* Just a quick note that I posted a couple of pieces to Galaxy sister site Trouble With Comics yesterday.
* The big one, as far as I am concerned, is Emerging from the Narrative: An Interview with Alan Moore. This is the first time the text of this 2004 interview has been available online in a decade. It's a wide-ranging interview about From Hell, Voice of the Fire, Miracleman, Moore's thoughts on his impact on superhero comics storytelling, Miracleman and much more. It's one of the pieces I'm most proudest of in the 15+ years I have been writing about comics online, so I hope you'll give it a look.
* I also ran a list of The Good and The Bad in the Gotham pilot. I'm interested in seeing more, but I'm probably not pre-ordering the Blu-ray set, if you know what I mean.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 090914: More Than A Million Words of Moore
* Alan Moore has reportedly completed writing the initial draft of his forthcoming prose novel Jerusalem. Moore's daughter Leah made the announcement on Alan Moore's Facebook page: "[Alan Moore] has finished the first draft of his second novel, Jerusalem. Now there's just the small matter of copy editing a more-than-a-million word document, and it's all done."
* Jerusalem is Moore's followup to his first prose novel, Voice of the Fire, available from Top Shelf Productions, and which was written about by Marshall O'Keeffe for Comic Book Galaxy a decade ago. Marshall's article is challenging, but then so is Voice of the Fire, the first chapter of which is written in a proto-human form of English Moore invented to convey the thoughts of a character who was on the verge of achieving consciousness. I can tell you that my first reading of Voice of the Fire was not entirely successful, as I came to it not quite ready for the challenge Moore was throwing down to his readers. I've always appreciated Marshall O'Keeffe's look at the novel for the way in which it allowed me entry into Voice of the Fire, which has become my second-favourite novel of all time, after Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita.
* I love both novels for similar reasons. They each take the reader on a journey that is not always pleasant, but is ultimately rewarding and is vastly entertaining. They each feature a use of the English language that is a dimension above most other prose fiction, demonstrating a level of planning and complexity that is simply not within the grasp of most writers, or many readers. Both Lolita and Voice of the Fire reward multiple readings, with not only the joy of rediscovering already-known delights, but by revealing new information encoded in such a way that you must read them more than once in order to really gain a deeper understanding of what is happening, while at the same time not alienating the first-time reader too much. Both are works to be respected, admired, and passionately devoured by the hungry mind.
* In my 2004 interview with Moore, he discussed Voice of the Fire in relation to his graphic novel From Hell (with artist Eddie Campbell) and with his decision to become a magician: "One of the things that binds both From Hell and Voice Of The Fire is that...I mean, I started both of them probably around the same time, although there was maybe a couple of years between the start of From Hell and the start of Voice Of The Fire, but one thing that they have in common is that, halfway through both books, I actually decided to become a magician and to begin a serious and practical study of the occult. And this was partly connected with certain parts of From Hell, where we were getting into some of William Gull's beliefs about the nature of gods and, I mean, originally I was just writing these balloons as dialogue just to fill a panel, you know, to fill a page, but I wrote something about the only place that gods, inarguably, exist is in the human mind where they are real in all their grandeur and monstrosity. Which sounded like a nice ringing little line that filled a word balloon and then I sort of stopped and thought about it and actually realized that by complete mistake, by complete accident, I'd written something true, that I couldn't actually think my way around and that was the beginning of a train of thought which, as I say, lead me to a very serious immersion in, what I suppose would largely be referred to as, magic."
* In 2013, Moore spoke to The Believer about Jerusalem, saying it was specifically conceived as a prose novel: "The decision to take on Jerusalem was very much a movement away from comics, to explore the possibilities of what the novel could do. I really enjoyed writing my first novel, Voice of the Fire. It is still one of my favorite works, but it was a first novel, and having learned a little of what writing a novel entails while doing that, I was trying to see if there were any other ideas that I could put into application. So yeah, it was never considered as anything other than a massive book."
* The idea that a mind as creative as Alan Moore's plans a book specifically designed to better what he accomplished with Voice of the Fire is a delightful one to contemplate. I've been a reader of Moore's work since very early in his Swamp Thing run, and can count the works of his that I haven't particularly enjoyed on the fingers of one hand, with a finger left over for his backward, mouth-breathing detractors, many of whom have demonstrated a contempt for creator rights and an unhealthy obsession with Moore's every utterance. Moore's recent comics work, from his growing library of work with Top Shelf (including the still-wondrous League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) to his work with Avatar, show his creativity and intellect are more powerful than ever. There's every chance that Jerusalem will be a landmark, paradigm-shifting novel, the work of a lifetime. More than a million words? I can't wait to read every one.
* Jerusalem is Moore's followup to his first prose novel, Voice of the Fire, available from Top Shelf Productions, and which was written about by Marshall O'Keeffe for Comic Book Galaxy a decade ago. Marshall's article is challenging, but then so is Voice of the Fire, the first chapter of which is written in a proto-human form of English Moore invented to convey the thoughts of a character who was on the verge of achieving consciousness. I can tell you that my first reading of Voice of the Fire was not entirely successful, as I came to it not quite ready for the challenge Moore was throwing down to his readers. I've always appreciated Marshall O'Keeffe's look at the novel for the way in which it allowed me entry into Voice of the Fire, which has become my second-favourite novel of all time, after Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita.
* I love both novels for similar reasons. They each take the reader on a journey that is not always pleasant, but is ultimately rewarding and is vastly entertaining. They each feature a use of the English language that is a dimension above most other prose fiction, demonstrating a level of planning and complexity that is simply not within the grasp of most writers, or many readers. Both Lolita and Voice of the Fire reward multiple readings, with not only the joy of rediscovering already-known delights, but by revealing new information encoded in such a way that you must read them more than once in order to really gain a deeper understanding of what is happening, while at the same time not alienating the first-time reader too much. Both are works to be respected, admired, and passionately devoured by the hungry mind.
* In my 2004 interview with Moore, he discussed Voice of the Fire in relation to his graphic novel From Hell (with artist Eddie Campbell) and with his decision to become a magician: "One of the things that binds both From Hell and Voice Of The Fire is that...I mean, I started both of them probably around the same time, although there was maybe a couple of years between the start of From Hell and the start of Voice Of The Fire, but one thing that they have in common is that, halfway through both books, I actually decided to become a magician and to begin a serious and practical study of the occult. And this was partly connected with certain parts of From Hell, where we were getting into some of William Gull's beliefs about the nature of gods and, I mean, originally I was just writing these balloons as dialogue just to fill a panel, you know, to fill a page, but I wrote something about the only place that gods, inarguably, exist is in the human mind where they are real in all their grandeur and monstrosity. Which sounded like a nice ringing little line that filled a word balloon and then I sort of stopped and thought about it and actually realized that by complete mistake, by complete accident, I'd written something true, that I couldn't actually think my way around and that was the beginning of a train of thought which, as I say, lead me to a very serious immersion in, what I suppose would largely be referred to as, magic."
* In 2013, Moore spoke to The Believer about Jerusalem, saying it was specifically conceived as a prose novel: "The decision to take on Jerusalem was very much a movement away from comics, to explore the possibilities of what the novel could do. I really enjoyed writing my first novel, Voice of the Fire. It is still one of my favorite works, but it was a first novel, and having learned a little of what writing a novel entails while doing that, I was trying to see if there were any other ideas that I could put into application. So yeah, it was never considered as anything other than a massive book."
* The idea that a mind as creative as Alan Moore's plans a book specifically designed to better what he accomplished with Voice of the Fire is a delightful one to contemplate. I've been a reader of Moore's work since very early in his Swamp Thing run, and can count the works of his that I haven't particularly enjoyed on the fingers of one hand, with a finger left over for his backward, mouth-breathing detractors, many of whom have demonstrated a contempt for creator rights and an unhealthy obsession with Moore's every utterance. Moore's recent comics work, from his growing library of work with Top Shelf (including the still-wondrous League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) to his work with Avatar, show his creativity and intellect are more powerful than ever. There's every chance that Jerusalem will be a landmark, paradigm-shifting novel, the work of a lifetime. More than a million words? I can't wait to read every one.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 090714: It's Unlikely Your Work is Awesome
* Following up on a post I did about a month ago regarding cartoonist Mike Dawson discussing how he has not seen a sustainable audience build for his comics work, I wanted to note a post by R. Fiore at The Comics Journal (hat tip to Tom Spurgeon) which should have every working and aspiring cartoonist thinking feverishly about their options.
* Fiore is one of the longest-running Journal commentators, and also one of the magazine's -- and therefore the industry's -- smartest observers. Fiore acknowledges the much-linked-to Abhay Khosla response to Dawson's original piece, highlighting both its strengths and its weaknesses. I do love me some AK, but I am sure even he would admit that Fiore's understanding of how the industry works trumps just about everyone else's.
* Fiore wisely compares Dawson's dilemma with an earlier debate over digital comics, spurred by Mark Waid's somewhat groundbreaking digital initiative. He pulls it all together with the sad, Capitalist truth that it's the evolutionary forces at work in the market that decide who gets paid and who doesn't, not some invisible moral imperative that favours good cartoonists and culls the bad ones from the herd. Very much like the music industry, which digital technology has transformed utterly (with corporations, and musicians to a lesser extent, kicking and screaming every step of the way), cartoonists have to evolve into the new paradigm. If they think drawing a comic, story or graphic novel means their work is done and the Brinks truck is backing into their driveway, they think wrong. Just because you build it, that doesn't mean anyone will show up, and no one is automatically entitled to a living in Los Estados Unidos (not yet, anyway).
* Fiore notes that "we have entered into an environment in which its never been easier to disseminate your work and its never been more difficult to make a buck from it." And in the traditional sense, that is true. Look at James Kochalka, who many years ago devoted an entire graphic novel to the premise "Quit Your Job." Kochalka's comics and graphic novels sales figures have never been made public that I am aware of, but he has been tireless in finding other sources of income, from subscriptions to his now-ended American Elf daily web strip to licensing his song Hockey Monkey as a TV series theme, to turning his Super-F*ckers comic into an animated series. Kochalka is probably the most energetic cartoonist I've ever met, and I am sure that energy is invaluable in driving him to find ways to monetize his comics and musical work.
* "Monetize" is a word that rankles a lot of people, with its implication of "selling out." Over the 14 years I have maintained Comic Book Galaxy in one way or another, I have occasionally attempted to monetize the site -- but in its best year advertising revenue brought in less than a hundred bucks a month, and that did not last long, and it was well over a decade ago. Yes, the site was far more popular then, with tens of thousands of daily visitors, but when I look back, I think that the biggest obstacle to maintaining revenue was just me. I saw what we were doing as important and valuable (yes, I was hella naive), and my focus was entirely on the quality of the writing on the site and the relative merit of the comics and graphic novels we were covering. I didn't get into it to be a business person, and I have a feeling a lot of cartoonists feel the same way.
