Thursday, September 10, 2020

SUPERMAN: MAN OF TOMORROW Animated Movie

© by Gerald So | 8:30 AM

Daily Planet intern Clark Kent (Darren Criss) learns more about his origins while encountering alien bounty hunter chaos agent Lobo (Ryan Hurst), Martian-in-hiding J'onn J'onzz (Ike Amadi), and the life-draining accidental mutant Parasite (Brett Dalton).

As a fan of the 1990s ABC series Lois & Clark, I appreciate similar themes explored here, yet well updated for 2020. All the voices are great fits, including Zachary Quinto as Lex Luthor, Alexandra Daddario as Lois Lane, Neil Flynn as Jonathan Kent, and Bellamy Young as Martha Kent. I hope this goes on as an arc. If not, though, Superman: Man of Tomorrow hits all the right notes itself.

Saturday, September 05, 2020

Happy?

© by Gerald So | 3:00 AM

On August 8, I received another rejection on the novel-now-story I started in 1995, two years into reading mysteries for pleasure. About 1997, I put the novel aside as too wishful compared to the hardboiled and noir I enjoyed. The protagonist at the time, a Spenser-like ex-boxer, wouldn't fit a cozy, either. I happily finished other work until a 2016 themed anthology got me thinking I could revamp the novel idea as a short story.

In the four years since, I've changed the protagonist and other characters significantly, but held onto the convention of a less-than-blissful ending. Up to earlier this week, I tried endings of sudden violence, culprits turning themselves in, morally ambiguous open endings–only today writing a straightforward, non-violent, non-law enforcement, happy ending. If it helps the story finally sell, it's the right ending.