Marc Tyler Nobleman's Blog, page 68
February 1, 2015
The chupacabra vs. Johnny Depp
In my upcoming picture book The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra, a group of goats confronts their greatest fear—the legendary chupacabra.
In Tokyo this past week, so did actor Johnny Depp.
That chupacabra was a long, long way from home.
In Tokyo this past week, so did actor Johnny Depp.
That chupacabra was a long, long way from home.
January 20, 2015
“The Flash” (1990 TV show): short series, big impact
The freshman CW hit show The Flash has me reflecting more than usual on a show from the past.
My freshman year of college, I had a subscription to TV Guide but no TV. No matter, because there was only one show I wouldn’t miss: The Flash on CBS.
I remember finding it funny how TV Guide had to reword the marketing of its original ad when it reran the premiere:
This was a year after Tim Burton’s juggernaut Batman, and its aesthetic was forced on the Flash, a character who had never been grim—in fact quite the opposite. So the show struck a divided tone—gritty, often dark Flash sequences, cheeky and at times cheesy Barry Allen scenes. (Part of the cheese was simply a symptom of the times—it was the fashion era of baggy pants. Please Allen, don’t hurt ‘em.)
I loved how the Flash pilot copied Batman with a scene in which something (the Batwing in Batman, a bolt of lightning in Flash) turned the moon into the emblem of the title hero:
The show was canceled after one season, though the factors were cost and competition more than quality...this TV Guide review aside:
My commitment to this show began with a commitment to the character who, as it happens, had “died” five years earlier. In the landmark 1985 comic book maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry Allen nobly sacrificed himself to save multiple worlds. In comics, deaths are typically temporary, but this one would last a notable 23 years.
So in 1990, Barry Allen was a memory in print but a, well, flash of fresh air on TV. He was the first live-action DC hero whose show felt like a movie rather than a TV show (see Superboy, Wonder Woman, Batman).
It turned out that the original pitch for the show that became The Flash was called Unlimited Powers and featured four heroes. It would have been an eclectic assortment with no comic book precedent: the Flash, Green Arrow’s daughter, Dr. Occult, and Blok (from the Legion of Super-Heroes). Deemed too expensive if not too odd, the Flash (as he does) broke away from the pack and the other three characters were ditched.
It was a thrill when, in 2009, I reached out to its star, John Wesley Shipp, on Facebook, and he reached back. He seems every bit as cool in real life as his character was on the show.
The Flash, for all intents, was a two-actor show: Shipp and Amanda Pays as scientist/friend/guide/inevitable love interest Tina McGee. A third actor, Alex Desert, was included in the opening credits, and others (mostly cops) recurred in small roles, but most of the show revolved around Barry and Tina. (A 2009 interview with both actors at a con—the first one Pays attended.) In the current TV incarnation of the Flash, his behind-the-scenes team (Harrison Wells, Caitlin Snow, and Cisco Ramon) alone is bigger than that. Castwise, The Flash ‘90 seems so simple in our era of shows with, commonly, at least six regulars who appear roughly equally.
Flash ‘90 is the first filmed DC entertainment with an “Oracle” figure. Oracle herself (Barbara Gordon as information broker/Big Sister Is Watching, after the Joker crippled her in a 1988 story) debuted in 1989, a year before The Flash. Tina was that show’s Oracle, and a variation of her has since appeared in Smallville (Chloe Sullivan), Arrow (Felicity Smoak), and Flash ‘14 (Caitlin Show). All are tech guru-esses, all have some degree of romantic chemistry with the lead hero.
Tina McGee made her debut appearance on Flash ‘14 in the “mid-season finale” (a transparently manipulative term/concept that, of course, didn’t exist in 1990). This was especially interesting because Tina was again played by Amanda Pays—but it was not the same Tina from the previous show. It couldn’t be—she knew Barry Allen, and Grant Gustin is no John Wesley Shipp. (I mean that literally—not as a dig.)
Is this the first instance of the same actor portraying two versions of the same character? It’s definitely the first instance of one actor portraying a character of the same name on two separate shows of the same name…followed closely by Mark Hamill as the Trickster, which was announced 12/8/14, the day before the mid-season finale. (The day after would have made more sense to me.)
Flash ‘90 was an attempt—now ubiquitous—to do filmed superheroes “realistically.” A prime example: no spandex. The way the show explained why Barry wore a costume—and where the costume came from—both struck me as pretty close to realistic, or at least believable. He wore a costume (and specifically requested that it have a mask and gloves) to protect his identity when seeking revenge—or justice—for the murder of his brother. The costume was a prototype developed for cosmonauts (red, get it?), designed to withstand pressure and friction.
While most everyone is binge-watching critically acclaimed contemporary shows such as Homeland, Game of Thrones, and Orange Is the New Black, I’m reverse-flashing to Maroon Is the New Red.
Episode-specific observations (some I recalled from original viewing, some new):
“Watching the Detectives” features a cameo by Frankie Thorn, whom I interviewed for her appearance in the “We Didn’t Start the Fire” video by Billy Joel, though at the time, I did not know/remember she had been in that Flash episode. (See below for a similar discovery in “Done With Mirrors.”)
In the same episode, Tina name-drops Carter Hall…AKA Hawkman. As far as I know, that was the only time, and he never appeared in the flesh.
Also in the same episode is what might be my all-time favorite scene from the series, in which a crooked DA, who used a shady method to learn the Flash’s secret identity, tries to bribe Barry. When Barry plays dumb, the DA threatens him with an armed grenade. The DA says “In your short career, you’ve already made enemies in all the wrong places, Barry. If your identity was made public, everyone you love would be in danger from everything in Central City. Your family, your friends, your dog…here boy! Fetch! Four-second fuse. Three…two…”
I don’t believe the scene is on YouTube so here are screenshots showing how Barry let go of a glass, flashed to the grenade, reinserted the pin (which, I believe, would not really stop the grenade from exploding), set the grenade on his desk, and caught the glass, which had fallen only an inch or two:
“Honor Among Thieves” contains an inadvertent nod to the future Dynamic Duo of the CW: Flash and Arrow.
