Seth Remembers His Teen Years, or Does He?
By Dan BrownWith his latest release, Palookaville 24, Guelph cartoonist Seth has moved into full-on Alice Munro territory. And it’s delightful.What do I mean by comparing the graphic novelist to the best damn short-story writer on the planet?I mean, if it wasn’t before, it’s official now: The central preoccupation of Seth’s work is how his memory works, and doesn’t.It was already clear, in books like Clyde Fans and George Sprott, Seth was obsessed with the past. Much of the artist/writer’s work is set in a sort of 1950s Canada that we all recognize yet can’t remember distinctly. Nostalgia may or may not be the impediment. His main goal now appears to be pointing out the inadequacies of human memory as a stable platform for telling stories. So when I read the latest instalment of Nothing Lasts in the new Palookaville, I instantly thought of Nobel Prize winner Munro. Munro’s stories have been lauded for decades for their realism, but if you pay careful attention to the words she uses, you'll find Munro, a Wingham native and long-time Clinton resident, is often not describing what happens to her characters, but what could have happened. There’s a big difference. (Digression: Ajay Heble, my M.A. thesis advisor, wrote a whole book on this “reservoir of meaning,” as he calls it, in her work. And yeah, I did my thesis on Alice Munro. I’m a nerd.)So in the new book Seth will describe, in great detail, the daily routine of a summer job he had in the 1970s using the diction of uncertainty. He will lay out his memories for the reader and then say, “I think,” meaning he’s not sure how much to trust the vivid scene he has just described. “I’m not sure,” he’ll say in other passages. These seemingly fondly recalled moments could have happened the way he remembers. But did they?The comic creator then goes an additional step, and asks, “What DO I recall of those summers?” and revises his story. Nor can he explain why certain details stick out and others are a blank in his mind.For example, while detailing his summer job he reveals during that season he was reading a movie novelization. He never says which movie. “Was it really like this?” he writes at another point of his own narrative, probing his recollections of what seems like an eternal 1970s summer day.Seth goes even deeper, asking if a memory can die of neglect. The more he tries to nail down the images and feelings in his mind, the more they elude him. At one point he projects backwards, putting his adult self in a scene from his younger years. Then he projects forward to his future gravestone.All that, plus the chapter ends with a cliff hanger!Palookaville 24 also includes some sketchbook exercises Seth assigned himself and a film on DVD by Luc Chamberland of a suitcase theatre play that Seth performed using puppets.Chamberland is the same filmmaker behind Seth’s Dominion, the superlative National Film Board of Canada documentary about the cartoonist which animates passages from Seth’s previous work to great effect.(Bonus digression: Both Seth and Munro are products of Southwestern Ontario. I know everybody has to be from somewhere, but is there some kind of symmetry to that? Are people in this corner of Canada more obsessed with the images in their minds of the lives they have lived than other Canadians? It’s an honest question.) Dan Brown has covered pop culture for 30 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
Unproductive Cartoonist Joe Matt Preferred not to be Prolific
By Dan BrownCartoonist Joe Matt died last month at age 60. He was at his drawing table when the (unconfirmed) heart attack took him, but Matt’s friend Seth pointed out in an online tribute he likely wasn’t creating comics.Which is Matt’s tragedy. He will go down in comics history as someone who could have done more, but chose not to. The truth is, after his 14-issue run on Peepshow ended in 2006, Matt found other things to do apart from publishing his highly personal comics.That’s why, in my mind, I classify Matt alongside Bob Burden, Paul Chadwick, Michael Golden and David Mazzuchelli. They are all comic creators who, for whatever reason, aren’t consistently productive. As much as I enjoy their work, which is a lot, none of them are cursed with the gift of being prolific.It doesn’t mean the comics Matt made in his brief life are of poor quality. It just means, like many other comic fans, I have an itch that will never be scratched because with his sudden passing, the hope that Matt would ever draw and write another story disappears(None of this applies and all bets are off if some publisher finds a treasure trove of material he worked on, but never got published during his lifetime. I can only hope.)Matt came to prominence alongside his cartoonist friends Seth and Chester Brown, who all hung out in Toronto in the 1990s. Matt, an American, was in Canada illegally and eventually ended up settling in Los Angeles. A rumoured HBO series based on his comics never materialized.Matt was known for autobiographical stories that were embarrassing in the extreme. He specialized in detailing his own quirks and obsessions, such as spending a good chunk of every day masturbating to pornographic videos. He was kind of like comedian Larry David in that the essence of his work was describing the price he paid for being himself.In the coverage of his death, there have been hints Matt had been dealing with some kind of creative block. (I don’t believe in writer’s block, but that’s a subject for another column.) There were also indications his perfectionism got in the way.One way to measure his output would be to compare him to Seth and Brown, also autobiographical creators. What jumps out when you look at their bibliographies is how Seth, for instance, balances the need to be creative with the need to be perfect, and has produced a long list of books and other projects. Or you could compare him to a comics legend like Jack Kirby, who enrolled in New York’s prestigious Pratt Institute for illustrators when he was 14 years old. He ended up dropping out.