From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V6 #135 Reply-To: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Sender: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk chakram-refugees-digest Wednesday, August 9 2006 Volume 06 : Number 135 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [chakram-refugees] LL mention in new film [meredith ] [chakram-refugees] Xena is Dy-No-Mite! [KTL ] Re: [chakram-refugees] LL mention in new film [KTL ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2006 01:30:35 -0400 From: meredith Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] LL mention in new film Hi, KTL wrote: > This is so cool because it's not about Xena it's about Lucy. And it's > not real often that non A list actors get mentions in movies. Unless > it's meant as a big joke, which I'm sure hoping it wasn't. It was meant to be funny, sure ... but it worked on both levels because the people who never saw X:WP will laugh at the concept of Xena being funny, and those of us who are "in the know" will laugh because we know that LL *can* do comedy, and damn straight she should've gotten the part!! :) I got the impression that Jake Kasdan, the writer/director of the film (who was in attendance at the screening) probably saw more than a few X:WP eps back in the day and meant it in the latter sense. :) - -- =============================================== Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth =============================================== hear at the HOMe House Concert Series http://hom.smoe.org =============================================== ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 00:02:35 -0800 (AKDT) From: KTL Subject: [chakram-refugees] Xena is Dy-No-Mite! So I haven't seen any of us talk about the comic book. So I'll start. Okay, I've never reviewed a comic book before. But then before my XWP obsession, I had never reviewed a con before either. Heck I had never GONE to a con before nor ever imagined I ever would. But I've always lived by the belief that not having done something before doesn't mean you shouldn't do it now. Which of course leads to the fact that ya gotta start somewhere. I guess it would be smart to check out other comic book reviews to see what people focus on. But that's for sissies! So, here goes. About five days ago I called up my comic book shop (whose door I haven't darkened in about three years or so, having cleaned out their entire stock of leftover Xena stuff sometime around 2003) and asked if they had the Xena comics yet. (Yes, I had already called them twice and kept getting reassured that they would be carrying them.) And the young woman on the phone, positively breathless with joy at them being in, squealed in great delight, "Yes-they're here! Arrived today!" (This is one thing that has changed since 2003-girls didn't use to work there-but now in 2006, there were a couple of them pacing around the store when I got there, straightening the books and stocking shelves. It was all just always boys before.) Of course I immediatly raced down there and bought two copies of each cover. There are three--two drawings, one photo. The most eye-catching one to me is a rendition of a glaring Xena. Actually, it being a rather robust and zaftig Xena, the eye of the viewer just can't help bouncing from her gorgeous blue eyes to her bulging breastplate. The bulging breastplate arcs up from a rather waspish (for our Xena) waist. Xena manages to glare at the viewer with not just her eyes but, depending upon where your eyes are bouncing at the moment, her breastplate manages to glare into the viewer's eyes also. It is apparent that not just Xena but also her whole costume has many skills. It's quite a compelling cover. Here are the two drawn covers: http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=7740 Click on the right one of Xena. Okay-remember that posture/presentation. Now look here: http://www.pigeoncote.com/lancast/lanpom.jpg Is there not a decided resemblance? I therefore cannot help but think of this cover as the "Pouter pigeon Xena cover." In the other drawn one, with the odd way Xena is holding her sword with both hands, one on the handle and the other on the blade, her sword thus stretches horizontally across the cover. Zeus and Ares are above the sword and Gabrielle and Joxer are drawn below it. Xena's sword is a true horizon, dividing heaven and earth. Oddly enough, Zeus's head is actually the largest and most central figure on this cover. The photo one is from Sins of the Past and I believe was actually used already on one of the Dark Horse comics. Oh, here it is-the second one from the top on the left. It was a Topps one. And it was actually a Hercules one-but it's flopped on the new Dynamite one. http://www.eskimo.com/~tegan/xena/herc2.html#herc3 Of the three covers I like Xena: Warrior PouterPigeon the best. I was talking with a Xena friend about the comic books the other night and she mentioned that these types of comic books are all about the artwork. That the characters and the story should be most strongly presented through the pictures-it's the drawings that sell both the story and the