Memories of haunted Halloweens gone by

1991 vintage Flash mask

PANAMA CITY — When my son was 3, I took him to a kid-friendly haunted maze at a Kmart store’s garden center. His sister was a newborn down the street at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, and our first photographs of them together show him in his Flash costume.

She turns 23 today, our little Halloween treat. But a visit to the Panama City Jaycees Haunted House under construction earlier this month set my mind on a minor event of that momentous day in 1991, and from there the Halloween memories began to tumble.

Apparently, the red-and-yellow plastic coveralls with the lightning logo conferred upon her brother the super-speed powers of the comic book hero whose adventures he had viewed on television. At least, one would think so, to see him running everywhere he went.

The mask and costume also rendered him fearless. Near the end of the haunted maze, a man in some kind of scarecrow/clown outfit squatted down and made spooky noises at the boy, who drew back his right arm and promptly punched the man in the nose of his mask.

I apologized, the man laughed, and Flash propped his fists on his hips in a heroic pose, having vanquished evil.

Jessi and Nathan

The Flash’s greatest adventure was on my mind when I walked the unfinished maze above Panama City Marine Institute, which has sheltered the Jaycees Haunted House for 11 years. (You can view a video tour through the haunted house at PanamaCity.com, and see the schedule on pages 10-11 for times and details on the event.)

Will Hancock, who has supervised the Haunted House project for the Jaycees for several years, told me last week that the event is “very alive” and doing robust business.

“I am pleased with all the hard work and dedication put in so far,” Will said. “The ‘13 Ghosts’ room and the ‘Oculus’ room have been the most consistent (frights) so far, but that can change tonight. We are adding more sound and lighting as we speak.”

The scares, while safe for adults and teens, are not appropriate for little children. I just hope no one gets punched in the nose.

No frightful creatures jumped out at me during my tour — which was lucky, since I had no hero handy to leap to my defense. But suddenly, 1991 seemed like only yesterday. When I wondered where the years had gone, I could feel them piled up like a bottleneck, heavy and thick with sweet memory.

Jessi playing with makeup.

... Sitting with the kids at a fire in a friend’s Cove area front yard, reading “The Raven” and handing out candy.

.... Wrapping the kids like toilet paper mummies during a contest at another friend’s Halloween party at Pine Log.

... Walking the sidewalks of North Shore neighborhoods to gather massive hauls of candy.

... Playing “pin the fangs on the monster” at one of Jessi’s earliest birthday parties in Century.

... Dressing in costumes to grab supper at Golden Corral on yet another Halloween.

So many autumn evenings, pumpkins carved, yards decorated, homemade costumes, movie nights with the house full of her friends, and outfits I can’t even begin to recall.

In that moment, picturing the boy in the Flash uniform holding a newborn little girl in a hospital room, I wondered if ghosts of the past truly haunt houses, or if they only haunt old men whose children have grown up.

Peace. 

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This is my Undercurrents column this week for PanamaCity.com and The News Herald.

Shield-slinging hero still stands tall

Note: This is not a review of the new movie. It's my Undercurrents column for PanamaCity.com and The News Herald this week.

(C) Marvel Entertainment

The movie “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” opened this weekend, with many reviewers touting it as “the best” of the recent run of Marvel Comics-based films. I’m looking forward to seeing it soon, as 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger” was my favorite of the Marvel films. (Yes, even more than “Iron Man,” and right up there with “The Avengers.”)

I’ve wondered about that, and I think I’ve figured out why.

It goes back to the fact that I’ve always been a DC Comics fan rather than a Marvel fan. For those of you who don’t know the difference, don’t worry. These days, there isn’t much difference between the two companies — but in the 1970s, when I was probably at my most impressionable comic book peak, they were very different animals.

DC is the home of characters like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman — idealized personalities who were larger than life, self-sacrificing, brave, resourceful and stood for concepts like “Truth, Justice and The American Way.”

Whereas Marvel characters like Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Fantastic Four, however, were flawed (arguably more realistic) personalities who squabbled amongst themselves, wallowed in self-pity, and then rose above it all in the last possible moment to save the world.

