Ninth Comic Book Carnival

Welcome to the June 1, 2007 edition of the comic book carnival. So, here's our batch for this month and what have we here.

Reynald presents The Boondocks: Greatest Cartoon Ever posted at JiveFood, saying, "This is an article about the Boondock Comic Strip and Cartoon"

Allahpundit presents Video: Painfully awesome “Transformers” trailer posted at Hot Air. Well, waddaya know, they're adapting the toys of the 80s I used to have in my childhood to the silver screen now!

Kneon presents "Nobel Prize of Manga" announced posted at kneon transitt shouldn't be allowed to blog.

Kneon presents Alternators Rodimus confirmed as SDCC exclusive! posted at kneon transitt shouldn't be allowed to blog, saying, "Hasbro is releasing a long awaited Transformers figure at this year's San Diego Comicon"

Collector's Quest presents She-Hulk Under Glass posted at Collectors? Quest.

Ronin presents Cadillacs and Dinosaurs posted at Ronin's Fortress. This appears to be a game based on Mark Schultz's great book, Xenozoic Tales.

John Campea presents New Iron Man Poster posted at The Movie Blog.

Michael Ryan presents Remembering The War That Time Forgot posted at PALAEOBLOG.

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Pulse interviews Tony Bedard

Comicon's Pulse, which is a lot better than Newsarama, did an interview with Tony Bedard, who's now getting the job of writing Supergirl at DC. He says he enjoys writing books with female leads. That figures, since he first came to prominence writing at least two books for CrossGen that had two lady leads.

Bedard might be just what the Maiden of Might needs just now in scriptwriting, as he does seem to have some good talent for writing books with ladies in the lead. It should be hoped though that he won't come up against any editorial interference, something that's become more noticable of recent.

Some history of Spidey's black costume

The New York Post has an interview with Randy Schueller, a Chicago comics fan who was the author behind the scenes for Spider-Man's black costume 25 years ago:

Back in 1982, Schueller was a 22-year-old comic-book fan living in Chicago. Marvel, the publisher of "Spider-Man," asked readers to send in ideas for the hero, and Schueller jumped at the chance. He spent two weeks crafting a story in which Spidey dons a new costume.

A black costume. Like in a certain movie currently in theaters.

"It occurred to me that Spider-Man is this character that creeps around in the shadows looking for bad guys, so why is he wearing this bright red and blue costume?" Schueller says.

"It seemed like he should have more of a stealth mode."

He mailed the pitch to Marvel, and a few months later, he got a letter from then-Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter telling Schueller he liked his idea and wanted to buy it for $220. Shooter also offered to let the novice write the story.

As far as I know, Schueller didn't actually write the resulting story himself; David Michelinie (correction: it was Roger Stern) was probably the one who did the actual story that came out (and also Tom de Falco). But there you have it, that's how the black costume came to be, as it debuted two years after the man who pitched the original idea came up with it.

Like many other Spider-Fans though, I like the red-and-blue costume much better.

Manga awards

According to this, Japan is going to come up with its own manga awards. But, there's no monetary prize to accompany it.

Aw, come on, surely that would make it more worthwhile, to win some big dough along with the main prize?

Technology item

Here's a small article from WLUC6 in Michigan about an artist using computer technology to design his comic book material.

Update: here's the same article, in longer format, from the Toronto Globe and Mail, that tells a little more.

A few links to articles about the "Comic Book Rabbi" Simcha Weinstein

Here's a few links to articles about the rabbi Simcha Weinstein's take on the Jewish-inspired themes in comic books, which he wrote about in the book “Up, Up, And Oy Vey! How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero”:

ParkSlope Courier
Israel National News
Broken Frontier

I'm sure that Spider-Man, one of the leading characters in discussion here, has more than enough Jewish-inspired details about him, but the sad part is how Marvel's Joe Quesada-led editorial staff has been showing no shame in spoiling not only that, but much more as well. And even if and when Quesada leaves, there's no telling if things'll get any better.

(The first article here, by the way, contains an inaccuracy about Peter Parker's Uncle Ben: they say he was gunned down by a mugger, when it was really a burglar who did it.)

DC wants to draw in girl readers with this?

I had to pinch myself to see if I was awake. The Times-Picayune of New Orleans ran an article about their new Minx line, which is aimed at girls, and purportedly tells about real girls in the real world. But the premise of their first offering in line here has me frowning:

The opening salvo in the new publishing imprint is "The Plain Janes," written by Cecil Castellucci, author of such young adult novels as "Boy Proof" and "Beige," and drawn by Jim Rugg of "Street Angel" fame.

"The Plain Janes" is about a young girl -- named Jane, naturally -- who moves with her family to the suburbs after surviving a terrorist attack in the city. At her new school, she comes across a trio of girls sitting at the reject table, all blessed with the same name as hers.

Frustrated by the dull safety of suburbia and still reeling from her traumatic experience, Jane bands the other girls together to form the secret art gang P.L.A.I.N., which stands for People Loving Art In Neighborhoods.

While their innocuous acts of art terrorism thrill their fellow students (at one point they wrap all the town fire hydrants in scarves and hats), they only manage to draw the wrath of local law enforcement, with everything coming to a head on New Year's Eve.

?!?!? Is this what they think will be a masterpiece? How much more aren't they telling here? What kind of scarves and hats are they putting on the hydrants? Keffiyehs? I can't tell enough from this description here, but I can say that it sounds very insulting to depict a girl who'd been through a traumatic experience with terrorism doing something that frightens other people as if the same is going to happen right in their neighborhood. After what she'd been through, surely she'd feel much better off living in a safe neighborhood, away from danger?

While "The Plain Janes" makes a few missteps (many of the supporting characters -- particularly the other Janes -- come off more as types than individuals), it's a perfect choice for the imprint's launch as Castellucci and Rugg complement each other very well. The result is a charming, fun book that doesn't feel weighted down by political allegory or "chick-lit" frothiness.

