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With Further Ado #263: Peek-a-Boo: It’s Veronica Lake

With Further Ado #263: Peek-a-Boo: It’s Veronica Lake

Posted on by Ed Catto

Back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, DC and Marvel fans sure loved the superheroes of the 40s. We would enjoy the current issues of Justice League of America or The Avengers, but every now and again there was an adventure that was kind of like “looking over our shoulders” at the past. The JLA would routinely get together with their historical antecedents, the Justice Society of America and there were so many tales to be told and retold of Captain America’s WWII teams, the All-Winners Squad and the Invaders.

But there was one of those old heroes that I kind of liked and I wasn’t sure why. Liberty Belle was a DC heroine who fought golden age criminals and saboteurs, like all those women did – in high heels. Created by Don Cameron and Chuck Winter, Liberty Belle debuted in Boy Commandos #1 (from Winter of 1942).

It took me a while to realize her greatest superpower was that she was (essentially) the Hollywood star, Veronica Lake.

Veronica Lake grew up in Saranac Lake and originally went by the name Constance Keane. (That seems like a pretty cool name to me too.) Her Hollywood star burned brightly – but flamed out all too quickly. Lake was a quintessential femme fatale in film noir thrillers and even the Bewitched prototype in I Married a Witch. Continue reading “With Further Ado #263: Peek-a-Boo: It’s Veronica Lake” →

Brainiac On Banjo: The Real Clown Prince of Crime!

Brainiac On Banjo: The Real Clown Prince of Crime!

Posted on by Mike Gold

Why do you want him? Why do you want him? Why do you want him? Why do you want him? — “Why Do You Want Him?,” written by Billie Joe Armstrong, John Kiffmeyer, and Mike Dirnt.

No doubt you’ve heard about this “internet” thing. It’s a place where we all go to show everybody else just how clever we are. For example, I’m doing that right now.

My guess is you have seen the Trump “Batman Villain” memes that have popped up all over the internet within minutes of the former Bastard-In-Chief getting fingerprinted and mug-shotted in a toilet of a Georgia jail a couple days ago. I understand the shock of this killed Harley Quinn, and that really sucks. But it’s understandable.

Legendary writer Mindy Newell and I got into a conversation about all this, and I took the position that The Joker is a better person than Trump and, for that matter, The Joker wears less makeup. Somehow that discussion boiled down to the best Trump meme would have him look like Davros, the classic Doctor Who villain who created the Daleks — and, to make a long story short, became one. I think he went to the Stanislavsky School of Villainy.

Be that as it may, the true winner of this debate is the rock group Green Day. They created, according to their Instagram post,

“the ultimate Nimrod shirt is available for 72 hours only. Limited edition shirt proceeds will be donated to T̶h̶e̶ ̶G̶i̶u̶l̶i̶a̶n̶i̶ ̶L̶e̶g̶a̶l̶ ̶D̶e̶f̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ ̶F̶u̶n̶d̶ @greatergoodmusiccharity, which brings food to those affected by the Maui wildfires.”

That meets my definition of humanity’s greatest ability, the know-how to be given shit and to turn it into a shit soufflé. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: The Real Clown Prince of Crime!” →

With Further Ado #262: The Joys of Going Coverless

With Further Ado #262: The Joys of Going Coverless

Posted on by Ed Catto

I love going barefoot in the summer and wearing shorts. In a way, the fall ritual of wearing pants every day seems like I’ve done a poor job negotiating my terms of surrender to the cruel reality of the change in season. It’s tragic – to be sure – but it’s still a little ways off, isn’t it? Can’t I just enjoy the end of August and still consider it summer?

And along the lines of that whole idea of less is more, can I make a case for the joys of coverless comics? They are so carefree, so fun. When I read an old comic without a cover, I’m not worried about the condition of the comic, and certainly not worried that anything I do will deflate the value. In today’s grade-conscious comics work, it’s invigorating to read a comic like a kid again: to curl the cover back on the spine and maybe even to drip a little ice cream onto it.

(But my wife not set her coffee mug on them, nonetheless!)

I enjoyed a few coverless (and ¾ cover) comics this summer. As many of you know, in the old days, newsstands could return unsold comics to the distributor and get their money back. But after a short while, folks realized that sending the whole comic (or magazine) back was costly and inefficient. What if instead, they just ripped the covers off, sent them into the distributor as “proof” and then destroyed the comic? Or maybe they could just send in the logo of the cover for credit. That was the idea, but thankfully – so many “valiantly unscrupulous” newsstand dealers just didn’t have the heart to destroy the comics. So, they’d re-sell the coverless comics at a discount to other venues. Continue reading “With Further Ado #262: The Joys of Going Coverless” →

Brainiac On Banjo: A.I’s Just A Photocopier.

Brainiac On Banjo: A.I’s Just A Photocopier.

Posted on by Mike Gold

I’m all alone, so are we all. We destroyed the government. We’re destroying time. No more problems on the way — Clones (We’re All), written by Alice Cooper.

