I’ve been traveling a lot for my day job. It’s been hectic and crazy but it did give me a chance to catch up on some comics I’ve been trying to read. Not sure if you remember, but about a year ago Dark Horse Comics announced acclaimed writer Margaret Atwood would be coming to comics with her original title Angel Catbird. The moment I heard about it, I was beyond excited. Really, I even wrote about how I was excited. Well, volume 1 was released on September 6th and I’ve finally gotten a chance to read it.
Ok, so before I talk about the comic, I want to talk about how amazing the introduction was. When you are talking about Margaret Atwood, a glimpse into herself is a great thing. She wrote the introduction herself, and you can’t really even call it an introduction. It is more like a journey through her childhood hopes and dreams. Who knew that she wanted to be an artist? Or was a huge comics reader as a kid… and still is as an adult? Atwood, one of the most important and influential authors of the 20th century, and she has the unrealized goals of being an artist. She spends time throughout the introduction also talking about her development process for this comic, as well as her partnership with Nature Canada. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about her, just read this.
Angel Catbird is a pulp-style comic following a young scientist who gets accidentally dosed with a genetic formula he is creating to become Angel Catbird, a half cat/half bird human hybrid. When that happens, he finds out that human-animal hybrids already exist and in the middle of a very big fight with a not so nice half-rat man. In the introduction, she mentions reading comics in the ‘50s and you can definitely see that influence in Angel Catbird. It’s got a fun, simplistic story that is enjoyable for young kids and adults. And if you don’t believe me, think cat band and high-tech rats.
The art of Angel Catbird mimics the older style of comics and reminds me of the Archie comics I read as a kid. It fits the story perfectly. Johnnie Christmas really captures her writing perfectly in the art and he pairs well with the coloring by Tamra Bonvillain. They also outline their character design process at the end of the graphic novel, as well as some guest art pieces.
Well, this comic is really activism wrapped up in pretty pictures. Proceeds are going to Nature Canada, and within the introduction, Atwood mentions a pledge to have cats stay indoors to help save birds. The story also includes facts about cats throughout the story. I can only guess that bird facts will be included within volume 2, but I’ll have to wait for 2017 and volume 2 to find out.
I was looking for a lighthearted, enjoyable read, and that is exactly what I got. Angel Catbird is not an in-depth, dark tale but its purpose is to highlight the real dangers towards cats and birds in the wild and it accomplishes that in a fun way. Also, the introduction, if you didn’t guess, was a big and amazing wonderful addition for me. It was a perfect airplane read and one I would totally recommend.
Back when I was a waddling comic book fan, I loved all those little spy cameras that Doctor Doom had floating around the planet. I figured that was the source of his obvious wealth – he sold them to other evil-doers such as, say, Haliburton. It titillated my sense of wonder, which always is a wonderful experience.
Technology has progressed exponentially in the ensuing half-century, and today we have so many spy cameras that last week’s unsuccessful bombings in Manhattan were so well-monitored the authorities were able to see the bomber, identify him with speed and efficiency that would have been impressed Felicity Smoak, and bust his ass within hours. Not only that, but other “security” cameras found the other bomb he placed four blocks uptown – below Neal Adams’ studio, no less – and they saw the thieves who stole the luggage the bomb was placed in, leaving the bomb in the dumpster where it was placed.
I love New York, but that’s not the purpose of my rant today.
Cars used to be a major part of our popular culture. Back when Doctor Doom was still in the spy cam biz, my friends and I could identify passing cars a block away from our school playground.
To a considerable extent the car culture remains part of our American fabric – even though there’s only about a half-dozen different looks and each are changed significantly only when some executive decides he has to keep his phony-baloney job. And now, Doctor Doom-like technology is deeply imbedded in our cars.
All sorts of outfits – Tesla, Apple, Google, and the more common car companies – have driverless cars well in development. Prototypes already are on the street, and Uber is experimenting with driverless car pickup service. An aside: If Uber (et al) is making the taxi driver redundant, Uber is even more rapidly making the Uber driver redundant.
Personally, I enjoy driving… probably too much. I’ve driven between New York and Chicago so many times I’ve named each tree along I-80 in Pennsylvania. I’d drive to Hawaii if I could hit critical speed before I hit the Pacific. So I doubt I’m the type of person “they” have in mind for the driverless car, although I’m not getting any younger and neither are my eyeballs.
The problem is, nor is anybody else. When it comes to new tech, I am not a naysayer and I am not saying nay now. I’d just like to point one out one small fact.
If you’ve ever driven at or below the speed limit on any of our interstate highways, you have been subjected to more middle fingers than Mr. Carter had little liver pills (yeah; even I am too young for that line). We love to get where we’re going as fast as possible. The police count on it, particularly in troubled times when tax receipts are lower than the needs of the municipal budget… or, in other words, all the time.
It stands to reason that, like some rental cars, driverless cars will be regulated to meet but never exceed the speed limit. That will mean two things: we will get to the pizza place five minutes later, and our municipal budgets will go to hell.
I don’t think your average American will stand for this. Moreover, it will be extremely dangerous as long as speed-regulated driverless cars have to share the road with human drivers who possess the tendency towards lead-footedness.
On the other hand, much of our population lives or works in areas that really have run out of room for highway expansion. Regulating everybody’s speed will allow for more cars and might even result in an improvement in driving times during “rush” hour.
I think of driverless cars as the home version of NASCAR… with the possibility of the same results.
If The Magnificent Seven had a title like Seven Cool Cowboys, I would be here writing a rave review. This remake is a good, fun western that might employ a lot of well-worn tropes, but has a good enough cast and a light enough tone to make it work quite well. I had a great time watching it almost the entire time I was in the theater. The problem comes from using the name of an older movie, a different movie, a better movie, and most importantly a movie with a point of view entirely ignored for this iteration. The Magnificent Seven is a fine movie but it’s an awful take on the original and it needs to carry that weight.
