Wednesday, July 02, 2008

The Unemployment Chronicles: Tuesdays in the Park

-Went and saw "Frankenstein" at the Paramount this evening. It was sort of amazing seeing the film on the big screen.

The magic of the movie was somewhat diminished by the plus-sized gentleman who plopped down in front of us as the film began, had something of a running commentary with himself, which ceased only when he would fall asleep and begin snoring loudly. Which he did three times. Curiously, I was happier with the snoring than the commentary.

-Is anyone else waiting for the seemingly mild-mannered Disney boy band "The Jonas Brothers" to realize they're bajillionaires and girls love them? And looking forward to TMZ's coverage of the inevitable spinning out of control?

I am a bad, bad person.

-Did you know Tyra is on TV somewhere 24 hours per day? And yet I've never actually watched any of her shows.

-This week's Comic Fodder post got me a link from Dirk Deppey's Journalista!. So, good for me, I guess. I'm not particularly passionate about the bizarre and illogical manner in which comics are distributed, etc... but I also think its a far greater culprit in declining numbers of comic readers than things like "continuity" or "complicated stories".

-Went to Barton Springs today with Jamie. We floated for a while, and Jamie went off the diving board for the first time. I wish I'd had a camera to capture the ridiculous grin she had on her face when she jumped off the end.

Then the lifeguard blew his whistle at Jamie for wearing her aqua shoes off the board, so now Jamie refuses to ever go off the board again.

We also hit "Dog Almighty!", a hotdog shop. And I was pleasantly surprised by the Pfluger Dog, which was covered in sauerkraut and onions (two items I could put on any food). I mentioned the sauerkraut being very good to the owner, and she gave me the secret, which I refuse to share here, so you'll maybe try the Dog Almighty! yourself.

-Looking for jobs is weird. The internet is such a black hole. I send off a stack of resumes every day, but you rarely hear anything back. Even a rejection. And then, from some places, they let you know more than once you were rejected. And it's sort of like: Hey, I got it the first time, but thanks.

-Jason's pup, Cassidy, had tooth surgery today to remove and/ or fix a broken molar. So I'm wishing our three-legged pal a speedy recovery.

I love that ridiculous dog and her ever-wagging loop of a tail.

-Almost done boxing up comics. After more than a year, this has been a bit more of a chore than usual. I'm also considering what portions of my collection I could begin pondering unloading. For example: why do I have that crate of X-Men I'll never read again? Would anyone want to buy my run of Hitman?

It's also slowed my reading of comics. I just got my now-monthly dose of comics from my pusher, and I've only made it through my Super-books, the first 3 issues of Trinity an Final Crisis.

Seems like a lot, but, ya'll. I don't have a jobby job. So I have time on my hands.

-My folks are coming in for the Fourth, so if I promised anybody a 4th of July Extravaganza, those plans are now but a distant memory of a dream. It's also only a few days after their 40th Anniversary, so we're more or less celebrating that, too.

-yeah, happy belated 40th Anniversary to my folks. They're two peas in a pod, but they also taught me quite a bit about how you have to work at a relationship and never take one another for granted. A better example, I could not have had.

-I might take Lucy and Mel to the spill-over tomorrow so we all get out of the house.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Colonel Blimp, revisited...

Well, I'll be dipped.

It seems that when I shot my mouth off in this recent post regarding a Batman back-issue, I should have bit my tongue.

In the post, after praising the comic, I said the following:

The problem: Not only is our terrorist wearing a grape-colored chauffer's outfit, his nom-de-crime? Colonel Blimp.

Not exactly a name geared toward striking fear in the hearts of the populace. And a little on the nose, I think. I am unsure why Conway and or Kupperberg slacked so badly on the villain's name, but there you have it.


Let this be a lesson to YOU, Leaguers. ALWAYS GOOGLE IT.

According to Wikipedia, Colonel Blimp was not originally a DC Comics creation, but, in fact, a sly nod to a British cartoon character of the same name. See the Wikipedia entry.

From the post:
Blimp was a satire on the reactionary opinions of the British establishment of the 1930s and 1940s.


Interesting, no?

This Col. Blimp character must have been pretty popular. There's even a movie called: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp that received the Criterion Edition treatment.

Further, it seems the Col. Blimp in the issue was actually a call back to a very early Batman comic featuring a villain named Carl Kruger. Who employed a dirigible of some sort.

It would be interesting to learn a bit more about what Gerry Conway was thinking, employing the name (but not the likeness) of the other Col. Blimp. It seems highly unlikely the use of the name was a coincidence.

So, there goes the one weird things about Detective 519. Go figure.

By the way, if you haven't read the comments in the original post, we were honored to have Mr. Paul Kupperberg, who scripted the issue, drop by and discuss the artist, Don Newton, and a few other items.

I'm off to go dig the Carl Kruger story up in a reprint. I must have read it a while back. Plus, I may look for this Col. Blimp movie.

Man, I love comics. And the internets.

Meredith's Kids!


What time is it?


It's ubiquitous Spider-Man time!

These are the children of my old high school chum, Meredith. Apparently Mer is raising those kids right, and teaching them in the virtues of 'Ol Web Head.




It's pretty late, and I can't remember their names. So, from left to right, meet: Rutteger, Snoopy and Sleepy Pete.

Leaguers, if you want for me to remember the names of your children, don't forget to start early. I think one of these kids if John, one is Zack, and maybe one is... Matthew... or maybe Michael. Perhaps Cliff. I'm not sure.

Anyway, delightful kids.

Mer has just upped the super-hero ante. What will you do?

Monday, June 30, 2008

The League supports Wall-E

Mangum must be getting soft in his old age. Ten years ago the mention of going to see a cartoon would have been met with snide derision, even if it featured a robot and dystopian visions of the future.

But... in the intervening years, Mangum has become a shell of his former punk-rock self. He has begun to fill his home with photos of kittens and lots of little statues of clowns holding balloons, and is always looking for new recipes for quiche and cupcakes.

Never give up smoking, kids.

Anyway, he pitched to me a screening of Wall-E, the latest Pixar venture. So, Sunday night we met he and Nicole at the Alamo South, and we were also met by Heather Wagner. And while we were all convinced that should Nicole and Wagner ever meet, time would stop and the universe might split in two, all I noticed was a small popping sound, like bubble wrap.

Nicole also got a new haircut. She looks sharp, but for some reason she felt self-conscious about it. And I should probably apologize to her about my attempt at complimenting said 'do.

Anyhoo...

I'm always far more excited to see a Pixar movie than any other cartoon. Its not just that Pixar is consistently 3-5 years ahead of everyone else as far as technology goes, but because Pixar's ability to tell a story is so very, very, very much better than what you see in 99& of the rest of family entertainment.

I'm on record with my lack of enthusiasm for the current post-Robin-Williams-in-Aladdin, post-Shrek belief that pop-culture references make a movie, or that having known comedians constantly riffing is character. I think kids and parents deserve better. I think if they want my dollar, I deserve better.

I haven't always loved every Pixar film equally. I think "Finding Nemo" is a little blah. There are parts I like about "Monsters, Inc.", but it felt like it was drifting into "celebrity-voice-theater" as its focus. That said, I'm a big fan of both "Toy Story" movies, so go figure. And I've never seen "Cars". Because, really? Owen Wilson as a NASCAR car?



My feeling is that the Pixar creators took a look at how well their short films work, and how audiences seem entirely pleased with those shorts, and took a gamble to apply that same craft to a feature length film.

