Klaw on The League of Extremely Ordinary Gentlemen

I'm one of the special guests for the Alan Moore episode of the geek podcast The League of Extremely Ordinary Gentlemen.

It began with a discussion about Watchmen and devolved into many other subjects. Lots of comics, movies, Alan Moore, and other geek shit within. You can hear me diss the movie, Lord of the Rings, and Neil Gaiman.

I'm now putting a moratorium on my discussions about Watchmen for the foreseeable future. After three articles and countless talks about it, I'm so tired of the subject. Time to devote my energies on other far more interesting things.

SWAT Standoff: The Twitter Experience

Last night my neighborhood was in lockdown as the Austin SWAT confronted a "man [who] refused to surrender" after a "wellfare call." The whole thing ended after a five hour standoff with no one being hurt and the man brought into custody. Since it was in my 'hood, I recorded my experiences via Twitter.



Bold are from the later news reports or commentary from me. Times are approximations since Twitter doesn't record the exact time of a post. I share my tweets with Facebook but there is sometimes a lag.

9:41 PM trying to figure out why the cops are diverting traffic from Burnet down 47th (past my house). Access to Rosedale cut off at 47th also.

Austin Police Lt. Ockltree tells KEYE TV a check wellfare call came in shortly before 7:30p.m. Police aren’t releasing any other details but tell us the man inside refused to surrender.

10:04 PM SWAT standoff like one block from my house! http://tinyurl.com/cjnjhx Streets blocked off and everything.

10:07 PM More on SWAT standoff http://tinyurl.com/dn48bv

10:24 PM Cops are keeping everyone off the streets. It's very quiet out there... hopefully, not too quiet.

Sgt. Mason with APD says, "That's why were here, that's basically why we shut down Burnet Road. To make sure that everyone is safe and if the person has weaponery and we don't know at this point, but if there is some kind of danger. That's why we shut down Burnet Road and the neighborhood is in lockdown."

10:30 PM Hope this resolves before bed. Not exactly easy to sleep with police lights flickering throughout the house.

I live on 47th between Burnet and Rosedale. Standoff on 46th between Burnet and Rosedale. I could see the flashing lights from both Burnet and Rosedale as cops blocked off the streets.

11:30 PM aluikart @rickklaw @iemilie @terrymtz @ctreada SWAT team has closed rosedale between 45th and 47th. almost wasn't allowed back to my house.

Neighbor aluikart who is on Rosedale reached out to several of us via Twitter. I've included some of his tweets for a more complete picture.

11:30 PM aluikart good thing sarah was home - my license doesn't have my rosedale address so i couldn't prove i lived here. 46th is crazy dark right now.

11:35 PM Still no news and no movement. Just flashing lights.

11:40 PM aluikart this is no "omg plane just landed in hudson", but probably the most exciting few twitters i've ever twittered. UPDATE: no gun battles.

12:00 AM aluikart "YOU NEED TO COME OUT. WE CAN'T LEAVE UNTIL WE KNOW YOU'RE SAFE"

I assume this is SWAT talking to the man barricaded in the house.

12:25 AM aluikart okay, no more fucking around. those were gunshots.

12:25 AM Gunshots fired!

We both heard the shots. This very vague bit comes from the news report. "At one point while police were talking to a woman in the front yard, neighbors say they heard two gunshots."

12:28 AM A few moments of lots of cars moving on 47th then nothing but quiet after the shots.

12:32 AM some of the news trucks parked at Phoenicia [Bakery at 47th & Burnet[ have driven away. Burnet and Rosedale still closed.

12:35 AM aluikart lots of banging noises right now. not like the gunshots earlier. maybe they're breaking the door down?

12:36 AM banging noises are from the garbage truck at Phoenicia. Watching out my window.

12:40 AM Garbage truck gone now. Any new clanking is from something else.

12:41 AM Another gunshot! Shotgun this time?

12:43 AM And now a cop car went zooming by on 47th toward Burnet!

12:45 AM According to @aluikart who is closer to the scene, it was an explosion

12:46 AM aluikart that rattled windows here. not that i've ever heard a shotgun before.

