Once Upon a Geek

We are truly living in magical times for old-school comic book fans.  Many of us grump and groan about how things were better “back in our day”.  Well, I’m here to tell you that things are great today even for people like us!

While I still keep up with numerous monthly titles, there are dozens of older comics that I think back on fondly.  In recent years, new media has emerged to celebrate these older books.  I often think about going back and re-reading an entire run of one particular series or another.  However, I don’t usually have the time given that I keep up with a lot of new material that also interests me.  Thankfully, I can now recapture the sense of wonder these old comics brought me by following things like the Word Balloon podcast & Back Issue magazine.  Additionally, the current comic book era provides readers with incredibly easy access to older material they may not have read. These reprints make it easier than ever to read comics you missed.  Finally, the internet has proven to be invaluable in researching particular comics or storylines.

Word Balloon

From the Word Balloon web site - Created By Chicago Talk Radio Host John Siuntres, The Word Balloon podcast features one on one mp3 audio interviews with comic book creators, plus the creative minds behind Film, TV, Gaming and other media.

Simply put, if you are a comic book fan and you are NOT listening to Word Balloon… then you are broken.  John Siuntres is a fantastic interviewer and really gets the inside scoop on comic books.  Whether you strictly enjoy old school comics or read the new stuff too, there has been an interview or two that you’d be interested in.  Some reoccurring guests of his include: Geoff Johns, Brian Michael Bendis, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, Matt Fraction, Jepf Loeb, and Ed Brubaker.  And that’s just the guys who come back on a semi-regular basis.  He’s done tons of non-reoccurring interviews with modern day and Silver Age greats such as: Chuck Dixon, Robert Kirkman, Beau Smith, Marty Pasko, Kurt Busiek, Steve Rude, Neal Adams, Ethan Van Sciver, Marv Wolfman, Walt Simonson, Steve Englehart, Ron Marz, Mike Grell, Denny O’Neil, Mike Mignola, Brad Meltzer, Gail Simone, Dan DiDio, Joe Quesada, and the list goes on and on.  The nice thing about this format is that the recordings remain posted on the web (over 150 to choose from), so you can listen to any of them anytime you’d like.

Siuntres has an amazing rapport with his guests and they typically cover their landmark works, any relevant background and anecdotes, how they got into comics, and what lies in their future.  The interviews are compelling and well done.  It’s great to relive some of your favorite comics through the eyes of their creators and you often find out things you never knew about them.  I can’t recommend Word Balloon to you enough.  Even if you don’t have an MP3 player, you can download the episodes and listen to them on the computer.  The most recent interview (at the time of this writing) is with Ethan Van Sciver on his upcoming projects, “Green Lantern: Blackest Night” and “Flash: Rebirth”.

Back Issue Magazine

From the Back Issue web site - Back Issue celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through a variety of recurring (and rotating) departments.

Back Issue is another product that does a great job celebrating the comics of yesteryear.  There are several different “departments” within the magazine, such as: “Flashback” which revisits the plotlines, creators, and characters from older series; “Pro2Pro” where two comic professionals interview each other (more like a conversation); special features, straight-forward interviews; “Greatest Stories Never Told” that discuss storylines that were planned out but never came to be; art galleries; and “Back Talk” an honest-to-goodness letters page (just like in the old comics themselves!).  Each issue is themed, such as the current issue on the shelf #29 - “Mutants Issue”.

The “Mutants Issue” has a couple perfect examples of why this magazine is so great.  There is a fantastic seven page article on “The New Mutants”.  While I would love to take the time to re-read all 100 issues of this comic, it’s not likely to happen anytime soon.  However, this article distilled down the major story points from the series, sprinkled with information taken from various creator interviews to give you some inside information you couldn’t gleam from the comics alone.  The article brought back tons of memories of these beloved comics.  So I may not get around to re-reading them, but I can still revisit why I love them so much.

Another example as to why Back Issue is great comes from the four page article on X-Factor.  You may recall the 1986 X-Factor series starred the original five X-Men (including the recently back-from-the-dead Jean Grey).  Well apparently the series was originally envisioned without Jean since she was in the hereafter.  They had planned for Dazzler to fill the “babe” slot in the series, along with the other four remaining original X-Men.  The idea to bring back Jean came from an incredibly unlikely place… Kurt Busiek, believe it or not.  Back when he was simply a fan he shared his idea for Jean’s resurrection with Roger Stern, who passed the idea on to John Byrne, who eventually passed the idea on to Bob Layton (writer of X-Factor).  And thus Jean Grey’s revolving door with death began.  Hard to believe that Kurt Busiek, a writer who didn’t become well known until the mid-1990s, was responsible for Jean Grey’s return in the mid-1980s.

