Archive for August, 2008
Beautiful Losers film trailer from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.
and…
Dirty Hands.
The Dirty Hands trailer is pretty awesome. That’s hardcore when you break your nose for painting purposes. I have no idea if either of these are coming to Columbus. It’d be awesome if they were.
Also Maya Hayuk is having a show at the Mahan Gallery. The opening for Do Me a Solid is on Sept. 5th from 7-11. I’m definitely going to that.
Per Jean’s post, his last cover on Fables is issue 81. I tried to like Fables but could never get into the book. The covers though are a whole different matter. I’m excited that Vertigo is putting out a collection of Jean covers. He’s going to be a tough act to follow. I’d be curious to see how this would affect sales on the book. I’d like to see Sam Weber take over cover duties if they haven’t tapped him already. Given that the House of Secrets covers stopped after issue 5 has me thinking maybe they did. Esthetically him or Jillian Tamaki would be a great fit for the series.
James is clearing out all his illustrative duties to focus entirely on his painting. More power to him.
Exoskeleton suit helps paralyzed people walk
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26391953/wid/11915773?GT1=31036
“Something of a mix between the exoskeleton of a crustacean and the suit worn by comic hero Iron Man, ReWalk helps paraplegics — people paralyzed below the waist — to stand, walk and climb stairs.
…
“The system, which requires crutches to help with balance, consists of motorized leg supports, body sensors and a back pack containing a computerized control box and rechargeable batteries.”
I’m sure this will look obvious at first, but look closer…
(click image to enlargesize)
(previous weeks: 9/12/2005, 9/19/2005, 9/26/2005, 10/3/2005, 10/10/2005, 10/17/2005, 10/24/2005, 10/31/2005, 11/1/2005, 11/2/2005, 11/3/2005, 11/4/2005, 11/5/2005, 11/6/2005, 11/7/2005, 11/14/2005, 11/21/2005, 11/28/2005, 12/5/2005, 12/12/2005, 12/19/2005, 12/26/2005, 1/2/2006, 1/9/2006, 1/16/2006, 1/23/2006, 1/30/2006, 2/06/2006, 2/13/2006, 2/20/2006, 2/27/2006, 3/6/2006, 3/13/2006, 3/20/2006, 3/27/2006, 4/3/2006, 4/4/2006, 4/5/2006, 4/6/2006, 4/7/2006, 4/8/2006, 4/9/2006, 4/10/2006, 4/17/2006, 4/23/2006, 5/1/2006, 5/8/2006, 5/15/2006, 5/22/2006, 5/29/2006, 6/5/2006, 6/12/2006, 6/19/2006, 6/26/2006, 7/3/2006, 7/10/2006, 7/17/2006, 7/24/2006, 7/31/2006, 8/7/2006, 8/13/2006, 8/21/2006, 8/28/2006, 9/4/2006, 9/11/2006, 9/18/2006, 9/25/2006, 10/2/2006, 10/9/2006, 10/16/2006, 10/23/2006, 10/30/2006, 11/6/2006, 11/13/2006, 11/20/2006, 11/27/2006, 12/4/2006, 12/11/2006, 12/18/2006, 12/25/2006, 1/1/2007, 1/8/2007, 1/15/2007, 1/22/2007, 1/29/2007, 2/5/2007, 2/12/2007, 2/19/2007, 2/26/2007, 3/5/2007, 3/12/2007, 3/19/2007, 3/26/2007, 4/2/2007, 4/5/2007, 4/9/2007, 4/16/2007, 4/23/2007, 4/30/2007, 5/7/2007, 5/14/2007, 5/21/2007, 5/28/2007, 6/4/2007, 6/11/2007, 6/18/2007, 6/25/2007, 7/2/2007, 7/9/2007, 7/16/2007, 7/23/2007, 7/30/2007, 8/6/2007, 8/13/2007, 8/20/2007, 8/27/2007, 9/3/2007, 9/10/2007, 9/17/2007, 9/24/2007, 10/1/2007, 10/8/2007, 10/15/2007, 10/22/2007, 10/29/2007, 11/5/2007, 11/12/2007, 11/19/2007, 11/26/2007, 12/3/2007, 12/10/2007, 12/17/2007, 12/24/2007, 12/31/2007, 1/7/2008, 1/14/2008, 1/21/2008, 1/28/2008, 2/4/2008, 2/11/2008, 2/18/2008, 2/25/2008, 3/3/2008, 3/10/2008, 3/17/2008, 3/24/2008, 3/31/2008, 4/7/2008, 4/14/2008, 4/21/2008, 4/28/2008, 5/8/2008, 5/12/2008, 5/19/2008, 5/27/2008, 6/2/2008, 6/9/2008, 6/16/2008, 6/23/2008, 6/30/2008, 7/7/2008, 7/14/2008, 7/22/2008, 8/4/2008, 8/11/2008, 8/18/2008)
I finished reading Y the Last Man and I’m disappointed. I’m not going to spoiler’s it. I think last summer or fall I sat down and read the entire run straight through. Right up to book 9. It was great and I was hooked midway through book 2. The comparisons to a really good tv series were fair. It read like a tv series. It was smart and witty. The intercutting between scenes was masterful. It also began to end like a tv series. One that overstayed it’s welcome. Book 6 or 7 it started to meander. By book 8 Vaughn was milking it. One could argue that it was sooner than that. I got book 10 from the library. Why? More ribbing about how the world is devoid of men? No. Curiosity I guess, from a writing standpoint. Did anyone feel like the epilogue bit was unneccessary? I sure did. The story had a nice twist, though it took way too long to get there, then he fucks it up with a half assed epilogue that takes the piss right out of it.
