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A CLick Survival Guide for Comic-Con International

With Comic-Con International, ak.a. San Diego Comic-Con, now just days, almost hours, away, those traveling to the extravaganza are packing to hit the road. There are several noteworthy survival guides we can recommend to those of you less familiar with what it’s like being there. Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has his valued 150 tips, the gold standard of advice.

But our friends over at Click Communications has also assembled a witty Survival Guide of their own. Click is a leading media public relations firm and we’ve been dealing with them for years. They talk the talk, walk the walk, and have plenty of good pieces of advice to share along with thumbnails on many of the properties near and dear to their hearts. While Tom’s tips are good for everyone, even veterans, this guide is great for newcomers and those who don’t speak Geek as fluently as the rest of us.

They explained to us, “This guide began as a way to offer some helpful tips—and a little entertainment—to anyone working the Con who might not count down the days ‘til July the way we do.  Now in its fifth year, our simple How-To manual has grown into something that “n00bs” and nerds alike can appreciate. This year, the guide also features original artwork from some talented, up & coming comic book artists: Tess Fowler, Tony Fleecs, and Scott Arnold.”

Since you’ll be stuck on lines for a good portion of the con, they have even come up with a useful way to pass the time: The Click Communications Comic Con Survival Kit Contest!

Enter to win a Survival Kit of your very own by visiting our blog, or join us in playing Comic-Con Bingo.  Grab the Bingo card from the back of the Guide and share your pics online via Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest to line up your finds to win fabulous prizes while in San Diego.  For more information, and to enter to win, visit either here or here.

Now for Click’s OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER:

Click’s Comic-Con Survival Guide is just a little something they put together for your information and our amusement. There’s zero guarantee that the information they found online is 100% reliable.  After all, release dates change, actors need rewrites, directors run out of budget, writers go…insane. Things happen. Since we all know that, no one should take any of the information contained within as locked-in gospel or anything. Okay?  Okay.

PRO SE ANNOUNCES STUNNING ADDITION TO 2012 PUBLISHING CALENDAR!

Pro Se Productions, a leading publisher in the New Pulp Movement, announces an addition to its already dynamic publishing calendar for 2012!


“Even though the New Pulp Movement,” stated Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “is still in its infancy, relatively speaking, there have already been some writers and works that stand out.  Authors and books who will truly be remembered as being the best of what New Pulp has to offer and considered classics by those after us, and even by many today. One such book from the last two years was “Sun Koh: Heir of Atlantis” written by Dr. Art. Sippo.   Pro Se is extremely proud to announce that we will be publishing and promoting Volume Two of The Collected Stories of Sun Koh, tentatively titled ‘ Quest of the Secret Masters’ written once again by Dr. Art Sippo.”


According to Sippo, “Sun Koh was a character created by Paul Mueller for Germany’s pulp magazines who was based on Doc Savage. He was intended to be the Nietzschean Übermensch. He was an Aryan prince from ancient Atlantis who came to the future and descended out of the sky to land in London. He had come to prepare for the coming of the next Ice Age when Atlantis would rise again from the ocean. He would save all those who were fit to survive and use them to repopulate the lost continent. Of course, those he considered to be most fit were of Aryan/German extraction according to the theories of the Theosophists whose mythology had been taken over by the Nazis.”


“Between 1933 and 1938 there were 150 Sun Koh stories published. Sun Koh epitomized the Aryan ideal and fought all sorts of villains and super-science threats very similar to those from the Doc Savage stories.  Strangely enough, the Nazis found these stories frivolous and in some cases subversive. Eventually they forced the series to end and Mueller had Sun Koh discover and conquer the newly risen Atlantis inside the Hollow Earth in 1938. That brought an end to the series.”


Cover of original Sun Koh Pulp

Sippo continued, “Sun Koh was the most successful of all the Doc Savage clones (if we exclude the comic characters like Superman and Batman). I was fascinated by the idea of such a character having so many adventures in a language that I could not read. I became frustrated and decided to write my own stories about Sun Koh preserving as much of the original adventure ideas as possible and excluding all the Nazi nonsense.”