What's fun about causing a scare for everyone with "art terrorism" by causing them to fear that the real thing could be around the corner? That's not funny, and despite what they say, it still seems to have some kind of political underlining to it, which sounds tacky at best. However, if their acts really are innocuous, then why are they describing it here as terrorism? Isn't that a little extreme, or is it an attempt to trivialize the meaning of terrorism?

I think they're making a mistake to launch this line with a book involving a political theme, and the whole idea of making this about "real people", which may turn out to be far from real as the story comes to light, may have been the wrong way to go too. Surely they didn't consider that girls are just as interested in fantasy and escapism as boys are? And where did DC ever get the idea that "the real world" in and of itself was what would appeal to girls as part of this line? A better idea would've been to publish an adventure in the Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld vein. Why do they think that realism is truly what girls want? It all sounds very odd to me.

Open trackbacks: Big Dog's Weblog, bRight and Early, The Hill Chronicles, MacBros. Place, Pirates' Cove, Point Five.

What doomed the new Batwoman from the start

A subject that went into obscurity for some time, DC's unremarkable new Batwoman, Kate Kane, returned to memory after I stumbled over this thread on CBR's board. She may have appeared in the first issue or two of 52, but since vanished up until the last few issues.

I don't know if it's because DC partially backed away in the face of deserved criticism, but here's my take on why this is a failure:

They could've made her an Estonian or an Armenian. Instead, they made her a lesbian.

They've could've made her a Coptic Christian. Instead, they made her a lesbian.

They could've made her a fugitive from Putin's neo-communist Russia. Instead, THEY MADE HER A LESBIAN.

Mind you, nationality alone would not a character make. But it would certainly be more creative than the sleaze they came up with that other year.

But, there's another fatal flaw discovered that dooms this new Batwoman too: seems the reason Kate Kane's been out of the picture for a while was because...she'd been seriously wounded by a villain, and had to spend time in the hospital. There's more of that mentioned in the comments on The Beat.

So, not only was a female character rendered something derivative like being a lesbian, she was also depicted as a loser in a battle against a thug. Two birds killed with one stone, and yet another act of sexism to add to DC's record.

So many chances to prove their attention spans run farther than the domestic-like perceptions they seem to go by, and again, they throw it all away.

Collected editions of DC, but not the one I wanted yet (Update: it turns out that it will be!)

Comicon's Pulse published a list of upcoming DC Comics TPBs. There are a couple items here that I'm interested in getting, but Sword of the Atom isn't here. And THAT'S what this guy is looking for.

I'd better write to DC again.

With that having been said, I looked at the price for the collections of the Metal Men and Superman's Silver Age Kandor adventures, and wow! These are only about 17 dollars, much less than what the DC Archives have cost. Maybe they've come to their senses at last!

Update: whoa, it looks like I'd missed the news before, but...as shown on these solicitations for August, SOTA is being put out in a trade. And the moment it's possible, I'll be getting it.

Now, this raises the question: is DC going to fix the malfunction they started with Identity Crisis, and exonerate Jean Loring of slaying Sue Dibny? Well that's what I want to know when the new Atom series' "Hunt for Ray Palmer" story comes around. Will others be waiting to see about this too, and will they be standing behind both Ray and Jean on this?

This should be a most important test for DC: to prove that they're willing to right a wrong, which is exactly what the demonization of Jean Loring and the defamation of Ray Palmer were.

Persepolis should win the grand prize at Cannes

Following their attack on 300, Iran's dictatorship now attacks a new cartoon based on a comic about a woman growing up there in the days of the Ayatollah's regime (via The Beat blog):

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran has protested to France over the screening at the Cannes film festival of an animated film about a woman growing up in revolutionary Iran, slamming the movie as a "political act", local media reported on Monday.

"Persepolis", which stems from a best-selling comic book series by Iranian emigre Marjane Satrapi and is competing for the prestigious Palme d'Or, shows its heroine struggling with the authorities in the early days of the Islamic revolution.

"The Cannes film festival has selected a film about Iran which presents an unreal picture of the outcomes and achievements of the Islamic revolution," said a letter to the French cultural attache in Tehran carried by the press.

"Could the selection of this film... not be counted as a political or even anti-cultural act on the festival's part?" said the letter penned by the government-run Farabi Cinema Foundation.

The Farabi foundation works under the culture and Islamic guidance ministry and is tasked with promoting and marketing Iranian cinema all over the world.

It complained that "Persepolis" was the only Iranian film competing in the competition this year and accused the festival authorities of "acting in line with the biased policies of domineering powers" against Iran.

Satrapi, whose black-and-white comic-memoirs have been translated into more than 20 languages and won several awards, co-directed the film along with Vincent Paronnaud.

The film, to be premiered in Cannes on Wednesday, shows Satrapi's rebellious eight-year-old screen persona watching the downfall of the shah followed by the imposition of Islamic law after the 1979 revolution.

She witnesses the horrors of the war with Iraq, leaves for Austria but quickly feels the solitude of an exile.

Satrapi, who now lives in France, published the first book of the four-volume series in France in 2000.

The series has not been published in Iran, which applies tough vetting on publications and bans books deemed to be decadent and unIslamic or contrary to revolutionary values.

This is not the first time this year Iran has been angered by a major film.

In March the authorities and bloggers alike were infuriated by the war epic "300", a smash hit for its gory portrayal of the Greco-Persian wars, with officials saying the movie was "American psychological warfare against Iran."

Oops, I think I may have detected a slight distortion at the end there: Iran disapproved of the film's depiction of Persia as an antagonist.

I think the best answer to Iran over this would be to award Persepolis with the 1st prize at Cannes, and let them know what free society thinks of them and Ahmedinejad!

Update: Marjane Satrapi has answered and says that Iran is barking up the wrong tree, which they are.

Update 2: the film has won the Jury Prize at Cannes, which it shares with a Mexican entry at the festival. Good!

Open trackbacks: The Amboy Times, Mark My Words, Pirates' Cove.

You can't try to please everybody if you're to succeed

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." -- Bill Cosby

Cos said it right when he made that point years ago, that you cannot try to please everybody if you're to find success. You just have to know what the right crowd is to please.

