Myth Understanding

Amazing Spider-Man's New Poster

2011-12-09T23:49:00.001-05:00

I have to say, I love this poster. As far as posters go, this actually gets me excited. It's very, very simple. The spider symbol is something that is recognizable. I remember when the first Batman movie came out and the poster was simply the Batman symbol. That was all that was needed. For Spider-Man, the spider symbol is almost as recognizable, and everyone who is going to see the movie knows that this symbol means.

But I look at this poster and I know what this movie is about. It's about the person inside the superhero costume. And in some ways, the spider is a menacing figure in the poster. This poster tells me that this movie is meant to be about Peter Parker dealing with the whole "with great power comes great responsibility" idea, like the best comic book stories. In theory, if not in execution.

The imagery of the poster makes me want to see this movie. But . . .

The words! As a writer of comics, I often get caught up in the question, "Which is more important in a comic book, the artist or the writer?" "Writing or art?" (Answer: yes.) But the art and the writing should work together, and words on the page should serve to enhance the art and tell you something the art cannot. And the words on this poster, well, the something they tell me that the art cannot? "The untold story"? What's that supposed to mean? What story are they trying to tell? Are they trying to say they are going to tell a new story? Well, I hope so. Maybe they are trying to reassure people that yes, this is going back to tell the origin story but they are going to tell it in a different way? I hope so!

(One other thing makes me want to see this movie: Andrew Garfield. Everything I've seen him do, he has done phenomenally.)

Anyway, this poster looks great. If you want to see a bigger version, you can go to Superhero Hype here.

What do you think? Do we really need another origin story for this character? Especially considering he's got about the easiest origin to tell: dude gets bit by radioactive spider, dude gets spider powers. There, I did it . . . on with the story!

~ Ben

11/22/63 ... a book review, but not THAT book!

2011-11-22T21:51:00.113-05:00

So today is the anniversary of three deaths. JFK was shot on this day in 1963. Also, Aldous Huxley (author of Brave New World, among other books) died of an intentionally lethal overdose of LSD. In 1963. Finally, C.S. Lewis (author of the Narnia books) died on this day, as a result of a long battle with kidney disease. In 1963.

A couple weeks ago, one of the best-selling American authors of all time released a book entitled 11/22/63, about a time traveller who intends to stop the events of that date. You've probably guessed it has to do with the Kennedy assassination, not the two British authors. I haven't read the book (it's a brick -- seriously, a couple hundred copies of that book and I could build a garage) but that's okay, because that's not the book dealing with this date that I'm writing about for this blog post.

No, the book I'm writing about -- and recommending -- is called Between Heaven & Hell: A Dialogue Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis, & Aldous Huxley. Written by philosopher and C.S. Lewis scholar Peter Kreeft, the book is a modern Socratic dialogue between these three men.

Kreeft uses each of the men to express a different philosophy and a different view of who Christ was. Kennedy represents a modern American "Christian", or "humanist Christian" as Kreeft puts it. Someone who believes Christ existed and was wise, but that Jesus was not God and miracles were exaggerations of Christ's true actions. Huxley represents a universal philosophy, one that makes Christ's teachings an expression of universal truth, but not THE expression of THE truth. And Lewis represents "mere Christianity", the common and essential beliefs of Christians and the catholic (little "c" is intended here) church.

The book itself is brilliant. Sometime after these deaths on 11/22/63, these three men meet . . . somewhere "between heaven and hell". As the title suggests. Of course, their actual location becomes a matter of debate. As their conversation continues, they begin discussing "life, the universe, and everything" (not in those words). Questions arise about Jesus' divinity and whether someone can be intellectually honest if they merely believe Jesus to be a good teacher, the historicity of the Bible, free will, and what does "truth" even mean?

The book tackles deep questions and gives deep answers. It's a dense book, too, packing a lot into its 100 pages. But it gets you thinking. It gets you asking these questions. It gets you mulling over the answers.

It's all imaginary. Yes, yes, I know, obviously it is imaginary. But that's not what I mean. This isn't a matter of Kreeft creating a true "dialogue" through the manipulation of three men's writings. Rather, he casts these three men in representations of an argument, as opposed to the arguers themselves. Using these three famous men, who all happened to die on the same day, as a storytelling device, he crafts an engaging and dramatic conversation. In Kreeft's own words, "the purpose of the dialog is not historical accuracy; the argument is all, as it is with Plato's Socrates." Thus, Kennedy, who rarely spoke publicly about his religious beliefs becomes a symbol for modern "casual Christianity". Only when reading Lewis' lines, which contain numerous allusions to his famous writings about why Christianity can claim to be Truth (capital "T" also intentional), did I feel that this might actually have been what he would have said. (I've not read anything by Kennedy, and my knowledge of Huxley is limited to a few readings of Brave New World over a decade ago.)

So I do recommend it. I recommend it to people who are Christians and want to explore answers to some of the questions being posed to them about their faith. (And these are important questions. Christians are, too often, afraid to approach some questions. Perhaps because they are afraid that the answer might invalidate their beliefs?) I recommend it to people who are not Christians, but wonder how anyone could possibly believe such hogwash as a man who claimed to be God.

But beyond saying it's a good book, with a lot of meaning, I'd also like to recommend HOW you read it. Take your time. Reread some of the passages. It's a short book, perhaps an afternoon read. But I said before it is dense. Every sentence builds on the last, as arguments are made, challenges given, and answers explained. But don't let that deter you. Rather, embrace that and use exercise some of your extra brain muscle.

~ Ben

U2 and the JLA (thoughts on digital media)

2011-11-17T00:26:00.006-05:00

I’m looking through the iTunes store, and something catches my eye. It’s a featured album, it’s only $7.99, and seems to be some sort of benefit for a charity.

The title? “AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered”.

The contents? Every song from U2′s “Achtung Baby”, covered by a different artist. Some of the names I recognized. Others, I have no idea who they are. Most of them — even the names I recognized — were performers that, even though I had heard OF them, I had never heard. NIN and Jack White and Gavin Friday being the expections.

But they were all much more well known that the bands on that old cover album I bought years ago. And I like U2. And it was for a good cause.

And hey, I bought and liked Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark.

So I bought “AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered”. And you know what? It’s not bad. How’s that for a blazing review. My entire review might as well be “it could be worse”.

Truth is, it COULD be worse. I know, I’ve bought worse.

So this gets me poking around a little bit more, and I find iTunes has the Achtung Baby remastered album. Now, I already have the album. I already have most of the b-sides from the singles of this album. But there were a few I didn’t recognize. A look back at my library and I find that, indeed, I do not have two of the tracks.

Well, I do now.

Then I looked at the Joshua Tree remastered album, and there are some tracks there that I don’t have.

Again, I do now.

Some of these are tracks I have heard of, and others of them I didn’t know existed. But here were these songs, songs I will enjoy over and over again, available to me for the first time. Yes, just $1 a piece for a song and a smile and a legal way to listen to what, up until know (to my knowledge) has only been available conveniently and cheaply as illegal downloads. I can;t say for certain, because the truth is I haven’t looked.

What a world we live in! A world of technology and wonder!

And this is where digital comics need to start catching up! For just yesterday, I was looking for a way to read (again, legally) an old storyline from the Justice League of America series. It’s a long story, but basically I heard some guys on a podcast talking about the story, and I realized they were talking about a comic book I owned when I was a kid! I had always wanted to know what happened — I had part one of the story, and it ended on a cliffhanger. I thought it was a two part story, but here I find out it was actually a five parter! A mini-series. A graphic novel length story involving time travel and alternate universes.

I wanted to read it.

ebay had the other four comics I was missing for $5 each, plus $5 shipping. And that was the cheaper sellers. I wasn’t paying $40. Mile High Comics was more reasonable, with the comics coming in at $3 to $6, and My Comic Shop had about the same pricing.

Then I had an epiphany. What about digital downloads? How cool would that be? Just look it up in DC Comics’ Comixology app! Download and read ‘em on my iPad.

No luck. The catalogue just doesn’t go that deep. And then I thought about the pricing. For this storyline, I probably would have paid the $1.99 they are charging for old comic issues. But as I started digging around and looking at some of the other, older comics they had, I just wasn’t inclined to buy a digital file for $1.99 to $3.99. I don’t know if that says more about me than it says about them.

With U2, I made an impulse buy. I didn’t think twice about buying a small handful of songs for $.99 each. These are things I will be going back to, maybe not over and over again intentionally, but they are now in my U2 playlist, and they will get randomly played when I’m in the mood for some U2.

With the comics? Am I just a cheapskate? But the truth is, unless a comic makes a big, big impression on me, I’m not going to go back and re-read it. That $1.99 price (or $2.99 or $3.99 for new comics) is just high enough to keep me from making an impulse buy of something I'm never going to read again. And their catalogue is just limited enough (“limited” to well known characters and stories — it’s just not deep enough to get to the obscure kinds of things I like) to keep me from finding the things I would pay more for. (I do understand there are technical details that set price tag and content where they are.)

Meanwhile, in other media, we have movies. Netflix is a science fiction lovers dream, with complete series like Dr. Who and Stargate and every single Star Trek episode from every single series. But for movies and television, with much more dollars at stake than anyone else, they still seem to be dragging their feet in fully embracing the brace new world of digital media. (I can’t speak to books, because I really haven’t bought any books to read on my iPad, so I haven’t searched or browsed. But I do know that my own books from Zondervan are available as digital downloads.)

As for the story? Justice League #s 207, 208, and 209 and All-Star Squadron #14 and 15 (I think)? I can live without them. But maybe I can find them on the cheap at a comic convention in the near future . . . maybe even for less than a dollar . . . and on paper!

What do you say?How has your “media consumption” changed in the new frontier of the digital age?

~ Ben

For $15 and $13, I honestly recommend both of these albums, even if you already have the albums, because of the extra 14 tracks of rare material they come with. These are two of the greatest albums ever, so if you don't have the albums, well, you should. Or, do like I did and get the individual tracks you may not have through iTunes . . .

You Know What? I'm OK with (some of) DC's Character Redesigns . . .

2011-11-15T23:36:00.000-05:00

So, yes, I'm mainly talking about Superman.

Because I don't care about, say, Animal Man. He was never an icon. And yes, Harley Quinn's redesign is pretty atrocious. I don't even know about the character and I hate the redesign.

And Batman, Flash, Aquaman . . . they're basically the same. But for Batman, his costume has changed over time. He has benefited from the movies (starting with Burton's Batman until, most recently, The Dark Knight) because having your character in front of millions of people worldwide and looking different in the comic . . . well, the comic has to follow that example. Batman has followed trends and set trends.

Superman? His costume barely changed for the television series and the first four movies and Lois and Clark and the cartoons, and Superman Returns didn't do much to push forward the character's fashion sense.

To be clear, I love the classic Superman design. I truly, truly do. But, that said, I understand why they redesigned him. And I somewhat agree.

The original Superman outfit was based on (my opinion) circus strongmen and trapeze artists. It was, like the character, very much a part of the times. And in that time, it was cool.

The costume has changed a little since he first came on the scene . . . but not much. (For an overview of the costume change over time, check out these guys: The Superman Costumes.) I would almost say the costume became something timeless, but that's not quite true. It was became somewhat ridiculous until Christopher Reeve managed to wear it sincerely and without irony. He made it work, and he made it work well, because he believed that a man who could do all the things Superman can do and wanted to do all the things Superman did do would wear those clothes.

That was the good old days, though. The days when people could be earnest, not cynical. The days when someone could wear tights and a cape and colored briefs that matched the cape over those tights . . .

No. They couldn't. We were forgiving. We accepted it and moved on, but now we've seen it all before and seen it all a lot and as talented as artists are, truth is, we just don't suspend our disbelief in the same way.

So we get armored Superman. And I'm okay with that. I'm not reading the comic (hey, I'm not MADE of money!) but I'm okay that they've changed my Superman.

Although I still think Wonder Woman should wears pants. Because, as impractical as it is for men to wear underwear on the outside, it's absolutely practical for woman to ONLY wear underwear. Right?

~ Ben

Green Lantern is a movie about Hollywood . . .

2011-11-10T17:03:00.063-05:00

I finally saw Green Lantern. For those who don't know, it's a superhero sci-fi fantasy action movie about Hal Jordan, who is given a ring (and a lantern, which charges the ring) that can create anything Hal can imagine using the power of green (also known as willpower) . . . which comes with a price: he is now a member of an intergalactic police force.

The premise has a lot or promise, and could easily be something really fun and interesting or truly awful. Amazingly, though, using the Hollywood power of green (also known as money) it's not either.

Here's my review: you know that kid that was always in your class who just coasted through school and never went beyond what they had to do in order to get by, even though they were talented and intelligent and maybe good looking? Who could have really contributed to society or been very successful if only they had applied themselves? But who slid through and never really did anything to live up to their true potential?

That's Green Lantern. Not the character, the movie. End of review.

But thinking about it, I had some more thoughts I've been trying to sort through. Green Lantern embodies something beyond a simple "good" or "bad" statement of opinion. (Don't get me wrong -- the following is still opinion. I'm fully aware of that.)

The movie itself is half-hearted and goes through all the motions that superhero movies are supposed to go through . . . and tries to be both Superman the Movie and Iron Man (the first one), but does so without really knowing what made either of those movies work. On a purely technical level, it works, and on a conceptual level, it works, but all the in between stuff -- you know, scripting and acting and filming and effects -- just doesn't gel.

An outline of the basic storyline would look good. "A" happens, then "B", then "C", which was caused by "A", and "B" and "C" together make "D" happen. But four people wrote the movie, and it feels like it has four different tones and four different characterizations for the main cast.

This bothers me. It doesn't bother me as much as the kid I was talking about above (who I sometimes WAS when I was in school and who I came across many, many times when I was teaching school . . . and still do, even out of that setting). Because that kid is a living human being with a future and with a family and who is a part of society. No, Green Lantern is a story. A $200 million story. And if you've read my blog at all, you know that I believe that stories have power. Sadly, the power this story had was wasted.

That's my general feeling about Green Lantern, and as I was thinking about it and all the wasted potential I started thinking about something more metaphorical. Green Lantern is a movie about itself. Green Lantern is about big, expensive, Hollywood movies.

Here is a character who has the power to create whatever he can imagine, and when he does imagine things it just lacks . . . imagination. I know that something like this runs the risk of looking like a Looney Toons cartoon, and we already have a superhero movie like that in The Mask. But I just found myself being underwhelmed by it all. Once or twice, I thought the things he was doing were clever. The other times, it just felt bland.

And, going to that other power of green, the one that the movie's producers have, they could have done anything their imaginations dreamed up as well. But I just found myself being underwhelmed by it all. Once or twice, I thought the things he was doing were clever. The other times, it just felt bland.

That's when it struck me: Green Lantern, in all it's mediocre blandness, is a movie ABOUT ITSELF! And, in a bigger picture sense, about Hollywood blockbusters.

I have a long list of things that should have been done differently to make Green Lantern better, but what scares me is that there are a LOT of people who are MUCH smarter than I am who worked on this movie . . . and this is still the end result.

So instead of Green Lantern, I recommend the follow movies that Green Lantern is trying to be:

Superman, which has the heart of heroism and all ages appeal . . .

Iron Man, which is edgy and has a strong, sarcastic, and confident "hero" at its core who has a lot of life lessons to learn:

The Mask, which has a more wacky, abut also more organic, variation on the superhero who can make anything he can imagine come into being:

Each of these films have flaws . . . but they also have a lot of heart.

~ Ben

Good News on the Planet of the Apes

2011-11-03T23:37:00.000-04:00

Hmmm. The title sounds like a pretty awful movie. "Good News on the Planet of the Apes".

But the truth is . . . I'm pretty excited about this little tidbit of news I saw people talking about on ye ol' internet:

Andy Serkis plans to reprise his roll as Caeser on the planet of the apes sequel.

Actually, it's two bits of news. First, they've signed Serkis to do it. Which means they're getting ready to do it. Whether they do it or not is another story -- a Hollywood story in which nothing is certain until it happens, and even then sometimes it's not certain. But they are getting ready to. This is good news.

The other good news is that the main team behind bringing Rise of the Planet of the Apes to the screen is going to be behind the sequel. The writers, the director, and of course, Andy Serkis.

I really, really liked Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It was a quiet, thoughtful character driven sci-fi action film. It felt like an independent film with epic scope. And almost everyone I talked to about it (all six or seven of them) were ready to see more when the closing credits came. And the ending of the movie was a game changer, promising a sequel that pushed the character of Caesar, and the story of the world, into new places.

As much as I love the originals (and I do, very, very much) I'm ready for this sequel . . .

What about you? How did you like the new sequel? Is this good new or bad?

~ Ben

Yesterday Was Wednesday ... and that meant new comics!

2011-10-27T23:39:00.000-04:00

So here's what interested me from the comic shelves yesterday . . .

Oooo, scary . . .

Surprised that Aquaman was on my list? You wouldn't be if you read my initial thoughts on DC Comics going back and starting over all their series. Aquaman is one of my favorite characters and I'm glad to see him get a bit of a new life.

But after reading the second chapter, does this look like this series can float? (Sorry . . .) The answer is yes. I enjoyed it. The threat that was briefly introduced last issue (to make room for introducing the main character) is front and center in this issue.

The one thing I'm waiting for, though, is a character arc. I'm not seeing where the character of Aquaman is going or growing yet. I just don't know what's at stake for the character. The plot of the story should reflect and push the growth of the character. That doesn't mean it won't happen, because this is a weakness of any serialized storytelling, as chapter builds on chapter.

The other problem I had? This was SHORT! Twenty pages for $2.99.

So I'm intrigued and interested and ready for chapter 3.

Oh, and look into the eyes of the creature on that cover . . . do you see it? Yes . . . it's issue #1's cover! Apparently, creatures from the Trench are reading DC's new 52 as well . . .

See that ring on his hand? I got one with my purchase of this book! Of course, the rings don't actually appear INSIDE the book. Guess they needed to put it on the cover for the promotion to make sense . . .

Last week was ALL Legion of Super-heroes. You can read my thoughts about it here. And when I picked them up last week, I thought those three series (yes, there are three series about these character: two ongoing, as part of DC Comics' New 52, and one mini-series crossover with Star Trek -- yes, I don't understand it either and after reading the first issue I still don't understand it, but it's there) were it. Well, turns out there's a fourth series -- a mini-series that will explore and explain the origins of the Legion of Super-heroes.

I'm hoping that it will explain everything I need to know to really be able to understand and follow the Legion of Super-heroes, but so far not so much. This story felt choppy and again, I can't help feeling that it has fallen prey to the "twenty pages of a longer story at a time" weakness.

But it does have some interesting elements -- the science fiction universe that is home to a legion of super-heroes premise is infecting me, I think.

Still, I feel that this one will be better if read as a whole story instead of chopped up into chapters.

I'm a casual fan of the Western and it's tropes. I've worked on a couple westerns in the past, and I read them occasionally, and enjoy a good Western movie. So All Star Western piqued my interest, but enough for me to buy it until I started hearing good things about it.

By then it was too late. The New 52 was sold out.

However, as I mentioned in an earlier post about the New 52, this month when each second issue arrives on shelves, reprints of the first issue are also being sold. Yesterday, All Star Western #2 came out . . . so I thought I'd give the first two issues a look.

First, these books were littered with references to modern day superheroes. It takes place in the 1800's, but the story itself focuses on bounty hunter Jonah Hex arriving in Gotham City to track down a serial killer. The mayor of Gotham City? Mayor Cobblepot (an ancestor of the Penguin). One of the city's wealthy elite? Alan Wayne. Issue 2 references a "Crime Bible", something I heard about in some mini-series or other a couple years ago. Hex's city slicker helper in Gotham? Amedeus Arkham, a psychologist (if not the founder of Arkham Asylum -- I don't know the Batman lore well enough -- than an ancestor of the founder).

