Photographer Makoto Fukamachi was a member of a failed Japanese expedition trying to scale Mt. Everest. While lingering behind at the base of the mountain, Fukamachi encounters Jouji Habu, a famous mountain climber who had left Japan and simply disappeared one day. Fukamachi tries to get to know him better, but Habu will have nothing to do with Fukamachi. When Fukamachi returns to Japan, he can’t get the mystery of Habu out of his mind. He decides to investigate Habu’s past to find out why such a revered and famous climber decided to live in obscurity at the base of Mt. Everest.

The Summit of the Gods Book 1
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On one level, The Summit of the Gods is a study of obsession. The book opens with the failed Mallory and Irvine Mt. Everest expedition of 1924. Next, we have Fukamachi’s obsessions, first, with the Mallory and Irvine expedition, then about Jouji Habu. There is Habu’s obsession with proving himself through mountain climbing. Finally, there is the obsession of mountain climbers to conquer Mt. Everest.

Although the book is told from Fukamachi’s perspective, the true focus of the narrative in this volume is Habu. Habu was injured in a car crash and so walks with a slight limp. He chooses mountain climbing as a way to prove he’s capable of overcoming any limitations. He drives himself to scale more difficult mountains in the most difficult conditions. He’s not happy to simply conquer a notoriously difficult mountainside; he has to do it in winter.

Habu’s focus and drive leads to him quickly becoming famous among Japanese mountain climbers. He is considered a genius at discovering the quickest way to the top of a mountain. Fellow climbers admire his grace and ease scaling very daunting mountains. However, he is not happy with the adulation of his countrymen. He is frustrated that there is no Japanese mountain climber ranked among the world’s greatest, and he determines to be the first. But even that isn’t enough: he wants to be the greatest living mountain climber in the world.

In truth, Habu isn’t a likeable character. He doesn’t talk much. He only engages in social activities because he needs to maintain a minimum level of friendship with other climbers so he’s able to recruit people to be his partners. He doesn’t have any respect or regard for people who don’t share his climbing skills. You need the buffer of Fukamachi to give you a break from Habu’s single-mindedness and to put events in context. Yet, Habu’s obsession is quite compelling and you want to see where his passion is leading him and how he ended up living in obscurity in Nepal.

As usual, Taniguchi’s artwork is breathtaking. His landscapes are gorgeous. You get a sense of the majesty of the mountains and their danger at the same time. He makes mountain climbing look arduous. You see the strain and fatigue as Habu scales each vertical mountainside. Taniguchi’s attention to detail is perfect for this story. You understand the appeal of mountain climbing, but also how deadly it can be.

What is most captivating in the artwork is the faces. This is Taniguchi’s best work on faces that I’ve seen yet. He’s able to convey a wide range of complex emotions for Fukamachi and Habu. It’s all centered on the eyes. The character’s eyes really stand out and draw your attention. There is so much life and emotion that you feel like you’re looking into a real person’s eyes. I often found myself stopping and just staring at the a close-up of Fukamachi’s or Habu’s face, trying to imagine what they’re thinking and feeling.

This is also the first time I’ve ever had any complaints with Taniguchi’s art. There are about half a dozen panels where the character’s face is off. The first panel on page 21 is a good example. It’s a small panel where the main figure is standing several feet from the viewer. Fukamachi’s nose is just an odd triangle, and his head is misshapen. Because of how well done the faces generally are in this book, these few flawed panels stick out badly. I’m amazed no one caught these mistakes during the production process.

The Summit of the Gods is an engaging book. I look forward to the second volume. Baku has created great characters, even if they aren’t the most likable. You get sucked into Habu’s almost maniac quest to be the greatest living mountain climber. You want to know how he ended up in Nepal. The book leaves a lot of large loose narrative threads for the next book to pick up. I want to see how they all get woven together and what the tapestry will look like when the story is complete. (The publisher provided a review copy.)

Emma Book 10
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Now, with this final book, the series really is over, and it’s quite a shame. Mori’s portrayal of the Victorian world is fascinating; she obviously loves the era but doesn’t avoid its dark side. She captures both the problems of the time, including class distinctions and crushing poverty, and obstacles that can take place in any era, such as parental interference in a child’s life. And she’s clearly done her research in drawing these worlds, with lots of detail that, if not period correct, still feels as though it is.

The stories here don’t deal with major events (with one final exception), instead capturing the characters in small incidents of life. Emma learns to bicycle, for example, on a picnic date with William. She’s wearing the proper outfit, with full skirt, which strikes today’s woman as rather badly suited for the task, but appearance is so very important.

Another story explores the feelings of Adele, a maid at the home where Emma worked after leaving London. Adele has seen many co-workers come and go, other maids marrying to get away from the job, but she likes her work. The story shows how different personalities wind up in service while illustrating the limited options available to young women at the time.

A chapter shows William’s brother Arthur, now nearly a man himself, dealing with a high-spirited, undisciplined younger boy while away at school. Another section collects a series of four-panel strips about the cast. Some show an impetuous maid who means well, but her energy makes her clumsy. Others feature the imposing footman Hans or William’s sister Grace. It’s impressive how quickly a personality is communicated in such short space, while still providing an enjoyable punchline.

The last entry, in three parts, is a grand reunion and celebration, as everyone assembles for the wedding of Emma and William. The children are growing up, some at different rates, and the various servants mingle and swap stories. There are snags and uncomfortable moments, as the classes mix, but alcohol and music eventually smooth over the distinctions. Overall, it’s a wonderful end to the story and the series.

Hiroshi Nakahara is a 48-year-old architect who finds himself mysterious transported back to when he was 14 with all his knowledge and memories intact. He soon realizes that this is the period just before his father mysteriously abandoned his family, and he has resolved to stop him. Since Hiroshi has already successfully altered portions of his past, he’s confident he can make this change, too.

As a 42-year-old male living the daily grind in the business world, I could sympathize with Hiroshi immediately. At its heart, this book is about one man’s middle-age crisis and the miraculous circumstances that show him his own flaws and shortcomings. Johanna previously reviewed volume one.

A Distant Neighborhood Book 2
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Volume one focused on Hiroshi adjusting to being 14 again and taking joy in being young and carefree. Initially, Hiroshi gets lost in reliving his youth, enjoying the benefits an additional 34 years of experience give him. In this volume, Hiroshi is now focused on discovering why his father left so he can take measures to prevent it. It’s here that we learn how little Hiroshi really knows about his parents.

I found it odd that Hiroshi didn’t even know how his parents first met, or how they came to be married. Perhaps it’s both generational and cultural differences. Hiroshi’s parents are from the more traditional Japanese society prior to World War II. Since most marriages were arranged then, maybe it was just assumed that everyone got married that way, so Hiroshi never thought to ask. Only when he thinks that information may help him stop his father does he finally ask.

Hiroshi’s lack of information about his parents’ backgrounds points to a fundamental selfishness in his character. We see this in the flash-forwards to moments of his adult life. Hiroshi likes to frequent hostess bars, where he tells the women how he is a stranger in his own home. That’s truer than he knows. He has no clue his older daughter has been seriously dating someone or that his younger daughter hates his drinking habit. His energies are focused on his business and the socializing that maintaining a successful business requires in Japan. Married life isn’t exciting anymore. He began thinking a new wife will help revitalize his life.

What Hiroshi is going through is common to all middle-aged men. We feel the weight of time in our bodies, in our lives, in our memories, and even in our souls. We don’t have the physical endurance we used to have. We begin to measure memories in decades instead of months or years. Death is no longer so far in the future it seems an illusion. At times, it feels like death is right around the corner. Our self-image has to change from that of the young man/son to the older man/father. Some fight it with hair plugs, fancy cars, mistresses, moving to a new city, or new wives. Others are fortunate enough to make the transition gracefully. Hiroshi’s father hit this crisis early and left his family around age 38. Hiroshi is in danger of making the same mistake.

The conversation Hiroshi has with his father, Yoshio, at the train station makes this all poignantly clear. Yoshio thinks that his life has all been programmed out for him. It sounds so convincing when you first hear him explain it, but a moment of thought, and the facade shatters. While it’s true his parents chose to apprentice him to a tailor, after the war, Yoshio had a chance to choose a new profession. He didn’t. He made the choice to pursue a relationship with Hiroshi’s mother. When it became clear she wouldn’t be able to leave town with him, Yoshio chose to stay. What he really chose was the path of least resistance, and now he regrets it. But instead of seeing the bounty before him, he thinks a better harvest is just beyond the horizon. Hiroshi can’t stop Yoshio, because he is having the same dissatisfaction with his own life. His father stands before him as a mirror to his own soul.

Hiroshi realizes that while he may not have physically abandoned his family, he has emotionally and mentally abandoned them. He has been using alcohol and visits to the hostess clubs to take breaks from his wife and daughters. If he continues as he’s been going, it will only be a matter of time before he convinces himself that his drunk delusions of loneliness are reality. Then he too will leave his family in search of something better over the mystical horizon. Hiroshi breaks the cycle of his father by choosing to see how wonderful his family truly is and to reconnect to them. He chooses their real love, with all its flaws, instead of a romantic fantasy.

Taniguchi’s art is amazing. I’ve been a huge fan since I first saw it years ago. His delicate line work, realistic style, and meticulous details work perfectly for this story. He uses standard grid page layouts, and I wonder if he did so because Hiroshi is an architect. Taniguchi is such a skilled artist that he doesn’t need unusual page designs to convey the complex emotions of this characters. He’s able to show it in their faces. The angst, heartbreak, joy, love, disappointment, surprise, etc. is all there. Just flip through the book and you immediately know the emotional tone of the page by looking at the faces. It’s a clean, straight-forward style that is a pleasure to the eyes.

A Distant Neighborhood is an incredible book, a fresh take on the old lesson of appreciating the people right in front of you. The end is both hopeful and realistic, as Hiroshi has no illusion about the work it will take to reconnect with his family. Taniguchi continues to be my first choice as a gateway to manga for new readers. The artwork is very accessible to American readers. His stories are very Japanese in execution, but the themes are universal. I wish I could afford to buy hundreds of copies to hand out at comic conventions. His work deserves a much wider audience than it currently has. (The publisher provided a review copy.)

Crumb doesn’t follow any organized religion; in fact, he might be an atheist. In the introduction, he tells us that he doesn’t believe that the Bible is the Word of God, or even inspired by God. Yet he strove to produce the most straightforward, faithful-to-the-text, illustrated version of Genesis. And succeeded. Every word found in the Biblical text is included in Crumb’s version. Further, Crumb didn’t make up additional dialogue or narrative scenes. What you get is the Biblical text and nothing but the Biblical text.

The Book of Genesis
Illustrated by R. Crumb
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Let’s talk briefly about the translation of Genesis used. The majority of the text comes from Robert Alter’s translation, but Crumb did edit and revise the translation where he thought he could make it read more smoothly. For some revisions, he used the King James version of Genesis, and some wording is original to Crumb himself. What we have is a perfectly fine translation. There are no major alterations or radical word changes. Crumb stays as faithful to the original text as any other editor.

Now on to the part everyone is really interested in, the artwork. Here I think I might disappoint some people: I wasn’t shocked or scandalized by what I found in Crumb’s drawings. I’m very familiar with the Biblical text and familiar enough with Crumb’s work to know what I could expect before I opened the book. I knew that Adam and Eve walked around the garden naked in chapter 3. I knew that Crumb was going to draw them both in all their glory. And he did. There are no low-hanging branches, no hiding behind bushes, and no conventionally placed hands and arms. I’m well aware that in chapter 19, Lot gets drunk and has sex with his daughters. Sure enough, Crumb draws the incestuous copulations. The couple isn’t making love under the blankets, there are no well-placed shadows, and no use of shadows on the wall. You see what they’re doing in full detail.

Crumb’s lack of modesty and decorum is certain to upset conservative Christians, Jews, and Muslims. But the cover comes with “Adult Supervision Recommended for Minors” and “The First Book of the Bible Graphically Depicted! NOTHING LEFT OUT!” advisories. So even if a reader is unfamiliar with who R. Crumb is, they can’t say they weren’t amply warned. Let’s be honest, Christian bookstores won’t be stocking this next to other illustrated versions of the Bible; they won’t be stocking this at all.

Other people who might be scandalized are people unfamiliar with the Biblical text. Genesis is the story of God’s relationship with fallen humanity. Adam’s son, Cain, commits the first murder. Noah gets drunk and passes out naked. Abraham is so scared of Pharaoh that he lets Pharaoh marry his wife with any word of protest. We’ve already mentioned Lot’s incest. Laban and Jacob are competing con artists. And Jacob’s sons sell one of their own, Joseph, into slavery because they’re jealous of all the attention he gets. It’s all there in the text, humanity at its best and its worst. Heroes of faith with fears, doubts, and flaws just like the rest of us.

