Archive for November, 2009
I’d always heard that Golden Age Wonder Woman stories were a font of easy blog posts filled with out-of-context panels. But I had no idea how much until I got Wonder Woman Archives Vol. 2 from the library the other day.
This is like blogging fish in a barrel.
Yes, that’s Wonder Woman using her bondage chain as a listening device. Yes, W.M. Marston was seriously into bondage.
I didn’t realize they knew Hitler was so crazy back in 1942. I thought they didn’t find out until later.
“Dod gast it” is my new favorite swear, with “lickety loodle” right behind.
These three panels are just in the first 28 pages of the book. I don’t dare read farther for fear my head will explode.
Following on the heels of a previous post comes a few words from Dick Giordano, the (among many other things) DC editor who in 1986 had a hand in bringing us Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns. What does he think of that part of his legacy?
“The Dark Knight Returns additionally helped start the “grim and gritty” trends in comic storytelling that still exist today. That was an unintended result, and I am truly sorry it happened. Comics are much too dark today. Er – in my opinion …”
I don’t blame him for the effect those works had. Dark Knight was an excellent series which portrayed “my” Batman who went bugnuts after seeing the world go to hell after his retirement; it was the fools who followed, deciding that the character was always insane, who ruined it for me. Likewise, Watchmen was a powerful, multi-layered story whose tone doesn’t actually translate to the regular superhero model– but a bunch of tools later decided to do it anyway.
Maybe today’s creators should take note that the far more talented guys who paved the way for them are starting to apologize for doing it.
It’s the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. I have fond memories of the show growing up. It would cheer me up on the sick days (like now). Still better than America’s Top Model. (Stoopid Oxygen was on Saturday as I lay knocked out on the couch with a sinus infection. control no where to be found).
Something wants me to burn Elmo’s head.
*I searched and searched and could not find a pic to use that didn’t have Elmo in it. What the hell?
From downtowncolumbus.com, here’s a video of the demolition of the City Center.
Inside 43215: Behind the scenes at the demolition of City Center from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.
No big explosions, just a bunch of guys hauling fixtures out and tearing out facades.
Here’s the official site, along with a webcam of the demolition site, along with galleries.
Via The Beat and more or less confirmed by IMDB, those generously and blindingly original creative spirits in Hollywood will be bringing us some kind “Yogi Bear” feature film in 2010. Dan Aykroyd is currently credited as the voice of Yogi with Justin Timberlake slated to do Boo Boo. One can only imagine that with these “voice of” credits, the film will be CGI.
Originality strikes again!
This week’s 7 Covers makes me nostalgic for the “black & white explosion” of the 80s, where indie publishers were popping up by the hundreds, trying to capture the magic-in-a-bottle that was TMNT fame. Sure, a lot of crap came out of that era (most of the comics below fit that category,) but there were some gems to be found as well. Plus, that’s the time when I first discovered comic book stores and found a whole world of comics outside of the Marvel and DC superheroes.
Anyway, enough rambling. I give you 7 bizarre, odd, and downright crappy ninja comics from the 80s:
(Have a favorite series of your own? Or an artist? Character? Submit your own set of 7 covers by sending me small files (i.e. 72 dpi for the web) to ferret at ferretpress dot com and include “7 covers” in the subject line. Also, let me know if you have a blog or website you’d like me to link to.)
Ok, bad pun. So remember a few months back when I pointed out that Frank Cho was looking for an artist for his new series, 50 Girl 50? Well, they picked a winner. His name’s Axel Medellin, and his art bears a strong resemblance to…well, Frank Cho. Which isn’t a bad thing, all things considered. Whatever you think of Cho or his obsessions, he’s a solid artist.
Actually, I’m kinda surprised they went with the guy who didn’t push the t-n-a envelope too much. I thought that was the whole hook of the series.
Scott (PvP) Kurtz is often opinionated, occassionaly controversial, and sometimes in the wrong. But on this one, he’s got it exactly right:
“…super-hero boobs magazine” That’s funny!
The Onion’s AV Club talks to Penelope Ann Miller about “Random Roles,” including her turn as Margo Lane in 1994′s “The Shadow” movie.
The Shadow (1994)—“Margo Lane”
PAM: Well, I love the period. I love the ’30s, I love the costumes, and my hair and my makeup, and it really reminded me of the sort of classic movies of the ’30s and ’40s, where there was fun banter. I’m working with the great-looking leading man, Alec Baldwin, who was also very funny. I just loved the style, the sets, the costumes, the cinematography, it was really cool. Ian McKellen played my father… good acting all around. Peter Boyle was in it, who’s also unfortunately passed. He was a great actor.
AVC: That one was pitched to be a blockbuster, and didn’t do so well. Why do you think that was?
