NOTICE OF HIATUS
Sorry, but for the next little while, I'm focusing on searching for a research area for a possible Master's application and will be unable to post new blogs until then.
Take care,
Michael Paciocco
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Sunday, January 04, 2004
So here we are 2004....nothing new...just finished taking down the decorations...
Been doing some reading...I've got a pack of reviews I'll be putting up on Thursday, mostly comics from previous months and a few things I picked up online and from some friends of mine.
Anyway, onto a topic I've been meaning to get to;
A lot of commentators have said that the superhero comic is dead, and that we should stop spending time trying to revive it.
Well, are they right? Yes and no.
Yes, major corporate superhero comics (DC and Marvel) are dead dead dead, and have been for a long time. And simply put, that is just fine with the publishers, who are more interested in using the property in other media where they will be much more profitable and reach a broader audience. So, keeping that in mind, the corporate mentality is to keep the books consistent, stable, and pretty uninteresting. This is how Chuck Austen and Geoff Johns draw a paycheck, get over it.
However, whenever I hear that the superhero genre is dead, I have to smile ruefully. I point them to some really interesting indy superhero works such as The Forgotten or Sentinels, or even some of the more impressive genre work being done by Ed Brubaker or Micah Wright. The superhero genre is growing up, but it isn't dead. It is however, fighting for survival, and things do need to be changed drastically in order for the medium to survive.....
Here's what I think needs to be done.....
1) IMPLEMENT THE NICEZA RULE - Something I picked up from then-Marvel golden boy Fabian Niceza. If a comic doesn't hold your interest for two issues straight, DROP IT!
2) DON'T TAKE CRAP - You know that NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING Chuck Austen does interests you, drop it, let it go...
3) FUCK CONTINUITY - This is probably my biggest personal thing. When dealing with fictional realms, we shouldn't let some perceived notion of "the way things are" get in the way of telling a good story. Grant Morrison wants to tell two years worth of Superman stories, but he doesn't want to be tied down to things like the Lois/Clark marriage, then let him tell his story. Reboot continuity as often as you like to make the writers tell the best possible stories they can. This will allow for good storytelling.
4) SUPERHEROES FOR KIDS, NO REALLY - Stop trying to get both 8 year olds and 22 year olds to pick up Avengers. It's hard to appeal to all ages in any industry, but most of them know who their audience is, and they aim for it. you want kids to pick up comics? Take some lessons from Justice League Animated series, keep the stories and art simple, but not simplistic. If you want to do superheroes, do them right. Make it good, but make it cheap, disposable entertainment. If someone has to choose between $3 for a 22 page comic or $3 for a movie rental, comics will loose every time.
5) COMICS FOR ADULTS, THE POST-SUPERHERO (AKA THE NEO-PULP MOVEMENT) - Something like the Forgotten, or books like Sleeper and Stormwatch work because they are appealling to the same type of people who liked the old-sci-fi and mystery pulp magazines that predated comics. They were well written heroic sagas. It may be hard to realize, but remember that something like The Shadow was a major hit long before the advent of the modern superhero. It seems that by incorporating some of the elements of both superhero and old pulp genre, we arrive at a model that might bring back some of the larger audiences these formats once enjoyed.
6) FORMAT FORMAT FORMAT - Ok, let's face it, the current format HAS TO GO! TPBS and OGNS are a step, but we have to find a way of creating a format for comics that is ideal for large scale distribution again.....
7) DEATH TO THE DIRECT MARKET! - Kill it before it kills the industry.
8) THE SECOND GENERATION SUPERHERO? - This is more of an observation than any kind of suggestion, but I've noticed an increase in the second-generation superhero idea in recent years (JSA, Invincible, the aforementioned Sentinels, etc.). Now, while you'd have to look at the demographics here, I have a theory I'd like to suggest to you. The original superheroes were created in the 40s and 60s for the most part, ages of extreme turbulence, conflict, and rapid social and technological change, with each generation treating their times as being unique. Well, now it seems that we also live in such times, BUT, unlike previous generations, we have the advantage of looking back with a clearer perspective, and understanding that there are similarities to what has happened in the past and how to avoid some of the mistakes and failings of the past. If the superhero of 40's and 60's were a metaphor for how those generations came to terms with their times, perhaps, and just perhaps, the second-generation superhero is a metaphor for the generation of this age. Of course, I'm an engineer, not a sociologist, so I'm probably wrong on this one.
Later,
Michael
Been doing some reading...I've got a pack of reviews I'll be putting up on Thursday, mostly comics from previous months and a few things I picked up online and from some friends of mine.
Anyway, onto a topic I've been meaning to get to;
A lot of commentators have said that the superhero comic is dead, and that we should stop spending time trying to revive it.
Well, are they right? Yes and no.
Yes, major corporate superhero comics (DC and Marvel) are dead dead dead, and have been for a long time. And simply put, that is just fine with the publishers, who are more interested in using the property in other media where they will be much more profitable and reach a broader audience. So, keeping that in mind, the corporate mentality is to keep the books consistent, stable, and pretty uninteresting. This is how Chuck Austen and Geoff Johns draw a paycheck, get over it.
However, whenever I hear that the superhero genre is dead, I have to smile ruefully. I point them to some really interesting indy superhero works such as The Forgotten or Sentinels, or even some of the more impressive genre work being done by Ed Brubaker or Micah Wright. The superhero genre is growing up, but it isn't dead. It is however, fighting for survival, and things do need to be changed drastically in order for the medium to survive.....
Here's what I think needs to be done.....
1) IMPLEMENT THE NICEZA RULE - Something I picked up from then-Marvel golden boy Fabian Niceza. If a comic doesn't hold your interest for two issues straight, DROP IT!
2) DON'T TAKE CRAP - You know that NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING Chuck Austen does interests you, drop it, let it go...
3) FUCK CONTINUITY - This is probably my biggest personal thing. When dealing with fictional realms, we shouldn't let some perceived notion of "the way things are" get in the way of telling a good story. Grant Morrison wants to tell two years worth of Superman stories, but he doesn't want to be tied down to things like the Lois/Clark marriage, then let him tell his story. Reboot continuity as often as you like to make the writers tell the best possible stories they can. This will allow for good storytelling.
4) SUPERHEROES FOR KIDS, NO REALLY - Stop trying to get both 8 year olds and 22 year olds to pick up Avengers. It's hard to appeal to all ages in any industry, but most of them know who their audience is, and they aim for it. you want kids to pick up comics? Take some lessons from Justice League Animated series, keep the stories and art simple, but not simplistic. If you want to do superheroes, do them right. Make it good, but make it cheap, disposable entertainment. If someone has to choose between $3 for a 22 page comic or $3 for a movie rental, comics will loose every time.
5) COMICS FOR ADULTS, THE POST-SUPERHERO (AKA THE NEO-PULP MOVEMENT) - Something like the Forgotten, or books like Sleeper and Stormwatch work because they are appealling to the same type of people who liked the old-sci-fi and mystery pulp magazines that predated comics. They were well written heroic sagas. It may be hard to realize, but remember that something like The Shadow was a major hit long before the advent of the modern superhero. It seems that by incorporating some of the elements of both superhero and old pulp genre, we arrive at a model that might bring back some of the larger audiences these formats once enjoyed.
6) FORMAT FORMAT FORMAT - Ok, let's face it, the current format HAS TO GO! TPBS and OGNS are a step, but we have to find a way of creating a format for comics that is ideal for large scale distribution again.....
7) DEATH TO THE DIRECT MARKET! - Kill it before it kills the industry.
8) THE SECOND GENERATION SUPERHERO? - This is more of an observation than any kind of suggestion, but I've noticed an increase in the second-generation superhero idea in recent years (JSA, Invincible, the aforementioned Sentinels, etc.). Now, while you'd have to look at the demographics here, I have a theory I'd like to suggest to you. The original superheroes were created in the 40s and 60s for the most part, ages of extreme turbulence, conflict, and rapid social and technological change, with each generation treating their times as being unique. Well, now it seems that we also live in such times, BUT, unlike previous generations, we have the advantage of looking back with a clearer perspective, and understanding that there are similarities to what has happened in the past and how to avoid some of the mistakes and failings of the past. If the superhero of 40's and 60's were a metaphor for how those generations came to terms with their times, perhaps, and just perhaps, the second-generation superhero is a metaphor for the generation of this age. Of course, I'm an engineer, not a sociologist, so I'm probably wrong on this one.
Later,
Michael
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Good and Gunned for 2004
Let's get this party started with a rambling and pointless commentary before we get into my predictions and wishlist for 2004
Your ADD stalking moment: ADD doing All The Rage
The biggest news that he "broke":
Joss Whedon as the new writer of New X-Men
I haven't read X-Men comics since.....1997 or so....couldn't really be bothered for the most part in either case. I understand some of the excitement, as any comic fan could see parrallels between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Claremont-era X-Men comics, and Joss is a fairly good writer, so on the surface, this seems like a surefire hit....
....but then we make contact with the real world and it all falls apart. Ok, so some comics fans are happy about this. This is good for New X-Men. That's really about it. This is the same problem that occurs any time a "major" writer changes medium.....how the hell are the fans he gained in one medium to transfer? Hell, how are they even going to know about it in the first place. Great all of comics knows, and maybe if Marvel feels like making a big media push, they'll be able to get 2 minutes of coverage on CNN on some lazy Tuesday afternoon when there's no REAL news. Other than that, the vast majority of fans will NEVER KNOW, and for the most part, NEVER CARE. So Kevin Smith wrote some good Daredevil comics? What percentage of the people whom have seen his movies even know this, or for that matter, would be willing to go through the horror of comic shopping to get this? Is Joss going to book himself a slot on David Letterman to push this? This is the key problem: ADVERTISING TO COMICS FANS IS PREACHING TO THE GODDAMN CHOIR, what you need to do is go door to door and spread the word....and then prove that it will be worth the misery to spread the word.
