Getting the Banshee Back Together One Last Time

I started watching Banshee on a lark.

I happened to be home on January 11, 2013.  I can't remember how the show came onto my radar.  I had read an unkind review of it that at least hinted at the pulp elements I thought I might enjoy.  I had seen the giveaway comic book sent out to promote the show. I had no preconceived notions.  I watched, and was entertained.

Four years and 37 episodes later, that's still the case.  I was always charmed by this batshit crazy show that still managed nuance and heartfelt character work when it mattered. What started as "What will they do this week?" became "I need to tell people what they did this week!".  I wish more people had watched, but cult shows don't tend to last 100 episodes.  I'm damn happy we got 38.

A bit of Key Art from Banshee season 4

POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOLLOW

The end of Banshee season three stripped away much of what the show had been about, so season four was largely a reintroduction after nearly two years of story time had passed.  Production moved from Charlotte, NC to Pittsburgh, PA and there was no way to disguise the fact that the show just looked different.  I mourned the loss of some of the show's more human characters in this blog post, and though Banshee moved its timeline ahead, Lucas Hood and Carrie Hopewell were still trying to work past the losses of Siobhan Kelly and Gordon Hopewell, to say nothing of their kidnapped colleague Job.  While Lucas and Carrie searched for Job, Brock Lotus finally got to be sheriff, Kai Proctor took over as Banshee's mayor, and the local white supremacist faction consolidated their power while manufacturing drugs for Proctor and his mysterious, powerful allies.

Oh yeah, and a Satanic serial killer decided to set up shop in town and start killing and mutilating young women, leading to the introduction of FBI Special Agent Veronica Dawson, Violent Crimes. That storyline also killed off one of the town's most interesting and dynamic characters, Rebecca Bowman.  This did not make me happy.

Matt Servitto as Brock Lotus and Eliza Dushku as Veronica Dawson

It's easy to bag on the serial killer trope, and it's one of the rare instances when going for something weird didn't really work on Banshee. Every action/cop show does a serial killer eventually, and unfortunately Declan Bode wasn't what the show needed when only eight hours were left to spend with the original cast and their collection of stories.  Dawson certainly worked as a new character in this milieu and Eliza Dushku was game to play this damaged, crack-smoking anti-heroine and possible love interest for Hood, but in a town already rife with Native American terrorists, Amish gangsters, toxic skinheads and corrupt military officials, body-modding Satanists might have been a bridge too far. The serial killer story ultimately worked as a red herring to set up a final episode twist, and it maneuvered the show into one of the best scenes of its run when Hood and Lotus are captured and tied up together, allowing Lotus to finally go full Frank Pembleton on Hood.  I understand the writers wanting to continue to expand the peculiar underground of this wackadoo town, but more time with Kai Proctor, his skinhead minions, and his machinations with higher authorities would have been welcome.  Also, leaving Job, their most purely entertaining character, off the board for a short while, then having him deal with PTSD for most of his screentime, certainly allowed Hoon Lee scenes worthy of his admirable talent, but took some of the alchemy that made Banshee work so well out of the equation.  Lastly, I don't know much about the behind-the-scenes production aspects of the show, but one of the things that made Banshee unique were its action scenes: brutal fights, jarring killshots, labyrinthine chases, and innovative camera-work.  I'm guessing that fight budgets were slashed, leaving most of the impressive action for the final episode.

Ivana Milicevic as Carrie. Burn, Baby, Burn.

But I come to praise Banshee, not bury it. The finale was vintage stuff, featuring a raid on Proctor's drug shipment ending with an exploding big rig (and Lotus with a rocket launcher), a brother vs. brother showdown between Kurt Bunker's reformed skinhead deputy and his brownshirt asshole brother Calvin, and a bloody creek bed brawl four seasons in the making between Hood and bow-tie-wearing killing machine Burton.  Carrie's role as town vigilante, taking down Proctor's agents whenever and wherever she could not only allowed Ivana  Milicevic to use a flamethrower (file under: FUCK YEAH!) but allowed the show's female lead a great deal of agency after she had been wrung out over the three previous seasons. Former manwhore Hood not jumping into bed with Dawson kept Siobhan's death meaningful, Job's revenge on his kidnapper was juicy and appropriate, world-weary Sugar Bates walking away with a fortune honored all the shit that guy had to put up with, and finally seeing Brock Lotus wear that sheriff's star was as dramatically satisfying as anything this show has done.  Ending a show in a fulfilling fashion is tough as hell, and if the show's fourth season was a little slow out of the gate, it was accelerating as it crossed the finish line.

So Banshee has concluded its run, and as a complete story, it's going to pick up new bingewatching viewers as time goes on.  Twin Peaks, a show that influenced the tone and tenor of Banshee, is coming back after 25 years away, and in an age where intellectual property is being redeveloped, rebooted, and reimagined constantly, I firmly believe we'll see the characters and setting of that bugfuck Pennsylvania town again, hopefully played by the same talented actors who gave this show more soul and sweat than I ever would have thought possible on January 11, 2013.

And I'll be watching.

RIP Banshee

Belated BHoF 2014

As I write this, I am one week away from traveling to Las Vegas for Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend 2015. It will be my fourth year attending in a row.  I wrote down some thoughts about the experience in 2012 and 2013 and had fully intended to do a write-up about 2014 well before now, and it's fairly inexcusable that I haven't. As I've said before, I write about the Weekender not to criticize anyone's performance but to celebrate the stuff I find inspiring or special. I am not a critic and feel I have a lot more burlesque to watch before I could begin to fulfill that role. As always, any opinions are strictly my own and in no way are intended to slight or offend. I am just trying to be a better fan/admirer of this art I have come to love, and I come to understanding through writing.