The Magnificent Seven hits all of the basic bits of the original film. Outlaws take over a town, townsfolk enlist a ragtag band of assorted cowboys and ne’er-do-wells to fight off the incursion, they train the civilians to help defend their town, and then a big battle ensues. What it misses is the thematic hit. The original Magnificent Seven (and the Kurosawa masterpiece it’s based on) ends with the heroes remarking that while they won the battle that they lost because their time is over, the world isn’t going to need gunfighters forever. The remake discards all of this: there’s no sense of ennui or longing, the surviving heroes ride off confident in their work and their status of heroes. Again, in any other western this wouldn’t be a problem— but for this one it seems like they took the name, they took the premise, and then they discarded the theme. I hate that they did that, it makes it look the name was a cheap ploy to lure in an audience that probably hasn’t seen the original but can be brought to the theater just on name recognition.
It’s a shame that no one thought this movie could make it on its own steam because there’s a fine cowboy movie here. Denzel Washington is one of the best actors alive and he’s fantastic in this movie, even though he can sometimes feel a little crowded out by the ensemble. It’s unfair to make Chris Pratt play across from Washington, because even though Pratt is charming and funny he withers from the comparison. Vincent D’Onofrio is playing the strangest part I may have seen in a movie all year but he’s inexplicably crushing it— I guess talent is the great equalizer. The rest of the cast is good (with the possible exception of Ethan Hawke, who might just have nothing to show me anymore) and they do an above average job playing some broad genre stereotypes. Do I wish that the two strong silent types weren’t also people of color? Yes, but I suppose I can live with it.
There’s nothing in The Magnificent Seven that particularly reinvents the wheel (reinvents the horseshoe?) when it comes to western action, but I’m ultimately fine with that. We don’t get westerns very often lately, and when we do they’ve been by either Quentin Tarantino or Seth MacFarlane and those haven’t exactly been typical westerns by any means. There’s a part of me that doesn’t mind seeing the same showdowns, the same bits of dialogue, or even the same shots. I miss the western… and if I can only get it in small doses, I can understand if they only want to play the hits.
BURBANK, Calif., Sept. 23, 2016 â This month, the world celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Roald Dahl, beloved childrenâs author of family favorites like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda and Dahlâs personal favorite, The BFG, as well as World Dream Day, an annual event honoring âthe dreamer, visionary and innovator in all of us.â It seems a fitting time to announce the in-home release of The BFG, Disneyâs fantasy adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, on Dec. 6 on Digital HD, Blu-rayâ¢, Disney Movies Anywhere, DVD and On-Demand.
As dreamers around the globe gear up for Sundayâs World Dream Day, an annual holiday honoring âthe dreamer, visionary and innovator in all of us,â it seems a fitting time to announce the in-home release of The BFG, Disneyâs fantasy adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring a dream-collecting Big Friendly Giant. This heartwarming tale for the whole family arrives home for the holidays on Dec. 6 on Digital HD, Blu-rayâ¢, Disney Movies Anywhere, DVD and On-Demand.
The BFG unites the talents of three of the worldâs greatest storytellers â Roald Dahl, Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg â to bring to life the classic tale of a courageous little girl named Sophie (newcomer Ruby Barnhill) and a gentle and charming Big Friendly Giant (Oscar®-winner Mark Rylance) who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country. Spielberg employs a new, hybrid style of filmmaking blending live-action and performance-capture techniques, resulting in genuine, heartfelt performances and super-photorealistic animation.
Families and fans will be swept away by this spectacular adventure and delight in extensive bonus features, including a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The BFG hosted by Ruby Barnhill and featuring Steven Spielberg; a charming, all-new short; a fun and whimsical tutorial on the Big Friendly Giantâs unique language of Gobblefunk; a touching tribute to screenwriter Melissa Mathison (E.T. the Extraterrestrial, The Black Stallion); and more.
Spielbergâs directorial debut with The Walt Disney Studios was a labor of love, as heâs been a fan of Dahlâs for years. In fact, he read The BFG to his own children when they were younger. According to Spielberg, âItâs a story about friendship; itâs a story about loyalty and protecting your friends; and itâs a story that shows that even a little girl can help a big giant solve his biggest problems.â The BFGÂ is a Golden Phizzwizard* come true for Spielberg, Dahl fans and audiences around the world.
Bonus features include**:
BLU-RAY & DIGITAL HD:
Bringing The BFG to Life â Ruby Barnhill (Sophie) hosts a phizz-whizzing journey through the making of The BFG. This behind-the-scenes documentary details the filmâs progression through interviews with Roald Dahlâs daughter Lucy Dahl, screenwriter Melissa Mathison, executive producers Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Kristie Macosko Krieger, and numerous members of the talented cast and crew.
The Big Friendly Giant and Me â Sophie wasnât the first âbeanâ in Giant Countryâmany illustrations were created as if drawn by a little boy who was there long before Sophie. This charming, in-world short will bring the drawings to life with animation and narration, recounting the friendship and the dreams shared between the boy and the Big Friendly Giant.
Gobblefunk:Â The Wonderful Words of The BFG â A whoopsey-splunkers tutorial on the meaning of the gloriumptious gobblefunk in The BFG.
Giants 101 â Jemaine Clement (Fleshlumpeater) and Bill Hader (Bloodbottler) introduce us to the loathsome giants in The BFG, along with movement choreographer/motion capture performer Terry Notary, who collaborated with the actors and Director Steven Spielberg prior to filming to develop their movements and character traits.
Melissa Mathison: A Tribute â An homage to Melissa Mathison, the extraordinary, Oscar®-nominated screenwriter of The BFG and E.T., whose talent and heart were as immense as the giants in The BFG.
DIGITAL/VOD:
John Williams: Scoring A Dream â A journey through the filmâs concept art and memorable moments, interwoven with the sights and sounds of legendary composer John Williamâs scoring session.
