Welcome to the weblog of the writers and artists of Ferret Press (a publisher of fine comix) and PANEL (a Columbus, Ohio comic creators collaborative.) Here you will find our musings on comics, art, the creative process, politics, the web, and life.
There goes the neighborhood; Neil Gaiman is writing an episode of my favorite SF show, Doctor Who. Do I think he'll do a good job? Sure. I'm not as enamored of Gaiman as most folks, but I don't dislike him, either. And bits (as in, about half) of his book Neverland struck me as being cribbed from Doctor Who.
The episode is slated for the 2011 season, so we've still got a little over a year to wait.
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Sunday, February 07, 2010
Posted by
Dara
on
2/07/2010 03:44:00 PM
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Weekend Versus
The World's Greatest Comic Magazine versus those uncanny heroes...it's the Fantastic Four vs. The X-Men:
This cover is from the TPB collection of a 4-issue limited series. Chris Claremont wrote this sucker, with art by Jon Bogdanove and Terry Austin.
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Saturday, February 06, 2010
Posted by
Tom
on
2/06/2010 01:29:00 PM
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Wonderland
Picked up the Alive this week and got the rundown on the new Wonderland space. If I was more organized and with it, I'd try to attempt something similar with the real estate around where Clintonville Electric was situated. I have no idea how degraded the interior is but I always thought that space could be something fantastic if the funding was there. I've watched that area of Clintonville slowly turn into a mini-Portland over the past decade with it's aging hipster shops popping up.
The real estate includes a building that was formerly a theater.
Anyway, Wonderland is planning on taking over the old Wonder Bread factory by CCAD. My excitement was slightly muted by the fact that the Couchfire group is involved. They're planning on moving homebase from Junctionview into this new space. Roughly by 2014, when that space is set for demolition. I've had mixed feelings about Couchfire. Their heart's in the right place but every show comes off like well organized hype. Friends and I have tanked (sales wise) at every recent function they've put on. Sure, you could relate it to the crap economy but I have items that are around $2 to $4. It's great to get exposure but people seem there for more of the entertainment and food/booze. I say this as I have done other non-Couchfire related events around town and sell way more than I ever did at one of their events. It's one thing to be great at paperwork but the end result is lacking... a lot.
Yes, they can stir up a crowd but is that crowd the kind that'll buy a painting for under $100? Or a print for $10?? Or is it the crowd that's there for the bands and the booze. I'm thinking it's the latter. Case in point: The lousy C-Note show had a jacked-up cover charge (???) and on a brief walk thru, only a few pieces sold. There was some decent stuff up on the walls. What kind of a gallery has a freaking cover charge??? I thought it'd be sponsored out the butt.
Possibly this will change over time. Who knows in twenty years what will happen with their efforts. I'd like to be able to sell a painting in this town for over $500. Realistically it's nigh-impossible with the average income in Columbus. We're talking about middle to upper middle class and Les Wexner. I am getting sick of the one sided hype online with this crew. You can't build up something without airing both sides of story.
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Posted by
Tom
on
2/06/2010 11:49:00 AM
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This is perfect...
If they had to reboot Spiderman, I wish it was Wes Anderson. This is a riot.
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Friday, February 05, 2010
Posted by
Tony
on
2/05/2010 07:36:00 PM
:
Gather 'round, everybody
I think this post is pretty much just for me and Dara. I finally got around to buying Models Inc. No. 1, the one with Project Runway's Tim Gunn on the cover.
The issue itself didn't grab me: it's basically a group of Marvel's model characters (there are a lot of them!) doing light comedy and light drama. Comics are good at heavy comedy, but you have to be incredibly good to do light comedy. Same with light drama: when it's really, really good, it's just OK. When it's so-so, it really sucks.
Writer Paul Tobin also labors to introduce 6-8 characters I don't care about, so the whole thing kind of drags.
