ladies in front of me before the Wil Wheaton panel; they assured me that taking pictures with celebrities is a very formal, quick, and impersonal affair, so I quickly dismissed the thought.

After seeing Wil’s panel, though, something shifted. I may not have wanted to take a picture with him, but I did want some form of interaction. So I decided to get something signed:

I made him sign my social work book because, hey, that’s one way to make it interesting! Also, I wanted to give him my thanks for writing about depression on his blog recently. I thanked him because reading his words gave me hope, and I related it to my experience. The whole time he was nodding, and signing, and at the end he thanked me for going into the field of social work because “they need all the help they can get”.

Side note: I think it’s really important that more people start speaking out about mental health issues to destroy the stereotypes and prejudice that sadly still exist. So thank you, Wil, for taking the time to do so.

THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE

I loved the venue: the Palais des congrès in Montreal is immense, and the colorful windows brought a joyous atmosphere to the event. Apart from some of the moderators, the organizers of the MtlCC were amazing. When we flocked to the Reboot panel, they changed the room to welcome everyone because the original one was too small, and when the Deluxe pass holders complained that there weren’t very many benefits to having that particular pass, they added a special line for us so we’d come in right after the VIPs. They were happy to answer all of my questions and apologized readily when they made a mistake. This helped make the experience a very human one. I had an amazing con buddy in Martin, and loved to share these experiences with him (and I also thank him for taking most of these pictures!).

I didn’t mean to end with criticism, but I think it’s natural that it flows this way. I would’ve really appreciated a stronger female presence at MtlCC. I don’t mean the con attendees; I can’t know for sure, but I’m guessing we were pretty close to the 50/50 range. No, I mean celebrity or comic guests. I saw only one woman at one of the panels I attended, and the other actresses were far and few in between. Becky Cloonan was the only high-profile female artist there. I watch a lot of TV, and I know for a fact that most of my favorites feature female leads or, at least, regulars. I would’ve been very grateful had an effort been made to invite them, to help break down the thought barriers that the geekdom is a male-lead world. This is what I’m looking forward to, should I attend the 2013 edition.

Montreal Comiccon brought what I was looking forward to the most: an escape from reality. Lastly, a huge thanks to the readers and contributors that took the time to give me tips about con going on my previous MtlCC post. I felt confident and ready to tackle the event after reading your comments! So thank you, thank you very much.

Q&A #171: How do you feel about giving comic books as gifts?

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Anika

In Q & A, a weekly feature of Fantastic Fangirls, we ask our staff to tackle a simple question — then open the floor to comments.

How do you feel about giving comic books as gifts?

C A R O L I N E

I suggested this question because it’s something I always feel conflicted about. Obviously, with some folks, it’s easy — if I have a friend who I know is invested in a particular comic book series or character, I can find something they don’t own or haven’t read yet and gift it for a particular occasion. Everybody’s happy!

Other situations are murkier, though. Comic book fans have a reputation as enthusiastic evangelists for our hobby, and — it’s not unearned. A friend might express curiosity about a particular series or creator, but there’s a line between polite conversation about a friend’s interest and, “Oh, wow, you got me an expensive omnibus of a series I’ve vaguely heard of, instead of. . .whatever it was I actually wanted. Thanks?”

Now, if the choice works out, you might have created a new enthusiast. I’ve been on both the giving and receiving end of books/movies/music/DVD sets that created a new fan of whatever the media property happened to be. But there’s always a risk that the gift will flop — recipients are stuck with something they feel awkward about never getting around to, and the givers feel like they tried to force an interest that wasn’t there. Comics can create a special problem, because, well — if your friend turns out to like (say) Volume 1 of The Walking Dead, they either have to (1) go out and spend a lot of money to get the next 11,000 volumes (that’s what we’re up to now, right?, (2) wait for the next gift-giving occasion for you to give them volume 2, (3) borrow your whole collection right-damn-now, and (4) beat you with a shovel for getting them into this situation.

(Basically, if you don’t want to lend your friend books or be beaten with a shovel, don’t give the first volume of a multi-volume series).

I don’t have a real answer for this. I still give comics as gifts to a handful of people I already know are open to my recommendations. But it seems like a delicate balance, and I’m not sure of the right way to handle it.

G A B B Y

I’ve never given comic books as gifts before, but I will take a page out of my significant other’s book and try it out.

For my 22nd birthday, my boyfriend bought me these three gorgeous trades.

Three trade paperbacks based on the Firefly series.

Still haven’t read The Shepherd’s Tales because I can’t bear the thought that I will have nothing new of this franchise to discover.

I loved receiving these because 1) they deepen the lore of Firefly and Serenity, a universe I love visiting and re-visiting and 2) because he thought outside of the box. I didn’t even know these existed, but he told himself: “What does she love? Firefly. Let me find something that alleviates her sadness that it only has 14 episodes” (he repeated this experience last Christmas when he bought me a collection of essays about The Hunger Games).

I think gifting comic books is brilliant, because there’s something for everyone, and the books can contribute and add something different to the love one has for a certain interest. For instance, do you like hockey? Here’s Essex County by Jeff Lemire. Perhaps you have a thing for celebrity gossip? The FAME books have got you covered.

So, the next time I want to surprise someone, I’ll think real hard about what their interests are and translate it to comic book form.

Does that mean I have to start buying long boxes for my friends?

J E S S I C A

I guess the easy answer is that it depends on the person, just like any other gift. Whether the person I am buying a gift for is a fan of comics or not wouldn’t really factor into my decision to buy a particular book for them. After all, although I know many people who are not big comic fans, I know zero people who are violently opposed to comics in general. If it reminds me of them and I think they’ll like it, then awesome!

Still, I think that this reasoning would extend only to one-shot issues, compilations, or a short series–like if I could buy them all 3 of the available volumes, for instance. Even though there can definitely be exceptions to this rule, I would generally be more comfortable with it because it doesn’t put any additional economic pressure on the receiver of the gift. I’ll never forget my 14th birthday, when the boy I had a crush on gave me volume one of some manga he liked. I was elated, of course! But at the same time, I had absolutely zero resources to get any of the volumes that followed. It felt terrible! Not to mention that in a case like that, I only received part of the story, approximately thirty minutes of reading. I vowed I would never give such a gift! It would also seem too much to me like I was advertising for the publisher, getting my friend hooked so that they, too, would buy every subsequent issue ever released. So, while of course comics sometimes make perfect gifts, I think that on the whole I would stay away from it. If I know about something I think a friend would like, I’ll just let them borrow mine.

