Sonia Harris
Committed: Jeff Lemire talks Constantine
Last week Jeff Lemire let me know that he and Ray Fawkes are committed to keeping John Constantine’s life filled with self-sabotage, demons, sex, and all kinds of insanity. After a sneak peak at the script for Constantine #1 (on shelves in March) I found some points of interest, certainly enough to make me look forward to the release of Constantine in March), and Lemire kindly agreed to answer a few questions. Talking about his intentions and the future for our favorite misanthropic anti-hero gives me hope that the core issues Hellblazer was able to wrestle with may not be entirely lost in this forthcoming take on the character.
Committed: Kyle Baker’s “Why I Hate Saturn”
Kyle Baker has posted small versions of his graphic novels on his website for everyone to read for free. I’m hoping that this will lead more people to discover the subtle genius that is “Why I Hate Saturn”, along with many of his other very clever, funny, beautiful, eclectic books.
For many years, Why I Hate Saturn was one of my favorite comic books, it was funny, silly, clever and wise. I gave it to at least three different friends so they would understand me a little better. This story highlights all of the things that work in society, (as well as the many things that don’t), and it makes me laugh while it does it. When I was growing into myself, it demystified a very awkward phase I was going through and the confusing changes in the ways that the world was responding to me. Even though that particular awkward phase is done, there are always new ones and this is still a book which is dear to my heart.
Committed: Big Bang Theory Vs. Morgan Spurlock (or “When a Sitcom is Less Insulting than a Documentary”)
Like junk food, I expect my consumption of sitcoms to be unsatisfying and flippantly derogatory. I do not expect the same from films calling themselves “documentaries” but unfortunately that is what I experienced.
Last week an episode of the The Big Bang Theory (season 6, episode 13) featured the guys going to a small convention in costume, leaving their girlfriends to explore comic books. As usual, it was presented in a denigrating and ridiculous manner, belittling everyone involved. No big surprise, it was the usual mildly amusing collection of silly clichés played out by an ensemble of two-dimensional characters.
Committed: “Elizabeth’s Canvas” Interview
Jud Meyers and Scott Tipton (founders of Blastoff Comics in North Hollywood) are the team behind the ambitious compendium comic book for Elizabeth’s Canvas; a non-profit organization which offers cancer patients and people affected by cancer creative therapy through free art classes, including painting, drawing, and writing. Published by IDW in March, with all of the proceeds going to the organization (thanks to IDW covering the print costs) this book features work by well-known writers and artists from all over the world. Meyers agreed to sit down and tell us more about the book.
Committed: My Top 16 Comics of 2012
In 2012 a broader variety of author communicated their joy and intensity using the alchemy that is art and literature in comic books. The wealth of great comic books published in nearly every genre made me happier than I can say and when I put in my votes for the CBR Top 100 Comics of 2012 I was hard pressed to pick only 10 comic books to vote for. So for you, I’ve compiled 16 mini-reviews of my favorite comic books published in 2012. These books were enjoyable, intense, personal, and / or an evolution of the the comic book medium (and now I can’t wait to see what we’re going to get this year!) Continue Reading »
Committed: Happy Holidays!
This year I designed a particularly silly holiday card for you. Enjoy and have a wonderful time (if you can. If not, then I hope that you can read some comic books, listen to some music, and wait until this weird time of year is over.)
Committed: Marvel Fairy Tales
This week I wanted to write about something sweet and lovely, far away from the silly horror stories and swashbuckling superheroes which have become my weekly ongoing comic book staples. So I looked to the stack of books-to-be-read which have somehow piled up over the last few months and found something perfect; Marvel Fairy Tales – a book mixing classic fairy tales with classic Marvel superhero tales; the Avengers (both young and old), Spider-Man, and the X-Men.
Committed: The More You Know…
Do we, as comic book readers and lovers really want to hear about the business of comic books?
Committed: Catwoman (The Dark Knight Rises Blu-Ray)
Since today is my birthday it is lucky that I get to write about something I really like; Anne Hathaway’s depiction of Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. With the release of the blu-ray next week (December 4th to be precise, in plenty of time for early holiday shopping), I had a chance to review it and check out all the special features that come with it. Since I’m sure you’ll be able to find plenty of reviews of the entire, impressive package, I focused my attention on Catwoman and the feature elaborating on the design and approach taken on that character.
