The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦
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The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦
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Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!
##
In conjunction with Sideshow Collectibles and Electric Tiki, we’re giving away one of their snazzy, ultra-limited Teeny Weeny mini-maquette of Rocky & Bullwinkle. That’s right – watch us pull your entry out of a hat if you’re the lucky winner.
All you have to do to enter is fill out the entry form below”¦
Contest ends at midnight EST on Monday, November 5th.
No member of Quick Stop Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, October 23rd.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after announcement of win to receive the product.
SModcast is the meandering palaver of a pair of dudes whose voices are so dull, they don’t deserve to be on the radio (and, hence, aren’t). Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier are SModcast.
The best thing about SModcast? It don’t cost nothing.
SModcast 35: Dr. Smith & The Medicine Show –
In which the Jersey trio dissect each other’s pharmaceutical history, probe deep into the mind, make revelations aplenty, and bond on a whole new level.
[CONTENT WARNING] SModcast features harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Listener discretion is advised.
DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
SModcast 35 (MP3 format) – 51.83 MB
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How time flies when you’re having fun. I started writing “Comics in Context” back in the summer of 2003, and now I’ve reached this column’s bicentennial. Each installment runs at least 5000 words, so by now I’ve written over a million words for “Comics in Context.”
Originally the column appeared at the IGN website, and, at the point that I’m writing this, you can still find the first 134 installments over there through Googling. When my redoubtable editor, Ken Plume, left IGN for Quick Stop Entertainment, my column and I followed. As I write this, Ken is in the process of posting the entire run of “Comics in Context” on its Quick Stop archive page: he’s already put the first thirty up. All of my Quick Stop columns (135 through the present) are available there, of course. Towards the end of my stay at IGN, it began altering the titles for my column; when Ken posts them here at Quick Stop, the original titles I gave them will be restored.
Reaching a hundredth or two hundredth anniversary of a column is a good point at which to take stock of what I’ve done in the past, and to determine what I should do in the future. As “Comics in Context” neared its hundredth installment, I told Ken that I realized that I hadn’t yet written about the most important figure in cartoon art. “Jack Kirby?” he asked. No, I meant Walt Disney, and with “Comics in Context” #100 I began a good number of installments about Disney and other important figures of the Golden Age of Hollywood animation. But Ken was right that I should have written about Kirby more than I had, and I took the opportunity with my recent columns about the “Galactus trilogy” and The Eternals.
For my readers’ benefit and my own, I have compiled an incomplete index of the many writers and artists about whom I’ve written in “Comics in Context” so far. Each person’s name is followed first, usually by the name of at least one of his or her works that I’ve mentioned, and then by the numbers of the columns in which he or she appears. Longtime readers will not be surprised that Neil Gaiman is far out in front of the competition.
Adams, Neal (Batman): 129
Adams, Scott (Dilbert): 66
Addams, Charles (The New Yorker cartoonist): 72
Arno, Peter (The New Yorker cartoonist): 157
Arriola, Gus (Gordo): 66
Austin, Terry (sketchbook): 90
Avery, Tex (MGM animated cartoons): 100, 101, 173, 188, 189
Bails, Jerry (comics historian): 157
Baker, Kyle (Plastic Man): 27
Barks, Carl (Uncle Scrooge): 24, 114
Baum, L. Frank (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [prose novel]): 25
Bird, Brad (The Incredibles, Ratatouille [animated films]): 62, 186
Blake, William (illustrator): 72
Block, Herbert (“Herblock”) (editorial cartoons): 159
Bolland, Brian (Batman: The Killing Joke): 193
Boreanaz, David (Bones [TV]): 144
Bradbury, Ray (science fiction author): 8, 98
Brinkley, Nell (illustrator): 159
Brunetti, Ivan (“Speak: Nine Cartoonists” exhibit): 122
Burns, Charles (“Speak: Nine Cartoonists” exhibit): 122
Burroughs, Edgar Rice (Tarzan of the Apes [prose novel]): 132
Burton, Tim (Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride [film]): 103
Bushmiller, Ernie (Nancy): 66
Busiek, Kurt (Astro City): 14, 21, 37, 63, 70, 178
Byrne, John (Generations 2): 25, 66, 200
Caniff, Milton (Terry and the Pirates): 66, 71, 154
Capp, Al (Li’l Abner): 66, 71, 177
Chabon, Michael (JSA All-Stars): 21
Cho, Frank (Liberty Meadows): 66
Clampett, Bob (Warners animated cartoons): 101
Claremont, Chris (The Uncanny X-Men): 37, 39, 124, 134, 135, 172
Cleese, John (True Brit): 66
Clowes, Daniel (Eightball): 64, 122
Cockrum, Dave (X-Men): 156, 172
Colan, Gene (Daredevil): 170, 171
Cole, Jack (Plastic Man): 27
Coogan, Peter (Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre [prose book]): 98, 141, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166
Cooke, Darwyn (The New Frontier): 30
Cornwell, Dean (illustrator): 131, 159
Crane, Roy (Wash Tubbs): 71
Cronenberg, David (A History of Violence [film]): 111
Cruikshank, George (Charles Dickens’ illustrator): 159
Crumb, Robert (Mr. Natural): 64, 122, 156
Curtis, Dan (Dark Shadows [TV]): 11, 12
Daumier, Honore (caricaturist): 159
David, Peter (Hulk: The End): 2, 38, 81
Davis, Stuart (painter): 159
DeFalco, Tom (Comic Creators on Spider-Man [book]): 44
Dini, Paul (Zatanna): 24, 27, 29, 180
Dirks, Rudolph (The Katzenjammer Kids): 59, 71
Disney, Walt (animated feature films): 109, 110, 136, 157, 158, 160, 161, 165, 177
Ditko, Steve (The Amazing Spider-Man): 64, 113
Donner, Richard (Superman: The Movie [film]): 90, 143
Doran, Colleen (A Distant Soil): 6, 123
Drake, Stan (The Heart of Juliet Jones): 66
Dr. Seuss (Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas): 24
Dunst, Kirsten (Spider-Man [films]): 45, 46, 181, 182, 183
Dushku, Eliza (Tru Calling [TV]): 10, 120
Eisner, Will (The Spirit): 6, 25, 64, 66, 68, 69, 71, 80, 81, 94, 155, 159, 179, 180
Englehart, Steve (Batman: Dark Detective): 84, 87, 88, 90, 93, 104
Evanier, Mark (San Diego Comic Con panel moderator): 6, 8, 94, 95, 141, 145, 147
Feiffer, Jules (The Great Comic Book Heroes [book]): 26
Feininger, Lyonel (Kin-Der-Kids): 59, 71, 151, 152
Finger, Bill (Batman): 94, 97, 145
Fingeroth, Danny (Superman on the Couch [prose book]): 41, 200
Fisher, Bud (Mutt and Jeff): 71
Flagg, James Montgomery (illustrator): 131, 159
Fleischer, Max and Dave (Betty Boop and Popeye animated cartoons): 116, 117, 118, 152, 157, 177, 190
Foster, Hal (Prince Valiant): 71, 177
Franklin, Benjamin (political cartoon): 159
Freleng, Friz (Warners animated cartoons): 101
Frid, Jonathan (Dark Shadows [TV]): 11, 149
Gaiman, Neil (1602, Anansi Boys, Eternals)–5, 8, 13, 17, 18, 21, 25, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 65, 67, 72, 85, 105, 106, 107, 108, 129, 144, 164, 191, 192, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199
Garis, Howard Roger (“Uncle Wiggily” books): 177
Geppi, Steve (Geppi’s Entertainment Museum): 176, 177
Gerber, Steve (Superman: Last Stand on Krypton): 27
Gibbons, Dave (Watchmen): 65, 193
Gillray, James (caricaturist): 71, 72
Gould, Chester (Dick Tracy): 66, 71, 153
Gray, Harold (Little Orphan Annie): 71, 177
Groening, Matt (The Simpsons [TV and film]): 8, 188
Gruelle, Johnny (Raggedy Ann and Andy [book illustrator]): 159
Gruenwald, Mark (Squadron Supreme): 150
Guisewite, Cathy (Cathy): 66
Guston, Philip (cartoon-like paintings): 20
Hamill, Mark (Comic Book: The Movie [film]): 7
Harris, Thomas (Hannibal [prose novel and film]): 165
Harvey, R. C. (The Art of the Comic Book [prose book]): 69
Hembeck, Fred (“The Fred Hembeck Show” [Quick Stop column]): 76, 79, 113
Henson, Jim (The Muppets): 47, 96, 114, 115
Hernandez, Jaime (Love and Rockets): 122
Herriman, George (Krazy Kat): 59, 71, 152, 177
Hinton, S. E. (Hawkes Harbor [prose novel]): 70
Hogarth, Burne (Tarzan): 66
Hogarth, William (18th century sequential artist): 71, 159
Homer, Winslow (illustrator): 159
Howell, Richard (Soulsearchers and Company): 38
Idle, Eric (Monty Python’s Spamalot [musical]): 82
Irving, John (“An Evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp”): 148
Jackson, Peter (King Kong [film]): 31, 99, 121
Jenkins, Paul (The Sentry): 63
Johnston, Lynn (For Better or for Worse): 66
Jones, Chuck (Warners animated cartoons): 24, 72, 101, 102
Kanigher, Robert (Enemy Ace): 64
Kelly, Walt (Pogo): 24, 66, 76, 177
King, Frank (Gasoline Alley): 122, 153
King, Stephen (The Dark Tower): 26, 148, 169
Kirby, Jack (The Eternals): 6, 59, 64, 95, 155, 184, 185, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199
Kitchen, Denis (Will Eisner’s agent and publisher): 80, 145, 170
Kring, Tim (Heroes [TV]): 163
Kubert, Joe (Enemy Ace): 64, 193
Kuper, Peter (Metamorphoses): 28
Kurtzman, Harvey (MAD): 156
Landau, Juliet (Buffy the Vampire Slayer [TV]): 169
Lantz, Walter (Woody Woodpecker animated cartoons): 189
Lasseter, John (Cars [animated film]): 120, 137, 138
Lee, Ang (Hulk [film]): 2
Lee, Jim (All-Star Batman and Robin): 119, 178
Lee, Stan (Fantastic Four): 6, 15, 16, 59, 64, 71, 113, 142, 168, 170, 171, 184, 185
Leonardo da Vinci (caricatures): 159
Leyendecker, J. C. (illustrator): 131
Lichtenstein, Roy (comics-based paintings): 153
Loeb, Jeph (Hulk: Gray): 16, 27, 49, 75
Lucas, George (Star Wars [films]): 86
MacDonald, Heidi (“The Beat”): 167
Maguire, Tobey (Spider-Man [films]): 45, 46, 181, 182, 183
Mayer, Robert (SuperFolks [prose novel]): 63
McCay, Winsor (Little Nemo in Slumberland): 60, 71, 151, 157, 177
McCloud, Scott (Making Comics): 81, 156
McCracken, Craig (Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends [TV]): 55, 103, 115
McDonnell, Patrick (Mutts): 24, 66
McFarlane, Todd (Spider-Man): 124
McKean, Dave (MirrorMask [film]): 10, 85
McManus, George (Bringing Up Father): 60
Meltzer, Brad (Identity Crisis): 57, 58, 63, 67
Mignola, Mike (Hellboy): 40
Miller, Frank (The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Sin City, 300): 30, 31, 34, 65, 78, 79, 83, 92, 119, 125, 146, 175, 178
Miyazaki, Hayao (Howl’s Moving Castle [animated film]): 91
Moore, Alan (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, V for Vendetta, Watchmen): 22, 23, 32, 65, 66, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 193
Morrison, Grant (New X-Men): 28
Nast, Thomas (editorial cartoons): 24, 159
Nelson, Michael J. (RiffTrax): 185
Nevins, Jess (Heroes and Monsters [prose book]): 37
Nolan, Christopher (Batman Begins [film]): 89, 90
O’Donnell, Peter (Modesty Blaise): 61
Oliphant, Pat (editorial cartoons): 159
O’Neil, Dennis (Batman): 32
Opper, Frederick (Happy Hooligan): 60
Otomo, Katsuhiro (Steamboy [film]): 77
Outcault, Richard (The Yellow Kid): 59, 71
Panter, Gary (Jimbo): 122, 156
Park, Nick (Wallace and Gromit): 47, 112
Parker, Lara (Dark Shadows [TV and prose novels]): 149
Pekar, Harvey (American Splendor): 6, 64, 73, 111
Powell, Michael and Pressburger, Emeric (The Tales of Hoffman [film]): 85
Raimi, Sam (Spider-Man [films]): 45, 46, 181, 182, 183
Raymond, Alex (Flash Gordon): 71
Reeves, George (The Adventures of Superman [TV]): 48
Revere, Paul (political illustration): 159
Rigg, Diana (The Avengers [TV]): 52, 53
Robinson, Jerry (Batman): 94, 97, 141, 145
Rockwell, Norman (illustrator): 131
Rodriguez, Robert (Frank Miller’s Sin City [film]): 78, 79, 83, 92
Rogers, Marshall (Batman: Dark Detective): 84, 87, 88, 90, 93, 104, 171
Romita, John Sr. (The Amazing Spider-Man): 124
Rosa, Don (Uncle Scrooge): 114, 119
Ross, Alex (Justice): 29, 30, 66, 159, 193
Rowling, J. K. (Harry Potter [prose novels]): 148, 187
Sale, Tim (Hulk: Gray): 16, 27, 49
Schaffenberger, Kurt (Hero Gets Girl): 27
Schulz, Charles M. (Peanuts): 24, 66, 120, 154, 157, 177
Schumer, Arlen (The Silver Age of Comic Book Art [history book]): 26
Schwartz, Julius (Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, etc.): 32, 176
Segar, E. C. (Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye): 63, 71, 152, 157, 177
Seth (“Speak: Nine Cartoonists” exhibit): 122
Simon, Joe (Captain America): 125
Singer, Bryan (Superman Returns [film]): 139, 143
Sinnott, Joe (Fantastic Four): 170, 171
Smith, Jeff (Bone): 78, 167
Smith, Kevin (Quick Stop); 146, 147
Snicket, Lemony (Little Lit): 24
Sondheim, Stephen (composer): 77
Spiegelman, Art (Maus): 24, 59, 60, 61, 64, 80, 122
Starr, Leonard (Mary Perkins On Stage): 66
Steig, William (Shrek! [illustrated book]): 186
Steinberg, Flo (Marvel legend): 170, 171
Steinberg, Saul (illustrator): 159
Steranko, Jim (Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD): 64, 124
Stern, Roger (Superman: The Never-Ending Battle [prose novel]): 90
Sterrett, Cliff (Polly and Her Pals): 71
Story, Tim (Fantastic Four movies): 93, 184, 185
Straczynski, J. Michael (The Amazing Spider-Man): 14, 58
Tarantino, Quentin (Kill Bill [film]): 10
Tartakovsky, Genndy (Star Wars: Clone Wars [TV]): 21, 55
Tenniel, Sir John (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland): 159
Thomas, Roy (Alter Ego): 66
Thurber, James (The New Yorker cartoonist): 157
Timm, Bruce (Batman: The Animated Series): 144
Topffer, Rodolphe (19th century sequential artist): 71
Travers, P. L. (Mary Poppins [prose novels]): 158, 160
Trudeau, G. B. (Doonesbury): 66
Uslan, Michael (The Spirit [film]): 80, 169, 170, 193
Vess, Charles (Sandman): 65
Walker, Brian (“Masters of American Comics” exhibit): 66, 71, 145, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156
Ware, Chris (Jimmy Corrigan): 122, 156
Watterson, Bill (Calvin and Hobbes): 66
West, Adam (Batman [TV]): 50
West, Billy (Futurama [TV]): 147
Whedon, Joss (Buffy the Vampire Slayer [TV]): 9, 13, 42, 43, 54, 58, 77, 98, 164
Zemeckis, Robert (The Polar Express [film]): 66, 83
This is an impressive list, even if I do say so myself. Even so, I see gaps. How is it that I haven’t gotten around to writing about Bill Sienkiewicz yet? Or Otto Messmer’s Felix the Cat animated cartoons? Someday, here or elsewhere, I intend to write about the work of the two great Silver Age DC writers John Broome and Gardner Fox. There are also major figures who have already made my list, but I feel I haven’t written enough about them yet: expect to see columns about Walt Kelly’s Pogo and Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates in the foreseeable future. My main area of interest will remain American comics and animation, but I should make more forays into foreign language comics and cartoon art. The forthcoming Persepolis movie will afford one opportunity early next year, and since 2007 is the centennial of Herge’s birth, I should stop postponing taking a look at his creation Tintin. And of course there are always new projects on the horizon: Robert Zemeckis, Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary’s Beowulf film looms ahead, which will also give me the excuse to write about the original Beowulf, the earliest great megaheroic work in (archaic) English.
I will also continue exploring new creations by writers, artists, and even film directors whose work has interested me in the past. For example, back in “Comics in Context” #41 I wrote about former Marvel editor Danny Fingeroth’s book Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us about Ourselves and Our Society. I recently interviewed him about his new book, Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics and the Creation of the Superhero, which was published this month (October) by Continuum.
Fingeroth’s book is about a subject that has been attracting attention of late: the role that Jewish-Americans had in originating the superhero genre in the 1930s and developing it right through the present day. Among the many important Jewish-American writers and artists whom Fingeroth discusses are Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of the first superhero, Superman; Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson, the creators of the Batman mythos; Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America; Will Eisner, creator of the Spirit; and Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, founding fathers of the Marvel Universe.
