The Bass Trilogy Part 1: Ironman is fantastic, Superman sucks. Period.

Hey everyone,  I'm Rob Bass from Geek Cast Live and it's about time I started blogging. This is the first blog I am putting out, and it's actually the first of a three part series. It's going to basically be a "marry, fuck, or kill" but for superheroes. Except it's more like "love, loathe, and the Ironman movie will be better than Superman's in every way."

Now, for those of you who don't know (which will basically be everyone) I am a Marvel fanatic. Period. Not saying any other comic production company isn't good, I've was just brought up in a house where Marvel reigned supreme. Now with this summer's upcoming blockbusters I'm presented with the opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do. Compare my all-time favorite superhero and icon against one I absolutely cannot stand. Now, as you could have probably guessed from the title of this post, Ironman is my favorite superhero. I'm now going to, in painful detail, explain: who Ironman is as a character, and why he is who he has become. To save us a little bit of time and trouble, when I start my explaination, I'm going to solely use the Ironman movies as a reference, otherwise I'm going to be writing a novel, which I'm sure Joe and Ry would loooooove. So without further ado, let's go.

Alright, so this all began probably fifteen years ago when I happened to get ahold of "Tales of Suspense #39," which translates from nerd to the first issue that Ironman ever appeared in. Now, I was a sucker for building things as a kid and I had one of the most ridiculous imaginations ever. So naturally, I grew to admire Tony Stark. I've read every comic arc and most every novel adaptation, I've watched the movies and way too many of the cartoons, and I even started engineering school so I could be the real life Anthony Edward Stark. I'd go so far as to say I'm the biggest Ironman fan in the world, but that still might be an understatement.

So, I grew up looking up to Tony. Over the years, I've become more fond of tragic characters than most anything, and Tony is most definitely a tragic character. I think that Tony is an incredibly relatable character, which is something that always seems to shine through when it comes to Marvel's characters. Now, hopefully, some of you are going to flip your keyboard off your desk and come up with some really creative insults for me. "Rob, this guy is made of money, gets any girl he wants, has a suit of pseudo-science armor that can effectively do anything, and he has the ego that makes Zeus look as humble as Mr. Miyagi, how can he possibly be relatable?!" Well, lucky for you, I'm going to do just that.

Tony has never had a close family connection. Daddy worked all the time and mom was off... Well, probably enjoying a cabana boy and a martini. So, he grew up with some level of emotional distance, which explains why he can't manage to have an actual relationship. This lack of affection also explains his incessant womanizing, he's trying to fill a void that he never really experienced. Psychology is cool, kids. He did, however, have a friend who he felt close to. Obadiah Stane, who was Tony's mentor, confidant, advisor, and playmate more-or-less. Now, I don't know if you really get that feel in the first movie. Obadiah is basically the closest thing that Tony has to family... And then he turns on Tony because Stane is actually a capitalistic, Gordon Gecko-y, greedy bastard. Such is the corporate world.

Tony has also had tons of problems with addictions. Sex, drugs, booze, and rock and roll have basically summed up Tony's life. Some of these occurred before his accident, though many after. He's coping. Tony's handling the situation like thousands upon thousands of other people. He's struggling, not just against super-villians, criminal masterminds, and terrorist, but against the fact that he has a terminal illness. He knows that at any time, he could die. If he puts to much physical strain on any one part, the shrapnel in chest could pierce his heart. Kinda heavy stuff, right? He strengthens his resolve and puts his vices behind him because he decides he wants to be a part of something bigger than himself.

Which leads to my next point, the man on the throne. Tony Stark is something of a narcissist. He's had himself to rely on his entire life, and he's gotten very good at being reliable to himself. This relates to his lack of family interaction and affection. Think about it, Tony never had parents in the elementary years of his life, and sure didn't have them during his teenage years. That's when we start becoming the people we are meant to people, and we are very easily broken here. Tony realizes he can't really rely on anyone else to help him. So, he took the initiative to use his innovative understandings of the world, and apply them. Between being brilliant and becoming a super-efficient self-motivated engines of ambition, Tony had everything he needed to become this guy with an ego that needs it's own bedroom. However, this is also what leads to Tony quite often putting his wants, needs, and ego on the front lines. Now, Tony is the most selfish-selfless guy I can think of. He invest himself in every challenge he encounters. He's a proud guy, and proud men don't take kindly to being beaten. Ever. So when he invested his time, effort, money, and life into helping people that's exactly what he expects to give. Honestly, with everything Stark has gone through, it's a miracle he turned out to be a good guy. Looking at his tragic past, he's basically one psycho-ex away from being Doctor Doom.

So, basically, what I'm trying to say is, Tony Stark, our Armored Avenger, is probably one of the most developed and relatable superheroes I can think of. Again, I could probably continue writing for years about this, and I know I cut quite a bit from what I originally wanted to talk about. Hopefully, you know Ironman a little better as a character now and maybe this will help explain some things in the upcoming Ironman 3. Hope you enjoyed the read.

