eldarwannabe

Meme! I haven't done one of these in a while, but this actually looked like fun, so here goes. Also, I realized that my answers are insanely long, so I edited it to have one-work answers, with commentary!

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile.:
-I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity (until I get bored)
-Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
-Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

So90scartoonman asked me:

1)If you had to spend the rest of your life only reading one comic book company, what would it be?

( DC )

2)What's your favorite TV show?

( !?!?!?!!! )

3)Roughly, how much do you spend on comics per month?

( ~$25 )

4)Where are you from originally?

( NYC )

5)How do you like your eggs?

( Scrambled )

Occasionally I browse Neil Gaiman's blog. Because it's fun, mostly. Sometimes he links to cool stuff. (Mostly, I have this theory that he and Tim Burton managed to create something amazing* and I enjoy it). And he linked (on the bottom) to a couple on things recently that I would like to comment on.

So first, there is this NPR post about Sandman. On the one hand, great that something more mainstream is blogging about Sandman. On the other hand, why must the recommendation be so backhanded? The closest I get to the fanbase experience described here is the face that I like listening to Breaking Benjamin yelling at me on my morning walk to class. (It helps me wake up faster). Really, there is no reason to put down the fans like that, even though it might make the series seem more attractive in a you-should-check-this-out-despite-the-fanbase kind of way. Both Neil himself and a blogger he links to (Dan Stryker) comment on this. And I totally agree.

Dan takes it a step further, and that is ( where I want to comment. )

They KILLED Kyle Rayner!?

Oh, no. They absolutely did not.

First, I've been avoiding this whole Blackest Night thing in general because, like all Big Crossovers, you mostly just wait for the convoluted storyline to finish so you can sort through the rubble and assess the fallout. (So that you can memorize a new status quo and keep tabs on it until the next Big Crossover, which you will wait out. Rinse and repeat.)

This does apply to the people who follow it monthly as well. Because when you figure it out ahead of time? They'll switch the Big Bad on you. Thanks, DC.

Plus, I think they've been handling a lot of the basic concepts very, very badly. (Since when was death an emotion? Why are these corpses sexy? Ewwwww. Can they come back to life? How many characters do you have to kill to make this stupid mess relevant?)

That's not totally fair. I think this is a much more interesting way to do DCU!Zombies. I think there's a lot of potentially good story to tell. I honestly don't think DC can manage that right now.

(They basically only got me for a bit because Tempest showed up, and I happened to pick up the first two issues to catch up on comics for something not related to my typically comic-buying patterns. So, Tempest is one of my favorite oft-ignored characters. So I was thrilled. Briefly. Then I was confused and sad.)

( Back to my point. )

I have to give a five minute powerpoint presentation for one of my business classes. Now, this presents an interesting dilemma. The topic was due last week, so I quickly scribbled, "The history of Barbara Gordon," down as my topic of choice. I had already begun planning it for another class's presentation (I ended up doing "how a comic book page is made," instead) so I thought now would be the perfect time to do it. At five minutes, I figured I could highlight her career as Batgirl, the Killing Joke and her evolution into Oracle, touching on a few other elements, like her relationship with Batman, the Birds of Prey and maybe maybe passing on the mantle to Cassandra Cain. I would frame this with a discussion of fan reactions to characters over the ages, and conclude with the discussion "should Barbara become Batgirl again, or is she better off as Oracle?" with a heavy bias toward staying as Oracle, of course. (I doubt anyone in my class has ever read any comic book with Barbara anyway)

I've already got a basic outline done. I would just have to flesh it out, then cut it down to five minutes. But I talk fast, and I'm using powerpoint, so pictures would make my storytelling easier. ("and then," CLICK BUTTON, "the Joker shot her." SEE EXCERPT FROM THE KILLING JOKE. EVERYONE GASPS. Or something like that.)

But then, I started thinking. How much will my audience get out of this? Sure, they'll know about Barbara, but this could be my opportunity to really tell people about comic books. After all, they have to listen to me. (Mwahaha) And while Barbara is the awesome, I'm not sure if she's as accessible as I'd like her to be.

So I got to thinking. Maybe instead I should do a presentation version of my earlier post about things people should know about the American comic book industry. I would give a brief explanation of what comic books are, (A MEDIUM) and touch a little bit on the history of comic books in the U.S. (because I am not an expert in the slightest) and then outline how to buy comic books and what is available now. Maybe I could close with recommendations. Or possibly talk about how the industry is doing?

The point is: I can make it interesting. (I'm a dynamic speaker, although that might not be obvious from my rambly postings. (Interesting Note: I tend to write in this journal more like the way I would speak the same information. In other words, I write for speaking, which can be different, and more casual, than writing for reading.) I'm also quite loud, which gets people to pay attention)

I'd aim the speech more toward the audience, and I might actually teach them something about a medium in the country.

On the other hand, I have the other one more written out.

And one my friends told me that I should do the Barbara one (and her opinion does count, because I'm going to be practice on her before I give the presentation in class) even though she doesn't know anything about either subject.

Oh, yeah, and the outline of my presentation is due tomorrow. No pressure to make up my mind or anything.

Just read this

Yeah, I followed that. It took me years to get to a place where I could figure it out. And Matrix still confuses me.

Things about the (American) comic book industry that should be common knowledge, but are not:

Yes, comic books are still being published today. And not just in those books you might see in Barnes and Noble. They are published in those little pamphlets you might associate with the second World War.

The vast majority of comic book in the United States are published by two main companies: Marvel Entertainment and DC Comics, commonly referred to as Marvel and DC.

Marvel publishes Spiderman, The Hulk, Iron Man, The X-Men, Thor, and many, many others.

DC publishes Batman, Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and many, many others.

Comic books are sent out once a week to comic book stores on Wednesdays. This is the day every week when a comic book fan will typically swing by his local comic book store to pick up that week's batch of issues.

Most comic book titles are published once a month - so every month, on one of the Wednesdays of that month, there will be a new issue of a specific title. (like Batman, or Spiderman.)

There are more comic books being published then you think there are.

There are also some smaller comic book publishing companies, like Dark Horse, Image, Slave Labor Graphics, etc. They tend to not be as superhero-focused as the big two.

Comic books do NOT have to be about Superheroes, that's just a common genre in the medium

I almost guarantee you are using the term "graphic novel" wrong.

Yeah, those stories you had to read for school, like Maus and Persopolis? Those are comics too. Get over it.

Manga are also comics. So are manwha. Get over it.

For that matter, Archie comics are still comics, even though they are socially acceptable.

Yes, the term "comics," is a bit generic and definitely a misnomer. Thus is language. If you really want, you can call them "sequential art."

And for the last time, it's a MEDIUM, not a genre. To say "I don't like comics books" holds about as much water as "I don't like movies." You mean, you don't like movies at all? This isn't to say there are no people who simply do not enjoy any movies in the slightest, who find the whole idea abhorrent. But it's unlikely.

So, I was reading the wikipedia entry on Foggy Nelson, a supporting character for Daredevil/Matt Murdock. I quote this from the article.

"Later it is revealed that Foggy is not dead, but was rather placed in the witness protection program, where he is recovering from his wounds and beginning to assume a new identity. He attempts to escape in an effort to reunite with Matt, only to be captured by the Mafia, who in turn are slaughtered by ninjas. "

I am not making this up people.

Comic books: Make soap operas look like well-planned, perfectly rational storytelling.