Comments Off | Posted: March 11th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
An item of some interest. This is from 1964:
“It’d bad enough that adults smoke — they, at least, might have had the excuse of not knowing any better…”
Huh. 1964.
“It’d bad enough that adults smoke — they, at least, might have had the excuse of not knowing any better…”
Comments Off | Posted: March 10th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
The New York Times writes about Alan Moore vs the film of V For Vendetta:
Last year, when Mr. Moore received a phone call from Larry Wachowski � who, with his brother, Andy, had written and directed the “Matrix” movies � to discuss the “V for Vendetta” film that the Wachowskis were writing and producing for Warner Brothers, Mr. Moore felt he had made it clear that he did not want to be involved in the project.“I explained to him that I’d had some bad experiences in Hollywood,” Mr. Moore said. “I didn’t want any input in it, didn’t want to see it and didn’t want to meet him to have coffee and talk about ideas for the film.”
But at a press conference on March 4, 2005, to announce the start of production on the “V for Vendetta” film, the producer Joel Silver said Mr. Moore was “very excited about what Larry had to say and Larry sent the script, so we hope to see him sometime before we’re in the U.K.” This, Mr. Moore said, “was a flat lie.”
“Given that I’d already published statements saying I wasn’t interested in the film, it actually made me look duplicitous,” he said.
In a telephone interview, Mr. Silver said he had misconstrued a meeting he had with Mr. Moore and Dave Gibbons nearly 20 years ago, when Mr. Silver first acquired the film rights to “Watchmen” and “V for Vendetta.” (Mr. Silver no longer owns the rights to “Watchmen,” though Warner Brothers is still planning an adaptation.) “I had a nice little lunch with them,” he said, “and Alan was odd, but he was enthusiastic and encouraging us to do this. I had foolishly thought that he would continue feeling that way today, not realizing that he wouldn’t.”
Mr. Silver said he called Mr. Moore to apologize for his statement at the press conference, but that Mr. Moore was unmoved. “He said to me, ‘I’m going to hang up on you if you don’t stop talking to me,’ ” Mr. Silver recalled. “It was like a conversation with a tape recording.”
I am reminded here of Ellis’s hilarious recounting of Alan Moore on the phone (right-click and “save as” to download a 3mb MP3). I swear, between his statements that he’s what “Harry Potter would grew into” and his voice like an Ent, the man scares the living daylights out of me.
I actually think that V For Vendetta may not be a bad-at-all movie if I can divorce myself of my attachment to its source material, which I’ve managed to do in the past with LA Confidential and Amazon Women On The Moon.
Comments Off | Posted: March 10th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
TO: My fellow nerds
RE: BSG Season 2 Finale
Oh my shitting holy goddamn motherloving baby Jesus.
That’s how you do these things.
Comments Off | Posted: March 10th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Two links of dubious merit, not quite earning Items! status.
The first involves the next wannabe Speakgen or Crosseasy or whatever. Check out their bold, bold statements like:
�The biggest part of this equation is that we are not going to be using the traditional monthly comic book schedule.� said company co-owner Mike Gagnon. No it�s not a typo, you read right, no monthly schedules. �The biggest reason being that when you release on a monthly schedule your retailers are only going to have one month to make that sale, that�s why we�ve used the graphic novel format and why our comics will all be either stand-alone one-shots or continuing series with installments that are released bi-monthly or quarterly and in most cases each installment can stand alone and be read on it�s own so that it has a perpetual shelf life and does not have to be removed when the next book featuring the same character is released. This opens a big doorway for us to be the only comic book publisher who publishes in a format that can be sold in a traditional book store.� Gagnon added.
Wow, gee, like, oh, Fantagraphics or Drawn and Quarterly or Top Shelf or Oni or dozens of other companies. Christ almighty, I’m going to put out a press release announcing my bold initiative to push lunch back until 1:30.
The second informs us that “eBay is putting comc (sic) book stores out of business, but not in E.P.” Here’s the opening paragraphs. It gets worse.
EAST PROVIDENCE – If you are into comic books, NASCAR, or military memorabilia and are sick of the limited selection of chain retailers, you will likely be pleasantly surprised upon walking into Jay-Ron Raceway Collectibles. Just watch your step as you enter.Such is the sheer volume of comics, cars and collectibles present at this family-owned business that stepping into the store and taking in the sight of the place can be daunting. In fact, it is advisable not to walk in too fast, for there isn’t much room to walk before you hit a glass case full of superhero statues. The quantity of collectibles crammed into this little store is remarkable. According to owner Ron Levesque, most of the items in the store have one thing in common, which also distinguish them from what larger stores offer.
