1000th Post Spectacular!

With this post, the blog hits its 1,000th post! It's taken six years to get here, and over the course of that time, I've gone from a college student to a business owner, an amateur writer to a published author, a fan of comics to a professional documentarian who's met many of the people I wrote about over the years. It's been a great run, and I wish that I had more time recently to write up more stuff. I'm trying to keep to at least one post a week as we move forward.



To commemorate the 1000 mark, I'm going to list some of my favorite posts from the past 500 posts. To check out the highlights of 1-500, go here. Here's the best of 600-1000.

The Invisibles: And So We Return and Begin Again - The first post in a sixty post series that would eventually become Our Sentence is Up, my book length analysis of The Invisibles. This series is what led to me getting the chance to direct Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods. The book will be available in stores this week or next, I'd highly recommend giving it a look.

Babylon 5: Sleeping in Light - The last post in my series length review of Babylon 5. It's a show that didn't always work, but had some great moments, and was a joy to write about. This is another series that I could see turning into a book at some point down the line.

The Sopranos: 'Made in America - Another long term blog project reached its conclusion with this lengthy review of the last episode of The Sopranos. I remember writing this out immediately after watching this show and trying to process the ambiguous conclusion, knowing that I'd seen something very special. And, FYI, Tony's not dead.

John From Cincinnati: 'His Visit: Day Nine' - It's another series finale, this one of the most intriguing and spellbinding shows to air on TV this decade. I loved the series and it was incredibly rewarding to write about. If you haven't seen it yet, grab the DVD and read my coverage from the era as you watch.

The Ever Expanding Spider-Man Narrative - Here's a post that's become even more relevant since it was written. I discussed the increasing prominence of the geeky guy becomes a hero and gets a beautiful girl narrative in fiction in the 00s, and why that's bad for both movies, and society. The misogynistic undertones of stories like Transformers, Zombieland or Superbad are troubling and I'd love to see stronger female characters who exist as more than prizes for geeky males.

Why Comics Matter - In a world where they're already rebooting Spider-Man and American Pie, and Battleship is next summer's big tent pole film, we need to be thankful that people like Grant Morrison and Alan Moore are still generating new, exciting ideas in comics and providing the fuel for future stories. That's why comics matter.

Film in 2007: A Medium in Flux - This was a key post that addressed my increasing love of long form TV over the critically acclaimed movies of the late 00s. Looking back, it's clear that a show like The Wire has made a bigger and more lasting cultural impact than No Country for Old Men, and that film will have to continue to evolve to offer something TV cannot.

Doctor Who: 'Parting of the Ways' - I've posted a lot about Doctor Who over the past few years, but this post marked the first time the show totally clicked for me, and sets the template for much of the writing I did down the line, namely an explication of the emotional potency of the show, and the way that it transforms the desires we all have for adventure and excitement into powerful, accessible cosmic narratives.

The End of Evangelion: In Depth - Perhaps the longest post in blog history, this is an extremely in depth analysis/celebration of Hideaki Anno's dazzling film The End of Evangelion. It frustrates me that so much of the writing on the series comes solely from a fan point of view, when it seems to demand a more academic approach. Either way, this is my stab at it, and it's one of my favorite posts.

New X-Men: Here Comes Tomorrow - The finale of my blog series on New X-Men, this is an in depth look at the misunderstood final arc of that run. There's so much to ponder here, and I tried to cover my view of it.

Lost: 2x15-2x22 - Here, I wrote about what's still my favorite episode of Lost, the season two finale "Live Together, Die Alone." Never again did the show reach the near religious transcendence of that episode, that skillfully weaved Desmond's story in with the destruction of the hatch and a series of major revelations about the others. A fantastic episode, and a lot of fun to write about.

Those are my favorites of recent years. Hopefully there'll be a new batch of great ones in another 500 posts. Thanks everyone for reading and stay tuned for more!