Ok, so it's Wednesday, and you're going through your stack, and as a loyal ABCP Listener you're thinking "Golly gosh heck, if I could pick hero of the week, it would be for this thing that Magog does right there!" or you're thinking "Gohgwhoh Gwohgogo, this sure is a pretty cover to Chew #10 - I hope Evie and Aaron give it some love."
THIS WEEK THAT GIVING CHANCE IS TO YOU FROM ALWAYS! OR SOME OTHER FORMATION OF THAT SENTENCE THAT MAKES MAYBE SOME SENSE.
Evie's abandone-ing her a-su-bebe for the weekend so I need you kids to fill in. No need to tell me to do the dishes or vacuum or feed the cats, I've got all that covered. Where I need you to fill in is in our show.
So here's where we at ABCP find out just how amazingly awesome our listeners and friends are.
I want you guys to send in something really super quick. Doesn't have to be anywhere near pro quality. Audio or video (if you have a webcam). Just has to be you, talking about a category you feel particularly strongly about this week, contributing to a very special awesome episode of what is far and away considered one of the most entertaining comics podcasts on the net with the initials "ABCP."
So here's what I need from you.
1) The first thing you should do, BEFORE your actual review, is say the phrase"....And from the internet, we're the listeners, and we're awesomed by comics!!!" I'll put all of them together in the intro and it will just be totally awesome.
2) For your segment, say who you are, what your category is, and why. Anywhere between 30 seconds to 3-4 minutes is cool - if you get going on a roll let it go as long as you want. "Hey, this is Aaron from New York - I want to talk about MY nominee for panel of the week - that panel in New Mutants 12 where the smiley face robots are blowing each other up. I remember the smile face robots from their first appearance in bla bla bla and they have a special connection to me because they were there when I was first reading bla bla bla and that led to bla bla bla and now I'm on meth," or what have you.
3) Record it however you want. If you've got a mic, do it in Windows Sound Recorder or Garage Band, or download Audacity (free, though a bit complicated) and do it there. Or just talk into your webcam if you've got one of those and you can pry yourself away from Chat Roulette for a few minutes. You can send me the audio file (mp3, wav, aiff, whatever) or post it to your website, or put it up on youtube, or whatever. Just get it to me somehow.
3a) Oh, and I totally meant it on the show. Ladies - I want these from you especially. (NOTE: edited out vulgar language used at 1:00 AM) We take pride in our gender diversity.
WE CAN MAKE THIS WORK IF WE ALL STICK TOGETHER!
Let's make this episode the episode to be the most awesomed by EVER!!
Everyone put your hands on the screen ... one two three GO TEAM!
Deadline is mid-day Sunday, say 2:00 Eastern. You can e-mail the audio files to awesomedbycomics (at) gmail.com. OR you can post it on your own page and send us the link to it, and I'll go get it. Whatever's easiest for you. Now get out there and let's try this thing.
Showing posts with label Aaron Speaks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aaron Speaks. Show all posts
April 15, 2010
April 6, 2010
LET ME SHOW YOU THEM.
The Awesomed by Comics Pokemon Challenge is officially ON. Of course, the Discussion Question Challenge with Pokemon naming rights as prizes is also still officially ON but there's no rule against having two challenges that are officially ON at the same time, is there? And if there is, well CONSIDER IT BROKEN because both challenges are officially ON.Now, before I get into the scritti politti of the Awesomed by Comics Pokemon Challenge (which, as you may or may not be aware, is officially ON) allow me to show you THIS amazing piece of awesome delivered to our comments box at 2:30 this morning.
This is from listener David Henion, the artist of the webcomic Daisychains which I wish I could say more about but I haven't had the chance to read it yet because I found out about it today and just got home from work. But you should also read it, that way we can all be reading it at the same time! Anyway, this is awesome for three reasons, which I will enumerate here.
1. Evie and Aaron are, in fact, the only two (relatively normal) names which are also names of Pokemon species. Spelled differently of course, the Pokemon are Eevee and Aron, as you can see up there. I suppose there might be someone out there named Doug Trijo or Margaret Nemite but let's stick with first names.
2. That's obviously Stan in the background. Which is not only awesome because somebody put Stan in a comic, but I love the idea that Pokemon would have a cat.
3. COME ON THAT IS AWESOME.
David actually came remarkably close to our mic setup as well, except Evie actually uses the good mic.
So David has clearly passed the Awesomed By Comics Pokemon Challenge. But you don't have to have artistic skills to participate! No, all you need is a Nintendo DS and a copy of Pokemon(s) Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Yellow Moons, Purple Horseshoes, Green Giant, Lumber Liquidators, etc. And of course you need this - the most coveted piece of information that exists possibly anywhere ever, MY FRIEND CODE. Which is 5242 4115 1448. (You can find yours in your "Pal Pad" in the key items pocket of your bag.)
So there you go. Now you've got my friend code. Put me in your Pal Pad, or send me your friend code so that I can put you in mine, let me know what time you want to make battling, and IT WILL BE ON.
CHALLENGE ISSUEMENT ACCOMPLISHED!
March 21, 2010
ABC Podcast, Episode #8......
......ehhhh, not quite yet.
See, it's done and all - and in fact, features our second-ever special guest host, the always hilarious Chris Sims from the Invincible Super Blog and War Rocket Ajax sitting in for Evie, who is right now in Austin watching skinny dudes in ladies' pants with hipster beards play 'electro-pop.'
And there's the problem.
See, I've forgotten our password for the service that hosts our podcasts, and I seem to have deleted the e-mail in which Evie sent it to me. Not a problem, you say? They have a "lost password" feature, you say? They'll either email my password to me, or they'll email instructions on how to reset it, you say? Well right you are! However, our email forwards to Evie's personal account.
Which (as you'll hear about on the show, once I manage to post it) means I can't get at it.
So the show's "in the can" as they say, but our password is "in Texas" which shouldn't be in quotes because that's really where it is.
It'll be here soon though. Promise.
See, it's done and all - and in fact, features our second-ever special guest host, the always hilarious Chris Sims from the Invincible Super Blog and War Rocket Ajax sitting in for Evie, who is right now in Austin watching skinny dudes in ladies' pants with hipster beards play 'electro-pop.'
And there's the problem.
See, I've forgotten our password for the service that hosts our podcasts, and I seem to have deleted the e-mail in which Evie sent it to me. Not a problem, you say? They have a "lost password" feature, you say? They'll either email my password to me, or they'll email instructions on how to reset it, you say? Well right you are! However, our email forwards to Evie's personal account.
Which (as you'll hear about on the show, once I manage to post it) means I can't get at it.
So the show's "in the can" as they say, but our password is "in Texas" which shouldn't be in quotes because that's really where it is.
It'll be here soon though. Promise.
March 2, 2010
Fun
Thanks to alert listener/reader Albertosaurus R3X, we saw that on March 2nd, the website Superhero Hype posted the news that Iron Man, Armored Adventures, has been given the greenlight for a second season. 
This show was both Evie's and my comic-related non-comic item of the year last year. Despite efforts to each pick something or someone different, neither of us could bring ourselves to choose anything other than this amazing show.
The computer animation did get a bit clunky at times, but that was the only slight on an otherwise perfect season. From design, to plot, to script, the show was masterfully crafted. Iron Man, Armored Adventures is a reimagining of the Iron Man legend, with all of the comic's major players recast as high school classmates. And as far as execution goes, this show has some of the best voice acting I've ever heard in animation, and I've seen a LOT of animation. But above all, this show was flat-out, balls-to-the-wall FUN.
Yes. Balls-to-the-wall. That is what I typed.
Rhodey, Tony, Pepper
I haven't heard a lot of other comic book people talk about this show, either on podcasts or on blogs, so scrolled down to the comments to see what people had to say, expecting a lot of HOORAY!s or EXCELSIOR!s. Instead, I saw this.
That second comment goes so far as to insult Spectacular Spider-Man - which was, for its two seasons, possibly the best adaptation of the Spider-Man mythos into ANY non-comic medium, ever. Like IMAA, Specacular Spider-Man was bright, it was fast, it was colorful, and it was FUN.
And yet, it is rejected by comics fans.
In January, Amazing Spider-Man #617 - the fantastic Rhino story by Joe Kelly and Max Fiamura - sold 76,730 copies. (#618 sold 61,969, and #619 sold 56,837.) To contrast, Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #59 sold 4,315 copies to comic shops, despite this awesome Skottie Young cover.
And it's not just the fact that it's not the "real" Spidey - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man sold 43,622 copies. The Marvel Adventures version of Spidey is absolutely the equal of the Ultimate Comics version, which is to say they're both fantastic. But it too is rejected by comics fans.
We at Awesomed By Comics have long been fascinated by the need for most comics fans to pointedly and usually blindly reject anything related to their beloved funnybooks that's ... you know, too funny.
