Author: Mike Gold

Joe Staton Honored With Exhibit

  • News
  • April 13, 2008

joe3dicktracy-7749746Legendary comics ace Joe Staton will be honored with an art exhibit at at the Storefront Artist Project in Pittsfield, Massachusetts from August 2nd through the 31st.

Best known for his work on (please hold your applause until the end) Batman, E-Man, Femme Noir, Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, The Huntress, Jonny Quest, The Justice Society of America, Michael Mauser, Munden’s Bar, Power Girl, Rugrats, Scooby Doo, Superman, the Wild Thornberrys and about twelve thousand other creations, Joe’s most recent effort is the “new-look” Jughead four-parter that debuted in Jughead’s Double Digest #139 last week.

Joe’s online collaboration with writer Christopher Mills, Femme Noir, will be debuting as a pamphlet-form mini-series in June.

A long-time supporter of Manhattan’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, The Art of Joe Staton is being produced by the Storefront Artist Project in cooperation with the Museum. A series of related free workshops and programs is also part of the deal.

In association with the exhibit, Joe will also be conducting a free day-long workshop on August 3 which includes a drawing demonstration, sketch-a-thon, and discussion. For more information contact the Storefront Artist Project at 413-442-7201 or go to their website.

It’s very, very hard to imagine a guy who deserves this more than Joe Staton. Congratulations, ol’ timer!

 

 

 

Money, by Mike Gold

  • News
  • April 7, 2008

I started thinking about money.

Well, actually, I probably haven’t stopped thinking about it since the day I realized my daily school lunch would buy me three comic books and one candy bar. But being older yet no more mature, this time around I started thinking about the price of gasoline.

Right after the New York Comic Con, my wife, daughter and I are going to pile into my 2005 Ford Focus hatchback and drive across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana to spend time in Detroit and Chicago. Mostly work, but lucky for me I work with my friends, which is sort of like spending my lunch money on comic books.

Here in Fairfield County Connecticut the price of a gallon of gas is $3.45. It’s about time they dropped that “9/10ths” thing – I’m sure they will when the price of gas goes above $9.99 a gallon. If previous trips (I do this about three or four times a year, mostly for conventions) are any indication, I suspect I’ll be paying about $3.19 a gallon in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The drive, in total, runs about 1800 miles and my Focus gets about 35 miles to the gallon – this is mostly highway driving, so I’ve got the right car for the job. That’s about 52 gallons for the trip, which I figure will run about $170.00 plus tolls. Call it $200.00; if I flew in alone the car rental would cost more, let alone my airfare.

This brings me back to my lunch money. I am so damn old that my school lunch only cost my parents 35 cents, and therefore the comic books I bought with that lunch money only cost a dime (when the price went up to 12 cents, I just stared at the cover as though it said the Communists had just seized control of the drug store). Today, the average cost of the standard format mainstream comic book costs $3.00. That’s a thirty-fold increase. A gallon of gas in the late 10-cent comics era was about 30 cents, so we’ve only suffered a little more than an eleven-fold increase. (more…)

GraphicAudio Adapts Three ‘Justice League’ Novels

  • News
  • April 5, 2008

We’ve opined previously on GraphicAudio’s full-cast adaptations of DC Comics’ Infinite Crisis and 52. Well, actually, of Greg Cox’s novelizations adapting DC Comics’ Infinite Crisis and 52. They must have sold pretty well, as they’re expanding their offerings to include at least three more projects.

They’ll be adapting a trio of Justice League paperback novels from a couple years ago: Christopher Golden’s JLA: Exterminators, Alan Grant’s Batman: The Stone King and Roger Stern’s Superman: The Never-Ending Battle. These adaptations feature a full case with music and sound effects, not quite like Big Finish’s original Doctor Who offerings in the sense that the stories are driven by each book’s narrative voice. While they fall slightly short of being full-blown audio dramas, I’ve enjoyed their work on Infinite Crisis and 52 and I hope they are able to maintain the same cast members for these CD presentations.

JLA: Exterminators comes out in May; the others follow in two-month intervals. They are released on CD and mp3 discs and are readily available at Interstate truck stops. Previous DC adaptations were distributed by Diamond to knowing comics shops, so you might want to do a pre-order. Of course, they’ll also be available at GraphicAudio’s website, where you have the option of buying them as downloads.