Lee, Eisner and Simon also worked as editors, and Fingeroth perceptively likens two other Jewish-Americans, Silver Age DC editors Mort Weisinger and Julius Schwartz, to auteur filmmakers. “In the same way that a John Ford or Orson Welles movie is always recognizable as such,” Schwartz and Weisinger projected “the personality of the editors” in their comics, as “interpreted through the skills of the writers and artists they employed” (Fingeroth, Disguised as Clark Kent, p. 82).
Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay provided a fictionalized portrayal of Jewish-American comics creators of the 1930s and 1940s. In his excellent book Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book, Gerard Jones revealed the true history of that generation, concentrating on Siegel and Shuster. Using that history as his basis, in Disguised as Clark Kent Fingeroth investigates how Jewish-American culture may be reflected in the thematic content of superhero stories over the decades, for example, through he sense of being an outsider (see Spider-Man) and concerns with coping against racial prejudice (see X-Men).
Fingeroth also looks beyond the superhero genre’s founding generation to Jewish comics creators of later generations. “As the Passover Seder. . . instructs Jews to tell the story of the Exodus as if they themselves were slaves freed from Egypt, then perhaps each generation of Jewish creators must define the superhero metaphor for itself” (Fingeroth p. 121).
But nowadays the population of superhero comics writers, artists and editors is not only far larger but also far more diverse in background than it was when the genre started out in the late 1930s. As Fingeroth told me (in a part that wasn’t included in the published interview), “I find it more interesting how many non-Jewish creators are attracted to superheroes these days. Thanks to the phenomenon of fandom, as well as other social factors, comics have become a business peopled, on the creative end, certainly, by people from all over the world, not just the highly Jewish New York metropolitan area.”
Moreover, it’s now been nearly seventy years since Superman first appeared. The first generation of creators in the superhero genre grew up during the Great Depression, in a world that was on the brink of war; many of them were the children of Eastern European immigrants. Today’s comics writers and artists have necessarily grown up in very different circumstances. How does this affect their approach to the genre and the characters that were created by a previous generation?
Let’s start by examining the familiar concept of Superman’s secret identity of Clark Kent. In his book Fingeroth repeats the familiar argument that the secret identity motif relates to the immigrants’ efforts at assimilation into mainstream American society. By giving him the WASPy name of “Clark,” “the Kents, literally and figuratively anglicized their newfound son,” (Fingeroth p. 46). Similarly, as Fingeroth pointed out earlier, Jacob Kurtzberg took the “Irish-sounding” name “Jack Kirby” (Fingeroth p. 31). Superman was the “real” identity; “Clark Kent” was the identity he and his foster parents invented so that he could blend in with mainstream society.
In “rebooting” Superman in the 1986 mini-series The Man of Steel, John Byrne followed his characteristic policy of going “back to the basics” with a longrunning superhero. But he was also sharply revising certain aspects of the Superman legend. Byrne rejected the tradition whereby “Clark Kent” was Superman’s disguise, in which he pretended to be not just “mild-mannered” but downright timid and clumsy, a “caricature” of humanity, in Jules Feiffer’s description (in his pioneering study, The Great Comic Book Heroes). In issue 1 of The Man of Steel, Clark and his foster parents devise the Superman persona as a means of preventing the general public from recognizing who he truly is: Clark Kent.
Byrne appeared to be thinking not of the immigrant’s problems with assimilation but of the contemporary concern for privacy in a culture that worships celebrity. (I refer you to Time TV critic Jamie Poniewozik’s description of Disney Channel character Hannah Montana as “Superman for tween girls”: a normal girl with a secret identity as a celebrity pop singer.)
Upon first publicly using his super-powers, Clark is mobbed by onlookers. Admitting to his “fear” of the mob, Clark tells his foster parents, “They were all over me! Like wild animals. Like maggots. Clawing. Pulling. Screaming at me” (Byrne, The Man of Steel #1, p. 28). That’s when Pa Kent comes up with the idea of the Superman persona and costume: the public will pay attention to Superman and leave Clark alone. Clark isn’t worried about assimilating into society; he is desperate to find privacy–a “fortress of solitude”–“where no one will ever think to look for me” (Byrne, The Man of Steel #1, p. 30)
The Man of Steel ends with Byrne boldly overturning another element of Weisinger-era tradition. In his book Fingeroth traces how editor Mort Weisinger and his writers (who included Jerry Siegel) portrayed Superman as longing for Krypton, as if it were a lost paradise. Fingeroth persuasively establishes that “survivor’s guilt” is a significant theme in Weisinger’s Superman, as well as in Batman and the Silver Age Captain America. These are concepts that would resonate with Jewish-Americans of Siegel and Weisinger’s generation, who were aware that they had survived, whereas the Jews of Europe perished in the Holocaust.
In the final issue of The Man of Steel, Superman discovers that he is from Krypton when one of his dead father Jor-El’s devices imprints that knowledge on his mind. At first Byrne seems to be evoking the theme of “survivor’s guilt” theme and even explicitly alluding to the Holocaust: Superman exclaims, ” A planet that died! Died in a terrible fiery holocaust that shattered the world. . .and left only one survivor. Me!!” (Byrne, The Man of Steel #6, p. 20).
But then, in an extraordinary speech, Superman denies that his Kryptonian background has anything to do with his sense of self: “I may have been conceived out there in the endless depths of space. . .but I was born when the rocket opened, on Earth, in America. I’ll cherish always the memories Jor-El and Lara gave me. . .but only as curious mementos of a life that might have been. Krypton bred me, but it was Earth that gave me all I am. All that matters. It was Krypton that made me Superman, but it is the Earth that makes me human!!” (Byrne, The Man of Steel p. 22). It’s not a question of assimilation. Byrne’s Superman was born and raised in America, and doesn’t consider himself truly Kryptonian at all.
Perhaps this shift in attitude was to be expected, nearly a half century after Superman’s 1938 debut. By 1986 perhaps the majority of Superman‘s readers were two or more generations removed from their immigrant forebears, and had no emotional connection to their ancestral homelands.
(I am well aware that the status of The Man of Steel in current DC continuity is questionable. My point is that it is an example of how contemporary creators in the superhero genre may view longrunning characters differently than a previous generation of creators did.)
Similarly, in the Smallville television series, Clark is the “real” person who is destined someday to adopt the Superman persona. Smallville‘s Clark clearly prefers to consider himself an Earthman, the show portrays Jor-El ambiguously, and its references to Krypton make it seem vaguely sinister rather than an idyllic lost world. Far from longing for Krypton, Smallville‘s Clark would probably be happier if he had no connection with the place (apart from his newly arrived cousin Kara).
Are these shifts in attitude towards Krypton necessary adaptations to changing times? Or is something important in the Superman concept being lost?
So I wonder what is the fate of the superhero genre seven decades after its start. Will it continue to be successfully reinvented and reenergized with each succeeding generation? Or is the superhero genre doomed inevitably to fade in vitality and purpose the further we get from the time and circumstances in which it originated in Depression-era New York City? I will return to this subject and explore Danny Fingeroth’s Disguised as Clark Kent further next week.
ADVERTISEMENTS FOR MYSELF AND OTHERS
You can read my interview with Danny Fingeroth about his book Disguised as Clark Kent in the October 23, 2007 edition of Publishers Weekly‘s online newsletter Comics Week.
Then go read Ken Plume’s interview with Monty Python’s Terry Jones, concerning topics ranging from Chaucer’s humor to the similarities between 21st century America and the Roman Empire, here at Quick Stop.
Now that I’ve written my two hundredth “Comics in Context,” “The Fred Hembeck Show,” which took a break at number 100, will never catch up with me! But the reason that Fred has taken a leave of absence from his Quick Stop column is that he’s been busy putting together a retrospective of his entire career in comics, The Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus, which comes out next February. You can find out more by visiting the Omnibus’s official site.
–Copyright 2007 Peter Sanderson
The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦
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Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!
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Here are today’s top entertainment headlines:
That’s all for today’s news, stay tuned to this channel for all the news that matters least but you still care about.
(Compiled by J. Allen)
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VIDEO BLOG #93, #94, #95: “My 7×01 Table Read” ““
The seventh season has arrived, and we kick things off with the table read of episode 7×01, “My Own Worst Enemy”, which can be found in 3 parts below.
Download Scrubs Video Blog #93:
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Download Scrubs Video Blog #94:
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Download Scrubs Video Blog #95:
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Instead of manning-up and actually going the emotionally hard route of being outrightly rejected by publishers, I’m rejecting them first and allowing you to give my entire book a preview, let you read the whole thing or, if you like, download the whole damn thing at no cost. Download and read my first book “Thank You, Goodnight” for FREE.
The first time I ever came across Henry Rollins was when I approached a co-worker who was listening to a cassette tape of Black Flag’s. I can’t remember the name of the album, the song or the rhythm or anything having to do with the band but I clearly remember being afraid, actually, of the aggression coming out of his headphones. The music was driving in a way that separated itself from the usual thrash metal I was accustomed to associating with punk. This was before I understood the intracity of lineages, styles and nuances of certain groups but one of the most appealing part of listening to Black Flag, as I would come to understand them, was that it gave rise to my interest in music that came from a visceral place. The message and thrust of the music was visceral.
And now, with his notable appearance in the recently released WRONG TURN 2: DEAD END where he plays, well, himself and does it extraordinarily well, to his program in IFC aptly enough titled THE HENRY ROLLINS SHOW, to his current spoken word tour which you can check out right here Henry is all about keeping things varied. Of all the criticisms that could be leveled at a man who would take constant aim at politicians and their dishonest politicking Henry knows how to stay true to what makes him tick; he gets involved with what makes him feel comfortable. There’s no rhyme or reason to what he chooses but it’s all Henry. To be able and pick and choose and not feel like there is a need to be in this or that seems like a liberating position to be in and, right now, Rollins is in control of his own manifest destiny. Consider me jealous.
Our conversation ranges from the political to the mundane but here’s the hook with any talk with Rollins: he has something to say. Too many times you can find yourself with someone who has nothing more than to chit-chat about irrelevancies. Henry has things on his mind and is not shy about taking them out of his wheelhouse to show you what he makes of them. He’s an absolute sharp fellow, one of the most well versed people I’ve ever had 20 minutes with, and he’s helped me understand my own ignorance about things with regard to the world around me.
CS: First let me say it is really an honor to be able to talk to you.
ROLLINS: Hey, thanks man.
CS: I’ve loved the show since season one. Frankly, it’s one of the freshest film and entertainment programs out there. At its most basic it’s at least an elevation from Jay Leno or Letterman.
ROLLINS: And I’ve been on Jay Leno before. Nice guy. But that’s not a pattern that interests me because it seems so contrived and so static. And, hopefully with our show, we are able to break out of that. We’re not sensitive and it’s a more laid back atmosphere. There’s no live audience so at least the guest can concentrate and so can I. And in a live audience you are always looking for the joke I guess and I’m so glad I’m not in that position. But, I wouldn’t do well in that environment.
CS: Well, I really want to get to the core because I know I only have 20 minutes and I want to hit it hard.
ROLLINS: Sure.
CS: Myself ““ let me give you a little background is I’m a salesman by day for a newspaper and by night I write. I don’t get anytime to do as much reading as you do. It’s hard to keep up with things and but when I’m able to catch up with what you are thinking I’m actually blown away so I’m absolutely intrigued to find out what your thoughts are on the latest with what’s been happening in the last couple weeks – with Alberto Gonzalez, Ted Haggard and of course the Larry Craig thing.
ROLLINS: It’s really interesting. But I think all that stuff it’s crazy. All these headlines coming across the papers, like, “Wow, this is an interesting week, tell me all about it.” But it’s not always the best news.
Larry Craig to me is a peripheral issue that speaks of a bigger issue in that here’s an adult man caught in a restroom, maybe or maybe not soliciting another man for a sexual encounter. I wasn’t there”¦I don’t know, but let’s just pretend he’s a homosexual looking to meet somebody in a bathroom. And it could be that that’s the case and he comes from that older school in the 50’s homosexual where it had to be in the park ““ this clandestine rendezvous. It just goes to show you, that this type of suppression is not good for people. They need to sneak around. And like I said, if he is gay, look at the lie he is living. Even if he’s not gay, there are many men in America watching who do exactly what he’s accused to doing. They are married, they are straight on the outside but on the inside they are something else and they have been living a lie since whenever it is they knew they were gay. And it’s too bad in this land of the free that someone would have to kind of eat that hand grenade and not be who they are because I’m sure you are how you are and you don’t hide it. I’m a heterosexual. I’m on the big team, you know. And ads are geared towards me. Look at all the women showing cleavage. Look at Sports Illustrated. That’s been made for me. That’s for a guy who loves women. And I went all the way through school and I remember a couple of guys saying, “Maybe he’s gay.” He can hide it but she can’t hide it as well. It was interesting watching students and teachers react. Some were cool and some weren’t so cool.
And it was too bad for the gay student when they weren’t so cool because you just had a bunch of guys staring at him calling him names. It must have been a really rotten way to go through school. The Larry Craig thing. No one seems to talk about the bigger problem: that we have a problem with homophobia in this country. But that was interesting.
Gonzalez ““ he was so carrying the letter for this administration that he was laughing through his testimony:”I can’t remember”, “I gotta say this”, “They got my kid in the trunk ready to drive her down to the river if I don’t do this right.” It’s just interesting to watch on that level in front of C-span cameras. The way he was using English: “Who called you? You don’t remember? The call came from the White House. Who called you? Wow, you are not answering very simple, very direct questions which is pretty obvious. ”
If you ever watch your girlfriend or whatever ““ everyone knows when you are lying. And then the fact that the country is watching and weren’t outraged on either side of he aisle. If it was some Democrat up there I’d be saying, “You bastard, tell the truth, man.”
CS: There actually was a news program that actually talked about the fact that every news organization used every other word but “liar”.
ROLLINS: Yeah, “You are not being truthful. You are not being clear.”
CS: Do you think that the word is a value judgment, as some reporters have said, or do you think it is OK to flat out call a spade a spade without it being perceived as a childish, cheap”¦..
ROLLINS: I think there is probably a great desire by the big news guys to not be so black and white to give themselves some wiggle room and to not offend these people they want to put on the Situation Room some day in the future. I also think the Bush administration is very cowed and intimidated by the US media. Because if you ever watch news or listen to news from other countries, like the BBC World News, they are just way more abrupt. They just go, look that, it looked like a lie to me. They just don’t have time to kiss ass like we do.
CS: Maybe this has always been a problem, maybe it’s me just getting older, but why don’t people care? Why doesn’t anybody care?
ROLLINS: Well, some people care. And I’ve been asked that before.
Here’s my answer: I think a lot of people who would be accused of not caring ““ they don’t have the time or the luxury of learning the information so they can be angry about it. And if you wanted to get into a conversation with someone who has three kids, not enough money and who works a shift and a half everyday trying to bring home the proverbial bacon. You say if you read this book or check out that book, the guy looks at you bleary eyed and says, “I got three kids and a wife, this is my crap car I don’t own, I don’t have time to read. I haven’t read a book for 5 years.”
“What do you think about the news? What do you think about what Seymour Hersh said in the Times…” and he says, “Pal, I look at the USA Today in the lunchroom and read the Sports section. ” If they get the news maybe on the radio while they are going through traffic if they listen to it…so they don’t have the time.
In this country, Americans are hard working people. And a lot of times, knowing a thing or two is almost coming from a vantage point of luxury. Like me, I guess I’m doing pretty good. I have the time to read those big books and chew through them the best I can. I study history and read this and that and download that article and I read it but I don’t have any kids or a dog and I will take the weekend and I’ll spend it reading this stuff because I can afford to. A lot of people can’t. So I think a lot of people ““ it’s not always apathy it’s like, “OK, nothing’s on fire, nothing’s blowing up, the President says the economy is strong and maybe that means me. And if I don’t want to do my job right now, I mean my kids crying and I think that’s the problem in America. ”
There is not enough time to know this stuff. That’s why people seem to be angry about gas prices than the things that’s chewing up their countrymen, that would be Iraq. And gas prices went up fifteen cents. When I see gas prices go up I think about what it means globally and what it means for America in the world a year from now. I don’t think today I just spent $4 more at the gas pump. Like it’s not an immediate concern. I look at the bigger picture because I’m privileged to have the vantage point. And to me, at this point, it is just a privilege. Which sucks. It should be if only the salt of the earth, the backbone of America people, you know, Wal-Mart enthusiasts, could be more conversant in global warming and water shortages in other countries then they could have a genuine concern about it because I don’t think any American wants any other person to suffer ““ themselves or strangers or anyone else ““ that’s not how America is wired, I don’t think.
I think people are absolutely altruistic if you give them the chance. But I think that’s what really plagues this country and I think some people have really jumped upon it and use it as an opportunity ““ to propagandize.
CS: Is that why a fifth of Americans can’t locate America on a map?
ROLLINS: Yeah, stuff like that. I love pulling out a map and finding countries. But you can catch me on a whole lot of stuff ““ I’m not any genius. But I work at it. I try to learn stuff everyday.
CS: You brought up a point about the people who are on the front line of this war. How did it affect you when you did the USO Tour when you go to these places and see these troops?