Or fun. Or that could in any way be interpreted as being aimed at, or even appreciated BY, younger people.
Is it something that has seeped in from the 'cartoonists' scene, where great lengths are taken to shun whimsy (...unless you consider tragic melancholy to be whimsical.Read Douglas Wolk's chapter on Chris Ware in 'Reading Comics.')
Is it a cost/benefit analysis thing? Does a $3.99 crossover story with a ton of decompression that takes 15-20 minutes to read but only moves the story ahead by a few minutes feel intuitively like a better investment than a $2.99 Marvel Adventures book that takes 5-10 minutes to read, but is relatively self-contained? Does an hour spent watching two episodes of Iron Man Armored Adventures feel more wasted than an hour watching Smallville or Lost?
Or is it the pure stigma of comics having been traditionally viewed as FOR children that forces fanboys - and it is generally only the boys that have this problem - to PROVE (to themselves?) that comics are legitimate by rejecting anything a child could enjoy? Comix R Serius Bizness, etc.
Is it all this ... AND MORE?
Probably, yes. So I am going to say this, right here, in print, so that we are actually forced to follow through with it. (We've been talking about it for more than a year)
We're going to put together a panel discussion with some of our favorite critics and creators from the comics world to explore where this loathing of fun comes from - and whether it's killing off any chance of superhero comic books (not the characters, the books themselves) regaining a cultural foothold among young people.
There. I said it. Now let's see if we can actually do it.
Also I'm hiding this picture of Mr. Kotter here, because I'll probably need it for a joke next January.
This show was both Evie's and my comic-related non-comic item of the year last year. Despite efforts to each pick something or someone different, neither of us could bring ourselves to choose anything other than this amazing show.The computer animation did get a bit clunky at times, but that was the only slight on an otherwise perfect season. From design, to plot, to script, the show was masterfully crafted. Iron Man, Armored Adventures is a reimagining of the Iron Man legend, with all of the comic's major players recast as high school classmates. And as far as execution goes, this show has some of the best voice acting I've ever heard in animation, and I've seen a LOT of animation. But above all, this show was flat-out, balls-to-the-wall FUN.
Yes. Balls-to-the-wall. That is what I typed.
Rhodey, Tony, PepperI haven't heard a lot of other comic book people talk about this show, either on podcasts or on blogs, so scrolled down to the comments to see what people had to say, expecting a lot of HOORAY!s or EXCELSIOR!s. Instead, I saw this.
Posted by: Animatorz!! on March 2, 2010 at 12:10:30 Renewed.....uh, why? The show largely sucks(and this is coming from an Iron Man fan). I wanted Iron Man done more in the flavor of the 90's Batman or Superman TAS's(you know, a really good show that's pretty faithful). Not Peter Parker as Iron Man.
Posted by: Marvelfanwithgoodtaste on March 2, 2010 at 13:25:52 OMG why? The whole series is like Spiderman New TAS but without good script!!! We want Wolverine & The X-Men Season 2 NOW!!!!!! We don't give a damn about Armored Adventures and yes, they are as good as Spectacular Spidey is. Not-good! Extremely childish, even for a child!!!
That second comment goes so far as to insult Spectacular Spider-Man - which was, for its two seasons, possibly the best adaptation of the Spider-Man mythos into ANY non-comic medium, ever. Like IMAA, Specacular Spider-Man was bright, it was fast, it was colorful, and it was FUN.
And yet, it is rejected by comics fans.
In January, Amazing Spider-Man #617 - the fantastic Rhino story by Joe Kelly and Max Fiamura - sold 76,730 copies. (#618 sold 61,969, and #619 sold 56,837.) To contrast, Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #59 sold 4,315 copies to comic shops, despite this awesome Skottie Young cover.And it's not just the fact that it's not the "real" Spidey - Ultimate Comics Spider-Man sold 43,622 copies. The Marvel Adventures version of Spidey is absolutely the equal of the Ultimate Comics version, which is to say they're both fantastic. But it too is rejected by comics fans.
We at Awesomed By Comics have long been fascinated by the need for most comics fans to pointedly and usually blindly reject anything related to their beloved funnybooks that's ... you know, too funny.
Or fun. Or that could in any way be interpreted as being aimed at, or even appreciated BY, younger people.
Is it something that has seeped in from the 'cartoonists' scene, where great lengths are taken to shun whimsy (...unless you consider tragic melancholy to be whimsical.Read Douglas Wolk's chapter on Chris Ware in 'Reading Comics.')Is it a cost/benefit analysis thing? Does a $3.99 crossover story with a ton of decompression that takes 15-20 minutes to read but only moves the story ahead by a few minutes feel intuitively like a better investment than a $2.99 Marvel Adventures book that takes 5-10 minutes to read, but is relatively self-contained? Does an hour spent watching two episodes of Iron Man Armored Adventures feel more wasted than an hour watching Smallville or Lost?
Or is it the pure stigma of comics having been traditionally viewed as FOR children that forces fanboys - and it is generally only the boys that have this problem - to PROVE (to themselves?) that comics are legitimate by rejecting anything a child could enjoy? Comix R Serius Bizness, etc.
Is it all this ... AND MORE?
Probably, yes. So I am going to say this, right here, in print, so that we are actually forced to follow through with it. (We've been talking about it for more than a year)
We're going to put together a panel discussion with some of our favorite critics and creators from the comics world to explore where this loathing of fun comes from - and whether it's killing off any chance of superhero comic books (not the characters, the books themselves) regaining a cultural foothold among young people.
There. I said it. Now let's see if we can actually do it.
Also I'm hiding this picture of Mr. Kotter here, because I'll probably need it for a joke next January.
January 24, 2010
ABC Podcast Episode #77, plus visual aids
This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by a significant size clarification (it matters!) and a poor excuse for one of our hosts' bad behavior. Evie and Aaron give respect to all the amazing ladies this week (Power Girl, Anna Mercury, Black Widow, Amanda Conner, perhaps some horses?) and could Ronan/Crystal be the best relationship in comics? J'accuse! Hercules keeps going strong, and Mark Waid keeps writing great sequels. Also, we don't talk about this in the show, but the Saints just won, so now Aaron won't have to choose which of two of the most annoying people on the planet to root for in the Super Bowl.
Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.
Co-Cover of the Week
Evie and Aaron's pick, from Batman, Streets of Gotham #8, cover by Dustin Nguyen: (click to biggify!)
Panel(s) of the Week
Aaron's pick, from Realm of Kings Inhumans #3, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, art by Wellington Alves
Evie's pick, from Power Girl #8, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, art by Amanda Conner
Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.
Co-Cover of the Week
Evie and Aaron's pick, from Batman, Streets of Gotham #8, cover by Dustin Nguyen: (click to biggify!)
Panel(s) of the Week
Aaron's pick, from Realm of Kings Inhumans #3, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, art by Wellington Alves
Evie's pick, from Power Girl #8, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, art by Amanda Conner
November 8, 2009
ABC Podcast, Episode #67 and visual aids
This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by music, some of which is made by us or friends of ours and is good; some of which stole Evie away, and is bad. Very, very bad.
While Evie is AWOL, Aaron is aroused and impressed by Chrissie Zullo's hot babe cover of Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love #1, while being repulsed and insulted by David Finch's hot babe cover of Psylocke #1. Aaron also is incredibly enthralled with the intricate worlds quickly created by Mark Waid and Christos Gage in The Unknown: The Devil Made Flesh #2 and Absolution #3 respectively. Aaron was also shocked by the motivation reveal in The Mighty #10 and enjoyed the start of the Assault on New Olympus storyline, despite a last-page appearance by a certain 'snikt'-er who just has to get his greasy little sporks into every event, doesn't he.
Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! (And while you're leaving an iTunes review, why not buy Aaron's band's album, And by The Ampersands?) Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum except don't do that yet because I haven't posted anything there.
Cover of the week
Aaron's pick, from Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love #1, cover by Chrissie Zullo
Panel of the Week:
Aaron's Pick, from Batman Confidential #36 by Royal McGraw and Macros Marz
And as always, feel free to leave your picks (or your answer to this week's Oscar question!!) in the comments.
While Evie is AWOL, Aaron is aroused and impressed by Chrissie Zullo's hot babe cover of Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love #1, while being repulsed and insulted by David Finch's hot babe cover of Psylocke #1. Aaron also is incredibly enthralled with the intricate worlds quickly created by Mark Waid and Christos Gage in The Unknown: The Devil Made Flesh #2 and Absolution #3 respectively. Aaron was also shocked by the motivation reveal in The Mighty #10 and enjoyed the start of the Assault on New Olympus storyline, despite a last-page appearance by a certain 'snikt'-er who just has to get his greasy little sporks into every event, doesn't he.
Download/subscribe to the show here or in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! (And while you're leaving an iTunes review, why not buy Aaron's band's album, And by The Ampersands?) Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum except don't do that yet because I haven't posted anything there.
