No, no no, no…. That’s the title of a very famous song by the Marvelettes. You may be too young to know it by just the title, but I’m pretty sure if you heard it you would recognize it. If you or your parents own any greatest hits albums by Motown then this song is bound to be on there.
If you are really young and a geek fan boy (as am I) let me save you some time. Don’t bother goggling the Marvelettes. They were a singing group, not an all girl or gay men superhero group from Marvel. Now that I think of it, that could work…
But (Peter, I swear I’m writing you a check) I digress.
After the great speech Bill Clinton gave at the Democratic National Convention, “Don’t mess with Bill” could easily have been the heading of a piece about Clinton. Alas, as hard as I tried I could not think of any way to weave a comic book narrative from his speech. Well, I could but that would have meant I’d have to be clever and after the week I’ve had clever would be pushing it.
Trust me, you don’t want to know.
The Bill I’m talking about is my dear friend for over 20 years (since I was five, Jean) Bill Sienkiewicz.
I met Bill when he was doing Moon Knight. I was not a fan; I thought he was one of a long line of artists who were doing their best to copy Neal Adams. We met at Marvel Comics one day when he was bringing in pages. I think it was Denys Cowan who introduced us and Bill showed me some of his work. I remember thinking two things. The first was the comic book reproductions did not do his work justice. His originals were far and away much better to look at. The second thing I remembered is, yes, his work looked a lot like Neal Adams but that look was just surface deep. There was uniqueness to his work that was all Bill.
After that meeting I went and brought all the back issues of Moon Knight I could and, yeah, by “bought” that means I asked one of my contacts from Marvel to hook me up. Yeah, I got them free, but I would have paid if I had too.
The next time I saw Bill at Marvel he was delivering a painting. It was a New Mutant cover all I could think is; “Shit, this motherfucker can paint also!”
Yeah, I was a bitter bastard. Age and good living has mellowed me, and by mellow I mean “tequila.”
Bill and I had a cordial if not friendly relationship… until one day at some industry event we started talking about illustration. That’s when we clicked. Bill was not a comic book artist who wanted to be an illustrator Bill was an illustrator who was doing comics.
That’s common in the industry now. What people seem to forget is that Bill started that trend. I say without hesitation Bill Sienkiewicz’s art changed the way comic art was done and if not for Bill and his pioneering bad ass work the industry may look different today.
For my money Bill is the artist/illustrator who paved the way for comics to have the depth and artistic reach they have today. Yes there have been comic artists that have painted covers or done innovative designs within the story lines but Bill’s cover work and later his graphic novels elevated the art form to another level. Unlike those who may have dabbled in comics as mainstream illustration up to that point what Bill was doing stuck and spread.
Andy Helfer was a big time editor at DC in the 80s. Denys introduced me to Andy and I showed Andy my painting portfolio.
Andy looked at my work and said “You could be our Bill Sienkiewicz.” Andy was not saying that because my worked looked like Bill’s – it didn’t – he was saying it because the kind of work Bill was doing over at Marvel was in a class by its self. That was said by one of comics leading editors working at one of the two biggest comic book publishers during the second silver age of comics.
That’s like giving props to John, Paul, George and Ringo before they became the Beatles. Andy saw clearly that Bill was changing the industry.
I look at all the new talent and groundbreaking work being done today and often think, yeah, that’s nice but Sienkiewicz did that shit 20 years ago.
As with anyone, if you are so good for so long some people tend to not really acknowledge you as you should be acknowledged. And when I say some people I mean young stupid artists. Some people even resent your success if you are the best at what you do and have been doing it for a while. Case in point: people don’t just dislike the Yankees, they hate the Yankees.
I’ve have not run into any people who hate Bill but at this year’s Comic Con I did hear this young artist dismiss Bill’s work and even say “He’s no Alex Ross.” True. But with all due respect to Alex, if there was no Bill Sienkiewicz there may have been no Alex Ross.
I took a moment to look at the artist’s work and told him he was neither Alex Ross nor Bill Sienkiewicz and talk is cheap, like the portfolio his work was in. I was a bit harsh, but in my defense I was out of tequila…
There really should be an admissions policy to get into artist’s alley. I mean…ugh.
Take a moment to reflect on the immortal words of Dr. Dre…
Nowadays everybody wanna talk like they got something to say
But nothin comes out when they move their lips Just a buncha gibberish
And muthafuckas act like they forgot about Dre…
People forget that Bill changed the game. And he is still changing it.
Bill is one of the greatest artists who have ever worked in comics. I don’t say that because he’s like family to me. I say that because it’s true.
Bill, if you are reading this (and I know you will be because I’m posting it on your Facebook page) if I told you this every day for a year it still would not be enough. You, my friend are a true living legend and I’m proud to be your friend.
But…the next time I give a party at Comic Con and your ass doesn’t show up I’m posting those photos (you know those photos) on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the Society of Illustrators website.
WEDNESDAY: Mike Gold Gushes Poetown and Teases An Announcement
The Doctor attempts to help the Indian Space Agency about a runaway spaceship of Canadian size headed for Earth. Promising to stop it before it needs to be blown up, he picks up a few friends – Rory and Amy (and Rory’s dad, accidentally) big game hunter John Riddell, and already in his company, Queen Nefertiti of Egypt. They find the ship is a derelict space ark, originally from Earth, created by the Silurians. But where are they, and how did a mysterious and heartless trader named Solomon get control of the ship?
Arthur Darvill had it exactly right when he discusses the latest episode of Doctor Who in a promotional video – “It does what it says on the tin”. The Doctor’s got a gang, Amy has her own companions, Rory’s got his dad, Rory’s dad’s got balls in his pants, the ship’s got a surprising builder, you’ve got your spoiler warnings, and did I mention there are…
DINOSAURS ON A SPACESHIP
by Chris Chibnall
directed by Saul Metzstein
Doctor Who is no stranger to funny episodes, but in the new series, they usually occupy a different spot in the series. They’ve most often come near the end of the series, almost as a buffer to the rollicking action and drama of the series’ finale. But this one is the second of the series, and is certainly one of the more barking mad ones to come along. It may be a perfect episode for that friend you’ve been trying to get into the series – lost of humor, great adventure, and a good look at what can happen in a DW story; namely, anything.
GUEST STAR REPORT
Rupert Graves (John Riddell) Has been on British screens for over thirty years, but he’s best known to Who-fen as Inspector Lestrade on Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ adaptation of Sherlock. He appeared in V for Vendetta and a wide array of TV series, from modern to historic.