I’m looking for the movie adaptation to be a tighter version of this series. Much like V for Vendetta.
My DVD of the Doctor Who episode Black Orchid turned up in the mail this weekend, and upon watching it I was pleased to discover an excellent documentary about the comic strip published by Marvel Comics during the Peter Davison era of the series. Most of the feature revolves around Dave Gibbons, discussing (among other things) the problems involved with capturing the likeness of the 5th Doctor’s bland features. It also spends time with the writers and editors of the series, lamenting the day Dick Giordano crossed the ocean to steal him away from them.
It also shows a glimpse of artwork by one of Gibbons’ replacements, a guy named Steve Dillon. Highly recommended.
So, I thought I had this printing deal licked. I found a local printer who said they could do it for $1.45 apiece.
Then they came back and, no, they can’t do it for less than $2.01 per each. That’s over my break-even point, so I said no deal.
Before I found the locals, I was talking to a printer in Canada. I guess I gotta go back there. Yes, I am outsourcing a job, but at least it’s just to Canada.
The price they quoted was in Canadian dollars, and I don’t know what that is in U.S. money anymore. I think the USD is now below the looney — thanks a lot, George Junior.
Damn.
Columbus is living up to its self-proclaimed title, Indie Art Capital of America. There’s an indie art fair Sept. 20, and last weekend’s 48-Hour Film Projects are screening tonight.
***
I’m still going to be out of town Sept. 20, but this sounds like a fun event. If nothing else, you’ll get to meet all of Tom’s exes.
Independents’ Day is a celebration
of the unique spirit of creativity in urban Columbus. Couchfire Collective is partnering with local artists, musicians, businesses, and the City
of Columbus to create an event that showcases the best of our community.
Street Market
Over 100 booths line Gay Street and Pearl Alley and feature Columbus artists, organizations, and businesses
Music and Performance
Two main stages and a handful of alternative venues feature Columbus’ best musicians and performers
Interactive/Idea Convention
The Vault hosts a creative outlet for ideas and innovation with presentations and conversations throughout the day
After Party
When activity on the street winds down, the party moves into The Vault where DJs and creative collaborators continue the celebration into the wee hours.
***
And in other news, you can see the fruits of the 48 Hour Film Products tonight at Gateway movie theaters on campus. The 48 Hour Film project took place last weekend, and they’re already showing the finished shorts.
Group A goes at 7 p.m.
Group B goes at 9:30 p.m.
It’s basically like 24-Hour Comic Day except 1) twice as long 2) it’s film, not comics and 3) they gave all the teams some standard items to work with, so nobody could jump the gun.
A whopping 26 teams from Columbus competed this year. Check out the write-up in the Dispatch.
- A McCain campaign staffer, Michael Goldfarb, dissed Obama supporters on McCain’s blog by writing: “It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman’s memory of war from the comfort of mom’s basement…” Here’s a funny/geeky response from the boingboing comments section about the story:
“John McCain Random Encounter Table
01-10: Rush Limbaugh, fresh from the bath
11-25: Sean Hannity, fresh from Rush Limbaugh’s bath
26-35: The Ghost of Richard Nixon
36-50: Iraq Veterans Against the War
51-65: Raagan Homunculi
66-75: A Dancing Ellen Generes
76-85: Jon Stewart/Bill Maher/Stephen Colbert Hydra
86-90: Zombie Abraham Lincoln
91-95: A High shelf
95-98: Fred Thompson in full battle armor
99-00: Victory in November (Fail, roll again)”
- The Bigfoot corpse discover/press conference from last week? Turns out it was a(gasp!) hoax. Not only that, but the folks at Searching For Bigfoot, Inc. got scammed out of some money. Once again, the comments section at InformationWeek brings teh funny:
“The giveaway, of course, was that no trace of Jack Links Beef Jerky was found in the alleged Bigfoot’s digestive tract.”
