Signal Watch Reads: Action Comics 902

Action Comics 902
Written by:  Paul Cornell
Art:  Kenneth Rocafort
Editors:  Wil Moss and Matt Idleson

 

Supposedly the line-up for the ReLaunch/ DCNu Justice League

I actually kind of like that new Superman costume as seen here.  That's just no good for nerd-rage.

This was posted at Bleeding Cool citing the line-up in a way I didn't quite agree with.

On the left, they said that was Deadman, Atom, Element Girl and Firestorm.  I don't think that's Element Girl, I think that's Dr. Light.  (That doesn't look anything like Element Girl, imho, and they put a dot of white in her eyes like, you know... light.)

In the middle, we clearly have Aquaman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Flash and Cyborg(!)

On the right they're calling it:  Green Arrow, Hawkman, Powergirl and Mera.  I don't think that's Powergirl, as much as I love me some Powergirl.  I suspect that's Black Canary.  I mean, it COULD be Powergirl, but with Wonder Woman on the team and Superman...  it seems a bit redundant.  And, of course, all of these characters (including Dr. Light) have longstanding JL ties.  Certainly Canary has a much, much longer history with the JL than Powergirl.

So... we'll see, I suppose.

Signal Watch Watches: Night of the Hunter

This isn't exactly a review, but:  for quite a while I've meant to watch the Charles Laughton directed Night of the Hunter.  

The movie simply looks different from a lot of other movies of the day, with shots framed with a still-photographer's eye, unusual use of angles, overly stylized dialogue, and a general feeling of a stage play to the proceedings.  None of that is a criticism.  Quite the opposite.

don't mind me, I'm just here for a small bit a crazy

Robert Mitchum (Mitchum!) plays a psycho who isn't so much posing as a man-of-the-cloth as he is a deranged lunatic using his own made-up deal with God to cut a path across the Mid-West preaching by day and marrying widows (and murdering them) by night, then moving on to the next town.

Signal Watch Reads: Superman 712

Superman 712
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Penciller: Rick Leonardi
Inker: Jonathan Sibal
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Lettering: Comicraft
Associate Editor: Nachie Castro
Editor: Matt Idleson

Comics Legend and Great Gene Colan Merges with the Infinite

Artist Gene Colan did so much exceptional work over so many years, its hard to believe it was one guy.  He was also always much beloved within the industry.

I won't spend too much time eulogizing, but I will point you to this post pulling together thoughts from those working in comics, and this one from the AV Club which discusses Gene's career.

When I think of Gene, I think Marvel, which is funny because I know he did stuff all over the place.  But he's in there with Buscema, Romita, etc..  one of the people who created modern comics. 

We'll miss you, Mr. Colan. 

Here's a link to Mr. Colan's official site.

JimD goes to Philly and delivers a huge addition to the Superman collection

Holy smokes, ya'll...

Can you read my mind?

Yup, JimD went to Wizard World Philly, stood in line on my behalf and got me a signed pic by none other than Ms. Margot Kidder.  Where I'm from, this is better than currency. That there is Lois Lane, people.

Thanks to JimD, I now have autographs from two of the women who played Lois, both Ms. Kidder and Ms. Noel Neill.

Really, Signal Corps, the rest of you are falling way, way behind.

So I try to be clever, what with the whole Superman/Kitty thing going on

So I had a doctor appointment today and was driving home (I'm fine, thanks for asking), and I suddenly remembered a comic I bought a few years ago "Superman: For the Animals".  And I thought I'd try some PhotoShop, but it turns out that if you don't use Photoshop on a regular basis, you totally forget how it works.  Whoops.

Anyway, here is my editorial.  Shut up.  I worked with what I had.

yes, I did this in mother@#$%ing MS Paint.  Shut up.

If I had to guess, this comic is no longer canon at DC Comics.

you're welcome, internet.  have fun playing with this image for the next few days.

Teh Kittehs will haz their revenge!!! (love this from @daveexmachina)

in response to yesterday's anti-kitty news:

From Dave Lartigue courtesy a retweet by @allisontype

I assume this would be Jeff the Cat approved. He was unavailable for comment.

Fun fact: Jeff the Cat is a big Ostrander Suicide Squad fan, btw.

If you'd told me in 1993 that people would be fighting over people wanting to be called "geek", I would have burned you for a witch

Apparently at some beauty pageant this week, the winner stood on stage and declared herself "a geek".  Specifically, she called out a few shows she liked including Game of Thrones (which is amaaaaaazing, but we'll discuss that later), and declared herself a "history geek".  And with that, it seemed, the meaning of the term "geek" that I knew and as I had once understood it, died a last and wheezing death before a televised audience's eyes.

I didn't see this, of course.  I didn't watch TV last night, and I don't watch beauty pageants when I do watch TV.  But I have the internets, and the internets were abuzz.

I want to refer you to an article I wrote in 2004 about the death of the phrase "bling", which was a not-dissimilar experience.  When white-bread moms are dolling up their upper-middle-class daughters, they may now use the phrase "bling", but the word has lost any weight or meaning. 

And, so, too, has the term "geek".

It sort of reminds me of when a very dear friend of mine from high school who's tastes ran toward Top 40 radio, top-rated sitcoms and whatever fashionable people were wearing, etc... (I love this person, and I genuinely am not trying to be critical, but I'm being honest here) jumped in the car with me during a winter break home from college, put in Counting Crows on the CD player, turned to me smiling and unironically announced "see, Ryan, now I'm alternative."  It was so adorable, I just wanted to give her a hug.

Today there's this whole weird argument raging on the internet, and it seems mostly to be happening in the Girl Geek quarters, especially amongst younger women (in their 20's, it seems) who are debating what constitutes a geek, and many are PROUD (like, fierce, angry proud) of overcoming their self-stated reject status and fighting for the right to have a community they may not have felt like they've had before.

So, when Miss America describes herself as a "geek", its causing a kerfuffle. It's the co-option of a hard-won name for a lot of folks out there, and the insinuation of oneself into a community that seems to feel that their rejection at the hands of the beautiful people in high school and then the self-identification of someone who looks exactly like those people who made their lives hell...?  It can be seen as an affront to everything they believe they've discovered, nurtured and built an identity around.

Yes, it sucks when you see the people you can't stand like your favorite band or are, say, using the Superman logo on the mudflaps on the same truck upon which they've dangled Truck Nutz.

On that pulled Superman issue: My Mind is Officially BLOWN (teh kitties iz to blame)

I guess this is true.  I...  wow.  I don't even know what to do but report the story at Bleeding Cool.

Apparently Superman 712 wasn't dismissed because of Sharif the Muslim character.  It was shelfed because Superman starts the issue by saving a cat from a tree.

And this caused considerable problems with certain DC executives. They thought it was too sweet, too innocent, too anodyne, and not the kind of Superman stories they wanted to tell. The kitten up a tree image symbolised for them what was wrong with the Superman books. It became totemic in the office, standing for far more than it could possibly symbolise. It had to go.

Holy @#$%.  Well, this is Dan "Countdown" Didio and Jim "Wildstorm" Lee publishing and Bob "Clone Saga" Harras as Editor in Chief. 

At first I found this hilarious, then puzzling, and now I'm weirdly concerned for DC Comics.  What the @#$%, ya'll?

As Bleeding Cool also notes:

And a story that started with a kitten has been replaced by a story starring a dog. I’m wondering if that was Superman editorial trying to make a point.

Looking forward to new Superman comics where kitties are left to fend for their @#$%ing selves.