tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193873472024-03-19T07:34:57.056-04:00Kleefeld on ComicsVerbum et imago sicut unum.
Word and picture as one.Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.comBlogger5301125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-34900594097465668222024-03-18T09:30:00.038-04:002024-03-18T09:30:00.132-04:00When Did Shuster Meet Kirby?Here's a relatively well-known picture of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...<Center>
<div style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAr9kDhHAWH9APvhFc1nbBFcbKzQStNAdmLULl4eT8GFRqpC8-d7AfyfMYbWieeTzI1scmQ5tB_t0V7Npp9qvGnrJMRZx4zppJVIqAi3sQP0hgbU66J03Ds4PY3L9wmYdNeDaW3OkEgCXmBV3UmRx1bqTckNGK6iReSP0yu82544BSeoWgtcg/s1176/Screen+Shot+2020-03-09+at+10.57.25+AM.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="1176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAr9kDhHAWH9APvhFc1nbBFcbKzQStNAdmLULl4eT8GFRqpC8-d7AfyfMYbWieeTzI1scmQ5tB_t0V7Npp9qvGnrJMRZx4zppJVIqAi3sQP0hgbU66J03Ds4PY3L9wmYdNeDaW3OkEgCXmBV3UmRx1bqTckNGK6iReSP0yu82544BSeoWgtcg/s600/Screen+Shot+2020-03-09+at+10.57.25+AM.png"/></a></div>
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The piece of art on the drawing table -- the splash page debuting the Boy Commandos from <i>Detective Comics</i> #64 -- suggests this photo was taken in 1942. Both men went into the service in 1943.
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But I bring this photo up today not to try to date it. Check out the back wall, just above Kirby's head. That's clearly a drawing of Superman. Although it's a little too out of focus to really see any details, the basic pose is very reminiscent of how Shuster drew the character posing, and the "S" emblem on his chest is in a simple triangle, not the more familiar shield shape that became close-to-standard about a year before this photo was taken. This image looks like a mirror image of the cover from <i>Superman</i> #6.
<div style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOQWmmxz2XZ_xWuY_rkPlS1MuzHobCrYnv3R8D3fvPXcLB1mIYQhUNOQPXhNWnj6sHExF0IdB5VJsqb0bGW2rKmb-HYmkn2XbDriy-X90zXyBbVw2TOc-umbPXS5YofWaw0BvK8I4vjV1-_njoYDh2CDqLvBHARfWCOCryFu-pq1omPfSPdE0/s553/15328.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOQWmmxz2XZ_xWuY_rkPlS1MuzHobCrYnv3R8D3fvPXcLB1mIYQhUNOQPXhNWnj6sHExF0IdB5VJsqb0bGW2rKmb-HYmkn2XbDriy-X90zXyBbVw2TOc-umbPXS5YofWaw0BvK8I4vjV1-_njoYDh2CDqLvBHARfWCOCryFu-pq1omPfSPdE0/s200/15328.jpg"/></a></div>
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So was this a sketch of Superman that Shuster himself did a year or two prior to this photo? Was this done by either Simon or Kirby to see how close they could come to replicating the style of the insanely popular comic?
It seems to me, too, that the drawing is done directly on the wall -- I don't see any edges of a piece of paper. Did Shuster visit the Simon & Kirby studio at some point and doodle that on the wall? Or maybe one of the other Superman artists -- Paul Cassidy or Fred Ray perhaps? Although that seems unlikely since they were all-but-ghosting for Shuster at that point -- that doesn't strike me as something they'd "celebrate" by drawing someone else's character in someone else's style on someone else's wall. It was actually Ray who changed the "S" trinagle to a shield shape, and he mostly only did Superman covers anyway. And Cassidy was working remotely out of Milwaukee.
But there was still a number of artists who professionally worked on Superman at that point, including several on the newspaper strip alone.
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I'd be curious if anyone has done any more investigating about that particular Superman drawing. Was it actually drawn by Shuster? If so, what was he doing in the Simon & Kirby studio? Comic artists were a relatively insular community, but I don't recall ever reading about Shuster actually meeting with any other artists in the 1940s that didn't wind up drawing Superman with/for him. And if it was Simon or Kirby, why draw someone else's character while they were trying to bust their butts to invent new ones? And why put someone else's character on directly on their studio wall? I have lots of questions here that I've looked for answers to off and on for a few years without coming up with anything. Do any of you have any ideas?Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-89334669253893205542024-03-17T10:13:00.001-04:002024-03-17T10:13:25.426-04:00Weekly Recap<img src="http://seankleefeld.com/kleefeldicon1.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" />Here are this week's links to what I've had published recently...<br />
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<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Stamped from the Beginning Review<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/1bE5hVk">https://ift.tt/1bE5hVk</a><br />
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<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Giant-Size FF #1 Review<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/qSDUKJf">https://ift.tt/qSDUKJf</a><br />
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<div>Kleefeld on Comics: The Flash Gordon Solution?<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/n6PUor4">https://ift.tt/n6PUor4</a><br />
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<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Whither Jungle Action?<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/rdMX3cu">https://ift.tt/rdMX3cu</a><br />
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Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-88302350272251857022024-03-14T09:30:00.007-04:002024-03-14T09:30:00.143-04:00Whither Jungle Action?<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JodOE3apOAR0E8TFpvFUl2l3sgR5XBX1XqZCGsxe9M_886w28PVwnCbAul-Vx8ppFkaKQsEU48YTyd-DTnvFmqS3cx6qwG2KY5E3RX7K0gSvforbZxnjrDt8bHpPlnTcoNFw/s1600/51980_20060717081120_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JodOE3apOAR0E8TFpvFUl2l3sgR5XBX1XqZCGsxe9M_886w28PVwnCbAul-Vx8ppFkaKQsEU48YTyd-DTnvFmqS3cx6qwG2KY5E3RX7K0gSvforbZxnjrDt8bHpPlnTcoNFw/s320/51980_20060717081120_large.jpg" width="209" height="320" data-original-width="455" data-original-height="695" /></a></div>Years ago, I was collecting and collating historical information on the first 100-ish issues of the Fantastic Four. Creator interviews talking about that period, letters pages, scans of original art... whatever I could get my hands on. My idea was to write a book about the FF's creation, using as many as-close-to-first-hand sources as possible. I never got around to writing it -- I had trouble believing there was an audience for it -- but Mark Alexander eventually put together <a href="http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=95_97&products_id=986">more or less the same thing</a>. <br />
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Anyway, I've still got the binder of materials I put together, and it includes some print-outs of a Yahoo Group discussion from 2002 (not surprisingly given its age, now removed) about the Black Panther. One question that piqued my interested was why Don McGregor's <i>Jungle Action </i>got abruptly canceled in late 1976, only to be replaced by Jack Kirby's <i>Black Panther</i> two months later? Jim Kosmicki had a fascinating history/analysis of that period, and I thought I might re-present it here... <Blockquote>70's Marvel appears to have been ripe with inter-personal politics. When Kirby came back, he only wanted to be left alone. He took his characters and pulled them away from the Marvel Universe. He wasn't interested in continuity. Remember that Kirby was the originator of T'Challa (there's evidence of a character named Coal Tiger in his files that shows that he had wanted to do this character for a while before it showed up in FF). When he came back to Marvel after going to DC in the early 70's, he didn't want to work on other people's characters. There was a deliberate attempt to keep these stories separate from what had been done before with the characters -- to go back to the original concepts of the characters as envisioned by Jack. He wanted Captain America back, as his claim to that character dated pre-Marvel, and the only other character he'd co-created who was considered available was the Black Panther. <br />
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Now, your question is WHY was Black Panther considered available? Remember that we are remembering Jungle Action from the benefit of hindsight. JA was popular with a certain level of reader, but was never a popular hit. The vast majority of comic buyers at this point in time were still young boys, not older fans of the medium. JA never rose above bi-monthly status, which indicates that its sales were solid enough to avoid cancellation, but not enough to raise it to monthly status. This is true of most of the more "adult" Marvel books of the 70's: Warlock, Captain Marvel, Dr. Strange, Killraven, etc.<br />
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Kirby was pure action and perfect for that target audience. There should be circulation figures in issues of JA and BP that would allow one to compare the relative popularity of the two runs. I would guess that the Kirby version probably sold a little better, but to an entirely different audience than JA. (unfortunately neither audience was big enough -- maybe if they could have been combined somehow).<br />
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As I recall, and I'm sure people on this list, including Don, can attest, Don's books, even though most were bimonthly, were often late on deadlines. Marvel was very sensitive about this issue, to the point that when Jim Shooter took over, he instituted several policies guaranteeing "fill-in" issues be ready at a moment's notice. If JA was one of those chronically late books, taking it away and giving it to Jack, who never missed a deadline, could be seen as a good business decision. Not an artistic decision, but a business decision.<br />
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In addition, comic distributors were always very cautious about offending people in the rural midwest and South. There are anecdotes galore about how publishers wouldn't even allow black characters or heroes because it would offend major distributors. In a newstand distribution model, if you don't get distributed, you don't even have a chance to sell your product. The story against the Klan could very well have been creating some of these negative reactions. Newstand distributors in the 70's were an odd bunch. Again, there are many different stories, but if they decided to kill a book, they could. They could simply refuse to put the book out, and automatically claim a return against the "unsold" copies. There's some strong anecdotal evidence that many "hot" books of the 70's like Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Kirby's Fourth World books were being sold in case lots out the back door and then those copies claimed as unsold because they were never counted as having been distributed through "normal" channels. The Klan story could very well have given these distributors a reason to stop pushing a marginal title, whether there was any actual public outcry or not.<br />
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And that is important, I think. JA was a marginal book. It's artistic impact may have been strong, and as you indicate in your email it's impact in the black community was disproportionate, but overall, the Panther was not a mainline character. He was published to a small but loyal audience. The publisher made a business decision to try a new approach to try to reach a larger, more profitable audience. I don't think that there was any conspiracy or even any racial overtones to the decision.<br />
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After all, Marvel has consistently tried to revive the Panther, so there's clearly some appeal to the character in the editorial offices. They finally concluded the Klan storyline in Marvel Premiere late in the 70's, the Panther was a long-running part of their bi-weekly Marvel Comics Presents title, there was the 4 part bookshelf series, and the revived series written by Christopher Priest. <br />
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There probably was a personality conflict that caused JA to be cancelled and given to Kirby, but it was also justifiable as a business decision. Ironically, Kirby's treatment in his second tenure at Marvel was a horror show, partially because people resented books like JA being cancelled and the Panther given to him.</blockquote>Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-47294349070544723482024-03-13T09:30:00.168-04:002024-03-13T09:30:00.151-04:00The Flash Gordon Solution?<center><div style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJaQE4dXWl0CgFJ2IJkPdbdG6sODEOuexZ2QsDi6V6ltJDAud7Hqhn4tZQGKfv5WjH_Wx-v8QHp1PUbWgLB_zIXOaUHdERxv4yyWKv2GtTkwSASq35GAYT4uHIh2TzsR2eBOoJlEgVvJITkUJ-jxZ3VlKoUQC3yn6ZthQlW9hs5p0CufMyynWt/s1700/1%207%2024++Flash+Gordon+sunday+-+90th+anniversary.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="1700" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJaQE4dXWl0CgFJ2IJkPdbdG6sODEOuexZ2QsDi6V6ltJDAud7Hqhn4tZQGKfv5WjH_Wx-v8QHp1PUbWgLB_zIXOaUHdERxv4yyWKv2GtTkwSASq35GAYT4uHIh2TzsR2eBOoJlEgVvJITkUJ-jxZ3VlKoUQC3yn6ZthQlW9hs5p0CufMyynWt/w640-h149/1%207%2024++Flash+Gordon+sunday+-+90th+anniversary.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></center>
Dan Schkade debuted as the new writer/artist for King Features' <i>Flash Gordon </i>comic strip back in October. Before that, the strip had been in reruns since 2003. Like many adventure strips, it had been suffering from a seemingly perpetual dwindling readership for decades, in large part because of the newspapers' decisions to shrink their comics sections. When Alex Raymond created the strip in 1934, newspapers afforded comics a sizeable chunk of of their space to comics. Adventure strips like<i> Flash Gordon</i> and <i>Prince Valiant </i>would get an entire half page or more; this allowed artists to do wonderfully detailed drawings and spend a great deal of time advancing the story. However after seeing successes like <i>Peanuts</i> and <i>Beetle Bailey </i> which used exceptionally simplified drawings (i.e. cartoons), newspaper editors realized they could shrink them down significantly while they still remained legible, meaning they could put more on a page. They increasingly demanded all strips be shrunk down, to the point where jokes about each panel being no larger than a postage stamp date back to the mid-1990s. With such a tiny physical space, artists could not include many details and adventure strips with their ongoing storylines in particular suffered pretty heavily.
