MEX MACHINA-Victor Mancha:Part Man. Part Machine. All CHOLO.

A preview sketch from Humberto Ramos' run on Runaways has surfaced on Ramos' blog.My biggest problem has to be with Victor. Why is he wearing a pair of JNCO jeans from 1994??? And what is up with that greasy non-perfectly styled with Bumble & Bumble hair??? And don't even get me started on the whole open shirt thing. I swear he looks like the HOMIES you buy from the machine at the entrance to Wal-Mart!

But I guess this explains a lot about how Victor becomes Big Bad Victorious in the future.

2007:The Year of the Whedon

Why 2007 was definitely
The Year of the Whedon...

1.“You had me at Canon”
When I first saw the EW article about Season 8 I nearly cried (read:did cry). And since then I’ve been lookng forward to the beginning of each month with as much fervor as those gals seeking paternity tests on Maury. But minus the disappointment of course.

2.Trading Spaces-Joss Whedon vs. Brian K. Vaughan
I’m still not convinced that Joss Whedon and Brian K. Vaughan are two different people. I still believe that this is some sort of Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines (or for you youngins Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana) gimmick. So news that Joss Whedon was taking over writing duties on BKV's Runaways wasn't as surprising as it should have been to me. In all actuality, I still can't even really tell the difference. Joss still makes Molly awesome and does the (his?) pop culture reference thing. Meanwhile over at Buffy, BKV was putting Faith in a ball gown and sending her to jolly old England to take down a Queen B (who btw had horrendous fashion sense) by the name of Gigi. Oh and he made Billie Piper part of canon.

3.The best things in life are free.
(And written by Joss Whedon with art by Fabio Moon.)
Dark Horse Presents via the Dark Horse mySpace page launched at Comic-Con with a bang with the announcement of an all new comic book by Joss Whedon. And I mean really new. As in not related to Buffyverse or Firefly. Yeah my jaw hit the floor too. Not to mention it was going to have art by the ridiculously talented and awesome Fabio Moon. And did I mention they offered it for free? Yes we should all give Dark Horse our first born now.

4.Welcome to the Dollhouse
I swear the announcement of Dollhouse came out of nowhere. At least to me anyways. But any news concerning more Joss & Eliza is always a good thing. The fact that the news came out at the same time that the Faith arc was going on just makes it that much sweeter. And just so you know I’m still not over Tru Calling.

5.Angel in America
Season 5 of Angel is my favorite out of the entire series. Mostly because of “Smile Time”, “The Girl in Question”, the addition of Spike & appearances by Dru, Darla, Andrew, & Adam Baldwin. So the fact that Angel:After the Fall picks up exactly where we left our lawful heroes makes me giddy with joy. That the series is being written by Brian Lynch (whose Spike:Shadow Puppets was one of my fave books of 2007) adds to the giddyness. And those brilliant covers by Tony Harris are just gravy. And I’m from the South where gravy is like Holy Water.

6.The Adventures of Miss Kitty Fantastico
The Last arc of Joss Whedon & John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men began this year and it still is the best X-Men book out there. For instance, who knew that Piotr could be all romantic & stuff? But knowing the Whedonverse as well as I do, I know that Kitty & Piotr getting physical can really only lead to one thing. Death. And since Joss makes no bones about being a Kitty Pryde fanboy I'm thinking that there'll be White Russians served at the wake. But to me the breakout character award for this arc has to go to Cyclops for dropping the emo routine for a bit and being a hero. Though my favorite dialogue still comes from Emma who's channeling Sunnydale's favorite Cheerleader, Cordelia Chase.
The release schedule definitely requires you to repeat the mantra “Good things definitely come to those who wait”. But good things also come to those who buy anything with the names “Joss Whedon” or “John Cassaday” on it.

7.The Office Space
Joss returns to TV!!! Well sort of. Joss directed two episodes of The Office this past year which (good for NBC) actually made me start watching the show regularly again. I seriously don’t know how I abandoned watching John Krasinski weekly. But I digress. But seriously I’m going to use The Secret to get SMG on 30 Rock. She totally needs to be reunited with her Suburban Girl co-star Alec Baldwin and get back to the funny. When will people realize that she’s a fantastic comedic actress??? Oh Sh*t I digressed again. But you guys know I’m right.
Bonus:The Season 3 DVD has an interview with Joss Whedon for fangirl/fanboy enjoyment.