I found a commentor on this topic at The Beat blog who pointed out that, "part of comics’ whole problem stems from this desire to force books and characters to appeal to everybody..." And that sums up a point even I once tried to make about how one of the big mistakes DC is making is that it's going out of its way to try and please not just everybody, but anybody, by forcibly adding minority group members at the expense of everycharacters. But even if they didn't do it that way, it doesn't mean that minorities are asking for them to, and I'm certainly not. And even if DC hadn't done it all at the expense of their everypersons, another problem is that they're being very superficial in their POV of what minorities are: they're introducing members of races we're already familiar with (black, Latino, Asian), yet they don't even think to come up with characters who're members of nationalities. How many clearly defined characters are there in comics of Armenian, Estonian, Cameroonian, Chilean, and Danish backgrounds are there who're regular cast members in any major comic book or universe today? Even I can't think, and don't know, of any.

So really, what are DC and their defenders trying to prove anyway?

The topic, by the way, is about this argument that came up about the Mary Jane statuette Adam Hughes designed where she's doing Peter Parker's laundry. I really don't have anything to say, because it has been overdone, except one little thing better: of course the NY Post would rather talk about that than about misogyny in comics that involves violence. Where were they when Sue Dibny was violated by Dr. Light, Jean Loring was villified, and Spoiler was bashed up by Black Mask? The NY Post used to be a fairly decent newspaper years ago, now, it's just a tabloid, as is the NY Daily News.

When I see the NY Post doing a story on controversies that arise over gratuitous violence in comics, then I can credit them. But this was really just a waste of space for them, and us.

Update: Ragnell thinks it's been overdone too.

Batman and Zatanna team up

I found out that there's going to be a miniseries, certainly a team-up story, with the Masked Manhunter and the Magic Maiden. Curiously enough, it appears that they're trying to write up a connection between Bruce Wayne's dad and Zatara as being partners in charity fund raising, and by extension, it appears that they're writing that Bruce and Zatanna knew each other when they were kids.

Marvel Universe changes, and changes, and changes again

But who's to know if it's ever going to be for the better? According to this small press clip The Beat blog has:

Everything has been leading up to one revelation that will rock the Marvel Universe at its very core. There are no coincidences. There are no heroes who won’t be affected. There is no escape. When you’ve finished reading New Avengers #31, you’ll realize why this is the one issue you just can’t miss. The superstar creative team of Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu have been thrilling critics and fans alike with their new direction for New Avengers, but you never saw the last page of this issue coming!

Actually, isn't that the issue with the shock tactic cover I'd noticed earlier? That's why this is one issue and maybe even more that I can miss!

Frank Miller is on the adaptation of The Spirit

It was mentioned some time ago that good ol' Miller would work on this, and now, here's some news in Variety (via Rope of Silicon) that he's going to work on the movie adaptation of Will Eisner's famous adventure comic strip with director Robert Rodriguez. I wish them well with it.

If this is how Captain America's book will be in the forseeable future, what's the use in bothering?

Ed Brubaker just recently told Newsarama in an interview the following regarding Capt. America:

NRAMA: Let's touch upon a prediction or two...first off, there was the feeling that Cap would be back...heck, even with issue #26...from the preview...probably not?

EB: Nope. Not in issue #26. There won't be anyone running around in a Cap costume in the book for a long time, honestly. This is the start of an epic, and I'm going to let the story unfold at the proper pace. We've got a lot more eyes on us all of a sudden, so I don't want to mess up any detail. The scope here is grand.

I'm not impressed. For some time, they've been making it sound as though they're building up to something, yet are clearly trying to fleece the audience by dragging things on and on with no clear way to tell if this is ever going to have a decent ending to it. That and whole idea of not letting the audience know exactly what's to come are dishonest.

I see no reason to read this current series if they're going to actually do it without even a substitute wearing the Cap costume (then again, I don't approve of the Punisher wearing one over in his series either), and come to think of it, I don't see why this should have to be published. This is just a whole lot of baloney, and is part of Marvel's increasing contempt for the audience.

Brubaker, IMO, is a knee-jerker, and is not worthy of respect.

Brad Meltzer's "Book of Fate": NOT the first book to involve comic material!

Mercury Studio presents a facinating correction to the AP's recent article I took apart earlier in which the reporter credited the pretentious novelist's recent book as being the first to feature comic book pages included (via Newsarama blog):

It's horribly, appallingly nerdy of me to pipe up about this, (or even to know it, I guess) but Laura Esquivel and Miguelanxo Prado beat him by over a decade. Esquivel's novel "The Law of Love" came out in 1995 and contained several comic book sections illustrated by Prado that functioned as part of the narrative.

I have but one thing to say about this: it just proves how anyone who feels that the mainstream press doesn't do any serious fact-checking isn't too far off!

Mercury also says that:

It's always a little frustrating seeing these "novelists do comics" articles because they only seem interested in novelists dipping their toes into work-for-hire superhero projects or (in the case of the Stephen King item) allowing others to adapt their work.

For me, it's practically appalling, because of how they're fawning over them, not writing any in depth focus on their work to ask if anything these novelists do is good or bad, and are even worth buying in the first place. Nor do they ask if the novelists really are fans of superheroes or any of the positive impacts they have, or even if they intend to write something positive themselves. Suffice it to say that Jodi Picoult seems to have been a big fuss over nothing to boot.

Basically, all the AP and other such press sources are trying to do is to promote Meltzer by making him sound like this great, super-duper writer who's a kindly, devoted fan of comics, which amounts to little more than exaggerating and inflating someone's image and ego, ditto whitewashing it too. I've got a fair guess why: if he really were a writer with even an iota of decency, like maybe Harlan Ellison, who worked on a couple of comic stories in the late 60s-early 70s, and did some pretty good items in his time, for all I know, chances are you'd never see Meltzer's name mentioned in fluff-articles like these. Most likely it's because they realize that he's put out some pretty reprehensible items, and so that makes him a hero in their twisted POV. In a sane world, we wouldn't have to worry about the wrong kind of people being promoted as the best all-time talents, but sadly, this is the kind of reality we live in, where overrated are lionized by a media that doesn't care about real quality, and those with common sense and perceptive viewpoints are obscured almost entirely.

