NEWS: Comic related news/comments for September 14, 2001
Ken Dreger
articles that are accessible as links at http://www.comicgeek.ca
Apologies for not posting the news here for the last couple days (I
was updating at my website though).
September 14, 2001 - New Yorkers back to biz amid pain, "The New
Yorker will devote almost all of its Sept. 24 issue (due out Monday)
to the events still unfolding in New York, including a story on the
city skyline by architecture writer Paul Goldberg. Staffers returned
to work Thursday after being evacuated along with other Conde Nast
employees due to a bomb scare. In what would be a first since the
dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the magazine may not include
any cartoons in its next issue. The cover, however, will carry artwork
by Art Spiegelman. When John F. Kennedy Jr. died, the magazine's cover
depicted the Statue of Liberty weeping. It's hard to imagine a more
poignant image for this week."
A captain america we haven't seen in 50+ years returns, Marvel has
changed the opening page of their website asking for visitors to
donate blood and money to help those in need. It's an interesting
picture as it shows Captain America in a position of uniting America
behind him, a position that Captain America hasn't had since World War
II - apt with the implications that these events are alluded to as the
beginning of World War III.
''Honestly, I was scared.'' Marvel Comics' Bill Rosemann discusses his
first day back to work, "Thursday in New York City was a time for
people to try and return to a life that felt somewhat normal. Many of
the citizens of NYC returned to work for the first time since the
attacks on the World Trade Center Tuesday and, understandably, the
journey back into the city was one filled with mixed emotions. While
citizens around the world have been affected by the tragic events of
this week, for those living and working in New York City the attacks
on the WTC take on an even greater reality. Bill Rosemann, the
Marketing Communications Manager for Marvel Comics, agreed to share
his experiences making his way back into the Marvel offices on
Thursday, his first day back since the attack, to give those of us
living outside the city an understanding of what it was like to
return. Making his way back into the city was an emotional experience.
"Honestly, I was scared," Rosemann told CBR News Thursday."
'Doonesbury' cartoons pulled in wake of attack, "The piercing
political satire that is the stock in trade of Garry B. Trudeau's
"Doonesbury" comic strip is being set aside next week in light of
Tuesday's terrorist attacks. On Wednesday, Trudeau ordered the strips
scheduled to appear in newspapers during the week of Sept. 17 pulled.
They will be replaced with strips that appeared three years ago,
according to Kathie Kerr, director of communications for Universal
Press Syndicate, which circulates the cartoon. "Cartoonist Garry
Trudeau feels there is a time and place for satirizing one's country's
leaders," Kerr said in a prepared statement. "In light of Tuesday's
tragedy, this is neither."."
It's hitting mainstream news. SUPERMAN COMIC SHOWED ATTACK, "A
SUPERMAN comic with images mirroring the destruction of the World
Trade Centre went on sale in Scotland yesterday. The DC comic, eerily
printed just days before the disaster, shows flames flowing from the
two huge twin skyscrapers. And in a horrifying twist, the comic also
features a drawing of the White House with huge gaping holes in the
roof."
Comic book monsters, "As a child, I read comic-books in which a city
of skyscrapers was demolished by agents of evil. This week's scenes on
television were drawings from those comic books come to life in
precise detail. They were horrors which Americans had rehearsed in
their heads for 50 years. We are seeing a real-life projection of a
deeply familiar fantasy. The story needs Osama bin Laden, even if he
was not involved - as the Evil Mastermind that Superman, Batman and
other superheroes must confront and overcome. I would guess that right
now George Bush thinks he ought to be Superman and hurl superpowers
against Bin Laden. I also guess that everything Bush says that
terrorism will not achieve will surely be achieved within days.
Terrorists are the monsters in his mind. And we are learning that the
monsters in men's minds do come to life and shape reality."
A short blurb. No superheroes to save the day, "I've seen more than my
share of Hollywood horror but little to match that of the events of
Tuesday. Indeed, studio execs would have probably dismissed such a
scenario as too implausible and paranoid, too gratuitous and
terrifying. That's because a Hollywood blockbuster would have
certainly engaged a superhero to save the day, to thwart an
apocalypse. Sadly, there was no Arnie Schwarzenegger or 007 or
Superman or any other one-man wrecking crew when we really needed
them, to beat back the forces of evil. And, ultimately, that's what
could prove to be most frightening, to impressionable kids and adults
alike."