That’s right, crammed shelves and a photo featuring the owners sandwiched between heroclix and a wall of “value books” without any real breathing room. That’ll inspire someone to stop by.
God, I hate shitty “collectibles” shops so very much.
Comments Off | Posted: March 9th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
A new feature! If I decide to keep it up, anyway! I give you…
For The Week of March 8, 2006
As it’s proven for the first three issues, Fell contains Ellis at his best: a sharp protagonist that’s tough while not falling to the writer’s usual trappings and stories that remind you that the human element really is the most important thing when it comes to solving a crime. What I love about this panel from Fell #4 is that is sums up everything about that makes the character stand out from the miserable town he works in very neatly while letting you stare at some of that nice Templesmith art. Snowtown is a fucking evil place and Fell is battling not only the town’s demons but the inertia of a police department that doesn’t care. It’s fascinating to see how far Fell’s need to redeem himself and the burg will push the man and I’m very glad that it’s doing some business. Shame about the Typical Ellis Female that ended up in the letter columns, embarrassing me a bit even if she’s got a great…resume as a wine writer!
(The less said about the fact that Down‘s final issues seems like four crammed into one, very very uncomfortably, the better. Disappointing ending to a series I was really enjoying for what it was.)
This speaks a lot of wisdom about the Boston experience. That is all I’m going to say about this bit from Sky Ape: King Of Girls, a hilarious and value-tastic $4.95 special featuring America’s favorite jetpacked ape.
That’s right, pilgrim: The Bride Of Frankenstein shows up in the better of the two Seven Soldiers books put on this week and I may be a tiny bit in love with her, even if she’s undead and has four arms and seems really mentally unstable. That’s the power of The Morrison right there, my friends.
There’s some really great moments spread through this issue of Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein with a brilliant dogpiling of ideas that almost makes up for the strange transformation Mister Miracle managed, starting with being bad in the whole storytelling department – the first 3/4 of the comic was alternately interesting and near-unbearable with the last 5 or 6 pages pulling off a typical Mister Miracle escape from complete awfulness.
Much like the Fell panel displayed exactly why I enjoy the book so much, this panel sums up why I love the Fantastic Four as a concept, if rarely as an actual comic. Joe Casey’s Fantastic Four: First Family is the rare grimming-up of an origin that actually works for me, and that’s largely because of the strength of the characters as well as the fact that he’s tapping some of the weirdness and magic that makes the group and its adventures work for me in its best moments. I didn’t even mind the complete lack of action, as the dialogue seemed to be there for a purpose versus padding out a story to make sure we’ve got six issues instead of three for the collection.
FF: First Family serves as an interesting counterpoint to the first paperback collecting Brubaker’s Captain America, which I finished over lunch and spent the next hour in a serious funk. Bucky as a badass secret superkiller in WWII may sound awesome to many, but it struck me as being kind of…silly. I mean, moreso than “Golly, Cap! Time to kick some Japanazi rear and show Tojohitler who’s boss!” Some nice moments, lovely art, but the mordant tone put me off reading any more. Matt M: I should have listened to you. I apologize for being a buffoon.
Comments Off | Posted: March 9th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
More Items!
- This article starts off with “Why it’s cool: BAM! POW! ZAP!” but actually tells the readers about a really neat event at the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum: Keith Knight is gonna be teaching and talking this Saturday. The place sounds like it’s a real treat.
- No, Kristin and I aren’t getting married anytime soon – She’s just stuck with me for the foreseeable future. This will disappoint Ed, who would make a lovely bridesmaid.
- The man who invented cubicles really regretted the whole thing.
- Yesterday, Gwen asked me why every man she knows carries a Moleskin notebook. Outside of the fact that mine’s the perfect size and the elastic band makes it easy, there’s also a cool factor involved. Maybe she should read this Wiki entry or look at the fact that the (overrated in my opinion, but still quite noteworthy comics writer) Neil Gaiman uses one:
“The Moleskine notebook (I bought it in Venice) is one of my favourite possessions already (although they sell it now as “Bruce Chatwin’s Notebook!” which seems, I dunno, in faintly bad taste, although I’d be hard put to tell you exactly why I think so.) Just the right size. Just the right weight. an elastic band to hold it closed, a pocket to put invoices and so on.”
- Speaking of Ed, he and Chris Tamarri and myself have a Super Secret Project that will hopefully be unleashed soon. It will be excellent.