Update: also interesting is what one of the commentors at the other blog says:

It might be stretching the definition a little, but in 1974, Dennis O'Neil co-wrote a novel called "Dragon's Fists", and subsequently used its main character as the star of Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter...

And even before that, we had Marvel's own inclusion of Fu Manchu in their own Master of Kung Fu series, which ran for almost a decade. That too, in a way, was an adaptation.

Open trackbacks: Is it Just Me, Leaning Straight Up, MoreWhat.Com, Point Five, Right Pundits, stikNstein, The World According to Carl.

Why is Mark Waid doing this now?

Either Waid actually believes what he says in the following interview (via The Roar of Comics), or, he sees the audience as easier to blame than the publishers who may not give his book the same promotion they're giving to World War 3:

MW: Oh, I'll say it. I hope that proclamation doesn't doom us, though.

The moment all the reviews started coming in they all said, "It's fun." "It's fun." "It's fun." I started to sweat, because "fun" is a death word in comics these days.

RT: If you kill off Hawkeye, people are going to hate it, but at least they are going to buy twenty of it.

MW: That's just it.

"Fun, fun, fun" being our rap makes me worried. Sales were strong on the first issue, but the second issue drop-off was a little steeper than we'd predicted. And I honestly think that was because every reviewer said it was "fun."

"Fun" automatically kills off a lot of your sales. Don't get me wrong; the book's still a success in the current market, and no one at DC has expressed anything but enthusiasm. We certainly seem to have a hit on our hands, George and I. I just hope that the "fun" label doesn't hit us too hard. If so, it's just another sign that current readers don't want "fun" comics.

Something tells me that Waid could use a bit of fun himself, by spending time outdoors and at an amusement park, because this is really stupid of him to say that. Bent Corner has a reasonable argument that DC's use of variant covers for the first issue were what led to big sales for the debut. Personally, I find variants worthless, and even when I still bought pamphlet issues regularly, I didn't go out of my way to spend my hard earned money for the same story twice. And yet, this shows just how the new Brave and the Bold may actually be a failure, because quite a few people may have bought it more for the value to be had in the variant covers.

And as I said above, I think DC's been giving far more attention to their needless WW3 than to truly promoting books like Waid and Perez's new anthology series. Regardless, he did a serious disservice to comics by saying that nobody wants a fun story these days. That's not how you draw in newcomers either. That sounds more as though he were toeing the company line than reflecting what the audience asked for. And might I just add that, if the Star Wars prequels weren't as fun as they were, it's possible that they'd never have done as well as they did in the past few years when George Lucas put them together.

As for the grittiness I assume Waid must think is better, ever notice how people who make arguments like these don't seem to suggest writing stories that give something to think about, like human interest stories where they deal with all possible pressing issues of the time or day? If he or others of his standing can't suggest anything beyond just darkness, what's the point in writing downbeat stories?

Comic artistry to relieve stress

Here's an odd story from the Lancashire Telegraph in Britain about an artists' class being held for the purpose relieving stress:

AN international comic book artist is to draw on his experience to offer staff stress-busting sessions.

Blackburn-based Tim Perkins is holding the unusual scheme, which will let employees design a comic book or storyboard in a bid to help them relax.

I don't know, is such a thing possible, that it can help people to relax?

More dissections of dishonesty

A while ago, I took apart one of the latest articles that sugarcoated Brad Meltzer in its report on novelists who turn to comic books. Now it is time to take a look at yet another superficial article about Brad Meltzer that goes the bizarre route, this one from CBR a year ago. Another article that pays lip service unto him and apologizes for his actions. And another article that even confuses all the matters his notorious miniseries has surrounding 9-11:

The next big thing for Meltzer and DC would be the wildly successful 'Identity Crisis,' a story that found its origins in the tragedy of 9/11.

'When you think of firefighters after 9/11, you look at them differently,' Said Meltzer, recalling what DiDio said to him when they were looking at the story. The event made people realize that firefighters weren't just the guys pulling cats out of trees and marching in parades, they were heroes doing an extremely dangerous job where their lives were on the line every day.

This was something that DC wanted to create for its heroes. They wanted fans to remember that what the heroes are doing is a scary dangerous job.

Since when wasn't it dangerous? But I guess that's not the main problem here. When you think about how, as evidenced in the contrived clash with Deathstroke, that the miniseries was so negative in its stance towards heroes, it's hard to swallow that it really respects the heroes of 9-11 either.

But Meltzer wasn't on aboard with it initially. He'd always wanted to do a Justice League story, but couldn't get his head around why anyone would want to hurt Sue Dibny. But DiDio got his attention with two words; Jean Loring.

In other words, this ludicrously written interview from CBR seems to be furthering the false notion that Jean was ever truly a harpy. It also signals a bizarre double-stance: if Meltzer really didn't want to hurt Sue Dibny, as he's been using as his defense for some time now, why would he want to hurt Jean Loring? Sorry, but this only weakens any defense he may have been so transparently using.

There's a part at the end that I can only assume was mistyped, but still involves plenty of head-shaking dishonesty:

Meltzer admitted that he was surprised by fan reaction to some of 'Identity Crisis,' particularly the misfortunes of Sue Dibny.

'The [reaction to the] rape scene surprised me more than anything. I didn't expect the venom,' said Meltzer.

But he thought that the response was the result of a very vocal minority, not indicative of the views of most of the book's readers as a whole. He wishes that rape didn't exist, obviously, but it doesn't, and comics should reflect that and deal with real issues.

When you respond that superficially, not willing to even address or bring up the exact arguments at hand, the leading one here being the lack of a female viewpoint in the miniseries, you're really being dishonest, and when you dismiss the reaction as just coming from a "minority", then you're showing yet more contempt. As for the word "doesn't", I can only hope that's a typo, because otherwise, the writer of that slop has convicted himself of offending women as much as he made himself part of the same problem as Meltzer.