As such, I am, for this entry, at least, not going with my past "Five Favorite Performances" format. It served its purpose previously, and I certainly may return to it, but this time I'm going with something a little less structured. Also, all of the performances from 2014 are online at Vimeo, so I can link directly to the performance instead of trying to coordinate with photographers to find photos I like (one bonus of waiting so damn long to write this). In no particular order, these are simply a few numbers I enjoyed. Not all, by any stretch of the imagination, but a few that stuck with me, for whatever reason.


Bonnie Fox - 2014 - 24th Annual Tournament of Tease from BurlesqueHall on Vimeo.

Bonnie Fox: I'd be hard-pressed to name a favorite overall routine from 2014, but if forced I'd probably pick this one. Bonnie's Charleston number is as classic as they come with a great striptease seamlessly added in. I tend to prefer my burlesque on the neo side, but Bonnie was a perfect blend of technical proficiency and the SHEER JOY OF PERFORMING. Honestly, the happiness that she felt on that stage, knowing she was hitting every mark, radiated outward and allowed the audience to share in the moment. Bonnie won "Best Debut" and "Most Dazzling" with this showstopper, as well as a roomful of hearts.


Iva Handfull - 2014 - 24th Annual Tournament of Tease from BurlesqueHall on Vimeo.

Iva Handfull:  There are certain people who always hit a sweet spot for me. Iva is one such performer. She's blessedly unique, mixing glam and punk and industrial and rock influences into something that's just so damn exciting every time she takes the stage. Her costuming is always creative, her musical selections are far from traditional burlesque offerings, and she ALWAYS BRINGS IT. In this case, she brought it to Scissor Sisters' "Filthy Gorgeous." She killed it, as she always does, and LOOK AT THAT MOTHERFUCKING HEADDRESS. LOOK AT IT. You're going to have a fever dream involving that headdress. And you'll want more.


Kay Sera – 2014 Movers, Shakers & Innovators Showcase from BurlesqueHall on Vimeo.

Kay Sera: I love the Movers, Shakers & Innovators showcase. Just love it. It's the best chance during the weekend to see stuff that may be a little more bizarre or humorous or just outside the box. Kay Sera turning Eve's temptation in the Garden of Eden into a cheeky reverse striptease with great props and a fine bit of tassle-twirling set to "Bolero" and "Welcome to the Jungle" was more than enough to make me happy.


The Ruby Revue - 2014 - 24th Annual Tournament of Tease from BurlesqueHall on Vimeo.

Ruby Revue: If you couldn't tell from Ginger Valentine placing as second runner-up in the insanely competitive Queen competition this year and Missy Lisa winning the "Most Classic" trophy, Ruby Revue is a collection of By-God SHOWGIRLS. From TEXAS. Dancing to a double-dose of David Rose ("Sunset Strip" and a sexed-up "St. James Infirmary,") they deliver choreography you could cut paper on and a rainbow spectacle of costumes that you'd be content to go blind after seeing. They won "Best Troupe" for this routine, and you can see why. They're one of the most professional groups going today.



Aurora Galore - 2014 - 24th Annual Tournament of Tease from BurlesqueHall on Vimeo.

Aurora Galore: I've said it before and I'll say it again now: "Most Innovative" is my favorite award of the weekend. In 2014 it deservedly went to Aurora Galore. She brought Weird Sexy Ringmaster Realness to the stage and immediately shot up the list of unique performers who do something different and special and demand to be seen and respected on their own terms. Her performance was one of the most electrifying of the weekend and thankfully, the crowd ate it up.


Lola Frost - 2014 - 24th Annual Tournament of Tease from BurlesqueHall on Vimeo.

Lola Frost: Another woman for whom I am unapologetically a complete mark, Lola is the rare performer who combines a distinct personal aesthetic with a hybrid of dance forms both old and new to create amazing burlesque that could come only from her.  She's extraordinarily good. And just extraordinary in general. If you told me that electroswing was created by someone who caught a contact high from her glitter, I'd not even question the claim. Also, with this "Fancy Flapper" routine she works those assels like a prizefighter gunning for points in the twelfth round. Can I get a witness?!


Midnite Martini - 2014 - 24th Annual Tournament of Tease from BurlesqueHall on Vimeo.

Midnite Martini: It's only right to say something about the Queen, isn't it? Beginning with a great visual, then fully revealing herself and A RHINESTONED LADDER she treats like a balance beam before finishing with skilled aerial work, I think a lot of people fully expected this act to take the title as they watched it gloriously unfold. I met Midnite months later when she headlined Atlanta's Southern Fried Burlesque Festival, and I like this win for reasons beyond her obvious talent. Midnite is a genuinely nice person and a damn fine ambassador for burlesque and The Burlesque Hall of Fame and will continue to be for years to come, I'm certain. Oh, did I mention RHINESTONED LADDER?!

That's it for this time. Again, there are several more acts I could highlight with great enthusiasm, but I'm running out of adjectives. I will say that I am more excited than ever to attend BHoF in 2015, as I think I finally may have figured out how to do the thing right. And I've actually seen each of the performers vying for Miss Exotic World at least once, a few of them multiple times, and I know that pageant is going to be breathtaking for the audience and brain-grindingly difficult to judge for the poor souls put in charge of such a thing. Which probably means it will be another year before you see me write about it, because winnowing it down to a few acts is hard enough without having to choose a "winner."

I leave you with a few random photos from Las Vegas and BHoF 2014.

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If the Las Vegas Neon Museum ever decides to sell this, BHoF should jump.

Me with the balletic Bonnie Fox.

Well met, Kitty Glitter. Well met.

Me with the incandescent Iva Handfull.

If this is wrong, Kitty Glitter, I don't want to be right.

Me with the adroit Aurora Galore.

Speak not of this, Kitty Glitter.

Post-fest at Frankie's Tiki Room. Trying to forget Kitty Glitter.