It's a tense, gritty, violent book. Prostitutes are the killer's targets. Issue 2 features a bloody shoot out.

The art is highly stylized, though, and I don't find myself taking time to really absorb artwork unless it is really, really good, but here I did find myself looking at the bold line work.

It's a $3.99 book, unlike most of the other New 52 books. And it has a longer page count. Issue 1 was a longer first chapter, all Jonah Hex. Twenty-eight pages of story. Issue 2 had a twenty page Jonah Hex story continuing from issue 1, and an eight page El Diablo story.

El Diablo, also known as Lazarus Lane. (Any relation to Lois Lane? Can't help wondering.) It's an "Indian curse"/"zombie" story about Lane, who, when unconscious, has some sort of dark spirit that takes the physical form of a whip wielding Zorro clone? I don't understand, but since I'll probably be getting #3 to get the next chapter in Jonah Hex's story I may be finding out more.

Also this week:

Haven't read this yet, but it's a bunch (100 pages worth!) of short Jack Kirby stories from the beginning of his career. I love reading these kind of books. And I can't sing the praises of DC Comics Presents 100 Page Spectaculars enough!

And my kids LOVE the Smurf comics. More than the cartoons!

The movie, you ask? What movie? There's no Smurfs movie . . .

~ Ben

Round Up

2011-10-22T18:04:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in a while, and thought I'd do a little round up sharing what I've been u to lately.

First, I've been writing a couple different books for Kingstone Comics. I just finished a graphic novel documentary about the history of the Bible -- the actual book, how it was written, translated, and comes to us in its different forms today. I'm also writing the fourth, of twelve, chapter/issue of The Christ for Kingstone, which will be a comprehensive "life of Jesus" story.

Second, I've just finished writing a graphic novel about the life of Paul for Lamppost. The artwork has just started.

Watch this space for more details about when these books will be published.

Or you could watch this space: Ben Avery - storyteller. This is my Facebook "fan page" or whatever it is they are calling it. If you're on Facebook and you're interested in details about what I'm up to, this is the place to go. Just click "like". (I think that's what you're supposed to do . . . I'm still figuring it all out even though I've been on Facebook how long?)

I've also been involved in a a podcast -- which isn't news. Also not news -- we haven't recorded a new episode for a few months. What IS news is that we are going to be "rebooting" the podcast, and new episodes will be showing up early in November. The podcast is called The Fanboy Tollbooth, and it's a clean geek related podcast. I've been posting over there . . . although perhaps I should be posting some of those posts over here instead, since I've been letting this blog go a little.

But here are some posts that may be of interest:
Digital Comics: What They're Doing Right (sort of)
The Avengers Trailer - Meh? Or Yay!
DC's New 52? Giving comics and characters a facelift (about the DC Comics reboot)
New Comics: Legion of Super-heroes (reviewing four different Legion of Super-heroes comics)
Mama, just killed a man . . . with this SONG! (be careful with this one, once you see it . . . you can't UNsee it)

Visit FanboyTollbooth.com to read other articles and listening to our previous podcasts. You can also "like" the podcast on our Facebook page.

~ Ben

New Comics: Legion of Super-heroes

2011-10-21T23:40:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, I had a couple Superboy and the Legion of Super-heroes comic books. I liked them. They had Superboy and a bunch of cool looking characters. It was in space and in the future and, to someone excited about Star Wars and Superman it was a cool convergence of both.

Of course, I knew nothing about the cast of characters and the continuing story and I was very, very confused about what was going on. Both comics started in the middle of something . . . had some cool action . . . and ended on a cliffhanger.

I still like the concept, though, but like X-Men comics I never got into any of the many series because of all the backstory and the huge cast of characters. Reading comics over time I got to know some of the main characters and concepts.

In the comic shop yesterday, there were four different Legion of Super-heroes comics . . . and I thought this might be a chance to give it a try. Two of them, after all, were from the new 52 . . .

DC COMICS PRESENTS SUPERBOY'S LEGION

I decided to read this one first, since it was a reprint of an older Legion story.

I was very confused when I started reading it, because NOTHING went along with what I already knew about the characters, until I realized that it was actually an Elseworlds book: a stand alone story that has nothing to do with any continuity and is set in its own universe.

In the "real" Legion stories, super powered teens from the future are inspired to become superheroes by Superman's exploits in the present. In THIS story, Superman never existed because the rocket ship that carried him to Earth as a baby somehow went off course and wasn't found until the far future. So Kal-El lives in the future, has taken to calling himself Superboy (inspired by the OTHER superheroes from the present, who died early because Superman wasn't around) and Superboy now wants to build a "legion". Of "super-heroes".

I'm sure if I was more familiar with the Legion characters, I'd have found it even more clever than it was because of all the appearances of all the many characters. But as it is, I still found it quite interesting. It's a fun story, with super heroics and sci-fi ideas.

Recommended. The DC Comics Presents . . . series is a great deal. Each of these books is a 100 page "graphic novel" reprinting various classic and/or obscure story arcs from the past.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1 and #2

So this new series is one of the "new 52", like I mentioned in this previous post, and is supposed to be a great jumping on point.

It wasn't.

That's not to say it wasn't good. It was. And they worked to make it accessible, by carefully introducing characters as soon as you see them the first time, in both issues. But, just like my old Legion comics, coming into the first issue, the reader is coming into the middle of a story.

I did appreciate the science fiction elements, and it is well written.

But unlike the "Superboy's Legion" book I read just before this, where the initial confusion was intentional, here it was unavoidable because it is still tied to directly to the old Legion of Super-heroes stories.

Recommended if you are familiar with the characters and storyline, but not if you are coming in with no knowledge like me.

LEGION LOST #1 and #2

Coming into this series, I found the same problem as the previous series . . . but this time, it worked.

The first issue opens right in the middle of a story. A handful of the huge cast of superheroes from the future of the Legion has found itself trapped in the present. It's picking up from the same storyline Legion of Super-heroes picked up from, and the careful character introductions aren't there and somehow . . . I was drawn in.

Maybe I was okay feeling lost because "lost" was in the title?

Supposedly, time travel is no longer possible in the "new 52" DC universe, and these characters are stuck. "Men out of time", so to speak. I liked it.

Recommended.

STAR TREK/LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES

It's geek fodder. "Who would win in a fight, Freddy or Jason?" "What if aliens fought predators?" "Wouldn't it be brilliant ifIron Man, Captain America, and Thor met the Hulk, a red-haired woman, and a guy I'm pretty sure I recognize from something who shoots arrows?"

I can't imagine ANYONE has ever sat down thinking . . . "what if the futuristic Captain Kirk and crew teamed up with superhero teens from the further future?"

But here it is. It's a classic Trek trope -- the old "alternate universe timeline" story, in which Kirk and crew find themselves in a mirror universe. And so do a small group of the Legion heroes. The same mirror universe. The two teams haven't met yet, in this issue. I guess that's in the next issue.

But is it good? Surprisingly, it is.

Recommended? If you like this sort of thing.

~ Ben

PS -- The last one, of course, reminds me of this:

Yes, Star Trek/X-Men. This one, also as un-needed as the Trek/Legion, at least had a couple moments in which iconic characters meet and do iconic things. Like this:

Spock giving Wolverine a nerve pinch? I like it.

But I like this more:

Clever.

Mama, just killed a man . . . with this SONG!

2011-10-20T23:41:00.000-04:00

And life had just begun . . .

Here he is! The one and only Shatner, doing the Bohemian Rhapsody:

Wow. It's impressing me and depressing me at the same time.

There's a part of me that loves seeing Shatner so much, especially with his run as Denny Crane on Boston Legal.

There's another part of me that wishes it wasn't so much self-parody.

And let's face facts, as awesome as Shatner can be . . . he just doesn't hold a candle to THIS Bohemian Rhapsody:

Still and all, his new album, Seeking Major Tom, an album of space themed classic rock songs, just might be finding its way into my iTunes library . . .

~ Ben

DC's New 52? Giving comics & characters a facelift . . .

2011-10-18T23:43:00.000-04:00

Well, DC is in month two of their "new 52" initiative, in which they have completely, only not really, rebooted their entire universe to start over at the beginning.

Unless the character was popular. In which case, they aren't starting over from the beginning and instead they are continuing with their popular elements.

So Superman? Starting over from the beginning. Green Lantern? They just finished an epic storyline with him, so that still happened. Same with Batman.

I find it interesting how they are trying to make things less confusing by making things more confusing . . . but, snark aside, this really seems to be a good thing.

First, comic shops are having a hard time keeping titles on the shelves. Orders for the second month of the New 52 saw their second issues in the top one hundred sales rankings, side by side with REPRINTS of their first issues.

Second, it seems that people are mainly buying them to READ, not to COLLECT. I'm not sure if this is industry wide, but the owners of BuyMeToys.com, my local shop, said that unlike other "events", people are buying one copy of the books. For reading, it seems.

Third, some of the characters were in need of a little more than a facelift. There comes a time when trying to cover up aging results in something like you'd find in Terry Gilliam's Brazil:

No one really wants their heroes to look like this, even metaphorically, do they?

Besides, Superman has a movie coming out and he needs to be more hip and happenin'. While I don't agree with some of what they're doing to update the characters, the truth is every single one of these books is more accessible. Mostly.

Fourth, Aquaman! Yes, I know, with that one word I have destroyed ALL credibility. But it's good to see Aquaman in his own book. And I'm buying it. For a few issues, anyway.

The first issue of Aquaman illustrates exactly what DC is trying to do. In trying to pull in new audiences, but satisfy old audiences, they start a new storyline with new enemies.

At the same time, Geoff Johns tells a story that introduces the character nicely, and sets up his place in the DC universe. It's a little bit tongue in cheek, wink and nod, but all the things that people make fun of the character for are addressed.

It's a low key issue, meant to bring everyone up to speed enough so that when the story really gets going, readers care about the character. Whether this succeeds or not is up to the reader, of course, but I felt like it succeeded. I want to see where this goes, so I'll be buying the next two issues to see if I like where it's going. It was a good start.

I only bought two other comics from the new 52. People who know me should not be surprised that I bought Aquaman. And I mentioned in my digital comics post that I had bought the Justice League #1 that came with the print comic and the download code for the digital copy.

What I didn't mention was that I wasn't all that impressed with the actual comic. It was serviceable, but it was meant to be a "how we met" story, and how do Batman and Superman meet? Well, they fight, of course!

I won't be buying any more Justice League. As impressed as I was with Geoff Johns' writing in Aquaman and other books I've read of his, this didn't do anything for me. I get that the book is a "how they met" thing, but I'd rather the book had opened with the team together and looked back at the other stuff over time. This is a team book, and at the end of the first chapter there's still no team, just the cliched "heroes meet, there's a misunderstanding, so they fight". I mean, honestly, this plot is the reason I don't like romantic comedies.

If Aquaman comes as no surprise to people who know me, Swamp Thing should do the same.

I love swamp monsters.

Especially in well made movies and comics.

Now, first off, let me say: I have never, ever seen a good swamp monster movie. "Creature from the Black Lagoon is as close as I've gotten, and that doesn't count.

But there have been some very good swamp monster comics. What makes a good swamp monster comic? Interesting characters doing interesting things that involve a swamp creature of some sort. (This is the same criteria I use for swamp monster movies . . .)

So is this a good one? I don't know. Why? Because I had no idea what was going on. For a comic that was supposed to be an accessible story, I found myself really, really confused. I felt like I was coming into the middle of the story. I don't like giving bad reviews, so I'm just going to leave it at this: issue one and two left me cold, and I'm going to give it one more issue. I don't expect everything to be explained in a story, but I would like to have some idea of what's going on. This book seemed to tie into plot lines from before the "new 52" relaunch, which I am not familiar with.

I almost picked up Animal Man, but flipping through it I was reminded of '90's Vertigo comics. That's not a knock. I really, really liked '90's Vertigo comics. But it's not for me right now.

There is a western title coming out, from the team behind Jonah Hex. When the second issue comes out at the end of the month, so will a reprint of the first issue. I plan to buy both, give those a try.

The bottom line: the new 52 has a wide variety of different titles and styles. If you want to get in on the ground floor, this is the time to do it. Most of the titles have first and second issues in comic shops now, or first and second issues available through the Comixology app. I was skeptical, but DC seems to have hit the right notes.

~ Ben

Digital Comics: What They're Doing Right (sort of)

2011-10-17T23:44:00.000-04:00

I got an e-mail this morning from Comixology and Marvel telling me that they were running a "half off sale" until 11:00 AM.

That's half off $1.99. So already, Comixology is offering these comic book issues at a low price compared to current new issues ($2.99 to $4.99). This price covers almost all old issues -- issues that are collector's items in print and may run $10, $20, $50, or more in comic shops and on eBay; issues that were originally $.35 on the newsstand; and issues that are only a few years or months old and originally were $1.99 to $3.99 or whatever.

Comixology is a nice "equalizer" in that way. In digital comics, there is no collectibility. You can't invest, buying a $3 book featuring Obama with Spider-Man and hope that you can resell it sometime for a tidy profit. But on the flip side, you aren't spending $100 because you want to finally read that issue about Spider-Man meeting Obama and you realize that the only way that's going to happen is to buy it from one of those people who want to make that tidy profit. Again, though, because prices are so fixed, you're not going to be able to find that issue on eBay for $.25 starting bid because they finally understand that, really, they aren't putting their kid through college because they bought a comic book with Obama and Spider-Man inside and now they just want to get rid of them.

So prices are "fixed". Sort of. You can buy any of DC Comics' new books the same day they arrive in comic shops, but you will pay full cover price for them for a period of time, before the price drops to that magical $1.99.

And then there are the sales. DC Comics was running some fairly regular weekend sales, with a selection of half off comics. When the Green Lantern movie came out, you can bet that they had a bunch of Green Lantern comics for just $.99. When their big Flashpoint crossover was hitting stores, they ran a sale on Flash comics.

They also frequently have sales for the smaller publishers titles.

And now this e-mail from Marvel. This is the first sale from Marvel that I remember seeing, and like the DC sale, it has a time limit. For this one, all twenty-seven issues of Immortal Iron Fist are $.99 each. If you were to buy these at cover price, that would be about $100 you'd drop. If you were to buy the collections on Amazon, you'd be spending $42 (they have some of those "bargain priced" right now).

And I find myself in a quandary. As of this writing, I have one hour if I want to get in on the sale. This is a series I wanted to read, but my local comic shop didn't have the entire series by the time I realized I might like it (that's the way of things for me -- I'm late to the party, always). But if I'm going to spend the $27, why not spend the $42? I have birthday money, right? And I'll have the entire story on my shelf, in nice and tidy graphic novels. Then again, if I get it for my iPad, I don't have to worry about using shelf space. And really, am I going to read it again?

The truth is, while I have the comic apps, I haven't bought any comics on them. In fact, the only comic on any of those Comixology apps that I have on my iPad right now that I paid for, I bought at a comic shop! It's Justice League #1, the digital edition. Cover price $4.99, it came with the comic book and a code to put in to allow you to download the issue as well.

The clock is ticking. Just under an hour now. There's something else they are getting right: that sense of urgency.

In the end, I think I know what I'll be doing. I'll probably put off the choice . . . not do either . . . and then, if I think of it I'll get them from the library.

If I think of it.

What about you? Are you on the digital comics bandwagon? Or is it paper only for you? Or are you like me, hanging somewhere in-between?

~ Ben

The Avengers Trailer - Meh? Or Yay!

2011-10-12T23:45:00.000-04:00

First, let me say, The Avengers is a movie that has a LOT going for it, and I have some very, very high expectations. Why?1. Joss Whedon. He's a co-writer, and I love almost anything he writes. Almost. He's also directing, but it's the writing I'm looking forward to. Zak Penn is also a co-writer, and he hand his hand in a lot of movies -- none of them, except X-Men 2 and Incredible Hulk, movies I've really liked, story-wise. But Joss Whedon, man. When he's good, he's really, really good.2. Captain America. Thor. Iron Man. The Hulk. Each of these were movies I enjoyed, and they are meant to build up to the massive The Avengers movie. The actors for the first three really owned the characters, and I enjoyed watching all three of them in their character. The Hulk has been played by two different actors in his two previous movies, and a third actor in this one.3. Captain America. Thor. Iron Man. The Hulk. These are great characters, and The Avengers features all of those characters. That's a LOT of strong personalities and dynamic performers, each of them able to sustain their own two hour movies. Bringing them together, in one story, could be recipe for disaster. But I echo Jeremy's thoughts: "However, from the trailer, I can assume at least, that Joss Whedon was able to find the perfect balance between them all." It'll be a juggling act, to be sure.So, yeah, I have high expectations.HAD high expectations. Until I saw this trailer.First, I have to say, I'm not impressed with some of the costumes. In the Captain America: The First Avenger movie, they made what really should be a ridiculous costume work. It doesn't work for me now.

Maybe it's the lighting. Then again, he's looking really good here:The helmet looks really cool, but that hoody type mask just feels like something I could make after shopping at Wal-Mart.But enough nitpicking.When I saw that the trailer was hitting computers earlier this week, I got excited. I'm looking forward to this movie and here was, finally, a peek inside.Then I watched it.I was not impressed. At all.This is a good thing. A very good thing. Why? Well, it lowered my expectations. It tempered my excitement. I'm still going to be in the theater opening day, and if it's a good, fun movie I won't be disappointed because it's not a great, ground breaking film.~ BenHat tip to www.comicbookmovie.com for the screencaps.

REVIEW: X-Men First Class

2011-06-04T12:11:00.000-04:00

THE REVIEW:

X-Men First Class is a prequel to the OTHER X-Men movies that manages to surpass them. It's a strong film, and it feels like a movie . . . instead of feeling like a comic book movie. Packing a lot of characters and a lot of action sequences into two hours and twenty minutes, X-Men First Class is exciting and funny and fun.

It's not perfect. The main bad guy, Sebastian Shaw, has an unexplained change in motives and, well, more. (See the spoiler notes below.) But with so many characters, there was very little time for the background characters, yet most of them still have pretty satisfying character arcs. The exceptions: Tornado-man and Azazel, who stand around in the background and look cool and kill people. (I'm sure Tornado-man has a name, I didn't catch it.)

Overall, though, it's a slick movie with emotional pay-off. The acting, for the most part, is good. I've heard complaints about Kevin Bacon -- I really liked him in the movie. A lot. And as much as I loved Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan as Professor X and Magneto, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender were very likeable as the younger versions of the characters.

Overall, a good movie that, for me, is the best of the franchise.

GEEK'S TAKE:

Comic book fans: not sure how you will like it. It is a prequel to the movies, so it has very little to do with comic book continuity. However, it didn't bother me. I knew nothing about Sebastian Shaw before, but I liked what he was in the film (mostly).

I still think it would have been better if, as a complete reboot, it had featured the comic book cast of Angel, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, and Marvel Girl. As a group, that's my favorite team of X-Men. Of course, that would have meant a reboot to the movie franchise.

SO WHAT DOES IT "TEACH" ABOUT STORYTELLING?

As a writer, I appreciated a lot about this movie. With a few plotholes (a couple elements seemed to be left on the cutting room floor -- it felt like this may have been a two hour and thirty minute film originally, and if my suspicions are correct, I hope it's successful enough to get a director's cut), it still managed to give a satisfying and emotional story.

Any action sequences came directly from the plot and were driven by the characters. Unlike the later X-Men movies, this one feels like a lot of time and thought was spent on the story. In a way that resonated with me, the plot built on the relationships of the characters to push things forward. It all rises to a climax that that, because of the personal character and relationship groundwork laid earlier in the story, becomes more tense and more interesting.

