COMICS: Troy Hickman, A God Among Men*

COMICS: Troy Hickman, A God Among Men*

A huge big' old slap of the golden spatula congratulations to my old buddy Troy Hickman, who picked two Eisner Award nominations in the announcement today for comics' most prestigious awards, named after the late great Will Eisner.

Troy nabbed nominations for "Best Anthology" for his "Common Grounds" superhero slice-of-life series from Image comics (and where's the sequel, Image?) and "Best Short Story" nomination for “Where Monsters Dine,” by himself, Angel Medina and Jon Holdredge, in Common Grounds #5. Way to go, buckaroo!

I've known Troy since 1992 or so and had the joy of having him do some writing for my late, not-that-lamented "Amoeba Adventures" small press comic. He was absolutely the finest guest writer I ever had, and my most faithful critic/letter hound/obsessive fan to boot. Not one but two Eisner nods is the least the man deserves. (To give you some perspective, that's the same amount of nominations as Dan Clowes, Warren Ellis and Art Spiegelman.) Now, in manners of hygiene and breeding, he may be an unspeakable abomination from the pits, but the man can wield a pen. Now let's see some more projects from you, boyo!

* The terms "God," "Among" and "Men" may not necessarily be true.

MOVIES: I saw 'Elektra' so you don't have to

MOVIES: I saw 'Elektra' so you don't have to

Frankly, I'm not a big fan of Elektra. I think she was done right in a dozen or so stories by her creator, Frank Miller, and frankly it would've been better for all concerned if she'd never appeared in comics again after that. But hey, femme fatales sell, so Elektra sputters along in comics to this day. And this year's recent movie adaptation does little to convince me this is a character worth reading about --

‘Elektra’
It’s hard to see how you could make a movie about a sexy, deadly knife-throwing assassin boring, but somehow “Elektra” manages to do just that.

A spinoff of 2003’s comic-book adaptation “Daredevil” starring Ben Affleck, the plot revolves around Elektra (Jennifer Garner), a conflicted young woman who’s a hired assassin, but doesn’t seem to like her work very much.

When she’s hired for a mission that she finds she can’t go through with, Elektra comes into conflict with the evil Japanese death cult The Hand. Will Elektra stay on the side of the angels or the devils?

Judging from online chatter, I’m one of the few who rather liked the Gothic bombast of “Daredevil.” In that movie, Elektra apparently died at the end. This movie glosses over her apparent resurrection in hazy flashback sequences, and doesn’t mention the events of “Daredevil” at all (a deleted scene on the DVD does feature a 30-second cameo by Affleck).

“Elektra” the movie is toothless action, lacking the hard edge of the original Frank Miller comics or the colorful fun of the movie “Daredevil.” Directed by Rob Bowman (“The X-Files”), it’s a film convinced of its own deep solemn meaning. We have many dreary shots of Elektra looking depressed, and poorly visualized slow-motion fights that all look like they escaped from a 1988 Guns ‘N’ Roses video.

There are a few cool moments, even if they don’t make much sense — ninjas that explode in a puff of smoke when they die; a man whose tattoos come to life. And Terence Stamp makes a nice impact in his few scenes as Elektra’s mentor Stick.

Garner has proven herself to be a pretty appealing actress, on TV’s “Alias” and movies like “13 Going on 30.” But here she’s given a moody assassin to play, and little of her charm emerges.

The makers of “Elektra” realize a cold-blooded murderer isn’t very sympathetic to audiences, so they try to make her a cuddly assassin who only kills really bad people. The movie sinks in manipulative clichés. She’s the killer who cries. Yeesh.

I’ll say this for “Elektra.” It’s not quite the bottom of the barrel for recent Marvel Comics adaptations (that would be last year’s “The Punisher” in my book). But that’s about all that you can say that’s positive about this lazy hackwork.
*1/2 of four

COMICS: Quick Comics Reviews!

COMICS: Quick Comics Reviews!

Got my box of monthly comics goodness from the fine folks at Westfield last week, and have a few quick comic thoughts to jot down...


