Batman: The Killing Joke
Written By Alan Moore, Art by Brian Bolland
DC Comics

I've never really been a fan of DC Comics outside of the Vertigo line, but Batman has always had an edge to it. Even still, I haven't read much Batman. But I have read a lot of Alan Moore. The man's a genius. So, it was my duty as a fan of the writer to read this classic story.

It was pretty good.

I think that it feels similar to The Watchmen in tone, in that he's exploring the origins and the psyche of the superhero and supervillain. It's good in that respect, but I felt it fell a bit short. Like it needed just a little bit more to flesh it out. It concluded too fast, and didn't go deep enough. I thought the violence was much higher than I expected, and that the ending was a little too pat. But I guess there's only so much one can do with a mainstream comic.

I can see why it's a classic though. The artwork on that comic is impeccable. The premise is great. I think it could have just gone a bit further.

Someone made this awesome little cartoon, and let me tell you, I would totally watch this show!



Thanks to bruhinb for pointing it out.

I'm back in DC and sitting in my library now. You wouldn't believe the number of people who read my badge and thought I worked for DC Comics in some kind of public outreach division....

Next Time I put Washington DC Public Library or District of Columbia Public Library on the badge.

So, here's the breakdown.

Exhibit Hall

I skipped the first two panels to go straight to the exhibit hall before the crowds became beyond enormous. I got to walk the whole floor, and I took some pictures of the cool things. I'll post those later.

Notable booths

After Dark HorrorFest: These are the people who put out 8 films to die for. They had a trailer running in a little room that scares you just walking in, and trying to get out you have to go by the hanging corpse mannequin. The film is just as gory as you would expect, and it's unrated and not being released in the 8 films series because they got an NC-17 and decided to not go that route.

Mr. Toast: This stuff was so cute I couldn't believe it. I totally wanted to buy a painting of egg or toast to put on my kitchen wall. I couldn't find the booth again after the first time, so I'm going to contact him through his website.

Vertical Publishing: Vertical publishing is the company who releases a lot of Osamu Tezuka's more literary works like Buddha, M-W, and Apollo's Song. They are also the publisher of the English translations of Koji Suzuki's horror novels which have been the basis for the Ring and Dark Water. I bought the Ring trilogy, and holy heck, I could not go to sleep at ALL last night. I must finish it if only to put it away forever.

A Wave Blue World: This was notable, because their comic "American Terrorist" was an interesting statement of rebellion through traditional means like free inquiry, free press, free speech. The protagonists are a teacher, a reporter, etc. It looked good, and I may pick it up.

Comixology.com: Comixology is a means for the average guy to put together a pull file on his own based on the listings of comics being released that week through Diamond. It also contains a TON of information and original content about comics. I'm definitely going to start looking at this.

Panels

These are all the panels I attended. I will keep it brief, since there were a lot of them.

State of the Manga Industry: Three bigshots from Del Rey, Viz and Tokyopop chatted about how things are doing. Basically they are at a levelling off point.

Emerging Trends in Manga Retailing: Four store owners and a moderator from ICv2 chatted about how they buy, what they buy, their target audiences, and shelving. Across the board it was different. Some stores had niche markets for adult oriented Manga, whereas others had extensive collections of everything ever produced in English. No clear decisive way to do it.

Using Comics in the Classroom: This particular panel appealed to me because I notice some of the teachers discouraging kids taking out comics at the library. I got some good ideas about how to talk to teachers about children reading comics, and how they could be used as part of a curriculum across all ages.

Beyond Shonen and Shoujo: Indie Manga from Japan: This was one of the least exciting panels of the day. It basically consisted of a slideshow and a list of names. This is so and so's artwork, it's very important. I did learn a couple of things. Axe magazine is the indie manga bimonthly publication, and preferred term for these indies is "gekiga."

Bandai Entertainment: WOW! Bandai is going to release Gurren Lagann, and they're going to release it in 9 episode subtitled chunks at a time. This is like the most awesome news to me ever. They are also finally releasing Lucky Star and Code Geass will be airing on Adult Swim starting this saturday night. I'm totally in love with Bandai right now.

Lucky Star: This was a screening of the first two episodes of Lucky Star. It's basically a slice of life comedy about high school girls and their inane conversations. It was absolutely hysterical. I can't wait to buy this.

MoCCA: Ralph Bakshi Unfiltered: This was a panel including Ralph Bakshi and the two gentlemen who wrote his biography. It was absolutely fascinating to hear Ralph talk about his vision of animation as collage and utilizing real soundscapes in the production of his films. It was pretty great.