There are several things I like about Crumb’s version. First, he makes the genealogy passage of chapter 11 an enjoyable read. This is something Francoise Mouly brought out in her discussion of the book with Crumb. He does it simply and effectively. While the text is telling us who begat whom, Crumb shows us scenes of daily life around 3,000 BC. This really brings to life the names being listed. It also brings out the passage of time. As we look at grandparents cuddling grandchildren, villages making sacrifices to gods, and couples dancing, the passing centuries become more tangible. We understand that the lives of generations of people, much like ours, is quickly passing by. Crumb brought poignancy to the passage for me.

Second, Crumb does a great job creating a believable bronze age world. This isn’t Cecil B. DeMille’s sparkling clean, perfectly groomed vision of the Bible. The people in Crumb’s version sweat, get dirty, have disheveled hair, etc. They aren’t always the most attractive people. They all don’t get old gracefully and with dignity. This is a world of body odor, dusty trails, hard labor, animal smells, blazing hot days, freezing nights, etc. It’s a world where the most advanced technology is the wheel, the sword, pulleys, and carving tools. You understand how difficult life was for the people in those times. It’s amazing to think of the cities and monuments they built with just the muscle of men and beasts.

Third, the attention to detail helps makes some passages easier to understand. The best example is in the Joseph saga (chapters 37 and 39 thru 50). Just reading the text, you wonder why Joseph’s brothers don’t recognize him when they meet him in Egypt. Crumb shows you how radically different Joseph looked from the last time they saw him. When his brothers see him in Egypt, he looks just like any other Egyptian high official. He is not only wearing Egyptian clothes, but he is clean-shaven, has an Egyptian hair style, and has Egyptian mannerisms. There is nothing about him to suggest he was ever the son of a nomadic shepherd. Here, Crumb’s illustrations function like a commentary to make explicit what is hidden in the text.

There are a couple of charming idiosyncrasies to Crumb’s choices. First, Crumb uses the stereotypical Western depiction of God. I’m reminded of how men like Michelangelo, William Blake, and Albercht Durer painted or drew Him. God has powerful features and long, flowing white hair and beard. Most people will find the image instantly recognizable. Second, Crumb makes most of the important women of Genesis look like his wife, Aline. Eve, Sarah, and Rachel all look alike. It’s a touching demonstration of how much he loves his wife but makes for some odd reading.

Beyond any doubt, Crumb is an incredibly skilled draftsmen. The pen work in this book is marvelous. You could use this book to illustrate figure drawing, what perfect cross-hatching looks like, and how to pay attention to the smallest details. There are no shortcuts taken in this book. Each panel is meticulously drawn. Foreground and background characters are fully rendered. Thinking about the time and energy it would take to do just one panel makes you appreciate the immerse labor it took to complete the entire book.

I’m not sure who the audience for this book would be. Mouly mentioned this was the first time she had actually read the book of Genesis, so I’m thankful to Crumb for making this Biblical book accessible to a new audience. Certainly, Crumb’s current fans will enjoy this work.

I actually would like all Christians to read the book, because of how real and human it makes the great heroes of faith. They worked hard, got tired, made mistakes, made love, got old, and died just like everyone else. They weren’t insulated from the harsh realities of this world. And in the midst of daily living, they developed a lasting relationship with God that formed the foundation of our own faith today. Crumb’s faithfulness to the text is able to flesh out the daily ordinary live of the patriarchs without diminishing the extraordinary nature of their faith. Honestly, and perhaps ironically, I don’t think anyone else could have accomplished that incredible feat.

Crumb’s Genesis is truly a remarkable book. I’d like everyone to experience a chapter or two of book so they could judge for themselves if the book is appropriate for them. Like Genesis itself, this book is a mix of the sacred and the profane. Not everyone will find that to their liking. However, I sincerely believe it’s worth the effort to read the book, at least once.

NPR posted the first five pages of the book, while Boing Boing has chapter 19, the story of Lot and his daughters in Sodom, as well as a video flip-through.

(The publisher provided a review copy.)

When Whiteout was first being published, did you envision it in another medium as well?

STEVE LIEBER: Back when I first read the comics script, Whiteout struck me as very likely to get other-media interest. It works as a movie, obviously. It could work as a prose novel — it would even work well on stage. It’s a really compelling story, and it has such an unusual setting.

How did the movie deal come about?

STEVE LIEBER: My understanding is that both Joel Silver and Dominic Sena had been interested in the GN since they first read it, back when it originally came out. After Reese Witherspoon’s option on it lapsed, Silver’s company contacted Greg Rucka’s representatives, and it moved very quickly from there.

How much have you been involved in the filming? Did you get to visit the set or offer any input?

STEVE LIEBER: I visited the set, but that was way, way too far into the production for me to be pulling out a pencil. The filmmakers had 200 pages of my artwork — something like 1500 panels — to comb through for visual ideas. For a movie this size, that was plenty. There’s going to be a feature on the dvd that does lots of panel to screen comparisons.

Have you seen the final film? What did you think?

STEVE LIEBER: I haven’t seen it yet. My first viewing is going to be at the red-carpet premiere in LA.

What is the biggest thing you thought they got right in translating the graphic novel to film?

STEVE LIEBER: Since I haven’t seen a final cut, that’s hard to say definitively, but I adore the look of the movie. The environments that Graham “Grace” Walker created are incredible. His envisioning of Amundsen-Scott South Pole station and the Russian base have to be seen to be believed. And what I’ve seen of the relationship between Carrie and the Doc has been perfect. Everything about them I tried to draw in the graphic novel was up there on the screen.

What one thing would you have changed about the movie?

Whiteout
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STEVE LIEBER: I’m a cartoonist, not a filmmaker, so honestly, I hesitate to second-guess someone else’s choices. It wasn’t my 50 million dollars they were spending. That said, I’d have liked to see Lily Sharpe in the movie. I think Gabriel Macht is terrific, but the tension we built between Carrie and Lily was one of my favorite things about the original graphic novel and I’m sorry to have lost that. Maybe if someone decides to do Whiteout on stage, they can put it back. (laughs)

What would you tell moviegoers to interest them in the graphic novel?

STEVE LIEBER: Whiteout (the graphic novel) is a smart, atmospheric crime story. It’s gotten a ton of acclaim and the story means a lot to me and Greg. I put everything I had into drawing it, and I think it shows on every page. You can see for yourself by reading the entire first issue for free on my website.

What’s currently on your plate in comics?

STEVE LIEBER: UNDERGROUND: a thriller set in a Kentucky cave system, written by Jeff Parker, the writer behind great Marvel comics like Agents of Atlas and X-Men First Class, published by Image Comics. It’s fast-moving and tense — a conflict between a couple of park rangers and some locals spirals out of control, and what should’ve been an argument turns into a life-or-death chase through the dark. It’s a beautiful, creepy, claustrophobic environment, and the chemistry between our two park rangers is great. (One’s a gal, one’s a guy.) Parker’s the best new writer in comics and I’m having a blast drawing it. There’s a free preview at http://www.undergroundthecomic.com.

My thanks to Steve for his answers. I’m going to see the movie on Sunday, so I’ll be telling you what I thought then.

I neglected to ask Steve about progress on the final Whiteout book: Originally called Thaw, a four-issue miniseries was planned to start in Fall 2007, but in December 2008, Rucka posted that the title would be Night, and it would be coming out around now. According to an FAQ on Lieber’s site, however, while one issue has been completed, “Greg has had to put the script for issue two on hold for a while.” In the meantime, everyone should be reading Underground!

You Have Killed Me
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Jamie Rich’s most recent graphic novel is You Have Killed Me. Here, we discussed how the noir genre is a departure from his previous romance stories, his influences, how the graphic novel fits in with other detective tales yet could only have been done as a comic, his working relationship with Joelle Jones, and what they’re doing next.

You’re best known, in comics, for writing modern romances. How does You Have Killed Me relate to that genre? Or were you trying to get away from it?

To be honest, I was thinking it was starting to be time to get away from some of the romance stuff and start to show my ability to do other things, but it wasn’t a hard mandate or anything. Part of that was Joëlle’s suggestion, she wanted to do a crime book, but she’s also very perceptive and saw that in some ways I was getting boxed in. There’s been a natural evolution in my work, it’s been getting darker, so there was, I think, a natural move here. Romantic issues are still central to the case Antonio Mercer undertakes in You Have Killed Me, so it’s not so radical a shift, but I think there is a little bit of my journey as a writer wrapped up in the idea that a private detective is often a noble man whose eyes are growing more jaded. It was an aspect of the genre Raymond Chandler was a pioneer in, and he set the way for the kind of man who takes this job. And for me, as my themes grow darker, I think it serves the material to have an outlet of this kind.

How is this book something only the two of you together could do?

Creative chemistry is just so important. There are just certain things that happen when two particular people get together to make art. You know, like I’m Martin Scorsese and Joëlle is Robert De Niro. Or maybe I’m Paul McCartney and she’s John Lennon–or would that be the other way around? It’s hard to say what exactly happens, but it has to do with point of view, the philosophies we share and the ways we differ, and how those things intersect to make something unique. It’s also that level of respect for and excitement about the other person’s work. I know people think I am being facetious or self-deprecating when I say these things, but it’s true. I adore Joëlle’s drawing, and I want to write to meet her level of craft. It’s not a competition, but it definitely is a mutual challenge.

There’s a strong film noir flavor. Were there any particular movies that influenced you?

I like all the Bogart ones, particularly with Bogart and Bacall–so, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage. There is a little bit of Laura in there, and I actually was watching a lot of Gene Tierney movies when the story was percolating. Night and the City, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Leave Her to Heaven, Whirlpool.  I also really like the French post-noir movies like Rififi, Touchez pas au grisbi, and Le Samourai immediately spring to mind.

I know one of the movies I gave Joëlle to watch was Out of the Past, that’s a real favorite, and she really liked the look of Robert Mitchum. I think a little of him ended up in Mercer. It’s ironic, though, that my background for this genre is more the film side of things, and for her, she was more schooled in the literature. You’d think it would be the other way around, the writer would have read the books and the artist was the movie buff, but no dice.

What does the detective character type tell a reader today?

I think the thing about a private eye of the hardboiled variety is that they are the guys who are always looking, always wanting to see more, and often to their detriment. They draw a line in the sand and say, “This is as far as I will let the tide come in.” It’s like that speech at the end of No Country for Old Men, when the two sheriffs are talking, and one of them calls it “the dismal tide.” They know they are losing, they know people are their own worst enemies, but someone has to say enough. It’s that classic end to The Maltese Falcon. I may love you, but you did a thing you never should have done, and I have to make sure you pay for that.

Men like Mercer are always going to be the same regardless of the era, because there will always be a tendency for others to turn a blind eye. We hear a lot of talk about people not taking personal responsibility anymore, and the primary function of a gumshoe in a story like You Have Killed Me is to make sure those who did wrong accept the consequences of their actions.

You’ve worked with Joelle before. How was your work together different this time?

Well, for one, we started You Have Killed Me from her suggestion that we do this kind of story, and as I was writing, I was always talking to her, telling her what I was doing, getting feedback. There was a lot more give and take. There was also a lot more trust, I knew what she was capable of, and I could leave things open for her to play with. At the same time, she was more confident and understood that she could say, “This isn’t working, so I am going to take it in another direction.” We have a pretty conflict-free relationship. We very rarely get frustrated with one another, and it’s never anything a little drink and a little karaoke can’t solve.

12 Reasons Why I Love Her
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How did you start working together?

It’s a very Portland story. This town is too small, too many comic book people, we can’t avoid one another. David Mack had seen Joëlle’s work at one of the local comic book shows, and he made Joëlle show it to Diana Schutz at Dark Horse, and that lead to Joëlle drawing the story in the Sexy Chix anthology that my good friend Sarah Grace McCandless wrote. I was in the market for a 12 Reasons Why I Love Her artist at that point, and so Diana put me in touch with Joëlle. As it turned out, we only live two blocks apart on the same street. I was working at the neighborhood video store at the time, and had signed her up for her account there, but we had no idea that either was in comics. A friend of mine had even seen her drawing in a coffee shop and told her she should get in touch with me. It was like this grand conspiracy of fate. She and I met, and we sat and looked at her work and talked for maybe twenty minutes, and then spent the rest of the day goofing off. It was like kismet for screw-ups.

You and Joelle are currently working on another project, Spell Checkers, correct? Can you tell me about it?

