Scrolling through your Facebook feed, I’m sure you see them. They catch the eye with promises of grand adventures with exciting people. Sometimes you even see a fun video, with celebrities doing crazy things to unsuspecting people. That’s exactly what caught my eye when I saw this video of Chris Evans leading comic fans through an surprise escape room. It isn’t just a jest though. This prank is part of the pitch for his latest fundraising effort through Omaze.
In case you don’t know, Omaze is what celebs use to raffle off experiences to raise money for various charities. People can enter to win for as little as $10, which gets you 100 entries. If you want to spend more, you can get more entries as well as perk items like t-shirts, DVDs, key chains, and so on.
Like I said, you have probably seen links or videos for this website. And you’ve been intrigued by the chance to try your luck. It started with two guys who had a dream to meet Magic Johnson and an opportunity to win it in an auction. They realized there was no way they could afford to bid to win a chance to hang out with them. Rather than just let their hopes be dashed forever, they turned their frown in something positive and Omaze was born.
I’m still super curious about how they got that name though. Omaze sounds more like a stage magician obsessed with alliteration. The Amazing Omaze!
Buying a chance to win like the old school raffle makes it more affordable while raising more funds for those in need. Granted, with the popularity of this site and its wares no one has the best chance to win. I’m guessing that is why they also have some products for sale, both through individual campaigns as well as in the store.
If you haven’t guessed already, this is also a great promotional tool for films as well. It’s become quite the popular site with many of the geek-related films. Ben Affleck raffled off a chance to join him on set at Batman V Superman to support three global charities. Chris Pratt used Guardians of the Galaxy 2 to help build a teen center in his hometown. Both did fun videos that entertain. Honestly, you could fall into a Omaze youtube video hole for a bit. Watch Bon Jovi surprise karaoke singers and Robert Downey Jr. hop around in a bunny suit.
Seriously. A bunny suit.
So, yes, this may just be a PR stunt. But geeks are well known for their charitable giving and activism. I’ve even spent time writing about how great our geek community is about fundraising. This site makes that even easier for more people around the world to take part. And for those who need the incentive, celebrities are willing to give their time to see it happen. And it has worked. Over 170 countries have given to over 150 charities around the world.
The video I shared earlier where Chris Evans kinda tortures comic fans? He is doing it to raise money for Christopher’s Haven, a group that helps support families who have children being treated for cancer in the Boston area. In today’s society, we need all the support that we can provide to charities and people in need. The world is a scary place. If we all come together and support each other, the world can be made better. Every person can make a difference.
And if I can make a difference while hanging out with Captain America, that’d be cool too.
This week’s heart-stopping controversy revolves around the question “is it ever okay to punch a Nazi in the face?” Such an occurrence happened during the Trump Coronation in Washington last Friday and of course it was captured by news outlets and smartphoners alike. And of course the footage went viral – much as the Nazis themselves did in the 1930s.
Comic books have been beating on Nazis since the invention of the staple, so one might think there wouldn’t be much controversy within our particular donut shop. During WWII, there was no greater Nazi-beater than Captain America – it pretty much was his raison d’être – so it is slightly surprising that the current writer of Captain America (indeed, both Captains America), Nick Spencer, said beating on Nazis is wrong. “… cheering violence against speech, even of the most detestable, disgusting variety, is not a look that will age well.”
Hmmm. That begs the question “is violence a form of free expression and, thus, entitled to First Amendment protection?” I think that’s a fascinating discussion, although I wouldn’t want to go to court on it. It’s definitely a “whose ox is being gored” affair.
On the other hand, we have writer Warren Ellis, no slouch when it comes to writing superheroes and a genuine clever bastard in the Ian Dury sense of the term. He said on his website “… yes, it is always correct to punch Nazis. They lost the right to not be punched in the face when they started spouting genocidal ideologies that in living memory killed millions upon millions of people. And anyone who stands up and respectfully applauds their perfect right to say these things should probably also be punched, because they are clearly surplus to human requirements. Nazis do not need a hug. Nazis do not need to be indulged. Their world doesn’t get better until you’ve been removed from it. Your false equivalences mean nothing. Their agenda is always, always, extermination. Nazis need a punch in the face.”
Far be it of me to paraphrase Mr. Ellis, but I think once you strip away the elegance what he’s saying is “They’re fucking Nazis, you morons!”
