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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133555
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 9:06am | IP Logged | 1
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Received just now an email from a writer claiming to be working on an article about superheroes for The New York Times. He had a question about my reasons given for modifying Wonder Woman's "star-spangled underwear".Warms the cockles of your heart, doesn't it? I declined comment.
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Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16505
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 9:16am | IP Logged | 2
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Same as it ever was, sadly.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 9:25am | IP Logged | 3
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Ronald Reagan was resoundingly mocked, during his Presidency, for once referring to soldier's uniforms as "costumes". Yet it seems some people go out of their way to use just about anything else they can think of, rather than using that simple and correct word for what most superheroes wear. Again and again we get the "underwear" references (I wonder what this says about the kind of underwear these people wear!), the "spandex", the "rubber", "leather", etc. Applicable in a few cases -- but for the most part very much at odds with what is shown in the movies. (You think even the movie Batman wears rubber? The actor playing him does, but is that what the costume is supposed to be made from, in context? The Iron Man armor worn by Robert Downey Jr. and his stuntmen is not made of the miracle materials described in the films, but do commentators refer to Iron Man as wearing plastic?)As I've said before, if I wrote about baseball and called what the players wear on the field "pajamas" nobody would let me hear the end of it. But for superheroes, it seems a subtle (and not so subtle) undercurrent of conptempt is the sine qua non.
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Brad Brickley
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8290
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 9:26am | IP Logged | 4
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You'd think the NY Times would have bigger fish to fry.
As for the reporter himself, you'd also think he'd at least try to have a basic knowledge of the comicbook terms and conventions when interviewing a PROFESSIONAL Comic Illustrator, one who might get offended with a contemptible attitude towards comics, when being asked about ones life work.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133555
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 9:35am | IP Logged | 5
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Many a time, when I have been introduced to civilians (NOT a term of contempt, no matter what some try to make of it), upon hearing what I do for a living their first instinct is to make some kind of joke about it. They seem to think it is EXPECTED, as if those of us in the Biz cannot possibly take seriously this preposterous stuff we do for a living.Well, as you have all probably noticed by now, I take it VERY seriously. Not to the utter exclusion of the occasion bit of satire or self-deprecating humor -- but, please! Not as the automatic default setting!
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Andrew Hess
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Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 9:36am | IP Logged | 6
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Even aside from the contempt of the genre, this initial question seems very odd. Even tho JB spent three years on the title (as he has pointed out, more than he spent on his original run on X-Men), there has been enough time and hoopla since to make that time a minor blip in the Wonder Woman's development. Added to that, the modifications JB made to WW's costume were mild compared to what others have done, and have since been rendered null. So my rhetorical questions are: why is this reporter asking about some minor change that happened with the character roughly ten years ago, that have since been done away with? Was he doing a story about WW over the years?
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Paulo Pereira
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 24 April 2006
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 9:42am | IP Logged | 7
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JB wrote:
| Many a time, when I have been introduced to civilians (NOT a term of contempt, no matter what some try to make of it), upon hearing what I do for a living their first instinct is to make some kind of joke about it. They seem to think it is EXPECTED, as if those of us in the Biz cannot possibly take seriously this preposterous stuff we do for a living. |
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Yeah, it's become a widely accepted attitude towards the genre as if it's a given and part of the language. People who make such comments seem to expect the listener to wink and nod in agreement, even if the listener is a comic book professional or enthusiast.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 9:45am | IP Logged | 8
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I wonder if JK Rowling gets the same thing at parties?"This is my friend Jo. She writes the Harry Potter books." "Really? Where's your pointy hat?"
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Don Zomberg
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Joined: 23 November 2005
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 9:53am | IP Logged | 9
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He's doing an article on super heroes, and the only thing he can think to ask concerns Wonder Woman's trunks. Brilliant.
Edited by Don Zomberg on 25 June 2010 at 9:54am
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Flavio Sapha
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Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Brazil
Posts: 12912
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 9:57am | IP Logged | 10
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We need you doing super-hero comics again, JB!
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Brett Wilson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 April 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 318
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 10:05am | IP Logged | 11
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Many a time, when I have been introduced to civilians (NOT a term of contempt, no matter what some try to make of it), upon hearing what I do for a living their first instinct is to make some kind of joke about it. They seem to think it is EXPECTED, as if those of us in the Biz cannot possibly take seriously this preposterous stuff we do for a living.
That would drive me crazy. People like JB spend a life time perfecting their craft and some idiot who works in a cubicle, counting beans all day dares to insinuate that illustration is not a serious profession.
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Donald Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 03 February 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 3601
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| Posted: 25 June 2010 at 10:12am | IP Logged | 12
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I have a friend at work who has just discovered "Graphic Novels". I replied that I had been reading comic books for years, grew up on them in fact, and wasn't it a great medium?
She immediately corrected me that she was talking about something entirely different. What she was referring to were much more sophisticated than mere "comics"
I did take a moment to clarify that I wasn't referring to funny pages one might find in the Sunday papers, but rather monthly magazines.
She insisted that what she liked was entirely different. Her adamant(tee-hee) denial is indicative of the disdain with which the general public holds comic books. I even went so far as to explain that "Graphic Novels" is just a term they came up with to sell to people who thought of comics as just for kids. Just because they are not filled with superheroes does not mean that they are not comics...she still doesn't get it, or refuses to get it. strange that in order to seem smarter people refuse to process new knowledge.
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