My friends Aaron and Alex went to Washington Square Park to film a documentary about the New York Jedi. This is the result: “Let’s Do Some Saber.” An all-time classic.
The Great Indoors
The 25 Most Important Albums In My Life
So, SarahSpy, a very good blog, has declared this week “Alltime Favorite Albums Week,” so I can’t resist making a list. I started with a list of around 35 and cut it down to 25 (sorry Morphine, sorry Morrissey, sorry Modest Mouse and my sincerest apologies, R.E.M.) and I also decided not to include more than one record by any artist (so there goes Kid A, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain and Either/Or). I decided to do the list chronologically because there’s no way I can put these in any decent order, and I’m gonna say a sentence or two about all of them, and include my favorite song from each, so you can download them at your leisure. Here goes nothing.
1. Black Saint and The Sinner Lady, by Charles Mingus (1963)
My favorite jazz album of all time is still the one that got me into jazz in the first place. My best friend, Nathaniel, told me to listen to it alone with all the lights turned out, and you should all have that experience too.
Favorite Track: “Trio and Group Dancers”
2. Highway 61 Revisited, by Bob Dylan (1965)
Kills me. I don’t give a shit how political Dylan was. It was his visceral, personal stuff that has always meant the most to me.
Favorite Track: “Ballad of a Thin Man”
3. The Velvet Underground & Nico, by The Velvet Underground (1967)
Combines the swirling intensity of Black Saint with the mesmerizing lyricism of Highway 61, for a one of a kind experience. I don’t think the Velvets were ever quite this good again.
Favorite Track: “Venus in Furs”
4. The Beatles, by The Beatles (1968)
It’s the White Album, the one where the Beatles tried every genre and recording technique they could think of and created something absolutely genius out of each one.
Favorite Track: “Happiness is a Warm Gun”
5. Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Simon and Garfunkel (1970)
Their old folk stuff is fine and all, but this, their last album, has always blown my mind. Complex arrangements, catchy pop tunes…it’s a final, arresting statement by one of the best bands of all time. And after this they both decided to suck for good.
Favorite Track: “The Only Living Boy In New York”
6. Plastic Ono Band, by John Lennon (1970)
I don’t care that this guy was bigger than Jesus. This album just sounds like a poor bastard alone in a room with his many, many shockingly personal thoughts.
Favorite Track: “God”
7. Hunky Dory, by David Bowie (1971)
After he started the insane experimentation, but before he went totally out of his mind. I used to talk to shit about Bowie because the first album of his I ever got was Let’s Dance, which is a total piece of shit. But someone (I don’t remember who) lent me this one and it was all I listened to for months.
Favorite Track: “Quicksand”
8. Daydream Nation, by Sonic Youth (1988)
I can’t believe we just jumped from ‘71 to ‘88 but this is my list. I used to listen to this album on walks a lot, and just get completely lost in it. Someone put “Candle” on at a party last week, and it still gets me all nostalgic.
Favorite Track: “Teen Age Riot”
9. Wish, by The Cure (1992)
This isn’t the Cure’s best or most consistent album. It’s just the first one I fell in love with. My sister bought it for “Friday I’m In Love” and I stole it from her. Still have her copy, still listen to it often. It may be the most romantic album of all time.
Favorite Track: “Trust”
10. So Tonight That I Might See, by Mazzy Star (1993)
Dreamy, and unforgettable. Bought it on a whim after hearing “Fade Into You” in Starship Troopers of all places. Hope Sandoval sounds like a ghost and it just nails itself into your head.
Favorite Track: “Fade Into You” (Still!)
11. Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), by The Wu-Tang Clan (1993)
I didn’t listen to rap until High School, and that’s because I didn’t get it until I heard this album for the first time. It’s ambitious, fun, disturbing at times, lyrically brilliant and more concise than you’d expect.
Favorite Track: “C.R.E.A.M.”
12. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, by The Smashing Pumpkins (1995)
Sprawling, 28-track rock and roll record that says everything about my junior high years that you need to know.
Favorite Track: “Farewell and Goodnight”
13. Pinkerton, by Weezer (1996)
The last album of the Matt Sharp years, this one is confessional and tough in a way we haven’t seen from Weezer since. The lyrics are creepy and depressing, the music muscular and quick. It’s short and brilliant, without a lame moment.
Favorite Track: “Tired of Sex”
14. OK Computer, by Radiohead (1997)
My favorite album of all time. Means more to me than I can possibly express here in two lines.
Favorite Track: “Exit Music (For A Film)”
15. Brighten The Corners, by Pavement (1997)
I could list every Pavement album here, because I think they’re the most perfect band I’ve gotten into in my lifetime. But this is my favorite, 12 tracks packed to the brim with melancholy, humor, unironic pop melodies and some of the best lyrics you’ve ever heard.
