Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 104

Realms Makers: Conference: Flying on a Wing and a Prayer

The Realms Maker Conference in St. Louis is pretty affordable. That's good because airfare isn't.

It's not Realm Makers fault, and I don't even think its St. Louis' fault. It's Boise. We have direct flights to very few cities and with a relatively low volume of travel, there are connections and if you want to get in or out of Boise, usually it's gonna cost you. There's no doubt about doing anything other than flying as my work is going to require me in the office on Monday after the conference.

The good news is that the ticket prices have been moving. That bad news is that they've been moving in a direction where I expect +Your Firstborn child to be added to the ticket price.

Of course, if fantasy were reality, most of us writers would have trouble getting into St. Louis. Though, some methods would not be favored:

###

Colonel A.L. Snyder said, "I'll hack into the company's website and get you a flight on American Airlines-"

"Snyder, that'd be dishonest."

Snyder shrugged. "Hey, that's how you have to fly when you're staying one step ahead of the Empire."

I rolled my eyes. "Snyder, we're not in your Universe. There's no Empire."

"Yet."

"I want some honest way to get to St. Louis."

Snyder smiled. "Of course, you wouldn't want to fly in any way that wasn't above board. I can respect that. You want to have a drink on it."

"I don't drink."

"Tea, it's a special blend. Let me make you some."

"Okay," I said. "Maybe you can show me a website. Later."

Snyder returned with a steaming hot cup of tea.

I took a sip. "This is good, very sweet."

Snyder grinned like a cheshire cat. "Drink, it down."

I drank more and yawned. "Oh, I've been worrying about this ticket thing for a while and-" My eyelids grew heavy. "I'm sorry Snyder, I'm just beat all the sudden."

I gasped. That blonde GI Joe spiked my tea. The world disappeared.

I awoke in utter blackness and let out a scream. Above me was a ceiling. I pounded on it.

The lid was removed and I looked up and gasped for breath.

Snyder smirked. "I was planning on waking you, but you couldn't wait. You're in your room here at the conference. I got the money to pay for it by withdrawing from the ATM. Hope you don't mind."

I glared at him. 'I guess I'd have to pay it any way. But you shouldn't know my ATM PIN."

Snyder shrugged. "I know everybody's ATM PIN."

I rubbed my eyes and looked at I was in. "A coffin? You sent me to St. Louis in a coffin?"

"Cheaper that way," said Snyder. "You flew in the baggage compartment and I was your grieving Uncle Jim."

I glanced at my iPod. "I've been in a coffin for a ten hours. And on top of that, I even came here in a coffin.

Snyder chuckled. "Think of how jealous all the Twilight fans will be."

###

Of course, there are easier ways to fly. Powerhouse would get me there in a snap.

###

I stood outside my door. Powerhouse flew down from the sky on his jetpack.

I waved. "Hey Powerhouse. I'm ready for you to fly me to St. Louis."

Powerhouse shook his head. "I'm pretty sure Spider-man never had to do this for Stan Lee, but come on."

Powerhouse lifted me in his arms and flies me up to his giant airship in the sky.

He pulls up a 3D Computerized map of the United States and presses the state of Missouri and we zoom through the air.

Powerhouse and I spend the next twenty minutes talking about his latest adventures as well as several older comic books he's read.

Finally an image comes on the screen.

Powerhouse smiles. "Behold, the golden arches of St. Louis."

I said, "Um Powerhouse, that's the Golden Arches of Mcdonalds."

"Oh, my mistake."

He flies until we reach the University. "There you go. Anything else?"

"Yeah, could you imagine a version of the ship and leave it here?"

Powerhouse rubbed the bottom of his helmet. "Well, that would save me a trip back. Why would you want me you a football stadium sized shipped?"

"Well, it'd be the coolest transportation here and they only charge $1 a day for parking."

###

Alas, neither one of their methods are much help in real life. I think I'll have to fly the old fashioned way. So dear readers, my quest for a ticket continues.

Donating Graphic Novels

Over the years, I've begun less and less disposed to hoard books I've read. I rarely ever reread books.

In the case of the graphic novel collections, I've realized that there's a real great chance to pass them on to the local libraries, so that others could get a chance to read them.

I tried this once before with the Boise Library but nothing I donated went into circulation. There were books like the Essential Marvel Team Up Volume 1 with Spider-man as well as the hard-bount Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives, a Justice League Adventures book, and a few others I don't even remember now. Apparently, they went to the book sale or four months later, they're still not in circulation.

