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January 29, 2005
A Wee Bit Jealous
I wonder if most writers are somewhat jealous of artists and vice versa. I can look at a blank piece of paper or screen and pretty much know how to start writing. I can look at the same piece of paper and be totally stumped as to how to make a picture or design.
I was reminded of that when I spent an informative 90 minutes with Jim Lee and Robbin Brosterman on Thursday. Jim, of course, is the famous artist currently best know for his work on the Batman: Hush storyline. Robbin is DC’s Senior Art Director who lovingly designed the Hush collections as well as the forthcoming Batman: Cover to Cover book.
We were together going over designs for another project (not yet announced) and it was fascinating. Jim had already provided us with a cover and based on that, Robbin had gotten some ideas for the dustjacket. Before too long, she had done some sketches on note paper and Jim picked up on it immediately and talked about how best to crop his art to match the design. Similarly, Jim was showing us scans he brought of pages in progress and in one case showed us how he drew one figure four times until he was satisfied, scanning each version along the way.
We also talked about how best to fill the front and back sections of the collection and the give-and-take was instructive and will likely make for a better book for the time invested. There’s a lot more work to be done but at least we got started, took some time to make sure we understood everyone’s opinions and made sure what we wanted to accomplish was possible by the deadline. (Jim may find me a pain-in-the-neck, but one reason I tend to start my projects early is to make sure I have maximum time to get the key people’s participation and then I hound them a bit until they deliver.)
Before beginning, Jim took time to flip through page proofs of Cover to Cover perhaps the first person outside the office to really see the project. His enthusiastic comments were certainly heartening.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:30 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Back to School
Several weeks back I answered the phone.
�Is this Bob Greenberger?�
�Yes.�
�You may not remember me, but my name is Camille Murphy and I used to work for you at Marvel.�
I�m only 46, a little early for me to start forgetting the names of people who worked for me four years ago. Camille, it turns out, did some freelance work after we were both laid off by Bill Jemas. She has been also teaching design and other topics at the Katherine Gibbs School in mid-town Manhattan. However, she missed publication design and had applied for a job at Simon & Schuster and they wanted to speak to someone from her Marvel days.
I subsequently spoke to several people, extolling Camille�s design virtues and work habits. For fans of Marvel�s Masterworks series, let it be known that it was Camille who did the redesign currently in use (the black with silver ink). She spent weeks coming up with options that would restore some sense of weight to the books after I summarily rejected the Comicraft redesign. Jemas tweaked Camille�s ideas a lot but the final version is pretty much all Camille and she should be proud of it. Anyway, she got the job at S&S, working on their Nickelodeon line of kids� books.
While playing catch up, Camille invited me to speak to her classes, which I did yesterday.
I first spoke with her web design class and more than half the people in the room were comic fans, one going so far as to wear a Superman shirt for the day. We talked about web-based comics but most were curious how comics were actually put together and where ideas for new characters came from. The second class was on the History of Media so I spent the first several minutes walking them through the invention of the color Sunday comics section to Action Comics #1 and then repeated the information on new characters and job opportunities. They were filled with questions and seemed attentive which was nice.
And it�s always good to see good things happen to good people so with luck S&S will be a very good step for Camille.
(Side note: two weeks ago, I read an item that Frank Fochetta had been promoted over at S&S in their Sales area. Frank was one of the people to hire me at Marvel and then left two months later. I sent him a congratulatory note that day only to run into him in the concourse under Rockefeller Center that night. So I guess S&S is a good place to be for ex-Marvel people.)
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:21 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 24, 2005
Remembering Johnny Carson
A couple of weeks ago, Kate and I were chatting in the car and somehow Johnny Carson’s name came up. She mentioned she had seen him hosting a Rat Pack Special, which was recently released on DVD. Kate talked about how she had known his name and understood his place in history but didn’t have context. Now she did and saw just how funny he was.
I nodded in agreement, a warm feeling of nostalgia flooding over me.
And here, suddenly, he’s gone. What I like about the coverage in print and on the web is how respectful it is because it’s what he deserved. It’s how he treated his audience and how he treated his guests and how he wanted to be treated in turn. Everything he did was quiet and understated from his tough contract negotiations that saw the show relocate from New York to California and from 90 minutes down to 60 to how he bid the television viewers adieu. Sitting on the stool, talking to the camera, it was just Johnny having a final hour with us.
