Comics are art and literature. A hybrid form of communication. A combination As such it falls under two crucial umbrellas that are essential to any functional culture or society. It is the sharing of ideas and concepts that allows us to build, improve, grow and progress. The ability to communicate our thoughts and feelings to those who may or may not share them. To share your subjective or unbeknownst information and impart it onto other people.
Not all informations/stories/images/communiques will be of use/interest to the receiver.
There's a good chance you won't even like it or that you'll be made uncomfortable by it.
It's your choice to avoid it, not buy it or to boldly venture forth and discover it. Look into the new and unsettling to find out what makes you uncomfortable. Learn about other viewpoints and ultimately about yourself.
Everyone has a right to their opinions. There is no right to try and take them away from others or attempt to threaten, malign and attack them for holding a different perspective.
We should always seek to add to culture. Grow as people, people within a society.
If we limit our possibilities and act in narrow, reductive and regressive ways we will erode the foundation of our country and our many faceted culture.
Which brings me to the conflagration that is Comicsgate. Where a group of entitled and fearfilled of deeply, dangerously selfinvolved persons take it upon themselves to confront, verbally abuse, and terrorise comics creators and consumers because they are afraid of change and feel threatened by anything and everything different from their limited perspectives.
This is nothing but the fearful dung slinging of spoiled and immature people who think they are losing their special club. The imagined refuge of straight white male nerddom.
Adding to the culture of comics never diminishes another.
New stories featuring a character you don't recognise or identify with,
don't make the stories you love go away. We have never removed Peter Parker stories to help promote Miles Morales. In shelving Sophie Campbell's Wet Moon it did not prohibit anyone from enjoying Superman. There are comics for everyone. Comics are for everyone. Heck, we stock Matt Furie's BoYs Club right next to Bitch Planet and Wuvable Oaf. Why? Because there is a wealth of wonderful, beautifully crafted stories out there and to close ourselves off to them would be a disservice to ourselves and our customers.There is room for everyone and if you can't accept that it is unfortunate.
Strong cultures and sub-cultures grow and keep growing. They add to their sum, A healthy body doesn't hack off limbs just because another extremity believes it is in charge and deserves primacy.
Our store is a hotbed of truly diverse thought, conversation and product.
There is no consensus of thought except that each person has a right to their own thoughts and feelings. We share and debate. All honest questions are valid and welcomed. Often we veer into discussion territories that most businesses might be uncomfortable with. We value the opinions and uniqueness of all our patrons. They make us strong and vibrant and viable as a business. We do it for the love. There are more lucrative ways to make a living, even within this business. We believe in the medium and it's ability to communicate and enrich the lives of the people they touch. Whatever you're looking to get out of it there is something in this weird wild and wonderful art form. Do your thing. Don't try to take another's away.
If my piece isn't direct enough or if my thoughts on the subject is not wholly apparent then read the following piece by comics' legend and top notch human Bill Sienkiewicz.
To Comicsgaters.
Monday, August 27, 2018
Sunday, May 27, 2018
BARRIER by Vaughan and Martin
Barrier.
The fifth and final issue rolls out this week. It has provoked and prompted quite a bit of discussion.
The main questions:
What is it? What is the meaning of all this?
Why is Brian Vaughan throwing so many barriers at us ?
Doesnt't he want people to read this book?
Brian
K Vaughan, superstar scribe of Saga and Marcos Martin who previously worked together on The Private Eye have deigned
that their latest mini-series be sideways oriented in that you flip
the book up like a wall calendar. One of the small mercies is that
the pages are oriented in the manner of Jeff Smith's TUKI and not
the impenitrible and incomprehensible way Dave Sim's CEREBUS IN HELL created an additional slice of torment in the way the pages were to
be read.Although the comparison to CEREBUS IN HELL may be valid, because even though I
don't think Sim was making a metaphor with this inexplicable choice,
I do think Vaughan is saying something here.
But what? The story is set along the Mexican/U.S. border. The main characters don't share a language with which to communicate to each other through.
There's ALIENS!
The next attempt at thwarting comfortable consumption is the decision to make the book 3/4" taller (3cm for the rest of the world) than every other comic on the shelf. This makes it just a bit too tall to fit into standard sized comic storage bags, though it'll just fit into most storage boxes. Most. Storage, the anxiety inducing quandary faced by all comics readers/collectors is always a sensitive issue.
The series features two main protaganists. The characters are thrown quickly into a chaotic and bewildering situation. Having only each other for support but finding themselves unable to communicate because neither speaks the other's language. One speaks only English and seems to have a grudge against Mexicans. The other main character apparently is a Mexican gang affiliate and only speaks Spanish. The language and cultural divide create palpable tension and a sense of helpless futility.
Barrier is also being released weekly. Giving the reader (and retailers) no time to wait, take stock or recalibrate. No chance for a leisurely read. You are dragged in, on ground level and forces you to quickly assess the situation This confounding piece of art will also not be collected in any manner of Tradepaperback or Hardcover after completion which also adds a "get it now, or never" urgency.
What does he want of us?
Just
to get in get out and move on?
Everything
about this seems to run counter to the structure and cycle of his
various other long running episodic comics Saga or Paper Girls.
Marcos
Martin's art is spectacular throughout and seemingly doesn offer and
visual saboutage. Cleanly and preciesely illustrative with moments of
supreme mind bending weirdness that serves to disorient and confound
the readers and the characters. Certainly there is some graphic and
nasty looking stuff, but nothing particularly eggregious. It all
builds in a strange and kaleidoscopic pattern that doesn't allow for
any easy footing or safe landings.
Is time a Barrier? Space?
How about Language?
Culture?
Our preconceived notions and expectations?
Are any of these barriers truly necessary or unavoidable?
Are the barriers are all in our minds?
Bill Burroughs said ,“Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.”
and as an achitect of societal deconstruction his techniques for unravelling states of complacency may be of use here.
Get Barrier.
Read it. Read it again.
Discuss.
Achieve interstellar travel.
Is time a Barrier? Space?
How about Language?
Culture?
Our preconceived notions and expectations?
Are any of these barriers truly necessary or unavoidable?
Are the barriers are all in our minds?
Bill Burroughs said ,“Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.”
and as an achitect of societal deconstruction his techniques for unravelling states of complacency may be of use here.
Get Barrier.
Read it. Read it again.
Discuss.
Achieve interstellar travel.
and....oh
by the way if all the things i just described and put forth didn't
drive you as batty as it did me ...
the
series is available fully online for whatever payment you deeem
necessasry.
Monday, April 30, 2018
That Lady is a Killer...
Jöelle Jones has been making comics for over a decade now.
My first introduction to her work was with You Have Killed Me , followed by12 Reasons I Love Her.
Around that time she also did some spot work on Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder's Madame Xanadu.
All three works featured slick, stylish and stylised work that while heavily design-centric, gave ample room for characters to come alive under her ink work. Stark scenery, statuesque vamps and barrel chested beaus abounded.
Moving forward she established her talents for gore and heavily textured rendering with the illustrative chores on Cullen Bunn's Hellheim , a furious bit of barbarian horror that nonetheless still featured the kind of breathtaking beautiful women that would become her calling card.
2015 saw the debut of her creator owned series Lady Killer ,
which exploded her into the big time. The series being one of the most dynamic, stylish and brilliant creations in recent memory.
Immediately striking, her compositions are rock solid but it is the expressiveness of her characters; their body language and especially their facial features that she excels and transcends nearly every other artist.
Her art seems to get better with every issue.
No one does action, murder and mayhem with such style. All her characters are deadly, sexy and enthralling. It's impossible to not be captivated by Her storytelling skills are impeccable....moving the readers eye around at will,
directing each sequence masterfully.
Watch the way Jöelle pulls your eyes across the page, From the heavily detailed and fully realised rooms, lavishly detailed and filled with dynamic characters each with their own unique presence. They are never static, there is an energy, a kinetic build that is sure to be unleashed in one of the next panels, violently and kaleidoscopically. As the tension builds the perspectives distort and the point of view whips around hard to sight a menace in the foreground.
Then she'll pull you in close for the kill watching the victim's eyes as death takes em. A hail of blood rain or shimmering light brings the curtains down. You exhale.One of the most memorable sequences comes from the second Lady Killer where a chase sequence between three characters takes place on foot thru a Miami bungalow from a cutaway overhead.
the pacing is unrelenting, the dread and tension is palpable, you get to hover like an angel of death anticipating each character's demise as it resolves. With only you knowing how close each is to their end.
For reference see the final sequence in Lady Killer #5 or Catwoman versus Talia al Ghul battle in Batman #35, which was another clinic in fight scene coordination. Even some of the quieter moments in her Mockingbird stories for Marvel have an undeniable pull and the chemistry between characters is palpable.
In comparing Jones' artwork to other legends of the field her work hold's its ground. The line work has a weight and strength of John Buscema and a
fluidity of movement that only Joe Kubert equals. In her willingness to distort perspectives and attack the scene from a multitude of angles reminds the viewer of Alex Toth or some of Kirby's most bombastic work. This is an artist that understands how bodies move and how the eye follows them.