One more thing this item doesn't mention is how Sue was like an allegory/allusion to the WTC towers, when IC suggests that the heroes are to blame for her murder. Needless to say, I find the whole idea of using a defenseless woman as a stand-in for real life details extremely offensive, mostly because in a way, it trivializes the tragedy in real life even more than Sue's own violation at the hands of Dr. Light was trivialized soon after it took place in the second part.

And this brings up another very disturbing thing about IC: it's that allegorically speaking, it seems to trivialize the attack on the WTC that took place in 1993, when the building's underground parking garage was bombed by Iraqi al Qaida Muslim fanatics, egged on by the sheik Omar Abdul Rahman. I thought about this the other day while eating lunch at work, and suddenly, I realized that there was one more very offensive metaphorical act that IC pulled. So, not only did it blame the victims, it also trivialized a previous attack on the same victim/target of assault.

If that's how comics are going to deal with real life issues, even from a metaphorical POV, then simply put, the superheroes of the DCU had no more business dealing with a 9-11 allegory any more than would have in expressing an opinion on abortion, homosexuality, living only on welfare, or any countless other subjects some people in this world seem totally incapable of discussing without nearly taking up arms against each other, the First Amendment notwithstanding.

Punisher War Journal #6 is vulgarly written open borders propaganda

The leftists now dominating Marvel continue to monopolize their comics for more ludicrous leftist propaganda with subtle anti-conservative sentiment. Here, it's in the new series of Punisher War Journal #6:

Frank and his new geeky sidekick make a run for it from SHIELD and head south, where the Hate-Monger has been killing illegal immigrants in a not-so-subtle Cap-esque uniform. Frank has a Cap fetish as well, as we get a glimpse of the new Punisher / Captain America hybrid...

We can all guess who the real hatemongers are here, and it's the writers, editors and publishers of this monstrosity themselves. And if this story is supposed to be funny, it's not a single bit so, it's just sick. It's like killing two birds with one stone (they attack the public stance on illegal immigration through demonization, and even insult Captain America by depicting a recurring villain wearing a costume reminiscient of the Star Spangled Avenger's doing the dirty deeds), and it's simply disgusting. Matt Fraction, be ashamed of yourself.

Open trackbacks: Is it Just Me, Leaning Straight Up, MoreWhat.Com, Point Five, Right Pundits, stikNstein, The World According to Carl.

Spartanburg newspaper sugarcoats 52

Or at least talks about it in fluff-coated terms. From the Spartanburg Herald-Journal of South Carolina, here's something that seems to think that turning Booster Gold into a serious character is actually good:

DC Comics' popular and exciting "52" series has come to a close, with a one-time joke of a hero saving the entire universe - more than the entire universe, actually - by throwing a football-shaped robot containing a moth-like menace across the lines of space and time to his ancestor, a man born hundreds of years earlier.

Would that be Skeets they're talking about? I guess so. But from all I've gathered over the past year, it sounded more like they disdained Skeets. Wow. No affection for a delightfully funny robot.

It's been one heck of a ride.

I wouldn't bet on it.

And it has catapulted Booster Gold, a former Justice League member whose only power seemed to be comic relief, to superstardom, proving that - at least for a little while - he was able to fill in during Superman's absence and be a true hero.

In the final installment, Gold and Rip Hunter, the time master, bounce around a series of alternate realities trying to foil a mutated Mr. Mind, who is devouring pockets of space and time.

During the trip, Gold gets to see his best friend, the late Blue Beetle, one last time, one of the many touching scenes from this yearlong piece of comic-book history.

Another is the final fate of Ralph Dibny, whom I hope we'll see more of.

All fluff-coated statements, I'm afraid. I really doubt that even the new series they announced for Booster, or even one they announced for Infinity Inc, which doesn't even involve any of the original members, will do so well, or not for long.

I do hope we'll see more of Ralph, but, I want it to be in the living world, and not as a ghost and a serious character with no real humor involved.

And when they talk about Countdown, they even go so far as to sensationalize the following:

From what we know about "Countdown," it will be steeped in Jack Kirby's "Fourth World," featuring characters like the New Gods.

It will tackle the seduction of Mary Marvel and explain why Jimmy Olsen must die.

Although they may be talking about the new multiverse created by "Mr. Mind", I still find this insulting, mainly because the newspaper seems to think that this is what's newsworthy, and not any characters who've been restored to life, which could include Ice, for example. Now that I think of it, I have yet to see a newspaper article actually saying something about the possible return of Tora Olafsdotter (I hope), and not about negative things like Mary Marvel being seduced by evil insanity and Jimmy Olsen perishing.

Another really dismaying mainstream newspaper article that offers nothing truly inspiring.

US students learning how to draw manga style

Here's an article from the Four Corners Reporter of Florida on how manga style is being taught in the US as well as Japan. Yes, there are those who're learning how to draw in manga style even in other countries besides just Japan.

(There's also a link here to the Lake County of Arts Center, where it's being taught.)

Tim Roth may play Emil Blonsky in Hulk movie followup

The Hollywood Reporter tells who's going to be playing the sinister Abomination, who may be second to the Leader/Sam Sterns as a prominent adversary to the jade giant. They also note a wee bit about Blonsky's background as a character:

In comic book annals, the Abomination was a KGB agent who deliberately exposed himself to radiation to gain strength.

Of course, what he doubtlessly didn't expect was that he'd be turned into so hideous a being that made the Hulk look like Bogart by comparison.

A fawning job, and a possible recycling

While there are some novelists with good taste and sincerity who've had what to do with comics, and Harlan Ellison may be one of them, today's batch is very iffy at best. And the ones spoken about in this item from AP Wire on the Arizona Republic's website (via the Newsarama blog) simply don't impress that much upon me, or, as in the case of Brad Meltzer and Stephen King, two of the novelists mentioned here, don't impress me at all. And I can't help but find this bit by Meltzer familar:

Meltzer and his publishers also put excerpts of "Justice League" into the paperback edition of "Book of Fate," the first time a comic book has appeared in a novel, he says.
He believes the medium shouldn't matter, as long as the story is good.

