Fan Expo 2010: Day 3 (Last Day)

Ahhhh, last day. But what a day it was. I'm exhausted, I'm sore, but damn it I'm happy! And I'm so glad I did all three days to get the true experience.

So, to recap: Got down to the convention center right around 10 am. The line down Lower Simcoe was almost under the tunnel, but not quite, and before too long I was back up across the parking garage and very nearly where I was yesterday. But Lord it was hot. I stood baking in the sun for over an hour, listening to very loud geeks discuss whether or not David Tennant's sideburns are real and whether or not Data could have a child biologically. Sigh. I ended up meeting one of those geeks, dressed head to toe in a Doctor Who suit, named Ellen, when I discovered she was also racing to the line-up to get James Marster's autograph. It was just after 11am by that point, and he was starting at 11:30. She made a beeline for one of the merchant tables, however, to buy a sonic screwdriver, so when I got to the line-up a mother/daughter team by the name of Denise and Alicia got in behind me, and then Ellen got in behind them. Denise and Alicia chatted me up as we waited, and it turns out they're pretty hardcore fans. Alicia apparently had even been to a Twilight convention.

As we got closer, and I could see Mr. Marsters sitting up front, dressed in a blue t-shirt that hugged his torso nicely, I began to get nervous. Just as I had done with Bruce Campbell the year before, my nerves were getting to me. I checked with my new friends if I looked alright, and they assured me I looked fine and to relax, it was going to be fine. But still, this is James Marsters were talking about. There was no relaxing here.

Once I paid for my autograph and handed over my DVD cover of Spike episodes that I wanted him to sign, I found I was having the opposite problem that I did with Mr. Campbell. Instead of rambling, I clammed up! The two people ahead of me had lovely chats with the man at the booth, and he seemed happy to talk with them (this was a little less formal than the session I went to last year), but as soon as I got up there it was almost death. I smiled and said hi, he said hi and shook my hand (I TOUCHED HIM!), I asked how he was and he said fine. He complimented me on my hair, and I said thanks, I had just got it done. Then there was a lull as he signed my cover, so I mentioned that I had been to the Q&A yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. He said he had fun to, but wished that the hosts hadn't asked quite so many questions so that the fans could get more of an opportunity. And here's where I choked. In retrospect, I could've said how his singing was my favorite part, but my mind went blank at that moment. I smiled, nodded, said thank you very much it was nice to meet you, and made a hasty retreat. Gaaah. I hope he could see I was nervous and he didn't think anything of it. He meets lots of people, I'm sure, so he could probably tell. But I went and stood at one of the tables behind the lines for the autograph tables and waited until I settled down and was sure that the ink had dried on the signature before sliding it back into the DVD case with trembling fingers. Still, I looked at that signature, in silver ink, and was so happy. I had done it! I had met Mr. Marsters, shaken his hand, spoken with him and got his autograph. So cool! That disc will now have a place of honor on the shelf.

After that I had another mission. I had t-shirt requests from my brother and my roommates sister and brother-in-law. After looking at some of the tables that had shirts, and getting side-tracked at the Marvel table with free comics and a photograph with Captain America's shield (which made me look so tiny, as you can see) I went back to the big Stylin booth to find two Bazinga shirts for my roommates people, and a Green Lantern shirt for my brother. Mission accomplished, and they still had the sizes I was looking for.

After all this, I figured I'd earned a break, and I was not going to make the same mistake I did yesterday, where I only lived on granola bars. I got a slice of pizza to keep my energy up (and listened to a kid have a full blown tantrum in a stroller. Lovely). Then, as it was just past 1pm by that point and I had some time to kill before the afternoon events I wanted to attend I worked the floor, searching through boxes and boxes of discount graphic novels and getting some more free stuff. There weren't quite as many people as there were yesterday, which made navigating the crowds easier.

