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REVIEW: Slappy’s Tales of Horror

Goosebumps Graphix: Slappy’s Tales of Horror
By R.L. Stine
176 pages, Scholastic Graphix, $12.99

Slappy's Tales of HorrorOriginally released in black and white nearly a decade ago, the resurrection of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps franchise has prompted Scholastic Graphix to collect the stories once more at Goosebumps Graphix. The first of these, Slappy’s Tales of Horror, are comic book adaptations of YA novels written in the early 1990s.

Dave Roman, the most cartoony of the quartet of artists, provides the interstitial pages as Slappy, the living dummy, acts as host because every horror anthology needs a host (thank you Bill Gaines). The stories offer up a variety of terrors from the possessed dummy to the werewolf but in keeping with Stine’s template, each comes with a few twists to keep people guessing.

There is some genuine terror hidden within each story but being a graphic adaptation of prose, and given a more limited page count, things fall to the wayside, notably any semblance of characterization.

Vertigo veteran Jamie Tolagson kicks things off with “A  Shocker on Shock Street”, that mixes amusement park thrills with filmed entertainment as two kids experience an unforgettable evening.

Gabriel Hernandez follows with “The Werewolf of Fever Swamp”, a family tale where man and beast are examined. His art is sketchy but works to set the mood, notably in the woods.

“Ghost Beach” comes courtesy of Ted Naifeh and deals with ghosts and ancestors and ghastly doings.

Finally, Roman offers up “Night of the Living Dummy” which is about rivalry, sibling and wooden alike. His style feels out of place compared with the others but he does an admirable job with the hoary material.

All four come freshly colored by Jose Garibaldi who uses a rich palette without getting garish.

If you like the series and can’t wait for the film, this should help.

The Law Is A Ass

Bob Ingersoll: The Law Is A Ass #368

DISMISSING A CASE WITH PREJUDICE IS INJUDICIOUS

First of all, when a lawyer gets a case dismissed with prejudice, that doesn’t mean it’s because the lawyer was the new, reconfigured Atticus Finch.

So what does “dismissed with prejudice” mean then? That’s the question I promised to answer last week, while discussing Daredevil v.4 #15.1, because a judge dismissed a criminal case against Matt Murdock’s client with prejudice. And here I am this week doing what I promised to do last week by answering the question.

Not all lawsuits end in a jury verdict. In fact, to tell the truth, most of them don’t. (Jeez, doing what I promised to do and telling the truth; that’s enough to get me kicked out of my lawyer in good standing status. If I were still a lawyer or ever had a good standing.) Most cases end long before a trial or a jury verdict. Many end with some sort of compromise deal being reached between the two parties. Either a settlement in a civil case or a plea bargain in a criminal case. Others end with one of the sides filing a motion to dismiss the case and the judge granting that motion. Still others end in other ways, but as we’re talking about motions to dismiss today, we won’t bother with those still other ways.

Either side can file a motion to dismiss, the plaintiffs or defendants in civil cases or the prosecutors or defendants in criminal cases. (Please note, in a lawsuit – both civil and criminal lawsuits – the party bringing the suit is the plaintiff. Plaintiffs in criminal cases are usually called prosecutors or the state, but they’re still the plaintiffs. For the sake of convenience, I’m going to use the term “plaintiff” to refer to both civil plaintiffs and prosecutors.) Usually one side files the motion to dismiss because there is a weakness in the plaintiff’s case. Plaintiffs, for example, might file a motion to buy some more time to develop their case. Defendants can file to dismiss, if they feel that the charging papers – either a civil complaint or a criminal indictment – fail to set forth an adequate case to present to a jury.

When a judge is presented with a motion to dismiss, the judge can either grant the motion or deny it. Most judges grant the motion to dismiss, if for no other reason than that it gets the case of the judge’s docket. Do judges like to get cases off their dockets? Does Sonny the Cuckoo Bird like Coco Puffs? If a judge grants the motion to dismiss, the judge can grant it in one of two ways. The judge can grant the motion with pride – judges do almost everything with pride – but either with or without prejudice.

