Ah Stick to Mah Dip

"Tell me that ain't badass. I'm a true fuckin' 'Merican!"

Thanks to the folks at BoingBoing for this. I think.

Not the World's Most Important Glass Ceiling, but the Mofo is Still Broken

Saw this article Friday afternoon over at Bleeding Cool (which is essentially a news gathering site for the comics industry): Amanda Conner First Woman To Make Wizard’s Top Ten Hot Artists List. I've probably been talking about comics too much lately, but this is still a big enough deal that I feel it's worth mentioning here, given how much of a boys' club this industry has historically been. From Rich Johnston's article:

Wizard Magazine, the Entertainment Weekly of comics has been running its Top Ten Hot Artists and Top Ten Hot Writers List since the magazine started, reflecting the whims of the market, the readers, the retailers and the publishers over who is and is not in demand. It’s a cruel, harsh unforgiving column but its hard to deny to reflects a certain majority taste in comics. And while some women have broken into the Top Ten Hot Writers list, no female comics artist has been deemed “hot” enough to warrant inclusion in the Top Ten Hot Artists, despite many finding success, especially in the manga market. But, apparently, manga doesn’t count. And so the Wizard Top Ten Hot Artists List has remained an all-male preserve.

This week, that all changes, as Amanda Conner joins the list in this Wednesday’s edition of Wizard Magazine. Her work on Power Girl, while just as excellent as her other recent work, has nevertheless found new eyeballs, and that’s what matters to The List.

I've become a big fan of Amanda's work -- I love the broad, cartoony style she delivers. That may sound silly, but she has a way of making the stories fun even when serious events are going down. In particular I love the emotions and expressions she captures on the faces of her characters, whether they are human or animals (as in this scan from the current issue):

Amanda first caught my attention with her work on the Supergirl strip that ran in Wednesday Comics, which just wrapped up last week. That strip was lighthearted and a lot of fun, and is what inspired me to start picking up Power Girl.
Power Girl is written by the team of Jimmy Palmiotti (Amanda's husband) and Justin Gray (the Supergirl strip was also written by Palmiotti), and it is a team that, combined with Amanda's art, really delivers on the fun side of what superhero comics can be. Not only that, but they have taken a character that many have considered something of a joke, for a couple quite large, obvious reasons, and given her some real personality and depth. Frankly, with a couple exceptions, the superhero genre hasn't been doing a whole lot for me lately, probably because the companies with the market cornered continue to do these sweeping, world-changing crossovers that drive me up a wall. Power Girl isn't in the middle of all that, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it. Congrats, Amanda!

I don't know what kind of a living these creators make, but I'm glad they're out there making it. They're worth more to me than some jock who can catch a football, that's for damn sure.

Sometimes Critics are Okay, But Often They Can Suck It

Whiteout

Last weekend I managed to pout my way into convincing Julia to go see the movie Whiteout with me. She's generally game to see most of the things I want to see, depending on the ratings. By ratings I mean the percentage that a given movie is running at Rotten Tomatoes. Often it isn't good enough for the movie to be seen as favorable, it needs to be running at least into the high 70s or 80s. In this case, the movie was running at a dismal 6%. That means of all the critics who had ranked it, 94% of them rated it unfavorably.

I'm not going to say this is a great movie, but it is easily as good, or better, than any number of higher-rated blockbusters in recent memory. I really can't understand the backlash against it. I blame inept marketing, because the ads I saw certainly didn't go very far toward showing what it was about. I'm familiar with the source material, but for people who aren't, how would they know? The trailer would make one think maybe it is a horror movie, but it isn't -- this is a straight up murder mystery.

Whiteout is based on the graphic novel written by Greg Rucka. Rucka is a crime writer, both as a novelist and in comics. He is the writer for Queen and Country, another fantastic comics series that is an espionage story set in the UK. What I find particularly interesting about Rucka is that he writes some strong lead characters who are women -- and not just cheesecake women either. In the boys' club comics has been traditionally viewed as, it is fantastic to see a writer stepping up. Right now he is just killing it for DC writing, among other things, Detective Comics featuring Batwoman, who happens to be the comic's first openly lesbian superhero (can't mention this comic without mentioning the mindblowing art by J.H. Williams III either; this is one of the few books I buy monthly).

Kate Beckinsale plays a US Marshall stationed in Antarctica who is about to leave, but then a couple bodies show up and she has to figure out what is going on as a huge storm rolls in. Pretty simple, really. The movie certainly has its problems, but for me it delivered the 90 minutes of entertainment I wanted out of it. There were some edge-of-the-seat moments, and some plot twisting here and there. The landscape is beautiful. I was satisfied, and based on the low ranking, I felt smugly superior to all the critics blasting it so vehemently. Hollywood took some liberties, but does anyone really expect them not to? In my opinion, the liberties here -- and the movie overall -- is still stronger than 07's Will Smith vehicle I am Legend, which butchered the Matheson story and still came in at 68% on RT. That movie left me pissed off for all the pointless bullshit they introduced.

