Of Scholarship and Sequential Art

In case any of you are curious, here are the comic book-related courses available in my college's "democratic education" program this semester:

The Physics of Superheroes
"Everything you need to know about physics can be learned from comic books. The purpose of this course is to examine and understand superhero abilities through the application of elementary physics principles. This is your opportunity to learn physics the fun way. Please visit the course website for more information."

*Accurate* science in superhero comics? Where's the fun in that?

While I have no interest in enrolling in this course, I might sit in on one or two classes just to see what it's all about.

Superheroes and real-world physics. Huh.

Batman as American Mythology
"This class studies Batman as a form of legitimate literature. We will study Batman through 3 perspectives: history of Batman, psychology of Batman, and Batman’s place in America’s mythological canon.

"You don’t have to be a Batman guru (nor do you have to be familiar with him at all!), so whether you’ve memorized every issue or have only seen three episodes of “Batman Beyond,” you’re all eligible. Any necessary readings will be assigned (for a DISCOUNT at Comic Relief!!!!!!!!!), and necessary movies/episodes will be shown in class.

"At least once a week, we will show an episode or movie in class.

"PS. This is the final semester this course will be offered with any of the original, founding facilitators."

This course spends over 50% of its total classtime watching Batman cartoons/movies. They spend more time doing so than not. If you're someone living in the local area, feel a burst of pride at knowing this is your tax dollars at work.

Don't get me wrong, the facilitators for this class are cool folks. It's not like there aren't other democratic education courses just as lax. The fault is with the democratic education program and its low standards.

Comic Book, Manga, and Graphic Novel Techniques
"Every week will deal with a different aspect of the comic book-making process.

"We will go over basic concepts in the history of comics, script writing, basic drawing skills, panel continuity, character design, penciling, inking, lettering, cover art, and other stuff too.

"The final project is to MAKE your own 12-page comic book. There will be short 1-page assignments throughout the semester. These will be intermittent and painless, we promise.

"Class meets once a week, for 90 minutes. The first half hour will be lecture/discussion, with the rest of the time opening up for working on your comic and getting peer input. The idea is to create a friendly environment where aspiring comic book writers/artists can share their cool ideas with each other and bring an idea to fruition.

"Also, this class has optional readings that will be made available at Comic Relief for a discount price."

Superman as American Mythology
"Created in 1938, Superman has grown from a simple comic book character to become one of the greatest pop culture icons in the world.

"This DeCal will explore the characters 68 year history with special emphasis being paid to the characters development, the political and social movements that influenced the character and the philosophy behind the Man of Steel.

"Class will meet on Monday and Wednesday, and every Wednesday will include a media presentation.

"This class is great for the Superman novice as well as the comics afficienado. Readings will include Superman comics by Siegel & Shuster, John Byrne, Jeph Loeb, Brian Azzarello, as well as the Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon."

I don't know how you can consider yourself a proper Superman class when you don't include Busiek and Immonen's SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY on the reading list.

Bookworlds: Neil Gaiman's The Sandman
"Enter the Dreaming. If you know what that means, want to find out, or just want to earn 2 units reading some of the best fantasy graphic novels ever written, come join us in BookWorlds: The Sandman. This semester we will explore the world of Neil Gaiman’s award-winning series. Originally released in 80 issues from 1988 to 1996, The Sandman chronicles the stories of Morpheus, the personification of Dream and one of the Endless."

Why in Murphy's name is this course listed under Integrative Biology?

I might sit in on one or two classes of this one, too.
***
And this has nothing to do with superhero comics...

Bookworlds: Animorphs: The Ethics of War
"The epic book series has finally come to Cal! We’ll discuss the series; how it portrays warfare, ethics, and heroes; and think about the books’ place in literature. There will be character studies, moral debates, and a guest lecture or two. Relive childhood memories or read the series for the first time, all are welcomed. Join us as we discuss and honor one of the greatest book series of all time!"