By the time I made it to the lowest floor for the Vampires in Film and Television panel discussion I was really feeling the exhaustion. Because of that, and because of the podium blocking off the table from where I was sitting so I could only see three of the five people, and the guy sitting beside me leaned forward the entire time, so I had to as well to see even that, I didn't catch every point that was made. But what I did catch was very interesting, like how some mediums use vampirism as a commentary on homosexuality, and the defanging, so to speak, of vampires in YA fiction when adult vampire fiction is so mature. There was a little talk on the difference between Western and Eastern vamps, and on favorite vampire movies or books. I do love my vampires.

Once the discussion was over I raced up one floor to find the room where they were screening an episode of Supernatural. I found it full, so I stood for the first few minutes, but people were coming and going, so it didn't take long to find a seat, and even though it was in the back I could see everything perfectly. I hoped it would be one of the many episodes I haven't seen yet, but nope; it was "Lazarus Rising". Still, an excellent episode, introducing favorite character Castiel, and I stayed and watched the whole thing.

After that it was just before 5, with a little more than an hour until the Expo shut down. So I decided to make a few last loops around the convention floor. At the Tron booth they were throwing out t-shirts and light disc frisbees, but I was not fortunate enough to grab one. What I did find though was the other iTunes card I wanted sitting out on the DC table, so I grabbed one for myself and some for other people. Sweet.

A lot of the collectibles I was looking at were so expensive, so I ended up getting one more graphic novel. By then it was twenty to 6, so I took a moment to take every in one last time, and then went downstairs to head back out onto Front street and to Union station. The ride back had a slight delay (what is with Subways this weekend?) but nothing major, so I got back home alright.

I'm sad it's all over, but I'm also wiped, so maybe it's good that it is only three days. Back to work I go tomorrow, but I feel happy. I feel like I was a part of something special, something big, and the more I go to Fan Expo, the more I feel that these memories will stay with me forever. I really feel I belong, and it's a great feeling.

Another year until we do it all again. I'll see you there.

Fan Expo 2010: Day 2

I think I'm in love. With who you ask? James Marsters. Now lots of you will probably think, yeah, we know, you've been in love with Spike for ages. True, but now I'm in love with the man behind Spike.

And so leads us to my second day at Toronto's geek heaven. The trip to and from was much easier this time around (thank God, no smoke on the tracks I guess). How would I describe today? Exhausting and not without it's mild irritants, but mostly...magical.

I arrived at the Convention Center around 9am and found a line, as I'd expected, but a much shorter line this time around, only going down Simcoe a little ways. And though I travelled alone, I managed to make a line buddy by the name of John. We chatted for some time about likes, dislikes, home life and what brought us here today. He was there mostly for gaming and anime, so the opposite of what I was there for, but we found a lot to talk about regardless and he explained the finer points of his costume to me.

I got in at about 10:15am. Perfect. I had time to take a quick look around, ask about the iTunes gift cards and discover that they were only being given out to people buying tickets that day (Boo!) and to find the room, two floors down, where the DC Universe panel discussion was being held. That was a very interesting talk between some DC writers and artists about some upcoming projects, and some very interesting questions came up (among them were what everyone's favorite DC and Marvel characters were).

I left that a few minutes early to get in line for the Tron Legacy sneak peak. I was a little worried once I saw the line, but it turns out it was in a huge theatre, so finding seats was no trouble. There was some talk of everyone having to confiscate their cameras and phones, as they were showing secret movie scenes, but fortunately it did not come to that. They just had security guards to keep an eye on things. Once in my seat I met another Melissa and her mother and brother. The Tron preview was hosted by InnerSPACE hosts Ajay Fry and Teddy Wilson, and featured a peak at the new video game with one of the games designers and a Wii demo on the big screen. Then we had a great compilation of clips showing Tron references in pop culture, from 30 Rock to Family Guy to music videos and South Park. Then a very cool surprise; Mr. Bruce Boxleitner was brought out, an actor who has starred in both the original Tron and the upcoming feature, and is maybe best known for starring in Babylon Five. Then we were shown both a trailer and seven minutes of never before seen footage, all in 3D (glasses were handed out as we came in). Honestly, the movie looks pretty cool, and I'm excited to see it. Mr. Boxleitner came out with Ajay Fry to answer a few questions from the audience. I quite enjoyed Mr. Boxleitner, he was funny and charming. One thing he pointed out was that the original Tron was slammed by the critics at the time and did poorly at the box office, but he feels that some of the blame for that lands on the fact that E.T. came out that same summer and, as he put it, sucked all the oxygen out of the room. But, he was quick to point out, E.T. doesn't have a new movie coming out 27 years later. The audience cheered at that. He also encouraged all of us to go out and see it four times each opening weekend.

