Category: Columns

Martha Thomases: The Big Cons

women cosplaySo far this summer, it has been my privilege to only go to one comic book convention, one that was conveniently situated in my home town. I may have to go to more, because that’s what the job is, and I’m okay with that.

It’s become so much easier to be a woman at a comic convention. Sure, the lines at the bathrooms are a drag, but that’s a small price to pay for being an accepted, sometimes even welcomed part of the crowd. As I write this, I’ve read several accounts (none of which I can find now, naturally) that suggest that attendance at the major shows is at least 50 percent female.

They need us. All of them: show organizers, retailers, other exhibitors. Without us, they make so much less money.

A lot of people have done a lot of work for decades to get us to this point. We should thank them and savor their success.

And then we should try for more.

Among the women who work in comics that I’m linked to online, this article made the rounds last week. It tells how women in the tech industry, infuriated that so few women were ever asked to speak at industry conferences as anything but tokens, and what women decided to do about it. They want full parity with men on all panels at conventions and conferences.

So do we.

Quite often, convention programmers will say they don’t know any women in the industry, nor do they know how to find them. The women in the link are assembling such a list.

Women in comics are doing the same.

I realize that it will take some time for women to get equal seating on panels with men. Comic book companies are going to have to send more women. Convention organizers are going to have to invite more women. They’re going to have to think about including more women on panels of general interest, and adding women to those who star in spotlight panels.

It might not be possible, at this exact moment, to get as many women writers and artists who attract fans as men. I get that. It’s kind of circular: If women were hired more frequently, there would be more top-tier women creators. And I think that day is closer than most imagine.

However …

There have always been a lot of women working in comics. We are in the legal departments and the licensing departments and the marketing departments and the international publishing departments. We know a lot about the business of comics, and we have a lot of interesting stories to tell about the backstage part of the business.

More recently, there has been an increase in the number of women working for distributors, libraries, and opening their own stores. Again, lots and lots of good conversation.

Just because it’s going to be difficult doesn’t mean it’s not a worthy goal, meriting our time and effort. We’ve shown that women add to the fun of a convention, and add to the bottom line as well. We should use the power of our purses to push for more.

 

Tweeks: Go Go Power Rangers Dino Force!

On August 29th, Saban’s Power Rangers Dino Charge returns to Nickelodeon for another season of prehistoric-era Power Rangers excitement. Basically, in Dino Charge there are these Paragon Prisms which were given to a dozen dinosaurs for safe keeping by an alien, but they were lost when asteroids hit the Earth. So, now in present day, an intergalactic bounty hunter has come to Earth to try to find them to harness the power and, of course, destroy the world. If we are unfairly profiling, let us know, but in our experience, intergalactic bounty hunters usually tend to cause more harm than good. But thankfully, a team of Power Rangers formed to find the Prisms, use their power for good, and fight threats – such as the aforementioned bounty hunter, but other badies too.

We were excited to be invited back to the Power Ranger Power Lounge at San Diego Comic Con this year, where we got to get to know the Dino Charge cast. Brennan Mejia (Tyler/Red Ranger), Yoshua Sudarso (Koda/Blue Ranger), James Davies (Chase/Black Ranger), Michael Taber (Riley/Green Ranger), Camille Hyde (Shelby/Pink Ranger), and Claire Blackwelder (Kendall Morgan) were all super nice. But even better than that we got to bond over fandoms. Yoshua Sudarso, as you will see is a totally Tweeks approved fanboy, but we were also impressed by the other Rangers pop culture enthusiasm. You’ll have to watch to see who is as excited about the Hunger Games stars as we are and who is all about Arrow & The Flash. We also find out what to expect with the new season (new rangers, new colors, new Zords).

It’s Morphin Time….Unleash the Power!

 

Emily S. Whitten: Geeks Who Drink

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At last! Someone has come up with a TV trivia show that is completely Relevant to My Interests! A.K.A. Geeks Who Drink, the new geek trivia show on Syfy, hosted by actor and Nerd Machine founder Zachary Levi.

