A Positive Note

As soon as I clicked "Publish" on that last message, I realized I didn't want to go out on a down note. There was a lot of good stuff going on in comics this year, much of which I will reward at Previews Review at the end of this week... But yeah, here's a couple of recent good articles/links.

Paul Pope Interview by Joe Fielder at Newsarama
- Marking the second good Pope interview that I've read this year (the first was at CBR and is in the archives). It was fairly straightforward, yeah, but it shows that the interviewer did his research and asked a few questions that don't usually get asked. I'd put it down to him being a journalist who doesn't work exclusively in comics, actually. Still, decent read.

Stuart Moore's Eighth A THOUSAND FLOWERS column.
- I have to confess, it was a little bit deeper of a read than I was looking for right now, so I didn't get all the way through. Skimming it though, there were a lot of interesting ideas, and although I didn't agree with all of them, Moore is saying some things here that no one else is, that are worthy of reading. There are a lot of crap columns out there, this appears to be one of the good ones. Go read.

Art Spiegalman Quits The New Yorker
Just-breaking news as I type this... Interesting commentary on the state of American media. Spiegalman's criticism is understated, yet incredibly effective. Unfortunately it sort of spirals off after the first few screens, but it's still worth reading.

Wolverine Starts With New #1 at Pulse
- In which the interviewer fails to ask the most basic and obvious questions. Like "That's odd, because Marvel management have frequently stated that they hate starting books with new #1's. They say that over and over again. What's up with that?"... Oh, right, trying to stay positive...

JOURNALISTA at The Comics Journal Online
- Dirk Deppey puts together a much, much better blog than I do. Always interesting, always informative. Go check it out.

Happy New Year.

- Christopher

Arch Nemesis

"Now that is what a Superman adventure should be! Action Comics #798 is one of the best Christmas presents you could ask for. This story, �Heartsong� is, the conclusion of the �Lost Hearts� storyline, is a masterpiece."
- Mike Sangiacomo, Newsarama

The main reason for the lack of commentary from me on the comic industry lately, is that there's nothing I can really say to this, is there?

- Christopher

I think I figured out my the final tracklist for my annual Christmas CD... I'm quite happy with it, but I'm running into a bit of a problem. I have a rule - only one song from any one given performer, and only one version of any given song. I just encountered this great song this year called "Just Like Christmas" by the band Low. Which would immediately make it on, except I've already decided on using Low's version of "Little Drummer Boy". So, I'm kind of stuck on what to do. Anyway. I'll work it out, I'm sure... Though I'm leaning towards ditching Little Drummer Boy, it's something like 6 minutes long...

Here's the tracklist. If you want to follow along at home, I'm going to make the mp3 available for a very limited time. Right click this url CHRISTMAS MUSIC and select "Save As". It's a 74 megabye mp3, which isn't really that big, when you think about it.

Side One-

1. I Believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake
- I've had this one since last year, and it's just this powerful... inditement of Christmas? It needs to be pointed out that I really, really love Christmas, but I recognize that it's not entirely a marshmallow world, and some people have a lot of negative associations with it. I wanted to kind of recognize that, set the tone for the CD. This is also just a very well put together song. Oh, and apparently, Emmerson, Lake & Palmer originally did it and it had much worse production and instrumentation. This is a 'cover'.

2. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - The Crystals
3. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - The Ronettes
4. Winter Wonderland - Darlene Love
- These three tracks are from the much-beloved Phil Spector Christmas Album, "A Christmas Gift For You". Phil Spector is an uber-creepy music producer from the 60's. He's... well, he's really good. I guess that's all that's important. He really so much of the sound we associate with songs from the late 50's and early 60's, and beyond. Anyway, great stuff.

5. He's The Man With All The Toys - The Beach Boys
- This is an in-joke. See, Brian Wilson, who was the musical genius behind the Beach Boys... Well, he went a little crazy. That's what the song "Brian Wilson" by the Barenaked Ladies is all about. I got really into Brian Wilson this year, musically, as part of this thing called "The SMiLE Project". Really into it. Anyway, this is my little tribute to Brian Wilson, and my little in-joke by placing it after Phil Spector songs. Brian Wilson, in his craziness became terrified of Spector. Wilson was convinced that Spector was reading his mind, and stealing all of his ideas. He called Spector a "Mind Gangster". Seriously. It's kinda funny ha-ha, and kind of funny sad... Anyway. Here's to you Brian.

6. Christmastime - Aimee Mann & Michael Penn
- This was meant to go on last year's CD, but it got cut because of space and it didn't really fit the tone. I spent a lot of time listening to Aimee Mann's MAGNOLIA soundtrack when it came out a few years back, and this song is very indicative of her work there. That's mostly why I like it. Anyway, Mal had all of the Aimee Mann tracks from Magnolia on his computer when he moved in, so I guess it was a natural that this ended up here this year. Oh, and Michael Penn is her husband, and he co-writes a lot of music with her...

7. Oh Holy Night - Tracy Chapman
- I used to hate Tracy Chapman as a kid. Now, I put it down to the fact that her music just had too much emotion in it, and it was just too much for me to take as an unstable teenager. I really appreciate it now, and I think she has a beautiful voice. This track made it to the CD I made for my Mom last year, and it was so beautiful that it made it to my own this time around. Yes, I'm being earnest. Fuck off.

