On February 28th & March 1st, we attended the Long Beach Comic Expo in Southern California. It’s the spring sister event to the Long Beach Comic Con. In their 6th year, they have expanded the expo into a bigger hall and added more guests. Was it more fun? We think so. In this week’s video we’ll show you why.
We also chat with Marvel artist John Cheung about his A-Force cover and find some great age appropriate new comics.
Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice • Robert Frost
All you climate change doubters may now put on your dunce caps and leave. Don’t forget to shovel the walk on your way out.
…But where were we? Ah yes, where we often are, on opposite sides of a time gap. I’m writing here, you’re reading there. I suppose we can deal with it.
We’re looking ahead, you and I, to the forthcoming Daredevil television presentation, to be streamed on the increasingly diverse and interesting Netflix. Might be interesting. Might surpass the Ben Affleck movie Daredevil of a few years back, which may not have been everyone’s favorite entertainment. (I don’t have an opinion about it. Really, I don’t!) I see that Vincent D’Onofrio has gotten the job of being veteran DD baddie, The Kingpin, which seems to be good casting; let us not forget that Mr. D’Onofrio played a giant bug in the first Men in Black flick, so a corpulent gangster shouldn’t be a stretch for him.
What else am I looking forward to? (For you, it’s already past.)
Well, for one thin, the fate of poor Oliver Queen – other-named Arrow – last seen kneeling before the sinister Ras Al Ghul, a helpless captive. Ras stabbed him with a sword and kicked him off a mountain a while back, so is Ollie doomed to suffer a similar fate, perhaps again administered by a Ras who may have gotten a bit better at hero slaying? Nope. Ras is trying to recruit him into Ras’s criminal organization, The League of Assassins. (Good pay? Good benefits?)
This is not the first time Ras has gone hero-trolling. In the long ago when he was a mere comic book character, before being incarnated as a mega-movie star and a continuing presence in Arrow Ras made a similar move on Batman, sweetening the deal by suggesting that Bats and Ras’s daughter Talia might become an item and, yes indeedy, Talia would make a splendid trophy wife if she could just get past her daddy issues. Bats refused both job and lady and lived to fight another day but who knows what Ollie will do? (Well, actually, at this point, a lot of people. All those writers and actors and technicians…)
I like how our TV brethren are adapting some Batman tropes for Arrow. It’s a good match of characters: both the bat and the arrow are human-scaled, depending on skill and perseverance and motivation rather than some acquired superpower, and both are burdened with a tragic past. Since I prefer such characters I’ve always liked working on these two when I was a laboring scripter. Consider that an admission of bias.
Ras al Ghul, as some of you know, is a twisted idealist who wants to save the world – on his own terms, using his own methods, which are, to put it mildly, draconian. Pure fiction. But I look out at the snow and remember the savage winter which is not yet gone, and learn of the escalating barbarity in the middle east, and I wonder: Could there be a Ras?
But no, the reality is simpler and sadder, well expressed by Pogo the Possum: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
I know it says “Dark Circle” on the cover. In the past the cover has said “Red Circle” and before that “Archie” and before that “MLJ.” But it’s all Archie Comics to me, and I mean that as a compliment.
I think their first “Dark Circle” comic book was The Fox, by Dean Haspiel and Mark Waid. I loved it. I say “I think” because comics publishers do reboots faster than elves make shoes. Maybe the next Fox by Haspiel and Waid will restart the series again. But, for conversation’s sake, let’s say last week’s Black Hood #1 by Duane Swierczynski and Michael Gaydos was the second Dark Circle title.
And that’s where I got confused.
First, for the record, I liked this latest Black Hood. Like most contemporary comics, there wasn’t enough story in the first issue for me to make a real commitment, but I enjoyed what I read, deployed some clever concepts, and I look forward to the next issue. I can’t say that about a lot of costumed superhero comics these days.
But… well… damn… it’s still an Archie Comic. It says so right there on the copyright notice. And it was Archie Comics (as opposed to “Archie comics”) that heralded “approved reading.” It was Archie’s cofounder John Goldwater who created the Comics Code. In fact, after all the other publishers dropped the Code, Archie was the last publisher at the table. Briefly. They drank the last survivor’s wine and dropped out. That was in 2011.
