REVIEW: End of Month Reviews #52 - April 2008 [spoilers]
Saxon Brenton
[REVIEW] End of Month Reviews #52 - April 2008 [spoilers]
Beige Countdown #1-0 [LNH]
Conclave of Super-Villains Annual #2 [ASH]
Jolt City #12 [8Fold]
Series' #1 [SG]
Wall Street Angels [ASH]
Also posted:
Coherent Super Stories #15 [ASH]
Derek Radner's Private Journal #5 [ASH]
Lady Lawful And Doctor Developer #8 [ASH]
New Exarchs #12 [SG/LNH]
Sporkman #19-21 [SG]
Unbeatable [ASH]
I'm going to bite the bullet and start using the date stamps on
stories as the appear in the Eyrie archives rather than going by the
Google copies - something that I probably should have done ages ago.
It's not going to make much difference in most cases because of the
format I use for the _End of Month Reviews_ (although thinking about
it, it will have more affect on the Looniverse RACCies eligibles come
November). However, this does mean that there will be a bit of juggling
this month, as _Beige Countdown_ #1 is one of the stories that was
variously date stamped March or April depending one whether I
consult Google or Eyrie.
Spoilers below...
-----
Beige Countdown #1-0
'In The Palm Of The HeartThrob' and 'The Book Of Deus Ex Machinas'
A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] limited series
by Arthur Spitzer
This brings us to the end of the _Beige Countdown_ series.
OR DOES IT!? There were a number of issues skipped along the way, which
Arthur may or may not get motivation to go back and fill in. Now, in
the past I've mentioned the poor track record of various writers, myself
included, in getting the motivation up to fill in such gaps. There's me
(twice with _Limp-Asparagus Lad_), Kyle Lucke with _CHEEEZ Corps_, and
Andrew Perron with _Digital JUMP!_. A strong suspicion can be raised
that when you start leaving holes in your series that you're loosing
interest in writing rather than merely having time management problems.
I just hope I haven't jinxed the matter like I seem to have done when
Andrew lost interest in RACC.
So then, issue 1 is a character piece focusing on Ultimate Ninja,
who is being kept prisoner in a dreaming state. I wasn't familiar with
the aphorism from wReam that the only real way to write Ultimate Ninja
badly was to have him fall in love, but Arthur has put even that
limitation to clever use. The Ninja attains a measure of happiness
marrying another ninja, Lady HeartThrob, and because this goes against
the aforementioned fundamental character brief, his rational side
realises that the situation is wrong and works to wreak everything he's
gained as a way of goading himself to wake up. Which he does.
Finally, in issue 0...
...
Oh, sorry, I lost consciousness there. Despite all my efforts,
I'm not familiar with every single point of continuity from every single
RACC story, and so the sight of Continuity Porn Star's tattoos briefly
reduced me to drooling idiocy. Hold up, let me mop up that slobber.
There we go. Right then. For the most part the various main plot
threads are brought to a climax (but not a conclusion) where they can
be ported over into _Beige Midnight_. The main points however can be
summarised as Occultism Kid's search for the Book of Deus Ex Machina (and
the backhistory of how it came to be hidden where it was), and Bart' s
success in summoning the still-sleeping presences of the Bryttle Brothers.
An observation: the way that the magical battle back in the 1950s
played out suggests that the Net.Trenchcoat Brigade types would be better
at handling (or at least surviving) the upcoming crisis than the Legion of
Net.Hero types. I wonder if that's a tension building device, or whether
it's indicative of the way the Beige Midnight plotlines have been mapped
out, or whether it's simply the way the NTB guest appearances occurred?
That question not only applies to the NTB as a whole, but also on a
smaller scale with individual members. For example, does the appearance
of the Jellomancer (and his apocalyptic blackberry jello) simply act as
a portent of doom, or is his presence a random guest appearance that can
metaphorically be ascribed to Continuity Porn Star? I don't particularly
mind either way; the Jellomancer is a character that I've always liked
and who, if I were a faster writer, I'd probably try and do an NTB
miniseries for. But it probably makes a difference for the casual reader.
