Category: Comics

3 Real Life Heroes

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Comic book legends Neal Adams, Jack Kubert and Stan Lee have teamed in an effort to do what their creations are known for… to right a wrong. The only difference is this is not fiction.

Dina Gottliebova Babbitt is an 85 year old woman who survived Auschwitz due to her artistic talents. Sent to the camp at the age of 19, Ms. Gottliebova [she was not yet married] came to the attention of the infamous Nazi, Josef Mengele, after she painted a mural of Snow White in an effort to raise the spirits of young children being held there. When she was taken to meet Mengele, Ms. Gottliebova believed that he was about to order her execution. Instead he told her he wanted her to paint portraits of the gypsies he used in his experiments. She would also paint portraits of Nazi officers and their families and even Mengele himself. Ms. Gottliebova summoned up her courage and said that if her mother would be spared the gas chamber, she would agree to his demands. Her mother was spared and Ms. Gottliebova created the artwork. Ms. Gottliebova and her mother both survived until the camp was liberated.

After the war, Ms. Gottliebova met Arthur Babbitt, an American, who made his living as a cartoon animator. Coincidentally, he worked on the classic “Snow White!” Ms. Gottliebova became Mrs. Babbitt and moved to the United States where she became employed as a cartoon animator for Warner Bros., MGM and Jay Ward Productions. In 1973, Ms. Babbitt was contacted by officials at the Auschwitz State Museum. They had several of her portraits on display and wanted her to verify that she had created them. At her own expense she traveled to Poland and confirmed that they were hers. Ms. Babbitt believed the museum would give her the originals and keep prints for display… but that wasn’t to be.

To this day the museum continues to refuse to return her paintings to her. Over the years she has been given a number of excuses: the education value of the paintings outweighs her rights to them [despite the fact the high quality prints are usually on display instead of the originals], that returning her paintings might encourage other survivors to take back their objects on display [somehow this logic gives trump to the museum’s rights over the true owners], and even that the paintings were the legal property of Josef Mengele [despite receiving letters from over four dozen lawyers calling the claim “preposterous and offensive” and pointing out “a war criminal does not deserve to enjoy the fruits of his crime.”

The paintings still have not been returned to Ms. Babbitt. So Neal Adams, Joe Kubert and Stan Lee teamed up to create a six page summary of her story that was printed in the New York Times. They are attempting to get the word out to the world. You can view all six pages of the strip by following this link to the Times article. The “Multimedia” box in the left hand column of the Times page will take you to the story. After you’ve read it, if you’re so inclined you can send an email to the Museum director personally expressing your feelings.

Mr. Piotr Cywinski, Director
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
Oswiecim, Poland
muzeum@auschwitz.org.pl

It’s nice to know that Neal Adams, Joe Kubert and Stan Lee don’t just create heroes — they are heroes.

 

 

Greatest Comic Characters

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EmpireOnLine.com posted their choices for The 50 Greatest Comic Characters of All Time. Using just their picks, here are my top ten:

I only really read Iron Man way back when David Micheline and Bob Layton were charting his adventures. That coupled with the fact that I really liked the movie is enough to put Iron Man in the number 10 spot.

Superman was Empire’s #1 character. I can see why: Superman is one of the most popular characters ever created. He’s been the star of comics, radio, tv and movies. For my tastes though, he’s just too dang powerful. Superman has super speed, super strength, super hearing, x-ray vision, he can fly, he’s impervious to pain and he’s really, really nice. Unless he’s up against a chunk of Kryptonite [and isn’t THAT stuff easy to find], where’s the drama? Still, I did love me some Superman when I was about 5 and that’s good enough to get him the number 9 slot.

At number 8 we have Captain America. I’ve enjoyed the good Captain in bursts over the years. When I was a wee lad, I loved Jack Kirby’s Cap. You’d open to the splash and there was Cap having just been thrown out of a plane without a parachute or maybe he was already in battle against Batroc the Leaper! Years later Steranko did a couple of issues and they were beautiful. I still go back and read them from time to time. When I was in college, my buddies Mike Zeck and John Beatty had a nice run on Cap. I went along for the ride and had a blast.

Up until high school my favorite comic character was Spider-Man. It didn’t matter who was drawing him; although John Romita Jr., Gil Kane, and John Byrne were favorites. Spider-Man aka Peter Parker always seemed to be in just a bit over his head. Despite that, he always tried to do the right thing. And that’s why he comes in a number 7.

