So this whole Avengers movie… made a buttload of money, right? The thing is, it did it with superheroes that the general public, until a few years ago, had never heard of, or at most vaguely remembered in a nostalgic kind of way. So let’s look at some other superheroes from outside of the A-list and see how Hollywood could make their movies into hits.
Everything But Imaginary #450: Five Superhero Movies Hollywood Needs to Make
2 in 1 Showcase At the Movies returns! This week, Blake and Kenny take the time to give their thoughts on Men in Black III. Can this third installment and the addition of Josh Brolin inject some life into this franchise? Plus, Blake asks you to look into the Kickstarter campaign for David Berger‘s Task Force: Gaea. In the picks, Kenny goes with Red Lanterns #9 and Blake is into The Comic Book History of Comics Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!
Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.
At the Movies Episode 26: Men in Black III
Does the following Nerd Math make sense to you?
Great! You’re halfway there. Now that we’ve accepted the above as true comes the hard question… who is responsible for creating the character in the last image?
Not so easy, is it?
So, you may be asking, what’s the deal with the actual SEQUEL to Other People’s Heroes?
After all, the original version of the book came out a long time ago. In fact, those of you who’ve been with me for a long time may remember how I originally serialized the sequel, 14 Days of Asphalt, as a work-in-progress on the old Evertime Realms website. But some time after I finished that, I took it down to “rework” it. And that’s the last you saw of it.
Here’s the thing with 14 Days — I was never totally happy with it. There was some stuff in there I liked a lot, particularly a pair of characters, but the second half of the book simply never came together the way I wanted it to. And I tried several times — at least three separate passes at the book over the years failed to create a story I felt I could really dig into and turn into a worthwhile sequel to OPH.
I eventually turned to other Siegel City stories, such as the upcoming The Pyrite War and a few short stories you may have read. But the only thing you guys have seen of Josh Corwood and friends in these intervening years was the Halloween story, “The Restless Dead of Siegel City.” And you wanted to know what happened next.
So did I.
Eventually, I had to face facts. As a writer, you come to realize that if the end of a story isn’t coming together, chances are there’s a problem at the beginning of it that you aren’t even realizing. And some time ago I realized I would have to start over, throw out everything from 14 Days and come up with a whole new story that would begin the next stage of Josh Corwood adventures. But until a few days ago I didn’t have anything.
Now, I may.
I’ve got an idea — a sharper, more cohesive idea than 14 Days was. A little smaller in scope — it’s all in Siegel City again, rather than a road trip story — but bigger in its potential, as it’s really about the nature of superpowers in my world, how they work and why, plus what exactly makes Josh so unique.
And if I can make it work, who knows? Maybe later I’ll be able to come back and do that road trip story. Maybe I’ll be able to find a home for those now-orphaned 14 Days characters. I hope so, but I promise nothing.
Except this:
I’ve always known where I want Josh to end up. What I didn’t know was how to kick him in that direction. I think I’ve got a handle on that now. So once I get Opening Night of the Dead finished (Heather is working on the cover, I’ve seen preliminary sketches), and after I do a second pass on The Pyrite War, turning to the next story of Josh Corwood will be my top writing priority.
Here’s hoping I can stay on the road this time.
It’s time for another Showcase Countdown! This week, the boys each give their own top ten lists for the greatest villains of all time, then count down the ultimate list as voted on by the Showcase listeners. Tune in to find out whose villainy takes the top prize! In the picks, Mike goes with Superman #8, Kenny takes Aquaman #8, and Blake praises Fantastic Four #506.1. Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!
Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.
Episode 266: Ultimate Villain Countdown
No, I haven’t abandoned the previous Showcase poll — we’re still taking your top ten lists on favorite villains. But schedules of my assorted co-hosts being what they are, I thought it may be prudent to have a few polls going at once to greater facilitate the recording of them, especially once school lets out for the summer and I’ve got more flexibility to meet up with my peeps. That in mind, here are the next two Showcase poll episodes:
Who do you consider the top ten greatest Avengers and greatest members of the Justice League? When I say “greatest” here, I’m not necessarily asking you who your favorite characters are (although you can certainly take that into consideration). I’m asking which ten heroes you think are most representative of the Avengers or the League as a whole, those characters without whom you simply can’t imagine the team existing. I am restricting this to people who have been official members of a team in one continuity or another, not characters you wish would join (that’ll be a poll some other time), so no voting for Nightcrawler for the Avengers, for example (Unless he joined the Avengers on Earth-527 or something). But anyone who has been a member of any of the teams in any of their incarnations is eligible:
Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Great Lakes Avengers, New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Secret Avengers, Dark Avengers, Avengers Academy, A-Next
Justice League, Justice League of America, Justice League Europe, Justice League International, Justice League Dark, Justice League Antarctica, Justice League Task Force, Extreme Justice
Alternate universe versions count, but not as the same character. So you could vote, for example, for both the mainstream Superman and the Kingdom Come version of Superman, but they would count as two separate characters and take up two of your slots.