A second observation: A story of this nature has to flit about
between scenes for two reasons. Firstly because it needs to touch upon
the main plot threads, secondly because it needs to show the impact of
the approaching crisis on a range of people. However, there needs to be
emotional investment if the reader is to care about the characters and
what's happening to them. For the most part that's handled well with a
primary focus on Occultism Kid, and most of the other characters get bits
as well. The bit with Catalyst Lass cheerfully going about to deceive
Mr Tiddles was a nice touch, for example. Nevertheless, I'm sitting
here worrying that the combination of an ensemble cast, plus the late
appearance of the Net.Trenchcoat Brigade, may make this look like the
equivalent of an Event comic from one of the mainstream publishers.
That is to say, a reasonable enough story that nevertheless looks like
it's padded with gratuitous continuity references. Which brings us back
to Continuity Porn Star, I suppose. The issue I'm thinking of is not so
much a question of accessibility (although that point has been raised by
Tom Russell, and it is not invalid) but a more academic interest in
whether there's a different point between 'real' comics and our amateur
fiction for where the line between acknowledgement of past continuity
and gratuitous continuity lies. Hmmm.
Conclave of Super-Villains Annual #2
'Revelation' (Coming Home part 5)
An Academy of Super-Heroes [ASH] series
by Dave Van Domelen, Tony Pi, and Andrew Burton
What is this?: A series devoted to the exploits of a supervillain
team, and set in the Academy of Super-Heroes universe. There are a
couple of ramifications to that.
Firstly, even if you haven't read the original _CSV_ stories from
years ago (or for that matter, the stories that crossed over into _ASH_),
you may have seen the more recent issues of _Derek Radner's Private
Journal_. Right from the start the Conclave was set up by Triton to be
a power base on the scale of world politics. And in its own twisted way
it's thematically appropriate that even though Triton lost control of the
Conclave quite some time ago (real world publishing time) that in this
story he manages to create/initiate/be given control of a completely new
power base in the up-until-now hidden city of El Dorado. And remember,
he still has Chancellorship of the rogue state of Khadam.
In any case, a consequence of Triton's initial establishing
principle is that the CSV's adversaries tend not to be small. The
Conclave tends to get opposition from world governments and their
sanctioned superteams, or - as was the case with the arrival of the
Impossible Five back in the 'Four To Never' arc _in ASH_ - from other
'world beating' conquerors and villains who see the Conclave as a
powerful opponent. Not just a powerful rival, but a powerful defender
of the current status quo for their own selfish purposes. Ironic that.
Still, we've seen the Conclave ally with the likes of the Academy, STRAFE
and EUROPA against particularly dangerous threats several times: such as
against the recent paradox in Monaco engineered by the Impossible Five,
the apotheosis of Rebus in the 'Pyramid Scheme', and very indirectly
against the arrival of the world serpent. In a very real way the
Conclave is now just another world political faction, albeit one with
more strained than normal diplomatic relations.
Plotwise, Triton had been stuck in the past as a result of the
machinations of the Impossible Five. With the assistance of Aegis he
has sets about moving forward in time and setting up situations
(including *apparent* paradoxes) to their advantage.
Now, I've been puttering on and off with a review for this story
all month. The notion of a story about retconning away chunks of
previous stories sat ill with me, but I wasn't able to put my finger
on why. I still can't, and in the end I think it may have been unfounded
suspicion of the retconning trope because of the way it's been used badly
so often in mainstream comics in the past. But there are counter-
examples. Arguably the best known would be Alan Moore's work on
revamping the Swamp Thing's origin and on Marvelman/Miracleman.
Fortunately this story doesn't come across as a mere plot contrivance
(or worse, an editorial mandate). It acts as a story for its own sake.
Triton's machination are fun to watch (even if I was, like Solar Max
and Kleinvogel in _ASH_, half expecting something far more grandiose
and convoluted), and better still there is emotional impact for the
characters involved to work through. Of course, most of the emotional
impact is of the 'this is a weird situation, how do I react to it?' type.
