I was excited to tune in to this week’s Fangasm, but would the impending drama stop me and others from continuing with the show? I thoroughly enjoyed the premiere, but in case you missed it, the show revolves around seven super fans who move to LA and intern for Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo. One of the best things about the show is that it’s non-elimination, so these seven are here to stay:
Molly McIsaac: Red-headed cosplayer with a husky voice
Paul Perkins: Adorable dude that lives in parent’s basement
Sal Fringo: Curly haired comic book enthusiast
Andrew Duvall: Tall, lanky guy who just wants to captain the Enterprise
Kristen Hackett: Blonde fashion designer from New York
Mike Reed: Relatively normal looking guy who digs everything
Dani Bullis: Petite red-head and special effects make-up artist
The goofy interns return this week and their challenge is one that would make me freak out: create a series of 30-60 second promotional videos for Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo. Andrew is also sent on a coffee run and I can’t help but feel for the guy, as his nervousness definitely strikes a chord within me. As the group reconvenes, and comes up with some solid ideas, Sal and Andrew quickly decide to break off and film several videos, ditching the others to complete the more ambitious ones in favor of a trip to the comic store. As expected, Regina was not entertained by their videos and instead dug the hilarious ones from Paul. 
- watch some of the promos here: http://www.syfy.com/videos/Fangasm/vid:2682328
Back at the house, everyone feels like unwinding so Molly suggest going clubbing. The first notes of romantic interest are shown here between several of the housemates and after a bit of back and forth, a very reluctant Andrew and Sal agree to go out. Mike seems to be in his element and wastes no time in hitting the dance floor. Hilarity ensues when a glowstick/lightsaber battle breaks out and Kristen watches Paul flounder at hitting on the ladies. There is a very noticeable tension between Molly and Mike and even after he is upfront with his like for her, she seems to disregard it completely, sending him a bit of mixed signal. Morning comes and with it…a healthy dose of awkwardness. The girls are preparing for their mini podcast interview with Adrianne Curry and Molly suggests discussing how cosplay does not equal consent. Mike begins to speak up about his experiences with the topic in general as well as a male cosplayer, but Molly shuts him down quickly, even though the issue is one that effects all genders. An argument quickly breaks out, but Mike maturely apologizes.
Adrianne’s arrival has the interns nervous, except for Molly who has met the celebrity several times, yet the boys don’t believe that she knows her for some asinine reason. This idea is quickly shattered when Adrianne warmly greets Molly and the podcast gets under way. Among the cosplay questions, the girls ask Adrianne to give tips to the boys about dating and she invites Sal and Paul out on the town so she can see them in action. Her coaching encourages Sal to ‘fess up to Dani and he successfully asks her on a date.
I found the episode equally interesting as the first, and again, appreciate the attention the show gives to topics that are hot in the geek community. The fact that differing viewpoints are explored is a breath of fresh air, especially since Fangasm is technically reality television. I do wish there was less focus on the awkward and more focus on the convention and interning, but we can’t have everything can we?
Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo is November 1-3 and tickets are available here. (Psst, get 10% off by using promo code: FANGASM)
Fangasm airs Tuesdays 9c/10e and you can catch the first episode right on Syfy!
What did you think about the second episode? Tweet me your thoughts @ladyvader99 and you know what, you can tweet them to Regina herself @dialrforreggie AND at Comikaze too @stanleecomikaze.
REVIEW | The Batman Who Laughs – #1
REVIEW | Doomsday Clock #4
Review | The Lost Path by Amélie Fléchais
Emerald City Conversation with Jen Wang
REVIEW | Doomsday Clock #2
Top 10 Comics of 2017
Hot on the heels of Syfy’s Heroes of Cosplay comes a new show titled Fangasm, which follows seven super fans who move to LA and intern for Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo. One of the best things about the show is that it’s non-elimination, so these seven are here to stay (gods willing of course!).