Tune in next time for... "The Bass Trilogy Part 2: Fuck you, Superman."

Geek Cast One Shot: The Following

In fifteen minute the season finale of the fantastic Kevin Bacon & James Purefoy vehicle 'The Following' will premiere. The fact that this is it until television season kicks in again this fall is a major bummer because this show is great. Not good, great. It didn't start slow and it only accelerated and at the moment is damn near breakneck. If you are not watching it you are missing one of the best shows on television. If you have been tuning in good for you. Doesn't it feel good to be in the know.

Stuck On The Slow Path

Saturday's Episode, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS was awesome. We finally got to see the fabled swimming pool and a library that rivals that of the Jedi Council.  We also found out that not only does The Doctor have a name, it's written down in The History of The Time War.  But as much as I loved the episode--and all the episodes this season...and every episode I've ever seen of the show...I have to say I'm a little let down.

I know this whole season is leading up to the 50th Anniversary in November, but it doesn't have that driving feeling that the Amy era had leading up to every big reveal during the Ponds' legacy. There's a lot of talent working on the show, but I get the feeling that BBC is testing the waters for new writers going forward.  This is a really exciting prospect, since everyone needs a place to start, but they need some work with pacing.  

So far this season has been very fast paced with hour-long episodes flying by like the TARDIS took us on the fast path. But I wish it would slow down just a little bit--maybe even shooting a couple two-parters like when the series first re-opened in 2005.  I think it would do more justice to long-time fans and do more to develop The Doctor's bigger story. I appreciate the jump to America, but my Geek Vindication wishes that they'd give new fans the same experience that brought the old fans such wonder and amazement. 

Basically, if I'm stuck on the slow path like normal people waiting week by week for the next episode, I wish the episodes would slow down a little too.

Geek Cast One Shot : Website.....soon

It's tough to be a group of tech savvy whack-a-dos and not have a website. So we went and got ourselves one. Look for it to be up and running by May first. It should be your go to place for everything Geek Cast Live. From twitter feeds to blogs to a calendar of events www.geekharder.com will be the portal to the Kingdom of Geeknerddom.

Kissed By Fire

Well, that was a powerhouse of an episode. First things first I must comment about the fantastic bits of T & A . A rousing, no pun intended, round of applause to all who bared bum and breast. Now I'm not going to review everything just gonna highlite the two or three scenes that made me geek a little harder than others.
I'm gonna start the same way the episode did, with the Lightning Lord and the Hound. I believe the phrase 'scene awesome' comes to mind . It blew me away. Everything from the fire to the way Beric handled a sword was picture perfect. The unsullied I had with me in the house didn't understand how Beric came back to life but that's what happens when you read as often as Ser Davos.
The next scene that made this episode arguably the best of the season was the bath scene with Jamie and Brienne. I remember reading the book ,and when you slowly discover the truth about Jamie, he begins to become one of your favorite characters. The bath scene in this episode conveyed so much emotion and pain and if you weren't sold on the casting of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau now turn around and leave. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Dude killed it.
Finally, folks does it get any better than The Blackfish? It was a small scene, insignificant even. But he stole it, he fucking stole it. Both the scene and the episode. The Blackfish, stud.

Geek Vindication

I have never been one to shy away from flying my geek flag. I've been to conventions, spent countless hours browsing comics , playing Warhammer, and much to the consternation of my wife spending hard earned dollars buying card, board , and role playing games on a lark. I've been at the midnight showing of everything from the Matrix to The Hobbit. In 1996 at the ripe old age of 13 I picked up George R R Martin's 'A Game Of Thrones'. My mom bought it for me thinking it was going to be akin to the tame Tolkien tales of swords and sorcery. Oh how wrong she was. Needless to say it took poor Bran Stark getting pushed out a window and I was hooked. I've lived in Westeros from the beginning and was elated when I heard HBO was going to greenlight the series for television. Then became quickly deflated and , yes childishly, became angry. I found myself in a sea of "unsullied" late comers and bandwagoners asking me if I had seen this show.
"It's so amazing, there is this girl named Danielle who is so awesome!"
"Boromir is in it!"
"That Jeffrey kid is a real dick!"
The final blow came from when a good friend of mine told asked me if "I knew that they wrote a book about the show?"
I had lost all faith in humanity. The worst part was that all of these people were people who had previously poked fun of my geekdom. People who had who had characterized me as a hot pocket eating, neckbearded , virgin, because I had a well painted Dark Elf army in my attic where now two feet deep into a world that I had ate , slept and breathed for 15 years! And when I thought it couldn't have gotten any worse , when I thought my head was going to explode from the injustice it dawned on me. These people were flying , many for the first time, their geek flag! This wasn't something I should be angry at. Something to loathe. This was something that I should celebrate. These people where vindicating my life long passion for the Kingdom of Geeknerddom! And when this was fully digested and realized I smiled, because I was right all along.