|
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Aborted Spaceflight
I was one of the many people who signed up for the screenings of Serenity for bloggers. I found the link from Johnny B. and figured I'd go for a free movie. I've never seen the show the movie is based on but I figured since that's the case with many members of the public who are going to watch the film this weekend my perspective might be helpful.
I got an e-mail notice that said to show up at the AMC on Van Ness 45 minutes before the screening starts at 7:30 p.m. I showed up earlier than an hour just to be safe. There was already a huge line that extended past to the outside of the building. I waited patiently and at 7:00 the line started moving. People ahead of me were making their way into the theater but even though I was just about to get in the line stopped. We were told the event was overbooked and that no more people were getting in. Instead there were free movie posters and free passes to another movie. Many were disappointed but since all I wanted was a free movie I figured this was just as good. That was until they ran out of free passes. Keep in mind there were ten people in front of me at the most when they announced no more free passes and this wasn’t two minutes after they announced they were giving them away. There were a whole lot of people behind me who were angry, enough to fill another theater, but I just left lest I waste another hour of my life complaining to some studio employee low on the chain of the command that can't do anything.
I felt I should tell you my unsatisfactory experience with Grace Hill Media and Universal Pictures in case they do something like this again.
Not that the trip was a total waste. Any regret of mine was washed away with shots of Johnny Walker and bottles of Sam Adams at Tommy's Joynt across the street. Walking back to the subway station I went into A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books where I found this notice for an upcoming in-store event:
Sunday, October 23 at 5:00 p.m.
Comedian Chris Elliot makes his literary debut with The Shroud of the Thwacker, a hilarious historical crime thriller about a nineteenth-century serial killer named Jack the Jolly Thwacker.
Yes, yes FUCK yes.
I even got him to catch The Office with David Koechner in the Chris Finch role.
"Are you a big William Hung fan?"
"Why do people keep asking that? Who the Hell is that!?”
Permanent Link: 9:50 AM |
0 comments
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Four different things
First, if you come here and are told the server is "forbidden" or some such bullshit just reload the page or click on the link to this place again. That should work while I bother Blogger about what's going on. Luckily I can tell them of my dissatisfaction at their home offices now.
***
Newsarama has preview images of Godland #4 and talks to co-creator Joe Casey about how the book is doing. He's worrying about book because it's in this period of a comic’s run that decides whether retailers will keep orders at a healthy number.
If it's any worth to you I can tell you that I feel Godland is just about the best superhero book you can buy today. I enjoyed the first issue after finding I was at first skeptical of how anybody could pull off creating a superhero book like it’s still the 1970’s. It’s no secret I am one of the many who enjoy that period of superhero books but couldn’t a book trying to recreate those times seem like some kind of rehash? Godland doesn’t feel like a rehash, it genuinely does have the fun sense of adventure you get from reading some of the cosmic epics Jim Starlin, Steve Englehart and others were creating for Marvel in the wake of Jack Kirby’s influence. The book also examines those comics with an interesting subtext a reader can infer from the books. It’s not a cynical kind of deconstruction a ‘80s superhero comic would have. It has that kind of sophistication the creators I listed above brought to their love of the ‘60s superhero books. The book stands its ground against other modern superhero book due to the fact that it is written in a style far superior to this era’s while paying tribute, a smart and not slavish tribute that is, to those past books.
The Godland webpage is a worthy companion to the comic book. I was pleased to see this article on Englehart’s Avengers work by Casey. He points out that stories like “Celestial Madonna” and others were trying to work out these immense questions of existence while staying true to the demands of a mass marketed adventure story. It makes for thought-provoking reading on a few levels. I’m glad to see Godland keep that spirit alive.
You can find the order codes for Godland issues one through five in this Image press release.
***
My explorations of San Francisco continues as I visited the Castro Theater for the first time. They had a Jean-Luc Godard double feature I wanted to go to.
I’ve never seen such an impressive movie house. It was more like a movie mansion. With the high ceilings, lush wall designs and giant curtains I felt I should be seeing an opera there. Hearing the organ player performing before the screenings reminded of a time of moving-going I was never alive for but has heard others speak of in romantic recollections. This is why people were once very respectful of going to the movies, not just seeing it as a glorified place to baby-sit or chat with friends.
I was lucky to have two great films to enjoy on my trip. I had seen Masculin Feminin before but it was still a joy to see it the big screen. Seeing it with an audience reminded me of how funny it can be even though it was dealing with disaffected French youths who have nothing in their lives. My emotions alternated between humorous and horror as I saw a lot of myself and the people around me at school in the children in the film.
I didn’t quite see much of myself in Band of Outsiders but I still enjoyed it. Anyone who takes a pulp plot and plays up the characterization gets my admiration. I completely understood why Godard was obsessed with Anna Karina (they were married when the film was made). She’s one of those actresses that can illuminate the screen with a beauty like no other. Like the previous film Godard injected plenty of style into the movies, my favorite way of directing. The diner scene has “one minute of silence” and then that wonderful dance scene with the main players’ worries on display. Brilliant filmmaking.
***
I’m always glad to see cartoonists I like get more exposure, hopefully leading to more sales.
Rolling Stone took time from coming up with boring articles about equally boring bands like U2 to give some proper attention to a true artist: Johnny Ryan. His Angry Youth Comics is a “hot comic” according to the magazine. I just call it heart warming. The ninth issue came out last week and featured giant robot hookers, Retarded Hitler, Retarded Hitler declaring “exterminate the juice” as well other nuggets of comedy goodness. I honestly can’t think of a book that makes me laugh more than this one. Ryan just gives you everything in a raw and uncensored package. It’s either irresistible or very resistible. I’m in the first boat.
