Bradley James Weber

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The Great Comic Book Plague: some follow-up

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“I need this like another . . . Oh, wait.”
“Man, I need this like I need another . . . . Oh, wait.”

Below are a few items relevant to my April 9th post regarding the trouble with ignoring/forgetting the historicity of Frederick Wertham’s crusade against comics.:

—- Varney’s reply to my rebuttal. (I’m still considering a response.)

—- The New Republic’s ultra-cool slide show of ’50s horror comics covers. While only eight in the deck, each is a fine example of the lack of restraint publishers showed during the period. (original link via BoingBoing)

Of particular interest is the cover for Mister Mystery #12 and it’s strong use of the ‘injury-to-eye-motif’, which was a big story element in that era.

I can’t help but wonder if that particular theme/meme helped sell more comics, similar to former DC Editor Julius Schwartz’s maxim that any comic will sell better with a gorilla on its cover.

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(image courtesy Greg Hyland over at LethargicLad.com)

Also —- if you’re into the whole Wertham argument, there looks to be the start of a debate between Ten-cent Plague author David Hajdu and pop culturalist and comics/graphic novel theoretician Douglas Wolk.

Click here to read Wolk’s initial volley.

Equal Time: a rebuttal

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jfk_superman.jpg
(image courtesy of Dial B for Blog)

(update April 13, 2010: had do disable comments on this because of the massive amounts of spam. If you have something to say about this post or want to add to the discussion, send me an email via the ABOUT page or comment on another post and I’ll transfer it over. Thanks. bjw)

Stopped by The Church Of Shiny Objects blog the other day, just to see what my pal Varney’s been up to.

Chris turns a good phrase, lately in the service of movie reviews, sports commentary, and other pop culture consumables.

In the April 7th entry, Equal Time, Chris briefly discusses a Slate article referencing Dr. Frederick Wertham and the 1954 comic book witch trials as discussed in David Hajdu’s new book The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America.

Chris’s notes read fine until the concluding paragraph:

Wertham is well on his way to being utterly forgotten . . . . we should do nothing to slow that course from finishing itself out.

And I’m thinking that’s not such a good idea.

Why?

To quote the oft mis-quoted George Santayana: Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Never mind the inability to learn one’s history. Deliberately allowing it to be ‘utterly forgotten’ is an even surer ticket to Doomsville.

Why remember Wertham?
[Read more…] about Equal Time: a rebuttal

Noble Failure #12 (The Last 24-Hour Comic)

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NOBLE FAILURE #12 (December 2007)

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01/02/08 UPDATE:

Thanks to Webmaster Mike for creating the link to the final installment of NOBLE FAILURE.

The first part is a self contained story. The last two pages are experiments with the 3-panel dailies usually seen in newspapers. There’s no narrative connection between the two pages.

(That might be an interesting 24-Hour Comic: 24 pages of 3-panel gags that have no narrative thread other than the main character. Could you keep a coherent story out of that many pages and panels?)

Started at 9:00AM 12/30/07
Finished at 04:09AM 12/31/07

 

 

I AM BORING (Movie Review)

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Caught a midnight IMAX show last Thursday of the new Will Smith movie, I AM LEGEND.

Walking out of the theater afterward, my instant review was, “Better than expected.” Further consideration prompts me to re-label the film I AM BORING.

It never really got going.

Yes, the abandoned NY looked great, but the only moment of real tension was when Smith went looking for his dog. With all the psychological issues of being the last man alive, the underdeveloped plot lines regarding the zombie/vampire community, I AM LEGEND represents yet another property that should have been made into a 13-episode season on HBO or Showtime.

And all the belabored symbolism paralleling Smith and Shrek — yikes.

Your best bet to see I AM LEGEND is to wait for it to hit the 2nd-run houses or maybe even DVD.

Noble Failure #9, Part V — The Last Of It

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NF#9: “Big Trouble, Part V”
(Click to download)(867KB)

The final installment of the Mr. Sprinkles saga.

The art was finished back on October 24 but it took this long to get it posted.

Why?

Oh, doing the October AND November editions of my 24-Hour Comics, as well as a few other messes, trickbags, and imbroglios — all of which turned out fine. I’ve got a new job and a new car, neither of which I was looking for nor wanted at the time, though things are all working out for the better.

So, read and enjoy these last few pages of Noble Failure #9. Doing the story this way was completely worth it to me. I hope you’ll find the conclusion worth your wait.