* The difference is, I never expected my online projects to generate a living wage for me. I don't know if Dawson expects or believes he is entitled to just make comics and that alone will make him enough to live his life the way he wants, but I do think a lot of cartoonists with less experience than Dawson (and let's acknowledge his courage in bringing this issue to light at all) are living under the illusion that great success is already a sure thing, they are just waiting for the right break to come along.
* "Gods do favors, Darwin doesn't," is the thrust of Fiore's piece at TCJ, and the fact of the matter is, as Alan Moore once wisely noted, the only place gods inarguably exist is in the human mind. Increasingly, that's also the only place where the idea of a cartoonist being able to make a livable income solely with their work exists. Is it right? Is it wrong? Those questions are irrelevant. It's the way it is. If you want to be a cartoonist, be one -- be a great one! But if you want to be able to afford food, clothing, housing and the other expenses of daily living, make sure you have a day job, or a solid plan to monetize the hell out of your work in comics. It's almost impossible to imagine you'll do it merely by publishing your work in book form, so if you find the idea of "monetizing" your comics distasteful or too time-consuming to imagine, well, like I said up front -- you should be thinking pretty hard about your options. R. Fiore knows what he's talking about, and it's unlikely your work is so awesome that it's going to overcome the obstacles facing cartoonists today.
* Fiore is one of the longest-running Journal commentators, and also one of the magazine's -- and therefore the industry's -- smartest observers. Fiore acknowledges the much-linked-to Abhay Khosla response to Dawson's original piece, highlighting both its strengths and its weaknesses. I do love me some AK, but I am sure even he would admit that Fiore's understanding of how the industry works trumps just about everyone else's.
* Fiore wisely compares Dawson's dilemma with an earlier debate over digital comics, spurred by Mark Waid's somewhat groundbreaking digital initiative. He pulls it all together with the sad, Capitalist truth that it's the evolutionary forces at work in the market that decide who gets paid and who doesn't, not some invisible moral imperative that favours good cartoonists and culls the bad ones from the herd. Very much like the music industry, which digital technology has transformed utterly (with corporations, and musicians to a lesser extent, kicking and screaming every step of the way), cartoonists have to evolve into the new paradigm. If they think drawing a comic, story or graphic novel means their work is done and the Brinks truck is backing into their driveway, they think wrong. Just because you build it, that doesn't mean anyone will show up, and no one is automatically entitled to a living in Los Estados Unidos (not yet, anyway).
* Fiore notes that "we have entered into an environment in which its never been easier to disseminate your work and its never been more difficult to make a buck from it." And in the traditional sense, that is true. Look at James Kochalka, who many years ago devoted an entire graphic novel to the premise "Quit Your Job." Kochalka's comics and graphic novels sales figures have never been made public that I am aware of, but he has been tireless in finding other sources of income, from subscriptions to his now-ended American Elf daily web strip to licensing his song Hockey Monkey as a TV series theme, to turning his Super-F*ckers comic into an animated series. Kochalka is probably the most energetic cartoonist I've ever met, and I am sure that energy is invaluable in driving him to find ways to monetize his comics and musical work.
* "Monetize" is a word that rankles a lot of people, with its implication of "selling out." Over the 14 years I have maintained Comic Book Galaxy in one way or another, I have occasionally attempted to monetize the site -- but in its best year advertising revenue brought in less than a hundred bucks a month, and that did not last long, and it was well over a decade ago. Yes, the site was far more popular then, with tens of thousands of daily visitors, but when I look back, I think that the biggest obstacle to maintaining revenue was just me. I saw what we were doing as important and valuable (yes, I was hella naive), and my focus was entirely on the quality of the writing on the site and the relative merit of the comics and graphic novels we were covering. I didn't get into it to be a business person, and I have a feeling a lot of cartoonists feel the same way.
* The difference is, I never expected my online projects to generate a living wage for me. I don't know if Dawson expects or believes he is entitled to just make comics and that alone will make him enough to live his life the way he wants, but I do think a lot of cartoonists with less experience than Dawson (and let's acknowledge his courage in bringing this issue to light at all) are living under the illusion that great success is already a sure thing, they are just waiting for the right break to come along.
* "Gods do favors, Darwin doesn't," is the thrust of Fiore's piece at TCJ, and the fact of the matter is, as Alan Moore once wisely noted, the only place gods inarguably exist is in the human mind. Increasingly, that's also the only place where the idea of a cartoonist being able to make a livable income solely with their work exists. Is it right? Is it wrong? Those questions are irrelevant. It's the way it is. If you want to be a cartoonist, be one -- be a great one! But if you want to be able to afford food, clothing, housing and the other expenses of daily living, make sure you have a day job, or a solid plan to monetize the hell out of your work in comics. It's almost impossible to imagine you'll do it merely by publishing your work in book form, so if you find the idea of "monetizing" your comics distasteful or too time-consuming to imagine, well, like I said up front -- you should be thinking pretty hard about your options. R. Fiore knows what he's talking about, and it's unlikely your work is so awesome that it's going to overcome the obstacles facing cartoonists today.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 081114: Mixed Feelings
* Abhay presents a long, rambling examination of the just concluded Brubaker/Phillips project Fatale that pretty much defines "mixed feelings." Like me, I get the sense Abhay wanted to like the book more than he ultimately did, and he nails some of the shortcomings of the series pretty well.
* Starting back with Sleeper, I was absolutely in love with the Brubaker/Phillips collaboration, a love that sustained through Criminal and in fact inspired me to create a blog solely dedicated to the team's second title together, A Criminal Blog. I don't have anything to do with ACB anymore, but I still admire the work Ed and Sean did on Criminal.
* It was with Incognito that I started to not be as passionate in my enjoyment of Brubaker and Phillips's collaboration. Sure, the book was tight and entertaining and beautiful to look at (artistically, Phillips always delivers), but the story seemed driven far more by the desire to sell comics than to tell a story that demanded telling.
* I was initially excited about Fatale, and curious to see what Ed and Sean could do. It seems like the book went from limited to ongoing to ending with #24 over the course of its existence, and I felt like there was clearly a lack of direction behind the scenes and confusion over what the book should and would be. While there were still excellent issues and gorgeoous artwork, I think some of the inconsistency Abhay talks about may stem from that.
* The duo's next collaboration is The Fade Out, which from what little preview material I've seen seems most comparable to Criminal of all the other titles in Brubaker and Phillips's growing library of titles. I am looking forward to reading the first issue and hoping that there's a true return to form for one of my favourite creative teams. Incognito and Fatale filled me with mixed feelings, and it would be nice to once again have a Brubaker and Phillips book I can feel unreservedly passionate about again.
* Starting back with Sleeper, I was absolutely in love with the Brubaker/Phillips collaboration, a love that sustained through Criminal and in fact inspired me to create a blog solely dedicated to the team's second title together, A Criminal Blog. I don't have anything to do with ACB anymore, but I still admire the work Ed and Sean did on Criminal.
* It was with Incognito that I started to not be as passionate in my enjoyment of Brubaker and Phillips's collaboration. Sure, the book was tight and entertaining and beautiful to look at (artistically, Phillips always delivers), but the story seemed driven far more by the desire to sell comics than to tell a story that demanded telling.
* I was initially excited about Fatale, and curious to see what Ed and Sean could do. It seems like the book went from limited to ongoing to ending with #24 over the course of its existence, and I felt like there was clearly a lack of direction behind the scenes and confusion over what the book should and would be. While there were still excellent issues and gorgeoous artwork, I think some of the inconsistency Abhay talks about may stem from that.
* The duo's next collaboration is The Fade Out, which from what little preview material I've seen seems most comparable to Criminal of all the other titles in Brubaker and Phillips's growing library of titles. I am looking forward to reading the first issue and hoping that there's a true return to form for one of my favourite creative teams. Incognito and Fatale filled me with mixed feelings, and it would be nice to once again have a Brubaker and Phillips book I can feel unreservedly passionate about again.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 080714: Reporting on Comics
* Spurred by this week's release of Miracleman #9 by Marvel Comics, part of its ongoing reprint of Alan Moore's landmark 1980s superhero series, Mike Sterling reports on the warnings to dealers that the Eclipse version of Miracleman #9 inspired.
* Miracleman #9 was controversial in its time -- and Marvel apparently fears it still is, since they polybagged the issue -- because it depicts Miracleman and Liz Moran's daughter Winter being born, with anatomically-correct views of the crowning and actual birth. In the 1980s we as a society were apparently terrified at the thought that children might learn where they came from, and the polybag on this week's issue indicates we haven't progressed very far. (Pro tip/spoiler warning: Babies usually come out of vaginas.)
* I'm amazed at how little the ongoing Miracleman reprints, set to lead up to new issues by Neil Gaiman, completing his unfinished run, are being talked about. This week's re-release of one of the two most controversial issues in the series didn't even merit a mention in the most prominent weekly new releases rundown on a site dedicated to reporting on comics. It's a curious omission by a site that has been curiously silent about this title, given how rich a topic of discussion it has the potential to be, combining overall narrative excellence with creators right issues, and how Marvel is handling not only the reissuing of one of the most important superhero comics in history, but how they are handling such elements as Winter's birth. There's a slight buzzing in the back of my head that tells me Moore's penultimate issue, in which the destruction of London is vividly, violently depicted (resulting in Miracleman #15 being the other hugely controversial issue in the run), might actually get talked about by major websites that purport to report on comics. If that's the case -- that the vagina issue is ignored while the BIG DEATH ISSUE is deemed worth talking about -- man, comics as a culture is even more fucked than I already figured it is.
* Meanwhile, just to report on some interesting comics news this week, since no one else seems up to the task -- Miracleman #9, reprinting the controversial childbirth story, is out this week in comic book stores, published by Marvel. Go get one before all the publicity winds up causing the issue to sell out, won't you?
* Miracleman #9 was controversial in its time -- and Marvel apparently fears it still is, since they polybagged the issue -- because it depicts Miracleman and Liz Moran's daughter Winter being born, with anatomically-correct views of the crowning and actual birth. In the 1980s we as a society were apparently terrified at the thought that children might learn where they came from, and the polybag on this week's issue indicates we haven't progressed very far. (Pro tip/spoiler warning: Babies usually come out of vaginas.)
