Vintage Sexist Ads

Nope, these sexist vintage ads aren't comic book related, but I just started browsing this LiveJournal community and couldn't stop...


"Girls Say Yes To Boys Who Say No"
If you skip Vietnam, boys, these chicks will sleep with you! Because pacifism makes them drop their drawers!


"Put Some Fun Between Your Legs"
One day members of the national bicycle council sat around a table and brainstormed how they could make their products seem more attractive to the fairer sex. And so an ad campaign was born.

"My Man Likes Something Unexpected Now And Then"
And nothing says hot times like cooking rice for your hubby. Not totally sexist per se, but has a nice Stepfordy quality.

"Look Who Reads The Bible"
Why, it's TV's Sonny and Cher! I love the submissive pose Cher (frickin' CHER!) strikes here, and that Sonny is made to look taller than her. Family values.



"So The Harder A Wife Works, THE CUTER SHE LOOKS!"
Okay, honestly, sometimes I get the "you should take your vitamins" speech too. But still...

"It's Nice To Have A Girl Around The House"
No comment.

"Comic Book Babylon"

Ohhhhhh, I'm going to get so killed for posting this, but it's a slow day so what the hell?

One of the many forms my Goodbye To Comics memoir took was a fictional book a la "Primary Colors" called "Comic Book Babylon." It wasn't an adaptation of "GTC" but rather a novel/graphic novel set in the comic book industry with tons of intrigue. I was steered in this direction as an alternative to "GTC" because I could write something very raw but not have it be about real people. I was told to make it like "The Devil Wears Prada," except no Prada.

That said, I've edited out some things from this proposal. Also, the character of Darius Roy, while bit of a pompous individual, does not sexually harass Mary Ann (I've cut the characters involved with that and that part of the storyline out of this posted outline). And of course, all similarities to persons living or dead are coincidental, yadda.

Also, please keep in mind that this outline was "shaped" by persons who were not necessarily me. So it's got that "Hollywoody" veneer. Also, it wasn't a publisher that worked with me on this, but more like "agenty" types.

Without further ado, here's...

Comic Book Babylon

"What Happens In San Diego, Stays In San Diego"

PROPOSAL FOR AN ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL BY VALERIE D'ORAZIO

HIGH CONCEPT: "The Devil Wears Prada" set in the comic book industry

WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT:
An expose of the politics and intrigues behind the legendary publisher "Venture Comics" -- as seen through the eyes of Mary Ann Samson, assistant to Venture's editor-in-chief Darius Roy.

WHAT THE STORY IS REALLY ABOUT:
How what we think we want most may turn out not to be the best thing for us.

WHY IT WORKS
"Comic Book Babylon" works on two levels. One, as a scandalous "Behind the Music" type tale of the darker side of the comic book industry that both fans and the larger market will enjoy. And two, as a "David and Goliath" tale of a young woman fighting office politics and ultimately sexism in pursuit of her dreams.

CHARACTERS:

MARY ANN SAMSON: Mary Ann is a perky, naive go-getter fresh out of college who gets her first big break working for Venture Comics's new Editor-In-Chief Darius Roy. A lifelong comic book fan, working for Venture is like a dream come true. But her Pollyanna attitude is severely tested by Darius's Machiavellian handling of the company and the increasingly sexist storylines of its comics.

DARIUS ROY: Darius Roy is an egotistic, Donald Trump like personality whose only concern is the bottom line. Taking over the reigns of Venture from old-school company president Werner Garrison, Darius's main goal is to shift the company from kid-friendly capes-and-tights fare to grim and sensationalistic "adult" storytelling.

WERNER GARRISON: Werner is an old-school comic book fan who gives the reins to the Venture Comics empire to firebrand Darius Roy in a last-ditch effort to save his company and generate new revenue. He is caught in a crisis of conscience when he realizes that while Venture's comics under Darius do indeed sell better, they are morally questionable.