Permanent Link: 12:25 PM |
0 comments
Monday, September 26, 2005
Don Adams R.I.P.
Get Smart hit me when I was around eight-years-old. It's responsible for my appreciation of absurdity, both in comedy and in real life. Adams played the role totally straight, the best way to sell comedy. A wonderful performance on a great show
Permanent Link: 12:56 PM |
0 comments
San Francisco Knights
Since moving to San Francisco I have been feeling much better about myself. I feel better about where my life is going personally and professionally. I also feel good about this little blog I’ve got here.
For those who know me personally or have read some past posts you probably figured out that I could be a real mess of nerves at times. There were times when I felt really down about my writing ability and was often pondered going for a different job. I haven’t taken thoughts like that seriously since moving to this city in August. Instead there’s a new type of confidence and a new sense of freedom instilled in me by this change.
There are times I walk down the streets at night, either by myself or with friends, and can feel a real energy around me. Everywhere I step has this amazing history coming up from the ground. There’s this sense that anything can be possible. It makes me think that the possibilities are open in my life, certainly when it comes to my writing.
I’ve already thought of a dozen posts I can write based on things that can only happen to me because I live in San Francisco. Some of them you might read this week and others I’ll bring out later. I can’t miss all the culture that surrounds me. In L.A. the sprawl of the city and reliance on cars created a distance between me and everything else. San Francisco is easier to get around and enjoy. I live on the very edge of the city near Daly City but I can make it to North Beach and Chinatown by rail in less than an hour. I can get to everything this city offers real easy. That’s one of the things about this city that instills me with real bright optimism.
Isotope also invigorates me. Every Wednesday I can walk into this place with a fun atmosphere, good drinks and good people. The comics are great, especially finding new books and creators, and it compliments this buzz James Sime has put together for this lounge.
The city’s a wonderful place to be a comic book fan. Ever since the underground comics planted the seeds in the 1960’s San Francisco rivals New York in history and resources. There are so many companies, from Viz to Image to Uncle Lar’s empire, which I can further exploit the inroads into the comics industry I already have. It makes me positive about the future.
I’ll be sharing more and more of my life on this blog. Comics will be an important aspect of this site. For the foreseeable future they will be the most covered topic. I’m just not limiting myself in terms of ideas to explore here. Brill Building will probably start to resemble Kevin’s or my friend Mr. the Dog’s blogs. My life is filled with possibilities and the blog is going to reflect that. Thanks for reading.
Permanent Link: 9:38 AM |
0 comments
Sunday, September 25, 2005
More hip-hop, with some comics
If you don't know who DJ Green Lantern is, he is formerly Eminem's DJ and a new hit producer. One of the songs he has created is number one spot with Ludacris. DJ Green Lantern has released many mixtapes in the past 10 years and is also a world-renowned DJ. Green Lantern is currently in the studio working on his new album through RSMG/Def Jam Records and also working with others artists like Jay-Z, P Diddy and Mike Shinoda.
I don't know if this beats the gay bar in Washignton D.C. named the Green Lantern but it does come pretty close.
Permanent Link: 6:25 PM |
0 comments
Friday, September 23, 2005
Mainstream meets Indie...but not comics
I know I can't be the only person here who wants to hear this:
Impacting the streets October 18th "Dreddy Kruger Presents... Think Differently Music: Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture" is an unprecedented pairing of Wu-Tang artists, producers and affiliates with some of independent hip-hop's East and West Coast elite. RZA, GZA, U-God, MF Doom, Ras Kass, Aesop Rock, Del tha Funky Homosapien, Sean Price, J-Live, Tragedy Khadafi, C-Rayz Walz, Planet Asia, RA the Rugged Man, Littles, Cannibal Ox, and many more artists, producers and even award winning filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, have come together for what will be a milestone release in the hip-hop landscape.
It's like someone overheard the conversations my firends and I had in my senior year of high school (the year Deltron 3030 hit and a few months before I saw Cannibal Ox live) and turned it into an album. I'm just sad we'll never see an ODB/Kool Kieth collaboration.
This is from this article which featurs an interview with Dreddy Krueger.
Permanent Link: 10:22 AM |
0 comments
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Yes, it's more Batman crap
The following is from a conversation with Mr. Sime, myself and others last night. Someone brought up Gotham's apparent destruction in a book I don't read, which leads to talking about all the shit The Caped Crusader's home turf has gone through. Sime had a timely remembrance:
"When people were reading No Man's Land they were saying 'no way would the U.S. government just give up on a major American city.'”
Were we ever that young?
Permanent Link: 3:00 PM |
0 comments
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Crisis on Multiple Morrisons or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love CDispaly
It took Dial B for Blog to remind me that DC basically took the above Animal Man cover and turned it into a book.
Not that I’m complaining. Quite the opposite, I think Grant Morrison should inspire more reprints from Time Warner’s red-headed step-child. If Seven Soldiers is inspired by DC books of the ‘70s then why not some “Spawn of Frankenstein” reprints or some of Kirby’s Demon stuff with good ol’ Klarion? If Seven Soldiers is, as Morrison says in this interview, a “personal hymn to the poetic imagination of Len Wein” then where’s his Phantom Stranger stuff with Jim Aparo (the Stranger did show up in Zantanna)? The previous Multiple Earths did publish Justice League of America #100-102 so there’s a start.
Hell, why stop at real books? Why not comics inspired by the fictional comic book history in Flex Mentello? Perhaps they could create a book for Secret Original from The Filth. Gideon Stargrave (either the early Morrison books or new stuff) anyone?