8. Have Yourself A Merry little Christmas - Judy Garland
- Speaking of 'earnest'... Last year, I put the super-sexy-swingin' version of this track by Ella Fitzgerald on the CD. It's still my favorite version of the song, I think. But Judy knocks this one out of the park. That, and I was kind of out of Glam Rock Christmas songs to include, so this fulfills my "Friend Of Dorothy" Quotient. ;)

9. Let It Snow - Ella Fitzgerald
- This transition is just for me, another in-joke. Man, Ella really turns out a great Christmas tune. Just a bit better than Sinatra from last year, in my humble opinion. Actually, the only one that I haven't liked from Fitzgerald is "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer", as she just gets a bit too into the whole be-bop and skat thing for my tastes.

10. Joy To The World - Bing Crosby
11. Silver and Gold - Burl Ives
- Bing and Burl duke it out for kings of Christmas, in my mind. I regret that I missed Sinatra this year, but not too much considering I got these two.

12. Silent Night - The Temptations
- People that don't like Motown just aren't right in the head. Lotsa Motown this year, between the Spector stuff and this an... well, we'll get there.

13. Here Comes Santa Claus - Elvis Presley
- This is the most-heard Christmas album of my youth. As such, there will probably be an Elvis Christmas song on every CD from here to eternity... This is my second favorite song behind "Blue Christmas", which appeared last year.

14. Run Rudolph Run - Chuck Berry
- Dunno why I chose this one. I just like it. Although, it's a lot closer to getting axed than anything else on the list... Hmmm.

15. Supremes - My Favorite Things
- This is another Phil Spector-produced track, but it's from the Supreme Christmas Album. The production on this song just... whirls. It's so dense and layered. It's really great. Mal says I'm cheating, and that this isn't technically a Christmas song... Which is fair, but you know, fuck him. :)

16. Feliz Navidad - Boney M
- Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Boney M is the second most-heard Christmas Album of my youth, and I love this one dearly too. Their specific brand of 70's reggae-disco Christmas music simply isn't appreciated as the genius it is. "Feliz Navidad" was chosen because it's the last song on the 'side', which til this point has been 'classic' music. It's all gonna be on one CD, so in actuality it doesn't really matter, but I still inserted a 5 second pause at the end of this track, just to adequately set the tone for side 2.

Side two-
17. Little Drummer Boy - Low
- This is the version of "Little Drummer Boy" that ran in that Gap Commercial last year, and I actually really like it. It's very... solemn, but at the same time very modern. It kicks off the 'contemporary' music side... Anyway, this might be replaced in the final version with "Just Like Christmas" by Low, as I can't stop singing it, but we'll see. I'll remark on any changes.

18. Blue Christmas - Bright Eyes
- Do you know what "Emo" music is? Well, Mal's really into this band Bright Eyes, who are like the depressed Kings of "Emo". I've heard... too much Bright Eyes this year. That's why I don't really mind playing 40 days of Christmas carols... Anyway. They turn in a version of Blue Christmas that lets me genuinely believe that they're blue... Good job guys ;)

19. Oi To The World - No Doubt
- Yeah yeah, fuck off. I had a choice between putting the original version by The Vandals on, or this cover by No Doubt. I liked the edge of the Vandals version, but this one is just superior. Sorry for not being hardcore. But then, this is an album of Christmas Music anyway, you're probably looking in the wrong place for "Hardcore". Heh. Anyway, this is a good tune.

20. Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight) - The Ramones
- In loving memory of.

21. Breathe On It - The Hidden Cameras
- This is not technically a Christmas song. In fact, it's not a Christmas Song at all. It's just a song that really fits the tone and the mood of where it's placed, by a band that totally flipped my shit this year. Seriously. I am so into this band now, that I feel the need to share them. For more, visit www.musicismyboyfriend.com.

22. Merry Christmas Baby - Otis Redding
- So I know this is the 'contemporary' side, and this song is here for a reason. Essentially, it's damned good, and it's in something like 4 different advertisements right now... I was sick of hearing 30 second snippets of it, so here's the whole thing. Enjoy!

23. Santa Baby - Madonna
- This song was originally done as by Earth Kitt, who I played Catwoman on BATMAN. Which is fine, but that version... It sucked. I can't figure out why people liked it. Anyway, we went through... well, I'll just say it. We went through a Madonna phase this year at the store. We listened to a lot of Madonna for a little while... All throughout her career too, not just new or old stuff... Yeah. No further comment.

24. Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas - The Eels
- Mal and Ryan are big fans of The Eels, and I like their stuff well enough. Their two Christmas songs are a lot of fun. This one includes the line "BABY JESUS- BORN TO ROCK!" which is just a winner in my books.

