Category: Columns

Brainiac On Banjo: He’ll Save Every One Of Us!

Just a man with a man’s courage. You know he’s nothing but a man, and he can never fail. No one but the pure at heart may find the Golden Grail! – “Flash” written by Brian May.

He’s everywhere! He’s everywhere!!!

No, I’m not talking about the return of Chickenman, although that would be welcome. Lucky for us, Rich Koz went on to bigger things. I’m taking about the man who was not comics’ first great space hero, but he was by far the best. Certainly the best drawn, with the best villain ever, anywhere. Born 90 years ago next January 7th, he was the creation of master comics artist Alex Raymond, and for over three decades, he ruled the worlds of heroic fantasy.

Flash Gordon was created as a newspaper comic strip. I assume you’ve read about newspapers online somewhere; comic strips were a feature in most of them except for the New York Times, who were too cheap to buy color presses back in the 1890s so they got all snooty about it and made it a thing. These comics told their stories on a daily basis. We still have newspaper comic strips but only four still tell continued stories, five if you count the brilliant Prince Valiant weekly. The rest are all about the tiresome adventures of misanthropomorphized two-dimensional talking animals. All newspaper extant have pretty much the same selection of funnies, as they were once known back in the days of newspaper competition. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: He’ll Save Every One Of Us!”

With Further Ado #270: Chaykin’s Fargo is on ZOOP

With Further Ado #270: Chaykin’s Fargo is on ZOOP

I knew some of these entrepreneurs before they started ZOOP. I liked their old start-up, and I like their “new” crowdfunding start-up ZOOP. (Although, it’s not that new anymore.) They are doing so many things right.

Added to the “doing things right” list is their current effort showcasing Howard Chaykin’s adaptation of John Benteen’s Fargo: Hell On Wheels.

This will be a 96+ page prestige format hardcover graphic novel adaptation of one of Howard Chaykin’s favorite characters from men’s adventure paperbacks of the sixties and seventies. Chaykin writes and draws the entire book, along with the extraordinary colorist Yen Nitro and of course his longtime letterer/designer, Ken Bruzenak. Continue reading “With Further Ado #270: Chaykin’s Fargo is on ZOOP”

Brainiac On Banjo: It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s… the Mayor?

Brainiac On Banjo: It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s… the Mayor?

Oh, it’s a long, long while from May to December, but the days grow short when you reach September. When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame, one hasn’t got time for the waiting game. “September Song” written by Teemu Brunila, Ben Hudson, Jon Cobbe Hume, and John Paul Cooper.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the peoples of steel, well, I understand. It’s hard to find DC books that aren’t about Batman. It might come as a surprise that DC Comics still publishes Bat-less books. And now that DC’s daddy has licensed their Looney Tunes characters out to Dynamite Entertainment, it’s even harder.

But if you search the racks a bit you’ll see that there are quite a few DC titles that feature the many various Supermans flying around the ever-morphing DCU comics that do not have Batman grabbing the staples, at least not in every issue. In fact, you might be confused with all the different Super men, women, children and pets. If you’re in Metropolis, and you look up at the sky, if you don’t see a fast moving red blur, you’re probably visiting an Earth with four digits.

The fact that all these Supers, with the arguable exception of Krypto, keep trying on new costumes does not help lesson the mob mentality one bit.

So it might come as a surprise that some major changes have been going on and, even more shocking, these charges are evolutionary and not the result of typical obsessive-compulsive rebooting.

As we have seen in last week’s Superman #850 (an up-priced anniversary issue because it ends in “50”), Daily Planet E-I-C Perry White, on leave of absence, has decided to run for mayor of the City of Tomorrow. Before he took leave prior to his announcement, he put the Planet in the hands of his star reporter, Lois Lane.

Now, that would be unlikely to happen on whichever Earth we happen to be living on. Lane has won more Pulitzers than the next ten winners combined. She is worth far more to the paper as a reporter. But this isn’t our Earth, and on hers she deserves the appointment, if she wants it.

In 2023, the existence of a women editor-in-chief of a great metropolitan newspaper is no longer rare. In fact, as print papers have dwindled down to a precious few, women editors are doing better than the medium for which they toil. Yeah, that isn’t much, and if this were British opera you might take that as a sign of their end times.

Should Perry win, should Lois become permanent E-I-C — and either can happen without the other — all kinds of interesting plot paths come into being. How would the job affect her marriage to Clark? How would the job accept her marriage to Kal-El? To their kid, to their family, to the other Supers and to the Justice League members she knows so well? And… what about Lex Luthor? Besides, if she’s running the Planet, she is unlikely to have time to fall out of helicopters.

What kind of mayor would Perry be? Does he have sufficient political skills to get anything accomplished? What sort of enemies will he make, and how will they act out? Will Perry have any sort of relationship with the Planet and his old friends? Will Mayor White’s work place those friends in jeopardy? Hoe long will he be mayor — and what happens after that ends? Senator White? President White?

In fact, Perry White had been mayor of Metropolis on one of the best known infinite Earths. It was revealed that Perry had been mayor before he went to the Daily Planet in the hit television show The Adventures of Superman, a program whose exposure and longevity is among the highest in history — it’s in the I Love Lucy class. Which is vaguely funny as Superman crossed over into Lucy.

