Monthly Archive: December 2014

Dennis O’Neil: The Big Christmas Movie

So here we are again, doing our annual dance with me on one side of the time gap and you on the other. For me, Christmas, 2014, is yet to occur – heck, I haven’t even seen Christmas eve yet – and you’re reading this on Christmas morning, at the earliest. Maybe you’ve gotten the big feast and the accompanying burps out of the way and you’re in the family room with the relatives watching the game (there’s always a game) or sulking in your room because you didn’t get the loot you were hoping for and you did get something you won’t take out of the box… Cripes, you haven’t worn spats in years. Or maybe you’re alone in a motel room wondering what skewed the universe.

What you probably aren’t doing is sitting in a theater watching one of the holiday offerings titled The Interview, starring those laughmeisters James Franco and Seth Rogen. By now, you know the story: someone did a monstermother of a computer hack on the Sony cyber equipment, saw the film, threatened unspecified acts of terror if it gets shown, anywhere, anytime.

It all seems to make cinema’s new best friends, the superheroes, as obsolete as Santa’s sleigh. It’s likely that you’ve seen a superhero flick or two, if you watch movies at all, because there are a lot of them out there. And there are a lot more to come – 30 in various stages of production for release over the next five years.

They’re kind of quaint. A villain menaces the common good, the hero responds, has problems, and then does some major league supering and the malefactor is vanquished and tranquility is restored, at least until the sequel. That, or some iteration of that, is usually the plot. Not always: for example, The Dark Knight was an exception. But usually.

Visible menace. Understandable problem. And victory by application of superior force. Satisfying entertainment because it absorbs us without straining our mental resources and pushes some emotional buttons. And the super feats are fun to watch. Good way to hide from your personal woes for an afternoon. I’ve seen most of these movies and I’ll see more and I’ll probably be satisfied when I do.

But with each passing year, they have less and less relation to real life, even metaphorically.. Who knows what’s in Kim Jung Un’s mind? Whatever it is, he isn’t trumpeting it in the media. Who knows who’s even a member of ISIS? Who could have guessed that persons unknown would attack the U.S. economy through an amusement owned by a Japanese corporation? The lines are rapidly blurring and the modern brand of treachery can’t be overcome by punches. Or bombs.

I wish our noble politicians would learn that, or at least be aware that there might be something to learn.

Meanwhile, we have the superheroes and, by golly, they are entertaining and at the end of the day, that’s all they have to be.

I wish you light and warmth.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Since Denny submitted this column, Sony Pictures has changed their mind and allowed showings in some 200 theaters – possibly one near you. It’s also rentable and purchaseable through You Tube and other online streaming services. For the record, we will note that the major theater chains which refused to show The Interview continue to hold to that position.)

 

 

 

 

Mike Gold: Norm Breyfogle Needs Your Help – Now!

We are a community. We are fans, enthusiasts, historians, role players and practitioners of one of America’s true native art forms… and a member of our community needs a helping hand.

norm-breyfogle-5601604Over these many years, most of us here at ComicMix have worked with Norm Breyfogle. He’s best known for his work on Batman, although (since this is my column today) my favorite of his work was on Eclipse Comics’ Prime. He also co-created the award-winning Archie: The Married Life with our pal Michael Uslan and has tons of credits as an A-list comics artist.

Norm suffered a major stroke. He’s still with us, thankfully, but he’s paralyzed on his left side – of course, he’s left-handed. Norm spent a week in intensive care, which tapped out his savings, and he’s got months ahead of him in a nursing home getting physical therapy. It’s too early to tell if he’ll ever be able to draw again; my guess is, right now he’d settle for being able to walk again.

Like a great many comics freelancers, Norm had no insurance. I won’t get into the comics industry politics behind that; this isn’t the time for that. But needing insurance and being able to afford it are two different things, and I know from personal experience that for a guy Norm’s age – he’s 54 – adequate health insurance can run over fifteen grand a year, and that doesn’t count pre-existing conditions and that assumes your health record doesn’t make coverage impossible no matter what the price. I won’t get into the health care politics at this time either.

So I am asking you to help a good guy out. Yes, there are a lot of comics people who have found themselves in this position, and I know nobody wants to play pick-and-choose under such circumstances. You’ve got to take it one person at a time, one day at a time.

