The New 52 Earth 2: Better for Women?

After giving up on the rest of the DC New 52, I thought I'd give the superhero comics another chance now that they're reintroducing the multiverse to their continuity. With alternate worlds, maybe there's a happier one, less focused on big fights and gross, blood-soaked images.

Earth 2 #1 quickly showed me that assumption was wrong. The company has been very close-mouthed about the book and its premise, so forgive me for discussing SPOILERS following.

Darkseid attempts to invade Earth, and the big three ' Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman ' are presumed dead after battling him. This will lead to the formation of a new hero group, some of whose members are shown briefly in this issue. Writer is James Robinson, who is far away from the guy whose work we all loved on Starman. Did he have brain surgery? Replaced by a doppelganger, like those old 'Paul is dead' rumors? Simply burn out? Art is by Nicola Scott and Trevor Scott.

In order to get there, though, these heroes have to die. Superman, portrayed much the same as the character we used to know, gets this:

Batman, still the strategist, is presumed gone after a heartfelt farewell to his daughter Helena and another explosion. Helena is Robin, before becoming the Huntress and moving into the pages of Worlds' Finest (see below). But Wonder Woman, the bloodthirsty warrior, is lovingly impaled in this half-page:

I suppose, if I was being charitable, that I could infer that we see the woman's death in such detail to show how down-to-earth a hero she is, how her character is less cosmic and less mysterious than the other two. But I'm really tired of the bloodthirsty warrior as the driving motivation behind Wonder Woman. There's so much more to her than that, but that's all the writers these days seem to want to focus on.

Worlds' Finest #1 is a much better read, featuring the Huntress and Power Girl (who was previously Supergirl) as buddies trying to survive a difficult situation together. They've been thrown into another world, and they're trying to get back home. That makes for a nice, simple motivation most can relate to, if a bit of a departure from traditional heroism. It's a real pleasure to see two women starring in a DC superhero series, without worrying about them flashing body parts at the (presumed male) reader to keep their interest.

I'll be following this series, written by Paul Levitz. I like the double art structure, too, with 'present day' illustrated by George Pérez and Scott Koblish and flashbacks drawn by Kevin Maguire. I've missed seeing his clean lines.

My Trip to MoCCA Fest 2012

The Trip

I took a long weekend in New York City to visit this year's MoCCA Fest held to benefit the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. My mother and I were traveling together, since after the show, we planned to do some sightseeing and shopping in the city.

We stayed at the Ramada Eastside, which I heartily recommend. For about $200 a night (it is New York), we had a recently renovated room much larger than I expected with a bathroom with plenty of space as well. Plus, they provide free wifi and free breakfast (bagels, donuts, pancakes, hard-boiled eggs, cereal). This was all four blocks from the show location at the Lexington Armory. If you're interested in visiting the MoCCA show and staying within walking distance, it's a great choice. Now that I know of a reliable place to stay in the area, that makes it much easier to make this trip a yearly habit.

I was at the show at opening on Saturday, 11 AM, and was surprised to find myself done at 3:30. I had seen many wonderful artists, talked with old friends, met some new ones, and acquired a lot of terrific reading. I could have done another sweep of the floor, and I'm sure I would have found more great comics to try, but I was tired ' we were up for our flight that morning at 3 AM ' and I didn't feel like I could carry much more.

My show strategy this year is to avoid overdoing, to enjoy what I what find and not stress about what I might have missed. (So I'm sorry I didn't get to say hello to Stephen Robson of Ponent Mon or Ed Chavez of Vertical, but I'm sure there will be another opportunity in future.) This show can be done in an afternoon or take the full two days, especially if, unlike me, you remember to go to some of the panels and programming. By mid-day Saturday, the show floor was nicely crowded. I would get bumped every so often, which I don't care for, but that many attendees hopefully meant good business for exhibitors.

The Comics, Artists, and Publishers

This show didn't have one standout book for me. Instead, it was about continuing enjoyment of the medium and its artists. I should say to start that I didn't spend a lot of time shopping with big publishers such as Top Shelf, Fantagraphics, or Drawn & Quarterly. They all had books I was interested in, but I can easily get them when I'm home, without worrying about how to carry them back there. I had limited packing space this trip, so I focused on small press and minicomics, many from artists who are long-term favorites of mine.