But then there's an 8-page backup feature starring Tim Gunn, and it's a hoot and a half. Writer Marc Sumerak (who?) manages to squeeze in every Tim Gunn catch phrase (the guy has more catch phrases than The Rock) and still tell a story with a point of view.
Tim Gunn's giving a tour of a superhero fashion exhibit when AIM bursts in. The big reveal after that page is an Iron Man suit, which Tim Gunn dons to defeat AIM.
Why was the Iron Man suit at an exhibit? Why was it charged? Why is Tim Gunn able to pilot it? Fuck you, that's why.
Right after this, Iron Tim gets blasted by a ray gun. I appreciate that Sumerak gets in a few reversals of fortune in this 8-pager. But the suit manages to reboot itself just in time for Tim to give his final catch phrase:
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Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Posted by
Dara
on
2/03/2010 05:40:00 PM
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Review: Clive Barker's Seduth
I'm not a Clive Barker fan. I haven't read any of his books and haven't seen the Hellraiser series of movies. In fact, I think the only ones of his movies that I've seen are Nightbreed and Lord of Illusion. So why'd I pick up this one-shot comic book? Mostly out of curiosity. I like artist Gabriel Rodriguez, and wanted to check out the 3-D effects. So, with that in mind...
The book came with a variant cover by Barker himself (the white one, below)
Here's how the story is described in the original press release when the book came out last October:
"In Seduth, Barker tells the tale of celebrated architect Harold Engle, who first glimpses the small cloud of darkness inside a glittering, priceless diamond, without any knowledge of the terrible plague contained within. Seduth follows Engle on a surreal journey through murder and madness to the very heart of existence and a terrible, impossible choice-to unravel the very fabric of the world, or to save it?"
Now, if you think that sounds a bit metaphysical, let me assure you that the above description is about as straight-forward and coherent as the story gets. The book itself is a weird jumble of bizarre landscapes, surreal ideas, and disjointed narrative threads about love, death, sex, heaven, hell...you know, what some less artistic folks might be inclined to call "pretentious". Here's one example of what to expect from the writing team of Clive Barker and Chris Monfette:
Now, I pretty much knew what to expect as far as the writing goes, and had a feeling it wasn't going to be for me. In one of those rare impulse buys, I picked this comic up more for the art. Rodriguez does a fantastic job of bringing some semblance of clarity and sanity to the otherwise bizarre settings and realms. (The colors are by Jay Fotos, and 3-D effects by the legendary Ray Zone) Some of the pages, like the one below, make good use of the 3-D effects:
While on others, everything comes together perfectly to take full advantage of an otherwise distracting gimmick. This page in particular struck me as how well it worked; if you move your head from side to side, the glass shards move across the face for an added layer of effect:
There's also a very impressive double-page spread (which I didn't scan) in which Rodriguez draws about 70-80 distinct faces as our protagonist contemplates the universe and his place in it. Gabriel is a really talented guy, and while he's currently exclusive to IDW (working on Joe Hill's Locke & Key), I hope to see him do more work at other publishers in the future.
The book also features some of Barker's notes in the back, with his ideas and sketches from (presumably) the inception of the project. In one such page he describes the book as "a completely nihilistic story" and "this is my Superman". Here's a look at another one of his notebook pages:
So, 24 pages of story and 8 pages of Barker notes for $6. Was it worth it? I guess that's more for you to decide for yourself. I'm not Barker's main audience, but I liked pouring over the art and checking out the 3-D effects, so it definitely entertained me for a while. Your mileage may vary.
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Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Posted by
Tom
on
2/02/2010 10:14:00 PM
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King Kat... blogs?
