Todd Klein's Blog, page 340

At The Old Songs Festival

The first time I heard of this music festival, held each year at the fair grounds in Altamont, New York was last summer. My long-time friend Tim had gone to it in 2010 on his own, and enjoyed it, so when we saw him later in the summer, he had lots of good stories to tell, and suggested we might want to go with him this year. It did sound like fun, so Ellen and I made plans, and we met Tim there last Friday. It was a gloomy day, with rain off and on, and when we got there around 3 PM things were still being set up, but by evening the fairgrounds were full.

Friday afternoon there were a number of workshops or classes scheduled, and Ellen decided to take a lesson on the Hammer Dulcimer, which she enjoyed. We met up with Tim, and he decided to do the Choral Harmony workshop. Tim and I have been playing music together off and on since we were kids, but there was so much to do here, we decided to each go to different events this time.

The one that appealed most to me was the Jug Band, one of two music group workshops geared toward "kids of all ages," as it said in the program book. I had brought my guitar and a few likely instruments like kazoo, and planned to join in. There would be three "rehearsals," one each day, then on Sunday the Jug Band would perform on the main stage. I've been a fan of Jug Band music since discovering the records of The Jim Kweskin Jug Band in the 60s, and I already knew a fair number of songs from those albums, so it was right up my alley.

The leaders were these two gentlemen, Ron Gordon and Michael Eck, both of whom have been doing the Festival Jug Band for some years, and they were great. They passed out a booklet of Xeroxed lyrics covering about a dozen songs by the Kweskin group and others, and had bins full of "instruments" for the kids, mostly noisemakers of all kinds, as well as kazoos. A handful of other adults were there to join in, so I didn't feel too out of place, and soon I was playing, singing and kazooing along. The kids were noisy, but it was still fun.

We regrouped for dinner (all the food was good, and there were plenty of Veggie choices for Ellen), and then went to the Main Stage for the evening's concert. While most of the smaller venues had covered areas for seating, this one put the audience outside in a bring-your-own-chairs natural ampitheater, and the weather was not good. Most of the evening it rained. Not steady, not hard, but enough to make things less than ideal. The music, though, was terrific! Each act did about 20 minutes, and they were all good, though of course some appealed more to us than others.

The first act was The Press Gang, a trio playing traditional Irish and related tunes on fiddle, accordion and guitar. I liked them enough that I bought their first (so far) CD, and am listening to it as I type this. We also enjoyed Acoustic Eidon (a duo playing guitar and cello), Ellis (young female singer/songwriter, very cheerful and funny), Bing Futch (reggae-influenced mountain dulcimer music), Jez Lowe (long-time Scottish singer/songwriter) and the Arrogant Worms, a Canadian group doing humorous and satyrical songs. A fine evening of music, wrapping up at 11:30 PM. We were well ready to get back to our hotel by then, I can tell you! Despite raincoats and umbrellas, we were pretty wet and cold, and I have some small idea now of what Woodstock 1969 was like in the rain. Tim even more so, as he was camping there. Not surprisingly, today I started feeling a cold coming on.

While there were still some rain showers on Saturday, there were also some sunny periods, making the atmosphere much cheerier. There were vendors to visit, and ten tracks of programming in the various buildings, each with four or five events. Ellen, Tim and I found we were all drawn to different things, but also did some things together. Ellen and I started at the Dutch Barn concert, where among other things there was a celebratory song about the just passed gay marriage law in the state, and that's how we found out about that.

I next took my guitar to a DADGAD workshop. DADGAD is an open guitar tuning using those notes instead of the usual EADGBE tuning. I'd tried a few open tunings many years ago, then given it up, but this workshop was great. The leader, Max Cohen, led the group through exercises teaching us five chords in the key of D, and by the end of the hour had us playing along with him and a hammer dulcimer player in a Celtic song. It was fun, and I hope to have time to work in DADGAD on my own in the future. After that I regrouped with Ellen and Tim for lunch.