Beyond that there is a precise, yet visceral element to the work that I think is unequaled by anyone,
the ability to render the sleek smooth Formica and aluminum, draped by intricate silks and lace with dizzying decor patterning and of course the bone blood and gristle of her characters as they play off the polished beauty of her heroines, whose eyes, deep piercing pools of glitter engage penetrate and condemn. You couldn't look away if you wanted.
Jöelle's writing talents fully emerged with Lady Killer 2 . Seemingly, the move to becoming the all in one writer/artist/creator has made the communication of her ideas even more efficient and effective. All the elements that made her previous works succeed have exponentially improved. This has unleashed a multi-talented comics creator the likes of which we haven't had since the heyday of Frank Miller, Walter Simonson or the previously mentioned Matt Wagner.
If she manages to be half as productive as any of those talents, we're all going to need some extra book shelves as I can't see her doing anything less than essential.
The best way for that is to get yourself copies of her Lady Killer books, then keep reading Batman as it moves towards Bruce and Selina's wedding.Which leads us to the July 4th Bat & Cat Wedding in issue #50 of Batman, which coincides with Ms. Jones' DC writing debut with Catwoman #1.
The new series is also drawn by Jöelle with colors by the supremely gifted Laura Allred.
The hype around both books is huge already and surely justified. The crossover appeal from both mainstream Super Hero readers and Indie comics fans is immense. Jöelle's work draws fans of the medium/art-form from every direction.
If you need more, this year DC is releasing four statues in their Designer series that feature Jöelle's designs. The first of which, based on last year's Supergirl Being Super mini-series presents
Kara Zor-el looking windswept and youthful, her head tilted optimistically to the horizon.
Figures featuring Harley Quinn, Batgirl and Catwoman are to follow.
If my words aren't convincing enough, consider that a woman who knows so much about methods of elimination and crime scene sanitation, who has a keen eye and interest as to what is necessary to make folks disappear, you better stay on her good side.
So buy all her stuff and then no one has to worry about clean up and disposal!
That's all I can muster for now.
See you on Wednesday.
All images are copyrighted by their respective owners and used for review and allegedly journalistic purposes.
Monday, January 22, 2018
Mister Miracle: an examination in progress
NOTE: I have been trying to make sense of and reconcile my feelings and thoughts about the current Mister Miracle series since it hit stands early this Summer.
I am nowhere near any sort of conclusion. In the meantime, here are some of my various points and ponderings on King and Gerads' masterwork in progress.
I will update this as I go along.
It's certainly no secret to anyone who shops in our store about just how much I love Jack Kirby.
One of my kids is named partly for the King.
Though it may seem heretical to dedicated Marvelites, I do believe The Fourth World to be Jack's greatest achievement. My favourite among the stories would be those of Scott Free, Mister Miracle.
These stories were bolder more dynamic and full of wonder and joy than the other Fourth World books and the thinking about how Mr Miracle would or did escape all those traps always captured my imagination.
Imagination, this is the place where The King lived. No one has ever had a bigger, wilder or more ambitious imagination. At the very least he was the major driving force behind comics in North America for over 50 yrs. Super Hero books wouldn't be what they are without him and all those Billion Dollar movies wouldn't even exist if not for Jack's fertile mind. He was/is the source of inspiration for countless artists and comics creators. Even the ones that don't realise it or directly pay tribute owe him a debt.
To quote Mark Evanier (Jack's longtime friend and assistant,
"when we reach the end/center of the universe it's gonna have Jack's signature."
And for my two cents, i think if we pierce the source wall you'll find Jack there at his drawing table smokin' a cigar and he'll ask ,"what took ya so long? didn't I show you the way?"
But I digress.....
Tom King and Mitch Gerads have done one of the best comics in recent history with
Sheriff of Babylon. It is a powerful observance of the complexities and casualties of the fall of Saddam in Iraq. It is a bleak, deeply wounding story that interweaves the lives of multiple people and describes the traumatic human cost of war/occupation/liberation. Graying all the edges and creating more questions than it answers.
This is appropriate and fascinating as a study of Geo-Politics, warfare, Post Traumatic Stress, religion, tribalism, capitalism. It reveals the ugly truth of our world. It scars you but it leaves you stronger and better for the experience.
There is a similar current running through the pages of Mister Miracle. It frames the lives of a group of individuals who have been at war for a long time. Some appear to be on the same side but their goals are not the same. Trust is fractured. Reality seems intangible and the title character wants nothing but to get away from it all. By any means.
The series is masterfully written and so skillfully illustrated that it is near impossible to find a flaw. It is it's own inescapable trap. I don't want to be there, damaged, disillusioned and wounded, wandering through Scott Free's life but I can't escape it ether.
Super Hero fiction is often some combination of parable and metaphor. Allegories and Mythologies built into four-color titans that give us the gods to believe in that suit the day. They occasionally dip into dark territory, dealing with all too human suffering, violence and abuse but they attempt to transcend this and posit a hopeful future.
The book is veering deeper into the uncomfortable, painful and unsettling. what I'd call "Identity Crisis" territory.. Brad Meltzer's Identity Crisis is without a doubt the best story written featuring the Justice League, it deals with trust, deception and a traumatic sexual assault. A very powerful and adult story of value that raises many moral, ethical questions though i have always questioned it's appropriateness in context of the Justice League, the DC universe and within the boundaries of super hero fiction. I don't believe it is a super hero story. it is a story that happens to superheros but it does not contain the mythical, iconic type of morality play we'd expect and that they are meta-human adventures is entirely incidental.
Which echoes my feelings about Mr Miracle. This book could easily be a sequel to Sheriff of Babylon. It is a story about a soldier suffering from PTSD who tries to end his life.
The supernatural aspect of the characters and their lives are rarely part of the happenings, aside from a few Boom Tubes here and there. Scott and Barda are trying to move on with their careers following Scott's unsuccessful attempt on his life. The bandages on his wrists are obvious but not addressed, he isn't dealing well with things, seems to have muddled things in his mind, he can't quite be sure if his wife's eyes have always been the color they are now, he doesn' remember appointments he made and he sombrely/nonchalantly flippantly jokes about suicide much to the anquish of those around...
Mister Miracle seems to be moving without any opf the trade mark joy that he perenially faces the world.....
he seems blank, hopeless and like he has no will of his own....
The opposite to life in the Fourth World mythos is the ANTI-LIFE equation. This is a word, a command, and ability to nullify free will with a thought. Mr Miracle has rebelled against this concept throughout his life, of which the early days were spent on Darkseid's Apokalips until he and his future wife, Barda escaped to Earth.
"One of the things that always burned my wife, Louise, was Mister Miracle. Orion is the son of hell, raised in heaven, and is a total badass. But Mister Miracle is the son of heaven, sent to hell, and is such a mellow guy. How did he become such a mellow guy? I decided it that what is meant is that Scott Free discovered as a young guy that he has the Anti-Life Equation in him. He’s in a battle and he yells “Stop!” And everything stops: hearts, blood flow, everything. He killed a bunch of people to discover that he had that power. Because of that, he has to be a zen master to not release it again. And I like the idea that the Anti-Life Equation has been living under Darkseid’s nose all this time.” – Walt Simonson
Has Scott accessed the Anti-Life Equation, or has it infected him? Is he working for New Genesis or Apokalips or has he just checked out mentally? There are numerous unanswered questions in the story. Many are even unspoken as you see the concern from Scott's loved ones and from the confused way Mr Miracle himself is behaving.
DARKSEID IS........
As I read each successive issue i feel the overwhelming urge to escape,
to get away from this dark working.
it is taking me down roads with the characters and with myself that I don't really want to go down.
the questioning of your sanity, no longer be able to trust in your perceptions or the people around you, or even to trust the perceptions of those people, losing the will to live,
the trauma that comes with a life of struggle and turmoil, abuse, violence, shock and terror.
Scott has always floated above this miasmic upbringing and life but his past and the effect on him is something he can't get away from.
The purpose and metaphoric meanings of Mr Miracle the principles have been adhered to although the joy and spectacle have been stripped away.
the darkest days of Houdini.....a gut punch that kills.
Scott is someone who has seen the horrors of war and wants out, eventully he beomes resigned to his fate/role and then returns to Apokalips to earn his freedom but it is never enough.
there is no escape from life...unless its into death..
The design is structured in a rigid militant way. The confined layouts, boxing Scott into a regimented 9 panels per page that give a sense of claustrophobic entrapment. They also allow us to pause while gathering our thoughts and a chance to focus on those quiet, somber, frighteningly still moments.
Leaving the characters and reader feeling alone, lost and without hope.
the tension builds with each panel, page and issue and as it gets closer to the end we're sure to be twisting and turning praying for Scott's escape and like hs great friend Oberon fearing the worst has already happened .Oberon's appearance also leave syou wonmderoing abou the state of Scott's mind.
Maybe we can't escape the dreadful drudgery of our lives but if anyone can it is the World's Greatest Escape Artist. There may be hope after all.
