Articles by arthur-tebbel-and-christopher-toia
Sun Feb 25, 2007 — by Arthur Tebbel & Christopher Toia
X-Men strand Gen Y
A ComicMix featured column
Getting a hologram card of Wolverine in a pack of the first series of Marvel Universe Trading Cards is one of my fondest childhood memories. I was five. I showed almost all the guys in my class. Unfortunately, if this kindergartener had been inspired to buy the Wolverine comic around that time it would have been tough sledding: in that story Wolverine learns his memories are a result of brain implants. The next arc ended with Wolverine promising a man that he would return to remove a part of his body every year until nothing remained.
Comics were convincing themselves that they were for adults, and that adults required mature, violent stories. But no one told the licensing people whose job it was to pump children's playthings into the market. I think this is why there are so few of my contemporaries reading comics. As children, we had to claw our way into the medium despite its best efforts to keep us at arms length, the better to succeed as a medium for teenagers and adults.
Sat Feb 24, 2007 — by Arthur Tebbel & Christopher Toia
Is Barry Allen back?
DiDio flustered
At the NYCC "DCU: A Better Tomorrow – Today" panel, DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio may have let the cat out of the bag.
DiDio was asked if in the Countdown teaser image The Flash was Barry Allen and Red Robin was Jason Todd. DiDio got flustered before answering "yes."
This drew icy stares from the rest of the panel members and applause from the crowd. DiDio's mic was taken away for the remainder of the panel. The final question for the panel was "Who would you like to kill during Countdown?" and Greg Rucka closed the panel by looking at DiDio and saying, "I'm looking at him."
A good time was had by all.
Sat Feb 24, 2007 — by Arthur Tebbel & Christopher Toia
NYCC -- The Stan and Jeff shows
Organizational problems mar Lee presentation
The marquee event on Friday night was "Stan Lee: An American Icon," an event that did not go off without a couple of hitches.
There was a total lack of security at the event. When Lee arrived he came in through the crowd and took the stage. As anticipated the room exploded in flashbulbs when Lee took the stage. People started working their way to the front to get a clearer shot and soon there was a crowd five or six people deep around the stage. There was no one from the convention security there to disperse this crowd and it took five minutes for volunteers to arrive and disperse the crowd. Lee was totally unprotected.
Sat Feb 24, 2007 — by Arthur Tebbel & Christopher Toia
NYCC -- Half-mile long lines in 20 degree temps
New York state troopers called out
If you were planning on coming to New York Comic Con today and you aren't reading this from the line outside, you might want to consider turning around and going home. The convention staff is not letting anyone without exhibitor passes on the floor without standing in a line outside, in single digit wind temps.
If you got in line right at 10:00 AM, you won't get in until after noon. That said, being in the line isn't quite so bad because many high profile artists are stuck in the line as well. A person who identified themselves as a DC artist trying to get to a booth signing was told that his professional badge would not get him on the floor -- "your day was yesterday."
The line started at midnight Saturday morning and is currently half a mile long. Despite the promoter's promises of twice as much space it seems that the 2007 con is marred by the same problems of overselling that made the last show a living nightmare. New York State troopers have been called out and are handling crowd control. Fire marshals are threatening show closure.
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