The Punisher never looked better than when he was being drawn by Zeck and Beatty. Throw Steven Grant into the mix as the writer and you have a winning team. They did the first Punisher mini-series and took him from a second rate villain to one of the most popular characters ever. And that’s where the troubles started. Suddenly the Punisher had his own monthly comic. He was teamed with a partner [Microchip?] and ended up doing things like being a substitute teacher. Ugh! Still there were more bright spots from time to time. Grant, Zeck and Beatty re-teamed for a couple more Punisher graphic novels and John Romita Jr. had a nice little run with the character. The high spots are enough to take the character to the sixth spot on our list.

Mike Mignola’s Hellboy is number 5. I’ve been riding the Hellboy express since his first appearance in Dark Horse Presents scripted by John Byrne. It’s been a fun trip, although I wish Mignola did more of the driving. Guest artists are fun, but Mike’s writing coupled with his art really makes Hellboy soar. And hey, the movies ain’t bad either!

Wolverine’s journey is very similar to the Punisher’s. Once he got his own series things went south. At first Wolverine was the mysterious, violent character in the X-Men. Then when he got his own series he was living on an island and wearing an eyepatch with the name Patch. Huh? Give me the Wolverine from the Claremont, Byrne and Austin run on the X-Men. Give me the Miller and Rubstein Wolverine from their mini-series. Give me the Barry Windsor Smith Weapon X Wolverine. Just keep the eyepatch for yourself. Wolverine comes in fourth.

Third place belongs to Frank Miller’s Marv from Sin City. How can you not dig the big lug? I wish Miller would give us more.

The # 2 spot goes to Daredevil on the strength of Frank Miller and Klaus Janson’s run back in the early 80’s. That was comics are their best.

Batman gets my number one slot. It doesn’t really matter who writes or draws the character. Think about it. Batman has been done as comedy, as camp, with the focus on Bruce Wayne, with the focus on Batman, as a vigilante, as a confidant to the police, as a wanted criminal, with a kid partner, as an old man, as a young man finding his way. Batman just works and that’s why he’s my number 1 choice.

When Titans Clash… Indeed

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When titans clash… indeed.

This is going to get worse before it gets better… I just don’t see how.

Toilets are always funny… apparently not.

I just hope that what we are seeing when we watch this clip is some sort of drug induced dream sequence. Even still… this is not making me excited to to see Frank Miller’s movie adaptation of The Spirit.

You know what the best thing about this post is? That Chris Mills may watch the clip and leave more of his thoughts in the comments section.

Kyle Baker Stays Busy

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You’ve heard me rave about Kyle Baker’s work before… and with good reason. He’s one of the most talented writer/artists working today. And he’s one of my favorites.

Currently Mr. Baker is enjoying the success of his Nat Turner graphic novels [1 and 2], his on-going comic series Special Forces, and the recent publication of his How to Draw Stupid and Other Essentials of Cartooning Book. Oh and I almost forgot to mention that his ongoing semi-autobiographical, and hilariously funny, The Bakers, is in development as a potential animated series for FOX.

You can check out this interview with Kyle Baker from the good folks at CBR.com. Kyle talks about his current projects, why he hopes never to have to work at Marvel or DC again, as well as why he gets a kick out of the line, “God seems a little angry.”

Big Crime for a Small Price

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I love well told crime stories. I love well done comics.

How do you think I reacted when I found out about The Mammoth Book of the Best Crime Comics?  Edited by Paul Gravett and designed by Peter Stanbury, this 480 page monster features stories by Dashiell Hammett & Alex Raymond, Will Eisner, Johnny Craig, Mickey Spillane, Bernie Krigstein, Alan Moore, Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Neil Gaiman, Alex Toth, Jordi Bernet, Paul Grist, Jack Cole, Charles Burns, Max Allan Collins, and José Muñoz & Carlos Sampayo.

If that’s not enough to get you reaching for your wallet, then maybe the fact that you can get here for less than fifteen smackatoons is.

More Terminator Salvation

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If you’re into the Terminator series and are looking forward Terminator Salvation you’ll be happy to know that IDW Publishing has the rights to a four-issue prequel to be written by Dara Naraghi with art by Alan Robinson, as well as a four-issue adaptation of the movie written by Jeff Mariotte with art by Don Figueroa. You can read all about it here.

He’s a Horror Show

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If you enjoyed 30 Days of Night [the graphic novel and/or the movie], then you might want to keep your eyes open for “30 Days of Night: 30 Days ’til Death” by award-winning writer/artist David [Stray Bullets] Lapham.

Lampham, who will write and draw the mini-series, describes it by saying:

The basic set up is that the elders are getting fed up and organize kill squads to come to America and “thin the heard.” My story focuses on one vamp named Rufus who escapes the kill squad once and decides the only way to survive is to live ‘off the radar’… These are not traditional vampires with all the usual vampire rules. They’re just vicious creatures… Rufus is only a hero by way of comparison to what’s going on around him… but make no mistake, he is a vampire. When it comes down to it, he’s a horror show.

