Danny Graydon

It’s my great pleasure to announce that I will working with Inter-Disciplinary.net to lead an academic conference on The Superhero to be held in Oxford this September. I presented, with my colleague Barbara Brownie, my first academic paper – entitled “Negotiating Ordinariness and Otherness: Superman, Clark Kent and the Superhero Masquerade“ – at an I-D.net conference devoted to Comics in 2013 and, in the wake of that invigorating experience, I was encouraged by Barbara to propose an entire conference devoted to Superheroes. Happily, Simon Bacon at I-D.net was most eager to pursue the idea and, having developed a proposal that was rigorously vetted by their panel of reviewers, we are good to go for the inaugural meeting of what I very much hope will be a long-term academic concern, for myself and I-D.net. As my endeavours in Academia progress and expand, this is both a milestone and a very exciting prospect indeed. Hopefully, much will come of it!

Here’s the call for papers:

CALL FOR PAPERS: The Superhero

 The Superhero Project: 1st Global Meeting

Monday 7th  September – Wednesday 9th September 2015

Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom

“Superman! Champion of the oppressed, the physical marvel who had sworn to devote his existence to helping those in need.” – Action Comics #1, 1938 (DC Comics)

 In the twenty-first century, in which notions of good versus evil have thrived, the word “hero” has taken on a striking resonance. As a consequence, the decades-old superhero of comic books (as established in the guise of Superman in 1938) has been thrust to the forefront of mainstream popular culture, present across multiple media and the character’s signature emblems now among the most recognisable in the world, functioning as powerful, pervasive and vastly profitable brands

 Most notably, this domination is no more apparent than the realms of blockbuster cinema. With Superman: The Movie (1978) having provided an epic, special effects-fuelled spectacle finally worthy of the superhero’s stature, and the vast cultural and commercial impact of Batman (1989), the superhero movie made a popular return to prominence with X-Men (2000), leading to billion-dollar earning and critically-lauded films such as The Dark Knight (2008) and The Avengers (2012) – and with more than thirty further films set to be released by 2020.

 Meanwhile, real individuals are being elevated to the status of superhero – literally and metaphorically. The “First Responders” of the 9/11 attacks were labelled as super-heroic, new military technologies enable personnel to surpass their natural physical potential in combat, while the 2013 “Soldiers of Steel” media campaign directly equates US National Guard soldiers to the titular “Man of Steel”, Superman.

 After seventy-seven years of comic book existence, the superhero remains regarded as an inspirational figure, but also a divisive one, perceived in some quarters as a promoter of violence and vigilantism. Superheroes position themselves as purveyors of a specific set of moral values, sometimes above the law, but always striving for the greater good. Superheroes are typically depicted in a constant struggle with notions of personal responsibility, and questions of identity and destiny, in line with Joseph Campbell’s “Monomyth”.

 Perceived as a modern form of mythology or folklore, the superhero currently occupies a diverse and expansive space in modern popular culture. Yet, while still largely American in focus, the superhero has become increasingly international, capable of reflecting specific issues and operating as a powerful messenger of them – a power they have possessed since their inception. As more and more people wear the symbols of superheroes (via t-shirts at al) as an expression of values as well as fandom, the superhero is becoming us.

 The 1st Global Conference on Superheroes invites inter-disciplinary discussion on superheroes and the notion of the super-heroic. Areas of discussion could include: the propagation of the notion of the soldier as superhero; post-human technological augmentation and the cyborg body as enabled by Google Glass; the real-life costumed superhero group known as The Rain City Superhero Movement; India’s superhero Priya and the character’s addressing of sexual violence; Marvel Comics’ decision to change the gender of Norse god superhero Thor and the ethnicity of Spider-Man; superhero movies’ presentation of urban mass disaster as spectacle; the co-opting of the Guy Fawkes mask as made famous by Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta mask by social activist group Anonymous.

 Indicative themes for discussion may include but are not limited to:

1. Post-Humanism:

– Technology & augmentation / armour

– Cyborgs

– Prosthesis

– The Übermensch

– Mutations and genetic engineering

2. Dual Identities:

– The power of the mask

– Alter-egos and secret identities

– Costume and Disguise

– Cosplay

3. Gender & Ethnicity:

– Hyper-masculinity

– Depictions of the female superhero

– Ethnic diversity in superhero comics and their readership.