In the climactic scene, the Flash uses a bow and arrow to trap a villain.
(Another Arrow connection: on Flash ‘90, David Cassidy played Mirror Master; his daughter Katie plays Laurel Lance on Arrow.)
In “Double Vision,” a flashily-dressed pimp(like) character, upon seeing the Flash for the first time, says “Hey! Red Suit! One cool drag, man!” This sure feels like a reference to a classic moment in Superman: The Movie (1978) in which a flashily-dressed pimp character, upon seeing Superman for the first time, says, “Say, Jim…woo! That’s a bad outfit! Woo!”
Speaking of Superman, part 2: In “Child’s Play,” in a scene I vividly remembered from 25 years ago, Barry walks is dog past a movie theater showing a particularly apt double feature (which presumably situates Barry in a world where his usual comrades are fictional):
When his dog tries to go into the theater, Barry says “Hey, don’t we get enough of that?”
Speaking of Superman, part 3: In “Captain Cold,” Barry jokingly refers to a pushy female reporter as “Lois Lane.”
In “Ghost in the Machine,” Nightshade, a hero who was active in the 1950s and had since retired, cautions Barry, “Thirty-five years from now, who will remember the Flash?” It struck a chord then, in those pre-Internet days. It’s funny now in a meta way: 25 years after the show and that line, the Flash has been revived on TV. This series will definitely last longer than one season. Maybe not ten seasons, proving Nightshade’s “35 years” prophecy wrong, but this Flash shows no signs of slowing down.
Nightshade also says Barry hadn’t heard of him because world was not on “video” during his mask-wearing years. Quaint as that is, the same episode also refers to “data networks,” “online,” and (to my great surprise) “the net,” which even four years later was still a mystery to many.
In “Fast Forward,” they flash a Flash figure, from the 1984 Super Powers line. At the time, it was the only Flash action figure that had been produced.
Similar to Frankie Thorn appearing “Watching the Detectives,” another woman from my “girl in the video” series also guested on Flash (in “Done With Mirrors”): Signy Coleman, from two Huey Lewis and the News videos.
In the series finale (which, in those days, was not marketed as the “series finale”), the Trickster returns and acquires a sidekick named Prank.
This episode aired in May 1991. In September 1992, on Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn debuted. She was a sexy, crazy, female criminal who was obsessed with the Joker…just as Prank was a sexy, crazy, female criminal obsessed with the Trickster. What makes this worth pointing out is that both the Trickster and the Joker were played by Mark Hamill.
Only a week after Flash ‘14 premiered, Warner Bros. announced a significant five-year slate of movies based on DC Comics superheroes, including the Flash. He will be played by Ezra Miller, which made waves for two reasons: one, Ezra Miller is not Grant Gustin, who had just started in the role and two, Barry Allen (nor any of the other Flashes in comics) is not gay but Miller is. (This was not a controversy, merely a conversation point.)
However, Miller is not the first openly gay actor to play a straight superhero. In fact, he’s not even the first openly gay actor to play the Flash. Though private about his private life, including his sexuality, John Wesley Shipp (according to numerous reports) is gay.
About the time Flash ‘90 aired, I began collecting various series of magazine advertisements, including the then-famous Absolut Vodka campaign. (I wasn’t a drinker but I liked some of the ads.)
My friend Traci, who had a TV and generously let me watch Flash in her room, made me this (with an assist from her roommate Lauren):
And four years later, my Flash fixation (Flashation?) was still present enough that the graduation gifts my good friends Justin and his tolerant girlfriend-now-wife Deb bought me were all Flash-related:
I still have that figurine.
In sum, I loved Flash ‘90 then, and still love it now. I really like Flash ‘14 now, and I don’t have a Cosmic Treadmill to verify this, but I think I’ll still like it in 2038.
My freshman year of college, I had a subscription to TV Guide but no TV. No matter, because there was only one show I wouldn’t miss: The Flash on CBS.
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I remember finding it funny how TV Guide had to reword the marketing of its original ad when it reran the premiere:
This was a year after Tim Burton’s juggernaut Batman, and its aesthetic was forced on the Flash, a character who had never been grim—in fact quite the opposite. So the show struck a divided tone—gritty, often dark Flash sequences, cheeky and at times cheesy Barry Allen scenes. (Part of the cheese was simply a symptom of the times—it was the fashion era of baggy pants. Please Allen, don’t hurt ‘em.)
.jpg)
I loved how the Flash pilot copied Batman with a scene in which something (the Batwing in Batman, a bolt of lightning in Flash) turned the moon into the emblem of the title hero:
The show was canceled after one season, though the factors were cost and competition more than quality...this TV Guide review aside:
My commitment to this show began with a commitment to the character who, as it happens, had “died” five years earlier. In the landmark 1985 comic book maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Barry Allen nobly sacrificed himself to save multiple worlds. In comics, deaths are typically temporary, but this one would last a notable 23 years.
So in 1990, Barry Allen was a memory in print but a, well, flash of fresh air on TV. He was the first live-action DC hero whose show felt like a movie rather than a TV show (see Superboy, Wonder Woman, Batman).
It turned out that the original pitch for the show that became The Flash was called Unlimited Powers and featured four heroes. It would have been an eclectic assortment with no comic book precedent: the Flash, Green Arrow’s daughter, Dr. Occult, and Blok (from the Legion of Super-Heroes). Deemed too expensive if not too odd, the Flash (as he does) broke away from the pack and the other three characters were ditched.
It was a thrill when, in 2009, I reached out to its star, John Wesley Shipp, on Facebook, and he reached back. He seems every bit as cool in real life as his character was on the show.
The Flash, for all intents, was a two-actor show: Shipp and Amanda Pays as scientist/friend/guide/inevitable love interest Tina McGee. A third actor, Alex Desert, was included in the opening credits, and others (mostly cops) recurred in small roles, but most of the show revolved around Barry and Tina. (A 2009 interview with both actors at a con—the first one Pays attended.) In the current TV incarnation of the Flash, his behind-the-scenes team (Harrison Wells, Caitlin Snow, and Cisco Ramon) alone is bigger than that. Castwise, The Flash ‘90 seems so simple in our era of shows with, commonly, at least six regulars who appear roughly equally.