***
From Tom Spurgeon here’s an article on how to deal with internet comics piracy. I say “deal with” instead of “combat against” because the plan isn’t Marvel and DC suing the people behind Z-Cult. They could do that and would succeed in stamping out one place for people to find comics. After that memories of Nick Fury’s enemies HYDRA will come flooding back. If you get rid of one comic book downloading site two more (at least!) will take its place. No, these two behemoths will have to defeat this threat the best way they know how, competing with them on an unfair pitch.
Perhaps Marvel and DC can offer their books on-line, both current and what they can attain from their back catalogue, and offer a far more reliable service than what the black market can. Perhaps they cannot as the reproductions and missing creator credits in some of these books can lead one to believe that these companies don’t have much of a handle on maintaining comics’ history. Current books shouldn’t be as much of a problem, but there is that nasty bit of how this will get paid for.
I know Marvel still offers subscriptions but I don’t remember if DC still does. Even if the latter doesn’t it shouldn’t be too hard to set up one for selling books on-line instead through the mail. Then there’s going for a route not unlike the much referenced iTunes, where one book or a collection can be bought for a far cheaper price than owning a copy you can hold in your hand.
I write about the two major companies that are being affected by piracy fighting it themselves. The nature of both of these companies is that one will do it and then the other will soon follow but do it under a different name. The Litwack article mentions Diamond as a candidate to distribute the books on-line. I don’t know if Diamond would but they might. It would be interesting if another company steps up and competes against Diamond on-line. Considering that someone needs to fight against comic book piracy and Diamond has a policy on cutting off lower selling books someone on-line can very likely kill two birds with one program by offering more than just Marvel and DC through the internet.
Whoever tries to this must learn from the pirates and use a program to read the books like CDispaly. Marvel used .PDF files for their Spider-Man CD-ROMs and that was far less inconvenient compared to what CDisplay offers. If this fight is going to be about offering a better product this will have to be a major point of order.
For more comics piracy read my article in The Comics Journal #269. Hey, that was a shameless plug!
Permanent Link: 11:42 PM |
0 comments
More Batman silliness
OK, I'll stop after this. Maybe. It's just that I do get a kick out of seeing Batman with a gun.
DC's policy for Batman means that he should never employ guns due to his origin. It makes a certain amount of sense but at the same time Batman's got these real strong roots in pulp magazine so it's no surprise that someone (Mike W. Barr and Alan Davis in this case) would want to see Batman handling a gun like The Shadow.
I know Frank Miller and Chuck Dixon wanted to see Batman use a gun. I remember Dark Knight Returns had Batman with a rifle but I don't know how far Dixon got. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if someone got in trouble for this cover.
Permanent Link: 6:08 PM |
0 comments
Monday, September 19, 2005
Two things that don't relate to each other
That's Kevin's gift for me and I now share it with you. I think the reason why Kevin, Mike, myself and others enjoy that All-Star book so much is becuase Miller is utilizing the comedy you can get out of Batman. It's been a long time since I've read a Batman comic where the star makes me laugh, too damn long.
***
Want to know when I knew I was the spoiled product of an upper-middle class lifestyle? I came into my dorm room at 9:00 tonight only to think to myself "holy eyeballs, I missed the season premiere of Arrested Development!" I had no Digital Video Recorder to have the show waiting for me and firewalls on campus prevent me from downloading it.
It hit me: if I want to watch something on TV I'll have to make sure I'm in front of a TV at the exact hour and exact day that show is on. A sudden sense of disapointment fell over me. That seems so old fashioned, like I'm watching TV in some bygone era far more barbaric than ours.
So that's when I figured I was spoiled by growing up around sattelite telvision and file-trading. I am at the mercy of television programmers who I will never meet and don't give a damn about me or anyone else watching their networks. I suppose I should suck it up and remind myself how good I've got it that I can even watch TV at all.
That almost makes me feel better.
Permanent Link: 9:45 PM |
0 comments
My only Emmy comment
The Shat wins yet again. This is because you cannot stop The Shat, not even with the strength of ten Takeis. When The Shat train keeps a-rollin' all night long you cannot expect it to slow down, you just get on board and enjoy the ride. The smarmy, campy, hammy ride.
Permanent Link: 3:36 PM |
0 comments
Your Adam West post of the day
I think it was last year that Rich Johnston posted this page of John Cassady's unaltered art from the Planetary/Batman book.
More recently Mike Allred's cover for his issue of Solo has changed (the original one solicited is on the left).
I love the '60s Batman show so I'm a bit sad that DC editorial prevents artists from bringing back the memory of that show. That being said I understand if there are legal issues with West, regarding the use of his likeness and all.
For a long time there was, and in some circles there still is, a feeling that William Dozier's vision for the character was too "campy" and it made comics look like childish garbage. Creators and fans felt a need to repair any damage the show has done by telling stories with Batman and other superheroes with a straight face. I don't believe that, I think the Batman show on ABC was a case of a TV show reminding people how fun and cool superheroes can be when you don't take them seriously. Like many people I took the show seriously when I was kid watching it in reruns and then when I got older enjoyed it on a different level. That’s one way to define entertainment for all ages.
Seeing the changes in the above examples does make me worry at how seriously DC wants their audience to take Batman but I don't know if that mindset is in DC's editorial policy. I can imagine they’re far more worried about being sued. If I do recall DC already had their troubles with West when he was making appearances as Batman and DC told him to stop else he face the wrath of their lawyers. Oh well, at least we have TV Land.
Permanent Link: 11:34 AM |
0 comments
Friday, September 16, 2005
Local #1
With the first issue Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly give hope that their new series will seduce many readers with single comic magazines that are populated by clearly defined and compelling characters.