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Part of the problem with adventure strips being forced into that format isn't so much that the art itself had to suffer. You could, after all, draw an ongoing adventure story with no more detail than Charles Schulz put into any given Snoopy drawing. The more significant issue is that a creator effectively now has only three -- maybe four -- panels to recap yesterday's strip as well as advance the new one. That's challenging for even the most talented creators out there, and the only one I've seen really do it successfully on a consistent basis was Jack Kirby in his short-lived <i>Sky Masters</i> strip. His primry technique was to have at the start of each new strip a character respond to the previous day's installment. Despite Kirby having a reputation for having a tin ear when it comes to dialogue, it usually flowed very smoothly and sounded incredibly natural. (Probably in no small part to co-creator Dave Wood.)
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Schkade has taken a different approach, and one that's probably the second-most effective one I've seen after Kirby. What Schkade does is that he switches the story perspective frequently. By changing the storytelling point of view from Flash to Dale to Aura to Barin to... he can present some of the same story information he's already shown but without the story feeling repetitive because it's also relaying the feelings and impressions of that new/different character. Is Flash escaping a relief (to Dale) or an opportunity (to Hans) or a threat (to Ming)?
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The idea of switching a story's focus from character to character is hardly new, of course, but I believe this is the first time I've seen it expressly used to overcome the limitation inherent in the excessively short installments. Coupled with Schkade's generally simplisitic style of illustration, I think he's turned out to be about the best choice King could've made when it comes to re-starting <i>Flash Gordon.</i> But
is it sufficient enough to win over new readers and give Flash Gordon a boost? I don't know. I do think he's doing a bang-up job, all things considered, but I also don't think it's his best work because of those same considerations. I think the phsyical format newspapers have forced strips into has made the adventure strip largely untenable for most audiences. Schkade's doing some creative work within those limitations, but I think that's almost more of an academic consideration than a practical one.
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I think comics syndicates have been indeed slooooooooowly testing out some approaches to their older, legacy comics that are smart. Allowing strips like <i>Nancy</i> and <i>Popeye</i> and <i>Flash Goron</i> to do/be something very different than they've been historically is, I think, 100% necessary to even consider their longevity. Whether or not any one of these attempts is successful is a matter of debate, but trying to run those legacy strips the way they were run a century ago has been proven not to work, so good on them for not trying to continue fighting that losing battle. I think they're moving way too slowly to be effective with it all in the long run, but they're at least moving. Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-22649362166615828242024-03-12T09:30:00.099-04:002024-03-12T09:30:00.124-04:00Giant-Size FF #1 Review<div style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihUWwioNzmMw929inuCOrTJ01BjslCWzoGMj3gQfuxkeghj8UCXlVXcbbqKhH_t6bCfZBRLZIEKqcv-vfLs695TaYeqAXPF2_RXzignzi3YI0G17tt9KpPzYo4Q0kTQeJFBFXusDQ2iB0URux9v0zs_PEZhgxerROMf6LxUKVr_a6TMao4hSE/s971/GSFF2024001_Preview-jpeg.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="971" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihUWwioNzmMw929inuCOrTJ01BjslCWzoGMj3gQfuxkeghj8UCXlVXcbbqKhH_t6bCfZBRLZIEKqcv-vfLs695TaYeqAXPF2_RXzignzi3YI0G17tt9KpPzYo4Q0kTQeJFBFXusDQ2iB0URux9v0zs_PEZhgxerROMf6LxUKVr_a6TMao4hSE/s320/GSFF2024001_Preview-jpeg.webp"/></a></div>Let me start this review by prefacing things with slight disclaimer: I am several months behind in my reading of the regular <I>Fantastic Four</I> title. I've still been getting it regularly, but the last issue I read was #11 which came out six months ago. Everything that's come out since then has basically just been getting stacked in a "to read" pile. See, despite being a huge fan of the characters, I've found Ryan North's work on the book extremely underwhelming. Not actually bad per se, but not very good either. I don't find myself particularly eager to dive into those books; literally every issue of the new series that I've read has felt like a fill-in issue. Maybe that's changed in the past few months, but from the couple issues I quickly skimmed through, I don't think so.
So with that said...
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Giant-Size Fantastic Four</I> #1 is the best new FF story I've read since maybe the 60th anniversary issue back in 2021. I'll admit that seeing Stingray on page 1 was initially a bit concerning (he's a decent enough character, but he's basically only brought in when you've got an ocean story and Namor is unavailable for some reason, so he always has this also-ran feel about him) but the main story gets going quickly, so he doesn't become distractingly out of place or anything. And the story is interesting in that it basically just gives an origina for Namor's catchphrase, "Imperious Rex!" Which doesn't sound like much of a story, but there's definitely a lot more there than you might first suspect and with some interesting turns that you probably won't see coming even after you start getting the gist of where things are headed. There is some action in the story, but not any unnecessarily long fight scenes or anything. It's a staunch reminder that the Fantastic Four are <b>NOT</b> superheroes, but super-powered explorers. Their stories should not focusing on giant battles and winning through strength and raw power. Mr. Fantastic indeed solves the conflict verbally and the antagonist, too, doesn't just fight the team because that's what 'villains' do. The story ends not exactly amicably but peaceably enough, and it makes for some interesting potential character coflicts to come. Whether Marvel acts on or realizes them well is another matter, of course, but it's an excellent setup.
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The story was written by Fabian Nicieza. I've liked his work since at least the late 1990s. He's an excellent storyteller to begin with, and has a good understanding and appreciation of continuity when he's working on Marvel properties. He has similar storytelling sensibilities as Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, and Dan Slott, and I can't say I've ever come across a Nicieza-written story that wasn't at least good if not great. He's quite quite the body of work and <I>
Giant-Size Fantastic Four</I> #1 falls well in line with his ouvre.
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I was not previously familiar with artist
Creees Lee but he turns in some solid work here as well. Pretty smooth storytelling throughout and nice linework. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing more of his work. Although I'm not a fan of the Human Torch's handlebar mustache (which is not Lee's design) I did think he did a good job rendering the character in his various half-aflame states.
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The issue also reprints the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee story from <I>Fantastic Four</I> #33. Thematically, I know why they chose that one but it's not a particular favorite of mine from that era. Honestly, mostly because I don't care for Chic Stone's inking of Kirby. But it is a story that doesn't get reprinted often, I don't think, so it is cool that it's offered here to add some historical context.
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Like I said, <I>
Giant-Size Fantastic Four</I> #1 is the best new FF story I've read in a few years, and I'd love to see Nicieza and Crees continue to do more FF stories. I'm sure the current creative team on the main book have plenty of their own fans, but I found this to be a far superior story just from a technical standpoint and is much more in line with the characters I've known as the Fantastic Four.Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-92088728753594226972024-03-11T09:30:00.185-04:002024-03-11T09:30:00.129-04:00Stamped from the Beginning Review<div style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqVkdSgdi3WGXa9Lfr-7tM2RYp-IkHtM5agB9FkVxFRVgRDI1fxr_lh7VSZJ-YpR_kagO2QHDs5A_7wceMSyO0JiGyfNVGVeu2WR7VcGLGmPrtkS_a103l4ZG25Q3_quNeauxMu57XLYVStFXY1oaQXJrwk5cqbUEHE92KX6k3HGBglBmMGaFg/s1000/911J8slGfQL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqVkdSgdi3WGXa9Lfr-7tM2RYp-IkHtM5agB9FkVxFRVgRDI1fxr_lh7VSZJ-YpR_kagO2QHDs5A_7wceMSyO0JiGyfNVGVeu2WR7VcGLGmPrtkS_a103l4ZG25Q3_quNeauxMu57XLYVStFXY1oaQXJrwk5cqbUEHE92KX6k3HGBglBmMGaFg/s320/911J8slGfQL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg"/></a></div>There is a subset of Americans who think racism was solved in America when the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. That seems kind of absurd on the face of it, but not nearly as absurd as that subset of people who think racism was solved in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln signed the the Emancipation Proclamation. Or as absurd as the people who think slavery was a good thing actually. I would like to think all of those people are in a minority, and that most people do indeed recognize that racism is still around. I think a lot of people don't know how to recognize it if it's not presented as a hood-wearing Klansman, but they at least know it's not something that got solved with a couple of laws.