Like Word Balloon, I can not recommend Back Issue to you enough.  I promise if you pick up an issue, you’ll find at least a couple things inside to interest you (if not the entire magazine).  The next issue ships in September and is the “Saturday Morning Heroes” issue in which they discuss Captain Marvel, Super Friends, Super Powers, Space Ghost, Astro Boy, and more!

Reprints

Whether it be color trade paperbacks, absolute editions, omnibuses, black-and-white Essentials/Showcases, or Marvel’s digital platform… it’s easier than ever to catch up on comics you missed.  All the publishers have become very savvy with their release schedules and delivery channels.  You can typically find newer stories collected and in stores just months (sometimes weeks) after the final issue shipped.  Additionally, publishers are focusing on reprinting older material and making it easier to get.  Nowadays, you can find trade paperbacks for sale in just about every bookstore.  For me personally, I have a bizarre soft spot for “Marvel Team-up”.  Don’t ask me why, but I do.   I only read a handful of issues growing up, so I picked up the first two volumes of the “Essential Marvel Team-up” to read more of these old stories.  Sure they are corny, but I’m loving these collections.  Other black and white reprints I’ve picked up in recent years include: Showcase Presents Aquaman #1; Showcase Presents Metal Men #1; Showcase Presents The War that Time Forgot #1; Essential Marvel-Two-in-One #2; Essential Avengers #2; and Showcase Presents Batman & the Outsiders #1.  I’ve also been getting the Dark Horse color reprint collections of the old Marvel “Star Wars” comics.  Even though I have the original issues, it’s so much easier to read these collections rather than dig out the originals from the bottom of a seven-high tower of long boxes.

The Internet

Finally, it bears mentioning how much the internet has changed comic book research.  In the old days, if you were curious about a particular comic storyline, you had to hunt out the back issue to find out what really happened.  For example, during my youth I spent years collecting old Uncanny X-Men comics from the early 80’s just to get the complete understanding of X-Men history.  With the proliferation of the internet, you can simply hit Wikipedia (or one of many other sites) and the entire history of a character or comic is chronicled in a neat package for you.  No longer do Editor footnotes referencing obscure comics confuse the reader.  Just a couple clicks away and you can know exactly what happened in any comic.  This can be a blessing and a curse.  I’ve found myself choosing not to seek out a back issue or trade paperback because I could read a summary of what happened on the internet.  While that clearly saved me some greenbacks, I did miss out on enjoying a classic tale.  It’s also an easy way to run across unfortunate spoilers.

Conclusion

Throw all this together and you’ve got a new golden era from the long-time comic book reader.  For example purposes, let’s say the FLASH WEEK I ran a couple weeks ago really got you jonesing for some old Flash.

• You could listen to the Word Balloon interview with Mike Baron as he discusses his tenure on the Flash, or Ethan Van Sciver’s interview on the upcoming “Flash: Rebirth.
• You could read the Back Issue magazine #28 article “Dead Man Running: The Trial of the Flash” all about the mid-1980’s Flash (Barry Allen) trial for the murder of the Reverse-Flash.  Since I’d never read those issues, this 10 page article was really informative for me.
• You could pick up any number of Flash trade paperbacks, include the early 1950s and 1960s adventures of Barry Allen in full-color Archive format or the black-and-white Showcase reprints.  Or if you’d like something more recent, there are a number of Wally West trades by Mark Waid and Geoff Johns available.
• You remember Amanda Pays playing Tina McGee (yummy) in the Flash TV series.  However, you’ve always wondered what Tina McGee was like in the comic book.  You do a quick Google search on “Tina McGee” and the first result you get is the fantastic reference site “Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning“.  There you can read about both the comic and TV series versions of Tina McGee.  What a great research tool!

Let’s shake off the reputation for our curmudgeonly attitudes and celebrate!  It truly is great to be an old-school comic book fan right now.

This t-shirt design is crazy funny, but I’m sure also very controversial.  It was worn by Matt Fraction, writer of The Invincible Iron Man comic book, at the recent San Diego ComicCon.  I’m not entirely certain who to thank for this awesome design, but Matt was pointing everyone to “Tony Was Right.com”.  Personally, I stumbled across it on the “For the Love of Comics” blog.