Mark Williams (Brian Williams) has a lot of quality work in both comedy and genre work under his belt. He played the patriarch of the Weasley clan in the Harry Potter films, appeared in the recent Gormenghast, and played Cadet Flynn in Rob Grant’s Red Dwarf followup, the why-haven’t-you-seen-it-yet series The Strangerers. In Britain, he’s certainly best known for being a castmember of long-running sketch program The Fast Show. Up next, he’ll be portraying G. K. Chesterton’s detective Father Brown in a new adaptation for British TV.
David Bradley (Solomon) is another alumnus of the Harry Potter films, in the role of Mr. Filch he’s enjoyed over forty years of acting, mostly on British television, in series of all shape and size. He voiced one of the Shansheeth in the Sarah Jane Adventures episode The Death of the Doctor. He’s next appearing in a TV adaptation of the Ken Follett novel World Without End.
David Mitchell and Robert Webb (robot voices) Can best be described as being World Famous In Britain. Stars of the sketch comedy series That Mitchell and Webb Look, they’re also popular on the chat and game show circuit, always able to come up with wit on the fly. As an example of their brand of humor, here’s a classic about a pair of introspective Nazis.
The team are the latest in the trend of big stars making voiceover cameos on Doctor Who. Last year Michael Sheen voiced House in The Doctor’s Wife, and Imelda Staunton was the voice of the Apulapuchian Kindness Facility in The Girl Who Waited.
Richard Hope (Bleytal) is now one of a growing group of “go-to” actors who have played multiple members of the same alien race for the series. He’s played two alternate-timeline versions of the Silurian doctor Malokeh (in The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood, and The Wedding of River Song), and now plays the scientist of the same race, keeping track of their ark. He joins Neve McIntosh, who played two Silurians in the aforementioned two-parter, as well as the Victorian adventurer Madam Vastra (who is rumored to be returning Quite Soon Now) and Dan Starkey, who’s played several Sontarans on DW, as well as voiced them in a few audio adventures and the videogame The Gunpowder Plot.
Riann Steele (Nefertiti) got her first screen credit in David Tennant’s version of Hamlet, and has been making appearances in TV shows and films ever since.
Chris Chibnall (writer) made his first appearance connected to Doctor Who back in the original series. He appeared with a number of other fans on a BBC talk show reviewing the 1986 series (Trial of a Time Lord) and was…not entirely satisfied with it. In the years between, like so many of the current writers, he became a screenwriter, and was brought on board by Russell T. Davies, not at first for Who, but its anagrammatic spinoff, Torchwood. He was listed as co-producer, but was effectively the head writer of the series. After a year or two writing for Law and Order U.K. (starring Freema Agyeman) he was brought back on Who, where he wrote 42 and the Silurian two-parter from last series. In addition to this episode, he also scripted the prequel series Pond Life, furthering the backstory of the Ponds’ life when The Doctor isn’t around.
Saul Metzstein (Director) is new to the series, but is coming on with a bang – he’s also doing the next episode, two on the back end of the season, and also directed Pond Life. He’s done a number of documentaries, including The Name of This Film is Dogme95, about the popular “back to basics” style of filmmaking spearheaded by Lars Von Trier and his contemporaries. In accordance with the rules of the movement, he was not credited for his work on the film.
There were some dinosaurs down in the Silurians‘ cave in their first appearance Doctor Who and the Silurians. The race of Homo Reptilia ruled the earth millions of years ago, but a massive asteroid heading for Earth convinced them they needed to hide underground in hibernation (and, as we now know, built at least one ark) to avoid what would certainly be a world-killing event. Their numbers were off by just a hair – the asteroid missed, was grabbed by Earth’s gravitational field, and became our moon. They’ve slept beneath the Earth for millennia, only awaking when accidentally disturbed by humans, who evolved to the dominant lifeform of the planet in their stead. Along with their close relations the Sea Devils, they’ve fought The Doctor on several occasions on screen, and quite a few more times in the other media.THE MONSTER FILES – For a show about time travel, you’d think The Doctor would have come across dinosaurs every other week, but in fact they’ve barely bee seen at all. Jon Pertwee fought The Dinosaur Invasion when Operation Golden Age sent time all funky and brought dinosaurs to modern London. The Rani tried twice to use dinosaurs in her plots, in Time and the Rani and The Mark of the Rani. And there were pterodactyls (that should not be fed) in the parks of London in The Wedding of River Song.
BACKGROUND BITS AND BOBS – Trivia and production details
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION – Everyone’s heart leapt when there were rumors that Doctor Who was returning to film at Southerndown Beach, which was used as Bad Wolf Bay for Rose’s departure. But it stood in for the engine room in this episode. It was also the surface of Alfava Metraxis in Time of the Angels / Flesh and Stone.
WHEN WE LAST LEFT OUR FRIENDS… – In an earlier draft of his Doctor Who episode, Neil Gaiman had a sequence that would show the middle of a previous adventure, effectively interrupted to lead in to the new one, almost interrupting it. He discusses the scene here. It’s effectively the structure used here with Nefertiti, tho this seems to be much more the end of the other adventure. But both get across the point that The Doctor has many adventures, large and small, that we don’t get to see. As was touched on in last season’s A Good Man Goes To War, The Doctor has met many people, some who owe him a debt, and some (Winston Churchill, for example) who just call him friend. Both Nefertiti and John Riddell are examples of the latter.
Nefertiti is not the first member of Egyptian royalty to travel in the TARDIS. Princess Erimemushinteperem (Erimem for short) traveled with the Fifth Doctor in several audio adventures from Big Finish Productions. After meeting one of the Osirans (seen on screen in The Pyramids of Mars), she accepted the proposal of the newly-crowned king of Peladon and left The Doctor’s company.
SO THAT’S HOW JEFF BROKE HIS LEG – Slow down the playback as the dinosaurs as they tromp towards the screen just before the credits – a crack appears at the last instant, presumably as the glass of the “camera” shatters under the foot of a rampaging ankyosaur.
THE PUNCHLINE IS, “AND THEY WORK FOR SCALE” – As mentioned last week, the Doctor Who logo will be changing each week, covered with a new “skin” connected to the episode. This week it’s covered in dinosaur hide. It’s a cute idea, trying to give the opening a little Simpsons-esque little update each week, but I’m not sure the
show logo is the thing to be changing. Also, I think it’s a bit too small on the screen – perhaps making it a bit larger might help.
WELCOME…TO JURA—SORRY? – The dinosaur effects in this episode are a seamless mix of physical effects and CGI. In the case of the triceratops The Doctor and the Williams Boys ride, it’s a mix on the one moveable beast. The head and torso are a physical prop, moved along by stagehands, while the back feet and tail are CGI. Solomon’s robots are funny physical effects as well – those nearly ten foot tall suits were worn by members of the show’s team of monster players.
