Here's a photo from the September 2001 DragonCon show. Left to right are Thomas E. Fuller, David Benedict, John Rhys-Davies, and Jonathan Strickland. That Rhys-Davies guy seemed pretty talented: I predict he'll go far. Photo by Ken Grimes.
Wow. It's hard to believe we've been podcasting now for one full year. Fifty two podcasts have come and gone and now we're starting on year two, and we're starting it with a really special one.
Back in 2001 we received permission to perform Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett at Dragon*Con. Furthermore, we were very privileged to have John Rhys-Davies play the role of Lupine Wonse When the performance was over we thought that was it...a copy of the recording was sent to Mr. Pratchett, but other than that we thought it would remain locked in the vast, cavernous ARTC archive vault.
But then we started podcasting. And so I wrote to Mr. Pratchett and asked permission to distribute the recording and happily he agreed.
What you are about to hear, in three parts, is something I will always be proud of. I worked very hard on the adaptation, and believe me, cutting a novel-length book down to an hour is hard work, especially when you have an attachment to the material like I did.
I'd like to thank Mr. Terry Pratchett for permission to do the adaptation, performance, and the podcast. I'd also like to thank the late Thomas E. Fuller for his assistance with the adaptation. And I'd like to thank all of you for helping us reach one full year of podcasting, with hopefully many more to come.
David Benedict
Back in 2001 we received permission to perform Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett at Dragon*Con. Furthermore, we were very privileged to have John Rhys-Davies play the role of Lupine Wonse When the performance was over we thought that was it...a copy of the recording was sent to Mr. Pratchett, but other than that we thought it would remain locked in the vast, cavernous ARTC archive vault.
But then we started podcasting. And so I wrote to Mr. Pratchett and asked permission to distribute the recording and happily he agreed.
What you are about to hear, in three parts, is something I will always be proud of. I worked very hard on the adaptation, and believe me, cutting a novel-length book down to an hour is hard work, especially when you have an attachment to the material like I did.
I'd like to thank Mr. Terry Pratchett for permission to do the adaptation, performance, and the podcast. I'd also like to thank the late Thomas E. Fuller for his assistance with the adaptation. And I'd like to thank all of you for helping us reach one full year of podcasting, with hopefully many more to come.
David Benedict
From the Santa Fe New Mexican:
When Peter Bassin, 68, showed waitresses at The Mine Shaft Tavern a picture of himself astride a white horse — wearing nothing but his guns, boots and cowboy hat — they didn’t throw him out. “One of the waitresses looked at it and said, ‘You are hot, hot, hot,’ ” Bassin said.See also Geezers Illustrated (the official site) and PR-GB.com.
This is the Atlanta Hyatt Regency, one of the host hotels for DragonCon, which is where I will be this coming weekend. If you're in the vicinity, you might drop by Friday night and watch the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company perform.
In other news...
How to deal with vagrants at conventions: As long as you're going to be in downtown Atlanta... On the other hand, anyone who should be traveling unsupervised should already know.
The lunar eclipse is tonight! Well, tomorrow morning in this time zone.
But the sign says $3.09: In Nebraska, gas stations sometimes advertise a lower price than they actually charge. "Under state law, the signs — which show in smaller print that the lower-priced gas is available only at certain pumps — are not illegal as long as gas is available at the lower price at even one pump."
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
But who owns them? "Mermaids have been performing at Weeki Wachee Springs for 60 years. The water district owns the land that Weeki Wachee Springs sits upon. As for who owns the mermaids, well, that is an interesting setup. There's a private company. But a few years ago its owner simply gave the company to the city of Weeki Wachee. (He got a tax break.) As for the "city," its population usually fluctuates somewhere between five and nine people, consisting of attraction employees." Isn't it enough that they're there?
Newscaster Emily Maitlis offends BBC viewers with flash of leg: No, really. I don't want to hear one more word about sophisticated Europeans smirking at America's puritanical attitudes about sex, you get me? Not one word.
And that's all we need to hear from Michael Vick, too: "Are you entering the plea of guilty to a conspiracy charge because you are in fact guilty?" Vick answered yes.
