"Beantown"

I'm in Boston.  Go figure.

-Chris

 

"Ghosts of Covers Past"

I was looking through the Marvel Solicitations for their product being released in August 2008 and I came across the cover for Ghost Rider Annual #2.

It looked a little familiar. So after a little research, I found the following in my collection which I scanned for your comparison...

This issue came out in early 2007 and was timed with the release of the Ghost Rider movie. The colors are a little different but it's the same image. From what I know, Maxim commissioned the image from Marvel who hired the artist so Marvel technically owns the image and has every right to reuse it, not to mention the copyright and trademarks to the character Ghost Rider.

If Marvel does use this image as the cover for Ghost Rider Annual #2, it means they will save money on the issue because they don't have to pay for a new cover, which is again their every right. From a financial standpoint, it's a very smart move.

I'm just curious if Marvel is paying the artist some sort of reuse fee as the artwork? Just for the record, I know the artist and do not speak on his behalf. I also wonder if the image is relevant to the story --- does Ghost Rider drive up the side of a building in the issue? I just hope one or the other is true as it would be really greedy and, IMHO, unfair of Marvel to reuse a cover that they themselves were paid for.

Speaking of comic book characters on the covers of mainstream magazines, this week's Sports Illustrated cover which features Bizarro [as drawn by Mark Bagley - the artist on the DC Comics weekly comic book series Trinity].

Does this mean that George Steinbrenner is Lex Luthor??!?

-Chris

"Full Auto"

Saturday was a most interesting 24 hours. After volunteering and brief snack in Chinatown with the other volunteers, I rushed up to my place on the Upper West Side in a cab. I usually take the subway but I was late and in a rush.

While I got home in a relatively quick time, but not before the African Muslim [he told me he was] cab driver gave me a rant about the evils of the "white man" and the "jew" and their eventual demise on Earth and inevitable trip to hell. Considering that I didn't do anything to encourage him, I thought it was pretty bold and a little presumptuous of him to say what he did. I did try to record him on my cell phone camcorder but the background noise just drowns out his rant.

I think you can hear him say "...I don't want the white man to make it..." or something like that. While I was offended by his statements, I don't care enough to get him fired or fined or whatever. Encountering whackos is part and parcel of living in New York City.

Later on my way upstate, the car that I was riding was rear-ended. We were driving up the Henry Hudson Parkway when got hit from behind twice near the entrance to the George Washington Bridge. Evidently, the recent NYU graduate fell asleep at the wheel and didn't break in time. Luckily, no one was hurt though the bumper of my friend's car definitely need replacement. Because we were literally parked on the third lane of the highway, I was very fearful that something like this might happen.
Besides the automobile drama, it was a pretty nice and quiet weekend.

-Chris

"Currently Out of the Blog"

As part of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, I will be volunteering tomorrow morning when I will be helping spruce up a school in Chinatown. Then I'm off to a friend's birthday party/BBQ in upstate New York. So don't be surpised if I don't blog until Sunday or early next week.

My current kryptonite of choice...the Vanilla Bean Scones at Starbucks which are three (3) for $1.95 or mayb they're $1.75 for three and 195 calories.

My belief is the icing is made from powdered cocaine.

BTW, thanks to TAB for the birthday present -- I drank part of it last night.

-Chris

"The Breaks"

I didn't blog yesterday due to extreme busy-i-ness at work and my friend's informal engagement party which I somehow got wrangled/tricked into organizing --- thereby ending my streak of consecutively blogging everyday in the month of May.

C'est la vie.

-Chris

"Big Pimping"

I'm plugging the online web comic Ghost Pimp - written, drawn and created by my friend Maurice Fontenot which debuts May 15th on ACT-I-VATE.com.

I'd wish him good luck but I don't think he needs it.

-Chris

"Scrambled"

In 1965, some twenty years after World War II and during the civil rights movement in the United States, DC Comics published Wonder Woman #157 featuring "the most startling villain ever devised" --- the Communist Chinese agent and mastermind Egg Fu - a supersized egg-shaped monstrosity with a Fu Manchu mustache as a weapon. I think most people would agree that this was a racist caricature, maybe not the hateful vitriol of neo-Nazism or the Klu Klux Klan but there's definitely malicious and spiteful aspect to the ridiculous of the character. It is a literal example of de-humanizing your enemy and Communist China was the enemy of this country at that time [and some people would argue they still are].

