Comic-Con 2010 Post-Mortem

Well, I told myself I'd do blog posts about Comic-Con while it was going on. I even have an app on my phone that enables me to do blogging on the go. But here I am, nearly two weeks after the first day of the con, doing my post. Blame Facebook -- it's so immediate that it's the perfect place to do on-the-spot comments. Also blame the exhaustion of dealing with an extremely crowded con.

And it seemed more crowded this time than usual. That makes no logical sense, as the attendance this year was officially the same as last year due to capped attendance and a sell-out of memberships. But we were more conscious than usual of the masses. That was particularly true in the dealers' room at the very beginning (preview night) and end of the con, when no other programming was going on and just about every attendee was jammed into the enormous space. The other was when we would wait in line for one of the major presentations in Room 20 (the next largest room, after Hall H) and would not get into it -- despite spending a couple of hours in queue.

This was the second year that we did not even attempt to get into Hall H, where the big movie presentations that make the news are put on. Folks were literally camping out in line the night before to get into the Hall and stay put for the day. That was particularly true on Saturday, the day both Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig showed up as surprise guests, and the cast of the Avengers movie attended the Marvel Films panel. Attending a Hall H presentation often means attending nothing else for the day, so we didn't want to make the time investment.

Here are some of the highlights of our con experience -- as usual, with photos.

Preview Night was our chance to check out the booths that we could get to in the limited amount of time (and movement space) we had. Definitely the most impressive booth we saw was Marvel's. The booth displayed various pieces from upcoming Marvel films throughout the con, but the most spectacular was Odin's throne from next year's Thor movie.

Also impressive was Stan Winston Studios' booth, which featured not only a life-size giant robot from AVATAR, but also a set of armors from both Iron Man movies.







Not to be outdone, the Gentle Giant booth had a life-sized Na'vi female from AVATAR.



And a huge Green Lantern power battery sat in front of the Mattel booth.



I also found the Square Enix booth impressive. The Japanese publishing/game company had showcases devoted to various properties it had licensed, or was trying to license, to the U.S. (such as BLACK BUTLER, HEROMAN, and DURARARA) that included shikishi sketches apparently done just for the con:








Promotion for movies and TV has reached gigantic proportions at Comic-Con, as this supergraphic on the wall of the Hilton next to the convention center shows:



Or the whole helicopter that was apparently landed near the convention center to promote BATTLE: LOS ANGELES:




Thursday started with the spotlight on a guy who had never been to Comic-Con before, but who fit right in: Composer Danny Elfman. He told wistful tales of when he was a child, and would inject flies with radioactive isotopes. (Really.)



Thursday also brought the BURN NOTICE Panel -- one of the few big Industry panels we got into -- which featured not only series regular Bruce Campbell, but also creative folk such as frequent episode director(and occasional guest-star) Tim Matheson.





The highlights on Friday included the panel for BATMAN: BRAVE AND THE BOLD, which featured voice talents Diedrich Bader (Batman) and John Dimaggio (Aquaman):



This fan-favorite series is rolling into its final 13-episode season. Production is ending as WB starts its next DC animated series, YOUNG JUSTICE.

Another highlight of Friday was the annual ritual of the media tie-in panel, moderated by my cousin Lee Goldberg:





This time, the lineup on the panel included Lee's TV writing partner, Bill Rabkin.




A guest present on several of the comic book panels we attended was Comic-Con special guest Neal Adams, who was promoting several projects including his current Batman comics maxi-series. Adams is that rare creative person who has both a big ego, and the talent to back it up.



We finished up Friday with dinner at the Spaghetti Factory (a staple from previous cons, which went away for a while but returned last year); and the Eisner Awards, which featured celeb presenters such as Thomas Jane and the entire cast of the Scott Pilgrim movie.


Saturday was steampunk day for us.



We donned our steampunk outfits and participated in the massive SP gathering at the back of the convention center.





The gathering included a huge photoshoot that a representative from Guinness was there to witness, as the largest Steampunk photogathering yet.

After that panel, I was glad to get into the "can't miss" panel for me that year: A panel about Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams's revamp of Batman in the early '70s, featuring Adams and O'Neil (along with former DC publisher Paul Levitz):



That evening, we left the convention center to go to a non-convention event: The League of Temporal Adventurers Gala, a steampunk party at the Queen Bee's club deep in downtown San Diego. Queen Bee's is a terrific party space, with an all-ages performance stage, a fenced-off over-21 area for beer and wine, and a separate espresso lounge where conversation is actually possible during performances. The attendees were treated to several talented performers.