ROLLINS: The most emotionally affecting stuff of the USO Tour is the hospital visits at Walter Reed Medical Hospital in Bethesda. Those are the hardest visits I make. When we’re out amongst troops at a base, everything is moving , and “Hey man, couldn’t wait to see you” and all that but when you go to the hospital, it’s room after quiet room and you make these visits and this guy is missing two legs, this guy is missing an arm, this guy is missing an arm and a leg. It’s like very rare you meet someone who is completely intact who has a back injury. And you meet those people and it’s, “Yeah, I threw my back out I’m here recuperating.” Well, OK. Then in the next room the guy’s forehead has been replaced because it was blown off and those are the hardest visits because you see these people half your age. I’m 46. They are 20 something and sometimes the whole family is crammed into that room. Why can’t they stay in a hotel? They are trying to make it work ““ to be with their boy and keep the job and keep the home and you see what this is doing to their lives and how these people had to make these incredible adjustments to how they do their thing to live their lives because their son, their husband, their dad, is missing limbs or brutally mangled.
You see how amazing the cutting edge of technology is as far as what a surgeon can do re-constructively. These guys get the most amazing care and they deserve it, of course. But it’s hard to take. Do that for 5 to 6 hours and get back to me. And I’ve been to those hospitals many times and hopefully I’ll be there in early October. Whenever I’m in DC, where I come from, I’ll let the USO know a week in advance. “I can give you half the day here or here.” But if you need me, put me in coach, I’m ready to play. And sometimes they can arrange it sometimes they don’t need me. So it’s like a wait and see and they let me know a week before. So it’s made the military, all those voices, a very personal thing to me because now I get their letters. I meet them at shows. Like some guy will write me, “Hey, I met you in Iraq a few years ago and you are coming to my town” ““ hey, give me your name and I’ll put you on the guest list. I always put them on the guest list. But that military ““ of the fifty shows coming up I have military coming to at least 15 so far. And more will write as the tour goes on I’m sure. “Hey you hooked up my buddy man, can you hook me up? ” Yeah, sure. And I’ve been doing that for years now.
CS: This new tour for the fall ““ we can at least talk about that for a moment. Is there any sort of core ““ molten core – around which you are building this tour?
ROLLINS: I usually have one or two centerpiece stories but I have meat on the plate and I have the potato and the vegetable. So a lot of my big centerpiece stories are usually travel stories. Fly from this country to that country to that country and that was my big journey. Last tour the big centerpiece story was the Trans Siberian Express train ride I took from Moscow to Vladivostok. Again, it’s travel stories as it is usually. I get out there in the world, see a thing or two, learn a thing or two and this year it’s when I went to Iran earlier this year and recently I just returned from Syria and Lebanon. And those were interesting places to go.
At least one of them is on the Axis of Evil and when I came back from Syria and Lebanon the customs people at the San Francisco International Airport marched me into a room and asked me a whole lot of questions as to why I went to Damascus and Syria. “Why? I’m just curious. And if you notice, there is a legal visa in my passport and I’ve done nothing wrong.” And, after a while, I was asking them more questions than they were asking me. Basically, “What’s your problem?” “Why are you asking me these dopey questions?” And then, they were like, “OK, you can leave.” I said, “What’s with you guys?”
CS: What was the country like?
ROLLINS: Well, it’s a pretty hot country. You could melt butter on your head it’s so hot. Their government ““ is there a government. Want to get into that topic with me? No? Good, cause I’ll sit here ’til my next flight and talk about it. Don’t tell me we aren’t any better than some of these places. So it was just an interesting bit of language. “Here’s my suitcase, here’s my hard drive, search me”¦” So, they said, “You can go. ” I guess they researched me and said I’m no threat. Which I’m not. But the people I met in those countries were fantastic. Friendly. I’d ask, “What do you think of America? Syrinese and Lebanese are “Like America”¦like you guys.” Oh yeah. I walked all over Beirut and Damascus and no one said get out of here. No one looked at me twice. In Beirut I was invited by the cab driver to come over and meet his wife and join us for some coffee and we’ll hang out. That’s why I came here to meet someone like you. Just people. The whole family.
CS: Do you think that kind of openness that kind of laissez faire ““ come as you go – still exists in America or is this a culture that is now based on fear?
ROLLINS: No, I think you have some areas that are very stressed. Some cities that are very wound tight. But there’s a lot of parts of America where they don’t lock their doors. Essentially America is filled with very good people ““ some very trying times there is no doubt about that but by and large Americans are very cool. It’s just that cities perpetuate their own myths in a way and that’s what we’re up against. That’s why the bad neighborhoods are still pretty bad because some of the inhabitants groove on the fact that that it’s a bad neighborhood. And it might be somewhat resistant if you went in with your school books and your laptops.
So America, in my opinion ““ I’ve gotten arguments about this. I think America, at least parts of it, likes to perpetuate our own myths. We sometimes take the legend of ourselves as much as we like the reality or sometimes we go for the myth of ourselves quicker than what it really is. We have a culture that grew up in the movie theater. I think you can come and go as you please for the most part in America. I think it’s probably a little different than it used to be post 9/11. I’ve noticed America in some places there’s been a shift in the last 6 years. And when the going gets rough, the average gets conservative. You know that. And so there is a lot of good people who are sincerely terrified of things and make them jump to some stupid conclusions. Like we better take that Mosque down, yes, that will solve it.
CS: It’s almost like an adolescence…A phase that we’re going thorough?
ROLLINS: I don’t think America is used to getting attacked. That’s for sure. Every other country in the world can tell you, yea, we got invaded. Alexander came here, Attila the Hun came here, the IRA did this thing here. Every other country has been blown up, shot, raised, invaded, pilfered but not America. Then 9/11 happened and all of a sudden everyone said we got to…it was a wake up call. For those who travel abroad and have a sense of history 9/11 may not have been as surprising as it was to some.
CS: I don’t think it was. To be frankly honest, I don’t think it was. Like you said, people who pay attention to things that are happening in the world, there are other countries that have it a lot worse.
ROLLINS: And more often in the last century. And they can look back over centuries ““ this is our history. It goes back to…whatever. In America, the paint is still drying here. We are very new. And for a new country we sure seem to be hell bent on telling other cultures how it is. Like the young energetic kid at the dinner table with the grown ups saying, “Here’s how it’s going to be. ” And it’s amazing how tolerant the elders have been.
CS: But how does someone like yourself, and again I’m going back to yourself and how you get your own news in a day…A: How do you keep up with the most accurate things that are going on with Fox obviously having it’s own slant, CNN having it’s own slant, etc…how do you keep up with that and B) At the end of the day can you at least formulate for me if President Bush is the worst President we’ve ever had?
ROLLINS: OK, well where I get my information is I love to read printed journalism I like to read stuff on the Internet. I like to listen to the radio and hear other people talk, different politicians. I try to find non agenda journalists. I have to read and read between the lines. I cross reference and think “What’s the motivation? Why does America go into this country and do that? What’s the motivation?” Just follow the money and you can save yourself a lot of aggravation and a lot of time. So, with that in mind, that’s how I read the news. I put it all through a business filter.
Now, as far as how history will judge George W. Bush, I think he has shifted more funds and moved more mountains in his 6 years or soon to be 7 years in office than any president in my recollection. It was very different landscape of America before he came to town and America is a very different place. Americans live differently, he’s taken an amazing amount of money out of the public coffers and shifted to private companies, like billions of dollars, and on our watch and in your face so he’s been very successful and I think he’s done a lot of damage.
And, as far as the worst President, yeah, maybe that will be George W. Bush considering how many generations it’s going to take to undo what he has done. We can rectify a lot of problems quickly if we withdrew from some places in the world. If we pull out they say, “OK, cool”¦that’s all we want was for you to back off.” The genius thing about this administration is the phrase that if we don’t fight them over there we are going to have to fight them over here. And that just keeps the thing going and I think it’s completely untrue. If you stop fighting them over there the thing just kind of ends and drops off.
CS: Thank you, Henry, for your time. I look forward to seeing you perform live.
ROLLINS: I love doing these shows. I really love it. Love being up there. It’s fun.
The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
Dismissed by many as a pale attempt at trying to do Pixar, Meet The Robinsons (Walt Disney, Rated G, DVD-$29.99 SRP) is actually a nice, amiable flick with enough sly humor and verve to keep even jaded ol’ me in the swing of it (much like another unexpectedly enjoyable flick a few years back about a boy genius, Jimmy Neutron). The story here is about a brilliant whiz-kid named Lewis who gets swept up into a journey into the future while trying to find the mother he never knew, only to find that he holds the fate of the future in his hands. While in the future, he encounters the eccentric members of the Robinson family, and… well… go se for yourself. Bonus features include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, and the usual complement of crap music videos that have become de rigeur on Disney DVDs.
My emotions about The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$129.99 SRP) are a mixed bag. As a cinematic tool to excite a young audience about the personalities and events that shaped the early 20th century, I think it’s a success. The time-hopping adventures are fun and certainly instructional. I don’t, however, really see them as the juvenile tales of the Indiana Jones that we come to know and love in Raiders and its sequels – Indy is clearly just a hook to bring the audience in. Also, I have to say, my biggest gripe is that – in large part – much of the thematic simplification and visual shortcuts that Lucas would later bastardize the Star Wars franchise with had their roots here. If you divorce the series from those two drawbacks, what you’re left with is still a nice show for kids, and a pleasant diversion for adults. The series has been split into two volumes (volume 2 streets in December), with first 12-disc set featuring 7 feature-length episodes, plus 38 in-depth companion documentaries packed with more historical figures and luminaries than you can shake a stick at.
Halloween fast approaches, and what better way to kick back and mark the holiday than with a big bowl of candy corn and a reading of the manga edition of The Nightmare Before Christmas (Disney Press, $8.99 SRP).
They say that a dog is man’s best friend, but Fido (Lionsgate, Rated R, DVD-$28.99 SRP) makes quite a good case for a zombie replacing the family mutt. The best friend of young Timmy Robinson is a zombie named Fido (Billy Connolly) – but when Fido eats the neighbor, Timmy has to try everything he can to keep his beloved pet. Bonus materials include commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, galleries, the theatrical trailer, and more.
Forty-nine issues in and the gloriously oversized Jack Kirby Collector (Twomorrows, $9.95 SRP) continues to unearth scores of wonderful Kirby art, rounded out with the usual complement of in-depth articles and analysis. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for the big 5-0.
The 3-disc Mythbusters: Collection 2 (Image, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP) sports another 13 episodes of The Discovery Channel’s relentlessly addictive show. Personally, I think Jamie Hyneman’s mustache is a fearsome hypnotic device. Beware its power.
It’s a shame that the 3rd (and final) season of Veronica Mars (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) dropped the ball in so many ways – largely forgoing the quirky charm of the loveable first seasons. If it had stuck to its guns and not lost its way, I’m sure the show would still be on the air today. The 6-disc box set features all 20 episodes, plus additional scenes, webisodes, the pitch for what would have been season 4, and a gag reel.
Forever trying to put more distance between himself and Summer School, Mark Harmon is still front and center in the complete fourth season of NCIS (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$64.99 SRP). The 6-disc set features all 24 episodes, plus commentaries, interviews, featurettes, and more.
For some reason, I was delighted that Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) was cancelled. Maybe it was just how obnoxiously self-important it seemed, with absurdly “dramatic” situations and characters with more useless layers than a glass onion. The 6-disc box-set features all 20 episodes, plus commentary on the pilot episode and a documentary on the show itself.
During the 60’s, Ken Mansfield was the US manager for a little pop act called The Beatles. You might have heard of them. In The White Book (Thomas Nelson, $22.95 SRP), he recounts those wild and wooly times, as well as all the talents, faces, and events he was party to in the ensuing years – and the roster is nothing if not impressive.
It’s always a fascinating journey when you see behind-the-scenes of any venture, and such is the case with Show Business: The Road To Broadway (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$28.95 SRP), which takes an inside look at four Broadway shows – Avenue Q, Wicked, Taboo, and Caroline, Or Change. From the earliest casting sessions to the first curtain call – and featuring interviews with all of the principals involved – it’s a great watch. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, promo spots, and the trailer.
James Gandolfini is a low-key presenter of the post-injury tales of 10 soldiers and marines who found their lives torn apart by combat and must sort out their futures in the documentary Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP). Just check it out.
Sleuthing scribe Jessica Fletcher returns with the seventh season of Murder, She Wrote (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP), as the reaper of Cabot Cove solves a whole new batch of suspicious murders. The 5-disc set features all 22 episodes, plus a featurette containing all-new interviews with Lansbury and the cast & crew.
Even if it’s largely unsuccessful, Mr. Brooks (MGM, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP) is worth a spin just to see Kevin Costner try and stretch a little as the titular serial killer, whose domestic home life – wife, kids, career – hides his terrible secret – is threatened by the constant goading of his alter-ego (William Hurt). Sadly, Dane Cook is in the movie. Bonus features include an audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and the theatrical trailer.
The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder, and I can think of no better time to dig into the second Mario Bava Collection (Starz, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP). The 6-disc set features Lisa & The Devil, House Of Exorcism, Bay Of Blood, Baron Blood, Kidnapped, Roy Colt And Winchester Jack, 5 Dolls For An August Moon, and Four Times That Night.
Make programming the music for those all-night make-out sessions much easier by picking up a copy of the 4-disc Luther Vandross: Love, Luther collection (Sony Legacy, $49.98 SRP). Album cuts, rate tracks, live performances – the whole gamut of silky smooth grooves is here for the taking.
I have absolutely no taste for the torture porn of the Hostel franchise, but I know there are enough of you out there that this has somehow become a going venture. For you, then, there are the director’s cut editions of both Hostel (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99 SRP) and Hostel Part II (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$28.95 SRP). Both discs feature expanded cuts, as well as commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, interviews, and more.
I’m also no fan of gore or horror, but I know that Halloween is right around the corner and you’re probably looking for some bloody filler for your own private filmfests. Buried Alive (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP) fits the bill, about a group of horny college kids who are foolish enough to spend quality time at a cabin in the middle of nowhere.
Like most of the current crop of Adult Swim fare (minus the brilliant Venture Bros. & Lucy, Daughter Of the Devil), I get very few laughs from the self-indulgently bizarre Squidbillies (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP). Comedy is subjective, and this show barely registers on my own personal funny meter. The 2-disc set features all 20 first season episodes, plus 6 pilot episodes (proving what a painful development process the show had), the one-off “Anime Talk Show”, Comic-Con 2004 footage, galleri4es, featurettes, and more.
I didn’t think it was possible, but the third season of Mind Of Mencia (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$26.99 SRP) proves to be less funny than the cricket fields of season 2. This is like some kind of sad, bizarro version of Chappelle’s Show. Maybe they’ll put it out of its misery one day. The 2-disc set features deleted scenes and commentary.
So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…
-Ken Plume
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The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦
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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – You never know who you’ll meet at an airport Hooters when the clock hits midnight.
Dan Pawlowski and I were enjoying a fine night of teasing orange shorted women, when a large group of people straggled inside. Dan swore they were in a band. I didn’t care who they were. I was negotiating a hula-hoop demonstration with Amanda, our waitress. After the hip twirl, we paid the bill and said good night. As we headed out, we spotted one of the group on the front porch. He was a middle aged guy with a shaggy haircut. Dan asked what band he was in.
Turned out it was Ian Mitchell of the Bay City Rollers. He’s part of the Original Idols on Tour with The Cowsills, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, Leif Garret and Barry Williams (you’ll remember him as Greg Brady). They had just done a gig down in Fayetteville and were flying out of RDU. He shook my hand.
I got to touch a real Bay City Roller. (Insert montage of screaming girls in ’70s hairdos.) Back in the middle of Rollermania, the Vito sisters were rabid about the Scot group. Their bedroom back in 1976 was covered in a montage of Alan, Leslie, Derek and those other guys in plaid. The Vito sisters had made their own jumpsuits with various plaid patterns that I think signified which Roller was the cutest. When I mentioned the jumpsuits, Ian reminded us that in Scotland, they’re called Tartan. Do the people in Edinburgh put plaidan sauce on their fried fish? I wonder if the Vito Sister would get excited if I let them touch my hand that touched Ian’s hand?
My biggest memory of the band is when The Bay City Rollers Show debuted on NBC’s Saturday morning line up. The band that made us sing about “Saturday Night” were expected to wake up America’s youth with the help of H.R. Pufnstuf. They took over the slot from Kaptain Kool and the Kongs. Ian swears that Sid and Marty Krofft were not on drugs. How can no one have been high in Lidsville? Unlike other stars who have made pleas for their old shows to come out on DVD, Ian doesn’t have an online petition begging for The Krofft Superstar Hour with the Bay City Rollers to be released as a boxset.
Without any prompting, Ian asked, “Would you like to meet Leif?” We said sure, if it’s not a bother. Shortly thereafter we saw Leif approaching the door. We figured he’d come out, shake hands and head back inside to be with his crew. He shook our hands, joked about our haircuts and then sat down. He didn’t mind talking with us. It was like we were doing the pre-interview for Behind the Music – Nearly a Decade Later.
Leif doesn’t have cable so he had no clue how popular his pioneering episode of the VH1 series had or how many times they were rerunning it. Leif’s episode was more than just a series of clips. When he was 18, he got drunk and loaded on Quaaludes and wrecked his car leaving his best friend, Roland Winkler, a paraplegic. The two had become estranged and Winkler’s mom sued Leif for millions. The episode had Leif finally apologize to Winkler. It was a powerful moment. Leif promised that what was shown on Behind the Music was real and not dramatized for the camera. Since that time he’s appeared on numerous other reality shows which according to him, aren’t that real.
