Gene Colan And Why The Hero Initiative Exists

Gene Colan, one of my favorite Silver Age artists, who is probably better known for his work on Daredevil and Tomb of Dracula, though I’ll always remember for his work on Dr. Strange, has fallen ill.

Being an old timer in the comic book industry means he is among the long list of truly legendary comic book creators who are financially strapped in their old age, primarily due to not realizing the level of popularity their creations would reach, thus signing away their creative babies for pittance. Now, in an era of comics-turned-million-dollar-film-franchises and such, they’re forced to sit back and watch the hundreds of millions that should be theirs being stuffed into the pockets of studio executives.

Enter The Hero Initiative.

The Hero Initiative, formally called A.C.T.O.R (A Commitment To Our Roots), is a non-profit organization that has created a sort of financial safety net for comic book creators. It’s a way to give back to the medium that has given us so much.

Well, The Hero Initiative, along with Marvel, have started a campaign to help Gene with his medical bills. They’ve produced a limited edition lithograph of Gene’s artwork to Invincible Iron Man #1 that will be made available at Wizard World Philadelphia for $25 a piece.

It’s a damn nice lithograph and if I were attending Philly Con this year, I’d pick one up. If you’re attending, I reccomend stopping by the Hero Initiative booth and getting one for yourself.

If they end up producing something that isn’t a con exclusive (beyond the Philly Con piece above, there will be other pieces available at other conventions throughout the year), I may go out of my way to order one.

Gene’s family members have posted an address to which you can send gifts or get well cards:

Gene Colan
2 Sea Cliff Avenue
Sea Cliff, NY 11579
USA

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I haven’t truly taken my leave of the internet as I said in my last post, yet I’ve still managed to get quite a bit of reading done. I’ve nearly finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Tomorrow: Work, then groccery shopping, then we’re off to see The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I’ve heard wonderful things and we’re all very excited.

An Unexpected Absence, An Expected Absence, And Sad News

I ended up taking an unexpected vacation from the internet over the last couple of days, due mostly to work and life and all the bits in between.

I’m going to take another little absence, this time a planned one, starting very soon. The reason: reading. I never seem to have the time to read anymore and it bothers me, as I love to read. So tomorrow morning will be spent cleaning, and the afternoon will be spent reading and the evening will be spent with family doing family type things.

It will be glorious.

I’m not sure when I’ll be back. I plan on finishing Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, which I am roughly half-way through, and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, which I have not even started yet.

It may be a while.

—

When you’ve worked in a comic book store, you unwittingly join a community of those who have worked a busy Wednesday, or those who have helped host a Pokemon tournament, or those to whom the task of cutting up a subscription holder’s discount card has been delegated. It’s a brethren, really.

One such “comic book guy” was a legend in the field, a man who has gone above and beyond the call of duty as the proprietor of a local comic shop. Indeed, a man who went out of his way to help boost the image of the comic book from something that rots the brains of children to that of a legitimate art form.

That man was Rory Root.

It saddens me to say that Rory Root, owner of Comic Relief, what is hailed as “The Comic Bookstore”, as died. I had never met Rory, something I now regret, though his presence in the field of comic sales is well felt amongst comic book guys such as myself.

Sad, sad news indeed.

Newsarama has a great article up in which Paul Levitz remembers Rory.

Mark Evanier and Neil Gaiman and Warren Ellis also had some very kind words about Rory.

They were lucky enough to know the man and their words are common amongst those who did.

I think I’ll take a bit of time away from Harry Potter and pick up a graphic novel.

Housecleaning, Eggs From a Toaster and Gay Marriage

California has finally lifted the ban on gay marriage, which is the sort of news that makes you happily think “Wow, California is the second state to do so”, until you sadly think “Wow, California is the second state to do so”.

Hopefully this will help turn the tide and other states will jump on the bandwagon.

—

Breakfast Scramblers, little toaster pastry things with egg, cheese and bacon or sausage in them, are not very good. But they’re good enough to serve as a quick breakfast before work, which is why we have them.

Why am I telling you this, you ask?

I’m not sure.

—

A few things before I return to cleaning house.

The trailer for Joss Whedon’s new show, Dollhouse.

It will air on Fox, which means it will probably be canceled three or four episodes in.

