I haven’t gotten around to reading more about Jack Kirby’s life (Mark Evanier’s book is on my to-read list), so I found this article by Roy Schwartz about how much of Kirby’s life went into Captain America intriguing. For example, I didn’t know much, if anything, about Kirby’s service in World War II, something that I’d be interested in learning about all the comic creators of that era (similar to what was covered with the…
Not quite as late in coming as Monday’s blog post, but still a bit behind the times, but as some of you readers may recall from back in January, I am a Moon Knight fan. Moon Knight went through several versions even during the time I followed the comics — and I knew that this adaptation would likely use some newer sources. I also hoped the adaptation would speak to the here and now in…
The comic collecting of my youth was dominated by some of the less popular titles (e.g. Rom), including some that came and went in various volumes of subsequent comic book series (e.g. Alien Legion) — what nowadays we might call “reboots” One of my favorite examples of this was Moon Knight, because every new comic series of the character seemed to focus on different aspects of the mercenary-turned-“Fist of Khonshu.” However, one of the most…
Okay, so it’s not the most uplifting article to link to, but I recently read Gita Jackson’s article for Vice about how comic book writers and artists get paid, and I had to share it. Perhaps because of my time producing indie video –and now audio– works, I am quietly obsessed by the kind of data Jackson gets into. How much does it cost to make a comic book? How much should it cost? What’s…
Still thinking of the Oscars this week and I came across this piece in Forbes which mentions a small coup in terms of credits. You see, for the longest time, the iconic character of Batman was credited pretty much only to Bob Kane, when in fact, that particular caped crusader was not a solo act. In fact, there’s a Bill Finger award that has been established specifically to recognize comic book writers whose work in…
Back in March, I had a longer post discussing the notion of comics as “idea incubators.” This isn’t my brilliant idea, it’s coming from comic veterans. Now as a storyteller is general and a fan of comics in particular, I’m perhaps predisposed to like this argument. However, I think it’s important to remind the bean-counting set that humans like stories. Audiences flocked to Avengers: Endgame because they had invested in the story and characters, not…
So, I talked about comics and Captain Marvel specifically so far this week… and that got me thinking more about the Marvel Cinematic Universe and then I thought of “Every Frame a Painting’s” critique of Marvel’s movie music. You may recall me raving about the YouTube series on the occasion of its end, but in any case, this approximately 14-minute video gives you a bit to ponder.
So, I was pontificating about the future of the comics industry yesterday, but I realize many of you are more concerned about a more pressing issue: What’s with all these Captains Marvel, anyway? Perpetual pop culture historian and comics writer Mark Evanier gives an illuminating and succinct account.
One trend I continue to follow is the decline of “mid-tier” creative works, whether they be “mid-budget” movies or “middle tier” novels. I touched on this just over two years ago when I was looking at the film Warcraft in particular and film budgets in general. At the time, I also noted how the erosion of the mid-budget movie and how a similar trend seemed to occur with “mid-list” authors. Now, superhero movies in general…
This past week, a friend posted a video of a friendly local comic shop/bookstore. Used books are stuffed into every conceivable bit of shelf space, surrounding long boxes of comic book back issues, with memorabilia and figurines placed in strategic –and sometimes haphazard– locations. It’s almost archetypical for what you’d imagine a used bookstore/comic shop to be. A week earlier, I stepped into that same comic shop for, if not the very last time, my…