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Tidings of comfort and joy

  • News
  • December 23, 2007

On the off-chance that anyone else out there is spending their Christmas holiday engaged in online reading rather than in more traditional pursuits (eating, opening pressies, eating, singing carols, eating, watching heartwarming holiday specials on TV, and eating), we herewith present this past week’s ComicMix columns:

Have a safe and peaceful Christmas, everyone!

Neil Gaiman’s Coraline footage up

  • News
  • December 23, 2007

Neil Gaiman proudly presents, as an early Christmas present, the first Coraline footage to be released to the world.

(It’s not really from me. Laika and Focus chose it and did all the hard work, the Web Goblin did all the building it in the background. I just claim the glory and bask in the reflected wossname.)

It’s still about a year away from it coming into cinemas. But here’s a first look…

Conversations with Roy Rogers, by Michael H. Price

  • News
  • December 23, 2007

The opening Jan. 8 of Texas’ Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, a hardy and adaptive survivor of the 19th century, marks not only a continuation of the region’s most emphatic reminder of its economic basis in agriculture. The occasion also nails the 50th anniversary of a major-league show-business breakthrough for the Stock Show. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans arrived in Fort Worth in 1958 to serve as hosts for the first comprehensive network-television coverage of an authentically Western rodeo.
 
The presence of the “King of the Cowboys” and the “Queen of the West” in Fort Worth marked a showy progression from the name-brand entertainment presence that the Stock Show’s main-event rodeo had begun developing during World War II, starting with an appearance by Texas-bred Gene Autry. Both Autry and Rogers had been on furlough, in a sense, from the movie industry at the respective times of their visits to Fort Worth – Autry, on military duty, and Rogers, in hopeful preparation for a new teevee series – and both had pursued a friendly rivalry since the 1930s.
 
By the middle 1950s, too, both Autry and Rogers had lapsed from competitive movie stardom to more of an iconic presence within the popular culture, with comic books and signature toys and apparel and lunch-boxes to show for their influence. Autry’s Flying A Productions had discontinued a long-running Gene Autry Show during 1955-1956, and Rogers’ independent company had wrapped the final episodes of The Roy Rogers Show in 1957. A briefer Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show surfaced during the early 1960s. Such programs remained in syndicated-teevee play well into the 1970s – as would the stars’ numerous big-screen movies, recycled for television.

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Two Girls And A Lot Of Magic….

250px-xmmessiah001cvrinks-6836939When you stop to think about it, there are a lot of similarities in the stories of Dorothy and Alice and now the connection is much deeper than we ever imagined. The critically acclaimed indy series Oz – Wonderland Chronicles might have passed you by, take a minute for ComicMix Radio as we preview the title with one of the creators. Plus:

• It’s finally a Merry Middle Earth Christmas

• Got an idea for a super heroine? Shadowline is listening!

• It’s seven-in-a-row for The X-Men arc "The Messiah Complex"

Press The Button now, and pass the eggnog!

The Sweetest Gift, by Martha Thomases

  • News
  • December 22, 2007

51q56wbs7dl-_ss500_-3685524Over a month ago, I was assigned to find out each presidential candidate’s favorite super-hero or heroine.  It seemed like it would be a fun assignment, a chance to find a bit of insight into how pop culture affects politics and vice versa.

Alas, only Ron Paul felt self-confident enough to answer our question.  I was impressed that not only did Dr. Paul know one super-hero from another, but he also knew one creator from another, specifically citing Paul Pope’s version of Batman. 

Why didn’t the other candidates respond?  John Tebbel thinks it’s because the race is so close that no one wants to risk saying something stupid that will alienate a segment of voters needed to gain percentages in the early primaries and caucuses.  Can the Marvel vs. DC split be so wide?  Do indy fans resent superhero fans this much?  I don’t think so.

Or maybe the question is considered too goofy for a future President of the most powerful country in the world.  However, in the last few days, I’ve heard how the candidates like their coffee and what their least favorite food is. 

I’ve had to conclude that these candidates simply don’t read comics, or graphic novels, or the funny pages.  Therefore, in the Spirit of the Season, I’ve decided to recommend the following:

Mike Huckabee:  This Baptist minister turned Governor of Arkansas seems like a personable guy.  His story about losing 100 pounds is inspirational, and he seems, in interviews, to be a friendly sort.  However, as he’s climbed in the polls, he’s become disturbingly more evangelical about the role of religion in public life, especially the federal government.  It would do him good to read Garth Ennis’ and Steve Dillon’s Preacher: Gone to Texas. 

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