Tony
Well, Jonathan Power and his team just passed me a note that reads "Do you like me? Circle YES or NO." So you know what that means, it's time for another Final Thoughts piece. *Sigh* Captain, if only it were that simple.
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future was, if nothing else, a bold experiment. First you had the interactivity of the toys and the show. As noted, the final result left something to be desired, but it's admirable that Mattel dared to buck the status quo and risk everything on the success of a fresh approach. And make no mistake, it was a huge gamble. Not only were they taking a chance on new and mostly untested technology, they were doubling down on the synergy between the toy line and the series. Several of our previous Showcases have featured properties that were based on toy lines, but none of them had their fates so inexorably linked to one another as Captain Power. If one failed, both failed, and while that was often the case with these toy based ventures, here it was almost a certainty. The other gambles were more of an artistic nature.
Because even a fleeting moment of awesome is still awesome.
April 25, 2015
April 18, 2015
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future - The Original Bible
Noel
Like many people, I'd long been under the impression that Captain Power was pretty much a J. Michael Straczynski show from beginning to end, and it's been interesting learning through this project just how much was already in place before he came on board. Those who have the dvd can see the full details of the show's creation, but to sum up, it's mostly the brain child of Gary Goddard and the folks at Mattel. I haven't mentioned Goddard much here, mostly because a number of charges against him in the last few years, while legally dismissed, left of bit of a sour taste with me, but before then, I had been quite fond of his Masters of the Universe movie (still am, admittedly). He came up with the initial characters, ideas, names, and designs, alongside Landmark Entertainment executive Tony Christopher and artist Luc Mayrand.
Like many people, I'd long been under the impression that Captain Power was pretty much a J. Michael Straczynski show from beginning to end, and it's been interesting learning through this project just how much was already in place before he came on board. Those who have the dvd can see the full details of the show's creation, but to sum up, it's mostly the brain child of Gary Goddard and the folks at Mattel. I haven't mentioned Goddard much here, mostly because a number of charges against him in the last few years, while legally dismissed, left of bit of a sour taste with me, but before then, I had been quite fond of his Masters of the Universe movie (still am, admittedly). He came up with the initial characters, ideas, names, and designs, alongside Landmark Entertainment executive Tony Christopher and artist Luc Mayrand.
April 13, 2015
Captain Power and the Soldier of the Future - Toys, Merchandise, and Training Videos
Apologies for the lateness of this post. Some family medical emergencies kept us from finishing it on time.
Tony
For photos of the entire toyline, check out The Toy Box and Action Figure Archive.
If people remember anything about Captain Power, it's likely to be that the toy line was interactive with the show. If you've been watching along with us, you may have noticed that Dread's forces and their vehicles all have some sort of glowing red box of one type or another on them. That wasn't an attempt to make them look more cool, they're actually targets. Using the Powerjet XT-7 (a lightgun disguised as one of the ships from the show) you'd rack up points for every "hit" on the various targets, and subsequently had points taken away when the sensor on the toy was hit. If the point counter on your XT-7 hit zero, the figure inside was ejected, putting an exclamation point on your failure to save mankind.
Tony
For photos of the entire toyline, check out The Toy Box and Action Figure Archive.
If people remember anything about Captain Power, it's likely to be that the toy line was interactive with the show. If you've been watching along with us, you may have noticed that Dread's forces and their vehicles all have some sort of glowing red box of one type or another on them. That wasn't an attempt to make them look more cool, they're actually targets. Using the Powerjet XT-7 (a lightgun disguised as one of the ships from the show) you'd rack up points for every "hit" on the various targets, and subsequently had points taken away when the sensor on the toy was hit. If the point counter on your XT-7 hit zero, the figure inside was ejected, putting an exclamation point on your failure to save mankind.
April 5, 2015
Captain Power and the Soldier of the Future - The Comic
Noel
Here's where I make a confession I know a few people will find shocking: I'm not a fan of Neal Adams. He seems like an okay dude, certainly makes for a lively interview, but I just don't get into his comics all that much. I don't hate them, there's just a certain hamminess and clunkiness to them which keeps me from being all that interested in what's going on from page to page. He's a magnificent illustrator, certainly, and his individual panels are gorgeous, but his layouts lack any flow or momentum, and the constant over-wrought emotions strung throughout leaves those emotions, which he's working so hard to convey, feeling forced and insincere. And then there's his writing. He's a freakin' mess as a writer, with choppy dialogue, poor motivations, and scattershot plotting.
So no, not a fan of the dude, which is why I was a bit hesitant to check out these comics. All of the above? Still applies here, though I will go through the books a bit more beyond those feelings for those interested.
Here's where I make a confession I know a few people will find shocking: I'm not a fan of Neal Adams. He seems like an okay dude, certainly makes for a lively interview, but I just don't get into his comics all that much. I don't hate them, there's just a certain hamminess and clunkiness to them which keeps me from being all that interested in what's going on from page to page. He's a magnificent illustrator, certainly, and his individual panels are gorgeous, but his layouts lack any flow or momentum, and the constant over-wrought emotions strung throughout leaves those emotions, which he's working so hard to convey, feeling forced and insincere. And then there's his writing. He's a freakin' mess as a writer, with choppy dialogue, poor motivations, and scattershot plotting.
So no, not a fan of the dude, which is why I was a bit hesitant to check out these comics. All of the above? Still applies here, though I will go through the books a bit more beyond those feelings for those interested.
