Mission Statement 2015

Originally I had intended to post this, in an earlier form, in the Summer of 2014. A lot of things have changed for me since then: I've moved from Montreal to Toronto, I sent out my first pitch for my comic Gunmetal Frontier and am working on further submissions, I have started selling my prose fiction on Amazon, I have left and started multiple jobs, and I, in general, have been busy working to advance my life and my creative works.

When I first started this blog years ago (it seems so short a time) I was a kid with the dream of participating in theb "Grand Spectacle" of the comic book industry. I had the intention of offering up a unique voice in reviews and commentary when, and I'm being honest, I didn't have anything truly unique to make my voice stand out amongst the throng of the comics blogging community. Now, hoever, I believe I have found my voice.

In the years since I last wrote for this blog a lot has changed in my life. Far more, in fact, than I ever could have thought possible, and I have found myself in possession of a realized passion and ambition: The active pursuit of literary and sequential storytelling and publication as a career. Now, I won't grandstand and act as if i am something which I am not. I have not been published by any established publishing companies, and I am not making a living off of my craft. I am not an expert. However, in the relatively short amount of time in which I have been pursuing this dream of mine with serious vigor, I have hit several landmarks - such as submitting my pitches to publishers, having artists under contract to produce work, selling my prose fiction digitally - and I have begun to understand what it will take for me to be successful and what it is that I am lacking that is holding me back. It is my intention for this blog, this resurrection of The Sagacious \Geek, to serve as a chronicle of the journey I am on in pursuit of my dreams, as well as that journey which every creative person must go through to reach their goals.

I will, of course, be focusing on the comic book industry and prose fiction from the perspective of a prospective career writer, bit I will also be featuring a variety of guests who are pursuing different creative fields such as visual arts, music and comedy. While the fields may differ, the struggles and solutions often cross over; self-doubt, budgeting, understanding and identifying objectives, handling overly harsh criticism, and all their ilk are ubiquitous problems for anyone who wants to venture into a career in what they love as opposed to what will simply make the most money.

So this is my invitation to you: come and participate in this journey, learn along with me, offer any insights you might have and foster discussions that will help us all to become more aware of what we need to know to succeed in the dreams we chase. If this blog manages to help even one person to better achieve their creative ambitions then it can be considered a resounding success.

Desperation and Strangers

Everyone's had that moment where they go up to a complete stranger and ask them a question. It's always at least mildly awkward, for a moment, on someone's part as you approach them, but most often the question is benign. "When's the bus?", "What time is it?" or "Do you have a smoke?". Every now and then, however, one is forced to ask a question that has far more depth to it. How desperate must one be to ask a complete stranger a question about something they most likely have no association with?

Today, while out to see a movie, I asked someone if the seat next to them was free. I felt a bit awkward because she looked like she was saving seats on both sides of her. Well, she wasn't so I sat down and there was some minor chit-chat, and then I sat there comfortably silent and waiting for this special screening of Pulp Fiction to start. Shortly thereafter she turned to me with a distressed look in her eyes and a quiver in her voice as she spoke, obviously feeling very awkward.

"Can I ask for your opinion?" she said, obviously uncomfortable. I faltered for a quick response, feeling awkward myself with the sudden outburst and wondering if I had done something to instigate this outburst or if it were simply an overwhelming need to vocalize an inner torment. She saw my reticence and said "Never Mind", etc.

"No, no. Go ahead." I said, uncertain of where things were going. She communicated to me a story of a man she had met, a man who she had been working out with and had set an appointment to meet for lunch and this very film... except he never showed up and never told her that he wouldn't be, even though he was online mere hours earlier.

"Does this mean he's dumping me?" she asked, rage and hurt quivering in her voice.

My silence said everything to her. I tried to posit the possibility that something happened to him, but what is the probability of him actually getting hit by a car on the way there? Well, statistically high, I've been hit by a car before... but not exactly likely. The film passed in silence between us and I left without saying anything to her, a mildly uncomfortable set of moments.

It made me wonder, how much must something eat at you to cause you to open up so much to someone you've only just met? I've done it before, I know where my limit is before I just need somebody to listen, to validate that I'm not the crazy one in a scenario... but how many people go by feeling tormented inside without ever asking for help? And, would we actually be happier if more people spilled their stories to strangers, or would we grow tired of being constantly burdened with other people's problems?

Travel Log: Shady Business down Vancouver Way

I'm out in Vancouver for my best friend's wedding and there have been many stories and harrowing adventures as of yet, mostly I don't think they're worthy of recounting to you fine folks, I can only drag you down so much before I lift you up and my last entry was a rant and a half, so I don't think regaling you with a tale of exhaustion, confusion and such is appropriate (plus I'm no longer sore about that issue, it's all been good going since then). So now, now I'll tell you a tale that made me laugh, to myself:

Last night, after hanging with my buddy Megan, I headed "home" to my hotel room, on the way home I mostly just zoned out and listened to my music and tuned into my thoughts and personal musings. While walking up Granville street to get to the bus I knew would get me to my hotel, instead of risking getting lost in an unfamiliar city, in my peripheral vision I see a lady flagging me down. Shes in her late 30s to mid-40s, I can't really tell. I take one earbud out of my ear and she asks me if I have change for a Toonie.

Me, I'm an obliging and nice man, so I root around in my wallet while still walking towards my bus and pull out one Loonie and four quarters. I Show her them and she pulls a slick move on me. SHe grabs the quarters and says "Do you have another one of 'these'" and grabs the Loonie. I realized before this happened that it was a possibility and I say "No", basically acknowledging that I had just been swindled for my good nature and just glad it wasnt change for a 5$, when things take an interesting turn...