I first heard about the show at this year’s Nerd HQ, and was immediately excited to watch it. It’s not that I don’t enjoy trivia games that make me feel stupid for not knowing, e.g., the year the War of the Roses ended, or what countries border Estonia (although I actually do know that one now, thanks to a friend who hails from that location). But I much prefer feeling stupid during a trivia competition about geek facts, because: a) I’m more likely to know at least some answers and thus feel stupid for a smaller overall percentage of the competition; and b) even when I don’t know the answers it’s fun, because this is the type of trivia I most like to learn and retain. Why? I don’t know – probably because I’m just a big ol’ geek.

I got a chance to tune in for last week’s episode of Geeks Who Drink, and learned that this trivia show is more fun than most for me since along with Zac Levi doing a stellar job as the host, and all participants enjoying the drinking aspect of the show as they try to win, the episodes feature geek guests that I’m actually familiar with; including last week’s, which featured my awesome and talented buds voice actor John DiMaggio and geek fashionista Stephanie Pressman. It’s always more fun to watch when you have people you know to root for! (Although since they were on different teams, I was kind of hard-pressed to figure out which team to go with.)

The show, which grew out of the traveling pub quiz Geeks Who Drink, is set up like most trivia competitions, with teams (in this case, teams of three). Some rounds are your typical Q&A; but other rounds include fun geektastic action challenges like, e.g., arranging six game consoles in order from oldest to newest, or using the Force (and a little help from your team) to slash through balloons with lightsabers while blindfolded. And, of course, there are also other cool geeky touches like the names of the teams (DiMaggio’s team “On a Bender” was particularly appropriate for a drinking trivia game featuring the voice of Bender) and the little themed zingers and asides Levi throws out while hosting – elements which make the show feel like the kind of thing you’d find and appreciate with your Tribe (a.k.a. geek friends) during a Comic-Con.

Those elements, and Levi’s approachable nature and easygoing quick-witted hosting style add to the appeal of the show. And the way the show has taken off on Twitter with the @GeeksWhoDrinkTV folks and many fans interacting to share their cocktails, answers, and enthusiasm before and during each episode makes watching the show if you use social media feel more like participating in a fun group activity than just sitting on your couch with your favorite booze.

Another great thing is that with a show like this, you can also take that feeling one step further (as I plan to do shortly) by hosting your own Geeks Who Drink TV night at home with friends while watching the show (house party, whut whut!). Naturally if you do this, you will have to serve appropriately geeky drinks. I’m thinking for my party, I’ll break out my Captain America, Superman, and Batman ice cube trays, and serve my ever-popular recipe for Discworldian scumble.

And fortunately for me and anyone else who can’t always be home on a Thursday night at 11:00 p.m., the show’s scheduled timeslot, or who might want to air a few old episodes before the newest one when throwing a party, you can watch episodes you missed on Syfy. I definitely recommend you give this and Geeks Who Drink in general a try – because not only did I have fun cheering at the TV when I was able to answer questions like, “Which Marvel Comics character first uttered the phrase, ‘Avengers, Assemble!’?” (“Thor! Thor!”) and what movies Samuel L. Jackson has starred in (nobody got Kingsman: The Secret Service??), but I also enjoyed squirreling away new geek knowledge; and found myself smiling, laughing, clapping, or occasionally shouting at the TV (but in a good way) throughout the whole show.

So I suggest you join me and the ranks of trivia buffs who are getting their geek on by watching Geeks Who Drink on SyFy Thursday nights; and until next time, Servo Lectio!

 

Dennis O’Neil: Justice Society – Forward Into The Past!

JSA

Back from a mission, the particulars of which I am not at liberty to divulge though I can reveal that it involved a food store, and… Look! Someone has deposited a package on the front stoop. A friend? An enemy? One of those uniformed people who drive around the neighborhood in trucks? Make haste! Slit the tape, fold back the flaps, and…

Well, look at that. A book. We already have a lot of those, but hey, always room for another, especially if it’s a handsome hardcover titled Justice Society of America: A Celebration of 75 Years. Seventy-five years already? They grow up so fast…

It must have been a no-brainer, all those years ago. Superman was a success. Ditto Batman. The rest of Detective / All-American Comics’ cadre of costumed do-gooders were doing at least okay, if not better, and if those mysterious beings out there beyond the office walls – call them “readers” – like superdoers in single doses then they’ll go nuts for a bunch of such heroes in the same magazine and – here comes the challenge for the editorial department – all of them working on the same problem.

