Intelligent Designs

THE STORY OF O Graphic Novel Reviewed

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:26:00 +0000

In 2009, I reviewed THE STORY OF O hardcover collection of the late Guido Crepax's comic book adaptation of the Pauline Reage's classic of sado-masochistic eroticism. I just discovered that the out-of-print collection is now available digitally at Comixology. So, I present that link here and reprint my review in full for any who might be curious. The price for the digital is $9.99 or you can download a 10-page preview version for free. Here's the link.

THE STORY OF O
Writer: Pauline Reage
Artist: Guido Crepax
Publisher: NBM Comics Lit/Eurotica

“O realized that through the medium of her body shared between them…they attained something more mysterious and perhaps more intense than an amorous bond…a union of which the very conception was arduous.”

To review hardcore erotica of the sort like THE STORY OF O is a challenging task, at least for me. It is easy to approach something like this with a flippant adolescent mocking tone. But, as far as I’m concerned, that does a disservice to the artist’s intent in something like this. For those who may be unfamiliar with the story itself, the original prose version of THE STORY OF O was first published in the 1950s and was a shockingly explicit and brutal yet also sensual and erotic examination of sexual submission. The story was so shocking, in fact, that the French government attempted to suppress it. In the most graphic of details, this misogynistic story involves a man’s deliverance of a series of progressively more degrading, painful, and humiliating sexual abuses to his mate. Through these acts of bondage, pain, and shame he breaks her spirit and reduces her to his complete and utter will-less sexual slave….even to the point of having her branded with his initials.

Even in these more “open” times with all forms of pornography available to anyone with access to the internet, the story is still shocking in the extent to which the writer…a woman herself…dove headlong into the deepest parts of the human sexual dark places. It is a dirty thing to read. It is harsh and mean and twisted. After each new level of abuse that O endures, her husband makes her tell him she loves him. If she reaches a point of enjoying the pain or abuse, then the abuse is increased until she breaks again. It is a story of depravity and how such debasement can be twisted into love.

Ultimately, while the original novel itself is a classic of erotic literature because of the times in which it was first published, this graphic adaptation by Guido Crepax is a classic itself even though it was not originally published until the 1970s. Crepax, who passed away in 2003, was an amazing Italian comic artist who tore down barriers in his commitment to using the comic book form to tell truly adult stories. In his attempts to liberate the European world of comic art in the 1960s and 1970s from the emphasis on childish content, he boldly stepped up and tackled sex and pure erotica as his own emphasis. From his own original character Valentina to adapting classics of erotica in graphic form, he established himself as a master of the sexual genre and comic art medium. Crepax’s adaptation of THE STORY OF O is widely considered his magnum opus….and with good reason.

In this review, I’m not going to attempt to give an opinion on the “story” because that would be akin, in my opinion, to reviewing a Classics Illustrated adaptation of…say…A CHRISTMAS CAROL… and actually taking time to talk about Charles Dickens’ efforts in writing the original story. So, I will let the story stand on its own and I’ll let each reader determine his or her own degree of comfortability with it. Instead, let me address what is paramount in this new hardbound complete collection of Crepax’s adaptation…which was originally serialized…and that is Crepax’s efforts here as illustrator of Pauline Reage’s story.

First of all, the Eurotica imprint of NBM Publishing has done a beautiful job of packaging this book together. Crepax’s work is entirely in stark black and white, as befits the story itself, and the book designers have utilized his work in crafting an attractive black cover with a gorgeous small panel of O’s face blindfolded and with a chained collar on her neck. It is perfectly symbolic of the overall theme of the book itself and slyly provocative enough to catch the casual observer’s eye with its placement surrounded by so much blackness…once again the use of black also symbolizing the harsh darkness of the world the reader is about to enter. The subtle and unique circular signature of “Guido Crepax” is also positioned on the cover so that those who know the name also know what they are about to encounter within the pages of this book. The end papers are almost entirely black except for a series of 1” x 1 ½” panels running horizontal from end to end to where they almost look like a series of frames from a film. The panels present O performing graphic sexual acts of submission and guide the reader to turn the page where the next two pages are entirely white except for an ever so subtle profile image of O’s face with her open mouth and extended tongue directing the reader to turn the page and start the story.

Crepax is a master storyteller and he wields a lyrical brush. His style is beautiful with a nouveau tendency towards elongated bodies and necks especially…but not grotesquely so. The smoothness of his brush work just glides across the page in most instances and only in the most intense moments does he allow his work to get rough and scratchy. It usually flows beautifully and sensually…especially in those moments of tenderness usually reserved for moments of woman to woman love-making. When the misogynistic men are raping and abusing O, his work gets harsher and it makes for an interesting contrast in emotional impact.

I found his storytelling in panels to almost be a class in and of itself in how to deliver information to the reader. As graphic as he gets in showing all forms of sex and brutality, what is also fascinating are his artistic choices in what he chooses NOT to show and leave to the reader’s imagination. Such decisions are what make this work so effective from an artistic perspective. This is not a happy work. It is not a joyful work. It is something that should shock the reader’s sense of propriety and what’s right. It should even generate disgust and anger at moments. And yet, the beauty of Crepax’s art somehow makes it palatable and I found it to be something I couldn’t put down…and have gone back to a number of times to look at his approach to presenting progression and movement. Crepax uses minimal line work at times when he wants the reader to feel more sensual and then heavy and harsher linework when he wants the reader to be repulsed and shocked.

He utilizes very little actual dialogue in this adaptation; instead he delivers the narrative primarily through pictures. He takes an approach to the page that never follows the standard comic book panel format but completely shakes it up with utter inconsistency in panel choices. Indicative of the trauma that O is undergoing in her life, the reader is never allowed the reliable precision of the standard 6 panel comic book page. Through it all, however, one thing never changes and is reliable….O is never less than always beautifully sexual. Crepax makes sure that her sexual beauty draws the reader’s eye even when the heart or mind might want to pull away from the events that are unfolding.

Guido Crepax truly was a master storyteller, and while he may have focused his talents in an area that many are afraid to go, if you can handle the content, Crepax’s THE STORY OF O is actually a must-have for those who love graphic storytelling in all its many forms.

Celebrating 75 Years with 5 Things You May Not Know About Superman

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:12:00 +0000

Everyone knows who Superman is.

Everyone.

Today we celebrate the 75 Year mark of his first published appearance in the first issue of the comic book ACTION COMICS #1 which hit the newsstands in 1938.

Rather than just do a reflection back over all the things people already generally know about Superman, I thought I'd pick 5 things I think are interesting about his history that most people are unaware of.

So, without further ado or boring exposition....DID YOU KNOW?

1. SUPERMAN DID NOT FLY IN THE COMIC BOOKS UNTIL 4 YEARS AFTER HIS FIRST APPEARANCE.

This is true. For 4 years, he could leap 1/8th of a mile. It was described in the comic books as being like a giant grasshopper. It may be a bit more science-fictioney realistic too. The explanation was that the gravity on Krypton was so much heavier that Earth's was comparatively very light and gave him the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This was a bit that his youthful creators, Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster just cribbed from Edgar Rice Burroughs' JOHN CARTER books. Truth is that Superman's original incarnation was cobbled together from a bunch of different pulp influences like that.

Sidebar 1: Superman also had no x-ray vision, heat vision, or any other super-senses until around the same time he started actually flying in the comics.
Sidebar 2: Superman was shown flying in the Max Fleischer cartoons in 1940 even though he didn't actually do it in the comics until 2 years later.

2. SUPERMAN HAS AN ENTIRE FAMILY OF "SUPER" CHARACTERS.

Don't believe me? There's Superman, Bizarro-Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, Superbaby, Superdog, Supercat, Superhorse, Supersquirrel and even a Supermonkey. And there's probably more that I'm forgetting. Plus, we might not even have the word "Super-Hero" without Superman. Who knows?

Sidebar: There were 7 cartoons back in the 1940s featuring a parody of Superman called "Super Mouse". They were so successful they revamped the character into something more than just a parody and called him "Mighty Mouse".

3. KRYPTONITE DIDN'T SHOW UP UNTIL 11 YEARS AFTER SUPERMAN DEBUTED.

That's right. In the comics, there was no "Kryptonite" for 11 years. So, before you start complaining about word leaking out that the upcoming Superman movie MAN OF STEEL isn't going to have Kryptonite in it, just remember that the character cruised along just fine for 11 years before that plot-device deus ex machina was introduced into the mix.

Sidebar: While it is true that Kryptonite did not appear in comics until 1949, the actual first appearance of the concept of it was on the successful long-running Superman radio show. When Superman voice actor, Bud Collyer, got ill and could not perform, they invented Kryptonite for the series so that in the episodes Collyer was absent from they could just have Superman groaning and moaning for the broadcast.

4. NOBODY KNOWS CLARK KENT IS SUPERMAN BECAUSE HE HAS BEEN SUBCONCIOUSLY SUPER-HYPNOTIZING EVERYONE.

Back in 1978, one of the worst Superman comics ever published attempted to explain something nobody needs or wants explained. It is a classic technique of dramatic license to let the audience in on a deception that those in the play or movie or whatever should be able to see through (a mask, a pair of glasses, a disguised voice, etc.). The audience accepts it simply because they have to accept it to enjoy the show. The Superman/Clark Kent deception is one of those.

In SUPERMAN #330, during a 10 year or so phase where Clark Kent was a national news anchorman like Brian Williams or something, somehow, a story got through all the editors' collective good senses that should've been quashed at the concept stage. Instead it was actually published and explained that Superman has been subconsciously super-hypnotizing everyone to see Clark as ugly with bags under his eyes and with a receding hairline (basically David Letterman without a gap in his front teeth). We won't even get into all the problems with that on so many levels.

Sidebar: DC Comics obviously realized the error and promptly relegated the comic to the forgotten bins of stories they'd like to pretend never existed. Sort of like the issue in the midst of the Civil Rights era where Lois Lane turned herself into an African-American to experience the plight of inner city Black people. But that's a different blog post.

5. SUPERMAN'S NAME HAS A RELIGIOUS MEANING.

You may or may not know that Superman's Kryptonian name is "Kal-El." You may or may not also know that the boys who created the character, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, were Jewish.

Some of you will know that in Hebrew the "El" is a short-form for "Elohim" which is one of the collective names for God. The closest Hebraic approximation for "Kal-El" actually translates to "Vessel or Voice of God."

