Handbook Hardcover Changes: Daredevil 2004

This is the third in a series that looks at the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe hardcovers, and notes how the entries were changed from the original Handbooks that were compiled for the hardcovers. Some information presented here was previous posted to the Who Watches the Watchers forum at Comixfan while other information is presented here concurrently.

All: Known Aliases now called Aliases. Marital Status and Distinguishing Features removed; Powers & Abilities and Paraphernalia merged as Abilities/Accessories. Significant Issues info from back of book removed.

Black Widow
Hardcover Volume: 1
Now Listed As: Black Widow (Romanova)
Page Count: Increased from 3 to 4
Text Changes: Vital Statistics and Abilities/Accessories expanded, History revised.
Graphic Changes: Both illos removed; new main illo and 5 new secondary illos

Bullseye
Hardcover Volume: 2
Page Count: Increased from 2 to 3
Text Changes: Vital statistics revised/expanded. History and Abilities/Accessories considerably revised/expanded. Weight revised.
Graphic Changes: 7 new secondary illos (1 captioned).

Daredevil
Hardcover Volume: 3
Page Count: Increased from 5 to 6
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. History: 3rd and 4th paragraphs merged; starting from paragraph reading “Foggy hired…” changes become a lot more extensive, though a lot of old material still present. Last two pages of new History text all new, but all new text shows up throughout. Abilities/Accessories also interweaves a lot of old and new text. Strength decreased, Energy Projection on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: Old Matt Murdock illo removed, replaced with new one and 9 other new secondary illos (all captioned, though 2 share the caption). The Eliot R. Brown-drawn Daredevil’s Billy Club entry from #15 of original series added.

Milla Donovan
Hardcover Volume: 3
Page Count: Unchanged at 1
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. History completely revised. Abilities/Accessories a little reduced. Speed on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: New secondary illo.

Echo
Hardcover Volume: 3
Page Count: Unchanged at 1
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. Final History paragraph revised and expanded.
Graphic Changes: New captioned secondary illo.

Vanessa Fisk
Hardcover Volume: 4
Page Count: Unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Last 2 sentences of History removed, but new large final paragraph added. Fighting Skills on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: None.

Gladiator
Hardcover Volume: 4
Page Count: Increased from 2 to 3
Text Changes: Vital Statistics a bit revised. History completely revised/expanded. Abilities/Accessories revised.
Graphic Changes: Original illo less cropped. 3 new secondary illos (1 captioned).

Hand
Hardcover Volume: 5
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 4
Text Changes: Members and Base of Operations added. History considerably revised and expanded (some portions of original text still intact)
Graphic Changes: Old illos removed. New main illo plus two captioned secondary illos and 54 Headshots with First Appearances.

Jessica Jones
Hardcover Volume: 6
Page Count: Unchanged at 2
Text Changes: History and Abilities/Accessories revised/expanded (the former greatly).
Graphic Changes: Old illos removed; new main illo and 2 captioned secondary illos.

Kingpin
Hardcover Volume: 6
Page Count: Increased from 3 to 4
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. History greatly revised/expanded, though a lot of the old text still present as well. 3rd and 4th Abilities/Accessories paragraphs revised/expanded.
Graphic Changes: 4 new secondary illos

Mister Fear
Split into: Machinesmith, Mister Fear (Cranston), Mister Fear (Fagan), Mister Fear (Drago)
Hardcover Volume: 6 Machinesmith, 7 Mister Fear (Cranston/Fagan), 8 Mister Fear (Drago)
Page Count: originally 2; now 2 Machinesmith, 2 Mister Fear (Cranston), 1 Mister Fear (Fagan), ½ Mister Fear (Drago)
Text Changes: All: Vital Statistics revised; History and Abilities/Accessories completely rewritten. Machinesmith: Physical Statistics a bit revised, Power Grid completely revised. Mister Fear (Cranston): Intelligence on Power Grid revised. Mister Fear (Fagan): Hair revised. Energy Projection on Power Grid revised. Mister Fear (Drago): Intelligence, Energy Projection, Fighting Skills on Power Numbers (formerly Power Grid) revised
Graphic Changes: Old illo only used for Mister Fear (Drago); Machinesmith; new main illo and four new secondary illos (2 captioned). Mister Fear (Cranston): new main illo and 6 new secondary illos (1 captioned). Mister Fear (Fagan): new main illo and new secondary illo. Mister Fear (Drago): New secondary illo

Foggy Nelson
Hardcover Volume: 8
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. History mostly revised/expanded. Abilities/Accessories a little revised/expanded
Graphic Changes: Old illo removed; new main illo and 2 new secondary illos

Owl
Hardcover Volume: 8
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Occupation, Citizenship, Group Affiliation revised. History mostly revised/expanded. Abilities/Accessories completely revised/expanded
Graphic Changes: 5 new secondary illos

Karen Page
Hardcover Volume: 8
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Known Relatives and Education revised. History mostly revised/expanded. Abilities/Accessories rewritten. Fighting Skills on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: old main illo removed, replaced with new one

Purple Man
Hardcover Volume: 9
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Group Affiliation revised. Older History paragraphs a little revised, with paragraphs merged; new final paragraph. Abilities/Accessories slightly revised. Energy Projection on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: 3 new secondary illos (1 captioned)

Sammy Silke
Hardcover Volume: 10
Page Count: unchanged at 1
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. History almost completely rewritten. Abilities/Accessories a little expanded.
Graphic Changes: None

Stick
Hardcover Volume: 11
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Aliases revised; Group Affiliation tweaked. History and Abilities/Accessories completely rewritten. Speed and Durability on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: 5 new secondary illos (2 captioned)

Stilt-Man
Hardcover Volume: 11
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. History completely rewritten. Abilities/Accessories greatly revised. Hair revised. Intelligence, Durability, Fighting Skills on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: main illo now secondary; new main illo plus 3 new secondary illos (1 captioned)

Turk
Hardcover Volume: 12
Page Count: unchanged at 1
Text Changes: Identity, Known Relatives, Group Affiliation revised. History mostly revised/expanded. Abilities/Accessories and Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: two new secondary illos

Typhoid
Hardcover Volume: 12
Page Count: increased from 2 to 3
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised/expanded. History completely rewritten. Abilities/Accessories greatly revised. Energy Projeciton on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: 6 new secondary illos (3 captioned)

Ben Urich
Hardcover Volume: 12
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. History completely rewritten. Abilities/Accessories a little revised. Intelligence and Fighting Skills on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: New secondary illo

Handbook Hardcover Changes: Alternate Universes 2005

This is the second in a series that looks at the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe hardcovers, and notes how the entries were changed from the original Handbooks that were compiled for the hardcovers. Some information presented here was previous posted to the Who Watches the Watchers forum at Comixfan while other information is presented here concurrently.
Alternate Universes 2005 Entries – List of Changes in the Hardcovers

All individuals: Superhuman Powers, Abilities, and Paraphernalia merged as Abilities/Accessories
All entries: Significant Issues info from back of book removed.

1602 A.D.
Hardcover Volume: 1
Page Count: increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants and Significant Locations expanded. Final History paragraph revised, then 3 new paragraphs added.
Graphic Changes: Old illo removed; 48 headshots with First Appearances added.

2020 A.D.
Hardcover Volume: 1
Page Count: increased from 2 to 3
Text Changes: None
Graphic Changes: New caption added to old illo, 9 new illos plus 9 more headshots, most with First Appearances and other stats

2099 A.D.
Hardcover Volume: 1
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Note added
Graphic Changes: Caption added to illo

2099 A.D. – Marvel Knights
Hardcover Volume: 1
Page Count: unchanged at 1
Text Changes: ignificant Inhabitants expanded, new final History paragraph added
Graphic Changes: Caption added to illo; 3 new captioned secondary illos

8162 A.D.
Hardcover Volume: 1
Page Count: unchanged at 1
Text Changes: None
Graphic Changes: Caption added to illo, three new secondary illos added

Cable/Askani World
Hardcover Volume: 2
Page Count: increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants expanded, History completely revised.
Graphic Changes: Main illo now captioned with captioned secondary illo. 42 new headshots with occupations and first appearances.

Chronomancer`s World
Hardcover Volume: 2
Page Count: increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: None
Graphic Changes: New captioned illo of Chronokeep. 35 new headshots with occupations and first appearances.

Counter-Earth (High Evolutionary)
Hardcover Volume: 2
Page Count: increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: None
Graphic Changes: Four new captioned illos (2 with First Appearances) plus 30 headshots with First Appearances.

Counter-Earth (Franklin Richards)
Hardcover Volume: 2
Page Count: increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants/Locations increased. History completely revised/expanded.
Graphic Changes: New captioned illo plus 21 headshots with First Appearances.