Wall-E is a movie about a lonely little robot, left behind on Earth as mankind abandoned a trash-strewn, presumably polluted Earth for the stars and greener pastures. Wall-E spends his days packing, crushing and stacking the garbage strewn about the planet. Mankind hasn't returned, and in the ensuing years, of all the many, many droids just like him, only Wall-E remains, carrying about his tasks, with only a cockroach to keep him company.

How anyone managed to make a roach sympathetic while refusing to de-buggify the thing is a testament to the craft going into the film.

Wall-E has built a small home for himself, full of items he's begun to collect. And he's a fan of the movie and music of "Hello, Dolly!" which he likes to watch on a top-loading VHS player (oh, yes. Its the small things in the movie). While the movie brings him joy, it also reflects upon his desire for companionship, which is met one day with the curious arrival of a space probe robot seemingly designed by the engineers at Apple.

I don't really want to tell much more. The pacing of the story is fantastic. And though there were actually few children in our theater, the fact that the movie is incredibly light on dialog and doesn't rely on borscht-belt humor, nor fart gags for laughs, the audience stayed with the movie every step of the way.

Like much classic sci-fi, Wall-E is really a cautionary tale. Like "Idiocracy", the movie is really about mankind's consumerist, wasteful culture... but to tell more is to both give too much away, and to suggest some sort of political agenda to a movie that doesn't have one. It is a movie for our precarious place in time and for each of us as a steward of the future of the planet, and ourselves.

The visuals on Wall-E have passed from the flat, cartoon world of Toy Story to a world in which these two eyes (as bad as they are) often couldn't tell if some items/ shots/ etc... were CGI or photo compositing. And its something Pixar absolutely makes work.

Add in terrific management of a multitude of characters who, essentially, don't speak, terrifically directed scenes, and humor based on characters, motivations, etc... that actually works, and I think you've got the best Pixar movie since "The Incredibles" (which is, by far, my favorite).

Kids or no kids, The League thinks Wall-E needs to be on your summer movie viewing list. And, for the love of mike, see it on the big screen, where it belongs.

And now I kinda want to rent "Hello, Dolly", which I haven't seen since 1994.

Comic Fodder

I've got a new post up on the ridiculous world of comic book purchasing, and how its bad for the industry.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

The League has an evening out

Last night Jamie and I met up with Carla and David at Shady Grove. For those of you not familiar with Austin, its a bit of an institution down on Barton Springs Road, about a mile from the actual Barton Springs. The area is/ was one of my favorites in Austin. It's right near the Chuy's restaurant where the Bush girls had their infamous carding incident, and Zilker Park.

But reminders that nothing good can survive in Austin without a real estate mogul buying up what made the place interesting to begin with, leveling it, and putting in over-priced condos... there's now a massive trench in the earth, several stories deep where there used to be a very Austin, very goofy trailer park full of burnouts and hipsters.

Nonetheless, Shady Grove endures and will thrive with people living next door in a multi-story condo. It may just have a heck of a lot more shade over it than it used to.

It was great seeing David and Carla. It'd been a really long time. Carla's been flexing her acting muscles taking improv classes, which led to a discussion earlier this week regarding maybe going to see some improv after dinner.

We wound up at the ColdTowne Theatre off Airport, not too far from where I used to live circa 1997. The funny thing was, I knew of about eight ways to get there, but I couldn't remember exactly the fastest way. I've lived in too many spots all over this town. And its been too long since I lived North of the River.

ColdTowne is a troupe formed by several Katrina evacuees who were doing Improv in New Orleans, but fled to Austin in pat because troupe member Tami Nelson had lived here prior to living in New Orleans. I know this, because I knew Tami in high school and then here in Austin in college and post-college. She wasn't a theater person, or in improv then, but when it was one of those things: Tami + Improv = total sense

But we also hadn't gone to see her perform since being back. The honest-to-God's-truth of it is that I get really anxious going to see people I like perform live in any capacity. Seeing people perform live and feeling that it came up short is always kind of awful. Its bad enough when I read what people have written and I don't find myself exactly pumped about reading it/ telling them I liked it. Its something again when I feel stuck for an hour or two watching it live (like, i can't get away or they'll see me) and I have to see them right after the show and drop superlatives on them.

There are a few exceptions. I know and like what Jason's band plays enough to feel comfortable saying things like "your vocals were down way too low through the whole show" or "I couldn't hear Frank's guitar" or whatever. You don't need to just blow sunshine anymore when you've seen someone play that many times, and, really, they might WANT to know some technical issues.

But with theater and Improv, man... that's just your friend standing out there. That's not the acoustics of the space, or maybe giggling because someone missed a change mid-song. And if its bad... I assume they can know its not going well when nobody is laughing.

Anyhow... The League should have known, as The Austin Chronicle listed ColdTowne as the Best Comedy in Austin. Which, I know, seems crazy with yours truly, plus Jeff the Cat, in our amazing stage show. But maybe because our show is too avant garde?

Unfortunately, three of the five of ColdTowne proper were out of town, so the format of the Saturday show was a bit off, but still really good. The first troupe to come out was "The Midnight Society", comprised of maybe eight people. It was a student group, who were nonetheless pretty darn polished. They were fun, with some standpiyt players within the group.

Tami and her partner did a two-person show under the name "Bird Dog", and, seriously, it was great. I can't recall if they did four or five scenes, total. But, yeah, well, well worth seeing. So, I'm looking forward to seeing the full ColdTowne troupe with, like, 65% more comedy.

So, if you're in Austin, go check out ColdTowne, go see Tami, and have fun.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Anyone up for Terror?

This week the Paramount is showing:

Frankenstein, Revenge of Frankstein, and The Haunting.

If you're up for it, I'm looking for movie going buddies. Here's the official Paramount schedule.

Monday: Frankenstein 7:00, Revenge of Frankenstein at 8:50
Tuesday: Revenge at 7:00, Frankenstein at 9:05
Wednesday: The Haunting 7:00
Thursday: The Haunting 9:10

I might try to go see Mary Poppins on Sunday. I love Mary Poppins.



Friday, June 27, 2008

My first Batman Comic!

About a year ago I was digging through some back issues at Austin Books and I stumbled across Detective Comics #519.

Detective Comics #519 is the first Batman comic I ever recall reading. I think my dad bought it for me and just dropped it on me at some point, right about the summer before third grade. I remember this for a somewhat specific reason, which I'll get to in a minute. It was also the only Batman comic I would read between 3rd grade and 5th grade.


The issue's writing is handled by two of my favorites from pre-Crisis DC. Gerry Conway on plot. Paul Kupperberg on script. Pencils are by a "Don Newton". I don't know Don's work, but its really, really nice. Well rendered in an illustrative style. I don't think this cover is Newton. It might be Aparo, but I have no idea.
(update: The cover is Aparo. And, sadly, it seems Don Newton died suddenly in 1984. Here's a web-gallery of his work for you to enjoy.)

The story is the second half of a tale (which began in the previous issue) wherein Batman confronts a terrorist holding Washington DC hostage with exploding blimps. Its actually a pretty cool story, with Batman unravelling the villain's scheme.

The problem: Not only is our terrorist wearing a grape-colored chauffer's outfit, his nom-de-crime? Colonel Blimp.

Not exactly a name geared toward striking fear in the hearts of the populace. And a little on the nose, I think. I am unsure why Conway and or Kupperberg slacked so badly on the villain's name, but there you have it.

Blimp is also awesome enough to give his henchmen themed outfits.


I can't tell you how much I would pay for exactly that same shirt.

Part of the plot includes Blimp's henchmen trying to hi-jack nuclear subs in the arctic. Robin heads off to run interference, which seems short-sited with his perpensity of wearing green undies and precious little else south of the equator. Fortunately, the Bat-team seem to have ready-to-wear bat-onesies.



