The Kent Farm Today

Found at the Superman Homepage.



I had not known that the Kent Farm was an actual house or barn. Its in pretty wretched condition, but it also doesn't look like anyone has really been in there since the filming 35 years ago.

It kind of makes me wonder why Bryan Singer chose to remake the farm in the middle of Australia for Superman Returns, but his needs were fairly different, I guess.

I confess, I got a little sad seeing the Kent homestead in disrepair.

Elvira is Coming Back to TV

It sounds like Elvira is returning to TV in her classic format as schlock movie hostess in a new version of Elvira's Movie Macabre.

I don't think I need to tell you the import of this bit of news at League HQ.

Here. Also, the video on Elvira's website seems to confirm that this is happening.



I know Jamie will be thrilled.

Found at Caffeinated Joe.

So very torn about the trailer for "Sucker Punch"

That whole "directed by Zack Snyder" thing is so problematic. And then, already, this kind of stuff popped up.

But WWI and WWII aircraft battles, samurai, karate in trench warfare, Weimar-era burlesque, robots, dragons, shotguns, wire work sword fighting, an all-girl action crew, blowing up Nazis... It's like geek bingo.

This movie is going to be terrible, but I'll likely see it anyway.

Time Off for Human Behavior

I'm taking a little time off. The premiere for Mad Men Season 4 was on. Talk amongst yourselves.

Jimmy Olsen has partied too hard

Jimmy learns an important lesson in making promises to one's self before hitting Bourbon Street.

Chloe Sullivan jumping from Smallville to Comics in upcoming Jimmy Olsen Feature

In its 9 seasons on the air, the Superman-before-he-was-Superman TV program Smallville has done much more to borrow from the comics than its created new or given back. But the addition of Chloe Sullivan to the series has been a welcome one. Played by Allison Mack, Chloe has filled many roles, from a sort of proto-Lois Lane, to unrequited admirer of Clark Kent, to information hub/ proto-Oracle of the JLA. Mack has had to literally grow up on the show, and has become one of the more capable actors on the program, even if she's been given some iffy character and plot points the past few seasons. You kind of have to hope she finds more work after this most recent season.


Chloe is Super-Tech Support for the JLA

A few years ago DC Comics announced Chloe would be making her way into the actual print comics, where she has never appeared (outside of a special Smallville comic or two). Looks like that's finally happening.

The gameplan then was to bring her on as a junior reporter of some sort. On the show, she's also Lois's cousin, so that may be happening again here. I'd certainly expect the journalist angle rather than the JLA help desk support angle.

DC Universe Online Video Game Trailer (is awesome)

Click the title or the link below and get through the advert. The trailer is pretty crazy.

DC Universe Online Video Game, Exclusive Who Do You Trust Trailer HD | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

Not at Comic-Con

Once again Comic-Con is coming, and once again, I am not going. It's okay. It would be fun, but I'm thinking of getting my feet wet with a smaller con at some point next spring.*

Honestly, it seems like you can get a decent feel for the buzz from sitting back and occasionally checking the comics news websites and reading transcripts. Yes, there are fewer girls dressed as Power Girl or Wonder Woman at my home (Jamie will not comply), but at my home I am usually the only smelly fanboy shooting his mouth off about Jimmy Olsen and Streaky the Supercat, so that's a bit more tolerable.

I thought my folks were in San Diego on a business/ work trip at the same time as Comic-Con, but, alas, that hasn't panned out to be true. I wanted to see The Admiral show up at the convention center dressed as "El Turisto Magnifico".


It's the fanny pack that grants him his super powers. The hat is just for show.

Unfortunately, they're arriving after the CosPlayers and nerds have scattered back to their respective mother's basements across the country. It's a shame, because nothing would have given me more pride than pics of the KareBear with The 501st.

This year should see some interesting announcements from DC as DC Comics is now DC Entertainment and actually a force within the WB film department for the first time. It's known DC has to put out a Superman movie before end of 2012 to keep some movie rights or some such, so I expect some words on that. Plus, GL is coming in 2011, as well as Batman 3, so I'd expect we'll see some info there. And its not crazy to believe we'll hear news on Flash and Wonder Woman. Plus, plenty of other new stuff and updates on projects we knew about, like Tron, Young Justice, etc...

And Helen Mirren will be there to talk about Red. That poor, poor woman.

Dark Horse Comics is sponsoring an event called #NotAtComicCon, basically giving an outlet and a license to nerd-out to those of us who don't go to San Diego once a year. The details are a little sketchy, but its nice to see someone online acknowledge that its a pretty small proportion of the fanbase that actually makes it to ComicCon.

You can also expect for standard news outlets to look to their hipster junior staff to do a story on ComicCon, not guessing that if their staff were inclined to support genuinely informed coverage of ComicCon, they would be AT ComicCon already or asking you for a pass, not to find a local angle. And, of course, the hipster interns who think Chris Ware is Jesus will get to write about how ComicCon is not where to find the good stuff (which is not entirely untrue, but its a little like championing croquet as an alternative on Superbowl weekend).

Anyhow, get ready for your pop culture outlets to be flooded with ComicCon info.




*Keep your ears peeled for a possible Heroes-Con meet up in 2011.

JH Williams Continuing Batwoman

I loved Greg Rucka and JH Williams' Batwoman run in Detective Comics. And so did, it seem, everybody. But Rucka really wanted to get back to his own books, and so we've had some downtime here, but it looks like JH Williams is picking up where he and Rucka left off with Batwoman in her own title.

Click for the full sized image.


You know, this guy is trying really hard to be my first response when people ask me about my favorite artist.

If you're one of the folks enjoying Batwoman, I highly recommend picking up Promethea, which was written by Alan Moore and ran from about 1998 to the mid 00's. It was widely underappreciated and, I'd argue, misunderstood at the time of its release, but was always worth it just for the visuals.

Writer Discusses Jimmy Olsen Feature

Nick Spenser is writing the upcoming Jimmy Olsen feature which is supporting the Lex Luthor story in Action Comics*, and unlike the endless mess we saw in DC's already forgotten "Countdown", this seems to be an attempt to recapture some of what makes Jimmy the funnest guy in comics.


Finally the answer to the eternal geek question: who would win in a fight, Olsen or Superman?

Read the interview here.

Well, that really is one of the fun things about working on Jimmy's adventures - you can do anything. That's a huge part of his charm, that's he's this normal, usually non-powered guy, but his exploits span pretty much every possible genre and sub-genre out there. There are Jimmy Olsen pirate stories, Jimmy Olsen werewolf stories...you name it. He just gets thrown into these absurd, inconceivable situations by virtue of his own thirst for excitement. So we're definitely going to take him in a lot of different directions here.

and I love this:

What I love about Jimmy is that he's a normal guy. Now, people say this about Batman or whoever all the time, and to some degree that's true, but really, Batman is an extraordinary human being, something few, if any, could be. But Jimmy, anyone could be Jimmy.

Anyhow, it does seem that Jimmy is in good hands, what is what you want to know about your favorite characters (I mean, you Dr. Who fans want good writers, a good actor as The Doctor and a reliable companion, right?). So, yeah, I want someone who actually cares about getting it right versus someone taking a writing assignment because it was just an opportunity.

Hooray! Its new Jimmy Olsen.

*If you did not pick up issue #890, you totally should. This is going to be fun.