Comics Great Marie Severin Suffers Stroke

News
October 16, 2007

images-3507439 Long-time comics giant Marie Severin suffered a stroke last Thursday. She is recouperating at Huntington Hospital in Long Island, New York.

Marie is perhaps best-known for her work as the primary EC Comics colorist during the 1950s, doing much to set the tone and style of comics’ most highly-respected line. She is also well-known for her work as an artist, working on a wide variety of characters primarily for Marvel Comics: from Doctor Strange and The Sub-Mariner to Alf and Kull The Barbarian. She is particularly well-known for satiric work in titles such as Crazy and Not Brand Ecch!, drawing one of the finest comics parodies, "Kaspar The Dead Baby," written by Marv Wolfman.

Born in 1929, Marie’s brother, John Severin, is also one of the all-time comics greats.

Marie’s family suggests sending get well cards to:

Marie Severin, patient

c/o Huntington Hospital

270 Park Avenue

Huntington, NY 11743

(Thanks to Larry Shell for sharing the news.)

Graphic Novel Review: The Best American Comics 2007

Uncategorized
October 16, 2007

bac071-7568996 With two years of The Best American Comics down now, it’s clear just how much the individual editor can influence the choice of comics. Last year, Harvey Pekar leaned towards autobiographical comics and towards long, complete works. For this second year, Chris Ware similarly goes where we’d expect him to go and picks a lot of formalist stories — but also a lot of autobiography, particularly the overly-serious type. It’s dangerous to compare annuals in any case, especially when they change editors, but I have to admit that I thought 2006 was a stronger book than 2007; this year’s edition contains a batch of “experimental” comics that I found pointless and a pure waste of space.

And there’s also the meta-question of what are the “best comics,” since even the “100 Distinguished Comics” list in the back matter — from series editor Anne Elizabeth Moore, and which also apparently served as the first cut of stories from which Ware built this anthology — lists only a tiny handful of stories from the major comics publishers. So this series is essentially for the best American independent comics — not superheroes, or adventure stories of any type from the big companies. Perhaps future volumes will challenge that idea, but, for now, there’s no sign that Best American is open to anything more fantastic or adventurous than Charles Burns’s great horror comic Black Hole.

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Cap In The Saddle Again

News
October 16, 2007

O.K. By now you’re heard that "Captain America" will be returning to Captain America, in issue #34. Place your orders today, folks!

I have no problem with Cap’s return. It was inevitable. That’s fine. I don’t know if it’ll be Steve Rogers resurrected; I certainly hope not. That sort of shoddy storytelling got tiresome about 20 years ago. Like the flag and the nation for which he was named, Captain America endures and that’s fine by me.

I’m not going to join the loud chorus of nay-sayers who have been pooping all over Alex Ross’s brand-new costume design. Cap’s got a gun and a knife? Bg deal. He’s a soldier, remember? If a gun was good enough for Alex Schaumberg, it’s good enough for Ross and for me.

However, there is a storytelling problem here. If the costume is so vital that it must survive as the skin of another, as it had before in the 1950s, then why change the costume? I guess we’ll find out. I hope we’ll find out. (more…)

Costumes, by Dennis O’Neil

News
October 16, 2007

My beloved has just been pushed out of a fourteenth story window and is plummeting toward certain doom. I must rescue her and I will – as soon as I change clothes…

We were discussing, last week, how superheroes are evolving and we agreed – didn’t we? – that, on the whole, with a few notable exceptions, they’re getting grimmer.

They also seem to be changing their taste in wardrobes. None of the current television superdoers wear anything more than normal clothing, albeit sometimes very spiffy normal clothing. Time was, and not so long ago, when…shall we call it unconventional garb was an indispensable part of the superhero thing. Capes, masks, tights, all kinds of bizarre raiment, often in the primary hues that were friendly to the aniline dyes and rather primitive printing presses used to color them.

It began, as did so much superheroish stuff, with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s Superman. To the best of my knowledge, these pioneers never went on record regarding exactly why they chose this particular visual strategy, but it was a good idea. It gave the their character and immediate and utterly unmistakable image and it separated him from his ordinary brethren as a police uniform or priestly vestments separate the wearers from plain joes and janes, at least when performing unique services. As Peter Coogan wrote, Superman’s outfit “does proclaim his identity.” The costume was obviously a part of Superman’s appeal, and immediate success, and, being no fools, Siegel and Shuster’s army of imitators copied it.

