I’m glad the days of Fredrick Wertham are behind us, where paranoids found dirty drawings in every nook and cranny. And I really have no problem with the realism in comic art today, where artists take it to draw every zipper and seam in a costume (or uniform, if you’d prefer).
But I was reading Uncanny X-Men #534.1 and came across this panel…
…and I can’t help but think that’s no seam. I have no idea how this made it into a Marvel comic.
Whether you’re a well-established reader, looking for the chance to sample something new, or looking to introduce a new reader, don’t pass up the opportunity!
You CANNOT beat that price!
I’m pretty bad about reading webcomics. Sure, I know they’re the big new thing, but with so much other stuff to keep track of online they wind up on the bottom of my surfing pile. Ironically, I tend to pick them up when the print collections come out because, obviously, I do everything the wrong way.
And so it is with Kate Beaton’s webcomic Hark! A Vagrant, which I just recently snagged after hearing too many good things about it to keep ignoring. And sure, there are the occasional superhero gags, like this great one about my buddy Aquaman:
But it’s just as likely to be about Canadian historical figures and Victorian literature, as evidenced by this amazing strip based around Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” At first I thought I had to be misreading something, or misremembering some long-ago reading assignment but no, Beaton went there. And thank goodness she did, because there aren’t nearly enough comics that appeal to the literary nerd in me and still manage to be outright hilarious.
While there’s likely a chance the literary/historical focus could alienate some readers who are more into comics featuring Final Fantasy sprites, I found it a breath of fresh air. Much like R. Sikoryak’s Masterpiece Comics, I found the pieces much easier to appreciate when I was familiar with the material they reference, but still easy to follow and get the joke even if I didn’t know the Canadian politician in question or (I know, I know) read Jane Eyre.
Please, check out Hark! A Vagrant. Besides, unless you’re weird like me, it’s free!
As regular readers know, I’ve been pretty pumped about the Denver Comic Con (two words, thank you) and Literary Convention, set to come to the Mile High City in June. We got the chance to chat with Matt Deragisch, DCC’s Social Media Coordinator, to talk about the con, the literary conference, and try twisting his arm into giving us a guest exclusive.
L.E.M.U.R. – There have been plenty of hotel cons and indie gatherings in the Denver area, but as far as I know this is the first time anyone has tried to put together something of this size and scope. Why is now the right time for a large-scale convention in Denver and how did DCC come about?
Matt Deragisch – Now is the right time for this kind of comic convention because the comic scene in the greater Denver area and Colorado at large has been brewing. It’s time to showcase that body of interest. There’s so many different angles and interests that come from the people organizing this convention, yet they all share the same passion for comics. That’s the place this convention is coming from as it’s all to support the Comic Book Classroom.
L.E.M.U.R. – Since the con is a fundraiser for it, what is Comic Book Classroom?
MD – Comic Book Classroom is a 6 week curriculum where students learn to read or advance their reading proficiency through the use of comics then are tasked to create a comic themselves. CBC uses state standards and has put together a curriculum that is being asked for across the state, and starting to be asked for outside the state faster than materials and teachers can be tapped. There’s clearly a need and a desire for this program and part of Denver Comic Con is to showcase that.
L.E.M.U.R. – Comic conventions are no longer only the province of San Diego or Chicago. Other than a good cause, what will DCC offer that no other con has?
MD – Passion. We’re not another ReedPOP convention, or a simple vendor floor convention now in Denver. Those cons are great as well, but at the end of the day everything they’re doing is to throw a great show and make some money. We also want to have a great show, but we’re raising money for Comic Book Classroom, nobody behind this con will directly make any money from Denver Comic Con. We care about comics, we care about the program we’re promoting. We care about putting together the best show we can possibly give Denver. I think our attendees will feel that difference come June.
L.E.M.U.R. – Most people think of comic cons as just a fun weekend, but there’s also a literary conference attached to this one. What was the motivation behind adding the literary component, and what is the goal of those three days? Is it a lit conference attached to a con or is it the other way around?
