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 by Scott Tipton  by Chris Ryall  by Scott Bowden  by Joshua Jabcuga  by Jud Meyers    |  Ron Twoeagle |
Mailbag
Comics 101 Is in Session
Pete N. writes: It's about 70 years too late, but I saw the perfect actor to portray Dr. Strange: Robert Taylor.
I was watching "Stand by for Action," 1942, on TCM starring Taylor, when it hit me that he looked like someone else. There was a scene where his face was lit from below and then I realized he was a double for Strange. I wonder if he was the model for Ditko?
Here's a link to a still from the flick: http://oldtimeentertainment.com/images/stand%20by%20for%20action.BMP. He's standing next to Brian Donlevy.
Tipton: Wow. Dead-on.
That's great.
Joshua M. writes: Hating the news that 'Angel' will be leaving IDW. Would it be out of line to ask if you'll be continuing to work on it? Or focusing on Trek?
How do you find a job as a writer? Not just comics.
Much love to you sir, and was super excited to read the "TV to Comics" article you posted. Super good stuff.
Tipton: Little chance of me working on ANGEL in the future, I'd guess. I'll be on TREK as long as they'll have me.
As for how to find work as a writer, always be writing, find venues for your work to be seen, and try to parlay that exposure into more high-profile, and eventually paying, jobs. It doesn't happen overnight, but if one is persistent, it will happen.
Zac H. writes: I completely agree with your review of Under the Red Hood. Having been somewhat underwhelmed by the last two DC DVD's (Public Enemies and Crisis on Two Earths) I was surprised by how much i enjoyed this one. In fact not only did i enjoy it, it's become one of my favourite Batman movies. Reading some of Winnick's run after seeing the film, i was amazed at how good his script was, getting rid of a lot of the chaffe of the comic, while creating a great film with an incredibly well done emotional climax. Bender's take on the Joker was spot on for the tone of the film. In particular i loved the moment where he realized what was going on. I laughed and hated myself for it at his reaction. Twisted but good.
Also, wondering what your thoughts are on the DC Showcase shorts they've been including (Spectre and Jonah Hex). I thought both of them were quite good. The Jonah Hex illustrated how Jonah Hex should be dealt with. It was very simple, but very true to the character. To mess up Jonah Hex like the recent film did really must have taken a significant effort. To my mind a good Jonah Hex movie would be a normal western with a seriously scarred hero/anti-hero. No need for blowing up washington or close encounters with the supernatural. ah well.
Anyways, sorry for the poor-wording of my e-mail. Keep up the good work.
Tipton: Agreed, the Jonah Hex short was much, much better than the movie.
Mike W. writes: So I'm assuming you've been following the "One Moment in Time" storyline which is supposed to answer the whole "why Peter and MJ aren't married" deal. Are you as ticked at this as I am? Okay, removing Mephisto I can deal with because I was never comfortable with the entire "make a deal with the Devil to save a dying old woman" thing anyway. The actual non-wedding was a letdown and don't get them living together for all that time without saying "I do." But the explanation for the mind-wipe is making me crazy as apparantly, Dr. Strange, Reed Richards and Tony Stark agree to pull it off together and keep it secret. So basically, Tony couldn't be bothered to help May when she was shot and dying but basically screwing with the minds of everyone on Earth is perfectly fine? And they could do this for Spidey but not Daredevil, whose life went to hell when he was outed in the press? And after all Peter went through to keep her safe, MJ STILL doesn't want to be with him and tells him to "let me go, live your life?" Once again, it annoys the hell out of me that one of the greatest relationships in comics is being ruined because the editor-in-chief thinks it's great to go back to "the good old days" of Peter single and lacking a soulmate. I've pretty much been ignoring Spidey comics for a while because of "One More Day" and this just confirms how ugly this whole thing is and hoping to hell someone can retcon it back sooner than later.
Tipton: Strange as it sounds, I think I liked Mephisto just hitting the reset button better…
Keith C. writes: I recently got Under the Red Hood via Netflix. I wasn't expecting much. Like you, I didn't like how Jason's comeback was revealed in the comics, and I'm not a fan of Winnick at all. I was very pleasantly surprised and I really enjoyed this animated movie though. The action was surprisingly violent, a few times gratuitous, but it suits this vision of the Batverse and, more importantly, the story. I'll definitely be getting my own copy of this at some point.
I thought Amazo was pronounced correctly (Uh-May-Zoh). What's the official word?
Tipton: In my head it was always AM-ah-zo, but what do I know?
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