Yet Another Geeky Comic Book Diatribe ...

I doubt any of you have heard anything about it – and I haven’t actually read it, because it’s been years since I’ve purchased a comic book – but a storyline has just finished in the Spider-Man comics that’s seen Peter Parker’s marriage to his wife, Mary-Jane, get magically erased from the book’s history.

For those only familiar with the movies; about twenty years ago (real world time), Spidey and MJ got hitched. Pretty much ever since then, the editorial department has been looking for a way to end the marriage, feeling it was a mistake.

This has led into some of the most poorly-received storytelling in comics. First there was the Clone Saga, which saw Peter exposed as a clone, and the real deal having been running around unnoticed for the past few decades under the name ‘Ben Reilly’. The editors thought this would be a good way to shuffle Peter off while bringing in a new, single Spider-Man. But of course, the readers didn’t react well to being told the Spider-Man they’d been reading about since the ‘70s was a fraud, so they reversed that decision and made it known that Peter Parker was the genuine article.

Then they killed Mary Jane off. And then they brought her back, with her “death” having been an elaborate stunt pulled off by a stalker of hers so he could have her to himself. Creepy, huh? (And this is all without mentioning the fact that Mary Jane was pregnant during the Clone Saga, which culminated in a stillbirth because the editors felt a baby would “age Peter too much”. How sleazy is that??).

After that, they had Mary Jane and Peter separate (due to the trauma of her abduction). But eventually, they relented to fan pressure and brought them back together … only to now turn around and have Peter and Mary Jane strike a deal with the devil in order to save the life of Peter’s elderly Aunt May, at the price of their marriage being erased from history.

So now everything’s been rebooted to the status quo the Spider-Man comics had back in the ‘70s/early ‘80s, and once again the fan community is going batshit nuts over it.

It’s a weird, weird decision on a number of levels, that seems to speak more of the emotional immaturity of the editorial team at Marvel comics than anything else. We’ll set aside that Marvel is currently publishing not one, but two titles that are set in their own, separate continuities where Peter Parker is young and single, and instead focus on the decision itself.

Editorial has been pushing for this for over a decade. The argument has been that being married ages Peter too much, makes him difficult to relate to for younger readers, and that being married to a “super model” removes the “hard luck” component of his character that made him so unique when he debuted in the ‘60s.

With the first argument, they have a point. Being that he was married – and the fact that he’d been around for forty years - I took Peter Parker to be late 20s/early 30s, rather than the mid-20s the editorial team wants him to be seen as.

But that certainly didn’t make it difficult for me to relate to him. The thing with Peter was that he was the hard luck geek done good. It was aspirational comics. Sure, he’d had a hard time in high school, but as he’d gotten older he’d grown out of his awkward stage. He’d come to accept himself for who he was, and had gained confidence in that.

It was that confidence that made it believable that a girl like Mary Jane would be attracted to him. And as far as the “super model”-going-for-the-geek straining credibility goes, well, I feel I have to point out that MJ wasn’t a famous super model until she was made one by the very same people who were complaining about her status as one, as if they were generating “valid” reasons to be against the marriage. Before then, she was a struggling model / actress who had a hard time getting people to take her and her career seriously, which fit perfectly in alongside Peter’s own careers ups-and-downs. They were having a hard time of it, but they were in it together.

I liked the relationship between Peter and Mary Jane. Certainly, it was geeky wish fulfilment. But when you’re a lonely, powerless kid, it gives you strength to see someone who’s started off where you are and managed to get to a good place in his life … even if that character is completely fictional.

But more importantly, Peter’s marriage to Mary Jane was a thematically strong aspect of the character. Spider-Man is about many things, but the biggest theme of his story is responsibility, and how we have to accept responsibility rather than fight against it. Beyond Superman, I can’t think of any other comic character where the gradual increase of real world responsibilities is so centrally important.

The other thing that strikes me as strange – and a little bit sad – is that this argument that good stories can’t be told about a married Spider-Man is, in fact, coming from a group of married men. What kind of relationships do they have with their wives if they feel that all their greatest stories are behind them and that life no longer poses any challenges or adventures?

The sentiment is that good stories can’t be told about a married Spider-Man. My feeling is that writers have failed in telling good stories about a married Spider-Man because they’ve been too focused for too long on trying to do away with the marriage.

