Mr. Peppermint Merges with the Infinite

I saw online that local Dallas kids' TV icon, Mr. Peppermint, has passed.

Mr. Peppermint was actually Mr. Jerry Haynes. And while he played the jovial, puppet be-friended Mr. Peppermint on TV, he was also the father of Gibby Haynes, frontman for The Butthole Surfers. A fact I have never really been able to wrap my head around.

When I was about 4 years old we moved from Michigan to Dallas, and its important to note a couple of things (a) we spent a lot of time in fantasy la-la land as kids, going to puppet shows, plays, movies, etc... and the KareBear was all about the magical land of make believe. I assume it kept us very quiet, and (b) I have only vague memories of Mr. Peppermint, but all of them are colored with candy-coated awesomeness.

Younger readers may not remember that local TV stations used to have a kid's club host, usually on the UHF channel. Sort of like how they would also have a late-night host. These sort of spun out into ideas that got picked up nationally like Bozo the Clown for morning programming and Elvira for late-night programming. On the morning shows, they'd host cartoons, maybe have a live audience that would play games, etc... *

But, honestly, I don't remember much about what was actually on Mr. Peppermint's show, Peppermint Place. I was 6 years old when we moved away.

I do recall it made a huge impact on me that my Ma, The KareBear, took us to see Mr. Peppermint when he did a show at the mall.  I had only seen one celebrity before, and that was some random guy dressed up as Darth Vader signing 8"x10" glossies at the JC Penny.  But Mr. Peppermint came out and talked to his puppets and he had the suit and cane and everything.

Part of why I've gone on and on about this is that:  well into college, I secretly really wanted to be a Kid's TV Show Host.  I'm totally not kidding.  I didn't yet have a character in mind, but I liked the Mr. Peppermint model of just being a genial guy in a colorful suit with puppets.  At the time, Austin just had this kind of loud lady named Kelly who would intro the cartoons, but she clearly didn't give a damn about Animaniacs or Batman.  And I figured if I could get the right angle, I would make the cartoon block way, way more fun.

And then, about 1995, they quit having a kids' club host, and that was that.

I think I grew up with ideas about how things worked that were sort of stuck circa 1955, especially when it came to what made for good TV.  Other kids were watching The Cosby Show and I was watching Mr. Ed re-runs and Leave it to Beaver.  And I'm not unconvinced that a friendly guy on TV talking to kids isn't a better model than the hyper-kinetic mess that makes up most kids' programming these days.

Anyway, here's to Mr. Peppermint, Gibby's dad, and friends to kids in the greater DFW area for generations.

* I remember conversations in middle school about how Bozo's "Grand Prize Game" was f'ing IMPOSSIBLE - where you through ping pong balls into buckets as far away as ten feet.

Our Valued Customers has the Final Word on the Real Problem with Sex and Sexiness in Comics

The problems with comics, writers and readers - they run deep.

If you haven't bookmarked Our Valuable Customers, do so now (but never, ever stray into the comments).

So, those guys were hiking the Iranian/ Iraqi border?

I've kind of/ sort kept an eye on the story of the three Americans who were held by Iran for the past few years after they, apparently, strayed over the Iranian border whilst out for their morning constitutional.  I, too, had been concerned for the welfare of my fellow Americans caught in a potentially deadly situation playing out on a global scale.  But, I admit, my sympathy for the situation dropped significantly when I figured out today that the three had been hiking the Iranian/ Iraqi border.  To which I say:

...wut?

How has this not been a part of the story?  Why is this buried several paragraphs down in every article where the information actually does appear in some form other than "hiking along the Iranian border"?

I guess I know now why the Iranians thought our friends may have been up to no-good shenanigans.  Hell, I'm not sure I don't believe they were up to something.

Guest Post - Jamie reads Wonder Woman #1

Hey, Signal Corps!  We've got a guest post I wasn't expecting.

Jamie plays it down, but she actually reads a lot of comics.  She does buy her own stuff from time to time, but mostly she reads my comics when the mood strikes her.  This weekend she picked up my copy of Wonder Woman off the coffee table, breezed through it and then started talking to me about it.  

In talking about the book, I thought she made some good points, so I asked her to put some of that down in a post.

Jamie hasn't been overly curious about the rest of New 52 launch, and as far as I know, this is the only one of the books I brought home that she's read.  But she's a woman of mystery, so for all I know, she's read everything off the coffee table while I'm at the gym.


As Jamie is actually pretty familiar with the last decade or so of Wonder Woman comics (I don't think she realizes those trades are pretty much everything going back to 2000 or so), but isn't particularly invested in DC or their publishing efforts, I thought it would be useful to hear what she had to say.  She also (I think) likes Wonder Woman on her own, and I would think a young, well-read, bright woman such as herself might be someone DC would want to buy their comics.

Ryan asked me to post a short review of the new Wonder Woman (#1 in the "New 52" relaunch).  I am not a regular reader of WW, aside from a few trades and a few issues here and there that Ryan has tossed my direction.  Nevertheless, I still felt a bit sheepish when halfway through the first issue of this reboot I looked up at Ryan and confessed, "I have no idea what's going on".  

