You can ask any creator that has been to a comic book convention- and they would probably agree with me- attending a three day convention can be both mentally and physically draining. For a creator, having to be "on" for three days, completing commissions for fans, answering questions (some of which catch you by surprise on camera), is not always easy. The occasional slip-up when answering a question on camera you have not been prepped for in advance is something to be expected. Particularly if it is a subject you are passionate about; and if you work in comics, you damn well better be passionate about them.
Writer/artist Darwyn Cooke ( Parker) has been taking a lot of heat since some of what he stated in an interview this past weekend at the Toronto Fan Expo was scrutinized and gone viral. And while I am not defending Darwyn, I can't say I was personally offended by his statement, but I'll let you come to your own conclusion. You can watch the video and read the transcript below.
Interviewer: "I know you said you wouldn't be going back to Superhero's, right?" Darwyn: "Yeah, well not in any big way." Interviewer: "Is there anything you would like to see DC or Marvel change about the way they do business?" Darwyn: "Yeah I want them to stop catering to the perverted needs of 45 year old men, I want to stop seeing Batman F***king Black Canary, I don't want to hear Batman swearing, I don't want to see him feeding a boy rats. I don't want to see characters getting raped in the a**, I don't want to see characters who have been straight for 60 years become lesbians overnight because the writer's too stupid or uncreative to come up with something decent. I want to see new characters for a new time, and when the industry of superhero comics realizes it's sights to the young people it was meant for, I'll be there with both arms and feet outside."
The comments about Batman are clearly aimed at All-Star Batman and Robin, which, if you read, then you know what I am talking about. However, that isn't the comment that ruffled so many feathers, but the bit at the end about lesbian characters. As The Beat points out, some have considered Darwyn's commentary offensive. But the thing is, Darwyn isn't homophobic- at least I don't think he is. In fact, as pointed out by the gayleague, Darwyn created Argo Bones and Kimball Richards, a gay couple that appeared in his run of The Spirit. If he had a problem with homosexuality in comics, I certainly don't think he would have included a gay couple in his book.
It's clear from the commentary that Darwyn loves comic books and has a real, clear passion for them and for the superhero genre- but that he perhaps longs for the superhero stories he grew up with. While he doesn't come out and state that the lesbian character in question is Kate Kane, we can assume it is she considering the most recent Batwoman title. Darwyn has since responded to the scrutiny at 4th Letter in which he stated:
"I think gay characters are an important and welcome part of any contemporary expression. What I want is to see creators and publishers creating new characters that are gay and lesbian, and spend the decades needed creating and supporting stories about these characters. It strikes me as opportunistic and somewhat wrongheaded to take someone elses creation and after decades of established character action make that drastic a change."
So now I pose the same question to all of you. As a fan of the comic book genre, how do you think DC and Marvel should change? If so, how? What did you think of Darwyn's commentary?
The re-launch of a Vampirella series by Dynamite Entertainment has fans of the classic character very excited, as they should be! We caught up with the writer of the upcoming series Eric Trautman to discuss what it was like for him to write the character and to find out what fans can look forward to in his run starting this November. Be sure to check out the gorgeous covers and interior pages after to jump. Check it out and let us know if you plan on picking up Vampirella this November!
ComicVine: Many writers have taken on Vampirella- Grant Morrison, Kurt Busiek, James Robinson to name a few- what are you looking to do with the character? How will your run be different? Eric S. Trautman: My hope is simply to tell an exciting, smart story, one that (knock wood) measures up to the stories you've listed. In terms of how it'll be "different," I'm trying to push Vampirella into darker, harder-edged, more realistic territory (at least, as realistic as vampires running around can be).
CV: After becoming familiar with Vampirella and her long history, what do you feel is the most intriguing and compelling aspect of her character? What about her stands out to you as a writer? EST: By her very nature, she's apart from the people she wants to protect. I'm positing that most folks instinctively shy away from her, which makes her incredibly isolated. That sense of isolation, the lone heroine standing against a deadly, evil threat, is appealing to me, and, I think, makes Vampirella resonate with fans.
CV: Will your comic be an ongoing series? EST: Yes. It's been a lot of fun, too; Dynamite has left me pretty free to tell the story I want to tell, which is a luxury a lot of new series -- especially those based on established characters -- are rarely afforded. It's very exciting.
CV: Based on the press release by Dynamite, Vampirella will face her greatest adversary in the relaunch- Vlad Dracula. Why him and what makes their rivalry so intriguing? What can fans of the character expect from this new series? EST: Why Dracula? How could I not pit her against Dracula? Dracula is the template for all modern vampire mythology, the wellspring of it all. He's clever, charismatic, and utterly ruthless--a pure bastard. He's the perfect antagonist for Vampirella. I want to play up his abilities as a tactician; Dracula was a masterful general, which makes him a dangerous foe.