The X-Files: Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz, the two main producers of The X-Files were there to talk around their new movie coming out this July. They played a trailer and it was exciting. I think there will be more Antarctica from the look of it, but that's about all you could tell. They said it's not an alien conspiracy story, but just a regular scary story. We'll see what happens!

Sci-Friday: Sci-Fi channel, god bless them, played that evenings Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica, uncut without commercial interruptions for the benefit of the people in the audience who would miss it because of the con. It was awesome to see so many people laughing at the Doctor being silly, and gasping at the Cylons being evil. And that episode of BSG, Frakk Me! That I didn't see coming...

Del Rey Manga: they are releasing more Mushishi, Parasyte and they will be releasing Yokaiden and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I'm stoked.

Code Geass: This was a screening of the first two episodes of Code Geass. The first ep was AWESOME! The second was skipping and sticking and not wanting to play right, so we left. It'll be on Adult Swim this Saturday, and I've got it scheduled to record.

Venture Bros.: This was the most hysterically funny panel I have ever seen in my entire life. It was the four main voice actors from VB and they showed a trailer for season 3. And they also mentioned that they're writing up season 4. It was INCREDIBLE! Oh, the silliness. I laughed so much I think I cried.

There could be no topping that final panel, so we called it a day, and chose not to go back on Sunday.

I've been in New York since Thursday night. I've got a TON of notes about all kinds of awesomely cool comic, manga and anime news. But I'm going to be saving those for later. I'm just going to share some quick anecdotes about the weekend.

The Chinatown Bus: This is the most efficient and fast paced ride that I've ever taken. It was great, fast, cheap and dropped me off in a prime location. So, I'll definitely be down with going that route again.

The Hotel: The hotel I stayed at was basically a tenement house that was converted into two buildings of hotel rooms. Good, cheap, upper west-side location, just a block or two down from the 1,2,3 subway stop at 96th. Though the "cable" is like a few channels and then a bunch of public access. Completely worth it, and a great neighborhood.

Europan Bakery: this was an AMAZING bakery near the hotel. We had breakfast there two mornings and dinner one night. It was that good.

The Con: I spent most of my time in panels, listening to tons of news and one recurring annoying guy trying to break into the comics industry always asking every publisher if they'll take his book during the Q&A session.

The Ramones: On Saturday night we didn't have anything to do and we were thinking about getting cheap food. So we went down to 2nd Avenue and went to an indian place. We spent about $30.00 together, and as I'm sitting there eating my chicken vindaloo it hit me:

Hanging out on second avenue
eating chicken vindaloo
I just want to be with you
I just want to have something to do
Tonight, tonight, tonight.

The spirit of Joey Ramone guided us to our destiny that night. And we had curry and something to do.

Books: I got a bag full of books. Mostly I got four books by Koji Suzuki for $30.00 at the Vertical Publishing booth at the con. Ring, Spiral, Loop and Birthday. And yes, it's that "Ring." The first three pages are pretty terrifying. I can't wait to read the rest. As for comics, I got a bunch of sneak preview titles, but not much beyond that. I was kinda broke the most of the weekend. I've wanted to get the Suzuki books for a while and 4 books for $30 was an offer I couldn't refuse.

Shops: I went to Kinokuniya in bryant park. It was nice, but I think I like the Seattle store better. It's just laid out a little better. We were going to go to Mood and the Strand, but time just seemed to get the better of us.

Bryant Park: Saw Bryant Park. It's not terribly big either. I would have expected it to be something much much larger, given its prominence in the fashion industry.

People: Met up with dmlaenker, bobo_dreams, and Tracy who I work with at the library. I saw Jackson Publick, Doc Hammer, James Urbaniak and another guy from the Venture Bros (which was THE BEST panel at Comic Con ever). Saw Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz of the X-Files, and Ralph Bakshi (on separate panels). UPDATE I totally forgot I saw Jim Butcher and got him to sign book one of Codex Alera.

Shows: Got to see Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica on a giant theater projection screen with about 600 people. It was AWESOME! Got to see the preview for the X-Files movie, and preview for the new season of Venture Bros.

And the battery is getting low on the laptop. Gotta run.

Later Folks!

I'm going to keep this brief as I'm at a public terminal and don't want to stand for an hour while typing this.

Spent the morning at the Mall of America shopping for shoes. I got some good ones, and apparently Mephisto is now my official brand. Plus I got some custom insoles to support my arches. It was a good thing. I also found a brown and tan houndstooth wool cap at a hat shop and now I feel like I've reconnected with my great grandfather. It took going to minnesota but what the hell.