Cover of the week
Aaron's pick, from Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love #1, cover by Chrissie Zullo
Panel of the Week:
Aaron's Pick, from Batman Confidential #36 by Royal McGraw and Macros Marz
And as always, feel free to leave your picks (or your answer to this week's Oscar question!!) in the comments.
October 3, 2009
Indie Comics to Watch Out For!
Torment
Paul Schoonerman
168 pgs
Goomba Graphics
An autobiographical take of a 7 year-old, left alone in the world when his mother dies of cholera. He spends three years in an orphanage, struggling with his demons, until he loses all four of his limbs in a freak accident. Drawn by Schoonerman using only his teeth, inspired by the style of Bill Keane. "Horribly depressing, and sickeningly melancholy! Four Stars!" - Spinnin' Indies
Forgotten
Randall Charles
48 pgs
Charlesmain Press
A 9 year old has to grow up in a hurry when his entire family is killed in a gas tank explosion. While tearfully going through the wreckage of his home, he discovers his mother, father, and older sister had all been struggling with depression, and were all self-medicating through alcohol and drunken fist-fights. Drawn entirely on the backs of discarded Christmas cards, then scanned into book form. "So sad, it borders on unreadable. Best comic of the year!" - Grum Reviews
Buried Memories
Chuck Hein
210 pgs
Threefrog Graphics
A desperately lonely middle aged man in a dead-end job with no family or relationship prospects discovers why all his pets have committed suicide. Hein calls it 'George Gately meets Aleister Crowley.' "Even more Heartbreaking and miserable than 'Open and Shut.' Chuck has outdone himself this time!" - Books R Good
High Life
Pauline Endive
168 pgs
SPS Comcis
An 8 year-old girl watches her mother fall apart, trying to come to grips with an abusive relationship. Drawn in Endive's trademark stick figures, this book is entirely without dialogue or narration. "Virtually incomprehensible, yet I know if I were to understand it, it would make me very very depressed. Comics Perfection!!" - Ditto Comics
Eight and a Half Minutes to Liftoff
ZacK
512 pgs
Beat the Press
An 8 year-old boy is dying of dysentery in 1930s Brooklyn. ZacK takes us through the last eight and a half minutes of his life, one page per second. Scribbled into ZacK's arm with loose staples, one panel at a time, then meticulously photographed. "This is by far the saddest book I have ever read, and I have blinded myself with acid so that it will remain the saddest book I will ever read. Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad. Capes are for babies, THIS is what cartooning is all about. One Hundred Stars." - Stanley Littleman, 'Broken by Life; A Homosexual Iguana's Tale'
Paul Schoonerman
168 pgs
Goomba Graphics
An autobiographical take of a 7 year-old, left alone in the world when his mother dies of cholera. He spends three years in an orphanage, struggling with his demons, until he loses all four of his limbs in a freak accident. Drawn by Schoonerman using only his teeth, inspired by the style of Bill Keane. "Horribly depressing, and sickeningly melancholy! Four Stars!" - Spinnin' Indies
Forgotten
Randall Charles
48 pgs
Charlesmain Press
A 9 year old has to grow up in a hurry when his entire family is killed in a gas tank explosion. While tearfully going through the wreckage of his home, he discovers his mother, father, and older sister had all been struggling with depression, and were all self-medicating through alcohol and drunken fist-fights. Drawn entirely on the backs of discarded Christmas cards, then scanned into book form. "So sad, it borders on unreadable. Best comic of the year!" - Grum Reviews
Buried Memories
Chuck Hein
210 pgs
Threefrog Graphics
A desperately lonely middle aged man in a dead-end job with no family or relationship prospects discovers why all his pets have committed suicide. Hein calls it 'George Gately meets Aleister Crowley.' "Even more Heartbreaking and miserable than 'Open and Shut.' Chuck has outdone himself this time!" - Books R Good
High Life
Pauline Endive
168 pgs
SPS Comcis
An 8 year-old girl watches her mother fall apart, trying to come to grips with an abusive relationship. Drawn in Endive's trademark stick figures, this book is entirely without dialogue or narration. "Virtually incomprehensible, yet I know if I were to understand it, it would make me very very depressed. Comics Perfection!!" - Ditto Comics
Eight and a Half Minutes to Liftoff
ZacK
512 pgs
Beat the Press
An 8 year-old boy is dying of dysentery in 1930s Brooklyn. ZacK takes us through the last eight and a half minutes of his life, one page per second. Scribbled into ZacK's arm with loose staples, one panel at a time, then meticulously photographed. "This is by far the saddest book I have ever read, and I have blinded myself with acid so that it will remain the saddest book I will ever read. Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad. Capes are for babies, THIS is what cartooning is all about. One Hundred Stars." - Stanley Littleman, 'Broken by Life; A Homosexual Iguana's Tale'
August 3, 2009
ABC Podcast, Episode #55 plus visual aids
THIS WEEK'S EPISODE WILL BE POSTED MONDAY NIGHT BECAUSE AARON NEVER LEARNED HOW TO UPLOAD THINGS.
UPDATE: IT'S THERE NOW.
This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by Muddy Road, the "My Way" of Zen Koans. Evie was away this weekend covering another music festival, but we've taken too much time off lately, so Aaron's flying solo for a (mostly) swear-free half-sized episode. Unknown Soldier wins huge, and Aaron demands that everyone go find a copy of "The Stuff of Legend" which is Fables-level good.
Aaron spends very little time talking about the New Warriors or Pokemon, despite the fact that nobody was there to stop him from doing so.
Download/subscribe to the show in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.
Cover of the Week
Aaron's pick, from Unknown Soldier #10, cover by Dave Johnson:
Panel of the Week
Aaron's pick, from Ignition City #4, by Warren Ellis and Gianluca Pagliarani:
UPDATE: IT'S THERE NOW.
This episode of Awesomed By Comics is brought to you by Muddy Road, the "My Way" of Zen Koans. Evie was away this weekend covering another music festival, but we've taken too much time off lately, so Aaron's flying solo for a (mostly) swear-free half-sized episode. Unknown Soldier wins huge, and Aaron demands that everyone go find a copy of "The Stuff of Legend" which is Fables-level good.
Aaron spends very little time talking about the New Warriors or Pokemon, despite the fact that nobody was there to stop him from doing so.
Download/subscribe to the show in the right sidebar, and leave an iTunes review! Tell us what you think in the comments, or visit our show forum.
Cover of the Week
Aaron's pick, from Unknown Soldier #10, cover by Dave Johnson:
Panel of the Week
Aaron's pick, from Ignition City #4, by Warren Ellis and Gianluca Pagliarani:
July 6, 2009
BOYS NITE OUT
An X-Factor Fanfic (re: Bird's comment below)
by Rob Liefeld
"Yo Dude," shouted Shatterstar to Rictor, who was washing his car.
"Hey, my man!" Rictor shouted back. He reached out his hand to catch the beer that Shatterstar had just tossed him.
"So I was thinkin, the rest of the gang is away, what do you say you and me hit the town and pick up some fine ladies tonight?" Shatterstar said, as he sheathed his glistening double-swords and crossed his arms, one of which was a foot and a half shorter than the other one on purpose.
"Ladies, you say?" Rictor's ears perked up. Rictor's fondness for women and many sexual exploits had earned him the nickname 'The Missionary' back in high school. "You thinkin what I'm thinkin?"
"BOYS NITE OUT!" they shouted together, then high-fived.
"You wanna take the Camaro or the T-Bird?" Rictor asked.
"Definitely the Camaro" Shatterstar answered, as Rictor smiled, reached into the fourth pouch from the left on his right pant leg, and whipped out his keys and his Van Halen mixtape...
...
(just a quick note to anyone who's visiting here for the first time via any of the links to this here story, check out our 50th anniversary podcast over there ---> for some similar gags, although obviously in audio format.)
...
by Rob Liefeld
"Yo Dude," shouted Shatterstar to Rictor, who was washing his car.
"Hey, my man!" Rictor shouted back. He reached out his hand to catch the beer that Shatterstar had just tossed him.
"So I was thinkin, the rest of the gang is away, what do you say you and me hit the town and pick up some fine ladies tonight?" Shatterstar said, as he sheathed his glistening double-swords and crossed his arms, one of which was a foot and a half shorter than the other one on purpose.
"Ladies, you say?" Rictor's ears perked up. Rictor's fondness for women and many sexual exploits had earned him the nickname 'The Missionary' back in high school. "You thinkin what I'm thinkin?"
"BOYS NITE OUT!" they shouted together, then high-fived.
"You wanna take the Camaro or the T-Bird?" Rictor asked.
"Definitely the Camaro" Shatterstar answered, as Rictor smiled, reached into the fourth pouch from the left on his right pant leg, and whipped out his keys and his Van Halen mixtape...
...
