Childhood Memories: Spider-Man's Black Costume Saga

I started collecting comics in the mid-1980s, and like most adult fans, that period of time when I first discovered the hobby is my Golden Age.  And the overarching storyline of Peter Parker's black costume is one that I fondly remember.

It all began in Secret Wars #8 (a book that does not even come close to holding up when I tried to re-read it a few years back, but does have some interesting ideas and concepts hidden within).  Spidey gets a new costume through an alien machine that Peter believes all the other heroes have been using. But once the costume is fitted, he discovers that he utilized a different machine.  But he quickly dismisses that, as there appears to be nothing out of the ordinary with this new suit - other than the fact that it seems to react to his thoughts and expands over his body like a second skin rather than the previously mundane act of actually putting on a costume, as he did with his classic one.  And this is a mysterious world created by the Beyonder from pieces of myriad worlds, so if the science is beyond these Earthlings, who is Parker to argue the point?

But, once Peter returned to Earth, things changed.  He found himself fatigued, even after a full night's sleep.  His emotional health began to suffer, and while in his guise as Spider-Man, encounters with civilians and fellow heroes became awkward.  And readers come to discover that all of this is occurring because the costume - which is actually an alien symbiote rather than some scientific wonder - is leeching Peter's strength by forcing him to go out into the city at night, while Peter is still asleep.

This was a crazy idea that really had me, a relative newcomer to comics, invested and excited about Spider-Man.  This story climaxed with the landmark issue #300, written by David Michelinie and drawn by Todd McFarlane.  Peter has figured out that sound waves - loud and intrusive - can harm the alien symbiote that has now permanently latched itself onto him.  He ends up going to a bell tower, high above street level, and suffering through the cacophonous rumblings of the bells as they toll the hour, forcing the symbiote to release its hold on Peter and slip away, apparently defeated (if I am remembering correctly).  And with the next issue, Peter returned to the classic red-and-blues.

But, of course, the threat of the symbiote - which would become Venom - was not over.  Not by a long shot.

chris

Childhood Memories: G.I. Joe #23-24

Spurred by Larry Hama's posts on facebook, I decided to dive into the longboxes and pull out the first comics I bought for myself and re-read them. These are the ones that lured me into the habit.  One that continues to this day, nearly 30 years later.  G.I. Joe # 23-24.

Often, when I go back to re-read an old comic or read, for the first time, a classic comic, it struggles to hold up.  Too wordy.  Too juvenile.  Lacking in how the words and pictures mix on the page.  Bad dialogue.  Too much exposition.  Waaah, waaah, waaah. 

It's difficult for older comics to stand up to the scrutiny of a seasoned reader post-Watchmen/Dark Knight/Blankets/Authority/Invisibles/etc. etc. etc.  I cannot read a Chris Claremont comic. Can't.  I can't read a Roy Thomas comic.  Cannot do it.  For all they've done for the medium, their comics (specifically the dialogue) are horrid.

Which brings me to the comics at hand.  Ones written at a time when exposition, a villain more deadly than Galactus and Mephisto combined, was running rampant through the Marvel universe - allegedly due to dictates from then-EIC, Jim Shooter.  And yet, Larry Hama manages to create comics that are new reader friendly without dumping exposition on them in a manner that feels forced or sounds stilted.  Certainly, there are instances of this, but in these two books those are few and far between.  Hama thinks about where to place the exposition, about how to contextualize within a scenario that almost demands such dialogue.  And when he writes that dialogue it does not sound silly or ridiculous.  It sounds natural, which keeps me reading and keeps me enjoying the book.  It's a skill that was rare when he was working on these books in 1984, and one that is even rarer today, as the medium and the way stories are told has evolved. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I enjoyed these books thirty years removed from their initial publication, and I look forward to continuing my re-read of these classic comics.

Yo Joe!

chris

 

Childhood Memories: Web of Spider-Man #30

Critically-acclaimed comic writer, Christopher Priest - noted for his work on Black Panther and Quantum & Woody, among many other titles - initially went by his birth name, Jim Owsley.  And as I look back over my almost 30-year comic reading history, it’s fascinating to discover Owsley’s name credited with a number of comics that resonated with me, back in the day.

Here’s one - Web of Spider-Man #30, which revealed the origin of the Rose and probably does not get as much recognition today because it was overwhelmed, in people’s minds, by the next issue, which happened to be part 1 of the J.M. DeMatteis/Mike Zeck classic, “Kraven’s Last Hunt.”