Considering how the character quickly evolved into a Messianic archetype, a more appropriate name could not have been chosen. And the amazing thing is that it was assuredly chosen without consciously understanding what it meant.

As Jung would say....synchronicity. You just have to look for it to see it.

IN MEMORIAM 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 04:15:00 +0000

WWTDD? What Would "The Dude" Do?

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 19:45:00 +0000

Artworm (also known as Here Comes....Power Girl)

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 18:34:00 +0000

This piece is a moment in which you get a peek inside my mind. For as long as I can remember, I would occasionally read a book and get a need to draw a character or scene from the book stuck in my head like getting "Funkytown" stuck in my head as an earworm. Even if the piece stunk and got tossed in the trash, I still would have to put it down on paper before I could get it out of my head. This still happens to me, but I can't always nail it down to the reading of a book. Now, I tend to get these ideas that appear in my brain and gnaw at me until I get a chance to translate it from thought to physical existence. This is why I have a ton of random drawings and character designs taking up space in drawers and folders in my home.

Well, this is one of these things. I came across a cosplayer photo online one day. It was a nice looking lady dressed as Supergirl. Yet, when I looked at her I thought her expression and body reminded me more of Power Girl way back in the 70s. For those who don't know (or remember), back in the early '70s, in the DC Comics line, there existed a comic book called ALL-STAR COMICS that focused on a parallel Earth called "Earth 2." On this Earth 2, this was where the original Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman from the '40s existed and by the 1970s had aged towards retirement. In that continuity, Batman was about to retire and Bruce Wayne was going to become Commissioner of Gotham City. Robin was an adult (with an updated costume) and Bruce Wayne's adult daughter had taken up the mantle of defender of Gotham as, The Huntress. In this continuity, there had never been a Supergirl, but one day the middle-aged Superman (with gray temples indicating his age) introduced to the world, his super-powered younger cousin who would be known as Power Girl.

So, the next thing my brain did was began fixating on a "What If?" kind of scenario in which the television actors who had embodied Superman, Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Wonder Woman in the '60s and '70s would be the personifications of those Earth 2 versions of the characters. So, I did some Googling for official posed photos of those actors. I tweaked the costumes as necessary to match the Earth 2 versions. Then I took the Supergirl cosplayer and gave her a haircut and a new costume and...voila.

I have a group shot imagining the Earth 2 Superman (George Reeves) introducing his cousing, Power Girl to Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter), Batman (Adam West), Robin (Burt Ward), and Huntress (Yvonne Craig).

Now that I've drawn it, it's out of my head and I can relax now.

An Interview with Artist Chris Shy about THE NORTH END OF THE WORLD

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 04:39:00 +0000

As Prof. Challenger for AICN COMICS, I recently interviewed artist Chris Shy about his new graphic novel, THE NORTH END OF THE WORLD. I am cross-blogging it here for those who follow my blog and don't follow AICN. Enjoy!

THE NORTH END OF THE WORLD is a collaboration of ShadowCatcher Entertainment and Black Watch Comics written by screenwriter Dave Hunsaker and illustrated by Christopher Shy. They debuted the book at the 2012 New York City Comic-Con where it was a complete sell-out of available copies that weekend.

It is described by the publishers as “a bold, alternative journey into the mind and life of legendary later 19th and early 20th century photographer/filmmaker Edward Curtis and his lifelong fascination — some would say obsession — with the Indians of North America and, especially, the hidden aspects of their spirituality.”

Thus, it is both biography of a controversial historical figure but also a fictional exploration of those aspects of his journey that are not known in great detail.

The key players are Curtis, his adolescent daughter Beth, his best friend George Hunt, and most importantly the Kwakiutl Indians. The graphic novel follows them deep into the foreboding woods of Vancouver Island where they become immersed in the culture of the Kwakiutl and attempt to capture on film the dark ceremonies and cannibalistic rituals that are continuing to be practiced in defiance of the law.

Chris Shy is a painter of comics/graphic novels. He founded Studio Ronin and has completed a number of works for the both the comics field and for Hollywood. He has painted graphic novels such as SILENT LEAVES and SOUL STEALER on the independent side and produced striking covers for Marvel Comics and others. For Hollywood he has created production designs and artwork for films such as FRIDAY THE 13TH, CONAN, and PATHFINDER. When not producing graphic novels or engaged in a film production, he also finds time to maintain a following as a fine artist as well with gallery shows.

Now, on to the questions.

ME: Chris, thanks for taking the time to talk to me and the AICN readers about THE NORTH END OF THE WORLD. Talk to me a little about the genesis of this project. Did writer, Dave Hunsaker, come to you with the idea ready to go or was this something you two developed mutually?

CHRIS SHY: I met Dave Hunsaker through a mutual friend, Sean Davis. Dave needed concept art for a screenplay he had written to visualize a pitch on that project. The Curtis project came up later, as a general discussion. I think our shared passion for Curtis bore out the concept of me adapting the screenplay. I met the producer on the project, David Skinner, of ShadowCatcher Entertainment, whom Dave had written the screenplay for. As in anything, once you really like the people, you find a way to work together.

ME: Can you tell me a little about the relationship between your Blackwatch Comics and the film company, Shadowcatcher Entertainment? Did this project begin as a failed film project or, rather, is the graphic novel a likely basis for a future film production?

CHRIS: Well, it all starts with Studio Ronin. BlackWatch Comics was an outgrowth of Studio Ronin becoming too big for one studio to handle. I founded Studio Ronin in 1996, to publish art books, and do design. Ronin now handles mostly the film and concept side of things. They build special effects models, concept design, the bread and butter of pre-prep on any project I do.

Michael Easton and I founded BlackWatch Comics seven years ago as a way to concentrate very carefully on the publishing side of the graphic novels, during SOUL STEALER. Michael and I had a very specific idea on how we wanted to do those books, and we knew the only way was to simply do these ourselves. We hired a team, recruited some of the best folks out there, and started publishing our own books. When we decided to go forward with THE NORTH END OF THE WORLD, for ShadowCatcher, a big discussion was would we shop the book for distribution.

In the end, we decided full creative control was what we all wanted, and to do that, BlackWatch Comics would publish and ShadowCatcher Entertainment would be our partner in that endeavor. The screenplay was never a failed film project. I think a story of this scope was something of a passion project for David Skinner and Dave Hunsaker, and knowing that this was a bit off the beaten path, adapting this as a graphic, evolving it to another stage first, was going to allow it to take on a fuller life, and breath, rather than just sending it out into the wild.

As far as I know, THE NORTH END OF THE WORLD was kept pretty close to the vest, before I was approached to adapt it. I think we would all love to see it evolve as a feature, but at this stage, we are all very proud of this book, and what we were able to achieve with it.

ME: I'm curious about your familiarity going into it regarding Edward Curtis and the history of the Native American cultures he was instrumental in recording for history. Was he or his work something that already fascinated you or did you have to dig into something new for you?

Edward Curtis
Self-Portrait circa 1889

CHRIS: I would say I have been fairly obsessed with Curtis since I was a kid. I had a few books with his photos, given to me by my Grandfather. Growing up in Kentucky, exploring the forests there, camping, I felt a kinship with Curtis and the time he spent in the unknown. I carried my cameras and water colors into the forest, up the side of cliffs, and imagined carrying this giant camera with boxes of glass plates, trying to record a way of life that was rapidly disappearing. My great Grandmother was Native American, and we as a family knew very little of her, or her heritage, so I understood and felt Curtis frustrations, or not knowing, of seeing a generation watch as things changed, and disappeared, and no one bothered to try and document any of it.. I think in the end, the body of work he left behind is a treasure. It both illuminates and haunts us, it informs and yet each photo leaves behind so many questions about the people he photographed.

ME: What type of research did you need to do for the visual side of this project? Are you going more with your imagination or are you trying to ground your fantastic imagery with a grounding in reality?

CHRIS: If we look at this story at the beginning, Dave Hunsaker and David Skinner had been hip deep in this for quite a while. Their attention to detail was amazing. I would describe my involvement as the last member of an expedition to show up on the dock before the boat left. I had a general knowledge of Curtis, but knew very little of the Kwakiutl, or their existence in British Columbia. To that end, one of first things we did, as a group, was travel, and see the actual locations that Curtis did his work on. We shot location photos in Seattle, at pioneer square, visited the Flurry Gallery, to examine original volumes of Curtis’ photographs, and all of the wonderful large size reproductions and prints of his work, in detail. David Skinner owns a set of Curtis’s 20-volume book set “The North American Indian,” so I was able to look and study some of the volumes in great detail. A true experience.

We traveled to Vancouver Island, and I shot reference, and took extensive notes. We visited the remains of Fort Rupert, the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company fort which was built in 1849, near present-day Port Hard. Vancouver Island was where Curtis spent most of his time, and shot most of his film In “The Land Of The HeadHunters.” So, to stand on those spots, visit the remains, it was very profound. To hold a camera in my hand and take those photos, in the same spots Curtis had taken his, I understood a small amount of what he must have went through, and endured. Some of these places are not easy to get to, standing on banks, and beaches, looking at ancient Pictographs curved in to the stones, this was truly the end of the known world for some of them, and I began to understand why Curtis traveled there. It truly is a beautiful place.

From there we traveled further north, to Cormorant Island, to the village of Alert Bay, and visited several Kwakwaka'wakw sacred spots, including a First Nation burial ground. The Kwakwaka'wakw play such an important role in the Curtis story. His best friend George Hunt was Kwakwaka'wakw, and Hunts struggled within the Kwakwaka'wakw community. The role of the British government, taking Kwakwaka'wakw artifacts the at the time, and the Kwakwaka'wakw’s struggle to get those artifacts back, and retain their identity. In all of this we have Curtis’ obsession with The-Cannibal-At-The-End-Of-The-World myth. I wanted to get as many photos relating to those events as I could. I want stress we never used anything exactly as we saw it, out of respect for the Kwakwaka'wakw. They lost so much, and fought very hard to get their heritage back, I didn’t want to present anything as it was found, to take advantage of that history, or try and present it as exact, which would have been impossible. So I went about immersing myself in their artist style, to try and understand how they would have drawn certain sections of this. The artifacts housed in the cultural center helped immensely fill in any gaps.

Illustrating this was one of hardest things I have ever undertaken; I was completely exhausted at the end of this book.