The second problem here is one that I'm sure everyone who has spent any amount of time reading about corporate comics knows. No matter how big the name of the writer or artist, nothing really changes for the characters of the Big Two. While Joss definetly put superhero-comic tropes into his TV writing, we must understand that at the end of the day, he had a great deal more control about these characters than any writer has ever had on a Marvel/DC property. He made the important decision, and knew where he wanted to end up. These were/are his children, and he raised them very well. This is something he cannot do at Marvel, no matter what.
Onward and upward:
MICHAEL'S PREDICTIONS FOR 2004:
Comics Michael will be buying in the next year
-Planetary, no matter how delayed the schedule
-Fantastic Four, at least until the "Hereafter" storyline is resolved....likely to end after that
-Will beging buying Stormwatch: Team Achilles in the Trades
-Will buy whatever new version of "Sleeper" Brubaker will write
-Will continue buying Invinicible for the next year, although the novelty is beginning to wear off
-Will buy the Avengers/Thunderbolts mini-series, because it will finally end the cliffhanger set by Thunderbolts #75 and will feature Busiek's final tale of these characters. The 17-year old in me is looking forward to seeing what happens to Atlas, who remains to be one of the only Marvel characters I would want to write about (the other is Reed Richards, obviously).
-Will continue to buy Astro City, no matter what the format
-Will buy Orbiter when it comes out in paperback
-Will try to get Tom Strong, Top Ten, Promethea, Nevermen in trade formats
Michael's predictions for the comic industry
Bad News
-Geoff Johns, Jeph Loeb, and Chuck Austen will continue to write "mainstream" comics
-Marvel/DC superhero comics will continue to be considered "mainstream" comics by most retailers
-Most comic stores will continue to suck, and be the standard bearer of the "mainstream"
-Christopher Priest series will die premature deaths
-The comics fan base will continue to shrink as prices rise
-The Diamond distributing system will continue to kill off good alternative/independent/real mainstream comics in order to prop up the "mainstream"
Good news
-The Manga audience will continue to grow, especially in the chain bookstore market (Personally, I don't care for Manga as a matter of personal taste, but I respect it as the driving force of the REAL mainstream audience, and so should everyone else.)
-The comics stores that support "mainstream" (Marvel/Dc superhero) will continue to lose business and have to re-evaluate what they are doing in this business
-Creators will use their voices in other media and use it to attact people to their comic work, especially people like Micah Wright, Peter David, and Warren Ellis.
-The independent graphic novel medium will start becoming big business for bookstores, and allow an entire generation of new and brilliant comic creators to bring their creation to a larger audience than the direct market system could ever hope for.
Michael's predictions for Michael in 2004
-I will apply for a Master's degree and be accepted
-I will continue to strive for excellent and self improvement in my martial arts training, and through that, in all other fields of endeavor
-I will post more regularly in the new year than I have in the last three months
-I will continue to read the classic books, watch the classic movies, and learn better the mechanics of actually writing through practice
-I will volunteer during the upcoming Canadian election to ensure that the country does not fall into the hands of the right wing.
-I will continue to speak my mind, no matter the cost.
Best wishes, and have a happy new year.
Michael Paciocco
Let's get this party started with a rambling and pointless commentary before we get into my predictions and wishlist for 2004
Your ADD stalking moment: ADD doing All The Rage
The biggest news that he "broke":
Joss Whedon as the new writer of New X-Men
I haven't read X-Men comics since.....1997 or so....couldn't really be bothered for the most part in either case. I understand some of the excitement, as any comic fan could see parrallels between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Claremont-era X-Men comics, and Joss is a fairly good writer, so on the surface, this seems like a surefire hit....
....but then we make contact with the real world and it all falls apart. Ok, so some comics fans are happy about this. This is good for New X-Men. That's really about it. This is the same problem that occurs any time a "major" writer changes medium.....how the hell are the fans he gained in one medium to transfer? Hell, how are they even going to know about it in the first place. Great all of comics knows, and maybe if Marvel feels like making a big media push, they'll be able to get 2 minutes of coverage on CNN on some lazy Tuesday afternoon when there's no REAL news. Other than that, the vast majority of fans will NEVER KNOW, and for the most part, NEVER CARE. So Kevin Smith wrote some good Daredevil comics? What percentage of the people whom have seen his movies even know this, or for that matter, would be willing to go through the horror of comic shopping to get this? Is Joss going to book himself a slot on David Letterman to push this? This is the key problem: ADVERTISING TO COMICS FANS IS PREACHING TO THE GODDAMN CHOIR, what you need to do is go door to door and spread the word....and then prove that it will be worth the misery to spread the word.
The second problem here is one that I'm sure everyone who has spent any amount of time reading about corporate comics knows. No matter how big the name of the writer or artist, nothing really changes for the characters of the Big Two. While Joss definetly put superhero-comic tropes into his TV writing, we must understand that at the end of the day, he had a great deal more control about these characters than any writer has ever had on a Marvel/DC property. He made the important decision, and knew where he wanted to end up. These were/are his children, and he raised them very well. This is something he cannot do at Marvel, no matter what.
Onward and upward:
MICHAEL'S PREDICTIONS FOR 2004:
Comics Michael will be buying in the next year
-Planetary, no matter how delayed the schedule
-Fantastic Four, at least until the "Hereafter" storyline is resolved....likely to end after that
-Will beging buying Stormwatch: Team Achilles in the Trades
-Will buy whatever new version of "Sleeper" Brubaker will write
-Will continue buying Invinicible for the next year, although the novelty is beginning to wear off
-Will buy the Avengers/Thunderbolts mini-series, because it will finally end the cliffhanger set by Thunderbolts #75 and will feature Busiek's final tale of these characters. The 17-year old in me is looking forward to seeing what happens to Atlas, who remains to be one of the only Marvel characters I would want to write about (the other is Reed Richards, obviously).
-Will continue to buy Astro City, no matter what the format
-Will buy Orbiter when it comes out in paperback
-Will try to get Tom Strong, Top Ten, Promethea, Nevermen in trade formats
Michael's predictions for the comic industry
Bad News
-Geoff Johns, Jeph Loeb, and Chuck Austen will continue to write "mainstream" comics
-Marvel/DC superhero comics will continue to be considered "mainstream" comics by most retailers
-Most comic stores will continue to suck, and be the standard bearer of the "mainstream"
-Christopher Priest series will die premature deaths
-The comics fan base will continue to shrink as prices rise
-The Diamond distributing system will continue to kill off good alternative/independent/real mainstream comics in order to prop up the "mainstream"
Good news
-The Manga audience will continue to grow, especially in the chain bookstore market (Personally, I don't care for Manga as a matter of personal taste, but I respect it as the driving force of the REAL mainstream audience, and so should everyone else.)
-The comics stores that support "mainstream" (Marvel/Dc superhero) will continue to lose business and have to re-evaluate what they are doing in this business
-Creators will use their voices in other media and use it to attact people to their comic work, especially people like Micah Wright, Peter David, and Warren Ellis.
-The independent graphic novel medium will start becoming big business for bookstores, and allow an entire generation of new and brilliant comic creators to bring their creation to a larger audience than the direct market system could ever hope for.
Michael's predictions for Michael in 2004
-I will apply for a Master's degree and be accepted
-I will continue to strive for excellent and self improvement in my martial arts training, and through that, in all other fields of endeavor
-I will post more regularly in the new year than I have in the last three months
-I will continue to read the classic books, watch the classic movies, and learn better the mechanics of actually writing through practice
-I will volunteer during the upcoming Canadian election to ensure that the country does not fall into the hands of the right wing.
-I will continue to speak my mind, no matter the cost.
Best wishes, and have a happy new year.
Michael Paciocco
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Ugh.....a few too many late nights....
....been reading the entire Miracleman run, in addition to the entire body of Alan Moore's Supreme.....and the collected Sherlock Holmes.....now I'm heading off to see Return of the King...
So, you want to know who Michael stalks online?
Here's the laundry list of sites I check out daily;
ADD - The man whom inspired me to start this blog - always thought provoking and entertaining, and usually with some good links to other good sites, (And his buddies Johnny Bacardi and Derek Martinez are usually pretty good too....Bacardi and Martinez.....eh, sounds like some kind of bar....)
Peter David - I check out his blog too. His New Frontier series is currently the only reason I haven't entirely turned against all of Trekdom, though the attacks by the right wing wackos who can't stand his politics goes a LONG LONG way to confirming that giving up on Star Trek was a very good thing.....
Micah Wright - Damn Funny, Damn Smart....I'm a regular lurker and massively infrequent poster on his Delphi Forum...I should get involved in more of his threads, but by the time I've found the thread, most of the other posters have delivered pretty much the same thing....and I hate the idea of being a groupie.
Michael Moore - runs a good website with a lot of media sources not commonly looked at in the U.S. (including the CBC, yay!)
That is all for now, more later,
Michael
....been reading the entire Miracleman run, in addition to the entire body of Alan Moore's Supreme.....and the collected Sherlock Holmes.....now I'm heading off to see Return of the King...
So, you want to know who Michael stalks online?
Here's the laundry list of sites I check out daily;
ADD - The man whom inspired me to start this blog - always thought provoking and entertaining, and usually with some good links to other good sites, (And his buddies Johnny Bacardi and Derek Martinez are usually pretty good too....Bacardi and Martinez.....eh, sounds like some kind of bar....)
Peter David - I check out his blog too. His New Frontier series is currently the only reason I haven't entirely turned against all of Trekdom, though the attacks by the right wing wackos who can't stand his politics goes a LONG LONG way to confirming that giving up on Star Trek was a very good thing.....
Micah Wright - Damn Funny, Damn Smart....I'm a regular lurker and massively infrequent poster on his Delphi Forum...I should get involved in more of his threads, but by the time I've found the thread, most of the other posters have delivered pretty much the same thing....and I hate the idea of being a groupie.
