(Presumably as opposed to Virginia Dare, who is someone else entirely.)
No, what I’m talking about here is Virgin Comics’ re-launch of Dan Dare. I’ve finally managed to get hold of copies of issues #1 and #3. #2 is apparently sold out due to national newspaper attention (and I guess a lower print run than #1).
Continue reading
I’ve found another one I think I’ll probably be attending. Bristol is about as far away from me here in Darkest Somerset as San Francisco is from Fremont, but it is much harder to get to. The trains are hourly, don’t run late at night, and are at least twice as expensive; and I have to walk to the station (about 40 minutes). Still, the last Bristol Comics Expo I went to was very interesting (and I got to meet Dave Gibbons, amongst others). This one promises Jim Shooter (remember when we all used to love to hate him?), Walt and Louise Simonson, Alan Davis and Mike Carey, amongst others. I’m also delighted to see that Liam Sharp now rates billing as a major guest.
Pádraig, Joe – see you there?
Of course, if I make it to CostumeCon and Ã…con this one will make three conventions in consecutive weekends…
It being that time of year, people keep telling me about things I am going to want. Thankfully neither of these will be very expensive.
Neil Gaiman on Gene Wolfe does Cthulhu.
Joe Gordon on the new Dan Dare.
Well here’s something interesting. I was a big fan of Steve Gerber back in the 70s, but I must confess that I don’t remember Omega the Unknown, though I think I owned it because having checked with Wikipedia (which does occasionally have its uses) I discover that the cover of #1 and the name of the kid are familiar (Lethem appears to have renamed him, which may be why the original FP post caught me off guard). Anyway, it all seems rather interesting. I guess a trip to the comics shop is in order.
Paul Gravett was a Guest of Honor at AnimeCon in Finland this year, and a very nice chap he turned out to be. I think the friend he brought with him was Peter Stanbury. That would make sense because the two of them had been hard at work on Great British Comics, here reviewed enthusiastically by The Guardian.
I’ve finally got to read a copy of #1 of Paul Cornell’s Pete Wisdom comic. Paul’s obviously been having a lot of fun here, and there’s a very strong British feel to the story. It is always a pleasure to see that sort of thing done right, rather than be done by a American writer who has never actually been to the UK. I’m also impressed with much of Trevor Hairsine’s artwork.
I also note that Paul appears to be aiming for some sort of story resolution per issue. I’ve commented before that I worry about the 6-issue mini-series format. Albion felt like it could have done with several more issues, and Neil told me yesterday that Eternals is actually going to be 7 issues. Of course Neil can get away with doing that. Marvel might be less impressed with a (comics) newbie like Paul saying he needed an extra issue to finish the story properly, so I think his strategy is a good one.
Anyway, Wisdom #1 is now out there, and I’m looking forward to #2.
Bloody fairies.
SF Weekly, one of the Bay Area’s free newspapers, has discovered Yaoi-Con. “Graphic Gay Sex!” they squeal, happily. But it is actually a very considered article that spends a long time thinking about what will happen when the Fundies discover Yaoi.
I was also rather amused to discover that long-time yaoi fans (if “long term” is meaningful in this context, Yaoi-Con only being in its 6th year) are already complaining about their hobby being invaded by noisy teenagers.
One of the things I had bookmarked to read when I got home was this interview with Alison Bechdel from Monday’s Guardian. It focuses on the graphic novel, Fun Home, reviewed by Farah Mendlesohn in Emerald City. Something that caught my eye was this:
“My mother comes from a different generation. She really believes that people should shut up.”
I suspect she’s not just talking about writing books about your family either. People of my parents’ generation, I have found, no matter how accepting and understanding they might be of gays, lesbians and so on in private, always draw the line about talking publicly about such things. What you do in private is your own affair, but if your sexual proclivities become public then it shames not only you but your entire family and all of the friends who supported you. And they’ll quite likely turn on you because of it. I am so glad I was born when I was and not 30 years earlier.
Joe Gordon writes with news of 24-hour comics marathon taking place at the ICA on Saturday. The idea is that various cartoonists will attempt to produce a 24-page comic in 24 hours, and will raise money for charity. More details from Joe’s FPI blog.
This year’s charity for the event is Childline. This is an organization I’ve been a bit suspicious of. When it was first set up it seemed to be feeding on public hysteria and its objectives appeared to include encouraging kids to report “suspcious” adults who would then be accused of paedophilia, satanic sex abuse, or whatever the tabloid newspapers were currently getting hot and bothered about. However, the organization seems to have grown up a lot. It is now part of the NSPCC, and in August in produced an excellent report on homophobic bullying in schools. This is an area where a helpline for worried kids can be hugely helpful, because in most cases the victims are afraid to go to teachers or parents for help on the very reasonable suspicion that this will only make things worse. To pull just one set of statistics out of the report, a study in Scotland found that only 15% of children subject to homophobic bullying at school reported the problem (compared to 69% for other types of bullying), and of those with the courage to ask for help, only 10% were happy with the outcome.
None of which is to say that phsyical and sexual abuse of kids isn’t a problem. But thankfully kids with such problems can often get help, and are treated sympathetically if they ask for help. The same is generally not true for kids who have concerns about their sexual orientation or gender identity.
One of the things I picked up in London while I was there was issue #3 of Neil Gaiman’s Eternals. The more I see of these six-issue mini-series, the more I’m coming to dislike the format. Neverwhere worked OK, in part because it was 9 issues rather than 6, and in part because it was a precis of an existing novel rather than worked up from scratch. Albion and Eternals, however, both seem to me to have had to spend far too much time in set-up for the length of the entire work. They are both great series, but when I got to the end of #3, which is half-way through, in both cases I felt, “this can’t possibly end in another three issues, it is too good to get truncated like that.” I’ll buy Paul Cornell’s Pete Wisdom series, because Paul is a mate and I’m keen to see what he does with the character, but I’m not sure about future such works. I’d like to see the creators given more space.
Meanwhile Eternals is very good. I particularly like Neil’s treatment of Tony Stark, and John Romita Jr.’s depictions of the devastation left in Iron Man’s wake. Want more, want more.