12/31/2017

2017 Comic Reviews and Commentary

Calexit #1, Story: Matteo Pizzolo Art: Amancay Nahuelpan Colors: Tyler Boss Flats: Dee Cunniffe Maps: Richard Nisa Letters: Jim Campbell Flags: Robert Anthony Jr. Assistant: Philip W. Smith II.

Reviews:

Tetris: The Games People Play
Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma
5,000 km Per Second
A User’s Guide To Neglectful Parenting
Love and Lies Vol. 1
She and Her Cat
A City Inside
Wonder Woman #31
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #0-1
Calexit #1
Solanin
Spy Seal #1
Mister Miracle #1
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #22
Batman/Elmer Fudd Special
Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor Special
Loverboys
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Vol. 1
Wonder Woman Annual #1
Flash #22
Libby's Dad
Flash #21 & Batman #22
Action Comics #977 & Batman #21
Black Cloud #1
Guardians of the Louvre
Superman #19 & Action Comics #976
Man-Thing #1
The Old Guard #1
WildC.A.T.s #1
Spawn #1
Justice League/Power Rangers #1
The Mighty Thor #15
The Unstoppable Wasp #1

Commentary:

More NonSense: Best of 2017, Part 2
More NonSense: Best of 2017
Bright Lights (2016)
More NonSense: Eddie Berganza vs C.B. Cebulski
More NonSense: Cartoon Diversity
More NonSense: SPX 2017 Edition
More NonSense: Jack Kirby Centennial
More NonSense: Comic-Con 2017 Edition
More NonSense: Harry Potter 20th Anniversary Edition
More NonSense: The Wonder Woman Film Edition
More Nonsense: Kung fu Kenny Edition
The Circle (2017)
More NonSense: Ghost in the Shell Edition
Arrival (2016)
More Nonsense: Fighting Facism
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Logan (2017)
R.I.P. Jiro Taniguchi (August 14, 1947 – February 11, 2017)
More NonSense: You’re gonna make it after all
More NonSense: March
R.I.P. Tyrus Wong (October 25, 1910 – December 30, 2016)

More NonSense: Best of 2017, Part 2

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, by Kabi Nagata.
The Verge considers them the 10 best comics of 2017.

Ars Technica rates 10 excellent comics that flew under the radar in 2017.

The Beat thinks these are the Best Comics of 2017.

io9 thinks these are the Best and Worst Moments in the Comics of 2017.

PW releases their 2017 Annual Graphic Novel Critics Poll.

The Nib looks back on 2017.

Ken Partille looks back at Ghost World.

C.B. Cebulski offerred an apology about masquerading as Akira Yoshida that many would characterise as a non-apology. Asher Elbein, Charles Pulliam-Moore, Tom Spurgeon, Brian Hibbs offer analysis.

Mark Hamill responds to the fan backlash empowered by his early comments about The Last Jedi. He's also expressed some disagreement with his last minute appearance in The Force Awakens in previous interviews, before walking back his comments.

It's now one year since Carrie Fisher's passing. Here are a compilation of her best interview quotes.

Apparently, some of the audience were confused by a pivotal scene in the movie were everything goes quiet.

The ecumenism of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Here's another one.

RIP Annie Goetzinger (18 August 1951 – 20 December 2017) celebrated French comics creator.

12/23/2017

More NonSense: Best of 2017

Bill Gates: 5 amazing books I read this year.

Bill Gates considers The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui to be one of the his 5 favourite books of 2017.

The AV Club lists their best comics of 2017.

NPR lists the graphic novels they rank among 2017's great reads.

Paste has posted their the 25 Best Comic Books of 2017 and the 10 Best Kids Comics of 2017.

Tor lists the Top Spec-Fic Comics of 2017.

CBC lists the best Canadian comics and graphica of 2017.

Paste ranks every Disney-era Star Wars comic.

i09 has their 15 Best Comics of 2017.

In a ruling which will impact the convention circuit, a jury ruled in favour for Comic-Con International in their trademark dispute with Salt Lake City Comic Con. The argument was whether the phrase "comic con" was a generic term or fell within the SDCC trademark for "comic-con." SDCC however was only awarded $20,000 in damages, well below the $12 million being sought. Heidi MacDonald and Rob Salkowitz have noted that the jury ruled SLCC's infringement to be unintentional despite emails being presented where the SLCC organisers admitted that they were aware that they were infringing SDCC's trademark.

