Category: Archived

When people tell you that writing is easy, perhaps, as a precaution to their crazy getting out of hand, you should slap them right in the mouth. What’s that? No, I’m being told that I shouldn’t suggest that at all. Well then…

In March of 2014, I announced that not only had I completed a script for the first book in a trilogy of books I was planning, but rather that I had done that AND scrapped it entirely to start a new script after a pretty intense critiquing session.

What happened from there was that I wrote another completed script. Then I penciled (sketching the pages) the entire thing and showed it off again. Then I scrapped most of that. In August of 2014, I wrote about even more changes coming, but that it was for the best. What I did, though, was create a structure that I wanted my story to follow to give me some rigid guidelines for length and such.

I then launched Resonance Men in January of 2015, then in March of 2015, I went to fix some of the art too. Even your art can get rewrites!

And it’s been a series of rewrites ever since.

The problem with such a large project is that you learn things along the way. It sends you back to the beginning with solutions that you learned about later. It’s not great for creating a thriving audience online because you have nothing to show for some rewrites. I could take pictures of the notes, but it’s full of spoilers and my handwriting is terrible, blah blah blah.

In any case, rewriting is so important. I see it. Over the past two months, I decided that a pivotal scene in the finale needed to not be there at all. And yesterday realized that one of the characters needs to disappear for a chapter. I imagine it’s a similar thought Tolkein had when he sent Gandalf off to do stuff for a bit. But in a sense, as much as I’m positive that I’ve lost quite a few readers over the last two years of seeming inactivity, I’m glad I haven’t posted as much. If I’d already made these scenes, it would be all that much harder to cut them and it’s going to make a stronger story without them. Honestly. It tightens up just about everything.

Not only that, but after working with Michael Regina as a coloring assistant for Adamsville Book 2, I’ve learned a ton of digital coloring things that are going to make the art so much stronger. Which means recoloring the first chapter…but seriously…it’s going to make it worlds better.

I’d love to layout a plan for when Resonance Men is going to come back for the continuation of Chapter 2, but I’m done with intentions. I want to make a great book. My goal is to get to a point where I can post one page a week, and Patreon members have seen two new pages, but I don’t want to put out a date quite yet. (Especially with baby #3 coming in two weeks!)

So, if you want to see new pages sooner rather than later, consider becoming a Patron for $1 (or more) a month. It goes a long way for me and my comics.

*ahem*

Well, thanks for reading this. It turned into more of a letter to you than I’d thought it would, but +1 for authenticity.

My Smallville journey finally comes to an end. I knew ten seasons would take a long time, but it really has been months of Smallville. That’s a lot of Smallville. But for as long as I’ve been looking at Smallville clips and images while writing these articles, I knew something about that finale would be special. I still had to go through all of Season Ten to get there, though. Not that Season Ten is bad, just more of the same.

1. Meandering

So much of Season 10 was hard to get through. All the same story lines, all the problems and resolutions. With a few changes in how dark the series was (and the ways in which characters dramatically evolve from season to season) you could throw an episode from Season Seven, Eight, Nine, or Ten amongst each other and not have it feel all that different. I had trouble getting through some of these episodes and trouble moving onto the next one.

I’m so tired, Smallville.

 

2. Return of Old Characters

If you were to ask me which seasons were the best in Smallville, the answer is simple: The ones with Martha and Jonathan. So whenever they return to the screen this season, their scenes have so much heart that the show, the stakes, and the characters feel real again. I’m not sure if its just that Annette O’Toole and John Schneider are better actors, or if the premise of the show is irrevocably trapped in a town where Clark needs his parents, but the show just works better with them, man.

And (spoiler) even Lex is a welcome face. I bemoaned him for a couple of seasons, but he is way more electrifying and interesting than Doomsday.

 

3. Lois’s Undying Devotion

Once Lois and Clark commit to each other, Lois becomes this oddly supportive woman who calls Clark “sweety.” Part of me likes seeing Clark get this support system that he’s yearned for for so long, but another part of thinks about the Lois who punches guys in the face first and thinks about how she’s going to get out of the situation later.

It’s a delicate line to balance, the supportive wife and the uncompromising Lois Lane. And I’m not sure if I’m being too nitpicky.

What are your thoughts, Erica Durance lovers?

