The idea for the Crisis 411 came from our very own Schinders when I commented on her Comics Chick discussion of Batman. She had written about the guest starring of Zatanna, and I replied regarding the complicated relationship with the two ever since Identity Crisis. One thing led to another and here I am. When I say “Crisis“, I am referring to the major storylines in the DC Comic Universe that involve nearly every single character and shake up the entire industry. The first major one, Crisis on Infinite Earths, was published in 1985 and the most recent is Final Crisis, which is being published right now. The problem with these massive and intensely confusing story arcs is that it keeps new readers from easily integrating into the DCU. How can you possibly jump in to a world that has so much back story, but is rarely explained in a quick and easy fashion?

Well, this is my attempt to present the three Crisis stories in a semi-legible way to fans and non-fans alike. Here’s hoping…

When Crisis on Infinite Earths was first written by Marv Wolfman in 1985, the intention of the story was to make comic books easier to read. The problem was that the Golden Age of comic books is very different than the Silver Age, and increasingly different from the books in 1985, 1990, 1995, etc. The real world was changing and, therefore, the way people wanted their fantasy heroes presented was changing as well. However, DC did not just want to ignore what came before, so often it presented “alternative” worlds called the Multiverse. They simply placed the different versions of characters in different worlds and ta-da, less confusion…right?
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Flashforeward has one last pitch for a short-lived show that could live forever thanks to fanfic.  It’s New Amsterdam.

What would you do if you could live forever?

Homicide detective John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) has been alive for over 400 years. In 1642, he saved a Native American girl’s life; to repay him, the girl saved his life, with one catch: he’s immortal until he finds his “soul mate.” He’s been married, had children (63) - all in a search for the one who will make him mortal again.

When he has a heart-attack on a subway, Amsterdam spends all of his free time trying to figure out if the woman was there, all because of a cryptic message from the Native American girl that he would “know it in his heart.”

In finishing his search, he’s certain that the answer is Dr. Sarah Dillane (Alexie Gilmore) and sets off to woo her - a difficult task since he died right in front of her.

John works with Eva Marquez (Zuleikha Robinson), often letting slip little facts about his past that she takes with a grain of salt, and spends a lot of time in a bar owned by Omar (Stephen McKinley Henderson), who knows John’s secrets (and has a few of his own).

With great acting, intriguing plot-lines, a noir-esque feel and flashbacks to John’s former lives, New Amsterdam was a great addition to prime time television. The show had an eight episode first season and, from the looks of things, it’ll also be it’s last.

Let’s just hope that the fan fiction picks up so it can live on.
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A while ago, skirbo brought us parts one and two of the Buffy 411. Then life happened — we’ll let her explain here in part three.

Here it is; the last installment of my Buffy the Vampire Slayer 411. FINALLY. I bet you thought (or hoped) I’d forgotten it. Alas, no. Real life reared its ugly head and took up just about every spare moment I had. I wish I could say that I had to prevent an apocalypse or slay a vampire, but truthfully it was problems with my teenaged daughter. She felt like it was the end of the world and I felt like I’d battled a demon by the time it was over, so I guess it’s pretty much the same thing.

For those of you that have not read the first two installments (or you did and chose to block the memory of it), take a look at them here:

Part 1

Part 2

First, we’ll take a mostly light-hearted look at the regulars. Then we’ll try for light-hearted on the shipping, but really, how funny can you make any ship with Andrew? It’s just wrong…

The Scooby Gang

Buffy Summers

“I hate this. I hate being here. I hate that you have to be here. I hate that there’s evil and that I was chosen to fight it. I wish, a whole lot of the time, that I hadn’t been. I know a lot of you wish I hadn’t been either. But this isn’t about wishes. This is about choices. I believe we can beat this evil. Not when it comes, not when its army is ready - now. Tomorrow morning, I’m opening the seal. I’m going down into the Hellmouth and I’m finishing this once and for all.” - “Chosen”, season seven

Believe it or not, I wrote about Buffy herself last of all. Out of all the characters on the show, she is overall the most complicated. Take Buffy in an individual episode or season and her character seems pretty simple, sometimes selfish and sometimes shallow. Very human. The picture painted of Buffy over the course of the whole series is not - simple, I mean. The high school years as a whole were all about Buffy accepting her destiny as the Slayer and learning to live with - if not embrace - it. Her Slayer-ness is very front row, in your face, the lead of the series. High school Buffy is “I’m the Slayer and I love Angel”, “I’m the Slayer and I’m grounded”, “I’m the Slayer and I’m not popular anymore”, “I’m the Slayer and I have a chemistry assignment due”. Or the ever popular, “I’m the Slayer, ask me how”. She really never handled the competition of Kendra and Faith very well. For all that she complained about having to be the Slayer, she didn’t like it when another one came into play.
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Guest blogger Dee Doyle returns for yet another Fandom 411.

