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Infected Worldmind

Politics and Culture. A Tonic.

Who am I?

I'm general counsel for a medium-sized tax-exempt organization that helps court-involved and other at-risk populations clear barriers to success in the community.

I'm also a development/fundraising professional and provide legal advice and guidance to start-up entertainment firms.

I'm a contributor to Funnybook Babylon and my ever-expanding bookshelf is here. I infrequently write about food and take pictures.

I'm also the happiest newlywed in the world.

That's everything.

Recent Tweets @jamaal30

[The New 52] is a tough thing to see. All those comics that you grew up reading, none of them count. It’s not quite an all-service kind of menu of storytelling. Marvel did their Ultimates by saying “Hey, you can either jump on board, or you can read the regular stuff, it’s ok.” There’s no forced “This is it, and this is all it’s ever going to be.”

…..

The worst part of this is that these are all fictional worlds that can be as widely inclusive or as resurrecting of old concepts and character designs as it wants to be. So, why isn’t it malleable to all the readers interests? Why not make all of that available in your library? Doing Kingdom Come, I never expected my designs to become any type of instructions or wave of change within the company.

-Alex Ross, on DC’s “New 52” publishing strategy, from an interview with Bleeding Cool’s Will Romine.

Two obvious points:

I get where he’s coming from with the first point, but on some level it sounds a little silly. All of the stories that he grew up reading still ‘count’ as much as they ever did, which is as much as the reader thinks they count.

His second point is more intriguing. I’ve always thought that the ‘Big Two’ should be more flexible with ‘canon’, and feel free to publish multiple versions/takes on their characters (e.g., Punisher and Punisher MAX or Batman and Batman Adventures). Loosen the reins.