Along with that, the theme of the movie gets explored from many different angles.Almost every scene is about choosing to become the person you want to become, and each character is given a chance to choose what they are going to do. Those choices all have a payoff in the climax of the movie.

BOTTOM LINE

I really enjoyed this movie. The 60's setting helped separate it from the other X-Men movies and gave it a different sort of vibe compared to other superhero movies. I wish there had been a bit more clothing . . . maybe it was a budget thing? Not for kids (not just because of content, it's just a more mature film), X-Men First Class is a heartfelt action film, with character development, fun, menace, and action.

SPOILER NOTES:

How is it that Sebastian Shaw goes from being a Nazi scientist interested in mutants to being a mutant himself? Was he a mutant in the beginning, which adds an interesting level to his character but doesn't seem to be what the story is showing? Or did he make himself into a mutant, which seems to go against the whole "mutants are the next step and regular people are doomed to be overrun" thing? It feels like there was a tiny bit of exposition missing between the 40's and the 60's.

Superman . . . Because I Just Had to Say SOMETHING . . .

2011-04-29T17:17:00.000-04:00

Back in the late '70's and the early years of my life, this was Superman. It wasn't until I grew up that I understood how cynical things were in that time and that part of what made Superman and Star Wars, as movies, successful was the earnestness of optimism.

So there's a whole lot of talk about Superman renouncing his American citizenship. It's funny -- I was just thinking about how Superman really represents the best of America. He's an immigrant, he believes in good and evil, he believes in using his powers for good, and he's okay looking like a square doing it.

And he stands for "the American way", which is, simply put: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

And now he's saying:

Followed up with this:

Now, I read the story in question. It's an okay story. Superman decides to give up the "American citizenship" because a Middle East government took his participation in a peace rally as an endorsement of the American government in the peace movement. So Supes decides to give up his citizenship to avoid things like that in the future, with his reasoning in the above panel.

In other words, Superman is now a citizen of the world. And the truth is this: Superman, in the stories he inhabits and also in the real world, is a symbol. A symbol of "truth" and "justice" and the "American way". Remember when, in Superman Returns, they didn't say "and the American way"?

This is nothing new.

This says nothing about the symbol Superman has become. It says everything about the people in charge of the symbol.

The same could be said about America. America is a symbol, but what America actually is says more about the people in charge of the symbol than the ideal the symbol represents. The American dream, the American ideal -- these are good things. It's the people who make it look bad.

Anyway, the American way isn't enough? I guess it depends on what you see as the American way. Corporate greed? Political corruption?

Or "truth" and "justice"?

America's not perfect. But the things America stands for? They are ideas worth standing for. Maybe not if you're from Krypton, I guess . . .

~ Ben

PS -- The fact that this is causing a stir, does that mean that comics are still relevent?

PPS -- Is Clark Kent retaining his citizenship? That changes the story a bit if he does, don't you think?

What Stargate's "Demise" Can Teach Us About Life (and Storytelling)

2011-04-25T22:14:00.003-04:00

If you know me, you know I am a big fan of Stargate Universe. This is obvious if you follow my tweets (I'm @whisperingloon on Twitter) or if you listen to my podcast (The Fanboy Tollbooth), especially the most recent episode and it's "The Adventures of Ben and Lou, Lou Bitterman" segments, which features a sci-fi fanboy dealing with Lost withdrawal and finding comfort in a Lost replacement show: Stargate Universe.

Spoiler alert for "Ben and Lou": Stargate Universe was canceled.

Which is what this blog post is about. No, not Lou. Stargate Universe. And the universe of Stargate.

Here's the deal, for those who are unfamiliar with Stargate. I'm going to avoid arcane details for people who could care less about the Stargate franchise, because this blog post is both about Stargate (which is really only for geeks -- which I am) and the art of storytelling and how it relates to life (which is really only for humans -- which I am as well).

But you do need some background. There have been three Stargate series (although I count them as four because I'm a geek). Series 1 is Stargate SG-1, which ran for 10 seasons. To me, the last two seasons were a new series because it featured two new cast members in lead positions and had a completely different story arc going. Meanwhile, during the last few seasons of Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis was also on the air. It ran for five seasons. Finally, after an abrupt cancelation of Stargate: Atlantis, a third Stargate series, Stargate: Universe, was launched.

So what happened? Well, much has been written about how Stargate died and how it didn't pull in the numbers and all of that, and how science fiction fans are not watching television live, when advertising matters, but instead are watching online or recording it to watch later, when they can skip advertising. Much more will be written about the issue in more general terms, because while science fiction is ahead of the curve in these matters, all of Hollywood, from movie makers to television creators, are trying to figure this out. And they are a lot smarter than me, so I'm not going to figure this out.

Okay, they're a lot richer than me anyway.

No, I'm looking at this with an eye toward storytelling and connecting with your audience. Again, without getting into the arcane details, here's what happened with the different Stargate series:

Almost the entire "main" cast from the ten seasons of Stagate

Stargate: SG-1 always seemed to be ready to be canceled, to me anyway. So the show was very episodic, with self-contained stories, but as they went they started doing some longer story arcs that resolved themselves at the end of the season, when they thought they'd be canceled. Now, I don't know if that is true, because I only started really watching Stargate last summer. This is just my impression. But a number of seasons have season finales that would have made for very satisfying series finales. Toward the end of the series, though, the season finales started becoming big cliffhangers. Like "how will the universe survive?" type cliffhangers. And after one of those cliffhangers, at the end of season 10, Stargate: SG-1 was canceled. But no fear, the storyline was resolved in a very well made direct-to-DVD movie. And then, to top it off, they made a second direct-to-DVD film, a stand alone movie that gave a satisfying send off to some of the characters. Another direct-to-DVD movie was planned . . . more on that a few paragraphs in the future.

Love this image of the Stargate: Atlantis cast. Can you tell that Atlantis had something to do with water?

Stargate: Atlantis is much more cut and dry. Every season ended on a cliffhanger, and they were told that Stargate: Atlantis was going to be canceled and they had just enough time to make their final episode serve as both a sort of conclusion to the show and a sort of cliffhanger. And the cliffhanger was going to be resolved in a direct-to-DVD movie . . . more on that a few paragraphs down.

Stargate: Universe's Lost-like ensemble cast

Stargate: Universe was even MORE cut and dry. Less space opera fantasy and more Lost-like or Battlestar Galactica-like, it was a continuing story that was meant to be more gritty and more "real". Very few episodes were just stand alone episodes. Instead, you had to watch every episode to make sense of what was going on. Ratings got lower and lower . . . and then, after season 2 was in full swing and had pretty much been set in stone, Stargate: Universe was canceled. The finale airs next Tuesday, and it is supposed to end on a cliffhanger. (I've heard someone say that it would either serve as an exciting cliffhanger or a bittersweet finale, or something similar. we'll find out next week.)

Of course.

So the suggestion of a direct-to-DVD or direct-to-digital download has been floated around. Something that would give some closure to the novel-like storytelling used for Stargate: Universe. But it was just announced that MGM has officially stated it will not happen, and now sets are being struck and offices cleared out.

This means that the Stargate: SG-1 movie, which was supposed to be an incredible adventure to send off the main character of Stargate (Richard Dean Anderson's character O'Neil -- can't remember if it's one "L" or two -- who wasn't in the first DVD movie and was a minor character in the second) is dead. This means that the Stargate: Atlantis movie, which was supposed to wrap up any dangling plot threads (and there were a few) is dead. This means the Stargate: Universe movie which would have completed the planned plot (three seasons worth!) is dead.

It also means no resolution for the Saturday morning Stargate show, something no one cares about anyway (although I strangely want to see it because of the intense negativity toward it)

This makes me sad. For two reasons. One, I like the story and the characters! A lot! Two, I've had comic series canceled on ME before, before I had a chance to finish the story I wanted to tell, and that hurts! It happened with ArmorQuest (although I've had a chance to revisit that, and more AQ stories in in process as we speak) and it happened on Lullaby and The Imaginaries. Like the Stargate: Universe people, I dream of a chance to make the comic book version of a direct-to-DVD movie . . . perhaps just 48 pages to complete Alice and her fellowship's quest in Lullaby or 48 pages to complete Tanner and Greatman's mission. So far as I know, that chance will never come.

But on the flip side, ending the Stargate franchise like this is, in a way, satisfying to me. The more I thought about it, the more "real" this felt. And not in the way that Stargate: Universe was supposed to be more "real" because it was all gritty.

Stargate: Universe also boasted some of the best and most beautiful TV sci-fi visual effects

I understand that a satisfaction comes from a completed story. There is something in human nature that wants an ending for a story, and especially wants a satisfying ending to a story. I do not know exactly why this is. I have some ideas, mostly philosophical (in the loosest sense of the word) and religious, and maybe just a little bit psychological . . . but only accidentally. As humans, we want to see justice. We want to see people we care about (and characters we care about) prevail. We want to see people face challenges and overcome them. We want to be encouraged that there is a happy ending to all this strife. (Because, as I believe, there IS in truth a happy ending to all this strife.) This is when we are watching the news, watching our friends, and watching our stories.

So, for Stargate fans, when they watched the characters they grew to love on Stargate: SG-1, they were glad to see the heroes beat the bad guys and overcome their personal issues.

And when they watched the characters they grew to love on Stargate: Atlantis, they were sort of glad to see some conclusion to the problems those characters faced, even if there were some lingering issues.

And when they watch the characters they grew to love on Stargate: Universe (admittedly, fewer Stargate fans seemed to love these character, partly because they were harder to love since they weren't as heroic or perfect) they aren't going to get a chance to see them overcome their main conflicts. (Although, in reference to the last parenthetical, there were a LOT more conflicts and the characters have had to make greater strides to overcome their problems and some problems were, indeed, overcome.)

No more new journeys through the gate to explore strange new worlds and seek out new . . . sorry

But here's what I like about the Stargate franchise going out like this: it's a lot like watching the people in our lives. Life doesn't wrap up a character arc in a nice bow and then roll credits. No, we overcome a problem and then face another or perhaps the other problem comes back to bite us. And so things that I have seen people complain about in Stargate: Universe, and things that bugged me, don't anymore. For example, in Stargate: Universe, characters from the other two series have shown up. And they've shown up in ways that are a little vague. One character was promoted to command a starship. Another character has become the "big boss", having been promoted to general. Another character, who used to be a "suit" (in SG-1) and was made into an "officer" (of sorts, in Atlantis) showed up as a "suit" again in Universe. How? Why? They never said. Meanwhile, another character shows up and very little seems to have changed. And in the meantime, the crew who make up the main cast of Stargate: Universe? Their story is either going to have a bittersweet ending or just be forever a cliffhanger.

In other words, here's what we can take away from Stargate: Universe:

Life goes on. No, I don't mean that in the William Shatner telling Trekkies to "get a life" sense. And I don't mean "you show was canceled, but don't worry, life goes on".

I mean that "life goes on" has become the THEME of the entire franchise.

People grow.

Challenges come and go. And come. And go. And . . .

There's only one set of end credits.

Now, for some these kind of statements may strike a negative chord. For others, it's a positive one. And for others, it's bittersweet. But this is the theme of the franchise, and like any theme of any story, what the audience does with it is up to the individuals of the audience.

Am I reading too much into a science fiction fantasy? Perhaps. Is this what the creators intended people to think about? I doubt it.

But this IS what science fiction is for, isn't it? To make us think about our world and our place in it? Come to think of it, that's what all storytelling is about.

This is a situation where the theme is unintentional, I think. But, like any story, the theme must be grappled with (or ignored) by the receiver of the story. And I think that too often, storytellers forget that the themes of their stories do connect with the readers or viewers. Conversely, sometimes I think storytellers think too much about their themes, forcing a theme that's not there and missing the theme that has appeared.

Maybe Stargate will get some sort of hipper, edgier reboot?

I'll still be interested if they do a new Stargate series or movie . . . and if they ever came knocking on my door to ask me to help them out with a Stargate: Universe comic, I'd not hesitate to say yes. But unless they REALLY botch next week's episode I have a feeling that even if the plot is left hanging, I'll have a good feeling about the franchise.

Until then, I have two more episodes of Stargate: Universe to watch. (Yeah, I would be watching as I write this, but I watch it using iTunes . . . so not only do I have to wait until the day after the show airs, I'm also one of the fans who contributed to its demise by not watching it live . . .)

~ Ben

UPDATE: The third to last episode, "Epilogue", could have (with just a few tweaks) been the final episode of the series. And the whole "life goes on" aspect of things I was talking about was directly addressed in the episode.

2nd UPDATE: The penultimate episode, "Blockade", was tense and emotional and exciting and satisfying. This series just kept getting better and better, especially this season.

LAST UPDATE: There is NO way the producers and creators did not know they were facing cancellation when they wrote the finale. In fact, it felt to me like the episode itself, when the characters were talking about a life or death situation they faced, it was almost like they were talking ABOUT the show. And it ended as I hoped . . . (without spoiling it for you) it ended with the implication that the characters have more stories in front of them, but we just won't see them . . . for now.

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Some Under 140 Character Thoughts on Writing

2011-04-22T14:40:00.000-04:00

Here's a collection of some of my Tweets on writing. I'm @whisperingloon on Twitter, and I usually tweet about writing, comics, and movies. You know, geek stuff.

As a creator, don't ignore negative criticism. Ignore negative critics. There's a BIG difference.

I've found as a comic book writer, I learn MORE from actually drawing my simplistic little comics. 24 Hour Comic Day was a GREAT boon to me.

Drawing, however awfully, pushes me to think like an artist. So when I script for an artist, I've walked a few miles in their shoes.

Ugh. Not a good sign when the WRITER is bored by the story ... time to take a step back and start over, methinks.

Best tool for great comics: EDITORS

Dragons! Big 'splosions! Swords! Mechanical armor! I love my job! Some days more than others. This is one of those days more than others! :)

In the days of ink and scroll the only hard drive crash you had to worry about was a club to the head or insanity. So I guess I have it good

Worst part about freelancing: Being told outright you don't get the job A. b/c you're not good enough or B. b/c you're not important enough. <-- That tweet followed by this one --> I should have a thicker skin by now, but I still don't. <-- which was followed by this one --> There's got to be some sort of cream that can do it. Probably prescription only, tho. :)

These were all posted on the same day:

#ComicWriting To writers: If you give a character dialogue in a panel make sure to actually mention that character in the panel description. <-- That tweet followed by this one --> #ComicWriting To artists: writers are sometimes forgetful, so remember to look at the dialogue to see if you need to draw someone in a panel

#ComicWriting EVERY page should end in a "mini-cliffhanger" to take readers to the next page.

#ComicWriting The page doesn't have to end with someone's life in danger. Just give the reader a reason to want to know what's next.

#ComicWriting Your page could end with a question in dialogue. An unexpected event. Something to push the reader to keep reading.

#ComicWriting Think of the end of each page (esp. odd numbered) like the commercial break of a TV show. Make readers curious what's next.

And these were also all posted on the same day (it's about writing for comics, but there's a lot that can be applied to prose and film):

some people say a comic is like a movie mixed with a novel. It's not.

#ComicWriting a comic book is like a movie mixed w/ poetry. Make every word count. Each line should push your plot forward.

#ComicWriting each action and line of dialogue should reveal something about your characters.

#ComicWriting long conversations are easy/lazy. Edit yourself. Push yourself to reveal the same thing in fewer words.

#ComicWriting & make sure something visual is going on. Movement, setting, or action. Point OR counterpoint to the dialogue.

#ComicWriting Long dialogue? Short? There is no right or wrong. What's best for the story? Strive for that.

#ComicWriting You may love a bit of dialogue, but let it go to serve story/characters/pacing. That's what readers care about.

#ComicWriting Edit yourself. Push yourself. Have someone else edit you (very important!). Ask & answer hard questions. Repeat.

Back to solo tweets:

Overweight. Scruffy. Wearing a black t-shirt ... w/ a comic book character on it. I'm not doing the comic book writer stereotype any favors.

And from my alter-ego, Professor Negatron:

#HowToMakeComics #FromAspiringWriter Tip #1: The bigger the explosions, the less character development you actually need.

#HowToMakeComics #FromAspiringWriter Tip #2: Snappy, semi-witty dialogue is easier than character driven dialogue, so use it often. Or only!

~ Ben

Dinosaurs and Fraggles (more thoughts about comics and kids)

2011-04-21T10:07:00.002-04:00

I have kids.

I read comics.

I write comics.

I like comics.

I love my kids.

My kids like comics.

Now, for the record, my kids like my comics. But obviously, that's not enough. My kids like to read -- a LOT. And my son and daughter can only read ArmorQuest or TimeFlyz so many times. So that means I'm constantly looking out for appropriate books for them.

Today I left the comic shop with two titles that were supposed to fit the bill. And beyond that, a day or two ago I got some in the mail.

First, I picked up last week's Fragle Rock vol. 2 issue #3.

My feelings about the Fraggle Rock comic series thus far are no secret. I've reviewed them twice already (here and here). This latest issue is more of the same. Nice stories with sweet endings and wonderful art. (The Uncle Traveling Matt story is simply gorgeous!) I can't wait for the hardcover collection of these three volume 2 issues, mainly because the floppy copies don't last long in my house. I told you, my kids read a lot!

So the money I dropped on Fraggle Rock wasn't a gamble. I love the thought and care and creativity and energy that goes into each issue.

But the money dropped on the next book, this week's Super Dinosaur? I had no idea what to expect. But I went ahead and bought it anyway.

Super Dinosaur is interesting, although I feel strange reviewing it. Generally speaking, I only review things I really like. I figure, if I really like it I should tell people about it. if I don't like it, why waste my time being negative?

The thing is, I'm on the fence about Super Dinosaur.

Now, the art is simply amazing. No doubt there. And the concept? It's everything a kid could possibly want. Lots and lots of explosions. I mean LOTS. And lots of bad guy dinosaurs with names that are amusing puns. Lots of action. Lots of cool high-tech toys. But I have to wait until the next issue to know if my "inner child" is really falling for the story. There are some elements that seem to want this to rise above just being a Saturday morning cartoon concept into being an emotional story for all ages. Bottom line, though: kids who like dinosaurs and big 'splosions will like Super Dinosaur.

Now, while interviewing Patrick Scullin for the "Twitterview"segment of the podcast I co-host (The Fanboy Tollbooth) I learned he had an interesting plan for his Super Siblings comics: the print version is intended for kids with its action adventure focus, while the webcomic is intended for "aprents" with its geek humor focus. I didn't know that, because I hadn't read his print comic.

So I got his print comics in the mail a few days ago, and I enjoyed it. (Haven't passed them on to the kids yet -- that's where the real review would kick in.) I'd recommend them for anyone with kids who like comics.

UPDATE: My kids have read the above mentioned comics and I'm happy to report they liked them all. My son and daughter both especially liked the "Uncle Traveling Matt meets laundry mat" Fraggle story from Fraggles #3, but enjoyed the whole thing and said it actually felt too short. My son also gave thumbs up to Super Siblings, although my daughter was a bit disappointed because the sister is the bad guy. And Super Dinosaur got the most enthusiastic response from my son. When I asked him why, the answer was: "It's got dinosaurs and explosions." So, until Chronosaurus Rex appears in the new TimeFlyz stories I'm working on, it looks like Super Dinosaur is on the top of my son's reading list.

~ Ben

PS -- Some of my OWN all ages comics . . .

