Spoiler space.

Enjoy happier times at the Kent farm as shown at right.

Clark may want something stronger to drink after this past week’s plot.

Though really what I’m holding back, it would not take a Brainiac to have seen it coming.

Follow me to after the jump.

Where we can talk in private or something like that.

It’s worth it, really.

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Sorry about the lack of quotes last weekend, I was busy at Baltimore Comic-Con trying to get a lunch invitation from Dan DiDio . . . on with the quotes.

“Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s FANTASTIC FOUR #560 just continues their lackluster attempt at being imaginative without, you know, actually coming up with anything new. When The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine reads as if it’s stolen its plot from Heroes, which in itself stole its plot from “Days of Future Past,” then that’s not a good thing. It’s such a… dull book, now.”
- Graeme McMillan on the current level of excitement with Millar and Hitch’s Fantastic Four.

“I was a juvenile delinquent, basically.”
- Ed Brubaker providing a glimpse into his origin.

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This week I focus on two topics for the most part.

All Star Superman 12 came out this week, and as far as I can tell, everyone loved it. I mean some reviews were on the verge of claiming the book cured cancer. And here’s my challenge for the week, find me a negative review. I could not find one, except the one in my head. The last time I liked Frank Quitely’s art was on Flex Mentallo. Ever since then, his art style has always made me feel that to live in a Quitely universe is to live in a place where everyone is constipated. So, as much as I appreciate Morrison’s writing, I never really enjoyed this Superman take.

The second theme for the week is reaction to last week’s Bucket of Quesada (oops, I mean Cup o’ Joe) on the subject of work-for-hire. Not surprisingly, people reacted to it this week.

I also tossed in a few random quotes on other topics for good measure.

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Just as most worthwhile writers have a good ear for dialogue, the writer of a column like this one should have a good ear/eye for quotes. If you go back and look over the quotes that Kevin Melrose and JK Parkin culled in the period when they wrote this column, it is quite evident that both of them have a knack for finding effective quotes. My ears and eyes for quotes is vastly different than theirs. In fact, some weeks I come at this gig from an extremely strange mindset.

For example, this week, I toyed with the idea of trying to find quotes from comic book folks connected to suicide, in the wake of novelist David Foster Wallace’s suicide on Friday. I rejected this idea quickly for a number of reasons. It’s exploitative in a sense (”Hey, this man not connected to comics in the slightest took his own life! That got me a thinkin’…”) and in terms of topic relevancy, it’s nonsensical. Also, to the best of my knowledge, for the all the online abuse (amidst the fair criticism [I concede] as well) comic book creators have taken over the years, we are fortunate enough not to have any suicides in our industry (my knowledge is limited, but I am hoping no one proves me wrong in the comments section [this is a hope on many levels]).

I’m sure everyone realizes a column of this nature (like most any) is subjective as hell. My eyes and ears for quotes are not to everyone’s liking. It can’t be. That’s why I periodically ask for folks to submit their own nods for quotes they thought worth noting in the week. I’m genuinely curious to understand what might catch your eye or ear that clearly eludes mine. And with that inquiry made, I leap into the quotes.

“Yes, he’s a dick. But he’s got an exotic David Bowie quality that captures our hearts.”
- Rachelle Goguen admiring Prince Namor, the Savage Sub-Mariner

“I will do something yet that is purely for me but will create for someone in the future that passion that Blake and Keats did in me.”
- Maurice Sendak on his hopes for his future work, as well as its intended impact (in a piece where he talks of his heroes, such as “Mozart, Keats, Blake, Melville and Dickinson”, and quickly disabuses anyone of the notion he’s likening his work to theirs)

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So Sarah Palin survives another week where the US VP hopeful was not revealed to be a closet comic book collector. I’m not saying she is, but boy would it not be fun to find out she was totally pro-Tony in the Civil War debate? OK enough of political What If?, you’re here for quotes. And I have some.