S A M

I am all about it. In thinking about it for this Q&A, I realize I’m actually much more likely to buy comics for people who don’t regularly read comics. I think that’s because it’s a lot easier to not accidentally buy them something they already have or have read, and because I want to be able to share my hobbies/pursuits/joys with my friends.

To that end, I can totally picture myself buying a run of a certain comic for friends who have enjoyed superhero stories in other media – usually the movies – in order to introduce them to the originals. I really love acting as a gateway into comic-reading. If there isn’t that movie or television jumping off point, sometimes I’ll stick with a standalone story or trade paperbacks. I’ve bought a few people who enjoy fantasy or scifi the first volume of Y: The Last Man and/or Sandman, to tease them into getting the rest. It’s always worked! Even if people don’t stick with comics as a medium, they finish those particular stories and I have yet to get a negative response from friends.

So what about you? How do you feel about giving comic books as gifts?

Skipping to Conclusions: Comics on TV

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Ali

In comics, and other geekdoms, we see a lot of teasers. Sometimes it’s just an image or the name of a creator, other times it’s a trailer or a simple tag line. Whatever it is, it’s meant to get a reaction from you and start a discussion. Inspired by the anticipation and buzz caused by these teasers, we at Fantastic Fangirls present Skipping to Conclusions in which we speculate about the comics, movies, TV shows, or whatever we’re excited about but hasn’t come out yet.

Hi everyone, Ali here! This week on an all-new Skipping to Conclusions, we’re talking about comic properties coming to the small screen.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

At the end of August it was announced that Joss Whedon was developing a S.H.I.E.L.D. series for ABC. And there was much rejoicing! Whedon already has a hardcore following, but what makes me really excited about this is his solid television track record and the absolutely amazing job he did with Marvel’s The Avengers. I also like when he does shadowy extra-government agency stuff, like the Initiative on Buffy. It sounds like Whedon is well into the process for the show, having established the framework and pulled together the cast of characters. I think there’s enough momentum behind it that we’ll actually get to see it. And I am really psyched to see this show.

Amazon

In the category of stuff we probably won’t get to see: the CW’s Amazon. Last week, Vulture reported that the network was working on developing a series about Wonder Woman. Now, I’ve been burned by news like this before. NBC was working on developing a new Wonder Woman show by David E. Kelley. A pilot was ordered. It was problematic. And NBC as well as a couple other networks passed on it. But this time, there’s something that has me very, VERY excited: Allan-freaking-Heinberg.

Heinberg’s written and produced some of my favorite TV shows (Gilmore Girls and Grey’s Anatomy) as well as some really great comics, including the post-Infinite Crisis Wonder Woman relaunch. It’s possible there was squeeing and dancing when I read his name next to the project–I admit nothing! Vulture also reported that the show would follow a younger Diana, which I think could also be a really great spin. I’d be into a Smallville-esque Wonder Woman show (assuming they don’t prevent Diana from becoming Wonder Woman for 10 seasons).

How about you guys? What are your predictions for these shows?

Q&A #170: What real-world city should be the new headquarters for a superhero team?

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Anika

In Q & A, a weekly feature of Fantastic Fangirls, we ask our staff to tackle a simple question — then open the floor to comments.

What real-world city should be the new headquarters for a superhero team?

A L I

Cityscape of Chicago, IL

It’s always shocked me that there’s never been a team in Chicago. Luke Cage was there for a bit in the 90s with Heroes for Hire and Savage Dragon is set in the Windy City, but that’s pretty much it.

I love Chicago! If I were ever to leave New York, it’d be for Chicago. It’s such a great city with really cool people. I think they’d love to have a superhero team to call their own. Plus, there are a lot of cool skyscrapers and drawbridges over the river and freaking Lake Michigan. All awesome backdrops for epic superhero slugfests.

Also, Thor lives there.

"Thor" still from Adventures in Babysitting

S A M

Okay, I thought about this for probably a tiny bit longer than I should have… and my first answer was Boston, which is my city, because of the history and the fact that we have a chip on our shoulder (re: New York) and it’d be a good fit for a certain breed of superhero. And I could imagine Carol Danvers leading the Boston team and telling Tony Stark and his New Yorkers to go to hell.

Captain Marvel on the Zakim Bridge, pushing a robot

Captain Marvel on the Zakim Bridge, in case you needed proof that Carol and Boston are an awesome combo.

But then I thought to myself, well, I’d like to go a little international. And I just read Green Lantern #0 this week (I thought it was good, which is glowing praise because I generally don’t like Green Lantern characters or titles) and it got me to thinking about the kind of stories we’re willing to tell with our superheroes and how important the places we tell those stories can be. There’s a reason the aliens/comets/villains/volcanoes always blow up New York first and LA second (or London, if it’s Doctor Who), right?

So I’m going with my second answer, which is Jerusalem, because I think a multicultural superhero team trying to deal with that political, social, and religious climate would be just as interesting as the rogues gallery that the team fights every arc. There’s also a lot of history and symbolism there, and a team could absolutely play on that for propaganda.

Cityscape of Jerusalem, Israel

The book I’m imagining would probably never be touched by one of the Big Two, but I think it’d be a great read.

S I G R I D

Cityscape of Minneapolis, MN

I know this much; I do not want a superhero team here in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Superhero teams attract villains. I do not want battles in my hometown, where my children take classes and my family and friends are trying to get to work. This is sub-optimal. And, hence, I can’t think of a city I would wish that on.

That said, I do think the Twin Cities would deal with a superhero team calmly. We’re Minnesotans, we don’t overreact. And I know my kids would be thrilled to see video clips of a hometown superhero team.

So, I suppose it wouldn’t be terrible to have a team here. As long as Galactus stays away.

She-Hulk helping three hapless businessmen

So what about you? What real-world city should be the new headquarters for a superhero team?

Skipping to Conclusions: Marvel NOW!

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Anika

The Marvel Now! logo

We’ve gotten a lot of sneak peaks at character designs and teasers with words like, Legacy or Chimichanga. So to keep the speculation construction, I’m going to stick to books that have already been formally announced/solicited. So here are the Marvel NOW! comics I’m most excited to read.

