This is a “remix” of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Edward Cullen from Twilight. And yep, it’s pretty funny. It plays the overwrought, overdramatic bits of Twilight up against the snarky, sarcastic Buffy we all love.

Yet I am a bit irritated by the constant comparison of Buffy to Twilight as if Buffy was perfect and Bella Swan just a horrendous corruption of all feminist ideals. Was I the only one who remembers the part where Buffy slept with not one, but two vampires who also stalked her, hovered outside her bedroom while she slept, and in one instance, tried to rape her?

Buffy gets a pass because mostly she kicks vampire ass and in the end she doesn’t need any of the men. However, I very much doubt if you can scratch a Buffy fan and find someone who doesn’t get a bit emotional about Buffy and Angel. Forbidden love is as much a part of the Buffy mythos as Twilight–in fact, I describe Twilight to people as “The Buffy and Angel part of Buffy, without most of the sarcasm and action.”

But you know, the reason a lot of girls don’t want to call themselves feminists is because they think it means they have to hate men, or fit some certain vision of a “strong woman” that maybe they don’t want to fit. What if they’re quiet and bookish, like Bella Swan, not coordinated enough to fight vampires?

I’m not saying that Twilight is a perfect vision of the romance I think girls should aspire to–it’s not. But it’s fiction. The romance in Love in the Time of Cholera or Lolita or Beloved isn’t one that I want teenage girls aspiring to, either, yet I think those are all wonderful works of literature that should be widely read. And Buffy? Well, the human parts of Buffy are the ones that really kept us with her for seven seasons, not the perfect ass-kicking sarcasm machine. That would’ve gotten old, fast.

It’s almost time to go buy comics, but in the meantime I bring you linkage from across the Internets on a variety of different things.

From Splash Page, Grant Morrison talks comics with Percy Carey, otherwise known as MF Grimm, the writer of Sentences.

Comics Worth Reading has a nice review of Patsy Walker: Hellcat that makes me want to read it.

Also from Splash Page, Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming are confirmed as part of the cast of “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark,” the upcoming Broadway musical directed by Julie Taymor. I don’t know about you, but between the casting, the subject matter, and the direction, this is shaping up to be a must-see for me.

Laura Hudson at Comics Alliance puts together the top 5 Michael Jackson moments in comics.

Laura Lee Gulledge answers some questions for The Big Feminist BUT.

I’ve been more affected by Michael Jackson’s death than I thought I would be, so I’ve been thinking about this stuff for a few days. Mostly about pop stars and iconography and the image vs. the person–what do we mourn when we mourn a dead celebrity? In Heath Ledger’s case, it was so obviously the work he had left to do, but in Jackson’s case, it seemed fairly likely that he’d never make any music again, that his music was completely overshadowed by his court cases and plastic surgeries. Yet people have still been publicly mourning.

Daryl Cagle, cartoonist extraordinaire, wrote about Michael Jackson and editorial cartoonists, and his sadness was clearly only that he didn’t have an easy target for cartoons anymore.

Michael Jackson was God’s gift to editorial cartoonists. Now that the gift has been “returned to sender” the cartoonists are mourning the loss of one of their most evergreen gags.

Yet this cartoon, that I saw this morning, really seems to sum up all the feelings about Jackson.

Do you remember, indeed. Before the accusations and the surgeries and the baby-dangling, when it was just about the music.

G4 and Lucasfilms will be teaming up for an unprecedented live airing from the San Diego Comic Con!

The Star Wars Spectacular! will film at 2pm on July 25th, as a live airing of the main Lucasfilm panel from SDCC. In addition, Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira of Attack of the Show will meet up with Lucasfilm’s Steve Sansweet as well as voice talent from the Clone Wars television show, to give their own insider insight.

Never-before-seen footage will be shown, and there will be a live table reading of a new Clone Wars script. Furthermore, Lucasfilms will also unveil Star Wars Stories, which asks Jedi lovers everywhere to tell their movie memories and other tales of fandom, to help contribute to the company’s historical archive.

You can upload your stories here (or if you’re at the con, find Lucasfilm’s camera crew) — otherwise, make sure to set your TiVo, as G4 will be hitting the convention from 4-7pm!

Comics Nexus has just unveiled the latest of Neill Cameron’s A-Z of Awesomeness series, which has some pretty hilarious comic-related alphabetery (see what I did there? I made up a word, and it rocked).

That’s not to say that this is the best letter — they’re all equally the best. Well, the Inebriated Iron Man (for the Letter “I,” or as some lazy people type, the lower-case L) is sick and wrong, but also funny. As is Hagar’s actions to Hello Kitty. As is the Letter J.