That type of introspection is rather common in Dvandom's work. However
there's also the scene where Triton joyfully realises that in the creation
of El Dorado his scheme has borne fruit better than he could have possibly
imagined - and it's all his to play with! That was just sheer superhero/
pulp adventure fun. Points also for the characterisation of Solar Max's
single mindedness at one-step removed.
Jolt City #12
'A Beginning...!' (The Sensational Character Find of 2007 Part 1)
An Eightfold [8Fold] series
by Tom Russell
Huh. I'd lost track of the fact that issue 11 of this series was
published back in September 2007. Well, the original individual issue 11
in any case, since the trade etherback compilation of #2-11 also came out
this month, but was so big that it only showed up in the Eyrie archive.
Still, that means we need to know...
What is this?: A series depicting the adventures of the Green Knight
in the eponymous Jolt City, and which revels in using some of the more
fantastical and improbable comic book superhero elements.
As the title says, this story is a beginning - both to a new story
arc and to the career of Derek as a superhero sidekick. Yet at the same
time it also acts as a recap for the previous arc. Green Knight, as
Martin, not only starts to teach Derek the superhero trade, but also
tries to find Derek a part time job that can be used as a cover for any
absences while fighting crime. In the process he revisits many of the
characters and situations that have appeared in the series so far,
encounters new ones (the Hobby-Horse), as well as recapping pieces of
hitherto unknown backhistory (Castro hiding out in Jolt City, the ghosts
of Lincoln and Booth).
All the characters seem to be behaving with the own personal
idiosyncrasies (for good or ill). I'm in agreement with Father Riddle
on in worrying about the triangle between Martin, Pam and Dani. That
looks to me as though Martin's once again refusing to deal with personal
problems and letting tensions build while he concentrates on the easier-
to-handle superhero concerns.
Series' #1
'Beginnings'
A Superguy [SG] series
by James Rinehart
After seeing the conjunction between this entry and that for _Jolt
City_ immediately above it, I was gripped by the impulse to wonder: What,
another beginning? Which is fatuous of me, considering that this *is*
the start of the series.
So, what is this?
Uhm.
To tell the truth I'm not sure if I can give an honest appraisal of
that just yet. With two issues posted (this and a #0 opening starring the
Sage) the series still has a 'gathering of the cast' combined with
'cryptic secrets that will soon be revealed' feel. Comments by Mechaman
on-list indicate this will continue for a few issues, but even without
that confirmation I would be inclined to treat this title as pending its
final form and simply wait and see what happens. At this point I'm not
even prepared to say for certain that the story will be continuity heavy;
the prevalence of pre-existing characters suggests it will, but for all
I know Mechaman is doing a Chris Claremont and parachuting in favourite
characters and has no plans beyond that.
Which is not to say that things have not been interesting so far.
The vignette with woman in the mirror particularly piqued my interest.
And the appearance of the Sage was amusing; I vaguely recalled the
character from previous Superguy stories cross posted to RACC, and my
first reaction was: 'Hmm, time does not seem to have mellowed him' :-)
Overall, I recommend that we 'wait and see'.
Wall Street Angels
An Academy of Super-Heroes [ASH] one shot
by Dave Van Domelen
What is this?: A one shot story showing the activities of a group
of angels as they prepare for the False Rapture/Pagan Rapture/whatever-
you-wish-to-term-it that concluded the Godmarket in July 1998. It's
always been explicitly part of the ASH setting that various uber-powerful
mages with reality warping magical abilities were the basis of pagan
deities, which in turn tied in with the mechanics of how superpowers
operate. In this case we meet some mages representing the Judeo-
Christian-Islamic faiths who are taking a more low key approach to the
Godmarket.
The story is well written and entertaining. However, it is
presented in a format that makes it impossible for me to take it
seriously on a literal level. On a metaphorical level? Yep, sure.
