The Mega Boy Band Reunion…23 Years Ago

I’m writing about an issue that has been the talk of the media since the recent MTV Video Awards.An issue that has been the talk of the music industry and consumed much TV and radio airtime.I felt I needed to address it.


NO!I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT MYLIE’S NIGHTMARE PERFORMANCE!!!!!!


I’m talking about Justin Timberlake’s induction into MTV’s Video Vanguard and the “alleged” Nsync reunion that was a part of it.My question is …What the hell was the point? Why did we see one of the biggest stars in music have to be on stage with 4 people he clearly out grew long ago.Was it really worth the nostalgia trip to see Lance Bass off beat dancing while Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick looked winded after half a minute.JC Chasez seemed to be the only one not to embarass himself,but the others set such a low bar that even that’s not much of an achievement.Overall it just seemed to be much ado about precious little.

So what’s a real reunion you ask?I’ll tell you.Let’s turn back the clock.
The year..1990
The place…MTV Video Awards
The reunited group…NEW EDITION.
After six years of hits on the pop charts with songs like Cool It Now.Mr. Telephone Man and If It Isn’t Love,the members of the group (original members Ralph Tresvant,Ricky Bell,Ronnie Devoe,Michael Bivins,and new member Johnny Gill)decided to go their separate ways for a time.Original member Bobby Brown had been voted out by the group at the insistence of MCA Records due to behavior issues.They promptly signed him to a solo deal.His second album broke big time with My Perogative  and other cuts making him one of the biggest acts of the late 80’s.While Tresvant and Gill worked on their own solo lp’s,the three remaining members recorded as Bell Biv Devoe.They immediately hit it big with Poison.Johnny Gill was not far behind with Rub You The Right Way.
As the 1990 MTV Video Awards approached,New Edition was dominating the charts without even being together(not to mention that lead singer Tresvant’s album had yet to be released)so the network achieved a major coup by booking all parties to be together.They promoted the hell out of it,taking advantage of their hits together and separately.

Here’s the link to the performance.

Was it a perfect performance?Probably not. BBD was a bit sharp and the less said about Gil’s dancing the better.However this felt like a major event in the way that Nsync’s reunion didn’t.It wasn’t about one person,it was about all of them.That’s how you make a reunion matter!

Battlefield:OZ

It appears that Warner Brothers and Disney will have a new arena in which to fight for media supremacy.That would be...


THE MAGICAL LAND OF OZ!

While the war between the studios' respective comic book properties(DC and Marvel) has been well underway and expected to escalate come 2015 with a scheduled Justice League/Avengers 2 face-off,Disney's recent success with "OZ The Great and Powerful" could be the first salvo in an all new war to utilize the classic kingdom created by L. Frank Baum and first brought to the cinema with 1939's "Wizard of Oz"currently owned by WB after acquiring it from MGM.

The rights are quite interesting.While Disney owns rights to develop  Baum's original 14 books (and used them as source material for "Great and Powerful"'s prequel driven storyline),WB's ownership of the original means they own certain images considered iconic to moviegoers and critics alike.Disney had its legal team heavily involved in the production so as not to infringe on WB property such as the architecture of Emerald City and the look of the three witches.Makeup had to come up with a specific and distinct green facial shade for their Wicked Witch of the West that didn't match the trademark shade worn by Margaret Hamilton in the  original.While this may seem like things were deliberately made more difficult by a rival,things won't be much easier for WB.If they make an "official" sequel they will be prohibited from using any of  Baum's books as storylines.

While there apparently were many possible "Wizard" movie sequels in development at Warner in the past,the most recent talk is about a possible TV series based on an alternate take.The project is said to be called "Red Brick Road",named after the red bricks that swirl with the yellow at the beginning of  the Yellow Brick Road.The premise is an alternate world of OZ where the Wicked Witch rules and the familiar characters fight to free the kingdom.With an independent premise they might avoid conflict with the existing books yet still benefit from their property.However going to the small screen means heading into a somewhat crowded fantasy/drama field with "Once Upon A Time","Grimm",and the new version of "Beauty and The Beast".

One League Under Nolan

This just in regarding the rivalry between DC and Marvel's cinematic efforts....



IT'S ON!!!!!!!!!!

