by Scott Tipton
COMICS 101
November 30, 2005
IT’S THE HOLIDAY SEASON -- The COMICS 101 Gift-Giving Guide for 2005
Where does the time go, my friends? Seems like only yesterday that I was taking down the Christmas tree and hauling the decorations back into storage, and here we are the week after Thanksgiving already. If, like myself, you’ve emerged from your turkey coma and are now ready to begin your first tentative forays into the cutthroat world of Christmas shopping, fear not. Your humble professor has a few recommendations that should please even the choosiest pop-culture geek on your Christmas list, and keep you from resorting to the Chia Pet or the Hickory Farms snack pack (not that there’s anything wrong with Hickory Farms – gotta love the summer sausage…) Let’s get started:
BATMAN: THE MOTION PICTURE ANTHOLOGY DVD BOX SET:
Why, you might ask, would I recommend any DVD box set that includes Joel Schumacher’s BATMAN AND ROBIN, a film so bad that it’s been banned by Amnesty International for use in interrogative techniques? Here’s the thing: for the same price as buying BATMAN and BATMAN RETURNS individually, you can pick up the whole set if you shop wisely, and thus gain some insight into how such a horrible film was made. It’s pretty clear immediately how wrong Schumacher was for the project, as people recount how before every shot he would get on the megaphone and scream in a sing-song fashion, “Remember, people, it’s a cartoon!” Ugh. The BATMAN AND ROBIN documentary is also notable for what it’s missing, as the parade of luminaries brought in to rave about the first two movies is noticeably absent from this one. Not surprisingly, most of the actors declined to appear as well.
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As for the other three movies, the special features are extremely comprehensive and well produced, delving into the history of the character and tracking the long development process that led to the first film. Highlights from the special features include BATMAN screenwriter Sam Hamm taking the opportunity to publicly disavow having anything to do with making the Joker the murderer of Batman’s parents, and especially the scene where Alfred just lets Vicki Vale into the Batcave. The interviews also reveal just how certain of the films’ failures come about. For example, those wondering why Tommy Lee Jones’ performance as Two-Face was so horrible and off-the-mark, won’t be surprised to realize that practically no research or preparation must have done for the role by anyone, as evidenced by the fact that Jones, Schumacher and producer Peter MacGregor-Scott all repeatedly insist on referring to the character as “Harvey Two-Face.”
HEY, JACKHOLES! IT’S NOT “HARVEY TWO-FACE”! HOW HARD IS IT TO JUST GET THE CHARACTER'S GODDAMN NAME RIGHT?
This makes Billy Dee Williams’ interview on the BATMAN disc all the more bitterly humorous, as he reflects on his lost opportunity to play Two-Face, which was why he agreed to play Harvey Dent in the first place: “I would have played it differently than he did, that’s for sure…”
THE AVENGERS: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE: DK Publishing has been producing these illustrated guides for everything from James Bond to Star Wars to comic books, always with a high level of quality in the design and layout and excellent editorial standards when it comes to fact-checking and the writing itself.
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This newest release is no exception, providing an appealing introduction to the world of the Avengers for the comics neophyte, and a pleasurable trip down memory lane for longtime Avengers fans like myself. As an old-school Avengers loyalist, I was pleased to discover that the book’s focus is primarily on the original team (right down to a classic Avengers team being featured on the cover), although writer Tom DeFalco doesn’t discriminate, covering both the ULTIMATES and THE NEW AVENGERS in some detail as well. And a word to the wise: NEW AVENGERS’ publishing delays have apparently not affected the release schedule for this book, so you NEW AVENGERS readers who don’t want to know who the mysterious Ronin really is or who Spider-Woman is really working for probably should hold off on reading the NEW AVENGERS entry for a few months…
THE IMAGINEER’S FIELD GUIDE TO THE MAGIC KINGDOM AT WALT DISNEY WORLD: If comics and toys are my two biggest obsessions, I’ve got to admit that theme parks, particularly the Disney theme parks, come in at a strong third. Something about the careful and deliberate falsification and replication of reality (and our eager willingness to let ourselves be deceived by it) just endlessly fascinates me.
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Unfortunately, really comprehensive books about the parks are often non-existent, due to Disney’s desire not to give away the “magic” behind the illusion, or, on the rare occasions a book is produced, prohibitively expensive. Solving both these problems at once is this wonderful Imagineer’s Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom, which looks at the attractions, architecture and landscaping of the Florida version of Disneyland from a technical yet still approachable, “touristy” aspect, with smart, concise writing and plenty of photos, blueprints and design sketches. On a recent trip to Walt Disney World, I looked everywhere for this little gem to find it sold out in all stores, only to return home and buy it online. And at only 10 bucks, it’s a steal.
LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTION, VOLUME THREE DVD SET: The last couple of years have been a real boon to animation buffs, as Warner Brothers has been releasing digitally mastered collections of the classic “Looney Tunes”and “Merrie Melodies” theatrical shorts from the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s.
The first two collections were first-rate, providing a wide variety of shorts with plenty of supplemental material, documentaries and commentaries by animation historians, and this third one is no exception. This set has a bit more of an emphasis on Hollywood, imcluding many of the cartoons that utilized parodies of then-famous movie stars, as well as some of the thematic parodies of popular shows like “THE HONEYMOONERS” and “THE JACK BENNY SHOW.” Best of all, this set contains my all-time favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon, Robert McKimson’s “Hillbilly Hare,” which pits Bugs against a pair of shotgun-toting hillbillies, and ends with the hands-down funniest square-dance sequence ever committed to celluloid.
MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES 10: Toy Biz has been on an absolute tear in recent years with their “Marvel Legends” line of action figures, creating a hugely comprehensive assembly of Marvel characters in highly articulated three-dimensional plastic. Recently, they had the genius idea of including pieces of a larger figure with each individual figure, enabling the collector to create a colossal-sized figure upon acquiring the entire set. The first time they tried this, they offered a Galactus figure, which you’d think would be pretty hard to top. Not so: just take a look at some of their newest assortment, on sale now:
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While the individual figures of Spider-Man, the Black Panther, Cyclops, Angel, Mister Sinister, Omega Red and Mystique are themselves excellent, snapping together the enclosed pieces will get you this amazing Sentinel figure, fully articulated, towering over the others at an amazing 16 inches tall. The individual figures can be found at your local Toys R Us, Target or Wal-Mart. Personally, I think any X-Men fan needs two or three Sentinels, since they always travel in packs.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: THE ABSOLUTE EDITION: It’s all Crisis, all the time at DC these days, and what better way to get in the swing of things with DC’s new deluxe slipcased “Absolute” hardcover edition of the landmark 1985 miniseries.
I’ll admit it: I was skeptical of DC’s “Absolute” reprint program when I first heard about it, but the oversized page dimensions really makes the art stand out, and with the gorgeous and intricate art that Perez created for this series, every extra inch is a blessing. Also included in the package is a supplemental book that includes a behind-the-scenes narrative on the making of the series, notes and commentary from the creators, the index to all Crisis crossovers, and more. If you’re an original CRISIS fanboy like myself, this one is hard to pass up. So get someone else to buy it for you.
BABYLON 5 – THE SCRIPTS OF J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI: While I may still take issue with his Spider-Man comics, there’s no disputing the absolute genius that was the television series BABYLON 5. Conceived from the start as a 5-year-long novel for television, BABYLON 5 tells a grand tale of interplanetary war on a small, human scale, and does so with heart, panache and wisdom, carried out by excellent acting across the board, and some of the finest writing ever produced for television. As the series progressed, Straczynski, the show’s executive producer, found that he had to write more and more of the scripts himself to insure that the larger story was told to his expectations. As a result, of the series’ 110 episodes, JMS wrote 92, with only one script from the show’s final three seasons written by someone else – a staggering amount of work.
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Now, JMS is offering his scripts for the series published in book form, along with production notes and behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the making of the series. I ordered the first one mostly out of curiosity, and was amazed to discover how well the scripts read in the manuscript format. The first volume contains the scripts for the pilot movie and JMS’s first five episodes, with thirteen more volumes to follow. If you’re a fan of the series, are interested in a guide to how to write scripts for episodic television, or just enjoy good writing, this is right up your alley. You can only order the books online, at www.babylon5scripts.com. And if you’ve never seen the series, check out the DVD sets, too. Trust me.
THE COMPLETE CALVIN & HOBBES: It’s often called the last great American comic strip, and while some might call that a slight to the many fine cartoonists still working in newspapers today, I’d be hard-pressed to disagree.