Some of the acting is a little wooden, sure. Yes, there is some exposed skin given how cold it is (the only skin Beckinsale shows is in a shower scene inside of the first 5 minutes that really doesn't show anything; from there onward she is completely bundled up. That probably warranted a negative review from the likes of many pimple-faced critics). But the premise is cool enough and the movie delivers on it just fine. So it isn't perfect . . . but who goes to a movie like this wanting perfection? Legendary author Michael Moorcock has a quote I love:

"We don't, after all, read these stories for information or moral understanding, but for escapism. Thus we enter into a pact with the author, in which we suspend all disbelief or we suspend none!" -- Michael Moorcock

That quote sums up my relationship to plenty of the stories I read or movies I see. I'll buy into the premise of a work and suspend my disbelief. As long as the creators don't stray outside of their own boundaries, or are just flatout horrible, then I'm with them. I'm willing to see characters with their faces uncovered so you can a) tell them apart, and b) hear what they're saying. There are no more "that wouldn't happen" or "they wouldn't do that"s in this movie than there are in the latest Tarantino flick -- probably fewer. And don't get me started on Crash, which won the Best Picture however many years ago.

If you want Antarctic realism, check out Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World (which is fantastic). If you want a solid, exciting murder thriller set in a unique environment, you can certainly do worse than Whiteout. For an entertaining afternoon matinee or night out, I'd recommend it.

Tucson Icon's BFF On the Radio!

I'm listening to Thom Hartmann on the radio, and one of Julia's closest personal friends from Tucson is on the air for an interview.

I wonder what it's like to rub shoulders with celebrities.


note: this is actually a slight exaggeration. she saw him at trader joe's one time and made the mistake of telling me about it.

Would Dan Brown Read Your Script?

A couple of Official Big Things this past week or so have had the writing world all a'twitter. Literally. I've found both issues interesting, as a writer/reader lacking credentials to warrant an opinion to matter to most of these tightasses. Nonetheless, on this page at least, what I say goes. So dig. . . .

Big Thing One: Dan Brown Drops a New Book

If you are interested in reading at all you'll probably know Dan Brown as the author of the mega-selling The Da Vinci Code. His new book, The Lost Symbol, just came out on Tuesday and sold a zillion copies. And was apparently already available via pirate copies online the next day. I'll tell you what, there's nothing like the dropping of a certifiable mega-seller to bring out the opinionaters.

I must confess I've never read any of Dan Brown's books, so I don't have an opinion on his writing. Julia read The Da Vinci Code, and her assessment of it pretty much assured me my to-read pile is high enough that I didn't need to add to it with any of Mr. Brown's work. I won't likely buy this one either, though I would probably consider scoring the audio version if the whim should take me. Regardless, I'm sure his checking account balance won't miss me.

I never got in a tizzy over the Harry Potter releases that such a big deal was made of either. I know I read the first Potter book, and maybe the second . . . but I didn't care for the writing so I never read more. Obviously a lot of people do like those books, though, so more power to 'em.

But a lot of people get downright enraged over these kinds of books -- the mega sellers. This snarky article talking about Dan Brown's worst sentences is a perfect example. This kind of thing is just petty jealousy talking. I don't care who the writer is -- look hard enough for bad sentences, mixed metaphors and just bad prose, and you'll find them. What one person sees as beautiful language is another person's overwriting. I will take Robert E. Howard over Thomas Pynchon any goddamn day. That doesn't mean I won't read Pynchon, and possibly even like some of it, but if I'm on a desert island I know what I'm bringing and what I'm not.

Steve Weddle, writing for one of my favorite websites -- Do Some Damage -- sums it up in a way I can totally relate to when he describes the "page turner" qualities of Brown's writing, in this excellent piece. In it, he makes a case for why people read Brown's books, and boils it down essentially to this:

The reason people read Dan Brown [is] because they HAVE TO FIND OUT. His books are tons of fun because they’re not about the characters or sentence structure. His books are all about WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

And for Dan Brown, what happens next is selling another zillion books.