Six issues down, I can confidently say we have a legitimate classic on our hands. A high working of comics art that will leave all affected.
http://www.comicsbeat.com/nycc-17-interview-tom-king-talks-mister-miracle-and-the-ever-flowing-river-of-shit/
http://www.comicsbeat.com/nycc17-an-hour-of-byrne-and-simonson-talking-kirby/
I am nowhere near any sort of conclusion. In the meantime, here are some of my various points and ponderings on King and Gerads' masterwork in progress.
I will update this as I go along.
It's certainly no secret to anyone who shops in our store about just how much I love Jack Kirby.
One of my kids is named partly for the King.
Though it may seem heretical to dedicated Marvelites, I do believe The Fourth World to be Jack's greatest achievement. My favourite among the stories would be those of Scott Free, Mister Miracle.
These stories were bolder more dynamic and full of wonder and joy than the other Fourth World books and the thinking about how Mr Miracle would or did escape all those traps always captured my imagination.
To quote Mark Evanier (Jack's longtime friend and assistant,
"when we reach the end/center of the universe it's gonna have Jack's signature."
And for my two cents, i think if we pierce the source wall you'll find Jack there at his drawing table smokin' a cigar and he'll ask ,"what took ya so long? didn't I show you the way?"
But I digress.....
Tom King and Mitch Gerads have done one of the best comics in recent history with
Sheriff of Babylon. It is a powerful observance of the complexities and casualties of the fall of Saddam in Iraq. It is a bleak, deeply wounding story that interweaves the lives of multiple people and describes the traumatic human cost of war/occupation/liberation. Graying all the edges and creating more questions than it answers.
This is appropriate and fascinating as a study of Geo-Politics, warfare, Post Traumatic Stress, religion, tribalism, capitalism. It reveals the ugly truth of our world. It scars you but it leaves you stronger and better for the experience.
There is a similar current running through the pages of Mister Miracle. It frames the lives of a group of individuals who have been at war for a long time. Some appear to be on the same side but their goals are not the same. Trust is fractured. Reality seems intangible and the title character wants nothing but to get away from it all. By any means. The series is masterfully written and so skillfully illustrated that it is near impossible to find a flaw. It is it's own inescapable trap. I don't want to be there, damaged, disillusioned and wounded, wandering through Scott Free's life but I can't escape it ether.
Super Hero fiction is often some combination of parable and metaphor. Allegories and Mythologies built into four-color titans that give us the gods to believe in that suit the day. They occasionally dip into dark territory, dealing with all too human suffering, violence and abuse but they attempt to transcend this and posit a hopeful future.
The book is veering deeper into the uncomfortable, painful and unsettling. what I'd call "Identity Crisis" territory.. Brad Meltzer's Identity Crisis is without a doubt the best story written featuring the Justice League, it deals with trust, deception and a traumatic sexual assault. A very powerful and adult story of value that raises many moral, ethical questions though i have always questioned it's appropriateness in context of the Justice League, the DC universe and within the boundaries of super hero fiction. I don't believe it is a super hero story. it is a story that happens to superheros but it does not contain the mythical, iconic type of morality play we'd expect and that they are meta-human adventures is entirely incidental.
Which echoes my feelings about Mr Miracle. This book could easily be a sequel to Sheriff of Babylon. It is a story about a soldier suffering from PTSD who tries to end his life.
The supernatural aspect of the characters and their lives are rarely part of the happenings, aside from a few Boom Tubes here and there. Scott and Barda are trying to move on with their careers following Scott's unsuccessful attempt on his life. The bandages on his wrists are obvious but not addressed, he isn't dealing well with things, seems to have muddled things in his mind, he can't quite be sure if his wife's eyes have always been the color they are now, he doesn' remember appointments he made and he sombrely/nonchalantly flippantly jokes about suicide much to the anquish of those around...
Mister Miracle seems to be moving without any opf the trade mark joy that he perenially faces the world.....
he seems blank, hopeless and like he has no will of his own....
The opposite to life in the Fourth World mythos is the ANTI-LIFE equation. This is a word, a command, and ability to nullify free will with a thought. Mr Miracle has rebelled against this concept throughout his life, of which the early days were spent on Darkseid's Apokalips until he and his future wife, Barda escaped to Earth.
Has Scott accessed the Anti-Life Equation, or has it infected him? Is he working for New Genesis or Apokalips or has he just checked out mentally? There are numerous unanswered questions in the story. Many are even unspoken as you see the concern from Scott's loved ones and from the confused way Mr Miracle himself is behaving.
DARKSEID IS........
As I read each successive issue i feel the overwhelming urge to escape,
to get away from this dark working.
it is taking me down roads with the characters and with myself that I don't really want to go down.
the questioning of your sanity, no longer be able to trust in your perceptions or the people around you, or even to trust the perceptions of those people, losing the will to live,
the trauma that comes with a life of struggle and turmoil, abuse, violence, shock and terror.
Scott has always floated above this miasmic upbringing and life but his past and the effect on him is something he can't get away from.
The purpose and metaphoric meanings of Mr Miracle the principles have been adhered to although the joy and spectacle have been stripped away.
the darkest days of Houdini.....a gut punch that kills.
Scott is someone who has seen the horrors of war and wants out, eventully he beomes resigned to his fate/role and then returns to Apokalips to earn his freedom but it is never enough.there is no escape from life...unless its into death..
The design is structured in a rigid militant way. The confined layouts, boxing Scott into a regimented 9 panels per page that give a sense of claustrophobic entrapment. They also allow us to pause while gathering our thoughts and a chance to focus on those quiet, somber, frighteningly still moments.
Leaving the characters and reader feeling alone, lost and without hope.
Maybe we can't escape the dreadful drudgery of our lives but if anyone can it is the World's Greatest Escape Artist. There may be hope after all.
Six issues down, I can confidently say we have a legitimate classic on our hands. A high working of comics art that will leave all affected.
http://www.comicsbeat.com/nycc-17-interview-tom-king-talks-mister-miracle-and-the-ever-flowing-river-of-shit/
http://www.comicsbeat.com/nycc17-an-hour-of-byrne-and-simonson-talking-kirby/
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
"I love comic book movies!"
"I love comic book movies!"
This is a constant refrain. While I don't wish to discourage people's new found interest in the medium, I take issue and even cringe a little knowing that they believe "comic book" to equate "superhero". Sure the capes and tights are still best sellers.
Though, when I hear this I can hardly contain the urge to sarcastically reply with something along the lines of, "oh, ya? I love Road to perdition! Did you see Ghost World? I heard My Friend Dahmer is the ginchiest!"
It does seem this day that every Hollywood Blockbuster is based on a superhero book or at least every superhero is getting a Hollywood flick.
The available tech and CGI makes the fantastic completely common in these moving pictures. It does make for some spectacular stuff but many of the best adaptations of comics are not related to the genre.
In days gone by the only comics people getting anywhere in the motion picture biz were artists who were largely relegated to storyboarding or set and costume design, rarely having the opportunity to pitch their story ideas to the studios.Today, more and more Hollywood studios are turning to comics for ideas, fortunately there are many execs willing to dig into the more esoteric or personal stories that the medium offers.
Daniel Clowes, auteur extreme has seen a few of his works adapted like
Wilson or the previously mentioned Ghost World. Comics' Mad Mage Alan Moore, much to his dismay has had several of his works refigured by Tinseltown to varying degrees of success.
Others comic scribes are getting ever closer to this with seemingly every new creator owned series being optioned for film by one company or another.
At any rate it is not just capes and tights that have made their way of the page and onto the silver screen and quite often it's the more realistic stories that have made for the best films.
I'll spare y'all my usual long winded web of conspiracy and intersecting evidence that justify my opinions and just lay out a list of good to great films that started as comics.
All the links are for the books, you can do the IMDB search work yourselves.
Here's my shortlist of excellent comic adaptations:
Barbarella by Jean Claude Forest
Robert Crumb's Fritz the Cat
Max Allan Collins' Road to Perdition
John Wagner and Vince Locke's The History of Violence. Masterfully directed by David Cronenberg and starring Viggo Mortensen
Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's historic fiction From Hell was adapted largely faithful to the source material at least in tone.
Ghost in the Shell has been adapted to Anime and now live action.
Harvey Pekar's American Splendor
Steve Niles' 30 Days of Night
And of course Frank Miller's 300 and Sin City
Honorable mention go to :
Greg Rucka's Whiteout
Warren Ellis' RED
Mark Millar's Kingsman
Antony Johnson's ATOMIC BLONDE
This is a constant refrain. While I don't wish to discourage people's new found interest in the medium, I take issue and even cringe a little knowing that they believe "comic book" to equate "superhero". Sure the capes and tights are still best sellers.
Though, when I hear this I can hardly contain the urge to sarcastically reply with something along the lines of, "oh, ya? I love Road to perdition! Did you see Ghost World? I heard My Friend Dahmer is the ginchiest!"
It does seem this day that every Hollywood Blockbuster is based on a superhero book or at least every superhero is getting a Hollywood flick.