MD – The Literary Conference is its own animal. It takes place June 13-15, Wednesday through Friday, while the Convention will 15-17 Friday through Sunday. Dr. Christina Angel has been the real heart and soul of the Literary Conference. I think it’s great that we can have this component as well, to show the literary potential held in comics. With this conference in one hand and supporting the Comic Book Classroom in the other, all being headed by Denver Comic Con, we really embody this full argument that comics are a noteworthy medium. We can get people reading with comics, they can be great forms of entertainment and fanfare, then we can show that they have the same potential for artistic and literary creativity as any other medium.
Good luck talking to Jason Aaron; I'll be the one hogging all his time asking questions about Shark Rider.
L.E.M.U.R. – What kind of community/retailer involvement do you have lined up?
MD – We are working very closely with local retailers to make sure this convention will be as successful as it can be. We know that our first line of interest, and our most vocal supporters will be all the local comic book stores. Ideally we can make a big enough spark locally to garner some new customers as well, and that’s what the retailers are hoping for, it creates a great synergy. We’re even working with locally started Drawer Boxes to make the most of what the local scene can offer.
We’re tied to the community beyond that though. We have ties to the Denver Drink and Draw, and to Homebrew Comics from Boulder. There’s a lot of different people from different walks of life working to make sure this convention succeeds.
L.E.M.U.R. – Which panels are you looking forward to the most?
MD – I’m going to break form on this question and answer this personally, as we’ll be covering so much fandom between our animation, media, and comic guests. If you look closely we have an amazing line of Vertigo talent and seeing if we can fit all of that talent in one room would be a blast. Also Zach Howard who’s a local talent did the art for an amazing IDW mini, “The Cape” and having the opportunity to hear him talk about that process is something I’m looking forward to.
Come get your mint-in-box Star Trek: The Next Generation Wesley Crusher action figure signed...
L.E.M.U.R. – What kind of experience can fans expect on the convention floor? Publishers? Retailers? Pros?
MD – You’ll see the Retailers, Pros, local artists, and a little bit more. Despite everything we’re still a first year con. We’ve had a lot of interest and it’s been one of our hardest struggles to try and get publishers on the floor. We have a great deal lined up and are fitting in everything we can, I feel positive that we’ll have something lined up by the convention weekend. Something you can expect to see is the graduates of the Comic Book Classroom on the floor signing their work side by side with the pros.
L.E.M.U.R. – What are you most looking forward to showcasing?
MD – The community. Having lived in Colorado my entire life it always felt odd that Denver didn’t have a big comic convention. Having the chance to show that there is a community and there is an interest here in Colorado is huge, and it feels like a victory to see this whole event coming together.
L.E.M.U.R. – There have been several big-name guests announced from all areas: Jason Aaron, Mike Allred, Billy West, Wil Wheaton…Can we convince you to tell us someone who hasn’t been announced yet?
MD – I wish! I really do, but when we announce and how we announce guests can be ‘a thing’ with agents and contracts involved.
While he’s already been announced I can say our most overlooked guest is Noah Van Sciver He has a graphic novel about Lincoln coming out soon called, “The Hypo”. He also has an amazing indy comic series named “Blammo”. He’s even still turning out weekly strips for the Westword, well worth your time to check out his work.
Denver Comic Con runs June 15-17 and the Literary Convention is June 13-15. Tickets, guest lists, and more info can be found at denvercomiccon.com. For the latest breaking info, follow @DenverComicCon on Twitter and hit their page on Facebook.
I’ve done a little shilling for the Denver Comic Con in these pages lately (June 15-17, get your tickets now!), but there’s something else comic-related happening this summer. Cellar Door, a Denver literary anthology, is releasing an all-comic issue timed to come out around the convention. Titled (and themed) “Ancient,” you’ll see work by some great and committed Denver-area cartoonists. If you’re able to track down a copy, you’ll also see a 9-page story titled “What REALLY Happened to the Seven Wonders of the World,” drawn by FotB Andrew with words by me. It’s a humorous (hopefully!) look at what destroyed mankind’s greatest engineering marvels, and if nothing else it will be amazing to look at.
There’s also a Kickstarter going on to help defray printing costs, which is worth checking out for a little more backstory on the project and the opportunity to snag a copy once it comes out, potentially for less than cover price.
