Welcome To Spooky Season Recommendations Part 1 Of ?

 It's officially Spooky Season!

Okay - technically fall starts in roughly two week, but pumpkin spice non-sense has hit the shelves and I am eating it up (literally and figuratively).

So far, I've tried the Dunkin Donuts and Goldfish brand mashup of pumpkin spice donut goldfish (they are unsurprisingly addictive) and the Special K pumpkin spice cereal (it's good, has a nice pop of spice). Both are good, but you don't need to go out of your way to pick them up (unlike the amazing pumpkin spice mini ice cream cones from Trader Joe's - those are worth every penny).

Non-pumpkin spice related flavored non-sense, my local giant has a lovely honey crisp flavored seltzer water. I normally don't go for apple flavored things, but this one I do enjoy picking up at this time of year. It's light, not overly artificial apple flavored, and disappears by the end of September.  

Sadly, I have yet to see my favorite baked chips hit the shelves yet this year. These are the ghost baked chips Trader Joe's has between September and October. If you see these, stock up, they also go fast. Trader Joe's also hasn't yet had their pumpkin spice mini ice cream cones yet, so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled. 

Other reoccurring fall themed foods that are back on the market and I can recommend are the pumpkin spice coffee blends - though they vary by brand, apple cider (local is best), and apple butter (seriously, shop local, it's so much better than store brand). I'm also fond of the pumpkin spice tea by Harney & Sons Fine Tea. It's an herbal blend with rooibos and pumpkin pie spices (no actual pumpkin included). It's great for cold nights by a roaring fire. 

Alright, I've written enough about the food and drinks that have hit the shelves. What about the media? Are there any good spooky TV shows or movies to enjoy my time? What about books or graphic novels?

Well...

I've recently become obsessed with the recently released Netflix series Dead End: Paranormal Park. Netflix is currently in my bad books for some of their recent choices, but they at least have kept their animation line up (unlike certain other platforms - see my last post for salty details). This series came out in June and takes place in a theme park that might be described as 1 part Dollywood, 2 parts Disneyland on steriods. The main characters consist of a transgender boy named Barney, his talking dog Pugsley (who happens to be voiced by the actor who played Beetlejuice on Broadway), an autistic Pakistani-American girl named Norma, and the demon Courtney. 

This show is amazing - like Gravity Falls levels of amazing. 

The first season only has ten episodes, but we're left on the finale with an open ending that allows for a season 2 (and there had better be a season 2 Netflix). It checks all of my boxes for spooky season animated shows including good comedy, excellent representation, an intriguing mystery, and really well written complex characters. I love it.

Other spooky season animated shows to recommend on Netflix include Hollow (I've only seen the first season though), Castlevania (I've watched through season 2), and Hilda (which is less spooky and more fun adventures with a dash of mythical...and trolls).

Sadly, Disney has yet to put House of Mouse or House of Villains on Disney+, but they have released the trailer for Hocus Pocus 2. No I haven't seen it, I'm in denial that it will exist in a couple of months.

A movie I'm actually excited for (based on the trailer) is The Invitation, which looks like a modern take on "Dracula". Will I see it in theaters? Probably not, but I will stream it when I have the opportunity.

As for books, I'm currently in the middle of "A History of Fear" which will be released in December. I won this in a Goodreads giveaway and am determined to finish and review it soon. I'm about half way through and very confused. Is it spooky? Parts are, but overall it's more confusing. I do plan on ready "The Only Good Indians" and "Mexican Gothic" for the season - which I can recommend through reputation.

As the season goes on, I hope to have a few more recommendations for you guys. I plan on seeing a "Sleepy Hollow" ballet in the middle of October and might have a review in the works (not that I really know much about ballet, but I love Sleepy Hollow). Additionally, I watched Perfect Blue which deserves it's own blog post simply because it is an intense experience. It's not really spooky season themed, but it fits into the season by virtue of it being such a trip.

If you have any Spooky Season suggestions, please feel free to let me know. I enjoy this season and I hope you guys do to.

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Welcome to Creative Platform Loss

In the early to mid-2000s there was an amazing TV show called Teen Titans based on the comic books by the same name. It had a distinct anime style, though it was an American production, and the theme song was performed in English and Japanese by Puffy Ami Umi. The show ran from 2003 to 2006 and spawned the annoying spin off Teen Titans Go (which I will continue to be salty about since that's the show my little cousin watches [descent into incoherent ranting]). 