“We are ecstatic,” Hancock stated, “to be a part of the work Art is doing with this great character.   He has taken a character that could have been lost to history and even more, marred by the country and period it originated in, and using the original tales and roots of the story, created and woven an intelligent, action packed adventure that not only does not skirt the philosophical issues involved, but instead turns them on their ear by showing Sun Koh to be more than what label anyone puts on him.   Art writes him as, even as a Prince of Atlantis, a very human hero who has to make choices about what sort of man he will be in the world around him.”


“Quest of the Secret Masters” is currently in production and will be published in late 2012 from Pro Se Productions!   Press releases featuring more information and interviews with Dr. Sippo and more will follow in coming weeks as publication approaches!


Pro Se Productions-Puttin’ the Monthly Back Into Pulp! 

For interviews and further information, please contact Tommy Hancock at proseproductions@earthlink.net.



REVIEW: Margaret

The world seen through the eyes of a teenager is an overly complex place, spoiled but adults who overly nuance everything while teens see it all with unjaded clarity. Such a worldview can be permanently altered by a single action and the resulting repercussions, which ripple in waves, touching many in unexpected ways. From that premise comes writer/director Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret, a film whose making is as tortured as its premise.

Originally scheduled for release by Fox Searchlight in 2007, Lonergan (You Can Count on Me) labored over the production and then the editing until the release date came and went, prompting law suits. He finally delivered a cut totaling 3:06, far longer than the 2:30 the studio insisted upon, which became a part of the suit. Finally, Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker stepped in to craft a cut that the director and studio could live with and the movie opened in December.

You missed it. You probably never heard of it or vaguely recall it was something Anna Paquin shot before True Blood made her a superstar. Before that series though, she was always an accomplished actress rarely given the right roles to demonstrate that but Lonergan wrote Lisa Cohen with Paquin in mind and she delivers a riveting performance worthy of your attention. Fortunately, the film is available as a Blu-ray Combo Pack on Tuesday and comes complete with both cuts of the film.

Twentieth Century Home Entertainment recently sent me a screener of the studio cut and it is extremely powerful and moving. Lisa is a 17 year old girl living with her divorced mother Joan (J. Smith-Cameron), an actress, and younger brother. Preparing to spend the summer at a ranch with Dad, she is seeking the proper cowboy hat when she spots one atop bus driver Jason “Maretti” Berstone (Mark Ruffalo). Chasing the bus in the hopes of boarding it and talking to him, he is distracted long enough to run a red light and strike a pedestrian (Alison Janney). Margaret comforts the woman whose life quickly ebbs away and with that the movie is launched.

Margaret gives a false statement, at Joan’s urging, to the police and the guilt weighs on her. She struggles with the memory of the event, the lie, the lack of justice in a cruel world and questions the meaning of life itself. As a result, she is adrift, thrashing out at friends and family alike. She is distanced from her mother, who is distracted first by the impending opening of her Broadway show and then an unlikely romance with a foreign businessman (Jean Reno). Lisa confides in her math teacher (Matt Damon) and ignores her English teacher (Matthew Broderick) and best friend (Olivia Thirlby). She does, though, make a conscious decision to lose her virginity to a stoner (Kieran Culkin) in what has to be one of the most honest lovemaking scenes in a long time.

Eventually, the weight of the lie and lack of proper closure eat at Lisa who connects with Emily (Jeannie Berlin), the victim’s closest friend, and together an odd bond is formed. Lisa confronts Jason, berates the police who have closed the case, and seeks legal remedies. She has made Jason losing his job, protecting potential victims, her mission and focuses solely on that with dramatic results.

As you can see, this has a hefty cast that underplay their parts. Emily is brittle and rude and not terribly warm to Lisa but they’re in this together, a relationship Joan has trouble accepting. No adult can say the right things or make the right moves to salve Lisa’s fevered conscience and Paquin runs with it. Lisa is appealing and sympathetic for the most part, but far from ideal and perfect.

The movie is heavy and dramatic but Lonergan brings a precision to the dialogue and storytelling, making it feel honest and real. He lets his characters argue, including some nice scenes in high school where the kids debate current events and Shakespeare with fervor. There’s one false note, a blunt statement Lisa makes to two of her teachers late in the film that feels out of left field with no follow up. Still, the movie is well worth your attention.

As for who Margaret is, she is a character in Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem “Spring and Fall: To a Young Child”.

