Teen Vortex

Hi again!  Welcome to Week 6 of our Teen Challenge.

This week we’re getting downright creepy.  Our theme is horror.  No it’s not October; horror is for every time of the year!  And summer can be especially spooky sometimes.  In that spirit (heh heh, ‘spirit’) I have a list for you guys for some books to check out.

You guys know the drill by now; you can find the challenges either online or at your local library, so get those names in the draws.  And try not to get too spooked!

Hiya Geeklings!

So this past weekend was San Diego Comic Con, and as per usual we got a ton of news coming out of California on some of our favorite fandoms.  So today I thought I’d let them do the talking and post some of the new trailers that you guys might be interested in <3

Movies

Marvel’s Cinematic Universe didn’t have any panels or announcements this year (probably because they’re avoiding spoilers for the last Infinity War film) so that gave DC and Warner Bros a chance to shine.  We got our first trailer for this December’s Aquaman.  We first met the Atlantean royalty in previous films like Batman v Superman and Justice League but now he headlines his own film, and it’s looking pretty epic.

DC also unveiled a trailer for this April’s SHAZAM!.  If you guys aren’t familiar, Shazam is a long-running DC superhero (he used to be called Captain Marvel until Marvel Comics put a stop to that).  His alter ego is Billy Batson, a kid who becomes an adult superhero when he shouts SHAZAM, the name of a wizard who imparts his powers to him and an acronym for Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury, all Greek gods and heroes (comics are weird but wonderful, aren’t they?).

This looks like a lot of fun, which is something the DCEU has not been known for lately.  Aquaman looks like it’s going for a more playful tone too, so hopefully that will continue.  These movies are supposed to be fun after all.

To get caught up check out the previous DCEU films.

Warner Bros also released our latest look at the Wizarding World with a new trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

I’m torn about this one, as I mentioned in a previous post.  Still looks amazing and I love this franchise and a lot of these characters so much but man, those two big problems are hard to get past.  We’ll have to see.  But, of course, we’ve got a perfect excuse to watch the other Wizarding World films (not like we really needed one)…

And we’ve got some monster movie fun for you with Godzilla: King of the Monsters.  If you’ve been watching Stranger Things you might recognize the star.

TV

The new Doctor is getting ready to make her debut and this new series looks delightful.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is coming back!  This was a big surprise at the Con this year.  Fans of the original series had hoped there’d be more episodes, as the show hadn’t really ended the way it was intended too, but there was no real indication that was happening… until the 10 year anniversary panel and this trailer was screened.  Fans are over the moon!  Plus we have the new show Star Wars: Resistance coming soon as well.  Good times for Star Wars animated series.

Netflix and Dreamworks’ Voltron: Legendary Defender screened a trailer for it’s 7th season and announced that there’ll be some representation in their series by introducing Shiro’s boyfriend Adam.

And we got another look at Netflix’s new Matt Groening series Disenchantment (I’ve already hyped this one up pretty hard, take a look).

Other news

Supergirl announced that it has cast the first transgender superhero on network television.  Nicole Maines, a transgender activist and actor, will play Nia Nal, a re-imagined version of Dream Girl, in the shows fourth season.  Awesome!

And Star Wars books.  So many Star Wars books!  E.K. Johnston will be returning to the galaxy far far away to pen a stand-alone novel for Padme Amidala, the queen/senator/mother of Luke and Leia that we first met in The Phantom Menace.  Queen’s Shadow tells of how Padme transitions from queen to senator and how she and her loyal handmaidens must navigate the metaphorical treacherous waters of the Galactic Senate.  There’ll also be a novel by Claudia Gray about Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi and there will also be a horror comic series called Tales from Vader’s Castle.  LOVE IT!  Read the full list of announced books here.

So that’s all for now.  Anything I missed?  Post away in the comments section.  Keep your eyes peeled for more news about our own Fan Con, coming Sept 29, and until next time, End of Line.

It’s Week 5 of the Teen Challenge!  Halfway through the summer!  Can you believe it?  I can’t!

This week’s theme is Science Fiction and Adventure.  Often the two go hand in hand.  I’m a huge Sci Fi nerd, so I’m always happy to have that genre get some attention.

Check out this week’s challenges online or at your local library.  Get those challenges in, get your names in the draws.  May the force be with you and live long and prosper!

Hi again Geeklings!  Some of you may be looking at that post title and thinking ‘The Return-a WHO-ra?’  Yep, yet another 1980s property is getting a reboot, but this time I think it’s going to be pretty awesome.  We just got our first look at some of the art for She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and I, for one, am SUPER stoked this particular 80s property is getting a new treatment.  Let me tell you why…

(Yup, heads up, Aunty Ali’s getting all nostalgic up in here.  It’s one of THOSE posts.)

