A Tribute to Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby, left, and Joe Simon, co-creators of the
Captain America Comic - photo credit Titan Books

Time magazine featured a very loving piece on Jack Kirby on the 15th about his contributions to the comic world. It is really sad that Kirby's name is not as well known as Stan Lee's even though he was just as instrumental to Marvel universe. Check out Graeme McMillian's "Jack Kirby is the most important artist you have never heard of" today.

On Julie Newmar's On Being 80

I have a lot of personal issues on growing older and for some reason I have a very acute sense of time. I feel it passing minute by minute, day by day. I am a worrier by nature, always worried about something. This is why I really appreciate articles written by people even older than me who share their reflections. 

Julie Newmar, my favorite of the 7 Brides for 7 Brothers and the quintessential Catwoman, is turning 80 this month. I have always been a fan of Julie Newmar and was delighted to find out that she keeps a very interesting blog. I love the way older icons like her and George Takei transcend age barriers and reach out to fans of all ages through the magic of the internet. In Newmar's latest post, she talks about turning 80. There is so much wit and wisdom in her words, I highly encourage people to read the whole thing, but here are a few things I took away from it.

"I give myself four seconds to go from a losing to a winning thought, a life giving one."
I continuously suffer with depression. I try to keep busy because any idle time gives my brain the chance to dwell on negative thoughts which can easily tear me down for hours or days at a time. While I can't always control my depression or my thoughts, being more conscious of it can help me find ways to avoid the pitfalls. When I find myself having negative thoughts, I need to try and turn them around.

"At 80, you have patience."
This seems so contrary to me. You would think that the older you get, the less time you have so the more rushed you would feel. That is how I feel. I am always rushing to the next thing. I need to calm down, slow down. I have plenty of time.

"The other evening around 8 PM, when the light outside was what cinema photographers refer to as golden, I sat silently for over an hour with my son observing the intense, almost palpitating color of the flowers in my garden."
I am always worried that if I am not working I am wasting time. I have to stop working so much and just sit back and enjoy the view sometimes.


"To age successfully one must not be in resistance."
This seems to be all of the above reflections in one. Stop worrying, stop stressing and go with the flow. Everything will work out.

Those were only a few of some of the wonderful things in Julie's post. Which words spoke to you the most? Or what would you add to her post about growing older?

Comic Review - Astro City Volume 1

Ok, I know. I'm a bit behind the times. As I've said before, I didn't read comics growing up. As a result they are all kind of new to me. This week I read the first volume of Astro City which was originally published in 1995.

Astro City is a superhero comic completely different from anything in the Marvel or DC universes. Astro City is the name of the city where the comic is set. It was written by Kurt Busiek and illustrated by Brent Anderson.

Astro City starts off pretty slow. Each issue is told from a new viewpoint (sometimes by heroes, sometimes by average people), so each feels like an independent story. The reader is also introduced to a slew of characters from the very beginning. Because of these things, it can be hard to get into Astro City. I was kind of bored by issue 3, but I kept going and I am glad I did. I really enjoyed issue 4 because I think it accurately reflects the expat experience. You can read my in-depth analysis (with spoilers) over on my other blog. I was also very surprised with issue 6. Issue 6 spends most of the time with two heroes, Samaritan and Winged Victory, talking about the fact that women matter. Imagine that, two comic book characters discussing the fact that women are people. It's really a surreal read.

Even though Astro City has a slow start and it can be hard to get into, it is a unique take on the superhero genre, both in terms of storytelling style and substance. The first six issues were surprising enough that I plan to keep reading them until I'm finally caught up.

Have you read Astro City? What did you think about it? What comic would you recommend I read next?

Bruce Boxleitner's Lantern City Seeking Content

I was recently talking to my husband about how television has yet to jump onto the steampunk bandwagon. There are plenty of period dramas out there (Copper, Hell on Wheels, Ripper Street), but none that cross into steampunk. I'm not sure why this is except that a steampunk series would probably be pretty expensive to produce. But Bruce Boxleitner, someone who knows a thing or two about good genre TV, has decided that television is ready to take a leap into the world of steampunk with Lantern City.