ME: That’s intense. So, given all that research for authenticity and understanding, to what extent is the story itself based on real events or is it essentially wholly sprung from the imagination but featuring characters from real-life?

CHRIS: It is certainly based in some small part on his life, and where he went, and the relationships we know he had. As to conversations he may have had, we can only speculate. There is precious little we know about the time he shot his film at Fort Rupert. We have the film, we have some documentation, and we know the outcome of his life, his career in ruins. The fiction comes in when we try and speculate on what may have happened in those gaps at Fort Rupert, and certainly I would call this historically based fiction. I would not call it something in the vain of ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER. The events Dave Hunsaker wrote about, no way claim this was what happened to Edward Curtis during that specific time, but the story is woven very tightly around what we do know, and we immersed ourselves in Curtis’ life to try and have those conversations in our own heads that Curtis, and his daughter Beth, and Hunt may have had, based on that.

As for The-Cannibal-At-The-End-Of-The-World myth, that’s all based on the myth, and our speculation, and thus fiction. What would a man do when faced with a giant Raven God? Again, fiction, but based on what we know of Curtis, and his obsessive nature, it’s safe to say he would take that journey I am sure.

ME: Curtis came under criticism during his life and afterward. Is this going to deal directly with any of those more controversial aspects or leave that to the historians?

CHRIS: I have my own opinions, but leave that debate to the historians. Our book touches on that only lightly.

ME: The sample images are darkly foreboding with a true sense of horror. Is that the tone you set out for on purpose, or did it evolve organically as you started visually putting it together?

CHRIS: I knew from the beginning how I wanted to approach the book, and then that promptly vanished after our research trip. I took it one page at a time. I did plan the overall tonal shift as Curtis went from Arizona to British Columbia, but after that, I found myself very much in uncharted territory. I worked very long hours, and at times I had it, at other times, I felt I was chasing what I wanted, and it was always just out of reach.

ME: What philosophical and emotional themes are you examining?

CHRIS: Man against nature?

Man against man?

Certainly, it was man against himself.

There were scenes where Curtis seemed almost doomed to me, his quest not unlike a search for the mythical Holy Grail. Madness, the quest of a truth, and the obsession of understanding what came before the modern, what shaped us into the species we are now. When Curtis descends under the waterfall, to the bottom of the lake in the Hamatsa initiation, is this Dante? Is this penitence? In the Greek Mysteries, initiation connoted not a "beginning" (initia), but the opposite: "finishing." In this part of the story, Curtis was facing darkness, a final truth, The-Cannibal-At-The-End-Of-The-World. That for me, was our ancestral truth, the horror we overcame to become what we are now. Under that water Curtis would face The Ancestors.

ME: How long have you actually been working on it?

CHRIS: I think, from beginning to end, almost two years. If you count the publishing side,the principle art took a year. I think my original estimate was 6 to 8 months.

ME: Just because I’m always curious about how each artist approaches putting pen or paint to paper, can you describe your medium and technique a little bit -- give the readers insight into how Chris Shy works when he takes a blank canvas and builds a world?

CHRIS: Every book is different. I use tempura, watercolor, and photography. I print some things out, then over paint, then scan them, and over paint again. For some of the scenes in this, I used a certain shot that Curtis took, but used it for the middle, and painted everything outside of it, the unseen background. I wanted to bring him to life. Beth, his daughter, I loved painting. I only had one good photo of her. I kept one of Beth, and a Curtis photo of an Apache girl from 1903 on my desk during the project. I often blended the two together for my work on Beth.

ME: Do you block and pace the story before you start ruminating on what designs, colors, and textures will best serve the story?

CHRIS: I read and thumbnail pages as I go. I read it several times, sketching each page out very small. Pacing is very important. I don’t concern myself with page count. It takes what it will take to do it right. If a project is 96 written pages, I let the story unwind according to how long I feel it must be. Certain things need to be uncompressed. It’s one of few precious things we can still do in this medium. Let it be. Just let it become what it must.

ME: Your painting and storytelling style are evocative of a strong synthesis of fine art with graphic storytelling. That's such a truly rare fusion. Graphic storytelling, as a commercial art, has tended to be driven more by pragmatic art techniques mainly to increase speed and reproduction. The advent of the modern notion of graphic novels as literature and a business that has come to embrace more time-consuming and expensive mediums and techniques has laid the groundwork for someone like you to create beautiful and haunting works of art that also tell stories. Is it more your heart to touch emotions through painted imagery or through the flow of your unique way of storytelling? Or do you see this as an impossible separation?

CHRIS: It’s impossible to separate it. I have always been a Comic Book artist. I was doing comics when I was 8. It has been, and always will be my true love. The story pushes you into creation of a world, and the art brings it into focus, and it is the force of creating every scene, based off that story, has always made me a better artist, and storyteller I do fine art, gallery work, but all that comes from doing graphic novels. I have never done monthlies, I search out complete stories, and paint them from beginning to end.

For me, it’s the only way. I think they call us “Graphic Novelist” now, but I was always proud of just being a comic book artist. It’s a unique job, a tough job, and not a job easily explained to anyone outside of those who do it. I have completed 14 books, and I have immersed myself in each one of them. Approached each with no rules based on previous work, or experience. I may have a style, but I always try and shake it on each one. Sometimes I am successful, sometimes I fail, I have a marvelous team I work with, who bust me if my panel structure gets too confusing, or my art gets a bit abstract.

My production manager, Emmelee Pearson, Editor Kevin Stein, I depend on them. If something gets too esoteric, if it isn’t smooth they gut me like a fish. I need that. Two hundred and fifty pages into a book, is like Alice slipping down the rabbit whole. Each book is a war, a struggle, and a unique level of abstract thinking. My team keeps me sane.

ME: When do you know you are done?

CHRIS: It’s never done, in my opinion, but I am very good at knowing how long it’s going to take, to get those pages completed. I try and build in a month or so for polish, and as I have said I thumbnail, essential for coming in on deadline.

ME: Do you find yourself going back to the work and tweaking it or are you easily able to step away and move on to the next thing?

CHRIS: Yes, I do spend about a month going page to page, doing my own art changes. Then I invite my team to read through and tell me where I went off the rails. I always do a certain amount of concept art. I can always tell when a book has been a tough ride, based on how many pieces I have had to do to work out a sequence. THE NORTH END OF THE WORLD took hundreds.

Once a book is done, I try and move on to something completely different. I usually can switch gears pretty fast. I like to take a month or so off between each book, if possible.

ME: What is your involvement on the actual design and production of the printed version of the book itself? I know some artists, just hand it off and wait. Are you involved in the technical side of production as well?

CHRIS: Yes, from the very beginning, back in the 1990’s Studio Ronin began handling the layout and production of all of our books, and this was no exception. I have a very precise idea of how I want a book laid out. I like to ease into a story a certain way, and ease out. I open, and close a story with as many pages as I feel necessary for this to stand on its own. I don’t like house ads, I like the credits to be presented a certain way, I like everyone working on a book to get their credit. I have fought some very bloody battles for Studio Ronin and BlackWatch to get the credit they deserve. It’s a team that has been working together for a long time. We think the same, argue the same, and are very truthful and caring about what we do. For us, this is making the best novel we can, a film on paper, when adapting a script. This is our life’s work.

ME: The aspects of your art that resonate with me is that it always moves me emotionally but also there are marks of intelligence in all of it -- something almost archetypal or mythological -- whether it is based in familiar reality or drawn from the suppressed imaginations of our nightmares. Not every artist is able to combine the intangibles of intelligence and emotion in each image. Is this planned on your part or just something that happens without your conscious knowledge?

CHRIS: I am always aware of it. I have always been fascinated by myths, the beginnings of man, the rites of passage, and rituals, the countless stories of The Dying God, Indian Culture. These are the great heritage of everything that came before us, and the basis for all of our ability to Story Tell. Isis, Osiris, Demeter and Persephone, Moses, Christ.. Every character is abandoned, a reluctant king, a Dying God, a Sacrificial Hero. In my mind, Curtis was yet another, who sacrificed something for those he loved. Elements of Christ, elements of Ananke, obsession, all stories are told and retold. The Devil is in the details. Dave Hunsaker wrote an amazing story. David Skinner gave me the freedom to approach it the way I wanted. They worked long before me, on this, and I worked very hard to find things in this they had not found.

ME: What’s next for Chris Shy?

CHRIS: I just finished another novel set in the DEADSPACE Universe, loved doing that, and just returned from a place called Madeline Island for a new trilogy I am working on called I SLEEP IN STONE.

ME: Thanks again for taking the time to talk to me, my friend. I look forward to talking to you again, soon. Readers can find out more about THE NORTH END OF THE WORLD at www.thenorthendoftheworld.com, at www.blackwatchcomics.com, and or order a copy directly at www.artemisperfecteditions.com/thenorthendoftheworld.html.

About ShadowCatcher Entertainment: ShadowCatcher Entertainment is an independent production company that develops, produces and distributes character-driven feature films, documentaries, books, plays, and television network/cable programming for worldwide entertainment markets. Based in Seattle, the Company collaborates with studios, networks, film and theater producers to produce a wide variety of programming, including films like Skeleton Key, Outsourced and Smoke Signals.

About Black Watch Comics: Founded in 2009, Black Watch Comics is a publisher of fine graphic novels. With studios in New York, California and Wisconsin, the company has been a noteworthy force in producing some of the most beautiful graphic novels in the world. Black Watch’s catalog includes The LEAVES trilogy by Christopher Shy and the long-awaited SOUL STEALER: THE COLLECTOR’S EDITION, which launched at San Diego Comic-Con 2012. Authored by Michael Easton and illustrated by Shy, SOUL STEALER won “Best New Graphic Novel of the Year” as designated by Prof. Challenger for AICN Comics.

Laura Siegel's Open Letter Re: DC's Strong Arm Legal Tactics

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 03:33:00 +0000

The Siegel vs. DC Comics legal battle is one I've followed since the beginning. I've written about it more than once on this blog. I wrote about it back in law school around the time that the Siegels first filed their VALID Termination of Transfer of Copyright. I have been on their side in this affair, even while recognizing that they were likely fighting a losing battle. However, as with any ongoing litigation with back-and-forth suits and counter-suits and cross-claims and more, there were facts which the public has not been aware. Worse, there have apparently been potentially libelous, outright lies, thefts, breaches of confidences, and more also being spread throughout the various media outlets.