After lunch Ellen and I caught part of another performance by Acoustic Eidolon, Joe Scott and Hannah Alkire who were again very good. Joe has an unusual instrument he calls a "guitjo," which is behind him in this picture.

Here's a better look at it. Joe designed it, and had it made for him. It has two necks, each with seven strings, and he manages to play both necks almost at the same time, giving a very rich sound that goes great with Hannah's graphite cello. Ellen bought one of their CDs.

Ellen and I stopped for a while to listen to the "Old-Time" trio The Freight Hoppers jamming with anyone who wanted to join in. Tim had heard them earlier and thought they were great. They were, though the style of fiddle tunes and southern mountain music they do is rather repetitious, and not my favorite, but they were great at it, and even better that night on the main stage.

Here are some of the players gathered around them for the jam, and it's quite a cool thing to hear dozens of fiddlers, banjo players and so on all doing the same tune.

Next up for Tim and I was a workshop on the Jaw Harp, which was short on actual instruction, but interesting all the same for the historical background on this ancient instrument known throughout much of the world over the last 4000 years. This is Larry Hanks talking about how they work. He and another leader brought examples from all over the world, many quite different than any I've seen. While I picked up a few performance pointers, more could have been done there.

Then it was time for the Jug Band rehearsal, and Tim joined me this time, playing along with rhythm sticks and kazoo. The leaders were still playing through different songs, trying to get us to decide which four we should do at Sunday's performance. The opener would be "Jug Band Music," but the rest were open to suggestions. I had fun doing them all, and let others vote.

After a dinner break we returned to the Main Stage for the evening's music, and again there was lots of variety, and many fine performances. We particularly liked Quebec dance band Tidal Wave, seen above, as well as quartet Finest Kind, Friesian band Kapriol', The Freight Hoppers, and a group of young Irish players, The Outside Track. We did get rained on a little at the end, but were much more comfortable this time!

Sunday morning there was another Jug Band rehearsal, and time for a few more events, then at noon Tim and I reported behind the Main Stage for the Jug Band performance. We would go on after the other youth group, the Groove Band, which sounded great, doing traditional Irish music and then Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land." I feared the Jug Band was about to lower the average, but our group of eight adults and about a dozen kids took the stage and did our best! Later, Ellen said it sounded good. Hope so, it was fun, even though I messed up the chords on much of the last song. Ellen said you couldn't really hear my guitar anyway, which is probably just as well!

The kids had fun, and really, that's what it was all about. After the first number we did "Who Broke the Lock (on the Henhouse Door)?" where they got to make chicken sounds, and "Shake That Thing," where the noisemakers had their solo bits to be as loud as possible, and finally "Voh Doh Dee Oh Doh," which I knew in a different version as "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune" from Kweskin. The kids loved getting to yell "RED HOT MAMA!" in that one.

Tim and I had fun, too. I always wanted to play in a jug band, and I finally got the chance. Here, I'm looking a bit worried because I'm concentrating on the chords the leaders were playing, trying to follow along. Hey, they had music stands, we didn't! Tim is using his rhythm stick on several objects, and we both joined the kazoo parts. Perhaps the funniest thing for us was another of the adults who, at just the right moment, clanged together two large metal garbage can lids like very loud and effective cymbals. Only, she hadn't done it in the rehearsals, so it scared us the first time, then was quite funny!

After lunch and more music we headed home, a long drive, but we enjoyed our musical weekend, and would recommend it to anyone. Maybe we'll be back for the 32nd annual Old Songs Festival next year.

And Then I Read: ADVENTURE COMICS 524

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

Writer Paul Levitz and penciller Phil Jimenez (with inker Andy Lanning) are continuing to have fun with the new class of Legion wannabes and their veteran teachers. This time the rebellious students steal a starship and head out to the home of their ringleader, where they run into some serious trouble. Are they done? Doubt it.