Anyway back to the original Teen Titans TV show. 

It lasted for five seasons and concluded with a show down against the Brotherhood of Evil. Much of season focused on the comic relief character Beast Boy and the recruitment of new Titans to fight the bad guys. This culminated in a two part finale that was absolutely amazing. 

Except those weren't the final episodes. 

The actual final episode was "Things Change" and featured the five main characters returning to their home city to clean up and regroup. While assessing the damage, Beast Boy spots a former love interest and character who was presumed dead a few seasons prior. The person Beast Boy sees insists he has the wrong person and asks to be left along. The episode ends on a bit of
a downer cliff hanger with a ton of questions left unanswered. 

And that's because it wasn't supposed to be the last episode of Season 5. It was supposed to be the first episode of Season 6 - which was axed by the studio. Since the episode was already finished, they still aired it - leaving many a young fan confused and left wanting. 

Teen Titans Go did not fill that gap. Nor did the spin off move where the Titans went to Japan.

I was 100% one of those kids. I was frustrated by the lack of conclusion, upset that one of my favorite series was over, and left wanting so much more. 

At least there were DVDs, and later streaming services, available for me to reexperience the series and share it with the next generation. I can also turn to Fanfiction to fill in the gaps (not that it makes up for a lack of an official Season 6).

That's something the current generation is not as lucky to be guaranteed.

If you guys haven't heard the news, HBOMax recently merged with Discovery+ and the new CEO has been making one infuriating decision after the next. 

Yes, I am incredibly salty that I won't get to see Brendan Frasier play a villain in the canceled Bat Woman film - which was nearly complete. 

However, that's small potatoes to the absolute devastation happening to the fans of animation and children's programming that had been available to directly stream on HBOMax. A whole slew of TV shows very suddenly got the ax - with some of their creators finding out via social media. Whole seasons that were completed won't be released and their back catalogues wiped from existence. 

Fans don't even have the ability to rewatch these series via DVD or BluRay because they were streaming exclusives. Creators have seen their hard work vanish without any proof it ever existed except in screen shots and fan pages. 

Tons of work gone because an executive wanted to make some money and not pay creatives for their work.

Animation already struggles to have a presence and be taken seriously (which is another issue to touch upon later), but this is like rubbing salt in a wound and then wrapping it with a band aid made from the butt of a skunk. 

Will this work be considered lost media? Some are predicting it will be. There are people who are keeping track of modern lost media. Most cinephiles are aware that roughly 90% of movies made before the 1930s are considered lost due to poor storage conditions and melting the film down to use for other products. Is the same thing about to happen to the media that only goes on streaming platforms without a physical copy to store?

Some might say that we don't need all the physical media. Its really just junk waiting to collect dust. They have a point, but not everyone agrees. 

Some people equate the loss of this media - these works of art - to the burning of the Library of Alexandria. The loss of the art stalled progress and much would have remained lost, except for the hard work of preservationists in the Middle East. Some of the movies that did manage to survive from before the 1930s have done so in bits and pieces. Some were found in attics and basements - in poor condition, but in tact. 

Where will art historians go to find the media deleted off of streaming services? Is our only hope that someone backed everything up on a USB or Laptop that was outside the reach of the cooperate overlords? There's a story that Toy Story 2 was nearly lost due to a glitch in the studio's computers and was only saved because someone had put the entire movie on a USB to work on at home.

I think we take a lot of the art we consume for granted. We assume it will be there and available for us to always consume. But the reality is that someone looking to make a lot of money in the short term can make a decision that is horribly detrimental to the consumer and absolutely devastating to the artist. 

Barnes and Nobel recently announced a new policy that they would only carry recently released books that were the top 1 or 2 of any publisher. This means that a lot of debut writers, books in every niche genres, and lesser known works weren't going to be published. 

This primarily effects minority and non-white writers. 

I found out about this policy change from the writers I follow on social media. Many wonderful books featuring less traditional narratives and characters are going to be buried because one of the top physical book stores has decided not to carry or promote them. This puts a lot of pressure on new writers and writers with a lot less resources to promote their work. 

I have a lot of feelings as to the loss going on. It's hard to put into words exactly what I am experiencing from an outsider's vantagepoint. Very little of this actually affects me in a direct way.

On the one hand, I understand that nothing in this world is permanent and there are many things that have been lost over time.

