flash_arrow_crossoverIt’s a jam-packed episode this week! We start off by briefly discussing the recent Internet kerfuffles over (some) creators vs. cosplayers at comic conventions, and the complaints that Marc Andreyko’s current storyline in Batwoman depicts the practical rape of protagonist Kathy Kane.

But then we move on to lighter topics. Specifically, this week’s crossover between The Flash and Arrow on their respective television shows. We talk about what worked, what was fun (God help us, that includes the Man Who Will Be Vibe), and what didn’t (Hi, Iris West!).

Then we move to week four of DC’s Convergence storyline, comprising mostly pre-Crisis On Infinite Earths alternate universe characters and teams. Meaning that these are stories that will appeal mostly to elderly readers. And Geoff Johns!

And finally, we discuss:

  • Crossed One Hundred #1, written by Alan Moore with art by Gabriel Andrade, and:
  • Escape From New York #1, written by Christopher Sebela with art by Diego Barreto!

And now the legalese:

  • We record this show live to tape. While this might mean a looser comics podcast than you are normally accustomed to, it also means that anything can happen. Like the classification of Iris West as a common “cape climber.”
  • This show contains spoilers.
  • This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. So unless you want your boss to know that you’re listening to programming about a “Disco Epilepsy Ray,” get some headphones.

Enjoy the show, suckers!

B-ZThe Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office received a giant package via UPS yesterday containing all the books, action figures, t-shirts, games, and other assorted loot we acquired at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. It’s a fairly large haul, too large to have wanted to hump it back on our own through the airports. You try explaining what a “reversible baneling/zergling” is to the TSA and see if they don’t decide to put you through an “enhanced pat down”. So, it was nice to open the box and relive the very recent memories of the past week. In particular, I thought this delivery was well timed because I had been spending the morning going through my photos from the con and noticed that…I hadn’t taken very many. My photo ratio from SDCC seems to lean more heavily on the side of fish tacos, beet agua fresca, and blurry Brian Michael Bendis photos (don’t ask), than on one of the backbones of the San Diego Comic-Con experience, the cosplayers. This was disappointing to me, but not entirely surprising. With all the spectacle with which you are constantly bombarded, you reach a certain point where you stop snapping pictures and go, “Oh, cool. It’s Deadpool and Supergirl together. Sure. That makes sense.” And you let it wash over you. You shuffle step forward against the tide of people trying to get into the Hasbro merch booth to get the most recent Boba Fett and Han Solo in carbonite, or Derpy Pony, or whatever it is this year that is making attendees nutty and just keep trying to take it all in until you eventually pop out on the other side of the convention floor. And it’s good. After 7 years of snapping photos and giving yourself whiplash to swivel around and catch the latest in Hello, Kitty! Darth Vader costuming, sometimes it’s nice to just give in and get carried along with the festivities.

But, that doesn’t help you, the Crisis On Infinite Midlives readers, who depend on us to bring you pictures of the Nerd Prom To End All Nerd Proms, to document the spectacle that you could be there to see. Fortunately, that’s where the good people at Sneaky Zebra come in. They’ve created a video that showcases some of the best cosplay from this year’s convention, from steam punk Batman villains to Transformers to, well, maybe you should just see for yourself. Check it out, after the jump!

If you’re not old enough to have seen Star Wars in its original 1977 theatrical release, you are not a true Star Wars fan, and arguably not even truly a human being.

If the first time you saw Star Wars was on home video or, may God forbid, as a “Special Edition” DVD or Blu-Ray, you were not part of the original wave of excitement that occurred when the movie first broke, and therefore, are unworthy to call yourself a real fan. You were a kid who never had to live in a world where there was a Star Wars movie, but where there were no Star Wars toys. You never dealt with the crippling discomfort that came from pretending you were Luke Skywalker and getting a proto-boner over Princess Leia. The first time you saw Boba Fett was in a major motion picture, and not during a holiday special that made your sainted mother say, “With God himself as my witness, Diahann Carroll and Harvey Korman will die by my fucking hand. And if this program makes my eldest son say he wishes he had a Goddamned Lumpy Wookie… that’s it! Time for bed, you!”

My point is: to me, these experiences were integral to being a Star Wars fan. So when it comes to you little bastards whose Star Wars experience started with slapping in the VHS tape whenever you felt like it? You’re not real fans. Seriously: fuck you wretched, hipster poseurs.

So… anyone about ready to scroll to the comments and call me a shortsighted, ageist, elitist motherfucker yet? You ready to really rip into me and ask me how I dare to define your fandom based on my experiences?

Great! Now maybe we can all quit whoring around and whimpering about female cosplayers for a minute.

It's probably not her telepathy that's turned you into a drooling vegetable.

Who knew that Emma Frost was actually being fashion forward and not a ginormous slut in her everyday battle wear of corsets and hooker boots? While plenty of super heroines have been outfitted, charitably, in questionable attire, outside of your typical convention cosplay and Halloween we don’t generally find super hero couture to be at the forefront of cutting edge fashion.

Until now.

Superhero couture will come to television on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 10pm (Eastern) on CBS.

Oooo, exciting!

Aren’t you excited?

You’re not excited.

Why aren’t you excited?

I can keep doing this, you know.

Real, live semi naked ladies with spandex and wings after the jump!

Just in time for GirlGeekCon in Seattle this weekend and New York Comic Con in, well, New York City, next weekend, we have a batch of ambitious cosplayers who are ready to embrace the design changes of the relaunched DCnU. Behold the winners of the most recent Gamma Squad cosplay costume contest:

What? No G'nort?