Phil's art is lovely, full of detail, yet with great character "acting" and inventive layouts. His style of figure work uses more rendering on the faces, making some of the characters look a little older than other recent Legion artists, but within reasonable parameters. And his storytelling is terrific. Enjoying this title a lot. Recommended!

And Then I Read: THE MINSTREL'S TALE

© Berit Haahr, illustration © Tristan Elwell.

This is a first novel, and as far as I can tell the only published book by the author. It tells of a young girl, Judith, in 14th century England who has a great talent for music in a time when women played music only casually in the home. Judith longs for a music career, not the marriage to a much older man her father has planned for her, and when a traveling minstrel in the King's service visits their home, she sees exactly the kind of life she wants. Robin, the minstrel, tells her of a school for minstrels in distant Kent where he learned his craft, and Judith plans a desperate escape from her obligations. Disguised as a boy, she sets out to reach that place, hoping to find a life in music there. Hunted by her father's men, "Jude" as she's now calling herself has help from an old healing woman, and gains ownership of a hunting falcon to help protect her, but still meets lots of trouble on her journey across England, including being beaten senseless and left for dead at one point.

I enjoyed this story, though the plot relies on luck and coincidence to keep Judith's secret from those around her, stretching credibility a little at times. Still, the characters are well-developed and the plot entertaining and often exciting. Haahr's research into the time, places and people, as well as the music, seems thorough, and the settings come to life. The one thing I thought a bad choice plotwise was beginning the story with a prologue that has "Jude" arriving half-starved and much the worse for wear at the minstrel school, then going back to tell most of the story of how she got there. That took some of the suspense out of things when she was in danger, since we know she'll get to her goal. It's still a good read and recommended.

The story behind my brief Hollywood moment and how I missed it.

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

While I'm best known as a letterer, back in the early 1980s I tried other comics jobs, while I was on staff at DC, including writing. After selling a few short mystery/horror stories for DC anthologies like HOUSE OF MYSTERY, I was asked by then GREEN LANTERN editor Ernie Colón to write some short backup stories for that feature, in a series known as "Tales of the Green Lantern Corps." The idea was to focus briefly on some of the many non-Earth GL Corps members in stories about seven pages long. Not a lot of room, but it was an opportunity to write, and I took it. Early in the process, Ernie teamed me up with artist Dave Gibbons, then looking for work at DC after a successful early career in British comics. We hit it off well, and did a story together that we both liked called "Apprentice." Ernie liked it, too, and asked for more. In fact, he called me into his office one day when he had Dave on the phone, and asked if we could hash out a plot for Dave to draw up, as he needed work. Dave and I talked out a story about a gypsy caravan in space and a previously unseen Green Lantern who helps them out of trouble. We agreed that Dave would draw this up and I'd write dialogue for it when the finished art came in, in what's often called "Marvel style" comics writing, as pioneered by Stan Lee. As far as I can recall, the look of the new GL was left completely up to Dave. We both knew what Green Lanterns did, so the specific look was not that important, as long as it was new. Dave sent in the art, as well as layouts like the one above, indicating where he thought captions and dialogue might go, and I wrote them to fit.

Here's that same page with the text that I wrote and lettered added. Our GL did not have a name in this story, he was simply called "Green Lantern." But, as you can see, Dave gave him an amphibious look, and his skin was colored pale yellow-green to match that idea. Dave and I did several more stories using this character, and I don't believe we ever gave him a name.

A few years later I became the regular writer of THE OMEGA MEN, and I brought the character into that series, after stripping him of his Green Lantern ring and powers. In the backstory I created, this fellow grew up on the planet Uxor from amphibious ancestors, in a society where individuality was scorned and each person is called simply by the job title they hold. When he was chosen to be a Green Lantern, that became his name, but when he renounced the Corps, he asked his friends, the Omega Men, to call him The Green Man. Shawn McManus was the main artist of that series, and drew the character somewhat differently, as you can see above. He appeared in over a dozen issues before the book was cancelled. After that, he and the other Omega Men were rarely seen, and in the miniseries INVASION, Green Man was apparently eaten by a Durlan in monster form. Now, I'd have no trouble explaining that death away. See, I'd established his species as having highly poisonous blood, so shortly after his apparent death, Green Man would have emerged from the dying Durlan, badly wounded, but alive, and eventually recovered. At any rate, Green Man was considered dead in the DC Universe for quite some time.