Fantastic Four #524
A great wrap-up to writer Mark Waid and Mike Weiringo's nearly 40-issue run on the Fantastic Four, the best the comic's seen in many years. Waid really understands the "family" part of the Fantastic Four setting it apart from the rest of the superhero comics, and balances slapstick humor with galaxy-spanning action and solid drama. This last issue is a nice sampler of the entire run's feel - after an accident, the Four's powers have "left" their bodies and are randomly jumping into people's bodies throughout New York City. Imagine spontaneously becoming a rocky orange Thing, or a Human Torch. It's that real rarity in today's comics, a one-part story, and it's just great superhero fun, with nice insights into the characters in between the action. I'll miss this creative team, although I'm excited to hear they're doing a Spider-Man comic this fall. Grade: A-

Black Panther #2
The Black Panther is one of those characters I just like, regardless of the iffy stories he appears in. Cool jet-black Batman-crossed-with-black cat visuals, the novelty of being the first major black superhero, ruler of an African nation and James Bond, Einstein and Doc Savage all wrapped into one. The late, lamented recent series written by Priest was the highlight of this character's printed career, combining great art with twisting, complex stories unlike anything else in mainstream comics. It got a little too labyrinthine toward the end of its 62-issue run, but I dug it. Nobody stays gone long in comics, so yet another Black Panther comic has started up, written by Reginald Hudlin and drawn by the great John Romita Jr. Two issues in, and I'm not super impressed. Hudlin comes from movies ("House Party," "Boomerang") and doesn't have anywhere near a consistent authorial voice or tone. It doesn't feel like the man's written a comic in his life. Characters speak inconsistently -- the Panther's homeland of Wakanda is a proud and independent African nation, so why do we get people talking in American slang? Nobody feels realistic. Worse yet, this is one of those insanely drawn-out series where two issues in and the title character has hardly appeared. We've basically had a leisurely tour of Wakanda and its leader's fearsome reputation. The art by Romita is pretty darn great as always, but the writing almost reads like amateur night. I'll stick with it for a little while because darn it, I love the Black Panther as a character, but we either need radical improvement from the writer or a new one, stat. Grade: C

Secret War #4 (of 5)
Man, I want my money back. I'm really starting to lose my faith in writer Brian Bendis, who misses as often as he hits lately. This overpriced, underplotted series is a prime example of "Bendis bloat," taking four $3.99 issues to tell a two-issue tale. I liked the first issue, with its "James Bond" type premise of heroes like Captain America, Spider-Man, Cage, Wolverine and more getting involved in a mysterious undercover mission that somehow ties in with the source of the technologically-powered villains in the Marvel Universe's origins. Interesting idea, done with a bit of menace and nice Bendis one-liners. But since the first issue, this story - terminally late between issues - has dragggggged, already out-of-date thanks to Bendis' more entertaining "New Avengers" series. The painted art by Gabriel Del Otto is nice, I guess, but often too dark and not very good at sequential storytelling. This issue sums up the meandering pointlessness of the series - a long fight scene, with a mysterious villainess we've never seen before showing up at the end. Padded out with 20 pages of filler pin-ups and scripted profiles. I've already pre-ordered #5 so I'm in for the whole tale, but this ranks as one of the more disappointing miniseries in recent memory. Grade C-

LIFE: Monday meme

LIFE: Monday meme

There's been a lot of the memes floating around lately. Your Monday morning treat is reading me fill out this one! Take it and pass it on if you like.

TEN random things about me:
1. My wife is from New Zealand and my son has citizenship in both the U.S. and New Zealand.
2. I am 6 foot 2 inches tall, left-handed, and mildly color-blind which is why for a long time I had a favorite blue shirt that turned out to be green.
3. I wrote and often drew a small press comic book series from 1990 to 1998.
4. I was determined to be a zoologist as a kid. I would design elaborate imaginary zoos. I was going to have a blue whale in my zoo.
5. I interviewed former California Governor Jerry Brown in college... and I stepped on his foot.
6. I have written 200 or so newspaper columns since 1994.
7. The lead singer of Phish once left an angry message on my answering machine at 3 in the morning after I wrote an uncomplimentary article about them.
8. I own 65 CDs by David Bowie. And I am not ashamed.
9. I had an job internship at Billboard magazine in New York City.
10. My wife and I actually met through letters we both had in the "Cerebus" comic book. We became pen pals and got married 7 years later.

