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MEDIAWATCH.
Someone
is watching the watchmen.
Comics get so little coverage in the media that
it's sometimes easy to believe it gets no column inches at all.
In PopImage's new regular MediaWatch spot, we'll do our best to
keep you informed of the things the rest of the world is saying
about our favourite industry. Keep watching.
...THE MAN FROM THE BOYS...
Many have mocked Stan Lee for choosing the Backstreet
Boys as the basis for one of his new Internet-based comics at
StanLee Media, but The Man seems to know what he's doing, judging
by the coverage he's received. Teaming up with a pop group as
popular as the Backstreet Boys has earned him a mention in most
leading teen and entertainment magazines, giving him more exposure
than many successful and established comics have had in a long
time. This kind of exposure is exactly what the comics industry
(even the online comics industry) could use more of. Could the
Backstreet Boys truly be our salvation?
...DEVIN GRAYSON: WONDER WOMAN... Women's
website WomenCONNECT.com ran an interview withGOTHAM KNIGHTS
author Devin Grayson. As one of the most high profile women in
comics, Grayson was in a position to tap new audiences on the
specialist site, though superheroes may not be the most attractive
draw for many, and the interview itself was hardly inspired. The
interview was reproduced in the book section of CNN's news website,
bringing it to a wider audience. You can check it out here.
...X MARKS THE SPOT...
By now you've probably discovered the online X-MEN
movie trailer (Quicktime), but if not, take a look at the official
website. The buzz
for the Bryan Singer-directed movie has already begun in earnest,
with most who have seen the trailer agreeing that it looks like
it could be a real hit. After the success of BLADE, and the failure
of almost every other movie attached to the House of Ideas, Marvel
has a lot riding on this one. The movie is also doing its bit
to add to the presidential primaries season, with the creation
of Senator Robert Kelly's official campaign website, Mutant
Watch.
...YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE...
While Mark Buckingham managed to court some press
attention in the UK for his recent appointment as the new SUPERMAN
artist, the British press also picked up on another story from the
superhero world. This time it was Scottish writer Mark Millar who
was causing the fuss - or rather, it was the characters of Apollo
and the Midnighter in THE AUTHORITY, for which he takes over
script duties from Warren Ellis this month. In an article for the
Sunday Times, the two heroes are inaccurately described as the first
gay superheroes. Referring to the notorious British legislation
banning the teaching of homosexuality as a lifestyle choice in schools,
Millar said, "the whole section 28 debate is teaching children intolerance,
and I would like to redress that. The people they look up to can
be gay or straight".
The story was positively received by gay rights
campaign group Outrage!, with a spokesman quoted as saying, "the
heroes could provide teenagers coming to terms with their sexuality
with a powerful image". It also garnered some interest from national
Radio One DJ Chris Moyles, who broadcasts to millions every day.
In his prime time afternoon show, Moyles raised the pertinent
question; since when were superheroes ever especially heterosexual?
...SCHULZ AND KANE REMEMBERED...
Comics and comic strips gained an unwanted share
of the spotlight twice in recent weeks, with the tragic deaths
of Gil Kane and Charles Schulz. Schulz, the man behind the PEANUTS
newspaper strip, was surely the more widely mourned of the two.
His passing was even marked by the arch-capitalists at the Wall
Street Journal, who noted with glee that the old man had made
quite a pretty sum from his fifty years of work on the strip.
Cartoonist Ted Rall commemorated Charles Schulz in the Journal
by referring to him as the original rebel, and describing the
strip as "a feature full of dysfunctional, vicious kids who never,
ever get what they want". He went on to describe Schulz as "a
virtuoso who got his ideas from real-life misery rather than art-school
pretense". Meanwhile, CNN noted that, through its five-decade
lifespan, PEANUTS had quite possibly emerged as the longest
story ever to be told by a single individual.
Gil Kane, one of the true greats of comic art,
was remembered thus in the New York Times obituaries; "Known for
the kinetic quality of his compositions, the self-taught artist
represented an integral part of the resuscitation of superheroes
in the 1960's. ... He gave dynamic new interpretations to the
Hulk, Captain Marvel and Spider-Man, and is often compared with
Jack Kirby". The obituary included praise from DC publisher Paul
Levitz, claiming Kane was always "on the edge", and Marvel chairman
emeritus Stan lee, who lauded Kane's "great storytelling sense".
If
you've spotted any mention of comics and the comics industry anywhere
in the press, email us and
tell us all about it..
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