She-Ra Is Better Than Ever
She-Ra glimpse in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe # 5
If you are a Princess of Power fan, and have not been reading the recent He-Man and the Masters of the Universe comic series, you are sorely missing out.
DC Comics revived the Masters of the Universe story a few years back by placing readers in the middle of an Eternia completely under the spell of Skeletor. Everyone’s minds and existence were reshaped with the belief that Skeletor was their ruler. Only Skeletor and his faithful minions were exceptions to the spell and knew of the true reality. The Sorceress, who was being held captive by Skeletor, was also aware of the true reality being that her magic is too powerful to deceive. That played out to be very unfortunate for Skeletor and the Sorceress herself.
Prince Adam, who now believed he was a woodsman, lived a quiet life under Skeletor’s tyranny caring for his ill father, King Randor, unknowing that he and his father were the rightful rulers of Eternia. He began getting visitations form the Sorceress in her bird form, eventually compelling him with a feeling that he needed to be somewhere and do something. This will ultimately have him run into old friends, like Teela, along the way, though both believe the other a stranger. Eventually, Skeletor is defeated and his spell broken. King Randor and Prince Adam return to their rightful titles and all is well with the world that is until the next series started and a new more terrifying evil threatens Eternia. Not even the wise Sorceress could help out the royal of Eternia. Sadly, the Sorceress was killed by Skeletor during her imprisonment. This isn’t the Saturday Morning Cartoon world we all remember. This turn is grittier and way more realistic.
When the next series started as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, it was a new ballgame. Hordak had sent his Horde to claim Eternia in his name, and he sent his best weapon, Despara. Decked out in armour, a mask that is a shout out to the old cartoon version of Hordak, and a quite a knack for maiming and killing, Despara is Eternia’s worst nightmare realized. She actually gets an introductory issue in Masters of the Universe #8, so that the new series could hit the ground running. In the first couple pages of that first book, you see Despara running Flutterina through with a sword. It gets real very quickly. Actually, all of the nine issues in that series are basically cleverly handle and reimagine origin stories for various characters. There’s a Cringer focused issue that is nicely done and the writers deserve an applause for making that character believable.
Despara and Shadow Weaver
Once this masked villain takes off her mask and you realize that this wannabe Brigitte Nielsen is actually your beloved childhood Adora, you have to take a minute. At first you get upset set, then excitement quickly settles in. One, Adora was now hardcore and slightly crazy beans, but there is a moment shortly after she takes out our favorite humanoid butterfly. She notices one of the Horde troopers about to execute a woman and her child. She stops him stating they are to be slaves, but the hesitation becomes clear as does the fact that it bothers her. It is then as she seeks Shadow Weaver’s council that we discover that Hordak has been placing his beloved “daughter” under harsh brainwashing to get her to conform to his ruling. Honestly, this is what you would expect a woman that has been suffering forced Stockholm syndrome all her life to turn out to be when someone as crazy and sadistic as Hordak is “raising” you. Then you remember cartoon Adora and wonder how in the hell she turned out so damn sweet. See realism can be just as fun.
Despara and the Horde find their way to the castle and once she reveals her true face, Teela is the one who knows her, and Adora recognizes her as well. We find out that even though the Sorceress failed to keep Skeletor from stealing Adora as a baby, she has always kept an eye out for her. The Sorceress uses dreams to build a trusting, childhood friendship between Adora and Teela. It was an interesting twist and nice build to give Adora power to take her mind and life back, along with help of Shadow Weaver in a surprising yet slightly touching sacrifice.
Currently in the sixteenth issue, Adora is on the unknowing quest to becoming She-Ra. She is too concerned with redemption and making things right, yet is being pulled into a direction she couldn’t help but follow. She is happy to know that she has a brother and a father, but she doesn’t know them. Her life needs to be sorted and that’s what she is doing, until her brother found her and told her the news of their father’s passing. Adam was sent to her by Teela, who had recently taken the mantle of Sorceress….long story. Teela appears in the sky and tells her that she needs to complete her quest, but would need her brother at her side to do it. It was nice to see some sibling bonding between the two. They were good for each other. Adam was in desperate need of a true friend and family, because with his father’s death and Teela’s transformation, he felt he lost that. Adora needed someone to there to help her trust and follow her kinder instincts.