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Best Tool for Great Writing

2011-04-20T16:25:00.000-04:00

I'm in my minvan, waiting for a red light, my eyes are wandering as I listen to an old time radio drama and I see the tailgate of a small pick-up truck. It belongs to some sort of service company, plumbing or something. I don't know. I don't remember who it was, all I remember is seeing the slogan on the back of the truck:

"YOUR FOLLOWING QUALITY SERVICE"

And all I can think is, "MY following quality service? What do they know about MY following quality service?" And then I chuckle to myself about my grammatical joking at their expense.

And then I stop chuckling to myself because not only do I have no one to share the joke with, not only would most people not really get the joke without me taking the time to explain it . . . it's not a very funny joke.

But it does highlight an important issue I've been thinking about a lot. The company spent money to put their message on the truck, and in doing so they spent money to put an incorrect message on the truck. They were missing the apostrophe and the "e" to make "you're" instead of "your". Because the message they wanted to get across was that "you ARE following".

Simple mistake. Common mistake. Easily avoidable mistake.

The editor is the writer's best friend. (Good editors, I should say.) The editor takes what you've done and pushes you to make it better. The editor doesn't let a missing apostrophe make you look careless (at best) and uneducated (at worst).

In a world where anyone can publish anything at anytime . . . editors are needed now more than ever. And if you don't have one, because your project isn't big enough, find one.

~ Ben

Other "Way of the Writer" posts:

Why Write?

The Weight of the Writer
Holistic Writing
Intentionality, part 1
Nothing New Under the Sun
Intentionality, part 2
It's So Rewarding
Productivity

Inspiration?

Keep Your Head Up

Dig Deep, or Method Writing

Fear

Dramatic Storytelling

Formula for a Great Story

Just Write

What Can VW's Li'l Darth Vader Teach Us About Storytelling?

Comic Writers Should Be Comic Artists

Twitter as Dialogue Coach

Artistic Progression

2011-04-18T21:43:00.000-04:00

As a comic book writer, I'm at the mercy of artists, in more ways than one. Let's face facts: the reason people like something like ArmorQuest or The Hedge Knight is because those artists are A-MAZE-ING. Was the writer any good? Maybe, but if the artist isn't . . . people aren't as likely to give it a chance.

So I've been very, very pleased to see the last two volumes of TimeFlyz are in some very, very good hands. TimeFlyz is a very important story for me. It has a lot of "educational" components, it has a fun time travel action adventure, and there's an emotional climax to a sort of deep character arc.

The artist is Eric Merced, and he's been putting some sneak peeks of his artwork on book 8 up on his Twitter-stream. One of the things he did was put the progression of a panel, from sketch to finish. I asked him if I could share his work, and he agreed.

When Eric included a comment about the artwork, I've included it here. The character he is drawing in this is Darchon, the evil time traveling spider and he's using Manga Studio to draw it.

Step 1:

Eric says: "How about some process stuff like me drawing a character from the graphic novel? Ready? Let's go."

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Eric says, "already into the inking stage. This has replaced the whole Penciling stage in my work."

Step 5:

Step 6:

Eric says, "Despite the fact I may sketch something out a certain way, I usually end up changing it in the final."

Step 7:

"I use red to lay in details. It's better visually and allows me to draw under the actual drawing."

Step 8:

"A little bit of resizing."

Step 9:

"The final version. This is how I work on every panel in Manga Studio"

Eric likes sharing process type things like this a LOT. If you are or want to be an artist, his is a great blog and Twitter-stream to follow.

Eric on Twitter.

Eric's blog.

As soon as I know the release date for TimeFlyz books 7 and 8, I'll let you know. Books 1-6 are available now . . .

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Twitter as Dialogue Coach

2011-02-21T12:10:00.001-05:00

While this post relates mostly to writing for comics, it does have it's application to film and prose as well . . .

I have long held that the old maxim about comic books which says they are "part movie, part novel" is completely and utterly incorrect.

Something a little more accurate would probably be they are "part movie, part poem". In other words, to borrow from Conan O'Brien's "If They Mated":

So comics share the illusion of the passage of time and visual language with film; and they share the use of words to convey emotion, motivation, and added information with poetry . . . and together they tell a story in a way that is completely different than both, because comics are able to pull from both the visual and the textual.

But in a more concrete sense, comics share something else with poetry: the careful use of words. In a novel, words are chosen for impact, but there is more freedom because there are more words. In poetry, each word must be carefully selected to express the author's intentions in as concise and powerful a way as possible. This doesn't make one type of writing easier or more difficult than the other, it's just my observation in trying my hand at both.

Comics have a similar goal, but with an added limitation: actual page space. There is only so much room on a page, and every word takes away from that valuable real estate. I remember reading an interview with Neil Gaiman when I was first getting into the actual writing of comics in which he spoke of a single panel in a story that gave him, the artist, the letterer, and the editor trouble because the panel was beautiful, but the entire panel had stuff they didn't want to cover. So the question was what should they cover? What was the least important detail on the panel to cover.

For film writing, dialogue doesn't take up physical space, but time. Every added word adds split seconds, which add up to seconds, which add up to minutes . . . which adds to shooting time and the length of the film.

Enter Twitter. Every time I struggle to write a Tweet, so I can fit it into Twitter's 140 character limit, I find myself thinking about how similar this is to the struggles I have with my dialogue writing in both film and comics.

There's one big difference: Twitter ALWAYS wins. It is 140 characters no matter what. With comics or screenplays, I sometimes can let myself get lazy. Fortunately, this is where having good feedback from writers I respect my my editors comes in. I cannot stress enough that the MOST VITAL part of the writing process is getting feedback from people whose opinion and feedback you can trust. It's often all too easy to spot writers who believe they're good enough editors of their own work. Yes, there are probably a lot of great writers out there who simply don't need editors. I'm not one of them. And neither are you. (Sorry for being so presumptuous, he said, writing a blog post without the use of an editor.) And even those writers who ARE great, well, usually, they recognize the importance of having a great editor who can make their great writing even greater. (See, an editor would have said, "You used the word 'great' four times." And I would have argued, "Well, I did it for symmetrical reasons or something." And the editor would have said, "Take out the first 'great', it's redundant." And I would have.)

So, Twitter can be a HUGE time waster. In fact, if I ever do Writer S. Blockhead again (a badly drawn comic about the hypocrisy of writer's block), the first one will be about Twitter. But, Twitter can also be a great exercise in word choice. 140 characters is a very comfortable character count for comic book dialogue. Can your dialogue fit into a Tweet? Why not? If there's not a compelling reason, consider revising it.

Or at least having an editor look at it.

~ Ben

Other "The Way of the Writer" articles:

Why Write?

The Weight of the Writer
Holistic Writing
Intentionality, part 1
Nothing New Under the Sun
Intentionality, part 2
It's So Rewarding
Productivity

Inspiration?

Keep Your Head Up

Dig Deep, or Method Writing

Fear

Dramatic Storytelling

Formula for a Great Story

Just Write

What Can VW's Li'l Darth Vader Teach Us About Storytelling?

Comic Writers Should Be Comic Artists

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Comic Writers Should Be Comic Artists

2011-02-16T10:17:00.001-05:00

How's THAT for a title? I couldn't POSSIBLY really mean THAT, could I?

Well, I could. And do. I'll admit, there's a twinge of jealousy whenever I read Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art (a book anyone who wants to make comics should read) and I get to the part where he says (paraphrasing here) the best comics are made by artist/writers. In other words, artists who write and draw their own comics will usually have a better end result than writer/artist TEAMS because the artist who works on his own project knows exactly what he wants, whereas the artist working from someone else's script can never put on hte page exactly what was intended by the script.

Generally, that's true. Some exceptions, of course. For example, not all artists understand story structure or dialogue. And, obviously, many writers can have an image in their head that they would never be able to put on the page because they just don't have the physical dexterity. I firmly believe that writers can learn artistic principles and artists can learn storytelling principles, but storytelling is easier to learn than art because storytelling is strictly a mental discipline while art is a mental and physical disciple. Just like some people will never be able to play drums as well as other people or dance as well as other people or hit a golf ball as well as other people, some people will never learn to draw as well as other people. That doesn't make writing an easy task to learn, just an easier task to learn.

But back to Eisner's statement, there is a qualification: a talented writer/artist individual will do a better job than a talented writer/artist team. But if an individual is not gifted as a writer or as an artist, that person not going to suddenly be able to create a brilliant comic just because he or she is doing both.

So why do I give this post this title: "Comic Writers Should Be Comic Artists"?

Here's why: if you want to be a comic book writer, you need to train yourself as a comic book artist. You need to go ahead and draw some comic book pages to give yourself an idea of how sequences can flow on a page. To give yourself an idea of what can and cannot appear in a panel. To give yourself an idea of and appreciation for the time a pages takes to be drawn. To understand what you are asking for when you write a complex page layout or a huge battle scene (which sometimes cannot be avoided, but still must be understood).

I've taken part in three 24-Hour-Comic days. I've succeeded twice (once went OVER the page limit!) and failed once. Here's one of them (a successful one -- Ballad of the Freak was actually placed in the 24 Hour Comic Day book for that year, in the publisher's words "not because you can draw, but because you actually told a story" -- like he needed to tell me I couldn't draw). Even when I failed, the experience itself was not a loss because each time, I stretched myself creatively and learned a lot about writing for comics.

So I'm not saying that the only people who should be writing comics are people who are artists. The fact is, some artists really are talented as writers and artists and some artists should stick to drawing.

What I'm saying is that if you are a writer, even if all you can draw are stick figures, you should carve out some time to actually draw some comic book pages. Maybe draw a stick figure version of the script you're writing. Maybe just have some fun drawing something no one will ever see but yourself. For me, right now (and this is what made me think to write this blog posting) I'm drawing a comic called Broken Trident:

This is me, in public, exercising those artistic muscles. Laying out pages. Lettering. (Writers, you can't really appreciate how important it is to keep your word counts down until you've lettered a page yourself.) Drawing characters and actions.

They say that if you want to be a writer, you need to read. But I'll add to that from my experiences. If you want to be a comic book writer, you need to read. Read some comics, yes, but read lots of books without pictures. And draw.

What do you think? Am I way off base? Artists, would you suggest it goes the other way round as well? That comic book artists who take the time to write actually become better comic book artists? Let me know what you think in the comments below . . .

~ Ben

Some recommended books for comic book writers:

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THE WAY OF THE WRITER: What can VW's l'il Darth Vader teach us about storytelling?

2011-02-07T12:01:00.001-05:00

I love this ad. I'm not the only one. Not by a long shot. There's a reason they "leaked" this ad before the Super Bowl . . . they knew it was gold, and didn't want it to be lost in the shuffle:

So, aside from being cute and making my nine-year-old giggle like a mad man . . . what can this teach us about storytelling?

A couple things. First, it has to be said, this commercial is great because it is a one minute mini-movie, and it has an definite beginning, middle, and end. The character wants something, the character works hard toward getting that something, and the character grows in the process as he achieves his goal. Hilariously. There's even a three act structure in there. But I'm not going to get into that . . .

But here's what I was thinking about:

This commercial uses the icon of Darth Vader to hilarious effect. And it works. Why? Because we know the character. The imposing, powerful visual of Darth Vader is not just a part of pop culture, but culture in general.

And I was thinking about Darth Vader in the original trilogy of Star Wars and the prequel trilogy. The original trilogy builds this iconic character subtly. There is a LOT of showing and only some telling. We fear Darth Vader. Why? Because everyone else does. We SEE that. We fear Darth Vader. Why? Because he kills people. We SEE that. We feel for Darth Vader's plight. Why? Because he has to choose between a life of power and a sacrifice for this son. We SEE that. Yes, there were some details that were told to us -- that he and Obi-Wan used to be friends, but even that was told to us with an ironic twist. It came from an unreliable narrator.

This is why the original trilogy worked.

And why the prequel trilogy didn't.

No, I'm not going to get on a "the prequel trilogy stunk" geek rant. I have my podcast for that. (If you haven't listened to the podcast, you should. I think you'd like it. It's a few friends just chatting about pop culture stuff, with some comedy "sketches" thrown in for fun.) First of all, it's an easy target. But I want to get into one detail: those prequel movies have so much exposition. So much of those movies rely on what is TOLD to us.

"Show, don't tell" is a common mantra in writing books. And for good reason. Let's look back at the VW ad. Whether you are a geek or not, most likely it worked for you. (Unless you have no soul.) (Just kidding about the soul bit. Of course you have a soul. It's just a dark, bleak one.) (Again, just kidding.) I'd be willing to bet that someone who has never seen Star Wars would get this commercial. Why? Because you know this kid really, really wants to have the force and be able to make things come to him . . . or knock things over . . . or make the dog bend to his will. Why? Because we SEE that. There is no dialogue. No narrator telling us "all he wanted was to have the power". The kid never says to Mom "I wish I had the force". Dad doesn't explain his actions.

It's just good storytelling.

~ Ben

Tree Octopus

2011-02-03T16:26:00.000-05:00

So this article -- "'Tree Octopus' Is Latest Evidence the Internet Is Making Kids Dumb, Says Group" -- did two things to me.

First, I was outlining the new ArmorQuest graphic novel when I saw that article and needed an idea for a creature that's not a dragon. We'll see if the "treectopus" makes the final cut, but for now it's in the outline.

Second, I read the article. So, some teachers give some kids an assignment to research a "tree octopus" (what, not sharktopus?). And then they give the kids a fake website with information about a "tree octopus". Seventh grade kids. And then they draw the conclusion that, because the kids did as they were told . . . they're dumb. Hm.

Sure, they pulled it off to make a statement about how kids don't have critical thinking skills. But we already knew that. I don't think the problem is that the kids trusted the website. I think the problem is that the kids trusted the people who gave them the assignment! And the kids are not to be blamed.

Now, the tree octopus website is awesome. If I had extra coin, I would get one of their t-shirts from Cafe Press.

But shame on Pearson for doing such shoddy research. That is assuming, of course, that the research that has been reported is actually legitimate. I can't help thinking that an educator group would never actually do this. That they didn't, knowing if they actually GIVE the children a resource the children will USE it, instead give the children an assignment in which the only resource is not legit but the children must find the resource themselves and then determine the legitimacy of the resource by doing further research.

As such, I think the joke is on the news media reporting it. I think the report about the assignment that was a hoax is, in actuality, a hoax itself. Or I hope so. Because if it's NOT, the people who should be labeled dumb are not the subjects of the research, but the researchers themselves.

But thanks to Yahoo! News for reporting on it, hoax or not, because I got a creature at just the right time . . . and if you read the next ArmorQuest graphic novel and see a tentacled beast attacking unsuspecting travelers from the treetops, you know where the idea came from.

~ Ben

Why I Love the Fraggle Rock Comic Book (some thoughts about comics and kids)

2011-01-27T17:08:00.003-05:00

Why do I love the Fraggle Rock comic books?

Because my kids do.

Now, my kids love to read. Everything. Books. Magazines. And they love other comics as well. (For example, they're loving the Smurfs reprints from Papercutz.) (They even, sometimes, love some of the comics I've written. Sometimes.)

But Fraggle Rock is one that does it right, which is why I keep bringing it up. I've written about it before at length. And my kids reviewed Fraggle Rock in an episode of the podcast I co-host. And I've been thinking about all ages comics for a long time (and writing all ages comics for a long time as well). But here are a couple things I've been thinking about today.

Here's what I like about Fraggle Rock. It contains high quality artwork, yes, but it does something else: it encourages kids to be artists as well. Case in point:

Last week's Fraggle Rock had a little art project. "How to Make Fingerprint Art" or something like that. And today, my middle daughter (who is just learning to read) came walking in with the above picture. "Look Daddy," she said, "I made Red."

While her brother and older sister were playing video games, it seems she was looking at the comic and came to the activity page in the back and decided to do it. She followed the visual instructions and was quite proud of the result. (I was too.)

UPDATE: When my son and oldest daughter saw what my middle daughter did -- and that I put it on my blog -- they had to join in:

Red, by my oldest daughter

Doozers, by my oldest son

The problem: there's not a lot out there like this. Material that engages and entertains and educates and inspires. There needs to be more. But, sadly, it doesn't sell (or, at least, that's what we're told). I'm curious what sales figures actually are for different all ages books.

What's the solution? I don't know. I have some ideas. Comic ideas . . . iPad type ideas . . . I was just on hte phone today with one of my publishers talking about this very question. But there's two questions that need to be answered: what are the stories that will engage young readers and, maybe more importantly, how do we get it to them?

~ Ben

PS -- Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my own all ages book, coming to stores soon!

The Fanboy Tollbooth -- "new" podcast

2011-01-26T23:19:00.001-05:00

Here's something for you to listen to on your commute into work.

I'm co-hosting a podcast called The Fanboy Tollbooth, an all things geeky type of podcast, with my friends Jeremy Zehr and Stephen MacDonald. It covers films, comics, books, music, and all sorts of pop-culture-y things.

There are a couple twists. For one: it's clean. A lot of pop culture podcasts out there, well, they just aren't very clean. Another twist: it's not just us talking, we have skits and interviews and stuff like that. It's like a variety show . . . without the singing. Wait, no, we did sing a couple times. (It wasn't as bad as it sounds.) The special "guest" comic book reviewer is a supervillain and wanna-be comic book writer, Professor Negatron. Finally, we do take a look at pop culture through the lenses of our worldviews: we're all dads, we're all artistic types, we're all Christians.

There's also the blog, which features some commentary on pop-culture news, reviews of movies and comics, and one of my favorite things: Cool Comic Covers, a gallery of, well, cool comic covers. (The most recent one is a favorite of mine: an unusual comic book coincidence from my child hood, featuring two different and completely unrelated books from two different publishers that I saw next to each other on the comic book rack at a bookstore.)

We have a lot of fun producing the podcast and the blog that goes along with it . . . and we do it for a simple reason: we want to converse with each other and our listeners about stuff we enjoy.

So if you enjoy comics . . . if you enjoy movies . . . if you enjoy pop culture . . . if you enjoy not having to cringe through bad language and the like . . . if you enjoy any of that kind of thing, you should enjoy The Fanboy Tollbooth.

You can listen to our most recent episode here. We talk about the X-Men, what we like and don't like about them, and why we think they've lasted so long.

You can also listen to us or subscribe to us via iTunes here.

And please LIKE us on Facebook, where you can get news and updates and the like.

We hope you like it and we hope you join the conversation . . .

~ Ben

Cover to TimeFlyz Book 7!

2011-01-24T19:40:00.000-05:00

The cover to TimeFlyz Volume 7: Battle Between was just approved by the publisher!

Drawn by the incredibly talented Eric Merced (he's the artist for books 7 and 8), this book is a little bit of a departure from the rest of the series, which is why no specific time period or scientist is depicted on the cover.

I don't yet have an exact date for the release of this book, but I will definitely let everyone know as soon as I do.

In the meantime, here's a peek:

~ Ben

Comic Creators for a Cause: The Comic Creators Alliance

2011-01-17T08:54:00.001-05:00

This is a topic that I believe many people do not even realize is an issue: human trafficking and child sex slavery. But it is real. And it's just as horrible as it sounds.

Lora Innes, a comic book writer/artist (she created the incredible web series The Dreamer), has decided to try doing something about it. Last year, she gathered together a large group of artists to contribute to a single image, which was available to people as a download if they donated to a PayPal account she set up. These donations were not to "buy" this desktop wallpaper image. These donations were split 50/50 between two charities that are working to fight against human trafficking.

One charity is Love 146, an organization working for the abolition of sex slavery. The second charity is Gracehaven, who provide shelter and rehabilitation to victims of sexual exploitation.

So this year, over one hundred artists have rallied around the cause, contributing a picture of one of their characters for a Brady Bunch inspired desktop wallpaper. (My character Laurel Templeton, from TimeFlyz, is on the top row.)

