I’m busy serving the Tower, up in Maine for a store appearance today at Casablanca Comics from 3-6. Did an appearance yesterday on a local news magazine show called “207” and had a reasonably good time doing that. Certainly better than the last TV stint I did where the interviewers invited viewers to call in and try and stump me with “Star Trek” trivia questions.
In any event, FNSM #17 brings back the Sandman while Dark Tower is, of course, the New Big Thing. Whad’ja think?
PAD
• 
Apparently the marketing whizzes in Hollywood would rather do anything rather than look to the folks who are writing great comic book style stories every month.
That’s puzzling, since it’s not like some comic book writers don’t have a track record on doing live action stuff or going in between the two (like JMS, Whedon and the aforementioned Gerry Conway).
I have a bad feeling that it’s mostly because they have no idea how well written comics are. I’ll wager that many still think that the Batman TV show is highly representative of the state of comics writing.
I know that sounds preposterous but when you hear Harlan Ellison or any of a number of actual writers tell a story of their encounters with studio execs it’s usually just one anal probe away from being a close encounter of the third kind. They seem curiously out of touch with current reality. Only an alien would think giving Uwe Boll money is a good idea.
“That just gives a whole new meaning to ‘Things That Know Fear Burn At Its Touch.'”
Reminds me of an old Mrvel Age comic strip where Man-Thing is poking Darevevil and DD is just going “HAA!”
apparently Whedon’s involvement in writing a comic-movie didn’t turn out so well since he’s no longer writing Wonder Woman. It’s a shame, I would have liked to see his take on the character. It’s going to be hard wrk to adapt such a campy character to the 21 century.
What’s the chance of a Hulk 2? I’d assume if PAD would consider writing a script to any movie, this would be the one.
Bill and Bill, what didn’t you like about the Fantastic Four? I thought it was enjoyable, but not great. However, I’m not very familiar with the FF.
It seems that the studios are still cranking up more and more comic movies. Some are OK, some pretty good, few great. Could they do a better job? When these movies came into fashion in the industry, it seemed that there was a good chance to make really good comic movies since the studios were willing to let good writers and directors work on them, instead of treating them as light-weight material + the special effect technology reached a sufficient level to create believable supernatural worlds.
By the way, isn’t there an Iron Man movie in the works? I thought I heard something about Robert Downy Junior starring in it.
I wish I read Friendly… but….
http://www.thexaxis.com/capsules/11Feb07.htm
FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #17 – Well, this is an odd piece of scheduling. The first “Back in Black” Spider-Man book comes out with the storyline already underway, and dancing politely around the question of what’s going on. Meanwhile, Peter David bravely attempts to plough on with his story about the Sandman and the duplicate Ben Parker, and to make some use of Spider-Man’s supporting cast. This is a deeply frustrating book, because the overwhelming impression is that it would be 300% better if it wasn’t struggling with the Big! Sweeping! Unexpected! Events! thrust on it by other titles in the line. Even as it is, it’s not bad at all, but there’s a much better comic in here struggling to get out. B
“That’s puzzling, since it’s not like some comic book writers don’t have a track record on doing live action stuff or going in between the two (like JMS, Whedon and the aforementioned Gerry Conway).”
Gerry Conway’s “Conan the Destroyer” blew chunks.
Joss Whedon’s comic books are fine, but are ultimately inferior products as monthly issue comic books and the first thing I think of when I think “JMS comic” is one villain character secretly bøffìņg and impregnating Spidey’s twenty years dead girlfriend.
I wouldn’t asser these guys as ‘media crossover’ titans. The less said about Kevin Smith’s Marvel Comics career… the better Marvel’s contract enforcers look.
What’s the chance of a Hulk 2?
Pretty good and Aintitcoolnews just claimed that Adrian Brody is being mentioned as the new Bruce Banner.
Bill and Bill, what didn’t you like about the Fantastic Four?
I don’t know about Bill but for me the ruination of Doctor Doom was more than I could bear. Ruined the movie for me. If they had treated Magneto as poorly in the X-men movies I would have hated them as well. (Imagine if the movie version had him as a 2 bit thug who was accidentally exposed to electromagnetic rays while robbing a liqour store and carried around a big red Monster Magnet. And he pronounced it “magnet-oh”. That’s about as bad as I thought the FFs Doctor Doom was.).