Favorite Track: “Type Slowly”
16. Perfect From Now On, by Built To Spill (1997)
A great band’s masterwork. 8 long, ambitious songs that never let up emotionally, with subtle, unpretentious lyrics and long, winding, involving instrumental sections. The best album Neil Young never made.
Favorite Track: “I Would Hurt A Fly”
17. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel (1998)
My second favorite album of all time. I heard it for the first time in the back of Nathaniel’s car on the way to Long Beach. This one is a life-changer. I stopped writing music for a long time because I knew I’d never be this good.
Favorite Track: “Two-Headed Boy”
18. When The Pawn…, by Fiona Apple (1999)
The best album I’ve ever had sex to, even though it contains a song about a dude who can’t get it up. The short, dissonant orchestral break in “On The Bound” is one of my favorite music moments ever.
Favorite Track: “On The Bound”
19. 69 Love Songs, by The Magnetic Fields (1999)
It’s got 69 tracks and they’re not all good, but they’re all interesting and most of them are great. Best ukelele recording ever. And Stephin Merritt’s deep, deep voice has never been quite so arresting. I checked this out of the Shoreham Public Library and then had my backpack stolen with all three discs inside, so I had to pay them. But, luckily, my ex-girlfriend had already burned it for me.
Favorite Track: “Abigail, Belle of Kilronan”
20. Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, by PJ Harvey (2000)
I heard it for the first time in an ex-girlfriend’s car as her mom was driving me to the Ronkonkoma train station so I could go home. Then a different ex-girlfriend bought it for me for my birthday. I can’t escape it, and I don’t want to. It had me at “I can’t believe life’s so complex/When I just want to sit here and watch you undress.”
Favorite Track: “You Said Something”
21. Figure 8, by Elliott Smith (2000)
I got into Elliott Smith when I was 11 years old, and I quickly became extremely obsessive about his stuff. I never got to see him live before he died, but I remember exactly where I was when I heard that he had. And I didn’t believe it. This is still my favorite of his 6 near-perfect albums.
Favorite Track: “Happiness”
22. (), by Sigur Ros (2002)
I put this on when I’m sad and it makes me sadder. I put it on when I’m happy and it creates a feeling that is indescribable. Nathaniel introduced me to this too. He played me “Untitled 8” and we both listened in silence for around 10 minutes. Then he shut it off and burned it for me, because he could probably tell I wanted it from the look on my face.
Favorite Track: “Untitled 8”
23. Lifted or, The Story is in the Soil Keep Your Ear To The Ground, by Bright Eyes (2002)
Bright Eyes is obviously a hit-or-miss whiny little bitch-boy, but this sprawling, ambitious concept record is where everything came together. I bought it on a whim the same day I bought that fucking self-titled Blink 182 record, and it was literally all I listened to for about three months. It took me a while to even open the Blink one.
Favorite Track: “Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and To Be Loved)”
24. Funeral, by The Arcade Fire (2004)
Fought listening to it for a long time because of the ridiculously loud buzz about them. Glad I gave in eventually. Possibly the best band since Radiohead? Yeah.
Favorite Track: “Wake Up”
25. Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs, by Andrew Bird (2005)
I first heard Andrew Bird at Bonnaroo, where I saw him twice. He’s amazing live (I’ve seen him 8 times now I think), but I bought this album at a tent at that same festival, and he’s pretty much as good on this record. “There will be snacks!”
Favorite Track: “Fake Palindromes”
So there you have it. A list. They’re fun. Make your own now. After all, it’s Alltime Favorite Albums Week.
Things I Did This Week
In an effort to get out of the house more, I made plans for every night this week, sometimes going so far as to double book with more than one person. You see, lately, I haven’t done anything. I’m newly graduated and newly single and newly in possession of Roswell on DVD, so I spend all of my time sitting in my house wearing my Snuggie (the blanket with the armholes) and watching TV DVDs. Something had to give. This plan worked sometimes. Other times it didn’t.
For instance, I made plans to get drunk with Nathaniel and Eugene, but Eugene ended up leaving early and, in a drunken state, Nathaniel and I created a hockey team in NHL 2001 entirely populated by characters from Lost. (For instance, the first line is Jack centering Kate and Sawyer, the first defensive pairing is Sayid with the Black Smoke Monster, and the goalie is, of course, Hurley.) So, not the cool, fun night it was planned to be. But we did win our first two games, and Desmond is proving to be a quiet star.