Happy Birthday: Liv Marie Alvey

Liv Marie was born to Brian and Niki Alvey at 3:46 PM today, making this her zeroth birthday. She is 9 pounds 0 ounces and 19.5 inches long. Liv joins two very excited brothers and three doggies.

In case you don’t read the fine print, Brian is co-founder of ComicMix, and we wish the family nothing but the very, very best.

Great way to start off the spring!

Breaking The Mirror, by Mike Gold

  • Uncategorized
  • March 31, 2008

3787_2_02-7985621One of the more disgusting experiences I suffered through in my professional life was the reaction of one DC Comics executive – no longer with the company; not for quite a while – to the new El Diablo series back in 1989. His response was “not a lot of those people buy our comics.”

Without this executive’s support, the series didn’t have a chance. It lumbered on through 16 issues despite good work from a respected team. A lot of people didn’t know the title existed. Your reaction might very well have been “El Diablo?? Oh, yeah, I think I remember that…” Sigh. When I hired a black man as a full editor at DC, a first for the company, a couple of my fellow editorial staffers made their displeasure quite well known to me, and to my boss.

This is no criticism of DC: they had a large staff even at that time and these clown were hardly the only bigots in the building. That’s America, and these people (as opposed to those people) sometimes get their way. Sometimes we watch them on CNN; sometimes we elect them to office.

Comic book universes have been slow to reflect the spectrum of humanity: too many white men running around with other white men for way too long. Yep, that’s been changing somewhat more slowly than in other sectors of our popular culture, but I’ll bet we’ve still got another black superhero coming out named “Black” something. At least Marvel is unlikely to create another black sidekick named Bucky.

(more…)

Supermoney: The Superman Trial and Jerry Siegel’s Estate

  • News
  • March 30, 2008

supermoney-1584927For those who came in late… As has been widely reported, the Federal District Court ruled somewhat in favor of the estate of Jerry Siegel in its lawsuit to have all publishing rights to the Superman story in Action Comics #1 be taken from Time Warner’s DC Comics subsidiary and given to Jerry’s heirs. The decision runs 72 pages, but at heart is the judge’s ruling that because the property existed before Action#1, “work for hire” stipulations do not apply.

The New York Times did a good job covering the story; Mark Evanier, as would be expected, did a better job. For one thing, Mark got co-creator Joe Shuster’s first name right. The New York Times did not.

Whereas there is much cause for celebration, before we start dancing in the streets we should look at what’s at stake here.

Only the original concepts – only Superman, Clark Kent, the costume as portrayed in that initial story, and the abilities unique to Superman in that story – are in play. Perry White, the Daily Planet, Lex Luthor, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Bizarro, kryptonite, Jimmy Olsen and the rest are not on the table. Only the domestic rights are in play, and even then the estate would be in something of a co-ownership position with DC Comics. So don’t look forward to that Eros Comics Superman series quite yet.

Sadly for the Siegel family, this does not bring to an end a fight started by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster 60 years ago. Actually, it’s just warming up.

(more…)

Don Rosa Recovering From Emergency Surgery

  • News
  • March 26, 2008

It probably goes without saying that an artist’s most significant tools are his eyes. People have figured out alternate ways of drawing, but they’ve got to see what they’re doing. So it is with great trepidation that we note legendary Disney Duck artist Don Rosa, a regular at many a convention and fan event, underwent emergency surgery last week to cure a detached retina.

It will not be known if the procedure was successful for several more weeks, but Don is resting at home (in a prone position) and will have to undergo six months of recovery downtime. He hopes to return to the convention scene this fall.

Following in the websteps of Carl Barks is not easy, but Don has always made it look like a cakewalk by combining a variety of influences (notably Mad‘s Willy Elder) with his own unique gifts to bring Uncle Scrooge and the sundry Ducks to a whole new generation across the world. His work has been anthologized and is available at better comics shops across the planet.

ComicMix wishes Don a speedy, painless and successful recovery.

To Boldly Go Backward Again, by Mike Gold

  • News
  • March 24, 2008

They say there’s nothing new under the sun. Well, now I’m saying that as well, but I’m saying it about science fiction.

