According to Entertainment Weekly, we are about to see a romance between Superman and Wonder Woman. According to the illustration on the site, it looks to be an “adult” relationship.

In some ways, this is genius. DC won’t have to field questions about the Larry Niven issue, since Wonder Woman is invulnerable. Although I’ve always thought Niven’s premise is flawed. There are no holes in the Kent’s farmhouse from Clark’s wet dreams or wank sessions. Or from him spitting.

And, in the current continuity, Superman and Wonder Woman are both the (mostly) sole survivors of lost civilizations. They share outsider status.

In some ways, it’s just another stunt. Look, two of our flagship characters are having sex with each other! No Lois Lane! No Steve Trevor! This is not your father’s DC Comics!

(How desperate is that, since that ad campaign was aimed at your father when he was your age?)

I’ll be interested to see how they do this. The new Superman hasn’t particularly defined himself to me, at least not out of Grant Morrison’s Action Comics stories, which are supposed to be five or so years in the past. I find Wonder Woman a better-drawn character. So much better, in fact, that I can’t imagine how they will write her in a sexual relationship. With Superman.

I’ll be interested, but I expect to be appalled. Sex in mainstream comics is, for the most part, handled very poorly. It’s all about tits and ass, which are among my favorite body parts, but not all there is to sex. However, fighting and rescuing people and standing around talking in mainstream comics are also all about tits and ass.

There is also a really smarmy air to most adult relationships in comics. It is as if sex is such a rare thing that only really cool people can have it. Maybe this was true in high school, but it’s not true for real grown-ups. Grown-ups have sex on a regular basis, most often with someone they like.

In comics, sex is unusual and awesome. One cannot have a conversation of any kind with a sex-partner without referring to sex, whether that conversation is in the office, at breakfast, or in a fight with aliens. I felt like that when I first had sex (in medieval times). It seemed like an amazing secret among me and the people I slept with, like we were in the world’s greatest VIP section. But then I got over myself, and realized that millions of people are having sex at any given moment. It’s one of the things that makes us humans, or at least mammals.

True, not all of them can fly. Maybe that will make the difference.

SATURDAY: Marc Alan Fishman Lightens Up On Wizard World

All Pulp sat down with Tom Grindberg, artist of the upcoming Tarzan Sunday Strips about the project as well as his comic book career and love of pulps.

AP: Tell us a little about yourself and your pulp and comic book interests.

TG: Pulps in general were their from the beginning and deserve as much place if not more importance than that other medium called comics. My interests and appreciation for the Pulps was the blend of text enhanced with pictures. So many great illustrators of that era are just being discovered by today’s artists and fans and I for one am a huge fan too. I also would love to see more publishers repackage some key stories or even lessor known works to a new audience of fresh eyes. So much material could spawn and inspire this younger crop of creators coming into the business pervaded with only superheros. The pulps have so much variety and choices for any group out there looking for newer idea’s to entertain.

AP: How did you get your start as a comic book artist?

TG: I went to both Marvel and DC comics back in 1981 when I was still 19 years old and began my career in comics. I went to Marvel and met Jim Shooter who was the EIC at the time and he basically asked which rock did I crawl from under and gave me my first assignment. It was an inventory job to test me out on. That same day I went to DC’s offices and met Ernie Colon they’re art director at the time. He offered about the same thing but did mention something about illustrating Batman, which really was not as hot as the Marvel characters at the time and since I already had a commitment from Marvel I stayed put with my first offer. Never take your first offer! Sometimes it’s best to go with your gut instincts. nuff said!

AP: With Tarzan’s 100th anniversary in full swing, you’ve landed the art duties on a new Tarzan Sunday web strip along with writer Roy Thomas. What can we expect from this new strip?

TG: Well for one thing you can bank on all new plots and art! Both me and Roy have plotted roughly years worth of material. Most of that material will happen in Africa in the 1940’s before the second world war and thus allow us to bring that element if it crosses Tarzans path to be included. Tarzan, Jane as well as the Wazuri tribe are part of the cast along with La of Opar. We also want to explore as many places within the Tarzan universe that ERB created as possible. The possibilities are endless and I hope that we can entertain old as well as new readers to keep everyone interested in the strip.

AP: Will the Tarzan strip be an on-going project?

TG: Yes, we will be doing only Sundays at this moment for as long as it is feasible for us to continue a continuity strip. Essentially, its all up to you and the readers and how much of a need there is for this centennial character.

AP: Anything you can tease about the new Tarzan strips?

TG: Not to give too much away but I have been teasing the heck out of many on FaceBook lately and have stirred up enough peoples expectations and interest enough. They what to see more and more. I’ll keep posting newer images without spoiling too much of the storyline.