I also continued my streak of sitting through awful entertainment whenever I hang out with Hannah. We’ve already seen The Lodger and The Room together. Need I say more? Well, I will. We went to see my friend, the very talented Jason Harris, play a show with a bunch of other amateur musicians and, other than Jason’s performance, it was the worst thing ever. Ever. Really. Not hilariously bad like The Room. Just bad. But it was a good time anyway, because we got really drunk and hung out with Henry and Brook (possibly my favorite couple in the world not named Joe and Janna…sorry Matt and Danielle—you guys would make the top five, no problem). We also had a sleepover party at Spiritchild’s house, which would feel more mystical and enigmatic if not for his VCR/TV combo in the living room.
And what did I watch this week? Well, Chuck was great as always, Battlestar Galactica is finally getting great again heading towards the series finale and Friday Night Lights and Lost kicked my ass as always. Oh, and Big Love finally lived up to its enormous potential with what has to be the best episode of the series thus far. (Just as an update, Dollhouse remains good-but-not-yet-great). I also listened to the new Morrissey a lot, because it’s wonderful.
Tonight? Hanging out with Joe and Janna, playing the third wheel for the first time in ages. Good times.
A Week Indoors + Dollhouse
Just got home from work and watched the second episode of Dollhouse (“The Target”). It was really really good. Better than the first one. I especially loved the structure of it, what with all the glimpses into the aftermath of Alpha’s massacre at the Dollhouse. Dushku was better too. And it was written and directed by Stephen S. DeKnight, who wrote a few of my favorite episodes of Angel (and a couple of damn good Buffy ones too).
I spent most of the week watching Roswell, which I’d never seen before. I’m nineteen episodes into the first season and so far I’m really digging on it. The creator is Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights, My So-Called Life) so I bought the entire series on DVD sight unseen. And now I’m pretty glad I did. Good cast, interesting concepts and a seemingly never-ending stream of great recurring characters (Julie Benz! Kevin Weisman! Emilie de Ravin! The dude who played Bania on Seinfeld!) Good show, well worth checking out if you never have before. But Hannah says it starts to suck in the second season, so I’m bracing myself.
Also, I watched the pilot of Eastbound and Down on HBO. Pretty funny stuff, as always, from Danny McBride.
And I got the new Ben Kweller album. I was gonna write a full review on Slow Century but it’s so boring and lame that I don’t really have anything to say about it except that it’s boring and lame.
Got the new Morrissey today. Expect a full review over at the main site in the next few days. Tomorrow I’m gonna see Friday the 13th and He’s Just Not That Into You, so I may review one or both of those as well.
Word is bond.
Some Capsules
So, I may or may not post full reviews of any or all of these on Slow Century. But, for the record, here’s what I’ve thought about a few things this week.
Coraline blew my mind. It’s one of the most realistic portrayals of childhood I’ve ever seen on film. The stop-motion animation is beautiful. And, even though I always hate 3-D, it worked pretty well here. A
The Uninvited was way better than I thought it would be. It had a few twists I didn’t see coming and a couple of nice performances. I’m not familiar with the original Japanese film so I don’t know how it compares, but this is well worth a Netflix rental. B+
Fanboys was a huge disappointment, despite good performances from Kristen Bell and Jay Baruchel. Most of the cast was awful, it just didn’t make me laugh and, despite its allegiance to geek-dom, the dialogue was entirely made up of silly, obvious trivia instead of funny and interesting conversations about it like dudes like Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon have been able to manage in the past. C-
Important Things With Demetri Martin on Comedy Central is a hit-or-miss sketch show but there were more hits than I was expecting. And the bit about going back in time to fuck historical figures was hysterical. If you like or hate Demetri Martin, this show will not sway you in the opposite direction. I mostly like him, so B-
And, it’s occurred to me I haven’t posted life stuff on The Great Indoors like my colleagues have, so… Yeah. That’s because I graduated recently and broke up with my girlfriend, so there is nothing going on in my life right now. But I’m going to watch The Room tonight, which is supposed to simultaneously be the best and worst film of all time, and Dollhouse is on tomorrow, so there’s hope. My sister’s getting married on Sunday, so I’ll probably be posting something about that too. Oh, and Danielle? Manielle is a lovely name for a girl, not a guy. And Datthew sounds too much like Asian Fusion for me.
Friday Night: Where Good TV Goes To Die
by Daniel Erenberg
With Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse set to premiere this Friday night, it must finally be said and agreed upon that Friday is currently the best night of the week for TV. After all, NBC and Sci-Fi are airing near-perfect seasons of Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Galactica, respectfully, and FOX is working hard to create a Geek brand on Friday nights by pairing Dollhouse with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Of course, how long are these shows for the world? Friday night has now been a historically great night for quality TV, but most of the shows I’m thinking of are long-cancelled and forgotten by everyone who doesn’t own one of those depressing “Complete Series” DVD sets that never have endings.