“I wasn’t the kind of student that Pratt was looking for. They wanted patient people who would work on something forever. I didn’t want to work on any project forever. I intended to get things done,” Kirby would say later in his life.The consequence is that Kirby’s comics, all these decades later, are still being reprinted and sold to new generations of comic lovers. Meanwhile, Matt’s anthologies have already gone out of print.A modern example would be Southwestern Ontario’s own Jeff Lemire, who is always working on multiple books, never seeming to be at a loss for inspiration or motivation. He once credited his prolific nature to the work ethic he developed being raised on a farm.For whatever reason, Joe Matt wasn’t interested in living like that. The sad fact is, he will go down in comics history as a footnote. He will forever be “the other guy” of the Toronto Three.Dan Brown has covered pop culture for 30 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
Back to School for Gifted Children
By Dan BrownIt’s early September, the perfect time for a back-to-school column. And the subject of this one is schools for gifted children, a recurring trope in pop culture I first came across in the pages of Marvel Comics in the late 1970s.At these places of learning, the students can be mutants or sorcerers or vampires or weirdos. The private-school setting is the common thread that ties them all together, and it’s a plot device that’s been so widely used, it’s become a narrative crutch that deserves to be parodied.The most recent example I noticed comes from the Netflix series Wednesday, which dropped last November. Although I love the Addams Family characters, Wednesday wasn’t really my thing. But my wife convinced me to watch long enough for me realize, “Hey, Nevermore Academy is the latest in a long line of Gothic boarding schools where things aren’t as they seem and perhaps monsters roam the halls!”(Fun fact: The original Addams Family television show was inspired by a single-panel recurring cartoon in The New Yorker magazine.)The first one of these schools I ever encountered was Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Children. Maybe you can relate.I began reading The Uncanny X-Men in the early days of John Byrne’s run on the title as penciller, and I loved the characters so much I eventually worked my way backwards to the debut issue of the irregularly published title.Back in 1963, Jack Kirby was the first artist to depict this particular school, which was home to Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast, Iceman and, of course, Professor Charles Xavier (you knew he had mind powers because he was bald).Over the years, the building in New York’s Westchester County has been known by many names, like the X-Mansion, the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, and the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. It has been destroyed, become sentient, been transported to another dimension, and lately rendered irrelevant by the mass relocation of the Homo Superior race to Krakoa. I think that’s a shame. It was in the aptly named Danger Room that Xavier’s pupils honed their mutant powers, safe from the world that fears and hates them.The most well-known academy for gifted children is, of course, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, made famous by J.K. Rowling and first appearing in her 1997 novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.We’ve now arrived at the point where I admit I don’t have a fully fleshed-out theory of why this trope resonates so strongly with the members of so many different fandoms. My brightest idea is simply going to school is a common experience we all share. That might account for why schools for the gifted are so prevalent in pop culture. But beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. Is the trend being driven by a fascination on the part of those who attended public schools with how things work at boarding schools? A fetish for things British? Laziness on the part of writers?Other examples include the Salvatore School for the Young & Gifted from The Vampire Diaries, the Umbrella Academy, and the superhero school in the clouds from the underrated 2005 flick Sky High.But I’ve saved the best for last. I’m talking about Canadian comic creator Jilliam Tamaki’s SuperMutant Magic Academy, which is a place where immortals, shapeshifters, braniacs, closeted lesbians and a girl with the head of a lizard go to classes.The 2015 graphic novel takes the Hogwarts and Xavier School premise seriously: What if teenagers with powers actually had to go to high school together? How would they deal with the angst of being teens? How would they cope with boredom? Would they use their special abilities for good? The result is a funny and touching portrait of a group of students and teachers who are really no different from you or me. I give the book an A+.Dan Brown has covered pop culture for 30 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
