Pop Culture

How Y'All Doin'???

By The Reverend
July 29, 2003 - 13:32

Well it's been a few weeks. Unfortunately nothing in the world of comics-to-film that's rocking MY world, but I was happy to see JSA scribe David Goyer getting the writing assignment for Christopher Nolan's Batman movie project. I certainly feel comfortable with Goyer's ability to produce a credible story that will appeal to the long-suffering Batman fans out there.

So the Iraqi invasion has proceeded nicely, if you support this mission (believe it or not, it IS POSSIBLE to support the hired help while showing disdain for the management). By the time this sees print, the United States... I mean the Iraqi people, may very well be grooming Saddam Hussein's replacement. With all sincerity, I hope our men and women of the armed forces come home soon. They have overachieved in a difficult time, and their hard work and dedication has not gone unappreciated. That's my political activism for the day.

Here's some things I've been thinking about as a diversion from the conflicts keeping my friends at CNN hopped up on Vivarin non-stop:

1.I have been a Kevin Smith fan for a few years now, because I felt that he did the impossible. He made comic book fans cool, and this obviously began with Chasing Amy. I loved his work on Daredevil five years ago (has it really been that long??), and he got me reading Green Arrow stories for more than two consecutive years for the first time ever. Plus I think he's a funny-a$$ motherf***er. That being said, the guy should stick with a comic book project when he commits to it and not let his other career get in the way. The final chapter of Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do is roughly seven months late because Smith has zero concept of monthly comic book deadlines. I can't believe Marvel was going to hand over the monthly title Amazing Spider-Man to a writer and art team that couldn't produce five issues of a series in one year. Actually, it shouldn't surprise me that Marvel was ready to do this, because every creative decision they make is led by hype and dollar signs (Rawhide Kid, anyone??). I love your work, Mr. Smith, but you shouldn't have committed to more Spider-Man and Daredevil stories while working on a Ben Affleck/J. Lo joint. Jersey Girl?? Now that's one movie that I'll be happy to let the film critics be my guide. Miss Jenny on the Block is all kinds of fine and everything, but I'll wait see what Rolling Stone's Peter Travers has to say before I pay money to see the star of Maid in Manhattan and The Wedding Planner in any new film.

2.Next to Adrien Brody's slick move on Halle Berry at last month's Academy Awards (well played, dawg), the best commentary after the awards came from Doug Benson, who writes a scathing movie review column for Mr. Show's www.bobanddavid.com : "it was nice to see Adrien Brody plant a long wet one on Halle Berry when he won Best Actor. I hoped the Best Actress winner would do the same to presenter Denzel Washington. No such luck -- Nicole Kidman went for it but Denzel wasn't having it. "Russell Crowe told me, 'don't cry if you get up there,'" Nicole said. Something tells me that is not the only context where he's told a woman not to cry." Ouch. :)

3.The last thing I want to do is take an unfair swipe at the less advantaged folks out there that struggle to keep up on all the cool crap that comes out every month, whether it's comics, toys, models, props, books or apparel. But I seem to always hear the most complaining about prices coming from comic book fans, and we're talking about a consumer demographic that's legendary for its knack for burning disposable income. I think what sparked this disdain for me recently was not the prices of DC Direct product (a problem primarily caused by the retailers that sell this stuff, and something debated over daily at DC Comics' message boards), but in the reader responses I followed recently regarding Vertigo's one-shot special featuring Zatanna in Everyday Magic, by Paul Dini and Rick Mays. What really irritated me about the many posts complaining about the single issue's $5.95 price tag was that this was a one-off deal. How often have we seen Zatanna in her own book in the last ten to fifteen years? Vertigo, by way of DC, puts together a great story in a lavish format that, size-wise, is bigger than two issues of a regular $2.50 a month title, and somehow they were overcharging for it? If DC was charging anywhere from $3.95 to $5.95 a month for a regular Zatanna series, I could see a big problem here. But this was a special (and very entertaining) book for a special occasion, and I just know that the people putting up the biggest stink were the people who stuff their reserve boxes at the local comic book store with 20 to 40 titles a month. To those complainers, I say boo-f***ing-hoo. The only people I sympathize with are the folks that are too far removed from specialty shops to have gotten their hands on [i]Everyday Magic[/i] at all, though if you're reading this right now, you should have access to an online service that could sell you a copy pronto. Did I mention that this was a great book? ;)

4. Anybody watch the Final Four action at all the last four weeks? New Orleans seems to have a knack for exciting finals, and this year's was no exception. The highlight for me was in the post-game interview CBS's Bonnie Bernstein (looking more fly with every event she covers) had with Kansas head coach Roy Williams. The guy was still sopping up the blood from having his heart ripped out, AGAIN, this time by a bunch of Syracuse freshmen, and he has to answer a question about possibly filling the coaching vacancy at North Carolina. I'm looking forward to seeing what he's going to say when he accepts the job and has to explain why he said he "doesn't give a sh## about North Carolina." God, I love live television! Talk about reality TV that you can't script!

5.I suppose I should mention something about DC Direct, since it kind of gave me this forum from which to espouse all things that interest me. Already I have bought more in the last two months than I did all of 2002. I chalk that stat up to the fact that now DC Direct has the licenses for Superman and Batman. Unfortunately, characters from the Justice Society of America have taken a back seat while DC Direct's opened up the "World's Finest" floodgates, and it's JSA figures that got me into this hobby in the first place. But the company can go a long way to solidify and satiate the fan base that got them this far if their output for 2004 better reflects the comic book tastes of DC Comics readers. They need to [do] more figures based on JSA, Teen Titans (let's just say every DC title written by Geoff Johns), JLA (without focusing on Superman and Batman to great excess), and also to do some classic characters that have never been made into action figures (like Adam Strange, Mary Marvel & Capt. Marvel Jr., Jonah Hex, Blackhawk). And where, oh where, is that Firestorm figure I need so???[/list]

As always, I thank you for you time, it's been a sincere pleasure. I'm not expecting any new figures for a few weeks (Black Manta is next on my shopping list), but I'm sure something else in the world will prompt some commentary. Remind me next time to talk about some DVD releases. I'm still poring through my most recent purchases, Sex & Lucia, I am Curious, Yellow & Blue, and the Beatles Anthology, and I'll be sure to cover them next time. Peace and love always!

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12