"So, i can't give you a blowjob out on the street like this, there's too much traffic around and..." she starts. I cut her off saying "It's okay", and wave her away while walking off and thinking "If you're willing to give head for 2$, then I certainly don't want what you have...". I count my 2$ as a payment for me to be left alone and get back to my hotel where I come to a startling and hilarious realization:

I just got propositioned by a 2$ Hooker!

I, quite honestly, thought that the 2$ Hooker was a joke, something we throw around as a sleazy comparison. But no, life has thrown another hooker in my path and once again made me happy for my position in life... I wonder when I'll meet my next hooker?

Adventures in Telemarketing: Real Jobs

For those not in the know I work at a call center. I am employed by Leger Marketing to conduct market research, which means I call people and businesses in attempts to collect supposedly valuable information (most of the time it seems entirely inane).

While doing this job I encounter a ludicrous ammount of grief from the populace at large. I understand annoyance at someone calling and trying to sell you something while you're eating your most precious supper, but the ammount of pure vile and venom I encounter is absolutely absurd. I'm not selling anything, i'm not trying to wrestle your last few dollars from your superbly iron grip; I'm simply and very politely asking for a few moments of your time to answer some harmless questions, any of which you can refuse to answer.

I routinely get sworn at, yelled at, hung up on and fucked around with... but that's to be expected, even Canadians can be assholes. however there is something that  really sours my mood: being told to get a "Real Job".

There are so many things wrong with that statement that I almost don't know where to begin, so I'll start with the most obvious choice: What exactly is a "Real Job" and why in sweet holy hell do I need one?

Let's look at what my job gives me:
- Full time (35 to 40 hours per week) if I want it
- A flexible schedule
- Pays higher than Minimum Wage
- An hour long lunch break

That sounds like a decent job to me. It's nothing terrific but it will keep you fed, clothed, under a roof and not piss poor.

Now, how about it being "real"? I'll skip the existentialist debate on whether or not anything we do, perceive or believe is real and get right to the "reality" of things: Every two weeks money gets deposited in my bank account in direct relation to the amount of hours I spent working for that pay period and that pay is treated as legal tender when I pay bills and buy food.

That, my good friends, is real enough for me!

Now the next question is "What do these people consider to be Real Jobs and what right do they have to demean mine?"

To do that, let's examine two cases:

The first was when I was calling Halifax for a corporate project (so, that means I am calling businesses). A file pops up and a lady answers, the business listed on the file is "Christie's 30s and 40s Escort Service". So right off the bat we know things arent exactly going to be normal here.

I begin my intro. "Hi, my name is James, I'm calling on behalf of yada yada" when suddenly she cuts me off and starts laying into me. First she swears at me and asks me how I can sleep at night when I call people and disturb them all day, to which i reply "Fine, thank you very much", ignoring my occasional bouts of insomnia, and let her ramble on. She then insinuates that my family must be ashamed of me because of my job. A ridiculous assumption, because my Mum, grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles all care for me very much and are supportive of me taking my life into my own hands. she then proceeds to tell me to "get a Real Job"...

I pause...
I'm in shock!
Did a 40 year old hooker just tell me to get a better job? I hung up on her and, in short order, start laughing. When I tell my colleagues why I'm laughing I send one of them into near-hysterics.

In what backwards world is hooking into your 50s considered more respectable than putting yourself through the tail-end of your education doing market research? In that world Spock has a goatee and Megatron leads the Heroic Decepticons. In that world I fall up and burn books while dressed in Nazi regalia and a bright pink tutu. It is a silly world.

The second instance we will discuss is one of significantly less hilarity. This one is more recent and of a more infuriating nature.

I was calling people in Toronto to do a study on air travel in Canada. Innocuous, harmless stuff. On my first call this kid answers the phone, he sounds at most 19 and I go into my pitch, ask him if he is 18 or older. "Yes" he says. Has he flown in Canada in the last year? Another "Yes". How many times? "Left". Excuse me? "Right" he says, his satisfaction with himself reeking through his voice. Little shit thinks he's terribly clever. I call him out on his bullshit and call him "ridiculous", he says "at least I don't work in a call center" and tells me to "get a real job". I tell him to "get a life" and insinuate that someone of his obvious intellectual aptitude would go far in life, maybe even be assistant manager at a McDonald's in 30 or 40 years.

Now, I hold myself to a code of generally being nice to people and trying hard to not judge them right away, but if the world of "Real Jobs" is filled with old hookers and prospectless douchebags, why exactly do I need a "Real Job"? To associate myself with the lower tier of the intellectual spectrum? I fear that wanting a "Real Job" in this world has just become tantamount to wanting an STD and an IQ of less than half my age. If Hookers and Wiseass McDonalds employees are the best the world of "Real Jobs" has to offer, I'll stick with my "Illusory Job" and keep my self-respect and ability to treat other human being with dignity. Telemarketing is a shitty job, for sure, but in the end at least I know I'm a better person for not having demeaned some random individual for trying to survive. No, I'll just demean them for being stupid and jackasses.

Technical Difficulties

Okay, so, this week I finally managed to get ahold of my friend's external harddrive to try and fix my computer, but the problem is that while transfering files my computer slows down to a snail's pace. Combine that with a stressful week at work and with inter-personal relations and you get me missing my update dates.

I have a lot of stuff to write about, so I figure the two people reading this won't mind if I break my schedule for a while and just update as I see fit over the next while.

Wish me luck fixing my poor busted laptop!