This is not uncommon in a case like this that is worth untold billions of dollars in the long run. There is a reason why corporate hack attorneys like those working for Warner Brothers on this case get the salaries they get -- they win. And they will screw anyone over to be the one who wins it. So, I stand guilty of allowing myself to get caught up in their lies and buy into the info they have quietly spread around for years and now recently quite blatantly (after poisoning the well out there) concerning the Siegel's attorney Marc Toberoff.

I admit, I should never have believed the Corporate snakes who characterized him as a hustler out there trying to wrest a controlling interest over the Superman copyright from the Siegels and advising them against accepting reasonable settlement offers.

Now that Jerry and Joanne Siegel's daughter, Laura, is speaking out publicly, we have a voice out there that is real and not buried under corporate double-speak obfuscation. We now know what has really been going on, and we know that it is flat-out untrue that (1) the settlement offer was reasonable, and (2) that Toberoff was the reason for the rejection. In fact, the settlement offer was rejected before Toberoff was involved in the case.

The only thing apparently true in terms of the Warner Bros characterization of Toberoff over the years is that he is working this case on a contingency. The reality is that nobody other than an equally Brobdingnagian corporation would be able to financially mount a challenge like this unless it was on a contingency. WB has already spent tens of millions of dollars and I am sure they are prepared to spend tens of millions more because the fear of losing billions (and a stream of pink notices for their staff lawyers) is more terrifying to them than burning in Hell for eternity.

I know one thing for sure, I trust the words of the "real" people involved in a case anytime over the measured and controlled automatons in suits and ties that scurry out of the Corporate antpile. I trust them less than politicians.

Below is Laura's letter in full and without edit.

In Memory of Joe Kubert (1926-2012)

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 03:58:00 +0000

Comic book artist Joe Kubert, aged 85, passed away on August 12, 2012 from multiple myeloma (a cancer that starts in the plasma cells in bone marrow). His influence upon comic books and comic book artists is incalculable. This man, the immigrant son of Polish butcher, worked on his first comic book at age 12 when he was assigned a rush job to ink some pages for cartoonist Bob Montana (who 4 years later would introduce the world to Archie Andrews and the whole Riverdale gang).

At 16, and still in high school at Manhattan's High School of Music and Art, Kubert was working professionally on comics such as Blue Beetle and Will Eisner's The Spirit. He never stopped drawing; even working on the NITE OWL mini-series recently while in the hospital. The list of comic book characters he has laid down pencil, brush strokes, or color would be easier done by listing those characters he has not worked on. If I were to list the Top 5 characters most personally associated with Kubert, I would list them as SGT. ROCK, HAWKMAN, TARZAN, TOR, and RAGMAN.

While many of the great artists of the comic book world have indeed influenced other artists, probably none moreso than Kubert in terms of practical and actual influence. Kirby, Ditko, Wood, and the like surely inspired many young kids to become cartoonists themselves but Kubert took that to a whole different level in the 1960s when he started an eponymous school of cartooning in Dover, New Jersey. While Kubert was inspiring readers through his comics, he was also training generations of cartoonists and illustrators and providing actual opportunities for them to make those all-important industry connections and learn the techniques that separate the amateurs from the professionals. The school has grown in size and influence and truly became widely respected within not just the comic book industry for the quality of its attendees and graduates.

It is one of my greatest personal regrets that I was never able to work it out to to get there. I actually did pursue it back around 1990 or so. However, being married and working here in Texas, it just was not something I could work out financially to pull off. Kubert's work is unique. If you've ever seen a Joe Kubert comic book, you know it. He is an artist like Jack Kirby in that way. There is no mistaking a Kirby comic and there is no mistaking a Kubert comic. Kubert is a master at forming figures and scenes with his feathery brush strokes. No thick outlining. No perfectly straight lines. His work is always in motion -- a fluid motion. This is why his work on Tarzan is so seminal. Tarzan is a primal character and Kubert's art is primal. His war books (not just Sgt. Rock stories) were solid pieces, once again primal in their approach, and yet he could zero right in on just an expression or a look in a character's eye and flood the reader with an emotional reaction. The man always knew the best and most dramatic approach to telling a story through those 4, 6, or 8 panels per page.

My first conscious exposure to Kubert's work (although I had seen it before but was too young to take note of it) was during the infamous DC Explosion of the 1970s in an odd comic called RAGMAN. I remember nothing of the writing. All I remember is the moody and creepy atmosphere of the art. I remember that wild and weird costume made up of rags and tatters. And I remember taking note of that name "Joe Kubert" and seeking him out from then on. For a long time, the only work I could get from him was either old reprints or the incredible cover art he provided for series such as ALL-STAR SQUADRON. There was a multi-issue crossover between the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and the ALL-STAR SQUADRON one time and the JLA covers were by George Perez and the ALL-STAR covers were by Joe Kubert. Making me choose which I "like" better would be a Sophie's Choice even though there are probably not two drawing styles more dissimilar than Perez and Kubert.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Kubert. I always wanted to. I don't think I've ever seen a picture of him not smiling. By all accounts, I have never heard a "bad" Joe Kubert story. Kubert's legacy appears to me to be a life well-lived, a career well-earned, children well-raised, and an influence that will perpetuate both through the lives of his children and their children and their children's children but also through each and every cartoonist and illustrator who has ever been touched by his life and his work.

Kubert was married for 57 years and his wife, Muriel, died in 2008. He is survived by his five children, sons Adam, Andy, David, Danny, and daughter Lisa; 12 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Most comic fans are aware of Adam and Andy Kubert who are successful and popular comic book artists in their own right.

While I and many others are sad to have lost this man and any future work he might have still had in him, this is a moment to celebrate what he gave to me and to the world and what is still to come that is inspired by him.

Peace and rest in the bosom of Abraham.

*Originally published for AICN @ http://www.aintitcool.com/node/57625

I'm hosting a screening of IRON SKY in Austin on Aug. 28! Come Join Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 23:13:00 +0000

Don't miss this @Tugginc screening of Iron Sky

Iron Sky

Tuesday, August 28, 7:30pm - 9:23pm
in Austin, TX @

Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek

Tickets $10.00

I need 44 people in the Austin Metro area to agree to go and reserve their tickets at this link for this screening to happen. I'll be your host for this evening of total Geekauchery as we sit back and watch Nazis from the Moon attack Earth in all their modern B-Movie Glory!

Rated R for language and bloody violence!

SHARE THIS EVENT

ATTENDING

Promoter:

meghanw

Reblogged Brilliance from Mark Waid on How To Write Comics Badly

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:06:00 +0000

New Book Announcement: WORLDS OF PJF 3: PORTRAITS OF A TRICKSTER

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 04:42:00 +0000

Just completed work on designing the cover for THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER VOL. 3: PORTRAITS OF A TRICKSTER. The book is a grand collection of works exploring and expanding upon Phil's many playful pseudonymous identities as author.

Look below to see the recent web announcement by the guys at Meteor House Press (publishers of the book). The next FARMERCON is in Columbus, Ohio in August and is the perfect place for fans of Phil to get their copies of this (and earlier) volumes signed by many of the contributors.

Get The Worlds of Philip José Farmer 3 Signed!

Great news Farmer fans and book collectors!Since there will be at least four contributors toThe Worlds of Philip José Farmer 3 in Columbus OH, on August 9 -12 for FarmerCon VII, we are having a mass book signing. We did this with volume 1 back in 2010. While it was a bit of a logistical nightmare hauling the books cross country to get four people to sign about one hundred copies, so many people have asked if we are doing this for volume 3, we have decided it is worth the effort. Looking back now, we’re certainly glad we did it with volume 1.

As of today editor Michael Croteau, along with writers Win Scott Eckert, Rick Lai, and Heidi Ruby Miller will be on hand to sign as many copies as needed. Other contributors have been contacted to see if they can make the trip to FarmerCon and join the fun, so there could be more than four signatures.

There is no charge to get your book signed. If you want your copy signed, simply place a note saying “please have my book signed” when you order through paypal. However, you must order no later than August 6th.
If you have already ordered, simply email sales @ meteorhousepress.com and ask for your copy to be signed.

Should Christians Vote for a Mormon President?

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 00:13:00 +0000

I don't want to bog down my fun little blog here with a dissertation on politics, but some of my readers might be interested in what I have to say on this issue. If so, then click below to take you to my other blog where I tackle the complicated issue of Whether Christians Should Vote for a Mormon President by responding to a recent article by Christian apologetics expert Dr. Norman Geisler.

SATURDAY, JULY 14, 2012

Should A "Christian" Vote for a "Mormon" President? (A Response to Dr. Norman Geisler)

Recently, Christian author and apologetics expert Norman Geisler published an opinion piece entitled "Should An Evangelical Vote For a Mormon President?". You can read the full text here.

As a Christian, I feel the need to respond to Geisler's article in depth and this is as good a place as any to do so.

Before I get to Geisler's writing and my responses, let me set forth a few principles that guide me in my analysis and opinion regarding the upcoming presidential elections. First and foremost, religious beliefs of the candidate are just one of many considerations that I use in determining who to vote for. The most important thing to me is a demonstrated commitment to principles of limited government, free enterprise, individual free will, freedom of speech, press, and religion. After that, I want to see whether the candidate demonstrates a proven ability to lead and a commitment to a morality base that I can generally agree with. Finally, do I trust and respect the candidate -- an entirely subjective and intuitive rationale...TO READ MORE CLICK HERE

Review: LoEG CENTURY: 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 21:28:00 +0000

LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN

CENTURY: 2009 #1

Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O'Neill
Publishers: Top Shelf Productions & Knockabout
“I rocked the fretful baby gods to sleep before time started...and I am companion to the women who paste up the stars. The quarters of the world are bound unto my compass. I have taken tea with earthquakes. I know what the bee knows...and you really are a dreadful little boy.” -- Mary Poppins/Prospero/God to Harry Potter/Anti-Christ

For those of you who thought the previous CENTURY volumes were confusing or meandering, well...there was purpose to the madness. CENTURY is brilliantly wrapped up with the 2009 volume which brings the literary world of fiction into the Apocalypse -- the final battle between the Anti-Christ and God (as embodied by Harry Potter and Mary Poppins).