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What I think a huge number of people don't realize, though, is just how baked in to the very foundation of the United States racism really is. Beyond just that slavery was a thing and George Washington himself kept over one hundred enslaved people at his Mount Vernon home. Yes, the land had plenty of natural resources that early settlers were able to exploit and help to kickstart the US as a rich nation, but that opportunity was magnified a hundred-fold because of the labor of those who were enslaved. Could the country have done as well as it had -- could it have harvested enough raw materials to sell huge volumes to other countries -- if slavery were not a thing? Could the railroads have been built fast enough to allow for pretty rapid urban expansion across the entire continent if not for slavery? Could the cities and industrial centers even been built without getting enslaved people to do much of the work? Absolutely not.
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The thing is, though, they don't teach that in social studies. Like, at all. Discussion of slavery pretty much starts and stops with people picking cotton. There's more talk about Eli Whitney inventing the cotton gin than all the people who fed all the cotton gins across the entire country. According to social studies textbooks, at worst, slavery was a weird blip in history and racism isn't even mentioned as being absolutely central to the idea. And, if you got a 'standard' public education like I did, you heard something vague about Jim Crow laws -- which were never explained well; I was an "A" student and I didn't understand them at all until well after college -- and then all of sudden, racism seems to be a big thing when Rosa Parks was apparently too old and tired to get up from her seat on the bus. (I was gobsmacked when I learned, literally decades later, that she was only 42 at the time and had been a civil rights activist for over a decade by then. The way it had always been told to me, she was in her 70s and could barely stand on the best of days, and kept her seat more out of exhaustion than anything else.) I learned more and better, though, because I kept reading and kept trying to find out more about everything; but my understanding is that is fairly uncommon. Most people get their degree and are done trying to learn. They spent so long being brow-beaten with the idea that learning equals rote memorization that they actively dislike the very idea of learning and spend much of the rest of their life avoiding it. So they don't adopt a model like me, where I've actively spent the past 25-30 years trying to unlearn all the gross mischaracterizations and outright lies I was taught growing up.
<br><br>
All of which brings me to last year's <I>
Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America
</I> by Joel Christian Gill, adapted from the 2016 book by Ibram X. Kendi,
<I>
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.</I> I have to admit that I have not read Kendi's original to make direct comparisons, but this certainly falls well within Gill's known ouvre. Many of his works that I've read were biographies of Black men and women from US history, and while not strictly just a biography per se, this has many biographical elements to it, focusing on five individuals whose influence on the country was not only great, but helped define how the country deals with race and racism. While you may be familiar with some of the names in the book, you're most likely not familiar with their ideas on race, except perhaps the most superficial notions of good or bad. I've persoanally learned quite a bit from the book, and the level of detail and nuance that's gone into is insightful to say the least.
<br><br>
I'll add, too, that Gill's skill as a storyteller is excellent. I've pointed this out before in some of my reviews of his previous work, but he continues to improve and utilizes here some fascinating techniques that I haven't seen used precisely in this way before, particularly when it comes to the lettering. I also detected a subtle change in his illustration style as well; his figures are more distinct and stand out from one another much more than I'd seen in his earlier works. Which is particularly interesting because the structure of the book is such that he could probably get away with even less distinction if he wanted to without appreciably impacting the narrative. I do enjoy seeing creators improve their craft over time!
<br><br>
As I said, I haven't read Kendi's original, so I can't make direct comparisons. I don't know what Gill may have left out or added in, and I don't know if this graphic version is necessarily an easier or harder read that the prose version. But I can say that Gill's adaptation reads very smoothly and very well and, while the subject matter prevented it from being a light read, it wasn't nearly as weighted down or dreary as the title might suggest. (Probably also helped by Gill's cartoony illustration style.) I highly recommend everyone checking this out; there are very people who I think wouldn't benefit from reading it. I can virtually guarantee you will learn some things out of it and, depending on your childhood, perhaps even enough to get you pissed at every one of your social studies teachers from back in the day.
<I>
Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America
</I>
was published by Ten Speed Graphic last year and should be available through any retail bookstore. The paperback sells for $24.99 US and the hardcover for $29.99 US. Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-67509805636770267192024-03-10T10:04:00.001-04:002024-03-10T10:04:22.122-04:00Weekly Recap<img src="http://seankleefeld.com/kleefeldicon1.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" />Here are this week's links to what I've had published recently...<br />
<br />
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: King's New Strategy - Quick and Cheap<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/I0bRirU">https://ift.tt/I0bRirU</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: From Trees to Tribunes<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/4lSvMB5">https://ift.tt/4lSvMB5</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Li'l Abner, The TV Show<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/Mq8AyRI">https://ift.tt/Mq8AyRI</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Krazy Kat Rag<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/vO0gir7">https://ift.tt/vO0gir7</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div><br /></div>
Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-22854293336996722632024-03-07T09:30:00.001-05:002024-03-07T09:30:00.144-05:00Krazy Kat Rag <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcFKjWCwEVpfLzjy-PubsKWzP-yH624ZPsQ19m-uCbc30kUIEUTXaR-CXkPNPjHzhGqh0S7fAm3fUmLnoyWmQK3CDHFCctuz9jGmJu3oH-T3pQOgbvm55XJhcJHZTu2dl0kRg/s1600/54623616.KrazyKatRagcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcFKjWCwEVpfLzjy-PubsKWzP-yH624ZPsQ19m-uCbc30kUIEUTXaR-CXkPNPjHzhGqh0S7fAm3fUmLnoyWmQK3CDHFCctuz9jGmJu3oH-T3pQOgbvm55XJhcJHZTu2dl0kRg/s1600/54623616.KrazyKatRagcover.jpg" data-original-width="618" data-original-height="800" /></a></div>Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGiyJUFDU0k">"Krazy Kat Rag"</a> written by Ben Ritchie in 1911.<br />
<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JGiyJUFDU0k" width="560"></iframe></center>Obviously, this is a modern recording. This was sold as sheet music back in the day with a George Herriman drawn illustration on the cover! Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-13023625235340261962024-03-06T09:30:00.004-05:002024-03-06T09:30:00.143-05:00Li'l Abner, The TV Show <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTdKEj3mSV-f0qVz1O7QNigsMa6JYIWldWvTqPxsV6QQMVlw_7U_yRGLdkI2ao6sUtEdA_f64veAnMZFdAhjYuRH3922rC0SUoCQUcwfIXe1gGJAtPNRqwLH2PUEf3yWzekCu/s1600/lilabnertv.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTdKEj3mSV-f0qVz1O7QNigsMa6JYIWldWvTqPxsV6QQMVlw_7U_yRGLdkI2ao6sUtEdA_f64veAnMZFdAhjYuRH3922rC0SUoCQUcwfIXe1gGJAtPNRqwLH2PUEf3yWzekCu/s1600/lilabnertv.png" data-original-width="950" data-original-height="717" /></a></div>Al Capp's <i>Li'l Abner</I> was, as you probably know, very popular back in the day. Enough to spawn a movie in 1940 (which <a href="http://www.kleefeldoncomics.com/2007/01/lil-abner-movie.html">I wrote about here</a>) and and a more widely known color version in 1959. There was even a 1952 TV show based on the <i>Fearless Fosdick </i>comic that appeared within the <i>Li'l Abner </i>comic itself. (<a href="http://www.kleefeldoncomics.com/2016/06/on-strips-fearless-fosdick-on-tv.html">I wrote about that here.</a>) <br />
<br />
What I more recently discovered, though, was that <i>Li'l Abner</I> continued to be popular enough that a TV show pilot was made in 1966. It was never picked up by any of the networks, but the pilot did evidently air once on NBC in 1967. To fill some otherwise dead air, I gather. It's phenomenally bad, even by 1960s' sitcom standards. What I liked about the 1940 version was that the costumes and makeup were done well enough that all of the characters were immediately recognizable, even if you only had a passing familiarity with the comic. This version, by contrast, takes more of a half-assed approach and only Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae seem to bear any resemblance to their comic strip counterparts.<br />
<br />
In any event, here's about fifteen minutes (three 5-ish minute clips tied together) of painfully bad writing. The only real saving graces are being able to look at Jeannine Riley and/or a pre-<i>Brady Bunch </i>Robert Reed, depending on your preferences.<br /><br>
<center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLA_R9mLRp39JjQXQYjtfCxLicxRXbX_U2" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
</center>Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-40618208094998131032024-03-05T09:30:00.002-05:002024-03-05T09:30:00.132-05:00From Trees to Tribunes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xF1q44CbeZpv88iyAGVIZ7Efhk1KZy7Iz463VHmKU1FQcmBw-hHlJBLqX0dXKtzmyNd4mRqnhaIk2_wylzjjZHSf5zLTFlIxHNGgbOWTtvYYOVLCsAoWwqNGok2sDNqfWcyX/s1600/mqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xF1q44CbeZpv88iyAGVIZ7Efhk1KZy7Iz463VHmKU1FQcmBw-hHlJBLqX0dXKtzmyNd4mRqnhaIk2_wylzjjZHSf5zLTFlIxHNGgbOWTtvYYOVLCsAoWwqNGok2sDNqfWcyX/s1600/mqdefault.jpg" data-original-width="320" data-original-height="180" /></a></div><i>The Chicago Tribune</i> was one of the behemoth newspapers back in the day. It's still known and respected, now, but it (along with newspapers more generally) carried a lot more clout in the days before television. Of course, it also had several local rivals -- there were eight local daily papers in 1910 -- so they actually had to do a bit of advertising to get buyers' attention. <br />
<br />
One of the things the <i>Tribune </i>did was hire their own cartoonists. <i>Little Orphan Annie</i>, <i>The Gumps</i>, <i>Gasoline Alley</i>, and others started there. But then, of course, they had to TELL people that as well! <br />
<br />
Which leads me to <I>From Trees to Tribunes.</I> It was a 1931 silent "documentary," about a half-hour long, that relayed how a newspaper is made. I use quotes because, really, it's just a long ad. They did this a few times -- there's another version with the same name from 1937. But, notably, they spend a decent amount of time showcasing their cartoonists. I found someone who had edited down the footage to just the cartoonists' part and added a period soundtrack over it, so I thought <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu1X3N7smJk">I'd share the video here</a>.<br />
<br />
The featured cartoonists include: John T. McCutcheon, Gaar Williams, Carey Orr, Sidney Smith, Frank King, Frank Willard, Carl Ed, Martin Branner, Walter Berndt, and Harold Gray. Judging by the strips that are shown, this appears to have been filmed in February 1931. Also worth noting is that, while most of the cartoonists simply sit and draw, Frank Willard gives us a bit of a neat sight gag. <Center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fu1X3N7smJk" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-20950221578927852072024-03-04T09:30:00.234-05:002024-03-04T09:30:00.244-05:00King's New Strategy - Quick and CheapYou likely haven't noticed but King Features gave their <a href="https://comicskingdom.com/">Comics Kingdom</a> website an overhaul last week. Not just some new visuals, but the entire structure and seemingly the back-end systems have been renovated from the ground up. And it sucks.<br /><br />
I know it's common for people to claim the new version of anything sucks because it's not the old version that they're used to, but that's not the case here. Let's start by taking a quick look at the home page. Here's the old home page (from the Internet Archive) on the left and the new one on the right...