As a kid, I admired those DC characters for being so steadfast, self-assured and above all, nice to each other. They were friends. “Super Friends,” even. It wouldn’t be until I became a teenager that I’d begin understanding and relating to the problems posed by Tony Stark’s alcoholism, for instance, or Ben Grimm’s self-loathing.

And then there was Captain America, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1941, a Marvel hero who always seemed like he was living in the wrong comic book universe once he had been transplanted to then modern day 1960s America in stories by Kirby and Stan Lee.

Subsequent writers tried to manufacture problems for Cap over the years, but really, he was the idealized patriot from the Greatest Generation — honor, fidelity and self-sacrifice were essential components of his personality from the beginning. As I read his 1970s adventures, his problems were more with what he saw America becoming — politically corrupt, corporately controlled — and not personal failings or flaws.

So Cap was one of the few Marvel heroes I followed even then, because he fit my notion of what a hero should be. When my son started collecting comics many years later, I was gratified to see him enjoying Captain America — probably the first monthly subscription comic he chose.

From the trailers and early reviews, “The Winter Soldier” apparently merges some of Cap’s storylines from the 1970s — which introduced his crime-fighting partner, the Falcon, and exposed Cap to the dark machinations of political insiders — with recent plots that resurrected a former comrade as a formidable enemy.

And yet, I’m confident Cap will overcome. He believes in America and what it’s supposed to stand for — which doesn’t include the politics of fear — and he remains a symbol of what the Greatest Generation achieved and why they did so. He will stand tall, and we will look up to him as an example of what heroes can be.

Peace. 

Flashback Friday: An early review of 'Starman' comic

(On May 21, 1996, the News Herald printed the following review of James Robinson's revival of the Starman character at DC Comics. It was as much a love letter to that series as a statement in reaction to what comics had become in the 1990s. I remain a fan. (Please ignore the use of the 'x' in 'comix,' which was how we spelled things in the 'Generation NeXt' section back then.))

Jack Knight, From Wikipedia

The heroes of old are, with a few notable exceptions, gone from the pages of four-color comix. That bright world has lost its innocence — and much of its creative energy — to teams of muscle-bound vigilantes toting semi-automatic plasma bazookas, and to impossibly endowed females flirting with loss of circulation if their rubber corsets were any tighter.

 Then came Starman.

As created by writer James Robinson and artist Tony Harris, Starman is Jack Knight — a small figure of a man, a tattooed late-20-something, obsessed with all things rare and antique. He'd rather scour rural flea markets for View Master reels and Depression glass than dress in Spandex and duke it out with the villains.

His idea of a costume is night-vision goggles and a leather jacket.

But as the younger son of a 1940s superhero, Jack has become the epitome of the chicken-or-egg question that haunts history: Do great events conspire to create heroes, or do great men and women arise to make history?

In Jack's case, events sought him out and he rose to the challenge. His big brother, David, was first to don Dad's mantle, only to be killed by a sniper's bullet in the first pages of the first issue.

(Jack has since had two surreal visits with his deceased brother — the first as they fought in a grave yard over the right to the Starman name, and the second as David sought to warn Jack of future events.)

With his father injured, his brother dead and his own antique shop razed by the children of an old foe, Jack uses his dad's "star rod" to rout the bad guys and restore order to Opal City.

Through Jack and his supporting cast, Robinson has crafted a book with the multiple layers of history, personality, foreshadowing and drama usually found only in works print-only fiction. His characters are distinct and react with realism — as seen in the frustration and distance between father and son that slowly dissolves into a growing respect and admiration for their individual strengths.

The periodic "Times Past" stories allow guest artists to explore events in the history of Opal and its citizens, giving us a glimpse of the Golden Age of heroes; or a tale of the nigh-immortal. sometimes-villainous Shade and his friendship with Oscar Wilde.

Meanwhile, artist Harris has crafted a vision of retro-deco cities, of characters delineated by quirky swirls and outlines, of shadows and black bordered pages.  No larger-than-life people dominate his panels — save for the lumbering Solomon Grundy. Though stylistically rendered, these are anatomically realistic human beings with an expressive range far removed from the grimacing brain-bashers in other comix.