The available tech and CGI makes the fantastic completely common in these moving pictures. It does make for some spectacular stuff but many of the best adaptations of comics are not related to the genre.
In days gone by the only comics people getting anywhere in the motion picture biz were artists who were largely relegated to storyboarding or set and costume design, rarely having the opportunity to pitch their story ideas to the studios.Today, more and more Hollywood studios are turning to comics for ideas, fortunately there are many execs willing to dig into the more esoteric or personal stories that the medium offers.
Daniel Clowes, auteur extreme has seen a few of his works adapted like
Wilson or the previously mentioned Ghost World. Comics' Mad Mage Alan Moore, much to his dismay has had several of his works refigured by Tinseltown to varying degrees of success.
Others comic scribes are getting ever closer to this with seemingly every new creator owned series being optioned for film by one company or another.
At any rate it is not just capes and tights that have made their way of the page and onto the silver screen and quite often it's the more realistic stories that have made for the best films.
I'll spare y'all my usual long winded web of conspiracy and intersecting evidence that justify my opinions and just lay out a list of good to great films that started as comics.
All the links are for the books, you can do the IMDB search work yourselves.
Here's my shortlist of excellent comic adaptations:
Barbarella by Jean Claude Forest
Robert Crumb's Fritz the Cat
Max Allan Collins' Road to Perdition
John Wagner and Vince Locke's The History of Violence. Masterfully directed by David Cronenberg and starring Viggo Mortensen
Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's historic fiction From Hell was adapted largely faithful to the source material at least in tone.
Ghost in the Shell has been adapted to Anime and now live action.
Harvey Pekar's American Splendor
Steve Niles' 30 Days of Night
And of course Frank Miller's 300 and Sin City
Honorable mention go to :
Greg Rucka's Whiteout
Warren Ellis' RED
Mark Millar's Kingsman
Antony Johnson's ATOMIC BLONDE
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Memory Lad and The Fire of '91 .
This
was the beginning of the glory years, the 90's were upon us . The
great boom before the eventual bust of the industry and Unicorn
Comics, the store that would eventually become Worlds Collide, was
the King of the Hill and soon to be located on top of one!
Unicorn was the original Oshawa comic store, preceding all other immitators, a one of a kind until there was two but that story is for another day.
The period of 1988-91 was in and around the time your not so humble writer began frequenting the Four Color wonderland, captivated by the litany of mags, rags and periodicals available. (mostly Hulk and Punisher comics at that time, truth be told.) The store had been in business for nearly a decade at this point and we had already seen the first generation of specialty comics shops erupt, the Batmania of '89 had come and gone but there was such a swell of interest in the medium and there was such a wealth of material availble the likes of whch had never been seen before.
The Comics Code Authority would dictate the path of the maintstream publishsers for several more years, many new indie publishers and underground artists were......no longer having to deal with the contraints of the news stand, publishers and creators werefreed to make the comics they wanted for whatever audience they wished. Some of the most remarkable talent in comics history appeared on the scene throughout this period and their unbridled creativity brought the medium to new heights while slowly nudging it towards mainstream literary repectability.
I clearly remember wandering downtown toward the store and seeing a closed sign, and although everything downtown closed up by 5 O'clock it was way too early in the day for that. Then looking in on the wreckage of the place. Peering in through the smoky and discolored windows there were comics strewn about, charred, smoke damaged and waterlogged. So many wonderful stories and pieces of art lost to the ravages of fire and the efforts that quelled it. The wreckage of the place was disheartening and a bit shocking.
Besides our losses there were several apartments above the store and a whole bunch of people were displaced, their shock and trauma as a result was surely even worse than ours.
Unicorn was the original Oshawa comic store, preceding all other immitators, a one of a kind until there was two but that story is for another day.
The period of 1988-91 was in and around the time your not so humble writer began frequenting the Four Color wonderland, captivated by the litany of mags, rags and periodicals available. (mostly Hulk and Punisher comics at that time, truth be told.) The store had been in business for nearly a decade at this point and we had already seen the first generation of specialty comics shops erupt, the Batmania of '89 had come and gone but there was such a swell of interest in the medium and there was such a wealth of material availble the likes of whch had never been seen before.
The Comics Code Authority would dictate the path of the maintstream publishsers for several more years, many new indie publishers and underground artists were......no longer having to deal with the contraints of the news stand, publishers and creators werefreed to make the comics they wanted for whatever audience they wished. Some of the most remarkable talent in comics history appeared on the scene throughout this period and their unbridled creativity brought the medium to new heights while slowly nudging it towards mainstream literary repectability.
I clearly remember wandering downtown toward the store and seeing a closed sign, and although everything downtown closed up by 5 O'clock it was way too early in the day for that. Then looking in on the wreckage of the place. Peering in through the smoky and discolored windows there were comics strewn about, charred, smoke damaged and waterlogged. So many wonderful stories and pieces of art lost to the ravages of fire and the efforts that quelled it. The wreckage of the place was disheartening and a bit shocking.
Besides our losses there were several apartments above the store and a whole bunch of people were displaced, their shock and trauma as a result was surely even worse than ours.
Circling back around.....
Pictured above is the unforgettable Memory Lad, Dave Campbell. He was a relentless ball of energy who would depart this world barely a year after this photo was taken. His enthusiasm for comics medium was infectious, you couldn't help but be convinced by his proclamations and arguments. Although it was his indelible and eidetic memory, his superhuman capacity to recall and discuss the stories, artists, writers and anything else related was the most impressive and is still unsurpassed.
Following
Dave's death, Ramon Perez, Eisner Award winner and Legion of
substitute Unicorns member painted a wonderful memorial to his lost
friend, a warm and thoughtful portrait that still hangs in the store.
Featuring Dave as an idol-like golden wonder, he beams with his
trademark enthusiasm ,while the background is populated by a gallery
of mourners, composed of Dave's favorite comics characters in visible
states of disquiet and mourning. This Wake is visited specifically by
Cerebus, The Tick, Animal Man, The Crow, Silver Surfer, Ambush Bug,
Acroyear from The Micronauts and Morpheus the Lord of Dreams.
Every day I look up at Dave and remind myself of the way he treated me and all the others who came through the shop and i try my best to impart that same kind of joy, wonder and love of the medium that he did. Personally I feel the need to always engage the customers, discover their wants and needs, to pick their brains about the books their reading, and as a result i spend countless hours pouring over the latest comics and revisiting classics. Always trying to gain a greater understanding of the comic artform/medium, trying to pack as many wonderful stories and images into my mind as it can hold. It's a Sisyphean struggle but never stops being fun or rewarding.
Every day I look up at Dave and remind myself of the way he treated me and all the others who came through the shop and i try my best to impart that same kind of joy, wonder and love of the medium that he did. Personally I feel the need to always engage the customers, discover their wants and needs, to pick their brains about the books their reading, and as a result i spend countless hours pouring over the latest comics and revisiting classics. Always trying to gain a greater understanding of the comic artform/medium, trying to pack as many wonderful stories and images into my mind as it can hold. It's a Sisyphean struggle but never stops being fun or rewarding.
In
a prescient moment, not uncommon for Dave when asked to pose for a
picture to go with the newspaper article he went and grabbed up one
of the Cerebus "Phonebooks" to not so subtley represent and
show off the greatest Canadian made comic, Dave Sim's Cerebus. It is
a landmark series that came to be at the beginning of the Direct
Market Comics Shop boom and it's possibility, popularity and
proliferation are all inextricably tied to shops like ours. In a
strange way this disaster became a boon, certainly it garnered us some
free advertising.
At any rate, what was a catastrophe for the unfortunate folks that lived in the apartments above the store, did not become the devestating blow to our unique enterprize that it could have.
The pieces were picked up, the store reassemmbled and soon business resumed with hardly a beat missed.
Soon the business would resume and reform, finding itself in what Tim refers to as The Mansion on the Hill, perched overlooking the Oshawa Centre.
Next story: Midnight Madness!!!!
At any rate, what was a catastrophe for the unfortunate folks that lived in the apartments above the store, did not become the devestating blow to our unique enterprize that it could have.
The pieces were picked up, the store reassemmbled and soon business resumed with hardly a beat missed.
Soon the business would resume and reform, finding itself in what Tim refers to as The Mansion on the Hill, perched overlooking the Oshawa Centre.
Next story: Midnight Madness!!!!
Monday, September 11, 2017
Redlands
Jordie Bellaire is widely acknowledged in the comics community as if not the best colorist ( and I think she is) but certainly she is the most prolific and decorated in her craft.
Her ability to speedily and deftly add colored dimensions to just about any art style and within any type of book makes her a highly sought out commodity.
Plenty of primary artists have made the turn to writing in the last few years: Becky Cloonan, Jason Latour, Brian Michael Bendis for that matter, now Jordie steps to the plate with REDLANDS.
And Sweet Lord Below.... she comes out with blazing hellfire with a story that channels the dark depths to drag you into its thrall.
Vanessa Del Rey is best known for her work on Image's Hit and Boom's Empty Man. She is a versatile artist who has opened the artistic Necromicon for this.