I really wanted to like the FF movie. hëll, I’ve sat through the Corman FF movie! (Which had a pretty lousy Doctor Doom as well. His origin was fine but his acting…well, if you haven’t seen it you are really missing one of the all time bad performances in movie history. He gestures with every word; it looks like he’s actually signing the script for the hearing impared. He makes Lord Zedd from Power Rangers look like Alain Delon in Le Samourai.
By the way, isn’t there an Iron Man movie in the works?
yeah and it looks like it could be very good. Here’s hoping.
Gerry Conway’s “Conan the Destroyer” blew chunks.
A) It got made. That’s a leg up on 95% of the screenwriters in Hollywood.
B) His credit was for story, not scripting, so you’re not necessarily criticizing the right people.
C) The movie made money (which is a big plus).
D) He’s run several televisions shows over a 20 year career, some of which have gotten pretty good critical response, and he’s well respected in Hollywood.
I’d have to say that you may not be in the best position to evaluate production personnel.
A) Event Horizon got made. That doesn’t really translate as a defense for me.
B) I’m probably criticizing more people than you know. I hated the story, too.
C) Armageddon made money. The Fifth Element made money. Hulk made money. Fantastic Four made money.
D) I have seen and enjoyed many of those programs. What respect he receives from his fellow professionals means absolutely nothing to me.
I’d have to say that my point about not making the generalization was not communicated in those most obvious way. Regardless, my disappointment in Conan the Destroyer stands true and pure and your defense of that Conan movie also blows chunks. (“It made money.” That means a bunch of people paid to see it… perhaps even enjoyed it… not that it’s worthy to be in a library of Conans).
“Readers wrote in complaining about how you’d have to be the dullest man in the universe to have 20 suits the exact same color but the quick thinking folks at DC claimed that he had treated all of his clothes with a chemical that kept them from burning up when he traveled at superspeed and that chemical turned clothes blue.”
I dunno. Supposedly Albert Einstein had a closetful of identical suits so he didn’t have to expend brain power deciding what to wear. I wouldn’t exactly call him dull.
PAD
He was charismatic to be a news anchor. Take that as you will.
Clark Kent, not Einstein.
Posted by: Blue Spider at February 13, 2007 03:43 AM
B) I’m probably criticizing more people than you know. I hated the story, too.
Just because Gerry Conway got a “story by” credit doesn’t mean it was his story that made it to the big screen. It’s not uncommon in Hollywood for producers to like a concept enough to buy the story, but then alter it to suit their tastes (or have the person they hire to write the screenplay do it for them). Because the original concept was the “springboard,” they have to pay the original writer and give him or her a “story by” credit, even though in many substantial respects what ends up on the screen doesn’t reflect the first draft of the “story.”
You may in fact not be aware of who you’re criticizing.
Yeah, I’d give Conway a bye on Conan the Destroyer. Had a decent script based on that story been well directed it would have made a fine movie (though certainly less epic than the first).
Look how many crappy movies have been based on The Seven Samurai. Great story does not always translate into great movie.
Bill Myers wrote:
“In the ’70s, it was revealed that when the rocket carrying Kal-El crashed on Earth, its “window” shattered into round pieces due to its unique Kryptonian properties. Young Clark decided to use the round pieces of glass-like stuff to create eyeglasses so he could pass himself off as a mild-mannered geek. It turned out that those lenses gave Clark the power to hypnotize anyone who looked at him, causing them to see him as the wimpy mild-mannered milquetoast he was trying to portray.
I kid you not.
I’m guessing the Crisis did away with that bit.”
If it’s the storyline I’m thinking of, then a general consensus among readers and DC editors (since it was never mentioned again) did away with the idea long before _Crisis_. In his CBG column, “Ask Mr. Silver Age”, Craig Shutt occasionally gives such tales what he calls the “Mopee Awards.” The name refers to a character in a Silver-age _Flash_ comic who claimed to have given Barry Allen his powers. That “true origin” story was also universally ignored after the fact.
