* You might recall that back when Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely’s All Star Superman #12 came out, I found myself slightly underwhelmed. You might also recall me mentioning that a (the) big reason for this was that the comic’s final splash page–Leo Quintum unveiling the big 2perman logo–didn’t click with me on an emotional level the way that the closing splash pages of The Filth, Seven Soldiers, and (iirc, which I may not ) New X-Men did. So I was rather pleased with myself to discover this nugget in Zack Smith’s Tim Callahan-assisted epic 10-part interview with Grant Morrison about the series:

What he’s doing at the end of the story should, for all its gee–whiz futurity, feel slightly ambiguous, slightly fake, slightly “Hollywood.” Yes, he’s fulfilling Superman’s wishes by cloning an heir to Superman and Lois and inaugurating a Superman dynasty that will last until the end of time – but he’s also commodifying Superman, figuring out how it’s done, turning him into a brand, a franchise, a bigger–and–better “revamp,” the ultimate coming attraction, fresher than fresh, newer than new but familiar too. Quintum has figured out the “formula” for Superman and improved upon it.

[…]

In one way, Quintum could be seen to represent the creative team, simultaneously re–empowering a pure myth with the honest fire of Art…while at the same time shooting a jolt of juice through a concept that sells more “S” logo underpants and towels than it does comic books. All tastes catered!

I’m glad to see that that final image is intended to be ambiguous; I’d hate to be one of those guys who “doesn’t get” Grant Morrison all of a sudden, particularly if this is due to some sort of innate failure on my part to cotton to his relentless pop-positivity, a sensibility I greatly appreciate even though I share it infrequently at best. Anyhoo, need I even say “read the whole interview”?

* That catch-all link comes courtesy of The Gold in Us, Will Survive in You, a new blog dedicated to chronicling the continuity of Grant Morrison’s DC comics with the revelatory enthusiasm of the superfan. So far the pseudonymous blogger Zibarro has focused on connections between All Star Superman and DC One Million such as the Chronovore, the Prime Superman, and Solaris the Tyrant Sun. This should be a lot of fun to follow.

* Speaking of enthusiasm: Have you ever heard me tell my comic-book origin story, about how when I was in college I more or less stopped reading comics, except for stuff I’d borrow or get recaps of from my roommate, who eventually turned me on to The ACME Novelty Library and Savage Dragon. That roommate’s name was Josiah Leighton, and he now has a blog called Consequentialart he uses for a class he’s teaching on comics. I think my favorite thing about it is how it combines really open enthusiasm and awe for the art he’s talking about, a relentless focus on art (layout in particular) as opposed to writing, and razor-sharp little insights into what makes it all tick. Here’s a sample:

When I was in Japan, I had a very long and fascinating conversation with Naoki Urasawa, the creator of Monster, about [Akira creator Katsuhiro] Otomo’s use of his characters’ gaze. Urasawa found this usage, leading the reader across the page from panel to panel, very Western. He cited this as further example that Otomo was affected to the core by European and American comics and film, not just in the superficial trappings of his style (which obviously owes much to Frenchman Jean “Moebius” Giraud.) By contrast, he showed me that most homegrown manga had the character’s eyes always facing out towards the viewer. He attributed this to the filmic style of Yasujiro Ozu, director of Tokyo Story. He said it was Ozu’s belief that the character should not avoid looking at the camera, but rather face it directly. The camera is always the first-person subjective point-of-view, he claimed, and therefore the characters should address it as a means of telling their stories directly to the viewer.

I know, right? Man I’m pleased to introduce the GZA, as he was known to us, to the comics blogosphere. You also might see some previously unreleased stuff that he and I did together in there, who knows.

* And while we’re on the subject of image-making, I think my favorite link of the past few days is this impressively sized gallery of photos from throughout Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

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