But obviously, when you click on the link below, you're not clicking to get a cool piece of art featuring a ton of cool characters . . . you're clicking to donate to a great cause. Apparently, donations are down this year. Last year, they collected $10,000 during their donation drive.

Click here to find out more and make your donation.

~ Ben

CHANGES . . .

2010-12-28T13:00:00.000-05:00

I think I'm going to be changing the focus of my reviews. I mean, movie and comic book and book reviews are all out there . . . and easily a dime a dozen. Perhaps even a nickel a baker's dozen.

Originally, with my Nano-reviews, the intent was to just give short, maybe even pithy reviews of movies. Sometimes I succeeded . . . my Star Trek review was short and sweet. My Wolverine review was short, if not sweet. Pan's Labyrinth and The X-Files were probably the best example -- reviews that could fit in a Twitter post. Most times I didn't. Hello, Avatar -- I had a lot to say about you. And Voyage of the Dawn Treader . . . yeah, why'd I even label it "nano"?

My new tactic for film/book/comic reviewing is something I sort of was already doing. Often in a review, I would make comments about the storytelling and the like. I think this is the tactic I will be taking with reviews I do in the future. I'll still be recommending things (or not, depending on the situation), but I'll also be telling you what I learned from the movie or graphic novel or whatever in my own journey of learning to become a better storyteller. And maybe you, gentle reader, will be willing to do the same for me?

~ Ben

PEANUTS Christmas: Linus Explains the True Meaning of Christmas

2010-12-24T10:45:00.001-05:00

This is from my absolute favorite Christmas special (although, ironically, one I don't have in my collection of Christmas special DVDs).

Merry Christmas!

The Peanuts Deluxe Holiday Collection. The True Meaning of Christmas. @ Yahoo! Video

~ Ben

Nano Film Review #30 - Tron: Legacy, the film and soundtrack

2010-12-23T09:26:00.000-05:00

Tron: Legacy is a movie that shouldn't exist. But I'm glad it does.

It's a sequel to a groundbreaking (in terms of technology) film . . . that's 30 years old. A film that doesn't hold up well if watched today (unlike the original Star Wars which, aside from some hair styles, holds up well because it was a ground breaking film that relied on physical models, not computer graphics). But the original is a good little film, if you watch it saying to yourself, "It was ground breaking 30 years ago."

Rumor has it that Disney has tried to bury the original Tron so young viewers won't think "they made a sequel to that rubbish?" and choose to spend their money on another movie instead. This is actually probably a good plan, whether they did it intentionally or not.

Tron: Legacy is also a solid film. It's got breath-taking visuals. Even watching the trailer, you can see deliberate symmetry in almost every shot. The graphics are mesmerizing, the action has a fluid motion that you don't find in other movies like this.*

The story is a weak spot. It's not terribly deep or complex, but it has an emotion and an energy absent in other movies like this.*

The characters are likable. Quorra, Sam, and Jeff Bridges as Flynn are all people I wouldn't mind spending time with (Quorra and Flynn more than Sam). The bad guys are cool, and the background characters are strange and interesting.

I saw it in 3D, which was cool and natural. I didn't feel like the 3D got in the way of the storytelling, but it also wasn't needed. I would have liked it just as well in 2D, I think. We'll see. If I see it again.

But the real star, to me, was the soundtrack. I've written about it before. I know nothing about Daft Punk, except that people got excited that Daft Punk was doing the soundtrack. But when I started hearing snippets, I started liking what I was hearing. And now the Tron: Legacy soundtrack has a permanent place in my regular rotation of atmospheric music and soundtrack albums. It's big. It's cool. It gets the blood pumping. And it fits the movie like a glove. To me, the movie almost becomes a visual showcase for the music. Daft Punk actually appear in the movie:

So, do I recommend the movie? Yes, if you want a visually stunning film with a great soundtrack and some fun characters. But Inception this ain't. It ain't meant to be. And that's one thing that I've taken away from the film. Just let your story be what it's going to be. They don't try to make it into something that it's not. It is what it is: a cool, sleek, elegant film with a cool, sleek, elegant soundtrack and cool, sleek, elegant characters. It's a popcorn film, it won't change your life, it's not changing cinema.

Do I recommend the soundtrack? Do you even need to ask?

Speaking of symmetry, I love the way the old poster (below) and the new poster (above) go together.

~ Ben

*When I say "other movies like this" I'm looking squarely at the Matrix sequels, and the first Matrix movie out of the corner of my eye . . .

Nano Film Review #29 -- The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

2010-12-17T12:29:00.003-05:00

(Earlier Narnia posts: Read my review of Prince Caspian here. Here's Disney's admittance to releasing Prince Caspian on a bad weekend. And here's the news that Disney was dumping the Narnia franchise, but Fox was picking it up.)

Voyage of the Dawn Treader has some really great acting. Some incredible special effects. Great sets. Brilliant cinematography. Awesome creature design. It's a really good movie.

But, you know what, my review is going to be one of those "it was different than the book" type things. I feel bad even typing it. But it's true.

The kid who plays Eustace is spot on perfect. Edmund and Lucy, the same actors from the first two Walden Media Narnia films, fall into their rolls perfectly. Caspian does better as King Caspian than he did as Prince Caspian. The White Witch, brought back in a larger cameo than in Prince Caspian, is right on.

But they made so many changes. Unnecessary changes. Now, I understand the challenges of taking a story created for one medium and changing it to another medium. Most of my experience comes from comic books. I've taken historical stories and turned them into comic books. I've taken novels and turned them into comics. I've also done some small scale film projects and stage projects doing the same thing. And it is a challenge. Books are not visual, and so lots of action can happen within people's minds and it's really interesting, but on the screen or comic book panel or stage it's not as easy to do. But that's not the problem with Voyage of the Dawn Treader. They actually do a really good job of putting the internal conflicts of the characters on the screen in a visual way.

I understand that Voyage of the Dawn Treader, as a book, is not a long story with a beginning, middle, and end. It's a series of episodes, held together by a vague "quest" for seven lords who left Narnia long ago. There's no big battle at the end, there's no huge climax. So some of the "episodes" get rearranged. Two islands stops are combined into one island, saving a lot of time. The scariest and most dangerous island is moved to the end and turned into a fierce conflict. That all makes sense.

But apparently, rescuing the seven lords of Narnia wasn't enough. So they fall into the Star Trek movie trap: a story isn't big enough unless Earth itself is in trouble. So Narnia itself is in trouble. A vague evil is causing trouble, and it keeps showing up, and will eventually destroy Narnia if it isn't stopped. And the only way to stop it is . . . well, it's in the video below.

Yup, for some reason those seven lords of Narnia have a magic sword to place at on Alsan's table. And now our heroes must find the swords to destroy the evil.

Just curious about the logic here -- if it won't work unless all seven swords are brought to the table, what good could it possibly be to split up? Instead of seven guys working together to get teh job done, you've got seven guys trying to do it alone, and if even one of them fails, they all do . . . and they have no way of knowing if one of the others needed help . . . adding this element didn't help create a stronger story, it took a stable story and gave it a whole bunch of plot holes.

So we end up with a movie that becomes the "book to movie" cliche that they avoided in the first two movies. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, changes were made to amp up the action and the drama and to make it more epic. But the story remained the same. In this version, action and drama are amped up . . . but sacrificing the original story to do so. Iconic moments from the book are removed -- moments I was excited to see on the big screen brought to life by master visual effects creators. At one point in the movie, I felt like I was watching an '80's fantasy film -- "You must find the magic weapon to destroy the world-engulfing evil!" and I had images of the Glaive flashing in my head . . . normally not a bad thing.

So overall, we get a well made movie with familiar characters . . . but it's just not Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I'll watch it again. My son was excited about this Narnia movie in the same way I got excited about Star Wars movies. Fortunately, he loves the Narnia books as well.

It's not a bad story. It just felt like big budget fan fiction.

Now, were the spiritual elements lost in the midst of this? Surprisingly, no. There's some really good moments with Aslan and about Aslan. The director and writers were trying to be true, I think, to the intent of the book, and Lewis' ideas. For some reason, though, they just didn't have the same goal for the story.

(Let's address the Liam Neesan controversy for a moment. Mr. Neesan said, "Aslan symbolises a Christlike figure, but he also symbolises for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries. That’s who Aslan stands for as well as a mentor figure for kids – that’s what he means for me." You can't fault him, though, for misunderstanding the difference between Christ and Mohammed & Buddha. Christ is a personal, living part of God who wants a personal relationship with us -- not just a dead mentor. And this shines through brilliantly in the movie. Aslan reveals to Lucy in the end of the movie (and the book) that the reason Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and (eventually, Jill Pole) is so they might get to know Aslan better in our world. That's one of C.S. Lewis' intents for writing these stories as well -- to show us Jesus and help us know him better here.)

So, I do hope Walden Media gets the chance to do Silver Chair, which they should find less challenging to actually use the story as it is. I want to see more of Eustace, and he can carry that film. And I really want to see The Horse and His Boy made into a film (which would allow Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy to appear). But I fear that this is the last we'll see of Narnia on the silver screen. I had hopes for all seven movies to be made, but as of December 15 (six days after opening) Dawn Treader has only made back $112 million of its $155 million budget. It will make money, I think, but it's not a smash hit.

Final thoughts: it's a good movie, it's fun, it's kid-friendly (more than the other two). But I'm a grumpy old man . . .

~ Ben

Ruminations on The Weight of Glory Brought on by . . . a Chick-Fil-A Video (?!?)

2010-12-07T13:49:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine posted a link on Twitter to this video. It's a video from Chick-Fil-A -- not sure the context. It's too long to be a commercial. And really, other than being set in a Chick-Fil-A restaurant, it's not a commercial. It's actually a touching, beautiful reminder to how we should live our lives.

Recently I got into an online "discussion" with someone, where I was trying to make the same point this video makes. How often do we, wrapped up in our own lives, just choose to forget that every single person we interact with has a life of triumph and tragedy as well. That person whose tailgating us? Could be more to the story than that they are just impatient and inconsiderate. The teller at the store who was rude and not as quick as we'd like? Could be more to the story than just they're a jerk who doesn't care about their job or serving us. The person smiling at us and telling us everything is just fine? Could be more to the story than them just being fine.

A while back I refered to a C.S. Lewis quote from The Weight of Glory (in this post here). Here's the actual quote.

Here's the quote from his essay that sticks with me most, and has become the backbone to my dealings with other people and my own calling to children's ministry:

The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the are and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is with immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously -- no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins ins spite of which we love the sinner -- no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat -- the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.

C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

This is why we do what we do. Or it should be. It's a pretty tough standard, once you start applying it. (And I fail frequently, not just with "uninteresting" people, but with people in my own family.) But let's be honest . . . would you rather rather fail in trying to achieve a high standard than succeed at achieving a low one?

~ Ben

Tron: Legacy soundtrack with extra track . . .

2010-12-06T22:08:00.003-05:00

UPDATED! You can purchase both the original Tron soundtrack ($7.99) and the new Tron: Legacy soundtrack (~~$9.49, available tomorrow, December 7~~ UPDATE: $3.99 for how long? Special thanks to my friend John for pointing this out . . .) from Amazon as digital downloads for pretty cheap. Click on the links here or the images below to do so . . . and you'll get an extra track!

If you purchase from iTunes (not sure how to link for that, but it's as simple as opening iTunes and searching for Tron: Legacy) there are some extra tracks as well.

The soundtrack to the original Tron film is cheaper from Amazon than from iTunes (by $2). Both Tron and Tron: Legacy are $9.99 on iTunes.

I'm ~~just not~~ sure which way I'm going to go. Generally, I'm an iTunes man . . . but today . . . I just don't know. I think I'm just going to have to wait until iTunes puts it up and see how the iTunes extra track previews stack up against the Amazon extra track previews . . . Then again, buying an album on Amazon is supposed to give me $5 for viewing Amazon "on demand" rentals. (Did you know you could digitally "rent" movies on Amazon? I've gotten some credit from items I've purchased, not knowing that I was getting credit . . . it's kinda cool, although not something I'd actually spend money on.)

Meanwhile, I've been avoiding reviews as much as possible. I want to know nothing more about this movie. I'm even avoiding looking at track names on the soundtrack . . . which is going to make comparing Amazon and iTunes track listings quite difficult.

Update: the extra tracks on iTunes are "Father and Son" and "Outlands Pt. II", and are each available for $.99. I just may splurge and spend the extra $2 for the extra two tracks after getting the actual album from Amazon for that incredibly low price . . .
~ Ben

Want to Hear Daftpunk's TRON LEGACY Soundtrack?

2010-11-24T10:23:00.008-05:00

So I've listened to the samples from Daftpunk's soundtrack for Tron Legacy and I have to say, I will be buying the soundtrack. I will be listening to the soundtrack. When I am writing I will be using this soundtrack as part of my regular rotation. If you read anything I've written after December 7, 2011, the odds are I will have listened to this soundtrack while writing part of it. It's that good.

It (intentionally) reminds me of the original music, a bit, although the original music wasn't anything I'd want to listen to apart from the movie. It reminds me of Vangelis, actually, particularly the soundtrack for Bladerunner. It reminds me a lot of the soundtrack Joel Goldsmith is using for Stargate: Universe, which is interesting in and of itself (and I do hope for an album from his SGU music) because it is a traditional score writer known for great convention television scoring channeling Vangelis with an electronic score. (Most of his music for the other Stargate series was electronic made to sound like an orchestra, with Universe he just puts the electronic music front and center.)

Give it a listen! It's awesome!
Daft Punk - Tron: Legacy (OST) [www.SeekSickSound.com] by seeksicksound

Obviously, it's not for everyone. But truth is, it's for this movie and seems to me it will work. But a good soundtrack , for me anyway, works when pulled away from the movie. A good soundtrack sets a mood without the need for visuals, which is why I use them when I work.

~ Ben

PS -- It's available for pre-order from Amazon for just $12: Tron Legacy

You can also get the original Tron soundtrack from them for pretty cheap ($11): Tron

C.S. Lewis on "Choices"

2010-11-03T11:50:00.000-04:00

"[E]very time you make a choice you are turning into the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state of the other."

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

I heard this quote from Peter Kreeft, in a podcast about Mere Christianity, while I was on my run this morning, and it stuck with me. Mere Christianity is a dangerous book, of course, because it so concisely cuts through a lot of the bull that surrounds what really matters.

Lewis had a similar quote, using a similar word picture but in a different context, in The Weight of Glory. In that context it was not about personal choices making us into one or the other, beautiful creature or horrific beast, but rather seeing other people's potential as one or the other and helping them toward the better one. I'll post that quote someday.

This quote feeds nicely into a werewolf story I've wanted to write for a long time . . . maybe someday . . .

~ Ben

Power of Words

2010-10-29T11:57:00.000-04:00

Spent a bit of time this morning working on a project that may never see the light of day. Because the whole time I've been drawing this thing, some awful words someone said about me keep creeping back. So I'll toy with working on this project, and then push it away . . .

Interesting how I tend to hang on to THOSE words, and not all the encouraging words from other sources.

I don't think that's uncommon for artists and writers. But it IS unhealthy. I've found myself being more critical of this work because of the words from this guy -- words about a similar project from over a year ago! Can it get more silly than that?

I guess the real question is how to use those words. Let them fuel me, to "prove him wrong"? But what if he's NOT wrong? Try to figure out a way to "use them constructively"? But there was no "constructiveness" to them -- they were just mean, with just enough truth to make it bite. Just ignore it? But if it were that easy, it wouldn't be a problem!

I don't have an answer. Maybe I should stop asking the question! I'd love to go to the guy and ask him to just retract what he said. But to be honest, I'd doubt he'd even remember.

So here's one lesson i can take from this: words have power. More power than we'd like to admit, sometimes. The real question isn't "what should I do about HIS words?" The real question is "what am I doing about my own?"

~ Ben

Seeking the Kingdom: Some Thoughts on Prayer

2010-10-25T12:56:00.000-04:00

In my reading over the last few days, I made a couple connections I hadn't noticed before.

Many people I know who pray tend to focus on the physical, asking for healing and for the money needed to do this or that. And that's fine. It's something that Jesus actually encourages when he says, "Ask and it will be given to you."

But Jesus also encourages us to go a bit deeper. "And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after these things, and your Father knows that you need him. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well."

I find it interesting how little I hear people talking about wanting to "seek his kingdom" and how often I hear people talking about wanting to expand their own kingdom when it comes to prayer. But I don't know that's what Jesus is talking about when he's saying "ask and it will be given to you", especially when he says, "those things" will be given to you as well . . . when you seek his kingdom.

Jesus also says that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can ask a tree to move and it will. Often, I hear that verse applied to, again, physical things. Rarely do I hear it applied to internal matters. To the "seek first his kingdom" type things.

We can ask the God who can and does move mountains for us to move those mountains in our hearts. The mountians that get in the way of our honest seeking of the kingdom.

~ Ben

Nano Film Review #28 -- Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

2010-10-16T22:04:00.043-04:00

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. Terrible film. Terrible, terrible film.

I hate it when films have such great potential for being emotional, character driven action films . . . only to decide to forgo any actual emotion beats to make sure they hit all the action beats.

Here's a film about Superman discovering that he's not the last, living person from his planet . . . only to have his worst enemy convince her to turn against him.

But the emotion in this movie is as flat as the animation. Superman leanrs he has a cousin, and he says with no emotion at all: "Uh, I think she's my cousin."

His cousin gets kidnapped by his greatest enemy, after slaughtering a number of people from Wonder Woman's island? No emotion, just, "Uh, let's go get her."

His cousin is turned evil? No emotion, just a flat line reading of, "Uh, you don't have to do this."

Meanwhile, at the beginning, Supergirl wants to learn what it means to be an earthgirl . . . so Superman takes her to the mall and we get a pretty woman montage. Yup, that's what it means to be an earthgirl!

Batman is Batman, and does Batman stuff. Wonder Woman is Wonder Woman, and does Wonder Woman stuff. Superman is Superman, and does Superman stuff. But it all feels so flat. So dry. So lifeless. I want to see character development. I want to see emotional moments with action based emotional payoffs . . . not action moments with action payoffs. I want emotion, not going through the motions.

The fight scenes are impressive. Even more impressive? If they had taken the time to actually let the characters be true to the emotional elements of the plot instead of just crafting brilliant, brutal fight scenes.

~ Ben

Story vs. History

2010-10-15T21:06:00.000-04:00

I was listening to Peter Kreeft's "podcast" (in quotes, because technically it's not him podcasting but posting lectures that can be accessed freely) about Imagination while on my walk this morning. Peter Kreeft has become a moprning companion of late. He and I have been talking about story ideas and fundamentals of storytelling and philosophy of fiction. Of course, it's a one way conversation, and he has no idea that he's a part of it.

But he is.

I highly recommend listening to his lectures. They are brilliant and insightful. And he talks about Lewis and Tolkien a lot.

But as I was listening today, I had a thought. It didn't have a lot to do with what he was saying, but I was struck by a thought.

Story is false, but can contain much truth; history is true, but can be interpreted falsely.

There's all sorts of implications that can then be made. History is jaded by our own personal perceptions. Story has power.

And I got to thinking about all these ideas . . . big, philosophical ideas . . . about Art and Truth and Life and Other Big Concepts that I capitalize to make them even more Grand!

And then, I had another thought that brought me back down to earth. With all those concepts and implications and philosophical ideas (which are Good, and deserve thought), there is one Big Durn Ol' Trinity of Truth in Writing:

1. Just write.
2. Do your best.
3. Be honest.

Follow those guidelines, and you're on your way to meaningful fiction . . . or meaningful nonfiction . . .

Just some thoughts. Not sure what they're worth, but there they are.

~ Ben

What They Say; What They Mean

2010-10-01T09:19:00.001-04:00

And now, for something completely different . . .