That was the best thing about this show ' seeing creators whose work I've enjoyed for years continue bringing out new and exciting works. Take Kris Dresen, for example. I've been loving her work since the mid-90s, and now she was debuting the print edition of She Said. I also picked up Gone, which is almost an illustrated poem about trying to fly.

John Green at MoCCA

I enjoy Alisa Harris' Cooking Up Comics web recipes, so I bought the three issues of her Urban Nomad minicomic about living in New York City. (Great reminder of how much fun it is to visit the city but how glad I am that I don't live here. It takes a special kind of person to survive it.) And my mom was actually interested in taking the bookmark I brought back ' Cooking Up Comics might be the first webcomic she reads!

Lucy Knisley had two minicomics I hadn't bought yet, and I got to hear a little bit more about her upcoming book Relish, coming next year from First Second. Given the food focus, I expect to share that with Mom as well. The key to converting comic readers: subjects they're interested in.

John Green didn't have a table, but I bumped into him setting up for a sketch session. They are debuting Teen Boat with a release party on a real boat! Ok, it's a stationery barge, but on Friday, May 11, the authors will be appearing at the Waterfront Museum in Brooklyn. What a neat idea!

There was also the fun of catching up with old buddies, such as former Richmonder Chris Irving, who was working with PowerHouse Books. They were at the show to promote their anthology of Golden Age Western Comics ' which has a cover with holes in it, as though someone shot it! ' and Chris' interview book Leaping Tall Buildings, with impressive photographs by Seth Kushner. This beautiful volume is aiming to introduce some of the key figures who made American comics to non-fans.

Mark Smylie of Archaia

Archaia was at MoCCA for the first time in four years. Mark Smylie and I chatted briefly about their convention strategy, how they hope to make more appearances at smaller shows with targeted samples of their diverse line, which sounds like a great idea to me.

Also fun to catch up with was Ross Richie of Boom! Studios. Someday, we're going to get a chance to get a drink together and really swap stories about all the comic history we remember; this time, we chatted about the Austin comic scene, remembering Sam Hurt and Hepcats. Plus, Ross, who was there then, told me the real story of why Marvel bought Malibu. I shouldn't neglect to mention the pleasure of meeting Rich Tommaso, there promoting his just-out Pete and Miriam.

I picked up a copy of Luci's Let Down by Marjee Chmiel & Sandra Lanz. I saw this at SPX last year, and I think I was going to borrow Ed's copy from him, but you know how good intentions go. I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing this shortly.

Pete Stathis took a 'daddy break' from comics, but he's coming back with a new project, Kulok and Dunlop, a fantasy adventure comedy launching in June. There's a preview at his website.

It's always a pleasure to see Bill Roundy, who has a weekly comic called Bar Scrawl about 'the drinking establishments of Brooklyn'. He's smartly collected them into minicomics arranged by particular neighborhood, a smart idea for locals.

A lovely lady named Patricia Burgess had the most darling tiny fruit slice earrings. Amazingly, they matched a bracelet I bought online for summer, so I had to have the little oranges.

Billage, Amelia Onorato, Melanie Gillman, and Donna Almendrala

My last stop of the show was the kind of coincidence that ends the experience on a high note. While in one far corner of the room, an artist I knew introduced me to a Center for Cartoon Studies student. He wanted to show me his comics, but he had just left his table on the other side of the room for the first time in the show. I said I'd work my way back across the room and meet him there.

When I got there, he wasn't back yet, so I looked around and discovered he was sharing a table with one of my favorite young webcomic creators, Melanie Gillman. I've talked before how much I enjoy her comic Smbitten, and now I own the print copies. Which are hand-stitched with pearl trim! If Billage, the student, hadn't asked me to come by, I would have missed one of my favorite purchases. Serendipity!

I also got Bill's comics, along with another tablemate's, Amelia Onorato. I look forward to telling you more about all the many great minicomics I picked up in a future column.

The Food and Art

We're done with comic stuff now ' the rest of this is just me talking about dining out, because one of the goals of the trip was to eat some really good meals, and at that, we were successful.