"There has just been so much snobbery that has existed with comic books," he said. "We've got to prove that these things are equal."

Seeing this, I thought I'd seen the above in some form before. And, as it turned out, Meltzer once said something like this in an article featured on Publisher's Weekly that I took apart a year ago. As a result, I can't help but wonder if the AP, in all their dishonest fawning, might've semi-recycled something Meltzer said once before. They certainly do whitewash all connected with Identity Crisis.

And to hint at what's really driving this quest to employ novelists, a part that comes after what Stephen King says:

"I'm a big fan of the medium," King said of comic books. "A different way to tell stories is always exciting. It's like being a kid with a chemistry set."

And comic book publishers are fans of authors with a loyal audience.

"The fan base helps grow the market," [Dan] Buckley said. "It's an important initiative, bringing the best talent you can to the table and also seeing what new readers you can attract."

It should be pretty obvious from this that what's really driving this is the ability to draw in at least some of these novelists' own fanbases and their wallets with them. That explains very well just why Justice League of America has sold well enough, because some of the overrated Meltzer's own audience may be contributing to it. It's got little to do with good storytelling.

And I'm not impressed with what Dan Buckley says towards the end here either:

...Buckley says there's plenty of space in the comic books to go around, so regular comic book writers and writer-artists shouldn't worry that their jobs are being taken away.

"We're publishing more than 70 or 80 titles a month. There's plenty of room for comic writers, TV writers, novelists, you name it," Buckley said. "The other creators are excited - yeah it's competition - but they understand it's great for us to get our name out there into the mainstream."

While it's not like regulars are having their jobs taken away, the problem is that they're being passed over on certain titles in favor of either inexplicably popular(?) writers like Brian Bendis (who may be a novelist himself, but I cannot remember clearly if I ever read any info to confirm that), or the novelists themselves. Mark Waid, for example, may have once been thought to acquire the role of writing the Avengers, but then, thanks to TPTB at Marvel, Brian Bendis ultimately ended up receiving the job, clearly because he agrees with the mess they want to make out of Marvel ever since Disassembled, and also because he wants to do something to only please either his own personal fanbase, or himself, seeing how far removed from the original structure he's made the Avengers now. Even veterans like Steve Englehart and Roger Stern are being shunned in favor of all these overrated types. Writers like them are just what Avengers and even the Justice League could use right now, but they'd rather hire ones like Meltzer instead, partly because of the extra dollars they see in them.

If they really wanted to make really big money, they'd stop with all the trendiness, excessive violence, political overtones, and even sexism that have befallen comics lately, and write some decent adventure stories instead. If they have to make anything involving politicized storylines, they could at least be fairer and not write one-sided left-liberal nonsense that's dumbed down and offers nothing genuinely positive for thought.

It's also hard to be sure if comics are really rising up again as a success story, seeing that even the most successful sell barely more than 200,000 copies and a few hundred thousand dollars. That's a far cry from many movies, which sell at levels of millions of dollars by comparison, and whose audience is much larger than that of comics today.

Comics for literacy

The Galveston Daily News talks about comics as a learning tool as part of Free Comic Book Day, which was just a few days ago.

Did Chris Claremont chicken out when focusing on a racial issue?

I once found this panel from Uncanny X-Men #196, August 1985, while looking across the web for various pictures, where Kitty Pryde is shown facing off against an apparent black racist. The issue was written by Chris Claremont and drawn by John Romita Jr. and Dan Green (no relation). Not sure who the other mutant is whom this Phil is referencing, but here's my big, controversial question: did Claremont come up short when he had the man ask Kitty Pryde if she's a "mutie", rather than to ask an even more menacing question by asking if she's Jewish (she is)...by using the K-bomb?

Well, if you ask me, I think Claremont was wimping out on a racial issue that could have some serious clout by just making one side an actual background and the other simply an allegory. The same argument could be made if you had Zatanna, who's Italian (see DC's Blue Ribbon Digest #2 from 1980, where Gerry Conway established this), in a similar story where a racist challenges her by asking if she's homo-magi in a corrupted form. She could use the same approach as Kitty did to shut up her opponent, which would be to make the point of, "if you're not this, then I'm not that," but it would still only have half the impact because the opponent didn't use a real racial slur to begin with.

I know that to have to see racist slurs like that anywhere, even if they're featured with good intentions, can be offensive and grating to some, and I'm guessing that to some of the Jewish and even Italian members of the comics medium at the time (Claremont himself may have some Jewish background), they were. But thinking about this, while I don't own the issue and can't fully be aware of what the human interest story there was all about, I do think it might've had more impact if they'd made this a story where the racial backgrounds were the specific focus rather than to use a stand-in allegory, even for just one of the two hornlockers.

Mutants and other species with super-powers can certainly make good allegories for real life racial issues, but to make a really convincing point in a case like this, I think that's why it'd be more convincing to boldly use the real things on both sides.

This also brings up a sad case about many comics today. Subjects like what the above are about are almost scarce in comics today, as the companies seem to be intent "not to offend" anyone, even if it's a well-intentioned story. This is but one of the many sad ways in which comics have been badly dumbed-down since the early to mid 90s, as comics became more "mainstream" in their approach to storytelling, while at the same time becoming less so in how they're sold at certain stores and businesses. And even the X-Men are but one of the many comics that either tackle them very little today, or aren't tackling them at all. Racism will always be a problem that the US will have to face, and even in Europe. The only story I really know of involving racial issues of recent was Kendra Saunders' own background story in Hawkman circa 2003, and other than that, there seem to be few others.

And there we have another example of what's either been watered down badly today, or completely lacking. But to really bring back human interest stories like these convincingly, writers and even story consultants with the right knowledge and understanding of these issues are needed, and there's no telling if today's managements would be willing to seek out the right ones.

The question of if comics can be saved

A writer for the National Post in Canada asks this and also says:

Faced with the onslaught of new media, the comic-book industry has endured declining readership in recent decades. In 1996, industry icon Marvel Comics was forced into bankruptcy. Between 1997 and 2000, comic book sales in North America fell more than 50%.