25. Father Christmas - The Kinks
- The Kinks is a band I had no idea I liked. I've been trying to actively broaden my appreciation for music this year, and The Kinks were a band that I really ended up loving. They were part of the initial British Invasion thing, with songs like "Girl You Really Got Me" which are, you know, good. But much of the rest of their catalogue is actually brilliant, wonderful stuff. Their singles espescially have an incredible vitality. I was thrilled to hear they had a Christmas song that I could include on this disc, and even happier when I heard that it was so damned good. It's another one of those 'socially conscious' songs, but it manages to do it without being depressing or saccherine. A treat, in my opinion. Funny annecdote: This was apparently their last 'good' single. Lucky me. :)

26. Thank God It's Christmas - Queen
- Lied earlier, I still have a couple of Glam Rock Christmas tunes up my sleeve. Queen jumped into my playlist at the end of this year, thanks mostly to "Under Pressure" appearing in the Adaptation movie trailer. That, and I've always liked this song.

27. Comfort and Joy - Simon and Garfunkel
- An acapella version of the song "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Haunting and pretty. I placed it here, because in the context of the next song it sounds more like a warning than a celebration.

28. Someday At Christmas - Stevie Wonder
- The last Motown song of the year. All three of the Stevie Wonder Christmas songs are just excellent, excellent tracks. This one made it on because the lyrics are particularly relevant this year, and I thought it was a good sentiment.

"Someday at Christmas, men won't be boys,
playing with bombs like kids play with toys.
One warm December, all hearts will see,
a world where men are free.

"Someday at Christmas there'll be no wars,
when we have learned what Christmas is for,
When we have found what life's really worth,
there'll be peace on earth."

My parents were hippies, can you tell? Anyway, here's to no war in the new year.

29. Merry Christmas From The Family - Robert Earl Keen
- Speaking of my parents, this one is dedicated to my family. If you know the song, you'll get the joke. If you don't, don't worry about it.

30. We Wish You A Merry Christmas - John Denver and The Muppets
- May as well go out on a positive note :). That, and John Denver's "Rocky Mountain Christmas" is the fourth most-listened to Christmas album of my youth (#3 is Anne Murray, in case you've been reading this far).

--

And that's it for this year, I think. I still might do some work on them before I start burning them this weekend... Don't know though. Anyway. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the mix. :)

- Christopher

I just wanted to put a new entry in, cuz I was kind of sick of seeing the old one. In case you're wondering, a good party, Christmas lights on every surface, and Bing Crosy can wipe out pretty much any bad mood. Feeling alright over here.

So anyway, a realization has been slowly dawning on me, and it might seem a little obvious to some of you but bear with me. Essentially, mainstream comics kind of fucking suck, if you think about it too long. This does not preclude individual comics from not sucking, but the industry is just fucking garbage and all. Case in point, I was reading both of the rumour columns yesterday (and yes, grain of salt and all that) and the 'future' of the mainstream comic industry, it's kind of fucking shit. I mean, I had come to this conclusion after seeing DC's roll-out over the next year, where we were treated to Judd Winnick writing THE OUTSIDERS and Ben "Butt of the joke" Rabb writing GREEN LANTERN and a marvelous status quo for the rest of the line... It was kind of depressing. There were bright spots. Darwyn Cooke gets to write a huge book set in the jazz age without costumes, for the most part. Considering how well he pulled that off on the CATWOMAN thing, that's quite impressive. There were a number of interesting new projects coming out of Vertigo too, lots of interesting Graphic Novels and the like... But fully %90 of the announcements were trash. Trash, or worse yet, wasted potential. Bright creators who _I_KNOW_ have something to say, writing Fill-in-the-blank-man for a paycheck or to try and build a reputation for themselves, so that the instant they stop suckling on the superhero teat their sales don't drop back down to 3000 fucking copies.

And the 'rumours' I've been hearing? Grant Morrison is writing SUPERMAN, because apparently DC was afraid to publish his new creator owned book LeSexy. Marc Silvestri, who went and started his own fucking company is coming back to draw X-MEN after Morrison leaves, in a desperate attempt to drag the book back to 1991, kicking and screaming all the way I'm sure... I sometimes wonder if the comics industry doesn't succed despite itself.

Anyway, the real realization comes from juxtaposing the above reading with my new job, working at a very alt.comix-oriented store, and as a result reading an awful lot of alt.comix and issues of The Comics Journal to catch up on things. Maybe you'll write off the next sentence or two as latent snobbery, but I have to share this with you. The Alt.Comix community do not regard superheroes and mainstream comics with disdain simply because they are superheroes, they regard them poorly because THEY'RE FUCKING POOR. Morrison's X-MEN? Great book, got a good review in The Journal. Because it was good. I'm willing to bet that, should it get reviewed, Bendis' DAREDEVIL will be regarded similarly, because it's actually very good. But the work of mediocre superhero writers and mediocre superhero artists will probably never receive that acclaim... BECAUSE THEY'RE MEDIOCRE.

Anyway, that's the grand revelation for today: Crappy books are regarded as crap because they are crap. The wasted potential of the industry is put on display, like the corpses on wires that made a grisly puppet-show during the French Revolution... I wish that my ridiculous observations were as obvious to everyone else as me, then something might change. Or maybe everyone can see it, but just embraces the mediocre because they're afraid of change. And here I had hoped this would be a positive entry.

- Christopher