Alternately unsettling,and down right horrifying this is a horror mag on a mission.
These ladies, along with arcane typesetter, Clayton Cowles are coming for your soul.
REDLANDS is a blend of Southern Gothic, supernatural horror, ancient grudges and modern angst and it rolls over you in fevered waves.
Bleak rural vistas, people and place rotted from humidity and hate. Fetid and sinister swamps, filled with sharp toothed and diseased creatures only slightly more dangerous and venal than the deluded locals. Then there is an old and vengefully devout coven about to set fire to it all.Too often a comic feels like the artist and writer are not working together. Redundancy abounds in modern comics, the narrative Silly Putty stretched almost beyond recognition to maximaize page count with terminally unvisual art, damn the story.
This is not that kind of book. Torturously paced, with evil lurking around every page. The words and image achieve that symbiosis that is essential in all great comics. Visual metaphors and hieroglyphic construction, filled with purposed and encrypted dialogue. Each statement is pregnant with menace, every name is a curse.
Pure Witchcraft.
This series will seep into your pores and possess you. Give in. Don't miss out.
Issue One is still on the shelves and Issue Two arrives Wednesday September 13th
Check out more at
Image Comics
Jordie's Webspace
Vanesa's Page
Clayton Cowles' thingbob
A brief Preview of #1 is available here via Previews Mag.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Bagged, Boarded + Buried
taking care of one's collection can be overwhelming. at the very least it is time consuming. even for folks like me who have less than zero interest in reselling their personal cache. cumulatively,making sure that the fragile and flimsy paper products i have spent most of my life hoarding are maintained for continuous enjoyment totals thousands of hours.
some of the more obsessive types may enjoy all of this tedium, even find it theraputic, but at this point it is simply an unconscionable task. fruitless, endless and soul crushing.
when i stop to thik how many hours of my life have been spent bagging and boarding comic books (keep in mind that on top of collecting comics for over 30yrs i have also spent a good portion of my working life being paid to do all of this in Comics Shops) it is fairly stupifying.
usually on sunday or monday i drag out a case of 1000 loose boards and a case of bags
(this is roughly enough for the week here in terms of new comics sales.) then set to work, absently sliding one into another until my pile is gone. i'm fairly proficient with this task at this point in my life. fortunatley my job in regards to these paired instruments of storage is largely done at that point. all that remains is to stuff them in with a customer's purchases, except for the few extra needy OCD folk that prefer i bag their booky wooks for transport.
of course any new acquisitions require bagging, some issues that have been waiting for their forever home too long might also need a spiffier presentation. and that's it because no, i will not give you a free bag and board for anything out of the .50cent or Free bins!
about the time my first child emerged from inner space to the world at large i stopped keeping up with my diligent filing and sorting systems and for the last 8+ years i can not for the love of goat make myself get back on task. there's too many boxes to move, too many titles to shuffle and shift within, and so damned many to put into some semblance of order. the current count haas at least 8 long boxes of unsorted materials, just to give you an idea of the sisyphean task before me. presented with the daunting challenge of how to begin, when to do it and then actually resuming the proper storage and organisation of my preciouses i came upon an idea to solve this logistic terror.
the plan is thus:
i propose to sell all my comics to the store for what i could hope to be about 40% of their retail value, tho if i catch sight of just how many Extreme and Homage Studios books i still retain, and lets not in anyway mention the preponderance of X-Force #1's lurk in the darkest corner, i will have to reduce the collection's value signifigantly.
once the transaction is complete i will then book myself in to fully evaluate, grade,
bag + board, colate and price the books. this i figure should take a good 200 person hours.
now with a filled bank account from the sale of my collection and working double hours for a good 5 weeks. i then sell them back to myself.
using a loose math on untaxed hours combined with the purchase in take and return sale with employee discount i will only roughly lose $50000. or perhaps i could go all out, move town, open a new comic book store franchise so i can pocket the profit i make from selling the books back and forth to myself, less tax deductions of course.
this all seems strangely equitable compared to doing this on my own free time.
really i see no other way that i will ever get the motivation to do all of this.
only as part of a necessary paid task will i do it.
a year's lost wage is a pleasant happening compared to all the time wasted procrastinating, interupted by snacks or reading and lamentation that this act will surely be my existential hell to come, if i am not already there.
these books are not gonna bag themselves.
they won't even alphabetise themselves.
even just first letter organised would be great.
i occassionally think of getting a great big slide/garbage chute to rocket the boxes onto the back of a truck, destination unknown. sometimes i think about being buried with or by the books and only years after my unexplained disappearance, they find me under a stack of discolored and malodorous mags clutching my prized Weird War Tales to my mascicated breast.
mostly i think of arson as a solution. i don't even want the insurance money. just the satisfaction that i don't have to carry these things around anymore and that no one else will ever have them either.
think warms thoughts, friends.
it's cold out there.
some of the more obsessive types may enjoy all of this tedium, even find it theraputic, but at this point it is simply an unconscionable task. fruitless, endless and soul crushing.
when i stop to thik how many hours of my life have been spent bagging and boarding comic books (keep in mind that on top of collecting comics for over 30yrs i have also spent a good portion of my working life being paid to do all of this in Comics Shops) it is fairly stupifying.
usually on sunday or monday i drag out a case of 1000 loose boards and a case of bags
(this is roughly enough for the week here in terms of new comics sales.) then set to work, absently sliding one into another until my pile is gone. i'm fairly proficient with this task at this point in my life. fortunatley my job in regards to these paired instruments of storage is largely done at that point. all that remains is to stuff them in with a customer's purchases, except for the few extra needy OCD folk that prefer i bag their booky wooks for transport.
of course any new acquisitions require bagging, some issues that have been waiting for their forever home too long might also need a spiffier presentation. and that's it because no, i will not give you a free bag and board for anything out of the .50cent or Free bins!
about the time my first child emerged from inner space to the world at large i stopped keeping up with my diligent filing and sorting systems and for the last 8+ years i can not for the love of goat make myself get back on task. there's too many boxes to move, too many titles to shuffle and shift within, and so damned many to put into some semblance of order. the current count haas at least 8 long boxes of unsorted materials, just to give you an idea of the sisyphean task before me. presented with the daunting challenge of how to begin, when to do it and then actually resuming the proper storage and organisation of my preciouses i came upon an idea to solve this logistic terror.
the plan is thus:
i propose to sell all my comics to the store for what i could hope to be about 40% of their retail value, tho if i catch sight of just how many Extreme and Homage Studios books i still retain, and lets not in anyway mention the preponderance of X-Force #1's lurk in the darkest corner, i will have to reduce the collection's value signifigantly.
once the transaction is complete i will then book myself in to fully evaluate, grade,
bag + board, colate and price the books. this i figure should take a good 200 person hours.
now with a filled bank account from the sale of my collection and working double hours for a good 5 weeks. i then sell them back to myself.
using a loose math on untaxed hours combined with the purchase in take and return sale with employee discount i will only roughly lose $50000. or perhaps i could go all out, move town, open a new comic book store franchise so i can pocket the profit i make from selling the books back and forth to myself, less tax deductions of course.
this all seems strangely equitable compared to doing this on my own free time.
really i see no other way that i will ever get the motivation to do all of this.
only as part of a necessary paid task will i do it.
a year's lost wage is a pleasant happening compared to all the time wasted procrastinating, interupted by snacks or reading and lamentation that this act will surely be my existential hell to come, if i am not already there.
these books are not gonna bag themselves.
they won't even alphabetise themselves.
even just first letter organised would be great.
i occassionally think of getting a great big slide/garbage chute to rocket the boxes onto the back of a truck, destination unknown. sometimes i think about being buried with or by the books and only years after my unexplained disappearance, they find me under a stack of discolored and malodorous mags clutching my prized Weird War Tales to my mascicated breast.
mostly i think of arson as a solution. i don't even want the insurance money. just the satisfaction that i don't have to carry these things around anymore and that no one else will ever have them either.
think warms thoughts, friends.
it's cold out there.
Monday, June 5, 2017
Environmental Issues, Pressing the Press, Compostable Comics
Comics being the product of the resource intensive newspaper and publishing industry is not often thought of as being a particularly environmentally conscious type of business.
Despite this there have been many varied and exceedingly well done comics with cautionary tales of environmental distress and misuse. Ironically printed on paper, when our ever dwindling resource is necessary not just to make fine books but to keep air in our lungs.
Within the industry there has also been initiatives over the years to offset and mitigate the deforesting and destruction of Mama Earth. The foresight shown by some publishers is both thoughtful and promising. Dark Horse was the first to offer some books on wholly recycled papers and now virtually all the books you get have some measure of reused or recycled paper fibers being used.
Many comics, notably all DC publications carry a certification from
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification which oversees forestry worldwide to
maintain sustainability of our worldwide natural resources.
To further explore the ecological aspect of the ecological world as viewed through the comic book prism take a look at the suggestions below. You'll find some of the best and brightest creators in the art form producing some of their finest works, because they believe in the message.