CV: You obviously have tons of experience writing comics- from issues of Final Crisis: Resist and Action Comics, to your work on The Shield at DC. However, (if I am not mistaken) this will be your first time writing a comic with a lead female character. Is that a different writing experience for you, and if so, how? EST: Actually, that's not correct. My very first published comic was PERFECT DARK: JANUS' TEARS, a six-issue miniseries that tied into the Perfect Dark videogame franchise, and had an ultra-lethal female protagonist, Joanna Dark; and then there's Sasha Bordeaux; and Josephine Tautin (the contemporary Mademoiselle Marie); and Power Girl; and Red Sonja, and Flamebird, and Lois Lane... I'm pretty comfortable writing female characters.
CV: What was it like working on the comic with artist Wagner Reis? EST: Quite pleasant. Wagner has a terrific feel for the character, and his sense of mood is spot-on. I particularly love how hyperdetailed his backgrounds are; he's really capturing what I'm shooting for in the scripts.
CV: When can fans expect to check out the comic? EST: Vampirella #1 hits store shelves in November.
Yesterday, I discussed my first memories of reading the incredibly gimmicky X-Men 2099 #1 and got in touch with my ignorant inner-child. Today, I summon that ignorant child once again to reread and review the book that seemed like all flash but no pop.
Adult I.E.: So this book starts off with Timothy, who later becomes Skullfire, heading out of the wasteland to, well, a rave.
11 Yr Old I.E.: The future is totally like Mad Max except everyone has free time to party. That's so cool.
Adult I.E.: I guess. We're introduced to Junkpile who is basically the bouncer at the future-rave, and then we see Eddie AKA Metalhead who has the ability to touch metal and become that metal.
11 Yr Old I.E.: It's awesome! He has a adamantium bracelet on and a gold bracelet on and he turns into gold here. That's amazing!
Adult I.E: Really? Gold is incredibly malleable. He might as well turn into clay, unless he plans on running a Cash For Gold store and "wowing" his customers. They spend a good chunk of time describing the instrument he's playing. An instrument you'll never see in this comic again. A total waste of dialogue. As this story continues, we meet Serpentina and Cerebra. Get it? Like Cerebro? And she discusses her powers with Junkpile, someone she seems to know pretty well. Why is she discussing her powers with him if they already know each other?
11 Yr Old I.E.: She's like Proffesor X's Cerebro, but in human form. She's so cool, and she's very pretty.
Adult I.E.: More characters are introduced, including the leader of the new X-Men, Xi'an AKA Desert Ghost who is more of a heartless killing machine than leader.
11 Yr Old I.E.: He's totally a good guy! He talks about how he learned how to unite because of Professor X!
Adult I.E.: He also says he follows Magneto and he comes off as more of a cult leader terrorist than anything else. When you're at his rave, don't drink the Kool-Aid.
11 Yr Old I.E.: Yeah, but then something really cool happens. There's this sniper, and Timothy spots him and uses his Skullfire powers to shoot him, but Xi'an still gets shot, but then he tells Timothy, "I knew you'd join the X-Men."
Adult I.E.: He didn't join anything! He just tried to save a man's life, and frankly, did a poor job at it! Let's talk about the writing, shall we?
11 Yr Old I.E.: It's so good! All the...
Adult I.E.: Stop right there... It's terrible. There's tons of long-winded monologues, over-expository dialogue, and useless information.
11 Yr Old I.E.: I didn't understand half of those words.
Adult I.E.: While the character concepts may be really cool, especially Skullfire, he just feels like Gambit, except shooting green out of his hands instead of pink. It's recycled garbage. However, the art still stands up pretty well, and overall the story is still a lot of fun. But, why is there a preview for issue #2 of this book, in the middle of it? Spoiler alert anyone?
Verdict - 11 Yr Old I.E. 5/5
This was so cool! There are so many cool characters with cool powers, and like this series will go on forever! This is Marvel's best book right now! You have to buy this! Plus, there's so many cool video game ads!
Verdict - Adult I.E. 2/5
There's a reason this isn't in trade paperback because it's not that great. But you want to know something funny? If you ignore all the dialogue, the book's pretty entertaining. It just gets bogged down in the writing style of that time with obvious over-explanation of every little aspect. It's insulting to the reader. However, the kid in me loves this book, and there really are some cool, although recycled, characters here. My advice, if you find yourself at a flea market and find this puppy for $1, pick it up, but don't pay more than a dollar.