In other news...
How to deal with vagrants at conventions: As long as you're going to be in downtown Atlanta... On the other hand, anyone who should be traveling unsupervised should already know.
The lunar eclipse is tonight! Well, tomorrow morning in this time zone.
But the sign says $3.09: In Nebraska, gas stations sometimes advertise a lower price than they actually charge. "Under state law, the signs — which show in smaller print that the lower-priced gas is available only at certain pumps — are not illegal as long as gas is available at the lower price at even one pump."
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
But who owns them? "Mermaids have been performing at Weeki Wachee Springs for 60 years. The water district owns the land that Weeki Wachee Springs sits upon. As for who owns the mermaids, well, that is an interesting setup. There's a private company. But a few years ago its owner simply gave the company to the city of Weeki Wachee. (He got a tax break.) As for the "city," its population usually fluctuates somewhere between five and nine people, consisting of attraction employees." Isn't it enough that they're there?
Newscaster Emily Maitlis offends BBC viewers with flash of leg: No, really. I don't want to hear one more word about sophisticated Europeans smirking at America's puritanical attitudes about sex, you get me? Not one word.
And that's all we need to hear from Michael Vick, too: "Are you entering the plea of guilty to a conspiracy charge because you are in fact guilty?" Vick answered yes.
From WayOdd:Austrian ski instructors in Arlberg region have agreed to bare it all after students ask them to release a naked calendar. A company spokesman said, "We often get men staring at the female instructors and many women seem to sign up just to flirt with their teachers, so we thought, why not give them what they want?"Apparently this has been a phenomenally successful item for them. I'm not seeing any mention of a charity, though, so this may be a tad outside my target area.
See also Ananova, Kink (1, 2), Natives.co.uk, and the official site at Skilehrerinnen.at (or here). And I believe this page from the Burg Hotel refers to the same calendar. Fair warning: They don't hide behind things.
A dated but still interesting biography of William Marston, creator of Wonder Woman. And an overview of the character from the Comic Book Periodic Table.
In a sweeping example of what passes for feminism in comics, the Big Three Superteams of DC Comics (Justice League, Justice Society, and Legion) are all being led by women. Even though nothing in any of these characters' backstories has indicated that they actually qualify for the position. Black Canary, in particular, just left the Birds of Prey with the stated purpose of spending more time mothering her newly adopted daughter Sin, and now here she is allegedly bossing Batman around. At least over in the Marvel universe, where Janet van Dyne leads the Mighty Avengers, it doesn't seem quite so much like they pulled her name out of a hat.
Over in Lady, That's My Skull, Sleestak offers what should be the final word on the Showcase Presents Batgirl cover controversy.
According to Occasional Superheroine, DC is facing a Countdown to Change that may mean the end of the Didio era. At Journalista, Dirk Deppey writes an overall favorable mention of the post that ignites a feminist firestorm with one ill-conceived, largely misunderstood joke.
(Look: I find Occasional Superheroine to be a thoughtful, sometimes moving blog, well worth the read from the first post in the archive. But at the same time, in this particular post she does repeatedly use the word "c**k-up", complete with self-aware, self-censoring asterisks. It might be insulting to suggest even jokingly, as Deppey does, that she suffers from "fear of c**k". But what if he meant fear of the word? Isn't that what censoring it implies?)
(See also Pretty Fizzy Paradise and the Comics Reporter.)
Just to lighten the mood a little, Devon at Seven Hells presents Subtext Follies featuring Wonder Woman.
What Were They Thinking asks, what kind of student sends a photo like this to their old teacher?
And Jimmy Olsen's Blues presents a review of the recent death of Bart Allen and return of Wally West, by... Bart Allen.
In a sweeping example of what passes for feminism in comics, the Big Three Superteams of DC Comics (Justice League, Justice Society, and Legion) are all being led by women. Even though nothing in any of these characters' backstories has indicated that they actually qualify for the position. Black Canary, in particular, just left the Birds of Prey with the stated purpose of spending more time mothering her newly adopted daughter Sin, and now here she is allegedly bossing Batman around. At least over in the Marvel universe, where Janet van Dyne leads the Mighty Avengers, it doesn't seem quite so much like they pulled her name out of a hat.
