We hold in our hands the covers for DC Comics this February. As a child of four can plainly see, these comics have been hermetically sealed in a CGC 9.9 slab, and they’ve been kept in a #2 mayonnaise jar under a giant stack of returned copies of Holy Terror since noon today.
What do we have worth noting? The new look of Darkseid, and we’re far enough into the new 52 books that it’s time for Batman to start crossing over in all of them. Plus Mara Jade, the red-haired assassin who fell in love with her blond-haired man she was sent to kill– oh, I’m sorry, that’s from Star Wars. This is Mera in a jade outfit. Our mistake.
For those of you who experience my weekly hysterical polemics over at Michael Davis World (yep, that Michael Davis), it will come as no surprise that I was looking forward to Dark Horse’s new series Orchid. Sure, new comics come about as often as simians poop, but this one was written by Tom Morello.
Who, you may ask, is Tom Morello? I’ll try not to indulge in musical and political elitism here; there’s always enough of that to go around. Suffice it to say that Morello is one of those activist musicians, and his work shines brighter than most. Best known as the guitarist for Rage Against The Machine, Tom was also in the bands Lock Up and Audioslave. For much of the past decade he’s been a solo act, a.k.a. The Nightwatchman. This latter work is acoustic; the former more punk/new wave/hip-hop. Or, as we in the Whole World Is Watching racket like to say, loud. I play his stuff on Weird Sounds Inside The Gold Mind, I listen to his work lovingly, I watch him on Bill Maher, and evidently we are or have been members of the same union. Indeed, if he was at last week’s New York Comic Con, he and I were probably the only two people among 100,000 to be wearing IWW garb.
What I find really cool about this guy, outside of his work and his politics, is that his mom co-founded the anti-censorship organization Parents for Rock and Rap (say “anti-censorship” and I’m there) and, oh yeah, he’s the nephew of Jomo Kenyatta, the anti-colonialist anti-Communist activist who became Kenya’s first president.
Ahem. So, to get down to the nitty-gritty, is Orchid worth reading?
The simple review is, yes it is. I wish I had worked on it. There’s some rough edges in both the story and in Scott Hepburn’s art, but compared to most of what haunts the racks these days it’s Alex Raymond. Hepburn seems to have been influenced by British guys like Mik McMahon and Ian Gibson; that’s high praise. He’s done a lot of Star Wars stuff for Dark Horse and some Marvel gigs, and his storytelling is as strong as the story he’s telling. In fact, I might track down some of Hepburn’s Star Wars work – as John Ostrander can tell you, it takes a lot to get me to read Star Wars.
The story is post-apocalyptic, an overworked genre that generally lacks the strong emotional point of view needed to make it work. Not so with Orchid. The lead character is a teenage prostitute who protects her family in their struggle to survive in swampland shanties while the rich live above the morass in their fortresses, harvesting the poor (I’d say the 99%, but this number has not yet been established) as slaves, organ providers and sex toys. Morello and Hepburn make it work by sheer dint of their craft and their applied appreciation of allegory.
Morello supplements each issue with a new downloadable song. I’d give you the link, but I’d rather you check out Orchid #1, available at more-intelligently run comic shops and online.
I can’t help wonder if the current Occupier demonstrations all across the nation – now, all across the world – weren’t orchestrated by Morello as a promotion stunt. Given my own background, I’d say that was really cool. Highly doubtful, but really cool. If only that same intensity were to morph into greater exposure for Orchid.
Eliza Dushku has taken command of Catwoman and she’s not about to give her back.
The star of Dollhouse and Tru Calling, and a vital part of the amazing Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast, provided the voice of Selina Kyle/Catwoman for Batman: Year One, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. A few short months later, Dushku was quick to accept a return to the role as the title character of the DC Showcase animated short Catwoman.
