Archive for September, 2008
While I’m looking forward to MidOhio Con as always, I started contemplating today how quickly I’ll get tired of seeing people dressed as the Heath Ledger version of the Joker. I expect it will only take about an hour for me to start sucker punching some sweaty clowns.
To help preserve my sanity, I’m announcing the first annual Mystery City MOC costume promotion. Anyone attending the show who comes to our table dressed as one of the following characters will get a free copy of Allied Powers and The Enigma Foundation (both highly collectible first issues!). Everybody start sewing!
Namor! (I’m looking at you, Matt.)
Modok!
Not Luke Cage– Power Man!
And finally– Stilt Man! (what the hell…?)
Barley’s Brewing Company. 8pm till midnight. Friday Oct. 3rd.
If you’re going to be in town for the Mid Ohio Con (or just in town), Panel is throwing another pre-show party before the Mid Ohio Con. We’re having it at Barley’s again, which is across the street from the convention center. (I’d recommend checking out the new google ‘street view’ for a brief visual) It’s hard to tell since I’m getting mixed reports on who’s going or not. Even if you’re not and don’t have anything to do that Friday night come on by. There’s no cover and you can always bounce to one of the Park Street clubs after.
Tell a friend. Bring a date. We’ll see you there.
We try to go light on politics on this blog, but on this 7th anniversary of 9/11, I feel I need to once again point out what a shame it is that this motherf***er…
…is still on the loose, while this motherf***er…
…has had 7 years to find him, but instead has only managed to s*** all over our economy and civil rights while wasting $10 BILLION a month and thousands of American lives and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives over a personal vendetta in a country with no original ties to the people responsible for the worst act of terrorism on US soil.
And the way the polls are going for the next election, I’m not too optimistic that things will change for the better…
It’s been a while since I’ve been up on my soapbox regarding comics that were once all-ages accessible being turned into material strictly for adults, especially with characters that are still plastered on the sides of kids’ lunch boxes. As long as the publishers are solely targeting the same aging and ever-dwindling core market the situation isn’t going to change.
Frequently the discussion seemed to revolve around the mistaken impression that all-ages comics equaled kids’ comics. Miller’s original Daredevil run and the Claremont/Byrne X-Men were all-ages books; and I hope “Dirty Cop” made it clear that I don’t object to adult material in and of itself.
Now I’ve learned from the internets that DC Comics is instructing that copies of All Star Batman and Robin #10 be destroyed by any retailers who may have received them because an over-the-top string of profanity was improperly censored (er… why was it written at all, if black bars were being pasted over it?). I’m sure the brouhaha isn’t news to anyone reading this blog.
Opinions of Miller’s work on this title notwithstanding (I’ve only read the first issue, which was enough to drive me away), my first impression was: For this error to slip past a gazillion editorial eyes and drum up a ton of publicity for DC and shine a spotlight on this crappy comic, as well as drop an eBay gold mine into the hands of all the retailers who got copies… why, that’s just a happy accident for all concerned!
Like that ironic last caption on page 1 says: “and another stretch of my town goes rancid.” Resolved as of today: I am never buying a f*cking DC Comic again.
(Yeah, I know, they just lost maybe two sales a month. Best I could do.)
Oh.
My.
God.
Dark Horse just made my day!
“The first new Beanworld story in print in over a decade, the Beanworld Holiday Special is the perfect introduction to Larry Marder’s inimitable creation!”
“As enjoyable for children as it is enlightening for adults, Beanworld is a grand adventure that explores social dynamics, culture creation, and ecological networks–all in great fun! Take a tour of this magical world, from Proffy’s Fix-It Shop to a Fabulous Look-See Show, in this issue that introduces toys to the baby Cuties and plunges readers into one of the most original and brilliant comic-book universes ever created!
“Larry Marder’s Beanworld is a vegetarian update on Krazy Kat with a world and lingo unto itself.”
–Smithsonian Studies of American Art“One doesn’t read Beanworld at all, one lives it. Beanworld draws you into its world and plays out in your mind. This is a rare feat in any medium, and a treasure in comics.”
–Feature Magazine
Also available in December from Dark Horse, a 272 page hardcover collection of the first 9 issues of the original Beanworld series for $20.
I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed beanworld when I first discovered it, halfway through it’s original run. I’d never experienced a comic book quite like it; it was just pure joy. For you Beanworld fans out there, check out Larry Marder’s blog.
Scientists recently published photos of Sagittarius-A, the supermassive black hole that occupies the center of our Milky Way galaxy. It had been long theorized to exist, but they recently focused a number of radio telescopes to resolve its event horizon.
Sagittarius-A is often known as the “A Star.” There’s no word if, now that it’s known to be a black hole, it will be referred to as the “A Hole.” But really, how could it not be?