Crying Over Banshee

As I write this, it is just over two weeks since Cinemax drama Banshee aired the final episode of its third season. Unlike a lot of shows which introduce an overarching concept and milk it until syndication, Banshee has proven to be an action drama that is relatively comfortable with change, for good or ill. This is a show that has built up a lot of goodwill with me, and if nothing else it stages thrilling action setpieces better than any other show on television (and superseding most films, to boot). I'm still damn excited to see how Banshee moves forward past some fundamental alterations that happened in season three, but I'm admittedly still a bit shellshocked by them, so much so that it took me two damn weeks to mull over my thoughts on what the show accomplished this year.

Banshee Season 3 Key Art

I watch Banshee live as often as I can. I usually livetweet while viewing at 10pm, then immediately watch the rebroadcast Cinemax so thoughtfully schedules at 11pm sans the Twitter distraction to pick up on subtleties that may have escaped me, or just watch a really obese guy become road sausage again because...c'mon, that scene was batshit crazy. One of the things Banshee has done very well is modulation between the batshittery, which is the obvious selling point of the show, and actual, nuanced character work and damn solid acting. Characters in Banshee live in one of two worlds...the stylized action world, and something approaching the real world (as real as it can get in this crazy town, anyway). I've always felt that the characters who lived in this so-called "real" version of Banshee help ground the craziness and make the hyper-intense world of Lucas Hood, Carrie Hopewell, Sugar Bates,Job, Kai Procter, Rebecca Bowman and Chayton Littlestone a place where stakes feel dramatically viable and human-scaled.

Rus Blackwell as Gordon Hopewell, schooling some punk kids

In season three, Banshee killed its two most human characters. As someone who came to love Trieste K. Dunn as Siobhan Kelly and Rus Blackwell as Gordon Hopewell, their losses make this a fundamentally different show. Gone is Lucas Hood's promise for something approaching normalcy. Gone is the man whose support allowed Carrie Hopewell to rebuild herself. Because these characters were rarely a part of those aforementioned setpieces, they didn't have as much screen time as others, but Dunn and Blackwell made their scenes count.  Siobhan had conquered her personal demons. Gordon had pulled himself out of his vice spiral and assumed the mayorship of the town. I took the Siobhan death particularly hard. Even though Dunn stayed around for a couple of episodes after her character's death to appear in dream sequences and hallucinations, I have to admit that the urgency to rewatch that 11pm rebroadcast was not nearly as strong with my favorite character gone. The deaths of Siobhan and Gordon were handled about as well as they could be, but their import to the show cannot be overstated. Dunn's luminous power and Blackwell's load-bearing authority will be gravely missed.

What Chayton actually broke was my damn heart. (Geno Segers, Trieste K. Dunn)

There is a lot to love about season three, though. New characters Billy Raven (Chaske Spencer), Kurt Bunker (Tom Pelphrey), Douglas Stowe (Langley Kirkwood), Robert Phillips (Denis O'Hare), Aimee King (Meaghan Rath) and Emily Lotus (Tanya Clarke) were all dramatically intriguing and added texture to the ensemble, though my newbie MVP was Clarke. Matt Servitto's Brock Lotus is a favorite of mine and clearly the writer's room, and even though he's one of the aforementioned "real world" characters, his facility with a one-liner makes me believe he'll survive for a while. Fleshing him out by introducing us to his ex-wife is a thoughtful way of deepening Brock, and her portrayal as a sympathetic, nurturing counselor whose own personal life is dysfunctional as hell is a nice tightrope for an actor to walk. We also got more burrowing into the pasts of mystery men Burton (Matthew Rauch) and Job (Hoon Lee), while chief villain Kai Proctor flirted with absolution upon the death of his mother, Leah Proctor (Jennifer Griffin) in some of my favorite scenes of the year. The action sequences were again on point, from a highway gun supply hijacking to a brutal two-person duel (Burton and Odette Annable's Nola Longshadow) making full, "every part of the buffalo" use of a Rolls-Royce to an all-night siege at the Banshee police station to an innovatively-filmed military base heist to a Hood/Chayton chase through a surreally empty French Quarter ending in one of the more graphic shotgunnings you could ever hope to see just outside Mardi Gras World (Geno Segers was unquestionably great as Chayton, by the way), Banshee never lost sight of the fact that action scenes work best when you care about the consequences of the barrages, bullets, and bone-breaks. And, of course, the two leading actors of this show, Antony Starr and Ivana Milicevic, continue to murder in the roles of Lucas and Carrie, while Ulrich Thomsen serves up one of the most complex bad men on TV.

The first table read for Banshee season three, when 1/3 of these characters were still alive.

If I had to guess, there are going to be two more seasons of Banshee. This production churns story at a rate unlike anything else on television, and at some point most of the characters will be dead or incapacitated, so two more seasons seems about right. I'll be there for every episode, no matter who they kill or how they kill them.  That said, there is a dramatically viable version of Banshee in another dimension which ends with newly appointed Sheriff Siobhan Kelly guarding the town against the machinations of ascendant ex-Amish crimelord Rebecca Bowman (Lili Simmons). I know I'd watch the hell out of that show.

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I was in New Orleans the night Hood and Brock went looking for Chayton. All I found was delicious ice cream.

Forgotten Femmes

I watch a lot of TV, which has been more than adequately expressed/bemoaned in this space before. And I am happy to say that more and more great roles are being written for women on the so-called small screen. So much so that, because of the bias towards males in our society or because of the focus on other characters in their shows, there are some great actresses playing fantastic characters on television who are not often written about. As I prepare for the premiere of season three of Banshee tonight, which stars my favorite underserved female character, I wanted to single out a few such actresses who I feel are somewhat unheralded when these shows are discussed.

Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier on The Walking Dead

One could argue that, by virtue of TWD being so popular, no one is overlooked, but I'd disagree. The Walking Dead is certainly an enjoyable show, but it often mistakes character death with story growth. With Rick, Michonne, and breakout sensation Daryl getting most of the screen time and the action bits, it's easy to forget that the character who has gone through the most actual change, and the actress who has most clearly and compassionately communicated that journey, is Melissa McBride. Characters tend to disappear for episodes at a time on The Walking Dead, but when I see McBride I always know at least a portion of that episode is going to be really damn good.

Azure Parsons as Gloriana Embry on Salem

When one discusses Salem, the conversation begins and continues for a good long while with Janet Montgomery. It would be easy to just write a little about Montgomery, because not a lot of people have yet discovered Salem, and she's certainly doing amazing service to a show that's essentially an entertainingly schlocky supernatural melodrama. But one shouldn't ignore the heartfelt and heartbreaking turn by Parsons as a prostitute caught in the middle of an impossible family struggle. Though Gloriana was written out of the show, I believe her return could only help a program still finding its identity in many respects.

Kerry Bishé as Donna Clark on Halt and Catch Fire 

The showy female part on this AMC drama is Mackenzie Davis' Cameron Howe, but the one I came to love is Donna Clark.  On paper, Donna is the most thankless role on the show, the wife to a genius engineer who must keep their household together while he grinds toward something great. The thing is, Donna is just as smart as Gordon and, in her way, just as wildly creative.  Unlike many shows where a female is seen as the harpy preventing the male character from achieving some sort of greatness, Donna is the one clearly in the right of any familial argument. Even a potentially troubling storyline involving a possible affair takes an unexpected zigzag, and the misdirection works because Bishé has succeeded in making Donna so sympathetic and dynamic a character.

Robin McLeavy as Eva Ferguson on Hell on Wheels

Hell on Wheels is a curious case for me. It does some things really well, particularly allowing Anson Mount to play a taciturn Western hero, and has some amazing actors in the cast. But Hell of Wheels also dealt with a serious creative shake-up halfway through its existence, and often runs into the problem of forcing square characters into round scenes on any given week in order to move the story along.  Best case, a strong actor can shine a light on a different facet of the character. Worst case, it's just a mess. Happily, Hell on Wheels has Robin McLeavy, who is the best of the best case.  I don't think any actor on the show has had to sell sharp story turns as often as McLeavy, but she makes Eva grounded, believable, and powerful even in defeat and tragedy. Mount is the star of the show, but McLeavy is the team MVP.

Annet Mahendru as Nina Sergeevna on The Americans

I can't wait for the third season on The Americans, because the first two were so damn good and the potential is there for this to be an all-time great show.  It nails its character melodrama perfectly, and it's period details are both fun and lived-in all at once. Keri Russell is the star and deserves all her due praise, but the conceit of the show means Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings won't be caught in their spy game anytime soon.  So while the show is a thriller, knowing the lead characters won't be discovered undercuts the thrills ever so slightly.  Fortunately we have Nina, a Soviet embassy employee compromised by the FBI . Though she has no interaction with the ostensible lead characters, much of the drama on the show has centered around which side Nina is going to choose and if she'll survive the choice. Mahendru slyly underplays many of her scenes, refusing to telegraph which way Nina is going to swerve, but you always see the gears turning in her head. A lot of shows tread water when the leads are away and the B and C plots take over, but Mahendru makes the show's primary subplot compelling as hell.

Trieste Kelly Dunn as Siobhan Kelly on Banshee

Banshee is such an all-in show filled with such eccentric characters that I feel one of its strongest performers is frequently lost in the shuffle.  With Ivana Milicevic doing amazing work as the clear leading lady of the show and Lili Simmons sexually carpet bombing the town, Dunn's soulful, grounded woman-coming-into-her-own Siobhan Kelly, though certainly kickass and sexy all in her own right, seems overlooked at times.  Which is a damn shame, because she's become the moral center of the show and the beacon of normalcy for not-really-the-sheriff Lucas Hood. I know that with a sprawling cast and so many characters to serve, Siobhan may not get a spotlight every week, but when she's been asked to take it (season one's "The Kindred" and season two's "The Thunder Man"), she owns the screen.  Dunn is a legitimately great actress, and I hope Siobhan is well-represented in season three.

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Heroes Are Easy To Find In Charlotte

I cannot and should not undersell how important comic books have been to my development as a person and as a writer, whatever good and bad that may entail.  As a kid, I liked comics more than cartoons and picture books, and as I grew up and realized that the super-heroes I liked shared a world with each other, and that stories built on themselves over time, I was hooked.  I certainly enjoyed novels and movies and whatnot, but the impetus to hear and tell stories really blossomed for me through comic books.

I could go on about how complex the comic book marketplace is right now, from Warner Bros. and Disney using DC and Marvel, respectively, as R&D labs for film and television (where the real money is), to creators publishing their work independently more and more often, some for the creative control it allows them, and others hoping to score a development deal. It would be easy to be somewhat cynical about some of these trends, but the fact is there is greater diversity of story types, character types, and gender and ethnicity among creators than at any time in history; Even a good portion of the super-hero output is infinitely more sophisticated than the stuff I read as a kid.

I have been to Comic-Con International in San Diego a few times, but that circus has become grating to attend as a fan and seems less interested than previously in comics and their creators unless perhaps those comics have recently been turned into a film or television show. And with so many smaller "comic con" shows cropping up around the country, filling out their guest rosters with a dude who was once a zombie on The Walking Dead rather than an actual comic book creator, finding a show primarily dedicated to comic books and the people who make them is getting harder to do. I have heard fantastic things about the Baltimore Comic-Con, as well as Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, but for my money, the best show in the country, the one most enjoyable to attend as someone who enjoys comic books, is Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina, brought to life every summer by comic retailer Heroes Aren't Hard to Find.