book. Note, she was of course talking about traditional super hero comics and more specifically, the fantasy/sci-fi genre comics, not the adult themed ones like Maus and not ones like Little LuLu or Archie. Having gone through the comic, I realize she's absolutely right. Having heard her say this, it's obvious, but it never reached out and grabbed me before. The most effort and meticulous attention is spent on the visuals. This is what is set out to capture the viewer. (I just realized that I said "viewer" not reader. Heh.) Which at the bottom therefore means that comic books are more like films than they are like books. Okay, so let's see what's going on in here. Hmmm. The first page is very stylized eh? Simple though crowded plain rectangular panels, no odd angles, no in your face huge faces with extravagant expressions exploding on the page. I did get excited seeing the Egyptian gods in the story though-figuring that it might be post FIN--Rob set up the return of Xena so transparently in FIN, with Gabrielle carrying Xena's ashes and heading for Egypt, land of a state religion that invested so much of their belief system in reincarnation and an anticipated and expected return to life. But that was NOT the reason it opened in Egypt with both Egyptians and Greek gods and priests interacting. Them being there seems to be just a fluke OR they are totally ignoring the fact that Xena died before the grrls took off for Egypt. Oh but wait--Gabrielle is wearing her outfit from the early seasons-the BGSB, not the red outfit of the later seasons. So perhaps this was an earlier tour of Egypt--from the first time they met that little flirt Cleopatra. Okay, next two pages, more typical Sturm und Drang of the comic world. Big figures, slashing action, sinking boats, attacking monsters. And then when you turn that page over-one picture takes up both sides of the next two pages. It's a close up of a guy trumpeting out and pointing to, "Xena, Warrior Princess!!" And on the right page is a drawing of the zaftig Xena and a marching Gabrielle, both looking so stiff and "presented" that it appears they might have just been carted out of Madame Tussauds' wax museum and set on board the ship. This start reminded me very strongly of the teaser for the show. It had that feel. Next couple of pages, Xena fights, Xena makes smart alecky comments as she fights, Gabrielle fights and chats with Xena, Xena whips the chakram out (and in the comic, it goes, "Wiff Wiff Wiff" instead of "Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh") and in the next couple of pages, the hydra headed sea monster eats Xena. She's giving out muffled protests in his head and then we see her sword slicing up through its skull from the inside out. Cut to commercial-well, an advertising page in the middle of the comic. It takes a bit to figure out what the heck this is a picture of, but I suddenly realize it's the Lone Ranger, inexplicably wearing his mask just above his belly as if it were a fanny pack. There is a new Lone Ranger comic book coming out apparently. Now, this clump of pages would be analogous to act 1 EXCEPT that instead of leaving Xena in danger as most XWP act ones did, we see her already saving herself. (Scowl. Does THAT sustain our interest through the commercials? I think not.) Okay back from commercial. Xena's out of the monster, Gabrielle comes by in a boat, a bit of snappy patter and then suddenly we get a BIG Joxer face. He looks almost stoned. It's a "BIG MOMENT". I'm sure they knew that Joxer, though loathed by many in the online community, was a huge hit with the regular and far more massive casual fandom. So the moment Joxer appears is treated kind of like the moment Scarlett O'Hara appears in "Gone With The Wind", i.e., ultimately (after a zoom in in "Gone With The Wind"), we get a big tight close-up face shot. Then more snappy patter, picking on Joxer and floating dead hydra monsters in the foreground. More patter, Xena's dawning realization of what's going on and pertinent questions from Joxer and Gabrielle. No Xena in the next couple of pages-we see Zeus accepting the Egyptian gods' offer (sent through a lovely ambassador) to stop the war and just pick two fighters to fight and let their battle decide the conflict. (Yeah, like the war wouldn't break out again the minute the individual fight is over. Snort!) Okay, another commercial, this time for the Highlander comic. Back from the commercial, X, G & J find Autolycus tied to a stake, being threatened by some locals from whom he has stolen some money. (Not very creative a scam.) Xena wants to leave him there, Gabrielle reminds her he's their friend, Xena agrees reluctantly to help him get away. The locals don't like that idea. Gabrielle warns the locals that Xena is not to be messed with being "practically undefeatable" and they reply that their hero is just like Xena. Their hero is a huge hulking dude named Levitriol, easily twice Xena's size, who suddenly appears and who thinks he'd like to take X&G to be his new wives. Xena doesn't agree. Next page we're back in Olympus. Various gods are discussing who should be their champion. Zeus runs down a list of boys. Hades