Crooked World
Hardcover Volume: 3
Page Count: increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: New sentence added to first History paragraph.
Graphic Changes: 10 new illos numbered to correspond to a newly added key, plus five unnumbered headshots. Main illo also numbered.

Days of Futures Past
Hardcover Volume: 3
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants expanded. History mostly revised and expanded.
Graphic Changes: Secondary illo removed, replaced with 2 new ones (1 captioned).

Earth A
Hardcover Volume: 3
Now Listed As: Earth-A (hyphenated)
Page Count: unchanged at 1
Text Changes: 3rd and 4th History paragraphs merged. New paragraph added to and of History.
Graphic Changes: Captions added to illos. Main illo cropped.

Earth X
Hardcover Volume: 3
Page Count: increased from 2 to 4
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants expanded.
Graphic Changes: Main and secondary illo replaced with new main illo and 8 secondary illos (1 captioned, the rest, including the main illo numbered to correspond with newly added key).

Eurth
Hardcover Volume: 4
Page Count: increased from 1 to 3
Text Changes: None
Graphic Changes: 8 new captioned secondary illos. 13 new illos utilizing a number key

Here Comes Tomorrow
Hardcover Volume: 5
Page Count: Unchanged at 1
Text Changes: None
Graphic Changes: Original illo now captioned. 5 new secondary illos

Kitty`s Fairy Tale
Hardcover Volume: 6
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants tweaked; Well removed from Significant Locations. History greatly revised/expanded (a lot of old text still present)
Graphic Changes: Old illo now captioned. 11 new captioned secondary illos.

Larval Earth (Spider-Ham)
Hardcover Volume: 6
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: None
Graphic Changes: Old illo now captioned. 21 new captioned secondary illos.

Last Avengers Story
Hardcover Volume: 6
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: None
Graphic Changes: Old illo now captioned. New captioned secondary illo plus 27 new numbered secondary illos corresponding to a key

Mangaverse
Hardcover Volume: 7
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: final History sentence split from the old paragraph to form the start of an extensive new final paragraph
Graphic Changes: Old illo’s characters now numbered with number key below the illo. 10 new captioned secondary illos.

MC2
Hardcover Volume: 7
Page Count: Increased from 2 to 3
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants expanded. 1st History sentence revised, 2nd last paragraph revised/abridged, new sentence added to final paragraph.
Graphic Changes: Old illo captioned; new captioned secondary illo plus 48 new headshots with First Appearances.

Mutant X-Verse
Hardcover Volume: 8
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: History completely rewritten.
Graphic Changes: Old illo removed. New main illo which is numbered with accompanying number key; 6 new captioned secondary illos.

New Universe
Hardcover Volume: 8
Page Count: Increased from 2 to 3
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants significantly expanded. Significant Locations expanded less significantly. History greatly revised/expanded.
Graphic Changes: Old illo now numbered with accompanying number key. 48 new headshots with First Appearance and main ability.

Other-Earth
Hardcover Volume: 8
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants and Significant Locations revised/expanded. History somewhat revised/expanded.
Graphic Changes: Main illo now captioned. 12 new captioned secondary illos.

Reigning
Hardcover Volume: 9
Page Count: Unchanged at 1
Text Changes: None.
Graphic Changes: Illo now captioned.

Shadowline
Hardcover Volume: 10
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 3
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants revised/expanded. History mostly revised/expanded. Note revised/abridged
Graphic Changes: Old illo removed. 11 new illos with First Appearances, then 17 headshots with First Appearances

Supreme Power
Hardcover Volume: 11
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 3
Text Changes: Significant Inhabitants and Significant Locations (the former greatly expanded). History completely rewritten/expanded
Graphic Changes: Old illo removed. New captioned main illo and 6 captioned secondary illos; 3 new headshots

The Corps
Hardcover Volume: 2
Now Listed As: Corps
Page Count: increased from 1 to 4
Text Changes: Current/Former Members expanded, History completely revised/expanded
Graphic Changes: 72 illos of members in two grids, with names first appearances listed below the second grid.

Deathlok
Hardcover Volume: 3
Now Listed As: Deathlok (Manning)
Page Count: increased from 2 to 3
Text Changes: New final History paragraph added (i.e. before the Note). Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: Original illo modified (mainly leg positions). 3 classic Eliot Brown diagrams added (original bionics, skull, gun), plus 3 more illos added (2 captioned).

Fantastic Five (Spider-Man)
Hardcover Volume: 4
Page Count: unchanged at 1
Text Changes: Final History paragraph revised/expanded.
Graphic Changes: None

Gatherers
Hardcover Volume: 4
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: Former Members have Earth numbers added. First Appearance expanded to cover individual members. New sentence added to end of 3rd History paragraph; 4th paragraph revised and expanded, new paragraph added before final paragraph. Note added.
Graphic Changes: Original illo captioned. 6 new captioned secondary illos.

Guardians of the Galaxy
Hardcover Volume: 4
Page Count: Increased from 3 to 5
Text Changes: Base of Operations expanded. Some History paragraph merging and text tweaking; new paragraph added at end of History. New 3-paragraph note added re: other Guardians.
Graphic Changes: New captioned main illo. Original illo now captioned secondary illo. 13 new captioned secondary illos plus 14 headshots indicating when first Active.

Killraven
Hardcover Volume: 6
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Known Relatives revised. History somewhat revised, with paragraphs merged and new text weaving in and out of old text.
Graphic Changes: New captioned main illo. New main illo (old one now secondary with background added. 2 new captioned secondary illos.

Scarlet Centurion
Hardcover Volume: 10
Now Listed As: Scarlet Centurion (Nathaniel Richards)
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised/expanded. History completely rewritten/expanded. Abilities/Accessories greatly revised/expanded.
Graphic Changes: 2 new secondary illos.

Squadron Supreme
Hardcover Volume: 11
Page Count: Increased from 2 to 6
Text Changes: History mostly revised/expanded. Note tweaked
Graphic Changes: Old illo now captioned secondary; new captioned main illo; 18 captioned secondary illos added, including a classic Elliot R. Brown illo; 25 new headshots with issues Active

Thundra
Hardcover Volume: 11
Page Count: Increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised/expanded. History completely rewritten/expanded. Abilities/Accessories mostly revised/expanded.
Graphic Changes: 1 new secondary illo.

Appendix
Hardcover Volumes: 2-5
Now Listed As: Appendix: Core Continuum Designations
Page Count: increased from 1 to 5 2/3 (v2), 3 (v3), 6 (v4), 3 (v5)
Text Changes: Lots of new Earths listed including ones seen in role-playing game modules, descriptions added to many previously listed Earths.
Graphic Changes: None.

Handbook Hardcover Changes: Fantastic Four 2005

This is the first in a series that looks at the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe hardcovers, and notes how the entries were changed from the original Handbooks that were compiled for the hardcovers. Some information presented here was previous posted to the Who Watches the Watchers forum at Comixfan while other information is presented here concurrently.

Fantastic Four 2005 Entries – List of Changes in the Hardcovers

All: Abilities, Superhuman Powers, Paraphernalia merged as Abilities/Accessories; Distinguishing Features and Marital Status removed. Origin and Significant Issues info from back of book removed.

Annihilus
Hardcover Volume: 1
Page Count: increased from 2 to 3
Text Changes: History greatly revised/expanded
Graphic Changes: New main illo (old one still present), two new secondary illos added

Doctor Doom
Hardcover Volume: 3
Page Count: unchanged at 4
Text Changes: Known Relatives, Group Affiliation, final History paragraph expanded
Graphic Changes: 3 new secondary illos (2 captioned)

Fantastic Four
Hardcover Volume: 4
Page Count: increased from 3 to 5
Text Changes: Team Stats revised and expanded, including large section on Employees. History greatly expanded; initially text more or less untouched, with 2 paragraphs merged; starting on 3rd page, text starts to diverge more from the original text, with some text embedded within existing paragraphs, new paragraphs added even before post-2004 material, existing paragraphs rewritten.
Graphic Changes: Old illos removed; new main illo, 5 new secondary illos (3 captioned by Handbook writers with a 4th captioned as originally printed). 30 headshots with issues joined (21 members, 29 employees)

Galactus
Hardcover Volume: 4
Page Count: increased from 4 to 5
Text Changes: Aliases/Occupation expanded. History: revisions to 1st, 3rd, 16th paragraphs; 4 new paragraphs added before final paragraph.
Graphic Changes: Main illos removed, replaced with classic Handbook illo; secondary illo now captioned; 3 new captioned secondary illos followed by 20 headshots of Galactus as viewed by other races.