- One of my favorites, Andi Watson, posts tons of sketches in his Flickr account. It’s neat seeing stuff he’s done for Mortgage And Finance Gazette and the upcoming Dark Horse stationery set.
Comments Off | Posted: March 9th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
It’s time for Items!
- Sure, it’s an ad for the various Warner DVDs, but this tiny little flash montage trailer thing sure does remind me why I like the character so much. The shot of Glenn Ford as Pa Kent, telling Clark that he’s here for a reason always makes me mist up and once you add in George Reeves holding that little girl and “flying,” I’m just a blubbering mess for a bit.
- My girlfriend flirted with another boy, but picked up some excellent how-to books last week. Fair trade, especially with that whole How To Help Your Husband Get Ahead book that will surely serve her well in the coming years..
- Sterling saw the Ultimate Avengers movie so I don’t have to. Like me, he goes a little crazy over badly-done text commentary. This entry made up for scarring me forever with that goddamn CB issue of Popeye.
- Over on Flickr, Zorilla is posting some great photos from his visit to Cuba. Cuba fascinates me, and if you’ve not, you should read Waiting For Fidel.
- Ragnell blogged against sexism, which is nice, but I really like it when she basically points out that Ron Marz isn’t that good a writer when it comes to things like “avoiding bad clich�s,” “closure” and “satisfaction.”
- If I ever watched Lost, I’d probably appreciate this article linking the show to Lovecraft and Planetary. Alas!
- This is the sort of thing I can get behind: a set list archive for Calexico. What a neat blog idea. I’ve been tempted to create a second, just music blog but that would be really obnoxious of me and might dilute my brand. Or something.
- I will review comics this evening, after I actually read some of this week’s material.
- My dad turned 68 yesterday and was gleefully telling me that not only did he like the books I sent him (Freakonomics and What’s The Matter With Kansas>), but he went and purchased a 42-inch plasma TV and sound system for the “docking bay” they’ve established for their motor home in New Mexico. I don’t normally talk about me or my family, but that’s kick-ass that he’s still such a tech-nerd. Here’s a picture of him that I took in ’97. He loves reptile on a stick, yo.
Comments Off | Posted: March 9th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
I think I may need to revive this
fine practice.
Comments Off | Posted: March 8th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Gillen and McKelvie threatened to expose my deep and
abiding love of Barbra Streisand if I didn’t link
to their new project.
The fuckers.
Comments Off | Posted: March 8th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
The new ongoing Jonah Hex series from DC may well be my favorite regularly-published ongoing book from the big Two (how many more adjectives can I fit in there? “Non-Morrison,” “non-Ellis,” “not featuring dudes making out with bears?”), but man – Luke Ross sure is a little too reliant on photo referencing, as shown at this image there on the left. Sure, his work’s about ten times more lively than Greg Land’s, but so’s a dead rat.
Jonah Hex also delivers exactly what I want from a comic that features solutions involving punching or shooting or a combination of the two: strong characterization, plots that require just enough thinking on my part, and a complete lack of continuity for me to feel bugged by. Hex never got killed and came back as four separate Jonah Hexes: Hexboy, Cyborg Hex, Jonah Steel, and Krypto-Hex; Hex didn’t have his back broken and get replaced by Bat Lash in a mask; Hex didn’t find out that his mind was wiped so he couldn’t shoot some low-down polecat in the head for making time with a woman that wasn’t interested in such a thing. Sure, it’s simple and pretty formulaic, but it’s a formula that works for me.
Anyhow, apparently the strong resemblence that Jonah Hex now bears towards a certain elder statesman of the whole spaghetti western seems to have not gone unnoticed at DC, as this page from the latest issue of Justice League Unlimited suggests:
Hard to believe that’s Gordon Purcell artwork. Shame that he can’t work within his own style, especially as I think he’s a darn good penciller.
Comments Off | Posted: March 7th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
To the person who just found my site by entering “wonder woman fucking krypto beast” into AltaVista, I have this to say:
PROFESSIONAL
HELP.
NOW.
Comments Off | Posted: March 7th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Thanks to Andrew for letting me know about this piece of sensationalistic Daily Bugle-style journalism from The Boston Herald:
Suspect�s aliases found in comics
By Laurel J. Sweet
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
The Big Apple bouncer who has surfaced as a suspect in the despicable killing of Imette St. Guillen answers to several aliases, at least three of which have ties to the fantasy world of comic books.
Johnny Blaze, John Handsome (from an old, old Green Lantern story,) and GL penciler Daryl Banks were all used as monikers by the suspect. Matt from Comicopia gets a few quotes, so maybe there’s going to be some gawkers at his shop this weekend.
