Girl in a Cage

Read Reed Gunther

I've had conversations with a number of people (including the fine folks at JP Comics & Games) recently about the unrelenting grimness of a lot of comics these days.  I'm a huge fan of things dark and grim, and yet, at the same time, I didn't start reading comics because they were dark, brooding reflections on the nature of evil and such. I started reading them because they were fun. I want there to be grim comics. And I want there to be wacky fun comics too.  And those are getting harder and harder to find.

One person I had this conversation with at New York Comic Con was Shane Houghton, co-creator (with his brother Chris) of Reed Gunther. He assured me that his comic was a fun adventure that would appeal to everyone.  I bought the first five issues (well, I actually bought the first two, but then Shane nicely gave me the next three after I gave him a copy of The Mall of Cthulhu), and I finally read them this weekend.

I'm happy to report that this comic is a total delight.  It follows the adventures of a cowboy and his loyal bear as they travel across the country to--well, I don't wanna spoil it, but let's just say there is an evil idol involved, as well as a ton of monsters and some very bad humans as well.  And a spunky gal who runs her own cattle ranch.  It's funny, fun, lighthearted and even touching in spots. And the art really brings the cartoony fun as well, and there are a couple of really virtuosic panels that made me go "whoa!" . The trade paperback collection is just out, and I really recommend that you pick this up and check it out. (though I don't know if it features the entire double-wide cover of issue 5, which is really great--it's worth buying issue 5 just for the cover even if you have the trade paperback)  It's a blast.

My Recent Writing Soundtrack

I always listen to music when I write.  And since I'm currently writing a book about an asskicking teenage girl superhero, I've been listening to a lot of bands with female vocalists.  Here's a link to the playlist I've been listening to on MOG a lot as I write.  (Closing in on the end of the first draft, by the way.  About 20 or 30 more pages to go, methinks.)

But maybe you don't have MOG.  I like it much better than Spotify, but maybe you don't feel the same way. So here are some videos from some of the great bands that are helping me write this book.  

In alphabetical order, we begin with Norway's Cocktail Slippers:

 

We head to California to hear from the mighty Donnas:

 

And from there, it's back to Scandinavia to get our socks rocked off by Sweden's Sahara Hotnights:

 

We conclude our tour of asskicking female vocalists in the UK. Play us out, Zombina and the Skeletones...

 

 

I anticipate finishing the first draft of this book in the next couple of weeks. And then there's a major revision coming to fix a bunch of continuity errors and to generally improve the first half of the book, where I was perhaps a little impatient and lost a few early readers in the world I created.  I will, of course, keep you posted.

The Dropkick Murphys: Rockin' the Suburbs

Let me begin by saying that I like the Dropkick Murphys' politics. I like the fact that they acknowlede the existence of a white working class that is absent from most popular culture.  Also, I'm sure they're decent human beings.  

And their music has begun to bug the crap out of me.

This is rooted in their new single "Going Out in Style." I got a little suspicious at the mention of McGreevy's in the song.  I've been to McGreevy's. For a work event. So it's not really the kind of authentic neighborhood Irish bar that people unfamiliar with Boston who hear the song might assume.  McGreevy's is located in the rough-and-tumble Back Bay, next to a Trader Joe's and across the street from the Hynes Convention Center. About three blocks from the Apple Store.  It's a pleasant enough place, but it's one of those "Irish Pubs" that we have all over Boston that are kind of like Disney World's "Main Street USA": they're selling an ersatz version of something in order to appeal to phony nostalgia.

So I did some investigating. (Thanks, Wikipedia!). The Murphys' authentic Boston Irish lead singer is from New Hampshire.  Other members are from the suburbs of Watertown and Quincy.  The original, long-since-departed lead singer was from Dorchester, but, for the rest, this authentic Boston band is not actually from Boston.  

Not that this matters. Except. These guys are making a living selling this image of authentic Boston that is, in fact, inauthentic.

Entertainers will do this. Most commercial hip hop is artifice masquerading as authenticity.

But I guess as someone who lives in the city of Boston, I object to this fake-Irish-pub version of my city.  I think if you live in the suburbs, it's possible to construct this Boston of the Mind which is mostly about Irish-American drinking and sports, but the reality is that most of the famous Boston Irish moved out of Boston in the 70's. And there are a lot of Puerto Rican and Dominican Red Sox fans who probably don't feel like a reheated Pogues song represents their feelings about the team. 

And now it feels like the children of white flight are fueling a nostalgic vision of imaginary Irish Boston that feels not only dishonest but fundamentally kind of reactionary to me. 

