Blog @ Canadian Geek

.
Probably not very.

About half a lifetime ago, with the rise of the eco-friendly movement, I began to wonder why comics were still printed on paper. Wasn’t there a better way, other than a computer monitor, to provide this most excellent form of entertainment to the masses? Couldn’t they be printed on something man-made and less dangerous?

Now, I’m not “Joe Treehugger” (don’t even think of stealing that for a character name) but I have been trying to make a bigger impact in my personal life with being responsible about my footprint on the planet. Sadly, I then come to work and hear the cries of thousands of dead trees for 10 hours a day. Okay, a bit over the top but you get the point.

Why aren’t comics printed on something other than paper? Considering the chemicals used to make a lot of the comic paper more vibrant, it almost seems a no-brainer that we could advance forward to print this four coloured magic on something else. Turns out, there are options, like in any other industry, but again, like in any other industry, companies are resistant to change.

A recent article on the Comics Foundry website called “Crisis on Environmental Earth” covers the alternatives in some detail, providing the information about the damage being done to the world from not just paper production but also the typo of inks used as well. Personally, I had no idea how harmful most inks are and thankfully, there are alternatives that some companies (like DC) are using these days.

But using recycled paper seems to be the big bump in the road. Seemingly, as with most things environmentally friendly, recycled paper is perceived as more expensive. Dark Horse refuses to even consider it an option because of this perception but Image Comics changed printers over a year ago and discovered their earth friendly paper and process to not only maintain the quality of their product but actually improved it (too bad it can’t help on the creative side too).

While most companies are willing to at least talk about what they are doing or looking at to make this industry healthier, there is always one stick-in-the-mud. One guess. Yep, Marvel. They refuse to talk about their “trade secret” paper which means they are doing nothing except helping to bring Joe Quesada’s prophecy of paper comics going the way of the dodo in 30 years to fruition.

Most people familiar with the industry side of comics have heard of Quebecor printing. For decades, they were THE publisher for comics in North America, sometimes printing up to 80% of the periodicals on the comic racks and they are still a force today. Sadly, a tour of their website provides no information about what they offer for printing options in an eco-friendly manner instead choosing to focus on their multi-media expansion and global dominance in print media. A possible field trip to the Edmonton office may be in order to find out more but you would think that in the interests of just good, old-fashioned PR, they would tout “soy-based inks and affordable recycled paper” as much as possible.

In the end this Rant’s a bit of downer, I know, and I’m certainly not going to tell any of you to buy fewer comics (honestly, I won’t be). What we should do is start letting companies know that we think is issue is important. Ask them to put it in their Previews solicitation and in the legal print of their comics how friendly they are made and see what kind of an impact it will have. I’m sure many of us, when debating on a new comic to test the waters on, will have the scales tipped towards the one book with a mind toward the future as opposed to one that’s less Marvelous. Just sayin’ is all.

The Shepherd

There was an astoundingly large number of trailers released in the past week. The problem is, 90% of them were movies that didn’t interest me in the slightest, or the trailers just flat out sucked. (Like the new Rush Hour 3; the teaser was about 10x better, watch it instead.) So for better or worse, I’ll only be highlighting another two this week.

Oh, and I regret to inform that I’ll have to skip the next week, possibly two (depending on computer accessibility), as I’ll be in either Las Vegas, or at the San Diego Comic-Con for the next two weeks.

Vantage Point

Excellent. I’d heard nothing of this movie until I saw the trailer posted, and now I’m absolutely dying to see it. This is how you do a trailer. The first twenty seconds got me enthralled, and then… and THEN… they drop a DOOZY. Basically, the President of the United States is visiting Spain — y’know, for some political reason I didn’t pay attention to — when he gets shot. Out of the thousands of people viewing, 8 of them saw something; something, perhaps, they shouldn’t have?

8 people. 8 points of view. One truth.

View the High Resolution Version Here

The 11th Hour

I was worried. I was thinking, “Oh crap, another ‘Irresponsible Pile of Dung I’ll Pass Off as an Inconvenient Truth’ movie”. I had no interest in seeing that film, I certainly didn’t want filmmakers thinking it was a good idea to release a sequel.

Thankfully, this movie is not a bunch of falsified facts geared towards scaring you into selling your gas-guzzling Hummer3 you drive in suburbia — while, of course, the movies promoter flies in gas-guzzling private jets — but a movie of hope. Yes, it kicks you in the head and says, “You’re ruining the planet”, but, it does serve to remind us that there is still a chance.

It may be the 11th hour. It may be 11:59. But it’s still, not, midnight.

(Besides. They used Linkin Park for their music; that automatically scores points with me.)

View the High Resolution Version Here

Didn’t Make the Cut

There was so many released this past week, but those two above were the only two that really knocked my socks off. But these I would also recommend checking out:

Get Smart
Underdog - Yes, it’s actually kinda good.
War - The trailer actually sucks, and I’m fairly certain the movie will stink, but with Jet Li AND Jason Statham in it, it’s hard to not point out, at the very least.

See you in a week or two!

Yesterday was my birthday, so I decided to let this column slide again. I’ll be back on schedule as of next week — every tuesday, a couple of new trailers for your viewing amusement!

I am entirely excited about this weeks column though, because HOLEEE CRAAAP… what an amazing trailer I have to bring you. I’d heard people talking about this movie, speaking in whispers, never quite revealing what the movie was about or why they were so excited about it. And, since that seems to be the formula people are using, it’s the one I’ll use.