Robin looks adorable in his little outfit.

I was especially impressed by a "Batman escapes from the exploding blimp" sequence. Well rendered, well-framed, and with the appropriate sense of tension. Jack Bauer, eat your heart out.





click on these panels for full detail

Now, THAT is an explosion. Well done, Don Newton! It's almost like you didn't use Hindenburg photo reference.

Now, why was this my last Batman comic for a while?

Back in the 80's, DC had opened the door to writers using the words "damn" and "hell". At the Steans house, profanity was taken with all seriousness. We could see movies with "dirty words", but it wasn't until the Eddie Murphy incident of 1984 that blue language began to creep into our household's entertainment with any regularity.

Marvel always substituted words like "blazes" for "hell". And in the X-books, people couldn't make a cup of coffee without telling someone "it hurt like blazes" or to "go to blazes". And I think, honestly, it was part of why I started reading Marve before DC. That, and Marvel was never was all-out weird and apocalyptic as DC could get.

Anyway, all I could recall about this comic 20-odd years later was that it had a swear in it somewhere. Lo, those many years ago I'd been pretty scarred by stumbling across a swear in my funnybook.

In fact, when my third grade teacher put some comics on a shelf for us to enjoy during quiet reading time, I was horrified to see the image of Colonel Blimp and Batman on one of the comics and made a special point of telling Ms. Martin that those batman comics were for older kids because they had swears in them.

After scanning the comic, this is the only use of any four-letter word in the entire comic:

Wow. I was a sensitive kid. My parents didn't even have to find this smut themselves, I was so busy self-censoring.

It was TWO YEARS before I read Batman again. And I honestly have no idea what happened to that copy of this comic. Just as I have no idea where my Bugs Bunny comics, etc... went.

But I don't think Ms. Martin ever pulled those comics off the shelf, for which I salute her

I don't think we ever saw the likes of Colonel Blimp appear again in the Batbooks. Perhaps because it was just a little tough to take even our Dark Knight seriously when he's delivering lines like:



So a salute to sweet, sheltered little Ryan and a life before he used swears with all kinds of regularity. And a salute to this comic, which is still really good after all these years.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

a TTSNB special: If I had a million dollars!

I may be jobless, but if I had me a million dollars, I know what I'd buy.

First, I'd get this, this and this. Then this. And then, improbably, this.

But after that...


Is an original Barris Batmobile too much to wish for? If so, I will take this.






The great thing about this $100 lawn ornament (2 feet tall) is that when Jamie would complain about it, I could tell her she was crazy for believing in Bigfoot Lawn Ornaments. I could pat her hand and tell her that maybe she'd seen a bear lawn ornament or something.

I found this in the SkyMall catalog while flying to Costa Rica, and its been on my mind ever since. But to dwell on the items of the SkyMall catalog is to invite madness.


"Suffering from head-weight exhaustion? Seeking better neck health? Noted Phrenologist Professor Poppycock's amazing new Spine-o-Extractor has already led to rejuvenation for others. Why not you? Only Professor Poppycock's Spine-o-Extractor provides the proper amount of lifting power necessary for the correct separation of vertebrae of the human backbone, which allows the nerve clusters to oxygenate. Enjoy better neck and head health! Professor Poppycock's Amazing Spine-o-Extractor is to the skull-support area what Cod liver Oil is for the humors of the human food-tract!"
Yes, I found this in SkyMall, too. $55 before S&H.


This really isn't that expensive if you have a job, but I don't. When it come to Trek, I'm Trek Classic all the way. And while I think phasers and communicators are cool, Tricorders are simply awesome. Buy me a tricorder here. And, yes, i would walk around with it in the background on all of your away missions.


This things is, like, 7 feet high. And costs $2500. Here's a link, if you want to buy it for me. I think it would look awesome in the corner where Jamie keeps the piano.


I have a Wii. Jason has an Xbox. There is no GTAIV for Wii.
I want to rob people and take their cars and go on shady missions around Liberty City.
But I, otherwise, really am happy with the Wii. But if I had a million dollars...



Mattel does a tip of the hat to Hitchock and Hedren. It's kind of weird, but... you know, if you're going to have really random crap in your millionaire mansion, why not this? Buy here.

Also, this Wonder Woman Barbie. No, seriously. I want a Barbie for the first time in my life.



While the arm in the photo in no way resembles The League's own guns, why not the Hammer of Thor?

You don't actually need to be worthy to lift this hammer, but you're going to need about $450, plus S&H.


Yes, truly I would impress all in an interview when they would ask for one of my strengths, and I would hold Mjolnir aloft and call the thunder down upon their brow.


While, of course, wearing my official Thor helmet.

Arden: The Abstract Impressionist of the Seas

A while back, Arden sent an original piece of artwork to the League of Melbotis.

I've been meaning to share since, oh, March. But I was getting a glass of water and looking at the picture as it was placed (by magnet) on our fridge. And it occured to me that I could get this thing posted.



Anyhow, here's Arden's depiction of a Blue Shark. I think its pretty good. The kid is either going to be a marine biologist or the next Monet.

Arden is, by the way, Jill and Jess's kid. He lives in Michigan, where there is a tragic lack of narwhals.

And, yes, if you send me your kid's drawings, I will post them.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

A meandering post

Sorry about the lack of substantive posting. But, you know, not a whole lot to report. Jamie and I have been sticking close to the homefront, and not much has been going on.

Mer B.


Facebook is a strange and funny place. Thanks to Facebook, I think Jamie's circle of high school pals is having an impromptu reunion of some sort this fall.

But, I am not without people who once liked me.

This evening an old High School Chum called. For those of you KOHS folks, it was Meredith B., now married and still a Meredith B. Mer sounds great, and it was fantastic to catch up with her. And, yes, she'd found me on Facebook.

In high school I adored Meredith. She was smart, funny and if you were looking for someone to make spot on observational snark, she was your gal. We were in drama together, and were in plays from "The Crucible", to "All My Sons". And she a good actor, too, if I recall.

Meredith's moment of "the show must go on" took place when, in the middle of a show, she was supposed to be breaking ice with an ice pick and neatly stabbed her hand, just above the thumb. Meredith, being Meredith, just stuck her hand in the ice to slow the bleeding and then carried on the scene and then the play. Just one of many, many reasons why I tip my hat to the lady.

She's now in N. Carolina, married to a great guy and mother to three boys. My, how life marches on.

Bagging and Boarding

As for me:

I've been bagging, boarding, boxing and inventorying about 8-9 months worth of comics. Not all bad, but a little tedious. I've also set aside a stack of comics I've decided not to keep in the collection. Not bad stuff, just... it doesn't need to disappear into the closet in a polybag. I can share the wealth, if anyone wants me to send them some comics.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that I need to find a process for shedding some of the stuff I like reading, but won't ever return to. I will want to hang onto Action Comics and Superman, but the stack of Fantastic Four and Black Panther? A good read, sure... but I'm just not all that attached.

I am increasingly more pleased with my Superman comic collection, but its also true that it is a teeny, tiny fraction of the total published Superman comics over the years. There's just so much out there. And so little of it in reprint. With back-issues costing more than a new comic, my purchase of the back issues has to be managed. Lest Ryan go broke and crazy.

Still, it makes it a hobby, I suppose. If I could get my hands on all that stuff easily, what would be the fun?