Journey Into Mystery
by Kathryn Immonen and Valerio Schiti

The Lady Sif with two swords, leaping from a book

I’ve really been loving what Kieron Gillen has been doing on Journey into Mystery. Kid Loki has been one of the most fascinating characters in the Marvel U lately and his misadventures with Hela’s handmaiden Leah have been simply fantastic. And while I was very sad to see the book get tossed into the Marvel NOW! Mix-it-Up machine, I could not be happier with the announced results. Starting in November, the book will focus on the Lady Sif. Now, ever since the Thor movie came out, I’ve been hoping and wishing for a Sif and the Warriors Three book. There’s been no actually word if the Warriors Three will be tagging along with Sif, I’m still pretty psyched about the book. Immonen has been quoted in a Marvel live-blog saying the book will focus on Sif and her determination to move out from behind Thor’s and brother Heimdel’s shadows and become a better warrior. Which sounds pretty bad-ass.

Iron Man
by Kieron Gillen and Greg Land

Iron Man, in gold and brown, coming at us, with robots and earlier versions of the armor behind him

Gillen is already one of those writer who’s work I will at least try out no matter what. He has a wonderful knack for character and the way he has his characters relate and interact with each other is just genius. I’ve loved the hell out of his work on Uncanny X-Men, Journey into Mystery, and Generation Hope. When it was announced that he’d be migrating over to Iron Man my first reaction was “Really?!” It just didn’t seem like a good fit. But then I read the Marvel Q&A Gillen did about the book and now I’m really excited.

I really want to mix it up with single issue stories because I think that quite a few people are feeling the same way. Single issues are an exciting place to go and anyone can jump on with any of the first five issues, not just issue #1. [In] each of those issues I introduce Iron Man; I say something meaningful about a character that you may know already and I want it to be accessible and to pop.

I adore a good single, stand-alone issue. I feel like they’re a rarity in comics these days, so I’m excited to see how these play out.

Uncanny Avengers
by Rick Remender and John Cassaday

Thor, The Scarlet Witch, Captain America, Wolverine, Rogue, and Havok

Uncanny X-Force has been freaking amazing. I usually refer to it as AMAZEBALLS. The team is just this awkwardly assembled strategic strike force and they’re kind of a beautiful mess. Uncanny Avengers looks to be very similar. It’s a group hastily pulled together to show the world that superheroes and mutants can work side-by-side to save the world. But with Remender writing you know it’s just all gonna go to hell. What I love most about Remender is his ability to mesh big, epic action with soap opera melodrama, or as I call it, KISSYFACES. Uncanny X-Force is one of the best romance comics I’ve ever read. And I’m hoping we’ll all of those amazing elements from X-Force in Uncanny Avengers.

Thor
by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic

Thor, with Mjolnir, Asgard and Odin behind him

Despite Thor being my boyfriend, I haven’t really dug the recent on-going series. I think I’ve been spoiled by the charm of Thor: The Mighty Avenger and the brilliantly iconic Walt Simonson run. But I love Jason Aaron. And Esad Ribic. And Thor. I think the combination of the three is just going to be awesome.

A-Babies versus X-Babies
by Scottie Young and Gurihiru

Baby versions of Avengers and X-Men having a battle

This probably doesn’t count as a Marvel NOW! book. But I’m CAPSLOCK-level excited about this one-shot. I mean, LOOK AT ALL THOSE CUTE BABY FACES I WANT TO SQUISH THEM ALL!!!

How about you guys? What Marvel NOW! books are you looking forward to the most?

Four Fangirls Watch: Doctor Who

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Anika

Doctor Who Series 7, Episode 1, “Asylum of the Daleks”

Oswin, in her chair, addressing the camera

Anika: “Dalek” was the first episode of New Who I saw. I’d watched some episodes of Old Who when I was tiny and it was on PBS, but I only tuned in to the new series because I’d heard Barty Crouch Jr. had been cast as the Tenth Doctor. “Dalek” features the Ninth Doctor but it also features (obviously) a Dalek — a sympathetic Dalek. It won me over. Seven of Nine is my favorite character in all of Star Trek. I’m hardwired to like Oswin. But golly, I really like her.

Jessica: I started watching Doctor Who in 2005 when the new series started airing on the Sci-Fi network. It was love at first viewing, and it’s been a torrid affair. Just the other night I dreamed the Tenth Doctor was my boyfriend and we went to a baseball game together…I’m pleased to say that I enjoyed the pilot tons more than any episode of Season 6! Some very clever things going on. But, I’ll be honest, I still think Steven Moffat is the worst.

Sara: I started watching Doctor Who in the middle of a snowstorm. I think it’s pretty appropriate, actually. The first episode I ever watched was a Ten and Donna one: Partners in Crime. I fell in love. This happened less than a year ago. It took me two weeks to watch the entirety of New Who and about another week to finish off Torchwood. All hail the Brits. Ten is my Doctor, but I love Eleven. What I did not love was this season premire. There was some good, a lot bad, and even more to talk about!

Sam: My first brush with Doctor Who was the TV movie in 1996, which technically makes the Eighth Doctor my first Doctor. When New Who premiered in 2005, I tuned in because I was already a huge Christopher Eccleston fan. I haven’t looked back… I’ve since watched episodes from all Doctor eras (complete runs of 3, 6, and 7, and partials on the others), I’ve gone to the Gallifrey One convention three times, am a big fan of Big Finish, and I did a self-guided tour of Doctor Who filming sites around Wales. I refuse to decide between 7, 9, and 11 for favorite Doctor. And I enjoyed the premiere. I wasn’t big on the Amy/Rory “reveal” (the reason for the divorce), and thought it dragged a bit in the middle, but loved the big Oswin twist and LOVED the way they brought Jenna Louise Coleman in 3 months early, which left a whole big slew of questions.

Anika: Something I noticed right away — both the A plot (Daleks ask the Doctor for help) and the B plot (Amy and Rory) were introduced and resolved in this one episode. I know that Pond Life happened but I didn’t watch it, and I didn’t feel lost, so I know it wasn’t required viewing. But since drawing things out is a main criticism I hear about Moffat (and all of New Who for that matter) I found the quick resolution interesting. But let’s start with Amy and Rory — who did watch Pond Life? What are your thoughts on their relationship, to each other, the Doctor and the show?

Jessica: I didn’t watch Pond Life either, but my reaction was more irritated with Moffat. I am not very fond of Amy, and for me at this point, the relationship between her and Rory is pretty much her only redeeming quality. I was annoyed that their conflict was introduced and resolved so quickly, though I did appreciate the cute-ness of the Doctor’s intervention. As far as her relation to the Doctor, she is my least favorite of the Doctor’s companions. This is partly because I feel as though she is contrived for me to like her, and mostly because she can’t seem to do anything for herself. Ever since she appeared on the show, most episodes seem to center on somebody having to save Amy. I HATE that. Can’t she do anything for herself?