Michael Moore - runs a good website with a lot of media sources not commonly looked at in the U.S. (including the CBC, yay!)
That is all for now, more later,
Michael
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
QUIZ DAY
Not feeling too serious today, just the usual (Go to ADD's blog to see his year in review, good stuff).
So, I decided to take a few online quizes
First, I decided to look at which Batman villain I would be. Apparently I'm...
You are: R'AS AL GHUL!
Which Batman Villain Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Then, a quick look at which Marvel Superhero I would be. No surprise there....
Next up...I was curious as to which Farscape character I was most like. The result was
What Farscape Character are you?
Damn, that's good.
That's all, more tomorrow
Michael
Not feeling too serious today, just the usual (Go to ADD's blog to see his year in review, good stuff).
So, I decided to take a few online quizes
First, I decided to look at which Batman villain I would be. Apparently I'm...
You are: R'AS AL GHUL!
Which Batman Villain Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Then, a quick look at which Marvel Superhero I would be. No surprise there....
Next up...I was curious as to which Farscape character I was most like. The result was
What Farscape Character are you?
Damn, that's good.
That's all, more tomorrow
Michael
Monday, December 15, 2003
THE SON OF THE ROB LIEFELD TRANSLATION ALGORITHM
Special thanks to Alan David Doane, Silver Bullet Comics, and Markisan Naso
All The Rage, a comic rumour/commentary/news column featured some interesting commentary from "Youngblood creator" Rob Liefeld. Upon conferencing with my good friend Alan David Doane, I decided to run some of the highlights of his comments (Go to All the Rage and then follow the links for the full story. Unfortunately, the Algorithm kept crashing when I tried to run all of the commentary through, and it's more fun for you to try and translate his other comments on your own) through his Rob Liefeld Translation Algorithm (go get that and more fun stuff before we lose the Comic Book Galaxy archives altogether).
Anyway, here are the results:
ROB ON ALAN MOORE AND SUPREME
Regardless of that unfortunate run of events, no one single person benefited from Awesome as much as Alan Moore did. Supreme single handedly revived commercial and critical interest in his career that had hit a snag with his Image work, including but not limited to Wildcats, Spawn, Violator and Violator vs. Badrock.
(TRANSLATION: Alan Moore’s career hit a snag because he hadn’t worked with all of my fantastic, one-of-a kind all original characters! He needed a blast of Liefeld energy to get back on his A-game!)
Supreme got people talking and pros and fans buzzing. It literally set the stage for his ABC line, in fact much of the ABC line is made up of poorly masked Awesome characters and story outlines he prepared for us.
(TRANSLATION: I never understood why his Supreme worked and the one I created originally. I mean, would Alan Moore write about a being of godlike power that killed bad guys like Arnold Schwartzenger and committed acts of mass murder without a second thought? Would he have had the balls to throw the implied mental rape of one of the “lead” characters and to construct a storyline with more contradictions and unbelievable plot twists than 20 years worth of Claremont’s X-MEN run combined? And then would he have tried to actually spend an issue making up a set of weak justifications for the contradictions? I DON’T THINK SO!)
If I was as sue-happy and litigation driven as some suggest I be, I believe I could draw direct connections to many of the ABC characters and their origins coming from pages of Awesome work we commissioned from him.
(TRANSLATION: That is, if I could find the pages of Awesome work I commissioned from him but never paid him for, or if I thought I had a chance in hell of surviving a counter suit from the biggest media giant on Earth, or if I thought that attacking one of the best writers in comics wouldn’t turn the entire industry against me…then I’d make him our bitch!)
In short order, Tom Strong is Supreme mixed with his Prophet proposal. Promethea is Glory and the rest I honestly don't pay much attention to. Don't have the time or interest. Simply put, there is no ABC without Supreme and the Awesome re-launch.
(TRANSLATION: I just assumed that the rest of his ABC stuff was pirated from me without reading it. Like that chick with the spider thing and purple tights? I had a character made up for that, except she had bigger bazoombas and we were going to call her BAZOOMBA GIRL. I can’t believe Alan Moore would steal from me, after all I did for him! Oh, the humanity! And I mean, it’s not like I kept some of his stories for years before publishing them, or anything. And so what if Supreme is maybe kinda sorta like Superman and Glory is like Wonder Woman. I’m not hurting DC, but Alan stole FROM ME! THE ROBSTER! I DEMAND JUSTICE!)
As to his derisive comments about my Judgment Day work, all I can offer is that I followed the script implicitly and there was never an incident where his script had to be re-arranged to accommodate artwork that veered away from his script. He wrote full script and every page was followed to the letter.
(TRANSLATION: I mean, I can’t help it if it doesn’t explicitly state that I’m not supposed to draw Supreme with 86 teeth and no hips! I’m only human after all!)
ROB ON HIS EX-PARTNERS IN GENERAL:
Let's see, pretty much everyone with the exception of Silvestri who I was never friends with at any time, merely a partner in a comic business, each of the gentlemen you've mentioned are notoriously at odds with far more folks than me.
(TRANSLATION: Most folks don’t know who I am. The ones who do remember me as “that guy from the Levi commercial.”)
Moore at one time raged against the entire DC machine until he decided it was in his best interest to look the other way while they funded his ABC endeavor. Gimme a break.
(TRANSLATION: DC, I’ve never promised not to do business with you, and I’ve got a submission for a Hawk and Dove revival that Geoff Johns would love….)
Now it's just down to me and Marvel comics. Oh and he has a beef with Toddy Mac.
(TRANSLATION: I love calling people by pet names I made up for them but that they would never ever respond to.)
Todd and I are friendly, the past is in the past. We butted heads once and moved on.
(TRANSLATION: He moved on to a new house and didn’t leave me a forwarding address or phone number.)
Larsen. C'mon he's a classic player-hater. After Byrne maybe the biggest one on record. We're all just moving targets in his Uni.
(TRANSLATION: “Player-hater” is such a kick-ass phrase. Makes me sound like I from the streets. RE-PRU-SENT!)
Or maybe I'm just a big ole prick.
Yeah, upon closer inspection, it's just me.
(TRANSLATION: HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY)
Special thanks to Alan David Doane, Silver Bullet Comics, and Markisan Naso
All The Rage, a comic rumour/commentary/news column featured some interesting commentary from "Youngblood creator" Rob Liefeld. Upon conferencing with my good friend Alan David Doane, I decided to run some of the highlights of his comments (Go to All the Rage and then follow the links for the full story. Unfortunately, the Algorithm kept crashing when I tried to run all of the commentary through, and it's more fun for you to try and translate his other comments on your own) through his Rob Liefeld Translation Algorithm (go get that and more fun stuff before we lose the Comic Book Galaxy archives altogether).
Anyway, here are the results:
ROB ON ALAN MOORE AND SUPREME
Regardless of that unfortunate run of events, no one single person benefited from Awesome as much as Alan Moore did. Supreme single handedly revived commercial and critical interest in his career that had hit a snag with his Image work, including but not limited to Wildcats, Spawn, Violator and Violator vs. Badrock.
(TRANSLATION: Alan Moore’s career hit a snag because he hadn’t worked with all of my fantastic, one-of-a kind all original characters! He needed a blast of Liefeld energy to get back on his A-game!)
Supreme got people talking and pros and fans buzzing. It literally set the stage for his ABC line, in fact much of the ABC line is made up of poorly masked Awesome characters and story outlines he prepared for us.
(TRANSLATION: I never understood why his Supreme worked and the one I created originally. I mean, would Alan Moore write about a being of godlike power that killed bad guys like Arnold Schwartzenger and committed acts of mass murder without a second thought? Would he have had the balls to throw the implied mental rape of one of the “lead” characters and to construct a storyline with more contradictions and unbelievable plot twists than 20 years worth of Claremont’s X-MEN run combined? And then would he have tried to actually spend an issue making up a set of weak justifications for the contradictions? I DON’T THINK SO!)
If I was as sue-happy and litigation driven as some suggest I be, I believe I could draw direct connections to many of the ABC characters and their origins coming from pages of Awesome work we commissioned from him.
(TRANSLATION: That is, if I could find the pages of Awesome work I commissioned from him but never paid him for, or if I thought I had a chance in hell of surviving a counter suit from the biggest media giant on Earth, or if I thought that attacking one of the best writers in comics wouldn’t turn the entire industry against me…then I’d make him our bitch!)
In short order, Tom Strong is Supreme mixed with his Prophet proposal. Promethea is Glory and the rest I honestly don't pay much attention to. Don't have the time or interest. Simply put, there is no ABC without Supreme and the Awesome re-launch.
(TRANSLATION: I just assumed that the rest of his ABC stuff was pirated from me without reading it. Like that chick with the spider thing and purple tights? I had a character made up for that, except she had bigger bazoombas and we were going to call her BAZOOMBA GIRL. I can’t believe Alan Moore would steal from me, after all I did for him! Oh, the humanity! And I mean, it’s not like I kept some of his stories for years before publishing them, or anything. And so what if Supreme is maybe kinda sorta like Superman and Glory is like Wonder Woman. I’m not hurting DC, but Alan stole FROM ME! THE ROBSTER! I DEMAND JUSTICE!)
As to his derisive comments about my Judgment Day work, all I can offer is that I followed the script implicitly and there was never an incident where his script had to be re-arranged to accommodate artwork that veered away from his script. He wrote full script and every page was followed to the letter.
(TRANSLATION: I mean, I can’t help it if it doesn’t explicitly state that I’m not supposed to draw Supreme with 86 teeth and no hips! I’m only human after all!)
ROB ON HIS EX-PARTNERS IN GENERAL:
Let's see, pretty much everyone with the exception of Silvestri who I was never friends with at any time, merely a partner in a comic business, each of the gentlemen you've mentioned are notoriously at odds with far more folks than me.