But not on a literal level. The problem is this: I can accept that
the gods have taken on the *trappings* of modern marketing methods to
lure in worshippers, but I find it jarringly anachronistic that such
powerful entities would actually embrace modern business parlance in
the equivalent of their day-to-day existences. Markets, after all, are
a way of regulating supply and demand, and for beings capable of wishing
into existence almost anything they desire, there would be no need for
markets. Even the fact that the Godmarket *is* acting as a way of
distributing a resource that they have no way of whistling up from
nothing - mortal faith - is insufficient reason for them to be acting
like this, since the Godmarket is a short term scam that cannot possibly
be having that sort of impact on their intrinsic behaviour. And that
argument goes double for the angels seen here, since by their own
admission they are keeping a low profile in the Godmarket and probably
have better tools for subverting the activities of the pagan gods. In
short, the coy references to Abrahamic mythology expressed in marketing
jargon read to me more like a comedy sketch focused on wordplay than on
a form of storytelling in (semi)naturalistic prose.
For the most part I'm happy enough to rationalise that these events
probably happened somewhat as depicted. I simply suspect that 'liberties
have been taken with the dialogue'. Whether this handwave works for
anyone is an open question.
----------
Saxon Brenton University of Technology, city library, Sydney Australia
saxon....@uts.edu.au
The Eyrie Archives of Russ Allbery which collect the online superhero
fiction of the rec.arts.comics.creative newsgroup and its sibling group
Superguy can be found at:
http://archives.eyrie.org/racc/ or
http://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/
http://archives.eyrie.org/superguy/ or
http://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/superguy/
_________________________________________________________________
Search for local singles online @ Lavalife - Click here
Lalo Martins
> Nevertheless, I'm
> sitting here worrying that the combination of an ensemble cast, plus the
> late appearance of the Net.Trenchcoat Brigade, may make this look like
> the equivalent of an Event comic from one of the mainstream publishers.
My understanding is that one (minor) goal Arthur and I have been shooting
for is to poke fun at mainstream Event comics. (Arthur with BC and BM,
me with 58.5 and my suggestions and contributions to BC/BM.) And one of
the reasons I enjoyed BC#0 is that it was the apex of this minor goal; it
was IMO so well done that now we don't need to do it so much anymore, I
feel that "the fun has been poked" :-P And yet, it has done that without
losing its effectiveness as part of the story.
Maybe some people aren't that much into satire. Well; in a month that
has seen the abyssal badness of Death of New Gods (or "DONG" as I like to
call it) and the "end" of Countdown, plus the gratuitous trailer string
of DCU0, I feel I have to somehow express my anguish as a comic fan. Two
ways I can do that are: point out the ridicule in it, and write better
stuff. It's a hard choice, so I pick both. I may fail at the "better
stuff" part, but... hmm, wait a minute, better than DONG and Countdown?
No, I don't think I can possibly fail at that.
Jim-Starlin-is-a-Skrull-ly-yours,
Lalo Martins
--
So many of our dreams at first seem impossible,
then they seem improbable, and then, when we
summon the will, they soon become inevitable.
-----
http://lalomartins.info/
GNU: never give up freedom http://www.gnu.org/
EDMLite
> [REVIEW] End of Month Reviews #52 - April 2008 [spoilers]
> A second observation: A story of this nature has to flit about
> between scenes for two reasons. Firstly because it needs to touch upon
> the main plot threads, secondly because it needs to show the impact of
> the approaching crisis on a range of people. However, there needs to be
> emotional investment if the reader is to care about the characters and
> what's happening to them... I'm sitting
> here worrying that the combination of an ensemble cast, plus the late
> appearance of the Net.Trenchcoat Brigade, may make this look like the
> equivalent of an Event comic from one of the mainstream publishers.
> That is to say, a reasonable enough story that nevertheless looks like
> it's padded with gratuitous continuity references. Which brings us back
> to Continuity Porn Star, I suppose. The issue I'm thinking of is not so
> much a question of accessibility (although that point has been raised by
> Tom Russell, and it is not invalid) but a more academic interest in
> whether there's a different point between 'real' comics and our amateur
> fiction for where the line between acknowledgement of past continuity
> and gratuitous continuity lies. Hmmm.