(just a quick note to anyone who's visiting here for the first time via any of the links to this here story, check out our 50th anniversary podcast over there ---> for some similar gags, although obviously in audio format.)
...
April 15, 2009
Behind the Curtain
Evie may not hate when bloggers write "why I'm not blogging" posts, but I sure do. So I figured this would be as good a time as any to let everyone out there see where the magic happens.
Here then is our little Sanctum Sanctorum, complete with eyes of aggamotto and wands of watoomb and toys featuring hot chicks in suits of cat.
Just like Dr. Strange's famous Greenwich Village manse, my home studio also appears to be something other than what it is. In fact, I distinctly remember when we first moved to New York City four years ago, walking through the village on a quest for macaroons, eyeing each building with a hint of suspicion, as though any of them could be hiding the true whereabouts of the universe's Sorcerer Supreme. (And while we didn't find Dr. Strange's hideout, or macaroons for that matter, we did pick up a neat toy which you will see in a minute.)
So lo! Here just outside our bathroom, sits this non-descript cabinet. (non-descript if you don't count the hanging guitars and the microphone stand directly beside it. And the tower of keyboard equipment to its right, which I did not photograph, as that would have ruined the comparison.)
O ho! But inside, there is a world of wonder!
Baubles and levers and switches and something called a "sonic maximizer" which I'm still not 100% sure what it does, but it will likely come in handy should Evie ever become posessed by an alien symbiote. This cabinet hides messes of wire so tangled, it rivals the far-outiest of the Ditkoverse constructed for the good Doctor.
So let's take a look at some of the toys that make my studio go go go go! No, not the devices and gadgets and preamps and that nonsense. Actual toys.
Here are the newest additions to the team, Snorlax, Driftblim and Guy Gardner. Why is Guy hanging with the Pokemons, you ask? Because the rest of my studio is populated by toy babes, whom I wish to protect from his inevitable advances.
Allow me to introduce to you the first of those babes, Fujiko Mine from my all-time favorite anime (and one of my favorite manga) Lupin III. This is Fujiko undercover as an extremely believable policewoman, who would certainly not at all raise any suspicions that she might not actually be a real policewoman.
Oh, and also her sidekick Machop. They're like Turner and Hooch.
Here are my other two Fujikos, one of which was picked up at the aforehinted-at Japanese import toy store in New York, the other of which may also have been, but I'm leaning towards ebay as the source for it. The one hanging from my lamp used to also have a motorcycle, until it fell and broke. Now she's on a covert mission to infiltrate the back of my monitor, or the top of my D8.
And of course, what would a studio be without a Firestar on a Dala Horse?
And while I'm at it, I may as well go ahead and introduce you to our occasional guest-stars, Stan and Pokey. They are also where the magic happens, whereas magic = cat poops.
Stan's the pink one.
You can see why Pokey might be less likely to appear on the podcast, given that this is his state of being about 95% of the time.
So now you know babies are made!
Here then is our little Sanctum Sanctorum, complete with eyes of aggamotto and wands of watoomb and toys featuring hot chicks in suits of cat.
Just like Dr. Strange's famous Greenwich Village manse, my home studio also appears to be something other than what it is. In fact, I distinctly remember when we first moved to New York City four years ago, walking through the village on a quest for macaroons, eyeing each building with a hint of suspicion, as though any of them could be hiding the true whereabouts of the universe's Sorcerer Supreme. (And while we didn't find Dr. Strange's hideout, or macaroons for that matter, we did pick up a neat toy which you will see in a minute.)
So lo! Here just outside our bathroom, sits this non-descript cabinet. (non-descript if you don't count the hanging guitars and the microphone stand directly beside it. And the tower of keyboard equipment to its right, which I did not photograph, as that would have ruined the comparison.)
O ho! But inside, there is a world of wonder!
Baubles and levers and switches and something called a "sonic maximizer" which I'm still not 100% sure what it does, but it will likely come in handy should Evie ever become posessed by an alien symbiote. This cabinet hides messes of wire so tangled, it rivals the far-outiest of the Ditkoverse constructed for the good Doctor.
So let's take a look at some of the toys that make my studio go go go go! No, not the devices and gadgets and preamps and that nonsense. Actual toys.
Here are the newest additions to the team, Snorlax, Driftblim and Guy Gardner. Why is Guy hanging with the Pokemons, you ask? Because the rest of my studio is populated by toy babes, whom I wish to protect from his inevitable advances.
Allow me to introduce to you the first of those babes, Fujiko Mine from my all-time favorite anime (and one of my favorite manga) Lupin III. This is Fujiko undercover as an extremely believable policewoman, who would certainly not at all raise any suspicions that she might not actually be a real policewoman.
Oh, and also her sidekick Machop. They're like Turner and Hooch.
Here are my other two Fujikos, one of which was picked up at the aforehinted-at Japanese import toy store in New York, the other of which may also have been, but I'm leaning towards ebay as the source for it. The one hanging from my lamp used to also have a motorcycle, until it fell and broke. Now she's on a covert mission to infiltrate the back of my monitor, or the top of my D8.
And of course, what would a studio be without a Firestar on a Dala Horse?
And while I'm at it, I may as well go ahead and introduce you to our occasional guest-stars, Stan and Pokey. They are also where the magic happens, whereas magic = cat poops.
Stan's the pink one.
You can see why Pokey might be less likely to appear on the podcast, given that this is his state of being about 95% of the time.
So now you know babies are made!
January 28, 2009
Huh?
I have a sneaking suspicion that Grant's going to have to join us on the podcast this weekend to explain exactly what the hell just happened.
September 22, 2008
ABCP15a
So since Evie couldn't do this stuff from work today, and since I wanted to write about my Book of the Week here anyway, behold ... VISUAL AIDES!
Here's Evie's Panel of the Week, from I Kill Giants #2 by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura. Technically her P's otW are the two on the left, but I included the image on the right because it's an awesome image.
My PotW, from Chris Giarusso's Mini Marvels strip, appearing in the back of Incredible Herc 121 (and probably a few other books as well) I just love that one in the back left.
I'm not going to bother posting my Cover of the Week, because it's the Craaaaazy Wild Drunken Superman Cover, which you've all seen a dozen times. But here's Evie's, a sweet Captain Marvel from Mike Kunkel.
Now, to what I actually came here to write about - My pick for Book of the Week (and what probably would have been Evie's pick too, had she not known it was going to be mine) Tales of Penance: Trial of the Century Issue #2, from Arcana Comics.
This book features story and plot by Sean Wise and Paul Gilligan, brilliantly paced Scripting by Ryan Foley, art by Gian Fernando (credited as GOOF) and pitch-perfect colors by something called "EvE" - about which no further information can be easily googled.
So here's your back o' the trade blurb for this one.
ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE TAKES ON SUPERHERO STORYTELLING IN YEARS.
Here's another one.
RIVALS THE BEST OF POWERS, ALIAS, OR GOTHAM CENTRAL.
And I mean both of them. When Evie and I came up with the format for the show, we decided to include a category for First/Last of the week - hoping that the Firsts would force us to pick up a few Indie titles, perhaps forgoing the latest Wolverine one-shot or Geoff Johns retconned origin in favor of a lesser-known book that we could recommend to our listeners.
Now in the 15th week of this podcast, I can already count several previous "first of the week" winners as among the books I look forward to the most every month. Jonathan Hickman and JM Ringuet's Transhuman is one. This book is another.
I'm not going to bore you with plot descriptions that you can easily get elsewhere, other than to say it's a gritty-ish, noir-enough crime/law/cops/tights drama that takes place in a vastly underutilized setting (the south) and involves a murder mystery.
What you need to hear from me are the superlatives. I can't say enough about Foley's scriptwork. His characterizations and mannerisms are spot on. He uses background media brilliantly as an expository device. And while the book isn't ROTCFLMAO funny, when there are punchlines, he nails them. And I'll get to his pacing in a second.
The plot, whether devised by Foley, Wise, Gilligan, or some combination thereof, managed to pull off a relatively shocking surprise twist in a universe less than 50 pages old. This is no small feat. Thanks in large part to Foley's pacing, the reader finds him or herself easily immersed in a very dense world, and absorbing elements of character and backstory at a remarkable clip. This is what allows for the storytelling team to pull off the twist at the end of issue #2 and have it feel like it's got some weight behind it.
That's not to say the book doesn't have its faults. Fernando's art is lively and the colors by EvE are much more vibrant than one would expect from a book of this tone - but the art really takes a back seat to the words, and while that serves the book fine, it could be stronger. Fernando has some curious profile shots in the book - whether purposely or not - that I found a bit distracting. And while his art is perfectly fine throughout and quite good in places, the book would probably be even better in the hands of someone more experienced like Sean Phillips (who did a beautiful cover for this issue) or Michael Gaydos. Fernando does have quite a knack for expressive eyes, though.
