Paul Du Noyer and Comics

For those of you who are unaware as to who Paul Du Noyer is, he is an author and a journalist and has been an editor for magazines such as NME and Q and has helped launch magazines such as MOJO, Heat and The Word. He has written books such as We All Shine On, Liverpool: Wondrous Place and his latest book In The City: A Celebration of London Music. He was at the Cornerstone Festival at Liverpool Hope University as part of Food For Thought and was in conversation with Gobshite Miscellany's Paddy Hoey last week commenting on the difference between the Liverpool and London music scene specifically how London's music scene was geared more towards a narrative while Liverpool's music scene went in the opposite direction being more surreal.

During the course of the hours conversation Paul offered ideas and theories about how the music from the cities had evolved from the positions the two cities had been in, such as the newstellers in ye olde London telling the public what was happening in the capital and how modern artists continued that trend by informing people about modern London life while Liverpool's past was linked to immigration and how they weren't able to move on and so music became the only means of escapism.

Now I know what you're thinking; "How does a conversation about the difference in two cities music scenes relate to comics?" The answer is it doesn't however after listening to the conversation last week I began thinking about other examples of two parallel scenarios and that's when I came up with the comics analogy.

Right now I would compare the two major comic book companies Marvel and DC in this scenario Marvel is like London in its storytelling, it goes from one story to the next with little or no break in between and likes to ground itself in realism while DC is like Liverpool it has a tendency to delve into the surreal and provides an escapism from reality.

Marvel has become an expanding media empire intent on making money from digital comics, motion comics and its own films. Du Noyer said that the musicians moved to London primarily to reinvent themselves and to make money from that reinvention and Marvel has set about doing that, at the beginning of this century Marvel were practically bankrupt but by launching the Ultimate comics range they retold their popular characters origins to a new audience which sparked a reintrest in the core Marvel titles and their flagship title is now New Avengers, because it features Marvel's most popular characters Spider-Man and Wolverine. Marvel also likes to constantly reinvent its status quo's giving its universe a more unified front from the registration act that came from Civil War to the mistrust in Secret Invasion and now it is a place where the Green Goblin is in charge.

While DC is notorious for its constant reinvention with it's Crisis's resetting certain status quo's, it is akin to Liverpool's music scene as it isn't widely recognised or played up, much like Liverpool's reluctance to play up the popularity of The Beatles. DC has had sleeper hits with The Sinestro Corps Wars which ran in the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps books in 2007. DC's storytelling is less decompressed than Marvel's allowing for stories to be told in an finite number of issues such as Batman and Robin's three issue story arcs. It has also led to surreal narratives such as Grant Morrison's use of channel-zapping which he explained as:

"With Final Crisis and especially with issue 7, I’ve been working towards this storytelling technique I’m calling channel-zapping comics. Why spend a page on a scene when you can press all the same buttons with a single loaded panel? Why waste readers’ time on every mind-numbing detail of story when you can blitz them with the good bits and move onto the next thing?"
Grant Morrison- talking to comic foundry http://comicfoundry.com/?p=1693

While there is no right or wrong way about writing music or creating comics, everyone has their own preferences, I admit to enjoying the sounds of Liverpool's music as the lyrics don't necessarily have to mean one thing, but I also enjoy the progressive story London musicians tell with their lyrics and music. However the same can't be said for comics, right now I find the escapist vibe DC has in it's stories much more appealing than Marvel's constant reinvention mainly because Marvel spends less time examining its status quo before moving on to it's next one, mainly because of the decompressed stories it's writers tell. But that's something for another blog.

Spoiler Alert

The Doctor: These books are from your future. You wanna read all ahead, spoil the surprises, not peeking at the end.
Donna: Isn't travelling with you one big spoiler?
The Doctor: I try to keep you away from major plot developments.
From the Doctor Who episode Silence in the Library

The Doctor: River, you know my name. You whispered my name in my ear. There's only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name. There's only one time I could…
Professor River Song: Hush now. Spoilers.
From the Doctor Who episode Forest of the Dead

Spoilers have probably been around as long as modern forms of entertainment have, perhaps even longer whether its sneaking a peak at the end of a whodunnit to see who actually did it or giving away plot details of a recent film. When Psycho was being released in the sixties Alfred Hitchcock came up with different measures for stopping audiences from knowing anything about the film going as far as buying as many copies of the book the film was based on and sending messages to theater bosses instructing them not to allow anyone in to be admitted into the film once it had begun. There were even advertisements in newspapers that told people to not give away the ending as it is the only one they had.

With the internet containing pretty much everything on it these days spoilers are easily accessible especially when you consider that Hollywood films, TV shows and comics are generally released in the US before they are released in the UK which means that blogs and forums (or even Wikipedia) which are frequented by American's will contain some spoilers. Often the spoiler tag is there and so users have the choice as to whether or not they click onto the link. Of course with adaptations there is the case of having experienced the original and knowing what happens in it but there is also the case of experiencing it in a new form.