That's okay, because I understand that they need to sell books in the book store, but I'd like to see a donated book go into circulation.

So, this time I made my donation to the Ada Community Library which has one of the best graphic novel collections of anyone in the valley.

The donation included:

Essential Spider-man vol. 1
Essential Iron Man vol. 1
Essential Avengers vol. 1
Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 2
Showcase Presents Superman Vol. 1
Showcase Presents Batgirl Vol. 1

In addition, we had material from the All Winners Club, Spider-girl, Daredevil, Fantastic Five, and others.

I should be honest that there were some books I didn't give away because they were just too cool:

The Brave and the Bold Team-Up Archives, Vol. 1 really featured some cool silver age team ups at DC that were really rare.
The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1: The very first Superman stories from 1938-39, not going to part with that.
The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told: These are really wonderful and include just some fantastic stories.
book:Showcase Presents: World's Finest, Vol. 1|2103280]: Superman and Batamn together in fun 1950s adventures.
And then there were Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 1,Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 3: The first 30 issues of Amazing Spider-man in color. As the great Stan Lee would say, 'Nuff said.

On that same token, I also retained the limited edition Condorman Comic book series (all 3 issues) I picked up cheap, as well as the 3 issue Amazing Fantasy series from 1995 which imagined three stories between the events of Amazing Fantasy #15 (where Spider-man is introduced) and Amazing Spider-man #1.

These are books I'll treasure, and if God gives me kids, it'd be cool to share with them. The rest are fun and while I don't think every one of them will end up in circulation, I hope that other people will have as much fun with those as I did.


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Realms Makers Here I Come

Look out world or at least St. Louis, Adam Graham is coming to town this Summer August 1-4th for the Realms Maker Conference. The conference will be the 2nd and 3rd with my arrival on the 1st and the 4th.

On one hand, this is a great business opportunity. In business parlance, we will network, maybe pick up a few best practices, make a few connections. I'll also be bringing books to sell. However, as I'll be taking a plane rather than a U-haul, I'll keep that number limited.

On a personal note, it's a chance to meet some really cool people and exchange ideas with fellow Christian sci fi geeks---or a chance for me to become very familiar with the look of my shoes if my whole shyness things kicks in.

It'll be a lot of fun (or not), but this will be memorable I'm sure.

Are You or Your Mother a Power Mom (Contest)

Not many moms have superpowers, but they could certainly come in handy.

In Fly Another Day, Naomi Johnson, the wife of Dave Johnson (aka Powerhouse) obtains superpowers secretly. However, she doesn't use these powers to fight crime.

Instead, they come in mighty handy for a busy mom. She uses her powers to get out that one stubborn spot on the bathroom floor, juggles the busy schedule of two tween boys with conflicting events, and protects one of her boys from a bully.

These are tough jobs that ordinary moms do without the aid of powers.

With that in mind, I'm pleased to offer a super Mother's Day essay contest.

Briefly answer one of the following questions:

---(Mothers only): If you could have had one superpower to help you as a mother, what would it be and why?

Or

---Why was your mother a superhero?

Winning answers will be between 150 and 250 words in length.

Prizes:

Two Grand Prizes (One for each question):

--Autographed Copies of Fly Another Day and the next Powerhouse book, Powerhouse: Hard Pressed (Coming in June)
--$10 Amazon gift card
--Publication of your answer on this blog.

Four Second Prizes (Two for each question)
--Free digital copies of, "Tales of the Dim Knight" and "Fly Another Day."
--Publication of your answer on this blog.

Email me your entries no later than Friday, May 10th at 6pm and let your friends know about the contest on Twitter or Facebook after entering.

The Greatest Iron Man Stories: The Best Defense

I conclude my review of the Greatest Iron Man stories with a look at, "The Best Defense."

The story was written between December 2003 and May 2004 in Iron Man Volume 3, Issues 73-78. A defense department bureaucrat is working through legal loopholes in patent laws to take Stark patents the defense department had sealed and selling them to other manufacturers who don't know how to safely handle them.

Rather than allow this to happen or engaging in another Armor Wars, Stark accepts an appointment from George W Bush to be the new Secretary of Defense. A firestorm confirmation hearing follows.