I see his point. And I agree with it. Yes, it’s illegal – hit somebody in the face and you risk going to prison. Some things are worth that risk, and if all you’re doing is punching a Nazi in the face, you just might be working for the greater good of humanity. Besides, a few generations ago we used to shoot them.
I don’t have to tell you everything the Nazis stand for, but to mention just a few items they stand for genocide, methodical elimination from society, torture, global domination and Fascism. Please note, I’m referring to Nazis and not to “radical Islamists.” The fact that today’s Nazis use their philosophies to justify anti-Islam activities is confusing, but Nazis lack perspective.
An important aside: We tend to conflate Nazism with Fascism. They are two different things. Whereas all Nazis are Fascists, not all Fascists are Nazis. Many Fascists do not engage in genocide and they seem to be of two minds about torture. They define global domination in strict business terms, and they are actively engaged in nation-running to benefit such domination. They particularly like to work from the “inside circle” of a charismatic government leader’s cabinet. Yesterday’s munitions maker just might be today’s casino operator.
I understand why some teenagers are attracted to Nazism. It’s simple, it’s tribal, it’s brutal (hey, there’s a difference between punching people in the face and hording them into gas chambers), and, damn, they do dress well. But lucky for us, if good art direction was what it took to win a war, we’d all be goose-stepping today.
Back in the 1970s we tried hitting assholes in the face with pies. It didn’t work: we still got Nixon and Reagan and Cheney and Trump. We were so wondrously naïve back then. Punching alt-right leaders in the face might not stem the tide of Fascism in the United States, but maybe it’s a start. It sure beats bullets and bombs.
Universal City, California, January 23, 2017 – Exploring the thin lines between love and cruelty, and revenge and redemption, Academy Award® nominees Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal star as a divorced couple discovering dark truths about each other and themselves in Nocturnal Animals, coming to Digital HD on February 7, 2017, and Blu-ray™, DVD and On Demand on February 21, 2017, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Also starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Avengers: Age of Ultron) in his Golden Globe® Award-winning role, Nocturnal Animals on Blu-ray™ and DVD comes with an exclusive behind-the-scenes featurette about the making of the film including an inside look with writer/director Tom Ford.
In the haunting romantic thriller of shocking intimacy and gripping tension from acclaimed writer/director Tom Ford (A Single Man), Susan (Amy Adams) is in an unfulfilling second marriage when she receives a package containing a manuscript from her ex-husband, Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal). Moved by Edward’s writing, Susan cannot help but reminisce over the most private moments from her own love story with the author. Trying to look within herself and beyond the glossy surface of the life and career that she has made, Susan increasingly interprets the book as a tale of revenge, a tale that forces her to re-evaluate the choices that she has made, and re-awakens a love that she feared was lost – as the story builds to a reckoning that will define both the novel’s hero and her own. Nominated for 9 BAFTA® Award (Britain’s Oscars equivalent) including Best Director and Best Actor, Nocturnal Animals is the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Venice International Film Festival, and of the 2017 Golden Globe® Award for Best Supporting Actor (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
Nocturnal Animals also stars Academy Award® nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), Isla Fisher (Now You See Me), Karl Glusman (The Neon Demon), Armie Hammer (The Social Network), Academy Award® nominee Laura Linney (The Savages), Andrea Riseborough (Birdman), and Michael Sheen (Masters of Sex).
BLU-RAYTM, DVD & DIGITAL BONUS FEATURES:
The Making of Nocturnal Animals – Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Ford, and cast and filmmakers recount how they brought such a unique story to life including:
Building the Story – Tom Ford and actors examine central characters and how they fit into the story.
The Look of Nocturnal Animals – Filmmakers and cast discuss how the cinematography by Seamus McGarvey and costumes by Arianne Phillips give the film such a distinct and rich feel.
The Filmmaker’s Eye: Tom Ford – See how Tom Ford’s attention to detail adds layers to the interwoven stories at the center of the film.
CAST AND FILMMAKERS:
Cast: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Isla Fisher, Karl Glusman, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Sheen
Directed By: Tom Ford
Screenplay By: Tom Ford
Produced By: Tom Ford, p.g.a., Robert Salerno, p.g.a.