I could go on and on about this (and obviously have). There are lot of aspects to it that I haven’t even touched on. But I’ll take mercy on you all and leave it there, especially given that, with the cyclical nature of comic books, I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of time before this boneheaded decision is reversed and we have a reunited Peter and Mary Jane.

Hey, a geek can dream …

Serenity ( Then and ) Now !

I was already mildly curious about Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, because Lena Headey (who's playing Sarah Connor) rocks the casbah, and because ever since I was a kid I've had a certain fascination with the Terminator saga.

But then I saw the ad, and saw that Summer Glau (pictured above) is playing the Terminator sent back to protect Sarah Connor and her saviour-of-the-future offspring, John.

Hell yeah!

To be perfectly honest, this isn't very imaginative casting, given Summer's role in one of my all-time favourite TV shows / movies, Firefly (re-titled Serenity when it got adapted for cinema). In that, she played River, a young genius driven to the edge of insanity by the machinations of a nefarious government plot that turned her into a living weapon.

And now she's playing another living weapon. And I don't care about the repetition because it's good to see her again, and I'm sure she's going to be awesome.

Now if only Alan Tudyk could get some equally high-profile work.

Blackout, Part II

I effed my computer.

While trying to plug the jack for the speakers into the back of the computer without looking (as I've done dozens of times before) I accidentally jammed the jack into a USB port, shorting out the computer and frying the motherboard.

Essentially, I've taken a stick and shoved it in the ear canal of my PC, poking its brain. It's now twitching in a mass on the floor in a pool of its own blood and excrement.

Visual, huh?

Anyway, I called a couple different places to ask about it, and got put onto a guy by the name of Bob from Jim's Computers (the hardwired version of Jim's Mowing, with matching logo!). Bob dropped by the other night to take a look at it and concluded it needed some work done.

The capacitators and the motherboard both need replacement. It won't be until at least Tuesday before I found out what the final assessment is. I'm thinking it's going to cost me around about the $500 mark. Fan - freakin' - tastic!

On the plus side, however, Bob reminds me a great deal of my boss from the DJ company, with his verbal diarrhea and constant digressions into former glories. I put this in the plus column because it's somewhat amusing and because - and this may turn out to be completely wrong - I feel I've jagged a computer guy I can trust.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

In any case, this is all just a long-winded way of saying that, while I still have Internet access at work, I don't at home. So if you're trying to email me or what have you, don't expect a reply until office hours. At the very least.

I Really Don't Like These People

The Westboro Baptist Church, as led by professional bigot Fred Phelps, are planning on picketing Heath Ledger's funeral. You might know this charming lot as the people who protest at the funerals of gay men and women with signs like "God Hates Fags".

From their website;

"Yes. WBC will picket this pervert's funeral, in
religious protest and warning: "Be not
deceived; God is not mocked." Gal. 6:7. Heath
Ledger thought it was great fun defying God
Almighty and His plain word; to wit: God Hates
Fags! & Fag-Enablers! Ergo, God hates the
sordid, tacky bucket of slime seasoned with
vomit known as 'Brokeback Mountain' - and He
hates all persons having anything whatsoever
to do with it."

I really don't understand how these people can take the teachings of Jesus Christ and twist them so far and with such malevolence. The fervour they express in their hatred implies absolutely no degree of rationality or compassion on their part, with no ability to be reasoned with; just simple, blind zealousness. It's like group insanity.

I can see how Kevin Smith came to be inspired to make a horror movie about them.

Heath Ledger is Dead!

Holy! Shit!

There are a lot of flip remarks coming to mind in response, but I don't want to disrespectful. This is a genuinely sad and tragic thing.

Sleepless Nights with Kevin Smith

I’ve gotten into the habit of watching DVDs (or at least bits of DVDs) in bed before going to sleep. The past few nights I’ve cracked out one of my two Christmas presents from Ben; the double-pack of An Evening with Kevin Smith and An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder.


I didn’t even know these two titles had been released in Australia when I unwrapped them a few weeks ago, let alone that they’d been put together in a hand-dandy double pack.

