« April 2006 | Main | June 2006 »
Dealing with Online Fandom.
by Gary Walters
I often get asked, as a comics professional, how I deal with fan's enthusiam and lack of enthusiam. How do you generate interest and excitement from your fanbase, which lead to sales? How do you learn to both give the fans what they want and still keep something for yourself? Where do you draw the line? What I've learned (and this (along with some other trade secrets) is what I tell my prefessional comic book writer friends) is to just give the fans whatever they want. Because, when you get down to it, you owe them. And should give them anything. If you don't, they may loose interest in your product, and without their support, it's back to working in a parking garage.
I've had fans ask me anything and everything. "Whats the exciting secret behind your upcoming character Even Steven?" "What behind the scenes secrets do you know about other comic book professionals?" "Can you loan me twenty dollars?" Lots of questions, to be sure. But that just means your stories are touching lives and turning those touched into fans.
So, the first issue: story spoilers and secrets. When it comes to story secrets, the way I see it, if you can't trust Internet comic book fans, who can you trust. So, as long as they promise to still buy the issue when it comes out, I'll let them know whatever they want. It's not like they won't guess, anyway. As a former comic book fan, I can tell you, their pretty damn smart. And we've pretty much figured out all of the old comic book gimmicks anyway, like the whole "dead character isn't really dead thing" by now. The only comic character I know that stayed dead was that eskimo in G.I. Joe.
Same rules applies to behind the scenes secrets. Who hates who? Who attacked who? Who wrote a letter to the editors of a company blasting another writer? It's all good and fun. Knowing who called another comic writer a "worthless prick" brings fandom closer together. It's all about creating a community, you know? Fans deserve to know which artist called his editor a "sodding ponce" and which weirdo writer tried to use voodoo magic on the head of another company!
Now, when it comes to money, the way I see it, your money came from the fan to begin with, so, if they need it back to pay a debt, or for alcohol or something, if it helps them out and keeps them your fan, then do it. Particularly if saying no leads them to say something like "Man, I thought you were cool." You need your fans to think you are cool. that's how they stay your fans. So if they need money or need you to buy them booze, if they left their ID at home, for instance, help them out. Keep them happy. I draw the line however, at buying them cigarettes. But I'll do it if I have to.
Now the best way to create a fan network is to start one of those Internet messageboards for yourself. Fans love those! I've started plans for my own creator-owned website, complete with messageboard. I solicited a lot of feedback from my growing online fandom and they had some great ideas for URLs. One noted how I was an advoacte for the comic book writer being the stronger of the two in the comic book writer/artist relationship and suggested the URL www.theComicWritersPenisStrong.com, a play on "the pen is stronger than the sword". Another thought I should create a real short easily remembered acronym, something that stood for "Comics as Literature", but www.CLit.com was already registered, unfortunately. Maybe I'll just go with the name of my comic book publishing company, like Marvel or DC do and buy the URL www.GaryWaltersComicsPublishingLimitedLLCOnline.com. It's a hard decision and one you have to live with forever. So its very daunting.
Once you have the URL, you need to build a messageboard. Which look very complicated. I imagine you need to get up on HTML. I don't know where busy comic book writers like Mr. Bendis and Mr. Millar also have time to learn HTML, but they have good sites to model your own comic book site on. I'm sure when the time comes they would be happy yo give a new comic writer some HTML tips. HTML stands for HyperText Marking Language and is used by computers to build web sites. Like Millarworld.com and BrianBendis.com, which is called jinxworld. I'm not sure why it's called jinxworld. But it certainly hasn't jinxed Mr. Bendis with his immense succes at Marvel comics (Marvel.com).
Now some comic professionals choose to not have a web site. They feel you need to carve out a space for yourself where you can find some time alone, away from your fans. This is incorrect. And I suspect writers who feel this way may quickly find themselves fanless. As you are everything to your fans, just as your fans should be everything to you. By keeping mysef open, I've met so many amazingly awesome fans since I've become a comics book professional. Smurfbamfer492, CyclopsEricTheRed75, MannaMannaPartyHat, and so many others, without you it would be hard to sustain myself through the trying times that come from being a true artist and creative individual. I dedicate all my future success to you, my fans and also my best friends!
Read Volume 1, Issue 9 of The Tricks of Turning Pro.
Discuss this article in our forum.
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 09:00 AM
by Won Kim
Part I:
Real Life Kung Fu Heroes.
