The Four Color Media Monitor

An article in the Philippine Star about a local recording composer who's collected mainly copies of Classics Illustrated comics for many years.

Labels: Europe and Asia

The New York Daily News reports that the Obama worship has been turning up among the indie publishers. Some of these examples are really embarrassing:

The commander in chief is taking charge in the world of comics. No longer restricted to short cameos in books like “The Amazing Spider-Man,” superhero versions of Obama are taking on the bad guys themselves.

“They are putting him in a more prominent role then they did before – before it was just there’s the President, the President makes a statement about the character and that’s it,” says Nick Purpura, general manager of Jim Hanley’s Universe, a comic book haven in midtown.

In a 48-page one-shot of “Drafted,” an ongoing series from Devil’s Due Publishing, Obama finds himself stranded as a mute with a group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic Chicago. Elevated to a leadership position after an alien invasion, this Obama launches a new campaign, using his fists when necessary.

DDP also kicked off this summer with an ongoing series titled "Barack the Barbarian," featuring Obama as a loincloth-clad warrior in the role that made fellow politician Arnold Schwarzenegger famous. Other pols make cameos with names such as "Hilaria" - Clinton – with Sarah Palin as "Red Sarah."

If their reworking of the Secretary of State's name is supposed to be funny, I don't find it funny at all. And the plots they're coming up with here only make me yawn. I'm sure their depiction of Palin won't be something to look forward to either.

Since most of these titles are published by independent publishers other than the Big Two, Marvel Comics and DC Comics, many fans are skeptical that the series are little more than sales stunts.

“For a lot of the smaller companies, this is one of the ways they want to be put on the map,” says Purpura.

If that’s the case, Obama may be battling this recession one page at time, by increasing comic sales and giving those smaller comic companies a fighting chance.

“It’s getting people back into comics,” says Purpura’s co-worker, Golden Age, who won't divulge his own secret identity.

Oh, is it? They don't mention how many copies even the Obama-based comics are selling. Few comics now even sell more than 100,000 and those that aren't Obama-based certainly aren't getting anywhere. And with Obama's public approval ratings tanking, I'm not sure we can count on many people in the wider public hurrying to the LCS to buy a copy of these needless stunts. But don't expect the store owners, desperate as they surely are for customers, to admit it.

Labels: msm propaganda, politics

An article in the Toronto Globe and Mail where a few graphic novelists and indie publishers are talking about the future of comics being published online.

Labels: technology

The Nashua Telegraph is babbling about J. Michael Stracynski's writing four heroes who were once published by Archie Comics (or by "Pep Comics", which may have been under the same ownership), but with his political slant, that's why I have to wonder if they won't be tarnished:

One of the most popular writers in fiction will be bringing the very first patriotic superhero to DC Comics – and no, the character isn't who you think it is, and he isn't coming alone.

Brief history lesson: In January 1940 – 14 months before Captain America debuted – MLJ Comics launched The Shield in "Pep Comics" No. 1. The flag-draped superhero – secretly, Joe Higgins of the FBI – proved pretty popular and launched a wave of super-types at MLJ.

[...]

What makes this time different? The presence of superstar writer J. Michael Straczynski, creator/writer of "Babylon 5," who is just coming off a successful run at Marvel.

Not surprisingly, not a word mentioned of how really, it wasn't, if we're to recall the jaw-droppingly awful One More Day. And JMS may be a superstar in movies and TV writing, but he won't, and doesn't deserve to be, in comics writing.

DC Universe chief "Dan DiDio came to me with the roster after they'd finished acquiring the rights," Straczynski said, "and basically said, 'Here they are if you want to play with them.' "

And he did, writing four one-shots, introducing updated versions of The Hangman, Inferno, The Web and, of course, The Shield. But why these four characters, out of the dozens Archie is leasing to DC?