He was supposed to appear at the Reality Awards with Johnny Fairplay, but the tour kept him busy that night. Leif pointed out that Danny Bonaduce had no reason to toss Fairplay over his head and bust his teeth. Turns out Fairplay had jumped and humped Bonaduce twice before. It had become a routine with the two. Leif said if Danny didn’t want it to happen, he could have stepped aside or refused to turn around. This might turn out to be an interesting court case.
Leif was in good spirits for a guy who over the years has been noted for his self-destructive ways. Part of this calm might be from his recent sessions with various spiritual healers. His reunion with his estranged father led him to record Neil Young’s “Old Man.” Leif and his guitarist performed an acoustic version of the song for us on the Hooters’ patio. It sounded great. He reminded me of the classic quote, “Frank Sinatra never wrote a single lyric, but every word he sang came from his heart.” Leif’s Three Sides of… album is due out Nov. 6. It features his cover of Roxy Music’s “Love is the Drug.” And Leif has done good with love having dated Nicollette Sheridan, Justine Bateman, Bebe Buell and Kelly LeBrock, pre-Steven Seagal. While dating LeBrock, he never saw anyone hate her because she was beautiful.
The best performance story Leif described was a gig in front of 35,000 screaming girls at the Houston Astrodome. He rode a horse onto the stage and didn’t mess up his white shoes on the backstage cow patties. Ask him about the Guinness Book record he set on that night when he belted out “I Was Made for Dancin.'” For decades he has shied away from his Tiger Beat musical career. When he performed live, he only dished out his rock side. But for the Original Idols tour, Leif is dipping into his bubblegum songs for the ladies.
While he’s mostly remembered for his musical career, Leif got his start as a child actor. He was on Gunsmoke and Family Affair. Plus he was Buford Pusser’s son in Walking Tall. During the talk, I joked about having kids at 80 on the Tony Randall plan. Leif replied that he played Tony’s son on the final season of The Odd Couple. He only had praise for his time with Randall. He was the son of Felix and Buford.
He had a guest role on Wonder Woman. I’m jealous that he got so close to those golden eagle wings on Lyndia Carter’s chest. He’s a real actor in my book because if I had to do that role, there’s be no way I could stand up in front of her red white and blue outfit. I’d be needing the Burt Ward treatment. And I’d be begging her to use the golden lasso on me between takes.
Leif told many stories during his chat about Shaun Cassidy, David Cassidy and Danny Bonaduce. I’m not going to repeat them since he’ll probably use them in his autobiography. No need to spoil the book. He promised that his autobiography shall be more torrid and scandalous than both volumes on Motley Crue. While you won’t get Ozzy sniffing ants, there’s a strange moment in Switzerland with Michael Jackson that will make you feel buggy.
This was probably one of the best nights to hang out with Leif. He’s a man who over the decades has received more publicity for his troubles than his achievements. When Leif is in a mellow mood, he’s the coolest guy around. I hope he stays that way for a while.
MY SO-CALLED WEEKEND
Why do “smart” shows about high schoolers rarely survive a full season? Square Pegs and Freaks and Geeks were dumped before their students took final exams. And such was the fate of My So-Called Life. It lasted 19 episodes before the kids were assigned to hiatus detention.
My So-Called Life reminds us of an era when angst filled teens didn’t shop for black clothes at Hot Topic. This was a time before kids spent school days text messaging. There was no MP3 downloading. They were simpler times in 1994. All Angela Chase (Claire Danes) cared about was getting Jordan Catalano to notice her. How could he miss her deep red hair?
The fine folks at Shout! Factory have just released My So-Called Life: The Complete Series (SRP $69.99). Unlike the barebones collection that came out five years ago, this new edition is packed with enough bonus features to allow viewers to become fanatics. There’s a fresh interview with Claire Danes. A cast & crew panel discussion at Museum of Television and Radio from 1995 gives a sense how they viewed their show all those years ago. There’s a 40 page book that chronicles the series. Janeane Garofalo gives a testimonial about what the show meant to her.
My fondest memory of watching the series was during one of my significant birthdays. I was on a sofa in the student union flocked by a pack of teenage ballerinas watching a rerun of My So-Called Life on MTV. I explained to the girls that Jordan Catalano was no good for Angela since his primary relationship is with his hair gel. She needed to hook up with Brian cause he might be a putz, but he’d clean up nicely in a few years. I don’t think they believe me. The happy thought was I was a middle aged man hanging with teenage girls without fear of the cops slapping the cuffs on me. Good times.
My So-Called Life holds up as entertaining as it explores those traumatic times of moving up to high school and rubbing shoulders with the big kids. There’s a lot of heart in the characters. They don’t come off as teenage soap opera figures. Hopefully modern teens can relate to a show that doesn’t feature iPods.
HOW THEY ENDED
Tony Soprano didn’t get whacked at the end of the series. He moved to Fire Island with Dumbledore. Every morning they whip up a batch of Johnny Cakes.
TIM WAS RIGHT
Have you noticed that Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas predicted the Fall of 2007? Can I shop anywhere that doesn’t have Halloween and Christmas crap piled together in the aisles? The Home Depot had an inflatable skeleton riding a motorcycle positioned next to the fake Christmas trees. What sort of message is being sent to kids when merchants combine green faced witches with bearded Santas? Should kids be good to get presents or wicked to receive candy? You’ve got Dracula fighting for space with the Baby Jesus. That’s wrong. We need to have a little separation of commerce and holidays.
While shopping at the Home Depot, they already had Christmas music playing. Do we really need to hear “Jingle Bells” while there’s still leaves on the trees? If this was a Christmas shop at the beach, I could understand the early start on the holiday season. But we’re talking a mega-hardware store. I want paint not an inflatable snowman.
What the hell will happen to Thanksgiving now that these two holidays have been joined at the hip? Will it get squeezed out of existence like Columbus Day? We’ve been so guilted out of celebrating Columbus Day that it took three trips to the mail box on that day to realize it was a post office holiday. Now that Christmas sales are starting around Labor Day, will the Friday after Thanksgiving maintain its luster? Next year they’ll be selling fake Christmas trees and inflatable snowmen with the 4th of July fireworks. People are jumping the gun like states pushing their presidential primaries forward. Every morning I wake up and check the news to make sure I’m not expected to vote. By the way, I’m still holding out hope for the Ben Gazzara and Robert Loggia ticket. Rumor has it that John Saxon has agreed to be their Secretary of State. Bet Ben Gazzara would put a stop to this Christmas before Halloween crap.
John Gibson’s “War on Christmas” attack has now turned into a consumer siege. You’ll be so burned out on December 25th that you’ll merely be thankful that you survived the Christmas marketing assault as you eat candy corn with your turkey.
TRANSFORMERS COME ALIVE
My brother Russ caught Bumblebee at the corner of La Brea and Santa Monica.
Next year they’ll have Transformers on Ice coming to a rink near you.
DING!
Criss Angel has gone from mystifying to irritating. Him and Uri Geller are now hosting Phenomenon, a search for the next great mentalist. See if any of them can predict when I’ll give a rat’s ass. And I want the color of the fur on that rat’s ass.
NOT IN THE EYES!
Rumors are circulating that another sex tape featuring Kim Kardashian will be released. Please let this be a cruel lie. The world would be better off with a director’s cut of Van Helsing than seeing Bruce Jenner’s stepdaughter being humped one more time.
Normally watching a celebrity sex tape makes me feel a little bit guilty that I had to peek into their extreme private life. After watching “Kim K. Superstar,” I felt guilty that I wasted bandwidth. If suicide notes are a cry for help. Kim’s porn tape was a cry for attention. She didn’t want attention from mommy or daddy, but from casting agents and people who think Nicole Ritchie is a star. This wasn’t pornography of the flesh, but of dreams. Mainly her dream to become a national sensation with less talent than William Hung. But there’s a difference between her and Mr. Hung. What he lacks in range, he makes up in enthusiasm. Kim has a nice curvy body, but she doesn’t come close to using it. She keeps her bra on for most of the action. Maybe in this rumored sequel, she’ll keep her socks on. Heaven forbid she shows ankle while being pounded from behind.
My sofa was more involved when Jake the Wonderdog humped its cushions. Kim doesn’t merely lie there. She just seems lost. It’s not about the passion of sex for her. She’s screwing for Q points. Perhaps this video was meant to be her screentest for Lars and the Real Girl? Although she dose a poor job of keeping her mouth in the “O” position.
She almost makes me think that Andrea Dworkin was right.
A pal who does occasional work for Vivid Video said if that tape had shown up on his desk and Kim was merely a farmer’s daughter in Iowa, he wouldn’t even slide it over to his worst friend. “Not worth a Kleenex,” he said. If she wanted to be the next Sunny Lane, she’d starve to death. Her path to fame would collapse.
But E! is treating America to the next level of Kim’s road to stardom with Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Why? Blame Ryan Seacrest. She must be sleeping with him. Kim has to share the spotlight with her large family. Somehow we’re supposed to care that they run a little boutique. Judging from the lack of customers, it seems to be an excuse to get clothes at a discount.
The horrifying part of the show is Bruce Jenner. He’s the man who “gave us” The Princes of Malibu. Now we must suffer through more of his offspring. Bruce’s plastic surgery face makes him look like he’s transitioning into being a middle age woman. Seeing Jenner whore his Olympic gold medal ass for fame makes me appreciate the noble pursuits of Eric Heiden.
The first episode shows a family that is so ready to ham it up for the camera and willing to say anything during the interview set ups. These people seem too ready to share their drama with America. They’re worse than the Hogans and Simmons clans. Kim gets upset when she’s invited to go on the Tyra Banks Show and the supermodel kept going on about her porn tape. Kim was under the impression that Tyra would want to know about all of Kim’s other projects. Who cares? And how is Kim going to overcome the stigma of her porn tape? By posing nude for Playboy Magazine! Nothing proves that you’ve moved beyond porn star aspirations than showing your ass for Hef’s crowd. Maybe they’ll get her to remove her bra. At least in the pages of Playboy, she doesn’t have to worry about doing anything, except being naked, staying still and holding an expression. She’s got experience with that.
Maybe next season Ryan Seacrest will create a reality show around Sunny Lane and her parents.
BOWL ME OVER
How come the National Defense University doesn’t have a football team?
A SHOT IN THE HEAD
Why hasn’t the universe collapsed on itself in the wake of an MTV black hole called A Shot At Love with Tila Tequila? Why exactly are dozens of boys and girls lining up to date this woman? She has a million Myspace friends. Why? She looks like a living bobblehead. She was on a cover of Maxim! Wow. That’s a career right there. None of the “contestants” should be allowed to mate with organic matter. Although non-organic seems to describe most of Tila’s body. This is what happens when starfuckers are left to screw each others fame whore asses. This crew is worse than the suitors on I Love New York. This is pornography of the soul.
The worst part of the show is that she’s claiming she’s bisexual, but her final choice will either be a boy or a lesbian. Shouldn’t she be putting together a bisexual harem like Monique Gabrielle? Where’s the Big Love for a little lady? Why must she eliminate rather than accumulate?
I flipped over to watch a minute of the show and it was two guy beating each other up. Why does MTV need to exploit violence caused by women? Doesn’t anyone at MTV want their kids to be proud of their work?
One hopes that the people who don’t win their shot of love, will receive numerous other shots after this experience. Odds are that the beds in Tila’s reality house were the breeding grounds for the super bugs.
This show reminds me of the evil brought unto the world by Myspace’s Tom – who still owes me money. Tom isn’t my friend.
MUSTARD TEARS
Jim McKay must shed a tear everytime he hears, “You’re watching ESPN on ABC.” The network with the most honored sports division let the cable operation brand their broadcasts as if somehow they’ve sold that time block. Once men wore those yellow sports coats with pride as they reported for The Wide World of Sports. Now they have to bow their heads whenever Tony Kornheiser enters the room. It’s a good thing Howard Cosell is dead cause otherwise he’d never stop bitching about how the legacy of Roone Arlege has been desecrated in the name of Mouse Synergy.
Remember that ESPN was where sportscasters clustered when they couldn’t cut it in the mustard blazer.
Speaking of tears, what’s more annoying during the baseball playoffs this season: Frank Caliendo’s Frank TV spots, Dane Cook’s holding back a fart promos or Joe Buck and Tim McCarver’s booth action? You have to truly be a devoted baseball fan to suffer through this quartet to capture the action.
Jacoby Ellbury of the Boston Redsox is about to challenge Tom Brady for hottest hunk in Beantown. Wasn’t it ironic that a Navajo outfielder would deny the Cleveland Indians a World Series shot? At least the tribe’s Ryan Garko can spend this offseason corking more bottles of road champagne.
IT’S NOT NEW
Why are they still “presenting Blue from American Express” as if it’s a new credit card? This piece of plastic has been out since 1999. Nothing from the 20th century should be treated as brand new.
The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦
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Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!
##
In every universe, there’s a Rodney Dangerfield, some poor schlupp that just can’t get any respect. In the Star Wars universe, that would be Dengar. While his colleague’s Boba Fett, Bossk, Zuckuss and even IG-88 were treated with admiration by fans for their cruel bravery, old Dengar was just some fat guy with a towel on his head. And the towel wasn’t even wrapped very neatly.
It should be no suprise then that all the aforementioned characters have been treated to mini-busts by Gentle Giant, and yet poor Dengar has been the excluded bounty hunter. That situation has finally been rectified however, and Dengar’s bust is now available online and perhaps at your LCS. He’s a limited edition of 4000 (although you could argue that it’s not particularly ‘limited’ at that kind of quantity), and will run around $45.
“Dengar – Gentle Giant Mini-bust”
While he might not get much respect, Dengar is definitely one of the crueler and rougher bounty hunters. Capturing the cold, emotionless danger was GG’s real challenge. How’d they do? Let’s see!
Packaging – ***
When you’ve seen one recent GG Star Wars box, you’ve pretty much seen them all. While the basic look is still rather plain, this one benefits from having the window (occasionally they do not) which allows you to inspect your particular purchase. It also includes the cool baseball card style COA, which I’ve always thought was a bright move on GG’s part.
Sculpting – ****
Yep, this is Dengar alright. He has enough of a unique look that he’ll be instantaneously recognized by any Star Wars fan, but isn’t a popular enough character to end up being scrutinized on every detail for screen accuracy.
The head sculpt is excellent with the scarring etched realisticly into his face. He has Han Solo to thank for that. And GG of course. The cloth has a nice texturing added to it to differentiate it, and in fact, this bust has appropriate textures added everywhere. One of the flaws of some GG mini-busts is the lack of realistic texturing on clothing and skin, making the overall appearance too consistent. Here we see a nice break from that, with unique textures on the various pieces of cloth, the skin, and the leather pieces. It’s not perfect yet, and some of the areas still tend to blend in together, but it’s a big step forward.
Some of the best sculpting on this bust is in back, where you rarely look. Dengar has his backpack, which I believe also worked with his cybernetic parts to help keep him alive. There’s tons of detail here, with a nice use of both the sculpt and paint to add visual pop to the basic character. Gentle Giant seems to take extra care with all the bounty hunters, and it’s nice to see Dengar get the same level of treatment.
Paint – ***
While the paint isn’t bad, there were a couple distinct issues I had that held him back from a higher score. The overall quality of the paint operations is solid, with clean cuts between colors and a nice, consistent application. There’s also a nice mix of color, which is a surprise considering how bland most folks assume this character is.
My two issues revolve around the eyes and the lips. The eyes lack the shiny gloss application that gives them that wet, alive look. With a flat finish, the character looks more like a mannequinn than an actual person.
The other issue is the lips, which are a very bright red. The lines are also very clean, which actually adds to the appearance of lipstick. They needed to back off a bit on this dark color, giving him a more natural color.
Design – ***1/2
Dengar’s expression is well designed, giving him a cold, emotionless look. The poor guy had his emotions all mucked up with the surgeries on his brain, making him a pure killing machine. There’s just enough mean in his look to get the point across, and a feel of impending violence. The overall design isn’t overly dynamic, but has just the right style for the character.
Value – **1/2
At an SRP of $50, with street prices closer to $40 – $45, these are about an average price for the current market. Considering how much other pop culture collectibles have risen over the last few years, it’s nice to see that mini-busts have remained fairly constant. Let’s hope that continues!
Things to Watch Out For –
As I mentioned, the hand/gun piece comes separate in the package and must be attached. To do so, you need to put the gun in between his posed left hand and body, and get the post for the right hand in *just* the right spot to slide it on. Once in place, it’s going to stay there, but you don’t want to get too impatient or you could damage the gun pretty easily.
Overall – ***1/2
Gee, with those scores above, do you think this is a ***1/2 star figure overall? Solid sculpting, clean paint and a terrific design all add up to a much nicer version of Dengar than we usually get. My only real quibble here is that they didn’t give his eyes that coat of shine that adds so much life and realism to the bust. Had they added that touch, this would have been a near perfect representation of a much ignored character.
Score Recap –
Packaging – ***
Sculpting – ****
Paint – ***
Design – ***1/2
Value – **1/2
Overall – ***1/2
Where to Buy –
There’s plenty of great options online:
– Urban-Collector has this bust at just $38, and they have some of the new pre-orders like Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura at just $39! That’s an excellent price all around.
– Fireside Collectibles has him at just $40.
– Alter Ego Comics has him at $42.50.
– Amazing Toyz has him at $43.
– CornerStoreComics also has him at $43.
– Andrews Toyz has him at $45.
Related Links:
I’ve reviewed plenty of Star Wars mini-busts, including:
– recently, I checked out Zuckuss right here at QSE.
– Other Star Wars mini-busts I’ve covered include Chewbacca and Darth Maul, Jedi Luke, Qui-Gon Jinn, Palpatine and Skiff Lando.
