Archive for March, 2006
New comics blog shoutout
I just found out my coworker Aaron has a comics-related blog called Underneath the Mask. Check it out.
Keron Grant on Zoom Suit
Columbus’ own Keron Grant will be the regular artist on the Zoom Suit limited series, picking up on issue #2 from the previous artist. Newsarama has the details.
Wiki for a comic book
Warren Ellis’ writing is hit or miss for me (which was a topic we discussed here on the blog several weeks ago.) And his “big ideas” and manifestos are the same. Some are truly forward-thinking, others just seem to be regurgitations of the cool new thing the kids on the Internets are talking about.
But here’s one that I really dig, from his most recent Ministry column on The Pulse:
“If you generated a wiki — essentially, a networked, highly-hyperlinked directory of information — in advance of a comics series’ release, and stamped the book with the URL of the wiki… and, conceivably, even somehow marked pages and panels with URLs that take you inside the wiki structure, in any of a variety of ways from subtle to as blatant and clunky as that old editorial-note caption box that littered Marvel comics of old… you invite a peculiarly modern involvement in the work.”
Ok, the idea of websites for a comic are nothing new. Even wikis have probably already been done for a few. What intrigues me is the part where he suggests deep-linking from pages and even panels into the wiki. That’s a pretty damn cool idea.
Granted, if poorly executed, you just end up with a cluttered, unreadable mess of a comic, where the numerous URLs embedded on each page and panel completely distract from the artwork and the story. But if used sparingly, and incorporated cleverly into the very structure of the story and art, it’s a creative new way to provide your readers a “value added” service, as they say in the business world.
Imagine if you will, in your dystopian future comic titled Shadow State, a couple of cops are talking about the new designer drug “Headrush.” In the background of one of the panels is a vid screen, showing live coverage of a Headrush lab bust. On the ticker under the image is a URL to your wiki: http://shadowstate.wiki.com/headrush, where your readers can get more information on this fictional element of your story.
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I see the possibilities with this approach. Good on ya, Mr. Ellis.
She’s still in there!
Dave’s Long Box has a post on a comic that was featured in a recent Guess the Artist feature.
It’s definitely a “Oh, F@*% YEAH!!!” moment.
Neil Gaiman tribute album
According to Billboard:
“An album inspired by the work of prolific author Neil Gaiman will be released this summer by Philadelphia-based independent label Dancing Ferret Discs…The most high-profile contributor to the compilation is Tori Amos, a longtime friend of Gaiman’s who occasionally name-checks the writer in her lyrics. In fact, the album’s working title is a line taken from her song “Space Dog.”
Did you catch that? Dancing Ferret Discs. In Philly. Hmmm, could signal either a partnership opportunity, or a long, drawn-out legal battle with Ferret Press 
(via The Pulse)
Looking for Ms. Right
Sean Hannity, conservative talk show host on Fox News, has his own online dating site. It’s called Hannidate
I disagree with Hannity’s politics, but I don’t think that’s really why it disturbs me:
1. Who the heck names a dating site after himself? I can understand if you’re a relationship expert, like Dr. Phil or Oprah or something.
2. Why not link up with an existing dating site? There are bunches of political dating sites out there. Does the one with your name on it really bring something new to the table?
3. What kind of partisan whackjobs are on this thing? I hope never to be so partisan that it’s my primary selection criteria for a mate.
Actually, question No. 3 is easy to answer. You can search profiles without signing up. But be aware that the people in the ad copy are probably not on the site. And don’t look at more than three profiles; after that it just becomes depressing.
‘I don’t see myself as indie because I’m interested in making money [laughing].’- Paul Pope.
Courtesy of Mr. Haspiel: Here’s a new interview with Paul Pope from Publisher’s Weekly. Probably the only significant thing in the article is Paul briefly discusses future projects. Including a future art collection (Pulphope) from Adhouse. Earliest I heard was in the summer.
Couple of new signing announcements going on at the Comix Revolution in Evanston, IL…
Ivan Brunetti. Saturday, March 25th. 1pm to 3pm
'We're pleased to have the critically acclaimed Ivan Brunetti cominginto our Evanston store to sign his newest edition of Schizo #4. He'll besigning and chatting comics from 1pm thru 3pm. Copies of Schizo, Haw,Hee and more will be available for purchase during the signing.'
Jessica Abel. Saturday, April 8th. 1pm-?
