What is funny? (1,000th post!)

Do you like to laugh? Sure, we all do. When people discuss what makes them laugh the word "subjective" tends to appear, as though comedy were the most subjective of all forms of entertainment. We don't all agree on what is sad, frightening or thrilling either, but comedy is the whipping boy. Perhaps this is because if you don't believe that, say, a ghost story is scary you might still be entertained by it in some other way; but when comedy is not funny it is considered less than worthless.

I have come to realize I am a particularly prickly person where comedy is concerned. I like what I like; I don't put much effort into discovering new comedies, whereas I do place some effort into exploring new horror stories, adventure stories, etc. I have seen maybe 1.5 episodes of Saturday Night Live; I've never gone to a live comedy show; I haven't watched sitcoms for a decade; I very seldom watch comedy films in the cinema.

Recently I was browsing Netflix to find something to watch - I wanted something light and enjoyable, so I browsed through comedy. I couldn't find anything that I thought I would enjoy except for those shows I had seen before. That got me thinking: what about all the things I do like? What do they have in common? Come with me and we'll see.

Self-Deprecation

I've mentioned before that when I first became interested in old-time radio I listened for the science fiction/horror shows and skipped over the comedies, believing they would be old-fashioned and unfunny. And yet, I soon found one program which made me laugh: The Jack Benny Program. Jack Benny was a comic who knew his limitations - he couldn't master snappy patter. Thus, Jack's character was the schmuck instead of the wit; Jack's program constantly featured his supporting characters puncturing his ego, frequently to observe he was not as handsome, smart, funny or likeable as he believed himself to be - and I laughed because it seemed as though it were true and Jack deserved to be humiliated.

The wonderful, intangible part of Jack's routine was that his audience knew he was putting on an act, that "Jack Benny" was a false persona, yet he didn't break character (even Jack's ad-libs were very much on-point). I have found few other comedians so willing to put themselves down; to some extent, this is also what I enjoy about Robert Benchley's articles and short films; he would project an image of a dignified, urbane gentleman, but really he was another schmuck.

The Non Sequitur

How best to describe it... I like the snappy, witty remark, particularly when it is in stark contrast to the other party's statement ("the stooge"), and especially when it's surprising, totally unexpected; "non sequitur" seems to be the term which best describes it. I enjoy how authors such as P. G. Wodehouse & Damon Runyon would subvert genre expectations through clever dialogue and situations. I see this humour in my love for Groucho Marx's retorts:

This kind of humour tends to be heavily sarcastic or sardonic. The first party has come to play chess, but the second party arrives to play tennis - with a pogo stick - and demands the first party explain why he isn't similarly prepared. I was late in discovering Mystery Science Theater 3000, but its format of witty remarks and put-downs mixed with affectionate chiding truly spoke to me.

I've since come to learn, however, that one should not abuse their "witty" humour in public as it quickly becomes intolerable to friends. I've also learned how my idol Alfred Hitchcock used such remarks to disguise his own shyness; these remarks are basically a form of self-defense.

Satire

Over time I've learned I have low tolerance for the all-encompassing statement. I am the one who picks holes in every broad remark, noting the exceptions to each and every rule. I am similarly quick to note the cliches which infuse popular culture and when a masterpiece of satire appears - say, Stan Freberg, Cerebus, Monty Python, the Tick, Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker, Batton Lash - I nod in approval. The object being satirized need not be obvious; some of Bob & Ray's satire is best enjoyed when you are aware of their target (listen to at least one episode of Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy before listening to one of their "Jack Headstrong, the All-American American" skits) and yet, even in this instance, a parody of a children's science show which I'm not familiar with, I recognize they were satirizing a particular format and style of programming; the satire is specific in its target but broad in its humour:

I've never read a Nancy Drew book in my life, but Kate Beaton has had great fun writing her own comics based on the covers of Nancy Drew novels:

Edgar Wright is perhaps the best currently-working film satirist, mocking the sitcom (Spaced), zombie genre (Shaun of the Dead) and crime story (Hot Fuzz).

Returning to self-deprecation, some satirists would satirize themselves; witness Edgar Allan Poe and his connected stories "How to Write a Blackwood's Article" & "A Predicament," or Michael Kupperman sending up the entire genre of comics:

Self-deprecation works well with satire - however, I'm not confident that simply doing the opposite of the source material is sufficiently funny. "Dracula, but stupid" is not a solid basis for a film. Great satire digs deeper than the surface and exposes the tired tropes and cliches behind the entire genre; it's Poe making fun of morality tales in "Never Bet the Devil Your Head"; it's Stan Freberg making fun of lawn mower commercials while selling lawn mowers; it's Bob and Ray selling you a suit that will not only save you money, but make you money!

Laugh, won't you?