I tried watching the first disc while plopped on the couch one weekend a couple of weeks ago, and found the audience participation aspect to be just as painful to watch on DVD as it was to experience when I saw Kevin Smith do a live Q & A at the Clerks II premiere way back in August of ‘06. I hastily switched the DVD off, unable to deal with the awkward, cloying geeks as they breathily pandered to their idol before asking a particularly inane question.

But, given my affection for the ol’ Silent Bob, I decided to get back on the horse and give it another shot … and I found the secret to avoiding the pain of the Q part of the Q & A; the fast forward button. The sub-titles still pop up, letting you know the gist of the query, and then you hit play so you get nothing but the creamy answer portion. Sweet relief!

The result is that I’ve been laughing hysterically in bed the past couple of nights. Had he not pursued the whole filmmaker thing for a living, Kevin Smith could have very easily subsidised himself as a stand-up comedian.

The DVDs have actually reawakened my formally keen interest in all things KS, and I’ve found myself gravitating back towards his blog. It’s kind of like catching up with an old friend; one you haven’t seen in a while and want to hear everything they’ve been up to.

Speaking of which, Pree arrives this evening. It’d be more exciting if I hadn’t seen his grinning mug on my recent Brisbane trip. Maybe I can ditch him at a water park and go ride bumper cars or somethin’, I dunno …

I kid, Pree, I kid.

Kinda.

What's That ? Time for a Sub-Par Movie Review, You Say ?

Went and saw Juno last night. Had a fine dinner beforehand, and even better company. But I’m not here to gossip. I’m here to bore your arse with movie-blabbering!

Juno’s a charming little film, and I can see why people have warmed to it to the degree they have. I can also see why it’s now starting to experience a bit of a backlash, because as time goes on it’s becoming the independent darling juggernaut that Little Miss Sunshine became last year. People then go in with inflated expectations, find instead a modest film told sweetly and with a little bit of a wink, and then grouse about how it wasn’t what they thought it’d be.

But that’s not to detract from the film itself, with the alchemy of its success owed to two major ingredients; Ellen Page and Diablo Cody.

I haven’t seen Hard Candy, the psychological thriller that introduced Ellen Page to the world. But I did think she was one of the few highlights of X-Men 3, with her portrayal of Kitty Pryde as vulnerable as it was fierce, but overall highly intelligent.

All of this isn’t to detract, however, from the work of Diablo Cody, the screenwriter. This was evidently a very personal story for Cody, and it’s one that’s launched her into the public eye in the way few writers ever manage to achieve.

But the exciting thing about her success is that it seems this generation has found its own John Hughes. I think, for the most part, my generation of high school kids went without the kind of mouthpiece that Hughes was for kids in the ‘80s.

We had Kevin Williamson give it a shot, but then people kind of realised his thing wasn’t so much intelligent writing as intelligently skewering other people’s writing, and whenever he strayed too far from subverting the work of others it tended to fall on its face.

Maybe Joss Whedon could potentially qualify, but I get the feeling that his work was too focused on genre television (and you also have to take into account that the Buffy kids were only in high school for 3 of their 7 seasons).

In any case, it now stands that Diablo Cody is poised to do the whole “voice of a generation” thing, and kudos to her. She’s a smart writer, giving her characters dialogue that doesn’t condescend to either the actors or the audience, and is willing to take her characters to difficult places so that we can see them at their most human.

Her next script is to be directed by Karyn Kusama, who broke out in 2000 with Girlfight and then got her arse handed to her in 2005 with Aeon Flux. Given that Cody’s script has been described as “Buffy meets Heathers”, I think it could potentially be a match made in Heaven, and prove that Diablo Cody is truly a talent to be reckoned with.

Plus, it helps that she’s totally hot.

Want to Slap Some Sense Into This Kid ?

Then have at it.

Has the World Gone Topsy-Turvy ???

Ben Lee and Ione Skye are getting married ???


I didn't even know they were going out! (Actually, I think I vaguely remember hearing about it somewhere, but obviously I found the concept so ludicrous I brain-dumped it as soon as I possibly could).

What, did they see an opening in the category of "Inexplicable Celebrity Hook-Ups that Make Absolutley No Sense" in the aftermath of Daniel Johns' and Natalie Imbruglia's divorce?