Flash ‘90 is the first filmed DC entertainment with an “Oracle” figure. Oracle herself (Barbara Gordon as information broker/Big Sister Is Watching, after the Joker crippled her in a 1988 story) debuted in 1989, a year before The Flash. Tina was that show’s Oracle, and a variation of her has since appeared in Smallville (Chloe Sullivan), Arrow (Felicity Smoak), and Flash ‘14 (Caitlin Show). All are tech guru-esses, all have some degree of romantic chemistry with the lead hero.
Tina McGee made her debut appearance on Flash ‘14 in the “mid-season finale” (a transparently manipulative term/concept that, of course, didn’t exist in 1990). This was especially interesting because Tina was again played by Amanda Pays—but it was not the same Tina from the previous show. It couldn’t be—she knew Barry Allen, and Grant Gustin is no John Wesley Shipp. (I mean that literally—not as a dig.)
Is this the first instance of the same actor portraying two versions of the same character? It’s definitely the first instance of one actor portraying a character of the same name on two separate shows of the same name…followed closely by Mark Hamill as the Trickster, which was announced 12/8/14, the day before the mid-season finale. (The day after would have made more sense to me.)
Flash ‘90 was an attempt—now ubiquitous—to do filmed superheroes “realistically.” A prime example: no spandex. The way the show explained why Barry wore a costume—and where the costume came from—both struck me as pretty close to realistic, or at least believable. He wore a costume (and specifically requested that it have a mask and gloves) to protect his identity when seeking revenge—or justice—for the murder of his brother. The costume was a prototype developed for cosmonauts (red, get it?), designed to withstand pressure and friction.
While most everyone is binge-watching critically acclaimed contemporary shows such as Homeland, Game of Thrones, and Orange Is the New Black, I’m reverse-flashing to Maroon Is the New Red.
Episode-specific observations (some I recalled from original viewing, some new):
“Watching the Detectives” features a cameo by Frankie Thorn, whom I interviewed for her appearance in the “We Didn’t Start the Fire” video by Billy Joel, though at the time, I did not know/remember she had been in that Flash episode. (See below for a similar discovery in “Done With Mirrors.”)
In the same episode, Tina name-drops Carter Hall…AKA Hawkman. As far as I know, that was the only time, and he never appeared in the flesh.
Also in the same episode is what might be my all-time favorite scene from the series, in which a crooked DA, who used a shady method to learn the Flash’s secret identity, tries to bribe Barry. When Barry plays dumb, the DA threatens him with an armed grenade. The DA says “In your short career, you’ve already made enemies in all the wrong places, Barry. If your identity was made public, everyone you love would be in danger from everything in Central City. Your family, your friends, your dog…here boy! Fetch! Four-second fuse. Three…two…”
I don’t believe the scene is on YouTube so here are screenshots showing how Barry let go of a glass, flashed to the grenade, reinserted the pin (which, I believe, would not really stop the grenade from exploding), set the grenade on his desk, and caught the glass, which had fallen only an inch or two:
“Honor Among Thieves” contains an inadvertent nod to the future Dynamic Duo of the CW: Flash and Arrow.
In the climactic scene, the Flash uses a bow and arrow to trap a villain.
(Another Arrow connection: on Flash ‘90, David Cassidy played Mirror Master; his daughter Katie plays Laurel Lance on Arrow.)
In “Double Vision,” a flashily-dressed pimp(like) character, upon seeing the Flash for the first time, says “Hey! Red Suit! One cool drag, man!” This sure feels like a reference to a classic moment in Superman: The Movie (1978) in which a flashily-dressed pimp character, upon seeing Superman for the first time, says, “Say, Jim…woo! That’s a bad outfit! Woo!”
Speaking of Superman, part 2: In “Child’s Play,” in a scene I vividly remembered from 25 years ago, Barry walks is dog past a movie theater showing a particularly apt double feature (which presumably situates Barry in a world where his usual comrades are fictional):
When his dog tries to go into the theater, Barry says “Hey, don’t we get enough of that?”
Speaking of Superman, part 3: In “Captain Cold,” Barry jokingly refers to a pushy female reporter as “Lois Lane.”
In “Ghost in the Machine,” Nightshade, a hero who was active in the 1950s and had since retired, cautions Barry, “Thirty-five years from now, who will remember the Flash?” It struck a chord then, in those pre-Internet days. It’s funny now in a meta way: 25 years after the show and that line, the Flash has been revived on TV. This series will definitely last longer than one season. Maybe not ten seasons, proving Nightshade’s “35 years” prophecy wrong, but this Flash shows no signs of slowing down.
Nightshade also says Barry hadn’t heard of him because world was not on “video” during his mask-wearing years. Quaint as that is, the same episode also refers to “data networks,” “online,” and (to my great surprise) “the net,” which even four years later was still a mystery to many.
In “Fast Forward,” they flash a Flash figure, from the 1984 Super Powers line. At the time, it was the only Flash action figure that had been produced.
Similar to Frankie Thorn appearing “Watching the Detectives,” another woman from my “girl in the video” series also guested on Flash (in “Done With Mirrors”): Signy Coleman, from two Huey Lewis and the News videos.
In the series finale (which, in those days, was not marketed as the “series finale”), the Trickster returns and acquires a sidekick named Prank.
This episode aired in May 1991. In September 1992, on Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn debuted. She was a sexy, crazy, female criminal who was obsessed with the Joker…just as Prank was a sexy, crazy, female criminal obsessed with the Trickster. What makes this worth pointing out is that both the Trickster and the Joker were played by Mark Hamill.
Only a week after Flash ‘14 premiered, Warner Bros. announced a significant five-year slate of movies based on DC Comics superheroes, including the Flash. He will be played by Ezra Miller, which made waves for two reasons: one, Ezra Miller is not Grant Gustin, who had just started in the role and two, Barry Allen (nor any of the other Flashes in comics) is not gay but Miller is. (This was not a controversy, merely a conversation point.)