One month ago, Heroes Con concluded what I believe was its 32nd annual show during the weekend of June 20-22, and although I was not able to stay for the entire thing, I'm going to estimate that it was my tenth time in attendance.  I went determined to spend my alloted funds carefully (which is easier to do when you're not seeking out sketches and original art), see what fun stuff might be on display, and chat with some friends I may only see once a year or so.

I began by scouting out the former Gaijin Studios crew, staring with Laura Martin, to see what books she's coloring these days and marvel at the depth and nuance of her work. Then, proceeding around the table, I caught up with inker extraordinaire Karl Story and ninja penciler Georges Jeanty, happily checking out their art from the final issue of Serenity: Leaves on the Wind.  I glanced at Brian Stelfreeze making some watercolors dance, and got zero intel from Cully Hamner about his super-secret upcoming projects.  I also chatted with Tony Shasteen, a former Gaijin member who I didn't know every well because his stint in the studio coincided with some time I was largely stepping away from comic books.  My first purchase of the con was Tony's book "Stealing the Scene Vol. 1," a collection of his illustrations of iconic or memorable frames from a wide variety of movies.  I had not intended to spend any cash on Friday, but after circulating around, the book stayed in my head. Not fooling myself, I picked up a copy just before the show floor closed down. (You can see plenty of these illustrations & order a copy yourself at Tony's website.)

With the show ending, I went to the Drink & Draw event, essentially a sketch party for charity, and met up with a guy I only knew from Twitter, the irascible Bobby Simpson. He's a helluva guy, an artist with a lot of potential, and damn funny, to boot. Afterward, I cut out to drive to my hotel and to see if a hoped-for trip to the Banshee set might be in the offing.  Unfortunately, Banshee was in the midst of a grueling series of all-night shoots, and I didn't want to bother an unfortunate production assistant who was likely tired and irritable with one more person to look after, so I'll hope the visit works out for a date in the future.

I slept in and checked out of my hotel, then made my way back to the show in time to catch a conversation with one of the best writers in comics for the past 20+ years, Mark Waid.  Even if you don't like his stories (and I do), he speaks so well about comics and storytelling that I take any opportunity I can to hear him. Now, I am not a fan of reading comics on my computer, so digital comics are not my thing (this is only one confession I'm going to admit that will make me seem a premature fuddy-duddy), but Mark's website Thrillbent clearly has some great material from a variety of writers and artists.  I actually pitched some Lovecraft-esque anthology stories to Mark a few years ago when he was an editor at Boom! Studios, and though it didn't work out I still have a couple of stories I like in my hip pocket I believe will express themselves in one form or another some day. The moral: pitch your ideas; a no can one day be a yes.

Heroes Con has expanded its space since last I attended, and moving through the convention center was easier than I remembered it being in years past. Among the many things that Heroes Con does right (and this is where I shall again seem prematurely fuddy-duddyish) is giving a big section of the room to the growing contingent of cosplayers. Cosplay is such an influence on conventions that some shows (I'm looking at you, DragonCon) largely seem to exist for cosplayers to show out.  Cosplay has its place, and I would never attempt to stop people from enjoying the things they enjoy in the way they want to enjoy them, but, again, the thing that interests me are the actual books wherein many of these cosplay characters originated in the first place; I just wouldn't want that to get overshadowed. Anyway, hats off to Heroes Con for providing a cosplay space. No show can ever completely do away with people in costume walking the aisles at peak hours, stopping to pose for pictures and impeding the flow of traffic, but the fact that an attempt is being made to manage a potential problem is fantastic.

I usually spend most of my time at shows circulating through Artist Alley, so actually being able to move about is important to me. It's great to scope out art, chat with friends both old and new, and catch teases for work that hasn't been released yet. I often don't spend time actually going through the dealer's space, but this year I made a concerted effort to stop by every booth to see what books were in demand and whether or not it might be time to sell a portion of my own collection (I will probably not sell it for a good long while, but it's fun to consider).  Here's the stuff I picked up:

Southern Bastards #1 (Heroes Con variant cover): No new book of the last couple of months has me more excited than Southern Bastards. Writer Jason Aaron and artist Jason Latour simmer a bunch of chicken fried Deep South influences (most notably Walking Tall, the original, NOT the one starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) into a Brunswick Stew of whoop-ass and dark inevitability. I freakin' love this book.

Fearless Dawn: I love it when one person takes an inventory of all the stuff they like, then writes and draws the sum total of their influences into a comic book. It may be good, it may be bad, but at least it's distinctive and unique and idiosyncratic. Steve Mannion clearly loves attractive women, crazy monsters, rockabilly culture, Nazis as bad guys, and all sorts of other psychotronic goodness.  I was terribly excited to meet Steve, and was sad I had not budgeted money for commissions. These books are a hell of a lot of fun, though, so I have that.

Big Trouble in Little China #1 (Frank Cho variant): If you didn't know, Boom! Studios is publishing a sequel to Big Trouble in Little China in comic book form.  A FREAKIN' SEQUEL TO BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Co-written by John freakin' Carpenter. Of course I'm going to buy it. And even though I already own a copy, I found a great deal on this beautiful variant cover. Sold.

Harley Quinn #2 (Second Print cover): As someone who doesn't tend to care about variant covers, I sure bought a lot of variants at Heroes Con. I really just bought this because I love cover artist Amanda Conner so damn much. Amanda is warm, funny, and kind, and her mastery of facial expression and body language is second to none. The Harley Quinn book, co-written by Amanda and her husband Jimmy Palmiotti, is one of the most purely enjoyable things coming from a major comic publisher right now.

Rocket Raccoon #1: I could have bought multiple copies of this book for a buck or so over the years, but now that the insane little rodent is going to be a movie star, I don't want to get caught flat-footed. This is strictly an investment, but the early artwork by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is notable.