Got to the conference today around 3:30 and spent the last few hours in the exhibit hall. I talked to the people with whom I needed to talk to get my business done. I visited Tokyopop, Diamond, BWI, and various other important places. I got some swag, and it was good. I went to the unshelved booth and bought a few new tees. I got "Frequently Asked Questions" and "WWDD" (I lost my old one).

I went to the ALA store and dropped a chunk of change on some programming material for teens and graphic novel buyers guide. They're going to help me out tremendously. I also bought some stuff from the Random House booth, because apparently they were the booth for DC and Viz Media. Why, I have no idea. But it was good, because I got stuff at 50% off. It was great.

There has been a lot of the northern accent going on. It's quite adorable, and I'm amazingly slipping into it myself. I'm so darned impressionable.

That's all for now. I'm going to meet up with oftheeast for pizza tonight. I think it'll be a good time.

Tomorrow: Workshops galore.

Today I used some of my amazingly long break at work (split shift) to go to Borders.

Where they had NONE of the things I was looking for...

So, I used there little stand up kiosk to order the following:

Canatarella v. 2
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service v. 1
MPD Psycho v. 1
All Nippon Airlines: Paradise

When I left, I purchased... nothing.
I am amazed. I actually didn't buy anything at all.
I still don't understand, but I can accept it.

As I was lamenting the fact that I had nothing to read at the moment, I was cleaning the house up. Lo and behold I found a stack of manga still in the bag that I forgot I even bought. Of the 8 volumes in there I hadn't read 4 of them yet, so I was quite happy.

But as I was looking at them it kind of drove home a point to me.

I buy a lot of first volumes. Not first editions, just volume 1 of a series that goes for god knows how long.

I'm a taster. I'll try it out for a volume, and put it aside, for the most part, never to think about it again. If something totally grabs me I may go up to 3 or 4 volumes. If I'm totally hooked I'll buy the whole thing. But I've got a lot of stuff that I'm never going to go beyond volume 1.

Why?

I see it as part of my job. I'm out there looking for new stuff all the time. I know that there are hundreds of manga titles out there and new ones coming out all the time. I have no idea how good they are, how bad they are, if there's any kind of explicit content, if it's all about panties... I have no idea. So I'll get volume 1. If volume 1 passes muster then maybe I'll consider adding it to the collection of the public library.

Do I mind that I spend about $3,000+ a year on comics?
Oh hell no.
I LOVE IT!

It just continues to reinforce that I have the best job in the dang universe.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen:
Black Dossier
By Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill

I think calling it a Graphic Novel is the first place to start. Unlike the other League books which are trade paperback collections of individual comic book issues Black Dossier is something entirely other. It is a combination of comic book exposition interspersed with "replica documents" that mimic the ones the characters are reading in the eponymous black dossier. It's the reproduction documents that give the book its flavor, but it's also where I got the most frustrated with the story. Just as the action is getting somewhere the reader is confronted with a wall of text. The first few times this happened I got through it just fine, but by the third section of this I just skipped it entirely.

I probably shouldn't have because by the time I got to the end I was hopelessly confused. Let me explain...

( Read more... )

I am the disembodied voice and JD is the one at the desk.


From XKCD

And I love him for it and in spite of it...

As some of you may know, JD and I read Married to the Sea.

What you may not know, unless you read JD's blog, is that we've had this running gag about the Virginia License plates as a result of the Married to the Sea series about What Happened to Jamestown?

JD had a poll about getting a vanity plate and he decided to get the one that goes with the Jamestown joke.

Well, I finally took a picture on my camera phone and sent it over to Natalie and Drew at MTTS last night and they blogged JD's plate today.

Check it out. :)

nataliedee.com

I love Natalie Dee.

A lot of what I'm going to say is focused around the Spider-Man storyline "Brand New Day." If you have no idea what that is, and you have a passing interest in Spider-Man comics this is mega spoilery. But if you read, oh basically any kind of comic book related news or hell even regular news you'll know that something major happened in Spider Man land.

( Spoilers and pontifications )

So, I'm broke. I know. I'm not using the planner effectively yet. It's a process I've got to get used to.

However, the glorious reason I am broke is because I blew a ton of money on a) student loans, b) bills, c) christmas presents and d) COMIC BOOKS!

And guess what arrived today?

COMIC BOOKS!

I'm stoked. I've got a whole pile of reading for my weekend off. It's glorious.

