Teaching History is Tough

A few days ago I had an in-depth discussion about why so many people seemed to hate history as a child.

I love history, I loved it as a child, throughout grade school, it was one of my majors in college, and I continue to study history on my own as an adult. So, why did I like it where so many others didn’t?

I think it might be because I learned it outside of the classroom.

History is incredibly tough to teach because it is a subject without limit. Take for example early Cold War history.  The Cold War lasted from 1945 – 1991. I spent countless hours in a number of different courses studying that 46 year war… but even within that short span of time,  the overwhelming majority of my study hours were on the Eisenhower and Kennedy years (roughly 11 years). Within that, my primary focus was on the Cuban Missile Crisis, which lasted a whopping 13 days… I spent far more time studying the Crisis than it lasted.

Adlai Stevenson kicks ass on the floor of the UN during the Cuban Missile Crisis... my favorite moment in world history.

I know Cold War history, really know the Eisenhower and Kennedy years, and I could talk for days about the Cuban Missile Crisis. My other area of focus was on early Constitutional history (another 50 years or so). I could talk your ear off about the genius of the Founding Fathers.

Basically, after studying history for four years and spending a ton of time reading on my own, I have mastery of the Cold War, early Constitutional history, the history of the guitar in the Western world, and the history of the comic book industry. If I were to teach history, those are the areas that I truly be able to speak about with authority (and two of them are might narrow niches).

However, all I would need to teach high school history is a teaching license. This is the case for all history teachers. The topics are so incredibly broad, the wealth of material on any given subject, so deep. No one can master it all. No one can be passionate about all of it. What happens are tremendous gaps in the classroom.

Math, science, English, languages all have rules, and well-defined curriculum. History is so insanely ill-defined… and that’s before you look at the differences in interpretation of events. As a general rule, I don’t think high school history even attempts to analyze the fact that historians don’t agree on a universal history. The past really isn’t clear.

The best path to enjoying history is to find a topic or era that you like, and read on your own. Everything has history, companies, industries, musical instruments and movie genres. The comic book industry’s history overlaps with the history of the organized crime, and the contraceptives industry, as well as Jewish-American and WWII history, in a beautiful web of intrigue and chance.

History isn’t just about the old white guys on our money (although I find most of them very interesting). When I get passionate about something I learn it’s history, music, videogames, the Constitution, or nuclear deterrence. I don’t think it’s possible to understand and fully appreciate anything in life without learning where it came from, and how it evolved over time.

History teachers have it tough. No one will find all of world history interesting (even the most devoted history student), and there is no way that each teacher can have a thorough understanding of all of the classroom material, sometimes they will have to phone it in.

~ syndicated by TheGeekWhisperer.com

Geek Arguments Courtesy of Wired

I’m exhausted beyond the point of original thought – Here’s a funny one yanked from Wired.com (However, I did edit a small typo. They misspelled aficionado).

10. “No real programmer would ever use PHP.” – This won’t work for every geek, of course, but for those it works on, it should work really well.

9. “Comic books are just for kids!” – I’m sure you’ve heard this one before—I know I certainly heard it often enough in high school, and even though it’s even less true now than it was then, I’m sure comic book aficionados still hear it today.

8. “Role-playing games are just for people who can’t deal with real life.” – There are, sadly, still a lot of people who think anyone who plays D&D must live in his parents’ basement and bathe once a month. Such people must be put straight, and immediately!

7. “The Pirates of the Caribbean movies are so realistic!” – I doubt many people actually believe this, but there are an awful lot of misconceptions about pirates out there, so you never know.

6. “Yeah, I got an Xbox 360 so my daughter could play Hello Kitty games. Is it really good for anything else?” – We’ve hit the ones that are hard for me even to type, now…

5. “Mac, Windows, or Linux? Does it really make a difference?” – An argument so old its original form was probably first written down in hieroglyphs, I know, but I don’t know a single geek it wouldn’t work on—myself included.

4. “The Ewoks were the best thing about the original Star Wars trilogy.” / “Greedo shot first!” - I couldn’t decide between the two. If one doesn’t work, I’ll bet the other one would.

3. “Tolkien? Ehhh, I prefer Terry Brooks!” – I almost feel like I should argue with myself just for writing that. I’m going to let the top two stand for themselves.

2. “Joss Whedon is a hack!”