Ah five paragraphs into the column and finally we’re reaching the Clara Peller part. where the beef is.

If a judge grants a motion to dismiss without prejudice , that means that the plaintiff can file the case again in the future. If, however, the judge grants the motion to dismiss with prejudice, that means the plaintiff cannot file the case again. The plaintiff can appeal the judge’s dismissal with prejudice. But absent an appeals court overturning the dismissal with prejudice, the plaintiff is barred from ever filing that case in the future.

Common reasons for dismissing a case with prejudice include fraud on the part of the plaintiffs or the case being barred by the statute of limitations or the case being barred by res judicata because the plaintiffs brought the same matter to trial in an earlier case and lost. There are, of course more reasons. Lots more. (Seriously, you think there’s actually a legal principle that’s so simple it could be answered completely with only three examples? The law is large, it contains multitudes. And that’s just the tax code.)

In the Daredevil story, a murder charge against one Luiz Sifuentes was dismissed with prejudice, meaning the state of New York could not refile the same charges against Mr. Sifuentes in the future. Usually in criminal cases a case is dismissed with prejudice for one of a few reasons. If the defendant was already tried for the same charges and found not guilty, the defendant can’t be tried on those charges a second time because of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. So if the state were to bring the same charges a second time and the trial court dismissed the case because of double jeopardy, that would be a dismissal with prejudice.

Another dismissal with prejudice would be if the state brought charges after the statute of limitations expired. In that case, the state would be barred from ever filing charges again, because of the statute of limitations.

Of if the defendant’s case were dismissed because the state didn’t bring the defendant to trial in compliance with the Speedy Trial clause of the Sixth Amendment that would also be a dismissal with prejudice, because the speedy trial violation would prevent the state from pursuing the charges in the future.

Those are some of the major reasons that a criminal case can be dismissed with prejudice. There are, naturally others. Multitudes, remember?

In the Sifuentes case, Sifuentes was charged with shooting a man to death in Central Park. Daredevil investigated the case and caught the two other people who were actually guilty of the crime. These two confessed to the murder after their fingerprints were found on the bullets in the cylinder of the murder weapon. They also admitted they didn’t know Luiz Sifuentes. So the judge dismissed the case against Sifuentes with prejudice, meaning that the state could never bring these charges against Mr. Sifuentes again.

That’s unlikely. The trial court wouldn’t want to do something which precluded the state from ever filing the charges again. What, for example, would happen if the other two defendants recanted their stories and said Sifuentes was also in on the murder? Or what if the state learned that the other two defendants were friends with Sifuentes and lied about not knowing him to get their friend out of trouble? In either scenario, the state would want to bring murder charges against Sifuentes again, but wouldn’t be able to do so, because the case had been dismissed with prejudice. So it’s not likely that the trial court would have granted Sifuentes’s motion to dismiss with prejudice, as it wouldn’t want to preclude the state from pursuing a case against Sifuentes, should new facts establishing Sifuentes’s actual guilt ever come to light.

What would probably have happened in the Sifuentes case is that the judge would have granted the motion to dismiss, based on the fact that Mr. Sifuentes appeared to be innocent of the charges. But it would have dismissed the case without prejudice. The state of New York would then have to decide whether it wanted to pursue a case against Sifuentes. If it believed that he was actually innocent of the crime, then it wouldn’t file the charges again and the matter would be over. But if, after further investigation, the State felt that Sifuentes was actually involved in the killing, it would file the charges against him a second time.

The trial court wouldn’t want to prejudge the state’s future ability to prosecute Mr. Sifuentes, so it wouldn’t grant a dismissal with prejudice. Oh and one more thing, don’t confuse prejudging with deciding which hybrid car to buy. Prius judging is entirely different.

Marta Thomases: What Being An Ally Looks Like

eltingvilleclub-2-e1440174264101-6824522This is what being an ally looks like.  And it’s funny, too!

There are far too few comics that make me giggle like the little girl I am inside this old body.

Ambush Bug.  Anything by Kyle Baker.  Alan Moore’s D. R. and Quinch.

And just about anything written and drawn by Evan Dorkin.

