James L. Cambias's Blog, page 50

Writing Myths and Legends the Marvel Way!

It is almost a truism nowadays that comic books have taken over mass culture. Most of the highest-grossing films of the past few years have either been directly adapted from comic books, or inspired by their style of headlong action. Even a title as obscure as Guardians of the Galaxy became a billion-dollar "media property."

Graphic novels like Watchmen or The Dark Knight Returns gave comics some literary street cred in the 1990s, but now in 2015 comicdom is as all-pervasive as the Western was in 1950. You can have lighthearted adventure superheroes in film and TV, grim and gritty superheroes, highbrow deconstructed superheroes, self-referential parody superheroes . . . it's all superheroes, all the time.

One result is that comic-book storytelling techniques have seeped into other media. The old structure of the A-, B-, and C-plot in each issue has transferred very successfully to episodic television. There's the big Monster/Conflict/Mystery of the Month, the simmering secondary storyline which will become next issue's big showdown, and the first glimpses of a third-tier plot which will gradually work its way to the fore.

But others have described the influence and effect of comics on present-day media and fiction. I'd like to look back and see how a lot of the storytelling methods which have flourished in comics began much earlier ��� often before the spread of literacy. The three elements I'm going to focus on are: Crossovers and Team-Ups, All-Star Teams, and Retcons.

Crossovers and Team-Ups

The first superhero comics centered only on the adventures of their title heroes, and usually took place in a setting unique to that hero. Superman adventured in Metropolis, Batman fought crime in Gotham City, and that's where they stayed. But it wasn't long before publishers realized they could leverage the popularity of one hero to boost another title's sales (or give a new title a big introduction) by having one hero "cross over" into another character's comic book.

What modern readers may not know is that crossovers have been going on for a very long time indeed. L. Frank Baum had crossovers between the Oz books and some of his other children's fantasy novels, with exactly the same cross-promotion motive as comics publishers. H. Rider Haggard mashed up his popular Allan Quatermain books and his mystical stories of She (Who Must Be Obeyed), in the inevitable She and Allan crossover story.

But it goes back well before commercial fiction, too. Theseus and Heracles went on adventures together in Greek myths, which to my eye looks like a clear case of some itinerant Hellenic bard adding the local Athenian big-deal hero Theseus to his pre-existing cycle of Heracles stories in order to boost his appeal to listeners in Attica. Theseus also crossed over with the Thessalian hero Pirithous, for the battle against the Centaurs and the hunt for the Calydonian Boar.

However, if you really want to see the first superhero team-up issue, I think you have to look far, far back, to the first piece of written fiction we know about: the Epic of Gilgamesh. After various heroic feats, Gilgamesh encounters the wild man Enkidu. They battle, become friends, and henceforth tackle other menaces as staunch comrades. I have no way to prove it (unless someone reading this has a time machine and a working knowledge of ancient Sumerian) but I'm willing to bet that there was a story-cycle about Enkidu (lost some time in the past millennia) which originally was separate from the Gilgamesh epic. At some point a Sumerian storyteller got the bright idea to have Enkidu show up in a Gilgamesh tale, and the crossover story was born. It even follows the pattern of modern comic-book team-ups exactly: heroes meet and fight one another (typically due to mistaken identity or manipulation by the villain). However their sterling qualities soon become apparent and they put aside their conflict, finally tackling the real villain of the story.

All-Star Teams

An All-Star Team is the next obvious step after you've done a crossover. Instead of having just one of your heroes meet another one, why not have a story with ALL the popular heroes in it? And if that proves successful, you can keep them together and tell more super-epics!

If you're a troubador in medieval England, for instance, you might decide to combine all the tales of knightly romances and folk tales into one unstoppable superteam, the Knights of the Round Table! Gawain and Percival and Tristan and Arthur, all together at their secret headquarters in Camelot, fighting evil! Best of all, when some foreign character like Lancelot gains popularity, you can plug him right into the team (and ignore the grumbles from the old-school fans who think Lancelot's crowding out classic heroes like Pellinore or Loholt).