With political ads and debates and all that stuff, here's my little guide to what is really being said:

INDEPENDENT: Both sides will be using this word in their ads. The flip side of this word being just not putting what party the candidate actually belongs to. Why? Both sides don't want you to know what party they belong to. Democrats know people aren't happy; republicans know that people aren't happy. And both sides know that it's going to be close.

TOLERANCE: When this word is used, it means, "I accept everyone except those people who don't think like I do."

FAITH: In other words, "Hey, religious people, I have faith just like you." This IS used by people who actually do ACT like they have faith in God. But it's also used by people who just want votes.

TEABAGGER: Whenever you see someone use this phrase, what they are saying is, "I'm going use this word that is also used to describe a sex act, so I can call people in the Tea Party a totally derogatory name right in public and nobody will care." This is incredibly clever and subversive. It's entered the popular lexicon, and there are many uninformed people who unsuspectingly use the phrase now. In other words, people who should know better (politicians, who have at least had the phrase explained to them) are using the phrase, and causing people who don't know better to use it as well. (EDIT: I should have put this in earlier, but a friendly e-mail from a friend reminded me that I should have given you this warning: don't Google the meaning of the word. It is a work that has been given a pretty nasty meaning -- which is WHY Tea Party opponents are more than happy to use it.)

"IT'S ALL (STILL) BUSH'S FAULT"/"IT'S ALL OBAMA'S FAULT": Nothing is all anybody's fault. Or maybe I should say it's all everybody's fault. First, I can't believe how hard it's been for Obama to get anything done, considering his party pretty much has control over everything in Washington. His inability to get much done has two by-products: 1. It gives the Democrats an easily identifiable enemy for the people to rally against -- Republicans; 2. The Republicans have really rallied together to obstruct almost everything. But here's the real truth -- nothing is really getting done because no one is willing to work beyond party affiliation. Still trying to decide if this is a good thing or not. On one hand, it COULD mean that people are sticking to their principles . . . except when they vote FOR their party AGAINST their principles. On the other hand, this whole two party thing just means there's only two voices in Washington, and I don't think either voice accurately reflects the average American.

Personally, I'm getting tired of "the lesser of two evils".

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Just Write

2010-09-16T11:13:00.000-04:00

If I were to start this little series of writings about writings again, I'd call it "Just Write". However, I have a feeling that's been taken. Come to think of it, "The Way of the Writer" is probably taken as well . . . but that's just my own little title to let you know that this blog post is about writing and the creative life.

On a message board I frequent (yes, those things DO still exist) one post turned toward a person who had a blank page because he wasn't sure about how to draw a panel. There are other factors involved, but it got me thinking about the blank pages and the blank screens and the false concept of writer's block.

Yes, I believe it's a false concept. I may be wrong. And tomorrow I may change my belief. But today, just walk with me down this path . . .

Writer's block, in some ways, is just an excuse. An excuse not to move forward because I don't have just the right idea. Just the perfect line. Just the ideal word. Just this, just that . . . when really I need to just write.

My biggest project right now is essentially taking what could be a research paper/essay and turning it into a graphic novel. Make it interesting. Make it visual (or why make it a graphic novel at all?). And it's been a struggle.

One particular sequence really gave me some trouble. The twenty or so page sequence I'm working on right now. For a long time I just sat and looked at it. Tried to figure it out. Puzzled over how to make it pop. Nothing. I wanted to make it just right . . .

In the end, I had to just write. (Ugh . . . just typing THAT makes me feel a little ill . . . but I think I'm leaving it in, cheesy as it may be.)

So I just dove in. Wrote the sequence with what was the best idea I could come up with to present the information. Did the whole thing . . . and then, a couple days ago, while working at Borders, ten minutes before I had to pack up and leave so I could get to something in time . . . another idea struck me.

This new idea was eight thousand times better. This new idea allowed for the information to be presented visually and with some quirkiness and fun.

This new idea meant that the entire sequence needed to be rewritten.

But it's going to be SOOOOOoooooo much better. (Eight thousand times better.) If I hadn't gone ahead with things, and just forced myself to write that draft, even though I knew it wasn't what I wanted it to be, I never would have came upon the idea I ended up with.

So was that earlier draft lost work? Wasted time? No. Unlike staring at a blank screen, unlike staring at blank paper . . . creatively, I was working and engaged in a way that just staring and struggling would never have achieved.

Just write. Just draw. Just play. In the creative arts, and maybe in other things as well, sometimes you have to do it wrong to figure out how to do it right.

~ Ben

PS -- That cheese earlier . . . makes me thing I'm gonna have a grilled cheese for lunch, See? Yet another bad idea leading to a great idea!

Bono on the Psalms

2010-08-09T12:04:00.000-04:00

I read this years ago, but just recently came across it again.

Bono wrote the introduction to a book that reprinted some of the KJV Psalms from the Bible. His take on the Psalms is interesting, and gives a lot of insight into the music of U2 . . . and also a lot of insight into the Psalms.

Here's some of Bono's thoughts on David:

At the age of 12, I was a fan of David. He felt familiar, like a pop star could feel familiar. The words of the psalms were as poetic as they were religious, and he was a star. Before David could fulfil the prophecy and become the king of Israel, he had to take quite a beating. He was forced into exile and ended up in a cave in some no-name border town facing the collapse of his ego and abandonment by God. But this is where the soap opera got interesting. This is where David was said to have composed his first psalm -- a blues. That's what a lot of the psalms feel like to me, the blues. Man shouting at God -- "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me?" (Psalm 22).

David was a star, the Elvis of the Bible, if we can believe the chiselling of Michelangelo. And unusually for such a "rock star," with his lust for power, lust for women, lust for life, he had the humility of one who knew his gift worked harder than he ever would. He even danced naked in front of his troops -- the biblical equivalent of the royal walkabout. David was definitely more performance artist than politician.

And here's some of Bono's thoughts on religion:

Words and music did for me what solid, even rigorous, religious argument could never do -- they introduced me to God, not belief in God, more an experiential sense of GOD. Over art, literature, girls, my mates, the way in to my spirit was a combination of words and music. As a result, the Book of Psalms always felt open to me and led me to the poetry of Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, the book of John...My religion could not be fiction, but it had to transcend facts. It could be mystical, but not mythical . . .

Anyway, I stopped going to churches and got into a different kind of religion. Don't laugh. That's what being in a rock 'n' roll band is. Showbiz is shamanism, music is worship. Whether it's worship of women or their designer, the world or its destroyer, whether it comes from that ancient place we call soul or simply the spinal cortex, whether the prayers are on fire with a dumb rage or dove-like desire, the smoke goes upwards, to God or something you replace God with -- usually yourself.

Finally, here's some thoughts on the composition of the song "40":

Years ago, lost for words and with 40 minutes of recording time left before the end of our studio time, we were still looking for a song to close our third album, War. We wanted to put something explicitly spiritual on the record to balance the politics and romance of it; like Bob Marley or Marvin Gaye would. We thought about the psalms -- Psalm 40. There was some squirming. We were a very "white" rock group, and such plundering of the scriptures was taboo for a white rock group unless it was in the "service of Satan." Psalm 40 is interesting in that it suggests a time in which grace will replace karma, and love will replace the very strict laws of Moses (in other words, fulfil them). I love that thought. David, who committed some of the most selfish as well as selfless acts, was depending on it. That the scriptures are brim full of hustlers, murderers, cowards, adulterers and mercenaries used to shock me. Now it is a source of great comfort.

"40" became the closing song at U2 shows, and on hundreds of occasions, literally hundreds of thousands of people of every size and shape of T-shirt have shouted back the refrain, pinched from Psalm 6: "How long (to sing this song)." I had thought of it as a nagging question, pulling at the hem of an invisible deity whose presence we glimpse only when we act in love. How long hunger? How long hatred? How long until creation grows up and the chaos of its precocious, hell-bent adolescence has been discarded? I thought it odd that the vocalising of such questions could bring such comfort -- to me, too.

The article in it's entirety can be read here:

http://www.atu2.com/news/psalm-like-it-hot.html

It's quite interesting. If you are a believer, it will get you thinking about some of these common characters and ideas in a slightly different way, I think.

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Formula for a Great Story

2010-07-27T15:54:00.002-04:00

Thinking about yesterday's blog posting, and I came up with the following formula for a great story:

Character + Circumstances + Choice = Change

Repeat as necessary.

The above equation actually seems to work for both writing and, well, life.

What say you? Writing formulas usually are stifling . . . and there really are no rules. However, I this is something that I've been running my characters through when I write . . . although not in this form. It doesn't always work this way, but when I write I want my character's choices to push things forward. Random chance is okay, but only if it leads to a character choice that will push things forward again. And I think, ultimately, what makes a story satisfying is that when the main protagonist changes, and that change helps them triumph.

In other words, your character's choices should drive a plot, not the other way around. Which would be, you know, the plot driving the character's choices . . .

So, gentle readers, do you agree? Disagree? Have a better way to say it? (I thought about a more complicated equation, but I decided I wasn't smart enough to do some sort of "Character divided by circumstance times choice or whatever . . .)

~ Ben

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Dramatic Storytelling

2010-07-26T10:58:00.001-04:00

Something I was thinking about this morning when I woke up . . .

Dramatic storytelling comes from choices, not circumstances.

Why?

Ask yourself, which is more satisfying to watch or read: a movie with lots of cool action and events and special effects, or a movie where a character faces internal struggles while dealing with lots of cool action and events and special effects?

The best stories are about an interesting, relatable character learning about themselves and becoming a better person in the midst of, and sometimes because of, extraordinary circumstances. Or, sometimes, in inverse: choosing NOT to become a better person in spite of learning about themselves in the midst of extraordinary circumstances -- which isn't as satisfying, but still strikes an emotional resonance. But the best stories are about a character making choices and learning to make better choices, which will help them overcome those great odds to bring the story to its satisfying conclusion.

And I'm convinced we're attracted to these kind of stories because that's the way life works. I think because, at our core level, we know that life is not about random events. Rather, we know that life is about the choices we make. Life is about those times we choose good over evil . . . or evil over good . . . it's about those times we choose to reason and learn instead of being told what to think . . . it's about the times we choose to help someone rather than hurt them . . . it's about the times we choose to sacrifice. I believe that those are the things that we are attracted to in stories because those are the things that make life worth living.

~ Ben

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

Comics Worth Reading: FRAGGLE ROCK

2010-07-23T09:39:00.008-04:00

A few days ago, I posted an old article I wrote back in 2004. I posted it in reaction to the news that DC Comics is canceling two of their all ages titles.

Those of you who know me, know I've spent much of my career working on all ages comics. (Shameless plug: coming soon -- The Oz/Wonderland Kids!!! Stay posted as I can give more details.)

So I was reminded yesterday while at the comic shop that there was a series on the shelf that I've been talking up with everyone I can talk it up to. (Did that sentence make sense? I need an editor . . .) And that series is Fraggle Rock, by Archaia Comics.

Fraggle Rock, Free Comic Book Day issue

Now, i had no idea that there was going to be a Fraggle Rock comic. Or maybe I did, but I heard about it so long ago that I completely forgot. But when I helped my local comic shop, BuyMeToys.com (also publisher of The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles and The Oz/Wonderland Kids), with their Free Comic Book Day event, The Archaia free comic caught my eye.

"Fraggles?" I said. "Really? Fraggles?" Guess what the first comic in my take home pile was. Guess what the only comic in my take home pile that I've actually read was.

Fraggle Rock #1

I've made no secret how much I admire Jim Henson. Dark Crystal and Muppets and Labyrinth and The Storyteller and Fraggle Rock. These things all helped shape me creatively. Not only that, puppets are a huge part of my life, between the work I do with children and some of the film work I'm looking at doing in the near future. When I was a child, my parents would travel to work at camps and Bible schools and stuff like that, and those puppets were passed down to me.

So, armed with the knowledge that Fraggle Rock is a comic book, but cautiously optimistic (it's EASY to write for a license, NOT easy to do it well) I flipped through the free comic. It looked AWESOME. I read it, and it read AWESOME. They got it.

And I got the next issue. Paid for that one. (And eventually, the other two issues as well.)

Fraggle Rock #2

The Fraggle Rock comic series is an anthology. I don't know how they selected the different artists and writers for the series (but I'm jealous of them), but each issue of the books has three or four different short stories, each one by a different team. There are a number of different styles, but amazingly each style is able to capture the character design without following a "house style".

These books are, simply put, gorgeous. I mentioned in some previous posts about how much I love to flip through concept art. These comic books are similar. I could stare at this artwork forever.

Essentially what you have here is an anthology on the level of Flight . . . except all the stories are about Fraggles.

Not one story looks "wrong", even though each story looks different.

Fraggle Rock #3

But on to the topic that made me post this in the first place: these books are TRULY "all ages". Like the TV series, these Fraggle stories are "for the young and young at heart" (to use an apropos cliche). They are fun. They are energetic. They are sweet. They are even a bit edgy. Just like the TV show.

A hardcover collection is coming out in September, I believe. You can order the Fraggle Rock Hardcover from Amazon for just $10. (That may just be a pre-order deal.) I believe that means that it would be in last month's Previews. I'm going to be ordering mine through my local comic shop (although that means paying more for it) (it also means I'm buying it twice, but I can live with supporting it like that). But for any fan of all ages fantasy and whimsy, this is a must have.

~ Ben

PS -- I understand Archaia is developing both Dark Crystal and Labyrinth comics. Very interested to see what they do with those . . .

Artwork (c) Archaia Comics

Marvel Movie Concept Art!!!!!

2010-07-21T10:22:00.002-04:00

I love concept artwork. I find it inspiring, and even though I am not an artist one way I get my creative juices going is to sit down with an art book from some sort of genius artist, like The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook by Alan Lee or a The Art of _____ from one of Hayao Miyazaki's movies.

So when I saw that these San Diego Comic Con posters had been revealed, and then saw the actual images, man, I got excited.

Here's Captain America:

And here's Thor:

The first thing I have to say is that, frankly, these FEEL right. They feel iconic. They feel epic. They feel, well . . . RIGHT.

Who knows what the movies will be like. All I know is that these concept paintings look awesome, and I want to see more.

More importantly, I want to see a book of this stuff, to look at when I have some writer's block.

~ Ben

Image from Yahoo! News

All Ages Comics

2010-07-20T11:52:00.004-04:00

Here's an article I wrote for Comic Book Digest, back in 2004.

With the announcement that DC was canceling Brave and the Bold (although I expect they'll be relaunching that one) and Shazam, leaving only one all ages superhero title in their stable (Tiny Titans) I was reminded of this old article.

It's long, but it still reflects my feelings on the subject of all ages comics. In a nutshell, we need more "all ages" comics -- that truly are for all ages. You know, the kind of thing that Pixar does: make a GREAT movie that can be enjoyed by children and adults. In other words: ALL. AGES.

The bottom line is this: kids DO like to read comics. So what're you gonna do about it, partner?

Oh, and if there are any talented artists out there who'd like to work on some all ages type material, let me know. :)

Anyway, here's that long article . . .

“All-Ages Comics?”

Why We Need More All-Ages Comics and What We Can Do About It

by Ben Avery

I worked the better part of a year recently in a residential treatment center for children who had been removed from their homes for various reasons -- mostly due to behavioral problems. The particular kids I was working with were abuse victims who had, in reaction to their own abuse, acted out against other children. They ranged in age from nine to thirteen, and the children I dealt with were exclusively boys.

You can imagine their excitement when I told them I wrote comic books. Their excitement dwindled slightly when they realized I couldn’t DRAW comics, of course. You don’t know how disheartening it is to have a ten-year-old patronizingly say to you, “No, no, Mr. Avery, you did a great job drawing Superman. Really. Or is that Wonder Woman?” However, I’ve been very blessed in some of the very talented artists I’ve worked with. They loved the drawings I would bring in to them. “What’s that?” they would say. “That’s (insert my latest project here), from a comic book I’m developing.”

The problem? None of these were completed projects. I was able to give them a preview of a book I had just finished, and I was able to give them peaks at the “creative process”, and that was all well and good. They loved that. But they wanted more. So I tried to give them more.

I searched through my old comics -- the ones that weren’t still packed away after our latest move. I found some cool comics I thought they would like. First I brought in a JLA story arc, thinking that these kids were big fans of the Superman and Batman and Justice League cartoons, so they would love reading about these iconic superheroes that everyone can recognize, right?

Wrong. “Why isn’t Green Lantern black?” “Isn’t Hawkman supposed to be a girl?” “Who’s that guy with the fire on top of his head?”

They just didn’t enjoy it. Too much back-story that they weren’t privy to. A plot that went over their head. I found myself explaining everything, from plot points to character back-story essential to the plot.

So I changed my approach. I began looking specifically for the elusive all-ages comics. And the pickings were slim.

I brought in Pakkins’ Land. Pakkins’ Land is a fantasy comic by Gary Shipman that started back with Caliber Comics. It’s been collected into four trades, and it ends on a cliffhanger that will be resolved in number five. They loved it. They could not get enough and were sorely disappointed that they would have to wait for the next volume.

I wanted to bring in Hero Bear and the Kid. I loved that series -- what a beautiful comic book. But I had given it away to someone . . . hey, their slogan is “Remember your childhood and pass it on”, so I did! Turns out not everyone feels that way about it passing it on, though, especially comic dealers, and, well, the collectors market being as it is . . . I just wasn’t going to be able to buy back issues any time soon.

Archie we received well by them. They were familiar with Archie’s Weird Mysteries, which they sometimes watched during breakfast before school, so they knew the characters. The short gags, while sometimes confounding them (I had to explain to them that sometimes, they couldn’t understand the joke because it wasn’t that funny), amused them.

Then I discovered the DC animated adventures reprints. My local comic shops helped me track them down. I read them myself and found that I really enjoyed them. The stories were told with emotion and energy. Respect for the characters (by reflecting the back-story) and the readers (by not getting bogged down in the back-story). And I picked up the Marvel Age stuff. These books were directly aimed at the kids I was working with and I got to see first hand that, for the most part, they succeeded. These boys loved the adventures of May Parker in Spider-Girl. And they enjoyed the classic-but-new-to-them Spider-Man and Fantastic Four adventures retold in the Marvel Age books.

But I ran into another problem when I ran out of material. Frankly, I hit a brick wall.

So I tried an experiment. I brought in some Marvel Essentials. Old? Yes. Anachronistic? Probably. Un- relatable? No. The only problem they boys had was that they were in color. I spoke to one boy’s mother who was so amazed that he was actually READING something. What was he reading? Essential Human Torch. Then I got him started on Essential Fantastic Four. His only problems with them were: 1. Ben Grimm called Alicia “Babe” too much and 2. Johnny Storm was a player. He would look forward at the covers that were coming up and get excited about a Sub-Mariner story -- ‘cause Sub-Mariner was such a bad dude. He wanted to read more . . . and more.

This all caused me to sit back and think about some things. As a creator and as a father. Because I want to write comics that kids and adults will want to read and I want to be able to give my children comics I feel good about, not that I have to worry about. (A friend of mine who owns a comic book shop is very careful about what the kids are allowed to pick up because even in mainstream comics you really never know what’s going to show up. Like a severed head or a rape . . .)

I had to be doubly careful, considering the issues the kids I was working with were dealing with. I had to be very careful about the visuals I was giving to them. Especially concerning women. And I became VERY aware of the treatment of women in comics as I looked for materials suitable for these kids. Some things were pretty obvious -- I mean, you just don’t hand a copy of Lady Death or Vampirella to a nine-year-old. But looking even closer, I realized that the only “strong” women in comics seem to be the ones I call the “scanty panty vigilantes” -- they fight crime in little more than their underwear. What kind of a message does that send? (In two of my own recent projects, one an all ages book, the female protagonists were wearing much less than I’d let my own daughter wear.)