The genius of Alan Moore's insanity is how such a complicated story can gestate within his mind and be perfectly executed when visualized by Kevin O'Neill, whose art simply sings on this project. The game of spotting the literary and entertainment cameos and references is still there and can make rereading the series more fun as you dig in and try to track down the various things you didn't spot before. However, now that the series has concluded, I went back and reread the whole thing (including THE BLACK DOSSIER) and realized just how well-planned and executed this project has been. There are so many foreshadowed thematic and plot elements in 1910 that it took reading the conclusion to realize -- and not the least of these is the blistering satirical criticism of the advent of literature as franchising. James Bond and Harry Potter come under the most wicked commentaries here; most especially by Moore's indulgent incarnation of the Anti-Christ as that wretched, unlikeable, little boy from the Harry Potter series.

Moore's patented use of symbolism is strongly in place here as he takes the strong phallic elements that permeate J.K. Rowling's popular series – most notably in terms of the “wand” as phallic symbol – and he actually literalizes it. His use of the Blazing World and the whole 3D glasses visual established in THE BLACK DOSSIER sets such an interesting visual for me in reading it. How do you identify “God” as a character when he/she can take any form? Look for the tell-tale green/red 3D glasses. It's so simple. I wonder if Moore is even aware of all the various ways this can be used as a symbol like that. I'm thinking about the “magic sunglasses” that Joseph Smith claimed to use to be able to read the golden plates containing the Book of Mormon for an example.

As recognized by writer Tom Jordan on the 2009 Annotations website, this story is about Orlando's symbolic redemption. And, by the way, Orlando wields Excalibur – yet another great phallic symbol of literature and representation of both the life and death of Camelot, itself a Heaven analog like The Blazing World.

I've tried to figure out why so many have been increasingly critical of Moore's LoEG series basically starting with THE BLACK DOSSIER and I don't want to kneejerk it as claiming people aren't smart enough to “get” it. That's not the case. There are plenty of genius works out there that find an audience and near universal acclaim. I am going to go out on a limb and say that LoEG is a perfect reflection of Moore's emotional state at the point that he is writing them. As such, the first two LoEG series are grand adventures that are an intellectual and literary playground. Beginning with THE BLACK DOSSIER and now fully realized in CENTURY, is Moore the jaded and grumpy critic.

Moore is still playing in the playground of fictionality but now he is filtering his storytelling through an increasingly dark and angry prism. He is angry at the business of literature in all its forms. He is angry about the business of mass media – the business of franchising – the business of literature merely as licensing and lowest common denominator appeal. CENTURY is Moore's lament on what has been lost because of the business of literature. We have lost that sense of joy and freedom, that sense of individual vision, that unified knowledge of our past, present, and future through literature that glorifies the human spirit and presents mankind as good and not depraved. The destruction of civilization in the world of the LoEG has followed the same path as literature itself as modernism and post-modernism and deconstructionism and dystopian post-apocalyptian themes have supplanted what came before. This is the world ripe for the Apocalypse of The Book of Revelation and personified by Harry Potter as Anti-Christ.

I think this negative spiral and its accompanying angry tone and spirit have weighted down his approach in this series and caused Moore's audience to disconnect from him. Comic book readers by-and-large are looking for escapism, and Moore's CENTURY series requires one to see through the darkeness and anger to recognize both the sharp-witted humorous criticism in the satire but also that spark of hope. Moore is taking his readers to the precipice in 2009 just so he can offer redemption to all.

Moore is saying to his readers with 2009 that the future does not have to be bleak. It can be bright. It's okay to be angry but just grousing about it does no good. 2009 is a challenge to all creators of fiction to recapture literature back from the arms of the lawyers and the corporations.

CENTURY 2009 is a triumph of individualism in creation and in literature and I found it brilliant.

Ray Bradbury 1920-2012

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 14:46:00 +0000

In Memoriam of Ray Bradbury who passed away this morning, I'm reblogging my own blog from last year that posted a 1963 video profile of a young Bradbury.

It is so good and is a great reminder of his impact as a writer in our lifetimes. Intelligent Designs: Ray Bradbury: Story of a Writer: RAY BRADBURY: STORY OF A WRITER This 1/2 hour film is from 1963 and was originally aired on television.

So What's All THIS About Green Lantern Being Gay? Not That There's Anything Wrong With That...

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 21:15:00 +0000

Well, this whole thing was a big hullabaloo about nuthin'. I made a prediction in my last blog entry, based on the words coming from the DC Comics publicity machine that a "male" character who is a "major icon" was going to be reinvented as "gay" for the New 52-verse wherein DC rebooted their entire comics universe of comic books in September 2011. Where my guess was "The Atom" as the closest thing to a "male" who's a "major icon" who had not been already established in the New 52-verse as straight. Even then I felt I was stretching the "major" aspect of those clues with the Atom, but he has been a member of the Justice League since issue #14 of the series way back to the '60s. He also appeared in the SUPER FRIENDS a few times in the 70s and on the more recent JUSTICE LEAGUE cartoon series. As the premiere size-changing super-hero of the Justice League, he's pretty iconic. Major? Well....I was giving DC grace on that. As a secondary guess, if DC had a different concept of "major icon" than I, then I found myself gravitating towards Capt. Atom -- although, a much bigger stretch, I kind of thought DC might see the archetypal inspiration for WATCHMEN'S Dr. Manhattan as "iconic."

I was wrong on all counts. DC comics editorial and publicity machine have an entirely different concept of what constitutes a "major icon." I'm tempted to just laugh because it's really kind of ridiculous. Get ready....in case you haven't seen the network news coverage from CNN (owned by the same company that owns DC Comics, natch) -- it is......GREEN LANTERN!

Oh my god! Green Lantern? Really?

No.

Not really.

Well....not who you think they mean.

What only serious comic books geeks already knew (until last summer probably), the Green Lantern isn't just one character, he is a bunch of characters. The recent Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds introduced to the masses the concept of the Green Lantern Corps, plus a couple of fully-animated DVD features, and currently airing cartoon series. These all feature the character of test pilot, Hal Jordan, as the iconic Green Lantern and the various other Green Lanterns as supporting characters.

Within the comics world, since 1958 when the Hal Jordan version of Green Lantern appeared, there have been quite a few human beings who have joined the Green Lantern Corps. There is John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner. For racial diversity, the African-American John Stewart version of Green Lantern was the only version featured in the JUSTICE LEAGUE/UNLIMITED cartoon series, and the Kyle Rayner version appeared as the only Green Lantern in a single episode of SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. Other than that, Hal Jordan has been the only version of the character really marketed to the masses and is easily the face that most people associate with the Green Lantern persona.

Lesser known in this history of the character is the character of Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, as created by cartoonist Mart Nodell, was the wielder of a magic green ring and who first appeared on newsstands in ALL-AMERICAN COMICS #16 (1940). His last "golden age" appearance was in ALL-STAR COMICS #52 (1951). This character disappeared out of the collective consciousness of the public and 7 years later, the Hal Jordan version of Green Lantern (reimagined completely) appeared with his science-fiction based ring and has been the iconic version of the Green Lantern ever since. Alan Scott reappeared in comics again in the 60s and off-and-on throughout the last 4 decades, but always as either the Green Lantern of a parallel Earth (called Earth 2) or later, after a major continuity jumble, as a redundant and past-retirement-age elderly Green Lantern who has no direct ties to the Green Lantern Corps.

So, does this mean that DC Comics was progressive enough to have a "gay" super-hero all the way back to 1940. No, it does not.

As most readers of this blog will know, DC Comics did another massive continuity jumble back in September 2011 resulting in a rebooted universe of characters they now market as "The New 52." And within the New 52, there is a new ongoing comic book called EARTH 2 in which writer James Robinson has reimagined the entire concept of the Earth 2 parallel world for the New 52. In the New 52, the world called Earth 2 is not a world in which the comics of the 1940s actually happened, it is a modern parallel to our own Earth but where a battle 5 years ago ended with the deaths of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. That power vacuum leads to the rise of a whole new and different generation of young heroes and this new 20-something Alan Scott, who will become the Green Lantern of Earth 2 this month, is gay. I really never even considered any characters on "Earth 2" (DC's alternate universe of same-named heroes) to be iconic. They are redundancies. You can tell good stories about them, but they really only exist as redundancies.

Most importantly, this is not the Alan Scott who first appeared in 1940.

I am not quite sure by what leaps of logic the DC editorial and publicity machine can, with a straight face, identify a brand-new version of a character with absolutely none of the previous version's history beyond a name and a hair color as a "major icon." At best, the original character from the '40s is the inspiration for the iconic version of the character (Hal Jordan), but even in the '40s he was in the realm of the lesser-knowns. In the '40s, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Capt. Marvel would be the major icons.

So, the new Alan Scott, Green Lantern turns out to be gay in the reimagined Earth 2 of the New 52. That's fine. They want to diversify the line. That's fine. Don't bullshit me with the major icon thing and don't try to drum up media coverage under the misleading header of "Green Lantern is Gay" and that sort of thing. It's all just silly and DC never surprises me by actions like this that have no real impact. Making a major character gay would be somewhat dramatic. Making an alternate version of a character in a parallel world gay is essentially meaningless.

Writer, James Robinson, gave some insight on his thinking process in a recent interview where he pointed out that in the old continuity, the elderly (and straight) Alan Scott had previously fathered a daughter (Jade) and a son (Obsidian). In that old continuity, Obsidian was gay. Since Robinson was going to make these new versions of the characters much younger and at the start of their super-hero careers; there was no place for Jade and Obsidian, so he decided to let Scott himself fill that role. Robinson has a pattern in his comic book writing of nearly always including an "out" gay character, so it makes sense that he would look for who might fit that bill in this new EARTH 2 series. And, in truth, since he of any of the writers at DC seems to understand the latitude available when reimagining a world from the ground up, he is probably the best suited for handling this type of characterization with respect and without exploitation. However, he is doing it under the guiding hand of the editorial direction of Dan Didio who approaches the world of comic book marketing like a carnival barker, so it is no real surprise that Robinson's characterization choice became a media circus.