By the time that wrapped up and we had deposited our 3D glasses in the recycle bin it was a little after 1. I knew it was too late to try to go to the Stan Lee presentation, but as that wasn't high on my list of things to do this weekend that was alright. I was ready to get some lunch. But, by then the size of the crowd had ballooned to almost locust-like proportions. There was a nice sized crowd of people waiting to get in outside, so leaving the building was impossible unless I wanted to join the wait to get back in. And they were only letting people back upstairs a few at a time to try to control the crowd, so there was a crowd of people waiting around the escalator. Seeing I had nowhere to go and nothing to do, I decided to go get in line for the James Marsters Q&A, even though that wasn't for a couple of hours. I found the right line, got comfy, found a granola bar I'd packed for just such an emergency and settled in with my iPod Nano. Plus I had to deal with a mass of people, including a few behind me who kept talking at booming volumes and kept wiggling into my personal space. Grrr.

But you know what? Totally worth it! I got a great seat, just a couple rows back from the front and on the aisle, so I had the clearest view I think I've ever had at Fan Expo. After another half-hour, our hosts (Teddy Wilson and Natasha Eloi) introduced the man of the hour. He's looking good, that guy; his brown hair's grown out a little bit and he had on a sleeveless shirt, showing off his arms. Meow. It was funny hearing him talk and not sound British. He sounds very American, and I thought at times I detected a Southern twang to his voice. Still, I'm not picky.

He was an absolute delight. He was funny, intelligent, gave nice full answers and was great with the fans. Turns out he's a well rounded actor. He's not only done the Sci Fi stuff like Spike or Captain John or Brainiac, but also the stage and Shakespeare and more main stream stuff as well. When asked about playing villains he talked about how in Shakespeare there are no villains (with the exception of Iago or maybe Richard III), and that that's how he's always seen the characters he's played. He told some great stories about working on "Once More With Feeling" and how hard the cast worked to make that come to life. He talked about his new projects and how much he relates to his character on Caprica. He talked about Angel and having to make it look like he was kicking David Boreanaz's butt while Boreanaz had a bad knee but wouldn't give up until the scene was finished. Of course he was asked about his kiss on Torchwood with John Barrowman. Again, meow. He described Barrowman as a born leader who helped him out of a tight spot while filming and made him feel comfortable about that hot and heavy scene. Apparently Marsters was originally hoping to get on Doctor Who but they didn't need him for anything there and came up with this role on Torchwood instead. Our gain.

A couple of my favorite responses: when asked if there was anything about Spike he would've played differently; "Nothing." And when asked if it was better playing a supercomputer than a vampire; "Actually, I don't think anything's been better than Spike." Yay! Spike's voice even made a brief appearance this afternoon.

But the most awesome thing came right near the end. He sang for us. Someone asked him if he remembered any lyrics from "Once More With Feeling" and would he sing them for us. He confessed that he didn't, but he could sing something else. A song from a TV movie he'd done for SyFy. I made sure the video option on my camera was running. Honestly, it was lovely when he started singing. For a song from a TV movie it was haunting and sad, and he sold it. The whole auditorium went silent. I was beaming and felt something pretty deep. It was a real moment.

And then he finished, and it was over. One last round of applause and a standing ovation, myself included. I left feeling so satisfied and happy. I knew that if I'd experienced nothing else that whole day that one hour would have made the trip worth it.

The crowd had dispersed somewhat by that point, so I made it back upstairs and basically walked around for about an hour and a half looking at comics and collectibles and displays until my shoulders ached, my feet started to hurt and my mind went numb. I got some graphic novels, some free stuff, and checked to see when Mr. Marsters would be signing autographs tomorrow. Then a little after 6 I left to head back to the subway. They were keeping the Expo open until 8 tonight to meet demand, but I figured it's been a good day and the time had come to leave.

