In like a lion with news on the resurrection of DEAD LIKE ME and how the stars feel about coming back from the dead. Meanwhile, Kevin Smith proves he still has it and makes our 5 Cool Things In The Comic Shop this week, and BATTLESTAR plus DOCTOR WHO equals LAW AND ORDER?
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Editor’s note: With the imminent release of Watchmen, we thought we’d try and get a different perspective. So we asked Alexandra Honigsberg, a professional ethicist and genre author, to read the book for the first time and delve into the ethos of the world created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
If super-hero comics are the literature of ethics, then Watchmen is the literature of un-ethics. It is the template for what not to do and makes Batman look like a Boy Scout, even at his darkest Dark Knight. They make Dirty Harry look clean. There’s a new saying on the street that Bitch is the New Black, it Gets Things Done. Well, these guys and gals are certainly the biatch. But is there any way to redeem their actions so that the ends justify the means? Or, more importantly, that even the most inhumane or inhuman retains some sense of what it means to be human?
The study of ethics is the exploration of the good life and how to live it. Now by the “good life” I don’t mean the bling life. I mean a life that is honourable, virtuous and, on a profound level not shaken by the winds of change, happy. Happiness (or pleasure or joy or The Good). That’s the end, the ultimate goal, or what Aristotle calls “that at which all rational beings aim.” Ari makes a fine distinction between the acts of a man (animal, non-rational) and the acts of a human (rational) or what some of us might term the mensch (gender neutral). One of the biggest invectives that Laurie hurls at Dr. Manhattan/Jon Osterman is that, after working for so long in the lab and being so all-powerful (the man not only to end all wars, but end all worlds), he ceases to be human. Moore emphasizes this with quotes from Nietzsche, who claims that when we become evolved enough we will not need rules, we will have become extra-moral – the superman (not the Nazis’ bastardization thereof) who has no need of ethics as we now know them. But are we still human? Extreme means change the agent and therefore change the end (e.g., The Comedian’s total amorality). Can we still give a damn if we’re all god-like? Or in the midst of so much horror that no human could reasonably be expected to survive unscarred (think of the Holocaust), are we still human? What’s human? What’s life? What’s good and who decides? Who gives authority to whom and why?
Well, this has been an entertaining weekend.
To recap: on Friday, the LiveJournal community scans_daily has been suspended for posting copyrighted material without the permission of copyright holders, which is against LiveJournal’s ToS.
Many people, looking for a focus to blame, have taken out their venom on Peter David, bombarding his site with comments, some supportive, some abusive, and pretty much chewing up computer cycles. This has required moving up a planned migration and upgrade to the site, and there’s nothing like doing an upgrade while a comment storm is going on.
(Incidentally, this person is one of the more obnoxious pinheads I’ve come across in a while, whose argument seems to distill to "I was rude to someone I stole things from, so he took back what I’d rightfully stolen, I think, and this makes him a bad man". I suspect this person felt that the three bears had no right to chase Goldilocks away, let alone eat her– especially since she didn’t like two-thirds of the porridge that she ate.)
Further commentary has been brought up by Johanna Draper Carlson and Gail Simone on the "you’re shutting down a free comics site! Bad!" side, Kevin Church and Lisa Fortuner on the "About bloody time" side, and Digital Strips’ Brigid Alverson giving equal time to both.
As for the scans_daily moderators, the best summation seems to be from schmevil. Stubbleupdate has offered to answer questions in an interview; I’ve already sent a list.
It started innocently enough, folks, I swear. I was patrolling my normal series of blogs, whence I came upon a startlingly funny little comic. Instantly I thought “Hey! Another opportunity to share with the masses an ongoing, intelligent, mildly offensive online comic! And again without fail, I find yet another online comic worthy of praise… that had already been deemed dead. But, my gentle readers (and my gentile readers too), I again choose to share with you a comic to be lifted on high and praised as “A Webcomic You Should Have Read!”. I give you The Perry Bible Fellowship. (Note: at this point henceforth when I declare things like this, you should quickly load up an MP3 of “O Fortuna Carmina Burana” and pour yourself a fine glass of Burgundy. If neither are available, a reasonable alternative would be a cassette single of "Step By Step" by NKOTB, and pour yourself a slop bucket full o’ Mountain Dew.)
I admit I find many things to be funny–religious zealots, explosions, bum fights, british curtness, farting, and my fiancé’s face when she’s asleep… and truly, this little strip seems to cover all those bases well, and then some*. A brief history tells us:
The Perry Bible Fellowship (or PBF) is a newspaper comic strip and webcomic by Nicholas Gurewitch. It originated in the Syracuse University newspaper The Daily Orange. The comics are usually three or four panels long, and are generally characterized by the juxtaposition of whimsical childlike imagery or fantasy with extremely morbid, surreal humor. Common themes include irony, religion, sexuality, war, science fiction, suicide, violence, and death.
