April 03, 2008
Spring Cleaning in the Basement
Posted by Rajan at 10:51 AM
September 26, 2007
Strange Reflections: Different Animals
by Rajan Khanna
For some who don't like fantasy novels, what they don't like is the setting, and to be honest, medieval fantasies are a dime a dozen in the genre. While there are people doing interesting things in that milieu, George R. R. Martin to name one, even I have experienced this kind of setting fatigue.
That isn't the problem with the two examples I'm about to mention. These not only chose the modern over the medieval, they also draw on a different cultural background, Chinese to be precise. Both do it in their own way, and draw on that background while containing their own unique touches.
The Snake Agent
Recently I completed a novel by Liz Williams called, The Snake Agent. What initially drew me to this book was the stunning cover by artist Jon Foster. It is a work of art. When I learned that it was about a detective in a world of Chinese mythology with demons and gods and magic, I was snared.
I was familiar with Liz Williams through her novel, Poison Master, as well as some of her short work in places such as Electric Velocipede, so I knew she could tell a good story.
Snake Agent takes place in an alternate Singapore, where magic is real, as are the gods and demons of Chinese lore. Detective Inspector Chen Wei works for the police force, but unlike the majority of the officers, who deal with more mundane threats, Chen is an expert in the occult, possessed of his own spiritual powers.
Williams' Singapore is a blend of the mystical and the scientific, indeed blurring the genres. Not only are there demons and goddesses, but there are high-tech computers and human-based virtual networks. It's an interesting blend, familiar enough to remind us of our present world, but containing wonders of many kinds.
Williams draws heavily on pulp and noir influences here. The novel starts with a kind of cliffhanger and then goes back to explain how our characters got there. Detective Chen is a world-weary detective, torn between his duty to his patron goddess and his devotion to his wife, a demon who escaped Hell. His dance to try to honor both of those obligations, and those to his superiors on the police force is at times both humorous and dramatic.
Humor is something that this book has plenty of, by the way. Particularly when concerning another character, the demon Zhu Irzh. Zhu's path intertwines with Chen's throughout the book, but whereas Chen's path seems to be liberally strewn with guilt and drama, Zhu's part of the novel tends to the more whimsical and funny.
The plot moves quickly, and involves Chen investigating the death of a young girl who has become a ghost rather than moving on to the afterlife. In the course of his investigation, Chen travels to Hell itself, and meets Zhu Irzh. Meanwhile, a famed demon hunter comes on the scene and takes interest in Chen's demon wife, Inari.
The narrative jumps around, mostly between Chen, Zhu Irzh and Inari and the plot moves at a pretty fast clip. But it's easy to read and it's full of action and monsters and magic. There is depth here, but perhaps not as much as one might like. Still, it is the first in a series of novels (now numbering four) all featuring Detective Inspector Chen. In further novels Williams will no doubt delve further into the main characters, their pasts and their relationships.
And the book is just gorgeous to look at.
9Tail Fox
Jon Courtenay Grimwood's 9-Tail Fox is a different animal than Snake Agent. While Snake Agent concerns a fantastical world of magic and futuristic science, 9Tail Fox is rooted much more firmly in the present day.
Here the Chinese mystical element is much more subtle, more of a shading rather than a full-on color. But the central symbol, the nine-tail fox, is pulled right from Chinese mythology and plays a central theme here.
9-Tail Fox is set in San Francisco and the city inhabits all parts of the novel. In many ways it seems like a love letter to San Francisco, delighting in its peculiar corners. It follows Bobby Zha, a cop in San Francisco who seems to be on the fringes of everything, including his marriage and family life. Bobby is investigating the murder of a burglar, reportedly by a young girl, when he is killed.
To be honest, the first part of this book dragged for me. I found myself wondering if I indeed wanted to finish it. It was only when Bobby Zha died that things started to pick up for me. Especially when he wakes up in New York in another body. From that point on, I couldn't put it down.
The rest of the novel concerns Bobby, now in a new body, trying to track down his murderer while coming to terms with what has happened to him. He learns a lot about himself in the process as well, most of it not very flattering. These two tracks continue throughout the rest of the novel, and while the crime mystery is engaging, it is Bobby's search for what happened to him, what that means in terms of his identity, that is the most compelling.
Throughout the straightforward crime/cop story, the ghostly nine-tail fox constantly lurks in the background teasing us with its significance. There are fantastical elements underlying the story, but they are not accents or add-ons. They are pivotal to the story and yet almost invisible. Grimwood has done a great job of making everything feel organic.
Grimwood's style might not be for everyone. While he clearly knows how to write, I found his style initially off-putting. I don't know why, I don't know that I could describe my reaction, but I didn't take to it immediately. But I have to say that I was soon swept along and it eventually became almost invisible in the end.
Those who like their books neatly wrapped up might not like the way this book ends. While usually crime novels end with everything explained and some kind of victory, Grimwood implies a lot here and leaves a lot for you to figure out. That's not to say that things aren't resolved. The straightforward crime plot elements are resolved. Almost too quickly I would say. But the larger mysteries, the bigger picture, is left up to the reader. I actually enjoyed that, but your mileage may vary.
For more on Grimwood, see our previous interview with him.
Here, then, are two alternatives to standard fantasies, both of which I think would be worthy additions to anyone's library. Coincidentally, mind you, both books are published by Nightshade Books, a publisher that is doing some great work with book designs.
Next time, an anthology based around strange words and a look at the small press.
Column One: Welcome to My Fantasy
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 12:35 PM
August 02, 2007
Strange Reflections: Welcome to My Fantasy
by Rajan Khanna
Hello and welcome to the first of what I hope will be many columns here at Your Mom's Basement looking at the world of genre fiction and related media. The motivation for this column is to expose people to offerings from the fantasy, science fiction and horror worlds, to shine a spotlight on works that might not have the reach of Tolkien, King, or Rowling.
One of my recent frustrations as a reader and writer of fantasy novels is the dismissal that many people invoke when the subject of fantasy comes up. I've heard many people say, "that's just not my thing" or "I've never read a fantasy novel that I like". However, many of these people are referencing traditional, epic or escapist fantasy when they say these things. Most people think "Lord of the Rings" or Robert Jordan rather than Phillip Pullman or Jeffrey Ford.
Many of these people are also self-proclaimed fans of books like Harry Potter, readers of comics, lovers of science fiction in television and movies. Clearly setting is an issue to some. They aren't interested in reading books about medieval situations, knights on horseback, bows and arrows. They are unaware that there is a wealth of books out there that deal with far different time frames and locales, from fantasies set in the modern day to inventive, evocative worlds such as Jeff VanderMeer's Ambergris and China Mieville's Bas-Lag.
Now I'm not going to pretend that my tastes are everybody's. You might like the things that I'll recommend, you might not. But hopefully something in here will appeal to you, or at least show you the variety the field has to offer.