However, Miller is not the first openly gay actor to play a straight superhero. In fact, he’s not even the first openly gay actor to play the Flash. Though private about his private life, including his sexuality, John Wesley Shipp (according to numerous reports) is gay.
About the time Flash ‘90 aired, I began collecting various series of magazine advertisements, including the then-famous Absolut Vodka campaign. (I wasn’t a drinker but I liked some of the ads.)
My friend Traci, who had a TV and generously let me watch Flash in her room, made me this (with an assist from her roommate Lauren):
And four years later, my Flash fixation (Flashation?) was still present enough that the graduation gifts my good friends Justin and his tolerant girlfriend-now-wife Deb bought me were all Flash-related:
I still have that figurine.
In sum, I loved Flash ‘90 then, and still love it now. I really like Flash ‘14 now, and I don’t have a Cosmic Treadmill to verify this, but I think I’ll still like it in 2038.
January 18, 2015
Interview about Bill Finger in “Alter Ego” #130
One of the first resources I checked when I began my research on Bill Finger (as well as Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster) was the comics history magazine Alter Ego. Full circle: an interview with me about Bill Finger is in Alter Ego #130 (1/15).
Thank you again, Roy, for running it, and John, for conducting it.
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Thank you again, Roy, for running it, and John, for conducting it.
January 12, 2015
When superheroes vote
In 1983, the Flash killed the Reverse-Flash. Then the Justice League of America voted on whether or not to kick Flash out. (The cover gave away everything but the deciding vote.)
Here are the results of that show of thumbs and five others involving DC Comics characters. (As it happens, in multiple instances, the number of members voting was seven.)
The Flash #327 (11/83)
in:
Green Arrow
Elongated Man
Firestorm
out:
Wonder Woman
Aquaman
Hawkman
tiebreaker (in):
Superman
JLA: The Secret Society of Super-Heroes #2 (2000)
The issue: Should the group go public?
(vote not formally revealed but implied by composition)
go public:
Flash
Green Lantern
Atom
Plastic Man
stay hidden:
Superman
Wonder Woman
Hawkgirl
Metamorpho
tiebreaker (go public):
Impulse/Kid Flash
JLA #46 (10/00)
The issue: Should Batman be kicked out of the JLA for preparing methods of stopping JLA members should they go rogue?
in:
Flash
Green Lantern
Martian Manhunter
out:
Wonder Woman
Aquaman
Plastic Man
tiebreaker (out):
Superman
Justice League season 2/series finale “Starcrossed” (5/04)
The issue: Should Hawkgirl be kicked out of the Justice League for originally joining the League as a Thanagarian advance scout/spy?
(vote not shown but this is how it was later revealed to go)
in:
Flash
Martian Manhunter
out:
Batman
Wonder Woman
recused:
Green Lantern
tiebreaker (in):
Superman (stated in the subsequent episode “Wake the Dead”)
Identity Crisis #2 (9/04)
The issue: Should the JLA mindwipe (“clean up”) Dr. Light for threatening to attack Sue Dibny again?
for:
Hawkman
Atom
Zatanna
against:
Green Lantern
Green Arrow
Black Canary
tiebreaker (for):
Flash
JLA #118 (11/05)
The issue: Should the JLA mindwipe (“clean up”) members of the Secret Society of Super-Villains who learned the JLA’s secret identities?
for:
Flash
Hawkman
Green Arrow
against:
Superman
Green Lantern
Black Canary
tiebreaker (she wouldn’t do the mindwipe so a no):
Zatanna
Superman was a tiebreaker three times, twice siding with teammates (Flash and Hawkgirl) and once siding against (Batman).
The harshest voters?
Wonder Woman voted against a teammate three times, Aquaman twice. Hawkman voted against a teammate once and twice voted to mindwipe villains. Twice Flash voted to keep a teammate but twice he voted to mindwipe.
The most sympathetic voters?
Like Flash, Martian Manhunter twice voted to keep a teammate. (He was not present for mindwipe votes.)Green Lantern voted to keep a teammate and twice voted not to mindwipe.Black Canary twice voted not to mindwipe.Green Arrow voted to keep a teammate; he voted once to mindwipe and once not to.
Am I missing any DC Comics voting scenarios?
Here are the results of that show of thumbs and five others involving DC Comics characters. (As it happens, in multiple instances, the number of members voting was seven.)
The Flash #327 (11/83)
in:
Green Arrow
Elongated Man
Firestorm
out:
Wonder Woman
Aquaman
Hawkman
tiebreaker (in):
Superman
JLA: The Secret Society of Super-Heroes #2 (2000)
The issue: Should the group go public?
(vote not formally revealed but implied by composition)
go public:
Flash
Green Lantern
Atom
Plastic Man
stay hidden:
Superman
Wonder Woman
Hawkgirl
Metamorpho
tiebreaker (go public):
Impulse/Kid Flash
JLA #46 (10/00)
The issue: Should Batman be kicked out of the JLA for preparing methods of stopping JLA members should they go rogue?
in:
Flash
Green Lantern
Martian Manhunter
out:
Wonder Woman
Aquaman
Plastic Man
tiebreaker (out):
Superman
Justice League season 2/series finale “Starcrossed” (5/04)
The issue: Should Hawkgirl be kicked out of the Justice League for originally joining the League as a Thanagarian advance scout/spy?
(vote not shown but this is how it was later revealed to go)
in:
Flash
Martian Manhunter
out:
Batman
Wonder Woman
recused:
Green Lantern
tiebreaker (in):
Superman (stated in the subsequent episode “Wake the Dead”)
Identity Crisis #2 (9/04)
The issue: Should the JLA mindwipe (“clean up”) Dr. Light for threatening to attack Sue Dibny again?
for:
Hawkman
Atom
Zatanna
against:
Green Lantern
Green Arrow
Black Canary
tiebreaker (for):
Flash
JLA #118 (11/05)
The issue: Should the JLA mindwipe (“clean up”) members of the Secret Society of Super-Villains who learned the JLA’s secret identities?
for:
Flash
Hawkman
Green Arrow
against:
Superman
Green Lantern
Black Canary
tiebreaker (she wouldn’t do the mindwipe so a no):
Zatanna
Superman was a tiebreaker three times, twice siding with teammates (Flash and Hawkgirl) and once siding against (Batman).