The state of free comics, 2017

I've been taking advantage of the annual Free Comic Book Day each year since it began but not every year yields fine results. Many publishers use the event as an opportunity to push promotional material (usually a brief fragment of a story) rather than printing something which truly stands on its own. Ideally, every book on Free Comic Book Day should be an engaging story which stands on its own yet is representative of other works (more from that series or more by that author).

This year I snagged 10 books so let's approach this as a top 10 list, starting with the best:

New England Comics: The Tick

The Tick has become the most reliable of all the FCBD offerings. This time there are two stories by Jeff McClelland & Duane Redhead. In the first, the Tick realizes he's never celebrated a birthday; in the second, the Tick witnesses a political debate drawn from the headlines (to give you a clue, one candidate vows to build a prison and get super-villains to pay for it). It's clever, funny, and truly all-ages.

Humanoids: The Incal

I've been remiss about getting into European comics and certainly Alejandro Jodorowsky & Moebius' Incal is one of those titles everyone nods respectfully at. This free book features the first three chapters of The Incal and it features the kind of awe-inspiring futuristic cityscapes I expect from Moebius and weird sex perversions I expect from Jodorowsky, plus a cosmic whatsit and... y'know, I have this feeling that when I do read all of The Incal I'll groan, "So that's what The Fifth Element was ripping off!"

Drawn & Quarterly: Hostage & Poppies of Iraq

I'm already a fan of Guy Delisle so a free preview of his most recent book Hostage is most welcome and the second feature, an excerpt from Poppies of Iraq by Brigittte Findakly & Lewis Trondheim also impressed. Both are non-fiction works, the first about a man held hostage in Chechnya, the second an autobiography of a woman who grew up in Iraq during the 1960s. I will definitely seek the full versions out in the future.

Epicenter Comics: Tex: Patagonia <|P>I'm not exactly a fan of the western genre but I had a suspicion that Tex would feature some decent artwork. Sure enough, it turns out that Pasquale Frisenda is a masterful artist reminiscent of Al Williamson and this (another European work) is the opening pages of a full graphic novel. I notice that there are a lot of Tex graphic novels and I'm a little afraid of falling down a sinkhole of more and more of them, but it's good to know that if I ever need something new to read, Tex is out there and it's very handsomely made.

Lion Forge: Catalyst Prime: The Event

After years of silence, Christopher Priest is suddenly everywhere! He's an architect of this new super hero shared universe which Lion Forge is selling, though I don't know if he's writing any of the actual titles. This one-shot (drawn by Marco Turini) explains where Lion Forge's superhumans' powers came from and it's a lot like other shared universe start-ups like the New Universe or Milestone where virtually everyone got their powers in the same place. The story itself is actually satisfying, as it gives barely a glimpse into each of the people who will be protagonists of Lion Forge's super hero line but the antagonist - who is not established as such until the closing pages - is brought to life very sharply and seems to fit the mold of other Priest masterminds. If Priest were writing any of the titles, I'd definitely buy them; as is, I'll consider it.

Dark Horse Comics: Avatar & Briggs Land

So I'm that guy, that guy who liked Avatar. Back when it came out I was very busy writing for Marvel and didn't have time to see what the movie fan websites were saying, but in recent years there are certainly a lot of thinkpieces stating it's either overrated or was never any good to begin with. Yet it's the highest grossing film of all time? Who else liked it? I only went three times, it didn't raise the roof on my cash.

But despite my love for the film I am uncertain about Avatar as a franchise. I'd be fine if James Cameron just quit while he's ahead - I fear a sequel would rehash the first film. How weird that now, of all times, we have an Avatar comic. Written by Sherri L. Smith and drawn by Canada's own Doug Wheatley, it's a story set between the scenes of the film, showing more detail of the part where Jake Sully tames the Turok. It's okay, but I imagine if you (like evidently 99% of the populace) disliked the movie you won't find anything to like here.

Marvel Comics: Guardians of the Galaxy & The Defenders

I quit working for Marvel before Gerry Duggan came on the scene but his name has popped up a lot due to his work on Deadpool. To promote him taking over Guardians of the Galaxy, timed to the release of the new movie, Duggan and artist Aaron Kuder contribute a brief story here about the Guardians breaking out of a prison and stealing a ship and acting a lot like their film counterparts. However, unlike Duggan's predecessor, he appears to have done his research as the story includes the Nova Corps and the Fraternity of Raptors, tying things back to when Andy Lanning & Dan Abnett revitalized the Guardians of the Galaxy brand. Outgoing Guardians writer Brian Michael Bendis also contributes a story promoting he and artist David Marquez's new Defenders book, featuring the same foursome who will be appearing as the Defenders on Marvel's Netflix show and utilizing a Netflix villain as their antagonist. I suppose the hope is that fans of the film & TV versions of these characters will pick up this freebee and want to try the print version. Good luck, would-be fans; take it from one who knows, so far as getting into comics today it s the best of times, it is the worst of times.

