Geek Links of Note

[thehefner]

How the Mandarin could possibly work in IRON MAN 3, and why it's okay to hate Tony Stark. Even if you take out the Yellow Peril racefail issues, one still has to wonder how distinctly magical elements would jive after the first two IM movies.

If handled well, I could see it working. What better way to frustrate Tony Stark than with magic, something he has absolutely zero concept of understanding? It'd be like Waid's FANTASTIC FOUR Dr. Doom story, only, y'know, without ruining Dr. Doom. Of course, there's still the concerns of racefail. Which brings me to...



"Why I Won't Be Watching the THE LAST AIRBENDER movie," by Gene Luen Yang of AMERICAN BORN CHINESE. I've made it to the third season of the original Nickelodeon show, and I'm blown away by how great it is. Witty as hell, marvelously complex characters who have actual arcs, stunning action, and compelling storylines.

I haven't loved a cartoon like this since JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, and I was already dreading to see it from the trailers, which seem to indicate that M. Night has sucked all of the fun and life out to turn it into a self-serious action epic. But that just clinches that I won't be seeing it at all.



Three Arguments We Could Be Having (about comics). Number two is most relevant to my recent post about the "Girlfriend Section" of the comic shop, but as a fan and writer, I'm most intrigued and thinky about number three: "What Are All These Superhero Comics Really Saying?" Because at their heart, you'd think the most they could be about would be the struggle of good vs. evil, but most comics don't seem to have anything to actually say about it.

It reminds me about one of the reasons Alan Moore dislikes BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, because he--as I understand it--thinks all the themes and character and drama amounted to saying nothing of value that applied to anyone but Batman and the Joker. Many writers seem to feel this way, that superheroes can't be used to say something of literary value.

But while I have my own problems with TKJ, I have to disagree with Moore. I think stories like that say something about the human condition, and even if it's a flawed hypothesis, it's still one that can resonate and provoke thought and discussion. I believe in the power of superhero comics to do this, but I don't know how many fans and/or writers do, or if they'd even care.

Comments

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

This is why, in my own attempts at genre fiction, I've given each archetypical character not only a well-defined familiar role to play within the story - working-class career costumed criminal, superhuman separatist "freedom fighter," etc. - but also a PHILOSOPHY that motivates them. "Good versus evil" is admittedly pretty weak, and even many attempts at "chaos versus order" wind up being butchered in the execution, as much as I like the concept, but at heart, each superhero or supervillain should be fighting on behalf of their own ETHOS (or, failing that, at least their own AESTHETIC). Of course, part of the problem inherent in that one is that your explorations of real-world politics and segments of society have to be a few light-years more well-thought-out than those of Mark Millar, and since even critically acclaimed writers like Bendis seem offended at the idea that they should be required to think any deeper about the issues that THEY THEMSELVES ARE BRINGING UP than simply ripping off David Mamet dialogue, that's a big strike against this whole movement. It's like watching the crew behind 24 trying to write The West Wing, and getting pissed off at their own viewers for pointing out that Reality Does Not Work That Way.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

but also a PHILOSOPHY that motivates them.

Oh, I *like* that.