Dinner Saturday night was at Artisanal Bistro, a French restaurant with an amazing cheese selection. They even have a cheese consultant, similar to a sommelier for a wine cellar. We chose a soft, Brie-like cheese (but with a stronger taste that was evocative of scallops) and discovered Shropshire Blue, a sort of blend of Stilton and Cheshire.

I love dining out with my mother, because we both love the same kinds of elaborate dishes and we like to share and taste. At Artisanal, she had a light and classic trout almandine with haricot vert, while I enjoyed a braised lamb shank with ratatouille and an amazing goat cheese polenta. It's a good thing we ate early, because after all that and the early rising, we crashed early and slept well.

Sunday began with brunch with Brigid Alverson and her friend John, another Boston comic fan. The Tick Tock Diner, just across the street from Penn Station, was swamped, but the food was diner classic and made for a filling breakfast.

Instead of returning to the show, Mom and I were interested in another kind of shopping. We went to Macy's, which was overcrowded with international tourists, and then Lord and Taylor. Mom was looking for a particular purse style which unfortunately isn't in style this season, so no luck there.

We wrapped up the afternoon visiting the Museum of Modern Art. We only had a couple of hours, so it was a quick walk through the history of art, but we saw work by Picasso, Duchamp, Matisse, Warhol, and Monet's Water Lilies. I recall two standouts of the experience:

* I saw Van Gogh's Starry Night, which I will always remember.
* We had a lovely conversation about how to define art and the influence of the academy in declaring what is and isn't. As modern art becomes more current, the piece becomes less about the craft and representation and more about the concept.

Dinner was at the MOMA restaurant, the Modern. After a delicious arugula/watercress salad and a liverwurst appetizer, I had an astounding duck breast with pistachio/truffle dipping sauce and surprisingly different peppercorn-crusted green apple slices. It was hard to tell they were apples, but they tasted terrific with the duck and the sauce. Mom enjoyed a pan-seared skate wing with creamy grits and brown butter vinaigrette. Everything was so intensely flavored, it was wonderful.

One more note for NYC visitors: It is not an early-rising city. We found ourselves relaxing in the morning, since there was nothing to do before 10 AM, and we were up and ready before 8. I suspect everyone else was sleeping in from a late night.

TCAF Teen Boat Comic Features Wonderful Cameos

• Posted by Johanna on April 27, 2012 at 2:28 pm
• Category: Digital and Webcomics

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More MoCCA: Some Updates

• Posted by Johanna on April 27, 2012 at 1:59 pm
• Category: Comic News

MoCCA Fest is tomorrow! When I'm not obsessing about packing, I'm noticing the following additional things I'm going to have to do.

Jesse Lonergan, whose Dancer a Day blog brings a smile to my face every morning, will have two new minicomics, 'High Flyer' and 'Fancy Footwork', which collects favorites from that blog.

Jonathan Baylis, whose So Buttons #4 Ed reviewed last year, will have a 'MoCCA Edition' teaser of the upcoming #5 (which will premiere in San Diego). It features a cover by Tom Scioli, modeled after Kirby's Captain America #212 and includes three short stories for only $1. The longest, drawn by Thomas Boatwright (panel shown here), can be read here. I'm sure coffee junkies will appreciate it.

Robot6 has a more formal rundown of publisher appearances, which mentions that Fanfare/Ponent Mon will have advance copies of The Summit of the Gods Volume 3 available to buy. I read an advance PDF and recommend it. Publisher Stephen Robson will also be joining Heidi's small publishing panel, making it even more of a valuable discussion.

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Savage Critics Launches Digital Comic Store

It's not just that comic shop retailer Brian Hibbs makes such interesting decisions, it's that he explains them in such informative ways. Take the latest, with Brian's review site the Savage Critics (disclaimer: I was one for a short one) signing up to sell digital comics through Diamond's program with iVerse.