Let me take you back to 1985.  Live Aid concerts were going on.  New Coke had just been introduced.  The Nintendo Entertainment System came out in North America.  What a time to be alive.  But you know what else debuted that year?  She-Ra: Princess of Power.  It was a spinoff of the Masters of the Universe franchise that toy maker Mattel released in 1982, which featured He-Man (yes, He-Man), Skeletor and others.  The 80s were a weird time, don’t judge us!

Basically, the whole franchise is what you’d file under ‘Sword and Planet‘ fiction.  A little bit of space, a little bit of Sci Fi, a lot of swords and magic (Thor could be cataloged under that genre too).  For He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, it’s set on the planet Eternia.  Prince Adam becomes He-Man when re raises the Sword of Power and declares ‘By the Power of Grayskull’, referring to Castle Grayskull where he draws his power from.  With the help of his friends, He-Man defends Eternia and Castle Grayskull from the evil Skeletor, who wants that power for himself because of typical super villain reasons (funny thing about Skeletor; he looks plenty creepy but then you hear his voice and you can’t help but chuckle).

There were a LOT of other characters, because Mattel wanted to sell action figures to kids.  Was it a shameless way to make money?  You bet.  Did it work?  Yeah, pretty much.  They made millions of dollars.  But, as the awesome Netflix series The Toys That Made Us explained during their episode about He-Man, the people at Mattel couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t just boys playing with these action figures.  Girls were playing with them too, which nobody really expected.  So what to do?  Appeal to girls and sell even MORE toys, of course.  Enter She-Ra.

Mattel went to the people working on Barbie and asked them to come up with something, and that something turned out to be She-Ra.  Princess Adora is Prince Adam’s long-lost twin sister, who was kidnapped as a baby by the evil Hordak and raised on the planet Etheria to be a villain.  When Prince Adam finds her and frees her, she decides to stay on Etheria and lead the rebellion.  Like her brother she wields a sword, the Sword of Protection, and can transform into She-Ra when she holds it aloft and calls on Grayskull.

So there are some brief summaries of very indepth franchises that have had several reboots through the years.  Yep, I watched the originals as a kid, both He-Man and She-Ra, and have many fond memories… I even had some of the toys, as did my brothers.  But I am really excited about this new one, officially called She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.  First, the animation looks great.  As much as I loved the original Filmation series, it has not aged well.  This new version of She-Ra looks like a real girl, with a much more practical costume (I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone thinks you can fight in heels and really short skirts).  Canonically speaking, when we first meet Adora she is 16 years old.  Look at that gif up there from the original 80s show.  Does she look like a 16-year-old girl?  I think not (Adam/He-Man doesn’t look 16 either, what heck?).  This new version of Adora looks the part.  Her friends look like real people too.  And did you see that pic of Bright Moon, the city on Etheria?  So pretty!  Plus, Dreamworks is behind all of this, and they do know a thing or two about animation.

But the other thing I’m really excited about is who’s running the show.  Noelle Stevenson is one of the producers, and she’s been making waves lately with comic series like Nimona and The Lumberjanes, which are both charming, inclusive and exciting series with complex and relatable characters.  I loved Nimona and the Lumberjanes, so I have full confidence that Stevenson can give this franchise the update it needs while still keeping the fans happy.  Plus, another producer is Chuck Austen, and he’s worked on Steven Universe, another gorgeous, inclusive and complex show.  We’re in good hands.

So we don’t know too many details yet.  No word on whether He-Man will make an appearance, but I’m happy to focus on Adora for now.  The show premieres on Netflix in November (my birth month!) and as soon as it becomes available on Blu Ray or DVD we’ll see if we can get it into the library.  In the meantime, we’ve got Noelle Stevenson’s works to read and love (see links above).  If you want to check out the original animated series, we have The Secret of the Sword, which shows Adora’s origin.  There’s an official YouTube channel with quite a few episodes uploaded of both shows.  It’s goofy and ridiculous at times but quite endearing.  We have a volume of the 2012 comic reboot of The Masters of the Universe as well.

Let me leave you with what may be one of the most insane yet AWESOME creations of fanart to ever come out of this franchise.  Have a great week and until next time, End of Line.

Welcome to Week 4 of the Teen Challenge!

This week’s challenge is pretty cool – Mysteries and Thrillers.  Time to put your sleuthing hats on and try not to be too freaked out.

As per usual you’ll find the challenges either online or at your local library.  Get in on those draws.  And this is the last week to vote on a Summer Party.  You have until July 20th to get your preference in.

Happy mystery solving!