In all of the comic book conventions you’ve ever attended, did you ever wonder what it felt like to be a struggling creator?
In today’s brand-new episode of EZ Street, Robert Tinnell and Mark Wheatley show you what it’s like as Scott and Danny head for Baltimore, to share a table with Michael Oeming.
Yeah, so we’ve all been completely inundated with political coverage on this Super Tuesday week. But if we’re gonna do this right, it should be noted that today in 1933, the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect.
The Amendment reduced the time between Presidential and Congressional elections and the beginning of the elected officials’ terms. Originally, there were four months between the final election tally and the beginning of a newly elected official’s term, due to the time required to get your business in order and travel to Washington, D.C.
On a related note, this is also the week after James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, the original Captain America’s sidekick, grabbed a gun and a new costume and became the new Captain America! How does that relate to the 20th Amendment, you ask? Well, the connection should be clear – and if it isn’t, the terrorists have already won.
Actor Heath Ledger, who was found dead in a Manhattan apartment on Jan. 22, died due to a lethal combination of various painkillers, anti-anxiety medication and sleeping aids, according to the New York City Medical Examiner.
According to an Associated Press report posted today, Ledger’s body contained a mixture of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine.
There was no information provided about the levels of the various drugs found in Ledger’s system.
Ledger’s publicist released the following statement from Ledger’s father, Kim:
"While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath’s accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage."
When ComicMix launched a year ago, we were especially pleased to include the legendary Dennis O’Neil as one of our regular columnists. Denny has written and/or edited every major character in comics, including Batman, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Superman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Iron Man, the Question, Azrael, and Millie the Model.
Back in the day, when comics had letter columns, Denny would usually share his reading preferences with readers. We’re delighted to have continued this tradition here on ComicMix in Denny’s weekly columns.
To celebrate the last 52 weeks of Denny’s contributions to ComicMix, here’s a list of what he’s recommended so far, in the order he recommended them and with his thoughts on the recommendations (when he provided them). You’ll notice that, sometimes, he suggests the same book more than once. And sometimes, he suggests more than one book at a time. That’s the kind of reader Denny is — he takes his time, and he’s eclectic.
Good reading!
2/13/07
Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud
This is the one essential book for anyone with a genuine interest in the subject.
2/20/97
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, by Sam Harris
2/27/07
Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames, by Thich Nhat Hanh
Ghost Rider is one of those characters that few writers seem to handle well. From one series to the next, the character has often seemed ill-placed, awkwardly written or just plain phoning it in. That all seems to have changed with the current Ghost Rider series, though.
According to the majority of Ghost Rider fans, however, the current, ongoing Ghost Rider series (scripted by Daniel Way and launched in time with the character’s big-screen debut) finally managed to sync up with the character’s appeal. Way departs the series this month, but will be replaced by Jason Aaron, the writer behind the critically praised ongoing series Scalped and the Eisner-nominated Vietnam War miniseries, The Other Side.
ComicBookResources has a nice interview with Jason Aaron about his upcoming Ghost Rider kickoff arc titled "Hell-Bent & Heaven Bound", the threat of machine-gun nurses (yes, you read that correctly) and, of course, where Ghost Rider will fit into the greater Marvel Universe:
“Other than the occasional guest star, Ghost Rider will remain confined to his own little corner of the Marvel U, which I think is when he works best,” Aaron remarked. “Right now, Blaze basically doesn’t give a damn who is or isn’t a Skrull or if Captain America is really dead. He’s got his own problems to worry about and everybody else can go to hell.”
Aaron’s first issue of Ghost Rider will hit shelves Feb. 13.
MySpace Comics has concluded its week-long celebration of Criminal, the crime series written by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips, and has posted a 10-page preview of Criminal Vol. 2, #1.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m already burnt out on the 2008 primary season. Okay, to tell you the truth I was burnt out sometime last autumn. The other day I was watching Tom Brokaw’s documentary about 1968 (highly recommended) and one of the political facts mentioned was that Bobby Kennedy didn’t even enter that year’s Presidential race until after the New Hampshire primary! Can you imagine such a thing today, a candidate not even declaring until after an “important” primary has already been run? This year almost all of them dropped out before yesterday’s Super-Duper Pooper-Scooper Fat Tuesday.
It wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of Catholics out there are considering giving up following politics for Lent. It’s not like there’s anything in it for us any more. People joke about the campaigns turning into another version of American Idol, but if you think about it the parallels are valid. You have performances evaluated on TV by a bunch of millionaires, and you’re given the illusion of choice among a very narrowly-acceptable band of telegenic hopefuls running more on the basis of style over substance (hey, they have machines now that can “correct” even live voices so they all come out on-key and synthetically perfect). The big difference with politics, besides the sad reality that the results of this contest matters to our lives and the future and the rest of the world, is that the contestants are also millionaires. Have to be; they wouldn’t be considered “viable” candidates otherwise.
“Viable” is one of those nebulous, never-defined vagaries like “freedom” that means whatever the person using it wants the people hearing it to think it means. The less you define something, the less you can be pinned down and expected to stick to your definition. So when you assume everyone believes “freedom” means the same thing, when most of the time those who employ the term equate it with “unfettered capitalism and false consumer choice” even though others still consider it to mean “having bodily autonomy and not being homeless nor starving nor spied upon nor told how or whether to worship,” they’re able to completely circumvent actual communication and not have anything they say be actionable! And “viable” is a media-created term — they don’t have to admit that their use of “viable” means “rich and part of the political machine and accepted by the corporations we’ve allowed to actually run this country” if they can get us to believe it means “intelligent and experienced enough to be taken seriously despite their income level or circle of cronies.” I mean, we should have known that ship had long since sailed when the last guy got elected despite having mostly negative experience and far too little intelligence for the job. (more…)
Did Saturday seem a little bit drab without your weekly dose of The Adventures of Simone & Ajax? A little less funny? This Thursday, we make it up to you with brand-new stories, in full color.
Written and drawn by Andrew Pepoy, the new story was colored by Jason Millet. Since graduating from the American Academy of Art in Chicago in the early 1990s Jason Millet has worked as an illustrator in advertising, publishing, games, toys and, of course, comics. His clients include DC Comics, Devil’s Due Publishing, Dark Horse, Penny Farthing Press, Scholastic Books, Wizards of the Coast, Disney and Choose Your Own Adventures.
We had a chance to ask Andrew some questions about his new stories.
COMICMIX: Tell me about your first color story!
ANDREW PEPOY: "Simone, Queen of the Jungle" is a tribute to the old Sheena/Cave Girl/Jungle Girl comics, and picks up where we left off at the end of "Moon Madness," with the rocket ship crashing towards Earth. Fortunately Simone and Ajax leap out with jet packs over a strange prehistoric land in the middle of Antarctica. Simone lands on Jayn of the Jungle, knocking Jayn out as she’s trying to unite the native tribes so they can defeat the unleashed Tiki Monsters. So Simone has to take her place, dressing up as a jungle girl and doing what she and Ajax can to stop the monsters and Ajax’s much larger dino relatives.
CMIX: Does color make it better?
AP: In this case, I think it does. I’m actually a fan of well-done, black-and-white comics, so I don’t always think color is needed, and I sure did have fun doing the earlier stories on duo-shade board to get all those Roy Crane-ish effects, but in my mind Ajax has always been very green, Simone always very colorful, in more ways than one. And I think my colorist has really gotten the look I always pictured, though I can give him pretty detailed notes on what I want.
These days the colors I’m thinking of most for S&A is the work on the more recent Franka graphic novels by Henk Kuijpers. His palette is so bright and lively without being gaudy, and it’s mostly flat with only a little modeling to the color. I’m asking Jason to do a bit more on the modeling, but he’s really keeping the spirit of what I’m looking for, so I’m very happy with it. I really do think the bright color will add a bit more sense of fun to the stories. (more…)
Turning water into wine: superpower or blessed miracle?
The recently released Manga Bible presents it as a little bit of both, apparently. Illustrated by British-born Nigerian illustrator Ajibayo Akinsiku (a.k.a. Siku) and written by Akin Akinsiku, the 200-page book claims to be the "first ever Manga adaptation of the world’s bestselling book."
According to a report in The Plain Dealer, the book doesn’t shy away from applying modern-day vernacular to Old and New Testament tales:
In one panel, for example, the prodigal son leaves his father with the words, "See ya! Don’t wait up." In the next panel, he’s surrounded by women and booze.
Much of the book is dedicated to the Old Testament, of course – a discrepancy Siku claimed was as much due to the more colorful storytelling of the Old Testament as it was to the difficulty of navigating the conflicting gospels of the New Testament.
Over at MySpace TV, comedian Bill Hader interviews Ed Brubaker on his critically praised series Criminal.
The photo-driven interview is funny at first, then slides into nigh-hilarious, then back into pretty darn funny… and it’s chock full of name-dropping fun!
Best line?
Brubaker: "You DO know those are two different series, right?"
Ahh, welcome to the world of celebrity interviews, Bill. I sympathize.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
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