In the Superman example no doubt DC figured they needed to come up with a “rational” explanation as to how a pair of glasses could work as a disguise. But the thing is, if you do it right, it can work. So, just in case you decide to become a super hero, but also want some time to yourself, here are some free tips as to how to keep people from realizing Captain Heroic is really the bespectacled Bill Myers .
1. Don’t wear a mask.
1-a. Don’t even _hint_ that you have another identity.
If you wear a mask, everyone knows you have another identity. If you don’t wear a mask, and give people every reason to believe you spend your free time at your Fortress of Solitude, rather than occupying an apartment at 344 Clinton, you won’t have people trying to uncover your secret identity.
2. Wear any style of glasses you want. Really, don’t fret over which design would provide the best disguise. As long as Captain Heroic never gives any indication he has another identity, Bill Myers will be just another of the Earth’s teeming millions. Sure, some people may notice a facial resemblance, but lots of people have a vague resemblance to someone else. Anyone who saw such a resemblance would dismiss it. Case in point: Just the other day, I saw someone at Borders who looked a bit like PAD. Of course it wasn’t him (…unless it really was, and me was counting on everyone to assume it was just some lookalike while he fought the fight for truth, justice and so on), and I went about my business.
3. (This is perhaps the most important): DON’T hang out with the same people in both identities. Even if you adhere to tip 1 to the utmost degree, you’re only inviting trouble if you spend most of your time with the same people in both identities, and you’re trying to make them believe the two identities are separate people.
Follow these tips and you should be able to enjoy a relatively stress free secret identity.
Rick
P.S. Speaking of glasses as disguise, in the original 1928 edition of _Hunting for Hidden Gold_, the Hardy Boys successfully slip past the bad guys at a train station by wearing glasses (and they also board the train separately).
The Dark Tower series are actually the only King novels i’ve ever been able to finish them, and i read them religiously. I guess I felt of his novels they were the most personal and really enjoyed them and respected them for that.
That said, you did a phenominal job holding to another man’s personal story. I was really impressed and I had high hopes to begin with.The book is a phenominal peice of art.
As far as FNSM, I’m so freaking glad to see you working with Todd again.I hope Todd sticks with the book for as long as you do.
And a question, The solicits for July were just made and they show you did the world war hulk prelude. If you can tell, how much are you involved in WWH? Is this just a one-shot thing like the story in Giant Size Hulk or are you part of the array of writers involved in WWH?
I read the entire Dark Tower series and was loving it until the last two books which were total letdowns in my opinion. The comic is visually great, yet seems to be predominantly a retelling of a part of the story as opposed to telling a part of the story not covered in the book. I was under the impression that the comic would mostly take off from where WIZARD AND GLASS leaves off and ends where the THE GUNSLINGER begins. I’m still hopeful that this is mostly the case.
I must say bravo for the writing, script, etc. It is typical PAD excellence.
Bill Mulligan,
Just an FYI. An “Incredible Hulk” movie (as opposed to adjectiveless “Hulk”) is now a done deal. It has been officially slotted to open on June 13, 2008. Additionally, “The Dark Knight” is scheduled for July 18, 2008; “Wanted” is slated for March 28, 2008 and “Hellboy 2” will be released August 1, 2008.
Which means that 2008 may outdo 2007 in terms of comic book movies, especially if either “Flash” or “Wonder Woman” get made by then and “Witchblade” and “Tomb Raider 3” come together.
Oh, and “Indiana Jones 4” is set in stone for May 22, 2008.
The news on The Flash hasn’t been too good though. They seem to be going for a goofy tone, from what I’ve heard.
What ever happened to the Ant-man project from the geniuses who did Shaun of the Dead and the upcoming Hot Fuzz?
Don’t even _hint_ that you have another identity.
That’s a good point–why did Lana and Lois always assume that Superman had one? And they kept up that belief even in the face of being humiliated over and over again when one of Superman/Superboy’s robots showed up at the same time Clark did.
One of the all time great suitable for framing covers was a superman book that had him bursting through a door tearing off the Clark disguise in front of Lois and Lana, saying something to the effect of “You know why I won’t marry either of you two asshats? It’s because I would never marry anyone so figgin STUPID that they can’t figure out that Clark Kent is Superman!!!” *
* It is possible I have somewhat misremembered the exact line
“In the Superman example no doubt DC figured they needed to come up with a “rational” explanation as to how a pair of glasses could work as a disguise. But the thing is, if you do it right, it can work. So, just in case you decide to become a super hero, but also want some time to yourself, here are some free tips as to how to keep people from realizing Captain Heroic is really the bespectacled Bill Myers.”
