Heidi MacDonald: Can Anyone Here Tell A Story?

Heidi MacDonald talks about lame, autobiographical comics. She's not saying all autobio comics suck but this quote sums up a great deal of her argument:

When Cervantes wanted to rebel against the badly written romances of his day, he didn’t write a long novel about being a smart guy who was sick of reading about the relatives of Amadis of Gaul. He made up a story! About a made up guy who had made up problems and friends, even though intelligent, sensitive readers could recognize their own foibles and dreams in those problems. Cervantes was making things up. God love him.

Thanks to Randy Lander for linking to this over on his blog.

In The News: Comics!

Check out this article about a guy who tried to sell stolen Superman comics. It's a tutorial in how NOT to unload stolen goods. Rule #1: Stick to your story.

The story gets extra points for using the phrase "comic magazines".

Also, here's a picture of H.R. Pufnstuf from Dragon*Con:

Doctor Mid-Nite Says: Stay Tuned

Now that I've caught up on my comics reading (just in time for the new stuff tomorrow), reviews are forthcoming. Until then, enjoy this picture of an awesome Doctor Mid-Nite costume I saw at Dragon*Con:

Click to embiggen and get a closer look at the renovations to the Marriott Marquis.

Mike Baron resurrects The Badger!

Oh my god.

Oh. My. God.

The Capital Times has a story about Mike Baron and The Badger and IDW. Here's a quote:

There will be a series of trade paperback editions collecting the early Badger stories into books (with a new introduction by Baron); concurrently, a series of entirely new monthly Badger adventures will launch.

I cannot express to you how happy this makes me. Badger!

Badgerbadgerbadger, Badger!!

Kicking a nun in the face:



By the way, there may not be an update tomorrow since I am sick, out of town, and have an eight-hour drive to face tomorrow afternoon. See you Tuesday!

Sickblogging

Noetic Concordance is going to be low-content until I feel better. However the news that Kristen Bell is going to be on Heroes has given me the will to go on.

Also, added to the sidebar: Scans Daily.

Just so you know I'm still keepin' it real, here's a Ghosts cover that didn't make it into the latest Weird-Ass Cover collection:

This place is nice. High ceilings and beautiful--

GET OUT!

Too bad we can't stay.

Rare Comic Drawings Found in Garage Sale

Art boards for the 1964 Avengers found in a garage sale. Check out this poorly-written article about it. More info if it surfaces.

The Most Amazing Picture In The World

photo by Alan Light

Will Eisner. Jack Kirby.

I wonder what they're talking about?



From Alan Light's set of pictures from the 1982 San Diego Comic Con, via Mike Sterling

Why didn't he just use "Mazahs!" or something?

The fellas over at Jimmy Olsen's Blues have some suggestions for what Black Adam's power word should be instead of the lame thing Captain Marvel changed it to.

I have a few ideas, myself:

And one for Mike:




This is fun! Now you try!

Again with the Weird Wonder Tales

The Weird Wonder Tales version of Awesome Cover Friday got me cruising around the internet for more information on the series. Ho, boy did I find it! Check out this article by Bob Gay on The Comics Rack. It's a thorough history of the series and he's done a fair amount of research on the artists involved.

I also found this book on Lulu which sounds pretty good. Check out the cover:

I can't believe no one else is reporting this stuff. UPDATED

Art Spiegelman's Maus has been optioned for a live-action movie. No cast members are officially attached yet but Tom Cruise has expressed interest. Michael Bay will direct.

Greg Land discusses his upcoming work on Warren Ellis's next project Ultimate Stilt Man. He calls it his "proudest achievement yet".

Scott McCloud has announced that he will team up with Frank Quitely on a title for IDW. The details are still under wraps but McCloud describes it as "Like The OC but in space! With monkeys!"

Brian Hughes from Again With the Comics digs up information on the cancelled Jimmy Olsen Vertigo project.

Finally! Someone on the internet is talking about Kevin Church. It's about freakin' time.

Chris puts that punk-ass Jerry in his place. V01$+@GG d0th R001!

Michael from The Legion Omnicom gets an amazing scoop: The Season 2 episode lineup for the LSH series!

Back Issue Bonanza!

Greg Burgas from Comics Should Be Good has been doing a series called Into the Back-Issue Box for a while, now. Here's the latest installment in which he scores Thunderbolts #22 by Bagley, Busiek and Hanna.

Also, I picked up the latest installment of Back Issue Magazine. It's a hell of an issue! Oh, I kill me.

Is There a Doctor in the House of Ideas (repost)

The Noetic Concordance staff is taking a much-needed vacation to Dragon*Con beginning tomorrow. I'll do my best to file some con reports but we're going to be in the Land With No Wireless Access for a couple of days. For now, we bring you this special, deluxe, encore presentation!

In the Marvel Universe every hero or villain with the title "Doctor" has an actual PhD. These guys had to do dissertations. Do you think Spiderman was ever subject to peer review? No, he just got bitten by a spider, slapped on a costume and then paraded around NYC like he owned the place. Sure, Luke Cage graduated from the School of Hard Knocks but he never had to teach a freshman chemistry class.

Here are just a few of the people who got their advanced degrees the Mighty Marvel way!

Dr. Octopus: Nuclear Physics
Dr. Druid: Psychiatry
Dr. Strange: Medicine (neurosurgeon)
Dr. Sun: Biology/Computer Science
Dr. Spectrum: Astronaut. The university which granted Joe Ledger's doctorate is in an alternate dimension. Don't get me started on the red tape involved in getting a copy of a transcript from Earth-S. Let's say physics for now.
Doc Samson: Psychiatry
Doctor Demonicus: Genetics

And the big daddy of them all:



My favorite Victor Von Doom factoid is that he was Reed Richards' roommate.

That must have been a non-stop party.

"Doom commands you to be absent from the room this evening, Richards."

"What? Have you got a hot date?"

"That is none of your concern. Your inferior intellect could not possibly conceive of the--"

"Save the histrionics, Victor. I've gotta study and all my books are here."

"Curse you, Richards. You will rue the day you crossed Doom."

"Blah, blah, blah, you said the same thing when I drank the last of your weird, imported beer."

"Latveria has the best beer in the world and that stuff is expensive to ship!


So, Doom gets horribly disfigured and blames his roommate. Forever.

Richards gets back at him by being more humble than Doom. "Oh, no, 'Dr. Fantastic' seems so haughty. Just call me Mister Fantastic."

OK, so being more humble than Doom isn't that hard but Reed could have gone with the "Doctor" monicker. I suppose he went for the more marketable superhero name.

Unlike, say, Dr. Lemuel Dorcas:




It's not really a surprise that this guy's supervillain career never took off.