DVD:
Gobblefunk:Â The Wonderful Words of The BFG and Melissa Mathison: A Tribute
Disney and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Walden Media, present the fantasy adventure film The BFG, the first-ever motion picture adaptation of Roald Dahlâs resonant tale of childhood, the magic of dreams and the extraordinary friendship between a young girl and a big friendly giant. Directed by three-time Academy Award® winner Steven Spielberg, the film reunites the director with his Oscar®-nominated collaborator on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Melissa Mathison, who adapted the childrenâs authorâs timeless adventure for the big screen. The BFG is produced by Spielberg, p.g.a., Frank Marshall, p.g.a., and Sam Mercer, p.g.a., with Kathleen Kennedy, John Madden, Kristie Macosko Krieger and Michael Siegel serving as executive producers.
The film stars three-time Tony Award®, two-time Olivier Award and Oscar® winner Mark Rylance as the Big Friendly Giant; newcomer Ruby Barnhill as Sophie, the orphan who befriends him and is swept into a world of rampaging giants; Penelope Wilton as The Queen; Jemaine Clement as Fleshlumpeater, the most fearsome giant from Giant Country; Rebecca Hall as Mary, The Queenâs handmaid; Rafe Spall as Mr. Tibbs, The Queenâs butler; and Bill Hader as Bloodbottler, another unruly giant from Giant Country.
The creative team is comprised of some of Spielbergâs longtime collaborators, including: two-time Oscar®-winning director of photography Janusz Kaminski; two-time Oscar-winning production designer Rick Carter; three time Oscar-winning editor Michael Kahn, A.C.E.; and Oscar-nominated costume designer Joanna Johnston, with legendary five-time Oscar winner John Williams composing his 24th score for a Spielberg-directed film.
Joining them is two-time Oscar® winner Robert Stromberg as production designer and four-time Oscar winner Joe Letteri from Weta Digital, the visual effects company founded by Peter Jackson, as senior visual effects supervisor.
DISC SPECIFICATIONS:
Product SKUs:Â Digital HD/SD, Blu-ray Superset (Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy),
Disney Movies Anywhere, DVD and Video On-Demand SD/HD
Feature Run Time: Approximately 117 minutes
Rating: PG in U.S., PG in CE, and G in CF
Aspect Ratio:Â Blu-ray Feature Film = 1080p High Definition / Widescreen 2.39:1
DVD Feature Film = Widescreen 2.39:1
Audio: Blu-ray = English 7.1 DTS-HDMA & 2.0 Descriptive Audio, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital Language Tracks
DVD = English, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital Language Tracks, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio
Languages/Subtitles: Blu-ray = English SDH, Spanish and French
DVD = English SDH, Spanish and French
I may have been one of the few to like the 2005 film version of DC Comics’ John Constantine. Yes, it had Keanu and yes it was in Los Angeles, not London, but it was an old fashioned horror film and worked better than it should have.
As a result, I was primed to enjoy NBC”s take on Constantine when it debuted in 2014. It had the right pedigree with David S. Goyer and Mark Verheiden among the producers and cast an act Brit, Matt Ryan, in the lead. What resulted, though, was something interesting and uneven that didn’t catch on with the general audience and was gone after thirteen all-too-brief episodes.
There has been enough interest in the character that Ryan was brought on to reprise his role in last season’s Arrow and he’s voicing John on the forthcoming Justice League Dark animated feature. And now, Warner Archives has released Constantine The Complete Series as a three-disc Blu-ray set.
Properly portraying the supernatural on prime time is tough because the very subject matter is challenging and visually, it needs to be atmospheric and way too often network fare is too brightly lit to work. Here, the overall look is far more subdued and they definitely upped the ick factor so it worked more often than not.
Constantine closely resembles his print origins even if he did smoke a lot less and abstained from his bisexual ways. Instead, we got an exorcist and mystic troubleshooter who got into trouble as he tried to do good. Being a television series, it needed something to act as a through line so they invented the scrying map and drops of blood to direct them to their next port of call, which I found confining and unnecessary.
Being an American production, it was set in the United States so his best friend Chas (Charles Halford) is no longer a cabbie but an adventurer with more than little familiarity with the dark arts. The dynamic from the comic is totally absent here and there was little chemistry between the characters. I also thought Ryan paired well with Lucy Griffiths, who appeared in the pilot as Liv Aberdine, but the producers changed creative direction and she was gone, Replacing her was Zed (Angélica Celaya), taken from the comics; a psychic who added fresh complications to most cases.
There are other nods to the DC Universe here such as a Swamp Thing skull, a Doctor Fate’s helmet, and Felix Faust (Mark Margolis) as a foe and Jim Corrigan (Emmett J. Scanlan) as a New Orleans cop and future Spectre. A recurring foil was Pap Midnite (Michael James Shaw), seen in some of the better episodes.
Had the series been allowed to evolve and grow, I suspect it would have gotten stronger and creepier, freed to explore even darker corners. It’s a shame we’ll never know.
The overall look on high definition is absolutely fine, matched perfectly fine sound. The discs also feature a small handful of special features including: the Constantine trailer; a featurette called “On the Set;” the 2014 Comic-Con Panel Q&A with the cast and creators; and a featurette on the DC Comics Night at Comic-Con 2014 presentation, which also featured Gotham, The Flash and Arrow.
Every few years I write a real world advice article for young creators. My Bad Boy Studio mentor program has produced some exceptional graduates working in comics, television, illustration and related media.
I’ve also taught and/or lectured at The Joe Kubert School, Pratt Institute, The School Of Visual Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, the High School Of Art & Design and yadda, yadda, whatever.
Quick note; Yogi Berra said it best: “It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”
So save your “Davis is bragging bullshit” comments for someone who hasn’t done what I’ve done.
You do that, and I’ll spare you how I wrote the curriculum for the Art School of the Museum of Modern Art and how my name is on a arts magnet school in East Orange New Jersey and, no, I didn’t write MOTU187 in spray-paint on the building.