1. “I don’t see what’s so bad about DRM!”

Nine out of ten of these statements would drive me nuts. Any guesses which one wouldn’t?

Check back tomorrow when I reveal the shocking answer (And post something sensible).

Update

The answer is #8. State the other nine at your own peril!

“first, let’s get you into something that won’t get me arrested for solicitation…”

Last night, instead of doing things like writing any number of Geek Whisperer posts I’ve been promising to David, I watched the new Wonder Woman animated feature. I thought it was great. Uplifting. Powerful. Pulsating…? Getting an image in your head?  No, your other one.  I’m talking about the penis.  Oh, yes, because although it’s certainly an inspiration to little girls everywhere, what with the female empowerment and all, it’s also an inspiration to teenage boys’ genitals.

If only they drew it from the other side...

The only reason women wear layers is to taken them off

I know what you’re thinking.  You’re shocked that I’m using DC characters in a sexually explicit blog post.  But come on!  Here you have the new version of Wonder Woman, and yet she’s never been so close to her original character.  Remember David’s post about the perverse nature of her original arcs?

This movie really makes the innuendos for me…

Subtle innuendo?

I definitely recommend this movie for any fans and would be fans out there… but don’t show it to your 13 year old brother/nephew/son/etc. unless you want sticky socks in your washing machine.

****SPOILER****

This movie has zombie Amazons in it!  Added Bonus!

Wonder Woman: The Super Secret & Kinky Origin of a Feminist Icon

I have a tremendous fascination with the history of pop culture icons, particularly superheroes. I don’t mean the origin story, I mean where the character came from. What drove the writer, and how the character was different from what they are today. The origin of the character Wonder Woman is by far one of the oddest and most intriguing story I have ever encountered. This post is a long one, but I truly think you will find it interesting regardless of whether you read comics (it’s filled with stories of sexual deviance). 

Wonder Woman hit newsstands in 1941 and was a different kind of superhero created by a different kind of writer. Her creator was William Moulton Marston, a middle-aged WASP who studied law and psychology at Harvard. He was one of the few early comic creators who was older, well educated, and not Jewish. Marston studied the correlation between blood pressure and emotional distress as a graduate student and played a critical role in the development of the polygraph machine, or lie detector. After earning his PhD in psychology from Harvard in 1921, he took a job at Tufts University where he continued his research in psychology (Jones 205-6).

Along with his graduate research assistant, Olive Byrne, Marston began studying human emotion, persuasion, and power. His studies focused largely on sexual deviance. One such act that he observed was a bizarre sorority initiation at a women’s college, known as a “baby party.” Marston observed, “new pledges dressed like babies and were tied up, poked with sticks, and wrestled into submission by other girls.” Marston did not just observe sexual deviance, he was a sexual deviant. Marston was happily married to a strong woman named Elizabeth Holloway who studied law and psychology at Boston and Radcliffe. He and his wife lived with Olive Byrne, Marston’s graduate assistant. The three of them had four children, two from Elizabeth and two from Olive. For the most part, Olive raised all of the children while Elizabeth worked to support the family. Elizabeth and Olive remained together for the rest of their lives, even after Marston died (Jones 206-7).

  In 1928, Marston published the culmination of his research in his popular book titled, The Emotions of Ordinary People. In his book, Marston argued that human emotions can be broken down into four “’elementary behavioral units,’ dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance. It was an easily applicable look at the social power games of daily life, and if there was any doubt that he intended it to make him a popular pundit rather than a respected researcher, he even gave his system an acronym: DISC.” This was popular among average people in the late 20’s, but effectively ended Marston’s professional career. As a result, Marston spent the following decade traveling the country using DISC and the lie detector to find jobs. At one point he was depicted in “magazine ads selling Gillette razors (a lie detector test showed that men really thought Gillette shaved closest)” (Jones 206-7). Perhaps the oddest part of all of this is that even though DISC obliterated Marston’s professional career, it is still used today all across the country.

Marston became interested in comic books by way of his relationship with comic publisher Max Gains, who he convinced that a strong female superhero would appeal to both boys and girls (Wright 21).