Neil Young has been a champion of planet earth for ages and never so apparent in Joshua Dysart and Cliff Chiang's adaptation of his theme album Greendale detailing the lives of the Green family , their history and the activism of some of their members.
The whole of the family and their community are inseperable from the land they live on, the water they work
Paul Chadwick's tale of a man trapped in a rock body trying to reconnect with the world he previously ignored. His journey to feel alive and human again sees him cross the globe many times: he climbs Everest, scours the Ocean Depths, works on a farm, wanders the Pacific North West and even joins activist group Earth First! as a means to better the world.
as well as the general health of the biosphere.
Moebius' Edena Cycle is more about personal transformation but still focuses heavily on a return to nature and appreciation of the world around us....away from the poisoned destructive technocracies we've built our societies into.
The far spanning and long running series of Bande Designees finally saw a complete English collection just last year.
Michael Zulli's Puma Blues was a massive achievement in terms of both it's message and Zulli's unmatched rendering of natural environs and fantastic fauna.
Stephen Murphy's script and poetry create a cautionary and remorseful tale of our world being poisoned by industry and unfettered human expansion throughout the globe.
Environmental awareness also creeps into comics in subtler forms.
Hiyao Miyazaki's Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind displays a wonder and love of the natural world.
While new books like ICHI-F , chronicling the Fukishima show the cost of our ecological errors.
Josh Neufeld's AD:New Orleans After Deluge expressed a different kind of environmental destruction that also makes for good comics.
Publishers Weekly have also put out a solid list of environmentally themed graphic novels and comics for your further enjoyment and information.
All of these and more are available to you at Worlds Collide Comics.
But you already knew that, didn't you?
And hey, it's our planet, take care of it!
Despite this there have been many varied and exceedingly well done comics with cautionary tales of environmental distress and misuse. Ironically printed on paper, when our ever dwindling resource is necessary not just to make fine books but to keep air in our lungs.
Within the industry there has also been initiatives over the years to offset and mitigate the deforesting and destruction of Mama Earth. The foresight shown by some publishers is both thoughtful and promising. Dark Horse was the first to offer some books on wholly recycled papers and now virtually all the books you get have some measure of reused or recycled paper fibers being used.
Many comics, notably all DC publications carry a certification from
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification which oversees forestry worldwide to
maintain sustainability of our worldwide natural resources.
To further explore the ecological aspect of the ecological world as viewed through the comic book prism take a look at the suggestions below. You'll find some of the best and brightest creators in the art form producing some of their finest works, because they believe in the message.
Neil Young has been a champion of planet earth for ages and never so apparent in Joshua Dysart and Cliff Chiang's adaptation of his theme album Greendale detailing the lives of the Green family , their history and the activism of some of their members.The whole of the family and their community are inseperable from the land they live on, the water they work
Paul Chadwick's tale of a man trapped in a rock body trying to reconnect with the world he previously ignored. His journey to feel alive and human again sees him cross the globe many times: he climbs Everest, scours the Ocean Depths, works on a farm, wanders the Pacific North West and even joins activist group Earth First! as a means to better the world.
DC's Swamp Thing, originally a simple Frankenstein type horror character transformed under the deft workings of Alan Moore. His re-imagining saw the series mature into a highly intelligent socially and environmentally conscious book.
Stories dealing with corporate negligence nuclear waste, chemical dumpings and poisoned land became central themes. A naturalistic approach to the art, featuring almost entirely organic shapesas well as the general health of the biosphere.
Moebius' Edena Cycle is more about personal transformation but still focuses heavily on a return to nature and appreciation of the world around us....away from the poisoned destructive technocracies we've built our societies into.The far spanning and long running series of Bande Designees finally saw a complete English collection just last year.
Michael Zulli's Puma Blues was a massive achievement in terms of both it's message and Zulli's unmatched rendering of natural environs and fantastic fauna.
Stephen Murphy's script and poetry create a cautionary and remorseful tale of our world being poisoned by industry and unfettered human expansion throughout the globe.
Environmental awareness also creeps into comics in subtler forms.
Hiyao Miyazaki's Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind displays a wonder and love of the natural world.
While new books like ICHI-F , chronicling the Fukishima show the cost of our ecological errors.
Josh Neufeld's AD:New Orleans After Deluge expressed a different kind of environmental destruction that also makes for good comics.
Publishers Weekly have also put out a solid list of environmentally themed graphic novels and comics for your further enjoyment and information.
All of these and more are available to you at Worlds Collide Comics.
But you already knew that, didn't you?
And hey, it's our planet, take care of it!
Monday, May 30, 2016
#comicsarebooks
This would seem easy to grasp considering it is in the very description of the things.
But leave it to humankind to miss the point, and to ignore the purpose and benefits of a thing,
fixate on something arbitrary like collectability and to utterly suck the joy out of something.
Hello.
Today we talk about a problem that affects a major portion of comic book consumers.
Most of which can be summarized by these oft heard utterances:
"They're gonna' be worth something..."
"I don't let my kids read them"
"I'm saving them for...."
"they're still in the plastic"
I don't wish to discourage someone's joy or hobby it avoids the crucial points that:
comics being the descendant of both the comic strip and the pulp magazine, they were always intended to be read.
But somewhere along the line at the end of the 70's ..
then came the comics specialty stores,
and along with them came plastic bags, PVC, mylar, lucite...preserved for future generations.
COMICS ARE BOOKS!
the old ones are valued/valuable because everyone threw them away,
the new ones are all protected and will ensure that the appreciation of value doesn't happen
this comes the CGC company and their offspring...
offering "Premium Grading Services" and ironclad returns on your investments
and suddenly $3 books out this week are slabbed and restickered at $100 bucks.
it's a false market based on speculation
and with my own eyes i have seen flawed and suspect grading,
even some things that could be considered as dishonest.
as someone who has graded books and worked in comic shops for a good part of 20 years i find it offensive that these services are regarded as authoritative.
no one at Chapters/Indigo/Borders gets harangued daily with questions about prospective long term resale value or even fields questions about whether or not a book is 1st print.
COMICS ARE BOOKS!
the value is in the reading. literacy is still a concern in this world
and there are progressively less people who are properly literate.....
as the world shifts more and more to videos...Youtube and if they're lucky a TedTalk or two..
we need books in hands. it has to start with kids... conditioning them to enjoy and desire the experience of reading, the mental discipline and experience of assembling the information within without it being diluted and spoonfed thru Newsfeeds, RSS, GIFs and vid clips.
READ COMICS!
books need to be in our hands, our backpacks and pockets.
they need to be on our shelves and nightstands.
COMICS ARE BOOKS!
American comics have come a long way to catch up with Europe and Japan in terms of quality and to effectively quarantine them, keep them out of readers hands
READ COMICS!
perhaps the tide is a turning....
just today we gave a talk at a local school about graphic novels and comics that coincides with their Graphic Novel Week and Book Sale. I was truly enthused by the excitement and energy these kids have for the stuff. they asked lotsa questions, took down shopping list notes, thumbed thru the books and beckoned each other back and forth to scope out one book or another,
And not one of them asked how much it would be worth in 5 Years,
Ah......satisfaction.
READ COMICS!
But leave it to humankind to miss the point, and to ignore the purpose and benefits of a thing,
fixate on something arbitrary like collectability and to utterly suck the joy out of something.
Hello.
Today we talk about a problem that affects a major portion of comic book consumers.
Most of which can be summarized by these oft heard utterances:
"They're gonna' be worth something..."
"I don't let my kids read them"
"I'm saving them for...."
"they're still in the plastic"
I don't wish to discourage someone's joy or hobby it avoids the crucial points that:
comics being the descendant of both the comic strip and the pulp magazine, they were always intended to be read.
But somewhere along the line at the end of the 70's ..
then came the comics specialty stores,
and along with them came plastic bags, PVC, mylar, lucite...preserved for future generations.
COMICS ARE BOOKS!
the old ones are valued/valuable because everyone threw them away,
the new ones are all protected and will ensure that the appreciation of value doesn't happen
this comes the CGC company and their offspring...
offering "Premium Grading Services" and ironclad returns on your investments
and suddenly $3 books out this week are slabbed and restickered at $100 bucks.
it's a false market based on speculation
and with my own eyes i have seen flawed and suspect grading,
even some things that could be considered as dishonest.
as someone who has graded books and worked in comic shops for a good part of 20 years i find it offensive that these services are regarded as authoritative.
no one at Chapters/Indigo/Borders gets harangued daily with questions about prospective long term resale value or even fields questions about whether or not a book is 1st print.
COMICS ARE BOOKS!
the value is in the reading. literacy is still a concern in this world
and there are progressively less people who are properly literate.....
as the world shifts more and more to videos...Youtube and if they're lucky a TedTalk or two..
we need books in hands. it has to start with kids... conditioning them to enjoy and desire the experience of reading, the mental discipline and experience of assembling the information within without it being diluted and spoonfed thru Newsfeeds, RSS, GIFs and vid clips.
READ COMICS!
books need to be in our hands, our backpacks and pockets.
they need to be on our shelves and nightstands.
COMICS ARE BOOKS!
