Tagged: Michael Davis

ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending May 25, 2008

ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending May 25, 2008

Hope everyone’s having a nice three-day weekend, and that we all remember that the real focus on Memorial Day ought to be putting an end to the sheer folly of war, so that someday we won’t have to mourn all those whose lives have been lost in its perpetuation.  Oh, and of course, outdoor grilling and summer movies and retail sales. 

Here’s what our columnists have been selling you — for free! — this past week:

Remember the barbecue sauce!

Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut, by Michael Davis

Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut, by Michael Davis

…sometimes you don’t. Today, I do.

Let me warn you in advance this article will have little if anything to do with comics, movies, or politics or any other popular culture obsession I tend to write about. This article is about how I feel, as in how I feel. I tell you this for two reasons; the first is my apology if this column wastes your time, the second is because I think of my readers as friends and writing this may help me feel better.

So in a very real way I’m looking for a little help from my friends.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been a bit depressed. I mean really depressed. I’ve had no pep, nothing seems to move me, I’ve been sleeping a lot and I have very little motivation. When I say sleeping a lot I mean a lot. I’m getting eight hours of sleep a night. A normal night for me is five hours max. My mood accounts for my last two lackluster articles. Hey, I know they were not great and anytime I do a fluff piece on a personal favorite artist of mine like Sinatra then I’m really at a lost for something to say.

This behavior is SO not who I am. Coming from a family with deep roots in the medical field I was told by more than one person that I might be clinically depressed.

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ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending May 18, 2008

ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending May 18, 2008

According to The Google, today marks the anniversary of the birth of Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus School of Design, whose influence can still be felt daily by urban workers every time they look up at a skyscraper featuring way too much glass.  Meanwhile, here’s what our designer columnists have created for you this past week:

Sure to keep your eyes from glazing over!

Cool Like That, by Michael Davis

Cool Like That, by Michael Davis

 

What is cool?

As comic book fans we are pretty much in the forefront of what cool is. The history of comics is an encyclopedia of coolness. If it were not for rock’n’roll, comics would be the absolute standard of coolness. Take a look all the stuff that comics are responsible for in popular culture.

We each have our own gauge of what cool is. Me? I’m all over the place with what or who I think is cool. I think George Clooney is cool and I have little respect for “movie stars,” as any regular reader of this column knows. I think that Gary Shandling is cool and one of the funniest men on the planet. I think that DC comics are cool even if I have had issues with them and they have with me. I think American Idol is cool mostly ,because so many so-called “hip” people think it’s lame. I think HGTV is cool. I think that Stan Lee is cool because he has earned that title. I think that Prince and Patrick Swayze are cool. To me Alan Greenspan is cool and so is Brian Williams.

The shows Family Guy and American Dad are cool but so is every one of those Law and Order shows. Mike Richardson and Dark Horse comics are cool. The staff at Comic Con International and the staff at The Westin Horton Plaza Hotel (especially Jean) are cool. I think the Amish are cool. I know that ComicMix is cool.

 

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I Got Nothing… by Michael Davis

I Got Nothing… by Michael Davis

My mind is a blank. I can’t think of anything to write about. I read a bunch of comics and I came back with zip. I watched the news and was left with nada. I’m in the middle of a few great projects but don’t want to write about them yet.

Wow…writer’s block. I have never been at a lost for something to say or better yet to rant about.

This sucks.

Come on Davis. THINK, THINK, THINK!!

Nothing. I got nothing.

I know, I’ll make a list. That always sparks my imagination. Let’s see now, I can’t do a best dressed list or most sexy list. I have to do something that’s classy. I have to do something that shows that I am above the petty stupid lists that Hollywood produces.

Got it!

10 people I would like to pimp slap.

1. Paris Hilton
2. Kim Kardashian
3. Lindsay Lohan
4. Jeremiah Wright
5. The Real World Creator
6. Amy Winehouse
7. Charles Manson
8. Rush Limbaugh
9. Dr. Laura
10. Naomi Campbell

Damn. Still nothing. I am really barren today. What else can I do to spark my imagination?

