Friday, February 22, 2013

Moratorium


"And then that happened."

"Well, that happened."

"That really happened."

"That just happened."


Okay. The first time those words were written; brilliant.

New, quirky, sassy, funny, irreverent; sold a scene.
Whedon-esque simplicity (if he wasn't, in fact, the
author; who knows at this point?) irony and wit.

For a few times afterwords, when used in reference to
one person having already brought the phrase into the
lexicon, cute and a nice in-joke.

Now, it's gone the way of a drunk homeless guy in
an alleyway (in a movie) who sees
something spectacular and vows to give up hooch.

It's become the overdone Seinfeld
"Not that there's anything wrong with that."

It is now the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League
"Bwah-Ha-Ha!" over saturation.

And it needs to stop.

"Talk to the hand."

***

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

HOT PICKS; The Annotated SANDMAN, Volume One




This exquisite coffee table edition is a collected version of the
first twenty issues of Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series from
DC Comics. It's really superior to any other trade edition for
me as the artwork is reproduced in black and white, not only
giving a better view of the artwork but making a better fit for
the darkness of the world of Sandman.

I was far more appreciative of Sam Keith and Mike Dringenberg's
art seeing the format in these pages.

The layout is also perfect; huge, high quality pages surrounded
by black gave a great effect. The purpose of the space being to
provide the annotations, the purported reason for the book.

But I found little interest in the annotations. There were none in
spaces that clearly called for it, many given were rather trivial,
and some were simply attempts to make sure that the 'godliness'
of Neil Gaiman was not called into question-- by the writer giving
the true behind-the-scenes story of who was to blame for printed
screw-ups. Meh.

But all I wanted it for was to read the story in the black and white,
over sized format, and it rated an A in that regard.

Check your library systems or eBay today!



Sunday, February 10, 2013

LGBT Comics Part 1


A Blast From the Past!
A near-exhaustive checklist of the gay/lesbian/trans issues
and characters in comics back in the 1980s and 1990s
(I think I compiled and published this in around 1993,
first as a two-sided handout, and later in my publication
"FREE P.R.E.S.S."

See if you're familiar with all the references!

Just to recap the guide; in brackets are the
abbreviations for publisher, then specific content, then
year of publication! See middle of the page for the
publishers breakdown and more!

***

Thursday, February 7, 2013

HOT PICKS: Jim Henson's "Tale of Sand"



To put it mildly, this book defies explanation.

Evidently, Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl had an unproduced
screenplay from years back, and of course it was unmade
prior to Henson's death. But the project was so near and
dear, so phenomenally interesting, the family and studio
thankfully couldn't let go.

Thus, the over sized, full color, stupendously rule-breaking and
gorgeous hardcover project interpreted artistically by
Ramon Perez and colorist Jordie Bellaire.

It's beyond 'inspired.' Trashes 'original.'  It is an otherworldly
reexamination and reinterpretation of the relationship between
art and the printed page.

Ramon Perez's website

It's a shining sample--one of the best examples--of proper
sequential art I've seen in 40 years of comics consumption.

I would rather this be a book than a movie, because I can
rewind and flip to and fro and explore the rhythm and layouts
as my own director.

It's whelming and extraordinary and beautifully fluid and just
one of the most incredible things I've ever seen on the printed page.
Surreal, nutty, wild, bigger than life; everything the comics were
intended to be, and all-too-rarely ever becomes.

Get yourself a copy today!
Check it out on Amazon
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