Talkin' Serenity and Wondercon

Wondercon is just a few weeks away, and it looks like Whedonistas will have a lot to talk about, but that's later

First, I wanted to say how HAPPY I am we'll finally get to hear "The Shepherd's Tale" (aka Book, the Mysterious Early Years). Instead of it being told in three comic book issues, we'll get it as one hardcover in November. It will be the perfect Christmas gift, along with the Firefly key chain I should be getting soon. The info about this story was first told at the 2007 Browncoat Cruise,and we've been waiting ever since. I think the only juicy clue we got from Ron Glass is that Shepherd Book is not his real name. The rest will come, thanks to Joss and Zack Whedon.

However, we will get another Serenity comic book thaks to Patton Oswalt. He's writing a story called "Float-Out", which is really a tribute to that dinosaur fan of a pilot, Wash. This is set just after Serenity. Oswalt, a new member of the Whedonverse thanks to his fine roles in Dollhouse, has written a few other stories for comics. This should really get him a lot of attention, aside from being a Pixar icon thanks to Ratatouille. The issue is coming in June

OK, now to Wondercon, or one of two reasons why I am heading to SF in April...James Marsters is still planning to be there, but not on a panel. He's there on behalf of Lightspeed Fine Art for autographs and photos. He should also be there to talk about his current role in Caprica, since there will be a panel. Say, if we asked effectively.......

Meanwhile, there will be panels for three TV shows with Whedon alumni. Fans of Morena Baccarin will be happy to know a fresh episode of V will be part of the first day. No word yet on whether she'll be there, too, but we can hope. On Saturday, we get a preview of Happy Town which is about a perfect small town that has horrible secrets...like they're supposed to. Amy Acker will be there, and it's certain she'll be asked about Dollhouse. She'll also be on Human Target, too.

Day three will be the traditional Chuck panel, with Adam Baldwin, Zachary Levi and the gang.

Dark Horse and IDW will also have their panels, too. With news about Serenity and the big plot twist about Twilight Not The Movie on Buffy Season 8 (really, it would have been better if it were Giles, not who it really is, since he was doing dark things in his younger days), Dark Horse will be the more popular panel. Maybe Patton will be there. If Joss was there, THAT would be big.

Naturally, the closing event is again "Once More With Feeling". While it's becoming a tradition, why not have a double feature with Dr. Horrible done in the Rocky Horror style? That's bound to happen when Comic-Con rolls around.

One thing is for sure: Wondercon will not leave San Francisco. It's still the right size for the Comic-Con's annual dress rehearsal.

SyFy presents "Red": On the other hand....

@GrrAargh, from Twitter, posted me about my take on the SyFy fairy tale called "Red' with Felicia Day as Red Riding Hood, who'll face a bigger problem than getting through the woods and a Big Bad Wolf.
To repeat, in this version, Red presents her fiance to her family of werewolf hunters. He gets bitten by a werewolf, and now he's one, too. Thus, she has to decide whether to protect her fiance, or kill him.
From the entry in Wikipedia GrrArgh pointed out, the familiar story can be interpreted as a girl's maturity to womanhood, a morality tale about talking to strangers, or even more intimate that that, as in The Company of Wolves.

I still think my idea might work, even if it's apparently been used before in other media. In the end, it will be a version of Red Riding Hood with forbidden love and werewolf hunting thrown in the mix. After seeing this Wiki about the story, it may not be too far out as viewers may think. Still, it's still about love or duty, a decision a certain Slayer had to make in Sunnydale 12 years ago. We'll see how SyFy presents this age-old dilemma next year.

Felicia Day is Red Riding Hood, but about the story...

As I was looking over the disappointment Oscar viewers were experiencing from last night, and finding out that Comcast wished they hired better crew members to "upgrade" their cable service, I found out about Felicia Day being part of SyFy's series of movies that re-invent classic fairy tales. A couple of weeks ago, we had Beauty and the Beasts, which had a sexy mini-skirted Estella Warren protecting a beast accused of murder actually being orchestrated by an evil prince and his own beast. Naturally, there's a love story.
Anyway, SciFiWire revealed Felicia Day will be in one of those SyFy Fairy Tales. She'll be Red Riding Hood in Red, only it includes werewolves and forbidden love...for the Twilight crowd. The story is Red Riding Hood introduces her fiance to her family of werewolf hunters. He winds up getting bitten by a werewolf, and she has to decide between love and duty.

For one thing, it sounds like Beauty and the Beasts. Not every SyFy fairy tale has to include a love story. Instead, try this idea...

Red Riding Hood is starting her training as a werewolf hunter. She meets a handsome guy who has a dark edge to him. Of course, she attracted to the guy. Just after he arrives, there's a series of murders, and people turning into werewolves. Of course, Handsome Guy is responsible, but he acts like Red's ally. He even helps her kill some werewolves, just to cover his own tracks. However, he makes the mistake of biting Red's grandma. Thus, the famous "Oh, Grandma, what sharp teeth you have" scene takes on a whole new meaning. It's still between love and duty, but at least she gets to be more heroic when she finally defeats the true wolf in sheep's clothing. This really doesn't need a love story, especially a forbidden one.

There's also a question on whether this will affect the future of The Guild. We're still hoping for a fourth season, as Codex has to deal with the Big Bad Wolf she wound up with at the end of season three. Apparently, though, this will be filmed in Canada soon. This may mean a longer wait than usual for more Guild episodes, but as long as there will be more.

Still, it's a great opportunity for Felicia, and we wish her all the best. I still think my plot is better than SyFy's plot.