In some ways, Johnny was the last mega star from an era when stars were celebrated for their talent first and foremost. He was a funny man but open and curious, having on guests not because they were shilling something but because they were engaging to talk with. Some repeat guests like Bert Mustin were there because they were characters in the best sense of the word. Others, because they wrote interesting things or had been to far-flung places and came back with stories to tell.
You were invited to watch and to participate through laughter. As a kid, I would watch the monologues and then, tired, crawl off to bed. As I got older, I stayed up for the more interesting guests and was rarely bored. On a school tour of the NBC Studios, I got to see the actual set and remarked on how small it seemed in person. A decade later, I finally saw a show taped while on business in sunny downtown Burbank, and I was thrilled to see the magic live.
Johnny could have used his fame to sell product after product, making cameo appearances as himself in television and movies, effectively becoming a parody of himself…much like Larry King has done. Instead, he appeared elsewhere sparingly (hence his cameo as a train conductor on Get Smart remains burned into memory) especially after he retired. I think we all wanted to see him now and again but he had other things he wanted to accomplish. These last 12 years he did as he pleased, keeping a quiet hand in the entertainment world and then slipped away, quietly and peacefully. Leaving life pretty much on his own terms.
May we all be so lucky.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 04:43 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 23, 2005
Digging Out
The world didn’t come to an end, nor did we get a record snow fall. Fairfield got well under a foot, 6-7” is my estimate. Still, it was hard enough and long enough in duration that the town virtually shut down.
Saturday was a day of adjustments, getting things accomplished before the storm hit. We had plans to be on Long Island, but with news of the snow, we moved it from the afternoon to brunch with an early escape. Around 10 on Friday night, Bob Rozakis called to suggest we reschedule since the snow was to hit LI around 11 a.m. A wise man, that Bob.
Around 12, the snow started here and by 3, it had well coated the roads and other surfaces. I know, because that’s when I went out to collect Robbie from Linens & Things. He was scheduled to supervise the volunteers at our Community Theatre from 3- 11 p.m. but fortunately, saner heads prevailed and they shut down at 4, not needing him at all. We got home, locked the front door and settled down for a long winter’s nap. I had gotten some writing done but took the rest of the day off, catching up instead on magazines. That night, we had a simple but filling meal and watched lots of TV, catching up on prime time stuff.
This morning, I got up around 7:30 and saw our street had been recently plowed and even The New York Times had been delivered. By 10, the snow had stopped and the winds had died down so the three of us could begin the shoveling process. Fortunately, with three people working and three cars crowding the driveway, we were done by 11. Then Robbie and I headed out to dig out a neighbor. L&T never called to confirm if he was needed today or not so we drove by on the way back and saw it dark. Lots of other retailers were dark, too. Just that kind of a day (very reminiscent of the dwindling Blue Laws back in the 1970s).
More writing to finish one thing and get back to another, some laundry and then more R&R since, after all, I already got in my work out.
And how did everyone else survive the blizzard?
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 01:17 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
January 21, 2005
This Week
Home today so I have no good excuses for not putting something here for those who check in.
Why am I home? A fissure between two teeth decided to become a problem so I was in the dentist’s chair at 7 a.m. having the problem addressed which will ultimately involve the installation of a gold cap of sorts. Thank goodness it’s way in the back and won’t be visible just in case people might mistake me for a pirate of something. I pointed out to the doctor that one reason I went for the gold over a composite was to improve my net worth.
The week has been productive and frustrating. A project I coveted and lobbied for and endured some unpleasantness over got snatched from my grasp the other day. Another project I thought might happen sooner than later now seems to be much later. And the project I began researching last weekend is taking shape but may prove to be a more involved undertaking than originally thought. At least I now have the afternoon to fuss with it some more.
Meantime, work at the office has been nice and steady. Another project got approved and work began on it yesterday. Again, something just a tad offbeat so it’ll be interesting.