(TRANSLATION: Most folks don’t know who I am. The ones who do remember me as “that guy from the Levi commercial.”)
Moore at one time raged against the entire DC machine until he decided it was in his best interest to look the other way while they funded his ABC endeavor. Gimme a break.
(TRANSLATION: DC, I’ve never promised not to do business with you, and I’ve got a submission for a Hawk and Dove revival that Geoff Johns would love….)
Now it's just down to me and Marvel comics. Oh and he has a beef with Toddy Mac.
(TRANSLATION: I love calling people by pet names I made up for them but that they would never ever respond to.)
Todd and I are friendly, the past is in the past. We butted heads once and moved on.
(TRANSLATION: He moved on to a new house and didn’t leave me a forwarding address or phone number.)
Larsen. C'mon he's a classic player-hater. After Byrne maybe the biggest one on record. We're all just moving targets in his Uni.
(TRANSLATION: “Player-hater” is such a kick-ass phrase. Makes me sound like I from the streets. RE-PRU-SENT!)
Or maybe I'm just a big ole prick.
Yeah, upon closer inspection, it's just me.
(TRANSLATION: HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY)
Sunday, December 14, 2003
Woke up and turned on the T.V. this morning...the first thing I said....
"Man, Dennis Miller really let himself go...."
Of course, then I put my glasses on.....
For those of you who have recently returned from Mars, Saddam Hussein has been caught. The implications of which....
.....are pretty close to insignificant.
OK, yes, he's a bad bad bad bad bad dude, and he's going to get what he deserves. But that's really it?
Will it lead to the WMDs? Not likely, as there either aren't any or he won't tell.
Will it change the violence and death in Iraq? Possibly, but then again most of the shooters are basically either poor and crazy terrorists (the ones who don't have the resources to actually uhhmmm....go to America and blow up innocents).
Will it give credibility to the U.S. administration? In terms of propaganda and public relations, maybe, but then again, that could be short lived, and it will take time to see how it can be spun and counter spun....
Does this help the people of Iraq? In a symbollic way yes, but there's still a long way to go...
Will this change the world view of the war in Iraq? Not really, there's still too much death, and the U.S. two-faced policy of "Help us pay/Do as we say" is still stepping on all the wrong toes.
Maybe I'm wrong, but while this a very good thing, it does nothing to change the tragedy and horror that is going on there right now, and that's what We as the human race have to face up to.
Michael
"Man, Dennis Miller really let himself go...."
Of course, then I put my glasses on.....
For those of you who have recently returned from Mars, Saddam Hussein has been caught. The implications of which....
.....are pretty close to insignificant.
OK, yes, he's a bad bad bad bad bad dude, and he's going to get what he deserves. But that's really it?
Will it lead to the WMDs? Not likely, as there either aren't any or he won't tell.
Will it change the violence and death in Iraq? Possibly, but then again most of the shooters are basically either poor and crazy terrorists (the ones who don't have the resources to actually uhhmmm....go to America and blow up innocents).
Will it give credibility to the U.S. administration? In terms of propaganda and public relations, maybe, but then again, that could be short lived, and it will take time to see how it can be spun and counter spun....
Does this help the people of Iraq? In a symbollic way yes, but there's still a long way to go...
Will this change the world view of the war in Iraq? Not really, there's still too much death, and the U.S. two-faced policy of "Help us pay/Do as we say" is still stepping on all the wrong toes.
Maybe I'm wrong, but while this a very good thing, it does nothing to change the tragedy and horror that is going on there right now, and that's what We as the human race have to face up to.
Michael
Saturday, December 13, 2003
Mike's 2003 Year in Review
The Stuff that Matters
Low points of the year
-Slowly loosing contact with my university friends and classmates as our career paths scatter us to the four winds
-Not being able to attend a friend's wedding
-Getting laid off at work after five months
-My inability to find employment in my hometown.
The High points of the year
-Getting the BRUCE prototype to work, despite a great deal of doubt on the part of many of my peers.
-Aerodynamics class: At long last a taste of what I hope to be my future......and it was good.
-Finishing my last exam: The moment I left the building, I let out a primal scream of triumph that reverberated across the campus. It was a delirously happy time for me.
-Graduation Day: knowing that the last five years of effort had paid off, and that I could share in the moment with my friends and family. And of course, the after-grad parties were pretty nice too....
-Returning to my hometown, and spending time with my family, whom I had missed over the long months between my visits.
-Begining a serious training schedule designed to let me loose the flab, and actually starting to see signs of success. And being able to throw 9-12 hours a week just on martial arts? Fantastic.
ON THE WHOLE: IT WAS A DAMN GOOD YEAR. BRING IT ON 2004!
The Stuff that Matters
Low points of the year
-Slowly loosing contact with my university friends and classmates as our career paths scatter us to the four winds
-Not being able to attend a friend's wedding
-Getting laid off at work after five months
-My inability to find employment in my hometown.
The High points of the year
-Getting the BRUCE prototype to work, despite a great deal of doubt on the part of many of my peers.
-Aerodynamics class: At long last a taste of what I hope to be my future......and it was good.
-Finishing my last exam: The moment I left the building, I let out a primal scream of triumph that reverberated across the campus. It was a delirously happy time for me.
-Graduation Day: knowing that the last five years of effort had paid off, and that I could share in the moment with my friends and family. And of course, the after-grad parties were pretty nice too....
-Returning to my hometown, and spending time with my family, whom I had missed over the long months between my visits.
-Begining a serious training schedule designed to let me loose the flab, and actually starting to see signs of success. And being able to throw 9-12 hours a week just on martial arts? Fantastic.
ON THE WHOLE: IT WAS A DAMN GOOD YEAR. BRING IT ON 2004!
Friday, December 12, 2003
Sorry for the delay, I had to make the computer belch smoke at me before I could get online again (no, really).
Mike's 2003 Year in Review
Comics
The Best comics of the Year
SLEEPER - Is the comic you NEED TO BUY. Maddly innovative and thrilling, I found myself trapped in the sheer claustrophobic nightmare that is this book. The team that produces this book is beyond reproach and can do no wrong.
EMPIRE - Anyone who thinks that Mark Waid is the ultimate optimistic 60s style comic writer needs to be shown this book. The stuff he's been repressing for years is fucking frightening. Barry Kitson does the best work of his career here.
SUPERMAN: RED SON- Mark Millar goes beyond the shock-jock brand of writing he does at Marvel to produce the best Superman story since Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?". Thought provoking and witty, it does take a few jabs at the character, but ultimately serves up a tribute worthy of respect.
Happy Returns
PLANETARY - After a too damn long absence, Ellis et al. finally resume one of the most interesting comic series published is back, and while you did have to go back to read what happened before, it was worth it.
ASTRO CITY - After dropping the bowel movement that passed for a comic (Power Company), Kurt Busied returns with some very very very good superhero stories in the latest installment of Astro City.
What the Hell?
THE FOLLOWING NEED TO BE REMOVED FROM COMICS NOW - Jeph Loeb, Chuck Austen, Geoff Johns, Joe Kelly, John Byrne, Chuck Dixon, Ben Raab
THE FOLLOWING NEED BETTER RECOGNITION - Gail Simone, Christopher Priest, Walt Simonson, Micah Wright, Adi Tantimedth.
THE FOLLOWING COMICS SHOULD NOT BE READ BY ANYONE OF ANY AGE: JSA, Anything Written by Chuck Austen, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Any of the core Superman Books.
Later, Michael
Mike's 2003 Year in Review
Comics
The Best comics of the Year
SLEEPER - Is the comic you NEED TO BUY. Maddly innovative and thrilling, I found myself trapped in the sheer claustrophobic nightmare that is this book. The team that produces this book is beyond reproach and can do no wrong.
EMPIRE - Anyone who thinks that Mark Waid is the ultimate optimistic 60s style comic writer needs to be shown this book. The stuff he's been repressing for years is fucking frightening. Barry Kitson does the best work of his career here.
SUPERMAN: RED SON- Mark Millar goes beyond the shock-jock brand of writing he does at Marvel to produce the best Superman story since Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?". Thought provoking and witty, it does take a few jabs at the character, but ultimately serves up a tribute worthy of respect.
Happy Returns
PLANETARY - After a too damn long absence, Ellis et al. finally resume one of the most interesting comic series published is back, and while you did have to go back to read what happened before, it was worth it.
ASTRO CITY - After dropping the bowel movement that passed for a comic (Power Company), Kurt Busied returns with some very very very good superhero stories in the latest installment of Astro City.
What the Hell?
THE FOLLOWING NEED TO BE REMOVED FROM COMICS NOW - Jeph Loeb, Chuck Austen, Geoff Johns, Joe Kelly, John Byrne, Chuck Dixon, Ben Raab
THE FOLLOWING NEED BETTER RECOGNITION - Gail Simone, Christopher Priest, Walt Simonson, Micah Wright, Adi Tantimedth.
THE FOLLOWING COMICS SHOULD NOT BE READ BY ANYONE OF ANY AGE: JSA, Anything Written by Chuck Austen, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Any of the core Superman Books.
Later, Michael
Saturday, December 06, 2003
Mike's 2003 Year in Review
TV and Movies
TV's Best Moment of 2003
-Christopher Reeve on Smallvile. 'Nuff said
TV's worst moves of 2003
-the cancellation of Farscape and Futurama and the success of "Dr. Phil". This is why I pretty much stay away from network T.V. these days.
Most Shameless T.V. Stunt
-In a desparate and futile attempt to prove that the "Star Trek" franchise has some small spark of creative and commercial life, "Enterprise" pulls a rather bizzare Sept 11 tribute to attempt to add something remotely resembling drama into the series....and it still sucks. Face it folks, this franchise is so inbred that the Brittish Royal Family look normal.
