Drawing a Crowd
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2/8/2012 Event Recap by Todd Ehrenfels
Kidnappings, Abductions & Vanishings
Last night's Drawing a Crowd was its normal fun and
rambunctious self, as we broke in our new location at the
good old Mahwah Public Library. Special thanks to the
Library staff for putting up with a bunch of over-grown
kids, and to the Knit One Drop One knitting group that met
outside the small meeting area and tried to absorb Aurelia
into their collective (temptation, thy name is yarn). Also, I
would like to thank everyone for helping to clean up since
the kids who were in the room during the afternoon left
the place an unmitigated disaster area (sorry Librarians,
we did our best to make it pretty for you).
Speaking of 'Breaking In', Mike, Chris, and I started nice
and early with a great chat about why 3D will be an Epic
Fail for Lucas and Star Wars. Many people are going to
wonder why I say this, and no it has nothing to do with
Lucas 'ruining my childhood' or any other such nonsense.
Really it has more to do with the fact that post-production
3D just is not very good or particularly effective. I'm sure it
will look OK, but the point is that we don't want OK for the
extra cash we have to shell out to see a 3D film. We want
Awesome, Fantastic, and Amazing! Sadly, even if the
material were top of the line, you just are not going to get
that level of immersion that you saw with something like
Avatar. There is a reason why Avatar looks great, and
there is a reason why it cost so much and took so long.
Star Wars just... You know what, enough of that...
We turned our attention then to the upcoming Watchung
Beamers Book Group (Todd, when are you going to get to
the actual meeting? Shut up, I'm telling this story) which
will be discussing one of my favorite books, Frank Herbert's
Dune on Friday 2/10. Sadly, I cannot make the discussion,
but I will be there in spirit, kind of like how Baron
Harkonnen was there in spirit driving poor Alia nuts in
Children of Dune. This led to the ridiculous conversation
about L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth, and all the ways
in which it is false advertising to claim that it is the
'greatest Science Fiction novel of all time' (as stated on the
cover and blatantly and provably false as it is not even
Hubbard's best work). We bantered back and forth until
Deb Matofsky, Aurelia, and Haywood wrangled us back on
topic. We readjusted ourselves so Haywood could get a
plug and then immediately began to discuss the Topic:
Why is Todd such an Avatar Press Fanboi? Wait, that
wasn't the topic, was it? Oh, not, it was Alien Abductions
in Comics!
How did we start off? With an awesome Cartoon Network
Justice League Episode that showed Superman and
Martian Manhunter being... well... abducted by aliens.
Strange as it sounds, the aliens were abducted by other
aliens. This was quite funny, and led to a long discussion
on why you just cannot trust space men in comic books.
This further led to Todd gushing about Warren Ellis' work
for Avatar Press and relating the topic to his favorites:
Ignition City, Supergod, Captain Swing, and of course
Doktor Sleepless. We all gawped and goggled over the
art, lapping up the fantastic imagery from the covers and
pages of these great series while I lamented the lack of
updates on Doktor Sleepless.
Having indulged my Avatar Press fetish for the nonce, we
moved our gaze back to Mike Piazza's list of relevant comic
books, many of which were parts of ongoing series having
to do with a specific abduction. These were cool and a lot
of fun, as we followed the Avengers, the Fantastic Four,
and even Ghost Rider on adventures in Kidnapping. We
watched as the Fantastic Four were shrunk down to
sub-atomic size and fought Doctor Doom (voiced by a
fellow who sounded like he was the prototype for Dr.
Doofenschmirtz only without Perry the Platypus to stop him
from being over the top). We thrilled as Ghost Rider's pal
Woody was turned into a tree (do NOT ask). We discussed
the No Prize potential of why Sonic Disrupters just don't
work at interplanetary distances (aside from the lack of
anything in space to carry the sound waves, which Moshe
and I were busy explaining). Ann Marie and Josephine
kept making faces to me, though, so I got distracted and
had to tell Aurelia to make them stop.
Anyway, it was a great night with a ton of great stuff up on
the block, including the Avengers Movie Super Bowl
Advertisement and the effectiveness of advertising at
$3,000,000.00 for a 30 second spot (given that we were
talking about the advertisements I would say that it was
obviously money well spent). So far as I could tell we all
had a great time, and Deb learned a lot about the website
Comixology :)
Tune in next month, same Bat time, same Bat channel... er
Bat Library, and join Mike and Haywood as they lead a
discussion on Comic Book Mega Corporations! Should be a
blast... possibly even from a Sonic Disrupter...
Kidnappings, Abductions & Vanishings
Last night's Drawing a Crowd was its normal fun and
rambunctious self, as we broke in our new location at the
good old Mahwah Public Library. Special thanks to the
Library staff for putting up with a bunch of over-grown
kids, and to the Knit One Drop One knitting group that met
outside the small meeting area and tried to absorb Aurelia
into their collective (temptation, thy name is yarn). Also, I
would like to thank everyone for helping to clean up since
the kids who were in the room during the afternoon left
the place an unmitigated disaster area (sorry Librarians,
we did our best to make it pretty for you).