I live in the city of Boston.  I am of Irish descent. And I can tell you that the city in which I live is just a much more interesting place than the Dropkick Murphys imaginary Boston.  Those of us who live here find ourselves bumping up against other races and cultures all the time.  It's part of what makes it cool to live here. 

I don't mean to suggest that everybody can't enjoy their particular ethnic traditions and music. But let's be honest about the fact that any band--Irish, Italian, Puerto Rican, Haitian, or whatever--who is presenting an essentially monoethnic vision of this city is leaving out most of what the city is about.

I guess I just don't want the rest of the world to see the Dropkick Murphys as the soundtrack of the "real Boston." The real Boston is bigger and weirder and cooler than any one band can capture.

Here's the video for the song in question.  It's catchy as hell:

 

 

What I'm Working On

Well, I've been blogging quite infrequently lately. This is mostly because I'm focusing on doing writing that actually pays money (or at least has the potential to pay money).  Go figure!  

So I thought I'd put out a little update on what I've been working on lately.

1. Copy edits for TESSA MASTERSON WILL GO TO PROM with friend and co-author Emily Franklin.  This is a story about how Luke develops a crush on his female best friend and asks her to prom. Surprise! She's a lesbian and is planning to go with her girlfriend!  Luke, feelings hurt, lashes out at his friend and a small town shitstorm ensues. I'm really proud of this book. It's coming next year from Walker Books.  You should totally add it on goodreads.  (Please?)

2.Finishing the first draft of ESCAPE FROM ASSLAND with friend and co-author Trish Cook.  We have no idea if they're gonna let us keep this title.  Fingers crossed!  It's about a group of kids in a therapeutic boarding school and how they manage to improve their lives in spite of the rules meant to help them.  It deals pretty frankly with some teen mental illness, but there is a wacky caper involved.  Am also super proud of this one.  I don't know about the release date yet, but since we haven't even done the first round of edits yet, I'm guessing it's at least a year away. From Egmont USA.

3. Working on my first solo project in 4 years.  Hard to believe, but SHUTOUT was the last book I wrote by myself. (Also the last book I finished before I started teaching again.  Coincidence?  Nope!) This one is a real departure, as it's a kind of noir-ish tale about a teenage superhero.  I've really never written anything like this before, as even THE MALL OF CTHULHU had a tongue-in-cheek vibe that this one lacks.  I'm going to finish the entire thing before submitting it since it doesn't fall into any of my usual categories.  Just over 150 pages done. I've got a lot of work to do to turn my rough draft into a presentable, submittable draft, but the initial writing is coming along nicely.  The story is complete in my brain, and it's just a matter of finding the time to let it out.  So that's cool.

Thank you, as always, for your support! 

My Excellent Comic Con Adventure

I have been doing some comic-book-related work for hire, and my new YA project is superhero-related, so I felt like I should head down to New York Comic Con this weekend. I took the Megabus from Boston to NYC, because I am broke as dishes.

I've had good experiences with this company in the past, but this one was awful. Bus was 15 minutes late. Then we sat in traffic for the better part of 2 hours. (Not, I should add, Megabus's fault, but, rather, the dangers of traveling on Friday at rush hour.) But then the driver refused to drive over 55--apparently he was the anti-Hagar. And then he pulled over at 150th street and refused to continue--apparently he'd hit his time limit. At this point we were 6 hours into our supposedly 4 and a quarter hour journey, so I got off and took the subway to my excellent brother- and sister-in-law's place.

Hit the Javits center at about 10 am. And had to walk all the way around the back of the building in order to wait in line to get in the door. I was worried by this apparent failure of organization, but once I got in, it was completely awesome.

Why, you might ask, was it awesome? Well, first, there were all the people in costume. Now, I know this is a widely derided part of the Comic Con experience, but I freakin' loved it. Grownups don't have nearly enough opportunities to have silly fun, and silly fun was all over the place. (Most common costume: Deadpool. I know! Who woulda thunk it? I saw a fair number of Poison Ivys and 2 male Wonder Women, one of whom--not the one in the photo above-- had a rather shocking amount of body hair. I'm still shuddering.) In addition to the silly fun, there was a nice community aspect to all the costumes. Random people would call out, "Spidey! Can I get a picture?" and Spidey (or whoever) would strike a pose. (interesting side note: this might be the only place in the world where unattractive, socially awkward men can call out to hot women in skimpy outfits that they'd like them to stop and strike a pose so they can take a photo and the women oblige.) (In fairness, it must be said that most people of any gender simply don't have the body to pull off a superhero (or villain) costume. This didn't stop many people from trying. And I felt like, well, good for them.)