Sometimes a story is just a story, a trip from point A to point B with a little excitement sans high-minded bullshit. Don't like it? Then don't read it! I'm sure Dan Brown really gives a rip what some disgruntled whiner -- whose own meandering story of essentially nothing can't find an audience -- thinks. Me, I don't need everything I read to be some deep, moving tale of this or that. Yeah, sometimes a 7-course gourmet meal is just what the body needs for sublime pleasure, but other times a double-double will be every bit as good. Too much of either one would syphon off a bit of the pleasure, I think. Hell, the best sentence I've read lately is this:

"I sat and chewed, mindlessly content for the first time in what felt like ages, forgetting all the bullshit and the drama in the simple distraction of a good, greasy meal."

That's from Hoodtown, by Christa Faust.

Big Thing Two: Josh Olson Will Not Read Your Fucking Script

Screenwriter Josh Olson (he wrote the screenplay for A History of Violence) posted this article via a blog on the Village Voice website. It's essentially a rant on people bugging him, because he is established and has contacts, to help them by reading/critiquing/forwarding/etc. their own work. Makes sense, and I can understand the sentiment. There was a time when my late band Lazerwolfs seemed to have a reputation of actually being something; I was fielding requests all the time from unknown bands who begged to do a show with us, under the (mistaken) impression that it would give them a leg up on getting in front of a bigger audience. What they didn't realize is every little thing we did from day One to day The End was a hardscrabble experience to make anything happen just for us -- we had no golden ticket to do anything anywhere. We had some successes, sure, but just as often as not we were playing for 5 people on a given show just like every other friggin' rock band. So yeah, I understand the frustration. I also understand the liabilities, when you consider how lawsuit-ready (he stole my idea!) everyone is these days.

Just google "josh olson" and you'll see all the references that picked up the article. With each article you'll also see comments from people both in support of his words, and those who think he's a jerk for saying them. What you probably won't see is all the friggin' twitter posts from authors jumping on board to sign on to his position. Some writers, like John Scalzi, have made similar comments before this article ever broke. In the aftermath of this one, I think Scalzi had two or three. Other writers, like my current favorite -- Christa Faust -- weighed in in other ways. For example, in a post from her blog she says:

Many people seem to be deeply offended by Olson’s article. I’m far more offended by the astounding, profoundly selfish sense of entitlement displayed by posters who feel they are somehow owed a leg up from successful professional writers they’ve never met. Which probably makes me a dick, just like Josh.

I have a question for all the other published authors and produced screenwriters out there. Did any of you get your start in the business by asking a stranger to read your unpublished/unproduced work? I’m not talking about a legit submission to an editor or publisher, I’m talking about an unsolicited email (or paper letter) sent to a writer you’ve never met. Anybody?

Because I certainly didn’t. I got my start by working my ass off, writing and publishing short stories and small press novels until I got good enough to get recommended for novelization gigs. Not by a random stranger I bullied or shamed into giving me a leg up, but by someone who admired my published work. Work they had already read because they liked it, not because I asked them to. After that, I got asked to write for Hard Case. Then my agent asked to represent me. The few scripts I’ve written so far have been done for people who asked me to write them. Never the other way around.

What I like about both Scalzi and Faust's responses is they are addressing an issue and responding re: their own experiences. I respect the hell out of that, and there is a lot of value from their commentary. Fantastic. That's why I keep going back to their blogs and keep buying their books.

Some of the other stuff I saw from writers, though, was a bit off-putting. Just jumping on Olson's wagon seemed a bit . . . cowardly, I guess. If a writer feels so strongly about something like this, why not address it on your own? Many blogs and/or communications from a lot of these writers is decidedly one way -- Buy My Book. I don't fault them for that. But with that communication comes some risks; open the door, and you are going to hear things you don't want to hear. That definitely comes with the territory.

Both Scalzi and Faust -- among others -- take reader comments on and address them via the conduits they've chosen to create. If a "fan" is being unreasonable, they aren't afraid to tell them so at risk of losing a precious reader. But the flipside, to just hide behind another writer's comments, say, "Yeah, me too!" and then just duck back behind the little wall of "I love you all!" said writer has put up, seems to me a little lame.

If a writer chooses not to engage with their readers at all via blogs, forums, etc. that's fine, and I respect that. But if one chooses to engage, then fucking engage. Otherwise it's all just press release, and to call it anything else is disingenuous.

Never in the History of the Game Has There Been Such Devastation

I sure hate when I'm lame -- or lazy -- and get so far behind on updating this thing. It's not that I don't think about it, I think about it all the time. I'm constantly bookmarking interesting articles that I want to wax opinionated on, saving random images, etc. Next thing I know a week or two has passed, and a lot of it is no longer relevant. Nonetheless, I'm going to try and catch up. Today I'm going to take this opportunity to just clear out some random stuff.

Television Snob?