Youneek Studios: Malika: Warrior Queen

I grabbed this because of my fascination with Africa. It's from a new comic book company trying to develop properties which feature black protagonists. This one is about a female African warrior queen, by writer Roye Okupe and drawn by Chima Kalu. I'm not really the audience for this work but the full graphic novel version of Malika is probably going to be a good one for school library's (or my instutition's education library).

Fantagraphics: World's Greatest Cartoonists

You really get a bang for your $0 here as this is a massive 60 page tome with tons of creators who publish their works through Fantagraphics. I feel at times too much of Fantagraphics is avant-garde and impenetrable. Here, at least, there are a handful of contributions with hooks I could understand. Ed Piskor's autobiography Mudfish seems particularly interesting and I will keep it in mind.

Chapterhouse: Captain Canuck: Year One #1

Oh, Canada. You would think with a "Year One" in the title that this would be a great jumping-on point but nope; just reading the recap of the new Captain Canuck's origin on the first page is a dizzying task, then you spend a great deal of time being confused as he's not a super hero yet but is instead serving in Afghanistan... and his bosses are all corrupt, I guess? They're a private military force of some kind? And I spent so much time not know who anyone was (soldiers can be hard to tell apart) or which of them was supposed to be the hero. Like, the hero is narrating but I would become confused as to which person on the page was supposed to be him. This is not a bad comic, but it is not told (courtesy of writers Jay Baruchel & Kalman Andrasofszky with artist Marcus To) in a way which is welcoming to first-time readers. Whose bright idea was it to make the free, promotional Captain Canuck comic one where he never puts on the costume he's wearing on the cover?

COMICS! One day a year, they're free.

Free Comic Book Day 2016 Roundup

I didn't bother going to the comic shop for Free Comic Book Day in 2015 because I felt I'd rather wait for the year's offerings to turn up on Comixology rather than brave the FCBD crowds. But otherwise, I've been out for Free Comic Book Day almost every year since the first one. My preferred shop offers two FCBD offerings for free per customer, $0.25 for additional comics. I came away with six books; here's what I thought:

The Invincible Haggard West #101 by Paul Pope (First Second).

This is actually a comic book from 2013 which sold for $2.99, but I guess there was a lot of overstock. Free Comic Book Day is actually a good venue for this comic - it's the opening sequence from Paul Pope's graphic novel Battling Boy, telling the final adventure of Haggard West, whose death has reprecussions on the rest of the book. The only thing wrong with this comic was its original cover price; since the entirety of the contents were in Battling Boy, the publisher was basically banking on getting Paul Pope fans to buy something twice. As a free book (or if it had been priced at $1 or lower) it's appropriate as a preview comic - it will make you (hopefully) want to pick up Battling Boy to have the rest of the story. I've already read Battling Boy, but I judged that $0.25 for some Paul Pope was a good deal.

Free Comic Book Day 2016: General (great title there) by Chris Roberson, Stephen Byrne, Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, Brian Wood and Tristan Jones (Dark Horse Comics).

This poorly-named comic contains three original short stories to advertise three ongoing Dark Horse properties. These are Serenity by Roberson & Byrne, Hellboy by Mignola & Corben and Aliens by Wood & Jones. Aliens did not interest me, but Serenity and Hellboy are properties I've enjoyed in the past. The Serenity tale is given the cover along with Joss Whedon's name (he's "executive producer," whatever that means in terms of comic book production; guys, you probably don't need his name to sell a free comic). It's a harmless bit of fluff where River tells a bedtime story to Zoe's daughter about the crew's adventures in the style of a fairy tale. If you already know Firefly/Serenity then it brings nothing new to the table, but it's a good bit of pandering. The Hellboy story involves a young Hellboy deciding to check out a cursed mirror his father told him about and that turns out to be a bad idea. Corben draws some great monsters.

The Tick: Free Comic Book Day 2016 by Jeff McClelland, Duane Redhead and Ian Nichols (New England Comics).

It's hard to go wrong with the Tick; although series creator Ben Edlund has long since moved on, the character is still a lot of fun. This book is easily the best value of all the FCDB titles I picked up as it contains three complete stories. The first two involve the Tick dealing with the problem of various alternate reality versions of himself appearing in the City, while the 3rd story involves "Tickfest," the Tick's first convention (which is actually a trap set by a super-villain). It's entirely suitable for kids or adults with plenty of fun lines of dialogue: "Reality and I have never been great allies, I suppose."

FCBD: March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell (IDW/Top Shelf).

I've heard many complimentary things about March, the graphic novel adaptation (in 3 volumes) of John Lewis' participation in the civil rights movement. This book collects an example from each volume, together giving a good impression of the scope of Lewis' tale. I certainly do intend to get around to reading March one of these days.

