It all seems impossible, doesn’t it? But according to the latest installment of my favorite weekly comic book column, Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed (#128 for those counting at home), the Ghost Rider/Casper story almost happened.
After the success of the fun Archie Meets The Punisher and the popularity of the Ghost Rider film, this story doesn’t seem all that far fetched. Heck, I’d buy it!
In the latest Locus, Cory Doctorow has produced an excellent article on how to use the Creative Commons license.
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| Since 2003, the Creative Commons movement has ridden a worldwide revolution in creativity and sharing, inspiring the authors of over 160 million copyrighted works to adopt a "some rights reserved" approach that encourages sharing, remix, and re-use of their works. CC licenses come in a variety of flavors, and in many jurisdictional variants, but at root, they are simple to use and apply, and they bring great benefit to "audiences" and "creators" (and help to blur the details between these two crude categories). |
The piece also offers a concise overview of copyright law.
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| Through most of its four-hundred-odd-year history, copyright has only applied to a special class of works, generally those created with the intention of commercial exploitation. Many governments — especially the US government — only granted copyright to authors who registered with a national library, depositing copies of each copyrighted work in the country’s authoritative repository of important creative works. These libraries also served as central registries, making it easy to figure out whose permission you needed when you wanted to use a copyrighted work. |
I recommend this article highly for anyone who is thinking of posting their works online.
[ 
Mood: Shocked ]
Newsarama reports on the Comicbloc rumor that Time Warner, which is reported to be selling off its AOL assets, might be shedding DC Comics!
Doesn’t sound likely, but an interesting thought. I find it difficult to imagine any company ridding themselves of the lucrative Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman licenses.
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| BERLIN (Reuters) – A German advent calendar for children has become a hot seller since word got out it has a picture of a notorious serial killer on it.
The cartoon calendar shows Fritz Haarmann, who murdered 24 young men and boys in the 1920s, lurking under a tree with a hatchet next to the door for December 1. Below him, Santa Claus hands out presents to children in a festive-looking Hanover. |
Stanford professor Larry Lessing, one of our foremost authorities on copyright issues and the Chair of Creative Commons, intelligently and skillfully makes the case for creative freedom in today’s Internet. Using graphics, humor, and clarity, Lessing successfully sets the current controversies within a fascinating historical perspective.
The Wanted movie trailer was posted yesterday. Although it seams to have little to do with the original comic, which is a dark twisted affair, the movie looks interesting. Sadly, it appears Angelina Jolie will NOT be donning the "Miss Fox" suit.
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| Recent observations from NASA and Japanese X-ray observatories have helped clarify one of the long-standing mysteries in astronomy — the origin of cosmic rays. Continued… |
Now if they could just explain how cosmic rays created the Fantastic Four…
[ 
Currently: Watching Red Sox-Rockies game ]
On October 27, I began my guest blogging stint for Jeff Vandermeer on his very popular Ecstatic Days. My tenure started with a reprint of my rarely seen 2003 Hellnotes self-interview complete with commentary and updates. My guest stint extends through November 11. I will attempt to maintain both blogs during the two weeks.
Hope to see y’all there as well.
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Currently: Listening to Social Distortion ]
Among ape collectors, Gil Brewer’s "Gorilla of the Gasbags" is a Holy Grail of sorts. The legendary cover of the June 1929 Zeppelin Stories tantalizes with a gorilla and a man fighting from the ladder beneath a flying dirigible! I’ve longed to read the story, but not only have I never actually seen one, I know of no one who has read the story.
Shockingly, a copy of the much sought after pulp recently sold on ebay for the astronomical sum of $3,183.33! Oh, to find one at a garage sale someday!
Remember that my 40th birthday is rapidly approaching. Just an observation.
[ Mood: Shocked ]
On his blog, Jeff Vandermeer released a rough of the cover to his (co-edited with his wife Ann) forthcoming anthology Steampunk. Contributors include Michael Moorcock, Joe R. Lansdale, Neal Stephenson, Michael Chabon, Mary Gentle, and others. Actually one of the others happens to me. I’ve contributed an essay about pop culture and steampunk.
Table of contents:
“Preface,” Jeff and Ann VanderMeer
“Introduction: The Nineteenth Century Roots of Steampunk,” Jess Nevins
“Steampunk in Pop Culture,” Rick Klaw
“Steampunk in the Comics,” Bill Baker
“Benediction: Warlord of the Air” excerpt, Michael Moorcock
“Lord Kelvin’s Machine,” James Blaylock
“The Giving Mouth,” Ian MacLeod
“A Sun in the Attic,” Mary Gentle
“The God-Clown Is Near,” Jay Lake
“The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down,” Joe Lansdale
“The Selene Gardening Society,” Molly Brown
“Seventy-Two Letters,” Ted Chiang
“The Martian Agent: An Interplanetary Romance,” Michael Chabon
“Victoria,” Paul Di Filippo
“Reflected Light,” Rachel E. Pollack
“Minutes of the Last Meeting,” Stepan Chapman
“Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of the Tribes of the Pacific Coast,” Neal Stephenson
I’m jazzed about this book. Especially after seeing the cover and the people that are in the anthology. The piece I most look forward to is Jess Nevin’s "The Nineteenth Century Roots of Steampunk." For the uninitiated, Jess produced the two amazing League of Extraordinary Gentleman companions (Heroes and Monsters and A Blazing World) plus the incredible The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana. Needless to say, Jess knows his stuff.
Look for the book in May, 2008.