Tag: Comics

Common Courtesy and Respect….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So, part of the community here is to share life experiences that may occur from day to day.   This is one of them…

I went to the local comic book store to pick up a comic book. I’ll be honest I once read and collected dozens of titles and acquired thousands of books over the past 30+ years.  Yet, now it’s down to just one title.  Yep!  Just one title. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero by Larry Hama. Why? I have every issue since #1 and its my most beloved series from childhood. Honestly, today’s comics just don’t interest me.  Not to say that I’m not still very interested in characters like Batman, Superman and Spider-man.  I’m just tired of the crappy writing by writers pushing a narrative of social justice than tell a good story.  That’s probably no news to you fine folks. 

So, as I was leaving the comic shop, my wife and I notice there’s a UPS truck blocking our car.   This UPS truck just parked behind 3 cars that were parked in front of the store.  I made a sly comment that “I guess we aren’t going anyway right now.”  We got in the car, turned on the air conditioning and sipped our Starbucks.  We waited. And we waited.  At this point 10-15 minutes has passed. So I step out and approach the UPS truck.  I say, “excuse me” and a woman pops out from the back and says, “yeah.”   I politely ask if she could “move her truck as she’s blocking us in and we’d (my wife and I) like to leave and go.”  This very large woman struggling with some large boxes replies, “Not right now I have all these boxes.”   I was just left stunned. She had no consideration for me or my time.  I quickly replied, “we’d like to leave, just move the truck please..”  She proceeded to ignore me and continue to load the boxes on a dolly.  I admit this lit my Irish temper and I quickly responded, “Thanks for your rudeness and being a b!#ch about it.”   Then, I said, I hope “you like complaints made on your behalf to UPS.”   I sat in the car, called UPS and left a complaint and detail of the situation while she took her time finishing making her delivery to the very same comic shop I just bought my comic.   (Not sure what the shop ordered to literally get about 27 large boxes?).   Then, get this … here’s the capper!  She gets in the truck and pulls in to the larger parking lot to the west of the storefront and just parks.   I was quick to pull up to her and yell, “you might get called in the boss’ office later.  You might want to find another job!”  There may have been some hand jesters and language. Again I blame my Irish temper.  She just looked at me like she did nothing wrong!

Now, let me defend myself here.  If the lady, had replied with, “Sure, give me a second. And actually stopped loading the boxes and moved the truck (literally pulling it forward or backward 10 feet), I would have said “thank you” and smiled while waving “have a good day!”   So, this individual has no awareness of common courtesy and respect for others.  This is something I see much more lately in the city.  Especially from professional services and businesses.  People tell me that doesn’t happen in small towns but perhaps I’m cynical and don’t believe it.  I feel people just want to be jerks and selfish.   Is there hope for society?  Is it time to just move to nowhere?   

Please reflect.  Realize there’s other people in the world and you’re not the only one occupying space and breathing the air.  We can all be nice to one another . Be kind and humble.   Thats my with for today.  🙂 

Take Care!

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What Happened to Journalism? ….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So, the internet destroyed honest journalism. Wait. Hear me out. I believe it. Listen.

The other day I was looking over the social media sites and came across and article about …. comic book industry and some words of wisdom from a very well known comic book creator. As I continue to read the article, I realize that the person writing the article is just retelling what the creator said at a recent show. And this got me to thinking about many many articles I see everyday on the internet.

Y’know, those articles where the breaking story is someone has an opinion about something and then this website tries to spin it as earth-shattering news. I’ll try to better detail it. With the invention of Twitter and social media, the thoughts and activities of the celebrity crowd is no long a mystery to anyone. (Maybe it should be?) That’s my belief no one watches the Oscars or any other award show anymore. Why tune in to see your favorite star when you get pics of their food, what they did in the Bahamas, and 140 character snippets of their morals and virtu signaling. It’s true!