HI HO TRICEY! – There’s been a bit of discussion in the archeological community over whether or not the triceratops actually exists. There’s a very similar breed, the torosaurus, and there’s a theory that indeed they are the same species; what we know as the triceratops is a young torosaurus, which underwent a bit or a metamorphosis as it grew. The theory was tabled a couple years ago, but recent studies have come to the agreement that it’s in error. Just as well – I still haven’t gotten over Pluto and the Brontosaurus – I don’t think I could take losing the Triceratops.
“I’ve got it set to temporal news view” Apparently The Doctor’s psychic paper has another function. It was introduced in the new series as a device able to appear as any form of documentation he needs to get out of any situation, from a ticket to view the end of the Planet Earth, to ID backing up his claim that he represents Q
ueen and Country. Some people are able to contact him via the paper, wither by being a close friend (AKA River Song) or by having emotions so strong and powerful the reach across space and time (Young George in Night Terrors). Apparently it also has the ability to pick up news of events he may be able to help with, like a four-dimensional police scanner.
“You don’t normally get spiders in space” – Oh, I don’t know about that. Aside from the dominant life of Metebelis III, AKA Planet of the Spiders, there’s the Racnoss from The Runaway Bride, the Alzarian Spiders from Full Circle, and lots of other examples from the other media.
“Hydro-generators!” We’ve seen a number of “hybrid” power systems in the new series, like the treeborgs on the Byzantium in Flesh and Stone, which converted photosynthesis to electricity, and provided oxygen to boot.
“I will not have flirting companions” Effectively, Amy has take the role of being in charge here, and is the one figuring things out. Rory is helping his father cope with what he’s seeing, and later, fixing him up when he’s hurt. He also lies. It’s another sign of how far the Ponds have come in their time with The Doctor, and possibly, why they need to move on.
“I don’t respond well to violence” Of all the events of the episode, it’s The Doctor’s decision of what to do with Solomon that has sparked the most debate. It’s far from the first time he’s killed – he’s ever talked about the blood on my hands. Indeed, one could argue that he’s killed more by his inaction. He chose not to destroy the Daleks at their start in Genesis of the Daleks, as he realized that in some cases, races who were at war would unite to fight them, ending wars that could cause more deaths. But by doing so, he effectively sentenced all who would die at the Daleks to those deaths. In The Vampires of Venice, he doomed an entire race to extinction, the amphibious Saturnyne, all because their queen didn’t know the name of one of the girls they killed. His choices seem based mainly on how cruel the being are acting towards others, and how much potential the have of being rehabilitated. He chose to help Kazran Sardick and not just push him out of the way (with authority) all because he chose not to strike a child. But even then, he gives Solomon a chance – he warns him that the ship is under attack, and tells him to leave. Solomon’s fate is based entirely on his own choices. He is clearly and irretrievably evil, and none of The Doctor’s companions seem distraught with the choice.
“A monkey could do it…oh look, they’re going to” The Silurians referred to the humans as “apes”, as when they were on the surface, that’s all humans were.
“Try not to bump into the Moon, otherwise the races that live there will be livid” at the time of this episode (2367 AD) there are human colonies on the moon, and presuming the Selenites are not part of the show’s continuity (Considering Mark Gatiss recently produced and starred in a remake of First Men In The Moon, I’d make no such assumptions) there have been no indigenous races reported on the moon. So he may just have been being funny, but surely the humans on the moon would be annoyed by a fender-bender.
“Daisy, Daisy…” rather an obvious one here – Hal 9000’s last words, a repeat of his first, at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Also makes the earlier reference to Arthur C. Clarke by Brian a nice callback. But not everybody knows the etymology of that choice of song. A programming team taught an IBM 7094 to sing back in 1961, and this was the song it sang.
“Can I ask a favor? There’s something I want to see” As The Doctor has said many times, traveling with him changes people; usually for the better, if they survive. In The Sarah Jane Adventures, she explains that she did a bit of research and found a bunch of people who traveled with The Doctor, all of whom have dedicated their lives to helping others in big ways and small, including, of course, herself. Brian’s transformation from someone who “hates to travel” is a more personal type of transformation, but one no less dramatic. Considering all the places he’s been in those postcards, it’s assumed that once again, quite some time will have passed until the next time The Doctor visits the Ponds.
“Siluria!” According to the events of The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood, in 1,000 years’ time, the Silurians will emerge from their cryo-chambers and negotiate a peace with the humans of earth. That’s still several centuries away from the events of this adventure. One wonders how much the flora and fauna of the Silurian Ark will be able to thrive in that time, and whether or not it will make a good world for homo reptilia upon their return?
BIG BAD WOLF REPORT
“Are they the new us?” In School Reunion Rose faced the idea that The Doctor’s Companions come and go, that he has had friends before she came along, and will have some when she leaves. Amy has known The Doctor literally as long as he’s been in this incarnation, and with Rory, have been traveling with him for most of that time. The idea that he might stop seeing them and start traveling with other people is clearly something that has crossed their minds. This carries throughout the episode, and is a theme through much of this semi-season. His relationship with the Ponds is quite different than other companions – he’s keeping in touch, and even though he’s set them home safe more than once, he’s drawn back to them. One reason for that is he’s family. He’s married (or will be, or will someday more officially be) to their daughter River Song, and that really needs much more explanation, but wait a couple weeks and I’ll be able to get into get in detail.
“How’s the Job?” It’s a bit of a throwaway line, but Amy has been unable to keep a job, for fear of missing The Doctor. This whole scene is choked with portent, and is very revealing of the very unique these three have. It’s been said that Amy and Rory have almost adopted The Doctor;Amy is speaking like a mother who’s afraid to have a life, lest her child need her. She ever expecting a call, asking that she pick him up.
Since we already know that the Ponds will be leaving The Doctor’s company at the end of episode five (tho we of course know in what way, or position), it’s tempting and worrying to hear anything being said about them parting.
“That’s me…worthless” Once again, parts of the universe has forgotten about The Doctor, which was, of course, his plan. Some are suggesting the capable hands of Oswin Oswald are at it again, but let’s not forget that in the first episode of the new series, The Doctor produced a program that would erase all records of him off the Internet. No mean feat, to say the least. He could have easily done the same for this value indexing system…or could do so retroactively at his next opportunity.