So there's two good days. Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. Last day, a few things on the agenda. How will it all go down? To be continued...

Fan Expo 2010: Day 1

After a long wait, a year of anticipation, one of my very favorite times of the year is finally upon us. Fan Expo, one of the biggest geekfests in all of geekdom, opened it's doors to all at 4pm this afternoon. And where was I at that time? Not quite where you might think.

Picture this. I and my roommate Andrea get ready to leave for about 1:30pm. I've got my Batman t-shirt on, my new Capri jeans, my shape-ups in the vain hope that this will tone my legs (I've put on weight recently), and I've done myself up with black-eyeliner, silver sparkly eyeshadow and red lipstick to go with my awesome, recently dyed purple hair. I'm dressed to kill, I have everything I need, my ticket is in hand, I'm ready for anything.

Or so I thought. We get on the subway line from Yorkdale headed to Union station. So far things are fine, we're aiming to be at the Convention Center early to avoid a massive line-up. We get to the St. Claire West Station, and are told that due to some smoke in the tunnels, we all have to leave the train because it will go no further until the fire department gives the all-clear. But don't worry, they tell us, because shuttle buses will take you to the next station down south and you can hop the train from there. All of this would have been fine with me...if we did not have to wait a good forty minutes or so to catch one of those buses. Lord, did that tick me off. I felt like I was waiting for Godot. Not so much the wait, but the fact that the instructions for where we wait and for what were not very clear and there was no one to ask. I mean, what kind of operation are they running?

But we get our shuttle bus (we practically had to knock people over to get on), get to the St. George Station and take that the rest of the way in. We end up chatting to a Melissa, a fellow geek who's meeting her husband down at the convention. We finally get to Union, get to the Convention Center...but by this point it's after 4, and my worst fears have been confirmed. A line up. A massive line up, snaking all the way down under the tunnel on Simcoe Street. And not only must we wait, but we must wait in separate lines, because Andrea still needed to buy her ticket. So I'm standing alone for about an hour and a half to get in. Fortunately there were lots of costumes to see and I had my iPod with me, but still it was a long wait.

By the time I get in, get my wrist band and get onto the convention floor it's about twenty to 6. I figure there's no point in trying to make any of the 6pm panels I was hoping to get to and try to occupy myself until Andrea makes it inside (the line for ticket buyers was longer than the one with advanced tickets). However, how could I possibly stay down hearted? It's Fan Expo, for God's sake! Even in the little bit I saw tonight and with the heavy crowds my heart leapt. These are my people! This is where I belong!

And boy was there a lot to see. The tables for Marvel and DC and the Tron Display kept me occupied until Andrea made it in at about 6:15. We went to the food court to get some pizza (with me getting a Fangtasia tattoo along the way), which was right near the autograph stations so we saw a few famous faces like Ernest Borgnine and Felicia Day. After getting my picture taken with the Metallicar (see above, so awesome!) we went to the big T-Shirt store and Andrea got some really good scores with shirts featuring Sheldon Cooper's Friendship Algorithm and Pinky and The Brain's to-do list (1. Wait until tonight 2. Take over the world). While she was doing that I tried to find out about the collectible iTunes cards that the Expo is handing out. She got one, with Doctor Who on the front, when she got in but I didn't, so I went back to the ticket counters only to find out that they were fresh out. Aaahhhh! Fortunately Andrea gave up hers, as she's not a fan of Doctor Who or Torchwood, so yay! Hopefully they will have lots to give out for the next two cards over the next couple of days.

After a stop at the HMV set-up there, we went downstairs to room 205B. That's another thing that surprised me about this year's Expo. While last year it was held in the South Building in the deepest, darkest depths, this year it was in the North Building, which is all open with lots of room and lots of natural light. A nice improvement. Anyway, room 205B was a panel discussion on the X-men comic series, featuring bigwigs from Marvel comics. Andrea was talked into this with the promise of having somewhere to sit. Before it started and while she was saving our seats I picked up a couple of things and had two separate but similar conversations about True Blood with two vendors, after they noticed my Fangtasia tattoo. Once they heard I haven't seen Season 3 they kept mum so nothing would be spoiled, which I appreciate.