I met Evan at a comics convention, probably about 25 years ago, and I know him just well enough to stop by and chat for five minutes when I see him, which is almost always at a comics convention.  Five minutes is enough for me to establish that we know each other, that I’m not a stalker, and that his work makes me happy.

The first of his work that I liked was, I think, Milk & Cheese.  From there, I followed all sorts of weird little strips he did — strips that were literally little, in that there would be about eight on a page, with teeny-tiny lettering fit only for someone as young as I was at the time.

Also, Eltingville,  series of stories about the Eltingville Comic Book, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror & Role-Playing Club, four Staten Island teenaged fan-boys who make me cringe as much as laugh.  There is enough useless pop culture trivia occupying braincells that I could be using to learn a foreign language, but no, I have to know that Matter-Eating Lad’s real name is Tenzil Kem and he comes from the Planet Bismoll.

(I should also explain that I was way too old when I realized what a pun that last bit is.  Because I’m too geeky to think that way normally.)

The very last Eltingville story is out now at your friendly neighborhood comic book shop or Internet site.  I’m pleased to report that it’s brilliant.

And cringe-inducing.

The four former friends meet at San Diego Comic-Con.  One has a girlfriend.  This drives one to scream:

“See, this is why girls weren’t allowed in the club … Listen up, bitch.  Because I’m onto you. I watched you sittin’ there, laughin’ at us, mockin’ us, shovin’ your tits in our faces to work us all up!  You can’t stand seein’ us get along so you gotta stick your twat where it doesn’t belong to try to cunt everything up!!  Well, it won’t work!  You may have ruined fandom — you and all the other cultural immigrants who invaded our territory — but you won’t ruin us.!”

I can’t remember ever seeing such a painful expression of misogyny, revealed as the cowardly, selfish, expression of every man’s inner three-year-old.  (And, yes, women have a version of that about men, sometimes. It’s just that since women don’t run the world — despite what men who don’t have regular sex partners might think — our expressions of these feelings are less likely to have a similarly intimidating effects.)

These four guys are not powerful.  They lead lives on the dull, frustrated side of normal.  They are at an age when they start to realize that they aren’t going to achieve the ambitions they had as kids, and they are looking for someone to blame.

Maybe you think I’m reaching too far, ascribing a political motive to Evan’s story.  According to this, I’m not.  In the interview, Evan says, “Every day, there’s somebody doing something awful in fandom. And a lot of the times, it’s somebody from one of the companies or it’s a creator saying some dumb shit about women or transgender people. This is the audience, and the bizarre opinions that some people have… This attitude that comics or movies or gaming is just for them-it’s so myopic. It’s tunnel vision. The idea that you can’t even put yourself in another person’s place and understand the rampant misogyny of the world. Not just this. And how angry and hateful so many people are. People getting doxxed, people getting death threats.”

This is what an ally sounds like.  He’s not telling women and people of color and transgender people how to run their movement.  He’s telling men not to be awful.

More, please.

David Finch joins The Whisper Campaign!

  • News
  • August 21, 2015

We’re proud to announce the cover artist for the hardcover edition of The Whisper Campaign… David Finch!

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David Finch is known to comics fans far and wide for… oh, where do we start? He’s drawn Batman, Justice League of America, Avengers, and is currently drawing Wonder Woman for DC. He’s been a fan of Norm Breyfogle’s since his work on Prime for Malibu, and was thrilled to help out. He’s also making the original cover art available as a perk to add to the money raised.

So get yours now— as of this writing, we’ve only got 215 hardcover copies left!

Tweeks: D23 2015 Part 1

It’s no secret that we are huge Disney fans.  It was, after all our first fandom.  We love the movies, the TV shows, the Parks, the Broadway musicals – omg, just everything.  And then you go throwing Star Wars and Marvel into the mix.  (Plus, the Anaheim Convention Center has really amazing food choices, so we might just go to any con they decide to throw there.)