It really is a fantastic series that started as a whim for me, and turned out to be very engaging. I was pretty shocked about that as well. It is not what I expected. She-Ra should be popping up at any time in the next couple of issues. We are in a story arc about the origin of She-Ra. I thought we would finally see Adora become She-Ra in the last issue, but alas no. We have gotten a glimpse of Swiftwind. I am happy to see that they have decided to forego the Spirit/Swiftwind transition as we have a non-armored Unicorn/Pegasus hybrid bonding and helping Adora and Adam. Here’s to hoping our girl makes an appearance soon. Also if Hollywood is still trying to erase that 80’s movie with a more serious remake, they need to look no further than this comic series for a storyline.
Cover of Adora's origin story.
Show Me the Ladies, Marvel
Marvel Studios continues to knock it out of the park with their movie adaptions of our favorite comics. There just hasn’t been a lot of women standing alongside the men. As of right now, we have only seen three female superhereos, Black Widow, Lady Sif, and Gamora. We have been promised more with the upcoming addition of Scarlet Witch to the Avengers. A Jessica Jones series for Netflix is also said to be released, and Marvel Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. announced that Mockingbird would be appearing on the show.
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch
Though comic book fans know her as Magneto’s daughter and a mutant, it is unlikely that she will be presented as such in the movie. I am under the impression that Marvel Studios will gloss over this information due to rights of “mutant” belonging to Fox. I have faith they will make a good run with making it believable and even open for later clarification if a possible crossover happens. Outside of the red tape Scarlet Witch has been a long time member of the Avengers in the comic and a suitable choice for the team’s next super heroine. Depending on which version they go with, her powers are capable of effecting probability or changing reality. I am assuming the later, because that would make her a much more mysterious and complicated character to write, especially when it comes to controlling her powers.
Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones
Jessica has a few code names, the most famous being Jewel, but no one really refers to her that way. She, like her husband in the comics, just goes by her name. She has super powers from an exposure to radiation that give her super strength and the ability to fly. She also is a little hard to kill, which can be useful. I imagine the show will focus around her being a private investigator, but we will just have to see.
Mockingbird
Mockingbird
Not only is she badass, she’s just human. She is a S.H.E.I.L.D. agent and was a big member of the Avengers in the comics. She could potentially be added to the Avengers later, but it would be interesting to see how they handle her and Hawkeye due to their history in the comics.
Mr. Joss Whedon has stated that the new Avengers movie will feature four major female roles. We already know about Black Widow and Scarlet Witch, but the other two could already be known or simply wild cards. The known possibilities for the other two roles are Maria Hill, which is likely, Jane Foster, or even Sharon Carter. I don’t really think that Jane Foster’s role will be large if it even exits, but you never know. Sharon Carter was the fun S.H.E.I.L.D. agent that was keeping an eye on Steve Rogers in his last movie, and comic fans know her to have a romantic involvement with Cap as well as fighting by his side. Now, let’s play a game where they bring in some unknown power houses. Who could be added to the Avengers movie and possibly take on one of these roles?
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel
I say this while crossing my fingers and praying to whatever nerd god will listen. Can we have Carol Danvers, please? I would settle for her in her Ms. Marvel incarnation, but the comics have done so much to rebrand her that I feel it would be a step back. While there is no need to go into full detail of who and what she is, we have seen the Kree in the latest Guardians of the Galaxy movie. They just have to quickly link her powers to a Kree machine explosion and go on about their business. Then they need to give the woman her own damn movie where they can go to town on her background and origin. The chica can fly, has super strength, advanced healing, and can absorb energy just to throw right back in someone’s face. Captain Marvel is one of the strongest damn female characters they have in Marvel and they need to put her ass on the big screen immediately.
Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman
I know there are rumors about a Sony Spider-Man spinoff featuring female leads, but Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman is a rumor, and one I hope won’t come true for Sony. There are a lot of female characters out there that have used a variation of spider for her name, but please don’t let Sony take Jessica. She doesn’t really have any involvement with Spider-Man especially after they retconned her origin story. The new and accepted origin for Jessica Drew is what makes her a great possibility for current Marvel Studios universe. She was raised and brainwashed by Hydra becoming an agent only to discover their lies and ended up joining S.H.E.I.L.D at Nick Fury’s invitation. She went back to Hydra as Fury’s girl and kept tabs for S.H.E.I.L.D. With Hydra’s current rise in the film and television world, she would be an ideal addition. Her abilities include being able to walk and crawl across anything much like Spider-Man, but that’s as far as it goes where similarities are concerned. She has a venom like energy that comes out of her hands to take down her opponents. Her last ability is the one she dislikes the most and is the hardest to control. She can release pheromones from her body that can either make you terrified or enamored by her depending on which she was going for. She can’t just turn it off or focus it on one individual, which makes it unpredictable at times.