Web Comics

Which makes me really, really wish Marvel and DC would get their @#$% together on the whole digital comics thing. How wasteful is it to have trees cut down and pulped, paper printed (using noxious chemicals), shipped (using fuel), and taking up space on a shelf, shoved in a plastic bag to take home, and then read in about fifteen minutes or less? And for obsessive guys like me, a ploybag and board?

Digital comics, DC and Marvel. Oh, I'll still pick up my paper copies of my collector titles (Superman, GL, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc...). And I might still pick up trade collections of series that were really good which I'd read online.

I want to love you, monthly installments, but you're killing the earth. You'd be cheaper if you had no physical form until I say you do. I do wonder what the tipping point would be for DC and Marvel before the cost of printing was high enough, and the cost of shipping impacted cost enough that retailers couldn't move the product...?

I wonder how strong web comics proponents (like Lea Hernandez) foresee the whole web-comics thing, if and when it plays out, affecting retailers?

I'm not trying to put the Direct Market out of business. That certainly seems like it would be an unintended side-effect. But I also wonder, if the cost were right, how that might affect the number of actual readers per comic.

Keep in mind, comics used to be shared and traded by kids, so the publishers saw only the profit of one purchase to something like 5-10 actual readers.

I'm just saying.


Ub Iwerks

Also watched a really good documentary on Walt Disney collaborator Ub Iwerks I recorded off Ovation, The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story. If you don't know who Ub Iwerks is/ was, I highly recommend reading up on the man. His contribution to animation is incalculable, and he later turned that same genius to film technology.

The documentary is well done, but seems cleaned up by Disney to make the history fit a little better into Disney's version of things ( I believe they produced or released the doc).

Anyhow, I'm going to be looking at those DVD collections of really inexpensive cartoons to see if they have any of the Iwerks non-Disney cartoons available.

Read here
and here
and here

Completely inappropriate Superman link

Whatever you do, do not click through to read the following article. Especially you, Mom. DO NOT CLICK THROUGH. DO SO AT YOUR PERIL.

Sent, of course, by Randy.

Superman Birthday #2

I'm not sure how many fictional birthdays Superman gets, but with 70 years of comics under his belt, it seems the Man of Steel has more than one. If you recall, February 29th has often been sited as Superman's birthday.

According to Comic Mix, apparently there's a pre-Crisis Superman birthday that falls on June 25th.

Go figure.

I like Superman and all, but I'm not getting him a present for every birthday he's going to have across the Multi-verse.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Stan Winston, RIP

I didn't go to film school so I could make movies about people feeling things deeply. I wanted to work on movies with shiny metal robots, gruesome aliens, fearsome dinosaurs and maybe a gorilla or two. The only director/ producer I ever wanted to be was, maybe, the Coens.

But, really, I wanted to be one of five people.

1) Chuck Jones
2) Early career Walt Disney (as I've aged, I see the appeal of being late career, crazy, world-building Uncle Walt.)
3) Rick Baker
4) Stan Winston
5) and, upon occasion, early career Lucas

I don't think it will come to surprise you that I watched a lot of sci-fi and genre movies. And at the conclusion of those movies, I would see the words "Stan Winston" related to the picture in some way. And I think if you check out a lot of great movies, you're going to find Winston's name somewhere in an IMDB listing.

Terminator. Predator. Aliens. All came out of Stan Winston's shop. And a whole heck of a lot more. For me, being able to bring those things to life always seemed as interesting, if not more so, than a lot of the rest of the movie-making process. Even if the movie wasn't all that great, Winston and his shop's FX were always amazing (ex: Congo).

I'm sorry to hear that Mr. Winston has passed away. I am certain that Mr. Winston's contributions to cinema will never be forgotten. He, and his team, have simply changed the way movie special effects, make-up, etc... work and how the audience can relate to special effects as characters in their own right.

Winston was part of the generation who took their artistry to the next level, turning B-pictures into blockbusters, and who understood how to blend how to blend fantasy and reality seamlessly within the frame.

We'll miss you, Stan. May your workshop carry your vision forward.

Monday, June 23, 2008

For JimD

This is exactly the sort of thing that make JimD embrace George Lucas and the Star Wars universe with both arms and give them a big hug and a sloppy kiss.

Olympics are coming...

We did absolutely nothing this weekend. Money is tight, and so expenditures need to stay low.

Saturday and Sunday, NBC was showing Olympic trials for "women's" gymnastics. And we also ended up watching some diving trials.

I confess, as I'm growing old and cynical, I'm increasingly skeptical of the whole Olympic enterprise. And poor Jamie, who loves the Olympics, is probably tired of hearing it, but...

The modern Olympics were sort of a friendly match of upper crust gentlemen meeting and playing some games, giving each other medals and going home. Today its been turned not just into a weird sort of opportunity for McDonalds to get their BigMac ads in between pole vaults (which is actually pretty understandable), but any notion that this is "friendly" competition seems naive at best, and propaganda at worst.

Somehow we've morphed what was amateur competition into young people loading themselves up with steroids (Ex: Marion Jones), and the weird mix of children who show promise and who are lucky enough to have stage parents who get their kids to practice 12 hours per day, almost every day in some gym so they can get their fifteen seconds. And forget the methodology employed in other countries where things are a little less democratic.

How many athletes don't we see who don't make he cut and make it to the Olympics and are still a part of the culture of doping and, (depending on how you think of it) exploitation of children, all we ever see are the folks who make the cut. Even the NBC coverage of the trials only focuses on the few who the NBC producers assume will make it. And, really, if you listen to the commentators, there's so much that's assumed about the trials, one has to wonder about how much is determined by scores and statistics, and how much is subjective in sports where winners aren't determined by things like "who threw the shot put the furthest", but by a squad of judges using some odd, indecipherable alchemy.

Perhaps its a blind spot in my make-up. I have no idea.

But I'll tune in. There are too many other sports and athletes who aren't pumping themselves (to the best of my knowledge) with HGH. There are sports that don't have a weird culture built in of judges, coaches and parents all wrapped up and making decisions that affect the outcome of the competition. And athletes I don't look at and wonder how much is weird parents, coaches, etc... trying to gather a bit of the glory, and how much is athletes trying to please those same people when that's the life they've known since they were eight or nine.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Why can't we all just dance...?

Its The League's firm opinion that the vast, vast majority of people, given the opportunity, would rather crack a beer with a complete stranger than shoot at them. Travel 'round the world, and we're all very different, but that doesn't mean we can't share a meal, get to know one another, or just... you know, dance badly.

And that's why The League always gives a tip of the hat to world traveler and jig-specialist "Matt".

You might recall the fellow from his YouTube video from a few years back. Apparently he'd set off for an amazing trip around the planet, and in every place he stopped, he had someone videotape him doing the same dance.

Well, Matt is back.

It seems Stride gum has sponsored Matt on another journey of epic proportions.



If seeing Matt share his dance with people all across the planet doesn't give you hope for humanity, I'm not sure what will.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Screenwriter to watch?

Hey, awesome...! Looks like League-pal Shauna C. has been listed in Variety as a "Screenwriter to Watch". Let us hope they mean track her career, and not that they feel Shauna is making weird, spastic movements or something that we should all be on the watch for.

Here's the IMDB page for Whip It!

Its worth noting that joining Shauna on this list is J. Michael Straczynski. JMS is a popular comic writer, who did (IMHO) a good run on Spider-Man in recent years. He's also the mastermind behind Babylon 5, a sci-fi show that I was addicted to for a few years in college. I always thought JMS should do a run on Superman, but it hasn't happened yet.

Anyway, Shauna is keeping good company in the pages of Variety. Its really weird to see someone you know being talked up by Drew Barrymore.