Last weekend, the super Disney fandom organization, D-23, held it’s 4th Expo (if someone is keeping score – this our third one we’ve attended) and lots of great announcements were made and tons of stars were there, and unlike Comic Cons, we could easily point out the origins of even the most obscure cosplay. There were also exhibits, concerts, signings, and panels.

There was so much going on that we had to break our coverage into two videos..  This one talks about some of the major announcements like Johnny Depp being inducted into the Hall of Fame, the new Star Wars lands in both Disney World and Disneyland,  a preview of Disney Shanghai, and Disney Animation & Pixar’s newest movies.

Until next time….May the force of Tinkerbell’s pixie dust come with great responsibility.

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Belated Comics Reviews (August 19th, 2015)

Happy to say that my comics have made it to the correct shop, and then out of the shop and to my home, where I have read them and ranked them from worst to best of what I was foolish enough to pay for. (Though strangely, Loki didn’t make it home, and I don’t think I saw it in the shops. Will follow up and review it next week one way or another.)

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #4

A great issue #2.

Guardians of Knowhere #3

For most of this, it runs along without any of Bendis’s most infuriating writing tics. The Angela/Gamora confrontation is excellent character work with added punching. The plot moves off of Yotat and towards things recognizable as characters we care about. Mike Deodato draws gorgeous lightning. It’s a solid comic. And then it does a cliffhanger that amounts to “a person appears.” No explanation of this person. Maybe she is identifiable, but she’s not identifiable in a way that I can identify, and I’m nearing a quarter-century of reading Marvel comics. It’s not a cliffhanger in any useful sense; there’s no excitement. There’s a question, sure, namely “who is that,” but there’s no reason for me to be invested in the answer to it.

Doctor Who: Four Doctors #2

It’s a bit longer on action sequences than plot, in a way that’s not entirely satisfying, but that’s probably going to come out in the wash given that it’s a weekly event. All the same, this is mostly reapers chasing people as opposed to actually moving forward. But there’s enough charming and funny bits to make it an enjoyable trip.

Secret Wars: Secret Love #1

A fun anthology one-shot. The Daredevil story’s a bit off the boil for me, but the others are varying shades of delightful, with the Ms. Marvel/Ghost Rider story probably being the highlight from any serious perspective, and the Squirrel Girl/Thor story being the highlight from any moral one. Nice way to get some oddball talent into Marvel, and it’s always nice to see an odd genre like the romance comic get a revival.

Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders #2

The only possible complaint to have about this book is that it deserved more than two issues to tell its story. Still, it’s an enormously compelling case for Faiza Hussain as a character. Really, she needs an ongoing role in the Marvel Universe. Preferably as Captain Britain.

Trees #12

Admittedly, I found time to reread #1-11 since the last issue came out, so I’m actually in the position to understand this. That said, this seems to continue the beautiful clarity of this second arc; the stripped down setting to two stories does this book favors, and this is flat out a better run than the first arc was. Here it kicks into gear, with some real and gripping tension, especially with the cliffhanger. Ellis remains one of the few writers to consistently turn out comics worth their cover price.

Originally published on PhilipSandifer.com.

Dennis O’Neil: Rolling Batman

Batman Roller CoasterHold tight – white-knuckles tight, and… up up up upupupupup and… wheeeeeeeeeee! Down we go, and. Slowing, slowing, stopping. Step out now. A bit wobbly, maybe? Excited? Exhilarated? Hey, let’s go get some cotton candy and maybe later we’ll ride the roller coaster again, after we’ve recovered a little. Say, what was the name of that roller coaster, anyway? Well, I’ll be gosh-derned… It’s the Batman roller coaster!

Ah, summertime. And part of the joy of the warm season is a trip or two to the amusement park, and part of the amusement park adventure is riding the roller coaster. When I was a nipper, those coasters were beyond the admission gates of the Forest Park Highlands (though I never thought they were any higher than the city that surrounded them) or Chain of Rocks (which, oddly, was higher than the geography in which it was fixed, but I never saw any rows of rocks thereabouts. Life can be puzzling, especially if you’re a nipper.) I probably rode the coasters in those parks, unless my parents thought I was too young for them, which might have been the case. But Batman? No, never. Roller coasters were in parks and Batman was in comic books and – mark this in your diary – the twain did not meet.