Consider that, for now, the why of superhero costumes. As to the whence…

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Study in contrasts: Shazam! and Simon Dark, by Charlie Meyerson

News
October 15, 2007

Arriving in one press kit from DC, a couple of comics as different as day and night: The deluxe edition hardcover collection of Jeff Smith’s four-issue miniseries SHAZAM! The Monster Society of Evil and the first issue of Steve Niles and Scott Hampton’s Simon Dark, promoted as Gotham City’s other protector.

SHAZAM! is Smith’s brightly colored love letter to the original Captain Marvel comics, a new take on a storyline first presented in the 1940s. It’s yet another relaunch for a character DC has proven unable to handle with any consistency, but it brings Smith’s clear sense of storytelling to a plot that is, in the end, a little too simple. It’s a handsome volume – with a dustjacket that unfolds into “a giant-sized poster!!!” (to quote the enthusiastic cover blurb), and elaborate production notes and sketches. But longtime fans may be disappointed. The story itself is better suited for parents looking to introduce kids to the adventures of the Marvel family. (more…)

On this day: flu epidemic shut down the movies

News
October 15, 2007

If you think the pending Writers Guild of America strike could throw Hollywood into a tizzy, just imagine how much worse it’s been in the past.

89 years ago today, the leading film studios announced they would stop releasing films due to the 1918 flu epidemic. It’s good to know that if this happened today, we would take equally cautious measures. But to be extra safe, we’d close the supermarkets. And have a curfew. And invade a country. Because after all, they gave us the flu because they hate our freedom. Today, at least we can pretend to have Jack Bauer saving us from biological threats.

And think how happy certain Tinseltown types would be to have something to blame the weekend grosses on.

Who’s Who for Hallowe’en

News
October 15, 2007

The Guardian reports on a "must-have" item among British children for the upcoming holiday season: a mask modelled on the Dalek-human hybrid which appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Daleks in Manhattan" and which "changes the voice of the wearer to the metallic scream of the doctor’s mortal enemies." Parents everywhere will no doubt be thrilled.

The mask featuress two play buttons; the first activates a Dalek question, followed by Dalek Sec Hybrid’s reply, and the second activates the Dalek Voice Changer Function. The product was mentioned in the context of many other TV-based toys available for Christmas which are expected to be best-sellers, but what about those who need to have it for Hallowe’en?

Never fear, it’s available now, at least in the UK. Sure beats "Anna Rexia," if you ask me!

All Ages Night

News
October 15, 2007

All Ages Night is a new film about the cool kids who reject the Britneys and Timberlakes for the classic joys of Patti Smith and the Ramones. Written by former Marvel editor (and Wolverine / GI Joe scribe) Larry Hama and his writing partner, Gabrielle Kelly, it’s the story of a London punk who comes to Los Angeles and meets kindred spirits. You can find out more at the film’s MySpace page or by checking out this story in the Los Angeles Times.

Happy Birthday, I Love Lucy!

Birthdays
October 15, 2007

On this day in 1951, CBS first aired the hilarious classic, "I Love Lucy," and it’s never been off the air since. We must also honor the memory of Lucy for inspiring countless cosplayers across the country.

Where would they be without her? Forced into the likes of Barbra Streisand and Cher? Is that really the world we would want to live in? Thanks Lucy, we owe ya.

Teaching Behind The Eightball, by Mike Gold

News
October 15, 2007

I’ve lived in Connecticut for the past 22 years, and I’ll admit I’m hardly the most loyal of Nutmeggers. It’s very pretty up here, once you get out of its typically American cities, but some of the people tend to be a bit self-absorbed and snooty. But before this past week, I could not say I was actually embarrassed to live here. Here’s the story.

29 year-old teacher Nathan Fisher used to run an English class at Guilford High. As we all recall, part of an English teacher’s job is to assign various types of reading assignments. He assigned one of his students – a girl, which I think is significant to the story – a comic book, Daniel Clowes’ Eightball #22. Another student freaked, the parents started a crusade, the board of education got involved, the police were called, the state Department of Children and Families was called in, and the comic book was labeled pornographic. In short order, Mr. Fisher was forced to resign.

He was, according to the Hartford Courant, a well-respected teacher who previously had received praise from his superiors. Loren Sterman, a Guilford parent who coincidentially works as a school counselor in New London, told the Courant’s Rick Green "He is someone who cares deeply about children’s literacy and who looks for ways to hook them into reading. That’s what he did for my daughter."

The police found no cause for hysteria. The Department of Children and Families found no cause for action. This is significant; I’ve worked with the Connecticut DCF on Head Start and related issues, and to my experience it would be difficult to find a prissier or more bureaucratic bunch of ass-coverers. They’ll fine you for hiccupping in a swimming pool, and they found nothing. (more…)

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