Articles by mike-gold
Mon Jun 2, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Dunkin' Nonsense, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo
Sorry. I won’t even try to tie this week’s column into comics. Or into Rachael Ray, for that matter. It’s about fear and bigotry and other concepts that have been washing over America repeatedly these last few years.
There was a guy who worked at the Mobil station about a half-mile down the road from me. His name was Muhammad. It said so on his nametag. On 9-12-01, he looked like the most scared man I ever met. By the next time I was at the gas station, his nametag had undergone a rewrite. He was now “Michael.” At least in public.
I know a couple kids with an Egyptian last name. Prior to 9-11-01, they were quite little. After 9-11-01, they grew up pretty fast. That’s what happens when your schoolmates hold you and your Egyptian last name responsible for the deaths of some 3,000 people (we like to say “3,000 Americans, but that’s not the truth). Kids can be vicious, but they’ve got to learn that type of bigotry somewhere.
Last week, for example, kids could learn how to be fear-mongers and bigots from our friends at your friendly neighborhood Dunkin’ Donuts. In case you haven’t been near the media, or in case you’ve been totally fixated on Hillary Clinton’s attempt to ape George W. Bush’s 2000 election theft, here’s the story.
Professional celebrity Rachael Ray did an ad for Dunkin’ Donuts. In this ad, she wore a scarf. This scarf sorta, kinda looked like a keffiyeh. That’s a rather traditional clothing item worn by Arabian men – Rachel Ray is not an Arabian man – of all political persuasions. Pro-America, anti-America, and anything else that might matter to the Lunatic Right and one of their prime screamers, columnist / broadcaster Michelle Malkin. If the name rings a bell and you’re up on asinine outrage, Ms. Malkin is an American of Asian descent who wrote the book In Defense of Internment: The Case for ‘Racial Profiling’ in World War II and the War on Terror. Now don’t get upset; it’s okay, she can say that because she’s Asian. Well, she’s Philadelphia-American, but of Asian descent. So if you think she’s being politically incorrect, you’re wrong. She’s farting in the swimming pool, but she’s not politically incorrect.
Mon May 26, 2008 — by Mike Gold
The Ghost of Wertham, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo
As comics fans, we should always be on the frontlines of the war to protect freedom of expression.
After all, it was our medium that was forced into a severe case of arrested development for a decade. Beginning in late 1940s and led by mascot psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, the Saturday Evening Post and the Readers Digest, comic book creators became seen as nothing less than child molesters and the medium was pressured into “Comics Code Authority” censorship and became trapped in its “childish claptrap” image for a generation. Hundreds of cartoonists, publishers, editors, and engravers lost their jobs; those that were among the fortunate few who remained gainfully employed told their neighbors they were “commercial artists” or some such lest they be chased out of suburbia by an angry mob.
For the past 20 years we’ve had a dangerous clown in the Senate who, when he’s not trying to get our armed forces to blast every Moslem in the middle east into smithereens (yep; it’s Memorial Day, so let’s honor our brave men and women by bringing them home from Iraq) is busy trying to raise our nation’s children on behalf of their evidently incompetent parents. Sadly, I’m talking about one of my own senators,
“independent” Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, a man no more independent than Karl Rove or Dick Cheney.
Senator Joe has actually threatened artistic creators with government censorship if they do not bow to his whims. Yeah, I know, I already compared him to Rove and Cheney so telling you he wipes his ass with the Bill of Rights is kind of redundant. Joe’s spent the past two decades – and our tax money – intimidating the forces that produce video games, movies and music he doesn’t appreciate, all the time hiding under the Great Flag of Cowards, the one that reads “save the children!” Now, he’s turned his attention to YouTube.
Tue May 20, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Steven Moffat To Take Over 'Doctor Who'
Acclaimed Writer To Replace Russell T Davies
According to our friends at Outpost Gallifrey, Steven Moffat will be succeeding Russell T Davies as the chief writer and executive producer of Doctor Who beginning with next year’s series of specials. Moreover, he will be taking over as showrunner for the 2010 series.
This move was long expected by fans and predicted by the omnipresent rumor mill.
Moffat has written a great many episodes over the past four seasons, including the award-winning “Blink,” the forthcoming “Silence in the Library” and “Forest of the Dead,” “Empty Child,” and the crossover special “Time Crash.” He has a great many credits, including the upcoming Tintin movie for Steven Spielberg.
Moffat also wrote the classic 1999 Doctor Who episode “The Curse of Fatal Death,” which starred Rowan Atkinson, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and Joanna Lumley as The Doctor and Jonathan Pryce as The Master. Some regard this broadcast as out-of-continuity; however, given the nature of the show one can never be certain.