4. Sexuality:

– LGBT Superheroes

– Queer readings of established characters

– Gay Representation in Superhero Comics

– Camp and the Superhero

– Superheroes vs Sexual Violence

5. Deconstruction:

– The anti-hero

– The post-9/11 Superhero

– The Everyman superhero

6. Social Responsibility:

– Vigilantism

– Superheroes as role models

– Childhood play

– Heroism and cowardice

7. The Heroic & the Patriotic:

– The monomyth (the hero’s journey)

– Patriotism and nationalism

– National personification

– The Soldier as Superhero

– “Truth, justice and the American way”

8. Pop Culture Depictions:

– Adaptation

– The superhero as brand

– Merchandising and franchising

– Fans and cultural capital

 In addition to the presentation of conference papers, the Steering Group welcomes the submission of shorts workshops and accounts of professional practice, as well as other contributions, including performances. It particularly welcomes the submission of pre-formed panel proposals.

 What to Send:

300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 5th June 2015. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 7th August 2015. Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word or RTF formats with the following information and in this order:

1. a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.

 E-mails should be entitled: SUPER1 Abstract Submission.

 Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline). We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.

 Organising Chairs:

Danny Graydon: d.graydon@btinternet.com

Rob Fisher: super1@inter-disciplinary.net

 The conference is part of the ‘Ethos’ series of research projects. The aim of the conference is to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting. All proposals accepted for and presented at the conference must be in English and will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook.  Selected proposals may be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume(s). All publications from the conference will require editors, to be chosen from interested delegates from the conference.

Inter-Disciplinary.Net believes it is a mark of personal courtesy and professional respect to your colleagues that all delegates should attend for the full duration of the meeting. If you are unable to make this commitment, please do not submit an abstract for presentation.

Please note: Inter-Disciplinary.Net is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence.

Ricky Rouse? Oh, I know the guy. Hair-trigger temper and a penchant for finding trouble. In fact, I have known about the aimless, ex-soldier Mr. Rouse and his strangely-familiar alter-ego since he was naught but a glint in his creator Jorg Tittel’s eye, the subject of many an excitable phone conversation. But look at Ricky now. All fancied up – and suitably tooled-up – in what is a remarkably assured and incredibly enjoyable Comics debut.

A dynamic and engrossing example of the graphic novel format – with, I make no bones about it, the added sheer personal satisfaction of seeing a good and talented friend’s Comics ambitions be realised in such a vivid manner – RICKY ROUSE HAS A GUN is an impressively multi-faceted work. It’s a rattling tale of action, opening in the arid, war-torn landscape of Afghanistan, as US Marine Lt. Richard Rouse deserts his duty after leaning that his wife and daughter back home have left, aimlessly wandering until reaching Shanghai. A series of menial jobs leads him to the overtly Disneyland-like Fengxian Amusement Park where Rouse is offered the chance to be the park’s pointedly Mickey Mouse-alike mascot, dubbed “Ricky Rouse” (“A Chinese original”, enthuses Rouse’s new boss). Rouse’s newfound stability and an opportunity to reconnect with his beloved daughter  is threatened when the park is attacked by a group of terrorists dressed like iconic American characters – led by a malevolent “Donald Duck” and supported by the likes of  “Ratman” and the odd Star Wars Stormtrooper – protesting China’s economic strength leads the newly-christened Ricky Rouse to take up arms and deliver a suitably American response.

With a dry-humoured, disaffected and flawed protagonist who, in the midst of extraordinary circumstances,  displays a nice line in ultra-violence, RICKY ROUSE HAS A GUN ostensibly plays like “Die Hard In An Amusement Park” – engagingly and amusingly so –  but that is to vigorously undersell it. The more crucial and vital aspect of the book is that it genuinely has something to say. The subjects of Intellectual Property, Copyright Infringement and the inexorable, virus-like dominance of Western (ie American) culture on a global scale are of intense interest to Tittel and RICKY ROUSE showcases an interesting and compelling perspective on China’s apparent “rip-off” culture and the West’s inflexible attitude regarding it.

In his informative and enlightening foreword to the book, Professor Chris Sprigman of New York University School of Law identifies the Chinese practice of “Shanzhai” – the imitation and indigenization of foreign cultural icons – which, he notes, “represents a refusal of some Chinese to simply be assimilated by Western culture. But, the refusal doesn’t come as a rejection of Western culture. Rather, it comes as an embrace, one so tight that it insists not just beholding the icon, but on the power to absorb, transform and own it.”

In RICKY ROUSE HAS A GUN, Rouse’s costumed alter-ego allows Tittel to make effective commentary about Disney’s homogenised corporate mascot being adopted and refracted through a considerably different culture. Of course, it is not doing so with permission, yet, it can be argued that Disney never asked permission to control a part of our culture, its global success has just facilitated it and it has largely been enthusiastically embraced – to deny it is to risk, as Sprigman puts it, “cultural illiteracy”.