John Ostrander: Bad Things

My thanks to Martha Thomases for her column this week. In it she confessed to having a fondness for the 1980 Flash Gordon film that started the immortal Sam Jones and Max Van Sydow. It’s bad film and she knows it but she has legit reasons for her fondness of it. Martha, just so you know, the 2007 SyFy TV series is much worse, not even having space ships, for crying out loud! Flash Gordon without space ships?! Talk about not getting the concept!

I say thank you because I had no idea what I was going to do for my column this week and now I do. There are bad films and one CD that I know are horrible but I felt a compulsion to go out and buy a copy of them. This isn’t the same as the weird films of which I own a copy and that I like – things such as Incident At Loch Ness, Get Crazy and, soon, Troll Hunter. These are all justifiable. Not the ones I’m about to talk about; uh-uh, these are plain bad and they are not recommended for viewing. Just to be clear about that.

First up – Barb Wire starring Pamela Lee Anderson. I may have talked about this one before but I stumbled on it one late night on TV while scanning the cable for something to occupy my sleepless mind.

The movie is based on a comic put out by Dark Horse at one point, part of their Heroes Greatest World series of superheroes. I wrote one of those comics for a while and I knew all the other titles. As I said, Pamela Lee Anderson starred in the movie and I lingered, waiting to see if she would take off her clothes, which is the main reason for any guy to watch a Pamela Lee Anderson movie.

I came in after the film started and then watched in horror as I became aware that the movie was an update of Casablanca into a future setting and featuring Pammie in the Humphrey Bogart part. ‘Nuff said? Nuff said.

And then there’s The Return Of Captain Invincible from 1983, a superhero spoof from Australia starring Adam Arkin in tights as the titular hero and Christopher Lee as his archenemy, Mister Midnight. Lee sings in this, by the way. Did I mention there are some songs sprinkled throughout? Not enough to make it a musical, just enough to not make sense – which fits right in with the rest of the movie. The lyrics to some of them were done by Richard O’Brien who wrote the original musical play of Rocky Horror Show and as an actor he was also in, among other things, Martha’s guilty pleasure, Flash Gordon.

I could run through the plot of Captain Invincible but – why?

Next on my list of very dubious pleasures – Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter. Yes, you read that right. It’s a kung fu movie that has Jesus returning to Earth and winding up fighting as a king fu warrior against hordes of vampires, including lesbian ones, with the aide of a masked Mexican wrestler, Santo Enmascardo de Plata. Hmm. I may need to re-write that sentence; it makes the film sound too interesting.

Oh, and it also has a song in it. One. Right in the middle of the film. Why? Who knows.

Finally, there’s a CD – Pat Boone’s In A Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy from 1997 in which Pat covers heavy metal and hard rock songs with big band arrangements. Oh, and on the cover he wears black leather pants and matching vest – no shirt. Get that picture out of your mind if you can.

I don’t know if I’ve ever listened to the whole thing.

My friend, Bill Nutt, used to have a weekly radio show and, on occasion, I would be invited in as a guest and allowed to select some of the music. I told My Mary one such time to listen in because I would be dedicating a song to her.

That week I also played one of the cuts from In A Metal Mood and it played before Mary’s song came on. When I got back home, Mary demanded why I made her listen to the Pat Boone cut. In an unwise moment, I admitted neither Bill nor I had actually listened to it; we turned down the studio monitor once it came on.

That did not go down well. She has since forgiven me but I doubt she will ever forget my doing that to her.

What unites all these choices is the fact that I own a copy of each and every one of them. I can’t explain to you why these and not the other very bad CDs and DVDs that are out there. The selection probably says something about me and its probably not good.

And, Martha? Flash Gordon is superior to any of them.

MONDAY: Mindy Newell

 

PJF NEWSLETTER GETS SET FOR NEW RELEASES AND FARMERCON!

PJF NEWSLETTER GETS SET FOR NEW RELEASES AND FARMERCON!

From Michael Croteau

Hello to everyone. This month’s newsletter is to remind you FarmerCon VII is just over a month away! It runs from August 9th to 12 in Columbus, Ohio, right smack dab in the middle of that science fiction, mystery, horror, and adventure book (and magazine) collector’s dream: PulpFest.