Based upon the Novel: Tony and Susan by Austin Wright
Director of Photography: Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC
Production Designer: Shane Valentino
Film Editor: Joan Sobel, ACE
Music: Abel Korzeniowski
Costume Designer: Arianne Phillips
Casting By: Francine Maisler, CSA
TECHNICAL INFORMATION BLU-RAY™
Street Date: February 21, 2017
Copyright: 2017 Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Selection Number: 62184428 / 62184432 (CDN)
Layers: BD-50
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 2.40:1
Rating: R rating for violence, menace, graphic nudity, and language
Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish and French DTS Surround 5.1
Run Time: 116 minutes
TECHNICAL INFORMATION DVD: Street Date: February 21, 2017 Copyright: 2017 Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Selection Number: 62184430 / 62184433(CDN) Layers: Dual Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Rating: R rating for violence, menace, graphic nudity, and language Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles Sound: English, Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Run Time: 116 minutes
Newsprints By Ru Xu 208 pages, Scholastic Graphix, $12.99
A world eerily familiar to our own but not, a time of war between two neighboring nations, and a girl masquerading as a boy because she loves selling newspapers. Toss in some steampunk, some science fiction, some gender roles and identity issues, stir vigorously and you have Newsprints a refreshingly original graphic novel from Ru Xu.
Best known for her webcomic Saint for Rent (http://www.saintforrent.com/comic/the-cloverhouse-inn), the SCAD graduate moves from serialized storytelling to a done-in-one adventure that breezily moves along. Lavender Blue has come to work at the Bugle, living with her fellow newsies and keeping her sex a secret because, for some inexplicable reason, girls can’t sell newspapers.
On her website, Xu states, “I’m really excited about the first book because it explores a lot of eye-opening feelings I had toward fitting in while growing up, gender identity, and dealing with the expectations of adults. I got to draw a backdrop inspired by the early 20th century and dieselpunk,”
Adolescent Blue is content for now, although she is aware her body will betray her soon enough. She winds up meeting Jack, an inventor of some sort, working in secret. They become friends and she apprentices herself to him. As a result, he brings her with him on his travels which leads to her accidental meeting with the muffled figure who only names himself Crow. She warms to the odd figure and they spend time together but slowly, we learn, that Crow is a robot, a product of Jack’s intelligence and early use of Artificial Intelligence. He was a prototype for a war machine but he chose to leave his country Grimmaea for refuge in Nautilene.
There are chases, secrets learned, relationships altered, and the like before things reach its anticipated climax and resolution. Xu tackles lots of issues and themes here and for me one of keenest was her sense of betrayal when she comes to realize the truth is the first casualty of war. Gender politics comes into play with Blue but also with an adult, Jill, who comes to play a pivotal role.
It’s 1924 and there are phrases like AI that get used so this alternate reality isn’t totally divorced from our world but the worldbuilding is sketchy at best so we don’t understand why things are the way they are or what is at stake during the prolonged war. Blue, Jack, and Crow are the only characters to move beyond two dimensions which is shame since the others, Hector, the Mayor, and Jill among them, who could use some depth and complexity.
Visually, Xu’s work is minimalist with a strong sense of design. Still, the broad strokes and spare use of line means expressions can lack subtlety when called for. Sometimes figures are moving in a panel and you can’t quite tell what is happening. Xu fills the pages and paces things nicely, sparing with splash pages or complicated designs. Xu’s color, done with her brother Eric and Liz Fleming, does a nice job with a limited palette. In Saint for Rent, she has been very disciplined with color because she embeds GIFs to enhance the webcomic and the colors have to be harmonious. Here, she works with broader colors without getting garish, helping give us a sense this is not our world.
The 8-12 year olds this is aimed at will find plenty to like and hopefully read some things that gets to them to think a bit. This nice debut work shows plenty of promise for the future.
This past Saturday I participated in the Women’s March in NYC. While I marched with a group of burlesque performers and friends, other columnists here at ComicMix participated including Molly Jackson and Martha Thomases. It was an important moment of demonstration for the first days of the new administration here, and I’m glad I participated. For all of those reading who want to do something and were unable to attend I can assure you there will be plenty more opportunities to come.
Meanwhile, in my free time I’ve been reading some of the DC Comics Elseworlds. For those of you unfamiliar, these were stories that took place outside of DC Comics continuity that often involve alternate histories of what could have been. As you can imagine, that premise is really intriguing to me lately.
I’ve read four Elseworlds in the past couple of weeks, all of which were ones starring Superman. I really like Superman. The ones I read were Superman’s Metropolis, Superman: Kal, JLA: Shogun of Steel, and Son of Superman. While they varied how much I personally enjoyed each one, they all did a good job of characterizing Superman. Want to know more about these stories? I was just getting to that!