NEXT TIME ON DOCTOR WHO – A western, filmed in Spain, with an alien. THAT’S multiculturalism. A Town Called Mercy, just a week away
Last week, I wrote about the awesome folks of Warehouse 13, whom I was lucky enough to meet after attending their panel at Dragon*Con. But they weren’t the only fantastic people at the con, oh no. In fact, Dragon*Con is always so packed with amazing guests that I never get to see or meet all of them, and am left lamenting the fact that I missed Dean Cain’s panel or never got to say hi to Jewel Staite or Sean Maher in the Walk of Fame, despite running around from hotel to hotel like a hyperactive kid in a candy store. But I did get to see and meet a lot of cool folks, and that’s what I’m here to share, so here we go!
The first event I got to was a fantastic Lord of the Rings panel, featuring Billy Boyd (Pippin), Craig Parker (Haldir), and John Rhys-Davies (Gimli). It was a blast. The first thing I have to say about it is very shallow but true: these guys have the most delightful accents! I think I could listen to Scottish, Kiwi, and Welsh actors answer questions all day. And oh, yeah, the questions themselves were pretty good too. I think my favorite bit was when Craig invited a fairly young boy named Orion who was slightly hyperventilating up onto the stage to ask his question (it’s cute when a kid’s that nervous. Adults…well, not so much). I heard through the grapevine later that this happenstance made the kid a minor celebrity at other panels, where people started looking for Orion. To which I say – only at Dragon*Con. I love that about Dragon*Con. My second favorite bit was hearing about how Billy used to read books while working at a bookbinder’s – by tearing out the pages he was finished with and tossing them away. Being an extreme book lover, I’d call that sacrilege, but…well, it does sound kind of fun. And then of course, John predicted that The Hobbit will be a game-changer and that we’re all in for a treat, so: yay!
Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of asking Craig and John a couple of quick questions (missed Billy, sadly. Maybe next year?). Craig is delightfully easygoing, and John is effortlessly charming and has that amazing presence that I associate with really good stage actors. And even though he had a plane to catch, he still took the time to sit down for a few and give me his full attention, which speaks to the sort of person he is. Here’s what they had to say:
Craig Parker:
What would you like to say about current or future projects?
“Actually, I’m a total bum at the moment, because I’m in the process of moving to the States, so everything’s just… everywhere, and I’m not working on anything at the moment.” (Hopefully it won’t be that way for long. I’m sure we’d all love to see him in something again soon).
What’s your favorite part of Dragon*Con?
“I don’t know whether it’s the visuals…the overstimulation of seeing something incredible everywhere you look; or talking with all of the passionate people. It’s an incredibly engaging weekend.”
John Rhys-Davies:
What would you like to say about current or future projects?
“Projects are falling by the wayside all the time – you know, there were two pictures I really wanted to do recently, but they didn’t work out. But now I’m doing Golden Boots, which is a movie about a little boy who wants to play soccer, and that takes place in Detroit, Michigan. I’m also working on Behind the Mask, which takes place in the pre-continental U.S.; and I’ll be the villain. It has a bit of swash; a bit of buckle; a bit of murder…and unfortunately the bad guys don’t win. I’m going to be in the new Pinocchio, which is a mixture of animation and drama – and I’ll be playing the bad guy. And I’m hoping that Flying Tigers will be shot in China early next year.”
What’s your favorite part of Dragon*Con?
”Obviously the people – it’s the chance an actor gets to meet the people who’ve been keeping him employed for the past forty years. You get to talk to them, and know who they are. I cannot tell you how valuable that is. When you work in theater the audience is right there, telling you “You’re good; you’re bad; you stink.” In film, you can lose sight of your audience; and then you can lose sight of yourself and your own true proportion.”
Words of wisdom indeed. Next up we attended the Buffy & Angel Q&A, featuring J. August Richards (Gunn), Juliet Landau (Drusilla), and James Marsters (Spike). James Marsters challenged everyone to embarrass him (they tried but failed); J. August Richards shared his opinion of Gunn’s story arc from street-savvy vampire hunter to lawyer and back (he was happy with the lawyer arc, and with Gunn going back to his roots when the story needed it); and Juliet Landau spoke about her voice work as the Little Sisters in Bioshock (and how she landed the role thanks to her acting as Drusilla).
The panel was a ton of fun, and I got to check in with J. August Richards afterwards. When asked what he’d like to say about current or future projects, Jay told me that he has something he’s really excited about, but he can’t talk about it just yet. Therefore – check back here on ComicMix in a week or two, when I’ll be interviewing J. August Richards about his newest, as-yet-unannounced project! Yay!
When asked his favorite part of Dragon*Con, Jay replied:
“The people! What I love about Dragon*Con is that it’s one of the rare instances where you get to be around fifty thousand people who are completely non-judgmental.”
Word. At the Buffy panel, Juliet Landau mentioned a documentary she’d made that was airing Saturday, Take Flight: Gary Oldman Directs Chutzpah, and my friend and I love Gary Oldman, so we checked that out as well. I hadn’t heard of it before, but it turned out to be one of the surprise best parts of the weekend. The film is a behind-the-scenes documentary of Gary Oldman’s artistic process as he creates a music video for a Jewish rap group (yes, that really is a thing!), and it is fantastic. I was either smiling or laughing for pretty much the whole thing, because the rappers are funny, and Gary Oldman in creative mode is a thing of joy and awesomeness, and Juliet & co. did an amazing job showing all of that. Juliet also did an excellent job in selecting the classical music that accompanies some parts of the film and really highlights the beauty of the more peaceful scenes.
When asked about what she’d learned in making the film, she replied, “Every set you’re on, you learn. One of the things about Gary on set – and all the best directors I’ve worked with, like Tim Burton and Joss Whedon, are like this – is that he is very focused on the work, but also on having fun. Everybody’s focused, but there really is a joy to be making stuff – that’s really palpable with Gary.” And it really is.
I got to chat with the extremely nice Juliet after the film, and she shared that the documentary is available for purchase on her website. I definitely recommend it, but fair warning: the song being filmed is pretty catchy, so if you watch it, I guarantee you’ll be singing, “Red Rover, Red Rover, send your best guy right over,” for at least half a day afterwards! Juliet also mentioned that her upcoming projects include The Bronx Bull (Raging Bull II), and Where the Road Runs Out. And her favorite part of Dragon*Con? “Meeting all the people!”
Also included in our mad convention dash was the Big Damn Heroes panel, with Adam Baldwin (Jayne), Jewel Staite (Kaylee), and Sean Maher (Simon) of Firefly and Serenity. Those three are like a comedy show once they get going. Highlights of the panel included Nathan Fillion making cameos on all of their cell phones (taking over the panel even when he’s not on the panel, as Adam said!) to check in repeatedly on, basically, how pretty Jewel was looking that day (it really was a hilarious gag, and she really is very pretty); an audience member contributing Firefly bourbon for them to drink; and Adam Baldwin being temporarily embarrassed to share with the crowd (he got over it).
