we’re back — hope the ‘hiatus’ wasn’t too annoying. actually, some bug attacked the whole site and put it on Google’s “stay-away” list which I thought was pretty funny. But back now — keep trying Brainiac. You have no heart, so you can never win (tear).
san diego was a very different experience this year — mostly because it wasn’t as stressful, last year showing the movie and all. I kind of missed it, to be honest. our panel was really good — mel gordon in particular was really outstanding/if you’ve seen the movie you know I have some Breitbart in it — Mel had some great photos and analysis — check his and Tom Andrae’s new Funnyman book for more. I actually fell off the stage after it was over so that was kind of embarrassing. 
but thanks to Pete, Randy, and Kate as always for letting us sit and talk about fictional people in tights who shouldn’t/don’t really matter but somehow do. as always, the nerd prom both disturbs and heartens me, just in some of the amazing people you see there. You know who you are, Blue Lantern. got to hang out with sneaky pal Lauren and Anthony as well as newest member of the Syndicate, Nicky, who got me into a preview screening of the DC at 75 movie where I met some great people, including #1 English Major Hero Success Karen Berger. more on that movie later. By far though the best part of the trip was the zoo — have never been and it was awesome. got into a snarling match with a black panther that seemed like a good idea at the time but really wasn’t. and saw a baby panda. plus a capybara. and lots of scott pilgrim. end feed.
and oh yeah, props to MATTHEW CHEUNG, who is also a teacher, and who I talked about in an interview with The Christian Science Monitor (he was sitting next to me on the shuttle bus, wearing a Starfleet Academy sweatshirt) but I didn’t know his name so I could only call him “some dude.” So here you are — too late and a dollar short, I know, but so it goes.
Harvey Pekar passed away this week. Not going to master-of-the-obviously add to all the sayings and anecdotes other than he was very influential — both to comics, and to me. There is also a story from Cleveland NPR here.
Here is an old PD article from when he was starting out, really great stuff. Click below to read the whole thing.
Click here for the whole article (it’s really classic Harvey).
see you all next week. God and Country.
Bradley Ricca, the creator of the Superman movie Last Son, took honors — the Silver Ace Award — recently at the Las Vegas Film Festival for his independent film about the creation of the superhero. No one is more surprised at the acceptance Last Son has received at film festivals across the country than its creator, a Case Western Reserve University lecturer in the Department of English and a fellow in the Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship (SAGES) program. Academics primarily write, publish and report on papers, but Ricca has found this new venue to reach wider audiences about his Superman research. What he likes about the movie is the teaching moment that comes when the theater lights dim and the audience sits back totally focused on the big screen. Unlike reading a book, few interruptions can intrude on the delivery of the story. 
Much like Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster drew and pasted together a comic book at their homes in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, Ricca pieced together and edited the movie at his home computer without the high-tech equipment or funding of a major Hollywood studio. Friends supported his movie. What sets audiences abuzz with questions about Last Son is Ricca’s discovery that Siegel’s father died of a heart attack. This finding overturns popular culture theories about what motivates Superman’s a ctions. “Historians had said for years that Jerry’s father, who had run a clothing store on Central Avenue in Cleveland, was murdered by burglars,” Ricca said. Click here to read more.
Recently reviewed in Vol. 12.1 of The International Journal of Comic Art! THE academic publication for comics scholarship, put together with such care by John Lent. The film was reviewed by Dr. Matthew J. Smith of Wittenberg University, who also wrote The Power of Comics.
Review from Toronto Film Scene:
Joe Shuster was actually born in Toronto but this documentary focused more their teen years growing up just a few blocks away from each other in Cleveland, Ohio. Joe as the artist and Jerry as the writer created a world that was influenced by pop culture, the movies, sports, history and the people around them to create on of the most enduring fictional characters of all time. There have been many misconceptions of how and where much of the Superman mythology came from over the years. This film does a great job of clarifying those myths and revealing many unknown facts: Everything from the origins of Lois Lane to where the look and name of Clark Kent came from.
Read the rest here — I really like what the reviewer says about the kids.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t make the drive up to Toronto — I’m a teacher and it was the last day of the semester. Thanks to Ellie Skrow for taking such good care of the film. She said the turnout was great and people were “blown away” by it (!). Hopefully we can bring it back to Toronto soon, but like I said, it really meant a lot to have its Canadian premiere in Joe’s birthplace at this very festival. Thanks so much to those who came and saw it — drop me a line and say hi.