The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦
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Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!
##
-by Ken Plume
Occasionally, an interview will – for various timing and scheduling issues – sit on the shelf for far too long a time. Over the next few months here at FRED, we’ll be dusting off those “too good to let sit any longer” pieces and letting them finally see the light of day. First up is an interview from last year featuring Monty Python alumnus, director, writer, and historian Terry Jones – conducted a few weeks into his documentary series on the Barbarians on BBC2. Barbarians is due to be released on DVD in the US this January, from Koch Lorber.
As a Python, Terry co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Gilliam before assuming full directorial duties for The Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life .
As an ex-Python, he wrote Jim Henson’s Labyrinth and wrote and directed Erik the Viking (a “Director’s Son’s Cut” of which is currently available in the UK from Arrow Films) and the recent adaptation of Wind in the Willows.
Just as fellow ex-Python Michael Palin has become associated with his frequent travel documentaries, so too Jones has also been connected with the documentary form in recent years – first with his miniseries about the Crusades, followed by a series of programs on ancient inventions, the hidden history of Rome and Egypt, and Medieval Lives, which examined the myths surrounding such historical archetypes as the knight, the damsel, the minstrel, and the monk.
His documentaries present a healthy dose of history within an entertaining (and often humorous) vehicle. As they say, “a spoonful of sugar…”
KEN PLUME: I suppose the first thing I have to say is how much I’ve been enjoying your Barbarians series…
TERRY JONES: Are you in the States?
KP: I’m in the States.
JONES: Then how are you seeing it?
KP: The joys of the internet.
JONES: Amazing. I never knew.
KP: So on Friday evenings I’ll watch Have I Got News For You, and then the new Barbarians. In fact, I just watched your appearance on The Paul O’Grady Show…
JONES: Amazing!
KP: Well, it’s a shrinking world.
JONES: Yeah…
KP: It’s quite interesting to get a glimpse into UK life via television, and it goes to show that people are becoming more worldly – if they actually take a chance to look at what’s out there. Barbarians, I think in some ways even tops Crusades as my favorite piece you’ve done so far.
JONES: Really…
KP: It certainly seems that there’s a real love and vitality that you’ve brought to the subject matter.
JONES: Yeah.
KP: At what point did that strike you as a kernel of an idea that you wanted to explore? Because you said in the past that something has to really interest you for you to want to explore it…
JONES: Yeah. Well, partly it was because I didn’t know anything about the classical world. I didn’t know anything about the subject. So that was quite interesting, anyway. But I kind of had a suspicion that the story of the Roman Empire must have some relevance to the world today, and to the sort of situation we have today. So I was kind of looking out for that, in a way, when we started – but it certainly became very clear as we got there was a very curious parallel. Nothing is absolutely the same, of course – history doesn’t really repeat itself, but the same people and the same motivations go on and…
KP: Human nature remains the same.
JONES: Rome was considering itself as the sole superpower for a long time, and it embarked on this policy of preemptive strike to neutralize states around its borders. But it was driven by fear. Their 9/11 happened in 390 BC, when the Celts overran Rome. So, you know, it was different, but there are similarities.
KP: I think the great thing about the pieces that you do is that it really shows that for all the differences there might be, the one thing that does remain constant is human nature.
JONES: Yeah.
KP: And humans will react in certain ways to certain circumstances across the board, no matter what time period you’re in.
JONES: I think that’s right. I think people don’t change. And I think people were the same in 500 BC and 1000 BC, but we just don’t know about them. You had the same kind of people seeking power, and using very similar methods to gain power. I mean, it was laughable when Caesar, driven by political considerations at home – he wants power, and he needs money, so he declares himself Protector of the Gauls. By the time he’s finished protecting them, he’s killed a million of them, and enslaved another million, and he owned all of Gaul and was very rich, thank you very much. Well, it’s not a million miles away from saving the Iraqis from their dreadful dictator, Saddam Hussein. By the time we’ve finished with them… So far, we must have killed about a quarter of a million of them and destroyed their society.
KP: But we bring freedom!
JONES: Right! Freedom! Yeah. But Halliburton and Kellogg Brown and all that lot, they’ve all done extremely well out of it.
KP: I found it fascinating – in the episode last night – regarding the Visigoths…
JONES: Oh yeah…
KP: And the description of… what was the society that was completely wiped out in Germania?
JONES: The Dacians…
KP: Yes. And the gold, and that pursuit of a coffer…
JONES: Yeah, that’s absolutely right. I mean they’re just wiping out the Dacians because they wanted their gold. They built Rome on the proceeds, really. Or what we regard as Rome.
KP: And it’s amazing how many military actions in history have such a base desire that are covered up in loftier stated goals. Although that one was pretty blatant as to what the goal was.
JONES: I mean, to do the Romans justice, they weren’t mealy mouthed about celebrating their acts of violence. I think that was one of the things that became very clear – Trajan celebrates by having his column show all of these pictures of Romans killing Dacians. And there’s a big celebration of an act of genocide.
KP: I found it even more fascinating what was done for the corresponding monument…
JONES: Oh yes, the one at Adamclisi, in Romania…
KP: Which was a threefold statement – that you’ll never pose a threat again, we’ll protect you, and I’m great.
JONES: (laughing) That’s the big difference between the Roman sort of carvings and monuments – which are usually you’re showing Romans killing people in one form or another – and, for instance, the Persian monuments in Persepolis, which are all sort of celebrating peace, and it’s people coming to present the emperor with gifts, and they’re all walking hand in hand. Or they’ve got their hand on the back. It’s not hands around the wrist, which is always the symbol of having captured somebody. But walking hand in hand and so there’s all that celebrating, friendship, and partnership.
KP: Well, peace doesn’t keep people in line!
JONES: (laughing) That’s true!
KP: In the research you’ve done, is there any society that is that forthright and celebratory of conquering as the Romans were?
JONES: To tell the truth, I think all of the societies would be, given the chance. But there is a really huge difference between the Persians – in what is now Iran – and the Romans. There is a cylinder in the British Museum that was uncovered beneath the ruins of Babylon, and it’s in cuneiform. It’s got cuneiform all over it, and the cylinder celebrates Cyrus the Great’s conquest of Babylon. But in it, he says, “I came as a friend.” And he said, “I didn’t allow my troops to terrorize anybody. We didn’t have to carry weapons. We were able to walk around the streets without weapons. And I freed all the slaves, and allowed them to return to their homeland. And I was celebrated as a great benefactor.” It’s almost called the world’s first statement of human rights. You might think, “Well, it’s the kind of thing a tyrant might put on, a bit of spin doctoring…”
KP: Right.
JONES: Except that it’s born out by the Bible. And in Isaiah… and I can’t remember the other book… but in Isaiah, Cyrus the Great is celebrated as the Lord’s anointed. I mean, he was Persian. He has nothing to do with the Israelis. But the slaves he freed are the Israelites. And he sends them back to Israel to rebuild their temple. And he’s a hero to the Jews. So there is corroboration about that. And then Cyrus’s successors – Darius, and then Xerxes – they leave records of what they’ve done, and any monument always starts with, “God is great, who created the world and created yonder skies, who created man, who created happiness for man, and who made Darius or Xerxes king.” But the idea that happiness for man is on the political agenda and there’s a statement of intent from the emperor, it’s kind of something I think we could do with nowadays.
KP: It’s odd… It’s almost a celebration of philanthropy.
JONES: It is, in a way. I mean, I don’t really know that much about the Persian empire, but certainly it’s got these statements, and there is some corroboration that it was a fairly benign kind of empire. The Persian emperor was king of kings at this time, and so he allowed other kings to stay as long as they paid tribute to him… Not like Rome, trying to turn everybody into Romans…. Into a new image of themselves.
KP: It’s amazing, as you see the deterioration of the empire, how many civilizations – and the people within them – used the Roman system of acclimation against the Romans themselves…
JONES: Yeah.
KP: By playing the double agent…
JONES: In the first two programs you probably noticed a lot of the people who rebel against them, like Arminius, have been brought up by the Romans and they’ve learned Roman military tactics. Because Rome’s big weapon really was the fact that it had this standing army. It had a professional army, and the others didn’t – so the others all had to go off at harvest time. They couldn’t stay the whole year. The Roman army was a professional army and could just hang in there and just win by sheer bloody minded hanging in, which is only what Trajan did in Dacia – he just hung in there and the Datians eventually just couldn’t carry on. So it was that. But then, of course, the army kept on swallowing more and more of the money, and it got costlier and costlier to run for the empire.
KP: Let’s look at a born and bred Roman that rebelled and was later celebrated as a home grown hero, like Herman the German. What is it about history that tends to erase those Roman ties? Is it just a desire to make them fully a home grown hero?
JONES: I think it’s that history changes because we want to tell each other different stories. It’s all part of our critique of the present day, really. And so, as we want to tell a different story, so we look at history differently. I think during the 19th century in England, the stories were very keen to celebrate the British Empire. And they look back to Rome as the great sort of justification, and that the British Empire was going to be greater than the Roman Empire. So they loved the Roman Empire. And I think, you know, that in the Renaissance they loved everything Roman because they were trying to revive Latin, and wanted to go back to Latin. So maybe it’s time for a more critical critique on the Romans.
KP: In Medieval Lives, you went into the myth that the people in the Middle Ages believed the world was flat – which was actually a Washington Irving invention meant to rewrite a bit of history…
JONES: Yeah.
KP: Honestly, after – what is it, four programs that you presented? You’ve done Crusades, Medieval Lives, Ancient Inventions…
JONES: Well, I did quite a few for Discovery actually. Ancient Inventions, and then another short series called Surprising Histories. We did The Surprising History of Rome, and The Surprising History of Sex and Love, which has never been shown in the States because I think Discovery Channel found it too disturbing.
KP: I think I have a screener tape of that that they sent out before they decided not to air it.
JONES: Oh really? I think the Sex and Love one is one of the most interesting programs, actually, and it’s sort of about looking at the relationship between love and… I’m sorry, not love. It was really about sex. It was about the relationship between sex and power. And sort of why do you have periods of liberation – liberal sexual morays – and periods of repression. It all seems to be sort of tied up with politics, and particularly with men wanting to take over, to run the roost, and to cut women out – and when you have that happen, you get those periods of heavy sexual repression.
KP: It’s fascinating how often men feel threatened by women. Again and again – and I’ve told you this before – there’s one program I would love for you to do… and it’s a recurring theme in all the programs you’ve done… would just be Terry Jones’s History of History.
JONES: (laughing) That’s interesting.
KP: Analyzing who actually shapes history.
JONES: That’s a pretty good idea.
KP: Because you keep touching on certain accounts – like, “Here’s the Roman version of this…” or, “This Roman historian said this, but here is the opposing view.” So who actually crafts history?
JONES: Yeah…
KP: It’s become a bit of a joke on the program QI about the documents of Pliny the Elder, and the statements that he had made in his chronicles about various subjects, and how laughable they’ve turned out to be when it comes to historical accuracy.
JONES: Yeah.
KP: And then Washington Irving, and how these things become popular knowledge when they are, in fact, myths…
JONES: Yeah…
KP: It’s just one of those things that keeps niggling every time I see one of your programs.
JONES: (laughing) I think it’s a very good idea, Ken. I might have to get back to you…
KP: Well, my fingers are crossed that I eventually get to see it.
JONES: Okay.
KP: It goes back to the first book that I ever seriously contemplated stealing from a library, I hate to admit… because it was impossible to find, and I found it in my first year in college… which was your Chaucer’s Knight…
JONES: Oh right, yeah.
KP: It was that weird sort of eye-opening moment when you realize that your teachers were wrong. ‘Cause I still have my notes about the “Knight’s Tale” from high school, where we were instructed that the Knight was a noble, heroic man… And then you point out that, no, Chaucer was saying the Knight was a less-than-noble mercenary, and the it was all satire…
JONES: Yeah, yeah.
KP: I actually sent a copy of the book to my English teacher, saying, “You might want to read this for future lectures.”
JONES: (laughing)
KP: Do you think understanding history requires certain perspectives to be able to uncover certain aspects? I mean, here you have a 400 year-old joke that scholars could never spot, but you – as a comedy writer – could clearly see…
JONES: I think it’s all about attitude. For example, I’ve been looking at the Ellesmere illustrations, in the Ellesmere manuscript of The Canterbury Tales, which is in the Huntington Museum. And I wrote to Mary Robinson, who’s the curator of the Huntington Library there, and asked her if she could have a look at the illumination of the monk under a microscope. And she very, very kindly agreed to look at it, and she said, “Well, we backlit it and we could see around the head, but it might just be what the artist was drawing to place the hat on.” And she really didn’t look any more. But then eventually, very kindly, she came and heard me talk about the illumination in Los Angeles, and invited me to come look at the illumination again, in the manuscript. And we went to look at it, and then we looked at its backlit version, and then we put some lights on the front, and as soon as we put lights on the front, you saw this gold under the monk’s chin, and elsewhere. And it’s quite clear that it had been blotted out. The point about the illumination is it doesn’t look anything like the description in the text, because in the text he’s large and mighty, he’s got a bald head, a red nose, he’s very jolly, and wears this gold pin, and all that sort of thing. He has hounds and he loves hunting. And in the illumination, there are the hounds there, but the illumination is of a man covered in black. He’s just covered in black. He’s got, like, a veil over his head. But when you looked at it through the microscope, you could see that he wasn’t jolly. You could see he’s got a gray wash over his face to calm it down – but with a microscope, you could see he’s got rosy cheeks and a red nose, but he’s also got this gold. I thought clearly that the illumination had been blotted out. And the reason why I tell you that, is that Mary Robinson didn’t see those things herself, because she wasn’t looking for that. And she didn’t see it. And it’s just that I was looking for that, and I thought there must be something there. So it was easy for me to see.
KP: It seems that also a certain mindset… I mean, you’ve had centuries of scholars analyzing The Canterbury Tales…
JONES: Yeah…
KP: … and coming to the same straightforward, straight laced conclusion about the Knight, but you coming from the perspective of knowing comedy and satire…
JONES: Yeah… I think, yeah… I mean, that’s what I’d like to think about that, because that’s exactly it. That I kind of… you could see where there were joke shapes, and you could tell in the text that that ought to be a joke there, ’cause that’s how Chaucer told a joke very often. He said something every one line and then undercuts it in the next.
KP: So he was the first of the Peter Cook school of fine literature…
JONES: (laughing) I don’t know whether he was that, but you could certainly see that sort of thing going on, yes!
KP: One of the things that’s been remarked on before, and Paul O’Grady mentioned it in the interview that you did, was how there is humor that you bring to the historical programs and books that you do, in analyzing history. And you’d made the comment that people tend to ignore the fact that people have always liked to laugh, and that there is humor in these things. What is the thing that struck you as… and I hesitate to characterize it as such… but what is the greatest joke you’ve run across in historical accounts?
JONES: Oh god, um, ha! Um… I’m sorry, I can’t think…
KP: Certainly, irony abounds everywhere…
JONES: Yeah, but I think the irony… I think the idea is that Trajan’s Column is a monument to genocide is pretty ludicrous. I mean, I quite like the Germans hoodwinking Varus and concocting fictitious lawsuits to keep him busy. That’s a good one.
KP: I can imagine the strategy sessions about who they should send in next…
JONES: Yeah! (laughing)
KP: I thought the story of Attila the Hun’s motivation…
JONES: Yeah, that’s a great one too, the fact that he’s going to rescue a damsel in distress! That’s wonderful…
KP: Who essentially has sent him a missive meant to free her…
JONES: She said, “Please come and rescue me, and if you marry me, I’ll give you half the empire as a dowry.” It was quite a genuine offer. Talk about flimsy excuses for a war. I think Attila’s excuse about rescuing a damsel in distress had a lot more going for it than WMD in Iraq.
KP: See, that’s why men through the centuries have been so fearful of women…
JONES: (laughing)!
KP: Here they have the power to bring on the Huns.
JONES: (laughing)!
KP: You return to certain time periods more often than others. It seems like the Medieval period really fascinates you.
JONES: Well, I think that’s the sort of period I know a little bit about, so I’ve been sort of inhabiting that world, because of Chaucer, for a while. It fascinates me. It’s like with, you know – the more you know about something, the more interested you get sometimes.
KP: And I thought your Chaucer book was wonderful…
JONES: Oh, Who Murdered Chaucer?… I think that’s one of my favorites, actually.
KP: Has there been any thoughts of turning that into a program?
JONES: I did try the BBC on it when it came out, but they’d done two half hour cartoon versions of The Canterbury Tales, and they said, “No no, that was enough. Enough Chaucer for one year,” you know?
KP: Well, there’s always another year…
JONES: Yeah! (laughing)
KP: I thought it was really engrossing. And again, I think the great thing about what you bring to it is the investigative approach from a humanist point of view.
What was the germ that launched Who Murdered Chaucer?…JONES: I always thought it was odd that he just disappeared and nobody really knows what happened to him. And the fact that he disappeared so soon after Richard II, who I’d always been told was his protector – or he was closely associated with him. I always thought it was odd, so I thought maybe there could be some connection. And especially when an idea like the actual burning of heretics was brought in so soon after Henry IV takes over. And so it does really seem like a turbulent time. And it was sort of like, I could quite imagine Chaucer having sort of gone down in it. I just really wondered whether there was some connection. And I’m sure – I’m absolutely positive – there is, now. I don’t think there can be any doubt about it. Chaucer had just survived the coup of 1387 when the Barons took over, basically. They call it the Appellant Period, but it was actually the Barons taking over this government for about 18 months, I think it was. And Chaucer just disappeared during that time, and doesn’t really reappear until Richard takes over command again in 1389. And then Richard suddenly comes back and Chaucer suddenly gets appointed Clerkship of the King’s works, and things like that. But he got out of it, and survived – whereas a lot of people in his position – sort of civil servants in the regime – they were executed. Eleven of Chaucer’s closest friends were executed during the Appellant Period. So he just survived that, but the coup of 1399 was much more serious business.
