Hold tight – white-knuckles tight, and… up up up upupupupup and… wheeeeeeeeeee! Down we go, and. Slowing, slowing, stopping. Step out now. A bit wobbly, maybe? Excited? Exhilarated? Hey, let’s go get some cotton candy and maybe later we’ll ride the roller coaster again, after we’ve recovered a little. Say, what was the name of that roller coaster, anyway? Well, I’ll be gosh-derned… It’s the Batman roller coaster!
Ah, summertime. And part of the joy of the warm season is a trip or two to the amusement park, and part of the amusement park adventure is riding the roller coaster. When I was a nipper, those coasters were beyond the admission gates of the Forest Park Highlands (though I never thought they were any higher than the city that surrounded them) or Chain of Rocks (which, oddly, was higher than the geography in which it was fixed, but I never saw any rows of rocks thereabouts. Life can be puzzling, especially if you’re a nipper.) I probably rode the coasters in those parks, unless my parents thought I was too young for them, which might have been the case. But Batman? No, never. Roller coasters were in parks and Batman was in comic books and – mark this in your diary – the twain did not meet.
Now, some 65 or so years later, when the world has changed, the conflation of Batman and coaster still seems a trifle peculiar. Coasters are about summer fun, juvenile hi-jinks, laughter and merriment. And Batman? A child watching his mother and father shot, fall to the cold pavement, die. A horror.
What twisted karma could pair childhood delight and childhood terror? You say you’re a Batman fan? Which Batman do you like, the one who lands his name to amusements or the stricken orphan?
While we’re in an inquisitive mood… Are you a Yankees fan? What exactly are you a fan of? The lineup this year isn’t what it was last year nor what it will be next year, and pretty much the same goes for the coaches and business guys and ticket takers.
You’re a Buddhist who believes in reincarnation? Okay, Buddhism holds that nothing is permanent, so what gets reincarnated?
You could ask similar questions about any professional sports team, and a number of superheroes, and maybe another religion or two. And if you did, you might consider finding a nice hobby, or getting out of the house. You might need a little… I don’t really know what you need, any more than I know the answers to the questions I asked a couple-three paragraphs ago. Maybe a little recreation – is that what you need? Hey, know what? I’ll bet there’s an amusement park in your area somewhere.
Last weekend, I was at LI-Con helping staff the Browncoats of NYC table.It was great fun and I met a ton of browncoats and other fandoms the two days I was there.At our meetup event, I got the chance to speak briefly about the Firefly comics from Dark Horse Comics.The reaction I got from one attendee kind of surprised me.
After the meetup ended, she started quizzing me about the Firefly comics a bit.I know, that isn’t surprising considering I was just talking at length about them.The first thing that she said that got to me was (and I am paraphrasing here) “You don’t see a female talk about comics a lot.”Well, if you have read even a fraction of what I have written, you must know how that chokes me up a bit.She meant it as a good thing, which I was out there talking and hyping up comics.Still, after all the female comic lovers that have come on to the scene, it is surprising that I stood out in this woman’s mind as a rarity.It was a very good reminder that there is still a stigma to female comic readers.
After we got past that I am a girl who reads comics, she asked me for comic suggestions. Her teenage son is not a big reader at all, and while she has discouraged comic reading in the past, her hope was that reading anything might be a gateway to reading more.And that broke me right there.I have never understood the negative reaction to comics in general.People still assume that they are only simple stories with pretty pictures.Like an overdrawn version of Dick and Jane.
Like any art form, comics have evolved over the decades into an incredibly varied genre.I was able to suggest books like March Vol. 1 & 2, which is written by Congressman John Lewis about his experiences during the civil rights movement.Not a topic that is easily understood by some adults these days, much less a child.I also touted Kill Shakespeare as a great way to introduce characters that every teen (with the exception of myself and a few others) loathes to study in high school.
As the Tweeks here on ComicMix have been discussing banned books this past summer, the overarching theme to me has been ignorance.A lot of people make judgements about a book, or a topic, or even a genre without facts.So many great books have been ignored and people have lost out because of that.
I am happy that someone felt I was a good source of information and I was proud to help.I learned a little something about myself and the world in the process.Next time you want to know something, remember this.All it takes is the courage to ask questions and the willingness to answer them.