Every few years I do a recurring “art of the deal” series a step by step retelling how some of my ventures were born. The title was a complete rip from a man I once had a lot of respect for, Donald Thump. I thought I’d use the title of his book to pay tribute to the man.
I now regret that and have since I called out any black contestant for appearing on his television show The Apprentice. I’ve been on a Fuck Trump campaign way before he started running for president beginning years ago when Trump started his birther bullshit. After a few interviews where he demanded the first black president of the United States of America “show his papers,” I’d had enough.
Needless to say, I’ll no longer be calling my series on deal making the Art of the deal. It could have been worse I could have called it Mein Kampf 2, which people tell me is the title of Trump’s next book.
Believe it or not, my focus is and will always be educating young creators on the very real way business is executed in a very hard creative field.
Trying to navigate from home to an unfamiliar place is hard enough, made a lot easier with GPS. The sad fact is many young creators, particularly those of color, don’t have such a GPS. Shit, for that matter most don’t have a car. Since many parents lack the resources to allow their sons and daughters to “follow their passion” on what they consider a hobby or see as a pipe dream, learning the correct information just won’t happen.
Put another way the arts in the inner city isn’t considered a “real job.”
That’s the number one response from parents of young artists when asked what they think of a career in the creative arts. Lacking the support and motivation to push the issue, these young people enter a private world where all by themselves without guidance try to become the next Jim Lee, Karen Berger or Denys Cowan.
That self-contained place leads many to develop an unrealistic view thinking talent is the only thing needed to break into comics and parallel careers.
Further, from reality, these kids will never be.
This fantasy world made worse when the artist, actor, writer or photographer meets someone in the field they admire. If that person shines them on, their idealistic view filled with hope is validated. That false hope does more harm than good ten times out of 10.
My very first advice column written for The Comic’s Buyers Guide some 20 plus years ago received a loud chorus of Shut The Fuck Up from some pros. One pretty well-known artist said I was “killing dreams.” People thought telling young men and women to show up for appointments groomed and on time was somehow a bad thing.
I’m not kidding.
Because as you no doubt know, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings and every time an artist takes a shower a Davis kills a dream.
Those who voiced their opinions were quick to point out I knew nothing about the comic book industry and these kids should ignore my suggestions and just have fun. All they need is a little talent and love.
By that logic, anyone who can hit a free throw and loves basketball is a candidate for the NBA. Perhaps starring in a reality television show makes running the country something anything any lying racist can do.
If you love to watch porn, that won’t get you a porn star girlfriend. Only hairy palms and bad eyesight. Oh I’m sorry, did I kill your dream of getting a porn star to be with you? Trust me, it’s not that big a deal. Been there, done her and her friend.
You need considerably more than talent, and I’ll share what that is once again but with a twist. Instead of using an example of what I’ve done and how I’ve done it. I’ll use examples of two deals that I’m working now. One project is a graphic novel project I’m doing with a well-known personality the other is an on going or limited series.
I’ll break down the graphic novel deal on Bleeding Cool and the series on ComicMix.
Neither have media deals yet, and it’s entirely possible they won’t.
No matter how successful you are, unless you’re bankrolling the venture soup to nuts “no” is always a possibility.
You’ll know why they didn’t sell or why they did as you’ll be there from start to finish. My hope is these articles help make a dream of working in comics come true for someone.
Then I can kill that dream by telling them about deodorant.
Last week DC Comics and IDW announced will join together to publish a 144 page graphic novel titled Love Is Love to raise money for Equality Florida to help the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, FL on June 12th. This groundbreaking venture between two comic book publishers and a nonprofit was organized by writer Marc Andreyko and will be retailing for $9.99.
Let’s let that one sink in. This is an important moment in comics history. Of all the causes over the years that comics have tried to benefit, this is the first time that mainstream comics publishers have stepped up to benefit members of the LGBT community in need. This is also the second time an anthology has come out to benefit victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting as Margins Publishing put out two issues of a digital zine titled Our Hearts Still Beat where 100% of the proceeds were donated to The Center in Orlando to directly benefit the queer community.
It fills me with pride that comic publishers are working to benefit the queer community. I’m proud of all the creators that have gotten involved and have given their time and talent to help others and I’m thrilled that mainstream comics is standing by the queer community. Despite all the positives and how proud we should be of DC Comics and IDW for standing with victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, we need to demand more for the queer community and the other less privileged and underrepresented groups.
Though DC Comics is helping with Love Is Love, they haven’t had a trans writer pen a story for them in fifteen years. Of all the work that trans writers have done for DC, only Caitlin R. Kiernan has had any of her work collected, and it was only a fraction of her work on The Dreaming that she shares with other writers in the collection.
While DC Comics is helping support queer people of color who were disproportionately affected by the Pulse Nightclub shooting, DC has very few queer people of color working for them in a creative capacity. Phil Jimenez has done great work at DC and has been given opportunities to work with writers like Grant Morrison and on important titles like Infinite Crisis. Ivan Velez, Jr. penned stories at DC for some time as well, but not in the past decade. Beyond that, few have had similar opportunities.
Women creators are still not being represented in comics at DC as well as they were before the New 52. For the New 52, Gail Simone was one of the only women writing stories at first. Currently, the only all women creative team is for Batgirl and The Birds of Prey. All male creative teams are the overwhelming majority.
DC Comics still has an Eddie Berganza problem. While talk of his repeated sexual harassment of employees and freelancers has died down, he still holds the position of group editor of the Superman family books. They have yet to hire a woman to work on that editorial team since he took that position back after stepping down as executive editor.
They recently announced the people selected for their Writer’s Talent Workshop. For the purposes of full disclosure I did apply and was rejected. I was happy to see that the majority of the people selected were not straight cis white men, and that people of color including a Native American man were selected. That’s really great and that should be applauded. It was discouraging to see that out of the eight selected, only two were women and they were selected as a pair and all the men are solo writers. At a time when women in comics in particular are a focus of discussion to see a selection like this does come off as tone deaf.