 Marston told Trina Robbins of The American Scholar in 1943: 

It seemed to me, from a psychological angle, that the comics’ worst offense was their blood-curdling masculinity… It’s smart to be strong. It’s big to be generous, but it’s sissified, according to exclusively male rules, to be tender, loving, affectionate, and alluring. ‘Aw, that’s girl stuff!’ snorts our young comics reader, ‘Who wants to be a girl?’ And that’s the point: not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength… Women’s strong qualities have become despised because of their weak ones (Fingeroth 79).

 His persuasive argument netted him the opportunity to create the first female superhero, and with Marston’s handpicked artist H.G. Peter; an artist with an unconventionally old-fashioned style, they created Diana Prince, the Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman was essentially a female Superman. The Amazonian princess who left her home, the Amazon kingdom of Paradise Island, after rescuing and falling in love with a downed American airman named Steve Trevor in order to help fight against the evil megalomaniacal Axis forces. She was super strong, fast, intelligent, impervious to harm, and she could fly in her invisible airplane. She also wielded weapons. On her wrists, she wore manacles that could deflect bullets (Olive Byrne always wore manacles). She had a golden tiara that she could throw like a boomerang with deadly accuracy, and she also had a magical lasso that forced all who were caught in it to obey her (This later evolved to become the lasso of truth, no doubt related to Marston’s early research). She was, as Marston described, a strong, smart, generous, loving, affectionate, and alluring superheroine who would later become a feminist icon. However, Wonder Woman was far from a perfect feminist icon in her original form (Wright 21).

Wonder Woman was very different in her early adventures than she is today. When Diana Prince was not flying around in her invisible jet wearing red, white, blue, and gold, battling the forces of evil, she was a secretary. For a few issues during the war, she became a nurse to help the war effort. Wonder Woman also had one shocking weakness, which she does not have today; she lost all of her powers when her hands were bound together.

 

Image from the first page of “Sensational Comics” Number 4 written by Marston and illustrated by Peters.

The Wonder Woman comics penned by Marston were packed with bondage, spankings, enslavement, and punishment of both men and women. Every single Wonder Woman comic that Marston created depicted bondage and a myriad of other sexual fetishes (Jones 209). While Wonder Woman was at a basic level, a super-heroic icon for young girls, it was not until many decades later, when the Wonder Woman TV show started airing, that Marston’s intent was fully realized.

Wonder Woman did sell better than most superhero comics to young girls, however, 90% of all comics starring the Amazon Princess that were sold, were purchased by males. A fact that was not overlooked by advertisers who routinely targeted young boys with the ads in Wonder Woman comics, most notably, BB gun ads that read “Hey Fellers, tell Dad to buy you a BB Gun” (Jones 211). 

These initial Wonder Woman comics served to reinforce the status quo for many women, living their lives subservient in a man’s world. The simple fact that Diana Prince, this omnipotent force for good, was no more powerful in her daily life than most other woman underscored how underpowered women were. Marston’s own wife was a lawyer, but for some reason, he did not give his iconic female hero a high-powered job.

Since Marston was removed from the title in 1949, Wonder Woman’s occupation has changed a number of times; currently, she is a federal agent of sorts. Her sexist weakness was also removed along with all of the other fetishes (except for the costume) that were the hallmark of Marston’s run on the title.

Works Cited

Fingeroth, Danny. Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., 2005.

Jones, Gerard. Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book. New York: Basic Books, 2004.

Marston, William Moulton and H.G. Peter. Wonder Woman: Archive Volume 1. New York: DC Comics, 1998.

Marston, William Moulton and H.G. Peter. Wonder Woman: Archive Volume 2. New York: DC Comics, 2000.

Wright, Bradford W. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2003.

Obama & Spidey Team-Up: Don’t Waste Your Money

Last week Amazing Spider-Man #583 hit the shelf of your local comic shop. While I haven’t read the issue I’m told that it features Barack Obama in the story… but that’s not really what I’m going to write about. Plenty of US Presidents have been featured in comics.

 

"Amazing Spider-Man" #583 Obama Variant First Printing

What is relevant is that this book has a variant cover that depicts President Elect Obama, and it has been selling like crazy. The Obama variant has gone to a third print run. That means that there are going to be tons of these Obama variant issues floating around.

My point is, if you want to read the story or wish to collect it because it depicts Barack Obama, go for it. However, if you are planning on buying one (or 10) because you think it’s going to be worth a lot of money and one day… that you will buy a TV with it or put your kids through college on the profits, don’t waste your time and money. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that it won’t be worth much more than its cover price due to the volume in circulation. The first print run issues might be worth a bit, but it won’t be much.