Human Torch
Hardcover Volume: 5
Now Listed As: Human Torch (Storm)
Page Count: increased from 3 to 4
Text Changes: Vital Statistics somewhat revised. History considerably revised/expanded, though some old paragraphs intact. Abilities/Accessories completely revised/expanded. Durability on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: Old illos removed, replaced with new main illo and 10 secondary illos (5 captioned).

Inhumans
Hardcover Volume: 5
Page Count: increased from 3 to 6
Text Changes: “Known Members” split into 8 new categories and greatly expanded. History largely revised; a lot of old text still present, with new and altered text weaving through it with new paragraphs, paragraph breaks etc. (it’s hard to look at black text on blue background –the original format- but the additions are clearly substantial, especially later on).
Graphic Changes: Main and secondary illos captioned; 3 new secondary illos (2 captioned). 96 new headshots with First Appearances added.

Invisible Woman
Hardcover Volume: 5
Page Count: increased from 3 to 4
Text Changes: Vital Statistics somewhat revised. New sentence added to end of 1st paragraph; the former 3rd-last paragraphs moved to new paragraph; then 2nd-last and last paragraphs removed; depending on if you ould the split off part of former 3rd last paragraph, 8 new paragraphs added. Abilities/Accessories greatly but not completely revised/expanded. Given old format’s black text on blue background, I may be overlooking some changes.
Graphic Changes: New main illo (old one removed), 7 new secondary illos (3 captioned).

Mister Fantastic
Hardcover Volume: 7
Page Count: increased from 3 to 4
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised/expanded. History paragraphs somewhat revised/expanded, though most original text still present; some paragraphs merged; final paragraph replaced with 6 new ones. Abilities/Accessories revised/expanded, though a lot of old text still present.
Graphic Changes: Old illos removed; new main illo and 8 new secondary illos (4 captioned).

Mole Man
Hardcover Volume: 7
Page Count: increased from 2 to 3
Text Changes: Vital Statistics a little revised. History and Abilities/Accessories greatly revised/expanded.
Graphic Changes: 4 new secondary illos (2 captioned)

Alyssa Moy
Hardcover Volume: 7
Now Listed As: Alyssa Moy-Castle
Page Count: increased from 1 to 2
Text Changes: History greatly revised/expanded (no longer just one paragraph). Abilities/Accessories almost completely revised/expanded (lots of new text for both History and Abilities/Accessories).
Graphic Changes: New main illo (old one now secondary); 2 new secondary illos (1 captioned).

Psycho-Man
Hardcover Volume: 9
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Aliases and Identity revised. History greatly revised/expanded, though a lot of old text still present. Abilities/Accessories a little revised/expanded. Height/Weight revised.
Graphic Changes: Main illo no longer cut off on right; 2 new secondary illos.

Ramades
Hardcover Volume: 9
Page Count: unchanged at 1
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. History mostly rewritten (small amount of old text still present). Abilities/Accessories completely rewritten. Speed on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: Old illo no longer cut off on right and bottom; new captioned secondary illo.

Franklin Richards
Hardcover Volume: 9
Page Count: increased from 3 to 4
Text Changes: Vital Statistics greatly revised. History greatly revised/expanded. Abilities /Accessories mostly revised/expanded.
Graphic Changes: 2nd illo removed; 7 new secondary illos (6 captioned)

Valeria Richards
Hardcover Volume: 9
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Known Relatives and Education revised. History somewhat revised/expanded, with paragraph mergers and new text weaving in and out of old. Abilities/Accessories greatly revised/expanded. Power Grids merged and Strength, Speed, and Durability as Valeria revised.
Graphic Changes: Old illo no longer cut off on right and bottom; new captioned secondary illo.

Silver Surfer
Hardcover Volume: 10
Page Count: increased from 3 to 4
Text Changes: Aliases, identity, Occupation, Group Affiliation revised. Final History paragraph revised, then 6 new paragraphs added. 2nd Abilities/Accessories paragraph somewhat revised.
Graphic Changes: 6 new secondary illos (4 captioned)

Skrulls
Hardcover Volume: 10
Page Count: increased from 3 to 7
Text Changes: Known Members and Base of Operations considerably revised/expanded. Traits added (2 paragraphs), incorporating material from first old History paragraph. History considerably revised/expanded.
Graphic Changes: 5 new secondary illos (3 captioned); 48 headshots with First Appearances added.

Thing
Hardcover Volume: 12
Page Count: increased from 3 to 5
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. Old History somewhat revised, with new text weaving in and out of old, with 6 new paragraphs added before the 2nd last. Abilities/Accessories mostly revised/expanded. Intelligence on Power Grid revised.
Graphic Changes: old main illo removed and secondary illo cropped; new main illo and 12 new secondary illos (8 captioned).

Uatu the Watcher
Hardcover Volume: 12
Page Count: unchanged at 2
Text Changes: Vital Statistics revised. History somewhat revised/expanded, with new text weaving in and out of old, and some paragraph mergers. Nte added to Power Grid.
Graphic Changes: 2 new secondary illos (1 captioned).

12 Great Endings to TV Series

To allow people to avoid spoilers to endings they do not want to see in advance, I set the font colour to white when describing endings. Using your mouse, hold the left mouse key down and scroll over the invisible text you want to see.

Note that this is purely on the merit of the endings, not the shows as a whole. The Sopranos, Buffy, Angel, etc. are among shows that I liked as a series but didn't particularly like the final episode(s)

1. Action
Premise: a corrupt Hollywood executive works on a new film
Ending: The film not yet completed, his right hand woman walks out on the project, basically saving her soul.

2. American Gothic
Premise: A town is ruled over by a demonic sheriff.
Ending: The sheriff, who'd been buried alive by someone with the same first name as the CBS executive who messed with the airings of the show, escapes and confronts the guy. He tells him "You buried me before I was gone" and forces him to hang himself. Then he continues in the corruption of his son.

3. Babylon 5
Premise: Adventures on a space station that becomes a symbol for hope.
Ending: Friends from the space station have a reunion years later to reminisce. One of them passes away peacefully and the station is destroyed.

4. Fonz and the Happy Days Gang:
Premise: In this cartoon three characters from the TV series and a dog are sent through time due to a mishap by a time-traveller.
Ending: They wind up in the Bermuda triangle in the proper time period (1957) and opt to sail home rather than risk another time trip.

5. Forever Knight
Premise: A vampire cop in Toronto
Ending: After another cop is killed, the vampire's lover confronts him with a possible way to restore him to human so they can be together. when his possibly kills her, he asks his mentor to stake him so the two lovers can be together. The mentor raises the stake and the sun starts to rise.

6. John Woo`s Once a Thief
Premise: Two ex-thieves and a cop are hired to work for a shadowy organization
Ending: Their arch nemesis`attempt at revenge is fairly successful, as all three of them die in an explosion during an attempt to rescue one of them. Unfortunately this ending is changed for the DVD and VHS release ("Brother Against Brother"). UPDATE: The complete series set restores the original ending.

7. Oz
Premise: Life in an experimental prison facility.
Ending: Acts of revenge and love cause the deaths of more than a few inmates. When evacuation becomes necessary, we hear "This move is only temporary. We'll be back."

8. The Prisoner (original series)
Premise: A secret agent finds himself in a mysterious village after resigning. He tries to escape while people try to figure out why he resigned
Ending: Although he finally escapes with a few others, the final shot is the same shot as the beginning of each episode, suggesting he is either still trapped or about to be a prisoner once more.

9. Quantum Leap
Premise: A scientist finds himself lost in time trying to change people`s lives for the better.
Ending: After a stay in a mysterious bar, he realizes that no matter how badly he wishes to return home, he is still needed and opts to continue time-travelling, knowing that his next missions will be more difficult.

10. The Shield
Premise: A terrible act by a corrupt cop sets off a significant chain reaction
Ending: The cop either betrays or is betrayed by everyone he cares about and, a man of action, finds himself stuck to a desk job.

11. Six Feet Under
Premise: The lives of a family of morticians
Ending: One of them either somehow finds out or imagines how everyone will eventually die.12. Star Trek: The Next Generation
Premise: The continuing voyages of an exploration spaceship
Ending: The captain has visions of events in his past and future that are interconnected.

10 Interesting Shared Names

I am only counting cases where the differences between the two characters is striking, and where the two people/characters sharing the same name share the same first and last name, as opposed to a code name. In all cases these are apparently coincidences, though I think some have criticized the novelist Lee due to his better known namesake.