Anticipating an AFternoon with Fred Van Lente

For the 3 people who actually read this, I promise you I will actually review some comics here eventually. It's been slow goings in monthlies coming out, and I haven't had the opportunity to grab any trades lately (it is so much easier to shell out 3 bucks at one time than 18)... but that's not to say I don't have a large list of things to buy.

As I have been informed, by a variety of sources, namely facebook and the targeted ads on this blog, a West Island comic shop known as The 4th Wall will be hosting Marvel scribe Fred Van Lente for an afternoon of hanging out and signing books.

I, personally, have only read one of Van Lente's works, The Incredible Hercules, and if everything goes as planned I intend on having him sign as much of my run as possible. It is an excellently written and drawn, fun and witty series. Unfortunately, this isn't going to be a review of the series as, at the current moment, my copies of the series are all in storage at my mothers place (if I didn't have her being amazingly kind enough to let me leave the majority of my collected goods at home I would have had to liquidate a vast majority of my collection).

No, what this is going to be is a brief extolling of the growth of conventions and guest appearances in the area. I've been a lifelong fan of comics, but it wasn't until later in my life when I started travelling outside of my hometown for school that I ever had access to comic shops. These shops varied in size and classiness, and still do, but never did I hear of any of them having actual recognized names in for signings and it wasn't until 2008 that the Montreal Comic-Con came into existence.In the two years since then, things have actually started to take off. The convention has grown in size with each iteration and Cosmix, on the most recent FCBD, had a recognizable name in for a signing (of course I can't remember it now). Now The 4th Wall, which has been around for barely a year or so, has Mr. Van Lente appearing.

This, to me, shows that Montreal is growing. Toronto has the massive Fan Expo, after 15 or so years of growth it has become quite epic, and Calgary has their giant comic con. If things keep going the way they have been, I expect that in the next 5 or so years Montreal very well might be the next big Canadian convention location, and that might very well benefit the plethora of upstart young creators like myself who want to break into the industry but really cant afford the trek to places like San Diego or Chicago and need to rely on homegrown possibilities. The more there are, the more opportunities to get noticed any one individual has... and that, I dare say, is a grand thing.

I hope you weren't too offput by my very local musings, and I hope youll join me next time when I ponder what to do with my large collection of single issues and my newfound preferences for collecting most titles as Trades...

Propogating the Industry I Love

Today I experienced something that made me feel better about my geekdom than ever before: I got to help someone bring comics to children.

It is a simple but meaningful story, and I'd like to share it with you.

This morning I got a call from Oscar, one of the organizers of the Montreal Comic-Con, to confirm my ability to volunteer for the three days of Convention activity (Friday isn't a day of attendance, but I will be there to set up before the Saturday start). Later in the day, while running errands in the city, I swung by 1000000 Comix to talk to Alex, the other Convention organizer and one of the owners of 1000000, about what I'll be doing at the Con as a volunteer. When I got to the store it was relatively busy, so I do my usual browse the racks thing and I notice an out-of-place mid-to-late 30 year old lady dealing with a pile of singles and trades, looking perplexed, while her very young son nearby reading an issue of Marvel Knights Black Panther 2099 (I seriously didn't even know this book EXISTED until today).

Seeing as the one-man-staff of the store is moderately busy elsewhere I wind up, after a brief while, heading over to see what the mess of comics splayed out in front of her was about. As it turns out she is a teacher and, during the summer, she runs a camp for at risk students (those who are most likely to drop out of school either because of family situations or because they have trouble for one reason or another keeping up with where they should be academically (reading levels etc.)), and the theme of their camp is Comic Books (at least this year and the last). They use comic books to help get these children interested in reading and to help cover various ideas, such as seeing how representations of characters differ depending on the era they were written in etc.

She had requirements she needed to meet with the material she was getting, such as needing to have black superheroes (which her son was adorably trying to help her with by handing her Black Cat and Spider-Man: Back in Black trades) and needing to have differeing levels of difficulty in her material. she had a decent variety of reading levels in front of her, but the metric tonne of singles she was going through did not equal up to any one story getting told in sequence. First I helped her with the fact that she had no continuity to the books she had, which is something she herself just didn't have any awareness of before this shopping excursion (her experience with comics in the past having been Archie as a child and collected volumes of Bone for the previous year), and this wasn't just the geek in me saying "Egad, how do you expect them to read issue 3 and then jump to 15 without the twelve issues between them?", because, as she explained it to me, the idea is that if a child reads part one of a story they are more likely to want to keep reading if the next relevant chapter is nearby and just as easily mentally digested (well, clearly those are my words, but that is the meaning she conveyed).

Following that (I really wanted to use Pursuant, but the definition just doesn't match up) I acted on the Black Hero requirement and reccomended War Machine to her, for two reasons: 1) He is bad ass and covered in guns and 2) he was in Iron Man 2 and would draw in recognition credibility from the kiddies. I scoured through the back issues and found a small 5 issue run of the classic 1990s War Machine comics, which I figured would be much more kid friendly than his newer run which, from all I have read of it (not much), is more realistic and therefore more violent.

Alex wound up sort of working out a deal with her for how she could affordably bring the entire camp to the Montreal Comic-Con, and then she bought a big stack of books and headed out.

I was left feeling very satisfied and accomplished, knowing that I had just helped somone (who thanked me profusely throughout the entire event) bring both reading and comic books to children. It was very fulfilling to know that I could very well have helped to spread the love of this medium on to another generation... and I can only think of one thing that would be more satisfying than that...

