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Thursday, March 31, 2005
Mitch Hedberg R.I.P.
Alcoholism is the only disease you can get yelled at for having.
Wearing a turtle-neck is like being strangled by a really weak guy...all damn day! In fact, if you wear a backpack and a turtle-neck, it's like a weak midget trying to bring you down!
I was at this casino minding my own business, and this guy came up to me and said, "You're gonna have to move, you're blocking a fire exit." As though if there was a fire, I wasn't gonna run. If you're flammible and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit.
I love blackjack. But I'm not addicted to gambling. I'm addicted to sitting in a semi circle.
Someone asked me if I wanted a frozen banana. I said no, but I want a regular bana later...so yeah.
Goodbye to one of the best
Permanent Link: 3:15 PM |
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Countdown round up
The last thing you need is me telling you why I hate DC's latest event. So let's see what other people on the internet are saying:
Randy Lander
In the end, I'm far more divided over this book than I was about Identity Crisis, and so I'm doing something I haven't done in a long, long time, and that's offer up two ratings. Basically, if I was looking at this from the point-of-view of whether I buy into it, whether it makes sense and if it looks and reads well, I'd give it a 6/10, for the many reasons detailed above. If I were to rate it on pure personal gut feeling and how much I wanted to chuck the book out a window after first reading it, I'd give it a 1/10.
Abhay Kosla
these people read the same comics i did, must've liked them-- why would they work so hard to get into comics, suck up to editors, work for years... just so they can do the Blue Beetle Snuff Comic Crossover Experience? i guess when you get older you forget that feeling you had originally...
its such a sad hobby in so many ways... (Read the whole review, it's vintage A.K.)
Alan David Doane
FUCK THEM! IN THE ASS!
Mike Sterling
Well, I can say that I enjoyed it for what it was
Tom Collins
I don't buy the villain, I don't buy his scheme, I don't buy his need (nor the writers' need) to kill Blue Beetle, I don't buy his inability to kill Beetle before then if he actually wanted to, I don't buy the contemptuous fashion in which the other heroes treat Beetle (especially Batman, who may be a dick, but is -- or should be -- smart enough not to dismiss the suspicions of someone with Beetle's intelligence), and if this comic hadn't been one dollar, I wouldn't have bought the comic at all.
Brian Cronin
And it’s a real shame, too, for DC Countdown to Infinite Crisis truly is a result of what happens when you get four angry bulls together in one area.
A load of bullshit.
Johnny Bacardi
Like the horse that used to pop up in Ren & Stimpy, when you ask me what I thought, I'll say "No sir, I don't like it". And I won't be buying, either. Life goes on, and I stopped being emotionally invested in the spandex set ages ago. But that doesn't mean I can't be sad for this wrongheaded, venal direction that DC apparently feels it has to go in.
Tom Spurgeon
I think the things I like most about these series content-wise is how DC has been tying them into the death of various characters. Only in DC's largely-in-awe-of-itself collective mind would some goofball in a bug outfit kicking the bucket lend gravity to a potential world-destroying event.
Lyle Masaki
Overall, I was impressed. Tho that's a "I was expecting a 3 out of 10 and got a 6... it's twice as good as I expected!" sort of impressed.
Heidi MacDonald
The only problem with big epics that change everything forever is that you can really only experience them a few times in a lifetime. Then you wise up -- or are supposed to any way. Change is for kids. It seems that today's DC readers -- by and large men 25-40 years old, respond to this kind of universe changing stuff in a Pavlovian way.
Dorian's boyfriend, Pete
It was very well-written, and the heroes did it to themselves...Do they really have to keep on using killing people as a plot device?
Permanent Link: 1:20 PM |
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Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Peacful Easy Feeling?
In 1994 I was 11-years-old and surrounded by many people, all very excited. In that year the one-two punch of the Eagles reunion and The Rolling Stones comeback had hit American pop culture square in the jaw. My mother in particular had expanded her CD collection to include Hell Freezes Over and Voodoo Lounge. My mother was excited about these minstrels whose music she had loved in the past rising from the dead, as was her friends and as were my friends' parents. My friend Brian's father in particular was something of an Eagles expert who regaled us all with trivia about the California popsters during a pool party that year, while the strains of "Love Will Keep Us Alive" could be heard in the background. My brother and I wish to have some simple bit of backyard fun was squashed by the neighbors' insisting that their bar-b-q be supplied by the soundtrack of The Glimmer Twins' compositions "Thru and Thru” and “Brand New Car.” All the while I got my first dose of alienation, as I felt the world swooning over something that seemed so impenetrable to me.
My good friend at the time, television, was expanding this love of all things classic rock so that there was no way I could ignore it. It wasn’t just the adults living in Moorpark, California who were obsessed with Don Henley and Mick Jagger all over again. From the looks of things it was the whole world. The sales of concert tickets were making rich men even richer. Fans would tell the media, in increasing volume, how many times they’ve seen The Eagles (from ten to “never saw them the first time ’round”) and what songs they would like to hear “Keef” bang out on his five-stringed telecaster. It seemed to me that there was all this joy others were experiencing for the arbitrary reason that they grew up in a certain era and have therefore built up a memory bank of how good things were “back in the day,” regardless of accurate those memories were. I was too young at the time to fully understand the word for this: nostalgia. Something that can be quite pleasant when administered carefully but here it was presented in its most dangerous form, “en masse.” I wondered, while I was then just a lad, would I feel such an uneasy feeling amid such behavior in others again.
Today, this comic shipped.
Permanent Link: 6:35 PM |
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Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Miller on the air
On March 30th, tomorrow, at 2:30 Pacific Time Elvis Mitchell will interview Frank Miller on his radio show The Treatment. Mitchell wrote the introduction of The Comics Journal's Frank Miller book and has in fact interviewed Miller on his show a few times before. Here are the past interviews that Miller did with Mitchell. This will be a brand new interview and you can imagine what the main topic will be. You can read up on listening to KCRW on-line on this page but if you miss out on the show will be archived on the site the following day, if not earlier.
I would also like to recommend this Eric Idle interview that Mitchell did last week that I found really interesting and informative as a Monty Python fan. Check it out if you feel you'll like it.
Permanent Link: 5:09 PM |
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The Geekiest thing I've seen...today
Found on aspecialthing.com's Mr. Show board, here is an incredible amount of geekosity courtesy of the L.A. Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl:
A live concert event featuring full orchestra and choir performing music from the greatest video games, plus laser and light sequences, video clips, live characters, and a special segment dedicated to retro arcade classics! Games scheduled to be included are:
Halo
Metal Gear Solid
Warcraft
Tron
Myst
Medal of Honor
Tomb Raider
Advent Rising
Sonic The Hedgehog
HeadHunter
Beyond Good & Evil
Now, if you're paying for the dollar bench seats and I can maybe, sort of see that. But when you're paying within the $40-90 range to hear the L.A. Philharmonic play the theme for "Sonic the Fucking Hedgehog" I don't know if there's any hope for you. I wish they made it clear what the retro arcade themes will be played. After all, if people knew we'd get some of the sweet sounds of "Frogger" filling the Bowl I'm sure they could sell more tickets.