Over in Lady, That's My Skull, Sleestak offers what should be the final word on the Showcase Presents Batgirl cover controversy.
According to Occasional Superheroine, DC is facing a Countdown to Change that may mean the end of the Didio era. At Journalista, Dirk Deppey writes an overall favorable mention of the post that ignites a feminist firestorm with one ill-conceived, largely misunderstood joke.
(Look: I find Occasional Superheroine to be a thoughtful, sometimes moving blog, well worth the read from the first post in the archive. But at the same time, in this particular post she does repeatedly use the word "c**k-up", complete with self-aware, self-censoring asterisks. It might be insulting to suggest even jokingly, as Deppey does, that she suffers from "fear of c**k". But what if he meant fear of the word? Isn't that what censoring it implies?)
(See also Pretty Fizzy Paradise and the Comics Reporter.)
Just to lighten the mood a little, Devon at Seven Hells presents Subtext Follies featuring Wonder Woman.
What Were They Thinking asks, what kind of student sends a photo like this to their old teacher?
And Jimmy Olsen's Blues presents a review of the recent death of Bart Allen and return of Wally West, by... Bart Allen.
Most people would think twice about baring all for a calendar likely to adorn the walls of at least 10,000 homes. But 18 local women, ranging in age from their 40s to 80s, didn't hesitate.For more details, see RGJ.com, the Nevada Appeal and the official site of Carson Calendar Girls.
They'll all appear in a 2008 calendar to benefit Danielle Conway, who is terminally ill with cancer.
As the 2008 calendar buying season begins, it's past time I started updating this site. A number of new and intriguing projects have been announced, and I'm looking forward to hearing about even more.
This week we delve into the realm of ...superheroes? Well, it greatly depends on how you define the term, really. We've brought you installments from these great series before, but we like them (and we hope you do, too!) so here's some more!
First up, The Brotherhood of Damn Sassy Mutants in Episode One - "Flame Out", by "Sketch" MacQuinor.
Then, hold onto your dry-erase markers, as we bring you Mildly Exciting Tales of Astonishment - "A Consultation with Eeeeevil" by Jonathan Strickland.
Both of these were performed live at Sci-Fi Summer 2005.
First up, The Brotherhood of Damn Sassy Mutants in Episode One - "Flame Out", by "Sketch" MacQuinor.
Then, hold onto your dry-erase markers, as we bring you Mildly Exciting Tales of Astonishment - "A Consultation with Eeeeevil" by Jonathan Strickland.
Both of these were performed live at Sci-Fi Summer 2005.
Guerrilla librarianship: New blog Biologists Helping Bookstores features a crusading scientist called Ste who tries reorganising bookshop shelves to prevent pseudoscience featuring in the science categories.
Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?: Ric Hoogestraat sits at his computer with the blinds drawn, smoking a cigarette. While his wife, Sue, watches television in the living room, Mr. Hoogestraat chats online with what appears on the screen to be a tall, slim redhead. He's never met the woman outside of the computer world of Second Life... Their bond is so strong that three months ago, Mr. Hoogestraat asked Janet Spielman, the 38-year-old Canadian woman who controls the redhead, to become his virtual wife.
"What kind of moron would Tase an adult holding a baby?"
Heart attack victim saved by sales pitch: An elderly New Zealand man who suffered a heart attack at a hardware store was revived by a salesman who just happened to be demonstrating a defibrillator to store staff.
Wichita Man Left Stranded at Orlando Airport: A 72 year-old Wichita minister who traveled to Orlando earlier this week was left on a bench inside that city's airport for three days. Nobody realized that Kenneth Davis, the pastor at Wichita's Immanuel Outreach Center had suffered a stroke.
Two friends have dressed as a pantomime horse to climb the tallest mountain in Wales and England.
