Concert: Weird Al Yankovic, September 20th, 2007, Beacon Theater, NYC

Weird al

I would have to say that, pound for pound, Weird Al Yankovic gives the best concert performance I have ever seen. I have seen him five or six times prior to last Thursday, and he has never disappointed.

Last week, before the show, there was a man outside the venue with a petition to get Al nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I support this effort 110%. The two main qualifications to get into the Hall is that you have to be innovative and influential. You might say Al is anything but innovative. After all, he is a parody artist, meaning he rewrites other artists songs. Besides, there have been parodist before him, namely Allan Sherman and Stan Freberg.

But if you consider his video parodies, he is innovative. He was the first to parody that medium. And try to make a song parody that works. It's not as easy as all makes it look.

As for influential, Al has inspired numerous drive-time DJ's to make crappy song parodies. That might count against him. But if you look at it another way, look at how many artists over the years have said the knew they made it when Al parodied them. There was a lot and many future Hall of Famers are on the list.

This is the first time I've seen Al perform in NYC since I've lived here. Usually, he goes to places like Westbury and other towns. I guess the success of Straight Out of Lynwood means that he's back in the big time.

He was good as always. It seemed that there was much more costume changes than when I saw him in years past. Not that that's a bad thing, because it mean more AL TV skits.

There was a lot of inside jokes for fans, such as the "Atlantic Records Sucks" T-shirt he wore during "You're Pitiful". A highlight for me was when 12 Stormtroopers and a Darth Vader came out when Al did "The Saga Begins". You haven't lived until you've seen Darth bop along to a Don McLean parody.

So, if you're an Al fan and haven't seen him live yet, you must see him. And if you just like seeing an awesome live show, you should see him.   

New Guiding Lines column up.

There is a new Guiding Lines column up at Broken Frontier. This week, I cover Justice League of America #13, Wonder Woman Annual #1, Bart Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror #13, Batman #669, Avengers: The Initiative #6, and Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters #1. Check it out!

Reason for the Radio silence.

Not that anyone cares, but I haven't been blogging that often lately. Here is why:

• I went to see a concert
• I had to clean for a houseguest.
• I had other writing to do.

But now I'm back and this should be a heavy posting day. You are forewarned.

Bill

Tempest in a Teacup: CT Teacher gives out "pornographic" comic as an assignment.

As the Beat reports here and here, from this news article and this follow-up, a male Guilford CT High School teacher has resigned after assigning a copy of Eightball #22 to a 13 year-old female student. Of course, I had to comment on it.

First off, I have to say that in this case and in the Gordon Lee case, if you are giving comics that feature nudity to children, you are just asking for trouble. I mean, really. Think before doing something as daft as that.

That being said, the "victim" in this case is 13 years old! I was buying and reading Watchmen when I was 13! In the grand scheme of things, that was more pornographic than that issue of Eightball, which was reworked into the Ice Haven hardcover. And I only turned out mildly perverted.

The original article illustrates the fantasyland view most parents have about their kids. They are either in denial about or have forgotten how they were like when they were young and prefer to think of their children as pure, innocent, simple, untouched-by-the-world creatures who stay that way until they turn 18, when, magically, maturity rushes at them all at once and they become fully functioning adults overnight.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. As much as they think they are protecting them, the real world creeps in earlier that the realize. And "pornographic" comics aren't the main culprit. Try TV, movies, magazines, music videos, their friends and just the news in general. I'd argue that almost everything these kids come in contact through the above media is more explicit than that issue of Eightball.  I mean, what is worse? Seeing a drawing of a female breast or hearing Marg Helgenberger talking about her sex life, or lack thereof, on CSI?

And the parents quoted in the article take overreacting to ludicrous levels. "It's pornography," one says. "If that was my daughter that came home and showed this to me I honestly believe my husband would hurt the man," says another. Really? Is that a fact? Good tactic. Surely seeing daddy lacing a beating on her teacher would counter act the negative effect seeing a cartoon booby would have on the child's psyche.

I have read the book, but for those of you who have not, Journalista! , the blog of Eightball publisher Fantagraphics, has reprinted the most offensive panels from the issue. Those of you clicking the above link expecting to find hot, hardcore sex will be extremely disappointed. I'd wager to say that if those panels were a scene in a movie, that movie would only garner a PG-13 rating. Meaning the student in question could pay her money and see it with out any adult supervision at all.

But, of course, these are comics were talking about. There's an entirely different standard for comics than there is for movies. After all, didn't you know, comics are for kids! These perverts are using a child's medium to try and scar these pure and innocent children just so they can get their rocks off! Those nasty buggers!!!!

We are over 50 years removed from Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent and witchhunt it spawned but the climate of what caused it has not changed all that much. This incident, and the reaction to it, is proof of that.

 

 

 

Hitman article up.

Hey! Want to know more about the DC series Hitman? Well, you're in luck. I wrote an article about it for Broken Frontier and you can read that article here.

New Guiding Lines column up.

A new Guiding Lines column has been posted today. In it, I cover The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #1, Marvel Comics Presents #1, Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special #1, Jack Kirby's Bounty Hunters #6, Criminal Macabre: My Demon Baby #1, and Countdown to Mystery #1. Check it out!

QotD: The Fall TV Season

What shows are you looking forward to in the new fall TV season?

Heroes - Season One

It would have to be Heroes.I finally got through the last season last night and, while flawed, it is the best representation of superheroes I have seen in a long time.