American comics have come a long way to catch up with Europe and Japan in terms of quality and to effectively quarantine them, keep them out of readers hands
READ COMICS!
perhaps the tide is a turning....
just today we gave a talk at a local school about graphic novels and comics that coincides with their Graphic Novel Week and Book Sale. I was truly enthused by the excitement and energy these kids have for the stuff. they asked lotsa questions, took down shopping list notes, thumbed thru the books and beckoned each other back and forth to scope out one book or another,
And not one of them asked how much it would be worth in 5 Years,
Ah......satisfaction.
READ COMICS!
Monday, April 25, 2016
Off the ledge.
Karen Berger joins Image!
whoa! this should be the biggest news in comics, with the upstarts further eroding the foundation of the Pillars of Industry, DC.
But then....BAM!...
Shelly Bond fired?!?
DC has turfed Vertigo's long time editor and current head of things, Shelly Bond has been let go in what is stated as a restructuring, the reasons being mainly that VERTIGO sales are poor.
The internet contingents lose their minds about this as is expected and many veer off into ugly territory centering around scumbag DC editor Eddie Berganza. This relates only in that it points out the disconnect from reality that DC's co-publishers and Super-Buddies, Jim Lee and Dan DiDio(t) operate under.
VERTIGO was the brainchild of Karen Berger, which was the front line of progressive comics in the American market since its inception. Shelly Bond was there from the beginning, side by side with Karen Berger building and crafting Vertigo into the industry leader it was, Always maintaining a solid core of ongoing titles (many creator owned,which is highly relevant) and publishing some of the most unique and beautifully crafted mini-series and OGNs in comics' history.
Vertigo has been going to pot since the New52 . Not suprisingly Berger left her post soon after DC did their big revamp, which in specific to this took the two central characters to the line and dumped them back into the regular superhero line.
The loss of Swamp Thing and Hellblazer, along with the recent conclusion of Fables are devastating enough, removing from the shelves a constant presence. the back pages of each core book also carried invaluable house ads for all the various projects Vertigo produced. On The Ledge was the editorial page that also gave voice to the creators and the other folk making things happen for the imprint,
There has a visible and traumatic creativity drain from the company in these recent times because after years of producing and encouraging independent and creator owned titles the Publishers decided that they would no longer do so unless the creators ceded the rights to multimedia (read: movie making) productions to DC. Image Comics on the other hand gave creators free reign to do what they please with their creations and even gave fewer/no restrictions on content.
In previous years creators/titles that were accepted were given a worry free 5yrs to tell their story without interference or fear of cancellation . Now titles get the axe if they haven't sold well in the first 5 issues! The publishers apparently think that the panic and reset tactics ( to less and less success)that they employ on the superhero line is a sound strategy for all it's line,
There never would have been a Sandman or Preacher or Transmetropolitan if this "strategy" was wielded by Berger and Bond through out the previous 2 decades.
Ultimately Bond has been let go for reasons mostly out of her control and which don't address the massive amounts of TPB/GN sales tied to her Editorial stint. This move, never mind the optics is a bad one and it considerably weakens an already staggered line. Just this week DC announced the launch of another line ( headed by rocker and occasional comic writer,Gerard Way called Young Animal) apparently "in the spirit of old Vertigo"while disposing of a talent who has been there for it all.
Recently I have been critical of some of the direction from Vertigo, even wondering whether or not it would be around much longer.But I have been pleasantly surprised by many of the titles and each of the current books offers something unique and new even if it isn't to my tastes, They have continued to push forward and to challenge readers and while I believe the remaining talents at the imprint will continue to do the best that their considerable talents will afford but the repeated tampering and over-management from above will be the death of this thing.
So, say goodbye to Vertigo....it just fell off the ledge.
whoa! this should be the biggest news in comics, with the upstarts further eroding the foundation of the Pillars of Industry, DC.
But then....BAM!...
Shelly Bond fired?!?
DC has turfed Vertigo's long time editor and current head of things, Shelly Bond has been let go in what is stated as a restructuring, the reasons being mainly that VERTIGO sales are poor.
The internet contingents lose their minds about this as is expected and many veer off into ugly territory centering around scumbag DC editor Eddie Berganza. This relates only in that it points out the disconnect from reality that DC's co-publishers and Super-Buddies, Jim Lee and Dan DiDio(t) operate under.
VERTIGO was the brainchild of Karen Berger, which was the front line of progressive comics in the American market since its inception. Shelly Bond was there from the beginning, side by side with Karen Berger building and crafting Vertigo into the industry leader it was, Always maintaining a solid core of ongoing titles (many creator owned,which is highly relevant) and publishing some of the most unique and beautifully crafted mini-series and OGNs in comics' history.
Vertigo has been going to pot since the New52 . Not suprisingly Berger left her post soon after DC did their big revamp, which in specific to this took the two central characters to the line and dumped them back into the regular superhero line.
The loss of Swamp Thing and Hellblazer, along with the recent conclusion of Fables are devastating enough, removing from the shelves a constant presence. the back pages of each core book also carried invaluable house ads for all the various projects Vertigo produced. On The Ledge was the editorial page that also gave voice to the creators and the other folk making things happen for the imprint,
There has a visible and traumatic creativity drain from the company in these recent times because after years of producing and encouraging independent and creator owned titles the Publishers decided that they would no longer do so unless the creators ceded the rights to multimedia (read: movie making) productions to DC. Image Comics on the other hand gave creators free reign to do what they please with their creations and even gave fewer/no restrictions on content.
In previous years creators/titles that were accepted were given a worry free 5yrs to tell their story without interference or fear of cancellation . Now titles get the axe if they haven't sold well in the first 5 issues! The publishers apparently think that the panic and reset tactics ( to less and less success)that they employ on the superhero line is a sound strategy for all it's line,
There never would have been a Sandman or Preacher or Transmetropolitan if this "strategy" was wielded by Berger and Bond through out the previous 2 decades.
Ultimately Bond has been let go for reasons mostly out of her control and which don't address the massive amounts of TPB/GN sales tied to her Editorial stint. This move, never mind the optics is a bad one and it considerably weakens an already staggered line. Just this week DC announced the launch of another line ( headed by rocker and occasional comic writer,Gerard Way called Young Animal) apparently "in the spirit of old Vertigo"while disposing of a talent who has been there for it all.
Recently I have been critical of some of the direction from Vertigo, even wondering whether or not it would be around much longer.But I have been pleasantly surprised by many of the titles and each of the current books offers something unique and new even if it isn't to my tastes, They have continued to push forward and to challenge readers and while I believe the remaining talents at the imprint will continue to do the best that their considerable talents will afford but the repeated tampering and over-management from above will be the death of this thing.
So, say goodbye to Vertigo....it just fell off the ledge.
Monday, March 23, 2015
The MIGNOLAVERSE
For the uninitiated, this is the home, the place,the creative deposit for the characters and stories of MIKE MIGNOLA, artist/writer/creator of HELLBOY.
The big red guy with the stone hand and his pals in The B.P.R.D. are familiar the most, from either books or film but it certainly doesn't stop there.
The adventures of LOBSTER JOHNSON and the massive SLEDGEHAMMER '44 take you down dark corridors filled with Nazi Frog monsters, cyborg apes and otherworldly serpent gods.
It's a dark mistfilled world, forever in shadows, full of mythology, folklore, dark science, and the most menacing of arts and architecture.
BALTIMORE and SIR EDWARD GREY: WITCHFINDER also wander thru the murk and mire of this gloomy existence.
Sprinkle in a few Golems and Homunculi and even Dr. Frankenstein's own monster, who is starring in his own series, FRANKENSTEIN UNDERGROUND.
Occassional visits from Edgar Allan Poe, BATMAN, Rasputin even Hitler stopped in for pancakes once or twice.
Mignola's own art has been genre defining, his take on the chiaroscuro art style and love of intricate buildings and arcane symbols draws you in, never fully explaining itself.
His knowledge of occultism and esoteric religions and history in general is seemingly a bottomless pit of weird, strange and phantasmal menaces. Unleashing horrors and half remembered folklore with enough left unshown to let your imagination roam into the most chilling possibilities.
Plenty of comics' finest artists have also lent their talents to the many series:
Guy Davis illustrated the B.P.R.D.'s title for the better part of a hundred issues.
The legendary Richard Corben who has illustrated some of the most outright grotesque of all the offerings.
Hellboy has been to Europe, survived WWII, gone to Africa and Mexico, down to the bottom of the oceans and into hell itself. Countless fights with demons and 25 years into his publishing history HELLBOY is still going strong. Most recently in the current series HELLBOY and The B.P.R.D.: 1952 , which details Red's first forays into the field of paranormal investigating and monster fighting.
Each story adds a bit to the big picture, filling in bits of Hellboy's past and future and the surrounding stories paint a vivid world that keeps growing and getting better and odder with age.
So get your best flashlight or candleabra, a dark corner in an old house or underneath the covers and fall into one of the many books the Mignolaverse has to offer.
