Keith Giffen talks about the new Blue Beetle

On ComixFan (the mainly X-Men related website), they interviewed Keith Giffen about the new Blue Beetle series he's writing. And since it also mentions 52, the weekly series to show what the heroes have been through within a year, I guess it's worth mentioning that...interesting. He says that Elongated Man will be in it too:

Comixfan: Could you list those core characters for us?

Keith Giffen: Rene Montoya, the Question, Ralph Dibny (Elongated Man), Black Adam, Steel... some of the characters who went out into outer space [in Infinite Crisis]: Adam Strange, Animal Man, Starfire... Booster Gold! I just want to get the phone call after the interview goes up, saying 'how come you forgot to mention...?'

Look at the cover for the first issue of 52... that's them, they're lined up there, you'll see them. [laughs]

Considering that the material from which this all began really isn't funny, that's why I'd like to say, slow down Giffen, and watch your step! That aside, I see that he mentions Ralph Dibny. And it raises some interesting questions: will Sue Dibny - and the readership - be getting an apology from the company? Because they certainly owe us one.

Now, as for Blue Beetle, what's this here...

Comixfan: You said you were going to the past of Blue Beetle. Are you talking about Ted Kord? Are you talking about Dan Garrett?...

Keith Giffen: All the way back-- Dan Garrett and Ted Kord. Blue Beetle has, whether we like it or not, just by circumstances, become a generational hero. You can't ignore Ted Kord, you can't ignore Dan Garrett. Some questions are going to be answered... here's one that no one seems to ask... well, maybe they do ask, but they don't ask me... Dan Garrett had the scarab, Ted Kord had the scarab. The scarab gave Dan Garrett superpowers, it did not give Ted Kord superpowers. Why? And we're going to answer that. We're going to go back, and we're going to find out a lot more about the scarab than we ever found out before, and it's going to fit. You're not going to have to take any Blue Beetle books and delete them from continuity, because it's all going to fit. We are really trying as hard as we can not give the character dirt. That White Event mentality.

And, alright, I think a lot of my getting Blue Beetle might have had to do with 'oh God, they're screaming about Ted Kord. Put Keith on the book, and it will calm the screams down a bit'. There was that whole bit there when I was supposedly pissed at DC, which could not be further from the truth. I like to think it was 99% what I bring to the book, and 1% political.

I don't know whether this is a new character or Ted Kord himself, but I've got a suggestion for Giffen and company at DC: perhaps you'd like to apologize to the audience for how you offed Ted by giving him a new lease on his life, as even Sue deserves?

That said, if he avoids political overtones, as the last part of the quoted text suggests, I think that'll be a good thing.

Athlete fan of the Flash

The following article from the Brownsville Herald shows how an athlete is a fan of the Flash:

The lightning bolt tattooed on his left arm should probably give it away.

Marco Manzanares is fast.

If it’s been awhile since you’ve flipped through a Flash comic book, a trip to the District 32-5A meet earlier this month would have been sufficient proof that the lone senior on the Hanna track team is a lot like his favorite super hero.

Now that's cool to know!

Wizbang's take on the Hulk movie

I looked around the database of the popular Wizbang weblog, where the great Kevin Aylward put together the nifty standalone trackback pinger (which I used to send a ping to the following post, but because it's from three years ago, I'm not sure if it worked.), and found a short take on the movie adaptation of the Incredible Hulk he wrote three years ago. Kevin's blogged plenty of good stuff over the years, though I think this discussion here has both what I can concur and dissent with. First:

Remember how bored you were in the first half of the original Superman? The same feeling applies to The Hulk, only the good feelings never arrive. It's never a good sign when the audience laughs at the dialog in a dramatic scene because it is so bad you feel sorry for the actors and crew who had to film the scene.

When I look back at a lot of comic book movies over the years, I have to admit, many of them do fall very short of the mark, to the point of camp (Catwoman most definately qualifies there, sans argument), and if they did have any luster when first made, they've lost it since.

On the other hand...

My wife had a pretty good summary... When comic book films try to be serious and dramatic (as opposed to going the camp or pure fantasy route) they are bound to suck. Why? Taken as a whole, the story lines in comic books just are not that good. Comic book movie directors should stick with to the mindless fun and lite fare formula employed successfully by the X-Men or Spiderman movies. Don't try to make us forget Death of a Salesman with your tale of the "special" little boy whose daddy didn't love him.

