Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Something is going down at DC Comics.
1) It seems DC is getting back into the idea of continuity.
For those of you who do not know what continuity is: The way that serial or episodic television programs build on one another as one long story? How what characters learn from episode to episode effects how they will behave in subsequent episodes? How if Character A gets their eye poked out, in the next episode, s/he most likely will not have an eye?
That's continuity.
Comics from both DC and Marvel sort of gave up on continuity a few years ago. The writers stated that they needed the freedom to tell their own stories. There may have been some truth to that, but the writers were hired to do a job. In my opinion, the writers weren't willing to do their homework when they came onto a project and wanted the freedom to do whatever they felt like.
Unfortunately, this had a widespread chilling effect on the comic industry. Intended to bring in new readers, the move drove off long time fans. Despite the fact that a fan may have been loyally reading, say, SpatulaMan, since 1970, if Hot Writer of the Week showed up, he was under no obligation to know anything about the comic he was writing. And Hot Writer usually saw to it that he was in print telling unhappy fans that they were being immature or silly for being confused when major stories from the series were altered or ignored altogether.
2) Continuity on titles is rolling into interconnectivity of titles once more
Back in the bad old days, continuity also meant that if, say Spatula Man got a new hat in his own comic, when he appeared in League of Utensils the next month, there he'd be with his new hat. He might even comment on the new hat. And voila! Instead of one comic book you read, as these comics sort of bumped up against one another, you had this sort of vast tapestry of comics to pick from and see what was going on in different aspects of the same world, all telling different stories.
Recently DC has made a point of ensuring major characters guest in each other's comics and discuss events from multiple titles. (ex: Wonder Woman might show up in Superman comics and mention an event from JLA).
This not only assists in presenting a cohesive single view of events and characters in DC Comics, but it also reminds me of why I sort of thought comics were cool when I was a kid. Michael Chabon referred to the effect as "secret knowledge." Simply by being familiar with the comics, a whole separate ongoing and interesting world was constantly unfolding each month in each issue of each comic. And the ability to keep up with it gained you a unique perspective on teh tapestry as a whole.
It's also a good outlet for my OCD.
3) A Crisis Brewing?
DC has been trying to relive the colossal boom of Crisis on Infinite Earths since 1986. Crisis not only sold phenomenally well as an individual series, but helped sell through a lot of other comics being published.
What this took was a heck of a lot of coordination on the part of the DC staff to make sure all the comics could sensibly tie-in to Crisis.
DC would love to see a pile of comics in 2005, just like they did in 1986.
Hints of a crisis really began back in Superman/Batman #6 when Luthor got stomped by Superman and, in the epilogue, promised "a crisis!"
4) What does it all mean?
It means that not only have a few hints online suggested a new "Crisis" is brewing, but that with increased continuity across multiple comic titles and writers clearly working together, it's a lot of fun reading multiple DC comics right now.
It's not clear yet what the Crisis event is, but there have been hints of it everywhere from Superman/Batman to Teen Titans. Identity Crisis, the huge cross over event of 2004 appears to have been the first act in what the writers have planned.
I welcome folks to check out DC comics to see what's going on these days.
If NOT, I would redirect you to the All-Star titles which should be debuting this summer.
3) DC All-Stars for new and occasional readers
Recognizing that some of their comics have run since 1938, DC isn't pressing new readers to necessarily pick up the past 70 years of comics. They're releasing contained multi-issue stories with familiar story elements folks might expect picking up a DC comic.
I know I've harped on these before, but when they come out in a few months, I'd really encourage folks to pick them up. These'll be fun stories told by the absolute best in the superhero business.
1) It seems DC is getting back into the idea of continuity.
For those of you who do not know what continuity is: The way that serial or episodic television programs build on one another as one long story? How what characters learn from episode to episode effects how they will behave in subsequent episodes? How if Character A gets their eye poked out, in the next episode, s/he most likely will not have an eye?
That's continuity.
Comics from both DC and Marvel sort of gave up on continuity a few years ago. The writers stated that they needed the freedom to tell their own stories. There may have been some truth to that, but the writers were hired to do a job. In my opinion, the writers weren't willing to do their homework when they came onto a project and wanted the freedom to do whatever they felt like.
