I have loved Star Wars since I first saw the movie at age six. My four year old daughter also loves Star Wars, albeit a different version: Clone Wars. Each week we watch the cartoon network show. She can name all the jedi and has a lot of the toys (her favorite is Asohka Tano and she want to go to this year's conventions dressed as her-even though I want her to be at my booths dressed as Sky Girl).

Last night, I took her to McDonald's, in part, because they have a Star Wars happy meal. So, we go to the drive through and order through the barely audible speaker box.

The woman says through the static, "Is this for a girl or a boy?"
I say, "we want the Star Wars toys."
The woman says, "oh, it is for a boy."
My daughter indignantly pipes up, "I'm a girl, daddy, say I'm a girl."
The woman corrects, "oh, it's a girl toy?"
I say, "she's a girl, but she wants a Star Wars toy."
The woman, "Star Wars toys are only for boys."
The line begins to back up and I sigh. "Can I have a Star Wars toy for my daughter?"
There is static and then the woman says, "Star Wars is for boys."
I look on the screen and it says, in bright red lettering "Happy Meal--Girl Toy"

I pull around, pay my money and look in the bag. There is an "I-Carly" toy in it.

I ask the teenager to give me a Star Wars toy and as he hands me a spaceship, he looks up at his screen and says, "I'm sorry sir, it says here you ordered a happy meal for a girl."

My daughter again pipes up,with a pout, "but I am a girl"

But, before anyone can respond, I race away with my alliance gunship,leaving a confused teen with the I-Carly talking meatball.

On the way home my daughter announces, "Star Wars is for boys. I'm a girl."

I say, "but you love Star Wars."

She say, very intently, "But daddy, Star Wars is for boys and I am a girl. I am NOT going to watch Star Wars anymore." Her hand gestures emphatically

I take a deep breath. "But, Asohka is a girl" I say.

She nods slowly, knowing I'm up to something.

"And she likes Star Wars." I continue.

"I guess." She concedes.

"And Padme likes is a girl." I press.

"Yes." She agress, "but . . ."

"And she is a girl." I interrupt, not wanting to lose momentum.

"Un huh." She answers ponderously.

"So, how can Star Wars not be for girls." I announce.

"But, they said Star Wars is for boys." She counters.

I pause ponderously and let out a "hmmmn?"  Giving her a false sense of security. Then I let her have it. "You know, Lizzie, I watch Clone Wars every week with you and I think Star Wars is for girls and boys. I've never seen those people watch it with us, so how do we even know they watch it."

There is a long pause as my daughter looks at the window. Finally, she announces, "I like my Star Wars toy! It's a girl toy."

I had run rings around her logically and I pass the witness.

So, if not for nine years of higher education, and fifteen years of litigation (the fact that I am ten times her age and had some built in credibility helped as well), I would no longer get to enjoy Star Wars with my daughter because of those sexists at my local  McDonalds.

Last week, Bryan Deemer, host of Comic Geek Speak, asked me to set up a couple of panels for this year's CGS Supershow, a creator focused comic convention, which will be held March 27 through March 28th at the Greater Reading Expo Center in Reading, PA.  I put the word out and the lsiteners responded.  It never fails to amaze me how great  the Comic Geek Speak listeners are.  It's probably a reflection of how great the show hosts are. 

In any event, here are the panels currently scheduled for the show.  Panelists are still being finalized and will be provided when available.

Saturday:

10:30-11:30 Comics in the Classroom-- Join our resident Edu-geek experts to discuss the hows and whys of using comics in the classroom, and get advice on how to broach the subject with administrators, select appropriate material and integrate comics into the curriculum. See real world examples of how comics are being utilized in the classrooms of America.

12:00-1:00pm Creating Webcomics--It’s easy to make a webcomic, but hard to do it well. Join us for this informative panel with both experienced and beginning webcomics creators to discuss the creation, publishing and marketing of webcomics, including why they went online and what artistic, business, and technological choices they made. Have you thought about making a webcomic? This is the panel for you.

3:00 to 4:00-- Spotlight: Meet the Simonsons, "Comics' First Family"--Please join us for a very special Q&A session with Walter and Louise Simonson on their amazing careers and hear about their current projects.