—

Anyone who has read I Am Legend by Richard Matheson who has also seen the Will Smith film of the same name, knows well enough how badly translated it was. The original book was a classic work of science fiction, the writers of the Will Smith version took this classic and butchered it, only to sew the bloodied remains together in a vain attempt to pass it off as an homage to its former self.

Well, Hollywood is at it again.

Universal Pictures has announced that Brett Ratner, director of the Rush Hour films and X-Men 3, will helm a remake of Richard Matheson’s The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Who will play the title role?

Eddie Murphy.

I weep for Matheson.

—

This site has posted a list of The Top 25 Batman Stories of All Time.

I’m glad to see quite a few episodes of Batman: The Animated Series making the cut (especially Almost Got ‘Im, one of my favorite episodes).

—

A good friend from California, Wendi, brought this to my attention recently.

It’s a map of the United States, color coded to show which areas call carbonated cola products “Pop”, “Soda”, “Coke”, or “Other”.

I’m a soda man living in a pop state, it seems.

—

And now, cleaning.

Mostly Doctor Who Also Casting

Today was Casting Day!

Not big Hollywood type casting, but rather oh-my-god-my-arm-is-broken-and-crooked-and-sweet-christ-how-are-we-going-to-keep-it-from-moving type casting.

The hour or so drive to the orthopedic was spent discussing Doctor Who and wishing we could attend Comic-Con International in the near future.

X-rays were taken, we were told the arm is healing well and the cast was applied. The boy wanted green and was devistated to hear the nurse say “Oh, I think we’re out of green!” before she left to see what colors they did have.

She returned with a little bag marked “Green”.

The boy was happy again. Even happier when he learned we were eating Mexican after his appointment.

—

Speaking of Doctor Who, we’re caught up on this year’s series. We’re right on schedule with Britain (you needn’t know how) and looking forward to the latest episodes.

The more I see David Tennant as The Doctor, the more I realize he’s one of my favorite Doctors so far. Tom Baker is a hard one to top, though. I’m not sure I can say the words “I like him better than Tom Baker” aloud without choking on them.

Here’s a bit of Doctor Who geekness that had me giggling like a fanboy this morning:

That’s the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, meeting the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, in the wacky sort of way you meet a past version of yourself whilst flying around time and space in your TARDIS (have I mentioned I love Doctor Who?).

—

I was introduced to Doctor Who at the same time I was (sort of) introduced to Anime.

I was a teenager watching PBS late one evening (as I did quite often and still do, from time to time), when I saw an episode of an animated show called “Urusei Yatsura” and fell in love (I’d seen anime prior to this, in the form of Voltron, Robotech, Speed Racer, and Astro Boy, but this was the first time I’d seen something subtitled).

After Urusei Yatsura was Tenchi Muyo! and after Tenchi Muyo! it was Charlie Rose. This was my Saturday evening from then on. I would stay up and watch my animated programs and then, depending on the level of interest I had in that night’s guest, I’d watch Charlie Rose.

But something struck me as odd. Whenever I would tune in a minute or two early to Urusei Yatsura, I was treated to the credits of some old program that showed words disappearing into what I could only assume was some sort of acid trip colored intergalactic worm hole (I was close) in the background, all while eerie-but-catchy techno-before-techno-existed type music played.

“Huh.” I’d say, intrigued.

One fateful Saturday, I made the effort to tune in an hour earlier.

I saw on my television screen an old man in a fedora and a long scarf running around saving the world from alien forces. I learned he was an alien himself, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. I learned that the TARDIS (which stands for Time And Relative Dimenstion(s) In Space and is The Doctor’s primary mode of transporation) was stuck as a Police Box circa 1950, but that we humans would never notice that fact. I learned that Daleks are bad, K-9 is a good dog and that no matter how many companions the old man had, he was doomed to travel alone.

This was The Doctor.

The Doctor has stayed with me over the years. He’s become a part of me. In 2005, I learned they were revisiting The Doctor. The ninth regeneration for the good Doctor and I really enjoyed the entire series. At the end of the series, The Doctor regenerated again, this time from Christopher Eccleston into David Tennant, who remains the current Doctor.

I’ve seen old black and white episodes, I’ve seen episodes from the sixties with hilarious hair and super technicolor visuals, I’ve seen eighties episodes, I’ve even seen the movie from 1996.

