That Was the Week That Was - June 25th

Deadlines crunching, time evaporating, tension rising… This week has seen work go crazy. I need a holiday. Meanwhile, I made another public grammar gaff and managed to turn it into another popular post – Grammar Wars III. Anyone else think it’s funny how I can always turn an idiotic mistake into a perceptive example of modern grammar usage worthy of discussion? Diverts attention from my own idiocy admirably.

Can Someone Put the Supa Back in Supanova

Yup, the Supanova Pop Culture Expo was on again in Sydney last weekend, and as usual, Hazel and I spent way too much money in a complete geek frenzy.

This year was rather disappointing for us as the guests were rather uninspiring. This is not to criticise the appearances of Joe Jusko, Ben Templesmith (follow Ben on Twitter, he’s one of the best new-breed artists in comics) and Howard Chaykin - wonderful artists all - but I miss the days when we would see Mark Silvestri and Brian Bendis signing autographs for obscenely long queues snaking around each other, or Mark Waid and Michael Turner competing for fan attention. Real A-league hitters that bring hundreds of fans running.

On the TV and film front, it was the same US shows being represented. A 'Star Trek' actor – check. Someone from a Joss Whedon show – check. 'Battlestar Galactica' or 'Stargate' – check. Many fans have been pleading for something different from the same US genre shows for years but to no avail. 'Doctor Who' is the most unrecognised show at Supanova, despite the number of Captain Jacks and Tenth Doctors walking around.

For my part, Hazel and I spent up big on 'Doctor Who' toys, although we balked at the voice control Dalek. At $280, I would have had a hard time justifying that to my better half on returning home and my sofa just doesn’t support my back well enough if I lay on it too long. Having said that, finding the 'Doctor Who' Micro Universe Figures in Australia was a first for us, even if the game they represent turned out to be rather boring.

I was able to fill some gaps in my silver age comic collection. A while ago, I made the painful decision to limit my comic collecting to three core books, as my comic collecting was not only getting very expensive but also threatened to take up every spare unit of storage in the flat. Now limited to only 'Daredevil', 'Fantastic Four' and 'Amazing Spider-Man', I hunt down rare issues to fill the gaps in my collection whenever I can.

A Comic Dealer Starts To Cry

The best find of the day came out of a $2.00 box. Some of you may have gathered from my online name – Kimota – that I’m a bit of a 'Marvelman' fan ('Miracleman' if you’re in the States). I owned every appearance of the character since his ‘80s relaunch except for one short tale that appeared in issue 4 of ''Warrior Magazine' over twenty years ago (also featuring one of the first appearances of 'V For Vendetta'). Never reprinted, this Alan Moore / Steve Dillon collaboration had always eluded me.

Not only did I pick up this issue in perfect nick for only $2.00, but on the train on the way home I inspected what I thought was a biro scribble on the front cover only to discover it was signed by Alan Moore himself. A brief note on the plastic bag from the original comic dealer confirmed this was so - something the guy who sold it to me must have missed cause he could easily have added a couple of noughts to the price.

The comic fans amongst you just gasped – the rest shrugged, wondering what the fuss is about. Let me put it this way. Moore hasn’t done a comic signing for over twenty years and is notoriously difficult to get to conventions. This means autographs are hard to come by, except on his 'Lost Girls' book he performed a special signing for earlier this year. Alan Moore is also the undisputed king of comic writers. Finding his autograph like this is like picking up a copy of 'Great Expectations' in a second had-shop only to find Charles Sickens inscribed on the fly sheet.

ADMA and the Future of Marketing

Today and for the next two days, I am attending the ADMA Forum – the premier marketing conference in Australia. Plenty of interesting seminars, but a common theme is already coming through. Australia is so far behind Europe and the US in adopting new technology.

I still have debates with clients over the importance of social media. The people who tell me YouTube doesn’t work because when they tried it by putting up a corporate video of their CEO talking about the business, no one watched it. The people who created a Facebook page and sat back waiting for the big social media explosion and then complained when they had no friends after a week of inactivity.

What was clear today was that the marketing industry is foaming at the mouth to try these strategies and exploit these new technologies. Sadly, the clients we work with a far more conservative in this country.

I’ll write up a full summary of the event over the weekend.

And Finally…

'Doctor Who' Episode 11 – 'Turn Left' – was probably the best episode of the series so far. Catherine Tate is the best thing to happen to the series since David Tennant and I really hope she sticks around beyond this series (but I doubt it). A highly emotionally-charged episode, both Shelley and I have watched it over and over. Of course, the trailers for next week’s episode – 'The Stolen Earth' – are on high rotation on my phone. If you haven’t seen them yet on Monday’s post, go do so now. But beware – they do contain spoilers.

Currently reading Eric Shanower’s third volume in the incredible ‘Age of Bronze’ series. Retelling the entire saga of the Trojan War, this is not some Hollywood abridged version. Three volumes in, and the Greeks are all still at sea. It’s going to be ten years before we get to the wooden horse, but every page is worth it. Shanower’s art is incredible and the research that has gone into the writing is nothing short of remarkable.

As you were. Class dismissed.