It started with a sketch. She had a drawing of three girls, and they all had different styles, one was drinking, one was smoking, and she said, “We should do something with them. I like them.” Then she promptly forgot until I showed up with the script for the first chapter. It’s essentially a rude high school comedy about a trio of scary gals who have magical powers and rule the school through dastardly spells. It’s been wickedly fun to write. Joëlle is doing the covers and flashback sequences, while a French artist named Nicolas Hitori de is drawing the body of the book. It’s going to be an original graphic novel from Oni next year. We’re all having a lot of fun with it, and I’ve got two more volumes mapped out. We hope to make a series out of it.

Spell Checkers is what I like to call a shower idea. I get these vivid ideas when I am in the shower, I don’t know why. I think it’s some curse, like I am doomed to have my best ideas at times I can’t write them down. When I’m exercising, too. A lot of You Have Killed Me arrived as inspiration on the exercise bike. For Spell Checkers, it was like the day after we had that conversation about the sketch that I was in the shower and saw the first three pages in full detail, and those are still the first three pages of the book. Same thing happened in You Have Killed Me, there is a scene at a horse race where Mercer thinks he has seen something, and the page where that happens, I had an image appear in my brain — which is not that different to what happens to Mercer on that page, when you think about it. It’s an important moment, a turning point in the story and definitely a turning point during the writing, where the book started to really come alive. Usually I thumbnail visions of those kind, I sketch them out, as it’s the fastest way to get them out of my head and stop thinking about them. I did it with Spell Checkers, I did it with the first page of “The Jailhouse Swing,” our story in Popgun volume 3. I never show those thumbnails to Joëlle, the most I’ll do is try to type up how I see it, explain the layout, and it amazes me, but every time it’s one of those scenes, what she draws is exactly what I saw. It’s uncanny.

What do you like best about working with her? What do you think she likes best about working with you?

We probably both appreciate each other’s willingness to stare at strangers and say mean things about them. It’s quite a skill.

No, I’m kidding. Kind of.

I like working with her just because I know that, as a writer, there is nothing she can’t give me. In particular, she is so good at character work, at the acting and all that entails, the body language and the facial expressions, I know that whatever emotion I need, she can do. I think with You Have Killed Me, people will also see how good she is at action and environments, as well.

As for me, gosh, I don’t know. I would assume she likes my work ethic and my ability to keep things organized, as well as my openness to try different things and to give her freedom to roam. I’m not a “do it my way” kind of writer. In fact, by the time it’s drawn, I’ve forgotten the specifics of what is in the script, so when I see the art, it’s practically brand new. There is no, “But I asked for a pink giraffe, and this is purple.” Someone has asked me if I have found the thing she can’t draw yet, and I said no. I found some things she won’t draw, but that’s different, and it’s usually things where she says I’m insane for even expecting it, complicated layouts or pretentious concepts and the like.

Why do you keep making graphic novels? What draws you to the format?

Part of it is the collaboration, part of it is that’s just the way I see whatever story as being. I don’t want to say comics are more simplistic, but there is an element of short hand to them, of working within a confined space and thinking more in terms of frozen moments, of images, rather than the much more broad requirements of prose. It provides a different kind of satisfaction for me, a different experience. It’s less solitary, has a bunch more toys, and it often feels more like I am building something, like real hammer and nails building, rather than the more self-involved birthing process of a prose novel. And don’t get me wrong, I am not saying it’s easier to do comics, it’s not about easy or hard. I actually think the single cartoonist, a guy like Craig Thompson, and a novelist have a lot more in common in terms of process, and definite that “the loneliness of the long distance runner” aspect of doing it all by yourself.

How do you decide which story becomes a comic and which a novel? Is it purely based on the content, or do market concerns also become a factor?

That is one of those questions that I have never found an adequate answer for, at least not one that makes sense to anyone else, because in terms of process, I never really have to think about it. Once I have an idea for something — and it happens a lot less than people might think, I’m not an idea guy with piles of untouched brilliance — I pretty much always know right away what it is. There is never a sense of weighing this or weighing that, and I don’t think I could transform a comic idea into a novel or vice versa. I recently tried it, I have been tinkering with a Young Adult novel that is a sequel to Love the Way You Love, and it took a lot of mental work on my part, a lot of wrapping my head around the material in a different way and having to try to understand it for a different format.

I couldn’t do You Have Killed Me the same way in prose. The narration, for instance, wouldn’t work. The free-form philosophizing would have to be interrupted for descriptions of what is happening, and so it would never be separate. In a comic, I can have the words work on one level and let the pictures do something else. Or the playing with light and darkness, the whole visual design of the climax, that’s something a comic book can do that a novel never can. It’s something I need a Joëlle Jones for, because a Jamie Rich won’t be enough. Then again, a Jamie Rich is always simultaneously too much and never enough. I am maddening!

How have recent changes in the comic industry affected your feelings toward or work in the format?

Unfortunately, I think it means a lot less opportunity to work in any serialized format. I enjoyed doing Love the Way You Love in chunks, of thinking of it as an ongoing serial, and I think that’s going to be harder and harder to do on this side of the Diamond pie chart. That’s about the only thing I can see as being that different, and the writing has been on that wall for many years. I think there is a lot more noise about supposed change than there is real change. When it’s all said and done, as long as some of us are crazy enough to want to do comics, there will be comics of some kind.

What else do you have coming up?

Not a lot. I am a slower, more methodical worker, so I tend to focus on something until it’s done. Spell Checkers is the only thing that is scheduled, and Joëlle and I have a couple of other things we’d like to do. She’s got a variety of other projects to complete in the meantime, though, she’s very much in demand. As I write this, our story for Madman Atomic Comics #16 is going to be out in a couple of weeks, and we did a short comics story in Portland Noir, a crime anthology that Akashic Books published. It’s part of a series of books featuring crime stories in specific cities, and I think we’re only the second comics work to appear in one of the volumes.

I’ve got a project in the works with Mike Holmes, another crime/romance hybrid, actually, and in addition to the Love the Way You Love novel I mentioned, I also have a new, stand-alone novel completely finished and in search of a venue, and another one halfway done. So, I’ve been busy.

The Jane Austen Book Club
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The cast is very good. Amy Brenneman has just been dumped by husband Jimmy Smits. Their daughter Maggie Grace is an adventure-seeker who loves too quickly. Amy’s best friend Maria Bello is terrific as a long-time single who keeps trying to set sci-fi reader Hugh Dancy up with Amy, but he’s more interested in Maria. Wonderfully wacky and wide-ranging Kathy Baker brings in new friend Emily Blunt, a teacher who feels she’s outgrown husband Marc Blucas and is considering an affair with a student.

I picked it because I like Dancy (having recently seen him as lead in Confessions of a Shopaholic), and his character is my favorite. He’s a rich techie who’s got a very practical approach to life, and I love the way he and Bello bond over books. The best series of scenes is when she finally tries one of his recommendations.

Some of the other stories don’t work as well for me. The Brenneman storyline is a little unbelievable in its romantic fantasy. I have more appreciation for Blucas than many others do, but he’s not given much to do, and Blunt comes off harsh and unsympathetic. Still, with so many interesting characters, scenes change frequently and there’s plenty to watch.

There’s lots of humor and lots of insight, and it’s refreshing to see so much enjoyment of books and literary discussion on the screen. I would have liked the movie to be longer, so we spent more time with some of the characters (Baker, Dancy’s sister, Bello going forward). Since it was adapted from a novel by Karen Joy Fowler, it’s likely that there’s more in the text that had to be cut for time. What I’m left with, after watching, is a new appreciation for the love of reading and the strong desire to re-read all of Jane Austen’s novels.

Special Features

The DVD contains a commentary with writer/director Robin Swicord; actors Hugh Dancy, Maggie Grace, and Marc Blucas; editor Maryann Brandon; and producer Julie Lynn. It’s still neat to hear so many women involved in a major film. Swicord wrote screenplays for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Practical Magic, and Little Women, among others, but this is her first directing job.

The reason I wanted the DVD was the featurette about how the modern characters resembled Austen’s creations (called “The Book Club: Deconstructed”). While watching the movie, I thought if I knew the books better, I’d have found more resonance in the film, and this 11-minute talk with the writer/director answered some of those questions for me. It turns out that there were some character/book pairings changed between the novel and the film, and she explains why. The DVD also includes a behind-the-scenes overview (typical of the genre, lots of how great it was to work on the film), a 20-minute documentary on the life of Jane Austen that includes discussion of why her works are still popular, and seven deleted scenes. For those of you who don’t understand why one of them is Marc Blucas going off on Tim Duncan’s basketball playing, it’s because they were at Wake Forest University together for college, along with my brother.

You Have Killed Me
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A woman from Tony’s past has just come back into his life. Her sister, his ex-fiancee, is missing, and she needs the detective’s help, in spite of whatever hard feelings he might still have. The sister disappeared, a few days before her wedding, from a bathroom with only one entrance and a witness watching the door in a locked-room mystery.

It’s very difficult to do this kind of project well. The genre, a film noir-style hard-boiled detective story, is so well-known that most people think of parodies before they think of classic originals. It’s easy to succumb to “nudge nudge” “this is just like that better story” smarmy wisecracking or too-faithful slavishness. The former, by making fun based in immaturity, makes you feel like an idiot for wanting something with honest inspiration; the latter makes you ask “what’s the point? I’ll get one of the originals.” This story avoids both those traps.

By contrasting Tony’s background — he came from the same privileged society world that his clients do — with his choice to strike out on his own, Rich gives him sympathy (who hasn’t dreamed of crossing over to how the other half live?) and mystery of his own. The woman who hires him says she wants the benefit of how well he knows the missing sister, but when he does give advice based on her character, she ignores it, offering more money to get what she wants.

Jones’ graceful-yet-strong lines are well-suited for the curvy femme fatale, but then I could say the same thing about the genre and her strong use of black and shadow. Her curling smoke drifts I can get lost in, and I adored the page of the detective smoking in the bathtub. She does impressively detailed work with settings and backgrounds, suitable to the period. The dialogue is snappy, conveying plenty of information in just the right tone.

The theme of roast almonds is spooky, giving me shivers from the beginning. It’s not spelled out, but the mystery fan will know from the start it’s the scent of poison, providing overtones of coming death. It’s also unusual for a comic to consider the sense of smell, which sets the story apart.

Note that because this is a noir, it’s about someone who’s never going to come out on top, even though you may wish otherwise for him. No one comes off well by the end, really. Tony wanders through a world of bars and seedy losers and the track and conflicts with the law and jazz musicians, all motivated by money, narrating as he goes. He’s the last honest man, asking questions and annoying people until the truth eventually comes out, several beatings later. It’s not that he has great observation or detective skills; he’s just more persistent, even in the face of his own pain (both physical and mental).

It’s The Thin Man without the liquor-fueled humor, The Big Sleep with an understandable plot. You Have Killed Me is due out July 15. Read a lengthy online preview. For the month of June, original art pages are on display at The Art Institute of Portland Gallery. (An online preview copy was provided by the publisher.)

Every Part of You Is Familiar to Me

Every Part of You Is Familiar to Me
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Collects the previously issued sketchbook-style comics Paper Women, Don’t Disappoint Me, and Everything/Nothing. (Encounter Her, also reprinted here, is a single story about how two women finally meet.) The pages are frequently gridded, divided into smaller fragments of experience, moments that contribute to the overall page puzzle of just what we’re seeing happen. With no gutters, the images blend together instead of being highlighted separately. Many of the wordless pages are about watching women or love-making of various kinds. (No surprise that this is tagged in Lulu’s lesbian section!) Moments of a particular relationship, the pleasure of touch, of eating, of nature’s seasons … these are captured here.

A particular favorite is “ce masque que je porte”, in which a woman goes through her day in a square wooden mask, until finally she returns home and her lover’s touch removes it. The individual panels are instantly relateable — a desk job, a cafe lunch — while the overall message is more optimistic than some of the other pieces.

The other page style consists of single-panel images with captions that provide some idea of what the artist was thinking about them. Often, they’re close-cropped images of part of a woman — just her face or torso, which makes her seem more symbolic than individual. The reader is asked to bring a lot to the work, combining her experience with what’s on the page to understand or interpret it. I found the images meditative, lovely, and thought-provoking.

Grace

Grace
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A longer work in horizontal format, Grace collects the online graphic novel about an art school student and her growing feelings for a life model. (Both this and the previous book have drawn nudity, FYI.)

I appreciate the print format over the online because it’s much easier to focus on the page as a whole, as well as flipping back to recall what we known or have seen about a particular character. Jordan, the student, is adorable in chapter 3, where she’s getting increasingly embarrassed trying to draw Grace in an attractive pose, a turning point in their encounters.