1. Steve Austin: real-life professional wrestler (Stone Cold Steve Austin); bionic hero of novel Cyborg/TV series The Six Million Dollar Man
2. Elliot Franklin: alter ego of Marvel villain The Clown (of the Circus of Crime, foes of Hulk, Spider-Man etc) - Caucasian; alter ego of unrelated Marvel villain Thunderball (of The Wrecking Crew; foes of Defenders, Thor etc.) - black
3. Steven Grant: real life comic book writer (Avengers, Hulk, Defenders); alter ego of Marvel hero Moon Knight
4. Richard Hatch: real-life actor (Battlestar Galactica etc); real-life Survivor contestant
5. Stan Lee: comic book writer (Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, X-Men etc); novelist (e.g. The God Project) whose books are sometimes misattributed to the other Lee
6. Ralph Macchio: movie actor (The Karate Kid, etc); Marvel Comics editor (Spider-Man, etc)
7. Steve Martin: real life actor/comedian (The Jerk Shopgirl, etc); reporter in American versions of two Godzilla movies
8. Michael Myers: after nickname spelled out, real life actor/comedian (Mike Myers; Saturday Night Live, Austin Powers, etc); the slasher in the Halloween movies
9. Roger Rabbit: protagonist of various novels and a movie (Who Censored/Framed Roger Rabbit); alter ego of DC's Zoo Crew leader Captain Carrot (who thus nowadays tends to go by his middle name Rodney)
10. Steve Rogers: real-life professional baseball player; alter ego of Marvel hero Captain America

Company-Wide Comic Book Events

In preparation for an upcoming comic book sale I reduced the prices of most comics I'm trying to sell by half if I was selling them for a $1 but they're older than 5 years. Doing so I noticed something scary: the precurser mini-series to Infinite Crisis (e.g. Rann-Thanagar War) at DC and Secret War and House of M at Marvel were from 2005, barely making 5-year period. So for people who've been reading the major superhero comics since at least 2005, there's been few if any months that have gone by without a mass superhero crossover in over half a decade!

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy a fun mass-superhero team up every so often, even once or twice a year, but they lose what makes them special if they happen all the time. And it's fun to read a superhero title that's contained in of itself but which isn't aimed at either younger readers or "mature' readers.

Despite all the crossovers the 2000s were still a better decade for comics than the 1990s, but I can't help but think that some of the potential of the early 2000s got lost along the way. let's give Superman, Spider-Man, et al some well-deserved R&R and likewise let readers replenish their wallets a bit. Then once everyone's rejuvenated, we can start talking crossovers again. Deal?

The 40 Best Comics 2000-2009

First off this is not even a remotely fair list for two reasons. For one thing, unlike my interest in movies and shows, with comics my tastes run strongly to towards a particular sub-genre, the superheroes. The other reason involves company-owned ongoing series; separating where one run begins and other ends can be hard because one or more of the artists will sometimes leave before the writer and vice versa, and more rarely in some titles writers will alternate between stories (e.g Gotham Central); also sometimes a later writer will affect the enjoyment of the previous work in either direction. So all ongoing series are treated as a whole, without specific runs separated out. I've also lumped titles together unless a spin-off title has a long life of its own. Finally there must be original material during the period covered, and not just recolouring (sorry, Killing Joke). Titles with new #1's will be taken on a case by case basis

A word about the Twelve: In a perfect world I'd have liked to have included this lovely limited series. However, while the long-delayed final issue of Marvels: Eye of the Camera is expected to ship the final week in January, the final issues The Twelve seems to have fallen off the map entirely. I cannot in good conscious include a story, however good looking and well written, if I have no expectations that it will ever be completed. If the first 8 issues felt at all complete on their own it would be a different matter, but despite being well written they read more like chapters of a longer story.

1. Alias (2001-2004)
2. American Splendor (various more recent titles) (2001-2008)
3. Astro City (various titles/minis/specials) (1995-Present)
4. Avengers: The Initiative (and Annual; 2007-2010)
5. Captain America (2005-2009 series, pre-reverting to original numbering to keep this listing simple -- including Reborn)
6.Captain Britain and MI13 (and Annual; 2008-2009)
7. Catwoman (2002-2008 series)
8. Criminal (various titles) (2006-Present)
9. Deadman (2002 series)
10. Fables (and specials/mini) (2002-Present)
11. 52 (2006-2007)
12. Gotham Central (2003-2006)
13. Howard the Duck (2002)
14. Jack of Fables (2006-Present)
15. JLA/Avengers / Avengers/JLA (2003)
16. Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers (2009)
17. Manhunter (2004-2009)
18. Marvel Apes (and specials; 2008-2009)
19. The Marvel Atlas (2008)
20. Marvels: Eye of the Camera (2009-2010)
21. The Marvels Project (2009-2010)
22. New Avengers (and Annuals/Specials; 2005-2010)
23. 9-11: Artists Respond/9-11: The World's Finest Comic Book Artists Tell Stories to Remember (2002)
24. 9-11: Emergency Relief (2002)
25. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (various titles) (2004-Present)
26. The Official Index to the Marvel Universe (2009-2010)
27. Powers (various titles/specials) (2000-Present)
28. Preacher (and special -only one in 2000) (1995-2000)
29. Punisher/Punisher: Frank Castle (and annuals/specials) (2004-2009 series)
30. Reinventing Comics/Making Comics (2000/2006; Understanding Comics in 1994)
31. She-Hulk (2004-2009 series; two volumes)
32. Strangers in Paradise (various titles/specials) (1993-2007)
33. Superman: Secret Identity (2004)
34. 30 Days of Night (2002; haven't read sequels)
35. Top 10 (1999-2001 series)
36. Ultimate Spider-Man (2000-2009 series and annuals/specials; haven't yet read the 2009-on series)
37. The Walking Dead (2003-Present)
38. X-Factor (2006-2009 series and specials, pre-reverting to original numbering to keep this listing simple)
39. Young Avengers (and special) (2005)
40. Y the Last Man (2002-2008)

The 50 Best Shows 2000-2009

In my mind, despite the reality TV shows this was nevertheless a great age for TV (and to be sure one token reality makes the list).

For this list I'm taking the titles as a whole for the period covered. So no Simpsons because the show was already on the decline as of January 1, 2000. In constrast The Sopranos has had dud periods and Lexx was all over the map but on the whole both deserve a listing.

List as with the movie version likely to be revised over time. Again in alphabetical order.

1. Da Ali G Show (2003-2004) - US version; haven't seen the UK version yet
2. Angel (1999-2004)
3. Batman Beyond (1999-2001)
4. Boomtown (2002-2003)
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
6. Ebert & Roeper (2000-2008)
7. Day Break (2006)
8. Dead Like Me (2003-2004)
9. Dead Zone (2002-2007)
10. Dexter (2006-Present)
11. Doctor Who (2005-Present; continuation of the 1963-1989 series)
12. Dollhouse (2009-2010)
13. Entourage (2004-Present)
14. Farscape (1999-2004)
15. La Femme Nikita (1997-2001)
16. Firefly (2002)
17. The 4400 (2004-2007)
18. Glee (2009-Present)
19. Greg the Bunny (2002) - network version; haven't seen the cable version yet
20. Heroes (2006-Present)
21. Joan of Arcadia (2003-2005)
22. Journeyman (2007)
23. Justice League/Justice League Unlimited (2001-2006)
24. Life on Mars (2008-2009) - US version; haven't seen the UK version yet
25. Lost (2004-Present)
26. The L Word (2004-2009)
27. The Mole (2001-2008)
28. Nip/Tuck (2003-Present)
29. NYPD Blue (1993-2005)
30. Oz (1997-2003)
31. Power Play (1998-2000)
32. Pushing Daisies (2007-2009)
33. Queer as Folk (2000-2005) - US version; haven't seen the UK version yet
34. Sex and the City (1998-2004)
35. The Shield (2002-2008)
36. Six Feet Under (2001-2005)
37. Smallville (2001-Present)
38. Son of the Beach (2000-2001)
39. The Sopranos (1999-2007)
40. South Park (1997-Present)
41. Sports Night (1998-2000)
42. Summer Heights High (2007)
43. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-2009)
44. That's My Bush! (2001)
45. 30 Days (2005-2008)
46. Threshold (2005)
47. Torchwood (2006-Present)
48. 24 (2001-Present)
49. The Unit (2006-2009)
50. Wonderfalls (2004)

The 80 Best Movies 2000-2009

There is some debate of whether the first decade of the 2000s ended in 2009 or will end in 2010. However, enough critics are doing a best of list that I've decided to list my own top 25 favourite movies of 2000-2009, regardless if whether or not the decade falls neatly into that. Sadly a Worst of list is probably not as feasible because there's been so many that I've stopped watching and don't recall enough about them.