The discussion itself was very interesting. I admit, I did wonder if I would get kicked out once people noticed my Batman t-shirt, but nobody seemed to mind. After our speaker pointed out a kid Wolverine and his X-23 mom, we got into an update of what's been going on in the comic series and what we can expect in the near future. This is great for me because I'm very behind on the comics and have no idea what's going on. For instance, I had no idea that one of my favorites, Nightcrawler, had died. Whaaa? Or that the devastation to the mutant population from the House of M events may start to turn around with a new group called Generation Hope. Plus we got into a little bit of insight into how that industry works. Once I heard the questions from the hard core fans, I was a little reminded of how out of my league I was. Wow.

So, aside from a few hiccups, it was a good day. I got some great free samples, especially from the DC table, where I lined up to get free comics and lots of buttons and posters. I was able to squeeze in an event, and there's two more days of cool stuff to look forward to, with my orange Deluxe wrist band strapped on for the whole three days. All in all, a good start.

Now please God, let the subways be working tomorrow...and let the line ups be short.

Movie Review: Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World

As promised, here's my take on the film adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's series.

Here's the thing; it's darn near impossible to judge an adaptation like this on it's own merits. Of course comparisons are going to be made to the comic book, especially since I and everyone else only just finished reading it, if they even have. Having said that, my only conclusion for the movie is that it's great...but the comics were just better.

If taken on it's own, it's an awesome movie, at least for the first two-thirds or so. It's funny, hip, has great videogame and pop culture references and is true to it's Toronto setting, even poking fun at it. Michael Cera does a great Scott, Mary Winstead is a cool-as-a-cucumber Ramona, and the entire cast did admirably. My favorite was Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells. Visually it was a stunner, especially with the fight scenes. Awesome soundtrack too, with performances from the fictional bands featured in the film and other artists.

Yet, in spite of all of that, I am disappointed, especially with the last showdown. While the film stayed true to much of the plot points and a lot of the dialogue of the comics, a lot was changed as well. I understand that this needs to happen to condense everything to a 2 hour movie, but often times things get lost in the translation. And, unfortunately, that's what's happened here. Everything moved around at such a fast pace, and while Wright is a master of the fast cuts, I didn't feel the connection to it that I did when everything had time to marinate and grow on it's own. A lot of character development had to be sacrificed, and the plot was changed around at times to such an extent I found it rather ludicrous (see Ramona's reason for staying with Gideon and an unexpected third party in the final scenes). Things were added that didn't need to be. Things were taken away that shouldn't have been. The twins didn't even have a chance to actually speak. And while they managed to maintain most of Scott's personal growth, I feel that Ramona didn't have the chance to close the door on her own past like she did in the books, which was sorely disappointing. Plus, Gideon was introduced way too early. Part of his whole appeal was that he was so mysterious.

That last fight was the most disappointing of the whole movie. It made me wonder if Wright had sat down with O'Malley at all and had discussed how the series was going to end.

But again, these are all opinions based on my comparisons with the books. Can this movie be good when taken on it's own? Feel free to set me straight below.

My Verdict: An epic of epic epicness...but only if you haven't read the comics first.

Book Review: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour

Boy, that was a fast read. Two days! That has to be a record for me, but I just had to see what happened. Finally, we have our conclusion to the saga of everyone's favorite slacker, Scott Pilgrim. And thankfully volume 6, Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, was a fitting end to an indie phenomena.

With Ramona gone and Scott once again aimless, it seems like a bleak time for our heroes. The band has broken up, Knives is moving on, Kim is up north, Envy is lingering around where she's not welcome, and there's the lingering threat of ex #7, Gideon Graves. So many questions remain. Will Scott have his final showdown with Graves? Where is Ramona? Will true love conquer all? Oh the drama. It's all been leading up to this.