The house has also been very empty. Monday we sent Kate back to college and then first thing Wednesday, Deb flew to Las Vegas on business. Suddenly, it was just me and Robbie. And Thursday night, he was at choir rehearsal so it only me. Filled the time watching Laurel Canyon which got good notices for Frances McDormand’s performance but also had the benefit of being a Christian Bale film so I could see Batman in action. The movie was interesting but ultimately dissatisfying because too many character motivations were left unexplained. Written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, I expected more since I enjoyed her other film, High Art, and work on Six Feet Under and The L Word.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:48 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
January 17, 2005
The Three Day Wrap-up
Congratulations to William Shatner. I’ve sung his praises before but after a second award for his work on Boston Legal as Denny Crane, I think it’s worth noting again. Lots of people say its Shatner being Shatner, the over-the-top ham actor playing himself. Watch the show. He’s not. For the first time in a too many years, someone has taken the trouble to write a character that plays to Shatner’s acting strengths. He’s vain and vulnerable, irritating and irascible. You want to pity the man and then strangle him. All they need to do is get him back into court now and then where the “mental plaque” falls away and he’s still got “it.”
Speaking of last night’s Golden Globes, Deb and I were very surprised to see The Aviator take Best Picture, mainly because we saw it the night before and while we liked it, didn’t think it was that deserving of a major award. The movie itself is nicely made, terrifically evocative of the era but missing the narrative connective tissue to make it a better story. My brother was totally turned off by the romantic sub-plots while I thought they missed out on his running RKO Pictures while pursuing aviation. The RKO connection is even more striking since throughout the entire picture I thought Leonard DiCaprio’s look and performance was strikingly similar to Orson Welles’ Charles Foster Kane (produced by that studio). Cate Blanchett steals every scene she’s in and definitely deserves at least a nomination for an Oscar.
As expected, the new iron in the fire got hot fast and I’ve spent much of the three-day weekend doing some research and prepping a proposal. It’s been fun since it’s allowed me to get back in touch with buddies I haven’t talked to in a while and flip through stuff on the bookshelf. I hope it comes together and we can talk about it in some detail. On the other hand, it has meant moving the non-fiction sample chapter back on the schedule.
And we sent Kate back to George Washington University this morning. Classes begin tomorrow and she’s pretty much ready. She has two days of school and then things shut down Thursday for the Inauguration. She’ll be attending one of the nine Inaugural Balls that night, not because she’s a supporter of the current administration, but it’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities she didn’t feel she should pass up. It also provides a chance to use her newly-honed ballroom dancing skills.
One month until pitchers and catchers. Can’t wait.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 11:17 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 13, 2005
Catch Up
Been a quiet week so not much to report. But let’s see what’s happening.
First of all, several of the comics news web sites have excerpted my comments about Will Eisner. To finish the thought, my editor at Rosen Books told me that the biography had already been printed and was on a boat, way too late to make any changes. Oh well, one can hope for successful sales and a second printing.
Secondly, received an e-mail from a fan this morning asking me if one of the aliens I named in A Time to Love, An Haslam An, was named after Annie Haslam, lead singer of the old rock group Renaissance. Turns out, Annie is an old friend of his and yes, I had been listening to their music when I needed a name and borrowed hers. With any luck, he’ll give me contact info and I can pass on signed copies of Love and Hate.
All the freelance irons that have been in the fire remain there and I intend to use the three-day weekend working on a sample chapter for one of them. Additionally, I received a call yesterday that may result in another iron being added which could be fun, certainly interesting.
At DC, a project I proposed got approved and I’m well into work on it. It’s something we should be announcing in the next month or so and I have till then to get the contents firmed up and well underway. Interestingly, this will necessitate my getting a scanner and Optical Character Reading software, so I get to do a creative project and learn a new skill at the same time. Nothing wrong with.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 02:43 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 09, 2005
Closing out the Season
The morning began with packing up Christmas. The roll out starts Thanksgiving weekend and usually takes a few weeks before every decoration is hung, the tree bought and decorated and so on. But, packing it all up took just a few hours. The tree is at the curb awaiting the town collection, the five red and green storage boxes are back in the basement and the icicle lights came off the front of the house.
The trappings of Christmas are gone and our minds have turned to other matters. As I packed things up, though, I thought about the season, how nice and relaxed it was, and do hope to be able to carry that spirit with me a while longer.