Speaking of Adam, I also went to a Chuck panel where he talked about his role as John Casey; and even when he’s the only one on stage, he’s a riot. Adam answered questions such as whether Casey was really in the Navy or the Marines, and then ribbed fans for being that into the details of the show, noting that “It’s not real!” However, he clearly appreciates the fans who care enough about his characters (notably Jayne) to dress the part, and was particularly kind to a thirteen-year-old fan who was a bit nervous in asking her question. As I said, I sadly missed chatting with Sean and Jewel, but I did get to talk with the quick-witted Adam after the panels.
Adam reports that his newest project is the opening episode of Law & Order: SVU. “I’m joining the cast as a ‘replacement’ for the captain, Cragen, who…got himself in a little bit of hot water last season. So that has kept me a little busy.” As for his favorite part of Dragon*Con? “The people – lovely people who are very kind, and good old Southern hospitality. And the food’s great…you know, wine, women, good food! And the panels …and the utilikilts (pointing). There’s one right behind you.”
And so there was.
Meeting Adam was a lovely experience; and another highlight of the weekend was Jane Espenson’s panel. Jane is like the writer equivalent of actor Mark Sheppard, in that she has written for basically every awesome genre show I’ve ever seen. She’s also delightful to listen to. Her panel focused in a large part on her newest project, Husbands, a web series which can be seen online at lovehusbands.com. We watched an episode, and it’s very funny; and certainly a spin on the newlywed premise that we haven’t quite seen before, being about two gay men who have gotten married in haste and are now dealing with the consequences. She also encouraged people to check out Once Upon A Time over on ABC if they haven’t yet, and answered questions about the writing process, mentioning that she’d like to turn her blog musings into a book someday (yes please, Jane!). Writing tips she shared included her own approach to beginning to write for an established character by asking “what one incident is going to most poke at the character’s emotional core? Getting inside that is one of the best ways to train yourself to be a good writer.” As for her favorite part of Dragon*Con: “Meeting beautiful amazing people in costumes!”
Speaking of people who’ve worked on everything cool ever, I also got to talk with Rob Paulsen, voice actor for a million billion zillion of the toon characters we all know and love, including Yakko Warner, Pinky, and more from Animaniacs. He couldn’t possibly have known that’s one of my favorite cartoon shows ever, but that didn’t stop him from saying, “Hellooooooo, nurses!” as I and my two gal pals walked up to say hi, and, “You all make me want to say, ‘Narf!’” which got the conversation off to a fun start. Rob shared that since he was Raphael on the original Teenage MutantNinja Turtles, he’s pretty excited to be Donatello now on the new one. “And Sean Astin is Raphael, Jason Biggs is Leonardo, and Greg Cipes is Michelangelo, so that’s great.” He also suggested we check out his podcast, Talking Toons, which can be found on iTunes or RobPaulsenLive.com; and now that I know about it, I certainly will! As for his favorite part of Dragon*Con:
Rob: “The pretty chicks!”
Me: “He says, looking at us…”Rob: “Absolutely! I’m not the blind Turtle!”
Bless.
Walking around the Walk of Fame, I got to chat with several other actors and actresses, including Lee Arenberg, of Pirates of the Caribbean fame (“’Ello, poppet!”) who was enjoying meeting all the fans, and can currently be seen as Grumpy in Once Upon a Time. He also mentioned that he’ll be in the new season of Californication. Last of all I sawMira Furlan, who told me that she’s going to be in a new film starring Penelope Cruz that’s called Twice Born. She then opined that DragonCon was “fantastic – mad and fantastic,” and I couldn’t agree more.
Well! That’s the news for this week, but there’s even more to come, as I also got to attend the Battlestar Galactica panel and chat with those actors while at Dragon*Con and have more to say about that; we’ve got an exclusive chat with J. August Richards in the offing; and I’ve just gotten back from the fantastic Baltimore Comic Con.
So check back for more excitement next week, and until then, Servo Lectio!
If you weren’t following our Twitter feed or our Facebook page in real time on Saturday night (and good heavens, why weren’t you?) the 2012 Harvey Awards were given out at the Baltimore Comic-Con. [[[Daredevil]]] was the big winner of the night with four wins for Best Series, Best New Series, Best Inker and Best Writer. [[[Hark! A Vagrant]]]‘s Kate Beaton won three with Best Online Comics Work, the Special Award for Humor, and Best Cartoonist. [[[Jim Henson’s Tale Of Sand]]] by Ramon Perez won two for Best Original Graphic Album and Best Story, tying [[[Walt Simonson’s The Mighty Thor: Artist’s Edition]]] with wins for Best Domestic Reprint Project and the Special Award for Excellence in Presentation, and J.H. Williams on [[[Batwoman]]] snagging Best Artist and Best Cover Artist.
The Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award from the Hero Initiative was given posthumously to Joe Kubert, while the Lifetime Achievement Award was handed to John Romita Jr. by his father and Stan Lee, much to JR JR’s shock and surprise.
Phil LaMarr did an excellent job as Master of Ceremonies, speaking from the heart as a true fanboy who’s made good as the voice of Green Lantern and Samurai Jack, as well as (and I didn’t know this until after the ceremony) playing future Mr. Terrific writer Eric Wallace in Free Enterprise. It didn’t really matter that he was a first-time host since, as he commented, the Harvey Awards were starting over and renumbering from #1. The keynote speech was delivered by Ross Richie, Big Kahuna at BOOM! And for our part, ComicMix was proud to be one of the many sponsors of the Harvey Awards this year.
The nominees are below, with winners in boldface.
1. Best Writer
Joshua Hale Fialkov, ECHOES, Top Cow
Laura Lee Gulledge, PAGE BY PAIGE, Amulet Books
Jeff Lemire, ANIMAL MAN, DC Comics
Jason Shiga, EMPIRE STATE: A LOVE STORY (OR NOT), Abrams ComicArts Mark Waid, DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics
2. Best Artist
Paolo Rivera, DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics
Chris Samnee, CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BUCKY, Marvel Comics
Jason Shiga, EMPIRE STATE: A LOVE STORY (OR NOT), Abrams ComicArts
Craig Thompson, HABIBI, Pantheon Books J.H. Williams, BATWOMAN, DC Comics
3. Best Cartoonist
Kate Beaton, HARK! A VAGRANT, harkavagrant.com; print edition by Drawn and Quarterly
Jeremy Haun, PILOT SEASON: THE BEAUTY #1, Image Comics
Jeff Kinney, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: CABIN FEVER, Amulet Books
Roger Langridge, SNARKED, kaboom!
