Quote of the Month: "Who can pass on a zine that mentions James Marsters at least once an issue?!" -- Mary Beth Nielsen

Autumn hangs in the air, Halloween looms near, and what do our 11th Hour readers still want to talk about? Well, Star Wars, of course, in particular "Boba Femme", our list of potential chicks to even the score in Episode II. "Great selections, and THANK YOU for addressing the disturbing lack of female presences in the Star Wars movies," writes Monica Witt, who suggests Helen Mirren, Amanda Donahue and Fairuza Balk as actresses for the second prequel. "Strange that Anakin's mom, with all those males lurking around, managed a 'virgin' birth," she says, adding, "It's something that always bothered me about the Star Wars movies, something I call the 'Smurfette Effect'. At the very least [Lucas] could have some women providing voices for alien characters."

"I don't imagine many people can have read [the article] without wanting to add to your list," aptly notes JP, who himself suggested the odd combo of Helen Baxendale, Goldie Hawn, a Carrie Fisher redux, and, um, Oprah Winfrey. Among the many (and usually terrific) choices sent it by our ever-cool readership include Andrea Parker, Gillian Anderson, Lara Flynn Boyle ("she would be human, but not have emotions whatsoever"), Madonna ("she has that totalitarian bitch thing down"), Peta Wilson, martial arts master Cynthia Rothrock, Lili Taylor, Absolutely Fabulous' Jane Horrocks as "a human version of C3PO", Sigourney Weaver, Linda Fiorentino, Ashley Judd, Me Me Lei, Kristen Scott Thomas ("evil to the core if given a chance"), Halle Berry, Bridget Fonda, Izabella Scorupco as "a young Mon Mothra" and, well, Grace Jones ("She might kick Darth Maul's ass!")

And then somebody had to go and say the W-word: "What a wonderful list!" exclaims Matthew Kapell. "Yes! Star Wars needs more chicks, no question. Two people you left out: Nicky de Beor and Winona Rider." While we thank you for the compliment, Matthew, and do greatly admire Ms. Ryder's ability to conceal the lobotomy scars under such a short haircut, there are two words that strike fear into the hearts of any self-respecting sci-fi fan: Alien Resurrection. Need we say more?

On that note, disgruntled fan Brandon Forte just couldn't say enough: "I'm sorry, but your gripe seems to be only that you are mad that women aren't composing more than 50% of the main characters. That seems really petty, and you have to remember, this is LUCAS' film. He has every right to make the characters he created in his own imagination the way, and gender, he wants them to be." Oh, you mean like Jar Jar? That worked out well, didn't it? See, Brandon, this is OUR magazine, and unlike those who are still struggling to surgically remove their lips from George Lucas' ass, when we forsee a problem with our favorite prequels, we're gonna say it. Like it or not. This isn't an issue of political correctness... we just want to see some strong female role models up there teaching America's youth to kick ass with the best of them.

Fortunately, most of our beloved guy readers couldn't feel more differently: "My compliments on a great article, and this is coming from a testosterone-laden Star Wars addict," wrote Michael E., adding, "You know your SW stuff really well; you must have a high midichlorian count!!" Why, thank you. We pride ourselves on such. Meanwhile, Cliff Etters writes, "First off, kudos to you for constructing a fem-based movie fan site. Oh you crazy kids! Keep up the good work and all of us guys out here will continue to pay you homage via the 'net.

"Second. You did forget someone," he goes on. "If you remember during TPM's pod race scene, a striking, white-skinned observer watched the race from an outcropping in the desert. The character's name is Aurra Sing. The actor's name is Michonne Bourriague. (Check out TPM's Visual Dictionary for a great photo of Aurra Sing.) In addition to being one of the galaxy's deadliest bounty hunters (she collects the lightsabres of Jedi she's hunted!), Rumor Control has it that she may be the body underneath the armor of the galaxy's coolest bounty hunter: Boba Fett. This is not confirmed, and while I'd love to see Fett as a kick-ass/take-names woman, I kind of doubt it will happen. But wouldn't it be cool?" Yes, extremely.

"Keep up the great work," Cliff concludes. "And know that there are guys out here who like what you're doing. Continue to shake up the medium!" Those who've checked out issue four know that this probably won't be a problem. For now, check out what our readers had to say on (gasp!) non-Star Wars related topics:

We Are The Puppet Masters

You people have been in my brain, haven't you? I've just finished scouring your third wonderful issue, and it never ceases to amaze me that you have produced a site that gives me everything I could possibly want as a female fan of genre TV. To be specific, your reviews are insightful, funny, interesting and helpful. Your articles always manage to pick up on something I didn't even know I wanted to know about. Your interviews are top notch and informative. Loved the piece on Kay Reindl. Now, if you could just get an interview with my favorite female in the TV world, Marti Noxon.... The site is well done, easy to navigate. And you have my sense of humor! Things could not be more right with the world. And who can pass on a zine that mentions James Marsters at least once an issue?! What would make it better? Well, only if there were any way to produce consistently high-quality issues more often... I'm always left wanting more. But I take what I can get... and I never want you to sacrifice quality (or your sanity) just to get more up on the Web. Quality... not quantity. Just keep on rockin'!
--Mary Beth Nielsen

Lisa responds: Let me assure you, Mary Beth, that if I didn't fear the heavy objects my fellow editors would throw, this would be an all-James-Marsters all-the-time magazine. With a little Glenn Quinn thrown in for good measure, and just the slightest dash of shirtless Kevin Bacon.