I started reading comics about the time the Code came along, so forgive me when I say I’m a bit taken aback when I read an Archie Comic and encounter the word “asshole” twice, “shit” three times, and “fuck” seven times.
Yes, I counted.
Don’t get me wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using such language. It’s been commonplace for a long time, and using the real words is much better than using stupid euphemisms that simply implant the censored word into the reader’s mind anyway. Fuck hypocrisy!
But… damn… it’s an Archie Comic! Does this mean they’re going to hire S. Clay Wilson for their Fly-Girl title? Hey, that would be great!
But it does make me wonder. Archie Comics is about to reboot Archie comics with the melodious words of Mark Waid. How many cans of Tree Frog Beer can Reggie Mantle chug? And what’s the real reason why they call Forsythe Pendleton Jones III… Jughead?
Maybe they’ll give a new answer to the time-old question “Are you a Betty, or a Veronica?”
I spent time a few weeks ago at Toy Fair. For those not in the know, Toy Fair is one of the industry’s largest trade shows and gives us all a look at what’s coming in the toy world. This is an entire convention center filled with toys and games, and I was one of the first people to see them! It is an amazing show to attend.
There is a whole section of the floor dedicated to collectibles. Not surprisingly, it is where I spent most of my time. In this section, you see the target market turned on its head. I’m the average consumer, not an eight year old. It’s a weird feeling to know I’m targeted by toy companies. These companies know that I’m interested in nice packaging and numbered limited edition sets. That I want it display worthy right out of the box, or be able to modify it to my own worthy standards.
The whole time I’m checking out statues and figures, all I can think is “Where are the toys I can play with?” I can’t be the only adult that still wants to play with action figures. In fact, I know I’m not. But adults are not targeted for playtime; they are only targeted for high price display pieces. This is a trend I saw throughout presentations at Toy Fair. When companies presented their upcoming lines, they had their kid-friendly and their collector lines. They specifically mentioned what they thought would be good for adults.
I want to sit down and play with toys. And that’s not to say companies aren’t making action figures for adults. In particular, Diamond Select Toys definitely targeted me with a Star Trek: TNG Worf action figure. In the past, they’ve had even more superhero figures to tempt me. Another company is Thinkgeek, who has products that showcase hands on creativity, like the upcoming Brick Boy. Still, it is rare for a company out there to encourage an adult to play.
Admittedly, I still love display pieces. I have some statues that I cherish and some toys I absolutely won’t take out of the packaging. And to have companies recognizing adults like to reclaim lost pieces of their youth through toys is a nice thing. Still, playing is not a bad thing. And as a supposed-adult, which I still don’t believe that I am (even in my 30s), I think that it would be great to see more companies appeal to my playfulness. Hopefully next year, I see companies targeting more than just my wallet.
“Oh, my. The simplest would be to say, ‘Languh yoren osta lebn.’ It’s a typical Yiddish expression. Parents say it to their kids. It means, ‘You should live many years’.” • On the Jewish roots of “live long and prosper”
“There was a very small crowd – miniscule compared to the crowd that he gathered later – at a private home in Los Angeles. And we were standing on the back patio, waiting for him. And he came through the house, saw me and immediately put his hand up in the Vulcan gesture. He said, ‘They told me you were here.’ We had a wonderful, brief conversation and I said, ‘It would be logical if you would become president.’“ • On meeting Senator Barak Obama during his first Presidential campaign
“I have been, and shall always be, your friend.” Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
On the wall to the right of the corner in my bedroom where my computer is set up is a plaque given to me for my birthday by daughter Alixandra when she was in high school. It reads, in emboldened and etched script:
STAR TREK: TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE
It’s a picture of Commander Spock of the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701.
It’s a totally fangirl-geek-nerd piece of cheap convention claptrap, for which she probably overpaid and with no monetary value whatsoever in the collectibles market…
And I love it.
I love it because it’s from my daughter.
I love it because it tells me every day that my daughter gets me, that she got me then and always will.