(CUT CHARACTERS)


PLOT SUMMARY:

Mary Ann Samson has dreamt of working in the comic book industry ever since she was a little kid. So when she gets a job fresh out of college as assistant to new Venture Comics Editor-In-Chief Darius Roy, she feels she is on the road to fulfilling her dreams.

Darius has just been appointed to his job by Venture president Werner Garrison, as a last-ditch effort to raise revenue and please their investors. Darius Roy singlemindedly sets out on his mission: to change Venture Comics's reputation from kid-friendly producer of capes-and-tights yarns to publishers of grim and gritty "adult" superhero comics and thus compete with their main rival Gear Comics. To this end, he initiates sweeping changes to all the Venture comic books as well as firing any staff that disagrees with his approach or is deemed too "old-school."

While Mary Ann initially enjoys her job and is dazzled by the idea that she's helping produce the comics she loved so much as a child, she starts to become disillusioned. The content of the Venture titles become more and more violent and risque, and the portrayal of women increasingly sexualized. Mary Ann timidly raises some objections to Darius but he explains to her that this is the "Real World" -- sex sells, big fish eat little fish, and the sentimental and nice get left behind.

(CUT PARAGRAPHS)

...Mary Ann is filled with self-loathing, gets really drunk, and spends a good deal of time in the washroom vomiting.

(CUT PARAGRAPHS)

...Mary Ann decides to take out her frustration by writing a short story called "Comic Book Babylon" which allows her to vent on everything that has just happened. She has no intention of publishing it, but e-mails the text to a friend as a lark. Within a week the e-mail has bounced back to her with thousands of CCs on it. Her friend forwarded "Comic Book Babylon" to a friend, and the whole thing spread like wildfire

Post-Script: Mary Ann ended up staying in the industry writing women-friendly comic books. Werner regained control of his company after the "Comic Book Babylon" episode and retconned the rape of Captain Virtue's girlfriend out of existence. And as for Darius Roy? Well, he's still making lots and lots of money.

CONCLUSION: If you had to choose between material rewards and doing what you knew deep in your gut was right, what would YOU do? That question is ultimately at the heart of "Comic Book Babylon," using one of America's most beloved and enduring forms of entertainment as its backdrop.

***

postscript: after several very enthusiastic sessions regarding this book proposal, the people I was working with suddenly changed on a dime and told me that it wouldn't be advisable to go ahead with the project, because even if I made it fiction, people would know who I was writing about. there was also an admittance of being friends with someone very connected to the story -- which made me flabbergasted that they wanted to go approach me with this book in the first place! but rather than just saying they had cold feet -- which given the circumstances I understand -- I was told that "Goodbye To Comics" was "not a story people would have any interest in," and was unsellable. I was encouraged instead to do "nicer" projects. And that -- that was annoying and a waste of my time.

But live and learn.

Comics Spirit Update

And just a quick update on my blog project "Comics Spirit" --

Most of the posts are written, I just need to scan the art in and put it together. Hoping for Monday launch. Torn between using Blogger (on which I can put ze ads) or Wordpress (which will look really awesome but no ads).

Just to recap, "Comics Spirit" is a blog that will celebrate the independent voice in comics, as well as classic work from comics past.

The OS Library: What Do You Want To See Most?

With my discovery of this nifty new app that lets you turn your LiveJournal and Wordpress entries into PDFs you can print as books, I've decided to get my huge backlog of writing, art, etc. up on this format and out to the world.

Now, the proviso in all this is that a lot of this stuff, especially the more personal stuff, might be just completely self-indulgent. Which will not stop me from throwing it up there (with the necessary edits to protect the innocent and guilty), because God knows I've reveled in enough self-indulgent stuff from other people. There's a market for it. And maybe some of it would actually be good.

Here's what I have:

1. Memoirs -- now really, I ought to get this to a publisher. That said, I have a whole manuscript that's finished (actually, several versions that have to be stitched together). In theory, I could just plop it onto LiveJournal, PDF it, sell it through Lulu.com, and pay off some of my bills (see, I'm writing out this not just for you but so I can figure this all out and come up with bright ideas).

