Working Through Life

A lot of people talk about what a bad year 2009 was. For me, it wasn't a bad year...not a good year...it just was. I've certainly had worst and of course, better. But one thing that becomes apparent as you get older is how much everything blends in together. When I look back at my "career", I can't really look at it in terms of years but rather periods. And the reason I put career in quotation marks is because the term career just doesn't seem to fit. I guess I never figured what I was doing at the time was going to grow into a career.

The idea of working has been with me as long as I can remember. Even as a little kid, my dad worked odd jobs and he would bring me and my brothers along to clean up. We even got paid. I remember in the 7th grade, I walked to businesses and asked if I could sweep floors or something after school. So, my first real job was sweeper at Fresh's Auto Parts. Of course as kids, my brothers and I would cut lawns during the summer, rake leaves in the fall, and shovel snow in the winter. Allowances were something we didn't get from my parents so if we wanted money, we had to get our own. The bonanza came when my dad landed a midnight job remodeling a supermarket chain around the Detroit area. My brothers and I took turns working and we'd go in at 10:00 at night and work until 6:00 in the morning and then head off to school. It made for some tough days at school but we didn't care. The money was good. That lasted most of my junior high and high school years. As I said, we didn't care too much about school as about half the people didn't graduate anyway. There were too many jobs in factories that would pay big money (this was Detroit's auto factories still running strong). Most of us were applying for jobs while still in high school. If no openings, well, then you remained in school and waited. I remember standing in long lines to get the premiere jobs at the factories but luckily, I never got hired.

So, I was one of the those who finished high school---of the five brothers , only two of us did. The idea of college was never really considered until the 12th grade. College seemed like such an odd idea but obviously, it had some appeal. I remember enrolling at a community college, and to me, that was college- the big time. I was put on probation. Looking back now, I wonder who gets put on probation at a community college? It was an intimidating experience at first as I expected everyone at college to be incredibly intelligent, worldly about all affairs, and have this sense of elitism. Of course, I found out college is just an avenue of opportunities, it doesn't magically transform people into cultured sophisticates.

Going to school, I worked a number of jobs. Landscaper, bank teller, vacuum cleaner salesmen, drapery hanger, carpet installer, alarm systems, tearing down houses, just about anything. I got married right when I turned 21, which turned out to be the best thing I ever did, and the two of us struggled to get through school. My wife was a good student in high school and had always planned to go to college which was something different as virtually all of her friends hadn't even graduated high school much less contemplated college. She got into University of Michigan (she was a smart kid) and so we moved from Detroit to Ann Arbor. That was quite a culture shock. I worked during the day at various jobs and went to school at night while she was a full time student and she would fit in teaching piano to earn money. It was during this time that I made a decision which seemed very small at the time, yet would take me into a completely new direction.

I opened a used book store. It was never a dream of mine or anything but I was always an avid reader....most of my family was. The library was a constant hangout for me. In Ann Arbor, I discovered so many used book shops and I thought they were the coolest places. With a little research, I found avenues where you could buy books in bulk and I figured that it wouldn't take much to operate a store. I opened it in a suburb of Detroit and when kids came in asking for comics, I decided to add comics and that brought me into a whole new world.

While still a student and earning my Master's Degree in Biology, I ended up opening a total of four stores and they'd all eventually become comic shops rather than bookstores. That was sort of my first career, that of a book store owner. Then I got involved in publishing and started up Caliber and that would become my second career. I never looked at either as a "forever" path, it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. The only "real" job I had during all this time is when I helped start Todd McFarlane's toy company as I, through a partner I teamed up with, was tied in with Todd as the toy company launched. I became the Executive Vice President and I handled the national TV advertising, hiring many of the employees for staffing, other promotional aspects, etc. It was a three year period where I had regular hours that I was expected to adhere to. I still had my stores and I still had Caliber so it was a hectic three years.