Well, I wouldn't go that far. The stories in comics can be good, and there are plenty that are (though with the way the companies have been invaded by moonbats who don't give a crap about what makes them work, in superheroics, adventure, or even in dramatics, is coming dangerously close to proving otherwise), but, if I can figure out what Aylward is trying to say, it's that the characters in the film, whether they be wearing costumes or look comic-bookish and cartoonish like the Hulk himself, are increasingly hard to translate to live-action, if at all. True, there is and always will be that problem, and it can certainly make it hard thus, to take the movie at hand seriously.

The thing is, with movies going continuously downhill these days accompanies by constantly decreasing box office receipts, that's why, while I do hope that the third Spider-Man and X-Men movie will do well, I can't say I'm all that bothered by if, as a result of Tinseltown's collapse, there'll be no more adaptations to come. Reading material, comics included, as I've concluded in the past year, is better.

And without too many more adaptations, I figure that Marvel won't be able to tamper with the story structures in their books that much, just so that movie audiences "won't be confused" by what they see in the original comic books. Ah, now that would most definitely be a breath of fresh air.

Parody that failed

I'd never heard of Nightcat, and if the heroine debuted in the early 1990s, then it was one of very few products of Marvel's that slipped under my radar.* Ah, but that's because there was really only ONE book/issue by that name ever published, which BeauCoupKevin dissects over here.

Judging from this profile, I'd say the people involved in this must've also ripped off a few elements from the late-60s Batman TV series with Adam West, too (Cat-illac? Yeah, I'd seen an episode from Bill Dozier's series with that invention). And not just from there - an extending metal staff sounds almost like the reverse of what Matt Murdock could use - a walking stick for the blind that shortens into a billy club. As for the mutation part? Nothing new at all.

And if it was meant to be an in-joke, it sounds like a pretty dim one at that, one that not even a cameo by Stan Lee can save either.

* I never heard of the real life singer it's supposed to star or be based upon either.

...And this is pretty juvenile too

Now what have we here, Wizard magazine writing an item in which Shang-Chi, Marvel Comics's Master of Kung Fu, is supposedly writing a column, and the real person who put it together seems to have quite a childish mind:

Wizard Magazine is proud to continue its ongoing advice column from syndicated lifestyle expert and Master of Kung Fu, Shang-Chi. For the full scoop check out Wizard #175 - on sale now.

Call Me SHANG-CHI, as my father did when he raised me in the loveless vacuum of his Honan, China retreat. My name means “The Rising and Advancing of a Spirit,” and my body has been forged into a living weapon. I also have my online family counseling degree. Now, as if by destiny, my advice column! KEEE-YAH!

CONCERNING FOKKING UP A BI-PLANE…
The Red Baron must be dealt with for soiling the good name of frozen pizzas everywhere. Brace yourself against his wing and tear that Fokker to shreds with your bare hands until the mother of all Fokkers plummets into the Earth. (Master of Kung Fu #57)

CONCERNING PANTHER FIGHTING…
Anyone who’s ever had to punch a panther in the face knows they have a glass jaw. And after years in this business, boy do I know it! Fans will know that, before becoming Master of Kung-Fu, I was a freelance panther puncher in the Orient. So, my advice to you is this: When one pounces on you as you’re doing your business in the jungle, don’t hesitate to rain elbows until it’s unconscious. As a final insult to his family’s honor, write “balls” on his head with a silver marker. (Master of Kung Fu #65)

So let's see what we have here. One juvenile introduction to the piece, a failed attempt to write about Snoopy's archnemesis in the first world war, and a paragraph in which they insult Black Panther. Sick.

And it sounds as if the Red Baron was present when this was written, and shot down Wizard's very own Sopwith Camel plane.

Wizard is lost in the jungle, and tangled in the underbrush

From Wizard magazine, something that does little more than to boggle my mind, regardless of whether Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli is actually in Fables #48 or not:

WHY IT’S COOL
Part 1 of the new 2-part story "Wolves." Here's the problem: Some time ago, in a bit of a snit, Bigby Wolf packed a bag and left the Fables series. Walked right out! But he's still under contract, so we sent Mowgli, of Jungle Book fame, to find him. It makes sense, right? Mowg is a terrific hunter, and he was raised by wolves. Send a wolf to catch a wolf, right? And in his world-spanning travels to track down Bigby, Mowg encounters all sorts of other wolves. In short, this story's all about wolves. Which you might have guessed if you read the story title.

No, it doesn't make sense, and in fact, it's a real pain to read this, even if it's short. AUGH!!!