In the lead-up to the Dollhouse premiere, FOX has attempted to assuage fan fear of cancellation by referring to The X-Files, a similarly cult-based show which premiered successfully on Friday nights in 1993 before moving to Sundays and becoming a phenomenon. Unfortunately, 1993 was a different time in TV history, when Friday time slots were still looked upon as perfectly viable. Probably the most successful show on Fridays right now is the Jennifer Love Hewitt vehicle Ghost Whisperer, which hit a season high 9 million viewers recently. This is very big for a Friday night audience and a lot of the networks will have you believe that it is because it is a Friday night Sci-Fi/Fantasy show and geeks stay home on Friday nights because they are all sad bastards who would rather watch Battlestar than get laid. Now, while this is true of me, it’s an untrue stereotype. And the networks have given us this schtick before. Remember Firefly, the last Whedon cancellation? Remember CBS’ Threshold, that promising alien invasion series starring Carla Gugino and Peter Dinklage? Remember those non-Files Chris Carter shows, Harsh Realm, The Lone Gunmen and Millennium, all of which premiered on Fridays and were swiftly cancelled? How about Bruce Campbell’s The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. or James Cameron’s Dark Angel or Mike White’s Pasadena? The list is just endless. So why should Dollhouse be any different?
Last year, NBC placed the struggling-but-brilliant Friday Night Lights on Fridays amidst much fanfare. Remember those commercials? “Friday Night Lights is finally where it belongs. On Fridays!” Typical network spin. Do they really not think they’re dropping that show off on Friday night so it could die quietly? Joss Whedon responds to the Dollhouse appointment thusly:
“You know, I feel fine about it. I know that it has a bad reputation. But so do the executives who built the sort of Terminator/Dollhouse entity, and they’ve been very up-front about a different expectation about audience numbers and slow growth. I think that they get—in a way that they really didn’t back in the days of Firefly—that genre is … something where a small group embraces it, and then it bleeds out.”
Either Joss Whedon is seriously deluding himself or he’s terrific at spinning network bullshit even further. Maybe part of that is true. If Dollhouse gets over a 4 rating, it might be considered a success. But it probably won’t. The appointment seems even harsher after the originally announced timeslot of Mondays at 8, one of the most high-profile slots you can get. But I guess FOX thought 24 and House needed an even bigger boost. I get that it’s business, but why develop interesting shows only to watch them disappear as quickly as they were produced?
You know who has it right, yet again? Cable. AMC, HBO and Showtime throw their new shows at the screen on Sunday nights and it isn’t a coincidence that they rarely have out-and-out failures. Those young, edgy viewers in the 18-49 demographic that the networks so clearly covet are going out on Friday nights. It’s why the Firefly and, indeed, Friday Night Lights DVDs have sold so well. They don’t mind waiting. But they’re home on Sunday nights getting ready for their work week. So they’re gonna watch Mad Men and Breaking Bad and Dexter and Big Love and Flight of the Conchords. And FOX knows it. That’s why The Simpsons and Family Guy are still on Sunday nights, and that’s why The X-Files was moved there ever so long ago. So, as excited as I am about it (and it really is the only thing in my life that has any meaning right now, hence my frustration), Dollhouse will probably not be on the 2009-2010 schedule and I’m gonna have another “Complete Series” DVD on my Joss Whedon shelf to keep Firefly company.
In Memoriam:
Pasadena. Sadly, yet to get a DVD collection.
Sad, sad, sad. Any Friday-Night brilliant-but-cancelled I left out? Post your memories in the comments section. And just remember: Freaks and Geeks got fucked harder than all of these. That show was dropped off on Saturday nights. The ultimate insult.
Comic Book Review: Secret Warriors #1, by Jonathan Hickman, Brian Michael Bendis and Stefano Caselli
by Daniel Erenberg
Comic books will never be understood by mainstream audiences, and it’s all the fault of the comic book companies. Here, Marvel have a wonderful new book, written by the interesting indie creator Jonathan Hickman, doing his first mainstream comic book work, co-plotted by superstar writer Brian Michael Bendis and penciled beautifully by rising star Stefano Caselli. But, if a single non-obsessive, ordinary human being were to pick up this book, they’d be completely lost. I can barely explain the origin of this comic without getting dead-eyed stares from laymen.