Unfortunately, this had a widespread chilling effect on the comic industry. Intended to bring in new readers, the move drove off long time fans. Despite the fact that a fan may have been loyally reading, say, SpatulaMan, since 1970, if Hot Writer of the Week showed up, he was under no obligation to know anything about the comic he was writing. And Hot Writer usually saw to it that he was in print telling unhappy fans that they were being immature or silly for being confused when major stories from the series were altered or ignored altogether.
2) Continuity on titles is rolling into interconnectivity of titles once more
Back in the bad old days, continuity also meant that if, say Spatula Man got a new hat in his own comic, when he appeared in League of Utensils the next month, there he'd be with his new hat. He might even comment on the new hat. And voila! Instead of one comic book you read, as these comics sort of bumped up against one another, you had this sort of vast tapestry of comics to pick from and see what was going on in different aspects of the same world, all telling different stories.
Recently DC has made a point of ensuring major characters guest in each other's comics and discuss events from multiple titles. (ex: Wonder Woman might show up in Superman comics and mention an event from JLA).
This not only assists in presenting a cohesive single view of events and characters in DC Comics, but it also reminds me of why I sort of thought comics were cool when I was a kid. Michael Chabon referred to the effect as "secret knowledge." Simply by being familiar with the comics, a whole separate ongoing and interesting world was constantly unfolding each month in each issue of each comic. And the ability to keep up with it gained you a unique perspective on teh tapestry as a whole.
It's also a good outlet for my OCD.
3) A Crisis Brewing?
DC has been trying to relive the colossal boom of Crisis on Infinite Earths since 1986. Crisis not only sold phenomenally well as an individual series, but helped sell through a lot of other comics being published.
What this took was a heck of a lot of coordination on the part of the DC staff to make sure all the comics could sensibly tie-in to Crisis.
DC would love to see a pile of comics in 2005, just like they did in 1986.
Hints of a crisis really began back in Superman/Batman #6 when Luthor got stomped by Superman and, in the epilogue, promised "a crisis!"
4) What does it all mean?
It means that not only have a few hints online suggested a new "Crisis" is brewing, but that with increased continuity across multiple comic titles and writers clearly working together, it's a lot of fun reading multiple DC comics right now.
It's not clear yet what the Crisis event is, but there have been hints of it everywhere from Superman/Batman to Teen Titans. Identity Crisis, the huge cross over event of 2004 appears to have been the first act in what the writers have planned.
I welcome folks to check out DC comics to see what's going on these days.
If NOT, I would redirect you to the All-Star titles which should be debuting this summer.
3) DC All-Stars for new and occasional readers
Recognizing that some of their comics have run since 1938, DC isn't pressing new readers to necessarily pick up the past 70 years of comics. They're releasing contained multi-issue stories with familiar story elements folks might expect picking up a DC comic.
I know I've harped on these before, but when they come out in a few months, I'd really encourage folks to pick them up. These'll be fun stories told by the absolute best in the superhero business.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Well, goodness, kids. It's been a while.
Got back a few hours ago from seeing "In Good Company". Not The League's preferred faire, but you know, if you eat bean burritos every day, eventually you're going to get sick of them.
Fairly decent flick, and when it slowed down I spaced and ogled Scarlett Johannsen.
The film tackles a lot of fairly mundane topics from the business world and attempts to bring them into sharp focus. I was feeling sort of squirmy that the story hinges completely on the fact that one of the central characters is a 26 year old who had risen to a seemingly unearned position of authority.
A few years ago when I started in my job, I suspect I may have been viewed with some of the same contempt by some who suspected my age. Luckily, I have the unfortunate issue of looking older than I actually am, and was able to sort of fly under the radar.
In the completely non cut-throat world of university staff, things like degrees earned and seniority are weighed with an amazing amount of import. So, I learned quickly to keep my non-Master's having mouth closed, and my non-30+ self safely age-agnostic. Occasionally it will come out that, yes, I am 29 (all too soon to be 30), and that, yes, I have no Master's degree (as if somehow I did something wrong by not obtaining a Masters). These are mini-powder kegs in the university environment, and it's best not to try to come across as a hot shot, or the weird lady from the registrar's office will come down on you like a ton of bricks when she decides you're getting too big for your britches.