[A tip of the hat to Manolis Vamvounis for introducing me to this debauchery]

Don’t worry, it’s not another variant cover, I swear!

John Hodgman, writer, voice actor and professional nerd, gave a great speech over the weekend at the 2009 Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner, in which he grills President Obama over Superman, Conan and Dune.

Whether or not you agree with the man’s politics, it’s a very funny look over the 100 Year War between Jocks and Nerds, and how we nerds have struck back from the icy planet of Hoth. (I won’t lie, though, Hodgman totally schooled me in Dune trivia — and I read that series cover to cover!)

[Via Entertainment Weekly]

Yahoo! News has reported that Michael Bay is done with the Transformers franchise.

Here’s the quote that really stood out/surprised me/made me wonder if he’s ever seen any of his own movies: “I need to do something totally divergent, something without any explosions.” The dateline for this article is June 18, so this is not an April Fool’s gag.

He added that if the Transformers franchise goes to a third film, they’ll have to find another director.

“It’s easy to go shoot an art movie in a winery in the South of France,” Bay said. “But people have no idea how hard it is to create something like Transformers. They (the critics) review me before they’ve even seen the movie.”

TONIGHT: Kevin O’Neill at Forbidden Planet New York at 6:00. The artist behind The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, among many other books, will be appearing and signing books. Get in line!

Joelle Jones has some more of her gorgeous Endless drawings on her blog. Someone hire this girl to do a Delirium comic, stat. She also has a Blankets tribute and a gorgeous bit of Craig Thompson’s art as well.

Splash Page has more on Ryan Reynolds’ work on the upcoming Deadpool movie. Alas, no pictures…

You’ll probably want to skip straight to this one, because Warren Ellis has a color page from Planetary #27. Yes, it’s really going to happen.

Finally, I bring you a thought-provoking essay on the lack of black supervillains, at Comics Waiting Room. (via When Fangirls Attack)

So while I was making some epic cross-state drives this weekend, I came across a new product: Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms.

I sadly purchased a pack. And after eating one, I pretty much felt just like this:

Which, after seeing this ad in Entertainment Weekly, then sets me up for an easy joke about wanting to punch this guy in the nuts.*

[Thanks to SlashFilm for the ad news]

*(Either almonds or peanuts, of course.)

Yeah, you read that right.

Topless Robot has posted a link about that most geeky of purchases: a Star Trek coffin. So when you do go to the Final Frontier, your family (if you have one) will remember all the times you dressed up as a Klingon and attacked the cat with your bat’leth.

And don’t worry, if you’re setting phasers to “cremate”: there’s also a Star Trek urn, too.

If you’re interested in going out in — well, I can’t exactly call it “style” — check out Eternal Image for pricing details. And be prepared for your mother to disown you.

Maybe his illustration for the cover to The Lord of the Flies is permanently etched in your memory. Or perhaps you know him from his work with Neil Gaiman in The Sandman: Endless Nights. Barron Storey has been around for quite awhile creating amazing art and now it’s time for a retrospective.

Life After Black: The Visual Journals of Barron Storey is on display at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators. Covering a span of 30 years, the exhibit covers a selection of Storey’s 143 journals. The show runs from June 10 through July 31, 2009.

These journals provide a unique opportunity to see original work from a graphic narrative unfolding over many years. As Barron Storey puts it, “I do them for me but they are for you too. It’s the illustrator in me. They’ve been seen by a lot of people in my travels, but never like this.”

Barron Storey will be in attendance on June 12 for the opening reception. And he will deliver a lecture at the Society of Illustrators on June 16 at 6:30pm. In conjunction with the exhibit the Society has partnered with Materials For The Arts to provide journal making workshops on June 8 and June 15.

This exhibit features original art and journals as seen in the book, Life After Black and The Marat/Sade Journals. Work from “Despair” in The Sandman: Endless Nights will also be on display.

Barron Storey’s work has appeared in Time, National Geographic, The Saturday Review and his work is permanently on display at the National Air and Space Museum, The American Museum of Natural History and the National Portrait Gallery. He continues to inspire others as an illustrator, graphic novelist and noted educator. His work has influenced many artists in comics including Bill Sinkiewicz and Dave McKean.

David Carradine, best known for his work in Kung Fu and Kill Bill, was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room today. He was 72.

Initial reports from Fox News state have stated that Carradine was found hanging in his hotel room using cords from the curtains.

According to his agent, Carradine was staying at the hotel since Tuesday, but failed to attend a dinner with the cast and crew on Wednesday. Police reports from around 10 a.m. this morning state that Carradine had been dead for at least 12 hours.

