February 2016 | Otaku No Culture

Where Have Comic Collectors Gone? Is the Love for the Medium in Trouble?

Comic collectors are sort of everywhere, but nobody is really speculating these days.

By Ed Sum (A Comic Collector and Reader) — By Ed Sum a comic collector and reader–holding the holy grail of them all! Spider-Man’s first apperance in Amazing Fantasy.

Buying comics used to be a big hobby for baby-boomers two decades ago, and for appreciators of sequential art, it still is. But if one thinks the printed medium is worth something, I feel that newer titles are harder to resell at full market value. Comic collectors are sort of everywhere, but nobody is really speculating these days. Getting your hands on golden age titles, like the first appearance of Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy (see left) requires re-mortgaging your home for a mint condition edition stored in a mylar strength bag.

Today, most people in their 30’s to late 70’s just buy to read, and a handful of these readers stores them in a comic bag and backing board. That’s a sign of a collector. Al Coccola has been in this hobby for more than 50 years. And on the retail side that’s what both managers Bill Rice of Curious Comics and Gareth Gaudin of Legends find as part of their customer base.

“It’s a love affair with the object itself,” says Chris A. Bolton, writer of Seattle-based Smash Comic.

He believes investors have climate-controlled attics with rare comics, and speculators with 20 copies of Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man #1 are hoping that it’ll be worth millions one day. They’re also known as investors.

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A Historical Analysis & Review into The Empire of Corpses

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

*Screened at the 2016 Victoria Film Festival
*Spoiler Alert

The idea of having zombies shambling about in a steampunk world as slaves is a great concept to play with in the Japanese animated movie The Empire of Corpses. When technology made advanced leaps thanks to the success of Charles Babbage (the grandfather of computing) building the analytical engine, Victor Frankenstein reanimating a mix of dead body parts (he’s a real figure in this fictional world) and Duncan MacDougall discovering the deceased loses “21 grams” of mass (their soul) upon death, science fiction author Satoshi Itō (伊藤聡) aka Project Itoh crafted a dystopian Victorian world-embracing death instead of fearing it.

In our historical understanding of this past, the preoccupation with the dead was because mortality rates were high; many loved ones passed before their time or in wars from afar. Séances were common because many people from around the British Commonwealth wanted to communicate with the deceased for many a reason. To talk to them again offered closure. These details might have been addressed on a deeper level in the novel but in the animated film, a fair bit of this age’s spiritualist practices are not as deeply explored. What’s exhumed is surface level.

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The 2016 Victoria Film Festival Closing Weekend Thoughts & Award Announcements

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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The 2016 Victoria Film Festival Valentine’s Day Closing Festivities was bittersweet. I enjoyed the treats offered on the last three days of this show and will have to wait for next year to taste what will be new in the world of independent cinema. From getting early previews of The Smalls: Forever is a Long Time, The Girl in the Photographs, Sergio Herman and Foodies, so I wouldn’t be faced with running around to see other films in conflicting times or in alternating theaters, I managed to add two more movies Project Itoh’s The Empire of Corpses (屍者の帝国, Shisha no Teikoku) and Our Last Tango (Un Tango Más) on top. I could have seen a film on Friday, but a certain mainstream movie was heavy on my list of must see during opening weekend.

The End of Festival Bash wrap up party at Lucky Bar was well attended. Although the space was tight and it was meant as a thank you event to all the volunteers, staff and guests who were in attendance, I did have to find out which films won audience favourites and the like. The big question everyone asks is what were your favourites from this year?

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The Force is Still Strong with the X-Wing Series

By Shawn Trommeshauser
(Dreaming in Digital)

X-Wing — the word alone brings back a flood of memories and nostalgia. It’s also the name of a series of four games developed by Totally Games and published by LucasArts that, despite their age, are still the best Starfighter games set in the Star Wars universe. Putting you in the pilot’s seat of ships from both the Rebel Alliance and The Galactic Empire, the X-Wing series has you flying missions during the Galactic Civil War and are my favourite Star Wars games ever made.

I’m certain many people will agree that Star Wars was one of the defining entertainment experiences in our lives. The exotic worlds, the aliens, the lightsabers, any one of a hundred reasons George Lucas’ world latched on to our imaginations. For me, it was the starships. The X-Wing Starfighter is only a small step below The Millennium Falcon itself in fictional vehicles I’d love to have parked outside my home (slightly above a Light Cycle).

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Deadpool, Solo Mercenary or Hero in Disguise? A Movie Commentary & Review

Ryan Reynolds is born to play the sarcastic anti-hero Deadpool far better than his previous role in Green Lantern.

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Ryan Reynolds is born to play the sarcastic anti-hero Deadpool far better than his previous role in Green Lantern. I did not find the latter movie utterly terrible. It just suffered from too much CGI and a goofy plot. But as for the previous version of this mercenary, I thought the previous incarnation suffered from lack of a solid concept and in how the producers did not understand the character at all. No prior knowledge is required to realize who he is in this latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe helmed by Marvel Entertainment. Technically, he belongs to 20th Century Fox, but a few nods suggests the possibility he will enter the fray when the movie version of the Infinity Wars begin. In the comics, the cosmic entity Death once took an interest in this mercenary with a heart, recognizing the fact they are kindred spirits.

A few ideas are taken from the comics outlining his origins. In what’s expanded upon, his beef these days is with stalkers preying upon innocent girls. In a previous life, he was a mercenary for hire. Just where he got his training and killer instincts are mildly explored. More detail would have helped define this movie as a game-changer, especially when he’s known by a few super-heroic groups as a man needing a just mission instead of being on one fuelled by hate. In this film’s case, it’s to put to rest his anger for the mad scientist, Ajax / Francis Freeman (Ed Skrein), who created him. Some people would be glad to acquire super powers but for wade, he does not quite want it. He just wants his life back before the experiment.

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[VFF ’16] How to Meet “The Steps,” A Movie Review and Afterwards

by Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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The 70’s comedy, The Brady Bunch has always represented the ideal family, but in a modern world, to see two families embrace is never easy. That’s what Sherry (Christine Lahti), the new wife to Ed (James Brolin) wanted. Despite her best intentions, including a well placed image of the extended family in the home showing them as a happy bunch, the weekend jaunt is not about to go according to plan. Jeff (Jason Ritter) and Marla (Emmanuelle Chriqui) get an invitation by their father, Ed (James Brolin) to meet her at their cottage in rural Ontario, but little did they know her side of the family is going to be there too.

Sherry has a past she’s not proud of and she’s not the only individual with secrets. As this film reveals, she always does what’s best for her kids. Everyone in the newly formed family is odd. They are all grown up but they still have a few problems to deal with. Keith (Steven McCarthy) is a failed musician, Samir (Vinay Virmani) is a full-time stoner and David (Benjamin Arthur) is a Canadian redneck. This outing is kind of like Cheaper by the Dozen 2 where going back to nature to reconnect is required to get back to basics. In this film’s case, it’s to discover they do not care for each other. Try as they might in family bonding games, the situations they end up in make for some great chuckles. Viewers can learn from their mistakes.

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