Warren Ellis on reactivating old Marvel characters
Jun 19Brian Reed (the writer on Dynamite comics Red Sonja) is apparently digging through the Marvel vaults, and Ellis has some advice. The following is proof that if you’re not currently watching Ellis’ Twitter feed, you really really should be.
@BrianReed Unearthing old characters for Marvel to see if they’re worth reactivating will clip five years off your life. Trust me.
Because six hours later you’re all “ah, yes, Flying Coyote Whore who some drunk invented for Luke Cage to fuck in 1975, I see potential..” And a day later you’re, “geezer, that guy who used to deliver the mail to The Fantastic Four, there’s totally a miniseries there…”
And then your kid starts calling you “Scary Daddy” and your girl won’t let you touch her and you see Stan Lee when you try to jerk off. But you can’t jerk off and suddenly you’re living in the woods and you don’t remember why and someone seems to have pissed in your clothes.
But you really want to write that story about the voodoo chicken guy from those old Marvel comics but old women are flinging turds at you. And cops are beating you up every night and you get raped by a hobo with a face like Roseanne who keeps saying “Cough on it, John.”
And why? Because you decided to research old Marvel comics. Just walk away, Reed. Or you may never walk the same again.
Alert Nerdian: Playing Catch-Up
Jun 18
Download: Alert Nerdian broadside PDF – April 2008
Download: Alert Nerdian broadside PNG – April 2008
Download: Alert Nerdian broadside GIF – April 2008
So basically, Alert Nerd came down with the plague for a few months. Well…the third of Alert Nerd that has mad design skills did, anyway. Thus, we’re behind on our Alert Nerdians. We are determined, however, to continue our experimentation with this Warren Ellis brainchild and publish a bushel of broadsides at year’s end. So we are now playing catch-up. Here’s April!
Now that con season is in full swing, feel free to wallpaper the giveaway table with these at your local geek gathering. It’s up to you! More Alert Nerdians coming shortly!
A smidge of Shat, part 4
Jun 18Saw this thought of Matt. See anything with William Shatner, and think of Matt, really.
To sit and talk with Shatner over a meal is its own multimedia show. You start by marveling about the familiar voice you’re hearing. By and by, you begin paying attention to what he’s saying, which is a theme park of topics. This is a guy who, in his new autobiography “Up Till Now,” rhapsodizes about a gas station where he found “the finest tire air I’ve ever encountered.”
(Comics) Journalism Is Dead. Long Live (Comics) Journalism.
Jun 17Heidi has an interesting post up over on The Beat (“…on the upbeat, till a man comes along, he says…”) about the state of the New Newsarama, and comics “journalism” in general:
So what’s to be done? Comic Book Resources still has the best columns in the biz, and is stepping up in the news department, but every site out there still has to deal with threats to their access, and given the what fans want to read (previews and interviews, apparently) there’s just no way anyone can gain enough independence anymore.
Which brought to mind Kevin Huxford’s recent musing on the death of Tim Russert, and how there’s no one even comparable in the comics realm:
Man, I wish there was someone that comic notables felt that they HAD to submit to being interviewed by and could press for firm answers (without being spat upon by half of the fans out there).
All of which, honestly, hits me with a sorta big DUH.
Journalism as it should be practiced, and as we’ve come to know it over the past hundred-odd years, is effectively dead. ESPECIALLY entertainment journalism.
In other words, they’re kicking a rotted, maggot-ridden corpse. (Not that it doesn’t DESERVE the kicks, but still.)
Oh, Comics Drama!
Jun 16If you’re into editorial intrigue and behind-the-scenes dirt at DC Comics, start here, then travel here, and end up here, where I’m guessing the comments section will light up today like a Christmas tree on fire.
Me? As usual, I think Greg Hatcher’s right, and anyone who’s paid any attention to the customer-facing machinations of DC over the last year or two probably knows exactly what Chuck Dixon’s talking about in the comments. None of Todd Allen’s candidates really unwrap my Twinkie, but maybe the secret one Heidi teases about will be revealed?
And now you know everything I do. Yes, literally EVERYTHING. Scary, isn’t it.