I am so very tempted to get this printed on a shirt and wear it to Dragon*Con.  Oooooooooo… I think I’m gonna have to do it.  I love stirring up trouble.

So my new pet theory is that Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver will give Aquaman their “Rebirth” treatment within the next few years.  I’m going to put a target date of 2013 on it simply because there was four years between “Green Lantern: Rebirth” and “Flash: Rebirth”.  With “Flash: Rebirth” coming out in 2009, four years later would be 2013.  If you do a quick Google search on “Aquaman: Rebirth”, you’ll discover I’m not the only person that has come to this conclusion.   However, since I’m “Irredeemable”, I’m going to claim the theory to be completely mine.  :)  Therefore, you heard it hear first… “Aquaman: Rebirth” shipping in 2013 by Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver!

Believe it or not, I really think this series could happen.  First off, both Johns and Sciver has publicly admitted their interest in working on Aquaman (see article snippets below).  Second, if you look at the “Big Seven” characters from the Justice League, Aquaman is the next obvious choice for them to revamp.  The “Big Seven” consist of the following: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.  For the “Big Three” (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman), they most likely won’t be receiving a “Rebirth” style make-over anytime soon.  They’re simply too established and currently moving forward.  Johns & Sciver have already tackled Green Lantern & Flash.  That just leaves Aquaman and Martian Manhunter.  Well… Martian Manhunter is currently dead.  I’m sure DC will bring him back at some point, but he doesn’t have the rich legacy-filled history that Johns typically likes to dive into.

Maybe I’m wrong here, goodness knows most of my theories don’t pan out, but I’m putting pixel to screen on this one.  So in 2013, you may hear me shout across the inter-web, “I told you so!”

Below are the snippets from various articles showing both Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver’s interest in working on Aquaman.

Ethan Van Sciver interview from Comic Book Resources…

Any other DC Characters that you’d really like to take a swing at?

Yeah, I’d like to work on Aquaman. But the only way I would do it is to take the original Aquaman and restore him. I’d want to re-present him in away that’s accessible to more fans. I really believe that all of these characters have a pure essence to them. You can go back and read the first ten issues of a character’s first appearance and then just use that [as a starting point]. If you’re going to do Batman then go back and read “Detective Comics” #27 on up for a little while and bring him back to his roots, for God’s sake.

The original intent of the creator is what I’m most interested in. So take Aquaman and just bring him back. Just straiten him out and untangle him. Give him to the audience as simply as possible and in a refined manner that people will find appealing.

And then, I always add a little touch of horror. There is always something a little scary about what I do. I believe in creepy, scary villains. I believe in dark shadows and really contrasting good and evil in my comics. Because I’m a DC Comics artist, I think that line is very definite in our books. So a character like Black Manta would be great. It would be an awful lot of fun to work on. I get shivers. I have goose-bumps right now just thinking about it. So I’d like to do an “Aquaman” book and work on our boy Arthur.

DC Nation Panel at Wizard World Chicago…

- Are we ever going to see the original Aquaman again?

At that point, Johns and Van Sciver began whispering, saying “can we say it?” Finally, Van Sciver stated, “We’d like you to refer to Blackest Night for the answer to that.”

DC Nation Panel at San Diego ComicCon…

A fan asked [Geoff] Johns what other DC books he wanted to write, with Johns rattling off a nearly-exhaustive look of titles, including “Mystery In Space” and “Aquaman”. “And he’s got proposals in for all of them,” joked DiDio.

Tell you what, I’ll meet you at the comic book shop on Wednesday in 2013 and we can buy our copies of “Aquaman: Rebirth” together.

As usual, I will be attending the upcoming Dragon*Con convention.  If you’re not familiar with it, Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US.  Dragon*Con 2008 will be held Labor Day weekend (August 29 - September 1, 2008) in Atlanta, GA.

Several of my buddies from THE UNIQUE GEEK will also be there.  We’ve started a Dragon*Con countdown over a THE UNIQUE GEEK website.  The countdown is basically daily lists of things to keep in mind and pictures from Dragon*Con’s past.  Check it out!

And if you’re thinking about going to Dragon*Con, drop me a line! 

I went to the comic shop on Monday to pick up the past two weeks worth of stuff.  I was pretty shocked to find so many big books waiting for me.  I knew I had ordered them, but for all of these to come in within such a short period of time - Yikes!  When the heck am I going to find the time to read them all, on top of my normal monthly pull of single issues?!?!?!