And I love it because it’s a marker that some things do cross-generational barriers, that, to paraphrase John Ostrander’s eloquent words from his column here yesterday, it helps me to remember the past, to appreciate the present, and anticipate the future.
Languh yoren osta lebn, Mr. Spock.
And may your katra be with God, Mr. Nimoy.
*Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
Writing a weekly column can be a funny thing at times, especially when you wait until the last moment to do it. Not only does it irritate your editor but the blamed thing can morph from its original topic. Such as this week. I started with one topic and then found two others that I wanted to comment on as well. I think I’ve found a connection within all three; let’s see if I can make it without stretching too much. Wish me luck.
We’ll start with the death of Leonard Nimoy, a.k.a. the original Mr. Spock in Star Trek. He was 83 and died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Spock was an iconic character not only on Trek or in science fiction but around the world. “Live long and prosper” was his signature phrase and his cool, logical, and scientific manner created an army of fans, me included.
My friend Lise Lee Morgan and I met Mr. Nimoy in person many years ago in a guest suite at a Star Trek convention. My friend Stuart Gordon had got us the opportunity and Mr. Nimoy was charming, engaging, and enthusiastic about Stuart. I liked him even more than I liked Spock.
How significant was Nimoy’s passing? He got a eulogy from Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step foot on the Moon. President Obama released a statement saying “Long before nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy, the center of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future … I loved Spock.” Come on. How cool is that? Any of us should wish to have a life with as much impact on the world.
On the other side of the coin there’s the report of author and blogger Avijit Roy being hacked to death with machetes by Islamic extremists. Roy was a native of Bangladesh although he lived in Atlanta and he was attacked as he left a book fair in the Bangladesh city of Dahka. He was there to promote his book The Virus of Faith. A fan of Bill Maher’s harsh view of Islam, he was critical of all religions and especially Islam and that made him the target of death threats by Moslem extremists. Ansar Bangla-7, an extremist group, has claimed responsibility for the death.
The third item catching my eye was the destruction of ancient artifacts in a Mosul museum by members of ISIS. The items dated back thousands of years, from the Assyrian and Akkadian empires. The vandals’ justification was that the statues were by polytheists and therefore an affront to their skewed notion of Allah. This ignores the fact that the art was part of the heritage of us all and they were only the current custodians. They did not have the right to destroy them. Sadly, such iconoclasm has a long and pernicious history.
So … what unites these three events? They underscore the importance of art, of literature and – yes – of pop culture. A writer is killed because of ideas that he espouses, artifacts are destroyed because of what they once represented, Nimoy’s death is remembered because of a part he played on TV and in films. All this underscores the importance of art, its power, and the threat it poses to the close-minded.
It makes us remember the past, question the present, and bring hope for the future. Pop culture, which we celebrate here, is a huge part of all that. It helps define who we are and tells us who we were and points to what we could be. It reflects our passions and our interests. It questions what we are told and that’s why extremists of all stripes want it destroyed or controlled or obliterated or killed. The violence, the extreme nature, of their actions tell us how real the threat is to them. That tells us how powerful it is. Art is dangerous. Pop culture is or can be or should be dangerous.
Leonard Nimoy, as Spock, exemplified all that. That’s part of the reason his passing affects so many. He made an indelible mark on the world. We should strive to do the same.
Live long and prosper, y’all.
Back in November I lamented that Gotham was a train-wreck with glimmers of hope peaking out amongst the smoldering boxcars abandoned near Arkham Asylum. Well, here we are, a large smattering of episodes later, and I’m starting to change my outlook on Fox’s proto-Batman dramedy. Hear me out, skeptics.
My turn of opinion first peeked its tepid head out into the light when I came to the realization that the show was not, nor would it ever be, Gotham Central by way of Ed Brubaker. The fact is I’ve circled my wagons around the ideology that business and the boardroom will always help dictate the creative endeavors of the Big Two™’s creations. That means that as critically acclaimed a graphic novel may be, at the end of the day all Warner Bros is going to care about is ratings and the potential syndication of Gotham. Hence, the fact that producers are making a show that by-and-large is built to appeal to the widest audience possible by way of brazen continuity-shattering canon-damning characterizations was bound to happen. Or in lesser terms, we were never ever ever going to not get interpretations of Batman’s rogue gallery. So I got over it.