2. "The Road To Goodbye To Comics" visual diary -- I kept an art journal in the months leading up to Goodbye To Comics that, in retrospect, might be kind of interesting to look at. It's mostly collage art, mixed media. A lot of comic book mashups -- taking old comics and blending them into other photos and text. I forgot how many pages, but basically most of a full-size spiral art journal.

3. Poetry -- Good God. There is so much of this. It's all I did in my late teens/early twenties. It's like a mix between Beat Poetry and Sylvia Plath on lots of Frappacinos and Nyquil.

4. Vampire Novel -- same thing as my memoirs. Already have a first pass on edits from a friend of mine. Could dump it into LiveJournal and PDF it in time for Halloween.

5. Dream diaries -- I have no idea if anybody would want to sit down and peruse all of this, but we are talking more than 10,000 separate dream entries from 1992-present. And then it gets weird.

6. Prose -- old comic pitches from when I was 15, short stories, one-pagers, plays, etc.

7. Best Of OS -- best posts collection, a la Peter David (not saying I'm as good as Peter David)

8. Pop-Culture essays -- tons, mostly term papers for college and some early online columns. On comics, literature, horror films, and pop-culture in general.

9. Philosophical/metaphysical works -- Oy. But all I'm saying is -- it's there. If Grant Morrison can write and publish this shit, I don't see why I can't.

10. Tons more art -- Tons. Mostly pop-culture mashups.

11. Comic strips -- I actually have a small collection of comic strips I used to do. I really thought I was going to be a cartoonist, not a writer.

So that's the basic list of what I have that's finished and ready to be PDFed. I mean, some of it has to be typed in or scanned. But, it's just sitting there.

I think I should just go for it.

Censored Star Trek Episode Finally Sees Light Of Day

A "Star Trek The Next Generation" script written by "Trouble With Tribbles" scribe David Gerrold will finally be produced -- by the fans.

The Star Trek fan-film series Phase II has shot the script "Blood And Fire" -- sans special effects -- and will unveil the episode at the Shore Leave 30 science fiction convention tomorrow in Baltimore.

Gerrold's original script was nixed by "Next Generation" producers because it dealt with homosexuality and AIDS. Specifically, the episode featured gay crew members and dealt with, in Gerrold's words, "a plague so horrible that Starfleet had issued standing orders not to attempt rescue of any infected ship but to destroy it immediately."

Phase II continues stories based on the five-year mission of the Starship Enterprise, and its webisodes average around 5 million hits a month.

It makes me almost want to haul my ass over to Baltimore tomorrow to see this.

(via The Baltimore Sun)

Photos: The Mexican Immigrant Worker As Superhero

I just ran into these awesome photos by artist Dulce Pinzón that portray real Mexican immigrant workers as superheroes at their actual jobs. So Catwoman is a nanny, Mr. Fantastic is a waiter, and Aquaman works at...a fish market.

From the site:

"The Mexican immigrant worker in New York is a perfect example of the hero who has gone unnoticed. It is common for a Mexican worker in New York to work extraordinary hours in extreme conditions for very low wages which are saved at great cost and sacrifice and sent to families and communities in Mexico who rely on them to survive."

These photos will be on display at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago in an exhibit called "Declaration of Immigration."

Is Peanuts "Over The Hill?"

A letter writer to the Northwest Herald complained recently about the inclusion of "Peanuts" reprints in the funnies section:

"The Northwest Herald would never think of running op-ed pieces more than a half century old, or anything else for that matter. I love Peanuts – Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang – but it’s time to put that old dog to sleep. Give another cartoonist a chance, and save the classics for the bookstore."

Specifically at issue are the occasional older pop-cultural references to persons like Sam Snead and things like (I would assume) "Hi-Fi," Davy Crockett hats, etc.