The Bottom-line: Buy it because you want it, not as an “investment.”

Comics, Politics, & Screw You Bill Willingham

I’m a big fan of the Bill Willingham’s comics. He is a brilliant and talented writer, but this is unbelievable. 

To sum up really quickly, he claims that comic’s have become too liberal and un-American.

Before I go on, let me just make it clear that I’m not offended by this because of my political views. I’m not a Democrat or a Republican, liberal, or conservative. I could care less what Mr. Willingham’s political beliefs are. What really pisses me off is this hateful garbage that isn’t even grounded in reality.

Mr. Willingham says:

“Marvel’s legendary patriot Captain America, in a comic book story published shortly after 9/11 spent a good part of the issue apologizing to the super terrorist he was battling about all of the terrible things America did in its pursuit of the cold war against the Soviets. “(But) we’ve changed. We’ve learned,” he whines. “My people never knew!” Then again, at least ol’ Cap was fighting the bad guy, so maybe there’s still hope.”

That issue looked at the tragedy of 9/11 as a global tragedy. That there were a series of causes and effects that resulted in a heinous act of terrorism. 

Captain America is my favorite superhero because he always fought for the American ideal, not the American Government. He battled for the ideals and freedoms that make America, while recognizing that our politicians and policies weren’t always in keeping with those ideals and freedoms. 
 

Willingham also says:

“No more superhero decadence [That's his euphemism for everything he doesn't agree with] for me. Period. From now on, when I write within the superhero genre I intend to do it right. And if I am ever again privileged to be allowed to write Superman, you can bet your sweet bootie that he’ll find the opportunity to bring back “and the American way,” to his famous credo.”

Mr. Willingham go %^&* yourself. Superman began as a Depression era crusader of the people. Not America. Not a government. Not a way of life. He fought for the people. He dealt with everything from corrupt politicians, to street hooligans, to evil menacing police officers. It was about the rights of the people, not the policies of the Government. When World War II started everything switched gears to supporting American nationalism because it was what the people needed. The Jewish comic creators also wanted nothing more than to stomp-out Hitler and the Nazis like a cigarette. 

Mr. Willingham is confusing patriotism with nationalism. In the words of Albert Einstein, “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.”

Patriotism is about loving your country enough to tell it when it’s wrong (someone smarter than me said that, I just don’t remember whom).

Nationalism is about a mindless love of government regardless of its policies or the character of its leaders.

With the exception of the 1940’s and 50’s, comics have been a largely progressive and liberal medium. Deal with it. You don’t have to agree if you enjoy the story.

To act like our actions, or lack thereof in the aftermath of the failed Soviet invasion of Afghanistan were responsible and just, is downright stupid. The fact that Mr. Willingham has a problem with Captain America voicing such a realization is hardly a problem with the comic industry.

This editorial is akin to meeting a band  that you really like and respect, only to discover that they are jerks. The music is the same, but listening to them isn’t quite what it was before you knew that they weren’t nice people. Bill, I will keep reading your work because you’re talented, but it won’t be the same.

If and only If zombies eat brains…

Everyone remembers 6th grade math right?  Truth Tables? Where P equals Q if all things stay constant and all that malarkey?  Well, here’s my reference point:

I’m writing on this site.  Therefore I must be a geek.  If i wasn’t a geek, I couldn’t write on this site.  And so on and so forth.  But I must be honest, there are levels of geekdom that I will just never achieve.  I’m way too lazy for it.  It requires too much effort and follow through.  I mean, as you read this post you’ll realize you’re hardly even getting a review…

So while David posts about Robert Kirkman, his manifesto and the implied future of comics, all I can add is “His zombie comics are effing sweet!”

And they are.  Marvel Zombies is just superb.  Here are two of my favorite things (raindrops and puppies not withstanding), COMBINED INTO AWESOMENESS!  The story, spanning the ultimate universe includes arcs from the Fantastic Four to the Black Panther, all culminating into graphic novels that exceeds expectations in vulgar, graphic and scintillating ways.  The redone covers (every issue of Marvel Zombies has a cover that zombifys a classic Marvel Comics cover), and the art in general, are also superb. (Yay Sean Phillips and Arthur Suydam!)