The book includes dialogue, but many scenes are still wordless. It’s structured such that the events of a silent chapter or two are followed by a chapter where they’re discussed or put into new context. I applaud Dresen’s confidence in her work and how skilled she is at telling the story through images. Aside from working beautifully with the theme of observing and creating art, it’s an important lesson (at least to me) to slow down and appreciate the visuals.

It’s a classic story, the question of how you get to meet someone you’re interested in. The missed cues, the timing that doesn’t quite match up, all these are things anyone who’s ever been in love can relate to. And the characters are so cute in their earnestness that I so hoped for their happy ending as I was reading.

The book has an additional eight pages of background material about the development of the story and characters and the settings.

She’s in the Trees

She’s in the Trees
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This is Dresen’s latest work, in color, a wordless story with potent imagery: a raven, fruit, wine. She was experimenting with using a color palette, instead of her usual black and white, and digital painting. It can be read online in full or purchased in print or digital formats.

Disney has spoiled me so much with the general love, care, and professionalism that goes into each of the Special Editions of their classic animation features that I was somewhat surprised by the slipshod quality that went into the production of these discs. Not that the actual shorts aren’t (usually) wonderful — it’s just that the presentation and production quality of these collections is so remarkably inconsistent that it makes them not only frustrating to watch, but I found myself questioning the reason for their very existence over and over again while watching them.

Collectors and animation aficionados will not be pleased with these discs, due to the fact that most (if not all) of the shorts do not seem to be remastered, despite the fact that remastered versions of many of them exist in other collections. Many of the prints used here are scratched, specky, not color corrected, or have very bad or inconsistent sound. Some of the prints are so dark that you can’t even see what’s going on in certain scenes. There is also no documentation of what you are seeing — and many of the cartoons really need it, both for context and for historical purposes. For example, the very first Donald Duck cartoon, The Wise Little Hen, is included on one of these discs, but this fact (and potential selling point) is not mentioned anywhere on the packaging.

Nor are these discs really useful for more general audiences. Initially, I thought these discs might be used as low-cost video “babysitters” to keep kids occupied for an hour or so, but the age of some of these cartoons means that there is the occasional potentially offensive racial or sexual stereotype (although there are no warning labels on the packaging) and a handful of the cartoons are quite cruel and/or bizarre (see below for details) that may affect the youngest of viewers. (Although every adult I know has at least one story about a scary cartoon or movie that traumatized them as a child, and most of my friends didn’t end up as axe murderers, so what do I really know anyway?)

As much as Disney’s Silly Symphonies series — a large part of these collections — is both historic and beautiful to watch, I often question the ability of these cartoons — which now appear to be from another world filled with overly hyper dancing flowers and animals and much bad semi-operatic singing — to actually keep the attention of today’s youngest viewers, as sad as it is to actually type that. Unless I’m totally wrong and kids really do love them some opera these days…

Despite the uber-slick outer packaging, specifically designed to be super-metallic (“Ooooooo, shiny!”), thus drawing small children directly to them in the stores, the actual DVD menus are so crappy (somebody spent all of 30 seconds “designing” them) and utilize such — except for Mickey — generic-looking artwork, the DVDs themselves actually and amusingly look like the low-cost rip-offs that litter the dollar stores and low-end department stores that were probably the reason for Disney for producing these discs in the first place.

But, as I said, the short films themselves are (mostly) classics. So let’s take a look at each of the sets’ contents individually, and you can judge them for yourselves. Each volume generally features a longer cartoon (15 to 35 minutes) and a selection of shorter cartoons, running in total about an hour or a little longer.

Volume 1: Mickey and the Beanstalk

Mickey and the Beanstalk
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Originally a part of 1947’s compilation feature Fun and Fancy Free, Mickey and the Beanstalk stars Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in a story based loosely on the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk. However, the version on this collection is NOT the original — this is the version which was originally broadcast on a 1963 episode of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, narrated by Ludwig Von Drake (and Herman). The original version features narration by Edgar Bergen and his ventriloquist dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. There is also a version featuring narration by Disney go-to guy Sterling Holloway (best known today as the voice of Winnie the Pooh).

This cartoon is one of Disney’s true classics, featuring great character bits for both Donald and Goofy. It’s also notable for being the last cartoon where Walt Disney himself provided the voice for Mickey Mouse. It should be pointed out that this version is edited from the original, both to allow for Von Drake’s narration as well as, reportedly, to eliminate some WWII references. Sadly, this is one of the prints that is scratchy and dark.

Another classic Mickey Mouse short is the 1938 The Brave Little Tailor, again based on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. It was also one of the last of the original lushly animated shorts produced, as by this point Disney had begun producing their feature-length cartoons and would soon cut back on production elements of their shorts. A gorgeous cartoon, unfortunately marred by a dust-infested print.

This is an all-Mickey set, also featuring the Mouse in Gulliver Mickey (1934 and B&W); Thru the Mirror (1936), an all-singing and dancing cartoon loosely based on Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass (with amazing animation and a possible contribution by “Duck Man” Carl Barks as an inbetweener); and Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip (1940), featuring a funny train trip with Pluto hidden in a suitcase and being tormented by conductor Pete.

Despite the the questionable prints (and the laughable cover of a gigantic Mickey being chased up the beanstalk by a dwarf-sized giant), this is one of the best collections of the series.

Volume Two: The Three Little Pigs

The Three Little Pigs
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This is a collection of all short films, mostly Silly Symphony cartoons and featuring the classic Three Little Pigs (1933) and two of its sequels, The Big Bad Wolf (1934) and Three Little Wolves (1936). The original, of course, is one of the most famous and most popular cartoons in history, featuring the classic song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” (which incidentally features future Warner music superstar Carl Stalling playing on the soundtrack). The original won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. This is the censored version of the cartoon, with Jewish caricature and topical references removed. Watch for the picture of “Father” hanging in Practical Pig’s house.

The Big Bad Wolf adds Little Red Riding Hood and her grandma to the mix and reprises the popular song. Three Little Wolves involves the Big Bad teaching the three little wolves the fine points of eating pork. There’s a lot of later-period Warner Brothers-style humor in this one with the the crossdressing wolf (as Little Bo Peep) and Practical Pig’s Rube Goldberg-esque “Wolf Pacifier” (which looks like a typical Acme product that Wile E. Coyote would use). Very funny cartoon, especially for Disney.

Lambert the Sheepish Lion is a latter-period (1952) short about a lion cub accidentally delivered by a stork to a flock of sheep (a much-used cartoon premise). It’s narrated by Sterling Holloway. Three Blind Mouseketeers (1936) is a big head-scratcher to me, as it not only makes fun of the blind (or at least blind mice), it also features a gruesome shot of a decapitated mouse! Elmer Elephant (1936) is an overly cute story of a shy and awkward young elephant who overcomes many obstacles to win over his peers, as well as get the girl!

I’ve grouped these together because they all share the similar theme of the central characters being tormented and teased because they are different in some way. It seemed to be a popular theme at Disney — see also The Ugly Duckling and Goliath II on other volumes of this series, as well as features like Dumbo and probably others that aren’t coming to mind right now. Granted, the tormented always rise up and are victorious (or at least proven to be better than the tormentors) in these stories, but I am always somewhat shocked to see the glee in which various tauntings and tormenting are doled out in many Disney productions. I have to wonder if this is the reason that I’m often ambivalent towards Disney in general. It’s also quite interesting to come across these often cruel stories, especially in light of how squeaky-clean the Disney legacy has been scrubbed since Walt’s death. It also begs the question about why these no-longer-quite-fitting-the-image projects keep being reissued to potentially traumatize future generations of kids? Obviously a topic for a larger conversation…

But my nomination for cartoon most in need of some additional context is Chicken Little (1943), seemingly a re-telling of the traditional fable, except for the wily fox using a book labeled “Psychology” to confuse and disorient the denizens of the chicken coop who, truth to tell, are already pretty dim-witted to begin with. Ultimately, the fox manages to lure all the chickens back to his cave where the cartoon ends with a very un-Disney-like slow pan across the fox’s den, revealing hundreds of chicken bones. The implication is that the fox has eaten the entire cast! Easily one of the biggest WTF? moments in Disney cartoons!

In complaining about this cartoon to friend and Disney aficionado Roger Ash, he informed me that there was a lot going on behind-the-scenes in this cartoon — so much that when the cartoon was presented in the Walt Disney Treasures – On The Front Lines collection, it was put into proper perspective in an introduction by noted cartoon historian Leonard Maltin. Apparently, it was originally intended as a wartime propaganda cartoon, to show how easily the public at large could be influenced by outside forces (I know, I know… I’m not going there) and could ultimately destroy the American Way. Originally, the “Psychology” book was supposed to be Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf (the excerpts the fox reads aloud in the cartoon are supposedly still from the book). The actual cartoon was additionally further censored when scenes of the chickens smoking and drinking were later cut. A truly bizarre Disney footnote — and a really strange choice of cartoons on a collection being marketed to kids.

Obviously, not my favorite of the bunch, for several reasons. And parents would be wise to give this one the once-over before leaving it alone with younger kids.

Volume 3: The Prince and the Pauper

The Prince and the Pauper
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The lead feature is the wonderful modern-day retelling of Mark Twain’s classic tale, matched with a bundle of occasionally questionable shorts.

The 26-minute long The Prince and the Pauper (1990) has pauper Mickey switching places with the identical-looking Prince, and Pluto (because dogs always know!) and Goofy (due to a special handshake) are the only ones who are aware of the swap. Also features Donald, Pete, the rarely seen Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow, and the Weasels (originally seen in The Wind in the Willows, see Volume 5). This short was originally seen during the original theatrical release of The Rescuers Down Under.

The Pied Piper (1933) follows the letter of the original Robert Browning poem, including the conclusion where the Piper lures away the townspeople’s children in lieu of non-payment for earlier ridding the town of its rat problem — kind of a jarring finale to a Disney Silly Symphony cartoon. Old King Cole (1933) is a mostly plotless music cartoon featuring many cameos from previous Silly Symphony cartoons. A Knight for a Day (1946) is a typical Goofy outing where the Goofster must joust Sir Cumference (great pun!) for the hand of Princes Esmerelda. Ye Olden Days (1933) is a B&W Mickey Mouse cartoon featuring Mickey vs. proto-Goofy Dippy Dawg (as Prince Goofy of Poopoopadoo) to rescue Maid Minnie from having to marry the goofy prince. Best gag of the cartoon is when Mickey’s donkey starts beating up Goofy’s horse.

The Prince and the Pauper is really good. The rest… Ehhhh…

Volume 4: The Tortoise and the Hare

The Tortoise and the Hare
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Okay, this one confuses me a little bit, as I would think that the longer (and stronger) Paul Bunyan should have been the anchor film. But I’m not a marketing genius…

So I guess The Tortoise and the Hare (1935) gets top billing here because it won an Academy Award for best Short Subject: Cartoons. It is a cartoon retelling of the classic Aesop’s fable, so we all know what’s going to happen and the only details are the gags that happen during the race. Like Max Hare getting distracted by four girly bunnies and later playing tennis with himself (only in cartoons!). This was popular enough to spawn a sequel (several more if you count Bugs Bunny cartoons) — Toby Tortoise Returns (1936), although this time the competition is a mismatched boxing match. This cartoon is notable for the many cameos from previous Silly Symphonies cartoons (including the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs, Donald Duck, and Cock Robin) and for the unusual audio background of random shouting voices (as in a real boxing match) and very little background music (and what is there is often very subtle).

Babes in the Woods (1932) is a very early color Silly Symphony cartoon, very loosely based on Hansel and Gretel, which is not a great cartoon but somewhat amusing for the archer elves on the flying geese. When the arrows don’t defeat the witch, they start throwing pies at her. Not as funny as it sounds — this is actually a pretty grim cartoon. Not much better is The Goddess of Spring (1934), although Roger informs me that this one is historically important, as the animators are practicing on animating realistic humans and shadow techniques in anticipation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Based loosely on the myth of Persephone and the creation of the seasons, this one includes cloying, melodramatic singing; dancing flowers; elves with what look like condoms for hats; mutant flowers (with eyeballs); singing and dancing demons; and freezing, crying animals as well as a trip to Hell. A sure-fire hit for the kids!