Randy, you need to get on that. Where's your quote from Drew?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Stray Thought of the Day: Sperm Whales are weird looking

I think Sperm Whales look like both a prototypical whale, like is someone asked you to draw a whale... it would be a sperm whale. But, they look weird. They're big, and chubby looking and pale and have a huge forehead.

Something like yours truly, when I think of it.


sperm whales have a weird, skinny bottom jaw with very scary teeth. Also, it seems, like yours truly.



Summer Movie Time!

Summertime is movie time at League HQ. The run up to Academy Award time and most Christmas movies are not bad for movies, but geez... its sort of become obligatory to go see a bunch of nicely crafted movies that are about as much "fun" as hanging out in the euthanasia room at the pound. Important/ thought provoking = relenetlessly depressing.

I'm not AGAINST this kind of picture. I was incredibly pleased with both "There Will Be Blood" (yes, Steven, I think its a very good movie), and "No Country For Old Men" (which I prefer of the two). But I mostly have a hard time getting really revved up to go see Nicole Kidman be weepy and trudge through a melodrama of some sort. That's not to bag on Nicole Kidman, but... you know, Christmas is crazy enough. If I'm going to sneak out at night to see a movie, I'm gonna want a ninja gangster robot with a heart of gold whose fighting Nazis from space or something.

Those movies, however, mostly show up during the summer. We get a few during Christmas. I think this year "The Spirit" is coming out during Christmas (Eisner material, directed by Frank Miller and featuring Scarlet Johansson? Twist my arm).

But summertime and Batman and Iron Man and The Hulk and Indiana Jones is what its all about here at The League of Melbotis.

We're also pretty pumped up about Hancock. Now, admittedly, I don't know much about the movie except that it stars Will Smith as a drunken, loused up version of a superhero (Superman without X-Ray Vision)? And it has Jason Bateman. And I generally sort of don't think that superheroes + comedy works. But Will Smith knows how to deliver a wacky line, and I can buy him as a lackluster crime fighter.

A secret, guilty part of me is always glad when they do movies like Hancock, Hulk, Iron Man, etc... because I sort of think that it raises the bar for the next Superman movie or Green Lantern movie. It shows whats possible, and I think Superman movies more or less should feel obligated to then raise the bar higher.

Anyhow, we've got a pretty good chunk of summer left, and there are a few more flicks coming out I'll be paying to see. Batman. Wall-E. Hellboy II. X-Files. And even Clone Wars.

Some folks might get tired of the special effects extravaganzas, but when I think back to the former staples of summer featuring 'roided out actors who were, invariably, rogue police officers in a spat with some drug kingpin, or terrorist cell... Anyway, somehow the geeks took over, and summertime is full of the movies we didn't think we'd ever see.

I mean, whether its good or not, there's a @#$%ing Watchemn movie coming.

More Dancing Sequences!

Nathan suggested I check out this dance number from The Band Wagon (1953), with Cyd Charisse. And, well, he was right.

The Girl Hunt Ballet, from "The Band Wagon":


And, a re-mix with Michael jackson's "Smooth Criminal", which I still think isn't a bad tune.


Make 'Em Laugh from "Singin' in the Rain"


And, apropos of nothing: Wolverine sings "Oklahoma!"

The 'ol Canucklehead can really sing!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

round-up/ Cyd Charisse

hey, Leaguers!

Well, its been an odd week. In fact, the past two weeks have been sort of oddly... filled. For a guy who has no job, I don't feel like I've had any lack of stuff to do.

It seems that no sooner do we kick housemate Nicole to the curb (Hi, Nicole!) than we're going to rotate in pal-Heather W. Heather is a longtime associate of all at League HQ, and stood for Jamie when we got married. So we go back. She's in grad school in Lubbock, but earned an externship at St. David's this summer in speech therapy/ pathology, so she's going to be crashing in Nicole's room. I'd better wash the sheets and perform that exorcism to rid the room of the evil spirits Nicole left behind.

Last week we were fortunate enough to hang out with Letty's brother, in from Paris. We wound up first going to Black's BBQ in Lockhart (Texas BBQ Capital). A few days later, we wound up at a Vietnamese place off Rundberg.

You already know about the trip to the museum (w/ Lauren).

Friday Jamie, Jason and I went to a Round Rock Express game with my Uncle, who is in town visiting Cousin Sue. I love me a good baseball game. And I believe the magic of my rally cap was what turned the tide of the game (Express over Memphis, 9-7).

Saturday night Jamie and I packed a picnic dinenr of sorts and headed out to Zilker Park to see the Austin Civic Orchestra. The show was a lot of fun. Casual, if not informal. With the first set a tribute to Leroy Anderson. The second half was a "tribute to film heroes", ie: lets play film scores so rubes from the suburbs will come in. And, of course, I knew they were going to play Indiana Jones and Superman, and they did great with both.

I think we'll be looking at hitting their new season next fall.

This weekend we also saw Hulk, hit Barton Springs, cooked some hot dogs and hung out with Matt and Nicole. Tuesday I hung out with Uncle Donald (aka Unky D) who was in town. We caught a movie, visited a bit, and grabbed some dinner.

All in all, a pretty decent few days.

Sadly, performer and dancer Cyd Charisse has passed away.



I only really know Ms. Charisse from one movie, "Singin' in the Rain". Which is, btw, one of my favorite flicks. In no small part because of Ms. Charisse. And if you have to ask why I like Ms. Charisse, well...



hubba hubba

Godspeed, Ms. Charisse.

The League is back at Comic Fodder

Hey, Leaguers!

Some of you may recall my stint as editor at Comic Fodder in 2007. Well, Travis has been doing a bang up job over there, and I miss being in the mix... so.

I'm now contributing as an Op/Ed sort of guy. Posting maybe once a week on items in the DCU, etc... I dunno. We'll see how it goes.

You can find my posts with an icon depicting patron saint of League of Melbotis, Krypto the Superdog.



And, here's a link to my first, very lengthy post. Written a bit in response to someone's questions regarding "what went wrong with Countdown and 'Death of the new Gods'".

Please feel free to drop by and comment.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The League Likes ABC Family's "The Middle Man"

ABC Family has a new show, called "The Middle Man".

It's fun, comic-book style, mad scientist, basic-cable-budget, sci-fi, slackery goodness. JimD will find the dialog too precious, but otherwise, I think the show is a good summer-time surprise.

Update: Check out the review at Chris's Invincible Super-Blog.

Spidey 2 Re-Mix



This... is... awesome...

Krypto




Superman's canine companion, Krypto, graces the September cover of Superman (issue #680).

For full September solicitations, go here.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Happy Late Father's Day



Happy Father's Day to my Dad, The Admiral. And, while I'm at it, to Jamie's Dad and my Father-in-Law, Dick McBride.

The Admiral is out of town at the moment, and I doubt he'll see this post before he returns next week. But that's okay. He's in Florida with my grandparents, and while he has Blackberry access, its unlikely he'll be doing much in the way of web-surfing.

The Admiral has had an exciting 2008, with a new position at work (officially making it so that I have no idea what the company he works for actually makes). He's traveling a bit, and he seems to really like the people and the job. So, bully for him.

I believe he's going on some globe-hopping trip as soon as he returns from Florida, so I often imagine the Indiana Jones red line following him around the globe.

So, catch you when you're back, Dad.

The League knows that its no guarantee that just because you married The World's Most Fascinating Woman(TM), that you're also going to wind up with great in-laws. So, you know, bonus for The League that Jamie's dad and I get along really well (as far as I know...).