Now, some 65 or so years later, when the world has changed, the conflation of Batman and coaster still seems a trifle peculiar. Coasters are about summer fun, juvenile hi-jinks, laughter and merriment. And Batman? A child watching his mother and father shot, fall to the cold pavement, die. A horror.

What twisted karma could pair childhood delight and childhood terror? You say you’re a Batman fan? Which Batman do you like, the one who lands his name to amusements or the stricken orphan?

While we’re in an inquisitive mood… Are you a Yankees fan? What exactly are you a fan of? The lineup this year isn’t what it was last year nor what it will be next year, and pretty much the same goes for the coaches and business guys and ticket takers.

You’re a Buddhist who believes in reincarnation? Okay, Buddhism holds that nothing is permanent, so what gets reincarnated?

You could ask similar questions about any professional sports team, and a number of superheroes, and maybe another religion or two. And if you did, you might consider finding a nice hobby, or getting out of the house. You might need a little… I don’t really know what you need, any more than I know the answers to the questions I asked a couple-three paragraphs ago. Maybe a little recreation – is that what you need? Hey, know what? I’ll bet there’s an amusement park in your area somewhere.

Molly Jackson: Learning, YAY!

LearningLearning, YAY!

Last weekend, I was at LI-Con helping staff the Browncoats of NYC table.  It was great fun and I met a ton of browncoats and other fandoms the two days I was there.  At our meetup event, I got the chance to speak briefly about the Firefly comics from Dark Horse Comics.  The reaction I got from one attendee kind of surprised me.

After the meetup ended, she started quizzing me about the Firefly comics a bit.  I know, that isn’t surprising considering I was just talking at length about them.  The first thing that she said that got to me was (and I am paraphrasing here) “You don’t see a female talk about comics a lot.”  Well, if you have read even a fraction of what I have written, you must know how that chokes me up a bit.  She meant it as a good thing, which I was out there talking and hyping up comics.  Still, after all the female comic lovers that have come on to the scene, it is surprising that I stood out in this woman’s mind as a rarity.  It was a very good reminder that there is still a stigma to female comic readers.

After we got past that I am a girl who reads comics, she asked me for comic suggestions. Her teenage son is not a big reader at all, and while she has discouraged comic reading in the past, her hope was that reading anything might be a gateway to reading more.  And that broke me right there.  I have never understood the negative reaction to comics in general.  People still assume that they are only simple stories with pretty pictures.  Like an overdrawn version of Dick and Jane.

Like any art form, comics have evolved over the decades into an incredibly varied genre.  I was able to suggest books like March Vol. 1 & 2, which is written by Congressman John Lewis about his experiences during the civil rights movement.  Not a topic that is easily understood by some adults these days, much less a child.  I also touted Kill Shakespeare as a great way to introduce characters that every teen (with the exception of myself and a few others) loathes to study in high school.

As the Tweeks here on ComicMix have been discussing banned books this past summer, the overarching theme to me has been ignorance.  A lot of people make judgements about a book, or a topic, or even a genre without facts.  So many great books have been ignored and people have lost out because of that. 

I am happy that someone felt I was a good source of information and I was proud to help.  I learned a little something about myself and the world in the process.  Next time you want to know something, remember this.  All it takes is the courage to ask questions and the willingness to answer them. 

REVIEW: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom

lego-jl-doom-tryouts-e1439585137730-1826816I remember when Lego wouldn’t dream of sullying their blocks with licensed characters. Oh how times have changed. Next to Pixar films, there are few funnier takes the super-hero realm than the animated Lego-style adventures of familiar heroes and villains.

Clearly, Lego and Warner Home Entertainment know when something’s working because next week they’re unleashing the direct-to-home-video animated movie Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom. The Digital HD can be streamed now and the DVD will be out next Tuesday.

