Mr. Jamaal Thomas regrets that it is impossible for him to: Read manuscripts, write articles to order, write forewords or introductions, make statements for publicity purposes, do any kind of editorial work, judge literary or artistic contests, give interviews, take part in bloggers’ conferences, answer questionnaires or any other internet meme, contribute to or take part in symposiums or “panels” of any kind, contribute articles for sales, donate copies of his work to libraries, autograph works or t-shirts for strangers, allow his name to be used on letterheads, supply personal information about himself, or supply opinions on comic books or any other subject. (All apologies to the master, Mr. Wilson)
Wow, I haven’t written anything in a while. I need to adopt Dave’s work ethic, but work is all consuming at the moment. Since I missed the recording of the podcast this week (a compelling discussion of the Bill Jemas era at Marvel), I decided to put some thoughts together in a typically […]
“In Israel, cats like me see the shadows of another choice.”
-Ta-Nehisi Coates
In my personal experience, discussions of Israel, particularly with people who have never visited it, rarely focus on the ordinary lives of the people who reside there. For some, Israel stands as a lonely bulwark of Western liberalism in a reactionary region, while […]
Pedro,
The accounts of the book burning were easily the most chilling aspect of the book. For me, it really undermined the moral authority claimed by comics critics of the time. Although it’s hard to ignore the legitimacy of some of the arguments, namely that comics of the time weren’t very good, were often made […]
David Hadju’s Ten Cent Plague is likely to be the most talked about cultural studies book of this year that discusses the art form that we all love. At some point in the future (i.e., when Joe and Chris read the book), we plan on having a Very Special Podcast dedicated to a discussion […]
Not even a moderator is immune to the Rushkoff hypnotic spell.
The interesting thing about my experience with going to some panels at this convention is that even when they’re lacking, they can sometimes help clarify some issues that are endlessly discussed in pop culture circles. Douglas Rushkoff, the author of Testament, and […]
Dictator, Supervillain, Father, Anti-Life activist
Uxas (doing business as ‘Darkseid’), the Dictator Who Sought to Eliminate the Free Will of All Living Things, Is Dead at an Unknown Age.
Uxas, the brutal dictator of Apokolips known as Darkseid, and who spent his life seeking total mastery of the universe, died today in Metropolis. He was […]
The most significant and common error that people make when discussing legal decisions is to apply traditional notions of morality to outcomes. As I’m sure that you all read it, a court recently ruled in favor of the heirs of Jerry Siegel, one of the co-creators of Superman, and granted them co-ownership of the […]
Arthur C. Clarke died last night. He was a visionary science fiction author of over eighty novels, and a countless number of short stories. He was the man who worked with Stanley Kubrick to bring us the unforgettable 2001 film, and who inspired many of the great minds behind the American space mission. […]
Styling and Profiling
How do you sum up the career of a man who revolutionized an industry? Should you emphasize his triumphs? When I first started reading comics, I experienced the rite of passage that any new superhero fan has to endure: the nostalgia of older readers. One of the primary paradoxes of […]
Okay, this is a little late. But Jon writes faster than I do, and I was sick yesterday. Que sera, sera.
As the more dedicated readers of the blog know, one of our cohorts in this movement is David Brothers, one of the founders of 4th Letter. We’ve collaborated on some […]
For anyone who missed Pedro’s contribution to 4th Letter’s celebration of Black History Month, here’s a crosspost. Check out the end for special added content! Don’t say we never did anything for you.
Before that Christmas, just like my older sister, I was into Marvel Comics. She used to blow her cash on X-Men, and […]
Here at Funnybook Babylon, we try to avoid linkblogging in favor of middlebrow thinkpieces about the comics industry (or if we’re being honest with ourselves, the superhero genre). We try to educate as well as entertain. But sometimes we break our own rules. Plus, I’m distracted by the presidential campaign and […]
Over the last several months, the comics blogosphere has been consumed with the problems of DC Comics. Impassioned posts have been written detailing the decline in both the quality of the books and market share (vis a vis Marvel). DC has significantly altered the tone of its universe in the last twenty years, […]
They are owned by huge, creativity-deadening corporations and operated by lawyers and marketing executives who lord over the worst creative decline I have witnessed in a long time, particularly in films. In television, companies like GE view properties like NBC the way realtors view square footage. GE does not care what is on NBC. So […]
Numbers make everything appear more concrete. We can all have positions on subjects or opinions about issues, but with data that could be interpreted to confirm our conclusions, our complaints as fans magically transform into sober critiques by objective analysts. This behavior is most prevalent in our cultural industries, where fans are constantly […]