Craig Yoe’s book made the Annual Summer Reading List in Scene magazine They actually reprint a pretty healthy chunk of Craig’s very fine introductory essay. Joe was in some pretty bad straits when he did this stuff — if it makes people mad, they should be mad at a comics industry which cuts its best creators loose without pensions, retirement, etc. Just for exposing what that can lead to, this book is important.

This issue of Scene also has an excerpt from another great read: Charles Cassady Jr’s Paranormal Great Lakes: An Illustrated Encyclopedia I love the cryptozoo myself so have been waiting for this — Charles has also been a very good supporter of the film in the local press. Buy both these books, ok? You can read “The Pearl” in study hall.

straggler pic from San Diego. Here’s the company contingent (L to R): Duke, me, Joe, Chris. One of these people lives in California already. One or more want to.

If you make the trip out to see the show, you get your picture on the Internet. Sorry/You’re welcome.

Marc Tyler Nobleman has an excellent (and well-timed) essay on his blog about the resurgence of interest in Jerry and Joe and what it might (or might not) mean. I talked a little bit about this before our panel in San Diego — I call it the Seitgeist, but unlike Marc, I haven’t really thought about what it means. Personally, I think the culture turned back to Superman in the early 2000s for the same reason the character took off in the early forties: war. Unlike most other super-heroes, Superman is almost pure primary color imagination, making him much more malleable to cultural needs and wants. Remember when they re-launched Captain America after 9/11 thinking it was exactly what we all wanted…and it tanked? That’s because Cap is too real — we needed something unreal: Superman. That’s why Superman Returns came out and in it, he basically stops every 9/11 attack in order (BTW SR is a great film — if you don’t agree — watch it again, then we’ll fight). I’m not always a fan of Quentin Tarantino (lately not at all though his new one looks interesting) but I’ve heard he’s working on an enormous critical essay praising Superman Returns. Will def. post it here.

Still, SR didn’t do very well, either….so what is going on?

Back to Marc’s point, once the shine of the imaginary savior wears off, we want to know more about where he came from to re-humanize the experience. Trends like this happen in Biblical studies over time, too — Dead Sea Scrolls in the 70s, Da Vinci Code post-9/11 (see?). I agree that Kavalier and Clay didn’t do much for it, but I really do think Gerry Jones’ book Men of Tomorrow is one of the main pilot lights. People think I hate the book because I (and Marc too) correct some discrepancies in it, but I very much respect and admire MoT. Mostly because it was the first one (besides Steranko’s) that revealed that we didn’t know all there was to know about these guys. Not even close. That took a leap of faith (and guts) that really struck a nerve in me, and I bet in the rest of us who have added to it (Marc, Meltzer, Yoe, etc.). That is what good scholarship is all about and why we are all in debt to MoT. It is also just one of those books that just makes me twinge by how well it’s written. But I think Marc’s question is the really interesting one — why is the story (and is it?) resonating with the public? I think nostalgia must be a big part of it — Gary Frank’s Superman IS Christopher Reeve. And the Wonder Twins were the big get at the Con. And yes, I am seeing G.I. Joe this weekend because I had a huge crush on The Baroness (the original dangerous librarian). But beyond all that, it (Jerry and Joe) is just one of the g(G)reat American stories — you can’t make this stuff up. And there is much more to tell.

Marc also suggested that the five of us get together and form a band. First off, I would be lazily swinging the tambourine in the background in that group, but if you’ve seen the movie (and watched the credits) you already know the song to sing….