The climax was when prominent goth/humor musician Voltaire took the stage in a solo performance, and had the audience rolling on the floor with his hilarious performance.



For his last song, Voltaire had several women from the audience join him onstage to sing backup:



On Sunday, we packed up, went to a few panels (such as The Art of the Cover), had one last go at the dealer's room, and headed home -- where, amazingly enough, we got home before 11 pm.

Yes, Comic-Con can be a hassle, with its crowds and its hard-to-access super-panels. But contrary to rumors, it is still about comics; and it's still a lot of fun if you know how to approach it. We'll be back. We'd better be. On the last day, we bought our memberships for last year. And they are now way too expensive to waste.

Comic-Con 2010 Photos

A Blog Post So Unbelievable that It's Probably True

I find your lack of faith disturbing: SLEDGEHAMMER AND WHORE

http://hucksblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/sledgehammer-and-whore.html

Hat tip to Lee Goldberg.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

The Inception of a Good SF Movie

We had the pleasure of seeing two excellent movies in one weekend. On Friday, we saw the harrowing country noir, WINTER's BONE; and this afternoon we saw the SF noir, INCEPTION.

INCEPTION is a big-budget studio movie with an independent film sensability -- the kind of movie a director like Christopher Nolan could make only if he previously delivered one of the top-grossing movies of all time, which he did with DARK KNIGHT.

Although INCEPTION features several of the actors from the Batman movies, it actually owes more to Nolan's movie MEMENTO, in that it is an intricately structured puzzle that connects together multiple layers of simultaneous storytelling. Further, different parts of the story are taking place at different speeds. Nolan's task is to connect all this together, and still create a story about human beings that we care about. Amazingly, he does all that. The result is a bit chilly (as you might imagine with a story that demands so much thought on behalf of the viewer) but it definitely works.

INCEPTION is also well-structured as a science fiction story. Scientifically, it's all smoke and mirrors -- the story makes no effort to explain how the central conceit (entering another person's dream) actually works; and it's so far from any known science that it's practically magic. Still, the story follows an SF discipline in taking the one outrageous concept and then following its logical consequences -- the "ask the next question" model of science fiction. And although it has the requisite scenes of characters sitting around and explaining what they are doing, those scenes are interesting enough visually that they don't weigh the story down.

I don't know how well the story will play to mainstream America. At least one person I saw in the lobby after the showing complained, "I will never understand it, no matter how many times you explain it to me." But I'm glad that we can occasionally enjoy big budget SF movies that engage the brain, the eye, and the heart.

Comic-Con Tips

With Comic-Con next week, I figured I should post some of the tips I've picked up from attending over 20 of these shows over 30 years:

• Plan as much as possible. This is easier than ever before: The Comic-Con website (http://www.comic-con.org/) not only features the entire schedule (including autographs and anime presentations) online before the show, but it features a link to the Sched website which allows you to put together a custom program of the stuff you're interested in and export it to platforms such as Google calendar.
• When planning the events you will attend, bear in mind that the con center is large; the hallways will be crowded; and that some may be one-way only. It may take a while to get where you're going.
• Bear in mind that most rooms will not clear the audience before the next panel. If you're going to a panel that you know will be crowded, you may want to situate yourself in the room for an earlier program. Try not to be obnoxious about it -- don't sit in the front row of an event you're not interested in and take a loud, snoring nap.
• There will likely be lines in which you'll have to wait. Bring something to amuse yourself over a long period -- like, say, a book or comics to read.
• If you can, bring some nonperishable food so that you don't have to miss the panel you want while you have lunch. That will also save you from the choice of eating expensive mediocre con food or wasting a long time heading into the Gaslamp District to a restaurant.
• Think comfortable and light. Comfortable clothes and shoes. Light bags. If necessary, use the bag check at the con. Anything you carry will get heavier as the day goes on.
• If you start freaking out from the crowds, try exiting the back part of the con center and strolling down to the bay.
• If you're with a group, try to arrange a central place to meet. The con generally won't do pages. Texts are useful.
• Bathe, use deodorant, brush your teeth, and change your clothes. The life you save may be your own.
• Take some time to enjoy the night life and restaurants around the con center.
• Instead of driving out of San Diego immediately after the con, you may want to stick around and have dinner and a movie. You'll miss the traffic, and the overall time you spend may be the same as it would have been if you hit the freeway right after the con closes.
• Have fun!