All that being said (and this is what will likely piss off friends and enemies both)....I have a conceptual problem purely from an intellectual standpoint. From my own research and reading and observation of the human condition, I take the position that human sexuality is a continuum and not a bright line. I don't believe anyone is actually born straight or gay outright....although I admit there is likely a genetic propensity that makes it more likely one or the other. Sexuality is a convoluted mix of genetics, environment, and sexual imprinting. And even more than that, sexuality involves choice and not just attraction. We aren't just animals with a determinative direction that we can't control. It's why there is such a thing as situational homosexuality -- most notably within prisons by otherwise heterosexual men and women who become exlusively homosexual until out of prison and then revert back. There are experimenters who toy with one side or the other, but eventually settle exclusively on one. There are people who simply don't have a sex life of any kind and choose to dive into the gay experience because they want the intimacy of sex and that lifestyle is more open to accept them. There are people who find themselves with no real interest in sex at all -- hetero or homo. There are some who are simply addicted to sex and don't care who or what gender so long as they are gratified. It's not always easy to mark the dividing line. The whole debate over what is "normal" and "abnormal" is obfuscatory. No form of sexuality is objectively "normal", however heterosexuality is objectively "normative". They are different words and connote different things. "Normal" carries with it a judgment based on one's moral values. "Normative" is just an objective recognition of the way the vast majority function. If homosexuality had been "normative" then the human race would have died out millennia ago. Homosexuality, by necessity, will always be nonnormative. But that itself is not a moral declaration and shouldn't be taken as one.

Sexuality is complicated and it's a lot more than just simply "I was born this way", regardless of the efforts by various political and activist groups who vociferously demand validation for their nonnormative lifestyle choices (which is nobody else's business so why demand it?). My point of view is very simply that I am not going to impose my own morality on anyone else when it comes to something as personal and intimate as their sexuality. That is between themselves, their own consciences, and their philosophical/religious values.

Now that I've said that, my only problem with the choice to make the new version of Alan Scott into a homosexual is simply that I think it smacks of tokenism at this point -- "Let's see....who can I make gay????" -- that sort of thing. By using the name "Alan Scott" there is an intention to evoke some sense of history to the character that ties him back to the version from the previous continuity. For some reason, that to me, almost belittles his sexuality choice a bit to think it can be changed so matter-of-factly. I guess that more than anything bothers me from an intellectual standpoint. I can separate the 2 characters well enough in my own mind to have no problem at all enjoying EARTH 2 and Robinson's excellent storytelling abilities. But I also know that this whole thing is going to get muddled and confused in the public's mind and give off a wrong-headed message that something as intensely personal as our own sexual identity can be switched around as easily as a couple of keystrokes.

Worst of all, whenever James Robinson leaves the EARTH 2 series and stops writing the character, I have absolutely zero confidence in whoever succeeds him that they won't turn the new Alan Scott character into an embarrassing gay caricature. The best we comic readers can do is hope Robinson stays in the writing seat for a good long time.

Out of the Closet and into the Phonebooth: DC gay-ifies a "major icon" in June

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:35:00 +0000

As reported all over the comics and mainstream media the last few days, DC Comics is planning in June to reveal one of their "major iconic" characters as gay. You can read the ABC News report here.

It's nothing new for comics to feature gay characters, but DC wants everyone to believe this is something groundbreaking. We are still within the first year of their linewide relaunch, known as the "New 52", which asserted as one of the reasons for relaunching an express intention to "diversify" their stable of characters. However, other than shoehorning the African-American character, Cyborg, into the Justice League rather than the Teen Titans (where he had been introduced and was a longtime member), the major iconic characters have all stayed pretty much like they always have: white and straight. However, DC did make efforts to prop up some of the second and third tier characters and give them a different racial or sexual spin more reflective of the modern world. The top tier are all still mired in their 1940s roots regardless of their updated costumes or attitudes.

Last summer, I pointed out on this blog that DC had quite an opportunity here of giving themselves a clean slate so that they could reintroduce a more diverse group of primary players. My suggestion was to take the Billy Batson/Captain Marvel character and just make him black. I also thought Barry Allen/Flash was a great opportunity to reimagine with an ethnic bent of some sort. We all kind of knew Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern were going to stay the way they were because of the various film and tv licenses wrapped up with them. But as far as I'm concerned, everyone else was fair game for a major makeover.

In my opinion, DC wussed out. But that's their call. At least they seem to be more fully realizing the potential of a clean slate with the new EARTH 2 comic (which I love).

I am curious who they are going to "out" next month in their comics. If not for those pesky new "Non Disclosure Agreements" that DC gets everyone to sign now, we would probably already have the news fully leaked out. Instead, we all get to speculate. So, what do we know? Assuming veracity from those who've spoken on record, we know this much:

(1) It's a male.
(2) It's a "major iconic" character (which means no more second banana types like The Question, Voodoo, or Batwoman)
(3) It's either someone who has not had a lot of focus as a character yet or not been reintroduced yet for the New 52.

When I think "major iconic" DC male characters, that puts a specific image in my head that is limited to these guys:
SUPERMAN, BATMAN, GREEN LANTERN, FLASH, GREEN ARROW, HAWKMAN, ATOM, CAPTAIN MARVEL/SHAZAM, PLASTIC MAN, AQUAMAN, MARTIAN MANHUNTER

However, it is possible that DC might have a different definition of "major iconic". I could see them also include these guys:

BOOSTER GOLD, BLUE BEETLE, MR. TERRIFIC, CAPT. ATOM, FIRESTORM, ANY OF THE VARIOUS ROBINS, ANY OF THE VARIOUS OTHER GREEN LANTERNS, ANY OF THE LEGION OF THE SUPER-HEROES OR TITANS.

We can rule out Superman, Batman, Flash, and Aquaman. Each of them have a love, temptation, or wife that is female. Green Arrow has been shown in the New 52 in a major hetero sex scene with multiple women, so we can probably remove him from consideration. Shazam too. I don't think they want to deal with underage teens turning into adult gay super-heroes. That might make the mainstream a bit uncomfortable, so we'll take him out of consideration. Hal Jordan has been shown to be pretty straight too, so Green Lantern is out of consideration.

This leaves us with Hawkman, Atom, Plastic Man or Martian Manhunter if we are talking actual "major icons". Since Hawkman has already been headlining his own title in the New 52, I don't think he qualifies under the limited info we have been given. Martian Manhunter has been featured in the STORMWATCH title, but that series features the gay Superman and Batman analogues, Apollo and Midnighter, already so I just don't see DC opening the door for a gay trifecta so J'onn gets a sexual reprieve I think (plus the fact that he's a shape-changing alien technically means he is probably asexual but we won't get into that right now).

This leaves us with a toss-up between Plastic Man and Atom. Plastic Man is just too silly. I don't think DC wants to take this marketing opportunity to make their new gay character the quite insane and slapsticky Plas.

So...my money right now is on THE ATOM. I don't even know who they have under the mask in the New 52, but regardless of who it is, it makes the most sense (and thus, the least likely to be overly controversial) to make the Atom gay. He's a positive role model. He's smart, clever, and iconic with tons of potential for a TV series or film with modern f/x. The worst the gay community and DC might have to deal with would be lame jokes about him only being "six inches."

COME JUNE, I PREDICT

THE "GAY" CHARACTER WILL BE THE ATOM.

I'll be curious to see if I'm correct or if they surprise me.

Now, to hedge my bets and lower my opinion of DC's commitment to truly being bold, what if they wuss out once again and go to the secondary characters instead? I don't think it will be Blue Beetle or Mr. Terrific. Both of them are already representative of different ethnicities. Why would DC waste their diversification by doubling up again? They've already done it with The Question, Voodoo, and Batwoman. I don't think they will. It could be Firestorm, but since the character combines 2 characters into one, I just don't think it counts and Firestorm is far from a major icon. It could be one of the Robins. However, I don't think they would do it simply because of the bad press over the years about Batman and Robin as a gay fantasy. I think DC doesn't want to step in that pile of manure. So, none of them are likely.

What about John Stewart, Guy Gardner, or Kyle Rayner (3 other male Earth-based Green Lanterns)? I've read some online speculation that Gardner is the one. If DC does that, I think it will be insulting to the gay community rather than a positive move. Gardner is an asshole. That's his character. While it is true that oftentimes a repressed homosexual is aggressively homophobic as a reaction to his desires. However, that's really not been who Gardner was in the past (and I would expect him to be the same in the New 52) where he may act like a jerk, but when it comes to doing the right thing he would step up to the plate. I could see DC do this, but I think it could backfire on them because I don't think the gay community would want Gardner on their team.

Honestly.

John Stewart? Highly unlikely and has a history of deep love for women. Kyle Rayner? A definite possibility as far as I'm concerned. He's young and artistic. Prior to the New 52, he did have a love of his life, but in the New 52? I could see DC going this route to distinguish him even more from the other GLs.

If it's any of the Legion of Super-Heroes or Teen Titans, then it's a total fake-out on DC's part. None of those characters rise to the level of "major iconic" status unless you are a completely disingenuous corporate mouthpiece.

Which leaves me with CAPT. ATOM as my number one pick

from the secondary characters that DC might try to convince me are "major icons."

Just a few days to weeks to find out. But it is definitely another interesting bit of widespread Internet speculation.

Q&A with Archie Comics about the Red Circle Comic Book App

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:55:00 +0000

Reblogging my Interview (as Prof. Challenger) with the Team behind ARCHIE's new RED CIRCLE Line of Super-Heroes.

Q’s by Prof Challenger!

@’s by the Team Behind ARCHIE’S
New Red Circle Line!!!

Professor Challenger here and I had the opportunity recently to talk to the guys behind the new redesign and relaunch of the classic MIGHTY CRUSADERS characters from Archie Comics Publications. Ian Flynn is the writer on this project, Alex Segura is the Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing, and Paul Kaminski is the Executive Director of Editorial.

I'm glad to see someone tackling the Red Circle characters again...and without licensing them out to another publisher. In my younger days, I was a fan Rich Buckler's attempt at getting the CRUSADERS back into the marketplace. I enjoyed the IMPACT line (especially the late Mike Parobeck's work on THE FLY). I found the recent DC attempt to be a well-intentioned effort that inexplicably just disappeared.

However, from what I can gather here, Archie Comics smartly picked the characters back up immediately and started this project to not only modernize the characters but do something new and progressive in the process. Do I have that right?

IAN FLYNN (IF): That's a good way to sum it up.

PROF CHALLENGER (PROF): Ian, how did you get involved with this project?