And I must say, the seemingly obligatory use of other comics creators' names in a non-comic setting has really gotten a bit old at this point - so the references to "State V. Miller, State V. Lee and State V. Bendis" were a bit too wocka-wocka for my taste, and only served to pull me out of the story, albeit momentarily.
Still, these are tiny faults, and I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Especially given the fact that Evie's LCS (one of the bigger comic stores in Manhattan) didn't stock it, I'd like to see it getting more attention. Thankfully my LCS (the biggest comic store in Manhattan) did.
So you know what I'm going to do here? I'm going to do something my old comic store in NH used to do. I'm going to offer you, our readers and listeners, the Tom Guarantee. And yes, it should probably be the Aaron Guarantee, since Tom won't be giving you your money back. And neither will I, actually.
BUT.
If you pick up the first two issues of this book, and you don't agree that it's on a par with Alias, Powers, or Gotham Central, e-mail us. You send me those issues, and I'll send you a TPB of something else, worth a bit more.
I have a feeling I won't need to, though.
Here's Evie's Panel of the Week, from I Kill Giants #2 by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura. Technically her P's otW are the two on the left, but I included the image on the right because it's an awesome image.
My PotW, from Chris Giarusso's Mini Marvels strip, appearing in the back of Incredible Herc 121 (and probably a few other books as well) I just love that one in the back left.
I'm not going to bother posting my Cover of the Week, because it's the Craaaaazy Wild Drunken Superman Cover, which you've all seen a dozen times. But here's Evie's, a sweet Captain Marvel from Mike Kunkel.
Now, to what I actually came here to write about - My pick for Book of the Week (and what probably would have been Evie's pick too, had she not known it was going to be mine) Tales of Penance: Trial of the Century Issue #2, from Arcana Comics.
This book features story and plot by Sean Wise and Paul Gilligan, brilliantly paced Scripting by Ryan Foley, art by Gian Fernando (credited as GOOF) and pitch-perfect colors by something called "EvE" - about which no further information can be easily googled.
So here's your back o' the trade blurb for this one.
ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE TAKES ON SUPERHERO STORYTELLING IN YEARS.
Here's another one.
RIVALS THE BEST OF POWERS, ALIAS, OR GOTHAM CENTRAL.
And I mean both of them. When Evie and I came up with the format for the show, we decided to include a category for First/Last of the week - hoping that the Firsts would force us to pick up a few Indie titles, perhaps forgoing the latest Wolverine one-shot or Geoff Johns retconned origin in favor of a lesser-known book that we could recommend to our listeners.
Now in the 15th week of this podcast, I can already count several previous "first of the week" winners as among the books I look forward to the most every month. Jonathan Hickman and JM Ringuet's Transhuman is one. This book is another.
I'm not going to bore you with plot descriptions that you can easily get elsewhere, other than to say it's a gritty-ish, noir-enough crime/law/cops/tights drama that takes place in a vastly underutilized setting (the south) and involves a murder mystery.
What you need to hear from me are the superlatives. I can't say enough about Foley's scriptwork. His characterizations and mannerisms are spot on. He uses background media brilliantly as an expository device. And while the book isn't ROTCFLMAO funny, when there are punchlines, he nails them. And I'll get to his pacing in a second.
The plot, whether devised by Foley, Wise, Gilligan, or some combination thereof, managed to pull off a relatively shocking surprise twist in a universe less than 50 pages old. This is no small feat. Thanks in large part to Foley's pacing, the reader finds him or herself easily immersed in a very dense world, and absorbing elements of character and backstory at a remarkable clip. This is what allows for the storytelling team to pull off the twist at the end of issue #2 and have it feel like it's got some weight behind it.
That's not to say the book doesn't have its faults. Fernando's art is lively and the colors by EvE are much more vibrant than one would expect from a book of this tone - but the art really takes a back seat to the words, and while that serves the book fine, it could be stronger. Fernando has some curious profile shots in the book - whether purposely or not - that I found a bit distracting. And while his art is perfectly fine throughout and quite good in places, the book would probably be even better in the hands of someone more experienced like Sean Phillips (who did a beautiful cover for this issue) or Michael Gaydos. Fernando does have quite a knack for expressive eyes, though.
And I must say, the seemingly obligatory use of other comics creators' names in a non-comic setting has really gotten a bit old at this point - so the references to "State V. Miller, State V. Lee and State V. Bendis" were a bit too wocka-wocka for my taste, and only served to pull me out of the story, albeit momentarily.
Still, these are tiny faults, and I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Especially given the fact that Evie's LCS (one of the bigger comic stores in Manhattan) didn't stock it, I'd like to see it getting more attention. Thankfully my LCS (the biggest comic store in Manhattan) did.
So you know what I'm going to do here? I'm going to do something my old comic store in NH used to do. I'm going to offer you, our readers and listeners, the Tom Guarantee. And yes, it should probably be the Aaron Guarantee, since Tom won't be giving you your money back. And neither will I, actually.
BUT.
If you pick up the first two issues of this book, and you don't agree that it's on a par with Alias, Powers, or Gotham Central, e-mail us. You send me those issues, and I'll send you a TPB of something else, worth a bit more.
I have a feeling I won't need to, though.
September 18, 2008
Aquafresh.
Hey, does everyone remember this Final Crisis cover, where it appeared as though our 17 year-old friend Supergirl was perhaps signaling that she might like something special put right there because this big bad awful final crisis was just so darn scary?
But WHAT?!
What could she have possibly been telling horny fanboys all across this great nation that she would like put right there? What do young, innocent, impossibly sexy girls want to put right there, right where Supergirl is pointing?
You'll be happy to know that Marv Wolfman and Phil Winslade have your answer in this week's Brave and the Bold.
Why, it's toothpaste of course! White, gooey, sticky, runny, not-at-all-suggestive toothpaste! I'll bet you're all embarassed now, you dirtyheaded gutterminds.
But WHAT?!
What could she have possibly been telling horny fanboys all across this great nation that she would like put right there? What do young, innocent, impossibly sexy girls want to put right there, right where Supergirl is pointing?
You'll be happy to know that Marv Wolfman and Phil Winslade have your answer in this week's Brave and the Bold.
Why, it's toothpaste of course! White, gooey, sticky, runny, not-at-all-suggestive toothpaste! I'll bet you're all embarassed now, you dirtyheaded gutterminds.
September 7, 2008
ABC Podcast, episode #13 checklist
So you know what might be handy for several reasons? A list of the books we talk about on the show! Also, a knife that automatically detects human flesh, and refuses to cut it! The former would be handy as it would allow you, our dear listeners, to be alerted to what comics/things we're going to be talking about this week, that way you can more easily avoid spoilers, AND so that there'll be a reference guide, in case someone ever wants to go back and listen to a show about a particular issue long after the fact. The latter would be handy as it would cut down on both kitchen accidents (ow, my thumb!) and knife fights.
So as not to spoil the show itself, We're not going to list which books won which categories just yet.
ABCP13 Topics of Converstaion
Fables 75
Spider Man loves Mary Jane 2
Manhunter 34
Secret Six 1
The Authority: World's End 2
X-Men Origins: Beast
Marvel Apes 1
X-Men: Manifest Destiny 1
Eternals 4
Supergirl 33
Next Avengers (DVD)
Sub Mariner: The Depths 1
So if any or all of this stuff is on your list to read, read it before listening to us! And if any or all of this stuff piques your interest in what we think about it, then by golly, this episode is for you!
So as not to spoil the show itself, We're not going to list which books won which categories just yet.
ABCP13 Topics of Converstaion
Fables 75
Spider Man loves Mary Jane 2
Manhunter 34
Secret Six 1
The Authority: World's End 2
X-Men Origins: Beast
Marvel Apes 1
X-Men: Manifest Destiny 1
Eternals 4
Supergirl 33
Next Avengers (DVD)
Sub Mariner: The Depths 1
So if any or all of this stuff is on your list to read, read it before listening to us! And if any or all of this stuff piques your interest in what we think about it, then by golly, this episode is for you!
July 29, 2008
A Darker Knight
During the course of recording Episode 6a, our review of the previous few weeks' comics movies, I said something to the effect of "Maybe we shouldn't have done this the second we got home from seeing The Dark Knight." At the time, our thinking was that we lost our Hellboy II momentum by waiting on it, and ended up incorporating that into this podcast because we never got around to doing it the way we had originally wanted to.
And from a productivity/output standpoint, it worked like a charm. Episode 6a went up, chock full of ideas and opinions and criticisms and observations. But as I stated in my reservation (at least I think I articulated this as the reason for my reservation - it's wholly possible that I did not.) my ideas and opinions and criticisms an observations were not fully formed.
Now, a week and a few days removed, I can look back on my statements of the time and recognize them as what they were; a larval critique. With the benefits of time and research and conversation on my side now, I would like to offer up a fully-formed version of whatever it was I said or was trying to say about The Dark Knight in episode 6a.