Having the choice whether or not to click for spoilers can be a double edged sword, on the one hand it may entice you enough to check something out, but then its a case of seeing if something lives up to the expectations that have been built up by the spolier.

I used to enjoy being spoilt by spoilers, it often helped me decide whether or not to grab a comic, or to go see a film/TV show based on the spoilers posted by users on the internet. However while it has gotten me into things I may or may not have tried myself, it has also ruined what I was once enjoying because there isn't a surprise anymore, now its more 'lets get to the part of the story that everyones talking about' so I've gone cold turkey from spoilers. While watching all five series of The Wire I was able to resist the urge to read about what happens to characters and so when something did happen it was unexpected and made the experience of watching the show much more enjoyable. In comparison I was reading the spoilers for DC Comic's latest event Blackest Night the day the comics where being released in the US (Wednesday) before going to check it out in stores the day after, often leaving it behind.

But how about you? Do you like being spoiled? Or do you hate it when someone talks about something your interested in?

Disney's takeover of Marvel. A view.

This week there has been a lot of talk about Disney's recent takeover of Marvel Entertainment, theres been much talk about the future of the Marvel characters that fans know and love, many fans feel that Disney will gain creative control of the content of the comic pages, watering down the storylines to satisfy a younger audience.

While it is true the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "Disney" is the likes of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and lately Hannah Montana and High School Musical, products that are geared towards children and pre-teens, what most don't realise is that Disney also owns Miramax which distributes films such as Pulp Fiction, Gangs of New York and City of God, hardly films which are suitable for children.

Marvel's biggest rival DC Comics is owned by Warner Bros which also produces content for children as well as adults. Warner's influence on DC editorial is minimal if that, what Warner Bros does do is allow DC the oppurtunity to keep low selling titles off the chopping block for a little while longer than normal because of the financial backing and support it recieves from Warner Bros allowing titles such as Manhunter to get several chances of publication. DC also has the Vertigo imprint which prints comics aimed at mature readers with no demands by Warner to tone down the content which may give comfort to fans of Marvel's Mature Readers line Marvel Max.

In short Disney's $4 billion takeover of Marvel should help it in several ways, within the comics division of Marvel Entertainment low selling titles will have a slightly longer shelf life than what they normally would have had and as such can get an extra boost to keep it on the shelf with new storylines or crossovers with titles that sell better. With the help of Disney Animation/Pixar, Marvel can begin experimenting and creating more Motion Comics with better animation skills and the benefit of a larger pool of voice actors to utilise. Finally Marvel Studios will have access to considerably more funds to get movie projects into production without the need to rely on the success of previously released films and comic sales to help generate extra income, which means that budgets for films like Thor and The Avenger's can not only help pay the actors but also fund greater special effects.

Another benefit of the takeover is now Disney has something to market to pre-teen boys, which it has noticably been lacking with franchises such as High School Musical and Hannah Montana being one of the main focuses of Disney's marketing.

There is one company who may not benefit from this merger, independent comic company BOOM Studios is currently printing several Disney/Pixar titles including Mickey Mouse and Friends, The Muppet Show Comic Book and The Incredibles. It is unclear whether BOOM Studios will be allowed to continue to publish these comics once the current contract (which was agreed upon in 2008) runs out.

Doing Weekly Comics Strongly

You have to praise DC Comics for having guts, since 2006 DC have released a 52 week long series every year on time and with varying degrees of success (52, Countdown To Final Crisis and Trinity) this year however, they have changed their weekly comic (Wednesday Comics) not only in length (12 issues over 12 weeks instead of 52 issues over 52 weeks) but they have also changed the format as well.

Instead of the traditional comic format Wednesday Comics is about the size of a newspaper broadsheet (28" x 20") cleverly folded in the disguise of a normal comic (7" x 10"). It looks like a pull out comic strip section of a newspaper (like the Scottish Sunday Post) Wednesday Comics has 15 one page stories featuring ongoing adventures of some well known DC heroes like Superman, Batman and The Flash as well as the less well know characters like Kamandi and Adam Strange and written and drawn by some of DC's top talent like writer Kurt Busiek (who had recently finished scripting the latest weekly comic Trinity) author Neil Gaiman and Watchmen artist and former Green Lantern Corps writer Dave Gibbons as well as art from Amanda Connor (currently drawing Power Girl), Mike Alldred and legendary comic artist Joe Kubert as well as many others.

The great thing about Wednesday Comics is that it is completely accessible, you don't need to know whats going on in DC Comics to pick it up and read it. Most of the strips have a Silver Age feel to them, largely due to the colouring which has a that 60's retro feel to it (especially with The Flash strip) and because of the size of the comic, the images have a bit more space to breathe without being attacked for space by the word balloons the only exception to this is the Wonder Woman strip which feels cluttered.

Overall the first issue of Wednesday Comics has some interesting setups and what look to be fun stories, USA Today has already announced it will upload the Superman tale every week on their website (Week 1 is already online) which is great for those who can't get to a comic shop every week but the comic is something I will be grabbing every week because it is a bold and different way to read and enjoy comics.