Like our own shared version of reality, this can be a dark world. People die. Bad guys revel in the pain of others. Some cops are less-than-true to their code. Evil is powerful.

But now there's a beacon in the night.

"Starman has always been around," Robinson said in his introduction to the series, "a light in the darkness, in his own little corner of the DC universe."

Fan Trailer: Kingdom Come

I have a friend and former coworker, Brian Parsley, who is pretty great at making superhero costumes. Great enough that he does that full-time now. He appears in this as "Magog."

From Wikipedia

It's based on a groundbreaking graphic novel (originally a four-part prestige format series) from 1996 that explored a near-future in the DC Comics world that saw Superman coming out of retirement to try to reign in the out-of-control super-powered folks and fight a cabal of bad guys. There's much more to it than that — there kind of would need to be for it to remain a fan-favorite storyline nearly 20 years later — and if you want to read it, just hit this link.

Awesome Wonder Woman trailer

Peter Stormare as the Nazi interrogator. This is what Wonder Woman could be on the big screen. Why can't DC Comics/Warner Bros. get its act together?
Female Super Hero Fan Film from Jesse V. Johnson on Vimeo.

Saturday is Free Comic Book Day

PANAMA CITY — The best things in life are free. And the proof is Saturday.

On “Free Comic Book Day,” held each year on the first Saturday in May, participating comic book shops across the known galaxy and adjacent alternate dimensions give away comics absolutely FREE (hence, the name) to anyone who comes into their stores. It’s meant to drum up interest in comics, promote art and reading, and basically make the world a better place.

“We use it as an opportunity to give back to the community and say thank you for supporting the store,” said Greg Ray, owner of Comic Emporium. “It’s a chance for first-timers and longtime fans alike to sample titles that they’re not reading.”

Comic Emporium will open early for its regular subscribers, then open to the public at 10 a.m. and continue the giveaways until 2 p.m., giving away comics and other items beyond those specifically provided for the event. Ray said he collects items throughout the year with an eye toward giving them away on Free Comic Book Day.

In addition, comic reviewer Kat Kan will be present to promote a KickStarter project for a comic-style textbook she’s working on. The evening will conclude with a Magic card tournament.

Each store may have different free titles available, as well as different rules for participating and limits to how many you can take (so everyone can go away happy). But each also will have a selection of genres and age-appropriate books provided to the stores at a reduced cost by the publishers.

“There is a larger quantity of products available than Superman, Batman and Spider-Man,” said James Finlayson, owner of Arena Comics & Gaming, where sketch artists and costumed heroes will be on site. “So many good things people lose sight of.”

Among the titles announced for the day are all-ages books (such as “Peanuts,” “Smurfs” “Donald Duck Family” and “Yo Gabba Gabba”), mainstream superheroes (including a “DC New 52” sampler and “Avengers”), sci-fi and horror titles (such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “2000 AD,” “Dinosaurs and Aliens” or a “Star Wars/Serenity” flipbook), and much more. >>You can see previews of the comics here.<<

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., New Force Comics will offer giveaways of “Avengers” movie promotional items and door prizes, as well as special rates on comics, toys, statues, graphic novels and more at random periods throughout the day. Children are encouraged to show up dressed as their favorite costumed heroes.

“Hopefully it will be a little bit of fun for everyone,” said Rick Whitelock, owner of New Force. “It’s an effort to promote the hobby and get more books in people’s hands.”

Whitelock is what Stan Lee used to call a “True Believer” — that is, an unabashed fan. He recalls the first comic he ever owned: “Silver Surfer” No. 1, dated 1968, that his father bought for him at a local flea market in 1973. He still has it. It launched his lifelong love for the hobby that grew into a business.

“I’m sure it had something to do with the fact my Dad bought it for me, but I held onto it,” he said. “I was just learning to read, and how cool is this? Silver Surfer, the power cosmic, gliding through the spaceways? We all love Superman, Batman, the Avengers — but Silver Surfer is the one I identify with the most.”

Peace.