From the moment she accepted the role, Dushku was keen on making this character her own – and coming back to play the character as often as possible. Given her performance, it’s doubtful casting director Adnrea Romano and executive producer Bruce Timm would look elsewhere the next time the sometimes vigilante, sometimes villain appears in a script. (more…)
New York, NY (October 4, 2011) The leading voices of Pulp Fiction will gather at New York Comic Con for an examination of a unique American genre; Pulp Fiction. This Panel will explore the roots of pulp and look forward to the exciting efforts of today and tomorrow in comics, prose, e-books, audiobooks and recorded drama.
Panelists include: Nick Barrucci, Publisher of Dynamite Comics (The Shadow, The Spider), Greg Goldstein, COO of IDW (The Rocketeer), author and historian Will Murray (Doc Savage’s Wild Adventures), historian Anthony Tollin (Reprinting classics via Nostalgia Ventures), Mark Tepper (CEO Radio Spirits), Wade Hosth (Pulp Historian) Mark Halegua (Pulp1st), author Jim Beard (Fourteen Miles to Gotham City) and author Adam Garcia (Green Lama).
Bonfire Agency’s Ed Catto will moderate the panel.
“We’re expecting a robust discussion celebrating everything new and fresh about this unique genre. And we’re also planning on giving away a plethora of free prizes to panel attendees,” said Ed Catto.
The Panel is scheduled for Sunday, October 16, 2011 from 1:30 to 2:30 in Room 1A02 of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center at 655 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan.
The event is open to all registered attendees of the New York Comic Con, space permitting, and has been made possible by special arrangement with Ghost Light Films, Inc., Reed POP and Bonfire Agency, LLC.
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About Bonfire Agency LLC Bonfire Agency LLC is the marketing community’s first advertising and promotional agency specializing in helping brands reach and deepen connections with highly influential, but difficult to engage, pop culture consumers. This demo, labeled by some as geek or comic culture, is comprised of incredibly passionate, tribe-wired fans of everything from comic books, video games and action films to underground music, sci-fi inspired television and cutting edge adult comedy. Bonfire’s mission is to find ways to build relevant bridges between brands and a diverse audience of consumers that just might become their most effective advocates. The agency was founded in January 2011 by marketing veterans and pop culture specialists Steve Rotterdam (former Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at TimeWarner’s DC Comics) and Ed Catto (former Senior Vice President at Ogilvy and Reed Exhibitions). For more information, visit www.BonfireAgency.com.
About ReedPop ReedPOP is a boutique group within Reed Exhibitions that is exclusively devoted to organizing events, launching and acquiring new shows, and partnering with premium brands in the pop culture arena. ReedPOP is dedicated to producing celebrations of popular culture throughout the world that transcend ordinary events by providing unique access and dynamic personal experiences for consumers and fans. The ReedPOP portfolio includes: New York Comic Con (NYCC), Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) East & West, Star Wars Celebration V, New York Anime Festival (NYAF), and UFC Fan Expo. The staff at ReedPOP is a fan based group of professionals producing shows for other fans, thus making them uniquely qualified to service those with whom they share a common passion. ReedPOP is focused on bringing its expertise and knowledge to world communities in North America, South America, Asia and Europe.
New PBS Documentary to Preview at New York Comic Con
“A Never-Ending Battle” Celebrates Comics’ Superheroes and their Creators
New York, NY (October 3, 2011) “A Never-Ending Battle,” the first episode of a new film from the creative team responsible for the award-winning PBS documentaries “Broadway: The American Musical” and “Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America,” will be screened in front of an audience for the first time at the New York Comic Con, the East Coast’s largest and most exciting pop culture convention.
Featuring rare footage along with new interviews with legends such as Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Jim Steranko, Neal Adams, Michael Chabon and Jules Feiffer, segments of the first episode – “A Never-Ending Battle: 1938-1954” – will be previewed on Friday, October 14, 2011 at 4PM in Room 1B01 of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center at 655 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. An on-stage interview and Q&A with filmmakers and cultural historians Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon will take place immediately following the screening.
“We’re really excited to preview our film to fans at New York Comic Con,” said Emmy Award winning filmmaker Michael Kantor. “Because so many incredible talents have given us interviews, I think of this screening as kind of like attending six all-star panel sessions at once. We are also very eager to get fan reactions and feedback.”