He told the BBC’s publicity department “My entire career has been a secret plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back 'cause the BBC wanted someone else. Also, I was seven.”
Mon May 19, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Piling It On, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo #67
With great power comes… bloggers.One of the first lessons I learned writing an Internet column – both here and on my soon-to-be-revived political rant Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mind – is also the first lesson I learned when I started on radio shortly after Marconi found the electricity outlet: if you say it, some people will buy it. Either way, if it’s big enough people will debate it.
Joey Goebbels had some success with this concept… for a while.
We here at ComicMix strive for responsibility, and in that spirit I’ve had a great many column ideas that I rejected simply because they weren’t true. Oh, sure, I thought about selling them to Michael Davis, but then it dawned on me I can squeeze this column out of my spiked copy. Ergo, without further ado, here’s a bunch of columns I won’t get around to writing.
Oh, sure, Marvel rebooted Spidey to much loathing, but the reboot sells and if there’s one concept in comics that is engraved in stone it’s this: “Fool ‘em once, make big money. Fool ‘em twice and they’ll double-bag it.” In this spirit, Marvel has announced two exciting new projects.
Mon May 12, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Barack Obama and the Comic Book Time Machine, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo #66
I have always been a major league comic book fan. Always. As a child, whenever my parents dragged me out of town I would make them stop at every possible drug store, newsstand and dime store so I could check out the comics stock. In those days we had no forewarning of what was coming out when, and few outlets carried every title. Some even ignored entire publishing lines.
So when I think back on those trips, I can date them by the comic books I had seen along the way. For example, I encountered Lois Lane
In the corner behind the comics rack, I encountered separate drinking fountains: one said, “Whites” and the other said, “Colored.” That confused me, and I asked my father why they needed two. “Because some people are damn idiots,” Dad replied in undisguised disgust.
We were in central Indiana, a place that just a few decades earlier had been the focal point of the Ku Klux Klan. Now, mind, you, if not for the Ku Klux Klan I wouldn’t be alive today.
Continue reading Barack Obama and the Comic Book Time Machine, by Mike Gold ›
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Mike Gold
R.I.P.: Ted Key
Peabody and Sherman, Hazel Creator Dies at 95
Cartoonist Ted Key, creator of the popular newspaper comic panel Hazel and the classic cartoon characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman, died today at 95.
Born Theodore Keyser in 1912, Key created Hazel for the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. The panel shifted over to King Features Syndicate in 1969 after its creator acquired the rights when the Post ceased publication. In the interim, Hazel evolved into a hit television show that ran between 1961 and 1966, and in syndication thereafter.
In 1959 Key developed the surreal "Peabody's Improbable History" cartoon series for producer Jay Ward and his program Rocky And His Friends.
Key retired from Hazel in 1993 but the panel has continued in newspapers in reprints ever since.
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Name Dropping, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo #65
I’ve been around the northeast quadrant a bit since the New York show a few weeks ago and I’ve seen a lot of people. Good people, old friends, new collaborators, strange and unusual folks. That’s what my life’s about, and I’m proud of that.
I enjoy going to the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention. Compared with, say, the mass of hustling humanity at comics shows in New York, San Diego or on WizardWorld, the Windy City show is like a weekend at the spa. Anthony Tollin was there along with his latest Shadow
The next day we had lunch and dinner with FOCs Charlie Meyerson and his wife Pam (Charlie of Chicago Tribune fame; Pam’s a lawyer and bon vivant) and Rick Oliver and his wife Jade (Honest Rick of First Comics, Jade was a swell comics colorist). George, Charlie and Rick have given us a lot of advice and opinion ever since ComicMix was just a gleam in our eye – Rick is a major commenter in these precincts – and the whole bundle of ‘em are brilliant conversationalists.
Since the best thing to do in Chicago is eat until you burst, we were particularly fond of our dinner with the aforementioned Mr. Pepoy, Simone and Ajax colorist Jason Millet, Hilary Barta (Munden’s Bar, The Simpsons
Mon Apr 28, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Del Close Close Up, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo #64
Well, it’s about time.