The reason I've entitled this column Strange Reflections is because that's what these stories are - reflections of our world, skewed perhaps, but reflections nonetheless. A piece of fiction is not going to be successful unless it has something in it that we can relate to, an aspect of humanity that resonates with our own experience. Even if it's set in a distant galaxy with reptilian aliens or in a world where magic works and dragons are real. It's the humanity that makes it work.
Harry Potter
Last weekend saw the release of the last chapter in J. K. Rowling's hugely successful Harry Potter series, a series that has masterfully shattered boundaries of age and genre with its readers.
Still, at their heart, the Potter books draw heavily on the genre world. They are fantasy in the strictest sense, detailing a world of magic and a whole separate secret society that lives alongside our own. However, Rowling also draws on other genres, mystery in the earlier works, suspense and perhaps even horror in the latest.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ramps up the intensity for the final installment. As perhaps invoked by the title, the story is deadly, and the consequences of the return of Lord Voldemort, alluded to in previous volumes, are shown to be all too true and violent.
I won't be as unkind as some in revealing spoilers here for those of you who haven't read it (and still care), but there are deaths. And it is quite horrific in places. Gone are the touchstones that anchored previous novels. Here we are set adrift from the usual beats of a Potter book and it does help punctuate her vision of the world at that point in time. We feel a bit of what Harry is feeling, unsure of what will happen next, which of our friends will be next to fall, what the next step will be.
Rowling has taken a lot of criticism for her books, but they have to be praised for their reach. Rowling wrote enjoyable books that people like reading, regardless of whether they're about wizards or goblins or whatever. Part of that comes from the straightforward nature of the text - these are books that children can enjoy, and they're easy for adults to read on the subway or train to work. But she is also dealing with fairly universal themes and indeed drawing on the successful authors who went before her. Her latest draws quite heavily on the legacy of both Tolkien and Lewis, two authors with similar crossover potential between genre and mainstream audiences.
It's not easy to pinpoint the cause of Rowling's success (if it was, more people would replicate it), but I'd be interested in hearing what people do like (or don't like even) about the series and whether or not they think it's genre.
The Devil You Know
Many readers of the site will recognize Mike Carey's name from the comics that he's written. Lucifer and Hellblazer for Vertigo, Ultimate Fantastic Four and X-Men for Marvel.
What some readers might not know is that Carey's first novel, The Devil You Know was just released in the US. Like Harry Potter, the Devil You Know takes place in a supernatural version of our world. However, that's where the comparison ends. Carey's book is a very adult, very brutal at times novel that reads more like a thriller than it does a fantasy.
Carey's protagonist is one Felix Castor, an exorcist who, like many noir heroes, has seen better days. He starts the novel out doing work as a clown/magician at a children's party. Of course this doesn't last and he is soon embroiled in a mystery involving a female ghost.
Ghosts are what distinguishes Castor's world from our own. Like Ghostbusters, ghosts have begun appearing, though no one seems to know why. They are common enough occurrences that an exorcist is necessary.
What professes to be a simple exorcism becomes something much more complex and sinister.
What I found most interesting about Castor are the little details that Carey uses to make him unique. His 'weapon' of choice, for example, is a tin whistle. His method of exorcism is music - he 'plays' ghosts away. His nickname is Fix. He's a bit of a bastard. And he makes mistakes. Plenty of them.
The Devil You Know is a book that you can easily get immersed in, and it reads very easily, which is not to say that it's written simply, just that it is one of those books that grabs you and makes you want to barrel on through to the finish.
There are two Felix Castor books available in the UK right now with a third on the way and a fourth, I believe, behind that. That's because the concept has legs and there is plenty to explore in Castor's world.
And the novel has crossover potential all over it. It would appeal to those who like suspense books and thrillers - the supernatural aspect is fairly transparent. But it would also appeal to those who like horror and fantasy. I wouldn't be surprised if the books get optioned fairly quickly. They have cinematic potential.
I started off light with this one - neither of these books are standard genre picks. However, please check back next time when I take a look at Liz William's Snake Agent and take a quick look at the more literary side of genre fiction.
Until next time...
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 03:51 PM
May 10, 2007
REVIEW: Un Lun Dun
by Raj Khanna
China Mieville has made quite a name for himself in the fantasy world, creating intricate and imaginative universes, spelling them out with rich language and elegant prose. After novels, King Rat, and the Bas-Lag books, Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council, he has turned to a different audience with Un Lun Dun.
Un Lun Dun is his first "young adult" book, a book that he wrote specifically for young people, an attempt to join the world of such stories (for more on this, see my interview with him).
However, make no mistake - for those familiar with his other works, this is very much a China Mieville story, complete with the imaginative world, the attention to language, and the usual playfully subversive moments.
The story concerns two friends, Zanna and Deeba, who discover the existence of another world known as UnLondon. Zanna learns she is the Schwazzy, the Chosen One, and has been called upon to rid UnLondon of an entity known only as the Smog. This is how it has been written in UnLondon's prophecies. This is what its citizens expect.
Zanna and Deeba, however, are just two kids from London and they are more interested in returning home to their family and friends than getting involved in the strange occurrences in this other world. When Zanna is injured, and they are given a chance to go home, they take it.
I won't say any more about the plot as some of the fun to it is in the unexpected. As in Mieville's other works, things are not always as they seem, and he plays extensively with the tropes and trimmings of the "young adult" fantasy genre.
UnLondon is an imaginative place, a world where buses fly around suspended from balloons, where inanimate objects like umbrellas and even rubbish are alive, where rubbish bins are ninja-like defenders. In typical Mieville fashion, he is not content to pepper his world with such imaginative creations, instead he stuffs it full of them. Additionally, he has included his own sketches in the book. My advance review copy did not have the illustrations included, but they can be seen on the official website.
My only reservation with the book was that it almost seemed a little too "cute" in some places, with the worldplay, with the puns. However, I realize that I am not the audience this book was intended for. I fully believe that younger readers would be more kindly disposed towards a lot of these elements. Likewise, if you're a fan of books like Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, those elements might be right up your alley.
Ultimately, however, I think the books triumphs with its overall message. Its this which separates it from the other young adult fantasies on the market. It has real world resonance, and I would feel comfortable giving this book to anybody. Which is not to say that it's preachy - it doesn't talk at you. It is, in the end, an inclusive book, especially through Deeba's character. In books like Harry Potter, as enjoyable as they may be, the reader can only look upon that world - they will never be a wizard. In Un Lun Dun, there is far more accessibility. While the reader may not truly visit that world, they can certainly relate to Deeba's character.
Discuss this article in our forum.
See our interview with China Mieville at the 2007 NYCC.