<center>
<div style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqFmTuiX008_pW9iNxGXxhYQBLavJkkM9DHHy6s1miAQ2l_ea9zJUA5fBqn7ovNFSjdfmVj1qpotCi7Kuhmi15cICn58GAuL4BC7Y-DaaLGPuH_j3ezM7v-pqjM5FV6v684Gs5OHthTwFh7nxcLDGrszTMOGViNaBatJbTDZuAzQ6dymeIkLC/s1920/Picture1.png" style=" padding: 1em 0px;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqFmTuiX008_pW9iNxGXxhYQBLavJkkM9DHHy6s1miAQ2l_ea9zJUA5fBqn7ovNFSjdfmVj1qpotCi7Kuhmi15cICn58GAuL4BC7Y-DaaLGPuH_j3ezM7v-pqjM5FV6v684Gs5OHthTwFh7nxcLDGrszTMOGViNaBatJbTDZuAzQ6dymeIkLC/s320/Picture1.png" width="320" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWp-smBeboiGT_I1Cj4kZrPFIin9k4l1qIm3MJq98RmCFw2AubKkEZVrbVLbqjRGFa9ChMYBPyC-7N-roPio2pW0XM2g6PPoJMsime2pRchukTKVLJqSk1L_X2iEHNnUVN3rb5I_VRJOQ6OXEuyZoeD6H5AqeJEdBQXXqDyfUcfMmchxNoFnQE/s1920/Picture2.png" style="padding: 1em 0px; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWp-smBeboiGT_I1Cj4kZrPFIin9k4l1qIm3MJq98RmCFw2AubKkEZVrbVLbqjRGFa9ChMYBPyC-7N-roPio2pW0XM2g6PPoJMsime2pRchukTKVLJqSk1L_X2iEHNnUVN3rb5I_VRJOQ6OXEuyZoeD6H5AqeJEdBQXXqDyfUcfMmchxNoFnQE/s320/Picture2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</center>
Notice anything? Setting aside the visuals that show absolutely zero comic art on the new version (technically, that large black field does have some comic artwork embedded in it, but that barely registers on many screens; I couldn't see it at all on the first screen I looked at it on) how about the fact that you can't actually get directly to any comics from the initial page load? Oh, you can scroll down and get similar links but the old version allowed readers to immediately see and click to some of the offerings. That is bad user interface design.
<br /><br />
It continues once you do click on a comic. In the old version, you'd click on the comic you're interested in and you'd be presented with the latest installment. From there, you could either navigate backwards one strip or call up a calendar to select a specific date you wanted to look at. The new version drops you on an "Overview" page and you have to click again to see the latest comic. You're also presented with the nine previous installments before that as well. If you want to check out a specific date, you have to go back to the Overview page and then... wait for it... scroll through a list of every date listed out individually. Oh, you can switch the order to go from newest to oldest or oldest to newest, but with a title like, say, <i>Hagar the Horrible</i> -- in which they have posted 10,618 different strips -- good luck finding anything besides the earliest or latest ones. If you want something from the late 1990s, you've got zero option but a hell of a lot of clicking through page after page after page.
<br /><br />
My thought in looking at the redesign was that maybe this was set up by some programmers who maybe knew how to operate Photoshop but didn't have any training in user interface design. But on closer inspection, I don't think that's the case.
<br /><br />
One thing that King was very keen on with their previous site was ensuring that it was as difficult as possible to scrub their live site for comic images. You could dig your way through a page's code to find that day's image, but the file names were all encoded, so they never followed an identifiable pattern. Therefore, you couldn't set your site up to embed the latest strip by just increasing the sequence. The new site does away with that and presents every image in the same, easily predictable format: Comic-Title.LANGUAGE ABBREVIATION.year-month-day.jpeg<br />
In fact, it's so predictable that it would be easier to re-code a page with a specific date than click through all those pages manually to get to some late-1990s <i>Hagar</i> strip!
<br /><br />
Here's another thing that caught my eye in checking out the site: all of the images are placed in a directory called "comicskingdom-redesign-uploads-production." I've been working on websites professionally since 1996 and do you know who names directories like that? No one. At least no one working in a professional capacity. The "comicskingdom" part is redundant since the files are already on the "comicskingdom.com" domain; "redesign" is too tied to the specific redesign project and won't be applicable in six months; and if you need to delineate your development versus production environments by actually calling the directory "production" you must be using some really questionable practices for migrating files from one to the other.
<br /><br />
I've also heard from others that folks who had subscribed to daily emails of their favorites have been unsubscribed without notice. Further, their favorites list isn't even available when the site is viewed on mobile devices. And even though the favorites do appear on desktop browsers, any more than two and they'll display too wide to fit in your window. Plus it only shows three at a time before you need to click a "Read More" button... which only presents the next three.
<br /><br />
Look, I know firsthand that redesigning websites is, even under the best circumstances, a bit of a nightmare.
But everything about this site tells me that it was created by someone with little to no professional web experience of any kind. And I do mean some<b>one</b>. Everything about this strikes me as the work of a single individual who had almost no additional input. It was designed to look and work okay on their particular setup and no one else's. None of this was run through a QA process of any sort. Any professional programmer would've caught the file and directory name issues. Any graphic designer could've pointed out any of the dozens of design issues. There's so much of this that could've been addressed if even one other person -- not even someone with web experience -- said, "Hey, this doesn't look right on my machine."
<br /><br />
Maybe it was some kind of package deal. King paid some company that had a plug-and-play software setup, and they uploaded some graphics and just let it run automatically. Fill out a few blanks on a form and you've got a website in thirty minutes. Kind of a <i>Mad Libs </i>approach.
<br /><br />
Either way, this was done on the cheap. Every aspect of this site that I can see screams of shortcuts and a lack of oversight, and that it went live like this shows King was okay with that. Their lack of concern is blindingly obvious. I don't say that to disparage the people in charge of the site or even worked on it (for someone who <i>clearly</i> isn't a professional, it's actually not terrible) -- it could easily be the case that someone at their parent company, Hearst, demanded a redesign and allowed them precisely zero budget. So that lack of concern might well be dictated from the top. But if you need a professional example of "you get what you pay for" this definitely qualifies as a prime example!Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-60342909785883263122024-03-03T10:33:00.001-05:002024-03-03T10:33:55.727-05:00Weekly Recap<img src="http://seankleefeld.com/kleefeldicon1.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" />Here are this week's links to what I've had published recently...<br />
<br />
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: BHM Kickstarters<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/Lu87Skp">https://ift.tt/Lu87Skp</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: 21st Century Freelancing, Same as 20th Century Freelancing<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/deJoRiF">https://ift.tt/deJoRiF</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Remember Those Old Comics?<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/SlLGUnR">https://ift.tt/SlLGUnR</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Leap Year Comics<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/JpBrmzU">https://ift.tt/JpBrmzU</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div><br /></div>
Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-22297725374836800502024-02-29T09:30:00.003-05:002024-02-29T09:30:20.094-05:00Leap Year ComicsAs it's the unusual February 29, I've gone around and collected a smattering of Leap Year themed comics from today...