While this is true, let me add that it's not just new media that comics face, but also problems from within as well, including the politicization, the use of too many "hot" writers, and also ones with questionable or no respect for the characters at hand.

The problems, simply put, run much deeper than what's told here.

The usurpers

We read here on CBR that a different team of New Warriors is being published. A team that's meant to take the place of those who were disgraced during Civil War.

To the citizens of the Marvel Universe, the New Warriors have become synonymous with tragedy, but that may soon change. It was the hasty actions of the team which lead to the destruction of the town of Stamford, the passage of the Superhero Registration Act and the resulting "Civil War." This June in the premier issue of a new ongoing series, readers will see that Registration may be the law, but a new team of "New Warriors" has gathered together in defiance of that law and are taking on the evil doers of the Marvel U. CBR News spoke with "New Warriors" writer Kevin Grevioux about the series.

Put another way, they're still going by the defamation of the real team of New Warriors. I see no reason then to support this title.

When "New Warriors" #1 begins, the new team will have already banded together. "When we first see the New Warriors they've definitely been active for about a month or two," Grevioux explained. "We see that despite the government edict prohibiting non-registered superhero activity, they've been going around catching villains and basically gift-wrapping them for the police."

The New Warriors actions as unregistered superheroes have caught the attention of the media and the general public. "The media has definitely gotten wind of the New Warriors," Grevioux stated. "You find trussed up super-villains all over the city or the country for that matter, you realize that somebody had to put them there. That's news worthy material. As far as support for their illegal activities, I'd have to say its split. Some want the New Warriors arrested like the criminals they are, while others, especially the youth culture, praise their efforts."

Well I'm really sorry here, but since this is just an extension of the ghastly premise used in Civil War, and the registration act is still being used along with the already needless cliche of the public distrusting superheroes, then I see no reason to waste time on this new rendition using characters who may not even hold a candle to the real protagonists. I don't forsee this as getting much of an audience either, and probably not for long.

Mark Waid, too, begins to lose my respect

I looked at this interview done for the closing of 52, and to be quite honest, I think that Mark Waid really blows it here.

As we look back on 52, Waid sat down with Newsarama to talk about the project and give some insight into how the mysteries of 52 evolved. And as we chatted about detectives and mysteries, we delved into the world of Ralph Dibny -- and how the idea to make him and Sue into "ghost detectives" was one of the first 52 endings the writers decided upon and solidified.

Without any real humor, I would have to figure. Regardless, the whole notion of making them into "ghost detectives" reeks of sensationalism - certainly as written here - and that's not what I asked for as a reader either.

Next:

MW: [laughs] It's just that Action Comics Weekly was one of the most ironically titled comics in history. That was a production nightmare from the get-go. That was where everything had to stop on a Friday afternoon at DC Comics so that we could get Action Comics Weekly out. It was a good vision, and I thought it was a noble experiment, but it clearly never came together, and it was never a must-buy for anybody.

NRAMA: But you didn't feel that this weekly might turn out the same way?

MW: I realized it would be a lot of work, and I realized there would be a lot of production nightmares along the way, but the notion of telling the story between the four of us that took place in real time over 52 weeks -- that just seemed like an interesting challenge, and not like an impossibility. I just never felt intimidated by the challenge.

And that's okay, because I had zero interest in it, especially with the mediocre way it all turned out. Of course he wouldn't dare say that any of this was a mistake as long as he's being paid for it. He'll just continue to sugarcoat everything.

Waid then says something sensationalistic about Geoff Johns:

MW: Geoff? The misapprehension about our roles continues to amaze me. The party line on me seems to be that I was the guy who knew all the characters and knew the DC Universe, and that was what I brought to the table. And I'm here to tell ya, my knowledge of DC continuity stops dead about the time I discovered girls. [laughs] I said that over and over again. So it's really Geoff who had a much better handle all the time on the current, modern-day DC Universe and the status of the players right this second. So the fact that he loves these characters as much as I do and had a really good take on where they were at the time and just kind of -- you know, Geoff was always the one you could turn to and go, "OK, we need a villain for this sequence," or "we need a throwaway hero for this sequence." And it was Geoff, not me, who would pipe up and go, "Hey, Terra-Man would be good." Because he knows. He keeps up with the contemporary stuff a little bit more than I do.

That, and just the fact that, you know, whenever you need somebody torn in half [laughs], Geoff's the guy to go to!

NRAMA: [laughs] A body part removal expert.

MW: Yeah! He's really good at the dismemberment, at the limb-shearing -- whenever you need it bloody, Geoff's the guy to go to. [laughs]

NRAMA: He really needs to put that on his resume. [laughs] I'm sure some of the more negative fans are latching onto that label already, unfortunately.

Yep, unfortunately, and here at the FCMM, this can really take a big blow to the chin. And Waid is certainly going to get a drubbing here for sugarcoating gore and bloodletting. Mr. Waid, have you no dignity? Is the money involved really getting to your sanity? This is what's beginning to make me lose respect for Waid, because, as is probably apparent to some by now, he's just one of those who's sold out to irrationality in the past few years.

NRAMA: We'll get to some details about the story later, but in a general sense, now that it's done, what's something that maybe, as you look back, you regret, but also, what's one thing you look back toward with pride?

MW: Wow. I think I'm proudest of the fact that the Supernova storyline came together as well as it did. I'm also proud of the fact that Grant was able to take a character like Egg Fu and make him interesting. That's the thing that I'm proudest of in general is that we were able to take some of the lesser characters of the DC Universe -- the ones whose time had seemingly passed, like Doc Magnus -- and do something really interesting with them. I mean, T.O. Morrow is a great character now; Doc Magnus is a great character now. And that's what I'm proudest of, is how we sort of shined these characters up.

I'm also very proud that we were able to give Ralph Dibny and Sue Dibny a happy ending. 'Cause that was something we campaigned for since the first time we met on this series. It was of paramount importance to us all along that Ralph and Sue would be reunited in such a way that they have a whole new world of adventure to face.