You know, I always wondered if Batman was any good at da vidya games. On the one hand, you might think hed deem such trivialities to be beneath him. On the other, if hes good at everything, why not first-person shooters? Could he wield the Wiimote as expertly as a baterang? And how would he feel about playing his own games? These are questions ripe for a couple installments of G-Mans Off My Mind, I think. Believe it or not, they all get answered in this quite amusing, very charming, greatly diverting commercial for the BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD game thats hitting stores on the 24. I may always have a bit of trouble reconciling this kid-friendly Batman with the one who takes on kill-tallying Mr. Zsasz and people-eating Killer Kroc, but lord help me if I wasnt entertained by seeing Bat-Mite use his fifth-dimensional magic to force Bats and Green Arrow to play this game. "I plan for all contingencies," he says. Indeed!
I remember seeing demos of this on display at DCs booth back at Comic Con. I didnt get to play them, of course, but it was pretty cool to see the likes of Guy Gardner and Jaime Reyes getting their time to shine in what looked like a pretty wild, colorful beat em up. Apparently, theres also a cool feature thatll allow you to simultaneously play this on the DS and the Wii (or, as I always like to call it, the wheeeeeee!) letting the "remote player" control Bat-Mite on screen. They'll be linked, of course, by fifth-dimensional magic!
Anyway, here's the video I've been describing. You're going to smirk and maybe even guffaw, over it...
How many of you remember Chip 'N' Dale Rescue Rangers? Adding to the Disney lineup of comics at BOOM! Studios, it has been announced today that those furry flatfoots are returning in comic book form. We recently saw the return of Darkwing Duck and now we're getting another piece from the Disney Afternoon lineup. Chip 'N' Dale Rescue Rangers will debut in their own series in December.
The show debuted in 1989 and was a top rated show which brought action and suspense to the Disney Afternoon animation block.
What can we expect from this comic? We had the chance to ask Ian Brill some questions about the new series.
Comic Vine: You've written a few issues of Darkwing Duck now (which has had great reviews), were you approached to write Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers or did you volunteer/beg? Ian Brill: I was approached. I'm very lucky (and I'm very grateful) that Darkwing Duck has received the reaction it has. BOOM! was impressed with my work and approached me about pitching Rescue Rangers ideas. Thankfully, things seem to be working out just fine the second time around!
CV: Did you watch both shows when they aired? Were you a big fan?
IB: Absolutely. After coming home from school I would finish my homework right away so I could catch the entire Disney Afternoon. Rescue Rangers gave you the world you know but looked at it in a totally different way. The characters were small so the everyday world became huge. Like DuckTales, Rescue Rangers gave you a ton of adventure for one half hour. It featured great characters in inventive situations. After all these years, everyone who grew up with this show remembers Gadget's unique inventions or how Monterey Jack would be hypnotized every time he smelled cheese! And of course the comedy team of Chip n' Dale is a concept that's lived for almost seventy years I believe
CV: Can we assume the title will be accessible to old and new fans, just as Darkwing Duck is?
IB: Yes you can. One thing that's important to me is clear storytelling. Hopefully, if I've done my job well, the characters and their situations are laid out so they make the reader want more, whether they are new fans or not!
CV: Do you feel any pressure writing characters based on the fan-favorite show?
IB: I wouldn't call it pressure. There is a challenge set before me to have the characters match the personalities and characteristics we all remember. That's also something important to me. Once you have that down you can really start building stories around these characters.
CV: There are some DVD releases, have you recently gone back and watched them for research?
IB: Yeah I've watched a lot of the shows. It's something I do while I'm writing the plot document to send to my editor. I get great insights into the characters that way. I also watch Pixar films like Finding Nemo and Up, which are blueprints to do fun and powerful adventure stories that can appeal to anyone.
CV: Are you planning on doing single issue stories or four issue arcs?
IB: Rescue Rangers is an ongoing series with the first storyline being four issues, and then we'll see where we do from there.
CV: I can't recall if it was ever shown in the cartoon but will we see how the Rangers got together?
IB: The five-parter opening to the second season of the show "To the Rescue" did the origin of the team. The comic will be an all-new story, with some faces from the past!
CV: My seven year old wants to know where you're going to get the ideas for the comic from.
IB: A lot of it is finding these big dramatic challenges that will bring out the best in the characters. Seeing our heroes rise to the occasion and overcome the odds is a major part of storytelling.
Unbreak our hearts, Night. Say you'll make the movie again...