 

But here's the part I really liked: I talked to a number of comic creators, and, as it almost always is, it was exhilarating to be around so many people doing creative work. Their passion and excitement for their work was contagious. Highlights: met Anthony Del Col, co-creator of Kill Shakespeare. Met Shane Houghton, writer of Reed Gunther and had a great conversation about the need for lighthearted fun in comics. Had a nice coversation with Laura Lee Gulledge, author of YA graphic novel Paige by Paige. Bought everybody's work and can't wait to dive in.

The place was packed to a really alarming degree, but the crowd was an overwhelmingly friendly, happy group, and the whole thing was a celebration of fun and creativity. I would like to go again. I posted a bunch more photos over on google+. Check 'em out! And now, on an unrelated note, my beloved YA novel Forever Changes is going out of print. Which makes me sad. But I got a bunch of copies before they pulp all the remaining ones, and, since you read to the end of this post, I want you to have one. Well, three of you, anyway. First three commenters (on brendanhalpin.com, so if you're reading this on goodreads, click on over!)on this post get free signed copies of Forever Changes! Thanks!

Occupy Boston

The Occupy Boston folks are occupying a small piece of parkland near where I work, so I wandered down there today to see what was going on.

I have to admit that I had  a certain amount of skepticism about the whole thing at first. Perhaps because I associated it with the endlessly annoying anti-Whole Foods movement in my neighborhood.  

But I was won over. The camp was a calm, orderly, and friendly place with people working together to make sure their little community works as smoothly as possible.  And I admire what they're doing.

Here's why: we all know corporate power is a little out of control. But most of us don't do anything about it.  I have to say I actually admire these folks who are camping out and making the statement that the pendulum has swung a little too far to the laissez-faire side, and we need leaders who will represent citizen interests instead of corporate interests.  (Or, hell, even citizen interests in addition to corporate interests would be an improvement.)

Last night the Boston Police arrested a bunch of protesters in another park parcel.  I didn't get why the protestors didn't just leave until today.  Dewey Square, where the camp is, is completely full.  It's packed end-to-end with tents. The Boston Police say they were protecting the flower beds by kicking out the protestors (no, really. This is actually what they said. Because the BPD is often known to spring into action whenever plantings are threatened. At 1:30 in the morning. I'll be sure to call at that hour if I feel my shrubberies are in danger and see what kind of repsonse I get.)

What they were really doing was trying to ensure that the protest doesn't grow any larger.  The city has decided to hold the line at one little square of parkland. But that's not enough room for the number of people who want to camp out and make a statement.

I don't know what's going to happen.  The coming cold weather will probably test the resolve of some of the protestors.  But the movement may well need to grow again.  In which case, I hope my city doesn't waste a lot of resources kicking them out. 

My Thoughts on the New 52

I would characterize myself as a casual comics fan. I love comics, but I simply don't have the dough to maintain a pull list at my local comics store that would run to 50 or 60 bucks a month.  (Sounds like a lot, but that's 20 comic books a month. Only 5 a week.)

So I've always been put off by the annual crossover events that both DC and Marvel seem to host:  Infinite Secret Civil Crisis War on Multiple Flashy Earths, and stuff like that. I guess those are pretty good, but they demand a whole lot of buying, and they always occasion big changes, so that when you pick up a comic book later, you're like,"Whoa!  Everybody's dead or different!"  

I've always thought the big crossovers were shortsighted: they milk more cash out of the hardcore buyers, but they intimidate and put off people who aren't hardcore buyers.  

So I was psyched to hear that DC comics was rebooting everything.  Everything is #1 this month, so presumably if you haven't been following for years, now's the perfect time to catch up.  

I took the bait and bought a bunch of these titles. Here are my thoughts:

Red Lanterns--I haven't been able to follow the whole Guardians of the Galaxy thing, so this seemed like a good place to jump in.  And it was!  It was weird and violent and featured a guy--well, alien-type-thingy-- with a tragic past. I liked it.  But I didn't love it, and I'm afraid that's the bar for "am I gonna buy issue #2".  (Note I did not say "am I gonna buy #2," because I already bought #2 this month, but more on that later.)

Mister Terrific-- I liked this one.  He's a scientist who's haunted by, um, the ghost of the kid he never got to have. Or something.  But it was cool--definitely not the same old thing I've seen a million times.  It felt new and fresh.  But I didn't love it.  I may pick up issue 2, but I'm on the fence about it.