I can't go into too much detail without giving things away, but I will say that the clashes are epic, the character development heart warming and heart breaking, the story development very real despite the surreal setting, and a lot of issues about our pasts haunting us and how we can be our own worst enemies are explored amidst all the video-game mayhem.

Last volumes are always a gamble. Will they live up to the hype they have built? In this case it does, and I was more than satisfied to see how Scott's journey came to an end. And I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I love O'Malley's drawings; not quite Manga, and very expressive.

My Verdict: Very cool, with a lot of fun and a lot of depth, but that's all you'll get out of me. Go read it.

You too can be Pilgrimized!

See that picture to the right? See my new profile picture? Pretty cool right? Now where would I, and perhaps you, get something like that? I'll tell you, dear reader. On the official website for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, users can create an avatar based on the drawings of Brian Lee O'Malley. You can choose gender, skin, hair, eyes, clothes, accesories, etc. to make it just your own. It'll even give you a rating to tell you how epic your avatar is. How awesome is that?

Give it a try. The site is listed on the bottom of this picture, along with the release date for the movie. Mark your calendars, it's going to be AWESOME!

Book Review: Scott Pilgrim Volumes 1-5

Thanks to the power of a good movie trailer, I have borrowed and read all five volumes of Bryan Lee O'Malley's indie comic series Scott Pilgrim. I can now see why there's so much popularity and why a movie was made. The whole thing was highly addictive, fresh, hilarious, action packed and surprisingly deep. How many comic books can boast all of that?

You see, Scott Pilgrim, our main protagonist, is a 23 year old slacker with only a band, a teenage girlfriend and a staggering number of video game hours logged to his name. Things change when he meets Ramona Flowers, a hip ninja delivery girl for Amazon.ca. There's a slight catch to dating Ramona, however...she has 7 Evil Ex's that Scott must defeat. Over the next few volumes he tackles an assortment of villains in video-game style showdowns, as well as his own relationship history and coming to terms with being a grown-up.

What's truly surprising about all of this is how well the fantasy element works with the heavier stuff. Yes, it's real life set in a video game, but boy do you buy into it. Basically the evil ex's are metaphors for the emotional baggage so many people bring into a relationship, and the interplay between the characters can suck you in just as much as the awesome action.

Plus, everything is set in Toronto! I got so excited as I read through the books and recognized landmarks like Casa Loma and Dundas Square. And there's a bit of a professional connection. O'Malley cut his comic book teeth by working at The Beguiling, the Toronto based comic distributor that my library gets all their comic books from.

So, that just leaves Volume 6, the final chapter in Scott's quest where he will face off against Ex #7, the mysterious Gideon Graves. That's out on the 20th, and I'll have to read it quickly so I'll be ready for the August 13th release of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, the hopefully epic film adaptation. Keep your eyes peeled for my takes on both.

The only Doctor I trust

There's a t-shirt on ThinkGeek.com that I have been sorely tempted to buy. On it is a 1950's style London police call box. Underneath that are the words "You never forget your first Doctor."

To the uninitiated into the pantheon of Sci Fi, that t-shirt probably wouldn't make a lick of sense. What, some would ask, does a police call box have to do with a doctor? And what the heck is a police call box, anyway? (There's a Wikipedia article on them here.) Shall I fill you in? The shirt is in reference to Doctor Who, a British Sci Fi series that first aired all the way back in 1963. I actually just finished reading the graphic novel Doctor Who: The Forgotten, which was excellent by the way, so it's been on my mind lately. Why should anyone care? Because Doctor Who has the distinction of being the longest running Sci Fi series ever. Ever! And not just in England, or in North America, but in the entire world! Check the Guinness Book of World Records, it's in there. 31 seasons (or series, as they call them across the pond), and as of June 12, 2010, 767 episodes! Considering how some shows barely last a season, that's an amazing feat.