Police finally used [tear] gas on the man, and were able to get him out of the house without incident around 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

12:47 AM aluikart well, i didn't see anything. i'm going to stop posting because i can't see anything and don't want to spread misinformation.

1:00 AM Ambulance passed my house on 47th and turned left on Ramses! No lights but heading toward scene.

1:22 AM Hearing what may very well be several gunshots

Have no idea what the noises were and probably never will.

1:26 AM Wish they'd end this standoff. I'd really like to go to bed now.

Course it was over but had no way of knowing.

1:40 AM Been very quiet for abt 15 minutes. No noise. No cop movements. Just some barking from the dogs in the neighborhood. They're agitated.

1:54 AM Streets still blocked but been quiet for nearly 1/2 hour. Wonder if they forgot to tell the grunts blocking the streets?

1:58 AM Police van is gone from Burnet but street is still closed. As is Rosedale.

2:15 AM Guess it is over. Rosedale is open though Burnet is still closed. Figure out in morn. Off to bed.

So there you have it. A lil bit of excitement in my life as experienced via Twitter.

C.O.U.S.: Reflections from Rick's Collection #24

While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I'm taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.




The New Original Captain Canuck Limited Edition No. 1 (Matrix Comics 2001)
Art by Dejan Ostojic


Premiering in Captain Canuck #1, Captain Canuck's original adventures ran for three issues in 1975-76. Writer Ron Leishman and artist/co-writer Richard Comely relied on tropes of US action comics while creating one of the most popular Canadian-created superhero. In 1979, Captain Canuck returned for an additional eleven issues and a Summer Special. The extraordinary George Freeman drew most of these issues and are sought after by discerning fans. (IDW recently announced two forthcoming collections of these issues!)

Captain Canuck #11 (Comely Comix) Art by George Freeman

Since the end of Freeman's run (and that incarnation of the comic) in 1981, there have been several attempt to relaunch/ reintroduce the character including by Matrix Comics in 2001. The ashcan The New Original Captain Canuck Limited Edition No. 1 served as a prequel to a proposed series by writer Mark Shainblum and artist Sandy Carruthers (illustrator for the original Men in Black from Aircel Comics) that updates the character for 21st century audiences.


From The New Original Captain Canuck Limited Edition No. 1 (Matrix Comics 2001)
Script by Mark Shainblum
Art by Sandy Carruthers


As far as I can discern, this is the only Captain Canuck appearance created by the duo and the Matrix Comics series never materialized.

Soul!

Okay, this is a must see. The series, Soul!, was produced by New York public television back in the 1970s. Each of the six episodes WNET has put on the web is a sixty minute concert by a great R&B or jazz group of the day. Earth, Wind, and Fire, Ashford and Simpson, Rashaan Roland Kirk, Max Roach and (best of all) a blistering episode with both Tito Puente and Willie Colon and their respective Orquestas. The sixty minute length really gives them time to stretch out. And of course, come for the music and stay for the dashikis and afros. I don't remember this show at all. Maybe it wasn't shown here in Austin. Public TV stations have always had their mix of local and national shows. For example, I don't think I've ever met anyone who wasn't born in Texas who remembers Carrascolendas, the little bilingual children's show our KLRU produced back in the day. 

Anyway, the six episodes of Soul! WNET has put on the net are each spectacular and the episode list suggests that there's more gold in the vault--Curtis Mayfield, The Delfonics, early Kool and the Gang, Herbie Hancock--the list goes on and on and hopefully the station will put more shows online or make them available in some other form. But for now, click for a consciousness raising trip back to the early seventies. 

C.O.U.S.: Reflections from Rick's Collection #23

Actual size

Werner - Volles Rooäää!!! (Edel 1999)

While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I'm taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Video release cover

The small, nearly square (3" x 2 3/4") wordless flip book Werner - Volles Rooäää!!! was published to promote the 1999 film of the same name.




Created by Brösel (Rötger Feldmann), the popular German underground comix character, Werner, first appeared in 1978 and is the subject of several graphic novels and three feature films. This particular book focuses on Werner the plumber emerging from a pipe.

Actual size

Interiors from Werner - Volles Rooäää!!! (Edel 1999)

The rear cover advertises the forthcoming Werner - Volles Rooäää!!! film.

