Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
        Mothman, in _Watchmen_, was one of the original Minutemen, along with
Nite Owl, the Silk Spectre, the Comedian, Hooded Justice, Captain
Metropolis, and the Silhouette.  He was also the only one of them to
have anything resembling a superpower; the big rigid wings on his suit
apparently let him glide.  He showed up, very mentally decayed and with
a handler, at the brief "reunion" scene in Sally Jupiter's house.
        Dear _god_, am I a geek.
        The "real" mothman was a series of rather dubious sightings of a big
glowing-eyed creature sometime in the 60's or 70's, ascribed by many to
UFOs.  A writer whose name escapes me (Keel?) wrote a book
demonstrating how these sightings proved his pet theory about something
or other.  The present movie has allegedly been very loosely based on
the book.
  

    
Thanks, streak; now I want to go reread _Watchmen_. (But I don't have time,
because I have to go to Tucson in two more days and look at glorious beads
and stones and rocks and stuff. Ancillafelium, have you seen the harpy beads
from Green Girl Studio yet?)

The 199 steps at Whitby were duly climbed, and arcane invocations uttered,
and requests for useful visits of various muses to them as wants 'em were
made. And lovely little strange things for Neil were gathered in Iceland,
where the staff of one Reykjavik hotel had some fun helping me think of
what to get. (I'm still not sure whether one cryptic note ought to
decipher into a kind a seaweed or a hallucinogenic bread, though. In
either case, I couldn't find any of that.)

Happily, Juan and I had a copy of AMERICAN GODS along, intended to be 
given away at the gathering at the end of our trip, so we each got to read 
the relevant Reykjavik bit while traveling. (I read it when we were there, 
in fact. Juan read it after, but it was his first time reading the book, 
so the effect was heightened anyhow. He pronounced it very good indeed, 
which is pretty cool coming from somebody who generally avoids reading 
books by people he knows, for his own odd reasons.)

Anyhow, hello again, everybody, and I hope life is treating you well. I'm 
glad to hear about getting positive reviews (mostly positive, anyhow), 
Dan.  And I'm sorry not to be seeing people at Boskone, but am looking 
forward to the whole Galacticon/Minicon/MileHiCon/World Fantasy thing with 
Mr. Ford. (And I think he'd make a lovely history teacher. Splendidly 
demented lesson plans, I bet, too. Could be a good programming item for 
one of those convention GoH gigs, in fact. Hmmmmm....)
  

    

Tucson!  Not you, too!  <sulking>
  

    
Thanks for the welcomes!
(Pam: you may regret encouraging me to "post long" :) )

John M. & Streak: Your responses concerning "Mothman" were
appreciated.  The connection to the TV show was mentioned (but
seemingly not verified) in the Keel book, if I am remembering
correctly, and I will check my copy when it is returned.
O.K., I will admit to watching "Batman" and although I can't remember
the Tick, I do remember (and this is very revealing) anxiously waiting
to watch the episode with Sonny and Cher.

Mary and Dan Guy: Thanks for mentioning Harlequin Valentine last
week-had forgotten- so I did find it, buy it, read it, like it! 

Have a great day everyone!  Back to filling out tax forms...........pc
  

    
Patricia - You don't remember the Tick because he wasn't on Batman...
he's a contemporary spoof superhero whose sidekick wears a mothsuit... 
the interleaving of the two references misled you, I'm afraid.

On the comics front: the lighting guy for Steambath loaned me his
complete set of Preacher graphic novels, which I had never read before.
I finished devouring them Monday night (ok... it was morning by the
time I finished them... I just couldn't put the last two volumes down)
and just gotta say: wow.

I'm not sure which is "better" ... waiting every month for a new
installment, or getting to read the whole thing as a continuous
narrative ... but it's one hell of a read.

I understand the confusion as to whether or not Ennis was taking
potshots at Neil, though. The gothy writer in shades *did* have an
awfully close resemblance to our favorite leather jacketed expatriate.
  

