the pulp (Issue 6, July 2014) by The Pulp

Issue 6, July 2014

magazine

The People of the Hour!

Editor Talk When I first started the pulp, I was sure I’d be spending my months curating my own content. Editing my own articles. I’m aware of how difficult it can be to gather intelligent, reliable, and talented contributors, and I’m amazed that we’ve had so many wonderful ones thus far. I’m relieved that this project didn’t just turn into another blog for myself because other people always have much more interesting things to say. That being said, everyone is off enjoying their summer holidays, so we have a smaller issue for you this week. You can probably skim through it in the time it takes to wait for a bag of mini donuts at K-Days, or read your favourite articles while waiting in the ticket line-up at Taste of Edmonton. We might be light, but we’re never mediocre. This month, we’re taking on Neal Adams’ theory of continental drift, the public opinion of Punisher: War Zone, and warring gods of antiquity. We’ll teach you the dos and don’ts of steampunk fashion and you might even learn a little bit about Slurm. We’ve also pinched a bunch of photos from Animethon, to ramp you up for the nearing event. Have you chosen your cosplay yet?

Cheryl Editor-in-Chief thepulppress.com Cover and back cover photo courtesy of Benjamin Sim Photography, Animethon, and ASAPA.

Cheryl Cottrell-Smith, Editor-in-Chief Writer, editor, lover of words, and proponent of the Oxford Comma. Loves comics, Lionhead’s Fable, red wine, and cats. @CottrellSmithC

Matt Bowes, Lit + Film Columnist Self-proclaimed cultural commentator/arbiter of good taste. Enjoys movies/books, and writes about them at thisnerdinglife.com. @matt_bowes

Teresa Simmons, Fashion Columnist Fashion writer and blogger at Simmons On Style. She can’t live without little black dresses, seafood, holidays, Indie music, and lip gloss. @simmonsonstyle

Russ Dobler, Editorial Contributor Known as "Dog" to friends and weirdos; wannabe scientist; beer lover. Blogs at thoughtfulconduit.com/whatdoesthismean.

Issue 6, July 2014

CONTENTS lit + film 8

Eight revisionist fairy tales and why you should love them – Cheryl CottrellSmith For Your Reconsideration: Punisher: War Zone (2008) – Matt Bowes

musings 4

comics + graphic novels 11

The Fantastic, Impossible World of Neal Adams – Russ Dobler

Costa adds depth to Hickman's vision in 'God is Dead' – Cheryl CottrellSmith

nerd culture 24

Animethon turns 21— kanpai! – Cheryl CottrellSmith

Our Fictional Future: Food – Matt Bowes

fashion + cosplay 13

How to wear: Steampunk Fashion – Teresa Simmons

Issue 6, July 2014

Written by Matt Bowes | Images courtesy of Matt Groening, apaladinincitadel.blogspot.com, dualpixels.com, and cargocollective.com

Our Fictional Future: As the future approaches

like a runaway train, one of the more pressing issues facing our species is how we plan to feed our ever-growing population. Rob Rhinehart, a software engineer from the United States, thinks he has a solution: Soylent is an “open-source” nutritional drink which can be used as a complete food replacement system. The raw materials for Soylent are purchased in bulk from the website, and Kickstarter backers received their first shipments this May. All you really need to do is add water, but as the “source code” for basic human nutrition is now available, many enterprising food futurists have begun tweaking the recipe for themselves. The name for the system comes from Harry Harrison’s 1966 science fiction novel Make Room! Make Room! which was adapted into the paranoiainducing Charlton Heston film Soylent Green in 1973. As this is a case where reality is literally stranger than the fiction that inspired it, we here at the pulp thought we’d introduce you to some more unorthodox approaches to food from pop culture. While The Matrix brought us discussion of what flavours will mean once robots are in charge, and Bong Joon Ho’s Snowpiercer is revolting viewers with what its underclass is forced to subsist on, here’s a few deeper cuts. Who knows, maybe some of these ideas might make it on to your plate in the near future.

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The Space Merchants deftly satirizes the duplicitous worlds of advertising and big business, and extrapolates upon how they might continue to be used to pacify people.

Slurm and Bachelor Chow

The Space Merchants

Futurama, Matt Groening’s chronicle of the year 3000 and beyond, appears to finally have met its end after numerous resurrections, but over the years it’s given us at least two hilarious future foodstuffs. Slurm is a radioactively-green soft drink much beloved by Philip J. Fry, the cryogenically-frozen main character of the series. In the episode “Fry and the Slurm Factory,” Fry and friends feature in many Willy Wonka-inspired gags before the truth of how they make the delicious concoction is revealed: the secret, and only, ingredient in Slurm is actually the secretions by a giant alien Slurm Queen! Fry is horrified by the revelation, but then he takes another sip of the highly addictive beverage, warm from the process. Futurama also features the prominent placement of a hilarious meal replacement called Bachelor Chow, which essentially beat Soylent to the punch by about ten years. On the show it basically looks like dog food for lazy humans, but the wonderful YouTube channel Feast of Fiction makes it seem like more chocolatey breakfast cereal. (Bachelor Chow is also the name of a popular Soylent recipe as well.)