In 2006, DC Comics introduced a new version of Egg Fu called Chang Tzu in the pages of the popular weekly mini-series 52.

In subsequent interviews, a couple of the writers of 52 claimed the rehabilitation of the Egg Fu was one of their greater achievements in the series. Can someone please explain how the character is rehabilitated? At what one point does the re-imagined version stop being racist?

The fact is it wasn't the moustache or the bad English that made the original character racist. It was the intent. It was born of ignorance, insensitivity and a certain amount of cruelty. It is only barely tolerable in the historical context of the Cold War.

I understand that many comic book readers who read the original stories didn't see the racist elements and only saw the beguiling oddity of an egg-shaped villain, at least I hope that's the case. Maybe they're ignorant about the origins of theFu Manchu stereotype being "the yellow peril incarnate" or that the name probably came from a Chinese-American food dish as a joke.

So is it possible to only take only the "positive" elements of idea, symbol or character and discard the rest? Or are some things so tainted beyond repair or rehabilitation? For example, the Confederate flag -- Is it a symbol of slavery, oppression and racism or is it a symbol of states right and southern pride and history, or both? If there is legitimate feelings on both sides, whose side do you favor or is it possible to favor a side?

But it now seems to have gain acceptance within the comic book industry. Just google the term"Egg Fu" and "comic books" and 830 entries come up. I can't imagine that a couple of years ago.

I want to be clear, this isn't about political-correctness to me but acceptable social norms. In my opinion, this character is like a tasteless bad joke. An occasional tasteless bad joke at someone's expense is to be expected and tolerated --- an ongoing and persistent bad joke suggests an underlying problem, especially if there is no balancing positive influence.

Some many argue that I'm being too sensitive or that I can't take a joke, and you might be right. But the question I have is, why make the joke in the first place? Knowing the history of the character, why bring it back? Why the deep infatuation with the character? And what does that say about you?

Let me end this by saying that I don't think any of the writers of 52 are racist. I love Geoff Johns' work and I think Grant Morrison is one of the most creative forces in the industry. No one is perfect and I think this is one of their mistakes. Heck, I even made an egg joke in the blog post title, though it was more ironic commentary.

-Chris

"Sky Dancing"

Saturday night, I went to see my friend's Mike's girlfriend Lisa perform at Jalopy in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Lisa is a dancer but moreover, she dances in the air using cloth strips like in the Marriott Residence Inn commercials. I think they call it aerial ballet.

I took two videos with my cell phone camera so pardon the quality.

If my girlfriend could do this, I'd marry her. I apologize if that sounds sexist but it's true.

-Chris

"Happy Mother's Day"

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers I know - Carol, Rebecca, Sarah, Karen, Jay, Irene, Lisa, Jackie, and of course, my own mom.

-Chris

"Time Out"

I'm calling time out today from blogging. I had a very busy morning and day, and have a busier night.

Happy Birthday to DC Comics Assistant Editor and Sinestro Corpsman of Sector 3493 Adam Schlagman.

May you reign in hell.

-Chris

"Representing"

You may not know this but it's Asian Pacific Heritage Month. So as an Asian-American, I'm going to point out some of the horrible Asian characters and stereotypes within comic books even today.

One of the biggest problems is the tendency for Chinese superheroes and villains to have very colorful and descriptive names almost like stereotypical Native American names. I don't know if something is lost in translation or an over-exposure to badly-translated kung fu movies.

For example, in Batman and The Outsiders #6, the introduced a trio of Chinese metahuman operatives.



Angry Wizard - I'm just confused and baffled and speechless about this one. Though I can't wait for the next issue to find out if he's actually a practicing magician, and also to see if he's really angry or just slightly miffed.

Barefoot Tiger - I'm guessing it's because tigers normally wear shoes.

Dragonfire - simple enough name except do Chinese dragons even breathe fire??!!? I've done a little research and I can't find anything.