Geoff Johns, now DC’s Chief Creative Officer, has expended a considerable amount of time and effort restoring the DCU to what he remembers and loved as a kid. And good for him! He did the work, came up through the ranks, excelled at his craft, and wound up in a position to guide DC to what he likes best. However, it does open the door for every other fan and DC-lover to do the same thing. When we (inevitably!) become the CCO we’ll do the same thing. As a sneak peak, here’s a preview of the things we’ll do to restore DC to what we remember as kids.
See, I didn’t start reading DC books until ’92 or ’93 with the death and return of Superman. There actually aren’t many good memories of DC when I was a kid to which I’d want to return, but there are somethings I’d do responsibly with my great power.
Fifty-State Initiative. It allows for more interesting backdrops, more characters to get spotlight, and gives other areas of the DCU such a time to shine. To this end, Max Lord isn’t a villain anymore, either. He was such a good bureaucratic good guy, a character we just don’t ever see. And much like the (Marvel) Sandman’s return to villainy from heroism, it doesn’t feel right. We’ve seen too many of his inner thoughts to buy that.
I’ve mentioned this before, but maybe someone will listen if I say it often enough. Captain Marvel and company need their own universe to play around in. It’s got to be a more timeless place. A modern setting doesn’t work, and being forced into a universe where dark psychotic killers exist turns Cap into drab generic punch’em-up kind of guy. A kid that turns into a grown up when he/ she utters a magic word is an idea that appeals to pre-teens because of its silliness and it’s wish fulfillment. A Captain Marvel book needs to be written with the same sensibility as Spongebob Squarepants or a Tex Avery cartoon. Silly and strange should be the order of the day when it comes to Captain Marvel.
rotating foci. While every hero or team is someone’s favorite, not all characters can support their own title. The New 52′s DC Universe Presents is an opportunity to… dare I say it… showcase characters and stories of this nature. But, why not do more? Bring back Mystery in Space and cast a wider net. Give the fans their Space Cabby, ULTRA, The Multi-Alien, Adam Strange, and others. What about a House of Mystery or a similar title for darker/ magical characters? Not only would I shuffle characters, I’d shuffle creators often. I’d use anthologies as an incentive to bring over and keep creative talent. It’s an opportunity for creators of on-going titles as well as new talent to play with more toys from the box. The only stricture would be to stay away from characters that currently have their own title.We here at the L.E.M.U.R. Comics Blog are pretty psyched that this summer Denver is going to be hosting it’s first major con. Sure, there have been small hotel cons here, but it’s a good sign (both for Denver and the comic industry) that someone is trying to put on a major convention in the Mile High City, and the guest announcements they’ve been making keep looking better and better.
So we’ll be running a banner for them until the convention (June 15-17), and I hope you’ll check them out on Twitter (@DenverComicCon) or use the hashtag #DenCon.
Friend of the Blog Andrew pointed this out while I was picking up comics over the weekend.
Here’s a panel on page 24 of Prophet #21, by Simon Roy:
Here’s the alternate cover of Prophet #21, by Rob Liefeld:
Whether you’re scrambling of last minute Christmas, Festivus, or Hanukkah gifts or trying to figure out how to spend gift money, we’ve got some really solid suggestions for that comic book enthusiast in your life.
Collections and Trades
I’m a bit of a history/ science nerd, so I’m going to start by recommending everything published by G.T. Labs. Jim Ottaviani’s graphic novels tend to gravitate toward the people and events around the Manhattan Project, but don’t let that dissuade you. He weaves a good narrative without being dry. He finds the heart in all of the people involved, often taking side trips into interesting anecdotes. As important, he typically has really solid artistic talent backing his stories: Steve Lieber, Gene Colan, Jeff Parker, Colleen Doran, Ramona Fradon, and Guy Davis to name a few. The most recent of G.T. Labs’s releases is a look at the career of that eminently entertaining physicist: Richard Feynman. These are well put together stories even if you’re not that into comics but maybe a fan of science and history.
We’re pretty big fans of Michael Kupperman here, so I was thrilled to get a copy of Mark Twain’s Autobiography (1910-2010), but also a bit concerned. Kupperman’s writing style is uniquely suited for his cartooning, but I was worried about how it would translate to prose. I need not have worried, though, as his tight prose is as full of madcap ideas as his best cartoons. Whether it’s working in an ad agency after World War II, shrinking down to ant size with Albert Einstein, or writing mobster porn, Twain’s adventures are guaranteed to be unlike any other book you’ve read. While I suspect Kupperman’s work won’t mesh with everyone’s sense of humor, if you put this book in the right person’s hands it will be a revelation.