<center> <div style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIVkNtKlTxtivP7nCG4pnyxstDDIY-xSdNKQCcmGkK-n-D-shen3hA2c7hKuJDa8p9F0EHZZAvdiSZGHXxqTl4nDA_po-ArkvpvwuRLFqP01Wez-EJxXE5l4hhhS6QPafUb0BS2_qGlw0cFiGG0aH8Xzhiv_Vng3oSG0hXsa2kXP2qYH8RV0qH/s900/tc240229.jpg" style=" padding: 2px; "><img alt="" border="0" width="200" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIVkNtKlTxtivP7nCG4pnyxstDDIY-xSdNKQCcmGkK-n-D-shen3hA2c7hKuJDa8p9F0EHZZAvdiSZGHXxqTl4nDA_po-ArkvpvwuRLFqP01Wez-EJxXE5l4hhhS6QPafUb0BS2_qGlw0cFiGG0aH8Xzhiv_Vng3oSG0hXsa2kXP2qYH8RV0qH/s200/tc240229.jpg"/></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjop50wCvCAA3lN6Lpqau-4fVLv-SB-gym2HX3p9-UcL-HFprjlr9VrVYouvZghkCy_fB-ayuTlnZCcqBKar6HPm0eg6tMNqaMvF1VVyz93NzvYWFqb41P_-9dhzlS3nHpnHxaoaOEx68PB8s1eDWom7JLQ1AImZ48EJKxid1-WfBoYBAKnnoQZ/s900/ufo240229.jpg" style=" padding: 2px; "><img alt="" border="0" width="200" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjop50wCvCAA3lN6Lpqau-4fVLv-SB-gym2HX3p9-UcL-HFprjlr9VrVYouvZghkCy_fB-ayuTlnZCcqBKar6HPm0eg6tMNqaMvF1VVyz93NzvYWFqb41P_-9dhzlS3nHpnHxaoaOEx68PB8s1eDWom7JLQ1AImZ48EJKxid1-WfBoYBAKnnoQZ/s200/ufo240229.jpg"/></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaB-LcPFJcjVa7YzWJ54HIura2CKdoihzJQxkYih9urme6r3YUk9ui1LKbf_4AW531UtAwSBReEw702EnETwnoLUdc1ihaCSjUuHHcRFBgGgO5ibmMuzp5UsezFjr1XYKikhNphr-jyhv9EZvJONxqqfWV2iHlmfvYkS3SBMTPFYHHc8gzfhb_/s540/bvp240229.gif" style=" padding: 2px; "><img alt="" border="0" height="200" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaB-LcPFJcjVa7YzWJ54HIura2CKdoihzJQxkYih9urme6r3YUk9ui1LKbf_4AW531UtAwSBReEw702EnETwnoLUdc1ihaCSjUuHHcRFBgGgO5ibmMuzp5UsezFjr1XYKikhNphr-jyhv9EZvJONxqqfWV2iHlmfvYkS3SBMTPFYHHc8gzfhb_/s200/bvp240229.gif"/></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5kb3uoBHmr9dfIPRb5GthzUkUF8u1fSw3kUGrEgoDdkd94bvzkeLf1Wf8xKbSQO6KnBWbq4-TfMGTCSx1drMV0EH55f7fefNhK8jOsRY3D3P0GyvCF2vyc4hY7HZgzwjWRMM8KNezjaZvtSIQuq6uzJlBb3iqL1UCYLHjKwG9shxBK1Keb_a/s1007/dave240229.gif" style=" padding: 2px; "><img alt="" border="0" height="200" data-original-height="1007" data-original-width="900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit5kb3uoBHmr9dfIPRb5GthzUkUF8u1fSw3kUGrEgoDdkd94bvzkeLf1Wf8xKbSQO6KnBWbq4-TfMGTCSx1drMV0EH55f7fefNhK8jOsRY3D3P0GyvCF2vyc4hY7HZgzwjWRMM8KNezjaZvtSIQuq6uzJlBb3iqL1UCYLHjKwG9shxBK1Keb_a/s200/dave240229.gif"/></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrHAMXYgyTXfJeP86CMr2omYwnvJJhuDx4i7Z0aNjdzHkwFFR5UfFmOemlKncspgbmVBbGx_f6bbzer6JYuXDJ0FYHl9bEc-ToOoFFnCFzQ6FIy9xxcaWTCJf7KgKLMU4afDPbaX2Cq3PV0ZkoVbIzZUQApwsaD8I_FZ9U3hOM98mu1vU38fQK/s540/of240229.gif" style=" padding: 2px; "><img alt="" border="0" height="200" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrHAMXYgyTXfJeP86CMr2omYwnvJJhuDx4i7Z0aNjdzHkwFFR5UfFmOemlKncspgbmVBbGx_f6bbzer6JYuXDJ0FYHl9bEc-ToOoFFnCFzQ6FIy9xxcaWTCJf7KgKLMU4afDPbaX2Cq3PV0ZkoVbIzZUQApwsaD8I_FZ9U3hOM98mu1vU38fQK/s200/of240229.gif"/></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihl_SnnVfyxJp1x8x6Y86Jq6HCeBolyDDlE1ayyjFU3iH3tPLYwDt_NrkFP0WO3ulYm97ncuD-uTPfC7b4KaIJwj_1aQDPVT3B_yvN8pL3oih7joGDt1paCCwuzLD-WMDXhE6Rmd784dF3ndrQDAuexwPUPr5zjS5Gl4dSHWqf0EyehbJJpT6g/s489/sac240229.jpg" style=" padding: 2px; "><img alt="" border="0" height="200" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihl_SnnVfyxJp1x8x6Y86Jq6HCeBolyDDlE1ayyjFU3iH3tPLYwDt_NrkFP0WO3ulYm97ncuD-uTPfC7b4KaIJwj_1aQDPVT3B_yvN8pL3oih7joGDt1paCCwuzLD-WMDXhE6Rmd784dF3ndrQDAuexwPUPr5zjS5Gl4dSHWqf0EyehbJJpT6g/s200/sac240229.jpg"/></a></div>
</center>Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-35962409546468646072024-02-28T09:30:00.001-05:002024-02-28T09:30:00.131-05:00Remember Those Old Comics?Like a lot of avid readers I know, I usually have several books that I'm reading more or less simultaneously. I keep two or three in the nightstand by my bed, one or two in my laptop bag, a small pile on the desk in my library, another small pile on the side table in the living room. Which books end up in which spot depends in part on how/when/where I might end up reading them. Hardcovers or otherwise heavy books tend not to find their way into my laptop bag, since those are books I read while in transit and I don't want to carry around the extra weight. The stuff on my nightstand, by contrast, tend to be larger because I'm sitting comfortably in bed when I read those. <br />
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Anyway, I'm frequently scanning my bookshelves and long boxes for replacements as I read through things. I figure I've only read maybe a third of everything in my collection, so there's plenty to choose from. (I've been the recipient of multiple collections from others, so I've found my collection increase by thousands of issues literally overnight on at least four separate occasions!) But what strikes me is how often I'll spy a title that I don't immediately recognize and think, "This doesn't look familiar. I bet it's one of Dad's old books." But then when I pull it down and flip through it, I'll recall reading the story (although I won't always recall the story itself!) and remember that it's some book I picked up cheaply at a Half Price Books or something only a year earlier. Obviously, it wasn't a memorable story.<br />
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But I've also had instances where I come across some comic that I've had for forty years or more, but haven't looked at in at least thirty years, and yet I can remember curiously distinct details. Hell, <a href="http://www.kleefeldoncomics.com/2016/09/on-history-mr-action.html">I purchased a piece of original Kurt Schaffenberger art</a> a few years ago because I remembered that particular page so vividly from my youth, despite it coming from a pretty lousy back-up story. <br />
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh96S3q3hwc8g5YsCNStpvlP_AS8_WyaXrAfWR_EhiZGB_cbeNPhwnAAyYNVzxG10Q9pnjiM2Wa9deTLzDOCrsifphYz0c2lOugnWIwXXXKEwDwjPrw0MH36NAI8SwyH4vr-SfX/s1600/Green+Lantern+No+Fear.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh96S3q3hwc8g5YsCNStpvlP_AS8_WyaXrAfWR_EhiZGB_cbeNPhwnAAyYNVzxG10Q9pnjiM2Wa9deTLzDOCrsifphYz0c2lOugnWIwXXXKEwDwjPrw0MH36NAI8SwyH4vr-SfX/s320/Green+Lantern+No+Fear.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517679423805484242" /></a>And yet, I couldn't tell you why I have a copy of <i>Green Lantern: No Fear</i>, what it might be about, or whether I've actually read it. But there it is, sitting on my shelf. (A <a href="http://www.kleefeldoncomics.com/2007/03/crazy-bargains.html">subsequent search on my blog</a> reveals that I bought it in a major discount bin back in 2007. Still no idea if I ever read it though.) <br />
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That doesn't mean that the stories I read as a kid were necessarily better -- just that several factors are different that predispose more recent reads to become more forgettable. To wit...<ol type=1><li>When I was a kid, I had read far fewer books obviously. It's easier to store them in long-term memory if you don't have decades of other books in there as well.</LI>
<li>The earlier books got re-read more often. I had more time than money back then, and wound up re-reading books several times because I couldn't afford new ones. These days, I've got more books than I have time to read, so re-reading very rarely occurs.</LI>
<li>As a child, we tend to be more impressionable in general. So whatever we come across is more likely to leave a memorable impression than anything we see as adults.<br />
</LI>
<li>But, most significantly, I think, because I had read fewer books, many of the ideas presented in those early days <i>seemed </i>fresh, even if they weren't. "Why did the chicken cross the road?" isn't a funny joke to you because you've heard it a million times. But it could be hilarious to a five year old who's never heard it before!<br />
</LI></OL>There are any number of ideas, visuals, and even cliches that struck me as a child, but I later learned were merely continuations or references to earlier material. And, interestingly, there were things that were genuinely new, but I didn't appreciate them for as innovative as they were because EVERYTHING that I came across seemed new and innovative. That's why, when I finally read the Galactus trilogy, it didn't have a particularly large impact -- I had already read dozens of Galactus stories by that point, and had even seen him physically beaten. <br />
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My point is really just that we sometimes ascribe more power to works just because of when we encountered them, not because they were necessarily better or more original than what we see today.Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-65361805769716327332024-02-27T09:30:00.323-05:002024-02-27T09:30:00.134-05:0021st Century Freelancing, Same as 20th Century Freelancing<div style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj29vhtDEPSSjrigbd5lYttWAUQNvuDCaeqgr44vGcNBWF-ehLA5F3s2MjPJKUus2WuqaK6jiNyw0l0ArG-TkUgMlq8crrboLRZfRTQ_x4QSSu_b3VhrsNALiV6w73b_EGKzVodaw2t59QpTfPmf2URkxqjIXbEuqEm6bI4TTwRW8QcMiAflD5N/s960/freelancers-blog.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj29vhtDEPSSjrigbd5lYttWAUQNvuDCaeqgr44vGcNBWF-ehLA5F3s2MjPJKUus2WuqaK6jiNyw0l0ArG-TkUgMlq8crrboLRZfRTQ_x4QSSu_b3VhrsNALiV6w73b_EGKzVodaw2t59QpTfPmf2URkxqjIXbEuqEm6bI4TTwRW8QcMiAflD5N/s400/freelancers-blog.jpg"/></a></div>
I've seen/heard a few pieces lately lamenting the state of being an artist online in 2024. The basic gist of them is that you can't <i>just</i> be an artist. You need to build an audience so that people will see your work, but to build an audience you need to do all these non-artist things to get the search algorithms to work for you, and you spend so much time and effort learning how to do that -- and then maintaining that audience once they come! -- that you're barely doing any of the art that you wanted to do in the first place.
I've seen it mostly in terms of comic artists, but it no doubt applies to musicians and writers and anyone else pursuing a stereotypically creative freelance career.
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I sympathize with the people making these complaints.
I specifically went into corporate America for a job in large part because I did not want to deal with and learn all the crap that comes with being a freelancer of any sort.
I was a graphic designer at the time, and I knew that if I wanted to work <b>as</b> a graphic designer, that meant I would have to be in corporate America. If I were to go freelance, then I'd have to learn how to market myself, how to track down clients, how to sell all the benefits I could bring, how to manage budgets, how to negotiate payments, how to juggle invoices, how to set up and handle insurance, how to do tons of things that are very much NOT graphic design but are absolutely essential to doing that work.
So I must admit I'm a little confused as to why they're bringing it up now.