Allow me to explain.Warner Brothers have apparently handed the reins of the in-development Justice League movie to "Dark Knight" trilogy mastermind Christopher Nolan.He will for the forseeable future be the man dictating how the DCU is presented on the big screen.The first order of business will be to cancel the planned Batman reboot and instead bring back Christian Bale as the caped crusader who will eventually come together with Superman(Henry Cavill in the upcoming Man Of Steel)to form the team.As it stands rumors are the movie will concentrate on a core of 5 heroes comprising of  Superman,Batman,Wonder Woman,Green Lantern and the Flash.

While the target date is summer 2015,there are some roadblocks ahead.Not the least of all the absence of a script in the wake of "Gangster Squad" writer Will Beale's script being thrown out.There may also be a problem concerning the villain as the plan of having galactic despot Darkseid featured is in peril due to his looking similar to Marvel's evil despot Thanos who was shown during the Avengers post-credits scenes.Also  there has been little to no pre-production put towards this project making the summer 2015 target doable but extremely tight.

Warners apparently saw the Avengers billion dollar grosses and decided they can't wait long term for their comic book team movie to release.So they decided to gather people they know have succeeded in the genre
The Dark Knight (Google Affiliate Ad)DARK KNIGHT RISES BY BALE,CHRISTIAN (Blu-Ray) [3 DISCS] (Google Affiliate Ad)hoping they can quickly get the story out.However with the Avengers sequel and the seventh Star Wars movie due out that same summer they may need something special to win what could be an unprecedented blockbuster summer.

DCnU:Second Wave

Well DC Comics' much publicized relaunch seems to have served its purpose with increases sales and a renewed interest in both their characters and teams.Not all their ideas proved successful admittedly(Mr. Terrific and Batwing come to mind)but enough books sold well so that they will be definitely be staying the course for the forseeable future.What's ahead?Well... a return to the past of sorts.

The biggest news surround two books: EARTH 2 and WORLDS' FINEST.These books will essentially revive the multiverse concept.Earth 2 was initially the home of the heroes from comics' "golden age'" so that the revamped silver age versions could take the spotlight during the comic revival in the 50's and 60's.Eventually the writers started to experiment with the characters.This led to Superman marrying Lois Lane years before the TV inspired wedding of the 90's.Also pairings like Wonder Woman/Steve Trevor and even Batman/Catwoman were allowed to flourish and even have offspring (more on that later).While long time fans appreciated the differences between the 2 earths(and the many others that made up the DCU),it was viewed to possibly be too confusing and it along with the other earths was merged into one main Earth where the Golden Age heroes and their successors (both blood and influence)were folded into continuity in 1986 during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths".

More recent events like "Infinite Crisis" and "52" have hinted at the comeback of the multiverse.Now the pieces are finally coming together.EARTH 2 will center around the revival of The Justice Society of America .The JSA actually predates the Justice League as the original super-team of DC with golden age versions of Green Lantern,Flash,Atom and others serving alongside 2nd generation heroes like Stargirl,Jakeem Thunder,Citizen Steel and the like.While WORLDS' FINEST will focus on two special Earth 2 denizens. Power Girl,who's the cousin of earth 2 Superman,and The Huntress,daughter of Batman and Catwoman.

Suffice to say,2012 should definitely be interesting!

A Belated Farewell to Lionheart

Before I begin,I'd like to apologize for not posting for so long.Truth be told I was lacking real inspiration.Nothing in comics had really caught my eye lately so I refrained from writing about just anything.Then I thought about commenting on the recent broadcast end of legendary daytime drama "All My Children",but the show had dropped in quality so badly,it's not the soap I grew up with nor the one I enjoyed as an adult(plus I didn't want to bore readers ranting with my dislike for alleged actor Cameron Mathison).