This is the fourth such outing — Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite, Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered and Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League — with several actors reprising their vocal roles, forming a Lego Universe continuity. Back for another go round are Mark Hamill as The Trickster, Nolan North as Superman, Khary Payton as Cyborg, John DiMaggio as The Joker, Josh Keaton as Green Lantern, Kevin Michael Richardson as Black Manta, Grey Griffin as Lois Lane and Tom Kenny as The Penguin.

lego-jl-flash-ww-gl-e1439585185123-7389176The combo pack comes complete with a Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD copy along with a collectible minifigure of the Trickster (as is only appropriate given Hamill’s resurgence this year, first in Kingsman, then Flash and later in Star Wars: The Force Awakens).

We open with the JLA being a fairly new concept, one embraced by the residents of Metropolis but leaving Lex Luthor less than thrilled.  The only way to stop a force of good is with an even stronger force of evil so Luthor begins a recruitment drive (the process is quite entertaining). And so is born the Legion of Doom. Their first goal is to attack the top-secret government site, Area 52, but they know this will bring out the Justice League and Luthor is prepared.

It’s hard to take Lego heroes and villains fighting seriously, but there is plenty of nice action that will delight the 6 and up gang. Jim Krieg’s script keeps things moving along and juggles the large cast without confusing the younger segment. Rick Morales’ direction is also a plus as things never bog down.

The digital transfer is crisp and clean with good sound so the audience will be enchanted. In addition to the 72-minute fun escapade, there is the Blu-ray bonus feature “Click, Zap, Boom! Creating the Sound Design”.

Mike Gold’s Off To See The Wizard

chicago_comiccon_logo-7477924

I haven’t done as many comics conventions this year as I usually do. By the end of 2015, I think I will have been to maybe five. That’s less than half of what I did a decade ago.

It’s not that I don’t like comics conventions; in fact, I love them. Most of the larger shows really aren’t about comics. They are pop culture shows, much like ComicMix is a pop culture website. We differ in that ComicMix is a pop culture website for comic book enthusiasts and the comics medium is our focus. ReedPop, to note but one, runs clusterfuck shows in New York, Chicago, Seattle, India (several; it’s a big place), Singapore, Sydney, Paris, Indonesia, Vienna, and probably Mongo. These shows have little to do with comics, the ReedPop staff acts like they wouldn’t know a comic book if it bit them on the ass and probably wouldn’t get my Mongo reference without Googling, and they seem as though they couldn’t care less. If you’re real nice to them and try to explain to them a different point of view, they might actually patronize you. And among comics pros, mine is not a minority opinion.

Yeah. I know. There goes my chance at scoring pro invites to Mumbai. I’ve been to their shows; I’ll live.

So it’s probably a bit surprising that this weekend (Thursday though Sunday) I’ll be at Wizard World Chicago, which is really in Rosemont but next to O’Hare International. Yes, Wizard World is a pop culture convention. I’m going for any number of reasons: Chicago is my home town so it’s an excuse to see my many buddies in the midwest comics field, it is an outgrowth of the old Chicago Comicon which I co-founded and worked on for ten years, it really has a massive comics focus and one of the best Artists Alleys around… and because my pal and Wizard World consultant Danny Fingeroth asked.

For the record, ComicMix is at table #1024 at the show, and I’ll be on two panels: the How To Get News Coverage panel on Saturday at 12:30 that ComicMix is running , and the Chicago Comics History panel on Sunday at 12:30. Check the con schedule; these things have a way of changing. I’ll be sharing the stage with a great number of close friends.

And the food. Damn, I need an Italian beef sammich.

This is not the only big show I enjoy. For example, I love the Baltimore Comic Con and I love Heroes Con in Charlotte North Carolina. I also really enjoy the smaller cons that are oriented to independent comics creators such as MoCCA in New York City. These shows are full of people who couldn’t care less who’s drawing next week’s Spider-Man but love the medium every bit as much as… well, as I do. By and large they’re young and full of enthusiasm and they put their money where their mouths are. Over the years we’ve hired a decent amount of talent at these shows.

If you happen to be at Wizard World Chicago, or you happen to be in or near Chicago this weekend, drop by and say hello. We look at portfolios when we can, we’re usually polite and we only bite when we’re hungry.

Or when the moon is full.

 

 

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