UPDATE: Frank Miller has created a Stink Fest of Epic proportions. According to movie critics, we are in Ishtar territory here and the general public seems to agree as The Sprit has tanked and tanked badly.
What's so sad about this is that Eisner was a revolutionary storyteller and now his most famous and innovative, Noir character, The Sprit, will be forever besmirched by Frank Miller's stunningly bad film.
There is a lot that can be said about this movie but I think this quote from MaryAnn Johanson's review says it the best
The Spirit does not believe in itself. It thinks comics are a joke -- and it appears to thinks that movies are a joke, too.
A sad sad time for comic book movies... and just when they were starting to get some respect.
Thanks Frank for f-ing up a legacy...
Let me add, in all fairness, that I have not seen The Spirit but I'm sure I will at some point to verify what is being said about the film. But this I do know, it was not necessary to shoot The Spirit in the same manner as 300 and Sin City.
I feel these two images sum this whole thing up. Frank Miller's version of the Spirit on the left and an original Eisner Spirit cover on the right.
I'd much rather see a movie about that character on the right side.
UPDATE: I was talking to a guy at work last-night and he said he wanted to see the Spirit because he liked the first one...
I said "what first one?"
He replied "Sin City..."
Of course I politely corrected him that The Spirit was not a sequel
First off, let me apologize for not responding to all of your comments and for not posting comments to all of your blogs. I’ve been a tad busy getting ready for our new baby. He can come at any time now and the wife and I have been getting our last few things done that we need to, like going berry picking for the last time in a good long while. Hopefully I’ll get one good sweep or two by everybody’s blogs before I’m outta’ the loop for period of time.
I’ve been having some weird thoughts about comics that I thought I’d share.
The Memin Pinguin thing got me thinking about my Spirit Archives. I’ve got volumes one through ten only. I just haven’t been able to justify, as married man, the expense of a 50-dollar book every few months. Sadly it’s volume eleven when things are supposed to get really good for the Spirit title. One through ten are kinda “meh.” I really love the spirit comics (volume 2) from my time reading the reprints published by Kitchen Sink Press. They were great because they were regular sized comics that had new cover art by Eisner and had black and white interiors, which I enjoy more than the color versions. When DC announced that they were publishing collections of the Spirit I was pretty happy but I would have preferred an affordable set of trades.
Regardless, I was quite shocked by how grotesque Ebony White was depicted in the early Spirit stuff. I knew he was pretty stereotyped from the later adventures I’d read in the Kitchen Sink Comics but man, the stuff in early Volumes is really ugly. I kept buying though, hoping I’d get the Spirit I knew (which I discovered later was post WWII). Where was P’Gell, Sand Saref and the Octopus? Where was the deft skill with which Eisner had crafted the Spirit stories? We’ll for the most part it’s not in the volumes I have. I’ve been considering selling these books for a long time, but now with a kid on the way maybe I really need to get rid of them. The problem is that the first 2 volumes are autographed by Eisner himself made out to me. These are the two that have the worst depictions of Ebony. *Sigh*… I wish… I wish would have had him sign my copies of the Kitchen Sink Spirit Comics instead…
In a similar vein, I was reading the latest issue AC Comics Mystery Men with a story about the Hood. He was smashing up a Japanese saboteur ring. The story was quite ridiculous with the saboteurs disguising themselves as cowboys while wearing suicide bomb vests. But it got me thinking… I’m gonna have a biracial child. He’ll be half Japanese. Obviously, I wouldn’t let him see this at a young age, but should I chuck out all my comics that cover WWII? Should I throw out my All-Stars Squadron comics, my Invaders comics and Captain America comics? What kind of affect could this have on him? Seeing big strong American Superheroes beating the shit out of Japanese villains might screw with his head right? I like superheroes a lot, and WWII is a big part of the superhero mystique. So, I’m a little at a loss of what to do. I’m probably overacting but I’m worried that my collection of Usagi Yojimbo books ain't gonna be enough to counteract any harm that may be done.
* Link to the person who tagged you. * Leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours. * Post the rules on your blog. * Share the seven (7) most famous or infamous people you have met. Or go with the original 7 weird things about yourself. Or with Sandra's change and list your 7 favorite writing websites. Lots of choices! * Tag 7 random people at the end of your post. * Include links to their blogs. * Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
I’m going with 7 famous people.
Bruce Campbell Bruce was showing his film Bubba Ho-Tep around at various venues in 2002 to interest a distributor. Dean Wormer and Misses Dean were kind enough to invite me and the SO along. We waited for hours outside the Hollywood Theater in the cold to get in. Well, the gals waited outside as Dean and I got to go inside and wait in another line to do a meet and greet with the B-Movie legend before the film started. I had brought my DVD copy of The Evil Dead for Bruce to sign. While there, I decided to buy a hardback copy of his book If Chins Could Kill. I thought: “hey, why not get two things signed.” Well just before I got to meet him the crew told me that Mr. Campbell only signs one thing per fan. Oh well, I did want to read his book at some point.
Bruce was very nice and shook my hand and I sat and talked with him a few moments. As he signed my DVD with “Stay Groovy.” I mentioned that I really enjoyed his mini doc Fanalysis that was on the DVD and wondered if he was going to do another one. He said that they had something in the works. I never saw it but I’m sure it ended up on some DVD. I then blabbered some dumb crap about myself that he could have cared less about, but I was feeling ill so I wasn’t thinking clearly. I did have the good sense to say that I enjoyed his work and wished him well before I left.
Mr. Campbell was nice of enough to meet all the folks that had waited to get something signed, so nice in fact that the showing of Bubba Ho-Tep was delayed much to the dismay of our spouses waiting outside in the cold. Eventually, we all sat down together and, after a lively introduction by Mr. Campbell, enjoyed the film.