Scud The Disposable Assassin: The Whole Shebang!
Same dimensions as a comic book - 764 pages … Dude, 764 PAGES!

Queen & Country Definitive Edition Volume 01
6″ x 9″ - 362 pages

The Flash Companion by TwoMorrows
Letter size - 219 pages

Maintenance Volume 3
6″ x 9″ - 104 pages  (this is the basic cover image, but with issue #8 dressing)

Dude … Friggin’ Sweet!  Mattel keeps finding ways to get my money!  They are planning to put out quite possibly the coolest Aquaman figure of all time!  In 1986, there was a fantastic Aquaman mini-series by Neal Pozner and Craig Hamilton.  In this series, they gave Aquaman a new costume (supposedly designed to be underwater camouflage).  Regardless of the reasons for the new suit, the design was great.  This was a costume that looked like it belonged on a water-based hero.  While the mini-series is still fondly remembered by just about everyone, the costume did not last.  Tempest (formerly Aqualad) now wears a modified red version of this suit.  Nice job, Mattel!  As long as you keep making quality figures like these, I’ll keep buying them!

My thanks to Rob over at The Aquaman Shrine for the heads up on this new figure.  Here is the whole group of Mattel DC Universe Classics figures they showcased at San Diego Comic Con.  The Blue Beetle figure looks great!  Also, check out these awesome JSA figures from DC Direct!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by during FLASH WEEK.  Based upon comments and unique visitors, it appears to have been well received.  Just a few additional pieces worth mentioning that came up after last week …

Flash Companion by TwoMorrows Publishing

The highly-anticipated Flash Companion was recently published by TwoMorrows (the company that puts out the magazines “Back Issue” and “Alter Ego”).  I just picked up my copy on Monday.  I flipped through it quickly and was thoroughly impressed.  If nothing else, it’s worth it for Craig Rousseau’s artistic tribute to Mike Wieringo on page 167 (yes, I teared up like a sissy when I saw it).  It’s full of interviews and analysis on all the various incarnations of the Flash.

You can also hear some of the inside scope on this book by listening to my buddy Michael Bailey’s podcast, “Views from the Longbox“.  He interviewed the editor Keith Dallas and had a great discussion; well worth your time.

• Views from the Longbox: The Keith Dallas Conversation Part 1
• Views from the Longbox: The Keith Dallas Conversation Part 2

Update on the future of Wally West

During a recent Comic Book Resources interview, Ethan Van Sciver (artist of the upcoming “Flash: Rebirth”) mentioned he’s working on a redesign for Wally’s costume.  So I guess that confirms that Barry will retain the classic Flash costume, while Wally will undergo some form of alteration to his uniform.  Kind of bums me out.  I just hope Wally’s new uniform doesn’t look goofy.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Wally ends up with an open cowl exposing his red hair (like he had in his Kid Flash costume).

Are there any changes in store for current Flash Wally West’s costume?

“I’m redesigning Wally West’s costume right now, and it’s terrifying.” While Sinestro’s costume, with its seemingly random blue color and “jester collar,” was ready for a redesign in Van Sciver’s eyes, “Wally West is the most perfectly designed costume ever, aside from Green Lantern’s costume, in my opinion.” Van Sciver said the challenge was to redo the costume without either making it less cool or more cool than Barry Allen’s and thus implying that one character is better than the other.

Noting some audience member’s skepticism about bringing Barry back at all, Van Sciver explained his motivation for doing so. “I want Barry to come back and be King Arthur. He’s the most straight-laced, perfect Flash, rigid in his morality and his ethics,” making the looser, cooler, more laid-back Wally a Lancelot figure. Van Sciver told the audience “Kick me in the ass if I fail.”

Speed Force.org

Finally, my thanks to Kelson over at Speed Force.org for pimping FLASH WEEK here at ONCE UPON A GEEK.  I really enjoy his blog and appreciate his support.  If it weren’t for his blog, I wouldn’t have heard about the Comic Book Resources interview with Ethan Van Sciver above.  I also agree whole-heartedly with his recent post, “What I want to see after Flash: Rebirth“.

If you like the themed week concept, drop me a line.  I’m considering doing more based around other characters.  As always, thanks for reading!

About two weeks ago I wrote a post about FINAL CRISIS: REQUIEM and the relationship between Martian Manhunter & Hal Jordan. You may recall I felt that Martian Manhunter and Hal Jordan didn’t really have an established strong relationship and I felt some scenes in REQUIEM rang hollow. Well… the webmaster of “The IDOL-HEAD of DIABOLU, a Martian Manhunter blog” follow-up on my thoughts and expounded upon them in a post of his own.