Comix Revolution is located at:
606 Davis Street
Evanston, Illinois 60201
phone: 847-866-8659
Desert Island Comics, pt. 7
This has been the most difficult review thus far; we have run out of Mister Bubble. But I will forge ahead…
While visiting the Ogre a few months ago, I flipped through Infinite Crisis #1 and saw the final couple pages of that comic: the golden age Superman looks out over the last fifteen years’ worth of comic stories and declares that they suck, and he’s coming to bust some heads. I’ve never felt happier upon seeing a cliffhanger, and ran home to devour the issue. At last, whoever decided to apply the Watchmen template to the likes of Superman and Captain America has come to their senses!
A few issues later, however, this venerable character is given his standard-issue feet of clay, wails “Superman always saves Lois Lane!” as Lois dies in his arms, and we’re treated to a panel of Kal-L joining my future online gallery of crying superheroes. And so Infinite Crisis gets filed with the crap in my collection and I am compelled to present for your consideration…
#4: Flash #54
This comic represents, in my view, the last true super-hero story ever published. After this final issue of the age which was kicked off by Siegel & Schuster, it’s all about impenetrably self-referential storylines, made-for-trades writing, horny fanboy-specific target marketing, and heroes who aren’t very heroic in soap opera settings; and while Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns had their considerable merits, the paradigm they embodied has unfortunately spread across an entire genre which has been stripped of a sense of idealism. The dark days truly began after this issue was bagged and boarded.
The synopsis is short but sweet: Wally West is employed by the feds to help escort a terrorist in custody on a commercial airplane flight. After a few panels of flirting with the stewardess, he heads for the restroom only to run into a trio of the prisoner’s armed accomplices who seek to hijack the plane and free their comrade. He quickly dispatches the villains, but one of them blows a hole in the ceiling of the plane. The pilot rights the plane and all seems well, but Wally realizes the stewardess is missing; she has been blown out of the plane by the explosive decompression.
He thinks there’s no way he could reach her outside the plane. Even if he could, there’s no way he could save her from a fall from a gazillion feet in the air. His superpower is to run really fast and there’s no ground out there. There’s literally no way he could possibly rescue her, and trying would surely get himself killed. But he knows what the superhero union rules dictate, so he throws himself out of the plane.
Holy s***, that’s more like it! Impossible odds, daring feats, last-minute rescues, this is what these stories are supposed to be about! I defy anyone to show me a cooler moment in a comic than when Wally steps into the void. This is the kind of stuff that keeps the inner child alive and turns adults into idealistic fools. I’ll take my anguish, inner torment, deep dark secrets, or adult material in the pages of any number of other comic books (love those too!), but let’s see super-heroes in super-hero stories.
Showing up at the comic store the week after reading this issue and looking over the newest books was like waiting at the train station for Ilsa Lund, the rain making the ink of the latest comics run down the pages I stared at with a growing sense of betrayal. Ah, but we’ll always have Flash #54…
30-Second Bunnies Theatre Library
Found out about this site from a coworker. “The 30-Second Bunnies Theatre Library… in which a troupe of bunnies parodies a collection of movies by re-enacting them in 30 seconds, more or less.”
I liked the Highlander re-enactment.
Small Press Shoutout: John G’s NinePanelGrid
John G – comix maverick, friend of Panel, and Cleveland zine legend – has a blog called NinePanelGrid. Check it out, folks.
If things go well, John and I will be collaborating on a story for my Lifelike webcomic. Stay tuned.
*SPOILER ALERT: I may spoil the movie or book if anyone’s ever read or seen V for Vendetta.*
England Prevails
_I went and saw V for Vendetta this weekend and it was great. To contrast it with the GN I read the sucker this weekend. For a Hollywood adaptation, I don’t think Moore has a lot to worry over. Doing a straight version of the graphic novel would be unfilmable. I think while they diverged from the original series a bit, but I think it was for the better. To read the book in one sitting like I did, V comes together in a series of Orwellian vignettes. Not one cohesive story, as the movie successfully did. I hesitate to call Vendetta a graphic novel because it lacks any real cohesion. It meanders too much which is why I dug the movie version. I’d even go so far to say that as singles, the books had great concepts but poor execution. Building up the Evey character really helped build a center. Which the series desparately needed. You’ve got V going around killing everybody and the reader gets tugged around at a confounding pace. At one point in the series there’s this confusing bit involving Evey’s lover that rightfully gets cut out in the movie and rearranged. Anyway great British ensemble with Portman rounding things out with a great performance. Which makes up for the abismal Star Wars shlock she’s been in. If Closer didn’t do it, this should wipe that away from anyone’s memory.
Have a pleasant evening.