And when I did, the sky opened up, and the show instantly became more entertaining to me. Jim Gordon – the John Wayne of Gotham – and his trusty drunkish sidekick Harvey Bullock are the lone moral compass amidst a sea of corruption. Hell, Bullock up until the 8th or 9th time Gordon saved his ass was as much a part of the problem as anyone. But as the show settled into itself, there was a slight shift in the dynamic duo’s camaraderie.
After sticking his neck out on the line enough times, Bullock and the police chief both turned from broken records (“You’ll never beat this city, Jim!) into begrudging do-gooders. And it did the series a hell of a favor. Instead of one man against a city, there was a subtle cracking of a window, piercing the muck and mire with rays of hope.
Hope. It’s the biggest concept the show misplaced at the onset. But over time, the cases of the week gave way to those notions that yes, in fact, some people did want to fight against the rampant corruption. And to a degree even those who existed on the other side of the law started to show depth of character. Make no bones about it: Carmine Falcone is an evil and bad man. But he bleeds the same blood as we do, and through the plot line of Fish Moody’s planted girlfriend, we saw shades of grey in what was an otherwise black and white caricature of any gangster we’ve seen a million places elsewhere. OK, and let me not give too much credit here. The shtick of an Italian-American loving his mother is not exactly original storytelling. Again, lowest-common-denominator here. Take the small victories as big ones.
Because Gotham was given more than twenty shows to produce within the first season, the writing team has been very sneaky in utilizing slow-burn storytelling in-between the predictable ratings bait. While we’ve been treated to outright terrible iterations of the Scarecrow and the maybe-Joker to-be, we’ve been privy to the ebb and flow of several well-defined debauchees.
Oswald Cobblepot immediately comes to mind. Robin Lord Taylor steals nearly every scene he’s in. While his recent pyrrhic victory over Fish has left him her club, yes, it’s at the cost of anyone believing him ever again. His playing of Maroni and Falcone has no doubt left him as a pawn to more powerful men – until he figures out yet-another way to squawk out of harm.
Outside of The Penguin, the aforementioned Fish herself has been perhaps the only other critically acclaimed person on the show. And while I had not been fond of her personally, I see the appeal. A strong female lead who plays an elegant sexy versus the traditionally slutty alternative amongst Batty’s libertine ladies does leave a better taste in the mouth. Combine this with her more recent turn as a sympathetic heel and you have the makings of another breakout star. My hope though is when she makes an eventual return to Gotham City she does so to rebuild her empire independently. Let Ozzie keep the club for now. Heck, maybe he should turn it into a casino.
And then there’s Bruce. There was no way around the awkwardness of his origins. We’d seen them done dozens of times before. The pearls. The gun shots. The scream into the night. Followed of course by stoic angst amidst solid oak furniture and priceless bric-a-brac. But once Gotham got past the traditional beats, we’ve been granted a look into Bruce Wayne’s life that otherwise has not been better captured. As Alfred would denote several times since my last writing, the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne have granted their sire an unyielding independent streak. He’s been focused (even when gallivanting as the weakest looking punk ever depicted on TV, with Selina Kyle), keen-eyed, and bright. And he’s been all of this whilst figuring how to cope with the grief. The performance has been stilted now and again, but the storytelling has been solid as a rock. This is a Bruce Wayne about to enter adolescence. And it’s slowly become an enjoyable B story against the cases of the week.
While Gotham is still significantly flawed, it has leapt forward in its ability to put a smile on my face. When the show isn’t confined to redefining known properties, there’s an original mish-moshing of noir, black comedy, and a decent (if dumb) police procedural.
Combine this with an astoundingly nice production budget, and the backing of a major network and you have a show that I once thought would be unsalvageable, and over time has become a minor fleet-of-fancy. It’s not Flash or Arrow mind you… but for the time being it doesn’t have to be. It just needs to ultimately calm down and realize its best adventures are still yet to come.