On the topic of Kupperman, Fantagraphics recently released a volume collecting several issues of Tales Designed to Thrizzle. Jesse and I have both written on the surreal humor and brilliance of this book. It’s also still pretty easy to get your hands on the Kupperman’s first collection of strips Snake ‘n Bacon’s Cartoon Cabaret.
In addition to this awesomeness, Fantagraphics has also been releasing some great collections of newspaper comic strips. Personally, I can recommend the two volumes of Mickey Mouse as well as all of the Dick Tracy. They’ve also got Bloom County, Peanuts, Little Orphan Annie, and Walt Kelley’s Pogo. These are well put together hardbacks that are designed to display the strips as they would have appeared in the papers.
It’s not new at this point, but since Watchmen makes every list and I’ve just finished rereading it, I’ve got Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics fresh on my brain. A treatise on the logic, form, and function of cartoons, I enjoyed it when I read it in college but found even more to appreciate with a little more time and reading under my belt. This is a great appreciation for the new or longtime reader. Without question, this book will make you look at comics in a new light.
Mainstream-wise there isn’t much either of us would recommend, but there are a few things worth mentioning.
By the accounts of those reading DC’s New 52, Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man and Frankenstein have been standouts. As always, we recommend seeking out creator-owned comics whenever possible, so for the DC fan in your life, try pointing them to Sweet Tooth or Essex County, his Vertigo and indie work.
Jack Kirby’s Fourth World work spanned multiple titles and a couple decades; it’s always been fairly tough to track down the whole run without spending hundreds of dollars. DC was kind enough to put the entire run in chronological order in the omnibus format several years ago, but it has sadly fallen out of print. The first volume was just re-released in paperback, and is perfect for tbe Kirby fan or space-epic lover in your life.
I found this next one in the bargain section of a chain bookstore. DC put out a pretty nice collection of some of their covers from the last 75 years. The collection is roughly tabloid size and the pages are perforated with the suggestion that they are suitable for framing. Outside of the covers you’d expect, there are some truly bizarre gems from the 50′s and 60′s that don’t see the light of day much. Whether you frame them or not, it’s a neat book to flip through.
DVDs
Capitalizing on the release of the Tintin movie, Shout! Factory is releasing season one of The Adventures of Tintin. This was a really good Canadian series that aired on Nickelodeon back in the mid nineties. It’s a good translation of Tintin from paper to screen.
2011 was a good year for comic book movies also. As it turns out, they’re all on Blu-Ray and DVD in time for the holidays. If you didn’t catch them in the theaters, it would definitely be worth it to at least pick up Marvel titles.
In the past several weeks DC has been ruling comic book news with the revelation that following Flashpoint all of their titles will be cancelled, replaced with 52 new ongoing series all starting with new #1′s. Matt and I have been pretty quiet on this so far, but I think I can sum up my feelings pretty easily:
No sir, I don’t think I like it.
It’s not just the fear of a new retcon. I started reading comics shortly after Crisis on Infinite Earths, so the post-Crisis universe has been “my” DCU, but I’ve gone more or less willingly through other revamps like Zero Hour and the Infinite and Final Crises. It’s not just being an old stick-in-the-mud, attached to “my” universe and unwilling to give up any variation from that (although certainly that is a part of it), it’s that I don’t see the necessity.
For so long we’ve been trying to convince the world that “Bang! Pow! Comics aren’t just for kids anymore!” Well it’s worked, and now nobody believes comics aren’t for dudes in their thirties. Guys who have lived with the continuity for decades and are happy with it. We’re having to BEG kids to come read comics and bribe them with Free Comic Book Days.