Disney domination, "I should have known that Disney characters would
one day take over my home. When my husband Yoshi and I married eight
years ago, one of our wedding presents was a framed, stained-glass
picture of Donald and Daisy Duck, our names and date of marriage
etched below. Did somebody think we were going to hang that on our
wall? Luckily, it was from Yoshi's faraway cousins who never visit. I
stashed it in the back of a closet. I had ideas about what I wanted
our home to look like: eclectic but adult, tasteful and elegant. I had
ideas about what I wanted on our walls. I much preferred the painting
we'd bought on a trip to Singapore (a giant pink lotus painted on
silk) to Disney ducks. I liked the honey-wooded floors of our house,
the buttery, soft leather sofa, the wedding ring quilt on our bed, the
heirloom tablecloth from my grandmother. And then we had kids."
Drawing conclusions, "Kyiv is heaven for art lovers. The city has no
shortage of galleries offering a plethora of classic and modern
painting, sculpture, photography, tapestry, embroidery and even dolls.
On closer inspection, however, savvy enthusiasts will notice a void.
For those who crave satire and political commentary, there is a dearth
of cartoon art. One gallery hopes to change all that. Beginning Sept.
14, the Misto N Gallery will display 100 contemporary political
cartoons all themed “Independence.” The exhibition is an offshoot of
the First Ukrainian International Cartoon Competition, which was held
Aug. 24 to coincide with Independence Day. It attracted more than 400
entries from about 150 artists from around the world, including North
and South America, the Middle East, Western Europe, Ukraine and the
other CIS countries."
More than ever, Jewish cartoonists are being taken seriously, "Because
of his clever eye and quick pen, the 12-year-old Paul Peter Porges was
elected official artist of La Guette, a Paris chateau of 130 refugee
Jewish children rescued from Germany and Austria. Porges’ chronicles
of daily life in August 1939 — inoculations, birthday parties, lice
cleanings — began an intertwined tale of survival and cartooning.
After fleeing to Switzerland, Porges moved to New York in 1951 and
made a career as a cartoonist, contributing to the Saturday Evening
Post, Mad Magazine and the New Yorker."
Glenn Barbis posts John (Fanboy2000)Bollinger...missing, "I just
received a call from John Bollinger's brother. He's contacting
everyone in his brothers directory, to inform them John is missing.
John Bollinger, who I got to know through these boards (For those who
don't know, he went by the moniker, Fanboy2000, and caused a stir
here, every now and then), was on business at the towers, and then
scheduled to fly out of NY to Japan, which is something that is
routine for him. Seems he was in the tower that got hit first, and
nobody has seen or heard from him since. He was banned from Comicon
and the Spawn boards, for stirring things up and speaking his mind,
but he really was a nice guy, who made a visit to me once, on his way
from his home in Pittsburgh, to Buffalo. That was the only time I met
him in person, but we had some good laughs online. I know I will miss
him. And I have great sorrow for his family. His wife was driven to NY
yesterday, and John's brother told me he would make sure to fill me
in, once anything is known. I pray he's okay...but with the way things
look...it's grim."