My weekend plans consist of:

Reading comics
Meeting an out of town faerie to go to the NMAI
Going home and having cheap dinner at home with faerie friend
Reading more comics
Seeing faerie friend off to the train so he can go to BWI and then to Reykjavik
Going home and reading more comics.

So, Fritter, what's in your box?

( I thought you'd never ask )

I know. I need to get this down to a regular order and not binge like this. But GOD it is fun.

* Work: Worked today, and will work again tomorrow and monday. Sometimes I'm too responsible for my own damn good.

* Japanese: I'm up to Rosetta Stone level 1 Lesson 2.5. Today I learned Big, Small, Long, Short, Shapes, Colors, Sequences, Yes and No, and the difference between animals and people. I find it unusual that the Kanji for "circle" is so non-circular. The phrase that cracked me up the most was "Chiisana tento" which means "little tent." I was saying it over and over in the shower like a crazy person.

In continuing with Japanese I nearly answered the phone Moshi Moshi tonight for fun. It was Greenpeace asking for more money and I gave it to them. I should have pretended to be Japanese, answering them only in bizarro Japanese. It could have been fun.

* Body: I shaved my head tonight, and I nicked the HELL out of my scalp. I've got a band aid on my head and I feel kind of stupid. Thank goodness I'm not going anywhere tonight. Also, my hands are UNBEARABLY dry. I have some Curel ultra healing lotion and I'm hoping that helps. It seems to be doing good so far.

* Home: jcruisedirector moved out yesterday. The room is empty and my home is amazingly quiet. Though empty boxes still remain to be broken down. It's nice to have the place to myself again, if only for a while.

* Movies: I saw Juno the other night. It made me feel loved. I need more moments like that in movies. We all need more moments like that in movies.

* TV: Television is slowly grinding to a halt because of the damn writer's strike. I'm kind of sick of it. I just want to be entertained when I come home at night and not have to be bored by the dregs of television because of a labor dispute. All the reality TV in the world is nothing compared to shows like Journeyman, Chuck and Heroes. Thank god I have the world of anime to comfort me in my time of need.

* Books: I finished reading "The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears." It's a wonderful book about an Ethiopian immigrant in Washington DC, watching the early stage of the gentrification of Logan Circle, and just dealing with his life. It was a great book. Wonderful even. Next for the book club is Edward P. Jones's "All Aunt Hagar's Children." It's a collection of short stories, also all based in DC. Can't wait. I'm also reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." It's a very eye opening book. I'm glad I got it.

* Comics: I read Monster v.2, Hellsing v.1, Parasyte v.2, the beginning of Lone Wolf and Cub, and I'm muddling through Mushishi 3 in Japanese (not doing too well). I'm getting a box shipped from my favorite comic shop in Cincinnati sometime next week. I'm REALLY looking forward to that since it's a fucking fortune in comics.

* Internet: There's been some talk on Fabulon about wanting to have some kind of DC meetup, since there's a whole bunch of us from DC. I'm thinking it should happen so I put a note out there for a Fabulon Expedition/Exhibition in DC sometime in January. Details will be forthcoming.

* DC: Titan bar is closing their doors tomorrow and I'm very sad about this. Titan was like the one bar I would go to here in town and for reasons unknown they gave notice to everyone on Wednesday and it's been all over the blogs. I hope the owners and the staff all find new directions that benefit them. It's even sadder that it's one more gay club in DC that's gone.

* Quilt: I haven't worked on the quilt, yet, but I've got to clear up my dining room so I can work at the big table. I'm planning on next weekend being a good quilting weekend.

* Book: Haven't opened up Mordred since Nanowrimo. I will work on it again. Slow and steady it will come round. I've got the outline down and ready. I just need to write. I will set aside time next week to work on this.

* Faeries: I haven't been to faeries all month. I plan on going on Monday. Hopefully there will be someone there and we can sing carols or something.

* New Years: JD and I plan on going to his friends's New Years party. It was a lovely occasion last time. I'm hoping it's just as good this time round. Probably will be. And no more splurging on fantastic dinners before hand because the food was out of control at that party. We'll bring a couple bottles of booze to add to the cause and hopefully that'll keep people going.

For Vatoengland

She saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's...

And that kind of joke is yet another reason why I love Wonderella.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
By Michael Chabon

Samuel Kleyman (Sam Clay) is a young Jewish boy growing up in 1930's new york. Josef Kavalier is his cousin, freshly escaped from the jaws of Nazi death in Prague. Together the two men form a partnership built on a combination of art, passion, storytelling, and a desire to strike it rich in the pulp comic business. And they become wildly successful.