-chris

New Orleans by Gaslight now available!

My story "You Gotta Give Good..." is now available in the new steampunk anthology, New Orleans by Gaslight, published by Black Tome Books and available at Amazon.

I've never written any steampunk fiction before, so this was a real blast.  I did my homework, read some books on steampunk as well as voudou, and I have to imagine that this is part of what allowed my story to resonate with the editor - enough that this is the first piece of short prose I've had published in a print edition (other than a DIY magazine a couple years back) - which has me very excited, obviously.

The cover art is by Rob Cerio, and the editors for the book were Brandon Black and Christopher Wong.

And here's the description from the back of the book:

In a New Orleans that Never Was and Never Will Be, there are a thousand stories to tell.  There are stories of sorrow and triumph, of passion and fury, of love and of revenge.  Aloft with cloud and sun, great warrior airships drift silently over the city below, crewed by eager young men and women awaiting the moment they will be called upon to strike against foes with cannon and with sword.  Steamboats float down the river bringing travelers from far climes and distant lands unknown to our more mundane world.  Lovers ride down the boulevards upon clockwork carriages drawn by mechanical horses.  Cheated gamblers decide between making a break for the door or breaking the quiet calm with the staccato beat of revolver gunfire.  Ragtime music echoes as fallen women ply the world's oldest trade in the streets of Storyville.  Soldiers lead clanking platoons of clockwork automatons through the port on their way to their next deployment and archaeologists, explorers and adventurers set forth aboard airships to find new lands, fortune and glory or perhaps death in the forlorn forsaken corners of the globe.  These are the stories of New Orleans by Gaslight.


If you enjoy steampunk or fantasy fiction, I think you'll like this.  And if you check it out, drop me a line here and let me know what you think.

Thanks,
chris

Happy Earth Day

One of my favorite comics (of many, many, many favorites).   

Paul Chadwick.  Charles Vess.   Moebius.  

It's difficult to consider another triple threat like this - not just for artistic excellence, but also to provide varying styles that offer so much to readers.  Great, great book.

-chris

Happy Birthday (a day late) Superman!

April 18, 1938 - the agreed upon publication date of Action Comics #1

For me, Christopher Reeve will always be my Superman. And the first film will always be my favorite film.

This is one, of many, of the scenes I look forward to whenever I have the chance to watch Superman the Movie.

-chris

3 Days to CGS Super Show

I will also have at the CGS Super Show the first volume (of 3) of Reading Watchmen, my annotations and analysis on Moore & Gibbons's seminal comic story.  Regularly $5.00, it'll be on sale at the show for 4 bucks (at 80 pages, that's a steal).

And, as I said before, if you're in Reading, PA this weekend (April 6-7) stop by the greater Reading Expo center to get some cool comics and talk with some great creators.  Oh, and Dan & me, too.

thanks,
chris

4 Day to Super Show

I'll have copies of my chapbook series, Mainelining, with short comic and prose stories written by me and drawn by some fantastic artists - including Jason Copland whose Kill All Monsters! book (with Michael May) is in the latest Previews - at the CGS Super Show this weekend, April 6-7, in Reading, PA.

Convention special:  $2.00 a piece or the whole shebang for 8 bucks.  Can't beat that.  And I guarantee that, thanks to the short prose story included in each (except for 2 and 3, which are straight prose, all the way) these books will take longer to read than your typical DC/Marvel book at an equal or higher price.

So, if you're in the Reading, Pennsylvania area, stop by the Greater Reading Convention Expo Center and check out some cool comics and cooler creators.

-chris

CGS Super Show 2013

Less than two weeks and Dan and I will be in Reading, PA for the CGS Super Show on Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7.  This is a great little show - basically, as they aptly describe, a large artists' alley - with great guests like Tim Truman, Lee Weeks, Fred Hembeck, Danielle Corsetto, Dave Wachter, Action Lab comics, and us!

Laid back and professionally run by the guys who create one of my favorite comics podcasts - Comic Geek Speak - you get a real chance to talk with these writers and artists, whether seasoned professionals like Truman and Weeks or newer ones trying to make their own mark like Action Lab, a company that has really made big inroads in their first year-plus of publishing.

Also, Uncle Sal is going to be there this year. If you've ever listened to a CGS episode with him and aren't one who is easily offended, then you know why this is a big deal.  I'm really looking forward to talking with him and picking up his book, Atomika, while down at the show.