I was hesitant to watch it, even though I adore Regina Carpinelli, one of the brains behind the convention, simply because I was worried it would be drama filled and exploitative of geek culture. Hell, it’s even marketed as “From the minds behind Jersey Shore,” and if that doesn’t scream trainwreck, well, I’m unsure what does. Anyway, the first episode brought in a staggering amount of opinions, but fan response seems to be fairly positive, with #Fangasm becoming the top trending topic on Twitter and fan response caused the Comikaze Expo website to completely crash for a few minutes!
The first episode, “Beam Me Up, Stan,” introduced us to the seven ridiculously geeky interns:
Molly McIsaac: Red-headed cosplayer with a husky voice
Paul Perkins: Adorable dude that lives in parent’s basement
Sal Fringo: Curly haired comic book enthusiast
Andrew Duvall: Tall, lanky guy who just wants to captain the Enterprise
Kristen Hackett: Blonde fashion designer from New York
Mike Reed: Relatively normal looking guy who digs everything
Dani Bullis: Petite red-head and special effects make-up artist
So who is the favorite intern? Regina says:
“They are all great kids, but Andrew has made me cry like 10 times already. However, I never play favorites; I abuse them all equally.”
Immediately, a conversation revolving around who publishes better comics, Marvel or DC, smashes geek myth that we’re quiet, timid creatures of old before Regina Skypes in a call from our Lord and Savior, Stan Lee. Each intern immediately squees and immediately sobers up with the first test from Regina for the following day: gather as many signatures as possible to establish an official holiday, Geek Pride Day. The interns retire to their swanky new digs, experience a challenge in lighting a grill, and start getting to know each other with relative ease. The next day, Dani locates a Geek Pride Party at a local bar and the group invites all their friends to the event in the hopes of snagging an ass ton of signatures. I felt my heart warm at the sight of my fellow geeks in full costume. Once the work was done and the group settled down at the bar for the cosplay show and dinner, the faces of the girls went from excited to complete disgust/disinterest as the cosplay show featured scantily clad woman dancing. Molly was particularly vocal about the performance not focusing on a celebration of geekiness, but instead exploitative of it. Andrew pointed out Molly was in a tight outfit, in essence doing the same thing, but missed the point of her frustration. Black Widow is drawn to have a skin-tight suit, so if she is to be cosplayed accurately, we’d have to don that same skin-tight suit. Iron Man doesn’t have his perfect ass cheeks hanging out, but I definitely felt that the girls got their point across effectively without sparking a huge debate or slut shaming as this is a big issue in the geek world at the moment.
I asked Regina what she thought about it and she had this to say:
“As a woman who is an executive in a male dominated world, I know a lot about being a tough chick. With that being said, there was NOTHING wrong with those dancers. Unless you can read minds, you can’t judge someones geekiness by looks and high kicks alone. That’s wrong. Anyone can be a fan, and even if those girls are not real fans, who cares. They were not saying they were some geek dance troupe, they were just girls dancing trying to make a living.”
Back at the apartment, Kristen suggest the group record a no holds barred podcast which devolved into a state of giggling and fun times, before they decide to try out the hot tub. The interns have another run in with technology as they struggle to get it working before calling it an early night. Regina is not thrilled with how the signatures are turned in but congratulated them on their effort before delegating several menial tasks for the group to complete, one of which brings them upon a flyer for a contest to meet George Takei (you guys, it’s pronounced Ta-kay). I found myself cheering for Andrew, possibly the geekiest of them all, as he fails the endurance test in order to meet one of his idols. In a surprise twist, George Takei asks to meet his roommates and I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve cried openly because of reality television. Andrew’s story was so honest and heart touching, and his reaction was so GENUINE…I wasn’t even jealous he got to meet him. I’m definitely glad this show is representing us pretty honestly so far and I don’t doubt there’ll be drama here and there, but I’m hopeful in its potential.
Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo is November 1-3 and tickets are available here. (Psst, get 10% off by using promo code: FANGASM)
Fangasm airs Tuesdays 9c/10e and you can catch the first episode right on Syfy!
What did you think about the first episode? Tweet me your thoughts @ladyvader99 and you know what, you can tweet them to Regina herself @dialrforreggie AND at Comikaze too @stanleecomikaze.