I sold off the stores and then years later, I closed off Caliber. At that time, I started evaluating what the future was in that direction. The comics field, which had looked so promising, now looked like a continuous cycle of superhero exploits. The expansion of hopeful directions on the heels of Watchmen, Maus, From Hell, Sandmen, etc. faded quickly. The "business" side seemed to swallow up the experimental side. Printers had knocked Caliber down with their mistakes which were a financial burden I still feel the ramifications from and even winning lawsuits didn't help. I decided to try teaching biology. I had my degree and the opportunity came.

So, that started my “third career”, that of being a teacher. I am an instructor at community colleges teaching courses in General Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Evolution, and others. I enjoy it immensely and it has given me a sense of normalcy as far as hours and schedules go. But with each step into a different direction, it doesn’t mean that the rest goes away. I still am a publisher although Transfuzion is on a much smaller scale than Caliber was. I continue to write, something I started at Caliber, and have written for Desperado, Penguin, Image, and other areas including a video game scenario, role playing games, and more.

Right now, I am transitioning into other avenues of writing. That doesn’t mean that I’m moving out of comics, whether as a writer or publisher, and I certainly am not going to get away from teaching. I currently am immersed in two novels that I’m writing plus a number of books dealing with biology. Whether it all actually leads into a “fourth career”, I have no idea but again, it just seems like the path to follow.

The beauty of today’s world is there are so many opportunities to express oneself creatively. The digital explosion, which may not have actually exploded yet, and the idea of print on demand and the avenues available there (such as Amazon) allow excursions into a lot of areas that were closed off to most people just a decade ago. That doesn’t mean, however, that everyone can make money off of it. That’s the hard part.

Yes, 2009 was a bad year for a lot of people but people in “our” business of creating ideas have a lot of avenues to explore. The growth there was a positive area. Whether it is a creative outlet that pays the bills is still open to question but at least the creative side can be sated. I’m noticing for a lot of people in the world of comics, that seems to be enough.

The days of running a comic shop seem so long ago, as does the time of Caliber. The Caliber days, though, have constant reminders because of all the people I worked with that I stay in touch with and the re-visitation of the comics created, whether it’s for reprint books, Hollywood activity, or preparing them for digital exploitation.

I’m not sure what the point of me going through all the above was exactly…I guess that one should constantly be looking for ways of expression…of creativity, and sometimes that has a merit all its own. The rest, if it comes, is extra.

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Onto 2010

2009 was a bad year for a lot of people. For me, another year, not necessarily good or bad, but generally okay. I think 2010 will be a better year for most people, including myself, I hope. I mean, one always wants things to get better. It looks to be a year of catchup. Deadworld: Slaughterhouse which was scheduled to come out last year as a mini-series, has just been released as a hardcover. Outside of a few printing snafus which are not major, the book looks really nice. Sami did such a fantastic job with the art that it overwhelms any printing deficiencies. It should be in comic shops any day now. The schedule of Deadworld books coming from IDW has been figured out and the first one up is the Deadworld Classic which is a compendium of all of Vince Locke's artwork. As a writer, I contributed a little to the last portion. There will be additional pages from Vince including some surprises such as the very first Deadworld story he drew that has never seen print until now. The Sin Eternal book, again a supposed 2009 book, is near completion. Dealing with a return to Dante's Inferno, it was a book from hell (pun intended) as far as production goes. There are others but I'll wait until they come together. Of course, there is lots going on with Transfuzion Publishing. I don't know if I mentioned it before or not, but I keep up with the Transfuzion stuff on the Comic Related website in a column called Talking Transfuzion. I use that to discuss what's going on and spotlight creators and books. I expect quite a bit of this year to deal with exploitation of the digital format and there should be some of my books appearing from Kindle shortly. More announcements are expected but again, I'll wait until it's a reality rather than a possibility on most of the stuff. There was one aspect that did bring 2009 out in a downer. Some of the Caliber creators may remember and certainly customers of my Reader's store. Kathy Wolfram, who in addition to being a clerk at the store, handled all the accounting for the first few years of Caliber, died after Christmas of cancer. It was a rare form of cancer as it originated in her appendix. She left behind her husband, Mike, who used to be the store all those years ago, and two children. Her dad was an amateur photographer and he shot all the pictures of the King Kon conventions I used to put on as well as special events at Readers. I hadn't seen Kathy for awhile but of course, remember her well and fondly. Kathy was involved in Caliber mainly in accounting but she did have her opportunity to be part of the creative process. In the first few issues of Baker Street, it was her handwriting that appears as the journal notes of the Sue character. She said her children were impressed that she had actually worked in comics. Just very sad. I hope by the time I put up the next blog, I have some information about the Deadworld movie which is moving ahead even though there isn't much to report. It's just the way the system works.