I got nothing.

I’ll try another list.

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ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending May 4, 2008

ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending May 4, 2008

Hope you all had a great Free Comic Book Day!  Here at ComicMix, of course, every day is free comics day, with all our new original graphic material!  But don’t forget the original material from our columnists as well; here’s what we’ve had for you this past week:

And while every ComicMix reader with disposable income has probably already seen Iron Man, I have a date later on with my ironing board… that’s sort of the same thing, right?

Sound Bites For Dummies, by Michael Davis

Sound Bites For Dummies, by Michael Davis

"Every time I think I’m out they drag me back in!”

Al Pacino. Godfather 3

I had another article all ready to go. A lighthearted article about how I really loved comic books and how proud I am that I work in this industry on so many levels. I did not want to write another article on race, but thanks to Jeremiah Wright here I go again…

Some time ago I was given a gift certificate to The Burke Williams Spa. For those of you who don’t know, it’s an upscale health resort. Those who know me know that the last thing I’m about is anything “up scale.” I like simple. “Upscale” to me means a bunch of people who think they have a right to look down on other people. I know that’s a wide net to cast, but that’s how I feel. So when I got the gift certificate I was a little hesitant to go but man was I in a bad way and I really needed a massage. The gift certificate was for a massage and a milk bath…A MILK bath.

Look, I’m a MAN from the projects and a milk bath should have made me very uneasy, but truth be told it sounded so good. So I put my reservations on hold and made my way to Burke Williams. When I arrived I notice that the spa was staffed with women.

Beautiful women. Tall, shapely, sexy women.

When I checked in at the front desk I’m asked if I want a man or a women for my massage I say “woman,” thinking about all he foxes that are floating around. The receptionist looked at me strange, so much so I said “What?” I was starting to feel like this was exactly why I did not want to go to an upscale establishment. I’m a pretty simple guy. I like things simple. I hate interaction with people when my goal is to do something else. As an example when I walk into a Starbucks I just want a cup of coffee. I don’t want to buy a CD; I don’t want to hear about the new Booty juice latte, just give me my damn coffee. In fact if I walk in and there are more than two people on line, I walk out. BTW, I like my coffee the way I like my women…with soy sauce.

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ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending April 28, 2008

ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending April 28, 2008

Last weekend’s New York Comic Con affected ComicMix columnists in different ways, with Michael, Martha and myself all musing about the con experience (and Dennis and John discussing other events of note from that same weekend).  Here’s what we’ve written for you this past week:

Michael’s column totally wins for "best byline" this week..  He probably wins for  "best comment thread," too.

Send In The Clowns, by Michael Davis

Send In The Clowns, by Michael Davis

Last week I was in New York for just 24 hours. I flew in to do my Black Panel at the New York Comic Con and meet with Mike Gold about another project I’m doing for ComicMix. The week before I was suffering from a series of migraine headaches and got on the plane with the full knowledge that I could have a relapse. THEN Jet Blue lost the only bag I checked. That bag happened to be what I needed for a meeting with Mike and another meeting I was having. So with all that in mind I was not expecting the best of times. In fact I was thinking the trip was a mistake.

So I was not in the greatest of moods when I got to the con. THEN I had an impromptu

meeting with Mike Richardson, which turned into great news! THEN I meet with Mike Gold and that meeting was great even without the stuff I wanted him to see that was in the bag that Jet Blue lost. THEN I talked to Dwayne McDuffie and got some more good news from him about a project we are planning! THEN, the Black Panel was great fun. THEN I had dinner with ComicMix’s Media Goddess Martha Thomas and she introduced me to TWO great writers that I hope to work with in the future.

THEN, I was sharing some more good news with my best friend Denys Cowan. As head of BET Animation, a division of Black Entertainment Television (BET), he announced production on The Black Panther animated series, which is really cool.

So, I was feeling pretty darn good when I flew back to L.A.

THEN I met this guy… 

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NYCC: A Post-Game Analysis

NYCC: A Post-Game Analysis

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.

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