Comfort Love & Adam Withers, RAINBOW IN THE DARK, uniquescomic.com/rainbowinthedark
Craig Thompson, HABIBI, Pantheon Books
4. Best Letterer
Chris Eliopoulos, FEAR ITSELF, Marvel Comics
Laura Lee Gulledge, PAGE BY PAIGE, Amulet Books
Todd Klein, S.H.I.E.L.D.: ARCHITECTS OF FOREVER, Marvel Comics
David Lanphear, SECRET AVENGERS, Marvel Comics
Jason Shiga, EMPIRE STATE: A LOVE STORY (OR NOT), Abrams ComicArts
5. Best Inker
Laura Lee Gulledge, PAGE BY PAIGE, Amulet Books
Mark Morales, THOR, Marvel Comics
Sal Regla, THE MAGDALENA, Top Cow Joe Rivera, DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics
Jason Shiga, EMPIRE STATE: A LOVE STORY (OR NOT), Abrams ComicArts
6. Best Colorist
Elizabeth Breitweiser, CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BUCKY, Marvel Comics
Francesco Francavilla, BLACK PANTHER: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR, Marvel Comics
Sunny Gho, ARTIFACTS, Top Cow
Dave McCaig, THE MAGDALENA, Top Cow Dave Stewart, HELLBOY: THE FURY, Dark Horse
7. Best Cover Artist
John Tyler Christopher, ARTIFACTS, Top Cow
Marcos Martin, DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics
Paolo Rivera, DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics
Mark Simpson (Jock), DETECTIVE COMICS, DC Comics J.H. Williams, BATWOMAN, DC Comics
8. Most Promising New Talent
Nick Bradshaw, ASTONISHING X-MEN, Marvel Comics
Nathan Edmondson, WHO IS JAKE ELLIS?, Image Comics
Laura Lee Gulledge, PAGE BY PAIGE, Amulet Books
Justin Jordan, THE STRANGE TALENT OF LUTHER STRODE, Image Comics Sara Pichelli, ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, Marvel Comics
9. Best New Series
ANGEL & FAITH, Dark Horse
ANIMAL MAN, DC Comics DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics
LAST MORTAL, Top Cow
OZMA OF OZ, Marvel Comics
RACHEL RISING, Abstract Studio
10. Best Continuing or Limited Series
ATOMIC ROBO AND THE GHOST OF STATION X, Red 5 Comics DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: CABIN FEVER, Amulet Books
ECHOES, Top Cow
RACHEL RISING, Abstract Studio
11. Best Syndicated Strip or Panel
BIZARRO, Dan Piraro, syndicated by King Features Syndicate CUL DE SAC, Richard Thompson, syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate
DOONESBURY, Garry Trudeau, syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate
MUTTS, Patrick McDonnell, syndicated by King Features Syndicate
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, Stephen Pastis, syndicated by United Feature Syndicate
12. Best Anthology
DARK HORSE PRESENTS, edited by various, Dark Horse
FLIGHT #8, edited by Kazu Kibuishi, Villard Books
JIM HENSON’S THE STORYTELLER, edited by Nate Cosby, Archaia Entertainment
SHAME ITSELF, edited by Tom Brennan, Marvel Comics
SOMEDAY FUNNIES, edited by Michael Choquette, Abrams ComicArts
13. Best Graphic Album – Original
[[[EMPIRE STATE: A LOVE STORY (OR NOT)]]], Abrams ComicArts
[[[HABIBI]]], Pantheon Books
[[[INFINITE KUNG FU]]], Top Shelf Productions [[[JIM HENSON’S TALE OF SAND]]], Archaia Entertainment
[[[ONE SOUL]]], Oni Press
[[[PAGE BY PAIGE]]], Amulet Books
14. Best Graphic Album – Previously Published
[[[BIG QUESTIONS]]], Drawn & Quarterly
[[[DARK TOWER OMNIBUS]]], Marvel Comics [[[THE DEATH RAY]]], Drawn & Quarterly
[[[ECHOES]]], Top Cow
[[[PS MAGAZINE: THE BEST OF PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE MONTHLY]]], Abrams ComicArts
[[[S.H.I.E.L.D.: ARCHITECTS OF FOREVER]]], Marvel Comics
15. Best Single Issue or Story
DAREDEVIL #7, Marvel Comics
ECHOES #5, Top Cow
GANGES #4, Fantagraphics
THE HOMELAND DIRECTIVE, Top Shelf Productions JIM HENSON’S TALE OF SAND, Archaia Entertainment
OPTIC NERVE #12, Drawn & Quarterly
ZORRO RIDES AGAIN #1, Dynamite Comics
16. Best Domestic Reprint Project
[[[BLACKJACKED AND PISTOL WHIPPED: A CRIME DOES NOT PAY PRIMER]]], Dark Horse
[[[THE COMICS: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION]]], Abrams ComicArts
[[[DEFINITIVE FLASH GORDON AND JUNGLE JIM]]], IDW
[[[WALT DISNEY’S MICKEY MOUSE (THE FLOYD GOTTFREDSON LIBRARY)]]], Fantagraphics [[[WALT SIMONSON’S THE MIGHTY THOR ARTIST’S EDITION]]], IDW
17. Best American Edition of Foreign Material
[[[ADVENTURES OF HERGE]]], Drawn & Quarterly
[[[THE KILLER VOL. 3: MODUS VIVENDI!]]], Archaia Entertainment [[[THE MANARA LIBRARY VOL. 1: INDIAN SUMMER AND OTHER STORIES]]], Dark Horse
[[[ONWARD TOWARD OUR NOBLE DEATHS]]], Drawn & Quarterly
[[[SINGLE MATCH]]], Drawn & Quarterly
18. Best Online Comics Work
BATTLEPUG, Mike Norton
BUCKO, Erika Moen and Jeff Parker
DELILAH DIRK AND THE TURKISH LIEUTENANT, Tony Cliff
GRONK, Katie Cook HARK! A VAGRANT, Kate Beaton
19. Special Award for Humor in Comics
Kate Beaton, [[[HARK! A VAGRANT]]], harkavagrant.com; print edition by Drawn and Quarterly
Evan Dorkin, [[[MILK AND CHEESE: DAIRY PRODUCTS GONE BAD]]], Dark Horse
Jeff Kinney, [[[DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: CABIN FEVER]]], Amulet Books
Roger Langridge, [[[SNARKED]]], kaboom!