Be forewarned, spoilers follow in the detailed discussion of Fearless below.
Many of us think fondly on the Hong Kong Action Cinema of the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s. For approximately ten years, the colony churned out a nearly unbroken stream of fun popcorn movies, films whose sheer entertainment value an unabashedly sentimental and resonant themes appeal to audiences across the globe. I quickly became enamored of John Woo’s urban “bullet ballets (like The Killer), Johnnie To’s triad stories (like The Mission) and the art films of Wong Kar Wai (In the Mood for Love). These films showed us that Asians could blow up cars, shoot each other, and break each others’ hearts, as well as anyone else, and look good while doing it too. However, when it came to martial arts movies I retained a stodgy preference for the ‘bricks and baseball bats’ kung fu films of Chang Cheh (Five Venoms), Lau Kar-leung (Thirty Sixth Chamber of Shaolin), and Sammo Hung (Prodigal Son) over Jackie Chan’s comedies and wu xia epics in which daoist supermen spun around so fast during fight scenes you couldn’t see what the performers were doing. It wasn’t until fairly late in the 90’s that I finally turned onto one of the great pleasures of the period: the kung fu films Yuen Woo Ping and Jet Li worked on together in the 90’s.
Jet Li as Hung Gar Kung Fu master, Dr. Wong Fei Hung in Tsui Hark & Yuen Woo Ping's Once Upon a Time in China series.
Working with Maverick writer-director-producer Tsai Hark, Yuen and Li collaborated on four of the six films in the wildly successful Once Upon a Time in China series, that set a new standard for kung fu films of the era. Instead of a skeletal plot that served as a vehicle for one set piece after another, Once Upon a Time in China and its sequels featured appealing characters and fully developed stories mixing proud nationalism, broad comedy, social commentary, romance and breathtaking action sequences that artfully blended the usual brutal exchanges with wire-enhanced moments of physical grace. Li's Wong Fei Hung (only the latest in a long line of stars who played the role, including Jackie Chan) battled prejudice, ignorance, fanatics, violent colonial carpetbaggers, agents of the Imperial powers, government officials, desperate martial arts masters, gangsters and dangerously deluded cultists. He led a group of students (who provided most of the comic relief); was romanced by his youngest aunt by marriage and met major figures of the day, including Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the father of the short lived Chinese Republic. (I highly recommend the first two films in the series.)
Though Li eventually broke with Tsai, he and Yuen Woo Ping continued to work together on Fist of Legend (a remake of Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury and probably Li’s most popular film in the West) and Tai Chi Master, a wonderful send up of the legends surrounding Daoist sage Zhang San Feng, credited in legend with creating the exercises that evolved into Tai Chi Chuan among other things.
Jet Li as Hua Yuan Jia, here facing off against Hans, Head Coach of a Unit of Guardsmen from one of the European Colonial Powers in Fearless.
The imminent release of Yuen Woo Ping and Jet Li’s most recent collaboration, Fearless, China 2006 gives us an opportunity to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of that marvelous period as it’s almost impossible to watch Fearless without comparing it with their previous work together. One drawback of the 90’s kung fu films was the combined effect of low budgets and breakneck shooting schedules. Despite bravura camera work and lighting, you couldn’t help but notice the occasional minor gaffe, a discordant background detail, inopportune glimpses of people gawking at the filmmakers in the background, etc. Today, films like Wong Kar Wai’s 2046, the crime thriller Infernal Affairs Hong Kong cinema attest to how far the Hong Kong filmmakers have come, despite the East Asian currency crisis of the mid-nineties and gradual re-absorption into China, while recognized directors from the Mainland have always had the resources to mount grand epics like Farewell My Concubine and Hero, but operate with far greater restraints on subject matter.
In this sense Fearless is a Mainland film. The period detail is perfect, and the outdoor photography and aerial tracking shots of action scenes are beautiful and stunning. There are numerous fight scenes, and action fans will be glad to know Li puts down his opponents hard in this one. If Fearless does turn out to be Li's last martial arts movie, (reportedly old injuries threaten to put Li in a wheelchair if he continues) Li’s going out on a high note. (Many will not need to read further, in deciding whether or not to see this film.) As such the script demands a lot from Li as an actor. We're used to seeing Li play man children like the protagonists of Fong Sai Yuk or stoic bad asses, as in Kiss of the Dragon. Grafted onto some of the known facts about the life of a real-life martial arts folk hero of the early 20th Century, Fearless is the story of an arrogant bad ass, who pays dearly for his hubris, and after a wandering for while, earns a hard won redemption.