The added benefit, as Roy Thomas observes in his informative and lively introduction, was that a comic book like that could showcase less prominent characters, test whether they might be popular enough to warrant further use.

So get busy! Get that new comic book, dubbed The Justice Society, out of our collective imaginations and onto the newsstands!

And so they did. The JSA, at first a quarterly, was soon promoted to bi-monthly status and continued to grace the nation’s magazine venues until 1951, when comic books as both popular entertainment and profit centers entered their dark age, a period when they barely survived as publishing enterprises.

That tale, sad though it is, had a happy ending when comic books, and particularly superhero comic books, were reinvented and began flourishing. (You wouldn’t be reading this if that hadn’t happened.) The JSA came back somewhat altered and rechristened The Justice League of America.

The JLA was one of my first assignments when I went to work for what had, by then, become DC Comics. I don’t think I knew the size of the bite I’d taken when I took the job. It can be challenging to conjure up a worthy opponent for a single super person and thus provide conflict and drama and all that good stuff. Writing a book like JLA the writer has to provide woes for seven or eight or more. But, as the volume we’re discussing proves, writers and artists have been doing that, doing it entertainingly, for three quarters of a century.

Once a year, Julie Schwartz would revive the JSA, who, you will be happy to know, were living in another dimension, and team them with their modern counterparts. I did one of those stories, which is how I come to be represented in the volume we’re discussing and why I got copies of it, and there you go, full and unnecessary disclosure.

I’m glad to see my work in such righteous company.

 

Box Office Democracy: “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a very good spy action movie. It expands and builds on the previous entries in the series although sometimes in ways I’m not entirely sure are necessary but it’s consistently compelling and visually interesting, often funny, it checks every box I would put on a hypothetical action movie checklist. Unfortunately I think the landscape for these movies have changed and being very good might not cut it anymore. Movies need to either push the genre in new or interesting directions (like a Mad Max: Fury Road) or be so consistently excellent the movie becomes a non-stop delight to sit and watch (the approach taken by the last three Fast & Furious movies) or it feels lacking to me. Tom Cruise isn’t enough by himself and Tom Cruise: Movie Superstar is all that is being offered here.

Let’s not take anything away from Tom Cruise as a movie star, because he is a phenomenal one and this is a stunning showcase for him. He is charming and magnetic and because he’s willing to do his own insane stunts the movie looks more authentic. It’s not a very active improvement, though; it’s more like appreciating how it doesn’t look like bad CGI than being particularly amazing in its own right. Tom Cruise is good in a way that makes me think “Tom Cruise is amazing” but not in a way that makes me thing “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is an amazing movie” and that’s a problem. He’s appealing in the role but he never makes me think anything about the character, I know I’m watching Ethan Hunt but I never ascribe any character traits to him, he’s a stunningly blank character for the lead of a fifth movie in the series.

The plots haven’t advanced very far along in five movies either. For Rogue Nation the Impossible Mission Force is disgraced in the eyes of the government and Ethan and his team must work to stop the bad guys with no official support for their actions. This is exactly the same premise of the last entry in the franchise. All they did this time was change the particulars; it isn’t about stopping a nuclear missile, it’s about shutting down a criminal anti-IMF, and the force of government resistance are represented by Alec Baldwin who plays his part as director of the CIA and I can only imagine his process was deciding he was going to play Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock and the director would have to fight him for every bit of seriousness. This is not intended as a complaint; it works quite well. There are also some legacy problems due to the longevity of the series. In a world where good and evil intelligence operatives have been able to do perfect face masks to pose as others for almost 20 years, you would figure no important people on earth would have sensitive conversations without blood tests or some such. As it is you just spend the entire movie waiting for that iconic face pulling off shot and this time around I saw it coming a mile away. It hurts the credibility of the movie.