For a moment let’s accept the premise that nobody cares about the established continuity and there are potential readers just waiting for the prime jumping-on point. DC is launching their new universe* with 52 brand new titles! No one (other than a few of those aforementioned 30-somethings) has been waiting all this time to get into comics just to start picking up 52 new books. So we’re negating the very premise right off the bat. And with trade paperback programs it’s never been easier to get caught up to speed on a title, so is DC building a straw man argument to justify ripping apart the foundations of the DCU? Add in to that some of these titles, while sounding interesting, can’t possibly last more than 13 issues. Justice League Dark? Demon Knights? Deadman? Not a chance.
DC (and Geoff Johns in particular) has ALREADY spent the last 5 years trying to retcon the DCU into the place they remember from their childhoods. To wit: Supergirl and Superboy, Krypto, Batman catching his parents’ killer, the returns of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan, and the end of secret identities**. Mark Waid had a totally valid reason for opening that door, but it didn’t take much for Geoff Johns to stick his foot in there and build a universe around it. In fact, Johns’ hard-on for the Superfriends and 80′s eras of the Justice League (the hands-down worst era in modern times for storytelling and good ideas) is returning the DCU to a one of the WORST periods in DC history and stifling progress, even as it returns the DCU to one of HIS favorite times. Hey, that’s just me, though. I have different affections than Johns. But it just proves that there’s no perfect, ideal, one size fits all DCU.
Practically, screwing with the timeline can only work for so long. If you’ll recall, after the Crisis on Infinite Earths relaunch Superman and Wonder Woman were new arrivals, although Batman, Flash, etc still had an established history. Then there was the confusion with the Justice League (Was it a new group? Old? Who was the founding female member?) and the lines got so indecipherable that the only way to solve the problem was to drift further and further back to original continuity. And yet DC doesn’t appear to have learned that lesson AT ALL, as all three of those examples will be new to the DCU again***. Batman, Flash, and GL are all still established****, the JLA will be a new team (and the first in DC continuity…who knows what that will mean for the JSA and the Golden Agers), Superman gets one current title and one set five years in the past. I’m lost already! No way does this not become a mess 2 years in.
It’s not that I don’t see benefits. First and foremost, DC is trying something new. That’s got to be lauded. Then there are lines like the Super- and Bat-books that have gotten so bloated it’s hard to tell what one title offers versus another.***** We’re also seeing the return of titles like Resurrection Man, Stormwatch, and Legion Lost (if you’re into such things), which is pretty exciting. There’s real opportunity here.
But more than anything, it feels like DC has painted themselves into a corner after years of short-sighted storytelling. It’s gotten so messy they can’t “One Year Later” changes into place, they’re having to magically “Brand New Day” it back into cohesiveness. It’s as if this were the only possible solution to get back to the status quo after Batman, Inc and Superman’s marriage, and obviously Marvel owns the rights to Mephisto.
One of the things that made Marvel significant in the 60′s was creating one coherent universe where any of their characters could and did interact with another, and that was the default mode for developing superhero universes for the last 50 years. But maybe what we’re seeing here is the end of continuity and a move to storytelling where each story stands on it’s own.
All this said, let’s look back on my comments from a couple weeks back. I suspect that this isn’t an attempt to retcon a new CONTINUITY, it’s an attempt to build a new CANON. With all of DC’s titles starting from issue 1, they have the rare opportunity to scrap what doesn’t work, keep what does, and then declare from this point on, they are staying true to the key concepts of each character without having to fight with the continuity of every story. It’s the core of the
character that’s key and they want to keep drawing in new readers without burdening them down with 60 years of stories or hundreds of issues that may or may not matter.
No sir, I don’t think I like it.
Grudgingly, I admit this is a valid approach. And they are DC’s characters, not mine. But continuity is part of what we love, even if it can be a burden to creators, new readers, and even us readers. Yes, I want everything to fit, but it’s not a deal-breaker. When the line I’ve followed faithfully is gone, when those characters aren’t the same, it doesn’t mean that those stories no longer exist or aren’t valid, but it does mean the characters we’ve spent so much time with AREN’T THE SAME CHARACTERS.
The other day I asked if continuity was just trivia, keeping us from great stories. Well, the answer is no. Those details are characterization, and they’re exactly why we’ve followed these characters for months or years or (in my case) decades.
Stay tuned next week for Part Three, in which we look at the news and rumors for the DCNu line and make rampant speculations and ill-informed inferences like everyone else on the Internet.