* I'm amazed at how little the ongoing Miracleman reprints, set to lead up to new issues by Neil Gaiman, completing his unfinished run, are being talked about. This week's re-release of one of the two most controversial issues in the series didn't even merit a mention in the most prominent weekly new releases rundown on a site dedicated to reporting on comics. It's a curious omission by a site that has been curiously silent about this title, given how rich a topic of discussion it has the potential to be, combining overall narrative excellence with creators right issues, and how Marvel is handling not only the reissuing of one of the most important superhero comics in history, but how they are handling such elements as Winter's birth. There's a slight buzzing in the back of my head that tells me Moore's penultimate issue, in which the destruction of London is vividly, violently depicted (resulting in Miracleman #15 being the other hugely controversial issue in the run), might actually get talked about by major websites that purport to report on comics. If that's the case -- that the vagina issue is ignored while the BIG DEATH ISSUE is deemed worth talking about -- man, comics as a culture is even more fucked than I already figured it is.
* Meanwhile, just to report on some interesting comics news this week, since no one else seems up to the task -- Miracleman #9, reprinting the controversial childbirth story, is out this week in comic book stores, published by Marvel. Go get one before all the publicity winds up causing the issue to sell out, won't you?
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 080514: Where is Everybody?
* Cartoonist Mike Dawson, who I first encountered when he was drawing the late, lamented Gabagool series, talks in a brutally honest manner about his struggle to maintain an audience. (link via The Comics Reporter.)
* I think this piece is really important. Dawson is absolutely upfront about his sales, citing actual numbers for each of the graphic novels he's published. I imagine these numbers will shock some, depress others. But it's good that a well-known cartoonist is speaking truthfully about how his works sell. Having known many cartoonists for the past couple of decades, the numbers Dawson cites don't surprise me at all. Many have experienced similar lack of interest in their work. Why have his numbers so declined? Why did they never reach the stratosphere to begin with? Dawson is a good cartoonist and a witty storyteller. But he has plied his trade at a time when superheroes are all most comic book stores care about, working in genres that require a great deal of finesse, skill and effort to bring to a mass audience. More than anything, you can rest assured that Diamond, the monopoly North American comics distributor, is not at all interested in the type of work Dawson is doing, and they're not much interested in the stores that would be passionate about carrying it, either.
* The only Dawson graphic novel I have ever seen in a comic book store is his Freddie Mercury one. I think I read excerpts of that online, and found it not my cup of tea. This is another problem Dawson faces that all cartoonists need to understand -- even your biggest fans -- and man, I loved Gabagool -- is not necessarily going to be attracted to everything you do. I loved James Kochalka's autobiographical and magical realism comics, but Super-F*ckers and his children's books don't resonate with me at all. That doesn't mean anything other than that not every work a cartoonist creates will work for everyone who has liked some of their work.
* Dawson discusses social media at length in his piece. That's a part of the puzzle, although none of us really know how big a part. Dawson clearly regrets throwing away 1,200 Twitter followers at one point, and well he should. Like it or not, if you create any art these days and are not supported by a massive corporate publicity machine, you're on your own when it comes to promoting your work. Dawson, and every cartoonist like him, needs a strong social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest at a minimum. He should be posting sketches and strips and panels and interacting with the public every day. Will it make him a best selling cartoonist? Probably not. Will it help raise awareness that he's out there working and creating comics and help grow his audience a little? Almost certainly.
* I think this piece is really important. Dawson is absolutely upfront about his sales, citing actual numbers for each of the graphic novels he's published. I imagine these numbers will shock some, depress others. But it's good that a well-known cartoonist is speaking truthfully about how his works sell. Having known many cartoonists for the past couple of decades, the numbers Dawson cites don't surprise me at all. Many have experienced similar lack of interest in their work. Why have his numbers so declined? Why did they never reach the stratosphere to begin with? Dawson is a good cartoonist and a witty storyteller. But he has plied his trade at a time when superheroes are all most comic book stores care about, working in genres that require a great deal of finesse, skill and effort to bring to a mass audience. More than anything, you can rest assured that Diamond, the monopoly North American comics distributor, is not at all interested in the type of work Dawson is doing, and they're not much interested in the stores that would be passionate about carrying it, either.
* The only Dawson graphic novel I have ever seen in a comic book store is his Freddie Mercury one. I think I read excerpts of that online, and found it not my cup of tea. This is another problem Dawson faces that all cartoonists need to understand -- even your biggest fans -- and man, I loved Gabagool -- is not necessarily going to be attracted to everything you do. I loved James Kochalka's autobiographical and magical realism comics, but Super-F*ckers and his children's books don't resonate with me at all. That doesn't mean anything other than that not every work a cartoonist creates will work for everyone who has liked some of their work.
* Dawson discusses social media at length in his piece. That's a part of the puzzle, although none of us really know how big a part. Dawson clearly regrets throwing away 1,200 Twitter followers at one point, and well he should. Like it or not, if you create any art these days and are not supported by a massive corporate publicity machine, you're on your own when it comes to promoting your work. Dawson, and every cartoonist like him, needs a strong social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest at a minimum. He should be posting sketches and strips and panels and interacting with the public every day. Will it make him a best selling cartoonist? Probably not. Will it help raise awareness that he's out there working and creating comics and help grow his audience a little? Almost certainly.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 072614: Dark and Strange
* Top Shelf Productions has launched its biggest digital comics sale yet, but it only lasts through tomorrow, so act fast and get in on the bargains.
* The Eisner awards were handed out last night. Behind the Panels has the list of winners.
* Uncomics: Firefly is returning as an online game, and the trailer looks like a whole lot of fun. Stay til the very end.
* Uncomics: The Simple Dollar runs down 9 ways to find free music online.
* Uncomics: I watched David Lynch's 1986 masterpiece Blue Velvet last night for the first time in many years and was blown away all over again by its intensity and the directness with which Lynch channels his obsessions. Its innocent high school girl, charming hometown diner, giant rumbling lumber trucks, an inquisitive Kyle Maclachlan and many other elements obviously prefigure the more polished and TV-friendly (if still weird and demented) Twin Peaks (which is out on Blu-ray next week), but the demented Frank Booth, the despair of Dorothy Vallens and the random moments of chaos suggest darker works like Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire. I popped Blue Velvet in as part of an informal film series I am sharing with my daughter's fiancee, and I warned him it was the darkest, strangest one I'd sprung on him yet. Some of the other films we've watched recently include Dark City, The Man from Earth, Synecdoche, NY, Ghost World, Donnie Darko, Glengarry Glen Ross, Citizen Kane and Touch of Evil.
* The Eisner awards were handed out last night. Behind the Panels has the list of winners.
* Uncomics: Firefly is returning as an online game, and the trailer looks like a whole lot of fun. Stay til the very end.
* Uncomics: The Simple Dollar runs down 9 ways to find free music online.
* Uncomics: I watched David Lynch's 1986 masterpiece Blue Velvet last night for the first time in many years and was blown away all over again by its intensity and the directness with which Lynch channels his obsessions. Its innocent high school girl, charming hometown diner, giant rumbling lumber trucks, an inquisitive Kyle Maclachlan and many other elements obviously prefigure the more polished and TV-friendly (if still weird and demented) Twin Peaks (which is out on Blu-ray next week), but the demented Frank Booth, the despair of Dorothy Vallens and the random moments of chaos suggest darker works like Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire. I popped Blue Velvet in as part of an informal film series I am sharing with my daughter's fiancee, and I warned him it was the darkest, strangest one I'd sprung on him yet. Some of the other films we've watched recently include Dark City, The Man from Earth, Synecdoche, NY, Ghost World, Donnie Darko, Glengarry Glen Ross, Citizen Kane and Touch of Evil.
Friday, July 25, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 072514: Is It Art?
* One of my favourite bloggers, Bob Temuka, looks at art and artifice in the comics of Joe Matt, Chester Brown and Seth at The Tearoom of Despair.
* When I was a tender lad in my early teens, tentatively exploring the wild and wooly world of underground comics, Vaughn Bode was a legend spoken of with admiration and wonder. He still is. Fantagraphics has announced a major new push to get his weird, fantastic and surreal comics back into print. The Comics Reporter has details.
* I mentioned in my last post that I was suspending this blog because I was involved in some pretty intensive training for my job. That's over and done with. And here I am on the Friday of the San Diego Comicon with this modest little post. If you're at the show, I hope you have a wonderful time and buy lots of comics. I'm not at the show, and just as well pleased because I don't think I'd actually enjoy the scope and scale of it. I did visit a local superhero convenience shop yesterday and walked out annoyed at the lack of variety and the truly ludicrous prices. It's not worth naming them, as there are plenty of good comic book stores within a 50 mile radius of my house, and I should have known better than to bother with the one ten minutes away.
* Right now the only comic I am regularly buying is Marvel's Miracleman single issues, for the gorgeous recolouring and the fact that they honoured Alan Moore's wishes in how he is credited. I am looking forward to getting the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century hardcover by Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill, out this week and collecting the third volume of the series (you can get it from Top Shelf here). I really like IDW's Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever original screenplay adaptation, although their ongoing Star Trek title has had its ups and downs recently. I will probably check out Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips's new Image series The Fade Out, and am open to other comics attracting my attention, but I am one fickle bastard these days.
* When I was a tender lad in my early teens, tentatively exploring the wild and wooly world of underground comics, Vaughn Bode was a legend spoken of with admiration and wonder. He still is. Fantagraphics has announced a major new push to get his weird, fantastic and surreal comics back into print. The Comics Reporter has details.
* I mentioned in my last post that I was suspending this blog because I was involved in some pretty intensive training for my job. That's over and done with. And here I am on the Friday of the San Diego Comicon with this modest little post. If you're at the show, I hope you have a wonderful time and buy lots of comics. I'm not at the show, and just as well pleased because I don't think I'd actually enjoy the scope and scale of it. I did visit a local superhero convenience shop yesterday and walked out annoyed at the lack of variety and the truly ludicrous prices. It's not worth naming them, as there are plenty of good comic book stores within a 50 mile radius of my house, and I should have known better than to bother with the one ten minutes away.
* Right now the only comic I am regularly buying is Marvel's Miracleman single issues, for the gorgeous recolouring and the fact that they honoured Alan Moore's wishes in how he is credited. I am looking forward to getting the new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century hardcover by Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill, out this week and collecting the third volume of the series (you can get it from Top Shelf here). I really like IDW's Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever original screenplay adaptation, although their ongoing Star Trek title has had its ups and downs recently. I will probably check out Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips's new Image series The Fade Out, and am open to other comics attracting my attention, but I am one fickle bastard these days.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Galaxy Update
Just a note that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I recently began an intensive training program in my job that requires pretty much all my attention at the moment. Regular blogging will resume as soon as possible; thank you for your patience.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 020314: Most Keenly Anticipated
* Five for Friday's results are up at The Comics Reporter. This on almost made me a little misty for the days of mail-order comics buying. Of the five I listed, the biggest impact on me was by Bud Plant and FantaCo, but I'll never forget that giant box of dirt-cheap comics from the Passaic Book Center. Someone mentioned Russ Cochran -- I didn't think of that, because I think of him as a publisher, not a dealer, but of course he was that too. I bought almost the entire EC Library from him in the early 1980s. Those were packages most keenly anticipated, let me tell you.