With this in mind, the urge to localise cultural icons can be understood. In RICKY ROUSE, Tittel makes his view of the West’s indignation at such legally-elastic appropriation explicit, when the manager of Fengxian Park exclaims: “I tell you what is rip-off! For Hollywood to make and remake the same movie ten times every year. Remake here. Sequel there. Like the public has amnesia. That is a rip-off. That is Piracy. That is a crime.”

This tension, between a Western culture that harbours an outright expectation of being accepted globally enthusiastically and with gratitude, and China, who have very different ideas about the ownership of culture, provides RICKY ROUSE HAS A GUN with a very strong thematic undercurrent and successfully makes you reconsider the grey areas of intellectual property and the merciless thrusting of branded values upon foreign cultures by American corporations. For Hucheng, the Western pop-culture obsessed “General Fucking Manager” of Fengxien, the creation of “Ricky Rouse” is a proud act of outright affection rather than blunt, artless theft.

Such strengths are amply consolidated by John Agg’s wonderfully-vibrant, Manga-influenced artwork, providing RICKY ROUSE HAS A GUN with a suitably cinematic tone and a fizzing visual energy that ideally complement’s Tittel’s pacey storytelling. With clean line work and impressive composition skills, Aggs habitually generates pages that showcase an engrossing dynamism and scope which is at its best during the action sequences (notably one set on a roller-coaster). Aggs’ design of Ricky Rouse is also highly effective, creating a easily recognisable but pleasingly subtle subversion of Disney’s beloved icon. As part of the promotional campaign for the book, a full size Ricky Rouse costume was created and was showcased in a music video (see below), bringing Ricky to glorious life and London-bound misadventures.

As someone who’s been a close observer and an enthusiastic supporter of this project, I am perhaps biased, but the final product – particularly handsome in its limited edition hardcover version with a vivid front cover illustration by William Chua – is undoubtedly a real comics treat and, for Tittel, a markedly strong debut. Filled with wry humour, RICKY ROUSE HAS A GUN is a tale that excites and provokes, gleefully challenging established notions of culture and giving us a new reluctant hero to watch kick ass and take names. This is a comics original – and don’t let anyone tell you different.

RICKY ROUSE HAS A GUN by Jorg Tittel and John Aggs is published by SelfMadeHero in a limited edition hardcover on June 12th (priced £24.99) and a trade edition in September 2014. The book’s website can be found at RickyLeaks.org.

 Last week at the New York Comic-Con, the 75th anniversary of Superman was commemorated with the release of a fantastic animated sequence that soared through the archetypal superhero’s illustrious seven-and-a-half decades in just two minutes, from Joe Schuster’s first sketch of the character right through to Henry Cavill’s turn in Man of Steel earlier this year.

Created to be part of the extras for the forthcoming home video release of Man of Steel, the short – conceived by Bruce Timm, produced by Warner Bros Animation and directed by Zack Snyder – does a marvellous job of dynamically going through the various eras and looks of Superman in comics, television and film (and, with a wonderful dash of nostalgia for my age group, the early 80’s video game!), taking in the likes of the seminal 1940’s Fleischer cartoons, the 50’s black-and-white TV show, the bonkers Silver Age SF stories, Curt Swan’s quintessential comics incarnation, the ground-breaking 1978 movie, the Dan Jurgens dominated 90’s, Alex Ross’s compellingly realistic depiction via Kingdom Come and Jim Lee’s New 52 version (boo!).

Inevitably, it’s easy to quibble about what notable moments of Superman’s history got left out, but I did think it was a little disappointing that TV Man of Steel Dean Cain got left out of the mix. Given that the cinematic Superman was firmly languishing in Development Hell throughout all of the 1990’s, Lois & Clark: The New Adventure’s of Superman played a vital role in maintaining the character’s wider cultural profile – not least helping to capitalise on the vast surge of popularity Superman received following the hugely-publicised Death of Superman storyline in 1992.

Musically, it goes without saying that the presence of John Williams’ flawless character theme for Superman: The Movie was as inevitable as it was expected and, sure enough, it covers the first half of the short, the opening staccato strings providing a pleasing background to the running Golden Age Superman as he prepares to leap a tall building – The Daily Planet, to be precise – in, of course, a single bound. Williams’ music segues in to Hans Zimmer’s main theme from Man of Steel and while I thought Zimmer did a fine job with his score for that rather serious movie, I was struck by the sheer difference in tone when you hear them side by side and that, frankly, Zimmer’s work pales incredibly in comparison to William’s dead-on evocation of Superman’s innate wonder and fun. Still: a minor quibble! Here’s the clip:

In the wake of the short’s release, artist Dusty Abell, who worked on the project, provided a peek in to the development process by posting up this superb character chart of the various incarnations of Superman that were up for inclusion. He does a brilliant job of translating the very distinct versions in to their animated forms – particularly the live action versions. It’s a delightful tribute to a true cultural icon and, for the committed Superman fan, it’s wonderful spotting all the nuances within – I especially liked it when Superman pats Krypto the Super-Dog on the head. I can’t wait to see it in full high-definition!