Some quality time with the Pacific Ocean

Bali Hai May Call You

On Saturday, Amy and I attended a production of SOUTH PACIFIC at the Ahmanson Theater. This is the revival that won a passel of Tonys on Broadway.

I was in a production of SOUTH PACIFIC 27 years ago, so I know the songs and a lot of the script by heart. I certainly know the ending. Doesn't matter. I was thoroughly entertained. There's a special connection between the performers and the audience in live musical theater that you can't find anywhere else. And when the performers are as accomplished as these, being in the same theater with them as they perform is a unique pleasure.

I was struck by the simple staging: A backdrop with some rear projection, and some moveable set pieces (moved by the cast, mainly). It was quite a change from the elaborate staging you'll see in modern Webber and Disney musicals. SOUTH PACIFIC doesn't have that, because it doesn't need it.

Follow the Mark

Comic-Con is coming up in a couple of weeks. Every Comic-Con, folks complain, "It's all about movies now. What about the comics?" Obviously, those folks are ignoring the numerous panels Mark Evanier moderates every year, which explore the depth and breadth of comic book history. His agenda for this year's Comic-Con appears here (http://www.povonline.com/CCISked2010.htm).

It's Family Day at the Bookstore Tomorrow

Tomorrow, July 6, 2010, will see the release of not one, but two books from my family. And not small-press literary journal or niche stuff, either. No, these are novels that tie into major past and present TV series. Specifically, Lee Goldberg's latest Monk book (yes, his book series has outlasted the TV series), MR. MONK IS CLEANED OUT (http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Monk-Cleaned-Out-Goldberg/dp/0451230094/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278397267&sr=1-1), will hit bookstores, Wal-Marts and airport newsstands the same day as his brother Tod's new Burn Notice book, THE GIVEAWAY ( http://www.amazon.com/Burn-Notice-Giveaway-Tod-Goldberg/dp/0451229797/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278397194&sr=1-1).

Obviously, I'm going to buy both of them (what else is family for), but you really should too.

AX 2010: Post Bubble

From July 1 through 4, 2010, we attended one of the two big annual Southern California conventions we frequent: Anime Expo. AX has been going through a number of changes over the last few years, as the industries it celebrates (Japanese animation and manga) have themselves changed. Specifically, anime and manga exploded in the early to mid part of the 2000's, spurred by imports of anime shows to cable stations like Adult Swim and the rise of DVDs. That bubble burst in the late part of the decade, as it ran right into the recession, the decline in the home video market, the shrinking of retail outlets (driven by the bankruptcy of the Musicland chain), a lack of super-popular franchises from Japan, and the growth of Internet piracy of new material from Japan.

Since AX functions in large part as a promotional arena and marketplace for the industries, it has had to roll with the punches. Many of the companies that once sponsored AX and had big exhibitor booths there have disappeared. AX once hosted large numbers of American dub actors for the Japanese shows; but in recent years, the dubbing market has shrank and the actors are less visible.

Nevertheless, the convention has continued, as its other leg -- fandom -- has remained strong. The fans still enjoy coming to the con, making and dressing up in costumes, playing arcade games, buying import items from Japan, watching the latest anime, and meeting guests that AX imports from Japan.

Guest imports this year were strong. A new administration took charge of AX's parent company, SPJA, for this year; and I speculate that the administration sought to show its chops a bit by spending lots of money for guests. Hence, there were numerous Japanese musical performers (including AKB48, a 63-member girl band -- although I don't think the entire franchise was at the con); creative folks for projects such as EDEN OF THE EAST (to be released on video here this fall), BLACK LAGOON (manga creator Rei Hiroe came to celebrate the continuation of the TV series, shown in the U.S. on Starz, as a series of original videos), and TRIGUN (the movie for which was premiered at Sakuracon a few months ago, and premiered in a subtitled form at this con); and such reliable guests as "Nabeshin," the flamboyant director of the popular "Excel Saga" series.