"DC gave me total flexibility in which I chose to go with," Straczynski said, "and I decided on those four characters that gave me the widest range, from the classic superhero (The Web) to the more supernatural hero (The Hangman), the very American hero (The Shield) and a mystery hero (Inferno). I liked the symmetry of that."

I'm personally wondering if any updates he'll do include his leftist leanings. In fact, if the following is any clue:

Last, and least changed, is The Shield.

"There are some things you change because they merit changing and some things you leave alone if they work, and much of The Shield's background worked," JMS said. "One of the conscious choices made in bringing the character back was to set him in the military theater as an instrument of policy, rather than having him fighting in the streets, which separates him out from Captain America. . . .

"There aren't a lot of books out there that are set strongly within the current military."

Hey, I wonder if maybe there are changes made to the Shield! Like, maybe it'll be negative to the army. JMS did, after all, once write a Marvel MAX take on Squadron Supreme that featured a blame-America message. Interestingly enough, he didn't finish writing the miniseries himself (according to this review page on the AV Club, Howard Chaykin just recently wrote the rest, and just as badly), and left it in the middle. It should've remained that way (so too, in fact, should Kevin Smith's wretched Black Cat miniseries).

What JMS is suggesting in the article is that the Shield will be depicted in his story as a tool for the military, and probably decides to go against them because he doesn't like their policies, or, those that JMS doesn't like. Realizing what his political stance is like, I wouldn't put it past him, nor would I be surprised if DC allows him to.

"These characters have a very long history," DiDio said, "and we want to make sure we're adding to that. . . . My hope is that this is not a short-term agreement, (but) something that will have a long-lasting effect on the DCU."

With their current track record, it won't surprise me if this ends up in the bargain bin with very short-term effects left in its wake, and I won't be surprised if JMS does add to them, via the art of subtraction.

Labels: dc comics, dreadful writers, marvel comics, msm propaganda, politics

This is becoming worse than I thought. In the preview for Teen Titans #73 (via Titans Tower Monitor):

Writer Bryan Q. Miller (Smallville), who’ll be kicking off the new BATGIRL series in no time, continues his jaunt through the Teen Titans world, as the team tries to rescue Wonder Girl from the new Fearsome Five, as the Calculator enacts his revenge on the team for not protecting his daughter.

Uh, why is he going after them and not Lycus? He and his oversized insult to Wonder Dog were responsible for all that, to say nothing of the writers who cooked up that barrel scraping tommyrot. If Calculator's really going after the Titans, I'd say that's a cheap shot, even silly.

I knew that the Calculator's resurfacing in the DCU would be going nowhere.

Labels: dc comics, dreadful writers, Titans

Here are some entries two of Big Hollywood's contributors have been writing on their SDCCI attendance. Doug TenNapel writes more about his visit here, here and here, and James Hudnall has some more over here.

Update: one more from TenNapel.

Update: TenNapel enters another post, and says that many comic creators dreaded the movie/game industry's moving in on the convention. But, he says at the end:

Comics have been around since the pyramids but video games and movies are relatively new to the scene. The medium of comics will outlive them and the Comic-Con will survive Hollywood’s flavor-of-the-decade interest just fine. In the meanwhile, it’s nice to sell books with Jennifer Love Hewitt signing right next door.

Well, let's hope so. But it'll only be if the writers, editors and publishers shape up and stop pandering to low denominators.

Update: one more from Hudnall.

Update: John Nolte provides plenty of photos.

Labels: conventions

And now, the LeHigh Valley Express-Times has taken the time to blatantly sugarcoat Blackest Night. Not much more to comment on here, but I guess the following is worth a try:

On Earth, the heroes are having problems of their own as Hawkman and Hawkgirl are attacked by zombie Black Lanterns Ralph (Elongated Man) and Sue Dibny.

"Blackest Night" has been a story a long time coming and the first issue really delivers.

Johns continues to craft DC's best superhero comic.