When they're not wallowing in sensationalized news, they're making it incomprehensible. That's the impression I get of them now, anyway.

I had no idea who or what Ambush Bug was...

Until I read this topic on Suspension of Disbelief.

I would have to assume that he's a Bronze Age character, and maybe a parody of Superman, judging from the costume he's got on. The exact origin and background is profiled here.

It's strange, I'd only heard about Ambush Bug, knowing very little other than that, but now, as I can see, he's not that old a creation, and Keith Giffen, Robert Loren Fleming and Paul Kupperberg are the creators. They created him around the early 80s, the time when Giffen first began his own career. His real name may be Brum El (on earth, it's Irwin Schwab), and is an alien from another planet, not unlike Superman, whose own books Schwab first appeared in in backup stories.

It's certainly good to get to know a bit about who Ambush Bug is now, that's for sure!

I'm not on Millar's side in this argument, that's for sure

I found the interview on Newsarama, part one and part two, that Mark Millar did about his upcoming projects in writing, including Civil War. It's in the second part where they actually bring that part up, and to be quite honest, I'm not impressed:

NRAMA: So how much of this is just a good ole fashion superhero story, and how much of it is meant as allegory and perhaps commentary on some of the political and social realities of the post 9/11 world? For instance, the debate in regards to the compromising of civil liberties stemming from the Patriotic Act, and the privacy issues surrounding the wiretapping controversy in the U.S.?

MM: It's actually both, though should be read as a superhero story. The Golden Age Superman isn't about immigrants needing a hope figure in the middle of the Depression. It's about Superman fighting Luthor and mad robots. Spider-Man isn't about sexually repressed teenagers secretly firing a thick, gooey substance behind their auntie's back, it's about Spider-Man fighting the Green Goblin. The undercurrents are there with all these stories and it gives them a little depth. Children and adults will, even subconsciously, be able to identify this as the world they're living in and hopefully what's essentially a fanboy beat-em-up on some level with also have a little more resonance.

It's very hidden/cryptic, but I think Millar just hinted at something I suspected this miniseries could be about: supposed hostility to immigrants by the American public.

NRAMA: The fact that you're not an American, don't live here and didn't grow up here, do you think that outsiders perspective is a benefit to tacking issues like these, or a limitation?

MM: I don't think it matters at all. You can write X-Men without being a mutant. You don't have to be a horse to be a vet.

And in all due fairness, you don't have to be a foreigner to have a bias against a certain government's policies to the point of letting it get in the way of everything else, to the point of hampering what creativity you could have. That aside, Millar seems to be avoiding the question as best as he can, probably because his standings are pretty apparent - he's against the Dubya administration's policies (and he did speak against them four years ago), uncertain as they are, and is using this book as an excuse to attack them over it.

As for the part about "Whose side are you on?", the Q&A is as follows:

NRAMA: Marvel has played up the "Whose Side Are You On" angle, and have identified Captain America and Iron Man as leaders of the two factions. Some readers have speculated that Cap, being the soldier that he is, would naturally side with his government and the pro-registration side. But looked at as a symbol of the ideals this country was founded on, i.e. freedom and civil liberties, the case could be made he's actually on the con side - a case supported by the fact that Wolverine and Namor seem to be on his side, and its hard to imagine them on the pro side under any circumstances. Any thoughts you can share as to who is on what side and why?

MM: No, I don't want to give that stuff away. That's really what the book's about. I wasn't even going to reveal who picked what side, but that seems to have gotten out there already. Tony has his reasons - as you'll see in the book - but, as you say, Cap is about freedom more than anything else. He's about altruism and not being in anyone's pocket. He'd be repulsed by the idea of doing this as a job. He's all about civic duty. He's no lapdog and is bigger than any government, whether it's Republican or Democrat. He represents the ideal.

It is interesting how Millar uses that answer as a means of obscuring a storyline he needlessly regurgitated a few years ago in the Ultimates - the spousal abuse inflicted by Hank Pym against Janet Van Dyne, something that doesn't even seem to factor into this interview.

NRAMA: Do you think they'll be much division in fandom in terms of this issue? It's one thing to advocate giving up civil liberties when you feel genuinely threatened and it could make you more secure. But these are comic book superheroes. Do you think there will be equal number of fans that feel strongly that superheroes should be registered with the government.