Speaking of University work, I have been very busy with the projects I'm responsible for. I seriously clocked hours in the triple digits last week, and this week ran a little long as well. It's the first week of the semester, and that always means a circus in higher education.
I'm not really sure what the point of all of this is, except that I am, in fact, sort of back.
I think I probably missed some good stuff while I was out. I saw Bush got inaugurated, and that his flashing the "Hook 'Em Horns" sign was thought to be a sign of El Diablo in parts on Scandinavia and beyond. I actually would LOVE to find out some guy we elected twice was, in fact, in league with dark forces. It would at least make me understand a little bit more about how our world functions.
Saturday Night Live chose to jump on the "Hook 'Em Horns" thing with a skit involving Amy Poehler as Jenna Bush continually flashing the "Hook 'Em Horns". And then, in a sort of weird bit, the skit sort of made fun of UT in comparison to Yale, playing it off as a hick school. Which not only wasn't funny, but reminds me of why conservatives can't stand the mythic East Coast Liberals. Whether true or not, in their eyes, any and all things associated with Texas will forever be those of the unwashed and the crassness of the nouveau riche. So, you know, their University must be full of troglodytes who can barely wipe themselves.
Outside of Texas, you begin to realize, sure, folks from the East think all Texans are sort of mildly brain damaged, arrogant bastards. But folks from Arizona believe it, too. And, unfortunately, Texans all too infrequently are able to give anyone any reason than to think that maybe it is a state run by yokels and red necks.
I do get tired of the knowing nods and shit-eating smirks when I am asked where I came from before Arizona. You do spend a lot of time saying "Well, not everybody is like that."
"But it is like that," folks counter with.
"Yeah, well," I say, rubbing my eyes. "There's usually a grain of truth to most of what you suspect."
I think people, at least people in Arizona, have a sort of hard time understanding what a vast state Texas is, and how the geographic regions are, in fact, quite different culturally.
"I always thought everyone from Texas was a racist," a co-worker asked me. That's how she put it: I thought everyone from Texas was a racist.
"No."
"Isn't that where they dragged the guy behind the truck?"
"Yeah."
But you're not going to go down to Houston and find that happening. Or Dallas, or Midland. It was butt-assed nowhere Texas, in atown nobody had ever even heard of until some drunk bastards decided that night was the night to show that thousands of years of civilization means nothing when you think nobody is going to catch you. But it's Texas. And try and tell anyone that Vidor is not San Antonio, and you're wasting your breath.
"You've been to Waco?" folks ask me.
"Yeah," I say. "And no, I never saw any Davidians. Just Baptists."
"That was weird. What did they do with the site?"
"First of all, it's not actually in Waco. It's outside of town. Waco is a little weird, but the Davidians were not in Waco. And I think some extreme libertarians bought the land and they're rebuilding the compound on it."
This is always met with blank stares.
"Texas," I assure them, "Is a weird place to live."
You do not hear about people in Maine having problems with 51 day cult stand-offs. You do not have a show called "Cleveland" about people sporting fake Ohio accents and dressing in cartoonish Ohioan outfits that still runs overseas. New York State is never confused with New York City. Possibly California and New Jersey carry some of the same weight each time they declare their statehood. And when I state I am from Texas, people (and I mean maybe 30% of the time) think it's okay to say "I'm sorry!" and then laugh about it. Like, you know, you KNOW you should be ashamed, right?
Right. Because here in Arizona you have so much more to live for.
Got back a few hours ago from seeing "In Good Company". Not The League's preferred faire, but you know, if you eat bean burritos every day, eventually you're going to get sick of them.
Fairly decent flick, and when it slowed down I spaced and ogled Scarlett Johannsen.
The film tackles a lot of fairly mundane topics from the business world and attempts to bring them into sharp focus. I was feeling sort of squirmy that the story hinges completely on the fact that one of the central characters is a 26 year old who had risen to a seemingly unearned position of authority.