Dick has not just an interesting professional career, but he's also a bit of a renaissance man. He's a world traveler, a videographer, a history buff, a piano enthusiast, an amateur astronomer, and.. really... the list goes on and on. Having him in San Marcos will, no doubt, add some spice to our lives here at League HQ.

So a salute to both Fathers running around in my life. Both great guys, and I look forward to having them both in the greater Austin Area in the next few years.

Happy Father's Day!

Saturday, June 14, 2008

The League gets linked

Well, I'll be...

Apparently interweb support for Final Crisis must be pretty slim, as somehow The League has been cited as voice of support for the mini-series at Newsarama.

Go here.

They took a pretty nice chunk for their article, too.

Always nice to get a nod, even if it usually means almost zero click-throughs.

But even if they come for the click-throughs, will they stay for the anecdotes and pictures of dogs?

HULK SMASH! - The League sees a movie

It will surprise exactly nobody that I went to see "The Incredible Hulk".

While I might not have loved the movie, but I liked it pretty well. That said, I only had a few criteria heading into the flick:

A) Hulk would smash a lot of military hardware
B) There would be impressive explosions
C) The fights would be increasingly cooler and bigger throughout the movie

I am happy to say that the movie delivered on all fronts.

I think if you go in looking for a popcorn movie with a solid storyline, strong actors delivering mostly believable dialog, and buy into the pseudo-science... sure. You'll have fun.

I've never really picked up much in the way of Hulk comics. I picked up "Planet Hulk" and "World War Hulk", but aside from that, and a single Bruce Jones Hulk trade, I'm not much of a reader (I do own the issue of Hulk where Rocket Raccoon gets his first appearance). I'm not married to any particular vision of the Hulk, including the TV program. But the cartoon that was on when I was pretty little probably went pretty far to shape how I think of Hulk.

I understand that Ang Lee's "Hulk" was a bit much for most folks, and there were bits of characterization I missed from Ang Lee's Hulk versus the new version (I just really felt they were able to tap into the source of the Hulk's rage a bit more understandably in Lee's version). But, hell... this version is pretty darn good.

As you've heard, they've reset the franchise, leaning 70% on the comics and 30% on the Bill Bixby/ Lou Ferrigno TV show. It has the best Stan Lee cameo to date, too.

I think the effects were really impressive in comparison to the last go-round with the Hulk, right down to texturing on Hulk's skin, but also in how the team was able to come up with some more imaginative ways in which to demonstrate the Hulk's... Hulkiness.

Anyhow, with as downright bad as many of the Marvel movies have been (FF, FF2, Ghost Rider, etc...), this one is a lot of fun. And.... explosions. And smashing. Oh, yes... The smashing.

And, you know, Liv Tyler, if you're into that (and I think I am).

Oh, Ed Norton is a really good Bruce Banner, by the way. His natural-built-in desperate look serves him well here.

Jamie's (micro) review: RRAAAARRRRGHH!!!

If you want to get an idea of what the movie is like:

RIP Tim Russert



Tim Russert, host of NBC's "Meet the Press" died today while at work. It was completely unexpected. And, I'd say, a huge loss for modern journalism.

Guys like Russert aren't supposed to die early. They're supposed to be there every Sunday for decades, just like they were the week before. You expect to see them take a dignified retirement, only to pop up again as guest commentators during particularly monumental events when the journalist in their blood refuses to NOT be there to help cover the story. It was certainly what I expected for Tim Russert.

I really like Russert. I might not always have thought he was chasing the right path (like the Clintons after the impeachment. Man, he was nuts for that story), but not only did he get great guests (I mean, seriously... it was like people were afraid NOT to show up for Meet the Press), but Russert had crazy enthusiasm for his job. You could feel it every week, as well as whenever he showed up on another show. One got the feeling he didn't just love being a witness to the mix like so many political journalists, but Tim Russert was always happy to be the one to mix things up with anyone who showed up to talk with him.

I cannot imagine what NBC will do at this point. And, if I may, it seems unfair that a guy like Russert dies at 58 when he seemed to be moving at cruising speed.

We'll miss you at The League, Russert. We may have been spotty in how often we made a point of catching Meet the Press, but it seems inconceivable we'll be finishing the 2008 election without you. Let alone, entering into a new presidency without the staff having to come by your table to explain themselves and pay their dues.

MSNBC
Washington Post 1
Washington Post 2
Buffalo News


So long, Mr. Russert.

Friday, June 13, 2008

The Unemployment Chronicles: Team League (plus Lauren) get some culture

Today Jamie and I met up with Lauren at the interminably-just-about-to-close Las Manitas on S. Congress for some lunch. Apparently, as we were circling to park and I was discussing parking options on the phone with Lauren, a hobo was making idle threats upon Lauren's person.

We did not know this, and so when we jumped out of the car, Jamie gave the hobo a few quarters. So, you know, if you want to make some easy money by Jamie, just threaten Lauren a bit.

After a delightful lunch, we headed to the Bob Bullock Museum (aka: The Story of Texas) to try to squish a bit more Texas pride into Lauren, who did not have the good fortune to be raised in The Friendship State. I should also comment how different the Bob Bullock Museum is from the Jim J. Bullock Museum, which doesn't exist (yet), but which I would endorse.

I think it was a bit of a challenge for Lauren getting past the subtle delivery of the Bullock Museum to try to understand how Texans might feel about their state. Its a well-concealed message, but I think we were able to come away with a sense of the humble dignity Texans carry in their hearts.

We enjoyed the Spirit of Texas Theater, which is a multi-sensory entertainment experience, in which they spritz water on your face for rain, put a low rumble under the floor for a stampede, and shoot off a piston to represent a snake surprise (a piston, which, in 2000 or so, when I went to see the same show and slouched, got to know me a bot more intamtely than I would have liked). They also really spin Texas history like crazy, sweep racism and institutionalized bigotry under the rug, and suggest that all those crazy Indians should have done was put on a tie, and everything would have been cool to begin with.

We also went to the 3D IMAX, which was about an hour of new-age music, images of whales and dolphins swimming around, and Darryl Hannah's soothing voice DARING me not to fall asleep.


For the first time ever, Lauren is able to see things in 3D. Normally she sees objects in 4 dimensions.

I like me some 3D IMAX action. But someone needs to tell children "hey, kids... these are not solid objects. You don't need to wave your arms and squeal everytime new objects appear on screen."

The displays at the Bullock Museum are pretty good, but you sort of wonder if they mean much to the folks who weren't raised in Texas with the sort of basic level of understanding to really put the pieces together. For example: There are pieces of French and Spanish weaponry from the 17th Century, but there's no real context around those items. What were those guys doing? Did they succeed?

The Bullock museum paints everyone as a good guy (expect the Mexican military of 1836), and that's somewhat problematic in explaining what was going on.

There was also a mostly dismantled T6-Texan on the 3rd floor of the museum, which had the nose taken off so you could see the radial engine. Which led me to Wiki-search Radial Engine, and hey... now I understand how they work. I also confirmed the vast difference between a radial and rotary engine. Thanks, internet!

We also toured the exhibit on the TV show, Dallas. Which, for legitimate reasons, Lauren believed to be a huge, permanent fixture. Which would be awesome, if true.

Anyhoo, I hope Lauren got something out of this mess.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

You used to be beautiful, man!

It occurred to me, as it does every once in a while, that despite my considerable blogroll, there isn't much in the way of actual cross-pollination of the blogs. We don't talk at or to one another's blogs the way we once did.

Occasionally, I think you'll see me link over to Steanso's site, but the era of meme's, interviews, etc... seems to have evaporated. Perhaps that's because many of the blogs which would partake have evaporated. Or, those blogs have found their own content and voice, and no longer are seeking to fill the content beast.