At the end of last month, my efforts in Academia took a pleasing development when I delivered my first ever piece of academic research – suitably, on Superman –  at the 2nd Global Conference on The Graphic Novel. Organised by Inter-Disciplinary.net and held at the exceedingly convivial location of Mansfield College in Oxford, my UH colleague Dr Barbara Brownie and I presented our examination of trans-status disguise in relation to Clark Kent and Superman, entitled “Negotiating Ordinariness and Otherness: Superman, Clark Kent and the superhero masquerade.”

Our paper – part a larger exploration on the role of superhero costumes in both fiction and fact – sought to explore one of the core dynamics of the superhero genre, the notion of a dual identity, and how the concept of “trans-status disguise” relates to the activities of undercover journalists and social scientists in the 19th century, exploring the concealment of otherness through the performance of ordinariness.

In the case of Superman, the archetypal superhero, this is especially true: Clark Kent is a constructed persona that allows Superman to not only integrate with the human society he protects but also be liberated from the superhero lifestyle’s responsibilities and the extreme attention it garners. We found this a particularly interesting area to explore because it highlights the sheer importance of Clark Kent and the vital conduit he provides for Superman’s heroic function.

Thrillingly, our effort stoked a pointed enthusiasm in others. Our presentation, delivered near the end of the final day of the conference, was very well received by the assembled delegation of international academics, prompting a lengthy Q and A session. Indeed, I took the opportunity to deliver a passionate defence of the character, whom I feel is habitually and chronically underestimated, despite his prominence in pop culture. As one delegate kindly put it, the conference “ended with a notable air of enthusiasm thanks in so small part to your commitment to Mr.Kent.” Well, “Hurrah” to that!

Best of all, afterwards I was approached by a number of delegates who told me that I had convinced them to revisit the character with a new perspective more open to seeing the details that Barbara and I had highlighted. This, for me, was a particular triumph as I strongly feel that, only too often nowadays, Superman is regarded with a distinct air of apathy and dismissed all too quickly as lightweight and inconsequential, despite his sheer prominence in pop culture. However in my view, it is quite, quite to the contrary: Superman is a nuanced character with profound inspirational qualities and there needs to be a forthright reminder of the sheer elemental power he possesses and which has allowed him to thrive through 75 years with very little alteration. Indeed, doing a presentation like this in Superman’s 75th year was a particular pleasure. Amusingly, the fact I wear glasses, my hair is parted Superman-like and the notable showcase of red and blue in my attire – let alone the more direct reference of my Superman S-shield belt buckle – was not lost on my audience and, indeed, prompted this delightful little sketch by Sarah Edmands Martin of Notre Dame University in the USA. Not bad, eh?

The conference overall was a hugely enjoyable experience. Professionally organised by Inter-Disciplinary.net, it was wonderful to spend time in the company of like-minded individuals passionately devoted to the exploration of the Comics medium and in such a gorgeous environment, too. The papers were consistently strong, but I was particularly engaged by John McGuire (University of Western Sydney) and his thoughts on Batman comics post-9/11; Amy Maynard of University of Adelaide on Batman’s cultural capital ; John Harnett of Ireland’s Mary Immaculate College, dissecting the narrative Alan Moore’s From Hell in a very expert manner ; York University’s Jilynn Quek exploring the female protagonist’s on Vertigo’s Fables series; Brighton University’s Louisa Buck on political cartoons ; the aforementioned Sarah Martin of Notre Dame on fairytale narrative presented on tablets ; Cambridge University’s Annie Burman on code-switching in the Chris Claremont run on X-Men and, Texas Woman University’s Jonathan Evans – a fellow Superman advocate – on the rhetorical power of Superheroes, about which I couldn’t agree more.

Here’s all the delegates outside the gorgeous main building of Mansfield College:

Great people and a great time. I couldn’t have been more satisfied with this formal debut in to the realms of academic research and I am incredibly grateful to Barbara for accompanying me on this first outing. Onwards and upwards…!