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When I made the decision -- and it was indeed a conscious decision -- to pursue a corporate career instead of a freelance one, that was back in the mid-90s. The web was barely a thing, so I didn't have to think about social media or any the bullcrap that comes with that, but I was keenly aware that while I would likely have less creative freedom than if I were to try freelancing, that was the price of not having to deal with a bunch of non-graphic design crap. That was the price of seeing the clock roll around to 5:00 and taking off for the evening, knowing that I did not have to worry about whether I had enough time to finish that one project until 8:00 the next morning at the earliest. That was the price of knowing I would get paid at the end of every two week period without having to pester anyone about it. I could still do freelance work if/when I needed some extra cash, but rent was taken care of by my day job.
<br><br>
And I knew all this because, starting in the 1970s, my father started working as professional magician as a side hustle (obviously before "side hustle" was in the common vernacular) and he would do shows for schools and libraries, and the occasional birthday party. He worked side jobs because he needed money to support a family, but he chose magic because he loved performing it ever since he got a magic kit as a kid and was able to stymie his mother with some sponge rabbits. But to be able to get in front of people to perform, he would spend hours sending out fliers, developing booking sheets and contracts, juggling calendars, looking up directions to one-room libraries in obscure towns and villages hours away... all in the days before he even had a computer! If he did 100 shows over a summer (I know he did more than that some years and less than that in others; I'm going to use it as a rough easy-math median) each at 45 minutes (his usual show length) that's a total of 75 hours performing. If the shows were on average an hour away (he traveled all over the state; some places were 15 minutes away, some were 4 hours) that's 200 hours of driving. We're already looking at only 27% his invested time doing the thing that he actually wants to be doing, even before we address anything to do with sales or marketing or contracts or anything.
<br><br>
Now clearly, that was a different time and a different market. Just as it was a different time and a different market in the mid-90s when I joined the work force. Not harder, not easier, just different. But the basic idea of doing a bunch of shit you don't want to do at the time and expense of the thing you do actually want to do is part and parcel to the job of a freelancer. I recall my father complaining about that back in the day and, as he got older, he more often questioned whether the joy he got out of performing outweighed all the extra crap he had to do in order to perform. I know many of my peers who did go into freelance graphic design work right out of college later expressed dissatisfaction with the non-design aspects of their work, and a few eventually decided it wasn't worth it and took corporate jobs.
<br><br>
I don't say all this to dismiss the people today who are complaining about having to do a bunch of work unrelated to their main passion in order to pursue that passion. There are absolutely some bullshit issues they are having to deal with in terms of managing social media and SEO and working towards the whims of ever-changing algorithms and all that. There are aspects of that I have to manage with my day job, and literally every day I talk with SEO experts who openly admit that they're at best making half-informed guesses on what to do in order to improve search rankings or improved conversion rates or whatever. And if experts who expressly do this for a living don't have any real answers to this kind of thing, I can't imagine how difficult it must be for people who are trying to draw comics or create music or write or whatever creative vocation they're pursuing. It is extremely difficult, even if you are trained for precisely that sort thing.
<br><br>
I just don't understand why it seems to be a thing people are talking about now, as if it's new. Even setting aside some of the old bullshit my dad had to deal with in the '70s because technology fixed many of those issues, the current concerns about social media and catering to algorithms go back at least a decade. YouTube launched in 2005, Facebook and Twitter in 2006, Kickstarter in 2009. Amazon bought comiXology ten years ago. There's an entire generation of webcomikers today who've grown up in an environment where webcomics were not only a proven viable career path, but where there were books published about how to do it. (Not a lot of books, mind you, but more than one.) Every creator under the age of 35 has been dealing with exactly this for their entire career, and every creator ever has had some version of it, so why bring it up as a sort of new-sounding existential crisis today in 2024?
It's not that it's not a discussion worth having, it's just the framing of it as a new problem that I don't understand.Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-47691025227288878962024-02-26T09:30:00.002-05:002024-02-26T09:30:00.135-05:00BHM KickstartersOK, we're in the final days of Black History Month; let's see what's going on over at Kickstarter so folks can put their money where their mouth is...<br><Center>
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/newhorizoncomics/spirit-the-woman-of-hope-issue-1/widget/video.html" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"> </iframe>
<br><br>
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/konkretcomics/luna-the-awakening-part-2-of-6-a-32-page-comic-book/widget/video.html" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"> </iframe>
<br><br><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/akoma/dark-sentinel-origins-issue-1/widget/video.html" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"> </iframe>
<br><br><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nll/n-ll/widget/video.html" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"> </iframe>
<br><br><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/varissa-comics/love-lens-issue-1/widget/video.html" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"> </iframe>
</center>
Just a handful of Black creators with their comic book projects on Kickstarter -- check them out!Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-62460391047013646172024-02-25T10:04:00.001-05:002024-02-25T10:04:02.890-05:00Weekly Recap<img src="http://seankleefeld.com/kleefeldicon1.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" />Here are this week's links to what I've had published recently...<br />
<br />
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Nina Simone in Comics Review<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/84uCqOr">https://ift.tt/84uCqOr</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Nimona Loss Leader<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/Wv6TzLG">https://ift.tt/Wv6TzLG</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: BHM Comic Suggestion<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/Xhy4WNL">https://ift.tt/Xhy4WNL</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Random Fantastic Four Movie Thoughts<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/hP91Aqt">https://ift.tt/hP91Aqt</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Where's a Baldwin Comic Biography<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/Kqn4S3L">https://ift.tt/Kqn4S3L</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div><br /></div>
Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-54140908560647489042024-02-23T09:30:00.003-05:002024-02-23T09:30:00.252-05:00Where's a Baldwin Comic Biography<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGJ1HsjHTxJFf5UT14k7Z-AUDZTxYnCWaRRJwTT-qzymuefGGrbIRvVIh2_jfU3wyJeHnEb68uS2wmX-qgS0hwH3K3qS3KjKv1KkG7Hx4_ZiAODBnVsEn2plyOIEm9pJ8X4nR/s1600/Keef.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGJ1HsjHTxJFf5UT14k7Z-AUDZTxYnCWaRRJwTT-qzymuefGGrbIRvVIh2_jfU3wyJeHnEb68uS2wmX-qgS0hwH3K3qS3KjKv1KkG7Hx4_ZiAODBnVsEn2plyOIEm9pJ8X4nR/s320/Keef.jpg" width="281" height="320" /></a></div><I>I Am Not Your Negro</I> -- a documentary about the history of race relations in the United States, largely through writer James Baldwin's own knowledge and recollections of various civil rights leaders -- debuted a few years ago. It's based off an unfinished manuscript by Baldwin, and makes heavy use of recordings of him. <br />
<br />
At the time
I saw, when someone had posted the trailer for the movie on Facebook for the first time, the first response to come up was from someone asking who the guy who was shown at the start of the clip and did all of the talking. While they don't expressly say "This is James Baldwin" in the clip, it's pretty apparent that's who it is. But, even after identifying Baldwin by name, the original responder still had no clue who he was until someone pointed to his Wikipedia entry. <br />
<br />
I don't say this to mock that individual. I suspect most people in the States have never heard Baldwin's name before. I know I hadn't until maybe ten years ago. As far as the majority of America is concerned, the Civil Rights movement consisted of entirely Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. Maybe, among those who went out of their way to learn something outside of their classrooms, you could add Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson, and John Lewis. Names like Baldwin, Huey Newton, E. D. Nixon, Medgar Evers, Whitney Young, and who knows how many others simply don't get mentioned at all. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kleefeldoncomics.com/2016/12/on-isms-somebody-make-some-bio-webcomics.html">I've mentioned before</a> how I think more comic biographies of Black luminaries need to be made. Today, I want to make a special call-out to suggest someone make one of James Baldwin. That people like him are so widely unknown, I think, is a large part of the problem today, where people don't listen -- don't <i>want </i>to listen -- to views and experiences that don't closely reflect their own. I'm not about to claim a biographic comic about Baldwin is going to bring peace to the world, but it sure would help in its understanding.Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-3327793500390440442024-02-22T09:30:00.203-05:002024-02-22T09:30:00.131-05:00Random Fantastic Four Movie Thoughts<div style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxuOt8NmEIKtbHwKctCeNUIHcpuGoBSMnqG9akA1jHQ4H5tr149deuGuln9w5Lh7MtMiiUWxCaLo_vAceWv8TbPreOvWwyB5cwbGUX8CWRZkStLIy1GYKqwu1cl5myGnNfvzGxDkEasPS6dH31U2Vqn5_Kd6ZCgs2Q004AdyUkukJ9AXggMLKo/s3747/MV5BNWNmNTRiYzYtNzcwNC00ZWZkLWIxMTUtZjE5YTA3MDJhYWM0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTY3MDE5MDY1._V1_.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="3747" data-original-width="2934" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxuOt8NmEIKtbHwKctCeNUIHcpuGoBSMnqG9akA1jHQ4H5tr149deuGuln9w5Lh7MtMiiUWxCaLo_vAceWv8TbPreOvWwyB5cwbGUX8CWRZkStLIy1GYKqwu1cl5myGnNfvzGxDkEasPS6dH31U2Vqn5_Kd6ZCgs2Q004AdyUkukJ9AXggMLKo/s320/MV5BNWNmNTRiYzYtNzcwNC00ZWZkLWIxMTUtZjE5YTA3MDJhYWM0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTY3MDE5MDY1._V1_.jpg"/></a></div>Last week, Marvel announced a primary cast for their upcoming Fantastic Four movie. I hadn't planned on weighing in at all, but I'm drawing a blank on what to write about today, so I figure I'd throw out some thoughts on what I think should/shouldn't be in the movie. I'm not as invested in the characters as I used to be, but I do have some cred on the topic -- I had my first letter published in that comic back in 1988 in which I was also awarded a No-Prize; when fan sites were a thing, I ran FFPlaza.com (the largest, most comprehensive FF site on the web by a wide margin) for over a decade; and I've even helped out some of Marvel's writers and editors out by doing research and providing continuity checks. With some of that out of the way, here's what I think should/shouldn't be in the upcoming movie (in no particular order)...
<UL>
<LI>No origin. We've seen it; it's been done. And it's not even necessary. ("How can you do a superhero movie with no origin story?" "The Incredibles.") Not to mention that if you try to use the original origin, it makes no damned sense to today's audiences. And there's not a decent way to update it without changing a lot of the motivations and characterizations -- regardless if it's a rocket or dimensional portal or whatever, the root problem is that maybe only two of the team should be there in the first place. Maaaaybe three if you add a scientist background for Sue. Johnny has no place there, and if you change things so that he does, he's no longer the same character.