Secret Warriors, as a concept, was introduced last summer during the big Secret Invasion crossover event. Its main cast was seen getting recruited by former S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury in two random issues of Mighty Avengers, a Bendis-written Avengers book. The main characters of that comic were not in these two issues. It was just sort of taken over by the Secret Warriors characters for a couple months while the Avengers were fighting the alien Skrulls in Secret Invasion. The concept of the book, which continues in the main title, whose first issue this is supposed to be a review of, is that Nick Fury, on the run from the United States Government and with a completely disintegrated trust in the men in power, recruits a new team using what are called Caterpillar Files—basically a database of young, powered individuals yet to be snatched up by the government. Bendis created all of these new characters and set them up masterfully in the Mighty Avengers issues in which they were introduced. Hickman manages to continue that trend here. He’s an untested writer that Marvel has already shown their confidence in, having assigned him the post of Fantastic Four writer, following Mark Millar’s best-selling run on the book. We’re gonna see a lot more of this guy and that is most definitely a good thing. His character work is spot-on. You can really hear the different voices of these characters rattling off the page. He also handles the brief action sequence arguably better than Bendis would have if he were scripting here.
If this issue was actually the third issue of the ongoing series, following those two Bendis-scripted issues of Mighty Avengers, this could be an accessible, exciting read. I would be recommending the shit out of this to everyone who would listen. Unfortunately, if you aren’t a Mighty Avengers reader, you’re probably not gonna understand what the hell is going on in this thing. And that’s a shame, because Marvel has something really great here.
A-
New York Comic Con Coverage: Day 3 (of 3)
by Daniel Erenberg
It was impossible for me to be too depressed today, because I was about to see two of my three modern TV idols in person. I feel as though Joss Whedon, Josh Schwartz and J.J. Abrams are at the top of the heap in terms of TV writing these days (I’m gonna go ahead and wait until Matthew Weiner’s follow-up to Mad Men to add him to this list). Abrams wasn’t going to be attending the con this year—though I was psyched for the panel for his new show, Fringe—but Whedon was there to promote his new one, Dollhouse, and Schwartz was in attendance to talk about his sophomore season slump-defying Chuck.
Chuck was first up on my list, which I was very excited about, but on my way to the panel, I passed by the line for the Dollhouse panel, which was already ridiculously long even two and a half hours before its scheduled start time. This made me nervous, but not nervous to pass up Chuck. The panel started with a long, spoiler-laden exclusive trailer for the second half of the current second season of the show, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to dip in quality any time soon. The action was kinetic, the laughter by the audience members at the jokes was completely genuine and the dialogue was in top form in the short clips we saw. Chuck was the first Josh Schwartz show that I was able to get into because I dismissed his other two as shallow crap sight unseen. But I spent the better part of August watching the entirety of The O.C. which is probably the best teen show since Freaks and Geeks, by the way, and was able to catch up on Gossip Girl on DVD before the second season began. Schwartz is three for three in my mind, so I was very excited to see him at this panel. He came with Chuck co-creator Chris Fedak and lead actress Yvonne Strahovsky, who might be the most beautiful human being I’ve ever laid eyes upon in real life. It relieved me to hear the three of them so confident that the fledgling show would be renewed for a third season, and it was nice to see fans fill up one of the bigger conference rooms in support of it. In fact, the fans seemed pretty obsessive, which made me happy, as I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one. At the end of the panel, a teenage girl who was sitting in front of me went up to Schwartz with a poster of “Atomic County,” a fictional comic book that was set up on The O.C. Schwartz’s eyes lit up and he signed it immediately. Watching that was the happiest moment of my con experience.
Until I got into the Dollhouse panel and Joss Whedon came out. Now, you have to understand. I’m pretty nuts about Joss Whedon. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my favorite television show of all time, the fourth season of Angel is, in my opinion, as good as a full season can get, I went to see Serenity three times the day it came out and I’ve watched the entireties of all three of his series more times than I care to admit. But wait. There’s more. My first internet writing gig was as a weekly columnist for Joss Whedon fansite, Slayage.com, I’ve been cited in books about Buffy and Angel by Keith Topping and Nikki Stafford, and my undergraduate thesis was called “From Dusk ‘Til Dawn: Foreshadowing in the Buffyverse.” So I guess you can say I’m pretty excited about Dollhouse. Well, Whedon brought the first act of the pilot to Comic Con, and it’s good. Not great yet, but good. Whedon’s shows are almost always growers, but this one is off to a pretty good start. There’s a bit of a cheesy dance/motorcycling sequence, but the exposition is intriguing, the characters are already well-defined, and there’s loads of metaphorical subtext, something Whedon is the best at. The show is about a place called The Dollhouse, which employs human beings that are programmed to perform specific experiences for the company’s clients. After these “experiences” are finished, the minds of the “dolls” are wiped completely clean. But one such “doll,” named Echo (Eliza Dushku) begins to remember things. It’s sort of a bleak concept for a show, so much so that it can really be looked at as a metaphor for human trafficking. Whedon also says it’s been called both a feminist perspective of a woman fighting to discover herself and a misogynist’s biggest fantasy, and that this debate is warranted and intentional. Dollhouse is ambitious and on Friday nights and created by Joss Whedon, so don’t expect it to last too long. But do expect it to be damn good. “I’m such a bitter, sad man,” Whedon told the crowd. “And this is my bitter, sad show. Welcome to it!”