Michael Cavna posted a cartoon tribute to his late father.

Miles Wray on the fall from grace of Dilbert creator Scott Adams.

Joe George on the humanism of Watchmen.

Hillary Chute on the evolution of LGBTQ identity in comics.

Bret Lang reports on the corporate shake-up following the disappointing box office performance of Justice League. Of particular interest to comics is the vague description of DC's Geoff Johns being demoted to a more advisory role, and the tighter integration of DC into the Warner Brothers studio system.
Johns, who reports to DC president Diane Nelson, works in areas such as television (and has written various episodes for DC-inspired shows), publishing, and consumer products, in addition to his contributions to the films. Going forward, his work on the films may evolve, and could be more advisory in nature. 
These people also say that Emmerich is weighing the idea of further integrating DC’s film operations into the studio’s main movie arm. That would entail putting the divisions under the same roof rather than having DC remain in a separate building on the lot, sources say. Marvel, which is owned by Disney, does operate its comic book film division autonomously, but other studios, such as Fox and Sony, produce their superhero films under the studio’s banner.
The aforementioned Emmerich is Warner Bros. Picture Group President Toby Emmerich.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Kelly Marie Tran and John Boyega.
Image via Star Wars

Did anyone notice that a new Star Wars movie is out? I hear it's getting rave reviews.

[Spoiler Alert]

To no one's surprise, The Last Jedi is on the receiving end of some fan backlash, just as with The Force Awakens in 2015. And as with any piece of pop culture with a dedicated fanbase, fans have many opportunities to nitpick at any number of things, however minor: from the existence of new lifeforms, director Rian Johnson's sense of humour, the introduction of new Force abilities, the death of some fan favourite characters, to the dismissal of dearly-held fan theories. A certain portion of fandom is being empowered by Mark Hamill's early comments about the writing of the character he plays, Luke Skywalker.

Hamill's comments are indicative of their sentiments. If The Force Awakens was sometimes criticised for retreading familiar ideas, The Last Jedi noticeably questions most of them, especially the legacy of the Jedi order and the Skywalker family line. J.J. Abrams' film presented fans with a new "Chosen One" in the form of Rey, but Johnson's treatment of Rey roundly rejects the very concept. To those fans, changes like these represents some kind of betrayal of the franchise.

That's a tad overblown. Whatever one thinks of the answers given or if expectations were subverted, the film operates well within the confines of the Star Wars playbook while still finding even more ways to fit in more complex character arcs, deeper world-building, and a more inclusive cast.  Luke might start out a broken man full of self-loathing, but he regains his mojo to completely outclass his former apprentice Kylo Ren. The Jedi order is dead, but finds new life in a new generation represented by Rey. The Republic the Rebel Alliance fought so hard to establish in the original trilogy is in tatters, but the fight against facism goes on.

The Last Jedi is very a middle chapter kind of story. It's meant to ramp up the tension and create new complications. But with time, the more extreme reactions to it will fade, and the film will earn its place in the franchise.

And the scene of Luke drinking green milk out of the teat of an animal was the best.

[End Spoiler]

Sean T. Collins thinks these are The 50 Greatest Star Wars Moments.

Someone has to bring up the Star Wars Holiday Special, so we won't forget what a story that really steps out of the boundaries of "canon" looks like.

Nick Gillard talks about choreographing the three way lightsaber duel between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.

Enough with the irrational hatred for midi-chlorians.

Lauren Michele Jackson on how modern animation subverts the minstrel tradition.

12/17/2017

Tetris: The Games People Play

Tetris: The Games People Play By Box Brown.
By Box Brown

Box Brown has made a career uncovering the stories behind pop culture objects of a very specific milieu, namely early 80s Americana. He’s authored biographies about two infamous celebrities: pro wrestler André the Giant, and comedian Andy Kaufman. With last year’s Tetris: The Games People Play, Brown instead tackled a video gaming classic. The resulting graphic novel reveals that his approach to biography works just as well for talking about nonhuman subjects. After all, Tetris didn’t just emerge from the void like one of its signature puzzle pieces. Someone had to invent it, and others had to fall for its charms. Some people might be aware that the game was the brainchild of computer scientist Alexey Pajitnov, when he was still working at the Academy of Science in Moscow. Even fewer will know what measures were taken to export the game to the Western world during the final stages of the Cold War. Brown’s examination of the complex business machinations behind Tetris’ international success is very accessible because he keeps the attention centered on the personalities involved, and not on the technologies that made it possible.