Carradine was a jack-of-all-trades in the Hollywood set, working not just as an Academy Award-nominated actor (as Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory), but as a writer (Kung Fu: The Legend Continues), composer (Kill Bill: Vol. 2), editor (Americana), voice actor (for the video game Saints Row), and even directed a few episodes of Lizzie McGuire.

For those who don’t know him, here’s a nice little clip from Kill Bill, Vol. 2, in which Carradine played the titular Bill, in which he, perhaps fittingly for this site, discusses comic book dualities:

The only thing more relaxing to Darth Vader than killing a Jedi is when he’s taking a sith.

You can see more of these hilariously candid superhero shots by checking out Ian Pool’s photography gallery, known as “Super.”

They’re all pretty funny, but I think my second favorite of these has to be Doctor Octopus with his Jonas Brothers posters.

[Tip of the hat to Graeme for spotting the link]

This is kind of a short’n’sweet rundown on the articles I bookmarked this week, as I’m knee-deep in so much stuff right now I don’t have time to do them justice.

The Hathor Legacy on Warren Ellis’s Freakangels.

The Angry Black Woman says she would make a terrible superhero girlfriend. She also takes on being a sci-fi/comics fan and being a woman of color.

Johanna Draper Carlson wants to know what your geekiest thing is.

Racialicious revisits Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology and finds a few identities still missing.

Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, prone to outrageous statements, will be the latest politician to star in her own comic book.

Todd Klein does the Library of Dream.

Splash Page has five out and proud heroes who’d oppose Proposition 8.

Daryl Cagle sticks it to the Huffington Post on comics and editorial cartoons.

It’s Saturday afternoon and I’m working and packing, so I thought I’d share with you all the fun things I stumbled across this week in the comics Web.

And since I mentioned webs, you have to check out the winners of Warren Ellis’s Spider Queen Remake/Remodel contest. From Ryan Kelly, Pia Guerra and Paul Sizer, three totally different and totally fabulous visions of a character from a one-paragraph description.

Comics come with teaser trailers now? Apparently so, and this one, for Jeff Lemire’s upcoming Vertigo book, The Nobody, is pretty cool.

Figures the night that I don’t watch Rachel Maddow she talks comics. From Comics Worth Reading, Archie’s Marriage on Maddow.

I’ve always got to have one overly academic link, don’t I? These are notes on a paper titled “Harshin Ur Squeez:Visual Rhetorics of Anti-Racist Work in LiveJournal Fandoms.” It sounds like a mouthful, but if that’s your thing, check it out.

And to wrap things up, a nice little post on “Growing up Vulcan” inspired by the new Star Trek movie (duh).

Kryptonite, Lex Luthor and Doomsday have yet to fell the “Boy of Steel” (funny, for a lead actor in his 30s now), but finally something may be too deadly for Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman to overcome: A new Friday night timeslot.

Making the rounds in entertainment trades is news that The CW network has laid out their Fall 2009 schedule, and while Smallville managed to survive (news known for weeks, actually), the show looks like odd man out in terms of its choice time of the week. Making way for a new program (The Vampire Diaries) to be paired Thursday nights with the thriving Supernatural, Smallville has been moved to Fridays and given a mere repeat of America’s Top Model (I just threw up a little in my mouth) to carry the night for the network. Gotta love, also, how CW has put together a night devoted to Aaron Spelling material from days of old, 90210 and Melrose Place. I can assure you what network I will NOT be watching on Tuesday nights come September.

Terminator fans know all too well how toxic Friday night prime time can be with the recent cancellation of Fox’s Sarah Connor Chronicles. And despite being touched by an angel with Dollhouse, Joss Whedon fans were infamously burned with the short shrift given to cult classic Firefly. But despite the fact that I am sure Smallville’s move to Fridays is the first step in The CW clearing it off the books a year from now, I really can’t complain about the show’s treatment dating back to its origins on The WB in 2001. Nine seasons for any show in this day and age is remarkable, and in spite of creative ups and downs over the years, there is no denying that Smallville cemented its status in Superman lore years ago.

Ultimately my biggest hope is that the show producers develop a season from beginning to end that’ll make some sort of historical sense in Man of Steel mythology and not make it up as they go along, unsure of the promise of a tenth season. And I know everyone who follows the show has an idea in their head on how the eventual series finale should play out, but I for one would like them to simply end Season 9, regardless of the show’s fate, on a note that gives fans a sense of hope, if not closure. Stay tuned.