...but there's no way I'm not taking this class. I *loved* the series when I was growing up. No, scratch that. I still love it.

The Men of Tomorrow Will Not Fear to Cry

Act One: DC releases a new teaser image. Act Two: Fans complain about Superman crying in it, saying he does it too much.

Which brought to my mind the following comments on Comic Book Resources' message boards by Marty Pasko. He was remarking on how Superman has been modified over the years to fit the times.

'Another good example is the "emo wuss" Superman that seems to be a product primarily of the '70s. (Certainly the one Elliot Maggin, Cary Bates and I had to write was a product of its time and would probably be ridiculed today by the testosterone-and-steroid crowd as a "super-metrosexual.") Of course that take on the character would be distasteful to some readers who came up during or after the "Reagan Revolution" and America's turn to the right. In that period, many children, particularly males, not only were raised with values that actively repudiated the '70s ideal of the sensitive man, but were given the message that America had been weak and wimpy and, to fix that, macho assholism had to come back into vogue with a vengeance -- hence the rise of the punch-first-and-think-later action star typified by Schwarzenegger and his ilk. (The Reagan Administration also helpfully provided fake wars like Granada so that America could "kick ass" again and feel better about the size of its fatumbwebwe.)'

Interesting interpretation given the current fan criticism, no?

***

Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, if anyone's going to have a heightened ability to sympathize, shouldn't it be Superman? He's *supposed* to be one of the most compassionate, caring individuals around. That's part of the concept, right?

Someone's going to have to explain to me what in the world is remotely wrong with crying when there's been a terrible tragedy and people have died? How do tears in such a situation diminish a person, fictional or real, in *any* way? There should be absolutely nothing shameful or weak about it. *Nothing*. It doesn't show that a person is less brave or less tough or whatever. It shows you have a heart.

Eugh, save me from a world where people should shut out their emotions and basic humanity just to prove to others that they can. I prefer my heroes above that outmoded brand of idiocy, thankyouverymuch.

From Superego, Super-Ego

We all know superheroes are an ethically superior bunch. But has there ever been one who's insufferably arrogant because s/he's aware of that superiority? I don't mean people like the Silver Surfer who are always contemplating the evils of Man. Those characters tend to be outsiders to regular society, and it's their opinion of humanity that's low, not their opinion of themselves that's high.

I mean someone who has the thought "Wow, I'm so compassionate and self-sacrificing. Yeah, I'm so awesome" running through their head. And I mean someone who thinks that because s/he genuinely is that compassionate and self-sacrificing a person, not because they're indulging some delusion of greatness.

That'd be a kind of neat idea for a character, in my opinion.

Catching Spoils in My (World Wide) Web

Yes! I'm the third biggest comic geek on the Internet!

Well, to be technical, it's more like I'm the third geekiest among people who visit the Comic Should Be Good blog. Well, to be even more technical, it's more like I'm the third geekiest among people who visit there *and* took the time to enter this specific contest. Which, including me, is apparently a group numbering thirteen people... Ah, I'm still feeling disturbingly proud.

Also... from the linked entry: "He was cruising along until #23-26"... And here I always thought of "Yiding" as a gender-neutral name.

The e-mail informing me of my third place finish began, "I regret to inform you that you didn't win the contest. However, you are nerd enough to finish in third place!" Didn't win?? I'm getting a free graphic novel (the third place prize). I'd certainly call that a win! (Especially since, with my current financial status, I can't afford to ever try out anything new, not when there's so high a chance I won't like it. These days, I pretty much stick to works that are either by writers I trust or about characters I already like. Same with novels [of the non-graphic variety] really, but at least for that itch, I can use libraries.)

I feel I should express my gratitude in their comments section, but that'd be kind of awkward because I've never commented at their blog before. It'd almost look like I'm showing up just to brag off about getting third place. Or something. It'd be weird. I'll give my thanks in my e-mail response, I think.

P.S. I've never heard of Juan Ferreyra, but good lord, his art resembles Barry Kitson's. I'd have sworn it was the latter's work.