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 09:00 AM
March 01, 2007
NYCC: China Miéville
Part 1
Part 2
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 09:30 AM
February 28, 2007
NYCC: Greg Pak
Part 1
Part 2
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 12:00 PM
NYCC: Dan DiDio
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 11:45 AM
NYCC: Christos Gage
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 11:30 AM
NYCC: Brian Wood
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 11:15 AM
NYCC: Percy Carey and Ron Wimberly
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 11:00 AM
July 20, 2006
Interview: Tad Williams - The Next
by Rajan Khanna
Tad Williams is an enormously successful, bestselling fantasy author (Tailchaser's Song, Otherland, Shadowmarch) who recently made his foray into comics with a 6-issue miniseries for DC Comics, called "The Next". Issue 1 is on the stands now. We talked to Tad regarding this series and other upcoming comics work.
1. For those who haven't read the first issue yet, who are the Next and what are they the next of?
The Next are young people from our future (except a little sideways.) Maybe it's better to say they're from one possible future. They're running away from their rather oppressive government, the Iron Ring, but are forced to make an unplanned stop in our time and reality.
2. Old time members of your message board, Shadowmarch, recall that you grew up a fan of the Marvel Universe. What made you go to DC with this concept?
I approached DC originally with a radical re-launch of Captain Marvel Junior (because they own the Big Red Cheese) which didn't work out because of other things going on with the property. But it led to conversations and me sending other proposals. They liked THE NEXT so we went from there.
3. As a writer of large fantasy novels, how was it switching to comic
scripts? Was it something you enjoyed or was it challenging?
It's actually a relief to write short, and also to be able to leave
so much of the work to the talented people drawing the comics.
4. Do you think that prose writers are more or less suited to writing comics?
Well, as with anything else, it's how well you adapt to the change of
medium. I'm wordier than your average comic book writer because I'm a wordy writer in general. That may drive some comic readers crazy. Then again, you won't feel like you paid for a book that was all illustrations and only about three lines of dialogue that you finish in thirty seconds...
5. How was your experience working with artists, Dietrich Smith and Walden Wong?
Great. I only worked directly with Dietrich, who I thought did
really nifty work. As I'm looking at the proofs (I just proofed
number 3) I'm appreciating what he did more and more. You've
reminded me that I need to call him or drop him an email and tell him again what nice stuff he did. (He can pass along my similar
sentiments to Walden and Rob Leigh, the letterer, and Chris Chuckry, the colorist, who all did excellent work.)
6. Superman appears in this series, and is even featured on the cover of the first issue. Was it always your intention to set the mini in the DC universe or was that something that came about afterward?
No, that sprang from a concern on DC's part that they wouldn't be
able to sell the comic at all without someone recognizable in it, so
they asked me if I could put Superman in. I felt as though I was
being offered the keys to Dad's expensive car. Yeah, take the big
guy out for a test drive? Sure! I promise I won't scratch him up
too much.
7. Did you have to do any research into the DC Universe to prepare for this series?
Not this one so much, because it's fairly self-contained, but the
next project I'm working on (THE FACTORY) is chockablock with
connections into the mainstream DCU. Also, me being me, I'm looking into some of the more obscure corners of it, and resurrecting some of the more obscure characters.
8. Are there any other guest stars that we can expect to see?
I think the only "real" DCU characters in THE NEXT are Superman and Metron, but we will definitely see a great deal more of both of them.
9. The Next is a 6-issue series. Any plans to revisit the title if there is interest down the road? Or is this a self-contained idea?
I'd love it if there was interest in continuing THE NEXT. Although
the minseries has what I think is a quite satisfying conclusion, I've
left it so that it can go forward from there if anyone so desires.
10. Back in our first interview with you, you mentioned a second project with DC. Is that still progressing? Any information that you can share with us?
Yes, as described above, it's called THE FACTORY, and we're only
really trying to settle on how long it will be, six or twelve issues.
The basic premise is that it's the (secret) location where beginning
supervillains break in, where henchfolk are trained and hired, etc.
But if course the minseries will have its own very complex story
featuring some pretty well-known DCU characters and more than a few surprises. One in particular will answer a major fanboy question and -- I hope -- create a major villain for years to come.
11. Are there any established comic properties that you'd like to take a crack at? Any artists that you would love to work with in the future?
At DC, I'd love to have a shot at making Martian Manhunter something really interesting (to me.) I think I could do some interesting things with some Marvel characters as well -- Daredevil, Iron Man, Captain America -- but I also like to invent new characters, especially villains.
12. Any other plans to do more comic work, either directly written by you, or adapted from your fiction, like the Burning Man?
Other than THE FACTORY, and a one-shot IBIS story as part of DC's 52 (which I haven't started writing yet so I can't say anything intelligent about it), who knows? I still have all that other writing to do, too, which at last count was about four books in progress and two awaiting publication.
I tell my kids, "What do you mean, you're bored? I'd pay MONEY to be bored!"
Thank to Tad for this interview. I urge people to go out and pick up this series and give it a shot. You will certainly get your money's worth.
Check out our prior interview with Tad Williams.
Discuss this article on our message board.
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 01:34 PM
September 14, 2005
Review: Anansi Boys
by Rajan Khanna
Sometimes I hate Neil Gaiman. As a writer, what bothers me the most is the seeming ease with which he tells stories. It's obvious that he's a natural storyteller, with what feels like the perfect authorial voice. That natural ease and fitting voice are showcased very nicely in his latest novel, Anansi Boys.
Anansi Boys is the story of a man called Fat Charlie, and yet it is also the story of Anansi, because as Gaiman tells us, all stories are Anansi stories*. Some people have been calling this book a sequel to American Gods, but to paraphrase Gaiman, it's a story that has a character who also appeared in American Gods. So they share the same world but they aren't necessarily connected.
That character is the aforementioned Anansi, the Spider God, the trickster, introduced in American Gods as Mr. Nancy. The book opens with Fat Charlie Nancy, his son - an average guy with a crappy job, a mundane life, a fear of being noticed, and a fiancée who won't sleep with him. Fat Charlie has had a troubled relationship with his father, but after much agonizing decides to invite him to the upcoming wedding only to find out that his father is dead. As the story unfolds, Charlie starts to realize that there is more to his life than he knew, and learns of the unique peculiarities of his family.
I won't say anymore so as not to spoil it for anyone, but Gaiman calls on the rich tradition of African myths and weaves them seamlessly into Charlie's story. Again, he modifies his voice as he tells these stories so they feel more authentic and natural. While these myths and stories could seem jarring, they integrate well into the story, helping to illuminate parts of it, helping to give it more background.
This is Neil Gaiman by way of Kurt Vonnegut. That's not a comparison that I've made before, but the humorous tone of the book, the aggregation of coincidence, they all gave the book a Vonnegut vibe. I suppose it's not surprising. Both authors have such unique voices. You generally know when you're reading a Vonnegut book. Gaiman's voice is a different one, but similarly unique and present. That's not to say that all of his books sound the same, but they all have a certain Gaiman-ness to them that adapts to fit the tone of the book.