This novel by Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth was originally serialized in Galaxy Science Fiction under the name “Gravy Planet,” and hit store shelves in 1953. If you’re a fan of Mad Men and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, I would definitely recommend this novel, as it deserves to be much more well-known. The Space Merchants deftly satirizes the duplicitous worlds of advertising and big business, and extrapolates upon how they might continue to be used to pacify people. Mitch Courtenay is a hotshot copywriter working at an ad agency in the overpopulated Earth of the near future. He gets his big break when he’s tasked with putting together a new campaign to get colonists to move to Venus, soft-pedalling the arduous terraforming operations needed to sustain life, of course. Soon he gets mixed up in a madcap series of adventures leading him to question the hyper-capitalist society that grants him his privileged status. The book is especially prescient in its use of language, as it marks one of the first instances of the word “muzak” in pop culture, and it also pioneered the term “R&D”. It also features something called “Chicken Little,” which our horrified protagonist finds out is a gigantic vat-grown organism fed by algae scum. Slices of the giant, pulsating mass are sheared off by workers, and sent to fast food joints all across the planet. Yum!

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Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee

Oryx and Crake

The Oddworld video games were some of the most well-loved and critically acclaimed on the original Playstation and Xbox systems, devilishly hard platformers that valued careful thought, planning and logic over twitchiness and speed. There’s also a speech system in the games, revolutionary for their time, which allows the main characters to talk to other creatures onscreen and get them to help you with puzzles. Abe starts the first game of the series working at RuptureFarms, a gigantic meat processing plant where his people, the Mudokons, are enslaved by the money-grubbing Glukkons. RuptureFarms is running out of products to sell, as Meech Munchies have gone extinct, and Paramite Pies and Scrab Cakes are not appetizing enough to make up for it. When buffing the floor outside an office, Abe wanders into earshot of a board meeting and finds the Mudokons to be next on the menu as the upcoming “New n’ Tasty”! He then sets out to brave the industrial hellscape that is the factory and break out his fellow Mudokons in the process, dodging traps and guards along the way. The game is full of dark humour and over the top violence, and has a surprising amount to say about our industrial food production system and the plight of working people across the world. This was further expanded upon with the sequel to Oddysee, Abe’s Exoddus, where the Mudokons who did not escape the first time are further endangered as their tears and bones are used in the production of a new product, Soulstorm Brew.

Darren Aronofsky, director of Noah, The Wrestler and the massively-underloved The Fountain, plans to make his next project an adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy for HBO. This series of books by the preeminent Canadian author of the fantastic features numerous instances of weird food, as it takes place in the remnants of a world where genetic engineering has gone mad. The titular Oryx and Crake have become unto gods to the genetically scrambled remnants of humanity, and we get their story related to us via Snowman, the sole unmodified human on the planet. Among the many nefarious uses of genesplicing pre-apocalypse are ChickieNobs, chickens engineered to have no head, wings or feathers and instead featuring multiple breasts (logical extensions of The Space Merchants’ Chicken Little). There’s also Pigoons, which are half-pig-half-human and originally bred to create transplantable organs for humans, but it’s also joked about that they’re on the menu as pies. As with her most famous book The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood’s depiction of the future seems on the outset to be ridiculous, impossible even, but keep an eye on the news, as every day we’re getting closer to her strange future.

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Eight revisionist fairy tales and why you should love them Written by Cheryl Cottrell-Smith | Images courtesy of Gregory Maguire, Disney, ABC, Dave McKean, and BBC Two

I recently went to see Wicked: The Musical at the Jubilee Theatre and, despite a great performance and amazing vocals, I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. The musical must and should leave out many elements of Gregory Maguire’s original novel, but it’s these elements that made the book so powerful for me—that really led me to buy-in to Maguire’s vision for a revisioned fantasy story. Which, in turn, made me think about the adaptation of fairy and fantasy tales. I adore reading books like Wicked, or Maguire’s Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, or Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, and I used to think that they were brilliant adaptations of The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, and Alice in Wonderland, respectively. And yes, they are adaptations in every sense of the word. Reworkings. Modernizations (in some cases). What I’ve come to realize, though, is that fairy tales and fantasy are so pervasive throughout our culture that, for many, an adaptation is just one in a string of cultural revisions throughout history. A great fairy tale or fantasy story never has just one adaptation: each reworking changes depending on the cultural whims of the writer. For example, L. Frank Baum published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900. It was adapted as a film many times, with the most popular being the 1939 version starring Judy Garland. While the books were for children, the 1939 adaptation tended to be a sugarcoated revision of the book, hence the cult following that came from 1985’s Return to Oz. This film was darker (imagine Dorothy hooked up to an electrical machine at a mental institution) and, as fans will attest, much more faithful to Baum’s original series. In 1995, Maguire wrote Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, a revisionist account of what Oz was like before Dorothy. As the title suggests, it looks directly into the life of Elphaba (whose name is made from L. Frank Baum’s initials) and her growth into the “Wicked” Witch of the West. Wicked is followed by Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz (combined: The Wicked Years)—all of which deal very much in Oz politics, ethics, repression, and conformity.