It's written by Chuck Dixon who I don't think is a bad writer, but then again I don't he's a great writer either. He seems to have an Asian fetish, having written Way of the Rat for CrossGen and the DC Comics mini-series Connor Hawke which is set in mainly Shanghai and features...wait for it...a fire-breathing dragon.

BTW, I actually really like the costumes. They're simple and uniform but modern and patriotic looking, all qualities valued by the Chinese Government, and not archaic like those worn by majority of the Great Ten [DC Comics other group of Chinese metahuman operatives]. My only problem is the use of Roman numerals instead of Chinese characters. The Chinese do use Roman numerals but in conjuction to Chinese characters, not in place of them. Otherwise, nice costumes.

-Chris

"3-2-1 Disappointment"

The DC Comics weekly limited series Countdown to Final Crisis [formerly just Countdown] ended a couple of weeks ago which was probably a year too late. The general consensus was the series was a big failure, sure it sold well, but then again sales aren't everything and shouldn't be.

And so what was the cover for the last issue --- an homage or rip-off to the uninspired cover of the first issue.



In a way, the substitution/downgrading of the iconic DC Comics characters like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman with lesser known and more irrelevant characters is symbolic of the decline of the series from the first to last issue.

In hindsight, what did Countdown to Final Crisis accomplish? Darkseid and the majority of the New Gods had to died but the majority of the killing was done mainly in the mini-series Death of the New Gods. Moreover by delaying and almost replaying the final confrontation between Darkseid and Orion from Death of the New Gods to CtFC, it undermined both series.

All the drama with the "Challengers", Monarch, the Monitors, the Multiverse, Lord Havok, Arena, Harley and Holly, Jason Todd, the Atom, Jimmy Olsen, the new Forager, Mary Marvel, the Trickster and Pied Piper --- does any of it really matter and does anyone actually care. Yes, the question was rhetorical because the answer is no one does. I feel sorry for anyone who spent hundreds of dollars on Countdown and any of the related mini-series or one-shots -- all as unremarkable as the original.

-Chris

"Iron-Ons"

In honor of the success of the Iron Man film, I'm posting images of various armored characters I have drawn for pitches over the years.

Titanium Man - this armor is based upon the Heroes Reborn Iron Man armor. I had a plot where the Gremlin [who had been killed by Iron Man] is also reborn on the Counter-Earth where the Heroes Reborn stories took place. The original Titanium Man armor never really appealled to me. The cable-like pseudo-musculature was a real pain to draw, as was the chain machine cannon.

Crimson Dynamo [Valentin Shatalov] - there was Iron Man issue where Tony Stark switched minds withValentin Shatalov - the Crimson Dynamo [at that time]. It ended with Shatalov being carted off for treasonous activities [committed by Tony Stark in his body] with the implication that he was to be executed. Shatalov reappeared in a later storyline with a more advanced Crimson Dynamo armor that was somewhat similar to Iron Man's. I just cleaned it up and tweaked it to make it more "Iron Man-ish". My apologies for the cropped bottoms of this and some of the other images.

Iron Trinity - these villains appeared in a Marvel Super-Heroes story where they fought The Falcon and haven't appeared since [that I know of]. I cleaned up their armor and changed their helmets to give them a little more individuality and to make it more look like The Iron Monger armor which their armors were based upon.

Chain - a member of the armored mercenaries known as The Seekers. His main weapon was an energized chain.

Grasp - a member of the armored mercenaries known as The Seekers. His main weapon were electrified gauntlets.

Sonik - a member of the armored mercenaries known as The Seekers. His main weapon was a sonic cannon which I incorporated into his chest plate. For each armor, I streamlined and simplified the look.

Samurai Steel - The character was a victim of the atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima or Nagasaki and wanted revenge against Stark whose father worked on the Manhattan Project. Borned deformed, he was a brilliant scientist and inventor. He created an armor which rivaled Iron Man's. He seemingly died at the end of the issue of Iron Man he appeared in. My storyline had him return and tied his storyline to that of Lady Deathstrike and the Cyberai [X-Men villains]. I didn't really change the look of the armor but made it more formidable by having it made of adamantium.