Sara: I totally and utterly agree with you, Jessica. I only started to like Amy was late in Season 5 when she FINALLY acknowledged that Rory is the best man in the universe. I always felt like she was a sort of Mary-Sue and never had to work for her favor with the Doctor. She isn’t particularly clever or awesome, and yet she’s hailed as the Doctor’s best friend from the get-go. I don’t like writers forcing their characters’ likeability on me. I’d like them to earn it. I actually did watch Pond Life before the episode, but it didn’t really add anything to my understanding or enjoyment of the episode. Rory made me laugh out loud with his Ood on the loo comment, but that was pretty much it.

Also, Anika, your point about the A and B plot being resolved in one episode is exactly why I disliked this episode. The resolution of the Ponds divorce, especially. With this issue, Steven Moffat pulled a Ryan Murphy. Yuck. He introduced a problem with two characters to try and elicit an emotional response out of his audience, but, by resolving it within one episode, he cheapened its emotional value and made a mockery of the “issue” at hand. Also, it made no sense. In the last episode of Pond life, Rory is seen leaving their house angrily and Amy is tearfully yelling after him. That does not seem to jive with the story they told in the middle of the episode with Amy “giving Rory up”. Sloppy writing all over the place.

Sam: I think the pregnancy thing was the weakest part of the story, for sure. But as a device to show us the Doctor being good at something human but not at the tech stuff (he needed Oswin for that), I think it was a success. But I’m really really tired of the implication that biological reproduction is the most important part of life/adult relationships. Maybe if that had even been discussed by Rory and Amy, I’d be on board, but it hasn’t been. (BTW, apparently there was a cut bit from Pond Life that clarified things, but it was cut for some unknown reason, so I guess I can’t point to it.)

I’m actually a fan of Amy’s character – or I should say the multi-character of Amelia Pond, Amy Pond, and The Girl Who Waited – and I actually think she’s had quite a bit of agency in her own story (kidnapping in s5 notwithstanding, though she was still pretty active for a Ganger). If anything, she’s getting less credit now, and is almost made to look like a bad guy against the Awesomeness of Rory Williams (who I love, don’t get me wrong). Most of what bugged me about this story is, like Sara said, it seemed to be tacked on. Amy’s love for Rory has been shown over and over again, I find it really hard to believe that things changed that much or that Rory could doubt her… then again, in a society that puts so much pressure on couples to procreate, preferably biologically, maybe she really did feel like she was doing what was best for him.

Anika: I, too, would have preferred if their issues were drawn out. I like Amy and Rory, separately and together, but I know they are leaving and I think I am ready for them to go. So I would rather their issues, since they’ve now been introduced, be the reason they leave. Like, they actually make the adult decision to stop going with the Doctor. I don’t expect it to be that simple or happy. Well, not happy. Bittersweet. Anyway.

I don’t think the pregnancy thing came out of nowhere (though I agree it’s a tiresome plot point) — they did have Melody, and that turned out to be incredibly screwed up. I took the reveal to be an indication of how much it messed with Amy’s mind. She loses everything, her character is practically based on loss at this point, so of course she’s going to push away the only person she’ll never lose. That’s textbook. Of course I could just be reading way too much into her eyeliner. But heavy eyeliner is the calling card of an angry little girl lost and why else would she randomly be made a model but to express that with her make-up?

Amy Pond as a model in "Asylum of the Daleks"

But let’s talk about something I think we all liked: Oswin. And all the possibilities she represents.

Jessica: Oswin was awesome! As I mentioned earlier, my main problem with Amy is that I don’t see her as doing very much for herself. Oswin, on the other hand, seems completely capable of taking care of herself. In fact, if she hadn’t actually been turned into a Dalek, she probably wouldn’t have needed the Doctor’s help at all. That’s the kind of thing I’ve been waiting for in a companion! I want someone who is the Doctor’s equal in some ways, so that he doesn’t always have to save them, but they can actually do things together. I miss the Doctor Who where the Doctor and his companion have delightful romps through time and space rather than always these big mythologies Steven Moffat has created.

For a moment when Oswin was introduced I also found myself wondering if Oswin might be a good love-interest for the Doctor. Personally, I was a big fan of Rose + Doctor, and really, really down on River + Doctor. When done-well, I think this type of storyline brings out the very best of the Doctor, both how human he can be and also drawing attention in a relatable way that the Doctor’s story is really rather tragic. But then she was a Dalek! And all my hopes were dashed.

Sam: I love Oswin Oswald! I loved her before the Dalek reveal, and I love her twice as much afterwards. I literally spent half my day Tuesday reading up on Saint Oswald, the town of Oswestry, Northumbria, and the opera Carmen, in a desperate hunt for clues about her character and her relation (if any) to Clara. I was totally surprised to see Jenna Louise Coleman on my screen, and so pleased with the end result. I am an Oswin fangirl.

Things I loved about Oswin: her clothes, her being smarter than the Doctor in the tech department, but not the people department (it’s usually opposite), and Nina. I wish the Nina line hadn’t been followed up by the “I was going through a phase” thing, but it was still pretty delightful. And if there isn’t Oswin/Nina fanfiction yet, there should be.

But as for romance, I honestly think the Doctor is at his best when his companion is his best friend: someone he loves – and I believe he’s loved every companion from Ian and Barbara through Rory and Amy – and someone who can teach him something about humanity, but while he still remains separate from who we are as a species. I don’t want him to be more human, because he’s the Doctor and he’s wonderful. I have a lot of complicated feelings about how they handled the Ten/Rose thing, and it ended up mostly ruining seasons two and three for me, and almost destroying any good will I had towards the Tenth Doctor. Donna saved him for me, and saved the show for me in a lot of ways. I found River to be a breath of fresh air, because she’s a bit of a Time Lord and a bit of a human, and played by an older woman. And nothing between them is canonically more than flirtation and hints. But we ended the last series with a wedding… I’m ready to leave romance behind for a bit.

Sara: Oswin! I love her! Jenna Louise Coleman is so cute and I really can’t get enough of her. Although I called the whole Oswin-being-a-Dalek thing about five minutes after she was introduced, I still really enjoyed her plotline in the episode. Her interactions with Rory and Doctor made me grin like nobody’s business. Her pushiness reminds me of Donna and her cleverness reminds me of Martha. They are two of my favorite companions, so I’m all on the Oswin train!