Oz (combined: The Wicked Years)—all of which deal very much in Oz politics, ethics, repression, and conformity. In 2003, Wicked: The Musical premiered at the Gershwin Theatre in New York City and has since become so popular that it’s still on tour today, 11 years later. It, too, has changed with the times. Even the ending from Maguire’s novel has been changed in the musical. We see it in pop culture everywhere we turn: the modern fairy tale. The adapted fantasy story. From NBC’s Grimm, to the Snow White and the Huntsman film, through to high fantasy books inspired by Tolkien, and everything else under the sun. There’s something titillating about taking a traditional story and making it new again; if done well, the revision can sometimes surpass the original (i.e. Robert Carlyle’s chillingly omnipresent representation of Rumpelstiltskin in ABC’s Once Upon a Time). And, sometimes, revisionist fantasy can fail. Cough. Twilight. (Of course, there’s also the far more cynical view that all literature ever is just a rewrite of things that have been written before, but we don’t need to dwell on the idea of writers as the masters of paraphrase.) Below are a list of my favourite revisionist novels, short stories, television shows, and comics for your reading and viewing pleasure, but please note that this is far from a comprehensive (or, to be honest, diverse) list. You might notice that it’s a little Maguire/Gaimanheavy—in my opinion, they're the masters of the genre, but there are hundreds of other revisionist fairy tale collections and novels out there. Which one is your favourite?

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Fables - Bill Willingham (graphic novel)

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire (novel)

Fables is a comic book series centred on a large group of fairy tale characters who have been uprooted from their Homelands by the invasion of the “Adversary” and have come to live in our world. A thrice-divorced prince charming, a secret agent Rapunzel, and a bestiality-pursuing Goldilocks are all characters in this openlyrealistic account of Fables and their attempt to live normal lives in a world with very little magic.

Maguire, proving himself one of the kings of revisionist fairy tales, offers up one of my all-time favourite novels with this reworking of Cinderella. Told through the eyes of mute Ruth, it details her family’s struggle against poverty in the Netherlands during (we can assume) the Renaissance, her mother’s marriage to a trader, and Ruth’s, her sister Iris’, and her stepsister Clara’s dealings with society as a haphazard trio of awkward young women. Introduce a painter of the grotesque, his effeminate apprentice, and a rapey prince, and you’ve got yourself a revisionist story that lingers well after the last page.

Wicked Years - Gregory Maguire (novel series) Four novels comprise the Wicked Years series, all of which cover a land of Oz as we’ve never seen it before. From the childhood of Elphaba, the “Wicked” Witch of the West, to the social oppression of talking Animals, through to the trials and tribulations of Elphaba’s son and granddaughter, Maguire covers as many ambiguous political and ethical issues as possible. Fans of Wicked: The Musical might be surprised at just how dark and queer this version of Oz can be. Troll Bridge (from Smoke and Mirrors) - Neil Gaiman (short story)

Smoke and Mirrors is one of the best collection of Gaiman’s work and all of the stories have an edge to them akin to many of his longer pieces. This story, in my opinion, has much more meaning that the original, with an extremely interesting look at life, death, and growing old. Is the troll an enemy, or is he the old friend that everyone meets when it’s their time? Snow, Glass, Apples (from Smoke and Mirrors) - Neil Gaiman (short story) Told through the eyes of a fearful stepmother, this short story details the birth and growth of an unnatural, frightening child with vampiric tendencies and a blatant, freakish sexuality. There are a lot of moving pieces to this story, but it’s worth a read for fans of the genre. And of Gaiman.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire (novel) Maguire, proving himself one of the kings of revisionist fairy tales, offers up one of my all-time favourite novels with this reworking of

Snow, Glass, Apples (from Smoke and Mirrors) - Neil Gaiman (short story) Told through the eyes of a fearful stepmother, this short story details the birth and growth of an unnatural, frightening child with vampiric tendencies and a blatant, freakish sexuality. There are a lot of moving pieces to this story, but it’s worth a read for fans of the genre. And of Gaiman. Mirror, Mirror - Gregory Maguire (novel) Again, Maguire knocks it out of the park with a revisionist retelling of Snow White, where the heroine (Bianca) is under threat from the beautiful Lucrezia Borgia and her lusty brother, Cesare. The dwarfs are not cartoonish in this version, but rather compared quite often to rocks and boulders—they move slowly, but are much more grotto, nome, and—indeed—dwarf-like than Disney’s version. The mirror, fashioned out of mercury, is a wonderful addition to the tale, and its connection to Lucrezia’s hallucinations explains everything away. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman (novel) This novel, which is also a comic book and a TV series because Gaiman has his hands in many pots, comes to the top of every search engine the second you even think the term “revisionist fairy tale.” It originally began as a BBC Two miniseries before Gaiman adapted it to the book and graphic novel form. There’s “London Below,” a Wonderland-esque version of the city rife with weird and wonderful markets, a family with the ability to open things (any things), angels, rat-speakers, and lusty, vampire-style, blood-sucking women. It’s a smorgasbord of the magical and fantastical, held together with Gaiman’s trademark matter-of-fact writing style.