NINE places I’ve visited:
1. New Zealand from the top to the bottom
2. Fairbanks, Alaska, where I was born
3. Most of Europe
4. The Bahamas
5. Ensenada, Mexico
6. Washington, D.C.
7. Austin, Texas
8. The Grand Canyon
9. (Next month!) Vancouver, Canada

EIGHT things I want to achieve in life:
1. I want to write a book, fiction or nonfiction
2. I want us to move to New Zealand for a few years
3. I want to raise a good kid
4. I want to visit Australia, Asia and Africa.
5. I want to figure out that material possessions aren't everything
6. I want to take up drawing again
7. I want to lose 20 pounds or so
8. I want to keep working doing something I enjoy

SEVEN ways to win my heart:
1. Recommend a good book or movie
2. Be interested in learning
3. Have a sense of humor
4. Be decent
5. Be open-minded
6. Look me in the eye
7. Steal it from my wife

SIX things I believe:
1. I believe nobody knows what happens when we die, but I'd like to think this isn't all there is
2. I believe there is life in outer space somewhere
3. I believe you can never read too many books
4. I believe humanity is quite full of itself
5. I believe our brains are our best friends and worst enemies
6. I believe in the future

FIVE things I’m afraid of:
1. Aging
2. Anything bad happening to my boy
3. Frogs (don't ask)
4. Bad drivers
5. Kidney stones

FOUR of my favorite things:
1. The family
2. Kudzu my cat
3. The Amazing Spider-Man
4. David Bowie's "Station to Station"

THREE things I do every day:
1. Read
2. Edit
3. Play with Peter

TWO things I’m not trying to do right now:
1. Spend money
2. Eat breakfast

ONE person I want to see right now:
1. Who else? The person who's asleep in the next room, Baby Peter, superstar!



P.S. Don't forget about my Jay's Days Giveaway contest - the rules were changed and deadline extended over the weekend, so check it out!

COMICS: Jay's Days Giveaway, REVISED!

COMICS: Jay's Days Giveaway, REVISED!

As Gob on "Arrested Development" would say, "I've made a huge mistake."

My Jay's Days Giveaway contest is a huge flop so far, and I sure want to share Jay's cool comix with folks, so I've realized my idea for the contest and that whole 'most embarrassing moments thing' was wayyyy too complicated. (And besides, as someone else pointed out, it's hard to write anything for this topic when you're as perfect as most bloggers are, wink wink.) Anyway, forget that idea. I'm big enough to admit I'm lame and so -- new Jay's Days Contest rules!

So here's the scoop — instead of some huge essay, in following with Jay's autobiographical comic theme, I want you to pretend you've written your own life story, and come up with a catchy title for it that'll get those books moving off the shelves. Then, e-mail me your autobiography's title to nikdirga @ hotmail.com. You'll have a shot at winning Jay's latest book "Jay's Days Vol. 3: Rise and Fall of the Pasta Shop Lothario" plus even more rare and early work by this great cartoonist. The winners will be picked from the most original, funniest and whatever the co-judge, my wife, likes the most. Feel free to tell us more about your imaginary autobiography if you want -- dust jacket copy, perhaps?

New deadline is April 29, and you can find more details about Jay's groovy comics and what the prizes are on my original now-updated post here, or at his Web site. C'mon, let's get some entries coming in, by gum! I know I'm far from the most read spot in the blogosphere, but some of you have got to want cool free comic swag!

ETC.: This and that

ETC.: This and that

Well, I realize I never did post my impressions of the "Sin City" movie but every other well-adjusted fanboy on the Internet already has. Suffice to say, excellent adaptation, although part of me felt it was a bit weird seeing Sin City in shades of gray -- obviously, they couldn't have imitated the comics' stark black-and-white imagery without doing it animated, and they did a good job replicating the look, but one of the things I love most about Frank Miller's comics is their absolute chiaroscuro (my $10 word for the day). Anyway, I dug it -- if you want more, read the ***1/2 of **** review I wrote for my day job over here.

