§ Headline of the Day #1: Comic Con Event Takes Over Nutter Center. Why how DARE you? Nutter center! Oh wait, that is a venue in Dayton Ohio and it was the site of the Gem City Comic Con over the weekend. As you were.
§ Headline of the Day #2: New Comic Book Series is Launched. Whoa exciting! Possible best press release ever.
“The Alternative Energy Man” series has hit shelves. “Alternative Energy Man” is an environmentalist taking to the streets to save the world. Issue 1: “Don’t Call Me Alternative Energy Guy” and Issue 2: “Alternative Energy Man Vs. The Dumper,” by Evan W. Taylor, have been published by BrickWarriors Publishing. They are both now available for free on BrickWarriors’ website. Action packed, this comic book series will surely sweep you off your feet. Three more installments will come out later this year. Begin following Alternative Energy Man on his world changing journey.
§ The first ever Otaku summit was held in Makuhari, Japan. Self identified geek culture fans from more than 18 countries attended the two day event.
The Expo is part of a special comic book fair held every five years, which attracts about half a million visitors, but this year’s event marks the first time that groups from outside Japan are invited. About four dozen overseas Otaku groups were expected to attend. Briton Katie Carter, 23, was dressed as Usagi Tsukino, a character from the popular “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.” “This is amazing. There are so many people of different cultures are coming together,” she told AFP.
§ A new comic strip launched this week, Dana Simpson’s Phoebe and Her Unicorn. The strip features a child and a fantastic best friend, drawing comparisons to Calvin and Hobbes, but Simpson says such talk comes with the territory:
“If what you’re doing is reminiscent of the greatest cartoonist of the last 40 years, well, that’s a huge compliment,” she said.
Most of Phoebe’s experiences (minus the unicorn thing) are based off Simpson’s childhood — she said she spends an inordinate amount of time wandering through her elementary school memories, mining for little absurdities and antics that she can use in the strip.
“You have to write what you know — it’s the only place where you’re ever going to find enough material,” she said.
§ Writer Hayley Campbell is now the author of a book about Neil Gaiman and staffer at Buzzfeed, but in a past life she worked as a comics shop clerk for three years, and so here is the Buzzfeed article you’ve been waiting for: 37 Things You Learn From Working In A Comic Shop. They’re all true, but I’ll only quote this one:
- If stacked wrongly, a volume of the Dynamite Vampirella Archives is a genuine health and safety hazard. Dynamite Entertainment / Via dynamite.com The last thing you see before you die is Vampirella’s crotch.
§ Carol Tyler is one of the finest cartoonists of the last 30 years, and her “You’ll Never Know” trilogy is perhaps her masterpiece, a rich biography of her father, including his real life heroics in World War II, and his adaptation to civilian life. It’s a rich, multi-layered portrait of a generation and family relationships. Charles Tyler, Carol’s father, is 96 years old….but he is dying of cancer. But in his last days, he’s being honored by local media:
The city of Clinton is honoring a dying World War II veteran. 96-year-old Charles Tyler is actually the oldest WWII Veteran in Vermillion County. Charles, or better known as Chuck, served in the army from 1939 to 1945. Recently, Chuck found out he’s dying from cancer. But, before he goes, his town wanted to honor him and friends say he may look old but he’s as sharp as a tack. And quite a jokester. “[Chuck tell me about being in the military, what do you remember most?] Chasing girls!” And, there’s plenty more where that came from! Chuck definitely has charisma! Coming up tomorrow on News 10, we will share some of Chuck’s life adventures, more of his spit-fire personality plus his many talents!
It’s a sweet twilight tribute to The Greatest Generation.
§ Meanwhile, with the Going Clear documentary on Scientology getting talked about every where, Abraham Riesman looks back on That Time the Avengers Battled Scientology, sort of. It was a four year long Avengers storyline by Kurt Busiek.
Okay, let’s take a step back. Technically, the religion in question wasn’t the Church of Scientology; it was an extremely thinly veiled stand-in for it called the Triune Understanding. The story line about it was the brainchild of Avengers writer Kurt Busiek (who fully admits to the Triune Understanding’s status as a Scientology pastiche), that story line ran for an astounding four years, and — perhaps most remarkable of all — this bizarre narrative thread was oddly tender and empathic toward Scientologists. In honor of the current barrage of criticism lobbed at Scientology in the wake of the documentary Going Clear, let us revisit this strange chapter in superhero history.
§ On the off chance you did not see Saturday Night Live’s take on a reimagined Bambi starring Dwayne Johnson, here it is. And the funny thing is…this doesn’t seem far from the truth.