Wow!  Frank Lee Delano (the webmaster of IDOL-HEAD) really knows his stuff!  He took my thoughts and really ran with them.  He reinforced my opinion with numerous facts and history between these two characters.

Stop by the IDOL-HEAD of DIABOLU and check it out!  While you’re there, take a look at all the other great posts about the history of Martian Manhunter.

FLASH WEEK concludes here at ONCE UPON A GEEK…

Okay, first let me say that I’m in New Orleans and smashed as hell.  Seriously, I’m friggin’ hammered right now.  I’m drinking my second hurricane, after several drinks (which included a “hand grenade”).  I sorta kinda can’t feel my face right now.  So whatever I say in the next few paragraphs may be stream of consciousness.  Needless to say, I’m feeling pretty good right now.  

In regard to the future of the Flash:

First, there is the current monthly Flash comic that will continue for at least a while longer.  You can see upcoming issues at DC Comics.com.

From what Geoff Johns said during interviews, Bart Allen will return in “Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds“.  It wouldn’t surprise me if he becomes the Flash of the 31st century going forward.  You could retroactively squeeze this time in his last issue as the Flash.  After he figures out he’s going to die, and before the rogues kill him.  Or it may be revealed that the adult Bart was from a parallel Earth.

“Flash: Rebirth” starring Barry Allen is on the horizon.  It’s coming our way, whether we like it or not.  So watch for this mini-series by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver.

It’s pretty much an accepted assumption that there will be a subsequent monthly series to follow-up on “Flash: Rebirth”.  The real question is who this series follows. Will it strictly follow the adventures of Barry Allen, or will it alternate between Barry, Wally, and Jay?  Also, which Flash will be a member of the JLA?

Additionally, there have been LOTS of discussions recently about the potential live-action “Justice League” movie,  This project has been on and off again … so who knows what will happen.

Looking forward, Wally’s daughter (Iris West) eventually took on the mantle of Kid Flash during Kingdom Come.  She currently appears in the Flash comic.  Whether she eventually graduates to the “Kid Flash” role remains to be seen.

John Fox is the Flash of the Justice Legion Alpha.  He’s the Flash of the future that spent some time in our era.  Cool character.  

Wrapping up FLASH WEEK here at ONCE UPON A GEEK, here are a few web sites of interest:

Flash: Those Who Ride the Lightning

Crimson Lightning

Speed Force

Long live the fastest men (and women) alive!

FLASH WEEK continues here at ONCE UPON A GEEK…

Today I decided to highlight some of Flash’s exploits captured for television.

This first clip is probably the best TV Flash moment ever! It stars the Wally West Flash from the Justice League Unlimited episode “Divided We Fall”. The voice was provided by Michael Rosenbaum.

This next one is from “Justice League: New Frontier” starring the Barry Allen Flash.  The voice was provided by Neil Patrick Harris.  Yup, that’s Doogie playing the fastest man alive!

This next one is the opening of the 1960’s animated series.  If you play this one, be aware that the first few seconds are just a black screen.

The opening & closing credits from the 1990 live action “Flash” TV series starring John Wesley Shipp.  Love that Danny Elfman theme!

Here is a nice clip of Impulse on Smallville played by Kyle Gallner.

Normally I don’t go in for the fake music videos on YouTube, however, the following is a good one that showcase’s Kid Flash on the recent “Teen Titans” cartoon. The voice for Kid Flash was done by Michael Rosenbaum, the same guy who did the voice of the Flash on the Justice League cartoons.  By the way, an added bonus to watching this music video is that I didn’t have to suffer through an actual episode of “Teen Titans”. 

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a clip from the totally camp 1979 “Legend of the Superheroes”.  Wow, this is really terrible.

Sorry that I’m missing a few clips of the Flash, however, I have my reasons:

• I couldn’t find any decent video recordings to post that highlighted the Flash character in the “Justice League” live-action failed pilot from 1997.  However, here is an image of Kenny Johnston in costume from the show.  Be thankful this pilot failed.
• I was surprised that I wasn’t able to find any decent scenes starring the Flash from the Super Friends cartoons.  Very disappointed in that.
• I didn’t include the Flash appearance from ”Superman: The Animated Series” and/or “The Batman” cartoon.  I felt he was too similar to the Justice League version to merit posting a video of it here.

Enjoy!