But beyond the story of the comic books, which is in itself completely engrossing, there is the deeper story of two men whose lives are completely different. One a homebody boy who's greatest thrill was seeing the New York world's fair and who's mind spins yarns by the thousands; the other a world traveling escape artist (and fine artist) who makes his way to every corner of the globe throughout the course of a single novel, and all of it as if it was just part of everyday life. These two men become the crux of a dazzling creative partnership that fuels a revolution in reading, art, and storytelling.

The fantastic life of Joe Kavalier is breathtaking in its scope. He himself could be a character in a comic book, and through a simple twist of fate he does. His cousin Sam, ever the storyteller, smitten by moments of life, dreams up "The Escapist" just by looking at his cousin in the right angle of light.

This story was just absolutely riveting. I don't remember how many pages it was, (around 700) but I finished it in three days, which is like record breaking speed for me. I just had to know what happened next, and I was captivated by my own mental images of the comics that were described in loving, rich detail (even though they never existed).

There were two things I wished when I finished the novel. 1) That I found out what happened to them after the ending, and 2) that there should be a graphic novel adaptation that includes the fabulous scenes of "The Escapist," "Luna Moth," and "The Golem."

So for a fantastic story with wonderful characters and a spellbinding style of writing, and no let downs ANYWHERE.

Overall Rating: A+
------------------
Currently Reading: Storm Front: Book One of the Dresden Files / Jim Butcher

Book Review

Soon I Will Be Invincible
Austin Grossman
Pantheon, 2007
288 p., $22.95

What goes on in the mind of an evil supergenius? What motivates them to take over the world? Where do they come from and why are they just so darn evil? What about superheroes? What goes on in the minds of your average cyborg woman or alien princess in spandex? These and many other questions regarding the hearts and minds of cliched comic book heroes are the focus of Grossman's first novel. And, while funny at times, the novel doesn't pack the whollop that the characters deliver to their archnemeses.

The story follows the lives and thoughts of Doctor Impossible, evil genius extraordinaire and Fatale, cyborg heroine with an unclear past. Each chapter shifts in point of view from the side of evil to the side of good, and how utterly messed up they both ultimately are. Doc Impossible is always trying to show the world that he matters, that he means something, and he's willing to do any kind of crazy feat of science to prove his point. Fatale is a rookie superhero freshly recruited for America's number one team-up, the Champions. She's always worked alone before, so working with other people (and their issues) is something she's exploring for the first time.

At the heart of the story is the disappearance of one of the most powerful superheroes out there, CoreFire. Seemingly invincible, CoreFire has been missing for months and the Champions come out of retirement to find him. They suspect Doc Impossible is responsible for it, and they're willing to go to the ends of the earth and off into space even to find out the truth. But Doctor Impossible is scheming, as he always does, and this is his sixth doomsday device and his twelfth attempt to conquer the world. The only one of the champions who could ever defeat him was CoreFire, and with him gone things start to look up for the bad guys.

The book is loaded with great evil quotes.

"When life gives you lemons you squeeze them, hard. Make invisible ink. Make an acid poison. Fling it in their eyes."

"When your laboratory exploes, lacing your body with a supercharged elixir, what do you do? You don't just lie there. You crawl out of the rubble, hideously scarred, and swear vengeance on the world. You keep going. You keep trying to take over the world."

At times while reading the novel, the scenes written in the voice of Doctor Impossible read almost as farcically as the lines of The Monarch from the Venture Brothers. I could even hear them read in that tone of nasal, clutching tone of voice. And ultimately, when it comes down to it, this is a novel built on cliches. It is an extended exploration of all superhero cliches strung together in a narrative that is itself a superhero cliche. The thing is, that's why so many people love certain comic books. Good guys win, bad guys get pounded and life gets to go on as normal, or whatever passes for normal in their world.

The thing is, Grossman doesn't really bring much new to the table, except maybe a few clever turns of phrase. The ending even left me feeling a little let down. Sure there was a twist, but even the twist was a cliche, and it was primarily delivered through an extended explanatory monologue from what seems to be a secondary character. That's just too removed for me as a reader to say that I liked it. It was an interesting story, and had some good writing at times, but the story could have been a lot better.

So, for some good writing, with some wonderful bravado, decently fleshed out characters, but for some mediocre plot development.

Rating: C

So, I was reading Scary go round like I do, and the story line is all about the Great Tackleford Fair. In the opening scene of today's strip there's a little meat pie booth behind the characters. One of the flavors is Chicken Tikka.

OMG!

I would LOVE to have a Chicken Tikka Pot Pie!

I think I know what I'm going to be doing when I get home...