 

Released in late 2010, Taschen’s imperious 75 YEARS OF DC COMICS: THE ART OF MODERN MYTHMAKING made for a stunning addition to my Comics Reference library. Bearing the sheer authority of author Paul Levitz, whose entire professional life had been devoted to the illustrious comics publisher, the books’ 750 pages and over 2000 images makes it simply breath-taking to read – as well as physically lift – and provides truly fascinating overview of the company that, above all, created the superhero genre. If you missed out on “DC75” – or not unreasonably abstained due to the rather expensive price tag of £135 – then the good news is that Taschen have refashioned the contents in to what will ultimately be five separate volumes, the opening volume covering the years 1935-56, DC’s so-called “Golden Age”.

Obviously, the immediate question is: isn’t this a heinous double-dip? Granted, at £34.99 a volume, you’d end up paying £40 more than the original single volume – still available – but Taschen cannot be accused of a simple repackaging job with no effort made at providing added value. Firstly, The Golden Age of DC Comics comes at a more reader (and shelf)-friendly size (the sheer fact of the matter is that Taschen’s XXL format, while physically impressive, is not at all tailored to sitting on your sofa with it on your lap.) and one that still allows for a dynamic and detail-rich presentation of the images. Speaking of which:  just over 400 pages, the book allows for a considerable infusion of more images, with Taschen promising more than 1, 000 over the five volumes, their detailed annotations a vital addendum to Levitz’s incisive writing. Levitz has updated his essay – moderately so in this first volume, his introduction noting that the final two volumes will benefit most from that.

However, there is considerable value in the addition of an original interview with a prominent figure of the era covered, in this case the legendary figure of Joe Kubert, who died last year. Obviously, with the number of artists and writers who were active in the earliest days of comics now exceedingly thin on the ground, to read the recollections of someone who was actually there – Kubert did his work for DC  in 1943 and worked as an artist, writer and editor across every genre for DC over decades – provides engrossing context and is an eminently suitable way to start the book. (Future volumes promise interviews with Neal Adams, Denny O’Neill, Jeanette Kahn and Jim Lee).

Being published in the 75th year of DC’s company-defining creation Superman – and therefore the superhero genre as a whole – gives The Golden Age of DC Comics a particular resonance, as it provides an excellent and vivid opportunity to get a glimpse of those heady early days, which transformed the landscape of the comics medium forever. However, the book does provide a fulsome reminder that, while DC were pioneers of the Superhero genre, they also trod significant ground in the arenas of hard-boiled adventure, Crime, War, Western, and, most especially, Romance comics. The period of 1935-56 was one of considerable tumult in American life – The Depression, WWII, McCarthyism – and it’s interesting to see how DC, in its speedy ascendance, negotiates those times via its output. Similarly, the sheer resonance and impact of their key characters is reflected in how they were eagerly appropriated by wider media platforms, with radio, theatrical shorts and later Television.

Ultimately, if you do not have the original DC75 tome, then there is huge attraction in obtaining this (and the forthcoming volumes) as it provides an enchanting overview of DC’s birth and early days while also bestowing an almost-overwhelming trawl though the company’s visual archives. (If you do, then, speaking as a collector, you’ll have access to an augmented and far less-cumbersome version of the original, saving DC75 from wear and tear.). Rarely, if ever, have books on DC had as much unfettered access as Taschen’s have had, and with the impressive production values – the metallic gold sheen of the cover is a nice touch – you have a front row seat  in this trip down DC’s memory lane.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF DC COMICS is published by TASCHEN, priced £34.99

 

It’s been three years since I first I first entered the world of Academia as a lecturer for the University of Hertfordshire and, I have been progressively embracing a key concern of career academics: Research. Broadly speaking, I would like to pursue a PhD in the future, but, if my greatly desired plan of achieving a fractional post at UH comes to fruition, then annual “research outcomes”  – which is to say publication of academic articles and presentations at academic conferences – will be a part of the deal. One of the particular appeals of Academia is the opportunity to engage in concerted exploration of specific subject areas and, right now, I would like nothing more than to do that with my undiluted passion for Superheroes.

Consequently, my first big stab at this is via a book – exploring Superhero costumes – that I am currently writing with a colleague, Dr. Barbara Brownie, who teaches Design and Fashion at UH’s School of Creative Arts. The book, will in turn, generate a number of potential academic papers that can be presented at Comics-focused academic conferences, be they national or international. Rather excitingly, last week, Barbara and I received word that a paper we submitted had has been accepted for presentation at the 2nd Global Conference on Graphic Novels, to be held in Oxford, , from Sunday 22nd September to Tuesday 24th September. Hurrah! Here’s the abstract we submitted:

Negotiating Ordinariness and Otherness: Superman, Clark Kent and the superhero masquerade.

Superhero narratives are distinguished by the hero’s negotiation of the relationship between two constructed identities, one ordinary, one extraordinary. The superhero, whose costume emphasizes otherness, shelters in the guise of a civilian, in a performance of ordinariness.