But it doesn’t end there.  The Walking Dead (one of Kirkman’s creator owned series) from Image is probably one of my favorite story arcs still being published right now.  You would think reading about the post-apocalyptic zombie revolution would get old, but it’s the relationships between the survivors that really keeps me coming back for more.  Plus it’s gory.  Everyone wins.

In the end, that’s why I’m fascinated with zombie literature.   In horror situations, people all of sudden don’t become humane.  They stay evil and wretched, or they maintain their compassion.  Some change out of necessity, but in the end, there are no more distractions besides the living dead to deter people from actually interacting with each other.  (I know this to be true.  Once, when the power went out in college, my roommates went to bed rather than hangout without the constant dim of the light emanating from their Myspace pages).

“In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living” – Quoted on the back of every Walking Dead graphic novel, and oh-so-true.

Don’t Give These to Your Kids!

Holy misperception Batman!

The comic industry has one of the worst image problems I have ever seen. It has been my observation that most people view comics as something “for kids.”

In no uncertain terms, they aren’t. The overwhelming number of comics published since the 1980 are for people in their late teens at the earliest. The plots and themes are mature in nature. They aren’t designed for a kid to read and then simulate with an action figure. 

I didn’t start reading comics until I was in college. I thought they were dumb kiddie books. Then my college roommate read them compulsively and kept telling me, “You should read these, they are really well-written and the art is great!” I begrudgingly read an issue because I had concluded that I couldn’t think something was stupid until I gave it a try. My roommate was right. Next thing I knew I was reading four different titles, then eight, and then 12.

Here’s the problem. People who read comics know that they aren’t for kids… but no one else does. When you work in a comic shop you see all sorts of different people come in and out of the store, male, female, young, old, wackos, and professionals in suits and ties. The age range is what is so interesting. There are so many lifelong readers. Yet there are so few new, young readers.

Wonder Woman painted by comic writer/artist Alex Ross.

In spite of the massive Hollywood success that comic-based movies have seen, the comics that these movies are based off of haven’t seen the gigantic influx of new readers that one would expect (This observation comes from things I’ve read and comic shop owners I have spoken with).

So, what’s the disconnect? The Dark Knight was a great movie, but it still doesn’t hold a candle to Batman at his best in the comics. The Spider-Man movies suck compared to some of the classic stories. V for Vendetta was a great movie, but it wasn’t even in the same league as the book. Sin City was basically a page-by-page remake of the comic. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a steaming pile of poo, but the original series was exceptional.

Here’s the problem. Comics have become completely inaccessible for new readers for two reasons:

1. Stigma – “Comics are for kids!” Adults who enjoy the movies and feel an attachment to the characters are deterred from reading comics because they are actually embarrassed to do so. It’s sad but true.

I know a lot of comic readers who walk into their local comic shop looking over their shoulder and don’t tell their friends where they are going like there are about to meet with a prostitute or buy drugs (now that I think about it, I think that the potheads I know are more open about their drug habit than most of the comic readers I know are regarding their penchant for superheroes).

Let me be clear. These books are good. They are intelligently written, and the characters are relatable.

Reading comics has helped me gain perspective, and improve my life, and I am not ashamed to say so. A few years ago, I had a really rough stretch and I couldn’t find happiness in my life until I read a conversation between Peter Parker and Aunt May (I’m not even a fan of Spider-man… I read that book because a friend insisted that I do so). That dialog literally helped me find my way back to happiness.

2. The stories are inaccessible for new readers – Most of the major titles from Marvel and DC have been woven into this very complex tapestry. The stories are all interrelated, and cross paths with each other. Not only that, but they have extensive histories to boot.

So let’s say you want to read Batman. If you picked up last weeks issue on a whim without knowing anything else about the current Batman series or the greater DC Comics Universe, you would be completely lost. The story that is about to wrap-up has been brewing for a couple of years! On top of that, it ties into the current overarching story (or event) for the DC Universe known as Final Crisis.

Final Crisis is an extremely extensive story that spans over countless titles, and it is the result of years and years of buildup from other event stories.

Basically, it’s become hard to just pickup a comic and read. That being said, if you are willing to go back and read this stuff from the beginning, it will be very rewarding. Give it a shot, read the graphic novel Identity Crisis (in my opinion, that book gave birth to the modern DC Universe). It is an extremely compelling crime drama.