That's a tough question. The LNH was built on the notion that
today's one-off joke could become tomorrow's well-developed
character. So resurrecting a long-disused character (or
several) within the course of a storyline doesn't seem like
continuity porn -- as long as the appearance actually
helps to develop the character, and doesn't merely trot
them out for the purpose of fanwankery.
I'm particularly interested in this point because I'm
currently at work on what could be considered a Big
Event story (yes, I'm one of those who committed to
writing one of the "skipped chapters" in Beige
Countdown, and have been leaving poor Arthur in the
lurch for lo these many months).
I volunteered because I've spent years writing
stories with one or two characters, and I really
wanted to write a big, splashy story set in space
with dozens of characters blasting the bejeezus
out of each other. It's taking me a long time, and
I'm really enjoying writing it (it's hard to write
a fight scene with a giant flying hamster taking on
a telekinetic cat aboard a spaceship built by alien
koalas and not walk away with a smile on your face).
But I'm worried about how it might be received.
I'm not sensing a lot of love for Big Event stories
lately.
And I'm wondering why that is. Is it because of
the overwhelming number of them spilling out of the
Big Two recently? Is it because of the nature of the
Big Event story itself (some major change has to
happen for it to mean anything, but comic book
universes and big, irreversible changes mix about
as well as water and potassium)?
Is it because Big Event stories tend to be large,
with lots of flitting about from scene to scene?
(My LNH Comics Presents #501 is probably the most
egregious example of this). And is there a way
around that? Lalo's 58.5 is essentially the story
of one big event, but he's telling it in chapters,
with each chapter focusing on a small group of
characters.
I'd like to know what people think about this.
I think Arthur has set the bar high for Beige
Countdown stories so far, and I'd like the ones
I create to be both fun to read and presented in
a format that won't seem as...well, bloated as
some of my stories have been in the past...
--Easily-Discovered Man Lite
--Wondering if this typeface makes him look fat
Saxon Brenton
replied:
> Also spracht Saxon Brenton (Wed, 07 May 2008 05:15:48 +0000):
>> Nevertheless, I'm
>> sitting here worrying that the combination of an ensemble cast, plus
>> the late appearance of the Net.Trenchcoat Brigade, may make this look
>> like the equivalent of an Event comic from one of the mainstream
>> publishers.
>
> My understanding is that one (minor) goal Arthur and I have been
> shooting for is to poke fun at mainstream Event comics. (Arthur
> with BC and BM, me with 58.5 and my suggestions and contributions
> to BC/BM.) And one of the reasons I enjoyed BC#0 is that it was
> the apex of this minor goal; it was IMO so well done that now we
> don't need to do it so much anymore, I feel that "the fun has been
> poked" :-P And yet, it has done that without losing its
> effectiveness as part of the story.
Yes. And I really should have taken that angle into consideration
because it's not as though it shouldn't have been obvious to me.
In retrospect there are a few points of sloppy logic in EoMR52; I
think my brain is becomming frazzled if I sit uppast 1 am writing
stuff.
---
Saxon Brenton
Tarq
> I'm not sensing a lot of love for Big Event stories
> lately.
>
> And I'm wondering why that is. Is it because of
> the overwhelming number of them spilling out of the
> Big Two recently? Is it because of the nature of the
> Big Event story itself (some major change has to
> happen for it to mean anything, but comic book
> universes and big, irreversible changes mix about
> as well as water and potassium)?
That may have something to do with it. The days of walking into your
local comic book store, picking up a book that looks interesting, and
reading an interesting story from start to finish seem to be
completely gone. Nowadays you have to follow a series for months to
get that same fulfillment; I personally suspect that this has more to
do with money-grabbing by the Big Two than any true attempt to write
'better' stories, or (in my opinion) stories would alternate more
between one-shots and proper arcs. But then your favourite series is
suddenly jacked into something like Marvel's 'Civil War'.