Number of the Bat-Beast

After Morrison's first arc on BATMAN, I'd decided to drop the book. It just wasn't doing it for me. However, I just read online the following from a recent Wizard interview he gave. (Morrison, not Batman.) It's a S P O I L E R (though not beyond what you'd typically find in solicits), so I've put it in white font.

“Issue #666 [in the summer],” he laughs, “is Damian grown up as Batman of the future fighting the Anti-Christ.”

And all of a sudden, I think I might be back in.

The Non-Fan's Perspective: DAREDEVIL

This entry of The Non-Fan's Perspective is going to be fairly short, as are future installments most likely. I'm finding that I can't remember as many noteworthy incidents from the later classes as I can for the earlier ones. Whether this is because my own interest waned over time as the freshness of it all faded so that I paid less attention, or simply because there weren't as many interesting comments later in the semester, I can't decide. Whatever the cause, the effect exists.

Anyway, for Week Five we read Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN. Most of the students thought that out of all the TPBs we'd read up to that point, it was the best one yet. I strongly agreed. Frankly, I'm surprised Miller had it in him to write this. I mean, there are actually moments of genuine heart-touching human warmth in this book. How did that happen, yeah?

I *do* like some of Miller's other works, but none of them contain the sort of powerful, inspirational moments that dot this story. When Ben Urich says out loud, "Matt Murdock"... Man. Honestly, I wish Miller would write more in this vein instead of repeatedly mining the "mean people being mean to other mean people because it's a mean world" framework he loves so much. (Not that I don't enjoy some of his stories of that type either; I'd just like more diversity is all.)

One guy asked whether Spider-Man or Daredevil was first published, stating that clearly one must have "ripped off" the other. His reasoning was this Daredevil story featured the Daily Bugle in a prominent role, the Kingpin, and a villain discovering the hero's identity, all elements that can also be found in Spider-Man stories. Heh.

Apparently, despite how much my fellow students generally liked BORN AGAIN, there *were* numerous complaints about Captain America's sudden appearance in the final chapter. Well, maybe "complaint"'s too strong a word, but it definitely brought about head-scratching. Not being as familiar with how Marvel actualizes its shared universe, the surprise appearance in the last act of a character who was previously not so much as even mentioned and having that character play a pretty vital role... well, it seemed odd to them. And it kind of is, isn't it? Heck, I'm sure some of them didn't know that Marvel's character lived in a shared universe in the first place.

The next TPB we read was SPIDER-MAN: THE DEATH OF GWEN STACY. However, there was almost nothing that happened during that week's class that I feel like writing about, so I'll lump it with the TPB we read after *that*, which was either JLA: TOWER OF BABEL or whatever the first ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR trade was called. (Each student only had to read one and got to choose which.)

It Begins Anew

I have no idea if I had any even semi-regular visitors at some point (Magic 8-Ball says, "No."), but if I did, they've probably been driven off by now by my hiatus.

It was unplanned, but the previous four weeks or so were the break period between semesters, and I'd headed back home to SoCal. There, I found myself wanting to do the things I can only do there, before I had to head north again. The Internet, I can play with anywhere, after all. So the frequency of entries began tapering off until... Well, back now.

Anyway, if I hadn't been on hiatus, I would have mentioned this next item earlier: Messing around with Technorati a while back, I discovered that someone's actually put up this place in his blog-list! Clearly, he made some mistake but regardless... Thank you thank you thank you, Dave Schwartz of Washington, DC! Don't know if he'll ever see this message, but if he does, thank you, Dave Schwartz.

I don't maintain a blog-list myself because I spend too much time online as it is. Having links teasing me to click on 'em every time I pop by here isn't going to be any help on that score, so I eschew. One good deed deserves another though, so I'll be putting up a link to Mr. Schwartz's blog once I'm done with this entry.

Also, this way, if he ever does read this, he'll never take down his link to here because it'd cause tremendous guilt. Perfect!