“The gap between artist and consumer that was created in the ’80s has only widened, however, with many fans viewing both underlying and overt political messages as a personal assault. Perhaps its just a reflection of our divisive times, magnified by the nearly unlimited means of expression offered by the Internet, call-in radio and 24-hour cable news networks.”
- The Fortress Keeper on recent reaction to some subtle and some direct political messages in comic books

“If you’re looking for brutal superhero slaughter in your wholesome kid-friendly entertainment, then the direct-to-DVD Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow is for you. Next Avengers, which just came out on DVD, is full of adorable kids whose parents (the Avengers) were disemboweled by the android Ultron, and now he’s coming for the kids.”
- Meredith Woerner validating my decision to put this flick on the Netflix list for my son. Now to brace for the “why is Ultron so mean?” plot questions from aforementioned son…

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This week’s quotes could have been an amazing collection of tributes and shots at For Better or For Worse. It’s always mystified and annoyed me how much people have gotten into bashing Lynn Johnston’s strip, increasingly so in recent years. I just didn’t see the point. I liked the strip, and I was curious to see where she was taking these characters in the last days. But my god, the last few strips made me want to start mocking the work myself. For instance, ever faithful Iris is discussing Grandpa Jim’s health with new bride Elizabeth. But for whatever reason, Iris likens elderly Jim to a baby–prompting Elizabeth’s non sequitor of “I’d like to have a baby someday.” I was really hoping Iris would cold-cock Elizabeth and scream: “We’re talking about your grandfather, you self-absorbed moron!” Sadly it was not to be…for better or for worse.

But, no, I could not bring myself to gather such a collection of quotes. Instead, over the past few weeks, I’ve been bewildered by the active campaigns in some circles to deride Kramers Ergot 7. When the pricing on this anthology was first announced, I remembered thinking: “Don’t see myself buying the book.” But the way that some folks that I respect have seemingly gone out of your way to dismiss/deride/prejudge Kramer’s Ergot 7, I’m actively rooting for this book to succeed. And the backlash has made me more likely to buy the book. Fortunately for all the negative prejudgments just as many folks seem to be expecting great things of the book. Me? I’ll wait until I can read actual reviews of the book before making any final decisions.

“11 of those contributors are must-reads for me…33 pages for $125 bucks is a non-starter at my house; sorry, team artcomix. I know I’ve disappointed you terribly.”
- Alan David Doane in just one of his many reverse marketing posts about the book.

“Alan, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, no one gives a special shit about what you buy or don’t buy. Get over yourself, and move on.”
-Tom Spurgeon, in the same comments section, with a unique (for him) case of public potty mouth.

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Well, back on August 13 Robert Kirkman spoke his mind and it struck a nerve in some circles. Bossman Parkin covered some of the reaction in an August 15 post, but given that feedback continued on into this week, I thought I’d snag some further feedback. Plus, as always, other folks offered up items worth quoting.

“I haven’t commented on Robert Kirkman’s video screed on creator ownership for two reasons: [1] The pro-creators’ rights argument isn’t exactly news to most Journal readers, and [2] the notion that a bevy of original works, presumably genre works, that don’t star Wolverine or Batman are going to set the Direct Market on fire, change the buying habits of the Wednesday Crowd or even provide sustainable incomes in the majority of cases is just insane on the face of it. (Kirkman: There’s a reason that most alt-comics types — you know, the folks who’ve been putting their money where your mouth is for two decades? — have been quietly abandoning the DM ship for the past few years.)”
-Dirk Deppey, TCJ.com online editor, pussyfooting (yea, I’m kidding) around what he really thinks of Kirkman’s take.

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Is it me, or does every stinking TV channel seem to have the Olympics? Tell me this–in two weeks from now will anyone other than Momma Phelps have the new Mark Spitz on their mind? Not to be accused of being part of a group think mentality or anything … But the fleeting nature of celebrity makes me wonder–do some of the current big names in comics ever fear that their sometimes meteoric rise to the top must likely end with an equally fast trajectory into obscurity? My random contemplation has nothing to do with this week’s batch of quotes, however, so it may be best just to get on with them.