I suspect the same is true of Robin Hood's Merry Men. Friar Tuck is apparently well-attested as a separate character in his own stories, who got combined into the Robin Hood cycle. I'd bet Will Scarlet and Alan-a-Dale may also have started in their own comic books, so to speak, as they both seem suspiciously distinct and well-developed despite not showing up much in the stories ��� as if the audience could be expected to know who they were from other tales.

Again, one can go back to the Greeks for the original All-Star Team: the Argonauts. Modern readers may recognize some of the big names ��� Heracles, Orpheus, Atalanta ��� but all of the Argonauts were pre-existing heroes. Since each of them hailed from a different region of Hellas, a wandering singer of epics could perform the same piece in every town, possibly throwing in a few bonus lines or switching characters around to give the local hero a more prominent role.

But there's an even earlier version of the All-Star Team: the pantheons of ancient polytheistic religions. Consider the ancient Egyptian gods: who's the creator of the world? Well, if you lived in Memphis, it was Ptah. But if you were from up the road in Thebes, the creator was obviously Amun. Or possibly Atum. Or Khepri, or maybe Neith. It depended on who you talked to. Apparently "the" Egyptian religion was a combination of lots of local beliefs, combining gods from various cities into one team. Of powerful beings, each with a very distinctive iconography. Devoted to justice. Battling monstrous threats. Hmm . . .

Retcons

A "Retcon" is comic fan jargon for "retroactive continuity" ��� the process whereby a character's history gets edited, either because the writers thought of something better or to explain away an inconsistency. So (for example) in Marvel's Avengers comic, the heroic android Vision was created by the villainous Ultron but turned against his creator and joined the heroes. Then it was revealed that Ultron had patterned Vision's mind on that of another Avengers member, Wonder-man, making them "brothers" in an odd sort of way (and paving the way for a romantic triangle when both of them were in love with the Scarlet Witch). Then it was revealed that Vision's android body was actually that of the original Human Torch of the 1940s. But then it was revealed that a cosmic entity had duplicated the original Human Torch so that one copy became the Vision while the other remained the Human Torch . . .

I'm about to get into some dangerous theological waters here, but it occurred to me a while back that the story of Moses can be seen as a nested series of retcons, just like the Vision.

When Moses was picked by the Lord to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he was a shepherd, married into the tribe of Midian. But having a shepherd from a tribe you're not very fond of as your leader isn't very satisfying, so at some point chroniclers decided that Moses must have actually been an Egyptian prince, who had fled to Midian after accidentally killing a man. An aristocrat of the most powerful kingdom around ��� that's a fitting founder for a people trying to carve out a place for themselves.

But once the Hebrews did establish their own kingdom, and Egyptian prestige began its long slide, someone must have objected again: why would the Lord send an Egyptian to deliver the Israelites from Egypt? Wouldn't the God of Israel have chosen an Israelite? So then it turns out that Moses was really an Israelite foundling, raised as an Egyptian prince, who then became a Midianite shepherd, before leading the Israelites out of Egypt.

Can I prove this is a series of retcons? Not without that time machine I mentioned. Let's just say it's suggestive.

How did ancient myths and folktales wind up using the same storytelling devices as modern-day comic books? Well, oral tales (whether spoken or sung) have a lot in common with comics: they're serial narratives, and they have to appeal to a wide audience. Homer and Hesiod invoked the Muses when they composed, but of course they were hard-working professional story-crafters who knew what would sell and what wouldn't. The forms may be different, but the underlying skill is the same.

Until next time, True Believers: Excelsior! 'Nuff said!

We're Living in a Japanese Anime Series

Terror and violence are spreading. War looms. And a couple of super-robots go to school. 

This is pretty much the plot of every Japanese animated series ever made. Except now it's reality. 

If you live in Greater Boston, this is bad news, because while it means you now have super-robots to defend the city against weird rubbery monsters and Starfish Hitler, it also means you're going to have a roughly 1000 percent increase in rubbery monster and Starfish Hitler incidents.