Iron Fist #10
I wasn’t going to go back to the well of my Claremont/Byrne books this soon after the X-Men post but Dara had to go and bring up Iron Fist, so here we are… When this particular creative team became my favorite back in 1979, there was an added bonus: they had material waiting for me all over the place, not just in back issues of the X-Men series. Either these two gentlemen had a really good working relationship at the time, or some editor knew he had lightning in a bottle if he just gave these guys enough time to grow together. Kerry Gammil’s Power Man and Iron Fist led me to discover the Claremont/Byrne team on the original Iron Fist series; they had a long run on Marvel Team-Up, turned up on Star Lord (Marvel Preview?), and even did some issues of Power Man. There was all kinds of great stuff from these guys waiting for me once I stumbled upon them.
Iron Fist is the series where you can see Byrne develop as an artist. His first work for Marvel on the later Iron Fist issues of Marvel Premiere and the earliest issues of the character’s own title look surprisingly crude compared to the artist most were familiar with from the X-Men and Fantastic Four; by the end of Iron Fist’s 15-issue run and through the Marvel Team-Up issues which resolve the series’ dangling plot threads a reader can follow his progression to the artist that was taking over the mutant book.
Iron Fist’s origin shows what would happen if Bruce Wayne had gone off to be trained by Zen masters; his revenge-driven quest to become a deadly fighting machine turned him into a well-adjusted kid who ultimately found peace with himself. His seclusion in learning his skills bred a certain naiveté; a favorite scene from the final issue of the series shows him mystified by a bowl of potato salad. He wonders what the delightful dish is before the entire X-Men team bursts in and he has to kick Wolverine’s ass.
This particular issue is the conclusion of Danny Rand’s first regular superhero adventure after two quest story arcs that wound their way through the previous issues of this series and Marvel Premiere. This three-parter shows Iron Fist framed for murder by a tiger-masked kung fu gangster called Chaka; the concluding chapter opens with Danny on the run form the police before managing to convince his private eye friends Colleen Wing and Misty Knight that he has been set up. He takes the battle to Chaka’s own organization, causing enough damage to draw the crime lord out for the climactic battle.
The fight scenes in Iron Fist were beautifully done. To create the sense of choreographed movement implied by a karate-based character, Byrne would frequently do multiple-figure panels to show the character’s motion across the page. Like a Family Circus cartoon showing Billy beating the spit out of P.J., we can follow the characters over the splash page as they beat the stuffing out of each other. (I was brutally disappointed by the only issue of the new Iron Fist series I bought that showed the action as a series of static shots that didn’t convey any sense of grace or motion.)
Besides the character’s personality and the cool superhero concept, Iron Fist also boasted the best supporting cast this side of Spider-Man. Two lady private eyes, a reformed Irish terrorist, a helpful police detective and the wary daughter of his parents’ killer add a boatload of personality to compliment the kung fu excellence. This is still one of my favorite series to this day.Dear Readers,
Drawing is fun. People who hope to become professional illustrators study special techniques and in due course get better at drawing. However, often as they make progress with their technique they lose their spirits which is the most important thing in illustrating. This is no good. Drawing technically well alone means nothing. Unfortunately, spirits cannot be taught. That is the problem.
Obviously, professionals need to draw well or they’ll be laughingstocks. In that respect, amateurs can be more easygoing because they don’t need to concern themselves with technique. They can simply enjoy drawing for themselves what they see and feel without worrying about the opinion of others. For professionals this is not the case. They have to show off their skill to the world, which keeps them from seeming relaxed. In point of fact, an old man who hasn’t drawn since childhood may draw a primitive illustration that moves him deeply. Heta-uma (Bad-nice) illustrations fascinate me because of this kind of inversion of value.
You should believe that your talent as an unskillful illustrator is equal to another’s skillful talent. I hope this book will be a bible for such readers. Please enjoy this book as you draw with your family and friends.
Love, peace, happiness…
Terry Johnson” [a.k.a. King Terry, a.k.a. My Hero]
Guess away…
(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, 8/25/2008)
Wow what a surreal day in Jumbo. I think this new haul was worth the *mild razzing I got over my support for Obama. I’ll be happy when we’re finally done going through the old house. It’s starting to get annoying because I guess I’ve completely blocked out parts of my childhood. I went through even more crap up in my old room. The old house is beginning to wreak from the mold taking over. Worthless baseball cards littered both mine and my brother’s former bedrooms. Tattered faded posters plastered all over the walls. My brother went through his modest comics collection. He gave me his complete one year run of Simonson’s Thor, a random copy of New Mutants and a pristine copy of Super Powers #6. Let’s look shall we…
I scanned up a couple of my favorite pages. Kirby really seemed enamored with circular panels in this one. I kept staring at this one because it looks like I just bought it the day before. Shame this is later Kirby. Great find.
I’m totally making a nice blow up of this page for the studio. Warlock was by far the coolest looking character to come out of the eightie’s. Anyone want to guess who the inker is on this issue? The Juice is loose.
*Apparently this is a huge shift as for generations, Williams’ have been Republicans. Ever since I came out as a democrat to my parents, you would think I told them I was gay. Geesh. My great grandmother seriously ‘took a picture of JFK to the outhouse for toilet paper’. WTF?! Was that supposed to ‘win’ me over. Cripes.