Breaking Chains
► My sister is going to make me start drinking...
► Huh, that was a surprise! As a fluke the other day I bid on a loose (out of the package) "Star Wars Unleashed" Slave Leia action figure set. I was quickly outbid and thought nothing of it, until earlier today I noticed there hadn't been any further bidding. So as a lark I entered a new bid, bringing the price up to $16, expecting to be sniped by the end (especially after losing everything else I really wanted this past week). To my pleasant surprise, I wasn't.
Looks like I'm finally going to have the Slave Leia figure I always wanted! I imagine I'll be getting it in 2-3 weeks, so I'll be looking forward to that.
► Janitor finds mentally disabled people locked in basement; 3 arrested - Evil does exist in the world, and the monsters are all too human. It's a truism that only humans are capable of inhumanity.
Just for the record, I'm not sure how appropriate it is to post and comment on an article about actual people being chained and imprisoned in a basement after talking about winning a toy glorifying bondage and slavery, and before several rants about comic book stuff. But there you have it.
► NYCC EXCLUSIVE: Giffen & Jurgens Make the Leap to "Superman" - George Perez's Superman #1 was fine, and I liked how it brought back a lot of the "modernizing" changes from the 1970s Bronze Age Superman comics, but I didn't like how the character of Superman came off in the issue. Grant Morrison is writing a much younger, brasher, and really a more ballsy vigilante, but he still had the inherent nobleness and inner calm of what we expect from Superman. Issue #2 of Morrison's Action Comics featured Lex Luthor and the US military viciously torturing a captured Superman through most of the issue, yet when he makes his escape, Superman is more laughing and smiley and playful than violent or vindictive. The Superman in Perez's issue number one was a much moodier, angry, and simply arrogant character. I know it's a matter of degree, but the character just seemed slightly off, and I was happy to hear that Dan Jurgens and Keith Giffen were going to take over the title. With all the drastic changes going on in the character history and status quo, the central character himself of Superman needs to stay at least consistent with who Superman essentially is (even if he is now younger and brasher and bolder). Morrison is the creator who most gets and understands the character (as seen in his runs on JLA and All-Star Superman), but I'd put Jurgens high on that list of creators who "get Superman" too. So I feel a hell of a lot more reassured about the reboot now.
Even more so after reading this:Jurgens: I think one of the things I want to get to here is Keith and I have known each other a long time but we've never worked together much. What we do have is a shared sensibility about what makes a good comic book, and there is that sort of sensibility that we want to bring to "Superman." I think both of us share the idea that "Superman" has to be a bigger than life, sweeping adventure, really big scope kind of a book because that's what Superman has power wise, that's who he is. That's not to say that Superman is so powerful that every foe he fights has to be able to duke it out with him for twenty pages. It's to say that Superman is a product of imagination that I think warrants that kind of big sweeping concepts and stories.
Giffen: And of course used as a point-counterpoint to the moments where he's Clark Kent. Clark Kent will build character and Superman will hopefully just build excitement.
So glad to read that.
► NYCC: DC unveils cover for second volume of Superman: Earth One - I really do not like this modern emphasis to depict Superman on covers and pin ups as some kind of raging, red-eyed angry Old Testament god of death and destruction. The vast majority of drawings I see of Superman for auction on Ebay have him gnashing his teeth or screaming and raining down violence and destruction like an unbalanced lunatic. This is why I'll continue to ask for him to be smiling pleasantly if and when I commission drawings of Supes.
Speaking of which...
► NYCC: DC Comics All Access Superman - From the Superman panel at the comic con:Adding that he thought romance and adventure were part and parcel with traditional Superman stories, to differentiate the second "Earth One" [artist Shane] Davis told the audience, "Instead of romance and adventure we're going to try a little sex and violence!"
Ugh... What was it I said above?
This makes me think of Craig Ferguson's song tribute to Doctor Who, and how it sums up a lot of my feelings for Superman: "It's all about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism." There's as much benevolent Moses figure and Arthurian romance in Superman as Herculean hero and sun god.
Quote of the Moment
Arthur: Now, once more, I must ride with my knights to defend what was, and the dream of what could be.
- Excalibur (1981)
Drinking: Canada Dry ginger ale
Eating: tourtière (French Canadian meat pie; thanks Nanny!)