Trader Joe's Reaches the Pumpkin Singularity

Maybe it's because I grew up in Louisiana. Pumpkin pie was not a common dessert when I was a kid. At Thanksgiving we ate pecan pie, and I remember my grandmother making sweet potato pie a few times. I heard of Pumpkin pie, from the song "Over the River and Through the Woods" or various Thanksgiving animated holiday specials. But I never ate it until I was an adult, and never found it particularly appealing.

So in the past decade I have been puzzled and amused at the slow pumpkinification of America. "Pumpkin spice latte" became a seasonal item at Starbucks, and Yankee Candle, up the road from my house, introduced pumpkin spice candles. But in the past few years it has gone from baffling to alarming, and the new Trader Joe's flyer demonstrates that Things Have Gone Too Far.

Page 1: Pumpkin Bread Mix (okay, I guess; there's zucchini bread, so this isn't too weird); Organic Pumpkin Toaster Pastries (pumpkin pop tarts? nah); Pumpkin Tortilla Chips (urg!)

Page 2: Blessedly pumpkin-free!

Page 3: Honey Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli (ick)

Page 4: Another soothing respite.

Page 5: Organic Canned Pumpkin (pretentious, but okay)

Page 6: Pumpkin Cranberry Crisps (like the tortilla chips, only WORSE)

Page 7: Sneaky bastards. At first it seems like another welcome break from the orange onslaught. But read closely in the description of Autumn Harvest Pasta Sauce, and what's lurking there? Pumpkin! YOU ARE NEVER SAFE.

Page 8: Ginger Pumpkin Mini Mouthfuls (ice cream sandwiches! pumpkin in ice cream sandwiches! little children's ice cream, Mandrake!)

Page 9: I obsessively scan the page, trying to find how they can adulterate olive oil with pumpkin, then breathe a sigh of relief. Perhaps the madness is receding.

Page 10: AAAAH! Pumpkin Bagels. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. Pumpkin Spice Granola (because of course it is). Nonfat Greek Pumpkin Yogurt (that whirring sound is the wings of the Kindly Ones).

Page 11: Pumpkin Cereal Bars. Pecan Pumpkin Instant Oatmeal. Pumpkin Cranberry Scone Mix. Pumpkin Spice Rooibos Tea (yoga pants are mandatory with this item). Please make it stop.

Page 12: No mercy at all. Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancake Mix. Pumpkin Butter. Pumpkin Bar Baking Mix. Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookie Butter.

Page 13: Pumpkin Waffles. Pumpkin Cheesecake. I am whimpering now.

Page 14: Pumpkin Seed Brittle. Iced Pumpkin Scone Cookies (they're just randomly combining words now). Pumpkin Panettone (vendicamme!). Pumpkin Pie Spice (the source of the evil, right there).

Page 15: Pumpkin Biscotti. Belgian Chocolate Pumpkins (does for chocolate what the Prussians did for Louvain). Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Salted Caramels. Pumpkin Pancake & Waffle Mix. MAKE IT STOP.

Page 16: Raw Pumpkin Seeds (destroy them before they grow! YOU'LL BE NEXT!)

Page 17: Pumpkin Rolls with Pumpkin Spice Icing (stolen from the Hogwarts cafeteria, apparently). I am curled into fetal position now.

Page 18: Is it true . . . ? No pumpkin? Can our long nightmare be over?

Page 19: Yes! Two pages in a row without pumpkin. We made it!

Page 20: GAAAH! Like a slasher in a horror movie, the pumpkins are back! Pumpkin Bread Pudding. Pumpkin Macarons. Mini Pumpkin Pies (they can hide anywhere). Pumpkin Pie Mochi Ice Cream. Pita Crisps with Cranberries & Pumpkin Seeds.

Page 21: Pumpkin Spice Chai. Pumpkin Body Butter ("It puts the pumpkin on its skin . . . ") Pumpkin Dog Treats (your dog will eat them, then look at you reproachfully).

Page 22: Pumpkin Joe Joe's Cookies. Pumpkin Ice Cream (we must protect our essence, Mandrake). Decorative Mini Pumpkins. Pumpkin Cornbread Mix. Pumpkin Cream Cheese. Can't . . . hold . . . out . . . much . . . longer . . .