The changes, unfortunately, are reflected in the prices. The preregistration for all 4 days was $75 a person; and there were separate charges for events such as the masquerade ($20!), the Meet the Guests reception (in previous years, around $20 a ticket; this year, a steep $50 a person for a continental breakfast), and concerts. In part this is likely because the con had use of the Nokia Theater and Club Nokia, which are high-class venues. Still, the charges added up, particularly for younger attendees; and likely cut into the attendees' spending in the dealers' room.

No matter the problems, we had a fun time. We attended the opening ceremonies, the closing, various anime premiere, and the masquerade. We saw lots of beautiful and inventive costumes. We participated in the Steampunk gathering on Saturday, and Amy participated in the Hellsing photoshoot on Friday.

As in previous years, my favorite event was the Meet the Guests reception. The attendance was small (likely because of the price), which was a mixed blessing as it allowed us to have exclusive audiences with creators. I had a 10 minute conversation with BLACK LAGOON creator Hiroe (he was surprised to have a Los Angeles lawyer as one of his readers), and we had a terrific talk with the creators of EDEN OF THE EAST.

Although AX's changes have not been met with critical acclaim, and the industries themselves are changing, I don't see AX itself going away anytime soon. Lots of people went; and as long as they do, AX will continue.

Here are some photos:




There were a lot of Guests of Honor. This doesn't even include the 16 members of girl band AKB48 who attended.



Speaking of AKB48 . . . .



One of the friendliest guests from Japan was Masakasu Morita, the voice actor for Ichigo Kurasaki in BLEACH. He made a point of shaking the hands of numerous attendees.



Here are the director and the producer of EDEN OF THE EAST, an anime series Funimation will release in the U.S. on DVD in September. We saw the first three episodes, and it looked top-drawer.



Lots of people in hallway costumes were cosplaying as characters from DURARARA, an anime TV series that wrapped up its run shortly before AX. The series was simulcast in the U.S. on Crunchyroll.com, so it got lots of exposure. The most popular costume was Shizuo Heyajima, the guy in the waiter outfit -- possibly because the costume would be relatively easy to make.



More Durarara cosplayers. In the show, Shizuo often rips vending machines out of the ground and throws them. So a few cosplayers made their own cardboard vending machines to heft.



As always, the craftsmanship on several of the costumes -- like this one of Fai from Tsubasa -- was amazing to behold.




On the first day, Amy attended in the astronaut suit she embroidered for her recent birthday. Here she is with our friend Christy.



Our friends Sarah and Natalie.



HELLSING, the manga and the anime adaptation, remains popular with costumers. Here's one of the photos from the Hellsing photoshoot, with Amy in costume.



The TRINITY BLOOD manga and anime adaptation also remains a popular subject for cosplayers, in part because of its elaborate outfits.



On Saturday, we took part in the Steampunk photoshoot. No photos of me in this set - yet -- because I was taking the photos.





The gathering packed a punch!



A view from above of the food court shows the blend of cosplayers and attendees in mufti.



A sampling of the dealer's room -- somewhat diminished from previous years, as anime licensor booths have disappeared.



And so the sun sets on another AX. We'll be back next year. We'd better -- we've already bought our memberships.

So Cal Cons are Steaming Away

If you're attending Anime Expo in Los Angeles or Comic-Con in San Diego next month, and you enjoy viewing outfits and gadgets from the future of the past, check out one of these steampunk gatherings, just scheduled this past weekend:

Anime Expo: Saturday, 5:00 p.m., outside West Hall of L.A. Convention Center. (http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=208336)

Comic-Con: Saturday, High Noon, on the back steps of the San Diego Convention Center. (http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=139542939389760)

Barring ill fate, I'll be at both, so see you there!

Leading Man

Having watched two high-profile mid-sixties films in as many weeks -- first TO SIR WITH LOVE, and then COOL HAND LUKE -- I have a renewed appreciation for the current sentiment (which has probably been around since the early days of film) that there are no leading men now of the caliber seen in times past.

TO SIR WITH LOVE is a slight film with a less-than-credible premise and an uncomfortable atmosphere of encouraging teacher-teenager flirtation. COOL HAND LUKE is a well-written, well-directed, beautifully shot movie with a great ensemble cast. Neither movie would have worked nearly as well (and TO SIR would not have worked at all) without its charismatic leading man: Sidney Portier in TO SIR, and Paul Newman in LUKE.