Of course, there’s a 500 pound gorilla with Kryptonite ray vision sulking in the corner waiting for a big-ass strike to be resolved. What will happen to all of this as James Gunn’s Superman Legacy comes out — July 11, 2025, as time currently is reckoned in Hollywood? Does that establish another “sell-by” date for the masters of seat-of-your-pants circumlocution at Warner Bros Discovery? Hell, given the past ten years or so, will Warner Bros Discovery still be a thing? I wouldn’t bet either way.

There could be some interesting and fairly original stories coming out of all this. Then again, it all could wind up looking like a 30-car pileup in a blizzard on I-80 in Pennsylvania. We can and need to pay attention to history, but be careful about taking odds on the endgame.

But I like the sound of a kick-ass Mayor Perry White.

Brainiac On Banjo: Flying High!

Brainiac On Banjo: Flying High!

Might as well jump. Jump! Go ahead and jump! Get it and jump. Jump! Get ahead and jump! “Jump!,” written by David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen, and Eddie Van Halen.

© Daniel Wilsey High Flight LLC

I have a new hero. It’s a person I’ve never met, I didn’t know was alive a month ago and who no longer is alive now. But in those brief nine days, she certainly made her mark.

A couple decades ago, my chiropractor told me I can no longer jump out of airplanes. I have never incurred an injury during my eight jumps, so I’ve been pretty annoyed about that. Yeah, I know: parachute jumping is kind of off-model for me. I couldn’t even do the rope climbing bit in high school gym class for fear of falling.

I loved the fact that, having taken the right precautions and working with experienced professionals, it was unlikely I could screw up parachute jumping unless some asshole weisenheimer got the law of gravity repealed right after I left the airplane. And, yes, I was quite aware that “gravity” was and remains just a theory but, trust me, you don’t need to jump out of a Cessna to prove it. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Flying High!”

With Further Ado #269: Tripwire Turns 30 and Is Going to NYCC

With Further Ado #269: Tripwire Turns 30 and Is Going to NYCC

As a comics fan, I loved reading the comics and I also loved reading about comics and the whole industry. The Comics Reader and The Buyers Guide for Comic Fandom were two of my favorite publications. I also loved Comics Interview, Amazing Heroes and Comics Feature. In the 90s, I was great friends with the Wizard Magazine folks. That particular rocket ride was more like a movement, or a revolt, than just a magazine.

And today – I’m very involved with TwoMorrows publications like Back Issue Magazine and RetroFan Magazine.

So is it any wonder that I’m a big fan of Joel Meadows and Tripwire Magazine.

Tripwire was founded back in 1992 and it is the preeminent UK comics and genre publication (with a home on the web and in print) quarterly magazine. But now as comics journalism has changed over the past thirty years, how do you cover the worlds of comics and genre while playing to the strengths of the format that you cover them in- online and print? Is there still even a place for covering this sector in print?

I’m excited to be moderating the Tripwire Panel at New York Comic Con. It’s called Tripwire and Over 30 years of Comics Journalism and is scheduled for Thursday in room 406.1 in the Javits Center, at 10:45 am on Oct 12, 2023.

The Panelists include publisher Joel Meadows, Andy Coleman, Dan Berry and Forbes Magazine’s Rob Salkowitz. More details are available at www.newyorkcomiccon.com.

And Bob Harrison had a fantastic interview with Joel Meadows herehere too!

See you at New York Comic Con!

With Further Ado #268: Screams, Screens and the Planet of the Apes!

With Further Ado #268: Screams, Screens and the Planet of the Apes!

Fifty years ago this month, my brain exploded. So did the brains just about all my friends. And it was all because of what CBS did one Friday night.

In those days, when a movie was shown in the theater, there was a sense of urgency to see it. You never knew when you’d get the chance to see it again. Our ability to watch movies was at the whim of networks for when, and if, they’d re-broadcast a movie.

I’ve always thought this book, Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes by Andrew Gaska, was spectacular, especially with its Steranko cover and a bunch of wonderful interior illustrations.

Through the mid and late 60s, 20th Century Fox worked hard to develop a movie called Planet of the Apes. Rod Serling was called to help with early drafts of the movie. Much of his work morphed into something different, but his innovative twist ending, a commentary on the then-current world, made it to the final version which debuted on movie screens in 1968.

Later, Fox packaged this movie together with the sequels for CBS. The network broadcast it on conventional TV during an autumn Friday fifty years ago. I was too young to see this one in the theaters, but I was the perfect age to see it on TV.

Apes riding horse! A spaceship! A beach that looked a lot like Lake Ontario (where we’d spend time every summer)! Linda Harrison in a dried spinach swimsuit! “What could be better?” said my ten-year-old self. Continue reading “With Further Ado #268: Screams, Screens and the Planet of the Apes!”

Brainiac On Banjo: Let’s Ban Us Some Comic Books!

Brainiac On Banjo: Let’s Ban Us Some Comic Books!

