Sep 4, 2024
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Bob The Angry Flower
What time is it? Webcomics time! Here’s Bob the Angry Flower by Stephen Notley.
More angry flower adventures here!
Just remember who predicted this whole Twitter fiasco.
Bob the Angry Flower
So when you post a wide image on Tumblr, Tumblr makes it small. And if click on the image a bigger version of it doesn't pop up. So that sucks.
But! If instead of making a normal post you answer a question, with an image in the answer, you can click on the image and it gets bigger? Tumblr is stupid! So I'm gonna repost a couple of things with images here. Click on the image to make it bigger.
What time is it? Webcomics time! Here’s Bob the Angry Flower by Stephen Notley.
More angry flower adventures here!
STAR WARS ROGUE ONE REVIEWED WITH SUZETTE CHAN + STEPHEN NOTLEY (MF GALAXY 102)
WHAT STUNNING SURPRISES DOES THE FILM CREATE? A RACIALLY DIVERSE CAST BUT HOW GOOD ARE THE CHARACTERS? WHO’S BETTER—REY OR JYN? WHOSE CAMEOS ARE THE BEST? HOW DOES IT STACK AGAINST THE FORCE AWAKENS? LISTEN/DOWNLOAD Reviewing the film with me—as recorded live at Happy Harbor Comics —are Suzette Chan, the Features Editrix for SequentialTart.com (a webzine by women who are fans of comics and pop culture), and Stephen Notley, a game designer at PopCap and the creator of Bob the Angry Flower . This reviews contains MAJOR SPOILERS. SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON iTUNES SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON iHEARTRADIO SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON PLAYER FM SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON STITCHER SUPPORT MF GALAXY ON PATREON FOR MORE INFORMATION + LINKS
BABYLON 5 REVISITED WITH J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI + MIRA FURLAN (MF GALAXY 100)
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD SF can attempt to predict the future, but since Jonathan Swift invented SF with Gulliver’s Travels, an adult political satire that I’d call the original Star Trek, SF has delivered its most enduring and provocative works by analysing the ethical content of the present. But Star Trek became so dominant on US TV through reruns and then resurrection as Star Trek: The Next Generation that it became a force stifling creativity. The boldest, most innovative, and most influential counter to Star Trek dominance was Babylon 5, the 1993 to 1998 series that introduced the longform story arc with a predetermined beginning, middle, and end to US television. Set in the twenty-third century, the story was of the fifth and final Babylon station, a galactic UN created to end the cataclysmic wars and colonisations in which the cerebral and spiritual Minbari had nearly annihilated Humans, the humanoid Centauri whose empire was in advanced decline, and the reptilian and vengeful Narn who had thrown off Centauri subjugation. Also involved were two mysterious races: the Vorlons, so alien they could barely be understood, and a shadowy race whose existence was unknown to most species, even while their power soon would be. Mixed into the five-year story arc were queer characters, old and new human religions, a Jewish funeral, a species change, political assassinations, allegories for racism, and the rise of fascism on Earth. Babylon 5 offered stakes that Star Trek never had, and better yet, played them out for five seasons to results that television had never attempted. It was a long-overdue revival of science fiction TV. From 1987 to 1994, Star Trek: The Next Generation had presented a 24th Century humanity that, by means unexplained, had stripped itself of its most enduringly toxic social and individual problems. In the Next Generation world, humans didn’t wage war against other humans, did not practice labour, racial, or sexual oppression or exploitation, or destroy ecosystems. The Next Generation presented a future in which “we”—the assumed Euro-American audience for whom the show was created—could do no wrong as a society; only aberrant individuals could cause suffering. So the major sources of misery, degradation, and tyranny were alien societies. Given that Star Trek’s major social allegory was that the Federation, or at least humanity, was the United States, and that the Klingon Empire was the Soviet Union, the view that it’s always the aliens’ fault is an inherently xenophobic, jingoistic, and racist vision of the real world. But Babylon 5 didn’t accept such simplistic and ugly ideas, and the space epic shows that followed B5’s lead, especially Farscape and Battlestar Galactica, seem to have taken its lessons, including by having more female main characters who actually drove the plot and had significant backstories that also drove the story’s direction. In the episode “By Any Means Necessary,” Babylon 5 presented labour struggle on its station a decade before Battlestar Galactica dramatised the issue; similarly, B5 presented its military personnel wearing civilian clothes when they were off-shift, which virtually