I’ve complained a lot here and while I think the film deserves it I want to emphasize that it was a perfectly enjoyable way to spend 2 hours and 20 minutes on a hot summer day. It’s fun to watch, the action spectacle is as good as Hollywood is capable of doing. Rogue Nation crosses the globe to incredible exotic locales and it’s fun to see motorcycle chases through Morocco. The supporting cast is a hoot and a half, Simon Pegg is delightful, Ving Rhames is wonderfully gruff and while he sometimes feels like he’s acting on autopilot it’s never distracting. Rogue Nation is a very good movie but I want it to be excellent, these days the genre almost demands it and it just isn’t there yet. I hope the inevitable sixth movie can push it in that direction, and with the track record of this franchise I wouldn’t rule it out.

Molly Jackson: Long Road Ahead

Long Road AheadDo you ever think that the mark from all those face palms will just become permanent? I’ve started thinking that is a really possibility. Here is why. Last weekend, Gen Con made waves with their Writing Women Friendly Comics panel. Originally, the waves were made from the fact they left women off the panel.

However, once female comic creators were added to a panel, it proceeded to get worse. Many attendees reported that the panel moderator Bill Willingham (you know him from Fables) spent the entire panel interrupting panelists and attendees to share his own views. From what I could garner from attendee reports, Willingham “played” devil’s advocate by channeling a misogynist.

Diversity in comics isn’t a new topic by any means. Every day, a new story or opinion piece comes out about how the diversity issues need to be addressed. Comics has been dominated by cisgendered, straight, white men for a very long time. These guys did create some fantastic stories for a really long time. They did a good job keeping the industry going when times were tough. However, the industry and fans are changing. People want to see more viewpoints from a diverse group of creators.

I used to think that change was happening around us. In some ways, it is. But that change is just us figuring out how we were being ignored. Now that we are speaking out, a brick wall seems to be falling into place, slowing change as these companies and creators try to figure out what is happening.

Fans need to keep speaking out, with words as well as with dollars. Go searching for minority creators and check out their wares. Support creative teams that are diverse. The only way to continue this fight is to speak the language of the companies.

The truth is, everything I’ve just said has been said before and probably more eloquently. This fight for equality isn’t a new one. I just wish it we didn’t have to fight for it anymore.

Mike Gold: Crawling Out Of The Primordial Slime

Superman Old

Superman was studying for his Bar Mitzvah on the day I was born.

I’ll save you the math. Superman was “born” in 1938. Both of his parents were Jewish. It is safe to assume that by the time a Jewish boy is 12 he’s probably studying for his Bar Mitzvah.

That means that your erstwhile writer and man-about-town is now a senior citizen. Actually, that happened yesterday, as you read these words. I’m posting this on August 3rd, so even if I get hit by a truck the day before Medicare you still get to read me whining and moaning and bitching about my antiquity.

It’s a shame that comic books have become respectable. Quite frankly, I’d make that argument even if I were only half my age, and that would still be twice the age I act. Because there has been damn little “respectable” about the first 65 years of my life, I plan on leaving through that same door.

I want to hear some even older drug store geezer walk over to his comic book rack scream “Hey! You! Geriatric twit! This ain’t no library!”

Come to think of it, I’ll settle for finding a drug store with a comic book rack.

Unlike every major and about a billion minor mainstream superheroes, I doubt any of us will get rebooted. As you regulars know, I’m not crazy about reboots. If they have to happen at all, they should only happen to people who are held together by staples.

On the other hand, I am held together by a team of people as patient with me as they are critical to me. First and foremost, by daughter Adriane Nash, who transformed my life entirely and massively for the better. All of my brothers and sisters here at ComicMix; it’s amazing what we’ve all went through this past decade. Even amazinger, we made it through the muck. My friends, which include my professional collaborators, which means I am goddamned motherfucking lucky.

To take a step back, what holds me together is the love, support, ego, and craft of the entire comics community. Talent, bureaucrats (yep; I’m one of them), fans, bloggers, store owners, store workers, technicians, movie makers, television show makers, cosplayers, and creative malcontents and misfits: That’s our comics community, and I’m proud and grateful to have been part of that all these ridiculous years.