After Joss was done (plus actor Tahmoh Penikett, who you may know as Helo from Battlestar Galactica, but who I barely noticed because I’m too obsessed with Joss Whedon), the entire cast of Fringe took the stage, along with writer Jeff Pinkner. The cast was animated and well-spoken, particularly the surprisingly charming Anna Torv, who is much more captivating in person than she is in the show. Wire actor Lance Reddick endeared himself to me forever by admitting that he is a big Ultimate Spider-Man fan, and Joshua Jackson responded to three Mighty Ducks references with well-timed quips about Gordon Bombay and the legendary triple-deke. Fringe has turned into quite a strong little show, so it was great to see the auditorium remain full following the Dollhouse panel.
After Fringe I walked over to the Life On Mars panel but it was too depressing because only about a quarter of the room was full, and everyone seemed to be milling about during a screening of this week’s new episode. It was awkward, so I left. And that was the last thing I cared about, so I left the Jacob Javits Center entirely. On my way home, I saw Bill Hader on the street. I later found out that he was at Comic Con today to announce a new Spider-Man comic that he is co-writing with Saturday Night Live head writer Seth Meyers.
I like Comic Book Conventions. It’s a place where awkwardness and lack of social skills just aren’t noticed or given a second thought. It’s accepted and even encouraged. I think every attendee has been picked on at one point or another. But no one gets picked on at Comic Con. We just geek out for three days. And what could be better than that?
New York Comic Con Coverage: Day 2 (of 3)
by Daniel Erenberg
Like the middle chapter of most trilogies, the second day of Comic Con felt a bit like filler, killing time until the grand conclusion. I woke up in better spirits this morning (though still not great) and walked over to the Javits Center with my head held medium-high. There were only two Saturday panels that I really gave a shit about and those were Cup O’ Joe, a regular Comic Con affair, which is, basically, just a chance to listen to Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada answer fan questions, and a spotlight panel about J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5 and a guy whose comic career has included excellent runs on Thor and The Amazing Spider-Man.
When I got to the con, I went straight to the Cup O’ Joe panel and was pleased that Quesada wasn’t the only man on stage. Marketing guru Jim McCann was, of course, there. He’s been ever-present at Marvel panels for quite some time now. He’s aware of all the goings-on at Marvel and can usually answer questions other panelists cannot. He’s also charmingly flamboyant and frequently makes references to Disco-era superhero, Dazzler. In addition to McCann, Publisher Dan Buckley was there to answer business-related questions, Talent Manager/Writer C.B. Cebulski (X-Infernus) showed up quietly and writer Brian Michael Bendis was there for snark and swearing. The very large conference room was filled to capacity and it was a wonderful panel, even if Bendis probably ended up answering more questions than Quesada did. The one big reveal at this panel was a sort of re-jiggering of the Ultimate line of books, with Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four getting cancelled and the line getting cut down to four books with all-new first issues. Bendis remains on Ultimate Spider-Man with new artist David LaFuente, who did some beautiful work on the most recent Ultimate Spider-Man Annual, Mark Millar will return to the Ultimate Universe to launch Ultimate Avengers, with the always reliable Carlos Pacheco on art, and Jeph Loeb will stay on for a new volume of The Ultimates. The fourth book has not been announced yet. I’m geeking out about this as I’ve been fairly obsessed with the Ultimate line for years but, with the exception of the consistently brilliant Ultimate Spider-Man, it’s been in dire need of a reboot for quite some time now.
When I left Cup O’ Joe, I went up to the floor for a bit to see what sort of inexplicable music Marvel had playing in their booth. This time, it was “Bombs Over Baghdad,” by OutKast. Hm. Then I began to casually girl-watch a bit, but every remotely good-looking girl at Comic Con seemed to just be there to accompany her much nerdier boyfriend. I did see one cute girl dressed as Mary Marvel, but then I remembered that I’d seen her last year and she was also dressed like Mary Marvel then. And do I really want to be with someone who will continuously dress like Mary Marvel? Wait. Now I’m second-guessing myself. Anyway, there’s a lot to perv out to at Comic Con this year. I’m a 22 year-old male geek. I can’t help but get a little turned on by a somewhat good-looking girl dressed as Poison Ivy or Black Canary. What can I say? I’m unapologetic.
