What happened? And how did I miss it?

It wasn't that long ago that I could say that I didn't watch network television. Oh sure, there was the occassional episode of The Simpsons, but that was about it. Most of my television watching was cable shows or sports programming (much to the absolute delight of my wife, but that's another blog...), and network television was something that was the literal vast wasteland of infamy.

And now...I don't understand it.

I watch network television two nights a week. Not a ton, I know, but on Monday's and Thursdays, NBC has my attention. Monday is Heroes night, and I have become one of the very loyal masses for the show. I'm not blind to it, I find that some episodes are better than others (this past Monday being a fairly nothing episode), but overall I'm hooked. I want to see what happens. I want to know who Linderman is. They got me.

And then there is Thursday. Still on NBC, where they don't just have me for an hour, but for two full hours, and four full shows. I watch My Name is Earl, The Office, Scrubs, and 30 Rock. Every week. If I miss them I get upset.

The dichotomy of these two nights of television doesn't escape me. Mondays are drama, using a very character-driven premise (that has the natural comic book appeal for me), letting the story evolve over a long period of time and providing some edge of your seat cliffhanger moments. Thursdays are the opposite in every way. While the characters on all four of the Thursday shows are strong--and make the shows, honestly--it is the strength of each individual episode's moments and plots that hold it together.

What's my point in all of this? Beats me. I guess that I'm just stating that even in a vast wasteland, you will find an oasis of something that, while not necessarily beautiful, it can be rather pleasant. Maybe even nice--at least for a little while.

I'm just curious to see at this point how long it takes the wasteland to overcome the little spot that I've become fond of?...

Let's give credit where credits are rolling.

Comic book movies are no longer an oddity. They are now a firm part of the cinematic firmament. Some of the best known and popular films of the past quarter century are based on comic icons. From Superman to Batman to X-Men to Spider-Man, comics have left their mark on the silver screen. And I'm all for this. I love comics, and seeing them brought to the big screen was a dream of mine from the early days.

So, given that the films themselves are a reality--and a successful one at that--I think that I'm going to focus my attention on the source material. Well, more specifically, the source company. The publishers that are responsible for the initial act of putting these characters on bookshelves.

Dark Horse has done an admirable job with their product. Most people remember The Mask and Hellboy, and Sin City and the upcoming 300 look great, so they get a passing grade. Image has done Spawn...and that's all I can think of at the moment. Not a great film, but not enough to get a failing grade.

But they aren't who I really want to talk about. I want to talk about the big boys.

Marvel. They have done an exceptional job at getting their product on the big screen--from a particular point of view. They have put out such a plethora of product--with Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man 3 on the horizon--that you've got plenty to choose from. Spider-Man has been on twice, Daredevil once with an Elektra spin-off, X-Men three times, Fantastic Four once, Blade three times, Howard the Duck, and even Man-Thing got a movie that never made it to the big screen, despite intentions. Oh, and let's not forget Men In Black (even though it didn't start there, they own it now). Next year, they've got Iron Man ready to be a big-budget film. And there are tons of options out there that have a decent shot of getting made, ranging from Power Man to Captain America to Nick Fury.

Now let's look at DC. As much as I like DC comics and characters, I have loved their movies. Three of the five Superman films were great. Two of the Batman films were fabulous. Constantine is severely underrated, and very entertaining. I'm looking forward to Stardust this summer. Catwoman was...well, let's ignore that one. And...that's it, as far as I recall. My problem with DC is that they haven't really had a good showing in the quantity department. They have such a rich history of characters that to have such a small number of them make it to the movie theatre is truly disappointing? Oh sure, they have ANOTHER Batman film coming out next year. And ANOTHER Superman film in the works, but what else? Wonder Woman might get off the ground, but it's taking forever to come together (though I feel that Joss Whedon would do the character justice), but there is little beyond that. And let us not forget that DC is the subsidiary of a company that makes movies, Time/Warner. Marvel has had to go out of house to get it done. Who knows? Maybe that has been their strength. Maybe because DC has been doing everything in-house, they haven't had the time or budget to get it done. But what a shame. Green Lantern, The Flash, Green Arrow, Captain Marvel, Hawkman...all of these are just waiting for a chance at a movie. And what's sad is that they probably aren't going to make it.

Sadly, that puts Marvel ahead of DC in my mind. They have been willing--not always succesfully--to take the risk on characters and put them on the screen. Who would have thought that there was going to be a Ghost Rider movie? Was there really a demand for that? No, but that didn't stop them from making it. And it might be good. The trailer looks decent, and I know that my wife and I will be there to check it out. And then we'll see Spider-Man. And then Fantastic Four. And that's just this year. The only offering we can expect from DC this year is Stardust, and let's be honest, that's a Neil Gaiman product, not a DC product.

So I put DC on the report. They have something to answer for in my mind, because they have kept things from me that I want to see. And I'm sure that I'm not the only one...

Next time, though, we'll talk about the small screen, and who's done the good job there.

So, anyway, my life ends in four days.

Well, not to say that I'm going to die, but I am going to become life-non-gratis as far as most would see it. That is, in four days Blizzard will release The Burning Crusade for World of Warcraft, and at that point, I will have no life.

Yes, I play WoW. No, my wife isn't a WoW Widow. I really enjoy playing the game, probably unlike I've ever enjoyed any other videogame experience, but not to the extent that I've ever neglected anything or anyone (at least to the best of my knowledge).

But I fear that is about to change.

You see, like many hundreds of thousands of others, I've already purchased my copy of the expansion, which is probably bad enough, but...I keep thinking about it. My thoughts and conversations gravitate towards The Burning Crusade when I'm near others that play WoW. I haunt websites, looking for information and images from the game. I've had visions of Blood Elves dancing in my head. It's scary.

I've never been addicted to a drug or anything else for that matter, but I'm beginning to think that I know how they feel. The craving. The desire. The NEED!!

*ahem*

So, anyway, before my life ends and I no longer have the ability to think or form complete sentences, I just wanted to stop by and say that it was good talking to all of you--for both posts--before I fall off the face of the Earth. Or just suddenly discover that I have no life.

Starting Out

A very dear friend of mine, Cliff Biggers (probably the best friend that I've ever had), has been riding me to create a blog. Why, I'm not entirely sure. I have plenty of opinions and experiences that I share with the world, but I'm very much a face-to-face kind of person. That doesn't mean that I don't like to write, or that I don't share things with people via the internet, it's just that...well, to be honest, I've never seen myself as the blog type.

I'm not condemning those that blog, or saying that they should be spending their time doing better things--after all, we all should be spending our time doing better things--it's just that it's hard for me to imagine that anyone would care what I have to say.

Nonetheless, I've taken my friend's suggestion to heart, and here I am, blogging.

The first thing that I noticed was that it is very easy to get a free blog account. That part is nice. The second thing that I noticed was that I needed to decide what to call my blog, and what it should look like. That's not as nice. I wanted to have something that was relevant to my life for a title, and I wanted a look that matched. Not easily done when you are someone that hates reading white text on black, and find that simple black text on white is kinda boring.

But hey, I got it done...for now. I'll change it probably too often to make sense, but that's my decision.

I'll get more into who I am, and what I do, and all of those things as time progresses, but not now. Leave a little mystery for the five people who don't know me that might possibly read this in one of their few precious moments of free time. It's better that way.

Later.