Looks like well finally be getting to see UNBREAKABLE 2. Well, sort-of. While M. Night Shyamalan was promoting DEVIL to MTV recently, the subject of a sequel to his unofficial comics movie came up (as it does all the time, all over the world). Now, hes admitted that he is, in fact, going ahead with the idea he had for a sequel, but itll be cannibalized into a new, unrelated movie. For those of you who're unfamiliar, Shyamalan recently signed a deal with Media Rights Capital to produce (not direct) three movies over the next three years under the Night Chronicles banner. Elevator action thriller DEVIL is the first, FOURTEEN SECONDS will be the second and this unnamed movie will be the third. It seems he came up with another villain for UNBREAKABLE but scraped him lest he crowd out Mr. Glass and that creepy home-invader scumbag. However, he always thought the villain was too good to never use. He figured he was even strong enough for his own movie. Hence, this third Night Chronicles flick.
"I cannibalized the idea for the sequel to 'Unbreakable' for one of the 'Night Chronicles. It was such a cool idea for a villain, and it was actually originally in the script for 'Unbreakable,' and it was too much There were too many villains, so I pulled this villain out and was like, 'I'll make this the second flick. I fleshed it out more and more, and thought, 'This could be a standalone movie.' I'll just say it: the third 'Night Chronicles' movie is what would have been the sequel [to 'Unbreakable']. So now I need to come up with a new idea."
He goes on to add that, even though UNBREAKABLE is one of his personal favorites, and, even though he gets asked about a sequel all the time, hes been having the worst case of writers block for it. Ah well... the wind of inspiration blows when it blows, right?
There is a certain appeal to the idea of a sidekick. For the veteran hero, it's an opportunity to train a young hero for the future. It's a way for them to become a mentor and pass on what they know. It's a way to ensure that, should something happen to them, there will be someone ready to replace them and continue the fight for justice.
For the sidekicks, it's probably the time of their lives. They get to hang out and learn from a cool experienced hero. Provided they don't have to do child labor and clean all of the heroes gadgets along with other menial tasks, it's most likely a dream come true.
The concept of sidekicks may seem important in preparing for the future and simply safeguarding the innocent but is it actually a bad idea? Are superheroes being completely irresponsible when taking on a sidekick?
Sidekicks are usually children. When they begin their crime-fighting career, it's at the cost of their childhood. In most cases, the child had a traumatic event occur in their life that made them a prime candidate for a hero to take them under their wing. A child deserves the chance to be a child. They should be in school and experiencing all the good and bad things that make a person who they are. Rather than help the child overcome the tragedy in their lives, they are thrown into the world of superheroes. The idea of wearing a flashy costume and working with a cool hero is a way to entice them to get into the superhero game.
Being a sidekick often has dire consequences. The sidekick is often exposed to unnecessary dangers or even killed (even though they sometimes come back to life). Bucky Barnes got blown up, had parts of his body replaced with cybernetics and was brainwashed to become a killing machine as the Winter Soldier. Jason Todd was beaten with a crowbar, trapped in a warehouse that blew up and when resurrected, developed a twisted and sometimes sadistic persona. Roy Harper fell into the world of drugs while unsupervised and later got his arm ripped off. Tim Drake's parents were killed largely due to his being Robin. The original Aqualad, Garth, was cast away when Aquaman had his own child, he lost his wife and kid later and then had his heart literally torn and became a Black Lantern. And let's not forget Rick Jones who hung out with several heroes like Hulk and Captain America. Rick was exposed to a cancerous gas, got stranded in the Microverse and worst of all, got transformed and now calls himself "A-Bomb."
The need for heroes is important in a world filled with supervillains. It's important for the hero to be properly trained to defend themselves and the innocent. The question is, should the training occur at such a young age? Is it right for a child to be torn away from their childhood experiences to become a servant for justice? Is it okay for them to throw away a chance at a normal life in order to risk everything for the thrill of becoming a hero? Should heroes be ashamed of themselves for putting children at risk?
Xi'an, Meanstreak, Skullfire, Metalhead. These names probably don't mean much to you, or these names utterly confuse you, but they mean a lot to me. They are some of the members of X-Men 2099, a sleek, super-cool, gimmicky comic from Marvel in 1993. I was 11 years old at the time, and I was the same age during The Death of Superman which I talked about last week, and I was really into a couple things: The number one issues of comic books, and anything shiny. X-Men 2099 was a perfect package for me. It was the first time I collected a series monthly, and the first complete series I would own up until I reached my mid-twenties. X-Men 2099 has a special place in my heart as the first terrible comic I loved.