KP: And obviously, having survived the first, he had a much higher profile when the field had been cleared a bit, I’m assuming…
JONES: Well, he certainly had a high profile anyway. Chaucer represents Richard’s age, and that’s why Hoccleve was so keen to have a picture of Chaucer in his book, Regiment of Princes – it’s a book of rules for princes on how to rule. And so it’s important to have Chaucer there because he represents Richard’s age.
KP: In which time period was it most dangerous to be a political humorist?
JONES: Well, I suspect it was very dangerous in Henry IV’s rule. I think anybody who had any sort of doubts didn’t muck around with Henry at that point. (laughing) I don’t really know about other periods, really, but you can see what happens to English literature in the 15th century. It’s just destroyed, really. I mean, there’s nothing… you know, you’ve got things really flowering at the end of the 14th century, and then a period of nothing in the early 15th century when, I think, people shut up, basically. The only people who keep writing are the really dull, wordy, non-controversial types.
KP: You touch upon it in most of your series, the sort of history of political comedy and commentary.
JONES: Yeah.
KP: And just how it sort of morphs. Post-Chaucer, it seemed like there was a bit of a lull in any real humor…
JONES: There is, really. I mean, I don’t know much about 15th century literature, but certainly you look at the writings and oh god, it’s so dull. Gower keeps writing until the first ten years of Henry IV’s life, and I’m afraid my good friend Robert Yeager – who worked on the book with me – is a great Gower scholar. He does his best to revive Gower as, but it just kills me.
KP: There’s a reason why it rhymes with dour.
JONES: (laughing)I think could be, yes.
KP: When we spoke previously, you had talked about the anti-Renaissance show that you had done for the radio…
JONES: Oh that’s right, yeah.
KP: And I know one of the suggestions I had made, that you seemed keen on at the time, was including that on the eventual DVD release of Medieval Lives.
JONES: I just think these great ideas go in one ear and out the other. I’ll make a note here… Anti-Renaissance…
KP: And I’ll keep my fingers crossed for The History of History…
JONES: Okay! (laughing)
KP: Which begs the question, now that Michael has gotten this huge DVD set chronicling his journeys, where is the Terry Jones set?
JONES: That’s a good point, yeah. I mean, the one thing is whether the BBC can pull their act together. They didn’t put out a DVD of Medieval Lives. Maybe lump the two together, or something like that.
KP: In fact, the only thing that’s really been released of yours is Crusades…
JONES: Crusades, yeah. It’s that time. They are talking about that. Actually, we’re talking about at the moment, well they’re not quite sure what’s gonna happen in the States, but because it’s funny, we’re going to put over a new DVD of Erik the Viking.
KP: Which is a long time coming.
JONES: What’s happened over here is that an English company, Arrow Films… I happened to be doing the director’s commentary, and I was saying I’d really like to re-edit the film – because I was never happy with the edit – and they put up money to re-edit it.
KP: Who says complaining doesn’t get you anything?
JONES: Exactly. Unfortunately, all the original material is lost, so we can’t change the cut – we can reduce it, we can take things out and we can change scenes, but can’t sort of do the way the dialogue goes, because we haven’t got the materials, and we can’t put any other bits in. We can’t put in things.
KP: Where is all that material? Was it just destroyed over the years, or lost?
JONES: I think it’s just been junked by somebody. Whoever owned the library at some point said, “Well, we don’t need that.” But it’s this great pleasure – a threefold pleasure, because A, I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time; B, I was working with the best editor I’ve ever worked with; and C, it was my son. They’re re-releasing “The Director’s Son’s Cut.” It’s down from about 101 minutes to 77 minutes. It really gallops along. I think it’s a really good… it’s getting much more like the movie it was supposed to be.
KP: What are the elements that really niggled you about the original cut?
JONES: Well, it’s just too long. The whole thing had been cut… it was one of those things where… What had happened in the film was that for some reason, I thought – as an experiment, I think it was – I thought I’d keep out of the cutting room and just… and the editor was really keen to keep me out. And I go, “Let’s see what happens…” And I thought, “Oh, this seems to be easy…” Because I’ve always been very hands-on in the editing. I’ve always got really involved in it. And I’ve always edited myself, really – all the Python movies and everything. And it was only about two weeks before it was due to open over here, I said, “No, I really ought to put this on the screen and look at it myself,” and I did it, and as soon as I did it my blood ran cold, because it was just wrong. It was just long. And I could just see… I managed to take out about 10 minutes for the English release, but the American was already printing 250 copies or something, so they didn’t want to change or junk them. So the long version went out in the States and the shorter version went out over here. But I’d really like to change a lot of the way the dialogue’s shot. You know, it’s like, for some reason the editor always cuts off halfway through a line, so somebody starts a line and then it cuts to the person they’re talking to, and when you really start seeing it, you often miss crucial words. I mean, I’d really like to change the whole thing.
KP: It really didn’t seem like it was cut for comedy.
JONES: Well, I think that was the trouble. I mean, what I realized was that the editor didn’t cut in to leave gaps for the laughs. “Oh, what?”
KP: It undercut any of the satire and comedy you were trying to play in the situation. I mean, it’s interesting how certain themes recur in your work. You can see a lot of what you did in Erik the Viking, particularly with the Christian character, play out in the documentary work you’ve done since.
JONES: (laughing) He really was one of my favorite characters, I think. And for him to be a missionary…
KP: Oh, it was brilliant. Then so blind.
JONES: Saved at the end because he was blind.
KP: It’s odd – and obviously you can explain this – the fact that for the most part, that was your last fiction film…
JONES: I did the Wind in the Willows…
KP: Which was done for TV though, wasn’t it?
JONES: No, it was a feature film. It was released over here. But very badly. I’m really pleased with Wind in the Willows. I think that’s the best film I’ve made, in many ways. It’s a really lovely film. It’s won various awards in America, the Chicago Children’s Film Festival, and something else… I can’t remember what it was. It wasn’t distributed. It was just sort of… Disney never really wanted to do it, and they kind of had their arms twisted by Jake Eberts, who’d put the money up for it. And they didn’t really like it, and kind of deliberately lost it.
KP: I remember getting the VHS screener of that as a direct-to-video.
JONES: Oh yeah…
KP: I guess that would be around ’97.
JONES: Yeah. I think they called it Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in America.
KP: Well, you have to make it like the theme park ride. Otherwise people won’t see it. I thought it was interesting that the one question you got from the audience on The Paul O’Grady Show was someone asking you for a sequel to that.
JONES: Oh yeah. It’s a really lovely film, I think. On the big screen it really works. I just don’t know why they didn’t distribute it over here. What happened was, because it didn’t do anything here, because they didn’t put it out in afternoons, everywhere else, Columbia said the world said, “Well, it’s not gonna work anyway,” so nobody advertised it. What happened, I was in… I was actually doing one of the Ancient Inventions programs, I think. Or something else. I can’t remember. And I was in New York, and John Goldstone, my producer, rang up and said, “They’re showing Wind in the Willows in a couple of cinemas in LA and New York.” And it turned out that Columbia, who had the rest of the world, had got the theatrical rights off Disney. Because they’d realized that some of their deals around the world had to have a theatrical distribution in the States first. Disney didn’t want the theatrical rights, anyway. They just gave them to Columbia for nearly nothing. And so Columbia put it out in a couple of cinemas in LA and a couple of cinemas in New York, with no publicity, really. So I rushed over to the cinema where it was, and it was one of those porno cinemas in Times Square with an awning, and it had Wind in the Willows -m or Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, I can’t remember – put up in those letters. So I rushed off to get a camera, buy a camera to take a photo of it. By the time I got back, it was gone! (laughing)
KP: And yet oddly, it was replaced by a porno called Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride…
JONES: (laughing) And then it got reviewed, like, in The New York Times. It got the best review of any film I’ve ever done. They gave it a whole page. And then Variety gave it a review, and they had editorials two weeks running saying, “Why are Columbia TriStar dumping this lovely film?” But it didn’t do anything, because nobody had any intentions of actually releasing it. So it never got released again.
KP: So has it just been circumstantial that there’s only been two fiction projects in the past 16 years?
JONES: Well, you get disheartened, I suppose, by that. And, you know, I thought I’d made a really nice movie. With Erik, I’d taken my eye off the ball during the editing, stupidly, and with that one, I thought I’d saw it right the way through it. I relaxed when I thought that we’d made a good film, and I should have been pushing when it came to the distribution. I hadn’t really realized that’s what I needed to do. So anyway, then I sort of… I got involved with documentary projects, really. They all seemed very interesting. I guess maybe I didn’t have time to write anything. You can spend time writing things and nothing happens. But I wrote some things that are cooking at the moment. I hope to get some films going.
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The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦
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Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!
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Oh no! Just when you thought it was safe to hang out at the Quick Stop…
Cabin Fever (hosted by the twisted souls Brian Fitzpatrick and Aaron Poole) is the result of having too much time on your hands and access to your local community radio station.
Over the course of an hour, they manage to trawl the depths of good taste, plus throw some music in. How much more could you want from a podcast?… Quality? Oh… we didn’t think of that.
Enjoy! And we hope our cross Atlantic friends can understand the Irish accent 😉
Hugs and Kisses,
Aaron P. + Rev. Fitzy
CABIN FEVER #06: Penance Whip – Yes, despite being about 2 weeks late, the show is here! Sound isn’t amazing, quality isn’t amazing. But you know what? It’s f—ing here! The issues with putting them up turned out to be a simple click of a button too many. Aaron will be whipped mercilessly for penance. So as long as you don’t forget that what we’re talking about happened last month, I think you might enjoy this one. Expect another show soon to make up for our tardiness.
[CONTENT WARNING]: Explicit contents! We say every naughty word you can think of. You have been warned!
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Episode #06 (MP3 format)
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SModcast is the meandering palaver of a pair of dudes whose voices are so dull, they don’t deserve to be on the radio (and, hence, aren’t). Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier are SModcast.
The best thing about SModcast? It don’t cost nothing.
SModcast 34: Jersey Justice League –
The Heroes of the East convene for a special Jersey roundtable, featuring epic tales of early friendship, “Star Wars” summers, a fecal tooth and a mother’s love, a fecal ring quest and a decided lack of love, a friend’s betrayal, how old is too old to attend a high school party, how to creep out an elementary school class whilst proposing to your wife, and the misfit zoo. TECHNICAL NOTE: Due to malfunctioning equipment, the sound quality may be a bit wonky – but the stories were just too good to lose.
[CONTENT WARNING] SModcast features harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Listener discretion is advised.
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SModcast 34 (MP3 format) – 46.83 MB
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Wanna add your two cents? Spend it here, in the SModcast mailbag.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SMODCAST ARCHIVES
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Chapter Six of Neil Gaiman’s Eternals series begins by forging the first known connection between the works of Jack Kirby and the collaborations of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. Kirby created the original Eternals series in the 1970s, and Chapter Six’s title, “Modified Rapture,” is a famous line from Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1885 comic opera The Mikado.
Presumably Gaiman is alluding to the concept of the “rapture,” whereby at some point in the future, Christians will be transported into the sky to join with the returned Christ. The parallel in the Eternals mythos is the Uni-Mind, created when Eternals rise into the sky and merge together into a single being that represents their collective consciousness.
On the first page various people, most of them asleep, speak what appears to be the words of the awakening Dreaming Celestial, with the repeated declaration, “I am” (Gaiman issue 6 p. 1). This alludes to Yahweh or Jehovah, the Hebrew name for God, which is commonly believed to mean “I am.” The Dreaming Celestial is asserting his claim to be God, and through Thena’s son Joey, he even says, “Let there be light” (Gaiman issue 6 p. 4), the words with which the Biblical God began the creation of the universe in the Book of Genesis. Readers should remember that he is only one of an unknown number of Celestials, and that the Dreaming Celestial also seems to be based on Lucifer and Cthulhu. If the Dreaming Celestial is a God with a capital G, he is opposition to the other “space gods,” his fellow Celestials. As his blackened armor signifies, the Dreaming Celestial represents darkness, not light, even though the armor regains its original golden color as dawn approaches.
Note that Thena tells Ikaris that “I couldn’t fly well even when I was at full power” (Gaiman issue 6 p. 5). That seems unlikely, considering that she had thousands of years to practice self-levitation; based on the goddess of wisdom, Thena should be capable of mastering such mental feats, and there’s no indication in past Eternals series that she has trouble flying. But Thena’s statement is a reminder that, not having undergone a death and resurrection, she has not been restored to full Eternal status.
The Deviant Morjak captures and threatens to kill Joey. When Thena shows parental concern, Morjak sneers, “He’s not your son. He’s not even the same species as you. He’s your pet” (Gaiman issue 6 p. 9 panel 3). Well, ordinary humans (Homo sapiens), Deviants and Eternals are probably both separate species within the same genus, Homo: Zuras later refers to the Eternals as Homo immortalis (Gaiman issue 7 p. 9). The Deviants are driven by racial prejudices that, in the Kirby series, even led them to condemn other Deviants whose genetic makeup violated certain unstated standards. It is no surprise, then, that the Deviants have contempt for ordinary humans, and even regard them as potential food (see Gaiman issue 6 p. 9 panel 1).
As the Dreaming Celestial’s armor reverts to its original golden color, “the universe shudders and shifts” (Gaiman issue 6 p. 12). This dramatically indicates just how powerful a Celestial, the Dreaming Celestial in particular, can be. Miniscule as a Celestial’s physical armor may be in comparison to the unimaginable vastness of the universe, Gaiman is indicating that the Dreaming Celestial is enough of a “God” to endanger the entire cosmos. I appreciate the inclusion of cameos by Uatu the Watcher (the only character to appear in both Gaiman’s Eternals and 1602) and Galactus, which further establish the Eternals mythos as part of the Marvel universe, and also may allude to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s monumental “Galactus trilogy” in Fantastic Four #48-50 (March-May, 1966). Uatu and Galactus’s reactions to the awakening of the Dreaming Celestial reinforce the impression of the latter’s universe-threatening might. Possibly Gaiman is also alluding to Walter Simonson’s story about a final clash between Galactus and the Dreaming Celestial in an alternate future in Fantastic Four #339-340 (April-May, 1990). Since he refers to the universe “shuddering” as if it were alive, Gaiman could have even worked in Eternity, the living embodiment of the universe, but perhaps including the occult aspects of the Marvel Universe would not quite fit a science fiction/superhero series like Eternals.
Ikaris asks Thena if she is “ready” to help form a Uni-Mind, but Sersi replies that “I don’t think I want to be part of this. . . .I’m not even sure I like changing things into [other] things,” referring to her Eternal super-power (Gaiman issue 6 p. 17). Later she rejects her Eternal identity, declaring, “I’m nort on of you. Please just leave me alone” (Gaiman issue 6, p. 26).
Back when I began my critique of this series in “Comics in Context” #193, I pointed out that the dilemma of these apparent humans like Mark Curry and Sersi who are awakening to their true, godlike selves, was comparable to that of various other characters in fiction, such as Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ and even the Doctor in the 2007 Doctor Who two-parter “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood,” in which he has been transformed into an ordinary human with no memory of his true identity. A recurring theme in such stories is the protagonist’s need to choose between the potential happiness of an ordinary human life and the lonely, more difficult path of the hero or even of a godlike being. Jesus’s “last temptation” is the fast-forward vision of his future as a happily married man with children, ending in his peaceful demise; significantly, the Doctor has a similar vision in “The Family of Blood.”
The initial issues of Gaiman’s Eternals show that Mark Curry’s life has reached a dead end, so it’s not surprising that in the final issues Mark has no regrets about resuming his Eternal identity as Makkari. Sersi, though, clings to her life as a human even when she learns of her Eternal identity, powers and responsibilities. Perhaps Gaiman believes this is true to Sersi’s personality in the Kirby Eternals. KIrby’s Sersi does seem at first glance to be the ultimate hedonist, who devotes her millennia-long life to continual partying.
But I think that this is an incomplete view of the character. Gaiman portrays Sersi as a much more subdued, quieter character than the one in the Kirby series. Kirby portrayed Sersi as uninhibited and passionate in whatever she did. Sersi makes her entrance in the original series by literally dancing (Kirby Eternals hardcover p. 51). She speaks of “the joy of living” and says that Eternals “love a good laugh” (Kirby p. 97). Certainly she does, and she is willing to party at any opportunity, and she clearly loves using her powers to transform atomic structures: as soon as Ikaris and Thena leave her alone with Dr. Samuel Holden, she transforms Holden’s furniture into what appears to be a BIg Band out of the days of Kirby’s youth. “Shall we dance??” she asks Holden (Kirby p. 133).
What readers may overlook is that Kirby shows that Sersi is equally passionate about waging battle when the need arises. She erupts in fury against those party-pooping Deviants in Kirby’s stories. At the end of Kirby’s Eternals #16, the narrator asserts that “In a battle between males, the deciding factor is always an angry woman. . .Next–Sersi the Terrible” (Kirby p. 323), which is the title of the next issue (Kirby p. 325).
