I love when things happen naturally.
I was up late, working, getting my ducks all in a row. It’s good to periodically put your notes in order and sync everything up. When you begin working, you start with a foundation, but then creation takes hold, the character comes alive, tells you what to do, and you end up changing things. You need to sync up the creative process with the editorial work.
It never fails, when I do research, where I start will lead me to something better, or something good I never knew existed. With GORYO DOG, I’ve learned so many new and exciting things about mythology, spirituality, Japanese folklore and culture, martial arts, manga, and anime.
Case in point, I’m updating my listing for GENYOSHA, a major antagonist for Willie and his crew, who I first classified as a “dark onmyoji.” An ONMYOJI is an occultist, specializing in magic, divination, and using shikigami (spirit familiars). But, with writing and development, that no longer fit the character, he’s more of a dark sorcerer, but what’s that in Japanese?
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I just saw TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN (PART 1) and I didn’t like it, but instead of ranting on about how bad it was, I’m going to change the pattern. I’m going to admit the reason I didn’t like it, is because I couldn’t like it, because, it wasn’t made for me. I promise, this won’t be entirely negative.
I’m a 40 year old husband and father of two. I’ve been married almost half my life (at this point). I’m a pop culture, genre geek; I’ve seen movies, television shows, read more books, comic books, short stories, and listened to audiobooks more than the average person. On top of that, I’m a genre writer, meaning, I’ve read more about where fictional characters come from than the average fan.
I’m pretty much everything that wasn’t considered when TWILIGHT was written and adapted.
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Battle Scars (2011) #6
Word on the net is Marvel has found a way to bring black Nick Fury in to their main universe via their Battle Scars mini, and its protagonist Marcus Johnson. Bleeding Cool was the first to speculate this was so and recent events lead to Marc being the illegitimate, interracial son of Nicholas Fury of the Howling Commandos, Agent, and former head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Marcus even has his eye taken out! What are the odds?
Okay, here’s where I start asking the question, “WHY?”
What stories can you tell with a black Fury that you can’t tell with the original, trademarked character Marvel’s had since 1963? (Oops! I originally thought the date was 1959 – my bad.)
And, here’s where a lot of people ask me, “WHY NOT?”
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Hunter_S__Thompson___Paranoia_by_gonzonl
“The greatest mistake you can make is to say that your work is better than a lot of the shit that’s out there. No doubt. But being better than shit is not exactly a shining credential.” Dave Sim, “Cerebus Guide To Self-Publishing “(1997) (p. 30)
“Kids, the fiction is the truth inside the lie, and the truth of this fiction is simple enough: the magic exists.” Stephen King “IT” (1985)
Two
The second part of “Fear & Loathing and Comic Books” is overdue, but the distance was necessary. Writing part one, I really looked into my views on comic books because I was starting to question if I like them at all. The result of my sabbatical was my learning how much I do love them, perhaps too much, and wonder if that’s what gets me into trouble.
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I miss you H.S.T. – I never would have known you if not for comic books.
ONE
I was driving north on the 15 freeway when reflection took hold…
I was on my way to work – you know, my real job, the one that actually pays – when my iPhone blew up. My webmaster was texting me, frantic about a response I received from Paul Allen to my last blog.
Paul was gracious to respond to a previous post regarding my take on Ultimate Spider-Man #1 (vol. 2). That time, as with this one, my webmaster had hit me up insisting I respond to Paul’s comment. I didn’t want to. And, as always, if I don’t want to do something a) my brain shuts down so I can’t think of how to go about doing whatever I’m trying to do, resulting in my b) being blatantly honest in order to get the job done fast, end my discomfort, and possibly diffuse (almost always negative) ramifications from said honesty. As expected, action begs reaction that begs more reaction, and… Read more
The new issue of Ultimate Spider-Man featuring Miles Morales, the new black – sorry, Puerto Rican – Spider-Man, hit the stores yesterday and the reviews have been good. David Pepose, a Newsarama contributor, wrote: “Where do I begin? Well, the biggest victory that Bendis scores with Miles Morales is that he makes us care about him, and care about him quickly.”
Uh, no he doesn’t.
Joseph’s Snap Review: It’s more of the same post Cosby Show bullshit in comics.
Miles Morales is a good (or so it’s implied) inner city kid who wins a lottery to attend a charter school. We don’t know anything about his parents, who look okay, but just them being together is something different when 54% percent of African Americans between the ages of 24 and 34 haven’t married (Karen Peterson, USA TODAY, 2000). The uncle is a crook, of course, but not a common one, as he was able to loot the ruins of Norman Osborn’s lab, where one of the same mutated spiders that bit Peter Parker climbs into his bag to and bites Miles later on.
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You want to know how the comic book business is doing?
Of course you don’t.
Because, odds are, you don’t care. But, there are a lot of people out there, who don’t work in the industry, who do care. They’ve collected comic books for years and don’t know what they would do if that were to stop, not suddenly, just forever.
The state of comic books is this…
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Following your dream can be a beautiful thing, and for awhile, people respect you for it.
Your friends are supportive, always asking for progress reports, seeing if there’s any way they can help and, if you’re lucky, you’re going into a business, field, or career where they can assist you.
Your family is supportive; your parents finance you, stay off you back about being an adult living at home, mooching their food, not contributing to their living expenses after they were so sure you’d be gone much sooner and their wallet would be much lighter. Your wife is supportive, perhaps she’s the only one working, bringing in money, but she doesn’t complain, or think about how she can’t talk to you about anything she’s going through because you can’t relate to the headaches of a nine to five job staying at home in your jeans doing “research” in-between talking to your friends, fast food runs, midday talk shows, and “research” on the internet.
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Read the news today, the new Ultimate Spider-Man is black…
(or it could just be the shadows, but since Bendis confirmed this was inspired by "Community's" Donald Glover, I'll stick with black)
Okay.
Sorry, I just don’t see the big deal. No, not “I don’t see the big deal because an established hero could and should be ethnically interchangeable;” I mean, I don’t see the big deal with big business choosing to play the black sheep (no pun intended) card yet again.
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It’s Saturday afternoon and I’ m bored. Boredom is the working family man’s curse. You’re too tired to go anywhere; too broke to buy anything without questioning if you really need it or not and feeling guilty an hour later regardless. The kids own the television, and you wouldn’t know what to watch if you could pry them away. You’ve slept all you can, eaten everything there is, and it’s too hot to have sex (if that’s an option). You cruise the net looking for anything new, but it’s the weekend, there’s nothing incoming till Monday and you’ve read what interested you throughout the week already. You start reading things you’re not, normally, interested in, and that’s just a precursor to googling the taboos and fetishes that always lead to porn. That’s when I came across this… Read more