This pocket dimension of ours is so cool even people who loathe each other do so on a first-name basis. That’s really cool. I mean, when was the last time you heard somebody scream “You degenerate piece of shit! I damn you and all your children born and unborn for the next seven generations…” followed by that person’s first name. There’s a strong possibility that this phrase was uttered after two friends disagreed as to which Jack Kirby creation was better: the Silver Surfer, or Thor.

(Thor. Hate me if you must.)

You gotta love it. My deepest thanks to each and every one of you.

Let’s see how much longer I can milk this puppy.

Thanks and a tip of my hat to Denny O’Neil and John Ostrander, who got there first and showed me the way.

 

Mindy Newell: Happy Birthday, Isabel!

Drama

Just got back from a mahhh-velous soiree at Casa El Deseo held in honor of my niece Isabel’s 15th birthday. Wow. Seems like just yesterday I was the bath witch giving a screaming infant girl her evening absolutions before tucking her into her crib.

That little infant girl has grown into a talented young woman who is not only an orchestral cello player, but also an aspiring professional actress of musical theatre, studying voice, dance, and the theater arts. She also plays a mean piano.

Iz loves Doctor Who.

And the sequential art story form – comics and graphic novels, boys and girls.

I’ve been following the Challenged Comics Summer Reading Challenge vid series hosted by Maddie and Anya Ernst, otherwise known as the “twins, teens, geeks…Tweeks!” found right here on ComicMix, of course. (I’m a huge fan of theirs. You should be, too.) All of these books have been attacked, removed, and/or banned for one stupid reason or another. Here’s the discussion schedule:

  • 7/13: Bone, Volume 1: Out From Bonesville by Jeff Smith
  • 7/20: Drama by Raina Telgemeier
  • 7/27: This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki
  • 8/3: The Graveyard Book Volume 1 (the graphic novel) by Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell
  • 8/10: The Color of Earth Book 1 by Kim Dong Hwa
  • 8/17: Sidescrollers by Matthew Loux
  • 8/24: Perepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
  • 8/31: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman

If you’ve missed July’s entries, don’t worry, there’s plenty of summer left – officially until September 23 this year, the first day of autumn.

I am very proud to say that Isabel has already read two of the challenged graphic novels: Jeff Smith’s Bone, Volume 1: Out of Boneville – which she discovered on her own and, by the way, she’s read the entire collection – and Raina Teglemeir’s Drama, which her mom bought her. (Iz also read Smile when she got braces.)

Like all great books, the reviewers raved.

Of Bone:

“Charming, character-driven fantasy with an elegant design and masterful story-telling in the tradition of Walt Kelly, Charles Schulz and Carl Barks.” – Publisher’s Weekly; “Like Pogo, Bone has whimsy best appreciated by adults, yet kids can enjoy it, too; and like Barks’ Disney Duck stories, Bone moves from brash humor to gripping adventure in a single panel.” – ALA (American Library Association) Booklist;

“Bone has the multi-level writing and artwork of the best Chuck Jones cartoons or early Disney movies. It’s overflowing with subtext about conflicting philosophies of power, cultural imperialism and political responsibility – though not enough to get in the way of its silly fun.” – CMJ New Music Monthly

“One of the best kid’s comics ever.” – Vibe Magazine;

“…Sprawling, mythic comic is spectacular.” – Spin Magazine;

“I love BONE! BONE is great!” – Matt Groening; “Jeff Smith can pace a joke better than almost anyone in comics; his dialogue is delightful — so are all his people, not to mention his animals, his villains, and even his bugs.” – Neil Gaiman

Of Drama:

“An utterly charming graphic memoir of tooth trauma, first crushes and fickle friends, sweetly reminiscent of Judy Blume’s work . . . Irresistible, funny and touching–a must read for all teenage girls” by Kirkus Reviews;

“A charming addition to the body of young adult literature that focuses on the trials and tribulations of the slightly nerdy girl” by Publishers Weekly;

“It hits home partly because there is nothing else out there like it” by The New York Times Book Review.

So here’s a challenge.

Don’t be a schmuck.

Get going, choose your favorite book retailer, brick-and-mortar or on-line, and buy these books for your kid(s) – or yourself. You won’t be sorry. You might even find yourself – *gasp* – having an intelligent discussion with your offspring about them. Y’know. Like in a book club.