There are a few things to like about the story. It shows Stark's growth as a character and gives insight into his attempt to rightly use his knowledge to help humanity. He plans to create a velvet glove military where no one would need to die in war again. It's noble and coming from Stark, it's believable.

It also reveals a key point against him and key weakness. The most devastating moment in Stark's confirmation comes when a Senate Committee points out Stark's overarching arrogance: his belief that he knows better. This would be at the center of his actions in Civil War.

They also mostly got the procedures right for Senate Confirmation or right enough at any rate for comic books. Explaining a motion to reconsider by its name doesn't seem like it'd be that hard but whatever.

Perhaps, the biggest weakness of the story is that most of the "action" takes place on C-Span. In addition, the villainous scheming undersecretary of Defense is little more than a plot device.

Still for a more modern comic, it wasn't half bad.

Rating: 3.5 Shellheads out of 5.0

Give Away Weekend

There's a worldwide give away drawing this weekend in honor of the release of Iron Man 3 with three copies up for grabs.

Also, Tales of the Dim Knight and Fly Another Day are both free on Kindle.

Note: if you miss free days for either one, be aware that Saturday and Sunday, they will be available for only 99 cents.

Iron Man 3 Ignores Expectations

Iron Man (aka Tony Stark) as played by Robert Downey, Jr. has never been one for playing by the rules.  So perhaps, its fitting that his film breaks the expectations set for it, both by its pre-release publicity and film trailers and the history of superhero films.

Historically, third films have been notoriously problematic: Superman III, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Spider-man 3 were all notorious for endings that provided a letdown for fans and the overall series. The Dark Knight Rises managed to (somehow) take Batman to a much darker place than he'd been in The Dark Knight with a glimmer of hope sneaking in before the end. Many of the pre-film trailers set such expectations.

Yet Iron Man 3 surprises in that its neither a cheesefest nor is it filled with the bleakness of The Dark Knight Rises. Instead, viewers are treated to  an action-packed ride that still manages to deal with perhaps the biggest existential question Iron Man faces:  Is Tony Stark a hero or just a guy in the suit?

The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) has been taking to the air to take responsibility for a series of deadly terrorist attacks. When Stark Head of Security Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) becomes suspicious of a visitor to Stark International and follows him, he lands in the hospital in critical condition. In a moment of pure bravado, Stark declares war on the Mandarin on International television and provides his home address. Stark refuses to leave and his house is hit by a terrorist attack that destroys his Malibu home and nearly kill his live-in girlfriend Pepper Potts.

Due to a malfunction in his armor, Stark is flung to Tennessee in the wintertime and his armor's power dies. Like many of the best Iron Man stories from the comic books, Iron Man 3 reduces Tony Stark to the bare essentials: no robotic house, no unlimited bankroll. For most of the film, even though he's in constant peril, Stark is out of armor, and so has to rely on his substantial wits.

Robert Downey, Jr. turns in a solid performance with a fully fleshed out three dimensional character who can go from cracking wise to having a panic attack in short order.  The story is cleverly written with a surprise twist as to who the bad guys are and what their ultimate endgame is what really defines the tone of the movie.

The film offers several thoughtful points. First, unlike the other two Iron Man films, Iron Man 3 puts the spotlight on average people who do heroic things. A boy helps Tony out and tries to save his life, a TV newsman helps Tony get a needed internet connection, the non-powered Happy Hogan goes after a bad guy,  a sheriff refuses to let one of the bad guys take Stark prisoner when he's not sure of their credentials.  With Stark armor-free most of the movie, the film illustrates how people can show heroism by just doing their regular due diligence.

Iron Man 3  also focuses on the danger of scientists compromising a desire to help people and follow scientific procedure to the desire for money and ego.  Iron Man 3 deals with several pieces of scientific equipment that can be used for good or for evil. Iron Man 3 brings home the point of the need for ethics in world of the 21st century science.

The violence in the film is, at times, intense, but as in all the recent Marvel live action films, it is also sanitized.

Perhaps the most disconcerting part of the film centers around the relationship between the main characters, Tony and Pepper are officially living together and the film portrays that as essentially just as good as being married. Tony's protective instincts for Pepper as well as his view of her as the one person he couldn't leave without are pretty consistent with marriage. Yet, the film promotes this security in a cohabitating relationship suggesting that really one is just as good as the other.  The subtext to the film is that marriage is really not at all important: a horrible message to younger viewers.