According to last Friday’s Hollywood Reporter, “A federal judge on Friday upheld a finding from the U.S. Copyright Office that a piece of art created by AI [artificial intelligence] is not open to protection. The ruling was delivered in an order turning down Stephen Thaler’s bid challenging the government’s position refusing to register works made by AI. Copyright law has “never stretched so far” to “protect works generated by new forms of technology operating absent any guiding human hand,” U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found.”

That certainly is good news to creators of all sorts — not just artists, but writers and other producers of copyrightable or patentable products. However, I suspect the majority of such gifted people will not waste carbon dioxide emitting a deep sigh of relief. Damn near all of them have been to this rodeo dozens of times; more likely hundreds. The longer you stay in the business, the more you slip on corporate dogshit.

Do not think the producers and corporate princes reading about this ruling will say “well, jeez, maybe we should start acting in a morally acceptable manner.” Hell, no. The vast majority of media moguls who possess an “annual compensation package” in excess of ten million dollars per annum confuse having their package reduced by as a direct kick to their… package. Whereas that seems fair to me, my WGA and AFTRA memberships expired a while ago. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: A.I’s Just A Photocopier.” →

With Further Ado #261: I’ll Drink to That!

With Further Ado #261: I’ll Drink to That!

Posted on by Ed Catto

Readers of this column might know Professor Larry Maslon from the PBS documentary, and book, Superheroes! A Never-Ending Battle Documentary or his book Superheroes!: Capes, Cowls, and the Creation of Comic Book Culture. (And to be fair, he worked closely with his partner, Michael Kantor, on each effort.) Or maybe you saw him moderate panels at San Diego Comic-Con. If you were really lucky, you may have enjoyed our epic round of Superhero trivia (and his book signing) at the Captain Action booth at New York Comic-Con a few years ago.

But this week, I want to celebrate his new book I’ll Drink To That. Continue reading “With Further Ado #261: I’ll Drink to That!” →

Brainiac On Banjo: How Does Tom Brevoort Relax?

Brainiac On Banjo: How Does Tom Brevoort Relax?

Posted on by Mike Gold

No place to hide… no place to run. The mutant age has now begun! Magneto’s hordes are on their way to pillage, burn and plunder, but there’s one team that will not yield, the team that strikes like thunder! — Theme song for Pryde of the X-Men (unsold 1989 television pilot) written by Robert J. Walsh.

It just so happens I have a lot of respect for Tom Brevoort. He’s been editing over at Marvel Comics since they were published on papyrus scrolls, and he’s been doing a damn good job.

That says a lot — looking at the history of our beloved medium, comics have had a tendency to eat up editors and spit them out due to our incessant squirming. The job takes knowledge, skill, and perseverance to keep straight all those characters, and Tom’s job for the past quarter-century has been to oversee the surfeit of Avengers titles.

The last time I counted, that means Brevoort had to keep track of enough costumed characters to squeeze out the population of Chongqing. Yeah, look it up.

I can understand why he’d be interested in doing something new. Sure, I’ve got a short attention span, but what the hell, he’s earned the right to kick back and try a few “new” characters on for size.

You know, like taking oversight over the X-Men titles. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: How Does Tom Brevoort Relax?” →

Further Ado #260: Spinning Out of SDCC – Part 3

Further Ado #260: Spinning Out of SDCC – Part 3

Posted on by Ed Catto

Comic Conventions can be a lot of fun, but they take a lot of energy, time and money to do “right”. Here’s a glimpse at just a few more of the publishers who leveraged their onsite efforts to the fullest at San Diego Comic-Con last month.

DSTLRY

This cool start-up is more than just ComiXology 2.0. In fact, it might be the opposite. It’s been reported on everywhere from NY Times to The SDDC blog. Over on Reed’s Popverse, Chris Arrant summarized the start-up in this fashion:

Almost a year after leaving Amazon’s digital comics platform ComiXology, two of the company’s former leaders have announced what’s next — both for them and, if their ambitions are successful, comics as a whole. Get ready for DSTLRY, a new kind of publishing company.

ComiXology co-founder/former CEO David Steinberger and his former head of content Chip Mosher are aiming to rethink how business is done, and how to give creators what they deserve, with the company, partnering with major comics creators, major publishers, tech strategists, and even a movie producer to launch a company for creator-owned comics that aims to be a new kind of comics publisher.

Their SDCC booth was big and bold – and surprisingly uncluttered. It was located opposite where I usually find Mark Wheatley (he took a year off), right in the center of things.

They offered convention exclusives of their Devil’s Cut One-Shot. This reminds me of the old days when the TV networks would preview the seasons new shows with short clips of each one. Continue reading “Further Ado #260: Spinning Out of SDCC – Part 3” →

Brainiac On Banjo: The Birds of Clay

Brainiac On Banjo: The Birds of Clay

Posted on by Mike Gold

A pretty little raven at the bird bandstand taught him how to do the bop and it was grand. They started goin’ steady and bless my soul, he out-bopped the buzzard and the oriole! — Rockin’ Robin, written by Leon René.

