Articles by elayne-riggs
Wed Oct 31, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Trolling for Halloween
Out from the bridge and into the comics
Before "trolls" became synonymous with "online idiots," and somewhat after they were best known as fairy-tale creatures that dwelt under bridges, they were so-ugly-they're-cute collectible dolls made by the Russ company. While they're not as ubiquitous today as they were a couple decades back, they do still pop up around this time of year in various venues, and this year the writers and artists at Girlamatic decided their work was going to suffer a Russ troll invasion.
Getting in on the troll action are Layla Lawlor, Lisa Jonte, Michelle Mauk, Ariel Childers (sub-only), and my hands-down favorite, Tara Tallan, who takes the opportunity to cleverly combine all three meanings of "troll" mentioned in the above paragraph in an 8-page Galaxion storyline featuring the little dears.
Great reading, and enough to make me want to don my troll earrings to greet this evening's trick-or-treaters.
Wed Oct 31, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Children of all ages, by Elayne Riggs
It's All Good #37
I've already spoken about how October is my favorite time of year, what with the baseball post-season and the foliage displays and the crispness in the air and, in 2007, my imminent lifestyle change and ComicMix Phase II debuting. There's another reason I love this month -- it culminates today in one of my favorite secular holidays, Hallowe'en.
[I emphasize "secular" because I distinctly remember when, as I kid, I was blatantly discouraged from trick or treating and otherwise celebrating the day, on the basis of the holiday's etymological origin being the Christian commemoration of All Hallow's Eve and therefore the holiday itself must be Christian. This is the same logic used by some fundamentalist Christians to denounce the holiday as Satanic -- the flip side of Christian, and therefore Christian as well because non-Christians don't really have this Satan thing going -- because it emphasizes the supernatural. In fact, as with most seasonal celebrations coopted by early Christians, the holiday actually has pagan roots -- in this case Samhain -- which I'm perfectly fine with honoring, as those ancient nature worshippers may be the closest thing we have to modern sensible secular rationalists. I'm even half-convinced Christmas is becoming okay to celebrate because, despite the name, it's essentially a corruption of the Saturnalia holiday. But I digress.]
One reason Hallowe'en is so cool for me is because of its emphasis, at least when I was growing up, on being a holiday for kids. As far as I can discern this mentality came about with the holiday's commercialization (just check out the Wiki on Hallowe'en to see how many modern rituals involve spending money, from parties to costumes to decorations to candy), and of course since hyper-capitalism cannot be confined to just that segment of the population largely dependent upon others' pursestrings, today it's big business with "children of all ages." But I still think Hallowe'en has a particular power over children's sense of wonder about the world around us, whether or not the lines between living and dead, between the ordinary and the magical, can indeed be blurred during the time of year when (the northern half of) the Earth starts preparing for its winter slumber.
So I like to give out comics to those few straggling trick-or-treaters who find their way to the group of houses hidden behind the main road where we occupy our top-floor apartment. Because I believe that, like Hallowe'en, comics still have tremendous appeal to kids, even as hyper-capitalism has led to their greater acceptance by and obsession for many adults. And so during the year I cull the Cartoon Network books from our DC comp boxes and go through the stuff I have from Free Comics Day to see what's all-ages appropriate.
I do have a bit of a dilemma with the latter, though -- I like all-ages stories. Most of the time, I like them more than the teen-targeted or "mature" readers-only books.
Sun Oct 28, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Worldly Serious
ComicMix columnists still on the ball
Out in the land of baseball humidors, the Beantown Bombers seem poised to win it all. But here at ComicMix we like to think our columnists hit home runs every day. Or at least we're somewhere in the ballpark. Here's what we've served up for you this past week:
- Mike Gold - Whizzy's Wazoo #37: Gore, Mayhem and Violence
- Dennis O'Neil - The Four-Color Answer #37: Costumes Revealed
- Me - It's All Good #36: More Artistic Vocabulary
- John Ostrander - Off in the O-Zone #37: Whose Story Is It, Anyway?
- Michael Davis - Straight, No Chaser #37: Because I Said So
- Martha Thomases - Brilliant Disguise #28: Devil's Arcade
- Michael A. Price - Forgotten Horrors #28: R. Crumb's Music Madness and Me
- Ric Meyers - DVD XTra #22: The Super Powers Myth
I have to retire all my baseball puns until next spring now, don't I?