I have never been particularly good with reviews, which is why I tended to avoid them on my own retired blog, but let me just quickly tick off a couple of issues I had with this...issue.

1. I admit, I got lost right after Diana and her new friend the Pantsless Wonder were sucked back to Virginia and the black and green voiceover boxes started popping up.*  Who the hell is this talking?  Is it the horse people?  Who are these horsey people?  Ryan kindly explained that the voiceover was coming from Glowy Eyes and his possessed lady friends back in Singapore from the opening pages.  I was embarrassed to have not picked up on this myself, but in my defense it had been 14 pages since we'd even seen Glowy Eyes and I don't like having to flip back through a comic trying to figure out what I'd missed.

Honestly if I didn't know about this relaunch and the book didn't have a "#1" slapped on the cover, I would have no idea this was the beginning of a new story.  It felt like any other of Ryan's WW issues I'd randomly read over the years where I knew I needed to just let some stuff go because I wasn't completely caught up. 

2. Not enough Diana.  For an issue that's attempting to draw in new readers, I would have liked to have seen more Wonder Woman in my Wonder Woman.  I understand that they are trying to lay down a story and it's just the first issue, but new readers are going to be picking this up expecting to see Diana in action.  

Like I said, my knowledge of WW and her mythos is less than impressive so I have no idea if this series is going to truly take her back to her roots or what.  My favorite incarnation of WW so far was the Greg Rucka era around 2004-5 of Ambassador Diana where she had no secret identity and a great cast of secondary characters with which to interact.**  I prefer to read comics that have a little joy in them from time to time as opposed to all violence and angst.  Personal preference, of course.  

All in all, I liked the art, and wasn't turned off enough by the story or the initial confusion to refuse to read any more.  I'll stick around for a few more issues, at least.

*I'm sure it's not called a voiceover box, but please cut me some slack, I don't know the lingo.

**Minotaur buddy? That's pretty awesome.

Signal Watch Reads: Wonder Woman #1 (of the New 52)

Wonder Woman #1
The Visitation
writer - Brian Azzarello
artist & cover - Cliff Chiang
colorist - Matthew Wilson
letters - Jared K. Fletcher
associate editor - Chris Conroy
editor - Matt Idleson

I am not a fan of too much of the work of Brian Azzarello.

I still associate Azzarello with his work on Batman: Broken City, the multi-issue epic that drug out over a year and somehow never managed to tell a story, and Superman: For Tomorrow, which derailed Superman for a year with unrelated and uninspired plotpoints, and a nonsensical conclusion.  And, of course, his Joker graphic novel, which was more or less a testament as to why we don't treat super-villains like actual criminals and psychotics in comics (its not particularly fun reading), but unintentionally raised the question as to why the Joker wasn't put down by a twitchy henchman on his second outing.  And his Luthor series just doesn't hold together as an actual story.

In all honesty, I get the feeling from his work that Azzarello more or less holds a lot of contempt for superheroes, but he knows that's where the money is.  And as long as there are young men looking for "more realistic" superheroes (ie: more blood), then Azzarello is going to be able to move comics and get hired.

Between you, me and the wall, I don't think Azzarello actually knows how to tell a story.  I think he knows how to provide a good set-up, and he knows some interesting beats he wants to put into those stories, but he doesn't seal the deal with either tying the narrative together or with taking the characters through an arc, so much as making them bystanders to a series of events he puts in motion.

Maybe his crime comics do a better job of this, but I don't know.  I still haven't read the 100 Bullets trade I picked up a while back.

So when it comes to Azzarello approaching Wonder Woman, I'm more than a bit skeptical.

DC Comics New 52, Week 3 - Part 2

• I'm breaking this week up week 3 into three parts.  In Part 1, I reviewed Supergirl #1.   I'm of the opinion that Wonder Woman #1 warrants its own post.  

So, this is Week 3.

• FYI - I did not pick up:
• 
  
• BIRDS OF PREY #1 - I wasn't interested in this rebooted team, characters or creative
• CAPTAIN ATOM #1 - waiting for feedback and will tradewait
• CATWOMAN #1 - no, and now that I've heard so much about the issue, I know this isn't for me
• DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #1 - I completely forgot to get this, but Austin Books is doing a great job of getting what they can from the warehouse and ordering 2nd prints.
• GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1 - trade waiting
• NIGHTWING #1 - no.  I'm not a die-hard Nightwing fan, but I figured if the notices were good, it'd be a fun trade
• RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #1 - no

So, onto my Week 3 reads.

Signal Watch Reads: Supergirl #1 (New 52)

Supergirl #1
Last Daughter of Krypton
writers - Michael Green & Mike Johnson
penciller - Mahmud Asrar
inkers - Dan Green with Asrar
colorist - Dave McCraig
letterer - John J. Hill
cover - Asrar & McCraig
editor - Wil Moss
group editor - Matt Idleson
this review is of the print edition

So.