My 3 Monthlies: Power Girl, Haunt and Savage Dragon

A while ago I was forced, due to circumstances that were eventually beneficial, to cut down my monthly comic buying habits a drastic amount. Now I was never the guy you see leaving the comic shop with every DC and Marvel book released that week tucked under his arm, and maybe every independant book too, but I was very much into reading the books I loved monthly and I was happy with it that way. Then reality and cash flow issues slapped me in the face and I realized just how much more expensive it is to collect a comic as a monthly title. To alleviate the financial stress I dropped most of my monthly titles and decided I could always catch up on them as trades (which, since then, has yet to occur) and I carefully selected 3 titles that I would continue to read as single issues. These are what I chose and why i chose them.

Power Girl

The only title published by one of The Big 2 (for the uninitiated, which I expect there to be very few of reading this, those would be Marvel and DC) that i read monthly. Choosing this title seemed like an odd choice at first for me, but I knew it would be a perfect fit for my reading habits instantly. Power Girl as a character has, over the last five or so years, been growing on me. Aesthetically it is clear what her purpose is, but she has evolved beyond someone who I just saw on covers or in pages as a fan service character. The writers and artists who worked on her imbued her with a certain sense of humour, an acknowledgement of her assets and wardrobe issues that, even though I wasnt reading the JSA or other books she was appearing in, it came across and made me want to get to know the character better... and then I saw the preview art for the series. I had seen Amanda Conner's art before in the Terra mini-series that I (retardedly) passed up on and thought it was brilliant. In short her art is the most expressive (facial, body language, energy, posture etc.) and fun I have likely ever encountered and it strides a really nice line between cartoony and realish that grabs me the same way Humberto Ramos's art did the first time I saw it. There are no specific aesthetic prerequisites for catching my eye this way, as many artists of many differing specific artistic leanings have done this to me, all I know is that some people's art just feels appropriate for comic books and sometimes, no matter how talented an artist is, they can also just not work in a comic medium.

The combination of brilliant art with the writing of Palmiotti and Grey, which captures a certain lighthearted attitude which endears me to comics as well as a sense of humour that just hits me right where it matters. They play just the right amount to my geeky need for in-jokes, such as the cast of The Big Bang Theory being in the theatre, with Wolowitz even hitting on PG, or the epicness of the repetative Zardoz references that begin very early in the series (now, this is just dredging up a character that had been lost to obscurity for ages and re-used better than he probably ever was before, but the way a writer can alter a character for the ages has been made evident by many pre-existing cases and I have to give these two credit for me enjoying the hell out of Vartox).

The stories this team weaved were amazingly enjoyable and, annoyingly, I felt that many little plot points were left unfinished when the title switched to the new creative team at issue 13 to better coincide with the Generation Lost storyline. I can't give a fair review to how well the new creative team is doing yet, as too few issues have been released to date, but I can say I like the art, and it seems like some notes have been handed off by the old writing team to the new one to patch up those plot holes. the first collected volume of this series

A New Beginning is available now and the second volume is already up for pre-order as well. I can guarantee that both volumes read well as collected works, cuz I've gone back and read them again in that manner. If you are looking for a very fun comic, without the need to get into a tonne of backstory or too much seriousness, grab yourself at least the first trade and see where it takes you from there. The whole first run can be easily enjoyed without continuing on to the next creative team, but things are looking to be fun with team two (I just wish that the new bad guy had stayed looking like a Space Jam meetz DBZ refugee).









Haunt 
Haunt was a comic specifically tailored to make me need to read it. Since I was a little kid I have idolized, probably to a blasphemous level, Todd McFarlane for how talented and ingenious he was in constructing his empire and marketing his creations. He is, in my opinion, to comics what Gene Simmons and KISS are to music. Hell, all Todd needs to do is form a Hard Rock band and I think he'd have covered all the bases KISS have. Combine him with Robert Kirkman, who writes overall the best comics today and has sucked me headfirst into Invincible (the best superhero comic you probably aren't reading), Ryan Ottley, artist on Invincible, and Greg Capullo, art god, and you have me by the proverbial balls.

Haunt reads like a comic from the 1990s, but in all the good ways. The nineties got a lot of flack from the comic fandom once they had hit the 2000s and much of it is deserved, especially from a marketing and variant cover perspective, but I really never found it to be a bad era for artists, designs or fun and exciting stories. Sure, it somewhat appeals to nostalgia, but Haunt has a well constructed, dark but not overbearing plot, is filled with characters who have been fleshed out beyond just their clear cookie-cutter cliche basis, which allows the reader to quickly identify what type of character they are and look for how they will begin to break the mould. Kirkman, for me, has never shown me any sign of not knowing what he is doing and when Haunt caught a lot of early flak for how much it read like a comic from the 90s, I knew it was because Kirkman wanted it to be that way and thet he would easily bring the series beyond just being a 90s homage into something that is worth following along, and so far he has done it with spades.

The art is a perfect blend of modern and retro 90s in the first arc of the story. This is very clearly due to the nature of the creative process employed on those issues, with Capullo doing layouts, Ottley doing pencils and Mcfarlane inking the whole shebang. It resulted in a wondrous energy being present in the art an d I could, upon careful inspection, even point out and identify each artist's contributions to the overall aesthetic of the pages.

The first volume, in trades, really just deals with a solid origin story that doesnt really reveal everything. The best comparison I can think of while writing this (which i am doing mostly late at night, couple of days in a row, in preparation for Thursday) is to the opening act of a good superhero  movie, with two more acts to come before the storyline is mostly wrapped up and we expect to be left with an ending that hints at a sequel... so, kind of like the first Iron man film, except with a little less origin to rest of plot ratio.