While some choices like Daredevil and Saw III I hope sparks debate, all movies below are films that for one eason or another I love.

In alphabetical order:
1. Absolut Warhola (2001)
2. American Psycho (2000)
3. American Splendor (2003)
4. The Anniversary Party (2001)
5. Anytown USA (2005)
6. Auto Focus (2002)
7. Avatar (2009)
8. Baadasssss! (2003)
9. Bad Santa (2003)
10. Batman Begins (2005)
11. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
12. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
13. Boiler Room (2000)
14. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
15, Boxed (2002)
16. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
17. Century Hotel (2001)
18. Collateral (2004)
19. The Constant Gardener (2005)
20. Coraline (2009)
21. Daredevil (2003)
22. Dead End (2003)
23. Deliver Us from Evil (2006)
24. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005) - not to be confused with Exorcist: The Beginning which uses some of the same footage
25. Downfall (2004)
26. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
27. The Experiment (2001)
28. Ghost World (2001)
29. Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)
30. Grindhouse (2007)
31. Headhunter (2005)
32. Hot Fuzz (2007)
33. A History of Violence (2005)
34. The House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
35. Incredibles (2004) - though the preceeding short film Boundin' is one of the worst of the decade
36. Ingluorious Basterds (2009)
37. Iron Man (2008)
38. Jesus Camp (2006)
39. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
40. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
41. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
42. Kontroll (2003)
43. The Last Horror Movie (2003)
44. The Lives of Others (2006)
45. The Lookout (2007)
46. Lord of War (2005)
47. Love Object (2003)
48. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
49. Memento (2000)
50. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
51. Offside (2006)
52. The Others (2001)
53. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
54. The Pianist (2002)
55. Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006)
56. Saw III (2006)
57. Secretary (2002)
58. Series 7: The Contenders (2001)
59. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
60. Shopgirl (2005)
61. Sicko (2007)
62. Sidekick (2005)
63. Sideways (2004)
64. The Tailor of Panama
65. This Film is Not Yet Rated (2006)
66. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
67. The TV Set (2006)
68. Unbreakable (2000)
69. Undead (2003)
70. United 93 (2006)
71: Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)
72. Waiter (2006)
73. Walk All Over Me (2007)
74. Watchmen (2009)
75. Weirdsville (2007)
76. What to Do in Case of Fire (2001)
77. Wilderness Survival for Girls (2004)
78. X2: X-Men United (2003)
79. The Yes Men (2003)
80. Zero Day (2003)

If You Have to Work on Xmas

if you have to work on christmas, well, it sucks, but try to make the best of it, get into the spirit and have fun with the customers.

In between taking Christmas Day pics, I was just in a 7-11 looking at DVDs for sale and the dealer remarked I probably wouldn't find anything decent. I did find a DVD plus a magazine. When the cashier was open a guy wanted to get two 5's for a 10, and the dealer wouldn't unless he bought something. Now I understand that's 7-11's policy, but with the cash register open anyway, would iut have really hurt the store to do that and create a bit of goodwill? He probably did get an extra sale this time, but I bet the buy passes on making a purchase at a 7-11 in the future as a result. Something that could have been avoided with a little Christmas spirit (the real type, not the buying type) and helping a fellow human being with something trivial to the sotre but helpful to the person.

You don't have to shout Merry Christmas! at the top of your lungs, but be cheerful. Make your customers feel happy to be out and about on Christmas Day.

Victoria Comic Book Industry & Movie Festival Day 2

Okay, back from the last day of the convention, grateful for that extra hour to energize me due to the time change. Even so I was a bit fatigued and glad for some of the workshops.

I arrived for the second day just as the convention was opened. Michael Adamthwaite recognized me and immediately waved hi when I arrived, and I waved back, but I was still getting my bearings and there were organizers at his table, so I waited until a bit later to talk to him. But he was definitely one of the friendliest celebrities at the convention.

I went over to the comic section and got more comics autographed by Dave McCaig, including more issues of Deadman, since it was a series we both quite liked.

Back in the movie/tv area I got into a discussion with location scout Tim Moshansky, asking about movies set in Seattle but filmed in Vancouver. I was surprised to find out that most of Battle in Seattle was filmed in the Vancouver area; unlike 88 Minutes or The 4400, enough of that movie was filmed in Seattle that it created the illusion of more of it being filmed there.

I visited Michael Adamthwaite. He autographed some more movies, once again quite enthusiastic about the projects he's been in, and we chatted some more about Watchmen and I think other movies. The conversation went so well that he gave me a free signed photo. I hope he eventually gets a greater amount of recognition because he’s a class act and I’m going to try to keep an eye out for him in future projects.

I bought a couple of 1977 calendars at the comic side: one DC, one Marvel, both more far more elaborate than newer calendars, with text in a lot of the squares. I also got a 25% off coupon at Curious Comics, good only during the convention.

I think it was right after that I located one of the people I couldn’t find before, James Tyce, Heath Ledger’s stand-in in Brokeback Mountain. I probably should have asked him for details of that that entailed but hindsight's 20/20. I did get a photo of him and myself, with him holding my newly autographed copy of Brokeback.

I went to the Troma table; Lloyd Kaufman was there but had to head out, but he promised to autograph some more movies later. I bought all the remaining DVDs on the table that I didn’t already have (beyond package variants) and got a discount again.

I briefly spoke to William Katt again, to mention another aspect of The Greatest American Hero that I liked (its giving the characters political leanings).

It was now 11:30 and Lloyd Kaufman was due to conduct a Make Your Own Damn Movie workshop at 12:30, so I decided to head to Curious Comics to use the coupon on a trade I wanted, then grab lunch.

Back at the convention Lloyd Kaufman made good on his earlier promise to autograph one more set of DVDs (again, he was very friendly and appreciative of his fans), then I went to where his workshop was to be held.

After a while of watching bit of Terror Firmer in that room it became clear that something had gone south. I checked a few of the other rooms, catching tiny bits of a Q&A with Robert Picardo, and then asked a guy at the room the workshop was to be in (he didn’t know).

I went downstairs and told Margot Kidder I liked how she had been nice to a Santa Monica Blvd “Superman” in the documentary Confessions of a Superhero (hey, she’s Margot Kidder; couldn’t pass up a final chance to say hi to her). I also noticed that Lloyd was still there, further suggesting that things had gone south with the workshop.

I went back upstairs and met up with a friend who I chatted with (unfortunately I missed her the day before so I didn’t get to see her in her Halloween costume except in photos she showed me). She pointed me in the direction of another convention worker who also didn’t have the answers. It later turned out that she didn’t know about the vent in question despite all the colour signs. As noted in my last blog, a common theme was people working at the convention who would have liked to have help but just didn’t know what was happening. I finally asked Lloyd Kaufman himself and found out that the event was cancelled, though there was to be a Q&A later.

I attended a Q&A with Nhi Do (again, the Vietnamese girl in Watchmen) and make-up artist Ryan Nicholson. It was a lot of fun. After the first question (asked by Gareth Gaudin, who does the Perogy Cat strip and who runs Legends, the comic shop I patronize the most) I asked a Watchmen-related question. Thereafter most of the rest of the discussion involved Watchmen, but I’m pretty sure that Q&A would have gone that way eventually even if I had kept silent. The only quibble was that one enthusiastic audience member (no, not me) interrupted Nhi a couple times.

After the Q&A I wandered around some more, complementing Nhi Do on the Q&A seminar. I also saw Lloyd filming an ad for I believe the website at the booth to the left of his (the ad seemed to be a mock fight of sorts). I finally worked up the courage to ask the guy from the day before who seemed a bit sour about the other makeup artist who was supposed to attend. This time I got confirmation about the cancellation. I wanted to ask about a couple other possible cancellations but he still looked annoyed, so I decided not to push my luck.

I attended one more Q&A, this time with the interesting combo of William Katt and Lloyd Kaufman. That was also a lot of fun, and the two had a great rapport together. Katt said he would have liked to have been on Heroes longer. He also said his most rewarding acting was actually his stage work and mentioned typecasting due to The Greatest American Hero, noting that it seems to be less of a problem for superhero roles these days. Lloyd Kaufman expressed mixed feelings about been blacklisted by Hollywood, noting that even when his movies were well attended in theatres, then tended to be forced out by studios who would pull out of a theatre if they didn’t devote enough screens to their latest blockbuster; on the flip side it frees him up not just in terms of what he makes, but also when he makes and distributes the film.

After that I bought some more comics, and then located Ryan Nicholson and got one more movie autographed, knowing that things were winding down and it would probably be my last chance.

After that I decided that with everyone leaving I’d head out. The day went full circle when I passed Michael Adamthwaite on the way home and he again said hi to me as we passed. So again, very nice person.