suggests Callisto. There's a image of Callisto in one of those seeing water bowls. Ares of course suggests Xena. They spy Xena taking on Levitriol in their seeing bowl. Zeus likes the look of the big boy and asks who he is. Someone "off page" praises him highly, telling of his amazing deeds of strength and warrior ability. In the next panel, we see Ares (still or also) praising Levitriol. But in a very dissonant moment, Ares says, "Levitriol may very well be the strongest mortal in all of our lands. HE would make a SUPERB champion." Excuse me? Ares figuring that someone else would be a better warrior than Xena is? No way. Ares would be the one arguing for Xena for sure. That was a real clanging off moment. Zeus watches Xena and Levitriol fight for a bit and then declares that anyone who could defeat Levitriol would be a formidable champion. Fight fight fight, then Xena grabs Levitriol's arm and flips him head over heels through the air. There is a squishing type sound effect, spelled, "SLUTCH" and Xena's face shows disgust as she lets out an "Ewwww!" Cut to Zeus standing with arms crossed and saying, "Hmmmm. Yes. HER." Flip over to the next page and at the top is a close-up of Gabrielle's face as she says, "Oops". This is superimposed over a full page drawing of Levitriol impaled on the top of Gabrielle's staff where he landed after being tossed by Xena. We see Zeus's hand cutting into the corner of the bottom of the page, pointing to Gabrielle as he says, "SHE will be my champion." End of story. Well, end of what-act one? Kind of short, I thought. I think this was okay. I'm not of course very objective where anything Xena is concerned. Of course I thought it was okay. The drawings were not particularly striking as looking exactly like or even very much like Lucy, Renee, Ted, Bruce or Kevin. But they were of course obviously X, G, J, A and A. I thought the smart alecky comments were very like the show. And the classic XWP pattern was there-first fight in the teaser, second big fight in act one. The drawings seemed pretty typical to me. Different sized panels, sometimes odd angles, big faces peering into the reader's eyes, malevolent overpowering inhuman monsters, all that stuff. My other Xena comics are all out in the shed somewhere-I didn't go searching for any to check against this series to see if there's any obvious differences. I'll definitely buy the next one but of course I would buy the next one no matter what this one was like. The last page of this book showcases covers of the new Battlestar Galactica comic-hopefully MORE Lucy characters in new comics eventually! Yay! I suddenly realized as I was writing this and looking at the book again that Gabrielle also has her season 1-3 hair. Perhaps the Gabfan in Clones was their XWP expert. (Damn-even in a comic book, all I ever notice is Xena. . .) Right next to the Xena comics in my store was a new Evil Dead comic with Bruce as Ash of course on the cover. Some classics just endure forever I guess. And on Xena's other side was the new Red Sonya comic-Red wears bubble wrap to protect her tender parts. I giggled out loud when I saw that outfit. Just imagine how much popping must go on when SHE fights. I went back into the store yesterday to find that there were only two comics left. The owner told me they were amazed at how quickly they had sold. He said he wasn't sure if it would go or not and of course they were delighted with how successful a start it had. Well, at least in Fairbanks. My question is, if there are so many Xena fans in Fairbanks, how come I don't know any? One other thing-I heard him talking to someone else about how his sales in general were down. Because so many of his customers were now overseas, fighting in Iraq. That intrigued me-I hadn't really thought about military folk being comic fiends. Nor had I thought about how far the ripples of impact go when you live in a small military town and the local boys and girls are sent away to war. KT (Hoo-hoo--yet nother milestone to mark off my life's list--"Comic Book Reviewer".) ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2006 00:06:28 -0800 (AKDT) From: KTL Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] LL mention in new film > KTL wrote: >> This is so cool because it's not about Xena it's about Lucy. And it's not >> real often that non A list actors get mentions in movies. Unless it's meant >> as a big joke, which I'm sure hoping it wasn't. > > It was meant to be funny, sure ... but it worked on both levels because the > people who never saw X:WP will laugh at the concept of Xena being funny, Yup, good catch! and > those of us who are "in the know" will laugh because we know that LL *can* do > comedy, and damn straight she should've gotten the part!! :) Laugh! Go Luce! > > I got the impression that Jake Kasdan, the writer/director of the film (who > was in attendance at the screening) probably saw more than a few X:WP eps > back in the day and meant it in the latter sense. :) Good! Again, this is just way tooooo cool! KT ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ End of chakram-refugees-digest V6 #135 **************************************