Okay, who’s left to alienate?
1. Wow, American Power, new from Crossgen! I’m sure he’ll go after big oil companies and the evils of political cronyism! …Okay, okay, I’m just kidding, I’m sure it’ll be about a guy in tights punching out swarthy foreigners.
What I would like to see is a comic like this, that appears to champion the intellectually lazy “love it or leave it”/”America kicks ass!” brand of patriotism, subtly satirizing that mindset while simulaneously demonstrating what real patriotism is all about.
Not likely in this particular political climate, however. I think the initial John Rey Nieber issues of the most recent Captain America relaunch attempted something similar to this (a thoughtful examination of what it means to be patriotic), and I think we all saw how long that direction lasted.
As my pal Dorian said to me earlier today, American Power looks like that Civilian Justice comic that came out right after the World Trade Center attacks (“it’s an ill wind…” and all that), only with a fresh coat of paint.
I hope I’m wrong…I hope this comic isn’t as unsubtle as it appears. But if it is…well, I’m sure there’s an audience that just can’t wait for this sort of thing.
2. Eat More People has posted about Robert Rodriguez taking steps to ensure that Frank Miller will be able to co-direct the apparently impending Sin City movie. While I’m all for comic creators taking a more direct hand in the development of movies based on their work, we must keep in mind Frank Miller’s previous ventures into filmmaking.
A couple things I am wondering about…will the Sin City film be in black and white? Will they be able to have Miho on screen without people in the audience thinking, “wow, this is just a Kill Bill rip-off?”
3. Something else pal Dorian and I were talking about earlier…if anything is going to kill the X-Men movie franchise, it’s putting Gambit in the film exactly as he is in the comics. I mean, dear God.
3a. By the way, Dorian, if you’re reading this…you were right.
4. And here, to leave you with a good taste in your mouth, hopefully…Julius Schwartz tribute comics! The return of Cary “Mr. Surprise” Bates! Adam Strange written by Grant Morrison! Elliot S! Maggin! Marty Pasko! Oh, these are going to be good.