Prompted by Jacob Riis’ invitation in How The Other Half Lives (1890), journalists of that era engaged in performances of ordinariness in search of trans-status empathy. These journalists cloaked themselves in a ‘signified cloth granting liberation and opportunity.’ The clothes reduced their status, masking profession or prestige, and they found themselves empowered. The disguises gave them a peculiar normalcy and anonymity, allowing them to partake in relationships and activities previously out of reach. Dressing down in civilian wardrobe, the superhero engages in similar trans-status disguise. By concealing otherness, he is liberated from the superhero lifestyle’s responsibilities and the extreme attention it garners.

Superman’s civilian masquerade provides the freedom to engage with normal society. We can consider his Clark Kent persona in terms of the trans-status observations emerging from social experiments that utilise disguise to enter a closed social group. Kal-El of Krypton is a ‘covert operative’ who originates from outside the subject of his study, and disguises himself to infiltrate the group. He learns their costumes and customs via his rural Kansas upbringing, and then, in adulthood and the urban sprawl of Metropolis, positions himself as ‘one of them.’ Superman’s relationship with his alter-ego differs from other superheroes, who previously existed as civilians before acquiring their superpowers. Spider-Man, for example, can be equated to a ‘retrospective participant observer’: he is able to model his civilian disguise on his own experiences of ordinariness.

 This paper will compare trans-status disguise in superhero comics to the activities of undercover journalists and social scientists, exploring the concealment of otherness through the performance of ordinariness.

 Keywords: Superman, Clark Kent, secret identity, ordinariness, otherness, Jacob Riis, outsider, disguise, alter-ego, undercover.

So, very pleasing news – and a good start, I think. It’s also rather nice to be presenting this subject in the 75th anniversary year of Superman, as well, so am very much looking forward to doing this. Onwards and upwards!

Far and away my favourite era of cinema is “The New Hollywood”, generally perceived to have run from 1968 to 1983 and which I was born in the middle of (1974). It was a period of tectonic change in Hollywood, with 1975’s Jaws generating the commercial paradigm of” the blockbuster” which remains to this day Hollywood’s dominant mode. More pertinently, though, The New Hollywood was defined by the arrival of a new generation of young firebrand filmmakers who plied intensely personal and defiantly non-commercial visions, expressing vivid commentary on the state of an America in the midst of profound social, political and economic change.

Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976) is a seminal film of the period. Released just a year after the bitter, painfully drawn-out end of The Vietnam War, the films portrayal of a lonely and depressed Vietnam veteran – mesmerically played by Robert De Niro in one of his signature performances – who returns to New York and is faced with an utterly alien, degenerate America that progressively stokes his inner rage to the point of explosion, remains as incendiary and unsettling now as it did then. American photojournalist Steve Schapiro was the special photographer on the set, chronicling the films production and capturing much of what we now regard as the films most iconic imagery. Schapiro’s dynamic work was previously only available as a limited edition volume from Taschen – costing an eye-watering £900 – but now, the German publisher has released a significantly more affordable “trade edition” – with, as ever, no sacrifice made on the gorgeous design and production values –  providing a perfect companion to Taschen’s prior book with Schapiro, The Godfather Family Album, which collected his work on another absolute masterpiece of The New Hollywood.

As Scorsese himself notes in the books foreword, Taxi Driver was produced “in a very different New York. The city was in dire straits, right on the edge of bankruptcy. For many who lived in the five boroughs, it was a desperate time, and you could feel it out there, day and night. New York had become a nightmare version of itself, and we lived and breathed it, walked and drove through it, let our story become infected and overwhelmed by it, just like Travis Bickle…”

Schapiro’s photographs effectively capture the grimy, faded look of 70’s New York, but, like the film, also imbue it with an odd beauty, as the harsh glare of the light from street lamps and neon shop signs contrast with the encroaching darkness of night time. Similarly, there’s a grim enchantment to Schapiro’s images of the films climactic massacre, where Travis Bickle’s twisted vengeance erupts in a shocking, blood-soaked melee, best encapsulated in an overhead shot of the aftermath which looks like a hideous, real-life crime scene.

The best material, though, are the many shots of De Niro at work, plying his famed Method approach to acting and progressively, precisely crafting one of cinema’s greatest psychopaths. From early shots of the wiry, boyish-looking actor pumping weights to the sinewy, muscular Travis brandishing a Magnum .44 with a cocksure grin to the shaven-headed angel of vengeance, standing on a street corner quietly surveying his intended target, Schapiro engrossingly captures the character’s growth, with De Niro’s increasingly dark eyes regularly captured flashing an unnerving malevolence.