Best Movie of 2003
Hmmm.....It'll probably be Return of the King, but if not, then I'm going to say Bulletproof Monk. A really good and fun film for my money.
Worst Movie of 2003
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Comic writer James Robinson decides to utterly destroy an Alan Moore work by "hollywoodizing" it and indulging in his Oscar Wilde mania for no good reason.
Thing that surprised me the most at the movies
- Damn, but the fight scenes in X2 were good. A lot better and more brutal than the ones in the first X-Men flick
Thing that disturbed me the most at the movies
-Ben Affleck as an engineer in "Paycheck": What kind of dumbass casting decision is that? OK, maybe I'm taking this personally, but the idea of Ben "Dumber than Dirt" Affleck as an Engineer deeply deeply annoys me. I do not need him destroying the good name of my profession. What next, Pam Anderson as a neurosurgeon?
TV and Movies
TV's Best Moment of 2003
-Christopher Reeve on Smallvile. 'Nuff said
TV's worst moves of 2003
-the cancellation of Farscape and Futurama and the success of "Dr. Phil". This is why I pretty much stay away from network T.V. these days.
Most Shameless T.V. Stunt
-In a desparate and futile attempt to prove that the "Star Trek" franchise has some small spark of creative and commercial life, "Enterprise" pulls a rather bizzare Sept 11 tribute to attempt to add something remotely resembling drama into the series....and it still sucks. Face it folks, this franchise is so inbred that the Brittish Royal Family look normal.
Best Movie of 2003
Hmmm.....It'll probably be Return of the King, but if not, then I'm going to say Bulletproof Monk. A really good and fun film for my money.
Worst Movie of 2003
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Comic writer James Robinson decides to utterly destroy an Alan Moore work by "hollywoodizing" it and indulging in his Oscar Wilde mania for no good reason.
Thing that surprised me the most at the movies
- Damn, but the fight scenes in X2 were good. A lot better and more brutal than the ones in the first X-Men flick
Thing that disturbed me the most at the movies
-Ben Affleck as an engineer in "Paycheck": What kind of dumbass casting decision is that? OK, maybe I'm taking this personally, but the idea of Ben "Dumber than Dirt" Affleck as an Engineer deeply deeply annoys me. I do not need him destroying the good name of my profession. What next, Pam Anderson as a neurosurgeon?
Mike's 2003 Year in Review
Part 1: Politics
This year was certainly a mixed bag. Let's look below
Strangest Election
Without a doubt California. Proof that you can campaign with no real platform of your own, and win based on the power of your name.
Best News
The Liberal victories in Ontario and Quebec, after nearly a decade of mismanagment by radical idealogues on each end.
Worst news
The Conservative/Canadian alliance merger. If it works, it will likely bring them into power in the next federal election, and the ushering in of a political power that is far more likely to create U.S.-style foreign and domestic policies which would damage the country.
A PM we respected
Jean Chretien left politics this year after 40 years of service, and I wish him well on his retirement. I'm firmly of the belief that though Pierre Trudeau represented the ideals of what we as Canadians WANT to be, Chretien was more like what we ARE. He was arrogant, occassionally rude, and possibly more than a little bit of a selfish bastard. Despite this, I did like the guy. He spoke his mind without hesitation (and on occasion, without comprehension) and I think he did his level best to put Canada on the Global Stage, which in and of itself may be a greater accomplishment in the long run than most would give him credit for. He stood by his decisions, and he was a real fighter (no really, how many PMs would ever start a fight with protestors?). For all of his massive faults, Chretien was a Canadian, and I suspect that part of the reason we didn't like him was that we realized we were all a bit too eager to be like him.
More later,
Michael
P.S. Check out EBAY
Part 1: Politics
This year was certainly a mixed bag. Let's look below
Strangest Election
Without a doubt California. Proof that you can campaign with no real platform of your own, and win based on the power of your name.
Best News
The Liberal victories in Ontario and Quebec, after nearly a decade of mismanagment by radical idealogues on each end.
Worst news
The Conservative/Canadian alliance merger. If it works, it will likely bring them into power in the next federal election, and the ushering in of a political power that is far more likely to create U.S.-style foreign and domestic policies which would damage the country.
A PM we respected
Jean Chretien left politics this year after 40 years of service, and I wish him well on his retirement. I'm firmly of the belief that though Pierre Trudeau represented the ideals of what we as Canadians WANT to be, Chretien was more like what we ARE. He was arrogant, occassionally rude, and possibly more than a little bit of a selfish bastard. Despite this, I did like the guy. He spoke his mind without hesitation (and on occasion, without comprehension) and I think he did his level best to put Canada on the Global Stage, which in and of itself may be a greater accomplishment in the long run than most would give him credit for. He stood by his decisions, and he was a real fighter (no really, how many PMs would ever start a fight with protestors?). For all of his massive faults, Chretien was a Canadian, and I suspect that part of the reason we didn't like him was that we realized we were all a bit too eager to be like him.
More later,
Michael
P.S. Check out EBAY
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
I finally got arount to watching the eXtreme Martial Arts showcase that was aired on the Discovery Channel on Sunday. Overall I had to say it was a fairly entertaining two hours even for the non-martial artist/non-engineer type. For those of us who are both however, it was something else entirely.
First, a bit of background. Last year, a fellow student and I designed a martial arts force-plate training device known as BRUCE (Basic Real-time Universal Combat Environment) for our fourth year engineering project. Lord knows it took forever for my partner and I to get the thing to even begin to function, and it was never the most reliable system (The computer we used was woefully inadequate, and admittedly, I over engineered the structure of the prototype to the point of massive insensitivity), it none the less ends up having many of the same qualities as the sensor systems the scientists in the show ended up using.
The first similarity (and by far the most striking) was the use of a 1000Hz sampling rate. This surprised me because I felt that a higher sampling rate (two to three times) would have made for better analysis of reaction time and pressure monitoring. However, they probably made the same compromise we had to; they sacrificed sampling speed in order to reduce the raw processing the computer would have to achieve.
They used a pressure-based sensing system to determine pounds per square inch and then determing the force. This was part of our initial brainstorming on the project as well, but we never could figure out how we could find a sensor that could measure the forces we predicted would occur without breaking, or the proper vessel we would need to contain the sensor. While it seems they solved the problem with the vessel (and I for one would love to know how they did it), it looks like they didn't completely solve the durability problem, as they showed at least on of the sensors breaking.
We opted for a direct force measurement (as opposed to integrating the force from the pressure) and to use multiple sensors to triangulate the position of the point force. They used this same feature, but applied it to measure changes in the martial artist's BALANCE as he stood on force plates. An application that seems so blindingly obvious in hindsight that I'm kicking myself over not having thought of it myself.
They used motion capture technology to triangulate the various body mechanics and to determine speed and reaction time. An option that was way too expensive for a pair of engineering students, but one that would work very well. We had to do a much more indirect measurement of reaction time, but supplemented what we already knew of human ergonomics to try and make up for that shortcoming.
Kind of nice to know we could have achieved what they did if we had a team of specialists and several hundred thousand dollars more.
In terms of the show itself, it was a nice insight into the SCIENCES (Plural) that the martial arts take advantage of. Whether it is the old fashioned "drawing strength from the earth" or the pschological effect of horse-hair on a spear, there was a truly canny analysis of the tools of the martial artists.
Damn good watching,
Michael
First, a bit of background. Last year, a fellow student and I designed a martial arts force-plate training device known as BRUCE (Basic Real-time Universal Combat Environment) for our fourth year engineering project. Lord knows it took forever for my partner and I to get the thing to even begin to function, and it was never the most reliable system (The computer we used was woefully inadequate, and admittedly, I over engineered the structure of the prototype to the point of massive insensitivity), it none the less ends up having many of the same qualities as the sensor systems the scientists in the show ended up using.
The first similarity (and by far the most striking) was the use of a 1000Hz sampling rate. This surprised me because I felt that a higher sampling rate (two to three times) would have made for better analysis of reaction time and pressure monitoring. However, they probably made the same compromise we had to; they sacrificed sampling speed in order to reduce the raw processing the computer would have to achieve.
They used a pressure-based sensing system to determine pounds per square inch and then determing the force. This was part of our initial brainstorming on the project as well, but we never could figure out how we could find a sensor that could measure the forces we predicted would occur without breaking, or the proper vessel we would need to contain the sensor. While it seems they solved the problem with the vessel (and I for one would love to know how they did it), it looks like they didn't completely solve the durability problem, as they showed at least on of the sensors breaking.
We opted for a direct force measurement (as opposed to integrating the force from the pressure) and to use multiple sensors to triangulate the position of the point force. They used this same feature, but applied it to measure changes in the martial artist's BALANCE as he stood on force plates. An application that seems so blindingly obvious in hindsight that I'm kicking myself over not having thought of it myself.
They used motion capture technology to triangulate the various body mechanics and to determine speed and reaction time. An option that was way too expensive for a pair of engineering students, but one that would work very well. We had to do a much more indirect measurement of reaction time, but supplemented what we already knew of human ergonomics to try and make up for that shortcoming.
Kind of nice to know we could have achieved what they did if we had a team of specialists and several hundred thousand dollars more.
In terms of the show itself, it was a nice insight into the SCIENCES (Plural) that the martial arts take advantage of. Whether it is the old fashioned "drawing strength from the earth" or the pschological effect of horse-hair on a spear, there was a truly canny analysis of the tools of the martial artists.
Damn good watching,
Michael
Saturday, November 29, 2003
Congratulations to Janna Hickson (formerly of XXXEDYS, my undergrad engineering class) on her engagement! Best wishes. Although, coming from someone with a terminal case of bachelorhood, this may or may not be the best of blessings.
Upon some consideration, I've decided that I won't discuss ACT 3 of Planetary until I receive issue 18, which I should be able to get sometime in the new year.
Later,
Michael
Upon some consideration, I've decided that I won't discuss ACT 3 of Planetary until I receive issue 18, which I should be able to get sometime in the new year.
