David Robbins's Blog, page 5

ARCHERS GALORE: A Bounty of Bowpersons

David Robbins© 2014
If you’re an archer, you must be giddy with glee.
Seldom before in popular culture have so many archers been so prominent on the big and small screens at the same time.
We’ve always had Robin Hood. Incredibly, there have been over 60 movies about the peerless archer. Plus the TV versions.
Beyond Robin, though, archers weren’t much in vogue. There were things like the 1940 serial, The Green Archer. More recently, Rambo used a bow. So did Princess Merida in Brave.
[A still from The Green Archer serial, a murder mystery set in a castle.
Based on a novel by Edgar Wallace.]
But now we have a new era in ‘archerdom’. (A word I just invented. Feel free to awe your friends with it.)
Now we have (drum roll, please) The Age of the Archer! Don’t believe me? Then let’s take a look at three current proofs of my broadhead pudding.
First up, HUNGER GAMES. Megahit movies, all about how Katniss Everdeen, archer supreme, stands up for life, liberty and the pursuit of hunting and skinning rabbits and squirrels without government interference.
[Katniss and her bow. The movies are based on three novels by Suzanne Collins.]

Second, we have the AVENGERS franchise. Among its heroes, Hawkeye, who goes up against rogue Norse gods and insane sentient robots. And who never gets to wear the mask his comic book inspiration wore for the same reason Hollywood put the X-Men in black spandex instead of their comic book costumes: Tinseltown has no fashion sense.
[Hawkeye in his way cool mask. But do we get to see it on-screen?
Nooooooo. Stupid Hollywood.]
And finally, we have the third of our archer triumvirate, one of the biggest hits currently on TV, ARROW. Oliver Queen takes on anyone and everyone who threatens his city. To sweeten the longbow-and-compound pot, they throw in a lot of other archers, besides. There’s Oliver’s sidekick, Arsenal (in the comics he was called Speedy but Hollywood decided that was too childish so they named him after a British football club) and a host of others. Who knew that these days professional assassins prefer bows?
[Oliver Queen is the Arrow. He gets to wear a mask 'and' a hood.]

An honorable mention should go to The Walking Dead, where Daryl Dixon has done more to popularize crossbows than anyone since William Tell.
[Is it the crossbow or Daryl that accounts for his/its appeal? Duh.]
So there you go. The Age of the Archer in all its glory. Enjoy it while it lasts. You know how these things go. What’s in vogue today will be passé tomorrow. Once the passion for archery has run its course, rumor has it the next big thing will be harpoons.