Skip the origin altogether.</LI>
<LI>No Doctor Doom. I know he's everybody's favorite villain and the MCU needs a new big bad with them having to drop Kang, but Doom isn't your opener. He should be more of a Thanos type threat, where he's only hinted at for several movies before he becomes the actual antagonist. In fact, I would suggest there should not be a villain at all! Why? Because the Fantastic Four aren't superheroes. They're a family, they're explorers, they work for the betterment of mankind by pursuing ideas and boundaries that will help Earth. They've not there to fight bank robbers or Nazis or whatever. Sure, they'll stop a purse snatcher if it comes up but that's not their goal. Let's leave villains out of this. (I'll get to story ideas that don't include villains in a bit.)</LI>
<LI>The offical art that Marvel presented has a very '60s vibe to it.
I think this is definitely the way to start. This does several things. First, it immediately differentiates them from every other Marvel movie; they've got a unique tone right off the bat. Second, it explains why they're totally absent from all the Avengers related movies and the Thanos storyline. Third (and admittedly this is <b>really</b> minor) it lends credence to Dr. Strange's quip in <i>Multiverse of Madness</i> about how the Reed Richards he meets "charted in the '60s." (Fun fact: there was actually a band also called the Fantastic Four that got to number 6 on the R&B charts in 1967 with "The Whole World Is a Stage." Strange's commment had two meanings!) </LI>
<LI>The '60s vibe should be treated as if it were other media from that time period. That is, it should be set up and presented with the campy vibe of 1960s' science fiction movies like <I>Fantastic Voyage</I> and <i>The Angry Red Planet.</i> They shouldn't go as campy as Adam West's <i>Batman</i> or anything, but it should give the same vibe as going to a drive-in in the '60s.
</LI>
<LI>But that should only be the first act of the movie. The team should go off exploring or adventuring somewhere where time runs differently than in our reality. The Negative Zone, for example. They jump in back in the '60s and when they come out, it's been a few hours or maybe days for them, but it's been decades for everyone else. They pop up in the MCU in the current continutiy (sometime after <i>The Marvels</i>) and suddenly find themselves having to adjust to a half century of technological and social changes.
Which gets me to what should be the hook of the story.</LI>
<LI>Instead of villains, the story should then focus on how these four people have to adjust/adapt to life in the 21st century. Reed has no problem with the technology updates, but is even more clueless when it comes to social cues. Ben is now additionally haunted by the loss of many of his old friends. Sue has to catch up on what feminism and activisim looks like now. Johnny is initially excited for all the new stuff and the promise of even greater celebrity, but gets literally slapped in the face when he tries his old pick-up lines.
Maybe he gets slapped with a sexual assault lawsuit too. The story, then, is on them acclimating to 2025.
Can they maintain their 1960s-era optimism in light of... well, whatever this hellhole of a world has become?
</LI>
<LI>Now, if you want to additionally tie it into the MCU more broadly, then you bring in the Skrulls. While the heart of the movie should be the emotional elements stemming from what I listed in the previous bullet, the superficial plot can revolve around the team helping to find the Skrulls a new home. That's a danglng plot point from<i> Secret Invasion </i>and <i>The Marvels</i>, so have Reed either design an entirely new scanner that can find a suitable homeworld in a way that Carol Danvers couldn't and/or have the team terraform some otherwise uninhabitable planet.
</LI>
</UL>
So that's what I think should happen. I doubt it will; it's not any prediction of any sort. I'm just throwing out what I think <b>should</b> be in a FF movie.
<br><br>
(Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the fan art I'm including here was done by <A HRef="https://luisfelipe_art.artstation.com/">Luis Felipe N.</A>)Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-54659184285553563602024-02-21T09:30:00.002-05:002024-02-21T09:30:00.148-05:00BHM Comic Suggestion <div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oclCCOm52uY7ipRjYXojmejqzZuj4PEGuhABC-lnN8GqPxQCcUqm-yMF2KuVlxwf4z2L2IRxBzqr0ucycvGwCJ1ID8Dxx7ifiC8RIIlvrU8995Rwwg22tABI-oqa_fZHQ_P9/s1600/jumpstart.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oclCCOm52uY7ipRjYXojmejqzZuj4PEGuhABC-lnN8GqPxQCcUqm-yMF2KuVlxwf4z2L2IRxBzqr0ucycvGwCJ1ID8Dxx7ifiC8RIIlvrU8995Rwwg22tABI-oqa_fZHQ_P9/s320/jumpstart.jpeg" width="263" height="320" /></a></div>One of the semi-common refrains among those in support of Black History Month is that it's only one month. When weighed against the centuries of oppression, which continues in various forms to this day, one month is hardly long enough. (And it's the shortest month at that!) So here's a quick suggestion that might help you in your ongoing appreciation of Black people's place in American history...<br />
<br />
One day every week of every February, make a point of finding a comic by a Black person that you like. Whether it's a newspaper comic, a webcomic, a monthly pamphlet book, whatever... just find one comic created by a Black person that you like for whatever reason(s). It doesn't have to be <i>about </i>the Black experience, or have a political edge to it, or anything. Just find a comic you happen to like that happens to be created by a Black person. (If you need help finding something, you can start with something obvious like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:African-American_comics_creators">what's listed in Wikipedia</a> or get more options from the <a href="http://cartoonistsofcolor.com/">Cartoonists of Color database</a>.)<br />
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Then, and here's the important part, read it. Like, all of it. Track down the first installment (or the first installment by that Black creator if it was started by someone else) and commit to reading through everything. Maybe it was a monthly comic book that only lasted six issues, but maybe it's an ongoing newspaper comic that's been running for 30 years. But commit to reading all of it, whatever is available. <br />
<br />
And, if it's still going on, keep reading it. Support that creator by buying their books, or whatever they have available. If they're still alive and still working on the comic, send them a note of appreciation. It doesn't have to be elaborate, "Hey, man, I like your comic," is fine. <br />
<br />
But the idea is to use Black History Month as a <I>springboard</I> for a longer, extended appreciation of Black creators and their work. It's a way to see a larger scope of their work and, hopefully, turn you into an evangelist for their work. Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-84584203033864452252024-02-20T09:30:00.177-05:002024-02-20T09:37:08.349-05:00Nimona Loss Leader<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNsFVbnS9UH-Bp4uk4kGiWn68A2beeNTTP3YaTeJ1JJLe0ehfrNsdkM9OFTrsCFS9L2Q8HwMx-Jo5dbiJUsBdygr19g3Ox_lhJe4-YF9_mhKA52XUvx8CqOUgiBSfFEMnb41BzY5p_DKT-B2PF4_Ry-TuGrWlNqTrjr8xOFkF4HQVbjr60t3b/s1600/AAAABbgtKxF0tEknIWeetiulpS_PCAZEJWryKYFUR8rt2oSpGOfToZxwCEznVyKwbyPXgp28E50GDKatr-NruOv5uUXsdUyenwov2bK0Vbu5AEz3NC182Bl4vgyGONXx79NMlPNpZg.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNsFVbnS9UH-Bp4uk4kGiWn68A2beeNTTP3YaTeJ1JJLe0ehfrNsdkM9OFTrsCFS9L2Q8HwMx-Jo5dbiJUsBdygr19g3Ox_lhJe4-YF9_mhKA52XUvx8CqOUgiBSfFEMnb41BzY5p_DKT-B2PF4_Ry-TuGrWlNqTrjr8xOFkF4HQVbjr60t3b/s1600/AAAABbgtKxF0tEknIWeetiulpS_PCAZEJWryKYFUR8rt2oSpGOfToZxwCEznVyKwbyPXgp28E50GDKatr-NruOv5uUXsdUyenwov2bK0Vbu5AEz3NC182Bl4vgyGONXx79NMlPNpZg.jpg"/></a></div>You're nominally familiar with <i>Nimona</i>, right? Like, even if you haven't read it or seen the film adaptation, it's garnered enough awards and critical attention that you've heard of it. It was ND Stevenson's college project that she later released as a webcomic which was picked up HarperCollins and published as a successful graphic novel that was adapted into an Audible audiobook that was adapted into an animated feature film first by Disney and later by Netflix. Commercially, it's about the best an indie comic creator could ask for.
<br><br>
Now, I had not seen the film adaptation until last night. It was originally released on Netflix, which I don't have a subscription to, but yesterday, they made the entire movie available for free via YouTube...
<center>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i4CFWTYFRlw?si=Lv41ckXr0EKILtQh" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>
I'm not here to review the movie or how it measures up against the book -- there's plenty of other folks who've already done that -- but I'm interested here in the business decision behind releasing it.
As far as I can tell, <i>Nimona</i> is the first feature length film that Neflix has put on YouTube. They've sometimes released single episodes of an ongoing show, but I can't find any other instances of a full film being made available. (There's nothing else coming up in a current search for "Netflix full film" at any rate.) The vast majority of what Netflix uses it's YouTube channel for is, not surprisingly, promotional material: mostly trailers, but also some blooper reels and behind-the-scenes pieces as well.
<br><br>
I think the reasoning behind <b>not</b> putting full films on YouTube should be pretty self-evident. As a business, they want you to pay for access to their streaming service and a streaming service's biggest draw is in the unqiue content they have. Why pay for Service B if it has all the same offerings as Service A? (I mean, they could theoretically also differentiate on price and/or service quality -- but they'd have to seriously undercut every other service to the point of not making a profit if they wanted to compete on price, and the service quality is more of an on/off issue here; it either streams in real time seamlessly or it doesn't.) So why would Netflix opt to offer one of their unique pieces of content up for free on another platform?
<br><br>
The basic concept behind the idea is that of a loss leader, where you offer up a significant offering for free -- understanding that you'll be taking a financial loss on it -- with the hope that it will be enough to entice some people to come back and pay for something else. Netflix is hoping that people see <i>Nimona</i> on YouTube and say, "Hey, this is really good! Maybe I should actually get a Netflix subscription to see what else they've got." It's honestly not far removed from the basic webcomic model where the comic itself is available for free, but readers might pay extra for earlier access or behind-the-scenes extras, or maybe they buy a printed copy of the story or a t-shirt or something. Netflix has, as I noted earlier, done variations of this before by offering up some first episodes of their ongoing series.
But why now with a full film?