The harshest voters?
Wonder Woman voted against a teammate three times, Aquaman twice. Hawkman voted against a teammate once and twice voted to mindwipe villains. Twice Flash voted to keep a teammate but twice he voted to mindwipe.
The most sympathetic voters?
Like Flash, Martian Manhunter twice voted to keep a teammate. (He was not present for mindwipe votes.)Green Lantern voted to keep a teammate and twice voted not to mindwipe.Black Canary twice voted not to mindwipe.Green Arrow voted to keep a teammate; he voted once to mindwipe and once not to.
Am I missing any DC Comics voting scenarios?
December 31, 2014
Pop culture interview grab bag
This blog has run an eclectic range of interviews; the subjects relate to publishing, superheroes, and other aspects of pop culture. I will continually add to this list.
publishing
Actress Ally Sheedy, who published She Was Nice to Mice, a book for children, when she was a child herself.The author of David and the Phoenix, a cult favorite middle grade novel from the ‘50s.The author/illustrator of Little Gorilla, a classic picture book from the ‘70s.The creator/artist of the successful Anti-Coloring Book series. The creators of Stone Soup, the long-running literary magazine written and drawn exclusively by young people.The woman who, in 1989, portrayed Sarah Morton for a Scholastic book on Pilgrim life.
superheroes
The granddaughter of the creator of Wonder Woman.The singer of the 1981 hit song “Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not).” The grandson of a man who may have visually inspired Clark Kent. The lead singer of the theme song of the first season of the 1970s Wonder Woman show. The first (known) person to play Bill Finger in a production (in this case, a play).The two men who broke the story of Superman’s co-creators living in poverty and obscurity.Almost a dozen now-deceased writers/artists from the Golden/Silver Age of Comics.The man who convinced the comics community that there would be a Wonder Twins movie. publishing + superheroes
The brother and representative of the late author of the critically-praised 1979 YA novel The Kryptonite Kid.The man who wrote Bob Kane’s autobiography. (No, it wasn’t Bob Kane.)
other pop culture
Dozens of ‘80s music video ingénues. Round 2.Scores of ‘70s and ‘80s superhero performers.Songwriters and singers of Schoolhouse Rock .Voice actors of Peanuts TV holiday specials. The kids from the opening flashback scene of Splash. The cast of “The Bloodhound Gang” detective segment from 3-2-1 Contact.
plus
A mother who runs a playroom that is also a nonfiction library.A teacher who is also a ghost hunter.
publishing
Actress Ally Sheedy, who published She Was Nice to Mice, a book for children, when she was a child herself.The author of David and the Phoenix, a cult favorite middle grade novel from the ‘50s.The author/illustrator of Little Gorilla, a classic picture book from the ‘70s.The creator/artist of the successful Anti-Coloring Book series. The creators of Stone Soup, the long-running literary magazine written and drawn exclusively by young people.The woman who, in 1989, portrayed Sarah Morton for a Scholastic book on Pilgrim life.
superheroes
The granddaughter of the creator of Wonder Woman.The singer of the 1981 hit song “Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not).” The grandson of a man who may have visually inspired Clark Kent. The lead singer of the theme song of the first season of the 1970s Wonder Woman show. The first (known) person to play Bill Finger in a production (in this case, a play).The two men who broke the story of Superman’s co-creators living in poverty and obscurity.Almost a dozen now-deceased writers/artists from the Golden/Silver Age of Comics.The man who convinced the comics community that there would be a Wonder Twins movie. publishing + superheroes
The brother and representative of the late author of the critically-praised 1979 YA novel The Kryptonite Kid.The man who wrote Bob Kane’s autobiography. (No, it wasn’t Bob Kane.)
other pop culture
Dozens of ‘80s music video ingénues. Round 2.Scores of ‘70s and ‘80s superhero performers.Songwriters and singers of Schoolhouse Rock .Voice actors of Peanuts TV holiday specials. The kids from the opening flashback scene of Splash. The cast of “The Bloodhound Gang” detective segment from 3-2-1 Contact.
plus
A mother who runs a playroom that is also a nonfiction library.A teacher who is also a ghost hunter.
December 15, 2014
“Batman ’66: The Lost Episode” and Bill Finger
Legendary Batman (and the Outsiders) writer/Bill Finger advocate Mike W. Barr wrote in with an interesting observation:
Mike also noted that this story has been reprinted in the following:
Batman Annual #3 (1961)Batman From the Thirties to the Seventies (Crown, 10/71)DC Comics Classic Library: The Batman Annuals (DC, 4/09)
from Son of the Demon, written by Mike;too bad Bob is not here to see that Billis no longer forgotten...too bad Bill is not,either...
Thank you to Michael Savene for the scan.
At least the climax of the recently published Batman ’66: The Lost Episode—adapting a Two-Face story from a treatment by Harlan Ellison in which Batman compels Two-Face to surrender by substituting a flawed duplicate of Two-Face’s lucky coin—was foreshadowed by Finger’s script to “The New Crimes of Two-Face!” from Batman #68 (12/51-1/52), in which Batman defeats Two-Face by exactly the same method.
Mike also noted that this story has been reprinted in the following:
Batman Annual #3 (1961)Batman From the Thirties to the Seventies (Crown, 10/71)DC Comics Classic Library: The Batman Annuals (DC, 4/09)
from Son of the Demon, written by Mike;too bad Bob is not here to see that Billis no longer forgotten...too bad Bill is not,either... Thank you to Michael Savene for the scan.
December 12, 2014
"Rolling Stone" links to my "If This Is It" interviews
In 9/14, Rolling Stone counted down the best singles of 1984.
Number 49 is "If This Is It" by Huey Lewis and the News.