And then there’s the violence. Again, sometimes it’s pretty obvious. Nekkid Zombie Blood Fest will probably not be the most appropriate title for a kid. And some comics are about just how much they can shock the reader -- with creative killing and trying to outdo what has gone before. But look closer -- many superhero comics essentially boil down to solving the problem with their fists. That’s what’s attractive about many comics: cool fight scenes.

Part of this is the medium itself. Comics are a visual medium. Duh. So you need cool visuals, and brightly colored costumed, perfectly muscled people zapping other brightly colored costumed, perfectly muscled people is a cool visual. The ideal female body is a cool visual.

Literature has one purpose, to make an emotional connection. To make someone laugh. Or cry. Or gasp. The easiest way to do this is through shock, not through characterization.

But there’s something more needed. What’s missing? The easy, and most condescending answer, is a moral compass. But it’s not far from the truth. Right now, the people buying comics tend to be kids who have grown up. They bought comics from the corner store with their allowance, and now they’ve grown up. Now they are more mature, so their comics need to be more mature. Unfortunately, “For Mature Audiences” tends to mean it’s got boobies and the f-word . . . lots of the f-word.

And, just as unfortunate, “All-Ages” has come to mean kiddy comics. But true “all-ages” comics have many things in common. First, adults and kids like them. "All-ages" is a hard moniker to live up to. The best Disney movies do it. The best Looney Tunes cartoons do it. Many old comics do it. It appeals to everyone, because it’s not created by talking DOWN to kids. It’s just a good story that resonates with kids, and therefore resonates with the young at heart. They focus on nobility. Honor. Friendship. Positive things.

But these days Superman is commonly referred to as a Boy Scout -- and it’s a BAD THING.

I would say we need more positive affirming stories. Stories that are about what it means to be a hero. That are about nobility. That show that we are human and have our “bad” side, but that also show that we can overcome that.

We need stories that go beyond solving problems with fists . . . or swords . . . or guns . . . or monkey wrenches . . . or steam rollers . . . you get the idea. Stories that focus on characters instead of characters serving the story. I’m not talking about preaching to kids or adding on that “knowing is half the battle” moral, although those things have their place. I’m just talking about fun, positive stories.

A 70's/80's retro comic released recently really excited me because it was something I had grown up on. It portrayed the youngest member of the group -- a kid -- hiding pornography in his room. Here I was so excited about introducing my kids at work to this piece of my childhood. But again, the book was not written for people the age of the kids who originally enjoyed the show, it was written FOR the kids who originally enjoyed the show. Grown up kids who now have disposable income. The tone was violent and bloody. It was decently written, though, and the art was good. I found myself wondering how much it would have hurt to make the comic book all ages? Suitable for younger readers while at the same time appealing to adults with mature well written stories.

This, of course, is more difficult. It means self-censorship. It means a lot more thought in every step, from plots to costume design to format to font size. It means more work.

We’ve had the deconstruction of the superhero. It’s been going on for almost twenty years now. And it reflected the times we were (and are) living in, to a degree. Art emulating life, or the other way around? Who knows? Most likely, a little bit of both. It’s now time for what I would call the re-construction of the superhero. In both life and art, I would say, although that goes a little beyond the scope of what I’ve writing about.

As I said, there are some titles out there. You have to look hard, but they can be found. I told an interviewer last year that the big companies were really missing the mark when it came to kids. Since then (not because of me, of course) that situation has changed. It is becoming much more common, in all different genres, not just superheroes. Bone. The Marvel Age books (although be careful, a Marvel Age label does not equate to all-ages) and heck, even the Essentials (especially the old Spider-Man and Fantastic Four). Herobear and the Kid or The Lab or for that matter anything by Astonish Factory. Astro Boy. Pakkins’ Land. Star Wars. Paul Dini and Alex Ross’s tabloid graphic novels (especially Shazam! Power of Hope). Opposite Forces. Some of these books you may never have heard of, and you owe it to yourself to check them out. They are comic books that appeal to mature sensibilities and resound with youthful optimism.

This doesn’t mean don’t write or draw or buy the stories that deal with mature subjects. MAUS is a powerful piece of literature that I would not hand to a child, but it definitely has worth -- Pulitzer Prize worth. There are many, many worthwhile mature comics out there. (Truth is, some of my own work is not for kids.) But there is also a void that needs to be filled. It’s a statistically proven fact that kids love comics. The best selling Disney Adventures magazine issue is the special all comics one. Archie is the best selling comic out there because parents recognize it, know it’s safe, and it’s visible (in the check out lanes at super markets) and it’s being purchased. But there’s almost a whole generation of kids out there who have missed out on comics. There’s a whole generation of parents who aren’t as likely to buy their kids comics now, because of the misconception that all that’s out there is blood and bullets and T&A.

The future of comics depends on whether we can take Astonish Factory’s advice -- “remember our childhood and pass it on.” But do we pass on ultimitized visions of heroism -- people who are “more real” because they abuse their power, or have perverted sexual appetites, or have dark secrets -- or do we pass on portraits of true heroism. Yes, I know that comics aren’t real and that in real life sometimes people just aren’t like that. But is there anything wrong in aspiring to be like that? Why is pessimism more acceptable than optimism?

We’re just coming through an election, and the battle cry from both sides has been, “Every vote counts.” That is especially true here. We can vote with our pocket books. Buy comics that are all-ages and give them our children or the kids down the street or our nephews or neices (after we read them ourselves, of course!). We need to create a new speculator’s market, where we invest not in the future price of a comic, but instead in the future of comics itself. The young readers who are just around the corner from having their own disposable income but still depend on Mom to buy them stuff right now.

And if you can’t find enough of these books, you can do what some friends of mine (and I) are doing.

Create your own.

Please.

Because I’m running out of reading material for those kids . . .

***

Ben Avery, the script adapter of the critically acclaimed The Hedge Knight, the creator of Hero TV and ArmorQuest from Community Comics, and the co-creator/writer of Lullaby and Mike S. Miller’s The Imaginaries, is a father of three and a seventh grade teacher who wants nothing more than to tell stories . . . many of which he hopes will be enjoyed by people of “all ages”.

Star Wars Chibi

2010-07-19T13:51:00.008-04:00

I look at this image and I can't help thinking to myself: this artist has caught the complete joy I used to feel when playing Star Wars on the playground or in the backyard of my house in the backwoods of that small Ontario town.
You can find more Star Wars Chibi at http://ericmerced.posterous.com/ -- including Luke and Vader. Normally, Luke would be my favorite because to me, when I watched Star Wars, Luke was the guy I felt a connection with. He WAS me, being drawn into a strange world he didn't understand, discovering it along with me, the viewer. (This element is something that was sadly lacking from the prequel trilogy.) But I just stared at Han solo for a while as I realized what this image really was. Eric drew a perfect melding what I SAW in my mind's eye when I was running around blasting Stormtroopers and what PEOPLE SAW with their own eyes when I was running around blasting Stormtroopers!

I'm excited to see what he does next in his series . . .

I will admit some bias: Eric was hired by my publisher, Zondervan, to illustrate the final two graphic novels in my TimeFlyz series.

But that doesn't change the fact that he's awesome.

~ Ben

UPDATE, July 20: Eric just added Chewbacca . . . and it's loads of awesome.

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quote

2010-07-18T14:54:00.000-04:00

A little more from my favorite writer:

"Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I have found out long ago."

- C.S. Lewis, Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Graves

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quotes from C.S. Lewis

2010-07-14T16:21:00.002-04:00

"It is impossible to write one's best if nobody else ever has a look at the result."

"What you want is practice, practice, practice. It doesn't matter what we write . . . so long as we write continually as well as we can. I feel that every time I write either of prose or of verse, with real effort, even if it's thrown into the fire the next minute, I am so much further on."

"I am sure that some are born to write as trees are born to bear leaves: for these, writing is a necessary mode of their own development. If the impulse to write survives the hope of success, then one is among these. if not, then the impulse was at best only pardonable vanity, and it will certainly disappear when the hope is withdrawn."

From The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Graves

Jeff Johnson -- new video

2010-03-18T10:33:00.004-04:00

It's no secret that I love Jeff Johnson's music. As far as I'm concerned, his is the best background music for writing I have ever heard. My iTunes library's play count confirms this. In college, Dave Zimmerman and I wore out our cassette tape of Songs from Albion and drove our other roommate Brad Reimer crazy with it (among other things), but it fueled our creative nature and allowed me to write some drivel that became the foundation of my current career.

In the years that have passed, Jeff Johnson has been one of the few artists whose output I have watched for consistently (U2 is the only other I can think of that has lasted until now). If you want to know who to blame for my work, he's one of the people. His music has pushed and pulled me through some serious writer's block; it has allowed me some serious contemplation when in both good and bad times in my life; it has transcended entertainment, with a beauty and a spirit that points to God and edifies the soul. It's uplifting, transporting, and transforming. It's Art.

Oh, and often it just sounds cool. He surrounds himself with talented musicians who perfectly compliment the mood needed for the music he wants to present.

Here's a music video he put together recently. From his e-mail about the video:

Inspired by an experience Jeff had in Rocamadour, France one early Spring morning while watching swallows swoop in and out of an old church through an open door, the production features the song from JOURNEY PRAYERSwith an opening reading in french by Jeff’s daughter, Hailey Burgess.

Here is the poem in both French and English:

Hirondelles délicates, votre vol rassemble une prière:
Au-dessous,
En-dessus,
Devant,
Dérrière,
Au côté —
Tout autour.

Little swallows, your flight is a prayer:
Above me,
Below me,
Before me,
Behind me,
Beside me –
All around me…

It's a great video, and a great album:

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Fear

2010-01-27T11:32:00.005-05:00

"What's holding me back?"

It's a question I've been asking a lot recently. And I've realized part of the answer.

I've been facing some of that Ye Olde Writer's Block lately. It's not for lack of trying. I just can't get myself to move forward. Something has been holding me back. I think I've figured out the answer to that question . . . although, the answer to the answer is proving a little more elusive.

Of course you, dear reader, have already figured out what I have to say because, frankly, you know how to read. And you've read this far. So you've probably read the title of this entry.

What's holding me back?

Fear.

Whenever I start to work lately, I've found myself wracked with doubt. "What if it's not good enough?" "What if I'm biting off more than I can chew with this project?" "What if no one wants to read it?" "What if people finally figure out that I'm really no good?" "What if I can't support my family doing this?" (That last question has particular power recently, when a client did not pay me for a long period of time, at a time when it was really needed.)

I think these doubts are common for any artist. If an artist doesn't have doubts like this, they are either: 1. Delusional; 2. Arrogant; 3. Genius; or, 4. Terrible.

I think that my current round of fear comes not from a lack of ideas or motivation, but instead from some recent success and failure. The success I've had is prompting the doubt: "You'll never be able to keep this up" while the failure I've had is backing it up with a "See, I told you so."

So there's the answer to the question . . . but what's the answer to the answer?

In nature, fear is a good thing and it prompts the whole "flight or fight" response. In facing off with writer's block? I mean, let's face it, writer's block is nowhere near the same as a deer being stalked by a pack of wolves. Even so, the principle remains the same, I think.

You can face it head on, or you can run away. In my case, running is not an option. And yet it's been the option I've chosen. Instead of writing, I've cleaned my desk . . . repaired the harddrive that was holding some files hostage . . . cleaned my desk again (it gets messy fast) . . . watched Farscape (man, that show is amazing . . . why didn't I watch it before?) . . . cleaned out a filing cabinet . . .

I should be fighting. I should be working.

Hmmm, perhaps I shouldn't be blogging. Of course, writing this blog is a good warm up, right? Or is it just another thing that I'm attaching importance to in an excuse to avoid what I should be doing?

Time to face those fears head on. Time to lower my head, stomp my foot, and launch my antlers headlong into that pack of wolves!

After I make some tea . . .

~ Ben

PS -- I love swamp monsters.

WAITING FOR THE TRADE: Some Cool One-Shots

2010-01-04T12:19:00.004-05:00

Here's a review I've been wanting to write for a while now.

I'm not a big fan of big events, mainly because I don't have money to follow them. So, halfway through I find out that Blackest Night might be awesome . . . but I'm just going to have to hope my library gets the collected editions.

But I like the characters. I like Hulk . . . I'm just not going to buy the latest run of Hulk crossover event stuff. (Speaking of, I have the entire run of Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, including Amazing Fantasy #15 which debuted Amadeus Cho -- is that the kid's name? -- and the four issue storyarc that led to Hulk getting launched into space, I'm willing to part with it . . . cheap. Any takers?) I like Green Lantern and the Corps, I'm just not going to buy five titles a week to keep up with the storyline.

So, on the opposite end of the spectrum, we get One Shots. I like One Shots. A lot. They are single, self-contained stories (or a group of self-contained stories . . . or a group of stories that add up to a self-contained story . . . or, in some cases, a trick because they're really a prologue to a big event . . .).

Last month, Dark Horse put out a bunch of one shots -- two Star Wars ones, a Buffy one, a Conan one, Hellboy, Good, etc. -- and used the tagline "Suffering from crossover fatigue?" Nice! "One-shot wonders", they called them. I like it. A lot. I only bought one (although I plan to buy the second Star Wars one-shot), but I love the sentiment. And I'd love to see more stuff like this.

So here's some quickie reviews of some recent one shots and why you might like to buy them too:

Marvel Comics, Black Knight One Shot -- This was a fun superhero fantasy that feels like they might be rebooting the character a bit to start some sort of new series. It's an origin story, and really it's one of those stories that when you get to the end you realize it's really "the beginning", but from end to finish it's a fun romp with some fun twists and turns, that takes place in a medieval fantasy period. I like the character Black Knight, although I don't understand much of his backstory (because I don't know much of his backstory) so this was, as I said, a fun read. I have no idea how much was added to the backstory for this presentation, but reading it felt like much had been added to the mythos that may not have been there before, or at least much that had not been organized like this before. There's some interesting struggles with the concept of good and evil and how that battle works in our own life . . . and a cool sword! Written by Tom DeFalco, so you know it's going to be good (although, with limited space, you can see where he wished he were writing a four issue limited or something).

Marvel Comics, Hulk: Winter Guard -- This is exactly the kind of one-shot I like, although I think it should be retitled "Winter Guard: Hulk". It's really more about Winter Guard dealing with Hulk than Hulk dealing with Winder Guard . . . but who cares? It's a good story, it cleverly weaves a classic Hulk story into it, reprints said classic Hulk story as a flashback, and delivers a couple nice twists that let you look at the classic story slightly different and also make for a fun ride. David Gallaher always delivers exactly the kinds of stories I like to read and write, and consistently does so much better than I could ever do.

Dark Horse, Star Wars: Purge "Seconds to Die" -- This is a quick little story taking place between trilogies, as Darth Vader is tracking down some of the Jedi who may have fallen through the cracks when the Jedi were mass-murdered in Revenge of the Sith. The story follows her and her desperate plan in the aftermath. It's an interesting little story with a concise beginning, middle, and end, although it may resound more with fans of the original trilogy.

Like I said, I'd love to see more of these kinds of one shots. I can't buy all of them, but the ones that interest me are far more likely to make it into my "buy pile" than the big, grand crossover event type things. At $4 a pop, it's a good read, and a little longer than your usual comic book.

But don't wait for the collection!

~ Ben

A thought on "religious" works . . .

2010-01-02T11:45:00.001-05:00

"It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything."

~ A.W. Tozer

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quote

2009-12-30T16:55:00.003-05:00

"When functioning as it should, in secular as well as religious contexts, imagination is the most important means by which higher truths can be communicated." - Robert Houston Smith, Patches of Godlight: The Pattern of Thought of C.S. Lewis

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Dig Deep, or "Method Writing"

2009-12-29T11:11:00.003-05:00

They say "write what you know", and really, "they" are pretty good at saying things that sound simple and make sense . . . until you start trying to do it and suddenly you find yourself asking, "What the heck does that mean?"

First off, how can you write something you don't know? I mean, take a look at that statement. If you write something, you have to know it . . . because if you don't know it, it's not in your brain, and you can't write it. You may not know MUCH about what you're writing, but that is easy to remedy: through research you can learn about something . . . but knowing ABOUT something is not what "they" are talking about. I think.

I believe when they say "write what you know" they mean this: when you write, dig deep. Connect with each of your characters, by doing what some people may call "method acting".

Recently, I've been trying to apply "method acting" principles to my writing. "Classic Acting" (my term, I think) is when you simulate emotions as you act a part. You simulate laughter, you simulate weeping, you simulate the feelings you are portraying. And some actors are quite good at this. "Method Acting", on the other hand, is where you actually draw upon those emotions so that in the moment you are acting, you are feeling those feelings. Instead of just acting sad when you play the part of a girl who just lost her puppy, you draw on your own memories of that day when you found out your kitten was run over by a snowplow. Instead of just going through the motions of laughing when another character tells a stupid joke, you bring up your own memories of that day when you found out your best friends kitten was run over by a snowplow. You get the idea.

"Method Writing" is the same idea. When writing about a serious tragedy or writing about a personal triumph or writing about a introspective realization . . . you bring these emotions up from your own well of experience. This is where you beging writing what you know in earnest, not just writing what you know about! This is where if you spend all your time cooped up watching movies or reading comics, you aren't going to be a very effective writer because you aren't experiencing life! Your emotional experiences are limited to what you see in front of you, not what you feel.

Feelings are what connects people. Love. Passion. Happiness. Silliness. Pain. Sorrow. Unless you are a callous person with no soul or are experiencing overwhelming emotions of your own, if you see someone experiencing these feelings you will be empathetic to the person who is feeling these emotions. You will connect with them, based on your own experiences with these feelings. You speak with a lovesick teenager . . . you'll remember your own embarrassment when you felt that way, and maybe even be slightly annoyed with them -- but that annoyance comes from empathy. You speak with a heartbroken teenager . . . you'll remember when your own heart was broken, and either feel bad for them or, again, annoyed. But these feelings come from shared experiences. Someone tells a joke that's not all that funny? You may find yourself laughing simply because other people are.

Art has a dual purpose, although these purposes often wrap around each other. It can be cathartic, a way to sort through feelings on an internal level; or it can be to connect one soul to another, on an external level. This is why I "preach" about the power of art, and why it bothers me when I see people minimizing art as "it's just a story" or "it's just a joke". No. It is a connection between two souls. Or two brains, if you don't believe in souls. Whatever, the concept is the same. It's an interpersonal connection.

To truly connect, though, the story must FEEL true! It must feel right! It must feel recognizable! Art is a caricature of real life, and as a caricature it must be something people can look at and see recognizable features.

So, writers, dig deep. Work hard to make your stories and characters as emotionally "true" as you can. Doing this will cause a connection between your reader and your characters . . . and --this part is scary -- you.

The only way you can do this is to get to know your characters . . . and get to know yourself . . . and then, "write what you know".

~ Ben

A Little Christmas Webcomic . . .

2009-12-21T17:04:00.002-05:00

Art by clip-art . . . lame joke by me, (c) 2009 . . . although something tells me that 2009 doesn't want anything to do with it . . .

~ Ben

Nano Film Review #27 -- Avatar

2009-12-20T21:41:00.005-05:00

Nano-film review: Entertaining, if cliche, story and characters; amazing world creation; spectacular special effects and action sequences.

Longer version: I’ve heard a lot of people comparing Avatar to other movies. Most of them are fair. Dances with Wolves. Ferngully. Even Delgo. (My old review of Delgo is here. And apparently after the Avatar trailer came out, the people who made the Deglo movie were considering suing James Cameron, which is ridiculous, although they may have sold one or two more DVDs from the publicity.)