It's such an easy read that I found myself unable to put it down. It was one of those books where I kept telling myself, "Just one more chapter, one more..." It's light reading, not because it's lacking substance or content, but because it's so damn entertaining. And part of that is due to the humor in the book. This is a funny book - not in the same vein as, say, Terry Pratchett - but there are some parts that may make you laugh out loud. I have a sometimes difficult relationship with 'funny' books - they have a tendency to leave me cold. This one worked; the humor was natural, coming from the situations which, while including gods and strange animals and magic, are often those that we can relate to.
And yet it's not all humor. There's some mystery in the book, a touch of creepy horror. There's romance and crime. And of course, magic. We are talking about Neil Gaiman here. He somehow manages to keep the magic understated while still maintaining a sense of wonder with it. He is, essentially, remaking myths for a modern tale.
My only criticism of the book, if pressed, would be that I never really felt a true sense of menace, and much of the ending of the book was telegraphed earlier on. However, this never really bothered me. The story never bogs down and I kept on reading, wanting to get to the end, wanting to see if it was what I was expecting.
I loved American Gods, and it might be my favorite of Neil Gaiman's prose works, but I had much more fun reading Anansi Boys. I get the feeling that Gaiman had more fun writing it, too.
Anansi Boys is scheduled for release on Tuesday, September 20 at a bookseller near you.
* The stories used to belong to someone else, but you'll have to find out who in the book.
Discuss this article on our message board.
Posted by YourMomsBasement at 11:12 AM
August 17, 2005
The World of Takeshi Kovacs
by Rajan Khanna
I first picked up Altered Carbon based on a recommendation by Jeff VanderMeer. It was billed as a noir/cyberpunk blend, a thriller that was already optioned by Hollywood. It took me a while to get around to reading it (as it often does), but once I finally did, I was hooked. I was commuting at the time and I remember being hugely disappointed having to put the book down to get off the train. I devoured it, and yet I had to sometimes force myself to slow down because I wanted it to last longer.
It was an extremely easy read, but not at all because it was simple or shallow fluff. Morgan opens up with a tantalizing taste of the world of Takeshi Kovacs, a brief exposure to this damaged man, and then you are swept along in a thrilling and complex story, all the while navigating the hairpin turns and jagged edges of the future world that Morgan has created.
It is a world of spacecraft, of planetary colonization and biomodification, and yet it is a world that's still familiar to the reader, one that is firmly planted in the street level grime and corruption of our present world.
The central technology at the heart of the Kovacs novels is the sleeving technology which encodes the personality on a digital level, allowing one's very essence to be downloaded into a body or sleeve. Death, true death at least, is rare for most because the cortical stack containing that person's data is usually recovered and the individual downloaded into a new sleeve. This creates a rather distinct separation between the mind and body, with bodies becoming interchangeable parts that one does not get too attached to.
Dwelling in this world of mix and match parts is Takeshi Kovacs, a former Envoy, a type of diplomatic supersoldier trained in skills both social and martial. Kovacs is a damaged man, and while his physical scars disappear with every new sleeve, the mental scars remain. He is a classic antihero, uncomfortable with authority, violent, brutal and sadistic while also remaining passionate, compassionate, and not without a sense of honor, and his own moral view of the world.
In Altered Carbon, Kovacs first appearance, Takeshi is sleeved into another man's body, his task to unravel the apparent suicide of one of San Francisco's wealthy elite, hired by the man who committed suicide himself. Kovacs must play the part of detective, all the while evading the attempts of people who don't want him to know the truth, facing threats connected to his past, navigating a seedy sexual world. It's a mystery, a thriller, part cyberpunk, part noir, part sci-fi and completely absorbing.
In Kovacs' second outing, Broken Angels, the action takes place offworld, on Sanction IV, a world torn by war. Kovacs is acting the part of mercenary now until a unique offer comes his way and he has to decide whether or not to take it. Unlike Altered Carbon, Broken Angels is a switch in gears from the environment to the tone and mood of the book. Takeshi is still front and center, but there is more of an ensemble cast and rather than a mystery this one draws more from science fiction/horror hybrids. Still there, though is the irrepressible personality of Kovacs and the bureaucratic corruption that is a common thread to these books.
In the third and final (for now) Kovacs novel (see Morgan's own announcement in our recent interview), Morgan returns Takeshi to his homeworld bringing the story full circle and bringing dangling plot threads to bear in whip-like fashion.
You might think that a world where death is so impermanent that it would rob the story of some sense of threat or danger, but such is not the case. Death still hurts and still wields tremendous power over the mind (as witnessed beautifully in Broken Angels). And since death is something that is usually repairable, true death, the death of one's digital information, seems all the more final.
Of course the sleeving technology brings up all kinds of other ramifications. Are bodies mere vehicles for our personalities that can be changed as often as one changes cars? Or is there something of the body itself that can bring itself to bear on the mind? Morgan touches on this in the first novel.
Then there are numerous other technological achievements to speak of, some based around this idea of sleeves. If bodies are mere shells or vehicles, why not customize them for function? In Kovacs' world, bodies are grown, tailored to specific tasks. Military sleeves contain state of the art neurachem, enhanced nervous systems with precise control over muscle response and reflexes. Some have bioplates, actual hardware inside the body that interfaces with weapons. Bodies can be built to order, especially in the world that Kovacs inhabits, a world of violence and black ops.
And these bodies don't just come in black and white. One of the great things about the Kovacs novels are how multicultural they are. Extrapolating from our present day, Kovacs' world is filled with Maori combat sleeves and every culture and color that you could think of. Takeshi Kovacs himself is part Japanese, part Eastern European. This is nothing new in science fiction, this multicultural future, but Morgan makes it seem natural, and divorces it from one's cultural identity. How can you be connected to a particular skin color when one day you can have white skin, and the next it's black.
There are more technological innovations, of course. Sometimes Morgan mentions things in throwaway lines that might deserve chapters if not their own books. Some might find this frustrating, but for me it creates this integrated sense of a larger world. As a reader you feel that there, on the periphery, is a huge, panoramic world. You're just too focused on the path in front of you (Kovacs' path), and delightfully helpless to stop and take a look around.
But all is not technological innovation. Kovacs' future is a bleak one, with the same divides of wealth and status, the same overbearing authority, the same threat (perhaps increased) of war. Despite the advancements that technology has given them, the same ills of the modern world have been intensified. Corporations run rampant, grinding up the common man in their endlessly revolving gears. Politicians make decisions, swayed by money and influence, that wreck innocent lives. Wars are decided in a boardrooms far away from the dying men and women enlisted to fight them. Where people should soar, lifted up by advancements in medicine and technology, they instead are crushed under the oppressive weight of ideology, corruption, and greed.
Is it any wonder, then, that we side with the antihero, the violent, sadistic bastard who steps up and looks these people in the eye before kicking them in the balls? Is it any wonder that we cheer as the rogue Envoy takes on anyone in his way as he tries for the big score? Hell no. We applaud him, and his violent ways, as our proxy in this bleak and morally barren world. He is our champion, the only kind such a world can support. Won't you give him your favor?