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Once Upon a Time – ABC (television show) An all-star cast fills out this revisionist look at fairy tale characters that casts a similar shadow to the Fables comic books. It’s always interesting to imagine what fairy tale characters would do if placed in our world, especially without their memories, and this show ties in some magnificent acting with a number of beautifully incestuous story arcs. Both Robert Carlyle and Lana Parrilla made this a mustwatch for me. Mirror, Mirror - Gregory Maguire (novel) Again, Maguire knocks it out of the park with a revisionist retelling of Snow White, where the heroine (Bianca) is under threat from the beautiful Lucrezia Borgia and her lusty brother, Cesare. The dwarfs are not cartoonish in this version, but rather compared quite often to rocks and boulders—they move slowly, but are much more grotto, nome, and—indeed—dwarf-like than Disney’s version. The mirror, fashioned out of mercury, is a wonderful addition to the tale, and its connection to Lucrezia’s hallucinations explains everything away. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman (novel) This novel, which is also a comic book and a TV series because Gaiman has his hands in many pots, comes to the top of every search engine the second you even think the term “revisionist fairy tale.” It originally began as a BBC Two miniseries before Gaiman adapted it to the book and graphic novel form. There’s “London Below,” a Wonderland-esque version of the city rife with weird and wonderful markets, a family with the ability to open things (any things), angels, rat-speakers, and lusty, vampire-style, blood-sucking women. It’s a smorgasbord of the magical and fantastical, held together with Gaiman’s trademark matter-of-fact writing style.

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman (novel) This novel, which is also a comic book and a TV series because Gaiman has his hands in many pots, comes to the top of every search engine the second you even think the term “revisionist fairy tale.” It originally began as a BBC Two miniseries before Gaiman adapted it to the book and graphic novel form. There’s “London Below,” a Wonderland-esque version of the city rife with weird and wonderful markets, a family with the ability to open things (any things), angels, rat-speakers, and lusty, vampire-style, blood-sucking women. It’s a smorgasbord of the magical and fantastical, held together with Gaiman’s trademark matter-of-fact writing style.

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The Fantastic, Impossible World of Neal Adams If you’re a regular reader of the pulp,

That’s something to celebrate! As more and more dorks self-identify, nerd culture has finally clawed its way to social legitimacy. From Dungeons and Dragons players being accused of Satanism, to “Game of Thrones” ruling cable television, the culture has caught up to the idea that thinking outside the box is desirable and not demonic. Even before that equilibrium was achieved, the vast imaginations of some science fiction writers had surpassed fantasy and found ways to influence our real world. Isaac Asimov, perhaps best known for his stories addressing how people would interact with intelligent machines, was actually the first person to use the term “robotics.” When not penning such legendary works as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke was a futurist of great prescience, credited with some of the early ideas on global telecommunications and positioning systems. Of course, not all fantasy can jive as well with observed reality. Indeed, that’s often part of the appeal. Sometimes it’s nice to leave behind curmudgeonly restrictions in favour of a world where mutated humans can soar above the skyscrapers and blast force beams from their eyes, in defiance of Newton’s third law of motion.

But a problem can arise when the more outlandish of those ideas are pushed as genuine, especially when they contradict well-supported science. Neal Adams began drawing comics in 1960 and is often lauded as helping to solidify the modern appearances of such legendary heroes as the Green Arrow, Batman and Superman. In the ‘90s, he was inducted into both the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame and the Harvey Awards’ Jack Kirby Hall of Fame. A timeless juggernaut, Adams still works today, recently turning in a variant cover for Zenescope Entertainment’s Grimm Fairy Tales #100. None of that qualifies him to talk about science. Yet Adams is out there, trying mightily to convince anyone who will listen of the widespread geologic conspiracy that keeps the lid on the real truth that the Earth is ever expanding in size. That’s a pretty cool idea, perfectly fit for far out realms where mole men inhabit hollow planets and lava monsters occasionally rise from the depths to terrorize humanity. But it doesn’t match up to what we see here on Earth Prime. Geologist Donald Prothero perhaps summarized most concisely the case against an “expanding earth” in an article from Vol. 18 No. 1 of “Skeptic” magazine, although, as he points out, the most damning evidence could be recited by many college freshmen. Adams’ main reason for believing the idea seems to be the observation that the edges all the continents kinda sorta look like they fit together—so they must have done so when the Earth was smaller. Despite that, bedrock types don’t match along the coastlines he claims were once connected. Adams insists that subduction—the process of one tectonic plate diving

But a problem can arise when the more outlandish of those

beneath another—doesn’t occur, despite the consistent

at least one thing can be deduced about you. Whether practicing lightsaber techniques in Churchill Square, proudly cosplaying at the Calgary Expo or simply hunkering down with a good comic book, we all share in common the gift of great imagination. That ability to slip the surly bonds of reality and travel to fanciful places through literature, film and our own creativity.

Written by Russ Dobler | Images courtesy of Neal Adams

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beneath another—doesn’t occur, despite the consistent discovery of particular suites of rocks near subduction zones that could only have come from deep within the Earth. Prothero points out that remote sensing satellite technology, sensitive enough to measure the erosion of mountain ranges, has yet to detect this planetary inflation. Here’s where Adams could use some instruction from the type of person he’s dealt with, likely begrudgingly, his whole career: an editor. In comics, it’s the editor’s job, amongst other things, to make sure a story is internally consistent and that it makes sense in the given context. Comic creators sometimes bemoan the editor as a stifler of “artistic freedom” but, unfortunately for Adams, he can’t just pack up and head to another publisher if he doesn’t like how Mother Nature the editor is hacking up his ideas. If she says it don’t add up, it don’t add up. Adams isn’t the first person she’s hammered on this topic. Alfred Wegener noticed the coastline “fit” over a hundred years ago, prompting him to propose his “continental drift” hypothesis, that the giant land masses pushed their way through oceanic crust as they migrated across the globe. Nature threw the idea back in his face, reminding Wegener the oceanic crust is denser than the land and wouldn’t permit such a thing. Time and again, proponents of what became the plate tectonic theory were sent back to the drawing board for more evidence. Matching fossils and rock types from the coasts of South America and Africa weren’t enough. Similar alignments of magnetic minerals in transoceanic samples weren’t enough. For 50 years, the world’s geoscientists tried to satisfy their harsh taskmaster, until finally she acquiesced when plate boundaries were found to be delineated by seismic activity, and a mechanism for motion was identified. Imagination is undoubtedly important when trying to conceive the heretofore inconceivable, but unbounded imagination can give us some pretty crazy and unsupportable beliefs. Or even worse, Space Punisher.