My first introduction to The Incredible Hulk was in the comic book store my parent’s owned, but it became more of an interest due to the 1996 animated TV series on UPN. The creators were no doubt trying to compete with Fox for the popular opinion of the fans that enjoyed the X-Men and Spider-Man animated shows in the 1990s. The Hulk is about the inner darkness of the human heart and, while personal demons are usually kept inside, Bruce Banner’s demon is there for everyone to see. And he’s green! The Hulk was created in 1962 by the amazing team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, who also created such popular teams as the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. While the comic had some difficulty gaining attention at first, the Hulk was used as a guest star in several other comic books until a small fan community started to gather, especially in the college age bracket. Originally, the Hulk was gray and he transformed back into Banner during dawn, but in modern comics he transforms due to emotion or triggers and is that glorious shade of emerald.

Dr. Bruce Banner is a mild mannered scientist who designs a gamma bomb for the government. He saves a teenager named Rick Jones who stumbles onto the testing grounds and ends up being caught in the explosion himself. The radiation causes him to turn into the savage beast named the Hulk whenever he loses control. The Hulk is a creature of quick anger and violence, but he is able to think enough to form full sentences and refers to himself in the third person. Banner is pursued by the US government because of the damage and devastation he causes as the Hulk. His long suffering girlfriend, Betty Ross (who eventually becomes his wife and adopts his last name) is often used as bait to draw him out and is capable of calming even the Hulk with her presence. Her father, General Thaddeus Ross is the main force behind the armed forces trying to capture the Hulk, much to Betty’s dismay. The teenager Banner saved, Rick Jones, remains with the Hulk as his friend and sidekick. The major villains in the series are the Abomination and the Leader, both of whom are also radioactive, super dangerous monsters.
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Yu-Gi-Oh! fan azurite gives us a look into the puzzling (bad puns? why yes, I’ll take one, please…) world of Yuugi Mutou.

Yu-Gi-Oh! has been one of my favorite anime series since it premiered in the U.S. in 2001. The series, penned by Kazuki Takahashi, started out like so many other anime titles - as a manga (comic book). It was first adapted into anime form in 1998 by Toei Studios, the same studio responsible for other popular anime series like Sailor Moon and Dragonball. However, this original animated series, which focused on the early arcs of the manga, was never licensed and dubbed in English and 4Kids TV has announced they have no plans to ever do so.

The series that they did pick up and license was originally titled Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters to differentiate it from the Toei series. This version of the series was done by Studio Gallop, rather than Toei, necessitating the titular change. It is this version of the anime, produced by Nihon Ad Systems (NAS) that has spawned multiple seasons, a full-length animated feature film, two spin-off series (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s), video games, original anime videos (OAVs, or direct-to-video releases) and a trading card game that is immensely popular.

Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters revolve around the adventures of a 15-year-old boy named Yuugi Mutou. His grandfather, a retired archaeologist, once found a legendary Egyptian artifact known as the “Millennium Puzzle.” In all the years since Yuugi’s grandfather owned the item, he was never able to put the puzzle together into its assembled form, but Yuugi made it his goal to do just that. Yuugi held onto the belief that by finishing the puzzle he could make a wish, and he wanted more than anything to have a true friend.
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Figure below by DGTrekker.

Guest blogger Dee Doyle is back with this Fandom 411.

“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

–Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight

When FanLib asked me to do a 411 on Batman, my very favorite comic book series and comic book character, I was more than a little excited to get started. After ten years of faithful worship, and more than a few Batgirl-costumed incidents I’d rather forget, Bruce Wayne remains one of the most fascinating characters I have ever read, even throughout my classical education.

The comic is about Bruce Wayne, a young boy who inherits his parents’ billions when they are tragically shot down behind a movie theater one night. Raised by the family’s butler Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce swears that he will rid Gotham city of evil so that no child will ever have to go through what he did. He starts a serious and intense training program to build up his strength and stamina, but he soon decides he needs more than just that and travels the world to all the great masters and teachers in karate, kung fu, boxing, and many others. He attacks the night as the Dark Knight, a creature of fear and darkness who fights villains with the same degree of vicious ruthlessness they fight him. In time, he decides to adopt a young boy, Dick Grayson, when the boy watches his own parents die in front of his eyes. Bruce — to keep an essence of humanity within himself — trains Dick to be his sidekick Robin, giving the boy purpose. Read more »

Check out Part One of this 411 highlighting Battlestar Galactica, if you haven’t yet.

