Various news from various panels here in Seattle:
At the West Coast DC Nation panel, the death of Speedy’s daughter Lian in CRY FOR JUSTICE was discussed.
James Robinson: “That decision [was] a controversial and one that I know has been greeted with some displeasure by some people… I’m sorry if it upset people. In all honesty, they wanted to kill Speedy too, and I said no, so give me some credit for that.”
Ian Sattler: “I’m happy it upset people because it means that the story had some weight and emotion.”
At the Mondo Marvel panel, a veteran asked about the “Tea Bagging” controversy in Captain America. Writer Ed Brubaker — who has a bodyguard at the show after receiving death threats because of the story — responded:
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Ed Brubaker: “I grew up on military bases, and the first place I ever brought Captain America was at the P.O. in Gitmo. I grew up in the ’70s reading Captain America comics, where Captain America and the Falcon were always talking about race relations… I don’t know if we could do that today, the way the media works. For me — I just try to write the characters the way that I’ve always perceived them…. I just wanted to show that the mood in the country has shifted this way. That’s all I want to say. We don’t have Exxon, we have Roxxon. We always keep our fictional world fictional… We don’t get on a soapbox about it. And I don’t think I was trying to. I tried very hard not to, and we got a lot of flak for it.”
At the Green Lantern panel, Mark Waid showed up and either hijinks or awkward moments ensued:
One of the panel’s most puzzling questions came from the writer Mark Waid, who had surreptitiously taken a spot in line for the mic at the front of the room. “I have a question for Geoff Johns,” Waid began, poking fun at the fact that most of the questioners had focused their attention on Johns instead of the other panelists. Waid asked if Hal Jordan would be having any more adventures in the 58th century – a reference (in true Mark Waid fashion) to an obscure Green Lantern story from 1961. Curiously, he also mentioned Barry Allen, who didn’t appear in the original John Broome story to which Waid was referring. Johns answered “yes,” and the entire interaction seemed steeped in playfulness, as if Waid knew more than he was letting on and was nudging Johns into giving some hints at future “Green Lantern” plot points.
And at the Top Cow panel, phone calls were made to busy freelancers:
Apart from the big “Artifacts” news, Sablik doled out some other interesting tidbits, including word that there is a new “Cyberforce” ongoing series on the horizon, and that new material featuring the Pitt character “looks likely.” Stjepan Sejic’s exclusive ECCC variant cover for “Angelus” #2. The funniest and most engaging moment of the panel occurred when Sablik called writer Ron Marz – who had to back out of his ECCC appearance due to looming deadlines and a computer failure – and had him interact with the audience and answer questions. When Sablik first put his iPhone up to the podium’s mic, it was clear that Marz was feeling a little cranky and a little silly. “I can’t say hello to anybody, I’m working too hard,” Marz began.
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“…In all honesty, they wanted to kill Speedy too, and I said no, so give me some credit for that.”
Yeah, well “they” are the reason why almost the only superhero comics I buy nowadays are TPBs of books published 25 years ago.
It’s unfortunate that Sattler resorted to such a weak, tired justification for story material. Just because an image elicits a reaction doesn’t mean the material makes sense dramatically. Showing people vomiting or eating feces, or having someone’s body ripped apart — those all have effects, but there has to be a context for each action for it to make sense, if it can make sense at all.
SRS
Ian Sattler: “I’m happy it upset people because it means that the story had some weight and emotion”
What really worries me is that Ian Sattler and the rest of DC Editorial staff have tunnel vision to think that their story ["Cry for Justice"] had weight and emotion, when in fact people were upset that their story essentially “negated” a character created two decades ago and all stories involving the character, plus they are making another character [Green Arrow]act out of character.
A comic book universe and continuity is a like a giant mosaic or mural with each story adding to a greater piece of artwork. What “Cry for Justice” did was try to add to Michelango’s “Sistine Chapel Ceiling” with some cheesy movie posters.