A few years ago when I started in my job, I suspect I may have been viewed with some of the same contempt by some who suspected my age. Luckily, I have the unfortunate issue of looking older than I actually am, and was able to sort of fly under the radar.
In the completely non cut-throat world of university staff, things like degrees earned and seniority are weighed with an amazing amount of import. So, I learned quickly to keep my non-Master's having mouth closed, and my non-30+ self safely age-agnostic. Occasionally it will come out that, yes, I am 29 (all too soon to be 30), and that, yes, I have no Master's degree (as if somehow I did something wrong by not obtaining a Masters). These are mini-powder kegs in the university environment, and it's best not to try to come across as a hot shot, or the weird lady from the registrar's office will come down on you like a ton of bricks when she decides you're getting too big for your britches.
Speaking of University work, I have been very busy with the projects I'm responsible for. I seriously clocked hours in the triple digits last week, and this week ran a little long as well. It's the first week of the semester, and that always means a circus in higher education.
I'm not really sure what the point of all of this is, except that I am, in fact, sort of back.
I think I probably missed some good stuff while I was out. I saw Bush got inaugurated, and that his flashing the "Hook 'Em Horns" sign was thought to be a sign of El Diablo in parts on Scandinavia and beyond. I actually would LOVE to find out some guy we elected twice was, in fact, in league with dark forces. It would at least make me understand a little bit more about how our world functions.
Saturday Night Live chose to jump on the "Hook 'Em Horns" thing with a skit involving Amy Poehler as Jenna Bush continually flashing the "Hook 'Em Horns". And then, in a sort of weird bit, the skit sort of made fun of UT in comparison to Yale, playing it off as a hick school. Which not only wasn't funny, but reminds me of why conservatives can't stand the mythic East Coast Liberals. Whether true or not, in their eyes, any and all things associated with Texas will forever be those of the unwashed and the crassness of the nouveau riche. So, you know, their University must be full of troglodytes who can barely wipe themselves.
Outside of Texas, you begin to realize, sure, folks from the East think all Texans are sort of mildly brain damaged, arrogant bastards. But folks from Arizona believe it, too. And, unfortunately, Texans all too infrequently are able to give anyone any reason than to think that maybe it is a state run by yokels and red necks.
I do get tired of the knowing nods and shit-eating smirks when I am asked where I came from before Arizona. You do spend a lot of time saying "Well, not everybody is like that."
"But it is like that," folks counter with.
"Yeah, well," I say, rubbing my eyes. "There's usually a grain of truth to most of what you suspect."
I think people, at least people in Arizona, have a sort of hard time understanding what a vast state Texas is, and how the geographic regions are, in fact, quite different culturally.
"I always thought everyone from Texas was a racist," a co-worker asked me. That's how she put it: I thought everyone from Texas was a racist.
"No."
"Isn't that where they dragged the guy behind the truck?"
"Yeah."
But you're not going to go down to Houston and find that happening. Or Dallas, or Midland. It was butt-assed nowhere Texas, in atown nobody had ever even heard of until some drunk bastards decided that night was the night to show that thousands of years of civilization means nothing when you think nobody is going to catch you. But it's Texas. And try and tell anyone that Vidor is not San Antonio, and you're wasting your breath.
"You've been to Waco?" folks ask me.
"Yeah," I say. "And no, I never saw any Davidians. Just Baptists."
"That was weird. What did they do with the site?"
"First of all, it's not actually in Waco. It's outside of town. Waco is a little weird, but the Davidians were not in Waco. And I think some extreme libertarians bought the land and they're rebuilding the compound on it."
This is always met with blank stares.
"Texas," I assure them, "Is a weird place to live."
You do not hear about people in Maine having problems with 51 day cult stand-offs. You do not have a show called "Cleveland" about people sporting fake Ohio accents and dressing in cartoonish Ohioan outfits that still runs overseas. New York State is never confused with New York City. Possibly California and New Jersey carry some of the same weight each time they declare their statehood. And when I state I am from Texas, people (and I mean maybe 30% of the time) think it's okay to say "I'm sorry!" and then laugh about it. Like, you know, you KNOW you should be ashamed, right?