Meteor House will be releasing two new books at FarmerCon this year, The Worlds of Philip José Farmer 3: Portraits of a Trickster and Exiles of Kho. You can preorder either book now, whether you are coming to FarmerCon or not. However, if you would like your name to be printed in Exiles of Kho (how cool is that, and the book is a very short run signed limited edition to boot), you need to order TODAY. That’s right, today is the deadline to preorder, but it may also be your last chance to get a copy of the book at all. As of this moment Exiles of Kho will be a signed limited edition of only 200 copies. Of those two hundred, all but about thirty of them are spoken for. Those thirty could very easily sell out at PulpFest, where about four hundred book collectors will be hanging out. If we get a surge of orders before the book goes to the printer, we may bump the print run up a little bit. But once it goes to the printer, that is it, no more copies will be available.

As for The Worlds of Philip José Farmer 3: Portraits of a Trickster, it’s the best volume in the series to date. The material around the theme of Farmer’s trickster nature will make your jaw drop and your head spin. But once you get to the Expanded Worlds section of the book, all bets are off. Four stories about some of Farmer’s most popular characters and featuring The Wild Hunstman, a Wold Newton origins novella by Win Scott Eckert.

But let’s get back to FarmerCon shall we? Just take a look at the line up of interesting movies, readings, presentations, and panels, fully integrated into PulpFest’s programming:
Thursday, August 9 2012
8:00 PM The French Connection – Rick Lai will discuss “How French Literature May Have Influenced American Pulp Heroes” in a presentation concerning The Count of Monte Cristo, Arsene Lupin, Fantomas, Doc Savage, The Shadow, Zorro, and more.10:00 PM Henry G. Franke, III, editor of The Burroughs Bulletin, discusses Edgar Rice Burroughs’ best-known creation–Tarzan of the Apes (100 years old in October)–and the character’s many incarnations in popular culture.
Friday, August 10 2012
11:00 AM – Exiles of Kho book launch. Christopher Paul Carey will sign the limited edition release of his book, a novella about the early days of the Khokarsan empire featuring the gray-eyed god Sahhindar!1:00 PM – The New Fictioneers – Christopher Paul Carey will read from his novel co-authored with Philip José Farmer, The Song of Kwasin, part of the Gods of Opar: Tales of Lost Khokarsa omnibus, forthcoming from Subterranean Press. 2:00 PM – The New Fictioneers – William Patrick Maynard will read from his new, fully authorized novel, The Destiny of Fu Manchu, a continuation of the classic mystery and adventure series created by Sax Rohmer. 7:10 PM – Lord Tyger, Time’s Last Gift, and Gods of Opar – our FarmerCon VII panelists discuss a sampling of the Burroughs and Verne-inspired works of Philip José Farmer. Moderated by Paul Spiteri, editor of Pearls from Peoria and featuring authors Win Scott Eckert and Christopher Paul Carey. 11:10 PM – I, Tarzan – set in an English castle, this documentary features George McWhorter, editor emeritus of The Burroughs Bulletin, Philip José Farmer, Grand Master of Science Fiction, and popular culture expert Francis Lacassin in a discussion about Edgar Rice Burroughs’ most famous creation, Tarzan.
Saturday, August 11 2012
1:00 PM – The New Pulp Fiction – Ron Fortier of Airship 27 moderates a panel featuring contemporary authors inspired by the pulp fiction of yore. Jim Beard, Mark Halegua, Tommy Hancock, Rick Lai, William Patrick Maynard, and Frank Schildiner will join Ron for a discussion of New Pulp fiction.2:30 PM – The New Fictioneers – one of the founders of the New Pulp movement, Win Scott Eckert, will read from works written for The Green Hornet: Still at Large, The Avenger: Tales from the Roaring Crucible, and The Worlds of Philip José Farmer 3. 3:30 PM – A Tribute to Howard Hopkins and David Burton – author and editor Win Scott Eckert and Wild Cat Books publisher Ron Hanna will lead a celebration of the lives and works of these two creative pulp fans, recently departed.