Correction: Johns has crafted one of the worst in DC history, and of his own career. No mention here of the gore and bloodletting that accompanies this shameless miniseries in its perpetuation of death, nihilism and elimination of any true sense of humor for the DCU, the main problem with this article.

With every new color ring he's introduced, Johns has escalated the danger the Green Lanterns faced.

I think this color scheming nonsense has already gone much too far, to the point where all color has been totally drained. Red Lanterns, Blue Lanterns, Orange Lanterns, etc. Who needs it. It's way too much already. A box of crayons would be much more appealing than this.

Labels: crossoverloading, dc comics, dreadful writers, Green Lantern, msm propaganda, violence

An article in Tech Connect about an upcoming program for buying/downloading comic books online called Longbox.

Labels: technology

Not that it makes it any better nor tasteful. Comic Book Resources reports from the SDCCI that Johns has told the audience:

Johns discussed the nature of the particularly gruesome violence seen in “Blackest Night” #1, saying, “It pushed the boundaries for sure,” but that “Blackest Night” is a horror story about superheroes, and is thusly super-horrifying. With respect to the murders of Hawkman and Hawkgirl – two characters Johns brought to prominence and that he said he had “a lot of love for” – Johns said their end was fitting given the couple’s dominant theme: love that was never to be. He added that the most horrifying Black Lanterns are the “lighter” characters like Ralph and Sue Dibney, a couple that represented “pure love,” making their murder of the Hawks “the most horrific way I could have played it.” Johns also said that beyond thematic resonance, there is an in-story reason why Black Hand chose the Dibneys to execute the Hawks, and that it will be revealed as “Blackest Night” continues.

Yes, now he's throwing away, under the bus, the very superheroes, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, whom he'd supposedly gone out of his way to make prominent. But if there's anything worse, it's the continued abuse of the Dibnys. Turning them into homicidal zombies is truly disgusting and an insult to their original themes. I also found that Johns has spat on the recently killed Jean Loring's grave by claiming in his script that she made the Atom feel small. If that's how it's going to be, then it shows he doesn't have much respect for the "little guy".

A clever fan asked whether Hal Jordan will battle with an undead Abin Sur, to which Johns responded, “Absolutely.”

Luckily, I won't be there to see how it plays out.

Another clever fan asked Johns if Krypto the Super Dog would battle Dek-Starr, the ultra-violent feline of the Red Lantern Corps. “It was supposed to be a secret, but yes,” Johns confirmed to huge applause.

But not from me. I've got a feeling that battle will be even worse.

I have no respect for Johns anymore. He and others of his ilk have already been shoving horror elements down the throats of readers even before this tripe, and they're not making it any better by keeping on with it.

Labels: Atom, dc comics, dreadful writers, golden calf of death, Green Lantern, misogyny and racism, violence

An article in the Beacon-Villager about the director of the Maynard library making space in his complex for comics, and writing 8 books about graphic novels/comics.

Labels: libraries

The Metrowest Daily News of Framingham, MA, writes about a new store specially for manga books and anime called AniMadness that just opened up.

Labels: manga and anime

Graphic novelist and game designer Doug TenNapel writes more on the SanDiego Comicon International at Big Hollywood. It's his 20th visit there.

Update: here's a second entry he wrote.

Labels: conventions

The Hollywood Reporter (via Robot 6) tells that the crummy leftist documentarian Morgan Spurlock is going to turn his overrated Super Size Me into a comic. Oh, isn't that a brilliant idea. And he even says:

Spurlock said after his movie was released that he and Warrior Poets were inundated by calls from people who wanted to share their tales from the fast-food underbelly, including the story of a fat man whose cremation made a mortuary smell like French fries and the man that built in his garage a museum of McDonald's food that never aged.

"As great as they were on paper, I think they'll be better told in a graphic-novel form," Spurlock said. "They're funny, they're gross, and hopefully they'll be informative too."