Anyway, a comic creator named Robert Kirkman sparked debate about the future of the comic industry with his Kirkman Manifesto video.

He raises a lot of points, some I agree with, some I disagree with. If you want some counterpoint check out the debate between him and comic creator Brian Bendis.

What matters here is the point that most current comics aren’t for kids, and that the industry is supported by an aging readership. A way to start reading is to pickup some creator owned work. Over the coming weeks I am going to begin writing about some of the titles you could pick up if you want to give comics a shot, but don’t want to jump into a robust universe that will require homework and study to fully appreciate.

Batman vs. Superman… In bed!

Meet The Geek Whisperer’s newest contributor, Arielle, and enjoy her first post:
* * * * * 

It’s kind of like a messed up fortune cookie up there, isn’t it.

To many comic fans, there is an age old argument.  Batman.  Or Superman.  The Dark Knight.  Or the Big Blue Boy Scout.  For David and I, this argument goes back to at least middle school.  Back then, it was all about who was a bigger BAMF.  And obviously, Batman always won.  I mean, come on!  This argument is over before it begins!

However, as I’ve matured in life, or at least pretended too, my arguments for why Batman is way more totally awesome has changed.  As a female of this species (wow, could I be any more geeky?), I’ve come to the stark realization that if I had a choice, I would much prefer to bone Batman.  Alien species and Brody-esque dialogue aside, there’s just no way Clark Kent could ever hold a candle to the freakiness that one could expect to find and enjoy in Bruce Wayne’s boudoir.  It’s just completely inconceivable that the pleasure one could derive from a brooding, masochistic quasi-nihilist would be better served on a self-righteous Truth-Justice-and-the-American-Way platter.  No way.

We’re not factoring in Tom Welling of Smallville, but even if we were considering recent movie casting, Christian Bale still trumps Brandon Routh. Although I enjoy Tim Burton, I’m not going to get into some of the earlier Batman-franchise films. The mere mention of Bat-Nipples renders the later Joel Schumacher films completely inconsequential to any argument.

Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb all knew how to create a man with intelligence and grace that is so sexy and appealing to women that I cannot comprehend why merely destroying property value across Metropolis makes a man worthy of our erotic obsession.

Selina Kyle, she totally gets me on this one:

… Yet, there is something to be said about how a “Superman” never leaves his “Lois…”

Sin Spirit

I just got back from seeing The Spirit, and it wasn’t what I was hoping for.

The movie was visually stunning. Director Frank Miller did a spectacular job of mingling his own visual style with that of Will Eisner’s. Miller’s use of silhouettes, shadows, and especially snow looked beautiful and also paid homage to Eisner’s illustration innovations. I was worried that Miller’s limited use of color and ubiquitous use of green screen effects would make it look and feel like another Sin City clone, but it actually worked well on a visual level.

However, the story and dialog were a real let down. The movie was overacted for the most part, except for Sarah Paulson’s portrayal of Ellen Dolan. She rocked.

Sarah Paulson as Ellen Dolan

The characters were pretty thin albeit very good looking. Samuel L. Jackson looked like he was having a blast playing lead villain, the Octopus. I wish I had half as much fun watching him, as he seemed to have playing the part.

The story took a turn for the supernatural in the opening scenes and never looked back. This was a huge disappointment because the Spirit should be a bit more grounded. I felt like Marv from Sin City was going to show up and help our hero on his skull-bashing quest. The violence and story just never felt like it was tethered to reality, and that’s coming from a geek who has no problem suspending his disbelief. I also don’t have any issues with Miller’s hyper violent comics. I just don’t think it was completely appropriate in this particular movie.

Another problem were the massive changes to the characters themselves. Big changes from the source material to core characters like Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), Ellen Dolan, and the Octopus were made in what seemed like an effort to shoehorn as many characters as possible (also known as Batman & Robin Syndrome).

Miller did get the spirit of The Spirit correct: The detective work, the alluring fem fatales who always seem to get the better of our hero, the villain banter, and the imagery all felt right. They just lacked a strong plot and compelling acting to draw them together.

There were a few subtle details that were hidden in the movie for comic geeks:

Early in the movie, the camera pans over a street sign for “Iger Street.” Jerry Iger was Will Eisner’s business partner.

