Comics legend Stan Lee talks with NPR about superheroes.
If I got a superpower, I wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, I gotta get a costume and put on a mask.’ I would say, ‘Hey, I can do something better than other people. How can I turn it into a buck?’
The creator of Marvel Comics mainstays like Spiderman, the Hulk, and the Fantastic Four celebrated his 84th birthday yesterday.
I just learned about Open Culture yesterday. Their mission, as they describe it:
To explore the best of contemporary intellectual life.
To connect users with free, high-quality online media — podcasts, videos, online courses, etc. — that makes learning dynamic, convenient and fun.
To keep users apprised of new cultural developments and resources worth their limited time.
Looks like a lot of good brainy media there.
These are some great panels from the Little Nemo comic strips by Winsor McKay. The Virginia Quarterly has a nice article on McKay’s influence.
The next Fantastic Four movie will feature the Silver Surfer. The first film wasn’t spectacular, but it was good, clean fun in an exuberant Jack Kirby kind of way. You certainly can’t go wrong with the Silver Surfer, but I really hope Galactus figures in there somewhere.
“The graphic novel has been a ‘legitimate’ art form for a while now. Does that mean we can start calling them comics again?” Publisher’s Weekly reviewers vote on their favorite comics from 2006. It was a very good year.
I agree that Absolute DC: New Frontier was really good. I loved Scott McCloud’s Making Comics (my review). I sort of panned The 9/11 Report: A Graphical Adaptation (my review), but it made the honorable mentions anyway. I just started Kevin Huizenga’s Curses, and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is definitely on the (ever-lengthening) to-read list.
A list of the Top Politically Incorrect Words for 2006.
Wow. Jodi Picoult is going to be writing for the Wonder Woman comics line.
Okay after all this mess, I’m almost a little embarrassed that I liked Michael Crichton’s books so much when I was younger. Earlier this year, Michael Crowley wrote a critical article about Crichton’s views on global warming. Well, what do you know… in Crichton’s new novel, Next, he inserted a character named Mick Crowley, who turns out to be a child rapist. I’d call that an over-reaction. Crowley gives a surprisingly civil response. This is just insane.
In a great New Yorker article about Thomas Paine, there’s this awesome comic book analogy of Founding Fathers qua Justice League: “Paine is Aquaman to WashingtonÄôs Superman and JeffersonÄôs Batman.”
And who new that John Adams once called Paine’s Common Sense “a poor, ignorant, Malicious, short-sighted, Crapulous Mass”?
New York Times article on our hapless Transportation Security Agency: “The T.S.A. is much more talented in the theater arts than in the design of secure systems. This becomes all too clear when we see that the agencyÄôs security procedures are unable to withstand the playful testing of a bored computer-science student.” Ties in with the wild legal investigations of Chris Soghoian, who pointed out an embarrassing security weakness with the very clever Boarding Pass Generator. And it also features some nice comments from security whiz Bruce Schneier.
The Plain English Campaign has issued their annual awards for 2006. The worst abuses receive the Golden Bull. For example: “The first attribute of the art object is that it creates a discontinuity between itself and the unsynthesised manifold.” [via bad language]
WordCountѢ is an interactive presentation of the 86,800 most frequently used English words.
Lately, it seems like a lot of things are happening automagically. I’m pretty late on this one, as I heard it for the first time maybe 2 months ago.
The Google finds 2.2 million+ hits. Looking over at Google Blog Search, we pull up 3 hits for 2001, 3 in 2002, 5 in 2003, 65 in 2004, 1905 in 2005, and here in 2006 have been 7978. It seems like a surprisingly late surge for a term that first made a splash back in the 40s.
Why music critics need to (re)read the work of Lester Bangs… and Pope John Paull II. “Despite the beauty and power of much popular music, the critics have become a cross between Holden Caulfield and a taxidermist.”
The Pulitzer Prize can now be awarded for online journalism. It’s no longer limited to articles and still images, but explicitly embraces infographics, slideshows, video, and blogs.
I sincerely hope that Nick Hornby’s writing isn’t as effortless and carefree as it reads. It just wouldn’t be fair. Especially because all he had to do for this book was read books (which he already does), and write about them (albeit under the cracking whips of the Polysyllabic Spree).
This book was especially good in light of the interview I read two days ago, where Chuck Klosterman mentions how criticism is really autobiography. There’s a lot to learn from Housekeeping. I really like how Hornby weaves his comments with a little background about how he came across the book, what kind of reading phase he was in, etc. Mix in a little self-effacing Britishness or some affectatious declarations (e.g. “I decided today that from now on I will only read books recommended by…”), and you’ve got a really fun package.
The AV Club has a very good interview with Chuck Klosterman, cultural critic and author of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, among other things:
People are more interested in reading bombastic ideas, whether they’re positive or negative. Part of me has sort of lost interest in doing criticism because of that. I’ve always realized that criticism is basically autobiography.
Roger Federer is so completely amazing. David Foster Wallace writes about Federer as Religious Experience.
This set of typography lessons is wonderful. I have much to learn. There are so many cool links and tutorials in there. Well worth the time of anyone who cares about art and words and reading and writing and the nuances of presentation.
Mark Larson 