American Gods

I read Neil Gaiman's American Gods so long ago that I barely remember it.  I know I liked it, but honestly I remember it more in concept than anything else.  Perhaps that's why I'm enjoying the hell out of Starz' television adaptation of it so much, I'm not sweating the details of the source material that much. 

Rather than painstakingly recreating the book, as well as elements of its pseudo-sequel Ananzi Boys, showrunners Bryan Fuller ("Pushing Daisies," "Hannibal") and Michael Green (Logan, Alien: Covenant, and Green Lantern) have wisely chosen to concentrate on dazzling visuals and mining the incredible talent of their cast.  First and foremost among the latter is Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday.  He is perfect as the conman and old god Odin who plots against the new gods. He ruled every scene he appeared in on HBO's much-missed "Deadwood" so I couldn't ask for a better lead. 

Ricky Whittle from the the UK's "Hollyoaks" is more than adequate as Shadow, who's learning of the gods just as we viewers do.  The rest of the cast so far is a wonder of stuntcasting, and that's a good thing.  One can never take one's eyes off Crispin Glover in anything he's in, and then there's Cloris Leachman, Kristen Chenoweth, and Corbin Bernsen. 

Gillian Anderson shines as Media, a small role in the book, but here stunning as manifestations of Lucille Ball, David Bowie, and Marilyn Monroe.  Also impressive are Pablo Schreiber as the leprechaun and the usually annoying comedian Dane Cook in a surprising and serious turn.

So far it seems more of a road trip than a war of the gods, but I'm having fun watching week after week.  Fun television is not something we get very often any more, and this is one of the bright spots.  It may inspire me to pick up the book(s) again, but I'm afraid I might be disappointed.  I think the show might be superior. 

PrinceLess on The GAR! Podcast

The latest episode (#21) of The GAR! Podcast features a special interview with writer Jeremy Whitley and artist Emily C. Martin of the awarding winning comic PrinceLess from Action Lab Comics.

In the episode we discuss PrinceLess, inspirations, publishing, art styles, teaching, Breaking Bad, Death, Prince, Batman, and the upcoming releases from Action Lab Comics - all that and more!

Check out the podcast here, and you buy PrinceLess online here, in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area at All Things Fun!, or at your local comics shop.

Dick Giordano 1932-2010

There is very sad news today, award-winning comics legend Dick Giordano has passed away. He began as an artist in the 1950s with Charlton Comics and soon rose to editor-in-chief as he introduced their action hero line and brought in many new talents who would themselves later become legends in the field.

The realistic art style that defined the realism of the 1970s was largely due to his distinctive inking. Any artist he inked became instant dynamic, among them Neal Adams, Dick Dillin and Ross Andru. Some of the best known and loved versions of Batman, Wonder Woman, the Human Target and especially Green Lantern and Green Arrow hold his brilliant lines.

As an editor at DC Comics, Giordano helped to relaunch many of their characters in the 1980s. He helped create their mature imprint Vertigo, brought in talent from the UK like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, and was instrumental in the fight for creators’ rights.

His legacy and inspiration is evident in every facet of the comics industry both inside and outside. We have lost one of the great ones. Dick Giordano will be missed. Rest in peace, sir.

Wednesday Comics Are Here

I love comics. Anyone who knows me knows that. We all have our hobbies, our obsessions, our passions. But how often does something happen within that interest that you are just compelled to tell everyone about it? And I mean everyone. For me, and for comics, that happened this week.

It’s called Wednesday Comics, and it came out on, duh, Wednesday. You might remember me talking about this before, a few weeks back. Then it was just an item of interest that I had not personally seen yet, only heard about and seen a few previews of. Now that I have it in my hands, I am stunned. This is the coolest thing to happen in comics (and maybe in print) in years.

This is not just the return of Sunday color adventure comics, it’s not even just the return of comics on newsprint. DC Comics has done both of those things, but they filled it with the best work they had to offer. This is amazing.

Kyle Baker’s Hawkman is stunning. Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred have recreated the Silver Age Metamorpho perfectly. The Flash is the peak of sequential storytelling. Great to see a jet age Green Lantern, it’s the era he was created for. Father and son Kuberts do Sgt. Rock, just as husband and wife Palmiotti and Conner give us a delightful take on Supergirl, Krypto and Streaky. Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook pay homage to Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant with Jack Kirby’s Kamandi just as Paul Pope does the same for Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon with his Adam Strange. It’s just beautiful.

And for those of you for whom that last paragraph means nothing, don’t worry. The best thing about Wednesday Comics is that it’s non-continuity. In English, that means it’s mainstream – it’s accessible to any readers new or old. If you’ve been reading these things forever or if you wouldn’t know a Teen Titan from Tony the Tiger, you’ll still enjoy this.


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Monsters, Aliens and Other Animated Things that Go Bump in the Night

Monsters Vs. Aliens ~ What starts off as B-movie homage ends with superhero sensibility in this surprising 3-D entry this weekend. Using templates from Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Fly, The Blob and even Mothra, this flick espouses the idea that monsters have been kept top secret by the government for decades, and when aliens attack, they are unleashed to save the world.

DreamWorks does it again, keeping up with the technology and with Disney/Pixar here, and even presents a new form of 3-D that's better than anything that's come before - and if you see it in IMAX, it's just that much better. The voice cast is terrific, Reese Witherspoon and Stephen Colbert especially. This was one of the more fun flicks I've seen this year, recommended.

Hoodwinked ~ This computer-animated twist on the Little Red Riding Hood story wants so badly to be Shrek it hurts, yes, it literally hurts the viewer. It tries far too hard to be different and irreverent when it could have simply told the tale with a few clever in-jokes and modern music, but they just went for trying to one-up the big green ogre instead. Good for free or if nothing else is on.

Coraline ~ A very interesting and creepy fantasy from ‘one of the directors of Nightmare Before Christmas’ (not the one you think), and a lot of fun – for adults, and even then it might be a little scary. Hollywood seriously needs to bring more of the work of Neil Gaiman to the big screen. And I will never understand these parents who bring their kids to a movie just because it’s animated or has a child in it thinking it’s okay. Read about films before you go. The idiots who brought their infant children to the theatre for this one probably would do the same thing with The Omen or Fritz the Cat. Recommended, but not for kids.

Stardust

In the world of film, not many folks may know the name Neil Gaiman, but anyone involved with comics or even on the fringe of the comics world will tell you the man is a master storyteller. His Sandman is probably one of the triumphs of the last two decades in making comics into real legitimate literature. From there Gaiman moved onto writing novels like “American Gods” and “Good Omens.” Then came his entrance into television and film with “Neverwhere” for the BBC and the theatrical MirrorMask.

Now with Stardust Gaiman brings one of his own novels to the big screen. Described as an adult fairy tale in the vein of The Princess Bride in Hollywood-speak, that is actually pretty accurate. Imagine TPB as if it were directed by Terry Gilliam, and you’ve got a pretty good idea what it’s like. Unfortunately from what I understand (I’ve never read the book), the flick deviates a bit character-wise from the novel.

I think it’s a given that both Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer are way over the top but I don’t see it as really out of place. I thought they were both delightful. Stardust is a lot of fun and a must see.

As a preliminary for Stardust we got to see the preview for Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf, which Neil Gaiman did write the screenplay for and is a flick I have been waiting a looong time for. I am looking sooo forward to that one.

And extra special thanks to the Dark Crystal for getting me into this sneak preview.