And that's also a surprising feat, considering that the premise for the show is a little out there. It would be almost impossible to summarize the entire show here, but in a nutshell the main character is an eccentric, mysterious, 900-and-something-year-old humanoid alien known only as The Doctor. From the planet Gallifrey, the Doctor is a Time Lord, which is an extraterrestrial race that has mastered time travel through advanced technology. The Doctor achieves this through a device called the TARDIS (and to really earn my geek stripes: that stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space). The TARDIS is a vast, complicated space ship capable of going to any point in time or any planet in the galaxy, but from the outside looks like a standard police call box (aahhh, now the t-shirt makes sense). With this ship the Doctor goes on many adventures to face foes and right wrongs, often bringing along at least one companion on his journeys (a companion is a general term for whomever the Doctor travels with, often human and often female, who acts as a stand-in for the audience).

So how can the series have lasted this long, you may ask? I mean, surely one actor hasn't played the Doctor since the 1960s, right? You'd be right, and actually the show's creators found a way around this, and rather brilliantly I think. You see, Time Lords are able to do something called Regeneration. What that means is when they've been critically injured and/or about to die, they're able to regenerate into a new body. Same character, different appearance. So whenever an actor is tired of the role, a 'death' scene is filmed, and a new actor steps into the part. As of right now, eleven different actors have played the Doctor over the years, starting with William Hartnell in 1963, all the way up to Matt Smith, who took over the role in January of this year. Likewise there has also been a stream of companions and villains, many of which are unique to one Doctor, others of which have transcended several regenerations.

You know how the shirt says you never forget your first Doctor? For me, that would be Paul McGann, the eighth incarnation. My first exposure to the world of Who came in May of 1996 (I would've been 14 at the time). Fox had created a TV movie with the BBC, starring McGann, as a continuation of the Who franchise. The show had been off the air since 1989, and this movie was intended to be a back-door pilot for an American produced Doctor Who series, which would've also starred McGann. Alas, it was no meant to be, as the film did not do well on American televisions and the show was not picked up. Though McGann only appeared on the screen once as the Doctor, he continued to play him in radio serials and the Eighth Doctor appeared in other media. I remember when the movie aired, but as I had school the next day I was only able to watch the first half. Looking back on it now, I realize it was a pretty bad movie. Still, in spite of that, it managed to capture my imagination, and I never forgot about it.

Then in 2005, I got my second taste of Who when the BBC decided to relaunch the series as an hour long, modern, action-packed Sci Fi drama. Bring in Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston (btw, the Doctor's change from his eighth to his ninth incarnations is the only regeneration that has not been shown on screen). After one season, Eccleston dropped out and then David Tennant stepped in as the Tenth Doctor (pictured above with companion Martha), who is probably my favorite incarnation thus far, and also a huge fan favorite in general. Though I haven't seen all the episodes of the revamped series, every single one I have seen has been tense, funny, deep, filled with action, sometimes dark and often resonant. It's really breathed new life into the series as a whole and created a whole new fanbase. While I haven't seen Matt Smith's work on the role yet, the general buzz has been good. Things are going well.

So there's Doctor Who in a fairly large nutshell. It has a cult following, critical acclaim and awards, longevity, instantly recognizable theme music and a fair share of spin-offs, including other British Sci Fi cult series Torchwood. It's influence in the Sci Fi world as well as in pop culture, particularly British culture, is beyond measure. Call me crazy, but I think it's here to stay, at least for a while longer.

If you're curious, check out this YouTube clip to see the different regenerations over the years in order. Now, I should probably just order that t-shirt. Fan Expo's coming, and I'll need things to wear.

Movie Review: Iron Man 2

My summer movie viewing officially begins today with Iron Man 2. And I'm proud to say I was one of the first people to see it. I and my roommate caught an afternoon screening, right when the theatre opened.

Unlike many sequels, IM2 does not disappoint. As Tony Stark, played with gusto by Robert Downey Jr., deals with new complications that come with being an outed superhero, not to mention coming to terms with some of his own personal demons, new enemies emerge to shake things up even more, including a Russian scientist with a score to settle (played by Mickey Rourke) and an unscrupulous weapons designer (Sam Rockwell).