And the write-up links (the word "report") to my interview with the two women in the video:
Number 49 is "If This Is It" by Huey Lewis and the News.
And the write-up links (the word "report") to my interview with the two women in the video:
December 8, 2014
Trivial Pursuit perpetuates the Nazis-banned-Superman myth
In 2008, both in Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman and here, I addressed the recurring claim that Hitler or his Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels personally indicted and banned Superman at a Nazi meeting.
It turns up in sources including Superman at Fifty (1988; page 32), Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones (2004; page 162), and Jerry Robinson’s essay in the Breman Jewish Heritage Museum exhibition catalog Zap! Pow! Bam! The Superhero—The Golden Age of Comic Books 1938-1950 (2004; page 21).
However, the Nazis were famously fanatical about documentation and we haven’t found mention of this incident in their—or any other—records. So believable though it may be, there is no known proof that it really happened. Researchers including Dwight Decker determined a likely source of what we must consider a myth.
I learned recently that Trivial Pursuit (Genus 5 edition) isn’t helping:
It turns up in sources including Superman at Fifty (1988; page 32), Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones (2004; page 162), and Jerry Robinson’s essay in the Breman Jewish Heritage Museum exhibition catalog Zap! Pow! Bam! The Superhero—The Golden Age of Comic Books 1938-1950 (2004; page 21).
However, the Nazis were famously fanatical about documentation and we haven’t found mention of this incident in their—or any other—records. So believable though it may be, there is no known proof that it really happened. Researchers including Dwight Decker determined a likely source of what we must consider a myth.
I learned recently that Trivial Pursuit (Genus 5 edition) isn’t helping:
December 5, 2014
Student research challenge: find the oldest house on your street
Teachers tend to love when authors who visit their schools excite students about research. It’s one thing to say research is adventure and quite another to show that…but it’s not always easy for teachers to come up with effective, age-suitable examples.
My school visit presentations emphasize the thrill of primary research, focusing on the detective work I did to write Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman and Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman. This involved everything from tracking down Bill Finger’s son Fred’s 1992 settlement of estate document at a New York surrogate’s court to cold-calling everyone in Florida with the last name “Finger”—not the kind of things most elementary students can or should be doing.
So how to make primary research accessible to young people?
Doing is believing, so I suggest challenging them to determine which house or building on their street is the oldest. It’s localized and limited (well, depending on how long any particular street is), so in most cases, it’s an assignment that young researchers can embrace. A street’s oldest house is not information a Google search will provide, so it will require them to think creatively. How else can they find out the answer?
Teachers, if you put this challenge to your students, please let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear some stories.
My school visit presentations emphasize the thrill of primary research, focusing on the detective work I did to write Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman and Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman. This involved everything from tracking down Bill Finger’s son Fred’s 1992 settlement of estate document at a New York surrogate’s court to cold-calling everyone in Florida with the last name “Finger”—not the kind of things most elementary students can or should be doing.
So how to make primary research accessible to young people?
Doing is believing, so I suggest challenging them to determine which house or building on their street is the oldest. It’s localized and limited (well, depending on how long any particular street is), so in most cases, it’s an assignment that young researchers can embrace. A street’s oldest house is not information a Google search will provide, so it will require them to think creatively. How else can they find out the answer?
Teachers, if you put this challenge to your students, please let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear some stories.
December 1, 2014
“Holding Kryptonite: Truth, Justice, and America’s First Superhero”
To paraphrase the back cover of the 2014 self-published book
Holding Kryptonite
by Lauren Agostino and A.L. Newberg: “In 1997, a young law firm assistant stumbled on a secret cache from Superman’s creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. These original documents, private correspondence, legal papers, and artwork expose the muted history of the relationships of the early Superman family.”
In other words, this is a study of Jerry and Joe—particularly Jerry—that we haven’t seen before. Not even close. The authors reproduce a fascinating series of letters in order from 1937 to 1947, which reveals to an unmatched degree just how noodgy—whether justified or not—Jerry was, and just how much this exasperated Jack Liebowitz, co-owner of National Allied Publications (later DC Comics).
Naturally I’m interested in any book about Siegel and Shuster, but this one struck me on another level. Lauren was neither a more-than-casual Superman fan nor a writer before she discovered this discarded collection of materials. But she took the time to read it and was inspired to not only share it but also do additional research to expand on it. An interview with Lauren and A.L. is below, but first…
I took notes as I read:
page xv – For Jerry’s retyped letters, the authors used the font that came close to matching Jerry’s typewriter, a Royal Portable Quiet Deluxe. Nice touch.
14 – $6 to draw a cover of Action Comics!
18 – Upon reading the 1938 Jerry letter here, I noted “neither dumb nor greedy.” (Though as Jerry’s frustration mounts over the coming years, a lack of clarity—and eventually a sense of desperation—begins to seep into his correspondence.)
21 – Jack to Jerry: “If I thought for a moment that our magazine depended on your strip…” Perhaps it was too early to see this, but within a year of debuting, it was clear to anyone paying attention that Action very much depended on Superman. Kids asked not for Action but for the comic “with Superman in it.”
Also on 21, in response to Jerry stating (top of page 18) that Superman was the most popular feature in Action, Jack cites that while Superman got 30% of the votes in a reader poll, each of the remaining characters got between 15% and 25%. In other words, Superman did not win by a landslide. (However, this is a bit manipulative on Jack’s part—Superman was still the favorite, which is all Jerry said.)
25 (and subsequent chapter-ending pages) – I see the point in comparing Jerry and Joe’s salaries to the national average, but on one level that’s unfair. Jerry was not asking to be paid more than anyone else; he was simply asking to be paid what he felt he and Joe deserved based on the success of their creation.
30 – I don’t think I knew that the assistant artists were paid solely from Joe’s half.
34 – I don’t think I knew that Jerry and Joe got a 5% royalty on commercial use.
50-51 – I wonder if anyone has tried to track down the Pauls, Cassidy and Lauretta (and other assistant artists named here and on page 162 of Super Boys ). I’m sure they’re gone, but if not, they’d have some stories.