Anika: I figured she was a dalek, too, but I was excited for it. I’m just sad that she’s not the new companion AS a Dalek. I could really get behind companion-Dalek-girl. Also, I have to give props to Moffat et al. for making all the convention going Dalek-girl cosplayers canon. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Hannah’s mum on a convention floor. But Oswin was adorable. And had adorable shoes that I would like to own, please. I don’t REALLY want to know how she comes back/who she turns out to be or have been, mostly because I found the River-reveal boring because I’d already figured it out, but… theories? We have had Who actresses play lesser characters before playing companions, but Oswin was a main player. And she was sitting in Jenny’s chair, but we have also had Who sets reused. Both these things make me think they’re playing with my mind! But maybe that’s just me…

Oswin smirking at the camera

Sam: I have so many theories. I’d hit a dead end with all my Os-related searching, but the mention of Jenny’s chair… and I keep thinking about who Oswin’s mother is (or whatever mother she constructed in her dream world), and how that’s related. But the Jenny thing, I mean. Jenny is one of my all-time favorite Doctor Who characters from both Old and New Who, and now I’m practically bursting with theories, all of which will probably turn out wrong. Maybe I should write them in their own post…

Sara: Okay, for a complete non-sequitur, I’m going to talk about the most hard hitting part of the episode for me: The implications of the Question–the First Question, the Oldest Question of All Time, the Question That Must Never Be Answered–being asked. DOCTOR WHO? Yes. Yes, yes, yes. It has been asked and we can only assume that we are in for a bumpy, bumpy ride. At the end of last season, Dorium (big blue guy, er, head) reminds the Doctor that the fall of the eleventh is still on the horizon and then lets him know that the question that must never be answered is Doctor Who? Now, there are a lot of curious things surrounding this. Why must not? Is the answering of the question going to bring on the Silence? Is it going to unravel the entirety of Time and Space? Who the hell knows? It’s Moffat. He spins webs so convoluted that even he gets confused sometimes.

But, to be slightly more focused, I want to pose my queries/theories regarding the implication of freaking DALEKS not remembering who THE DOCTOR is. WOW! Oh, wow. My immediate thought was that the Daleks and the Doctor are so intertwined in their timestreams and personal histories AND that the Daleks are also time travelers. So, because they exist in various points throughout space and time, is this going to cause a paradox event? If the Daleks jump around through time in order to avoid and/or attack the Doctor, then what is going to happen if they cannot remember who he is? Also, will this do anything to the events of the Time War? Like, with the eternal time loop be broken because of this? Let’s not forget, we are on the cusp of the 50th Anniversary of this show. What better way to commemorate the milestone then by returning to Gallifrey?

I would like to say that this is all pure conjecture and I am probably wrong about 99.99999999% of it!

Jessica: I have no theories because I don’t like Who mythology. I think that’s been my main problem with most Moffat episodes. For me, I feel like he creates these grand arcs that personally have absolutely zero resonance. I miss the days of Eccleston and Tennant because I feel like Doctor Who used to have really great characterization, so that I used to actually feel things while watching episodes (even for characters who only appeared once!) and Moffat makes it all about explosions and half-sensical reveals. But I really liked this episode, for the most part! It felt more in the spirit of show I used to really love. I think I would be very disappointed if it ends up being tied into more of that nonsense from the past couple of seasons, although it seems very likely that it will be. I did think it was a nice way to re-set the Dalek storyline, which was becoming rather rote. I think overall it shows a lot of promise for the new season!

Sam: I think opening Gallifrey up for the 50th anniversary makes a lot of sense. If they want to do a year full of tributes, having access to the old stories and characters is a good idea. I think RTD royally messed up the whole Gallifrey thing, especially with that ridiculousness with the Master, but that’s just an opinion, and I’d like to see Moffat tackle it.

Personally, I think this makes the Daleks interesting again. They’re the Doctor’s oldest foes, and I’m excited to see how rebooting them plays out.

Anika: …I just really want a Dalek companion. As much as I liked Oswin and the resolution of this episode, my favorite moment was Amy’s Dalek hallucination. There was a vague end-of-Titanic feel to it, and then there was a ballerina. A ballerina Dalek. I LOVED that. Daleks are clunky, menacing, antiseptic, scary, and mean. The opposite of a young ballerina with flowing hair. But they both dance in a circle. “Do you know how you make someone into a Dalek? Subtract love, add anger.” Somewhere inside that spinning Dalek is a little girl who still loves to dance.

Two animated images side by side -- a young ballerina and a small white Dalek, both spinning

Those are the moments I watch for, and those are the questions I’m interested in.

Ballerina gif found on tumblr, maker unknown.

Q&A #169: What superhero do you want as a big brother or sister?

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Anika

In Q & A, a weekly feature of Fantastic Fangirls, we ask our staff to tackle a simple question — then open the floor to comments.

What superhero do you want as a big brother or sister?

A L I

At first I thought someone like Captain America or Spider-Man would make an excellent superhero big brother. Except I want to make out with their faces most of the time so clearly that would not work. After a lot of elimination for similar reasons, I came up with Beast as my answer to the big brother question.

Beast

Hank’s super smart, really protective, and generally awesome. He treats the X-Men like family, and from that I think he’d be a great big brother. I, however, would probably be a monster of a little sister. I’d constantly be in the lab trying to play with and learn more about whatever he’s working on (which always ends in explosions). I’d stow-away or go joyriding in his mini spaceship thing all the time. And I’d probably end up making out with his best friend Ice Man once or twice.

But I have a brother, and there’s always been a small part of me that’s wanted a big sister. I have to go with Power Girl for the role. Karen would be awesome to hang out with and go to the movies. She’d probably let me borrow her really cool clothes. She’d help me get out of (and sometimes into) trouble. And she’d punch anyone who gave me a hard time. Plus, she’s also got a lab for me to blow up!

Power Girl

A N I K A

I’ve always wanted an older brother. I have three younger brothers whom I adore but I idolize the relationship between a big brother and a little sister (Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle are a recent pop culture example). There are a lot of superheroes I can imagine in the role: Superman, Captain America, Nightwing… Wolverine has a posse of “little sisters” already. Peter Parker has a well-developed overprotective streak that lends itself to big brother-dom. But since I get to choose, well, just imagine the hand-me-downs I’d get as Tony Stark’s little sister. And with his attention span I’d get new toys every week!

The SHIELD model of the Acura car.

G A B B Y

I’m happy the question states “big” instead of “little”. I, myself, am an older sister. I love my little brother to death, but I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have someone taking care of me. I was always the one getting up early, making lunches, going home straight after school to babysit him. So, who better to fulfill this mother-like sibling role than Sue Storm?

A comic panel from New Avengers; Jessica Jones and Sue Storm discussing the disappearance of Jessica's baby.