Overall I think with the stress of the $20 autographs out of the way, and between the direct conversations and the Q&A’s, I had a lot more fun overall the second day. I wished the one guy I asked for info had smiled a bit more, and think that by getting everyone a bit more organized and on the same page, he’d probably have had more to smile about. When I look back on the convention I’ll recall a lot of very nice moments, though I’ll also recall some of the frustration from volunteers usually not knowing answers to questions; things will always go wrong with this kind of thing, so having a backup plan is wise, including communicating the changes to the volunteers either directly or by having a volunteer act as relay for news. So mixed feelings but overall worth it, especially for the second day.

Victoria Comic Book Industry & Movie Festival Day 1

[Note: I wrote this blog post originally after first day of the convention but before returning for the second day. I made some minor edits after the 2nd convention day was over, but in order to preserve my initial impressions, have not changed anything based on new knowledge from the 2nd day].

Okay, I’ve attended the first day of a two-day comic/movie convention in town and my reaction was… decidedly mixed. I probably look at it more favourably now that I’ve had some sleep than I did at the time. As I describe the below, understand that for the negative stuff I generally won’t post people’s names. Also, it was a long day so a few bits of chronology might be off.

When I arrived I asked a volunteer where the actors would be situated and was told, “We’ll learn together”. This would be a theme repeatedly during the convention. I think was needed was a briefing of the various volunteers regarding floor layouts and the like. I eventually worked out that there were three distinct sections: the actors’ area just to the left of the lobby, an events area on the floor directly about this, and a comics section on the right side entrance.

Just before entry I traded my physical pass for a wristband. Since a few of my questions had already been met with confusion I decided not to ask about taking it off at the end of the day and getting a new one for day 2, and instead just keep it on until the convention was over.

There was a program booklet but it cost $2 so I decided to pass. Where the doors opened to the actor’s area I went in and found that none of the actors were actually present yet. There was a note saying that Erin Gray (Buck Rogers couldn’t attend). I made a mental note of where some of the other people were to be situated, though I couldn’t find Margot Kidder’s name.

I went over to the comic section. I got stuff autographed from artist/colourist Jim McCaig, who was clearly appreciative of one of my own underappreciated titles, the early 2000s Deadman series. I should stress that all the celebrities that I actually talked to were friendly to varying degrees.

I couldn’t find any of the other artists I wanted stuff autographed and never did locate them. Through the grapevine I eventually learned that a couple of them had cancelled, though no one volunteer seemed to have a list of who all had cancelled. One did mention a lot of last minute cancellations but didn’t have a list; the comic side seemed more heavily hit with cancellations than the movie side. So I can’t say for sure that everyone I couldn’t find wasn’t actually at the convention.

I returned to the movie side and got things autographed by the two youngest actors present: Calum Worthy, Lightning Lad on Smallville; and Nhi Do, the Vietnamese girl the Comedian kills in Watchmen. Both were very nice and professional, and neither fit the negative clichés you sometimes here of with younger actors. For my Smallville set, Calum made a point of locating the specific disc of the episode he was in, and Nhi later complemented me on my Marvel Comics themed bag.

I then met Margot Kidder, where I learned for the first time that most of the major TV/movie celebrities present charge $20-$25 per autograph (rising stars, crew members, and Lloyd Kaufman did not charge). I didn’t mind that fact so much as there was no advance warning of this. For the bigger stars who charged per autograph I decided to limit myself to one item per celebrity, so I could have saved some packing time, as well as having much less to carry, had I known in advance. Margot Kidder was very nice and was the first celebrity to have me in the photo when I asked to take a photo of her. In contrast to autographs, no one charged me to take or have taken a photo. Unsurprisingly, I had her autograph my Superman set

I got a couple DVDs autographed from location scout Tim Moshansky, who told me some anecdotes avoid location scouting for Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.

Then I think it was when I met up and coming actor Michael Adamthwaite; people who've seen the longer version of Watchmen (Director's Cut) might know him as one of the Knot-Heads; he was also the voice of Balder in Hulk Vs and of Thor in Next Avengers. He was happy to autograph my stuff and was glad I brought the quirky independent film Walk All Over Me (a very fun film).

I returned to the comic section for a bit, and then back to the movie section. I got autographs Ethan Phillips (Neelix on Star Trek Voyager; who seemed to still have mixed feelings about appearing in the well made but challenging film The Babysitters, where he played one of a number of pedophiles; I told him I appreciated the risky project). I forgot to get his picture but he was agreeable later in the day to my rectifying that.

Robert Picardo (the Doctor on Star Trek Voyager; he signed my copy of Justice League vol. 1 and included the name of his character, Amazo; he also seemed to have the demeanour of a butler, proper but processional). My timeline’s a bit fuzzy, but think the next bit of chronology went like this: I tried to locate the two main makeup people who were supposed to be there without much luck. I asked some volunteers/organizers in the lobby with no luck. Either they didn’t know or in one case seemed annoyed at me for asking and simply directed me back to the room with no indication of which table I should be looking for.

I returned back and met with William Katt, Ralph Hinckley on The Greatest American Hero, who of the big TV stars was probably the friendliest and most interested in the guests. He guessed that I was a fan of the show from when I was a kid; I admitted I hadn’t wanted to say that but it was true. With the autograph of Greatest American Hero season 1, he through in an autographed glossy publicity photo from the series.

I then visited the Troma booth, where co-president Lloyd Kaufman (co-creator of the Toxic Avenger) was present (I previously met him at an earlier convention in town). Lloyd Kaufman is very much the life of the party for any event like these, were appreciative of his fans and happy to autograph stuff. I bought a lot of DVDs so he knocked off some of the price and threw in some promotional stuff. He had one person there dressed as the Toxic Avenger. When I asked to get a bit of him, he had myself, “Toxie”, and one of his “Super-Tromettes” in the photo and made sure that the Troma banner was in the background of the shot. I should stress that this is not a negative: Troma movies are never going to be as well known as Hollywood films, so the studio's survival is dependant on a grassroots effort to get the Troma name out there. So I was happy to have the Troma name in my pics. Fortunately for the survival of Troma, Lloyd’s very much the promoter, which is probably a key reason for Troma’s longevity as an independent movie studio.

I then visited the booth of Chase Masterson, who was on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a show I only watched a little of. I waited briefly as she got out her (somewhat risqué) photos and then she autographed my copy of Trekkies. I don't really have an anecdote of her regarding anything she's been in, but she was friendly.

I returned to the comic section and after another unsuccessful search for more of the comics pros found a place with a nice selection of $1 comics. The guy there offered to let me store some of my stuff near his table, which was much appreciated.

I thought that one seminar was at 12:30 but found out that I’d misread the sign and the seminar was actually day 2. I finally found one of the special effects people, Ryan Nicholson and got things autographed; the other one apparently didn’t attend but I’m not sure. I accidently brought the one version of one film (same name, different film) but he was gracious enough about the error.

One of my buddies arrived for a short time. She did a bit of a whirlwind tour and said hi to the people she most wanted to see, including Margot Kidder. I had turned her into a Troma fan and she was most looking forward to see Lloyd Kaufman, so I got a couple of shots of the two of them together, again with the Troma banner in the background. She also grabbed some stuff from the comics section, and we toured the upper floor together.

I needed a break so when she headed home, close to my place, I walked with her to my place. I dropped off most of my stuff, got some more money, had lunch, and almost made it back to the convention when I realized I had left my camera behind. I retrieved that, took a few more photos, then noticed I had left behind the second set of DVDs I wanted autographed. I went home and grabbed those.

When I got back I had a nice chat with Michael Adamthwaite and Nhi Do when I got Michael to autograph a few more things. Michael mentioned he was only in the Director’s Cut version of Watchmen so I quipped that I was glad I brought the right version. Again both of them were very nice people to talk to.

I wandered back and forth a few more times and got some more comics from the same booth as before (I never found any at the other booths). During one visit to the comics I saw two women inventively dressed up as Ms. Marvel and the Black Cat.

On the cast/crew side I also got a zombie short DVD from Ira Hunter, whom I’ve know for a while and who is probably the main ringleader for zombie-related events in Victoria. He also tossed in a few freebies. In one booth I heard a couple young women casually tell someone that he could see them naked on the website they were promoting.

Then I got some more autographs from Lloyd Kaufman. During this he got a call from co-president Michael Herz. Herz was at the Toronto premier of Toxic Avenger: The Musical, which apparently was going well. He even gave me another free DVD. I was feeling tired and most of the other celebrities had left for dinner so I decided to call it a night and recharge for day 2.

I suspect day 2 will be a bit quieter because I’m not paying for autographs today, which gives me less of an excuse to chat with/get photographed with some of the stars, but we shall see.