Right. Because here in Arizona you have so much more to live for.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Sunday, January 16, 2005
By the way, the League is thrilled to see that nobody much wanted to see the Elektra movie released by Marvel Studios.
Elektra was introduced by Frank Miller into Daredevil comics back when having hordes of ninjas in your comics seemed like a swell idea. Miller's Daredevil/ Elektra stories still hold up very well. THe trick is, at the end of these stories, Elektra pretty much took a dirt nap.
So long, Elektra.
Elektra's best appearance was in a spin-off limited series called "Elektra: Assassin", a comic which featured cyborgs, ninjas, shady government agents, blue alien dwarfs and massive government conspiracies.
(ed. note: It appears Marvel actually let Elektra: Assassin go out of print again prior to the release of the movie. Fearing, I guess, that somebody might find some interesting Elektra material out there.)
On top of this, the incomparable Bill Sienkiewicz illuistrated the comic, creating an 80's pop art masterpiece, the likes of which have barely been seen since.
it is important to note that Elektra's one big character trait in the Miller-scribed Elektra comics was that Elektra was completely nuts. She might kiss you, she might shove a sai through your ear. THe point in the Daredevil comics was that Daredevil falls for the wrong kind of dame. In the Elektra: Assassin comics, the point was that their was method to her madness.
Once Marvel Comics and Frank Miller had parted ways, Marvel decided Elektra was too hot of a property to pass up. Unfortunately, virtually nobody at Marvel seemed to know how to handle the character. In the late 90's, when Bill Jemas took over the reigns at Marvel, he decided to reinvigorate Elektra by hiring Greg Horn to do cheesecake Elektra covers on the lackluster comic series, and give lonely comic nerds a sort of fetish idol of their own.
Even more bizarre, Jemas tried to market Elektra as a sort of spokesmodel to the highest bidder. So, you know, if Guess Jeans wanted Greg Horn to paint Elektra in Guess Jeans, there she'd be. It seems as if the idea never took off.
Just to add to the bizarre-o universe which jemas was creating, Marvel had a spin-off company which would allow you to hire actors in their characters' costumes to come to your mall opening or birthday party or whatever. So, one of the characters you could invite was blood thirsty, S&M ninja Elektra. 'Cause that's always fun at your birthday party, right after you blow out the candles.
The Daredevil movie decided to capitalize upon the popularity of the Elektra storyline from the 80's Daredevil comics and included TV's only spy played by a Peep, Jennifer Garner.
The Daredevil movie, of course, managed to utilize the important plot points from the Daredevil comics while managing to drain any life from the story. Meanwhile, it managed to ham & cheese up what parts it did keep, making Elektra both unbelievalby boring and kind of a dullard.
I am pleased to see that the rest of the country also seemed to believe an Elektra spin-off film was a terrible idea (it grossed a whopping $12.5 million, comin in #5 this weekend at the box office). Funny how people aren't that interested in a story which is apparently pulled from patchwork bits of Marvel Comics' B and C list of characters.
Unfortunately, from what I hear, the Marvel movie I was looking forward to, The Fantastic Four, released it's first trailer with Elektra and is looking to be a big old stinker along the lines of Daredevil. Maybe rushing these things out wasn't the best option for anybody.
I would have loved to have seen somebody try to tackle the Elektra: Assassin story into a movie, but that's not going to happen. So, until then, I'll just hold onto my comics and enjoy them all the more.
Elektra was introduced by Frank Miller into Daredevil comics back when having hordes of ninjas in your comics seemed like a swell idea. Miller's Daredevil/ Elektra stories still hold up very well. THe trick is, at the end of these stories, Elektra pretty much took a dirt nap.
So long, Elektra.
Elektra's best appearance was in a spin-off limited series called "Elektra: Assassin", a comic which featured cyborgs, ninjas, shady government agents, blue alien dwarfs and massive government conspiracies.
(ed. note: It appears Marvel actually let Elektra: Assassin go out of print again prior to the release of the movie. Fearing, I guess, that somebody might find some interesting Elektra material out there.)