Marvel Studios has also left open these possibilities for their current franchises. While they don’t need to be large focused roles, it would be nice to see them.
Original Concept Art of Valkyrie for Thor: The Dark World
Valkyrie
Sadly, during the development of the second Thor movie, creators had every intention of including Odin’s shield maiden, but left her on the idea podium. However, it looks like Thor will be returning to Asgard to deal with his brother in the third film and hopefully he will need every ally possible including Valkyrie. If they decide to bring in the Enchantress to help Loki keep up his throne, it would be good for Thor to have another female ally besides just Lady Sif. Valkyrie is Asgardian, so she is super strong as well as quite durable. It would be nice to see her.
Misty Knight
Misty Knight
While she may not be one of the biggest female superheroes that Marvel puts out, she is quite large where Hell’s Kitchen is concerned. She plays a large role in keeping the streets clean alongside Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Hell, she is romantically involved with Iron Fist in the comics. She was a former NYPD officer that lost her arm in an explosion. Tony Stark helped her out with a bionic arm and super strength that allows her to be one hell of a badass. If you get a chance to read the short lived Fearless Defenders comic series, please do. It features Misty and Valkyrie leading an all-female superhero team. I am just bummed that they killed it.
She-Hulk
She-Hulk
Yes, I agree, a long shot, but if they pursue anymore Hulk stories, then she is still a possibility. She is blessed enough to keep her mind when in hulk form, and actually prefers that compared to her normal human self. She has all the hulk perks with practically no negatives. I am sure her cousin Bruce Banner gets jealous a little every time he sees her.
Wasp
Wasp
You really can’t do an Ant-Man storyline without at least mentioning the woman. While Hank Pym is clearly going to be aged somewhat, we may not get to see the Wasp. I just hope they at least mention Janet Van Dyne. She has so connected to the Avengers in the comics, that it would be disrespectful not to at least give her a shout out somewhere in the films.
Thor Won’t Be Sashaying Anywhere Soon
New Female Thor Concept Art
Marvel Comics has certainly been the rage this week. Two large announcements shook up Marvel fans everywhere. The news was so popular that I even had to hear about the change on the E! Network, which made me stop and ponder life and where it was heading for a minute. Marvel announced this week that Thor would be a woman in an upcoming series, and Sam Wilson would become the first black Captain America. The announcements unfortunately had a flip side, there have been a lot of angry and upset people making ludicrous statements. Do you want to know something else that’s crazy about these announcement. Most comic book fans didn’t really bat an eye at it. They were more confused by the manner in which the announcements were given and spent some time schooling people throughout the internet hoping to calm the masses down.
Beta Ray Bill
So is Thor becoming a woman? Yes. Is that woman Thor? No. That doesn’t make sense, huh? Here is what is actually happening. Marvel is giving a woman Thor’s powers and abilities and she will probably be called Thor unless something has to change during the period of her existence. She is not Thor himself, just someone worthy of his power and some form of his abilities. This has happened already with the alien named Beta Ray Bill. Yes, that was typed correctly. He is a, for lack of better description, a horse faced alien that was worthy enough to pick up and use Mjolnir. Of course Thor eventually needed it back, so a new powerful hammer was forged by the dwarves so that this worthy being could continue his destiny as a hero in space. There is also a Thor Girl, but she never really went over well with the masses. Beta Ray Bill has been around forever and has been romantically tied to Lady Sif in some books. Don't ask me about how that works, but love is love right? Looks like homegirl found a solution to not having Thor for herself and went and found the next best thing.
Thor Gil
Loki as a woman.
Thor as a woman.
