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Saturday, March 02, 2002 ( 3/02/2002 01:21:00 PM ) Bill S. THE SHOOTER QUESTION - Over at Mind Over What Matters, my friend Jay Zilber has taken time off from his ongoing exploration of things political to defend fannish bete noir Jim Shooter. Through the years, Shooter – who had the misfortune of being Editor-in-Chief at Marvel Comics just when the Creator’s Rights movement started gathering momentum – has become a symbol for many comics fans of everything that’s degraded and anti-creativity about Company Comics. In part because he was spokesman for a company that was in the process of screwing one of its most beloved creators (the great Jack Kirby), Shooter was mercilessly demonized in much of the comics fan press. Like most symbolic overstatements, the rap is unfair - though I don’t think Jay builds a strong case against it. Pointing out, for example, that Shooter gave out personal Xmas bonuses when the company quashed ‘em is no testament to his strengths or weakness as an administrator – if anything, the act comes off a bit paternalistic. And asserting that bad-mouthing Marvel’s dead-end New Universe line (which was ballyhooed and released during Shooter’s watch) isn’t fair because the company withdrew funding for it doesn’t wash either. The New Universe came out under Shooter’s name, and – fair or not – it’s part of his editorial legacy. So, it should be noted, are such fan faves as John Byrne’s Fantastic Four and Frank Miller’s Daredevil. Shooter has been subjected to plenty of sniping comments over the years (reading The Comics Journal’s recent 25th Anniversary timeline, I was struck by the number of anti-Shooter cracks made by both creators and critics), and I can understand Jay’s impulse to defend the guy. As a young comics scripter, Shooter produced an impressive body of superhero comic scripts: he's admired (and rightly so) by fans of DC's Legion of Superheroes for his work on that series. Early in his tenure at Marvel (Full Disclosure Alert!), the man even once called me on the misguided advice of a mutual acquaintance and asked me to submit something. (I did, but nothing came of it – for which both Jim and I should probably be grateful.) But if the larger-than-life myths that have grown around the man are unfair, it’s clear from the testimony he’s made on the issue of creators’ rights that Shooter’s vision of the role of writers and artists in a mainstream comics company conflicts with the views of many hard-working comics folk. Nothing wrong with that – but in that dichotomy lies the groundwork for plenty of bruised feelings. . . And, y’know, Marvel's New Universe really did suck. # | ( 3/02/2002 05:23:00 AM ) Bill S. “EVERYBODY’S SCREWED UP IN THEIR OWN SPECIAL WAY” - When I read that Joey Ramone had completed his first solo album (Don’t Worry About Me, Sanctuary Records) just before his death, I had simultaneous fannish feelings of dread and anticipation. Those first four Ramones albums are close to my ideal of perfect pop rock, and while the group’s later works were never quite so divinely inspired, I’ve got all the studio ones and have found good moments in even the weakest (like Animal Boy). But solo albums are not group works, and I couldn’t help feeling anxious about a record cut by a singer in the last days of a lingering malady: there were several ways this could have gone, and most of ‘em weren’t pretty. Well, the album’s been released; I’ve had it for almost a week now and have played it at least once a day. I should have known if anyone could have avoided the pitfalls of bathos or high-minded final statements, it’d be the guy who wrote and sung, “I Wanna Be Sedated.” From the opening track – which fuses Sex Pistols guitar (courtesy producer Daniel Rey) to a respectfully non-ironic cover of the Louis Armstrong chestnut, “What A Wonderful World” – to Joey’s own reflections on modern life, maturity (yup!) and hospital life (always a Ramones motif), the disc works as a brisk celebration of rock styles (Who falsetto, Stooges rage, the inevitable piece of bubblegum) and a great collection of pop songs. A wonderful grace note: I’d call it Joey’s Love and Theft, but I know in the long run that I’ll be playing this disc much more than Dylan’s. # | Friday, March 01, 2002 ( 3/01/2002 04:50:00 PM ) Bill S. RESPONSIBILITY DUCKING INTRO - Let’s blame somebody! One of the great ignoble traditions for ventures like these is the tradition of foisting responsibility for the endeavor on someone else. You know how it goes: “I probably wouldn’t be boring you today with this intricate dissection of Andrew Sullivan’s outraged misrepresentation of Carol Lay’s last salon.com cartoon if (blank) hadn’t talked me into starting a blog!” Ducking responsibility is as American as parsing “is,” so who am I to buck a trend? So let’s blame Jay Zilber, why don’t we? The proprietor of the most excellent current events web log, Mind Over What Matters, is the guy who got me involved in following this blog stuff. It’s not the first time he’s been a corrupting influence - years ago, he also led me into the sordid world of comics focused amateur press alliances – so clearly the man is to be avoided at all costs. From the title up above, it’s probably obvious that this won’t be a politically-inspired blog. I’m a pretty unsophisticated guy in that arena: self-righteous hypocrisy and party line expediency tend to piss me off too much – and I’ve seen plenty of examples of both from most shades of the political spectrum. Doesn’t mean I won’t make an occasional comment on the political world, but that’s not the main thrust of this web log. Over the past year I’ve written a number of on-line pieces devoted to pop music and comic books - and this’ll be more of the same, only more scattershot. Insatiable consumer that I am, I’ll also be looking at other patches of pop life – I just can't help myself. (If you’re at all interested in getting the full scoop on yours truly, more information than you probably want about my wife and me can be found at the OakHaus Oracle. If nothing else, you'll find a lot of cute pics of our pets. . .) # | |
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