Most of the story takes place in Megan McKeenan’s mind. We learn about her by seeing all the fears and worries she comes up with while helping a dysfunctional boyfriend stay dysfunctional. As BeacoupKevin observed Wood and Kelly get the beats down just right so what seems like a gimmick comes across smoothly and accomplishes its real goal: making us interested in the main character.
Kelly’s art is in fantastic use here. He’s able to create all the complex emotions Megan’s going through appear on her face. The large panels aren’t dedicated to action in this comic. They’re dedicated to scenes where Megan’s expressions tell most of the story, with only a bit of dialogue filling in the rest. Wood crafts the basis of a great comic but the real enjoyment for me was seeing Kelly, whose work I’ve never seen before, deliver it in such a way that’s all about character and humanism.
Wood and Kelly are brewing up something that could remind people of Adrian Tomine’s Optic Nerve. Comics that take advantage of the pamphlet form by using short stories paced just so delicately and able to tell readers of the people all around them. It doesn’t hit you how powerful a comic like this is until you’ve finished it and absorbed every well constructed panel spread and every natural sounding bit of dialogue.
Read the Local blog.
Permanent Link: 6:18 PM |
0 comments
Thursday, September 15, 2005
All Star Night of Conviviality
Can the atmosphere you read a comic in decide whether you enjoyed it or not? After last night I think so.
I felt that All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder had a painful disconnect in the burlesque and over-the-top scripting of Frank Miller and the straight-laced way Jim Lee was depicting everything. I still think an artist that can draw with as big a smirk as Miller has when he’s writing the book would be much more appropriate. I think Howard Chaykin would have been a perfect fit. He and Miller are two guys who like their superhero comics big, loud and crazy which is just how a superhero book should be.
Like my pal Tom I chose not to pick up the next issue of the book. My friends did, though, even though they admitted they enjoyed Lee’s contribution far more than Miller’s. I decided I could live without seeing what happened next to ol’ Dick Grayson.
This being the Isotope, new comics day wouldn’t be new comics day without some nice drinks and lots of fun. I learned that the way to get a job at AiT is through steel cage matches with current employees and what it feels like to get smacked right in the face with a comic book (don’t worry, I walked away laughing). I even got my copy of Full Moon Fever signed by letterer Josh Motherfucking Richardson who just might be the greatest man in comics right now. The joy traveled as a bunch of us went down to Sauce on Gough St. to end the night on a chill note.
There, after having a few beers, I asked my friend Ash if I could see his copy of All Star Adam West and Burt Ward the Boy Wonder. He was talking about how there are clues in this book that could lead one to think the Joker was really Batman in this book and that piqued my interest. I didn’t worry about who was disguised as who, I was too intoxicated with the book’s ridiculous glee (and maybe a few other things).
Friends, I can tell you in no uncertain terms that this book is a fine example of American fiction at the dawn of the 21st Century. The full impact of it really gets to you when you’ve got your Irish in you and you’re shouting lines like “What, are you dense? Are you retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am? I’m the goddamn Batman,” at the top of your lungs.
The book is great comedy. I feel Miller’s writing here reflects the music of my beloved Stooges and Ramones. Like those bands, we have a smart person willfully choosing to go “stoopid” for all the freedom you can get when you whole-heartedly and without an ounce of self-conciseness resign yourself to your silliest and most primal impulses. I felt that energy reading this book. I could have sworn some of it rubbed off on Lee during those bits where the Batmobile has to kill all those cops and then fly into the air. Let others wonder if Miller’s joking or not, I’ll be the one having a good time while reading a funnybook.
(Come to think of it, when The Stooges and later The Ramones came out they were dismissed by many “respected” institutions as total jokes whose music was moronic and could only appeal to morons. Rolling Stone began their article on The Stooges with a disclaimer that they do not endorse their “current phonographic products.” So if something dismissed as “childish” and “tasteless” when it is released can prove to still hold up better than the other works of the time…hmmmmm.)
Batman is a character ripe with comedic potential. I feel this book revels in that potential and got a big kick out of it. Would I feel the same if I was not drinking and having a good time already? I don’t know and I don’t want to know. I will say this, though: this is the first superhero book that did inspire that “power fantasy” in me that so many of the genre’s detractors like to bring up. Not that I saw that fantasy in any of the characters. No, I saw it in the balls-out way Miller wrote this wonderful book. If I wrote a Batman comic, or for that matter any superhero comic really, it would read like this.
I’d just want mine to be drawn by Howard Chaykin.
Permanent Link: 8:39 PM |
0 comments
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
The greatest little shack of all
Do you like Doofus? I do and I hope you do too. The idea of Doofus and his pal Henry Hotchkiss walking around Flowertown, U.S.A. acting in increasingly degenerate behavior is just delicous enough for me too enjoy.
As usual it is Batfatty who has found something wonderful in this big ol' world of ours and this time it's got to do with Doofus. It is soemthing I can only decribe as Doofus: The Building. Watch it and live the thrill!
Permanent Link: 10:46 PM |
0 comments
Monday, September 12, 2005
I like this place
Tom Spurgeon creates a directory of local comic scenes. It's a great tool for journalists or just people looking to create some connections in the comics industry.