The Conqueror - a parallel Earth version where Tony Stark killed and then assumed the identity of Kang the Conqueror. My story idea involved him fleeing the Earth 616 after a fight with the Council of Kangs. My thinking was Tony Stark was his own worst enemy -- in idea which has since appeared in recent Marvel comic books [click this link for an example].

There was one Iron Man which I thought up but could never create a good design or plotline for. His name....Adamantium Man.

Kudos to the website Iron Man Armory which is a great resource.

-Chris

"One Step Back"

Comic books seem to have made a lot of progress gaining mainstream attention and acceptance - especially recently with the success of the Iron Man film and the new Superheroes: Fantasy and Fashion exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Even still, misconceptions still abound. For example, there was a recent article "Heroine Chic - Superheroes, The New Black" in the NY Post where five superheroes were reimagined into actual fashion "looks". The chosen were Captain America, the Powerpuff Girls, She-Ra, Danger Mouse and the Hamburglar. Captain America is an interesting but passable choice. I could live with the Powerpuff Girls and even She-Ra and Danger Mouse --- but THE F--KING HAMBURGLAR!!! WTF!!! He's a fracking advertising mascot, not a comic book character.

Credits:
Styled by: Danica Lo
Photographed by: Victoria Will
Make-up by: Cynthia Rose at cynrose.com
Hair by: Francky L'Official for Francky L'Official Salon (1117 Madison Ave., [212] 628-7505)
Models: Hamburglar: Monika at APM

-Chris

"Stars and Stripes"

I deleted my previous blog posts by mistake. I'm regretting it a little now. I managed to recover my blog post from September 25, 2005 - "Stars and Stripes" which I'm cutting and pasting the applicable portion here because it relates a little to the prior blog post - "Designing Women".

Saturday – I went to the Union Square Barnes & Noble for the various New Yorker Festival book signings. The numbered bracelets/passes had already been given out for Stephen King, but everyone else was pretty accessible. I arrived somewhat early and bided my time in the food court area. The food [a whole wheat turkey and cheese wrap] stank but they did have black cherry soda.

I got my copy of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay signed by Michael Chabon, who was signing at the same time as and at a table next to Stephen King. While Stephen King had a line that snaked through the 4th floor, Chabon’s was somewhat more manageable.

I even joked around with him.

Chris: Mr. Chabon, I just have a quick question for you.
Michael Chabon: Sure??
Chris: Whose that guy over there [pointing to Stephen King]?

General laughter by Michael Chabon, a personal assistant, and myself.

Michael Chabon: I think that’s..what’s his name…Dean Koontz.
Personal Assistant: Actually, I thought it was Anne Rice.

More laughter. Chris exits stage left.

A couple of hours later, I got my DVD box set of The Office and copy of his childrens book Flanimals signed by Ricky Gervais. I also got a good laugh.

Chris: I’m really looking forward to your new show Extras.
Ricky Gervais: Then I reckon you’ll be somewhat disappointed then.

I went to The White Stripes on Sunday -- thus the blog post title "Stars and Stripes"

-Chris

"Designing Women"

A couple of months ago, Details magazine had an interesting article by Michael Chabon about superheroes and women. Since I haven't seen it anywhere else within the comic book blogosphere, I scanned and posted it. Normally I'd link to it onto the Details or Conde Nast website but it's not there and I did search for it. If requested, I will take it down as I don't believe in violating copyright laws.

It's an interesting read and Michael Chabon lends a lot of credibility to the comic book genre. Moreover, in the interest of full disclosure, I briefly spoke with Michael Chabon at a signing once. The story can be found here - "Stars and Stripes".

-Chris

"Mom"

Happy Birthday to my mother - though I doubt she will ever read this blog or blog post.

I went upstate to visit my parents and grandmother yesterday and took them out for lunch as a pre-emptive Mother's Day/birthday present. Additionally as part of my gift, I allowed my mother to act all maternal without any complaints or griping from me, i.e. allowing her to load me up with home-cooked food.

One of the reason I visited was also to gather old photos of my brother Richard to give to his fiancee for a wedding website they're doing --- or at least, she is.