Let’s start with Superman’s Metropolis. Written by R.J.M. Lofficier and Roy Thomas and drawn by Ted McKeever, this story is based on the classic silent film Metropolis by Fritz Lang and the novel by Thea Von Harbou. The premise is what if Clark Kent, spelled Clarc Kent, was raised by Jon Kent who is master of Metropolis. This beautifully illustrated story show Clarc Kent realize the plight of the workers below and Lutor’s poison grip on Jon Kent; propelling Clarc to become a champion of the people. While this story is well written, Ted McKeever is the true champion of the story. The book is stylized and absolutely gorgeous in a way rarely seen in mainstream comics. Ted McKeever was also Rachel Pollack’s longest collaborator on Doom Patrol which includes The Teiresias Wars arch that has often been cited as one of if not the high point of her run. For personal reasons he has stepped away from comics and the industry as a whole is devalued as a result. His presence will be sorely missed. If you can find a copy, get it.
Superman: Kal is written by Dave Gibbons and drawn by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. It’s a tale of Kal-El coming to earth in medieval times and being found by peasant farmers. Once he’s older he’s taken to work with a blacksmith in a town run by Lex Luther, an illegitimate ruler. So much for escapism, huh? Anyway, Lois gets involved and there’s kryptonite. There was also kryptonite in the last story, but I like how that previous paragraph turned out without mentioning it. You know now anyway, so I don’t see what the problem is. While the story starts strong, for me it loses steam towards the end and falls into the all too familiar trappings you find in damsel in distress stories and harming women to motivate men to action.
JLA: Shogun of Steel brings us to a mystical feudal Japan setting where characters that mirror the Justice League are working together to fight a cruel Shogan version of Brainiac. The story is written by Ben Raab and drawn by Justiniano. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t familiar with this creative team. The art in the story is solid, and I enjoyed that. The story itself is feels a bit dated and incorporates some elements that seem stereotypical, like Kal-El arriving on Earth as the result of a dragon from heaven. Also more kryptonite, but no Lex so I give it some bonus points for that. Though I don’t feel anything about this story is malicious and I would be more than happy to check out over works by Ben Raab and Justiniano, I don’t think you need to worry yourself too much to find a copy of this particular story.
And finally was have Son of Superman. Unlike the other three stories I read which were about 60 or so pages, this one was over 90. As a result we get a pretty well fleshed out story. It helps that it’s written by Howard Chaykin and drawn by J.H. WIlliams III, with David Tischman co-writing. Howard Chaykin has a love of Superman that is very apparent just by reading this, and not just because I’ve heard him talk about Superman before. The story takes place in the future with a woman President. Escapism has failed me yet again. Anyway, in the future Superman is presumed dead, but has had a son with Lois. Due to a freak solar flare, their son Jon gets his Kryptonian powers activated. Now in a world with a government run Justice League and terrorists acting in Superman’s name, Jon has to figure out how he fits in while he tries to learn more about his father and the conspiracy that took him away. The story is honestly a great read with some sweet moments and is probably the closest Superman graphic novel you can get that you can compare to The Dark Knight Returns. I definitely recommend hunting down a copy if you haven’t read it. According to DC Comics website, you can still purchase Son of Superman so you don’t have to hunt too hard.
A lot of things are going on now with the new administration coming into power. While we need to stay informed, escapism is important too. In these times, what better place to escape to than to a world of what could have been?
“Addendum: By the time of next week’s column, we will have had one full weekend of President Donald J. Trump. Will we all still be here? Will there even be a column? Will America be…Amerika?” • Mindy Newell, ComicMix, January 16, 2017
And so…here we are. We made it through the weekend. One hell of a weekend.
First came the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States, the 45th person to hold that august office which leads this country and the world. There have only been 44 others to have previously owned that title and those responsibilities. Only? Yes. We are a young country in the history of the world. 241 years old this coming July 4th. Our nearest relative, England, is over 1500 years old. We are comparative newborns. And like all newborns, America depends on the stability, care, and love of its parents. America’s father is the Declaration of Independence. Its mother, the Constitution of the United States.)
It has been the tradition of this child to swear in the President with these words:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Donald J. Trump’s inaugural speech was dreary, desolate, and depressing in its description of this country, a “uniquely dark vision of the U.S.,” as the New York Times called it. He was a bully during the long campaign, and the bullying continued into his address; he is, in every way, and as Jon Stewart confirmed him, a “Baby Man,” an emotionally immature schoolyard tyrant whose uncertainty and fear and narcissism live beneath a thin skin of machismo and bravado, to be unleashed whenever or wherever a threat to his manhood and/or to his kingdom is perceived.