Committed: Revisiting Charles’ Burns “Black Hole”
Last night I picked up Charles Burn’s Black Hole to read in bed. There are two reasons why this is a bad idea. First, the book is so good that there is absolutely no way that I could put it down without finishing it, so I was up half the night (and it is good enough so that I really can’t rush it, even if I have already read it before.) Second, Black Hole is creepy, not in a generic horror movie way, where I get all twitchy and have to keep looking over my shoulder because I’m so on edge, but in an insidious, creep-into-my-subconscious-and-screw-with-my-dreams way. After I finished reading I lay awake for what felt like hours staring into the darkness and trying not to imagine that I could see anything in it. When I did finally fall asleep, I dreamt about impersonal dismemberment and important shaving rituals which lingered upon waking even though them made no sense. Waking up itself was a shock too, because my eyes were crossed, which has never happened. I couldn’t get them to uncross, and eventually I succumbed to my body and surrendered to sleep for another half hour so that I could wake up in a slightly less physically confused state. It was impressive.
Committed: My Top Ten Photos of Male Cosplayers
Since I wrote you two columns last week, and this week I have both laryngitis and a sinus infection (aren’t you jealous? ugh…) this week I’m going to give you some fun pictures instead.
Over the years that I’ve been writing my weekly articles, I have also been attending comic book conventions and taking photos of things I find interesting. Naturally, people in costumes are fun to document, not just because I admire their courage, but because I’m also intrigued by the way in which people can explore boundaries of gender and appearance outside of their “normal” role in life. I’ve always felt that part of the appeal of the superhero comic book is this dual identity, and while I don’t choose to explore mine publicly in this way, I still find people in costume fascinating. Continue Reading »
Committed: Hellblazer – DC Shoot Themselves in the Foot (again)
Today I found out that Hellblazer is cancelled, and John Constantine is moving into the main, general DC universe (see the CBR piece for more about the mechanics on that.)
Unable to come up with any decent new ideas, DC has gone from fiddling with one 30 year old Alan Moore creation – Watchmen – to messing up another: Hellblazer. Of course DC has forced itself to continue this practice of pillaging it’s own powerful history of creations because it has hobbled the creation of new ideas. A champion against creators rights, and infamously instituting a policy of marketing-driven, decision-making-by-committee, the comic book publisher has become a bastion of tired ideas and restrictively tedious comic books. In this brave new world, there is obviously no space for a renegade division like Vertigo, and the gradual dismantling continues apace, as they hand the reigns of Constantine over to an American writer and place John Constantine (a characters who’s very raison d’etre is the juxtaposition of his own very British strangeness within the mundane “real” world) in the DC universe
Committed: Graphically Communicating the Election
If you live in America (or the world) perhaps you were as enthralled by the election as I was. It was fascinating to watch unfold online, as the results were reported, extrapolated, and opined upon. If you’re at all interested in visual communication and the use of imagery to convey information (as so many comic book readers are) then this was a banner year to find interesting and new ways to look at the election beyond giant maps plastered onto ice rinks and such gimmicky tricks.
Committed: Halloween Interview with Steve Niles, Horror Writer
In case you hadn’t noticed, today is Halloween. It can be hard for me to understand how I can love some horror comic books, yet hold such an aversion to horror movies, so I asked acclaimed horror comic book writer – Steve Niles – if he would to talk about what it is that makes horror comic books so appealing, how he writes, and what we can look forward to from him in the future.
…
Sonia Harris: It is ironic that horror is probably my most hated genre, yet in comics it is often one I gravitate towards. Perhaps it is because elsewhere there is such a lack of grit.
Steve Niles: There really aren’t many other genres besides superhero in comics. Horror is a great genre. You’re automatically on edge simply because it called horror. The anticipation of being scared is a huge factor.
Committed: DC Got Their Marketing All Over My Constantine
The other day I finally got around to reading Justice League Dark #0. Now you can tell me that this is “a different John Constantine than the one in Hellblazer” or that “DC is a different universe than Vertigo.” I don’t buy it. Those are rationalizations, excuses for screwing up a well-established, well-rounded character with a ton of history and a strong following. If DC’s relaunch and their publication of these issue #0′s was anything more than a depressing marketing move aimed at capturing the attention of a dwindling audience instead of trying to increase their appeal by deepening and widening the type of books they publish, they would not have messed up this character’s history so completely.