Paul Bunyan (1958) was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid (I remember it being shown frequently in school along with Johnny Appleseed (see Volume 6) and Donald Duck in Mathmagicland. This 17-minute cartoon was also blessed with a very memorable song (sung by the Mellowmen featuring Thurl Ravenscroft as Paul. Ravenscroft is probably best remembered for being the voice of Tony the Tiger — “It’s GRRRR-ATE!”). The cartoon was very effectively told as the legendary folklore that it was, by a series of so-called eyewitnesses to the events in Paul’s (and Babe, his blue ox) life. I really miss living in the Midwest, where — at least when I was growing up — you couldn’t drive more than 20 miles without seeing giant statutes of Paul and occasionally, Babe, some of which were based on the design of this cartoon — or at least that’s how I remember it.

The Saga of Windwagon Smith (1961) is another of Disney’s adaptations of American Tall Tales, this one about a giant Conestoga wagon outfitted with a wind sail that sailed across the the Great Midwest until it ran afoul of a giant tornado. Like Paul Bunyan before it, this 13-minute short is very much UPA-inspired. (UPA was an animation studio that changed the look of modern animation design. They were wildly popular and inspirational during the 1950s. Their best-known characters included Gerald Mc Boing-Boing and Mr. Magoo).

This collection is kind of hit-or-miss, but I love both Paul Bunyan and Windwagon Smith.

Volume 5: The Wind in the Willows

The Wind in the Willows
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The Wind in the Willows was originally released as half of the 1949 feature The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. (The other half being The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, not included here.) Based on the much-beloved children’s book by Kenneth Grahame, this 35-minute feature seems to be one of the more polarizing (as well as unknown) Disney efforts — people either love it or dislike it, it seems, and it appears much overshadowed by its more popular original co-feature. It’s also slightly more adult than the usual Disney fare, dealing with issues of insanity, as it does throughout a prolonged court sequence. I think it’s a lost classic, but I admit that it moves very slowly, especially at the beginning. Unfortunately, the print used here is so dark and muddy that you cannot always tell what’s happening on screen, especially during the nighttime outdoors scenes — of which there are several. There are also a couple of visible splices. This is the original appearance of the weasels that would later pop up in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, working for Judge Doom.

The Ugly Duckling (1939), based on the short story by Hans Christian Andersen, was a remake of an earlier (1931) Silly Symphonies short (in B&W) and is one of the best loved cartoons in history, also winning the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. Interestingly, this Technicolor version is the last of the Silly Symphonies series of shorts. It also serves as the inspiration for a sequence in the modern-day Lilo and Stitch (2002) movie, and thus it is a favorite of at least two members of our household.

It’s very interesting watching this short from an adult perspective, especially having not seen it it in a very long time. First of all, I’m really not sure if the sad little guy is actually an ugly duckling or a swan (he grows into a swan in the original story, but he doesn’t really look like either a duckling or a young swan in the cartoon). One thing I am reasonably sure of now, which I glossed over as a kid, is that the duck parents are obviously having a discussion about the actual paternity of the the poor little guy — right in front of him! — which only makes the eventual abandonment of him by the duck family even harder to bear, at least for me. One of the saddest, most wrenching cartoons ever made. Beautiful — but very hard to watch.

The Grasshopper and the Ants (1934) is another famous Silly Symphony cartoon, most notable for the song “The World Owes Me a Living” as sung by the fiddle-playing grasshopper, voiced by a pre-Goofy Pinto Colvig. Based on the ancient fable by Aesop, the cartoon was Disney-fied by giving the grasshopper a happy ending, by being taken in by the ants after nearly dying (as he does in the original fable) and being fed in return for entertaining the ants with his fiddling and singing. A mixed message perhaps, but still a memorable cartoon. Unfortunately, another poor print, this time with cel shadows and a couple of badly out-of focus sequences.

The Wise LIttle Hen (1934), an otherwise unremarkable cartoon based on the old folk tale The Little Red Hen, just happens to be the very first appearance of Donald Duck, also in sort of an unremarkable role. Even Walt thought that Donald’s cartoon cohort, Peter Pig, would be Disney’s next break-out star. (He was never seen again.) Donald, even in this limited appearance, got to showcase his two most memorable traits — his short temper and his unintelligible voice (provided by Clarence Nash). More historical than fun.

Also included are The Golden Touch (1935) — reportedly the last short directed by Walt Disney, it was so poorly received by the public that he never directed another one — and The Robber Kitten (1935), an odd little cartoon that somehow is equally annoying and not annoying. Very popular with people named Ambrose.

Some really interesting stuff here marred by poor disc production. And frankly, I kept falling asleep during this one, although I don’t recommend watching all six of these collections in one sitting like I did.

Volume 6: The Reluctant Dragon

The Reluctant Dragon
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The Reluctant Dragon has an interesting history. This 20-minute animated segment originally appeared in a 1941 full-length movie — also called The Reluctant Dragon — that combined both live-action and animation as well as being in both black-and-white and color. The live-action portion of the film stars radio comedian Robert Benchley, who tours the Disney Studios and learns much about producing an animated film. The film also shows Disney staffers, including Ward Kimball, Fred Moore, Norman Ferguson, Clarence Nash, and Walt Disney himself. Unfortunately the film came out in the midst of the Disney animator strike of 1941. Possibly because of this and the fact that the public and critics weren’t pleased that the film was just a collection of short animated segments and self-serving live action, the film didn’t do well at the box office, not even making back the cost of production. Thus, it’s not one of Disney’s better-known animation projects.

The cartoon itself is based on Kenneth Grahame’s book of the same name. The dragon is reluctant because he is actually quite witty and urbane and because he writes poetry, he’s much too busy to attack the villagers. Nonetheless, the villagers are afraid of an impending dragon attack, so they send a knight (Sir Giles) out to kill the dragon. Fortunately, Sir Giles is equally urbane, and he and the dragon become good friends. They stage a mock battle, but when the villagers realize that the dragon means no harm, he’s later taken in by them. Interestingly, the opening credits include caricatures of all the creators who worked on the feature, including future Pogo creator Walt Kelly. Unfortunately this is also a well-worn print which is dirty, specky, and fuzzy and features an often weak soundtrack.

1938’s Ferdinand the Bull was also a Academy Award winner for Best Short Subject: Cartoons. Based on the famous book by Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson, Ferdinand is about a bull who would rather smell the flowers than be in bullfights. He accidentally ends up in a bullring after being stung by a bee. His subsequent angry reaction indicates to the bullfighters that he will be a ferocious foe in the ring, and Ferdinand is brought to the bullring to fight — except he refuses and sits in the middle of the ring. The line of matadors who enter the ring were drawn by Ward Kimball based on a number of Disney staffers, including the head matador, who was based on Walt Disney. One of the classics.

Goliath II (1960) looks a lot like a warm-up to The Jungle Book (1966). It tells the story of a baby elephant who never grows beyond the size of a mouse. Goliath is a huge disappointment to his father, the original Goliath and leader of the elephant herd. Because of his size, he’s constantly underfoot and in danger of being stepped on by the other elephants. After being ostracized by the other elephants, he decides to run away, gets accidentally trapped underground, and is eventually branded a rogue elephant by the tribe, having disgraced his father. But, as in all good Disney movies, Goliath proves his worth in combating a great threat to the elephant tribe — a mouse! (What else?). This clever 15-minute short is narrated by Sterling Holloway.

The Legend of Johnny Appleseed originally appeared in the 1948 compilation Melody Time. This 19-minute feature tells the folklore version of the life and death of John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed) who traveled the county with just a bag of apple seeds, a Bible, and a tin pot hat (and no knife and no gun), sowing his seeds and being a friend to all animals. Dennis Day, a popular singer of the time, provided Johnny’s voice, as well as that of the angel that sets Johnny on his quest to the West. The feature includes several memorable songs including “The Lord Is Good to Me,” “The Pioneers Song”, and “The Apple Song” — all performed by Day. A wonderful and uplifting short feature.

In terms of overall quality on the shorts, this is the strongest entry in the series. It’s a shame that the picture and sound quality of The Reluctant Dragon is not as good as the other features on this disc.

It’s also unfortunate that the Walt Disney Treasures series is so limited and prone to go out of print so rapidly. Many of the shorts on these Walt Disney Animation Collection: Classic Short Films discs have previously appeared there in restored versions. It’s a shame that, for whatever reason, Disney did not use the restored versions for these editions, as many of these cartoons are just as well-loved and important as the Disney classic features to their fans, and they are certainly more deserving of better presentations than these often slipshod and inferior current collections.

Special thanks to Roger Ash for additional Disney animation information and comments. (Complimentary copies for this review were provided by the studio.)

Syaoran is continuing the work of his adopted archeologist father, excavating the massive ruins buried under the sand in the kingdom of Clow. Finally, he has unearthed and restored the central chamber. Princess Sakura, his childhood friend, comes to have lunch with him. The moment Sakura steps onto the relief carved in the floor a magical chain reaction starts. When it’s all over, Sakura’s memories have been turned into feathers and scattered across the multi-dimensions of the cosmos. The High Priest, Yukito, tells Syaoran that Sakura’s memories must be recovered or she will die. Yukito sends both to the one person he believes has the power to help, the space-time witch, Yuko.

Syaoran and Sakura arrive at Yuko’s shop at the same time as two other visitors, Fai D Flowright and Kurogane. They are from different worlds, and just like Syaoran, they are seeking a means to travel among the cosmic dimensions. Yuko explains the price to obtain such an ability is too great for any one person to pay. If all four agree to travel together, they can afford the payment. To pay his portion, Syaoran must give up his past relationship with Sakura. When all her memories are recovered, Sakura will still have no memory of Syaoran prior to the time she arrived at Yuko’s shop. He accepts the trade.

The Appeal

Tsubasa Book 1
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Tsubasa is as multidimensional as the universe it’s set in. On the surface, the series is a fantasy/sci-fi adventure story. However, at its core is the burgeoning romance between Syaoran and Sakura. Surrounding that is the growing friendship between the five travelers. It’s the relationships between the five central characters that readers connect with, converting them to devoted fans. Since this is a character-centric manga, let’s look at the five main protagonists.

Syaoran was a street urchin with no memory of his past. He’s blind in one eye and doesn’t even remember if he was born with that disability or if it’s a result of some accident. Yuko describes him best when she says he has sincerity and determination in great measure. His care and affection for Sakura jumps off the page, and so does his awkwardness in expressing his feelings. Part of Syaoran’s reluctance is his acute awareness about his status as an outsider in the Kingdom of Clow. (He’s an orphan, and his adoptive father wasn’t originally from Clow either.) His seriousness and focus make for the perfect young hero.

Sakura is the princess of Clow. She has natural grace and charm. Although she doesn’t remember her former life, the bonds of affection she shared with Syaoran are so deep that she quickly falls in love with him again. However, she is just as awkward expressing her emotions. The romantic tension between the two can be so frustrating and so endearing. She has a purity to her character that brings out the best in her traveling companions. This purity also makes her feel guilty at the sacrifices the others make to retrieve her memories. She has an inner strength of tempered steel that slowly manifests itself over the course of the series.

Fai D Flowright is a wizard on the run. He’s attractive, charismatic, and carefree. He comes across as a jester. He’s fun, light-hearted, and quick with a joke. It’s impossible not to like him immediately. But he keeps his past and what is really going on inside him a secret. He’s an actor that doesn’t allow anyone backstage. His shocking back story isn’t revealed until volumes 19 and 20.

Kurogane at first is dour, gruff, and short-tempered. It seems that everything pisses him off. He’s been exiled by his queen because of his disregard for human life. He is under a curse; for each person he kills, he loses some of his strength. He is not allowed to return to his home until he has learned the true meaning of strength. Initially, he is the least likable character, but there is an ocean of depth to him. We learn his back story in volume 13, and from that point forward, he becomes the de facto leader and core of emotional stability for the group.

Mokona, ah Mokona, he is a pure delight. He is the one that transports everyone from one dimension to the next. It would be easy to write him off as comedic relief, but as with all things in this series, he is much more than he first appears. There is an innocence and childishness to his manner. It’s easy to forget how intelligent and insightful he truly is. I just love the little guy and his 108 secret techniques.
 

The Craft

Tsubasa Book 20
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CLAMP are master storytellers, and Tsubasa gives them the room to showcase all their literary talents. What impresses me most about this series is the maturity and intention of the pacing. CLAMP know that this will be a long-running series, so they let the story progress at its own natural momentum. There are times the manga moves at breakneck speed, but also slow, quiet times. The rhythm of the narration feels realistic, especially the way the moods and scenes shift and blend into each other. They know how we, in the real world, defuse tense situations with jokes or silly humor and use that knowledge in shifting from dramatic moments to comedic ones. CLAMP structure the story to keep the reader from being bored by any one literary genre. It’s relaxing to read a series where the authors don’t feel like each chapter has to have everything in it.

