last week i picked up this comic by brian michael bendis called "fortune and glory." it's actually a reprint of a three issue black and white dealy published by oni press. it's an independent comic book. it kicks ass and takes no prisoners. it is funny.
i like it so much i'm going to spend the next few minutes typing in the introduction by paul dini (please note that this probably constitutes some kind of copyright infringement, but if you buy the friggin' book you too can own it and pretend this is just an "archived copy"):
god, that was longer than i thought it would be. anyway, for all chud fans, and especially nick, carl, adam, john and any other aspiring hollywood writer types, this comic is for you. find it.
/willko.
i like it so much i'm going to spend the next few minutes typing in the introduction by paul dini (please note that this probably constitutes some kind of copyright infringement, but if you buy the friggin' book you too can own it and pretend this is just an "archived copy"):
Quote:
| There's an old Looney Tune wherein Bug Bunny, en route to Miami, mistakenly burrows up in the middle of a desert and encounters an enemy who spends the rest of the cartoon trying to destroy him. After finally vanquishing his foe, Bugs heads back to his hole only to see a gleeful Daffy Duck pop out and dash across the desert screaming, "Miami Beach at last!" Bugs tries to stop Daffy, but the duck is too enraptured with finally gaining the promised land to listen. Shrugging to the audience, Bugs says Daffy will have to figure it out for himself. That's roughly the same feeling I had when I read _Fortune & Glory_, Brian Michael Bendis' funny, sobering, and ultimately brilliant account of his first foray into Hollywood. Having been through the Hollywood wringer once or twice, I can easily relate to the emotional odyssey Brian's cartoon alter ego endures. Hollywood has spent the last hundred years or so establishing itself (in our collective conscious, if nowhere else) as the creative person's Land of Oz. Beneath its glistening hilltop sign exists an Emeral City whose benevolent wizards labor tirelessly to turn our dreams into realities. No one can tell aspiring writers anything different and what's more, they want to believe it. But this is show business, and the frustrations, setbacks, and heartbreaks of that business walk hand in hand with our dreams like the school bully with the prom queen. Is it all bad? Of course not. But like Daffy Duck looking for the beach that isn't there, newcomers will have to figure out the lay of the land for themselves. Fortunately, Bendis is a fast learner, and in _Fortune & Glory_, he's created a great primer for any show biz hopeful to follow. The book is an astute, painfully funny, and all too real account of the struggle and insanity that awaits 99.9% of the creative people when they first get involved with Hollywood. And if the other .01% don't get the treatment the first time, I promise you they will on the second. Brian has perfectly captured the emotional highs and lows of a writer on the Hollywood see-saw. He also deftly skewers a number of the irritating nuances I've come to know and hate about LA. There's the hungry, desperate way the movers, shakers, and fakers that haunt trendy restaurants instantly scan your face and discard you as you enter, unless your last name is DiCaprio, of course. And let's not forget the strange paradox that while every agent, producer, and development person in town is a tremendous fan of the idea of your work as reported in a magazine or TV spot, none of them have actually sat down to read the work itself. Riddle me that, huh? Bendis' dry wit is perfectly matched by his clean, minimalist artwork. His round-headed caricature evokes both the innocent child and the shell-shocked war veteran. Another great visual touch I loved was the way Brian drew no development person or producer with their eyes open. I believe it was David Geffen who pioneered the sleepy-eyed, semi-conscious, semi-contemptuous air of casual disinterest which most power wannabes now adopt. In fact, I am reasonably sure they offer classes on mastering this attitude through the Hollywood Learning Annex. In any event, congratulations to Brian on both the book and the well-deserved praise it has thus far received. I only hope the producers don't force him to write a happier ending for the movie version. --Paul Dini. |
/willko.