It's the mainstreaming of geekery. I don't think I like the rest of the world as fucked-up and pop culture starved as all the other weirdos out there who are Dungeon Masters, Spider-Man collectors and (worst of all) those who have comic book blogs.
In less depressing news, Mark Evanier saw Sin City and, even though he made it clear it's not his type of movie, he liked it. I agree with him about people leaving the movie before the credits are over. To me, if you leave before the credits are over you haven't seen the entire movie and with tickets prices these days why not get the maximum amount of movie you can can?
Carrie Fisher will reveal all about Star Wars set. I can only hope that we finally find out the truth on the rumors that George Lucas likes to have Ewoks bathe him in the blood of French babies (he says it "gives him ideas for those great prequels").
With that delightful image in your head I bid you good day.
Permanent Link: 7:32 AM |
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Monday, March 28, 2005
Smash your TV and have adventure!
Blogging might be slow this week for a plethora of reasons but I do promise to have a rundown of Grant Morrison's appearance at Meltdown this week so stay tuned for that.
I want to talk about something that has nothing to do with comics right now, after all there's not a whole lot happening there. I want to tell you folks about a snazzy new TV show. See, I'm a fan of comedy but I'm the kind that goes for stuff that's dark and surreal and it's hard to find that stuff, even in "alternative comedy." But I have founded a program that has fed my hunger. Wonder Showzen on MTV2 has got to be one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, just because they are committed to making their audience uncomfortable and disturbed (also, I haven't been able to snoop around that site because I'm at a public computer and I fear that the contents there might not be work safe. Just warning you).
Imagine if Robert Smigel's TV Funhouse was able to get away with the "Porn for Kids" sketch and much, much more. This Sesame Street parody features kids (and it's all real kids) dancing to an ode to slavery, trying to prevent God from killing himself and saying things like "I wish I had my innocence back." Bits from the show often start out as your usual "aren't-we-shocking" fare you would find on Comedy Central (one of the shows creators, Vernon Chatman, worked on South Park) but then they take things much farther so they either creep you out or have you laughing like a sick-o. I've noticed that Showzen is more interested in being surreal and taking on human fears than they are in having dirty fun with whatever is in the papers that day. The title of this posts comes from a song in last week's episode that starts off normal but then begins to shame the viewers at home for sitting on the couch watching TV instead of doing something with their lives. Not uncommon territory for Chatman and the shows other creator, John Lee.
So if you have nothing going happening on Fridays at 9:30 turn on MTV2 and check this show out. I think they rerun it on MTV proper but I don't when (they had it on Sunday so you might want to try that). Hell, here's their pilot from back when they called it Kids Show. That "trip to the hot dog factory" bit was just fucked-up enough to be really funny.
Permanent Link: 4:31 PM |
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Saturday, March 26, 2005
Easter crap
I won't be doing any blogging over the weekend so this former Catholic school student (and current atheist) wants to wish you all a Happy Easter!
Jesus Christ's quick return to life from a highly-hyped death proves that he truly was the first superhero. Who were the disciples if not a prototype for H.E.A.T.? Man, I'm already ready for Marvel to have Mark Millar have Wolverine kill Jesus off only to bring him back in time for the June solicitations. It might look a bit crass, but we at the Catholic Church have a saying: "any publicity is good publicity."
Permanent Link: 9:57 AM |
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Friday, March 25, 2005
Seven Soldiers so far…
As a big fan of Grant Morrison’s work (Q: how can you tell if someone is a Grant Morrison fan? A: They have a comic book blog) I was excited to hear his plans for coming back to the DC Universe included him having his own mini-line of comics. They were connected to each other and they weren’t, each series could be read on its own as well as be taken in as a piece to a much larger story. That sounded alright to me, a way to have a big superhero event without making it one of the tedious affairs that they have shown to be throughout superhero comic history. It’s about time someone let Morrison go wild with whatever he wanted to at DC. It’s all good right? Well…let’s take a look.
His supposed-to-be-triumphant return to the JLA served as a prequel of sorts to the whole event. Unfortunately, like Tim, I found the three issue run of JLA: Classified to be an unsatisfactory experience. Oh sure, it was cool to see Morrison write a cool Batman that said things like “Did my flying saucer arrive from the factory?” and we can all say how great the book was compared to most superhero stories because it has a talking gorilla in it, but ultimately the book failed to share with the reader its joy for balls-to-the-wall superheroic action (which is something Morrison has accomplished in the past) or make interesting characters out of the Ultramarines (another thing Morrison has proven quite capable of doing, getting the reader interested in obscure characters). The second part was the most troubling. After all, the whole Seven Soldiers idea is based around reworked version of B- and C-list DC characters like Zatanna and Shining Knight. To be fair, a large part of why the JLA story didn’t work was because the art team of Ed McGuiness and Dexter Vines turned in some artwork that, as Jog explains nicely, was just not working. I have enjoyed their work before on Mr. Majestic (although I don’t think Vines inked that book) so I felt letdown by them, as well. Here I was all ready to go with this project and I was starting to feel low about it before it even began.
Then things changed, not least of which my mood on that matter. Seven Soldiers #0 arrived, the true kick-off to the whole deal, and things felt right again. It was here that I picked up on what Seven Soldiers is about. Now that Morrison has worked with the royalty of the DC Universe, he’s going to start dealing with the “blue collar” superheroes. The ones that are closer to the proletariat and do not have it all worked out like a Superman or Batman does. There’s a scene early on in his Animal Man run where Superman swoops down to say hello to Buddy Baker because Supes is all friendly like that. Instead the unwanted effect is that Baker feels more insecure than ever after standing next to a superhero of Kal-El’s stature. Things seem set for Morrison to explore situations and emotions like that in the Seven Soldiers world. Seven Soldiers #0 has The Whip joining a group of misfit superheroes who call themselves the “Seven Soldiers” even though there’s only six of them including her. There’s an older female superhero who depends on plastic surgery and gossip to make herself look more vital, a fanboy who is only a superhero because he had the winning bid on two old magic rings and an old grizzled cowboy who complains about arthritis and high blood pressure when meeting new members of the team (the western stuff also give artist J.H. Williams III a chance to show off his Gil Kane chops). Also among the soldiers is Spyder, who was revamped by seven unknown men from his earlier appearance in the beginning of the book (where Alan Moore’s revamp of Swamp Thing was also mentioned). That seems to be the other major theme of Seven Soldiers, these blue collar superheroes getting new makeovers, perhaps to unleash the majesty that has been there all the time? I think Williams’ art was used well in this book to create a type of grandeur for this quirky bunch. Whether that is Morrisons plan or not it, didn’t seem to help the team collected here as one of the villains from JLA: Classified, the living universe Neh-Buh-Loh (who isn’t far off from this Ditko creation), kills of the whole lot of them. That leaves the seven unknown men scrambling to find a whole new team to save this imminent threat to mankind (or at least superhero-kind) and we can assume, although there’s always bound to be surprises when it comes to Morrsion, that this group will be the seven superheroes given their own books in this venture.