On the other, I am an artist and writer who gets very attached to their work. Though some of my pieces have been lost to me (either because I gave them away or they became destroyed for one reason or another). I would be positively devastated if I saw in real time my life's work vanish in a desolation of pixels. 

From an intellectual point of view, we're also losing our creative history. Some of the animated shows lost by HBOMax's purge were critically acclaimed and will likely inspire other works. Media analysis will have gaps. Historians might have debates about the content - like they do about those lost early movies. 

Again, I'm not directly involved with what is happening. It's not my art. It's not my work. 

However, I still feel a sense of loss and melancholy - as if someone had ripped a chunk of my spirit away and I no longer fill every inch of my body. It's an abstract loss, a frustrating state of being that isn't physical.

I'll never get the official conclusion to the questions posed in that last episode of Teen Titans. I can only read the plans for what was to happen and fan theories. More creative work will come from what is lost, but at least I can relive what is available. 

That's not always possible.

Artist have always faced barriers to exploring and showing their work. In the modern age, it feels like we should be making greater efforts to alleviate those barriers rather than constructing more. 

In conclusion: support your local artists, watch some animated movies (Perfect Blue recently broke me guys), and buy your books from small presses and local book stores. Creativity takes work and should be appreciated... and compensated appropriately. 

Until next week. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please, like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Welcome to OMG Ducktales WooHoo!

I've made it no secret that I love animation as a medium, art form, and story telling tool. I find that some stories are better suited for animation than a live action adaptation. There's a lot more freedom with animation to exaggerate emotions and character features.

So about DuckTales...WooHoo!

When I was a small child and would go to visit my grandparents in Michigan, they had a VHS tape that had two episodes of DuckTales. These episodes were "The Curse of Castle McDuck" and "Dinosaur Ducks". Since DuckTales came out in the 80s and I showed up somewhere in the 90s, these were the only episodes I really saw of the show. I did have a VHS copy of DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, but it doesn't feature all of the characters that would be created for the 3 season long show.

I enjoyed what little of the original DuckTales I was able to watch, but I knew that it was flawed. Deeply flawed. The DuckTales movie featured a very racially insensitive character who also appears in the final season of the show. And though I can probably credit "The Curse of Castle McDuck" with my interest in ancient British culture, I admit that seeing Uncle Scrooge take advantage of the Druids in the episode made me feel a little uncomfortable even as a kid.

Because I have no life and a Disney+ subscription, I opted to finally watch all of the original DuckTales episodes to get a better idea where the reboot (which is fantastic by the way) came from.

I'll be honest, I didn't have that much hope that an 80s cartoon would hold up well after nearly 30 years...and I was sort of right. The original DuckTales is definitely entertaining and easy to just kind of leave on in the background while I clean my apartment.

But there are also a lot flaws. Deep, deep flaws. Thankfully, most of these weren't carried over to the new series. 

Like a lot of 80s entertainment, depictions of characters not coded as alabaster white are more than a little problematic...especially characters that are coded as being middle eastern (one of my biggest complaints of the movie I mentioned earlier as well). There's also some classist stereotypes that are also harmful.

I can confidently say that the reboot took steps to either update characters to not have these same problematic issues or has opted to remove the character entirely. Fenton and his mother, for example, goes from being a white trailer trash characters in the original to middle class Latinos, one of whom now works in law enforcement, in the reboot (I 100% prefer Fenton's mom in the reboot to the original). The character Dijon seems to have vanished completely (not that I'm going to complain about that). And efforts have been made to have more inclusive, less culturally insensitive story narratives in the reboot.

Another thing the reboot has going for it that the original doesn't is character development.

The reboot DuckTails has also made an effort to give better characterization to its leads. In the original nephews,  Huey, Dewey, and Louie, were fairly generic boys who were pretty much interchangeable - so much so that it looks like they all shared a voice actor. Webby was basically the annoying little sister trope. Mrs. Beakley seemed to serve no purpose in most of the original episodes. And Duckworth was just there to be a butler.

The only character who has any emotional arc in the original is Scrooge and that's a shallow assessment at best.

Now the reboot has character arcs galore. 

To start, the boys now each have distinct personalities and I can tell them apart (not only because of the different voice actors) by their mannerisms. Louie is definately the "laziest of the bunch with a laidback posture, while Huey is much more mature and responsible. Dewey is an energetic ball of energy in pretty much ever scene he is in (especially if Webby is with him) and it shows. I don't even need the color schemes to tell the triplets apart.