PAM: You know, it’s so hard to tell the rhyme or reason, and why certain movies make it and some don’t. A lot of it’s timing, a lot of it’s how they promote it… I don’t know. I think it could have been, I really do. I think it’s a fun film to watch, so I don’t know why it didn’t catch on. It could be a lot of variables that I, unfortunately, don’t have any control over.
She mentions the costumes and the actors, but has to be prompted to say something about the overall movie. That’s probably the classiest way to speak about “The Shadow.”
From a newsarama interview that’s actually a week or two old; surprisingly, I’ve not heard anyone comment on this statement from Neal Adams:
“I wanted to do a feature for Marvel, so I’m saying, ‘give me a lousy feature that doesn’t make any money and I’ll make it into something’ and they say, ‘well, why don’t you do Wolverine?’ So, we’re kinda talking about doing Wolverine,” said Adams.
Uh, right.
Much of the interview deals with “motion comics”, which must be totally different from cartoons, I just can’t imagine how.
I just watched the first episode of the “reimagined” V on ABC, mostly out of curiosity. I never really watched the original series, so other than knowing the very basic premise, I was going into this with no expectations.
So let’s see: the cast includes Morena Baccarin and Alan Tudyk from Firefly, and Elizabeth Mitchell from Lost. Well, that’s one way to pull in the target demographic. The acting was pretty solid, no complaint there. In fact, it’s much, much better than ABC’s other great hope for a Lost replacement, FlashForward. (I really want to like that show, and I’m completely hooked on the premise and the central mystery, but the writing and acting are often painfully bad. But I digres…) I’m most interested in seeing Scott Wolf’s character’s progress, and he also had the best line of the episode with his observant “Are all visitors pretty?” (or something along those lines, I don’t remember the exact quote).
The special effects and sets and such were good, nothing spectacular but they don’t need to be. So overall, I liked it well enough, but I’m not sure this is a series that will hold my attention for the long time. Seems like all the resistance has to do is take a few of the dead visitor bodies and expose them to the world, right? We’ll see, I’ll give it a few more episodes.
(Man, that damn Lost has ruined TV for me. Everything I see now just pales by comparison. Except Fringe; that show has kicked into high gear and is almost as good a ride.)
I picked up the graphic novel Gus and His Gang (First Second Publishing) on a whim at Half Price Books. I didn’t know anything about this western, or its creator, French cartoonist Christophe Blain. As it turns out, Gus won this year’s Harvey Award for “Best American Edition of Foreign Materials”.
This edition collects several volumes of the series, translated from French. The production values on the book are impeccable, which is something First Second has always been known for. My only complaint is that the book is printed in a small (almost digest) size, which does the art a great disservice. I’m sure the original bande dessinee editions were in the traditional large-format.
Gus follows the exploits of three outlaws in the old West: Gus, Clem, and Gratt. All the staples of westerns are here, from shootouts to bank robberies, but the book’s narrative is mostly built upon the women pursued by the three protagonists. In fact, the relationships (or lack thereof) take center stage, even during the somewhat slapstick comedy of the first couple of short stories. And this is what eventually hooked me on the book.
To be honest, I didn’t much care for the story or the humorous approach at first. I didn’t think the comedy was particularly effective, and the characters were rather boring. But then an odd thing happened: Blain suddenly veered into some serious territory, exploring themes of marriage, adultery, and identity. Here, Clem’s character takes over the spotlight, and I became engrossed in his adventures, replete with bad decisions, infidelity, guilt, and the internal struggle of a man trying to come to terms with himself.
That’s not to say I fully enjoyed Blain’s approach to women and relationships. The sex is sometimes very one-sided, and the dialogue and situations involving the various rogues’ pursuit of women is clearly written from a male perspective. Let’s just say there are parts of the book that definitely won’t win any feminist accolades.
On the art front, I absolutely fell in love with Blain’s brushwork. As a cartoonist, he manages to mix realism and cartoon sensibilities quite well, creating a landscape that’s at once highly detailed and minimalist. His sense of movement and action is pure cartoonist, but the smoky saloons and period dresses are done with the eye of a master illustrator. This is why I think it’s a shame that the American edition is printed so small. Not to mention the lettering is equally eye-straining.
Also, First Second should be commended for the excellent translation. I’ve read several other European books in the past, mainly from Humanoids, which suffered from stilted, clunky dialogue which I suspect was the result of poor translation. In Gus, the captions and dialogue read well, and flow quite smoothly.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, despite its flaws. I’m looking into reading more of Blain’s work, including his Isaac the Pirate series, and The Speed Abater. He’s also collaborated with fellow European cartoonists Joann Sfar and Lewis Trondheim on other projects.
Dara says: a gorgeous looking book with likable characters, though a bit flawed in certain storytelling aspects. Still, recommended.