* Johanna Draper Carlson has details on the 10th anniversary reissue of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Lost At Sea. It's a great work of O'Malley's that's been overshadowed by the lengthier, more audacious Scott Pilgrim series. Hopefully the new edition brings it some new attention; it deserves it.
* Johanna also reviewed the new Justice League direct-to-video movie War. She liked it better than I did. She observes that "Older teens may find it a blast. They’ll likely find the personalities of the heroes, all somewhat juvenile and pouty, easier to relate to, too." Sadly, she's probably right; I think I prefer that superheroes, just sort of generally, don't act like jerks and call each other "douchebag" right after they've met for the first time. Perhaps it could inspire kids in real life to not act that way as they grow older. JL: War, on the other hand, reinforces the idea that that's normal, acceptable behaviour. Which sadly, I suppose it is, more and more.
* Longtime writer-about-comics Randy Lander has posted his January update, about comics and more.
* The Simple Dollar has advise for how to invest in collectibles that is relevant to comics collectors. And sports card collectors. And Beanie Baby collectors...
* Uncomics: Jim Kunstler on the end of the Yankee Dollar chain of dollar stores.
* Johanna Draper Carlson has details on the 10th anniversary reissue of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Lost At Sea. It's a great work of O'Malley's that's been overshadowed by the lengthier, more audacious Scott Pilgrim series. Hopefully the new edition brings it some new attention; it deserves it.
* Johanna also reviewed the new Justice League direct-to-video movie War. She liked it better than I did. She observes that "Older teens may find it a blast. They’ll likely find the personalities of the heroes, all somewhat juvenile and pouty, easier to relate to, too." Sadly, she's probably right; I think I prefer that superheroes, just sort of generally, don't act like jerks and call each other "douchebag" right after they've met for the first time. Perhaps it could inspire kids in real life to not act that way as they grow older. JL: War, on the other hand, reinforces the idea that that's normal, acceptable behaviour. Which sadly, I suppose it is, more and more.
* Longtime writer-about-comics Randy Lander has posted his January update, about comics and more.
* The Simple Dollar has advise for how to invest in collectibles that is relevant to comics collectors. And sports card collectors. And Beanie Baby collectors...
* Uncomics: Jim Kunstler on the end of the Yankee Dollar chain of dollar stores.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 020114: January is Gone
* Tom Spurgeon linked to this on Twitter, and it's a fantastic piece of comics history: Real examples of old mail-order lists from people selling comic books. I'm pretty sure Tom found this while researching this week's Five for Friday, the answers to which should go live tomorrow. The question was, "Name five places you ordered comics from before the internet," or words to that effect. My answers hopefully will be among the responses. This question took me back to opening that amazing box from the Passaic Book Center, which offered 100 back issues of their choice for some crazy amount like 10 bucks back in the late 1970s. Anyone have a .jpg of the ad they used to run in Marvel and DC titles? I found so much stuff for the first time in that box, like The Demon and Kamandi by Kirby and other stuff now recognized as classics, but which apparently you could barely give away back then.
* Hey, Tony Isabella is blogging again. Looking forward to hearing all the details of his L.A. adventures.
* Did you see what Neil Gaiman has to say about online piracy? In my experience, he is exactly right. Hear him out.
* Have a good weekend. See you Monday.
* Hey, Tony Isabella is blogging again. Looking forward to hearing all the details of his L.A. adventures.
* Did you see what Neil Gaiman has to say about online piracy? In my experience, he is exactly right. Hear him out.
* Have a good weekend. See you Monday.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 013114: The Silence is Deafening
* At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson asks Why Isn't It A Bigger Deal That Miracleman Is Finally Back In Print? She suggests a good number of reasons, and I am beginning to suspect it's a confluence of elements that have all conspired to make what should have been the superhero publishing event of the decade come off with whimper, and not a bang. (Unlike some comics sites, the comments at CWR are worth reading for additional insight and discussion, as well; not just on this post, but as a rule.) Any one of the scenarios Johanna posits would have impeded interest and stunted sales. All together? The silence is deafening.
* In case you didn't know, Bob Temuka likes comics. I knew, and I'm still impressed.
* Uncomics: Bob Lefsetz observes the 50th anniversary of the Beatles hitting America.
* Uncomics: Make sure you read Mick Martin on everybody's obsession with food. I've always thought the toughest part about food addiction is that, unlike alcohol or heroin, say, you gotta eat food or you'll die. So you have to confront the addiction every day, and in some workplaces, every moment of every day. Like everything Mick has posted at his new blog about addiction, this piece is funny and heartbreaking and insightful and inspiring all at once. Check it out, and don't order the cheeseburger salad for lunch -- unless, of course, you can do so in moderation. That's key.
* In case you didn't know, Bob Temuka likes comics. I knew, and I'm still impressed.
* Uncomics: Bob Lefsetz observes the 50th anniversary of the Beatles hitting America.
* Uncomics: Make sure you read Mick Martin on everybody's obsession with food. I've always thought the toughest part about food addiction is that, unlike alcohol or heroin, say, you gotta eat food or you'll die. So you have to confront the addiction every day, and in some workplaces, every moment of every day. Like everything Mick has posted at his new blog about addiction, this piece is funny and heartbreaking and insightful and inspiring all at once. Check it out, and don't order the cheeseburger salad for lunch -- unless, of course, you can do so in moderation. That's key.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 013014: DON'T TELL HIBBS!
* My favourite quote of the year in comics to date is from Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson: "The general public seems happy to buy trades and graphic novels in bookstores, but generally speaking, all available evidence indicates they couldn’t care less about buying individual comics." Don't tell Hibbs. DON'T TELL HIBBS!
* Seriously, it's refreshing to see someone as highly placed in a major comics-publishing organization like Stephenson address this head-on. The future of comics as an industry and as an art form lies in complete stories with a spine, diversified across a welcoming, inclusive market of all genders, ages and interests. Anyone who tells you differently is The Problem.
* I was amazed to learn Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter, was unaware that Miracleman has not only been out of print for decades but that it was difficult to assemble a complete set of either the floppies or the collected Eclipse editions for less than a few hundred dollars. I was under the impression that the scarcity of the books, combined with their generally recognized quality, historical importance and reader demand made it obvious why Marvel wanted to get them back in to print (plus, of course, money). I tried to talk to Tom about this on Twitter yesterday because I found it interesting that he was apparently unaware of this aspect of the Miracleman story as I and everyone I know has experienced it over the past couple of decades, but then the discussion got heated and shut down. I apologize to Tom if I came off as being a jerk; my real intention was just to see the story from his perspective, which is very different, as I said, from how virtually everyone I've ever talked to in comics about Miracleman has seen the story. Anyway, I'm delighted the work is back in print. The second issue arrived in comic shops yesterday, if you're interested, or you can wait for the inevitable slew of collected editions that are on the horizon. Me, I am hoping for "Miracleman: The Complete Alan Moore Saga With No Filler or Backmatter."
* Seriously, it's refreshing to see someone as highly placed in a major comics-publishing organization like Stephenson address this head-on. The future of comics as an industry and as an art form lies in complete stories with a spine, diversified across a welcoming, inclusive market of all genders, ages and interests. Anyone who tells you differently is The Problem.
* I was amazed to learn Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter, was unaware that Miracleman has not only been out of print for decades but that it was difficult to assemble a complete set of either the floppies or the collected Eclipse editions for less than a few hundred dollars. I was under the impression that the scarcity of the books, combined with their generally recognized quality, historical importance and reader demand made it obvious why Marvel wanted to get them back in to print (plus, of course, money). I tried to talk to Tom about this on Twitter yesterday because I found it interesting that he was apparently unaware of this aspect of the Miracleman story as I and everyone I know has experienced it over the past couple of decades, but then the discussion got heated and shut down. I apologize to Tom if I came off as being a jerk; my real intention was just to see the story from his perspective, which is very different, as I said, from how virtually everyone I've ever talked to in comics about Miracleman has seen the story. Anyway, I'm delighted the work is back in print. The second issue arrived in comic shops yesterday, if you're interested, or you can wait for the inevitable slew of collected editions that are on the horizon. Me, I am hoping for "Miracleman: The Complete Alan Moore Saga With No Filler or Backmatter."
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Steve Bissette on Marvel's Miracleplan
No update today (sorry, jet lag's almost gone but work got busy yesterday), but you should go read Steve Bissette's comments on Marvel's business plan for Miracleman. It's a realist point of view from a longtime industry veteran.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 012814: This Is Who We Are
* Johanna Draper Carlson looks at Marvel's Agents of SHIELD series and piracy; she makes some great points here.
* Uncomics: In one of his most remarkable and on-topic essays ever, the author and social critic James Howard Kunstler compares Breaking Bad to life overall in Los Estados Unidos and finds a great deal to talk about. This is the best thing you will read all day.
* Sorry there's not more here today, but jet lag is still kicking my ass after last week's Seattle trip. Bear with me, as Kermit must have occasionally said.
* Uncomics: In one of his most remarkable and on-topic essays ever, the author and social critic James Howard Kunstler compares Breaking Bad to life overall in Los Estados Unidos and finds a great deal to talk about. This is the best thing you will read all day.
* Sorry there's not more here today, but jet lag is still kicking my ass after last week's Seattle trip. Bear with me, as Kermit must have occasionally said.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 012714: A Planetoid of Salt
* The Nashua Telegraph explains The Miracle Behind Miracleman. I want to live in a world where you have to explain that Todd McFarlane is famous.
* At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson runs down her top graphic novels of 2013. I love how casually diverse this list is, actually fulfilling the remit of a site called "Comics Worth Reading." You realize most popular comic sites seem actively dedicated to promoting the opposite, yes?
* Tom Spurgeon's Five for Friday hits another grand sweet spot with readers responding with five hoped-for but so far non-existent comics and comics-related collections. My list is in there somewhere, probably with zero surprises for anyone who's followed my interests for five minutes or more out of the past 15 years I've been writing about comics.
* Mr. Spurgeon interviews Rich Tomasso. I was keenly interested in the part about colouring Carl Barks for Fantagraphics.