Newsarama went on to say “Curiously, DC describes this group as “aspiring” writers in their press release, despite each have significant credentials inside and outside of comic books – including some which have done work for DC previously.” Using the term aspiring is certainly misleading when you have award winning writers and people working in the TV biz being selected. It seems like the high caliber of talent selected could have easily been found by traditional methods of editors scouting out talent. Women and people of color shouldn’t have to be incredibly talented award winners in their field to be extended an opportunity to take a class to one day possibly write for DC Comics (or write for them again). What makes this tone deaf is it comes off like these talents need DC Comics. The exact opposite is true.
That’s not to say DC Comics hasn’t done some great things and taken some risks recently beyond Love Is Love. Openly queer creator Steve Orlando was able to write a solo Midnighter series, the first openly gay mainstream solo superhero comic, for 12 issues. Though it was cancelled due to low sales, DC has taken another risk by bringing the comic back as Midnighter and Apollo which will be the first mainstream comic about a gay superhero couple. James Tynion IV, another openly queer creator, is writing Detective Comics, one of the biggest titles at DC Comics, with the openly gay Batwoman as an important character in the cast. Tamra Bonvillain, an openly trans colorist and rising star in comics, is on the reboot of Doom Patrol with heavy hitters like Gerard Way and Todd Klein. And Harley Quinn, an openly queer anti-hero, was the highest selling comic in the month of August selling upwards of 400,000 copies, written by the team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner with Chad Hardin on art. Dan Didio has even been cited by creators like Gail Simone as caring about LGBT issues, and all of this is powerful evidence that is the case.
Love Is Love is a great project and I’m proud of everyone involved and DC Comics as well as IDW stepping up and taking a stand here when it would have been much easier to not bother. And I really do love DC Comics. I love quite a lot of their properties, they have some great people that have worked for them in the past and currently, and they’ve worked on some great progressive things like Milestone Comics. That doesn’t mean more can’t be done, and it should be done.
There needs to be more intersectionality. We need more queer people of color and women of color. We need DC to use these Milestone characters and to reprint and make available the original runs. We need the works of Rachel Pollack, Maddie Blaustein and Caitlin R. Kiernan reprinted and trans writers new and old to be brought in. And we need less privileged people to rise through the ranks and be decision makers to help secure a future for comics in an ever changing market.
I can support DC Comics and praise the good work they do while also wanting more and wanting better. I love DC Comics, but… it’s complicated.
I am, as I have previously noted, a big fan of Jim Butcher’s long-running series about the modern-day wizard Harry Dresden, a.k.a. The Dresden Files. The stories and characters are great fun and the books just keep getting better, and more complex, and deeper overall. If you haven’t encountered the series before, I highly recommend it; and of course Wikipedia has a handy list of all of the books if you need to see where to start.
At Dragon Con in 2013, I sat down with Jim to hear more about book fifteen of the series, Skin Game. It was a delight talking with Jim and getting to learn the latest on a world I’ve grown to love. And now, fortunately, I’ve gotten to have that experience again – this time, at Dragon Con 2016 and with book sixteen, a.k.a. Peace Talks. Jim shared all kinds of great information on what we’ll be seeing in this latest Harry Dresden adventure – as well as a couple of tidbits about Dresden-adjacent character stories that will be coming our way soon. So read on to find out all the juicy details! And, if you are so inclined, you can also watch the interview <a href=”
here.
ESW: Jim, Skin Game left us with so many characters with potential storylines that could be the next focus. The next book is titled Peace Talks. Please tell us about how everyone sits down, holds hands, and has a little peace talk. What are we going to be seeing?
JB: For the past several years within the storyline there’s been a lot of unrest in the supernatural world, because some lunatic destroyed the Red Court of vampires, who were one of the major players in the supernatural world. As a result of that, a power that has been lying low and quiet for a long time has started asserting itself into the vacuum that the Red Court left behind.
ESW: And that is the Fomor? I was wondering when we were going to see more about what they’re doing.
JB: Yes; who are not just the Fomorians of legend; but the Fomorians got driven back into the sea long ago, so they’ve been collecting the refuse from all the other pantheons of bad guys who’ve managed to survive whatever conflicts were going on at that point. So they’ve been causing a lot of trouble, and they’re getting everyone together for peace talks. They want to establish themselves and they’ve requested a summit.
ESW: So they’re the instigators of this.
JB: They are.
ESW: Because so far from what we’ve seen of them, they’re mostly just hostile.
JB: Yes, they’ve been universally hostile and suddenly they show up and say “Let’s sit down and talk.” And everybody’s like “…Okay. We’ll do that.” So of course Harry’s going to be involved in it. Generally speaking, it’s going to be a meeting under the Accords. All these different powers, all these supernatural influences are coming to Chicago. Harry gets to see that coming and say, “Man, I feel bad for whatever city that’s going to happen in. Because nothing could go wrong with that!”
“Yeah, it’s going to be here.”
“…What?”
ESW: Of course it’s good for the storyline for it to be in his town, but on the other hand you’re going, “Hmmm, why would they pick Chicago? I wonder…”
JB: Chicago is one of the great crossroads of the world.
ESW: It’s a major hub.
JB: For all kinds of travel, for shipping, for railroads and air; so it is the place in the middle of this continent. But anyway, so they’re having the meeting there; I’m sure everything will be fine.
ESW: Hah! I’m really bummed that Harry no longer has his giant map of the city that he built, because that would be really handy to have in this situation.
JB: It would. It would be totally awesome to have.
ESW: Perhaps he could be tinkering with another one while all of this is going on?
JB: Oh, well he would, but he’s busy being a dad!
ESW: Yes! I was going to ask, because at the end of Skin Game we have Maggie, who is so precious, and Mouse (who is so gigantic), and now Harry kind of seems to be settling into his role as a dad. What’s going on, is she still with the Carpenters?