John Porcellino now has a blog. So far it's just started so check back or add it to the feed. I also came across an online comics archive that Porcellino takes part in. You'll find some work by folks like Jordan Crane, Sammy Harkham, Ted May and... oh god they're adding Gabrielle Bell (why? if they add Jeffrey Brown to the mix, I'm tapping out.). Porcellino's work has always managed to elevate itself from the navel gazers like Bell (or Brown). He can make the most mundane thing seem epic, beautiful and readable.
recommended reading: A Perfect Example. (locally at the Columbus Metropolitan Library)
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Monday, February 01, 2010
Posted by
Dara
on
2/01/2010 07:14:00 PM
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Doom Patrol #6: I blame the management
Ok, so DC's got their Blackest Night crossover going, and in a marketing move that came as no surprise, they shipped free "collector" Lantern rings with certain tie-in issues. One of those was Doom Patrol #5. And by all accounts, the promotion certainly boosted the sales figure on the participating books. And while I'm not a fan of the crossover tie-in, or the silly marketing gimmicks, it didn't bother me too much. It was done quickly, and actually had a hook to the past history of the book.
But here's the problem: assuming a bunch of new readers unfamiliar with Doom Patrol picked up #5 and were exposed to a new book, how do you suppose DC capitalized on that opportunity?
They went ahead and did a boring character recap story in the very next issue!
No start to an exciting new story arc to hopefully snag and keep some of those new eyeballs. Not even a semi-exciting stand-alone adventure to introduce readers to the team. Nope. They did an entire boring Wikipedia-like info dump devoted to the convoluted backstory of one of the characters, the Negative Man.
Way to keep those new readers, DC.
I would place some of the blame at the feet of writer Keith Giffen, but honestly, this is more of a management problem. Editor Elizabeth V. Gehrlein and head honcho Dan Didio missed the boat here, big time. And it's not like it's rocket science. If you have an odd book and you're trying to raise awareness for it, don't do an entire boring Who's Who issue right after your big crossover.
Dumb. Just plain dumb.
PS. As much as I love my B and C-list characters and have been enjoying this latest incarnation of the Doom Patrol, the Metal Men backups in each issue have been completely unreadable. Kevin Maguire provides some slick art, but Giffen & DeMatteis's attempt at recapturing their old "Bwa Ha Ha" Justice League magic falls completely flat. It's overwritten and underfunny.
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Posted by
Dara
on
2/01/2010 07:03:00 PM
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7 Covers: Samurai, part 2
Back in November, I posted 7 rather silly Samurai-themed covers. This time, I'm going to post 7 slightly more serious takes on the concept:
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Friday, January 29, 2010
Posted by
Dara
on
1/29/2010 09:25:00 PM
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It's almost time for Lost...
The last season of Lost starts in 4 days, and I simply can't wait!
In the meantime, here's a very interesting theory on the nature of Jabob, and what the show may be all about. I'd say spoiler warning, except that like all things speculative about Lost, this is just that: another speculation.
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Monday, January 25, 2010
Posted by
Matt Kish
on
1/25/2010 11:05:00 AM
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Avatar = Donuts
There’s really nothing wrong with donuts. In fact, if you were to ask any nutritionist, dietician, or physician, they would almost certainly tell you that it’s completely fine to eat donuts once in a while, in moderation.
And there is the key. Moderation. Once in a while. Maybe some donuts on Wednesday after the weekly staff meeting and Sunday after church. Whatever. But…moderation.
And this is my problem with the film “Avatar” and, really, most of what is commonly called “pop culture” in general. There is absolutely no moderation. At all. Ever. It’s donuts, every day, all the time, without end. Bad enough in itself, but then these “donuts” are followed by hoarse and increasingly impassioned defensive statements justifying the all-donut diet.
Take, for instance, any blog post or web site article about, oh, say Power Girl’s massive and barely covered breasts. Or Mike Deodato’s Wonder Woman, running around in a thong. Or Batwoman as a lesbian. Or company-wide crossovers like “Civil War” or “Blackest Night” or “Siege” and so on. Regardless…and I do mean REGARDLESS…of what the articles say, what cogent and thoughtful points they might make, what intelligent content lies in each, these will be shouted down by the unending collected screams of fandom bellowing “It’s just entertainment!!! It’s not supposed to be serious!!! It’s fantasy!!! It’s not supposed to be like the real world!!!” And so on. Ad nauseam.