Lela Lee, [[[FAIRY TALES FOR ANGRY LITTLE GIRLS]]], Abrams ComicArts
20. Special Award for Excellence in Presentation
JIM HENSON’S TALE OF SAND, designed by Eric Skillman, Archaia Entertainment
PS MAGAZINE: THE BEST OF PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE MONTHLY, selected by Eddie Campbell, Abrams ComicArts
RICHARD STARK’S PARKER: THE MARTINI EDITION, designed by Darwyn Cooke, IDW
SOMEDAY FUNNIES, edited by Michael Choquette, Abrams ComicArts WALT SIMONSON’S THE MIGHTY THOR ARTIST’S EDITION, designed by Randall Dahlk & edited by Scott Dunbier, IDW
21. Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation
ALAN MOORE: STORYTELLER, Universe Books
THE COMICS JOURNAL, Fantagraphics GENIUS ISOLATED: THE LIFE AND ART OF ALEX TOTH, IDW
GOVERNMENT ISSUE: COMICS FOR THE PEOPLE, 1940s-2000s, Abrams ComicArts
PS MAGAZINE: THE BEST OF PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE MONTHLY, Abrams ComicArts
22. Best Original Graphic Publication for Younger Readers
ANYA’S GHOST, First Second
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: CABIN FEVER, Amulet Books
FRAGGLE ROCK, Archaia Entertainment
MYSTIC, Marvel Comics
OZMA OF OZ, Marvel Comics
SNARKED, kaboom!
One of the ways writer Kelly Sue DeConnick is developing the new Captain Marvel is by giving her firm links to the history and culture of women’s aviation. This approach combines the real world and Marvel Universe in a way that comics fans haven’t seen in several years.
In Captain Marvel #1, DeConnick introduces Carol Danvers’ flying mentor, Helen Cobb. Cobb is described as a record-holding pilot and a member of the “Mercury 13 program,” without giving a lot of details. Captain Marvel #3 is now out, and, while the plot of the first story line is still taking shape, it’s possible to talk about some of DeConnick’s sources.
Helen Cobb is almost certainly inspired by Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb, a prominent woman pilot who became involved in an abortive effort to add women astronauts to the Project Mercury program in the early 1960s. Here’s what happened, according to two excellent books on the subject: Promised the Moonby Stephanie Nolen (Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002) and [[[The Mercury 13]]] by Martha Ackmann (Random House, 2003).
NASA commissioned a non-government organization called the Lovelace Clinic to do medical tests on the newly-chosen Mercury 7 astronauts. The director of the clinic decided that they were going to test women as well. There was more than scientific curiosity behind this decision. There was a commonly held belief that the USSR was training woman for space (which proved to be true) and scientists were establishing the basic principles for manned space flight. Maybe it would be smarter to use women as astronauts, because they were smaller and used less oxygen.
During 1960 and ’61, Jerrie Cobb and 12 other women went through a series of tests and examinations. They did well, equal to or better than the men in many cases. However, NASA refused to let the tests continue. Two of the reasons the agency gave were also presented in CM #3. The women were not trained to be jet test pilots and losing a woman in space would be a public relations disaster.
Cobb, and some of the other women, continued to fight the decision, even managing to organize a short congressional hearing on the topic. Over time, NASA’s policies changed; Sally Ride, who died earlier this year, became the first American woman in space in 1983. However, neither Cobb nor her associates ever made it.
Referring to the group as the Mercury 13 didn’t start until relatively recently. Cobb sometimes called them the Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees (F.L.A.T.s), but that wasn’t even accepted by everyone in the group.
In the comics, Helen Cobb eventually became a bar owner. Jerrie Cobb went in a very different direction. She was always extremely shy—in part due to a speech impediment—and she was further traumatized by her brush with notoriety in the early 1960s. She eventually became a pilot for a missionary organization in Latin and South America.
It should be noted, though, that the story in Captain Marvel #2 about Helen Cobb having to escape from a Peruvian general does have a basis in reality. After World War II, Jerrie Cobb did deliver surplus U.S military planes to various buyers in South America.
In addition, Helen Cobb refers to the Ninety-Nines in issue one. That’s a real-life organization of women aviators, co-founded by Amelia Earhart. The name refers to the number of prospective members who attended the first meeting, and not to be confused with the superhero comic based on Islamic culture.
To me, the Mercury 13 storyline is reminiscent of Truth:Red, White and Black the 2003 Captain America story where it is revealed that the super-soldier serum was secretly tested on African-Americans. It takes a little-known piece of actual history and shows its impact on someone in the Marvel Universe. And making the women’s aviation sub-culture part of Carol Danvers’ background makes her a stronger, more interesting character.
Before continuing, I must say mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.
I made a major error last week. My terrific correspondent in last week’s column is not Bill Hannigan. He is Bill Mulligan. As in – sing along, folks – m-u-double l-i-g-a-n spells Mulligan. I cannot explain it, but can only blame it on my menopausal mind. A hundred thousand apologies to Bill.
• • • • •
So last week I went to Vector Books, my local comics emporium, and picked up Justice League #12 (by Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, and David Finch, with kudos to those gentlemen and everyone involved for terrific writing and gorgeous artwork).
In case you need reminding, it’s the issue with The Big Kiss.
But it is not a kiss of love.
It is a kiss of longing.
It is a kiss of confusion.
It is a kiss of desire.
The desire to know.
Who am I?
Where do I belong?
Am I capable of love?
Can you love me?
Can I love you?
Do you know?
If you do, tell me.
I need to know.
Longing and confusion.
Straight or gay or bi, these questions are at the heart of our relationships, our selves.
When we are in the womb, we are cocooned in an aquatic nest. Our every need is met. The only sound we hear is a muffled whoosh-whoosh, and it comforts us. We are at peace. We know we are not alone.
Then suddenly we are separated from the waters of life, the warmth and the comfort and the muffled sounds of love, and we are thrust into a harsh world of brightness and cold and noise. We are helpless as we are poked and prodded and laid against cold medal. We want to go back. But somehow we know that we can never go back, and we cry for that world where we were safe, where we were loved. And we are afraid that is gone forever.
But it is not gone forever, for we discover that in this harsh world there will be others who will love us, who will protect us and care for us, who will understand our fears and our confusion and our longing, because we will discover that these others are feel these things, too. And we will look to each other for that comfort and that warmth and love which will banish the fear and the loneliness and the confusion always hovering at the edges of our consciousness.
Loneliness.
Confusion.
Desire.
The desire to know ourselves.
The desire to know another.
The desire to not be alone.
The desire to share.
The desire to love.
Human emotions we don’t normally equate with super-heroes, especially mythic heroes such as Wonder Woman and Superman. But we build our heroes on the frail foundations of our humanity, so we should not be surprised when they reflect these frailties back upon us.
The hero’s journey is our journey.