IF: It was somewhere between San Diego Comic Con and New York Comic Con last year when Executive Director of Editorial Paul Kaminski sent me the series proposal he'd been working on with Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing Alex Segura said "I want you to write this." I grew up on super hero books, so I jumped at the chance. At NYCC, we had a big brain-storming session with President Mike Pellerito, hashed out the first season of the book, and that was that.

PROF: Can you explain how this "weekly app" is different than simply a weekly digital comic?

IF: The weekly app gives you six pages of the current comic every Wednesday should you be currently subscribed to the App. So instead of waiting a month between releases, as you'll have to for the printed edition, you'll be getting a steady stream of content week after week along with updates of the older Mighty Crusaders material from the 30’s all the way through to now!

PROF: Does the app have aspects to it that allow users to follow other users and interact with comments or crosspost onto social media like Facebook and Twitter?

>PAUL KAMINSKI (PK): The iVerse team I pretty incredible at what they do – and what they do is innovate and connect! Social media will play a role in the App as it continues to grow and expand, and if you want to start posting and tweeting New Crusaders news, check out RedCircleComics.com!

PROF: Does the app focus on the team only or is it something that combines multiple titles or storylines within a shared universe?

PK: The App has 2 components, which each serve to enhance the other. The first component is the new material, which is the New Crusaders on-going series. New Crusaders is a direct sequel to the second component of the App, which is the classic Red Circle books, dating all the way back to 1939. Readers will be able to read an ever-growing range of the old material, which often will have a direct connection to what’s going on in New Crusaders. Comic collectors like myself tend to save, catalogue, and contextualize every event in a comic series. Most comic collectors don’t really know all that much about Red Circle as it stands right now. We’re implanting that type of collection into an App and doing the contextualizing for you!

PROF: Is this Red Circle universe going to co-exist with the mainstream Archie universe or are you going to keep them functionally separate?

PK: Red Circle is completely separate from the Archie Universe in style, tone, and presentation. Though technically speaking, Riverdale and the town of Red Circle are on the same map.

PROF: In terms of characters, who are the primary characters?

IF: The main cast are the New Crusaders - Joe Higgins, a.k.a. The Shield, is the veteran hero who's been in service since the 1940s. When disaster strikes, he has to take in the teens/heirs to the original Mighty Crusaders and introduce the new blood to the world of super heroics. Six young adults under one roof, traumatize and given super powers. Yeah, it'll go about as well as you'd expect.

PROF: So, you will be incorporating at least some past continuity with these characters?

IF: Everything under the old Archie labels - MLJ to present P is canon. We'll be tweaking things here and there where it's needed to make it all flow and make sense, but we're treating all the books as fair game. We won't be mired in that backstory, though. It'll serve as the foundation for our new characters and new adventures to take off from.

PROF: Along the same lines, will there be any recognition of the work that was published under the Red Circle line, Impact line, or the DC proper books?

IF: The Red Circle line, which eventually adopted the “Archie Adventure Series” banner again in the later issues, is the series that direct precedes ours. We won't be using the out-sourced material, but we're not ignoring it completely either. We'll get into that later in the season.

PROF: Is there a longterm goal in mind or just a plan to keep telling stories?

IF: We have the first season - or twenty-four episodes (issues) - already mapped out. We've got a log of ideas on how we want to branch out and expand. The Red Circle imprint is primed to be huge.

PROF: How do you foresee expanding this app and the world of the CRUSADERS?

ALEX SEGURA (AS): The app is going to be an immersive experience – it’s not just a standard comic app that shows you a bunch of books and lets you decide what to buy. This is like a ticket into the world of NEW CRUSADERS – past, present and future. Not only do you get to enjoy the new, never-before-seen adventures of this team, but you get to see the books that shape that narrative, as chosen by the people directly involved in the creation. Paul and his team have done a great job partnering with iVerse to really curate this app. So, each week, there’s not only new story content, but never-before-digitized books that thematically tie into the new stories. It’s amazing.

As far as expanding – once we get the main app off the ground, we’ll be slowly peeling things back and showing new corners of Red Circle and the Red Circle Comics universe. Stay tuned for news on that.

PROF: Other than Ian, who are the talent involved in delivering the stories and driving the characters and their worlds?

IF: I'm on writing duties with Ben Bates (penciler), Gary Martin (inker), Matt Herms (colorist) and John Workman (letterer) on the art team. I've worked with all of them in the past, and they're all amazingly talented people.

PROF: What level of marketing and licensing can we expect?

AS: We’ve got a pretty focused marketing and PR campaign geared at not only the comic fan sites, but pop culture venues like AICN and more tech-centric outlets. Because the story isn’t just that these characters are back – it’s HOW they’re back. This is the first superhero universe launched digitally. Red Circle Comics is looking to become a leader in digital, and the reality is, no one in comics is doing something even close to this. It’s an exciting time to be here.

PROF: As with the other ARCHIE titles, is THE CRUSADERS app intended to be something that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages?

IF: Yes, although I'm calling it "all-ages with an edge." We're going to be a little more adult with the language and the violence than your typical Archie book, but at the same time it's nothing you wouldn't see on TV (probably less-so).

PROF: How in the heck do readers of this interview get in on the ground floor of this project?

AS: Go to www.RedCircleComics.com, download the app, and get ready to rock on May 16th. In the meantime, people can go to the website for more info and character bios!

PROF: Is the App for Apple iPhone/iPad exclusively or is it available freestanding for the Android market or PC without having to go through iTunes?

AS: As of now, the Red Circle app will be available via iTunes and on other platforms via Archie's digital comics storefront: digital.archiecomics.com.

PROF: Do you see this type of project as groundbreaking and setting the stage for others to follow?

IF: A lot of other super hero books will use some major event to revamp their properties to be something "new" and "fresh." That's nothing new - we've seen it constantly throughout the 90s til now. What New Crusaders is doing is taking the classic material, utilizing it, but moving forward. We have new heroes that grow from and contribute to the original material, not just give it a new coat of paint.

PROF: What's your "Hollywood Pitch" for this project; that is, what's the one- or two-line description that will sell this to our readers?

IF: New Crusaders is a fun, exciting super hero book without the baggage and angst of a lot of other super hero books. Y'know how you can go to these recent super hero movies, sit down, and have a good time? That's New Crusaders in a nutshell.

PROF: Thanks for the conversation, guys, and good luck!

Editing, compiling, imaging, coding, logos & cat-wrangling by Ambush Bug
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G

Check out AICN COMICS on Facebook and Comixpedia.org!

My Dark Shadows Early Screening Review.

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:31:00 +0000

Dark Shadows screening review. | gofobo

DARK SHADOWS (2012)

Director: Tim Burton
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: May 11, 2012
Rating: PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned
Rating Warnings: comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking
Official Website: http://darkshadowsmovie.warnerbros.com/index.html

Synopsis: In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles.

Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth’s ne’er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger’s precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David’s new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.

Review: I love Tim Burton movies and, so, it is no surprise that I also liked this one.

I love DARK SHADOWS and, so, it is no surprise that I also liked this one.

It definitely surprised me in a lot of ways. One of the most important surprises were the more subtle ways that it referenced the old show. Specifically, the pacing of a number of scenes in which it was just Barnabas and another character alone in a room. They copied the incidental music and the rhythm and pacing of the stilted dialogue perfectly. The slow way Barnabas walks around and Johnny Depp is totally aping Johnathan Frid's way of dragging out his words slowly as he tries to find his cue cards or remember a line.

Most definitely go into it knowing that it is NOT a spoof. They find opportunities for hilarious moments of comedy, but it is NOT a spoof. The ghost and witchy stuff is legitimately creepy and there's some other creepy imagery throughout. They don't shy away from vampire brutality either. Some light insinuated raunch and sex. The period music choices add a lot of flavor to it and it felt authentically 1972 to me as I watched it, especially the way they had it lit in the exterior scenes.

As with nearly every Tim Burton fantasy movie, the final act goes a bit over the top (anyone remember the final act of Joe Johnston's THE WOLFMAN a couple of years ago? Big fantasy fight scene inside a burning mansion -- that sort of thing). They resolve the story in such a way that it does not have to be a franchise but leave enough options available if they choose to do it.

There's a lot of interesting symbolism that Burton has fun with -- especially with Angelique. All of the actors seemed like they were having a lot of fun but Eva Green was reveling in her role as Angelique. I found Bella Heathcote to be ethereal and very engaging in her wide-eyed role as the beauty, Josette/Vicki. Helena Bonham Carter steals all of her scenes with her cigarette-scarred voice and bright red hair as she lusts after Barnabas. Johnny Depp carries it all and is so likeable as Barnabas that you even forgive his foible of brutal blood-sucking murder.

It was not really what I expected. But I enjoyed what I got.

I will be paying to see it again soon.

EARTH 2 Reviewed

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:25:00 +0000

EARTH 2 #1
Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Nicola Scott (pencils) & Trevor Scott (inks)
Publisher: DC Comics

“Looking back on that day five years ago, I wonder if they knew, maybe deep down in their hearts...if they sensed it. After all their amazing exploits...after all they'd done so far...if Superman...Wonder Woman...Batman, of course...if they knew that here in ravaged Metropolis would be their last adventure.” -- Alan Scott

Longtime readers of my words both on my blog and on AICN know that I've been very outspoken in my disappointment at the way the DCU reboot was handled. The characters of DC's “Earth 2” (the golden age heroes) almost always get the shaft when DC does a continuity wipe or rewrite. And it appeared like they had once again gotten screwed by the slapdash manner in which the linewide reboot happened.

However, I have to say, I take back every single negative thing I ever said about this new EARTH 2 book in the lead-up to its release last week. Encapsulated in this single comic book are steps that nearly take full advantage of the freedom that a reboot really provides. This approach is bold, takes chances, makes real and substantive changes, and does it all with a sense of a real cohesive vision. I am sure that it helps to have it basically limited to a single title (with a side connection to WORLDS' FINEST) rather than 51 other continuity titles.

James Robinson's writing has no groaner moments or wasted scenes. He packed this single issue with everything we need to know to set up the world, the differences, and the future. Nicola Scott knocked this out of the park with her art. She has leapt immediately up to the top tier of my favorite artists working today. Watch out Amanda Conner, George Perez, and Ivan Reis. You've got competition.