What are the main types of fic, video, or art you see related to the show?

CynthiaB on the original series:

Fan fiction for the original series generally falls to hero angst, romance, and comedy where Starbuck is concerned. There are three female characters in the series that get more airtime in fan fic than they ever did on the show probably for the Mary Sue factor: Apollo’s sister Athena (who is in love with Starbuck), hooker with the heart of gold, Cassiopeia (who is in love with Starbuck), and latecomer, hot-shot pilot Sheba (who is in love with. . . Apollo!) Young Boxey also has his share of stories usually written to evoke the “awww” factor.

Top plot? Expect to find Starbuck in trouble, be it a crash landing on a hostile planet or ducking the affections of a woman with a jealous husband. It’s all good. That’s my Battlestar Galactica and if you’ve never seen it, you can watch episodes for free at NBC.com.

Schinders on the 2003 series:

I see a lot of shipping Starbuck/Apollo, Adama/Roslin, etc. There’s also a lot of “discovery” of character motives, in-depth looks at why characters have done what they’ve done. Outside of fics, I’ve seen many great portraits of the characters. There’s not so much vid, maybe because sci-fi makes it daunting. Read more »

CynthiaB, Schinders, and I were brainstorming which fandoms to cover for the Fandom 411 when we started discussing Battlestar Galactica. It turns out that CynthiaB is a fan of the original series and hasn’t seen the new one, while Schinders is a fan of the new series and hasn’t seen much of the original.

One reason why some fans of the original series can’t bring themselves to watch the new series is that Starbuck has gone from being a manly man (played by Dirk Benedict) to a strong woman (played by Katee Sackhoff). We thought it would be fun to discuss the two series side-by-side, so we bring you this Battlestar showdown.
-XtineK

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On Monday, it will be the big Blair-Serena showdown on the season finale of Gossip Girl. Need a refresher? true.loves.suicide has all the gossip on Gossip Girl.

And who am I?
That’s one secret I’ll never tell.
You know you love me.
XOXO, Gossip Girl

First a New York Times bestselling novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar, Gossip Girl has been adapted into a TV series by The O.C.’s Josh Schwartz, with much controversy surrounding its content. The pilot was described as a ‘guilty pleasure’ rather than a must-watch hour of TV. Cecily von Ziegesar showed her support of the series, appreciating that many of her plot points were presented in the pilot.

Gossip Girl revolves around the lives of rich young-adult socialites living in the Upper East Side of Manhattan who attend elite academic institutions while dealing with sex, drugs, and other teenage issues. The main characters are Serena van der Woodsen, Blair Waldorf, Nate Archibald, Chuck Bass, Dan Humphrey, and Jenny Humphrey.

The Gossip Girl pilot first aired in September and revolved around resident bad girl Serena van der Woodsen’s mysterious return from a year-long stint at boarding school. The apparent reason for Serena’s abrupt return is revealed to be her younger brother Eric, who unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide but is now living in a psychiatric institution. Fortunately, not even “Gossip Girl” is aware of this. The reason for her leaving in the first place have remained secret throughout the series, saving the best for last. Serena’s return spawned plenty of gossip when everyone found out about her homecoming from the popular blog site hosted by an unknown person who pegs herself as Gossip Girl. Serena’s best friend Blair Waldorf is not so happy about her return, as she is still hurt from Serena leaving without telling her. After a long heart-to-heart talk, Serena and Blair patch up their differences, only to once again have a falling out over Serena sleeping with Blair’s boyfriend, Nate Archibald, the night before she left for boarding school.

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Is there a doctor in the house? Miss Kitten takes us on a tour of Grey’s Anatomy.

With a mother diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and living in a nursing home, and a seven year long surgical residency at Seattle Grace Hospital ahead of her, Meredith Grey already has enough on her plate to deal with. But what happens when her drunken one-night-stand the night before her first shift turns out to be her new boss? Will she fall for his charm or manage to maintain a strictly professional relationship?
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Marphlets takes on that epic journey that is Lord of the Rings!

Whether it’s the delightful books penned by literary great J.R.R. Tolkien, or the blockbuster trilogy spearheaded and directed by Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings (LOTR to fans) is one of the most loved fandoms in any form. In whatever form, it comes in three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.

LOTR has inspired fiction writers for decades. Some of today’s top writers claim to have been bitten by the writing bug while exploring Tolkien’s masterpiece. It’s only natural that fan fiction should follow suit. Some fan fiction writers hold to the books as the purest form of the fandom, and therefore write stories about the adventures of the mysterious Rangers or Elrond’s two sons, princes of elves. Still others love the movies above all else and write slash fic about Legolas and Aragorn - or Legolas and anyone for that matter. One of the most touching things about Lord of the Rings fan fiction is the number of epic tributes to the fallen heroes in the story, something I think the author would smile about.
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Allura99 gives us the facts on the animated series Gundam Wing.