“As a comics fan from back in the days of Second Sundays at the McAlpin Hotel, it was a privilege for me to sit down and hear so many legendary creators spin new tales I had never heard before,” added Maslon, the film’s co-writer, as well as an associate professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. “This documentary series will mark the first time that we’re able to tell the grand epic of the American comic book heroes on a scale that they deserve.”
The event is open to all registered attendees of the New York Comic Con, space permitting, and has been made possible by special arrangement with Ghost Light Films, Inc., Reed POP and Bonfire Agency, LLC.
About “A Never-Ending Battle”
With principal production funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, “A Never-Ending Battle” is slated to air as the first episode of a three-part series on PBS stations early in 2013. The series will explore the American art form of the comic book superhero and its complex interrelation with American culture over the last 75 years. Throughout this period, comic books artists, writers and publishers have unleashed thousands of exotic, bizarre, heroic and seductive adventurers upon the American public; some have become instantly recognizable all over the globe, many have crashed miserably under the weight of their own lack of inspiration—all were created in the hopes that they connect with some aspect of the American consumer. In this regard, the film explores how the evolution of the costumed crusader reflects our social, political and cultural history. Fervent fans, casual viewers, and everyone in between will discover much to marvel over in this informed overview of the adventures of America’s most popular genre of historic fiction.
About Ghost Light Films, Inc.
Founded in 1996 by Michael Kantor, Ghost Light Films has produced a range of award-winning documentary films for PBS and cable television that explore the history of the arts in America. Most recently, Kantor served as Executive Producer on “Give Me the Banjo” which was narrated by Steve Martin and will air on PBS on November 4, 2011. In 2009, Ghost Light created the six-part PBS series, “Make ‘Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America,” which was produced with Thirteen/WNET, New York in association with BBC-TV. The series, hosted by Billy Crystal and narrated by Amy Sedaris, garnered both critical acclaim and outstanding ratings, earning Mr. Kantor and his co-writer Laurence Maslon, an Emmy nomination. In 2005, Ghost Light Films produced three hours of documentary material to accompany the 40th anniversary release of “The Sound Of Music,” including a documentary hosted by Julie Andrews. That same year, Ghost Light garnered the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Nonfiction series by co-producing “Broadway: The American Musical” with Thirteen/WNET New York, NHK Japan and BBC in association with Carlton International. In association with Metropolitan Entertainment, Ghost Light produced “The Lullabye of Broadway: Opening Night on 42nd Street” for PBS, and has produced segments on artists such as Quincy Jones, David Mamet and Arthur Miller for the Bravo cable network and for Thirteen/WNET’s “EGG: the arts show.” “A Never-Ending Battle” is a co-production with Oregon Public Broadcasting.
About Bonfire Agency LLC
Bonfire Agency LLC is the marketing community’s first advertising and promotional agency specializing in helping brands reach and deepen connections with highly influential, but difficult to engage, pop culture consumers. This demo, labeled by some as geek or comic culture, is comprised of incredibly passionate, tribe-wired fans of everything from comic books, video games and action films to underground music, sci-fi inspired television and cutting edge adult comedy. Bonfire’s mission is to find ways to build relevant bridges between brands and a diverse audience of consumers that just might become their most effective advocates. The agency was founded in January 2011 by marketing veterans and pop culture specialists Steve Rotterdam (former Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at TimeWarner’s DC Comics) and Ed Catto (former Senior Vice President at Ogilvy and Reed Exhibitions). For more information, visit www.BonfireAgency.com.
About ReedPop
ReedPOP is a boutique group within Reed Exhibitions that is exclusively devoted to organizing events, launching and acquiring new shows, and partnering with premium brands in the pop culture arena. ReedPOP is dedicated to producing celebrations of popular culture throughout the world that transcend ordinary events by providing unique access and dynamic personal experiences for consumers and fans. The ReedPOP portfolio includes: New York Comic Con (NYCC), Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) East & West, Star Wars Celebration V, New York Anime Festival (NYAF), and UFC Fan Expo. The staff at ReedPOP is a fan based group of professionals producing shows for other fans, thus making them uniquely qualified to service those with whom they share a common passion. ReedPOP is focused on bringing its expertise and knowledge to world communities in North America, South America, Asia and Europe.