Halloween Wishes for 2009

10 More Bits of Advice

1. Wear bright colours at night, e.g. pumpkin orange. Dracula can probably survive the impact of a fast moving car. Actors dressed as Dracula are another matter.
2. Skip apartments when trick or treating. There’s little candy there and some some “trick or treat” refers to turning tricks.
3. If it’s raining and you’re trick or treating, sacrifice a bit of style for pneumonia prevention
4. If going to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, consider preparing in advance, e.g. watching footage of theatre goers on the DVD. It’s a movie theatre-going experience where practice in advance is advisable.
5. As with New Year’s, if you must smoke pot, don’t do it outside downtown. Again, you might find yourself with people who turn tricks, and this time hang with them and other misdemeanour types for a full night.
6. If you dress up at work, don’t dress so revealing that you decrease overall productivity.
7. If your costume is a bank robber, consider removing the ski mask when entering banks or stores.
8. For “Treat or treat, smell my feet”, remember that the second phrase is a children’s rhyme and not an actual request.
9. If you have no child and wish to trick or treat, consider hiring yourself out as a babysitter. You’ll get more candy with a kid present.
10. If you trick or treat with a child, remember that your kid will probably want some of the candy and your comfort the next feel days might improve by fulfilling this request.

Have a fun and safe Halloween, everyone!

Canadian Prime Ministers as Characters on Film

This is the flip side of my previous post, this time focussing on how many times and by how many actors a Canadian Prime Minister has been portrayed by someone other than the Prime Minister. I used two sources for this: Wikipedia to get the names of Prime Ministers and when they ran (Wikipedia isn’t always accurate but is generally good for factual stuff such as this) and the Internet Movie Database for screen appearances (again some inaccuracies may appear but this is probably the best possible source for such information). For TV series, appearances are only counted once.

Where the Number of Actors is less than Number of Films, it means that the same actor(s) has/have played the Prime Minister in multiple films. In some cases more than one actor may have played the Prime Minister in the same film.

Gaps in the list of Prime Ministers mean I was not able to find concrete evidence of actors portraying the Prime Minister. For purposes of this list, interim Prime Ministers are given equal weight as elected Prime Ministers. Completely fictional Prime Ministers, however, are not counted.

Due to the nature of the post, this blog entry will be updated periodically.

Sir John A. MacDonald
Prime Minister #: 1st
Years: 1867-1973, 1878-1891
Number of Films: 7
Number of Actors: 3

Pierre Trudeau
Prime Minister #: 15th
Years: 1968-1979, 1980-1984
Number of Films: 7
Number of Actors: 8

And, well, after that big lead-in, that’s all that I can find. If people know of any portrayals of other Prime Ministers including satire let me know and I’ll update this. Surely there must be more?

American Presidents on Film

Similar to my Canadian Prime Ministers blog post, this is an attempt to catalogue how many appearances American Presidents have made on film. I used two sources for this: Wikipedia to get the names of Presidents and when they ran (Wikipedia isn’t always accurate but is generally good for factual stuff such as this) and the Internet Movie Database for screen appearances (again some inaccuracies may appear but this is probably the best possible source for such information). For TV series, appearances are only counted once. Of course it’s impossible to get data on all newscast appearances so later Presidents likely have 100s of uncatalogued appearances; these are probably the easiest to find somewhere.

Actor means this is a rare case (well, not so rare with Ronald Reagan) where a President has played a role other than themselves, though the role may in some cases (e.g. Former President) allude to the real person. Self means the film has new footage as the President as themselves, usually but not always in a non-fictional role. Archive means the film only has footage of the President obtained from other sources. For TV shows a President may appear in both Self and Archive categories as long as the episodes are different. In Personal Collection is mainly for my own interest and that of friends/family; I own a copy of the film in question.

This list is solely of the Presidents themselves, not of people playing them. A separate list for such appearances will be covered in a subsequent blog. Personally I think seeing the actual leader on film is more interesting than a portrayal, no matter how good.

Gaps in the list of Presidents mean I was not able to find concrete evidence of filmed appearances of the President, though again obviously some appeared in news broadcasts. For purposes of this list, interim Presidents are given equal weight as elected Presidents.

Due to the nature of the post, this blog entry will be updated periodically.

Rutherford B. Hayes
President #: 19
Years: 1877-1881
Archive: 1

Grover Cleveland
President #: 24
Years: 1893-1897
Self: 3

William McKinley
President #: 25
Years: 1897-1901
Self: 29
Archive: 8

Theodore Roosevelt
President #: 26
Years: 1901-1909
Self: 34
Archive: 40

William Howard Taft
President #: 27
Years: 1909-1913
Self: 8
Archive: 7

Woodrow Wilson
President #: 28
Years: 1913-1921
Self: 12
Archive: 36

William G. Harding
President #: 29
Years: 1921-1923
Archive: 10

Calvin Coolidge
President #: 30
Years: 1923-1929
Self: 6
Archive: 15

Herbert Hoover
President #: 31
Years: 1929-1933
Self: 2
Archive: 18

Franklin D. Roosevelt
President #: 32
Years: 1933-1945
Self: 15
Archive: 180
In Personal Collection: Nixon, Simpsons season 10 (both Archive)

Harry S. Truman
President #: 33
Years: 1945-1953
Self: 9
Archive: 87
In Personal Collection: Nixon, Why We Fight (both Archive)

Dwight D. Eisenhower
President #: 34
Years: 1953-1961
Self: 20
Archive: 135
In Personal Collection: Nixon, Why We Fight (both Archive)

John F. Kennedy
President #: 35
Years: 1961-1963
Self: 27
Archive: 247
In Personal Collection: JFK, Nixon, The Dish, Lexx season 4, Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked, Why We Fight, Justice League: The New Frontier (all Archive)

Lyndon B. Johnson
President #: 36
Years: 1963-1969
Self: 6
Archive: 107
In Personal Collection: JFK, Nixon (both Archive)

Richard Nixon
President #: 37
Years: 1969-1974
Self: 39
Archive: 199
In Personal Collection: JFK, Nixon, Why We Fight (all Archive)

Gerald Ford
President #: 38
Years: 1974-1977
Actor: 1
Self: 42
Archive: 41
In Personal Collection: All the President’s Men, Quantum Leap season 2, Nixon (all Archive)

Jimmy Carter
President #: 39
Years: 1977-1981
Self: 59
Archive: 60
In Personal Collection: West Wing Documentary Special (season 3) (Self); Nixon, Maxed Out (both Archive)

Ronald Reagan
President #: 40
Years: 1981-1989
Actor: 78
Self: 108
Archive: 235
In Personal Collection: Roger & Me, Dream On season 1 & 2, Nixon, American Psycho, Prozac Nation, Weird Al Yankovic: The Ultimate Video Collection, Outfoxed: Robert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, Who Killed the Electric Car?, An inconvenient Truth, Maxed Out, Balls of Fury, Heckler (all Archive)

George H. W. Bush
President #: 41
Years: 1989-1993
Self: 79
Archive Footage: 104
In Personal Collection: Nixon, Fahrenheit 9/11, An Inconvenient Truth, Maxed Out (all Archive)

Bill Clinton
President #: 42
Years: 1993-2001
Self: 171
Archive Footage: 140
In Personal Collection: Nixon, Fahrenheit 9/11, Who Killed the Electric Car?, Maxed Out, Sicko (all Archive)

George W. Bush
President #: 43
Years: 2001-2008
Self: 113
Archive Footage: 209
In Personal Collection: The Awful Truth season 2 (Self/Archive; different episodes); Bowling for Columbine, 11’09”01, Unprecedented: The 2000 Election, Fahrenheit 9/11, Uncovered: The War on Iraq, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, Unconstitutional, Why We Fight, This Divided State, Iraq in Fragments, Who Killed the Electric Car?, An Inconvenient Truth, Maxed Out, Shut Up & Sing, The Tripper, Sicko (all Archive)

Barack Obama
President #: 44
Years: 2009-Present
Actor: 1
Self: 94
Archive Footage: 44

Canadian Prime Ministers on Film

This is an attempt to catalogue how many appearances Canadian Prime Ministers have made on film. I used two sources for this: Wikipedia to get the names of Prime Ministers and when they ran (Wikipedia isn’t always accurate but is generally good for factual stuff such as this) and the Internet Movie Database for screen appearances (again some inaccuracies may appear but this is probably the best possible source for such information). For TV series, appearances are only counted once. Of course it’s impossible to get data on all newscast appearances so later Prime Ministers likely have 100s of uncatalogued appearances; these are probably the easiest to find somewhere.

