* Plugs 4 Pals part one: Ben Morse will be editing War of Kings: Warriors, a digital comic tying in with Marvel’s space-opera event. Ben knows from Marvel’s space stuff, so if you’re interested in that sort of thing at all, you’d be wise to check it out.

* Plugs 4 Pals part two: Justin Aclin has launched a new blog to promote Hero House, his superhero graphic novel, due from Avatar in September. Justin knows from superhero comedy, so if you’re interested in that sort of thing at all, you’d be wise to check it out.

* Tom Spurgeon explains “why Diamond’s new minimums policy is wrong, and what they should do about it.” Like some other recent efforts of that sort, it recognizes the need to square the circle between what one assumes are Diamond’s concerns about getting weighted down with unprofessional product and the rest of the industry’s concerns about Diamond’s judgement in determining what constitutes “unprofessional product.” It also unpacks several business and financial assertions made by and on behalf of Diamond that don’t hold much water upon closer examination.

* Speaking of Spurge, in a comment downblog he corrects my mischaracterization of his position regarding Final Crisis and the big superheroes in general: It’s not that he thinks they have “no juice left at all to thrill or inspire or encourage,” but that Final Crisis would have been a better book had Morrison addressed that question head on rather than taking it as a given. And he’s right, you really don’t see Morrison questioning his own beliefs in his work all that often. They’re more an articulation of those beliefs, in fact; from interviews I’ve both read and conducted with Morrison, though, I do get the sense that a lot of his darker books arise from unrelated, IRL personal problems he’s had. In this case, the implication appears to be that the notion of drab, uninspiring superheroes is one he’s confronted behind the scenes rather than on the page.

* Tom also notes, both in that comment and in his original review, that Morrisonian victories just sort of happen. I see what he’s saying–the heroes win due to inherent qualities present within them all along rather than using some newly acquired internal strengths to effect their peripeteia (note: I’d been using that word incorrectly for about a decade so I’m breaking it out now that I know that it means “reversal of fortune”)–but it still seems kosher to me since it usually takes them a lot of blood, sweat, and tears until they’re in a position where they have the confidence, know-how, or freedom to act in this way. It’s a lot different than the work of former Morrison protege Mark Millar, wherein the protagonists always just start winning because it’s the point in the narrative where that’s supposed to happen, and there really wasn’t anything stopping them from winning before then aside from Millar’s rudimentary knowledge of Robert McKee.

* NYCC news, Brian Michael Bendis division, part four: There’s a new Michael Gaydos-drawn Alias miniseries on the way. (Good catch, Kevin Melrose.)

* NYCC news: Ed Brubaker and his Captain America collaborator Steve Epting are working on something called The Marvels Project, “which explores the origins of the Marvel Universe” and launches in June according to the meager info at the link. Anyone got more substantial stuff on that?

* NYCC news: Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers? I dunno if I’ll eat it, but I’ll think it’s a terrific idea for an image, that’s for sure. Wouldn’t it be rad if it were actually about animal rights in some semi-serious way? I’ll be over here holding my breath.

* Two new series from Naoki Urasawa debut today: Pluto and 20th Century Boys. I’m curious.

* So that’s what Mat Brinkman looks like. It’s kind of a bummer that we’ve lost him to the fine art world the way we lost Dave Cooper and Marc Bell, huh?

* Lux Interior died. I’m not going to lie and say I was a big Cramps listener, aside from the healthy appreciation held by anyone who came of age in that weird early-mid-’90s period when suddenly any vaguely outsiderish subculture could get purchase in the national media and suddenly psychobilly and other revivals of ’50s trash culture were a visible thing and Beavis and Butt-Head couldn’t get over how awesome the title “Bikini Girls with Machine Guns” was. But one deep-seated belief I always had was that “Lux Interior” is the best, funniest nom de rock invented by anyone ever. And now, after seeing clips of the relevant show here and there around the internet, a belief that the band’s 1978 gig at California’s Napa State Mental Hospital is one of the most inspired and subversive ideas ever had by a rock band is gaining ground fast. I’ve spent a little more time in mental institutions than I ever anticipated or hoped to spend, and there’s this mix of rage and excitement and fear and crazy happiness you feel that is embodied pretty well by sticking a bunch of weirdos in the middle and letting them play down and dirty rock and roll.

* The Obama administration has decided to back the Bush administration’s use of extraordinary rendition as a backdoor to torture by officially declaring its belief that a lawsuit regarding the practice is off limits to the courts due to “state secrets.” The read seems to be that this is more an matter of the new administration attempting to keep the previous administration from being on the receiving end of legal action than with actually continuing the practice itself, but either way it’s scary. Glenn Greenwald has more.

* Finally, if you’ve never heard the story of the life and loves Genesis P-Orridge, coiner of the terms “industrial music” and “acid house” and one of my childhood heroes–particularly the part of the story about how he’s had extensive surgery, including breast implants, to make himself look more like his late wife–this profile of Gen is for you. (Via 33 1/3.)

This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2009 at 6:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.