JB: The way that Harry’s going to set it up is, he’s going to keep Maggie all summer. During the school year, she’s going to go to a boarding school in town, St. Marks Academy for the Gifted and Talented; it’s sort of where the supernatural folks all send their kids. And my intention is, in the next few years I’m going to write kind of a young adult series about Maggie Dresden at the Academy. She’ll be there with Mouse; because she seriously does have all kinds of problems and issues that are challenges for her. She’s got bad social anxiety; she’s got several phobias – which are understandable given her past.
ESW: I can imagine! And does she have, also, some special talents – I would assume?
JB: Well, she’s got Mouse, who’s kind of like the super-assistance dog. But really her main talent is that when everything’s on fire and people are screaming, she’s completely normal. You know – being Harry Dresden’s daughter, it’s like, “Oh, chaos. I feel a little more comfortable and secure for some reason.” And then the kids all have this pantheon of monsters that they have to deal with, that you don’t remember after you become a grown-up. So as the kids age out of school, they forget – they can’t interact with the monsters anymore. They don’t remember that they were there. It’s just like, “Oh, that was a game that we used to play when we were kids.”
ESW: That is really cool; I love it!
JB: Well, it’s fun because there’s this culture among children that stays alive, that no grown-up attempts to keep alive, but it’s still there. Every kid knows the lyrics to “Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg…” And there’s not an adult in the world who would teach their kids those lyrics. The kids teach each other, and they keep it alive, kind of in this school setting. It’s this little separate world that kids are in. As grown-ups, we kind of forget what that world is like. Because you know, we’re busy with taxes and bills and stuff.
ESW: I love the way that you, as a writer, see those things and put them into your work. There was a part where you were talking about the power of night in magic – through Harry – and Harry was saying, “Go out in the middle of a field somewhere away from the city, and sit down…” and I thought, “I bet you Jim’s done that. He has to have done that to have described it that way.” I love the way you use that stuff – our everyday observations, because at some point we’ve probably all been out in the middle of nowhere in the dark, and we’re going, “Oh, I remember what that feels like. Oh, but I never thought about it like that – in terms of magic, and how it works in The Dresden Files.”
JB: Doing stuff like that is…doing things that make you feel emotions. It is something that is absolutely critical to being a writer. Because the hardest thing to do is to get people to feel those emotions when they’re reading your work. And if you can make people feel that then you win. That’s the goal.
ESW: I think in The Dresden Files you tap into these shared remembrances that all of us have at different points. We might be all different people, but in our lives, we’ve all been children, or sat in the field, or been really scared, or whatever, and you’ve tapped into that with Harry’s character. I love the way you do that.
JB: That poor guy. That poor guy!
ESW: Talking about that poor guy – the thing about Harry is that I love when you write him from other people’s perspectives. I’ve heard there are a few short stories coming out from other perspectives, and I’d love to talk about that. But one of the things I love is – he’s so much more powerful when you see him from someone else’s view. Like when Karrin Murphy is describing him and you’re like, “Yeah, I already knew Harry was kind of a badass, but now I think, ‘holy crap, he walks into the room and you’re like – whaaat?’”
JB: Yeah, from the exterior he looks way different than he does from the interior. From his own viewpoint, he’s Charlie Brown.
ESW: Yeah, he’s this tall, gangling guy who kind of has bad fashion sense sometimes. Unsure of what’s going on sometimes. And then you see him from the outside and you’re like, “Whoooaaa.”
JB: Yeah, from the outside, he’s huge, and weird, and can do all these different things that nobody else can do. He doesn’t make eye contact with anybody…
ESW: Right, and he’ll scare you. I love the way you’ve done that because it would be so easy to just write the hero that everyone wants to be, or to marry, or to be best friends with, or whatever. But Harry is a weird amalgam of a lot of issues. It would be easy to Mary Sue him – give him more and more powers. But instead you’ve developed him. Are we going to see further interesting magical developments, and how do you keep that balance?
JB: Yes, you’re going to see more. The way I like to keep it balanced is…the big advantage that I have for The Dresden Files is that I’ve always planned for there to be an end to the story. So I know what the end is going to be like, and what I’m going to need him to be able to do, to do the big stuff at the end. So I’ve been able to sort of scale him up appropriately as I go along. Plus, he’s been scaling up into new and better villains. A higher quality of asshole for him to go up against. So that’s what we’ve been doing all along. So that sort of makes it easy, when you know what your end target is, that makes it a lot simpler, to get it done that way. I’m planning on twenty, maybe twenty-one of the casebooks like we’ve had so far; and then there’s going to be a big ol’ apocalyptic trilogy at the end. And we’ve still got all kinds of fun stuff to do, that I’ve been looking forward to for fifteen years. It’s occasionally maddening. But yeah – we’ve still got professional wrestling, and dragons, and kaiju and all kinds of cool stuff ahead of us.
ESW: Of course – as you would have! Now, are the Maggie books going to start coming out before all of that goes through, or are you working in tandem on those?
JB: Hopefully I’ll be working in tandem. I’m going to be writing them along with my sister, who has had six children of her own and knows the child interaction thing better than I do. I only have the one, so there was no cross-conflict going on there. Hopefully that will be something we can write. She’ll be able to come up and visit for three weeks, and we’ll work on the thing together and just get it done. Because the advantage of writing a young adult book is you can write it a lot shorter. It’s only about a quarter of a full length novel. Which makes it a project I can do on a fairly rapid basis. So that will be fun, doing it like that.
ESW: Excellent. Speaking of other projects, we’ve got at least three short stories I’ve heard about. There’s a book, Shadowed Souls, that’s coming out, and there will be a Dresden story in that. Is it the Butters one, or the Molly one?