There’s a website called YouCaring.com that helps raise money online for people in Norm’s unfortunate situation. They’re trying to raise $200,000; as of this writing (Tuesday night), they’ve raised $26,000. That’s a good start. But if you’ve got an extra ten or twenty bucks, right now this would be the perfect home. The link is http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/legendary-batman-artist-norm-breyfogle-stroke-fund/281723; click on it and do a solid for a real good guy. And tell your friends.

Please don’t look at this as a guilt-trip. Lots of folks have the desire to help but not the financial wherewithal. And, of course, tomorrow is Christmas and with gifts, family functions, office parties and the like we’re all kind of tapped out. But if you’ve got something – anything – to help Norm out, please give it a thought.

 

 

REVIEW: Nnewts Book One: Escape from the Lizzarks

Nnewts Book One: Escape from the Lizzarks
By Doug TenNapel
186 pages, Scholastic Graphix, $19.99 (hc)/$10.99 (pb)

nnewts-206x300There is no doubt Doug TenNapel is a highly imaginative and creative storyteller. I look forward to the day when he works with an editor to bring out the very best in his worldbuilding and stories. After a series of one-off stories, including Cardboard, Tommysaurus Rex, Ghostopolis, and Bad Island, he embarks on a series set in a new reality.

In Nnewts, he pits amphibians versus lizards in a realm that is far from Earth and focuses on Herk, a young Nnewt who yearns for being fully amphibious but his weak legs, a product from birth, prohibit that. Still, when disaster strikes Nnewtown, he is the sole person to make it out and embarks on the Hero’s Journey to find help.

nnewts2-192x300At one juncture, he encounters the Lizard God and a few things are revealed including the god stole Nnewt’s proper legs to hamper him since he is the, gasp, “chosen one”. Nnewt manages to steal his true legs, attach them as if they were clip-ons and continues on his way, with one angry god in pursuit.

There’s a lot of charm to TenNapel’s designs and the color work from Katherine Garner, enhances the story’s mood and atmosphere. Once more, there remain storytelling gaffes that spoil the fun and adventure. Early on, two characters debate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches versus ham and cheese sandwiches. In another reality, neither would exist and feel thoroughly out of place. Other times, problems arise and are resolved a little too quickly for proper suspense.

When Nnewt finds out he’s the “one” there’s no pause for the impact of those words or that the Lizard God stole his legs years early. The emotional payoff is thoroughly missing throughout the story. At one point he meets the King of None who explains how they will stay in touch then the method is never used, even when it could have helped out plucky little hero.

The first volume draws to a close with the revelation that there may be one “other”, a brother he never knew. In fact, the story ends with a cliffhanger so it’s nearly 200 pages of setup and no delivery. There’s no satisfaction to reading what is essentially chapter one which is a shame because there is a lot of promise to this world.

Mindy Newell: Reflection In A Dark Pool

Through the mirror of my mind / Time after time, I see reflections of you and me / Reflections of the way life used to be / Reflections of the love you took from me • “Reflections,” by Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland, and Eddie Holland, recorded by Diana Ross and the Supremes, 1967, Motown Records

Like every other art form, comics – or more accurately, the creators of comics – reflect the times in which they live.

I started reading comics in the Silver Age, when superheroes were manufactured like products in factories, conveyed along conveyor belts of post-World War II American middle-class morality, which ensured that everything but the packaging was the same. Each hero kept their true nature hidden behind a pair of glasses, or a secretary’s typewriter, or a desk in a high school classroom. Each hero lived a lonely life, because to reveal their secret would only endanger their loved one. And each rose above their personal traumas and tragedies to fight for “truth, justice, and the American way.”

And we felt good about our heroes, and about ourselves.

Then, while Mississippi burned and Vietnam raged, “let it all hang out” and “tune in, turn on, drop out,” became the mantra of a generation. The real world intruded onto the four-color page as mutant X-Men fought societal preconceptions of race, religion, and gender roles, Speedy, Green Arrow’s sidekick, became a drug addict, and alcoholism consumed Tony Stark.

And even though our heroes suffered, they rose above their personal battles and we felt good about them, and about ourselves.

Then came the “Brit Invasion” of comics, and writers like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Peter Milligan, Grant Morrison, and Jamie Delano turned comics inside out and upside down. Our heroes became just like us, only more so; questions about identity and debates about right and wrong plagued them. Nothing was black-and-white in the four-color world, anymore; doubts and uncertainty ruled decisions, and outcomes were often ambiguous.

But we still we rooted for our heroes, because through their problems, we understood our problems, and so we felt good about our heroes, and about ourselves.

But now I wonder… yes, comics still reflect the real world, but now it too often feels like I’m leaning over the railing of a ship and spitting in the wind. The realism flies back in our face.

The world seems to me uglier today than it ever was. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda and ISIS have made the Crusades and the Inquisition footnotes in a text on religion as an excuse for totalitarianism and war. Cyber terrorism raises the specter of a war between creative freedom and potential lawsuits, and creative freedom loses. Racism is alive and well again as acts of violence and death are perpetuated by those who wear a uniform that is supposed to stand for protection against such acts. The so-called leaders of our country are unfunny clowns in a thunderdome of viciousness and ugliness, and a vice-president, the man-who-would-be-king, defends torture as the American way. And hardly anybody votes, because hardly anybody cares.

And we no longer root for our heroes, who are us, but only more so, because, you know, all art is a product of its society, and comics are an art form, and comics are created by artists who are can’t be blamed for reflecting the society in which they live.

 

John Ostrander: Scrooge Revisited

I love Christmas. It’s been my favorite time of the year as far back as I can remember – which, these days, may be last week. I think, in many ways, it was the run up to Christmas, also known as Advent, that I loved the most. It was the anticipation that made it special; what presents would we get, buying the present we would give, the Advent Wreath and the Advent Calendar. The day itself could be a bit of a let-down because it as never as good as the dream, the anticipation. How could it be? So long as it was a dream, it was perfect. The reality of something is always less than the dream of it.

While I was in grade school, each Christmas Eve I wound up at Midnight Mass (did I mention I was raised Roman Catholic?), singing in the Boy’s Choir. We practiced for weeks and that was also part of the anticipation.

At home, we also had a little ritual that my mother devised and that we dutifully performed/attended, although when we hit puberty it was only with protest. We marched down the stairs, the youngest carrying the Baby Jesus for the manger. We would read The Night Before Christmas (a.k.a. A Visit From Saint Nicholas) by Clement Clarke Moore.

A section of A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, was also read. It was the Cratchit dinner scene in Stave Three of the story and it was from this that I began my life long fascination and affection for the story.

A Christmas Carol was written in 1843 and has never been out of print since. It spearheaded the revival of English Christmas customs, many of which survive to this day; it re-invigorated the celebration of the holiday. I have read the novella several times, I’ve watched many different versions of it on TV (and some I watch every year as part of my own personal Christmas tradition) and for several years I acted in it on stage at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, playing such vital parts as Mr. Round, Fred’s friend #3, Dancing Man, and Ensemble. A lot of my performance centered on my tearing off my clothes as soon as I got offstage, changing into others, and dashing to whatever part of the stage I was supposed to enter from next.

My great friend, William J. Norris, played Scrooge and he did it magnificently. One of my jobs, as I saw it, was to see if I could make him break up during the Fezziwig dance scene. I am not a trained dancer by any means and I would fly with my partner past Bill who was on the steps; I would be sweating and puffing and muttering, “Oh, I live to dance!” Yes, somewhat unprofessional, I know, but the only one who heard it was Bill and he giggled.

It was also during A Christmas Carol that I met Del Close, the fabled director, teacher, and actor at Second City and elsewhere, who played the Ghost of Christmas Present. He and I would later become writing partners on Munden’s Bar and Wasteland. Del, a pagan and witch, said his portrayal was based on Baccus; he also wore a pentangle under his costume, Del’s way of being subversive without being disruptive.

The production has become a yearly mainstay for the Goodman Theater, generating a lot of income that helps sustain it. But nobody knew that in its first year. As strange as it sounds now, it was a risky venture – a large cast, lots of costumes, fancy sets, and even special effects! If it didn’t come together, if it didn’t go over, the theater could be in trouble. As late as the final week before opening, the show still hadn’t jelled.

Opening night was magic. Everything worked and the audience was with us every step of the way. Just as the show ended, a light snow began falling outside. We all wondered how the Special Effects people had rigged that.

Most of all, the audience was drawn in to the story. It’s a brilliant concept – a ghost story set, not at Halloween, but Christmas. I have yet to see a play version or movie or television adaptation that emphasizes that. The ghost story aspects should, I think, be frightening. It’s what establishes what is at stake for Scrooge. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future are powerful entities; if we only observe them and not feel them, Scrooge’s reformation is hard to fathom.

Also central to A Christmas Carol is its social conscience and message. This is often glossed over or omitted entirely and that’s a shame; it is the soul of the story. It is scary how much of that message is still relevant; Scrooge early on claims to be “a man of business”. He also famously says of the poor: “If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” How prevalent that attitude seems today. One might wish it had become outdated; it seems stronger than ever.

So, part of my Christmas celebration will be to watch my favorite movie version, with Alastair Sim, on Christmas Eve, along with its American counterpart, it’s A Wonderful Life. And wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

God Bless Us, Everyone.

C’mon; you knew I was going to say that.

(Photo I.D. – Val Bettin, left, and William J. Norris in the Goodman Theater’s A Christmas Carol, from its first run in 1978)

 

The Law Is A Ass

BOB INGERSOLL: THE LAW IS A ASS #337: THE TEEN TITANS ARE GUN SHY

21sullivan-cityroom-blog480-8732540Once upon a time there was a very bad man who attempted to commit an armed robbery but chose his victims poorly: Bunker and Beast Boy of the Teen Titans. Although Bunker and Beast Boy subdued the mugger, he got off scot free because neither hero bothered waiting for the police. They just left the would-be mugger lying in the park and walked away. So the police had no evidence with which to charge the very bad man and no witnesses with which to try him for his very bad crimes.

That’s how we left things in Teen Titans v 5, # 3, when last I wrote about the book. I wrote about how wrong it was for Bunker and Beast Boy to walk away and left the matter there. Then promptly went to Florida. Let’s face it, Disney World, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and Key West are more fun than reading many of DC’s New 52 comics.

I knew I had left something out of the discussion. I did so intentionally. It would have taken the column into an area which was tangential to the point I wanted to make and would have required another 1,000 words to cover. I decided not to follow said tangent or add another 1,000 words to the column. I figured you’d put up with me long enough for one week.

Since that column two things have happened. First, some readers of this column – yes I do have some readers, two is some – asked me about the point I had left out of the first column. Second, today I started a new column with a new 1,000 words I have to fill up with something. So why shouldn’t that something be the question that those readers asked me, “What about the gun?”

The gun. That little revolver – one so little that Bunker actually mocked it – that the mugger possessed. It may not have been a big gun, but could it cause a big problem for our mugger? See, this mugging happened in New York City. And, unless the lyrics of New York, New York are lying, New York City is part of New York state, the home of the infamous Sullivan Act.

The Sullivan Act is a New York state gun control act. It took effect in 1911, making it one of the oldest gun control statutes in the country. It required anyone who carried a firearm small enough to be concealed to acquire a license for it. Possession of an unlicensed firearm was a misdemeanor. Carrying an unlicensed firearm was a felony.

The act was named for state senator Timothy Sullivan, who was described with the redundant phrase,  a corrupt Tammany Hall politician. Sullivan’s supporters claimed he sponsored the law from his desire to bring firearms under control. His detractors said he wanted to make sure his personal bodyguards could be armed and have a way to get rid of political rivals, with accounts of Sullivan having the police put unlicensed guns in his enemies’ pockets and carting them off to jail. Back in the corrupt days of Tammany Hall, the police did more planting than a botanical gardener.

So, the mugger was subject to the Sullivan Act, which prompts the question; Was the mugger’s firearm licensed? Probably not.

In New York City, licenses go to retired police officers, celebrities, and other people with connections; but regular people need not apply. Well, they can apply, but the odds of them getting a license are worse that the odds of 62-year-old, overweight me quarterbacking the Cleveland Browns next week. So, it’s unlikely that a scuzzy looking mugger got a license to carry a firearm.

Actually, a new version of the criminal possession of a firearm law  went into effect in New York in March of 2013 and it might make it illegal for people to carry any firearm. It depends on how the statute with its multiple clauses is interpreted. But let’s not even go there.

For the sake of keeping this column simple, we’ll assume the mugger’s gun wasn’t licensed. So, wouldn’t the police have been able to convict him of this crime, even if they couldn’t get him for mugging? Probably not. For a couple of reasons.

First, there is the question of whether the original Sullivan Act or this new firearm possession law is constitutional. In the 2010 case McDonald v. Chicago, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Second Amendment applied to the states through incorporation of the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause and struck down an Illinois statute criminalizing the possession of firearms. So the Sullivan Act and its progeny may not last much longer. If it goes, so would our mugger’s conviction for possession of a firearm after an appeal. But his case isn’t likely to get as far as the appeal.

Our poor beaten-up mugger probably won’t get to appeal his conviction for possession of a firearm for the simpler reason that he probably won’t get charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm in the first place.

After Bunker hit the mugger, the firearm went flying out of the mugger’s hand. It landed on the ground somewhere in the area, but it was not in the mugger’s possession. So, when the police found the mugger lying all alone, he didn’t possess the firearm.

The police would have no way of proving the mugger had ever possessed the firearm. Sure they got a phone call from someone who said a person had tried to rob him in the park. But when the police arrived, they found a guy lying in the park and didn’t find the purported victims. The police had no way of proving that the man they found lying on the ground was the man some anonymous telephone call said was a robber. He could have been some poor homeless drunk sleeping one off in the park or another victim of the mugger or a renegade Scientologist communicating with Xenu. They couldn’t arrest the man because, while they may have had speculation, they had no probable cause.

And stop saying fingerprints. The police couldn’t test the gun for fingerprints and compare any found to the man’s fingerprints. Remember, the police had no probable cause to arrest him. If the police couldn’t arrest the man, they also couldn’t obtain the man’s fingerprints and compare them to any that were found on the gun.

So let that be a lesson to all you comic book writers out there. If you write a big old fight scene, or even a little one-page fight scene, after it’s over make sure the hero or someone is around who would be able to testify that the bad guy was the guy who actually did something bad. Otherwise, all you’ll have written is a scene full of sound and fury that signifies nothing.

And after reading many of the New 52 books, I’ve already got plenty of nothing.

Marc Alan Fishman: Super-Hero Fantasy Football

My beloved Chicago Bears are a team in turmoil. After installing a new head coach roughly two seasons ago, the team has simply never gelled since. This being in spite of fielding a team that is built beautifully on paper. Suffice to say as a fan, I’m left crushed and crestfallen.

But whereas die-hard football fans would simply spend the remaining time of the current season hatewatching games and greedily predicting the firing of staff, I myself am choosing a path of less anguish. No denial, anger, bargaining, depression, or really even acceptance. I’m choosing instead the art of distraction. OK, sure I bet that files under denial, but c’mon: I’m not denying my Bears blew this season in all three phases of the game. Rather than wallow in it, I think it’s a better use of my time to use my somewhat encyclopedic knowledge of comic book characters to build my own team of comics-based footballery.

From time to time we’ve seen the occasional X-Men softball game. Or perhaps a few long-lost scenes of a young Clark Kent tossing the pigskin around. But no, here, I’m relying on the known commodity that is the playground What If game. Here, the rules are simple: I’m constructing my own team of comic book characters to be fielded against any of your chosen champions. In an ultimate contest of “…nuh-uh, my team is better!” It should be fun!

Head Coach: Batman

The best coaches are motivators and strategists. Not withstanding his physical abilities, the greatest asset of the Dark Knight truly is his mind. I could think of no one better to organize a team, develop strategies that capitalize on a team’s strengths, as well as poke holes in the opponents. And while no one on my team would necessarily attempt to “Win one for the Gipper” through some unspoken bond of camaraderie, let’s be honest: Bruce has enough bat-bucks to incentivize his team if the thrill of victory isn’t enough. Furthermore, if the man’s backup plans to defeat the JLA could be used to easily thwart the JLA, well, imagine what would happen if planning was his only job!

Quarterbacks: Captain America (starter), Hawkeye / Green Arrow (backups)

Face it, every team needs that moral center. And at the best teams within the NFL in my lifetime? You have your Tom Bradys, Peyton Mannings, Drew Breeses, and the like. They’re these good ol’ boys who can make stars out of everybody around them. They rally to save the day. They don’t make stupid mistakes when the chips are down. Captain America is all of that and more. He’s a leader – natch – a strategist, and more than capable of firing an accurate projectile. Simply put, there’s no way I could found my team without him at the helm on the field of battle. And as a safe backups? The archers are just safe bets to move the ball accurately across the field.

Running Back / Fullback: The Flash, Juggernaut

When it comes to setting the run down, I’m a firm believer in potent tandems. The Flash is of course the speed on the team. Get the ball in his hand, set his blocks, and he’s in the red zone before you can blink. And when finesse isn’t needed on the goal line? Just put it in the hands of the unstoppable force. And if you don’t believe this balance works? Go ask the 85′ Bears’ Walter Peyton and Walter Perry.

Wide Receivers: Hawkman, Spider-Man, Mister Miracle

The ability to “go up and get it” is my primary concern. Having a natural flyer, a first-class acrobat, and a man who can literally get out of any coverage he might be in, all in order to come down with the ball? Well, that spells yardage to me. And certainly in all three cases, getting yards after catch is clearly not a concern.

The Offensive Line: The Blob (Center), Colossus and Strong Guy (Guards), Bishop and Groot (Setting the edge)

When it comes to protecting the QB, I can think of no line better. I basically built off the idea of immobile behemoths who can stand as a literal human (and tree) wall, from which Captain America can stand behind full-well knowing he has precious time to survey the field. And considering the line consists of an immovable object, two top-heavy strong-men, a guy who can absorb kinetic energy, and a living tree who can at least make things thorny if a linebacker slips by… I’m pretty well set.

Tight End: Beast (starter), Hal Jordan (backup)

A good tight end is many things to a team. He’s a lead-blocker. A pass-catcher. A known diversion. Basically, in my eyes… a wildcard capable of disrupting a defense in any number of situations. I believe with a thinker like Beast lining up, I’d gain insight, agility, and raw strength when needed. And should he be too physical a presence? Well, ole’ Hal and his trust emerald ring of power would do plenty to keep an opposing defender distracted. And hey, no one said you can’t catch a pass with a giant boxing glove, right?

The Defensive Line: Solomon Grundy, Grodd, Doomsday, The Thing

Forgive me: I just wanted four big, mean, nasty dudes ready to tear apart anything that moves when the ball is hiked. I give myself +5 points for choosing a monkey with telepathic powers to boot.

Linebackers: Thor, Hulk, Wonder Woman

Much like the D-Line, my LBs are all about aggression. But unlike Grundy and the gang, here I wanted to add a bit of mobility. While Hulk isn’t exactly light in the loafers… he more than makes up for it with the ability to leap great distances. And anyone who tried to skirt past either of my demi-gods will be eating dirt I say. Verily!

Safeties: Iceman, Plastic Man

Hear me out on this one kiddos. Safeties are those choice defensemen that disrupt any number of offensive tricks. Sending a great receiver down the field? Good luck doing it with ice under foot! Or if I choose to send an odd blitzer, what better to do it then a red and flesh colored bulldozer, complete with wacky sound effects? Nothing. Nothing is better than that.

Corner Backs: Wolverine, The Human Torch

A good corner is the type of guy willing to ride a receiver down the line every step of the way, and when the ball comes sailing towards their hands… no quarter is given. I could easily see “the best there is at what he does” being the type of evil scrapper than would ensure if a catch were to be pulled down… there’d be a short Canadian right there to make him pay. And if an adamantium-laced brawler isn’t doing it for you, how about a man literally on fire? Catch that ball with the heat of the sun literally breathing down your back. I dare you.

And last but not least… the kicker: Iron Man

Because Batman is the coach, and he’d probably get a kick out of a drunk punter.

I know I went a bit long, but I hope it got your gears spinning. So, who would be on your team?

 

The Point Radio: Janet Varney – So Much More Than KORRA

To a legion of LEGEND OF KORRA fans, Janet Varney IS Korra, but there’s so much more to this phenomenally talented lady. Her success checklist contains the legendary SF Sketchfest, YOU’RE THE WORST and of course her weekly JV CLUB podcast. We jump into it all in the first part of our interview. Then, take a good look at your friends or family and see if they have quirks which may result in MY STRANGE CRIMINAL ADDITION. Host, and addition specialist, Dr. Mike Dow, talks about what we will see on the Investigation Discovery series.

Next week marks our 7th anniversary and we’ll be back right here midweek to celebrate with you!

THE POINT covers it 24/7! Take us ANYWHERE on ANY mobile device (Apple or Android). Just  get the free app, iNet Radio in The  iTunes App store – and it’s FREE!  The Point Radio  – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE  – and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

Martha Thomases: Gifting Comics

bitchplanet-320x240

Hanukkah is halfway over and Christmas is next week. Traditionally, columnists with no ideas use this as an opportunity to recommend gift ideas that, ideally, benefits themselves, their families or their friends.

Here’s the thing. I don’t know your gift-giving needs. I don’t know your friends. I don’t know your tastes, and your budget is none of my business. These are books that, if I didn’t already own them and love them, I would want to get. If they are new to you, I envy the good times you have ahead.

I want to start off with Mimi Pond because, well, I know her a little bit and this will make me seem important. She and I both freelanced for the fashion section of The Village Voice back in the late seventies and early eighties. Fashion was like the ugly stepchild at the paper, not worthy of the seriousness of purpose to which the alternative press was dedicated.

Anyway, over the years, Mimi has created a bunch of really, really funny books. Secrets of the Powder Room is laugh-out-loud uproarious. Shoes Never Lie made the jokes that were still being stolen on Sex and the City thirty years later.

This year, however, Pond went in a different direction (to me, anyway) and produced a beautiful graphic novel, Over Easy. It’s about her experiences waiting tables, and while that might seem really trite and banal (haven’t we read a million books about the shitty jobs artists take to support their art?), it’s really atmospheric and lovely. The characters are instantly distinct, the world in which they live is both exotic and recognizable. I loved just about everybody in it, and I was sorry to see the story end. We want more, Mimi!

I don’t know Kelly Sue DeConnick. I’d like to, but so far, the most I can say is that we were in the same room at New York Comic-Con and I thought about going up to introduce myself, but then she was mobbed and I didn’t want to be in that mob. She has a new book out, Bitch Planet  and while it’s only one issue, it’s already hilarious.

Bitch Planet takes the “women in prison” scenario (or, as Michael O’Donoghue used to call it, “Kittens in a Can”) and takes it for a militant feminist whirl. It subverts a lot of my assumptions (you mean the skinny white woman isn’t the main character?) and the ads on the back cover are really, really funny.

There has been a minor kerfuffle on the Interwebs because a local comic book store wrote up a solicitation for the book and referred to Ms. DeConnick as “Mrs. Matt Fraction.” They also listed Mr. Fraction as “Mr. Kelly Sue DeConnick.” The joke misfired, there was outrage all the way around, and the store apologized (and, I hope, figured out why that was offensive).

None of this is a slam on Matt Fraction. I’m sure no one thinks he’s riding on his wife’s coattails. Along with artist Chip Zdarsky, he’s created Sex Criminals, one of the funniest comics ever. You can read the first issues in a trade paperback collection and you should. I haven’t been made to feel so sexually inadequate by a comic book since American Flagg.

The story and the characters are wonderful but my favorite part of the series is the letter column, which usually goes on for five or six pages. Readers send in not only commentary on the stories, but also shameful confessions, awkward questions, and unsolicited advice. Matt and Chip answer in the same tone. Here’s a brief sample of what they sound like.

I was really disappointed that the collection didn’t include the letter columns, although it does have some brand-new text pages that are also reasonably hilarious. Fortunately, Image collected a bunch of the letter column stuff, and new stuff with more artwork, and dubbed it Just the Tip <  >, a cute little hard cover book that’s the perfect stocking stuffer for those of you who stuff stockings.

If you’ve read my column during the year, you know that I also recommend The Fifth Beatle and March and Sage and Snowpiercer. I don’t know if I wrote about them, but I liked them, and you should know.

Happy holidays, one and all.

 

Tweeks: Disney’s Hunchback Takes to the Stage

hunchback-la-jolla-playhouse-1391004As big theater & Disney Geeks, there’s little better than a Broadway-bound Disney musical and so The Tweeks couldn’t miss the U.S. Premiere of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the La Jolla Playhouse.  Before it hits the East Coast at The Paper Mill Playhouse this Spring, on it’s way the Great White Way, find out what to expect from this Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Newsies, Beauty And The Beast, we could go on for days with this man’s composer credits) & Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Enchanted) collaboration based on the entertaining, but hardly classic 1996 animated film.  With a story split half and half between the cartoon feature and the Victor Hugo book, this is a more serious, dark and depressing Disney venture definitely made for a more mature audience. It’s like Maleficent compared to Sleeping Beauty.  We like to call it Les Mis starring Flynn Ryder.  Lots of Disney “Prince” smoldering and a delusionally obsessive villain-y type who thinks he’s on the right side of justice.  If you appreciate musical theater just a smidge or at least can appreciate Disney quality, you need to keep this show on your radar.

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