If you have enjoyed the work of Kirman or McFarlane over the years, or you are a fan of 90s comics who is looking for something to recapture that nostalgic buzz and not drop the ball on it, then you should give Haunt a chance (and for what Amazon is charging, I can honestly say I've spent more money on worse trades *coughWantedcough*

 
Savage Dragon
As I had mentioned before I have long loved and intended on seriously following Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon. I have a bunch of random issues from my childhood, but it wasn't until he released that FCBD book that I really found a good jumping on point (and, being who I am, I also intend on back-tracking and collecting the entire series as singles). Now that I have jumped on board I am exceedingly happy to have done so.

Talking about Larsen as an artist and as a writer is a difficult thing. Not because it is hard to describe, but because I don't want to come off as trashing him. His art is still fun, still Larsen, still channeling Jack Kirby... but when I compare it to earlier issues in the series it has gotten less tight and detailed and more sketchy and bold stroked. It isn't my favourite change, but it doesn't hamper the storytelling at all. In some cases it may even benefit it, especially in some of the more hectic and violent fight scenes, where the sketchiness and the thick black lines really serve to heighten the impact of a frantic, hectic fight....and sometimes I think he's just being lazy.

His writing is rife with riffs on other comics and storylines, it pokes fun at the Big 2 constantly and still manages to have its own worthwhile story to tell. It might not always be the most original storylines, but Larsen injects it with enough Larsenocity that it becomes fun and absurd and, yet, I don't dislike it the way I dislike the absurdity that is most of Deadpool's appearances.

Larsen's Savage Dragon is both safe and unexpected. I know that the art and writing team isn't going anywhere and that I will always enjoy what happens because, for all the flaws the art has developped and the campiness of the writing this book is still fun (which is something that can't be said for many books drawn technically better and written more seriously etc.). It is harder to reccomend this book than the other two, as I don't have as solid reasoning for why it is good as I do with them. But, trust me, it is good and it is fun and I look forward to it every month probably more than the other two because I never fear that it will dissapoint me (as i do with the creative team change on Power Girl) or bitch and moan about it not coming out regularly (which Haunt is developing as a bad habit). Hell, just grab some back issues or something and check it out for yourself. Have some fun: Have some Savage Dragon!

The best Global news I have heard in a while...

Those of you who do know me have probably heard me spewing vitriol and and making angry (empty) threats towards British Petrol ever since they massively fucked over our entire global eco-system by hiring a bunch of unqualified workers to man that oil rig down in the Gulf.

Today seems to be the start of some good news coming from those BP asshats. Seems things have finally been settled, seems being the operative word. Now this isnt really going to do much to repair BPs image, but at least the environment won't in all likeliness be getting any worse from this. I'm no expert, but everything I have heard says that the damage done already is irreversible. It breaks my heart knowing that I might never get to swim with sharks like I wanted to, the way some experts are talking.

The well that was spewing toxic oil into the gulf which resulted in BP using toxic dispersants to hide how bad it was, well, it has been capped and looks to be over and done with, Good Job (for once) BP.

It Liiiiiiiives~!

Honestly, it is hard to know where to start with serious necromancy like this. I never intended to let my blog dissapear into near oblivion, but I was hit with a series of weird life changes which I couldn't quite stay on top of when they were happening and I just didnt know how to manage my time effectively (admitedly still an area of life I struggle with).

I once promised a review of Bret Hart's autobiography but, well, considering how long ago it is that I read it I feel any serious review would be impossible. It wouldn't do justice to the book to review it without reading it over again, so I wont even try. I'll just say this: It is a phenomenal read that really gives you some impressive insight into the world of pro-wrestling from the beginning of a career to the end of it. If you like pro-wrestling at all you owe yourself this read.

I have some serious plans for this blog, something to stay on-top of on a twice or thrice weekly basis, but some of the things I need to figure out how to do are, well, eluding me. If anyone knows how to make blogger let me post more than one picture per blog update it'd be swell if you would let me know about it.

So, for now, stay fit and have fun (I wonder how many of you will get that reference?) and I'll see you soon.

Savage Dragon #148: A Review

Erik Larsen and his Savage Dragon have been around for quite a while, and Larsen has put his green skinned fin-head through some crazy stuff. Me, I wouldn't really know. I missed most of it. But Wikipedia certainly has some stories to tell!

In the early and mid nineties I was a deprived Image junkie. Living in my small town home, with no dedicated comic shop and no decent public transit, I thrived off of whatever came in on grocery/variety store racks and the ever reliable Wizard! Magazine (back when it was smaller in height, bigger in thickness, and had decent commentary on ideas and arcs...not Big 2 pandering). I managed to pick up what little I could of Spawn, Savage Dragon, Shadow Hawk, Cyber Force et al., but they were few and far between.

I got back into comics around five or six years ago and, amidst picking up back issues and seeing new covers, I had been toying, for a long while, with getting into Savage Dragon. I was excited to find out that Image's offering for FCBD would be a brand new and numbered issue of Savage Dragon. I immediately set about to get it.

The issue itself is designed as a jumping-on point for new readers, which makes sense seeing as it was to be given out for free by shops. The first four pages of the issue serve as a flashback across the entirety of Dragon's history, carefully glossing over the complicated and potentially confusing multiple worlds SavDrag has lived in without retconning his dimension hopping out of existence (thankfully, because I hate annoying retconning and Dragon has an interesting and unique history). The previous issue, as well, is ignored. Not that it matters, because it was basically a standalone story, but it had Dragon die and revive in one issue, and in a very interesting fashion. Larsen has a habit at that.

