Verdict: Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon

Another week, another verdict. This week I look at the geek overlord Joss Whedon and whether his recent catalogue matches the cult of personality.

History:
The young Joss was born to father and fellow writer Tom Whedon, he had a love of Monty Python, films and writing. After writing scripts for TV-shows such as Roseanne and Parenthood, he then moved into a brief job as a script doctor (Note: He worked on Pixar's first film Toy Story in this capacity) before returning to television to create the hit TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Dollhouse. He has recently been secured as the director of Marvel comics upcoming Avengers movie.

Thoughts:
Okay because there is more than one show I am judging him on, I'm going to look at all of them separately.

The cast of Firefly... Crowned geek gods one and all

Firefly was Joss Whedon's Space Western Drama that only lasted one season. The problem with the show was a poor timeslot and mishandling by FOX. I thought the show itself was really good, it managed to make relatable and interesting characters regardless of which episode you watched as well as imbuing them with humour. The show rightly enjoys a cult status now as fans (known as "Browncoats") get together to act out elaborate staging of their own adventures in Whedon's 'Verse'. The thing about Firefly is that it is frustrating, not the Davies kind of frustrating where brilliance can be crushed under mediocrity, but the kind of frustration where something that is good goes unfulfilled. Yes I know he tied it all up with Serenity, but aside from a couple of invested character deaths I didn't feel anything for that movie. However I don't hold that against him because having that unfulfilled universe allows literary geeks (like me) to fill in the blanks ourselves (see the outbreak of RPFirefly forums)

The Doctor is on the Rise

Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog on the other hand was a piece genre smashing brilliance, taking a superhero story and not only flipping it to make the villain the protagonist, but also embedding it with some wicked humour and music! Seriously it was this on it's own  that made me like Whedon and it was Firefly and his writing experience that allayed fears for the Avengers. The fact that I not only feel empathy for the Geek who considers himself a joker with a conscious, but also laugh when the same guy breaks into song is something really rare to find on the internet. Yhea that's right, not only is it awesome but Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog has also broken away and proven to the TV fat cats that you don't need their healthy swag of money to make something profitable and well loved.

Stompity stomp stomp

Summing Up:
So, I wonder what I think of Joss? He has been a constantly stellar writer and continues to make, and be put in charge of some hot geek properties (*cough* Avengers), so yeah this one is easy.

Verdict: