I Can See Your House From Here - Archives
vol 2 number 4
Two more days until I leave for Chicago, for Wizard World 2001. Three days of buying comics, meeting with creators and other comic folk, and parties. Thirty to forty hours of work crammed into under 72 hours.
Whee….
Twelve hours or so until my final exam / presentation for my CS492 summer course. This column is due about three hours ago (sure, I make my own schedule, but I like to stick to it). I have a short film that I have to finish scoring tonight so that it will be finished in time for the upcoming Sidewalk Film Festival. I have web sites to update. I have preparations to make for the fall term at school, which begins two days after my return from Chicago, and a job that begins three days later. Band rehearsals for the upcoming Lunasect tour…
And now I wonder how people like Brian Bendis and Mike Millar and Warren Ellis do it. I can't begin to imagine being a penciler, taking care of daily life, meeting art deadlines, and still hitting the conventions all summer long. It's amazing, frankly.
Every one of you should remember this when your favorite creator doesn't return your email fast enough.
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Everyone keep John Buscema in your thoughts. Even better, appreciate the greats while you have the chance.
I wrote a little note about how Buscema and Infantino were virtually ignored in favor of the hot new artist of the moment at San Diego, and I can easily imagine seeing something similar in Chicago this weekend. If you are really desperate for some extra cash, and that's why you're clamoring for the Top Cow or Marvel signatures, come find me. I've got errands that you can run, and I'll pay you whatever your signed books'll fetch you on E-Bay.
If you're truly a fan of comics, though, make sure that you find the guys like Buscema, Martin Noddell, and Stan Lee, and let them know that you appreciate what they did for the industry, if not for what they did for you.
Keep in mind that without them, there might very well not be a DC or Marvel or Image to produce your favorite books.
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Anyone else wonder what Todd McFarlane smokes in the morning? I know I do.
First he takes his ego and overblown costume accessories, and splits from Marvel to help form Image. Good move. Then he buys McGwire's home run balls, blowing (according to him) most of his fortune in the process. Questionable move - after all, that record could be broken any year.
Now, though - now he's taken the Miracleman (Marvelman) character, put it into his Spawn universe, and in doing so flipped a huge bird at the comic book industry. Sure, he'll probably see a spike in sales due to curiousity, even on the part of those who never followed the original series but want to see what all the furor is about. In the long-term, though?
My prediction - or maybe, my hope - is that Neil Gaiman will challenge McFarlane to a good game of soccer. Alan Moore can play on Gaiman's team, and Todd can have - oh, I don't know, anyone that will put up with him at that point. The end score is unimportant; what is important is that metal cleats are allowed, red cards don't exist, and sportsmanship goes out the window.
Hey, McFarlane can't really complain; it's pretty obvious that he doesn't understand fair play in the first place.
Does anyone over the age of fourteen actually read Spawn, anyway?
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By the way, the big death of September from Marvel actually came a month early (to make up for late books, one would assume), and the body belongs to Odin.
Verily.
Also dead this month - the Silver Surfer (though this is part of an alternate reality storyline, so don't count him out yet…) And some big funeral is being built up in Captain America, presumably readying the transfer of the character to the Marvel Knights line.
I know that Odin has a rich history - including a death at the hands of Surtur, prior to this one - but this is what all the hype was about? Give us a death that we care about - kill off an X-Man (Psylocke doesn't count; she came out of semi-retirement for her passing, and I'm sure she'll be back), or an Avenger, or the Hulk. And then make it stick.
If Aquaman stays dead, I'll be amazed. And more than a little happy, if only because DC took a chance and stood by it.