MM: Yes. Definitely. And you'll constantly change your mind as you keep reading. Both sides have very compelling arguments. As readers, we might be drawn to the old ways we've always known (which Cap reps), but think about it: Would you rather The Punisher or Ghost Rider or Namor were licensed (or even locked up) or would you be quite happy seeing them running around doing whatever the Hell they wanted?

Here, I think it's the interviewers I must take issue with - since when did/was the general public ever required to give up civil liberties? That's the exaggeration/distortion that's been made by various opposers of the Patriot Act over the years.

NRAMA: It was just a few years ago that people were burning Dixie Chicks CD's and voicing dissent in regards to the Iraq war nearly got you branded on a traitor on cable news talk shows. You think Civil War - which seems to be about deep political dissent - could have been published a couple of years ago?

MM: Yes, definitely. I think Marvel's been great in this regard. The Ultimates is at least as political and we've never been touched despite the fact that we clearly stated last year that Bush's long-term plan (for himself and whoever succeeds him) was Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea and eventually China. They sent the heavy guns into Iran in Ultimates 2 to halt their nuclear program and it's kind of depressing to see it all unfolding in real life now too as guys like Seymour Hersh expose their nuclear ambitions for the region.

That said, I live miles away and am quite safe and it all makes great comics. Remember how dull books were under Clinton? Like the 80s, we need a Republican in the White House to react against to make good comics. Well done, Bush. May you reign forever.

I'm sorry, Millar, but I must disagree. Books were decidedly not dull when the Boy President was around. In fact, I'd say it's almost the other way around now: with political biases creeping into various comics in this way or that, this has the effect of either making them dull, since they cloud a lot of entertainment value, or making them simply unbearable.

And just look at how he keeps on with that moonbat implication that Dubya's "only doing it for himself." A better question might be, "is he really serious about liberating any dictatorial regime from the grip of tyranny?" (Thank goodness Abdul Rahman is now free. No thanks to Dubya, of course).

And Millar more or less admits it in the third paragraph - that without the kind of political attacks he's writing, that's why comics, in his mind, were dull. (Since when did 80s comics spend their entire time attacking Reagan, as Millar implies? I've got plenty of 80s comics around the house, and any criticism of Reagan is very minimal, if at all. In fact, contrary to what Millar's saying, they were quite favorable to him then!)

So if there's any side I'll be taking here, it most certainly won't be Millar's.

For Stan Lee, something was in the air about superhero creation

Stan the Man Lee was interviewed recently by the AP, and spoke about how he came to create as many superhero characters as he did while at a California Science Center exhibition:

AP: What was the first of the characters you came up with?

Lee: Oh, I wrote so many I don't even know. I wrote either hundreds or thousands of them. I started in about 1939 or 1940, but it wasn't until 1961 or '2 that I did the Fantastic Four, and that was the first of the Marvel characters. And after that I did X-Men, I think. No, I did the Hulk and then Spider-Man and then the X-Men and Daredevil and Iron Man and the rest of them. . . . It was like there was something in the air. I couldn't do anything wrong. Every one of them worked out beautifully and, as you can, see, they're still around.

AP: Do you have a favourite?

Lee: I love 'em all. It used to be that whichever one I was writing was my favourite at that moment. And I'd really get into it. My wife would come in and say, "Who are you talking to?" And I'd realize that while I was writing the dialogue I was saying it out loud. "Take that you! You won't get away with it!" (laughing).

Well, that's fun to know. As for when he began writing, I think I know when - it was late in the Golden Age, post-WW2. Before that, he'd certainly worked as an assistant around the offices his uncle managed, when the company was first known as Timely. When he began writing, in about 1946 or 1947, he wrote some of Marvel Mystery Comics, including some Sub-Mariner and Captain America adventures.

AP: A lot of your characters seem to have gotten their powers through radioactive mishaps of one type or another. Is there a reason for that?

Lee: Well, if you're going to write about somebody who has a super power, how do you justify him having the super power? Now, when Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman (for rival DC Comics), they had him come from another planet. . . . When I did the Fantastic Four, that was the first of the Marvel heroes, I wanted to give them super power but I didn't want them coming from another planet. So I figured, well, I'll have them go up in a rocket ship and they're hit by cosmic rays. I had read about cosmic rays somewhere. I had read the name. I don't know what a cosmic ray is. I wouldn't know it if it hit me. But it sounded good, so we did that. . . . Then I needed something to make the Hulk the Hulk, so I said well I'll have him hit by gamma rays. So he was the victim of a gamma-ray explosion. I know less about gamma rays than cosmic rays. But again, it sounds good. With Spider-Man, I had run out of rays. I couldn't think of any other ray. So I figured I'll get him bitten by a radioactive spider. And that seemed to work.