All I can say is: You HAVE to watch this. You must.

1-18-08

I am honestly blown away by this. If anybody wants to discuss it, the comments are certainly open!

.
So while shifting all the comics on the new comics rack this week (all 343 titles) to make room for the more than one dozen titles we added, I was fuming about all the books that come out each month and how agonizing it is to make room for them all and how little knowledge the industry has as to how comic shops actually function and the hate began to build and I couldn’t wait to write it all down for you how evil and stupid and wrong the vast majority of comic publishers are. And they are.

But I had a night to sleep on it and I changed my mind. I went so far that after I was done my weekly tradition of defiling a Marvel Comic in a unique and disturbing manner, I decide to write a positive Rant this time around. I haven’t really done one since FCBD and the last time before that was, well, a long time ago so I think it’s a bit overdue.

“So Shepherd, my Shepherd, what is good about today’s comic industry?” I’m glad you asked.

Diversity. Not since the 60s have there been so many genres of comic material. I’ve touched on it before so I won’t bother you too much with it again.

Access. Not since EVER have the creators been able to interact with the fanbase so easily and so often. This webernet-thing is really taking off and savvier creators are making sure they are online and in tune with their public. Then, there are cons and ho-boy are there a lot of cons! There are nearly three dozen different opportunities to travel and meet your favourite stars. And the really nice thing about having so many shows? They are not all so heavily attended, meaning that if you do your homework and pick and chose your cons carefully, you can go to the lesser attended shows, not get beaten down by crowds, meet your idol and have a great vacation.

Popularity. We will never have another “Batman” because there is too much on tv these days. It’s seldom to never that any one show will break through and have the impact that brilliant show did. However, because there are so many channels, we can watch “Preacher” on HBO, “Smallville” on Access, “Battlestar Galactica” on Space and “Heroes” on NBC. And let’s not forget about the movies. Kinda hard to considering there is still more than a dozen films due out this year based on geekdom and several dozen films for theater and Direct-to-DVD scheduled for 2008. The more accepted our product becomes, the more we get to see it adapted (not always well - Ghost Rider) into different forms of entertainment.

Opportunity. Going hand-in-hand with popularity, the bigger it gets, the more people take an interest in it. The more the interest, the greater the demand (in theory). Indie guys can crank out more product to be appreciated, more classes will be created in schools that will train people and educate them about the medium, more companies will be looking for staff, more, more, more. It’s still not easy to break in (like any business) but never has there been a better chance to get in.

Quality. Finally, after the decade known to most as “the 90s” but referred to by geeks globally as “The Dark Age”, the respect between the writer and artist has leveled. There’s still some imbalance from time to time but that generally falls down to the people involved. Alex Ross being associated with any project will practically overshadow any writer (except maybe Stan Lee) and Brad Meltzer seemed to be the big draw for JLofA but overall, it’s pretty even. In fact, fans seem to be demanding quality writing to go along with the art these days. A positive sign for things to come.

Availability. People say that comics aren’t in as many places and that is true but with there being more titles than before, having specialty stores is very important, if not essential, to the industry. As comics are moving back into Wal-Marts, only a select few get on the small rack. Plus, with many small press creators making niche or mature reader product, they limit themselves to where their books can be placed. With “core” comics being in Chapters and Superstore to catch people’s eye, it’s the educated and well stocked (and well kept) comic store that will hook people for life. You’re welcome.

Fandom Passion. There’s a lot of idiots out there but there are also a lot of very articulate, intelligent people who, I’m sure, not only help foster new readers but also help influence the direction of certain titles. Now, if only some of those people could take over running certain companies, we’d all be better off.

I hope that when you think about or discuss this little pass time of yours, you will think about all the positives the medium is experiencing and let your passion speak for you. Most importantly, make sure you do speak about it. We aren’t in space, we want to hear you scream.

The Shepherd

I know, I know, I missed last week. I apologize. I completely lost track of time, and, no excuses, I just plain forgot. The good news is, there wasn’t a lick of good trailers released last week, and two really amazing one this week. So we’re all good.

The Golden Compass

Right off the bang, I’m extremely concerned about this film. Because, right off the bang it compares itself (in a sense) to one of the greatest trilogies of all time: The Lord of the Rings. It says, essentially, that New Line brought you the LOTR trilogy, and now we’re bringing you this amazing film. It makes me edgy, so I was uncertain. Sadly, the trailer itself didn’t QUITE bring me off the edge, but maybe I have a couple toes not quite sticking over.

Problem is, they compare it to a series of Fantasy films, and this is … well, this is confusing. It’s fantasy, but more like “Skycaptain and the World of Tomorrow” setting, but, then it shifts to a talking polar bear wearing armor. I dunno. In the end, if ONE thing and ONLY one thing could get me into theaters to see this film, it’ll be Sam Elliot.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Let me get this confession out of the way, now and forever: I like, Matt Damon.

I know! I know. I’m one of the few. I’m the one seeing lots of his films, and somehow keeping him afloat. Certainly, he isn’t an actor of the highest caliber (not quite Sam Elliot, is for certain), but I still like the guy. But most important — and to be fair, I was surprised at this particular revelation — he absolutely kicks ass as Jason Bourne.

I loved the first two films, and I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing the trilogy (well, technically) completed. And c’mon, you can’t tell me that after watching this, you don’t wanna see it too. You can’t!

View the HD trailer here.