Personally, I think most of "Peanuts" is timeless -- but when reprinting the strips in national newspapers, I have no problem leaving out some of the more topical strips that might be too obscure for the general audience (perhaps that is rather Philistine of me, but that's how I feel).

What do you think?

(With a tip of the hat to Journalista)

Things I Like To Do When Nobody Is Looking

10. Listen to the Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" and sing along.

9. Pull the skin back under my eyes to simulate a face lift.

8. Maniacally hit "refresh" on my stat counters to see the numbers move.

7. Read Mark Millar's "Fantastic Four."

6. Wrap a washcloth or shirt around my cat's head like a kerchief and say "you're an old washerwoman, you're an old washerwoman."

5. Watch "Date Movie."

4. Pull out my old poetry from when I was in college and reassure myself, "you were a fucking genius."

3. Type normal words on Google Image Search with "Safe Search" off and see what sort of depravity shows up.

2. Eat the crispy noodles that came with our Chinese food that I'm not supposed to eat.

1. Doodle pictures of my boyfriend with hearts and rainbows in the background. Sometimes I add unicorns. Sometimes I give the doodles to him, but not the ones with the unicorns.

Open Forum!

From retronomatopeya Flickr photostream

Peeps, I have traveled the various comic blogs and sites, and have come dry in terms of ideas to blog about. Yes: I have Blogger's Block.

So I am opening things up to You The People.

Somebody start a cool topic? Anybody have a gripe? Anybody read a good book lately?

How are you feeling? What's your Facebook status?

Last Minute To San Diego Again?

Flashback to last year:
"Honey, next year I'm definitely NOT doing this last-minute again. We're going to book our hotel room early, I'm gonna get my tickets early, everything early."

This year:
"Oh God. Oh God...oh God."

I might have to pop into SDCC for a day this year, maybe two. This wasn't planned, but you know what they say: planning is for the weak. True adventurers throw their fates to the wind and sleep on friend's floors.

But if I indeed go, I have vowed to visit the zoo. As I said last year: "On one day I'm just going to visit the zoo and cultural places of interest. No comics."

I will know by the end of the week if I'm really going or not. But, really scrambling here. And have to break up my vacation because originally I was slated to go to Tampa and see my newborn nephew. So it'll be like: "Hellooooo San Diego! Goodbyeeeee San Diego! Hellooooooo Nephew!" But I can buy my nephew that Fin Fang Foom SDCC exclusive set of Marvel Legends action figures, so it's all going to work out.

I'll take pictures, don't worry. And don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be going. But next year -- screw next year, in September, I'm going to book my hotel, my tickets, have my registration ready, everything. Seriously. You can hold me to it.

UPDATE: Yes, I am definitely going to SDCC now. My thanks to all who did the scramble. I think it shall be worth it.

Sharks With Frickin Laser Beams Strapped To Their Heads

/slow news day.

Jim Mahfood Colt 45 Beer Can Controversy

Yes, Jim Mahfood's designer beer cans for perennial malt liquor fave Colt 45 are the new "Joe Camel," according to critics who feel the "comic book" type designs are meant to appeal to young people.

My take? Well... the depicted beer drinkers on the cans and the site do look like teenagers, at first glance. Maybe they need disclaimers like on illustrated Internet porn where it says "all depicted persons really of legal age."

Misses the old days of responsible beer advertising:

(via Comics Reporter)

Ditmas Park Tales: Coffeehouse Spy

My Brooklyn neighborhood, in which I have spent a good deal of my life, boasts stretches of treeless depressed areas that are truly awful. I've tried to see the good in them -- some sense of quaintness -- but I really can't. It cannot be psychologically healthy for any person to live among some of those surroundings. And these lifeless patches of spare residential buildings, a myriad of disjointed storefronts, and sidewalks that seem to permanently host the aroma of ancient garbage, are surrounded by the most beautiful Victorian-styled houses and verdant walkways that you can possibly imagine. I live in a schizoid neighborhood, one in which I have, up until about six months ago, lived on the "wrong" side of.