JB:Shadowed Souls is an anthology of short stories. I actually edited the anthology alongside Kerrie L. Hughes. We put that together, and it’s a bunch of different authors throwing in characters from their series’ and so on. So it will be a really good sampler for, “If you like this author, you might enjoy something by this author.” So you can read it and see. That’s got the Molly story – Molly’s first mission as The Winter Lady. And you get to find out what her job actually is; and it’s not nice, what she’s gotta do.
ESW: Right, because she can’t tell Harry about everything, so we don’t get as much of that, and I would love to see it.
JB: Exactly. She’s got operational security she has to worry about now. So she doesn’t tell Harry, and there are all these things she’s hiding from him, and different things that are now available to her; and different pressures that she has to deal with as The Winter Lady. There’s a reason that her predecessor Maeve was completely bugnuts. Once she’s getting into it she’s like, “Oh. Ohhhhh.” So that’s what she’s facing, so we get to see her doing that.
ESW: I love Molly, so I’m looking forward to that.
JB: She’s such a fun character to write; because in many ways as The Winter Lady, she’s in a place where she’s very comfortable – because as the eldest daughter in a large family, it was essentially her job to be deputy mom, and wrangle all the little brothers and sisters; and that’s what she’s doing now. But at the same time, she’s got Mab as the mother figure now, instead of Charity – and Molly has issues with authority figures. So you get to see some of that conflict. It’s fun to write. I love writing the stories from the perspectives of the different characters, because they all see the world so differently. The Dresden Files world changes completely based on whose eyes you’re looking through to see.
ESW: I loved the one where it was Karrin telling the story. So is there a Butters one coming out as well?
JB: Yes; Butters’ first mission as a Knight of the Cross. He’s out doing cardio with Michael; he’s doing the Rocky thing, he’s doing his training montage. And he sees something and trips over a trash can, and Michael says, “What’s wrong?” And Butters looks at him and says, “You don’t see that?” And Michael’s like, “See what?” And Butters says, “That bum on the bench over there, there’s a big yellow exclamation point floating over him.” And Michael’s like, “No, I don’t see that.” And Butters gets to be like, “I’m not crazy. My mother had me tested.” Michael’s like, “Well what does that mean to you?” And Butters says, “Well that’s what you see over an NPC in an MMORPG any time there’s a quest that you need to go do.”
ESW: I love it! Because we’ve got the sword already being Star Wars – it’s a light saber; and so he’s seeing everything in geek.
JB: Yeah, it’s coming up as an MMORPG quest for him. And Michael’s like, “You used a lot of letters there, and I did not understand anything you said – but it sounds like that’s what the quest is.” And Butters is like, “God speaks video game?” And Michael’s like, “God speaks whatever it is you understand. So maybe you should go talk to that guy.” And that’s where it gets started; and then he winds up in all kinds of trouble after that.
ESW: That is so great! So in our very last minute I’m going to go through a few characters. Please tell me if we’re going to see any significant development of them in Peace Talks: Thomas and Justine?
JB: Yes.
ESW: Because there was the whole, “Justine is pregnant” tweet… Were you kidding? Were you trolling? Was it real?
JB: No no, that’s the first sentence of the book. “Thomas said Justine is pregnant.”
ESW: Speaking of Harry and his family – do we hear more about his mother and her background?
JB: Probably not in this book.
ESW: What about Demonreach? Is Harry still living there when Maggie lives with him, or has he moved back into Chicago?
JB: He’s living with the svartalves in Molly’s apartment. He’s Molly’s vassal, so Molly said he gets to go there, and the svartalves are like, “Yeah, fine.” And they like Maggie and Mouse.
ESW: Well who wouldn’t?
JB: Yeah, Mouse has got better people skills than Dresden does.
ESW: Of course! What about Uriel and the other angels and characters from the last book. Do they come into this one, or are they taking a backseat to the Accords?
JB: They won’t be as involved in this one. The angels can only get so involved in things that are going on, because there’s this whole issue of human free will.
ESW: Right – so about Harry’s family again, sort of – what about the spirit of intellect, whose name is…?
JB: He is calling her Bonea, because the word Bone is in the name, and Harry’s not got a sophisticated sense of humor. Bonea or Bonnie. And Bonnie is learning. She’s got enormous amounts of information at her disposal, and no perspective on how it works in the actual world. It’s the most ridiculous character. I’m having a lot of fun writing her.
ESW: I’m excited about that. We’ve talked about a bunch – and I wish I had more time. But: is there one final thing you’d like people to know about the book?
JB: I’m working on it!!
ESW: Hah, said with just the right expression. Is there a release date yet?
JB: No, there isn’t. They want me to finish writing it first!
ESW: Okay; it will be out when Jim is done writing it!
Thank you, as always, Jim Butcher, for your time and sharing all of this great information with us. I’m really looking forward to Peace Talks!
And until next time, ComicMix readers, Servo Lectio!
So yesterday afternoon I turned on the TV to watch the live Global Citizen concert and caught one of my favorite artists, Yusuf Islam – formerly known as Cat Stevens – performing songs “Wild World” and, joined by Eddie Vedder, “Father and Son,” both from one of his best albums, 1970’s Tea for the Tillerman. I was singing along and getting back into my ‘60s groove when, all of a sudden, right as he started to sing another song, fucking MSNBC went to commercials!!!!
C’mon, are you kidding me? And to make it even more frustrating, the network did one of those “little boxes” so that you could see Mr. Islam singing, but you couldn’t hear him. AAAGH! Global Citizen’s mission is to end extreme poverty around the world, so I found it extremely disturbing and in incredibly bad taste to have a concert meant to raise awareness and encourage support interrupted by “come-on’s” and enticements to buy something.
I changed the channel.
I also went by my local comic book shop to pick up my “reads” and found the door covered with “To Rent” and “For Lease” signs. I didn’t bother parking. Now I have to search out a new place, one that’s close and easily accessible. I could go over to Forbidden Planet in Manhattan (where I believe my friend and fellow columnist Martha Thomases picks up her reads); it’s not far, and it’s in on of my favorite areas of the city, just south of Union Square on 13th and Broadway and it’s a really easy commute for me. I’m really tempted to start doing that, because Forbidden Planet has what I think is the best inventory anywhere – with JimHanley’s Universe, aka JHU Comic Books, on East 32nd running a very close second. Jim’s original store is on Staten Island, and it’s still there, on New Dorp Lane, but construction and traffic make that drive a nightmare.