Wed Oct 24, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
More Artistic Vocabulary, by Elayne Riggs
It's All Good #36
Well, I said I’d be back and, since there were a number of terms I didn’t recall until after last week’s column went live, I figured I’d take note of them this week while I still remember what more I wanted to say.
For instance, I can’t believe I neglected to talk about surface form versus underlying construction. I consider it one of the most important criteria for judging good comic book art. The more I learn about how visual storytelling is done, the pickier I find myself becoming when it comes to appreciating crafting level. Art doesn’t need to look polished to be of professional level (although my particular taste does lean more towards smooth and streamlined rather than blocky and rough). It just needs to show that the artist understands the rules about how things are logically built. It’s like any other creative endeavor -- if you’re going to break the rules, you first need to prove you know what they are and are able to follow them.
I have to admit, not being an artist, that I’m not so sure about construction rules myself, certainly not enough to be able to articulate them for you the way my husband does for me. But I do know that one of the biggest mistakes many comic book readers make is confusing style with substance. When they judge a comic they’re usually looking at the final polish given to the work rather than judging what lies beneath that polish. And that’s understandable; if you don’t know how a piece of furniture is supposed to function in its environment, or even whether it’ll hold what it’s supposed to hold, you’re pretty much going to base your opinion of that furniture by how pretty it looks in the catalog or showroom.
Continue reading More Artistic Vocabulary, by Elayne Riggs ›
Sun Oct 21, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Darn you, Westinghouse!
Our photo-eclectic roundup
On this day in 1925, the first photoelectric cell was publicly demonstrated by the Westinghouse Electric and Mfg. Co. at the Electrical Show at Grand Central Palace in New York. That palace no longer exists, having been replaced by an office tower, but it seems photoelectrics will always be with us in one way or another. Heck, you're probably soaking in them right now. And with that cheery thought in mind, here's your weekly one-stop ComicMix columnist shopping:
- Mike Gold - Whizzy's Wazoo #36: Teaching Behind the Eightball
- Dennis O'Neil - The Four-Color Answer #36: Costumes
- Me - It's All Good #35: An Artistic Vocabulary
- John Ostrander - Off in the O-Zone #36: Writing Under the Influence
- Michael Davis - Straight, No Chaser #36: The Casting Couch
- Martha Thomases - Brilliant Disguise #27: Mothership Connection
- Michael A. Price - Forgotten Horrors #27: The Perils and Pleasures of Moviola
As you can see in our previous item, Ric is across the ocean from us, probably having the time of his life, and will return next week. And now to return to my current masters, the television/DVD combo...
Fri Oct 19, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Kiwi kast as Dr. McCoy
Urban legend goes from LOTR to Trek
The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed the last of the major castings for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek prequel, scheduled to begin filming next month.
The role of James Tiberius Kirk will be played by Chris Pine (left), and the plum part of Leonard McCoy goes to New Zealand actor Chris Urban (right), known to genre film fans as Eomer in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Other cast members include John Cho as Sulu, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, and of course Zachary Quinto from Heroes as Mr. Spock. Eric Bana will also appear as the movie's antagonist, Nero.
Fri Oct 19, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
More Whovian Hallowe'en goodness
Two great tastes that go great together
Your video of the day, courtesy of Lisa at Sequentially Speaking:
Lisa also links to the how-to at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, for the truly creative and talented among us.
Wed Oct 17, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
An Artistic Vocabulary, by Elayne Riggs
It's All Good #35
For a few years in the '90s, I wrote weekly comic book reviews which I published online in the Usenet rec.arts.comics groups and CompuServe's Comics Forum. As I was one of only a handful of women reviewing comics at the time (I remember there was me, Johanna Draper and Denise Sudell online and of course Maggie Thompson in print), my "Pen-Elayne For Your Thoughts" reviews were noticed and commented on fairly frequently, both by other readers and by the professionals who worked on the books I discussed. (My review of a Legion annual prompted the book's inker to email me, and a couple years later we were married.) It was a cool self-publishing gig which led to all sorts of goodies, from being "recognized" by name at conventions (especially helpful when working the Friends of Lulu booth) to being sent freebies and previews to drum up interest and get the comment threads going (about the actual story rather than the anticipation thereof).