Speaking of 'Breaking In', Mike, Chris, and I started nice
and early with a great chat about why 3D will be an Epic
Fail for Lucas and Star Wars. Many people are going to
wonder why I say this, and no it has nothing to do with
Lucas 'ruining my childhood' or any other such nonsense.
Really it has more to do with the fact that post-production
3D just is not very good or particularly effective. I'm sure it
will look OK, but the point is that we don't want OK for the
extra cash we have to shell out to see a 3D film. We want
Awesome, Fantastic, and Amazing! Sadly, even if the
material were top of the line, you just are not going to get
that level of immersion that you saw with something like
Avatar. There is a reason why Avatar looks great, and
there is a reason why it cost so much and took so long.
Star Wars just... You know what, enough of that...
We turned our attention then to the upcoming Watchung
Beamers Book Group (Todd, when are you going to get to
the actual meeting? Shut up, I'm telling this story) which
will be discussing one of my favorite books, Frank Herbert's
Dune on Friday 2/10. Sadly, I cannot make the discussion,
but I will be there in spirit, kind of like how Baron
Harkonnen was there in spirit driving poor Alia nuts in
Children of Dune. This led to the ridiculous conversation
about L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth, and all the ways
in which it is false advertising to claim that it is the
'greatest Science Fiction novel of all time' (as stated on the
cover and blatantly and provably false as it is not even
Hubbard's best work). We bantered back and forth until
Deb Matofsky, Aurelia, and Haywood wrangled us back on
topic. We readjusted ourselves so Haywood could get a
plug and then immediately began to discuss the Topic:
Why is Todd such an Avatar Press Fanboi? Wait, that
wasn't the topic, was it? Oh, not, it was Alien Abductions
in Comics!
How did we start off? With an awesome Cartoon Network
Justice League Episode that showed Superman and
Martian Manhunter being... well... abducted by aliens.
Strange as it sounds, the aliens were abducted by other
aliens. This was quite funny, and led to a long discussion
on why you just cannot trust space men in comic books.
This further led to Todd gushing about Warren Ellis' work
for Avatar Press and relating the topic to his favorites:
Ignition City, Supergod, Captain Swing, and of course
Doktor Sleepless. We all gawped and goggled over the
art, lapping up the fantastic imagery from the covers and
pages of these great series while I lamented the lack of
updates on Doktor Sleepless.
Having indulged my Avatar Press fetish for the nonce, we
moved our gaze back to Mike Piazza's list of relevant comic
books, many of which were parts of ongoing series having
to do with a specific abduction. These were cool and a lot
of fun, as we followed the Avengers, the Fantastic Four,
and even Ghost Rider on adventures in Kidnapping. We
watched as the Fantastic Four were shrunk down to
sub-atomic size and fought Doctor Doom (voiced by a
fellow who sounded like he was the prototype for Dr.
Doofenschmirtz only without Perry the Platypus to stop him
from being over the top). We thrilled as Ghost Rider's pal
Woody was turned into a tree (do NOT ask). We discussed
the No Prize potential of why Sonic Disrupters just don't
work at interplanetary distances (aside from the lack of
anything in space to carry the sound waves, which Moshe
and I were busy explaining). Ann Marie and Josephine
kept making faces to me, though, so I got distracted and
had to tell Aurelia to make them stop.
Anyway, it was a great night with a ton of great stuff up on
the block, including the Avengers Movie Super Bowl
Advertisement and the effectiveness of advertising at
$3,000,000.00 for a 30 second spot (given that we were
talking about the advertisements I would say that it was
obviously money well spent). So far as I could tell we all
had a great time, and Deb learned a lot about the website
Comixology :)
Tune in next month, same Bat time, same Bat channel... er
Bat Library, and join Mike and Haywood as they lead a
discussion on Comic Book Mega Corporations! Should be a
blast... possibly even from a Sonic Disrupter...
Next up:
Mega Corporations in Comics
Wednesday March 14, 2012 from 7p to 9p
Mahwah Library
100 Ridge Road
Mahwah, NJ 07430
(201) 529-7323
website : mahwah.bccls.org
This group meets on the second Wednesday of each month
to discuss all things related to comic books, anime, and
manga.
Whether its Golden Age, Silver Age, Manga, or Anime, this
group tackles the ins and outs of art, story, and the graphic
media.
Join our moderators, Mike Piazza and Haywood Clark, as
they explore the comic book universe.
This month we explore "big business" in the comic book
universe. Big Business Driven by profit, Corporate
sometimes gets too powerful for its own good.
Mega Corporations in Comics
Wednesday March 14, 2012 from 7p to 9p
Mahwah Library
100 Ridge Road
Mahwah, NJ 07430
(201) 529-7323
website : mahwah.bccls.org
This group meets on the second Wednesday of each month
to discuss all things related to comic books, anime, and
manga.
Whether its Golden Age, Silver Age, Manga, or Anime, this
group tackles the ins and outs of art, story, and the graphic
media.
Join our moderators, Mike Piazza and Haywood Clark, as
they explore the comic book universe.
This month we explore "big business" in the comic book
universe. Big Business Driven by profit, Corporate
sometimes gets too powerful for its own good.