 

4. The Vigilante Registration Act

In this season the public knows about super heroes and we learn that the government has been plotting against them. One of the methods they are using is legislation, forcing heroes to make their identities known to better control them.

This storyline makes an awful lot of sense due to Smallville‘s people-before-heroes approach, but something about it doesn’t sit right with me. I guess it’s that it’s not fun and more annoying than compelling. I mean, is a law really going to stop Clark from doing the right thing? And how are you going to cage the Man of Steel?

 

5. Darkseid

Season Ten does something very interesting with the “main” villain. Darkseid isn’t so much a visible presence, but instead a threat in all of us. So effectively, the villain this season is our doubts and fears. Which is a smart villain for a boy who is not yet a man. I spent the season wondering where Darkseid is, but reflecting on its structure I have to admit — it’s pretty clever.

 

6. The Final Episode

The last episode in a series is difficult to do well. I’ve seen so many shows deliver something unsatisfying. Smallville is not one of them.

There isn’t a single innovative thing about their approach. A wedding, an ultimate evil, a reminder of the show’s past, a couple of montages, and a final step off that rooftop and into the sky, and MY GOD, it works.

I guess in a show where they spend so much time withholding “Superman” things from us and slowly coerce us each season with a few more Super-morsels, that in the final episode when they throw off their concealing shroud and give us everything we want, it’s hard not to be a bit elated by it.

I accept the Smallville formula. I understand Smallville formula. The show is not about Superman, but instead the journey toward becoming Superman. But ten seasons is a long time to wait.

 

7. In Its Final Moments, it Grasps the Proud Tradition

Superman is more than an show, or comic, or character. He is an ideal. He is a perpetual light we can look to when we need it. He is in the pages Action comics. He is in the radio introduction of Jackson Beck. He is in George Reeves’s authoritative voice. He is the curl in Christopher Reeve’s hair. He is in the trumpets of John William’s immortal theme. He is in the hopeful eyes of Tom Welling.

And for the final moments of Smallville, it reaches the heights of that tradition and makes us proud.

I continue my Smallville journey into Season Nine. I’m almost at the end. I admit, marathoning it as I have, I’m beginning to get a little tired and that’s partly influencing my feelings about the series. However, I believe each show has the capacity to dazzle us regarless of how we watch, and Smallville Season Nine has made me realize the high peaks of the show are rare and that the majority of it is spent in the valleys.

1. Who Is Tess Mercer?

She’s been around for two seasons and I don’t understand her any better than when she first appeared. What does she want? Is she good, or bad? She learns Clark’s true identity, but she doesn’t try to expose it. She gathers together a group of seemingly bad guys to achieve some arguably good goals (using ethically problematic methods). She seems to have feelings for Oliver, but she doesn’t allow herself to revisit them.

It’s one of the more interesting character problems I’ve encountered, because the actress playing Tess (Cassidy Freeman) capably performs whatever is needed. She can be vulnerable, defiant, strong, mysterious; we believe it all. But what’s underneath it all? Couldn’t tell you. My best guess is, “whatever the writers need.”

 

2. Clois

I started to get impatient this season with waiting for Lois and Clark to get together. They agreed to take things slow, so you have to wait awhile for smooches.

I guess I should just be happy that the five season-long slow burn is finally starting to ignite.

 

3. JSA

With a few exceptions there aren’t a lot of costumes on the show. That’s smart. The further from humanity Smallville gets, the worse it works.

However, in this season Clark and friends discover the existence of an older super hero group called the Justice Society of America. I had to look this up since I’m not a big DC guy. Basically it started as a comic in the 40’s and had DC favourites like Hawkman and Dr. Fate. The group has changed over the years and across publications, but retains the name. And the episode features some surviving members of the JLA in full-on costume (including capes).

Clark is in awe when discovering the JLA, which that surrounds the entire episode; like a kind of respect. And that approach makes the capes and powers work, which creates a unique episode unlike any other in the series.

 

4. My Sweet Martha

Martha Kent returns this season and I missed her SO MUCH. She brings back with her some of Clark’s humanity and some memories of Jonathan we were starting to lose. The series has gotten far away from Clark living in the loft, doing chores and getting lectures from his parents. I understand that the parents have to be gone from the show for us to believe Clark is becoming a man, but they were great actors and their being there helped create more human moments that made the show better.

