Lots of ruminating this week. Mostly political. Mostly causing me to make sure my passport is up-to-date and to wonder what the hell country I can move to if the Repugnanticans – my term for what passes as the Republican Party these days – actually win the Presidency.

This past Thursday, November 17th, marked the two-month anniversary of the start of Occupy Wall Street. Some smart mouth caller to the Tom Hartman show pointed out that the prefix “anni” comes from the Latin anno, which means “year,” so November 17th couldn’t be the “two month anniversary.” Why did I think while listening to this jackass that he was a front for the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity or Karl Rove’s American Crossroads? So just call it an observance, a tribute, a celebration, or a commemoration, asshole.

The Los Angeles Times reported on November 20^th that police officers who just walked up to students peacefully demonstrating in solidarity with the Occupy movement at the University of California-Davis and pepper-sprayed them dead-on in their faces have been put on administrative leave while their actions are investigated. (You can go to my Facebook page to see the video, or check out this link.) Hmmm. Administrative leave. That means they’re getting paid. Just like…

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In a matter of weeks, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson will be bringing Hergé’s Tintin to the screen in sumptuous motion capture. The Belgium hero has been around for nearly a century and is insanely popular throughout Europe, where the film is already playing to big crowds who are happy with the adaptation.

Cashing in on the crazy is Shout! Factory, reissuing the 1991 animated [[[Adventures of Tintin]]] as a two-disc DVD. This was the second time the graphic albums were adapted for animation and I watched the first one as a kid and my children saw this edition.  Produced as a collaboration between France’s Ellipse and Canada’s more familiar Nelvana, they ape Hergé’s style rather well.

When these first ran on American television, they were criticized for the liberties taken and that obviously has not changed with time. We can, though appreciate the attempts to bring these stories to life for an audience unfamiliar with the source material. Without the comparison, they work pretty well and move at a nice clip.

The graphic albums adapted for the first season include The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn, Red Rackham’s Treasure, Cigars of the Pharaoh, The Blue Lotus, The Black Island, and The Calculus Affair. Each album is spread over two episodes making for five hours of action, although the violence is markedly toned down by the writers including Toby Mullally, Eric Rondeaux, Martin Brossolet, Amelie Aubert, Dennise Fordham and Alex Boon. You can tell the animators paid close attention to the albums, replicating angles and scenes almost verbatim.

The video transfers well and Shout! does a nice job with the packaging and production even if they are totally devoid of any extra material. This is here only because of the big budget production, but for those who grew up on these, they will be a welcome addition during the holiday season.

In my circle, my disdain for broccoli is pretty well known. I call them “tiny trees” and I don’t like their smell, their taste, or their texture – but I have eaten them. That’s how I know I don’t like them.

Recently, Dark Horse Comics finally announced the new Star Wars project that Jan Duursema and I are working on. Jan and I have worked on two other series together – Star Wars Republic and Star Wars Legacy – to the praise of a lot of Star Wars fans. This is in addition to my already announced Star Wars spy series, Agent Of The Empire. (plug plug plug plug)

The new series is Dawn Of The Jedi and it goes back and tells the origins of the Jedi Order which, we hope, will have some interest even to the fans who have only watched the movies. We’re doing our best to make it accessible even to those who are not conversant with the large Star Wars story known as the EU (Extended Universe). However, even with all that effort, I know some readers won’t even try it because it’s Star Wars.

And that sometimes makes me scratch my head.

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[ Publisher: Airship 27 – 15,100 words – $1 ]

Darwyn Cooke’s first two Parker books, The Hunter and The Outfit, are collected in a tremendous, special oversized hardcover edition—with an ADDITIONAL 65 pages of Darwyn Cooke content—including a BRAND NEW story and a beautiful slipcase! PARKER: THE MARTINI EDITION will be in comic shops on Wednesday, November 23.

Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter graphic novel debuted in July 2008 to instantaneous popular and critical acclaim. It made the New York Times best-seller list and won coveted Eisner and Harvey awards. The second graphic novel, The Outfit, was released last year and was met with similar response, and is currently under consideration for nominations in this year’s awards season.

The Hunter and The Outfit tell the story of Parker, Richard Stark’s classic anti-hero, as he returns to New York to settle the score with his wife and partner in crime after they betray him in a heist gone terribly wrong. After evening the field and reclaiming his prize, the Outfit decide to do some score settling of their own… and learn much too late that when you push a man like Parker, it had better be all the way to the grave.

This very special collection contains a variety of extras including an extended art gallery section as well as a brand-new 8-page Parker story by Darwyn Cooke, unique to this volume.

Hardcover
Partial Color
$75.00
360 Pages
9″ x 13″
ISBN: 978-1-60010-980-5
Published by IDW

You can learn more about IDW and the Parker books at http://www.idwpublishing.com/.