That Diamond connection is key, because right now, their offerings are only available through established retail accounts with physical storefronts, as Brian explains:

Most of Diamond's focus has been on a kind of 'do you want fries with that?' digital copy upsell in store. Hell, maybe that can even work ' though I have a hard time picturing it, and, besides, the physical print market is already niche enough that physical retailers would be, I think, largely foolish to even raise the possibility that customers in their physical stores might migrate to digital (not that I think they WILL, as a mass) [...]

All I know is that I'm sure as hell not going to promote digital within my individual physical sales environment. I think that's plainly counter-productive to my physical print-based business. The internet, however, is different. I'll be surprised if even 1% of my regulars read this blog posting, or even an aggregation site's picking up on the 'story'. But there are hundreds, thousands, lots! of readers reading these words who will never set foot in my store for the simple reason that you're nowhere near me whatsoever. SOME of you are interested in digital comics.

And due to the Diamond connection, those readers can now buy from his review site, but not from mine. If I wanted to sell digital comics through my own links, I can't. Brian acknowledges the combination: 'because I'm one of the very very few people who has both a Diamond account, as well as an internet review site, boom, now we're selling digital comics.'

There is a market for such an affiliate program, I'm confident, and someone will eventually set one up, although now, it risks raising the ire of store owners who are already very uncertain about digital 'competition'. Letting anyone sell digital comics opens the door to divvying up the market among so many potential slices that the cost may not be worth the damage to established outlets and distributors.

Since this effort isn't through comiXology, the two major comic shop publishers, DC and Marvel, aren't included. Prices are either cover ' making the digital comics cost as much as $3.99 ' or a dollar less, in the case of Archie titles. As for potential profit, the business side gives each major player a third of the sale: the retailer, the publisher, and the distributor (Diamond and iVerse together). Which isn't a balance that I suspect will last, because it's unclear that all of those people are needed.

I look forward to hearing more about how this effort proceeds, since Brian's dispatches from the front lines are always educational, and I appreciate his willingness to share.

Why DVD Bonus Features Are Going to Get Worse

Mark Evanier sheds some uncomfortable light on what it's like to be asked to be part of a DVD bonus feature. Too often, valuable sources like him are asked (even expected) to participate without compensation, regardless of the effect on their schedule. Many times, they aren't even given a copy of the resulting DVD.

More and more, I don't buy DVDs unless they provide substantial bonuses. (Especially when it comes to classic films, which I can otherwise record from TCM.) I want studios to create and include that material to make it worthwhile for me to own that movie, and I want them to fairly compensate the talent who contributes to that bonus material. If not, everyone loses out. The customer doesn't get the benefit of added information from sources with substantial knowledge. The studio doesn't sell as many discs as they could have. What we often end up with are lame examples of company executives telling us things we already know.

Unfortunately, given the way corporations think, I predict that, if valuable sources refuse to participate, the studios will simply quit doing bonus material and then continue complaining that home media sales are declining. Few companies these days are willing to give away a penny to make an extra dollar, although that's the sensible strategy. As Evanier sums up,

You don't have to make a buck off everything you do. But there are some things in this world that are done for a profit and by not insisting on a share, all you're doing is charity work for Disney. Or Time-Warner. Or some other financial force of nature.

Scott is right. Those of us who were privileged to work with guys like Bill and Joe and Bob and Tex and men like Jack Kirby' we have an obligation to share what we heard and observed. That's one reason I have this blog and do other things like articles and convention panels, gratis. But I have to remember not to be so quick to do it for free for people who are going to turn around and sell it' because that's not a commitment to history. That's a commitment to being a chump.

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Marvel Anime: Iron Man and X-Men

I was curious to check out the Marvel Anime collections, especially the Iron Man one. Given my love of Japanese media and enjoyment of Iron Man in filmed entertainment, I was hoping it would be a case where two great tastes tasted even better together. Unfortunately, for me, the result was more like pickles and peanut butter.

Iron Man Anime is a two-disc set, with six episodes on each disc running about 23 1/2 minutes an episode. When you start it up, the default is subtitled with Japanese audio. It's also possible to run them dubbed, with an English audio track, in which Tony Stark is played by Adrian Pasdar. The credits are in Japanese, not subtitled, so I don't know why Jeph Loeb, Alan Fine, and Dan Buckley were listed. (Although since Loeb is now head of Marvel Television, that probably explains his credit.)