COMICS COMMUNITY BANDS TOGETHER FOR DISASTER RELIEF, "In times of
crisis, people always ask themselves what they can do to help those
affected by disaster. In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the
United States, many have been left with a desire to do something to
lend a hand but haven’t known what. While many have talked about
benefit books, we here at Oni Press--Joe Nozemack, Jamie S. Rich, and
James Lucas Jones--have taken a tip from our friends Brian Bendis,
Jason Pritchett, and Justin from World Famous Comics, moderators of
the Jinxworld Message Board, and we are going to be running a charity
auction. Andrew Goletz, editor and publisher of GrayHavenMagazine.com
will also be contributing to the promotion of the event. All of us
involved are reaching out to our friends in the comics community to
join us in our efforts. The current plan is to offer materials only
comics professionals can provide. This means original art, signed
comics, limited editions, statues, scripts, etc. All materials will be
auctioned through Ebay, with proceeds after Ebay fees and shipping
going to the American Red Cross relief fund. We are asking that
interested parties e-mail us at comic...@onipress.com and inform us
of what they intend to donate." Oni Press organizes disaster relief
auction
SPECULATION ON THE NET. As you know the Spider-Man trailer has been
removed from the Sony website and Sony has requested the same of any
site that has a copy of the trailer. What is also interesting is that
all movie posters and images of the poster, in which Spider-Man is
featured peeking around the corner of a tall building with the WTC
reflected in his eyes, have been pulled. On that theme, check out Ebay
Spider-Man poster auctions: $515.00 (still a day left), $255.00 (2
days left), $202.50 (ended) etc.. As well: Spider-Man Web site goes
dark
Warren Ellis Forum is #1. The Warren Ellis Forum has become the most
active Delphi message forum beating out regular large traffic forums
like X-Files and Small Time X. No doubt this is partially due to the
increased traffic as the WEF community joined together during the WTC
attack.
As per Dark Horizons, "Men in Black 2: Rumours are circulating that
the sci-fi comedy has suspended production in Los Angeles and some big
changes are in store. A report popped up at Countingdown indicating
the opening and finale of the film both featured the World Trade
Center including one scene where one of the towers opened up and
spaceships flew out of it. As a result of this they'll have to be
reshot to use a different building in the NYC area. Sony has confirmed
that the sequence will be re-written though the finale has yet to be
shot thus technically there won't be "reshoots" of the sequence -
alternative locations are currently being considered. In the meantime
one member on the production has a report confirming that talk of the
film's "halting" are greatly exaggerated: "If filming has suspended on
MIB2 someone needs to call the production staff cause we were filming
today, we're filming tomorrow and the day after that! We've been on
the sound stages at Sony for a month now. The NY part is done. I
haven't heard of any changes (I'm sure there will be some) - but we're
rolling". Thanks to 'Someone Who Knows' & 'Ktkb3'." 'Men in Black 2'
Ending to be Altered in Wake of Terrorist Attacks
DC Comics releases statement regarding crisis in New York, details
publishing changes, "DC Comics addressed a variety of issues in
relation to the WTC attack in their weekly e-mailer today and detailed
how it affects their publishing concerns."
Gotham Retailers Resilient, "ICv2 had a chance to talk with several
Manhattan retailers today and found that they were soldiering on in
spite of disruptions in traffic and daily life created by the heinous
terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. As one would expect, the
farther south in Manhattan the dealers are located, the more problems
they have had. As of Thursday, UPS was reportedly not delivering south
of 14th Street, which has made things difficult for retailers in the
Village."
View the cartoon that's stirring up American anger
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Michael Pastor
"Ken Dreger" <kdr...@comicgeek.ca> wrote in message
news:9334qt08jj04nl06m...@4ax.com...
> Content Warning: These news items are merely small portions of larger
> articles that are accessible as links at http://www.comicgeek.ca
> SUPERMAN comic with images mirroring the destruction of the World
> Trade Centre went on sale in Scotland yesterday. The DC comic, eerily
> printed just days before the disaster, shows flames flowing from the
> two huge twin skyscrapers. And in a horrifying twist, the comic also
> features a drawing of the White House with huge gaping holes in the
> roof."
>
Shades of Superman revealing his secret identity to President Kennedy to
only have him killed by publication date...
michael pastor
Nathan Sanders
> Shades of Superman revealing his secret identity to President Kennedy to
> only have him killed by publication date...
Or Byrne's two biggies: m killing of the DCU's Princess Diana at the same
time the real-world one died, and having Superman rescue a space shuttle
when the Challenger exploded (I think they caught that one in time to
change the owrding to space "plane").
Nathan
======================================================================
san...@ling.ucsc.edu ***** Department of Linguistics
san...@alum.mit.edu *** University of California
http://ling.ucsc.edu/~sanders * Santa Cruz, California 95064
======================================================================
Derek Stevenson
news:Pine.SUN.3.91.101091...@ling.ucsc.edu...
