Arsenal #3-#4

 

So far, we have seen:

Roy Harper being an awesome hero person.

Lian Harper being cute.
Kidnapping henchwomen being, uh, kidnappy?
Dinah Lance being kinda stupid.
Oliver Queen being dead.
Lian’s babysitter being… there.
Vandal Savage being evil.
Connor Hawke being ambiguously ethnic.

And now, we continue with our celebration of all things red-haired and arrow-related with the second half of Roy Harper Appreciation Month!

 

Arsenal #1-#2

 

Some characters are heroes.  Others are villains.  Still others are anti-heroes.  And some are life’s punching bags, eternally taking punishment enough to make anyone either go bananas or feel like they’re about to.  And yet, somehow—whether it be through their own determination or a well-timed reboot or both—they always manage to land on their feet and live to kick butt another day.

One such character is Roy William Harper Jr., a.k.a. Speedy, a.k.a. Arsenal, a.k.a. Red Arrow, a.k.a. Arsenal again.  He’s been one of my favorites for ages, but the fans and the comics (especially those bleeping comics) always seem to give him the short end of the stick (or the arrow).  So to give Roy a little positive press—and to give myself a chance to alternately gush and rampage about his various portrayals in various media—I hereby declare November ROY HARPER APPRECIATION MONTH.

"Thirst" - Smallville

For many shows, airing at least one holiday-themed episode is sort of a tradition.  Christmas seems to be the most popular subject, but appearances by Hanukkah, New Years’ Eve/Day, Thanksgiving, and others are certainly not unheard of.  Having lasted an impressive ten seasons, Smallville had plenty of time to air plenty of episodes about plenty of holidays, and in Season Five, they decided to go the spooky route with a tangentially Halloween-themed episode, complete with costume parties and hot lady vampires.  Boy, was that ever dumb.

The ONLY bright spot here is that this was made before Twilight, so they couldn’t rip it off or make “fun” references.  And that is the only Twilight reference I will make in this review.  I knew you’d be expecting it, so I got it out of the way early so that, like the later Hitchcock cameos, it won’t distract you from enjoying the rest of the show.  You’re welcome.

Spitballing - "Pilot" (Arrow)

This isn't my normal review of the week--that comes on Saturday.  But I (finally) got around to watching the Arrow pilot that debuted on CW last Wednesday and really, really, REALLY needed to get some things off my chest.  This is by no means a comprehensive review; this is just me typing up some general, half-baked opinions that came to mind when I was watching.  Or, if you prefer, spitballing.  So if I come across as rambly and non-sensical, welcome to my unedited brain.

So in case you hadn't guessed, SPOILERS LIVE HERE.

"Broken Stone"/"Getting the Story" - Sky Dancers

Apparently I thought it would be a good idea to keep reviewing Sky Dancers, even after I realized that they were not the great and glorious heroes that my nostalgia specs tried to convince me they were.  Apparently I’m a knucklehead.

Batman, Season Three

 

*sigh* And so we arrive at the third season of Batman.  Far and away the worst of Batman’s three seasons, Season Three debuted well after the show’s popularity began to wane.  Bat-mania was dying, but the show itself stubbornly refused to die with it.  They suffered massive budget cuts that reduced their sets to the bare bones.  Even the distinctive two-part episode structure was stripped away, leaving a single half-hour episode per week with each one ending in the flimsiest of cliffhangers. (“Oh, yes, Batman and Robin may have defeated THIS villain, but look over there!  THAT villain is roaming around!!  What trickery is THAT villain up to now?  Tune in to find out in our next episode!”)

El Chapulín Colorado

I’m willing to bet that most of the native English-speakers reading this (all two of them) have absolutely no idea who this guy is, unless they’re Latino and/or grew up around Latino people. (Is Latino even politically correct anymore?  I can’t keep up with this…) El Chapulín Colorado, “the Red Grasshopper”, is the brainchild of Mexican comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños, a.k.a. Chespirito.  The characters he created—particularly Chapulín Colorado and Chavo del Ocho (dude had a thing for “ch” sounds)—are immensely popular, scoring monster ratings across multiple nations and multiple decades.  He’s popular outside of Spanish-speaking nations too; his shows have been translated into Japanese, Portuguese, French, Russian, and more. 

The one language it hasn’t been translated into?  English.  The DVDs I own don’t even bother to provide English subtitles.  Which is a pain, because that means I have to do the translating myself.* But hey, nowhere in my list of superhero requirements does it say that a superhero needs to speak English, so let’s take a quick look.