The comic received its title, taken from the name of a church in Maine, in its Daily Orange incarnation.
Let’s dive in, shall we? (more…)
Today’s list of quick items:
Anything else? Consider this an open thread.
The DC Universe series of animated features got off to a rocky start with the [[[Superman vs. Doomsday]]] offering but has gotten steadily better. [[[New Frontier]]] was pretty amazing and now they offer up [[[Wonder Woman]]], which may be the closest we get to a feature about the Amazon Princess for quite some time.
And I’m pretty okay with that, given how good this direct-to-DVD offering is. It’s not perfect, but it’s entertaining and a great introduction to the character. If you’ve been following the interviews we’ve been posting here at ComicMix, you know that it comes from the usual suspects behind the animated DCU along with a very strong voice cast.
The movie posits that Wonder Woman exists in a world of her own and there are no references to the greater DCU, allowing you to dwell on the mythological background that spawned the character. Created by William Moulton Marston, his grasp of the Greek mythology he predicated the character on was shaky at best and frankly, it wasn’t until the George Perez-driven version of 1987 before anyone explored the Greek gods and their role in the Amazons’ world.
The message on Live Journal is very simple:
Error
This journal has been suspended.
And with that, it’s gone and the comics community has changed.
And before anyone asks, no, Peter David isn’t responsible for drawing attention to the powers that be any more than Dirk Deppey is responsible for posting a link to it almost every day for years in a news publication. If you post enough stuff on there and you don’t own the copyright, your foot shall slide in due time; sooner or later you will get noticed and the hammer will fall.
Before you ask, yes, I posted stuff to scans_daily to promote The Original Johnson, because it’s a large community of readers. But ComicMix controls the rights to the book and used it for promotion.
I hope that scans_daily can reconstitute, but remember, to stay outside the law, you gotta be honest.
If any of the group administrators would like to contact us to comment or for an interview, please feel free.
So far, Warner Bros., Paramount, and Fox have all had ties with Watchmen. Now, we can add NBC/Universal to the list.
Next week, NBC Networks will be airing never before seen exclusive Watchmen character profiles during the programming of shows on NBC, USA and SCIFI to gear up for the release of Watchmen on March 6th.
Here’s the schedule:
Following their network airing, the clips will be available for viewing on nbc.com/watchmen.
Meanwhile, Disney is trying to figure out a way to tie things in. Some Ozymadias/ScroogeMcDuck crossover, I suppose. Or Donald Ducktor Manhattan, he’s already not wearing pants…
Timed to make a splash at Oakland’s WonderCon, Warner Home Video announced that Green Lantern will receive his own direct-to-DVD exploit this summer. The long-anticipated project will have a sneak peek during the con but consumers will also be treated to a 10 minute featurette on the Wonder Woman DVD being released on Tuesday.
Here’s the formal announcement:
BURBANK, CA, (February 27, 2008) – The fabric of intergalactic justice is threatened – until Hal Jordan arrives for his initial mission – in the animated Green Lantern: First Flight, the fifth entry in the popular DVD series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies. A co-production of Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation, the illuminated hero’s first-ever full-length animated film is set for release by Warner Home Video on July 28, 2009. Green Lantern: First Flight will be available as a special edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def for $29.98 (SRP) and $34.99 (SRP), respectively, as well as single disc DVD for $19.98 (SRP).
Acclaimed actor Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) fills the lead voice of Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern. Meloni is joined by fellow Emmy Award nominee Victor Garber (Milk, Alias) as the villainous Sinestro, Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) as the voice of Boodikka, and Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) as Kilowog.
Produced by animation legend Bruce Timm, Green Lantern: First Flight is helmed by heralded director Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman, Superman Doomsday) and scripted by four-time Emmy Award-winning writer Alan Burnett (The Batman).
Green Lantern: First Flight finds Hal Jordan recruited to join the Green Lantern Corps and placed under the supervision of respected senior Lantern Sinestro. The earthling soon discovers his mentor is actually the central figure in a secret conspiracy that threatens the philosophies, traditions and hierarchy of the entire Green Lantern Corps. Hal must quickly hone his newfound powers and combat the treasonous Lanterns within the ranks to maintain order in the universe.
Say Goodbye to February and Hello to March which will give us STAR TREK:TNG on FAMILY GUY, WONDER WOMAN on DVD, more episodes (and maybe a second season of ISSUES) but no SOUTH PARK on the iPhone and maybe no third season of REAPER. It’s a mixed bag for us and oh yeah, Mike Gold misses comic book racks.
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