Archive for June, 2010
DC Challenge!
Each time we convene a PANEL meeting to discuss the theme of the next anthology, I throw out the incredibly unwise idea of doing an issue in the format of this series. Deciding it was time to do a WBM entry on this mid-1980′s “maxi-series” I sat down to read these twelve issues for the first time since high school and have come to the conclusion that those who politely acknowledged my suggestion then changed the subject were being far more thoughtful than I.
Don’t get me wrong, I love this series. The premise lies in it’s form, not it’s content: a long list of comic creators divide themselves among eleven chapters of the series, each one contributing their part with no knowledge of where the previous writer may have intended for the story to go. Each writer is required to end his chapter with the toughest possible cliffhangers he can conjure (though he must later reveal in the lettercol how he would have solved them himself). Furthermore, each writer/artist team cannot use characters with whom they are normally associated. Then for the twelfth issue, the whole gang reassembles to write the conclusion to whatever story has evolved over the course of the year.
The result is a sprawling,, convoluted mess of a story which is obviously the most fun-to-create series I can imagine was ever made. It only takes a couple of issues before bewildered writers, unsure of their predecessors’ intentions, start throwing out the most outlandish plot points since the Batman TV series was broadcast. Midway through the series, creators who are hopelessly lost from the plotlines established by the first issue and still far removed from any obligation to tie up loose threads start gleefully throwing sh*t against all four metaphorical walls just to see what mosaic emerges. Readers hoping for a coherent story had better look elsewhere, but there’s plenty of fun to be had.
The prohibition against using “regular” characters also leads to an ever-shifting cast which allows writers to dredge up old forgotten favorites or show off their knowledge of obscure comic trivia. Chapter one starts with the Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman team one might expect from an epic series, but they drop off the radar pretty quickly in favor of jewels like B’Wana Beast, Congorilla, Jonah Hex, Viking Prince, Space Cabby, Son of Vulcan, Adam Strange, The Unknown Soldier, Darwin Jones, Blackhawk, Deadman, Geo-Force (!), Vigilante, Enemy Ace, Hawkman, Captain Marvel, Plastic Man (those two not being very common in 1985), and one of my personal favorites, Doctor Thirteen– among many, many others, including an apparent throwaway character named Eli Ellis who takes on surprising significance by the end of the series.
The list of creators is impressive: Moench, Colan, Wolfman, Heck, Infantino, Thomas, Giffen, Kane, Conway, Andru, Janson, Gibbons, Swan, Giordano, and Evanier, among others. Roy Thomas is the standout for me, coming in around issue nine and using his super-editor powers to pull the whole shambling mess into a semi-orderly story in time to start building towards an ending. There’s no way I could begin to outliine the plot, so I’ll just point to a couple favorite elements:
The big mystery! In the first issue, Mark Evanier gives Batman a vital clue in the form of a numerical riddle, then passes the story along to the next writer without revealing the solution. A few writers struggle with the puzzle and offer absurd answers until Marv Wolfman nails it just in time in issue #11.
The cliffhangers! These get outlandish pretty early on as the writers start to just have fun. Batman gets dropped into an active volcano! Demons take over the Daily Planet and put out an extra edition exposing Superman’s secret identity! Sinestro beheads Superman and operates his body by remote control! Every hero in the world lapses into a coma just as Darkseid reaches for the trigger of a doomsday device! My favorite by far: a time travelling Jonah Hex is trapped in the back seat of an out of control car headed for a group of nuns and schoolchildren! Bewildered writers having to tie up their predecessor’s cliffhangers occasionally resort to extreme solutions, such as the arrival of a strangely helpful Mr. Mxyzptlk, or the appearance of a cosmically-powered Albert Einstein.
All good stuff, if you can bear the headache it gives you. As for the solution to that numerical riddle– if you haven’t read the series, try and take a stab at it. No googling.
It’s that time again, for the bi-annual Cartoon Art Festival put on by the OSU Cartoon Library. As always a nice line-up of guest speakers. Highlights include former editor Paul Levitz (DC Comics), Roz Chast, Patrick McDonnell, Matt Groening, Bill Griffith, Art Spiegelman, & James Sturm.
Runs from October 14th thru the 17th. Early bird is $125 for the weekend.
I was lazy and skipped a couple of weeks, but we’re back with a vengeance this weekend for another heart-stopping, pulse-pounding comic book crossover: Dracula vs. King Arthur.
I understand the winner has to face the dreaded Knights Who Say Ni.