I cherished my interactions with pros, particularly artists. Writing I understood. I'd been a writer for decades, I intrinsically got the process. But art -- here was a foreign realm, one to which I could never hope to aspire. These folks created magic that I'd never hope to duplicate. I felt a driving need to at least familiarize myself with the hows and whys of graphic sequential storytelling. After all, I reasoned, if you take into account time spent in the actual creation of a comic book story, the art is far more than half of what goes into it. Every line on the page has a reason to be there, and I wanted to find out what it all meant.
In order to do so, I needed to cultivate an artistic vocabulary.
Mon Oct 15, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Who's Who for Hallowe'en
Scary yet cool Dalek mask
The Guardian reports on a "must-have" item among British children for the upcoming holiday season: a mask modelled on the Dalek-human hybrid which appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Daleks in Manhattan" and which "changes the voice of the wearer to the metallic scream of the doctor's mortal enemies." Parents everywhere will no doubt be thrilled.
The mask featuress two play buttons; the first activates a Dalek question, followed by Dalek Sec Hybrid's reply, and the second activates the Dalek Voice Changer Function. The product was mentioned in the context of many other TV-based toys available for Christmas which are expected to be best-sellers, but what about those who need to have it for Hallowe'en?
Never fear, it's available now, at least in the UK. Sure beats "Anna Rexia," if you ask me!
Sun Oct 14, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
More fall classics
Your weekly ComicMix columnist roundup
Our readers aren't the only ones falling for ComicMix's new format. We Phase I-ers are really excited over Phase II as well; that handy-dandy Latest News search box has made doing these weekly wrap-ups easier than ever! And the powers that be aren't done tinkering yet! Here's what our columnists have offered you this past week:
- Mike Gold - Whizzy's Wazoo #35: Name Dropping
- Dennis O'Neil - The Four-Color Answer #35: Darkness in Four Colors
- Me - It's All Good #34: The Fifth Freedom
- John Ostrander - Off in the O-Zone #35: Obit the Living
- Michael Davis - Straight, No Chaser #35: The Fanboy Guide to Girls • Part 2
- Martha Thomases - Brilliant Disguise #26: (We Could Be) Heroes: Top Ten Rock Songs About Superman
- Michael A. Price - Forgotten Horrors #26: Cowpuncher cartoonist J.R. Williams
- Ric Meyers - DVD Xtra #20: Fantastic Up Creature – Rise of the Surf’s Comforts: #21: Hostel II Hostel
And don't forget to click on Mellifluous Mike Raub's latest Big ComicMix Broadcasts over there on the right!
Wed Oct 10, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
ELAYNE RIGGS: The Fifth Freedom
It's All Good #34
Last week was the American Library Association's annual "Banned Books Week." What bothers me most about Banned Books Week isn't its concept, but its name. Even its proponents admit it's not about banned books, but challenged ones. Even at our country's most fascist periods (like, um, now), I don't believe our federal, state or local governments have actually banned books in decades, if ever. But apparently "banned" has a more alliterative cachet than "challenged" or "endangered" or even scrapping the misnomer altogether in favor of something like "Freedom to Read Week" which is more in keeping with the point of the event -- to "celebrate the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stress the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them."
Oh sure, lots of backwards-thinking people, the kind who usually believe every word in the Bible is true (rather than seeing the book as allegorical fiction and an interesting take on history by multiple authors, the way a lot of rationalists view it), seek to limit others' imaginations and freedoms and generally stir up trouble by whining in the courts about any piece of fact or fiction they don't like, from science texts to Harry Potter. And these attempts at censorship should be and are condemned and fought by patriots and book-lovers everywhere they crop up. Partly because of these efforts, no attempts have succeeded.
And yet, people's hobbies and even lives have been ruined by this repression. Even in our hobby, the CBLDF abounds with stories of comic shop owners who paid for a misstep or a failure to predict ever-shifting "community standards" usually embodied by the community's loudest kook.
Tue Oct 9, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Menagerie bows in theatres
Star Trek pilot cinematic event
Next month will mark the release of the remastered 10-disc DVD (and HD-DVD) set of the original Star Trek series, and the Trek publicity machine has been busy. We've seen an asteroid named for George Takei, both Takei and Nichelle Nichols appearing on Heroes (which also houses the proto-Spock), and the world will even witness William Shatner's upcoming receipt of the Jules Verne Lifetime Achievement Award in Paris in December.
But for some Trekkers, that just isn't enough. They need their own version of the Buffy musical phenomenon. And the powers that be are more than happy to oblige, at $12.50 a pop.
