(via Sci-Fi Wire, via Alex Irvine)

Spider-Man!
Spider-Man!
Prays just like a spider can!
Leans against the Wailing Wall!
Glad he sticks, he won’t fall!
LOOK OUT, GOYIM!
Here prays the Spider-Man!

So anyway, yeah. There’s a guy dressed like Spider-Man, praying at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Who knows. Israellycool points out that there is a good chance this photo was taken on Purim, given the holiday’s customs of masks and costumes.

Then again… who knows!

I will say that Stan Lee’s “Face front, true believer!” line was never so apt.

So get this. I get to work and be friends with a lot of people that I admire. They have skills that impress me and they do things that I am a fan of. It is the best feeling in the world, watching friends be awesome and build and do amazing things.

To that end I wanna introduce you to one of those people. I should do this more often, I know. But I get busy and forgetful and end up failing. Still! I will do this one.

Attila Adorjany is an artist. You can find him at 600 pound gorilla where he blogs and does comics and draws and…

He does live draws you can tune in and watch! He does all this stuff and recently he even asked for some help. Here’s an amazing artist who wants your help getting out there. He earns the chance with every piece he draws. It’s awesome to watch.

Anyway, you can go here to read his talk about asking for help.

He also does commissions. Are they dirt cheap? Of course not. Are they worth it? I’m saving some pennies up now, man.

So seriously, go check him out, read his stuff, look at his art and become a fan. Because, hey, awesome is awesome, right?

Some nights my brain wakes me up. I mean I sleep badly and tend to wake up a bunch of times every night, regardless, but on certain, random, nights my brain wakes me up with a bit of a shout. You see, it went ahead and wrote a story for me.

I don’t mean I had some foggy loose dream-story that didn’t work out. I mean I will wake up with exacting, detailed stories or associated items, that work and are a bunch of fun. I tend to then, quickly, call D.J. Kirkbride and tell him, because so far, for reasons I don’t know, they’ve also been comic related.

The first pass of one of our stories was sleep written like that. I woke up about 4am and knew I had to get this shit down. That it might suck in the morning, but something was just right about it. So I got up and jotted down detail after detail and suddenly had most of a beat pass for a script. So I mailed it to D.J. and then went back to bed.

When he got back to me with it, having fleshed it out and all, I had forgotten I had written it.

A few weeks ago D.J. and I discussed working up a cover idea for a pitch we’re knee deep in. And we both agreed to think about it and I went to bed and then I woke up, about 2ish, and called him in a hurry. I could see the cover, exactly. He wasn’t there so I left a half-asleep, rambly to all fuck message for him, describing the cover in detail. That cover has been done and we all love it.

Last night I went to bed a bit early due to just sheer exhaustion. And then I woke up. A pitch idea was in my head. Not fully, but the bones were there. Something D.J. and I can shape into a full pitch. But I just woke up with it and grabbed the phone.

I do wonder if D.J. has started to dread having his phone ring past 1am EST. Because it means that, once he sees it’s me, he has to know he is in for half-asleep, excited, rambling. He still answers the phone, so I guess it isn’t too bad, but he is also braver than I am.

Really though, it kinda annoys me. I love getting good, solid ideas out of my brain. I truly do. And I know how lucky I am. But I also kinda want to be awake more often when it happens. Prose ideas come to me when I’m awake. Comic ideas are about 60/40 awake/asleep and slipping. There is part of me that just doesn’t like the idea that comic ideas happen when I’m not looking.

On the other hand it would mean that I could justify naps are working, right? Hmmm… maybe there’s something to this, after all.

We’re going to start this off with one of the most obvious characters we could possibly use. Often hailed as the first superhero, Superman is easily in the top ten recognizable trademarks on the planet. So what is it about him?

Put simply: He’s the best of us. Stripping away everything else, at his deepest core, Superman represents the humanity, the heart, that can change the world. He’s what we could be if only we never backed down. If we did what we knew was right, listened and were willing to change our minds, and generally acted from the heart after carefully and honestly weighing options, even if we disagreed with them.

Now, you can say Superman is a Moses story (it was never Jesus, honest, though yes in the movies and such they have tried to switch it to a Jesus analogy) what with the baby being sent down the river (the galaxy) by his parents and so on. Sure. But really, Superman hits a different angle I don’t see discussed as often. He represents what we could be as adults.