I came home from work on Friday to find a package had arrived from Amazon. It was Supergods, by Grant Morrison. I had first heard about the book while reading the Rolling Stone interview with Morrison, which I mentioned last week. Between that interview and all the hoo-hahabout Action Comics Vol. 2 #1, both my own reaction and those in the media, I had to read it.
(The debate continues, by the way. Today, Sunday, National Pubic Radio – NPR – devoted a segment of its “Studio 60” program to the reboot, with two interviews: the first with a comic book shop owner in Brooklyn, and the second with Jill Pantozzi, who herself is a redhead and in a wheelchair. Jill wrote an absolutely brilliant and terrific Op-Ed piece for Newsarama about the transformation of Oracle back into Batgirl, entitled Oracle Is Stronger Than Batgirl Will Ever Be. You should check it out.)
Anyway, back to Supergods. The subtitle is “What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, And A Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human.” I’ve only read the introduction, and browsed through it, and already I’m enthralled.
Now granted (no pun intended – or maybe it was), Morrison is not the first to write about the mythology, the übergeist – I think I just made up that one from a combination of Yiddish and German – the collective consciousness of humans creating heroes to reflect themselves, their darkness and their light, their trial and tribulations. If you didn’t have to read it in college, you learned about Joseph Campbell and The Hero With A Thousand Faces from George Lucas through a little thing called Star Wars. But as one of the preeminent contemporary writers of superheroes, I can’t wait to really sit down and read it.
I think about God a lot. When I was a little girl, I had this recurring dream. I was somewhere in the middle of a field. It looked like the field in “Christina’s World” by Andrew Wyeth, complete with the farmhouse at the top of the hill. Of course it was a dream, so it was a totally warped “Christina’s World.” I was standing there, and it was blue skies and sun. All of a sudden the sky was black with clouds. There was an absolutely huuuuge clap of thunder and a lightning bolt, and suddenly God was standing before me. Well, all I could see was the bottom of his long, black Supreme Court Justice robe. I craned my head up and back and up and back and the robe went up and up and up beyond the sky. Then God bent over, and I could see His face, and it wasn’t happy. His long white hair and beard mixed with the grasses of the field, and He looked at me with stern black eyes, and just shook his finger at me as if to say, “You’re a bad, bad girl, Mindy.”
I don’t know why I dreamed that dream. Probably got punished by my mother or my father for something I did that I don’t remember. Talk about Jewish guilt!
God and theology continued to fascinate me as I grew up. I didn’t go to Hebrew school, wasn’t bas-mitzvahed, and I got kicked out of Communion class for asking the rabbi how the Jews could be so sure that Jesus wasn’t the Son of God, and saying that maybe we just screwed it up. (I asked a lot of questions that the rabbi didn’t like, like the time I asked him if Jonathan and David were maybe more than “just friends.”) But I read all the stories from the Old Testament that my brother brought home, and I read bits and pieces of The New Testament. I devoured movies like The Robe and Quo Vadis, and brought the books home from the library. My favorite though was, and still is, Ben-Hur.
There’s a line in Ben-Hur towards the end, when Esther and Judah Ben-Hur are taking his mother and sister from the Valley of Lepers to see Jesus. Judah’s mother is afraid, and Esther says, “No need. The world is more than we know.”
I know it was only a line in a movie, but I think the writer got it right.
Like Grant Morrison’s Animal Man, maybe the world was created by God because he’s a writer, and that’s what writers do, create, and we’re just the four-color two-dimensional characters in his comic book. Like Alan Moore’s Promethea, maybe we create the world out of our collective consciousness. Like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, the world is nothing but a dream set in motion by Morpheus.
Maybe there’s an obelisk on the Moon, just waiting to be discovered.
