Saturday, July 19, 2008

Dr Horrible's Dark Tower

I just watched the conclusion of the three-part Joss Whedon webisode Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog and I can actually compare it to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, which I also concluded tonight.

The way both presentations end is very...not circumstantial, but lackluster...full circle (?) unsatisfying. That works. They both built up to a huge finish, and while the Dr. Horrible at least had a conclusion, not so much with the Tower.

I'm not going to spoil anything from the series that could be considered King's greatest achievement, his magnum opus..but I do recommend reading it, if you have like 4 months of free time. The series weaves a long tale between several other Stephen King books to create a larger universe...or universes turning on the same wheel (ka is the wheel of destiny). I grew very attached to the main characters and enjoyed their flaws very much. Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog, on the other hand, moves too quickly for true character development. This is not Whedon's best creation. There are not references to other classical works. It might be better than Angel, but it is surely no Firefly (which is only one season long, so check that out over summer).

Major kudos to each of the artists for entertaining me for so long. I don't know how long that Dr Horrible link is going to work, so look on YouTube , maybe you can find something useful there.

"Long days and pleasant nights"

UPDATE: Dr. Horrible will be available on iTunes and DVDs with lots of special features. The Dark Tower series is available in bookstores now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Funny about the "wheel of destiny." If you have time you might want to check out Boccaccio's "The Consolation of Philosophy" in which he originates the idea of "the wheel of fortune."