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing is a mecha anime series that first aired in Japan in 1995. It consists of 49 episodes. It is continued in two OVAs: Endless Waltz and Operation Meteor.

In the series, the nations of Earth have formed the United Earth Sphere Alliance and rule five space colonies. The rule of the Alliance grew harsh. As tensions escalate between Earth and the colonies, the colonies sought for a non-violent resolution led by the pacifist Heero Yuy. However, hope of resolution is dashed when Yuy is assassinated.

Five scientists decide to train young boys to pilot advance mechas called Mobile Suits. Each boy is sent separately to Earth with the mission to bring down the Alliance government, not knowing that the others have been sent with the same agenda. As the pilots encounter each other, they must decide if they are friend or foe.

The Gundam pilots soon find themselves caught up in battles with ever changing enemies. The OZ organization takes over the Alliance government from within while a new pacifist leader emerges in a girl named Relena Darlian. As the battle continues, the war threatens to destroy Earth itself.

The fast-paced action, complex characters and shifting alliances pull you into this series. Much of the fan fiction deals with the complicated relationships between the characters with popular ‘ships being Heero/Relena, Heero/Duo, Duo/Hilde, and Quatre/Trowa. Other stories features a new struggle for peace, the characters in high school, or the typical Mary Sue/Gary Stu of a new pilot in the mix.

Fanfic recommendation:

Check out all of Allura99’s favorites at her profile page.

And here’s one of her own:

Ladies, gentlemen, spiny-headed lookin’ creatures, welcome to the Buffy 411: Part Two. (It’s even longer than Part One. I hope you bought extra bandwidth and a mocha.)
- Skirbo

Yesterday we took a brief look at the series and a more in-depth look at the impact Buffy has had on the world around us in the fields of academics, theology, and even banking. Today, we’ll examine the series by taking a look at each season. For those of you that don’t know, each season of Buffy was a series of episodes that stand alone, while also tying into and building on a story arc for the season’s biggest, baddest evil, also known as “The Big Bad.”

The series itself is available on DVD as both individual seasons and complete boxed sets. Reruns are still available for viewing on FX. A few marvelous individuals have posted episode guides and summaries or even complete transcripts of each episode. These are invaluable resources for the Buffyverse writer. Two of my favorites are BuffyWorld and ChosenTwo. If you are a Joss Whedon fan, then great sites are Whedonesque.com and Whedonesque.org. Joss has blogged on the dotcom, and both sites contain up-to-the-minute information about all things Whedon. By extension, that means current information about all things Buffy. Read more »

FanLib moderator Skirbo brings us this week’s 411 for one of our most popular fandoms, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Skirbo herself said that she went “ridiculously overboard” — the mark of a true fan.

“In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.”

What can I say about Buffy the Vampire Slayer that hasn’t already been said? With seven years of television series and one ’season 8′ comic book series (still ongoing), there are so many regulars, recurring characters and big events for each season arc that I could very nearly write a Fandom 411 for each character and season. The seven-year television series is the winner of thirty-two awards (including an Emmy, a Hugo, and a Kid’s Choice Award) with another ninety-nine nominations (including a Golden Globe and multiple Emmy nominations). I promise to try and keep my love of the series from overflowing and the glowing praise to a minimum. Just the facts, ma’am.

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Epalladino takes us into the dark world of Hellboy.

“There are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers. We are the ones who bump back.”
– John Hurt, as Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, in the 2004 movie “Hellboy”

Who, or what, is Hellboy? For the complete answer to that, we have to go back to the year 1994 when alternative publisher, Dark Horse Comics, invited Mike Mignola, formerly an artist for such comic book publishers as Marvel and DC Comics, to develop his own title for them. Gaining inspiration from an odd character he had once doodled and labeled ‘Hellboy’, Mignola produced what was originally meant to be a one-off mini-series entitled “Hellboy: Seed of Destruction.”

(What is below will contain spoilers to both the original comics and the movie developed from them.)

“Hellboy: Seed of Destruction” begins with a prologue. On December 23, 1944, the Nazis, using the assistance of never-dying Russian monk Grigori Rasputin, attempt to win the war by calling down the Ogdru Jahad, Lovecraftian-style elder gods. This is taking place on an island off the coast of Scotland. At the same time, a group of American soldiers and a few others, headed by young British professor of the paranormal, Trevor Bruttenholm, are located in the ruins of a church in East Bromwich, England.
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