A fancy restaurant opened up across the street from my block. The storefront used to be a candy store I remember frequenting in my youth, buying Marino ices and bubblegum cards. Then that candy store was either set on fire or simply abandoned outright, I cannot recall which. I just remember it as a shell, on the edge of where the Victorian houses began, a border between two worlds that people would visit at night to dump their garbage illegally in front of.

But, now it's a fancy restaurant. Suddenly, my neighborhood, according to some magazines and websites, is "hip." Though some reviews of the restaurant in question describe the trip along the same lines of a stealth mission inside some sort of war zone, barely hiding their disgust at having to "brave" the visit (even if it's for some damn fine steak).

If my neighborhood continues to travel down the road of hipness, the rents will eventually go up. How do these gentrification things go, exactly? Quickly? Incrementally?

What happens to the literally hundreds of little children who cover those dry streets on a summer afternoon, and the ones who play in the hallways of my building because the parents think it's dangerous for them to play outside? Kids who ride their bikes and play ball in the narrow tiled hallway of my building? (My parents did the same thing with me.)

There has to be some healing done in that neighborhood. It can't just be that the developers go in, create the hipster bars and boutiques, the native residents get pushed to the borders, and *poof!* we get another Williamsburg.

Oh sure, every once in a while the neighborhood development association hosts a little fair for the children, and they play folk music and make little balloon animals for them and paint their faces. And they hang flyers and banners about developing the neighborhood, about bringing in new business.

Development is all well and good. The question is, with all the new money coming in, is there going to be any positive impact on the poorer people in that community?

I'll be honest, I feel like people, young and old, are being left behind in this scenario. A fraction of them will eventually have the money to leave on their own steam, but a bunch are going to be left behind.

See, I hang out with the newer residents of my neighborhood, I dine where they dine, I sip expensive coffee where they sip, I type at my Macbook in their coffeehouses -- but I'm really a spy, a double-agent. I'm a native, you see. And not from the verdant walkways --but from the dry sidewalks and patchwork storefronts. I've quietly watched this neighborhood on and off for 30+ years. I'm in the middle of a transformation, just as this area is. I could, in the name of "evolution," leave a bunch of things behind, make a clean break.

I could. But, there will be ghosts.

The questions: why am I still there? why did I live this this odd existence on the borders, between cultures? what ties me to that place? what do I have to do to leave? can I leave one day and have that world, over time, fall out of my memory -- as has happened with the rest of my family, who see the area as a collection of trivia? isn't it the right thing to do? to develop and leave?

There is something about the stories from that area -- observed and my own -- that compel me, that replay in my mind, that are listed in my brain like the chapters of Edith Hamilton's Mythology.

When you're a little child, you don't realize you are growing up in a depressed area. You don't really see the graffiti, or if you do, you think it is simply the natural texture of your environment.

Related links:
Memoirs Of An Occasional Superheroine Part Four
Bad Comic Shop
Tales Of The Bad Comic Shop: King Of The Silver Age

Hancock!

You will believe a man's head can be literally shoved up another man's ass. Oh yes, you will believe.

Top Ten Partners Of Captain America

To celebrate Independence Day, we're giving you the top ten partners (official and unofficial) of Captain America.

10. Paladin














9. D-Man




















8. Diamondback



















7. Hawkeye























6. Black Widow























5. Battlestar























4. Nomad























3. Sharon Carter















2. Falcon























1. Bucky
















Other links of interest:

Five Cool Captain America Video Clips
A Question For All The Toy Enthusiasts In The Audience
Captain America's Shield In Iron Man Movie?

Cartoon Network Targets Boys (Because Girls Don't Watch Cartoons)

Cartoon Network's "Ben 10" has a strong female character
-- why wouldn't girls want to watch this?