* You should read Jed Alexander's thoughts on the future of comics vis a vis casual readers and Heidi MacDonald's followup. (Warning: Brian Hibbs comes in to explain "reality" in the comments on Jed's post. As always, take him with a planetoid of salt.) I think Jed's piece is simpatico with my 2008 Comics Journal essay "A Future for Comics" (that link is to the PDF version), which I somehow totally forgot Noah Berlatsky started a discussion on at The Hooded Utilitarian. The Me that wrote that article in 2008 finds it a bit discouraging that we still need to debate the need for casual readers of all ages and genders eight fucking years later.
* My comments on Justice League: War, a DVD movie based on the first arc of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's New 52 JL series: There's something really wrong with the writing when my visceral, gut response to the bad guy breaking Green Lantern's arm is "GOOD!" More of my thoughts are at Trouble With Comics.
* At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson runs down her top graphic novels of 2013. I love how casually diverse this list is, actually fulfilling the remit of a site called "Comics Worth Reading." You realize most popular comic sites seem actively dedicated to promoting the opposite, yes?
* Tom Spurgeon's Five for Friday hits another grand sweet spot with readers responding with five hoped-for but so far non-existent comics and comics-related collections. My list is in there somewhere, probably with zero surprises for anyone who's followed my interests for five minutes or more out of the past 15 years I've been writing about comics.
* Mr. Spurgeon interviews Rich Tomasso. I was keenly interested in the part about colouring Carl Barks for Fantagraphics.
* You should read Jed Alexander's thoughts on the future of comics vis a vis casual readers and Heidi MacDonald's followup. (Warning: Brian Hibbs comes in to explain "reality" in the comments on Jed's post. As always, take him with a planetoid of salt.) I think Jed's piece is simpatico with my 2008 Comics Journal essay "A Future for Comics" (that link is to the PDF version), which I somehow totally forgot Noah Berlatsky started a discussion on at The Hooded Utilitarian. The Me that wrote that article in 2008 finds it a bit discouraging that we still need to debate the need for casual readers of all ages and genders eight fucking years later.
* My comments on Justice League: War, a DVD movie based on the first arc of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's New 52 JL series: There's something really wrong with the writing when my visceral, gut response to the bad guy breaking Green Lantern's arm is "GOOD!" More of my thoughts are at Trouble With Comics.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 012414: Talk to Somebody and Write It Down
Sorry for the scant posting this week, internet friends, but I was in Bellevue, Washington Sunday through Wednesday, getting back home late Wednesday night, and jet lag is still kicking my ass. I would have been all right, I think, but my phone rang an hour after I went to bed early Thursday morning, and it was my nephew calling from Cincinnati, and we talked for seven hours straight. But in the words of our old pal Floyd, fuck all that we've got to get on with the film show.
* Tom Spurgeon notes the importance of interviews in creating a canon of comics industry history. I grew up reading the long, career-covering, sometimes newsmaking and sometimes muckraking interviews in The Comics Journal and they changed the course of my life forever, full stop. They changed the course of my life forever. Sure, I interviewed scores of comics creators, editors, publishers, writers, artists and critics myself over the last fifteen years, most of them collected in a free ebook called Conversations with ADD. But I was interviewing people as a professional broadcast journalist as far back as 1986, and you can bet that my approach to even that was coloured in some way by the deep drilling regularly on display in The Journal (and even its sister publication Amazing Heroes, to an extent). I'll be 48 years old tomorrow, and I am telling you that as sure as I am of that fact, I am even more sure that quality, in-depth interviews of the type Spurgeon is talking about largely have defined my interests and approach both professionally in broadcasting and in my decade-and-a-half parallel second life as a writer about the art form and industry of comics. Interviews matter, as history, as Tom says, but also as inspiration. It is possible to change minds, inform the world and preserve forever the experiences and memories of people that mattered. Just talk to somebody, and write it down.
* Hey, look, it's an interview! Jim Steranko talks to Barry Windsor-Smith in this vintage piece at that blog with the Big Lebowski logo. (I'm just gonna call it the Dudeblog from here on out, okays?) Bonus: Click the page for larger images, including the gorgeous BWS artwork on display. (I've pulled that trick myself a time or two; nice one, Dudeblog.) I think Barry actually gave me a copy of the issue with that interview when I interviewed him back on the next-to-last day of 1999. (That transcript is only maybe a third of our total conversation, as Barry wanted to focus on Opus, and rightly so. We actually had something like six hours of tape recorded, and talked off the record for something like 12 hours including dinner at a nice restaurant near his studio. What a day that was. I'm telling you, journalism can take you to places you never thought you'd go and introduce you to amazing people, if you come to it with passion and good intent.)
* Bob Temuka can't read From Hell anymore, right now. I sympathize. I was singing along with a favourite song on the car radio back in early 1987 when I got pulled over for speeding. I never hear that song that I don't remember the flop sweat and embarrassment of that moment. I'm lucky, though; ruined forever for me was Mike and The Mechanics' All I Need is a Miracle. From Hell is a lot more important in the grand scheme of things. I hope you can separate your pain from that great work someday, Bob.
* Tom Spurgeon notes the importance of interviews in creating a canon of comics industry history. I grew up reading the long, career-covering, sometimes newsmaking and sometimes muckraking interviews in The Comics Journal and they changed the course of my life forever, full stop. They changed the course of my life forever. Sure, I interviewed scores of comics creators, editors, publishers, writers, artists and critics myself over the last fifteen years, most of them collected in a free ebook called Conversations with ADD. But I was interviewing people as a professional broadcast journalist as far back as 1986, and you can bet that my approach to even that was coloured in some way by the deep drilling regularly on display in The Journal (and even its sister publication Amazing Heroes, to an extent). I'll be 48 years old tomorrow, and I am telling you that as sure as I am of that fact, I am even more sure that quality, in-depth interviews of the type Spurgeon is talking about largely have defined my interests and approach both professionally in broadcasting and in my decade-and-a-half parallel second life as a writer about the art form and industry of comics. Interviews matter, as history, as Tom says, but also as inspiration. It is possible to change minds, inform the world and preserve forever the experiences and memories of people that mattered. Just talk to somebody, and write it down.
* Hey, look, it's an interview! Jim Steranko talks to Barry Windsor-Smith in this vintage piece at that blog with the Big Lebowski logo. (I'm just gonna call it the Dudeblog from here on out, okays?) Bonus: Click the page for larger images, including the gorgeous BWS artwork on display. (I've pulled that trick myself a time or two; nice one, Dudeblog.) I think Barry actually gave me a copy of the issue with that interview when I interviewed him back on the next-to-last day of 1999. (That transcript is only maybe a third of our total conversation, as Barry wanted to focus on Opus, and rightly so. We actually had something like six hours of tape recorded, and talked off the record for something like 12 hours including dinner at a nice restaurant near his studio. What a day that was. I'm telling you, journalism can take you to places you never thought you'd go and introduce you to amazing people, if you come to it with passion and good intent.)
* Bob Temuka can't read From Hell anymore, right now. I sympathize. I was singing along with a favourite song on the car radio back in early 1987 when I got pulled over for speeding. I never hear that song that I don't remember the flop sweat and embarrassment of that moment. I'm lucky, though; ruined forever for me was Mike and The Mechanics' All I Need is a Miracle. From Hell is a lot more important in the grand scheme of things. I hope you can separate your pain from that great work someday, Bob.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Caught Up
I am posting this on my wireless device from a giant metal bird miles in the sky. I finally caught up to 1999 Warren Ellis.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 012014: Sleepless and In Seattle
* As you read this I am away from home in the Seattle area on business for the week. Since I don't sleep well in hotel rooms, I'm no doubt sleepless, and no doubt very close to Seattle, if not in it at some point or another. This will likely be the last post until at least Friday, so be good and try to miss me a little. I'll miss you like crazy.
* You'll find my response among the many in this great Five for Friday on people who've helped us in comics.
* Here are six amazing Barry Windsor-Smith drawings of King Arthur and His Amazing Friends. Man, I would love to see a new comic by BWS this year. Remember when Marvel wouldn't publish BWS's Fantastic Four graphic novel because, Marvel?
* You'll find my response among the many in this great Five for Friday on people who've helped us in comics.
* Here are six amazing Barry Windsor-Smith drawings of King Arthur and His Amazing Friends. Man, I would love to see a new comic by BWS this year. Remember when Marvel wouldn't publish BWS's Fantastic Four graphic novel because, Marvel?
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 011814: Steve Bissette and Miracleman #1
* Flouting my complaints earlier in the week about how baffling it is to me that Miracleman #1 was released to no fanfare and apparently unspectacular reader interest, Steve Bissette digs deep on Marvel's Miracleman #1. He makes some great points about the original creators (well, those who are choosing to participate) finally seeing some tangible rewards for their work on one of the most acclaimed superhero comic book runs of all time, about the quality of Marvel's version, and especially about the implications for what Marvel should be doing across the board for the people who have made it possible for them to exist and thrive all these years, the creators of the comics they publish. I can always get behind a call to do the right thing, especially when the target is a corporate-owned comics company with a long history of misdeeds; Bissette's fair and well-balanced posting accomplishes that while at the same time finding good reason to celebrate this landmark comics work being back in print.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief Extra 011714: Marvels and Miracles and Missed Opportunities
* The great retailer and blogger Mike Sterling writes about how hard it is to sell Miracleman #1. How could Marvel have botched it this badly? It's like they raised the Titanic intact and no one gives a shit. Part of it is the missteps in the comic itself -- too little Moore material, too high a price, and way too much pre-Moore material in black and white after promoting the hell out of the remastered colouring. Marvel built it, but after all this time way too many potential readers either downloaded it from BitTorrent sites and felt that was good enough, so no one showed up on opening day at the ballpark. More likely, the arrogance and hubris of Quesada and company told them that everyone recognizes the value and importance of this work, and therefore it was unnecessary to market the book past "Okay, we're finally publishing Miracleman. Maybe you heard of it?"
* The biggest challenge for marketers and salespeople is to get outside their own heads and see things from the point of view of their target market. In the words of copywriting genius Dan O'Day, "Don't talk to me about your grass seed, talk to me about my lawn." Don't tell me how proud you are to carry a full line of vinyl and laminate flooring from dozens of manufacturers, tell me how happy our new kitchen floor will make my wife and how it will stand up to the destructive tendencies of my toddlers and pets. Get it?
* If this book had come out in 1995 or 2000, it would have sold out in comic shops on day one and multiple printings would have been called for and there would have been lines at the comic shop and they'd have limited you to one or two copies. But too much time has passed. This is Alan Moore's best work in comics after From Hell; it's better than Watchmen, it's better than V for Vendetta, it's fucking Miracleman for fuck's sake, Marvel. How much work did you do to be able to publish this work?
* So why didn't you do the work necessary for it to sell in the numbers it should be selling in, the week it comes out?