Erin Grey I think it was in 1998 when Erin Grey stopped by Portland during a comic convention. I had a big crush on her when I was in grade school because of her staring role as Wilma Deering on the Buck Rodgers TV show. You know the one that was a little too disco for it’s own good right? Well, as the years went by I realized that she was the best part of that program (well, her and Doctor Theopolis that is) so; when she came to Portland I decided to meet her.
When I got to the comic show, I realized I was actually a little nervous, which was strange because it’s not like she was mega famous anymore but, maybe it was due to the fact that hardly anybody ever came to Portland. She looked great, Erin had taken care of herself over the years and she reminded me of one of those hot moms. I talked to her a little bit and asked if she had anything coming out, and she responded that she up for a role and she hoped she was going to get it. That made me a little sad because I think that Grey is good actor, but Buck Rogers typecast her. She was seriously considered for the role of Janeway on Star Trek Voyager. How awesome would that have been?
I bought a signed copy of one her Buck Rogers pictures and I also bought a copy of her book Act Right. Incidentally, it was at this convention that I realized the Portland Comic book show was held in really awful space, the basement of the Memorial Coliseum. I felt a little ashamed that guests had come from all over the place and were stuck in this dank, dark dungeon. And Sure enough, she never came back to Portland just like all the other media guests that have come for the convention.
Will Eisner Yes, the godfather of American comics and the creator of the Spirit actually came to Portland once thanks to Dark Horse Comics. In august 2000, Things From Another World (Mike Richardson’s other company) hosted the meet and greet with the grandmaster. He was obviously in town to convene with the Dark Horse bunch and it was a simple matter for him to cross the street for the event at the comic shop.
I was having trouble deciding what to have him sign, but I ended up bringing the first two volumes of the Spirit Archives that had just been published previously that year. I arrived early with my niece and we ended up being the first in line. My niece didn’t have a clue who Eisner was but I hoped that someday she’d realize how special it was to meet him, although I’m still not holding my breath.
When Will Eisner came into the shop, he looked just like I thought he would, like a kindly grandfather. He was very affable and was very happy to sign my copies of the Sprit archives especially since he hadn’t seen them yet. When he recognized that Alan Moore wrote the forward, he examined fondly “Oh Alan!”
My niece got mildly annoyed because he kept confusing her name with the name of one his great-granddaughters, but I had great time. I would have loved to chitchat with him but the line was already very long. I had my picture taken with Will and I used one of those disposable cameras, which I promptly lost. Oh well, it was great to meet one of my comic creator heroes particularly given that he passed away a few years later in 2005.
Linda Harrison Linda played Nova in the first two Planet of the Apes films which are part of my favorite Science Fiction film series of all time, so there was no way I was gonna’ pass up seeing her. She came to Portland in 2004 (I think?) to the Portland comic convention.
I hauled along my Niece again, she didn’t know who Linda was either but I figured she might watch the Planet of the Apes movies eventually. Linda was very nice and agreed to have a picture taken with my niece. As you can see from the shot, she looked great. I bought and had her sign one of her photographs. It was she, the cast and the crew from the first POTA film. Everybody was on the beach where they shot the scene in which Dr. Zaius gets tied up. When I later took to look at the picture, I realized that everybody in that photo was dead expect for Linda Harrison and “Chuck” Heston.
Cat Yronwode Author, critic, hippie, and sex magic promoter, Cat Yronwode, has worn many hats throughout her life but I knew none of that when I went to see the Eclipse Comics booth back in 1985 or 86. At that time, she was the editor-in-chief of one of my favorite comic companies and that was good enough for me as a pimply-faced teen. Being a huge fan of Eclipse Comics because they published lots of different genres, I collected many of their titles and I couldn’t believe they were actually coming to Portland. Plus, I had read many of cat’s editorials so meeting her personally was something I built up in my mind.
When I first got to the Eclipse table, Cat Yronwode wasn’t there but she soon walked up with some Eclipse titles in hand. She commented to her crew how she was able to find some good back issues to add to their library. I knew what she was talking about because Eclipse had been flooded out a few years before and all their back issues were lost. Cat then sat right down and began interacting with the fans.
Now being a celebrity novice, I didn’t realize that bringing a ginormous stack of comics for her to sign was a pretty rude thing to do. But she was very cool about it and said something nice about what great fan I must be. I realized my mistake when Dean Mullaney, Eclipse’s publisher, said he was only going to autograph one title and suggested she do the same. She ignored him and went right on putting her name on all my Scout comics, Miracle Man comics and Alien Encounters comics (my three favorite titles). Then, when she was done, she handed me one of the Eclipse Comics metal buttons they were selling because I was such a big fan. I wore that button proudly for many years before I stored it away someplace.
Cat Yronwode became one of my favorite comic book people that day. She treated me so nicely when she could have totally blown me off. Cat didn’t and so created a very loyal Eclipse Comics fan. I always felt she was the major reason that Eclipse had been such a success in the 1980s. Eclipse Comics went out of business in 1994, but she had left in 1993. What does that tell you?
I met Paul Chadwick, the creator of Concrete, in 2005. He was nice enough to do an on camera interview:
Mike Richardson Mike Richardson is the founder of Dark Horse Comics. Back when the company was first starting out in 1986, Dark Horse always had a booth at the Portland Comic Book Show and Mike was often there. He was a soft-spoken, easygoing sort of guy that was happy to meet the fans. Nowadays, Mike’s a bigwig with 300, Sin City, and Hellboy, being huge media successes so he has no need to slum it with the little folk or modest comic book conventions that take place in dank dungeons, but this year he is gonna’ be at the Stumptown Comics Fest, so I think this newer, homegrown convention has, shall we say, arrived?
I’m just gonna tag Lady Bug… I broke the rules… sorry Moody...