March 28, 2015
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, unproduced episode "Face of Darkness"
Taken from an undated draft, written by David Bennett Carren and J. Larry Carroll. There's no title page, but the original title "Face of Fear" has been crossed out on page one.
ACT ONE
Blastarr leads a swarm of forces through the city of Toronto, dead set on wiping out any remaining human presence. A pack of survivors cram down into a subway station, but find themselves surrounded with Dread Troopers on one side, a Hunter-Seeker on the other. The Hunter-Seeker orders the Troopers back to the street so he can finish the humans off himself, but when the bots question him, he de-cloaks, revealing a Power-Suited Scout who quickly blasts into them. He orders the survivors to take off down a tunnel to where Captain Power and the others are loading other pockets of refugees on the Dropship, but they're reluctant, saying a monster is known to roam these tunnels. "There's monsters here!" Scout shouts, forcing them along as more Troopers flood in. As he's set to cover their rear, Blastarr arrives, blowing off Scout's Power Armor and knocking him down an empty elevator shaft. Blastarr is set to leave, declaring Scout "terminated", but he's ordered by Dread to find and recover the body in the hopes of examining the Power Armor.
ACT ONE
Blastarr leads a swarm of forces through the city of Toronto, dead set on wiping out any remaining human presence. A pack of survivors cram down into a subway station, but find themselves surrounded with Dread Troopers on one side, a Hunter-Seeker on the other. The Hunter-Seeker orders the Troopers back to the street so he can finish the humans off himself, but when the bots question him, he de-cloaks, revealing a Power-Suited Scout who quickly blasts into them. He orders the survivors to take off down a tunnel to where Captain Power and the others are loading other pockets of refugees on the Dropship, but they're reluctant, saying a monster is known to roam these tunnels. "There's monsters here!" Scout shouts, forcing them along as more Troopers flood in. As he's set to cover their rear, Blastarr arrives, blowing off Scout's Power Armor and knocking him down an empty elevator shaft. Blastarr is set to leave, declaring Scout "terminated", but he's ordered by Dread to find and recover the body in the hopes of examining the Power Armor.
March 14, 2015
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: Season 2
Storyline summaries are compiled from the Wikipedia page and this guide.
Noel did also look at a draft of the series bible, but as it turned out to be an early draft where even the first season has striking differences from what made it to air, he's going to save that for a full article a few weeks down the road from now.
"Vendetta"
Written by Larry DiTillio
"Part 1"
Power and his team are on the run after the destruction of the Power Base. They take refuge in the Passages, but Power is consumed by his desire for revenge on Locke, whom he blames for the death of Pilot. This ultimately brings him face-to-face with the new Lord Dread, a cyborg who is now far more machine than man, who decides it's time to re-establish his authority by reclaiming Tech City. Introduced is Christine O'Connor, who soon joins the team as Ranger.
Noel did also look at a draft of the series bible, but as it turned out to be an early draft where even the first season has striking differences from what made it to air, he's going to save that for a full article a few weeks down the road from now.
"Vendetta"
Written by Larry DiTillio
"Part 1"
Power and his team are on the run after the destruction of the Power Base. They take refuge in the Passages, but Power is consumed by his desire for revenge on Locke, whom he blames for the death of Pilot. This ultimately brings him face-to-face with the new Lord Dread, a cyborg who is now far more machine than man, who decides it's time to re-establish his authority by reclaiming Tech City. Introduced is Christine O'Connor, who soon joins the team as Ranger.
March 8, 2015
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, episode 22 "Retribution, Part 2"
Power visits Pilot in her quarters, where they reminisce over her Dread Youth cap and how far they've come together. She's about to tell him something, but they're interrupted by Scout calling in that it's time to head out for their latest mission. They head out to meet Locke, who slips them a chip full of stolen data, and also claims Cypher has been captured and gives them the route of where he'll be transported over the next hour. Troopers attack, but our heroes fight them off and leave Locke behind with thanks. An Overunit appears, thanking Locke for setting up a double cross, for which a steaming Locke gives him a sock to the jaw before storming off.
March 1, 2015
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, episode 21 "Retribution, Part 1"
At the Power Base, Power glumly stews over monitors while the rest of the team celebrates the victory of the last two episodes, the men taking turns dancing with Pilot. They shift over to Power, pulling him out of his funk as they clear the floor for he and Pilot to spend a round in each others' arms.
February 22, 2015
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, episode 20 "New Order, Part 2: The Land Shall Burn Them"
The satellite is still plummeting towards Volcania. Dread orders a still-regenerating Soaron to throw everything he has at it, including himself, but the satellite still plows through and collides with the central spire. Lacchi is malfunctioning from blows, and Overmind is stunned as it experiences pain for the first time, leaving Biodreads throughout scrambled and confused. Dread is unharmed and the plasma storm of Prometheus is still set to launch.
February 15, 2015
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, episode 19 "New Order, Part 1: The Sky Shall Swallow Them"
Power and Scout meet up with a dude named Locke who passes them info on the latest stage of Project New Order. They come under attack from Soaron and Blastarr, but get away.
At the Power Base, they decode the data, revealing they have less than 2 hours to stop both the Icarus and Prometheus stages of New Order. Icarus will use a massive, orbital digitizer to gobble up the entire remaining population of the east coast, followed by the ignition of Prometheus, which will bathe that land in a plasma storm, burning it clean so Dread's new empire can build atop it. They stock up on everything they've got and plan to storm Volcania itself. Pilot uses what time she has practicing on a simulator a trench run she'll need to fly. She can't crack it, but Power reassures her with a kiss on the cheek.
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