I dunno.

I sort of miss it.

I also don't link like crazy like I once did, except to news sites, so that's got to be part of it as well. And just this evening I realized I'd never added Simon's blog to my blogroll, and so I shall.

Any dream I might have ever had of finding The League as any sort of voice in the comic blogging community, I gave up a while back. As challenging as it was drumming up readership when I was writing at www.filmfodder.com/comics, the massive proliferation of comics blogs in the past two years hasn't led to more people linking to one another, but rather to more insularity in the comic blogging world. As, really, who has the time?

I know that since I've been unemployed, I've blogged an obscene amount on actual comics rather than sticking to "look how cool" posts about superheroes or comics. And I sort of apologize for that. A lot of the time when I write those posts, I know a lot of the League's audience just clicks away and waits to come back the next day when, hopefully, I'm not discussing continuity problems and the minutia of Blue Beetle.

Anyway, I guess the point of all this is... Despite some lengthy articles, I sometimes become dispirited that the articles don't get linked back. But I don't link back, so... There you have it.

But I always liked to think of The League of Melbotis as more than just me on a tear. I hope lots of people feel involved. And part of that is e-mail, comments, and linking back and forth.

So I think I have to do a bit more of that, myself.

The League sees "The Foot Fist Way"

Tonight I took League-Pal Matt M. out for his birthday to see "The Foot Fist Way" (it's a movie. Here's the site.)

I really liked the movie, but...

The League doesn't mention it much, but once upon a time when we were younger, thinner, full of much more youth and vigor, we were in TaeKwonDo long enough to earn a 1st degree black belt. Here's a link to the school I attended.

It was fun. And the experience is something that's very hard to relate to folks who haven't ever been involved. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to continue for a lot of reasons.

Despite being full of kids, the movie is NOT for kids. It's actually probably pretty funny if you've never taken a martial arts class before, but its really funny if you've ever been deep in the culture of martial arts schools and ever saw the slippery slope of the machismo and discipline for what it could turn into. It's really not too hard to live in some world of delusion when you have a small army of kids paying you fifty bucks a month, and a bunch of adults who literally jump when you say jump.

Anyhoo... Watching "The Foot Fist Way" was exactly like looking into a warped mirror of life at TKD. The martial arts portions of the movie are pretty much dead on to what I recall from the ITA, aside from the fact that my instructors weren't as... ah... anyway, my instructors happened to be terrifically educated and smart. But... that doesn't mean I didn't see folks just like the movie's protagonist, or many, many of the other characters in the movie (including the 13 year old kid who was tasked with running the school).

Truth to be told, it really made me miss TKD. I'd probably never been in better shape in my life, and I can't tell you what it does for your self-confidence to be able to punch through a few pieces of wood (eventually you start believing you can kick through anything... it's just a matter of the right kick).

And that sort of potentially misplaced self-confidence is exactly what the movie is about.

The movie fully embraces TKD and the stuff some folks might find a little cheesy. I don't think it plays those elements for laughs as much as it uses things like the tenets of TaeKnowDO as a counterpoint to Fred's struggles. And, again, if you've never been in TKD, then its kind of hard to understand why you'd take stuff like that seriously. But, you do.

I'll be honest... the movie was made on the cheap, and I don't know what it will lose if you see it on DVD. Especially if they include some of the commercials for the TKD school/ promo bits that were done for marketing the movie. But I liked it.

Not all of the acting is Oscar worthy, and the arc of the script probably needed some work, but its a fun movie. And, I expect, if I had a chance to watch it again it would be to memorize some of the better lines for use later.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Will Elder, RIP

Apparently I missed whatever press this got, but cartoonist Will Elder passed away in May.

Will Elder was one of the original EC comics artists who helped launch MAD. He was also responsible for Playboy cartoon strip "Little Annie Fanny".

For a quick recap, we turn to Wikipedia.

But here's an actual obit that might do him a bit more justice.

I think its safe to say that without Elder, there would be no MAD Magazine. And without MAD, The League's youth would have been a lot less... well... The League's youth.

Thanks, Will.

Vote Harvey Dent

I don't know if you live in Gotham City or not, but with the election cycle heating up, its hard to miss the campaign to make Harvey Dent Gotham's newest District Attorney. I've found the ground swell of support for a man with whom I feel I share so many values to be particularly gratifying.

But... despite the campaign and us fellow Dent supporters partaking in a door-to-door grassroots effort, I still feel like I'd better cover my bases.

If you're thinking of voting (and you should!), you can register to vote online, or register to vote. RIGHT NOW.

Here's the link.

It'd be great if you'd vote for Harvey, but what really matters is that you share your voice in this historic election.

Monday, June 09, 2008

Final Crisis - Morrison speaks

In a Newsarama interview posted on Monday, Grant Morrison informs readers, basically, that they were better off ignoring "Countdown" and "Death of the New Gods".

For those of you keeping score, the conclusion of "Death of the New Gods" and "Countdown" not jiving with each other at all should have given you a serious moment of pause. Throw into the mix the beginning of "Final Crisis", and you have a potentially cataclysmic problem at DC Editorial.

It should come as no small surprise that Didio's pet writing team on Countdown fell down on the job. The insult, then, being the 52 issues of a series some of us picked up, and which wound up as a colossal disappointment. This is to say nothing of the embarassing outing that was "Death of the New Gods" (in which Jim Starlin proved that he had almost no ability to channel Kirby's vision for the New Gods, and/ or was just cashing a check). And, it should be mentioned, Salvation Run will now also be largely pointless and forgotten.

The long and the short of it seems to read something like this:

Unless a DC book is written by Morrison, Johns, Rucka and possibly Gail Simone, its best to just consider it ancillary and out of continuity. And that, Leaguers, is kind of messed up. Even if its sort of the sneaking suspicion DC fans should have come to by the end of 52 and the OYL year-long implosion.

In general, I think I give DC a lot of leeway. Some of that is in reaction to the Marvel Fan game of trying to blow every minor mistake DC makes into some sort of catastrophe and point to conflated issues as evidence that DC is a fraud. Much of the time, those mistakes are either inconsequential or, occasionally, not a mistake at all.

But how DC can push a series like Final Crisis, with all the hype and supporting series attached by big name writers and make the error of not including someone like Morrison in the planning process for the "countdown" to his story is, frankly, unforgiveable from an editorial standpoint.

Its sad that DC saw the fervor caused by the discrepancies between "Final Crisis", "Countdown" and "Death of the New Gods" and had to ask Morrison to answer for DC's editorial incompetence in order to try to find a way to salvage "Final Crisis" before the fire got much bigger.

I believe in continuity, but there's a lot of work that has to go into making these events work. And something as big as "the final battle between Dakseid and Orion" seems big enough (in the DCU, anyway), that it seems imperative that a company wide decree on how this was going to work should have been issued. Let alone, asking Morrison what events were going to work or NOT work with Final Crisis, if Final Crisis was intended to be the last word in big event comics from DC for a while.

I was concerned that Morrison's comments would somehow distort my vigorous defense of Final Crisis #1from last week, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm not so sure I can be as kind to my "accessibility and comics" rant.

Incongruent continuity, flatly, makes comics hard to follow. It makes the stories around them tough to read, and conflicting portrayals of events are a show stopper for both long-time fans and, especially, for those new to the concepts. When you've seen the same character die 3 times in three weeks in three different ways, it leads to some serious cognitive dissonance that is going to pull you out of the story.

DC, get your mess together.