And that will be challenge since this week we hit the ground running. First, it was my first five day work week since mid-November so it felt long. Second, atop the normal work and home stuff, there were obligations. Monday was the monthly Democratic Town Committee meeting, Tuesday was the Alumni Career Dinner (see previous entries for thoughts), Thursday was a planning meeting for Binghamton University’s reunion weekend in October and Friday was the semi-annual visit to the Dentist. All perfectly natural activities just clustered to get the New Year off to a fast start. Saturday, the usual running around got squeezed in so we could attend the final holiday party at my brother-in-law’s house. It was nice seeing in-laws, significant others, nieces and nephews. The theme was Hawaiian which turned out better than one might expect. Lots of good food, too.
With weather reports indicating unseasonably nice weather later in the week, it hardly feels like the holiday season is just behind us but months past. I hear it’ll be near 60 later in the week. Milder weather and the football playoffs make me think of, of course, Spring Training.
As I sit here, finally getting to my desk after packing up Christmas, working out and doing laundry, I’m greeted with the ESPN.com report that Carlos Beltran and the New York Mets have agreed to a seven year $119 million deal. Sounds high to me and after the seven year piazza deal fizzled, I’m a little leery about the length of the deal, but it does mean the Mets can build around a marquee player. (I can only imagine how high he’ll go in the Federal League auction come April 9.)
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 05:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 06, 2005
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
The fact that The New York Times, the self-described newspaper of record, devoted considerable space to Will Eisner’s obituary on Tuesday and then took note of Frank Miller and Jim Lee working together on All Star Batman in the Arts section confirmed something I had been thinking about.
Comic book characters and, more importantly, their creators are finally receiving their overdue respect.
I first thought about this when I saw how many different publications ran notices of Julie Schwartz’s passing 11 months ago (and he’s still missed). And I was reminded again when the Times and other publications noted the passing this past fall of Harry Lampert, the first Flash’s original artist.
Thanks to pop culture observers like Entertainment Weekly, comics have been receiving similar column inches compared with stage, books and other forms of entertainment. The Times’s George Gene Gustines has steadily covered out field while the venerable
The inclusion of comics and their creators in the mainstream media has as much to do with the success of collected editions in the bookstore market as has the steady flow of comic book movies. Together, the general public is more aware of comics and what comics can be. The Road to Perdition and Men in Black 2 were often reviewed with a notice that these stories began in graphic form, so the word is out: comics are more than just spandex-clad heroes and villains. Hellboy showed that lesser known comics can be well adapted and very, very entertaining. And when done right, the classic heroes can also be tremendous audience magnets.
While comic publishers duke it out with manga for inches of shelf space in the chain bookstores, we need to pause a moment and recognize that we’re in the bookstores, some of these titles even get prominent display space. Reviews of these books and interviews with these creators show up everywhere now.
And that’s pretty damn cool.
If there’s a regret, I’m sorry this happened too late for Jack Kirby to get the press his passing deserved.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 04:04 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
January 05, 2005
Dining Out
Last night, Deb and I attended Binghamton University’s annual Alumni Career Night. Normally, it’s a chance for juniors and seniors to network with alumni in a wide variety of professions. I’ve been doing this for about a decade and while I haven’t hired anyone, did secure a number of people with internships at DC.
This year, BU tried something different. They took a program that has been met with success and adapted it to New York. We had a business dinner with the interested students so they could practice social interaction as appropriate to the business world. They had to show up in business attire and during the meal we could network, answer questions and help guide them through the reception and meal. There was also a speaker addressing the general dining etiquette issues.
The event was held at the New York Academy of Science and the lobby boasted a display of science fiction artwork from the likes of Michael Whelan and Wayne Barlow so I was fascinated. A bronze cast from the original mold for the Creature of the Black Lagoon’s head stood on a pedestal next to the coatroom. It made a very nice impression on me.
During the “mocktail” hour, I found one student standing alone, thrust out a hand and began talking. Within minutes, I was surrounded by four students, with four different sets of interests and covered some broad ground. Upon hearing I work at DC Comics, the conversation quickly turned from “what can you do for me?” to “is Batman Begins going to be good?” which I found amusing. (And, spotting my Mets lapel pin, got into side discussions over the merits of signing Carlos Beltran.)