“So, remember…the only characters in comics who stay dead are the ones nobody wants to write about.”
- Todd Klein sharing his thoughts on Final Crisis 1 and the reason why some comic book characters stay dead (with thanks to fellow Blog@ co-hort Kevin Melrose for suggesting the quote)

“I think the subject has changed in my mind to ‘Will The Comics Industry Ever Grow Up And Act Like It Deserves The Respect It Craves?’”
- Dustin Harbin posing a question (of sorts) in the comments section for a post seemingly regarding the pricing of the upcoming Kramer’s Ergot 7. As for the subject that Harbin mentions, I’m fairly certain the answer is no.

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So this week, we found out that Lois Lane and abortion were once discussed in a very strange sense. And as much as I’d love to link to esoteric Grant Morrison hero worship (his writing just seems to attract this kind of praise), these are the quotes I chose to reflect the past week.

“You know, because you can compare a corporate franchise like Superman, a creator-owned property like Jesse Custer whose influence is limited to Preacher, and motherfucking ART SPIEGELMAN’S DAD.”
- David Uzumeri on the absurdity of top (insert number here) comic book character lists that have become the craze ever since AFI started the validation of geek list making

“I’d like to see Catwoman over the Penguin. Not as a prostitute, and not as the Tim Burton version — what, cats sniffed her back to life? — but perhaps the Adam Hughes design, with the goggles. That’s very realistic. I can imagine her in street clothes that are designed just right. I also like the idea of them creating villains just for the movies.”
- Steve Niles positing who would make a great villain for the next (potential) Nolan/Bale Bat-flick

“Quick aside: Wouldn’t you love to see AMERICAN IDOL open auditions in Gotham City? Paula would be mistaken for the Joker.”
- Ken Levine mixing the world of Gotham with the world of Idol. (Thanks to Blog@’s Tom Bondurant for leading me to this gem)

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Skip Carey is dead and I’m getting married in less than six days. The first bit makes me sad, the second part makes me very happy and busy. On with quotes of the past week.

“If you’re the sort of person who’s going to find Mary Jane sexist, why weren’t you disillusioned with her a long time ago? I mean, even if some other writers have made her more of an independent woman, there is this history of the character being a preposterous brain-dead male fantasy. Surely, were you a feminist, this might give you pause before you pledged her your undying loyalty.”
- Noah Berlatsky on Mary Jane Watson’s value/merits or lack thereof

“Sinatra didn’t become a great singer until his heart was broken, and Mauldin didn’t become a great cartoonist until the invasion of Sicily. There, along with the civilian dead in towns, he was witness to a horrific snafu where hundreds of U.S. paratroopers were killed by friendly fire, not that such an idiotic term existed then. Any gore or death was offstage in his cartoons, but his humor grew grimmer, his mud and zipping bullets more palpable. You can feel the rain and chill in the cartoon that won him the Pulitzer Prize: A news headline ‘Fresh, spirited American troops, flushed with victory, are bringing in thousands of hungry, ragged, Battle-weary prisoners’ is accompanied by his drawing of rain-soaked, exhausted, hangdog German prisoners, indistinguishable but for their uniforms from their sodden, exhausted, hangdog American captors.”
- Jim Washburn on Bill Mauldin

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Hey, is it me, or is everybody talking Watchmen these days? I’m fearful the Watchmen popularity wave will end with a new Cartoon Network show, Watchmen Babies. This week I snagged a few Watchmen-related quotes as well as tapping that San Diego gathering that I held in disdain last week.

“I’ve picked it up again to skim a few times, hoping each time that I would appreciate it, get into it, like I hadn’t before. I hated Shakespeare until my sophomore year of college, when a professor-prompted epiphany finally demonstrated to me how awesome King Lear was. I read both The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye in high school but appreciated neither until I read them on my own while in college; I reread Gatsby a year or so ago, and discovered it was even better.