'Civil War' was exactly the sort of story that a comic book company
should never, ever write. It branched across dozens of titles,
consuming hundreds of issues (137, if my count is correct). The result
of this? In order to get the entire story, readers had to pay roughly
US$400, or AU$800 (not because the US dollar was that strong against
the Australian dollar during the 'Civil War' storyline, but simply
because it cost that much to import comics. Since the US dollar has
hit its decline, the price of comcis has improved considerably).
This is, I feel, a major reason why people don't like Big Event
stories. They cost US$400 to enjoy, and at the end of the day, they
only succeed in mangling the readers favourite characters. ('One More
Day', anyone? What??) This is, of course, not the only reason not to
like Big Events, but it trains the consumer's mindset to grow uneasy
when confronted by them.
> Is it because Big Event stories tend to be large,
> with lots of flitting about from scene to scene?
> (My LNH Comics Presents #501 is probably the most
> egregious example of this). And is there a way
> around that? Lalo's 58.5 is essentially the story
> of one big event, but he's telling it in chapters,
> with each chapter focusing on a small group of
> characters.
In my personal opinion, I *prefer* large stories with lots of flitting
about from scene to scene, assuming, of course, that each scene is
executed well, and that the conclusion ties it all together nicely.
However, climactic moments need to have room to be focused on. Darting
over to Palpatine and Yoda having a chinwag whilst Anakin and Obi-Wan
duel on Mustafar isn't going to grab my attention, merely raise my
ire.
Big Events give the smaller characters an opportunity to shine
through; the main players can always handle a smaller situation, but
in a larger scale problem, they need -- or should need, if the story
is worth making such a fuss over -- help. It's important to develop as
many characters in a way that's meaningful to the narrative, and adds
to the overall experience of the story. Pierre Gringoire, from Victor
Hugo's 'Notre-Dame de Paris', is my favourite example of a background
character who's been explored thoroughly and transformed into a
complex, dynamic human being about whom it's incredibly enjoyable to
read. Yet, if you were to look up a plot synopsis, you would likely
just have Gringoire mentioned as a 'struggling poet', if he were
mentioned at all; the Lord himself knows that Disney didn't bother to
include him in their adaptation.
So these little scenes (generally) add to the enjoyment of the story;
they flesh it out, they turn "There was a massive thing and it was
awesome" into detailed, beautiful prose. The 'problem' with LNHCP #501
was that you had several characters who, because of the way the story
went, simply *couldn't be fleshed out in the course of that issue*. To
truly care for these characters and the predicament that they were in
would require one to go back and read a month's worth of LNH stories
first, and maybe not even that would do it. Considering the restraints
that the storyline placed on that particular issue, it was executed
brilliantly, and I remember it fondly as one of my favourite LNH
stories.
The 'problem' with 'Beige Midnight' (and, by extension, 'Beige
Countdown'), however, is that it suffers from Excessive Issue
Syndrome, much like 'Civil War'. It essentially began on April 1st
last year, and it's still going; the carefree, easy-to-access LNH has
been restricted, tightened, and left a few authors unsure of where
they fit into the grand scheme. This is not, of course, a dig at you
or Arthur or anyone else; the story has progressed, and progressed
well, at that. I'm quite certain that it can't be easy to hold your
attention on the one story for so long, and I'm equally as sure that
the end result will be worth the wait.
For now, however, this particular Big Event has gotten the feeling of
just being *too big*. Please, please, PLEASE don't try to change this
now; everything has been crafted towards one final moment, and I'm
looking forward to it very anxiously indeed. But to answer your
question of how to avoid flitting around too many scenes, I reply
(with humble subjectivity), "Don't." I then hasten to add, "But maybe
try to keep the story to a manageable length. A month would have
worked well; after a year, it's a miracle that it hasn't gotten more
convoluted."
> I'd like to know what people think about this.
> I think Arthur has set the bar high for Beige
> Countdown stories so far, and I'd like the ones
> I create to be both fun to read and presented in
> a format that won't seem as...well, bloated as
> some of my stories have been in the past...
