Tag: Adriane Nash

Brainiac On Banjo: Coming — Super Attractions!

Brainiac On Banjo: Coming — Super Attractions!

Lady window shopper with a new one in the hopper whips up a chemical brew. Croaking to a neighbor while she polishes a sabre, knows how to flavor a stew. Never need to worry with a tin of “Hurri Curri” — poisoned especially for you! — “Cat Food” written by Robert Fripp and Peter John Sinfield.

I usually write this column the night before publication. Hey who knows, maybe something timely will happen on deadline. Well this time, something did happen near deadline.

I got hungry.

I just read the Superman vs Meshi manga that was released last week through one of DC’s many ever-changing, ever-shrinking online media operations. That’s not a slam against DC or its blind, deaf and dumb corporate ownership du jour. Almost all online media is struggling to figure out what to do these days, and that started well before the current noble and worthy WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes. Just ask Elon Musk. No, scratch that; you don’t need to talk to still another self-important asshole. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Coming — Super Attractions!”

Brainiac On Banjo: The ComiXology Kamikaze

Brainiac On Banjo: The ComiXology Kamikaze

When I look over my shoulder, what do you think I see? Some other cat looking over his shoulder at me. And he’s strange, sure is strange. – Donovan Leitch, “Season of the Witch.”

When it comes to the digital world, sometimes all those zeroes and ones just don’t add up. Let’s look at ComiXology, what I once considered to be a genuine revolutionary force in the medium.

In the history of paper publishing going all the way back to papyrus, it’s often been a crappy way to make a living. Oh, sure, some folks have been enormously successful, but on the same hand some folks win the lottery. Expenses are high and nobody knows what the market wants. Paper is getting hard to find (soon we will have to make a choice between having paper and having oxygen and trees), and places to buy the finished product have run thin. “Book browsing” and impulse purchases have become 21st Century rotary dial telephones.

We needed an alternative way to get comics. In 1981, Marvel Comics published Dazzler #1 and made it available only to the then-growing number of dedicated comic book stores, and that showed us there just might be life after the newsstands and candy shops. To make a long story short, around that same time I turned to theatrical producer Rick Obadiah and said “hey, you know, we could do this.” And that’s the shortest origin story for First Comics ever told.

Things went pretty well until the overwhelming number of distributors bellied up after exclusive distribution deals kicked in. As those distributors were coughing up blood, the “smaller publishers” (meaning just about everybody except Marvel and DC) started getting paid late, if at all. Again, I’m making a very long story short. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: The ComiXology Kamikaze”

Brainiac On Banjo #092: John Lewis – The Great American Warrior

Brainiac On Banjo #092: John Lewis – The Great American Warrior

Hound dogs on my trail / School children sitting in jail / Black cat cross my path / I think every day’s gonna be my last / Lord have mercy on this land of mine / We all gonna get it in due time / I don’t belong here / I don’t belong there / I’ve even stopped believing in prayer — Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddam,” 1964

The first time I was able to have a conversation with the late Representative and true American hero John Lewis was about six years ago at the Baltimore Comic-Con. It was during set-up so the room was comparatively open and, as I was attempting to locate my booth I saw Representative Lewis behind a table. His name was on the sign behind his table — “Congressman John Lewis.” I did one of those patented Tex Avery eyeball takes.

I previously had been at the Heroes Convention at the Charlotte North Carolina Convention Center. A bunch of older white guys were walking around wearing suits that, each, could feed a family of four for three months. In the midst of that gaggle was Sarah Palin. I looked around to make sure I was at the right place because I could not believe these folks were there to add to their Funko Pops collections.

I was right; the state Republican Convention was upstairs and the comic-con was downstairs. The white men in their expensive suits looked disgusted but, to be fair, they always look that way. Sarah saw the cosplayers and beamed a megawatt smile. So you can’t say I’ve never said anything nice about Sarah Palin.

But this time, the statesman at hand was there for a comic book show. Considering he worked in Congress, seeing a couple thousand people dressed up as The Joker (including babies) was just another day at work. I approached him, he offered me a seat, and we chatted about the relationship between comic books and political organizing. It was one of those “holy crap” moments that make life wonderful.

Rep. Lewis did say I was the first to recognize him at the show. I laughed and said “Oh, just wait until the show starts.” He looked skeptical, but my prediction quickly came to pass: that was just about the only time during the show that I could see him clearly from the aisle. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo #092: John Lewis – The Great American Warrior”

East Coast Comicon 2019 Cosplay Pics!!!!

East Coast Comicon 2019 Cosplay Pics!!!!

Hey Folks!! If you didn’t know, we were set-up at the East Coast Comicon this past weekend in Secaucus, NJ.

One of the great benefits of having a table is that fantastic cosplay continuously strolls past you all day long. We took tons of pictures and have a slideshow below of some of the best cosplay that we saw during the weekend.

We weeded out the many Deadpools, but overall there were a lot of interesting and creative costumes. Some of the kids were just magical.

Little Death was one of our favorites.

Continue reading “East Coast Comicon 2019 Cosplay Pics!!!!”

Brainiac On Banjo #031: Friendship

Brainiac On Banjo #031: Friendship

I’m not immune to writer’s block; I doubt anybody is. But usually I hit the keyboard running. This time I hit that proverbial brick wall. I wanted to write this last week, but words failed me. Let’s see if I can wrestle this down to the ground – and forgive me for getting personal.

There’s a value to fandom – any sort of fandom; comics, sports, collecting Pez dispensers – that often is overlooked. It’s a great way to meet people and make new friends. Over the past half-century, I have been lucky to have established enough friendships to fill a minor league ballpark. Some folks have gone on to become part of the comics industry, either on the creative side or on the retail side. Some have gone on to lofty careers in other venues (name-drop: my childhood neighbor Merrick Garland).

Some… well, some are no longer with us. Death is binary. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo #031: Friendship”

Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mind #027: The Chicago Cubs and the Far-Right

Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mind #027: The Chicago Cubs and the Far-Right

As I note at every available opportunity, I was born on the north side of Chicago, possibly in a log cabin. This makes me a Chicago Cubs fan by birthright. I followed baseball as a kid, but less so as an adult. The 1961 expansion confused me: why take 16 teams worth of good players and spread them out over 20? Brooklyn moved to Los Angeles, which still seems pointless, Washington moved to Minneapolis, and everybody started to do-si-do as though when the music stops somebody is going to pull a chair. A decade later some dick dreamed up the designated hitter rule and destroyed the American League forever.

Now that I’ve pissed off everybodyContinue reading “Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mind #027: The Chicago Cubs and the Far-Right”

Don’t Let’s Start #002: Tarantino Privilege Has To End

Don’t Let’s Start #002: Tarantino Privilege Has To End

Jonathan Friedland, who has served as the streaming giant’s chief communications officer for the past six years, is out at the company after “insensitive” remarks he made to his team. Sources say that Friedland used the N-word in a meeting with other Netflix staffers, some of whom later reported the incident. Source:  Hollywood Reporter 

It’s time to talk about the N-word again. I’m going to take what some may see as an extreme stance.

Here it is: we have to stop using racial slurs, hell we should stop using any slurs to describe other people.

Seriously, White People, we need to stop using racial epiphets. White people in particular need to remove the N-word from usage. Now I’m not calling anyone who has ever uttered the word while white a racist; that’s hyperbole. And I’m not talking to racists, let’s put the “out” racists to the side; using the word should automatically be a sign of a garbage person.

This is about trying to be better humans.

We white folks need to be better allies and that starts with our language.

Continue reading “Don’t Let’s Start #002: Tarantino Privilege Has To End”