Comic Book Resources has a nifty little feature about my new IDW mini-series, MGM Drive-in Theater: IT! The Terror From Beyond Space.
“…one of the lines in my proposal was ‘This is a world of sleek, stainless steel rocket ships and spirited explorers, not corporate oligarchies and blue-collar space miners.’”
“As with the best of stories, the core of ‘IT!’ to me is the human drama. Sure, the monster is scary, the rocket ship is ‘futuristic,’ and so on, but ultimately the movie hinges on how the crew members can come together to defeat the creature,” Naraghi said. “Naturally, this is complicated by clashing personalities, jealousies, fear, anger and all the other elements that make us relate to, care about and ultimately cheer on the protagonists. So I’ll be hinging my update on the personal dramas, as well as the action.”
Issue #1 hits the stores in July, kids.
Not to steal Craig’s thunder or anything, but I know he’s busy tonight, so here’s a splash page to hold you guys over until he can post his.
Artwork by the always bizarre, utterly unique, acid-trip-on-paper, Mr. Brendan McCarthy, aka “The New McCarthyism”, aka “McMarvel”. This is a page from Spider-man: Fever #2 (of 3), which he wrote and drew. It’s really more of a Dr. Strange comic, but hey, Spidey’s name sells more comics. And yes, it’s completely trippy, and completely incomprehensible.
But it’s colorfully pretty.
This week, we’re taking on the sensational character find of 1938, Dick Grayson. According to Wikipedia, Grayson’s aliases include “Robin, Nightwing, Batman, The Target, Renegade, Robbie Malone, Freddy Loyd and Chester Honeywell.” Wait, they forget Red Robin.
Brent Bowman:
Tony Goins:
Andy Bennett:
Dara Naraghi:
A page from the upcoming New Mutants #14, written by ZEB WELLS, penciled by IBRAIM ROBERSON…with a slight change in dialogue to better reflect what’s going on:
Coming this September, from Mighty Marvel/Disney:
Spider-Man: Back in Quack #1
Written by STUART MOORE
Pencils by MARK BROOKS & JOE SUITOR
Cover by SKOTTIE YOUNG
Presenting two of Marvel’s finest: Spider-Man and … Cynical Duck (TM)? Yes, Howard the Duck’s brain has been thoroughly scrubbed, his hard-edged humor carefully dulled down for maximum demographic acceptance. It’s up to Peter Parker to set the duck straight — but does the world prefer Howard this way? Guest-starring the villainy of SOOPhI, the utter cluelessness of Mayor J. Jonah Jameson, and the unnerving eroticism of “Swizzle,” SOOPhI’s whip-wielding corporate spokeswoman. So wrong it’s … well, no, it’s still wrong, courtesy of Stuart Moore (NAMOR) and Mark Brooks (YOUNG AVENGERS). Plus: a tiny-size Man-Thing backup feature by Stuart Moore & Joe Suitor (MARVEL BREAKOUT)!
40 PGS./One-Shot/Rated A …$3.99
So remember that unabashedly ripoff movie Alien vs. Hunter I posted a while back? Apparently there’s a term for these types of el cheapo productions made to capitalize on the popularity of a Hollywood blockbuster: mockbuster. And one of the biggest players in this field? Production house The Asylum, the same ones that produced that crappy John Carter of Mars movie that Tony mentioned here.
Anyway, I saw references to this new mockbuster movie called Metal Man on several blogs. No big secret what movie they’re trying to cash in on, right?
Here’s the trailer, in case you have 50 seconds to waste:
But the best part of this whole thing? The fine folks over at Comics Alliance point out this interesting fact:
See, despite the fact that its name and release date (out this Tuesday on DVD wherever confused grandmas shop for bad birthday presents!) are clearly designed to capitalize on “Iron Man 2,” “Metal Man” is not “Metal Man” at all.
It’s actually “Iron Hero,” a ripoff of the first Iron Man movie that was released directly to video in 2008, meaning that they slapped a new title on the box and tried to sell the same ripoff movie twice.
Don’t you just love capitalism? Caveat emptor, kids.
PS. Snarky YouTube movie review here (highlights: tag line stolen from Robocop, title sequence stolen from a video game).
Holy crap, I’ve got a catalog page of my own on the Exclamation Comics online store.
Welcome to Exclamation Comics, the number one stop for buying U.S. comics in the European Union! Operating from the Netherlands, we deliver comic series and graphic novels across the E.U.
Andy and Tom have their own pages too. Hooray for globalism.