And that's exactly why we'd be better off without this crudeness littering up the market. This is all just tabloid stupidity, and an expansion of the bad taste that's ruined a lot of movies for 2 decades now. Some of the other problems I have with Spurlock are that he's been an apologist for Islamofascism, and his claim that he found Osama bin Laden sounds like another attempt to claim fame for the wrong reasons. That's why his invasion into comic book land is all the more appalling. The industry would be better off without people like Spurlock and his super-size stupidity around.

Labels: indie publishers, moonbat writers, politics

Reuters reports that the SanDiego Comicon continues to be conquered by Hollywood:

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of pop culture fans will descend on the Comic-Con International event this week in San Diego that in recent years has changed from a convention of comic book lovers to a Hollywood movie bazaar.

[...]

"The Con was all about comic books, their artists, writers and editors. Today, it's still about comic books, but the major emphasis is on movies, TV shows and videogames ... It has become a huge 'entertainment' Con rather than just a comic book Con."

Yep. Comics become less of an attraction at the Comicon as the movie business increasingly takes over, leaving less comic books to see.

Update: On Big Hollywood, James Hudnall writes about his experiences at Comicon International over the many years since its opening, and notes how it has indeed expanded to much more than just comics, with the games and films finding their way in.

Labels: conventions

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that WB hired 3 comics writers, quietly at that, to help develop some of their planned adaptations of DC productions - Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison and Marv Wolfman. Of those 3, only the latter may be any good. I'm not impresssed by Morrison, and with the way Johns has been handling the Flash recently, I sure can't get excited to hear that he'll have anything to do with development of the movie versions. Why, indeed, are people like Johns the ones they're turning to for assistance? Even if he doesn't write or edit the screenplay using the same approach as he's using in the comics, that'll just confirm the problems comic books face today, that they're self-masturbating without making any convincing attempt to please the wider public that's not big on comics.

Johns - and Morrison - are simply not what movie adaptations of DC comics need.

An article in the San Diego Union-Tribune about the preparations local hotels and resturants are making for the visitors attending the 2009 Comicon.

Labels: conventions

The New York Times writes a short article about a miniseries reunion of several Image productions:

IMAGE UNITED is akin to a Beatles reunion. This six-issue comic-book series, which will be previewed at Comic-Con International in San Diego on Wednesday, brings together six of the seven founders of Image Comics— a group of prominent illustrators who defected from Marvel in 1992 to start their own publishing company— as well as some of the most successful characters they have created or developed there.

Of course, they don't tell how many of these creations were poorly written, and whatever good artwork they might've had was wasted on crappy storytelling. Or, it was a case of comics being sold based on the alleged value of rock-bottom artists like Rob Liefeld, who's also mentioned in the article:

Robert Kirkman, who last year was the first writer to be made a partner at Image, is writing the comic and also playing traffic cop. “It’s like putting together a puzzle,” he said in a phone interview from his home in Richmond, Ky. Rough layouts created by Rob Liefeld for the first issue and Erik Larsen for the rest show where each character will be on a page. Then an art board is sent around the country (with stops in Portland, Ore.; Tempe, Ariz.; and all over California). Each page usually ends with Todd McFarlane, who has been completing background details. The work began about a year ago. Given the complexity of the process, Image’s many die-hard fans—readers who helped it grow from a tiny upstart to one of the country’s largest comicbook publishers — may be concerned that Image United, whose first issue is due in November, will fall behind schedule.

I don't think Image has many fans left of their early work, so the concern about late schedules is awfully moot. And if not, that's fortunate, because Liefeld was the real nightmare at the time, and will most likely still be. I wonder just how many human bodies will be twisted out of shape in just one issue of this pointless tripe?

Image was also partly responsible for the rise (and fall) of the speculator market that just bought their stuff in hopes it'd gain some monetary value someday, not because their early work was any good for reading. They supposedly tried to improve after several years, but if they're going to publish "reunions" with early works like Youngblood and Spawn, then that casts doubt over their intentions to build themselves into something better.