AP: Do you, as an artist, approach doing Tarzan as a web comic any differently than if you were doing it for a newspaper or comic book?

TG: Not really, only thing is that if it does go to print the dimensions of the book will be more rectangular, but other than that my I approach this with the same attitude as regular comics. Though with each Sunday your more focused on keeping the readers expectations high so that they want to see next weeks installment, I think in today’s comics your allowed a bit more room to roam and not too confined. In every Sunday I am trying to give the readers as much art as possible without it looking like a pile of mini panels unless it warrants it for something narrative or cinematic. I love to create a rich and lush environment but not to overkill the entire design of each Sunday with too much or too muddy it up.

AP: There seem to be many different opinions about what can be defined as pulp. How do you define pulp and what do you look for in a pulp story as an artist and a reader? Is Tarzan a pulp hero?

TG: Initially, Tarzan was just prose written by the author with perhaps a few illustrations…In its basic form that is how I imagined pulps were then and now. I would regard pulps as text and a few pictures.

AP: Tarzan is not your first time stepping into the world of these types of pulp characters. How does working on Tarzan compare and contrast to working on Conan?

TG: Different time periods for starters. Conan world is just as dangerous as Tarzan’s. Conan’s world is full of wizards monsters and epic battles with Conan managing to come out on top with but a few scratches while Tarzan’s world is more modern and probably more realistic even if you can imagine a boy being raised by gorillas and then learning to speak there language and communicating with about every beast in the jungle which is of course both characters are based in Fantasy which is more interesting to illustrate. Action, adventure and fantasy is core reason why I love both characters so much and respect Burroughs and Howard characters and all their creations.

AP: Where do you see the comic book industry in the future? And how can we get the millions of fans that enjoy movies based on comic books to pick up the source material?

TG: I think I see comics moving more on line and less standing in lines. I believe computers have been a very important tool for us to get information from and that its much cheaper to operate and get your message out to millions across the world. I think this is next evolution in the world of comics and self-publishing. If it sells well online then by all means produce it in trade paperback form. I still like holding the finish product in my hands. If Hollywood and comics could join forces in a project it might create a whole new genre. I imagine motion comics or animatics may be this new direction. Static pictures are not enough for this American audience who wishes to be amazed and not bored.

AP: Is there a particular character out there you haven’t had the chance to work on that you would love to take a crack at drawing?

TG: I would like to illustrate Raymond’s Flash Gordon or Foster’s Prince Valiant…So far, I have a real gem on my hands right now, that being TARZAN…I’m not complaining at all!

AP: Where can readers find information on you and your work?

TG: For right now, I am on FaceBook and would encourage anyone becoming friends with me and wanting to see more of what I do this is the one stop spot for the time being. Later on, I imagine I’ll be needing my own website but that’s down the road.
 

AP: What upcoming projects do you have coming up that you can tell us about at this time?

TG: I have been offered a shot at Bruce Jones return to his book Alien Worlds and hope to be collaborating with him very soon on a few short stories produced by RAW Publications. I always, loved his collaborations in the past as well as his own art and look forward to putting both feet into something more suited to what I really like to do best which is Science Fiction Fantasy. I have been doing a few covers a year for Moonstone’s licensed character Airboy but not nearly enough of anything with Dark Horse, Marvel or DC.

AP: Do you have any shows, signings, or conventions coming up where your fans can meet you?

TG: No, but I really need desperately to get out more often and seek out my readers and art lovers. Its a funny situation when you don’t produce enough material yearly to warrant going to shows to show off a few covers but, that will change once the Tarzan strip gets up and running. I live in the Brooklyn New York area and will try to be at the next Comic Con.

AP: And finally, what does Tom Grindberg do when he’s not drawing?

TG: I spend most of my time with my wife and our little daughter Katie who is now 18 months old. They are best things in my life right now and deserve so much attention for all the joy they give me.

AP: Thanks, Tom. We’re looking forward to the premiere of the Tarzan Sunday Strips.

You can learn more about Tarzan and the Sunday Strips at www.edgarriceburroughs.com
You can learn more about Tom Grindberg at www.facebook.com/tom.grindberg

First, check out John Ostrander’s column, found somewhere near the stuff you’re reading, and then imagine me shouting Amen into the Grand Canyon and listen to the seemingly endless echoes and finally consider this a small gloss on John’s work.

John cites the old how-to-write chestnut: Write what you know. Okay, first a slightly snarky hypothesis that’s not intended to insult, or even question, my pedagogical colleagues, just raise the tiniest bump in the dialogue: Maybe those who teach the aforementioned chestnut write what they know because that’s all they, themselves, can write. That’s not a knock: we’re all wired a bit differently and who’s to say that a talent for writing, if talent it be, doesn’t manifest in as many different ways as, say, a talent for music? No good or bad, just different. (Who’s your fave, Mozart or Bob Dylan? Oh – lucky you! – can you dig ‘em both?)