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Posted by YourMomsBasement at 07:45 PM
August 04, 2005
Interview with Tad Williams
by Rajan Khanna
Tad Williams is a New York Times and London Sunday Times bestselling author of fantasy and science fiction, with novels published in twenty languages and a global readership. He hosted a syndicated radio show for over a decade, co-created the first completely interactive television program, and has worked in many forms of media, including film-making, theatre, television, and singing for several years in a rock n roll band. He lives quietly with his wife, children and cats in the redwood mountains above Silicon Valley. He writes at least one novel a year: his form is the epic, and Tad writes long, multi-book series.
In June 2001, Tad began a project called Shadowmarch, an online novel available by subscription, with new chapters being released twice a month. Unfortunately, the experiment (the first of its kind at that scale) was not successful enough to continue. Fortunately, that story, fleshed out in more detail, is now available in book form, the first of a several volume series.
RK: You're mostly known for long works of fiction. Even your stand alone novel, War of the Flowers, was a big book. Why do you think your writing lends itself to the long form and what are the advantages and disadvantages? Is it in any way influenced by your audience and the expectations of your readers?
TW: I can't say that I set out to write a particular size of book, it's just that some ideas are obviously longer and more complicated than others. (The obvious example being something like OTHERLAND.) I just want to tell the story at the length that seems right. Because Theo's story in FLOWERS was going to be almost entirely his viewpoint, as in TAILCHASER'S SONG, it seemed like a standalone.
My readers will obviously tolerate, and some may actually prefer, big books, but that's more the result of my approach, that I've found readers like that, rather than any attempt on my part to write any particular sort of thing.
RK: As someone who's written for a variety of media - novels, screenplays, comics, and others - do you find that you have to change the way you work or are you basically using the same 'muscles' for everything?
TW: The creativity muscles are the same, but, as with different sports, which ones get used most differs. Short works are all about fast-twitch, doing a lot quickly, whether in a short story by being more poetic and less expository, or in a film script by being more
action-oriented. A long novel, on the other hand, allows me to stretch out, to develop things slowly, especially plots and character development, and to bring in lots of small details that add to the symbolic patterns of the work.
RK: What is your writing routine like? Do you write every day? Are you an outliner? Do you play dialogue out in your head?
TW: I try to write every day, but in practice it doesn't always work out. I do more work in my head than most people -- I don't outline that much, but I work things through while I'm driving around, sitting and staring, etc., then write for fairly intense stretches of a couple of hours. A working day for me might be four to six hours of thinking while I do other things, then two or three hours of actual keyboard-punching.
RK: The idea for Shadowmarch was ambitious and experimental. Even though it (unfortunately) didn't work out the way that you'd planned, what did you take away from it? Did it in any way influence the way you write?
TW: I think it reinforced certain things I already did, namely that I trust my instincts (or subconscious, or Muse, or whatever you want to call it) to not get me into situations I can't get out of. In fact, my subconscious is usually much more creative than my conscious mind, and puts things together in a much more elegant way than if I tried
to force a completely intellectual solution.
Ultimately writing is a rather grand combination of plagiarism and invention, and the plagiarism part works best when you can cast through all the ideas you've seen and heard, real and fictional, and pick and choose and reassemble. Usually that works best at the level below conscious thought (although the conscious editing brain is important to make sure you're not repeating yourself, or using something too similar to someone else's reality or invention.)
RK: Would you ever try anything that experimental again? Are there any other ideas like that waiting in the wings?
TW: I've love to do more experimenting -- I'd enjoy writing a Douglas Adams style comedy, for instance, and publish it online. We'll see. I've got a lot of ambitions, and I have to ration them out, because most of them won't make any money, and I do have all those bills to pay, children to feed, stuff like that...
RK: You've been all over the genre map, writing animal fantasies, virtual reality stories, fantasy epics, and urban fantasies. Do you ever see yourself writing more mainstream works, perhaps shedding the genre label for a time? Why or why not?
TW: I'd be perfectly happy to write mainstream, but I don't think it will ever happen. First of all, I love the people I write for -- the readers of SF and Fantasy -- who will let me do pretty much anything I want as long as it's interesting. Second, it makes the publishers REALLY nervous. I'm at an age and career-point where writers start to repeat themselves, so I don't want to do that, but I don't necessarily want to alienate my editors and regular readers, either. I'm not stupid, whatever the rumors say.
RK: What was the best advice on writing that you've received?
TW: I don't remember who specifically said this, but I admire the person who said that writer's block is a crisis of confidence, not talent, and that if you don't panic, it'll resolve. I believe that firmly, and I've never had anything like writer's block. When I have to stop
for a little while, it's because I've got something that's not ready to be written. I just go write something else for a few days. It helps that I'm not one of those writers who feels too strongly that my own self-worth is being judged every time I write something.
RK: You've written comics before - any plans to venture back into that arena? Any dream projects you'd like to tackle?
TW: I have a comic coming out from DC sometime in the next year -- they're trying to get some of the last art issues resolved -- called THE NEXT, and I hope to be doing something else for them after that, possibly called THE FACTORY.
RK: You're a writer, a musician, you've worked in television and radio - are there any other areas you'd want to branch out into, any waters you'd like to test?
TW: I'd LOVE to go back to painting. I wouldn't mind playing music again regularly, too -- even just doing cover songs with a bar band. But painting is what I dream about. When the kids are a little older, perhaps, and the pull of parenthood isn't quite so constant.
RK: After the upcoming Shadowmarch releases, what can we expect from you?
TW: I'm currently in love with a project called (will almost certainly change) ARJUNA RISING, which is a science fiction story with galactic war, superheroes, and big chunks of the Mahabharata (the ILIAD of India), as well as a certain debt to Zelazny's LORD OF LIGHT and similar books. It's about Belief versus Reason, and seems like a lot
of fun.
I also have A CHRONICLE IN STONE on the burner, which is the promised semi-sequel to MEMORY, SORROW, AND THORN. And I'd like to do my fantasy/mystery, Heaven-and-Hell Cold War story, THE CHOIR INVISIBLE, too, if I can find the time.
RK: We've been hearing for a while now that the audience for fantasy and SF novels is shrinking, that the audience of comics is shrinking, and that nobody goes to see the movies anymore. Is it all doom and gloom? Your take?
TW: I don't know. I'm just writing stuff and, for now, enough people are buying it that I can keep writing it. Thinking about it any deeper than that gives me the collywobbles. That's my wife's job, and my agent's. (My wife is an ex-publisher, and pretty much keeps her fingers on the business side of things for us.)
RK: Recommend to our readers some of your recent favorites - books, movies, music, whatever.
TW: Music (newish albums): Beck, Mos Def, Fountains of Wayne, Missy Elliot, Secret Machines, Gorillaz
Movies: Nothing earth-shattering.