* The biggest challenge for marketers and salespeople is to get outside their own heads and see things from the point of view of their target market. In the words of copywriting genius Dan O'Day, "Don't talk to me about your grass seed, talk to me about my lawn." Don't tell me how proud you are to carry a full line of vinyl and laminate flooring from dozens of manufacturers, tell me how happy our new kitchen floor will make my wife and how it will stand up to the destructive tendencies of my toddlers and pets. Get it?
* If this book had come out in 1995 or 2000, it would have sold out in comic shops on day one and multiple printings would have been called for and there would have been lines at the comic shop and they'd have limited you to one or two copies. But too much time has passed. This is Alan Moore's best work in comics after From Hell; it's better than Watchmen, it's better than V for Vendetta, it's fucking Miracleman for fuck's sake, Marvel. How much work did you do to be able to publish this work?
* So why didn't you do the work necessary for it to sell in the numbers it should be selling in, the week it comes out?
Galaxy Newsbrief 011714: On The Road Again
* Oops, nothing interesting seems to have crossed my radar comics-wise. So I'll tell you about something that happened on Facebook. Someone was talking about whether Agents of SHIELD has gotten any better, and I'm like, not really. Someone else said "Check out Arrow, it's great!" And I was all, "Yeah, but it's about Green Arrow, so, no thanks." The lesson I learned: I'd rather watch a mediocre Marvel-derived TV series and hope it gets better than be reminded about anything having to do with DC. I can occasionally get into the Justice League cartoon because it was just that awesome, but other than that I just don't need any new DC stories in any medium. Which I knew abstractly, but this Facebook exchange really brought it home for me. There would have to be a paradigm shift of unimaginable proportion for me to invest in any DC intellectual property these days, ironically because so little intellect has been involved at the editorial level for so long.
* So there were a bunch of words, I hope you enjoyed them. I am on the brink of leaving for Seattle for a week for my day job, so posting will likely be spotty-to-non-existent for the next week or so. After that things should settle back normal, whatever that means.
* Uncomics: Lefsetz on what's hot and what's not and what's snot. He's really good at reading the times and reporting back on what he finds.
* So there were a bunch of words, I hope you enjoyed them. I am on the brink of leaving for Seattle for a week for my day job, so posting will likely be spotty-to-non-existent for the next week or so. After that things should settle back normal, whatever that means.
* Uncomics: Lefsetz on what's hot and what's not and what's snot. He's really good at reading the times and reporting back on what he finds.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 011614: It's A Miracle, Man
* I assembled a gallery of Miracleman #1 covers over at Trouble With Comics, along with my thoughts on Marvel publishing the series. Well, my thought.
* It's kind of amazing to me that I've lived long enough that the re-release of Miracleman #1 apparently isn't a big deal at all. Nobody seems to be talking about it. To me, this should have been one of the most momentous events in comics publishing history. But Tom Spurgeon is actually baffled that they're doing it, so I must really be out of touch. (I'm not entirely certain he isn't being sarcastic; let me know if I'm being tone deaf on his comments about it.) I would think the fact that it's a seminal work by many of the top comics creators of all time (Moore, Totleben, Veitch, Davis, Gaiman, and more), that it includes two of the most controversial comics issues of the past 40 years, and that it's been out of print for so long make it a big moment in comics. All available evidence suggests that few people care, though. I'm stunned.
* Anyway, it took me some doing, due to Diamond's customary incompetence, but I managed to get a copy of Miracleman #1 on the day it came out. Having held the book in my hands, I do think the new colouring (by Steve Oliff) is respectful to the material and easy on the eye. I think it'll be possible to read these new editions as comics and have them actually read as comics. I did spot at least one lettering error (a non-pronoun "I" in the middle of a word with serifs, which most people would probably not even notice, but it's a sloppy mistake that should be fixed for future reprints), but overall even the new lettering looks organic enough that I can't complain, despite loving the rough-and-tumble lettering of the original Warrior presentation of these stories.
* Where I call bullshit is in the presentation of not one but three black and white Mick Anglo stories as backmatter, where surely we could have managed to include one more chapter of work by The Original Writer, better justifying the $5.99 price tag. The Marvelman stuff reprinted a few years back that was in Surprise! black and white that pissed off readers and retailers alike, who were hankering for this stuff, the Alan Moore stuff, that left a bad taste in a lot of mouths. And including it in this new #1 seems like a mistake to me, although Marvel may feel there's some good reason to have done it.
* They drew panties on Liz Moran. Come on, Marvel, what child do you think is buying this book? And do you really think that child is unaware of the existence of buttocks?
* Despite that, on the whole I'm not outraged or disgusted by the product Marvel has delivered; it's not perfect, but I'm glad Marvelman/Miracleman is back in print, and I'm really glad DC Comics didn't manage to get the license under their weird and creepy Stalking Alan Moore Initiative, for which it wouldn't surprise me if there was an actual office and staff somewhere, dedicated solely to sticking pins in Alan Moore dolls all the livelong day. It'll be pretty swell when Marvel gets all the Moore stuff into nice hardcover editions, because those should be a thing that exists in the world. In the meantime, though, I'm told there's an amazing torrent out there with super high-quality scans and the Warrior stuff in sterling black and white, so you can see the material as it really was intended to originally look. If nothing else, the existence of such digital delights should be a shot across the bow at Marvel to do this project right so that people actually pay for it, and so that at least some of the original creators get a piece of the pie that they deserve after all the decades this amazing work of comics has been in limbo.
* It's kind of amazing to me that I've lived long enough that the re-release of Miracleman #1 apparently isn't a big deal at all. Nobody seems to be talking about it. To me, this should have been one of the most momentous events in comics publishing history. But Tom Spurgeon is actually baffled that they're doing it, so I must really be out of touch. (I'm not entirely certain he isn't being sarcastic; let me know if I'm being tone deaf on his comments about it.) I would think the fact that it's a seminal work by many of the top comics creators of all time (Moore, Totleben, Veitch, Davis, Gaiman, and more), that it includes two of the most controversial comics issues of the past 40 years, and that it's been out of print for so long make it a big moment in comics. All available evidence suggests that few people care, though. I'm stunned.
* Anyway, it took me some doing, due to Diamond's customary incompetence, but I managed to get a copy of Miracleman #1 on the day it came out. Having held the book in my hands, I do think the new colouring (by Steve Oliff) is respectful to the material and easy on the eye. I think it'll be possible to read these new editions as comics and have them actually read as comics. I did spot at least one lettering error (a non-pronoun "I" in the middle of a word with serifs, which most people would probably not even notice, but it's a sloppy mistake that should be fixed for future reprints), but overall even the new lettering looks organic enough that I can't complain, despite loving the rough-and-tumble lettering of the original Warrior presentation of these stories.
* Where I call bullshit is in the presentation of not one but three black and white Mick Anglo stories as backmatter, where surely we could have managed to include one more chapter of work by The Original Writer, better justifying the $5.99 price tag. The Marvelman stuff reprinted a few years back that was in Surprise! black and white that pissed off readers and retailers alike, who were hankering for this stuff, the Alan Moore stuff, that left a bad taste in a lot of mouths. And including it in this new #1 seems like a mistake to me, although Marvel may feel there's some good reason to have done it.
* They drew panties on Liz Moran. Come on, Marvel, what child do you think is buying this book? And do you really think that child is unaware of the existence of buttocks?
* Despite that, on the whole I'm not outraged or disgusted by the product Marvel has delivered; it's not perfect, but I'm glad Marvelman/Miracleman is back in print, and I'm really glad DC Comics didn't manage to get the license under their weird and creepy Stalking Alan Moore Initiative, for which it wouldn't surprise me if there was an actual office and staff somewhere, dedicated solely to sticking pins in Alan Moore dolls all the livelong day. It'll be pretty swell when Marvel gets all the Moore stuff into nice hardcover editions, because those should be a thing that exists in the world. In the meantime, though, I'm told there's an amazing torrent out there with super high-quality scans and the Warrior stuff in sterling black and white, so you can see the material as it really was intended to originally look. If nothing else, the existence of such digital delights should be a shot across the bow at Marvel to do this project right so that people actually pay for it, and so that at least some of the original creators get a piece of the pie that they deserve after all the decades this amazing work of comics has been in limbo.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 011514: Favourites of Mine
* Sean Phillips reveals the cover to the final issue of Fatale, #24. Of the four major series Ed Brubaker and Phillips have created together so far (Sleeper, Criminal, Incognito, Fatale), Fatale is only my third-favourite, but they're all great comics and I can't wait to see what they do next under their new five-year Image deal, which amazingly got covered by The New York Times arts blog.
* Speaking of Brubaker and Phillips, A Criminal Blog has an update on their most recent goings-on.
* Bob Temuka at The Tearoom of Despair looks at three series with something in common, Stray Bullets, Miracleman and Twin Peaks. Something other than being favourites of mine, I mean.
* Uncomics: Mick Martin's writing on his Hunger blog is blowing me away regularly, never more so than with an essay he calls Minnesota.
* Speaking of Brubaker and Phillips, A Criminal Blog has an update on their most recent goings-on.
* Bob Temuka at The Tearoom of Despair looks at three series with something in common, Stray Bullets, Miracleman and Twin Peaks. Something other than being favourites of mine, I mean.
* Uncomics: Mick Martin's writing on his Hunger blog is blowing me away regularly, never more so than with an essay he calls Minnesota.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Review Copy Address Update
One of the things I hope to do more of in the year ahead is reviewing comics and graphic novels. And it occurs to me that I have not updated my address since moving last summer. So if you are a creator, publisher or publicist and want to send a review copy my way, please send it to me at:
Alan David Doane
Comic Book Galaxy Reviews
Comic Book Galaxy Reviews
24-B Birch Avenue
Glens Falls, NY 12801
Thanks!
Glens Falls, NY 12801
Thanks!
Galaxy Newsbrief 011414: An Important Lesson
* I really like the look of Jason Marcy's newest strip, The Balance. Look at the life-drawing lessons evident and the maturing of his inking style. I'm glad that despite a career change he's still able to find time to draw and make comics, because he's getting better, and he was pretty great to begin with. Here's my review of his first Jay's Days collection from, holy cow, 13 years ago.
* On Twitter, the cartoonist notes that his work on Web Comics Nation is in limbo at the moment, affecting the strips he had posted to his LiveJournal as well. This is an important lesson for anyone creating work online: Back it up, own your own site. Eventually everything you don't own or control disappears. Yes, I use Blogger and Tumblr as platforms for my writing, but I save the stuff that's important to me, backing it up in the cloud, on my laptop and on an external harddrive. (Jay Marcy may have done all this for all I know; I'm just calling this out as an example.) Not doing so years ago has led to regret, as much of my earliest writing about comics (say, most of the 5 Questions pieces I did for Newsarama) is accessible only through difficult and only occasionally successful journeys into the depths of Archive.org's Wayback Machine.