> On Fri, 14 Sep 2001, Michael Pastor wrote:
> > Shades of Superman revealing his secret identity to President Kennedy to
> > only have him killed by publication date...
>
> Or Byrne's two biggies: m killing of the DCU's Princess Diana at the same
> time the real-world one died,
Where did this appear?
> and having Superman rescue a space shuttle
> when the Challenger exploded (I think they caught that one in time to
> change the owrding to space "plane").
My recollection is the the space plane/shuttle rescue in _Man of Steel_
happened several years *after* the _Challenger_ disaster.
George F. Grattan
> "Nathan Sanders" <san...@ling.ucsc.edu> wrote in message
> news:Pine.SUN.3.91.101091...@ling.ucsc.edu...
>> On Fri, 14 Sep 2001, Michael Pastor wrote:
>
>>> Shades of Superman revealing his secret identity to President Kennedy to
>>> only have him killed by publication date...
>>
>> Or Byrne's two biggies: m killing of the DCU's Princess Diana at the same
>> time the real-world one died,
>
> Where did this appear?
It was pure coincidence, of course. WW death and transformation into a
goddess was storyline that ran through several issues contemporaneous with
Diana HRH's death; the story featured DCU newspapers with headlines reading
"Princess Diana Dies". It was eerie, indeed, but my memory is that there was
no way to have pulled the issues in time- they may even have been out just
prior to the accident.
>
>> and having Superman rescue a space shuttle
>> when the Challenger exploded (I think they caught that one in time to
>> change the owrding to space "plane").
>
> My recollection is the the space plane/shuttle rescue in _Man of Steel_
> happened several years *after* the _Challenger_ disaster.
It was several months later, but not several years. _Man of Steel_ was
released in June of 86, Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986. Superman
rescues the "experimental space plane Constitution" in his public debut
(sans costume)". Clearly, the Challenger disaster resonated through those
scenes- for good of for ill is no doubt a matter of personal taste.
George F. Grattan
grat...@bc.edu
"When we love the earth, we are able to love ourselves more fully."--
bell hooks
Michael S. Schiffer
<B7CBABEF.10E20%grat...@bc.edu>:
>on 9/17/01 1:20 PM, Derek Stevenson at dstev...@my-deja.com
>wrote:
>> "Nathan Sanders" <san...@ling.ucsc.edu> wrote in message
>> news:Pine.SUN.3.91.101091...@ling.ucsc.edu...
>...
>>> and having Superman rescue a space shuttle
>>> when the Challenger exploded (I think they caught that one in
>>> time to change the owrding to space "plane").
>> My recollection is the the space plane/shuttle rescue in _Man of
>> Steel_ happened several years *after* the _Challenger_ disaster.
>It was several months later, but not several years. _Man of Steel_
>was released in June of 86, Challenger exploded on January 28,
>1986. Superman rescues the "experimental space plane Constitution"
>in his public debut (sans costume)". Clearly, the Challenger
>disaster resonated through those scenes- for good of for ill is no
>doubt a matter of personal taste.
Though the Challenger disaster itself was specifically referenced in
the _Cosmic Boy_ miniseries the next year. It was one of the events
that was missing from the 30th Century's version of history, leading
Rokk to discover the Time Trapper's manipulations (and ultimately, in
the LSH followup, the Pocket Universe).
Thinking about it, it's true that the Challenger was a disaster that
a world full of supers would still have been hard-pressed to deal
with unless there was someone at every shuttle launch, just because
it happened so fast. If Superman were aware of the explosion, he
might have been able to do something, if the theory that the crew
cabin survived till impact is correct. (Though at his immediate
post-Byrne levels, he might not have been able to fly there fast
enough.) Flash was still at barely Mach-1-- not fast enough to get
there if he'd been watching it on TV at home, and in any case unable
to do anything but watch the disaster. GLs, maybe, but again we're
talking seconds before impact.
(Of course, this assumes a space program identical to ours despite
various hypertechnlogies, star-traveling visitors, and people who can
go into space under their own power. But that's what the DCU appears
to have.)
Mike
--
Michael S. Schiffer, LHN, FCS
ms...@mediaone.net
msch...@condor.depaul.edu