Books: OLYMPOS, FREAKONOMICS, KAFKA ON THE SHORE, tons of mythology
ART: Howard Finster
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Posted by YourMomsBasement at 10:03 AM
July 17, 2005
Interview with Tim Truman
by Rajan Khanna
Tim Truman is a veteran writer and artist. From his time with First Comics in the 80's, where he helped co-create Grimjack, he has been bringing us unique visions of worlds and characters not typical in the comic industry. Truman created Scout for Eclipse Comics, retold the origin of Hawkman in DC's Hawkworld, and told the historical account of Simon Girty in Wilderness. He's equally adept at doing westerns (The Kents, Jonah Hex), science fiction (Star Wars), and dinosaurs (Turok). In addition, he has done illustrations roleplaying games and for musicians such as the Grateful Dead. Tim also teaches at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, teaching courses in Illustration and Sequential Art.
Tim's current work includes Grimjack: Killer Instinct, from IDW, and upcoming Conan work from Dark Horse.
Tim is a very nice guy as I learned when I met him at Wizardworld Philadelphia, and he kindly agreed to answer some questions for us.
1. You're an accomplished artist, and yet many people have also come to respect your writing as demonstrated on such titles as Scout, Wilderness and Hawkworld. How did you get into writing your own works?
I'd always wanted to write, just like I'd always wanted to draw. The drives to do each has always been the same. Most good comic book artists ARE writers, to a degree. The good ones that don't have specific literary skills most certainly have storytelling skills. In my case, when I was a kid, I would write prose for a few hours then draw for a few hours. Later, I would write, then draw, then spend hours playing the guitar. I had to do all three, and for a long time it was a struggle trying to figure out which one I'd try to make a profession of. Luckily, comics offered me the advantage of being able to both write and/or draw a story. Will Eisner once told my class at the Kubert School during a presentation he was giving that comics are the most sophisticated and complicated artform that one person can get into, because the form encompasses so many separate disciplines. It sounds self-righteous, I guess, but hey, he was absolutely right.
2. When writing projects that you are also illustrating, do you even bother to write out a script? How does that work?
Yes, because the editor likes to see a script. So I'll either do a full plot for them to read-- "Marvel style", as they say. I did my Scout scripts that way. Or sometimes just go ahead and do a full script for myself. The full scripts I do for myself won't have the kind of super-specific details that I'd give to another artist to draw, but they have to be tight enough to impress the editor.
I've often wanted to start from a blank page, with no idea in mind, and see what would develop. Giraud tried that in the 1970's -- as a go-for-broke, stream of consciousness artistic experiment-- and it was the key to his becoming "Mobius". And when Joe Lansdale writes his scripts, he sort of wings it like that, without much of an outline, and let the characters and situation develop into a story. He's great at it-- a natural storytelling conduit. However, my stuff is usually too researched to do that. I like to get an idea, do research, look for a theme or a hook that the story can and then let something develop from that.
In any case, editors and publishers like to see where you're taking a story or property, so most demand some sort of synopsis or outline up front. That's OK with me, because it fits well with how I develop a tale anyway.
3. Is it more difficult to write for other people to illustrate? Do you have greater expectations about how things will look?
Not really. The only difficulty comes when I don't know the person I'm working with, or when the book changes artists after I'm a few issues into it. That's really a horror, because I try to write for the artist. It's a really fun collaboration when you're working with someone whom you respect, or whom you've been anxious to do something with. Working with Paul Gulacy and Rags Morales on Turok was were my favorite experiences, as was working with Scott Eaton on Creature Commandos. Scott's a perfect example of what I mean when I say that I write for an artist. I wrote the first script of Creature Commandos without knowing who would be the artist, just an idea of the style I wanted to see. Scott came into the picture while I was scripting issue 2. So you can almost see this leap take place in the writing between issues 1 and 2. Issue 2 really catches fire, because I had Scott's character sheets in hand. I had an idea what the people in the story looked like and I had a better idea what the thing might look like, visually.
John K Snyder III and I had a ton of fun on Prowler. It was a dream come true working with one of my best and oldest friends, Tom Yeates, on Tarzan Vs. the Moon Men.
The roughest experience I ever had was on some of my Star Wars stories. The original artist for the series blew the deadlines on the very first issue of my run, and after that there was this endless series of fill-in and catch-up artists. It was very heartbreaking, because I was writing stories that I was extremely proud of. The fans liked the books, and I became one of the series' favorite writers, but it was heartbreaking and frustrating, nonetheless, because I like to write for an artist and get in sync with what they're doing.
4. As an artist you've worked with some great writers such as John Ostrander and Joe Lansdale. What kinds of things have you picked up from them?
From John, the best thing I picked up was that each character should have their own special voice-- a vocal style, a dialect, a way of saying things that sets them apart from the other characters. That was a big revelation when John told me that. Few writers do it. John is great at it. Also, when working together John and I had the mutual revelation that the action stories that people enjoy most are the ones that also have a healthy dose of humor.
The thing I picked up from Joe by working with him was to keep things rolling. Joe has such a brilliant pacing style. Also, most recently, that you should think of something that your readers might expect the character to do, then do something else. Twist things 90 degrees and do the unexpected. That's why Joe's stories are always so interesting--something really unexpected and strange is always happening to the characters. Joe deplores the obvious.
Ostrander and Lansdale are my brothers. When I work with either of them we become these mutant artistic extensions of each other. We get so in sync with each other, it's scary. But way fun. Always.
5. You've been busy lately as an artist, most recently with Grimjack and now working on Conan. Any plans to write anytime soon? Any projects in mind that are just waiting for the right time?
Since 2003 or so, I've been working on a big project called Odin the Wanderer. It started out as a children's book idea, but has since turned into a concept that would basically be an illustrated book that children and adults could enjoy. Comics cross over like that, and I think that prose books can, too. I work on the book whenever I get some time. If anyone wants to see samples of that I've done thus far, go to my website, http://www.timothytruman.com and hit the "Odin Gallery" button. There's also a draft for one of the chapters, too. I'd like to do Odin as three books-- the old fantasy trilogy thing, doncha know: Odin the Wanderer, Odin the Warrior and Odin the King. I've had some interest from publishers, but finding the right one will be the chore. Mike Gold is repping the project for me as a book, and Ken Levine, our Grimjack partner in Hollywood, will rep movie rights. Ken is the guy who sold "Road to Perdition" and Hellboy" to studios. Both are great guys to have on your side.
Writing-wise, Odin's the main project, and it's a real dream project. I'd like to return to Scout at some point, for a miniseries or graphic novel, but I imagine we'll do another Grimjack miniseries before that, which we're hoping to start after I complete my Conan projects.
Other than Conan, art-wise, I pitched John Ostrander and Mike Gold an idea do a special graphic novel about St. John of Knives and St. Dryden, two demon-slaying outlaw priests who are mentioned in the Grimjack: Killer Instinct miniseries. I'd love to get into that. The story would take place during an earlier time in Cynosure-- if such a thing as "an earlier time" can indeed exist in that multi-dimensional place. I visualize it as a sort of "Victorian Era" Cynosure, before the Demon Wars. I think it would give us a chance to expand the borders of the Cynosure mythos a bit. I'd love to hear what fans think of the idea.