The book is augmented with an array of archival interview with the films key players – Scorsese, screenwriter Paul Schrader, De Niro via an extensive and uncommonly penetrating chat with Playboy magazine, and Jodie Foster (whose performance as a prostitute marked a startling transition from the wholesome Disney fare which started her career) – all of which provide fascinating perspectives, from the immediacy of the films release to years afterward when the film had embedded itself in to the annals of truly great filmmaking.

Gorgeously designed, Taschen’s custom “XL” format provides a suitably dynamic showcase for photography and, in Schapiro’s case, provides an engrossing intimacy.  Like The Godfather Family Album, you get a fabulous glimpse into a cinematic milestone and fans of this key moment in Scorsese and De Niro’s legendary partnership will surely revel in this opportunity to get so close, it’ll feel like Travis is talkin’ to you…

TAXI DRIVER by Steve Schapiro is published by TASCHEN, priced £44.99.

Longtime professional acquaintance and friend Tim Pilcher is a kindred spirit in as much as Comics have defined his entire life. “Comics were undoubtedly in my blood from day one.” he proclaims, “I had ‘four colour funnies’ running through my veins before I’d even heard the expression. Cut me and I bled cyan, magenta, yellow and black. I inhaled the musty smell of old comics, as if they were perfume. I sweated Indian ink and I came in process white. It was my destiny to work in comics.”

Before we ever met formally, we had been at close quarters a great many times as he worked at the much-missed London comics shop Comics Showcase in the 80’s, in its best-remembered location, Covent Garden’s Neal Street. In the 90’s, Tim was fortunate enough to work for DC Comics’ mature imprint Vertigo  as an editor when, for a few years, they had a London office. It was a heady time for Comics and, as Legendary comic book writer Grant Morrison puts it, Vertigo’s Blighty digs were “the comics equivalent of the Loaded HQ in the ‘90s. Vodka, mushrooms, E’s, sex, money, travel and the pure unleashed creativity of young people having a good time together.”

Now, in anticipation of Vertigo’s 20th anniversary, Tim has written a revealing and completely unofficial memoir of DC Comics’ legendary London office, entitled Comic Book Babylon: A Cautionary Tale of Sex, Drugs & Comics and he’s launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the publishing of it. From the press release:

This is the candid, uncensored and utterly unofficial of story of DC Comic’s infamous Vertigo UK office, written by one who was the heart of the drug-fuelled, creative whirlwind. It’s the odyssey of one comic fan in pursuit of his dream job, becoming the first British member of the DC editorial staff, and learning the harsh realities of publishing life. Along the way he meets comics professionals and celebrities including Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Jamie Hewlett, Mark Millar, Garth Ennis, Philip Bond, Paul Gambaccini, Glyn Dillon, Jonathan Ross, The Spice Girls, Blur, Adam Ant, and many, many more. Revealing the crazy, halcyon days of the British comics publishing in the mid-Nineties, it blows the lid off the debauchery and excess that was part and parcel of the industry. When you reach such dizzy heights, there’s only one place to go. 

“Comic book guru” and author Tim Pilcher said, “It was an incredibly exciting time to be in comics. We felt we could achieve anything at the Vertigo office, and things got a little crazy. This is the book I’ve been threatening to write for the past 20 years! I suspect the first people wanting to pick this up will be all the comics professionals, to see what I said about them. There should be some very worried writers, artists and editors out there!” The veteran of quarter of a century of working in comics continued, “I wanted to let the world know that the comics industry is not all geeky and nerdy. In fact it’s every bit as hedonistic as the music business. If Paul Gravett is ‘The Man at the Crossroads’, then I’m ‘The Man at the Centre of a 15-Car Pile-Up’”.

Sounds fantastic! There are three versions of Comic Book Babylon available: eBook (with additional images), paperback, and 200 limited edition hardbacks, with covers created by design genius and comic book artist Rian Hughes. “Rian’s outdone himself,” said an impressed Tim, “The punky/acid house colours perfectly reflect the rave mood of the times in the book.” Hughes has also designed a limited edition print and three “Sex, Drugs and Comic Books” badges as incentives. Tim is available for interview and questions. You can contact him via timpilcher2@gmail.com. Comic Book Babylon’s website can be found at www.sexdrugsandcomicbooks.blogspot.com.

Impressively, after just a week, Tim has managed to obtain 85% of his target! However, more cash will mean a bigger print run for what sounds like a great book about a time in British comics that, personally, I am incredibly nostalgic for…! So, this is definitely worth supporting if you are able. The best of luck with it, Tim…!

