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Comic and Rant for Tuesday, June 3, 2003
Beating a Dead Horse |
Before I forget once again, here’s something I forget to mention in my May 3rd rant: As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before (but am too lazy to look up), One problem with a successful film version of a comic is that the execs at the comic company (or in the case of DC, the movie company that also owns the comic company) will sometimes (it might actually be often or usually, but I’m trying to maintain my childlike optimism as long as I possibly can) demand that the comic be made more like the movie. When the 1989 Batman movie came out, Warner sent notes to DC’s artists regarding the size and shape of Batman’s ears and demanded that, in the Arkham Asylum GN, the Joker not be depicted in drag and Batman not as a gnarled, hunchbacked figure. When the first X-Men film became a hit, Marvel’s high executives (or maybe Toy Biz’s executives - I doubt being owned by a toy company is a good thing for a comics publisher) demanded Wolverine no longer be depicted with a mask or smoking, and they probably also have something to with the armor-like costume I saw the Green Goblin wearing the last time I saw him on a Spidey cover.Keeping with the whole “Whoops! I forgot something!” theme, I should add to Saturday’s theme park story that, while I may have enjoyed the rides at Universal better, Disney was much better run. One big difference was the Ride Passes (or whatever they’re called). Basically, by scanning your ticket’s barcode or magnetic strip (again I forget which, or maybe one company had one and the other had the other) through a special machine, you could get a pass that would, essentially, let you go through the “line jumpers’ line.” There were several catches, of course, among them: The pass was only good for a limited time, they only gave so many out, and you could only have one at a time (essentially until you used it or it expired). Now at Disney, the “Pass” line ran parallel to the “Regular” line, while at Universal it used emergency exits and sometimes part of the regular exit. It reminded me somewhat of Hills trying to copy Wal-Mart’s “Out Front Policy” despite not being set up the same way (another rant for another time). A more glaring example of inefficiency was at the “Hand Stamp” exit. The poor guy’s stamp was falling apart, but he couldn’t leave his post and had no way of getting help (Mom and I went to the ticket booth and reported his problem - hopefully they rescued him!). Unlike every person I saw at Disney, he (and several other Universal employees) had no radio. I hope they fix at least the latter problem soon, and maybe think twice the next time they’re inclined to say “Me too!” Oh, before I forget again, Disney has finally done right by Miyazaki. Unlike Mononoke, with it’s one measly American trailer (where the announcer mispronounces stuff), Kiki has five trailers (plus Ursula’s painting, sadly not identified as such or subbed), Laputa (it’s called that in the subbed version - Yay!) three, and Spirited Away twenty-two trailers! (plus a Japanese TV “Making Of” special, a subbed closing song, and a buncha other stuff I’m too lazy to look up). Also on all of them, even Mononoke the credits are in English if you pick the dub, and Japanese if you pick the correct language. If only everyone did this. On to the comic! While the broom controller is, of course, mostly humorous (I hope) BS, I am serious about the need for a ’Cube controller with a Capcom-style button layout and Z-triggers on the underside. Normally I like the upper buttons (you can always tell which is which by touch), but six-button fighting games require six buttons, not four buttons and your choice of two shoulder buttons or the C-Stick. And if I may insult the XBox controller in a serious manner for a moment, Jeff tells me (and I may have mentioned this before) that he prefers the standard controller to the S one because even though it’s too bulky the buttons are in a more-or less Capcom configuration, whereas the S Controller has the additional buttons in a totally different location. It almost makes we wonder if Microsoft did this deliberately, figuring most people would be like Jeff, so they could then say “Aha! We knew you didn’t want a smaller controller!” Channeling the Lone Gunmen aside, I am surprised that there are no third party XBox controllers with Capcom layout (and I mean handheld, I already know about these), even more so that the GCN thing I was whining about. One last thing: The Comics Journal has an audio interview with Frank Miller up this month. I highly recommend downloading it |
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