Later,
Michael
Another ordinary week in the life of the unemployed....
Oh, well, at least I'm starting to catch up on my blogging.
THE PLANETARY BLOG
PLANETARY ACT 2
includes Planetary issues #7-12 and Planetary/Batman crossover
I include the Planetary/Batman one-shot in here because it ties in thematically to this act, and in terms of continuity it would seem to occur somewhere within this span of the regular series.
Without a doubt, these are the strongest issues of the series to date if for no other reason then the strength of the plot work. There are two main themes in this act: Who is the Fourth Man/Who are the Four? As we find out, we must solve the latter to truly arrive at the former.
Already, we see some significant changes from the first act. As opposed to the "done in one" approach used in the first act, we see the plot tighten as we learn more about the Four, and their subtle (and not so-subtle) actions. Our knowledge stems for a series of first hand accounts of their atrocities, and some imaginative flashbacks (particularly issues 8-10, and the inference of City Zero in the Batman crossover book). Of course, what we see is the Four essentially strip-mining the inherent wonders of 50's sci-fi (issue 8), modern science fiction and philosophy (issue 9) and superheroic fiction (in the incredibly sad and moving issue 10). Even those with a passing knowledge of the concepts in this issues is made to see clearly the impact of such losses.
Secondly, in this act, we start to get some insight into Jakita Wagner, though it is still relatively sparse. Issues 7, 9 and 12 lead us a long way into getting a glimpse of the mindset of this character. Though she is still easily viewed as the "action junkie", we can also see in her interactions with some of the other minor characters that such a lifestyle has isolated her. An interesting and subtle point from Ellis: Is it power, or just the willingness to use it that truly creates isolation?
However, again the focus is on Elijah. To a man like him, having to view the grisly evidence of what the Four have accomplished is a torment that truly ignites him, and in that, we see a transformation slowly take place as he comes to terms with what has passed, climaxing in the absolutely mind-expanding issue 12. I really can't understate how cohesively it ties together at this point. Ellis creates a tapestry that spans 20th century popculture, and even touches on elements of earlier work.
Again, John Cassaday shows us why he is one of the modern masters. In this set of issues, his style is clearly put to it's best uses as he gets to create brief but dazzling views of the bizzare universe he and Warren created. Whether it is the grimmy streets of London or a magic alien landscape, Cassaday makes it convincing.
While issue 12 is the big reveal and the climax of this act, issue 10 is the centrepiece. It is in seeing the depths of the Four's depravity that ultimately leads us on Elijah's journey of self-re-discovery that results in the revelations of issue 12.
Later,
Michael Paciocco
Oh, well, at least I'm starting to catch up on my blogging.
THE PLANETARY BLOG
PLANETARY ACT 2
includes Planetary issues #7-12 and Planetary/Batman crossover
I include the Planetary/Batman one-shot in here because it ties in thematically to this act, and in terms of continuity it would seem to occur somewhere within this span of the regular series.
Without a doubt, these are the strongest issues of the series to date if for no other reason then the strength of the plot work. There are two main themes in this act: Who is the Fourth Man/Who are the Four? As we find out, we must solve the latter to truly arrive at the former.
Already, we see some significant changes from the first act. As opposed to the "done in one" approach used in the first act, we see the plot tighten as we learn more about the Four, and their subtle (and not so-subtle) actions. Our knowledge stems for a series of first hand accounts of their atrocities, and some imaginative flashbacks (particularly issues 8-10, and the inference of City Zero in the Batman crossover book). Of course, what we see is the Four essentially strip-mining the inherent wonders of 50's sci-fi (issue 8), modern science fiction and philosophy (issue 9) and superheroic fiction (in the incredibly sad and moving issue 10). Even those with a passing knowledge of the concepts in this issues is made to see clearly the impact of such losses.
Secondly, in this act, we start to get some insight into Jakita Wagner, though it is still relatively sparse. Issues 7, 9 and 12 lead us a long way into getting a glimpse of the mindset of this character. Though she is still easily viewed as the "action junkie", we can also see in her interactions with some of the other minor characters that such a lifestyle has isolated her. An interesting and subtle point from Ellis: Is it power, or just the willingness to use it that truly creates isolation?
However, again the focus is on Elijah. To a man like him, having to view the grisly evidence of what the Four have accomplished is a torment that truly ignites him, and in that, we see a transformation slowly take place as he comes to terms with what has passed, climaxing in the absolutely mind-expanding issue 12. I really can't understate how cohesively it ties together at this point. Ellis creates a tapestry that spans 20th century popculture, and even touches on elements of earlier work.
Again, John Cassaday shows us why he is one of the modern masters. In this set of issues, his style is clearly put to it's best uses as he gets to create brief but dazzling views of the bizzare universe he and Warren created. Whether it is the grimmy streets of London or a magic alien landscape, Cassaday makes it convincing.
While issue 12 is the big reveal and the climax of this act, issue 10 is the centrepiece. It is in seeing the depths of the Four's depravity that ultimately leads us on Elijah's journey of self-re-discovery that results in the revelations of issue 12.
Later,
Michael Paciocco
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch......two and a half hours of kicking, punching and unbelievably painful joint locks later......and I can barely feel my wrists....or anything below my knees......
For the record, I plan on putting together my best/worst of 2003, after I've finished the Planetary blog series and I've had a little more time to think about it. Of course, I can't claim to be as good as ADD or Derek Martinez, as I don't have nearly their experience (or their budget for comics). I actually have some further comments on one of Derek's final comments, but I want time to write out a fully reasoned response....it'll be part of my pet theory as to the future of comics, and in specific, the (limited) role of superhero comics therein. That will wait for another time....
Oh, and please check out my EBAY auctions. You are getting a great deal.
So, without further rambling...
The PLANETARY BLOG
PLANETARY ACT 1
includes Planetary issues #1-6, Planetary Preview and Planetary/Authority, ruling the world.
In terms of pure analysis, this is very little to consider here. Ellis, Cassaday et. al. structure the first act....like a first act. We get to know the basic personalities, and get a glimpse of what it is about, and at the end of which we are introduced to the central conflict of the piece.
This act is probably what gives the series it's "X-files" vibe. The formula of the first few issues is pretty much given away by a throway line in the second issue.
"So this is the job? Get jabbered by some half-tame lunatic, get stuffed in a chopper, go somewhere with mountains and do goddamn nothing?"
The single issues mysteries compounded by hints of larger conspiracies (i.e. the true agenda of the Planetary organization) would be enough enticement to buy the series, but it doesn't end there. Surprisingly, Ellis and Cassaday manage to evoke the wonder of some of the fogotten works of popculture and superhero fiction (The Spectre, Godzilla movies, Doc Savage, Shazam) through a synthesis of staying true to the high concept (Ellis) and beautiful artwork (Cassaday). The irony of the greatest detractor of superhero comics producing such amazing superhero tales is not lost on an attentive reader.
Even the characters themselves defy Ellis' traditional one-or two dimensional characters. Outside of possibly Spider Jerusalem, Warren Ellis has never been able to make me believe that his characters have lives "off-camera" so to speak. Yet he succeeded beyond all expectations to make me 'believe' in Elijah Snow. In this first act, we see Elijah as touching, ruthless, sardonic, bitter, self-pittying, and even whimsical, many of these emotions occuring at the same time. It is to John Cassaday's and Laura Depuy (whom will henceforth be referred to by her married name of Laura Martin) that they convey this in every thing from the character's line work (notice that the angrier Elijah gets, the heavier his outline and the linework that makes his suit. This is especially noticeable in issue #6) to his skin and eye complexion (That admittedly, is more my own personal observation, and is subject to some dispute, but it becomes more noticable as the series progresses, especially in the third act).
Jakita and The Drummer do not share in this level of development earlier on, though some of the more minor characters (Doc Brass and the Ghost Cop, specifically) are given a stronger development then their presence in the larger story might necessarily dictate.
My pet peeve is showing here, but Cassaday simply does not get the R-E-S-P-E-C-T he deserves. In my opinion, I think he is overshadowed by former Ellis co-worker Bryan Hitch. Not to say that Hitch isn't a good artist, but I think relative to Cassaday he is vastly overated. Cassady shows none of the influences or shortcuts that are noticable in Hitch's work (i.e. the Alan Davis influence or his frequent flirtation with photo-referencing), while at the same time managing to capture the moods and conventions of the genres explored in each issue of Planetary (especially the mind-blowing, insanely good-looking John-Woo style issue #3).
At any rate, the first act of Planetary rightfully ends with Elijah's "discovery" of the Four, thus beginning the second act and bringing everything we've learned in the first act together in a cohesive matter. Ellis is to be commended for ending his acts at their strongest.
And in that manner, so shall I.
Michael Paciocco
For the record, I plan on putting together my best/worst of 2003, after I've finished the Planetary blog series and I've had a little more time to think about it. Of course, I can't claim to be as good as ADD or Derek Martinez, as I don't have nearly their experience (or their budget for comics). I actually have some further comments on one of Derek's final comments, but I want time to write out a fully reasoned response....it'll be part of my pet theory as to the future of comics, and in specific, the (limited) role of superhero comics therein. That will wait for another time....
Oh, and please check out my EBAY auctions. You are getting a great deal.
So, without further rambling...
The PLANETARY BLOG
PLANETARY ACT 1
includes Planetary issues #1-6, Planetary Preview and Planetary/Authority, ruling the world.
In terms of pure analysis, this is very little to consider here. Ellis, Cassaday et. al. structure the first act....like a first act. We get to know the basic personalities, and get a glimpse of what it is about, and at the end of which we are introduced to the central conflict of the piece.
This act is probably what gives the series it's "X-files" vibe. The formula of the first few issues is pretty much given away by a throway line in the second issue.