Green Lantern went through lots of changes, and some high and low points, and in the mid 2000s was on an upsurge of popularity. In 2006 DC launched a new GREEN LANTERN CORPS series written by Dave Gibbons, and Dave got in touch to ask me what I thought about him bringing back The Green Man. I thought it was a great idea! I told Dave about the apparent death of the character, but reminded him that in comics, no character remains dead when someone wants to write about him. And, sure enough, when the series began, there was The Green Man, and I was delighted to note that Dave sidestepped the entire death thing altogether, not mentioning or explaining anything. Good move, I thought!

So, Green Lantern continues to rise in popularity, largely because of some great writing by Geoff Johns on his title, and I began to hear about plans to make a big-budget live action film about him. I thought that sounded like a great idea, too, and hoped it would be good. I'd certainly go see it, but my involvement with Green Lantern had ended long ago, so I expected to be merely a fan and observer. Then, in the spring of 2010, I got a surprising and unexpected phone call from Geoff Johns, who I'd never met or spoken to up to that point. Geoff told me that he'd enjoyed the Green Lantern Corps stories I wrote (in fact, he chose some for two recent trade paperback reprints DC published), and he had an offer for me. Geoff was involved in the making of the Green Lantern film, and wanted to use The Green Man as one of the background Corps members in the film. If Dave and I would sign a rights contract allowing DC to use the character any way they liked, we'd get a cash advance up front, and a share of any royalties generated from him, on things like toys. While Geoff emphasized his role in the movie would be small and non-speaking, it was always possible he'd be used more later in cartoons or other films. This was pie in the sky for me, and I was happy to sign the contract DC sent along in a few weeks, and I believe Dave did the same.

So, when I went to see "Green Lantern" in the theater last week, I was hoping to have a good time, and I also had my eyes peeled for The Green Man. But, sadly, I never saw him. I figured he'd not made it to the screen.

I talked about this on the Green Lantern panel I was on at the Philly Comicon last Saturday, and someone in the audience said, "Well, they did make a toy of him." I confessed I knew nothing about that, and made up my mind to find out more. When I got home, I searched online, and this is what I found:

There is, indeed a Green Man toy, part of Mattel's Green Lantern Movie Masters series. It sure doesn't look like the versions I wrote about, but I know it's the same one, because the write-up about it mentions his home planet of Uxor. I guess they thought it would be cool to push the amphibious look further, and this toy looks much more froglike. Not a terrible idea, though I'm not crazy about the head. But, given the opportunity, I could probably write a story about this version of the character. One thing that's kind of strange is the name, which doesn't particularly work anymore, since he's a Green Lantern again. Oh, and I won't even go into the things that have happened to the character in the GREEN LANTERN CORPS comic since Dave stopped writing it. The poor character became an Alpha-Lantern, and now has his Lantern embedded in his chest. Not a great idea! But, at least he's still around.

So, was he in the film? I asked for comments on Facebook, and two people who saw the movie said they thought they saw him in the background. And now you know why I titled this post as I did. It's my Hollywood moment, such as it is, and it was so brief that I missed it!

So, if you spotted the Green Man in the movie, let me know. I'll have another look when it comes out on DVD. And, by all means, if you like comics character toys, I'd be delighted if you buy this one. I think there are two versions at two different sizes. Go ahead, buy them both! Maybe someday Dave and I will get a small royalty check out of it. And, considering that the advance I got on the contract was already way more that I got paid for writing all his stories, I'm ahead of the game. Thank you, Geoff Johns, thank you DC. Thank you, readers!