Next month will see the publication of my latest book , ANGRY BIRDS: HATCHING A UNIVERSE, the first about the phenomenally successful mobile gaming  – and now firmly multi-media – franchise, created by Finland’s Rovio Entertainment.

Written late last year for Insight Editions and in close collaboration with Rovio, Hatching A Universe was an interesting project to take on, as it was, obviously, outside my core specialties of Film and Comics. However, what attracted me to the project was the chance to explore and chronicle the rocket-like rise of a genuine pop culture phenomenon. Since the release of the first game in 2009, Angry Birds has literally conquered the globe.

I travelled to Helsinki at the end of September 2012 to spend some time with Rovio, interviewing key creatives and getting a close-up glimpse of Rovio’s then furiously-expanding headquarters in Espoo, which was a fascinating – if utterly exhausting! – experience. While I was there, the primary focus was on the forthcoming release of their top-secret new game – codenamed “Black” – which, I learned to my enormous surprise, was Angry Birds Star Wars, well and truly proving to me  just how malleable Angry Birds could be and, indeed, has become. The moment I truly appreciated just how vast Angry Birds was when I was given a tour of their merchandising department and was overwhelmed by the scope of it: thousands upon thousands of products – approximately 30,000 licensed products in 18 months! – ranging from soft toys to kids bikes to to umbrellas to deluxe watches to fishing tackle (!)…

It was a real pleasure working with Rovio’s Books team, Juha Kallio (far right), Jann Schulte-Tiggs and Laura Nevanlinna, who were incredibly welcoming and efficiently saw to my every need. I think we – along with the books editor, Chris Prince – have crafted an gorgeous-looking book that will take fans through Angry Birds fast and suitably furious rise. Indeed, as I was finishing the book, I learned of Rovio’s plans for the Angry Birds animated movie, due in 2016, and that’s where we end Hatching A Universe. Consequently, I like to think of this book covering Rovio’s “Phase I” of Angry Birds, a la Marvel’s films.

Here’s a look at the book’s vivid cover, created by Rovio’s Jan Schulte-Tiggs:

ANGRY BIRDS: HATCHING A UNIVERSE is published in May via INSIGHT EDITIONS in the US and TITAN BOOKS in the UK.

The official James Bond website at 007.com has broken the tremendously exciting news that, in October, German art publisher Taschen are publishing a lavish and officially-endorsed celebration/exploration of 50 years of the Bond film franchise, THE JAMES BOND ARCHIVES – which means I can now officially reveal that I was part of the team of writers who crafted it!

As a passionate fan of both James Bond and Taschen, it was literally a dream come true when Paul Duncan, Taschen’s Film Editor, graciously offered me the opportunity to work on the book, which will be presented in Taschen’s imperious, boxed “XXL Edition” (previously showcased via Taschen’s fantastic Archives editions on Stanley Kubrick, Ingmar Bergman and Pedro Amoldovar). Paul commisioned me to write the chapters on For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), for which I crafted oral histories on the making of said films, utilising a huge amount of material from the archives of Bond film producers EON.

As such, it was an utterly fascinating research job. For a few months earlier this year, my study floor was absolutely covered in reams of papers – early story treatments, various versions of scripts, production call sheets, progress reports, telexes, letters, press cuttings, on-set B-roll material and dozens of interviews with the various casts and crews – which allowed me to discern the unique story behind each production. As a lifelong Bond fan – first film: 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me – it was, as they say, “007th Heaven”, providing an intoxicating close-up perspective of the legendary film series.

Leaving aside my bias as a contributor, this unprecedented level of access to Eon’s archives will ensure that THE JAMES BOND ARCHIVES is well and truly set apart from what will be a crowded field of Bond-related publishing this year. Bolstered by hundreds of previously-unseen photographs and, crucially, full access to the latest Bond production, SKYFALL – no, I know nothing about it! –  as well as benefitting from Taschen’s superb production standards, this is going to be a piece of Bondiana to truly savour. Here’s a look at the cover…

Over the next few months, 007.com will be posting previews from the book so you can get an idea of what you’ll be getting for £135 (yes, a hefty, eye-watering price tag, but if you’ve ever seen The Stanley Kubrick Archives, which I rate as one the best Film books I own, you’ll know that you get your money’s worth…). I am exceptionally proud to have been a part of this and I literally cannot wait to see the finished product. Huge thanks to Paul Duncan for giving me one of the most satisfying and enjoyable freelance gigs I have ever had!

The James Bond Archives, edited by Paul Duncan, is available to pre-order now in hardcover (with an original film strip from a new print of DR. NO included with the first printing of the book), 16.2 x 11.8 in., 600 pages £135/$200/€150 from TASCHEN