As an side because I couldn’t fit this thought into the above paragraph, I find it interesting that the infant universe that Neh-Buh-Loh is meant to be made up of is hinted to be our real world at the end of JLA: Classified #3. The idea of that real world being harmful to superheroes, with the lesser known ones receiving the majority of the damage, is an interesting idea to explore in the midst of DC’s bummer of an event Identity Crisis. While writers like Brad Meltzer like to bring the gritty and dark, often mistaken to be “real,” to the world of DC, Morrison seems to want to do the opposite and show why the other is a futile exercise. It’s another theory of mine that might not bear out at all but if it does I think I know whose side I’m on.
So far two of the seven mini-series have started and my mind has not been completely put to ease about how well Seven Soldiers is going to work. The first is Shining Knight. Simone Bianchi’s art is well suited for the fantasy genre, but unfortunately it’s a genre I’ve never been that big on (I couldn’t even make it through that first Lord of the Rings movie). Sir Justin’s talking horse had some great moments of Morrison humor but after reading Seaguy and currently going through Vimanarama! a witty Mr. Ed didn’t exactly impress, which I suppose ultimately speaks well of Morrison’s ability to come up with the weird and wonderful. I do want to read about Sir Justin’s adventures in modern day Los Angeles, if Seven Soldiers #0 was about bring out the majesty of street level heroes will this show us the street in majestic heroes?, so let it not be said that Morrison can’t come up with a good cliffhanger.
This week saw the beginning of Guardian, notable for re-teaming Morrison with the artists on Seaguy, Cameron Stewart. Here the “working class” aspect seems to be laid on real thick. Jake Jordon is having trouble making ends meet so he becomes the superhero for The Manhattan Guardian, a newspaper that claims to not only to report on crime but to fight it as well. It’s certainly fun to see things like subway pirates show up in a comic but this was a book that struck me as probably the most by-the-numbers comic Morrison has written in a long while. It’s far from bad but as Brian Nicholson noticed, and he’s harder on the book that I am, it feels like the set up to an NES video game. I like stuff like Double Dragon and Battletoads but I was excepting greater stuff from Morrison and Stewart. Of course, I still might see it in this mini-series.
I still don’t doubt that Seven Soldiers can become something beautiful when taken as a whole, as I plan to read it. There are themes that Morrison is hinting at that few other superhero books coming out want to deal with. With artist like Ryan Sook and Pascal Ferry coming on chances are things are certainly going to look good. I just fear that for all of Morrison’s talk of the mini-series being self-contained that anyone who only wants to pick up one of the books, for financial reasons or because only one of them had a concept that jumped out at them, will not only be not getting a story as good as the person who devoted him/herself to the whole line, but not even getting that good a story in the first place. There are still plenty of books left and Morrison is that good a writer that he can prove a dope like me wrong, but so far I do have some worries about something that overall I’m confident about.
Permanent Link: 3:54 PM |
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Thursday, March 24, 2005
I, Meme, Mine
Sean asked for it, so now he's going to get it.
You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
I assume this means the people at the end who have to speak certain books' text all the time to save the material? In that case I'd like to be One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish because it would probably be fun saying that book all the time than having to repeat Infinite Jest for the rest of your life.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
The Black Cat from Spider-Man when I was a kid. I still think she's an underrated character that could be used well by a good writer. Y'know, one that isn't Kevin Smith.
The last book you bought is:
A bunch of text books for the spring semester.
The last book you read:
Christ, I'm in the middle of so many I can barley remember. I think it might have been Jonathan Lethem's Fortress of Solitude but I want to say there was one after that. But let's just go with that one for now.
What are you currently reading?
King of Comedy by Stuart Levy, Energy and the Making of California by James C. Williamson and In the Hands of the Great Spirit by Jake Page.
Five books you would take to a deserted island.
Just one, actually. Boatbuilding: A Complete Handbook of Wooden Boat Construction by Howard I. Chapelle.
Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Dave Fiore, Tom and Heidi MacDonald. Why not?
Permanent Link: 3:36 PM |
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Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Becuase I can't shut up about music
Johnny B came up with around 50 and Chris came up with 20. While I originally had something around 55 albums I love (and showed no signs of stopping) I decided to whittle it down to a simple 20. So let's look at what music makes up me (listed in no particular order).
1. Iggy and The Stooges - Raw Power
This is everything I love about rock 'n' roll. James Williamson's guitar crashes through your eardrums and Iggy sounds like an escaped mental patient with a heavy sexual appetite. I turn it up real loud so I can forget about everything else in my life and only concentrate on the aural anarchy.
2. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
Kevin Shields gives up pop music worthy of the British Invasion, just filtered through guitars so loud they sound more like ocean waves more than anything else. This is what The Ramones would sound like if they created music only by dreaming.
3. Nirvana –Nevermind
Kurt Cobain, on this album more than anywhere else, created music that could be abrasive, disturbing, crushing and also quite tuneful. It was a style of songwriting that seemed to be in love with contradictions, and completely fearless.
4. The Who – Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy
This collection of early singles presents the band as their best. Probably the first rock band to combine violent sounding rock music with brains and craft (those harmonies!) and still one of the best to do it. “Can’t Explain” sums up a lot of what is great about rock ‘n’ roll.
5. Bikini Kill – The Singles
A lot of punk rock is rage and volume that leads to nothing. This band used anger to address matters both personal and political in a way all there own. Kathleen Hannah’s voice is one of the greatest instruments in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.
6. Prince – Dirty Mind
Prince used technology to create music that was anything but cold. The grooves and hooks are there in a record that decided it will be sexy at all costs.
7. Pixies – Doolittle
I listened to this album everyday for a year. It starts as power pop but then Frank Black lets things get weirder and weirder. In that case that means better and better. “Here Comes Your Man” is perfect pop music.
8. Parliament – Mothership Connection
If you can’t dance to this your body must not be connected to your brain. As psychedelic as anything the rock guys were doing, but a whole lot funkier and funnier.
9. Handsome Boy Modeling School – So, How’s Your Girl?
It’s a toss-up whether this or Doctor Octagon is Dan the Automater’s finest hour, but with Prince Paul here as well this record can not be counted out. A fantastic and fun look at alternative hip-hop circa the late-90’s.
10. Deltron 3030 – Deltron 3030
Or maybe this is Automater’s best? It’s Del the Funkee Homosapien’s unrelenting flow that touches on all things sci-fi that makes this record for me. “Time Keeps on Slipping,” with Damon Albarn, is one of the most beautiful hip-hop songs ever.