6. Which of your works, as a writer, are you the most proud of and why?
Scout and Wilderness, of course. I'm real proud of Hawkworld, too-- there's some good commentary about heroes and society in it, but it's nicely encased in an adventure story. I think Dragon Chiang is my best writing, dialogue and caption-wise. It's like a big rock opera. It's been interesting that some people have recently leaving posts at my message board at my website which note that the global industrial picture that I envisioned in Dragon Chiang-- the fact that China would become a huge industrial giant-- is coming to pass. (Note: Anyone who wants to check out Wilderness and Dragon Chiang can pick them up at "Timbomart" at Tim's website.)
I must say that Creature Commandos, Black Lamb, and Guns of the Dragon have a real special place in my heart, because I was so tremendously pleased with them when I wrote them yet they didn't sell very well. Argh!
Gee, that doesn't leave out much, does it? Sounds like I'm cheating a bit on your question, I'm sure. I've been unusually lucky throughout most of my career in that most of the stuff I've done has been miniseries and special projects, so I've been able to write stories that I really felt inspired to do.
7. Which of your works, as an artist, are you the most proud of and why?
Without a doubt, comics-wise, this new Grimjack stuff. I've always hated looking at my own work. All I see is the deficiencies. But over the last two or three years I've felt like I've finally been getting where I want to go. Editors who haven't seen my work in awhile have really seemed to be amazed. They've commented on how much my technique has changed and improved and that's felt great. Four things happened: a- I started teaching, and that made me want to live up to my own lessons. Plus, it put me back into an environment where people are constantly learning and experimenting; b- I got glasses. My eyesight isn't that bad at all, but the glasses made a nice difference. I was always used to having perfect 20/20 vision, so things snuck up on me and I wasn't really aware that my vision had changed a bit; c- I got diagnosed with ADHD about 5 years or so ago. I was off the charts-- 98th percentile!-- and I'd been operating that way for more than forty years. I was always so impatient and tended to rush through things. Getting treated for ADHD helped me settle down, relax and focus on my artwork more, so I can concentrate on my work. It's been amazing. Finally, there's d- I took a needed break from comics for a few years at about the time I started teaching and made an effort to do more illustration jobs. So I did a ton of single illustrations, book covers and CD jackets and used them to refine my technique. I discovered that in comics, I'd been depending on a lot of shortcuts and doing some really half-assed drawing, but my storytelling and layout techniques always overcame my drawing deficiencies. When I started doing single illustrations, it gave me a chance to really concentrate on each and every drawing so I learned to tighten things up a bit. Also, it gave me a chance to experiment with different black and white and painting techniques. I developed a new painting technique that felt really comfortable to me, using a mixture of fully-toned graphite drawings and Peerless watercolors. Peerless is a watercolor system that was developed for photo retouching.
Besides comics, I've done a lot of book covers and CD jacket illustrations that I'm real proud of. The best of these can be seen at my website-- look in the galleries. My favorites are the cover to Joe R. Lansdale's novel "Flaming London", the cover to Norm Partridge's short story collection "Mr. Fox" (these can be seen in the "Illustration Gallery"), and a CD cover that I did for country singer Jim Lauderdale (which can be seen in the "Rock 'n' Roll Art Gallery"). I'm also quite proud of the cover I did for Issue #1 of Grimjack: Killer Instinct. When I look at these four paintings, I can enjoy them on a weird level-- almost as if they were done by someone else. That's never really happened to me before.
And of course there's the Odin stuff, which really represents where I'd like to take my work. I made real breakthroughs, stylistically, when I started on that project. We'll see where it goes.
8. What's it like working on Grimjack again?
Well, I've finished art for the entire series, and it was a fantastic experience-- working with John Ostrander and our old editor and Mike Gold again, getting to draw Grimjack again-- who, of all the characters I've ever done, was always the most comfortable and natural one for me to draw-- and doing it in my "new improved" art style, with the added advantage of me being able to scan my own work.
Doing Grimjack was like coming home. I missed the book and character tremendously. The characters and the locations are so easy for me to visualize and put down on paper. I love Grimjack, and I absolutely love working with John.
9. Are you happy with the book's reception? Where would you like to see it go from here?
The response from fans and retailers has been almost 100% positive. I think I've only read one so-so review. It's been really gratifying. The plans are to start work on a new series early next year, after I take my long-anticipated trip with Conan into Hyborea.
10. Tell us a little about your upcoming work on Conan. Were you a fan of the Howard stories? Have you changed your style for the work?
I'm an unrepentant, unreconstructed Robert E. Howard Conan fanboy. Have been since 1970, when I bought the Lancer edition of "Conan the Conqueror". Conan had perhaps the biggest impact on me than any character or concept I've ever come into contact with. Howard's stories and Frazetta's covers literally shaped me and made me-- they formed the mold that all my other influences got poured into. Howard's Conan stories have influenced every hero I've ever created and every story I've ever done. So working on the character is in every way a dream come true. I was born to draw the character, but except for a pitifully executed 8 pager that I did for Marvel many years ago I've never had the chance to.
I'm glad it's happening now, though. In may ways, I don't think I was up to the task, artistically, before now. My drawing chops are so much better now , so I feel more comfortable doing the project that I might have felt even two or three years ago.
A lot of fantastic artists have done Conan. I especially love what Barry Smith did, especially his later stuff-- Red Nails, Hawks of the Sea, and the Song of Red Sonja stories. Those were a huge, huge influence on me. However, though I loved the drawing, when I compared his drawing with Howard's writing, I never felt he was really doing REH's Conan. It was Barry Smith's Conan.
Buscema I loved, too, especially when he was inking himself. He had this magic way of doing Conan's anatomy. His Conan never looked entirely like a weight-lifter, you know? He looks like a big, very well-defined strongman. And Buscema's abilities with facial expressions and body language are things of glory. Absolutely unreal. (By the way, I'm hunting for a copy of Buscema's "Conan the Rogue" graphic novel, if anyone out there has an extra!)
My very favorite Conan by far is Neal Adams' version. His "Curse of the Golden Skull" and those precious few pages that he was able to do complete on his own for Savage Sword of Conan are really high water marks. He and Mike Ploog, who did an astounding King Kull adaptation for one of the Marvel black and whites, might be the only artists out there who really, really understand what Howard was doing and what Frazetta tapped into.
I was blown away by the illustrations that Mark Schultz and Gary Gianni did on the new reprint editions. They're fantastic, aren't they? I really liked what my buddy Gary Kwapicz did with the series, when he was inking his own work, and it would have been real interesting to see what he would have done without the Marvel/Buscema model. And Cary Nord and Dave Stewart have done some really striking work on the new series.
Love all these guys as I might, I have to reluctantly confess that I never, ever got that nearly religious surge from their work that I felt the day I first encountered Robert Howard and Frazetta's Conan. No one ever really nailed that vibe, although, like I say, Neal Adams always comes really, really close.