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How to wear:

Steampunk Fashion Fashion Fashion Written by Teresa Simmons | Images courtesy of viona-art.com and artofsteampunk.blogspot.com

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Steampunk fashion. Have you heard whispers of this style before in your travels? To the average ears, it might sound like punk rock, heavy metal, chains, studs and spikes (ouch). But steampunk fashion is quite the opposite. It’s brass, chrome, gears, mechanical gadgets, and watch fobs. Think Victorian era, the 19th century, H.G. Wells, and Jules Verne. All of these things are the foundation of steampunk fashion. Embellished corsets, petticoats and full skirts— steampunk is style reminiscent of the Victorian period. Be prepared to squeeze yourself into a silky satin corset (it would help if you skipped a meal or two that day) and call a friend over to help you “lace up.” Corsets, petticoats and full skirts are the epitome of femininity, so don’t be shy. Play up your womanliness and flounce around in full-skirted glory. Be coquettish. If you want to add some steampunk edge to your lady-like, frilly look, don a pair of 19th century style pilot goggles. Steampunk fashion is also Edwardian hats and gloves. A steampunk fashionable woman always wears gloves to complete her look. The more ornate, decadent and old world your accessories are, the better they will fit in with your steampunk style. What you need are feathers (and lots of them), crystal beads and netted veils to decorate your elaborate hat. You should also wear this said hat with an air of Victorian-era hauteur, poise and grace. You also need gloves to go with your overstated hat. Your gloves should have pearls, sultry black lace and corseted wristlets to properly greet any potential courters that may come your way. If you want to spice things up, wear fingerless gloves. Remember to paint those nails black. High, leather, lace-up boots is steampunk fashion at its finest. A higher heeled boot is the perfect addition to your full skirt and petticoat. Choose a pair of lace-up boots that says old fashioned and refined vintage. To create an original, trueto-life steampunk look with your lace-up boots, it’s best to go for a pair that is gently worn and gilded. Your boots don’t need to be too high in length. Ideally, they should hit right around your knees or a couple of inches higher for the right Victorianesque effect. Other steampunk fashion paraphernalia also include parasols, top hats, leather flight helmets, pocket watches and mechanical-like jewelry. With steampunk fashion, you can be bold, wacky, wildly creative, mysterious, and adventurous. Don’t be afraid to mix and match different textures, patterns and fabrics. And feel free to flaunt your steampunk style outside the boundaries of steampunk, cosplay and anime conventions. I dare you.

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Written by Matt Bowes | Images courtesy of Lionsgate, Marvel, and punisher75.deviantart.com

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For Your Reconsideration: Punisher: War Zone (2008)

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Editor’s Note: Since this article went to press, Marvel made the announcement that the next Thor will be a woman. While this does much to challenge the notions of gender in superhero fiction, there’s still a lot of work to be done in creating an equal playing field for both genders. There’s a great article on the announcement in Time Magazine, which you can read here.

There’s been

a necessary conversation lately in online film and comic circles about the lack of female representation in superhero movies. The argument goes that seeing as how studios are banking on cape films as a big part of their bottom line for the immediate future, and women make up half of the potential viewing audience, it stands to reason that there should be more female-led superhero films, right?

There’s a wealth of great characters and stories to choose from, and the success of franchises like The Hunger Games and Twilight show that women-led fantasy films can rake in the dough hand over fist if given a chance. It’s ridiculous, frankly, that a Wonder Woman movie is taking so long to put together, or that the execrable Supergirl, Elektra and Catwoman are some

dough hand over fist if given a chance. It’s ridiculous, frankly, that a Wonder Woman movie is taking so long to put together, or that the execrable Supergirl, Elektra and Catwoman are some of the only examples of superheroines headlining their own films. The upcoming Sharon Carter and Jessica Jones series on the small screen are a good start, sure, but where’s a Enter the Dragon-esque Daughters of the Dragon film, a Birds of Prey outing in the style of Charlie’s Angels, a pre-Avengers adventure from the Black Widow’s KGB days, a Catherine Hardwicke-style interpretation of Runaways, or a space-faring Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel? Those are just off the top of my head! Still, looking back on the last few decades of comic book adaptations to film, there’s an even bigger gap, I think: while the lack of female characters on the screen is egregious, it doesn’t even begin to touch the lack of female creators in the director’s chair. When I was working with my partner, fellow pulp contributor Erin Fraser, on our comic book adaptation film series, Graphic Content, at the Metro Cinema, one of the first things we did was make a list of pretty much every film that would fit within our purview. We could only find four comic