Comments Off | Posted: March 7th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Katee Sackhoff talks to the press at the 2006
William S. Paley Television Festival, which is
sponsored by the Museum of Television and
Radio in Los Angeles, CA.
Taken from Jodi’s Photoset of the BSG cast
from the same event. Ms Sackhoff needs to
wear less eyeliner, says me. Not that
she cares what I think. *sniff*
Comments Off | Posted: March 7th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Before Papillon and The Shawshank
Redemption, there was…
Originally presented in Adventure Comics #301.
Written by Ed Hamilton with Curt Swan art,
inked by George Klein. Also reprinted (with
godawful “The Private Life Of Clark Kent” header
in Superman Family #166 and the Australian
Superman Supacomic.
Comments Off | Posted: March 6th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
week, or so they say. I’ve highlighted things below,
which I am wont to do each week for some strange reason.
DC Comics
DEC050277 SEVEN SOLDIERS FRANKENSTEIN #3 (OF 4) $2.99
JAN060328 SEVEN SOLDIERS MISTER MIRACLE #4 (OF 4) $2.99
Wow, it’s been forever since I held a new Morrison comic in my hand, at least a month or so! Now I get two, full of that rich metatextual goodness that he pours down my willing gullet?
Lucky, me.
OCT050310 TOM STRONG #36 $2.99
Alan Moore turns off the lights and locks up on the one ABC title left from his original launch. Apparently, it ties in with Promethea‘s last issue, which…er…I never read. Didn’t really care for Promethea once it became a giant lesson on The Nature Of Magic And All Things. Maybe I just need more punching or something – it’s the one Alan Moore work that failed to appeal to me.
Image
OCT051732 FELL #4 $1.99
In this issue: Richard Fell finds himself in a bad situation, which is solved in 16 pages. I think some readers complaining about the “coincidence” factor in this comic are missing out on something: Snowtown is a heinous place and crime’s so endemic there that it’s only Fell’s sense of right that places him in these situations. Other Snowtown residents would just walk away.
DEC051756 ROCKETO VOL 1 JOURNEY TO THE HIDDEN SEA TP $19.99
Welcome, Mr Espinoza, to a much better company that will be straightforward with you. At least, that’s what I hear about those Image cats.
DEC051757 SOCOM SEAL TEAM SEVEN GN $12.99
Formerly of AIT/PlanetLar, now being published elsewhere. Lovely art, hope the story holds up to it.
Marvel
JAN062023 FANTASTIC FOUR FIRST FAMILY #1 (OF 6) $2.99
Joe Casey’s earned some goodwill with me thanks to GODLAND and this looks right up my alley, especially with Chris Weston on board for the art chores.
Other Companies
NOV052680 CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL MANGA VOL 5 TP $10.95
This is probably going to make my brain melt with pure, beautiful absurdity. Thanks to everyone who told me to pick this up, because it really is a thing of great joy. And it’s got Freddie. Freddie is about as awesome as anything has ever gotten without exploding.
JAN062801 SKY APE KING OF GIRLS ONE SHOT (MR) $4.95
I am totally way in love with Sky Ape. Maybe I’ll find the sketch the creators put together for me and stick it up on my internet web site, along with the Infamous Powers Issue Doug got signed for me after it was arted up.
Comments Off | Posted: March 6th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Unlike Superman, who hauled his younger cousin off to an orphanage within 8 pages of her introduction, Lex Luthor loves his little sister and wants to keep an eye on her:
From “The Great Supergirl Double-Cross!”, by Leo Dorfman
and Jim Mooney. originally printed in Action Comics #317
(October, 1964,) but conveniently available in The Superman
Family #166 (August-September 1974.)
Comments Off | Posted: March 6th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
From The Same Silver-Age Story
Wow, dude. Coloring sure is menial.
I’m so glad you have superpowers to
make your life easier.
I’m beginning to think that Lex Luthor
has a point about Superman impeding
humanity’s growth. This wouldn’t be
out of order in Red Son, would it?
Comments Off | Posted: March 5th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
The fun, young, hip thing for comics bloggers to do is claim that the Silver Age Lex Luthor had a hate on for Superman because of one thing: his hair loss. I saw Tim O’Neil do that just this week in an otherwise-excellent review of The Unauthorized Biography Of Lex Luthor, a book I like much less than he does but think that he makes really valid points concerning why he thinks it’s peachy keen. Any real problems I may have with O’Neil for liking such an ugly text are short-lived, though – we can agree that Eduardo Barretto deserves to have a parade thrown each day in his honor for making sure comics are prettier and that’s good enough.
