Faraway Looks

And back again

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:07:00 GMT

Still too busy catching up after Chicago for a proper Chicago post, but fun was had by all — and I didn't lose my voice this time. More later.

While catching up I heard this morning about the passing over the weekend of Don S. Davis, who played General Hammond on Stargate SG-1 and also had a role in Best of Show. I met him briefly at one of the Milwaukee Gen Cons — he seemed like a very nice guy.

Chicago signing schedule

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:48:00 GMT

If you're going to Wizard World Chicago this weekend, drop by the Dark Horse Comics booth. I'll be signing there starting at noon on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. See you then!

Tonight's forecast: Dark.

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:10:00 GMT

Aw, naw. No. [Insert seven words you can't say on television.]

The problem with having a blog when you don't really have time to blog is it tends to become a collection of product announcements and convention appearances — interleavened with remembrances for people who you either knew or didn't know, but who influenced your life in some way. You don't have time to write about the mundane events of the day (and I am not always moved to, anyway) — but when someone passes on, you fire up the computer. It seems to have become something of an impulse reaction for everyone, at least according to the woman on CNN just talking about it.

I am greatly saddened to write today of the passing of my favorite comedian, George Carlin. I find that I write that "favorite" without qualifications, because whereas favorite bands and authors and actors may change as you age, George's comedy has pretty much followed me along all my life. My big sister had a copy of Class Clown we listened to in the 1970s — strangely, she never played for me the last cut on the B-side, for fear of twisting my young mind and losing the war for the allies. (I figured it out, later.) Then again with my buddy Bob on the highway to Spring Break where we had nothing but Tom Lehrer albums and A Place for My Stuff, which we listened to about a dozen times on the road. Then later with the discovery of the earlier albums — including Killer Carlin, the pre-Lenny Bruce material he did teamed with Jack Burns — and AM/FM, in which you can literally hear the guy reinventing his routine.

The B-side is full of his old "pieces" like game show send-ups and the fake news reports, whereas the A-side is more his raw stream-of-conciousness stuff. I think it's interesting how strains of both kinds of humor would continue to come together and combine in different forms over the years. I'd hear a bit on one of his HBO specials — or at one of the live concerts of his I got to see — and I'd be able to sort of trace its lineage a little bit.

And I liked how as some comics lose their edge, he'd come back and surprise me with this album or that one as I got older. I remember at the beginning of the "Explicit Lyrics" business being carded for buying one while in college — carded for buying a comedy album! — that seemed to speak against the whole direction of his later career. (I remember that happened in the mall when I was hanging out with a columnist for the college paper I worked on — he was so offended by the episode he wrote a whole column calling for Tipper Gore to be run out of the state. George might have approved.)

I did see him in concert, as I said, a couple of times at the grand Memphis Orpheum and then once, remakably, at a tiny casino room on a Wisconsin reservation. I was continually amazed at how he never stopped working and creating new material — and was willing to spend so much time out on the road at these little places, working on the new stuff. Which was amazing to watch, too — some bits of that backwoods concert that would turn up in the next HBO set and some he'd discard, but he delivered it all like it was part of a routine he'd been doing for years.

I always liked seeing him turn up in movies — Car Wash and Bill and Ted both being better films than they probably had to be — and I tried to get all his books, as well — my favorite is the big over-sized poster book, full of bizarre stuff including his arrest record for indecency in one of his concerts. But I'll prize the audio routines most of all — and I know I'll be listening to them until the electrons wear off the CDs.

This weekend's irony is that I had just written a Sword & Sarcasm sequence, to be published in a few weeks, inspired by one of his one-off lines. I didn't know this news would be coming, obviously, but either way, it's intended as a tribute.

Carlin once said in a routine that he didn't want to be buried — "I want to be blown up!", in a field with all his friends watching. I've used that line, on occasion, too. However he's memorialized, he will be remembered.

"The Motrin on Odryn"...

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:37:00 GMT

...well, maybe that wasn't Feln's boyhood nickname. But he is the star of Knights of the Old Republic #30 — of which I finally have some thoughts online.

The solicitation for #33 is out; I haven't had time to start a page, but it can be seen at the Dark Horse site.

"Now if we could only prove you stink in a court of law..."

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:51:00 GMT

When Marn Hierogryph said that line in Knights #2, I never knew he was drawing on Earthly case law. Apparently the Duke football team has indeed proven it stinks in a court of law...