So this Variety article discusses Cartoon Network's new game plan: target young male viewers:

"Turner Animation prexy Stu Snyder and Rob Sorcher, Cartoon's recently hired chief content officer, have set their sights on male teens and tweens in their sweeping overhaul of the cabler.

They're hoping to stanch the flow of young viewers leaving the network for Disney and Nick, but they're also trying to rebuild the net as "the home for boys," in Snyder's words (though he quickly adds that he hopes the female aud sticks around for shows like Cartoon's new comedy "Chowder")."

"We need a cartoon for girls."

"I know...CHOWDER!"

"Brilliant!"

Chowder: for girls because it has teh pink bunnehs

There are several things about Cartoon Network's strategy here that I'm going to respectfully quibble with.

First, the assumption that their "boy-targeted" shows like Clone Wars, Ben 10, and Batman are only enjoyed by boys. As far as I've been able to observe, these are shows with an appeal to both genders. These are shows that appeal to children who like fun.

Second, to be a cartoon cable network and mostly focus on male viewers -- which is the impression I'm getting from this article -- is kind of shortsighted. There is nothing inherent in animated television programming that suggests girls are attracted to it less than boys. This is, as far as I know, a genderless medium.

And even if you want to make the argument that little girls want more Barbie-type stuff and boys want more Batman-type stuff (I'm not saying this is true, but this might be the argument made by the marketing department) -- go make a Barbie cartoon! Go make a My Little Pony remake. Go make an American Girl CGI cartoon where it looks like the dolls themselves are animated.


These are just suggestions.

(with a hat tip to A Boy Named Art for the post idea)

Holy Crap, It's The Question

According to the Daily Mail, "faceless aliens" are showing up at public events in the UK:


Are they really aliens? Those characters from that Doctor Who episode, perhaps?

(either political protest or viral marketing campaign. probably the latter. trust me.)

The WTF Quote Of The Day

"J Torres, Sean McKeever, Tony Bedard, and Terry Moore shouldn't be typecast as the guy writers that you hire when you can't find a chick. They can do any gender."

--Beau Smith, "Busted Knuckles" Column

Several questions:

1) Are these writers really typecast as such?

2) Is this news to them?

3) What does "the guy writers when you can't find a chick" mean?

4) In what circumstance do comic book companies look for "chick" writers, in this context? That wasn't made clear. Are we referring to comic books starring vaginas? Or just books with sensitive male characters in them? Or, best of all -- books with vaginas AND sensitive men in them?

5) Does a book like "Birds Of Prey" -- which I'm sure is part of what Smith is referring to here -- fairly demand a "chick" writer?

6) Is there some sort of "shame" attached to being a male writer who writes stories starring women? Where does that leave the Hernandez Brothers? Are they just pussies? Are they just toiling away in Chickland until they land their big break on The Avengers?

7) Would the world be a better place if Terry Moore was writing Punisher War Journal? Would that prove that he was a manly writer?

You know, I've been asked many many times -- especially since my involvement with Friends Of Lulu -- what the state of women writing in mainstream comics is.

It's not huge.

But, it's getting better. Step by step.

Any way you look at it, can the comic companies win?

If they put out books starring women that are not written by women, they are criticized for being sexist and "not trying hard enough" to seek out female talent.

If they put out books starring women that are specifically written by women, then they are criticized for "tokenism," of "pigeonholing" the female talent.

If a male writer keeps writing books about women -- or books that might be perceived as having an appeal to a female audience -- it's like they did something wrong, or are not "good" enough, or are not "manly" enough.

And, I'm sure, if a woman wrote a strictly action book, they'd be counting the bullets to gauge just how "actiony" the book really was. Any sensitive moments? "She's writing a chick book!" "She's cutting off Green Lantern's penis!" "She's turning Thor into a Lifetime TV movie!"

There is no shame in writing a "chick" story, regardless of your gender. It's not a scarlet letter.