It seemed to me, back when I was giving this kind of matter some thought, that until recently there’s been a cultural bias against imaginative storytelling. “Realistic” (note punctuation) equals good: fantastic equals bad. So Hemingway is a good writer because he wrote about going down to the café in the afternoon to drink the good wine, and Bradbury is bad because he wrote about… Martians and stuff.

Second, a confession that, with any luck at all, will segue into an observation: Despite my having written 200 or so Batman stories, I have never waited on a shadowy rooftop for a heavily armed psychopath to arrive so I can give him such! a smack. I’ve never bent steel in my bare hands or changed the course of mighty rivers either, but I’ve written Superman stories. The Batman stories were easier and more fun.

Here we circle back to the chestnut. I think the reason I was more comfortable with Batman than with the undoubtedly estimable Superman has to do with writing… not what I know, but what I fantasize. Batman lives near my dreams: Superman, not so much. I’ve never daydreamed about having godlike powers – and let’s face it, Superman is a demigod, at least – but I could imagine, oh…running a marathon in 2:10? Punching out that bosun’s mate who clocked me solid at that bus stop in Cuba? We’re talking about feats that are difficult and even extraordinary – he was one tough bosun’s mate – but that are within human capabilities. Did you watch the Olympics this year?

Let’s revisit the chestnut one last time…No – let’s toss it out altogether and substitute a few words from Henry David Thoreau: Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Maybe Hemingway dreamed of those cafés. And Bradbury? All those wonderful Martians…

FRIDAY: Martha Thomases Flies Back

Finally, the comic book store owner on TV that comic fans can respect (as compared to that guy on The Simpsons) gets some respect of his own as Kevin Sussman gets a regular gig on The Big Bang Theory. Deadline Hollywood has the details:

Leonard, Sheldon & Co. may be haning out at the comic book store more often next season. Kevin Sussman, who plays the comic book store manager Stuart, has been promoted to a regular for the upcoming sixth season of the hit CBS comedy. He has been recurring on the show since Season 2, appearing in 15 episodes so far. I hear Sussman’s deal is of the “7/13″ kind, meaning that he likely won’t be in every episode like Big Bang‘s core cast. This is the fourth promotion for a Big Bang recurring player, following similar upgrades for Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik, who now appear in virtually every episode, and Sara Gilbert, who left the series.

Stuart played a key part in the relationship between Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Amy (Bialik) as it was Stuart’s date with Amy that prompted Sheldon to make her his girlfriend. His character also was behind a bet that produced one of the most popular images from the show with the main gang dressed as  Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Supergirl.

Doctor Who fans don’t have to hold it anymore. The Great Question has been answered.  No, not the one about Life, The Universe and Everything, or even the one that will be asked on the Fields of Trenzilor at the Fall Of The Eleventh.  The BIG question – “When will Doctor Who premiere?”

And the answer is, September 1st.  And it’s the SAME answer whether you live in America or the UK, with only a slight variance in detail.  In the UK, the premiere episode Asylum of the Daleks will broadcast at 7:20 PM, and in the states at 9 PM, EDT.

[youtube

The episode has already seen its premiere in the UK via a gala celebration, and will see its US premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City on August 25th.  Tickets for the NYC event sold out in under half an hour, the rush of hopeful fans crashing the Movietickets.com website.

Over and above the welcome news of the premiere, the big surprise was that the premiere will be preceded by a five-part webisode mini series.  The story, entitled “Pond Life”, will feature Amy and Rory PondWilliams attempting to live a normal life, outside the TARDIS.  The synopsis of Asylum suggests that said normal life may not be going too smoothly. Series stars Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill discuss the mini-adventure on the BBC Website.

The episodes, written by Chris Chibnall, will be released one day, starting Monday, August 27th on the BBC website.  They’ll also be made available in the UK, via BBC’s interactive “Red Button” service.  Plans are proceeding on how the episodes will be released by BBC America— look for an update soon.

These webisodes are a continuation of the episode prequels from the previous season, each of which featured a brief extra scene from several episodes of the series.  These prequels were included on the later video releases, it’s presumed this mini-series will also appear in this season’s set.

In honor of this surprise, Your Humble Reporter has crafted a suggested logo for the mini-series, inspired by a popular Britcom which starred a number of actors who later appeared on Doctor Who:

(Update: yes, 9/1, not 8/1 as we originally had in the headline. We’re dumb.)