Actor/Actress means this is a rare case where a Prime Minister has played a role other than themselves, though the role may in some cases (e.g. Former Prime Minister) allude to the real person. Self means the film has new footage as the Prime Minister as themselves, usually but not always in a non-fictional role. Archive means the film only has footage of the Prime Minister obtained from other sources. For TV shows a Prime Minister may appear in both Self and Archive categories as long as the episodes are different.

This list is solely of the Prime Ministers themselves, not of people playing them. A separate list for such appearances will be covered in a subsequent blog. Personally I think seeing the actual leader on film is more interesting than a portrayal, no matter how good.

Gaps in the list of Prime Ministers mean I was not able to find concrete evidence of filmed appearances of the Prime Minister, though again obviously some appeared in news broadcasts. For purposes of this list, interim Prime Ministers are given equal weight as elected Prime Ministers.

Due to the nature of the post, this blog entry will be updated periodically.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Prime Minister #: 7th
Years: 1891-1911
Self: 1
Archive Footage: 4

Sir Robert Borden
Prime Minister #: 8th
Years: 1911-1920
Archive Footage: 3

William Lyon Mackenzie King
Prime Minister #: 10th
Years: 1921-1926, 1926-1930, 1935-1948
Self: 3
Archive Footage: 28

Richard Bedford Bennett
Prime Minister #: 11th
Years: 1930-1935
Archive Footage: 3

Louis St. Laurent
Prime Minister #: 12th
Years: 1948-1957
Archive Footage: 8

John Diefenbaker
Prime Minister #: 13th
Years: 1957-1963
Self: 3
Archive Footage: 6

Lester B. Pearson
Prime Minister #: 14th
Years: 1963-1968
Self: 3
Archive Footage: 8

Pierre Trudeau
Prime Minister #: 15th
Years: 1968-1979, 1980-1984
Actor: 1
Self: 14
Archive Footage: 19

Joe Clark
Prime Minister #: 16th
Years: 1979-1980
Self: 6
Archive Footage: 3

Brian Mulroney
Prime Minister #: 18th
Years: 1984-1993
Self: 5
Archive Footage: 10

Kim Campbell
Prime Minister #: 19th
Year: 1993
Actress: 2
Self: 4
Archive Footage: 1

Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister #: 20th
Years: 1993-2003
Self: 15
Archive Footage: 9

Paul Martin
Prime Minister #: 21st
Years: 2003-2006
Self: 6
Archive Footage: 5

Stephen Harper
Prime Minister #: 22nd
Years: 2006-Present
Self: 4
Archive Footage: 5

13 More Movies for Halloween

Okay, you took my advice last years and watched my 13 Halloween movie suggestions. You had a good time but time has passed now you’re feeling too relaxed. You wish to change that. Well, the doctor is here to raise your anxiety back up to acceptable levels. Here are my 13 recommendations for this year:

From Dusk Till Dawn: Two criminals pick the wrong bar to hole up in.

Trapped Ashes: People find themselves stuck in a studio tour’s haunted house and must describe traumatic experiences in the hopes of getting out.

Head of the Family: For people wanting their horror mixed with deadpan humour, a gold ol’ boy tries to blackmail a strange family of twins who are not exactly identical. The head of the family is a giant head with a smaller torso.

A Nightmare on Elm Street: The first film on the series is easily the scariest, with a madman named Freddy Krueger who kills people in their dreams.

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare: You’ll need to see A Nightmare on Elm Street first to really appreciate this, but if you do, it’s a fascinating look at meta-fiction as Freddy, no longer the clown he became in the previous films, invades the “real world”.

Saw: Not for the faint of heart, this film and its sequels involve a madman named Jigsaw who traps people in order to teach then a lesson. If they escape the trap they’ll be a bit maimed but they’ll probably have learned the lesson Jigsaw was trying to teach them.

Bloodsucking Freaks: a studio audience enjoys acts of torture, not realizing that (in the context of the film) what they’re watching is real.

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead: Part horror, part satire, part musical, a fast food restaurant is built on an ancient Indian burial ground. This leads to giant zombie chickens.

Vamp: Teens visit a night club that’s infested with vampires.

The Sixth Sense: A psychiatrist tries to help a young boy who talks to ghosts.

Undead: An Australian zombie movie with a twisted sense of humour.

The Last Horror Movie: A “real” serial killer tapes over a fictional serial killer movie.

Unmasked Part 25: As with last year I’m finishing this list that you’ll need to seek out on VHS because there’s no DVD as yet. A Jason-like serial killer falls in love with a blind woman.

Saving Seats at Theatres

As I type this I'm in physical pain after seeing Capitalism: A Love Story. No, the movie itself was actually pretty good. Basically what happened was my friend and I went in 45 minutes before the sneak preview was supposed to start. The theatre was already filling up fast, but two or three people near the back had saved around 8-10 seats each, including their own. No I'm not exaggerating. Consequently I had to settle for a seat where my bneck was in pain much of the time.

The pain got me thinking: snagging four seats is fine, but with eight seats the people on the far side are simply not going to be able to have a meaningful interaction with one another anyway. So why not let the people who showed up on time have some of the seats and have the latecomers deal with the lesser seats? Again, saving a few people, not a problem, but don't snag nearly the entire row.

My proposal for big ticket movies: you can save up to four seats including your own, no more. This rule can be waved for movies that have been out a while, but four seats is the equivalent of two free passholders, and again that's probably the upper limit of where the people on the far sides can whisper without disturbig the other guests. If space is at a premium the people who arrived at a decent hour should not be penalized for not being part of a particular group and eight seats is simply too many.

Or maybe I'm just grouchy because of the pain in the back of the neck.

What do people think of a seat-saving maximum for busy films? If you like this idea, how should this be enforced?

Greyhound and Me

In the past I've shied away from personal experiences because I'm in the middle of a work crisis and don't want the blog to be too whiney. But I just had an experience with Greyhound that I figured if I post about, it can save other people some time and grief.

Greyhound currently offers advance purchases for tickets even for routes that didn't used to have them. Last night I needed to make a purchase or miss the cut-off for the 14-day cut-off. Unfortunately, I failed to read in advance for a Will Call ticket and didn't realize that meant the buyer will pick up the ticket in person (neither "will" nor "call" screamed out "pick up in person" to me. So I went with the Mail option and missed the fact that that costs $7.

That said, soon after I bought the ticket I realized my mistake, so I found a form on the Greyhound site and filled it in, since you can't reply to the itinerary e-mail.

I hadn't heard back so I tried two general Greyhound Canada numbers, both of which had the same options, none of which involved dealing with ticket matters. i tried calling the local downtown office but only got an answering machine.

Since the ticket was to be mailed to me, I tried calling the courier office. They gave me an extension to try for one of the numbers I previously tried.

That extension insisted the itinerary number didn't exist and told me I'd have to contact Gryhound through the wesbite. When I told him i hadn't found any such contact info (I had pretty much written off the online form route I had tried the night before at this point), he gave me a 1-800 number.

After being put on hold for a few minutes, I got someone who told me that this wasn't the customer service number. They gave me a new number to try but tried putting me through first. Thankfully, since the new number wasn't a 1-800 nor 1-888 number, the call went through. After being put on hold a few minutes, they did manage to locate my itinerary number, but confirmed my fears that the ticket had been mailing. My online form attempt the night before hadn't been checked before the mailing.

So to save everyone a bit of hassle, here are some tips for dealing with Greyhound. 1> No matter how sleepy you are, make sure you have all the pricing info handy before ordering. 2> The name notwithstanding, "Will Call' is probably the option you want if you don't want to nullify most of the savings offered by advance purchase. 3>Avoid purchasing after hours where possible in case you do need to speak to a series of people. And finally, if you do get in a jam, 4> The customer service number for Greyhound is 214-849-8966. Your best best is to let the computer go through the options a couple times, let yourself get put on hold, then wait for a human. Pressing any buttons will just give you more buttons to press. Note that I ordered the ticket through Greyhound.ca but 214 is a Texas area code, so this number should work for both Greyhound Canada and Greyhound US. If your local Greyhound office is pretty reliable you might want to try them first to avoid being put on hold, but then try that number.

The Wild, Wild Franchise-Killing West.

I've just noticed an interesting phenomenom: insert a Western into a non-Western movie series, and the series comes to an end.

Don't believe me?

Back to the Future III: Much of the movie takes place in the Old West. Time finally ran out in this series.

From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter: It bites to say this, but the prequel set in the Old West killed the franchise.

Tremors 4: The Legend Legends: With the Western prequel, the series wormed its way out of existence.

Conclusion: If you want to do a Western, make it self-contained, unless you really hate a movie franchise and want to kill it stone cold dead.