Comic Book

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State of the Blog: 8-17-10

August 17, 2010 / uhwhat posted in News / No Comments

So, yeah, that was a bit of a snafu wasn’t it?

For one reason or another the database locked in a loop and tried to add about 5000 of the weekly Twitter Roundups. I’m not entirely sure why as of yet, but it may have to do with the plugins we are using and Twitter’s new authentication system. Again, I apologize to everyone that saw those post come down their feed.

In other news:

Brotherhood of the Hand will be late this week as there is still a lot of fixing that needs to be done to the site
Principle photography has wrapped on the Brotherhood of the Hand movie! We’ll drop some pics into the feed here at some point.
We’re still looking for folks to contribute to bkI, be it reviews, fiction, poetry, art, music, comics, interesting uses of duct tape, etc. If you’d like to contribute, drop us a line at slushpile@badkarmaink.com

Again, apologies and thanks for putting up with the problems over the weekend.

One Bad Day, Batman: The Killing Joke

January 21, 2010 / Anthony Smith posted in Art, Fiction, Writing / No Comments

Ever had one of those days where everything seems to go wrong?

Ever wonder how it could get any worse?

Just how well would you be able to hold onto your sanity if everything was taken away from you in one fell swoop?

These are just some of the questions proposed to the reader within the story presented in Batman: The Killing Joke.

Written in 1988 by Alan Moore, Batman: The Killing Joke gives readers a peek into a probable past for the Joker. I say probable, because even the Joker isn’t too sure about his past life anymore, as mentioned within the comic itself. This is also the reason behind Barbara Gordon adopting the information broker persona of Oracle. This graphic novel is not for the little ones. Sorry, kids, but as the back cover says, this story is ‘suggested for mature readers.’ Better get your parent’s permission before picking this one up. »Read More

The only journey is the one within. – Rainer Maria Rilke

December 21, 2009 / Benjamin Kenneally posted in Broadcast Domain / No Comments

People often say that the journey is more important than the destination, and I generally agree. I’m not one to flip to the back of the book to see how it all turns out, or pay no attention to the drive out of a simple desire to ‘be where I’m going, already!’

However, how much of the journey of a story lies in taking the time to get to know the story as it progresses? What if we could simply KNOW the story, immediately, without having sat and read the book over a dozen sunny afternoons? How much would that change our experience of the story itself?

Our experience of the story itself has changed miraculously over the past century. The ready availability of books and the education of the world’s young to a common point of literacy changed stories from an oral pursuit shared by large groups, to one of the solitary reader and their book. We then switched back with the advent of radio drama, with families sitting around the radio to find what happened to The Shadow or Fibber McGee and Molly. From there, we moved to the silver screen, and then the small screen, and have wavered between the two ever since.

How much does how we are told the story matter in the long run? I don’t mean in the sense that things are often removed from the story to transpose it to another medium. This is often done for movie adaptations, and is the reason many prefer the book, even if they saw the movie first. Movies (and to a much lesser extent, radio) shape concepts of the story for us in our minds, rather than allowing us the freedom to imagine it ourselves. Does this truly detract from the story itself?

Alan Moore certainly feels that the changes made to his work to move it to another medium is a horrid thing. Although I’ve enjoyed most of the adaptations of his work for what they are, I feel they never quite live up to the original source. Something about the layout of a comic book, and the way your eye tracks across the images and dialog, simply cannot be recaptured, no matter what medium it is moved to.

So, what will this mean when new mediums are made available for the telling of stories? We already know from the reaction of traditional media outlets that they become incredibly afraid whenever a new medium for telling stories becomes available. Publishers are still claiming they will be ruined by Ebooks, despite the fact that people with Ebook readers buy almost ten times as many books as those without. More importantly, what will this mean for those of us who consume the stories? How will changing the journey affect the audience?

Science has slowly come to know more and more about the functioning of the human brain as time passes. At some point in the future, I can only imagine that nanomachines of some type will be able to change things in our brain so that we simply know things. Direct manipulation of human physiology will alow stories to be downloaded directly into your consciousness. No interaction with the medium will be required. At that point in time, the journey of consuming the story will itself be gone. Only the story will remain.

Will that be a good thing, or a bad one, in the overall telling of our tales?

I’d love to find out.

Altered States

December 14, 2009 / Benjamin Kenneally posted in Broadcast Domain / No Comments

From the early times of man, humans have used states of altered consciousness to attempt to enhance their ability to tell stories. Shamans used drugs, fasting, dancing, and whatever else they could find to open a channel to divine inspiration. The inspiration they received was in the form of stories of the creation of the world, or wise tortoise and foolish scorpion, or where the sun goes at night.

The tradition has continued into modern times. The writers, painters, and poets of Victorian age France used absinthe to pave the way to their storytelling muse. Hemingway used vermouth-free Martinis and “newly discovered” Daquiris to find his writing spirit. The songwriters and admen of the 50′s floated in on a veritable barge of cocktails. The writers of the 60′s used psychedelics. Hunter S Thompson appears to have used anything that would work and he could find.

It’s my belief that another fine age of altered states is coming upon us by way of technology. Technology is more involved in storytelling at this time than in any era (that we are aware of) thus far. From the fact that this blog is being prepared right now on a desktop computer, to the digitization of the comic book industry, to the CGI effects of Hollywood filmmakers, technology is bringing stories to us.

I think soon, technology will be bringing us to the stories.

Do you remember Choose Your Own Adventure books? I always loved them as a kid. It made you the star of the adventure, and increased your attachment to the protagonist immensely. Sadly, the suspension of disbelief always got a little broken as you hurriedly flipped to page 114 to see what happened when you tried to hide behind the rock while the dragon breathed fire at you.