- Tom Cruise wants to cash in on the “superhero” movie craze, options Ed Brubaker’s Sleeper series from DC/Wildstorm. ‘Nuff said.
Probably an easy one this week…
(click image to darkerize)
(previous weeks: 9/12/2005, 9/19/2005, 9/26/2005, 10/3/2005, 10/10/2005, 10/17/2005, 10/24/2005, 10/31/2005, 11/1/2005, 11/2/2005, 11/3/2005, 11/4/2005, 11/5/2005, 11/6/2005, 11/7/2005, 11/14/2005, 11/21/2005, 11/28/2005, 12/5/2005, 12/12/2005, 12/19/2005, 12/26/2005, 1/2/2006, 1/9/2006, 1/16/2006, 1/23/2006, 1/30/2006, 2/06/2006, 2/13/2006, 2/20/2006, 2/27/2006, 3/6/2006, 3/13/2006, 3/20/2006, 3/27/2006, 4/3/2006, 4/4/2006, 4/5/2006, 4/6/2006, 4/7/2006, 4/8/2006, 4/9/2006, 4/10/2006, 4/17/2006, 4/23/2006, 5/1/2006, 5/8/2006, 5/15/2006, 5/22/2006, 5/29/2006, 6/5/2006, 6/12/2006, 6/19/2006, 6/26/2006, 7/3/2006, 7/10/2006, 7/17/2006, 7/24/2006, 7/31/2006, 8/7/2006, 8/13/2006, 8/21/2006, 8/28/2006, 9/4/2006, 9/11/2006, 9/18/2006, 9/25/2006, 10/2/2006, 10/9/2006, 10/16/2006, 10/23/2006, 10/30/2006, 11/6/2006, 11/13/2006, 11/20/2006, 11/27/2006, 12/4/2006, 12/11/2006, 12/18/2006, 12/25/2006, 1/1/2007, 1/8/2007, 1/15/2007, 1/22/2007, 1/29/2007, 2/5/2007, 2/12/2007, 2/19/2007, 2/26/2007, 3/5/2007, 3/12/2007, 3/19/2007, 3/26/2007, 4/2/2007, 4/5/2007, 4/9/2007, 4/16/2007, 4/23/2007, 4/30/2007, 5/7/2007, 5/14/2007, 5/21/2007, 5/28/2007, 6/4/2007, 6/11/2007, 6/18/2007, 6/25/2007, 7/2/2007, 7/9/2007, 7/16/2007, 7/23/2007, 7/30/2007, 8/6/2007, 8/13/2007, 8/20/2007, 8/27/2007, 9/3/2007, 9/10/2007, 9/17/2007, 9/24/2007, 10/1/2007, 10/8/2007, 10/15/2007, 10/22/2007, 10/29/2007, 11/5/2007, 11/12/2007, 11/19/2007, 11/26/2007, 12/3/2007, 12/10/2007, 12/17/2007, 12/24/2007, 12/31/2007, 1/7/2008, 1/14/2008, 1/21/2008, 1/28/2008, 2/4/2008, 2/11/2008, 2/18/2008, 2/25/2008, 3/3/2008, 3/10/2008, 3/17/2008, 3/24/2008, 3/31/2008, 4/7/2008, 4/14/2008, 4/21/2008, 4/28/2008, 5/8/2008, 5/12/2008, 5/19/2008, 5/27/2008, 6/2/2008, 6/9/2008, 6/16/2008, 6/23/2008, 6/30/2008, 7/7/2008, 7/14/2008, 7/22/2008, 8/4/2008, 8/11/2008)
The music nerd in me disdains people who don’t think good music was made after they graduated from high school. Turning that standard to my comic reading habits, I thought I’d relent on my bitching and throw out the list of titles that are proof that I actually like some new books. I know it’s more fun to read criticism, but here goes…
Captain America: Brubaker’s espionage story is well written enough that I don’t mind Bucky Barnes being back from the dead, and it’s interesting to see the crime fighter mantle actually passed on to the kid sidekick. The art alternates between Guice and Epting, both winners in my book. Overall, the story reminds me of the Englehart/Buscema days when Steve Rogers walked out on the role of Cap and some other poor sucker tried to fill his shoes. My only quibble: the first story arc has been going on long enough. Wrap it up and move Bucky onto some other adventures before Steve Rogers is no longer dead.