I’ve had Batman on the brain for the past couple of weeks — zooming around under the L didn’t help
the expo was fantastic: clean, well-lighted, less of the freak flag. great panels, a complete academic conference, and some good films. met the people behind the runaway crazytrain that is The Transient, the Abe-Lincoln-is-a-vampire movie
friends at Chicago Comics advertised the film for me, which was really cool — I just explained to them how I think I might have lost my glasses there once and they were more than willing. They do lots of exclusive Alex Ross and Chris Ware stuff.
the best part of going around and showing this movie though, by far, is the people who come with and the pals we meet up with. this is Dave, who said of the movie: “This isn’t about Superman, this is a Cleveland lovefest.” Totally on. Dave later drove us around and we all had a nice dinner with him and Michelle at the Firehouse (where I wore a Herculoids t-shirt — classy)
The show itself was good. We had an afternoon time so I was surprised that people did show up…including some comics people, scholars, and serious fans. Thanks to ALL for coming out. Good Q&A afterwards. And oh yeah, people LOVED the trading cards…If you want more pics, come over to facebook: Last Son.
All in all, a great time — go next year if you are nearby or just want to take a trip. I got a lot of cool stuff, including my favorite cover image of the last year: The Anti-Monitor busting out of the Black Lantern. Greg Horn was cool enough to sign it for me and explained his rationale for “swirling mists.” I totally concurred. I also scored an Astonishing X-men Omnibus! YES! I am a geek.
spring is here and baseball is in the air, so time for a cool giveaway for the inaugural C2E2 event this weekend in Chicago.
Last Son will be playing at 3 pm on Friday, April 16.
If you come, you will get some of the BRAND-NEW LAST SON EDUCATIONAL CARDBOARD TRADING CARDS! Produced by Topps(!), the first two cards are of (shocker) Joe and Jerry. BUT there will also be THREE (3) SUPER-LIMITED EDITION CHASE CARDS! Cards will be given away FOR FREE to guests on Friday. Collect! Read! Trade with friends! Spread the news! While supplies last! Hope to see you there — we’re all going out after so if you want to join us and talk about the movie, just invite yourself (it’s cool).
these cards are for educational purposes only and not intended for resale. They are not approved by the families, DC Comics, my boss, or The Lorax. They exist, like Last Son, not to make money (what’s that?) but to educate the comics-bearing public. Plus they would look great slid under the plastic cover of your Trapper-Keeper.
honored to be playing at the 2010 Toronto Jewish Film Festival. Curator Ellie Skrow has assembled a really cool slate of films, including my favorite movie about Cleveland, American Splendor (Harvey Pekar will also be there). Read her “Curator’s Notes” for a very nice summary of the theme of this year’s festival. The real treat though is Last Son will be introduced by Henry Mietkiewicz (!) the star/Star reporter who got the last (and most in-depth) interview with Joe Shuster before he died. Joe, of course, was born in Toronto, so I’m so glad we can play somewhere where he gets the spotlight. And if that wasn’t enough, they are also playing some of the Fleischer cartoons on the BIG SCREEN! Win win.
have the Olympics given you the skiing bug? are you going to Tahoe this weekend? If so, check this out: at Sugar Bowl ski resort, they are going to show 4 films from the SF IndieFest that organizers have picked from the whole lot as the best ones! And LAST SON is one of them. Isn’t that cool? (ouch). Sadly I can’t go (I’m not really a skiier…) but I wish I could: sweaters, hot cocoa, a roaring fire, and a tale of Depression-era Cleveland. I don’t know what it is, but something about this is really great.
so san francisco was totally awesome. A fantastic festival, a great movie theater, a really savvy crowd, and just all around good escape time from Hoth. Thanks to Fay who picked this movie and invited me in with tons of genuine enthusiasm and support. Jeff for organizing all of it, Tia for the hospitality stuff, and of course the great people at the theater. When they said on Saturday that we were going to play in the Big Roxie, that was pretty cool.
Jodeci-level props to Associate Producer Joe who put up fliers at all the geek hangouts (thanks Isotope) and brought a ton of people (thank you Joe’s friends) especially to the Sat. showing. Joe was always “when are you going to be done?” so it was great to have him there and be a part of it even though he wouldn’t come up after (I tried). Thanks also to Tom and his wife who we had a nice visit with after (and discussed the sequel…). Mission burrito. City Lights. Delerium. Phoenix Hotel. Why do I live in Cleveland?