Just did a search, and found Carmine Street Comics on Carmine Street in the West Village, which is even closer than Forbidden Planet, a few blocks south of Christopher Street, the first stop in Manhattan on the New Jersey PATH train. Really like their website – hmm, Carmine just doesn’t sell comics, its an “interactive” store with their community. They have a storefront studio with an Artist Space for illustrators and writers (though watching a writer at work can be pretty boring, if you ask me), plus podcasts, a video talk show, and a webseries. And for comics consumers they have a deal with ComiXology so that you can reserve comics weeks in advance and then pick them up at the store. This is a really interesting place. Definitely checking it out – next weekend, fer shur!! (And I have to talk to Martha about Carmine – I have a feeling she already knows about it.)
There’s 4:00 left in the Giants-Redskins game, Giants are up by 1 (27-26); I’m getting that sick feeling in my stomach I always get with my Big Blue. (Never an easy win with them, and they tend to beat themselves.) Washington has the ball, and is moving the ball down the field with their running game. Now the ‘skins are in field goal range and we are at the 2:00 minute warning. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Defensive line held them to a fourth down. But Washington just kicked a field goal. Now they are up by 2. 1:51 left. Fuck, fuck, fuck!
I gotta go watch this, guys.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Eli’s pass was intercepted.
Game over.
Ah, well. It’s a long season…
And next weekend, a visit to Carmine Street Comics. I think I’ll call Martha.
The madness that is San Diego Comic-Con gave way to the easy fun of Baltimore Comic-Con. Now Geek Culture gets ready for the last big comic convention of the year, New York Comic Con, with anxiety and anticipation.
But it’s not really as simple as that. There have been plenty of really good conventions each and every week. And there’s more being planned.
So even though I was still a little “space happy” (as Mr. Sulu once said) from the Star Trek: Mission New YorkConvention, I put on my favorite convention shoes and made my way to the Rochester Comic Con – which they call RocCon.
A little background: I grew up in the rolling countryside of the Finger Lakes. But these last few years – it simultaneously seems like both a lifetime and the blink of an eye – I lived in the metro NYC area. There I did become a little snooty and jaded. I almost went into RocCon with a chip on my shoulder and ready to peer down my nose, in classic “city mouse” fashion, to be amongst the “country mice” of Rochester.
But, you know what? It was a lot of fun. Everybody seemed to be enjoying it.
“It was the best one yet!” said Josie Walsh, a three year RocCon veteran who’s just 16 years old.
The vendors seemed to be doing well. The artists and authors seemed to do well. The fans seemed really happy. The food trucks enjoyed brisk business. And unlike other cons, I didn’t find any long lines that would discourage fans.
Guest Who?
There were some fun guests there. Talented comic artists like Mark Texiera, Mark Sparacio and Joe Orsak are fun for a fan like me, but it went beyond that. For example:
Julie Millillo is a cosplayer and author, and was promoting both skills at her booth. She also has a lovely singing voice, and thrilled fans by singing in an auditorium presentation.
Lou Ferrigno was there. In any given year, I think I see him more than I see my own brothers. But evidently, the fans haven’t tired of him. They loved him and couldn’t get enough.
Vic Mignogna is an actor who appears in Star Trek Fan-Films. That’s a fascinating geek subgenre. I was looking forward to speaking to him and learning more about how it all works. But I didn’t get the chance. As a vocal talent of many anime series, fans mobbed him throughout the show.
The Craft of Crafts
There were quite a few booths with entrepreneurs looking to create something in geek space and get a “seat at the table”. Their enthusiasm was infectious and I couldn’t help but root for them to succeed.
“Speaking with the artist/creators selling geek culture wares was inspirational. They are a welcoming community that I am proud to support,” Lisa Walsh, a sixth grade math and ELA teacher at Jamesville DeWitt Middle School near Syracuse.
But local Geek Culture didn’t stop at the Rochester city limits, or come to a halt on that Sunday night.
Buffalo Comic Con
The following week, the nearby city of Buffalo hosted its own comic convention. It’s been going on for 17 years, run by Queen City Bookstore’s Emil Novak. He’s a great guy and I love this description of him from Art Voice, a Buffalo mewspaper:
“Seriously? There’s another Comicon? Who’s organizing it? Has to be, should be, and is Emil Novak Sr., Owner of Queen City Books in Buffalo, and the most logical person in this city to do something like this…. And Novak has comic book ink running through his veins. (Seriously, Dracula took a bite of him once and spit out a mouthful of black India Ink.)”
Clearly, they respect Emil and they revel in the homegrown aspect of this convention. And in the article, Emil talked about how he works to make the Buffalo Comic Con an easy, affordable alternative to the bigger shows.
Think Globally, Geek Locally
That’s the big idea here. There’s enough Geek Culture to go around for everyone. And there’s enough fun, excitement and revenue to make it all work in these “secondary markets.”
That sounds pretty snobby, doesn’t it? “Secondary Markets” is something a big city guy says. I think we need a better adjective to describe all these fantastic mid-size and small comic conventions. There’s your homework assignment – come up with a good phrase before the experts do.
In the meantime, support your friendly neighborhood comic con.
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I’ve been traveling a lot for my day job. It’s been hectic and crazy but it did give me a chance to catch up on some comics I’ve been trying to read. Not sure if you remember, but about a year ago Dark Horse Comics announced acclaimed writer Margaret Atwood would be coming to comics with her original title Angel Catbird. The moment I heard about it, I was beyond excited. Really, I even wrote about how I was excited. Well, volume 1 was released on September 6th and I’ve finally gotten a chance to read it.