The NYT has just shown once more why they're irrelevant in this day and age.

Labels: conventions, dreadful artists, indie publishers, msm propaganda

The Greensboro News & Record interviewed a local store owner who's been nominated for a special Eisner award that applies to comic stores, at the San Diego Comicon.

Labels: conventions

The New York Daily News writes about DC's current "event", which fails to distinguish itself much from the others of recent:

For a super hero that's supposed to shine a light of hope in the pages of his comic books, Green Lantern is heading into some pretty dark territory.

In the upcoming "Blackest Night" mini-series, the first issue of which hits stores Wednesday, Green Lantern and his fellow heroes are facing their toughest foes ever - formerly deceased teammates who have risen from the grave. Something's rotting in Denmark, or Space Sector 2814 as it's known elsewhere in the universe, and that something is Aquaman and the original Superman clawing their way back from the great bargain bin in the sky.

"What's going to be the most horrifying thing these heroes are going to face is going to be their friends and their family," said Johns.

"It's terrifying."

Yes, I'm sure it will be. Instead of supervillains themselves being the main menace, it's going to be the superheroes' buddies and relatives. This is really irritating already. But "bargain bin" is just where this latest tripe belongs; no one should have to pay the likely 4 dollars it'll cost to buy this.

Fans have become jaded over the years as every summer both DC and its biggest rival in the industry, Marvel Comics, have continued to release new large-scale, company-wide crossovers. Cynics have grumbled that some of the "events" have been more sales-driven then plot-driven.

I don't like how they're inserting the word "cynics" in there. That's taking a serious risk of inciting against sensible comic fans. But on the issue of sales, they got that part right. They're also more sales driven than character-driven. These stunts have crowded out plausible character drama entirely.

But Nick Purpura, general manager at Jim Hanley's Universe, a comic store in midtown Manhattan, says this one is different. He's still creeped out over the gory, heart-breaking final scene in the first issue of this series.

"Every summer has another event, but every couple of years something comes out that captures the fans attention," said Purpura. "When [Marvel Comics'] Obama issue of Spider-Man came out, that's for the mainstream - it's for people who may never buy another comic again.

"'Blackest Night' is for the fans."

With the gory finale mentioned? Oh, I'll bet it is. Interesting how he mentions the Spider-Man issue with Obama. The way he conveys it just shows how they've given up on the mainstream crowd.

And fans are in for some horror over the next eight issues of the series.

"Death is pretty horrific, and the metaphor of the entire series is rooted in that," he said Johns. "This is a very personal story for me."

And that's surely the problem with it. It's not for fans, is it?

But fans can look forward to a payoff that will be worth all the horror and fallen heroes that are coming up, promises Johns.

"There's always a brightest day after the darkest night," said Johns.

The dead will rise. And that's good news for comic book readers in Space Sector 2814.

Does that mean all those characters they pointlessly killed off/villified circa Identity/Infinite Crisis will have their fates reversed? I've got a feeling that by now, even if they do fix those grevious errors, the audience won't care enough to stick around, or even try. Me, I've had my intellect insulted enough by Johns as it is, and am certainly not going to risk my hard-earned money to find out about something that, despite what he "promises" might not even come true.

Labels: crossoverloading, dc comics, dreadful writers, golden calf of death, Green Lantern, msm propaganda

Architects Journal published an entry featuring their top ten choices for various cities in comic books, Superman's Metropolis included.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently wrote about DC's planned "Wednesday Comics" that they're going to publish in USA Today. Unfortunately, it seems that DiDio has also written one of these entries, that being the Metal Men segment:

As DC's big boss, DiDio had the pick of the litter. So why did he choose to chronicle the adventures of quirky (albeit beloved) robots who have been knocking around since the 1960s?

"Are you kidding?" he asked. "I love the Metal Men. I wrote the story on two long plane rides. I went back to the traditional aspect of the characters, keying in on the different personality of each robot. It was a challenge to put a lot of storytelling in a limited amount of space and end each week with a cliffhanger."