Actual size

C.O.U.S.: Reflections from Rick's Collection #22

While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I'm taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Though primarily remembered for Shannon Wheeler's Too Much Coffee Man (see C.O.U.S. #1), Adhesive Comics produced several other titles including six issues of the anthology JAB, Sam Hurt's Eyebeam: The Trilogy, Pal-yat-chee (stories by cartoonists Tom King and Walt Holcombe), and the cyberpunk series Eden Matrix. Created by writer Aubrey McAuley, Eden Matrix evolved from the "SplitPhaze" stories-- written with McCauley's ex-wife DeAnne and drawn by Ashley Underwood-- in JAB #1-3. In 1993, Adhesive Comics offered the full color Eden Matrix Mini-Comic #1 to promote the forthcoming Eden Matrix series. The mini featured two stories, both written by McAuley, in a flip format.

"The Serpent's Tale"


Eden Matrix Mini-Comic #1 Cover A (Adhesive Comics 1993)
Art by Theron Smith


From Eden Matrix Mini-Comic #1 "The Serpent's Tale" (Adhesive Comics 1993)
Written by Aubrey McAuley
Illustrated by Theron Smith
Colors by Martin Thomas and Adhesive Media


"Waste Land"


Eden Matrix Mini-Comic #1 Cover B (Adhesive Comics 1993)
Art by Ashley Underwood (not credited)


From Eden Matrix Mini-Comic #1 "Waste Land" (Adhesive Comics 1993)
Written by Aubrey McAuley
Illustrated by Michael Washburn
Colors by Ashley Underwood and Adhesive Media


The mini also advertised the new eponymous BBS service. In the days before the World Wide Web, computer users dialed directly into a local server into what was essentially web page hosted on local computers. (BBS stands for Bulletin Board System.) Eden Matrix the BBS eventually became a webhost, operating out at eden.com. The domain and company are currently owned by UNICOM System.




McCauley again teamed with Underwood to create the two extant regular-sized issues of Eden Matrix. As were norm for comics of the early 90s, both issues come out in two separate cover editions-- one sf and one horror focused. The interiors of both issues were identical.

C.O.U.S.: Reflections from Rick's Collection #21

Litterbox #0


While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I'm taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Kat Butt Comix, late of Bryan, TX, promoted Litterbox, "an anthology of fresh material by some of today's top creators and up-and-coming talent." To support the forthcoming book, they produced Litterbox #0, a 200 copy, numbered minicomic.




The giveaway contained Scott Cupp and Brad W. Foster's necrophiliac comedic tale "Somebody To Love" and info about the anthology series.


"Somebody To Love" p. 1 by Scott Cupp and Brad W. Foster
(Litterbox #0, Kat Butt Comix 1998)


"Somebody To Love" p. 2 by Scott Cupp and Brad W. Foster
(Litterbox #0, Kat Butt Comix 1998)


"Somebody To Love" p. 3 by Scott Cupp and Brad W. Foster
(Litterbox #0, Kat Butt Comix 1998)


The projected lineup for the first issue included "Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland" by Joe R. Lansdale, Rick Klaw, and Doug Potter, "Dog, Cat and Baby" by Joe R. Lansdale and Keith Lansdale, "Just Enough Light" by Thomas Knowles II and Adam Richards, "Underman Can Walk" by Doselle Young and John McCrea, and "Somebody To Love." The ashcan also teased "And more to be announced!" and a cover by Brian Stelfreeze. The first issue was promised for 1999, but was never published.

At least two of the projected stories have appeared elsewhere.

"Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland" by Joe R. Lansdale, Rick Klaw, and Doug Potter first ran in full color at RevolutionSF and the black & white version along with my script was included in my collection Geek Confidential.

"Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland" by Joe R. Lansdale Adapted by Rick Klaw Art by Doug Potter (RevolutionSF)


"Dog, Cat and Baby" by Joe R. Lansdale and Keith Lansdale with art by Timothy Truman eventually appeared in Murder by Crowquill and later reprinted in Joe R. Lansdale's By Bizarre Hands #6 (Avatar Press).