Comic Book Sale Caused by Superhero Discountman Appearance
Every once in a while, in the vast universe of comics, a new hero emerges—one that might not fit the traditional mold but resonates with fans nonetheless. At L.A. Mood Comics and Games, such a hero has risen: Discountman! Who Exactly is Discountman? Legends often have humble beginnings. Our enigmatic hero, Discountman, might not have come from a distant planet or been bitten by a mystical creature, but his power is one every comic aficionado cherishes: the power of unbeatable savings. Known in the inner circles as Gord, this unassuming figure is a testament that not all heroes wear capes. This hero, with his gentle demeanor, creates a legacy by making comic dreams more accessible. The Comic World's Best-Kept Secret Every hero has their story. While Discountman's real identity remains shrouded in mystery, what we do know is that his appearances are rare, usually during spectacular comic book sales, and always bring joy to the comic community. He's the unsung sentinel watching over budgets while ensuring fans don't miss out on their favorite reads. Great Comic Discounts From Friday, August 18th to Saturday, September 2nd, Discountman’s magic is palpable across L.A. Mood Comics and Games: 25% off on all wall comics and premium books: Whether you're a seasoned collector or a newcomer to the comic world, this range promises to introduce you to stories that will be cherished for ages, waiting for you at a fraction of the price. 50% off all back issues in white boxes: Thousands of tales await in shaped universes, legendary characters. Now is the time to complete those missing series or discover a new favorite at half the cost! These are perfect for those who love diving deep into the comic world's history and discovering hidden gems. A huge selection of Indie, Marvel, and D.C. comics await. Journey Through L.A. Mood Comics and Games Situated inside 100 Kellogg Lane in London, our store isn't just a commercial space; it’s a journey through time and imagination. With walls adorned by vibrant artwork and tales of heroism, betrayal, love, and camaraderie, L.A. Mood is a testament to the artistry and narrative prowess of comic creators. Digital vs. Tangible: The Unbeatable Charm of Physical Comics In an age of digital consumption, there’s an irreplaceable charm in holding a tangible paper comic. Feeling its weight, smelling the print, and being able to physically turn a page adds layers to the reading experience. This sale, an in-store exclusive, champions this very charm. A Clarion Call to Comic Lovers Heroes, anti-heroes, sidekicks, and even villains—here’s your chance to rally! Step into a realm where each corner holds tales of valor, each shelf introduces you to new worlds, and Discountman ensures your adventure doesn't burn a hole in your wallet. Conclusion Every epoch has its heroes. While the comic world is filled with the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, Thor, Batman, Wolverine, and Spider-Man, at L.A. Mood Comics and Games, Discountman reigns supreme. As pages turn and stories unfold, remember that this hero ensures you dive deep without financial constraints. Embark on this journey with us, and let's celebrate the legacy of comics together.
Too Many Marvel Shows, True, but Comics Subsidiary Looks Good On Disney’s Balance Sheet
By Dan Brown Bob Iger spoke for many of us last week when he said, in essence, there’s too damn much Marvel content. The question is: How is this pronouncement by the Disney boss – and his plan to scale back spending by the corporation— going to affect the comics arm of the company? During an interview with CNBC, Iger, Disney’s CEO, said the sheer volume of Marvel streaming series and movies has reached the point where the audience has been “diluted,” meaning that Marvel fans haven’t been as excited about recent big-screen releases like this February’s Quantumania as they were back in the days of Endgame four years ago. And no wonder. The third instalment in the Ant-Man series is, for those keeping score at home, the 30th film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe following 2008’s Iron Man. I mean, I love Paul Rudd as much as the next straight guy, but at some point even I have had my fill of his brand of non-threatening charm. Deciphering Iger’s ire, he appeared to be putting the blame on the avalanche of shows that were released by his Disney+ streaming service during the pandemic. And he’s got a point. I don’t know about you, but there are no longer a lot of people in my life who get excited whenever a new superhero show materializes on the small screen. No sooner had I finished watching 2021’s WandaVision than we were drowning in Marvel characters: the Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and they keep coming. They are making shows about characters I don’t even care about, which is saying something – I was raised on Marvel heroes in the 1970s and 1980s! Ah, the comics. I’m sure Marvel’s comics division won’t be spared from the billions of dollars in cuts that Iger signaled are in the offing, but there’s a simple fact of balance sheets that should shield it from excess financial pain. Simply stated, a comics company that is a subsidiary of a multibillion-dollar enterprise is going to appear on the financial statement as a cost-effective proposition because, compared with the investment required to make