How many current leading men (or women) can take a mediocre movie and make it memorable, or take a good movie and make it a classic?

The Theme Parks Took the Kodachrome Away

Well, actually, Kodak took the Kodachrome away -- the company doesn't make that film anymore. But that's not my point.

Yesterday, Amy and I spent a delightful afternoon behind the Orange curtain. We went to our grand-niece's 6th birthday party (which included some Wii Sports Resort playing for the adults). Since the Southern California Quilter's Run is on, Amy then visited three Anaheim - Garden Grove area quilting stores in quick sucession. Quilting stores generally have a spouse-depository area to park whichever spouse is not into quilting, and I brought my Nook along, so I passed the time polishing off the pilot script to "The Glades" (smart marketing move, to give away the script as a free ebook to promote the upcoming TV series) and worked on Patricia Briggs's first Mercy Thompson story.

We finished up our Orange-tinged afternoon by visiting the chicken restaurant at Knotts Berry Farm (http://www.knotts.com/public/park/marketplace/index.cfm), where the fried chicken is just as good as advertised. Afterward, we hit the souvenir shops. When I was a kid, the souvenir shops at theme parks were as much fun as the rides. They don't hold quite the same wonder to an adult, but I did find the two we visited impressive. The first was Snoopy Headquarters, which featured a dazzling array of Peanuts collectibles -- comparable to the collection I saw at the Snoopy Town store in Yokohama, Japan, but with different merchandise. (Where else can you get stuffed animals not only of Snoopy, but also of his brothers -- not to mention the rarely-seen Franklin?) The other was a general gift store that had collectibles that spanned pop culture -- Elvis, Disney, Harley-Davidson, Lucy, Hello Kitty, Harry Potter, etc. We didn't buy anything there, but the browsing alone could consume hours.

Which brings me back to the title of this post. One thing that was ubiquitous at the park souvenir shops I visited as a kid, but was absent at the Knotts stores: Film. Just a few years ago, you could get all sorts of still and movie film at theme parks (although always with a single brand, Kodak or Fuji, throughout the park). Now the Kodak displays at both stores we visited had a couple of single-use cameras, some AA batteries, and nothing else. I wonder how much damage the prevalence of cellphone and other digital cameras has done to the bottom line for souvenir shops (and film companies).

E-asy Reader

The e-reader/ebook market is going in some interesting directions. The Borders chain is having financial problems, and one of the issues appears to be that it doesn't have an associated e-reading device, as Barnes & Noble does with the Nook. (It does seek the Sony Reader devices in it's stores.). Amazon and Barnes & Noble have expanded the points of sale for their respective devices; while a short time ago you could find them only at the respective stores, now Best Buy carries the Nook and Target carries the Kindle. Meanwhile, the Nook has expanded its functions. It now provides simple games (chess and sudoku), and a bizarre rudimentary web browser that is in black and white except for the small portion in the color touch screen. B & N has also been bribing Nook owners (and others with the B & N reader app) with free book downloads and food goodies at B & N stores.


The main force behind these changes is likely the iPad, on which I'm typing these words. According to Steve Jobs, the iBooks online store now accounts for some 22% of ebook sales -- rather surprising, because the selection in the iBook store is smaller than that on Amazon, and the prices often higher. Both Amazon and B & N have released apps for the iPad that enable folks to read any kind of ebook, whatever the seller, on the iPad. I'm quite impressed with the B & N reader app, which allows readers to select not only the font but also the margins of their books; see large-sized color covers; look up words on Google and Wikipedia; and share books between the Nook and iPad, as well as lend them to others with the app.

One of the biggest advantages of the iPad is color. Books with color photos show up in color on the iPad. So far, few graphic novels have appeared to exploit this capability. (Some manga creators and other GN publishers have also created standalone apps for the iPad that contain a single GN, along with special effects such as multilingual settings.). And magazines and newspapers look far better on the iPad than on other ereaders.

I'm not ready to ditch my Nook. It's still lighter and more portable than the iPad; has a longer battery life; and is easier to read for an extended period. But I'm interested to see where the ebook market goes -- especially when other tablet computers with features similar to the iPad begin to compete.