Looking back on The Dark Knight, I find instead a Darker Knight ... but a much more impressive film.
I still do have problems with many aspects of the Joker's capers existing outside the realms of believability. If he's going to plant enough explosives to destroy a massive hospital, I want to see how he does it without alerting any of the staff. If he's going to get bombs and several hundred drums of oil into the bottoms of a couple of ferryboats, I want to see how he gets away with it. If he's got cops on the take, I want to see money change hands.
This is all a byproduct of the film being so grounded in realism, and it's all subjects that I touched on in episode 6a. But what I hadn't touched on - or even realized at the time - is there's another, more allegorical byproduct of the film's insistence on realism.
Two quotes now - one from a comics writer I highly respect and whose work I enjoy thoroughly ... the other from a tooly douchebag. First, here's Caleb from the often brilliant Every Day is Like Wednesday.
Here's another take, from Andrew Klavan in the Lexcorp-owned Wall Street Journal.
The first incarnation of the "Axis of Evil" fought against the Invaders and the All-Winners Squad during World War II. The team consisted of the winged "Airyan" his best friend "Reich and Roll," his beloved partner "Luftwife" and their kid sidekick "The Little Baron." They drove the Volkshammer.
The second incarnation was formed by the Red Skull and Ultron and included Whirlwind, Moonstone, and probably Egghead. They fought the Avengers on several occasions, and the Champions once.
The third Axis of Evil was Kim Jong Il from North Korea, and his pompadour of destiny - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "The unpronounceable man" and of course Saddam Hussein, who we all know was really Kang.
By using what could only be described as comic book terminology to talk about the men being described as the three greatest threats to our nation, it seemed as though we were doing ourselves a great disservice, and one that we might not even see the ramifications of for years, maybe decades. Cowboy diplomacy was to be replaced with Comic Book diplomacy. And anyone who's ever read a team-up book from the 70's knows that even superheroes can't meet without kicking the snot out of each other while incurring thousands of dollars in collateral damage and putting innocents in harm's way.
Klavan says "Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past." In the world of comic books, this is acceptable for two reasons.
1.) these are not real lives we're dealing with. If Batman tortures random vaguely-russian-looking dockworker A for a few minutes, breaking several ribs in the process, and vaguely-russian-looking dockworker A genuinely doesn't have the information he's looking for, Batman can just toss vaguely-russian-looking dockworker A into that large stack of curiously empty crates that's always standing just a few feet away from these scenes. No harm, no foul, Bats goes on to find his next potential informant, and vaguely-russian-looking dockworker A is forgotten about forever. In the real world however, there are dozens upon dozens of "vaguely-russian-looking dockworker A"s in Guanatanamo. Except they're goat herders. Or Arab media trainees. Or college students. Or regular shiftworkers who were turned in by their neighbors for the $10,000 bounty we offered. We've been waterboarding and sleep-depriving them for years without a lick of credible evidence that any of them would have ever even been exposed to information we need. Except we can't just toss them into some crates and forget about them. These are human beings. For the most part, completely innocent human beings.
2.) We are certain that Batman will re-establish the boundaries when the danger is past, because Batman is a one-dimensional, fictional hero. Batman has nothing to gain from exploiting the moving of the boundaries, and if he did, he'd ignore it because he'd know it's the wrong thing to do. The Bush Administration and its friends, on the other hand, have all benefitted greatly through the relaxing of certain regulations, and the strict enforcement of others. Blackwater. Halliburton. "if you see something, say somethinig" and now Richard Perle. Batman can be trusted to destroy his little cell phone surveilance outfit. George W. Bush could not.
Klavan goes on.
Here's where the Dark Knight truly shined in hindsight - and where Klavan makes me sick to my stomach. The Dark Knight is unquestionably one of the most morally complex and murky films of the last several decades. But even with all of its moral complexities, it is an infinitely simpler and more appealing world than the reality we live in. Unfortunately for too many people including our friend Klavan here, they understand this fictional world far more than they understand their own, and desire for it to be real, because it would be so much easier (and let's face it, more fun) to live in.
Here's Slate.com's Dahlia Lithwick from this past weekend:
Except on TV and in comic book movies, you know the person being ruthlessly interrogated is a bad guy. You know he either a) has the information you need or b) doesn't, but deserves the beating he's getting anyway. In real life, you end up with Canadian engineer Maher Arar, who was detained and sent to Syria where he was tortured for 374 days. Because he bought a printer cartridge with a guy who knew a guy who allegedly knew Osama Bin Laden.
The "real" Joker.
What I hadn't realized the film had done to me, was that it had taken me out of my world, where I read scores of foreign newspapers and accounts from watchdog groups to try to develop a sense of what's right and what's wrong. This film then dropped me squarely into another world, which tangentially resembled mine enough that I could get my moral bearings somewhat - but had taken out all the light grey area and replaced it with dark grey. Not a huge difference, but big enough.
For the two and a half hours I was in that theatre, I would have given up any of my rights to catch the Joker. I would have gladly submitted myself to that cell phone 3d-mappy thing. I'd allow myself to be wiretapped. I'd probably stand up and sing God Bless Gotham, even though I'm a Buddhist and I don't believe in "God" proper. I'd let them put religion back into public schools, if only to help the kids make some sense out of this awful, awful world. For the two and a half hours I spent watching this movie, I was a victim of desperation.
This film gave me a better understanding of why some desperate morons don't understand that Batman and Jack Bauer aren't real, and that their bullshit wouldn't fly here in the real world. And for that, I applaud you, The Dark Knight.
Just please stay the fuck out of Washington.
And from a productivity/output standpoint, it worked like a charm. Episode 6a went up, chock full of ideas and opinions and criticisms and observations. But as I stated in my reservation (at least I think I articulated this as the reason for my reservation - it's wholly possible that I did not.) my ideas and opinions and criticisms an observations were not fully formed.
Now, a week and a few days removed, I can look back on my statements of the time and recognize them as what they were; a larval critique. With the benefits of time and research and conversation on my side now, I would like to offer up a fully-formed version of whatever it was I said or was trying to say about The Dark Knight in episode 6a.
Looking back on The Dark Knight, I find instead a Darker Knight ... but a much more impressive film.
I still do have problems with many aspects of the Joker's capers existing outside the realms of believability. If he's going to plant enough explosives to destroy a massive hospital, I want to see how he does it without alerting any of the staff. If he's going to get bombs and several hundred drums of oil into the bottoms of a couple of ferryboats, I want to see how he gets away with it. If he's got cops on the take, I want to see money change hands.
This is all a byproduct of the film being so grounded in realism, and it's all subjects that I touched on in episode 6a. But what I hadn't touched on - or even realized at the time - is there's another, more allegorical byproduct of the film's insistence on realism.
Two quotes now - one from a comics writer I highly respect and whose work I enjoy thoroughly ... the other from a tooly douchebag. First, here's Caleb from the often brilliant Every Day is Like Wednesday.
Regarding Caleb's thoughts - at the time we recorded episode 6a, I didn't know how I felt about that either, because I hadn't even noticed it. But you are absolutely right, it is there, and it needs to be recognized, and it goes a long way towards explaining my "why can't they just get this fucking guy!" frustration with the Joker. It is an absolute testament to the skill of Christopher Nolan, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhardt, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Christian Bale that they were able to pull me into a world where I was capable of feeling such feelings. It is a testament to their brilliance that they were able to do so without me even noticing.
4.) I reeeaaalllly wasn’t expecting to see Batman-as-the-Bush-administration in this movie, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that.
Here's another take, from Andrew Klavan in the Lexcorp-owned Wall Street Journal.
There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.There have been several points over the course of the last seven and a half years where I've seen something subtle in something bombastic - something I'm probably not supposed to see, and something that worries me greatly. Back in January of 2002, when President Bush coined the term "Axis of Evil" to describe the unholy trinity of North Korea, Iraq and Iran, I cringed. Not because it was proof that we'd get little other than cowboy diplomacy out of this man, but because of the imagery conjured by that phrase.
The first incarnation of the "Axis of Evil" fought against the Invaders and the All-Winners Squad during World War II. The team consisted of the winged "Airyan" his best friend "Reich and Roll," his beloved partner "Luftwife" and their kid sidekick "The Little Baron." They drove the Volkshammer.
The second incarnation was formed by the Red Skull and Ultron and included Whirlwind, Moonstone, and probably Egghead. They fought the Avengers on several occasions, and the Champions once.
The third Axis of Evil was Kim Jong Il from North Korea, and his pompadour of destiny - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "The unpronounceable man" and of course Saddam Hussein, who we all know was really Kang.