Toy tune offends mothers: The problem is how the digital voice singing the scale sounds with the combination Fa-Mi-Re-Mi. ..."She's like ‘fa, fa, fa,' and I was wondering why is she saying that?" Alexis Chacon said. "It was the toy. Then she says, ‘ra, ra, ra.' She's too small to learn those kinds of words. It's supposed to be Do-Re-Mi, and it's F-me-rape me." See also Consumerist. You laugh, but when's the last time you saw a toy typewriter?
Special "naked truth" section:
For those who hoped we'd see "Wash" again: [Alan] Tudyk is a familiar face to sci-fi fans for his role as Hoban "Wash" Washburne on the cult TV series "Firefly" and subsequent feature version, "Serenity." Tudyk has his most screen exposure in "Death at a Funeral": He spends about 90 percent of his screen time totally naked.
Follow-up: The Lush bath-products "Ask Me Why I'm Naked" promotion was actually international in scope, but in Victoria, CA, "only assistant manager Sahra MacLean went au naturel while handing out bars of Buffy Body Butter to slack-jawed tourists, flashing her backside to those who questioned whether she was 'really naked under there.'"
Nude virgins flee sex blaze: A teenage couple having sex for the first time were interrupted when candles set fire to the girl's attic bedroom and forced them to flee naked from her parents' house, German daily Bild reported today. The couple, both 18, were pictured naked in the paper among the burned wreckage of the attic. I'm trying to think of any set of circumstances in which I could believe that it would seem logical for the newspaper to suggest that the "kids" go back into the burned room, naked, to pose for these photographs -- or that the "kids" would say "Sure, let's go."
Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?: Ric Hoogestraat sits at his computer with the blinds drawn, smoking a cigarette. While his wife, Sue, watches television in the living room, Mr. Hoogestraat chats online with what appears on the screen to be a tall, slim redhead. He's never met the woman outside of the computer world of Second Life... Their bond is so strong that three months ago, Mr. Hoogestraat asked Janet Spielman, the 38-year-old Canadian woman who controls the redhead, to become his virtual wife.
"What kind of moron would Tase an adult holding a baby?"
Heart attack victim saved by sales pitch: An elderly New Zealand man who suffered a heart attack at a hardware store was revived by a salesman who just happened to be demonstrating a defibrillator to store staff.
Wichita Man Left Stranded at Orlando Airport: A 72 year-old Wichita minister who traveled to Orlando earlier this week was left on a bench inside that city's airport for three days. Nobody realized that Kenneth Davis, the pastor at Wichita's Immanuel Outreach Center had suffered a stroke.
Two friends have dressed as a pantomime horse to climb the tallest mountain in Wales and England.
Toy tune offends mothers: The problem is how the digital voice singing the scale sounds with the combination Fa-Mi-Re-Mi. ..."She's like ‘fa, fa, fa,' and I was wondering why is she saying that?" Alexis Chacon said. "It was the toy. Then she says, ‘ra, ra, ra.' She's too small to learn those kinds of words. It's supposed to be Do-Re-Mi, and it's F-me-rape me." See also Consumerist. You laugh, but when's the last time you saw a toy typewriter?
Special "naked truth" section:
For those who hoped we'd see "Wash" again: [Alan] Tudyk is a familiar face to sci-fi fans for his role as Hoban "Wash" Washburne on the cult TV series "Firefly" and subsequent feature version, "Serenity." Tudyk has his most screen exposure in "Death at a Funeral": He spends about 90 percent of his screen time totally naked.
Follow-up: The Lush bath-products "Ask Me Why I'm Naked" promotion was actually international in scope, but in Victoria, CA, "only assistant manager Sahra MacLean went au naturel while handing out bars of Buffy Body Butter to slack-jawed tourists, flashing her backside to those who questioned whether she was 'really naked under there.'"
Nude virgins flee sex blaze: A teenage couple having sex for the first time were interrupted when candles set fire to the girl's attic bedroom and forced them to flee naked from her parents' house, German daily Bild reported today. The couple, both 18, were pictured naked in the paper among the burned wreckage of the attic. I'm trying to think of any set of circumstances in which I could believe that it would seem logical for the newspaper to suggest that the "kids" go back into the burned room, naked, to pose for these photographs -- or that the "kids" would say "Sure, let's go."
