Today’s children lit market has seen some of fiction’s most innovative and fantastical ideas in the past few years. While many of these series are pale comparisons of Harry Potter, there are some that have used the surge of new readers to create unique series that focus on the main purpose of children’s lit - escapism.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of my favorite kid’s series out today, not just because of the writing, but because of the wonderfully illustrated creatures and the world they suppose. The series was created by Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi, and I was fortunate enough to talk to Holly Black about these wonderful books.

Matt Knicl: What is it about fairies that fascinates you?

Holly Black: People often think of faeries as little girls with wings that sparkle, but according to folklore, faeries are capricious and dangerous creatures. A smart person wouldn’t even say the word “faery” for fear of getting their attention, but instead call them by placating names like “the good neighbors,” “the little people,” or “the people of peace.” Not because they were good or little or peaceful, but in the hope that faeries wouldn’t steal their children away and replace them with changelings or blight their crops and cause the cow’s milk to go sour. Unlike most other creatures from folklore (vampires and werewolves, for example), faeries were never human and it is their very alienness that fascinates me.

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I made a promise I couldn’t keep. Covering Comic-Con by oneself is impossible. The convention center took days to explore, and each panel had a line so long, you would have had to be there an hour before hand to ensure attendance. I thought I’d have free time, but at night when I thought I’d post, I was occupied by parties.

As far as the Con went, I have mixed feelings. As a comic fan, everyone and everything you’d want to see would be there, and lines in teh comic book area wouldn’t be too horrible. But, the movie and TV and video game and toy stuff really stole comics’ limelight, and filled the con with tourists and kids who admittedly didn’t read. Harold & Kumar were there, for example, and their booth put Marvel’s to shame. But once I stayed out of the entertainment section and kept to the comics area, I had a good time meeting with publishers and creators.

The parties were by far the best part of the Con because I could meet and talk to people one on one. You’d turn around and Joss Whedon or Bruce Campbell would be chilling. I met Mark Waid, Stephen Baldwin, Bill Willingham, the heads of DC and Marvel, Keith Giffen, and Grant Morrison at these parties, and as a professional and a fan boy I had a great time just talking to people.

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For those of us wanting a quick refresher course on Deadpool before his new series begins in September, Marvel has set up the Deadpool Saga online, a quick comic designed to explore Deadpool’s history in the Marvel Universe. Take a look if you are interested.

p.s. I’m heading off to San Diego Comic Con, so I’ll be sure to update as the week unfolds.

The San Francisco Treat

Subscriptions be praised! Somehow, by “accident” I’m sure, the much hyped X-Men milestone comic was released two days before its typical Wednesday release date. This issue was written by Ed Brubaker (The Death of Captain America) and Matt Fraction (Punisher War Journal) and focuses on the X-Men now that there are only 198 mutants left in the world and forced to flee to San Fransisco as it has denied the Super Human Registration Act.

This issue did a great job of setting up the future of the X-Men and mutants, and hopefully those humans now dealing with losing their mutant heritage and powers. Magneto is hooked up with the High Evolutionary and with two those two together, who knows what could become of the X-Men. Personally, I want the mutants to come back through some experiment of the High Evolutionary, but I feel confident now that there are enough new items to explore to keep the different X-titles fresh for awhile while Marvel decides what to do.

X-Men is about surviving in spite of hatred and bigotry, the minority being exploited and eradicated by ignorance. It might seem like with mutants, who symbolically stood for African-Americans and most recently homosexuals, could not stand for the same things there are only 200 mutants around, but now there is potential to look at what happens when the ignorant are close to winning, what would happen if the little guy were about to be overwhelmed. The best part is, we’re going to see that story told with giant robots and crazy battles with a cast of colorful characters.

Plus I’m also looking forward to learning more about Pixie’s involvement in the team.

courtesy Warner Bros.

Those of you who went to see The Dark Knight this weekend saw the trailer for the highly-anticipated movie adaptation to Alan Moore’s Watchmen, the first comic book ever collected in trade paperback.

The trailer looks awesome, and I’m looking forward to this movie, even though Alan Moore doesn’t approve. The comic is about an allegorical set of super heroes now in retirement. It’s the 1980s and the height of the Cold War. The comic is a tome, 12 issues, but well worth the read. The storyline is brilliant, but filled with all sorts of homage and allusions to comics. In fact, the world of Watchmen is a reflection of DC’s history, and acts as a massive love letter to comics fans. The movie will most likely remove a lot of these nuances to make the film more appealing to a wider audience.