Here's the background we get from EARTH 2 #1: This Earth has not experienced a glut of super-heroes like the regular DCU over the years since Superman appeared. In the flashback sequence of 5 years ago, we have an older Superman (with adult cousin Supergirl) along with an older Batman (with adult daughter, Robin) and a Wonder Woman who has also obviously been around for awhile. They are the trinity of heroes of this Earth. Without the rest of what would become the Justice League on our Earth, they are overcome by the attack by the hordes of Parademons (presumably sent by this world's version of Darkseid). The heroes are killed, but Batman's sacrifice also saves the Earth from total destruction and defeats the Parademons. Supergirl and Robin chase a figure through a boomtube and wind up stranded on Earth 1 and their story continues in WORLDS' FINEST.

Cut to present-day. A world without super-heroes but with a collective memory of that tragic day. It is a world-wide tragic moment for the entire world.

Set up for the future: Robinson introduced Al Pratt and Jim Harper as soldiers during the 5-years-ago flashback. The stage is set for new versions of Earth 2's Atom and Guardian. In the present-day, Robinson introduces us to young, rich, broadcaster Alan Scott and even younger Jay Garrick – struggling to find purpose and direction until he comes face to face with the Roman god, Mercury.

On to the next issue.

What I love about the approach here is that Robinson is approaching EARTH 2 as if the types of events that happen(ed) on Earth 1 simply don't happen quite as often or as easily. So, without random science experiments and accidents, how do you get a group of heroes who can equal Earth 1's Justice League and beyond? Robinson appears to be making the new EARTH 2 heroes essentially avatars (or power-receivers) of the Roman Gods. The Flash of Earth 2 is gaining his powers from Mercury. I don't know this for sure, but I suspect the Green Lantern will be receiving his powers from Jupiter, Vulcan, or one of the other gods and so on.

When Grant Morrison took on the JUSTICE LEAGUE comic years ago, he specifically set up the characters as Earthly counterparts of the Greek pantheon. Here, it appears from dialogue between Mercury and Wonder Woman, that Robinson is going so far as to making our new heroes, inspired by the self-sacrifice of the original Trinity of heroes, literally the Roman pantheon on Earth. Heroes powered by the gods rather than scientific mumbo-jumbo.

I honestly can't find anything to criticize here. It all was simply brilliant, flowed perfectly, intrigued me and hooked me instantly.

EARTH 2 is everything “The New 52” should be.

This Touched My Heart Today and Brought a Tear to My Eye

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:38:00 +0000

Reblogged: A Letter to Jonathan by David Selby

A Letter to Jonathan

Posted on April 19, 2012 by David Selby

My dear friend,

Once, when I talked to you in Canada, you told me that you were not going anywhere. You said you get out of bed, put on your robe and slippers, have a nibble of breakfast, and then sit down at your computer and check in with the world. So I took you at your word. You always told me what you thought. Now, you just up and go without a word. How dare you.

You never mentioned that you were contemplating a long trip. After all, we had just recently returned from a rather long but short trip to the countryside of England where we took up residence in a very fine resort – at least what we saw of it was fine. The food you barely sampled, but the nightcap went down so smoothly that you told me you had not appreciated my entrance onto the show those many years ago. But I never knew. You were never anything but considerate to me, gentlemanly, a throwback to when there were gentlemen – courteous – exquisite charming manners but always with a quiet, respectful, measuring with those skeptical eyes, and then an easy smile.

It seemed right for such fellow travelers to be in England. We were there to replay, visit, all the way back, a bit of our ancient history. That highway never ends. It was worth the trip just to hold your hand as you stepped off the curb….worth it to reflect back on the fine time I had reading that play with you in New York to all your adoring fans, worth it to feel anxious at Pinewood Studios when I could not find you for a few moments.

How rare it is to be able go back in time to see where it all began. Our hosts could not have been more cordial. After all, as Tim said, in the glorious drawing room of that mansion– none of us would be here if not for you.

Memory is a strange bird. It persists. Why? Memory is vivid. And love?! Well….what was it about Dark Shadows that compelled people like Tim and Johnny to watch, to be affected so, so strongly. They needed to watch, had to watch. They were drawn to Dark Shadows like a moth to light.

Your light was full of mystery, of history, of genealogy, of love. You carried the heavy past with such grace and allure. That need to watch had something to do with love, a love for you.

What is it about love that made Dark Shadows so needed by millions? They loved you, Jonathan, as did I.

The night is long, the candles will stay lit.

Till we meet again.

David

Jonathan Frid Dead at 87

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:22:00 +0000

Jonathan Frid, who played the role of Barnabas Collins in the ABC daytime drama Dark Shadows, has died at the age of 87 years old on April 14, 2012 according to his former co-star Kathryn Leigh Scott.

Frid, born in Canada, was theatrically trained at the Royal Academy for the Dramatic Arts in London and received a master’s degree in directing from the Yale School of Drama. Before joining Dark Shadows, Frid had a successful stage career including a performance of Much Ado About Nothing that co-starred Katherine Hepburn and was directed by John Houseman.

Barnabas Collins made his first appearance on Shadows in 1966 after the show had already run for 211 episodes. The character was created in the hope of energizing the show and increasing ratings but Frid had only a 13-week commitment….he ended up on the show for nearly 600 more episodes, and transforming Barnabas from a guest into the show’s protagonist.

After the show ended in 1971 - the run included a 1970 movie, House of the Dark Shadows - Frid returned to the stage including a successful run as the murderous nephew in the dark comedy Arsenic and Old Lace. His co-star was Jean Stapleton of All in the Family fame.

Frid and the rest of the original cast will all make appearances in the Tim Burton-directed Dark Shadows film starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas. (Coincidentally, the film opens on May 11.)

For Frid’s full filmography, click here.

Sources: kathrynleighscott.com, imdb.com, wikipedia.org, darkshadows.wikia.com, alt.obituaries (Google group)

(Image of Frid and Grayson Hall as Julia is copyright Pictorial Parade/Getty Images and courtesy of the Washington Post.)

Reblogged from http://www.obitoftheday.com/post/21376138890/jonathanfrid

For Those Naysayers Who Thought my FRIEDRICH v. MARVEL Analysis Was Off-Base

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:49:00 +0000

Sure didn't take long at all for the FRIEDRICH V. MARVEL ruling to start impacting Comic Convention art.

BotCon 2012 Policy Update Regarding Fan Art - Transformers News - TFW2005

We have received word that artists that booked an artist alley table for BotCon

2012 are now being told that any fan art that may infringe on Hasbro's intellectual property or trademarks can not be sold at BotCon. This does not affect licensees or Hasbro contractors...

The wording from the BotCon brochure advertised "that you can get single tables to show-and-sell your custom Transformers art for $200", but it would appear that Hasbro has reversed this now resulting in more table cancellations at the Texas convention scheduled for later this month.

Reblogged: SHAZAM Design -- Sequart Research

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:28:00 +0000

Well-written and better than probably anything I could have written myself.

SHAZAM Design
by Mike Greer

Fri, 30 March 2012

Whenever the phrases “we removed the circus strongman elements of his costume” or “the emotional journey of this troubled teenager” get used in an interview about a character’s redesign, I have to admit I get a little bit frustrated. This was the case with a March 5 article on DC Entertainment’s public relations blog, The Source, in which Justice League writer Geoff Johns discussed his and artist Gary Frank’s new direction for the superhero Captain Marvel. Set to debut in Justice League #7, this new version of Captain Marvel, rechristened “Shazam,” is said to be a more mystical, magical take on the Big Red Cheese.

Now, I will admit that I am not the biggest Captain Marvel fan in the world. The character wasn’t really at the forefront of the superhero genre during the ‘80s and ‘90s, so a lot of fans like me just grew up bypassing the character altogether. Most of the time I just thought he was a half-hearted attempt at creating another Superman. It wasn’t until I began reading up on the Captain Marvel stories that Fawcett Publications put out in the 1940s that I saw the real charm behind this character.

Rather than being just another Superman knock off, Captain Marvel had taken a decidedly goofy and absurd direction with the concept, creating a family of spin-off heroes to go on adventures with, and paling around with a walking, talking tiger. But it was when I read about the epic, two-year “Monster Society of Evil” story arc that my idea of the character changed forever. The story gave readers their first look at Mister Mind, the greatest enemy that Marvel had ever faced. What they were shown was… a two-inch long talking worm with glasses.

That’s when I began to see the real brilliance of the Captain Marvel franchise. It was unabashedly a kids comic. It was a goofy, absurd superhero fairy tale. Winnie the Pooh with capes and thunder. Sadly, once the character was revived by DC in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the character never again rose to its original prominence. Writers and artists have been trying ever since to reconcile the storybook childishness of Captain Marvel with the progressively grim, melancholy DC universe, but their attempts at making characters like Mister Mind into something we should take seriously never hit the mark.

And that’s largely where I stand with this latest reboot of the character from Johns and Frank. In the New York Post ’s article about the reboot, the first image of the character was revealed, and it wasn’t pretty. Rather than a dauntless, smiling Captain Marvel (or Shazam, if that’s what they want to call him now to make him more accessible to non-comic book readers) dashing around above the clouds, we’re treated to a tortured soul gritting his teeth and looking predictably angst-y. Bolts of angry lightning shoot from his eyes and skin, but fail to illuminate his body or hooded face, which are cloaked in the darkness of blah blah blah I couldn’t care less...

For the rest of the article, click here: Shazam Design | Sequart Research & Literacy Organization

DARK SHADOWS Promo Images Make Me Smile!

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:14:00 +0000

DARK SHADOWS: Strange is Relative

The Three Things in Life You Can Always Count On...

noreply@blogger.com (Keith Howell) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:59:00 +0000

This Hap Pitkin editorial cartoon has been making the rounds recently and makes a pretty good point about how politicians (at this time in history -- Republicans) fixate on the little drips and dribbles that polarize the voters rather than tackling the substantive problems. The finger in the dike metaphor is oft-used by satirists and cartoonists for these types of situations. Pitkin's cartoon reminded me of my own editorial cartoon drawn up back in the middle of the "W" administration. In this case, I'm satirizing the incessant need of political bureaucracy to avoid taking the obvious steps to fix a problem and instead fixate on dragging out the process of coming to consensus. My issue was the immigration issue. Rather than draw the dike with holes, I used the metaphor of leaving the water running and skipping the obvious step of first turning off the water.

There are three things in life you can always count on: Death, Taxes, and Politicians avoiding reality. It never changes.

*disregard the email addy at the bottom of the cartoon because it doesn't exist anymore.