If by 'bloated past stories' you refer to LNHCP #501, don't worry
about it too much; I've full confidence in you to write an
entertaining and narrative narrative. However, when I begin using
'narrative' in both its noun and ajective forms in the one sentence, I
fear I've begun rambling and fret over what I've said already. This
now concludes everything that I have to say on the matter, unless I
have something else to say. It occurs to me that I probably haven't
the question that you wanted to know the answer to!
What are LNH author buddies for? =)
> --Easily-Discovered Man Lite
> --Wondering if this typeface makes him look fat- Hide quoted text -
~Mitchell.
(also, if LNHCP #501 isn't the issue that I'm thinking of, feel free
to disregard large portions of that text.)
Martin Phipps
> On May 8, 10:42 am, EDMLite <robroger...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm not sensing a lot of love for Big Event stories
> > lately.
>
> > And I'm wondering why that is. Is it because of
> > the overwhelming number of them spilling out of the
> > Big Two recently? Is it because of the nature of the
> > Big Event story itself (some major change has to
> > happen for it to mean anything, but comic book
> > universes and big, irreversible changes mix about
> > as well as water and potassium)?
>
> That may have something to do with it. The days of walking into your
> local comic book store, picking up a book that looks interesting, and
> reading an interesting story from start to finish seem to be
> completely gone. Nowadays you have to follow a series for months to
> get that same fulfillment; I personally suspect that this has more to
> do with money-grabbing by the Big Two than any true attempt to write
> 'better' stories, or (in my opinion) stories would alternate more
> between one-shots and proper arcs. But then your favourite series is
> suddenly jacked into something like Marvel's 'Civil War'.
I wonder what would happen if a comic book company were able to amass
enough money to start making its own movies. What if these movies
started making money. Lots of money. Would we start to see movies
that were not only sequels but crossovers with other movies?
Well, it's happening. Not only does Marvel hope to do an Iron Man 2
(for 2010) but also a Thor (for 2010) and a Captain America movie (for
2011), followed shortly by an Avengers movie (also in 2011). They're
probably also going to do a Rampaging Hulk and an Ant Man movie in the
meantime. How many movies will a non-comics fan have to watch to
understand the Avengers when it comes out?
Martin
Arthur Spitzer
> I'm not sensing a lot of love for Big Event stories
> lately.
>
> And I'm wondering why that is. Is it because of
> the overwhelming number of them spilling out of the
> Big Two recently? Is it because of the nature of the
> Big Event story itself (some major change has to
> happen for it to mean anything, but comic book
> universes and big, irreversible changes mix about
> as well as water and potassium)?
>
> Is it because Big Event stories tend to be large,
> with lots of flitting about from scene to scene?
> (My LNH Comics Presents #501 is probably the most
> egregious example of this). And is there a way
> around that? Lalo's 58.5 is essentially the story
> of one big event, but he's telling it in chapters,
> with each chapter focusing on a small group of
> characters.
I think Tarq is right in that people hate events from
the big two because they infect every book and cost tons
of money to the fans...
And people hate RACC events because they're not done in a
timely fashion... :)
I only hate them when I'm the one writing them... :)
>
> I'd like to know what people think about this.
> I think Arthur has set the bar high for Beige
> Countdown stories so far, and I'd like the ones
> I create to be both fun to read and presented in
> a format that won't seem as...well, bloated as
> some of my stories have been in the past...
The parts you've sent me look good... I'm sure everyone's
going to enjoy it when you post them...
So just finish them and post them already... :)
>
> --Easily-Discovered Man Lite
> --Wondering if this typeface makes him look fat
Arthur "Evented Out..." Spitzer
Arthur Spitzer
>
> For now, however, this particular Big Event has gotten the feeling of
> just being *too big*. Please, please, PLEASE don't try to change this
> now; everything has been crafted towards one final moment, and I'm
> looking forward to it very anxiously indeed. But to answer your
> question of how to avoid flitting around too many scenes, I reply
> (with humble subjectivity), "Don't." I then hasten to add, "But maybe
> try to keep the story to a manageable length. A month would have
> worked well; after a year, it's a miracle that it hasn't gotten more
> convoluted."