Both Dewey and Louie have great emotional story arcs over the 2 seasons I've watched of the reboot. Louie definitely takes after Scrooge in his money hungry ways, but lacks the hard work ethic Scrooge has. He also is very dissapointed that he wasn't named Rocket like his mother (Della) wanted to name him. Dewey's character journey is equally interesting and often involves Webby as an accomplice/instigator to their antics. Much of season 1 is dedicated to him finding out what happened to his and his brother's mom and the conclusion is really good.

If I had one complaint about the reboot's treatment of the triplets, it's that Huey seems like an afterthought or is treated as a the "stick-in-the-mud" in most of the episodes. As I've only seen the first two seasons (and an occasional episode in Season 3), I can only hope that eventually Huey gets the same character development his brothers are getting.

Webby is probably one of my favorite characters in the reboot and probably wouldn't exist as she is today with out characters like Mable Pines from Gravity Falls. She's hyper and feeds into Dewey's energy, which makes them have a great relationship. She also no longer feels like a "tag-a-long" but a fully realized character with her own motivations. I love the episodes that really focus on her and the friends (not just Dewey and his brothers) she makes.

That leads in to Mrs. Beakley. Like I said earlier, in the original, she's just kind of there to mother and tsk the children. In the reboot, she's basically a retired Bond girl and I love it. She's strict and worries, but is also fully capable of protecting the kids. She works for Scrooge before the series starts (which means that Webby grows up in Scrooge's house) and we get the impression that her employment is more as a deceptive bodyguard than housekeeper or nanny.

Duckworth they turned into a ghost. He's not a nice ghost either and it's implied a couple of times that he didn't make it into heaven in the afterlife, but managed to get somewhere else.

Scrooge is updated too. He's still the money loving adventurer, but his backstory is better fleshed out, we get to meet his parents, and he really truly loves his family...even more than his money. He's still the pinnacle of the "good capitalist" trope, but he's given a much more rounded character.

I could go on and on about the DuckTales reboot, but that isn't the purpose of this post. I watched the original cartoon to see where and how the reboot made it's updates. I can safely say that the reboot is a lot better than the original in pretty much every way. Though it's deeply flawed, I can understand why people love and still watch it. 

Do I recommend the original DuckTales? Not really. 

Is the reboot DuckTales a perfect masterpiece? No, it has its flaws like any story - though it might take another 30 years to recognize that.

Go watch the reboot and when you run out of those episodes, check out Gravity Falls or The Proud Family or Kim Possible. 

In another 30 years, we'll probably get another reboot of these classic cartoons. Transformers seems to have a new cartoon every five years or so. The My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic did a fantastic job at rebooting the series. I do hope that some of the cartoons I grew up with get an updated reboot eventually. I'd love to see a modern take on Hey Arnold, Rugrats, or Code Name Kids Next Door - especially that last one as two-by-four technology must have improved since the early 2000s.

What are some stories from your childhood that you hope get a reboot? I've already listed a few of mine, but I've got a whole list that grows every year. Nostalgia is powerful, but that shouldn't mean that something we enjoy isn't free from criticism. The adults in the room can still share their love of DuckTales with their kids, but I hope it's with the reboot.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to the Love of Animation

This week, I was saddened to learn about an arson attack committed at the Japanese animation studio Kyoto Animation. 33 people were killed with another 30 injured. Most of the victims were young women in their 20s and 30s.

Though I'm not super familiar with the animation studio's work, I was heart broken to hear about the incident and hope that the perpetrator is brought to justice. From what I understand, he is currently in police custody.

Following the news, a lot of people who couldn't pay their respects in person took to social media to talk about their feelings on the attack and how the studio's animated series and movies touched their lives.

Animation is a beautiful art. One that I think doesn't always get the appreciation it deserves.

There's something magical in the seamless world building created in animation. I never question the reality that Sen finds herself exploring in Spirited Away nor the appearance of the monsters in Moana. Everything fits in without looking fake or unreal. Contrast this with some CGI (particularly early CGI) and I'd take the animated world versus an unrealistic live action one.

Unfortunately some animated series from the US, also known as cartoons, are often only associated with children's entertainment, which isn't a good idea. I wouldn't want a child watching South Park or Futurama.