Give me back the Berlin wall. Give me Stalin and St. Paul. Give me Christ, or give me Hiroshima — “The Future” written by Leonard Cohen

Happy, happy Banned Books Week! It started this very week, and in case you haven’t been paying attention in certain rather large parts of the United States of America, areas I have taken to refer to as the Confederate States, they do not want it to last just a week. They want it to last forever. By the way, there’s more of these Confederate States today than there were in 1861, and you can recognize them by the number of torch-wielding, bible-thumping goons telling you what you and your family cannot be allowed to read.

It’s really a big deal. If these goose-steppers have their way, when it comes to comics and graphic novels all you’ll be permitted to read are Jack Chick’s stuff.

Here is a partial list — and I truly mean partial; it’s as thorough as a fart in a blizzard — of comics and graphic novels that have been removed from some of our libraries and even bookstores. Take a deep breath and hide your Bic lighters.

Anne Frank, banned in more ways than one.

Maus by Art Spiegelman, Bone by Jeff Smith, Neonomicon by Alan Moore, Saga by Brian K. Vaughan, The Walking Dead (all of them) by Robert Kirkman, Blankets: An Illustrated Novel by Craig Thompson, Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe, The Handmaid’s Tale by by Margaret Atwood – Art & Adaptation by Renee Nault, and Sandman by Neil Gaiman.

And: A Girl on the Shore by Inio Asano, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, Flamer by Mike Curato, New Kid and Class Act by Jerry Craft, Moonstruck by Grace Ellie, Shae Beagle and Kate Leth, A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities by Mady G and Jules Zuckerberg, Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green, No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed As Men for Love Freedom and Adventure by Susan Hughes and Willow Dawson, Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” by Miles Hyman.

And, still more: When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, The Breakaways by Cathy G. Johnson, Drawn Together by Minh Lê and Dan Santat, Identity: A Story of Transitioning by Corey Maison, Losing the Girl by MariNaomi, I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina, Stacey Robinson, and John Jennings, V For Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen, The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag, Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince, Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey, and, because we do not want to shame the American Nazis, Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by David Polonsky. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Let’s Ban Us Some Comic Books!”

With Further Ado #267: Chaykin, Waid, and Comic Book U.

With Further Ado #267: Chaykin, Waid, and Comic Book U.

Lately I feel like reading World’s Finest, or the Teen Titans has been like taking a master class in how to write fantastic comics.   They’re fun and surprising. Fresh, but respectful of longtime readers.  And that new Superman story, Last Days of Lex Luthor, in that oversized DC Black Label format, just blew me away. So much so, that I even passed along my copy to my dad. (I only pass along the really, really good stuff to him.)

Mark Waid, the writer for these series, has written a lot of stories over the years, and I’ve sure enjoyed his stories over the years. A few years ago, I assumed he hit his peak with his brilliant relaunch Marvel’s Daredevil. It was outstanding on so many levels. But like a star athlete, Mark Waid makes a habit of shattering his own personal best and creating better and better comics. Continue reading “With Further Ado #267: Chaykin, Waid, and Comic Book U.”

Brainiac On Banjo: Batman’s Gay Apocalypse

Brainiac On Banjo: Batman’s Gay Apocalypse

Who is the manliest man? (Batman!) With the buns of steel? (Batman!) Who could choke hold a bear? (Batman!) Who never skips leg-day? (Batman!) Who always pays their taxes (NOT Batman!) — “Who’s the (Bat)Man” (from The Lego Batman Movie) written by Neal Hefti, Jason Rabinowitz, Colton Fisher, Jaron Lamot, Mansa Makili, Brayden Deskins, and Barry Pointer.

In case it hadn’t occurred to you in this specific term, bigotry is ludicrous… among other things. There is no justification for this activity.

According to the Associated Press, the overseers of all things scholastic in a suburban Atlanta Georgia county had Marc Tyler Nobleman, author of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, over to speak to their students about legendary comics writer Bill Finger. However, they would not permit Nobleman to speak about Finger’s relationship with his gay son, Mark, who died thirty years ago from AIDS complications. According to Nobleman, that relationship was critical to defining Bill.

It was Mark Finger’s daughter Athena who, after being found by Nobleman, worked out a deal with DC Comics’ owner du jour in which her grandfather finally received due credit for his work in co-creating Batman a mere 76 years after the feature was first published. She is, to comics fans, a hero. There’s quite a story in that, and that story has been well-publicized. I should point out that Marc Tyler Nobelman also appears in the Bill Finger documentary Batman and Bill. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Batman’s Gay Apocalypse”

With Further Ado #266: A Somber Gathering

With Further Ado #266: A Somber Gathering

We’ve been talking about comic conventions and fandoms lately. This is completely different but more similar than I ever expected.

This past weekend, my wife and I volunteered for a pop-up traveling exhibition, and I’m glad we did. I was surprised that it was – although so appropriately somber – like so many of the activities and gatherings we’ve been spotlighting in this column.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) manages The Wall That Heals and their national tour schedule for 2023. The Wall That Heals exhibit includes a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial along with a mobile Education Center. This is the 28th season of The Wall That Heals has been on the road, and last weekend it visited our town Auburn, located in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Continue reading “With Further Ado #266: A Somber Gathering”