The League of Extraordinary Oklahomans

 Years ago, in a magical time known as the 80s, there was a popular toy line of tiny pink monsters, wrestlers, robots and weirdos known as M.U.S.C.L.E. figures.  They were small, collectible and, best of all, fun!  I used to have a big bucketful of them and made them take part in legendary battles in the sandbox.

Since everything old is new again, the M.U.S.C.L.E. figures of the past seem to have been the inspiration for O.K.I.E.S. figures of today.  

 Made by Flying Rabbit Studios, these little guys are made in the image of some of the most famous real Oklahomans as well as a few larger than life Okie statues.  Let's take a look at the line up of the "Stay Gold" edition:

Golden Driller - "Petroleum Protector"

You'll recognize this guy as the guardian of the Tulsa Expo Center.  He's become a symbol of the state and the impact the oil and gas industry has had on it as well as a popular roadside icon that attracts visitors from all over the world.

Bass Reeves - "The Real Lone Ranger"

Born a slave, Bass Reeves became one of the most legendary lawmen of the wild west by bringing thousands of criminals to justice.  His heroic efforts have been claimed to be the inspiration for the Lone Ranger.

Will Rogers - "OK's Favorite Son"

Actor, writer, and overall comedic performer Will Rogers is next.  Rogers may be the most famous celebrity to come out of the Sooner State.  Whenever you have some free time, drive across the state and count how many buildings, roads and institutions are named after him.

Wiley Post - "Pioneer of Aviation"

 "Adventurer" is probably the best description of Wiley Post.  He's best known for working in the wild blue yonder and is seen here wearing the pressure suit that he frequently wore on high altitude flights. 

Buck Atom - "Space Cowboy 66"

Tulsa's own roadside rocket man rounds out the list.  The former muffler man was installed along Route 66 a few years back and his distinctive design and accompanying gift shop has been a Mother Road "must-stop" ever since.

Not a bad lineup, huh?  I'm 100% on board with these little guys and am holding out hope for a Saturday morning cartoon series, additional actions figure waves (I've heard rumblings about a Belle Starr figure) including play sets and vehicles and, of course, a breakfast cereal.  Anything less is unacceptable.  Make it happen, Universe! 

OKPOP Groundbreaking

The OKPOP museum is scheduled to open in Tulsa sometime in late 2021 and last week the Oklahoma History Society had their ceremonial groundbreaking.  I was able to be there along with other press, various dignitaries and a collection of fellow Oklahoma cultural enthusiasts.

The windy day included speakers like Governor Stitt (who, upon mispronouncing Bob Wills' name, was promptly corrected by many in the crowd), Lt. Governor Pinnell, Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and one of the Hanson brothers (you have a 1 in 3 chance of guessing right).

After the surprisingly large number of speakers, the dais of dignitaries, construction company executives, historians, and one pop star (you guess yet?) wore their Golden Driller helmets and brandished their guitar shaped shovels (both nice touches, I thought) and gathered around the ceremonial dirt for the ceremonial groundbreaking.

They were joined by family members of Oklahoma honorees like Archie Goodwin's son and Roy Clark's widow and, to the tune of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Oklahoma," they proceeded to...

...move some dirt around...I guess?  It was all ceremonial, as most groundbreakings are these days, so no actual digging was required.  But this was the first groundbreaking I had ever been to so I was into it and glad to be there.  Now all we have to do is wait for the building to be built and maybe I can get some sweet ribbon cutting footage!

Tulsa-X

This one takes a little setup to explain but I'll try to do it quickly: All the CW superhero shows (The Flash, Supergirl, etc) tend to do a major cross-over story once a year. And to enhance their superhero universe, the network's streaming service "CW Seed" airs original animated series based on some of the various shows' supporting characters.

This brings us to "Freedom Fighters: The Ray," an animated adventure starring The Ray, a superhero with light-based powers.  He was featured in live action in the 2017 cross-over story line, "Crisis on Earth-X." 