54 – There was a Superman song and Jerry wrote lyrics. Why couldn’t those have been salvaged?
By now, a pattern is clear: Jerry often makes what I feel are valid points. However, he makes them in a long-winded manner, and too often. The more resistance he got, the more he pushed. As a creator and freelancer myself, I understand.
64 – The Hitler myth again.
65 – I love that the glass pane in the door of Joe’s studio door was frosted to reduce the risk of fans walking in. I’d love to know if that ever actually happened. I will never know.
81 – Jerry signed away rights to Robotman, too! Sounds funny, but at least Robotman wasn’t a big hit…
97 – Jerry on Joe: “He seems to have developed a genius for saying the wrong things at the wrong times to the wrong people.” Ouch. A side of Jerry I wish I hadn’t seen.
98 – When Jerry and Joe collectively signed autographs for fans, Jerry said he always passed the sheet to Joe but Joe didn’t always pass it to Jerry. More ouch.
112 – They hired Winsor McCay Jr.! They considered “lending” him to Superman! Worlds almost collided.
116 – “I’m pretty sure, though, that I won’t be a civilian much longer.” Haunting, even though Jerry did not end up serving in a combat capacity.
137 – Though it’s a bit wackadoo, I love that editor Mort Weisinger (who developed a quite fearsome reputation) advises Jerry that he’s spending too much on postage. His suggestion on what to do with the extra money: “buy Junior some ice cream cones.”
Q&A with Lauren and A.L.:
Were you a Superman fan before finding these documents?
Lauren: No. Wonder Woman was my girl.
Andrew: I was a Superman fan in the way many kids were—by movie and by “legacy.” There’s a great oral history attributed to Superman. Generations of kids are referred to Superman to “be brave…like Superman,” “be strong…like Superman.”
Why did you decide to do a book, and how long after you found the documents?
Lauren: A book was the best medium to share my find and tell this fascinating story. It was 13 years after I found them.
Did you first try to publish the book through a traditional publisher? If so, what happened? If not, why not?
Lauren: I explored the traditional route and chose self-publishing because it allowed me to include a lot of material that told the authentic story.
Andrew: We wanted the control of presenting these documents as Lauren wished—“as I found them…without all the mildew and mold.”
Why did you write the book in the third person even though you, Lauren, are listed as the co-author?
Andrew: We had many versions with different structures, different story elements and dabbled with first and third and even second person. What was important and remains important to Lauren is that the reader finds these documents the way she did. Third person seemed the best POV to give the reader this opportunity.
Where did you find the annual earnings for Jerry and Joe?
Andrew: In the documents that Lauren found, the information of their annual earnings was included in the court-ordered audit that was submitted as evidence by Joe and Jerry.
What is a favorite reaction you’ve gotten on the book?
Lauren: I have had so much amazing feedback that it’s hard to pick just one.
Andrew: My favorite reaction is from the readers who respond to me with a surprised lilt in their voice “I actually really found this interesting—and I’m not even into comics!” I do feel this book appeals to people whether they’ve read a comic or haven’t.
Have you heard from anyone whose opinion about Jerry changed after reading your book?
Andrew: I have and it is largely from people who are in the creative arts. They were unaware of the relative success that Jerry and Joe had. Yes, it is not comparable to the ledgers of DC, but relative to the industry—they were paid well. As you see from the correspondence in the book, DC knew they had a hit and kept it a hit through hard work and diligence. Many artists who read this go into it one way and come out with a different experience. Our job isn’t to make that decision; we wanted to provide the material to let people arrive at their own conclusion. As inequitable as the relationship appeared, agreements and terms were not hidden.
Have you gotten a copy of the book to the Siegel and Shuster families?
Andrew: We have not. We haven’t sent this to Detective Comics or Warner Bros. either.
What is your overall takeaway from the Siegel and Shuster story?
Lauren: This is a large chunk to an even bigger story. It’s an important one so I hope whatever people can take away is useful in their understanding.
Andrew: Well, the toughie with that question is that whatever my takeaway is will be entirely different than someone else. It’s complicated…just like the story.
Where are the letters now? Do you plan to keep them, sell them, donate them?
Lauren: I don’t have any plans of selling them.
Are you writing another book—or planning to?
Lauren: At the moment, no.
Andrew: When Lauren wants to share her personal journey with this material—that will be the next book I’ll write on the subject of Superman. She’s the story.
Anything you’d like to add?
Andrew: I have been introduced to a community of amazingly talented writers, researchers, and scholars on the subject of not only Superman but the entire comic industry. They continue to preserve the rich history of one of our culture’s most important exports: imagination. Through the years, no matter what was going on, to escape or re-imagine things through the comics has proved incredibly valuable; that has helped many to personally navigate tricky times. We hope that this information Lauren has generously and bravely shared will help those scholars complete a picture that has faded in some panels of the overall story. The men and women of both the creative and business side must coexist to exist. They each need recognition.
In other words, this is a study of Jerry and Joe—particularly Jerry—that we haven’t seen before. Not even close. The authors reproduce a fascinating series of letters in order from 1937 to 1947, which reveals to an unmatched degree just how noodgy—whether justified or not—Jerry was, and just how much this exasperated Jack Liebowitz, co-owner of National Allied Publications (later DC Comics).
Naturally I’m interested in any book about Siegel and Shuster, but this one struck me on another level. Lauren was neither a more-than-casual Superman fan nor a writer before she discovered this discarded collection of materials. But she took the time to read it and was inspired to not only share it but also do additional research to expand on it. An interview with Lauren and A.L. is below, but first…
I took notes as I read:
page xv – For Jerry’s retyped letters, the authors used the font that came close to matching Jerry’s typewriter, a Royal Portable Quiet Deluxe. Nice touch.
14 – $6 to draw a cover of Action Comics!
18 – Upon reading the 1938 Jerry letter here, I noted “neither dumb nor greedy.” (Though as Jerry’s frustration mounts over the coming years, a lack of clarity—and eventually a sense of desperation—begins to seep into his correspondence.)