People who deserve to be mercilessly beaten every day for the rest of their lives, Part One: The guy driving the big-ass Hummer in the middle of the road yesterday with the license plate, "PD CASH." Oh, bite me.

Gosh, "Lost" continues to be one of about four shows on the TV I can't miss (the others being "Scrubs," "Arrested Development" and "24"). This week's episode was particularly solid, with a surprising death and promises of upping the antagonism between several characters. Some people are grumbling that "Lost" doesn't give answers to the many questions it's posing, but it looks like some might be forthcoming. Anyway, in my mind it's more successful as a character study than some sweeping mystery. The risk with a show like this is it meanders off into "X-Files" territory, becoming a twisted mess of continuity and contradictions by the end. Hopefully the producers are smart enough to give us just enough answers to keep tuning in. If the show ends the first season on a high note, it's going to be a long summer of waiting...

People who deserve to be mercilessly beaten every day for the rest of their lives, Part Two: The commentator I happened to overhear on the teevee the other day saying, "Amber Frey, the most famous mistress in history..." (Yeah, I had to look her up too. Something to do with the Scott Peterson trial.) And this is why I hardly ever watch TV news anymore.

Yadda yadda mandatory Jay's Days Giveaway Contest plug win free stuff deadline April 15 please oh please enter yadda yadda...

ETC.: Celebrate the spatula

ETC.: Celebrate the spatula

Hey, it's my BLOGOVERSARY! That's right, it's been one entire freakin' year of inane blog posts from yours truly. I have to admit, when I started, I wasn't sure if I could keep it up. I've never been a "post-a-day" kind of guy, but when I post, I do tend to ramble on. The Blogger page includes information on how much I've written:
Posts Written 236
Words Written 74,140

Yowch.

Let's take a trip in time back to that faraway time of April 2004, and ask, what did I write about in that first month? Like I have ever since, a little bit of everything, I guess. Topics included movie reviews of "Shattered Glass," "Hellboy" "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "21 Grams" and "Kill Bill Vol. 1," writing about Baby Peter spitting up, a couple of old newspaper columns [something I've gotten away from reprinting here], the end of Dave Sim's Cerebus, some comic reviews, a gushing essay about TV's "Scrubs," my day judging a spelling bee, a look at 2004's summer movie lineup, the end of Guided By Voices, and an exhaustive look at Avril and I's trek to the Pixies Reunion concert in Eugene -- plus a buncha other junk.

Anyway, thanks to those of you who read the blog, link to the blog, comment on the blog – like most bloggers, I'm an incurable narcissist, doing this mostly to satisfy some strange inner writing demons, but it's been a blast and I hope to continue it for a while longer. Many thanks and keep reading, and hey, don't forget about the Jay's Days Giveaway contest -- deadline is April 29 if you want to enter and win a shot at some cool Jason Marcy comics. You could be the icon of millions!

BOOKS: Books I Read - March

BOOKS: Books I Read - March

A few days late, but anyway, here's March's installment of Books I Read. (January and February editions can be seen here and here respectively. Grand total for March, eight books -- three fiction, two biographies, two essay collections and one book about giant face-eating rats.

"Lost In A Good Book" by Jasper Fforde The second in Fforde's entertaining "Thursday Next" series, about a "literary detective," funny, lighthearted and very literate sci-fi/mystery adventures. A lot of series fantasy fiction doesn't appeal to me, but so far the Next books are great fun. This one's even better than the first, and I look forward to reading the third, currently in my "Stack of Books I Really Must read Soon."

"Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants" by Robert Sullivan Slimy reading, literally, but fascinating stuff about the rats of New York City, where they live and the animal's impact on human history over the years. Not for the weak stomached, but one of those "science made fun" books. Goes on a little long - how much can one read about rats? - but a decent read.

"Amnesia Moon" by Jonathan Lethem One of Lethem's early science-fiction novels, reading like an acid trip. Before he got more polished with books like "Fortress of Solitude," Lethem was good at coming up with incredibly original, strange ideas, but the plots weren't all that tight. A road trip about a man's journey through a post-war wasteland he may have actually created.