If this sounds like something that you’d like, then click here to read the full interview at Newsarama.


If You Love Crime Fiction

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Darwyn Cooke has just announced that he’ll be adapting Richard Stark’s “Parker” crime series into graphic novels.

Man-oh-man-oh-man! Talk about great news! How can it get any better than the combination of one of my favorite artists [with a love for the crime genre] adapting one of the most iconic characters in crime fiction?

You can read more about the pairing of Cooke and Parker here and here.

American Flagg Returns

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Howard Chaykin says he’ll believe it when he sees it. The “it” is the release of the first hardcover collection of Chaykin’s critically acclaimed “American Flagg” series. Initially announced over four years ago [I was talking it up back in January of ’04], the series was delayed in order to make the hardcovers the best that they could possibly be.

If you’re a comics fan and you’ve never read Chaykin’s “American Flagg” here’s your chance to jump on board. If you’re already a fan, then head down to your local comic shop or click here. And if you’re still not convinced that “American Flagg” is for you, then check out this interview with Howard Chaykin and see what you think.

Craig’s "Dark Knight" Review

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The Pitch: Batman done right.

The Overview: Batman has been fighting crime for a year. He’s formed an uneasy alliance with police Lieutenant James Gordon and together they have made the streets of Gotham a bit safer. Harvey Dent, the charismatic and popular district attorney, with the aide of attorney Rachael Dawes [Bruce Wayne’s ex] are putting away criminals through the courts. Together the four [Batman, Gordon, Dent and Dawes] have created a one-two punch taking on organized crime in Gotham.

Without warning and with no explanation, a criminal psychopath who calls himself the Joker appears on the scene and begins to terrorize the city. Batman, Gordon and Dent will have to pay a terrible toll if they are to have even a chance at stopping the Joker.

The Good:

  • Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker is amazing from every little tic and nod to the perfect inflection with his dialogue. Ledger understood that the Joker isn’t a clown, but instead a psycho with face paint.
  • The screenplay by Jonathon and Christopher Nolan provides great action sequences, spot on characterization and grounds everything in reality.
  • Christopher Nolan’s direction.
  • The city of Gotham. This is the first time in any Batman movie that the city seemed real.
  • The dinner scene with Bruce, his date, Rachael and Harvey. Bruce went in not wanting to like Harvey, but comes to realize he is a decent man and leaves respecting him.
  • The use of Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.
  • Every scene with Heath Ledger as the Joker.
  • Bringing back Cillian Murphy for one scene as the Scarecrow.
  • The use of the right actors for small but important roles: Eric Roberts as Salvatore Maroni, William Fichtner as the bank manager, “Tiny” Tim Lester as a convict. Anthony Michael Hall, Jai White and Nestor Carbonell also appear.
  • Gary Oldman is perfect in his role as Gordon.
  • The effects for Harvey Dent as Two-Face. The way the coin toss; Two-Face name, and new look of his outfit is all worked out for the movie.
  • The Joker telling Batman the opposite locations for the rescure of Rachael and Harvey. The Joker’s scene with the criminal bosses, the Joker being “questioned” by the Batman, the Joker visiting Harvey in the hospital and then the scene right after when he walks out of the hospital. So much of the movie is just plain good. Oh, and did I mention that Heath Ledger ruled in his role as the Joker?


The Bad: I’m not sure Maggie Gyllenhaal was the best person to play Rachael and I still don’t like the look of Batman’s cowl, but with so much to like about the movie, let’s just move on, ok?

The Ugly: What happens to Harvey Dent.

The Summary: I’m a Batman fan. No prior Batman movie had given me a Batman that totally worked… not even Nolan and Bale’s “Batman Begins.” “The Dark Knight” works. It works because the movie is grounded and the characters are treated with respect. Excellent choices were made all the way around. Heath Ledger’s performance is amazing and gives the movie an additional boost. I look forward to having “The Dark Knight” in my dvd collection.

Wild Bill Checks In

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My old buddy [okay, he’s not that old], Wild Bill Black dropped in to say that he’s going to be a guest at Tim Gordon’s August 10th comic show. Tim’s shows are always a blast and having Bill there just adds to the fun. Wild Bill says that he’ll bring some of his comics and dvds for fans to purchase. Autographs are free. ; )Bill said that he’ll also bring some trailers and film clips for the show’s film room. But why wait, you can see the trailer for The Blue Bulleteer Captured by the Cloak by clicking here.

If you’re able to make the show, you should. I can gurantee a fun time.