Thor himself has been a woman before just as his brother, Loki, was. Unfortunately for readers, they were never at the same time. That might have allowed us to avoid the awkward flirtations by Loki. I know that Loki has spent his existence proving how he is not related to Thor, but that's your brother, man, woman....frost giant. Thor has also been a frog, but we rolled with it. The woman thing was actually supposed punishment by Odin in both cases. It is hard being a woman, but I don't remember Odin calling them out for objectifying. Female Loki actually spent a lot of time in main comic world, but female Thor did not. Thor was a woman during an interesting comic storyline that was developed between two books called Earth X and Universe X. The whole series really took the Marvel world and did whatever they wanted. It was meant to be its own universe that didn’t affect mainstream Marvel comics.
The second announcement from Marvel stated that Sam Wilson, best known as the Falcon and one of Captain America’s sidekicks, would be taking up the mantle of the shielded warrior with the blessing of Steve Rogers himself. Sam Wilson is considered one of Steve Rogers most loyal and best friends, right up there with Bucky Barnes. Him taking over, isn’t a shock. This isn't the first time that Rogers has stepped away from the role. Bucky Barnes actually took up the star spangled uniform a few years back in the wake of Steve Rogers supposed death at the end of the Civil War storyline. Once it was revealed that Rogers was still kicking, he actually encourage Bucky to stay in his place, so he could go do some incognito work to uncover all of Norman Osborn’s grand and terrible plans during the Dark Reign arc.
Concept art for Sam Wilson as Captain America
To those who were so shocked and angered by these announcements that they took to the web to state explicitly their outrage, please, calm the hell down. The world isn’t going to end. Everything will be okay. Marvel has several universes in its comic world. They are usually called Earth and some number. We have the main universe that is the most common and universes where writers and artists are allowed freedom for a bit. They also create these storylines to breathe new and modern air into the characters. This allows the characters to never age by giving them a new background that is not only relatable to new readers but believable. These changes can be a gamble. If the entire story bombs they will just create a new universe for it and act like it never happened. If say a character works out, but the rest of the storyline may not be strong enough to take over the mainstream universe, they may pull the character only into the mainstream universe. This kind of happened with Nick Fury. Nick Fury actually became a black man in the Ultimate universe books for Marvel. This character was so popular that he has practically replaced the original version while the rest of the Ultimate didn’t quite make the cut, although it had a pretty decent following. They have explained away current Nick Fury's race as him actually being one of his seemingly large mass of illegitimate children. Seems like a stretch, but when you factor in how old the original Nick Fury is, his R&R activities were bound to lead down that road.
Two things. Yes, Thor really was a frog once. Second, whether or not Disney owns ABC and Marvel, why the hell they felt the need to have the Thor announcement come from The View, beats the hell out of me.
Frog Thor
Basically Marvel isn’t going to do something crazy just to piss you off. They still have to make money, therefore your opinion is important. Just give these changes a chance, and if you don’t like them, then simply say that. Marvel’s ear is already on the ground waiting for your reaction. The anger and slander is unnecessary. Marvel will change it back if enough people don’t like it. All they are asking is for a chance. The world didn't fall apart over Nick Fury. True the change didn't win everybody. If you feel passionate and head strong about your loathing with that change, I invite you to make that statement directly to Samuel L. Jackson's face. If you survive that, then your opinion will be considered valid....maybe.
The Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con 2014
This year I thought that I would check out the Second Annual Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con. We went last Sunday for family day. We thought that it would be a good idea, since my eldest nephew would probably love it. Being able to dress up around other people who are also dressed up and celebrate his favorite superheroes, heaven for the kid. It did not disappoint the little guy or his baby brother either. The con is clearly growing and while it may not be as big as some of the others in the country, I truly believe it will be bigger next year. It certainly was busting at the seams on Sunday. My only complaint was that it was too cramped, but honestly, the con probably didn’t know what to expect as far as a turnout. Since that is my only complaint, it really isn’t that terrible. I would have had lots of pictures for you showing the different displays and costumes that I saw, but my camera kind of punked out on me. I apologize for that. Next year, I will be better prepared. There was tons of Cosplayers, which is pretty essential for these kinds of events. What made me even happier was that there were tons of kids that were dressed up as well. This is was my first ever comic con experience, and I had fun. I loved seeing all of the kids dressed up, many making their own costumes. One of the most adorable of these costumes was one nine year-old boy made his own Doctor Octopus costume with an adult dress shirt hemmed at the bottom to look like a lab coat and duct tape and tubing that created the metallic arms coming out of the back. It was a solid little costume. Another kid that sat down at our table as we were getting ready to leave from lunch actually made what looked like a silver Boba Fett costume. If that is not Boba Fett, I apologize to the Star Wars community, I really only know the movies, so anything outside of that I am at a loss. Regardless, the twelve year-old craftsmanship was very impressive. He actually molded pieces of some kind of light metal or plastic sprayed to look like metal. My eldest nephew got really excited when he sat down with us and asked him to take his picture with him. There were plenty of adults with some impressive costumes as well. I saw a really good Elsa that was walking around with none other than Jesus, who I think was supposed to be Buddy Christ from Dogma. That was a fun conversation with some of my friends a couple of days later when we were talking about the costumes we saw. My friend hasn’t seen Frozen yet and she was trying to describe the Elsa costume and confirm if that was the one that I was talking about. My next question came out as “Was she with Jesus?” That made us both pause and crack up, because I really just said that. I saw an Anna as well that was so good, that homegirl would probably get kicked out of Disneyland just like that Tinkerbell cosplayer did. One costume created a spontaneous nerd moment in the middle of the con that made me smile. This man had a self-made Predator costume and was walking around the con when a ten year-old boy freaked out and grabbed him excitedly for a picture because he was carrying around an Alien mask. The predator guy gave him a high five and they took the picture. This brings me to my favorite part about this entire con experience, enjoying it with my nephews. My youngest nephew is about nineteen months old, and doesn’t really know what’s going on around him, but was happy to be there. He had fun, but not to the extent that his five year-old brother did. My eldest nephew is a Captain America and Transformers junkie. He insists that his real name is Optimus Prime and actually has begun to introduce himself as such to people, bless him. This kid had a blast! He of course went as his favorite superhero, Captain America. All he wanted before we went in was to get his picture with Captain America. Knowing that there was probably going to be someone there that was dressed up Captain America, I knew we could make this happen. His mind got blown however by all of the characters he did get to see. He started screaming for joy when he heard over the intercom that Iron Man was there. Now he had to get a picture with Iron Man. He as was just thrilled. If anyone reading this was at the con and dressed up, please let me take the moment to thank you. Everyone at this con was kind and considerate and just as excited as my nephew when it came to him asking for pictures. Everyone was fantastically awesome and dropped into to character at the drop of a hat. They always called my nephew Captain America or Steve when addressing him, which made his day. That is nerd love from the community that just wants to support each other’s passions. I was so floored by this reception all around, and it wasn’t just with my nephew, it was with all of the children there for family day. Thank you all for making such a special memory for this little guy. His little brother even got pulled for pictures, since he was dressed up as Cap’s sidekick, Bucky. This was an absolutely fantastic experience, and I can’t wait for next year. A little side note of nerd humor. My brother took my nephew to the bathroom while we had taken a break to eat. I was still sitting at the table waiting on them and could see the entrance of the bathrooms. After a bit, I see this kid about the same age as my nephew come skipping out of the bathroom dressed as the Winter Soldier. As I was started to think what a fun picture that would be for my nephew to take, here he comes skipping and bouncing right after him. I fell out because it looked like Captain America just chased the Winter Soldier out the bathroom. When my brother and nephew came back over, I told my brother what I saw. Apparently their story started in the bathroom. My nephew approached the other kid and told him that he was my nephew’s enemy. The other kid just growled back at him before turning to skip out, which prompted my nephew to follow. You have to love the babies. They are adorable.
Sharing the Geeky Fun with Toddlers
It’s an understatement saying that parenting isn’t easy these days. Sharing the things we loved as a kid with children just isn’t as simple. Sometimes our excitement for sharing these things that we loved when we were younger overshadows our judgment for what the children may and may not be ready for. The littlest kids are always the hardest to share with. While they may not always be able to determine the difference between reality and fiction, they still want to enjoy things like comic book heroes and robots in disguise.
My nephew is creeping closer and closer to the giant age of five and is a big Marvel and Transformers fan. He has been a big fan since he was three. This excited both my brother and I greatly, because we are big fans as well. The problem was that my nephew was not quite ready for the live action motion picture versions then and isn’t quite ready for that now. We did manage to find something for the little guy to enjoy, The Super Hero Squad Show and Transformers: Rescue Bots.