New Avengers, Vol. 1, issue 48.

I don’t need someone to mother me, really; I have a mother, and she’s great. However, during my awkward stage, a female mentor, maybe 2 or 3 years older, wouldv’e been much appreciated. Sue’s kindness and steadfastness fit the bill for an excellent older sibling. And let’s not forget that she would obviously take care of all the responsibilities. Freedom!

I can totally imagine myself opening up to Sue at a hair salon or in a mall, asking her questions about High School and what to do about jerk teenagers that tease you about being hairy. Plus, I could have sent her invisible self to spy on my crush. And maybe, just maybe, one of her force fields could have shielded my fragile tween heart.

S A R A

Wow, it seems like a lot of us had the same ideas as to who would make a great big brother or sister! Alas, I am the oldest of three sisters–ok, ok, so one of my sisters is a twin, but I was born first and two minutes lends itself to a slew of maturity!

Right. My twin doesn’t really see it that way either.

Okay, so, while I adore my sisters (read: tolerate and manipulate to suit my needs whenever I can), I have always yearned for a brother. Yearned. Capital Ya. Capital Earned. More specifically, I wanted an older brother. And who would make a greater big brother than one that fights crime and evil?

Ironically, despite my greatest wish of being part of the Batfamily (and knowledge that Dick Grayson is already a great older sibling figure to Tim), I actually thought of Captain America right off the bat (pun so not intended).

Like Ali, I too dream of sucking Cap’s face off (especially Chris Evans’, day-um). But I’d like to think that I would sacrifice that particular pipe dream in lieu of having the Star Spangled Man with A Plan as an older brother. And when I say older, I mean ancient.

How awesome would it be to have someone as cool, snarky, clever, and patriotic as Cap for an older brother?! First of all, he’s from Brooklyn, which means he understands the need to create mischief once in a while. I bet that between him and Bucky, a lot of hooligan-shenanigans went down. I could learn from him on that point.

Captain America and Bucky

Also, who better to teach you how to punch than the guy that had absolutely no strength and entered fights anyway?

Plus, imagine how he would coach you on going to the first college party of the year without knowing a single person!

Bonus, advice from big brother’s crazy friend.

So what about you? What superhero do you want as a big brother or sister?

My First Ever Comic Convention

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Anika

by Gabby (@GloryIsBen)

With the Earth spinning away from the Sun comes the end of Summer, the first day of school and my first ever comic convention.

When I first ordered my tickets for Montreal Comiccon, I’ll admit that my train of thought went something like this: Excitement! Wonder! Confusion! Unpreparedness! Gulp! At the beginning, I thought attending this event would be no big deal. After all, I practically was at San Diego Comic-Con 2012, what with all the live Twitter coverage. However, I came to the realization that witnessing from afar and actually being there are two absolutely different things.

Here are three things of which I am sure:
1) Where I am staying (my aunt’s place!)
2) Who I am going with (two guy friends with whom I graduated from my Psychology bachelor’s!)
3) What I am wearing Saturday:

Photoset of Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the episode Prophecy Girl

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Prophecy Girl”.

Let me talk a little about why I went with Buffy as seen in the season 1 finale, “Prophecy Girl”. I decided that I wanted to cosplay a little on Saturday because it’s the only full day of the convention. I went with this character because, well, she’s awesome, but also because it’s an easily recognizable outfit from the series. Most of all, though, it’s because I’m a broke student and this costume is mightily frugal. I already have a flowy white dress (though it stops at the knees, boo) and a leather jacket. The only thing I need to complete this is a silver cross necklace and a toy crossbow.

However, this brings to light the things I *don’t* know, and for which I need your help. For starters, is it a good idea to wear this outfit all day Saturday? Furthermore, what is this Masquerade event, and are people not participating allowed to wear costumes? The conventions of the convention (ha!) are unknown to me.

As for the events, the schedule isn’t out yet so I can’t plan my weekend accordingly, but I do have a list of people I want to see. Again, though, uncertainty comes in. Does every guest have a panel or conference? In any case, the Whedonverse actors are on my wishlist (Adam Baldwin, James Marsters, Nicholas Brendon) as well as Sam Witwer (best known for starring in Battlestar Galactica), Wil Wheaton (best known, lately, for hosting Tabletop), Laura Vandervoort and Aaron Ashmore (best known for their roles in Smallville). I really want to catch Patrick Stewart, but I won’t be attending “Reunion of the Generations” (sorry, Star Trek fans!) so I may miss him. Here’s the media guest list; am I missing anyone I should check out?

Lastly, I would be remiss not to visit the comic book industry people. My boyfriend made me promise to visit Ben Templesmith, so that’s settled, and I’d like to see David Finch and (coughtheonlywomancough) Becky Cloonan. As for the capacity in which I am to visit these people, do they have booths? Stalls? Conferences? You guessed it: I’m confused. Again. Here’s the list of the comic book guests. Who’s your favorite?

I think this is a good convention to be my first; it’s only three days, not too big in scope, not expensive (85$ CDN for deluxe passes!) and close to my home turf. The guest list is impressive (for a Canadian event) and I get to see James Marsters sing (!). I just wish I could shake the feeling that I’m going to be wandering the halls of the convention center like a Hogwarts ghost! O dear, wise, convention-savvy Fantastic Fangirls reader, would you help a girl out?

Montreal Comic Con Logo

Montreal Comiccon runs from September 14-16 2012. Check back on Fantastic Fangirls September 19 for my event report!

Justice League 12: Kissy Time

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Anika

by Sam (@retconning)

Warning: spoilers for Justice League #12.

Single sentence review: Justice League 12 managed not only to weave together the two main arcs from the previous year – which had seemed very disjointed to me before – but also make me interested in the future of the title. And, oh yeah, there was that kiss.

When news broke that Superman and Wonder Woman would start dating, I immediately decided that I… didn’t really care. I haven’t been heavily involved in the DCnU, for a wide variety of reasons, and I have never been a into the Justice League (unless it’s the animated Justice League). While I was unemployed, I decided to not keep up with comics in general, and nothing I had read in the first two months of the DCnU had really convinced me to stretch my budget to cover the read. But I’ve always been a fan of DC in general, and I have always loved Superman and Wonder Woman.

This is to say that I think I went into this with considerably more of an open mind than I was seeing around the internet. I enjoyed the Superman/Wonder Woman pairing in Kingdom Come, and I think he’s a better match for her than Batman. If you have to match her, which of course you don’t.