The movie I’d compare it to the most, honestly, is The Dark Crystal. (The Dark Crystal, by the way, has a much better case against the Delgo people than the Deglo people have against Avatar when it comes to stealing visuals, I think.) The Dark Crystal is an incredible example of world building. And Avatar’s weakness is also The Dark Crystal’s: an amazing, visually stunning world and characters, but with a weak story to hang it on. (This is something Jim Henson himself would agree with, and with their follow up Labyrinth they started with the story first, not the world.)

Avatar was being hailed before release as a groundbreaking cinematic experience, and to be frank it is. It’s the best motion capture animation ever. The characters look expressive, move fluidly, and feel alien. The world they live in is an example of incredible world building. It is a fully realized world with believable, alien environments. It’s the best scifi/fantasy world I've seen. It totally blows way Lucas’ prequel trilogy in that regard. It’s a big, epic scaled world they created. It was made as a 3D movie, and the gimmick here is not things flying at your face, it's instead a layered, huge, textured world.

The creatures are graceful and vicious and just plain cool looking, although the humanoid creaturs and their semi-naked attire may take some getting used to. They’re just human enough to be relatable and alien enough to be different. The biosphere and environment of the world are carefully crafted and a wonder to experience on the big screen.

But then there’s the plot. You've seen this movie before . . . just never this big in scope. You'll know the plot and almost exactly how it's going to resolve five minutes in, if you’ve ever read a book or seen a movie. You've seen these characters before. Remember Paul Riser in Alien? He’s in this movie. Remember the gruff sergeant toy from Toy Soldiers, or Robert Duvall from Apocalypse Now? He’s in this movie. Remember every scientist from every science fiction movie? They’re all in this movie. But it’s okay, because this movie is bigger than any of the other times you've seen this story and looks prettier.

I will say, though, that I really liked the main character. He helps the movie rise above the cliches by being a likable character with emotional motivations. He's the perfect character to experience this whole new world with.

The underlying message is cliché, unfortunately, but you do get some interesting Big Ideas that can only come from science fiction. Things about the natural of individuality. Our place in this world. Our relationship to God. You also get lots of hamfisted references to current events, like the casual tossing out of "shock and awe", that sort of thing. It would have been a much better movie if it had left those connections up to the audience.

The music was James Horner doing James Horner. The familiar echoing horns did their thing, and the music settles in to the background. I’ve decided that even though many of James Horner’s film scores sound very, very similar, it’s familiar.

All things considered, Avatar is a visual feast, with exciting action sequences and beautiful effects. Plot is mostly predictable, but forgivable because of the world building. Avatar should be seen on the big screen. The 3D was awesome, although it took a while to get used to. (I want to see it in 2d.) It was a big, epic scaled world they created, very sophisticated. It should be seen on the big screen.

I just can't wait until this technology and this level of world building is matched with an equally sophisticated story.

~ Ben

Obama asks moms to shave . . . FOLLOW UP!!!

2009-12-14T14:33:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I'm writing a follow up post to my original "Obama asks moms to shave" posting!

But here I am. And here it is, the most recent ad to pop up on my Yahoo! free e-mail account:

You know, when I was a kid I remember one year the Santa who came to visit my school was a woman! She was an old woman with white hair and thin glasses and a fake beard. She looked like Santa until I got close to her. That kinda ruined the whole illusion of Santa.

Now, if they had just gotten the mom from the above photo . . . you know, the mom that Obama REALLY wants to go back to school . . . she could have played Santa no problem! Just some white hairspray and she'd be good to go!

This new image shows me that the original was not a mistake or oversight. Indeed, it was a conscious decision to match the headline with the photo! Because that's not a new photo of "bearded mom" with a hat. No, that's a photoshopped hat on the original "bearded mom" photo, along with a revised subheadline! Time, effort, and thought went into creating and using that picture for this ad.

I'm really curious now. What are they thinking?

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quote

2009-12-10T13:07:00.001-05:00

"Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I have found out long ago." - C.S. Lewis, Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Graves

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

Obama asks moms to shave . . .

2009-12-09T14:24:00.003-05:00

So I'm checking my free Yahoo e-mail account . . . free because of advertisements, of course . . . and this is the ad that shows up:
Now, the question I have is if this program is open to ANY mom? Or just moms who could play the part of Joseph in their church's nativity scene?

Look, I know they just use stock photos for these ads. I understand that the people in these ads has nothing to do with the product being advertised. But don't you think who ever is responsible for these ads would think "If I'm going to use the headline 'Obama Asks Moms to Return to School', I probably shouldn't use the picture that looks like the mug shot of a guy who just got arrested for domestic terrorism after spending three months in the mountains"?

Then again, I'm glad they didn't. Everytime I look at this ad, I can't help giggling. I kept the screen with this ad active in my browser for a few minutes. As an advertisement, it did it's job. I caught my attention and kept it.

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Keep Your Head Up

2009-12-04T17:38:00.000-05:00

When I go running, I find myself facing two things: growing fatigue and growing discouragement. And when I run and I start to feel tired and discouraged, I find myself lowering my head. Pushing through. I started running with my head down even when I wasn't tired or discouraged. It just became the way I usually did it. Now, I don't mean my head was bowed and I wasn't looking where I was going, but generally speaking my face was angled down. My eyes were looking ahead maybe half a block, if that.

When I noticed this at one point when I was just not feeling like I was going anywhere, and I lifted my head and fixed my eyes on a point down the road. It seemed to me that this SHOULD be more discouraging. It was a LONG stretch of road ahead. (Actually sidewalk, but who care.) But instead, I found a bit more energy. Looking ahead of me, I was able to run with more purpose. I had a destination. I wasn't focused on where I was; I was focused on where I was going.

If you are creative artist, you've got approach things in much the same way. You can't just focus on where you are, you have to be looking ahead at where you're going.

Doing this can requires having a destination in mind. With a run, I know my destination. Down the road, around the corner, and back home. But if you are a writer or artist, the destination is not nearly so well defined.

That means you've got to define it yourself!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1. Personal Goals. Personal goals are just that: personal. These are somewhat abstract goals, and some of them may never really feel like they've been attained because they are really a work in progress. These can be goals like "learn something new today" or "be the best I can be".

These personal goals are goals that help you become more self-aware. They are goals that cause you to take a look at who you are and how you do things and, hopefully, push you to be better. Because they are abstract, I debated not putting them on this list, but I think that as you strive to be a better, successful creative artist, you also need to strive to be a better human being. These are spiritual goals.

The success of these goals can be hard to measure. "Hmm, I'm a 7 in 'be a better person' today." it just doesn't happen, does it?

In writing and art, it is just as hard to measure. Saying you'll "write better" is difficult to measure, yes, but setting goals like that will cause you to take steps toward achieving them. You may not be able to see how much better you are in your chosen art on a day to day basis, but you will be able to see if you've worked toward bettering yourself or not every day.

These goals are abstract, as I said, and as a result are somewhat amorphous. That's okay. As you grow and change, these goals should grow and change with you.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2. Professional Goals. Professional goals are hard, because success is, honestly, out of your own hands. You can set a goal like "get an agent in two years" or "get published before 2012", but the success of these goals lie in the hand of agents, editors, and publishers. And frankly, they don't have the same enthusiasm for your goals as you do.

Still, it is good to set these goals. Use them as milestones you can point to as you grow as a writer or artist. For me, in the past, one of my professional goals was to be published by someone other than myself (Community Comics, a comic book publisher, was run by myself and three other men -- being published by Community didn't count) before I turned thirty. And when I was 29, Image Comics published The Hedge Knight. My current professional goal is to have another project lined up before my current project is finished. The first of these goals was about my career, the second of these goals is tied directly to providing for my family.

But do not let them get you down if you do not make those goals. These goals are meant to help you move forward, not stop you in your tracks. If you find a goal becoming unattainable or if you do not make one of these goals, adjust them. Or use the failed goal as an opportunity to assess what you are doing to meet the goals. If "get published before I turn thirty" is a goal, and on your thirtieth birthday you still haven't been published, take a look at what you've done to meet that goal. Is it because you didn't write anything? Or is it because you just never found the right connection with a publisher, even though you did try? Do you need to get some help with your cover letters?

Success with these goals means moving on to the next goal; failure means assessing what went wrong and addressing it for the future. Either way, you're pushing yourself to become better.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

3. Practical Goals. Practical goals, unlike professional goals, are completely in your hands. These are things that can range from the tiny to the enormous. And they provide the most encouragement, I think, when things get tiring or discouraging. Challenges like NaNoWriMo, in which people set a goal to complete a novel in a month, or the 24-Hour Comic, in which people write and draw twenty-four pages in twenty-four hours, are extreme examples of a practical goal. There's a timeline (one month or twenty-four hours) and at the deadline there's a tangible product (a novel or a comic book). Practical goals can include things like "1000 words a day" or "half a page of art a day" or "three submissions this month".

A practical goal is a goal that you can easily measure. It is a goal that gives tangible results. And, as a result, it is a goal that will often times encourage you as you look at your other goals.

As with the professional goals: success means moving on to the next goal; failure means assessing what went wrong and addressing it. You should have both long range and short range practical goals, for immediate accomplishment and satisfaction and to have as a destination to strive toward.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is a fourth type of goal-setting. It is one that I didn't think of until just now, and it is one that many people do not think is valid. It is one that other people put too much stock in. Me? i think it is important. However, I think that you can't build your career on it.

4. Dreams. These are those big idea, crazy wishes. For me, an example would be that I have a dream to write a Man-Thing story for Marvel Comics or an Aquaman story for DC Comics. It's a dream. It fits into my career nicely, but it's not a practical goal by any stretch. Marvel and DC have plenty of amazing writers at their beck and call. The likelihood that they might be interested in someone like me writing a C-List character like Man-Thing and Aquaman (although Aquaman SHOULD be an A-List character!) . . .

Well, let's just say it's a dream. It's not bad to dream.

Some people say "there's dreamers and there's doers". I disagree, I think we need to be a little bit of both. But don't let your "dream" of selling your science fiction novel idea to Steven Spielberg get in the way of, you know, actually writing the novel!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So keep your head up! Keep your eyes on the road ahead! With each step, with each day, push yourself to be not just the BEST you can be, but to be BETTER!

~ Ben

Star Wars: a retrospective of sorts

2009-11-13T13:13:00.003-05:00

Well, today is the big day. My son and are are going to watch Star Wards tonight. He hasn't seen it before, and we're starting with the first Star Wars movie. I'm excited. I waited until he asked to watch it. I figured when he was ready, he'd want to. And he's ready. It'll be fun.

So, I'm working and my friend David sends me an e-mail with a link to this old television special. If you thought Star Wars Holiday Special was terrible . . . wait until you see this:

Donny and Marie's Star Wars special!

It has everything: dancing stormtrooper, terrible puns, Red Foxx (complaining that this year planet Sanford "has no sun" -- his show Sanford and Son came back in 1980, but it was just called "Sanford"), Darth Vader escaping in the (SPOILER) (what?), jokes about the "farce", jokes about dental hygiene. But, really, you just need to see it to believe it:

I have to say, the designs for the female troopers were kind of cool. And hey, at least they got the whole "Luke and Leia are brother and sister" thing right!

But listen, I can't drop this proton torpedo on you and just leave it like that. I want people to like me when they come to this blog. So from the WORST of Star Wars, we come to some of the BEST of Star Wars:

RALPH MCQUARRIE'S WEBSITE!!!

I jsut discovered this website last week. It has a whole lot of his concept designs from Star Wars and many other movies. I happen to love Mr. McQuarrie's concept designs, some of them moreso than what actually ended up on film. My local comic shop has some action figure sets based on his character designs, and I almost bought them and used them as models for my 24 Hour Comic. The main problem with that being I didn't have the $90 for the two sets and I can't draw people worth two cents.

So, in this blog post we get a glimpse at the best and worst of what Star Wars can do when it captures your imagination.

I don't know what this means. I'm sure some sort of spiritual application could be made . . . but truthfully, my brain hurts too much after wartching Donnie and Marie to really put that much thought into things.

~ Ben

24 Hour Comic -- 4 hours in

2009-11-07T13:36:00.005-05:00

I'm four hours into my 24 Hour Comic . . . and that means I'm actually two pages behind. Not bad, I guess.

Here's a quick peek at some stuff I've done so far:

These are the character designs I decided on:

Some sort of "beast of burden":

Deadly little guy, this:

The "bad guys", so to speak . . . I will prob not keep the "mustache":

The protagonist. I like the puppet vibe of this guy.

Page 1:

Page 2:

So you can see why I'm a little bit embarrassed of my progress. However, keep in mind I am a writer. not an artist.

Doing this ALWAYS gives me an appreciation for artists!

~ Ben

You can follow my progress on Twitter, where I update a few times every hour or so. I'm @whisperingloon and I'm using the hashtag #bens24hourcomic for it.

Nano Film Review #26 -- Where the Wild Things Are

2009-10-31T21:49:00.001-04:00

Here's my two word review of "Where the Wild Things Are":

Missed. Opportunity.

Yes, it had some AWESOME character design and character portrayal. The effects were amazing, and my wife was disappointed to find out that the facial effects were CGI, but it was nearly impossible to tell where digital effects began and practical effects ended.

But the movie had a weak narrative and a weak resolution. I love Spike Jonze's work, and I expected to love Where the Wild Things Are because of that. Adaptation is an amazing film that anyone who wants to be involved in any type of story telling art needs to watch. Being John Malkovich was a work of beauty, and the puppeteering scenes are breathtaking. His movies aren't traditional, and that's okay. But this movie was unsatisfying.

Where the Wild Things Are, ultimately, COULD've been a heart felt, fun, children's movie that resonated on a deep level with adults. Where the Wild Things Are, instead, was a well crafted downer of an adult therapy session working out childhood issues.

You can't deny the craft and art of this movie, but ultimately it was a MISSED OPPORTUNITY for what could have been a great movie -- a heartfelt, fun, children's movie that resonated on a deep level with adults. Instead, we're given a well crafted downer of an adult therapy session working out childhood issues.

The saddest thing about Where the Wild Things Are is that the great children's movie that could be made from the book will NEVER HAPPEN.

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspirational Quote

2009-10-30T21:35:00.003-04:00

A bit longer quote today. My friend Tim Baron pointed me at an article in the C.S. Lewis collection of essays "God in the Dock" that I hadn't read for a LONG time. Pulling that book out to peek at the article he wanted me to read, I left it in our front room. Tonight, I picked it up and flipped through it and found myself getting interested in another essay, and there was this passage:

"Until quite modern times -- I think, until the times of the Romantics -- nobody ever suggested that literature and the arts were and end in themselves. They 'belonged to the ornamental part of life', they provided 'innocent diversion'; or else they 'refined our manners' or 'incited us to virtue' or glorified the gods. The great music had been written for Masses, the great pictures painted to fill up a space on the wall of a noble patron's dining-room or to kindle devotion in a church; the great tragedies were produced either by religious poets in honor of Dionysus or by commercial poets to entertain Londoners on half-holidays.

"It was only in the nineteenth century that we became aware of the full dignity of art. We began to 'take it seriously' . . . But the result seems to have been a dislocation of the aesthetic life in which little is left for us but high-minded works which fewer and fewer people want to read or hear or see, and 'popular' works of which both those who make them and those who enjoy them are half ashamed . . . (By) valuing too highly a real, but subordinate good, we have come near to losing that good itself."

C.S. Lewis

From "First and Second Things" in God in the Dock

"The Way of the Writer" articles:

Inspiration?
Why Write?
The Weight of the Writer
Holistic Writing
Intentionality, part 1
Nothing New Under the Sun
Intentionality, part 2
It's So Rewarding
Productivity

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

WRITER S. BLOCKHEAD #4 "the blank screen"

2009-10-22T15:44:00.004-04:00

Don't be a blockhead . . .

The blank screen can be interchanged with the blank page or the blank canvass. You know, there just comes a point where you gotta start making some marks so it will stop being blank!

I'm realizing that drawing W.S. is really becoming a self-portrait. I'm afraid that posting these things is almost posting too much information about my life!

~ Ben

THE WAY OF THE WRITER: Inspiration?

2009-10-22T11:22:00.003-04:00

My good friend Tim Baron, who also happens to be THE Tim Baron who drew the samurai from the above image, e-mailed me after looking at my "Writer S. Blockhead" cartoon about inspiration. Basically, he said, "You need to block about what to do when that inspiration doesn't come."

The answer is not easy, and I'm pretty sure there's no really good right answer. The closest I can come to, and what I was trying to hit with the cartoon, was this:

Do something about it.

So saying this, I reminded of the financial expert from Saturday Night Live last year:

But there's more to what I'm saying than just, "Identify the problem; fix it!"

When inspiration just falls, it's heavenly. It's a feeling unlike any other. It's like connecting with God. It's almost as if the Creator says, "I'm going to give you a glimpse into what it's like to be me." When words flow, it's an amazing and powerful and triumphant thing. (Speaking of the initial output. Sometimes, it feels bad when, looking over the work, it's not as good as you thought!)

Conversely, when words do not flow it can be a frustrating and terrible thing. It hurts. It's demoralizing. It feels like, at the worst of times, a complete disconnection with the world, with God, and with self. At best, it's a source of frustration.

And there are other factors, too, and when those other factors figure in it's even worse. A lack of inspiration in the face of a deadline, self-imposed or not, makes it even worse. For me, recently, I faced a writer's block when I had to get a project done so we could pay our upcoming mortgage. Talk about heaping a nice scoop of terrible onto a plate full of awful.

But here's where it comes down to that whole "fix it!' idea. (And actually, this ties into my next Writer's Blockhead cartoon.) If you don't feel inspired, you have two choices: put down your pen or pencil or keyboard or whatever and walk away, or push through. Make it happen.

The inspiration didn't fall like rain today? Do a rain dance! You gotta call down the rain, man!

How? Praying helps. Going for a walk. Taking a break. Those sorts of things. The article I came across from Yahoo about energy has some good things to do that will stimulate the ol' brain cells. These books, Write: 10 Days to Overcome Writer's Block and The Write Type (both available in my "Way of the Writer" bookstore -- ordering from it gives me a little kick back . . . just sayin'), have a lot of practical advice as well as some introspective exercises that can reveal some interesting things about how your unique creativity and your creative process.

But there comes a point where you just have to do it. Make yourself do something, anything, no matter how awful it feels like it will end up being. If, like Writer S. Blockhead in the cartoon, you're just going to wait for inspiration to fall on you, it's not going to happen. Getting inspired, sometimes, is a battle, not a gift. It is something that you must choose to go after. It is something you have to fight for. You have to pursue inspiration when it does not pursue you.

Some practical ideas:

set goals for yourself -- concrete goals you can keep track of like page or word counts
spend time surrounded by other creative people who are also working on something creative
just write or doodle, letting whatever happens happen, and then "ride that wave" into whatever it is you want to work on
take a break that involves physical activity -- this will not only stimulate different parts of the brain, it will get blood flowing to your brain as well
work on something else, perhaps something smaller, especially something that can bring about a feeling of success

These are just a few ideas. But the bottom line is this: you can't just hope something strikes you.

~ Ben

(Ironically, Tim didn't know this, but the next Writer S. Blockhead cartoon also tackles this subject.)

Other "The Way of the Writer" articles:

Why Write?
The Weight of the Writer
Holistic Writing
Intentionality, part 1
Nothing New Under the Sun
Intentionality, part 2
It's So Rewarding
Productivity

Samurai art by Tim Baron, (c) 2009

WRITER S. BLOCKHEAD #3

2009-10-20T12:10:00.002-04:00

Sometimes it does . . . but you can't just count on it!

~ Ben