When I went back down to search for the Straczynski panel, I was told that it was cancelled due to Straczynski’s nomination for a British Academy Award for his work writing Changeling (which, by the way, wasn’t nearly as good as the comic book maxi-series he began this year, The Twelve). So, I decided to go to the DC Universe panel, which turned out to be fairly fun. There was a ridiculous line, which security kept kicking people off of, and I overheard these three super-geeks talking about how they’d like to perform an actual crucifixion on Grant Morrison for his work writing the awful event mini-series Final Crisis, which just ended last week. Then, the panel mostly focused on the aftermath of Final Crisis. They even had a timeline chart to try to explain just what the fuck was going on in the unholy mess that was Final Crisis. But, oh well. It didn’t really illuminate much to me. But Flash: Rebirth, by Geoff Johns, sounded like fun, so I’ll probably pick that up.
After my last panel of the day I decided to just wander the floor for a bit. I stopped by the bootleg stand where I bought the complete series of Daria last year and this year I considered picking up both Karen Sisco (an underrated gem, starring Carla Gugino) and Rocko’s Modern Life before moving on. There was a big T-Shirt booth and I’m a T-Shirt whore so I ended up buying four: a Fantastic Four shirt, an X-Men shirt with a “Danger Room” warning on it, a Serenity shirt and an X-Files shirt with Fox Mulder’s “I Want To Believe” poster emblazoned across it. So day two actually turned out pretty successful. Day three should be even more fun, because it’s the big TV day. I’m gonna try to hit the panels for Chuck, Dollhouse, Fringe and Life On Mars before the end of the day. And I may even go back and pick up Rocko because it’s kind of been calling to me the past couple of hours.
More tomorrow…
New York Comic Con Coverage: Day 1 (of 3)
by Daniel Erenberg
For the second straight year, your intrepid reporter is going through a breakup during the New York Comic Con. So, for the second straight year, going into the Jacob Javits Center, I wasn’t excited. I was depressed. And not only about the breakup, mind you. Something sort of personal that had been building up for the last couple weeks came to a strong head this morning. So, on the way to the convention center, alternating between The Blow, Modest Mouse and The White Stripes on my iPod, I decided, “Fuck life.” It’s comics time.
Unfortunately, when I got to the Javits center, I thought it was the wrong day altogether. The huge sign out in front read, “New York Times Travel Convention.” I was stumped, but I went in anyway. It took me about a half hour to finally find the Press Room and, by this point, I was even more pissed off than I had been already. This was also causing me to be annoyed by the awkward fanboys walking about dressed as their favorite superheroes, something I’m usually quite charmed by. But I guess I learned that when I’m in a bad mood, a Green Lantern with back acne is not going to cheer me up. Dammit. Maybe a trip to the con floor would do the trick.
I first stopped at the Marvel Comics booth because I used to work there and I wanted to see if I could find anyone I knew. Alas, it was all new interns that I wasn’t familiar with. The odd thing about the Marvel booth, which is unlike any of the other comic companies’ booths, is that they blast music. And the music is odd. The first time I went around, I heard “No One,” by Alicia Keys. Later in the day, it was a cover of “The Boys Are Back In Town,” by Everclear. This just confused me. Who picked this music? I must know!
Next up was the DC Comics booth, which was a much more satisfying timed, because amidst all the creators signing books, Green Arrow and Black Canary artist Mike Norton was sitting there with no line in front of him. I dig the dude’s work, so I walked over and told him that, engaged him in a conversation about previous Green Arrow artists (notably, Phil Hester), and had him sign my program. Things were looking up. Finally. Now how about a panel?
The first panel of the day that I wanted to sit through was called “Superman: Building A Better World.” Unfortunately, in trying to get to the panel, I accidentally walked to the wrong part of the building and nearly entered a panel called “Focus On Africa,” from the stupid New York Times thing. When I finally found the correct room, just to make sure I knew where I was, I asked an attendee called Alex Clabering and he confirmed to me that I was, in fact, in the right place. “Why else would I be here?” he asked. I didn’t quite know what to say to that, but he kept talking anyway. About Superman, fittingly. He tried to explain to me the histories of the Nightwing and Flamebird characters who are taking over for Superman in Greg Rucka’s Action Comics, but I still didn’t get it. The panel started late because of sound issues, and when they started, only one mic was working. Great start!
