Pixar borrows from Mad Magazine

** This is an old post from a blog I am shutting down. Funny enough, my last blog I only had one comment, and it was for this post. I was told I was full of sh#t, and that Wall-E is the best movie ever and not rip off of anything. Rip off no, but a borrowed idea is still a borrowed idea **

I love Pixar flicks.

The folks at Pixar know how to entertain fo' sho. But not all the ideas they develop are original. Take for example the recently released Wall-E. A movie set in the future where machines run everything. Due to the machine operated world, humanity has grown gelatinous, lazy, and confined to a chair. A great idea and a logical conclusion - but not original.

Mad Magazine published this very idea over 50 years ago! In 'Tales Calculated to Drive You MAD #1' OCT-NOV 1952, in the story titled "Blobs" humanity is pictured exactly as present day Wall-E creators picture humanity. See the following image:



So as you can plainly see, Mad Magazine is truly ahead of its time.


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Legends of the Dark Knight

Girl Comics 2

Art & Beauty # 2

Writer/Artist: Robert Crumb
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Published: 2003

Art & Beauty is not so much a comic book, but a picture book of drawn ladies by Crumb in a comic sized book, each captioned by either himself or other writers/artists.

I was first introduced to Crumb when I was in Toronto several years ago. I wandered into a book shop and I saw the R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book on display. After a quick peruse, I noticed here's a guy who definitely likes to draw, especially the darker side of life. After some more research on Crumb, I was inevitably drawn towards the movie Crumb.

The movie Crumb covered many aspects of his life, ranging from his obsession with old timey music, family trauma, to his sex life. Now, here is a guy who has a split persona when it comes to sex. He is clearly obsessed with sex, and he comes off as both a victim and benefactor of his compulsions. Crumb's attitude toward women is a mixed bag as well. On the physical level he is enraptured, but overall some of his work is extremely misogynistic. Needless to say, that dichotomy has earned him his fair share of praise and criticism.

However, his Art & Beauty comics show a brighter attitude towards women. And boy can he draw!

Mesmo Delivery

Writer/Artist: Rafael Grampa
Colours: Rafael Grampa & Marcus Penna
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Published: February 2010

If I reviewed comics professionally, this would be my quote:

"Blazingly spectacular. A dark twisted stop over ticket into the 'do not enter'. Non-refundable."

Ha ha, okay, I'm not a great 'quoter', but I really want to express how much I love this comic. I can't remember the last time I read a comic and was so excited I couldn't sleep. My enthusiasm for Mesmo Delivery is on par with how I felt after watching Oldboy. I was shocked, amazed, repulsed, fanatically joyous, grossed out. I could go on...but I don't want to over hype things.

The story follows an Elvis impersonator and a desperate ex-boxer driving a delivery truck. They stop for gas. All hell breaks loose.

Note 1: Definitely not for the kiddies.
Note 2: In case folks haven't noticed, any post with the tag "* Edit" has an image I have created from panels within the comic. I have time to do these right now, and it helps to keep me interested. Hope you like 'em.
Note 3: Here's a link for a preview PDF from it's initial publisher, AdHouse.





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Futurama #38

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The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft #1 of 4

Writer: Mac Carter
Artist: Tony Salmons
Cover: Adam Byrne
Publisher: Image Comics
Published: April 2009

Taking authors and making them into a character within their own universe is fairly common these days. It has its pros and cons. If you're a big fan of the writer and familiar with their works, then its a match made in heaven. However, it can be infuriating because outsiders won't be able to pick up on all the nuances. Luckily for the creators of this comic, Lovecraft created such a rich and wonderful world, outsiders don't need to know every little detail to enjoy the story. For example, you don't necessarily need to know what the Necronomicon is, but just to know that it leads to bad stuff suffices. Which, by the way, it usually always does.


The Strange Adventures of HP Lovecraft opens with the origins of the Necronomicon. We are then introduced to the writer HP Lovecraft, who is struggling with writers block. After an unfortunate revelation regarding his love interest, Lovecraft is attacked by a couple sailors. Too bad for them, Lovecraft is the "key and the guardian of the gate." This statement doesn't make much sense on its own, but when the Necronomicon mystically pronounces you're the "key and the guardian of the gate," that's usually always bad.


I'm a big fan of Lovecraftian monsters. One of the reasons I love them is because of the visual possibilities they inspire. Lovecraftian monsters usually defy human comprehension, are huge, epic, impose madness, and destructive. Take for instance the scene in Hellboy where Hellboy releases the monsters from their prison, or the scene in the Mist when Tom Jayne's character is driving by towering monsters - awesome.