"Dog, Cat and Baby" by Joe R. Lansdale Adapted by Keith Lansdale
Art by Timothy Truman (Murder by Crowquill, Amazing Montage Press 1999)


To the best of my knowledge, none of the other stories have appeared and Kat Butt Comix never published a single title and faded into obscurity.

My Watchmen review

My review of the highly-anticipated, much ballyhooed Zach Snyder film adaptation of the classic Watchmen is now up at RevolutionSF.

In 1986's Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, rather than accepting the limitations of the graphic format, embodied and broadened the art form. By revitalizing and reinventing the superhero genre, the duo influenced an entire generation of writers, artists, and filmmakers. The acclaimed superhero tale garnered a Hugo Award, the only comic book to ever earn the prestigious science fiction prize, and the only graphic novel ranked on Time's 100 Greatest Novels.

Under the guidance of Zack Snyder, the director of the bombastic 300, Moore and Gibbon's groundbreaking vision makes its big screen appearance. Snyder crafts a film that rather than “revitalizing and reinventing” the genre, exemplifies the some of the worst in comic book adaptation.

Who reads the Watchmen?

My non-geek guide to the Watchmen graphic novel appeared in today's San Antonio Current.

In 1986, DC comic books ran advertisements featuring new costumed characters, and asked, forebodingly, “Who Watches the Watchmen?” Later that year, Watchmen, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons, premiered, forever changing both comics and film.

As is typical with my articles, I included some historical trivia.

After DC acquired the rights to the little-known Charlton Comics’ line of superhero characters in 1983, rising star Moore developed a series to showcase the heroes. DC managing editor Dick Giordano rejected the unsolicited proposal, but encouraged Moore to rework the idea employing original characters. Joined by artist Dave Gibbons, the duo re-imagined the old heroes to suit their unique vision. Charlton’s Peacemaker, Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Thunderbolt, and the Question evolved respectively into Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, Nite Owl, Ozymandias, and Rorschach. (Not based on a Charlton character, Silk Spectre draws inspiration from a conglomeration of female heroes.)

There's even some literary analysis throw in.

Initially appearing in 12 individual comic-book issues, each 32-page chapter of Watchmen (except for the final installment) offered 25-28 pages of sequential story followed by prose text that enhanced or clarified the complex tale. Commonplace in comics since the 1940s, extensive text rarely formed an integral aspect of the overall tale. Usually, they were stand-alone pieces of short fiction featuring the lead character or, in the case of themed anthologies, functioned as a bonus story. To fully enjoy, and at times even comprehend, Moore’s multilayered epic, all the text pieces need to be read in the order they appear and considered within the larger work. The seemingly random, incongruous prose plays an essential role in the overall narrative.

Check out the rest of the article.

To Hell With Alan Moore

For my latest Nexus Graphica column, I revised and updated the "To Hell With Alan Moore" article, my 2006 history of the films based on the works of Alan Moore that originally appeared in Moving Pictures.

Alan Moore (along with Sin City creator Frank Miller) injected relevancy into mainstream comics in the 80s. Previously, comic books lagged some five to six years behind current trends. Moore's skills moved mainstream superhero comics ahead of popular culture and established new trends, the punk to the old guard's rock 'n' roll. His success paved the way for artists such as Moore protégé Neil Gaiman and Mike Mignola (Hellboy creator), as well as the re-tooling of superheroes that lead to this century's spate of successful films such as the Spider-Man franchise, the X-Men series, Iron Man, and even even The Incredibles.

Not only did I revise large chunks of the original text and correct a factual error, but I expanded the piece to include my thoughts on the V For Vendetta movie and included some observations about the forthcoming Watchmen film.

A movie based on Moore's arguably most nihilistic work, V for Vendetta (1990), premiered in March 2006 starring Natalie Portman. Originally published serially during the height of the Thatcher/Reagan era, V relates the anonymous struggles of an anarchist terrorist in a post-apocalyptic fascist Britain. The movie, from first-time director James McTeigue and a screenplay by the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix), retained much of the original story's anarchy and political references. The finest big screen Moore adaptation to date managed a respectable $132 million in total worldwide box office. Yet again, Moore asked for his name to be removed from the credits.