Another subtle reference was the delivery truck in the climatic battle was for “Ditko Delivery.” Steve Ditko was a comic creator who was heavily inspirited by Eisner.

To sum up, the movie is very pretty, but isn’t particularly enthralling. If you like great visuals, you should check it out. I hope Miller gets another chance direct and learns from some of The Spirits shortcoming.

Who is the Spirit? Who was Will Eisner?

The Spirit is an extremely influential comic book character who was created by one of the most important comic creator of all-time, Will Eisner.

Eisner was an early comic creator and an exceptionally talented writer and artist (a rare combination, even today).

The Spirit was originally supposed to just be a detective, but after Superman’s 1938 debut and the subsequent success of other superhero properties such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Justice Society in All-Star Comics, demand for masked avengers was through the roof. Eisner’s character Denny Colt was illustrated as a noir detective dressed in a dark blue trench coat with a fedora and a red necktie; he wanted the character to be believable. Reluctantly, he made him into a superhero by giving him gloves, a domino mask, and a secret hideout.
Denny Colt became the Spirit after it was believed that he was murdered. He was actually just put into suspended animation and buried by one of the books frequent villains Dr. Cobra (got to love those old plots). Denny Colt spent his time in his hideout, under his own headstone and spent the rest of his time handing out fists full of justice. There was nothing supernatural about him. He couldn’t fly, he wasn’t super strong, he wasn’t bulletproof, he didn’t run around in brightly colored underwear. He was just a detective who kicked evildoer ass.

Eisner introduced new storytelling elements to comic art. He used different angles, colors, shadows, language, and unique plot twists to tell better, more creative stories. He also introduced more adult themes, dialog, and characters, with many overtly sexual fem fatale villains and allies.

Simcha Weinstein, author of the book “Up, Up, and Oy Vey!” explains:

“The Spirit [became] a critical and commercial smash. Sometimes called the Citizen Kane of comics, The Spirit combined action and fun with a previously unseen maturity that appealed to children and adults alike.”
The book was kind of a big deal once it hit newsstands in 1940.

In addition to creating The Spirit, Eisner made consistency between pages a standard. In many early comics, it wasn’t uncommon to see characters costumes change slightly between panels.

During World War II, Eisner enlisted in the Army but ultimately pioneered the use comics for the creation of instruction manuals. He also created the first graphic novel, A Contract with God.

A few years ago he created the first historical graphic novel, The Plot, which gives a fully cited, academic, yet illustrated account of the forged anti-Semitic documents, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In The Plot, he explains the convoluted history of the documents, and how they have been used to spread a false message of anti-jewish hatred.

Eisner and his work was a huge influence on Frank Miller, the director of the upcoming Spirit movie, and writer/ co-director of Sin City & 300. In 2005, a book of interviews with both men called Eisner/Miller: Interviews conducted by Charles Brownstein was published. It really shows the mutual admiration and respect that these two artists had for one another.

Shortly after finishing The Plot, Will Eisner died on January 3, 2005 at the age of 87. He left behind an incredible body of work, innovation, and a legacy of creativity and social responsibility. Everyone who has ever been inspired or moved by a comic book or comic movie owes a debt to Will Eisner.

I’m not sure if The Spirit movie will be good or bad, but I have no doubt that Miller has every intent of honoring Will Eisner’s memory and contributions to comics and storytelling. I’m looking forward to seeing The Spirit after it hits theaters on December 25th.

If you’re going to do it, at least be smart about it… Piracy that is

I really am opposed to software piracy… but I also realize that asking geeks to stop pirating movies, music, software, comic books, or anything else that can be converted into a digital format is a bit like telling teenagers, “Don’t have sex.”

So, what I will say is, if you are going to pirate, be smart about it.

What do I mean?

Most important, always use protection. Please have virus protection on your computer. There are a lot of fake songs, movies, games, etc that are actually viruses. 

Also, and I really cannot stress this enough… be mindful of who you are pirating from. While I don’t endorse stealing from anyone, and make no mistake, that’s what piracy is… You should never, ever pirate indy movies, or albums from small bands.

A lot of smaller bands and movie makes struggle to make their art for the world. They work long hours in jobs they hate, so they can spend even longer hours trying to make a dream come true… and most of them will never make much money from their art. Don’t be an asshole and steal from these people.

… wait until they make it, and are rich. Then it’s not so bad.