Author Kim Howard Johnson, former comics newsman (the late, lamented Comics Scene), occasional comic book writer (Superman: True Brit
It’s called The Funniest One In The Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close
Comics fans may be familiar with Del’s work in collaboration with John Ostrander on Munden’s Bar during its original First Comics run, and/or their work together on the even-more-over-the-top Wasteland
Students of American cultural history know Del as a Shakespearean actor who also performed on television and in movies and plays by Steve Martin, Jules Feiffer, William Saroyan, Judge Julius Hoffman, and Kaufman and Hart. But he is best known for his work as a director, teacher and mentor to – to name but a very, very few – John and Jim Belushi; Brian Doyle, Joel, and Bill Murray; Howard Hessman; Rob Reiner; Joe Flaherty; Harold Ramis; Betty Thomas; George Wendt; Tim Kazurinsky; John Candy; Chris Farley. Tim Meadows; Andy Richter; Stephen Colbert; Steve Carell; Kim Yale… and literally hundreds more. Oh, yeah… he was also rehearsal director of Saturday Night Live
Thu Apr 24, 2008 — by Mike Gold
59, by John Ostrander
Tales From The O-zone #63
Numbers represent. They don’t really mean.
Any meaning associated with numbers – or words for that matter – are what we assign to them. My social security number identifies me to the government but it’s not who I am. It has importance, yes, and if unscrupulous people get a hold of it, it can have a terrible impact on my life. It is not, however, my life. The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon. The road map is not itself the road.
I turned 59 last Sunday and I’ve asked myself “What does that mean? Am I different in any essential way than I was on Saturday?” No. “Do birthdays have meanings?” If we give them some – yes. I like to celebrate the birthdays of those close to me more than I like to celebrate my own. I celebrate the fact that they were born, that they entered this world, and I get to be a part of their lives. I don’t dislike my birthday; I don’t have a problem with having one. I am thankful for the thoughts and good wishes expressed and any excuse to have a double chocolate cake is a good one.
The real use to me of my birthday these days is a bit more meditative. The number 59 has meaning in context with numbers 1 to 58. They are mileposts in my journey thus far. Milepost thirty-three – my first published comic book work. I remember that because I was pleased to be a rookie at anything at 33. Milepost thirty-eight – I married Kim Yale. Talk about being a rookie! Milepost forty-seven – Kim died and the world collapsed only to begin again a few mileposts later with Mary Mitchell. Life goes on. Death gives way to new life.
Tue Apr 22, 2008 — by Mike Gold
NYCC: A Post-Game Analysis
The thrill of camaraderie, the agony of the feet
Fifty-nine weeks ago I slammed the first two New York Comic-Cons pretty hard, so it’s only appropriate that I comment on this year’s jamboree. The previous shows were held in February, so the mere fact that people waiting in line this year didn’t have to suffer in below-freezing wind chills is, in and of itself, a vast improvement.
The show was better organized, crowd flow on Friday and Sunday was almost manageable, and the convention staff from Reed Communications (not the volunteers, who were great) drifted more towards being hospitable and informed. In fact, they were neither hospitable nor informed but you could tell that this year somebody suggested being so might be a good idea.
Saturday was pretty much the same premise as last year: “What if you tried to squeeze the entire population of Manhattan into a phone booth?” They claim attendance records were broken and that would be nice to believe, but it would be even nicer if they were at a venue where they could actually obtain enough space so that people could walk down the aisles without getting bashed in the face by an endless number of backpacks and tripped by an equal number of light sabers.
I can’t help but wonder what the show would have been like if god hadn’t helped out. Passover started Saturday and the New York metropolitan area contains a lot of religious Jews. And the pope was in for the weekend, so a lot of Catholics were attending one or another event. In fact, it looked like he was on Frank Miller’s Dark Knight panel.
Mon Apr 21, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Superman Blue ... Archie Orange, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo #63
In the comments section of my column of two weeks ago, I told Van Jensen that today’s broad spectrum of color could not be printed on the cheap toilet paper employed in the days of yore. That stuff would soak up ink like a spirit gets sucked into Harold Ramis’s ghost trap. Back in those days just after the invention of papyrus, color artists were limited to a palette of three values each of red, blue and yellow, plus black. Not a lot to work with.
Still, as Van implies, the end result was fine. It didn’t bother us, just as riding a horse to work didn’t bother us. Except… except … it bothered me.
To be specific, blue hair bothered me.
I understand why hair was blue: if it were black, it’d just look like Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne had a big blob of India ink atop their brainpans. You couldn’t make it look like hair, and not everybody could have brown, red, or blonde hair. The blue stuff was supposed to suggest highlights, but with a few dozen colors to choose from, what can you do?
Continue reading Superman Blue ... Archie Orange, by Mike Gold ›
Mon Apr 14, 2008 — by Mike Gold
DC's Killing Fields, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo #62
How many times can you run a stunt into the ground in one month before you just look like you’re totally bereft of originality? DC Comics’ June, 2008 solicitations, as published in Diamond Distributing’s Previews catalog, offers no less than six phony death and/or resurrection stunts.
