The Cipher 01/05/10
January 5th, 2011 by david brothers | Tags: cipher, personacreated: I sent off 2010 and welcomed 2011 in style. Quality over quantity, right?
-AOL jawns: Comics for movie buffs, Digital December mop-up with a retailer and Archie
-Tom Spurgeon at Comics Reporter interviewed me and whoo, look at the size of that thing. I go in on a lot of subjects–fashion in comics, race and why Iron Man 2.0 is a vote of no-confidence for black folks and comics, the importance of art and story, what news stories journos should cover… click through, read it, tell me what you thought. The response on Twitter and Spurgeon’s intro was super flattering, so now I’m wondering where all the haters at.
consumed:
-As I type, I’m watching Ohio State beast Arkansas (as of the first half) on ESPN3. This is the future. I’d pay money for this service if it carried full seasons for the Buckeyes, Hawks, or Falcons.
-How come every sports broadcast ever has a blonde lady down on courtside/sideline? That’s definitely a trend, right? Holly Rowe on ESPN, Doris Burke on NBA 2k11. It’s always two dudes in the booth and one lady on the field.
-Buckeyes won, Pryor got MVP.
–Dark Horse Presents coming back is pretty cool. I missed out on it the first time around, but I liked the Myspace stuff they put up.
-Seneca update: he posted his top 10 list, get at it. He also liked Silent War.
-I figured out Black History Month 2011. I’m going to keep it under wraps, but what I’m thinking will probably be more work for me, but less time spent thinking and fighting on the page.
-You want to enjoy life? Every payday, take twenty or thirty bucks and buy yourself a fat steak. Cook it yourself on the stovetop or grill, seasoned as you like, and maybe some broccoli or corn on the cob or something to go with it. Then sit down with it and a nice movie and tune everything out while you eat.
-Bonus round: make it a point to carve something you don’t like entirely out of your life.
-This is what I do: open a billion windows on Wikipedia by accident. This week’s haul: Mass extinction, Doomsday event, wormwood star, Chang’e, Giewont, Year Without A Summer, Pararaton, Eschatology, and False Vacuum. I’ve liked been interested in eschatology ever since I was a kid, probably pre-teen even, and I usually find myself lost and reading about it once a month. It’s fascinating, isn’t it? Tough to wrap your head around. It’s too big.
-I’m a little behind on Persona 3. I just met Ken, the kid, but he hasn’t joined up yet. The story hasn’t quite coalesced just yet, though it’s flirting in that direction. I know that the Kirijo group did something, but that’s about as far as it goes. It’s interesting, though. I should probably play it more often than a few hours a week before bed.
-I watched Gurren Lagann
-I’m looking forward to that FLCL
-Been thinking a lot about space vs entertainment lately. I own a lot of books I’m not in love with that are just taking up space. I purged a lot of DVDs a while back, too. My new rule is that if I don’t see myself enjoying it more than once, I don’t buy it on physical media. The only exception right now are floppies, but since I can just trash those and I don’t buy that many anyway, it’s not a huge deal.
–DC Universe Online
-Did y’all hear that some professor felt so guilty about having to say “nigger” when reading Huck Finn that he’s producing a volume with “nigger” replaced by “slave?” What a big fat crybaby, man. Get over it.
-If you’re down to buy four dollar digital comics, do us all a favor and stop buying digital comics. Don’t encourage that nonsense.
-Brief, because I got these Best of 2010 posts to do.
David: ain’t nothing
Esther: Secret Six 29
Gavin: Azrael #16, Ant-Man and Wasp #3, Avengers Prime #5, Ozma of Oz #3, She-Hulks #3, Ultimate Captain America #1, Irredeemable #21, WWE Heroes: Undertaker #2
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I’d wait on getting FLCL on Bluray. If it’s anything like the Japanese release it’s going to be smudged and terrible looking. The only reason to get them is if the DVDs that funi is putting out next to the BD are like the old US release but I doubt they would. So, yeah, more than likely you’ll be better off with the DVDs.
I’ve also been enamored of DrawThisDress. Vera Brosgol is incredible. I’ve been following her since I read a story of hers I think in the first or second Flight anthology, and her art has got even better since then. I know less about Emily Caroll but she kills it as well.
Regarding Gurren Lagann: Yeah, recap episodes are the worst. Uzumeri said it was a lot like Flex Mentallo. Would you agree? (it’s been a couple years since I watched it all the way through)
There was a new Secret Six this week? I was glad to see in The Thanos Imperative: Devastation that Abnett/Lanning will be continuing to do a Cosmic Marvel book. Even if The Annihilators isn’t a very good name. Still it looks like Space Knights and Dire Wraiths in the first arc AND Rocket Raccoon/Groot in a back-up feature…
So many back issues. Picked up Haspeil & Fiffe’s BRAWL, Carla Speed McNeil’s Mystery Date, some Portacio Uncanny X-Men(and yes, I am ashamed), the Dirt Pair II floppies, Maison Ikkoki, October Yen, Seven Soldiers Zatanna, Vimanarama, Spider-Man manga, John Buscema on Savage She-Hulk, and finally caved and picked up a little Nextwave and Thor TMA.
