Geek Links of Note
How the Mandarin could possibly work in IRON MAN 3, and why it's okay to hate Tony Stark. Even if you take out the Yellow Peril racefail issues, one still has to wonder how distinctly magical elements would jive after the first two IM movies.
If handled well, I could see it working. What better way to frustrate Tony Stark than with magic, something he has absolutely zero concept of understanding? It'd be like Waid's FANTASTIC FOUR Dr. Doom story, only, y'know, without ruining Dr. Doom. Of course, there's still the concerns of racefail. Which brings me to...
"Why I Won't Be Watching the THE LAST AIRBENDER movie," by Gene Luen Yang of AMERICAN BORN CHINESE. I've made it to the third season of the original Nickelodeon show, and I'm blown away by how great it is. Witty as hell, marvelously complex characters who have actual arcs, stunning action, and compelling storylines.
I haven't loved a cartoon like this since JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, and I was already dreading to see it from the trailers, which seem to indicate that M. Night has sucked all of the fun and life out to turn it into a self-serious action epic. But that just clinches that I won't be seeing it at all.
Three Arguments We Could Be Having (about comics). Number two is most relevant to my recent post about the "Girlfriend Section" of the comic shop, but as a fan and writer, I'm most intrigued and thinky about number three: "What Are All These Superhero Comics Really Saying?" Because at their heart, you'd think the most they could be about would be the struggle of good vs. evil, but most comics don't seem to have anything to actually say about it.
It reminds me about one of the reasons Alan Moore dislikes BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, because he--as I understand it--thinks all the themes and character and drama amounted to saying nothing of value that applied to anyone but Batman and the Joker. Many writers seem to feel this way, that superheroes can't be used to say something of literary value.
But while I have my own problems with TKJ, I have to disagree with Moore. I think stories like that say something about the human condition, and even if it's a flawed hypothesis, it's still one that can resonate and provoke thought and discussion. I believe in the power of superhero comics to do this, but I don't know how many fans and/or writers do, or if they'd even care.
If handled well, I could see it working. What better way to frustrate Tony Stark than with magic, something he has absolutely zero concept of understanding? It'd be like Waid's FANTASTIC FOUR Dr. Doom story, only, y'know, without ruining Dr. Doom. Of course, there's still the concerns of racefail. Which brings me to...
"Why I Won't Be Watching the THE LAST AIRBENDER movie," by Gene Luen Yang of AMERICAN BORN CHINESE. I've made it to the third season of the original Nickelodeon show, and I'm blown away by how great it is. Witty as hell, marvelously complex characters who have actual arcs, stunning action, and compelling storylines.
I haven't loved a cartoon like this since JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, and I was already dreading to see it from the trailers, which seem to indicate that M. Night has sucked all of the fun and life out to turn it into a self-serious action epic. But that just clinches that I won't be seeing it at all.
Three Arguments We Could Be Having (about comics). Number two is most relevant to my recent post about the "Girlfriend Section" of the comic shop, but as a fan and writer, I'm most intrigued and thinky about number three: "What Are All These Superhero Comics Really Saying?" Because at their heart, you'd think the most they could be about would be the struggle of good vs. evil, but most comics don't seem to have anything to actually say about it.
It reminds me about one of the reasons Alan Moore dislikes BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, because he--as I understand it--thinks all the themes and character and drama amounted to saying nothing of value that applied to anyone but Batman and the Joker. Many writers seem to feel this way, that superheroes can't be used to say something of literary value.
But while I have my own problems with TKJ, I have to disagree with Moore. I think stories like that say something about the human condition, and even if it's a flawed hypothesis, it's still one that can resonate and provoke thought and discussion. I believe in the power of superhero comics to do this, but I don't know how many fans and/or writers do, or if they'd even care.