“America First!” he said. “This American carnage stops!” And shivers went through the souls of people around the world. It was all too reminiscent of another leader who spoke of lebensraum (“living space”) for his country in the 1930’s.
And then, the next day, Saturday, January 21, Americans answered him. The whole world answered. 500,00 and more women, with their men – my daughter and son-in-law Alixandra and Jeff among them – and their children gathered in Washington, D.C, sprawling from the Lincoln Memorial to the White House and neighborhoods between to march and rally and protest this person who dares to claim that he speaks for the lost, the forgotten, the abused, and the ill.
Trump’s first act as President was to issue an executive order paving the way to the end of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare. They gathered to the tune of 400,000 and more in New York City at the base of the Man’s High Castle, shutting down 5th Avenue and midtown Manhattan into the night. They gathered in every major city of every State of this Union – Boston, Miami, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Denver, Portland, Seattle and more (the photos above are from the Chicago rally; 150,000 strong). They gathered across the pond in London, in Paris, in Barcelona, in Rome and Berlin and Prague. They gathered in South Korea and Japan and Australia.
And Donald J. Trump looked out the White House windows and saw that there were many, many more out there than were at his inauguration and sent his press secretary – for bullies cannot look in the eyes of those who say “No!” – to blatantly lie and to warn the media (and the country and the world) that “they would be held accountable.”
America’s father and mother cried on Friday, and they cried on Saturday night.
Two weekends ago, I had a lot of fun at three comic shops. I’ve been to many comic shops in my day, but during these recent visits I did something new. Ostensibly, I made the rounds to Boost My Local Comic Stores (you may have read about #BoostYourLCS in last week’s column), but the real reason I visited them was to experience my first “pre-release party.”
The newest iteration of the long-running Magic: The Gathering was about to be released, so comics and cards stores nationwide hosted a series of pre-release events, as is the custom. Fans get a chance to open a sealed deck of the newest iteration, called Aether Revolt, and then play a series of card games against fellow fans also opening up their new decks.
Magic: The Gathering, as you might know, is a strategy-based card game that’s wrapped in an intricate and fascinating mythology. Aether Revolt is the newest wrinkle to the ongoing story, as the people of a mystical land called Kaladesh are called to revolt against violent oppressors of the Consulate and take back their city of Ghirapur.
Seems like the political climate in the real world, now that I think about it.
Like a movie premiere, these events start at midnight and are filled with excitement and anticipation. I’m sure the wee-hour events were a lot of fun, but I opted for a pre-release party that started at 9 AM Saturday. There were actually lots of options from which to choose. The midnight events went all through the night, and then more were scheduled, and well-attended, all day Saturday and Sunday.
This was a fun crowd to hang with, as these fans are both collectors and strategists. They love the game and love the gamesmanship that comes from a competitive card game. In fact, every player is part of a nationwide network that the parent company, Hasbro, has created, and gets their own DCI number and ID card.
I got mine too!
There was a nice mix of fans. Old and young. Male and female. Super-social and more reserved. Everyone there, except for me – I’m the novice – knew his or her stuff and was ready to compete.
As players choose a small set of cards from a seemingly endless supply of cards, there are strategies for assembling the optimum line-up of cards. And the law of supply and demand has led to an incredibly intricate secondary market. Comics and Cards stores buy and sell cards both locally and nationwide. So beyond the playing of the games, the focused task of acquiring and managing one’s collection can be an enjoyable and profitable experience.
The painting for the art of the Magic mythology is what really impresses me. Magic: The Gathering provides a fantastic outlet for top notch fantasy artists and for fans to enjoy the artwork in an accessible format. It’s all a clever mix of classic fantasy elements mashed up with witty and whimsical characters. And some of the painterly landscapes make you feel as if you’ve stepped into a Tolkien novel. Check out a few of the painting of the newest release, Aether Revolt.
Since “Boosting Your Local Comic Store” is where we started, I should also note how much these comic shops benefit from card games like Magic: The Gathering. One retailer told me that card sales have recently accounted for an astonishing portion of his total revenue since he started augmenting his local sales with online sales. That’s pretty incredible, and I’m pretty supportive of anything that helps Geek Culture Retailers.
More than once over the years I’ve been approached by someone who says that they have a great idea for a story and that I should write it and then we split any money evenly. The problem with this (aside from the fact that the work is not even) is that I have plenty of ideas of my own that, for one reason or another, never get written. Having ideas isn’t the problem; executing them is.