And, finally, Wild Pig comics will be there with their 50-cent boxes - over 30,000 back issues from all eras, and they're all fifty cents each.  Hoping to find some good runs to bring home and add to the ever-building stack of comics "to-be-read."

All the information can be seen here, and if you're in the area you should definitely stop in.  $12.00 for a single day or $20.00 for the weekend.  And please, stop by the W27 table and check out what we've got going on (more of which I will be posting in coming days, as we get even closer to the show).

thanks,
chris

Unfashioned Creatures - a Frankenstein anthology

The next anthology where I will have a story published is the Frankenstein themed Unfashioned Creatures from Red Stylo Media.  There was an open call for submissions based upon the themes of Mary Shelley's novel (not the film adaptations).  This spurred me to finally read Frankenstein, after having it on my to-read list for too many years to count. The book was amazing, and I came away with a lot to work with.

The process for acceptance was rigorous and very worthwhile, having never gone through such a process before.  I had to query first, before I could pitch.  Then I had to send a one-page synopsis of my story idea for consideration, and once that was accepted, with notes from the editor, Enrica Jang, I got to work on scripting. 

My compatriots at the Comics Experience online workshop were invaluable in this regard, reading an initial draft that was not at all ready for an artist, at all.  From the great notes I received there, I got similarly insightful and helpful comments from Jang, who pinpointed trouble spots that I knew were there and offered suggestions that certainly elevated my contribution.  The script has gone through 5 drafts and is now ready to be sent to the artist, who is Gary Fitzgerald, someone I'm friends with on facebook and who has done some great work with Caryn A. Tate on her Red Plains comic, available at Topshelf's online anthology TS2.0, and with whom I've wanted to work for some time.

I'll be sharing those various iterations of my script through some upcoming process posts.  But, for now, I need to prepare for the CGS Super Show on April 6-7, where I'll be debuting a new chapbook and possibly printed editions of my Reading Watchmen analysis from the sister site.  More on that later.

chris

Indie Comics Horror #1

I am fairly horrible at promotion and such, but with recent events I will be trying to get back on the horse with regard to that and to this blog - but I make no promises.

This past Fall, I had a story published in the inaugural issue of Indie Comics Horror from Aazurn Press.  It was an older story of mine, but I was very happy to be involved with this issues, especially since there were a number of other creators involved from Andy Schmidt's Comics Experience online workshop where I have learned a lot about writing, and about my own writing in particular.

The funding process for any Indie Comics title is interesting, in that Gary Scott Beatty splits the cost of printing and placing of ads in Diamond's Previews catalog between himself and the various creators, which allows him to actually get these books into comic shops.  And once Diamond's invoice and payment come through, that money is divided evenly among all those creators who pitched in on the printing costs.  It's an elegant way to get a foothold into the Previews catalog and get stories by aspiring creators into comic readers' hands, and it works very well.  Gary is up-front about the entire process, and I would highly recommend it to anybody seeking an opportunity to get your finished 8-page story.

The story I placed with Gary - and I should add here that it isn't just a matter of being able to pay for the printing costs, but your story has to be accepted as well; if there were no quality controls, it would be pointless to put the books out because, if the stories aren't good, nobody will buy them and you won't get future orders from comic retailers - was "Minister to the Undead" with art by Dan Lauer.  You can check that story out here. But if you'd like to get a hard copy, and also get a bunch of other great horror stories as well, you should seek out the issue, which will never be reprinted or distributed digitally, according to Gary.  Copies are available at Midtown Comics and Lone Star comics for less than cover price ($4.95 for 48 pages).  Check it out, I think you might like it.

Thanks,
chris

COPRA: The best comic you don't know about

I've been aware of Michel Fiffe for a few years now - more for his blogging about comics than his actual comic work.  But last year he wrote and drew an amazing Suicide Squad homage that feel right into continuity around issues 15-18 of the late lamented Ostrander, McDonnell, Kesel, et al. series from DC.  Having been a huge Squad fan, this was a breath of fresh air for me, and I've read a handful of times since getting it free with his Death Zone print. 

Fiffe followed that up with a new monthly comic, COPRA, which is his love letter to comics and his influences within that medium - Steve Ditko, in particular.  Rather than a true Suicide Squad comic, COPRA is a pastiche of the Squad, including many easily recognizable analogs for my favorite Squad characters, including Amanda Waller, Captain Boomerang, and Deadshot.  We also see analogs of Dr. Strange, Shade, the Changing Man (both Ditko creations or co-creations), and the Punisher (I believe) in the first few issues Fiffe has published.  For Ditko fans, or 80s Marvel/DC fans, this is a great book.