Lets not forget the super hairdo. The difference between the dorky Clark Kent hairdo and Superman’s is critical. In Lois & Clark Superman seemed to be equiped with a super gel. I always had the image of him fixing his hair at super speed.
“”Indiana Jones 4″ is set in stone for May 22, 2008.”
Let’s hope it’s better than anything done recently by George Lucas or Harrison Ford.
Gee, Rick, thanks for blowing my secret identity.
Micha: I loathed the Fantastic Four movie because the characters were flat and I didn’t care about them. Case in point — in the comic-book, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm snipe at each other but when it comes down to it, they’re like brothers who care about each other. That didn’t come through in the movie. Remember the press conference after the disaster on the bridge? Johnny has an opportunity to stick up for Ben but instead simply mocks the Thing for his appearance, apparently oblivious to how hurtful that is. The movie played up all of Johnny’s worst traits, but almost none of the things that redeem him.
We’re just scratching the surface of why I didn’t like the movie. There are too many reasons to mention. Let’s just say I don’t expect — or want — perfect faithfulness to the comic-books, but it would be nice to keep their spirit intact. On that score, the FF movie failed miserably.
I wrote: “Don’t even _hint_ that you have another identity.”
Bill Mulligan wrote: “That’s a good point–why did Lana and Lois always assume that Superman had one? And they kept up that belief even in the face of being humiliated over and over again when one of Superman/Superboy’s robots showed up at the same time Clark did.”
I think Lana and Lois assumed Superman (and before that Superboy) had a secret identity because he confirmed it. I can’t recall a specific issue, but I’m sure he told both, on more than one occasion, essentially, “look, if you expose my secret identity, I’ll no longer be able to have some time to myself and not be at you pesky Earthlings’ beck and- er, I mean I won’t be able to protect my loved ones from reprisals.” In fact in one Superboy story (I don’t recall what series it appeared in; I have it in a digest form) Lana sees Superboy go into a phone booth (the indoor kind with the wooden doors) to change, and tells him she’s caught him in the act. When he comes out, she’ll know his identity.
But at the last moment, her better nature takes over and she turns her back, allowing Clark to emerge unseen. He subsequently rewards her by taking her to a Legion of Superheroes meeting in the 30th century.
It’s amusing that Supes was so worried that he’d been caught, when he could simply have emerged from the phone booth still in costume, acted like he’d just been making a phone call, and gone somewhere else.
By the way, _Astro City Local Heroes #2_ had an excellent take on the ongoing Silver-age subplot of Lois Lane trying to uncover Supes’ secret identity.
Oh, and that cover you describe? I’ve never seen the issue, but I’m going to guess that that’s the story Bill Myers described where Clark could hypnotize people to see him as “the wimpy mild-mannered milquetoast he was trying to portray.”
Bill Myers: Relax. 1) no one believes anything they read on the Internet. Right? Right? 2) Even if a few people have doubts, I’m sure you’ve got a few Bill Myers robots handy for those times when you have to be in two places at once. But 3) don’t _confirm_ it if someone does reveal your identity. That’s like the Pie Man referring to himself as Homer Simpson.
On the other hand, look on the bright side. Maybe now Mr. Luthor will let me have Ricksville.
Oh, come on, Mr. Luthor! That’s not fair! You finally let Otis have Otisburg. And it’s just an itty, bitty place. It’s not even on the water.
Rats!
Rick
P.S. More than one of my friends has noticed a vague resemblance between my dad and Gene Hackman (more so in the hairline than in any facial features). My friend Jay was the first to notice when he saw a picture of him back in high school. He pointed to the picture, and in his Otis voice, called him “Mr. Luthor.”
Oh, almost forgot the most important thing of all. Today is Feb. 14, which means, of course, that today is Jack Benny’s birthday.
Oh yeah, and it’s apparently also some other, lesser holiday, too.