I've mentioned before that we don't have TV in the house. Not that we don't have a set, but we don't get cable and don't bother with rabbit ears. That's been our status for at least two or three years now, and it is probably one of the top two or three best changes we've made in our lives. I'm a pretty strong advocate of getting rid of the TV, but I've never thought of myself as being a "snob" about it, though recent reflection has shown me that maybe I need to think twice about how my stance could be perceived. As an example to illustrate my point, I urge you to read this article from Time that was written by a former writer for The Simpsons. It's great stuff, and it's short, so click on over. Here's a taste:

Okay, look, I'm fine with people never watching TV. They're lying, but I understand. I don't watch that much TV myself. But why do people at parties feel such smug delight at telling you (okay, me), without hesitation, that they don't watch TV? If you met a dentist at a party, would you announce that you don't brush your teeth? Would you tell a structural engineer that you don't ride in elevators?

I get it. The TV consciencious objector is just establishing intellectual superiority over my highly paid dumb thing. Yeah, I'm no stranger to "I don't watch TV." But this time, as an experiment, I swallowed my annoyance.

I sure don't mean to be exerting "intellectual superiority" over people when I say I don't watch TV. For me/us, it is the removal of the ad culture of television that has been most refreshing, and the time sink it can be. Yeah, it boggles my mind that people make some of the utter shit I've seen so popular (reality shows, sit coms, crap like True Blood), but who am I to judge: plenty folks would think I'm a moron for loving comic books (those people can kindly fuck off though, thank you).

I have to admit I miss watching international soccer. Sometimes I hear about programs I'd like to see on the various specialty channels; if I could pick and choose just certain channels without paying for all the other stuff, I might do it. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. What we do do, is rent DVDs of shows I hear are good. We didn't make it out of the first season of Lost before deciding it wasn't for us. Same with Weeds. Julia got through all of the first season of True Blood; I actually got pissed I hated it so much (please, the sex scenes aren't that great and Anna Pacquin isn't hot enough to overcome her awful, gawdawful acting). We loved Deadwood. I liked most of Battlestar Galactica but it got too lame for me and I didn't finish it -- Julia did. Right now, though, we are totally hooked on the HBO show The Wire. A lot of crime writers I admire have namedropped this show, so I wanted to check it out. We are still in the first season, and every episode has been fantastic. This scene alone, where one of the main characters explains the rules of chess to a couple of his underlings is worth the time I've spent so far. Dig it:



I think I'm going to try and be more careful about how I present my television views. I don't want to seem like one of those people.

Speaking of Intellectual Superiority

This picture speaks for itself.

The Destroyer on the Mend

Orly (aka The King, aka El Rey, aka The Little Warrior, aka Orliss, aka Cornholio, aka The Destroyer, and, most recently aka Bonecrusher and/or Little Blunderbuss) has had a rough summer. We thought he had allergies because he was having a very bad sneezing problem. Then he had an altercation that was unwitnessed but left the top of his mighty little skull lacerated. We took him into the vet and he was on some antibiotics for his cut, and it seemed to help his sneeze -- the vet said sometimes they snort things up into their noses that have to work themselves out. A couple weeks later he was back sneezing and seeming to have problems. His mood, cantankerous at best, was not what it should be. We feared a tumor of some kind. Turns out one of his canines was hugely infected, and a week ago he had surgery to remove it. The vet said it was the worst he's ever seen. He also said he's never seen a dog snap out of the anaesthesia so fast either, and was amazed at how tough the little guy is. Well, duh? He's the friggin' BONECRUSHER, Doc! (Julia and I both commented on how ludicrous it feels to be prideful over the toughness of a pet dog, but there you go). Anyway, he seems to be on the mend. He's thundering around the house like a little chariot (which has led me to refer to him as Ben Hur a couple times, though that name hasn't reached the regular rotation), and even as I type I can hear him in the backyard powerfully voicing his disagreement with something intruding on his territory. This little guy will probably outlive all of us -- he's something like 13 or 14 now, I think.

The Greatest Movie of the Year

I've been obsessed lately with crime books and movies. I've never really pursued that genre, which makes it new. I blame Darwyn Cooke and the door his recent work opened. Hell, I even wrote my first crime-based short story for my short fiction workshop. I renewed my NetFlix account and filled my queue with old crime/cop dramas from the 70s. I've been enjoying the hell out of it.

I'll be hitting this topic more in the coming days and weeks, but this mention is just to put in context this next bit: the pending release of BLACK DYNAMITE, which will be hands down the coolest thing any of you will see this year.



I can't wait.

Happy Birthday to the Master of Adventure!

Happy birthday, Mr. Burroughs. You helped make the world a much cooler place for guys like me.

Of course, there was no way I was going to use anyone but Frank Frazetta's images of ERB's classic Tarzan and John Carter characters, was I?