I could clone this night a hundred times.

On Saturday night, Bad Data hosted the fourth Bad Date (titled Bad Date IV: Book Of Shadows). Bad Data looked like this...
Yep. My dream of doing improv as the X-Men finally came true, and in a big way. The night also featured "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" improv (hence Jess being all Dark Willow-ed out) and "Law & Order" improv (which is why Kim looks so business-like). But yeah, a childhood of practice finally paid off on Saturday and we all looked a lot more like our characters than when I played X-Men as a kid.
That's me as Gambit, Frank Hejl as Mr. Sinister, Crystal Delahanty as Jean Grey, Laura Zeis as Dazzler, Sam Bradford as Beast, Phil Weintraub as Cyclops, Bryce Richardson as Wolverine and David Bluvband as Nightcrawler. We all got prepared at my apartment in Queens beforehand. It was like getting ready for prom only using much more blue body paint and much less glitter (not that Laura didn't try).
Riding on the subway was even more fun. Somehow when you're dressed like an X-Man, surrounded by six other X-Men, it doesn't seem weird. It actually seems uncanny.
Laura got looks like that all night. I've never seen so much cartoon eye-bugging and tongue elongating in my life. The show itself was actually great. When you do costumed improv or watch it, it seems like a lot of it coasts along on the gimmick. Sometimes it works through sheer insanity (Cosby-prov), other times the gimmick falls flat through lack of commitment on some performers' part (Juno-prov). I think getting in costume and riding the subway and all that really got us all into character because we all owned it. Our suggestion was Catholic. We did a pattern game opening.
Dazzler stepped into a confessional with Nightcrawler, who had a very hard time sitting in his chair normally.
Beast did some amazing object work with test tubes.
Gambit and his son Nightcrawler had a heart to heart about ladies and the ministry.
Dazzler tried to seduce Cyclops, much to Jean Grey's disapproval.
Mr. Sinister: "I cloned your dead ex-wife and set you up on a blind date with her...hope that goes well."
Wolverine stepped in to play the clone. There was much tension.
Mr. Sinister cut to the delivery of their baby, a baby that he then stole and took to the future.Nightcrawler and Gambit picked up a hitchhiker on their way to the Incubus concert.
Cyclops played lead guitar in Dazzler's band while Beast played drums...with his feet.Gambit played a Sentinel just trying to do some office work for Cyclops' law firm.
That wasn't the whole show and there were some amazing lines that escape me right now. Heck, I can't even remember what our blackout was. But, overall, this was one of the best performances I've ever don and it was easily the best Bad Date thanks to solid and great shows put on by Buffy-prov and Law & Order-prov.

I think we'd have to reunite the Swarm and give out hundred dollar bills to all in attendance to top this at Bad Date V.

Stars For Dinner: Joss Whedon

The last time I did a Stars For Dinner entry (a.k.a. "the only time"), I met the very man 17 days later. This has to happen a second time for it to be considered a pattern, so I might as well go all out and meet the man who set me on the course I am on today, and I don't mean a pudgy/pasty/balding course (then again....).

Without Joss Whedon, I would not be working in television.

My attention throughout elementary and middle school was focused entirely on comics. I don't regret this; the obsession provided me with hours of entertainment, a self-created universe of friends, and glimpses at popularity when other kids would notice that I was drawing a static-electricity powered monkey wearing head gear getting electrocuted by a teenage girl wearing a smiley face ringer tee and cut-off denim shorts (everyone misses 1996, right?). However, I never had the attention span to grasp anatomy, depth, or the fact that a couple of stray lines does not a cityscape make. I was in love with comics, but not really certain if I could pursue them as a career.

Then I saw Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it clicked. Comic book style storytelling on television, full of call backs, continuity, recurring characters, big time change, the works. I became obsessed with the show and that pretty much sealed the deal. Television, the box that introduced me to the life-changing Muppet Babies, was my true calling. I don't know why it never occurred to me.

Other factors have come into play, definitely, but Buffy in 8th grade was what started it all. And Joss Whedon is responsible for that. Sharp characterization, unwillingness to trap himself within one genre, the man was and is an inspiration. After Buffy, he created Angel and Firefly, two shows that are very Whedon yet completely their own shows. Angel, a dark noir drama set in the alleys of LA, became the funniest show on television for a brief time. Firefly is good too, but I think there are bigger fans of it out there. They're called brown coats. Or something.

Recently, Joss has entered the world of comics. He writes three a month (Astonishing X-Men, Runaways, and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight) and is now making me wonder why I gave up on my comic dreams. His spot on characterization of every character on all three of those books makes me cry the tears of nerd joy with every reading (don't even get me started on Kitty Pryde's speech to Emma Frost in Astonishing #2) and inspires me to aspire to take the reigns of one of my favorite Marvel books in the hopes of doing it as much justice as Joss does his.

It's a nerd stereotype, to be true. The man has a t-shirt and slogan after him that denounces Star Wars, for Kenobi's sake. But I can't help it. He's never lead me wrong, he's never let me down, and I know we could talk for hours about the X-Men. I mean, the first page of his first issue references Uncanny X-Men #168, one of my top five issues of all time. From there, who knows where the conversation could lead. Childhood superhero creations? Favorite candy bars? Tragic school stories, most of them involving Field Day?