I call this a terrible comic based on the assumption that it doesn't hold up to my snooty standards of today, and that I have read the series in at least a decade. But honestly, who cares what I think now? What's most important is what the 11 year old version of me thinks about this book. So, I took a time machine and interviewed myself in 1993. While frighting to the younger version of myself because I've become quite the monster 17 years later. The younger version of me eventually settled down and had this to say about X-Men 2099.
11 Yr Old I.E.: It's a number one! The number one issue of a comic is the best place to start, and plus it will be worth like a million dollars in the future. I can retire by selling this one single comic. Then I can buy a flying car or something. Also, the comic is based in 2099. So, like in 2099, I can sell it for a billion dollars!
::Lil' I.E. stops and does the math, realizing he'll be 117 years old in 2099::
11 Yr Old I.E.: It'll be the future, so 117 years old won't be that old. Like did you see these characters? Look how cool Skullfire is! He doesn't have the make-up on inside the cover, but he will. And Xi'an's powers of life on one hand and death on the other is so original! Plus it's the X-Men and everything the X-Men are in is usually the best. I think this series will continue forever!
Spoiler Alert: You won't care who dies because the character sucked and it's only the third issue.
Wow, thanks 11 year old version of me! Seriously though, this is everything I thought about this book, from just the cover. My actual memories of reading it are hazy at best, except when Serpentina died in issue three... She should had stayed off the cover to avoid her grizzly fate... and then resurrection from the Graverobber! Later on, some interesting characters were introduced like Luna and Halloween Jack, but this book died an ugly death after Atlantis re-rose and confused me to a point where I bought the issues but only skimmed them.
It's a genius marketing tool though. Just thrust everyone into the future 106 years, call it X-Men, and watch the kids flock to it. Make it incredibly familiar by essentially copying comics that already exist and giving them new names. I may seem bitter, but there's still a place in my heart for my first series. Stay tuned tomorrow for a review of the first issue!
~Mat "InferiorEgo" Elfring is a comedian, teacher, comic book writer, comic store employee, and a sucker.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and claim that Batman: Arkham Asylum was probably the greatest video game adaptation of a comic book I have ever seen- and I credit that to the fact that the game developers hired people that actually care about the characters, and Batman, to script the game. Hiring long time Batman writer Paul Dini to write Batman: Arkham Asylum was the perfect move- it's no wonder that the game was such a success. So it wasn't much of a surprise when it was announced that Dini would be working on the script of the game's sequel, Batman: Arkham City. Since that announcement, fans of the first game have been on the edge of their seats itching to catch glimpses of Batman's upcoming adventure. Well, if you've been wishing for a look at what the sequel will look like, then you're definitely in luck. The screen captures of Batman: Arkham City 2 were found on an anonymous Flickr account and were picked up by NeoGAF before spreading like wildfire throughout the interwebs- and they look AMAZING. We get an awesome look at Two-Face and Catwoman, and see that Detective Mode will return- I love detective mode! The big question is, will we finally be able to drive the Batmobile in the second game? See the awesomeness below.
Doctor Who has been on quite a roll since returning to television in 2005. It's gone through five seasons and the show is now featuring its third character portraying The Doctor. Now the show is coming up to its sixth season and the Guardian recently reported than this season will have a few changes to it compared to the first five. Steven Moffat, who currently runs the show is making this season into two separate parts and promises a game-changing mid-season finale.
"I kept referring to a mid-season finale. So we are going to make it two series seven episodes at Easter building to an earth-shattering climax, a cliffhanger we could never normally do because it would be too long before it came back. An enormous game-changing cliffhanger that will change everything... The wrong expression would be to say we are splitting it in two. We are making it two separate series."
For those who are a little disappointed by this news, look at the bright side. Instead of being 6-8 months away from the new Doctor Who series. The first series of the episodes will appear during Easter, the rest during the fall, and then the Christmas special. As Moffat puts it, "you are never going to be more than few months from the new series of Doctor Who." But where do you go from there? What aspects of the old Doctor Who television series can you re-tap? What new ideas are on the plate?
One of the things discussed in this interview is, when casting the new Doctor, if they considered a female to play the part. "I think about it sometimes and maybe it will happen someday. It wouldn't have been right this time... A woman can play the part. You have to remember the single most important thing about regeneration is you must convince the audience and the children that's it's not a new man, it's not a different man, it's the same one. It's a bigger ask if you turn him into a woman." Moffat also stated that he won't be leaving the show as of yet.
Also returning is Karen Gillan, who plays Amy Pond. She plans on taking the show season by season. " you can't really look beyond that so who knows? I'm having fun right now." The newest season of Doctor Who should start around Christmas of 2010, and the new season will continue onwards around Easter 2011. Is splitting up the season a good thing?