This issue introduces the Golden Age Daredevil, who is in the Public Domain, in seeming direct competition with Alex Ross's Project Superpowers. The plot that comes out of this is a relatively happy tale, ending with Dragon and Daredevil saving the day, while the foreboding of a future story arc is set up simply. It's action-packed and makes the reader want to see what happens next, perfect consider the role it is playing as a promotional item.

Like everything I have read that is penned and pencilled by Erik Larsen, it isn't the most eloquent of dialogue. It is, however, very fun and accessible. There are some comic writers who I know are trying too hard to be considered greater than "just a comic book writer" (*cough Brian Michael Bendis cough*), but there is no pretension in Larsen's writing and it comes out very smooth and fun. I wouldn't give it an award for writing, but I'd give it an award for Fun. Now, I am not saying that the writing is stupid, don't ever get me wrong. I'm just drawing a line between literary brilliance (Percy Bysshe Shelley, Alan Moore) and literary fun (Ed Greenwood, Erik Larsen). There are writers who waver between one and the other, mind you (Brubaker, Piers Anthony).

The art is Larsen at his standard. Save for when Larsen was also Editor-in-Chief of Image and was pressed for time and resorting to artistic laziness in the face of deadlines, as I understand it and have been shown, I can honestly say that he has stayed more or less consistent throughout his career. I mean, I can look at issue #2 of SavDrag and issue #148 and I know that the artist is the same and, certainly, there are bits of improvement here and there...but nothing so stellar as some other artists i have seen (not that I can think of any while writing this, no, that would make my life easier). What this boils down to is that Larsen's art is distinctly dated, but not in a way that makes it look bad. If you don't like older styled art, well, then you won't like Larsen much. If all you like is hyper-stylized cartoony art or hyper realism then, well, you'll have to look for a different book to read. Larsen's art reminds me, often, of Jack "King" Kirby. He isn't the best at anatomy or the most detailed, but his art has a good dynamism to it and the characters are just real and stylized enough to feel like the perfect comic book art. I don't stand by the thought that comics are ever required to be confined to one art style, but what feels right feels right.

The whole issue here is, without a doubt, solid. It suffers from, perhaps, being a bit over simplistic...but, then again, I say that after having read up extensively on the history of the book. Maybe, to someone else, there is more confusion and mystery. Me, I see it as a solid issue. A solid issue that decided for me that I would have to start keeping up with the book. As it stands I should have the following two issues waiting for me at one of my comic shops. That being said, this issue has CLEARLY served its purpose, bringing in new readership to one of Image's longest running flagship titles.

Should you pick it up? If you have ever considered yourself to be on the fence regarding this title, or have had it recommended to you on several occasions (even if just by the same person) then this is a great issue to try out. It tells you all you need to understand the events and doesn't overwhelm you with anything too heavy. The art is classic and should appeal to most long and short time comic fans. The FCBD issue might be hard to come by, but this issue was subsequently released as a regular pay issue, so plenty of places should be able to get you a copy dead simple.

"Hitman"

I am, without a doubt and as you all will quickly learn, a huge fan of Professional Wrestling. I grew up not really being allowed to watch it and, somehow, I always managed to sneak it into my weekend viewing schedule (WWF Metal, as I recall it being called, aired stupid early on Saturdays, before my Mum was awake to overview my watching habits). As a Canadian I grew up loving and idolizing those few Canadians who made it big and acknowledged they were from here. Bret "The Hitman" Hart was always one of those.

I was crushed by the Montreal Screwjob, cried like mad over Owen Hart's death and jumped with joy when I found a copy of Bret's autobiography on sale for 10$, tax in. Soon enough I will be writing a proper review of his book, but as of yet I have not finished it (almost there, mind you).

Today, however, I wanted to share something that was inspired by Bret Hart.
This is a poem I wrote about him:


"Hitman"
by James Snelgrove

Pink and Black
Colours of a Hart attack
Locked on his target
A Sharpshooter you won't forget
The best there is
The best there was
The best there ever will be

(Unfortunately, Blogger decided it wants to murder the formating of my poem. So, please, check it out on my DevArt page here: "Hitman" Link)

The drawing of Bret I included here was done by my good friend Brett Vinduska, and coloured by someone he knows on the lovely website DeviantArt (Boy, how I love DevArt!).

I hope you all "tune in" to catch my review of Bret Hart's book, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling.

Wanted: A Review

Aloha~!
So, I figured I would start off the actual "content" of this blog with a review of a book that made me want to write reviews in the first place: Mark Millar & J.G. Jones's Wanted.

Now, I'll be blatantly honest, I had never heard of this book until they started advertising the film on the Internet and, even then, all it was was flashy special effects and a rear nudity shot of Angelina Jolie (and what straight man doesn't like that?). I never bothered to see the film when it was in theatres because, frankly, I thought it looked like a rather generic action film with cool stunts loosely based on a comic, like most Hollywood comic-to-film adaptations. I finally watched it after my Mum bought it on DVD and I was told that Morgan Freeman had his blackest line ever in the film (cause, let's face it, Mr. Freeman has tended to be a very "white-friendly" black man throughout his career). After watching the generally underwhelming but entertaining film I hit up the ever so useful www.wikipedia.org to see just how different it was from the original graphic source. What I read prompted me to order a copy of Wanted from Amazon (well, in truth I used the trade of Wanted to boost a video game I was ordering over the minimum to get free shipping...same difference no?)