11. Velvet Underground – Velvet Underground
Lou Reed’s brilliance was made obvious right from the get-go it seems. AM radio sensibilities mixed with the dark and hedonistic wonderfully. Nico has the type of voice that shouldn’t work but does so here. She’s like an android Lesley Gore, which is perfect for this record.
12. The Beatles – Revolver
With perhaps the exception of Magical Mystery Tour, this is The Beatles doing psychedelic music at their best. “Tomorrow Never Knows” certainly helps the case, but there are also wonderful moments of plain ol’ guitar pop with “Taxman” and my favorite Bealtes song “I’m Only Sleeping.”
13. The Beatles – The Beatles (White Album)
There here twice because they’re the greatest band ever. Here they are giving you everything. Paul will come in a happy, jumpy number and then a few minutes later John will devastate you with something like “Julia” (you have read my subtitle haven’t you?). One album that proves how amazing they were.
14. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
If anyone was wondering if hip-hop could get as loud and angry as rock, they weren’t wondering after this one. The Bomb Squad’s production would be considered avant-garde art in the 50’s but here it’s the soundtrack to Chuck D’s booming delivery and Flava Flav’s antics. Again, the politics and music fit here so well it’s hard to tell where one begins and the other ends.
15. Minor Threat – Discography
Before this I listened to punk but never knew how powerful it could be. After this it went straight into my brain. The sentiments behind songs like “Straight Edge” are laughably naïve now, but that’s just the beauty of music made by people all in their teens.
16. Husker Du –Zen Arcade
Bob Mould is my personal guitar hero. Anyone who ever decided to mix good punk with good pop (and you can find some of them listed above) has this album to thank. It almost takes a surreal turn it’s so good. Basically, this is punk’s “White Album.”
17. Sonic Youth- Daydream Nation
No band has ever captured the excitement of an electric guitar playing through a cranked up amp than this one. They were intellectual about it, sure, but they never lost sight of what it was really all about on this album.
18. The Clash – The Clash (U.S. Version)
This is one I also listened to about everyday for a year. Even at the beginning The Clash were about more than just punk rock (although they did it well, if you ever listened to “Janie Jones”) and in fact were trying to mine all territory to get their feelings on politics and themselves known. It instills a sense of “anything can happen” into any person listening who’s willing to believe. “Complete Control” remains Mick Jones best work as a guitar player and it’s a song that never fails to give me goosebumps.
19. Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home
Dylan starts it off by giving you lyrics that sound like they’ve been sent through a Tommy Gun. When he says later on in “Maggie’s Farm” that he’s got “a headful of ideas that are driving [him] insane” you believe him. “It’s Alright Ma” is the ultimate Dylan song, a composition that seems intent to rebel against everything on the planet. This album is the closest thing that I have to a Bible.
20. Buzzcocks – Singles Gone Steady
Before Husker Du came around, this was the best place for punk rockers who wanted to get real melodic. It’s just as nervous and loud as anything else, but you could also hum the songs once they were done.
There we go. You probably found certain themes running throughout, which is what I wanted. If I could I would also list The Smiths, Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey, Can, The Rolling Stones and many more but I think that’s enough. Now, you do yours.
Permanent Link: 7:47 PM |
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The Truth is In Here
Now that I've gone over the origin of Marvel's House of M we can see that David Duchovny is trying to beat Marvel at their own game. "D" might come before "M" in the alphabet but what's stoping Marvel from coming up with House of A where American Eagle, Andromeda and Angel try to join the Avengers so they can fight the Alliance of Evil made up of Absorbing Man, Agatha Harkness and Annihilus? I'd bet the folks at Marvel would like to see David "Red Shoe Diaries" Duchovny's face then! This "alphabet war" will not end softly, I can assure you good people.
Hey, why don't you check out the trailer for the movie? If you're a fan of movies, well, you won't be after watching this. It features Robin Willaims in a heart warming story where we all learn a little something about the world...and ourselves. So it's fucking poison.
Permanent Link: 8:13 AM |
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Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Warning: May contain satire. Users are advised not to take seriously
Dorian mentions that the title of the new Marvel clusterfu...er "crossover event" House of M reminded him off the title of a Parker Posey film (I think he means this one). While it might be funny to see Scarlet Witch go around in a Jackie O outfit, I think the name of this crossover reminds me of something much more sinister.
Imagine it. After work Joe Quesada, Axel Alonso and Tom Brevoort need somewhere to go after a hard day at work. Their particular job requires them to work with personalities like J. Michael Straczynski and Mark Millar so you can imagine how stressed they are when the day is done. Sure, they like a good drink as much has the next guy but they don't work just anywhere. They work at Marvel and therefore need something a bit more to take the weight of the world off their shoulders.
That's when they head on over to a building on the West Side that one can see Wall Street jockeys entering into oh so discreetly. Inside is a world of dark, erotic wonders. Mistress Wundagore greets you with a prompt order of "on your knees, slave!" From there whatever she says goes. Handcuffs, spanking and a special harness now called "The Mont" after a particularly enthusiastic fan of the device from decades past. If anything gets too painful, patrons are encouraged to use the safe word "Modok." The receptionist inside tells you where you are as soon as you step in: "Welcome to the House of M."
It was one night after a particularly sensuous evening that Brevoort turned to the EIC and said "Joe, I think I've got a name for that new clusterfu...er 'crossover event' we've been trying to cook up." Quesada couldn't actually say anything through the ball gag but a look into his eyes revealed that he knew exactly what his old pal meant. And there wonder was born.
Permanent Link: 7:18 PM |
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Monday, March 21, 2005
And the comic inside doesn't look that good either.
It might have seemed like comedy when Radioactive Man comics did it (scroll down a bit) but now that a comic can have this for a title does it really seem that far fetched?
Sometimes I feel like DC is trying to make themsevles look bad on purpose. It's like they looked at Marvel and said "oh, you think you can delve into self-parody?" Oh well, more material for me to work with.
Permanent Link: 8:23 PM |
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The most kick ass thing I've seen all month.
I will be at Meltdown Comics on March 31st. Why? That's when Grant Morrison will be there and I doubt if Hell or highwater will stop me from getting to see him. It's not just a singhing, either. A guy from Arthur Magazine will be talking to him about, well, whatever Morrison will want to talk about I suppose. All I care about is getting my issue of Near Myths signed and telling him about that time I read every issue of Invisibles in one day.
The things we do for love.
Permanent Link: 5:02 PM |
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Is it buyer's remorse if I haven't bought anything yet?
Graeme points to the news of a printing of Absolute Watchmen.
I suppose this is now another installment of "books Ian wants buy are too damn expensive to get." I've been looking for the Graphitti Designs hardcover of the book all over eBay but they aren't exactly all over the place and when they are, they fetch for around the $100 range. Now we have one that will be readily available, but don't these things cost $75? This is definitely an improvement than scrounging around eBay but I still feel like the prices of hardcover, deluxe books like this one are only successful at keeping them out of my hands. These announcements, for me, are all about pleasure and pain intertwining themselves around my brain.