Gravity Falls is definitely one of the best animated series I've seen in a while that is also family friendly.

I have distinct memories of watching anime (Japanese animation) as a teenager and having someone ask me why I was still watching cartoons at my age. At first I was insulted by the comment, and then horrified by the idea that a young child would watch Black Cat (a fairly violent anime that was in fact geared towards teenagers).

However, I can't fault people for thinking that animation is only for kids. A lot of animated movies are meant for general audiences, especially if they have the Disney logo (or are of the knock off Disney variety) and cartoons, especially if they were made by Hanna-Barbera, were well known to be made on a shoe-string budget for kids. Once the 80s rolled around and regulations loosened on advertising to kids, cartoons were used as a 20 to 30 minute ad for kids to nag their parents into buying the accompanying toys (see anything made by Hasbro).

That doesn't change the fact that people who have since grown up, still look back on the animated works of their youth with fondness. This is likely why we've seen a recent surge in reboots of older series and/or live action remakes. Disney is currently raking in the cash by creating life action remakes of all the 90s movies I grew up with. Personally, I prefer the original animated versions, but there are a few of the remakes I don't mind. I admit that I'm curious as to the changes they made to Mulan (will it be closer to the original story from China?) and Halle Bailey seems like a great fit for the role of Ariel.

I'm not even going to touch the number of sequels that have come out this year.

Animation is some of the first art we're experienced to. Some of my favorite memories are of waking up early to watch Rugrats, Scooby Doo, or Bugs Bunny before my parents woke up. One of the first movies I saw in theaters was The Lion King and it blew my young mind away.

I'm currently writing this blog post while watching Spirited Away. It's one of my all time favorite movies (though Castle in the Sky will always be my number one Studio Ghibli film). I don't think I'd enjoy it nearly as much if it weren't animated. The world building, backgrounds, and characters all seem so tangible animated.

Castle in the Sky is beautiful and I recommend it to everyone.

The tragedy at Kyoto Animation is heart breaking and I hope the people who were injured are able to recover. They touched a lot of people's lives through their work.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to Inktober

There are a lot of great things about October. The leaves begin to change, Halloween is right around the corner, and pumpkin mania is at its highest peak (I regret nothing). I recently learned about another great reason to celebrate the month of October - Inktober!

Inktober is a month long celebration of ink drawings. This can include sketches, comics, webcomics, etc. People post them on [insert social media platform here] with the hashtag #inktober or #inktober2017.

#inktober #prompt8 #crooked

I love this idea. 

See I'm a big comic book, manga, and graphic novel reader. My first comic books were Asterix comics from the 1960s that belonged to my dad. And no, these books aren't just for kids. There are a lot of amazing stories to be read that include war, horror, romance, and mystery (to name a few genres). I am always surprised when someone writes off these stories as just being for kids (same thing can be said for animation).

There are a lot of great webcomics that I can recommend. Since it's October, the season of all things scary, check out Helsirvente. It's perfect for this time of year since it's all about ghost hunting. I even draw my own webcomic (not that I'm trying to plug it or anything - it updates on Thursdays at 6:00pm) and would love to one day have a published graphic novel.

That isn't to say that comics, manga, and graphic novels are the only things to celebrate during Inktober. There's a lot of art that is created using nothing but pen and paper. Some of it is super realistic that it's almost like looking at a photograph. Others are beautifully abstract and really stimulate the imagination. 

And don't forget about animation. A fair number of early animation shorts (when film was still in it's infancy) was created by cartoonists hand drawing each cel of animation. Out of the Inkwell was a series of shorts in the 1920s that shows a cartoon character coming to life from pen ink. Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck also references the ink animation technique in the classic Duck Amuck.

So what do you need to participate in Inktober if you haven't started already?

Nothing fancy. A piece of paper and a pen are all that you really need to get started. Maybe draw a sketch everyday day, or start a comic book/webcomic, or create your next/first tattoo.

Inktober also has a list of prompts for each day of the month. You can click here to learn more!

And don't get discouraged if you're not happy with the first drawings that you do. When I compare the latest pages of my webcomic to the very first that I posted (or even my high school sketchbook to the one I'm currently working in), I can visibly see how much I've improved. What matters is having fun and enjoying the art that's being created!

Happy Inktober everyone. I hope to see more sketches as the month goes on.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. And if you guys have any webcomic/manga/graphic novel suggestions, please send them my way!