Eventually the book arrived in my mailbox and I set it aside after a quick glance at its contents. Now, don't misunderstand me, I was not setting it aside out of a sudden disinterest in the material, but out of respect for the material. See, I need to wear glasses to see perfectly and I was waiting for my replacements to be ready for pick-up after having left my previous pair on a bus while rushing around like a fool (lesson, kiddies, never rush anywhere). Even from just my quick glances I knew that J.G. Jones's art deserved my full visual acuity and that the book would warrant a straight read-through without taking breaks for sore or tired eyes. I would not prove to be mistaken.

Now, I don't much want to over-spoil the plot for anyone out there who might not have read this book yet, but I couldn't possibly give this book a fair review without bringing to the fore all my gripes and praises for not only how the story is presented through J.G.'s art and Millar's words, but also what they are presenting.

Before I even got to the story proper, at least in my edition, there was an introduction to read by someone whom I've never heard of before or since (yet), Brian K. Vaughn (and, yes, the book does tell me he is responsible for things like Ex Machina and Runaways and Y: The Last Man, but I still haven't read any of that). This introduction proceeded to inform me that "If this is your first time reading Wanted, have fun , and get ready for those last two pages. Those of you who refuse to see what the conclusion is really saying will probably want to burn this beautiful collection the second you put it down. But if that's the case, you should use my introduction page as kindling because I think Wanted has the bravest, most interesting finale to a comic ever" (p.4) and, frankly, before I read the actual text, this introduction sounded like phenomenally high praise from someone who has received high praise himself (I have heard ceaselessly of how amazing Y is)...by the end of the book, all the intro did was make me think Brian K. Vaughn is full of crap. But we'll get to the end of the book later; we still haven't gotten started yet.

The plot of Wanted is a spin on a tale we should all be familiar with: A boy discovers he is the inheritor of his father's out-of-this-world legacy. The twist here is that Wesley Gibson's father was no heroic king or world-saving superhero, his father was a sadistic, murderous super assassin. So, as the tale goes, to gain full and proper access to his dead father's estate our "hero", Wesley Gibson, is recruited into "The Fraternity" (of Super Villains) and is schooled in the ways of murder, theft and *drumroll* rape! He wantonly performs horrible deeds until Civil war breaks out amongst the members of The Fraternity and he kills villains all over the place and gets some surprises thrown at him up till the last two pages where he isn't redeemed and shows the readers his "I'm fucking you in the ass" face (and no, Im not even joking). The ride through much of this strange tale had me hoping, somehow, that he would do something good. Wesley's life before he becomes all supervillainous is, distinctly, pretty horrible and Wesley is, without a doubt, an even bigger pussy than most people I know in real life and, lets face it, comic books are the medium where people aren't supposed to be more pathetic than real life. Because of this I sat there simultaneosly happy that he was no longer living the dreariest of mundane lives and hating him for being a horrible person. Millar very finely crafted this balance, I will admit, but there are many aspects to his writing here that fall incredibly short (especially if you've ever seen his writing at its peak, like, say, in Superman: Red Son).

The problem, overall, with the plot isn't so much the despicability of its characters or ideals (because, lets face it, condoning rape is pretty damned despicable) but in how much of the book is just phenomenally unbelievable. I like the idea that the Villains rewrote reality to have never included Superheroes (and the references to Adam West, Burt Ward and Christopher Reeve that spawn from this) but I can't wrap my mind around much of the seemingly smaller notions, as odd as that may be. Millar posits a world wherein regular handguns can seemingly kill everyone and everything, no matter how superheroic the person being shot is supposed to be. Scores of costumed supervillains run around carrying basic looking assault rifles and other firearms, with very few characters being shown to have any form of power whatsoever (which weakens the notion that these mooks would have been able to take down superheroes) and any supervillain with any shred of what seems like an actual power eiter has an absurd weakness (Shithead is killed with Bleach) or is so stupid that they forget the limits of their own powers (see: Sucker forgetting his ability drain has a time limit on it). I read page after page in a dumbfounded state of disbelief, thinking that the stupidity couldn't get any worse. I mean, maybe you can accept a slew of supposed supervillains ALL using basic firearms, but to me that seems to invalidate the whole notion of them being super and not just regular criminals in funny costumes. Unfortunately, the amazingly absurd crap got worse: A Supervillain Night Club with narry a mention of Superheroes ever thinking "Hey, why don't we take down a bunch of them while they're all too drunk and stioned to fight back right proper?". I think Millar kinda dropped the ball in a lot of places here, conceptually, and that's not even getting to the dialogue, which is the one part of writing in comics that carries on from the script to the printed page without going through a visual medium.

The dialogue, to me, is probably the biggest travesty of this book. Millar herein has scripted panel after panel and page after page of racial epithets and non-stop swearing. Cholo this, Motherfucker that. I, in my daily life and my daily writings, am not afraid to use some foul fucking language where applicable, but Millar seems to have turned the dial to Eleven and not cared whether or not it actually made the story better. After the first several pages it becomes clear that its vulgarity for the sake of gratuitous motherfucking vulagrity. If you're anything like me, and I hope you are if you're enjoying my blog, then you know that the English language has more to offer than swearing and hatred. And Millar, frankly, seems like someone who should have known that. Why he chose to write this way is beyond me and, even worse, is the fact that I do see glimmers of his true brilliance on many of the pages in this book. The sad fact is that I want to believe the back cover quip from Wizard Magazine claiming that wanted has the "sharpest dialogue around", but it just isnt true.