Things have been better for Thing. Not to mention for Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, and the Human Torch. Over the course of the past year in the “The Fall of the Fantastic Four” story line, the FF was forced to vacate their home and headquarters in the Baxter Building. The government took custody of Reed and Sue’s children Franklin and Valeria. Johnny lost his powers. Ben was accused of murdering the Puppet Master. Oh yeah, and they’re wearing these silly red costumes.
But even though “The Fall of the Fantastic Four” is a massive year-long epic, it still has some quiet moments. In Fantastic Four v 5 #12, we find one of those moments. Find it, in all places, on Ryker’s Island. I know what you’re saying, Ryker’s Island is the New York island prison that sits in the East River, what kind of quiet moment could we find there? This kind.
The Thing is imprisoned on Ryker’s Island, waiting trial after being framed for murdering the Puppet Master. Johnny Storm, the now-powerless, former Human Torch – who will, if the cover to the up-coming Silk # 4 is to be taken at face value, be the re-powered, present Human Torch before this story is over and does that surprise anyone? – went to Ryker’s to visit the Thing. Johnny told Thing that “Puppet Master’s body’s gone missing. Pre-autopsy, too.” Then he asks,” What’s that rule of law? Habeas corpus, right?”
Wrong.
The phrase Johnny meant was corpus delicti. But I’m not going to jump all over Johnny because he doesn’t know his habeas from a hole in the ground. He never studied law. How was he supposed to know one obscured-by-Latin legal phrase using the word “corpus” from another?
Other than asking me, that is.
Habeas corpus is a Latin phrase that means “that you have the body.” In and of itself, that doesn’t seem all that much. However, when you add “writ of” in front of habeas corpus, then you’ve got something.
The writ of habeas corpus, also known as the great writ, is one of the many writs that exist in our system of jurisprudence. Of course, saying that doesn’t help much unless one happens to know what a writ is. So let’s move one step back so that we can go forward; and I have it on no less an authority than Matthew McConaughey that sometimes you gotta go back to actually move forward.
A writ is not the thing from which the Moving Finger moves on. Rather a writ is a written order issued by a judge or magistrate or similar in-charge type authority. So writs are written. See, sometimes even Latin can’t obscure the meaning.
Petitions for a writ of habeas corpus are filed on behalf of people being detained, such as in a prison or a jail or a mental hospital. Usually it’s a lawyer but detainees may also file pro se petitions. The petitions allege that the detention is unlawful or without authority and ask that the judge release the prisoner.
Many such petitions – no, most such petitions – are denied out of hand. But sometimes the judge will order that whomever is the custodian of the detainee – like a prison warden – bring the detainee before the court for a hearing, so that the court can determine whether the detention is lawful. If the judge finds that the custodian has the legal authority to hold the detainee, said detainee is returned to detention and another Latin phrase comes into play; status quo. If the judge finds that the detention is unlawful, the judge will order that the detainee be released and another Latin phrase comes into play; etgay outyay ofyay ailjay eefray.
In the case of the Thing, a writ of habeas corpus would go about as far as a melodrama heroine tied to the railroad tracks. The judge would ask why was the Thing being held on Ryker’s Island. The warden would answer, because he’s been arrested and charged with murder. The judge would find Thing’s detention was lawful and would not issue the writ. That’s how I know Johnny erred when he said habeas corpus, because a writ in Things case wouldn’t be worth the paper it was writ on.
Johnny was talking about the fact that Puppet Master’s body had disappeared from the Medical Examiner’s office before an autopsy could be performed on it. The Latin phrase that would apply to this situation is not habeas corpus, it’s corpus delicti.
For those of you who slept through your foreign language class because it was scheduled Latin the afternoon, corpus delicti means the body of the crime. It doesn’t refer to the physical body in a murder case, such as Puppet Master’s missing corpse. It means body in a more metaphysical way, the elements of a crime. It means that in a criminal trial, the prosecution must prove the body of the crime; that is must be able to prove the essential elements of the crime exist.
In a murder case, the corpus delicti would be that the defendant unlawfully caused the death of another person. Here the corpus delicti would involve an actual corpse. (Unless the defendant were Hannibal Lecter, then the case would involve the corpus delectable.) In a theft prosecution, the corpus delicti would be that the defendant took the property of another person without the owner’s permission. It would involve no actual, physical dead body.