Such is my love of The Doctor. And I’ve found a woman who shares my love of all things Doctor Who, as the wife has been watching The Doctor’s adventures since she was a little girl as well.

Funny, the things that connect us.

I Left Texas To Follow Lucinda, Now I’ll Never See Texas Or Home

It’s a Tom Waits sort of morning, I think.

—

Allow me to tell you a story, hmm? It’s a story that has a young boy and his mother and a stepfather of large stature.

There’s also a dog.

With the boy in the condition he’s in, broken arm with no cast (Wednesday, for the casting), the wife and I have been doing his weekly paper route for him. Not a difficult job, mind you, but time consuming and, to be honest, a bit annoying. So to speed things along, the wife and I each take a bundle of papers and split the street in half; she heads north, I head south, and so forth. It cuts the time taken to distribute the papers in half.

So I’m walking up sixth street, the sun at my back and the wind in my hair, when our car passes me. Our car. The car that was parked two blocks behind me. I stop and turn, looking behind me in confusion, a paper fell and hit the concrete as the car pulled up next to me.

“I’ve gotta run home for a minute.” Danielle said from the driver’s seat. Another paper fell.

“Wha-”

“A dog bit me and I need to wash the wound. I’ll be right back.” she interrupted me and pulled away.

The other papers fell.

By the time I walked home, she was already getting into the car.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine! It’s a small bite, I just put some Neosporin on it. I’m fine.”

And she is. It was an Irish Setter that bit her ankle while she was trying to put the bagged paper round its owner’s doorknob. She pointed me to the house. I talked to the owner, who was apologetic and, I believe, a bit afraid of me. He was half my size and I was angry. The dog is up on its shots, it’s perfectly healthy and the owner assured me she’s not an aggresive dog, but that she’ll be kept inside from now on.

“What happened?” Danielle asked when I returned to the car.

“I had to rough him up a bit.” I said in a tone that was trying to sound like Clint Eastwood, but probably sounded more like Jack Black.

“You are such a liar.”

“He was afraid of me.” I said, proudly.

“I’m sure he was.”

For the record, he was.

—

Given the stress of life and all the things attached to it lately (the boy’s broken arm, the costs stemming from the broken arm, general things related to being poor, etc.), I’ve been unable to focus on writing. Which is a damn shame, but unavoidable.

Once we get the greenlight from the MinnesotaCare people telling us that we won’t have a ten thousand dollar hospital bill looming on the horizon, and once we’re able to pay off a few more of these bills, and once we recieve our stimulus check, all will be back to normal and I’ll be able to focus a bit better.

Until then, I don’t see writing much more than blog entries. Even those, I fear, are more boring than usual lately.

But hey, this one had an injruy. And our faithful hero (read: me) intimidating a small man in glasses (read: the very nice owner of a dog that was merely protecting her home). And ice cream.

Oh, I didn’t mention the ice cream.

…

There was ice cream. It was delicious.

—

I’ve begun e-mail correspondence with a relative I’ve not seen or spoken to or heard from since I was a toddler. It’s an odd experience, but a nice one.

—

As of May the fourteenth, I’ll have officially been working at the local gas station (Casey’s) for a year. Hard to believe, really. But I suppose that’s due to my only working three days a week.

Speaking of work, I have to stock the cooler full of chilled liquid goodies today, so I should probably get some sleep.

—

Edited to add:

I’m a forgetful bastard.

The lovely Lisa has created a Live Journal feed to this very blog.

So if you’re a Live Journal user, and would like to have this blog’s updates appear in your friends list, add the Rob Kaas feed.

Thank you, Lisa.

A Taste Of Mocha

The new Starbuck’s Dark Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino is far too delicious for its own good. We’ve gone through a four-pack in a single morning, just between the wife and I.

We’ll be buying those again, I’m certain.

—

IRON MAN certainly takes its rightful place amongst some of the greatest comic book movies ever made (Rocketeer, X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman Begins, Sin City, etc.) and is, quite possibly, the perfect superhero movie.

It’s a difficult thing for me to say, considering how highly I regard Batman Begins, but I think I’m finally able to say it; Iron Man is the perfect comic book movie and is, very possibly, my favorite comic book movie to date.

Of course, July’s release of The Dark Knight may change all of that. But let’s bask in the gold-and-red glow of Tony Stark’s alter-ego, shall we?

Yes.