This is a high price for original art– on the other hand, you can drive the artwork home.
Volkswagen of America presents the one-of-a-kind Star Wars edition 2012 Passat TDI® Clean Diesel featuring hand-drawn illustrations from the complete Star Wars saga, drawn by comic book artist Ken Lashley (Justice League of America, The Flash, X-Men, Legion of Super Heroes and the DCnU Blackhawks) which is being auctioned on eBay. In celebration of the September launch of Star Wars The Complete Saga on Blu-ray, Lucasfilm is asking fans to Use the Force for Good to support Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). SU2C funds groundbreaking cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives. As part of that campaign, Lucasfilm has partnered with eBay to create this exclusive auction, allowing fans to bid on rare and exciting Star Wars items and experiences.
Lashley went through about 35 Sharpie markers drawing on the thing, and yes, it’s been covered in sealant. Here’s Ken drawing the VW at SDCC:
PulpEmpire.com is proud to offer our newest anthology Pirates & Swashbucklers, a seventeen story collection of great pirate pulp fiction! Pirates & Swashbucklers author Kameron W. Franklin interviewed his fellow writers of the new Pulp Empire anthology out now!
Today he sits down with Ken Lizzi, author of “Bravo” and Alva J. Roberts, author of “Stephen the Swift.”
First, Ken Lizzi-
When did you first realize you were a writer? I realized I was a writer upon receiving the check for my first story; I was paid for writing so I must be a writer.
What authors influence or inspire you? Glen Cook, Bernard Cornwell, Lindsey Davis, Jack Vance, George MacDonald Fraser, Roger Zelazny. Frankly, I’m influenced by whatever I happen to be reading at the moment. And I read constantly and widely.
What book(s) have you read more than once? What drew you back? We can just take Tolkien as a given, right? I’ve gone back to “Silverlock” by John Myers Myers (not a typographical error, that was his name) again and again. The flawed, cynical, self-centered character always resonates with me. Take that as you like. The scope and depth of Myers world, the allusions piled upon allusions, reward each revisit.
Do you consider yourself a “pulp” writer? Why? Is there another genre you like to write? I don’t consider myself attached to, or beholden to, any particular genre. I suppose my fledgling list of credits does tilt pulp – crime fiction and comic book science fiction (or science fantasy: I don’t intend to rehash the argument as to what genre precisely “Star Wars” fits into.)
In 25 words or less, how would you define “pulp” as a genre? Pulp is a sensibility, an expectation of entertainment indulged at, or beyond, the borders of contemporary respectability.
What made you decide to submit a story for the Pirates & Swashbucklers anthology? As an exercise/challenge undertaken by my writing group.
Read more of Kameron’s interviews at PensAndSwords.com.
Pulp Empire Presents: Pirates & Swashbucklers is now available at Pulp Empire.com. Until October 10th, use the code “62QUSQGC” at our CreateSpace bookstore to receive 15% off on the book!
Now, Alva J. Roberts
When did you first realize you were a writer? Just a few years ago, right around when my favorite author, Robert Jordan, passed away. I had tried to write a novel a few times before that but never made it past the first chapter. I always told myself I would finish one someday. Mr. Jordan’s tragic passing helped me realize that someday might never come and if I wanted to write I needed to do it now. Six months later I finished my first novel, it was a horrible, unpublishable, mess but it was done and I had the writing “bug”. Now it is something I do nearly every day.
What authors influence or inspire you? Robert Jordan, JRR Tolkien, Patrick Rothfuss, George RR Martin, Raymond Feist, Anne McCaffrey, David Eddings, Fred Saberhagen, RA Salvatore, Stephen R Donaldson, Brandon Sanderson, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Terry Pratchett and probably a few dozen more I can’t remember right now, I’ve always been a voracious reader.
What book(s) have you read more than once? What drew you back? I try to read the Lord of the Rings every year or so. The series was the first thing I ever read without pictures, in the fourth or fifth grade. Whenever I read the books I get that same magical feeling I got back then. It was my introduction to the fantasy genre, and was the beginning of my long and wonderful love
affair with reading.