AP: Did you study science very much in school?

Lee: Not at all. I wish I had. I mean I find it fascinating. I started working when I was 16 and a half, and even when I was in high school I was working in my spare time. So I never had time to go to college and just spent my time writing. . . . I was mentioning to somebody an example of how I try to, in a funny way, make things seem logical. We have a character called the Mighty Thor, the god of thunder. He has this weapon, a big hammer that he holds, and I wanted him to be able to fly like Superman. . . . He wants to fly, so he swings the hammer as fast as he can (at this point Lee leans forward to demonstrate) and then he lets it go. Well, it's attached to his wrist, so it pulls him along with it. So he could fly. So everything is very scientific (laughing). And you better say "he said that with a laugh."

AP: What do you think is the attraction of superheroes?

Lee: I think everybody loves things that are bigger than life. High-concept stories. I think of them as fairy tales for grown-ups. You know, I don't think there's anyone when he - or she - was young didn't love fairy tales. We all grew up with giants and ogres and witches. Well, you get a little bit older and you're too old to read fairy tales. But I don't think you ever outgrow your love for those kind of things, things that are bigger than life and magical and very imaginative. And that's what these superheroes' stories are, really. As I say, to me they're fairy tales for grown-ups. And . . . I don't think you're ever going to see monsters or villains like Doc Ock or Green Goblin in real life, just like you'd never meet the Wicked Witch of the West in real life. But in a comic book, they're fun and you can have the same kind of thrill and enjoyment you had when you were a kid reading those kind of stories.

Yup. And if today's writers could pay attention to that, I think we'd have a lot to find in what Lee helped to make popular in his day once again.

I wish Millar would just leave Marvel already

He's renewed his contract with Marvel for another two years. It wouldn't surprise me if he did it again even within the next two as well. He's gone too far like just about anyone else at Marvel with his foolish little biases, the latest being "Civil War," and it's high time already for him to leave.

Oh, and what's this part here:

On Monday, Millar gives Newsarama his first one-on-one Civil War interview; outlines his Marvel plans for the next two years; reveals the secret “Millarworld” book you didn't even know about; talks about the launch of “Millarworld 2”; becoming friends with DC again;...

"This is a Newsarama interview you won't want to miss," promises Millar.

Maybe not, but it'd only be for my ability to dissect it, and figure out just how bad Millar's personal biases could be.

Science of superheroes exhibition

Seed Magazine writes about a new exhibition all about superhero science in the California Science Center. Most interesting about this was that it appears to have been erected as something like a virtual reality show.

So wow, what a treat those children who attended got, while as for me, it's a shame I couldn't attend and see what it's like. That's got to be really exciting a trip, I'm sure.

Here's another article on this from the Seattle Times.

Doom Patrol reinstated properly in the DCU

Though with the way it's being done, post-Infinite Crisis, I can't help but wonder if it was almost...deliberate? CBR interviews Tony Daniel, and through him, this is explained:

The emotional level of "Teen Titans" will be heightened during "One Year Later" by appearances from a number of characters, many of whom will be sporting new looks courtesy of Daniel. "So far with the first arc, I've been drawing the Brotherhood of Evil and the Doom Patrol," Daniel stated. "All of the Doom Patrol has been redesigned and so have the Brotherhood of Evil. So, I've already been able to put my stamp on some of these characters and feel at home with them. There are also some new villains Geoff created for the Brotherhood. It's been a lot of fun for me. I've also redesigned all of the Teen Titans, eccept for Cyborg, but I'm still trying to see if I can tweak him down the road. Kid Devil is a new character. We worked together to find the right look for him. I think he'll grow on people quickly."

Well sheesh! How come only now, did they actually get around to stressing Gar Logan's ties and origins with the DP? Was all that John Byrne baloney from two years ago really that necassary?

I think the fact that they all but seemed to omit the history of the Doom Patrol from the DCU two years ago really hurt the quality of the stories, and it certainly did make them look silly, my growing disillusionment with Johns notwithstanding. And if they want to really be taken seriously, that's why DC is going to have to stop sacrificing something to solely please a writer who's acting out of self-interests, instead of trying to please the readers.

With that said, I do wonder, is Johns going to feature the Fearsome Five? IIRC, only a cameo was given to them (Mammoth and Gizmo) two years ago.