Page 23: Pumpkin Spice Coffee. Orange Pumpkins (which is to say, actual pumpkins). Pumpkin Spiced Pumpkin Seeds (pumpkin-flavored pumpkin!). I hear the laughter. It does not stop. And then I realize it is who am laughing.

Page 24: Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Baking Mix. Pumpkin Spice Coffee. Trader Joe's Pumpkin-Os.

And there the manuscript breaks off, with nothing but some orange stains at the bottom of the page.

Excerpt From A Neglected Collaboration

Piglet has on rare occasions whispered disjointed and irresponsible things about what he saw in the Heffalump trap: "the empty jar", "the fawn-colored fluff", "the nameless cylinder", "the condensated milk", "the primal gold jelly", "the West Pole", "the eyes in the darkness", "the very bouncy animal", "the Thing of Little Brain" and other bizarre conceptions; but when he is fully himself he repudiates all this and attributes it to his curious and macabre reading of earlier years. At the time his shrieks were confined to the repetition of a single mad word of all too obvious source:

���Tiddly-Pom! Tiddly-Pom!���

Empire of the Dragon Khan

That's actually a pretty good fantasy novel title . . . 

This weekend I will be an "attending professional" (kind of like a guest, only not as cool) at Dragon-Con in Atlanta. You can find me (if you can find anything in the massive crowd of Star Wars stormtroopers, anime catgirls, superheroes, and Klingons) at the following events:

Friday, September 4, 5:30-6:30 p.m.: Autographing ��� In the Marriott International Hall (south). I'll sign anything that isn't legally binding.

Saturday, September 5, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Reading ��� In the Vinings room in the Hyatt. I'll be reading selections from my latest novel, Corsair, and maybe some of my current work in progress.

Sunday, September 6, noon-2 p.m.: SFWA Table ��� I'll be doing my part to represent and promote the oldest professional organization for science fiction and fantasy writers. Stop by, if you like. 

Star of Blog and Podcast

There's a new podcast up at New Books in Science Fiction & Fantasy, with me in it. I was honored to find out that I was Rob Wolf's first repeat podcast interviewee (podcastee?). In this one we talk about Corsair, the Hieroglyph Project, and the chip on science fiction's shoulder.

The Decline of Musical Hipness

For half a century, music was the badge of hipness. What you listened to determined if you were a cool, enlightened person or not. Clothing, hair styles, taste in movies, political opinions ��� these all had a role, but ultimately music trumped everything. You could be the coolest kid in high school with all the right accessories, but some parka-wearing geek could undermine it all in a second by saying "You listen to that?"

The age of Music Hipness began with the shift from music as something people did to something they consumed ��� the rise of radio and cheap record players meant that anyone could have music whenever they wanted. Instead of spending ten years learning to play an instrument, and devoting hours to practicing a piece, you could simply turn a switch.

For a couple of generations after the rise of consumer music the hipness gradient ran downhill from high to low culture, just as it had for most of human history. Boobs and lowbrows listened to pop music, just as their grandparents had gone to music halls and sung the popular tunes. The cultured people listened to "serious" music on records and tuned in to orchestra programs on the radio, just as their grandparents had gone to concert halls or played on the piano in the parlor.

The big shift in Music Hipness came with the rise of youth culture in the 1950s and 1960s. Suddenly the goal was not to be cultured but to be cutting-edge. Music made a great way for teens to one-up each other on the hipness status hierarchy, and popularity elbowed high culture off the top of the pyramid.

There are good structural reasons for this. Pop songs are short, so one can listen to a lot of them and become an "expert" relatively quickly. They're cheap ��� radio is free and singles (later tapes and CDs) aren't expensive. Popular music is also universal. One can hear the same tracks in Boston and San Diego. You don't have to go to a particular museum or theater to experience them.