Holy Belated Birthday Batman!!!

On May the second 1939 Detective Comics issue 27 hit the stands, introducing the world to a new 'superhero' just one year after the emergence of Superman, Batman (or as he was addressed back then The Bat-Man) introduced in the tale "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," which was written and drawn by Bob Kane.

Batman continued in Detective Comics despite getting his own comic in 1940 until very recently in issue 853 (Batwoman takes over from issue 854 onwards) during his time in Detective Comics, characters of great importance (such as Dick Grayson aka Robin and later Nightwing, Two Face, The Riddler and The Penguin) made their first appearances in Detective Comics.

Surprisingly though Batman's origins weren't explored until issue 33 of Detective Comics, in the comic we saw Bruce Wayne's parents get gunned down by a man called Joe Chill and with the death of his parents Batman was born.

Entering the Silver Age of comics, Batman's adventures would stray from the detective tales into the weird during the 50's from becoming a 'Zebra Batman' becoming Bat-Baby to meeting his alien counterpart Tlano from the planet Zur En Arrh who was inspired to become Batman of Zur En Arrh after observing the real Batman in action.

Perhaps the most popular period for Batman was during the 60's with the arrival of the TV Show which saw Batman portrayed by Adam West, and introducing everyone to the dance known as the Battusi and the concept of Shark Repellent Spray. While Batman was camping it up on the small screen the comics also took a similar direction however Batman shunned the camp look in the 70's with the help of writer Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams who presented readers with a darker, broodier Batman.

The comics would get darker still in the 80's with the release of Tim Burton's Batman film, Frank Miller's Year One story and Dark Knight Returns tale, the latter showed an old, retired Bruce Wayne return to cape and cowl and renew his war on crime. The 80's also saw Batman lose two of his companions to the menace of his arch nemesis The Joker, first in the one shot Killing Joke written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland saw the Joker shoot, cripple and abuse Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl and in the story Death In The Family saw new Robin, Jason Todd (Dick Grayson was forced to relinquish the Robin identity after a near death experience fighting Two-Face but became Nightwing in the pages of The Teen Titans) being killed in an explosion which was triggered by The Joker.

It wasn't just The Joker who killed Todd, it was also DC Comics fans who voted for the characters death by phoning a special number to either keeping Jason Todd alive or killing him, the votes were close with about a 28 vote difference. Though Todd would return years later it'd have an effect on Batman who didn't want to put another child through the dangers the Caped Crusader faced until Tim Drake deduced Batman's true identity and even worked out that Dick Grayson was Robin and after convincing Bruce that Batman needed a Robin as a balance, Tim became the third Robin.

Bruce Wayne hasn't always been under the cowl, in the 1993-1994 tale Knightfall saw new Hero Azrael take over the cowl after Batman ended up paralysed by an attack from villain Bane, although Bruce returned to reclaim the cowl after he was healed and when Azrael began acting crazy. Nightwing was given the cowl for a short while afterwards as Bruce wasn't fully recovered from his injuries but later came back and helped restore order to Gotham after it was hit by a quake and declared a No Mans Land.

Recently Batman has had to face different challenges, such as a rebellious son named Damian (who was raised by Talia Al Ghul, Ra's Al Ghul's daughter and the mother of Damian and trained by the League of Assassins) and a Club of Villains led by Dr Hurt who may or may not be Bruce Wayne's father Thomas Wayne (who according to 'Thomas' faked his own death) drugging Batman and leaving him on the streets of Gotham as a hobo, only for his crazy Zur En Arrh persona to take over. The Zur En Arrh persona was intended as a back up persona if Bruce's mind was ever corrupted to a severe degree, it also caused him see a being from another dimension called Bat-Mite. The final battle between a recovered Batman and Dr Hurt ended with a helicopter crash in water, at first everyone thought Batman was dead but Final Crisis proved to be the real 'death' of Batman being 'killed' by the Villain Darkseid who used something called the Omega Sanction which supposedly kills the person it hits but allows them to live a thousand lives, each one more miserable than the last however Batman was able to kill Darkseid at the same time.

Whether Bruce Wayne is actually dead or not remains to be seen though there is someone wearing Batman's costume in the past drawing the Bat-Symbol in caves.

However the Batman tales haven't ended there as a new Batman has emerged in Gotham City, fighting crime with Robin by his side. The man behind the cowl is Dick Grayson, who initially turned down the cape at the request of Bruce's will but after Jason Todd, who came back to life, began wearing an armoured version of the Bat suit and using guns to fight crime (something the real Batman would never have resorted to, except in very early stories) Dick became convinced that the world still needed Batman, and has chosen Damian Wayne to take on the role of Robin, leaving the current Robin (Tim Drake) to forge his own path, which has yet to be seen (though there are speculations that he will become Red Robin). The original hero may not be behind the mask but as long as someone is willing to continue the legacy of the Bat, and from Batman issue 666, Damian Wayne will some day take on the mantle that his father and also his mentor Dick wore to fight injustice in Gotham City.