I keep hoping I will experience something similar with Alan Moore.”
- Will Entrekin’s confession of his inability to enjoy Moore’s Watchmen

“I’m wondering if the reclusive British writer will be able to stay soured on the movie industry after Snyder is done borrowing the Owl Ship.”
- Geoff Boucher speculating on whether the expected success of the Watchmen film will change Alan Moore’s view of Hollywood

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As seemingly the only comics-connected blogger who is already sick of the letters “SDCC” and finding myself twitching whenever I see “San Diego” on my computer screen, I will make the best effort for this collection of quotes to be as San Diego-free as possible. Of course, in a few weeks I’ll probably be quoting post-SDCC-related comments, revealing myself for the hypocritical bastard that I am. In the meantime, enjoy this week’s round of quotes. One last thought to consider: Wertham as Skrull…discuss.

“Although, I have to say that when I found out that the story actually goes waaaaay back to FF#2, it began to worry me because the Skrulls in the early 60s were that wacky band of lovable intergalactic losers who just couldn’t put a workable plan together. (That was the issue where Reed Richards actually hypnotizes three captive Skrulls into thinking that they are cows who spend the next several years eating grass and passing gas until the Kree-Skrull War wakes them up. Not that Reed was much better in those early days. He completely forgot that the FF were originally attacked by four Skrulls - not three! Oops! See the Kree-Skrull War for details.)”
-KC Carlson tapping the depths of his Marvel knowledge while analyzing aspects of Marvel’s big Secret Invasion jamboree.

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Trying to get ahead of the Batman deluge that is sure to come with the new movie’s release, I opted to snag a selection of Bats-related quotes this week. OK, maybe the Batman coverage became oversaturated weeks ago, but I’m thinking otherwise for the sake of this column. And if you are sick of Batman already, skip to the end of the collection for a few non-Batman quotes.

“Sure, a lot of it may not have aged well - all of the Ronald Reagan scenes, for example - but no-one can deny how good it is to see Bruce Wayne come out of retirement to kick some mutant ass and save the world.”
- Graeme McMillan assessing Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns (1986) as well as compiling a list of Batman must reads

“For industry watchers, I suppose this provides another example of the theory that DC’s various editorial offices don’t much communicate, and even try to keep story points secret from each other.”
- J. Caleb Mozzocco noticing that, other than the Batman RIP logo slapped on the front, Detective Comics #846 has next to no connection to the Grant Morrison storyline in the main Batman book

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In next week’s column I’ll make sure to include some tributes to the Michael Turner. But for now, I need to share a thought. Upon reading of Turner’s passing, something struck me. Turner’s battle with cancer was something we read about periodically over the years. But to the best of my knowledge, I don’t believe any news outlet knew how close he was to losing this personal battle this week. One has to respect a person’s privacy, let me be quick to clarify. But considering how Gene Colan has credited his fans’ support for how much better he’s feeling these days, I wish this past week had been spent sharing kind words about Turner while he was still alive. Instead for the past week or so, folks (myself included) have been speculating if a DC executive was about to get fired. I wish it had not taken the death of someone to give me the perspective that I was clearly lacking.

“So really, there was a long period where no one wanted to print my work at all. When Drawn & Quarterly asked me, I was overjoyed, because I love making books, and I really wanted to do What it Is, and I was happy someone cared about my work enough to want to print it. And I’ve always loved the Drawn & Quarterly books, they are so beautifully done. It happened that I was half way done with What It Is when D&Q contacted me. I had just decided to do the book anyway, not knowing if it would ever be published and in a way not caring anymore. I just wanted to give the thing form.”
- Lynda Berry admitting that she endured a period where no publisher was interested in printing her work. I question an industry where Barry went without a publisher for any period of time.

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No DC executives were harmed in the collecting of this week’s quotes. As tempting as it might be to have some DiDio-related quotes, it seems his name has been negatively bandied about in recent weeks even more than Bill Jemas at his worst. So I have opted out of the DiDio news cycle for this week’s column.