In addition to all of that, you will get to hang out with other fans, including those at the forefront of keeping Farmer’s legacy alive: Christopher Paul Carey, Win Scott Eckert, Rick Lai, Art Sippo. Paul Spiteri, and others.
So here is the real point of this email. If you don’t reply and tell me you are coming, you are going to miss out on a lot of the fun. And the freebies. That’s right, we have swag, we have outings, we stay up way too late talking about books! There will be books from Farmer’s personal collection, and other Farmer titles, and books by FarmerCon attendees for sale at the Meteor House tables in the dealer’s room. Now, if you want to be a part of all this, don’t just think about maybe perhaps dropping by late on Saturday. You need to let me know. It’s hard enough getting dinner reservations for thirty people; trying to add in several more at the last minute probably won’t happen.

Well, that’s it. All I’m asking for is a heads up if you want to come. If you don’t want to come, or if I contacted you in the last few days to say I know you are coming, then you don’t need to reply to this email, you don’t need to do a thing. Except preorder Exiles of Kho if you haven’t already. Seriously, there are only hours left now.
Mike Croteau
The Official Philip José Farmer Web Page
www.pjfarmer.com


Monkeybrain and ComiXology announce exclusive distribution agreement for Monkeybrain’s new line of independent creator-owned comics

MonkeyBrain, Inc.

 

A press release from Chip Mosher of ComiXology.com:

 

New York Times bestselling comic book creator Chris Roberson is celebrating “Independents Day” a little differently than others this year as he and co-publisher Allison Baker launch MonkeyBrain Comics, with a slate of creator-owned titles from some of the top names in the field. MonkeyBrain Comics will debut digitally first on comiXology—the revolutionary digital comics platform with over 75 million comic and graphic novel downloads to date—through a exclusive distribution agreement between the two companies.

 

Joining Roberson (iZombie, Memorial, Cinderella) under the Monkeybrain Comics umbrella with their own independent titles will be a who’s who line up of creators, including: Grace Allison, Nick Brokenshire, J. Bone, Chad Bowers, Wook-Jin Clark, Colleen Coover, Kevin Church, Dennis Culver, Matt Digges, Ming Doyle, Curt O. Franklin, Ken Garing, Chris Haley, David Hahn, Phil Hester, Joe Keatinge, D.J. Kirkbride, Adam Knave, Axel Medellin, Jennifer L. Meyer, Michael Montenat, Ananth Panagariya, Thomas Perkins, Adam Rosenlund, Chris Schweitzer, Brandon Seifert, Chris Sims, Matthew Dow Smith, Paul Tobin, J. Torres, Josh Williamson and Bill Willingham, among others.

 

More creative teams with new titles will be announced next week at Comic-Con International during the Monkeybrain Comics panel on Friday, July 13th at 7PM.

 

“MonkeyBrain Comics was born out of a desire to directly explore what opportunities there were in the newly expanding digital marketplace for creator owned material,” said Roberson. “We knew from the get go that we’d want to work exclusively with comiXology, who have become the undisputed leader in the digital comics field with their platforms’ unparalleled reading and shopping experience. And we’re pleased to have so many of our close creator friends along for the ride. I can’t wait to see what fans around the world think about our first batch of releases!”

 

“We’re excited to be the exclusive digital home of MonkeyBrain Comics,” says co-founder and CEO David Steinberger. “ComiXology’s mission is to get comics into the hands of people everywhere and we look forward to doing just that with Chris and Allison’s stellar line of creator owned comics!”

MonkeyBrain Comics is a new comics imprint of Roberson and Baker’s long-running publishing company MonkeyBrain Books. Over the past decade, MonkeyBrain Books has published a line of prose novels by authors such as Phillip Jose Farmer, Michael Moorcock, Rudy Rucker, Paul Cornell and genre collections edited by such notables as Joe R. Lansdale, Lou Anders and others.

Launching their first titles on July 4th with the slogan “Independents Day” exclusively on the comiXology digital platform, Monkeybrain Comics are currently exploring following up their digital releases with trade paperback collections.

 

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The Point Radio: Heading On The HAUNTED HIGHWAY


Some spooky stuff, different venue. SyFy takes us to where the creatures are just off the road in the new series, HAUNTED HIGHWAY. Star Investigator Jael DePardo, along with Devin Marble, tell us what makes this show really scary. Meanwhile, Marvel says “It’s not a reboot”, but????