a movie, the cost of making a comic book or graphic novel is almost nothing – and the payoff is off the charts. As I’ve written elsewhere, my theory is that the purpose of Marvel’s comics is to serve as a kind of test kitchen where ideas can be thrown at the wall to see what sticks. Whether it’s Tony Stark donning a suit of armour for the first time, or a set of cosmic jewels that gives their possessor infinite power over reality, or a civil war pitting superhero allies against one another – those things all happened first in the pages of the comics. Groot. Thanos. Peter Parker. There are decades of stories about these characters to be mined by the writers of Marvel movies and shows. (There are so many comic and other adaptations coming out of Hollywood, it’s enough to make you wonder, in these days of a strike by movie writers, just exactly what Tinseltown scribes do, apart from plundering existing properties.) Another way of saying it is, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn didn’t have to invent the Infinity Stones because artist/writer Jim Starlin did the hard part for him five decades ago. Perhaps I’m deluding myself, but I feel as though the cheapest talent working for Disney – those artists and writers who come up with the concepts that percolate upward into movies and TV shows – are going to be just fine. Or think about it this way: Freelance comic creator Jack Kirby, who arguably invented more characters and concepts than any other figure in comics history, in all the decades he toiled for Marvel (and DC), never had health insurance. Even years after Kirby’s death, I’d say Disney is getting its money’s worth out of him. Dan Brown has covered pop culture for 30 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
Why Didn’t Comics Version of Indiana Jones Set The World On Fire?
By Dan Brown All readers want from comics, I’ve said before, is compelling characters in interesting situations. Well, Indiana Jones – featured in the Dial of Destiny, which is in theatres now – is certainly a compelling character as played by Harrison Ford. And the makers of the Indy films have certainly been able to place him in some interesting (and deadly) situations. So how come the daring archeologist has never been able to sustain a comic title for long? I’m not saying Jones is a total washout as the headliner of a monthly series, but compared to adjacent properties, like Star Wars, he’s only been a blip in the grand sweep of comics history. Inspired by the success of 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, It’s true Marvel Comics did publish more than 30 issues of The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones starting in 1983. Remember, those were the days when there wasn’t a property Marvel didn’t try to plunder. The gang from the bullpen attempted to cash in on every new fad, trend, craze and sensation that came along. How ridiculous did it get? This was the era when even the rock band KISS ended up in the pages of Marvel Comics. That’s right – for a brief moment, Gene Simmons was a Marvel protagonist, along with Spider-Man, the Hulk, Wolverine and the rest. I’m guessing an Indy comic seemed like a no-brainer. As it turned out, that first series would pale beside the Star Wars monthly, which ran 107 issues from 1977 to 1986 and is credited by some with keeping the House of Ideas afloat during lean economic times. And those Star Wars comics were . . . fine. They weren’t the worst stories in the world, although I would argue Russ Manning was doing far more interesting things in the same universe in the pages of daily newspapers with the Star Wars comic strip. And Marvel certainly invested in the venture, attaching talents like Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson and John Byrne to bring Jones to life on the page. Yet the Further Adventures of Indiana Jones fizzled even before the original Indy trilogy wrapped up in 1989 with the Last Crusade. Here’s another comparison: Conan, Robert E. Howard’s pulp barbarian character, was also a Marvel Comics property during roughly the same period, and has been in the hands of one publishing house or another for decades since. Who knows how many Conan comic adaptations there have been to date? It’s also true Dark Horse Comics licenced Indiana Jones and his bullwhip in the 1990s for several more adventures. But those stories are only half-remembered now, if at all. So despite his enduring appeal on the big screen, why was Indy a comparative dud in comics form? I don’t have an all-encompassing answer, but the fact is some properties just don’t translate to other media. Some books don’t make good TV shows. Some movies don’t make good comics. Very few plays make for interesting films. (This is where I should also note that the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, the network version of the character, barely lasted two seasons on ABC, so there may be something about the archeologist that just doesn’t work in other media.) Or perhaps it’s because the Indy films are the end product of pop culture, not the beginning. What I mean is, it was newspaper strips and adventure comics, along with silver-screen serials, that moved George Lucas and Steve Spielberg to come up with Indy in the first place. And maybe it just ends there: Dr. Jones was intended to be a creature of the big screen, so he is doomed never to transcend its limits. Dan Brown has covered pop culture for 30 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.