Most comic readers were kids, remember. Many of them on the cusp of adulthood. And Superman is one of the ultimate adults. He represents the power of adulthood, in obvious ways, with his super-abilities. But even more so in his actions. For him, growing up, taking on the responsibility of adulthood is not something to be done lightly. It is a responsibility that never goes away. You have to protect the world, your fellow man and you have to care.

He’s the best of us, and worst of all he knows it. It makes him sad. Because, of course, Superman wants us all to be at his level. He feels the lack, that we can’t share with him the power and joy that come from being so heart-driven, so compassionate and strong.

Which is why, really, he has to be not-human. By making superman an alien you can have your cake and eat it too. He can be the best of us, that shining example for everyone but as the ultimate outsider he is also not tied to any one place or mindset. It allows for a more universal adoption of the character. Now that isn’t always necessary, nor is it always the best way to get there. But in this case it works. Because you want a Superman who is cut off, making due, the best he can be and yet even then he will never fully be 100% human, not in his own head. He can’t be. He is the last of his kind. No matter how much he is accepted, he can’t forget, himself.

And once you can see him in the light of being the best of us you start to understand his villains. Luthor, for example, hates Superman. He hates him more than anything. But he doesn’t hate him because superman is the most powerful thing, or that his power reduces ordinary humans to uselessness in comparison. No, Luthor hates him because he can’t feel the same level of compassion, and he is so smart he understands his flaw and sees how it stops him. So he redirects and takes that self-hatred, that knowing flaw, out on an external force that, he also knows, will always forgive him and understand him. They’re tied, those two.

Braniac is another easy villain that has come back into prominence in the last decade. As a robot, he has, classically, no feelings. Making him Superman’s true opposite. The power without the compassion. The force without love guiding it. Also, he’s a robot. Robots are cool.

Superman is everything we could be, if we felt deep enough and trusted in ourselves and one another enough. He can save you with a kind word as well as stopping bullets. You can do the same, he tells us. You can all do the same.

Recommended reading: Here is a short list of graphic novels that represent great Superman stories:

All Star Superman, Vol. 1 and All Star Superman, Vol. 2 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly.

DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke

Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid and Leninil Yu

Previously on Core Concepts: The Start!

So I’ve decided I want to do a series of essays all about comics. I do. But I don’t want to get bogged down in discussing the boring minutiae of things. It doesn’t matter that Green Lantern was once an insurance adjustor, and then was a travelling toy salesman (he was also a trucker for a while). Rather, I want to discuss the core concepts of these characters. What they represent, places you can find it to read and the bigger, deeper, building blocks that make these things work even now.

I don’t know how often I’ll get to do it, I’ll try for at least weekly. But I hope you’ll find them interesting and not something you’ve necessarily seen before. At times I will even try to have other folk chime in and give thoughts on things.

Anyway, to start, I had a list of characters in mind. PLEASE in the comments give me other ideas. Some of them I have no interest in doing, but that would be rare. Anyway, here’s the batch I’m currently looking at, not in the order I’ll eventually do them:

Batman (along with both the first Robin and current one and original Batgirl)

Superman

Legion of Super-Heroes

The Flash

Green Lantern

Dazzler

Captain America

Iron Man

Thor

The Fantastic Four vs. The Challengers of the Unknown

Last night at Jim Hanley’s Universe we had a Popgun 4 release event. A bunch of us showed up. Not all at once, mind you but still. For now a photo of us after everyone had arrived:

(In order L-R: Vito Delsante, Elizabeth Purvis, me, Frank Stockton, Jeff Powell,
Joe Flood, Nick Tapalansky, Maximo Lorenzo, Jason Ibarra)

Anyway, at first things were slow. Deadly slow. To the theme of “Hey, man, you’re holding up the line,” being laughingly said at the one and only guy who was there. Yeah. But that’s the thing. The bunch of us are not exactly the most serious bunch you’ll ever meet. I worried a bit at first. That I was somehow letting these guys down, things were moving too slow and they had all shown up and… but no. Everyone was relaxed and easy (Nick is always easy…) and it was all right. We took things in stride.

Christ, if you ever get time to hang out with Nick, for example, I highly recommend it. There’s a reason he’s also known as “America’s Feisty Sweetheart.” Actually I’m not sure about that last part, but he told me it was true. Nick also calls me Julie, though, so what do I know?