For me, comics have always been a sundry purchase. I have read comics for work, which I enjoy, but overall I enjoy them as something apart from the realties, many of them financial, of my life. That's why spending $50 to $100 on one comic makes me squirm just a bit (all though it's a bit silly for me to feel that way seeing how I've spent that much money buying a bunch of comics). I have a love-hate relationship with comics and spending all that cash is a little too much love and not enough hate. To pick up this book or the $100 Fantastic Four Omnibus is an act that displays no loathing or cynicism about comics, and without those two things I feel a little uncomfortable. Do you know how many angry, hateful posts on this blog I’d have to make up for something like that!?
There is one piece of news that I am delighted to hear and that's the re-coloring. The original book's coloring is on the ugly side of horrendous. I would prefer if the original colorist John Higgins wasn't involved and someone like Matt Holligsworth would have been put in charge but I guess that's not the case. Still, Higgins couldn't possibly do a worse job than he already has (famous last words).
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Sunday, March 20, 2005
Zap Comix #15
It's about time I got around to one of these big reviews I like doing.
It rarely happens, but the Zap crew has yet again gotten together to turn out some cartoons that can be safely described as “underground.” Zap is one of the most important titles in all of comics, it being the first real hit of the underground comix movement and inspiring countless cartoonists to create art for art’s sake. With the fifteenth issue of the book (over the course of five decades) we find Robert Crumb, Spain Rodriguez, Victor Moscoso and others still turning in great work.
This is a flip book that can be read from wither back to front so I’ll just start with the side that has the legal indicia on the inside cover. The cover and following pages by Paul Mavrides displays an artist whose work finds the psychedelic in rigid complexity. The title on the cover is created through a grid of three-dimensional boxes and inside we find wildly different depictions of the human skull. Mavrides gives us there first comic of the book “Jesus Fucking Christ!” where the mind-bending artwork for which Zap is known for is on full display as beautifully drawn yet abstract blobs and what looks like tree roots swear at each other in with various obscenities. It’s one of those perfect strips for Zap, as the book has been known for it’s LSD-inspired content as well as its indulgence of the profane. This comic mixes both of those in a pretty interesting way.
The most well known artist in the book and the comic’s creators comes next with “Walkin’ The Streets.” Here Crumb starts off with his anti-social worldview (he hates humanity yet lusts madly after the female side of it) and then grows into an exploration of his immensely dysfunctional family, where his outsider disposition was encouraged through osmosis. He and his brother Charles live in there heads as they speak philosophy to each other, much to their father’s chagrin. The former marine is driven to anger by seeing his sons be such wimps. Charles and Robert don’t stop with their activities (or lack of them). It seems like the only escape they have from a family where the diet-pill addicted mother will occasionally scratch up Dad’s face and the racist grandmother won’t stop even for Charles’ black friend. Charles’ suicide in 1992 is brought up in the strip through a moment where Crumb dreams his brother in the after life. It might be one of the sweetest things Crumb has ever put on paper, but he quickly deflates any sentiment (could you imagine any in a Crumb comic in the first place?) by adding at the end “don’t worry, I haven’t turned into a true believer. Not yet, anyway.” At the end Crumb tells us that his days of ponderous self-pity and the street walking it breeds has ended for him after being a part of most of his life. It’s up to the reader to decide how much confidence they’re going to put into that when Crumb’s whole personality seems defined by his neuroses, but it’s nice to think he has gotten somewhere more comfortable in his life.
Further on in the book we get pieces by S. Clay Wilson and Victor Moscoso, two cartoonists who have been with the book since issue number one. I’ve always felt that Wilson was the weakest link in the early issues of Zap but by now his art style has evolved to catch up with the mirthful bad taste his work revels in. The light line along with pages packed to the rafters with anarchy overwhelms the readers’ senses so that the very fact that Wilson came up with the pages is enough to offend most people. That’s probably why they’re some of the most joyful highlights of the book. Moscoso work continues to be unique and a fine example of the power of cartooning. Strips like “Blobman The Magician” and the centerpiece “Dante and the River of Lethe” (which completes the flip book part of the comic as it can be read from both ways) is what people expect from the man by now: simple figures of shapes living and playing a world that is part acid trip and part classic newspaper strip. They break away from the stereotype that people have of underground comix by being very breezy and fun. Moscoso fits right in, though, because his work is just as committed to self-expression, the artists’ liberation, as every other strip in the book is. It’s on “Dante’s Inferno” that we see Moscoso doing something different with his techniques. Moscoso uses collages reminiscent of Terry Gilliam’s Python work, although the nonsensical situations and strong rhythms still remain.
The main attraction in the book is the two-page jam strip “Circle o’ Jerks.” Crumb, Rodriguez, Mavrides, Moscoso, Wilson, Gilbert Shelton and Robert Willaims combine their talents for a fast paced and barley coherent story that makes up for it what it lacks in narrative with sheer energy and anger. The most political strip in the book, it’s good to see cartoonists that once railed against Nixon now have no trouble setting their sights on our far more toxic president and the world he has created. Abu Ghraib is depicted as well as robot soldier willing to send anyone whose name sounds like Noam Chomsky to “Gitmo.” The anger on display is exhilarating. What could have been an equivalent to those boring old “all-star jams” instead ends up being the comic book equivalent of The MC5’s “The American Ruse.”
After Moscoso’s center piece strip that flips itself over the other half of the book’s contents are found. Gilberton Shelton has his Wonder Warthog character on the cover so it’s no surprise that’s what the readers get him for the first strip on this side of the book (after a fine inside cover by Rodriguez depicting an NYC late 70’s street side). Shelton’s strip, “The Warthog that Came In from the Cold,” continues the spirit of Kurtzman and Wood’s “Superduperman.” Philbert Desanex finds he can no longer change into his superhero alter ego. He takes his problems to a psychologist but it’s only after Philbert’s humiliation in public, complete with even more angry political satire, do we find how WW gets back in the picture. The strip, with its theme of rejuvenation through anger, feels right in a book with a long history of outrageousness but one that is rarely seen. Just like WW, Shelton and the rest of the Zap crew “come back from the dead” to indulge in whatever they please.
Rodriguez turns in a fine autobiographical strip about his days with a Buffalo motorcycle gang. He can create a sense of character and setting in a clean and unpretentious way. Rodriguez is a great yarn-spinner and this comic feels just as good as if the man was telling it to you over drinks, complete with the funny ending where it feels as if Rodriguez was chuckling to himself when he was drawing it.
Zap #15 is a comic that might feel out of time for some. There is, after all, no underground movement anymore. It’s a testament that the cartoonists involve don’t need to be living in a particular decade or environment to create fine underground work. It was always about the assemblage of creativity and the current issue of Zap proves that as good as any other issue.
