BlackGeekdom Science-Fiction from a Different Perspective

I don’t care what you are reading or doing right now.  If you have not picked up this issue, then you need to get on it.  The Secret Invasion tie-ins are all pretty good, but I think that the Secret Invasion story in Black Panther is a cut above the rest (there might be some bias here, but that’s beside the point)  Between issue #40 (also a must read) and issue #41 you get everything that we like about T’Challa.  Not for once was I ever worried about the King and Queen of Wakanda.  Okay, maybe I was a little worried at the end of #40.  But after you read this issue, you will know that there is never any reason to doubt T’Challa’s resourcefulness, intelligence, and military savvy.

Previous Black Panther Secret Invasion Posts

Black Panther #39:  Black Panther vs. The Skrulls

Wakanda vs. The Skrulls

Posted under Comics, Reviews

I am one of the people who think that African Americans are missing from primetime television.  However, I am impressed with the lineup that genre shows have trotted out.  Heroes once again has a diverse cast which has expanded to include Hispanic characters.  So, here is me giving props to some new characters on genre shows.

You can check out Rutina Wesley as Tara Thornton and Nelsen Ellis as her cousin Lafayette Reynolds on HBO’s True Blood (which is actually pretty good). 

You can find Jasika Nichole as Agent Astrid Farnsworth and Lance Reddick as Agent Phillip Broyles on Fox’s Fringe. 

Heroes in its second season add villainous “Knox”  Washington played by Jaime Hector and cryptic mystic Ntare Mwine as Usutu.

But let’s not talk about how they killing off the other brothers in prime time.  Spoiler after the break.

Read More…

Posted under Television

Source:  Variety

In an interesting turn of events, Kenneth Branagh has been in talks to direct Marvel’s live action adaptation of Thor.  This movie will be a part of the announced Avenger series of movies culminating in the Avengers movie projected for release in 2011.  Marvel will again self finance this movie like it did with Iron Man and Hulk and will only need to select a distributor.

Kenneth Branagh joins other arthouse directors such as Ang Lee, Jon Favreau, Christopher Nolan, and Gavin Hood in turning a revered comic book icon into a big screen phenomenon. 

If this is true, this would be a masterstroke for Marvel.  Kenneth Branagh is one of those unique individuals who understands adapting literature for the big screen.  Okay, I know that Thor is a comic, but its still literature.  If Kenneth Branagh were younger, he’d make a great Thor.  A Shakespearean director/actor is perfect for Thor.  And any actor chosen to play Thor would benefit greatly from Branagh’s guidance.   What do I know about Branagh?  I know that Dead Again, Frankenstein, Hamlet, and Othello are some of my favorite movies of all time.  And anyone who had a high school literature teacher worth their salt has seen Henry V, which is the best Shakespearean work turned into movie.  I am a little biased because Branagh is one of my favorite actors.

Now, let’s see who they cast as Thor.  My preferences:  Kevin McKidd or Karl Urban .

Posted under Comics, Movies, Rumors

Indy is one cool geek.

Posted under Movies

Source: Variety

After turning the theme park ride “Pirates of the Caribbean” into a blockbuster film trilogy, Disney is circling an entire segment of its theme park — Tomorrowland — as inspiration for a space movie that will star Dwayne Johnson.

The studio has set scribes Jon Lucas and Scott Moore to draft an epic-sized action adventure set in space. The film is being designed as a vehicle for Johnson, who starred for the studio in family hit “The Game Plan” and most recently completed “Race to Witch Mountain.”

Posted under Uncategorized

So I hear they are going to reboot Superman and make it darker.   I say go for it.   This is contrary to most of the buzz on the Internet which seems to think this is a bad idea.  Their primary concern is that Superman isn’t a dark character. I think the overwhelming success of The Dark Knight” is making the studio execs think that darker is better. I think they are in right in a sense. A darker film will work, a darker superman won’t.  Superman should never be as brooding or as pessimistic as Batman.  Superman is the beacon of hope; he is the light in the darkness.  The darkness should come from the Antagonist.

The flaw in Superman Returns was Luthor he never came across as the menace to society that he should have been.  He was to cartoonish and pedestrian (and yes I had the same problem with Gene Hackman). You basically have a protagonist who seems like he stepped out of an episode of Law & Order.   If you want to make Superman shine put him up against some one that’s truly dark like Brainiac, Doomsday, Bizzaro or Darkseid.    