Before getting into the story of Tetris, Brown lays out his thesis for the comic. His short examination of the history (and prehistory) of games leads him to conclude that they are an artistic enterprise, the creative fusion of the competitive spirit and the child’s act of playing. Games nurture analytical skills and model human behavior by connecting with the audience’s desire for diversion, whether it be the ancient board game of Senet, the 19th century Japanese card game Hanafuda, or the video game consoles manufactured by Nintendo and Atari during the early 1980s. Every games’ popularity is a reflection of their respective society. With Tetris, Alexey’s own contribution to history was to combine the pleasures of classic puzzle games with real-time problem solving made possible by video games into an endlessly iterating loop.

Alexey himself isn’t one of Brown’s more enigmatic protagonists. He’s portrayed as a Steve Wozniak type of figure who created Tetris in 1984, during his free time in order to give expression to his ideas and entertain his friends. He showed no interest in profiting from his creation. The game would soon become a viral hit in Moscow, shared through floppy discs. A version of Tetris would make its way to Hungary, where it would be discovered by Robert Stein of U.K.-based Andromeda Software.

Tetris: The Games People Play By Box Brown.

From here, the story becomes a lot more complicated as Alexey gradually loses control of his own creation. Various American and Japanese companies would vie for the distribution rights to Tetris, and at some point had to negotiate directly with the Russian government agency named Elorg. Like many tales from the nascent personal computing and video gaming industry, many of the parties involved were stumbling over a mess of patent, copyright, and trademark issues. Tetris would be ported to virtually every popular computing platform even when the legality of its distribution was still far from settled. This confusing state of affairs would eventually culminate in a huge 1993 legal battle between Nintendo and Atari.

If Brown were appealing just to the gaming crowd, he’d get lost comparing the varieties of Tetris being produced during this time, and judging each on their technical merits. That would make for an unwieldy comic. Thankfully, he’s more interested in the various business personalities fighting for a piece of the game. His chapter breaks are structured around their involvement, each character being helpfully introduced with a formal portrait and accompanying caption, isolated on the page by inky black. His blocky cartoon style is even more minimalist than in Andre the Giant, all the better to facilitate his understated, third person narrative voice. The only thing keeping the art from becoming completely flat is Brown’s choice of vibrant yellow to add volume to his black and white forms. But Brown is first and foremost, a storyteller. The comic still proves to a page turner despite the large cast of characters and numerous plot twists.

With everything said, Brown’s sympathies lie ultimately with the humble Alexey. He sees him as a master of his craft. Alexey wanted more than anything for the world to know his beloved game. As he explained during a 2015 appearance: “If I made a big fuss about the money, they would immediately have crushed my efforts. They would have crushed Tetris. Tetris would have been left without a champion to stick up for it and guide it. We would not be here today.”

Tetris: The Games People Play By Box Brown.

12/11/2017

Bright Lights (2016)

Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Directors: Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens Starring: Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher.
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
Directors: Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens
Starring: Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher

Even in a media landscape where reality TV stars are willing to have their private lives exposed for any measure of fleeting fame, the relationship between Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fisher is truly the stuff of legends. Together they represent two very different eras of Hollywood. Fisher has memorialized their often difficult relationship in her writings. One of them was the semi-autobiographical novel Postcards from the Edge, which was made into a film rather fittingly starring Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep. And yet they were practically inseparable, living as next door neighbors in their Beverly Hills compound for decades. When the two died within a day of each other almost a year ago, the legend seemed to be complete. Fisher would pass away on December 27 after suffering a massive heart attack. Reynolds followed her soon after, almost as if she couldn't bear to be without Fisher. According to Carrie’s brother Todd Fisher, Reynolds said before dying that she "wanted to be with Carrie."