Proliferate: increase rapidly in numbers; multiply: the science fiction magazines that proliferated in the 1920s. (Apple Dictionary)

Make Room, Make Room: Harry Harrison’s 1966 novel about the overpopulation of Earth so massive that people had to live in stairwells. The story was set in 1999. The book was made into a movie titled “Soylent Green” after the artificial food substance manufactured to feed the teaming masses. Spoiler Alert: “Soylent Green is people.”

If you chart the growth of Robins in the DC universe, it won’t be long before there are more of those obnoxious little buggers than there are Elvis impersonators. Indeed, the way things have been going lately there will be more Robins on Earth than there are Green Lanterns in the universe.

This is not a good thing.

Mind you, even as a kid long, long ago, I disliked Robin. He was, at best, unnecessary. The idea of a child that young being trained as a superhero was not a good example of child-rearing. I mean, sure, take a kid whose mind and body was not nearly developed, put him barelegged in tight shorts and a yellow cape and toss him into action against The Joker. Hell, at that time I was barely allowed to cross the street. Even Bruce Wayne’s megabucks wouldn’t protect him from Child Protective Services. It barely protected Batman and Robin from Dr. Frederic Wertham. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: The Birds of Clay” →

With Further Ado #259: A Beach Book and a Movie (promotion)

With Further Ado #259: A Beach Book and a Movie (promotion)

Posted on by Ed Catto

I’ve been swimming, I’ve partied at the water’s edge, I’ve watched some gorgeous sunsets, but I haven’t read a book on the beach yet. I shouldn’t moan and whine, it’s been an outrageously fantastic summer so far. But still… there’s something about reading a book with your toes in the sand, copious amounts of sunscreen on your nose with summer stretched out in front of you.

After really enjoying a short story collection, Jess Thompson’s The Angel of Rome and Other Stories, I’m resolved to reach more short stories.

Before I get to solving this book-on-the-beach conundrum, I want to discuss a trend and genre. Continue reading “With Further Ado #259: A Beach Book and a Movie (promotion)” →

With Further Ado #258: The Best SDCC everrrRRR

With Further Ado #258: The Best SDCC everrrRRR

Posted on by Ed Catto

During the tail end of this San Diego Comic-Con, I heard many folks echo the sentiment that at SDCC 2023, many said it was “the best one in years.” Do we always say that? Probably. But still, it seemed like it just clicked for a lot of different people.

But let’s not overanalyze. Instead, let me please present my top five impressions for SDCC 2023. With lots of pictures!

The Strike Helped SDCC Strike

Due to the WGA and SAG/AFRTA strikes and last-minute cancellations, there was a lot of anxiety going into this show. Would the fans still come? Would they spend their money? Would they find other things to do? Could San Diego Comic-Con survive without Hollywood fanfare?

However, amongst the professionals, a theory quickly developed that without the lure of Hall H and without the time they spend waiting in line, fans were able to do so many more things. They bought more on the showroom floor and attended more panels.

One exhibitor I spoke with explained he earned the same amount of revenue by the end of the second day of the show that he earned after all four and a half days the year before.

And at the same time, I didn’t hear much whining about the lack of entertainment celebrities due to the strike. It seems everyone was too busy to complain.

Barbie, Queen of Cosplay

Barbenheimer was this past weekend too. Barbie debuted in theaters on Day #2 of SDCC, but it sure seemed like she was at San Diego Comic-Con. Without question, the #1 cosplay of the weekend was Barbie, with a generous amount of pink.

Fancy New Stuff from Fancy New Publishers

DSTLRY calls themselves a publisher focused on the next generation of creator owned comics. The Devil’s Cut is a gorgeous, glossy, oversized 80-page sampler, all by top creators. Here’s nice clip of a CBS interview with DSTLRY.

Adam Phillips, AWA’s Sales and Trade Marketing Director presented this new(ish) publisher’s upcoming comic slate in Diamond’s Retailers-only presentation. And this was all augmented by a very slick AWA magazine – so impressive.

Pop Culture & the Professors

Picture originally appeared on comicsbeat.com

I’m very involved in CCI’s academic tract of panels too, and it seemed like they took a big step forward this year. Many are held at the San Diego Library. While it IS a gorgeous library, the fact that it is a short walk from the convention center has seemingly been a detraction in the past for many convention goers. Not this year. My two panels (and the other panels I saw) had very robust audience member who were there to pay attention and ready to engage.

It Takes a Village

I guess it takes a village to sell a Funko Pop. The persistent and staggering growth of this manufacturer is astounding. As they had done in previous years, Funko created a Funko Village of their own (kind of like a Western TV show’s village). And about a bazillion fan came by to check ’em out.