Spidey Super Stories # 11

Writer: Jean Thomas

Artists: Winslow Mortimer, Mike Esposito, and T. Mortellaro

Publisher: Marvel

Published: 1975

With the new Spidey film in works, there has been a call for Donald Glover to audition. The debate has been whether Peter Parker/Spider-Man can be black...this whole debate kinda reminds me of todays issue.

After having one of Peter Parker Spidey bindle webs fall into Valerie's hands, she gets the idea to be a superhero!

And after a few training sessions, The Sensational Spider-Woman is born!

Spidey seems ok with this...

Then trouble strikes! The Vulture! Good thing Valerie is there!

And after Valerie's wall suction cups fall off, Spider Woman is no more. The End?

This is a fascinating story. It has a black Spider-Woman, but the fact Valerie is black has no bearing on the story. Valerie's a down on her luck gal, who has her luck turn around when she dons the costume of Spider-Man. And then in the end, she returns to just Valerie, while the real Spider-Man continues his adventures.

This tale has certain elements that are surprisingly similar to the plight of Don Glover and his quest to don the mask of Spider-Man. He's wants to have some of the fun as it were, be a hero. And as much as internet fans photoshop him into the costume, at the end of the day, he'll most likely not be the next Spider-Man. But, unlike Valerie's story in this issue, where she did become Spider-Woman and happened to be black, Don Glover will not be Spider-Man because he is black.

Call me jaded, but the proofs in the pudding. Take for instance the up-and-coming movie The Last Airbender, where 3 of the 4 lead actors are white and are dressed to look Asian/Inuit. If Hollywood won't even cast Asians/Inuit to play originally intended Asian/Inuit characters, they sure as hell won't cast a Black actor to play a White Peter Parker/Spider-Man. (Note: I am not comparing skin colours, but actors to character roles).

But, I'm ambivalent on the issue. Part of me wouldn't want a black actor to be cast as Spider-Man because it would be a gimmick at best. However, another part says yes to a black Spider-Man because characters of such resonance shouldn't be determined by what colour their skin is. Another part of me says why should there be a black Spider-Man when they're are so many other great characters who were written as black. Then again, when I close my eyes and think of Spider-Man and other heroes I enjoy reading, they are always white; my own mind is "white washed" - maybe a simple change of colour could shakes things up for the better?

As a thought experiment on the debate, I photoshopped this image together. Sorry to J. Scott Campbell!

I don't know about you guys, but after looking at this image, I think a world of fresh, controversial, and exciting stories could be culled from making Peter Parker/Spider-Man black.

*****Update*****

So I added this photo to a comic site and the responses I got were awful, and then it opened up the doors for really bad comments. I don't get it. This image wasn't created as a form of blackface. It's trying to imagine what a world would be like where Peter Parker/Spider-Man is black. And as the image suggests, just because Peter's black, doesn't mean his supporting cast would be black as well. I think that is what would be so awesome about a black Spider-Man - he'd tackle racial politics. So this image can be taken a number of ways. Is MJ shocked at Peter cheating, or is she shocked at a black man and a white woman kissing, or both? What exactly would happen if Spider-Man was black?

On a related note: Years ago I saw Joey Jeremiah (Pat Mastroianni) and Snake (Stefan Brogren) do a live show where they talked about their experiences growing up filming Degrassi. One of the stories that stood out was when Degrassi started airing down in the States, their biggest complaints they received weren't the episodes where they tackled child abuse, abortion, drugs, suicide, etc, but the episode where BLT (black) and Michelle (white) kissed. Wow. Living in Canada, where we embrace (or at least pretend to) our differences, I find this to be perplexing. Colour is just that - colour. It makes our world brighter, better, and beautiful.

So either people are offended by this rendition because it's photoshopped, or they immediately think it's a blackface, or they are offended at the potential racial politics therein. I don't know. Any thoughts?

Check out my follow up!



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Solo: Mike Allred

The Goon #8

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles # 42: Juliet's Revenge

Writer: Rick McCollum
Artist: Bill Anderson
Publisher: Mirage
Published: December 1991

What do Mr. Howard, Bruce Lee, Mae West, Leonardo, Edgar Allan Poe, and the ninja turtles have in common?

This comic!

That's right, all these fantastic figures make a guest appearance in this issue, making this a star studded comic not seen since the Avengers assembled to battle some powerful earth shattering thing-a-majigy.

If you want to know more, T.S. I'm tired.

How come Donnie gets all the babes?

And what's her deal?

