I wanted to cite two blog posts here, since they connect to my continuing obsession with “sequential narrative,” the telling of long stories. From Kathryn VanArendonk, here are some thoughts on realism in TV narratives. She argues that the Uncanny Valley effect – a phenomenon in which computer rendering of humans hits a gap the [...]
Telling Stories and Selling Soap
Longtime readers of this blog (I used to joke there were two of you, but I think both of them stopped reading a long time ago), may recall I got a little obsessed during the latter part of the run of Lost with the challenges of sequential narrative, which is also sometimes referred to as [...]
Geek Culture – Wounded, But Not Dead
During the holidays, Patton Oswalt made quite a stir with an article at Wired.com: Wake Up, Geek Culture. Time to Die. He argues that 30 years ago, when he was a young nerd (which is roughly the same timeframe in which I was a young nerd), people really had to work to indulge their “obsessive, [...]
The Boys, by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson
Read this previous post to get background on my history with comic books. Suffice to say that I’m not reading a lot of new books right now and there’s only one that’s a monthly must-read for me: The Boys, written by Garth Ennis and (largely) illustrated by Darick Robertson. The setting of The Boys is [...]
The Long Con
Last month, I was out in California and my friend Larry told me he was exhibiting at a small convention in Burbank. I decided to check it out and ended up staying there for hours. “Cons” have been a part of the science fiction/fantasy scene for a long time (like 70 years). It’s an opportunity [...]
Rachel Maddow on Comic Books & Graphic Novels
The organization I work for held its national conference this past week in Washington, DC. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow dropped by NBC Universal’s booth and I felt that was an ideal opportunity to try to land an interview with her. I kept it low-key; all I really wanted to do was ask her a question: You [...]
Themes of Watchmen
Since the film adaptation of Watchmen open Friday, and since it’s looking highly likely that it won’t measure up to the original graphic novel, I thought I’d offer a few thoughts.
Shopping for Astro Boy couture
Back in October, I was in Hong Kong. On a trip to the top of Victoria Peak, I found this display with Astro Boy advertising a store. I went nuts. This video documents the results. Tags: Astro Boy, anime
The Lost Ones: Steve Niles & Gary Panter
This is definitely catch-up weekend, with posts I meant to put up weeks and months ago. In July, Zune Arts ( a division of Microsoft) announced the release of The Lost Ones, “a graphic novel written by celebrated writer Steve Niles” and illustrated by “visual artists Dr. Revolt, Gary Panter, Kime Buzzelli and Morning Breath.” [...]
The limits of comics
I still haven’t written anything about The Dark Knight, a movie I loved. This has been a good summer for comic book fans, what with Iron Man and Hellboy II. I’ve been thinking a lot about the themes of The Dark Knight, but before I get to that, I have to respond to this idiotic [...]