Having the characters traveling to different worlds allows CLAMP free range in the narrative genres and styles they can use, and CLAMP prove themselves adept in each genre/style they use. There are too many styles to discuss each separately, so let me just highlight two that particularly resonated with me. First, CLAMP create action scenes that are exciting. You hold your breath as you turn the pages waiting to see how each battle is resolved. They show wonderful originality in creating unique fighting styles for each world. You get sword fights, magical battles, martial arts, jet-powered hovercrafts, etc. These are some of the most gripping action sequences you’ll read in comics.

As with the action, CLAMP incorporates variety in the comedic elements. There are scenes with a slapstick sensibility, especially when the characters are drunk. There is character-based humor, usually focused on the youth and inexperience of Sakura and Syaoran. The chibi drawings of Sakura are adorable. Fai adds lots of puns and silly jokes to the mix. Mokona is so kawaii (cute). He’s bubbly and over-the-top in his reactions. He likes to be a foil for Kurogane’s seriousness. Mokona’s enthusiasm is infectious.

Let me provide two caveats to new readers. First, you need to read each book of this series, and you need to read them in order. Skipping books will mean missing out on details about each of the characters. It also means missing out on how the bonds between the characters grow and shift. This series rewards careful reading as the details add nuances that will become relevant in later volumes. Also, there are some great twists and surprises that you don’t want spoiled by jumping ahead.

Second, starting in volume 15, the series takes on a darker, more serious tone. The series becomes even more gripping and emotionally intense from that point forward. Avoid reading reviews of these volumes, if the review has a summary of the story. Each volume ends with a cliffhanger that makes the three-month wait tortuous. I’m already chomping at the bit for volume 21.

CLAMP are also master illustrators. There’s a reason that anime directors have hired them to do character and background designs. They have beautiful characters, buildings, and backgrounds with meticulous detail in everything. CLAMP really created a lot of hard work for themselves with this series. They didn’t have designs just for one planet, but for several. Each dimension that Syaoran and company visit has its own look, and no two worlds are even remotely similar. Even more impressive is that they are publishing this series on a weekly basis.

The art in this series has lots of energy and passion in it. The action scenes are visually exciting. The comedic scenes make perfect use of chibi and cartoon effects. The dramatic scenes capture the emotions each character is feeling. Tsubasa is a series where you can flip through the book and just by looking at drawings get a sense for the mood of the scenes. The splash pages are gorgeous. My only complaint is that Del Rey isn’t printing the color pages of this series, like they’re doing with Xxxholic. CLAMP’s pleasure in writing and drawing this series is evident on each page.

The Character Guide

 

Tsubasa Character Guide
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I’m not a fan of character guides. I can’t get past the feeling that the publisher is simply milking me for more money. Plus, most of the information is just a rehashing of what’s available in the manga itself. The Tsubasa character guide is no exception. There’s some material not found in the regular series, but I feel these extras should be bonus material included at the end of the regular books. The character guide covers the events up through the end of book 7.

One fun section of the character guide takes you through a flow chart that asks you questions. When you come to the end of the chart, you find out which of the five main characters you’re most like. (I ended up being Fai. I really wanted to be Mokona.) This then leads you to a second flow chart that tells you which world you would be happiest living in. (I ended up in Oto and like that result.)

The most informative section was an interview with CLAMP member Ageha Ohkawa and the Weekly Shonen Magazine editor Kiichiro Sugawara. What I found interesting was reading about how CLAMP is tailoring their traditional shojo style of art and storytelling to fit into a shonen magazine. They’re very conscious of the different expectations shonen readers have, both in art and storytelling. Ohkawa has a good sense of humor and makes the interview an enjoyable read.

Other sections of the book include lots of fan art, a summary of the story thus far, brief character biographies, a rating of the combat abilities of each character, a tour of each of the worlds they have visited to this point, the people they’ve met in each world, an advice column by Fai, original character designs, and 25 pages of rough page breakdowns from the first volume.
 

Conclusion

CLAMP intentionally designed this series to appeal to a wider audience than their typical fanbase, so it’s a perfect introduction to their unique style of art and storytelling. It’s also perfect for people new to manga, since the fantasy and sci-fi elements are similar to those in Western comics and novels. It’s rare to have quality epic story telling in comics. CLAMP has created a story with a galactic scale on par to the worlds of  Moorcock, Asimov, and Tolkien. Readers will quickly connect and care for each of the protagonists. This series does have crossover elements with Xxxholic, but so far that’s very limited, and you don’t need to read Xxxholic to understand what is going on here. In short, Tsubasa is one of the must-read series in any comic format currently running. Did I mention that I love Mokona?

The Big Bang Theory
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Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) are nerdy genius grad students (named after Sheldon Leonard, producer of TV classics including Make Room for Daddy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Andy Griffith Show). Penny (Kaley Cuoco, previously on 8 Simple Rules) is the blonde Cheesecake Factory waitress who lives across the hall. Leonard develops a crush on her and sees her presence as a chance to try out another social sphere. The result is a great “crossing the tracks” kind of relationship that reminds me of 1930s movies, only instead of class/income, this time it’s brainpower that separates the characters.

Howard (Simon Helberg) and Rajesh (Kunal Nayyar) are the boys’ friends. Howard thinks he’s a ladies’ man, only his bragging is based on his geekiness, and Rajesh has a pathological inability to speak to women. The writers compare Howard to Pepe Le Peu in how overconfident he is, and it’s right on target.

Some of the one-liners are laugh-out-loud funny. The plots can be ridiculous, as when Sheldon is so obsessed with the mess in Penny’s apartment that he breaks in at midnight to straighten up, but it still stems from the characters. (That’s the one where Leonard, when he thinks he hears a noise in the middle of the night, wields an illuminated light saber as both nightlight and weapon.) There’s also slapstick, witty banter, geek culture references, and goofy fun. Much of it works because of the skilled delivery of the players. The plots aren’t really the point so much as the character interaction.

The pilot features Sheldon and Leonard going to a high-IQ sperm bank to get some extra money. They solve the receptionist’s crossword for her, demonstrating that they have no tact or consideration for emotions. In typical sitcom fashion, Penny’s shower isn’t working, so she winds up wrapped in a towel in their apartment, while the guys wind up getting pantsed by her ex-boyfriend. The laugh track in that episode is also turned up too high. Keep going afterwards, and the show will quickly improve and grow on you.

The first really good one is the fourth episode, where Sheldon gets fired for insulting his department head. It shows how quickly the geeks’ lives disintegrate when their routines and comfort zones are interrupted. It also allows him to go to the market with Penny, who has begun humoring her neighbors. Those two interact hilariously in a clash of opposites. It culminates in him trying to find out details about her menstrual cycle in order to encourage her to save money on a lifetime supply of tampons and getting the door slammed in his face. Laurie Metcalf (a Roseanne alumni) guest-stars as Sheldon’s fundamentalist mother, which plays up how much these grown men (in their mid-20s) with academic careers look, act, and relate as youngsters.

In contrast, Penny’s character is so undeveloped as to have no real ambition. There’s a throwaway joke in the pilot about her wanting to write a book, but we know more about what she’s running away from — bad boyfriends, getting out of Nebraska — then what she wants to be. That’s not surprising, given that it’s a Chuck Lorre show, and he seems to still be working out his problems with driven women after being involved with Grace Under Fire, Cybill, and Roseanne. These days, he much prefers the blonde bimbette type for comic relief. (See also Two and a Half Men.) Penny’s still mostly an object and plot device, although the actress does a great job fleshing out what she’s given. She’s fallen into almost a mom role, taking care of the nerds.

The series came back after the writers’ strike hiatus with a series of great episodes, beginning with the ninth, where the two leads fight over whether to present their work at a physics conference. (You can tell the break because of the length of Penny’s hair.) Episode 10 features “exquisitely convoluted” lies (Sheldon’s phrase) to keep them from having to listen to Penny’s poor singing performance, while 11 has Sheldon coping badly with being sick. In episode 12, a new, younger rival arrives, which disrupts Sheldon’s entire worldview and ego. At this point in the series, the scripts are polished and the cast really clicking, and that continues on through the series ender, in which Penny and Sheldon have a meaningful conversation about Leonard.

Sheldon is my favorite. He’ll say anything and he’s really really smart and completely unselfconscious about it. He’s worse than Leonard in terms of relating to others on anything other than a purely intellectual basis. He’s got little patience for most people and most conventions of behavior, plus he’s constrained by his obsessive habits. The actor does a terrific job with long sentences that he delivers masterfully.

The guy characters remind me of the people I went to school with. Heck, I was one of these people — and thankfully, the show does acknowledge girl geeks, with the occasional appearance of Sara Gilbert (whose character on Roseanne was married to Galecki’s character) as Leslie, Leonard’s sometime girlfriend, beginning in episode 3. (Maybe I still am one of those people, interested in DVD commentaries and computer gaming and evenings at home with a few good friends instead of going out to clubs.)

My brother, a new Ph.D., also enjoys the show because of what he says is its realism when it comes to the authenticity of struggles over status and publication in academia. He cited the ninth episode, where the leads argue over whether to present their co-authored paper at a conference. He said in his department, they would play a game of “find the error” in professorial and student presentations because it would establish a pecking order. Sheldon’s meglomania in looking down on everybody is common in that environment, with over-confidence masking insecurity.

The only extra on this set is the 17-minute “Quantum Mechanics of The Big Bang Theory: A behind-the-scenes look into geek chic” featurette. The Executive Producers (and series creators) Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady talk about the show interspersed with clips that illustrate what they’re talking about and the stars are interviewed about their characters. It’s actually a great introduction to the show, although anyone who would buy the box set likely already knows most of the information it contains. I would have liked to have known more about the theme song as well, with maybe a free downloadable version included. A complimentary copy of this DVD was provided by the studio.

The second season of the show debuts September 22 with Sara Gilbert added as a series regular.

Despite having a title that sounds like a 1970s Doug Henning TV special, Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! (let’s just call it Shazam!, shall we?) is actually a cute little book.

Written, drawn, colored, stapled and printed by Mike Kunkel, the singular force behind the robust and heartwarming Herobear and the Kid of a couple years back, this version of Shazam! looks like just the thing to wash away the painful attempts to update the Captain and company over the last couple of years (especially Mary… poor, poor Mary…). Why no one thought of doing Shazam! as a kid’s book before just boggles my little mind.

Following up on Jeff Smith’s successful relaunch of the characters (kinda), Kunkel has given everybody makeovers in his extremely effective animation-like style (and I applaud the removal of some of the distracting construction lines that previously appeared in his work). Kunkel obviously realized the humor in the dynamics of size as Billy Batson is drawn as a mostly normal kid, dwarfed by the cartoonishly huge Captain Marvel. But the coup de grace is the re-imagining of Mary Marvel as a hyperkinetic 7-year-old girl who flits around like Tinkerbell to Cap’s Peter Pan. Brilliantly, Kunkel avoids making Mary a female copy of Cap by giving her more superspeed than he has — and of course she lords it over him as little sisters are wont to do. I suspect that Mary’s actually a little smarter than Billy as well, despite that “wisdom of Solomon” thing. But Billy definitely got the power and strength in the family, as he demonstrates throughout the issue.

In this first issue, Cap and Mary solve the problem of a circus train and a too-small tunnel, Billy pretends to be his own father at a parent-teacher conference, he checks in with his job at WHIZ as a TV talk show host, and Billy gets lectured by Shazam. Plus, there’s this sinister looking kid named Theo wandering around with partial amnesia (he can’t seem to remember his magic word. Hmmm…), who looks like big trouble for Billy in the very near future! Better check back next issue! I know I will!

The first issue rocks, and it looks like Kunkel is truly excited to be doing it. There are all kinds of fun bits in the story and artwork, and I am blown away by the coloring, which looks like it was done in crayon and watercolors! Here’s hoping he can maintain this enthusiasm and excitement every month! Shazam! is a fantastic addition to the high-quality Johnny DC line of comics for kids of all ages.

I’d been initially warned away from Secret Invasion by a number of friends, but a recent stack of really bad DCs put me off most of their titles for a while, so I was looking for something else to read. It was time to check up on what’s going on in the Avengers-related titles (my nostalgic favorite long-running Marvel title), plus I was actually excited by the return of Nick Fury (in person) to the Marvel Universe (my nostalgic favorite long-running Marvel character). And while on vacation in Wisconsin, I finally cracked open my Avengers Assemble hardcovers (reprinting the near-classic Busiek/Perez run in a very pleasing eye-friendly size!) and really got into re-reading that great run. So I was raring to dive into a big yok of new Avengers goodness. Hopefully…

Avengers Assemble
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… And was pleasantly surprised at how much of the past few years worth of major Marvel storylines dovetail together into the whole Secret Invasion concept. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that a good portion of those previous storylines were originally choreographed by SI author Brian Michael Bendis, but nonetheless, it was good to see some reasons for Bendis’ sudden obsessive fascination for Spider-Woman, as well as some missing motivations from House of M and Secret Wars (and more to come, I suspect).