The Super Hero Squad Show
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Super-Hero-Squad-DVD-Plans/13366
Marvel has several animated television shows and films out, but most of them were and still are a little too mature for my nephew. It is usually due to either too violent content he is not ready to be exposed to or complex story lines that he cannot understand or relate too. Then Marvel came out with Super Hero Squad Show in 2009. The show is a toned down version of the Marvel world focused around Super Hero City which houses all of Marvel’s beloved comic book heroes. The heroes come off as silly and simpler versions of themselves while they battle even sillier versions of Marvel’s villains. My nephew just loves it. He gets to root for his favorite heroes like Captain America, the Hulk, and Iron Man. We don’t mind watching the show with him, because Marvel understood that parents would be watching the show along with the kids. There are several jokes littered throughout the entire show that fans of the comics and movies would find entertaining. I personally love watching it with my nephew, because I think it’s hilarious.
The best part of my nephew having a marvel outlet is that we can go out and buy the costumes and some of the toys from the shows and movies and now he understands what they are. The unfortunate thing is that there were only two seasons made of the show. That being said, the entire series is currently on Netflix, and I think it still runs on The Hub from time to time. The show may be gone, but they still make toys and video games for tots to enjoy as well.
Transformers: Rescue Bots
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Rescue_Bots_(cartoon)
This Transformers show is extremely toned down compared to the rest of the family. It is has no Decepticons. Before you freak out over that, please understand that this show was made for a specific market, and it needed to be comparable to that market. The market is toddlers and they didn’t want bots tearing and blowing one another up. Instead we have a small group of Transformers that have taken the forms of the main public service vehicles in a small town. They were sent to help out the community and learn about humanity by Optimus Prime himself. The city believes that the Transformers are just experimental robots that also turn into rescue vehicles. The fact that they are alien beings is only know to a family that tends to the rescue and public needs of the town. Yes, it does have Optimus Prime and even Bumblebee in a few episodes, but they are not featured. The bots pretty much help out with whatever mystery or shenanigans is going on with the town at that time. It is a specifically toddler focused show. As an adult watching it with my nephew, it is not any more entertaining than the Nick Jr and Disney Jr shows, but the little guy loves it. He adores the theme song as well and sings it all of the time.
Show has one season under its belt, which can be found on Netflix also. It has just started its second season and has no plans as of yet to finish. It currently airs on The Hub as well. The show has spawned several toy lines that are specifically geared to toddlers with simple and easy transformations that won’t discourage the little ones. Because he now has a point of reference, I always joke with my nephew that I see Bumblebee at my work. He gets really excited about why Bumblebee was there, and it can get really fun thinking of stories to explain it. I joke with his parents that the day he gets old enough to watch the live action movies his poor little mind is just going to overload the first time he sees the very real car turn into a giant robot. It will be a fun day.
I really hope other companies and franchises like DC Comics hone in on this niche and add to this market. There is a lot of potential here since honestly these are the only two shows of its kind that I know of. I believe that not only having these types of shows can be entertaining for these age groups and exciting for parents, but it can be quite the lucrative market for these companies to roll into. I really hope that Marvel comes back with something like The Super Hero Show Squad especially in light of all of the recent film adaptation success. Finally, I hope that these two shows help you share some nerdy love to the sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews in your life.
A Geek Girl’s Dirty Laundry
One of my fondest memories was from Christmas when I was around three or four years-old. My family had returned from celebrating the holiday with my grandparents, and this girl was pretty golden at that point. I had just received a Jem and Video doll from Jem and The Holograms. As far as I was concerned, I was good, because the Jem doll alone was pretty fantastic. When we got to open the remaining gifts that were left home, my holiday became epic in my little eyes, because my parents practically bought out the She-Ra toys at local Big Lots. Not only did I get She-Ra, herself, but I got her steed, Swift Wind.
Apart of me believes that my parents decided to get me my own supply of the toys, because they were probably tired of me always wanting to go over to the neighbor’s house. Who could blame me, they literally had every He-Man and She-Ra toy ever made along with accessories. It was heaven, and that Christmas was a super treat because of that.
That holiday was one of my earliest memories of my extreme “geekdom.” Throughout this blog I’ll share more of these little gems from my life and showcase some of the stuff I love and come across. Whether it’s music, television, movies, or books, all is fair game. This post is a little snapshot into my life growing up and how it all started.