It's that time of year again! That magical time when the temperatures soar and the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company pulls out all the stops for its biggest show of the year - Dragon*Con! Details available at www.artc.org, or you can just read the email below.
This year we again present one show only (talk to the convention organizers, this isn't our idea) on Friday, after Opening Ceremonies. Check the convention schedule to see exactly when that's going to be, but we're planning on taking the stage around 7pm or thereabouts.
In addition to two spectacular announcements, we will be presenting the following audio dramas:
"Rory Rammer: Madhouse in the Sky" - Rory Rammer is a longtime Dragon*Con favorite. Come hear what happens as he infiltrates a crooked scheme involving a space sanitarium. In fact, he infiltrates it a little deeper than he'd originally planned! Written by Ron N. Butler.
"The Challenges of Brave Ragnar" - Originally written as an hour long epic, then converted to a thirteen part serial, now distilled down to just the essentials in a thrilling comedic romp detailing Brave Ragnar's quest to defeat the evil changeling and earn the hand of the Princess, all without killing an exceptionally annoying and uninvited sidekick. Brave Ragnar was first introduced to Dragon*Con audiences in 2005 when we presented part 3 of the serial, "On Mortaclock Mountain". Written by Kelley Swilley.
And don't forget out evil step-sister group, MRAP, as they present "Creation is a Circle" by Thomas E. Fuller on Monday, near closing ceremonies. Again, check the convention schedule.
If you enjoy hearing ARTC at Dragon*Con and other local conventions, please help us continue to attend! There are lots of ways you can support New Old-Time Radio. Here are just a few:
1) Buy a CD! This year we bring back an old ARTC classic, "The Invisible Man". Relegated to cassettes (what are those?) for the last several years, this H. G. Wells classic tells of the power...and the downsides...
This year we again present one show only (talk to the convention organizers, this isn't our idea) on Friday, after Opening Ceremonies. Check the convention schedule to see exactly when that's going to be, but we're planning on taking the stage around 7pm or thereabouts.
In addition to two spectacular announcements, we will be presenting the following audio dramas:
"Rory Rammer: Madhouse in the Sky" - Rory Rammer is a longtime Dragon*Con favorite. Come hear what happens as he infiltrates a crooked scheme involving a space sanitarium. In fact, he infiltrates it a little deeper than he'd originally planned! Written by Ron N. Butler.
"The Challenges of Brave Ragnar" - Originally written as an hour long epic, then converted to a thirteen part serial, now distilled down to just the essentials in a thrilling comedic romp detailing Brave Ragnar's quest to defeat the evil changeling and earn the hand of the Princess, all without killing an exceptionally annoying and uninvited sidekick. Brave Ragnar was first introduced to Dragon*Con audiences in 2005 when we presented part 3 of the serial, "On Mortaclock Mountain". Written by Kelley Swilley.
And don't forget out evil step-sister group, MRAP, as they present "Creation is a Circle" by Thomas E. Fuller on Monday, near closing ceremonies. Again, check the convention schedule.
If you enjoy hearing ARTC at Dragon*Con and other local conventions, please help us continue to attend! There are lots of ways you can support New Old-Time Radio. Here are just a few:
1) Buy a CD! This year we bring back an old ARTC classic, "The Invisible Man". Relegated to cassettes (what are those?) for the last several years, this H. G. Wells classic tells of the power...and the downsides...
Nothing new to add, just very sorry to see him go.
If this isn't a friendly audience, what is? Democratic presidential nominees sway helplessly in the breeze before the combined might of liberal bloggers at the Yearly Kos Convention.
Lookit them wild oats go: One in every 200 men alive today is a relative of Genghis Khan.
So, you're saying men can be librarians?
Do these pants make my butt look big? See for yourself with the dressing room buttcam.
The United Countries of Baseball.
Cinema of the Absurd: Can there ever really be too many films about clowns and gas chambers?
TV Legend Merv Griffin Dead At 82. See also a reminiscence by Mark Evanier for a glimpse of what Griffin was really like. Which is to say, pretty much the person you saw on the air. When being yourself has made you that rich, why bother to pretend?