With COPRA, Fiffe is trying to push through the "Kirby Barrier," if I may paraphrase his comments in the back of the issues.  Having worked for a number of years toiling over his art and stories, Fiffe wants to work fast and push ahead with this story he wants to tell; he wants to produce pages, get them out there, and see what the reaction is.  Which is not to say that he wants to be sloppy.  Not at all.  Fiffe just wants to get past being overly precious about his artwork and just tell the story. 

Much of Kirby's dynamism on the page, it could be argued, came from the pace he needed to work.  At his height, Jack Kirby was producing 15 pages a week, and these were, with very few exceptions, quality pages that had an energy and a heart not seen in most comic books.  Fiffe, with COPRA, is trying to harness that same quality.  And I feel like he's succeeding.

COPRA is an action-packed comic that drops readers right into the middle of things, and Fiffe makes no apologies for not giving his audience all the answers.  I think this is great.  Part of what can make a story a good, enjoyable story is mystery.  Too often, creative people forget that (see: the explanation for the Force in that first Star Wars prequel OR the explanation for the immortals in the second Highlander film, which was a disaster), but thankfully Fiffe seems to have a firm grasp on this storytelling trope. 

Of course, I think he was also very smart to utilize characters with "mainstream" doppelgangers in this series.  This allows him to propel the narrative forward without having to stop and give us exposition explaining who these people are and what they do.  We know who they are.  But, if one is not familiar with these characters, I think Fiffe's dynamic storytelling is more than enough to keep readers engaged. 

Fiffe also exhibits some wonderful storytelling on his pages.  One, in particular, from issue #2 resonated with me.  It's simple, but elegant, the way he creates a panel border from the doorframe and wall in the image below. 

and look at how he uses the whole page - on the second page of the spread below -  for two characters, as they cross through opposing sides of an interdimensional portal created by the Dr. Strange analog.

There are little things like that throughout this series, to date, and it's so much more enjoyable than almost anything that constitutes "superhero" comics today.



I don't buy many monthly comics - and none from the Big Two.  But COPRA is one that I subscribed to because I wanted to support Fiffe in this endeavor, but, more importantly, because it was so damn fun to read, I didn't want to take a chance on missing an issue. 

If you enjoy fun comics, you should do yourself a favor and head over to Michel Fiffe's site and purchase these books now.  You won't regret it.

-chris

Top 5 Film Couples

One of the podcasts I listen to religiously is Peter Rios's (late of Comic Geek Speak) "The Daily Rios."  His most recent episode for Tuesday, 29 January, was on his Top 5 movie couples.  As he qualifies in the introduction, these are not the "best" or his "favorite" couples, just the Top 5 that immediately came to mind.

With that in mind, I decided to drop in my own Top 5, in no particular order:

1. My favorite actor, Daniel Day-Lewis, in one of my favorite roles.  I've watched this movie a lot, and it never gets old. (THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS)

2. stole this one from Mr. Rios.  Loved this movie as a kid, and I still love it today.  A great, and fun, fantasy that is epic without taking itself too seriously. (THE PRINCESS BRIDE)

3.  I knew Peter would have a John Cusack scene; I just expected it to be this (SAY ANYTHING)

4. For the longest time, this was my all-time favorite movie.  It's still up there, just not quite #1 (STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)

5. This is my all-time favorite movie.  Darren Aronofsky manages to get amazing work out of his actors, and he managed to make one of the most emotionally intense films I've ever seen with this one.  The movie that made me take Hugh Jackman seriously as an actor.  Shame on me for not seeing his talent sooner. (THE FOUNTAIN)

 

So, what are your top 5 - or favorite, or best - film couples?  Drop them in the comments, and thanks.

chris

CGS Secret Santa 2012

For the past few years, I've participated in the CGS Secret Santa exchange.  It's always a ton of fun.  For whomever you get, you send along at least 3 comics from your collection you no longer want and a sketch of the character of their choice. This year, I sent 8.5 pounds of comics to Maine native living in Rhode Island.  For his sketch, he asked for Carl Sagan or Spider-Man or both.  So I went to the interwebs and got the following images:

and

and created this:

Hope everyone had a great holiday season!  See you on the flip side.