—

DailyBits.Com has posted a list of free downloadable graphic novels (though some of them, mostly the DC ones, are merely the first issue of a series). It’s quite entertaining and there’s a lot of very good titles up there. Fables, Deadman and Sandman being amongst some of my favorites.

—

While we’re on the subject of free downloadable content, here’s a link to download Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother. I’m doing so and plan on reading it soon, as I’ve heard nothing but good things.

—

On to cleaning house and maybe preparing lunch. Such a thrilling life I lead.

Things Both Good And Bad

Let’s start with the bad things. Or thing, really.

In case you haven’t heard (and if you haven’t, where the hell have you been?), a powerful cyclone hit Myanmar five days ago, devistating nearly everything in its wake and killing thousands of people. Five days have passed, and even the largest city in Myanmar is paralyzed.

The length of time these people are forced to wait for aid is a travesty. If you’d like to help, please give anything you can. GlobalGiving.Com has a few different programs you can give to, or you can give to one all-inclusive plan, where a little of your money will go to all the programs listed.

—

On to some less Apocalyptic bits.

Author John Scalzi is now blogging it up over at AMCTV.Com.

His first entry is one entitled “Is Guillermo del Toro the Right Man for The Hobbit?” and it serves as a bit of a response to this blog entry by a man named Andrew O’Hehir over at Salon.Com. O’Hehir is against del Toro directing The Hobbit (and it’s subsequent sequel, which Scalzi affectionately refers to as The Hobbit 2: Electric Bilboloo), Scalzi is all for del Toro taking over for Peter Jackson.

Both articles make very interesting points, but I find myself agreeing with John. The Hobbit, while one of my favorite books, is a bit soft ’round the middle; making it the sort of book that is great to read before bed or to your children or whilst sitting under a nice big tree, but also the sort of book from which a film adaptaion may be a dangerous thing. A film adaptation of Hobbit, if not done correctly and by someone who knew what he or she were doing, could end up being very… Let’s say “fluffy”.

I, for one, think del Toro is a fantastic choice to direct Hobbit, because of his ability to create visually stunning and emotionally gripping fantasy (Go watch Pan’s Labyrinth. Right now. Even if you’ve already seen it, just go watch it.) and because he is a short bearded man with a funny accent, hence the perfect person to take the helm from Peter Jackson.

That last bit was a joke.

When I first read that del Toro had been chosen to direct The Hobbit, I felt relieved. I felt as though I could sit back and relax, as one of my favorite books was no longer in danger of turning into a very boring film.

—

Give a listen to these mp3s of Arthur C. Clarke reading the final chapters of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s very moving and very haunting and very cool.

—

The wife and the boy and I are all going to see IRON MAN tonight at our local theater, which excites us, but we are unable to make it a night out involving dinner, which disappoints us. We will have to make due with corn dogs before we leave for the film.

—

The boy’s arm is still broken and not yet in a cast, but the casting appointment has been made (May the fourteenth) and he says he’ll be happy once it’s on.

He also says the pain is minimal, which is more than I could say when I broke my arm around that same age.

April Showers (In May) And Other Things

I awoke this morning to the calming sound of a light pattering against the bedroom window. I rose from bed, stretched and yawned, walked to the door and opened it. Little droplets of renewal, small glimmering orbs, each containing a mirrored image of the world around them, cascaded from the heavens and washed across the concrete and grass outside my house.

It was a wonderful way to start the day.

—

In the previous entry, I linked to this article at SFSignal.Com that asked the question “What’s Your Beef with Young Adult SF/F?”.

That same article links to this entry posted to John Scalzi’s blog the day before.

I know none of you have asked for my opinion on this topic and, truthfully, many of you probably do not care one way or the other, but here it is anyway:

There are many readers of science fiction/fantasy who will scoff at you if you say you read young adult books. There are many who will try to convince you that it is a foolish waste of time and, in fact, talent to read YA SF over adult SF (their argument is as such: “For every YA SF title written by an author, the literary landscape is denied a full-fledged adult SF title by that same author. Which is BAD.”). There are even those among the world who will say the recent YA movement is killing SF altogether.

These people are wrong.

If not for the YA section of some of my favorite book stores, I’d never have discovered the wonderful world of Garth Nix and his thrilling Abhorsen Trilogy. If not for delving into the YA Fantasy section of your book store, you may miss such great authors such as Lewis Carroll or C.S. Lewis, as some book stores put Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Chronicles Of Narnia in this section. Another great book often hidden away in the YA section is Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.