Here are a few ideas I’ve had in my journal that haven’t seen the light of day.
Spectre/Batman Alt Worlds
An alternate DC Universe idea set back in the Thirties, we start with the Waynes getting gunned down in an alley, but this time young Bruce is killed as well. This sets off such a furor that something has to be done. Commissioner Gordon decides on someone from the outside and so brings in a tough as nails New York plainclothes detective named Jim Corrigan to clean things up.
Corrigan tears things up pretty well but finds himself as hamstrung as Gordon does. Frustrated, he gets the idea of an alternate identity and becomes the Bat-Man; however, this one carries .45s and shoots to kill.
Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne’s spirit rages in the afterlife about the injustice of what happened to him and his family. A voice offers him a chance at retribution and he takes it. A 10-year old Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham as the Spectre.
Inevitably, the paths of Bat-Man and the Spectre collide and leads to the ultimate confrontation. Corrigan dies and Bruce is stripped of the Spectre powers but given a chance to live his life again. He becomes Gordon’s ward. In the meantime, Corrigan is given the mantle of the Spectre.
Why didn’t it go? This would have fallen under the “Elseworlds” banner and DC has stopped doing those.
Star Wars: Han Solo miniseries
This one is set between Episodes IV and V when the Rebel Alliance is hidden on the ice planet Hoth. Mon Mothma, trying to negotiate for another planet to join the Alliance, is grabbed by some space pirates and held for ransom. If the Alliance doesn’t want to pay up, the kidnappers will sell her to the Empire.
Leia and Luke are off on separate adventures but Han, Chewie and the Millennium Falcon are on hand. Han knows the kidnappers and tells the Alliance leaders he should bring the ransom and get Mon Mothma back. He figures that the Princess would like that and, who knows, he might be able to claim at least part of the ransom as a reward. The plan includes double crossing the pirates, including some old acquaintances.
It all gets more complicated when the Empire learns that the pirates have Mon Mothma and dispatch a Star Destroyer with Darth Vader to grab Mon Mothma and dispatch the kidnappers. Han gets a hold of Mon Mothma just as the Empire shows up and its all a mad scramble to escape the pirates and the Empire.
The tone was meant to be light and fun and focus on Han as a rogue.
Why didn’t it go? Right around the time that I came up with the idea, Dark Horse was losing the license to the franchise. Marvel, who got it, doesn’t appear to be interested in those who did Star Wars for DH. I don’t blame them; they want their take on it.
Legion
DC has/had been having trouble re-launching its venerable Legion of Super-Heroes (LSH). Is the concept – teen superheroes routinely saving the galaxy – outdated?
I like jumping stories down their own timeline; witness Star Wars: Legacy. I thought I’d jump this narrative down its timeline by 500-1000 years. The United Planets no longer exist; the LSH is nowhere to be found. The Khund Empire rules and Earth itself had been shattered and is an asteroid ring around the sun. Super-powered beings were barred or restricted to their own planets.
In all this a young man emerges; the only name he gives is Legion. He has with him several LSH flight rings and he travels through the galaxy trying to find super-powered beings to join him in an attempt to overthrow the Khunds.
Since I like what I call narrative alloys, this was an attempt to cross the concept of LSH with Star Wars.
Why didn’t it go? DC had its own plan for the LSH and I guess they thought this would muddy the waters. Or they just didn’t like my take.
There’s lots of other ideas and concepts in my journal and/or my computer. Two of them will be up this year; Tom Mandrake and I (with Jan Duursema) are preparing Kros: Hallowed Ground for the printer right now and then Jan and I will be completing Hexer Dusk. Both are independent projects funded through Kickstarter. Both have taken a lot of thought, energy, and effort to realize.
So, as you see, the problem is not a lack of ideas. Everybody gets ideas. The problem is what do you do with them. Some just never come together and some never get an okay. So you file it and move on to the next. You work at what’s working but you don’t lose track of the ideas you’ve had. You just never know.
The very first movie trailer debuted in November, 1913. It showed backstage rehearsal footage of an upcoming production of the musical The Pleasure Seekers. The actual play itself debuted the same month.
In contrast, today you can catch the sneak peak to the first look of the first cut of the promotional trailer of any given movie upwards of a full year before the actual film is released. How starved for content is our culture?