Yeah... it's too big...
When I was writing BC#0 I started to realize how many characters and
plots and other things were involved... just too much...
BC#0 was kind of a mess.. hopefully all of Beige Midnight will be a lot
more comprehensible...
But I'm sort of stuck into a place where I'm trying to get this all
finished and trying to make it good.. and it seems to be turning into
a not so good/not so timely thing... the worst of both worlds...
After this no more events for me...
I guess Beige Midnight will probably be the last of its type of thing...
Arthur "Back to Beige..." Spitzer
Arthur Spitzer
> Also spracht Saxon Brenton (Wed, 07 May 2008 05:15:48 +0000):
>> Nevertheless, I'm
>> sitting here worrying that the combination of an ensemble cast, plus the
>> late appearance of the Net.Trenchcoat Brigade, may make this look like
>> the equivalent of an Event comic from one of the mainstream publishers.
Part of the problem is that while writing this... I think to myself,
"Wouldn't it be fun if such and such a character appeared," of course
once I put them in I'm not quite sure of what to do with them...
That being said the NTB will play a role in Beige Midnight...
>
> My understanding is that one (minor) goal Arthur and I have been shooting
> for is to poke fun at mainstream Event comics. (Arthur with BC and BM,
> me with 58.5 and my suggestions and contributions to BC/BM.) And one of
> the reasons I enjoyed BC#0 is that it was the apex of this minor goal; it
> was IMO so well done that now we don't need to do it so much anymore, I
> feel that "the fun has been poked" :-P And yet, it has done that without
> losing its effectiveness as part of the story.
Glad you liked it...
>
> Maybe some people aren't that much into satire. Well; in a month that
> has seen the abyssal badness of Death of New Gods (or "DONG" as I like to
> call it) and the "end" of Countdown, plus the gratuitous trailer string
> of DCU0, I feel I have to somehow express my anguish as a comic fan. Two
> ways I can do that are: point out the ridicule in it, and write better
> stuff. It's a hard choice, so I pick both. I may fail at the "better
> stuff" part, but... hmm, wait a minute, better than DONG and Countdown?
> No, I don't think I can possibly fail at that.
>
> Jim-Starlin-is-a-Skrull-ly-yours,
> Lalo Martins
I don't read too many event things... but I did pick up that DCU #0..
and yeah it was pretty awful... probably the worst thing I've ever read
by Grant Morrison...
I'll probably check out Final Crisis... but mostly because I usually
checkout anything written by Morrison.. hopefully it's a lot better than
DCU #0...
Arthur "Hoping Beige Midnight blows them all away.." Spitzer
Tarq
> After this no more events for me...
>
> I guess Beige Midnight will probably be the last of its type of thing...
I disagree with that; probably the last for a while, but the only real
problem with BM is its horrendous length. Large events are also
'necessary' in a way; a character needs to die every now and then to
remind the audience that the characters are *able* to die (it's also a
lot better if a character dies doing something meaningful, rather than
going out slowly in the Net.ropolis Old Folks' Home). If *every* story
was a one-off and nothing changed at the end of the day, then readers
would get bored and shrug stories off because "nothing happens in
them". The initial idea of ILC -- an event that ran for a month -- was
met with a lot of enthusiasm. And that enthusiasm wore off a little
over the past year, but parts of it still remain; everyone still wants
to read those Beige Midnight stories.
So while BM may be the last of its kind for a while, expect the big
events to come back. Not this year, and probably not next year.
Probably not for years to come; maybe on the LNH's 18th, 20th or 21st
birthdays, someone will decide to do something. But they'll learn from
Beige Midnight and not stretch it over a year. And that's, in my
opinion, the second best thing to come of this.
> Arthur "Back to Beige..." Spitzer
~Mitchell.
(The best thing, of course, is kickass LNH stories! Hell yeah, kickass
LNH stories!)