There are certain male writers who write female characters rather poorly -- and there are some who handle them better than some female writers can do with the same characters. And, if given the chance, I know there is some female writer out there who can write the best goddamn Spider-Man you've ever read.

And really, I see the frequent shuffling of talent on books like Supergirl & Birds Of Prey as far more being about an unstable editorial department than a plot to "typecast" Bedard, McKeever, etc. as "chick writers."

And I understand that, by distancing them from "chick books," Smith was trying to "help" these writers -- but he's really kinda not.

Sort Of Looks Like Val Kilmer...

No? Not Val Kilmer? Maybe the chin?

...

Val Kilmer!

Facebook Tells Me I'm Fat

ad on my Facebook profile page with the tagline,
"34 Yr Old Female Overweight?"
(I'm 34)

Okay, I've just seen my third different "are you in your mid-thirties and overweight" ad on the sidebar of my Facebook profile. This is really starting to piss me off. What sort of "cookies" do they have to target me for these ads?

I'm serious -- three totally different ads with variations of the "in your thirties and need to lose weight" pitch, plus pictures of flabby stomachs:


So how are they targeting these ads? Telepathy? Are they hiring the people from those top-secret Russian psychic experiments as ad targeters for Facebook? Is that it?

Of course, these ads are rotated with "order all the food you want from the comfort of your home" ads:
/going to the gym after work, doesn't need this shit.

New Comics Wednesday!

You know, looking at this handy New Comics List, I can't help but notice Avatar's variant cover program for their Night Of The Living Dead Annual:

Night of the Living Dead Annual #1, $4.99
Night Of The Living Dead Annual #1 (Gore Cover), $4.99
Night Of The Living Dead Annual #1 (LA Convention Edition), $5.99
Night Of The Living Dead Annual #1 (Painted Cover), $4.99
Night Of The Living Dead Annual #1 (Rotting Cover), $4.99
Night Of The Living Dead Annual #1 (Terror Cover), $4.99
Night of the Living Dead Annual #1 (Vows Cover), $5.99

They actually have separate "rotting," "terror," and "gore" variant covers. The "vows" cover is probably a wedding edition.

Water Baby from Minx is coming out today, and as I've mentioned earlier on this blog, it's worth taking a look at. Basically, forget about it being a supposed "manga-sized teen book for girls" and just buy it on its merits as a graphic novel. It's hard to get entire OGNs of this quality for under $10 anymore, so it's worth taking the chance.

Strange & Stranger: The World Of Steve Ditko from Fantagraphics also hits the stands today. As I've blogged about earlier in the week, the parts in the book about Ditko and Spider-Man are crucial to understanding the history of the webhead (is webhead hyphenated? capitalized?)

Also picking up:
Squadron Supreme 2 #1 - Marvel Comics
Patsy Walker Hellcat #1 - Marvel Comics
Lucky Vol. 2, #2 - Drawn and Quarterly

And what comics will YOU be purchasing this fine balmy Wednesday?

The Batman TV Series Screen Tests

Now, here's an interesting comparison: two nearly identical screen tests for the 1960s Batman TV series. One features the familiar team of Adam West and Burt Ward, and one is Lyle Waggoner (who would later play Steve Trevor on Wonder Woman) and Peter Deyell.

West/Ward


Waggoner/Deyell


Waggoner, in many ways, is clearly a more apt choice to play Batman/Bruce Wayne. With his chiseled good looks and perfectly swept-up jet black hair he looks like he practically walked out of a Bob Kane comic book. His delivery is also far more natural and something we'd expect to see in a typical action TV show.

In contrast, West's performance is -- as far as I can tell -- unintentionally hammy. He shares with William Shatner a very strange method of reciting lines, with pregnant pauses in unusual places.

And yet -- had Waggoner been cast, the 1960s Batman TV show would have probably been more of a footnote in broadcast history than an influential phenomenon.

It was West's oddness -- and, one might say, even sincerity -- that won out.