Always remember to practice safe computing.

Comics Come to Life (Someday… Maybe)

A military think-tank is calling for the creation of a stealth transport plane like the X-Men’s. Maybe when they’re done, they can build an invisible plane like Wonder Woman’s!

Starting tomorrow, posts will be returning to full length. For now, I need to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Comic Books & Politics

President-Elect Obama collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics (I hope he buys from a local shop).

In other geeky political news.

Jason Mumpower (Republican) was recently elected to Tennessee’s House of Representatives. After an anonymous email sent to the state Ethics Commission, an investigation was launched regarding Mumpower’s comic collection. Mumpower had to disclose any investments that could become a conflict of interest, and failed to list his comic collection.

Ultimately, it was determined that Mumpower’s failure to declare his 17,000 book collection was not an ethics violation, and was cleared of wrongdoing. For more on this story visit Comic Book Resources (one of my favorite sources for comic related news).

For more on the value of comic books and why 17,000 books might not be worth so much, come back tomorrow. I will take you on a journey through comic history to determine why some comics are obscenely valuable, and many only carry sentimental value.

Anatomy of a Comic Shop

I see that you have made the brilliant decision to start reading comics, and want to find a comic shop that will meet your needs.

I am assuming that you have already figured out how to use the Comic Shop Locator.

When I was younger, I worked in a few of comic shops, and been a customer in many. This is based mostly on my observations.

Your first option is to go to a mass book dealer like Barnes & Noble, but I strongly urge against this for two reasons. 

1. There are a lot of small comic shops that could really use your money.

2. Those smaller shops will probably treat you a lot better. Many will hold your books for you, and/or give you a discount off of the cover price.

 

So, now that you have chosen to go with a smaller shop, there are a few types.

1. “The Batcave” – This cave-like comic shop is poorly lit, and probably fairly dusty. Über-Geek Kevin Smith has articulated his belief that this is “how a comic shop should be.” This type of comic shop is frequently uninviting to non-comic geeks. That doesn’t mean they won’t warm up to you though, if you are new. 

2. “The Fortress of Solitude” - Much like Superman’s personal hideaway, this shop is well-lit, and clean. The store is open and friendly
(For a good example of this kind of shop, visit Alternate Realities in Scarsdale, NY. In my opinion, this the best and most friendly comic shop that I have ever seen. The owner’s name is Steve, and he’s pretty rad).

3. “Geek Central” –  You local gaming/ comic store. These are usually fairly large, and are a hangout for all of the kids who you never saw in the trendy places. There will be plenty of kids and man-children playing table-top games. Geek Central will be open to anyone, but if you stick around, you will quickly discover that there is a social hierarchy that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Some of the biggest bums you will ever meet will be insanely popular in this store. 

 

Behind the counter, you will find one of a few characters:

1. “The Comic Book Guy” from the Simpsons. He really exists. If you find this dude behind the counter, just leave.

2. “The Dirty Old Artist” - This guy is hard to recognize, because he won’t show his true colors until he knows you. He has been an aspiring artist since the dawn of time, and is just plain vulgar. If given the opportunity, he will be happy to discuss all of his many sexual fetishes with you. 

3. “Cool College Geek” - He knows everything about comics, but isn’t judgmental about it. This is an easy job for him, and it get’s him his comics for free (or discounted). Ask him question, he will love to answer them. 

4. “The Superior Intelligence” - This guy is a loser and an asshole. He knows all – Just ask him. He is also utterly condescending. He has never accomplished anything, and is full of plans that he will never carryout. He either lives in his parents basement, or is leeching off of his girlfriend (who has no self-respect). 

5. “Accomplished Gentleman” - This guy has done something with his life, and decided to open a comic shop in retirement, or to get out of a profession he is no longer passionate about.

6. “The Nice Guy” - Just a nice guy, not much personality either.  

7. “Alpha Geek Chick” - This girl has discovered that being a geek, and being open about it has made her queen of a small kingdom. She loves Batman, horror movies, and is probably a pretty cool person. However, she probably has an enormous ego because she is constantly the center of attention. Note to ladies – Don’t cross her on her turf.  

8. “The Slave” - The intern of the comic world. This kid is barely paid (if he is lucky), but is just happy to work in a comic shop. Be nice to him. 

Please support your local comic shop.