Hey, let's see how my area sizes up:
People
Art Adams
T. Alixopulos
Graham Annable
Andrice Arp
Rina Ayuyang
Kirsten Baldock
Ian Brill
Alvin Buenaventura
Dan Clowes
Maxon Crumb
Lloyd Dangle
Eric Drooker
B.N. Duncan
Kieron Dwyer
Andrew Farago
Josh Frankel
Renee French
Shaenon Garrity
Andy Hartzell
Eric Haven
Brian Hibbs
Hob
Debbie Huey
Derek Kirk Kim
Keith Knight
Erik Larsen
Bob Levin
Paul Madonna
Graeme McMillan
Victor Moscoso
Frederick Noland (Fredo)
Thien Pham
Lark Pien
John Porcellino
Jesse Reklaw
Rick Remender
Jimmie Robinson
Rory Root
Mimi Rosenheim
Richard Sala
Joe Sayers
Jason Shiga
Spain
Ron Turner
S. Clay Wilson
Larry Young
Institutions
AiT/Planet Lar
Alternative Press Expo (Administered from San Diego)
Buenaventura Press
Cartoon Art Museum
Comic Relief
Comix Experience
Dr. Comics and Mr. Games
Global Hobo
Image Comics
Isotope
Last Gasp
Viz Media
Except for that one annoying guy listed after Kirsten Baldock I'd say that's a pretty fine list. Just another reason why living here is as close to Heaven us mortals will taste.
Permanent Link: 3:50 PM |
0 comments
Wha…Huh?
Never before have I appreciated a book that I thought failed so miserably at what it seemed to set out to do.
The jokes in Wha…Huh? are hit and miss and I must report that there are far more misses than hits. There are two stories in here that are only two pages long and yet I still couldn’t bother myself to finish either of them. I knew that applying even that small amount of effort would lead to little rewards in terms of amusement. A lot of the quick jokes which I did read were just too obvious or didn’t cut sharp enough to be really funny. The bits about the aborted Batman/Daredevil crossover and the lateness of Ultimates were just flat. The silly insights into the Marvel characters harkens back to other humor books like Not Brand Echh or issue #34 of both volumes of What If?. Those books had a corny charm to them not unlike the appeal of reading Stan’s Soapbox. Even the inclusion of Stan Lee in this book, in another unfunny one-pager, doesn’t bring back that feel. That’s not to say the book doesn’t have a charm of its own. It does but we’ll get to that later.
Jim Mahfood’s art style is appealing for a little bit but after awhile I was wishing they had changed up the artists on the book like they had changed up the writers. He can make the heroes of the Marvel Universe seem both cute and funny looking as with the expressions he gives Captain America in “What if Black Panther were actually white?” He has a talent for squeezing in fun sight gags into panels, part of a tradition among cartoonists that stretches back to Bill Elder. It’s something that would work with a few pages but making him the sole artist for a 30+ page book was overkill. It’s got a fun feel of being dashed off while the teacher’s not looking but it’s not strong enough to support a whole book. There’s some variety when Spider-Man’s origin from Amazing Fantasy #15 is reprinted yet again but that would only be effective if they just ran the story as a whole and not interrupted it with more smug insider humor. Although let’s not declare a profuse use of inside humor such a bad thing right now. The way I see it…no, that’s for further on down.
There are moments where the book is funny, many of them brought to us by Brian K. Vaughan. All of his scripts are quick and witty enough so that nothing seems forced or too pleased with itself. Hell, the best moments Brian Bendis and Marc Andreyko’s Wolverine bit was when Vaughan showed up.
Mark Millar and Brian Bendis do a lot of the jokes for this book, mirroring their high output for Marvel’s whole line of books. Also mirroring their output, they both only have one good contribution apiece among the many that are there. To be fair both of there own one good idea are funny. Millar’s sequence about adding Andrew Jackson to the Fantastic Four was just random and silly enough to have me laugh out loud. It actually reminded me of Michael Kupperman a bit.
As for Benids, I almost forgive him for the many stupid things he comes up with in this book by creating the very funny centerpiece, “What if the Identity Crisis happened in the Marvel Universe?” In three pages the worst tendency of modern super-hero writers is given a good skewering. The caption boxes filling the pages telling us over and over again that something important is happening and how we must look into the characters’ minds become absurd as they pile on top of each other. It’s wonderful in how it points out the weakest aspect of Identity Crisis (Meltzer successfully slowed down a bunch of super-heroes fighting Deathstroke and many other scenes with his bloated prose spread out all over the page)as well as many other super-hero titles like Superman/Batman and many of Bendis’s own books.
It’s not the few times the book gets humor right that makes Wha…Huh? so wonderful to me. It’s that this book is such an authentic snapshot of a certain part of the comic book industry in a certain period of time that will make it enjoyable. “Will make it enjoyable” as in it’s not as easy to enjoy now. Right now we have people thinking about big event books that “darken” super-heroes’ worlds, the omnipresence of Millar and Bendis and their respective on-line behavior and the message boards of those two and others’ that are cluttered with complaints and unfunny snark. It’s all around us now so this book is hardly memorable. So store it away in a longbox for now and break it out eight to ten years from now. Now see there’s a new dimension of this book to enjoy.
We’ll look back in a mix of nostalgia and embarrassment, two notions that often fill the comic reader’s mind, at what those crafting for Marvel thought of themselves and their side of the industry. There’s as much humor about those behind the books as there are the characters that are meant to be the main selling points. One of the last pages is just poking fun at Mark Millar’s career. It’s not really that funny now but it’s so brilliantly dates itself that it becomes a reference point for what life was like for a super-hero fans and creators in the ‘00s.
Wha…Huh? bleeds its ephemeral nature. If you’ve ever seen a panel that groups Marvel or DC creators together on stage you’ll notice most of the discussion is devoted to a bunch of guys laughing it up and breaking each other’s balls. This book feels like it’s an attempt to recreate that in a book. It won’t really hit until the due change for these books come and Millar, Bendis and Vaghan go the way of Len Wein, Marv Wolfman and Doug Moench. Then we can look at this book and have a certain part of all our lives rush back to us. Most of this book is pretty stupid but all of it is invaluable.