Feeorin Wednesday

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:01:00 GMT

I am reliably informed this Wednesday holds the promise of Knights of the Old Republic #30 sitting on the shelves of your fine comic book establishment. Seekest ye thou this, and readeth. I'll have some thoughts online later on once the pressure system moves and my brain stops hurting. (And speaking of, for those who have asked — the flooding in Wisconsin missed us, though not by a lot. Our thoughts, of course, with the folks further down the river system!)

Readers in France might also check out Comic Box Extra #3, their big Iron Man issue — including an interview about my own Iron Man work. Just got my copy — it's a great looking magazine!

Because if I'm hit by a truck no one will ever know...

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:00:00 GMT

"...the name "Lucien Draay" could have been derived from Lucien Debray, a character in The Count of Monte Cristo," suggests Wookieepedia. Could have — if I'd read it. I think I had the choice of two books that week in English class — I chose The Armada instead. No, the name wasn't inspired by anything — I liked the regal sound it had. An apt question, though. (And I'll get around to reading it one day — I have the Classic Comics version in the mountain of unread books, at the least.)

Don't normally note things like this, but I'd been asked about it before, and it wasn't the sort of thing that would ever come up in a future comic book.

Notes and a podcast

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:09:00 GMT

Insanely busy, but I finally have a few thoughts online about Knights of the Old Republic #29 — and I neglected to post a link to my recent podcast, recorded last week.

And to prove the insanely busy part: I'm writing today on a new keyboard because I finally broke the old one with over-use. The little bubble-things kept breaking on all the low-value Scrabble letters — and I kept moving ones from the unused function keys to replace them. But once you reach F15, it's time to pack it in and buy a new one!

"Drive me off this picture!"

Fri, 30 May 2008 00:25:00 GMT

And a sad farewell to Harvey Korman, utterer of one of my favorite movie lines of all time — above, as Hedy ("That's Hedley!") Lamarr in Blazing Saddles — and member of the Carol Burnett (and later, Mama's Family) ensemble. He'll be missed!

Knights of the Old Republic #29 — Invading the Sanctum!

Thu, 29 May 2008 03:26:00 GMT

A day delayed by Memorial Day in the States, "Exalted" begins Thursday in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #29. It's sure to provoke some discussion — come back here in a few days and I should have some notes online on the issue!

And we started our second storyline last week over on Sword & Sarcasm. Drop in and put some screwball comedy into your day!

Update: And Dark Times #11 is out today as well, with the next chapter of "Vector!" Pick it up — there's a special guest star!

Double Feature

Tue, 27 May 2008 03:56:00 GMT

A first for me on Thursday — outside a drive-in, I’ve never seen two movies in a theater back-to-back before. Oh, there was the time I snuck out of the regrettable Troop Beverly Hills halfway through to catch the second half of Aliens again. And that odd summer I saw Batman 10 times included seeing it twice in one day, but that was at different theaters with different people. But this time, I also had small connections of sorts with both films.

I finally saw Iron Man, and it was definitely as advertised. I echo here all the plaudits it’s received. And it was a kick to see Christine Everhart, one of the characters from “The Best Defense,” on the screen; if I’d known Hollywood would be interested, I’d have given her a larger role. (As it was, she appeared on exactly two pages of #75!)

Another curiosity: as a midweek morning showing at a multiplex, my party was the only one in the theater, making it like a private screening room (with way too many seats). That became a problem when seconds after the last line of the film, the projectionist cut off the sound! So while I’ve heard about the teaser at the end of the film, we didn’t stay for it. (Could have been worse. Years ago seeing Short Time — I think out of loyalty to Matt Frewer — I was the only one in the theater, and the projectionist stopped the film entirely!)

And then there was, of course, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which I wrote the comics adaptation for. (I now have some thoughts online for the graphic novel and the individual issues.) Now, I’ve certainly gone to movies knowing what to expect before — having read novelizations, comics adaptations, or the source material beforehand. I’m sure we all have. But this was definitely different, being a story that’s existed in my mind’s eye for much of a year. I knew what a lot of things would look like, but not everything — and so there were still many elements of surprise for me. Maybe more, since I was primed to look deeper at the details going past.

The film? Enjoyed it very much, of course — I’m pleased to have seen all of the Indy films first-run in the theater, and this is a worthy addition. I was on a serious Indy kick in the mid-1980s, between the movies, comics, and role-playing game, so this was fun to be a part of. (A minor blip came later, when a college roommate with $2 to his name insisted on watching Temple of Doom 12 times in a 24-hour period on my TV during finals. That took a while to get over!)

I used to see a lot of movies in the theater — obviously, given that Summer of Batman — but honestly, I think this time was the first since Spider-Man 3, a year ago. That’s a stunning thought, and a situation to be remedied.