Think now, how literally days into pre-production of a given franchise the hype machine starts a’rollin’. When George Lucas and his menagerie sneezed a bit too loud, Entertainment Weekly and any other number of film blogs lit the net on fire. Speculation then is answered by some unseen specter of a source, second-handed, to an iffy-looking kid with a smartphone. And soon enough, Donald Glover is pitching to be young Lando.
Smash cut to the actual release of the story a year later. Smash cut again when Glover is doing his first costume fitting. Maybe he’ll Instagram his name on a garment bag. It’ll be picked up on TMZ, the AP, AICN, and Perez Hilton — if he’s still a thing. You know, just enough to keep the future film top of mind.
Marketing is an art and a science. Hype is the currency. Hype parlays demand into action. Or so marketing companies want to tell you – ask Edgar Wright how Scott Pilgrim turned out for him when you have a chance.
And it’s not just movies that are guilty of this sin. The day I wrote this very article, the teaser to the full trailer for the upcoming Injustice 2 video game crawled across my Facebook feed. And boy howdy, it worked. Before the predictable (but oh-so-glorious) cut scene footage shown over some narration completed, I was furiously calculating the cost to upgrade my Xbox. When the teaser-to-the-trailer ended, the release date in May whizzed across the screen. I looked over at my second browser window – with open tabs at Amazon, eBay, WalMart, and Best Buy – and I stared off into the middle distance in shame.
The fact is, these days products are bought and sold long before they are ever completed. Pilot season in TV land churns out show after show. Only those with enough hype to garner attention from advertisers ever see the light of day. And even then, if the hype train doesn’t keep chugging down the tracks, the show flies off the rails leaving hundreds of actors and production crew scrambling to do it all again. Maybe with a different script next time.
But who am I to judge? My company’s Kickstarter campaign – itself a bit of a hype machine if you think hard on it – was essentially drumming interest up in a project we’d still not completed inking before we were promoting the crap out of the finished product. Smash cut to over a year later, and only now am I flatting one-half of the book while I finish other pages as they drizzle in. And while I’d be tempted to share my half-completed work on our Facebook page, I’ve relegated it to our “seen by at least four people weekly” Facebook Live show.
The broad question is: When have we reached the event horizon? I think we’re already there. With the ubiquitous nature of technology allowing us to capture content being created live as it’s being fretted over, marketing and promotion is half-button push away. In a world where virality is as important at times as the actual quality of the product, hype is now deeply rooted into the very fabric of creation.
And because of it, Wing Commander made nearly half its lifetime gross its opening weekend. It was a bomb of a film and a financial failure. But it had The Phantom Menace trailer attached to it. We all know how that hype played out.
In the 1960s, the Black Panthers were the number one target of the FBI. They were viewed as terrorists and J. Edgar Hoover, the longtime leader of the most powerful police force in the world, was hell bent on getting rid of them by hook or by crook.
Yep, hook or crook.
It’s no secret the United States Government from time to time will ignore the law. It’s fair to say it goes on often and as far as we know it goes on all the time. When caught, those who swore to uphold the constitution offer apologies for actions that dismissed the law like Trump denies any negative press.
But it’s all bullshit.
If not caught these people may have stopped breaking the law, but it’s doubtful they would have been sorry. I gather few are sorry for wrongdoing that benefits them. How many people have you seen come forward to admit how sorry they are for gaming the system when they have no incentive to do so?
I’ll wait.
The FBI broke all sorts of laws to accomplish their Black Panther agenda. As always, don’t take my word for it. Google that bitch. Unless you’re blind to the truth backed up with a few court rulings the war on the Panthers was a one-sided American tragedy fueled by a lie and driven home by a liar by the name of J. Edgar do I look fat in this dress Hoover.
Yeah, I can talk a lot of shit from my cozy little home in suburban Los Angeles. I can talk smack because I’m secure in the knowledge I’m protected by:
First Amendment Right Freedom of Speech
What I wrote about the F.B.I is true.
I’m just not that important, and neither is ComicMix nor Bleeding Cool to anyone in power that may object to my point of view.
I’m not as naïve as the above list would suggest. I’m fully aware my rights are subject to the will of the arresting officer and temperament of the D.A. regardless of my innocence if arrested for a crime I didn’t commit.
Been there had that done to me. Twice.
My circumstances notwithstanding in 2017 there exists a reasonable chance that someone may be believed if they claim police brutally or unjust treatment.
In 1966 the odds of a black person being believed were slim. I would wager a Jewish person would face the same type of incredulity and, given what happened to the three Civil Rights workers in Mississippi June 1964, the same dangers.