And then I actually read Justice League 1-11 in preparation for today’s release. I wanted to see if this just came out of nowhere. You can read my catch up on issues 1-6 here and 7-11 here. I wasn’t impressed with the story arcs, but basically, no… the kiss didn’t come out of nowhere. This has absolutely been set up, and there are definite signs in there as early as Wonder Woman’s first interaction with Superman. But more than that, when you look at this from a story perspective, it not only makes sense, but is sort of a classic romance story. Whether it lasts or not, I dunno. But from their first meet cute to Steve’s disappearance/torture/reappearance, there have been threads of a romance woven into the main narrative. They just survived an encounter in which phantoms tried to steal their souls (or… something) by tricking them into feeling less alone, and letting their guard down. Batman’s parents came back, Cyborg saw his “whole” self, and Diana saw Steve. Then the phantoms were defeated, and they were left feeling alone. Then Diana – in what I think is a classic superhero move – distanced herself from the non-powered Steve in order to protect him. Leaving her feeling alone.

Superman and Wonder Woman dialogue, describing a feeling of being alone.

So you have two very powerful, very vulnerable people who feel like no one in the world is like them. And then they realize that, well, they’re kind of like each other. I can see that. I have seen it, in plenty of stories, comic or otherwise. I can buy it. I was actually satisfied when they finally kissed, because that’s what you do when you feel alone: you reach out and hope you find someone who’s like you reaching back. I could relate. A lot.

Of course, I can’t look at this just from the perspective of the story. This disconnect between the “in universe” narrative and the effect pop culture has in the broader world is why I get so annoyed when lesbians on TV kiss dudes. Even if it makes sense inside the story, we exist in a world where lesbians are very rarely portrayed well on TV. Progress comes slowly, and dude-kissing lesbians seems like a step back (and don’t even get me started on the issue of bisexuality on television). So I get that I can’t just say “the story made sense” and wave the rest away.

I mean, I will be the first in line to say that the in-air kissing cover is sort of silly. Then again, covers are supposed to sell comics. When I was a kid, I bought my very first superhero comic (Flash vol. 2 #34) based on the cover. Maybe it’s appealing to an audience we don’t want. Like people who read romance novels. Who are predominantly women. Or people who go on match.com, a site which helped DC market this issue. Those people are predominantly women also. Or the people who watch Good Morning America (there are a lot of them, GMA beats the Today show in the ratings… a lot), which talked about it on national morning television the other day. A lot of people who watch that show are women.

All of this seems, I don’t know, kind of good to me. Marketing to potential new readers, hooking them with big name draws, and aiming that marketing at a female audience… I’m sorry, but I’m not going to call that a bad move by DC.

Now, if this came at the cost of storytelling, I might have a problem. But Justice League 12 was actually the best issue of the title so far. And, let me just say this right now: I am absolutely on board with comic companies changing the narrative of their universe. I was disappointed with DC when Bruce Wayne didn’t stay dead, because the Batman title was at its most interesting with Dick in the cowl. I was disappointed with Marvel for bringing Steve back, because Bucky was super interesting as a Captain America attempting to make up for being a Soviet assassin. One of the main reasons I checked out of the DCnU was because I didn’t feel as though they really did much to change up the status quo. So while I may agree that Lois & Clark are an iconic couple, I’m not going to spend a lot of time mourning it. I’m going to keep reading. You never know what could happen in the future. I’m a soap fan, and soap fans know that no relationship lasts forever, and that every relationship comes back around again.

Q&A #168: Who would you cast in a Justice League film?

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Anika

In Q & A, a weekly feature of Fantastic Fangirls, we ask our staff to tackle a simple question — then open the floor to comments.

Who would you cast in a Justice League film?

A L I

Before we get started, a couple of us make references to a DC “shared movie universe” which means we talk about characters and actors from The Dark Knight Rises. So if you haven’t seen the movie yet, be forewarned, gentle reader. Here there be spoilers!

I have been thinking about a Justice League movie a lot recently. With Marvel’s The Avengers being so awesome this summer, it’s hard not to think about what DC Entertainment’s response could (or should) be. And I have ALL OF THE OPINIONS which I will try my best to reign in.

For me, a Justice League movie has to have your heavy hitters. You can bring in characters that are a bit more “obscure” or not well-known to a broader pop culture audience, but my dream line-up falls somewhere between Bruce Timm’s Justice League cartoon and Super Friends. For me, you cannot do this movie without Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. I think, with three superhero franchises already out there, now would be a great opportunity for DC to learn a lesson from Marvel Studios and give this shared movie universe thing a shot. Hopefully building off momentum from The Dark Knight Rises and the upcoming Man of Steel, I’d put Henry Cavill “back” in the role of Superman and, SPOILERY MCSPOILER, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s John Blake as Batman (in general, I’d love to see Gordon-Levitt take a shot at the Caped Crusader).

But most importantly, a Justice League movie is the perfect opportunity to finally, finally get Wonder Woman on the big screen.

Wonder Woman

At her core, Diana is a woman with the beauty, wisdom, and strength of the gods. She’s a fine balance of compassionate princess and formidable warrior. Someone who you can’t help but admire, yet is still really likable. It’s a tall order, but it can be done. Lynn Collins pulled off a perfectly Wonder Woman-esque performance as Princess of Mars Dejas Thoris in John Carter.

Now that I’ve got the heavy-hitters out of the way, it’s time to bring in the rest of the team. When I first started reading comics, Black Canary was head of the Justice League. I’d love to see her back.

Black Canary

The thing I love most about Dinah is how unbelievably well she holds her own. Yes, she does have a super sonic scream, but she doesn’t have the amped up powers of a Superman or Wonder Woman. She also doesn’t have the budget of a Bruce Wayne or an Oliver Queen to give her an unlimited arsenal. But Dinah still kicks ass just as well (if not better) than the rest of the League. She’s totally bad-ass, but still cool enough to go grab drinks with and vent about a bad day. I’d put Yvonne Strahovski in the fishnets for Black Canary. Her super spy Sarah on Chuck always reminded me a bit of Dinah.

If you’ll bear with me a bit longer, I’d like to add one more to the cast: Aquaman.

Aquaman

I know most people think he’s a joke, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Arthur of Atlantis (plus, Geoff Johns LOVES Aquaman, so I’m sure he’d crowbar him in to a Justice League movie). Communicating with marine life does sound pretty lame, but I think Aquaman can fill the most important role of any team: the heart. The guy who believes in everyone, the one you can’t help but love even though he’s kinda campy. I think you need someone really likable in the role. And someone who can embrace the ridiculous aspects of Aquaman but still be respectful of what is really a fun character. I think Neil Patrick Harris would be brilliant as Arthur.

