I was in the mood for a dumb action flick and that’s exactly what I got. Definitely dumb and action-y but it fits perfectly into my favourite category: P.F.A. Pretty F&#%ing Awesome. You had some funny moments, some really well directed action, some surprisingly good car chases, and of course, Arnie. Any movie that Arnold Schwarzenegger is immediately, at the very least, watchable.
Recommended if you’re down for that kind of flick.
Wait a minute, hold on, hold the phone. Us old-timers have a hard time understanding this new fangled technology. So let me get this straight.
A friend wants to borrow a game…and I hand it to them? No, wait, please. Give me a moment here. We need to discuss the possibilities of this new technology.
Do I use my right or left hand to lend the game? What happens if that hand is broken? Do I need to pay a fee to use the other hand? What if my friend doesn’t want that particular game? Can they choose another? What happens if they don’t say thank you? Is the entire order cancelled and we have to start from the beginning? Is there an exploit to get around the fee by just leaving the game on the living room table for my friend to pick it up themselves?
No, I’m sorry. This is all too confusing to me.
Events sell. I won’t deny that. In my article, Comics are My Literature, I mentioned that what pulled me back in to reading comics was the Death of Superman. Back then, in the early 1990s, shocking, event-driven comic book stories occurred, but infrequently. Due to the huge financial success of that one issue – along with huge media coverage – both Marvel and DC pushed many of their titles into shocking, event-driven storylines that pushed the limits of a comic book fan’s patience to hear “Everything you know is a lie!” or “Nothing will ever be the same again!” especially when said event-driven storylines were undone a year later.
Not only were these events undone, but some were ignored or written in a way to explain them away. Spider-Man’s infamous Clone Saga, which lasted 3 years longer than originally intended, changed not only writers and artists, but editors and even executives throughout its ridiculously long tenure. In other comics, characters – both heroic and villainous – were resurrected or killed off sometimes without fanfare or explanation.
To be honest, comic book continuity has never really been something with a solid grounding. Too many cooks in the kitchen have made it into this incomprehensible mess that confuses even the most stalwart of regular readers. Heaven forbid a new reader wants to try a Superman book these days. They’ll be asking, “But wait, didn’t he die? And I thought he and Lois married? Why is he wearing armour? What happened to the red underwear?” Every one of those questions come with a long, complicated answer from previous events.
However, as far as the major, household name heroes go, even the most casual of fans know the basics of Superman: planet went boom, rocket, Kansas, Metropolis, look it’s a bird a plane, yadda yadda. The core elements never change.
Which finally brings me to my point: continuity hardly matters and mainstream comics should stop trying to make it seem like it matters. Let me explain.
When I was growing up watching wrestling, I knew there was a difference between the World title and the Intercontinental title: the World title was for the big, slower moving guys and the Intercontinental was for the smaller guys, more apt for holds and fast-paced matches. While the world title matches were entertaining (because Hogan was naturally entertaining), to see the really good, quality matches, it was all about the Intercontinental title scene.
In many ways, the IC belt had more prestige because its champion was almost always a future World title holder. The Ultimate Warrior started as IC champ. We saw Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels both battle for the IC title on many occasions. Matches between the world title holder and the IC title holder were very even because the holder of the IC belt was able to hang with the World title holder.
So why isn’t that the case today?
It’s likely a bad idea to read YouTube or wrestling news comments, but like a train wreck, it’s impossible to look away. The most common gripe against WWE is they need to stop being a PG-rated product. “They need to go back to the Attitude Era!” they’d say. “WWE sucks now!” I’d read.
I couldn’t disagree more. While the WWE certainly has a lot of problems these days, their switch to PG is not one of those problems.
Some years ago, one of my professors at York University read the first two chapters of The City of Smoke & Mirrors. When someone asked him what he did on the weekend, he said, “Well, I read something very interesting. It had a little bit of Raymond Chandler, a little bit of Dashiel Hammet, a little bit of Edgar Allen Poe…and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
In my opinion, it’s still the best description of Dill that I could possibly consider. To say that Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s work on the Ninja Turtles was an influence in Dill’s creation would be a great understatement. Without going into great detail, I’d been a Turtles fan since the cartoon, but have also become a great appreciator of the original Mirage comics. I love that something so completely silly can have some dark undertones. Man, those original comics were dark.
Still, I can’t deny their influence on my creative process. Should Dill ever be made into something live action, my #1 ideal is to have him done like the Jim Henson company did in the first three live action Turtles movies.
The reason I’m bringing up all of this right now? Because my good internet friend Alisa Breiling attended the Phoenix ComicCon this past weekend and met Kevin Eastman. I’d talked with Alisa about this beforehand and sent her two copies of the book: one for her, and one for Mr. Eastman. And, well…check it out.
Another Toronto Wizard World 2011 sketch. This time, by Agnes Garbowska, who I discovered when I was in line to talk with Francis Manapul. She had a table next to his and I spotted that she did free sketches. How could I pass up on that? Though as thanks, I did also buy one of her prints. The first one – Superboy & Krypto – from this page, in fact. It’s one of my favourite pieces of art that I own.
Her rendition of Dill is absolutely adorable. It’s like a chibi version. Also, I swear that every sketch of Dill has him smoking. I love it.
You can see more of her work at her website by clicking on the picture.
Being an avid comic book reader for a long time, I’ve seen the objectification of women at its worst. Comics are notorious for depicting women with almost hilariously disproportionate bodies. It’s something I’ve begrudgingly accepted because of three reasons: one, it’s far too big an industry for me to attempt to change. Two, it’s sadly become a staple. And three, the target audience is primarily either young males or males of my age (30s) or older who find these depictions thing appealing.
Equally sad is that the same objectification and lack of equality for women in comics is evident in a similar form of entertainment: video games. That’s what I’d like to talk about today.
Sinj was one of the artists I met at Toronto Wizard World in 2011. He really stood out for me because he was dressed as the Joker. From what I understand, he does this at every convention. It’s certainly a way to get people to notice you over casually dressed artists. Hell, it worked for me.
Sinj has an iconographic, slightly blocky, and yet surreal style to his art, similar in some ways to Marc Hempel – known best for Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: The Kindly Ones storyarc. To me, that’s high praise.
Sinj definitely brought that great style when sketching Dill. The sour look on his face in this sketch really captures the character’s personality.
Clicking on his sketch will take you to his homepage.
One thing I’m learning hard and fast is how hard it is to get your name out there as a new author, especially a new author with their first book. About a month ago, I added to a Bleeding Cool discussion on writers and contracts, mentioning the difficulty of getting word out as a new writer (and that I’d kill to have my name on a DC comic book).
Well, one of the reader’s there, Richard Caldwell, contacted me and asked if he could review The City of Smoke & Mirrors, as well as interview me. Naturally, I turned him down.
Like hell I did. Here are links to both the REVIEW and the INTERVIEW. Enjoy.
The City of Smoke & Mirrors
The Dame was a Tad Polish
Nick Piers 