ARROW: FROM STORY TO SCREEN

David Robbins© 2014
So there I was, having great fun watching the excellent Special Features to the most excellent Season One of the beyond excellent ARROWTV series, and I got to the 2013 Paleyfest. A gentleman on the panel mentioned that part of the inspiration for the show was GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE, written by Andy Diggle, with art by the team known as Jock.
(In it, Oliver Queen finds himself on what he thinks is a deserted island and ends up pitted against a drug ring that has enslaved the island’s inhabitants.)
[GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE was a limited series that has been collected into a trade paperback. Great read.]
The gentleman then went on to remark that earlier GA stories never delved into Oliver’s experiences on the island. Except for a couple of panels here and there, it was pretty much ignored.
Not so. There was a legendary comic artist, who, in the early years he spent at DC comics, was given the Green Arrow strip, and along with writer Ed Herron, devoted an entire story, not just a couple of panels, to Oliver Queen’s time on the island. You might have heard of him. His name was Jack Kirby.
THE GREEN ARROW’S FIRST CASE appeared in Adventure Comics#256, way back in 1959. Now remember. This was the Silver Age of comics. Story elements that readers thought were cool back then might be viewed as a bit ridiculous by today’s fandom. So feel free to grin and chuckle.
[ADVENTURE COMICS #256. Green Arrow was a backup feature for about two years, then went on to be a backup in WORLD'S FINEST.]
In the story, wealthy playboy Oliver Queen is on a ship in the South Seas. Unlike the TV series, the ship doesn't go down in a raging storm. Oliver simply falls overboard. It’s not made clear whether he was so drunk he couldn’t walk straight, or he was just a klutz. He drifts with the current until he spots an island in the shape of a starfish. In contrast to ARROW the series, and YEAR ONE, it’s actually deserted.
To survive, Oliver fashions a crude bow and an arrow with a stone arrowhead. He paints a giant target on a nearby hill (no word on where the paint came from), but he not only misses the target, he almost misses the hill. After many days of practice he is able to hit a fish, which promptly swims off with his arrow stuck in it.
That’s when Oliver has an epiphany. He needs more than a mere bow and arrow. He needs a bow with ‘trick’ arrows.
Olivier makes another arrow, but this time, he attaches a 30-foot vine rope so when he hits the fish, he can haul the fish in. This, we are proudly told, is the forerunner of the famous Rope Arrow.
One fish isn’t enough. Oliver needs his three squares. So he takes a lot of small vines, weaves them together and rolls them up, and inserts them into the hollow shaft of yet another arrow. When shot from his bow, the arrow opens, the net deploys, and bingo, Oliver hauls in the largest catch of fish this side of a fishing fleet. (Well, okay, he catches seven fish.) This becomes the forerunner to GA’s famous Net Arrow.
Since no meal is complete without something to wash it down, Oliver sets his sights---pardon the pun---on a coconut. He figures he can shoot one out of a tree. But that leaves the problem of how to open the rock-hard shell to get at the juicy bits. The answer? A Drill Arrow. He strips the elastic bands from his socks, wraps the bands around a special arrowhead with hooks, and then winds the arrowhead around and around, sort of like you would the propeller on one of those toy planes. Faster than you can say ‘That’s not even remotely possible!’, Oliver has his coconut and is sucking down the coconut water.
He starts wearing green so he can get close to game, which inadvertently becomes the forerunner to his GA costume.
Since he’s living in a cave, and with nothing else to do, he spends his evenings chiseling his diary on the rock walls. You’d think no harm there, right? Wrong. 
[Oliver chiseling. You have to be careful what you chisel. It can come back to bite you.]

Eventually, Oliver spots a ship anchored near the island. He swims out and discovers some of the crew have mutinied and taken over. To thwart them, he springs into action. First, to counter the glare of the deck lights, he smears grease from the anchor chain around his eyes. (Yep, you guessed it. The forerunner of GA’s mask.) He leaps onto the deck and the mutineers attack. Quickly, Oliver fires his Drill Arrow into a handy metal drum of oil, which spews oil and causes the mutineers to slip and fall. Before it can occur to any of them to stand back up, Oliver lets fly with his Net Arrow. Only this time, the net is somehow large enough to ensnare half a dozen full-grown men.
Thus is born Green Arrow.
Remember Oliver’s chiseling? Years later he’s watching TV with Speedy and learns that an expedition is bound for Starfish Island.  Oliver is worried the explorers will find the cave and his secret identity will be revealed. So he and Speedy wing there in the Arrow Plane.
They arrive in the nick of time. The explorers are about to enter the cave. But Oliver has a brainstorm. There's a chance the island might recently have been ‘sprayed’ with nuclear fallout. Which is why the explorers just happen to be carrying a Geiger counter. So, thinking quick, Oliver fires his Fake-Uranium Arrow.
Wait.His what?
The explorers start into the cave, their Geiger counter goes off like crazy, and they turn tail and not only leave the cave, they abandon the entire island.
All’s well that ends well.
It's sort of sad the makers of the ARROW series decided to use YEAR ONE as their inspiration instead of GREEN ARROW’S FIRST CASE. We never got to see a Fake-Uranium Arrow. Maybe if they do a Green Arrow movie……….
In the meantime, if you love a great series, treat yourself to ARROW.