 

The writers could appeal to the comic books where Stark is not married, but the one takeaway from the film is how little superhero films are impacted by the comic books upon which the hero was based.  For example, injections of the gene-altering Extremis is a key part of the plot in Iron Man 3. 

Yet,  other than how Extremis works within the bodies of recipients and the creator of Extremis from the comics in the movie appearing in Iron Man 3, none of the rest of the Extremis story line appear. In the 2006 story line, Extremis was sold to a right wing Christian domestic terrorist and the only way Iron Man could defeat him was by taking Extremis himself.

None of that took place in the film.  On the same note, the organization AIM as well as the Mandarin character were vastly different from their comic book versions.

This suggests  several things. First,  major changes to comic book universes probably are less culturally relevant than what many entertainment news editors believe. Certainly, comic books tend to be more like Las Vegas in that what happens in the comic books will end up staying in the comic books.

Second, it suggests that comic book stories really are only good for providing bits that can be used in a story, not a story itself.  Older stories like those written by Stan Lee in the 1960s may work as the basis for a cartoon episode but certainly aren't complex enough to turn into a film. More modern stories tend to be just too dark and too political to actually make a good basis for a film that expects to appeal to mass audiences. The difference between the approach of film makers and that of comic book writers is why Iron Man 3 will be viewed by tens of million of Americans, while the latest Iron Man comic book is read by only 44,000.

Iron Man 3 illustrates the wisdom of the approach. Rather than sticking slavishly to a depressing comic story, Irom Man 3 chose to mix and match elements from a variety of stories and then change them)leading to an overall  pleasing result despite a few moral rough spots.

 

Someone Trying to Make Money Off Fly Another Day...Will It Work

My book hasn't been out long but it's already for sale on Ebay. The price asked is about $1.67 below the retail price, but around $1.80 above what Amazon's charging currently. I'm not annoyed or bothered by the auction. Whoever is selling them, if someone buys the copy, will have to order the book from Createspace. I'm just wondering how they intend to make money.

The $1.80 mark up is relatively low and that's undercut by them charging 89 cents less in shipping, so they'd make a grand total of 90 cents per book and that's before Ebay takes their cut.

How is this supposed to equal a profit? Will I ever find out?

Fly Another Day Flying Into Your Ears

Fly Another Day is now available as an Audiobook through Audible. If you love Great Superhero comedies, you'll love this sequel to Tales of the Dim Knight.

Pick up your copy of Fly Another Day from Audible.

We're also giving away a paperback copy (U.S. only this time).

The Great Iron Man Stories: Extremis

I'm about done with my pre-Iron Man III review of Great Iron Man stories via my Invincible Iron Man DVD-Rom. Extremis is one of the latest stories available on this disk.

The story was published in 2006 and is told in Issues 1-6 of The Invincible Iron Man Volume 4. Tony Stark in the story is a somewhat typical inspirational speaker CEO of Stark International. I mean it seems like he's trying to audition for his TED talk.

He's got a problem: The Iron Man costume has grown more cumbersome as its become more complex. Gone is the attache case Iron Man of the 1970s. Now, it has to arrive in a crate.

However, two scientists are working on an enhanced supersoldier formula called Extremis. One of the samples is stolen and given to a Militia Man terrorist who is going to Washington DC to rampage. Tony has to stop him, but finds the power given by Extremis more than a match for Iron Man. To defeat this menace, Tony will have to take extreme steps of his own.

This may be one of the most overrated Iron Man stories I've read. Its Exhibit A in what's wrong with most modern Superhero comics. The six issues can be divided between those filled with constant mindless violence or those where nothing of significance happens at all.

The villain is little more than a political trope. Not only is he portrayed as a militia man, but they had him stand up for a Christian heritage of the U.S. right before killing a patriotic Atheist misfit who was sitting aside the road and is the book for no other reason than to further the authors' politics.

Tony Stark is flat and even when he risks his life, the authors don't get us to cheer for him.

The art work is pretty good from a technical standpoint even though its not subtle,evocative, or all that emotional.

The Extremis concept is the highlight of the book and I hope that's the only part of the Extremis story that makes it into the upcoming movie. The idea of a system that would allow him to biologically connect to the armor? Sensational. It was used to great effect on the animated Iron Man: Armored Adventures and could be used to great effect on film..

Unfortunately, the story in which Extremis was introduced was all too boring, predictable, and typical of twenty-first century comics.

Rating: 2 Shellheads out out of 5.