First, those defenses ring true. Comic books, and movies, and television shows, and nearly all popular media really are, for the most part, entertainment oriented. And (this is a very important point here) there is nothing wrong with mindless, enjoyable, fluffy, pretty-colors entertainment like “Avatar” or Power Girl or “Firefly” or Halo. But it’s like donuts. In moderation.
Think about that.
Because I am really very curious about how many of those that post comments to web sites and blogs defending Power Girl’s ridiculous rack or “Avatar’s” completely insipid and uninspired narrative wrapped up in pretty candy-colored special effects or Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare (or whatever the hell it’s called) murder simulation disguised as a videogame ALSO fill out their reading and viewing diet with more complex, nuanced, challenging novels and films and poetry and art. I really am.
Because, really (nothing personal, Dara) I’m fairly confident that an awful lot of those who contributed to the billion dollar plus box office gross of “Avatar” haven’t seen, and have no interest in seeing, “Citizen Kane.” Or “Apocalypse Now.” Or “The Big Sleep.” Or “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Or…well, you get the idea. But I bet nearly all of them saw gems like “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” Which is, incidentally, the worst-reviewed film ever to earn over $100 million at the box office. And I bet a lot of them have played the fuck out of Halo 3 and Mass Effect.
So that’s my biggest problem. With “Avatar.” With pop culture. There is nothing, and I mean NOTHING wrong with liking “Avatar” or “Transformers” or “Lost” or “Firefly” or WWE wrestling or “Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose” comic books, or Jonas Brothers or “Spongebob Squarepants” or “Blackest Night” or Halo. Those are, probably, all very entertaining in a mindlessly enjoyable way and we really do all need that, once in a while.
In moderation.
But it seems like that’s becoming all any of us consume anymore. We don’t want challenges. We don’t want anything different. We don’t want anything unexpected. We want donuts over and over and over again. And now the donuts, all of them, come with product placement and vast multi-platformed marketing and merchandising tie-ins to monopolize even more of our mental real estate.
I find it a little strange, and honestly a little disappointing, that on a blog like this where so many of us are quick to attack “Blackest Night” or “Civil War” or fandom in general for being bland, predictable, catering to the lowest common intellectual denominator and the highest possible profit lines that we are so willing to swallow swill like “Avatar” with the defense “The story was lame but it was just so entertaining.” Is that all we expect anymore? To paraphrase Duncan Jones, director of the film “Moon” and one of the few intelligently dissenting voices on “Avatar,” was there really ever any instance in “Avatar” where you didn’t know pretty much exactly what was going to happen next?
If this post offends any of my good friends in Panel, I sincerely apologize. I am not a tastemaker, a critic or a final arbiter of intellectual worth. I have been, probably fairly accurately, called a pretentious douchebag hipster elitist. But man, I just can’t fathom this constant 24/7 diet of donuts Americans are gobbling down now, in every medium possible.
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"Er, Looker's body looks really, really long in this image, right? It's not just me, is it?"
No, Caleb, it's not just you.
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Posted by
Dara
on
1/24/2010 09:40:00 PM
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Tres Santos
Here's a somewhat interesting bit of synchronicity: I'd currently writing two minis for IDW. The artist on the first one is Mark Dos Santos. The artist on the second one is Victor Santos.
So I'm working with 3 saints. That's got to be a good omen, right?