The Point Radio is on the air right now – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or mobile device– and please check us out on Facebook right here & toss us a “like” or follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

The Course of the Force to San Diego Comic-Con starts this morning

Lucasfilm Ltd., Nerdist Industries and Octagon have teamed up to present Course of the Force, an Olympic torch style relay run with lightsabers, where participants will make a journey from Santa Monica to the San Diego Comic-Con to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

At quarter-mile markers (much less than 12 parsecs), participants will hand off the official Hasbro Ultimate FX Course of the Force lightsaber to the next runner as they begin their leg of the journey. Course of the Force will take place July 7-11, in the days leading up to the San Diego Comic-Con International. The run starts at 10 AM Pacific time this morning at the Santa Monica Pier, with a variety of activites prior to the start of the relay.  At 11:00 a.m, The Spazmatics will perform, and master of ceremonies Chris Hardwick will take the stage at 12:30 p.m., before he starts the lightsaber journey with Make-A-Wish Foundation kids.

Runners in the relay will include Drew Carey, Zachary Levi, Michael Rosenbaum, Paul Scheer, Katie Linendoll, Vanessa Lengies, Neil Everett, Alex Heartman, Tyler Posey, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Kal Penn, and Adrianne Curry.

Nerdist Industries’ founder Chris Hardwick and co-hosts will follow the action from the Course of the Force lead vehicle each day, broadcasting live to the Nerdist platform, including its YouTube channel and StarWars.com. As the Course makes its stops along the California coast, Star Wars-themed parties, contests and live Nerdist shows will cap off each day for fans to enjoy.

And if you must ask how this came to be, well…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwnBMQ0l7u4[/youtube]

Oh, and to Robert Kirkman: have you never heard of spoilers, man?

Marc Alan Fishman: Flame On! Being Gay In Comics

Over at my Unshaven Comics facebook page (shameless plug, shameless plug), I wanted to tip the scales of our “likes” from the paltry 320 to 400 by the end of the summer. So, I begged and pleaded with our fan-base to pull in some like-minded friends to come like us. One of our fans (who I can safely say is in fact at this point just a friend… who happens to like my writing and art) joked with me about what I might do to see those extra 80 or so fans by the end the week. Well, I responded the only way I knew how; Shamelessly.

I told him “get me to 400 fans by the end of the week, and I’ll send you a topless calendar of me and Matt (also of Unshaven infamy). Did I mention this fan is gay? Well, he got the joke. And two days later we were at 407 fans. And I’d stand to guess at least 70 of them were “Bears.”

For those who don’t know, “Bears” are a subgroup of the larger gay community. They identify themselves as being burly dudes with a fondness of facial hair. Ruh-roh. Lucky for me, these new fans weren’t just “liking” our page because of our beards or promise of sad, sad, sad photographs. Turns out they like comics too. And with that we finally reach our topic.

Every six months or so it seems the comic book community gets its rainbow panties in a knot over yet-another gay issue. As always, the media jumps all over it, and certain homophobic fans shake their fists in the sky. “That’s not my Captain Wizz-Bang!” they shout, at absolutely no one. Most recently, Alan Scott (that’s the Golden Age Green Lantern, you know) came out in Earth 2. The idea behind the sexual orientation shift? According to writer James Robinson, it was pretty cut and dry. To paraphrase? He said that since Obsidian, Alan Scott’s gay son (from the now defunct DCU), wasn’t welcomed to the New 52, he decided this was a way to balance that fact. Simply put? That’s the perfect answer. In essence… Why Not?

Last week, I made light of this fact, but perhaps misrepresented my real issue with the “announcement.” Not from Robinson per say… but from the media’s need to jump on the story, and try to squeeze blood from a turnip. The fact that DC responded in tow, rainbow suspenders ablazin’ only fueled my fire worse. Sure, any publicity is good publicity… But when will we stop sensationalizing the sexual preferences of our ink and paper celebrities?

As a fan, I ultimately don’t care one way or another if a character is gay, straight, bi-sexual, trans-gendered, or completely asexual. If it makes for a good story? Then let it happen. If it’s done for shock value? Then we don’t need to talk to one another.