Let Superman cut lose on (insert antagonist from above) comic book style in the third act to save the world. The big finally in Superman Returns was him lifting a damn island out of the ocean, so he basically saved the world from …………….. real estate. It looked good visually but that’s all it was.

A darker film doesn’t mean Superman will turn into Wolverine. It just gives you more of an opportunity to show why Superman is different, why he will make the right choice as opposed to the easy one.

Posted under Uncategorized

As part of my ongoing quest to discover minority fantasy and scifi writers, I have found another gem that I am going to recommend.  I just finished the book Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell.  The story follows Loic, the first born and heir to the Warrior Chief of the Doreni Pagatsu clan, and Satha, the daughter of one of his father’s oldest friends.  Loic sees Satha one day and demands that he marry Satha.  What follows is a quest by Loic to find the Creator and bring him back to the three tribes who thought that he had abandoned them.

The story concerns four tribes.  The Ibeni, Theseni, Doreni, and the newly arrived Angleni.  It seems to me that the story is a retelling of African history and colonization by the English.  The backdrop of this is the spiritual journey that both Loic and Satha take separately.  When  I first began reading the book, I was distracted by the new vocabulary I had to learn.  But the further into the story I went, the more I was drawn into the world that McDonnell had described.  The characters and their personalities came alive.  This is the second book that I have read (see The Alchemist) that has given me a visceral emotional response.  The Christian themes are very apparent in the book, but the story is not meant to be preachy.  The characters and their motivations are not hidden and aren’t impossible.  Without spoiling the ending, I was taken by surprise.   However, in retrospect, I realized that Loic and Satha’s story could not end any other way.  The amount of research that the author put into this book must have been daunting.

As far as Christian fiction goes, I thought this was a very interesting and thought provoking book.  Am I a fan of Christian fiction?  Not really.  I read the entire Left Behind series and found that series of books to be over written, drawn out, and preachy, which most Christian fiction novels tend to be.  Not so with Wind Follower. 

The best thing that I liked about the book was that it was one fantasy story that began and ended in one book.   Most of your Fantasy stories take place over several novels.  Lord of the Rings had three volumes.  We followed the adventures of the Shannara decendents in 12 novels; The Belgariad and the Mallorean were 12 novels.  Not that I don’t like series like that, but it’s nice to have a story begin and end in one novel.  Though I do see where she could write a prequel or two.  And I wish I had known about the glossary before I finished the book.

Posted under Books, Reviews

True Blood is about  a psychic waitress named Sookie Stackhouse, Oscar winner Anna Paquin, who lives in a small town in Louisiana.  She meets and becomes interested in Bill Compton, a 176 year old vampire.  An interest that is magnified by her inability to read his mind.  At the same time Bill comes to this small town, strange things begin to happen, and being the only known vampire, he’s the obvious choice for the source of those bad things.  The most interesting thing about this show is the social backdrop.  The Chinese have created a synthetic blood.  The synthetic blood is being bottled and sold as “True Blood.”  Because of this, vampires have come out of hiding and have staked, no pun intended, a claim for equal rights.

I liked the show, but there are some things that irritate me a little.   For one, Rutina Wesley, who plays Tara Thornton, Sookie’s best friend, is so abrasive that she’s almost impossible to watch.  Nelsan Ellis plays an over-the-top homosexual chef Lafayette Reynolds in the bar where Sookie works.  He doesn’t bother me, but he is so funny and good in this role that he’s a distraction and seems to be the only actor on the show who is believable.  I guess that my other problem with the show.  There are some talented actors, but they don’t seem to be selling their roles.  After 2 episodes, I don’t feel any connection with any of the characters.  Maybe its too early.  Maybe it’s because it feels like HBO wants to try and cash in on the rising popularity of Twilight.  Who knows.  But I guess I’ll watch it since there really isn’t anything else on T.V. Sunday nights.

Posted under Reviews

Todays Old School Trailer

Does this make you remember why you became a fanboy?

Posted under Uncategorized

Source: Comicbookresources

Great article at Newsarama about the Vixen mini series

Wilson was given a springboard for the tale by DC editorial –Vixen returns to Africa — and then was allowed to, in her words, “run wild.” “I had a lot of room to flesh out the world Vixen comes from and create a great story,” said Wilson, who loves the depth of the heroine also known as Mari Jiwe McCabe on a number of levels. “She has so many interesting elements. Yes, she’s got these hardcore physical powers, but she’s not a cavewoman — she’s opinionated, she gets scared, she gets angry, she has doubts. For a superhero, she felt very approachable to me as a writer. She’s not a goddess. She’s a person.”

Posted under Comics