Harry Potter

So I've discovered something recently.

I LOVE Harry Potter.
It's a weird thing. I didn't start watching the movies or reading the books until I was 16 or 17, and even then I mostly only thought it was "pretty cool." And afterward, I watched each film as it came out, read the first three books, but mostly kept HP off to the side. It wasn't really anything nearly as beloved to me as Star Wars, Star Trek, superheroes, Lord of the Rings, or anything else like that. But now that the final film's come out, I've been going back over the HP films and books, delving deep into all that lore and culture. And I've found that I really do love it.

It's not because of the magic, the imaginary creatures, or the epic plot. Those things make up the empty shell of Harry Potter; the lifeless body of it. What gives Harry Potter life, however, is the characters. It's those people that you grow to care about over the course of seven years. Their friendship is the stuff of epic legend, yet feels completely real. Furthermore, the world of Harry Potter is such that it encourages its young readers to imagine themselves and their friends in similar positions.

For those unfamiliar, the characters in Harry Potter attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and once there are sorted into one of four "houses," each with its own traits.

Gryffindor

Those in Gryffindor value bravery, courage, and chivalry above all else. They're usually the most "heroic" of the four houses, and most of the main characters in HP are Gryffindors.

Hufflepuff

 Hufflepuffs value friendship and acceptance. They're the most laid back of the houses.

Ravenclaw

Ravenclaws value cleverness and wit above all.

Slytherin

Slytherins value ambition, cleverness, and a disregard for the rules. They're also usually evil.

It's really remarkable just how much the idea of the four houses factors into Harry Potter fandom. Nearly every HP fan knows what house he or she would fit into, and friendships all over the world are given a sense of camaraderie (and friendly rivalry) through this fun element of the HP universe.
When I went to see the 7th film at the midnight theater showing, a huge portion of the teenagers in attendance were wearing the signature colored scarves showing their house allegiance.

That sense of identity might have been what I didn't quite connect to with Harry Potter initially. Every other fandom I've got comes with that identity.
I know who I would be in the Star Wars universe: a Jedi.
I know who I'd be in the Star Trek universe: a Starfleet officer; command division.
I know who I'd be in the Lord of the Rings universe: a knight of Gondor.
I know who I'd be in the DC Comics universe: Superman. (or so I'd hope)

But I was a good bit younger when I first discovered Harry Potter, and didn't really know myself as well then. Was I a Gryffindor? Possibly. I always admired the brave characters. Was I a Ravenclaw? Maybe. I value my intelligence quite a bit. Then again, I loved my friends more than most anything at the time, so maybe Hufflepuff?

In April of last year, I went through a church seminar focused on self-examination through group interaction. If that sounds vague, then yeah, it is. It's hard to explain. Anyhow, the point is that at the end of the seminar, each of the twenty-something people there were given new nametags to replace the ones they'd been wearing for the last two weekends. These new cards were simple descriptive words—titles, basically—that the staff felt defined someone's real inner strength. This was mine:

How cool is that?
I always sort of doubted my boldness, partially because I wasn't sure if I really was bold, but also because I didn't want to inadvertently become arrogant or prideful. But to actually have other people get to know me really well over a couple of weekends, and then give me that name? That was just amazing.
I also got knighted by the sword of Aragorn. Long story.

But after that, and after seeing the last two Potter films, I realized that Gryffindor really was where I'd fit. And somehow, that makes it all so much more personal. Those ideals—courage, bravery, chivalry—they're ideas that I can remind myself of when the need arises. Simple moral ideas that can stick with me.

In recognition of this realization (and because I wanted a new desktop wallpaper), I put this together:

Oh, also, by complete coincidence, today is Harry Potter's (and J.K. Rowling's) birthday.

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So I haven't posted much of anything here in a long while. I can't really explain why. I guess I just haven't had much to write about over the past year or two. I've been keeping up with some of my other writing projects, but haven't had much to say on my personal blog. Maybe it's just that nothing major's been going on; I don't know.

I don't want to bore anyone with more of my thoughts on all the geek-related TV shows, comic books, and movies that I'm into, unless it's something really remarkable. Like Wonder Woman's pants. I think I get really annoyed at the fact that people think of me as "the Star Wars/Star Trek/Superhero/Video Game guy." About a year ago, an old friend from high school found me on facebook. She IMed me and said "Hey Superman! :)" Now, this was because in high school, I wore a Superman T-shirt constantly, and "Superman" was a loose nickname of mine. I liked that a lot at the time. Heck, I encouraged it. But when my friend called me Superman last year, it just... bothered me. I'd like people to actually think of me as Aaron, not label me with whatever geeky interests I have.

