Jack B Nimble

The Flash – Pilot Episode

The show opens with an 11 year old Barry Allen coming downstairs to see a swirling yellow and red thing encircling his mother. Suddenly he is teleported a few blocks away from his house. By the time he makes it back home, his mother is dead from this mysterious presence.

The Flash

Flash (pun intended) forward to a now 20-something Barry Allen. He is a junior forensics analyst for the Central City police. He’s a scientist (Batman’s a scientist!) and he is excited for the opening of a Star Labs in his town with a new particle accelerator. He ends up missing the opening day and returning to his lab only to see an explosion in the distance (the particle accelerator) and an energy wave pass through the city. Some of the energy collects above his lab and he is struck by lightning, and then rushed to the hospital (who knew to call an ambulance for him? He was alone).

At the same time his adoptive father is running down a lead on a couple of bank robbers who drive a Mustang (product placement). The perps manage to escape in a plane, but not before the same energy wave hits their plane, destroying it and leaving the two presumed dead.

Barry Allen awakens from a coma nine months later and has the abilities of The Flash (i.e. super speed and super reaction time). He works with a few people from the now defunct Star Labs (the explosion really spooked the investors) and not only starts to learn his own abilities, but also learns of the existence of other meta-humans that were created as a result of the particle accelerator gone bad.

When a man who can control the weather starts robbing banks (you might say he is something of a wizard at it) Barry has to decide if he is going to use his newly found powers for good. He has a short conversation with Arrow about it, and ultimately decides to go all super hero and become a vigilante.

Overall I thought it was a pretty decent pilot episode. I’m much more of a Batman fan, but I enjoyed The Flash pilot a lot more than I enjoyed the Gotham pilot. Gotham is apparently all about silly cameos and corrupt cops, while The Flash has a lightheartedness to it that makes it fun. I couldn’t really get into Arrow, but I’m definitely going to be following this sister-series.

Things I noted;

  • The mysterious death of Barry’s mother is obviously going to be a major plot point. Particularly since it makes a viewer think that Barry himself could potentially be responsible.
  • Barry has already revealed his secret identity to five people. This means he tells his secret faster than Batman. I wonder if that will become an issue down the road…
  • We’ve already seen a major antagonist of The Flash perish. Comic Tv shows and movies seem to hate recurring villains, I guess that is why they die so often.
  • The explosion, which potentially affected lots of people, opens the path for many meta-humans to appear in The Flash and in Arrow.
  • We see a news article 10 years in the future which says that The Flash mysteriously vanished during a crisis. Is this the kind of crisis that could span infinite Earths?

Highlights from 2014 – 3rd Quarter

The question with the highest score and the most views was Why did the Matrix simulate 1999 instead of a pre-computer year?. This was also a favorite question of Richard “the Lion Heart” Lion Heart. He felt it was a “good question that provoked a pretty good range of answers.”

The question with the highest answer score was Hogwarts: So why aren’t the kids “doing it”? which was answered by Richard “the Lion Heart” Lion Heart.

Close behind it was the answer to Why was Han Solo on Tatooine? asked by TZHX, which was a favorite answer to the aforementioned Richard “the Lion Heart” Lion Heart. It was answered by phantom42.

Speaking of “the phantom,”* he liked the question Whose underwear is this? which has the advantage of being in the #2 spot for up-voted questions, and is more appropriate than the Harry Potter sexy times question. * (not actually a phantom)

He also liked the answer to Is Big Brother an actual person in the novel 1984? asked by Santa Claus (he doesn’t have any claws at all!) and answered by Thorsten S.

Was your favorite question/answer callously forgotten? Drop a link in the comments (scifi.SE links only).

Salt Lake Comic Con 2014 Report

Well Attended, Not Well Organized

The 2014 Salt Lake Comic Con saw over 120,000 attendees. Thursday evening some people still weren’t getting their wristbands until ten minutes before the convention hall closed. This was particularly frustrating for people who had purchased a 3-day pass. Saturday, the last day of the convention, more than 90,000 fans came to the Salt Lake Convention Center (Salt Palace). The line to get in (even for those with wristbands) stretched around the block and then some, as capacity was at its maximum. All tickets had been sold by Saturday around noon, but lines outside persisted well into the afternoon.

mainhall

Convention Floor - Courtesy of Salt Lake Comic Con
Convention Floor – Photo courtesy of Salt Lake Comic Con

Convention Floor

Tom Cook – animator and director of a number of 1980s cartoons (He-Man, She-Ra, Ghostbusters, Bravestar, Blackstar).

On Blackstar, the Wikipedia entry says:

John [Blackstar]’s race is not specified in the series, though it is often speculated that he could have Native American heritage.