Rick
I love how so many people are making the obvious statment about the correlation between the comic and the upcoming movie. I got a good chuckle out of Shameless cash-in’s comments, “There’s a Spider-man movie with the black costume and Sandman coming out this year! Quick! Someone put these things into a comic!”
Well, yeah!!
It’s called marketing and maybe you forgot that Marvel is a business. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have your comic stories mirror those in the movies.
I thought the story was great, I was just a little disappointed that the story is a tad ahead of Civil War and other Spidey books. But that is a minor issue. I’m looking forward to next months book.
On a side note: At one time, I got on Mr. David’s bad side and really showed my ášš on this site and other sites that he posted on. I would like to take this time to offer my apologies to Mr. David. I’ve continued to read most of your work and I think X-Factor might be some of your best work in years. I loved the Hulk & Champions story and I am so looking forward to your World War Hulk story…
Mr. David thank you for your efforts, keep the stories coming.
Ole’ Greenskin
I love how so many people are making the obvious statment about the correlation between the comic and the upcoming movie. I got a good chuckle out of Shameless cash-in’s comments, “There’s a Spider-man movie with the black costume and Sandman coming out this year! Quick! Someone put these things into a comic!”
Well, yeah!!
It’s called marketing and maybe you forgot that Marvel is a business. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have your comic stories mirror those in the movies.
I thought the story was great, I was just a little disappointed that the story is a tad ahead of Civil War and other Spidey books. But that is a minor issue. I’m looking forward to next months book.
On a side note: At one time, I got on Mr. David’s bad side and really showed my ášš on this site and other sites that he posted on. I would like to take this time to offer my apologies to Mr. David. I’ve continued to read most of your work and I think X-Factor might be some of your best work in years. I loved the Hulk & Champions story and I am so looking forward to your World War Hulk story…
Mr. David thank you for your efforts, keep the stories coming.
Ole’ Greenskin
I love how so many people are making the obvious statment about the correlation between the comic and the upcoming movie. I got a good chuckle out of Shameless cash-in’s comments, “There’s a Spider-man movie with the black costume and Sandman coming out this year! Quick! Someone put these things into a comic!”
Well, yeah!!
It’s called marketing and maybe you forgot that Marvel is a business. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have your comic stories mirror those in the movies.
I thought the story was great, I was just a little disappointed that the story is a tad ahead of Civil War and other Spidey books. But that is a minor issue. I’m looking forward to next months book.
On a side note: At one time, I got on Mr. David’s bad side and really showed my ášš on this site and other sites that he posted on. I would like to take this time to offer my apologies to Mr. David. I’ve continued to read most of your work and I think X-Factor might be some of your best work in years. I loved the Hulk & Champions story and I am so looking forward to your World War Hulk story…
Mr. David thank you for your efforts, keep the stories coming.
Ole’ Greenskin
(I haven’t read any other comments so pardon any repeats) I HATE when my favorite titles hav a movie coming out. All of a sudden, all we see is Spidey(in the black costume) VS Sandman. Just like last time when EVERY Spidey book had him fighting Doc Ock. who was supposed to be dead. The stories all seem so forced.
Personally, like another said before, the black costume is ingrained in me, I remember being 7 in 1984 when boom – red and blue spidey is gone, and there’s this sleek, black costume. I remember hating it at the time, but soon, I fell in love with it.
And the first black costume story of this little rigamaroll is by PAD. Very fitting. I remember being in the 4th grade, and Spectacular Spider-man 129, Amazing 289, and Incredible Hulk 333 came out roughly around the same time. I remember those issues specifically because they pretty much shaped how I viewed those characters to this day. And, of course, all written by Peter David.
My point? The black costume means quite a bit to me, and hey, black costume Spidey written by PAD? I couldn’t ask for more. Shameless nostalgia, sure, but hey, people have worse reasons for liking or hating certain things.
So, with ASM #538 and Civil War #7 out, we finally get the HOW Spidey ends up back in the black costume…
Except, we don’t.
We’re still left wondering why exactly Spidey is back in the black suit. Is it because the ending of ASM #538? Is it because of Civil War itself?
It makes me want to strangle the editors at Marvel. 🙂
And speaking of Civil War, it started out so well and I enjoyed so much of it, but like so many other mega-events, the core story ended with a wimper and disappointment. We’ll see how Marvel proceeds from here.