Didio not only owes his customers an apology, he owes us a solemn promise that he has seen his editorial goof for the colossal mistake that it was and that such a mistake will NOT happen again lest he will fall on his own sword. Not ask Grant Morrison to go smooth things over for him.

But, honestly, if I were Levitz, I'd be calling him on the carpet.

For the first time in a long time, I feel screwed by DC as a reader. This wasn't a case of me disagreeing with the direction of a comic. This was about a serious mistake in editorial. A clerical error that should have been spotted. And mostly it looks like Didio and whomever is closest to him is whispering to him their ideas for how they can ride on Morrison's coattails and make everyone a WINNAH!. But, by not working with the goose, their trampling all over the golden eggs on the way to the market.

For all of that, they asked readers to pu their faith in a comic that was going to supposedly effect the entire DCU (it didn't), and lead into a highly anticipated event (it didn't).

So what was "Countdown"? A cynical cash grab? A failed follow up to "52" once the success of the series became obvious? An honest attempt to build a "spine" to the DCU? An experiment that went up like the Hindenburg?

What were all those awful Countdown spin-offs?
The promise of storylines that never really happened (Why did Jimmy Olsen have to die again? And what did that have to do with the Joker?)
Countdown Arena?
the go-nowhere plot with the Monarch?
Was that really the plan with Ray Palmer from the beginning?
What was the point of Salvation Run?
Likewise, Death of the New Gods?

So, so many questions...


I'm tired of being an apologist for Didio and his cadre of incompetent creative teams. There's too much else going on at DC that works.

Batman
Detective
Robin is even okay with Dixon back
Superman
Action
All Star Superman
Green Lantern
GL Corps
Legion (now that Shooter's taken over. Go figure.)
Checkmate
Blue Beetle
Justice Society America is rock solid
Justice League America is okay when they aren't desperately tying into events
Booster Gold

All really good, solid titles. Even Simone's Wonder Woman is showing promise. Heck, even Supergirl has been on a major upswing.

I'm still highly recommending Final Crisis. I don't think its that complicated (and if you have a question, feel free to ask, and maybe I can help). But I am seriously questioning how many more DC titles I would add in the future as Morrison, Johns, Rucka, etc... leave. My days of giving titles the benefit of the doubt is coming to an end. Especially for books not written and drawn by teams I already trust.

NBC's "Fear Itself"

I watched the new NBC horror anthology TV show "Fear Itself" on Friday (courtesy, DVR).

Here's the NBC promo:



It had fairly high production values, and might appeal to fans of "Tales from the Crypt", low-budget horror, possibly "The Twilight Zone", etc... This is going to sound odd, but it was a bit predictable in its attempt to remain unpredictable. Partially because of the audience's knowledge that this is a horror anthology, so there are really only so many ways this is going to go.

But, being an anthology show, its not serialized television, so next week will be all new actors, directors and story. And I find that pretty appealing.

Once upon a time I was pretty into shows like "Twilight Zone" and "Amazing Stories". I appreciate the short-story as television idea, and I think the confinement of Standards and Practices for network TV forces creators into corners where they need to be creative to build suspense rather than depending on splatter-fests, a la most of today's horror.

As I get older, I'm definitely handling horror better than when I was a kid. Back then, a 50's-era B-movie about a disembodied, floating brain could send me running away from the TV in terror. But its also funny how the rules of Horror don't really change. Especially in the short-story format. It always ends with a twist ending, a la Twilight Zone or Tales from the Crypt. Evil is rarely actually defeated. It's almost like the short story form gives the viewer the opportunity to see the futility of a struggle against the grotesque, one way or another.

I think movies and novels tend to want to give you a bit more pay-off for time invested. After all, I don't want to read a 500 page book and then have a conclusion that feels neither final nor is unsatisfying in any way.

That said, I've avoided the "Saw" movies, "Hostel," etc... like they'd give me the clap. What little I understand about those movies doesn't seem very much up my "the best horror movie ever is 'The Haunting'" take on horror. Perhaps they've begun employing a bit more of the scorched earth policy of short horror fiction.

Of course, a little of all that can go a long way. After all, audiences sort of gave up on M. Night Shyamalan in the 3rd reel of "The Village". But when you don't know...

It should be noted that "Fear Itself" was a bit on the graphic side. Or, at least, they can get away with movie level stuff on TV these days. So don't expect a Vincent Price movie, with just a trickle of blood.

3 things I didn't like:

a) I'm not really comfortable with the co-option of the phrase "Fear Itself" for the title of the show. But, kids... what do they care about history?

b) The opening was oddly reminiscent of the opening of the Fox's late-90's show "Millenium". But not really.

Millenium


Fear Itself (and its really not good theme song. actually, that theme song is ridiculous. I guess that's four things I don't like.)

(SPOILER: Also, there's a scene where a guy is alive and they sew his mouth shut. Also in the pilot for Millenium. I'm just saying...)

Also, Jason pointed out that opening sequences in horror have all had a certain sameness since "Seven".

c) And this is REALLY nitpicky, but all of the female leads in the episode "Sacrifice" are supposed to be 3 amish sisters (ie: no hair dye), but all of them have very obviously dyed blonde hair in a sort of Heather Graham-ish style. I just thought it was sort of unnecessary, and it took me out of the movie a few times.

But, you know, by and large, I thought it was good B-horror, without getting schlocky. For that, I turn you to the Sci-Fi Channel and their insistence on a new movie each week, no matter how awful (see: Never Cry Werewolf. Or, rather, don't.).

Texas Governor's Mansion Burns

Every once in a while, Jamie will wake me up in the morning with a non-sequitur, then leaves the bedroom. This has the effect that I often am unsure if I just dreamed whatever Jamie told me, or if it actually happened. Yesterday was such an occasion.

"The Governor's Mansion burned down."
"Wha-?"
"The Governor's Mansion caught on fire and burned down. Rick Perry wasn't there."
"Huh-?"
"So nobody got hurt."
"That's good."
And then she wanders off.

At this point, usually, Lucy jumps on the bed to get attention and Jeff the Cat starts meowing at me. Every morning is a party when I wake up.

Anyhow, I sat there blinking for a minute, trying to determine if I'd just dreamed the information about the Governor's Mansion, but I hadn't. Why it seemed so impossible for the Governor's Mansion to burn down, I don't know... The building was 150 years old. The fact that it hasn't burned down before is sort of a miracle.

Here's an AP story on the blaze.

Here's the official website.

When I heard that the cause might be arson, that sort of made more sense than a random fire. There's always drunk people and crazy hobos running around downtown. Add in the tinfoil helmet crowd, or even some overzealous activist, and it could be anybody, really.

Of course, there's also a considerable fence and wall around the Mansion... and I would have guessed better security than what must have been present. But... anyway, i don't think criticizing security in this case is particularly useful as I don't know the facts.

As you've no doubt heard, fortunately the Mansion was undergoing renovations, which meant that the antiques and artifacts of the Mansion had all been moved off-site and were not lost. And, Governor Perry had been living elsewhere during the renovation, so the fire did not claim his Wii or extensive Hummel figurine collection.

I am, of course, now kicking myself for never getting off my duff and going for a tour of the mansion at any point in the past, oh, 24 years when I've lived (on and off) in Austin.

People who live in New York don't go to see the Statue of Liberty or the UN building. I doubt Parisians hang out at the Eiffel Tower on the weekends. And I don't often take advantage of the historical artifacts, museums, etc.. that Austin has to offer. Certainly losing one of the buildings sort of puts things in perspective, and is a reminder that those places shouldn't be merely taken for granted.