Permanent Link: 11:48 AM |
0 comments
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Busy day so...Batgirl
If there was something, some wonderful yet mysterious thing, that combined the powers of one of the most wonderfully demented blogs on the planet, the man who tells the Legion of Super-Heroes what to do and one of the sexiest woman of the Super-Sexy '60s you would go there, right? Hell, you couldn't help yourself even if you tried.
That's why you will be reading this interview with Yvonne Craig conducted by Tom Peyer and Mark Waid. Batgirl herself answer all these two give her and proves herself quite witty. "I would love to at some point appear in one of the many Batman film incarnations as a doddering meter-maid ticketing parked cars. It would amuse me to think that this is the fate of aging super-heroes who still want to keep a hand in.
When my imagination was captured by Batman when it was being rerun on L.A.'s KTTV I was always happy to find an episode that had Batgirl in it. I like to think that even when my age was in single digits I liked woman who kicked butt and had a strong sense of style.
Permanent Link: 2:45 PM |
0 comments
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Recommended and coming soon
Tomorrow will see the release of the collected edition of one of Marvel’s greatest stories of the ‘70s. Avengers: The Serpent Crown by Steve Englehart and George Perez is filled with enough concepts going on in it that it just might be a better value than any other superhero book coming out this week. If you can imagine a story that combines left-leaning social commentary, superhero duels from the Gardner Fox playbook, artwork that introduces a talent whose prowess was just begin to show, bald space women and Norse Gods in the Old West all wrapped up in the Mighty Marvel Manner then you sort of have an idea of what this book holds.
Englehart had previous success on Avengers with his “Avengers/Defenders Clash” and “Celestial Madonna” storyline but this, his last hurrah on the title, is what I would consider his best effort. It combines all of his storytelling gifts when he was at the height of his powers. There’s that ability to draw from long forgotten characters with the introduction of Hank McCoy and Patsy Walker’s transformation into Hellcat. The Beast is a real joy to read because Englehart’s affection for the characters is just beaming. There’s the strong dialogue and characterization, in particular with Walker’s storyline. There’s also the political consciousness he infuses into his work by having The Squadron Supreme work for Marvel’s version of the Rand Corporation and Exxon Mobil. This leads up to a soliloquy on corporate power delivered by an unlucky cast member. It also gives us Nelson Rockefeller given the full Marvel cosmic treatment, which is just wacky enough to work.
One of the appeals for Englehart’s work today is that its influence is so evident. Kurt Busiek and Grant Morrison have both praised his work. In Busiek I can see that ability to use a shared superhero universe with a long history to come up with fresh stories. With Morrison there’s that love of getting really imaginative and sprawling, but bringing everything down to Earth with some funny quips (ever read a Morrison story where a character says something funny in the middle of a million weird things going on? You have Englehart to thank for that). You might consider Geoff Johns the Englehart of today. Both of them have this knack for taking forgotten characters or making sense of twisting continuity in the effort for good, readable stories. A lot of this is evident in The Serpent Crown.
To see George Perez land one of his first real high-profile gigs is fun to read as well. This was before Perez was a master of detail but that wonderful talent of making full use of the comic page is displayed here. There are some time travel scenes with Kang that are as trippy as a ‘70s Marvel book should be. It’s not just the flashy composition either, there’s real good examples of fluidity and motion in here. Perez has now since proven himself to be the best artist to ever work on the Avengers and it’s a joy to see where that legacy started with.
It’s wonderful to think there was a time where this story was able to be created this way. Something that’s both very smart and very silly. This is the kind of stuff that reminds me of why I stick with this mad genre. It’s book like these where it is at its maddest.
Permanent Link: 8:39 AM |
0 comments
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Adam Strange: Planet Heist
A while ago I invoked Adam Strange as a title I was enjoying but feared seeing dragged down into crossover chaos. I enjoyed the first issue a lot but decided to wait for the trade paperback because of my then financial state. I picked up the trade over the weekend and was pleased to find out the good out weighed the bad on this title, even though there was one big disappointment hanging over it after I finished reading the series.
The real entertainment from this mini-series is seeing Andy Diggle and Pascal Ferry combine their respective talents to tell a cosmic adventure story that really goes for fun and excitement. Personally, I’ve always been interested when superhero books go heavy into sci-fi settings, including the original Adam Strange stories by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino. I was glad to see Diggle and Ferry continue this character’s legacy.
The story is a simple enough set-up for a lot of sci-fi adventure. Adam Strange is a man of two worlds, Rann and Earth. He goes between the two with the Zeta Beam technology, which keeps sending him two and from the planets. Then there seemed a time when Adam could live on Rann forever with his wife and daughter. Unfortunately for Adam it seems that the planet Rann is destroyed by a supernova. Adam soon learns some info from two alien bounty hunters out to get him that leads him to believe there might be more to Rann’s disappearance. Adam sets out to find some answers about his adopted home world.
Ferry’s art, in collaboration with the wonderful coloring job by Dave McCaig, is pleasing right from the start. His figures create a strong presence within the page. The designs are always clear and he can use just the right amount of lines to make something seem detailed without becoming too busy.
That pays off very nicely because within the very first issue Diggle comes up with a chase involving alien bounty hunters and jetpacks that sets the tone for the series. Ferry can create a lot of kinetic energy with his drawings and his panel structure again makes the most of simplicity. Everything seems to be drawn so confidently and precise that all the actions have a lot of impact. Look at that sequence where Adam blasts his way out of the Durlan Spy and you’ll see how effective Ferry’s use of motion, anatomy and imagination is.
