The Official Site of LOST at ABC.com

Discuss LOST season 4 (with spoilers) on the boards!

I may be alone in this but over the past few seasons, the character of John Locke (played by Terry O’Quinn on ABC’s LOST) has become progressively more annoying. He has become uncertain, desperate and… well… lost. This is especially frustrating because in Season 1 of the show he was a complete and total bad ass in every way.

When the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 first crash-landed on the mysterious island, Locke stood out among them as the man with no fear. A cripple when the flight took off, Locke suddenly found himself able to walk and he embraced that gift by thriving on the island. He was a capable wilderness survivalist, eager to confront the mysteries of the island while most kept to the beach doing a lot of wondering. Locke was confident and capable in a terrifying world and that made him an easy character to fall for early on in the show.

Then he found the hatch. That damn hatch in Season 2 that consumed him and turned him from a curious wise man into a button-pushing slave. Since then it seems like he tackles all new challenges with the same ferocious curiosity but even less confidence or less faith, a term associated with the character throughout the seasons of the show.

Now, week-to-week we get the pleasure of watching him get bested and outsmarted by Ben (Michael Emerson) at every turn. This seems to frustrated Locke, the viewers and even O’Quinn, who despite winning the Best Supporting Actor Emmy last year for his work on LOST has been very vocal in the past about his own personal frustrations with the development of the character. I love Ben, but it’s so frustrating to see him make Locke dance like a little puppet at the end of his strings.

Ultimately our frustration is pointless. Locke is on a journey, predetermined by the writers who, now with a solid end date for the series in 2010, are on the fast track to pulling it all together. We can only hope that when the show finally comes to a close one of the major characters that made us fall in love with it in the first place, won’t end it as a bumbling fool.

Sorry to everyone that wasn’t really expecting to see a comic about movies covering a TV show, but I thought of this strip a couple weeks ago while cursing at my TV and thought it might be fun to share. Besides it’s not so odd. I did those two Veronica Mars strips a ways back and I’m guessing that most of the people that read this column are fellow TV junkies.

If you liked today’s comic, let me know. If the response is good and this strip catches on, I’ve got about 4 or 5 more LOST comics I’d love to do once Season 4 kicks in again at the ed of April. I’ve got a good one for one of the new character’s Miles (Ken Leung) who has quickly become one of my favorite people to set foot on the island ever. I hope he can hold onto that grenade.

I’m sort of obsessively into LOST right now, to the point where I’m downloading podcasts and talking about it on message boards (not a ton but some) nearly everyday. Right now on our boards Phil and I are discussing Michael’s hastiness over suicide. I felt like it was a bit of a leap for the character but Phil’s had some convincing points that justify it well enough (Michael is seriously a terrible father). It’s a little morbid for a Friday afternoon chitchat but that’s how sucked into the show I am!

With that in mind I thought it might be fun to show you a couple local Lost haunts of mine that I check throughout the week

When it comes to podcasts there are a few that I really look forward to. The Official LOST Podcast. Information right from the horse’s mouth courtesy of Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse who offer spoiler free information, interviews with cast and crew members, and answers to fan questions all with a light-hearted sense of humor. This is a great source but is usually brief and updates too infrequently.

gspntv is a husband and wife team that have put together a great show and a tight little community who are always coming up with interesting theories. Cliff and Stephanie are very personable and friendly. It’s a natural atmosphere that’s very welcoming. As a plus it updates twice a week with a first reaction show on Thursday night, and an in depth look over the weekend so there’s always a show waiting for you.

Similarly The Jay & Jack LOST Podcast is another great show that takes callers and updates twice a week. I’m new to this one but have been really enjoying their format and “crackpot theory of the week� . They recently did a very ambitious 25-hour show, which included interviews with cast members. I’ve not jumped into it yet and I recommend you start with one of their shorter shows before taking that leap.

Losteastereggs.blogspot.com is a great source for screen captures. They take requests and offer comparisons. It really helps with all the paper work that flips by so fast on screen or all those background characters that may or may not have been so-and-so’s boss/friend/grandmother in another flashback. They offer a nice second look at the show.

Recently I decided to start watching the show again from the very beginning on my computer while I work. ABC.Com has an AMAZING HD viewer that looks crisp as all get out. It’s nicer than my TV! Plus they have the entire show there ready to be watched live online. It’s been a beautiful distraction for the last couple of days.

Lastly… Youtube.com. Don’t take it for granted, you can find a ton of great interviews with the cast on everything form local news to late night TV shows just by doing some random searches. These guys do the Jimmy Kimmel show all the time and it makes for some entertaining background noise while I’m coloring the next day’s comic.

Thanks so much for reading guys. I hope you enjoyed this little departure form the norm. I’ll leave you with a couple of movie news items that caught my eye over the last couple of days.

First Look at Snake Eyes

I first saw these shots via a USA Today article posted on the boards but the images have since made the rounds all over the web. Mainly because they look great! Snake Eyes may be the easiest G.I. JOE to bring to life what with him being masked, covered head to toe and a ninja, but it doesn’t make it any less cool to see him brought to life before our eyes.

My hopes for the G.I.JOE movie haven’t been especially high, but this is definitely a bright spot amongst the questionable casting and director. What are the chances we can get a solo Snake Eyes movie? Who says a leading man needs to talk or… you know… be seen?

One Comic – One Movie

(from AICN) Even though Mark Millar's new comic Kick Ass, a collaboration with John Romaita Jr. about aq 15-year-old kid that decides to become a super hero, is only on the eve of its second issue, Matthew Vaughn (Layercake, Stardust) has announced plans to adapt it for the big screen.

I did pick up the first issue of the series a couple weeks ago, based mainly on the title and the pedigree of the boys involved, and it really is kind of kick ass. It reads with the same tone of the first issue of Millar's WANTED, another comic with a fresh perspective on superheroes in the real world and the overwhelming feeling that there was something big coming. That something in WANTED’s case is a film adaptation of its own.

The comic is gritty and foul but also very very good. I can't wait to see how it plays out to see if it's worth getting excited about a film version.