And let’s not forget Harry Potter.

The notion that the world of YA SF/F is somehow damaging the world of adult SF/F is preposterous.

But look at the sales numbers, Mr. Kaas. You’ll find that in today’s market, YA SF/F is outselling adult SF/F two-to-one! You cannot argue with the numbers!

No. No, I cannot argue with the numbers. YA books are making huge numbers out there. But is that not a good thing for SF in the long run? Does that not mean that a fresh crop of unmolded minds, ready to be stretched and prodded and properly flabbergasted by truly smart science fiction is now buying books? Five or ten years from now, will these young adults not be buying adult science fiction?

I would much rather hand my twelve year old a copy of Pretties by Scott Westerfeld than the latest High School Musical book or something else aimed at his age group. True, he’s probably old enough to enjoy something like The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Universe by Douglas Adams, or maybe even The Hobbit by Tolkien, but the great thing about YA SF/F is the accessability of it all. Some great YA writers have the uncanny ability to write deep, prolific stories, that are just complex enough. They’re easy enough to understand, without being dumbed down just because it’s written for a younger audience. Plus a quick reader can probably finish the average YA book in a single afternoon of reading.

In short, I don’t believe that YA SF/F is killing adult SF/F. I don’t believe that for every YA title written by an established writer of adult titles, an adult book of even greater value is lost forever. I also don’t believe that established adult SF authors should lose any of their previously established respectability, simply for writing a YA title.

The next time you’re in the book store, stop by the YA section and take a look around. Read some book jackets, scan some of the covers and see if anything strikes your fancy. You may find some hidden gem you would have normally overlooked.

Hospital Waiting Room Coffee and Stale Cookies

Our son learned a very hard lesson on Thursday Night; Never climb a slide in a way it was not originally intended to be climbed.

He came home accompanied by a crooked arm and many tears and much whimpering. We whisked him to the Emergency Room, where they performed X-Rays and told us they could not set the bone. They gave him a purple splint, which made him feel a little better, and some Vicodin, which made him feel a lot better, and told us we needed to drive an hour and twenty minutes to an Orthopedic specialist.

And so, we did.

Friday afternoon, we arrived for our appointment and the doctor told us, upon looking at the X-Rays, that he would need to be given anaesthesia and the bone would be set. At the hospital three blocks away from his office. The next morning.

And so we drove an hour and twenty minutes home. We kept our child as medicated as was legal and healthy and awaited the morning.

Saturday morning we drove an hour and twenty minutes to the hospital near the orthopedic specialist’s office, being absolutely certain to get our son there by his ten o’clock appointment.

At twelve thirty five, they finally performed the operation.

Things went well, the bone is set, but due to swelling the cast cannot be applied until a week from now. When we will have to drive an hour and twenty minutes to the hospital across from the orthopedic specialist’s office.

On the plus side, the nurse gave us a ten dollar gas card for making us wait so long, which was awfully nice of her.

I’ve decided that hospital waiting room coffee is much like the stale cookies that accompany it; it’s there to keep your hands and mind temporarily occupied so you don’t worry about whatever reason you find yourself in a hospital waiting room in the first place.

The boy’s friends have given him free ice cream, they’ve brought over homework for the weekend and they’ve checked in on a regular schedule to ensure he’s alright.

His teachers gave him popcorn and a gift certificate for free movie rentals.

We’ve given him the gift of anaesthesia. The specialist could have set the bone at his office on Friday afternoon, however, it would be a very painful procedure that may have ended with his arm needing to be rebroken in a week or two.

Given that the hospital bill alone is said to be at least seven to eight thousand dollars, I’d say our gift trumps the popcorn.

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SFSignal asks why so many adult SF readers are so judgemental of Young Adult SF.

I’ll give my two cents later.

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Here is a very interesting (albeit a bit one-sided and brutal) take on the J.K. Rowling lawsuit.

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I’ve been playing around with LibraryThing lately. I’ve only added three books (I own more than that), but here is my profile there

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It’s very nearly six in the morning and I’ve slept very little, so I think I’ll go and sleep for a few hours before assisting a one-armed child with his paper route duties. More updates later (maybe even some photos).