By using what could only be described as comic book terminology to talk about the men being described as the three greatest threats to our nation, it seemed as though we were doing ourselves a great disservice, and one that we might not even see the ramifications of for years, maybe decades. Cowboy diplomacy was to be replaced with Comic Book diplomacy. And anyone who's ever read a team-up book from the 70's knows that even superheroes can't meet without kicking the snot out of each other while incurring thousands of dollars in collateral damage and putting innocents in harm's way.
Klavan says "Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past." In the world of comic books, this is acceptable for two reasons.
1.) these are not real lives we're dealing with. If Batman tortures random vaguely-russian-looking dockworker A for a few minutes, breaking several ribs in the process, and vaguely-russian-looking dockworker A genuinely doesn't have the information he's looking for, Batman can just toss vaguely-russian-looking dockworker A into that large stack of curiously empty crates that's always standing just a few feet away from these scenes. No harm, no foul, Bats goes on to find his next potential informant, and vaguely-russian-looking dockworker A is forgotten about forever. In the real world however, there are dozens upon dozens of "vaguely-russian-looking dockworker A"s in Guanatanamo. Except they're goat herders. Or Arab media trainees. Or college students. Or regular shiftworkers who were turned in by their neighbors for the $10,000 bounty we offered. We've been waterboarding and sleep-depriving them for years without a lick of credible evidence that any of them would have ever even been exposed to information we need. Except we can't just toss them into some crates and forget about them. These are human beings. For the most part, completely innocent human beings.
2.) We are certain that Batman will re-establish the boundaries when the danger is past, because Batman is a one-dimensional, fictional hero. Batman has nothing to gain from exploiting the moving of the boundaries, and if he did, he'd ignore it because he'd know it's the wrong thing to do. The Bush Administration and its friends, on the other hand, have all benefitted greatly through the relaxing of certain regulations, and the strict enforcement of others. Blackwater. Halliburton. "if you see something, say somethinig" and now Richard Perle. Batman can be trusted to destroy his little cell phone surveilance outfit. George W. Bush could not.
Klavan goes on.
When heroes arise who take those difficult duties on themselves, it is tempting for the rest of us to turn our backs on them, to vilify them in order to protect our own appearance of righteousness. We prosecute and execrate the violent soldier or the cruel interrogator in order to parade ourselves as paragons of the peaceful values they preserve. As Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon says of the hated and hunted Batman, "He has to run away -- because we have to chase him."
That's real moral complexity. And when our artistic community is ready to show that sometimes men must kill in order to preserve life; that sometimes they must violate their values in order to maintain those values; and that while movie stars may strut in the bright light of our adulation for pretending to be heroes, true heroes often must slink in the shadows, slump-shouldered and despised -- then and only then will we be able to pay President Bush his due and make good and true films about the war on terror.
Here's where the Dark Knight truly shined in hindsight - and where Klavan makes me sick to my stomach. The Dark Knight is unquestionably one of the most morally complex and murky films of the last several decades. But even with all of its moral complexities, it is an infinitely simpler and more appealing world than the reality we live in. Unfortunately for too many people including our friend Klavan here, they understand this fictional world far more than they understand their own, and desire for it to be real, because it would be so much easier (and let's face it, more fun) to live in.
Here's Slate.com's Dahlia Lithwick from this past weekend:
According to British lawyer and writer Philippe Sands, Jack Bauer—played by Kiefer Sutherland—was an inspiration at early "brainstorming meetings" of military officials at Guantanamo in September of 2002. Diane Beaver, the staff judge advocate general who gave legal approval to 18 controversial new interrogation techniques including water-boarding, sexual humiliation, and terrorizing prisoners with dogs, told Sands that Bauer "gave people lots of ideas." Michael Chertoff, the homeland-security chief, once gushed in a panel discussion on 24 organized by the Heritage Foundation that the show "reflects real life."
John Yoo, the former Justice Department lawyer who produced the so-called torture memos—simultaneously redefining both the laws of torture and logic—cites Bauer in his book War by Other Means. "What if, as the popular Fox television program '24' recently portrayed, a high-level terrorist leader is caught who knows the location of a nuclear weapon?" Even Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, speaking in Canada last summer, shows a gift for this casual toggling between television and the Constitution. "Jack Bauer saved Los Angeles. … He saved hundreds of thousands of lives," Scalia said. "Are you going to convict Jack Bauer?"
Except on TV and in comic book movies, you know the person being ruthlessly interrogated is a bad guy. You know he either a) has the information you need or b) doesn't, but deserves the beating he's getting anyway. In real life, you end up with Canadian engineer Maher Arar, who was detained and sent to Syria where he was tortured for 374 days. Because he bought a printer cartridge with a guy who knew a guy who allegedly knew Osama Bin Laden.
The "real" Joker.
What I hadn't realized the film had done to me, was that it had taken me out of my world, where I read scores of foreign newspapers and accounts from watchdog groups to try to develop a sense of what's right and what's wrong. This film then dropped me squarely into another world, which tangentially resembled mine enough that I could get my moral bearings somewhat - but had taken out all the light grey area and replaced it with dark grey. Not a huge difference, but big enough.
For the two and a half hours I was in that theatre, I would have given up any of my rights to catch the Joker. I would have gladly submitted myself to that cell phone 3d-mappy thing. I'd allow myself to be wiretapped. I'd probably stand up and sing God Bless Gotham, even though I'm a Buddhist and I don't believe in "God" proper. I'd let them put religion back into public schools, if only to help the kids make some sense out of this awful, awful world. For the two and a half hours I spent watching this movie, I was a victim of desperation.
This film gave me a better understanding of why some desperate morons don't understand that Batman and Jack Bauer aren't real, and that their bullshit wouldn't fly here in the real world. And for that, I applaud you, The Dark Knight.
Just please stay the fuck out of Washington.
July 9, 2008
Top 20!
So I made a hypothetical comment below about "if I were to compile a list of my 20 favorite runs."
And within seconds of my fingers lifting off the keys, my brain kicked into gear, as the brain of a comic fan always does when presented with such an idea, and I decided to compile a list of my 20 favorite runs.
This list is not even remotely final or complete or even correct. (I probably have a few creators wrong.) But working off the top of my head at 2 in the morning last night, here's what I came up with.
New Warriors V1 Nicieza/Robinson
Avengers V2 Busiek/Perez
Ex Machina BKV/Harris
Runaways BKV/others
Y The Last Man BKV/Guerra
Daredevil Bendis/Maleev?
Ult. Spider Man Bendis/Bagley
Planetary Ellis/Cassaday
Warlock Starlin
Defenders Gerber/???
Ult FF Ellis/Immonnen, (Ellis/Kubert?)
Animal Man Morrison/???
New X-Men Morrison/Quitely
52 Morrison, etc.
Sentinel McKeever
Ultimates 1&2 Millar/Hitch
Fables Willingham/Buckingham
Ult. Galactus Trilogy - Ellis
Marvels Busiek Ross
Birds of Prey Simone
I figured I'd post the list here in its outline/barebones/incorrect form, and do a little series of posts tracking the changes until I get to my final list. Obviously there's a lot more modern stuff in here, because I've read a lot more modern stuff.
And besides. Why the hell not? I've got a comic blog. This is what comic blogs are for.
And within seconds of my fingers lifting off the keys, my brain kicked into gear, as the brain of a comic fan always does when presented with such an idea, and I decided to compile a list of my 20 favorite runs.
This list is not even remotely final or complete or even correct. (I probably have a few creators wrong.) But working off the top of my head at 2 in the morning last night, here's what I came up with.
New Warriors V1 Nicieza/Robinson
Avengers V2 Busiek/Perez
Ex Machina BKV/Harris
Runaways BKV/others
Y The Last Man BKV/Guerra
Daredevil Bendis/Maleev?
Ult. Spider Man Bendis/Bagley
Planetary Ellis/Cassaday
Warlock Starlin
Defenders Gerber/???
Ult FF Ellis/Immonnen, (Ellis/Kubert?)
Animal Man Morrison/???
New X-Men Morrison/Quitely
52 Morrison, etc.
Sentinel McKeever
Ultimates 1&2 Millar/Hitch
Fables Willingham/Buckingham
Ult. Galactus Trilogy - Ellis
Marvels Busiek Ross
Birds of Prey Simone
I figured I'd post the list here in its outline/barebones/incorrect form, and do a little series of posts tracking the changes until I get to my final list. Obviously there's a lot more modern stuff in here, because I've read a lot more modern stuff.
And besides. Why the hell not? I've got a comic blog. This is what comic blogs are for.
July 2, 2008
Putting My Finger On It.
You want content, Evie? Here you go.
It has been 91 days since Marvel Comics published Secret Invasion #1, and 35 days since DC Comics released Final Crisis #1. It has been 91 and 35 days respectively, since I started trying to figure out why I don't care about either.
Both books have held the promise of being instrumental in the next several years of both Universes, and therefore a majority of superhero comics. Marvel and DC and general comic book punditry expressed the fact that these events will be prefixed in future comics discussion. Events will be described as Pre-Final Crisis or Post-Secret Invasion. These are major shakeups in two of the fantasylands I care probably too much about. So why am I so apatheic about both?