A friend referred me to The 11th Hour this morning. Three hours later, I still have a ton of reading left to do for an afternoon African History class, and I couldn't care less. You've done an amazing job on the site, from appearance to content. I especially enjoyed the Buffy articles and the Episode II casting lists -- it's like reading something written by a bunch of my friends after a few drinks. (Yes, that's a good thing.) Your site is so thrilling -- there are more people like me out there! Not to mention that you put most professional mags to shame. Damn, mediawhores everywhere should be rejoicing! Keep up the great work!
--Sassejenn

Chicks doing sci-fi: only good can come of this. Thanks for making a site that women can actually enjoy. (I'm a little tired of sci-fi art including scantily clad women.) And I heartily enjoyed the 11 hottest guys in sci-fi. My particular favorite: Ewan (oh, yeah!) I signed up for your mailing list and can't wait for the next issue.
--Sarah M.

I just wanted to let you know that I really like your web magazine. I found it by accident. You did that article on prospective adult Anakin Skywalkers. Theforce.net mentioned it and I visit there everyday. So I went to your mag and plan on being a regular monthly reader from now on. You cover my favorite genre, scifi and horror. Keep up the good work. A loyal reader,
--Ricki

Picture this: you've logged onto the Buffy the Vampire Slayer message board at the Ugo Network (because you do this every day). You see a non-descript post entitled "A Nice Little Genre Site." So, sure, you think "I'll go see if it's cool." And is it cool? It is Beyond Cool. You spend the rest of the night reading articles, past issues, whatever, cutting and pasting funny lines into e-mails to send out, telling everyone on your ICQ list to go to www.the11thhour.com right now.
You've pictured all this, right? That's how I came across your webzine. I cannot think of enough adjectives to describe how much I liked The 11th Hour. Insightful, intrepid, and infinitely entertaining will have to do. I went there because of Buffy, but I stayed and stayed because of the Star Wars Boba Femme, the Worst X-Files (you read my mind on most of those by the way), and all the rest. You guys (okay, yes, gals technically) get the Add to My Favorites award. Keep up the amazingly good work.
--Laura Bentley

A Haunting Performance

Are you guys nuts?! Owen Wilson's performance is not even worth mentioning?!!! ["The Haunting", Review, Issue 3.] Honey, it's the ONLY thing worth mentioning! As always, the undeniably sexy Mr. Wilson puts in a performance WAY above the material he's given( any one else remember 'Armageddon'? 'Anaconda', perhaps?). To add insult to injury, you completely overlook him in the 'Drool Factor' category! No offense to the sublime Mr. Neeson, whom I'm a GREAT fan of, but he's so stagnant, so boring in the movie, he can't be called sexy by any stretch of the imagination! As for the movie itself, I am a huge fan of both the novel and the original movie and still managed to enjoy MOST of this movie. I found the first half to be on par if not better than Jan De Bont's best (Twister, Speed). The direction is solid, the acting is loose and natural, well...then the movie goes down the toilet, but that does not have to stop anyone from enjoying what I think is the best sci-fi horror movie based around a women in ages! Oh well, who says that every woman has to have the same perspective on everything?
-Jeannie LeZotte :)

Sarah responds: No argument there. ;) While I agree with your comment that The Haunting is on par with De Bont's best [read: it sucked], it's just not happening for me with Owen and his non-role in the film. (Although I did love Rushmore, which he co-wrote.) I hear you on the Liam issue though; not only did he have the most horrid dialogue of any character (quite an achievement, at that), but did you happen to notice his teeth? Yeesh! Or maybe that was just me.

We're EVIL!

Alright, I understand your choice of #1 villain and the logic behind Angel over Dru ["The Evil Undead", Issue 3] (though I disagree), but the Mayor as #2? Over EVIL Willow?!!? Please. If she were in even one or two more episodes (they brought her back once), she would easily take top honors as Villainous Supreme. Drop the mayor down to number six and the rest falls in place.
--Brandon D. Wells

Oooh...you guys did a good job, especially with Spike at #1. However....I think you should have had Ted listed as a runner up as well. I mean...he wasn't a great villain at all, not compared with the other 10 on the list. In my honest opinion, I think Anya might have been a better choice. If just for "The Wish".
--Ragna

Thanks to everyone who wrote in; although we can't publish every letter we do read all of them and greatly appreciate your input. Responses to our fourth issue can be sent to letters@the11thhour.com.