The historical Hua Yuan Jia.
In his youth the historical Hua Yuan Jia (1867 - 1909) was a sickly child, and was bullied by older children. Compounding matters Huo’s father judged Huo too frail to ever develop sufficient skill and strength to master his martial arts and refused to teach his son. Huo’s response was to observe while his father taught others, and practice what he managed to pick up on his own for ten years. After Hua prevailed against his peers in street fights, his father finally accepted him as a student. By the time Huo was an adult China was in disarray. The central government was in decline, and warlords, gangsters, competing political factions and the colonial powers, including Americans and Japanese, came to China, seeking to take advantage of the central government’s weakness for economic gain, and carve economic niches for themselves out of sections of the country. Before long it became common for people to refer to the Chinese as “Sick Men of Asia”, and Chinese morale was at an all time low.
Jet Li's Hua sizes up an afternoon's challengers.
Accustomed to fighting public challenges against his countrymen, Hua accepted challenges from a number of foreign fighters and won, gaining immediate fame. He then sought to make use of his newfound renown and founded the Chin Woo School. He opened the door to all Chinese so they could strengthen themselves, improve their self-image, and some day help defend the country from further foreign encroachment.
The historical Chin Woo in its' early days.
Soon however Huo died. He had ingested medicines prescribed by a Japanese physician (who left China the day before Huo died) which gradually destroyed his lung tissue. Many Chinese believe Hua was poisoned on the orders of Japanese Imperial government who wanted further demoralize the Chinese. However, Huo's legacy outlived the Imperial Powers. After Huo’s death, branch schools were opened in other parts of China and across Southeast Asia, and in time, Europe. The organization survived the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and Shanghai, World War 2, the Civil War between the Nationalists and Communists, and repression during the Cultural Revolution. Chin Woo still exists today as something akin to the YMCA, a chain of gymnasiums open to the public where members can learn basketball, baseball and other western sports as well as the dozen or so kung fu forms that formed the basis of Huo’s fighting style.
Jet Li as Hua's student, Chen Zhen in Fist of Legend, a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury.
Long time action film fans will be interested to know that Fearless is a dramatic prequel of sorts to Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury (and of course Li’s version of the same story Fist of Legend). Both of these earlier films told the story of Chen Zhen, a student of Master Hua, who seeks revenge on the Japanese for his teacher's death. In Lee’s version Chen Zhen succeeds in striking a blow against Japanese Imperialists, but pays the ultimate price for his rampage. (In Jet Li’s version, Chen Zhen lives on to wreck more havoc on the Japanese in Manchuria). Rather than glorify violent revenge Fearless dwells instead on the high price paid for arrogance, emotional immaturity and a lust for ego-gratification, which puts the onus on Li to expand his range as an actor. In Fearless he brings an intensity of feeling to Huo’s brutal rise to prominence and the inevitable fall. If Li is undercut at all, it's due to decisions the directors and editors made during the latter two thirds of the film. But here, in the first third of the film, Li shines as a fighter and as an actor.
Bastard!
It’s quite jarring to see Li play such a bastard. His Hua keeps pushing his luck, and pays a terrible price for his hubris.
Shattered over his grievous losses, Li's Hua stumbles off into the countryside. We next see him near death in rural Thailand where rural villagers take him in.
Here the film's weaknesses become readily apparent. Here Director Ronny Yu stages shots evoking scenes in other films, using them as emotional indicators instead of actually telling a story. For instance, there is a shot late during Hua's interlude in the village, where Hua tells a villager who cares for him that he has to leave. By this point in the film even Hua has our sympathy, and the actors (and the director) could have chanced more. Instead we get a compositional swipe of a shot from in Peter Weir's Witness where Harrison Ford's detective bids Kelly McGillis' Amish woman farewell. The same could be said of the blurred point of view shots in the last third of the film which recall the use of the same technique in Ridley Scott's Gladiator. This kind of cinematic short hand is becoming more and more common and never fails to annoy. However I am sure genre fans will likely forgive these failings. Fans of Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest films of the 70's have forgiven worse, and Hua's quest for redemption will resonate with viewers.
