Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Well it's official;

I'm retiring this blog. Blogspot has been good to me, but I'm moving over to Wordpress for better search optimization and themes. You can still find me over at Violent Blue and at the new Argo City blog at Wordpress!

Monday, May 2, 2011

I picked up Action Comics 900 last weekend. In it there's a short story (not even the main feature for Christ's sake!) where Superman goes to Iran to participate in a peacful protest. He just lands and stands with the crowd for 24 hours then leaves. I thought that was just so cool to see. Great story. Sure the Iranian government got pissed and complained, then the US goverment felt the need to talk to Superman. Same as usual. I've seen this before, "Secret Identity" handled it really well. We saw some of that in "Salvation Run" too. Then Superman stated to the government agent that he was going to the UN to renounce his citizenship.
I felt like someone had just punched me in the face.
Those of you who know me - really know me, know how big a deal Superman is to me. It's fairly visible, The floor mats in my car, the stickers and the steering wheel cover. The constant parades of shirts. The Money clip my Wife found for me. The stacks and stacks of comics, not to mention the drawings of my own. But it's the character that fascinates me. The character that uplifts and gives us something to aspire to. This isn't it.
Don't get me wrong. You can have a global worldview, but that doesn't mean sacrificing your personal culture, and Superman's cultural heritage is far more American that alien. Who he is fundamentally is grounded in Pa Kent - and that's nothing but American. "Superman : Peace on Earth" tackled these issues of mistrust as well, and what is notable was the realization that Clark Kent (in this case helping people reclaim farmland and plant crops) can sometimes be more effective than Superman. Clark the human, Clark the American. That's at the core of my profound disappointment here. The action of renouncing his citizenship is antithetical to the character.
I have to question the motives at DC on this. I mean, it smacks of cosmopolitan Intellectualism, of people with such open minds that their brains have leaked out. This isn't revolutionary, it's not creative, this decision is cowardly. It says, "Lets try to appease the rest of the world by showing how ashamed we are of our homeland." . America isn't perfect. But it is a special place, a remarkable place. This is an experiment in liberty that most people 200 years ago never expected to succeed, and certainly never expected the US to become as influential as it has been. It deserves better than this.
You know what? So do I. Perhaps it's time for me to renounce my citizenship in the DC Universe and immigrate over to Marvel.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Sandman and companion

I've been reading through The Sandman again. I came across a copy of the Sandman Companion at Half Price books and it's been a fascinating excuse to revisit the series. However, I remember why I kind of trailed off it. I really loved the series before it became popular. Even though the quality didn't drop off when the series got hot, the fact that everyone else now liked it just sucked some of the fun out of it.
THe COmpanion really sheds some light on the source material. I though I was well read, but this is uncovering homages and sources that I've enver noticed before. It's also really fun to hear about how much Neil Gaimen loved Roger Zelazny...also one of my favorite authors.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Green Hornet




I didn't hate the Green Hornet. This means something considering I'm a lifelong fan of the character. You can find pictures of the characters in my sketchbooks all the way back to 7th grade.There's a good story somewhere in this movie, however, it's buried under Seth rogan acting like a jerk and trying to be funny during parts of the movie where it really isn't appropriate.A bit more character development and a bit less humor (You don't need to throw out all of it. Justtrim by about 15-20%)and this could have been a really great adaption. I'd like that beacasue it could have brought much greater exposure to a character I really love.

The problem really is that there isn't a really good vesion on screen. The TV show introduced a lot of what we take for granted in the character...the gadgets in the car, Kato being a martial artist... even the very look. The serials are fun, but a bit too campy...like a bad gangster movie from the 40's. Kevin Smiths comics really didn't GET the character, though that series has gotten a bit better with each issue, especially now that Smith's off the book. Matt Wagner's classic Green Hornet (being published right now by the same company) however is really good. I was a big fan of the 90's series published by NOW comics too.

It's a pity this movie won't make enough to justify a sequal. I'd like to see another go at this with the actors settled in thier roles, and the characters beginning to mature.