Issue 6, July 2014 series, Graphic Content, at the Metro Cinema, one of the first things we did was make a list of pretty much every film that would fit within our purview. We could only find four comic book movies directed by a woman, and two of those were actually adaptations of the artist’s own indie comix work, Marjane Satrapi’s excellent Persepolis (2007) and Chicken with Plums (2011). Apart from Rachel Talalay’s adaptation of Tank Girl, which we showed in our series’ final year, there’s only one other superhero-style flick helmed by a woman. Luckily, it kicks serious ass: Punisher: War Zone, directed by Lexi Alexander. War Zone demolishes any sexist claim that women can’t direct action and over-the-top violence as well as any man. For my money, not only is War Zone flat-out better than a lot of higher-profile comic book adaptations, it understands the character of the Punisher far better than either of his previous incarnations onscreen. It’s funny as hell, features a great cast, and has a visual flair that makes it unique among the often bland colour schemes and uninspired direction of superhero movies. All in all, the film does a great job of reflecting, but not slavishly imitating, its source material: writer Garth Ennis’ legendary run on Marvel’s Punisher MAX from the mid-2000s.

“

For my money, not only is War Zone flat-out better than a lot of higher-profile comic book adaptations, it understands the character of the Punisher far better than either of his previous incarnations onscreen.

The narrative is simple and satisfying. The Punisher (Ray Stevenson), true to his M.O., attacks a gathering of mobsters at the local don’s mansion, including among them a capo on the rise named Billy “The Beaut” Russo (Dominic West). Billy escapes to his base down at the docks, where the Punisher proceeds to throw him in an extremely dangerous glasssmashing machine, which messes up his previously handsome face and turns him into the even more deranged Jigsaw. When an undercover FBI agent gets killed in the midst of these events, the Punisher finds himself on the wrong side of the law and the Mob, with the action culminating in a gigantic firefight at the Brad Street Hotel. Among the features I love best about the film is its lack of set up. Frank Castle, the Punisher, is an easy guy to explain: the Mob killed his family, he kills the Mob. Unlike many superhero films which spend the entire first movie on

set up. Frank Castle, the Punisher, is an easy guy to explain: the Mob killed his family, he kills the Mob. Unlike many superhero films which spend the entire first movie on background, War Zone spends maybe two minutes total explaining its hero’s origin, preferring instead to show him in action.

“

Two of my favourite kills are played entirely for laughs, which I think is really Punisher: War Zone’s secret weapon.

And the action totally lives up to any expectations the previous films might have led audiences to expect. Heads are exploded, limbs severed from bodies, and thousands of shell casings litter the floor by the film’s end. Two of my favourite kills are played entirely for laughs, which I think is really Punisher: War Zone’s secret weapon. In the first, one thug, (who incidentally actually has kind of a nice relationship with his father, as they’re Jigsaw’s co-lieutenants…but whatever) enjoys snorting cocaine, at least until the Punisher punches him right through his undoubtedly deviated septum, that is. The other scene, perhaps the best known in the film, features some parkour jerks that Jigsaw hires for odd jobs. Remember that in 2008 Punisher: War Zone was being made as the parkour craze was arriving in high-profile movies like Casino Royale (2006) and video games like Assassin’s Creed (2007), so it was ripe for satire. One of these parkour thugs, who call themselves an “urban flow” gang because even they’re ashamed of the technical term, is in the middle of an undoubtedly difficult flip between the roofs of two buildings when the Punisher hits him with a heat-seeking missile. Laughter ensues. The humour of the film serves to undercut the superseriousness of the Punisher character, which is necessary to keep the story moving and engaging and not overly depressing, like the Thomas Jane outing often was. Not even the Punisher is immune to the slightly jaunting feeling at some points: Stevenson’s tightly-controlled and endearing approach to the character hints at a life perpetually fuelled by gallows humour and MREs. On the other hand, Dominic West’s Jigsaw dominates every scene he’s in with comic set pieces and overthe-top speeches that recall Jack Nicholson as the Joker. It’s all a nice counterpoint to the straightforward grim and gritty world of the Christopher Nolan Batman films and Man of Steel, a kind of cartoon version of the street-level Marvel Universe. Alexander finds a happy medium between the dull,

Issue 6, July 2014

world of the Christopher Nolan Batman films and Man of Steel, a kind of cartoon version of the streetlevel Marvel Universe. Alexander finds a happy medium between the dull, “realistic” visual aesthetic of Christopher Nolan and the slavish ink-on-paper devotion of Robert Rodriguez’ Sin City. Her scenes are lit with a nauseating palette of yellows, pinks and greens, reminding me of Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy in their visual pizzazz but also suggesting sickness and decay. The action is shot close-up, and only occasionally uses the frenetic editing style of the Bourne films, which now seems like the Hollywood standard. The final gunfight at the Brad Street Hotel (named for iconic Punisher cover artist Tim Bradstreet), where the Punisher takes on three gangs recruited by Jigsaw in another funny scene moments earlier, is well-paced and again includes funny moments in between violent ones. To me, this tension between macabre jokes and over-the-top carnage, between gun fetishism and the fact that the Punisher lives in the sewer and his only real furniture is a chair for brooding in—this is what nails the character. While he might have started off as a knock-off of Charles Bronson’s character in Death Wish, he also exists in the Marvel Universe, a ridiculous place which has found him brought back from the dead first as an angel and then as a Frankenstein. Punisher: War Zone understands all that a “comic” film can imply and never gets too bogged down in anything approaching reality. Lexi Alexander made an appearance on the popular bad movie podcast How Did This Get Made back in 2011, and in a change from the regular format of the show she talked about the making of Punisher: War Zone, a film which the hosts and guests all really enjoyed. The episode is definitely worth a listen, but the gist of it is that the failure of the film at the box office essentially shuttered her career, which is a damn shame. Comic book movies need more Lexi Alexanders, more directors who are able to give us a different approach to superhero films. While Punisher: War Zone does not do any great favours for the cause of seeing superheroines onscreen, it definitely proves that there’s female talent offscreen that deserves to be recognized.

