joslynm

In about an hour or so, I embark on my Winter Road Trip of Destiny (tm latropita). I will be rockin' out and chillin' out to your mix CDs on my way to Los Angeles, San Diego, Tucson, Scottsdale, Tustin, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and San Simeon. Perhaps I will pick up a hitchhiker who will turn out be a nymphomaniac and/or serial killer.

So how great is this trip going to be?

Poll #1502224 Choose your adjective!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 42

What adjective will best describe the WRToD when I return on January 4?

I don't know if I'll be posting while I'm gone. It's going to be hell to attempt to write epic posts when I get back, so I may do periodic PhonePosts or something. Feel free to send me e-mails about how much you miss me, though.

Like those who grew up on the Adam West/Burt Ward Batman television show of yore, I grew up on Batman: The Animated Series. So when I discovered the DVDs at Newbury Comics for CRAZY LOW PRICES, I eagerly scooped them up so I could mainline all 109 episodes, many of which I had not seen.

By now, pretty much everyone has read or seen Batman in some incarnation, so why would you want to watch a cartoon from 1992? Well, it's not only widely considered to be one of the best cartoons of all time (usually coming in second to The Simpsons), but it was extremely influential, even more than I realized. For instance, Harley Quinn? Created for the series and then added to the comics. There are several original characters that became part of the actual comics, including Renee Montoya. The tragic backstory for Mr. Freeze used in Batman and Robin? Taken from the Emmy-winning "Heart of Ice," which completely redefined the character. This series is essential viewing for any Batman fan, and for many, it is the definitive vision.

But what if you're not a Batman fan? Well, do you want to be? Because this is a very good way to get your Batman education, especially if you enjoy villains, since the show is pretty villain-centric. Classic villains like the Joker, Two-Face, the Riddler, Poison Ivy, the Penguin, and Catwoman make frequent appearances, as do the aforementioned Harley and Freeze. Some of my other favorites include Clayface—who, like Mr. Freeze, got a tragic backstory that informed the actual comic incarnation—the Ventriloqust/Scarface, and the Mad Hatter. There are dozens of villains to enjoy, however, several of whom recur. And, as the treatment of Freeze and Clayface demonstrates, the writers are experts at portraying these villains sympathetically and making them interesting characters. Several of them have reform episodes where they try valiantly to go straight and fail—or at least they pretend! And key to the audience's connection to these characters is the voice actors, who do excellent work. Mark Hamill—Luke frickin' Skywalker—turns out to be a perfect fucking Joker, embodying him with just the right amount of playful mania and psychotic glee and giving him several variations of his signature laugh. He's far from the only recognizable name this series snagged; listen for John Glover, Ron Perlman, Harry Hamlin, William Sanderson, and, yes, Adam West, among others. The non-recognizable names are perfect as well. Kevin Conroy does a much better Batman voice than Christian Bale, I'll tell you what.

(And on that note, B:TAS is more in line with the Nolan Batverse in that it treats Bruce Wayne as a person. Like in the Nolan movies, Bruce is clearly the mask—Bruce frequently talks in Batman-voice when out of costume—but he also has a life and a company to run. Even though any time we see Bruce Wayne, he's pretty much itching to get into his costume and bust some heads.)

For a half-hour kids' cartoon, the show is very well written. The episodes are fairly light on exposition, and they move very quickly. Although it's appropriate for kids, it's not dumbed down. The only major reminder that you're watching a kids' show is that no one ever dies, they just get really big boo-boos. (Unless you're a superhero's parents. Then you can die.) It struck me that it was a kids' show where the main characters are all adults. Even Robin/Dick Grayson is in college. There aren't really any characters or conflicts that a child could relate to, but I still loved it when I was a kid. Because it's just good storytelling.

The series is also notable for its visual style, deemed "Dark Deco" since it took the old Fleischer Superman cartoons and Gothamed them up. It's set in the present, but in a sort of retro-present that creator Bruce Timm describes "as if the 1939 World's Fair had lasted forty years." This allows the series to be both timeless and dated: villains shoot Tommy guns and drive 1940s automobiles but Batman uses giant computers with very primitive displays. It's a unique style that gives the writers the ability to tell stories from different eras of the comic.

After 85 episodes, however, the series became The New Batman Adventures and the visual style was completely revamped to look more cartoony and shiny and it lost a lot of what made it great. The writing wasn't as strong either, although there were still some great episodes. These final 24 episodes focused a little more on the supporting characters like Batgirl—who was recast with a better voice—Robin—now Tim Drake, a twerp of a kid—and Nightwing—the former Robin, Dick Grayson. The original series is much more Batman-focused; he normally works alone. And yet there are some great episodes where Batman hardly appears!

