Being an internet refuge for Graeme McMillan
On Bill Mantlo getting recognition, credit and renumeration for his work, from here. Important edit: Mike Mantlo has since said that he was very misquoted by the NYT story — I’ve talked to him for THR…
Hey, for people who saw that Michael Mantlo quote from the NYT I posted earlier. Please check out the edit I added. Short version: Mantlo is saying that the quotes were manipulated and do not represent his experience.
Of course, I did not work 300 days that year. Freelancers in advertising are paid a decent amount because the implication is that you will not be working every day, and you will need that money to cover the days when you are sitting on your ass. There are many such days. And while it’s a nice idea to spend those off days counting all your freelance money, it’s hard to do that, because you don’t feel like you’re enjoying a day off. You feel like you are unemployed. You feel like a hobo. You feel like you need to get more work before the other work dries up. Most of that money you just made will go to paying your bills or to paying for your health care, Obamacare or no Obamacare. In one case, there was an ad firm that let me come to the office and just sit there on my off days, so I could do work if it came in, or search for work on my own. And I took the firm up on it, mostly so I had a place to go. So I felt like I had a job.
There is little in the way of mental rest. Being a freelancer means never turning down work when offered. You don’t skip a gig because of vacation or anything like that, because you know that’s leaving money on the table. You can see the money burning in your head. And even though a freelancing gig can feel permanent (some joints even give you a desk to work at), that’s a trick your mind plays on you. Deep down, you know you’re not REALLY a part of the office. You don’t get a “happy birthday” email from HR or anything. And lord knows the office has no problem cutting you away at its leisure, never with a formal goodbye or anything like that. You are disappeared, and you are usually the last to know.
I think there will be post-Watchmen comics, probably some good ones, like the thing from Dark Horse The American: a superhero who has been a patriotic symbol for the government since the ’40s, but there’s something very strange about the way he works: he keeps getting killed, or reported killed, and then he turns up again and calls a press conference. It’s a beautiful strip and it’s got that Watchmen flavour. I will say this: I’ll bet my arse that within 6 months or a year, everyone will be sick to the back teeth of realistic superheroes.
Alan Moore being very wrong in 1988. From here. (via kierongillen)
Wouldn’t it have been so nice if he’d been right?
As Michael explained in a telephone interview, the focus on his brother has encouraged the studio to reconsider its obligations to him. “The more often Bill’s name gets mentioned, and the more often he is given public credit for something that he did, the easier it is for me to go to Marvel and say, ‘You might want to consider raising your offer.’ ” …“My attorney is very good,” Michael said. “I’m not going to say Marvel came to me and opened up their hearts and their purse strings.”
On Bill Mantlo getting recognition, credit and renumeration for his work, from here.
Important edit: Mike Mantlo has since said that he was very misquoted by the NYT story – I’ve talked to him for THR for a story that’ll go live hopefully very soon. Suffice to say, he’s pretty much disowned the above quote and is far, far more complimentary about his dealings with Marvel.
Last Friday, Facebook experienced a partial global blackout for about an hour during the prime news hours of 8 am to 9 am Pacific. The blackout caused a 3 percent drop in overall traffic to news websites, according to data from ChartBeat, a traffic analytics firm that partners with many news outlets.
As for a movie with a non-white lead; if Marvel makes Thor 3 before it makes Black Panther, it will have made ten movies headlined by blond white men named Chris before it makes one movie headlined by someone who isn’t even white. (They can cast a black actor named Chris. That’s totally OK.)
I feel like I’ve got a bunch of new followers recently, so perhaps I should introduce myself.
I’m Graeme McMillan, a writer for Wired.com’s Entertainment section and the Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, as well as other places on a not-so-regular basis. You might have seen my work at Time.com, io9.com, Comic Book Resources, Newsarama, Playboy magazine and Comics Alliance, amongst other places.
In addition to all that jazz, I also co-host a podcast every two weeks called Wait, What? that can be found here. For that site, I also write weekly reviews of comic books.
If you’re on Twitter and don’t follow me, I’m @graemem.
I like chocolate chip cookies, pizza from Dove Vivi and you. Well, maybe; I don’t know you well enough, just yet, but you seem nice enough.