A N I K A

I decided to focus on characters I want to see in a Justice League film and in the way I want to see them.

Zatanna

It can be difficult to introduce characters with decades of history to an all new audience. Zatanna is a character who doesn’t need much explanation: she’s a magician and that’s something anyone who’s read a Harry Potter book or seen a Disney Princess film can grasp. And she could be brought in easily via her connection to Batman. It’s a slippery slope, since I wouldn’t want her to be stuck as a Bat-sphere supporting character. But I love the childhood besties relationship between Zatanna Zatara and Bruce Wayne and I would love to see it explored on screen.

My ideal Zatanna is Selena Gomez as a nod to her Wizards of Waverly Place character, Alex Russo. Selena is young to play a Zatanna who is a peer (which I’m defining as up to a 5 year age difference) to an established Bruce Wayne Batman. She could conceivably be a peer of Joseph Gordon-Levitt if the films went that way. While Joe is 31 and Selena 20, they could play late twenties and early twenties believably. But if she’s deemed too young for it to work, I’d give the role to Mila Kunis.

Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)

On the other end of the age spectrum I’d like to cast Simon Baker as Green Arrow. I like Oliver Queen as a reluctant mentor. Someone who is arrogant and full of bluster and for whom heroism doesn’t always come easily, but he’s never afraid to make the difficult choice. Ollie needs to be able to stare down and disagree with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, and having a few years on them wouldn’t hurt the audience’s perception of his authority and equality.

But if the script calls for a twentysomething I nominate Chace Crawford.

Chace has been playing an Ollie-lite (his Nate is a sometime society darling with a social conscience who dabbled in politics, has a thing for a particular blonde, and will do anything for his team of friends) on Gossip Girl for six years and I’d support him graduating to the real thing.

S A M

In an effort to cut down my really long answer, I have moved my intro (including my Big Three) to my personal blog. You can find it here if you’d like.

I’m rounding out my team with two somewhat obscure, potentially younger characters.

Blue Beetle (Jamie Reyes)

I thought about this one for awhile. I think American audiences are cooler with the idea of a hero in a full suit of armor (thanks, Iron Man!) than they used to be, but his bug-derived powers may be a bit much. And I would hope his costume wouldn’t end up looking too much like a Beetleborg. But I like Jamie because he’s a newbie and a regular human, but he’s got a very black-and-white view of morality. I think that’ll be an important counterpoint to a lot of people in a movieverse that builds off of where Nolan went, which is what I think Warner Brothers would like to do. I also have always liked the twist that a superpower causes intense pain. It adds a lot to Logan’s character in the X-Men movies, and I think it adds a lot to Jaime; here’s a guy who goes out and does what he does despite crippling pain.

Jamie was easy to cast. Much easier than my next choice. In fact, as soon as I thought “Jamie Reyes” I thought of this guy.

I mean, Tyler Posey. Right? Bring in those Teen Wolf fans (I know you’re out there, I see you all over my tumblr feed). He’s young, handsome, can do darkness, and I think could pull off a superhero pretty easily. Also it would be casting an actual Latino to play a Latino character. GASP.

Liberty Belle

My most obscure pick! Every superteam needs a speedster, if you ask me. I love speedsters. I didn’t go with a direct member of the Flash family for a few reasons, which I can get into some other time. Mainly, I wanted another female on the team, and Jesse is the only female speedster (not counting Iris, who wasn’t even old enough for the Teen Titans when the universe rebooted), which is pretty cool.

I like Jesse because of her relationship with Wally and with her mom. The former is one of the main reasons I will never be a Wally West fan, and the latter would make for some great Hollywood drama. I mean, she was sleeping with her mother’s murdered fiancé. This is the stuff Hollywood loves! And for a group movie, she’s someone who has studied superheroes (or metahumans, whichever) and who now finds herself among them. Maybe she feels like she has to prove herself. That’s a great story. Bring in her mommy issues (and a dead dad) and she’s superhero movie gold, even if Wally never exists in this universe.

As for casting, I see Amber Heard thrown around a lot. I could get behind that. But I’m choosing Maggie Grace.

Jesse isn’t tiny – in some art she’s drawn as tall as Wally – and Maggie Grace is 5’9”, so that’s a plus. It’s hard casting women in the roles of superheroes, when the Hollywood standard of beauty doesn’t usually involve muscles. I really liked her in LOST (though maybe I’m in the minority on that) and the few smaller movies I’ve seen her in. She said in an interview for Lockout (which I did not see) that she wants the chance to “hit the gym and kick a little more ass,” and hinted that we may see a bit of that in Taken 2 (which I will see). I’m game.

S A R A

Okay, I grew up in a DCU household. Okay, maybe not household as my parents don’t read comics, but community, I guess you could say. It’ll all be explained in a later post (my very own intro, yay!), but I was basically indoctrinated at the early age of 7 to be a fan of DC Comics. It worked. And Justice League Unlimited is my favorite show ever. Ever ever ever. Which is why the idea of a Justice League movie both excites and terrifies me. BUT, if I were to cast actors in the roles of my favorite superheros, it would go a little something like this.

Green Lantern (John Stewart)

Why John Stewart? See above devotion to JLU. John is the best Green Lantern, in my opinion and the fact that he is a SOC (superhero of color) makes him all the better choice for a Justice League movie because of the woeful under-representation in mainstream media/cinema. Anyway, who would I choose to fit the strapping Marine?

Richard T. Jones. Super obscure, yes. But if you’ve watched Judging Amy, you’ll recognize him as Bruce. Ridiculously dependable, humble, amazing Bruce. Jones as Bruce brought a quiet dignity and a undertone of immense strength and thoughtfulness–all qualities that John Stewart possess in spades.

Flash (Wally West)

Wally! He’s my favorite in JLU because he brings a lot of the humor in the show. He’s kind, compassionate, goofy, and quick-witted. Beautiful, beautiful specimen of a human being. Choosing an actor to play him wasn’t too difficult, but it is wrought with a lot of irony.

I chose Ryan Reynolds, the man who played Hal Jordan in DC’s Green Lantern movie. I did not like that movie, nor did I like Reynolds as Hal. I don’t know why, but, as talented as he is, I couldn’t see it. But, I do think, after a hair dye job, he’d make an excellent Flash. Movies like Van Wilder and The Change-Up have shown us his goofy/flirtatious/class-clown side, while movies like Definitely, Maybe and Just Friends have shown us that he has heart. He would make an awesome Flash, if he had time after Deadpool!

So what about you? Who would you cast in a Justice League film?