This was my Undercurrents column for The News Herald today.

Reading List for the New Year

The death of Borders contributed to a gigantic haul of reading materials for the family's Christmas presents. Additional books came from Books-a-Million's discount racks. This is a list of the books I received and will be reading in the next several weeks:

Hardback Graphic Novels/Illustrated books:
Instructions by Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess (I love the children's books by Gaiman, and Vess' illustrations are wonderful; if there's a special girl in your family, you should get her "The Blueberry Girl" by these two. "Instructions" is a good one for the adventurous little boy.)
DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle
Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Storm Front
Angel: The Crown Prince Syndrome
Seven Soldiers of Victory (Grant Morrison)
The Green Woman (Peter Straub)
Black Kiss (Howard Chaykin)
SHIELD: Architects of Forever
Deathlok the Demolisher
Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD
Captain America: The New Deal
Annihilation: conquest
Doorways (George R.R. Martin) - based on a TV series proposal he wrote in the 1990s.

Devil Dog
Shadow Knights
It's a Wonderful Life

Paperback graphic novels/illustrated books:
Fantastic Four: The End
Exiles Ultimate Collection
Exiles: Starting Over
Exiles: Down the Rabbit Hole
Incorruptible Vol. 2
Human Target
Wonder Woman: Rise of the Olympians
Wonder Woman: Contagion
Wonder Woman: Ends of the Earth
Ultimate Elektra: Devil's Due
Squadron Supreme: Hyperion vs. Nighthawk
Spiderman: Fever
Criminal: The Sinners (Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips)
Zatanna: Mistress of Magic


Hardback Novels:
Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles (by Michael Moorcock)
Manhood for Amateurs (Michael Chabon)
From Hell with Love (Simon Green)
Fatal Error (F.Paul Wilson)
Hunting for Hemingway

Paperback novels:
Ghosts of War
The Bloodstained Man
Final Crisis
Torchwood: Risk Management
By the Sword (F.Paul Wilson)
Managing Death
Countdown
Morlock Night
Conspiracies (F.Paul Wilson)

Ghosts of Christmas haunt ‘Batman Noel’

As the new original graphic novel “Batman Noel” opens, Gotham City’s dark knight is tracking a petty criminal named Bob through the snowy streets on Christmas Eve.

Bob is just trying to scrape by, running errands for the Joker so he can provide for his sick son. But while Joker seems the obvious “Scrooge” in this retelling of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” it is Batman who ends up being visited by specters. Indeed, in Bob’s world, Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne is the penny-pincher who begrudgingly gives him Christmas day off.

This version of the Batman is a weary veteran, emotionally scarred by his war on crime. He has lost his compassion for the victims he once swore to protect, focusing instead on winning the war at any cost. He has isolated himself from his friends and distanced himself from the common people of his city. All he cares about is the bottom line, and he will sacrifice anyone to achieve his ends — even the safety of a sickly child.

The story of “Batman Noel” (hardcover, 112 pages, $22.99) uses “A Christmas Carol” as the bones for a desperate adventure tale exploring what it means to be a hero. Batman must come to terms with his past, present and future as he battles villains from the campy 1960s to the dark and brooding menaces of today.

Download a preview of the book here.

It’s a familiar trope to longtime comic book readers to see their heroes involved in holiday-themed adventures, but this goes one better. “Batman Noel” gives readers a realistic variation on the Dark Knight (the designs are very similar to the current movie incarnation), as well as his enemies and allies from different eras of his career. Robin, Catwoman, Superman and Joker make appearances, filling roles similar to characters in Dickens’ tale.

This fast-paced and beautifully illustrated book was written and drawn by Lee Bermejo, who also illustrated the best-selling “Joker” graphic novel with writer Brian Azzarello in 2008. His Superman story in “Wednesday Comics” was serialized in USA Today.

The story doesn’t require an encyclopedic knowledge of the characters, and it doesn’t get bogged down by their negative aspects. There’s more gravy than grave about it, Dickens might say. Rather, it’s a good introduction to one man’s interpretation of the icons, a story anyone with passing interest in comics will enjoy, and a real gift for a true fan.