Even if this "experiment" of theirs doesn't resort to the same misery-meets-darkness tactics that are plaguing their pamphlets, I wouldn't be surprised if this is still one more flash-in-the-pan attempt of theirs to gain and audience, and a weak attempt to make it look as though they're capable of branching out to more challenging territory. And because this is DiDio, I wouldn't trust him even for a moment, nor do I expect this to be respectable of the characters he's writing.

Another writer/artist on this project who also doesn't appeal to me is Kyle Baker, who's going to write/draw their Hawkman strip. Because of his involvement in Marvel's Truth miniseries, and because of his stereotypical artwork there, that's why I wouldn't look forward to that segment either.

DiDio said the experiment is a different way of presenting comics and could become a regular summer event.

With newspaper readership declining, it's possible it won't even be that much.

Labels: bad editors, dc comics, dreadful writers, msm propaganda

The LeHigh Valley Express-Times wrote another column about Mark Waid's ludicrous and violent so-called superhero tale called Irredeemable, continuing to sugarcoat it:

"Irredeemable" is by far the best superhero book out now.

The Boom Studios ongoing series by Mark Waid and artist Peter Krause is a dark, apocalyptic vision of superheroes gone bad.

And I suppose that's why it's the "best" hero book on the market now? What makes a book about heroes-turned-villains so much better than one about heroes being heroes, or even villains reforming?

The Plutonian was once the world's greatest hero until something made him turn against his friends and allies.

Now he strikes out at the world around him, destroying entire cities in the process.

The Plutonian hasn't become a villain; he's become a force of nature, moving wherever he wants and doing whatever he wants.

Umm, if he's going to resort to destruction and mass murder, then he IS a villain, NOT a force of nature.

As U.S. ambassador tries to rally the world into uniting to fight the Plutonian, he's killed by the onetime hero.

The other U.N. ambassadors quickly try to sway the Plutonian to their side by offering their individual counties' loyalties.

This leads to a bigger disaster as he uses his super hearing to learn the ambassadors are lying to him and just telling him what they think he wants to hear.

The Plutonian shows the world -- don't try to unite against me, and don't try to lie to me.

Wow. Not only is a he a supervillain, he's become this book's equivalent of Big Brother is Watching You from 1984! He's also become a perfect savage. And clearly, this was meant to be an insult to Superman.

With every flashback you see a betrayal to the Plutonian, some small others bigger.

None on their own would be enough to push anyone over the edge.

As these events are revealed, it make you wonder: Who does the title of the book refer to?

Is it the Plutonian?

He's the obvious choice.

Or is it the world around him?

With every betrayal, no matter how small, could the Plutonian have decided everyone around him is irredeemable?

His teammates betrayed in an as yet-to-be explained event. His girlfriend left him after he revealed his secret identity. His co-workers tried to broadcast his secret identity to the world seconds after finding out.

Ah, so in other words, it's a blame-the-victim game, is it? It's all because his colleagues and ladyfriend went against him? IMO, part about the girlfriend leaving him is the weakest reason for his becoming a supervillain. But what's really damaging here is the violence for sake of violence approach. Does it have to be a path of death and destruction? Can the "hero" not make an issue out of his co-workers' and teammates' betrayals instead, going on the TV news and arguing about how his career is being ruined by greedy and ungrateful idiots? Most importantly though, why is he taking out his anger on millions of innocents who had nothing to do with these betrayals?

The worst thing about this news column is that it was published on the 4th of July. They must've really wanted to ruin everyone's holiday weekend. And with superhero comics already facing enough destruction by contemptuous editors as it is, that's one more reason why a book like Irredeemable is the last thing we need right now.