In this Fearless is more than a throwback to the 90's. The majority of the films of the “Hong Kong New Wave” were about entertainment pure and simple. However successful the new big budget films from Mainland China, Hero, Warrior of Heaven and Earth, House of Flying Daggers, The Promise and now Fearless, aren’t made solely to please audiences, or even make a return on the producers' investment. These films are products of China’s ongoing quest for a new place in the community of filmmaking nations.
Jet Li in Zhang Yimou's Hero.
Since Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, filmmakers on the Mainland have been searching for the right formula for their own crossover martial arts films, a grand big budget epic that will please critics and audiences, East and West. (It didn’t surprise me to learn that expatriate HK director John Woo recently bought a house in Beijing. The man goes where the work is.) In this context Fearless is an attempt to bring together the entertainment value and crossover potential of the kung fu film (as distinct from the wuxia, or historical drama) with a sober, mature examination of the costs of violence and a story of human redemption.
In this Fearless is hardly unique: dozens of kung fu films play with the same themes. However, in most cases, however resonant, those themes were subordinated to the need to string one fight scene to another. Fearless is an attempt to push the kung fu genre into the realm of cinematic biographies like Spike Lee’s Malcolm X. Li’s Hua rises and falls hard. He goes into exile and achieves a kind of awakening. In the last third of the film Li’s Hua returns to public life. He finds a way to turn his dangerous skills to a larger, higher purpose, and is cut down for his efforts. It’s a testament to the power of such themes that the film works. As part of China's quest for recognition Fearless is a step in the right direction, but the Mainland filmmakers aren't quite there just yet.
The film's biggest problem is the result of choices made by the filmmakers while assembling a cut for distribution in the West. The European and American editions of Fearless begin with a public challenge match where Hua battles the first three of four martial arts experts from the colonial powers: a barehanded boxer, a spear fighting coach, and a master fencer. Then the film takes us back to Hua's childhood. We travel the whole of the protagonist's life before the film concludes with the fourth match, when Hua faces Shido Nakamura's Anno, a master swordsman and karateka. This kind of narrative structure is a time-honored story telling device, and usually works fine. However, the lack of build up to Hua's final match deprives the film's climax of its potential power. Also, coming as it does so soon after Hua's quick rise back to the top of the martial world, and the founding of the Chin Woo organization, it all seems rather sudden.
This was a late editing decision, made to cover for scenes cut from the original version. As is often the case with big budget Asian productions, 40 minutes of material were cut from the film, ostensibly to make the film more attractive to distributors in the West. Lost was an entire framing sequence where Michelle Yeoh, playing a diplomat who makes a pitch for wu shu (an athletic performance art based on standardized versions of the old kung fu forms) being accepted as an Olympic sport. Also cut was an entire subplot set during the Thai interlude, one that climaxes in a major battle scene that has been described as “pivotal” online. (Images on the net indicate a night time battle with Thai warriors at night).
Missing in Action: Li's Hua takes on Thai warriors.
All I can hope is that the original cut (that will be available in Chinese and Thai, without English subtitles, will someday be made available here, with English subtitles, in the US. If nothing else I want to see Li's Hua's battle with the Thai warriors. The few images available on the net look great.
Jackie/Jason Wu Jing as Yang Luchan in Tai Chi Master.
For those who really need a taste of entertaining spirit of the pre-takeover, pre-currency crisis Hong Kong filmmaking, I suggest checking out Tai Chi Master (China, 2005). Please note: I am not speaking of the 1993 film, also titled Tai Chi Master starring Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, based on legends about Daoist immortal Zhang San Feng (also called Twin Warriors) but a marginally more fact-based movie film (actually a two-hour compilation of major plot points and fight scenes from a successful 2002 TV series) about the youth of Yang Lu Chan, founder of the Yang Style of Taijiquan.
The historical Yang Luchan (1800-1873) sought to become a great martial artist. He’d heard that the Chen family practiced a formidable art called taijiquan but clan rules forbade teaching the art to outsiders. He became a servant of the Chen family, spied on practice sessions and practiced on his own. When discovered Yang trounced his captors and earned the respect of the teachers. He was accepted as a student, and given permission to teach.
Northern Praying Mantis expert Yu Hai as Chen Zheng-Ming, Yang Luchan's teacher.