never happened in Trek, but later happened in Battlestar Galactica. B5 presented not just a multiracial but a multireligious future for humans and aliens. Commander Sinclair studied under Jesuits; Lt. Commander Susan Ivanova was not religious but culturally was Jewish-Russian, and after her father’s death, sat Shiva with her family rabbi in the episode “TKO.” In today’s episode of MF GALAXY, you’ll hear my conversations with two key figures behind B5: Joseph Michael Straczynski, and Mira Furlan. Joe Straczynski, or just plain JMS was a successful television writer on shows such as Murder, She Wrote before he launched B5. Before the days when creative producer/head writers were called show runners, JMS single-handedly wrote 92 of the series’ 110 episodes, and drafted the overarching plot for the entire five-year epic before the first frame was shot. He later co-created Sense8 with the Wachowskis, and wrote the screen stories for World War Z and Thor among other works. Mira Furlan is the celebrated Yugoslavian stage and screen actor who played the Minbari Ambassador Delenn, after Furlan left her war-torn homeland. She’s best known in North America for playing Rousseau in Lost, and she’s also appeared on NCIS and Law & Order: LA. Twenty-two years ago in 1994, JMS spoke with me by telephone from his production office in Los Angeles, just before season 2 began airing, and we recorded the call at CJSR FM88 in Edmonton. Mira Furlan spoke with me at the Earth Station Convention in 1997 in south Edmonton just before she left for the airport. You’ll notice throughout today’s discussion, that JMS and I both say variations on the phrase “in other SF shows” when the SHOW THAT MUST NOT BE NAMED was definitely Star Trek. That deliberate phrasing was just as common in the Making of Babylon 5 half-hour special that aired when B5 launched, so as to avoid stoking the Trek-Always-and-Only kneejerk reaction of some fans. While today it might seem laughable, twenty years ago SF screen fandom was infected with tribalism. Many fans couldn’t wrap their brains around the idea that you could publicly state that you liked two different story worlds at the same time. Maybe that began with Stan Lee hyping Marvel versus DC, as if liking DC was akin to pledging allegiance to a national enemy, or at least a group of stodgy idiots. But even now, of course, some of that lunacy remains. In fact, as Gamergate and the Hugo Wars demonstrated, it actually got worse. Some might say it metastasised into the US presidential election. We began with JMS about why he wanted Babylon 5 to fall where it did on the predictive versus allegorical scale of science fiction. LISTEN/DOWNLOAD To hear more than an hour of bonus content for this episode, including more discussion with JMS and Mira Furlan, and my feature-length conversation with Bob the Angry Flower cartoonist Stephen Notley—because he and I were both big fans of B5 when it came out--click on the Patreon link to become a sponsor for a dollar or more per week. And hey, with Christmas coming, how about sharing some of that holiday generosity by becoming a sponsor of MF GALAXY? Just click here to become a sponsor for 99 cents or even 25 cents per show. You’ll be supporting my weekly work to bring you outstanding interviews with amazing authors, academics, activists, actors, avengers, artists, and Africentrists! And for a buck a show, you’ll get access to scores of extended editions of the show with tons of great advice for new and mid-career writers seeking to up their game. This holiday season, help a brother out! SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON iTUNES SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON iHEARTRADIO SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON PLAYER FM SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE ON STITCHER SUPPORT MF GALAXY ON PATREON
mirafurlan.net
A powerful Mira Furlan blog entry
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The Making Of Babylon 5
JMS on why Michael O’Hare left Babylon 5
Michael O’Hare convention appearance
How I drank more to overcome alcoholism | Claudia Christian | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool
Video tribute
Michael O'Hare (Station Commander Jeffrey Sinclair), Jerry Doyle (Security Chief Michael Garibaldi), Richard Biggs (Dr. Stephen Franklin), Andreas Katsulas (G’kar), Jeff Conaway (Security officer Zach), Johnny Sekka (Dr. Benjamin Kyle), Tim Choate (Zathrus), Paul Williams (General Franklin), and Robin Sachs (ensemble member)
STEPHEN NOTLEY + MINISTER FAUST ON STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS (MF GALAXY 060)
HOW DERIVATIVE IS IT? WILL IT RESTORE LUCAS’S REPUTATION? WHO’S MORE HUMOURLESS: LUKE OR REY? DOES STARKILLER BASE MAKE ANY SENSE? WHO’S IN LOVE: REY/FINN, REY/KYLO, OR FINN/POE?
Today’s episode is 100% non-stop spoilers. If you haven’t watched The Force Awakens yet, you obviously don’t care enough about Star Wars to care about these spoilers, or you’re in a coma. Either way, on we go.