I remember when Lego wouldn’t dream of sullying their blocks with licensed characters. Oh how times have changed. Next to Pixar films, there are few funnier takes the super-hero realm than the animated Lego-style adventures of familiar heroes and villains.
Clearly, Lego and Warner Home Entertainment know when something’s working because next week they’re unleashing the direct-to-home-video animated movie Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom. The Digital HD can be streamed now and the DVD will be out next Tuesday.
This is the fourth such outing — Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite, Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered and Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League — with several actors reprising their vocal roles, forming a Lego Universe continuity. Back for another go round are Mark Hamill as The Trickster, Nolan North as Superman, Khary Payton as Cyborg, John DiMaggio as The Joker, Josh Keaton as Green Lantern, Kevin Michael Richardson as Black Manta, Grey Griffin as Lois Lane and Tom Kenny as The Penguin.
The combo pack comes complete with a Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD copy along with a collectible minifigure of the Trickster (as is only appropriate given Hamill’s resurgence this year, first in Kingsman, then Flash and later in Star Wars: The Force Awakens).
We open with the JLA being a fairly new concept, one embraced by the residents of Metropolis but leaving Lex Luthor less than thrilled. The only way to stop a force of good is with an even stronger force of evil so Luthor begins a recruitment drive (the process is quite entertaining). And so is born the Legion of Doom. Their first goal is to attack the top-secret government site, Area 52, but they know this will bring out the Justice League and Luthor is prepared.
It’s hard to take Lego heroes and villains fighting seriously, but there is plenty of nice action that will delight the 6 and up gang. Jim Krieg’s script keeps things moving along and juggles the large cast without confusing the younger segment. Rick Morales’ direction is also a plus as things never bog down.
The digital transfer is crisp and clean with good sound so the audience will be enchanted. In addition to the 72-minute fun escapade, there is the Blu-ray bonus feature “Click, Zap, Boom! Creating the Sound Design”.
I haven’t done as many comics conventions this year as I usually do. By the end of 2015, I think I will have been to maybe five. That’s less than half of what I did a decade ago.
It’s not that I don’t like comics conventions; in fact, I love them. Most of the larger shows really aren’t about comics. They are pop culture shows, much like ComicMix is a pop culture website. We differ in that ComicMix is a pop culture website for comic book enthusiasts and the comics medium is our focus. ReedPop, to note but one, runs clusterfuck shows in New York, Chicago, Seattle, India (several; it’s a big place), Singapore, Sydney, Paris, Indonesia, Vienna, and probably Mongo. These shows have little to do with comics, the ReedPop staff acts like they wouldn’t know a comic book if it bit them on the ass and probably wouldn’t get my Mongo reference without Googling, and they seem as though they couldn’t care less. If you’re real nice to them and try to explain to them a different point of view, they might actually patronize you. And among comics pros, mine is not a minority opinion.
Yeah. I know. There goes my chance at scoring pro invites to Mumbai. I’ve been to their shows; I’ll live.
So it’s probably a bit surprising that this weekend (Thursday though Sunday) I’ll be at Wizard World Chicago, which is really in Rosemont but next to O’Hare International. Yes, Wizard World is a pop culture convention. I’m going for any number of reasons: Chicago is my home town so it’s an excuse to see my many buddies in the midwest comics field, it is an outgrowth of the old Chicago Comicon which I co-founded and worked on for ten years, it really has a massive comics focus and one of the best Artists Alleys around… and because my pal and Wizard World consultant Danny Fingeroth asked.
For the record, ComicMix is at table #1024 at the show, and I’ll be on two panels: the How To Get News Coverage panel on Saturday at 12:30 that ComicMix is running , and the Chicago Comics History panel on Sunday at 12:30. Check the con schedule; these things have a way of changing. I’ll be sharing the stage with a great number of close friends.
And the food. Damn, I need an Italian beef sammich.
This is not the only big show I enjoy. For example, I love the Baltimore Comic Con and I love Heroes Con in Charlotte North Carolina. I also really enjoy the smaller cons that are oriented to independent comics creators such as MoCCA in New York City. These shows are full of people who couldn’t care less who’s drawing next week’s Spider-Man but love the medium every bit as much as… well, as I do. By and large they’re young and full of enthusiasm and they put their money where their mouths are. Over the years we’ve hired a decent amount of talent at these shows.
If you happen to be at Wizard World Chicago, or you happen to be in or near Chicago this weekend, drop by and say hello. We look at portfolios when we can, we’re usually polite and we only bite when we’re hungry.