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
Colorado Anime Fest Wrap Up
Sneaky Zebra at Blizzcon 2015!
Creepiest Cosplay at NYCC 2015
I have said it many times on this site that I’m not much of a comic book reader, but as it turns out that may be somewhat of a lie. I’ve been reading Archies ever since we found a massive stockpile of them in my Grammy’s attic–she used to work at a publishing house and bring them home for my Mom, and luckily for me we still have them ALL. Reading Archies is a habit I still haven’t been able to kick, and I pick them up every now and again at the grocery store, when I’m not downloading them directly to my Kindle.
You can imagine my excitement when there was a whole panel dedicated to my (second) favorite red-head at NYCC 2011, and they announced that Archie’s friend Kevin Keller was about to make a fabulous announcement as he strolled out of the closet. Later that year, Archie’s Pal Kevin Keller launched; the first ever Archie comic series to deal with gay teens.
This week at the grocery store I noticed something amazing: George Takei is on the cover of Kevin Keller.
It’s a well-known fact that Takei is an out-of-the-closet gay man, in fact he and his husband Brad often speak out for gay rights, including as part of the “It Gets Better Campaign”, where Takei specifically discussed the “douchebags” of the world who resort to bullying gay teens. Knowing all this, it was totally unsurprising to see Takei on the cover of the most recent Kevin Keller, but it was still awesome.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.
The storyline was surprisingly light-handed with it’s themes. Maybe that’s what we need–two young fellows go to the movies together and muse on how much they have to be thankful for at the same time as thinking about how far we still have to go in the world of gay rights. Although the light-handed nature allows the message to extend beyond equality for gay kids. Takei’s family was forced to spend time in a Japanese internment camp during WWII, and the comic does not ignore the fact that inequality is a wide-spread and long-standing problem in America, for a lot of groups of people.
Kevin presents a report on how Takei is his inspirational hero for all his personal triumphs, and the fact that he and Brad fight for “diversity and equality all over the world!” The crew decides to go to the “Smithville Comic-con” where Takei happens to be appearing (of course), and Veronica decides to tag along just for the chance to dress up. No one calls her out for being a “fake geek girl”, and no one drills her on the history of Wonder Woman (the costume she decides to wear). When she laughs “Wow! Look at all these weirdos!” Jughead retorts “You should feel right at home!” and she doesn’t argue with him. Because we’re all kind of weirdos, aren’t we?
In conclusion, George Takei’s story in Kevin Keller shows that he’s more than just a gay nerd for gay nerds; he’s a gay nerd for equality of ALL kinds.
Read more Kevin Keller!
Jen Schiller
Staff Writer
twitter.com/Jenisaur
REVIEW | The Batman Who Laughs – #1
REVIEW | Doomsday Clock #4
Review | The Lost Path by Amélie Fléchais
Emerald City Conversation with Jen Wang
REVIEW | Doomsday Clock #2
Top 10 Comics of 2017
I usually try not to make resolutions, considering it a better option to make a promise to myself instead. Last year it was to stretch regularly and drink more water. This year, I want to tackle the little things that I usually deprive myself of.
1. Finally get a new copy of book one of Song of Ice and Fire series from George R.R. Martin. It was lost forever in the lending process.
2. Stop lending books to people who don’t have respect for their well-being ( how many of you hvae been there “Yeah, I’ll get it right back,” and them 5 months later it’s back missing the cover or the last chapter?) (more…)
Aquaman is the Embodiment of “Fine”
REVIEW | The Punisher Season 2
Sub Cultured Heads to PAX South 2019!
REVIEW | The Batman Who Laughs – #1
Sub Cultured is Heading to DakuCon 2018!
George Takei is the Broker of Star Peace
I’m a Wars fan. End of discussion.
However, George Takei’s clip asking Wars and Trek fans to come together combined with Shatner’s surprising kindness has softened my heart a little. (more…)
Aquaman is the Embodiment of “Fine”
New Star Wars Trilogy in the Works
REVIEW | Blade of the Immortal
Hallo-Screen Review | Good Day
REVIEW | Netflix’s ‘Death Note’