Johnny had a valid point, the corpus delicti rule probably does apply to Thing’s situation. If Puppet Master’s body disappeared before the autopsy, then no one has been able to determine the cause of Puppet Master’s death. Maybe he wasn’t murdered, maybe he died of a heart attack or a heart break or having literally left his heart in San Francisco. If no one knows how Puppet Master died, than no one knows whether someone killed him. More specifically, no knows whether Thing killed him. Without Puppet Master’s actual corpse and the necessary autopsy on said corpse, the prosecution might not be able to establish the corpus delicti in Thing’s case.
So, if Thing is smart, he’ll just sit things out in his cell and wait for the charges to be dropped as they, inevitably, will. The last thing Thing should do is…
Exactly what he does in Fantastic Four v 5 #13.
What does Thing do? Well that would be telling. So come back next week, when I’ll be telling.
If you haven’t read The Sculptor, stop reading this and go get yourself a copy immediately,
Need more persuasion? Okay, but you’re missing out on valuable time that could be spent reading this awesome book. I’ve been a fan of Scott’s since Zot because it was funny and human and had a villain named Art Deco. More people became fans when he published the brilliant Understanding Comics. There is no one who uses the graphic story medium to better effect than Scott McCloud.
The Sculptor showcases McCloud’s mastery of technique. His use of color is impeccable. The book is black and white with blue tones, giving the different scenes a variety of moods and weights. The way he uses overlapping word balloons reminds me of an Altman movie. The panel arrangements speed up time and slow it down, depending on the needs of the character.
All of this is in service to the story: David Smith is a frustrated artist trying to make it in New York. He makes a deal with Death (not the cute girl but an old Jewish man who reminds me of my mom’s Uncle Harry) to have 200 days when he create whatever art he wants, in exchange for dying at the end of the deal.
Then he falls in love.
Meg isn’t anyone’s dream girl. A struggling actress, she has serious emotional problems including, I think, a variation of bi-polar disorder (Note: I am not a doctor). Still, her energy and her compassion strike a chord with David. It’s not an easy relationship for either of them. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to believe it.
I’ve seen people compare the story to Faust, and I guess I get that analogy, but it doesn’t really hold up. David doesn’t ask for fame or power – he just wants to make his art the way he wants to make his art. He doesn’t even negotiate for a gallery show where people can see his work.
It’s all about the art.
A major character in this book is New York City. Not the New York of Friends or Sex and the City or even <a href=”
Parker, this is the New York of cheap rent, scummy landlords, tight money and brilliant, artistic friends. It’s the New York I wanted to live in when I came here nearly 40 years ago. So much so that I almost thought the story took place at that time, until I noticed everyone had cell phones.
I thought that New York was gone. Maybe I’m just too old for it. I’m grateful to The Sculptor for letting me live there again, for at least as long as it took to read.
And another thing! It’s bugged me lately that critics seem to think that superhero movies are the root of all evil. It’s a genre that gets sneers from everyone, even though it’s relatively new (I would say it started with Superman in 1978).
Okay, we can discuss whether or not Thor: The Dark World was as good a film as The Imitation Game. I don’t think it was. Still, it brought happiness to millions. I think that’s a good thing.
And it gives a lot of people a chance to make a living in a field they love. Or, as Marvel writer Gerry Duggan said on Twitter Sunday night after J. K. Simmons won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, “J Jonah Jameson beat two Hulks to win an Oscar, then Ra’s al Ghul said there are too many comic adaptations. #Oscars2015”
Attention Bronies: My Little Pony – Friendship is Magic: Adventures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was released on DVD this week. As you know, a pony’s cutie mark shows their special talent on their flank for all to see, but what if you’re a pony who hasn’t figured out how you are unique yet? Cutie Marks are the quest for the Cutie Mark Crusaders and this DVD features them in 5 episodes (well, really truly only 4 because “Pinkie Pride” is about Pinkie Pie’s party planning showdown with a pony called Cheese Sandwich, voiced by Weird Al), plus bonus features like coloring pages, a sing-a-long and digital wallpaper. All the details are in this week’s video…as well as our true feelings about Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
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