And Then I Read: LEGION OF SUPER-VILLAINS 1

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

This comic is a good example of what a writer who really knows his way around the DC Universe, and how to make the right connections in it, can do. Saturn Queen is on a villainous rampage, gathering a group of like minds with plans to destroy the Legion and everything they care about. Her search for power takes her to some unusual places, like the Rock of Eternity from the Captain Marvel stories, for instance. I won't say any more, except that I found her chilling and oh-so-clever, a worthy challenge for the Legion when she finally faces them. Sure, she's clearly a psychopath, but I had to admire her clear-eyed focus on her goal. Writer Paul Levitz is up to speed, and gaining altitude with this book, which will continue in LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 11. Looking forward to it!

The art by Francis Portela is fine, though at times the characters seem a little wooden and puppet-like. Not sure why, either it's the rendering and colors, or perhaps the body language. It didn't detract from the story, but was something I noticed. Otherwise, it's well done and effective.

Recommended!

And Then I Read: JOHN BYRNE'S NEXT MEN 2

Images © John Byrne.

Now that the recap of issue 1 is out of the way, John has chosen to advance his story by the time-honored device of throwing members of his team individually into different places of peril. Actually it's different places and times here. Antonia, a black woman, finds herself in the southern U.S. during our Civil War, with predictable results. Other characters are thrown into Nazi Germany during World War Two and England several hundred years ago. As a plot device, this keeps things moving as we can't help sympathizing with the characters trying to deal with their new realities, and mostly not doing so well. I have to say the places and times chosen seem somewhat predictable, easy targets.

Byrne's art looks good, more polished in the rendering and inking than some of his other recent work, continuing from issue 1 to follow what I recall of the style used for the original series. It works for me.

I'll continue reading, enjoying the melodrama, but I can't help feeling that there are not going to be many surprises ahead. Hope I'm wrong.

Recommended.

Cats Vs. Snail

"What is that thing, Tigger, a stone? It's not moving."

"I beg to differ, Leo. It's just moving very, VERY slowly."

"Yeesh, I thought TURTLES were slow! Must have taken it all night to get up there."

"And since it's on the other side of the screen, I can't get my paw on it, either."

"Look, Tigger, there's some kind of worm in there. Wonder what it's thinking about, seeing us with those weird eyes on stalks?"

Snail: "Hee                 hee                  hee!             A               cat             cage!"

Philly Comicon Saturday

As I entered the show Saturday morning I got a photo of the 1966 Batmobile, one of several cars from TV shows present. For those who can't get enough of the 1960s TV show, Adam West and Burt Ward were there signing things for a fee, as well as lots of other TV stars and glamor models, something Wizard shows have a lot of.

I stopped to say hello to artist JG Jones, who I worked with on a Wonder Woman graphic novel some years ago. The show got quite busy as the day progressed, with the aisles mostly full.

Vertigo assistant editor Sarah Litt was there and stopped to say hi. We just worked together on an upcoming Vertigo graphic novel.

At 2 PM I was scheduled to be on a Green Lantern panel with three artists. When I got there only inker Prentis Rollins was there, so the two of us got things started with questions. I asked how many had seen the Green Lantern movie (about 20) and how many liked it (about 15 I think), and I'd been hearing mixed opinions, so I guess we'll see what the box office returns are tomorrow. Soon artists Ethan Van Sciver and Shane Davis joined us. I'd never met any of the artists on the panel, and my own connection to GL was in the 1980s, so I mostly listened to what they had to say as they took questions. Ethan is very outgoing and entertaining, so he led the panel for the most part, and it went well.

On my way back to my table I saw this attractive Elektra costumer, with what looked like real swords that she wielded with skill for those who wanted photos.

I sold more prints Saturday, bringing my show total up to 26, quite happy with that, and I signed lots more comics and talked to fans, as well as getting a few more pages of lettering done on my laptop. I left the show at 5 PM, and after getting something to eat at the Reading Terminal Market, headed for home. It was a good show for me. Nothing like San Diego, but not bad for a smaller local event.