Justice League-- This was decidedly meh.  It might get good as it goes along, but it did not wow me. Not compelling enough for me to get the second issue.

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.-- So, as near as I can tell, this is a reboot of the Creature Commandos series that used to run in Weird War.  Frankenstein and other paranormal buddies team up to fight paranormal menaces. I'm in!   

Batman-- I love me some Batman. And it's nice to not be totally lost in everything that's been going on.  Good mystery, too, which I like.  And the mystery crosses over to...

Nightwing-- Never been hugely interested in Dick Grayson, but the boy wanted this one, and I was glad--I find it kind of compelling how he wrestles with his relationship with his father figure and his circusy roots.  Also, we're getting another facet of the mystery happening in the Batman comic here, which is a really cool thing you can't do in most kinds of fiction.  It's as if two different characters in a mystery novel each got their own book.  I'm on board, at least through this initial story arc.

Wonder Woman--I have always liked Wonder Woman too.  And not just because of Lynda Carter.  I mean, maybe she was what got me interested in Wonder Woman.  And girls. But anyway, DC has long seemed like they didn't really know what to do with her, so this comic is a really nice change. I'm getting the idea that they're setting up Wonder Woman as the kind of DC Comics Thor--she who protects us mortals from immortals and their shenanigans.  Cool art, cool story. I'll be back for the next issue.

Batwoman--You know how when people have great voices, people say "I'd listen to him read the phone book?"  I would actually buy the phone book if it were illustrated by J.H. Williams III.  Fortunately, there's a much better story here than an alphabetical list of names. If you missed the Batwoman arc in Detective Comics a while back, you should pick that up. And then pick this up.  Though you could start here without reading that one.  But there is some fallout from that story in this one.  This is my favorite of all the ones I've read.  I will totally be back for the next issue.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Hood & The Outlaws--There is a common misconception among the non comic-reading public that comic books are just semi-pornographic wish fulfillment fantasies full of idealized drawings of scantily-clad busty women made for pathetic, sweaty teens who've never gotten any closer to an actual breast than the girl they stare at across the cafeteria.  That's actually not a misconception for this comic.  I was embarrassed to be reading this as an adult man.  It's like Maxim, only less honest. Avoid.

Catwoman--I think there's probably an interesting story to be told about the unhealthy sexual attraction between Batman and Catwoman.  This, however, is not it. If you want superhero slash porn, I'm pretty sure such things are available on the internet for free.  So there's no sense buying this. 

Suicide Squad--I wasn't going to buy this until I saw it described somewhere as "vile and depressing." Sold! And I actually liked it. It is grim as hell and hyper-violent, but when the shark-headed guy bit someone's arm off, chanting "Meat! Meat! Meat!" well, it was love.  

In Which I Mourn My Dog

I realize that dogs are right up there with baseball and fly fishing on the list of things that inspire insufferably maudlin writing by men, so I must tread carefully.

But I had to put my dog down on Friday, and I want to just say something about that.

Nobody wants to hear about how my dog was awesome, because dogs are like babies: everyone thinks their own is awesome, and it's an incredibly boring subject to everyone else in the world. 

So, just three things about my dog.  One: he had pretty important symbolic value to us. We got him shortly after we all moved in together, and he, more than the wedding ceremony or anything else, really helped us start to feel like a family.  And now, as we all mourn him together, he's bringing us closer again.  I mean, I know he just wanted to eat and sleep and poop, but this is something he did for us unintentionally, and something he continues to do for us in death, and I appreciate it.

Thing two: he was my friend. I mean, if you define a friend as someone who you wnat to spend time with and someone who brings things out in you that make you like yourself better, then yeah, he was my friend.  I miss him a lot. 

Having lost human family members, I used to kind of roll my eyes at people who grieved the loss of their pets.  But they're family members too. And, as I've discovered, every loss makes you feel every other loss all over again. I had no idea how hard this was going to be for all of us.

Thing the third: My dog had lymphoma.  And his death was really nice.  He was curled up with his head in my lap, he got sedated so he was totally mellowed out, and then he got  the hot shot from the vet and he was gone. Having watched a loved one die from cancer in pain and rasping for breath, I have to say this was way better, and it's kind of crazy that we don't offer this option to people. 

My dog was awesome. His name was Cooper, and he was my friend.  

Game On!