* Uncomics: James Howard Kunstler writes for Politico: Chris Christie's New Jersey is Everything That's Wrong With America. Having been through its post-apocalyptic wastelands last week, I find it hard to argue.
* On Twitter, the cartoonist notes that his work on Web Comics Nation is in limbo at the moment, affecting the strips he had posted to his LiveJournal as well. This is an important lesson for anyone creating work online: Back it up, own your own site. Eventually everything you don't own or control disappears. Yes, I use Blogger and Tumblr as platforms for my writing, but I save the stuff that's important to me, backing it up in the cloud, on my laptop and on an external harddrive. (Jay Marcy may have done all this for all I know; I'm just calling this out as an example.) Not doing so years ago has led to regret, as much of my earliest writing about comics (say, most of the 5 Questions pieces I did for Newsarama) is accessible only through difficult and only occasionally successful journeys into the depths of Archive.org's Wayback Machine.
* Uncomics: James Howard Kunstler writes for Politico: Chris Christie's New Jersey is Everything That's Wrong With America. Having been through its post-apocalyptic wastelands last week, I find it hard to argue.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 011314: Great News for Comics
* I'm back from a week in the Philadelphia area, but not for long -- Seattle beckons next week. But for this week, I'll try to maintain regular posting.
* The Image Expo was apparently a thing that happened; the only news that made my radar from it is that Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have signed a pretty favourable five-year deal with Image Comics. Brubaker and Phillips -- Brillips? Shubaker? Anyway, the pair is the most consistent, entertaining and interesting creative team in comics in the last decade-and-a-half. From Sleeper to Criminal to Incognito to Fatale, you can't go wrong if you're looking for good comics created with wit and intelligence. That their longtime partnership is being codified this way is great news for comics, which doesn't seem to value quality creative pairings in the same way it once did.
* Related: Ed Brubaker discovers some superhero fans are assholes. You have no idea what an act of will it was for me to include the word "some" in the previous sentence. Responding to Brubaker's comment, Comic Book Galaxy alumnus Gordon McAlpin sums it up nicely: "People always want the people they admire to validate their own life choices and taste. It's sad, really."
* Please don't make the mistake of thinking that what Brubaker is getting from developmentally arrested spandex fetishists is somehow not related to the abuse Grant Morrison and countless less-well-known "fans" have heaped upon Alan Moore. It comes from exactly the same place.
* At Trouble With Comics, Christopher Allen comments on Alan Moore's recent "last interview."
* NPR looks at Who Gets To Be A Superhero? Race And Identity In Comics. Read this thoughtful, well-researched piece and weep for the kind of coverage websites ostensibly about exactly these types of comics would actually have covered the same issue, True Believer.
* Robot 6 posts the latest Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, in which comedian Patton Oswalt tells Jerry Seinfeld how he'd kill Superman. DC obviously got there first with the spectacularly shitty New 52. Bonus: Oswalt reveals his favourite superhero, a choice I can agree with even in the character's current status quo.
* The Hollywood Reporter has casting details on the comics-to-film adaptation of Phoebe Gloeckner's amazing graphic novel The Diary of a Teenage Girl. If you've never read it, you should. It's one of the most vital and compelling arguments for comics as an art form; here's my 2002 review.
* Great quote from Mick Martin: "[I]n order to binge you need the same three things Batman needs: Money, privacy, and insanity."
* Great quote from Bob Temuka: "Wizard magazine had a terrible impact on the comic medium, culture and industry."
* The Image Expo was apparently a thing that happened; the only news that made my radar from it is that Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have signed a pretty favourable five-year deal with Image Comics. Brubaker and Phillips -- Brillips? Shubaker? Anyway, the pair is the most consistent, entertaining and interesting creative team in comics in the last decade-and-a-half. From Sleeper to Criminal to Incognito to Fatale, you can't go wrong if you're looking for good comics created with wit and intelligence. That their longtime partnership is being codified this way is great news for comics, which doesn't seem to value quality creative pairings in the same way it once did.
* Related: Ed Brubaker discovers some superhero fans are assholes. You have no idea what an act of will it was for me to include the word "some" in the previous sentence. Responding to Brubaker's comment, Comic Book Galaxy alumnus Gordon McAlpin sums it up nicely: "People always want the people they admire to validate their own life choices and taste. It's sad, really."
* Please don't make the mistake of thinking that what Brubaker is getting from developmentally arrested spandex fetishists is somehow not related to the abuse Grant Morrison and countless less-well-known "fans" have heaped upon Alan Moore. It comes from exactly the same place.
* At Trouble With Comics, Christopher Allen comments on Alan Moore's recent "last interview."
* NPR looks at Who Gets To Be A Superhero? Race And Identity In Comics. Read this thoughtful, well-researched piece and weep for the kind of coverage websites ostensibly about exactly these types of comics would actually have covered the same issue, True Believer.
* Robot 6 posts the latest Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, in which comedian Patton Oswalt tells Jerry Seinfeld how he'd kill Superman. DC obviously got there first with the spectacularly shitty New 52. Bonus: Oswalt reveals his favourite superhero, a choice I can agree with even in the character's current status quo.
* The Hollywood Reporter has casting details on the comics-to-film adaptation of Phoebe Gloeckner's amazing graphic novel The Diary of a Teenage Girl. If you've never read it, you should. It's one of the most vital and compelling arguments for comics as an art form; here's my 2002 review.
* Great quote from Mick Martin: "[I]n order to binge you need the same three things Batman needs: Money, privacy, and insanity."
* Great quote from Bob Temuka: "Wizard magazine had a terrible impact on the comic medium, culture and industry."
Friday, January 10, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 011014: Grant Morrison's Peculiar and Creepy Behaviour
* I'm still away from home, but thanks to the wonders of complimentary wi-fi I thought I'd pop in to please ask you to read -- read, not skim -- Alan Moore's new interview in which he refutes with great patience, wit and intelligence many of the accusations that his detractors have tried to use to diminish his reputation, standing in the comics industry, income, and whatever else they can diminish.
* There are many quotable moments in the lengthy piece, but I really want anyone interested to take the time to read the whole thing. Moore takes great pains to establish with evidence the "peculiar and creepy behaviour" Grant Morrison has evinced vis a vis Moore for many years; I first came to realize how embittered and vengeful Morrison evidently is when reading his (Morrison's) sloppy autohagiography a few years back. The way Moore lays out the reasons for Morrison's sad and unnecessary anti-Moore campaign is powerful and convincing.
* Not that any of that has any bearing on the relative merits of the work of the two writers. I've enjoyed most of what I've read of Moore's work over the last 34 years or so. I think the crap-to-quality ration of Morrison's body of work is quite a bit higher (with no signs of a turnaround in the past seven or eight years), but as with most comics industry kerfuffles, I side with who I think is the most ethical. Moore has been done wrong by DC Comics and its parent company time and time again, while Morrison has entrenched himself as a big part of the publisher's editorial structure. In other words, anyone willing to turn a blind eye to DC's unquestionable wrongdoing toward Alan Moore faces a mighty uphill battle to prove to me he has the high ground on any issue of any substance whatsoever. When the issues involve a better writer who Morrison has never missed an opportunity to try to tear down, well, frankly I'm not in the least inclined to cede an ounce of moral authority to Morrison, or any of his adherents, sycophants or "fans."
* So please do go read the interview, especially if you have any opinion one way or the other about Moore's supposed misogyny, racism, or whatever other unfounded unfounded slurs his detractors find easy to use and close to hand. For me, I continue to enjoy the vast majority of Moore's work, even as Morrison's becomes ever more irrelevant and incomprehensible to me. I can't wait for Moore's novel Jerusalem, because if it's one-tenth as interesting and entertaining as Voice of the Fire I know it'll be great stuff. I can't point to a Morrison work since All-Star Superman that would indicate to me that he has any good work left in him at all, and I would point out to you with all due solemnity and seriousness that that comic book would never even have existed at all without Moore laying the groundwork in the comics industry in general and with his own work on the character in particular. To my way of thinking, Morrison owes Moore an enormous apology, a hearty thank you, and very possible a portion of his royalty checks. Moore's style and paradigm-shattering presence in comics made it possible for Grant Morrison to exist. You'd think he'd at least be grateful.
* There are many quotable moments in the lengthy piece, but I really want anyone interested to take the time to read the whole thing. Moore takes great pains to establish with evidence the "peculiar and creepy behaviour" Grant Morrison has evinced vis a vis Moore for many years; I first came to realize how embittered and vengeful Morrison evidently is when reading his (Morrison's) sloppy autohagiography a few years back. The way Moore lays out the reasons for Morrison's sad and unnecessary anti-Moore campaign is powerful and convincing.
* Not that any of that has any bearing on the relative merits of the work of the two writers. I've enjoyed most of what I've read of Moore's work over the last 34 years or so. I think the crap-to-quality ration of Morrison's body of work is quite a bit higher (with no signs of a turnaround in the past seven or eight years), but as with most comics industry kerfuffles, I side with who I think is the most ethical. Moore has been done wrong by DC Comics and its parent company time and time again, while Morrison has entrenched himself as a big part of the publisher's editorial structure. In other words, anyone willing to turn a blind eye to DC's unquestionable wrongdoing toward Alan Moore faces a mighty uphill battle to prove to me he has the high ground on any issue of any substance whatsoever. When the issues involve a better writer who Morrison has never missed an opportunity to try to tear down, well, frankly I'm not in the least inclined to cede an ounce of moral authority to Morrison, or any of his adherents, sycophants or "fans."
* So please do go read the interview, especially if you have any opinion one way or the other about Moore's supposed misogyny, racism, or whatever other unfounded unfounded slurs his detractors find easy to use and close to hand. For me, I continue to enjoy the vast majority of Moore's work, even as Morrison's becomes ever more irrelevant and incomprehensible to me. I can't wait for Moore's novel Jerusalem, because if it's one-tenth as interesting and entertaining as Voice of the Fire I know it'll be great stuff. I can't point to a Morrison work since All-Star Superman that would indicate to me that he has any good work left in him at all, and I would point out to you with all due solemnity and seriousness that that comic book would never even have existed at all without Moore laying the groundwork in the comics industry in general and with his own work on the character in particular. To my way of thinking, Morrison owes Moore an enormous apology, a hearty thank you, and very possible a portion of his royalty checks. Moore's style and paradigm-shattering presence in comics made it possible for Grant Morrison to exist. You'd think he'd at least be grateful.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 010614: The Greater Implications
* Andrew Wheeler calls for more diversity in corporate superhero comics in 2014. Johanna Draper Carlson makes the crucial point that diversity in the stories and characters begins with diversity in the creative lineups. As a kid reading comics, Marie Severin, Ramona Fradon and a few others stood out as female comics creators in a male-dominated industry, and I can't even think of any creators that I knew at the time weren't white. The situation has improved a smidge in the last 40 years, but nowhere near as much as it should have.