Stephen Notley and I have been talking about science fiction and fantasy for more than 25 years. He’s the cartoonist who for more the last two decades has written and drawn the genre-hopping, politically satirical, gonzo fanboy comic strip Bob the Angry Flower about an evil, brilliant, and super-enthusiastic flower named Bob, and the panels of Bob frequently geek over everything S F & F.
Notley’s put out numerous Bob the Angry Flower compilation books and appeared at many major conventions including San Diego Comic Con. He has a vast following and counts among his fans no less than Joss Whedon, who also blurbed one of his collections.
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Of course I’m the author of the Philip K. Dick-shortlisted The Coyote Kings whose pages are bursting with genre references and even include a criminal gang called the FanBoys.
To talk The Force Awakens, this last Boxing Day, Notley and I sat down at Ninja Sushi on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton. They have not paid me to endorse them, but I will say they had great tuna. I also apologise to the couple sitting next to us who had to listen to us talk about Star Wars for 90 minutes. Which isn’t exactly true, because they left after 45.
If you’re listening on radio, strap in for this half-hour edition. If you’re listening via podcast, this is a special 90 minute version. Radio listeners can go to iTunes or mfgalaxy.org to get the Starkiller-size.
Notley and I will debate the following questions:
So, just how derivative was The Force Awakens?
Will it help resurrect the reputation of George Lucas?
How much did Lucas’s prequels successfully add to the Star Wars universe without getting any credit?
Who’s better in a first movie appearance: Luke, or Rey? And who is more humourless?
What’s the role of cuteness in Star Wars?
Why isn’t Jaaku simply called Tattooine?
When does Star Wars do planets right?
How did Starkiller Base actually work?
What do The Force Awakens and the original Battlestar Galactica have in common?
Why does Han starts talking like Geordi LaForge?
Is Poe the new Han Solo?
Who’s in love—Rey and Finn, or Rey and Kylo Ren? And how will Disney decide?
What’s the love and character arc parallel between The Force Awakensand Avatar: The Last Airbender?
What’s the major writing no-no in how the script introduces and develops Kylo Ren, especially with his powers, his mask, and his swordsmanship?
Who is Snoke? Why is he called Snoke? And why is he a giant Gollum?
What was wrong in the generational values of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek reboot?
The Han-Leia relationship and Han’s decline from general back to smuggler and bad father: well-written or a lost opportunity?
Why should you read the novel Darth Plagueis?
Does Finn possess the Force?
Maz Kanata, Lupita Nyong’o. Is the character a Super Duper Magical Negro?
And is JJ Abrams’ greatest Star Wars movie… Star Trek 2009?
Along the way, Notley refers to local journalist and our mutual friend Fish Griwkowsky. I began by responding to Notley’s question, How many times have I seen the film?
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AngryFlower.com
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STEPHEN NOTLEY, CREATOR OF BOB THE ANGRY FLOWER (MF GALAXY 030)
Stephen Notley is the cartoonist who for more than 20 years has written and drawn the genre-hopping, politically satirical, gonzo fanboy comic strip Bob the Angry Flower about an evil, brilliant, and super-enthusiastic flower named Bob. Notley got his start in cartooning at the University of Alberta Gateway newspaper where he also became the editor in chief. He went on to a successful career in the Seattle video game studio Pop Cap, but he’s never left cartooning, and has put out numerous Bob the Angry Flower compilation books and appeared at many major conventions including San Diego Comic Con. He has a vast following and counts among his fans no less than Joss Whedon, who also blurbed one of his collections.
In today’s episode, Stephen Notley discusses:
The personal significance for him of acclaimed socially satirical cartoonist Keith Knight
How San Diego Comic Con used to be before it went corporate
His own pre-Bob the Angry Flower superhero satire cartoon strip called The Germ
How cartoonists develop their own style and content, and how and why newspaper cartoon syndicates constrain both
When mainstream cartoons such as Peanuts and Garfieldwere groundbreaking
How Notley’s personal life influences his cartooning, and
How he maintains humour in his political and social commentary without ever becoming preachy.
Full disclosure: Steve Notley is a sponsor of MF GALAXY, and we’ve been friends for over 25 years. During our discussion, Notley names mutual friends and fellow cartoonists including the arts reporter Fish Griwkowsky and the late video game journalist and writer Darren Zenko, after whom the character Darwin Zenko is named in my novel The Coyote Kings. Stephen Notley spoke with me via Skype from his workplace in Seattle, Washington on November 20, 2014. The date is noteworthy because it’s just over five months before May 5, 2015, the day of the provincial election in Alberta. Stephen is the son of the late Alberta NDP leader Grant Notley, and the brother of Rachel Notley, the recently-elected and first-ever NDP premier of Alberta. And yes, he’ll talk about his famous family in this interview.
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