On November 13, the two-part remastered version of "The Menagerie," made using footage from the original ST pilot "The Cage," will be shown in select theatres throughout North America. The event will include an "in-theatre exclusive greeting from creator Gene Roddenberry’s son, Eugene 'Rod' Roddenberry" and of course the evening wouldn't be complete without the mandatory making-of-behind-the-scenes self-congratulations. Bear in mind, the "event content," as it's called, will be shown in its original (TV) format, 4x3.
Some of us are just looking forward (or backward, as the case may be) once more to a female Number One.
Sun Oct 7, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Phasing in with more to come
Our first week of original FREE comics!
Wow, it's been some week for ComicMix, and we appreciate all the kind words of support and terrific reviews we've seen so far! Please let us know where you've seen our comics discussed, we don't want to miss any feedback! In the meantime, here's your weekly wrapup of our regular columns:
- Mike Gold - Whizzy's Wazoo #34: Our Son Will Come Out Tomorrow
- Dennis O'Neil - The Four-Color Answer? #34: Plugging No-Face
- Me - It's All Good #33: The Girls of Summer
- John Ostrander - Off in the O-Zone #34: Genius and Barbecue
- Michael Davis - Straight, No Chaser #34: The Fanboy Guide to Girls • Part 1
- Martha Thomases - Brilliant Disguise #25: Every Picture Tells a Story
- Michael A. Price - Forgotten Horrors #25: Shock! Theatre, 50 years later
As you can see, Mellifluous Mike Raub's Big ComicMix Broadcasts are now all accessible right from our front page, so no need to recap them here any more; just scroll down on the right sidebar and there they are! In fact, it just so happens that all of the above columns can currently be accessed from our section entitled "More Comics News" at the bottom of our front page, mixed in with our news items. Can a separate column archives be far behind? Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?
Thu Oct 4, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
Bungie cutting the cord?
Halo 3 co rumored jumping off from Microsoft
On the heels of the phenomenal success of Halo 3, the rumors are flying fast and furious in the gaming world that Bungie Studios is about to separate from Microsoft.
The buzz apparently started with a gamer on 8Bit Joystick, citing the old standby, "A friend of mine who has someone close to them that works at Bungie..." and claiming Microsoft would retain the Halo property and let Bungie once more produce independent projects, listing among the proofs a search of the company's global address book and Microsoft's controlling nature. The rumor was then more or less contradicted at XYHD.TV, without the author getting around to flat-out denying it. Now it's being spoken of on larger sites like Game Informer and CNet as if it may be a done deal, even though everyone's still quite careful to use the "r" word.
Tantalizing food for thought includes "For an unstated, but significant amount of money, Bungie shareholders bought the studio name back from Microsoft" and "Microsoft was supposed to release the press release today [10/1] but if they wait till 10/6 the impact won't affect the quarterly results." So I guess we all need to stay tuned until Friday to see whether this rumor becomes fact!
Wed Oct 3, 2007 — by Elayne Riggs
ELAYNE RIGGS: The Girls of Summer
It's All Good #33
The summer of 2007 is well and truly behind us now. The regular baseball season has wrapped, culminating in the promise of the playoffs and World Series, new network TV shows have debuted and returned, and October ushers in a new era for many of us. For ComicMix it means Phase II, the actual raison d'etre for this site (and I'm psyched to be sharing Wednesdays with EZ Street). For me it signals an imminent lifestyle change as the day job I've held for the last ten years is about to disappear, a part of my life destined to become an unpleasant memory in the very near future.
This job has taken much out of me emotionally this last decade, snipping away at little pieces of my soul and memory that I feared I'd never recover. But now that things are taking their course and I feel like I'm about to be paroled, I find many of those pieces are starting to return. Robin's remarked that I remind him once again of the person I was when we met, the last time I was between jobs -- healthier, happier, more energetic and optimistic, closer to my true self. And I'm having strange dreams that mix the past and present, where I can almost recall things that I'd thought gone forever.
The other night I dreamt I was back in college, only I was the person I am today. And for some reason, my roommate looked exactly like Sarah Silverman. (I often dream about celebs for whom I have no particular affinity in real life; the pheme of fame, as Stephen Fry calls it, seeps into my subconscious remarkably easily.) And I remarked to Sarah, in between trying to divvy up the laundry and other mundane chores, that I was impressed by all the youthful enthusiasm around me. "I remember when I used to have that kind of energy," I mused. "Heck, back when I was a day camp counselor I'd run around all the time…"
Then I woke up, thinking about day camp.