* The Star Trek: Khan comic appears to be filling a giant hole from Star Trek Into Darkness in an interesting way. Here's the preview. It's too late now, but including this plot point in the actual movie might have made people hate it 5 or 10 percent less, by making Khan's plight evoke some sympathy (which the movie seemingly intended to but failed mightily at), and at the same time explaining why he no longer looked like Ricardo Montalban. Which opens up a huge can of worms in terms of most of the other actors; I can accept Quinto's Spock and Urban's McCoy as being close enough in both look and characterization, but at no time in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek films did I ever lose myself enough believe Chris Pine was the Captain Kirk I grew up with. The same goes for most of the other actors playing original series crew members. So I can understand trying to use the comic to patch the leaks that condemn Into Darkness to the same non-canonical fan purgatory as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (the one where Spock had an older brother, Scotty and Uhura were lovers, and Kirk defeated God), but I don't think they thought it through all the way, because the greater implications ultimately derail the plausibility of not only Into Darkness, but the Abramsverse Star Trek as a whole.
* Uncomics: Mick Martin wonders if writing can save him. I've asked myself some of the same questions as a writer, and found the aforementioned Andrew Wheeler's essay on varying types of writers helpful in coming to peace with my own habits.
* Uncomics: While searching for that Wheeler piece, I stumbled onto his ranking of the best-to-worst episodes of Agents of SHIELD. I agree entirely with his analysis, although I've lost more interest than he has, despite loving almost everything Joss Whedon has had a hand in. I don't know if I'll bother to revisit the series when it comes back from its mid-season hiatus, but Wheeler makes a good case for who's to blame for the show's problems and demonstrating which episodes have gotten it right. Interesting that his top two episodes (I agree with him on those, too) are both directed by Star Trek veterans, while the bottom five are all the product of Whedon's usual go-to colleagues. I'm not sure what that means, other than that if the series is ever to improve, it probably needs new blood and not the usual Browncoat treatment.
* Lefsetz highlights some thought-provoking differences between the one percent and the rest of us.
* Uncomics: Just a reminder that I am away for work the rest of this week, and am not organized enough to have scheduled some posts to run in my absence, so regular posting should resume sometime between the weekend and a week from today. Thanks for your patience.
* The Star Trek: Khan comic appears to be filling a giant hole from Star Trek Into Darkness in an interesting way. Here's the preview. It's too late now, but including this plot point in the actual movie might have made people hate it 5 or 10 percent less, by making Khan's plight evoke some sympathy (which the movie seemingly intended to but failed mightily at), and at the same time explaining why he no longer looked like Ricardo Montalban. Which opens up a huge can of worms in terms of most of the other actors; I can accept Quinto's Spock and Urban's McCoy as being close enough in both look and characterization, but at no time in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek films did I ever lose myself enough believe Chris Pine was the Captain Kirk I grew up with. The same goes for most of the other actors playing original series crew members. So I can understand trying to use the comic to patch the leaks that condemn Into Darkness to the same non-canonical fan purgatory as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (the one where Spock had an older brother, Scotty and Uhura were lovers, and Kirk defeated God), but I don't think they thought it through all the way, because the greater implications ultimately derail the plausibility of not only Into Darkness, but the Abramsverse Star Trek as a whole.
* Uncomics: Mick Martin wonders if writing can save him. I've asked myself some of the same questions as a writer, and found the aforementioned Andrew Wheeler's essay on varying types of writers helpful in coming to peace with my own habits.
* Uncomics: While searching for that Wheeler piece, I stumbled onto his ranking of the best-to-worst episodes of Agents of SHIELD. I agree entirely with his analysis, although I've lost more interest than he has, despite loving almost everything Joss Whedon has had a hand in. I don't know if I'll bother to revisit the series when it comes back from its mid-season hiatus, but Wheeler makes a good case for who's to blame for the show's problems and demonstrating which episodes have gotten it right. Interesting that his top two episodes (I agree with him on those, too) are both directed by Star Trek veterans, while the bottom five are all the product of Whedon's usual go-to colleagues. I'm not sure what that means, other than that if the series is ever to improve, it probably needs new blood and not the usual Browncoat treatment.
* Lefsetz highlights some thought-provoking differences between the one percent and the rest of us.
* Uncomics: Just a reminder that I am away for work the rest of this week, and am not organized enough to have scheduled some posts to run in my absence, so regular posting should resume sometime between the weekend and a week from today. Thanks for your patience.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 010314: Long-Simmering Ideas
* Tom Spurgeon refuses to pay more than a dollar per issue for the recent superhero comics he's buying. That's smart. Let's everybody do that.
* If you are involved in a comic book convention or other event in 2014 and would like to have writer Tony Isabella there, get in touch with him now. He talks about his increasingly busy dance card here. I'm excited to learn what projects he's going to be working on as a result of his decision to get moving on some long-simmering ideas.
* Bleeding Cool has a sliver of information about the next League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book, then shamelessly pads it out with a bunch of transparently irrelevant bullshit. Just sayin'.
* Mental Floss lists the most interesting comics of 2013.
* Uncomics: The New York Times calls for clemency for whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
* Uncomics: How to avoid email and phishing scams. My radar works pretty well for these, but once in a while I'll actually fall for the initial approach before realizing something is fishy.
* Uncomics: One of my best practical jokes was altering an in-studio calendar to convince a wildly popular morning radio host that it was February 30th instead of March 1st on the day after February 29th (it was a leap year). Oh, did he get some calls that morning after repeatedly (and with great authority, as was his wont) announcing "Good morning, it's Tuesday, February 30th, 1988." Turns out, there really was a February 30th, but just once.
* If you are involved in a comic book convention or other event in 2014 and would like to have writer Tony Isabella there, get in touch with him now. He talks about his increasingly busy dance card here. I'm excited to learn what projects he's going to be working on as a result of his decision to get moving on some long-simmering ideas.
* Bleeding Cool has a sliver of information about the next League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book, then shamelessly pads it out with a bunch of transparently irrelevant bullshit. Just sayin'.
* Mental Floss lists the most interesting comics of 2013.
* Uncomics: The New York Times calls for clemency for whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
* Uncomics: How to avoid email and phishing scams. My radar works pretty well for these, but once in a while I'll actually fall for the initial approach before realizing something is fishy.
* Uncomics: One of my best practical jokes was altering an in-studio calendar to convince a wildly popular morning radio host that it was February 30th instead of March 1st on the day after February 29th (it was a leap year). Oh, did he get some calls that morning after repeatedly (and with great authority, as was his wont) announcing "Good morning, it's Tuesday, February 30th, 1988." Turns out, there really was a February 30th, but just once.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 010214: The Hunger
* At The Beat, a bunch of industry figures weigh in on what they expect in comics in the year ahead. Chris Butcher FTW.
* Comic Book Galaxy alumnus Mick Martin has a new blog for the new year. From the initial post, I am not sure what his mission is with this one, but I always enjoy his writing and have jumped through the proper RSS hoops in order to subscribe. You should too. Apropos of nothing, I mentioned Mick to my son while we were talking in the car yesterday, but at the moment I'll be damned if I can remember what it was in reference to.
* Uncomics: Comics commentator and podcaster Yan Basque talks about trying to deal with a fear of confrontation online and in real life. This is a really smart and brave thing to post, and everyone should read it.
* Uncomics: How Steven Moffat's inability to go for the throat when it comes to grief is killing Doctor Who.
* Hiatus News: I am away on work-related trips for a good part of the month of January, so posting here is likely to be sporadic for the next few weeks. Please follow me on Twitter or subscribe to this blog's RSS feed to keep up on new posts, and thanks for your patience.
* Comic Book Galaxy alumnus Mick Martin has a new blog for the new year. From the initial post, I am not sure what his mission is with this one, but I always enjoy his writing and have jumped through the proper RSS hoops in order to subscribe. You should too. Apropos of nothing, I mentioned Mick to my son while we were talking in the car yesterday, but at the moment I'll be damned if I can remember what it was in reference to.
* Uncomics: Comics commentator and podcaster Yan Basque talks about trying to deal with a fear of confrontation online and in real life. This is a really smart and brave thing to post, and everyone should read it.
* Uncomics: How Steven Moffat's inability to go for the throat when it comes to grief is killing Doctor Who.
* Hiatus News: I am away on work-related trips for a good part of the month of January, so posting here is likely to be sporadic for the next few weeks. Please follow me on Twitter or subscribe to this blog's RSS feed to keep up on new posts, and thanks for your patience.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Galaxy Newsbrief 010114: Happy New Year
* Tom Spurgeon weighs in on Marvel's decision to stop selling single issue comic books outside the direct market of comic book stores. He makes a lot of sense, no matter how much my inner 10-year-old wants there to always be copious single issues in drug stores, supermarkets and convenience stores. It's hard to believe the world in which that was a reality has been gone longer than my now-adult children have been alive, but there it is.
* At CBR, Augie sums up his 2013 Pipeline columns and looks at some Carl Barks Donald Duck comics.
* Go read Matt Fraction's piece on sobriety and the holidays.
* Off today for the New Year holiday and looking for something to read? My free, downloadable ADD 3-Pack of ebooks includes Strange Whine, Anhedonia and Conversations with ADD. Mostly about comics, with some essays on real life and politics thrown in too.
* Uncomics: I listed "10 albums that have stuck with me on Facebook" on New Year's Eve. They are: Tool - Lateralus; Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon; Peter Gabriel - So; INXS - Listen Like Thieves; Simple Minds - Once Upon A Time; Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms; Beatles - Abbey Road; Police - Synchronicity; Talking Heads - True Stories; and U2 - The Unforgettable Fire.
* At CBR, Augie sums up his 2013 Pipeline columns and looks at some Carl Barks Donald Duck comics.
* Go read Matt Fraction's piece on sobriety and the holidays.
* Off today for the New Year holiday and looking for something to read? My free, downloadable ADD 3-Pack of ebooks includes Strange Whine, Anhedonia and Conversations with ADD. Mostly about comics, with some essays on real life and politics thrown in too.
* Uncomics: I listed "10 albums that have stuck with me on Facebook" on New Year's Eve. They are: Tool - Lateralus; Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon; Peter Gabriel - So; INXS - Listen Like Thieves; Simple Minds - Once Upon A Time; Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms; Beatles - Abbey Road; Police - Synchronicity; Talking Heads - True Stories; and U2 - The Unforgettable Fire.
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