Will Wilkinson quotes Kevin Carson in The Economist. Our quest for world domination continues.
What’s the opposite of rolling in one’s grave? Whatever it is, Thomas Hodgskin’s doing it.
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What Could Be Bad?
Chris Matthews opines: “I think we’re always right to back nationalism.”
He’s talking about the ongoing Middle Eastern revolts, but the claim as it stands is perfectly general – and seems open to the occasional counterexample.
R.I.P. Dwayne McDuffie
I’m saddened to learn of the (evidently sudden and unexpected) death of comic-book and animated-film author Dwayne McDuffie.
A longtime writer for both DC and Marvel Comics (among others), McDuffie also played the chief role in developing the “Milestone” line of characters and situations created by black artists and licensed (rather than sold) to DC Comics; the most famous of these is the teenage superhero Static.
McDuffie was also a chief writer for DC’s series of animated tv shows and videos, including the Justice League series and the recent followup, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, and he served as producer, editor, and writer for Ben 10: Alien Force. By odd coincidence, his video adaptation of Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman was released just today.
Only a few months ago he was expressing his hope to script adaptations of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing or Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns; I suspect the (now posthumous) project he refers to as “scripted … but I can’t say what it is for about a year” is that Batman: Year One film that people are talking about.
McDuffie was a terrific writer, and an inspiring and effective spokesperson for a greater minority voice in the comics industry. He will be missed.
2012 Addendum:
Actually the scripted project was Justice League: Doom.
Scooby’s Gulch
In a local bookstore yesterday I was surprised to see Anthem: The Graphic Novel, as I’d heard nothing about such a project being in the works. Although the original, owing to an oopsie on Peikoff’s part, is in the public domain (in the u.s. at least), this appears to be an estate-authorised version.
I have to say I don’t think much of it. The interior artwork is sketchy and unfinished-looking; worse, it’s in a style reminiscent of Saturday-morning cartoons and Sunday-school Bible comics, and thus radically fails to capture the vision and gravitas of Rand’s text. The artist, Joe Staton, has illustrated comics ranging from Green Lantern to Scooby-Doo; unfortunately, it is the latter approach that dominates here. It’s disconcerting to read, say, the description of the heroine as looking like a blade of iron whose eyes were dark and without kindness, and then see her depicted as a bubbly elf maiden. And while adaptation obviously requires condensation, the original’s memorable opening line is an odd choice to cut out. (Though under the circumstances it’s perhaps understandable, as the line might ring a little too true.)
Writ in Fire
Interesting stuff happening in Libya.
Mohamed Bouazizi sure has started somethin’.
Make Atlas Shrug Near You
The Atlas Shrugged movie will be a limited release. You can supposedly increase the odds of its coming to a theatre near you by entering your zip code here.