Anyway, about this whole bald thing: it’s much, much deeper than that. Young Lex Luthor comes to Smallville as a genius, and how much must that suck for him? This is a town filled with hillbillies, for god’s sake! It’s only after he has a chance encounter and saves Superboy from a large chunk of Kryptonite that he actually meets a peer, even if there’s some hero-worship involved – he’s got a room full of Superboy memorabilia, all neatly tagged in the way everybody in the Silver Age households displayed their collection. Superboy, to show his gratitude, builds Luthor an awesome laboratory to call his own and what does Young Luthor do within a few days of having his new setup?
He creates life with a chemistry set.
No, seriously, look at that again. Life.
This kid’s intellect is completely wasted in this shit burg and he knows it. The only joy he’s getting out of Smallville is his friendship with Superboy and how, together, they’re getting things done to help make sure the yokels have a better quality of living. Now, I’m sure that the slash fiends out there can find great joy in picking apart this sort of thing, but I’m the sort of person that thinks of this as a purely harmless man-crush that we all get on, say, Harrison Ford or Christian Bale. (In Chris’s case, it’s on comics super-stud John Cassaday, but that’s beside the point.)
Back to the main point here. Upon making this discovery, Young Luthor’s first thoughts are how to reward the one that’s helped him get so far. This is after he’s already saved the guy’s life and gotten the laboratory as a reward.
The protoplasm hasn’t even cooled and he wants to give Superboy something. So far, the story’s proven that the kid’s arrogant and maybe a little creepy with his Superboy worship, but he’s got chops in that whole science thing and he gives back when he’s given a little. What can he possibly offer to Superboy that will show his gratitude?
A cure for motherfucking Kryptonite. Wow, that’s a hell of a gift to throw over to the last son of Krypton, isn’t it? Here’s the thing, though: Luthor can do it. He’s just that awesome.
Anyone that’s actually read the story knows that this isn’t the whiny brat that we’ve all heard about, is it? No – he’s capable, smart, and giving in a way that nobody ever wants to give him credit for. He saved Superboy’s life, he got a reward, and now he wants to pay the kid back again! He’s not stealing penny candy or sneaking into the matinee at the Smallville Bijou – he’s doing good.
Of course, it all goes pear-shaped. It has to go pear-shaped. It’s written in the stars that pear-shaped is the way of these things and so it shall be.
OK, there’s the infamous sequence that’s so often extracted from, presented in its full glory. Let’s review: Lex finds a cure for Kryptonite and in his enthusiasm, he apparently gets jiggy a little too hard and knocks over a flask, causing a fire. Superboy, hearing his cries for help and not thinking to himself “Hey, you know, maybe blowing super-breath into a building filled with chemicals isn’t the brightest idea,” does what he thinks is best for the situation and screws up horribly.
Pay attention to Luthor’s dialogue immediately after the accident. He’s furious at Superboy for fucking up the experiment. His going bald is completely secondary to the fact that he was trying to do a brother a solid and got bitten in the ass for his troubles. His Kryptonite serum and the life form he happened to create are now gone because Kal-El didn’t show up for Chemistry 101′s safety lessons. That’s what he’s furious over – the baldness thing, that’s just salt on the wounds. Even more aggravatingly, when Lex is in the middle of reiterating that his science got all fucked up, Superboy just goes and brings up the hair again, managing to come off like an extra-large dick. Something snapped inside of Luthor that day and that’s when the conflict we all know and love began.
It’s not about baldness, is it? It’s about getting fucked over when you’re doing the right thing. Once you start looking at the whole conflict from Luthor’s perspective, he becomes a lot more sympathetic as a villain. His motives for hating Superboy are understandable, even if he could probably learn to let these things go.
You may note that the scans here are much sharper than you’re used to from this page. Apparently, running my images through Illustrator and doing the drop-shadow thing may have made it look neat, but reduces the legibility by a large degree. I guess I’ll have to figure out another way to do make my images “pop” a bit.
Comments Off | Posted: March 4th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
The Original Young Avengers
From “Once An Avenger, Always An Avenger”
by Bob Harras, Luke McDonnell, and Steve Mitchell.
Featured in Iron Man #178.
Special Bonus Panel!!
Comments Off | Posted: March 4th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
OK, so Pal Gina and I were in a minor email debate over this panel from Nextwave #2:
Well, fair readers? Comment and tell me what you think so we can get a consensus.
Now I am going to pour myself a nice large drink and read old Iron Man issues. If you don’t see the irony in this, the exit’s to the left.