It's a public library, right? I'm the public, right? Authorities say they have busted a serial book bandit who roamed Front Range libraries checking out thousands of books, tapes and DVDs and then selling many of them online.
Most detailed pictures of Earth ever seen: But, if I go outside with my cel phone and shoot the grass between my feet, won't it be more detailed than this?
Staff wear not enough packaging to protest too much packaging: Male and female staff at Lush in Watford's Harlequin shopping centre [and at Lincolnshire] stripped off to serve the public, wearing nothing but white aprons bearing the slogan "Ask me why I'm naked". The aim of the initiative was to highlight the overuse of packaging in the retail industry and to promote the environment. ("The store's naked campaign was part of a national effort, with similar events happening in 55 cities in the UK." There are stories from Cheltenham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Swindon, Wimbledon (2), Oxford, Bournemouth, and Cambridge.)
How does a Dippy Bird work?
Lookit them wild oats go: One in every 200 men alive today is a relative of Genghis Khan.
So, you're saying men can be librarians?
Do these pants make my butt look big? See for yourself with the dressing room buttcam.
The United Countries of Baseball.
Cinema of the Absurd: Can there ever really be too many films about clowns and gas chambers?
TV Legend Merv Griffin Dead At 82. See also a reminiscence by Mark Evanier for a glimpse of what Griffin was really like. Which is to say, pretty much the person you saw on the air. When being yourself has made you that rich, why bother to pretend?
It's a public library, right? I'm the public, right? Authorities say they have busted a serial book bandit who roamed Front Range libraries checking out thousands of books, tapes and DVDs and then selling many of them online.
Most detailed pictures of Earth ever seen: But, if I go outside with my cel phone and shoot the grass between my feet, won't it be more detailed than this?
Staff wear not enough packaging to protest too much packaging: Male and female staff at Lush in Watford's Harlequin shopping centre [and at Lincolnshire] stripped off to serve the public, wearing nothing but white aprons bearing the slogan "Ask me why I'm naked". The aim of the initiative was to highlight the overuse of packaging in the retail industry and to promote the environment. ("The store's naked campaign was part of a national effort, with similar events happening in 55 cities in the UK." There are stories from Cheltenham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Swindon, Wimbledon (2), Oxford, Bournemouth, and Cambridge.)
How does a Dippy Bird work?
Pretty Fizzy Paradise: I get asked sometimes why I care so much about something as "minor" as feminist issues in comics. Why does it matter? Why don't you find something else? It's designed for guys! ... I've realized, and this is not intended to be an insult, that most men have no idea what it's like to be a woman.
(Read that first.)
Comparing Linda Park to Lois Lane isn't quite apples vs apples. Ms Park is a television reporter, and there may be no environment on the planet where What You Look Like is perceived to matter more than on television. Ms Lane is a newspaper reporter: I won't pretend appearance is irrelevant, but what really matters is who you know and what you know.
Hm. If anyone at DC is listening, I'd love to see a Linda Park / Lana Lang encounter. I'd think they'd have a lot to talk about. I'm guessing "beauty tips" wouldn't be very high on the list. But that's really a tangental issue.
I could argue that if women want men to "get over" caring what women look like, that this expectation is unrealistic. It's hardcoded in us. But it certainly is realistic to expect us to keep our damn' mouths shut about things that are none of our business. Under most circumstances, things that are none of our business include how much makeup is enough, whether we think your boobs hang straight, how much you weigh, or whether the rug matches the curtains.
Women are human beings, and that should be reflected in the way they are spoken to, spoken of, and depicted. That doesn't seem too much to ask.
(Read that first.)
Comparing Linda Park to Lois Lane isn't quite apples vs apples. Ms Park is a television reporter, and there may be no environment on the planet where What You Look Like is perceived to matter more than on television. Ms Lane is a newspaper reporter: I won't pretend appearance is irrelevant, but what really matters is who you know and what you know.