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Friday, March 18, 2005
Baker's dozens
The problem is smart children don't have as much money as grown idiots, so we make the books for grown idiots who want to read about crying Martians who talk a lot.
-Kyle Baker
Thanks to a link I found through Tom we can all now read another great interview from Kyle Baker. Baker is one of those folks who always sound right whenever they talk about the state of the comic book industry. I think it might be the fact that Baker doesn't have to do comics, he's certainly made a name for himself as an illustrator and someone working in animation. That gives him a sense of perspective which makes for great and truthful quotes like the one above.
Most of the interview isn't Baker spouting off about superheroes, though, it's about his latest book about Nat Turner. There are art samples you can see, too, which makes me excited about the book. In fact, I think I need to pick up Cowboy Wally and Why I Hate Saturn one of these days.
This week's Plastic Man was pretty good, too. I love it when he uses the "Sergio Argones-meets-animation" style. The beginning also proves my theory that everyone who writes comics desires to, at one point or another, write like Stan Lee.
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The Five Things Meme
I dig Sean Collins so much that I just had to partake in a meme the man has come up with. Here are five things my friends (some of who you can here) are into but I just don't get.
1. Dungeons & Dragons. For that matter, any gaming. I'm no fan of any form of competition at all.
2. The DC superhero universe. There's many good superhero books DC has under their belts but I guess I have never been able to shake off the image that most kids develop when they start reading comics about how Marvel's the company that "speaks to me" and DC are the old fuddy-duddies . Actually I've been pretty good at forgetting Marvel's anything close to young or hip (hopefully most kids today have realized that as well) but it's the latter that I can't rid myself of.
3. The Cure. "Love Cats" and "Boys Don't Cry" are good and maybe a few others but if I had to listen to an album of Robert Smith's voice I'd kill everyone within a ten mile radius of my being.
4. Horror movies. To be exact I love a great horror film like The Exorcist or Dawn of the Dead but it's nothing that I can see myself having as part of my "nerd cache" (although I will always love Corey's site, which is a testament to how damn good it is). For the record the contents of my nerd cache are The Beatles, comics, The Simpsons and chocolate cake recipes.
5. Star Trek. Dorian once said that almost all that is wrong with sci-fi can be traced to Star Trek. It might be one of the most right-on statements my ears have ever had the luxury of listening to.
Now it's your turn.
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Thursday, March 17, 2005
Alan Moore as he was meant to be enjoyed
So Kid Chris was talking about this here video game. That's right; Alan Moore's work has now been translated into interactive computer game form. Dorian says we can expect a V for Vendetta video game and I don't doubt his prediction. That lead to a mentioning of the Swamp Thing video game for the NES that Mike can tell you about. With the help of those three minds I present to other works by Alan Moore that should receive the video game treatment.
From Hell: Sure, they may have missed the boat when the actual movie came out but I think this nation's thirst for a game where you become Jack the Ripper is large enough. Extra points whenever you have a stroke that makes you see some big horse-headed God thing (it's been a few years since I've read the book).
Captain Britain: Not really about the story or characters Alans Moore and Davis used per se. Instead, you play Joe Quesada trying to shore up reprint rights for the book. The last level is Alan Moore's house where you must use all your wits to reach your goal of being able to say "Marvel has Alan Moore too, y'know." Bonus level to get that missing page!
A game based on his back-ups in American Flagg: A small town is being turned into sex crazed pornozoids by a guy who looks a lot like Grant Morrison. You play Raul the Cat and try to save the city in the name of the Plexus Rangers. Goes down in history as the only video game where bestiality is a main plot point.
"Mogo Doesn't Socialize": You're a planet for the whole time. In the first level the Guardians make you a Green Lantern. For the rest of the game you spin on your axis. You win by not being a Guardian.
Promethea: It starts out like a normal video game but then you have to start analyzing the Kabbalah and meet Aleister Crowley. The last level requires you to have several TVs going at once so all of the universe can be explained. Coming from THQ this summer.
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Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody!
There's my patron saint for today.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Wha...Huh: The Saga Continues
Abhay on PCB finds a Patton Oswalt Q&A thread where this little piece of info is dug up:
I had a two-page story in WHA...HUH? It's one of the reasons Marvel killed it. I'm paying Jim Mahfood (the original artist) to draw it, and then I'll post it on my website. There's another artist currently drawing the original story I wrote for BIZARRO WORLD, which I'll also post.
I've been trying to keep atop of this and as far as I know this is the first time I've heard someone involved with Wha...Huh admitting the book has been killed. Odd that it would come from a statement that gives us hope that we'll see at least some of the book someday.
The trailer for Oswalt's film The Comedians of Comedy is at the SXSW website. For some reason these trailers from SXSW suck and are hardly giving us any idea what's in the movie. This one feels like someone deiced "I'll excerpt 30 seconds from the whole movie, doesn't matter which 30." Still, I have high hopes for the movie itself because I was at the LA show which rocked my socks off.
Now when will Marvel get Robert Evans to write a comic? He's already working with Stan Lee!
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Confessions of a Kirby addict
The Jack Kirby blog talks about what Marvel is offering in terms of Kirby reprints for June. That is where I see an item that foisted upon me a wave of conflicting emotions:
FANTASTIC FOUR OMNIBUS Vol. 1 HC
Written by STAN LEE & JACK KIRBY
Cover & pencils by JACK KIRBY
Variant Dust Jackets by JACK KIRBY & ALEX ROSS
They were visionaries. Explorers. Imaginauts. They were Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. And like their creations – the Fantastic Four – they continually strove to overcome the impossible and achieve the extraordinary. Now, the first three years of their landmark run on FANTASTIC FOUR – issues #1-30 and Annual #1 – are collected in one oversized volume. This keepsake edition also includes all original letters pages and pinups, critical commentaries, a historical overview, and other DVD-style extras – and features the best-ever reproduction of FANTASTIC FOUR #1.
848 pgs, $99.99
TRIM SIZE: OVERSIZED
Please Note: this will be a limited printing
Oh my God. I'm already a sucker for oversize formats, I love "DVD-style extras" (whether they appear on an actual DVD or not) and the fact that it's Kirby goodness already gets to me. But 100 dollars? For what is, I consider, not the highlight of the Kirby/Lee run on the book (it's what makes up Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 3 and the upcoming Vol. 4 that is the cream of the crop to me)? Still there are some wonderful comics in there, like the first Annual, and the promise of letter reprints and commentary is enough to make me itch for such a product. Between this and Maximum Fantastic Four I'm going to go nuts.
See, I get that Marvel is trying to drain money out of fans by repackaging comics that have already been reprinted many times. But it is my undying love of the Kirby Fantastic Four that is my weakness. I know I can live a long, healthy and happy life without either of these books and resisting both of them would be a victory of some kind on my part. But then I read those solictations agian and I don't know what to do. I truly feel stuck between desire and common sense. Which will win out, true believers?
