* The last week of the year brings news that notorious, much-despised shyster Rick Olney has apparently died. Given how much energy Olney expended over the years trying to rehabilitate his utterly soiled reputation in comics (yes, comics, which tolerates racists, homophobes and scam artists like fish tolerate water), I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Olney's untimely demise ended up being another one of his lies. But in the event that he has actually passed from this mortal coil, let's remember his many contributions to comics culture.
* 180 degrees from that story, best wishes for a speedy recovery to writer Peter David, who has apparently suffered a stroke. I've always enjoyed David's Star Trek novels, feeling that he and the team of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens are among the few writers who can capture the voices of Trek's many characters in every work they produce, not the easiest of tasks. David's Imzadi and The Rift are two of his best Trek novels, if you want to give them a look.
* Highly recommended is Tom Spurgeon's interview with writer-about-artcomix Rob Clough. They talk intelligently about dozens of comics that I haven't read, but that a few years ago I would have probably been keenly interested in. I'm glad someone is writing, and writing well, about that corner of comics.
* Christopher Allen responds to my take on a recent(ish) Grant Morrison interview.
* Tony Isabella looks at some recent movies, including The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises. I agree with his views on both of those movies.
* The uni-named cartoonist Jason says goodbye to American Elf. Scroll down to the second strip on this page to see another cartoonist named Jason say goodbye to James Kochalka's daily diary strip. (Pro tip: Putting that strip on its own page might have gotten a few more links from the elite, Jay.)
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Galaxy Newsbrief - December 30th, 2012
* From Disney's John Carter movie debacle, to its acquisition of the Star Wars franchise, to the success of The Avengers movie, Disney was like a ravenous and unstoppable monster in calendar year 2012. In a justifiably angry and embittered end-of-the-year post, Steve Bissette pulls no punches in looking at how monstrous a year it truly has been, especially for freelancers hoping to find gigs in the current corporate environment. This is a long and depressing assessment of creative media and how it treats the human beings it requires in order to exist, and it is absolute must-reading.
* An interesting counterpoint to the above-linked Steve Bissette piece is Tony Isabella's Tribute to Stan Lee, on the occasion of Stan's 90th birthday. I have found it fascinating how Lee, who served Marvel to the detriment of freelancers and their rights for many years, later became as much a victim as anyone, when Marvel tried to screw him out of royalties he was entitled to as a result of the first Spider-Man movie. It's always interesting to me how people like Jim Lee and Brian Bendis can allow themselves to be utterly co-opted by comics corporations and apparently imagine they'll always be taken care of, in an industry that has fucked over Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and virtually every other name that matters as well. In that light, writer Ed Brubaker's move not only to reclaim his old work (Scene of the Crime) but by all apparent evidence re-dedicating himself mostly to work he owns himself (Fatale), makes perfect sense. You'd think more writers and artists would see the logic and benefit of conducting their careers in a similar manner, but that all-encompassing passion to write compromised cape comics for capricious corporations seems to die very hard, indeed. Well, look how Straczynski's stint at Marvel ended up for him. I'm sure that could never happen to Jonathan Hickman or any of the new breed. I'm sure things are different now. Yeah. Go read the Bissette piece.
* Oh, and I should note, I really did enjoy Tony Isabella's personal and joyous reflection on working for Stan Lee. It's all the more interesting to me both because of the irony I noted above, and because Tony is a guy who has been screwed by corporate comics more than once himself, and yet is still positive and decent enough to acknowledge the good parts of his career, such as his relationship with Stan Lee, and knows the difference between the personal and the professional.
* I wrote a farewell to James Kochalka's American Elf (which is scheduled to end at the same time 2012 does), although I didn't write it as well as I should have, clearly, as James took it in a way I really did not intend. You can see our brief back-and-forth on the subject on the AE forum.
* I bought a new desk lamp yesterday. It only handles up to 40-watt bulbs, but it does better illuminate my laptop's keyboard when I am using it at my desk at home. So yes, after nearly a nearly three-month break, I am thinking of writing a little bit, here, now and then in the new year. As noted in a previous post, writing about comics really became NOT FUN for me over the course of 2012 (which I wrote a bit about in my 2012 year in review), but I am hoping to find a new angle from which to approach the subject. We'll see how that works out.
* Happy new year, by the way. I hope you and yours enjoy a peaceful and prosperous 2013.
* An interesting counterpoint to the above-linked Steve Bissette piece is Tony Isabella's Tribute to Stan Lee, on the occasion of Stan's 90th birthday. I have found it fascinating how Lee, who served Marvel to the detriment of freelancers and their rights for many years, later became as much a victim as anyone, when Marvel tried to screw him out of royalties he was entitled to as a result of the first Spider-Man movie. It's always interesting to me how people like Jim Lee and Brian Bendis can allow themselves to be utterly co-opted by comics corporations and apparently imagine they'll always be taken care of, in an industry that has fucked over Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and virtually every other name that matters as well. In that light, writer Ed Brubaker's move not only to reclaim his old work (Scene of the Crime) but by all apparent evidence re-dedicating himself mostly to work he owns himself (Fatale), makes perfect sense. You'd think more writers and artists would see the logic and benefit of conducting their careers in a similar manner, but that all-encompassing passion to write compromised cape comics for capricious corporations seems to die very hard, indeed. Well, look how Straczynski's stint at Marvel ended up for him. I'm sure that could never happen to Jonathan Hickman or any of the new breed. I'm sure things are different now. Yeah. Go read the Bissette piece.
* Oh, and I should note, I really did enjoy Tony Isabella's personal and joyous reflection on working for Stan Lee. It's all the more interesting to me both because of the irony I noted above, and because Tony is a guy who has been screwed by corporate comics more than once himself, and yet is still positive and decent enough to acknowledge the good parts of his career, such as his relationship with Stan Lee, and knows the difference between the personal and the professional.
* I wrote a farewell to James Kochalka's American Elf (which is scheduled to end at the same time 2012 does), although I didn't write it as well as I should have, clearly, as James took it in a way I really did not intend. You can see our brief back-and-forth on the subject on the AE forum.
* I bought a new desk lamp yesterday. It only handles up to 40-watt bulbs, but it does better illuminate my laptop's keyboard when I am using it at my desk at home. So yes, after nearly a nearly three-month break, I am thinking of writing a little bit, here, now and then in the new year. As noted in a previous post, writing about comics really became NOT FUN for me over the course of 2012 (which I wrote a bit about in my 2012 year in review), but I am hoping to find a new angle from which to approach the subject. We'll see how that works out.
* Happy new year, by the way. I hope you and yours enjoy a peaceful and prosperous 2013.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)