Hm. If anyone at DC is listening, I'd love to see a Linda Park / Lana Lang encounter. I'd think they'd have a lot to talk about. I'm guessing "beauty tips" wouldn't be very high on the list. But that's really a tangental issue.
I could argue that if women want men to "get over" caring what women look like, that this expectation is unrealistic. It's hardcoded in us. But it certainly is realistic to expect us to keep our damn' mouths shut about things that are none of our business. Under most circumstances, things that are none of our business include how much makeup is enough, whether we think your boobs hang straight, how much you weigh, or whether the rug matches the curtains.
Women are human beings, and that should be reflected in the way they are spoken to, spoken of, and depicted. That doesn't seem too much to ask.
ARTC Podcast 50 Time: 18:33 Size: 12.7 MB Hey, our one year podcasting anniversary is in a few weeks, and we have a special surprise for you. Check back next week for further details. This week's presentation, from Necronomicon 1998: Rory Rammer, The Doomsday Planet (a.k.a. the Planetoid of Doom) by Ron N. Butler. and Bumper's Crossroads.
Link - Download
Link - Download
By the era of the stories collected in Showcase Presents Superman #3, the new approach was beginning to become a rut of its own. Superman went from being the sole survivor of Krypton to being the custodian of a lilliputian city full of them, plus he had a teenaged cousin to keep an eye on. Every story explored the mythology: the easy availability of kryptonite of various colors, the ongoing threat to his secret identity and/or bachelor status posed by the workday presence of Lois Lane and Lana Lang, the revolving-door escapees from the newly-discovered Phantom Zone. It was getting harder and harder to present the Man of Steel with any real threat.
Which is why it fascinates me that, in the midst of all this, came this gem from Bill Finger and Wayne Boring. Finger was better known (when known at all, in these days before story credits) as a strong contributor to the Batman legacy, while Boring is the artist (following Schuster himself, and preceding Curt Swan) who defined for a generation of readers what Superman is supposed to look like.
This story owes more to the pulp magazines that inspired early comics than to the comics that immediately preceded it. John Carter wouldn't have been out of place in this story. Superman just happens to be cruising through interstellar space (because he can, I guess) when he happens upon a monster threatening a group of people (the human form being the default form of intelligent life) who don't notice it's there because they're blind.
If I attempt to summarize what happens in this sixteen-page story, it'll look like I'm trying to make fun of it, and I'm not. Despite -- or, perhaps, because of -- the absence of Lois, Jimmy, kryptonite, or any familiar element of the mythos, Finger and Boring prove that they still know what makes Superman tick. This may be my favorite Superman story ever.
Which is why it fascinates me that, in the midst of all this, came this gem from Bill Finger and Wayne Boring. Finger was better known (when known at all, in these days before story credits) as a strong contributor to the Batman legacy, while Boring is the artist (following Schuster himself, and preceding Curt Swan) who defined for a generation of readers what Superman is supposed to look like.
This story owes more to the pulp magazines that inspired early comics than to the comics that immediately preceded it. John Carter wouldn't have been out of place in this story. Superman just happens to be cruising through interstellar space (because he can, I guess) when he happens upon a monster threatening a group of people (the human form being the default form of intelligent life) who don't notice it's there because they're blind.
If I attempt to summarize what happens in this sixteen-page story, it'll look like I'm trying to make fun of it, and I'm not. Despite -- or, perhaps, because of -- the absence of Lois, Jimmy, kryptonite, or any familiar element of the mythos, Finger and Boring prove that they still know what makes Superman tick. This may be my favorite Superman story ever.
Ron Butler took this photo of John Ringo (author of, among many other things, "A Ship Named Francis") and me (the guilty party who adapted said story for audio theater and performed the part of the ship's insecure Chaplain) after the show Saturday night.
I still think this photo looks like we're both wondering if he's going to punch me in the face, so you'll just have to take my word for it that he was telling me he'd enjoyed the show.
"Tester, spare us this day from your tests..."
I still think this photo looks like we're both wondering if he's going to punch me in the face, so you'll just have to take my word for it that he was telling me he'd enjoyed the show.
"Tester, spare us this day from your tests..."