“For the best American edition of foreign material category, the judges looked over a year that saw the publication of Tekkonkinkreet, Mushishi, Osamu Tezuka’s MW, To Terra, Tokyo Is My Garden, and significant chunks of Emma, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, and After School Nightmare, not to mention NBM’s beautiful edition of Run, Bong-gu Run, and opted for the manga version Romeo and Juliet, which is pretty good but not exactly original, and the hideously drawn Witchblade, which is based on an American comic. You get the feeling that the judges felt grudgingly obligated to pick some of that manga stuff so they just threw a dart at a stack of old Previews.”
- Brigid Alverson, trying to make heads or tails of the thought process behind the 2008 Harvey nominations

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I hope when I’m in my 80s I will not be expected to remember if I once wrote a letter to Fredric Wertham’s wife. I considered including the Feldstein/Beaty civil clarifications from this past week, but opted to spare folks on those Library of Congress-related gems. This week represents two weeks’ worth of quotes, as I held off until the comments option was readily available to folks. Part of me fought the urge to do a rundown of “What the–?” reactions to the unique beta Newsarama launch that we’ve all enjoyed to date, but there’s no need to revisit that fun again. But that’s enough blathering about what did not make the cut, let’s get on to what did.

“If 52 taught us anything, it’s that the weekly schedule can create enormous energy, as the audience gets excited about developments that they can see growing and building every single week, and if Countdown taught us anything to be wary of, it’s that the momentum has to stay high. With us, we don’t have that set-up of different story threads continuing long-term. We have one core story arc, and the sub-stories that make it up can start, develop, explode and wrap up in a shorter space, letting us go on to the next thing.”
- Kurt Busiek, offering a compare/contrast of lessons learned with the pacing of DC’s recent weekly efforts

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So this week I found this really great opportunity with Tokyopop, all I have to do is… what’s that? Read the fine print, you say? Oh never mind. Seriously though, look anywhere else in blogland for opinions on the latest Tokyopop fallout/spin, as I only briefly touch upon the subject here. And I mainly did that because Waid drops an f-bomb modifying a noun. If you’re looking to appear in Quote, Unquote either drop an f-bomb in a fun way or inject the term fluffer in the discussion, and you’re almost assuredly getting quoted. Honestly, if I miss something you find quote worthy, feel free to add a link in the comments section. Extra points if you can find a quote that incorporates apes or talking animals with Frederick Wertham.

“What Schulz is is one of the two or three greatest artists of the twentieth century, who also happens to be one of the most popular creators of the last fifty years. His work is going to be around for generations. There are going to be lots more biographies over the years, and lots more poetasters who’ll hitch their wagon to his star by saying dumb things about him. You might as well let them; it’s not going to hurt Schulz any. If you’re going to have faith in any art at all, Peanuts is the thing to have faith in. It’s indestructible. Ultimately, Michaelis just made an ass of himself; Schulz and his work will be fine.”
- Noah Berlatsky, placing a certain amount of perspective on the work/reputation of Charles Schulz in the wake of the recent David Michaelis’ Schulz biography

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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”).

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Typically I consider myself generally well informed and aware of the history and names in the comics industry. But I was reminded I will always have a great deal to learn when news spread on the passing of Will Elder. I’m ashamed to admit I found myself asking “Who is he?”. In educating myself on Elder, I decided to make quotes about him the majority of this week’s focus. That being said, I also felt the need to post one or two positive quotes related to Gene Colan.

“I often think of Elder’s work when I am laying out parodies or other cartoon art for MAD and other clients. I try to bring the multiple ‘Chicken Fat’ layers of humor especially to my MAD work, but I also try and make my individual illustrations stand on their own in the funny department. If the image itself is funny, then it only makes the humor of the writing and story that much more effective. Elder wrote the book on that, and if I can one day be considered a pale shadow of his skill in cartooning, I will consider myself successful beyond measure.”
- Tom Richmond, considering the influence Elder has on his own approach to humor

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