WILDERNESS #68: SAVAGE HEARTS

David Robbins© 2014
WILDERNESS fans! The story of the King family continues. The newest book is out, published by Mad Hornet, available in print and ebook.
From the back cover:‘Nate and Winona King thought they were doing the right thing when they ventured deep into the Rockies to return a little girl to her people.
Little did they imagine it would put Winona and the girl in peril for their lives and pit Nate against ruthless enemies.’

[Just for kicks, the very first WILDERNESS. Which, by the way, will be rereleased soon.]
As avid readers know, WILDERNESS is a generational saga. A tale of family, and devotion, and an epic struggle to survive in America’s untamed West.
Nate King first came to the Rocky Mountains as a young man. He became a free trapper, fell in love with a Shoshone woman, and acquired the name Grizzly Killer. Since those fateful days, they have endured hardships and dangers few could imagine, yet managed to raise a son and a daughter.
The King Journals reveal that for many years the family lived near what is now Estes Park, Colorado. Then more and more settlers showed up, and Nate and Winona pulled up stakes and moved deeper in.   
Some friends joined them. So did a family of escaped slaves, and some Nansusequa, an Eastern tribe nearly exterminated by greedy townsmen, the last of their kind.
Nate and Winona have never had it better, never enjoyed a more peaceful period in their lives. But nothing last forever.
SAVAGE HEARTS. Where Nate and Winona learn that sometimes just saying you love someone isn’t enough.
Sometimes you have to prove it. [WILDERNESS has been going strong for over 24 years. Counting the GIANT editions, that's more than 70 books. This is one of my favorite covers.][image error]

WILDERNESS #68: SAVAGE HEARTS

David Robbins© 2014
WILDERNESS fans! The story of the King family continues. The newest book is out, published by Mad Hornet, available in print and ebook.
From the back cover:‘Nate and Winona King thought they were doing the right thing when they ventured deep into the Rockies to return a little girl to her people.
Little did they imagine it would put Winona and the girl in peril for their lives and pit Nate against ruthless enemies.’

[Just for kicks, the very first WILDERNESS. Which, by the way, will be rereleased soon.]
As avid readers know, WILDERNESS is a generational saga. A tale of family, and devotion, and an epic struggle to survive in America’s untamed West.
Nate King first came to the Rocky Mountains as a young man. He became a free trapper, fell in love with a Shoshone woman, and acquired the name Grizzly Killer. Since those fateful days, they have endured hardships and dangers few could imagine, yet managed to raise a son and a daughter.
The King Journals reveal that for many years the family lived near what is now Estes Park, Colorado. Then more and more settlers showed up, and Nate and Winona pulled up stakes and moved deeper in.   
Some friends joined them. So did a family of escaped slaves, and some Nansusequa,  an Eastern tribe nearly exterminated by greedy townsmen, the last of their kind.
Nate and Winona have never had it better, never enjoyed a more peaceful period in their lives. But nothing last forever.
SAVAGE HEARTS. Where Nate and Winona learn that sometimes just saying you love someone isn’t enough.
Sometimes you have to prove it. [WILDERNESS has been going strong for over 24 years. Counting the GIANT editions, that's more than 70 books. This is one of my favorite covers.]

BADLANDERS: THE ROADS NOT TAKEN

David Robbins© 2014
Western fans! And anyone who likes an entertaining story. A new book by yours truly is out. This one is about two sisters and the men in their lives, and how our decisions define our destinies.
From the back cover:‘INHERITED TROUBLEWhen Alexander Jessup moves with his two daughters to the Badlands to run a ranch, he’s unprepared for the West’s deadly perils. But despite the dangers, his daughter Edana is determined to manage the Diamond B. And it may be possible, thanks for the ranch’s foreman, Neal Bonner, and his partner, Jericho, an expert gunman.
But Edana’s headstrong sister, Isolda, has other plans. She has no interest in herding cows---or in polite society, for that matter. So she latches onto cutthroat conman Beaumont Adams, and the two scheme to take over the Diamond B with the help of the worst criminals in the Badlands.
Now Edana, Neal and Jericho must face down a pack of stone-cold thieves and murderers to save their ranch---or die trying.’
There’s a lot more to the story than the blurb suggests. There’s drama, and romance, and action, and mystery. There’s the good in life, and the bad, and the ugliness that can fester in many a soul.
But what it boils down to is this: sometimes our choices lead us down roads better left untaken.
Then again, as the saying has it, ‘the heart wants what the heart wants’.
 BADLANDERS. Not your usual Western, but a fun ride.