And if a cool slimy tentacle reaches over your shoulder and turns the page, leaving mucous across your cheek, don't say you weren't warned.
Monday, March 9, 2015
DARK CIRCLE COMICS
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY is coming upon May 2nd. just under two months.
Amongst the many great books you can sample from, one of the highlights for me will be the
DARK CIRCLE COMICS issue that is being released.
DARK CIRCLE is ARCHIE COMICS superhero imprint. Known once upon a time as RED CIRCLE. Publishing a host of titles such as THE SHIELD, THE FOX, BLACK HOOD, JAGUAR and The FLY. the imprint also released a number of mystery and occult themed titles like FORBIDDEN WORLDS and CHILLING ADVENTURES IN SORCERY.(which was narrated by everyone`s favorite teenaged witch Sabrina.)
These titles and characters have seen various revisions and reimaginings but none more impressive that the current incarnations.
BLACK HOOD by Duane Swierczynski and Michael Gaydos is already out and it was top notch grimy pulp fare. The first issue was like a slug to the head and finds the titular character gunned down within the first few pages. Makes for a good start.
THE FOX has been previously treated to a mini-series by MARK WAID and DEAN HASPIEL which was both action packed and full of fun. The new series which is out April 8th figures to offer the same.
And on April 15th THE SHIELD returns in another wholly reinvisioned take that looks be able to take all the other Flag waving ans Star-Spangled do-gooders to task.
Written by Adam Christopher and Chuck Wendig with art by David Williams, Gary Martin, Rachel Deering andKelly Fitzpatrick
Prepare to be amazed by these vibrant new series.
Amongst the many great books you can sample from, one of the highlights for me will be the
DARK CIRCLE COMICS issue that is being released.
DARK CIRCLE is ARCHIE COMICS superhero imprint. Known once upon a time as RED CIRCLE. Publishing a host of titles such as THE SHIELD, THE FOX, BLACK HOOD, JAGUAR and The FLY. the imprint also released a number of mystery and occult themed titles like FORBIDDEN WORLDS and CHILLING ADVENTURES IN SORCERY.(which was narrated by everyone`s favorite teenaged witch Sabrina.)
These titles and characters have seen various revisions and reimaginings but none more impressive that the current incarnations.
BLACK HOOD by Duane Swierczynski and Michael Gaydos is already out and it was top notch grimy pulp fare. The first issue was like a slug to the head and finds the titular character gunned down within the first few pages. Makes for a good start.
THE FOX has been previously treated to a mini-series by MARK WAID and DEAN HASPIEL which was both action packed and full of fun. The new series which is out April 8th figures to offer the same.
Prepare to be amazed by these vibrant new series.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
THE BLITZ! is coming.
i miss self contained stories.
and i believe as creators of serialized periodical literature
-comic book type persons, i mean you-
we owe it to the readers to at least make each chapter
-even if it's part of a larger story-
readable on its own.
i loved the back-up stories that NATIONAL used to run.
quite often they were better than the feature.
stories are our means of conveying knowledge and aspirations, history and dreams, past future and present can collide in whichever way we choose and often the best stories are a complete mess of appropriated truths mashed together to make a point or poignant drama.
i prefer a cinema vérité approach to writing, carefully choosing my angles but always being honest.
"i always tell the truth. even when i lie"- Tony Montana
if nothing else my fictions tell the actual feelings from my sternly subjective viewpoint.
sharpen your wits and sense of adventure.
and dress warm,
it's cold out there.
Friday, July 11, 2014
gone FISCHing
reading SCOOBY DOO TEAM-UP to my son i noticed the name attributed to the author,
SHOLLY FISCH.
i'd seen it before in the pages of the recent ACTION COMICS but hadn't given it a second thought.
at first it sounded too cliche, an all too stereotypical NooYawk/Jersey name that woulda fit right in tight with Shelly Meyer, Jules Schwartz and all those Americanised Jewish names that seemingly most of Comicdom worked under in the Golden and Silver ages.
Jacob Kurtzberg's ghost was calling.....
due to the overwhelmingly well written tale that featured not just the MYSTERY INC. gang and The BATMAN, it also featured 60's relic and 5th dimensional imp BATMITE. there were so many well executed nods and tips of the hat to comics and teevee of yesteryear and the unabashed love of BATMITE got me intrigued.
i sought to discover more of this writer's work and found some confounding information about his contributions to comics and beyond.
as my conspiratory thinking got really cookin', could this be just Grant Morrison, the Mad Mage of DC simply spreading his wings under another moniker? he's used many styles and written just about every type of story under the sun, not to mention a few about multiple personalities so i figured that Mr. Fisch's byline in the back pages of a Morrison mag might be reasonable....
so into the digital waters i dove....
turns out that Scholly Fisch is a real and terrific human being completely separate from Grant Morrison. tho Morrison was instrumental in getting the good man on the Action Comics gig.
nonetheless his comics resume is extensive tho relatively low profile.
he's put pen to many a DCU title ALL NEW BATMAN, SCOOBY-DOO WHERE ARE YOU?
SCOOBY TEAM UP, DC SUPER FRIENDS, LOONEY TUNES, JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED,TEEN TITANS GO!.
he's also written a litany of other titles and stories for other publishers: MR PEABODY AND SHERMAN for IDW and
WHAT IF?, WHAT THE? MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS and MARVEL AGE for that other company whose name i just typed thrice so i need not repeat it.
the guy's being writing comics for 25years and i didn't notice until about two years back.
i was floored.
his dedication and devotion to children and their development is a revelation and boon.
not to mention they're some really fun and good reads.
meet Dr Shalom Fisch PhD,
ya getta load of that!
oh ya, and this month CATWOMAN 29 is scripted by .....
so go check that out or some SCOOBY-DOO TEAM UP.|
it's well worth your time.
and here's a bunch more links to trace the good Doctor's history:
http://news.pampers.com/leadership/board-members/shalom-fisch-phd
http://archive.informalscience.org/member/show/6322
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2442446/
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=review_srch&by=creator&for=Sholly+Fisch
http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Shalom-Fisch/127771601
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Age_of_Comic_Books
http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=2540
SHOLLY FISCH.
i'd seen it before in the pages of the recent ACTION COMICS but hadn't given it a second thought.
at first it sounded too cliche, an all too stereotypical NooYawk/Jersey name that woulda fit right in tight with Shelly Meyer, Jules Schwartz and all those Americanised Jewish names that seemingly most of Comicdom worked under in the Golden and Silver ages.
Jacob Kurtzberg's ghost was calling.....
due to the overwhelmingly well written tale that featured not just the MYSTERY INC. gang and The BATMAN, it also featured 60's relic and 5th dimensional imp BATMITE. there were so many well executed nods and tips of the hat to comics and teevee of yesteryear and the unabashed love of BATMITE got me intrigued.
i sought to discover more of this writer's work and found some confounding information about his contributions to comics and beyond.
as my conspiratory thinking got really cookin', could this be just Grant Morrison, the Mad Mage of DC simply spreading his wings under another moniker? he's used many styles and written just about every type of story under the sun, not to mention a few about multiple personalities so i figured that Mr. Fisch's byline in the back pages of a Morrison mag might be reasonable....
so into the digital waters i dove....
turns out that Scholly Fisch is a real and terrific human being completely separate from Grant Morrison. tho Morrison was instrumental in getting the good man on the Action Comics gig.
nonetheless his comics resume is extensive tho relatively low profile.
he's put pen to many a DCU title ALL NEW BATMAN, SCOOBY-DOO WHERE ARE YOU?
SCOOBY TEAM UP, DC SUPER FRIENDS, LOONEY TUNES, JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED,TEEN TITANS GO!.
he's also written a litany of other titles and stories for other publishers: MR PEABODY AND SHERMAN for IDW and
WHAT IF?, WHAT THE? MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS and MARVEL AGE for that other company whose name i just typed thrice so i need not repeat it.
the guy's being writing comics for 25years and i didn't notice until about two years back.
i was floored.
his dedication and devotion to children and their development is a revelation and boon.
not to mention they're some really fun and good reads.
meet Dr Shalom Fisch PhD,
Developmental Psychologist and former Vice President for Program Research Sesame Workshop, President and Founder of MediaKidz .
he has also penned multiple essays, examinations and treatises on children's education such as Children's Learning from Educational Television: Sesame Street and Beyond and G IS FOR GROWING which collected studies on sesame streets effect on kids.
he has also penned multiple essays, examinations and treatises on children's education such as Children's Learning from Educational Television: Sesame Street and Beyond and G IS FOR GROWING which collected studies on sesame streets effect on kids.
ya getta load of that!
oh ya, and this month CATWOMAN 29 is scripted by .....
so go check that out or some SCOOBY-DOO TEAM UP.|
it's well worth your time.
and here's a bunch more links to trace the good Doctor's history:
http://news.pampers.com/leadership/board-members/shalom-fisch-phd
http://archive.informalscience.org/member/show/6322
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2442446/
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=review_srch&by=creator&for=Sholly+Fisch
http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Shalom-Fisch/127771601
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Age_of_Comic_Books
http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=2540
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)