"So this is the job? Get jabbered by some half-tame lunatic, get stuffed in a chopper, go somewhere with mountains and do goddamn nothing?"
The single issues mysteries compounded by hints of larger conspiracies (i.e. the true agenda of the Planetary organization) would be enough enticement to buy the series, but it doesn't end there. Surprisingly, Ellis and Cassaday manage to evoke the wonder of some of the fogotten works of popculture and superhero fiction (The Spectre, Godzilla movies, Doc Savage, Shazam) through a synthesis of staying true to the high concept (Ellis) and beautiful artwork (Cassaday). The irony of the greatest detractor of superhero comics producing such amazing superhero tales is not lost on an attentive reader.
Even the characters themselves defy Ellis' traditional one-or two dimensional characters. Outside of possibly Spider Jerusalem, Warren Ellis has never been able to make me believe that his characters have lives "off-camera" so to speak. Yet he succeeded beyond all expectations to make me 'believe' in Elijah Snow. In this first act, we see Elijah as touching, ruthless, sardonic, bitter, self-pittying, and even whimsical, many of these emotions occuring at the same time. It is to John Cassaday's and Laura Depuy (whom will henceforth be referred to by her married name of Laura Martin) that they convey this in every thing from the character's line work (notice that the angrier Elijah gets, the heavier his outline and the linework that makes his suit. This is especially noticeable in issue #6) to his skin and eye complexion (That admittedly, is more my own personal observation, and is subject to some dispute, but it becomes more noticable as the series progresses, especially in the third act).
Jakita and The Drummer do not share in this level of development earlier on, though some of the more minor characters (Doc Brass and the Ghost Cop, specifically) are given a stronger development then their presence in the larger story might necessarily dictate.
My pet peeve is showing here, but Cassaday simply does not get the R-E-S-P-E-C-T he deserves. In my opinion, I think he is overshadowed by former Ellis co-worker Bryan Hitch. Not to say that Hitch isn't a good artist, but I think relative to Cassaday he is vastly overated. Cassady shows none of the influences or shortcuts that are noticable in Hitch's work (i.e. the Alan Davis influence or his frequent flirtation with photo-referencing), while at the same time managing to capture the moods and conventions of the genres explored in each issue of Planetary (especially the mind-blowing, insanely good-looking John-Woo style issue #3).
At any rate, the first act of Planetary rightfully ends with Elijah's "discovery" of the Four, thus beginning the second act and bringing everything we've learned in the first act together in a cohesive matter. Ellis is to be commended for ending his acts at their strongest.
And in that manner, so shall I.
Michael Paciocco
Sunday, November 23, 2003
Let's take it from the top
The delay since my last post was caused by a need to escape my profound frustration with my jobhunt. So, I made a retreat from the internet almost entirely, cutting myself off from the comics newsites and political/news stuff in order to spend my time with the people I cared about in order to recharge myself sufficiently. I feel that a great deal of progress in terms of my emotional health has been made, and let it be known that I am back.
Of course, given the main topic of today's blog, a major delay is somewhat fitting.
Oh, new ebay Auctions here. Good comix for those whom want them.
As to today's topic:
THE PLANETARY BLOG, Part 1
October, 2000
Throughly bored with superhero comics at the time, yet wanting some good pulp reading material to take the edge off some truly terrible midterms, I wandered into my local comic shop in Waterloo, and absentmindedly flip through the bins.
Planetary #3. Cool cover, I think to myself. John Woo action looking. Worth a look.
Two weeks later, after finishing my midterms, I begin a manic quest to obtain the entire series, catching a handful of back issues (including issues 4,5,6, and 11), and getting the rest of my knowledge of the series from helpful websites such as this and this.
I am entranced by the sheer beauty of the series and the awe, wonder, and respect that is displayed in these pages. I knew very little of Warren Ellis before this, and what I knew, I wasn't sure I liked. I knew of his public dislike of the monopoly of superhero comics, and his rather blunt storytelling style. I even went to the Warren Ellis Delphi Forum, and found most of the people there to be, if not elitist, than at least very confident that they had gained some measure of self-worth via their choice of associations.
But there was something different here....and I admit, I didn't realize what it was until December, when I picked up the eye-opening issue #12. At this point, it all came together in a way that still moves me.
You see, Planetary is the first, and perhaps the only piece of work Warren has done that contains a multiplicity of themes and meanings. That is not to detract from the rest of his work, but while Transmetropolitan and The Authority are good books, the key themes are immediately and hamfistedly delivered. This is the first time he allows the readers to find their own meanings, which probably was a scary thing for him to do because it allowed for the possiblity that the readers and fans might have a different meaning than the one that he wants to communicate, and that their meanings would have the same intrinsic value as his own. That loss of control on his part was a very brave and risky think for him to do. Very few artists in any media are willing to concede that power, and in comics, Warren is part of a very, very, very exclusive club in that regard (In my mind, it is him and Alan Moore and that's it). However, in my mind, that gamble paid off to make this one of the best comic series, something that will hold up against Alan Moore's major works, and will definitely outlast the scores of dungheap sooperhero shit on the market.
So, what is Planetary? A look at the power and majesty of 20th century pop-fiction? A mystery? A super-powered 'X-files'? An allegory for Marvel comic's strip-mining the essential wonder and timelessness of the superheroic icon in order to provide the most common form of entertainment? A story of a group of brave men and women trying to bring wonders back into the world by tearing down the bloated and diseased giants who hold onto the secrets in order to maintain power?
That, is something you will decide as this serial blog progresses.
Good day to you all,
Michael
infinite_horizon@hotmail.com
That, my friends is
The delay since my last post was caused by a need to escape my profound frustration with my jobhunt. So, I made a retreat from the internet almost entirely, cutting myself off from the comics newsites and political/news stuff in order to spend my time with the people I cared about in order to recharge myself sufficiently. I feel that a great deal of progress in terms of my emotional health has been made, and let it be known that I am back.
Of course, given the main topic of today's blog, a major delay is somewhat fitting.
Oh, new ebay Auctions here. Good comix for those whom want them.
As to today's topic:
THE PLANETARY BLOG, Part 1
October, 2000
Throughly bored with superhero comics at the time, yet wanting some good pulp reading material to take the edge off some truly terrible midterms, I wandered into my local comic shop in Waterloo, and absentmindedly flip through the bins.
Planetary #3. Cool cover, I think to myself. John Woo action looking. Worth a look.
Two weeks later, after finishing my midterms, I begin a manic quest to obtain the entire series, catching a handful of back issues (including issues 4,5,6, and 11), and getting the rest of my knowledge of the series from helpful websites such as this and this.
I am entranced by the sheer beauty of the series and the awe, wonder, and respect that is displayed in these pages. I knew very little of Warren Ellis before this, and what I knew, I wasn't sure I liked. I knew of his public dislike of the monopoly of superhero comics, and his rather blunt storytelling style. I even went to the Warren Ellis Delphi Forum, and found most of the people there to be, if not elitist, than at least very confident that they had gained some measure of self-worth via their choice of associations.
But there was something different here....and I admit, I didn't realize what it was until December, when I picked up the eye-opening issue #12. At this point, it all came together in a way that still moves me.
You see, Planetary is the first, and perhaps the only piece of work Warren has done that contains a multiplicity of themes and meanings. That is not to detract from the rest of his work, but while Transmetropolitan and The Authority are good books, the key themes are immediately and hamfistedly delivered. This is the first time he allows the readers to find their own meanings, which probably was a scary thing for him to do because it allowed for the possiblity that the readers and fans might have a different meaning than the one that he wants to communicate, and that their meanings would have the same intrinsic value as his own. That loss of control on his part was a very brave and risky think for him to do. Very few artists in any media are willing to concede that power, and in comics, Warren is part of a very, very, very exclusive club in that regard (In my mind, it is him and Alan Moore and that's it). However, in my mind, that gamble paid off to make this one of the best comic series, something that will hold up against Alan Moore's major works, and will definitely outlast the scores of dungheap sooperhero shit on the market.
So, what is Planetary? A look at the power and majesty of 20th century pop-fiction? A mystery? A super-powered 'X-files'? An allegory for Marvel comic's strip-mining the essential wonder and timelessness of the superheroic icon in order to provide the most common form of entertainment? A story of a group of brave men and women trying to bring wonders back into the world by tearing down the bloated and diseased giants who hold onto the secrets in order to maintain power?
That, is something you will decide as this serial blog progresses.
Good day to you all,
Michael
infinite_horizon@hotmail.com
That, my friends is
Friday, November 07, 2003
Well, today's been lousy. It's pretty bad when the Mayor tells you to leave town to find a job.
Sorry I'm not feeling much in the mood for fresh stuff, but I found this email I sent to a friend whom was uncertain of what to expect of University dorm life. So, for those of you whom haven't experienced it, here's a fair warning;
DORM PEOPLE TYPES
1) Fearless leader- He's the guy who plans everything important;
parties, pranks, getting togethers. He's a social butterfly and
everyone hangs around him. The drawback is that this guy is the
first to get blamed when the pranks go wrong or the Don gets wise to
whatever's happening.
Recommended strategy: Befriend, but keep enough distance to avoid
going down with him if the shit hits the fan.
2) MacGuyver - need an extra extension cord? Duct Tape? Someone to
modify the antenna on your 9" TV so it can suddenly pick up the
Rogers cable feed in the main hall? Go to this guy, as he is
seemingly prepared for nuclear winter and has an arsenal of tricks,
gadgets, and supplies at his beck and call. (Note: This was me, and
yes, I did rig an antenna and it did somehow catch the cable
signal).
3) Zealot -Religous nutcase who follows the ethics to the annoyance
of all others. You will not win an arguement with this guy based on
his faith, so don't try. However, these people are generally
harmless, but if they try and push you around, cut them off at the
kneecaps.
4) Star Trek guy- Every floor (especially in engineering) has one
of these.