TERRORS ABOUND: A FEAST OF GOOSEBUMPS

David Robbins© 2014
Do you like short stories? Some people don’t. They prefer novels, and hardly ever read anything else.But if you do, get set. Here’s a veritable feast of fear-inducing tales to put you in in a frightfest frame of mind for Halloween or any time of the year. These are all collections I've read, and that currently sit on a shelf in my den, not anthologies I’ve pulled out of the Invisible Man’s hat.
100 HAIR-RAISING LITTLE HORROR STORIES. In the words of Martin H. Greenberg in the introduction, about ‘terror’: ‘In the hands of master executioners, like the authors who fill this book---it can be deadly. So…Die---and die again---one hundred times.’ From Washington Irving to David Drake, you’ll find a marvelous mix of styles and fears.

100 ASTOUNDING LITTLE ALIEN STORIES. More in the vein of Science Fiction than pure Horror, a lot of these are downright spooky. Many great authors are included, at the top of their game. If you liked the original TWILIGHT ZONE series with its trademark terrifying twists, you’ll love these. And speaking of that classic TV show, and the man who created it….

ROD SERLING’S TRIPLE W: WITCHES, WARLOCKS AND WEREWOLVES and ROD SERLING’S DEVILS AND DEMONS. As Serling states in his intro to the first collection: ‘I am unabashedly and admittedly an admirer of horror tales’. In these two books, he has chosen what he believes are some of the cream of the horror crop. As he says in the second volume, ‘If you share my nostalgia for the supernatural in its more classic form, you’ll appreciate the stories in this book.’
In WOLF’S COMPLETE BOOK OF TERROR, editor Leonard Wolf has compiled a collection of what he refers to as a mix of ‘terror from without’ and ‘terror from within’. It’s quite delightful. From Kipling to Matheson, Wells to Lovecraft, Poe to Boucher, you’ll find a riveting variety. Since Wolf’s focus is to specifically spawn fear, this is one of the scariest collections.

And finally, if the supernatural isn’t your cup of hemlock, if you’d rather have your terror served in decanters of practical reality, you might like ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S TALES OF TERROR. Of the 58 stories, only a few delve into the fantastical. The rest run the gamut from homicidal maniacs to those whose minds have plunged over the brink of sanity in more bizarre ways.

There you go. As promised, a feast of goosebumps. Read them at your own risk. :) 

TERRORS GALORE: A FEAST OF GOOSEBUMPS

David Robbins© 2014
Do you like short stories? I love short stories. Some people don’t. They prefer novels, and hardly ever read anything shorter.
But if you do, get set. Here’s a veritable feast of fear-inducing tales to put you in in a frightfest frame of mind for Halloween or any time of the year. These are all collections I've read, and that currently sit on a shelf in my den, not anthologies I’ve pulled out of the Invisible Man’s hat.
100 HAIR-RAISING LITTLE HORROR STORIES. In the words of Martin H. Greenberg in the introduction, about ‘terror’: ‘In the hands of master executioners, like the authors who fill this book---it can be deadly. So…Die---and die again---one hundred times.’ From Washington Irving to David Drake, you’ll find a marvelous mix of styles and fears.

100 ASTOUNDING LITTLE ALIEN STORIES. More in the vein of Science Fiction than pure Horror, a lot of these are downright spooky. Many great authors are included, at the top of their game. If you liked the original TWILIGHT ZONE series with its trademark terrifying twists, you’ll love these. And speaking of that classic TV show, and the man who created it….