So, in the wake of this week’s season finale of Smallville, “Doomsday,” there was a little matter of a letter that Clark Kent composed in the event of his passing, as the Red-Blue Blur, that Lois Lane was instructed to run in the Daily Planet. 
It was only for a few moments at best that the viewers got a glimpse of the letter as Clark (Tom Welling) was typing it out.  As a service to the loyal viewers, I made it a point to transcribe the letter in its entirety…

To the citizens of Metropolis:

You have welcomed me into your city and allowed me to make it my home. I will always be grateful for that. Which is why I cannot leave without saying goodbye. This newspaper has made me into what you think I am — an example, a symbol, a “hero.” But the truth is, I’m simply one of you. The only difference is that my days in the shadows and my nights on the streets have allowed me to see what you’ve lost sight of — the good in each of you.

I’ve seen regular people do extraordinary things. I’ve seen you help each other up after you’ve been knocked down. I’ve seen you stand together when times are tough. And I’ve seen the smallest act make the biggest change. If I’ve done anything right, I hope it’s help you realize one person can make a difference in the lives of others — that Metropolis doesn’t need a hero. Have faith in yourself, and you will find hope in each other.

Remember, it’s not the mask that makes the hero. It’s the choices we make and the desire to do what’s right. I’ve seen that desire in all of you. It inspired me to promise I would do everything in my power to protect this city — but I can’t promise that I’ll be around forever. One day, there may be a fight I cannot win.

But if that day comes, please, keep fighting without me to make the world a better place. Be the heroes I know you are.

~ The Red-Blue Blur

It has become a sought after book but the graphic novel which the upcoming Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movie is based upon remains unpublished. Written by the film’s producer, Lionel Wigram, to help promote the viability of the project, it seems that this book was never meant for the general public. This is not to be mistaken with the current Sherlock Holmes comics series by Dynamite Entertainment. And, of course, this movie is not to be mistaken with the Sacha Cohen/Will Ferrell version.

And the money shot in the comic book that wowed investors? Sherlock looking all bed head and wielding a sword in one hand and a whip in the other. 

Director/writer Guy Ritchie, Robert Downey, Jr. and the rest of the cast, which includes Jude Law, Rachel McAdams and Mark Strong, all appear to be on top of their game. There’s been a lot of buzz about this one and that will just keep humming along with the first trailer for the general public to be released to accompany Terminator Salvation when it opens May 21. 

Set for a Christmas Day release, this movie promises to give the viewer a rough and tumble Sherlock Holmes more true to the original than what the casual observer may imagine. You’ll see a Sherlock Holmes who is handy with a sword and knows his boxing and martial arts. You’ll also get a pretty sweet mystery involving a sinister occultist. And lots of manly swagger between Holmes and his buff compatriot, Watson. These two mean to kick some ass.   

USA Today provides a feature story about the latest developments. Go to their site to see more photos. Now, the question remains, who will win over audiences and go on to become a franchise? Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes or the Sacha Cohen/Will Ferrell flick? Well, the one with Cohen and Ferrell sounds like it’s going to be really offbeat much like the one with Gene Wilder in the ’70s, The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother. It might be good but it will be too offbeat and a franchise like this can’t pull any punches. You want badass action for something like this, right? And, if you have to take sides, how can you pass up the guy who made Iron Man hip?  

Also, if you’re in a position to do so, someone snag me a copy of the Lionel Wigram Sherlock Holmes graphic novel. Then again, who knows, it may not have been intended to be more than a glorified storyboard but it could end being published and available everywhere for the holidays.

Or not-gettin’-any-action-figures? (OK, OK, that was awful, I’m sorry). Lucas drew my attention to this on Twitter (via GeekGirlDiva), and I just had to share it. I stopped collecting action figures ages ago, though I still have my Death and a few McFarlane NHL figures. I’m certainly not going to break that streak for Twilight figures, but maybe someone else will.

There are also quite ridiculously priced dolls of Edward and Bella that are temporarily out of stock–which means there’s a significant number of people who spent $139 plus shipping and handling on them.

Interview with Julia Wertz, creator of I Saw You…Comics Inspired by Real Life Missed Connections. Who doesn’t love missed connections? Even better in comics form.

Girl-Wonder.org has a new blogger at 1000 Miles Outside Metropolis, and her first post is on the perils of reading indie comics in a lousy economy. Check it out.

Comicsgirl is actually looking forward to Marvel Divas. And she makes me rethink my snark. (h/t When Fangirls Attack)

Daryl Cagle’s Arlen Specter cartoon made me laugh, and I love when he posts his progress on a cartoon.

Suzie at Echidne of the Snakes takes on Dollhouse-as-boyfriend-test. Take note, gentlemen.

I totally love when political bloggers blog about comics. Attackerman on Wolverine.

Finally, don’t forget G. Willow Wilson’s May Day AIRlift project. Buy comics, help a good cause. You can indeed still participate buying from your local retailer…