Recommended Strategy: Again, generally harmless, but you should
probably avoid, just to save your sex life. Then again, they can be
very good people, so keep in contact.
5) Guy with the live-in girlfriend - Against all rules, this guy has
his girl shackin' up in the same room (my neighbour in my second term, not a
pleasant experience in the evenings). Generally cool, but you do
have to hate him for flaunting it so shamelessly.
6) Floor Babe - This girl lives on the next floor and for reasons
that defy logic, she hangs out a lot with the guys on your floor,
expecially Fearless leader and any important lackeys.
Recommended Strategy: Get to be her friend as she'll introduce you
to every important and worthwile girl in the building. And if she's
single, you'll face the competition of every guy in the building for
her.
7) Computer Guy - He's got a hookup that allows him to hack into
NORAD while playing a 30 person game of Unreal tournament, and he'll
still have the time to drive you absolutely nuts about his computer
knowledge.
Recommended Strategy: Ask for computer advice. That's it
8) Campus Guy: Only goes to res to sleep and shower. Studies madly
and has no other life.
Recommended Strategy: Be his friend so he can help you during midterms
and finals, and get him out of the place so he doesn't snap like a
twig.
9) Horndog: This requires no explanation
Recommendation: What do you think?
Later people,
Michael
Sorry I'm not feeling much in the mood for fresh stuff, but I found this email I sent to a friend whom was uncertain of what to expect of University dorm life. So, for those of you whom haven't experienced it, here's a fair warning;
DORM PEOPLE TYPES
1) Fearless leader- He's the guy who plans everything important;
parties, pranks, getting togethers. He's a social butterfly and
everyone hangs around him. The drawback is that this guy is the
first to get blamed when the pranks go wrong or the Don gets wise to
whatever's happening.
Recommended strategy: Befriend, but keep enough distance to avoid
going down with him if the shit hits the fan.
2) MacGuyver - need an extra extension cord? Duct Tape? Someone to
modify the antenna on your 9" TV so it can suddenly pick up the
Rogers cable feed in the main hall? Go to this guy, as he is
seemingly prepared for nuclear winter and has an arsenal of tricks,
gadgets, and supplies at his beck and call. (Note: This was me, and
yes, I did rig an antenna and it did somehow catch the cable
signal).
3) Zealot -Religous nutcase who follows the ethics to the annoyance
of all others. You will not win an arguement with this guy based on
his faith, so don't try. However, these people are generally
harmless, but if they try and push you around, cut them off at the
kneecaps.
4) Star Trek guy- Every floor (especially in engineering) has one
of these.
Recommended Strategy: Again, generally harmless, but you should
probably avoid, just to save your sex life. Then again, they can be
very good people, so keep in contact.
5) Guy with the live-in girlfriend - Against all rules, this guy has
his girl shackin' up in the same room (my neighbour in my second term, not a
pleasant experience in the evenings). Generally cool, but you do
have to hate him for flaunting it so shamelessly.
6) Floor Babe - This girl lives on the next floor and for reasons
that defy logic, she hangs out a lot with the guys on your floor,
expecially Fearless leader and any important lackeys.
Recommended Strategy: Get to be her friend as she'll introduce you
to every important and worthwile girl in the building. And if she's
single, you'll face the competition of every guy in the building for
her.
7) Computer Guy - He's got a hookup that allows him to hack into
NORAD while playing a 30 person game of Unreal tournament, and he'll
still have the time to drive you absolutely nuts about his computer
knowledge.
Recommended Strategy: Ask for computer advice. That's it
8) Campus Guy: Only goes to res to sleep and shower. Studies madly
and has no other life.
Recommended Strategy: Be his friend so he can help you during midterms
and finals, and get him out of the place so he doesn't snap like a
twig.
9) Horndog: This requires no explanation
Recommendation: What do you think?
Later people,
Michael
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
What's new
Thanks for those whom participated in my ebay auctions. I hope to have more for you next time.
Martial Arts practices are cancelled for the week on account of a lack of a floor. This is generally a good reason not to practice, as falling a solid story on to concrete is likely to hurt the little kids. On the plus side, I found out that I did pass my test, meaning that I'm nearly ready to take my orange belt test in January.
Tonite, I'm reading my entire PLANETARY run (excluding the god-forsaken JLA 'crossover') in preparation for my big PLANETARY REVIEW BLOG, which should be out by week's end.
Michael's Pet Theories: Byrne Syndrome
A lot of comic fans have noted and mocked John Byrne's artistic stagnacy (and degeneration, depending on the commentator). I've taken the time to look at other high-profile comic creators, and I've noted several of them suffer from variants of what I refer to as Byrne Syndrome.
These poor infected individuals include
J. M. Straczynski - that he's so pissed at the clusterfuck that happened to "Crusade" (and now "Rising Stars") that he refused to do anything progressive in Hollywood, and is slumming at Marvel.
Jim Valentino - whom at one point had Kurt Busiek on his pride and joy, ShadowHawk, and managed to screw it up.
Erik Larsen - OK, I appreciate that he's working on the only project that he cares about, but it also seems to me that he's pissed over his faux-Kirby Fanatastic Four mini-series
Howard Chaykin - who was at one point pleased by the success of the Mutant X T.V. series saying that it was a number one T.V. show, and his whole "comics are a dead medium bit". An interesting quote, considering what a truly terrible T.V. series we are talking about, the only saving grace of which was the fact that Victoria Pratt is one of the sexiest women I have ever seen.
Mark Waid - whom I guessing is very very very pissed at his frustration at not being able to save the modern incarnation of Superman, despite his many many failed attempts.
Alex Ross - OK, we get it. You like drawing superheroes. You also like taking too damn much credit. You get heavy doseages of nerd-ons. Despite the fact that you could be one of the best spokespersons for comics, you carry on in ways that would make Comic Book Store Guy from the Simpsons blush. Yeesh.
Todd McFarlane - Who carries his "too cool for comics" attitude to such ridiculous (and insulting) extremes that I'm surprised that anyone is willing to deal with him or his 'properties' (given how much he owes to the likes of Moore and Miller for Spawn's popularity, I hesitate to give him proper ownership rights. Rob Liefeld looks positively angelic next to this twit.)
Chris Claremont - Here, I'm a bit torn, because, hey, I liked X-MEN when I was in my teen years, and there's no doubt he set the standard and wrote some seriously progressive stuff....but he didn't progress very much AFTER he left the title, and when he did (i.e. Sovereign Seven), it didn't to very well in the collapsing comics market. I think he then made the decision to stick to his guns, and that choice has limited him. Here's hoping that he will try to move on and evolve his style. It seems from some accounts of his most recent work in the last year or so that he has begun...so of this list, I'm going to consider him as being 'in remission' for the time being.
Chuck Dixon - "I put three fight scenes into each and every comic I write." Great....but so what? Since when is that the sign of a good writer? More like a formulaic one.
Thanks for those whom participated in my ebay auctions. I hope to have more for you next time.
Martial Arts practices are cancelled for the week on account of a lack of a floor. This is generally a good reason not to practice, as falling a solid story on to concrete is likely to hurt the little kids. On the plus side, I found out that I did pass my test, meaning that I'm nearly ready to take my orange belt test in January.
Tonite, I'm reading my entire PLANETARY run (excluding the god-forsaken JLA 'crossover') in preparation for my big PLANETARY REVIEW BLOG, which should be out by week's end.
Michael's Pet Theories: Byrne Syndrome
A lot of comic fans have noted and mocked John Byrne's artistic stagnacy (and degeneration, depending on the commentator). I've taken the time to look at other high-profile comic creators, and I've noted several of them suffer from variants of what I refer to as Byrne Syndrome.
These poor infected individuals include
J. M. Straczynski - that he's so pissed at the clusterfuck that happened to "Crusade" (and now "Rising Stars") that he refused to do anything progressive in Hollywood, and is slumming at Marvel.
Jim Valentino - whom at one point had Kurt Busiek on his pride and joy, ShadowHawk, and managed to screw it up.
Erik Larsen - OK, I appreciate that he's working on the only project that he cares about, but it also seems to me that he's pissed over his faux-Kirby Fanatastic Four mini-series
Howard Chaykin - who was at one point pleased by the success of the Mutant X T.V. series saying that it was a number one T.V. show, and his whole "comics are a dead medium bit". An interesting quote, considering what a truly terrible T.V. series we are talking about, the only saving grace of which was the fact that Victoria Pratt is one of the sexiest women I have ever seen.
Mark Waid - whom I guessing is very very very pissed at his frustration at not being able to save the modern incarnation of Superman, despite his many many failed attempts.
Alex Ross - OK, we get it. You like drawing superheroes. You also like taking too damn much credit. You get heavy doseages of nerd-ons. Despite the fact that you could be one of the best spokespersons for comics, you carry on in ways that would make Comic Book Store Guy from the Simpsons blush. Yeesh.
Todd McFarlane - Who carries his "too cool for comics" attitude to such ridiculous (and insulting) extremes that I'm surprised that anyone is willing to deal with him or his 'properties' (given how much he owes to the likes of Moore and Miller for Spawn's popularity, I hesitate to give him proper ownership rights. Rob Liefeld looks positively angelic next to this twit.)
Chris Claremont - Here, I'm a bit torn, because, hey, I liked X-MEN when I was in my teen years, and there's no doubt he set the standard and wrote some seriously progressive stuff....but he didn't progress very much AFTER he left the title, and when he did (i.e. Sovereign Seven), it didn't to very well in the collapsing comics market. I think he then made the decision to stick to his guns, and that choice has limited him. Here's hoping that he will try to move on and evolve his style. It seems from some accounts of his most recent work in the last year or so that he has begun...so of this list, I'm going to consider him as being 'in remission' for the time being.
Chuck Dixon - "I put three fight scenes into each and every comic I write." Great....but so what? Since when is that the sign of a good writer? More like a formulaic one.
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