Ebooks don’t have to have that problem. Ebooks can react to what you are reading, as you are reading it. In a choose your own adventure Ebook, when you choose to hide behind the rock, you could just click the link, and go right on reading. You could be greeted on the new page by the sound of the dragon breathing fire at you!

With the eye tracking technology we have at this time, you could actually read an entire book and have sound effects that match the action be emitted by the book the entire time. Chirping birds and the soft trill of a nearby brook as lovers meet in a secret glen. Honking horns and cursing taxicab drivers mixed with the sounds of a thousand people going about their daily lives as the gumshoe’s internal monologue follows him down a busy New York street. Whatever it might be.

Virtual reality always sounds hokey to people. They forever imagine bulky headgear and tactile bodysuits that show images unworthy of a Pac-Man arcade game. I have a feeling our glide into virtual reality will take place through an ebook reader, and the realm of sound as we read. I could be entirely wrong, but it seems so logical to me. Bring out the foley artists!

Steps into the virtual world revitalize the imaginations of the audience, which often leads to an incredible era of creativity. Maybe enough creativity will lead to the invention of true virtual reality gear. I’d love to see entertainment move to the level of the interactive book from Neal Stephenson‘s The Diamond Age.

Only the future can get us there. Until then, I’ll check out more cocktails on Drinkhacker and see what inspiration hits me for next week.

Guilty Little Pleasures

December 10, 2009 / Anthony Smith posted in Art, Fiction, Writing / No Comments

Amazing Spider-Man #62 “They’re not comic books. They’re graphic novels!”

Heard that before? It is the usual alibi grown men (and women) give to their friends when caught with a comic book collection. There is usually some teasing involved, some good-natured and some not, which usually follows up with the guilty party blushing with embarrassment and quickly stowing away whatever trade paperback he or she happens to be reading.

My question is simple. What is so wrong about enjoying a romp through a comic book?

Let’s see if I can guess the answers. Usually, the first response is very straightforward…comic books are for children. My reply would be also rather direct.

You’re wrong.

Quite simply, there is some rather complex concepts being thrown about in your average comic book. Let’s take a look at the comic shown, Amazing Spider-Man #62. First seen back in July of 1968, this happens to be the oldest original comic book I have in my possession (reprints don’t count). The general synopsis is rather self-explanatory. Super-powered boy meets super-powered girl. Boy fights girl. The two find that they are both on the same side, fighting only because of some misunderstanding. Boy and girl go separate ways. The typical formula for having one hero show up in a cross-over in another hero’s storyline. At least, that’s what is on the surface.

But wait, there’s more. Medusa, as it turns out, is really on a scouting mission, to see if society would be able to accept her as she is. Spidey is worried about how to win back Gwen Stacy after seemingly betraying her father, with the both of them too heartbroken to be able to speak to each other. Norman Osborne is slowly going mad as memories of his past life as the Green Goblin slowly begin to surface after suffering partial amnesia. A company executive tries to manipulate first Medusa, then Spidey…all for the sake of publicizing hair spray. Finally, Medusa rejects society, regretting the fact that the human race is just not ready for the likes of her.

What do we have, then? We have a story about seeking social acceptance, betrayal, heartbreak, madness, greed and regret. Not bad for 20 pages of graphic art.

The colorful graphics and flashy art may pull in the kiddies, but it is the intricate plot hooks, far-reaching story arcs and subtle references to real life that keep the grown-ups entertained, too.

So, don’t be ashamed of those comics, err, I mean graphic novels, in the corner. Break out an old one and give it a fresh reading. See what lies beneath the gratuitous imagery. You might be surprised at what you find.

Rant: Looks Like Tuesday is Horror-ble at bkI

December 8, 2009 / uhwhat posted in Pat's Rants / No Comments

: Image via Wikipedia

«BEGIN RANT»

I realized the other day that a big chunk of my contribution to bkI content has been “horror”: I have 2 articles about vampires and our tag cloud contains HP Lovecraft, horror, vampires, Robert E. Howard, and Pseudopod. The first thing that crossed my mind after that was “I bet these people think I’m one of those weird horror guys,” which was quickly followed by “Do I care?”

For the record, I both am, and am not, one of those guys.

See, when people ask me what I write, I say I’m a non-genre specific genre writer. In English, that means I jump genres for fun. I try to write stories I want to read, and I want to read Horror.

…and Sci-Fi.

….and Urban Fantasy, and Crime Stories, and Noir Mysteries, and-

Well, you get the idea.

I’m just on a horror kick is all, writing-wise, mostly because of my Twilight rants. However, I watched the director’s cut of Payback the other night followed by Monsters vs. Aliens, and I’m worried I’m getting behind on my Deadpool comics.

I don’t understand people that limit themselves to a genre. There is too much stuff out there, good stuff, and your genre prejudices are going to get in the way of that. One of the best Sci-Fi stories I ever read was written by a Horror writer. My Favorite fantasy stories were written by Sci-Fi writers. One of the best Comic Book movies was directed by a guy that broke out thanks to Horror, and the next movie I want to see is a theater is Steampunk directed by a Crime guy.

Life is too short not to leave your comfort zone. You wouldn’t want to die without ever leaving your home town, not even for a vacation, would you? I sure as shit don’t, so I moved 1200 miles away from home. Yeah, it’s a little drastic, but even just a trip to the zoo in the city is a good enough change of pace for most folks.

Variety is the spice of life folks. I dare you to try something different today, be it a different hat, trying sushi, or just having one non-diet Dr. Pepper just to remind yourself what you are missing. At the very least, it’ll just make you appreciate life just a little more.

«END RANT»

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