Bill Watterson’s daily visit with a boy named Calvin and his imaginary (or is he?) tiger Hobbes was the high point of my morning for many a year, and Watterson’s absence leaves a void on the comics page that still remains unfilled – with the departure of CALVIN AND HOBBES, checking the morning funnies was no longer mandatory. While all of the material has previously been collected in various trade paperback editions, it’s hard to pass up such a fine edition as this, with every strip collected in three hefty hardcover volumes. With this and Fantagraphics’ ongoing THE COMPLETE PEANUTS collections, it’s great to see these masters of one of the true American art forms get the kind of attention and preservation they deserve.
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, VOLUME 4 DVD BOX SET: After months and months of waiting, the final collection of the great Bruce Timm/Paul Dini-produced BATMAN ANIMATED cartoons will be released on DVD next week, with this box set featuring all 24 episodes that comprise the entire THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES run from the Kids WB.
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This series featured the controversial redesign of the character models, and featured the introductions of both Dick Grayson as Nightwing and the new Robin Tim Drake. Most important, some of the best episodes in the entire series’ run can be found here, including the nightmarish “Over the Edge” and the haunting Harley Quinn origin episode “Mad Love.” As has been the case with past box sets, the extras are scant, just a couple commentaries and a short featurette or two – but that’s not why you’re buying these anyway. With BATMAN done and SUPERMAN still underway, rumors are beginning to percolate about feature box sets for BATMAN BEYOND and JUSTICE LEAGUE. One can only hope…
TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING DVDS: If you have folks on your list who used to be wrestling fans but have given up on Vince McMahon’s horribly written WWE programming, introduce them to the world of TNA, the new wrestling promotion currently airing on Spike TV, which offers two things sorely missing from WWE these days: logical storylines and consistently solid, sometimes spectacular, in-ring action.
In particular, check out THE BEST OF THE X DIVISION, a retrospective of TNA’s high-impact cruiserweight-style division, and PHENOMENAL: THE BEST OF A.J. STYLES, a two-disc set featuring some truly fantastic matches from Styles, who’s without a doubt one of the top three workers in the business today, and who would undoubtedly be working the top of the card in WWE were it not for McMahon’s myopic love for overmuscled bodybuilders.
X-MEN LEGENDS 2: I was a big fan of the original X-MEN LEGENDS video game, and this sequel (for PS2, XBOX, GameCube and PSP) lives up to that standard and then some.
A solid mix of RPG and fighting game, this entry pits the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants against Apocalypse, and lets you choose your team of four characters from both X-Men and Brotherhood. It’s steeped in Marvel trivia, looks marvelous, and even features some unexpected playable guest stars. And if you’re playing with Colossus and Wolverine, you can even do the Fastball Special. Sold.
ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN, VOLUME 7: For the Spidey fan on your list, you can’t go wrong with this newest Essential Spidey volume, which features the remaining 11 issues of the excellent Gerry Conway/Ross Andru run (including the Professor’s personal favorite, the Jackal storyline), followed by the beginning of Len Wein’s tenure on the book, which was also quite good.
For folks my age, this was the Spidey of my youth, the way the character should be. It’s dramatic, funny, and exciting, and beautifully rendered by Ross Andru. And it’s around 600 pages for 17 bucks. Not too shabby.
SUPERHEROES AND PHILOSOPHY: And finally, if I may once more indulge myself in one or two bits of self-promotion: first off, there's SUPERHEROES AND PHILOSOPHY: TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE SOCRATIC WAY, edited by Tom and Matt Morris, a collection of essays discussing the nature of heroism, morality and identity in your favorite four-color crusaders, with entries from such comics greats as Mark Waid, Jeph Loeb and Denny O'Neil, as well as thinkers at large like the aforementioned Morrises, not to mention an offering from the good Mr. Ryall and myself.
And I'll admit here to more than a little pride in this offering: aside from our essay, I also proofread the book and personally checked it for comic-book accuracy. Check it out wherever books are sold. And switching gears here, there's also another project that's been taking up my time in recent months:
THE VOLTRON MASTERPIECE EDITION: After literally years of development, the new Voltron Masterpiece Edition die-cast transformable will be released just after Christmas from Toynami.
This all-new, completely re-engineered version of the original Voltron transforms from the five individual Lion Robots into a fully poseable Voltron, with articulation and poseability far beyond the original 1980s toy. For a closer look, you can head on over to toynami.com, and if you’d like to make a pre-order, the good folks at toynk.com will be happy to help you out.
Scott Tipton hasn’t remotely started his Christmas shopping yet. Hickory Farms beefsticks for everyone this year! If you have any questions about comics, send ‘em to stipton99x@moviepoopshoot.com.
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