<br><br>
I suspect that is tied to awards season. On Saturday, they held the 51st Annie Awards, celebrating excellence in film and TV animation. <i>Nimona</i> was nominated in nine categories and won two of them, which puts it in the same company as Pixar's <i>Up</i>. Given that highly favorable critical response and that Netflix seems to be aiming for getting an Academy Award for "Best Animated Feature" (also like <i>Up</i>) the broader release of the movie is likely an attempt to garner some additional attention/buzz around it. Instead of taking out costly ads in trade magazines (or perhaps, in addition to them -- I don't read movie industry trades) they're opting for raising awareness more organically by trying to get people (like me!) talking about it. Maybe this will be something someone with actual voting power reads and they give the movie a little more attention than they otherwise would. Or maybe the easy/free access gives them the chance to revisit the movie and put it more top-of-mind than the others they might not have seen since the Cannes Film Festival last May.
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Will it work? Either to get more subscribers to Netflix or to garner an Oscar? I certainly have no idea. On the former, they're also fighting subscribers leaving because of price hikes and on the latter, they're up against Studio Ghibli and Pixar among others. Regardless, <i>Nimona</i> is a thoroughly enjoyable movie and it's worth a watch on YouTube if you haven't seen it already.Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-30378992320111123522024-02-19T09:30:00.205-05:002024-02-19T09:30:00.127-05:00Nina Simone in Comics Review<div style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhBqhWR9JQ9mtym73ezpVvsh8KFn1QVNwoFX-cTZ7QGQI5rmqaWJa0JOMiYu-AMIZJv-LfIIQ_gqYO1L5lFgMcaAU7atJ8RgHvR-RU7XNonE3pZ4y4OV6Sz3pOrc0iKwE5rxg07cK37_CbF13TMQMZtQQ0NemiCSK5cdnG0RN-qsIzWfAk_0d0/s1000/81RcpiTQnSL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="699" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhBqhWR9JQ9mtym73ezpVvsh8KFn1QVNwoFX-cTZ7QGQI5rmqaWJa0JOMiYu-AMIZJv-LfIIQ_gqYO1L5lFgMcaAU7atJ8RgHvR-RU7XNonE3pZ4y4OV6Sz3pOrc0iKwE5rxg07cK37_CbF13TMQMZtQQ0NemiCSK5cdnG0RN-qsIzWfAk_0d0/s320/81RcpiTQnSL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg"/></a></div>I have read a number of biographies in comics format. From Bertrand Russell to Martin Luther King, Jr. to Claude Cahun to Jack Kirby to Frederic Douglass to Leon Trotsky. And the creators who've done them have take all sorts of approaches -- some stiff and factual, others that are far enough removed to almost qualify as straight fiction, some focusing on only a short period of someone's life, some looking at the entire life in such depth that it supercedes most "traditional" biographies. <i>Nina Simone in Comics </i>does something unique. (At least unique to everything I've seen.) It's part comics anthology with different artists tackling different portions of the Simone's story and it's part prose, interjecting between each sequence with a section that covers some details that weren't addressed in much depth in the comics portion.
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Rather than a full accounting of Simone's entire life, we're actually presented with an extended series of vignettes, taken from significant points in her life. Each section begins with a direct quote from Simone, followed by a graphic interpretation of the events in question, most lasting five pages. Then there's two pages of prose often expounding on the sequence, adding some additional context or some parallel narratives that won't interweave directly with Simone's life until later. The pieces flow together surprisingly well, although I did find the page layouts of the prose pages a little confusing in places. Namely, there are elements that appear to be sidebars to the main narrative -- but sometimes they are and sometimes they're not. But the structure weaving in and out of the comics format does work much better than I would expect. Likely in large part because Sophie Adriansen wrote both aspects.
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The book, as a whole, was written by Adriansen. I'm not familiar with her prior work (most of which was published in French -- I'm not sure how much has even been translated into English; Amazon doesn't list any English titles besides this) but she had already written a prose biography of Simone in 2022, so she was clearly already well familiar with her subject here. There's no translator listed in the credits, which NBM usually does I believe, so I assume Adriansen either wrote this in English from the start or translated it herself. Additionally, while she has written juvenile and young adult works before, I think this is her first comics work. If so, she does an especially great job working in the medium; most prose-to-comics writers tend to be overly verbose and try writing panel descriptions that try to show more than a single panel can depict.
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Further, Adriansen does not shy away from covering some of the less-than-flattering portions of Simone's life. Not just things like being beaten and raped by her second husband, but also her own bad decisions like shooting a neighbor's child in the leg for being too loud.
Adriansen even notes in one of the prose sections that Simone's autobiography is "riddled with inconsistencies -- dates and places that a simple online search will invalidate..." and Simone "goes to great lengths to erase elements she doesn't care to accept responsibility for and/or she fears might come across as unappealing." I know I, for one, appreciate it when a biography isn't so in love with their subject to paper over the uglier (i.e. human) aspects of their life.
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I will also say that Adriansen does a great job in the fiction department. That is, many comics biographers are reluctant to write dialogue they don't know their subjects said. Adriansen seems to have no qualms here, trying to capture individual's voices but without adhering exclusively to what they've been recorded actually saying.
There are no doubt passages that Simone did say -- beyond just the lyrics of her songs -- but they blend in with Adriansen's
text pretty seamlessly.
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The art is good overall. There's quite a range of styles and approaches, but they all read well visually. Despite the changing depiction of Simone and other characters, they're always readily identified and remain consistently rendered within each section. Here again, I think the anthology approach is helped but the prose pieces offering a little visual break so the changing artists doesn't feel jarring. Offhand, I don't recognize any of the artists' names and/or styles, but I'm guessing they're all French and don't have as much name recognition here in the US. Some have tighter linework, some is expressively loose. All of it works, though, and I can't find anything to complain about with the art.
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In fact, my one complaint for the entire book is the lettering. It looks to me as if the artists drew in their own word balloons, as the style shifts to match the illustrations. But rather than having the artists letter the work directly or finding fonts to match the illustation style, there's a single font applied to all the text throughout the comic portions. It looks vaguely familiar but I can't pull out a name for it. It's kind of a cross between Tekton and Comic Sans. It's not an awful font in and of itself, but it doesn't seem to fit with <i>any</i> of the illustration styles and feels like they just chose the first vaguely-handwritingly font they came across.
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On the whole, though, I was really pleased with the book. I definitely gained some insights on Simone that I did not know before and it was done in an engaging and entertaining way. This is the first comics biography of Simone and I hope not the last. The book came out last week and should be available from bookstores now. It retails for $27.99 US.Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-57169226625290569822024-02-18T10:23:00.001-05:002024-02-18T10:23:39.639-05:00Weekly Recap<img src="http://seankleefeld.com/kleefeldicon1.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" />Here are this week's links to what I've had published recently...<br />
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<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Scripts Week, Big Town #1<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/opXc8n9">https://ift.tt/opXc8n9</a><br />
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<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Scripts Week, Fantastic Four #47-#49<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/bqLK3n7">https://ift.tt/bqLK3n7</a><br />
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<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Scripts Week, Fantastic Four #35 and #50<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/XCpscvH">https://ift.tt/XCpscvH</a><br />
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<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Scripts Week, Fantastic Four #51<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/AG3WCHq">https://ift.tt/AG3WCHq</a><br />
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<div>Kleefeld on Comics: Scripts Week, Fantastic Four #511<br />
<a href="https://ift.tt/NusWmYJ">https://ift.tt/NusWmYJ</a><br />
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Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-52342274426365546152024-02-16T09:30:00.001-05:002024-02-16T09:30:00.128-05:00Scripts Week, Fantastic Four #511<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijT4bub-oQHl4DrFioTP1Bk5KJUo9apZUZ0klhm17RYEvN6V6VwSDXFMAQLDdsfVMllqxMzFt5fJ-aqYQOhkV3CflAgueuXVKojjPu7b2HxXyEzj9qgEh2lUvt-XVTfL68PcCJ/s1600/ff511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijT4bub-oQHl4DrFioTP1Bk5KJUo9apZUZ0klhm17RYEvN6V6VwSDXFMAQLDdsfVMllqxMzFt5fJ-aqYQOhkV3CflAgueuXVKojjPu7b2HxXyEzj9qgEh2lUvt-XVTfL68PcCJ/s320/ff511.jpg" width="211" height="320" data-original-width="640" data-original-height="972" /></a></div>Closing out Scripts Week is something of a landmark issue.
<i>Fantastic Four</i> #511, the famous issue where the FF, looking to bring the Thing back from the dead, meet God, who happens to look and act a helluva lot like Jack Kirby. This is the original (nearly) full script from which Mike Wieringo drew the story. It is interesting to note that the script never actually refers to God as looking like Jack although, as evidenced by Waid's comment about God's cigar, the idea was expressly discussed beforehand. Originally provided by Mark Waid.<br />
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<b><a href="http://seankleefeld.com/comicscripts/FF511v3.pdf"><i>Fantastic Four</i> volume 3 #511 by Mark Waid</a></b>Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19387347.post-71180415637892518342024-02-15T09:30:00.001-05:002024-02-15T09:30:00.132-05:00Scripts Week, Fantastic Four #51<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnEZioYrpC5IeVNArKvC9EHkRO8zpvb8QcShZO7_Klh5nM5VrVVLpSrozpBVIeB3fZFUdkyQ-Rb5pS7LCgcYyrQU-cWCNth417R2UT-IwpGh_WmYjy_CNCU_nR7YpjObNkBMf/s1600/ff51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglnEZioYrpC5IeVNArKvC9EHkRO8zpvb8QcShZO7_Klh5nM5VrVVLpSrozpBVIeB3fZFUdkyQ-Rb5pS7LCgcYyrQU-cWCNth417R2UT-IwpGh_WmYjy_CNCU_nR7YpjObNkBMf/s320/ff51.jpg" width="207" height="320" data-original-width="736" data-original-height="1140" /></a></div>Continuing my theme for the week,
this is the script for <i>Fantastic Four</i> #51 circa 2002. This one's a little less inherently interesting than the others I've presented, in that there's no real backstory behind it. This is the just the original plot treatment by Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Marín, from which artist Mark Bagley drew the story. It was then passed to Karl Kesel to script. It was originally provided to me by Marín and, at the time, he noted, "Carlos and I are amazed at how Mark intepreted [sic] the plot... and how well Karl scripted it!" Fascinating to see work like this, though, and how it progress from an idea to execution.<br />
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<a href="http://seankleefeld.com/comicscripts/FF51v3.pdf"><i><b>Fantastic Four volume 3 #51 by Rafael Marín and Carlos Pacheco</b></i></a>Sean Kleefeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10492399469370737192noreply@blogger.com0