On top of this, the incomparable Bill Sienkiewicz illuistrated the comic, creating an 80's pop art masterpiece, the likes of which have barely been seen since.
it is important to note that Elektra's one big character trait in the Miller-scribed Elektra comics was that Elektra was completely nuts. She might kiss you, she might shove a sai through your ear. THe point in the Daredevil comics was that Daredevil falls for the wrong kind of dame. In the Elektra: Assassin comics, the point was that their was method to her madness.
Once Marvel Comics and Frank Miller had parted ways, Marvel decided Elektra was too hot of a property to pass up. Unfortunately, virtually nobody at Marvel seemed to know how to handle the character. In the late 90's, when Bill Jemas took over the reigns at Marvel, he decided to reinvigorate Elektra by hiring Greg Horn to do cheesecake Elektra covers on the lackluster comic series, and give lonely comic nerds a sort of fetish idol of their own.
Even more bizarre, Jemas tried to market Elektra as a sort of spokesmodel to the highest bidder. So, you know, if Guess Jeans wanted Greg Horn to paint Elektra in Guess Jeans, there she'd be. It seems as if the idea never took off.
Just to add to the bizarre-o universe which jemas was creating, Marvel had a spin-off company which would allow you to hire actors in their characters' costumes to come to your mall opening or birthday party or whatever. So, one of the characters you could invite was blood thirsty, S&M ninja Elektra. 'Cause that's always fun at your birthday party, right after you blow out the candles.
The Daredevil movie decided to capitalize upon the popularity of the Elektra storyline from the 80's Daredevil comics and included TV's only spy played by a Peep, Jennifer Garner.
The Daredevil movie, of course, managed to utilize the important plot points from the Daredevil comics while managing to drain any life from the story. Meanwhile, it managed to ham & cheese up what parts it did keep, making Elektra both unbelievalby boring and kind of a dullard.
I am pleased to see that the rest of the country also seemed to believe an Elektra spin-off film was a terrible idea (it grossed a whopping $12.5 million, comin in #5 this weekend at the box office). Funny how people aren't that interested in a story which is apparently pulled from patchwork bits of Marvel Comics' B and C list of characters.
Unfortunately, from what I hear, the Marvel movie I was looking forward to, The Fantastic Four, released it's first trailer with Elektra and is looking to be a big old stinker along the lines of Daredevil. Maybe rushing these things out wasn't the best option for anybody.
I would have loved to have seen somebody try to tackle the Elektra: Assassin story into a movie, but that's not going to happen. So, until then, I'll just hold onto my comics and enjoy them all the more.
Just popping my head up once again to prove that The League still has a pulse.
This week has been a rough one. I'm not quite done and from Monday to today, will have logged somewhere over 110 hours at the office this week. I am feeling sort of tired.
I more or less completely missed a visit by Mrs. League's folks, and am only now beginning to remember what the light of day looks like.
One of the oddest parts of what I'm up to is that, if all goes well, there won't be much to show for my work. A few pieces of hardware will be added in, but the idea is to make as seamless an environment at possible for the faculty and students using the classrooms we've been outfitting. They SHOULDN'T see the miles of wire laid, the thousands of connections, nor the place in the wall where I stood banging my head for two hours when my DVRs STILL didn't show up.
I'm not feeling terribly confident that I'll still be employed this time next month, but, hey, at least we sort of finished. Now I'm off to do the work which I SHOULD have normally been doing over the past two weeks, and try and get it done before Tuesday when classes begin.
This week has been a rough one. I'm not quite done and from Monday to today, will have logged somewhere over 110 hours at the office this week. I am feeling sort of tired.
I more or less completely missed a visit by Mrs. League's folks, and am only now beginning to remember what the light of day looks like.
One of the oddest parts of what I'm up to is that, if all goes well, there won't be much to show for my work. A few pieces of hardware will be added in, but the idea is to make as seamless an environment at possible for the faculty and students using the classrooms we've been outfitting. They SHOULDN'T see the miles of wire laid, the thousands of connections, nor the place in the wall where I stood banging my head for two hours when my DVRs STILL didn't show up.
I'm not feeling terribly confident that I'll still be employed this time next month, but, hey, at least we sort of finished. Now I'm off to do the work which I SHOULD have normally been doing over the past two weeks, and try and get it done before Tuesday when classes begin.
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