ROD SERLING’S TRIPLE W: WITCHES, WARLOCKS AND WEREWOLVES and ROD SERLING’S DEVILS AND DEMONS. As Serling states in his intro to the first collection: ‘I am unabashedly and admittedly an admirer of horror tales’. In these two books, he has chosen what he believes are some of the cream of the horror crop. As he says in the second volume, ‘If you share my nostalgia for the supernatural in its more classic form, you’ll appreciate the stories in this book.’
WOLF’S COMPLETE BOOK OF TERROR. Editor Leonard Wolf has compiled a collection of what he refers to as a mix of ‘terror from without’ and ‘terror from within’. It’s quite delightful. From Kipling to Matheson, Wells to Lovecraft, Poe to Boucher, you’ll find a riveting variety. Since Wolf’s focus is to specifically spawn fear, this is one of the scariest collections.

And finally, if the supernatural isn’t your cup of hemlock, if you’d rather have your terror served in decanters of practical reality, you might like ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S TALES OF TERROR. Of the 58 stories, only a few delve into the fantastical. The rest run the gamut from homicidal maniacs to those who minds have plunged over the brink of sanity in more bizarre ways.

There you go. As promised, a feast of goosebumps. Read them at your own risk. :) 

MASTERS OF HORROR: SCARES AND MORE SCARES

David Robbins© 2014

Right off the bat---pardon the pun, as you’ll realize shortly---this has nothing to do with the Showtime series by the same name.
If you’re an avid reader like me, you’re always on the lookout for new treasures. For stories that sparkle and enthrall. For tales that take flight on wings of superlative imagination.
If so, you might like MASTERS OF HORROR, an anthology collection edited by Alden H. Norton, with an able assist from Sam Moskowitz. Their rationale for this collection is summed up thusly:
‘The intent of this volume is to present the work of acknowledged literary masters, noted for their skill with horror and the supernatural.’
And again:
'To tighten the rules inhumanly, each story had to be in itself a masterpiece, not merely a second-rate effort that had been ignored for good cause.’
A lofty goal. So who did they include? Bram Stoker, Ray Bradbury and Mary Shelley, to name three you must be familiar with if you're any kind of reader. Plus: Clemence Housman, Robert W. Chambers, A. Merritt, H.R. Wakefield, David H. Keller and Henry Kuttner. Names not as well known these days, yet excellent wordsmiths in their own right, each with a flair for provoking chills.
Although the book came out in 1968 and can be a challenge to track down, it’s worth the hunt. There is, as they say, something for everyone.
For lycanthropes, there’s a classic werewolf story that alone is worth the price of the book. Published in 1896, THE WERE-WOLF  by Clemence Housman relates in lyrical prose the vile wiles of the deliciously vicious White Fell. It’s a shame this isn’t longer. Housman’s storytelling is so vivid, she might have ranked up there with Stoker (DRACULA) and SHELLEY (FRANKENSTEIN) as having written the quintessential novel in the werewolf genre.


[An early edition of what some consider one of the most literary werewolf stories ever penned.]
Speaking of Stoker, it’s not generally known that his masterpiece might initially have been longer. His widow said that the shorty story DRACULA’S GUEST, was, in fact, the first chapter of the novel, cut by Stoker at his publisher’s insistence. Some experts have disputed her, saying it doesn’t seem to ‘fit’. Be that as it may, the story is sensational on its own.
Mary Shelley's contribution, THE TRANSFORMATION, is about moral depravity. There are some who say that a story can be a writer’s personal catharsis, which makes this one interesting to contemplate in light of her husband’s philandering.


[Mary Shelley. Not a lot of people know that she wrote a lot of other stories besides the one about the big guy put together from dead body parts.]
The next story is yet another example of a writer who has fallen by the literary wayside. Robert W. Chambers, who was once hugely popular. Of all the stories, I found THE YELLOW SIGN the least horrific, save one.
THE WOMEN OF THE WOOD by A. Merritt, is exceptional. It’s said that H.P. Lovecraft loved Merritt’s stuff, and in this tale you can see why. Merritt is adept at creating a mood that seeps into the skin and stays there.