Batgirl as portrayed by Yvonne Craig in the 1960s Batman television series.
Yvonne Craig, best known to comics fans as Batgirl in the 1966 Batman TV series, has died at the age of 78.
Yvonne Craig passed away at her home in Pacific Palisades, surrounded by her immediate family and comforted by Hospice yesterday night. She died from complications brought about from breast cancer that had metastasized to her liver. She is survived by her husband, Kenneth Aldrich, her sister Meridel Carson and nephews Christopher and Todd Carson. A private service is being planned with no date set at the present time. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to: The Angeles Clinic Foundation by mail at 2001 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404 or by going into their website at www.theangelesclinicfoundation.org and following the “Donate” link.
Yvonne Craig began her theatrical career as the youngest member of The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and toured for three years when she was accidentally discovered by John Ford’s son Patrick and cast for the lead in the movie The Young Land.
This was quickly followed by many years of film and television including two movies with Elvis Presley (It Happened at the World’s Fair and Kissin Cousins). However, she is probably best known for originating the role as Batgirl in the 1966 TV series of Batman, or for her character “Marta” from the third season of Star Trek in the episode Whom God’s Destroy where she played the well remembered insane green Orion Slave Girl who wanted to kill Captain Kirk.
Jon Sable Freelance creator Mike Grell sends his own reminiscence:
I can’t tell you how saddened I am to learn that Yvonne Craig, known to many as TV’s BATGIRL, has passed away. She was a great lady and a cherished friend whose warmth and wit made her a joy to be with.
I met Yvonne twenty-odd years ago and we struck up an instant friendship, partly based on a mutual love of Africa and partly because (she said) I had drawn her favorite comic: BATMAN FAMILY #1. She said it was because Batgirl finally got to kiss Robin.
A few years later we were guests at a comic convention and, when Yvonne saw me, she came running around her table to give me a hug. I put up my hand to stop her, turned to my friends across the room and said, “Hey, guys! Watch this!” Yvonne grinned and gave me what Batgirl gave Robin.
The last time I saw her, she had somehow managed not to have aged a day. She was as beautiful and vivacious as ever and gave no hint of the battle she was fighting. I wish I could say we were close, but our meetings were infrequent and too far between. Despite that, she always made me feel like a long-lost friend. Maybe a little more lost just now.
My friend and the man who co-founded First Comics with me 34 years ago, Rick Obadiah, died Sunday night. He was at the gym, and when he got off the treadmill he had a massive heart attack and was dead before he hit the floor.
Sorry for the abruptness. That’s how I’m feeling right now. I’m not going to write this as a traditional obit. I’m really sick of doing that, Rick was too good a friend and, besides, I’m alone in a Holiday Inn in Richfield Ohio right now.
I will tell you that, in addition to being First’s founding publisher, Rick had been an advertising executive and was the former producer for Stuart Gordon’s Organic Theater Company, having worked on such plays as Warp and Bleacher Bums as well as the television and movie adaptations of the latter.
Most recently, he was the president of Star Legacy Funeral Services company – the folks who, among other things, compress their clients into artificial diamonds or shoot their ashes into space. All that was actually pretty cool.
Rick had a fantastic sense of humor and would have appreciated the irony in his dying at the gym. Of course, he also would have pointed out that he would have preferred not to be dead. And Rick would have been shocked to see the incredible amount of responses on my Facebook page his passing received in such short period of time. People remember First Comics – the real First Comics.
Last year, Rick reread a lot of the old First titles and was pleased to see how well they held up. He took a lot of pride in that, for which I am very grateful.
Rick’s funeral will be on Friday August 21, 11:00, at the Derrick Funeral Home 800 Park Drive in Lake Geneva WI.
This Sunday, August 23, we will be doing a special tribute to Rick at our Chicago Comics History panel at Wizard World Chicago, at 12:30.
It’s two different views of one historical period. First, the Steampunk genre is at the heart of a new competition series on The Game Show Network. Host Jeannie Mai talks about the deeds and the drama of STEAMPUNKED. Then mix DOWNTON ABBEY with KEEPING UP WEITH THE KARDASHIANS and you get ANOTHER PEROID. Creators Natasha Leggero and Riki Lindhome tell us where the idea for this Comedy Central hit came from.