All in all, this will most likely be a box office hit. Comic fans have known about Watchmen for years, and hopefully hype up to the film’s release will send people to bookstores to see what it’s about.

People are lining up, even after Friday, to see the second title in the new franchise of Batman movies. Dark Knight has broken box office records, and while it hasn’t yet made the most money for a super hero movie yet, it’s getting there.

But the first order of business is to point out that this isn’t a super hero movie. Sure, Warner Bros. used the likeness and names of some DC characters, but Dark Knight wasn’t based on the comics - it was it’s own beast. All the previous Batman movies, including Batman Begins, were super hero movies. The hero fights villain over the use of a doomsday weapon and good succeeds. I don’t know what Dark Knight was, but it was not one of those films.

I don’t know how Dark Knight didn’t have an R rating. The amount of pointless, sadistic violence was disturbing. Cellphones sewn under skin? Children held at gun point? I will be the first to admit, I read and watch disturbing stuff. I’ve read the likes of Carlton Mellick and Edward Lee, so my exposure to the absurdly violent is not something new. So when I say this movie was one of the most purposelessly disturbing thing I’ve ever seen, take my word for it.

This is not a movie for children. This is not a movie for people with children.

What this was was an immature grasp at “depth” and “creativity,” using bizarre killing as a juvenile means of tricking the audience into thinking the movie was groundbreaking. Like Dr. Horrible has said,”Killing’s not elegant or creative.” The Joker would do the sort of things he did in the movie, dead-man switching two boats and killing his own men, but the way he did it was not how the Joker should have been portrayed. They took a homicidal genius and turned him into a sadistic monster just because.

You could tell Saw 5 was attempting to break the super hero mold, which it did, by focusing on Harvey Dent almost more than Bruce Wayne, and showing us people suffering. Why was it so serious? This was not a fun summer movie - this was not Iron Man or Incredible Hulk. Save yourself the emotional scarring and see Mama Mia! instead.

It may seem a bit hasty to do a retrospective on a series still being released, but the third trade paperback of the series Punisher War Journal has just been published and the regular writer is soon to leave the comic, so I figure there is enough material to look at to make a fair assessment. I also think it’s good to examine the series as the comic media is goo goo for writer Matt Fraction. Is their undying praise justified?

In some way, it is. The idea of the Punisher, the bad ass human who fights crime with large guns and explosives, began in a super hero comic. But, as time progressed and Marvel became more “realistic”, Punisher fought human foes, and costumed vigilantes appeared less and less. Matt Fraction’s Punisher War Journal puts Frank Castle straight into the heart of the Marvel Universe in all its absurd glory.

From becoming the new Captain America to shooting the Rhino, the Punisher has gotten back to his roots as a vigilante out to fight vigilantes. Couple this nostalgic take on Punisher with the beautiful art of Ariel Olivetti that could give Alex Ross a run for his money and this is a great, fun series. There’s action, crossovers, humor, and character development - all the thing Marvel fans read comics for. Read the rest of this entry »

The following press release has shown up online. Released from BOOM! Studios, it leaves a lot to the imagination. Hopefully all the removed information will be revealed at San Diego Comic Con?

BOOM! Studios is putting out a four part miniseries featuring writer Gary Phillips sharing his background and knowledge of Los Angeles, the foundation of his new series High Rollers.

This series has been an unexpected hit for BOOM!, and Phillips continues his comic writing career, which focuses on crime and the underworld. This is a good bonus for the many fans of this book, and also a good look at a writer’s process. Check the video out below, and look for future installments on YouTube.

There are inherent problems with super heroes that destroy reader accessibility. DC heroes are plagued with these sort of problems.

courtesy DC

Take Superman - while a child’s hero, is not as accessible as he could be. What I mean is super hero comics are escapist fantasies - the reader likes to get lost in these stories and for kids, imagine what it would be like if they were that hero. But I can never be Superman. He’s an alien. I can’t be Batman - I mean, I could if I was the world’s greatest athlete, a millionaire, have gadgets and an IQ over 300. Wonder Woman is a Greek Myth.

But Captain Marvel is a better sort of hero. When kid Billy Batson says the word SHAZAM he becomes Captain Marvel, the super strong and fast adult hero that can throw down with the likes of Superman. Any child can be Captain Marvel. You don’t need scientific knowledge or a trust fund to become him. It’s conceivable that walking down the street we could be this hero. Read the rest of this entry »