Labels: msm propaganda, violence

Labels: Carnival entries

A week ago on Newsarama's blog, they wrote about Seth Tobocman, a leftist graphic novelist/artist with leanings not unlike those of Michael Moore. They say about him:

Disaster and Resistance collect comics created by Seth Tobocman over the past several years, with a particular focus on the plight of the disenfranchised “slum” denizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He also visits Israel to gain firsthand knowledge of the living conditions faced by Palestinians and Tobocman’s a good reporter, often illustrating people he’s met in headline-grabbing locales, and using their own words to explore the problems that they face from their own perspectives. If he has a failing, it’s what I think of as Michael Moore-ism. Even when you agree with Tobocman, he sometimes paints those he disagrees with (the Right, Corporations) as cartoonishly nasty caricatures, dismissing others’ perspectives as maliciously evil rather than looking into some of the greyer nuances between two polar positions.

From what they tell here, I wouldn't be surprised if he even bashes Bush/conservatives as the sole problem behind Hurricane Katrina, Israelis as the sole problem for the living conditions of the palestinians, and I doubt he's got much to agree with from a right-wing perspective, if at all. There's also the question of if he ever visited Israel to gain firsthand knowledge of what citizens of Sderot went through when the Hamas fired rockets at the town. And if Tobocman's going to depict conservatives in such an awful light (and I've got a feeling it's more than just "sometimes"), then that only makes Disaster and Resistance all the more worthless.

Oh, and the latter part of his book's title signals one more thing that could be wrong with it - does he support acts of terrorism perpetrated by palestinians?

A great looking comic that’s smart and examines the causes of disenfranchised and lost citizens of the world, Disaster and Resistance is a comic that we should all read. Even when you disagree with him, Seth Tobocman makes some great point and he’s trying to let you know about important people who are facing terrible circumstances.

From the clues Newsarama's given, I highly doubt this is very smart at all, and probably doesn't do much for the cause of Katrina residents either. Because as they've suggested, this only focuses on what the author considers "lost" citizens, and not more challenging subjects like the residents of Sderot.

Hat tip: Shadow Wing Tronix.

Update: on Amazon's page for this book, one of the reviewers says:

Certainly, this is a book every anti-authoritarian leftist will love.

Yes, I'm sure they will, plus every Marxist. One more reason why Tobocman's work should be avoided by everyone who finds views like his abhorrent.

Labels: moonbat writers, politics

Coming back from a vacation, I've made quite a discovery indeed: DC is going to allow for a team-up between its superheroes and those of the Kuwaiti-based Teshkeel that go by the Islamic religion. The UK Guardian published the following article:

They are superheroes battling injustice and fighting evil the Islamic way, and they are teaming up with some of the west's biggest comic book icons. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are among those joining forces with The 99, who personify the 99 attributes of Allah, according to Islamic tradition.

And I'm guessing that, in the official books published in Kuwait, the "heroes" themselves personify such traits as jihad, conquering other countries and dhimmifying those they consider infidels, condone such quranic verses as "Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks..." (Qur'an 47:4), and even verses like “Forbidden to you are ... married women, except those whom you own as slaves” (Sura 4:23-24). That's exactly why to see these DC superheroes meeting up with a bunch whose religion and beliefs go entirely against their own will be one of the most implausible ever seen.

What will unfold on the pages of the collaboration between DC Comics in the US and Teshkeel Comics in Kuwait is yet to be seen, but the appearance of The 99 – who already appear in comics in the Muslim world – alongside archetypal American heroes would have been unlikely during the Bush years. DC Comics' president and publisher, Paul Levitz, believes the cross-cultural project is unprecedented.

Now that is hilarious. They make it sound as though most American comics actually did support the war against terror and uphold patriotic values. Sorry, but it was anything but that, and even now, they can't be counted on to offer a fully convincing portrait of superheroes fighting terrorism, even allegorically.

That aside, it's interesting to note that Paul Levitz has approved of this.

He said: "It is a long-standing tradition for characters to meet others in the fictional world, and over the years a lot of the superheroes have been translated into Arabic, taking on ethnic elements. But this is a nice step forward. The most difficult creative test is when you are working with the least precedent and when you're trying to reach an audience that has a different cultural bias and different interests."