Luckily enough, none of the negative aspects of plot, concept or dialogue can hamper the art in this book. J.G. Jones is a master storyteller. The panels on, let's say, 90% of the pages flow perfectly from one to the next and so on. Many of the pages are jam packed with characters, all of whome are visually distinct and detailed. Easily the funnest part of this book became picking out all the references to Marvel and DC classic semi-obscure characters like The Tarantula or Sunfire, to name but two. Hell, one of The Future's henchmen is a clear deadringer for "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner, makes me wanna know which one of these guys is the wrestling fan that wanted him in it. The true mastery of his art is shown when J.G. is required to draw a flashback scene to the pre-relaity warped world and changes up his style to one that matches, rather handily, that of pre-80s comics (props must, as well, be given to the colourist for these pages). I would love to be able to have the chance to work with J.G. Jones on something, even if it is just having him paint a cover, his covers for these books are phenomenally painted and he easily ranks up with Alex Ross and Joe Jusko as the best hyperrealistic painters I've ever seen work in the comic industry. In fact, the only problem I have with his art at all is in character design. I am, frankly, not enamoured at all with Halle Berry, so The Fox does nothing for me in the "super sexy" way that she is supposed to, and I find that Wesley Gibson spends approximately far too much of the book looking exactly like Eminem, which induces me to laugh and not take him seriously.

Now, all this amounts to an acceptable, visually stunning attempt to try something new with classic ideas and, were it not for the last two pages of the book, would have only left me with a bitter taste in my mouth and a lot of respect for the people behind Wanted. Unfortunately, those last two pages do exist. These last two pages posit that you are exactly like Wesley Gibson was at the begining of the book, pathetic and stupid and unaware that the world used to be better before the supervillains took over and that our lives are empty and, oh my god, comics are telling me the truth about the world as it used to be...wait, I think I've seen something simillar done in film before...it was called The Matrix, and it tried to tell me that the world as we know it isn't really what was real or is real either. I've been there and done that before. The worst part though, isnt even that these last two pages shit all over what could have been an actual ending to a story I just devoted hours to reading, they tell me that I am just a consumer whore who will just buy something else to fill up my life and that Wesley Gibson is metaphorically fucking me in the ass. It makes me wonder who is worse: Me for buying this book or Millar for writing this ending? Sure, I spent money on something that "filled a void" in my life (I'm paraphrasing here) but Millar wrote it and still thinks it is just consumer drivel. Is it worse to gain pleasure from the beast, or to create the beast?

The book, overall and including the last two awful excuses for pages, only really truly comes into its full amazingness once you read the afterward by Millar, wherein he explains what triggered his basic ideas to write this book. Wanted, once you look at it through the eyes of a disillusioned child, actually makes a lot more sense. It is a well written, beautifully drawn attempt to explain away a lost sense of innocence. I get the "joke", but I think it would have been funnier if it didn't have to be explained to me. All my complaints regarding this book still stand, but with further knowledge on its inception I have been able to fully appreciate it for waht it is. It isn't the best thing that Millar has written, but it is certainly worth reading. And, as for whether or not you should buy it if you havent, let me put it this way: Reading this book taught me a lot about what I do and do not like to see done in comics as a medium and, as such, I will likely be a better writer myself, whether or not critics agree. Wanted has found itself a nice and permanent spot on my shelf next to more and less meaningful texts and will be read again, when I feel I need a refresher course on the lessons it teaches.

Intentions

Aloha~!
So, I am fairly new to this whole Blogging thing. I have been excessively apprehensive about starting a blog due to my experiences with no one ever reading my devArt Journals and with everyone on LiveJournal, save a few, being horribly whiny and bitchy (don't worry, folks, I haven't been on LJ in ages). I've started this Blog to add my "unique" voice to the cacophony of the Internet, in an attempt to share and help my fellow geeks to better enjoy what they enjoy. To this goal I won't be limiting this blog, like many I know, to any one medium or genre, but more on that later.

Now, I know all my fellow geeks out there aren't as absurdly in love with the English language as i am, and some of y'all might be wondering what the heck the name of this blog even means.

Courtesy of Dictionary.com:

sa⋅ga⋅cious

1.	having or showing acute mental discernment and keen practical sense; shrewd: a sagacious lawyer.

2.	Obsolete. keen of scent.

Sagacious is a nice word. It is strange and obscure enough to not be thought of as snobbish or snooty, like Discerning or Refined would sound, and it also, funnily enough, kind of sounds like an appreciative word in regards to food.

Imagine, if you would:

A 50's Kitchen scene. A child is eating pudding from a bowl while his mother washes dishes.
Mother: How was your pudding, Jimmy?
Jimmy: It was sagacious, Mum!

Isn't that fun?

Now, back to more practical, less fantastical things.
If you look down at the looooooooooong (and incomplete) list of labels for this introductory post, you will quickly become well aware of how wide my interests are and, potentially, how far the topics presented in this Blog will range. I intend to try and bring a critical approach to everything I comment on here without falling into the immediate or distilled reactions of geeking out over something that is part of a long-standing franchise or genre that I already love. For this reason i will not be likely to review a movie until it is available for home viewing, so as to avoid just saying "Dude, it was so cooooool!" after seeing it once and saying no more other than the few bits I remember with enough clarity to gush over. The best reviews come from being able to reference the material while writing so as to make sure you aren't being an idiot. Or, at least that is how I feel.

I haven't entirely decided yet on many aspects of this blog, including layout and Google Ads and colour schemes, so I would definitely appreciate any feedback you folks might have on the looks and structure of this blog in its opening days. I know I wouldn't stick around to read something if it made my eyes bleed to do so.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll all become regulars, the more the merrier.