I came across a couple of my mom which I putting up.

Richard and Mom

Richard, Grandmother [maternal], Mom and me.

Happy Birthday Mom. I love you.

-Chris

"Headgear"

This past winter, I took a photo of my friend Rebecca on my camera phone because her winter hat reminded me of some obscure DC Comics villain [and yes, that's a sad commentary on where my head is at any given moment - thinking about comic books].

I finally came across a picture of the aboven-mentioned obscure villain Brain Storm [aka The Star-Bolt Warrior].

Now if someone would only invent a winter hat whose fuzzy ball would glow and give off sparks [Wow - that sounded a lot more sexual that I intended].

-Chris

"Wild Times"

When I was developing characters for my Power Pack pitch, I wanted to create a set of villains which were the anti-Power Pack. It went through a number of iterations - a group called The Deliquents under the sway of a "Fagan"-like adult leader; a more junior version of the Hellions; and finally The Wild Bunch - a group of mentally-disturbed and institutionalized, superpowered kids under the care of their psychiatrist Dr. Wilde. Thematically, they were the opposite of the tight, close-knit family Power Pack.


Amp [formerly Speedfreak]: He was formerly one of The Lost Boys and Girls [children kidnapped by Nanny and The Orphanmaker in the original X-Factor comic book series]. He had superspeed powers but I elaborated on it. The character was ADHD amplified and personified. His costume is a modified jumpsuit.


Disruption: Another throwaway and discarded Marvel character.



Figment [formerly Big Top]: She was formerly one of The Lost Boys and Girls [children kidnapped by Nanny and The Orphanmaker in the original X-Factor comic book series]. She could enlarge and animate her teddy bear Bonzo through psychokinesis. I believe she was described as autistic, which made hesitant to use the character because I don't know enough about the disease.



Schizoid [fomerly The Schizoid Man]: This character was a Spider-Man villain and actually a college student. Again, I was hesitant to use the character due the mental disease angle and name itself grates on me.



Dr. Wilde: The one original character I created for the group, ironically, is a very generic looking character with no powers. I really didn't even plan on giving him a costume and instead wear regular clothes.

There was another villain I created - Superpower. He was a fellow classmate of Alex Powers and rivals with him for the affections of Cassie Lang [who I wanted to add as a member of the support cast and made a classmate of Julie Powers]. This teen gained the abilities of the Super-Adaptoid and duplicated the powers of Power Pack. He looked like a teenage version of the Super-Adaptoid which he technically was.

-Chris

"Faithlessness"

I saw Iron Man last night and it was great, possibly the best comic book adaptation ever. The tone was pitch-perfect. Robert Downey, Jr. was magnificent. The supporting cast and SFX were almost as good. And the storyline was very faithful to the comic book with some minor adjustments.

However sometimes, an adaptation cam be too faithful. For example, the Whiteout graphic novel cover...

And the Whiteout movie poster...

I'm sorry but that just looks wrong. The Frank Miller image had a strange, warped, almost-fisheye angle and a body position that looks physically impossible, but it's still typical Frank Miller. With a real person, all these deficiencies and flaws are amplified and pronounced.

-Chris

"Flash in the Pan"

There are no spoiler warnings. I can't even begin to fathom the situation where if you read comic books and are one the Internet and haven't heard the news by now - that DC Comics is bringing back to life the deceased Flash.

A scan from the last page of the just-released DC Universe #0.

Whoo hoo --- Impulse/Kid Flash is back!!! Kudos to DC for the nice bait-and-switch, especially planting those rumors in the mainstream media.

Also, as based upon the below scanned page from the same title -- DC Comics is evidently going to be launching a comic book based on The 300 which I'm sure comes as a surprise to Dark Horse Comics. Or maybe the two companies are going to launch a crossover one-shot Wonder Woman vs. The 300.

I really hope that people do know that in The Battle of Thermopylae, the Spartans did wear armor, moreover their armor was superior to those worn by the Persians, and that Frank Miller took creative license by portraying them as fighting naked -- an interesting but historically inaccurate depiction. But kudos to DC Comics for continuing to foster this falsehood and misconception.

-Chris