It sounds like he may be subtly attacking the sensible audience if they're offended by this teaming of heroes who under better editorial would have more common sense with so-called heroes who could condone atrocities like jihadic violence and racism. If anything, this tells that Paul Levitz is clearly a bad lot himself. He was of course responsible for handing Dan DiDio the keys to the kingdom, and did nothing to stop Identity Crisis from being crafted. Once, he was a great writer, with plenty of Earth-2 and Legion of Super-Heroes stories to his credit. Now, it's clear that power and greed have consumed him, and I'm going to have to look upon him in disgrace.

Unlike their western counterparts The 99 do not wear disguises, unless you count the burka-wearing Batina The Hidden, nor are they outsiders with secret identities. They are ordinary people who develop extraordinary abilities after coming into contact with mystical gems infused with power and wisdom.

Only Batina, one of five females, is fully veiled, and although characters pray or read the Qur'an, they are meant to appeal to children of all faiths.

No kidding. Sorry, I don't buy that for a second.

But who are some of the people behind this particular "project"?

The team behind The 99 includes comic book stalwarts Fabian Nicieza, Stuart Moore, June Brigman, Dan Panosian, and John McCrea, who have all worked at DC Comics and Marvel.

And now I consider Nicieza and company as bad as Warren Ellis and Mark Millar, possibly even worse. Nicieza is clearly another of many burned-out writers who's naive to boot.

About 23 heroes have been launched and there are more to come.

Mutawa said: "We're building the brand slowly.

"It's difficult to have any kind of reading or comic book culture here because there is a lot of stuff that doesn't come in or it's censored. Certain storylines don't work and some stuff, like magic, just isn't allowed."

Really? In that case, how do they expect to craft anything fun to read? It does suggest though, that the Islamists behind The 99 despise Tales of the Arabian Nights, where plenty of magic is involved!

This is another reason why I find the big two in their current incarnation so alienating today, because they're willing to insult their own properties by involving them with others whose ideologies go completely against their own.

Update: here's an extra item on this from Jihad Watch.

Update 2: truly awful, that Obama has praised the publisher of 99. This is simply embarrassing.

Labels: dc comics, islam and jihad, moonbat writers, msm propaganda, politics, terrorism

I am going on a vacation up north for three days, and will be absent from blogging until then. I'll resume blogging when I return.

Until then, let me wish everyone a happy Fourth of July holiday!

Labels: technical matters

Publisher's Weekly writes more about how Diamond Distribution is making it harder for independent publishers to get their output marketed as pamphlets, and does tell how pamphlets are clearly not going to be the future of the market. Some publishers are even trying to move away from the specific format altogether:

On the other hand, some comics publishers are moving closer to the book market and away from the comics shop market's longtime emphasis on serials and on the super hero genre. Peggy Burns, associate publisher at Drawn & Quarterly, an art comics publisher that does not emphasize periodicals, said, “we are not really affected by the changes, and have not changed how we distribute.” Burns says the house is moving away from the periodical format, claiming, “there is obviously no future with pamphlets [comics].” While they continue to have success with the serials of Adriane Tomine’s Optic Nerve and Jason Lutes’s Berlin, according to Burns D&Q will not continue to serialize Kevin Huizenga’s Or Else, Gabrielle Bell’s Lucky, or Sammy Harkham’s Crickets. Instead they are “working with the authors to do books instead of pamphlets.”

I'm glad to see that someone understands how pamphlets have worn themselves out, if through no fault of their own, and how book format, big or small, is what comics will have to continue their existence in. I don't know if DC and Marvel understand that yet, though, and with the way things are going there, it may take longer for them to rework their own approach.

Labels: sales

The Mania website interviewed comics writer Larry Hama of GI Joe and Wolverine fame about his career and how he got the jobs.

Labels: good writers