Do you consider yourself a “pulp” writer? Why? Is there another genre you like to write?
For novels, I am a fantasy author. I usually use short fiction as a way to practice things I need to work on, and as a way to relax. When I write short fiction, I just write something that sounds fun. A lot of the time that means fantasy or sci-fi in the “pulp” genre, but other times it means something a little darker or a humorous piece. My short fiction really depends on my moods.
In 25 words or less, how would you define “pulp” as a genre? Pulp is action-packed fun. Pulp is larger than life heroes, exotic places, and over the top villains. It is something read purely for entertainment.
What made you decide to submit a story for the Pirates & Swashbucklers anthology? I wrote a story and was looking for some place to send it. I saw the call for submissions and decided my story might be a good fit. I had already read some of Pulp Empire’s online content so I pretty confident that it was going to be a high quality publication.
Read more of Kameron’s interviews at PensAndSwords.com.
Pulp Empire Presents: Pirates & Swashbucklers is now available at Pulp Empire.com. Until October 10th, use the code “62QUSQGC” at our CreateSpace bookstore to receive 15% off on the book!
You’ve probably already heard that all six [[[Star Wars]]] films will be released on Blu-Ray on September 16, and that the Blu-ray set will feature over 40 hours of bonus material. Three of the discs in the nine-disc saga are full of deleted scenes, props, interviews, paintings, and so on.
But you’ve probably also heard that there are a few changes to the films. Again. And some of the changes are bound to be a tad controversial. Here’s what we expect:
Han shoots Greedo, but only after a judo match, scrabble tournament, and seven rounds of rock, paper, scissors.
A small percentage of Ewoks have taken to waxing.
Darth Vader’s cape is tapered to show off his manly shoulders and narrow waist.
New footage added to feature Seth Rogan as object of Luke Skywalker’s bromance.
Yoda replaced with all-knowing Labradoodle.
Members of the band entertaining Jabba the Hut include the kids from Glee and a few members of Twisted Sister.
For twenty-five years, Mike Malve down in Arizona ran a successful line of comic book stores called Atomic Comics. I knew him from his weekly e-mail messages that he sent out. Nice chatty e-pistles about what sold last week, what was coming out this week, assorted thoughts about the industry, various promotions he was running, different guests he had visiting and so on.
I’d never been to his stores but Mike and I exchanged several e-mails. He always struck me as a good solid sort of retailer, one who knew and loved the industry, worked hard, promoted the work and those who made it. The sort of guy you wanted to see make it.
Two weeks ago, he closed down all his shops. There were lots of factors contributing to the closings, as he detailed in his last report. When the times were good, he expanded into high profile locations but, as he said, “when the economy went sour, low sales could not support the higher rent at these high visibility locations. The leases at these particular stores which had originally provided the consumers with greater visibility and more foot traffic to our wonderful world of comic books, the higher overhead proved to be too much for Atomic as we faced declining sales.”
He traces the decline back to an incident in 2006 when a 16-year old uninsured driver crashed her car through the front window of his biggest store and best revenue producer. The accident tore up a water main and the flood caused a million dollars worth of lost revenue and the store closed down for over five months. This was just as the recession started.
Mike secured the leases on the stores with his house so he’s going to be losing that as well as going into bankruptcy. Throughout it all, he’s maintained as cheerful and upbeat an attitude as he can manage – better than I could in his circumstances. He hopes to find some way to remain in the industry he loves.
Just two weeks later, this last week, DC launched its latest version of its titles in a sweeping revamp that includes same-day digital sales. At the same time, we see Borders closing its doors and various and sundry people have announced the death knell of the brick and mortar bookstores of all stripes.
We hold in our hands the covers for DC Comics this February. As a child of four can plainly see, these comics have been hermetically sealed in a CGC 9.9 slab, and they’ve been kept in a #2 mayonnaise jar under a giant stack of returned copies of Holy Terror since noon today.