While a steampunk TV series will be different enough, Boxleitner and his team are going a step further. They know that steampunk is basically a fan-generated genre, so they want to include the fans in the show's development. If you have an idea for steampunk-related items, clothes, or props, you can send your concept art or pictures to Lantern City through it's website. Your creations might actually be used in the show. How awesome is that? I can't wait for this show to premier. It's still in early development so no premiere date or network information is available yet, but I will be following Lantern City on Facebook to keep up on the news. There is also a "prequel" to Lantern City in the form of an illustrated novel (this is a novel with illustrations throughout, NOT a graphic novel!) that looks interesting, but kind of pricy (almost $40 including shipping!). I'm interested in getting it, but it's not in my budget...for now. You can find out more about the illustrated prequel, Rise, also on the Lantern City website.

Writing Terms, Illustrated by Disney

For nearly a century, the Disney corporation has successfully followed the rules of great writing to produce some of America's most iconic stories. Disney didn't invent the art of storytelling, but Walt and his followers studied the art and knew exactly when and how to use them to their advantage. While breaking the rules sometimes can have amazing results, you first need to know what those rules are.

Buzzfeed (yes, again with that time-sucking vortex!) has a great list of literary terms illustrated with Disney films. If you have been wondering what exactly a denouement is...

or if you haven't quite figured out that deux ex machina....

then head over to Buzzfeed to learn all about these and other literary techniques. 

Book Review - Stan Lee's How to Write Comics

Even though I have been writing for most of my life, I'm very new to comics. Before this year, I don't think I ever read a comic all the way through and I certainly never tried to write one. My Emily and Renaldo adventures are stories I have been working on for at least four years in various forms, and I think they will work best as a comic, but I need to learn all I can about comic writing before I can bring them to life. Who better to learn from than the legendary Stan Lee?

I really enjoyed Stan Lee's How to Write Comics and finished it in about 4 days. I have been researching for months about how to write comic scripts and I found all the information out there a bit overwhelming. I picked up this book with hopes that Lee would share insights into the process of scripting comics and really break the process down. I was amazed (and delighted) to learn about the "Marvel style" of scripting, which is actually plotting. He does also talk about scripting (or lets other writers talk about it), but his experience is, obviously, with Marvel style so that is what he talks about most. I really enjoyed learning about Marvel/plot scripting because that is what I have actually been doing as opposed to full scripting. I think that panels and layout are part of the art and artistic effects. If I was an artist I would draw it myself, but I'm not. I don't think I'm qualified to write a comic script with detailed artistic directions when that is not my strong suit. Lee helped confirm that the way I was doing it wasn't completely off-track (generally, I do need to make some adjustments, but I wasn't totally wrong in my way of thinking). In fact, there is no 100% set way to write a comic script inspite of what you might read online. It's more about the writer's relationship with the artist and how the two communicate to make the writer's vision a reality.

Of course, that was only one good thing I got out of this book. There were many things I enjoyed such as the history of comics and how they have evolved over the last century. I also appreciated how the book wasn't totally Marvel-centric. He does his best to involve writers and publishers from various comic producers so that aspiring writers can have a composite picture of the industry.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in comic writing. But I would also reccomend it for anyone interested in drawing comics. Comics are collaborative and it's impossible for people to work together if they don't know each person's role. Artists should also read this book just as writers should read Stan Lee's How to Draw Comics, which is also on my to-read list. In fact, this book is more of a primer (Lee's words) and is only the first of a long line of books about comic writing and creating that anyone interested in the comic industry should read.

The Perfect Zinger

We've all been there. Someone says something rude, snarky, or inappropriate and you think up the perfect comeback...10 minutes later! Who hasn't lost sleep over the things we should have said? Thankfully, when it comes to writing clever comebacks for your characters you have hours, days, weeks, even years to phrase it just right.

But, just in case you are having trouble coming up with just the right zinger, Buzzfeed (that amazing internet time-sucker) has published a hilarious list of famous comebacks. Here are a few of my favorites:

Be sure to check out all 25 hilarious comebacks over at Buzzfeed. Which one is your favorite? Have you ever written a really good zinger? Share it below!