Bonus: "...and when poor Mrs. Cooper finds out what you were really doing on those supposed fishing trips...the blow will kill her!"

Best "Garfield Minus Garfield" Ever

So spot-on brilliant I can hardy imagine Jim Davis intending it any other way.

Garfield Minus Garfield

RE: Keeping Batman Year 100 Out Of "Best American Comics"

Article here.

My thoughts: good God!

What did DC's "one line formal refusal letter" referred to by Paul Pope say?

"Our Comix Iz Not Art, They R Licensing Cash Cow"

Remember back when they had this:


Could you have something like that now with DC characters? I would think the inclusion of work like Pope's "Batman Year 100" in a prestigious mainstream collection would only help DC and sales of the trade paperback. This sends a message to other publishers who might want to approach DC for similar "best of" collections -- and a message to other comic creators how their work is handled when such requests are made.

Anyway...

Holy Missed Opportunity, Batman!

(just had to say it)

When I Was A Chubby Twentysomething Goth

Me at 23 (or so) at Chiller Theatre with
"Carnival Of Souls" star Candace Hilligoss

Favorite colors: purple, black, and black

Note 1: Gothic culture is most probably far more textured and deep than I am making it sound in this post. Please keep in mind that this was my personal interpretation of "Goth" when I was in my mid-20s, not any standard definition.

Note 2: Most real Goths would not consider me a real Goth, partially because I thought Marilyn Manson was real Goth music (a point revealed to me in angry message board debates). Only began to hear real Goth music when I was no longer a Goth; by that point, I had also found ironic satisfaction in Britney Spears music, so I was too far gone.


Note 3: Far too old, perhaps, even at 22 to be a real Goth but simply a poseur? Or was I cool? I think I might have been kind of geeky.

Note 4: Phase was preceded by "Spiritual Hippie Who Buys Buddha T-Shirts From Old Navy And Stoner Necklaces From Hot Topic."

Note 5: Phase followed by "Nondescript Chubby Comic Book Company Assistant Who Eats Lemon-Frosted Pound Cake As A Substitute For Joy."


Favorite Movies As A Chubby Twentysomething Goth:
* The Craft
* The Crow
* Interview With The Vampire (seriously)

Too Hardcore For Delicate Flower Me:
Nightmare On Elm Street (it was mean! and ugly!)

Favorite TV Shows:
* Buffy The Vampire Slayer
* X-Files (only Mulder/Scully shipper episodes!)
* Kindred: The Embraced (obscure!)
* Wolf Lake (more obscure, never really watched it but said I did just to seem hardcore)

Websites I Could Be Found Lurking At:
* Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fan Fiction Sites
* Sites hosting shitty vampire clip art so I could build my own homepage on AOL
* Proto-MySpace type communities with shitty vampire clip art


Hobbies:
* Getting dissed by 13-year-olds for Buffy fic I wrote (if you want to talk "continuity hounds"...)
* Drying roses until they turned black
* Endlessly browsing through the two Goth shops I knew but never buying anything (except for that one day I bought a postcard)

Defining Moments Of Disillusionment:
One Goth shop turned into a punk store, and one shop closed down. And then my little sister said: "Goth is dead, Val! God!"

Biggest Regret: Never did the Masquerade RPG


What I Almost Did: Linked to my repository of old Goth fan-fiction that is still online. But I took one look at it and wised up. Sorry.

Final Comments On The Subject:
I had a good time. That's what's important.

Worst Wonder Woman TV Show Ever

After the success of "Batman," TV execs in the 1960s had this brilliant idea: all you needed to do to handle superheroes on the small screen was to be campy. Hence television shows like Mr. Terrific and Captain Nice. And this Wonder Woman pilot.

Made by the producers of "Batman," this version of Wonder Woman featured a nebbishy "old maid" (at 27) who was nagged by her mother. Basically, a female version of Woody Allen was this Wonder Woman character.

It's unbearable. Now, go watch it.