So it seems to me that in Gaiman’s series, as Sersi’s powers reemerge, she should be delighted by them, not frightened, and that she should discover that there is a side of her personality that enjoys combat. In Kirby’s version, Sersi was the Eternal who most enjoyed being an Eternal.
In a trance Joey continues to voice the thoughts of the Dreaming Celestial, who says that he once intended to reward whoever freed him by endowing him with “the power of a Celestial,” but then, as his imprisonment wore on, decided to reward his rescuer instead by sparing him “when I destroyed this part of the universe,” and finally, hundreds of millennia later, vowed that “whoever freed me would perish first, and that would be my only gift” (Gaiman issue 6, pgs. 22-23). Here the Dreaming Celestial seems like a genie, who will grant a reward to the person who frees him; instead of three wishes, there are three different versions of the “reward.” Once again, we are reminded that though the other Celestials’ motives are unknowable, the Dreaming Celestial’s passion for destruction is evident.
Ikaris, Thena, Zuras, Ajak and Druig form a Uni-Mind, and here is the greatest visual disappointment in the entire series. John Romita, Jr. draws the Uni-Mind as a glowing humanoid figure (Gaiman issue 6 p. 28), but this is a visual cliche. Kirby’s Silver Surfer is a superior version of the same image. Kirby visualized the Uni-Mind as a colossal floating brain, complete with brows, as if it had eyes (see Kirby p. 198). It may be grotesque, but it is unforgettable, and powerfully conveys in visual terms that it is the collective consciousness of an entire race. Radically altering a Jack Kirby design is usually a mistake, as it is here.
As the Celestials did to the Uni-Mind in Thor #300 (October 1980), the Dreaming Celestial causes this Uni-Mind to dissolve back into its component beings. So, you see, this “rapture” did not last long: it was only a “modified rapture.”
From there Gaiman and Romita shift into a sequence that takes place within Mark Curry/Makkari’s mind, as the Dreaming Celestial, in the guise of Sersi, converses with him. “Sersi” tells him that “I am a tiny part of the mind (a subroutine/a demon/the smallest circuit) of one of the order of beings you call Celestials” (Gaiman issue 6 p. 32).
In the interview in the back of the hardcover collection of this series, Neil Gaiman says that he was attempting to “remain true to the Kirbyness of it all. And that includes. . .making the Celestials rather more unknowable than they have been.” That’s surely why Gaiman specifies that only “a tiny part of the mind” of the Dreaming Celestial communicates with Makkari and, presumably, communicates through the minds of the various humans who voiced his thoughts earlier in issue six. Neither ordinary humans nor Deviants nor even Eternals can comprehend more than this “tiny” part of a Celestial’s consciousness, by which Gaiman probably means the simplest level of a Celestial’s inconceivably complex mind. I’d speculate that Ajak, whose specialty is communicating with Celestials, likewise only communicates with “tiny” parts of their minds. If God exists, humans like ourselves could not fathom what God’s consciousness, capable of monitoring all of time and space while existing beyond both, is like; presumably when God speaks to people in the Bible, it is only a “tiny” part of God’s mind that communicates with them.
Even so, I feel that it’s wrong to have the Dreaming Celestial speak, even in this allegedly limited fashion. Although Gaiman tells us that we perceive only a miniscule portion of the Celestial’s mind, we are nonetheless reading the Celestial’s thoughts. And one of the most important themes of the Kirby Eternals is the absolute inscrutability of the Celestials’ minds and motivations. Remember, in the Kirby series, we did not even know why the Dreaming Celestial was “destroyed.” (Kirby’s narrator even calls it a “tragedy”; it was later stories that established the Dreaming Celestial as a sinister rebel guilty of a “crime against life.”) In the final dialogue in Kirby’s Eternals, Ikaris declares that “The space gods remain an unconquerable enigma–mysterious and majestic among the creatures of the cosmos!” (Kirby p. 377).
When Kirby depicted rival images of God in the “Galactus trilogy,” both Galactus and the Watcher spoke. But in his Fourth World books for DC, the Source, who represents God, communicates only with Highfather, who resembles an Old Testament prophet, and only through “handwriting on the wall,” in an allusion to an episode from the Bible (see Rembrandt’s depiction here). In his Eternals Kirby went further: only Ajak could communicate with Celestials, but, significantly, Kirby never showed us the thoughts that the Celestials conveyed to Ajak. Nor did Celestials literally speak through Ajak the way that the Dreaming Celestial speaks through various people in Gaiman’s Eternals #6. Thus Kirby kept the thoughts and motives of the Celestials mysterious.
At the outset I linked Kirby to Gilbert and Sullivan in part as a joke. But I am serious now in linking Kirby’s Eternals with the works of the late filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. One of Bergman’s themes was the silence of God, and this is one of the principal themes of Kirby’s Eternals as well. Bergman may not have known if God existed or not; Kirby brings his “space gods” onstage but makes the point that we do not and cannot understand them or what they want. We are at the mercy of the judgment of the space gods–or the real God, if God exists–but do not know what they–or God–want from us.
As far as I’m concerned, it is always a misjudgment to portray Celestials as speaking at all. Marvel writers have made this error in the past, for example, with Ashema, the Celestial who took human form.
It no longer seems right to call the Dreaming Celestial by that name since he has woken up. He can’t be the Black Celestial now that his armor has changed color; maybe now he should be called the Golden Celestial. But I will continue to refer to him as the Dreaming Celestial until such time as Marvel gives him a new official name. (So he’s the Dreaming Celestial–with the initials “D. C.”–who threatens to destroy Marvel-Earth. Nah, that’s just a coincidence.)
The Dreaming Celestial claims to have personally created Makkari. But when? Kirby established that Makkari was a comparatively young Eternal, so he’s not a first generation Eternal like Zuras, who would have been created by the First Host. Gaiman and Romita show Makkari battling Deviants just before the arrival of the Second Host (Gaiman issue 1, p. 29). Then again, that’s part of Ikaris’s faulty memories, and also shows Sersi, who was a child at the time of Gilgamesh (see Captain America Annual #11, 1992), long after the Great Cataclysm that sunk Deviant Lemuria. Certainly the Dreaming Celestial has a reason to lie to Makkari, whom he is attempting to enlist as his willing servant. But perhaps, whenever Makkari was conceived, the Dreaming Celestial somehow manipulated his genetic structure from afar to endow him with super-speed.
The Dreaming Celestial instructs Makkari to bring a “message” from him to the ordinary humans, Eternals and Deviants of Earth. It makes sense that Makkari should be a messenger, since Jack Kirby based him on Mercury, the messenger of the Roman gods. Kirby established Ajak as the Eternal who communicated with the “space gods,” so arguably Neil Gaiman has made Ajak’s principal role redundant. Then again, a future writer could have Ajak conveying messages from the other Celestials while Makkari acts as spokesman for the Dreaming Celestial. In the original series Kirby seemed to be setting up the Forgotten One to serve as an agent of the One Above All, and in Thor #287 (September 1979), Roy Thomas brought the Forgotten One back, conveying a message from the Celestials. Now this may be one messenger too many.
So at the beginning of Gaiman’s Eternals, Ikaris was a Campbellian “herald,” delivering a message, a “call to adventure,” that Mark Curry/Makkari refused to heed. Now, as the series draws to an end, Curry has not only accepted his Eternal identity but has become a messenger himself, a herald for the Dreaming Celestial, who warns him that Makkari’s message will also be met with resistance and disbelief: “it is not a good thing to be a prophet, Makkari” (Gaiman issue 6 p. 33).
And what is the Dreaming Celestial’s message? He directs Makkari to proclaim “that I will (watch/listen} and that once I have seen enough, I shall judge” (Gaiman issue 6 p. 34). Thus Neil Gaiman restores a version of the status quo from Kirby’s Eternals series: once again a Celestial stands upon Earth, eventually to deliver a judgment upon it that could lead to the end of humanity.
I can understand why Gaiman did not bring Kirby’s Arishem the Judge back, as if he had changed his mind about the “thumbs up” he gave Earth back in Thor #300. Yet having the Dreaming Celestial serve as judge still weakens the original Kirby theme. Interestingly, Gaiman has Makkari say that he is not certain just what the Dreaming Celestial is judging: “Maybe judge the people on it, but that didn’t seem to be what it meant.” No, I think that Kirby meant for us to think of Arishem as judging the human race: Kirby was evoking the image of the Last Judgment, and even of a harvest: “They planted intelligent life on this planet–the crop has matured. . .the Celestials will test it and weigh its value” (Kirby p. 37).
Moreover, post-Kirby stories about the Eternals mythos made it clear that the Dreaming Celestial is predisposed towards destruction: the Dreaming Celestial tells Makkari that when he woke, he intended to “terminate this (Earth/Planet/Place) and all that walk upon it” (Gaiman issue 6 p. 33). Now the sentient denizens of Earth have to persuade the Dreaming Celestial not to carry out his original plan to annihilate him. It is like trying to persuade Satan or Cthulhu to mellow out: the odds don’t look good. But what made Arishem’s fifty year judgment a more powerful concept is that Kirby gave us no hint of what Arishem thought or what he wanted. How can you persuade a judge when you don’t know the standards by which he judges you? Arishem was utterly unknowable to human minds, just as God might be. “Inside the impregnable armor,” Kirby wrote about Arishem, “is a mind incomprehensible to man” (Kirby p. 123).
Insisting that Zuras and his fellow Eternals register as superheroes, Iron Man and Yellowjacket miss a rather significant point. Sersi is definitely a New Yorker, but the other Eternals in this series, as far as I know, are not American citizens (not unless Sprite legally established them as such when he gave them human identities). If Zuras were a citizen of any human nation, it would be Greece. But perhaps that doesn’t matter to Iron Man or to others with a post-9/11 you’re-with-us-or-you’re-against-us mindset. “Whose side are you on?” demands Iron Man. Drawn by Romita as if he is staring the Avengers down, Zuras points out that the immortal Eternals don’t take sides, that from their perspective countries are merely “lines in the sand” and empires (like the United States?) are transitory. Zuras seems to agree with Sersi, who indicated earlier that the superhero registration act really amounted to forcing persons to take a loyalty oath (Gaiman issue 5 p. 17). When Yellowjacket persists in telling Zuras to register, Zuras gets tougher and sternly informs the Avengers that to the Eternals humans–including Iron Man and Yellowjacket–are merely “children” (Gaiman issue 6 p. 39).
Earlier on that same page Makkari, smiling, informed Iron Man that the Dreaming Celestial “likes you.” Since the Dreaming Celestial is the Satan or Cthulhu of the Eternals mythos, this is not a compliment. It would be nice if that induced Iron Man to reconsider some of his recent Civil War-related behavior.
At the start of issue 7 Gaiman and Romita show us a caricatured family of tourists staring, unafraid, up at the Dreaming Celestial as it looms, unmoving, above San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Gaiman’s point is that people quickly grow blase even about a “miracle” in their midst (Gaiman issue 7 p. 1). This makes the necessary point that the presence of the Dreaming Celestial (who the public does not know is a menace) does not prevent other Marvel series from continuing as before: life goes on.
But I think that Gaiman is being too cynical here, even considering that extraterrestrials are nothing new in the Marvel Universe. (Gaiman establishes through the tourists that the public does not know that the Dreaming Celestial is alive, but they know that his armor is alien in origin.). Besides, I think that any Marvel story in which, say, a costumed superhero walks into a bar, and nobody pays much attention, is subverting what makes the superhero genre work. Superheroes aren’t just like normal people, and normal people should react–with awe and wonder, or with fear and distrust, but with some strong emotion– when a superhero flies by. In Kirby’s Eternals people were awestruck or frightened by the sight of the Celestials appearing in their midst; SHIELD attempted to take action against them. Kirby was also wise to put Arishem the Judge in a place far from civilization, where his presence could be kept relatively secret. Perhaps the Dreaming Celestial should stand in some similarly remote place. (Will any Marvel story set in San Francisco now have the Dreaming Celestial drawn into the background?)
Zuras and Iron Man resolve their staring contest through compromise. Zuras drops his superior attitude, conceding that “I’m not” a “god.” although Zuras declares that the Eternals “defend humanity,” he makes it clear that the Eternals intend to “return to Olympia” and find the missing members of their race (Gaiman issue 7 p. 10). In other words, Zuras indicates that he has no current plans of intervening in human affairs. Since the Eternals are leaving America for Olympia, Iron Man need not insist on forcing them to register, and he and Zuras shake hands. What might happen if, say, the Eternals wend up battling a menace to Earth on American soil remains to be seen.
So in the final issue Iron Man/Tony Stark ends up being more open-minded and lenient in enforcing the registration law, and more like the character I remember and admire. Although Sersi, as noted, is definitely a Manhattanite, he does not insist that she register, either, at least in part because she has no intention of resuming her superhero career. Sersi still cannot remember her stint as a member of the Avengers. (She’s lucky. Sersi was written so far out of character in those early 1990s Avengers stories about Proctor that I wish I could forget them, too.) Stark’s sympathy for Sersi has grown to such an extent that Gaiman and Romita even subtly hint that he is growing attracted to her, and feels hurt when she goes off on her own (Gaiman issue 7 pages 9-11).
Then comes what I expect is the most controversial segment of the series. Zuras finds Sprite on a bus and kills him by snapping his neck (Gaiman issue 7 pgs. 15-17). Yes, it’s another child star who has come to a bad end. Sprite had a death wish, and you know what they say about being careful what you wish for. Last week I observed that, despite his adolescent ambitions, Sprite was like an adult trapped in a child’s body. Here Zuras tells Sprite, “You haven’t been a kid for a million years.”
But Sprite was a child emotionally, and it is downright creepy (as Gaiman surely intended) to watch Zuras murder him. Was this the only possible solution? If Sprite had indeed turned into a normal human boy, couldn’t Zuras have simply imprisoned him somewhere to live out his life, which is all too brief by Eternal standards? (Of course we can’t be certain that Sprite won’t be resurrected by an Olympian reactivation chamber.)
Despite my qualms about Sprite’s characterization and fate, I’m quite pleased with the Gaiman-Romita Eternals, whose richness becomes more apparent on rereading. I wish that it had gone on longer. Neil Gaiman has said in interviews that he felt he had too large a cast in 1602 and did not want to face the same problem in Eternals. But there are many memorable characters from the Eternals mythos whom Gaiman did not use yet who are well worth reviving in the proper hands.
The Forgotten One: He only appeared in a single issue of the original series, yet Jack Kirby told us just enough about him so that this mysterious Eternal remains intriguing, even tragic, three decades later. He was a hero who overthrew tyrants and battled “beasts,” yet, Sprite tells him, “Zuras banished you for your pride! Your will to meddle in human affairs!” Just what did the Forgotten One do to provoke Zuras’s wrath, and was he right, or was Zuras? Confined to an isolated part of Olympia, the Forgotten One was even stripped of his name. Yet later writers established that he was Gilgamesh, the hero of the ancient Babylonian epic, that he was responsible for some of the feats attributed to Hercules, and that he was mistaken for the Biblical Samson. (Hey, Neil, maybe in the Marvel Universe, the Forgotten One was Beowulf, and Grendel and his mom were Deviants.) No writer after Kirby has treated the Forgotten One satisfactorily, but he remain a character of great, untapped potential.
Kro: Recently I brought up Kirby’s Eternals in conversation with a friend, who asserted that the greatest character in the series was Kro, the Deviant warlord. He may well be right, so it’s surprising that he’s missing from the Gaiman series. Kro can serve as the villain in the Kirby series, in which he even takes delight in masquerading as the devil by sprouting horns on his forehead to terrify superstitious humans. Yet for millennia Kro has been in love with the Eternal Thena, who recognizes he is “noble, wise and brave” (Kirby p. 131), values that seem to separate him from the rest of Deviant society. In the Kirby series Kro invites Thena to accompany him to the Deviants’ undersea city of Lemuria. It is a symbolic descent into the underworld. Thena tells him, “Once before I went beneath the waves with you. Mythology records it as an unhappy story” (Kirby p. 131). I believe she is referring to the myth of Hades and Persephone. Thinking about Kro’s undersea home today, I realized that the relationship of Kro and Thena echoes the sexual attraction between the Sub-Mariner and Susan Storm in the early issues of Fantastic Four. Unable to remain together as lovers, Kro and Thena are also unable to remain eternally apart from one another.
The Reject: His fellow Deviants regard him as physically repulsive because he looks exactly like a “normal” human being, who is so handsome that Thena calls him “sweet prince.” But she’s also being ironic. Kirby introduced the Reject (later dubbed Ransak) as a combatant in the Deviants’ gladiatorial ring, “I am what I am,” the Reject once explained: “A thing taught only to make its kill–and prepare for the next” (Kirby p. 244). Never having known love, having trained only to destroy, the Reject can suddenly become like a savage beast. “At that moment,” Kirby’s narrator states at one point, “the Reject’s eyes glaze and his jaws distend like a carnivore at the kill! A snarl escapes his lips!” (Kirby, p. 156). A little later the narrator tells us, “the killing frenzy is upon Reject! Combat is the only life he knows!” (Kirby p. 157).
Years earlier, Kirby had created Orion of The New Gods, a hero who was capable of savage violence, reflected by his cruel, bestial face. Orion needed his living computer, the “Mother Box,” to hide his true face, transforming his ugly features into handsome ones. Similarly, the Reject’s outer handsomeness conceals the beast within.