Event Fatigue
It seem like it's been a decade since either publisher has gone more than six months without an earth-shaking, world-defining, NWEBTSA.* Comics insiders, podcasters, bloggers and creators have been debating event fatigue for years. Will comic fans tire? Will creators tire? Will such a glut of must-get events turn off new readers, sacrificing the future for the fanboys?
Whatever the answers to these questions are, they're not the reason I'm not enjoying Final Crisis or Secret Invasion. While the never-ending stream of drama can certainly get cumbersome, I thoroughly enjoyed Annihilation: Conquest, Salvation Run, and World War Hulk. I'm not sick of events. Next.
Lack of a Singular Bad Guy Focus
Since I have a nearly identical meh for both of these events, my next thought was to look for similarities between the two books, and where they differ from other recent events that I liked. Final Crisis has Libra, Darkseid, and perhaps the Sheeda... Secret Invasion has a whole mess of skrulls, some of whom may or may not be apparent even to the reader. WWH had Hulk. A:C had Ultron.
However, Salvation Run didn't really have any villians at all. Odd as it may be to not have a clear big baddie, this isn't it.
No Coalition of Heroes
Events do typically begin with a gathering of the forces of good against whoever the big baddie is. Without the coalition, it doesn't really feel like the event has truly begun; it feels like prologue. This occurred to me one night on the way to the supermarket, and I really thought that this was it. But by the time I had picked up my ice cream and was headed back to my car, I had decided that this couldn't possibly account for my indifference.
Lack of Encyclopedic Knowledge
I heard the guys on iFanboy discussing this one the other day, in the context of Final Crisis #2. I'm not catching all of the references. I'm not familiar with all of the backstory. But this only applies to Final Crisis. I do have an encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel Universe. I do get every reference in Secret Invasion. And I don't like it any better.
Morrison and Bendis are "Writing For the Trade"
Is it possible these two stories are not intended to be read serially, and instead digested as a lump sum at the end. Except both have been rife with the 22nd page shocker. This isn't it either.
Bendis and Morrison have not taken the proper steps as writers to define the stakes.
If this is a NWEBTSA ... I need to know what's going to change. What happens if the bad guys win? How will their victories affect me, average non-powered citizen of either universe? I swore that this was it. But it's not. I know what the stakes are. Skrulls are going to take over the planet. Libra is going to kill all superheroes. I suppose I don't know exactly what Darkseid is up to, but it's not good. So what is it?
Is it the hype?
I would have no problem enjoying either of these stories if they had not been hyped as world-changing. Final Crisis is thus far a JLA story. If Final Crisis was simply called JLA, I'd be loving it. Secret Invasion is thus far an Avengers story. If Secret Invasion was simply called Avengers, I'd be loving it. I wish DC hadn't made me feel as though I needed to read a year worth of awful Countdown and Countdown-related tales to understand Final Crisis. I wish Marvel wasn't threatening to screw with decades of stories by revealing that the characters are skrulls and didn't realize they were skrulls. (See, it was all a dream!) The hype hurts, but it alone is not what's killing these stories for me.
Predictability?
The last several NWEBTSA's done by both companies truly did change the landscapes of both universes. Civil War has dramatically altered the Marvel Universe. Identity/Infinite Crisis did similarly at DC. Annihilation reshaped Marvel's cosmic map. Even Death of the New Gods - as poorly executed as many thought it was - changed things forever in the DCU. All of these events finished with unpredictable results.
Are the Skrulls going to take over the earth? Is Libra going to kill all the good guys? Of course not. But predictablility has never stopped me from buying a comic before.
So as Bendis might say ... "The Hell?"
Truth is, it's all of this. These books started with a few strikes against them, and through mediocre storytelling (so far) have garnered even more strikes. There are many many comics readers who are feeling a high level of apathy for both of these books, due to all of these problems.
I will not quit reading either of these books, and I have great respect for both writers. But one month into Final Crisis and three months into Secret Invasion, neither have delivered on the promise of a spectacular event.
Learn from the mistakes of these two series, Marvel and DC. Don't start events like this again.
*("nothing-will-ever-be-the-same-again")
It has been 91 days since Marvel Comics published Secret Invasion #1, and 35 days since DC Comics released Final Crisis #1. It has been 91 and 35 days respectively, since I started trying to figure out why I don't care about either.
Both books have held the promise of being instrumental in the next several years of both Universes, and therefore a majority of superhero comics. Marvel and DC and general comic book punditry expressed the fact that these events will be prefixed in future comics discussion. Events will be described as Pre-Final Crisis or Post-Secret Invasion. These are major shakeups in two of the fantasylands I care probably too much about. So why am I so apatheic about both?
Event Fatigue
It seem like it's been a decade since either publisher has gone more than six months without an earth-shaking, world-defining, NWEBTSA.* Comics insiders, podcasters, bloggers and creators have been debating event fatigue for years. Will comic fans tire? Will creators tire? Will such a glut of must-get events turn off new readers, sacrificing the future for the fanboys?
Whatever the answers to these questions are, they're not the reason I'm not enjoying Final Crisis or Secret Invasion. While the never-ending stream of drama can certainly get cumbersome, I thoroughly enjoyed Annihilation: Conquest, Salvation Run, and World War Hulk. I'm not sick of events. Next.
Lack of a Singular Bad Guy Focus
Since I have a nearly identical meh for both of these events, my next thought was to look for similarities between the two books, and where they differ from other recent events that I liked. Final Crisis has Libra, Darkseid, and perhaps the Sheeda... Secret Invasion has a whole mess of skrulls, some of whom may or may not be apparent even to the reader. WWH had Hulk. A:C had Ultron.
However, Salvation Run didn't really have any villians at all. Odd as it may be to not have a clear big baddie, this isn't it.
No Coalition of Heroes
Events do typically begin with a gathering of the forces of good against whoever the big baddie is. Without the coalition, it doesn't really feel like the event has truly begun; it feels like prologue. This occurred to me one night on the way to the supermarket, and I really thought that this was it. But by the time I had picked up my ice cream and was headed back to my car, I had decided that this couldn't possibly account for my indifference.
Lack of Encyclopedic Knowledge
I heard the guys on iFanboy discussing this one the other day, in the context of Final Crisis #2. I'm not catching all of the references. I'm not familiar with all of the backstory. But this only applies to Final Crisis. I do have an encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel Universe. I do get every reference in Secret Invasion. And I don't like it any better.
Morrison and Bendis are "Writing For the Trade"
Is it possible these two stories are not intended to be read serially, and instead digested as a lump sum at the end. Except both have been rife with the 22nd page shocker. This isn't it either.
Bendis and Morrison have not taken the proper steps as writers to define the stakes.
If this is a NWEBTSA ... I need to know what's going to change. What happens if the bad guys win? How will their victories affect me, average non-powered citizen of either universe? I swore that this was it. But it's not. I know what the stakes are. Skrulls are going to take over the planet. Libra is going to kill all superheroes. I suppose I don't know exactly what Darkseid is up to, but it's not good. So what is it?
Is it the hype?
I would have no problem enjoying either of these stories if they had not been hyped as world-changing. Final Crisis is thus far a JLA story. If Final Crisis was simply called JLA, I'd be loving it. Secret Invasion is thus far an Avengers story. If Secret Invasion was simply called Avengers, I'd be loving it. I wish DC hadn't made me feel as though I needed to read a year worth of awful Countdown and Countdown-related tales to understand Final Crisis. I wish Marvel wasn't threatening to screw with decades of stories by revealing that the characters are skrulls and didn't realize they were skrulls. (See, it was all a dream!) The hype hurts, but it alone is not what's killing these stories for me.
Predictability?
The last several NWEBTSA's done by both companies truly did change the landscapes of both universes. Civil War has dramatically altered the Marvel Universe. Identity/Infinite Crisis did similarly at DC. Annihilation reshaped Marvel's cosmic map. Even Death of the New Gods - as poorly executed as many thought it was - changed things forever in the DCU. All of these events finished with unpredictable results.
Are the Skrulls going to take over the earth? Is Libra going to kill all the good guys? Of course not. But predictablility has never stopped me from buying a comic before.
So as Bendis might say ... "The Hell?"
Truth is, it's all of this. These books started with a few strikes against them, and through mediocre storytelling (so far) have garnered even more strikes. There are many many comics readers who are feeling a high level of apathy for both of these books, due to all of these problems.
I will not quit reading either of these books, and I have great respect for both writers. But one month into Final Crisis and three months into Secret Invasion, neither have delivered on the promise of a spectacular event.
Learn from the mistakes of these two series, Marvel and DC. Don't start events like this again.
*("nothing-will-ever-be-the-same-again")
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