The Marvel of Bronze

In the early 1970's, Marvel Comics, enjoying success with its license of Robert E. Howard's pulp-magazine hero Conan the Barbarian, licensed another pulp hero: Lester Dent's Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze. Now, in a strange twist of licensing fate, Marvel's short run of Doc Savage color comics has been reprinted for the first time by the current holder of the license -- DC Comics.



DC's paperback collection of the Marvel series shows how a license that would seem to be a natural for comics can fail. Doc Savage seems tailor-made for a Marvel series; after all, he is one of the prototypes of the comic-book superhero who would come along just shy of a decade after Doc's debut. Although Doc had no superpowers per se, he was a physical and mental marvel who had an origin story (a father who had a squad of scientists raise him to be the pinnacle of human development), a warehouse full of crime-fighting vehicles and gadgets, a Fortress of Solitude (which Superman would appropriate), a life mission of selflessly vanquishing evil, and a horde of weird super-science ne'er do wells to battle. He influenced Superman, Batman, and any number of four-color folks.

Moreover, although Doc's pulp magazine died in the post-war era (during which he was already becoming an anachronism), Doc, like Conan, had a revival of popularity in the 1960's paperback market. Conan's sales were fueled by Frank Frazetta's book covers; Doc's can be attributed to James Bama's stunning cover paintings, which transformed the wavy-haired Doc of the pulps into a Lee-Marvin-like bronze giant with a crewcut and widow's peak.

The Marvel Doc Savage comics did not want for creative talent. The writers included Marvel second-in-command Roy Thomas; Steve Engelhart, who wrote some of the best-remembered comics stories of the seventies, for both Marvel and DC; and Gardner Fox, who actually wrote pulp and comics stories in the '30's and '40's. Artistically, the comics boasted knockout covers by Jim Steranko; and the interiors of most of the issues combined the fluid, cartoony art of Ross Andru with the dramatic finishes of Tom Palmer.

So why did the comic last only eight issues, plus a giant-size reprint (done to tie-in with the abysmal 1975 Doc Savage movie)? It's hard to say nearly forty years (eep!) after the fact. The pacing of the issues (which adapted some of the Doc Savage novels in two-to-three-issue arcs) seems clunky, with lots of exposition mixed haphazardly into the action sequences. One problem was likely the editorial choice to deliver a lot of the exposition through Doc's dialog (even when no one else is present), likely to prevent the comics from becoming masses of narrative captions. The result turns the taciturn Doc of the pulps into a nonstop chatterbox. Or perhaps he merely fell victim to the chaotic world of 1970's comics publishing, in which rising paper and printing costs threatened to destroy comics, and Marvel and DC published tons of reprints in an effort to force each other off the newsstands.

This certainly wasn't the end of Doc's adventures in comics. Marvel ran a black-and-white Doc Savage magazine (tying into the movie) from 1975-1977; and numerous other comics companies have licensed the Man of Bronze since then (including DC, in a prior attempt in the late eighties). But it's interesting to see comics from 38 years ago adapting stories from 30 years before that.

A World of Hurt

We watched "The Hurt Locker" on Video on Demand last night. (And parenthetically, I can see why movie theaters are having a lousy summer. Last weekend, we saw "Kick-Ass" at the upscale Arclight Theater in Hollywood. It's a great viewing experience, but tickets for two set us back a total of $32. Using the Time-Warner Video on Demand service, we downloaded "The Hurt Locker" to our cable box, and were able to watch it in high-def -- and even pause and rewind it -- without leaving our house. Total cost: $5.99. Between VOD, Netflix, and Redbox, it takes something Avatar-nifty to get people into theaters.)

"The Hurt Locker" makes an interesting bookend to the recently ended miniseries "The Pacific." "The Pacific" depicted brutal warfare, but we could feel some distance from it; after all, it was set in 1942-1945, and was filled with the atmosphere of the 1940's. "The Hurt Locker," on the other hand, is set in 2004; and involves a war that is still going on (although it has dropped from news coverage). It's hard to distance yourself from the mayhem when the soldiers are watching DVDs, playing Nintendo videogames, dealing with bombs planted in Hyundais, and fighting in an urban landscape that doesn't look that different from American cities.