-chris

30 in 30: RASL volumes 1-3

#18: RASL volume 1
Storytellers: Jeff Smith
Publisher: Cartoon Books
Year Of Publication: 2009
Page Count (can be approximate or in # of issues format):112 pages

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT WRITING / STORYTELLING:

Jump right into the story.  This series opens with a man, bloodied and in tattered clothes, walking down a hillside in the desert.  Readers are immediately pulled into this story by asking where this guy came from, why he’s in such bad shape, and other similar questions.  Done well, as Smith does here, this can be a very effective way to open a story.

 
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT ART / STORYTELLING:

In this science fiction narrative, Jeff Smith is creating a “lived in, run down” world.  With his clean style, he manages to convey the typical decay of the settings through well-placed marks – scattered dashes – that mar the pristine white spaces of the page and effectively convey this rough, genuine quality that was lauded in Star Wars.

 
RECOMMENDATION: A

NOTES / REVIEW / SYNOPSIS It’s Jeff Smith doing something completely different from Bone, but it’s still stellar cartooning.  RASL is a time travel story that incorporates the theories of Nikola Tesla, a love triangle, parallel worlds with parallel versions of many of the main characters, and a mystery about who is trying to capture Rasl and what they want him for.  Great stuff.

#19: RASL volume 2
Storytellers: Jeff Smith
Publisher: Cartoon Books
Year Of Publication: 2010
Page Count (can be approximate or in # of issues format): 112 pages

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT WRITING / STORYTELLING:

In volume 1, Smith used the age-old action cliché of having the villain be a poor shot with a gun and I thought nothing of it, having seen this trope used myriad times in film, comics, and TV.  But in this volume, he turns that cliché on its head when the villain confronts our protagonist again and reveals to Rasl that he missed him on purpose.  By doing this, Smith puts that earlier scene into a far different context, opening up a number of question for the reader (why did he let him go before? Is he lying now?) while also opening up story possibilities for the writer.

 
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT ART / STORYTELLING:

In a parallel world, Rasl meets an alternate version of his true love named Uma, and as they are getting to know each other, in a private viewing at the museum where Uma is curator, Rasl starts to daydream about his past with the alternate version of Uma and he tunes her out.  Smith conveys this by having Uma’s word balloons empty, and then he pulls in closer with successive panels, showing Rasl’s focus on her, until she leans down into the final panel of the page, where Smith has her face in close-up, and she asks if he’s even listening to her?  I thought this was a really novel and effective way to convey Rasl’s mental state through the visuals.

 
RECOMMENDATION: A

NOTES / REVIEW / SYNOPSIS Smith really knows how to tell a story.  As good as this is, I only hope that he will stick the ending.

#20: RASL volume 3
Storytellers: Jeff Smith
Publisher: Cartoon Books
Year Of Publication: 2011
Page Count (can be approximate or in # of issues format): 112 pages

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT WRITING / STORYTELLING:

This is a science fiction story about parallel universes, but Smith utilizes real history and real science within the narrative – often through flashbacks – to help ground the story, and it works very well.  The big lesson is, if you’re going to tell a fantastic story try to base it within some semblance of reality to give readers something to “hold onto” and allow them to accept the out of this world elements.

 
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT ART / STORYTELLING:

In this penultimate collection, things are starting to get out of Rasl’s control.  Time is becoming elastic, and his stress may be feeding into this.  Smith conveys this with an imaginative two-page spread with multiple images of the Uma drawn over an imaginative, abstract background.  This works really well for a number of reasons. 

One, up to this point much of the settings and much of the imagery has been relatively grounded.  Allowing for the conceit of time travel, little else “fantastical” has been seen in the story.

Two, Smith’s very clean art style has also helped to ground the story, so that when we get an abstract image such as this two-page spread, it makes a big impact.

Three, similar to how Moore & Gibbons used the page in Watchmen or Frank Miller used the page in Dark Knight Returns, this is the first time there’s been a two-page spread, and one of the few times where there are not multiple panels on a page.  By saving this large canvas for this important moment, Smith has not diluted the impact and manages to convey the import of this scene well.

 
RECOMMENDATION: A

NOTES / REVIEW / SYNOPSIS RASL came from a discussion Smith had with Terry More and Paul Pope a few years ago.  They all decided to do their science fiction stories.  From that also came Echo from Moore.  Now all I need to get is Battling Boy and that trifecta of creative, sci-fi, comic book goodness will be complete.

-chris