    
My boyfriend has #4,5, and 6 of the trades, so I've now (in classic
Annie style) read the middle set of the Preacher g.n.'s. Despite the
loads and loads of violence (which us girly types aren't supposed to
like, what a freak am I), I rather like them and am itching to get
ahold of all of them. Which one has the pseudo-Neil? And on the subject
of comics, what other series are to be recommended? Between Sandman
and Preacher, I'm rather developing a taste for them, but I don't want
to spend my scanty cash on crappy ones.

And whoeveritwas (sorry, bad memory!): Harpy beads? Where?
  

    
Dan -- well, I phoned Steve Dillon, when that came out, who seemed
very puzzled that people thought it was me. "But I've known you for
years," he said. `"If it was meant to be you, it would have *looked*
like you, not just some bloke with dark hair and dark glasses." He said
it wasn't, and he's a man of his word.

in hiding, writing, with incedibly limited web access. Hope all's well
with everybody.
  

    
Jo!

Mike!

streak!

Neil!

More family's at home.  *happy mumbles*  

Patricia: I'm sure I won't.  Do your worst!

Maure: I used to play the clarinet, too!  And I swear I had a dream
not to long ago about trying to play it again, for some totally unknown
reason.  I have a weird relationship with the clarinet--deep feelings
of resentment and insecurity.  Because all the pretty, popular girls
got to play the flute, when the band teacher picked instruments for us.
  

    
uh.  i play the flute.  *blushing*

but seriously i feel your pain, Pamela, as i was the ONLY non-pretty,
non-popular flute player and i was reminded of such on a constant
basis.  OH, THE CRUELTIES OF BAND!!  *sob*

...i have something in my eye.
  

    
Annie,  not sure what anyone else would suggest, but I've been hooked
on Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis for a while. I really like
Herobear and the Kid, by Mike Kunkel, but there are only four issues
out right now, and there seems to be an eternity between each issue.
Hellblazer has some good writing, and some bad writing; it's really hit
and miss for me. I have friends who swear by the Invisibles. I haven't
tried that title yet. I really like one I just picked up, Queen and
Country, but I can't testify to the quality of Q&C overall. I liked it
enough to start collecting the issues and give it a shot though.

Pamela,  I played saxophone! All I wanted in all the world was to play
oboe. The girl who got to play oboe was this lithe, gorgeous,
super-popular girl, and there was only one oboe. Morning band practice
at first was a daily practice in agony, until I discovered that alto
sax can play the french horn part quite nicely, and it added a
counterpoint to what we were supposed to play. I would switch sheet
music with a friend who played french horn, and we'd play each other's
music. The director, a crabby bitter man with beady eyes, would stop us
continually and tell us that someone was playing something wrong, but
it sounded ok, and he couldn't put his finger on it, but for whoever it
was to cut it out. But my school was much the same as yours - the
pretty, popular girls mostly played flute. In defiance, I played
baritone saxophone for a while, but it was too heavy to carry from the
bus stop, so I quit and went back to alto.

Sorry. Got a little wound up with the band memories.
  

    
Annie: As far as collections go, I'd have to recommend Astro City
(which has, sadly, seemed to vanish from quasi-regular production but
is available in Graphic Novel format), Bone (which is also close to
ending ... has it already finished?... it's monthly run and is only two
volumes from being completely available in Graphic Novel format).

Speaking of comics... on the way home from a particularly boring
meeting in the city, I swung by a comic shop near the BART station. I
glanced over the new titles, and saw some Captain Universe or something
or other from Marvel... with Spider-Man 2099 on the cover.

Now, the destruction of the 2099 universe infuriated me enough to get
me to swear off Marvel comics altogether. I was collecting several of
the titles in that universe and was really enjoying the ride (despite
the occasional universe-wide marketing events that Marvel imposed from
time to time). So, with fear and trepidation, I picked up the issue of 
Captain Marvelous (or whatever he was called) and thumbed through it
until I saw some familar faces. Yep, there they were. Miguel O'Hara and
his brother Gabe. Tyler Stone. Jordan Boone. Thanatos... but all in
the condition they were in at the very beginning of Spider-Man 2099's
run and all horribly written.