Issue 6, July 2014

Written by Cheryl Cottrell-Smith | Images courtesy of Di Amorim, Juan Frigeri, German Erramouspe, Omar Francia, and Avatar Press

Costa adds depth to Hickman's vision in 'God is Dead' [SPOILERS]

God is Dead is a new comic book series headed by writer Jonathan Hickman and run through Avatar Press. The main premise revolves around an all-out war between the gods of antiquity: Norse, Egyptian, Hindu, Greek, and more, with the Christian trinity noticeably absent (at first). At the midst of this strife are a number of humans whose stories intertwine with the battle between each god as they work to either support or destroy certain deities. It’s a fairly simple plotline but, if I’m going to review the God is Dead comics fairly, I have to split them up into several story arcs to account for the shift in writers and artists. Initially, Jonathan Hickman started this project with Mike Costa as a co-writer and Di Amorim as the artist. The original intention was to create a 6-comic inclusive story arc, which they did, starting publication in September 2013. Hickman then bowed out and Costa continued on—as of July 17th, 2014, the comics were up to #15. Mike Costa has single-handedly been churning out the stories since #7, supported with artwork by Juan Frigeri, German Erramouspe, and—most recently—Omar Francia. Since I haven't yet read #13 onwards, this review will focus on the original Hickman story arc and the first installment of Costa's vision in issues #7-12.

Hickman’s pet project

The series begins with a visit to Vatican City from Zeus himself, who's unhappy with the way that men now worship, and whose mood is made worse by Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, a painting that celebrates man’s closeness to god. Zeus, an Olympian with an unforgiving temper, doesn’t want love. He wants true worship and obedience. And thus begin the violent sacrifices, the growth of the righteous-pious, and millions of humans running for their lives from both gods and worshippers. Hickman’s first story arc undertakes a daunting task: all of the gods are fighting to become the only one and, as we all know, there are a heck of a lot of gods. They get whittled away throughout the series, but it’s an interesting (and fairly accurate) look at cultural representations of god throughout the world. It’s a good reminder of the sheer extent and variety of world religions and their influence on society, both in the past and in the present day. There are plenty of gods we know and have learned about, but there are just as many who have dropped away from common knowledge. It would be educational, if not for the bloodshed and sheer violence. Hickman's God is Dead is pure entertainment. Which group of deities will win? Can there be only one? The gore isn’t astounding, but it runs throughout the entire series.

Issue 6, July 2014 educational, if not for the bloodshed and sheer violence. Hickman's God is Dead is pure entertainment. Which group of deities will win? Can there be only one? The gore isn’t astounding, but it runs throughout the entire series. When gods fight to the death, things gets bloody real fast. Humans, rather than dying as a by-product of these fights, often find themselves the targets. By the end of the first comic, it already begins to look hopeless for mankind—will there be any humans left after the gods have obliterated the earth in their epic battle? We learn that a small group of renegade humans have gone underground in a resistance to the war of the gods. Of course, they all happen to be either scientists or “security consultants,” which means that they can analyze blood samples from dead gods while also utilizing their extensive training with weaponry and piloting planes. It definitely makes things easier for Hickman if he has skilled characters able to wander around and examine the gods at will. Too easy. The first arc is primarily the climax of a story, with barely any introduction and no aftermath. It’s fighting, pure and simple. The artwork is detailed and the speech, though often cheesy, is amusing. Hickman’s God is Dead is basically the same thing as sitting down to a movie two-thirds in, watching the action, and then leaving before the final wrap-up scenes. It’s quick, bloody, and full of great fight scenes. If you don’t require any deeper substance than that, then this comic is for you.

Mike Costa takes over [SPOILERS]

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? - Friedrich Nietzsche

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As with many post-apocalyptic stories, the aftermath of a gigantic war shows mankind resembling cockroaches, rallying and somehow surviving in a world ravaged by divine forces.

Mike Costa takes over

At the end of the first arc, only one god remains and the ending of the war doesn’t seem so hopeless. There’s love. Potential. And then Mike Costa swoops in with the second story arc, showing the sheer degradation of a world focused only on one thing: celebrating and worshipping a god who doesn’t want to do anything other than sit back and be loved. How depressing. How lazy. As with many post-apocalyptic stories, the aftermath of a gigantic war shows mankind resembling cockroaches, rallying and somehow surviving in a world ravaged by divine forces. There are those who love the new god (priestesses and missionaries), those who do what they need to live a normal life (the majority of people), and those who are never satisfied (the renegades). There’s a new batch of renegade humans in this arc (because the first batch did SO well) and, as before, they’re intent on destroying this one remaining god. What I liked about the second arc was Costa’s introduction of different dimensions, in which humans could travel to other worlds to investigate where the gods came from and where they might escape them. Because of that, however, there’s a tongue-in-cheek scene in which

investigate where the gods came from and where they might escape them. Because of that, however, there’s a tongue-in-cheek scene in which two humans use a “transport device based on vibrations and resonances” to “access higher planes and visit God himself.” The science of this device eludes me, but it does lead the humans to a great throne occupied by the “final authority.” Unfortunately, half of the final authority’s head has been blown off and the human responds in kind with the statement, “Oh fuck. God is dead.” While I liked this scene, I had difficulty with the introduction of a final authority so far into the story. We spend the entire first arc watching all of the gods from antiquity get wasted—Zeus, India’s Trimurti, Nahautl of Egypt, and all of the rest—and then we’re supposed to say ‘Hey, there’s a god above all of these gods: the Christian God. Where is he?” before finding out that he’s dead, too. This stream of thought is a much too heavily Westernized (and Christian) view of how religions rank over others, and it doesn’t jive with the first arc and the giant divine war. Why bring this god in now only to pronounce him dead? Why do none of the other gods mention him before this? One thing Costa does bring to the table, though, is added depth. Rather than streamlining the story like Hickman, he adds in parallel storylines to give a greater view of what’s happening in the world besides

Issue 6, July 2014 One thing Costa does bring to the table, though, is added depth. Rather than streamlining the story like Hickman, he adds in parallel storylines to give a greater view of what’s happening in the world besides the new god and humans trying to bring her down. I really enjoyed the Sex and Death subplot, featuring Eros, Thanatos, and a slew of ancient tricksters. Costa did a great job of incorporating these lesser gods into the story; in fact, they become a significant part of the resistance towards the ruling god by the end of the arc. And, of course, the fighting continues.

There’s a new batch of renegade humans in this arc (because the first batch did SO well) and, as before, they’re intent on destroying this one remaining god.

[BIG FAT SPOILER] One of the strongest elements of Costa's story is the aftermath of the second divine war. Humans have run throughout the God is Dead storyline in a number of ways— as worshippers, as part of the resistance—and the final revelation of the second arc (in destroying this final god) is the realization that they've brought about their own destruction. That mankind has destroyed its own world in an effort to save it. Of course, it isn't the end, since the comics continue, but it's a brilliant statement on the idea that mankind shouldn't be tinkering with things it doesn't understand. That we shouldn't attempt to destroy everything that threatens us because it might one day come back to bite us in the ass. As the ravaged, destitute world withers around the remaining humans, they realize that their asses have indeed been bitten. It's hauntingly painful to see. The story continues after the end of the second divine battle when a new deity swoops in— one who had been absent from everything until now—and we’re left to wonder: where will it end? Are humans bound to be ruled by a god forever, or will they ever be free from their tyranny?

Photographer: Benjamin Sim Graphics Editor: Vivid Vision Mascot Nishi: Stahli Cosplay Mascot Misaki: VIvid Vision Lighting assistant: Randy Gee

Issue 6, July 2014

Written by Cheryl Cottrell-Smith | Images courtesy of Benjamin Sim Photography, Animethon 21, ASAPA, and Vicky Lau

Animethon turns 21—kanpai! For those about to cosplay, Animethon 21 is just around the corner. The 21st annual anime-themed festival will be held at its usual stomping grounds of MacEwan University from August 8th to 10th, 2014.

This year’s featured guests include a double performance by bands Antic Café (An Café) and Magistina Saga on Saturday, August 9th. Voice actresses Satsuki Yukino and Cristina Vee, among others, will also be in attendance. As always, there will be a number of vendors and artists exhibiting at the event, offering anything from works of art to your favourite anime plushies. Attendees can participate in board and card games or visit the Microsoft room for some gaming time. Animethon will also feature live panels on a number of topics, industry guests, and more. Edmonton’s annual anime appreciation event was founded in 1994 by the Banzai Anime Klub of Alberta (BAKA—which, incidentally, means ‘idiot’ in Japanese, and was likely an inside joke for club members) and has since changed hands in order to be represented by the non-profit organization, the Alberta Society for Asian Popular Arts (ASAPA). The event, as those who’ve attended it will know, takes over MacEwan completely with cosplay, artwork, and gaming. There will also be an Anime Music Video Contest, a Cosplay Contest, a dance, and many more

Issue 6, July 2014 takes over MacEwan completely with cosplay, artwork, and gaming. There will also be an Anime Music Video Contest, a Cosplay Contest, a dance, and many more events to take part in over the weekend. Costumes, as always, are welcome but not mandatory. “If you were fortunate to catch a peek at our entry in the K-Days parade, you will have seen some examples of costumes that some of our attendees [wear],” says Bryan Kennedy, Animethon Chair. “They can be very colourful and creative; many of them are hand-made.” Cosplay or not, there’s plenty to see and do for fans of the genre. Animethon is currently working with 91.7 The Bounce, Sonic 102.9, and City TV to give away VIP passes, so stay tuned to each of those for a chance to win tickets. You can also purchase your passes at the door. The event is all ages, with free admission for children under 12 (and they must be accompanied by a parent or guardian). For more details and to see the full line-up, you can visit their website at animethon.org.

Photographer: Benjamin Sim Graphics Editor: Vivid Vision Mascot Nishi: Stahli Cosplay Mascot Misaki: VIvid Vision Lighting assistant: Randy Gee

Issue 6, July 2014

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