X Doesn't Mark The Spot

The X-Men movie franchise is a strange beast. Launching in 2000, it brought one of the most popular superhero mythos to the screen, and is credited with launching the boom of comic book/superhero movies we have today. But in recent years, as the genre has evolved, opinion has shifted. Many fans outright dismiss or disown the movies.


Why is that?


Long answer:

My answer:


The movies fail at being an ensemble.


The X-Men have one of the most vibrant, fleshed out cast of characters in superhero history. Hell in comic book history period. And the movies are usually only focused on one or more of these characters:

Now on the one hand I can't be mad. There are some good performances and these movies helped propel Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence's careers. But here's the thing. When you're dealing with an ensemble cast, you have to make sure every character gets attention. The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy did this. Young Justice did this. Why is it so hard for the X-Men movies to do this?


I mean, we barely see stuff with Storm, or Cyclops, or Jean Grey or Nightcrawler or Kitty Pryde. Nope. Only one of those five. Which sucks because these characters have just as much of a history as the Fox favorites, and they deserve some love. Tell me a movie where Kitty meets Lockheed or Kurt swordfights with the Silver Samurai wouldn't sell.


I know Wolverine is a cool character. Yes Magneto is one of the greatest villains in Marvel history. But it's the X-Men, not Wolverine, Magneto, and their Assorted Friends. I wish Fox would remember that.


On a positive note, they could fix this with New Mutants and X-Force...

YU-GI-OH!: Alliance Of The Duelists

I have probably mentioned this once or twice, but Yu-Gi-Oh! is my favorite anime of all time. I have religiously watched the series (at least, up to 5D's; tried Zexal and it wasn't for me, and Arc-V just looks...stupid.) I play the card game off and on. I've read the manga. And now the next step...writing a story where Yugi passes the torch to a new hero.


A few details:


1. The main character is female. We have had female duelists in the franchise before, but I was always curious as to what would happen if one was the main character. And so I created Yuki Sato, a sixteen year old girl whose mother Yumi was a professional duelist. Yuki struggles to outlive her mother's legacy, and deal with her feelings for the new kid in school, Seth Kaiser...whose father was the duelist her mother beat to become champion!


2. Twists and turns. I take the formula that YuGiOh! has rolled with in all its incarnations and try to put a new twist on it. The rivalry between two duelists? There's a romantic undercharging. The main threat? A god who feeds on despair and strife-antithesis to the themes of love and friendship that drove the main series. The magic? Drawing from more sources than Egyptian mythology.

3. Old and new cards. The fun of writing a YGO story is the duels-what deck each Duelist has and how they manage to pull off victories. You will see classic cards, as well as some cards I created. Don't worry-it won't be totally OP.


4. You WILL see many characters from YGO Classic. As I stated before, the major threat in this story is Reshef-the God of Despair. He travels through dimensions, conquering worlds by infecting their inhabitants with misery, and is helped by his cult, the Hand of Discord. They have entered Yugi's world, and the breach between dimensions draws in Yuki and friends.


5. I'm not going it alone. My good friend John Hall approached me and asked if I wanted to do a YGO story; I was more than happy to oblige. He suggested the Ragnarok items-the opposite of the Millenium items, based in Norse myth. I created a character for him. (If you haven't noticed, we work best when we bounce off of each other.)


So yeah, this will be a side project while I work on Magnus Rex and Absolution. And I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it.


Once again, it's time to duel!

What I'm Working On

The creative bug has bitten once again, and I will be working on several projects. Don't worry, I'll still blog occasionally, but these projects will take up most of my time. They are;

THE MAGNUS REX TRILOGY


If you read my last post, you'll know that I have a deep love for Arthurian myth. Well...I decided to put my money where my mouth is and write a novel series taking that myth and transplanting it to the 21st century. The story will follow a young man, Art, as he is plagued by dreams of another life-and the mysterious man named M who leads him to his destiny.


Status: The trilogy is mapped out. Work on the first book, Rex Quondam, will begin during NaWriNoMo.

THE ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN


Spidey's been a hero I've wanted to write for the longest, and I decided to do my own modern take on him. In a way this has been gestating since the announcement that he would be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and was inspired in part by a friend's reworking of how he would do certain DC characters.


Status: About 50% complete with the first story arc, "Storm Front". Should be done in two weeks.

ABSOLUTION


This is the strangest comic pitch I've ever come up with. It has elements of a genre I love (Western) but tackles two genres I thought I'd never write (dystopia and time travel-yes there's time travel in here.) Hopefully it comes together, this is one of three comic pitches I want to send out.


Status: Need to smooth over the pitch. Also? I need an artist.

Unfit For A King

The legend of King Arthur is a story I hold near and dear to my heart. I first heard it in middle school, and eagerly devoured the stories. My high school English teacher was surprised to know that I knew so much about it. And the number of stories that have taken inspiration from, or are adapted from the legend are numerous.

Which is why I say you either do it right, or not at all.

And next year looks like it's going to be done so, SO wrong.

First offender? Guy Ritchie's KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD.

Now I like Guy Ritchie. I...am fine with Charlie Hunnam. But this looks like a misguided attempt to make King Arthur "cool" and "gritty". And he isn't a character that fits into that wheelhouse. Arthur is akin to a medival Superman; he is true of heart and noble. Here they're trying to make him into Robin Hood. Just make a damn Robin Hood movie then! (On second thought, don't. We have enough of those.)

The next offender is a Fox pilot currently in development, titled CAMELOT. Here's the description.

When an ancient magic reawakens in modern-day Manhattan, a graffiti artist named Art must team with his best friend Lance and his ex, Gwen — an idealistic cop — in order to realize his destiny and fight back against the evil forces that threaten the city.

First I guess this proves that Fox really loves their police procedurals. Second...REALLY?? The legend of King Arthur as a police procedural?!?

Then again this is the network that cancelled Firefly and continues to support Gotham so...

And finally, the worst of the worst...TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT.

I'm pretty sure my hatred for Michael Bay and his Transformers films are a matter of national record but this has done the impossible; it found a new way to piss me off. Apparently Optimus Prime will use Excalibur, which in this film is a long lost Cybertronian artifact.

Now I'm not opposed to having Arthurian myth in Transformers, hell Optimus Prime shares some character traits with Arthur. And a giant robot wielding Excalibur? A good filmmaker could work wonders with that. Michael Bay isn't a good filmmaker, he is the hemorrhoids on the ass of Hollywood. And it's bad enough that he's dragged his dick all over Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but King Arthur? That's low, even for him.

So as I said before: when adapting these legends, do it right, or not at all.

And don't be Michael Bay.