I put Captain Atomic down and walked out, saddened.

this is all apropos to nothing, but I figured that this would be an
audience who understood my frustration.

Neil - Yes, I remember you saying that a while back. I'd be interested
to see how Steve Dillon *would* draw you, cause to someone who has
only seen you at a single book signing (and the odd photo here and
there), I thought he kinda looked like a young you. But then again,
with the usual stylizations of comic art (and I'm not referring to
super-hero muscles/breasts), it's easy to look at any drawing of a
slightly shaggy haired, sunglasses wearing, dark haired, writer and
wonder... "hmmmmm?"

In any event, I knew it wasn't you... but I can understand how lots of
people might think that.
  

    
Maure -  I'm one of your friends who swears by "The Invisibles."  ;>
And I would also recommend reading Grant Morrison's run on "Animal
Man" and "Doom Patrol."  Never a dull moment.

Dan - Yes indeed, "Preacher" was an amazing ride. Garth was also
writing the late great "Hitman" comic too. In a horrible double whammy
it ended around the same time as "Preacher."  Has anyone else read this
comic?  Absolute hysteria and issue #36 probably had the best Superman
story ever written.  And why do I keep seeing Cameron Diaz as Tulip?  

I know there's a website out there that has compiled all of Neil's
appearances in various comics, or maybe I'm thinking of one of
Squiddie's index on alt.thingie? 
  

    
I read Preacher, too, but haven't read.....oh, the last few issues I
guess.  So no spoilers!  One day I'll get around to them. <grumbles> 
I'll probably feel I have to own the whole shebang if I think about it
for any length of time.

Annie--I'm a freak, too--the violence didn't bother me at all.

OK, I'll 'fess up.  I played flute.  But I was the biggest geek in my
whole high school--the only nonpopular one.  I made up for it by being
better than they were.  I had plenty of time to practice since my
social calendar wasn't exactly hoppin'.  It helped that I loved to
practice & my band director was a saint.  An absolute prince, whose
feet I still worship.

God, this whole band thing will really get ya goin', won't it?

Maure-- I love that story!  It must have driven him nuts!  Hee-hee!

Dan--I sympathize.  I think one of the reasons I stopped buying &/or
reading comics was stupid, contrived plotlines, changing things for
*no* reason.  (Can you tell I used to be an X-Men fan?)  Things either
get thrown in the trash & completely rewritten for no apparent reason,
OR absolutely nothing changes.  Ever.  Kitty Pride must have been 14
for 10 years!  It's what made Sandman so appealing--Dream changed.  Not
enough, in the end, but he changed.  Characters died *and stayed
dead*!  Bloody revolutionary, that.

Oh, my God, I'm turning into Dennis Miller--2 rants in one post.  I
need sleep.  

<Waves at Neil>  It was sweet of you to come by!  Good writing vibes
your way!  Do writers have a patron saint? she asks herself......must
ask Mad Denny the Priest a'Sunday...<goes off mumbling>


Mary (reading Hemlock at Vespers by Peter Tremayne)
  

    

I have been told that Ganesh is the patron saint of writers and thieves.
  

    <scribbled by dfowlkes Tue 3 Jul 12 10:14>
  

    
Mary -- Just his feet? How funny. :)

I'm pretty sure that I qualify as a non-band band geek. It always
seemed like the people I hung out with, or dated, were always in the
band. Never could hack it myself, though. I can train myself, after
much repetition, not to sound too bad singing, but that seems to be the
limit of it.

Maure -- That is terrific.
  

    
Mary - That whole dying and coming back thing, and the changing for no
good reason thing really killed my enjoyment of some of the mainstream
comics. I loved Ghost Rider, but around the same time as they
destroyed 2099, they reinvented his origins... completely disregarding
the past few years of development and even gave him a new costume
(which I noticed vanished about six months later based on the covers).
This was around the same time as the Spider-Man clone mess.

It's a horrible thing when something you really enjoy becomes
ruined...