21 – Jack to Jerry: “If I thought for a moment that our magazine depended on your strip…” Perhaps it was too early to see this, but within a year of debuting, it was clear to anyone paying attention that Action very much depended on Superman. Kids asked not for Action but for the comic “with Superman in it.”
Also on 21, in response to Jerry stating (top of page 18) that Superman was the most popular feature in Action, Jack cites that while Superman got 30% of the votes in a reader poll, each of the remaining characters got between 15% and 25%. In other words, Superman did not win by a landslide. (However, this is a bit manipulative on Jack’s part—Superman was still the favorite, which is all Jerry said.)
25 (and subsequent chapter-ending pages) – I see the point in comparing Jerry and Joe’s salaries to the national average, but on one level that’s unfair. Jerry was not asking to be paid more than anyone else; he was simply asking to be paid what he felt he and Joe deserved based on the success of their creation.
30 – I don’t think I knew that the assistant artists were paid solely from Joe’s half.
34 – I don’t think I knew that Jerry and Joe got a 5% royalty on commercial use.
50-51 – I wonder if anyone has tried to track down the Pauls, Cassidy and Lauretta (and other assistant artists named here and on page 162 of Super Boys ). I’m sure they’re gone, but if not, they’d have some stories.
54 – There was a Superman song and Jerry wrote lyrics. Why couldn’t those have been salvaged?
By now, a pattern is clear: Jerry often makes what I feel are valid points. However, he makes them in a long-winded manner, and too often. The more resistance he got, the more he pushed. As a creator and freelancer myself, I understand.
64 – The Hitler myth again.
65 – I love that the glass pane in the door of Joe’s studio door was frosted to reduce the risk of fans walking in. I’d love to know if that ever actually happened. I will never know.
81 – Jerry signed away rights to Robotman, too! Sounds funny, but at least Robotman wasn’t a big hit…
97 – Jerry on Joe: “He seems to have developed a genius for saying the wrong things at the wrong times to the wrong people.” Ouch. A side of Jerry I wish I hadn’t seen.
98 – When Jerry and Joe collectively signed autographs for fans, Jerry said he always passed the sheet to Joe but Joe didn’t always pass it to Jerry. More ouch.
112 – They hired Winsor McCay Jr.! They considered “lending” him to Superman! Worlds almost collided.
116 – “I’m pretty sure, though, that I won’t be a civilian much longer.” Haunting, even though Jerry did not end up serving in a combat capacity.
137 – Though it’s a bit wackadoo, I love that editor Mort Weisinger (who developed a quite fearsome reputation) advises Jerry that he’s spending too much on postage. His suggestion on what to do with the extra money: “buy Junior some ice cream cones.”
Q&A with Lauren and A.L.:
Were you a Superman fan before finding these documents?
Lauren: No. Wonder Woman was my girl.
Andrew: I was a Superman fan in the way many kids were—by movie and by “legacy.” There’s a great oral history attributed to Superman. Generations of kids are referred to Superman to “be brave…like Superman,” “be strong…like Superman.”
Why did you decide to do a book, and how long after you found the documents?
Lauren: A book was the best medium to share my find and tell this fascinating story. It was 13 years after I found them.
Did you first try to publish the book through a traditional publisher? If so, what happened? If not, why not?
Lauren: I explored the traditional route and chose self-publishing because it allowed me to include a lot of material that told the authentic story.
Andrew: We wanted the control of presenting these documents as Lauren wished—“as I found them…without all the mildew and mold.”
Why did you write the book in the third person even though you, Lauren, are listed as the co-author?
Andrew: We had many versions with different structures, different story elements and dabbled with first and third and even second person. What was important and remains important to Lauren is that the reader finds these documents the way she did. Third person seemed the best POV to give the reader this opportunity.
Where did you find the annual earnings for Jerry and Joe?
Andrew: In the documents that Lauren found, the information of their annual earnings was included in the court-ordered audit that was submitted as evidence by Joe and Jerry.
What is a favorite reaction you’ve gotten on the book?
Lauren: I have had so much amazing feedback that it’s hard to pick just one.
Andrew: My favorite reaction is from the readers who respond to me with a surprised lilt in their voice “I actually really found this interesting—and I’m not even into comics!” I do feel this book appeals to people whether they’ve read a comic or haven’t.
Have you heard from anyone whose opinion about Jerry changed after reading your book?
Andrew: I have and it is largely from people who are in the creative arts. They were unaware of the relative success that Jerry and Joe had. Yes, it is not comparable to the ledgers of DC, but relative to the industry—they were paid well. As you see from the correspondence in the book, DC knew they had a hit and kept it a hit through hard work and diligence. Many artists who read this go into it one way and come out with a different experience. Our job isn’t to make that decision; we wanted to provide the material to let people arrive at their own conclusion. As inequitable as the relationship appeared, agreements and terms were not hidden.
Have you gotten a copy of the book to the Siegel and Shuster families?
Andrew: We have not. We haven’t sent this to Detective Comics or Warner Bros. either.
What is your overall takeaway from the Siegel and Shuster story?
Lauren: This is a large chunk to an even bigger story. It’s an important one so I hope whatever people can take away is useful in their understanding.
Andrew: Well, the toughie with that question is that whatever my takeaway is will be entirely different than someone else. It’s complicated…just like the story.
Where are the letters now? Do you plan to keep them, sell them, donate them?
Lauren: I don’t have any plans of selling them.
Are you writing another book—or planning to?
Lauren: At the moment, no.
Andrew: When Lauren wants to share her personal journey with this material—that will be the next book I’ll write on the subject of Superman. She’s the story.
Anything you’d like to add?
Andrew: I have been introduced to a community of amazingly talented writers, researchers, and scholars on the subject of not only Superman but the entire comic industry. They continue to preserve the rich history of one of our culture’s most important exports: imagination. Through the years, no matter what was going on, to escape or re-imagine things through the comics has proved incredibly valuable; that has helped many to personally navigate tricky times. We hope that this information Lauren has generously and bravely shared will help those scholars complete a picture that has faded in some panels of the overall story. The men and women of both the creative and business side must coexist to exist. They each need recognition.
