REVIEW: “Wally Wood: Strange Worlds of Science Fiction”

by Paul Kupperberg on February 7th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Posted In: News, Reviews

Wally Wood: Strange Worlds of Science Fiction
Vanguard Publishing, Trade paperback, 224 pages. $24.95
Introduction by J. David Spurlock

A friend of mine owns the original art to a page of what he (and I) consider the zenith of Wally Wood’s creative genius, “The Mad ‘Comic’ Opera” (MAD #56, July 1960, written by Frank Jacobs). It is a lush piece of work, a cartooning tour de force that causes wide eyed disbelief on the printed page and gasps of astonishment when viewed in its larger, original form. “The Mad ‘Comic’ Opera” is an amazing moment in time, a moment that offered Wood a piece of work which allowed him to show off everything he had learned in his preceding dozen or so years as a comic book artist.

There is not a false note or creative misstep in a single panel of this six-page feature, not in layout or story telling, not in his use of Duotone to bring depth and dimension to the black and white page, and certainly not in his ability to do pitch-perfect parodies–albeit as “real people”–of the comic strip characters populating the story The operatic death scene of Dagwood Bumstead alone would have been enough to cement a lesser artists’ reputation; in the hands of Wally Wood, it was just one panel among some three dozen bits of perfection.

Wally Wood may never have been better, and, in his later and sadder declining years, he often operated at a level that was, in comparison to “The Mad ‘Comic’ Opera,” heartbreaking but which, viewed on their own, were still better than three-quarters of what anybody else was doing. It is also no secret that Wood frequently employed assistants and ghosts to help him turn out the volume of work he produced, but their use was no concession to quality or creative control. As Michael T. Gilbert wrote in the article “Total Control: A Brief Biography of Wally Wood” from Alter-Ego Volume 3, #8, “In the ’50s he mainly worked with Joe Orlando, Harry Harrison, and Sid Check. In later decades he was assisted by Dan Adkins, Ralph Reese, Wayne Howard, Larry Hama, and Bill Pearson, to name a few. No matter. The end result was unmistakably Wood. Helpers or not, the quantity and consistent high quality of the pages were unbelievable. He was always in control of the final product.” ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

[ No Comments ]

Watch “The Amazing Spider-Man” Trailer, Now With New Hidden Web Site Link

by Glenn Hauman on February 7th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Posted In: News

It’s quite possible you’ve already seen the new trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man, but if not, take a look… and in fact, look very closely:

YouTube Preview Image

You may have noticed Ol’ Webhead leave his mark, and not just on the walls… the phrase “the Mark of the Spider-Man” is mentioned by Captain Stacy and is hidden within the webbing towards the end of the trailer. The site markofthespider-man.com takes you to a site with six screens filled with static, but I’ll bet my last Spider-tracer that if you keep an eye on that new site over the next week, we’ll see all sorts of new stuff revealed on those screens.

The Amazing Spider-Man comes out July 3rd, and stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Rhys Ifans, Sally Field, and Martin Sheen.

(Hat tip: movieviral.com)

[ No Comments ]

REVIEWS: “Annie Hall” and “Manhattan”

by Robert Greenberger on February 7th, 2012 at 1:34 pm
Posted In: News, Reviews

20th Century Home Entertainment continues to explore their library, releasing Blu-ray editions of popular and important films. Recently, two of Woody Allen’s best films were released and are worth a second look.

Allen as a comedian was a witty, smart writer and performer, coming from a literate line of humor that was in rapid decline by the 1960s. In some ways, he was the bridge between that era and today when men like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert carry the mantle. His early films were very funny and as a director, he was learning the ropes, figuring out what worked while entertaining the masses.

That culminated in Annie Hall, his 1977 serious comedy featuring his then-paramour Diane Keaton. The movie was a quantum leap in sophistication, partially from the smart script co-written with Marshall Brickman, but a most self-assured hand behind the camera. Allen shows a maturity as a filmmaker that proved to audiences and critics alike he was more than just a funny and funny-looking guy. The movie went on to earn four Academy Awards including Best Picture (besting Star Wars), Best Actress, Best Directing and Best Screenplay. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

[ No Comments ]

MICHAEL DAVIS: David

by Michael Davis on February 7th, 2012 at 8:00 am
Posted In: Columns

When I was a kid around 12 years old I met another kid around the same age while at the library. This was a big deal because I was black and he was white and I had no white friends, so at the time this was an historic meeting for me at the time.

We were both at the same table at the library both working on a book report. We regarded each other only with sly looks while trying to avoid eye contact with each other. I lived in a housing project and I just knew that David lived in the real nice houses that were not to far from the projects in distance but light years away in lifestyle. For about an hour we played that cat and mouse “look, don’t look” game.

We played that game until David put away his notebook and replaced them with a stack of comics that could choke a horse. I’d never seen that many comics outside of my home. Never had I seen anyone carry that many comics around.

Then I noticed something incredible. All the comics were brand new. I’ve carried comics around with me on many an occasion: grandma’s house, dentist’s office, car trip (which I only did once because I can’t read in a car; it gives me the worst headache, even now) or to a friend’s house to trade.

Whenever I’ve carried comics around, they were never a stack of new comics – never. At 12 I don’t think I’ve ever brought more than three comics at one time. Not that I didn’t want too; I just could not afford it. Now, here in front of me were at least 30 brand new comics that this snot nose white kid was showing off.

I did not want to stare but I could not help it. I was mesmerized by the wealth of comics this kid had in his possession.

I hated that kid.

I hated that I had one comic on me that had no cover.

I hated that I wanted to ask to read some of his.

↓ Read the rest of this entry…

[ 7 Comments ]

Simpsons Toys Banned In Iran

by Glenn Hauman on February 6th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Posted In: News
The Simpsons sports a vast array of secondary ...

Isn’t it nice to know that after nearly five hundred episodes, The Simpsons still have the power to shock and offend censors?

The Simpsons have now joined Barbie as targets of an Iranian crackdown, putting one of the iconic blonde doll’s biggest critics on the same blacklist as her. Citing some kind of vague moral opposition to The Simpsons, Mohammad Hossein Farjoo (who Reuters awesomely describes as the head of an agency that “oversees what Iranian children can play with”) said authorities would crack down on sales of toys based on the series and its characters.

That means Lisa Simpson, who famously campaigned for a less sexist Malibu Stacey (the show’s thinly veiled version of Barbie), now joins Barbie as a threat to Iranian morals.

via Iran Bans Simpsons Toys – Global – The Atlantic Wire.

[ No Comments ]