Watching GREEN LANTERN

Yesterday evening, after leaving Philly Comicon and having something to eat, I took a cab to a theater showing "Green Lantern," which opened today, and caught an 8:20 show, not in 3D. While I haven't read any reviews yet, I see on Facebook that some critics are panning it, but I thought it was a fine superhero movie and enjoyed it thoroughly. It didn't have the emotional impact for me that the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie did, that's still my favorite comics-to-film experience, but I'd put it up there with the Spider-Man movies as fun and exciting adaptations of characters I like. Ryan Reynolds was fine in the lead role, in fact I thought he brought more to Hal Jordan as a character than I usually see in the comics, where Hal tends to be rather bland for me. The rest of the cast did fine as well, with Blake Lively doing well as Carol Ferris, and Mark Strong impressive as Sinestro (not yet turned evil, but still rather prickly).

Visually, I thought everything worked well. I like the costume in the film better than I thought I would from seeing photos, I think it's a fine update, and the effects were good throughout. Good enough that I rarely stopped to think about them, just accepted them, which is probably the best thing you can say. Nothing mindblowingly new or unusual, but well done and well integrated. The scenes on Oa were quite cool. The filmmakers even managed to make the Guardians impressive by hiding their short bodies under very long red robes, and keeping them sitting on their council seats nearly all the time. The other Corps members with speaking parts were Abin Sur, Tomar Re and Kilowog, all done well, mostly CGI though, which allowed Sinestro to out-act them, as he was largely in makeup and not CGI. Digital characters are getting better, but still can't quite act as well as real people in my opinion.

The storyline drew from the comics at times, enough to make this longtime fan happy, but changed things where it made sense for a film. Hector Hammond's backstory is quite different from the comics, for instance, but he ends up filling much the same role as in the comics, with the added twist of a connection to Parallax, the essence of fear. Parallax is the main villain/evil force in the film, and handled in a way that ties all the elements of Hal Jordan's story together well, though played differently from the comics. There was plenty of action, and also time for Hal to find out about his new role, travel to Oa, get some training there, and have some fun with his new powers before things get too serious. And in the early part of the film, Hal's backstory is handled well, too. Finally, at the end, during the credits, there's a nice topper setting up a sequel that you should stay for, if you go.

Oh, and as a logo guy, I have to give a thumbs up to the movie logo seen above. Much more interesting than the usual superhero film logo, it draws elements from some of the comics versions by designers Alex Jay and Daniel Gelon without being real close to either. Nice job.

Forget the other reviews, if you're a Green Lantern fan, or just a fan of superhero films in general, you'll enjoy this one. Recommended!

Philly Comicon Friday

I enjoyed my day at the con yesterday, having driven up from home in the morning, checked into the Hilton Garden Hotel across the street for one night (thanks to the kind folks at the con) checked in fairly quickly and was seated at my table around 1 PM. Con floor shots tend to all look about the same, and this one of my aisle is no different, but you can get some idea of the size of the room. It's not huge, I think you could walk the perimeter in about five minutes if you didn't stop, but they fit a lot into it, and while the aisles weren't packed, there was steady traffic. I spent most of my time until 7 PM at my table, being there alone…

…though writer Tony Bedard, seated nearby, was kind enough to watch my stuff briefly twice. Thanks, Tony! That allowed me some quick walks around to see the rest of the con. Met a few other folks I know, not many, but then I'm usually walking the floor more.

You have to hand it to people who do this kind of costume. It must be hot and awkward to handle, but this fellow made it look good, a very professional job.

This costume may be the most uncomfortable-looking one I've ever seen. But the marshmallow man was quite popular.

Here's my table with everything but me. I did quite well, selling 17 prints, signing things, talking to fans, and even got a few pages of lettering done before my laptop battery died, so it was a good experience, and I'm glad I came. Today I'll be there from about 10 AM to 5 PM, and will report on that probably tomorrow, when I'm back home.