Taste my despair

I was telling a friend last night about Despair.com, a site where they sell parodies of the motivational posters you’ve seen around. I know it's old, but I've got it on the brain, get off my case. Most of the posters are funny, but this one in particular really strikes a chord with me:


Ouch. That may be hitting a little close to home. See more at the link; click on the sidebar under "Individual Designs".
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Speaking of despair…

The V for Vendetta trailer went online today, and though only the movie will tell, the preview looks good. At least some of the political message from the comic appears to have been retained, and if nothing else, the action promises to be visually interesting.

A couple of quibbles (because I’ve got to complain about something): the dystopian future they portray looks a little too clean and stylized. I read the series again recently and, as always, like with a lot of early 80s British comics, I was initially put off by the art before getting into it and seeing how essential it is to the feel of the story. The claustrophobic panel grids are a precursor to the approach Moore and Gibbons took on Watchmen, and the griminess adds to the atmosphere of hopelessness. I always imagined that while a film version of this story couldn’t capture the feel of the comic page, it would instead have the same crappy aesthetic of 70s and 80s English TV drama. However, the director has gone with something that looks very contemporary, and that might work fine, as well.

Also, I question the wisdom of putting a “name,” and more importantly a “face,” actor like Hugo Weaving under the mask. I like Weaving as a performer, but having him be V leads to the temptation to show his face on screen, which would diminish the story greatly. What’s just as bad, though, is that even if they don’t show his face, we already know what he looks like. Among other things, if they show Evey’s parents, then we know for certain whether V is her father or not, thus answering one of the questions the original story deliberately left vague. I don’t know if there’s any way around that, since no matter who the actor was you’d know his name and see him in interviews, but it’s one of the drawbacks of adapting this comic to film.

But both of these are mild criticisms, and I’m looking forward to seeing this movie. I’m glad they kept the English setting, and I hope they don’t delay the release, as Rich Johnston suggested they might, in wake of the London terrorist attacks.
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Speaking of D’Spayre:


(image courtesy Bring on the Bad Guys)
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Speaking of despair…

Well, at least of dark futures. The Pulse has a great interview with Paul Pope about his upcoming Batman project, Batman: Year 100. Pope’s work is hit or miss for me, but I like reading his thoughts on comics, and here, his thoughts on Batman. A few choice bits from the interview:

“I try to play Batman as Howard Hughes with the brains of Thomas Edison and the body of David Beckham, pretending he's Nosferatu."

"I tried to approach the concept of a Batman as that of a terrorist cell," Pope said. "What is the minimum number of people required to make something like a Batman work? I approached my Batman concept more as that of a theatrical performance. What is the minimum number of people you need to put on a death-defying feat? So I approached his Batman Family the way you might think of a theatrical set up and clean up crew on any stage production. There are three people Batman uses. This is a very fast-paced and visual story."

"There's a lot of Batman tricking people. I'm empathizing the theme by playing up the superstition versus technology factors. Batman wants people to think he's a supernatural creature."

“Yuko Shimizu said to me one night and it's true - if anything, money is Batman's superpower."

“The idea of one lone vigilante fighting crime and the appeal of that is somewhat challenged by the thought of a suitcase bomb that could kill a million people or infect a city with botulisms or something like that. I wanted a new way to fit a superhero into this sort of post September 11 world, where there really is mass terror going on."

I like that he’s exploring the practicality of Batman from an urban terrorist angle. Batman is a conspiracy; how many people would need to be involved? As well, that idea of Batman being intensely technological, but for the aim of appearing supernatural is an interesting observation too. Pope sells me on the project when he talks about what a great visual jumping rooftop to rooftop is, something that I would have liked to have seen in the Batman movie. Go read it, it’s a good interview, even if he keeps saying “empathizing” when he means “emphasizing.” (Shut up, I’m an English student; it’s my job to make fun of people for mistakes like that).
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And finally, speaking of despair:


I’d think it was a one-off, a dumb, isolated plot point, but the solicitation text combined with Jeph Loeb's track record make me worry:

There's nothing more incredible than the debut of Batwoman and Superwoman! Guest-starring Superlad!

Note to Jeph Loeb, please stop hurting comics.