 

5. Kandorians

I guess I have to say something about the Kandorians. And Zod. In this season a bunch of clones of Kryptonians (I think?) are on Earth. They are initially powerless, which allows the show to play with how they integrate into society. Who do they trust and follow? Zod? Or Kal-El? And so on.

Mostly the Kandorians stand around and offer support for Clark or offer support for Zod. That is their prime function. They might as well be robots or statues.

Zod’s OK. The actor playing him, Callum Blue, plays Zod like he’s royalty. I bet he was a theatre actor, let me check. Hmm. No he wasn’t, but he is British. I get some points for that.

Zod matches the tone of the season. Inoffensive, unremarkable.

 

6. The Valleys of Smallville

Going into Season Nine I’m finally starting to realize something about Smallville: A lot it is just waiting for a really good episode to appear. Wandering from episode to episode, kinda interested, but not super invested. Then BAM! Huge moment that has heart and meaning and makes you feel so good you want to hug yourself. And then more wandering.

It’s not that episodes along the way are all “bad,” they’re OK, just not amazing.

Coming out of Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the first time I felt deeply conflicted. I enjoyed what I had seen, but I had a number of problems with the movie as well. Thinking back and comparing Force Awakens to previous Star Wars movies only made it worse.

I was sitting there watching with an invisible check list waiting to see what the movie did right, and anticipating things it would do wrong. By the end I’d checked a few good boxes and a lot of bad boxes, but with a different intensity than usual that was effecting how I felt about the movie overall.

I realized I had unknowingly set a higher bar for this film. Here are five reasons why I believe I did so.

1. Enormous Franchise

Star Wars is the second highest grossing franchise of all time (domestically, not adjusted for inflation). This doesn’t make it better than other franchises, but it does mean we expect more.

The mass popularity and profits of the original Star Wars (1977) helped perpetuate blockbusters and franchises in Hollywood.

In these respects, Star Wars movies have an unparalleled historical impact and I think this factors into what we expect from Star Wars movies.

 

2. It’s Generational

Because the Star Wars franchise has been around since 1977, it touches a lot of generations. Young adults who saw the original films in theatres have now watched many of the films with their children, possibly even grandchildren.

I remember taking my parents to see Episode I when it came out and I will be taking them to see Force Awakens as well. Who you share movies with matters, and being able to share a franchise with family and friends over the years alters a film’s meaning — it changes the experience of what’s possible for a single movie and creates an ongoing experience.

 

3. It Hurt Us

Not everyone, but a lot of people have problems with the prequels. And not just one film — all of them. Even if we had problems with Episode I, we all went to go see Episodes II and III. And unless you’re the group who experienced Star Wars the first time through the prequels and enjoy them, there is a prequel sting a lot of us remember. We don’t trust new Star Wars movies anymore and will likely watch the next few intently, expecting a mistake, remembering the sting.

 

4. We Romanticize the Originals

Some of the problems in Force Awakens exist in A New Hope as well, but it’s easier to forget about that because the originals blend into a collective experience.

For example, in Force Awakens, Rey, Finn, and Poe have weak characterization. They lack heart. There isn’t a clear moment where they tell us who they are, what they’ve been through, what they want, what they’re missing, and what they need in a way that strongly resonates with us.

Think of Star Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy (spoilers ahead?). When we meet him he’s listening to a tape his Mother made him. In the next scene, his Mother dies and he refuses to take her hand — he refuses to acknowledge their connection and reverts back into himself. But he continues to listen to her tape his whole life, even risks his life to get it back when its taken from him. And at the end, he is willing to accept Gamora’s hand, he is willing to let someone in. This is great characterization and heart.

Force Awakens doesn’t really have that, but neither did A New Hope. Luke kind of whines a bit about being stuck on a farm and gazes out into the duel setting suns amongst a John Williams score filled with yearning, but it doesn’t quite have the same pull.

 

5. It Means More To Us

A new Star Wars movie means more than other movies can. Even movies based on books like Harry Potter, which already have enormous fan bases, don’t quite have the same expectation. If anything, the books have already helped established how you feel about the characters and the movies just have to take them on an adventure that resembles the books.

James Bond, Batman, Star Trek, and Spider-Man movies are constantly re-inventing themselves and there simply aren’t many movie franchises with as much history.