Moving right along… people started to show up and get their free print. Jason was awesome enough to make 11×17 thick stock prints of the two page spread (sans lettering) from the story he did with DJ and I:

Yup, everyone got one of those free. And then they worked their way down that table and each one of us stopped talking, texting and otherwise being foolish long enough to thank them and sign the book. It was fun seeing so many people come up and pick the book up and flip through it and marvel at it. It’s a 512 page brick of amazing comics. You get stopped into a minor bit of awe when you first flip through it. I know I did when I first put my hands on it, and I co-edited the blasted thing.

It got later and we got rowdier. Dan Masso and Patricia (I hope she doesn’t kill me, I can’t find her last name in my memory banks right now) showed,. A bunch of us went from the store to a bar nearby where we sat and drank and talked for longer than we had sat and signed in the first place.

As Joe said at some point “I love that a bunch of comic people are sitting talking about food and cats and not comics” and he had a point. We weren’t there because we were networking, and making contacts, and all of that. We were hanging out because we honestly deeply enjoyed each other’s company. I wish everyone had been able to join us – another time.

It brings home what Popgun is for me. It’s a party. Yes it is a crushing fuckton of work a lot of the times. I won’t deny that. But the people who contribute to it are great people who love making comics and are interesting, fun, folks. They make doing that work worth it.

At the end of the day Popgun 4 sold out at Hanley’s. D.J. ran a similar (but I hear bigger – they had music and food and drink at the party itself) event at Metldown Comics in LA. They sold out, too. Aw, yeah, Popgun.

Happy POPGUN Volume 4 day, world! Yes, that’s right the best comic book anthology on the market has a new (512 page) volume out today! Still only 30 bucks, Popgun is just awesome. I’m not just saying that because I’m one of the co-editors. I really do love this book. So help me celebrate the release today!

If you live in New York: Come down to Jim Hanley’s Universe for a fun event! 6-8pm tonight there will be some Popgun folk there signing and acting like lunatics for you! The line-up includes Me, Nick Tapalansky, Frank Stockton, Jeff Powell, Alex Eckman-Lawn, Jason Ibarra, Vito Delsante, and Joe Flood! There could be special guests, even! It’s gonna be great. Come down, grab a copy of Popgun and say hi! Jason Ibarra drew a story D.J. Kirkbride and I drew and we’ll have a free gift for everyone (until we run out) who buys Popgun! That’s Jim Hanley’s Universe on 33rd right off of 5th Ave, across from the Empire State Building.

If you live in L.A.: Head on over to Meltdown Comics for a whole party! All sorts of creators will be there, including D.J. Kirkbride. I have no idea who will be there, mind you, but I hear a goodly amount of creators are showing. Plus there will be music and drinks and free give-aways as well! Meltdown Comics, 7522 Sunset Blvd, L.A.

But you want to know more about Popgun, you say! Well here is the book’s website. You can get a full list of creators (something like 80 of them) and read a bunch of stories from the book for free. Including that one I mentioned earlier by D.J. Kirkbride, me and Jason Ibarra. It’s Popgun day, guys! Now, what if you don’t have a local comic book store? Well, call 1-888-266-4226 for the Comic Book Store Locator service and find one! Or you can order it from Amazon.

So there you have it, explore, enjoy, and celebrate Popgun Day!

So first Aidan asks me about the anti-life equation. Which, for those that don’t know, is the equation that robs you of all higher thought and makes you a mind slave and erases individuality and so on. Kirby’s great idea. Darksied is always trying to find it. Grant Morrison, the other year, used it and came up with a written form of the anti-life equation:

loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding x guilt x shame x failure x judgment n=y where y=hope and n=folly, love=lies, life=death, self=Darksied

And then I was talking to Hammerpants. And he had a flash of sheer genius. “You should write the anti-internet equation” he said to me. And so I have, with his help. Read this and know that by reading it I shall control you, foolish beings!

forums + alienation + lolcats + despair + self-worth ÷ goatse.cx ÷ every zig ÷ IRC x guilt x shame x yaoi x judgment n=y where y=outside and n=basement, love=robots, ninjas=pirates, self=will never give you up, will never let you down

ALL IS ONE IN DARKSIEDAPK!

The other day I talked a bit about Aquaman. Specifically wondering what he ate. I may have had a bit of fun at the ol’ chaps expense. I did it out of love. Today, however, I am here to explain why Aquaman is kinda a badass. You might want to take notes.