The movie is a terrific piece of low-budget filmmaking. It elevates story over showmanship, character over special effects, and tension over slam-bang action. The set pieces in which the protagonists in the bomb squad encounter and deal with a variety of IEDs are all riveting, especially as the explosive devices become more and more horrifying. If the film has a flaw, it's the one my wife pointed out: Several sequences are so realistic that the scenes of obvious "drama" -- such as the soldiers' interaction in their downtime, or various character monologues -- stick out as artificial.

Spitfire Brunch

We celebrated the second day of the holiday weekend with a brunch at the Sptifire grill, accompanied by Uncle Arny, Aunt Carol, and family friend Anne Epstein.

Lost

So it's over, and people are frustrated that they didn't explain everything (despite the producers saying, in multiple interviews, that they weren't going to explain everything); and a complicated series boiled down to a rigidly-simple ending.

But (spoiler warning) I found rather comforting the thought of Hurley as the guardian of light, with consumate betrayer Benjamin Linus as his assistant (whom he insisted on calling his, er, "number two").

And I wonder if I'm the only viewer in America who watched the ending and thought of the climax of "The Ideon: Be Invoked." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Runaway_Ideon)

Ridin' Against the Wind

Sometime's a man's reach, and all that. On Saturday, Amy was working in Redondo Beach, and I decided to ride my bike over there. It worked fine -- even spectacularly -- on the way over (where I shot these photos). The weather was in the '60's, it was sunny, and when I rode south along the beach bike path, there was a soft breeze blowing behind me. So riding 17 miles to Amy's workplace was not much of an issue.

The issue arose on the way back. The soft breeze had turned into something out of the opening of WRATH OF KHAN -- and this time, it was blowing in my face. I soldiered on until I reached a parking lot in El Segundo; and then did the mature thing, and gave up. I called Amy to pick me up. So I ended up riding only 22 out of 34 miles round trip.

Someday, perhaps, when the wind is becalmed, I shall return . . . .

The Taylor and the King

The Los Angeles Times dinged the Hollywood Bowl concert last week by James Taylor and Carol King as tired and uncreative. It's a pity that the concert the reviewer wanted to see wasn't the concert that the two performers delivered, because Amy, I, and the rest of the folks in the sold-out Bowl concert on Friday had a terrific time. Some folks are annoyed by aging rockers; but I'm impressed by voices from my past that can still deliver the goods. Carol King's voice may not be as strong as it was 40 years ago, but she still sprints, dances, and Loco-motions across the stage with amazing energy and agility for someone who started writing hit songs in the late 1950's. Taylor's voice and guitar playing are still as smooth as fine bourbon, and both can still mesmerize an audience. A particular treat was a duet by the two on "You've Got a Friend," the song King wrote that produced separate hit singles for King's and Taylor's versions.

With this concert, and the Eagles concert last month, we've had two great Bowl experiences before the official Bowl season has even started.

Iron Man 2: Pump It Up

IRON MAN 2, as numerous reviews will tell you, lacks the just-opened effervescence of the first movie -- which ranks as one of my favorite comic book adaptations. And there's some sequel-itis: The producers feel the need to pump everything up, with more locations, more characters, bigger battles, more bombastic special effects, and louder music. So I'm grateful that despite all this, the movie doesn't lose its sole -- or its capacity to entertain.

As with the first movie, the anchors are Robert Downey Jr.'s terrific performance as Tony Stark, and Jon Favreau's witty and human direction. Whenever the film strays from these tentposts -- when, for instance, a night-time aerial battle turns into a bunch of streaking lights in the sky -- the movie palls. So it's a good thing that Downey is onscreen in nearly every scene, playing Stark as alternatively charming in his wit and brilliance, and grating in his narcissism, self-destructiveness, and willingness to take endless advantage of those who care about him.

I was impressed that the filmmakers were able to tie together so many storylines from Iron Man's nearly fifty-year-long comic book run into a semi-cohesive film story. (It draws most from the Stan Lee-Gene Colan stories from the sixties, and David Michelinie-Bob Layton's run in the late seventies and early eighties. Fortunately, all of these creators are named in the closing credits.) There were also many fun bits for comics fans, including meaty scenes with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury; Scarlett Johansen underplaying The Black Widow (a villain-turned-hero who got her start in the early IM comics stories); Favreau expanding his own role from the first film as Stark's ex-boxer chauffeur, "Happy" Hogan; an antagonist who pays tribute to the Cold-War Iron Man stories in which IM repeatedly faced off against armored Russians; and the now-traditional post-credits scene, which ties the movie to the next upcoming Marvel Studios adaptation. The movie also benefits from a scenery-chewing turn by Mickey Rourke as Stark's Russian mirror image; and from John Slattery's portrayal of Stark's father as a cross between Howard Hughes and Walt Disney.