Gotham Underground
Batman
Booster Gold #10: “Someone from his past must live and someone must die!” My wife informs me (happily) that Ted (Blue Beetle the Second) has already been resurrected. The death – if it actually happens – well, again, who cares? If it was somebody important, he/she/it wouldn’t be killed off in Booster Gold. Unless the stunt has grown so lame that DC is willing to bury it in a title such as this.
Sun Apr 13, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Joe Staton Honored With Exhibit
What do Guy Gardner, Scooby Doo and Munden's Bar have in common?
Legendary comics ace Joe Staton will be honored with an art exhibit at at the Storefront Artist Project in Pittsfield, Massachusetts from August 2nd through the 31st.
Best known for his work on (please hold your applause until the end) Batman, E-Man, Femme Noir, Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, The Huntress, Jonny Quest, The Justice Society of America, Michael Mauser, Munden’s Bar, Power Girl, Rugrats, Scooby Doo, Superman, the Wild Thornberrys and about twelve thousand other creations, Joe’s most recent effort is the “new-look” Jughead four-parter that debuted in Jughead’s Double Digest #139 last week.
Joe's online collaboration with writer Christopher Mills, Femme Noir, will be debuting as a pamphlet-form mini-series in June.
A long-time supporter of Manhattan’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, The Art of Joe Staton is being produced by the Storefront Artist Project in cooperation with the Museum. A series of related free workshops and programs is also part of the deal.
In association with the exhibit, Joe will also be conducting a free day-long workshop on August 3 which includes a drawing demonstration, sketch-a-thon, and discussion. For more information contact the Storefront Artist Project at 413-442-7201 or go to their website.
It’s very, very hard to imagine a guy who deserves this more than Joe Staton. Congratulations, ol’ timer!
Mon Apr 7, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Money, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo #61
I started thinking about money.
Well, actually, I probably haven’t stopped thinking about it since the day I realized my daily school lunch would buy me three comic books and one candy bar. But being older yet no more mature, this time around I started thinking about the price of gasoline.
Right after the New York Comic Con, my wife, daughter and I are going to pile into my 2005 Ford Focus hatchback and drive across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana to spend time in Detroit and Chicago. Mostly work, but lucky for me I work with my friends, which is sort of like spending my lunch money on comic books.
Here in Fairfield County Connecticut the price of a gallon of gas is $3.45. It’s about time they dropped that “9/10ths” thing – I’m sure they will when the price of gas goes above $9.99 a gallon. If previous trips (I do this about three or four times a year, mostly for conventions) are any indication, I suspect I’ll be paying about $3.19 a gallon in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The drive, in total, runs about 1800 miles and my Focus gets about 35 miles to the gallon – this is mostly highway driving, so I’ve got the right car for the job. That’s about 52 gallons for the trip, which I figure will run about $170.00 plus tolls. Call it $200.00; if I flew in alone the car rental would cost more, let alone my airfare.
This brings me back to my lunch money. I am so damn old that my school lunch only cost my parents 35 cents, and therefore the comic books I bought with that lunch money only cost a dime (when the price went up to 12 cents, I just stared at the cover as though it said the Communists had just seized control of the drug store). Today, the average cost of the standard format mainstream comic book costs $3.00. That’s a thirty-fold increase. A gallon of gas in the late 10-cent comics era was about 30 cents, so we’ve only suffered a little more than an eleven-fold increase.
Sat Apr 5, 2008 — by Mike Gold
GraphicAudio Adapts Three 'Justice League' Novels
The JLA does talkies!
We’ve opined previously on GraphicAudio’s full-cast adaptations of DC Comics’ Infinite Crisis and 52. Well, actually, of Greg Cox’s novelizations adapting DC Comics’ Infinite Crisis and 52. They must have sold pretty well, as they’re expanding their offerings to include at least three more projects.
They’ll be adapting a trio of Justice League paperback novels from a couple years ago: Christopher Golden’s JLA: Exterminators, Alan Grant’s Batman: The Stone King and Roger Stern’s Superman: The Never-Ending Battle. These adaptations feature a full case with music and sound effects, not quite like Big Finish’s original Doctor Who offerings in the sense that the stories are driven by each book’s narrative voice. While they fall slightly short of being full-blown audio dramas, I’ve enjoyed their work on Infinite Crisis and 52 and I hope they are able to maintain the same cast members for these CD presentations.
JLA: Exterminators comes out in May; the others follow in two-month intervals. They are released on CD and mp3 discs and are readily available at Interstate truck stops. Previous DC adaptations were distributed by Diamond to knowing comics shops, so you might want to do a pre-order. Of course, they’ll also be available at GraphicAudio’s website, where you have the option of buying them as downloads.