Joss, let's do lunch.

Comics: Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #1

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON EIGHT #1
"The Long Way Home part 1"
Writer: Joss Whedon
Penciler: Georges Jeanty
Inker: Andy Owens
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Jimmy
Cover Art: Jo Chen
Designer: Heidi Fainza
Assistant Editor: Katie Moody
Associate Editor: Matt Dryer
Editor: Scott Allie
Publisher: Mike Richardson

Buffy's back. Almost four years after the 144th episode aired, Buffy's back and she's brought Joss Whedon with her. And even though the issue barely even touches on all the questions that I have, even though it covers next-to-no ground, it still feels right.

Buffy is now the leader of a squadron of slayers, one of many actually. They have vehicles, harnesses, a big ol' headquarters, all the trimmings of S.H.I.E.L.D. itself (as noted by Xander; lordy how I missed Xander). This looks nothing like the Buffy we all remember fondly. There isn't a close sense of family and there's no cozy central location. Instead we have Buffy and Dawn who are barely speaking and a huge stone castle, both of which are interesting plot points since they tie together to establish just how different this world is. Buffy notes this, thankfully, so we know Joss is going somewhere with this.

What really makes this feel like Buffy is Joss' dialodue. Putting Nicholas Brendan's voice over those words, it sent shivers through the pages and into me. Same with Buffy and Dawn; these are the characters that I love and I'm so glad they're back with the man who created them.

The art is good. I'm used to being completely off put by the art in non-Marvel books, be it the pencils (usually my problem with Dark Horse) or the color (my problem with DC). Jeanty did some good work back on the most recent ongoing Gambit series and he's a decent fit. Still, what I wouldn't give to see Joshua Middleton or Adrian Alphona on this series. Well, perhaps not Middleton, since I think he's allergic to deadlines. Perhaps a cover, then?

This issue feels like the first act of an episode. The reveal at the end is what I'd normally be seeing at 7:15 (central time) on a Tuesday night, the start of the second act coming a mere four minutes away. Not anymore. This darn format is making me wait four weeks, but that's something I have to live with. Here's hoping the book doesn't fall prey to deadline issues like Joss' other book, Astonishing X-Men. Still, there's enough to ponder about in this issue to hold me over. While little is really accomplished in this issue, so many promises are made that I salivate thinking about them. Willow's MIA. Who's that hovering guy? What's that symbol? The army sure looks mad! Ah, so good!

My only real gripe is wondering what the dang series is called. The cover says Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Season Eight in teeny tiny print under the Dark Horse logo. The inidicia on the inside front cover says Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, the comics price guide calls it Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Volume 2, and reviews online call it Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight. I'm going with the colon-version until I start seeing a uniform title. Things like this irk me. I'm still mad that Marvel doesn't include volume numbers in their indicias, especially since they relaunch titles like it's going out of style.

So yeah, this lived up to my expectations. The only way it could have been better is if Joss provided a single issue story, a perfect beginning-middle-end including Giles and Willow, complete with all the action and hilarity of the television series. Instead, Joss is treating us to something a lot bigger, a lot more epic. Both are valid ways to start the series and, honestly, I think the way he's doing it has me a lot more intrigued than if he went the other way.

This is gonna be fun.

MY SCORE: 9.1 (out of 10)

Feels Like 7

I am not a fan of winter right now. I spent 100 minutes on the subway yesterday morning trying to get to work (that's a good 55 minutes longer than normal, folks) and had to transfer randomly last night on the way home because...well, the tracks had frozen sending a subway car full of children crashing into Brooklyn's oldest cathedral. Or not, but I'm sure the reason was just as silly. And now, as my reward for surviving yesterday, I have an insanely runny nose. It's so runny, it might run for president! Woo whee, shoot me in my face. On to today's stories...

- MTV.com has posted an interview with The Man Himself, Joss Whedon, where he discusses the upcoming season 8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer being released by Dark Horse Comics. It's bigger, it's bolder, and we won't have to suffer through the actress that played Kennedy. Score.

- In further Joss Whedon news, he's said bye bye to Wonder Woman due to creative differences with the studio. If Destroyed, Still True's Paul O'Brien has a nice opinion on this that I agree with. Have I mentioned on this blog that I prefer the symphonic sounds of the Spice Girls to DC? Pretty much no spot in my heart for the home of Superman. O'Brien's article shocks me though since, apparently, Whedon's masterpiece-in-the-making Astonishing X-Men comic book has been moved from bimonthly to monthly and now to quarterly. Four times a year?! When he now he has less to do?! My main complaint about Astonishing, my only complaint, is the schedule. You can't build up momentum in a series if there are three months in between issues! It's impossible! Nerd alert, I know, but I'm pretty miffed. Yeah, miffed.

- And speaking of miffs or words that are one letter different, Best Week Ever's blog introduced me to this great clip from MTV's hard hitting series, Engaged & Underage. Just watch it. Eeeh.