My personal goal is not to compete with anyone, because that would be impossible, given some of the people who have been connected to the character in the past. I'm approaching the Conan projects with a sickening reverence. This is my own little artistic pilgrimage to the holy Robert E. Howard Mecca. It's a personal test, and I'm intent on making it a personal best.
Working with Kurt Busiek should be fun-- I'll be doing two issues of the regular book, as well as a miniseries that's separate from the main title, which will be written by Joe R. Lansdale. Kurt talked on the phone the other day and got along great. We're into a lot of the same stuff, as it turns out. He's a Norse myths freak, too, for one thing.
And I'm real anxious to Work with Dave Stewart, the colorist. The digital painting techniques that Dave has developed have been really groundbreaking. I don't think many people realize that. So Dave and I will be trying to come up with a style that will mesh the best of what he does with some finishing techniques I've been wanting to get into.
As far as working with Lansdale again, what can I say?
In any case, I promised (editor) Scott Allie that I wouldn't give away too many nitty gritty little details about the series now, because Dark Horse wants to time the announcements just right for press releases and such. Keep your eyes on my website for news, though.
11. In the current market, which creators and projects tickle your fancy? Why?
I love Walking Dead-- I just discovered that book a few months ago, though it's been out for awhile. Great story, good writing and really good layouts and storytelling. I like the Goon, especially the early, self-published editions. Fun story and really cool inking technique. I love and have always loved Hellboy. Mignola's work astounds me. Mike is such a nice guy. I always feel nervous and stupid when I'm around him because I'm so awed by his command of the medium. Really silly, because Mike is so approachable and self-effacing. There are other things out there-- the stuff the Kubert brothers do, Jan Duursema's and John Ostrander's Star Wars, David Finch's work. I'll just stop there because I'm sure I'm going to get someone miffed at me for not mentioning them.
12. You're a writer, an artist, and a musician. Where does all your creativity come from? Could you give any of them up?
Man, I don't know. Maybe if I concentrated on one thing I could do it better! I've just always been that way. I serve the spirits of creativity, I reckon. I'm compelled to have a go at all three things with equal interest, devotion and enthusiasm. I can't help it. I could
never, ever give any of them up. If I did, I wouldn't be me. Lord help us all.
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Posted by YourMomsBasement at 07:36 PM
June 07, 2005
Indulging My Inner Geek: Wizardworld Philadelphia
By Rajan Khanna
March of the DAMNED
In some ways, comic conventions such as Wizardworld Philadelphia are some of my favorite conventions of all. I've been to gaming conventions, sci-fi and fantasy conventions, and yet none are as all-encompassing as comic conventions are. There are plenty of comic-related events and attractions, of course - and most of the panels deal with comics - but the modern comic convention has really become a multi-media event with anime, games, toys, movies, and television falling within the envelope.
I didn't attend any panels, and I don't have any comic news or gossip to impart. For that I'll refer you to Newsarama or The Pulse or CBR. Instead I generally walked around, trying to absorb as much of the con as I could.
Team Grimjack
One of the major draws of this con for me, aside from the fact that many of my friends were going, was that the Grimjack team was going - John Ostrander, Tim Truman, and Mike Gold all together in one place. I wasn't able to make their panel in the morning (damn you, public transportation) but I was able to catch up with them at their table in Artist's Alley. Grimjack has always been my favorite comic/comic character of all time and his recent return in a mini and trades from IDW has been something I'd been waiting for a long time.
I'd also been waiting to meet Tim Truman for a long time. I'd met John Ostrander before (a great writer and wonderful person), but this was my first time meeting Tim Truman. He was nice and congenial and funny and agreed to do a sketch for me and send it to me (something I've wanted for a long time). All in all, they're all a talented bunch and their comic is, in my opinion, one of the best things out there. I heartily recommend it to anyone.
YOU KIDS GO PLAY OUTSIDE!
The PSP Seduction
Wizardworld Philly was also my first introduction to the PSP. Sure, I'd seen them on the subway, and yes, I was curious, but the con was my first time holding one in my hands. The shiny screen, the glossy surface, the impeccable graphics - they all grabbed hold of my instantly. Like some kind of digital magpie, I'm often drawn to things electronic and shiny, but this one seems to deserve it. I have a Nintendo DS, I like Nintendo a lot, but the Sony PSP is a Dodge Viper to the DS's Honda Element.
Dressing Up
BAH! Doom cares not for your 'dignity!'
Cons typically have people in costume, often dressed as their favorite comic character or other geek archetype. This year I saw quite a few people in costume - a Batman and Catwoman, a Spider-Man, a Black Cat, but by far the most common type of costume were the Star Wars people. It's a good time for it, I suppose, what with the release of Episode III, but what really amazes me is the quality of the costumes these days. There was a time when the only Star Wars costume you could get involved a plastic mask and a shirt that said Star Wars on it. These days there are people walking around in full Stormtrooper gear, or full Boba Fett armor. Even the Darth Vader at the con looked like Darth Vader (only smaller and with less overacting).
Right before the siege of the food court.
Let's face it, though - a Star Wars costume is useful. You can wear it to movie premieres, you can wear it to gaming cons, media cons, sci-fi cons, comic cons. I imagine that Star Wars people can find occasions to do this every month of the year and possibly more besides. Interestingly enough, the most popular costumes seem to be the bad guys - there were no Luke Skywalkers or other Jedi, no Rebel soldiers, no Wookies. Then again, the Dark Side is more seductive, isn't it...
The Batman Begins pass. Give it to me.
Media "Stars"
Every con of this type always has its share of media "stars" - people who have appeared in movies or television, sometimes wrestlers, always people who have time to appear at cons rather than actually, say, working in the biz. This one featured the likes of Lou Ferrigno (television's Incredible Hulk!), Marc Singer (the Beastmaster and Donovan from V!) , and Virgil (the wrestler!). I won't say that their tables were empty - there were generally a couple of people by them at any given time - but they didn't get a lot of traffic. Clearly the most successful media guest was Tricia Helfer of Battlestar Galactica (the new series) fame. No surprise that a hot Cylon attracted the most attention at a con full of horny male geeks. If the lines weren't so long, I might have stopped by myself...
No joke for this one.
Highlights
The highlight of the con for me was meeting the Grimjack team, no doubt. A close second was meeting Andy Lee. Andy Lee is an artist, who applies traditional Chinese brush painting techniques to superheroes and other geek culture topics like Star Wars. Andy did a Grimjack sketch for me, which is amazing, but everything at his table was amazing. I saw him do a Yoda, a Silver Surfer, and a Dr. Fate. All were amazing. There are lots of people who draw superheroes the traditional way; there aren't many who use Chinese Brush painting. It's definitely worth checking out.
That, in a nutshell, was my con experience. Check out the rest of YMB for more con reports.
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Posted by YourMomsBasement at 08:01 AM