S-F was supposed to look forward and, at its best, teach us something about today’s human condition. You can look forward by looking into the past, but you’re not looking forward by burying your nose in your belly button. Sadly, our popular fiction has been spending the past decade or so snorting lint.

After a lengthy rest, Star Wars returned to us with a three-part prequel renown for its tedium and lameness. Star Trek countered with Enterprise, which told us the secret origin of a starship. It was pretty good – after two exceptionally lame seasons. At least those who hung in there were slightly rewarded. Boosted by the enormous success of the show’s concept (it was the most short-lived of those that followed the original series), now Paramount is polishing up a “major” motion picture about Kirk, Spock, McCoy and friends at boarding school. I think Mickey Rooney and Liza Minelli are playing instructors.

Now we see that our friends at Battlestar Galactica are doing a pilot for a spin-off show. No, make that another spin-back series. Entitled Caprica, instead of capitalizing on all the careful and intricate concepts established in the original series (itself a remake of one of the worst S-F shows of all time), it’s set 50 years prior. The big deal: the Cylons are created. I’ll bet you didn’t know the Cylons were created. Certainly not, if you hadn’t watched either of the original shows. (more…)

Michael George and the Pittsburgh Comicon

  • Uncategorized
  • March 18, 2008

thumb_michael_george-3590217Well, this has been an interesting morning.

I awoke to a slew of e-mails from people either asking me about, or trying to get me to not go to, the Pittsburgh Comiccon. Not that I had decided one way or the other, although a lot of friends of ours (including ComicMix’s own Timothy Truman, Mike Grell and Robert Tinnell) will be there. It’s a good show.

This boycott is in response to yesterday’s conviction of Michael George, who, along with his wife Rene, is the promoter of the show. Michael was convicted in Michigan of murdering his first wife 18 years ago. The details of both the crime and the conviction are in the Macomb Daily.

I understand the sentiments of those who feel that they do not want to support a convention run by a convicted murderer. But I strongly believe such feelings are misguided.

First of all, the Pittsburgh Comicon is also a major charity event. Last year, for example, they raised nearly $30,000.00 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and some $5,000.00 for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Both are quite worthy causes.

But, more important, Michael George will not benefit from the profits of the show. Quite frankly, he’s set for life – if spending the rest of your life in a Michigan State penitentiary is your idea of “set for life.” It’s Rene who will lose out if this show winds up in the red.

After a long and horrific trial, Rene probably can use a few bucks. No doubt she’s looking at massive legal bills that were hardly of her making – despite her relationship with Michael, she didn’t kill anybody. She now has to create an entirely new life from the ground up; as such, she’s another victim of Michael’s efforts.

I don’t know if I’ll be at the show as I’ve got commitments to other shows and I can only spend so much time on the road, a lesson I learned the hard way last year. But I’m going to try. It’s a good show, Rene is a good person and the Pittsburgh Comicon no longer has anything to do with the sad horror that is Michael George.

Mike Gold is editor-in-chief of ComicMix.

 

Being A Sport, by Mike Gold

  • News
  • March 17, 2008

You might not have realized it, but this is the time of year when more Americans engage in more illegal activity than just about any other. Nope; it’s not drunk driving or tax cheating, it’s March Madness… and the crime is called gambling.

Studies suggest March Madness is the high school student’s portal to gambling. On-the-job productivity plummets. An estimated $2.4 billion dollars will be put on the line against the law, some of it with organized crime – which wouldn’t be the case if it were legal, unless you are like me and you consider bankers to be their own strain of organized crime.

I’ll admit, I don’t get it. I don’t have the gambling gene (or maybe I’m just too cheap), and I’m at best a second-tier sports fan. I follow hockey and I follow the Iditarod because being a hockey fan isn’t as weird as it used to be. I follow the Chicago Cubs because as a native northside Chicagoan I am compelled to do so. Much like Yankee fans, we believe that there’s some issue of “sports” involved with the team. And that’s pretty much it. My lifetime contribution to sports-related at-risk financial endeavors is zilch.

But I am a comics fan and a student of our culture. So I wonder, with all this interest in sports and all this money changing hands, why hasn’t there been a successful sports-themed comic book series?

(more…)

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