Thankfully Diggle is a writer that can come up with these sequences that Ferry illustrates so wonderfully. Best of all his writing doesn’t get in the way of the action, either. The first issue’s jetpack chase has many captions from Adam’s inner monologue, a typical device used these days. But unlike other books I’ve read these captions are not filled with too much exposition or explanation of the character’s feelings that the read feels like it’s slowed down and the excitement is sucked out. Diggle has read enough Frank Miller to know how to how to pack just the right amount of punch into the first person narrative. It doesn’t feel as hard boiled as Miller’s work, which would be out of place in this story, but it continues a grand tradition starting with Stan Lee, Steve Englehart, Miller and others where captions help propel the pace of a book.
Planet Heist is a story that benefits from the wham-bam style Diggle and Ferry make great use of. While it might seem obvious to just do a DC version of Star Wars or try to recreate some of the previous comic book cosmic storylines, this book feels like it reaches back even farther. Going through the issues of Planet Heist a formula seems to be emerging of a new character and/or discovery attaching itself to the plot Adam finds himself in and then having the issue end on a cliffhanger so that the reader will have to pick up the next book just to see what happens next. It seems like something derived from the film serials of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon as well as the adventure strips that spawned them both. Except the aesthetic this book employs seems to include European genre graphic novels, due to McCaig’s coloring that blends soft colors so well, and the superheroics of the DC Universe, complete with supporting characters from previous books. With Planet Heist Diggle and Ferry brings the spirit of those adventure strips to the modern age of superhero comic books with satisfying results.
Fear not about the introduction of other DC characters. I myself has never read anything with the Darkstars or L.E.G.I.O.N. in it and only know The Omega Men from a New Teen Titans Annual I barley remember. This lack of knowledge about the heavens of the DCU was not a hindrance, as reading interviews and seeing Diggel speak I’ve found that he’s a writer not unlike Garth Ennis. They both write for DC and Marvel yet have little interest in the sprawling continuities of either of the two companies. Diggle makes it real easy to read the story by introducing the characters with just as much info as the reader needs to get along with the story. The Omega Men themselves are interesting characters in Diggle’s hands and add a lot to the story as the rag-tag crew Adam hooks up with. Lead Omega Tigorr has a speech pattern that reminded me a bit of The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing. He makes a fine sidekick in Strange’s quest to return to Rann. Vril Dox’s dialogue and role is one that feels like the icy villain whose personality is so deliciously devious that one can’t help but to love him. He’s someone that would be played by Jeremy Irons or Ian McKellan if this were a movie. Other characters don’t fare so well. I still don’t know much about the Darkstars other than they were introduced to die a hero’s death but that will bring us to the problematic ending to this boo, which I’ll get to later.
The introduction of all types of alien bad guys and good guys also gives Ferry another way to showcase his talents. There are many times in the book where half the page will be devoted to one panel spotlighting some new otherworldly creation. Ferry’s designs (or re-designs, I have trouble keeping track of what are new creations or not) of these characters or settings are a fine example of creating a type of elegance for the weird and grotesque. Ferry’s skill is just as strong when his imagination is on overdrive and it makes this space adventure just that much more alive.
There are flaws in the book like when the action scenes aren’t as exciting as that first one (although there are no bad action scenes) and when the exposition from Rann master scientist Sardath sounds like less compelling versions of Christopher Lloyd’s explanation scenes in Back to the Future Part II but those are easy to forgive. What’s less easy to let go is the fact that the last issue of the book features characters acting strangely (no pun intended) like Adam himself and the inexplicable introduction and then killing off of the Darkstars (Jog goes over it pretty well over here). It all leads up to the book ending on yet another cliffhanger, which wouldn’t be so bad if it led to another Adam Strange series by Diggle and Ferry but instead leads into another series with a different creative team which itself leads into another series with a different creative team. You can gather from various on-line interviews that this was not what was planned for the series (Ferry says in July of 2004 that “‘Adam’ is closer to what I would want to do in my future; concrete projects with one start and one very defined end.” And Diggle said after the series was over that “Adam Strange taught me to always agree to the ending before you start. Having the goalposts move mid-game is never a good idea.”). It taints what is overall a really impressive series. Perhaps there will be an Adam Strange series that will feature these creators but I even then it’s hard to get as excited about it as I could be.
Planet Heist is still a great read 90% of the time. Ferry has now become an artist whose name is one to seek after seeing what he can accomplish here. I think that the majority of this book is something more superhero creators should strive for and less so the very last bit.
Permanent Link: 2:45 PM |
0 comments
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Comics invade the real world
Well, comic creators that is. Here are two examples I've found.
Mark Evanier blogged about a revival of What's My Line? going on in L.A. (I love living in San Francisco but there are many times that I miss Los Angeles). Checking out the schedule of upcoming shows I see a very familiar name in one of the guests to appear. On Sept. 14, Oct. 12 and Nov. 4 Len Wein will be one of the panelists for the game. The man co-created Swamp Thing, Wolverine and one of the greatest Justice League of America stories ever and now he's helping bring back that game show goodness.
Hell, on Oct. 12 you've got Wein, John Waters regular Mink Stole and former TV Geek on Beat the Geeks Paul Goebel on one panel (one of the few Beat the Geeks connection this incarnation of What's My Line? has). That's a nice chunk of pop culture goodness right there.
A combination of Swamp Thing and game shows of yesteryear. Why do I think this was created especially for Mike?
***
But wait, there's more! If it weren't for Justice League of America #100-102 we wouldn't have Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers project going on. Maybe that's what Morrison was thinking of when he and Frank Quitely designed the artwork for the new Robbie William's CD. You've got sigils and tarot cards going on so it makes sense that those two would be drafted into the proceedings. Or maybe Williams just enjoyed Morrison and Quitely when they "did comic strip Judge Dredd." I know Morrison did a few Dredd stories although as far as I can research Quietly never did one Dredd story. I'm simply shocked, shocked!, that an article in a relatively mainstream news outlet would get their facts wrong about comics. Lord knows they couldn't do the eight minutes of research I just did through Google when there are stories of Destiny Child's award winnings to be done.