However, as I was visiting his booth I heard Toom Cook explain how Blackstar was originally meant to have black skin, but the networks didn’t like it. Instead the title character was changed to have deeply tanned skin.

Tom Cook
Tom Cook

I saw a couple of Groots, and their costumes were pretty good.

groot
I am Groot.

The Utah Lego Group was back with more builds.

batman
Lego Batman
friends.
And friends.

Eventually I got thirsty, but fortunately I found an oasis.

Voldemort isn't the only one who likes to relax with a glass of blood to wind down.
Voldemort isn’t the only one who likes to relax with a glass of unicorn to wind down.

I also saw this, when I peeked my head in, I was just a little bit frightened.

Cosplay your way into love.
Cosplay your way into love.

Panels

I attended a couple of panels while I was there. This being my first panel experience I learned a few things.

  • When you line up for a panel, there are no ropes or anything to keep the snaking line from merging, even when they press the lines together. Despite this obvious flaw, people tend to be honest and snake along their given path and not cut.
  • Sitting near the edges is a great way to go deaf from the speakers
  • Most panels are comprised of random fans and not celebrities or people in the actual know.

The first panel I attended was 75 Years of Batman. This panel consisted of six people talking about their favorite aspects of Batman, from comics, to films, to villains, and everything in-between. I left this panel early to make sure I made it into the next panel (Marvel Movies: Phase III). Panels might not be my thing. I’d like to see more insiders and less random local people.

Syfy Z Nation

Everyone knows that San Deigo Comic-Con is the place to see new trailers and test footage for upcoming movies. While Salt Lake Comic Con may bring in SDCC levels of attendance, it hasn’t reached the point where it the place for new content. That’s why I was happy to see that the Syfy Channel premiered the pilot for their new series Z Nation at SLCC.

SLCC’s place on the calendar might make it a good spot for upcoming fall shows to tease footage and other things. What SDCC is for movies, SLCC might be for television.

Salt Lake Comic Con will return in September 2015

Salt Lake Comic Con 2014 – Marvel Movies Phase III Panel

The Marvel Movies Phase III Panel at the Salt Lake Comic Con was basically the summation of confirmed reports and rumors surrounding the third phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Avengers 2: Age of Ultron (May 1, 2015) marks the end of Phase II, and Ant-Man (July 17, 2015) will mark the beginning of phase three. None of the panel members were affiliated with Marvel, instead they were a local collection of fans who scour the internet constantly for new information surrounding the MCU.

Warning: If you consider rumors to be spoilers, then you might want to skip this.

Ant-Man Poster
Ant-Man Poster

Ant-Man

Since Ant-Man will be coming out first it is understandably the movie the panel knew the most about. Ant-Man is being directed by a man who is known for comedies, so the hope it is will have that light playful feel of other Marvel movies.

The anticipated style is that of a detective movie. At the beginning, an old Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), a retired superhero, has his Ant-Man technology stolen. He enlists the help of a thief to recover his lost property and in the process trains Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) to be the new Ant-Man.

The release date of July 17 this coming summer is incredibly aggressive, considering they are still filming the movie right now. Given all the post production that goes into a super hero film, it sounds like a very tight schedule.

Captain America 3

Just as Captain America: The Winter Soldier was something of spy movie, the same director pair has said that Captain America 3 (May 6, 2016) will also have that spy feeling to it. Rumors about supporting characters vary including Hawkeye, Agent 13 (the next door nurse from Winter Soldier), and Black Widow (potential love interest). Few people in the audience thought that Black Widow and Captain America should be a thing. In the comics Captain America has a relationship with Agent 13, but also ultimately has a son with Black Widow.

Here is the line where things go almost full rumor.

Dr. Strange

The only thing known for sure about Dr. Strange is that currently a director known for horror films is slated to make it. Although Joaquin Phoenix appears to be the favorite, there have been some rumors surrounding the idea of Johnny Depp playing Dr. Strange.

Guardians 2 and Avengers 3

Guardians 2 was announced before Guardians of the Galaxy came out. Since both Guardians and the Avengers are dealing with Infinity stones, it is suspected you will see these two ensembles meet in Avengers 3 regarding the Infinity Gauntlet.

Black Panther

Stan Lee has made several statements that support Black Panther will be made, but without any details. When asked by a fan at Salt Lake Comic Con he said this:

Oh, I wish I knew. I love the Black Panther. I know that they’re figuring out how to do the movie. I don’t think it’s scheduled yet, but be patient, because sooner or later the Black Panther will strike.

Marvel has a block of release dates going through 2019 with many of the films untitled. Plenty of room for Thor 3, Black Widow, and others. Someone in the audience asked about Civil War, the rumor on the street is that Disney may do a Pixar animated movie of Civil War.

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