Time to be Announced: Episode Taping You know that's why you are here, don't miss it.

Sunday:

10:30-11:30 -- Creating Independent Comics 101--Join our illustrious panel of independent comic creators to discover exactly what it takes to make make a comic book from the initial script through to the final sale. Topics include, finding a co-creator, publishing, distribution and marketing.

Time to be Announced: Costuming--This panel describes the essentials about what it takes to create a costume. Find out what is involved in creating a costume, the various costume categories and how much time is involved in creating a costume that is screen accurate. A panel of experts will describe, display, and demonstrate tips and techniques used for their costume specialty. They will be joined by artists who will discuss how they design costumes for their characters.

Hope to see you there

I have this huge stack of stuff I pick up at shows.  Occasionally, I actually get to go through some of it.  Well, last year, at the Virginia Comiccon, I picked up Civil War Adventure from History Graphic Press. History Graphics Press was conceived in 2008 to publish entertaining, historically accurate graphic novels set against the background of American history. With the example of the old EC Comics in mind, they planned modern graphic novels that were character driven and using the best art and stories available to draw the reader into the history and make the past come to life.  As you tell from my normal reviews and discussions, historical comics aren't really my cup of tea (unless they are wearing capes).  I picked this up for one reason: Chuck Dixon.  Chuck Dixon is a comic legend.  He created some of the best Nightwing and Robin stories ever written at DC, great Punisher stories at Marvel  and he's currently churning out top notch GI Joe stuff at IDW.  More importantly, he, along with artist Gary Kwapisz, is the founder of History graphics Press.

Civil War Adventures is meticulously researched.  In addition to the sequential art, there are is text pieces, maps and period pictures.  The stories feature a variety of the everyday experiences of men and women caught up in the war that decided the fate of our nation including: the 5th Virginia as it marches toward its first conflict at Bull Run; George Custer and his fabled cavalry as they face impossible odds; an armed riverboat as it drifts into range of waiting batteries along the Mississippi. These stories are designed to make real.  Dixon’s writing is strong and Kwapisz art is solid.  Together they tell engaging stories that are also educational.  You should pick it up.

The book is available here or from Amazon at the link below

Princess and the Frog did not do very well at the Oscars (it had 2 nominations for best song and was also nominated for Best Animated Feature and lost.)  Still, it is a fine movie and a great return to hand-drawn animation for Walt Disney.  When the film came out, I attended a special sneak preview at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York, which I wrote about here and here.

The film comes out today on Blu Ray, DVD and a special combo pack that includes both.  Several stores have this on sale. Plus, If you act quickly, you can get the movie super cheap by going here and downloading a $10.00 off coupon.  Not a bad deal.

Ah, Tron.  The little movie that could.  Since it first came out in 1982, folks have been clamoring for a sequel and a theme park attraction.  Now, they get both.  As you know, the long awaited sequel to the film, which has had been talked about for years and had at least three different titles comes out on December 17th.   But, now, the Official Disney Park's blog has announced that the Epcot Monorail in Disney World will get a light cycle overlay in honor of the film.  Specifically they say:

Nope, your eyes are not deceiving you…that’s a light cycle from the Tron universe on our “highway in the sky.” And today, we’re sharing a first look at the attention-grabbing art coming to the Walt Disney World Resort. The transformed trains will be visible on the Epcot monorail line as early as this month. And if you look close, you’ll notice that the design of the futuristic motorcycle-like vehicles from the upcoming film “Tron: Legacy” also includes walls of trailing colored light.  

Here are some pictures:

And here is the really cool trailer that showed before Alice in Wonderland (although I'm pretty sure that I saw it at San Diego Comiccon last year) from movie web.  

Fox has announced that it has decided to pick up Fringe for a third season.  This is great news.  The show is clever, well written and has a strong underlying mythology.  I have previously reviewed the first season here.

More information after the jump.

Last night was our monthly Andy Schmidt's Comics Experience Book Club meeting.  As you know, if you read this site, a small group of us get together and discuss a comic trade paperback.  So far, we have done Green Lantern: Rebirth, Ultimates and Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes.  These monthly get togethers are highly satisfying on both a personal level and a professional level.