I completely disagree, partly because as of now, while Ralph may have reunited with Sue in the afterlife, when did I ever want them to be ghost protagonists? I did not. Their place is in the living world, not in the afterlife, and not even in the Phantom Zone. If he thinks that this comics fan is going to fall for it, he'd better think again. The "ending" when I learned of it, ended up making me feel more dismayed, since in a way, it's only continuing the IC-based damage streak. And that's not something we really need.

NRAMA: OK, then, getting back to the characters. There were nine main characters, but you've touched upon some that got a lot of time in the comic, like Doc Magnus and such. But going back to the beginning of the process, how did you choose those main nine, and which ones interested you as a writer the most?

MW: Well, originally, the whole DC Universe was open to us with the exception of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. And because we were telling the stories of characters that wouldn't be appearing in the DC Universe for a year, that left out the characters who would be appearing in their own titles, obviously. So we had to go to the Booster Golds of the world or whatever. What I'm saying is that the list of characters was narrowed from the start.

But where the characters really came from was that we started not with characters. We started with, "what are the big ideas of the DC Universe that we want to redefine and explore?" We wanted to give a real sense of what the DC Universe space is like. We want to touch upon religion, we want to touch upon commerce, we want to touch upon technology, we want to touch upon the afterlife and mysticism. That's where we started. "Let's talk about those arenas. And then let's see what characters we have that can play into them." So with Ralph, it was him missing Sue and wondering why she can't come back in a world where that happens. You know, heaven seems to have a revolving door in the DC Universe, and why can't Sue come back? So that made him an obvious character for magic and mysticism and exploring that world. Same with Steel. He was an obvious candidate for exploring the world of technology in the DC Universe, and exploring the notion of commerce in the DC Universe, which linked to Luthor. So that's really how we narrowed the characters down.

Frankly, this strikes me all as a lot of hot air. Which figures, I suppose, when you're offered a position as an editor and are willing to sell out any common sense for the sake of big time money. Why can't Sue come back? Because TPTB want it that way, that's why! This is just so dumb and insulting.

NRAMA: OK, what characters in that group interested you the most when you started?

MW: When we started, seriously, most everybody -- but certainly Ralph. I've just always had a huge attachment to him. I've just always loved that character. And the Booster God/Supernova/Clark Kent stuff. I just love those characters. In fact, if they had let me go, I could have written 52 weeks of just Clark Kent without powers. Because I never had more fun in this series than writing Clark Kent without his powers. Just doing his thing. And I regret that as the story built into the second and third act, there ended up being less and less time for Clark.

If he really loved the characters, he would not have made them so unpleasantly unrecognizable. Interesting how he doesn't actually mention Sue when talking about his favorites here.

NRAMA: In 52, you spent a lot of time writing Ralph Dibny.

MW: Yeah.

And he did in ways that don't appeal to me, ditto a few other characters. I've lost respect for Waid, because he glossed over quite a few things that could be of as much importance, and I really don't see much point in reading most of his work to follow if all he can do is pander to Newsarama's sugary approach.

Next, I see that Newsarama misleads on heroism, which 52 doesn't exactly seem to have much of:

NRAMA: You know, a lot of 52 was about what it takes to be a hero, or what it means to be a hero. And obviously Infinity Inc. explored that idea. Can you talk about how that team and Lex Luthor's "gift" of superpowers to them spoke to that overall theme?

MW: I just always loved the idea that, when push comes to shove, these American Idol, Real World, Road Rules superheroes, when World War III comes, they go, "Nuh uh! I'm not doing that!" And they walk away. That's something we had in our back pocket for a long time. When the JSA gives up in Issue #29 and says maybe it's time to hang it up, because we don't matter anymore -- the way World War III went down proved who the true heroes were.

Oh, I'll bet. Note to Waid: don't tell us what to think either. 52 certainly wasn't about heroism if they didn't show Ralph for one acting heroically.

Waid is really trying my patience, and really lets me down here.

Eighth Comic Book Carnival

Welcome to the May 2, 2007 edition of the comic book carnival. Here's this month's submissions.

Michelle presents Why Spiderman Totally Conquers Superman posted at scribbit.

Hube presents Minority superheroes posted at The Colossus of Rhodey.

desi cartoonist presents march+05+title.jpg (image) posted at desi cartoonist.

Widgett Walls presents Four Color Fury: What Do Marvel Comics Covers Say About Their Fans? posted at Needcoffee.com.

Trina Cole presents Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight—The Long Way Home posted at Talkin' 'Bout TV.

Michelle Mitchell presents Why Spiderman Totally Conquers Superman posted at scribbit.

Xbox360 Fanboy presents SEGA reigns in Thor, Captain America, Hulk - Xbox 360 Fanboy posted at Xbox360 Fanboy.

Jon Swift presents Day By Day's Chris Muir Gives Hillary a Blackface Makeover posted at Jon Swift. Chris Muir, the cartoonist who draws Day By Day, thought it was a terribly unfair double standard that only liberals get to use blackface so he decided to do something about it.

Ken presents Death of a Hero posted at River City Rants.

Hube presents Comics industry "squeamish" about upcoming Frank Miller offering? posted at The Colossus of Rhodey.

Ian Stewart presents Miracle Monday by Elliot S! Maggin posted at Upper Fort Stewart. A review of Elliot S! Maggin's classic Superman novel, Miracle Monday. One of the best Superman stories written and an inspiration to the best Superman writers currently working today.

Great White Snark presents Transformers vs. Avengers posted at Great White Snark.

Kneon presents FREE COMIC BOOKS! Who can knock that? posted at kneon transitt shouldn't be allowed to blog.

Kneon presents SPIDER-MAN 3 kicking butt in Asia! posted at kneon transitt shouldn't be allowed to blog.

Kneon presents Behold: IRON MAN! Live-action movie costume revealed! posted at kneon transitt shouldn't be allowed to blog.

Kneon presents So you want to be a professional comic book creator, huh? posted at kneon transitt shouldn't be allowed to blog.


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