It’s scary that Dan Didio is now publisher when he allowed or spearheaded this storyline.
On general principles, the idea that anything that gets an emotional reaction out of people is a good story is… dubious logic.
People tend to be shocked and horrified by dismembered heroes and dead children – these elements may be part of a good story, but the fact that people are shocked and horrified by them doesn’t say anything about your story either way.
No mention of Robinson’s mention that he’ll be writing a Shade series? (Today he also let slip that Jade will apparently be appearing in the JLA; not sure if it was a joke or not.)
1. It’s not Speedy’s daughter who died. We’ve never been shown even a hint that Speedy has a daughter — though, given her history, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise. (And, hey, maybe they’ll go that direction and we’ll see someone new filling the dramatic space that Red Arrow’s daughter used to occupy.)
2. This’ll prolly sound crass and insulting, and it’s not intended to do so, but geez, man up, Bru. If nobody took Englehart seriously when he had Nixon as a terrorist, no one is seriously planning to do anything to you, either.
And if they were, they certainly wouldn’t give you a heads-up first.
3. Pol Manning’s career was not limited to “an obscure Green Lantern story from 1961″ but was reused another half-dozen times over the years, most notably in (here he is again) Englehart’s GREEN LANTERN CORPS run when, most memorably, Salakk was snatched instead of Jordan to serve as Solar Director.
Yep, like all the other speople replied, I find this Ian Sittler logic…well rather illogic.
People can simply react to something because it’s really bad and that they are upset having spend money and time on crap. (now I don’t know if this story is really bad but given previous people reaction to killing second or tier character as a way of trying to give some weight to a story, shouldn’t DC try something else or even avoid repeating this trend?)
Apparently the Bendis/Maleev SPIDER-WOMAN is also over with #7, per many reports from Marvel panel. Never checked it out myself.
Ian Sattler: “I’m happy it upset people because it means that the story had some weight and emotion.”
With this in mind, DC gave up producing comics and will now just kick puppies down the stairs.
ykw – 3. Pol Manning’s career was not limited to “an obscure Green Lantern story from 1961″ but was reused another half-dozen times over the years, most notably in (here he is again) Englehart’s GREEN LANTERN CORPS run.
Factually true but not, urmm, adjective-ly. Pol manning was a popular staple of the 60s GL series, and was brought back to demand in the early 80s.
You know, instances where GL was a strong seller.
As opposed to the late 80s Englehart run, where the Salaak story was one of the last gasps of life before DC cancelled the book in 1988.
What the hell’s a P.O.? The post office? I lived in Gitmo, too, and the only place they sold comics there was the Navy Exchange and the Marine Exchange (and most of those were just whatever survived the barge trip from Jacksonville, thus were always a month later than newstand dates).
@ykw: You are aware that Roy Harper was the original Speedy, right?
@Ian Boothby: excellent example of why the “We got a reaction, didn’t we?” argument doesn’t work.
“What the hell’s a P.O.?”
My dad worked at an airforce base for a few years, and often refered to the “p.x.” … whatever that means … it was basically a store where the military personnel purchased things. I believe you actually had to have some kind of military ID, or you couldn’t buy anything. At age eight, I wanted a coloring book, and a passing soldier had to purchase it for me, otherwise no coloring book for me. This was back in the 1970s, long before terrorism came to the U.S., so I don’t know what threat a coloring book posed.
PX means “Post Exchange”, which could be considered department stores run by the Army. Other branches run NEX, BX, MCX, CGX. They are for-profit enterprises, but being located on military land, do not pay taxes. Think of it as “Uncle Sam’s Club”, requiring a membership card (military ID).
Marvel has just released the eighth free comic in conjunction with AAFES. (And Marvel has also been printing plastic POGs which are used as currency tokens in Afghanistan and Iraq.)
http://www.freewebs.com/marvelmilitaryspecials/