Death visited the industry again this week. Many a site has paid tribute to Rory Root, as well they should. I could include a quote or two, but really Mr. Parkin did a nice collection earlier this week, you should find a great sampling that pays fine tribute to a rare individual. Rory was all about celebrating comics, so it is in that spirit that I instead open with a quote from a kind-natured bull who loves good comics.
“… three years ago today, May 25, 2005, yours little stuffed truly sat down at the keyboard and tentatively typed my first entry in this blog, a review of Spider-Man #520 and other comics of the week, a Spidey issue that didn’t hint of an armored Spider-suit, a public unmasking, a deal with the devil and a universal reset. Ah, those were the days.”
- Bully celebrating his third anniversary (aka “Thirdiversary”).
“I finally caught “Iron Man” Friday night and found it just as entertaining as advertised. But an hour or so after getting home, I stumbled upon “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” on HBO, a fitting reminder of the raging inconsistency at Marvel Entertainment.”
- Steve Duin reminding folks how hit or miss superhero films can be
“I’m not sure how Local Hero became my favorite film, but it has been for a long while now. It may have something to do with the fact that Bill Forsyth’s best work combines two of the things I find most richly satisfying while watching movies: 1) a beautiful place and 2) a fine-tuned comedy performance.”
- Tom Spurgeon, reinforcing why I like his pop culture sensibility and how it informs his perspective on comics
“I wasn’t really all that steamed about Jack Kirby not getting his rights, but if you know anything about The New Yorker, their cartoons are a real cash cow for them. They charge you so much to use them in course materials and here they are violating this guys’ copyright.”
- Thomas Lammers explaining what prompted his email to several New York newspapers regarding The New Yorker‘s recent homage or whatever to Kirby.
“There’s a lot of blood and guts and scorched earth. It got kind of tiresome after a while.”
- Aaron Scott admitting how the Old Testament portion of the Manga Bible got a smidge too graphic for him
“She was the inspiration for all of my success. When the cartoon first appeared, she looked so much like Mommy that if she was in the supermarket pushing her cart around, people would come up to her and say, ‘Aren’t you the Mommy in ‘Family Circus?’ and she would admit it.”
- Bil Keane, speaking of his wife, Thelma Keane, who died this week
“Singling this particular cover [DC's Titans # 5] out for criticism makes no sense to me, not least of all because, as a heterosexual woman, I would much rather see a picture of a male/female couple making it hot than a scantily-clad woman presented as the sole object of desire. This isn’t the usual hot babe pinup art that we get on the rack (no pun intended) every Wednesday — it’s equal opportunity cheesecake.”
- Laura Hudson, injecting a phrase into comics discussion (“equal opportunity cheesecake”) that I hope someday serves as the foundation for some form of a frivolous and yet far-reaching lawsuit.
“I’ve said this before but it fits here: Stan Lee’s real gift wasn’t his writing, though he was a good comic book writer, but his ability to get the audience to buy into the illusion of them as his collaborators. For all that Stan’s ego seemed to run amok in ’60s Marvels, that was a key to the trick he pulled off, one that nobody has successfully pulled off since. Maybe it’s time superhero comics stopped trying to outbluff their audience — or, worse, treat them like sinful penitents there to receive holy communion from God’s representative — and start encouraging them to collaborate in the illusion again. And maybe it’s time the supermegacrossover series were back burnered, and Marvel and DC came up with another trick, before the audience heads for the door in droves.”
- Steven Grant, expressing quite nicely what Marvel and DC should be considering for the road ahead
May 26th, 2008 at 2:28 am
“and start encouraging them to collaborate in the illusion again.”
That’s just it, the illusion will always be the same when it comes to superheros. And that’s all that Marvel and DC can do (except maybe their mature lines…Vertigo).
What we need is another Crossgen (one that knows how to run a business) or for Image to do something new with say 4 to 6 books at once.
Make the readers believe and put them in a new world like your asking, but for the love of god not with the same old characters and plots.