It’s this kind of fictional universe-building that really takes the story to another level and a thing that Marvel usually does very well. Although, I have to say that when I found out that the story actually goes waaaaay back to FF#2, it began to worry me because the Skrulls in the early 60s were that wacky band of lovable intergalactic losers who just couldn’t put a workable plan together. (That was the issue where Reed Richards actually hypnotizes three captive Skrulls into thinking that they are cows who spend the next several years eating grass and passing gas until the Kree-Skrull War wakes them up. Not that Reed was much better in those early days. He completely forgot that the FF were originally attacked by four Skrulls – not three! Oops! See the Kree-Skrull War for details.) And was it really any wonder that these guys actually lost the Kree-Skrull War? Leave it to Bendis to figure out that after all those years of humiliation, that these guys were pissed! And especially at Reed!

The Kree-Skrull War
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(And, of course, the Skrulls’ plan in Secret Invasion wasn’t completely without its “D’oh!” moments: During the caper where the Skrulls conspire to release a gaggle of super-villains from the Raft, they inadvertently create the New Avengers by bringing together Cap, Shellhead, Spidey, Luke Cage, The Sentry, and Spider-Woman. D’oh, indeed!)

I haven’t read all the tie-in series yet (although it seems that I must track down the SI: Fantastic Four issues as there’s something nasty afoot there, as well as being pencilled by my buddy Barry Kitson, fresh from the late, lamented The Order), but for me, the best of the bunch have been the single-issue, backstory-heavy issues of both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, all written by Bendis and drawn by some of Marvel’s best artists.

Here’s the rundown: New Avengers #40, drawn by Jim Cheung and John Dell, featuring backstory on the Skrulls and the aftermath of the Illuminati’s visit to the Skrull homeworld; New Avengers #41, drawn by Billy Tan, the only Avengers issue (to date) providing a direct in-the-minute tie-in to what’s going on in the Secret Invasion title, and featuring a side-adventure with Spider-Man, Ka-Zar and Shanna; New Avengers #42, art by Chung and Dell, telling the secret history of Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman); Mighty Avengers #12, art by Alex Maleev, recapping the Secret War and explaining what Nick Fury’s been up to; Mighty Avengers #13, art by Maleev, the return of Daisy Johnson and the recruitment of Fury’s underground strike team; Mighty Avengers #14, art by Khoi Pham and Danny Miki, backstory on The Sentry and a sinister meeting of Skrulls (and a sliver of the current story); Mighty Avengers #15, art by John Romita, Jr., Klaus Janson and Tom Palmer, the very sad story of Hank Pym’s latest fall from grace; and Mighty Avengers #16, art by Pham and Miki, reveals how the Skrulls swapped out Elektra, as well as the original’s fate.

These issues have seen Bendis restrain himself of his usual excesses of dialogue and tell some stunningly detailed, mostly stand-alone stories of great drama, mood, and pathos, which will surely stand among his best. And the issues by Chung & Dell and JR Jr., Janson & Palmer in particular are absolutely gorgeous.

Secret Invasion #1
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Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the Secret Invasion book itself. Starting off as a rambling mess, by issue #4 it has calmed down a bit, but the nature of these mega-crossovers in the modern age means that there will always be too much ground to cover, too much plot to break, too many other stories to set up, too many characters to place, and too many “voices” to nail properly to please everybody. Despite the extra-length story in #1, it still seemed as if it wasn’t enough to set everything up and still have a coherent story. And I’m really not sure about the arrival of the almost original Secret Wars-like appearance of the doppleganger heroes.

I have been worried from Day 1 of the announcement of this series that this is the way Marvel would “fix” the Captain America storyline by revealing that the dead Cap was a Skrull all along, which would go against the “ground-level” storytelling (with certain fantastic elements) that Ed Brubaker has been doing for years over in Cap’s title (and doing extremely well). The recent announcement that the conclusion of SI might feature the “return” of Cap, Iron Man, and Thor to prominence in the Avengers hasn’t made me feel any better about that. For once, I hope I’m wrong.

The selection of Leinil Frances Yu as the artist for Secret Invasion was an unusual, and brave, choice. Not that he isn’t a great artist, but he’s such an incredible stylist, and not of a style that lends itself to piles and piles of super-beings. Being the old guy that I am, his work here reminds me a lot of Mike Sekowsky’s Justice League of America work back in the 60s — somewhat reviled in its day, but now warmly regarded as classic work. Neither artist is as adept as George Pérez at filling the panels with characters (and who is?), but they share a certain charm in the choreography of the many-faceted fight scenes.

There are a couple of things that I do like about SI the series, including the seeming return of Mockingbird and the fannish fun of the all-new Super-Skrulls and their amalgam-like flavor. (“Mmmmmm… Amalgam.”). I enjoyed the appearance and prominence of the Young Avengers and the Initiative in the main fight, but I am worried that they are there to up the body count. And I’m loving the “is he or isn’t he a Skrull?” stuff that’s going on with Iron Man, especially since it would be so very easy to write off Tony’s last couple of years as a Skrull, but I don’t think that’s what is going to happen. And the return of Nick Fury: “Okay, ya punks, let’s wrap it up!! I got things to do!!” Perfect.

Other SI tie-in highlights: Dan Slott is taking his own twisted view of the Invasion over in Avengers: Initiative with one of the creepier final panels of late in #14… SI: Who Do You Trust? has a couple of notable short stories including a transitional story of Captain Marvel, wrapping up some business from the miniseries; an intriguingly weird Agent Brand tale; a very pretty but ultimately inconsequential Wonder Man and Beast story; and a thoughtful Agents of Atlas story by Jeff Parker, Leonard Kirk and Karl Kesel… As these Marvel Universe big events go, some of the best moments are hidden away in the human-level stories in the Front Line series, and that looks to be the case for Secret Invasion as well, as we follow the adventures of reporter Ben Urich in the trenches of SI… Secret Invasion wouldn’t be the worst excuse to pick up Ms. Marvel, one of Marvel’s most underrated titles. Since Ms. M’s powers originally come from the Kree, she’s a natural target for the Skrulls. There’s some very nice artwork within these pages by the team of Adriana Melo and Mariah Benes, and the rollicking story by Brian Reed is equal parts big action and crazy soap-opera. (The book’s better than the cheesecake covers suggest.)

As I mentioned earlier, I haven’t bought or read all the tie-ins, which is my biggest complaint of Secret Invasion — as well as most of the mega-series of the modern age from any company. There are too many crossovers for all of them! The Big Two especially have much to answer for in their seemingly never-ending-battle to blast the other guy off of the playing field, with the end result being that completist fans end up frustrated that they can’t afford it all (and food and rent and gas!). And the real losers in the battle are ultimately those really good but largely unrecognized comics that keep biting the dust at an alarming rate — some of which are published by the very companies publishing the mega-events and just don’t get their share (or any) of promotion and marketing that is being lavished on the events that are already going to sell.

So remember the mega-crossover in the back of your head the next time your favorite marginal title is canceled or takes a severe turn in direction or is forced off the stands by overwhelmed retailers or sadly folded by self-publishers who can no longer afford to go on. That may be the “real” Secret Invasion. Or Final Crisis.

Borders has pulled Tokyopop titles from their shelves due to slipping sales. It would seem something else went on behind the scenes there, as usually booksellers only pull titles that don’t sell, not a publisher’s entire output.

But I don’t believe that’s the case, that all Tokyopop is gone. A visit to Borders’ new website shows that Fruits Basket, for instance, is “likely in stock” at all local stores. (I like that they refuse to commit. They’ve had that problem for years, where they’re never entirely sure whether what the computer shows is actually on the shelf.) It is true that less popular titles, like the new Kindaichi Case Files, appear to be online-only.

Anyway, that’s not his major point. He sums up the many mistakes Tokyopop has made, from their bad contracts to the abrupt reorganization and layoffs, as a way of pointing out the misguided focus many comic publishers have had, especially when it comes to chasing Hollywood money. Grant points out the inherent flaw in that approach, saying that the strength of comics is “the creativity and uniqueness of the content”, so trying to craft movie-friendly (or digital-media-friendly, whatever that means) work is completely missing the point, because then comics are no longer special.

Based on this Anime Almanac article, which makes the claim that Tokyopop made the manga industry and then backs it up with a historical survey, how the mighty have fallen. This essay also reminded me that the first manga series I ever read in full was actually, yes, Love Hina.

Anyway, the writer, Scott VonSchilling, reminded me of the essential flaw in Tokyopop’s OEL manga strategy: “OEL manga is only going to appeal to those already interested in Japanese manga, which is a very small niche market to begin with.” And for a company whose original marketing bit of genius was the “100% Authentic” tagline, trying to then sell its customers non-Japanese work, it’s very contradictory.

And now, Rivkah, author of Steady Beat, has more bad news for OEL creators: she was told that Tokyopop’s non-licensed books are going online-only. (Although an anonymous commenter at Heidi’s blog says it’s not all OEL, just some.) Rivkah has a lawyer and is hopeful that she can get back the print rights to put her work out. I hope that’s possible — it’s very frustrating to customers to find the last piece of a series they’ve been purchasing is unavailable to them in the format they’ve been expecting. (See, for another example, the outrage over WB doing the same thing with the DVDs of the TV show Nip/Tuck.)

Aria Book 1
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As the book begins, it’s autumn, and Akari’s appreciating the signs of the changing season. Her open, deep eyes express her curiosity and acceptance of the wonders that surround her. It’s comforting to read about such a happy character, enjoying her life and work.

Her first passenger is a lost old man who insists his daughter has wandered off. Nothing pleases him; he grumbles about distractions and inefficiency and backwardness. While looking for his family, Akari teaches him to relax and enjoy the falling leaves and a warm baked potato treat. The bigger issues will take care of themselves. It’s a marvelous lesson on acceptance and appreciation of what you have in the moment. The placid water setting reinforces Akari’s calm demeanor. Her lesson, that sometimes it’s worth doing things yourself and taking pleasure in honest work, is a well-taken one.

It’s reinforced by the next story, in which the gondoliers have to maintain and clean their equipment. Akari of course finds wonder in the most mundane of tasks, as when a spraying hose creates rainbows in the sunlight. One chapter gives a tour of the town as she waits for a late friend, and another takes a more mystical turn with the story of a fox spirit. As the season comes to a close, there’s a final race that may determine the future of the trainees.

The art, lovely to look at in its detail, reinforces the slower-paced appreciation of life and work. To get the most out of reading it, take your time and enjoy the scenery. The book is a pleasant, relaxing read, with deep meaning subtly presented. Traveling with Akari is a marvelous ride.

Tokyopop picked up this series after ADV Manga put out three volumes. Here’s a comparison of the two versions with lots of pictures. Tokyopop has also put out the two-volume prequel, Aqua.

The Empire is trying to recover from a long, devastating war, one that has left the country’s infrastructure in ruins and the civilians ravaged by disease and starvation. Pumpkin Scissors is the nickname for Imperial Army State Section III, a small unit dedicated to war relief and reconstruction. They travel the Empire restoring order to the landscape and the social structures. They encounter such obstacles as former soldiers turned into extortionists, collapsed mountain tunnels, a demoralized population, nobles turned into despots, and corrupt businessmen.

Pumpkin Scissors Book 1
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The platoon is lead by 2nd Lieutenant Alice L. Malvin. She comes from nobility, but she has chosen to be part of the military because she feels this is the best way to serve her county and its people. She is young, idealistic, and filled to overflowing with passion. She is deeply committed to the mission of Pumpkin Scissors and is one of the founding members of the unit. I have a real soft spot for characters like her, who are utterly sincere and driven by the highest ideals. (Perhaps because I wish I had that nobility of character.) Lt. Malvin is the heart of the series.

The soul of the series is Corporal Randel Oland. He’s literally a one-man anti-tank force, and his battle scenes are eerie. After the ceasefire, he wandered around for three years before becoming a member of Pumpkin Scissors. He’s quiet and socially awkward, which leads some in the troop (and the reader) to think he’s a little slow mentally. But when he speaks, he shows great wisdom and insight. He was trained to be a killing machine, but his heart is an endless fount of compassion. He desires to be a man of peace who builds instead of destroys, but this runs counter to his training and years of combat experience. Cpl. Oland’s struggle to reshape himself touches on the core issues of the series and can be heartbreaking at times.