There's probably no better endorsement for the show than the recently released/leaked Writer's Bible, which shows just how much thought the creators put into, well, everything. This is the type of quality animated series that is held up as an example of what you can do with the medium.

In conclusion, Batman uses his grappling hook a lot.

I picked up Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross at Half-Price on its reputation alone. My pusher had described it as "the one where Superman is Jesus," and although the story does use a lot of Biblical imagery—especially the Book of Revelation—that's not really what it's about. In fact, what it's about is what it's about, since it felt more like a thought experiment than a comic at first: what would happen if the superheroes turned their backs on humanity? I found it very hard to follow since I'm not well versed in the DCU, but it eventually got more interesting and it did end up making me think about the dichotomy between humans and metahumans and whether they could really coexist. The painted art was very pretty, but I thought it actually detracted from the story and exacerbated the impenetrableness of the narrative. The book is very full of itself.

But you guys don't like comics, you like TV. Dollhouse has turned into quite the interesting and exciting show, hasn't it?

( Dollhouse )

I have once again thrown my hat into the Holiday Love Meme! Please say wonderful and nice things about me. I had a bad day at work (there were tears).

But my bad day at work was balanced out by a phone call I received during dinner.

On Saturday, I had auditioned for DeathPlay, the next Thunderbird show. It was about two theatre companies fighting to the death for the last theatre space in town. Out of the six people in the slot, only three of us showed up, which meant we all got to read a lot. It was very fun, although I had to overcome the fact that my partners couldn't read sides very well.

I GOT IN. I WAS CAST. I HAVE NOT BEEN IN A SHOW IN SIX YEARS. UNLESS YOU COUNT AMWA SKITS.

I didn't get the part I really wanted—it went to someone who'll be awesome, though—but I will be playing one of a pair of union stagehands who function as the Greek chorus or the Fools. I think it's the smallest part in the play, but there are no small parts, only small actors! And besides, there really aren't any small parts in a Thunderbird show. Everyone has a good time.

---

On Saturday, after the audition and before Writers with Drinks, Seanan (cadhla) and I wandered the Mission looking for dinner. Seanan is a picky eater, so the default taquería suggestion wouldn't fly. We came across Cafe La Boheme on 24th. They appeared to serve food that was palatable to both of us, but there were no free tables. There was one table, however, that was empty but for one cute girl reading a book. She looked Middle Eastern, Persian or Iranian.

Seanan asked if we could sit with her, and she said it was okay. I noticed she was reading Player Piano, by Kurt Vonnegut. She had just started. I had just been at a used bookstore and passed on a Vonnegut title. I asked her if she'd gotten it from Abandoned Planet. She said she'd gotten it from Borderlands, which we had just come from. I told her I had been looking at a Vonnegut but couldn't remember the title. I asked to see inside her book for a list of titles to jog my memory, but none did. (I think it was The Sirens of Titan.) I said I'd only read Slaughterhouse-Five but wanted to read more, and she was in the same situation, hence the book.

Seanan recommended I read Cat's Cradle and explained the premise, which she said made her think for the first time that there were some things science shouldn't do. I said I was watching Dollhouse and thinking the same thing.

The girl commented, "That was canceled, right?" A cute girl who read Vonnegut and knew about Dollhouse! Huh. I think at this point, she had given up all pretense of trying to read while we carried on a conversation a foot away from her and instead began conversing with us. She asked us if we knew any good music venues. Oh, there were many! We flipped through the SFWeekly looking for shows. She liked indie rock.

As it turned out, she was from out of town. Like, from France. And she was in town for a geophysics conference! A cute French geophysicist who read Vonnegut, liked indie rock, and knew about Dollhouse. I tell you, I am amazed that I was able to talk to her without stumbling over my words. Her name was Selene.

Since she was staying near Union Square, I told her about the glass elevator in the Westin St. Francis. I also invited her to Seanan's reading and told her how to get to the Make-Out Room. She was going to meet up with some of her colleagues and see what they were doing, but she said she might check it out. She put on her black fedora and bid us adieu (not literally, although she totally should have).

"Of all the places you should not invite cute French girls to," said Seanan, "the 'Make-Out Room' is at the top."

"That is my plan!" I cried. "I have not yet made out in the Make-Out Room. I am trying to rectify that."

Of course, she did not show up, and she is out there somewhere in San Francisco right now not making out with me.