Danguy - there's always Amazon.... just to get you started...
  

    
Dan --
The Superman-like guy in Astro City is called The Samaritan.  He's got
a tougher job than the classic Man of Steel.
  

    
Okay, I'm confused.  Didn't someone post about playing the clarinet
recently?  Am I now dreaming Mob folk, too?

Maure: How fabulously subversive of you!

It's outrageous that we all carry so much baggage from band!  We must
free ourselves!
 
     *

Public Service Announcement:  The Barking Mad Mob will be howling at
the full moon on Wednesday, February 26, in a collective attempt to
express our latent band trauma.  Harmony skills not required.  Former
flute players will be required to prove that they never won any class
popularity elections.  Sympathy howls from those disturbed by dating
band members also welcome.
  

    
OK, y'all, here's the deal.  All of you crazy Iron Giant fans, please
email me if you are interested in obtaining a foam-core 2-D (there are
two levels to it) Iron Giant poster that is very pretty.  it's a trade
show or theatre type of item and is completely brand new, and is all in
shades of blue.  I promise you will like it.  If you can, please email
me ASAP, as I need to place the order.  if you don't take them, they
will be destroyed soon.  i am pretty sure i will be able to send them
to you for free.  WHOOPEE!!

Pam- I will be attending said event, and I will mourn. Oh, and it
won't be hard to prove my past dorkiness.  PAST!  I said it was in the
PAST!  I'm supercool now.  hehe.  
  

    
BTW: Adriana and Jinx--I'm trying to reach you via email.  Please
check your inbox.  Thanks!
  

    
Astro City...I really miss that comic.  And The Samaritan was an
analogous to Superman but with a twist, he loved flying but got to any
destination in an instant. 

Mary - Don't give up on comics yet.  There are few out there worth
reading such as Alan Moore's "Promethea" and "Top Ten"; Terry Moore's 
"Strangers in Paradise" and David Lapham's "Stray Bullets."  I recently
returned to "The Amazing Spiderman" because J. Michael Straczynski of
Babylon 5 is doing a mighty fine job with one of my favorite heroes. 
And I've heard good news about 

Harlequin Valentine...wow..yet another wonderful collaboration with
John Bolton.  Couldn't wait 'til Valentine's Day to read mine. ;>
  

    
Mary - See what happens when the phone rings and you don't finish a
sentence?  Anyway, I've heard good news about the Marvel Knights
imprint recently.  Always had a soft spot for Green Arrow and rumor has
it that Kevin Smith is doing a good job.  And one last recommendation
try "100 Bullets" by Brian Azzarello.  Gritty, bare-knuckled and damn
good.  
  

    
DanGuy, if you don't mind e-bay, check for Preacher collections there.
I've been consistently finding both Preacher and Sandman for a little
cheaper than Amazon, even with shipping and all. Plus many of them are
on "buy it now" auctions, which are infinitely preferable to having to
fight tooth and nail for stuff. 

Bill- thank goodness. I was starting to think I was the only high
school choir person here. I did, however, date a couple of guys in band
and tended to hang out with band people. For some reason they were
infinitely more fun than the choir people (most of whom couldn't carry
a tune in a bucket *siiiiiigh*).

Oooohhh...thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. Now i'll have even
more things to read this summer (well, in between pedagogy and Middle
Welsh classes). No time now, unfortunately; much too busy reading such
fascinating texts as Pseudo-Albertus Magnus' "Women's Secrets,"
Trotula's "Diseases of Women," and various and sundry female writers
from the English Renaissance. Have I mentioned how much i love being a
grad student? 
  

    
My husband is dropping not-so-subtle hints that maybe, just maybe I
shouldn't buy HV until after Valentine's Day, so I'm doing the
hand-sitting, nail-biting, knee-bobbing thing to try to keep from
buying it before then.

Here's just a little giggle from my blog, for Neildom.

http://www.xanga.com/item.asp?user=Pamela_bird&tab=weblogs&uid=804906

Wishing everybody a bright weekend.