Here’s the thing about Aquaman. It’s easy to laugh at him in the older comics – when he had to dip into a pool every hour or he would dehydrate, stuff like that. When he rode a giant seahorse, you know what I mean? Thing is, though, even then he was King of the Seas. He ruled a kingdom that spanned more of the Earth than any land mass could hope to. Also, to be fair, you can take any superhero, no matter how cool you might want to claim they are, and find stuff from the 50s and 60s to make them look utterly stupid.

But this is a superhero that had his child die. How many of them have to deal with that sort of thing? Pretty much none except Aquaman. That’s fucked up and hardcore.

He also lost a hand. Now, in Superhero-land, when you lose a limb or part of a limb you get a robotic one to replace it, generally. Nothing special there. Except Aquaman didn’t go for any old stupid robot hand. No, he strapped on a big spike with a tiny hook and said “fuck it” to the world. Hell, the harpoon hand he strapped on fired! This is a guy who went “To hell with your shitty robot hands! I need to fire spikes out of my stump. You have a problem with that?” No one had a problem with it. If they did? He shot them with a spike.

This is the guy who has ridden tidal waves into battle – just to prove a point.

Aquaman is kinda badass. Aquaman doesn’t fuck around. End of the day, remember that. The rest of them tend to be Superheroes. Aquaman is a King who has seen members of his family die, has seen his people attacked and killed and lost a hand to this madness. And he will fuck your shit up on a whim. He isn’t a superhero. He’s royalty with a grudge and a willingness to stab you in the eye. That’s all I’m saying.

Yes, yes, everyone laughs because what can he do? Breathe underwater and talk to fish? Sure. He’s also super-strong and all of that, too. The big one, though, my friends, is that Aquaman inspires people. It’s true. He’s an inspiration to the masses. Take my friend Vito. Vito… well I’ll let this recent picture explain:

On Friday D.J. Kirkbride mentioned his sadness for Aquaman. He said: ” It must suck to be Aquaman. No, not “b/c he is the lamest” nonsense… Sushi. I love it, but to Aquaman it’d be eating his royal subjects.” and I certainly laughed.

But then I started thinking. What the fuck does Aquaman eat? Other Atlanteans can eat fish, sure. But not ol’ Aquaman. No, he has to ask them for help. He talks to them. Can you imagine the problem there?

Aquaman would be all, “Hey, can you guys help me out? I need to stop the evil of Calendar Man!”

And the fish would look at him for a second. “You ate Bob last night, you orange wearing motherfucker,” and leave. Why in fuck’s name would they ever help him? No, so Aquaman clearly can not eat fish.

Possibly, Laszlo maintained, when I told him this, he could eat shark. Sharks sometime attack and eat each other so possibly they’d be a bit more “You ate Bob? Well, I mean I liked Bob, but yeah I see where you’re coming from.” But maybe not.

It gets worse, though.

Unless he swims up to the surface world every time he wants some tasty vittles, Aquaman is left with things like krill and bottom-feeder material. Already dead fish, leftover organic matter at the bottom of the ocean. That can’t be a great super-hero diet. Also, how does that play with his people?

“Well, there’s the King, eating garbage again.”

Never mind he has to let his people eat fish, to whom he then has to be like “Well, they can’t talk to you, so… no, I get that it doesn’t mean you aren’t smart and should be eaten but try telling them that. What? No, I understand I’m their King and all but… God damn it, I’m hungry, don’t make me eat your face!”

And all this got me thinking about Atlantean society in general. Sure they have geothermic heat sources but they don’t have fire. Fire is news to them. Baking? They’ve never had cookies. Or a bagel! “Oh mom, yay! It’s time for my birthday seaweed!”

So what’s left for the old King of Atlantis? Escape to the Surface World. Run away to the land of the cow. The cow that you can’t talk to at all, that is so tasty you’re willing to put up with a group of other costumed people who all seem to act like you’re the biggest loser in the bunch.

Seriously, King of 7/10s of the Earth, basically, and they treat him like maybe if they just humor him he’ll go away. Does Aquaman care? No. You know why? Beef and baked goods.

‘Cause when he goes home? It’s back to eating unidentifiable organic matter off of the floor and some seaweed and talking to fish. I mean, sure, Aquaman can be a bit gruff. Wouldn’t you be? Then again he does have a big fucking seahorse to ride around on. That shit’s like Sea Monkeys come to horrible Godzilla life.

So there are perks to being King of Atlantis and talking to fish and living under the sea and all. Cookies ain’t one of ‘em, is all.