Where Fearless is dark and serious, Tai Chi Master (2003) is breezy. It's an utterly enjoyable popcorn movie, leavened with generous helping of good humor loaded with fun fight scenes. The writers jazzed up the story to include cross-dressing daughters (likewise not permitted to study tajiquan at that time), battles to defend the village from attackers, challenges from rival martial artists, and much imperial intrigue. Wu Jing (often hailed as the neglected ‘should-be’ successor to Jet Li’s kung fu star crown) utilizes recognizable Chen style movements throughout the film - even more so than the heavily wire-assisted mix of Yang and Chen style technique that Jet Li employed in the 1993 feature film.
Featuring actual Chen Family Style movement!
This telling detail actually makes a lot of sense. There are readily distinguishable differences between the postures in the Yang and Chen style forms. This story takes place before those changes were made, so it makes sense that when Jacky Wu Jing fights in THIS film, he uses characteristic Chen style movement and techniques. Another treat for people practicing internal stylists is a series of matches between young Wu-Jings Yang Lu-Chan and Xu Xiang Dong, who plays Dong Hai-chuan, the founder of Baguazhang The character’s movements are clearly based on Baguazhang circle walking and ‘palm changes’ (strikes, throws and deflections). Even with soap-ish story elements cut from the re-edited, subtitled 2005 version, Tai Chi Master is a real treat to anyone who has studied Chen or Yang style for a year or longer, and has some knowledge of push hand applications drills, chin-na practice or sparring. It’s also pretty damn entertaining. Whereas Fearless is not an entirely successful effort for a Mainland Chinese cinema that is trying to assimilate the lessons of the West and claim larger audiences worldwide, Tai Chi Master 2005 really is a throwback to the golden age of 90’s Hong Kong action cinema. A key element missing from the recent big budget martial arts films is humor, something Tai Chi Master 2005 has in abundance. I want to see the rest of the TV series. I hope it is subtitled in English someday. Discus this article in our forums.
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 09:58 AM
YMB's 52: The Blog can now be found at
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 09:00 PM
by the YMB Staff 1. Is There Anything Better than... Red Dawn?
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 09:00 AM
by the YMB Staff
Retired wushu athlete Xu Xiang Dong as Dong Hai Chun, founder of Baguazhang.
Look for Part Two next week...May 05, 2006
52: The Blog
www.YourMomsBasement.com/52Blog/May 04, 2006
YMB: Year 1, Part 4
Top Five Articles
5. Halloweek
YMB's (to be) annual celebration of all things scary and spooky.
4. The Truth about Marvel Solicitations
So, who really writes those solicits to get you to buy Marvel comic books?
3. Hard Times in the Big Easy
A recount of the making of a documentary about the aftermath of Katrina.
2. I Hate Bone Claws
Indisputable fact: bone claws suck.
What's better than the 80s flick Red Dawn? Nothing. Wolverines!
Discuss this article in our forum.May 03, 2006
YMB: Year 1, Part 3
Convention Coverage
Wizard World Philadelphia
Peeing on the Streets of Philadelphia
Raj and Eugene give us their takes on last year's Wizard World Philly.
Wizard World Chicago: The Pictures
Wizard World Chicago. Life is good.
DragonCon: Sex Comes To Geektown
DragonCon: Interview Luau
YMB contributor J. Brent Stewart gives a full accounting of the sexiest, geekiest con there is.
Wizard World Boston
Pictures from the grand event.
New York Comic-Con: Planning the Event
New York Comic-Con: Saturday Impressions
Team coverage of the recent New York Comic-Con.
Discuss this article in our forum.
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 09:00 AM
by the YMB Staff
Writer Interviews
Neal Asher
Neal Asher talks about his books and the future of science fiction.
Mike Carey
Mike Carey talks about his career and his upcoming run on X-Men.
Richard Morgan
Richard Morgan talks about Takeshi Kovacs and the Black Widow.
Tim Truman
Tim Truman talks about his work as both artist and writer.
Tad Williams
Tad Williams talks about his fantasy and science fiction work.
Discuss this article in our forum.
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 09:00 AM
by the YMB Staff
20-Odd Questions
HOUSE OF M
Foreign Film Watch
Halloween Horror!
The Comics Outsider
@ The Slash Fiction Awards 2006
Sports
Alas, Joe Torre, I Knew Him Well
The Tricks of Turning Pro
How to Help an Artist Achieve Greatness
Gary Walters' Wizard World Chicago Con Diary: Portrait of a Writer
Discuss this article in our forum.
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 09:00 AM