I couldn't get used to Tony Stark speaking Japanese and looking so much like a blow-dried 80s yuppie. The strong shadows would have worked better for me in a manga, but then a figure would move, and it reminded me of David Bowie's 'Blue Jean' video, with the shaded face paint.

The Iron Man armor, which is computer-generated animation, is a much more effective visual, but not enough so for me to keep watching the cartoon. Since I didn't see enough to be sure I was getting the whole plot, here's how the studio describes it:

Tony Stark arrives in Japan to help implement his goal of world peace by building the Arc Reactor, a carbon-neutral power plant, that once operational will be able to provide limitless (thus free) energy to the world. Set to retire his Iron Man persona, and about to mass-produce a line of Iron Man armor known as 'Iron Man Dio', Stark's plans are derailed by a series of high-tech Mech monsters. Zodiac, a top secret organization funded by the terrorist group A.I.M., is out to disrupt the Arc Station, steal the Dio armor, and put an end to Iron Man.

When I first turned on the dubbing, I forgot to turn off the subtitles, and I was amused by the mismatches. Most were due to the audio elements being longer than the visual text, but a couple did change, such as when a sleeping co-worker is awakened. On the screen, it reads, 'I'm full'' but the English dialogue says, 'One more sake,' giving a very different impression of the nap. Because of the additional information in the audio dialogue, I recommend watching these dubbed.

If my experience is anything to go by, though, this is for collectors only, those who want every Iron Man DVD available or those who follow Madhouse's anime releases. I'm not sure superhero fans will like the different visual look, and anime fans have a lot more entertaining choices available, shows that were envisioned as such to begin with. If you'd like to see for yourself, here's a clip featuring the Tony Stark character:

and one with Iron Man:

Special Features

There are a small number of bonus features, but they're your typical promotional pieces, short and lacking depth. Disc one has two special features:

'The Marvel Anime Universe: Re-Imagining Iron Man' (10 minutes) praises how superior anime is to Western animation, especially if you look at the character as a mecha. Warren Ellis (credited for story) participates, along with several executives, who summarize the plot and visuals. Lots of mention of the 'Marvel universe' and its importance, but no mention of specific creators (unless talking about the animation studio Madhouse as one entity counts).

'Voicing Tony Stark: Interview With Keiji Fujiwara' (5 minutes) is subtitled footage of the actor answering a few questions about playing the character. With his shades and his goatee and a little age in his face, I'd watch him play Tony in live action.

Disc two has another two:

'21st Century Hero: The Technology of Iron Man' (7 1/2 minutes) features the same folks as in the Anime Universe segment talking about how forward-looking the armor is and a little about the character's comic history and changing visuals.

'Special Cross Talk: Marvel Anime's Iron Man and Wolverine' (29 minutes) puts four Japanese creators, two for each character, into a blank white room, where they talk to each other about their experience working on these properties.

X-Men Anime

There is also an X-Men Anime, with the plot described as follows:

The X-MEN are reunited following the death of a teammate and are summoned by Charles Xavier to Japan following the abduction of Hisako Ichiki. There, they confront the U-MEN, a lunatic cult that steals and transplants mutant organs to further strengthen its own army, and the battle for justice is on. Discovering a series of bizarre occurrences in the area, the X-Men investigate, only to be confronted with a terrible truth that will force them to confront long buried secrets.

The special features on that set are:

'The Marvel Anime Universe: Re-Examining the X-Men' (9 minutes, disc one) has the same talking heads and general puff-piece approach as the similar Iron Man featurette.

'X-Men: A Team of Outsiders' (10 1/2 minutes, disc one) mentions more of the comic history and the team's concept.

'Special Talk Session: Marvel Anime's X-Men and Blade' (32 minutes, disc two) starts off as a behind-the-scenes documentary, where several of the creators discuss their preconceptions of the brands. Then the four of them wind up sitting together and talking. Instead of a white room, they get a picture window with high-rises behind them.

I'm sorry this is such a minimal review, but I was disappointed that I wasn't grabbed more by these offerings, and I'd rather spend more time on works that are exciting me these days. (The studio provided review copies.)

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