From Wikipedia:
In June 1964 in Neshoba County, Mississippi, three civil rights workers were abducted and murdered in an act of racial violence. The victims were Andrew Goodman and Michael “Mickey” Schwerner from New York City, and James Chaney from Meridian, Mississippi.
All three were associated with the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) and its member organization the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). They had been working with the “Freedom Summer” campaign by attempting to register African-Americans in the southern states to vote.
This registration effort was a part of contesting over 70 years of laws and practices that supported a systematic policy of disenfranchisement of potential black voters by several Southern states that began in 1890.
The three men had been arrested following a traffic stop in Meridian for speeding, escorted to the local jail and held for a number of hours. As the three left town in their car, they were followed by law enforcement and others. Before leaving Neshoba County their car was pulled over and all three were abducted, driven to another location, and shot at close range. The three men’s bodies were then transported to an earthen dam where they were buried.
Two of the three men killed for trying to do the right thing were Jewish.
In the 50s and 60s, certain parts of the deep south were deadly. Those who sided with black people were treated as if they were black people often that meant death. It’s one thing to risk your life for your rights; it’s another thing indeed to do so for somebody else’s.
In my mind, that’s the textbook definition of noble. That takes a whole other level of balls. It’s gangsta with a capital G.
In 1966 the F.B.I was on a mission to destroy the Black Panther Party and woe be on to those who got in their way.
Marvel Comics was all the rage on college campuses in the 60s. Stan The Man Lee was the captain of one of the hottest pop culture ships to set sail in the ever changing 60s sea. His first mate Jack King Kirby navigated just as much of the Marvel boat as Stan and together they ruled comics, campuses and cool.
Stan wasn’t content to just cruise. He continuously looked to change the comic book landscape he had already transformed. DC wasn’t without some cool stuff, Wein and Wrightson’s Swamp Thing, Adams and O’Neil’s Green Lantern / Green Arrow those books along with others were DC’s stellar addition to the cool that Stan ushered in. Alas, those came in the late 60s early 70s.
DC held its own in sales, but in the ‘cool’ department they were outclassed at just about every port. Seen by most as still just for kids DC may have sold as much or more, but Marvel was – to use 60s slang – where it’s at.
The age of sex, drugs and rock and roll embraced Marvel. although they featured none of the above. Neither did DC.
The difference was a bit like the shower scene in Psycho. People swore they saw the knife plunge into Janet Leigh. There was no sex drugs or rock and roll in Marvel books, but fans thought there was.
Over at DC you didn’t have to be in collage to know Lois Lane may have had the title “Superman’s girlfriend” but everyone knew Clark wasn’t hitting that.
Put another way… DC was the Good Ship Lollipop and Marvel was the ever lovin’ Starship Enterprise.
Like another ship, the Titanic, once people heard about Marvel they couldn’t wait to jump on board. Likewise, the Titanic, Stan and Jack faced an Iceberg.
Unlike the doomed ship they looked for that potential death dealer on purpose. Those two Jewish guys were about to take a stand and strike a blow for civil rights. Not for themselves – for African Americans and doing so, whether they knew it or not, chuck a serious fuck you to Hoover and his crew.
A Black Panther with a serious attitude showed up in New York and preceded to win over the masses with his message. If J. Edgar won’t wear white after Labor Day, Hoover wanted to do something he couldn’t just bum rush the place he knew the Panther would be.
That’s because this Black Panther wasn’t real. Stan and Jack made him up out of thin air. Or did they? In 2017 it’s hard to imagine meeting someone who had not heard of Donald Trump’s:
Take your pick.
Wall
Tweets
Hair
The Black Panther Party was a regular item in print and broadcast news. The year was 1966 what you read in the newspaper or watched on TV was damn near (for many it was) gospel.
Ya think Lee and Kirby just happened to create a character with the same name as the most wanted radical group this side of the Weather Underground with no knowledge that group existed?
That’s as likely as a character called The Birther showing up out of thin air.
Name: The Birther!
Tag Line: He Came Out of Thin Not American Air!
Mission: Kill Grandma!
Stan was as tuned in to what American college kids were doing as anyone over 30 could be. He spoke at many universities, and Marvel’s mail was an endless stream of hip American youth feedback.
The question is, did Stan, and Jack create the Black Panther to make a buck or a difference? Did they risk aliening some fans becoming an FBI file and possible violence?
I’m sure a lot of you think you know the answers but I most certainly do. Mine came straight from the man himself.