There’s also a healthy dose of military intrigue as we learn more about Cpl. Orland’s past. His former platoon is one of nine covert military units that the Empire created. It’s hinted that the creation, training, and weapons of these troops were a violation of international treaties. Now during the ceasefire, the military refuses to acknowledge their existence. There’s also a creepy female military scientist lurking around looking to continue her undisclosed research. I have to admit I want to know more about what has and is going on in the military labs.

Pumpkin Scissors Book 2
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There are so many connections this series makes to past and present events. The condition of the Empire reminds me of Japan at the end of World War II. The Japanese imperial government was starving its farmers to feed the army. The American saturation bombing of Japan had left many cities devastated. On one level, the Pumpkin Scissors squad reminds me of the US and Japanese troops who spent years helping to rebuild Japan physically, politically, and emotionally. This makes me wonder what emotions and memories this series touches for the original Japanese audience. As Americans, we won’t have this kind of historical subconscious response to the series. Pumpkin Scissors could almost be read as a fictionalized reflection on the Japanese experience after WWII.

On another level, it reminds me of what American troops in Iraq and UN peacekeeping troops throughout the world are doing today. The opening page of volume one says, “There is no war, yet peace has not graced the land… This story is about the stage in between…” This was a perfect description of what is going on in so many places globally that are trying to recover and rebuilt after the chaos of war. Being a veteran myself, with friends and family still in the military, there’s a personal connection for me with the series. Pumpkin Scissors causes me to reflect on what it means to be a member of the armed forces commissioned with the construction of a nation instead of its destruction. When I served in the Navy in the 80s, we didn’t receive any training on how to be a peacekeeping presence. Now, I understand this is a work of fiction and isn’t meant to be a realistic portrayal of current military realities, but intentional or not, it does bring up these kind of questions for me.

The artwork for Pumpkin Scissors is interesting. It’s the first time I’ve read a manga series where you can actually see the art improving within the pages of one book and then from book to book. Initially, Iwanaga uses heavy lines, but as the series progresses the lines get thinner. Iwanaga isn’t adding more details as much as refining the art style over the course of each book. There’s still a lot of room for Iwanaga to grow as an artist, since this is your standard shonen house style. Hopefully, by the end of the series Iwanaga will develop a more distinctive style.

Pumpkin Scissors is a solid read. It’s a military manga with a different twist on the duties and responsibilities of being a soldier. I’m adding this series to my ‘things to read next’ list.

You can read a sample of volume one at Del Rey’s website. Complimentary copies were provided by the publisher for this review.

House
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From Brian Heater at The Daily Cross Hatch, covering the debut graphic novel by Josh Simmons:

Our story’s long close is a slow, painful burn–one that never fully gives up hope, making it all the more difficult to endure to the bitter end.

… It’s a gory and sad fall from grace, even when told with Simmons’ simple art.

…it’s a well-designed story, and while Simmons’ textless execution seems initially gimmicky, the reader quickly becomes oblivious to their absence. House is a good, rewarding read, but still ultimately a painful one, until the final page fades to black.

Jog really liked this horror comic. Simmons was interviewed at Publishers Weekly.

Previous Sets

Classic Musicals From the
Dream Factory Volume 1
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I haven’t seen the previous two in person. Volume 1 contains

• It’s Always Fair Weather
• Ziegfeld Follies
• Till the Clouds Roll By
• Three Little Words
• Summer Stock

There’s a couple of Judy Garland appearances (Summer Stock, Till the Clouds Roll By) and another couple of revue films, where a string of the era’s talents each do a number with little reference to plot. Even the best-known of this set (the first and last of that list, both with Gene Kelly) don’t do much for me.

Volume 2 is similar, containing

• The Pirate
• Words and Music
• That’s Dancing!
• That Midnight Kiss/The Toast of New Orleans
• Royal Wedding/The Belle of New York

More Gene Kelly and Judy Garland, a compilation from the 80s, two Fred Astaire, and the film debut of Mario Lanza, the tragic singer.

Volume 3’s Contents

Classic Musicals From the
Dream Factory Volume 3
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The design of volume three is much more refined than the previous two, black and silver with an elegant cover lineup (both the image and the title listing), instead of the “drop the movie posters on” approach of the earlier sets. It contains six items: three two-disc sets and three single discs, all new to DVD.

• Hit the Deck
• Deep in My Heart
• Kismet
• Nancy Goes to Rio/Two Weeks With Love
• Broadway Melody of 1936/Broadway Melody of 1938
• Born to Dance/Lady Be Good

The single discs are in color, and the movies originally date from 1954-1955. The first double disc has two Jane Powell films from 1950 (in color). Two Weeks With Love is memorable to me because it’s a very early Debbie Reynolds piece where she sings “Aba Daba Honeymoon” (“… said the monkey to the chimp”) and “Row, Row, Row” with Carleton Carpenter. Both tickle me. This disc is also one of the few with a featurette extra, an episode of Private Screenings where Robert Osborne talks to Jane Powell.

The last double disc is an Eleanor Powell focus. I’m not a huge fan (about which more below), but I’m curious about the 1936 Born to Dance because it co-stars Jimmy Stewart with Cole Porter songs.

Broadway Melodies

I started watching with the film I knew best, Broadway Melody of 1936. I love the number that gorgeous Robert Taylor does with June Knight, “I’ve Got a Feelin’ You’re Foolin”. (It’s the only time the heartthrob sung on film, and he does a good job.) There’s weirdness when furniture starts popping out of the floor, and some camera trickery where the chorus girls switch between black and white outfits during the number. Very deco. And it’s all supposedly taking place at an apartment party, only it’s a pad with a balcony large enough for a stage and a 25-person dance number.

The movie is very old-fashioned, of course; it’s of its time. It starts right off with musical performances, simply people standing in front of microphones singing “Broadway Melody”, followed by “You Are My Lucky Star” (which later returns as the song in a glittery fantasy production number). It’s a radio show, and Jack Benny is the Broadway gossip columnist. His boss is upset that all he talks about is who’s going to have a baby; the boss wants “hot news”, as shown here.

Taylor is a show producer looking for funding, and Benny wants the scoop. Eleanor Powell is an old school friend and aspiring dancer (of course). She’s nice enough, and she plays the friendly girl next door well, but I find her dancing an acquired taste. It’s energetic and athletic, but I think she lacks a certain grace. Some of her numbers, she reminds me of a string puppet. She does a nifty Hepburn impersonation, though, and pretends to be a famous Frenchwoman, although she doesn’t do her own singing in any of these movies.

I’m no expert, but the reproduction is excellent, crisp and unmarred, and the sound is clean and not scratchy. And although I hate the guy with the different varieties of snoring, I’d forgotten how much I loved seeing Buddy Ebsen (wearing a Micky Mouse sweater!) do “Sing Before Breakfast” with his sister Vilma as they tap through preparing a rooftop meal.

The other disc in the set, Broadway Melody of 1938, re-teams Powell, Ebsen (as the world’s tallest jockey), and Taylor and adds George Murphy and a very young Judy Garland. The snoring guy is back with sneezes this time, and the plot revolves around horse racing. I admit, watching both these movies back-to-back was too much for me, so I started noticing things like scratches in the print in this one. And I didn’t like the songs as much, with the best being Garland’s numbers: “Everybody Sing” and then “You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want to Do It)” with the “Dear Mr. Gable” opening.

I wondered why the 1940 entry in the series wasn’t in this set as well, but it’s already been released as part of the Cole Porter Gift Set.

Reaction

The DVD format makes it easy to revisit my favorite scenes and skip the snoozers, with the musical numbers called out on the menu. Extras for each film include a contemporaneous short feature and MGM cartoon and the theatrical trailer plus audio outtakes and radio promotions. They’re not essential viewing, but they give a picture of the entertainment of the time. The quality of the film remasterings can really be seen when comparing them to the trailers.

There’s so much here to savor that that’s all I’ll cover for now. I don’t want to rush through the other movies, most of which are new to me. If I do, I’ll quickly tire of them.

This is definitely a product for the dedicated, many of whom already have their own opinions about the films. Me, I just find it terrific that such sets exist. If you’re interested in more than half of the contents, buying the set is a great deal. It will be available on Tuesday, April 8. The official site is www.whvdvdcollections.com.

It’s either feast or famine — I’ve gone from recommending only a couple of cult films last week to finding the viewing overflowing this week. Much more after the break.

The Golden Age of Comedy
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The Golden Age of Comedy (Sunday, 3/16, 2:45 AM ET, 1957) — Before movies were easily available on specialty cable channels or DVD, compilations were the only way viewers could see classics from the early days of film. The one focuses on clips of “comedians of the silent era” including Laurel and Hardy, Will Rogers, Carole Lombard, and Jean Harlow. (I’m curious about that description, since many of the latter were known for their dialogue and quips.) The only silent era comic I appreciate is Buster Keaton (not included here), so I’m looking forward to getting an introduction to some of the others. It’s a shame that such a thing would be prohibitive to create today, given licensing hassles and costs.

The General
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The General (Sunday, 3/16, 4:15 AM ET, 1927) — Speaking of Keaton, his masterpiece follows. It’s about a Confederate whose train and girlfriend are taken by the Union army. (And they’re beloved by him in about that order.) He sets out to get them back, resulting in breathtaking stunts propelling an action comedy.

And Keaton did it himself. If I’m remembering correctly, the water scene is when he literally broke his neck, although he didn’t know it at the time. (It was only discovered years later due to x-rays.) In the crash, the locomotive was actually dropped. (You’ll know what I mean when you see it.) It’s filmmaking before digital tricks (although they had their own shortcuts) when what was on-screen was more real… and all the more fantastic for that.

Libeled Lady
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Libeled Lady (Sunday, 3/16, 8:00 AM ET, 1936) — One of the lesser-known screwball comedies, but all the more funny for not knowing coming in what’s going to happen. Spencer Tracy’s a newspaper editor whose publication is sued by heiress Myrna Loy for printing rumors about her being seen with a married man. (This is as foreign to us today as breach of promise suits.) Tracy comes up with the plan to have her fall in love with a married man supplied by him to make her drop the suit. (Kind of a post hoc, ergo prompter hoc.)

William Powell’s the scurrilous reporter who takes the job… and Jean Harlow is the wife, supplied by Tracy, even though she was already engaged to Tracy (and the actress to Powell in real life). Complicated, yes, but entertaining for watching four talents at their peak. Shame the ending is too convoluted to make sense. Contrast with:

His Girl Friday
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His Girl Friday (Sunday, 3/16, Noon ET, 1940) — This one’s a classic, with Cary Grant as jealous editor trying to recapture star reporter (and ex-wife) Rosalind Russell. They talk so fast, though, it gives me a headache trying to keep up! And you have to take their belonging together on faith, because sometimes they can be awfully mean to each other. I’m not sure how I feel about the idea “they fight so much, they must be in love”, because I think it leads a lot of people to make the wrong decisions. It can make for lovely movies, though.

Rear Window
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Rear Window (Sunday, 3/16, 6:00 PM ET, 1954) — The best Hitchcock, in my opinion. Grace Kelly made the best ice-cold blonde with heat underneath, and Jimmy Stewart’s niceness makes him a curious, trapped neighbor instead of a voyeuristic interloper. You may wind up wondering why he hasn’t married her already, since she’s obviously beautiful, brilliant, devoted, and daring. But many Hitchcock men have a fear of women, and he’s no different. It takes a life-threatening event to convince him, and thus, the thriller.

All About Eve
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All About Eve (Sunday, 3/16, 8:00 PM ET, 1950) — The classic backstage comedy-with-an-edge. People say they don’t understand why women can be so catty to each other — this one sheds some light on the topic, with the implicit idea that there can only be one at the top of the heap and the way to get there is to knock off the previous. Bette Davis is the unhappy star and Anne Baxter the snake in her bosom, the apprentice who claims she only wants to learn from the master. But it’s George Sanders as critic Addison DeWitt who catches my eye.

Reportedly, it holds the record for the most female acting Oscar nominations in one movie with two for Best and two more for Best Supporting. Its 14 total nominations are still a record (tied with the overblown Titanic), and it won 6, including Picture, Director, Writing, and Supporting Actor for Sanders.

Possessed (Tuesday, 3/18, 11:00 AM ET, 1931) — This isn’t the better-known 1947 one with Joan Crawford, but an earlier pre-Code melodrama in which she lives in sin with Clark Gable, only for that to become a big problem as his political career advances. The question of how a woman is to achieve the good life with few opportunities open to her, especially during the Depression, is the subtext.