This is the place where I discuss all things Sacred and Profane. Stop by and check me out. Leave a comment (or not), as this is done for my own amusement. If you too are entertained, all the better, but that is not the motivation here. For I, am a...Writer with attitude! Comics, Sci Fi, movies, TV, Books, the Internet, Pop Culture, you name it. I talk about all of these things and more. These are the things that entertain me. I can only hope that some of them will entertain you as well.
I don’t know, but I’m starting to think that the producers of the Spider-Man Broadway musical should have picked a different name, especially given that they can’t seem to turn ON the light for their $60 million show. According to a recent report from the NY Times, the show’s opening has been delayed, yet again...
The first performance was supposed to be in nine days, on Nov. 14, but this is a show that its famous creators — the director Julie Taymor and U2’s Bono and the Edge — are laboring to finish. The two-dozen flying sequences are being worked out and still require safety approval from the state Department of Labor. The music, marking the Broadway debut of the U2 frontmen, still isn’t synchronized with special effects, plot and dialogue. Scene-to-scene transitions, essential for rhythm and safety, aren’t complete. Two actors have been injured hurtling through acrobatic rehearsal sequences.
Yep, that’s right, it seems that this hero just can’t seem to get this show up off the ground, and it is going to miss having a pre-Thanksgiving Day opening, and lose out on much (if not all) of the very lucrative holiday theater-going traffic.
Apparently there is a serous safty issue in regards to the “flying” issues
...the show has developed a problematic reputation, at least in the short term. Questions have been raised, and a state investigation is under way, about the safety of the flying. All of the attention on special effects may ward off traditional theatergoers who want a good score and story; some older people, for instance, have asked group sales agents if there is anything in the show for them.
Personally, I can’t help but to think that Norman Osborn is cackling to himself from his prison cell on the Raft (located just off Ryker’s Island)
OK, OK, we know that Halloween was last weekend, but well, we’re a little bit behind on our comicstrip reading, and well, we thought these two strips were especially entertaining, given the nature of their cartoon roots.
The first one we want to present is Johnny Hart’s BC.
Then there is this little Family Circus gem from Bill Keane
We certainly do love when one comic references another.
No, really. While I'm not much of a vampire-lover, I do still have a favorite, it is Meth, as produced by my good friend Shawnti Therrien. Yeah, yeah, I totally know what you are going to say, that of course I'm going to like all of the comics produced by all of my friends. Not really.
Besides, not all of my comicbook-producing friends are a talented (and prolific) as Shawnti. Her character, Meth, is a wholly different kind of vampire who is, well, uncomfortable with his immortality.
Not only are Shawnti’s stories haunting and lyrical, but they break the boundaries of we (oh so jaded) readers have come to expect from “standard” comics (well, at least this reader) are used to seeing. This, wonderfully-rendered, tome collects the many already-published stories concerning Meth, combine them with new material, and re-present it here is a package that is enticing and disturbing all at the same time.
Shawnti had delivered a beautiful, 76-page graphic novel-in-the-making combining moody, B&W and color sequential art, prose (rendered as both traditional storytelling and hand-written missives) to move this eternal tale of suffering and regret forward, crafting it into something more than “just another” vampire tale.
No, kids, these creatures of the night don't simply bite you on the neck ans suck down your blood. Nope, they (if you pardon the reference) live and breath. They are more than just fearsome, iconic creatures to scare us in the dark, but lenses through which we can examine our own lives and motivations.
It is clear that Shawnti has a clear vision of her characters, and not only knows from whence they came, but towards they are going as well. As the story unfolds, you see that she isn’t so much directing the action, but revealing what choreographed events as they take place.
These are real people, to Shawnti, and as you read her story, they will become real to you as well. check out Meth, The Collection available from Immortal Gothic(via Indie Planet), you’ll be eternally pleased with yourself that you took my advice.As stated, the collection combines new material with previously-published work that has appeared in Psychosis! Today (Atlas Unleashed), Psychosis!, CAG) and elsewhere. Finding it all together in this outstanding work for $14.50, is a terrific find.
For the record, I do have one (minor) gripe with this book, and it is solely a “novice” production issue. The primary difference between saddle-stitched (standard) and square-bound (like this) comics, is that square-bound books don’t lay flat, and regular comics do. Hence, when laying out the pages, it is important to leave an extra quarter inch or so on the interior margin, otherwise the text and art will get lost in the center fold. Needless to say, having never produced a square-bound book before, Shawnti didn’t know this, and thus on a couple of pages it is sort of annoying to read the story. Still, now that she has produced a square-bound book, it is a safe bet that she will never make this mistake again.
While I was at the NYCC last month (was it really last month?!?!) I managed to somehow score an impressive amount of freebie comics. While I still haven't worked my way through them all, I have been able to go through quite a few of them, and there are a couple of things that I've been able to determine.
1) My friends produce some truly impressive (Indie) comics. 2) Parody/spoof comics are not only highly disposable, but often seem to be very badly written.
Now, I don’t really want to run down other funnybook writers, but not only is comedy very subjective, but parody itself is really quite time sensitive, and reading some of the spoof comics that I’ve picked up, I have to say that I can only hope that they were perceived as funny when they originally appeared, but I can’t really see how that could be at all possible.
This stuff is extremely delicate and I can’t help but to think that when these were written, the authors were entirely convinced that the work was funny, only it turns out to be funny to them, and hardly anyone else.
Sorry guys, but I tried to read this stuff, and simply couldn’t make it past the first couple of pages. Maybe if I had read it at the time it was originally written, I would have found it funnier, however I sincerely doubt it.
I mean, really, if you are going to dress up as a superhero, don't get into fight with cops...
'Superheroes' arrested after brawl
Stamford, Conn. (WTNH) - Three people dressed up for Halloween are facing charges after a fight broke out in Stamford.
It happened October 31 around 1:30am.
When police arrived at the scene they found a victim being attacked by 25-year old Michael Sanchez, who was dressed up as Captain America, and 21-year old Vincent Decaro, who was dressed up as Spiderman.
As the fight was being broken up by police, 18-year old Nicole Bitterle, dressed as Poison Ivy, jumped in and was able to hit Sanchez before he was taken into police custody.
I don’t know, but I’m starting to think that the producers of the Spider-Man Broadway musical should have picked a different name, especially given that they can’t seem to turn ON the light for their $60 million show. According to a recent report from the NY Times, the show’s opening has been delayed, yet again...