Seduction of the Innocent 3-D: Like most anyone who enjoys comic art, I love the work of the late, great Dave Stevens. You just don't see many copies of this particular title, so I happily scooped it up.

Phil Noto Mad Men print: I remember attending Heroes Con several years ago, and almost every artist I stopped to chat with was whispering about this new guy, Phil Noto. Phil got a lot of work after that, and is now killing it every month on Marvel's new Black Widow comic. This print is clearly a great interpretation of the show's characters, but what sold me on it was the SCDP logo in the bottom left corner.  Just a cool, thoughtful touch that put this over the edge for me.

I had to catch up with a few more people before I left. Craig Rousseau is one of the nicest guys around, a fellow Red Sox fan, and a man who shares more than a few of my TV viewing habits.  It hurt to discuss this season for the Sawx, so we mainly chatted about television and his recent work in Batman '66 #9, which is, as always, beautiful. Then I checked in on Tom Fowler and saw some of the amazing commissions he was turning out. When I was actively trying to break into comics as a writer a few years ago, I always made a point of finding Tom and chatting him up. I love when an artist brings a personality and a unique sense of storytelling to their work, and few do that better than Tom.

I was also ecstatic to meet Meghan Hetrick, an artist on the rise whose work I am just beginning to enjoy. She was readying a gorgeous Elektra painting for the Heroes Con art auction on the centrally-located stage where people could sit and rest and watch amazing artists doing their thing for hours, if they wished. I officially met her a little later as she walked the aisles with one of her collaborators, Marguerite Bennett (They worked together on DC's Joker's Daughter one-shot), a promising writer whose workload is about to increase exponentially, with announced projects from DC, Marvel, and some of the big independent publishers, too. They were both funny and thoughtful and I hope to see more collaborations from them in the future.

With that, not quite two full days of Heroes Con were over and done with, so I pointed my car towards home. I before mentioned the plethora of smaller shows popping up around the country, some of which are fantastic, and some of them less so. With the huge San Diego show not going anywhere, and other huge cons growing in New York and elsewhere, we are approaching Peak Comic Convention. As such, it is worthwhile recognizing a show that not only does it right, but has been doing it right for a long time.

Thanks Heroes Con. I will be back.

-Follow me on Twitter @TheOneWhoKnox

Harold Ramis R.I.P.

I am always looking for things to write about, but this time I wish I weren't inspired.

I was rocked today to learn that Harold Ramis has passed away, at age 69,  of complications from autoimmune imflammatory vasculitis.

Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters

I would be upset anyway, but a few years ago I actually met the man, and was so thoroughly impressed in my brief time around him that today is suddenly shadowed with an extra patina of grief.

I am sometimes employed in the film industry, and I was spending some time in Shreveport, Louisiana, trying to break in. My attempts at getting hired as a crew member were coming to naught at the time, so I had to fall back on a job I had hoped to not have to do again, work as an extra or, as some like to call it, "background artist." Fortunately, the film Year One was nearing the end of its principal photography, and a few scenes near the beginning of the film, before Jack Black and Michael Cera's characters are banished from their village, remained to be shot.  Production was looking for people who had not yet worked on the movie to play these primitive tribespeople for several days of work, and fortunately I got the booking.

Me, in full costume and make-up, on the set of Year One

Now, Year One, in hindsight, is far from a masterpiece, but I was excited to be working with Black and Cera, a pre-Stefon Bill Hader was on set for his small role in the film, and HAROLD RAMIS was the director.

As a writer, director, producer, and actor, Ramis touched so many great projects that there is a good chance at least one of them ranks among your favorite films or television shows: Ghostbusters, Stripes, Caddyshack, Animal House, Groundhog Day, Knocked Up, SCTV, The Office and so many more. As a performer, he mixed a casual yet sharp intellect with a regular-guy affability that also characterized the films in which you never saw his face. You just liked Harold Ramis and the movies he made. Though he was never the guy who got the most laughs as a performer, he certainly took his share, and Bill Murray wouldn't be half as funny in Stripes or Ghostbusters without Ramis' steady presence to boomerang around.

Harold Ramis directs Michael Cera & Jack Black in Year One

When I met him, he was strolling around set, enjoying the extensive work the set builders and decorators had achieved, clearly loving his job and the accomplishments of his crew. He was so approachable that people did approach him, and he didn't care if you were the star of the film, the first assistant director or a lowly extra like me. He had a smile on his face, actually engaged with anyone who talked to him, and left a lot of people in Shreveport, Louisiana discussing how freaking great Harold Ramis was.

It is no secret that talented people are not necessarily pleasant, or even decent human beings, but Harold Ramis was easily among the most warm and thoughtful of the famous people I've ever met or worked with. At age 69, he should still be creating, but tragically that is not the case.

Thank you, Mr. Ramis, for taking a couple of minutes to talk to an enthusiastic extra who enjoyed your work and your sense of humor. Once I've processed the sadness of your loss, I will undoubtedly laugh again, probably at something you made.

Rest in peace.

Banshee: The Truth About The Midpoint

I have written about the Cinemax show Banshee before, and since I've already summarized season one, I'm going to get right into writing about the show's second season at its halfway point. I will try to avoid many overt spoilers, but be forewarned, anyway.

Key art for Banshee season 2

I started watching Banshee as a lark.  I expected it to be full of sex and violence in entertaining amounts, and it certainly fulfilled those criteria. But by the eighth episode, I began to understand that this wasn't just a show about T&A and gunplay. There was actually nuance to a show that had little business being nuanced. Banshee had all the pulpy goodness my adolescent id desired, and all the shades of gray and thoughtful performances my super-ego required. It's not a show constructed for everyone, but the creative team is clearly busting its hump to be different, to be entertaining, and to make every hour count. If it occasionally flirts with camp, well, why not? When you also cast a lot of relatively unknown up and coming actors who are all committed to the insanity and who have genuine chemistry, you get something special.