And what did I get Isabel to celebrate her big day?

This One Summer.

With the rest of the list to follow.

Happy Birthday, kid!

 

Tweeks: The Graveyard Book Shouldn’t Get Buried (Week 4 #ChallengedChallenge)

It’s Week Four, which means we are at the half-way mark of the ComicMix Challenged Challenge. This week we take on The Graveyard Book Vol. 1, the graphic novel based on Neil Gaiman’s novel of the same name. This witty and compelling story was enhanced by P. Craig Russell’s graphic adaptation which includes amazing artwork by different artists in each chapter. We couldn’t help but love this book. We also couldn’t help but be confused as to why the CBLDF had to defend this touching book about a boy being raised by ghosts from being banned at a middle school. As middle schoolers ourselves, we don’t get it. We think maybe those who were so concerned with a few panels of blood missed the point of the story altogether.  Not to mention that for the genre and for our age group, this book is not in the least bit shocking. Watch our discussion about why this book deserves to be read by everyone who choses to do so.

Ed Catto: Read ‘em on the Beach – I Dare Ya!

Ed Catto Daughter

Pop Culture, especially that unique Pop Culture flavor of comics and graphic novels, validates itself with massive box office wins (Avengers: Age of Ultron is the 4th best performing movie ever), television triumphs (The Walking Dead, Gotham and The Flash are amongst the most watched shows on their respective networks) and licensing successes. When even a character like Ant-Man is a licensing juggernaut you know the business community and the world at large is noticing the spending power of Pop Culture.

It wasn’t always this way. For a long time, passionate fans knew that comics opened the floodgates of the imagination with fantastic writing and artwork. But we simply couldn’t convince the rest of the world. So instead, fans learned to leverage the concept of collectibility and value as a means of validation. The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, celebrating an impressive 45th anniversary this year, helped to start it all. Fans could point to the astronomical values assigned to rare comics, like Superman’s first appearance in Action Comics #1 or Spider-Man’s debut in Amazing Fantasy #15 and say “See? This is important! Someone is willing to pay a lot of money for this!”

One downside is that an entire generation takes their comics too seriously. And I admit I’m one of these folks. It’s difficult for people like me to read a comic and then roll it up my in back pocket. I can’t seem to bend back a page, for fear of the dreaded spine roll. And while I love to read on vacation – taking a comic to the pool or the beach is risky business. What if they get splashed? Any defect might cause the potential value to plummet. Today’s “mint condition” treasure could become tomorrow’s “poor grade” loser simply because of an irresponsible reading experience.

Logically, we all know that that most of the comics we read won’t increase in value to astronomical heights. Ever shop the $1.00 comic bin? Seems like every store has one. And many fans can’t bear to sell their collections, so their collections will never attain a real market value. But still – the need to preserve a comic’s condition is baked into our collector’s DNA.

Well, it’s time to unlearn that! I’m working hard to prune my oversize collection, but that’s a whole ‘nuther column. It’s time to unlearn the tyrannical tradeoff of keeping comics in pristine shape, especially if the trade-off means enjoying them less.
So for the past few summers, I’ve made it a point to bring Silver Age comics, some of my favorites and prized classics from the sixties, to the beach. I read them in them in bright sun. They might get sand blown between the pages. Fingers greasy from suntan lotion might leave an occasion stain. Some of that wonderful Jersey Shore ocean might even inflict water damage on them.

And it’s just fantastic.

I’m still not 100% there. It takes a little while for me to get used to the idea. But I’m getting better.

Today I’m issuing my Summertime Comics Challenge. I want you to read some comics on the beach, at the campsite, by the edge of the pool or even just in the backyard by the grill. Forget about the bags and boards. Forget about the condition. Forget about the collectibility – just enjoy them. And send me a picture. I’ll publish the best ones here at the end of the summer. I’m looking forward to seeing some genuinely happy faces… if you too can unlearn collecting habits and enjoy your Pop Culture a little bit more.

One more thing: you can send your pix to me at Ed.Catto@BonfireAgency.com, and don’t be shy about sharing them with #SummertimeComics .

 

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