It’s why people are so preoccupied with spoilers for the movie, moreso than usual. They think there is a chance Force Awakens might invigorate their child-like awe they felt with the other films. Take them back to an experience they had far away, where they stared up at the screen with wonder.

Once I realized how much Star Wars movies meant to me I walked into Force Awakens a second time, better understanding the filter from which I was watching the film. I noticed some more bad things, but clarified some good things too. And I left the theatre at peace. If you felt as conflicted as I initially did, hopefully this helps clarify why and you can better enjoy Force Awakens for what it is.

I continue my Smallville journey. In the last post I indicated the show was starting to find a groove. In Season Eight, however, is a little dark, a little weird. Uncomfortable. Whenever the show gets too dark, I feel it doesn’t work as well.

1. Injustice Falls Short

In this season the Lex replacement / new Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief, Tess Mercer, gathers a group of misfit powers to be her own personal super team. In one episode we see her gather a misfit, but we don’t see the team until the end of the season … for a single episode. And there’s a convoluted explanation of what it is they are trying to do and a convoluted plot that accompanies it, where characters flip flop on their motivations.

By the end, I’m not really sure what they accomplished. Do they even need to be there?

 

2. The Doomsday/Chloe Stuff is Weird

One day I’ll have to try the whole, “Hey gurl, I think I love you. But also if you leave me I turn into a monster and kill people SO DON’T LEAVE ME.” It seems to work pretty well.

In this season, Doomsday appears. Only he’s not Doomsday all the time, most of the time he’s paramedic Davis Bloom, a guy with a mysterious past. As the season progresses, he draws closer to transforming into the Doomsday permanently. The only thing that seems to stop him is the presence of Chloe and it’s exactly as I describe above. It’s weird and a little uncomfortable.

 

3. Morality Wrestling

I haven’t read enough DC Comics to say this definitely, but I’m going to say it anyway — DC likes to wrestle with morality of killing villains. One of my favourite series about this is Kingdom Come. If you ever wanted to try a comic, this wouldn’t be a terrible start. It has some incredible art drawn by legendary comic artist, Alex Ross, who’s hyper-realistic style looks more like paintings than comic book art. Supposedly he does 10 pages a month and Kingdom Come is 232 pages. You do the math.

At multiple points this season they raise the question of killing someone for the greater good. I’m not sure why, though. Clark is never going to agree to killing anyone, he’s always going to find another way. And while other characters agree to kill for the greater good and we see them wrestle with the difficulty of their decisions, it’s unclear whether or not anyone changes their minds about where they stand.

Almost like a, “Hey, here’s something to argue about,” device. Maybe they’ll go somewhere with this eventually, but for this season it feels a bit like conflict for the sake of conflict.

 

4. Creeping Closer Superman

This season Clark starts working in the Daily Planet across from Lois, develops a kind of alter ego for his heroics, fights Doomsday, and uses his inside information at the Planet to help more people. Everything but the costume.

My understanding is that we never see Clark wear “the suit” on the show. It’s a great idea, taking Clark to the furthest point of Superman while never quite becoming him. It keeps the story rooted in a more human place and makes Clark my one of my favourite iterations of Superman of all time.

 

5. So Far From Season One

It’s a little weird looking at some of these characters now when you think about where they started. It was definitely the correct decision to make the characters age and grow over time, but maybe in a few places they went too far.

Lana started off as just a pretty love interest. Now she’s an ex-marine-trained, super-suit-wearing, conniving, egomaniacal, superhero (but possibly in an ends justify the means kind of way).

It’s a lot of change to absorb, especially if you missed some seasons along the way. No wonder it was a difficult show to drop and pick up again.

 

6. Dreary

There’s some drug addiction in here, troubled marriages, characters completely losing their way, and an uber creepy relationship between Chloe and Davis / Doomsday. Much like Season Six, Season Eight is a bit too dark. I think it’s a fair direction to go. Buffy Season Six, for example, was the darkest one and many of the actors and show creators felt it was their best.

From a show creator’s perspective, dark themes mean interesting and new directions for stories and characters, more interesting work. But I think from a viewer’s standpoint, there’s a wavelength where the show works best. Superman is about hope. An idea that lifts us, and helps us lift each other. That light pierces through Season Eight occasionally, and the season flutters here and there, but ultimately, it doesn’t soar.