So send me your top ten lists, from favorite to least favorite. The character at the top of your list will get ten points, the character at the bottom will get one, and we’ll use those lists to create the Ultimate List on the Showcase. I’ll let you guys know when these episodes will be recorded, but it’ll at least be June before we do any of them, so you have some time to ponder. You can post your lists here or send them to me privately or at BlakeMPetit@gmail.com.
Okay. Let’s get started!
I’ve been pretty resistant to digital comics for some time, but when Erin gave me a Kindle Fire, I decided to give them a second look. Now, having tried them out for a few months, we seem to have come to an… let’s call it, an “understanding”…
Everything But Imaginary #448: Digital Comics-A Second Opinion
The plan continues apace…
Despite a remarkably busy week, including an insane schedule of End of Course testing at work and preparing the play I’m currently directing (Alan Ball’s Five Women Wearing the Same Dress — four more performances at the Thibodaux Playhouse, beginning Thursday), I managed to find time this week to finally finish the first draft of my current Work in Progress, The Pyrite War. This is a great feeling. It started as my NaNoWriMo project for 2010, and although I hit the required 50,000 word mark, the story wasn’t nearly finished. Unfortunately, as tends to happen, I lost the thread of the story for a while after that, getting distracted by other things. I found it again a couple of months ago, and although I haven’t reclaimed the furious pace NaNoWriMo requires, since I returned to it, The Pyrite War has been my sole fiction project. A few days ago, I wrote the last word of the book (the word, if you’re interested, is “do”) — 90’027 words total, spread over 17 chapters and an epilogue. And The Pyrite War version 1.0 is finished.
Other People’s Heroes, at its core, is the story of a young man who believes in heroes helping a lost city to find its way. The Pyrite War is about an older man, a more cynical one, who must overcome that cynicism so that the same city isn’t lost at the very dawn of the first heroic age. Set in 1939, The Pyrite War is the story of Siegel City’s first superhero. Although none of our friends from OPH appear in this book, their are threads that reach back in time. I am a true lover of heroic legacies. This story will show you how some of the legacies in OPH began.
It’s not ready to share, not yet. This is just the first draft, after all. But I’m quite proud of the story and the fact that it’s finished.
So my plans for the next few months are as follows:
•Complete final editing on Opening Night of the Dead. Then, as soon as the cover for that book is completed, it will be made available in print and eBook.
•Do a second draft of The Pyrite War. This time around I intend to add a few bits, specifically intended to strengthen the mystery (yes, mystery) and give a little more depth to one of the more important relationships in the story I don’t think got quite enough screentime in the first go-around.
•Send the second draft to the Legion of Beta Readers for comments and editing. Also send it to the great Jacob Bascle, who has designed the cover art for all the Siegel City stories thus far and, I hope, will be willing to do so for a very long time. The goal is to finish all edits and the cover and have this book available to you before the end of the year.
•Jump into the next fiction project. I don’t actually know what that will be yet. I may return to an incomplete project, of which I have several (including two more “World of Siegel City” novels). I may take a third attempt at the true sequel to OPH, 14 Days of Asphalt, which I’ve already done two versions of but I still feel goes in a strange (and not in a good way) direction about halfway through, and I can’t quite figure out a fix. I may start something else entirely, although at the moment I don’t have any brand new ideas fully formed enough to really start on. Whatever I ultimately decide to do, I’ll keep you posted.
That’s really all I’m willing to say about The Pyrite War just yet, but if you want another taste of the story, go to my Facebook Fan Page. I’ve posted costume designs for (almost) all of the heroes and villains who appear in the book… although at this stage of the game I won’t tell you much information about them. Gotta keep some secrets to myself, after all.
Keep reading…
It’s a day late thanks to the great CX Server Malfunction of (Early May) 2012, but it’s time for this week’s Everything But Imaginary. With The Avengers outpacing everyone’s wildest expectations, it’s time to take a step back and think about what the film may mean for the future… the future of the Avengers franchise, of Marvel Studios, of superhero movies, and of Summer blockbusters in general.
Fair warning: although this is not a review of the film, there are spoiler herein. Read at your own risk.
Everything But Imaginary #447: Avengers Assembling a New Cinematic Landscape?
On the tenth anniversary of Free Comic Book Day, Blake and Kenny set up camp at BSI Comics in Metairie and chat with fans, pros, and fellow podcasters about everything! In this episode: a spoiler-free discussion of The Avengers, our thoughts on the DC Nation cartoon block including Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice, discussions of the free comics on sale, Kurt Amacker tells us about his new graphic novel Tad Caldwell and the Monster Kid, and we chat with the hosts of the Nola Nerd podcast and Adam from the Graphic Panels podcast. In the picks, Adam recommends Earth 2 #1 and Blake (surprising virtually no one) talks about the first issue of the new X-O Manowar. And the free stuff isn’t over — Blake is giving away free downloads of his superhero novel Other People’s Heroes! Just go to Smashwords.com, use the coupon code XG56X, and download the book in your preferred eReader format! (Coupon expires on May 20, 2012.) Contact us with comments, suggestions, or anything else at Showcase@CXPulp.com!
Music provided by Music Alley from Mevio.
Episode 265: Free Comic Book Day 2012
Evertime Realms 
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