Brave & Bold: I’m actually on the fence about this one. Mark Waid is as good a writer as Peter David used to be, and he does a good job with the characters that pass through these pages. Add to that a series of excellent artists– Perez, Ordway, and I even like this Collins guy– drawing a series of honest-to-gosh self-contained stories. The only thing this series has going against it is my total antipathy towards most of these DC characters. Green Arrow, Hawkman, Nightwing and Blue Beetle? Yawn…
Batman: Gotham After Midnight: The Kelley Jones Batman from the early nineties was a bright spot during those terrible times, and one of only a handful of incarnations in which I’ve enjoyed reading Batman. This miniseries stresses the weirdness of the villains rather than the spookiness of crazy ninja Batman. A really fun, goofy comic.
Tor: My god. I’ve never read any of the original series, so this mini was all new to me. The first three issues have blown me away; I’m delighted by the level of imagination, and impressed by Joe Kubert’s skill as a writer. There’s some beautiful prose driving this story which does what I miss most in comics– explores strange new places and discovers weird sh*t. Do I need to mention Kubert’s art?
Amazing Spider-Man: I am as happy with this title as I have ever been with any comic, ever. To everyone who feels that they‘ve been robbed of “their” Peter Parker by recent plot directions– welcome to my world, suckers. Twenty years ago the luckless everyman I identified with checked out, to be replaced by some guy married to a supermodel, living in a ritzy penthouse (or moving Aunt May into Avengers mansion???), who became endlessly victimized by an absurd and relentless chain of far-reaching conspiracies (clones were just the beginning). I wouldn’t have thought they had to go so far as to eliminate Pete & MJ’s marriage entirely, but they’ve swept everything I’ve disliked about the past twenty years under the rug, brought in an interesting, all-new supporting cast (the strength of the classic issues of years past), introduced a bevy of new antagonists, and even dropped in a new mystery villain whose identity we can spend months trying to guess! With rotating creative teams cranking out three issues each month, stories are much more compressed and satisfying. I actually subscribed to this series– the Marvel web site offers a 36-issue subscription at about $1.35 an issue. Can’t beat 1992 prices for a book this good.
The Iron Fist comic recently changed creative teams. I know it’s not fair to judge the potential of the new team from just a single issue out so far, but at first glance it seems that the writing style isn’t going to differ all that much from the previous team of Brubaker and Fraction. The new writer, Duane Swierczynski, comes from a crime novel background, so I think his sensibilities are close to Brubaker’s.
The new artist, on the other hand…
I don’t know much about Travel Foreman, other than he’s got a funky name. He did some of the “flashback” scene from the earlier run on the series, but with issue #17 he takes over as the lead penciler. And the results are a bit jarring, and a bit ugly:
I know part of my problem is my own personal biases. For instance, I’m not a huge fans of panels without gutters. If you’re going to do them, do them right by using a thick border to separate out your images, otherwise everything kind of runs together in a muddy mess. (I’ve seen both Tom and Andy do this quite well.) Then there’s his odd choice on placing the emphasis on that first panel, which just features a static image of Iron Fist and Luke Cage, and devoting much less space to the dynamic action scenes in the remaining panels, even though they involve about a dozen characters. And that anatomy on Iron Fist! Jeez, his head is smaller than his neck, and I’m not sure what’s happening with the musculature.
Then there’s this double-page fight scene:
Again with the lack of gutters. If it wasn’t for the colorist separating out the panels with different color palettes, the whole thing would look like an unreadable collage. And what the heck is going on with the bottom row? It reads from left to right, except in the middle where apparently it’s a “page within a panel” with two rows, then you go back to the “parent” row and read two panels stacked vertically?!? That’s just poor storytelling.
Many of the panels in the book lack backgrounds, and he uses all sorts of odd perspectives and camera angles. I don’t know, I get the feeling he’s an artist still trying to find his own unique voice and style, which I can understand. But it used to be that you did that sort of thing on your own creator-owned book and worked out the kinks until you were ready for the major leagues.
Oh well, here’s hoping things improve on the art front for this book. It’s the only Marvel series I pick up anymore, and I’ve been enjoying it so far.