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Today in history.

§ We’d been noticing many stories by Valerie D’Orazio at the new MTV Geek site, and it’s being reported that she has been hired as the new editor. Since the site has been meandering a bit since its launch, the hiring of a blogger/editor of Val’s caliber is a fantastic move.

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§ It is worth linking to this great interview with Zak Sally just to run this great PICTURE of Zak Sally.

There’s no question that color affects the story… it’s something I’ve been learning on the fly. Take a B&W panel and “color” it. Now fill it with red. Now fill it with baby blue. Each one of those panels will read differently, you can’t avoid it. You’ve got to take it into consideration; for me, I’ve found that 1) it should be there for a reason and 2) the less you “notice” it, the better. That new Captain Easy Sundays book has been a revelation to me; the colors are so fucking beautiful, yet they don’t detract from the story in the least; any time a “technique” is interfering with what’s important on the page, it’s trouble.


(h/t To Leon Avelino)

§ Speaking of the holidays, Kelly Thompson offers her Second Annual Awesome Women In Comics Holiday Gift List featuring gifts for a variety of people by a variety of people.

Welcome back to my annual female positive comics holiday gift list – yes, I’ve done it twice now, so it’s officially an “annual thing”.  And if you love lists, you’re going to be all about She Has No Head! this December as it’s a month of lists – starting with today’s holiday gift list, then a two part list of my favorite female creators of 2010, and rounding out the month with a best (and a few worsts) of 2010 list.  Let’s get started!

§ See, the second season of Walking Dead is worth looking forward to! Michonne!

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§ Come May, Japan will be home to a One Piece-themed restaurant.

The restaurant will be decorated like the interior of the story’s Going Merry ship, and it will feature a menu of dishes that appeared in the story. The menu includes the main character Luffy’s favorite piece of meat (complete with the bone that he is often seen gnawing), Sanji’s “terrible” soup (as seen on page 99 of the eighth manga volume), and Nami’s Fruit Macedonia (as seen on page 31 of the sixth manga volume). The staff is planning various interactive events, including some with appearances by anime’s voice cast.

§ Sign o’ the times: Due to budget cuts, some rides at Six Flags theme parks will no longer have licensed names. The Terminator ride, for instance is being rebranded.

The new-new name will be “Apocalypse” and the coaster itself will stay pretty much the same. But where Six Flags takes one in the pants, is they spent upwards of $1 million on the Terminator themed intro in the queue line. It included several animatronic Terminators and a training video featuring two of the film’s stars; Common and Moon Bloodgood.

Six Flags will now remove all the Terminator robots and re-shoot the sequence to match the new Apocalypse theme. The coaster will officially no longer be Terminator: Salvation and bear it’s new name as of January 8, 2011.

§ We must admit, the name of gonzo cirtic Abhay Khosla in a recent Superman solicitation was a bit of a shock….but it is true.

I was approached by DC in May 2010 about contributing something– out of the blue.  Just this weird out-of-nowhere thing.  I guess they’ve been approaching new-ish people for these anthologies for a while now.  It’s nothing I went out and got for myself– just this thing that fell into my lap.  I think it’s going to be pretty funny for me, though, the next time I hear some mainstream comics person talk about, “Breaking into comics, man, it’s like infiltrating a volcano headquarters surrounded by a high-security prison, shoved up a nun’s butt.  If someone manages to figure out a way in– they wall that way in up with bricks, and have Hakeem Olajuwon piss on the bricks in order to sanctify them with his famous +1 Urine of Obstruction.”  Because– really?  I was just sitting around watching SAVED BY THE BELL on blu-ray the other day, and got an e-mail offering to pay me to write a comic about one of my all-time favorite comic characters.  Did you… Did you guys try chilling out and watching SAVED BY THE BELL?  Because my way sure sounds much easier.  For nuns.

§ Neil Kleid’s entry to the same project was more conventional:

If Superman is Metropolis’ heart, Lex Luthor it’s brains and Jimmy Olsen it’s eyes, then Perry White is Metropolis’ SOUL. He lives, breathes and bathes in it, knowing it’s streets better than he knows his own family. He grew up here—schooled in class and on the street—and when it was time to raise a family, there was no other place he planned to do it. He speaks it’s language, understands the kind of hero it needs and paper it deserves and does his best to provide them with both. But his time in the trenches, reporting on the comings and goings, the stories and scandals, the heartbreak and hubris of the DCU has permanently affixed him in my mind as the Nick Fury of DC journalists—he knows where the bodies were hidden because he was there to report about it. And that history, that charming, brilliant, dedicated intelligence is what draws me to tell stories about him. And I’m proud that Wil and Matt have allowed me to do it here.


§ This interview with Paul Levitz delves into his thoughts on the history of comics and youth culture:

LEVITZ: It depends on what year you’re talking about and which DC office. You have a bunch of guys in the old guard who are trying to do more of what they perceive as hipper stuff. Whether that’s Drake on Doom Patrol or writing Bob Hope with a character called “Super Hip,” or Bob Haney on Teen Titans, those two guys would be the ones who I believe were the most consciously trying to change their vocabulary to match their perception of youth culture. You had other guys who said, “This is the way we’ve been doing it for 30 years. We’re right; don’t worry about Marvel.” Then you have changes in the editorial and writing roles, and the game changes yet again.

1 COMMENT

  1. “Because– really? I was just sitting around watching SAVED BY THE BELL on blu-ray the other day, and got an e-mail offering to pay me to write a comic about one of my all-time favorite comic characters. Did you… Did you guys try chilling out and watching SAVED BY THE BELL? Because my way sure sounds much easier.

    Dear Abhay,

    Good for you.

    Warmest regards,
    Every creator (whether young turk or established veteran) who can’t get the time of day from the Big Two

    PS. The “volcano headquarters surrounded by a high-security prison, shoved up a nun’s butt” analogy was funny, though. But also not far from the truth.

  2. Let’s see…Six Flags is owned by Warner Bros….which owns DC Comics …which may mean say…..”Apocalypse” has something to do with Kirby and the New Gods? Maybe? Hope so!

  3. Sadly, they spelled “Apokolips — the Ride” wrong. Remember, Darkseid and Desaad ran a great amusement park in the pages of Forever People (issue 7?). So if you’re going to Six Flags, make sure you take a Mother Box with you!