[Merritt's tale was first published in WEIRD TALES. Note the different wording of the title.]
BLIND MAN’S BLUFF by H.R. Wakefield is a short, sweet gem. Wakefield was known for his ghost stories, and if you’ll permit an analogy, this one is sort of the ghostly equivalent of Jack London’s TO BUILD A FIRE.
Of all the real horrors known to humankind, perhaps ‘the’ most terrifying is to be caught in the web of a domineering and abusive spouse. In A PIECE OF LINOLEUM, David H. Keller articulates that terror as few writers ever have.


[Norton and Moskowitz collaborated on other anthologies. Here's one of them.]
Ever wished you could escape the real world and live in your dreams? In BEFORE I WAKE, Henry Kuttner writes about a boy who does just that.
And finally, there’s Ray Bradbury’s THE CANDY SKULL. If you take a look at an earlier blog piece I did, you’ll see that I love Bradbury’s stories. And while I like this one a lot, it’s puzzling that Norton and Moskowitz saw fit to include it.  The main reason being that, as they note, Bradbury wrote it for the detective and mystery market. And it shows. There is little horrific here; a strange choice for a horror anthology.
Still, MASTERS OF HORROR is an entertaining read. If you haven’t come across it yet, you might give it a try. Preferably on a dark and stormy night. [And yet a third collection by the pair of horror aficionados.]

MASTERS OF HORROR: SCARES GALORE

David Robbins© 2014

Right off the bat---pardon the pun, as you’ll realize shortly---this has nothing to do with the Showtime series by the same name.
If you’re an avid reader like me, you’re always on the lookout for new treasures. For stories that sparkle and enthrall. For tales that take flight on wings of superlative imagination.
If so, you might like MASTERS OF HORROR, an anthology collection edited by Alden H. Norton, with an able assist from Sam Moskowitz. Their rationale for this collection is summed up thusly:
‘The intent of this volume is to present the work of acknowledged literary masters, noted for their skill with horror and the supernatural.’
And again:
'To tighten the rules inhumanly, each story had to be in itself a masterpiece, not merely a second-rate effort that had been ignored for good cause.’
A lofty goal. So who did they include? Bram Stoker, Ray Bradbury and Mary Shelley, to name three you must be familiar with if you're any kind of reader. Plus: Clemence Housman, Robert W. Chambers, A. Merritt, H.R. Wakefield, David H. Keller and Henry Kuttner. Names not as well known these days, yet excellent wordsmiths in their own right, each with a flair for instilling horror in the human heart.
Although the book came out in 1968 and can be a challenge to track down, it’s worth the hunt. There is, as they say, something for everyone.
For lycanthropes, there’s a classic werewolf story that alone is worth the price of the book. Published in 1896, THE WERE-WOLF  by Clemence Housman relates in lyrical prose the vile wiles of the deliciously vicious White Fell. It’s a shame this isn’t longer. Housman’s storytelling is so vivid, she might have ranked up there with Stoker (DRACULA) AND SHELLEY (FRANKENSTEIN) as having written the quintessential novel in the werewolf genre.


[An early edition of what some consider one of the best werewolf stories ever penned.]
Speaking of Stoker, it’s not generally known that his masterpiece might initially have been longer. His widow said that the shorty story DRACULA’S GUEST, was, in fact, the first chapter of the novel, cut by Stoker at his publisher’s insistence. Some experts have disputed her, saying it doesn’t seem to ‘fit’. Be that as it may, the story is a chiller on its own.
Mary Shelley's contribution, THE TRANSFORMATION, is about moral depravity. There are some who say that a story can be a writer’s personal catharsis, which makes this one interesting to contemplate in light of her husband’s philandering.


[Mary Shelley. Not a lot of people know that she wrote a lot of other stories besides the one about the big guy put together from dead body parts.]
The next story is yet another example of a writer who has fallen by the literary wayside. Robert W. Chambers, who was once hugely popular. Of all the stories, I found THE YELLOW SIGN the least horrific, save one.
THE WOMEN OF THE WOOD by A. Merritt, is exceptional. It’s said that H.P. Lovecraft loved Merritt’s stuff, and in this tale you can see why. Merritt is adept at creating a mood that seeps into the skin and stays there.