► Huh, that was a surprise! As a fluke the other day I bid on a loose (out of the package) "Star Wars Unleashed" Slave Leia action figure set. I was quickly outbid and thought nothing of it, until earlier today I noticed there hadn't been any further bidding. So as a lark I entered a new bid, bringing the price up to $16, expecting to be sniped by the end (especially after losing everything else I really wanted this past week). To my pleasant surprise, I wasn't.
Looks like I'm finally going to have the Slave Leia figure I always wanted! I imagine I'll be getting it in 2-3 weeks, so I'll be looking forward to that.
► Janitor finds mentally disabled people locked in basement; 3 arrested - Evil does exist in the world, and the monsters are all too human. It's a truism that only humans are capable of inhumanity.
Just for the record, I'm not sure how appropriate it is to post and comment on an article about actual people being chained and imprisoned in a basement after talking about winning a toy glorifying bondage and slavery, and before several rants about comic book stuff. But there you have it.
► NYCC EXCLUSIVE: Giffen & Jurgens Make the Leap to "Superman" - George Perez's Superman #1 was fine, and I liked how it brought back a lot of the "modernizing" changes from the 1970s Bronze Age Superman comics, but I didn't like how the character of Superman came off in the issue. Grant Morrison is writing a much younger, brasher, and really a more ballsy vigilante, but he still had the inherent nobleness and inner calm of what we expect from Superman. Issue #2 of Morrison's Action Comics featured Lex Luthor and the US military viciously torturing a captured Superman through most of the issue, yet when he makes his escape, Superman is more laughing and smiley and playful than violent or vindictive. The Superman in Perez's issue number one was a much moodier, angry, and simply arrogant character. I know it's a matter of degree, but the character just seemed slightly off, and I was happy to hear that Dan Jurgens and Keith Giffen were going to take over the title. With all the drastic changes going on in the character history and status quo, the central character himself of Superman needs to stay at least consistent with who Superman essentially is (even if he is now younger and brasher and bolder). Morrison is the creator who most gets and understands the character (as seen in his runs on JLA and All-Star Superman), but I'd put Jurgens high on that list of creators who "get Superman" too. So I feel a hell of a lot more reassured about the reboot now.
Even more so after reading this:Jurgens: I think one of the things I want to get to here is Keith and I have known each other a long time but we've never worked together much. What we do have is a shared sensibility about what makes a good comic book, and there is that sort of sensibility that we want to bring to "Superman." I think both of us share the idea that "Superman" has to be a bigger than life, sweeping adventure, really big scope kind of a book because that's what Superman has power wise, that's who he is. That's not to say that Superman is so powerful that every foe he fights has to be able to duke it out with him for twenty pages. It's to say that Superman is a product of imagination that I think warrants that kind of big sweeping concepts and stories.
Giffen: And of course used as a point-counterpoint to the moments where he's Clark Kent. Clark Kent will build character and Superman will hopefully just build excitement.
So glad to read that.
► NYCC: DC unveils cover for second volume of Superman: Earth One - I really do not like this modern emphasis to depict Superman on covers and pin ups as some kind of raging, red-eyed angry Old Testament god of death and destruction. The vast majority of drawings I see of Superman for auction on Ebay have him gnashing his teeth or screaming and raining down violence and destruction like an unbalanced lunatic. This is why I'll continue to ask for him to be smiling pleasantly if and when I commission drawings of Supes.
Speaking of which...
► NYCC: DC Comics All Access Superman - From the Superman panel at the comic con:Adding that he thought romance and adventure were part and parcel with traditional Superman stories, to differentiate the second "Earth One" [artist Shane] Davis told the audience, "Instead of romance and adventure we're going to try a little sex and violence!"
Ugh... What was it I said above?
This makes me think of Craig Ferguson's song tribute to Doctor Who, and how it sums up a lot of my feelings for Superman: "It's all about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism." There's as much benevolent Moses figure and Arthurian romance in Superman as Herculean hero and sun god.
Quote of the Moment
Arthur: Now, once more, I must ride with my knights to defend what was, and the dream of what could be.
- Excalibur (1981)
Drinking: Canada Dry ginger ale
Eating: tourtière (French Canadian meat pie; thanks Nanny!)