Bright Lights was filmed from 2014-15, well before their passing. But it feels like a fitting capstone to their careers. It breezily mixes present day and archival footage in a nonlinear order, producing a lively and affectionate portrait of the two. Their conversations are often filled with inside references and zingers which hint at a much more adversarial past, but which has since mellowed out with time. The pair is a study in contrasts. Reynolds is dignified and polite in front of the camera. And she always dresses immaculately. Fisher expresses herself through a combination of acerbic wit and humorous self-depreciation. Reynold’s house is tastefully decorated. Fisher’s house is cluttered with more recent pop culture memorabilia. Even their pet dogs reflect their different personalities. But they’re united in their mutual love for musical numbers and classic Hollywood cinema. And of course their status as showbiz goddesses. Or as Fisher states in response to a reporter’s question at a red carpet event., “We are always on a red carpet.”

Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Directors: Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens Starring: Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher.

The claim isn’t too hyperbolic. The documentary shows both Fisher and Reynolds being kept busy interacting with their adoring fans. Fisher is an active participant of fan conventions. She refers to these appearances as a “celebrity lap dance” while prepping in the autograph area during one such event, After a full day of signing autographs and posing for photo ops, Fisher can still express a mixture of awe, befuddlement, and acceptance. “They love her”, referring to her Princess Leia role, “and I’m her custodian, and I’m as close as you’re going to get.” Despite having retired from film, Reynolds still tours the country performing in lounge acts to a mostly aging audience. This is a source of tension between mother and daughter, since these performances leave Reynolds with barely enough energy to function. The first scene of the film catches Fisher after she’s failed to talk Reynolds out of one of these gigs. Fisher compares her mother to a force of nature, a “tsu-mommy.” Then she goes to help her pack. Despite the toll touring takes on her body (she almost collapses as she hobbles of the stage), it’s easy to see what Reynolds gets out of it. The reception she receives is ecstatic. Fisher recognizes the sustenance it gives to Reynolds. "Performing gives her life. It feeds her in a way family cannot."

Reynold’s work ethic is no surprise. She was a product of the Hollywood studio system of the late 1940s. It was a system that always demanded a cheerful professionalism out of its charges, like a manic version of kayfabe. It was also still the golden age of the movie musical. But more importantly, Reynolds went through three failed marriages, the first one ending in a huge scandal at the time when husband and celebrated crooner Eddie Fisher left her for actress Elizabeth Taylor. Through it all, Reynolds kept up a semblance of dignity and wholesome sweetness. Bright Lights suggests this wasn’t an act resulting from shallowness or ignorance. It was a display of inner strength. A way of showing the world that she wouldn’t be brought down by such difficult circumstances.

Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Directors: Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens Starring: Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher.

Needless to say, this is unlike the more outspoken Carrie Fisher. Old homemade movies give the impression that Todd and Carrie had an idyllic childhood. Yet Todd admits to a surreal family life being raised by such a famous mom. The siblings began smoking weed as teenagers, though Carrie would go on to stronger stuff and develop a serious drug habit. They came of age in the freewheeling 70s, when Hollywood was being colonized by a new generation of auteurs. One of those auteurs, a young George Lucas, would soon give Fisher her big break. There’s one remarkable clip from 1971 which foreshadows a more unstable future. Reynolds is in the middle of one of her shows when she coaxes, perhaps bullies, Fisher to perform onstage. It’s a very typical parent-child dynamic where the former is setting up the latter to either succeed or fail. The clearly embarrassed teenager grins through it all and belts out a soulful rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” her outward cheerfulness bleeding over into defiance. “I love that voice” remembers a tearful Reynolds. “Isn’t that a great voice? Wish I had it.” But Fisher would disappoint her mother by not pursuing a singing career. In a few years, she would land the role of Leia for Star Wars, then go on to have a tumultuous marriage with Paul Simon.

When the film catches up with the present, Fisher’s inner demons haven’t vanished. She can’t quite quit her personal vices even as she prepares to film The Force Awakens. But the angry recriminations that characterized the mother-daughter dynamic from a few decades ago have already been replaced by a more genteel schtick. A comedic performance where the characteris have come to recognize each other’s limitations. Fisher keeps insisting that Reynolds retire her lounge act, while Reynolds worries about her daughter’s bipolar disorder. They find in familial bonds a happiness they couldn’t obtain with their romantic male partners. The final part of Bright Lights has the entire clan coming together to ensure that the increasingly frail Reynolds will be on hand to accept a lifetime achievement award. It’s an emotionally tense occasion that causes Fisher to despair a few times. But when it’s all over, the two collapse on the couch when they're back safe at the compound, and amuse everyone with an impromptu version of "There's No Business Like Show Business" as if they were casually conversing about their own lives.