Radio DJs and record companies weren't slow to notice and exploit this, of course. Kids looking for role models were not-very-subtly encouraged to emulate the voices from the ether and the paragons of hipness who actually worked in record shops. But music consumers rapidly outflanked the producers, especially once cassette players made it possible to assemble mix tapes. Obscureness and authenticity became the mark of hipness, because of course anyone could listen to the radio hits but only the cognoscenti could dig up the really cool stuff.

However, over the past couple of decades there's been a huge shift in how we consume music, and I think it has destroyed music as the badge of hipness. Two technologies did the job: earbuds and (of course) the Internet.

Earbuds may seem like a trivial technology, but beginning with the Sony Walkman back in the 1980s, they have turned music from something ambient to something personal. Before that, if your friend was listening to a cool song, you (and everyone within earshot) had to listen as well. In fact, having a set of powerful speakers to make everyone around you listen to your choice of tunes was a major part of 1980s adolescence.

But ever since the Walkman, music has become more and more a private affair. In the cafe where I'm writing this, I can see three people listening to music ��� I'm listening to iTunes on my laptop, there's a young woman at the next table listening to something from her phone, and a young man just left with an iPod clipped to his running shorts. And nobody knows what we're listening to. It could be jazz, classical music, some obscure indy band, a podcast, an audiobook . . . only the listener knows.

The second technological change is the shift from buying physical records or discs to downloading specific songs. Just as earphones have made listening more private, downloading makes buying music a solitary activity. No hipper-than-thou record store clerk will make fun of your choices, but nobody will be impressed by them, either.

One effect of these two technologies is that everybody's musical tastes have become more eclectic. I am not a "music person" and have never tried to be, but my own iTunes archive includes Vivaldi, Frank Sinatra, movie soundtracks, pop music from my high school days, and a whole bunch of random stuff. And from what I've seen, everyone's music collection nowadays is just as diverse.

There are still Top 40 hit songs ��� there are still radio stations ��� but it's surprising how fragmented the radio market is nowadays. And radio is a much smaller part of what people are listening to. The days of albums selling tens of millions of copies are past. All music is "niche music" now.

The result is that there's no longer much status in being obscure. Everybody has some tracks on their music device which their friends haven't heard. The endless churn of "rediscovery" means that everything unhip has been made hip again, and there's no more priesthood to distinguish between the two.

I wonder if the increase in displays of political allegiance and status-signalling via having the "correct" opinions is an effect of the downfall of musical hipness. Primates always engage in some form of status competition, and if you can't demonstrate your superiority by showing off your taste in music, you can do it by joining a Twitter mob to demonstrate your ability to detect and be outraged by things others have failed to notice.

            

Scenes From a Book Tour

Two of the events from the late Tor Books Big Summer Author Tour and Giant Spider Jamboree are now available on video. Everyone who missed our live appearances can experience the wonder and glory of Elizabeth Bear, Me, Max Gladstone, and Brian Staveley.

The first video is our appearance at Google NYC:

 

The second is the last stop on the tour for the four of us, the merciless Author Duel at Phoenix Books in Burlington, Vermont:

 

 

Showdown at Phoenix

SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! At the BIIIG Phoenix Books in Burlington Vermont! THE ULTIMATE DRAMA SHOWDOWN! The Tor Books Summer 2015 Author Tour ends with a four-way Literary Duel! THIS IS THE BIG ONE! Brian "Madman" Staveley, Max "Maximum Stone" Gladstone, Elizabeth "The Grizzly" Bear, and James "L." Cambias compete to out-drama each other in readings from their works. SUNDAY! Can your heart stand the excitement? PHOENIX! Can your ears stand the noise? BURLINGTON! Find out at 2:00 p.m., 191 Banks Street in Burlington Vermont. Contact the store about tickets as seating is limited.

BE THERE!!

Everybody's Invited

To the penultimate stop on the Tor Books Big Summer 2015 Hot Air Balloon Steel Cage Deathmatch and Author Showdown! On July 25 we'll be appearing in Brattleboro, Vermont at 6:00 p.m. Important note: although the event is hosted by Everybody's Books, the actual event will not take place at the store. Instead, you can see us sign, talk, and read at 118 Elliot St. in Brattleboro, across the street from the fire station. Everybody come!