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Tuesday, March 15, 2005
No. Not even in the face of another blog post. NEVER COMPROMISE
CHUD talks to Paul Greengass who is directing Watchmen. He seems like a pretty smart guy and has a reasonable grasp of the material. I do want to see the film Bloody Sunday after reading that interview.
Also mentioned and linked in there is the film's message board. Greengass said he'll show up there but skimming through it as I did today I didn't see him post anything yet. Although since the film doesn't come out until 2006 I suppose he has plenty of time.
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They live inside of my head
There's something awesome about having a comic called Dream Police. With J. Michael Straczynski and Mike Deodato on board I'll probably avoid this comic like the fucking plague, but at least I have an excuse to pay tribute to Bun E. Carlos aka "The Coolest Mofo on Earth" on this blog.
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Monday, March 14, 2005
I Walked With a Zombie
As Dorian notes dealing with the ups and downs of comic bookery can often times feel like a chore. It's hard to muster up the energy to write a really good post on the subject (I haven't done it in weeks) so instead here's some link blogging on other mediums of entertainemnt.
I enjoyed Ed Wards's piece on Roky Erickson today. This may not comes as to a surprise to some reading this but the man's music is wonderful and his story is heartbreaking. If all you know by him is The 13th Floor Elevator's "You're Gonna Miss Me" (a standout on the first Nuggests box set) then listen to the story where they play bits from his other songs like the fantastic "Starry Eyes" and "Red Temple Prayer (Two-Headed Dog)."
Sarah Silverman has a movie coming out! I actually haven't seen this clip because it's not safe for work and I'm at a public computer but you can still check it out. She makes me laugh like few other people in this world can. Easily one of the greatest comics working today.
Hey look, the guy replacing Micahel Eisner is named Iger. See, because Will Eisner had the Eisner-Iger studio and that relates to comics...um...get it...maybe? Gracious, am I out of it today.
In conclusion, the end.
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Thursday, March 10, 2005
Some good news
I needed some cheering up and I got it. Sleater-Kinney is one of my favorite rock bands and a new album by them is always a cause for celebration. This time they're working with Dave Fridmann, one of my favorite producers working right now. The latest album by Low he produced is very good, the best thing I've heard from the band. The Flaming Lips connections doesn't hurt, either.
Also, don't miss them when they come to your town. I've seen the band live twice and the second time was one of the greatest rock shows I have ever seen. All that power from three people with guitars and drums is inspiring to no end.
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By brain exploded
That's what moving has done to me. At the very least it has tired me out very much that I think I'm going to restrict the big posts to the weekend. For now let me just go for some random ramblings.
Can we please get an Essential Man-Thing now? I know the movie tie-in is premiering on cable but isn't that enough to give us Steve Gerber fans at least a $16 batch of black-and-white comics? Even that frigging TV movie will stay have way more people watching it than picking up such a book. Pretty much everything else Marvel did in the 70's is getting an "Essential" book (expect Masters of Kung-Fu but there's licensing issues there) so why not Man-Thing?
Is it just me or is the X-Men: The End trilogy a total wet dream for Chris Claremont a.k.a. The Mont (that's my nick-name for the man, for you just joining us)? He gets to be his own J.R.R. Tolkien with this tapestry he has (mostly) created. I can't imagine it being any good, but the idea that the man is indulging his most selfish desires sounds oddly fascinating.
I hate to say it but I’m fascinated by E!’s reenactments of the Michael Jackson trial. It’s like looking into a world that’s like ours, just slightly off. It’s like cardboard cut-outs come to life. I can’t wait until they got all those celebrities on the stand. To watch serious Jay Leno and Liza Minelli impressions is going to be hilarious.
I’m a big fan of Mark Evanier’s blog so it’s cool to see him post about comics once in a while. That particular post is about Kirby, Captain America and politics. Basically, it’s everything I love to read about (especially hot off of the heels of this mean feat of stupidity that Tom Spurgeon linked to).
Actually, that panel for the Brubaker book is kind of funny knowing that we had this not too long ago (I still love The Ultimates, though).
A remake of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? with Ashton Kutcher in the Sidney Poitier role? Looks like the world has caught up to The Critic. I can just see Jay Sherman trying to not vomit as he mentions this movie.
And that’s that. Hopefully the unique mix of insanity and loneliness won’t destroy me.
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Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Quick link blogging
On a scale opf 1 to 10 my stress level is at about 200,000. I've moved into a place that now gives me a 50-minute drive to school and I also have to take care of a cat, which is not ideal as I can't stand being around animals. In the meantime I will point out some links that are worthwhile:
I like Chris Butcher's reaction to the Tenjho Tenge controversy the best.
I like Abhay's reaction to the new Doctor Who the best.
Now if you don't mind I need to go. I plan to have several heart attacks over the course of the day.
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Tuesday, March 08, 2005
It's official, now everything is on DVD
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The Sensational Dan Slott
Recently I held forth on my dissatisfaction with the current state of Marvel. All of the personality and fun that once marked the company for decades had been drained out, with a few exceptions. The brightest of those would be the works of Dan Slott. That is why I was very happy to hear that Mr. Slott has been signed to an exclusive contract at Marvel. It’s good to see that Marvel believes in Slott this much, and I hope it means he will reach greater heights of success.
To see why Slott is such a breath of fresh sir it’s good to look at his early work. The first time I encountered his work was when I was a kid and buying the Ren & Stimpy comic Marvel had licensed. This was TV tie-in for Marvel to piggyback on, but it was also one of the last funny animal books published by a major company. This does remind me of a comic book career from a bygone era. It used to be that anyone working in comics had to do more than just superheroes. Stan Lee himself were doing “Silly Seal and Ziggy Pig” before coming up with Fantastic Four with Jack Kirby. Slott also has done work with DC’s Looney Tunes books, as well a Batman Adventures. The former is consistent in Slott’s ability to create humor, that fantastic universal language, while the latter was a superhero book that delivered all-ages fun long since thought instinct from the genre. Slott would latter masterfully combine these talents of his into his greatest work yet, She-Hulk.
With She-Hulk Slott pays tribute to the New York City of the Marvel Universe. He understands that the rich history created be Lee, Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others gives smart creators the ability to come up with stories that are both fantastic and very human. Kirby himself, for all his talents in creating mind-blowing cosmic stories, was very humanistic. Take a look at all those panels featuring crowds of citizens looking up at the sky in panic (there a lot, trust me). Kirby spent as much energy on those figures as he did drawing Johnny Storm or Captain America. Lee proved to be the perfect collaborator for Kirby with his knack at coming up with distinctive voices for all types of different characters. The Silver Surfer and The Thing could explain so much of themselves to the reader by simply making the same observation about the same thing; it’s just how they said it. Lee’s frantic use of having so many characters speak in one panel might be jarring to some readers, but I believe it reflects the hustle-and-bustle feeling of a New York City populated with super-beings. Ditko might seem colder than but his creations still reverberate just as mightily. The angst found in Spider-Man and the dreamy landscapes of Dr. Strange define the Marvel U just as much as The Negative Zone or Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne’s rocky relationship. He and Kirby were also like thematic twins in their ability to make the grotesque so inviting. Many of these reading comics when Marvel was starting their superhero books in the 60’s would remark how the artwork seemed so different than DC and I’ve seen a few, like Paul Dini and Alan Moore, state how Marvel at first scared them when they first saw it. The look for the Marvel universe is one where the imagination has become so strong that leads off into extreme examples of the bizarre. Slott shows an appreciation for all of this in his ride through the world of Marvel.