Whenever I watched a show, any corresponding toy would be right there next to me. My She-Ra toys would be lined up in battle against my Catra doll and her flying Steed as Adora and the rebels took on Hordak on the screen. Jem would be poised and ready to belt out a “Truly Outrageous” at a moment’s notice. Movies were not saved from this ritual either. I would always lovingly cuddle my Lady toy when curled up on couch watching Lady and The Tramp.
Growing up, I may have picked up a few more fascinations along the way. There was all Disney in general, which isn’t exactly unusual for any kid. I tended to lean towards the princess stories as most girls my age. I have my favorite princess, Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. What’s not to envy about a girl who got to sleep through the hard parts only to wake up with a man and a kingdom. That’s pretty awesome. Granted, it could have gone very south for her if Merryweather hadn’t flipped the death spell, but that’s just being picky. I also fully believe that Maleficent is one of the scariest things that Disney ever created.
I just loved these little stories that played out in front of me on the television. My imagination was voracious as a youngster and these little worlds were to just the trick to feed it. My geeky side was very present and thriving during this time. I did have comic books as well. I snuck away with my brother’s X-Men comics regularly, which lead to quality time with my brother over the animated series in the early 90’s. I had a massive Barbie comic book collection. Yes, she had a comic series. I even had a Muppet Babies comic that am very sad I no longer have. I loved Batman. Saw all of the movies in the theaters, but never read the comics. I would watch the old Adam West series in reruns and loved the animated series. I was even Batman for Halloween in Kindergarten. I remember getting annoyed when people would ask me if I was Batgirl. This girl was true to her hero. I was independent even then.
When junior high hit, I was presented with a show that would ultimately change my life. During this time UPN was a relatively new network trying to build viewership. One of there shows didn’t do so well and was cancelled midseason. The network began to advertise a midseason replacement, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I am not afraid to admit that I loved the movie and still do, so I really looked forward to this show starting. When UPN introduced shows back then, they would do so by airing a two hour movie. It was more like the first two episodes back to back, but no one’s judging. The problem was I had a bedtime of 9:00 PM. The show was premiering from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Dilemma? Not for me, because I was a rebel. I did stay up and watched the whole show, and I did get busted and grounded for it. So worth it, until the following week, when I was forbidden from watching it, part of the grounding terms.
This one little show would turn into a relationship that I am still seeing on the side to this day. I very much read the comic series. More than just entertainment, it guided me into a career choice at just fifteen. At that time I had decided I wanted to be a writer and was leaning towards journalism. A stunt ran by a local news station completely turned me off to that idea. Columbine had just happened, and Indiana was to host a Marilyn Manson concert. Reporters were sent to interview the waiting fans about the recent tragedy. That was all good and well until the reporter made his closing statement to the camera. He proceeded to state that the fans around him were the same type of people as the shooters were, condemning them nonchalantly as sociopathic murderers due to their music choice. I am not a fan of Marilyn Manson personally, but I do enjoy and own a few of his songs. Since I don’t ever feel like killing people or even sometimes based on this logic, this was an extremely unfair and all-around cheap shot to get ratings off the tragedy by the news station. That was the moment that I knew I really didn’t want to be that type of journalist. To be forced to write anything that I didn’t fully back myself and could potentially hurt someone purely for ratings was something I just could not do.
I still wanted to write, so while watching an episode of Buffy, I realized I wanted to create something with my writing, something that would bring someone the same joy and entertainment that Buffy and all of the other shows I have watched growing up made me feel. This dream is still a work in progress, and I have made responsibilities more important for the time being. It is still there, and I will do what I can to make it happen if at least not try. This blog is going to be one of many baby steps to get myself back in the game.
These are the events that have shaped my nerd tendencies and guided me through new doors that I continue to open today. I still read comics, enjoy my television shows, and have a whole new obsession with movies in general. I may like looking stylish, but most know I am not embarrassed to rock my Marvel T-shirts. I still have some of my She-Ra toys from when I was kid. I have large Sleeping Beauty Christmas ornament collection. My Buffy the Vampire Slayer calendars may have been traded for Supernatural ones, one of my current obsessions. All of these make me who I am. Hopefully you too can find this blog as a safe place to let your inner geek out to play and, if nothing else, a little entertainment.
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