I, for one, am hooked.

Zeljko Ivanek as Jim Racine

Season one ended with the primary outside antagonist, the gangster Rabbit (the squirrelly Ben Cross) seemingly killed by the hands of his own daughter, Ana aka Carrie Hopewell (the conflicted Ivana Milicevic). Season two picks up the aftermath mainly by stacking a lot of new dominoes which will surely come crashing down again. The Banshee PD is largely given a slap on the wrist for their "every weapon in town" response to Rabbit's invasion by Rabbit-hating FBI Agent Jim Racine (the always fantastic Zeljko Ivanek). Needing some sort of scapegoat, Carrie is incarcerated, which only detonates her already-broken relationship with her husband Gordon Hopewell (the soulful Rus Blackwell) and daughter Deva (the coltish Ryann Shane). The tensions between new Kinaho tribe leader Alex Longshadow (the assured Anthony Ruivivar) and shunned Amish crime boss Kai Proctor (the icily confident Ulrich Thomsen) are paralleled by outrage in both communities when a young Kinaho girl is murdered and the Amish boy who was her secret paramour goes missing.  Also brought into the story's fold with this arc is Chayton Littlestone (dramatic find of the year Geno Segers), a Kinaho gang leader with equal measures of guile, brute strength, intellect, charisma, and a strangely dulcet voice. To say nothing of leading man, faux-Sheriff Lucas Hood (the chisled yet compellingly human Antony Starr), who finally pulls off a long-planned armored car heist, has to head up the aforementoned murder investigation despite not being a real cop, must bed two of the most attractive women on television, sister of Alex and Kinaho enforcer Nola Longshadow (the otherworldly Odette Annable) and deputy Siobhan Kelly (the grounded yet luminous Trieste Kelly Dunn) with whom he has exhibited obvious chemistry, and, oh yeah, deal with the arrival of the REAL Lucas Hood's son, Jason (the fresh-faced Harrison Thomas) who needs a favor from Lucas.

Geno Segers as Chayton Littlestone

Damn that's a good bit of story. And it's not even all of it! As I've said, Banshee packs in a lot.

Some further observations:

Lili Simmons as Rebecca Bowman and Ulrich Thomsen as Kai Proctor

-The murder storyline underscores the complex pull/push Kai Proctor has with his Amish heritage while also illustrating the widening familial gulf Proctor's niece, Rebecca Bowman (the dangerously attractive Lili Simmons) is forced to navigate. This is clearly another conflicted central duo in the show going forward, and the Kai/Rebecca relationship is rich and troubling in all the amazing premium cable ways. Though Proctor is one hell of a villain, and this season's action has greatly added to his shading, I can see Rebecca unseating him by the time Banshee finishes its run. When you add the unreadable menace that is Proctor aide/bodyguard Clay Burton (the mysterious and bow-tie bedecked Matthew Rauch), the ex-Amish organized crime contingent becomes all the more volatile.

Trieste Kelly Dunn as Siobhan Kelly

-Once again, I love Trieste Kelly Dunn as Siobhan Kelly. In season two's second episode, "The Thunder Man," she finally gets the signature moment the character has needed.  Siobhan's shitbag ex-husband Breece (the joyfully scuzzy Peter Scanavino) returns to town. After a promising overture, he reveals his true colors and, rather than rolling over or sending a concerned Hood to solve her problem, Siobhan goes to Breece's hotel room, destroys the place in the ensuing fight, and utilizes a finishing move I hope makes it into the eventual Banshee video game when she uses the bedside Gideon Bible to absolutely beat the hell out of her abusive dickface ex. Siobhan's bristly exterior over the entirety of season one was made flesh, and she overcame her demons with a bare-knuckled exorcism.

Demetrius Grosse as Emmett Yawners

-No starring cast member has been given less to do in fifteen episodes than Demetrius Grosse as Deputy Emmett Yawners. I fully expect that to soon not be the case. Chayton Littlestone, while incarcerated, showed a particular disdain for Emmett, essentially calling him a slave and throwing discarded chains at him. First, Demetrius Grosse is great. I took notice of him as Errol in the third season of Justified, and if I took Banshee to task for not giving Brock Lotus (wiseacre Matt Servitto) more to do the last time I wrote about the show, this time I'm going to call for more Demetrius Grosse. Second, I'm going to be happy when, during one of the most epic fight scenes yet filmed in a show known for its fight scenes, Emmett Yawners kicks Chayton Littlestone's ass. Calling it here first, folks.

Greg Yaitanes directing Antony Starr

-Speaking of exclusions, the last time I wrote about the show, I edited out a brief mention of executive producer/director/showrunner Greg Yaitanes from an early draft. I was a fool. Not to slight any of the other producers of the show, but Yaitanes' many hats should not be ignored. His use of Twitter to whip up enthusiasm for Banshee and to drop salient production facts during his livetweets is nothing short of amazing. This guy is a HUGE reason I find Banshee so enjoyable, from the show itself to the way cast and crew openly interact with viewers to the supplemental material the show generates, like the coded, ever-morphing opening credits and the Banshee Origins short films which add layers to the primary action if you choose to view them. Many shows generate additional material which tends to be incidental at best, but Banshee's is utterly compelling.

Hoon Lee as Job. Just Job.

-It admittedly took me a while to wrap my head around fan-favorite character Job, the cross-dressing hacker assayed flamboyantly by Hoon Lee.  Job is probably the most eccentric character on an eccentric show, and Lee's dramatic line readings sometimes seemed out of place to my ears. Either the show has done a better job (no pun intended) of modulating the scenes in which he appears or I finally drank the Kool-Aid, but I am loving Job much more now. Significantly more. Job is frequently near the center of the action as he is one of the few people Hood implicitly trusts, but I would love to see more of him aside from being the computer-savvy guy who can conveniently help out the plot. Although any character paired with Job immediately becomes part of a comedy duo, I firmly believe Job can be far more than the wittiest, bitchiest guy in the room.