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On the Holiday Movies

I usually don’t do reviews in my blog although I had discussed some of the comic movies previously. But two films out now seem to have been adopted by the comics community even if they are not derived from comics---although I found it ironic that Sherlock Holmes was promoted as being “based on the graphic novel” when it actually wasn’t. How’s that for spinning things in the opposite direction from a few years ago? Now, it’s a plus to be based on a graphic novel/comic. I used to be an avid Sherlock Holmes reader. I read all the original stories and probably over 100 pastiches and “source” books regarding Holmes. Although I still maintain my interest in Sherlockian lore, I don’t have the same passion for it that I once did. But I am still a fan. In fact, when my wife and I went to London, 221-b Baker Street was the first place we went. Yes, I knew it was an imaginary place of an imaginary character, but I still had to see it. I have purchased perhaps a dozen DVDs in my life and the only sets I have are the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes. So, I still have that Holmesian bug… I was not expecting much when I went to see the movie. My wife accompanied me, perhaps to offer solace if the movie was bad. We don’t go to the movies often, maybe 6-7 times a year. I had seen some of the previews and I was a bit worried about how they were going to treat Sherlock. Overall, I liked the movie a great deal. It was more action oriented than a typical Holmes tale, but I thought most of the action was incorporated quite nicely. Holmes was not a Nero Wolfe type who remained sedentary. In the stories, Holmes was always quick to get involved physically. I had heard a number of criticisms before I went about how the film destroyed the image built by Conan Doyle and that the movie departed from what made Holmes…well, Holmes. I don’t think those critics were at all familiar with the original stories as this story picked up a lot of references to the official canon. It was obvious that the scriptwriters knew their Holmes. It wasn’t a perfect movie. Rachel McAdams just didn’t seem enough to pull off being Irene Adler, someone who once bested Holmes. She wasn’t a bad choice, just not the right one. And it has nothing to do with her being non-British as even in the short story, she was listed as an American. Downey was good although I have a hard time letting go of Jeremy Brett as the vision for Sherlock Holmes. Jude Law was excellent. I though the overall “big crime” felt like a retread from so many other books-comics-movies. I had a gnawing trepidation when the supernatural elements began to build up in the story but even the mundane villainous plot was satisfying enough once the supernatural was explained. So, I’d give it a recommendation and high marks. Even my wife liked it and she is not a Holmes fan at all. I don’t think it was great but very good and would love to see a sequel. If nothing else, perhaps Jude Law’s performance will forever rid the image of Nigel Bruce’s portrayal of Watson as a bumbling idiot. I can’t even watch the Basil Rathbone films anymore because of the way they treated poor Watson. The second movie of the holiday season, and of the entire year, and who knows what else--- is, of course, Avatar. Most of the criticisms I heard centers on Cameron himself, it seems. People who hated Titanic were lined up to hate this one also. I happened to like Titanic…well, most of it. There were some major problems that I couldn’t look past but narratively, I though it was structured brilliantly. I made sure to see Avatar in 3D even though I hate wearing those glasses. I knew it was what they label an event film…something you have to see, but it had piqued my interest for quite awhile. I was worried that the idea of having an Avatar seemed so original some ten years ago was now becoming an overused plot device, especially since Surrogates had just been released. But who remembers Surrogates except some people in the comics market? People go to see movies for different reasons. Some like the big scenes…the battles, the car chases, the boom! Others like the story and characterization. If I told you that I thought Transformers was one of the stupidest things I ever saw and I felt like I wasted two hours of my life on it, you’d probably guess what I find appealing in movies. The special effects of Avatar…all of it…the