She-Hulk (returning in October) gave readers small joys long since thought lost in the pages of a Marvel book. Issue four featured a Spider-Man who was as confident and wisecracking as he was when he was drawn by John Romita Sr. The two-part story that has Shulkie up against The Champion was a look at all the wonderful things found in the cosmic side of Marvel that haven’t been used as effectively since Jim Starlin was doing Warlock (although Slott’s stories were funnier). The absorbing human element was there in fine fashion as well. Jen Walters was trying to find out who she was apart from here superhero personality as she started work for the firm Goodman, Kurtzberg, Lieber and Holliway. There one of the finest supporting casts in recent memory was introduced, the stand-out being the Mad Thinker’s former android Awesome Andy. Here was a character who couldn’t speak but Slott gave him a sweet and funny disposition that we certainly need to see more of in this world of comics.
Slott’s current work is the mini-series Spider-Man/Human Torch, where Slott goes through different eras of Marvel featuring two of its best known characters. The books so far (two issues have been released) feel like they could fit right into the years the books originally came out in and yet offer a full story for readers who may not know anything about Crystal from The Inhumans of Capt. Stacy. We can expect to see more from Slott with his Great Lakes Avengers book coming out (he’s bringing back Squirrel Girl, people) as well another project that will appear in Agust that Slott promise will be his biggest yet. Let’s hope we get more and more from him as things go on.
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Saturday, March 05, 2005
Bob Building
In November I came up with this post of ready-made blurbs to go on the backs of graphic novels everywhere. I find out today that Bob Odenkirk of Mr. Show and Joey has done his own version. Am I mad? Hell no! For one, his blurbs are a lot funnier than mine. They also have nothing to do with comics, which means they are automatically 100% better than I could come up with.
Now I just have to watch out if Doug Benson stops reviewing movies and starts reviewing Grant Morrison comics. Actually, that would be pretty cool.
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A blog links to a Grant Morrison interview. Ho-hum.
This interview is a bit different though. Instead of the e-mail correspondences that other sites feature, Daniel Robert Epstein at Suicidegirls.com has what appears to be either a live or over-the-phone conversation with Morrison. Instead of the Morrison we usually get, with the wild proclamations and fanboy-baiting, we find a relaxed and bright fellow ready to talk candidly about any old thing. I love it when he goes over topics like the comics he read when he was a kid (Englehart's Dr. Strange and Starlin's Warlock), The Beatles and the current comics scene (he likes Astonishing X-Men but as you can imagine is not too excited about Marvel's editorial policy).
I also think he's dead on when it comes to The Matrix:
It was just too bad they deviated so far from the Invisibles philosophical template in the second and third movies because they blundered helplessly into boring Catholic theology, proving that they hadn't HAD the 'contact' experience that drove The Invisibles, and they wrecked both
'Reloaded' and 'Revolutions' on the rocks of absolute incomprehension. They should have kept on stealing from me and maybe they would have wound up with something to really be proud of - a movie that could change minds and hearts and worlds.
The first film was a great visual treat and a well done action film. But while The Invisibles questioned the idea that life means constant opposition, the third friggin' Matrix film had a guy coming up with a Patton-like speech to a bunch of troops flying off to their doom (that was the third one, right?). It made me want to vomit it was so bad.
I also like the fact that he name checked Robert Altman for his "Seven Soldiers" project. If this is Morrison's Nashville what will be his Brewster McCloud? His O.C. and Stiggs?
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Friday, March 04, 2005
A Real Marvel Zombie
Just another reason why I love Marvel in the 70's (and love talking to Mike about it). The inmates were truly running the asylum.
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Thursday, March 03, 2005
According to Ditko
I have been busy moving into a new place so I'm really not in the right place to pontificate at length. Instead I give you Steve Ditko's take on modern art (from The Question back-up of Blue Beetle #5):
Someone give that man a blog! The critic, not Ditko. Oh fuck it, give Ditko a blog too. I'd be a faithful reader.
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Tuesday, March 01, 2005
The House of Ideas (and not smiling)
As you can gather from other sources on the internet, Marvel's Wha...Huh? will not probably not see the light of day. EIC Joe Quesada's comment that declares "it will be out soon" does not really assure anybody. As Dorian notes, the book is listed as "cancelled" on retailer invoices. This is looking like Marvel is going to have its own Elseworlds 80-page Giant.
I love it when Marvel does comedy (I recently scored What If? vol. 1 #34 in the dollar bin, with Fred Hembeck goodness) and the news that this book is most likely dead, along with Peter Bagge's Hulk book, does disappoint me. Superheroes are in a dark place these days and we need something to lighten the mood. I will grant you that some of the writers on the book are people responsible for creating a lot of shitty comics (J. Michael "Sins Past" Straczynski, Brian "Avengers Dissembled" Bendis and Mark "Wanted" Millar) but I looked forward to Garth Ennis, Peter David and Stan Lee doing comedy bits (and Millar and Bendis for that matter as well. I do think they are good writers and can be funny).
But let us step back for a moment and put the pieces together. Marvel is canceling (or indefinably putting on hiatus or whatever you want to call it) a book that Stan Lee had a hand in. Is that how bad things have gotten? When Stan Lee wants to be funny it's discouraged? Evan Dorkin mentions how Ralph Macchio hated Dorkin's Agent X work (amongst other things). Howard Chaykin pointed out how a lot of people at Marvel hated Damage Control although good ol' Stan liked it. Marvel, why do you hate the funny?
My favorite Marvel comics (the ones I have to hit the back issue bins for) were not afraid to have jokes, quips and the like coming from all sides. Narrator’s captions, Bullpen Bulletins and Stan’s own soapbox all contributed to a quality reading experience. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised those days are gone. When I think of people who made Marvel great I think Stan Lee, Mark Gruenwald, Archie Goodwin (more for Epic than Marvel), Marie Severin, Steve Englehart and Roger Stern among a few others. Gruenwald and Goodwin are dead, Englehart, Severin and Stern aren’t going to get hired anytime soon (although DC has brought Englehart back for some Batman books) and Lee’s getting books cancelled. Dan Slott is the only person who continues this legacy and I’m glad Marvel is giving him a few books to do. I just wish we had more She-Hulk and less “Sins Past.”
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