Last night, we met to discuss "The Living Dead Volume 1" by Robert Kirkman and Image.  However, two things made this different from our usual book club meeting.  First, there were a lot more people present. Second, and most likely the cause of the first, Robert Kirkman joined us to discuss the book (and his experience) in general.  It was a not-to-missed event for an aspiring comcis writer or Kirkman fan (I am both).

For the first hour, Kirkman talked about his experience in the industry, on writing the Walking Dead and working with the big comics companies.  I was struck by the fact that when he was breaking in, he worked an office by day and then had to stay up all night (until past 2AM) to work on his comics projects (it sounded sadly familliar to me).  And while I knew a lot of these stories from reading them online, it was very different to hear it from "the horses mouth." (We will get to the horse in a second).  I also learned things I never knew about Walking Dead, such as why the book is in black and white and how far ahead Kirkman scripts.  As always, Andy Schmidt had great  war stories about Marvel that made me feel like an insider (This time about the fifth week 2099 event).

The second hour, however, was more amazing.  As anyone who has read my reviews at popsyndicate, Earth 2 or this site or knows, I am a huge Kirkman fan and think The Walking Dead is one of the best series ever written (I don't like it as much as Invincible, but I have a Superhero bias).  I love the fact that, month after month, Kirkman surprises me and does horrible irrevocable things to the book's main characters including, but not limited to, killing them.  I should note that Kirkman mentioned in the first hour that he sometimes regretted doing some of these things (e.g., killing characters that still had stories left)—not the decision, themselves, just the fact that it was done.  The Walking Dead is not about zombies.  It’s about survivors and the things that survivors do to, well, to survive.  In fact, the title of the book is a reference to what these survivors have become. 

So, I was quite surprised, when there was a vocal minority that really didn’t like the book.  One person thought it was too predictable.  Another thought there was far too much telling (especially on a long scene where a main character expresses his love for his wife to a horse he rides into town and a follow-up talking heads campfire scene where everyone explains how they arrived at the camp.)  Still another didn’t like the book because there 1) were no real goals in the first volume and 2) the ultimate goals of the protagonists have to fail and everyone will have to eventually die.   We debated the book for an hour (discussing plot and story structure).  What was amazing, was the fact that I didn’t disagree with the people who didn’t like the book.  I saw each and every one of their concerns/problems.  Don’t get me wrong, I am still a huge fan of the book and highly recommend it.  Now, I have some added perspective on what works or doesn’t work in the storytelling.

These book clubs are insightful and you should really consider joining them, which you can do by clicking here.  Next Month we do The Invincible Iron man Volume 1 (By Fraction).

As long as I’m plugging, a new member of our club, Janine Frederick, is in the Zuda competition this month, fighting for a contract with DC Comics. Please, feel free to check it out here and vote for it if you like it)   (It's called Aleksander Christov: Assassin)

I wrote this review a long time ago and realized I never posted it.  But, since the film is being released on Blu Ray and DVD today, I have another bite at the apple.

Planet 51 is a creative idea.  Unfortunately, the movie fails in its execution with a formulaic exercise of film making.

The complete discussion, after the jump.

I had a chance to see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland the other day. (judging by the opening box office--I wasn't the only one).  A couple of co-workers caught a 3-D viewing at the Regal Cinemas in Gallery Place.   I have never really been a Tim Burton fan--he's a little too weird for me.  I don't hate his movies, I just wish that he would take the weird darkness down a notch.  Despite this, I enjoyed Alice in Wonderland.

The complete discussion after the jump.

Let' talk about Smallville.  The show pretty much takes place in Metropolis. Clark Kent (sans glasses) works as Daily Planet reporter with Lois Lane and has met pretty much defeated every major Superman villain. Finally, according to mythos, Clark Kent should have donned tights and cape to fly up up and away several seasons ago. 

Nonetheless, the WB has announced that Smallville will receive a tenth season. I'm actually pretty happy about this.  The current season (with the exception of a couple clunker) has been pretty good.  I hope this additional season will allow Laura Vandervoort to return as Supergirl, they never really gave that character a chance.     

The official press release after the jump.