[Merritt's tale was first published in WEIRD TALES. Note the different wording of the title.]
BLIND MAN’S BLUFF by H.R. Wakefield is a short, sweet gem. Wakefield was known for his ghost stories, and if you’ll permit an analogy, this one is sort of the ghostly equivalent of Jack London’s TO BUILD A FIRE.
Of all the real horrors known to humankind, perhaps ‘the’ most terrifying is to be caught in the web of a domineering and abusive spouse. In A PIECE OF LINOLEUM, David H. Keller articulates that terror as few writers ever have.


[Norton and Moskowitz collaborated on other anthologies. Here's one of them.]
Ever wished you could escape the real world and live in your dreams? In BEFORE I WAKE, Henry Kuttner writes about a boy who does just that.
And finally, there’s Ray Bradbury’s THE CANDY SKULL. If you take a look at an earlier blog piece I did, you’ll see that I love Bradbury’s stories. And while I like this one a lot, it’s puzzling that Norton and Moskowitz saw fit to include it.  The main reason being that, as they note, Bradbury wrote it for the detective and mystery market. And it shows. There is little horrific here; a strange choice for a horror anthology.
Still, MASTERS OF HORROR is an entertaining read. If you haven’t come across it yet, you might give it a try. Preferably on a dark and stormy night. [And yet a third collection by the pair of horror aficionados.]

DOMINION: ANGELS AND ARCHANGELS, OH MY.

© 2014 DAVID ROBBINSFor a personal reason I won’t go into, I’m keenly interested in all things ‘angelic’.So naturally my curiosity was piqued when the SyFy Channel let it be known they were coming out with a new series, DOMINION. Based on the movie LEGION, it takes up where the movie left off. [One of my favorite characters from the movie LEGION, the archangel Michael.]
The plot in a nutshell is that the archangel Gabriel and other angels are out to exterminate the human race. The archangel Michael wants to stop them. A complication arises in the form of the mysterious ‘Chosen One’, reputed to be humanity’s savior.
[One of my favorite characters from the new series, the archangel Michael. What's that? You detect a trend?]
      The movie did so-so at the box office. Critics weren’t very kind. At Rotten Tomatoes it earned one star. That’s a little harsh. The beginning hooks you, and the ending is spectacular. In-between is a muddle that left a lot of moviegoers confused.       The high point of the movie is a sensational battle between Michael and Gabriel. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s one of the coolest ‘angel fights’ you will ever see.       (By the way, what’s up with poor Gabriel? In the Bible he’s a ‘good guy’, but in LEGION and now DOMINION, and before that the PROPHECY movies starring Christopher Walken, Gabriel is the villain. You’d think that the one who announced to Mary that she was going to give birth to Jesus would get more respect, but hey.) [A painting of Gabriel from back when he didn't have his bad boy rep. By Paul Emil Jacobs.]
       DOMINION seldom makes mention of God. So if you’re an atheist or a humanist who breaks out in boils when anyone or anything refers to a Deity, you can enjoy it for the fantasy elements alone.      And make no mistake. The elements are terrific. They’ve laid the groundwork for a riveting series, with loads of drama and eye-popping action.       On my own rating meter, I give it a ten. But as I mentioned, I’m into angels.       Give it a try. You might want to add it to your weekly must-see list.
Unabashed Plug: And if you can’t get enough of all things angelic, treat yourself to ANGEL U: LET THERE BE LIGHT.       What’s it about?       Armageddon is a generation away. In an effort to prepare humanity, the angels have established a university here on Earth. Satan, and the forces of Hell, don’t like that. So when Nevaeh Harper meets Tyler Brighton at Seraphim U and falls in love, she has no idea that she’s about to become embroiled in the war between Light and Darkness.       And yes, Gabriel is in it. But he’s a good guy for once.       J