So regretfully I must write about the passing of a one of a kind personality in the sport of auto racing.Dan Wheldon lost his life in a multi-car incident at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Indycar season finale.There were few drivers as nice or as talented as the man known as Lionheart.On the track he was as fierce a competitor as anyone.Off the track he always made time for fans and media.Combining a bright personality,a great sense of humor and what I can only call a unique love of fashionable shoes made him stand out in the Indycar Series.This was not an easy task in this era when open-wheel was on a downward slide and most of the press was concentrated on Danica-mania.His first Indy 500 win was overshadowed by Danica Patrick's 4th place rookie of the year effort,but he took it in stride and won the season championship.His second 500 win this year was once again overshadowed somewhat by rookie JR Hildebrand's last lap crash in the wall and his own status as a part-time driver.That was supposed to change next year as he was set to rejoin Andretti Autosport to take over the seat abandoned by NASCAR bound Danica,whom he since had become friends with.

I think ESPN's Jeremy Schaap said it best when he said in the past Dan would have been as big a name as any in sports as a 2 time Indy 500 winner.He probably could have used his oval racing skills in NASCAR and made more money and fame.He probably could have had a journeyman's ride in Formula 1 and lived comfortably.He chose to make US open-wheel racing his life.It's a shame open-wheel also took his life.



Farewell Lionheart.

Comics and Race:How Far Have We Come?

Recent events have put a major spotlight on diversity in the comic book industry.The biggest probably was the recent announcement of the new Ultimate Spiderman.After a storyline where Peter Parker sacrificed himself to save Aunt May from the Green Goblin,it was announced that a new character would don the mask in Marvel’s Ultimate Universe.The character will be half African-American and half Latino.The response was quick,but not necessarily pretty.Some were downright hostile calling it political correctness gone amok.

I’ll admit to being to being somewhat conflicted about this.As an African-American I want to see the diversity of our society represented.However as a devoted comic fan I can’t say I’m comfortable using established characters as opposed to introducing new ones.Certainly there are some exceptions like DC’s Green Lantern John Stewart and Mr. Terrific Michael Holt,but the former has the advantage of being part of an intergalactic law enforcement unit with multiple members while the latter took over a identity that had been dormant for two decades or more so he could make it his own.
Writer Brian Michael Bendis ,whose own adopted sons(one African-American,one Nigerian)played a major factors in his decision to make this change,has a major task ahead of him.The critics will be poised to pounce at any problem be it sales drops or even perceived storyline issues.Whatever happens he need to  stay the course and stay true to his ideas.He has a unique opportunity with Ultimate Spidey.Here’s hoping it’s a sucesss.

The DCnU:A fan's eye view

DC Comics is making major changes to some of the most familiar characters in comics.So forget everything you know about DC.

Well almost everything...

Acually in certain cases don't forget anything.

Already confused?I'll try to explain.In an effort to re-establish and re-purpose their comic line,DC is revamping its stable of superheroes,vigilantes and other assorted characters with everything from new costumes to new team lineups to even new origins.All apparently in an effort to pick up new readers.

However,classifying what they've done has been difficult due to the somewhat inconsistent statements by DC.While there are apparently major changes in store for Superman(as people may actually be skeptical of the man of steel in his debut)and Wonder Woman(her own recent revamp may be the new status quo),There maybe little if any changes to the Green Lanterns(all four human ring bearers apparently have a presence)and Batman and his supporting cast(nearly every Robin has a role in the DCnU from original turned Nightwing Dick Grayson to current mantle holder Damian Wayne).

All these changes haven't come without a good deal of controversy and debate.Some for characters you might not expect.Take the recent revelation concerning Batgirl.After being shot by the Joker left her confined to a wheelchair, leading her to become super hacker Oracle,Barbara Gordon will be back on the streets of Gotham as Batgirl.Good news for old-school fans who read her adventures,bad news for current fans who either liked current Batgirl Stephanie Brown or preferred Barbara as Oracle.

Then there's the apparent diversity initiative.As an African-American I can appreciate the sentiment but it still seems a bit narrow in my view.Sure Cyborg will apparently be a new "founder" of the Justice League(apparently sacrificing his Teen Titans history),Mr Terrific received his own solo title(while his teammates in the Justice Society are in hiatus),Milestone mainstay Static is poisitioned as a major player and Firestorm is now a unique merger attempting to personify the initiative.The problem seems to be any other race being represented.No major images with asians,latinos or any other group.

With Comic-con in San Diego only days away,hopefully we will get more concrete answers on the fate of the DCnU,the characters,and it's future as far as comics,TV,movies and other media arenas.We can only hope for the best.