With a cast like this it's hard to screw things up. There's Downey Jr. of course, whose career was revived by this role in the first movie. Gwyneth Paltrow returns as the fiery Pepper Potts. Don Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as James "Rhodey" Rhodes, and while I wondered how this replacement would go over I thought Cheadle did a great job. Plus he had some awesome action scenes with Downey Jr. Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell make for great villains, one being quiet and menacing and one being talkative and slimy respectively. And Samuel L. Jackson got to do what he does as S.H.E.I.L.D. leader Nick Fury.

My only quibble with the cast is that I found Scarlett Johansen's performance as the Black Widow a tad wooden. Maybe that's supposed to with being a spy, but still I would've liked to see her a bit livelier. Really good martial arts scenes though.

There were some great lines, keeping the humor from the first film. There were also so many comic book references to keep the average geek happy. From a cameo by Stan Lee, to hints at other Avengers. it all stays Geek-tastic.

My Verdict: A worthy successor to the first film, and hopefully a good sign of the new comic book movies coming down the tracks.

P.S. Stay 'til the end of the credits. There's a final scene that's guaranteed to set any comic geek's heart a flutter.

Movie Review: Kick-Ass

So here's a rather perplexing question. Why the heck hasn't anyone picked up the mantle and become a 'super hero'. Such is the question that Kick-Ass, a high-action, fowl-mouthed comedy based on a graphic novel of the same name, attempts to answer.

Now it's true, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who can fly, or walk through walls or any of that super-powered crap. But there are lots of examples of people who don't have superpowers but who still take up the cause. Bruce Wayne, for example. He just had gadgets and a lot of training. Or Tony Stark. He just had a good suit.

Cue Dave Lizewski, played by Aaron Johnson, a comic geek with no more motivation than a lot of optimism and a desire to see justice done. Thus he dons a converted scuba suit and becomes 'Kick-Ass', soon gaining Internet fame and inspiring other superheroes to come out of the woodwork. These include old-pros and big time sociopath's Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and Hit-Girl (newcomer Chloe Moretz). All of this centers around an organized-crime boss and his son Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who eventually coins the name Red Mist.

There's bad language, a lot of laughs, geek references, quite a bit of blood and a whole lot of kicked asses. Good times. I feel the movie does a good job of conveying the pros and cons one would expect of that kind of life. Plus it's all set to a soundtrack worthy of a Tarantino film.

If I had one big complaint, it would be that it seemed long for some reason. The film clocks in at just under 2 hours, but it felt longer than that. Maybe it was just the pacing.

But, without giving anything away, they left the door open for a sequel, and I would very much like to see it.

My verdict: Uber-cool take on superhero movies. Not everyone's cup of tea however, especially those who aren't into violence or swearing. If that doesn't bother you, you're good to go.

Marvel and Disney: Strange Bedfellows

A big announcement was made today; Marvel Entertainment is set to be purchased by the Walt Disney Company for a reported 4 billion dollars, stock and the rights to about 5 000 characters (insert low impressed whistle here). The full details have yet to be revealed but the entertainment world is abuzz. Many of Marvel's characters are currently owned by other movie companies, like Spider-Man at Sony, Iron Man at Paramount or the X-Men at Fox. How will that be addressed? Hopefully all will be revealed when and if the deal goes through.

As someone who grew up with both Disney and Marvel comics I find myself scratching my head at this turn of events. Disney and Marvel...business partners? The company that gave us so many princess movies and the family friendly faces of Hannah Montana and Suite Life is going to own a comic book legacy that for the past seventy odd years has given us scantily clad superheroes, sometimes in very adult situations? This doesn't add up for me.

Some reporters watching this, like Marc Bernardin at EW.com, are hopeful that this deal will help Marvel branch out a bit from superheroes and try other forms of comics and graphic novels. Perhaps I'm being pessimistic but I worry that the opposite could happen; that Disney may end up being more restrictive of what Marvel can do. The Mouse House, in all it's power and glory, sometimes has a tendency to make everything family friendly. But occasionally I like my comics gritty; DC's Vertigo line is one of my favorites (and it's definitely not for kids).

It's still really early, so we'll have to see how this progresses. Just yesterday though I was at the Marvel booth at Fan Expo. Now Marvel might go through a pretty drastic change. For good or ill? Time will tell.