It’s a brilliant scene, and it makes for a sadder realization that these two remarkable women aren’t around anymore.

Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Directors: Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens Starring: Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Todd Fisher.

12/04/2017

Star Wars: Captain Phasma

Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma Story: Kelly Thompson Art: Marco Checchetto Colors: Andres Mossa Letters: Clayton Cowles Covers: Paul Renaud  Star Wars created by George Lucas. Captain Phasma created by J. J. Abrams.
Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma
Story: Kelly Thompson
Art: Marco Checchetto
Colors: Andres Mossa
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Covers: Paul Renaud

Star Wars created by George Lucas.
Captain Phasma created by J. J. Abrams.

Captain Phasma was the new character from The Force Awakens who failed to impress the fans. This lukewarm reception was a byproduct of the disconnect between the hype surrounding her during the lead up to the film, and the limited screen time which ended with her being KO’d by Chewbacca, then tossed into a trash compactor by Han Solo after being easily forced to disable the Starkiller Base shields. What a pushover! Where was the badass we were promised? And what’s the point of casting Gwendoline Christie to play the role when Phasma is just as useless (and anonymous) as every other stormtrooper? With the next Star Wars film on the horizon, the character’s rehabilitation is in full swing. This year’s Journey to Star Wars comic focuses entirely on Phasma’s actions starting from the climax of The Force Awakens. Since it’s known that she will be back for The Last Jedi, how did she get of Starkiller Base? The answer given certainly paints her as a larger than life, if somewhat ludicrous figure.

The Shatterred Empire art duo of Marco Checchetto and Andres Mossa make their return, this time teaming up with writer Kelly Thompson. The concentration on a smaller cast and shorter time frame results in a much tighter story. But as in the older comic, it still begins with the final battle of the last film. Checchetto and Mossa display their usual prowess in portraying chaotic space combat with the Assault on Starkiller Base. Phasma escapes the compactor thanks to the Resistance attack inadvertently blowing a hole in its side. With only six minutes to go before the planet destructs and her troops in total disarray, Phasma’s first act is to cover her own ass by wiping the computer logs of any record of her disabling the shields. Computer logs that I presume won’t even be around for much longer.

Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma Story: Kelly Thompson Art: Marco Checchetto Colors: Andres Mossa Letters: Clayton Cowles Covers: Paul Renaud  Star Wars created by George Lucas. Captain Phasma created by J. J. Abrams.

Still, they provide her a motivation for the rest of the comic. Phasma discovers that a certain lieutenant Sol Rivas had accessed the shield systems a few minutes later. Because she can’t have Rivas tattling to anyone about who switched off the base defences, Phasma runs around looking for Rivas so she can exterminate him. It’s quite a sight as she dodges falling debris and multiple explosions. She even ziplines through a chasm like Captain America from his first film. At one point, Phasma even spots from a distance the lightsaber duel between Kylo Ren and Rey. Pffft! Who cares when there’s someone else who needs to be killed? Remember, all this wackiness takes place within those measly six minutes.

Like any First Order officer possessing a healthy survival instinct, Rivas has already escaped to outer space. So the remainder of the story is about Phasma tracking him down with the aid of a TIE Fighter pilot and a BB-9E droid. It’s not a spoiler to say that these throwaway characters won’t survive her wrath. And since she’s still in the First Order’s good graces by the time of The Last Jedi, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that neither does Rivas. But the trail of destruction she leaves in her wake is absurd and horrendous. A planet’s population is sacrificed to her scorched earth policy, including a bunch of merfolk and a few sea monsters. On the one hand, her single-mindedness is practically superhuman. But it’s also a testament to the First Order’s brainwashing (or Lucasfilm’s attachment to her) that Phasma doesn’t just follow the simpler path and become a deserter. It worked out for fellow soldier Finn.

Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma Story: Kelly Thompson Art: Marco Checchetto Colors: Andres Mossa Letters: Clayton Cowles Covers: Paul Renaud  Star Wars created by George Lucas. Captain Phasma created by J. J. Abrams.

Comic: Age of the Dragon

Complete original art by Charles Vess for “Age of the Dragon” from Epic Illustrated #21, published by Marvel/Epic Comics, December 1983.
Go to: The Bristol Board, by Charles Vess