The panelists were Geoff Johns (writer, Adventure Comics and Superman: Secret Origin), Rucka, James Robinson (writer, Superman), Jamal Igle (artist, Supergirl), Sterling Gates (writer, Supergirl) and Matt Idelson (senior editor). The somber was sort of somber and sparsely attended. I assume this had something to do with the recent end of the big DC event comic, Final Crisis, which was not well-received by fans. Mostly because it was a steaming pile of shit. (When one fan said, “I love Final Crisis,” one of the panelists replied, “You’re the one guy!”) The reason I was excited for this panel, though, was the recent finale of the Superman crossover, “New Krypton,” which got me more excited about reading Superman than I’ve been since I was a kid. This series resulted in the creation of a new planet called New Krypton, which is entirely populated by Kryptonians from the bottle city of Kandor. This may not make sense to you, but it opens up some very series questions for Superman. At the end of the day, is he Clark Kent: American, or is he Kal-El: Kryptonian? It’s an interesting thought that will be explored this year in the maxi-series, “World of New Krypton,” by Rucka and Robinson. Weirdly, Superman’s presence in that series means that he won’t be appearing very much in Superman or Action Comics. Some fans at the panel seemed dubious about this prospect, but it excites and fascinates me. My favorite panelist here was the very droll Robinson, who gave the finger to those same dubious fans.
My next panel was Marvel’s X-Men panel, which was packed to the brim with panelists and fans alike. It was quite an uncomfortable panel, because Chris Claremont, who wrote all of the main X-Men books for decades (including a remarkable 300-issue run on Uncanny X-Men), was in attendance for the classic fans and seemed to consistently look upon what was currently being done with his characters with complete disdain. I don’t understand why though. The X-Men books have been wonderful in the last year or so, almost down the line. This includes the ultra-violent X-Force, by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, the thoughtful X-Men Legacy, by Mike Carey, the powerhouse Uncanny X-Men, by Matt Fraction and the time-travel mindfuckery of Cable, by Duane Swierczynski. A few major announcements were made at this panel, the most notable being a New Mutants relaunch penned by the always-reliable Zeb Wells, an X-Force mini-series called Sex and Violence and a new Claremont book called X-Men: Forever, which Claremont pimped out for an uncomfortably long time. (Note: Don’t get me wrong. Chris Claremont is one of my favorite writers of all time and he wrote the first comic book I ever read. But, jeez, is he cantankerous!)
Marvel’s Dark Reign panel was next, which dealt with the aftermath of the Secret Invasion event, which involved the villainous Norman Osborne basically becoming the head of the Marvel Universe. I was psyched for this one, because it included the brilliant Brian Michael Bendis, a writer who I’d never seen in person before. Turns out, he’s a lot shorter and heftier than I thought he was. But no matter. He rules. Hard. And he was easily the funniest and most thoughtful member of the panel during the inevitable Q and A section. The announcements here included Jonathan Hickman (Secret Warriors) replacing Mark Millar on Fantastic Four in September, which I think is an inspired choice, and two new mini-series, Dark Reign: Young Avengers, by Paul Cornell and The Hood, by Jeff Parker. Cornell, as it turns out, was my favorite member of the panel. I’ve never read anything by him before, including his struggling ongoing series, Captain Britain and the MI:13, but I’m going to start. The guy is cartoonishly British, in the most charming way imaginable. I wanted to be his best friend. I’ll definitely be picking up that Young Avengers book.
For the next one, I needed something a bit more thoughtful, so I went to the Vertigo panel (Vertigo is often branded “the HBO of comics,” to give you an idea of what they’re about). Editor Karen Berger was the head panelist and she seemed so excited by everything she was announcing that it made me want to read it all. But first thing’s first. Air writer, G. Willow Wilson was there, and she looked adorable. She’s an odd girl, that G. Willow Wilson. She’s less than four years older than I am, but she’s a Muslim convert, which causes a very sexy and exotic way of dressing, and one of those cool nose rings that attaches to the ear. And Air is pretty brilliant, by the way. Oh my God. Within five minutes of the start of this panel, I already had a crush. Meanwhile, Berger kept making great announcements, like the expansion of Vertigo’s graphic novel division, featuring provocative upcoming books like How To Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, by Sarah Glidden, which concerns the famous “Birthright” trips to Israel. Two new ongoing series were also announced, but wait. I’d started making eyes at G. Willow Wilson. And, what was this? Was she making eyes back at me? I smiled at her. I thought I saw the glimmer of a smile back. What the fuck was happening? But, yeah. Ongoing series. One, by Mike Carey, is called The Unwritten, which is inspired by the real-life Christopher Robin Milne, and wonders whether its main character is real or a fictional creation. The second one is by the great Peter Milligan. Called Greek Street, it’s a modern take on Greek tragedy and it sounds wonderful. And, while Marvel is raising the prices on some of its most popular books by a dollar (to 3.99), Vertigo is offering the first issues of all of its new series (plus, Air #7) for a dollar! Now they have the right idea. So, as the panel was ending, I decided to go talk to G. Willow Wilson. But a bunch of fans mobbed her so I left. Dammit. Depressed again. So I decided to skip the final DC panel and go home, because who really cares anyway? Final Crisis really did suck.
More tomorrow from Comic Con…