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Posted by
Dara
on
1/24/2010 05:34:00 PM
:
Weekend Versus
Presented with minimal commentary, Warrior Nun Areala vs. Razor:
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Saturday, January 23, 2010
Posted by
Dara
on
1/23/2010 06:06:00 PM
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Movie reviews: Avatar and Ninja Assassin
So I gave in to the hype and went and saw the much-talked about movie, Avatar. Despite my aversion to over-hyped “blockbuster” movies, I have to say I was very impressed and thoroughly entertained. Not that the story is that deep. It’s not. Take any historical story of what we did to the Native Americans (or any other European colonial power did to any other indigenous people) and you have the basic story of Avatar. And given how widely this joke has circulated on the Internet, I'm obviously not the first one to make that call:
But the amazing vistas, well-done 3D effects, and the movie’s visuals as a whole overcame its many flaws to make it a very entertaining and satisfying movie overall. The jungle scenes were truly gorgeous, and I give him props for going with that crazy color pallette of neon blues, purples, and orange. While in some spots it was so colorful that it looked like a video game, for the most part I was easily able to suspend my disbelief and immerse myself in the world created in the movie. I also thought the voice acting, particularly by Zoe Saldana, was strong. And Stephen Lang was cast perfectly as the main bad guy, Colonel Miles Quaritch.
But speaking of the bad guy, that's one of the areas where Cameron's writing fell way short of the mark. He's written as such a one-dimensional "jarhead" character; one you've seen in dozens of other movies. And Cameron’s political allegory was really ham fisted. There’s really no need to actually use the phrases "preemptive strike", “shock and awe” and “we’ll fight terror with terror”. Yes, James, we get it.
This isn't a "deep" movie, and it doesn't deliver subtle political and social commentary. But it does entertain in a big way, and didn't insult my intelligence at every turn. Movie studios like us to believe that “you have to see it on the big screen” applies to every piece of crap they churn out. But this is one of the very few where I’d agree with that sentiment. Definitely see it in 3D, preferably IMAX.
My brother asked me if I wanted to catch a movie at the El Cheapo theater last week, and needing a break, I said yes. So all I lost was 1.5 hours of my life (he paid the $1 for my ticket). But...
Q. What do you get when you have a movie written by the creator/writer/producer of Babylon 5, directed by the guy who directed V For Vendetta, and produced by the guys who wrote/directed/produced The Matrix trilogy?
A. One of the worst movies ever made: Ninja Assassin. Horrid mess of a story, cliched dialogue, cheesy special effects, and about 15,000 gallons of computer generated blood. If you took the plot of a 1980s straight-to-video ninja flick, added in 1990s computer generated special effects, and then presented it all with third-rate, Quentin Tarantino-wannabe violence, you'd get this flick. Supposedly it cost $40 million to make this ridiculous exercise in anime violence done in live action. Honestly, they could have made it for $40 and gotten the same results. (According to Wikipedia, JMS re-wrote some other writer’s first draft script in 53 hours, as a favor to the Wachowski brothers. Still no excuse, but it goes a long way to explain the hot mess.) Avoid at all costs. Seriously.
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Thursday, January 21, 2010
Posted by
Tony
on
1/21/2010 08:24:00 AM
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Addendum: 'Tec Annual 11
That "Eighth Deadly Sin" story has an 18-page backup story, "Blacker than Black," written by Mandy McMurray (who?) with art by Kelley Jones(yay!)
The story's workmanlike -- it shows an aspiring vampire-themed serial killer called The Stygian getting obsessed with Barbara Gordon. Naturally, she calls in Looker, an extremely powerful telepath-turned vampire. There's some kind of subplot with a wrongfully accused man, that really ought to fit into 18 pages, but it doesn't quite get across.
Caleb's given me a new appreciation of Kelley Jones, though, and he doesn't disappoint here. I think Jones deserves some kind of special Eisner for making Looker look cool.
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Posted by
Dara
on
1/16/2010 10:38:00 AM
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Eric Canete
Andy was talking about Eric Canete's work at a recent PANEL meeting, so I thought I'd post the link to his blog. There's so much gorgeous eye candy there, it's hard to pick just a couple of samples to post here...