8.“Talk nerdy to me”
The Collector’s Edition of Serenity came out this past fall with an all new commentary by Joss and cast. Joss's commentary is in it of itself supremely entertaining. And , as with all great pop culture, very quotable. Only those who have acquired a working knowledge of Whedon commentaries have truly reached a higher plane of existence.

Is Pushing Daisies trying to send a shout out to BKV???

Just got done watching this week's Pushing Daisies (which was funny, lovely, had a character named Manuel, and even had some singing by Cheno) and couldn't help but notice some similarities to the BKVerse.

The Coeur d'Coeurs movie theatre is playing the Frank Capra-Cary Grant classic Arsenic & Old Lace. For those of you who haven't read Runaways (First off, Shame on You!), runaway Gert inherits a telepathically controlled dinosaur (or whatever Barney looking animal it is) from her evil parents. When the kids decide to give themselves cool code names Gert chooses Arsenic and names her new pet, Old Lace. Being the TCM junkie that I am I truly love this movie reference.

Ned's partner Emerson Cod knits when he gets stressed. Just like our favorite Culper Ring agent, 355! In the past week since Chuck has been alive he's knitted two gun-cozies. A long-running joke in Y:The Last Man was that 355's knitting project was a gun cozy. It turned out to be a scarf for Yorick but I like to believe that maybe she had some leftover yarn and decided to make the gun cozy for herself, after all.

This show is definitely (by far) my favorite new show of the season!

I'd Tap That Fictional Ass!!

Continuing with our 'damn these men are so hot I wish they were real' post, I thought I'd add yet another BKV alum to the list: Mr (or is it Señor?) Victor Mancha!

Here is a youngster (it's not illegal if he's fictional right?.... right?) who joined that motley crew of Runaways after Nico & co. learned that Victor would grow up to be a spandex-wearing villain responsible for the death of future Avengers-leader Gert. See, turns out our beloved Victor is the son of Ultron - which makes him half-robot. Are you confused yet? Let's just say the only thing you need to know is that Victor has a 'dark side' - a good boy is hard to find, but really, a bad boy is hard to resist.

So, to salute this latin hottie, I give you the Top 5 reason I'd tap that fictional ass (legal age restrictions permitting):

5. He's got an electric personality - not only is quick-witted (as all BKV men tend to be) but he's also electric in the very literal sense of the world. I don't want to get too kinky, but I mean, wouldn't it also be handy for day-to-day fix-its around the house? I think so.

4. He's Latin. And a hot latin at that - think: the Ricky Martin of the Marvel Universe (only without the gyrating hips and/or the homoerotic undertones) But then, wouldn't he be mixed? I mean, latin+robot = ?

3. I already mentioned his dark side, but I also have to add the very dark 'thing' he has going on with Nico (as the POP COLONY readers will recognize) very reminiscent of a certain blond slayer and a peroxide vampire. Nothing says hot like guilt-filled sex.

2. He ha the one thing we prize more than anything else here in POP COLONY: pop culture knowledge. He knows the 'spandex crowd' better than any Comic Book Guy (pink-shirt-wearing or otherwise) which is why his room is filled with all sorts of 'costumes' stuff (Hulk and Spidey figurines, Captain America poster, scattered comic books laying around...) - enough so that Gert goes as far to say that he has a 'man-crush' on them. Thankfully he's also smart (he lets Gert know Lace isn't a velociraptor "She's way too big. Looks more like a Deinonychus with a pedicure") and smart is sexy, remember.

1. Yorick may sport the parka, but really, Victor (courtesy of Adrian Alphona) is one of the hippest 'Runaways' around. (I mean really, how does he afford such outfits and hats when he has no income and can't really walk into fancy LA stores? I guess that's the beauty of comic books - again I am reminded of that Whedon blond whose wardrobe choices come season 7 are way out of her Double Meat Palace/High School Counselor salaries... Yes, I am a firm believer that Joss and Brian are one and the same or that at least Brian's Runaways has always been his 'Buffy')

Favourite Victor-related quote:

Molly to Victor: "You're just a guest-star, and not a special one at that!"

Nicknames: 'Tin Magnet' 'Static Cling Lad' 'Man of La Mancha'

Pretty Fly for a White Girl (or How I am Seeing Double)

I guess Joss really likes it when people get all aerial together.
Oh Jo Chen. You Rock. That is all.