I actually saw Williams when Grant Morrison appeared at Meltdown Comics (I told you I miss L.A.!). It was cool to see him there...until he kept bugging Morrison with questions about how his New X-Men run fit in with the previous stories by Chris Clarmemont. Jeez, who knew the shining star of Take That was such an anal-retentive fanboy?*
A combination of Grant Morrison and Robbie Williams? Why do I think this was created especially for Dorian?
*WARNING: The related event might be made up in the vain hope that something funny might come out of this blog. So far results look dim.
Permanent Link: 12:09 PM |
0 comments
Friday, September 02, 2005
2004 Blogging panel at San Diego
This is a recording of the panel discussing blogging that took place in July of this year. It was hosted by Mark Evanier and featured Heidi MacDoanld, Tom Spurgeon, Tom McLean, Augie De Blieck Jr. and Peter David. It runs 52 minutes.
Blogging Panel mp3
First off all, three very big thank you’s. The first goes out to all the people on the panel for putting it on. The second goes to Mike Sterling for turning my recording into an mp3. The third is for H and Mag for hosting the mp3 so all you good people can listen to it.
No here's something I have to tell you. The audio quality ain't so grand. If you listen hard you should be able to get what most of what the panel members are saying. There are audience questions you can't hear (except when I'm talking) but you should be able to discern them through the answers on the panel. Around 42 minutes or so a question is brought up about why there aren't any less "professional" bloggers up there with my name being invoked, much to my embarrassment. I think Tom makes the best point in answering that question.
I hope you can make out the majority of what's being discussed about. I figured the blogging people should here this because it is about you. Enjoy.
Permanent Link: 10:53 AM |
0 comments
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Or Else #3
The arrival of a new issue of this book is always worthy of a write-up. Huizenga is a cartoonist who is such a master of the art that his work becomes more appealing every time I read it. The previous issue held some of the finest cartooning I’ve seen in my life but I was prepared for this issue to not be as immediately awe-inspiring. I wasn’t expecting another fold-out spread for instance.
Huizenga does concentrate on the quiet parts of the human experience, as he has done in all the previous issues of this book. Most of the main segments of the book have Huizenga tackling the normal in a different way. In “March 6, 1999” Huizenga narrates going back to his parents during a brief break from college. There’s one panel per page and captions written in a very calm verse. There seems to be nothing special about Huzenga’s trip, until we find out all this mundanity is played out with a very serious situation concerning his mother in the back of people’s minds. This strip hit home to me very much this week as I realize you and I go on with our lives while the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina still going on. These dramatic life-altering events happen, from natural disasters to cancer, and yet we don’t succumb to them entirely. We go on with out rather non-descript lives in something you could call perseverance. Huizenga captures that aspect of life so delicately in these four pages, it’s quite powerful.
“Al and Gertrude” continues that “blank verse” (what Kim Thompson described David B.’s writing in Epileptic as and I think it fits here) but here the illustrative aspect of the comic plays a greater role. Huizenga describes his elderly neighbors and displays the immense humanity in his work in a very brief story. The art style is so much looser and simpler in these stories compared Kafka adaptation right after it. It’s as if the figures are about to disappear and this is our one chance to have them make an impression on us, however faint. One character, after all, is described as seemingly “to have no eyes.” Huizenga just hints at the emotions with his captions but continues that theme masterfully with his art. The comics might be worlds away from the wonder of Or Else #2’s finest moment, but it is as just a fine testament to the capacity of comics for emotional depth.
The longest section of the book is “I Stand Up for Zen,” an account of a job Huizenga really felt uncomfortable at. Here the tone is much more active and partisan. It’s a piece that harnesses a powerful part of humor, which is to make insights into a subject, usually something absurd, others would probably not have noticed. Huzienga seems to be the only one, or at least he worries that he is the only one, that thinks the exploitation of Eastern spirituality for crappy merchandise is rather grotesque. He proves himself more insightful than most with the way he is able to piece the evolution of the merchandise, wondering what life is like for the Taiwanese factory workers making this stuff. He goes over something very relatable when he wonders about quitting his job over ethical reasons. It leads to a chart spelling out all the possible ways his life could go if he did that. Huizenga cannot only map out the past and present with a skilled eye but the future as well. It reminds me of the last issue where Huizenga used comics’ rarely-seen educational properties to create a better story. The ending is just as charged as the previous stories in this comic.
“Library Selections” reminded me of "Chan Woo Kim" in how Huzienga combined found works of writing with drawn images (here they are samples of old animated cartoons) to create something of a cartoon version of the William S. Burroughs “cut-up” technique. It can create something as unforgettable as “Chan” but sometimes, this all being by chance, the results are far more lackluster. It’s interesting but I didn’t feel it added up to much. Luckily the book does end on a high note with a one page appreciation of Disney cartoonist Floyd Gottfredson. I’m unfamiliar with the man’s work so not only did I enjoy the brief way Huizenga tells us why Gottfredson’s cartoons worked for him but also the reading list he provided.
I suppose the wonderful thing about Or Else #3 is not that it such a wonderful collection of comics but that the fact that is such a wonderful collection is hardly a surprise at this point. Huizenga is amazing, but what else did you expect?
***
Happy birthday to Ed Cuanrd and The Low Road. Hey, happy birthday to you too Comic Book Galaxy!
I can't tell which take on Green Lantern I like more, Scipio's or Jim Roeg's. Oh what the Hell, I love 'em both!
Permanent Link: 2:10 PM |
0 comments
|