The Creeps: Night of the Frankenfrogs By Chris Schweizer Amulet, 122 pages, $9.95
After being nominated for his historic graphic novel series The Crogan Adventures, creator Chris Schweizer is back with a brand new young adult’s adventure series. The Creeps are a motley collection of middle school students in Pumpkins County. As Amulet describes their new heroes: Carol, a big-city girl new to Pumpkins County, who finds kindred spirits in Mitchell (monster expert), Jarvis (military brat with logistics know-how), and Rosario (girly girl on the outside, muscle underneath).
We meet them after their reputation is clearly established in the school so we avoid originitis and move right into their latest case. Principal Garish hates their antics, regardless of their effectiveness mostly because it means the mess is left to custodian Pinto to clean up, which somehow requires half the school budget. Here’s the first of a series of exaggerations that disrupt the flow of the story as you scratch your head and wonder how that works.
The kids are divided over the forthcoming biology lesson involving dissecting frogs leading several to circulate a petition, angering their teacher, Miss Yamamoto. They ten sadden her when they claim not to care about their science education, a fairly typical comment from immature students so her reaction feels unrealistic (can you tell a teacher is reviewing this?).
When the collection of frogs go missing, the students, in trouble for their comments, are on the case and the mystery begins. There are several threads to trace throughout, including the real nature of dreamy new student Tom Rigby. Their investigation takes them below ground to the secret lab of kid genius Perry Milburn, with an ego the size of Montana and gadgets worth of Doc Ock.
When the kids do find the frogs, they discover they have been enhanced, turning them into, well, Frankenfrogs, using brain matter from several of their peers. And again, here’s where the story reaches a point where you wonder how on earth can this happen, especially in less than sterile circumstances. The physical and mental well-being of these altered students is barely addressed as the action moves at a frenetic pace.
The dialogue is interesting but his characters feel not fully realized and it could be Schweizer’s working with too large a cast and too big a story for a first offering. He also crams each page with lots of small panels, lots of dialogue and that makes for some tough reading. His use of color is interesting as he uses a variety of flat palettes to shift mood and setting.
Younger readers may find this engaging but for me, this introductory story doesn’t entirely rise to the occasion.
Sidescrollers by Matthew Loux is about three boys who try to keep their friend from dating a football player who’s a total jerk. It was taken off a 9th grade OPTIONAL reading list because a parent thought the language and sexual content was inappropriate. We go kind of crazy over this. We’d like to explain, but it’s best you just watch the video. But WARNING: Parents might want to use discretion with our little viewers because we do talk about our 7th grade science teacher making us yell the names of male and female anatomy parts during class.
Don’t blink. Blink and you’re dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don’t turn your back. Don’t look away. And don’t blink. Good Luck. • The Doctor • “Blink,” written by Steven Moffat
Adelaide: But you said we die. For the future. For the human race!
The Doctor: Yes, because there are laws. There are laws of time. Once upon a time there were people in charge of those laws but they died. They all died. Do you know who that leaves? Me! It’s taken me all these years to realize that the laws of time are mine and they will obey me! • The Waters of Mars, written by Russell T. Davies
Like you, John, I’ve been in the midst of the summer doldrums eagerly awaiting the return of new episodes of Marvel’s Agents Of Shield, Downtown Abbey, The Flash and, of course, a certain alien from Gallifrey.
Saturday night I tuned into BBC America to watch the first two episodes of The Doctor’s Finest, the network’s lead-up to the premiere of Peter Capaldi’s second year as the Time Lord, otherwise known as Series 9 of the modern era Doctor Who, or the 52nd year of wibbly wobbly timey wimey…stuff. (A bit more on those five little words a few paragraphs down.)
Hosted by Hannah Hart of My Drunk Kitchen on YouTube, and with “special guests” and “behind-the-scenes” interviews, the next four Saturday nights will feature two “essential” episodes of the Doctor’s story – “essential” in this case meaning that in some very important “essential” way these stories have contributed to the still-evolving mythos of the Whovian universe.
First up was Blink. Here’s a brief synopsis:
2007. In an abandoned house on the outskirts of London, photographer Sally Sparrow – the absolutely terrific Carey Mulligan – finds statures of weeping angels, and an even creepier message hidden under the wallpaper: ‘Sally Sparrow. Beware the Weeping Angel. Love from The Doctor (1969).’ The next day, Sally returns with her friend Kathy Nightingale – who suddenly vanishes. As Sally looks for her in the house, a man delivers a letter addressed to Sally from his grandmother, who has recently died. The grandmother’s name? Kathy Nightingale. And she has a message for Sally.