One of the conceits of the various CW superhero shows is that there are multiple Earths on which different characters live.  The majority of our heroes live on Earth 1 but in this story the gang discovers "Earth-X," a reality in which the the Nazis won World War II. 

Why am I talking about any of this?  Well, it turns out our boy The Ray lives in Tulsa!  And his movie starts off in the Earth-X version of Tulsa...or, if you will, "Tulsa-X."  Take a look at Nazi Tulsa:

Looks like the animators did a little homework for the visuals (or at least a quick Google image search) because there are a few Tulsa landmarks that are featured...starting with the Centennial Plaza area near the Arkansas River.

It's not a bad likeness but it's definitely better looking in real life (without all the swastikas).  When you think about it, it's weird that a world controlled by Nazis even has a Route 66 tribute...but that's probably one of those things that you shouldn't think about too much. 

And, as far as Tulsa landmarks go, the most famous one makes an appearance in the series as well, this time on Earth 1:

As I was watching, I didn't think for a second that the Golden Driller would make an appearance (cool stuff like that rarely ever happens for me) but after a while there he was.  It shows up in a montage where Ray (his superhero name is "The Ray" and his first name is "Ray" and, yeah, they point out how weird that is) and his boyfriend take in the sights of the town.  The guys also take in some sea life:

OK, so this one is kind of a cheat.  The boys do some shark viewing at the local aquarium which I am just going to go ahead and call the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks.  The scene is definitely not designed after the Tulsa area attraction but my personal head canon is that the Earth 1 Oklahoma Aquarium looks a little different from the Oklahoma Aquarium on whatever numbered Earth we live on.  But they both have sharks as you can see from the footage I got awhile back.

Aside from a a semi-accurate skyline shot or two, that's pretty much it for Oklahoma related stuff.  The rest of the story takes place in Detroit, Central City (the Flash's hometown) and Earth-X New York and involves The Ray getting the crap kicked out of him by Nazi Supergirl.  Check it out when you get a chance.

Pryor Creek Comic Convention Wrap Up

This weekend was the 3rd Annual Pryor Creek Comic Convention and I was lucky enough to have access to shoot some video of it.  I think at this point, the cat's out of the bag about the next documentary I'm making.  It's about the many comic book and comic strip creators from the state of Oklahoma and shooting this con was a good step forward in the production.

Before I go any further, a special thanks to the con organizer Jimmie Tramel (seen above talking to the gentleman hold The Flash torso) who put together the convention for the Pryor Area Arts and Humanities Council.  I was able to get a quick interview with him and he's the reason I found out about the convention.

It was cold and icy Saturday morning so there was some concern about whether or not the streets would be safe enough for visitors, vendors and guests to get there.  I was close by so I was able to get there early to get some shots of the vendors setting up but it didn't take long to realize the weather wasn't going to keep too many people away.

As you can see in the pic above, the slick roads were no match for the Ghostbusting and Jurassic Parking vehicles.  They all made great photo ops which were usually taken quickly right before people rushed inside to warm up and buy comics.

I was able to get a quick interview with Oklahoma writer John Wooley, creator of the Twilight Avenger.  If you've been reading this blog then you already know I'm a fan of the Dust Bowl era Oklahoma mystery man (seen HERE and HERE).  But he let me know about another piece of his work, "The Miracle Squad," which has an Oklahoma-based story line in one of its volumes so that will probably be next on my pull list.

I was also able to touch base with writer Robert Soul whose comic "Ruined My Rhythm" is based in Tulsa.  He was kind enough to hook me up with a signed copy (thanks again, Robert!) which is now at the top of my ever increasing pile of books I need to read.  We agreed to set up a time to interview him for the documentary.

I would have stayed longer to check out more vendors and creators but unfortunately my time was limited and there were other things I needed to shoot.  But it was a great convention and I look forward to seeing it grow.

And, as usual, as I was looking back at the footage, I found something I wished I had bought.  I'll get you some day Little Debbie Hot Wheels!!!  Regrets, I have a few...

Unique-lahoma

To kick off the blog, here's our documentary short "Unique-lahoma":