designs, the color palette, the 3D, the careful consideration of the evolutionary trends developing on the planet…all of it was just fantastic. But you know what, it just doesn’t mean that much to me. When I see a movie, I go expecting that the effects are part of the background. I accept them for what they are, whether they’re the rich and lavish ones found in Avatar or the cheesy ones in a 1950’s horror flick. I just take it in as part of the package. I know that some people have compared Avatar (story wise) to Dancing with Wolves but I think the much stronger connection is A Man Called Horse. That was a Richard Harris movie and one of my faves when I was growing up. To me, Avatar seemed to be an updating of that film much more than Costner’s film. So, the special effects didn’t move me and the story was pretty pedestrian. I mean, after the first half hour, I think everyone in the audience could have recited what was going to happen. Maybe it was because I felt manipulated. Stirrings of Vietnam with the helicopters tied in with the obvious Native Americans suffering from the European colonialism. I think I was supposed to bring up pangs of guilt and shame for what happened in the past. Well, I don’t feel guilt or shame for the terrible tragedies in American history. Sure, I feel sorrow and am sympathetic but none of my ancestors were here, they all arrived in the Ellis Island era. I thought the characters were so one dimensional and very stereotypical. The motivations of the…well, just who were they exactly? Apparently it was some sort of corporation but obviously it was purely American and had U.S. marines. They were the perfect symbol of corporate greed and when the military commander took over, it was almost laughable in his logic, propped up by a terrorist speech. I get that Jake would find himself immersed in the Na’vi culture but find it hard to accept that he would go against his entire race to join them forever. Yes, I know he fell in love but it seemed too convenient for the story’s sake. Harkening to the pilot of Star Trek where he could be a whole man again by assuming a vision (i.e.-Avatar form) rather than remaining trapped in his broken body, wasn’t enough as it was indicated that with the right connections, he could be restored to his full human form. In A Man Called Horse or even in Costner's Dancing with Wolves, both men adopted their new culture...but they were still the same person. They could go back if they wanted to, even if it was just for a visit. Jake could not. I wonder how Jake will feel 5-10 years later while he’s eating the same fruit every day on how wonderful it would be to hop on a computer, watch a video, have a microwave pizza, or even go to a movie. So many people find the simple life alluring yet if you look at the past or even in foreign countries, those people are trying to get the modern toys that we have. There were a lot of puzzling questions as the movie was unfolding that bothered me. First off, when Jake initiates the defense, it sure didn’t seem like there was much of a plan. Offering a large percentage of only 2,000 natives as sacrificial lambs doesn’t seem like much of a leader. And why were there only 2,000 Na’vi? Were they a race headed for extinction? If a human body could be transferred like they attempted with Grace, why did Jake wait so long? When he didn’t do it immediately, you just knew his crippled body would be the culminating plot point. The whole transfer of the mind back to Jake when his avatar form slept seems like it would have caused all kinds of problems. Jake’s Na’vi form must have been comatose quite often as Jake was awake in his human form. Did he just hide somewhere? I know I’m perhaps nitpicking because actually I liked the movie. It wasn’t great, just bordering on good. I can’t rave on it and I wonder about those who claim it was the best film they ever saw…but we all have our preferences and I guess I can see how some people would find themselves immersed in it. I mean, look at how many people were so into the Lord of the Rings trilogy which I found boring and tedious in many spots. I’m glad for Cameron on one hand because I think he tried to do something daring and dramatic and I like to see him being rewarded for his gamble. But that’s not enough to say it’s a great film. It can rightfully claim to be a special film but that’s a big difference from being great.

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