Hmm. I hadn't actually intended to write all that. That was random. Okay, what else do I have to say...

I don't know. I guess that's it. I haven't been writing on here because I don't have anything to say.

DC Comics

So DC Comics announced on Tuesday that after the conclusion of their Flashpoint story event (which runs from May through August), the entire main DC Universe will be rebooted. That is to say that the entire universe will be "updated." The history of the universe will be rewritten (to varying degrees), characters will be at different (likely earlier) points in their lives, costumes will be updated, and all manner of other details will be altered.

This is what we're getting, come Fall:

That's the cover to Justice League #1. It's finally reuniting the classic team of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and the Flash (Barry Allen) which is six out of the seven original team members. Also, they've apparently brought in Cyborg, a former member of the Teen Titans. Which is cool, I guess.
You can see the little costume changes. Batman has armored gauntlets. Superman has a collar, and he may or may not have lost the red briefs. Flash has a slightly redesigned cowl. Cyborg is sleeker and spikier. WONDER WOMAN HAS STUPID PANTS. -_-

A lot of comic fans are going CRAZY over this news. After all, it means that pretty much everything that's ever been written after 1986 (when the last DC reboot happened) might be changed. DC's also re-numbering every single book and starting over from #1, so Action Comics and Detective Comics—the books that launched Superman and Batman, also the two longest-running comics in history, currently at #901 and #877, respectively—will perhaps never reach their one-thousandth numbered issues.

This has been read by some comic fans as a slap in the face from DC, who are tearing apart the beloved stories from the past 25 years in order to make things easier for new comic readers to jump in. In essence, DC is supposedly sacrificing their current fanbase in order to make room for newer readers.

Personally, I don't think that's true at all, and I couldn't be happier with this news.

It's true that comic continuity needed to be rebooted to make room for new readers. After all, most comics are very hard to get into if you're unfamiliar with the decades-long history already in place. Furthermore, comics are a very, very unknown, tiny, and oft-overlooked industry. Even the absolute top-selling books out there never break a million issues sold. Most high-selling titles only get into the tens of thousands, and a big event book is lucky to break into the hundred-thousands.
Comics need to be available to the masses; characters like Superman and Batman should be able to be read by millions or billions of people, not mere thousands.

At the same time, there's no reason to sacrifice the integrity of the story that's being told, either. The interesting thing about DC Comics is that its characters are more archetypal and ideal-driven than Marvel's. It's the characters and the ideals behind them that make DC stories work, not the years of continuity.

So as long as those characters are the same at their core as they always have been, this is not only a good move for DC; it's a wonderful thing for the entire comic book art form. And, so far, judging by various comments from people at DC, it really seems like they're doing just that. Except for Wonder Woman's stupid pants.

Minimalist Design

So there's this artist, Justin Van Genderen. He does minimalist art in the form of posters. I absolutely love some of the stuff he's done. These are a few of my favorites:

The Metropolis and Gotham ones are my favorite; I'm totally getting those and putting them up in my future house that I don't own yet.

Van Genderen's site is here. Go look. There's awesome stuff.

Wonder Woman - Cancelled

The new Wonder Woman TV series has not been picked up by NBC, and is thus not being made.

Blast it. I had just accustomed myself to the fact that this series was going to exist. I'd even convinced myself I was going to enjoy it!
Now what am I gonna do?

Green Lantern

So. The trailer for the new Green Lantern movie came out late last year.



Now, that's not exactly a bad trailer, but it's certainly not the best it could be. It kind of makes Green Lantern (both as a character and as a film) look like a joke, filled with clichés and dorkiness. It doesn't at all explain why Green Lantern is a unique character, or why we should see this movie.

Well, new footage of the film was shown at Wondercon this past week.



OH YES. THAT'S IT. RIGHT THERE.

The CG still looks very early, but the epicness of the mythos and story seem to be there. It's practically the inverse of the first trailer. And it's awesome.

In Brightest Day,

In Blackest Night,

No evil shall escape my sight.

Let those who worship evil's might

Beware my power:

GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT.

Wonder Woman TV Costume - YES.

So it looks like they changed the costume before actually shooting the pilot. These are photos of both Adrianne Palicki and her stuntwoman while filming the pilot:

Yes. Very yes.

The red bustier is still kinda shiny and silly, but it's not that bad. The pants aren't that stupid blue vinyl stuff, and the boots are actually red. So, essentially, it's the comic book costume with pants instead of briefs.
I am pleased. :D