Overall, this is a nicely entertaining summer film. And it looks to be one of the few; this summer seems rather bereft of "tentpole" films (although the trailer to Christopher Nolan's "Inception" looks intriguiging). The IRON MAN series remains the most Marvel-like of the Marvel movie adapatations.

A Double Dose of Ditko

This past week I picked up two books issued this year that celebrate some of the more obscure work of Steve Ditko, co-creator of SPIDER-MAN and one of the most individual stylists in mainstream comics.

THE ART OF STEVE DITKO (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Steve-Ditko/dp/1600105424/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272835924&sr=1-2) is a beautifully-designed book, created by graphic designer and comics historian Craig Yoe, that reprints Ditko stories done for Charlton Comics in the '50's, '60's and '70's in oversized color format, combined with key Marvel and DC comics pages shot from the original art and essays from the likes of Stan Lee and John Romita.

Althoug the title is misleading, in that it's not really a thorough survey of Ditko's art, it's a great volume at quite a low price for such an impressively-put-together hardback



THE CREEPER is a collection I didn't think I would see. It's a hardcover compilation (on rather cheap paper, unfortunately) of one of the few superheroes Ditko worked on at DC Comics. There's little to set the Creeper apart from other superheroes in regards to powers -- he's superstrong, and can change in and out of his secret identity by pushing a button -- but he still stands out as aggresively weird. After all, his costume consists of a yellow body stocking, green briefs and wig, yellow makeup, and a red sheepskin rug around his neck; he creeps around, using the type of bizarre body language that highlighted Ditko's work on Spider-Man; and he tries to creep crooks out by talking weird. That's enought to support a short-lived comics series in the late sixties, and some backup strips in the seventies. Despite the shortcomings, the stories are memorable; and having them all in one volume is an unexpected delight.

Last Weekend

Last weekend was busy enough that I'm blogging about it this weeked.

On Saturday, April 24, I turned 45. I marked the day with an energetic bout of yardwork and housework, and then a delightful party that Amy and I hosted.

Among the terrific gifts I received was a PS3, along with various games and a Blu-Ray Disc of "Kingdom of Heaven," from Amy. A PS3 was a device that I had been contemplating for a while, but had shied away from buying since, just by circumstance, I bought some other gadgets (a Droid phone, a Nook, and an iPad) within a short time period. But the PS3 proved propitious. I find it a fascinating "convergence device," as the kids call it nowadays, in that it brings together hi-def videogames, Sony's Blu-Ray video format, and various Internet-connectivity features.

On Sunday, April 25, we made our traditional journey to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books that is inevitably held on or around my birthday. (In 2008 and 2009, we took advantage of that by holding the birthday party at the Festival.) Two notable, and seemingly contradictory, points about the Festival: First, it was enormously crowded -- more so than in previous years; and second, the major bookseller chains, Borders and Barnes & Noble, have eliminated their presence at the Festival. The first point seems to indicate a strong interest in books, even here in the land of TV and motion pictures. Sure, many of the guests at the Festival were TV, movie and musical folk who had one toe dipped into the literary world; but people there were definitely buying, talking, and savoring books. The second point indicates that the chains that dominate bookselling (increasingly forcing independent booksellers to the periphery) don't find renting space at the festival and pitching their wares worthwhile.

Although in past years I've brought home stacks of books, this year I purchased only two: the graphic novel "Hunter's Fortune" (http://www.amazon.com/Hunters-Fortune-Andrew-Cosby/dp/160886006X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272835540&sr=1-1); and the literary short-story collection "You Must Be This Happy to Enter" by Elizabeth Crane (http://www.amazon.com/Must-Happy-Enter-Planet-Books/dp/1933354437/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272835621&sr=1-1), which the publishers seem desperate not to label as "fantasy," "slipstream," or even "magical realism" despite zombies, time travel, and buildings turning transparent. I view this less as disenchantment with print than as a recognition of the piles of physical books in our house, and the appeal of ebooks as a no-clutter alternative.