You'll either like this alot, or you'll feel kinda whelmed

Happy Superbowl! Or, more specifically, Happy Superbowl commercials! Here's hoping for some good ones this year, as I felt last year's were a little disappointing. And yeah, that's officially all I care about that. Moving on!

So there's this blog I was just introduced to. It's called Hyperbole and a Half, and it's pretty much one of the best things I've ever seen. I particularly suggest checking out this post about spiders and how evil they are, or the one about the Alot. And then you will understand. Or you won't, but I bet you'll be entertained! (and yeah, the title typo was on purpose, which you now realize and feel dumb for thinking I was dumb. Psh.)

[insert clever transition from blogs to DC cartoons here]

I have a bit of a confession to make. At one point in the last two years or whatever, Cartoon Network had this show, Batman: The Brave and the Bold. I didn't watch it then, but now I am...and I kinda like it. If you haven't seen or heard of it, it's pretty much Batman adventures that always involve at least one other Justice League member. I know, I know, he's supposed to be broody and work alone unless he has a Boy Wonder around, but he's still part of the League, right? It's totally campy, but like a throwback to the old school Adam West era, when punches still sounded like "BIFF," "BAM," and "POW," and all significant actions were accompanied with a trumpet blast.

Yeah! Except animated, and therefore acceptable!

Granted, I'm not very far into the series at all, so the constant inner monologue-journal Bats gives us may easily get quite old. And I already can only take the campyness in small doses, but it still makes me smile sometimes.

On the flip side, Cartoon Network currently has this new cartoon going on called Young Justice, and so far I kind of love it. Basically it's about the mini-Justice League, made up of the various sidekicks: Robin (the first one!), Kid Flash (you know, the one before Impulse? Which must be why Impulse thought of a better name?), Aqualad (but not the one you're thinking), Miss Martian, Speedy, and Superboy (yeah, not Supergirl, but this conveniently created clone...whatever, he still does Superman stuff). It's not Gardner Fox's creation, and therefore doesn't have the same kind of "you can take me seriously" tone as the Justice League animated series, but neither is it campy. Since it's about the kids, it's ok for it to be a little lighter. Don't worry, though, there are still plenty of issues to go around, like all of them struggling to get out from their mentor's shadows, Robin's inability to be a leader, Speedy's inability listen to authority, and Superman's inability to handle the weird paternal responsibility he now has for this surprise clone.

Also, it's a different kind of clever at times. Like the fact that some of the sidekick names really just suck (or make no sense) and people are aware of it. And I'm loving the running joke going on with Robin and his issues with abbreviations.

I now look for situations wherein I can describe myself as "whelmed"

By the way, Robin is Jesse McCartney. Yep. Lucky for me I only learned that after I was hooked, otherwise I may have boycotted the show on principle. But I have to give it to the kid, he doesn't do a terrible job of it. Especially not when he unleashes his creepy laugh, which is sufficiently creepy enough to almost make me reevaluate my opinion on the potential of such teenie-bopper pop stars. Almost. I'd offer a clip, but I guess it hasn't been on the air long enough (and/or Warner Bros is a mad copyright stickler) to have any yet. So you'll just have to take my word for it. Or watch it.

Otherwise, tune in next time for some more average nerdiness, and maybe a puppy if you're good!

Robin: "If 'dislike' is the opposite of 'like,' shouldn't 'disaster' be the opposite of 'aster'? So then, this mission will be a complete aster!"

Robin Hood vs. King Arthur; Part 1

Don't tell me you never wondered who would win. Ok, honestly, neither have I. But as I sit here and watch Russel Crowe's "resurrection" of Robin Hood and am reminded of Disney's attempt to make King Arthur relate-able or whatever, I have to wonder who's been dealt a crappier hand thus far. So let's see what happens when we pit the two legendary greats and their successes and failures in the media against each other.

Round 1: Literature!

Admittedly, I haven't read nearly as many Robin Hood books as I have King Arthur books, take from that what you will. King Arthur as we know him first showed up in Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of the Kings of Britain," circa 1130AD. Lancelot's love triangle and the never-ending quest for the Holy Grail was thrown in later thanks to Chretien de Troyes in the 12 century (and not Monty Python, thank you very much). The most popular modern rendition of Arthur's legend probably belongs to T. H. White and his novel The Once and Future King. That said, myriad of spinoffs, retellings, spoofs, and parodies have been written to resurrect the fabled king, both good and terrible. Among the terrible: 

Looks promising, doesn't it?

Avalon High by Meg Cabot (yeah, the Princess Diaries Meg Cabot. Makes sense now, eh?), which tries so very hard to recreate the realm of King Arthur in a modern day highschool. The story is told from the perspective of a typical highschool girl heroine, a shy, softspoken, girl with self esteem issues who is supposed to be the reincarnation of the Lady of Shallot. Eventually, new Arthur's life can only be saved from new Mordred after the betrayal of new Guinevere and new Lancelot by the love offered by new Elaine of Shallot. In general, Meg Cabot surprised me with her attention to detail, finding ways to modernize every aspect of the original legend in a somewhat acceptable manner. At the very least, it was a book that both I and my tweenage-opposite-of-me-in-every-way sister could enjoy. Up until that last bit, the whole "Arthur needs to fall in love with the Lady in the Lake.....because I said so?" part. First of all, I don't think anyone ever suggested that Elaine of Shallot and the Lady of the Lake were the same person. In fact, I think most legends agree that the Lady was Morgan LeFay. So there. Second, the Lady of Shallot had a thing for Lancelot, or a knight that is generally believed to have been Lancelot, according to Tennyson's epic poem. But then again, it was Meg Cabot...(remember this for round 2!)

On the flip side, a less obvious reincarnation was skillfully done in "Tomorrow's Magic" by Pamela F. Service.

It was the two-headed dog that sold me

This one takes place in a post-apocalyptic England, during the slow receding of a nuclear winter. Turns out that history really can go in circles, as future England finds itself in the same kind of medieval warring state it was in the first time Arthur came along. Only instead of an arthurian re-birth, this book plays on the fact that enough mystery shrouds King Arthur's death to make whatever you want of it. In this case, Arthur has been recuperating for thousands of years from a near-mortal injury in Avalon, a place that doesn't follow a conventional time stream, of course! I liked this book better because I was much more willing to suspend my disbelief for the sake of the story. Also, because Merlin shows up, and doggonit I'm a sucker for the old sorcerer. 

Now, for Robin's side of the story (hehehe, pun....oh, shut up!). In general, his story is more exciting. I mean he's deadly with a bow and arrow and robs from the rich to aid the poor (hey, he was the first Democrat! Bazinga!). Our favorite outlaw first showed up in various ballads and such around 1370AD. Robin Hood continued to appear in adventures of his own, the bulk of which turned into the collective tales of Robin Hood and his Band of Merry Men outwitting the Sheriff of Nottingham with the help of Friar Tuck that we all know today. However, after Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, nothing else really showed up. At least, nothing to compare to the onslaught of King Arthur stories. I have yet to see a modern day retelling...

Oh yeah...aside from him

Well, Robin Hood gets a DC Comic series and a trilogy of rather fantastic books by Stephen Lawhead, Hood, Scarlet, and Tuck (which offer a believable backstory and such), but other than that....nuthin. That said, I'm going to have to say that King Arthur wins the Success in Literature round. Sure, he has some really terrible stories, but he has just as many great ones, and overall, it's still more than poor Robin of Loxley can claim. Maybe he can pull forward next time in Round 2: Movies!