We were ushered into the main dining area and found ourselves assigned to tables organized by field of interest. Deb and I shared a table, designed for 10, each of us to speak with four students interested in what we do. However, as all the other tables filled up, my end of the table was empty while Deb sat across from one somewhat nervous young lady.
The event organizers were apologetic given the no shows and the luck of the draw that it all happened at our table. The Alumni Director decided to sit with me and we chitchatted, eventually turning into the four of us discussing any number of topics. So, for Amelie Wong, she got extra attention. Me, I got a nice meal and time with my wife.
The program’s goals are excellent and I strongly wish such post-graduation prep were available when we left BU lo these many years ago.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 02:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 04, 2005
Will Eisner, R.I.P.
Just received word that Will Eisner passed away, due to complications from his recent heart surgery.
Will was one of the true greats in the comics industry. He was one of its earliest visionaries, telling people in 1940 that comics could be used to educate and could be more than mere escapist entertainment. It took him decades, but he brought that vision to life time and again.
I got to chat with Will now and again at conventions through the 1980s and he was cordial and happy to chat. While still at Comics Scene, I was covering the San Diego Comic Con and was about planning to sit in on an Eisner panel. Cat Yronwode, then the pre-eminent Eisner scholar, was scheduled to conduct the panel but something came up and she turned to me, in a panic, and asked me to cover for her.
I had not met Will in person at that point, but was certainly familiar with his work, starting with reading my first Spirit story in Jules Feiffer’s The Great Comic Book Heroes back in 1965. With less than 20 minutes to prep, Will and I spoke briefly about his latest release so we could focus on that during the talk. We took the dais and spent an hour talking.
In covering the con some months later, Gary Groth, in The Comics Journal gave me passing grades under the circumstances, which pleased me no end. And of course, it wouldn’t have gone so well had Will not been so gracious with his time.
Since then, I have been a reader and fan of his works. In 2004, I received the opportunity to produce his biography as part of Rosen Books’ new Library of Graphic Novelists and it wasn’t easy squeezing his life into a mere 18.000 words. It’ll be out in a few months and I am deeply saddened he won’t be around to see his life celebrated in this way.
A man who has been a steady contributor to our culture is gone and his kind will not be seen again.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:44 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
January 01, 2005
HAPPY NEW YEAR
2004 ended with a flurry of activity. I completed a second pass on the Ancient Chinese Technology book including adding all the back matter. One more pass and I can turn it in a month early.
The ceiling fan in the kids' bathroom died recently so Deb decided she was going to replace it herself. Normally, she's quite good at these things. However, it's also a given that any job Deb decides needs doing will spiral to encompass many other tasks, none of which were anticipated.
This was no different. First, we started with returning the replacement fan because we got the wrong size. Second, once we got the old fan out of its brackets, we learned this was a task a little beyond her skill level (and way above mine). She had her brother Jim on standby and she called him in. As soon as Jim arrived, he insisted his payment was to be a batch of Katie's ginger cookies.
As she baked, Jim got to work and sure enough, we had a problem. The fan, which preceded us in this house, was never properly vented. So, Deb had to run out and get a rooftop vent. As the sun was setting and the winter chill filled the air, Jim was atop out roof cutting a hole, setting the vent, and caulking in the shadows.
After that, he got the new fan placed just right and it worked first time out. We invited him to stay for dinner and he accepted, so we wound up starting New Year's Eve with take-out Chinese food and Ocean's 11 on DVD, since he'd never seen it all the way through. After Jim left, we then went to the movies to see, what else?, Ocean's 12. We really wanted to like it despite the cautionary reviews. Well, the reviewers were right. It lacks the charm of the first, has a script that is shoehorned to fit the characters and wastes the combined talents of people whose work I really enjoy.
It ended later than we thought so we were in the car, racing to get home to watch the ball drop, instead hearing it happen on the radio...a first. Happy, tired, and somewhat wired, we arrived home to welcome the new year.
And this morning, with the ladder still in place, and the weather an unseasonably balmy 60, I climbed to the roof to inspect the caulking and while up there, cleaned out the back gutters (which needed attention anyway).
We're having our annual New Year's Day Open House in a few hours and that'll be nice, visiting with people and not going anywhere.
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