Odetta Annable as Nola Longshadow

-The character with the highest batting average this year is Nola Longshadow: Breaking up the armored car heist on a motorcycle, effortlessly seducing Hood (though it doesn't take much), saving Rebecca from a drunken assault before kidnapping her herself, tomahawking the murderer of the Kinaho girl in his prison cell, then disagreeing with Alex's handling of the conflict with Proctor and possibly becoming the wildest card in the show. I imagine anything significant that happens from here on out will somehow involve Nola.

Antony Starr as Lucas Hood and Ivana Milicevic as Carrie Hopewell

-I have to make special mention of the episode that marked the halfway point of season two, the fifth episode titled "The Truth About Unicorns." This episode deeply divided fans online, because, by Banshee standards, it's slow. Yes, an episode that features Carrie screaming in the shower, Carrie getting out of jail, Zeljko Ivanek killing it as usual, two deaths, a visually stunning stalking/shootout in tall grass, and a burning house is "slow". Not to cast aspersions, but fans of the show who didn't like this episode are idiots. I rank it as my second favorite episode behind season one's "We Shall Live Forever," not coincidentally another Carrie-heavy episode (no actor has been better served by Banshee's twists, turns, and tourniquets than Milicevic, and she hugs those story corners like a high performance race car).  Banshee has to serve so many characters and, with Carrie sequestered for a couple of episodes, the show's central Lucas/Carrie relationship was in danger of getting short shrift. Dedicating an hour to letting Starr and Milicevic open their interior lives to each other was a bold, yet wise, choice.  This relationship full of fire and lust and danger and promises for the future is now a trusting, thoughtful, respecting...friendship. That these two love each other enough to acknowledge their distance is what I hope I can find in a partner if I ever pull 15 years in prison to shield her from the consequences of a jewel heist, then return to her unexpectedly and help wreck both the cover keeping her safe as well as her marriage. It is almost heartbreaking to think of this episode as an elegy to the hopes and dreams of Lucas and Carrie, but that's exactly what it is. It's beautiful, though the show characteristically undercuts the melodrama with Lucas' "Fuck that" after Sugar Bates' (the world-weary Frankie Faison) heartfelt speech at the end of the episode.

-If Ivana Milicevic, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Lili Simmons, and Odette Annable aren't toplining significant feature films within the next five years, I just don't know what.

-Antony Starr, too.

-I imagine that Banshee is brutal to shoot.They film in a fairly humid part of country during the summer. They do a lot of fight scenes and other stunts, as well as complex shots requiring discrete special effects A fair amount of the action happens in the dark, necessitating tiring night shoots. Add it all up, and it's a grind. From what I can tell, the cast and crew seem to genuinely get along despite, or perhaps because of, the difficulties of production. This has very little to do with anything, really, except that it makes me happy to see.

Yeah, happy. A TV show makes me happy. I'm cool with that. Here's to the final five of Banshee season two.

Follow me on Twitter @TheOneWhoKnox

Giving Them Wood: My 5th Anniversary Tribute to Salome Cabaret

Modern burlesque often features satire, irony, and sociopolitical subtext alongside the choreography, sequins, and disrobing. I've used humor when writing about burlesque in the past, but today I mainly want to be earnest.

I love Salome Cabaret.

If you don't know, Salome Cabaret is a burlesque troupe in my hometown of Knoxville, TN. The troupe is five years old and it celebrates its anniversary this Friday, September 20.  I hope to be at their show, but since I suspect I will be very late if I can attend at all, I wanted to take a few minutes to say some nice things about them.

Kisa Von Teasa

Siren Santina

Siren Santina & Kisa Von Teasa: My life is better than it was five years ago because you two decided to band together to take your clothes off to music onstage. I continue to be inspired and driven to pursue my own creativity because of what you do. You have assembled a fine troupe of men and women, and even the newest students who are making their way into the group have presented memorable routines that speak well to your tutelage and vision. You have assembled a management team (Hi, John and Dustin) and anointed an assured emcee (Hi, Big Gay James) who all keep things running smoothly and professionally so that your audience never sees the hiccups that inevitably happen backstage. You are among the smartest and most interesting people I know and I am insanely proud to call you, and so many people who perform with you, my friends. I could single out many of them with happy memories and alcohol-infused laughter, but I haven't the words to do them all justice. That they share the stage with you says enough.

Salome Cabaret's most recent official cast photo

Salome Cabaret is something special. Knoxville is relatively small, as cities go, but having seen some of the best burlesque dancers and troupes in the country, Salome ranks near the top of any "best" lists both objective and subjective. Between the powerful homegrown performers generating new routines every month to their frequent and inspiring guests to their visiting all-star headliners, a Salome show is frequently the highlight of any given week to those in the know. They take the ridiculous and make it sublime, all while making hearts beat faster.

Salome Cabaret at Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend 2013

So thank you Beelzabetty, Tiger Tangerine, Delinda d'Rabbit, Cougar Cantrell, Rosey Lady, Nipsy Tussle, Duchess Dakini, Peppy Schlongstocking, Foxey Sarcasm, Lydia Thorne, Pan d'Orable, Bunny Wigglebottom, Beary ManA-Tease, Starry DeLight, Georgia Sweetjuggs, Honey Demure, Ivana Rocket, Passion Pillows, Theda Van der Koil, and stage kittens Meowy Wowee and Cunty Brewster. You are amazing in all the colors of the spectrum. Just like glitter.

Follow me on Twitter @TheOneWhoKnox