Leonard Nimoy

Writer: Schnakenberg
Artist: Nora Tapp
Cover Artist: Robert A. Herrera
Publisher: Celebrity Comics
Published: August 1992

This is from the Celebrity Comics line. Although they are called comics, in actuality they are unauthorized biographies with some illustrations. Here's a line from the biography. It is in reference to Nimoy hitting pay dirt after directing Three Men and a Baby: "He and Susan spent the rest of the year counting their wad at their estate in San Fernando Valley." Nice. I can picture Spock surrounded by wads of cash, decked in a fur coat, his chest encrusted in gold chains, smoking a cigar while Susan is lounging on his arm complaining: "Spockie-baby, why can't we go out tonight?" whereupon Spock responds "Not tonight, I got an appointment with Kirk honey bunny."

WildC.A.T.S X-Men: The Modern Age 3D

Writer: James Robinson
Artist/Inker: Adam Hughes/Mark Farmer
Colorists: Joe Chiodo & Martin Jimenez
3D Conversion: Ray Zone
Publisher: Marvel
Published: November 1997

This was the comic that I found for $0.25 that had the long sought after 3D glasses. I just got to reading it. The story is decent. The X-Men and the Wildcats folk infiltrate a rogue Hellfire sect. The leader of the Hellfire sect is trying to summon the power of a demon to work for him. However, the X-Men and Wildcats put a quick stop to that. Not more complicated than that.

The 3D effects are good too. The issue is devised by adding a red and blue tint, which allows the reader (with the help of the glasses) to see a three dimensional image. Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D does this same thing, but instead of using the red and blue channels, they use twin projectors which create the same effect. It's pretty frickin' cool! This leads to a crystal clear image with eye poppin' visuals! Go see it!!!

The Crow Book One

Writer/Artist: James O'Barr
Publisher: Caliber
Published: 1989

March 31 1993 Brandon Lee died on the set of The Crow.

This unfortunate accident is another note of sadness added to the comic. The Crow is an exploration of pain, guilt, tragedy, gravity, anger, destruction...pure emotion. James O'Barr's fiancee was killed by a drunk driver, and in response to the pain of her death, he wrote this over the course of several years, and each page is a burned line of his torment.

The Crow is about a man named Eric returned to life to exact vengeance on the killers of his fiancee Shelly. Book one is the first of four parts, whereupon Eric, painted and pained, begins his horrible journey into revenge and memory.

Years ago me and some close friends went to Seattle. There we visited Brandon Lee and Bruce Lee's graves. One Brando Lee's tombstone this is etched:

"Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and very a small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it! Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty and yet it all seems limitless."

This quote was during an interview on set of the Crow.

Heavy Metal September 2008

Writers/Artists: Felix Vega, Matt Wilson, Nathan Fox, Various
Publisher: Heavy Metal
Published: September 2008

Heavy Metal. Did you know Heavy Metal is owned and edited by Kevin Eastman? If you're wondering who Kevin Eastman is, think walking talking ninja turtles. Anyhoo, Heavy Metal is a collection of different stories aimed at a mature audience, ie. the stories often have graphic violence and nudity.

2008 September's issue has an artist I have been keeping my eye on: Nathan Fox. His run on Pigeons from Hell was pretty cool, so I picked up this issue. His tale is called Fluorescent Black and is written by Matt Wilson. The story is a bio-sci-fi-punk story where genetics rule the day. Check the vid as Fox explains it better than me.


Another story inside the issue involves Vincent. The Vincent. Van Gogh. It's bit of bizarre tale that explores an alternate view of why he lost his ear. Written and drawn by Felix Vega, it's a pretty cool ride.


If your not sure what he is holding, head to your local library (or Wikipedia) and read up on this remarkable artist!


Ok, that's it, I'm done with tentacles in comics (for now). I had planned to integrate some pics of tentacles in film, but I can't be bothered now, so I'll just post 'em.

Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs
Oldboy

Epic Illustrated # 22: Marada the She-Wolf in 'Wizard's Masque'

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: John Bolton
Publisher: Marvel
Published: February 1984

Epic was a relatively short lived magazine published by Marvel. It allowed Marvel to avoid the Comics Code and create stories of a more mature theme. Issue # 22 has a number of stories, but it also has Marada the She-Wolf battling the most dreaded of monsters: the tentacled Gyatria. While sleeping, Marada's companion Arianrhod attempts to create a portal to whisk herself home. Unfortunately for her she opens door that lets things pass that should not pass.


Marada attacks the beast, only to be dragged to the spaces in between spaces. (Ugh, I can't believe I just wrote that!)

The beast transports Marada to what appears to be a land right out of Arabian Nights. It is here that she befriends Taric Redhand (who just so happens to cop a feel during a battle.)
But don't worry folks, he gets his just reward for such an indiscretion!


Before his untimely death, he advised Marada to seek out Jaffar the Wizard:




Too bad for Marada though.

Just goes to show: Can't never trust a wizard named Jaffar.




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