I have recently gotten back into playing role-playing games.  For those of you not versed in geek culture, these are not bedroom shenanigans, but rather, games in which you, the player, play the role of a character undergoing an adventure.  

I'm not talking about computer games, here, people. Nor am I talking about running around with swords like McLovin' in Role Models.  Rather, I'm talking about games that are largely played in your imagination, with the aid of dice.  And not just 6-sided dice.  I'm talkin' 8-sided dice. 12-sided dice.  And the most common, the 20-sided die.  Or, as those of us who do this call it, a d20.

I'm not going to write some thing trying to convince you that this is not as dorky an activity as you think. Because one of the best things about reaching your 40's is that your "give a shit what anybody thinks" reflex is so badly worn as to be practically nonexistent.  

But I do want to say this: these games are really really fun.  They're social and creative.  On those occasions when I've spent hours playing video games, I've felt this terrible emptiness at the end of it.  Last night I spent 3 1/2 hours playing Dungeons & Dragons, and I felt great afterwards. Not just enterained, but creatively energized by spending an evening doing something imaginative.  

I may have missed out on decades worth of fun by unfairly associating D&D and games of its ilk with the times when I played it in middle school and high school.  Yes, it's true that we may have had somewhat pathetic visions of chainmail bikini-clad elfin maidens when we played in those days, and yes, I played at times when I was not very socially adept with the fairer sex, but correlation does not imply causation.  The knock on these games is that it's something to do when you can't get a date that then prevents you from getting a date. (If you're male.  One of the many cool changes that have happened in the last 30 years is that women play these games too now.)

But the bottom line is that people love to play games. Some people get together to play poker.  Many people I work with play fantasy football.  (I thought about composing a post comparing D&D to Fantasy football, but I didn't get any further than this: One involves un-athletic people obsessing over the feats of cartoonish superhumans. And the other is Dungeons & Dragons.)  And, of course, millions of people play video games, making them the highest-grossing form of entertainment in the US. 

And I, as it turns out, enjoy playing RPGs. I'm actually working on a novel that came out of a burst of creative energy that came out of my return to RPGs. (It's a monthly Golden-Age Mutants & Masterminds game. Thanks, Kevin!) I don't much care about whether you think that makes me a loser, but I do encourage those of you who enjoyed this hobby in your young, dateless days and gave it up as I did to avoid my mistake and go roll some dice. 

Those of you who know what I'm talking about will dig this video:    

Kody Keplinger, I'm Callin' You Out!

Kody Keplinger, I am calling your alliterative ass out.  It's not because you're half my age and at least twice as successful as I am.  I learned that life isn't fair before you were born.

It's not because of the content of your books.  Haven't read 'em.  I've got a standing policy not to read books by people much more successful than I am.  So yeah, I don't read much.

No, my beef is this: with your first novel, THE DUFF, a huge hit, you decided to name your follow-up SHUT OUT. 

As you probably don't know, because I guess I'm beneath your notice or something, last year FSG published my book, SHUTOUT.

Now, I've long felt that my SHUTOUT has not gotten as much attention and love as it should.  I suppose many authors who are not you feel this way about their books.

So that's the injury-- I wrote a really nice book about friendhship and soccer, and while it has certainly sold, I haven't earned out the advance, and it hasn't sold anywhere near as much as, by rights, I think it should have.  

And you have now gone and added insult to injury by giving your Lysistrata reboot  a nearly identical title to mine.  Oh, sure, yours has a space! Whoopee!  From now on, whenever I assert authorship of my own book, I will be met with disblelief: "You're lying!  Kody Keplinger wrote SHUT OUT!" Or, even worse, "Oh, you wrote SHUT OUT?  I loved it!  The whole sex strike thing?"  

And I'll have to say either, "Yes, I also have a book called SHUTOUT," and then have to answer questions about why I stole your title, or I'll have to say, "ah, that's a different SHUT OUT," and then have to answer questions about why I stole your title. (you and I know that you can't copyright a title, but most people don't know that.)

So, fine.  You've chosen to bury my nice little book under your "next big thing" publicity.  There's nothing I can do about that. 

Except call you out.  You've won the SHUTOUT battle before your book has even been released.  So I hereby challenge to to any other contest of your choice.  Chess? Full Contact Kickboxing?  5k race?  Words with Friends? Lawn Darts? Tekken 5? I will go all Jin Kazama on your ass! 

Sure, you're a big deal wunderkind who has no respect for your elders, but do you have the guts to face me in any other kind of competition?  Or are you gonna run back to your dorm room like the scared little undergrad you are?

I'm waiting...