Firstly, because I see no way to avoid discussing it:  I think the new Supergirl costume is absolutely great, at least from the top of her head to her navel.  And then, somehow, as you head south the rest of the outfit is a bit of a trainwreck.  At least how its being drawn in this comic.

I bring this up because, as a reader, I became utterly distracted by how much I could not not notice how terrible I found Supergirl's new get-up.  Why is she wearing a strange red patch over her, uh, lower abdomen?  I assumed I just wasn't getting how this would work in the preview art, but no...  I don't care what planet she's from - that just seems poorly conceived.  It really looks like some sort of awkward medical device or improvised covering when she had to run out of the house with no pants on.

Reminder: "War of the Worlds" (1953) showing at Alamo South on Saturday

SimonUK reminded me today - the Alamo Kids Club is showing the 1953 version of War of the Worlds at Alamo South on Lamar on Saturday.

You can see info here.

The showtime is 11:45, but I'll be there a full hour early.  Why?  The show is free!  And that means lots of folks come early to ensure they get a seat.

If you've never seen the 1953 War of the Worlds, its an incredible movie.  I like it enough that my b-day present to myself this year was a scale model of one of the Martian ships.

they are here to chew bubble gum and heat blast earthlings.  And they're all outta bubblegum.

I confess, I find a bit weird to show this to small kids as I remember it spooking me a bit even when I saw it in 6th grade (I was not raised on horror movies and was a sensitive child, I guess).  But the effects are fan-freaking-tastic, and the aliens are not kidding around with their plans to heat-beam us all into smithereens.

I hope to see you there!

Laura Hudson's Post Re: Sex and Women in Comics

Look.  So, yesterday the comics internet decided to explode in one of its usual firestorms of outrage over something I do, actually, take fairly seriously.   This is such a usual occurrence that I think its, from time to time, worth looking at what is being said versus what is happening.  And so I talked a bit about the "controversy".

I absolutely do not share everyone's views, and/ but I am not dismissive of negative representations of women in comics.  Or the under-representation of women in the industry.  I do think we're going through growing pains as women have joined the ranks of readers in the past few years in numbers that I find truly surprising and welcome.

Like any critical read of a work of "art", there's always more than one point of view.  Any kind of reading from a feminist perspective is constantly undergoing convulsions as the narrative of gender roles is no longer defined by the mores of the 1970's culture movements. 

Yesterday via Twitter, Comics Alliance EiC Laura Hudson declared her fury regarding the comics we talked about yesterday.  In fact, its how I became alerted to the issue.

Today Hudson wrote a post that I think addressed some of what I was discussing (though not at me, because it is extremely, extremely unlikely anybody but NTT and myself actually read yesterday's post).  But enough people must have raised a hand in question that she went ahead and put together a thoughtful post that went well beyond the usual Gender Studies 101 rhetoric that usually defines these conversations.  I appreciate her honesty.  I don't agree with everything she says, and I'd actually argue her one example of an "acceptable" approach is open to the same criticism she ladles elsewhere, but I very much recommend reading her post. 

You can find it at Comics Alliance.

The trouble is:  I think Hudson is hitting a cross-roads that a lot of us are hitting.  DC just relaunched.  Its seeking new readers.  Its counting on old readers to stick around, but there's a calculated move going on to appeal to a very certain demographic.

In which I talk about comics fans and sex in comics (with little to no context)

Look. I get it, but no. Comics fans, I am not jumping on the gravy train of complaining about "sexiness" in a couple of DC Comics released this week.

I'm not reading any Red Hood comics. Partially because I'm not interested in either the characters or seeming arc of where DC is taking these characters and partially I'm just not interested in "back-to-life" Jason Todd. It was a bad narrative choice that should have been corrected with the ReLaunch.

I'm a little surprised by the one page I saw online that everyone is having conniptions over but

1) I have no idea what that exchange about not remembering any of Starfire's old pals the Teen Titans is about.  Amnesia?  Clever joke about continuity mishaps?  I have no idea.
2) Its not exactly out of character from what I recall about Starfire - and this is going back to middle-school
3) complaining about Starfire's look in 2011 is approximately 30 years too late and only demonstrates - you haven't been paying attention.  Those horses are out of the barn and across the state line.
4) she and Dick Grayson all-nekked-in-bed broke ground for comics... when I was in grade school
5) if Gail Simone wrote that scene, we'd all be throwing rose petals at her feet for being so darn clever
6) DC quit pretending to sell comics to kids with the conclusion of the CCA a year ago, so you are forbidden from playing that card
7) and most importantly:  a woman dictating her own sexuality and when and with whom she has sex, is not sexist.  For those of you who missed that class your freshman year of college: on the contrary, the power to make those decisions and not be sold to some guy over the hill for a goat and a couple of acres of land is the hardest won battle of women's rights next to the vote and pretty damned well ingrained in life outside your comic shop or, apparently, your Colorado City commune.*