Have you watched Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi? Forget where I read it, but someone had the bright idea that those 3 post Evangelion series (Abenobashi, FLCL, and Gurren Lagann), were all alternate takes on Shinji Ikari. Thought that was pretty interesting, and welcome as it’s the only way I could find the character likable.
@Jordan: I forget where I first saw Brogsol’s art, but yeah, she’s super dope. She’s got a book coming out from :01, too, Anya’s Ghost.
I wouldn’t agree that GL is much like Flex at all, other than the obvious surface level reference-heavy stuff. It’s good, but it’s really not that deep.
@JTabon: Yo, seriously, I loved that Portacio stuff back in the day. Did you get the Trevor Fitzroy/Bishop issues or something else? That battle in the arctic (or antarctica?) was crazy.
Vimanarama is top 3 Grant Morrison for me. I hope you like it.
I watched Abenobashi ages ago, and I remember liking most of what I saw. I don’t think I ever finished it, though. I thought the animation was pretty swift.
Only problem with that idea, though–Anno wasn’t involved with Fooly Cooly, Gurren, or Abenobashi, right? So maybe all four works are drawing from the same archetype, rather than Shinji being the genesis? Interesting idea, though, and I can see how it tracks.
@david brothers: I already had the Fitzroy issues; this was the arc directly after, featuring Sunfire sporting the most ridiculous costume “upgrade” I can remember. Vaguely samurai-looking armor-spandex and solar panels, I shit you not.
I can’t hate on Portacio that much, though. The story is no good, but I like his attention to detail in the art. If it weren’t for all the ridiculous hair and with more care taken with the cross-hatching it would hold up pretty well.
I’d had the TPB for Vimanarama, but traded it off as I’d rather have the floppies. Glue-bound trades have been increasingly shoddy from DC and Marvel lately (seriously, the title page on Power Girl 2 started coming out the FIRST time I opened it? Really?), so I figured I’d pick up some other Morrison minis and sew together my own HC. Really loved the title, though I’m kind of disappointed there wasn’t show tunes playing in the bg of that first double page spread. It would have been perfection.
Outside of Evangelion (due to budget constraints), it seems like Gainax series all start strong, finish strong, and the middle ends up a hot mess. So yeah, can’t blame you for not finishing Abenobashi. Being so short is undoubtedly the saving grace of FLCL.
Vera Brosgol is my absolute favourite, and if you missed Emily Carroll’s His Face All Red then check it out. 100% incredible.
No print comics for me this week, but Amazon shipped the second Brubaker Captain America omnibus yesterday, and I should be getting Acme Novelty Library 20 & Thor: The Mighty Avenger v1 today. Digitally I picked up “Last Days of American Crime” #1~3 on comixology and the first volume of Locke and Key via the IDW app.
In music, that video of B.o.B’s “Lonely People” you posted made me grab the mixtape, so I’ve been listening to that in the car, and a bunch of Japanese Hip-Hop at work.
Saw True Grit for the second time, and played a bunch of Rock Band 3 with friends. I think that pretty much covers my pop-culture consumption for the past week.
@david brothers: Oh man, I forgot about Anya’s Ghost, just realized it’s not out till June! Have you seen any of Jen Wang’s art? They’re both very similar. She had a book come out last year, Koko Be Good, that I’ve been waiting for forever but still haven’t got around to buying.
Personally, I loved Gurren Lagann, but I’m also the type of person who buys games like this, so I may be a bit more predisposed to liking it. Giant robot shows that aren’t afraid to do something completely ridiculous as long as it looks cool are OK in my book.
@JTabon: That Morrison hardcover sounds pretty tight, honestly. The slim trades I have have held up pretty well over the years.
@James W: I didn’t even make the connection between the two, but I really dug His Face All Red when that dropped. Kind of story you want to pay money for right there.
@Neil: What Japanese rap have you been listening to? I have a few singles and DJs that I like, but I’ve been meaning to get deeper.
@Jordan: I’ve heard the name Koko B Good before, but missed out on further details. That looks dope, though, kind of Sky Doll-y in the faces. I’ll have to pick it up once I make some room.
@david brothers: I don’t think any of the artists I have are super obscure or anything, so you may already know of them, but anyways: Zeebra, Dragon Ash, Kick the Can Crew (and some of Kreva’s solo stuff), nobodyknows+, and the Teriyaki Boyz are what make up that playlist. Bennie K leans more towards pop than rap, but I put them in there too.