This in and of itself is an issue, though. It’s hard to tell when the choice is made, or mandated from on-high. We’d like to believe that a character’s sexual preferences are decided by writers and artists because it has relevance. At the end of the day though? All comics are tied to their makers by way of a purse string. Sometimes, in the worst times, using the “gay” card is more for shock value and the chance of increased sales. And in those times? I’m as offended as any other fan, gay or straight.

Being gay, be it in real life or a comic, is very much a part of one’s identity. Whether they are out and proud (say like the Teen Titan, Bunker) or more understated (like Xavin from Marvel’s Runaways)… I’m pretty proud to say that comic books today are truly promoting a diverse representation of the real world within their fictional universes.

What gets me in a tizzy is just why the media needs to make a big deal over it. Is it “news” when Anderson Cooper or Jim Parsons comes out of the closet? No. Neither is it “news” when Alan Scott, Hulking, or Wonder Woman decides to lay with they fellow man or woman. Will it be news if Unshaven Comics decides to have a gay character? I doubt it.

Not to beat the dead gay horse on this one folks, but it couldn’t be clearer. Sexual orientation isn’t the issue when it’s written well. Hell, even when it’s written poorly. For those sad individuals who can’t get past a person’s predilection for their same gender, well, I gladly welcome you to sit in the corner and sulk. With each passing generation, we accept more, we tolerate more, and we learn to care about other more important issues. Like reboots. And why they are needed from time to time. But not most of the time. But I digress.

In case you’re curious? Unshaven Comics does have a gay character in our books. But we’re not telling who. Why? Because until it matters in a story… It’s not worth our time or yours making a big deal about it. Flame on.

SUNDAY in the Dark with John Ostrander

 

Review: Kyotofu – Japan in NYC

So you want a light bite, some coffee or tea or sake, healthy food, atmosphere cozy and unpretentious, but sophisticated, even romantic? Search no further than Hell’s Kitchen for the Japanese dessert bar Kyotofu (705 Ninth Ave. bet. W. 47th & W. 48th Sts.). Originally from Kyoto and other Japanese locations, you can also find a spot in Seoul, South Korea, plus the products are sold at Dean & Deluca and served on eastbound ANA flights from the US. Opened in 2006 here, they’ve been New York Magazine’s cupcake champs since ’10. And it’s all based upon the humble soybean. You’d never know it by the universal raves they receive and the always-happily occupied seats in the bar and dining areas.

The staff is mostly Japanese and totally knowledgeable about the authentic modern Japanese fusion menu (on my four dinner, sake, and dessert visits with a single gentleman friend on various weeknights), and the crowd is mixed but heavily Asian. This is the real deal, not an otaku novelty hang-out— beautiful, modern, clean-white décor, soft indirect lighting, fresh, like all the food and drink they serve. My in-house dinner favorites include the cha soba noodles or the curry rice (kurobuta sausage added) and warm sweet potato cake for dessert. My go-to sake there is the Ginjo Dewazakura “Oka” Yamagata with its light and delicate taste and aroma of cherry blossoms. (starters: $7-$12, sides: $4-$6, “comfort mains”: $10-$16, prix fixe sampler of starter + bento: $24, desserts: $8-$12, prix fixe sampler for 2 of 3-course dessert chef’s selection: $28).

For special occasions or just everyday opulence, they put together these lovely and abundantly filled gift assortment boxes that ship easily and safely ($14-$48). They are beautiful in their subtle and elegant attention to detail (e.g., hand-tied double ribbons to seal the box) and inside are neatly-sealed packages nicely shareable by 2 or just fine for tea for one.  There was nothing in their limited edition Valentine’s Day assortments (that can be purchased in other gift boxes year-round) that I didn’t like. The valrhona miso chocolate brownies are rich, soft, gooey—outstanding! My favs were anything with strawberry—cupcakes or little flower-shaped financiers that pop in your mouth and fill it with flavor that is like a soft fragrance—they tasted of freshly picked strawberries dancing on your tongue! The shortbread cookies did not taste like they were missing any butter (brown rice, black sesame, green tea, and my favorite – citrus) and were both a great balance of savory and sweet. The bite-sized cupcakes have lush and giant flavor and you cannot help but smile when you eat them.

Well worth the special trip that people tweet about and come from out of town to experience. Besides the restaurant, there’s online sales and a bakery for take-home delights. Let Date Night, Fun Night, Anything-Night Begin!

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