I really like Eric's art; it has a Ted McKeever flavor to it, but he's definitely his own artist. I absolutely love his crazy perspectives, and just the sense of motion he infuses in every piece. He's done a lot of work in animation (Aeon Flux, The Batman, Justice League Unlimited, etc.), but it's nice to see his decidedly un-mainstream style on some mainstream Marvel books, like Spider-man:
He'll be doing a Luke Cage 4-issue limited series with writer John Arcudi:
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Posted by
Tom
on
1/13/2010 11:29:00 PM
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Hmmmmm Lantern
Like a nerd, I watched just about everything on *Green Lantern: First Flight (thanks CML). Including the short explanation of Blackest Night that saved me a kagillion dollars in following it in the single issues. I'm puzzled as to why DC picked the Free Comic Book Day book to be the lead-in to their mega series. The series clearly rewards people who already know the continuity while losing any new readers who go in baffled. I thought the point of FCBD was to attract new readers, not scare them away. This year is the War with Supermen arc, while a better pick than last year's book, still somewhat defeats the purpose of FCBD. It'd be smarter to go away with a simple 'done-in-one'.
Not to totally hate on Blackest Night, I thought the concept was strong. Not strong enough to follow it in the singles. Then again, I know enough about the DC back story to enjoy it. I'm the kind of reader that hates crossover series. Example: I liked Superman until it began to lead into the Death of Superman arc. (haven't picked it up since then)
*Green Lantern: First Flight was pretty good... for a library dvd.
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Monday, January 11, 2010
Posted by
Dara
on
1/11/2010 08:59:00 PM
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Kudos to Zappos
We now interrupt this comics-related blog for an unsolicited endorsement for a shoe retailer:
I have a heck of a time finding shoes that fit me, due to my girly feet (size 7.5). So, when I couldn't find a pair of hiking boots after visiting half a dozen different stores, I decided to order a pair online from Zappos. Found a pair I liked in my size, placed the order, and got it in the mail today.
One problem: despite being the right size, they're a bit too tight.
Needless to say, I was pretty annoyed. So I called them up to see how to return my order and exchange it for a bigger size, fully expecting an aggravating 20 minutes of navigating a convoluted voicemail system, arguing with a customer service rep, and then having the privilege of standing in line at a post office.
But I'm here to say I had one of the best customer service experiences that I can remember in a long time. I got through to a rep right away, they put in my exchange right away, upgraded me to next-day shipping (their shipping is free, by the way), showed me how to print out a pre-paid return label (again, standard) and refunded me $20 because the boot had gone on sale since last week when I originally ordered it.
Now that's how you take care of customers!
So. Zappos.com. Great selection. Free shipping. And awesome customer service.
'Nuff said.
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Sunday, January 10, 2010
Posted by
Dara
on
1/10/2010 05:50:00 PM
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7 Covers: Flaming Carrot
Once again, PANELista Craig Bogart supplies this edition of 7 covers. Craig writes:
"Next to Steve Gerber, my biggest influence in writing the Ineffables: Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot. In searching online for covers to select, I was pleasantly surprised to see there are a handful of appearances by the character I missed the first time around-- the hazards of collecting in the dark days before the internet, I guess. Sadly, I did get the TMNT crossover with the MacFarlane cover when it came out... Included here also is the Carrot's first appearance in Visions #1, the one with the Neal Adams cover."
I have to say, a lot of comics would be made more enjoyable with the cover copy "This Flame, This Carrot".
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Posted by
Dara
on
1/10/2010 05:41:00 PM
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Weekend Versus
The 90s brought us ridiculously popular Image team books, and ridiculously unfunny send-ups of those team books. Exhibit A: Petworks vs. WildK.A.T.S.
First of all, I'm not sure how much demand there was for a parody of Wetworks and WildC.A.T.S., but at least try and make it look funny. Nothing about that covers tells me this is going to be clever or humorous in any way. I have a feeling even Cracked magazine would have turned this down.