"The Life and Death of Andy Warhol" by Victor Bockris After checking out a recent local exhibition of his work, felt like reading a bio of Andy. Bockris does a great job capturing the crazy vibe of post-WWII New York's art scene, exploding into the crazy '60s and hung-over 1970s. It's full of gossip, but also educational and nonjudgmental. Warhol himself comes off as a sad, lonely man, a man who intentionally becomes a void, eaten alive by his own creations.

"Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction" by Sue Townsend I've been reading the Adrian Mole series — fake "diaries" by a pretentious, hypochrondriac and chronically oblivious British lad with delusions of grandeur — since 1984 or so, when the title character was about 13. Now, in this latest book, which my darling wife brought back from New Zealand as it's not out in America yet, Adrian is in his mid-30s, with kids and "accidentally engaged." A lot better than the last book, which tipped the series a little too much into farce, and a nice job of tying in topical events such as the War in Iraq and Tony Blair.

"Hold The Enlightenment" by Tim Cahill (Re-read) Cahill is my favorite travel essay writer, a frequent columnist for "Outside" magazine who manages to combine harrowing adventure tales with humor and self-deprecation. This is his latest collection of essays, another excellent tour around the world, tinted with the author's solemn realization he's getting older. Any book with an essay about hunting for a platypus is OK with me.

"The Partly Cloudy Patriot" by Sarah Vowell Solid book of essays from a disillusioned yet optimistic Democrat, history buff and NPR contributor (also the voice of Violet in "The Incredibles"!). I've heard her compared to David Sedaris but didn't find her quite as funny, although I like her wry tone and ability to combine fervent liberalism and patriotism in a way we don't see too often these days.

"Cary Grant: A Biography" by Marc Eliot Grant is right up there among my top classic Hollywood stars, and I checked out this new bio from the library recently. The man who was born Archie Leach had a fascinating life story, from abandoned orphan to a traveling acrobat to becoming one of the world's biggest movie stars. The author here seems a little fixated on Grant's alleged bisexuality -- he digs into Grant's sharing a house with fellow actor Randolph Scott in the 1940, frequently calling them "lovers" -- yet a dig through the notes in the back show little solid attribution for a lot of this in this otherwise well-researched tome. A few "anonymous" interviews are cited to back it up, which always get this journalist's ire up. Anyway, nitpitcking aside, I'm making it sound like I didn't enjoy the book as much as I did. Admittedly, Grant might well have "played both sides" of the fence, but it's only a part of his story. Eliot does a nice job examining the reasons for Grant's appeal through the decades, and the mystery of how this icon of manhood was rarely ever satisfied in love. Great Hollywood babylon.

MUSIC: Hootie's Hell

MUSIC: Hootie's Hell

Honestly, I've seen this incredibly annoying Burger King commercial on TV 59 times but I never realized the cowboy is Hootie from 1990s mellow-rock sensations Hootie and the Blowfish. (I'm a case study in failure of advertising -- I can have a commercial flash by me a hundred times in TV, register it, and still not be able to tell you what they're advertising.)

Anyway, man, Hootie. Geez. From #1 records in the '90s to singing jingles about Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch whatzits. Wouldn't it just have been more dignified to have a heroin overdose or star in a porn movie?

My life as a journalist, the last few days:
"Is the pope dead?"
"Is the pope dead?"
"The pope died!"
Remake page of Friday's paper, big 90-point headline POPE JOHN PAUL II DEAD, ten minutes later discover AP won't confirm death, CNN says reports he's dead, then takes it back, Pope not dead.
New headline, "POPE NEAR DEATH."
"Is the pope dead?"
"Is the pope dead?"
"Why won't the pope die?" (Journalists have a peculiar pitch-black gallows humor, honest.)
Cranky wire editor: "He's doing this ON PURPOSE!"
"If the pope dies Saturday, what do we do with our Sunday package?"
"Is the pope dead yet?"

Anyway, the pope is gone, rest in peace. I'm not a very religious man myself but he was a dignified fellow who always stood for peace, even if I don't agree with the church on a lot of its positions. He suffered a lot this last decade with stoic grace, I felt. And now I know what our Sunday front page will be like.