Nowadays, these quasi-news sites exaggerate everything in the name of clicks. That’s how they make money. Just go to one of the sites and the madness of pop-up ads and banners all over the site. Heck, I can’t read a 10 paragraph article without scrolling past 10 banner ads for TV shows and miracle cures for my Diabetes. Thus, let’s say “fake news” is a real thing. (Yet thats a whole different topic). Sorry, back to the someone saying stuff about something. Example: Kevin Smith tells all about the MCU/Sony Split. So I click. $$ for them. I start to read. The “journalist” writing the piece begins to draw me in. Banner ad $$ for them. I continue to read. More banners $$$ for them. Oh, so the entire article is based around the 10 tweets you copied and pasted from Twitter? Really! You have to be F**king Me! Seriously!? Does anyone remember when a reporter had to pick up the phone, call a source, run to the studio and stalk the actor to get a quote? (If you don’t, I truly feel sorry for you). I do. That was reporting. That’s when I started to wonder. I wondered if this snowflake writer would be able to get this “breaking news” if he/she had to actually do some work? I really don’t think so.

If any news site wants to earn credibility or be a trusted news source (again), then actually do research. Maybe call the celebrity and interview them about the tweets not just repost them with your “divine” insight. And I’d think real journalists would get angry by this. It really doesn’t help the industry.

Oh well, thats todays thought….

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Star Wars….other possibilities….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

With the Skywalker Saga (as they are calling the core Star Wars movies nowadays) storyline coming to an end with Episode IX, I dream about the possibilities of what could have been.

I want to get my thoughts and opinions down on digital paper. When Lucasfilm sold to Disney I was very optimistic about the future of Star Wars. Unfortunately, my optimism was cut short with the release of the new ‘sequel’ trilogy of films. And the basic destruction of the expanded universe cannon. I will clarify that I never expected the expanded universe to become the stories of any new movies. Yet, I hoped that they would at least try to blend in. The reason I stand by this: Lucasfilm took such care and consideration of any and all post ROTJ stories. Thus, I figured George Lucas essentially approved it all. Yet, the films are truly the only ‘true’ cannon. Thus, if Mr. Lucas would have changed his mind, then that would be acceptable and understandable.

In this process, I hope it makes sense. I hope my thoughts and ideas are clear and find a audience. I think the narrative of my opinions would have made in some regards better Star Wars movies. I believe this as I would have written my Star Wars from the aspect of the known source material and universe. I would not have made decisions on the risk and ridiculous hope of ‘pleasing audiences’ and being ‘diverse’.

I think its best if I start from the beginning….

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The Future!

Posted on by CV Whitfield

“Always in motion, the future is.” – Yoda, Empire Strikes Back.

We can sit and do nothing. We can sit and worry about it. Or we can get up, plant our feet on the ground, and take advantage of it.

This is my attitude about publishing. The future is rapidly approaching. The fate of storytelling as we know it could flip in on itself. Not only for novelists, prose writers, short fiction writers but also the comic writer and the comic artist.

Technology is now so advanced; anyone can write and publish a book with little or no fuss (and/or budget). Tools like Amazon or Lulu allow you to place your story online and sell it digitally to millions of Kindle readers or tablet users. WordPress is a brilliant platform for sharing creative content absolutely free!

Then there’s crowdfunding sites to “pre-sale” your product so you absolutely know the demand of your market (and reader)! Sorry big presses; this is the future. One needs to adapt or get out of the way. The time of worrying if a major publisher will accept your work (or story) is over. With the right enthusiasm and motivation, a storyteller can sell his work and bypass them altogether. And actually make a full-time career out of it; paying the bills and paying their taxes.

Right now, you can get lost in a very big sea of content and creators. But soon, millions of people will know where to look for it besides the local Barnes and Noble or Walmart. Comic book stores will become digital stores selling both digital and physical items. And publishers like DC and Marvel need to learn quickly how to stay relevant. Or by 2024, these guys will be only selling reprints of archive stuff or hoping another billion dollar movie can be made. I see Marvel (or DC) being a one room office with a staff of little just trying to protect their copyrights.

I am inspired by the future. And honestly, I still want a big publishing deal. Yet, I know it’s not the only option anymore. I challenge all of you to go to IndieGoGo or Amazon to look for independent stories. Support the next generation of writers and creators! Or be the next generation writer and put you stuff out there, any way you can!

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