How the crap does Ben Lee get Ione Skye? How does Ben Lee even meet Ione Skye?

I must be heat-dazed.

In any case, I know of at least one Chuah who's going to be perturbed by the idea of Mr Disease getting hitched.

Welcome to the Tor-Quay, Bitch!

Yes, today was the day of the Torquay trip. No, I didn't have any blonde-locked football hunks punching me in the face before I inadvertantly burnt down a model mini-mansion (that one goes out to all those OC nerds out there!).

But I did make company history by being the first employee to ever have his annual job appraisal take place on a nude beach (I'm willing to bet I'm also the first person in the world to do this ... but I also thought I was the only person in the world with my name, until Google and Facebook proved otherwise *curses his Scottish namesake*). And before any wild rumours start, no, neither I nor the boss were naked. And neither was anyone else. Quite disappointing, really.

The appraisal was all good; I'm in no imminent danger of firings! Huzzah!

It was a fun trip overall, even if I did that thing of getting burnt by the sun thirty seconds after stepping out into it. The resort we'll be staying at for conference is pretty awesome. They've got a gym that I'm curious to try out, and see if I could hack getting a membership at a similar, Melbourne-based institution. Oh, and I get my own room for the one night I'll be there. I feel all jolly and important, like Richard Gere in Pretty Woman (though without the part of taking an average hooker and making her over into a high-class hooker. Or the fortune. Or the dashing-ness. Or the anything, really).

Got back to the office about 2.30, just in time to do a slapdash mail-out and some other random tasks before closing up shop for the day and heading home.

A nice way to spend a Wednesday.

I'm off to see Juno tomorrow night. Very much looking forward to it!

I Live !!

Taking a few spare minutes at work to let you all know I’m a-okay, and will try to do a bit more blogging in the next few days. Apologies for the lull. Life’s been keeping me on my toes! A few things I’ve done;

- Yes, my relationship status on Facebook has changed. If I’ve spoken to you any time in the past few weeks, I’ve probably already gushed to you enough information that you know the score. Let’s all be cool, shall we?

- Things have been going very well at work. I’m actually heading to Torquay tomorrow to check out the place we’re having our conference in February. My boss doesn’t drive, so I’m chauffeur/manservant for the day (though some may say it’s closer to house boy). Looking forward to it, actually. Should make for a nice change from the usual routine.

- Our washing machine is once again busted. Paaaaain.

- Ben’s taken off for the sunny side of Queensland for two weeks. With Ashley working as often as she does, I now get a small glimpse into how empty the house must have felt for my mum when I moved out (hi, Mum!)

- Developed an addiction for the one-two Thursday night punch of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares at 9.30 and the Miyazaki animation festival on SBS from 10.

- I’m officially waiting on only one thing ordered from online, and that’s a Christmas gift for Ben. Arrive, dammit, arrive!

- Speaking of arriving, that’s exactly what Pree’s doing on Friday night. And then on Sunday we’re all off to watch Luke be publicly buggered (I’m being glib, I know. The play he’s in sounds like it’ll be awesome, and I shouldn’t besmirch it. Not to mention that I’m pretty sure that Luke’s actually the one doing the buggering).

And that’s all I can think of / have time for right now. Hope you’re all well and enjoying this tapestry of wonderment we call life. Yes, I know I’m being an idiot, but I’m on too much of a roll to care.

And with this, I say good day.

Testify!

From Shortpacked!


That's called telling it like it is, yo.

Safe and Sound

That's how I am after my flight home, so no need to worry, Queensland-based relatives! It's also how I am after a relatively quiet New Year's. It began with hanging out with Li-Kim watching TV and ended up in a park with hundreds of other drunken revellers (did I spell that right?) at 1 o'clock in the morning. Nothing major, but I saw in the New Year regardless.

Of course, all of this was after having gone to see The Golden Compass with Charlie and Max; Charlie's promised me he'll write up a review to email to me so I can post it on the blog. And you better believe I'll be reminding him to keep his promise! Because I sure as heck don't want to review it.

I'm heading back to work tomorrow, which I'm both looking forward to and dreading. I'm looking forward to it because I genuinely enjoy my job, but dreading it because of all the things I know I'm going to have to do the moment I get back. Uch.

Well, that's that updated. Til next time!