TUESDAY MORNING: Emily S. Whitten Continues With The Big Con
Joe Carnahan, director of The Grey, The A-Team, Smoking Aces, and Narc, had been approached by 20th Century Fox to do a reboot of Daredevil, the blind Marvel Comics character who uses his heightened other senses to battle criminals, previously brought to life in a film starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Colin Farrell, and Jon Favreau.
20th Century Fox has to get a new Daredevil project underway by October in order to keep the rights, otherwise they revert back to Marvel Studios. Right now, it looks like Carnahan’s version is dead, but he released two “sizzle piece” videos that cut together footage from the 2003 film with comics images from Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli’s “Daredevil: Born Again” and scenes and audio from various crime dramas– I spotted Taxi Driver, The Untouchables, Serpico, The Warriors, and Enter The Dragon— to create a feel straight out of 1970s exploitation films. I kept expecting to see Richard Roundtree walking around that version of Hell’s Kitchen.
One of the pleasures of the Internet and of Facebook in particular is that sometimes old friends find you or you find them and you get a chance to re-establish old bonds. One such for me is David Downs who I knew in my Loyola University theater days. Recently, he was asking about my writing and about writing plays and I realized – by Gum! – there was a column in it. Thanks, David!
I’m essentially self-taught as a writer. I’m not putting down writing classes or seminars; I’ve taught some myself. As I think I’ve said elsewhere, however, the theater was my writing school. Much of what I’ve learned about writing comes from my days in theater. I was an actor, a director, a playwright, a sometimes techie, a teacher and occasional inept producer.
My sense of structure comes from the theater and my work as a playwright, an actor, and a director. All three demanded that I be able to break down a play, to comprehend where the conflict lay and how the action built to a climax, how it paid off. The acts break down into scenes and the scenes into beats. A beat can be described like a heartbeat – ba-DUM, ba-DUM. It’s an action/reaction, usually between two characters but it can be one character (witness Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy) or even two groups of characters.
Beats build into scenes with their own mini-climaxes, which in turn lead into acts with their own climaxes, which in turn lead to the play’s climax. What a character does is determined by their motivation; something that drives the character. Not just something they sorta kinda want to do, but what they need to do. There may be more than one motivation and they may be conflicting within the character. Sometimes the characters will think they want something but, underlying, there is something they want more and they learn that in the process of the story.
I learned from theater that everything is defined by action and that includes the dialogue. No one ever just talks – they confirm, they deny, they ask, they reject, they explain, they lie, they oppose, they attack, they defend and so on and so on. How they express themselves reveals something about them as characters. Do they hide behind words? Do they not know how to use words? What is the rhythm of their speech? Do they use long words? Do they use short sentences? Shakespeare wrote in iambic pentameter but his characters do not all speak in the same way. How characters speak reveals themselves as people, often in ways they don’t expect. It happens in every day life; that’s why it works in theater or in writing.
From Shakespeare I also learned how theme should be tied into plot – hard wired in. It’s not something that you overlay; it’s not the “moral” of your story. On any given topic, it’s hard to tell what Shakespeare “thought.” That’s because he was so brilliant at exploring and expressing different and even diametrically opposite points of view. What his characters said on different topics fit because in the plot it was appropriate at that moment to advancing that plot. It was deciding their actions and those actions drove the play.
Case in point – in that same “To be or not to be” speech I mentioned earlier, Hamlet is trying to decide whether to kill himself or not. He debates the pros and cons with himself. He’s trying to determine his course of action. If it’s just declaimed as a beautiful piece of poetry or philosophy, it misses the point. It needs to have an urgency, a real sense that Hamlet just might kill himself if he can’t find a reason why he shouldn’t.
I’ve learned other things from other playwrights – Samuell Beckett and Harold Pinter taught me about economy of language. George Bernard Shaw was very good at wedding social issues with bright characterization and very clever dialogue.
I also learned a lot of Improvisational theater. My sometime writing partner, Del Close, taught many, many classes in Improv and I was privileged to be in some. He taught as well as directed at Second City for a couple decades before moving to the ImprovOlympics. Del was famous for hurling chairs at actors if he felt they were going for the funny. He wanted them to go for the true because, as he often said, “Reality is far funnier than you can ever hope to be.” He wanted the moments that would reveal situations and characters.
He also wanted us to “start in the middle and go on past the ending.” He wasn’t interested in “all that boring exposition crap” and he wanted to see what the next moment was beyond what should have been the end of the story. He wanted the next day after “happily ever after.”
One of the really big things I took away was how little exposition we really need to get into the story. Much less than most writers would think. Assume the readers can keep up. Stan Lee did that with many stories; he’d start you in the middle of a fight and promise to catch you up as he went. He did, too.
From the theater I learned to do without explanation. Don’t tell the reader what to think or feel; let them think and feel and then tell you. Character is to be found in contradiction; don’t try to resolve the contradictions – explore them. I learned all this from constant repetition until it has sunk deep into me; it becomes second nature.
It comes down to this. If you’re going to be a writer, then write. Don’t talk about it, don’t just think about it – do it. A lot of what you write at first may be twaddle. That’s okay. Write the crap out of your system and keep improving. I believe I’m a good writer but not yet as good as I can be and I hope that never occurs until the day I die.
There is no one system or course of instruction that works for everyone; there’s only what works for you. This was my path. Find one that works for you.
The first Airship 27 Productions audio book is now available for sale at the Airship 27 Productions website; “Witchfire” by Ardath Mayhar & Ron Fortier. (See link below.) Produced in conjunction with Broken Sea audio, the six hours plus book features reader Fiona Thraille and was engineered by Chris Barnes.
“We could not be happier with the final product,” said Airship 27 Editor in Chief Ron Fortier, also one of the co-writers of the book along with the late Ardath Mayhar of Texas. “I’m not sure if any of Ardath’s many science fiction or fantasy novels were ever adapted to this format. I hope her many fans will truly enjoy this audio version which is dedicated to her memory.”
Along with the release of this, Airship 27 is also releasing a Kindle version of “Witchfire.” The company released its first Kindle title, “Captain Action – Riddle of the Glowing” by Jim Beard only last week. “We are really excited about these new formats,” Fortier went on. “Our readers have been asking for them and finally we have the capability to provide them with this multiple formats. Expect to see many more of our books on both Kindle and as audio downloads.”
For now only audio file downloads will be available, selling for $9.99. Airship 27 does hope to eventually press CD copies as well. The company, started six years ago is devoted to publishing brand new pulp novels and anthologies and is operated by Fortier and his partner, Art Director Rob Davis.
AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – Pulps for a New Generation!
No, no no, no…. That’s the title of a very famous song by the Marvelettes. You may be too young to know it by just the title, but I’m pretty sure if you heard it you would recognize it. If you or your parents own any greatest hits albums by Motown then this song is bound to be on there.