With his “animal instincts” (Kirby p. 224) and “killing frenzy,” the Reject reminds me of Wolverine and his berserker rages. The Eternals debuted in 1976, two years after Wolverine made his first appearance. I doubt that Kirby was paying any attention to the “new” X-Men at the time. Rather, I see the similarities between the Reject and Wolverine as further evidence of Kirby’s ability to tap into the zeitgeist. His Eternals may not have been a commercial success, but Kirby was still pioneering new developments in the evolution of the superhero genre.
The Reject’s handsome exterior hid his inner savagery, but Thena seemed to sense that perhaps he really had the potential, buried deep inside him, to be a “sweet prince.” She recognizes that his destructive urges are a form ofd self-destruction: “Poor Reject,” she says, “he has the death-wish!” (Kirby p. 204). So she takes the Reject under her protection, attempting to civilize him and even to teach him the meaning of love (Kirby p. 203). So perhaps Kirby was consciously or unconsciously tapping into another myth: Pygmalion and Galatea, with the sexes reversed?
But again, no one has successfully exploited the potential with which Jack Kirby endowed this character.
Karkas: You could regard this gigantic, grotesque Deviant “mutate” as a variation on the Thing in Kirby’s Fantastic Four. Outwardly Karkas appeared to be a ferocious monster, just as his opponent in the gladiatorial arena, the reject, looked like a handsome storybook prince. Yet it is the Reject who can become a monster of savagery, while, when not engaged in combat, Karkas is actually a sensitive intellectual. “Your intellect far exceeds your talents as a monster,” Thena tells Karkas (Kirby p. 202). Karkas even hopes that “I may yet become a philosopher of note!” (Kirby p. 204). Kirby paired these two paradoxical characters, Karkas and the Reject, as a team, mentored by Thena. But among subsequent Eternals writers, only Peter B. Gillis, a former academic, has demonstrated an understanding of Karkas’s personality.
Dr. Samuel Holden: One reason that Gaiman did not use Dr. Holden may be that he claims that even in “Marvel time” thirty years have elapsed between the events of the Kirby series and those of his own. But as I pointed out in column 194, that just doesn’t work: in “Marvel time” less than a decade would separate the events of the two series.
There’s something appealing, charming and even touching about the romantic relationship between Sam Holden, this rather proper academic, and the beautiful, uninhibited Sersi. Jack Kirby could depict their relationship with surprising subtlety: look at how Sersi places her hand affectionately on Holden’s chest on page 279 of the hardcover collection. Peter B. Gillis further developed the Sam and Sersi relationship in the second Eternals series, but other writers didn’t get it and didn’t follow it up.
Ghaur: This is the potentially great villain of the Eternals mythos, yet he was created not by Jack Kirby, but by Peter Gillis and artist Sal Buscema in the second Eternals series. (Ghaur’s name, by the way, is pronounced as “gore,” and I should point out that it was not intended as a reference to Al, who was much less famous in 1985.) As the Deviant priestlord, Ghaur should be even more relevant today, when the toxic mixture of religious fanaticism, violence, and lust for power poses such dangers around the world.
My favorite scene with Ghaur is his first appearance, which takes place in Eternals Vol. 2 #2 (November 1985). It is a meeting between Lord Ghaur and another Deviant, Ranar. On the surface Ghaur speaks quietly and politely, but everything he says has a sinister subtext, a lethal edge like a dagger’s: Ghaur is cutting Ranar to pieces with words that foreshadow his doom.
Stan Lee had a flair for heightened, melodramatic language: back in the 1960s he could make Doctor Doom’s boasts and threats work brilliantly. But in lesser hands, the standard Marvel style for villains’ dialogue degenerated into empty bombast. Gillis’s Ghaur was a new kind of Marvel villain, who spoke in a more sophisticated manner, and whose cunning seemed credible and real.
Many writers used Ghaur after Gillis, but once again, none of them understood what was revolutionary about the character, and they turned him into yet another Marvel villain given to pompous ranting. But in the 1980s first Alan Moore, and then Neil Gaiman brought a more realistic and sophisticated style to comic book dialogue, and a new generation of writers followed in their path. So perhaps today Ghaur could find writers who would understand and recreate the distinctive voice with which Gillis endowed him.
Here is a major problem with the ongoing continuity of the DC and Marvel Universes. Great writers and artists can create brilliant concepts and characters, which are then misunderstood and mistreated by lesser talents who follow on the same series. It is a cause for celebration when another major talent comes along on the series who not only grasps what its creators intended but builds important new work upon it.
This is the case with the Gaiman-Romita Eternals. It’s not perfect, but Gaiman and Romita “get” most of what Jack Kirby intended, and have created a worthy sequel to this underrated Kirby classic, that successfully revitalizes The Eternals for a new century.
And thus I bring my six-part critique of the new Eternals to a close. Please come back next week for a landmark event: the two hundredth edition of “Comics in Context”!
–Copyright 2007 Peter Sanderson
Sarah Barrable-Tishauer: Making A Difference in Many Ways
I often times notice that artists with the most depth to them hardly get the recognition they deserve. The media would rather inundate us with stories on who is the most flashy, rather than people who have been able advance others lives because of the current place they are in. When I first got turned onto the show Degrassi some two years ago, the character “Liberty” played by actress Sarah Barrable-Tishauer really caught my attention. I sensed there was a certain depth the actress possessed I don’t see too much with young people in the entertainment business. I felt she had a true knowledge of self that she portrayed in her character that stood out. When interviewing Miss Sarah Barrable-Tishauer I smiled in knowing my intuition about her was right. She’s a young woman with a true sense of depth and vision, which will take her far.
One of the things she likes about being on the show is diversity in the cast, and the dynamic changes the characters go through throughout the seasons. “It’s such an amazing opportunity to be written this skeletal character and be able to give her dimension over seven years,” Sarah said. “Before filming, the writers will have ‘read-throughs’ with us so that we can give feedback on how realistic our characters’ actions and development are, so that our audience can better relate to our performance.” Flexibility is key on the set as Sarah originally auditioned for the part of Manny, who was written a bit different at the time. However the writers wrote the character Liberty after initial auditions had taken place and auditioning a girl who had had often pretentious and very organized characteristics. The girl didn’t end up getting cast, instead, they cast Sarah for the new part they wrote. “The joke on set for a while was that I out-Libertied Liberty.” Her self awareness enhanced her ability to tap into that character and further bring Liberty to life. “We are both strong minded, independent people, however I think I have more fun than her and I’m not as jealous as she can be. Being able to break down her characteristics helps me better portray her in front of the camera.”
Sarah’s openness to learn from many mentors has helped her fine tune her craft during her career. The first acting job she had was as the character Young Nala in the Toronto production of the play The Lion King, in which she got to work with some of the creators of the original. She also got to work with the late legend Gregory Hines in The Red Sneakers, which was his directorial debut. “I was the youngest cast member, so I learned a lot from the more experienced actors and crew. I even had the humbling experience of getting a dance class from Gregory Hines himself!” All this experience has made her lean towards wanting to produce her own shows in the future, as she said even Degrassi creator Linda Schuyler, mentioned to her that she would be a good producer one day. Sarah continues to advance herself through her pursuit of a communications and journalism degree at a local university in Canada. “I would like to eventually have my own travel television show. But for now I’m working with the university television station on a collective project where we interview up and coming local bands who are making an impact in music in their own way.” Her interests in traveling stems from seeing many marvelous sites she’s seen across the globe. “The reason why I love to travel is because I like to experience all the cultures that make our world a beautiful mosaic. It also allows me to put my own life in perspective.”
Even at her young age, while advancing herself in the acting and academic world, she still makes time to help others. She’s very active in the community, and contributes to many different charitable organizations. “I’ve been very blessed to have parents who instilled in me the strong belief that it is each of our duty to make a difference in the world and the best way to do so is through community activism.” One of the organizations she’s involved with is Dignitas International, which sets up community-based programs and health care systems for those living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi. She also co-founded a project called the Toronto Schools Snowsuit Challenge with Windfall Clothing Service, which encourages children to raise money for winter clothes for their less fortunate peers.
Positive change is something Sarah always moves towards in all aspects of her life. “I love what I do for a living because it gives me the chance to meet and learn from people I otherwise would not get the chance to encounter.” She owes her open-mindedness to parents who, she says, always encouraged her to consider new ideas and accept others. Not only is she bi-racial, but her parents have different spiritual backgrounds as well. “My mom and dad named me Sarah because it is a name represented by both the Jewish and Christian faiths.” Being raised in a home where differences were looked at as a way to understand others and bring people together has made Sarah eager to see more acceptance and understanding in her profession as well. “One of the more frustrating things about being in the entertainment business is seeing there are still a lot of cultural and racial stereotypes that need to be broken. The media creates stereotypes that reflect only a small portion of a racial group, and yet we are lead to believe that this is a representation of the entire culture. I’d like to see the industry become more color blind and start looking clearly at the world around them to see the diversity and individuality that exists.”
Be on the lookout for many great things to come from Sarah. She’s definitely one whose stardom shines inside and out!
For more information on her show Degrassi, go to www.ctv.com and
www.the-n.com.
The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦
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Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!
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In conjunction with Walt Disney Home Video, we’re giving away four (4) copies of MEET THE ROBINSONS to a quartet of lucky winners.
All you have to do to enter is fill out the entry form below”¦
Contest ends at midnight EST on Tuesday, October 23rd.
No member of Quick Stop Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, October 23rd.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after announcement of win to receive the product.
VIDEO BLOG #92: “A Guided Tour – Part 5″ ““
The final installment of the Scrubs set tour, with special tour guides Production Manager Richard Wells, Ken Jenkins, and Neil Flynn.
Download Scrubs Video Blog #92:
Large (560 x 420 – QuickTime – 115.45 MB)
Small (320 x 240 – QuickTime – 49.77 MB)
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The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
Its place in film history as the first “talkie” firmly established, Warners has given the full-tilt special edition and restoration treatment to The Jazz Singer (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.92 SRP). The Al Jolson story gets a snazzy 3-disc affair, with the first disc devoted to the stunningly restored feature itself, plus an audio commentary, vintage Jolson shorts, a trailer gallery, and Tex Avery’s classic animated homage “I Love To Singa”. Disc 2 features a feature-length documentary on the history of sound in motion pictures, surviving sound samples from 1929’s Gold Diggers Of Broadway, and studio shorts from or celebrating the early sound era. Finally, disc 3 sports over 3 1/2 hours worth of rare Vitaphone comedy and music shorts that will make cinephiles and comedy fans drool, as many of them feature vaudeville legends. If that weren’t enough, Warners has also included a nice complement of printed materials, including reproductions of photos, lobby cards, the original souvenir program, and more.
For Disney fans – and fans of Disney ephemera – The Mickey Mouse Treasures (Disney Editions, $60.00 SRP) is a must-have tome. Written by the manager of Disney’s archives, Robert Tieman, the oversized volume contains recreations of various advertising and promotional materials, cels, merchandise, and much more from the Mouse’s 66 year history. Get this. Now.
While I wish they’d just release full season sets, I guess I should be happy that we’re getting any Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP) at all. The second volume of season one features the final 10 episodes of that inaugural outing, completely uncensored, with unaired games and gag reels. Bring on season two!
It was a good ride while it lasted, and the end of That 70’s Show (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP) is nigh in the penultimate season (seven, if you’re keeping track). How do you know for sure that a long-running show is on its last legs? When your lead actor decides to move on and become a semi-recurring in the final season (Hello, Topher!). The 4-disc set features all 25 episodes, plus audio commentaries, a trio of featurettes, and promos.
As much as I dug the extended version of Quentin Tarantino’s half of the Grindhouse equation, I couldn’t get into Robert Rodriguez’s ode to John Carpenter, Planet Terror (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP). Its everyday people versus zombie mutants story tries to push every last genre button it can – and then some more – but it never really seems to get past an over-calculated vibe. The 2-disc set features an audio commentary, an audience reaction track, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a 10-minute film school, trailers, and more.
For the first time in a very long while, I got a glimpse of Angelina Jolie truly sinking deep into a character – and she couldn’t have picked a better venue than as Mariane Pearl, the wife of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, in A Mighty Heart (Paramount, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP). The film chronicles the disappearance of Pearl when he was kidnapped, and Mariane’s desperate search for clues to his location and attempts to save him before his ultimately grisly fate. Bonus features include a PSA and a making-of featurette.
I was curious in a “Can they possibly screw this up again” kind of way when it came to Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Fox, Rated PG, DVD-$34.98 SRP). I thought the first film was a tonal mess, with a shit script, poor directions, and zero respect for the characters or the fans (like myself). Could they get it all wrong the second time around, with one of the greatest supporting characters ever to grace a comic book page – the enigmatic, cosmically-powered Silver Surfer? Yes, Virginia, they can botch it all over again. The script is still piss-poor, and there’s nothing of the magic that made the Fantastic Four the “World’s Greatest Comic Magazine.” The 2-disc set features audio commentaries, deleted/extended scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a making-of documentary, a documentary on the comic book origins of the Silver Surfer (which makes this poor film translation seem all the worse by comparison), still galleries, trailers, and more.
Though it’s one of those flicks destined to remain cult due to its inside-the-industry nature, for those that do have an inkling about what goes on behind-the-scenes of making a prime time television series, The TV Set (Fox, Rated R, DVD-$27.98 SRP) is a funny portrait of the often soulless meat grinder that it is. David Duchovny is the writer whose dreams of bringing a creatively fulfilling show to prime time are dashed upon the rocks of a network president (Sigourney Weaver) intent on bringing her own vision to fruition. Bonus features include an audio commentary, a making-of featurette, deleted scenes, and more.
If you’re a bona fide recluse who never appears in public and speaks with no one but a select group of handlers, I suppose it was only a matter of time before a clever con man would take advantage of that. Such was the case with famed tycoon Howard Hughes, who fell victim to just such a con man – one Clifford Irving (Richard Gere), who sold a manuscript he claimed was the authorized autobiography of Hughes. The story of his scam – and attempts to prevent its discovery – are the focus of The Hoax (Miramax, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP). Bonus features include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, interviews, and featurettes.
If I had a glove in hand and the opportunity, I’d slap Michael Bay across the face. Then I’d sucker punch him and kick him a few times. Why, when you have a concept as simple as “giant robots with the ability to transform into everyday vehicles bring their intergalactic war to Earth”, do we get the poorly designed, badly scripted, ineptly overdirected, live action big screen version of Transformers (Dreamworks, Rated PG-13, DVD-$36.99 SRP)? I mean, is it such a difficult thing to pull off? Maybe if you have an ego as massive as Bay’s. It’s a shame, really. For all of you sad fanboys who lapped up this cinematic golden shower, the 2-disc edition features a commentary and a trio of featurette collections breaking down the production.
I try, and try, and try, but I just don’t find much funny in How I Met Your Mother (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP). I mean, I know it’s supposed to be funny – that’s what everyone says – and the actors are gifted, but the writing always seems less-than-sharp. Still, I know there are those out there that think it’s the second coming, and they’ll be snapping up the second season. The 3-disc set features all 22 episodes, plus audio commentaries, music videos, a behind-the-scenes featurette, additional scenes, and a gag reel.
If you can get past the intense, almost greasy smarminess of James Lipton, there’s plenty of interesting conversation and the occasional insight in the latest Inside The Actors Studio set, Leading Men (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP). The four leading men in question are Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, and Russell Crowe. Bonus features include reflection pieces from Lipton, plus deleted footage.
Now that TV has become fertile waters for movie stars wishing to settle in for long runs, it was inevitable that James Woods would eventually take the plunge – and you can’t find a better vehicle than Shark (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP), playing a slick, ruthless attorney who suddenly shifts gears after the death of a young woman and enters the DA’s office. The 6-disc box set features all 22 episodes, plus commentaries, deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and a gag reel.
The genre of films about predatory hybrid aliens intent on mating with unsuspecting human males owes its existence to the original Species (MGM, Rated R, DVD-$19.98 SRP) – a schlock flick if there ever was one, which now gets a 2-disc special edition featuring audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, an alternate ending, and more.
In many ways more sweeping than the original landmark miniseries, I found a certain spark missing from the sequel, Roots: The Next Generations (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). It certainly aspires to – and nearly reaches – the same lofty heights, but I just got worn down by the time the 11-hour miniseries was finished. The 4-disc set features a brand-new behind-the-scenes documentary.
If the first 8 seasons of Roseanne were Superman, then the 9th and final season (Starz, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) was Bizarro. Focusing on the radically different lives of the Conner clan after they win the lottery, the show lost its working class charm and became some kind of odd fantasy world mixed with a nouveau riche Beverly Hillbillies thing. At least we still have the golden 8 seasons that preceded it. The set is worth picking up – not just for completionists – for the two candid Roseanne interviews featured within.
Before celebrity went straight o her head and her ego began a mediocre recording career, an unaffected Jennifer Lopez was pretty darn good as the Latin pop star Selena (Warner Bros., Rated PG, DVD-$20.98 SRP), whose career came to a tragically premature end at the hands of her fan club president. The 2-disc special edition features both the original theatrical and an extended cut, a making-of featurette, additional scenes, and more.
As innocuous as it is, I really don’t think that the Arnold Schwarzenegger holiday flick Jingle All The Way (Fox, Rated PG, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is in need of an extended director’s cut, or a special edition DVD. Fox seems to think otherwise, so here we get that longer cut, plus a trio of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
As much as I loved Home Movies and wanted to follow Brendon Small to his next project – Metalocalypse (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) – I couldn’t find a thing to latch onto. I know there’s a fanbase, though, that will probably want to snap up the complete first season set, sporting 20 episodes, with bonus materials including interviews, a murder reel and more.
So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…
-Ken Plume
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