Last week I wrote about the Riverdale TV pilot (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy-- Jumping The Snark") that was being done by The CW. What I found particularly interesting was the press release being circulated which made the show sound more like something that would find a home over at Fox ("bold, subversive take… darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome facade") rather than The CW, a network that is generally known for its lighter fare, in particular, its young female-skewing dramas (Jane the Virgin, iZombie). And then I discovered that when making the announcement at the "Archie Forever" panel at Comic-Con International, Archie CCO Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa talked about the pilot in terms of it being a "Dawson's Creek/O.C."-type teen drama.
I'm still not sure what Riverdale will be like, but I have to admit that my preconceived notions about The CW primarily showing "lighter fare" kind of got turned around when last week they announced another pilot, this one for a post-Apocalyptic version of Little Women. To quote from that press release:
"Little Women is described as a hyper-stylized, gritty adaptation of the 1868 novel by Louisa May Alcott, in which disparate half-sisters Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy band together in order to survive the dystopic streets of Philadelphia and unravel a conspiracy that stretches far beyond anything they have ever imagined--all while trying not to kill each other in the process."
I'm going to go on the assumption that somebody saw Mad Max: Fury Road and instantly came up with the notion of the March Sisters as total bad-asses in a depressing future. I grew up hearing, and believing in, the canard that there was no such thing as a bad idea. Well, lesson learned. This, this is a very bad idea.
And second, apparently there appears to be a concerted effort in the world of education to add "art" to STEM, making the acronym STEAM. It appears to be a complicated issue, more complicated than I can handle, that has to deal with issues like the core curriculum and making science and math more attractive to kids by connecting them to the arts and humanities. I have no horse in the race, but if I had to choose I'd have to go with STEAM because it's cooler. And unfortunately, the first thing I think upon hearing "STEM" isn't education but stem cells.
Admittedly the publishers' willingness to slap "Steam" in front of any fairy tale or public domain figure to create a "new" title sometimes bothers me, as well as their inclination to do cheesy pin-up comics (Steampunk Swimsuit, Gearhearts Steam-Punk Glamor Revue). But just about every publisher in existence has done one of those at some point. I'll admit these aren't the first comics I read in a week but I have to confess I do sometimes find myself enjoying them, especially when they feature artwork by the always wonderful Rod Espinosa (The Courageous Princess, Prince of Heroes). The majority of these "Steam" titles feature role model-worthy, courageous, science-minded heroines, and if you've never given any of these titles a try you might be missing out on titles that could appeal to a wide variety of readers.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