Meanwhile Kathy’s brother, Larry, who owns a DVD shop, has been tracking down “easter eggs” found in 17 unrelated DVDs, featuring a man with glasses who seems to be having a conversation with the viewer. The man is the Doctor – David Tennant – trapped in 1969 without his TARDIS. And the “easter eggs” are for Sally.
Blink, written by Steven Moffat and based on his short story “‘What I Did on My Christmas Holidays’ By Sally Sparrow” in the 2006 Doctor Who Annual, is essential because it introduces the Weeping Angels, im-not-so-ho the creepiest and scariest of all of the foes and “monsters” ever seen on Doctor Who. They also appeared during Matt Smith’s run as the Doctor in the two-part “The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone” and, most notably, as the adversaries responsible for the “deaths” of Amelia Pond and Rory Williams in “The Angels Take Manhattan.”
The episode is also the first time we hear five essential words as the Doctor attempts to explain the concept of time to Sally: “People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint – it’s more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly…time-y wimey…stuff.”
Blink won the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. Steven Moffat won two BAFTA awards for Best Writer. Carey Mulligan won the Constellation Award for Beset Female Performance in a 2007 Science Fiction Television Award. In 2009, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted it the second best Doctor Who story ever.
My Saturday night Whovian feast continued with the 2010 special The Waters of Mars, which won the 2010 Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form, and was Russell T. Davies’s last episode as writer/showrunner.
November 21, 2059. The first human colony on Mars, Bowie Base One. The Doctor – David Tennant – is there on this pivotal day in history, when the colony is destroyed in a nuclear blast. But it is precisely this disaster that inspires the granddaughter of the mission’s leader, Captain Adelaide Brooke (Lindsay Duncan), as well as the rest of humanity, to continue their journey into deep space exploration and colonization.
The fixed point in time is an “essential” concept in the Whovian universe – and it is in The Waters of Mars that the Doctor is brutally taught that not even he, the “Victorious Time Lord,” as he refers to himself towards the climatic moment, is capable of changing it.
For it is not precisely the destruction of the colony that is the crucial event, but (SPOILER ALERT) Captain Adelaide Brooke’s death that is the necessary, critical, fundamental and central point – a fixed pointin time – on which the future of humanity rests. If she does not die, her granddaughter, Susie Fontana Brooke, will not pilot the first faster-than-light spaceship to Proxima Centauri, nor will her other descendants, nor humanity, follow her into space. And so Adelaide accepts her fate, and confronting the self-congratulatory Doctor who has saved her – “I don’t care who you are…the Time Lord Victorious is ‘wrong’.” – walks into her home and kills herself with her laser gun.
“Your song is ending…he will knock four times.” The Doctor has been running from a prophecy of his death (“Planet of the Dead,” “Planet of the Ood”) as a fixed point in time. This episode (though not “officially” part of the final arc – “The End of Time” – leading up to the regeneration of Tennant into the 11th – I mean the 12th – Doctor, Matt Smith) is essential in its portrayal of Tennant’s Doctor’s dark side.
He is the last of the Time Lords, and in his arrogance he no longer believes that he has to obey the rules. Two rules especially – the first being that he cannot change a fixed point in history, and more important, and more personal, that he must die and regenerate. Just as he refuses to accept the death of Adelaide Brooke and her mission mates, he refuses the prophecy, even going so far as to deliberately electrocute one of the mutated members of the Mars mission to stop him from “knock[ing] four times” on a bulkhead door.
“I don’t want togo.”
But he must.
Time is not just a wibbly wobbley time-y whimey ball of stuff.
Hold tight – white-knuckles tight, and… up up up upupupupup and… wheeeeeeeeeee! Down we go, and. Slowing, slowing, stopping. Step out now. A bit wobbly, maybe? Excited? Exhilarated? Hey, let’s go get some cotton candy and maybe later we’ll ride the roller coaster again, after we’ve recovered a little. Say, what was the name of that roller coaster, anyway? Well, I’ll be gosh-derned… It’s the Batman roller coaster!
Jon Sable Freelance creator Mike Grell sends his own reminiscence:
