I watched “The Cape” a few days ago, NBC’s latest foray into the comic book world. I’ll admit that I had higher hopes for this show. The concept had potential to be awesome if done right–emphasis on the ‘if’ part. But if done poorly, the show could collapse onto itself in cartoonishly bad fashion. My thoughts?
A big bowl of Meh. Too many plot holes and not enough action. The main hero, The Cape., looked like a total chump in his first costumed outing. Unless he has not acquired the correct costume or all the skills he needs just yet, making a hero look like a weakling is a no-no in whatever superhero rule book there is. Granted, no one’s saying that the Cape should be invincible, and he did take care of the low-level cronies with ease. But still, he should have wiped the floor with Vinny Jones’s ‘Scales’ after some degree of challenge.
Plus, there were far too many points where the bad guys could have uncovered the hero’s identity. Palm City, the main locale of the show, looks like a slightly altered version of LA. In short, it had no character. If a hero is trying to save a corrupt city, then the viewers should be given a reason to care about this locale. Why is Palm City worth saving? What about its past made it so great to begin with?
And most importantly, as awesome as James Frain (True Blood) is as an actor, his character Chess is a boring and one-dimensional. Granted, its only been two episodes, but I’m already bored. Yes, he has a chess gimmick. What else?
However, I’m willing to give this show a few more episodes to get its stuff together. If not, I’m out!
Onto another matter. As I start prepping to approach literary agents once again, I’ve already nailed down a template of sorts for my query letter. Its looking way better than my first query letter almost three years go. Ugh, bad flashback!
Now its time for a part of the process I’ve dreaded. The synopsis.
For some reason, the thought of summarizing my first book in less than ten pages is frightening, annoying and tedious. I just have no interest in doing it. But book synopses are essential if I’m truly going to approach literary agents with the intent to get representation.
I finally sat down and wrote out a few paragraphs. The plan is to start with a long synopsis (7-8 pages), then extract from that a medium synopsis (4-5 pages) then a short synopsis (1-2 pages). Once I get versions I’m happy with, then I’ll start sending these queries out. Its a scary, taxing process but as I said, it is necessary if I’m going to strive for a way into the traditional publishing world.
Time to make this happen!
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