Rom #0 by Chris Ryall, Christos Gage, David Messina, John Barber and Chris Evenhuis (IDW).

IDW has recently picked up the licenses to the Micronauts and Rom, two toy properties whose comic books were produced by Marvel, but everything Marvel invented remains with that company. Can Rom work without Marvel's involvement? I dunno. For some reason IDW has redesigned Rom, taking away his sleekness, making him look bulkier. His distinctive pointy-feet have been turned into normal boots, his mitten-hands are now normal gauntlets and his neutralizer looks completely different. It's the same set up (Ultimate Rom, as it were) with Rom battling the Dire Wraiths. I thought the Dire Wraiths belonged to Marvel, but perhaps the toy company owned the name? Anyway, these Wraiths don't use any of the previous Marvel designs, instead going for an H.R. Giger Alien look. Once again, Rom comes to Earth to stop the Dire Wraiths; this time he'll do it in a clumsier costume and opposite a completely different supporting cast (not introduced here). I think I can safely say this isn't for me - I'm not interested in Ultimate Rom and thought writer Ryall's earlier creator-owned book Onyx was already a decent enough revisiting of the Rom mythos.

Free Comic Book Day 2016 (Captain America)#1 by Nick Spencer, Jesus Saiz, Dan Slott and Javier Garron (Marvel Comics).

Like so many of Marvel's FCBD offerings, this one previews some upcoming stories. Captain America gets the headline treatment because of his new movie and it features him battling Hydra alongside Sharon, the Falcon (who is also Captain America) and another Falcon (who is not Sam Wilson; comics, everyone!). Meanwhile, a Spider-Man story pits him against people who have mysteriously returned from the dead, something which happens every single dang month in comic books, but one assumes it's different this time. I'm still happy to remain on the outside of Marvel and not go back the ol' MU - too many memories. But these are decent previews. If I were still reading super heroes, I'd be following that Spider-Man story.

Free Comic Book Day 2013

Another year's Free Comic Book Day has come and gone; I believe I missed 2012's altogether (I think I was in Africa), so it was nice to venture into the managed chaos of FCBD again; I'm glad I brought a book with me to the comic shop because I spent about 8 minutes waiting in line to get inside the store.

One unusual thing about the five comics I chose this year is none of them are from publishers I'm currently following on a monthly basis.

From Red 5 Comics comes Atomic Robo/Bodie Troll, with an original Atomic Robo story by Brian Clevinger & Scott Wegener and a preview of Bodie Troll#1 by Jay Fosgitt. Up until last year I had been a regular follower of Atomic Robo, but I reached a point where I felt the series' stories had become too familiar. This tale, in which Atomic Robo fights a robot, does nothing to change my opinion. Still, for people who haven't tested Atomic Robo before, perhaps it'll be to their liking. The real surprise was the Bodie Troll preview: it's the story of an ADHD troll who wants desperately to be fearsome, but is cursed by his inate cuteness. The jokes throughout the story are well presented (such as news stories being presented via the medium of puppet shows), it's clear Fosgitt has put a lot of effort into finding his voice for the story; I'm interested enough to buy the full comic book when it arrives.

Hermes Press published Buck Rogers 25th Century A.D., featuring two linked stories from 1936-37, meant to advertise their Buck Rogers comic strip collections. Unfortunately, unlike most of the comic strip collections I've purchased, the pages don't identify when each strip originally appeared. I'm not particularly interested in Buck Rogers (if anything, I like Flash Gordon), but these strips were diverting; I got a huge laugh from the sequence above, where in the first panel Buck is assigned his first mission for the American Defense Force to see if an enemy fleet is arriving; flash ahead to the subsequent panel wherein Buck is being blasted out of the sky: "It's the Enemy all right!"

Bonus features in this book include reprints of the first few days of the Buck Rogers strip and pictures of vintage Buck Rogers memorabilia. Finally, there's an ad for a forthcoming Buck Rogers series by Howard Victor Chaykin. Although Chaykin has a bit of science fiction in his docket, I was skeptical about him tackling Buck Rogers at this point in time. Having seen the ads, I'm actually reasonably interested in checking out the product.

Similarly, Fantagraphics offered Hal Foster's Prince Valiant, collecting a series of strips from circa 1949. As with the Buck Rogers book, this is advertising a collection of the comic strips but the original publishing dates of the strips are not provided - in fact, even the introduction omits mention of when they first appeared. I've never warmed up to Prince Valiant, which was told in a fashion nearer to that of an illustrated novel rather than a comic book; there are no speech balloons and seldom any sequential action. Still, Foster's art is admirable.

Debuting a brand-new series is Oni Press with the Strangers#1 by Chris Roberson and Scott Kowalchuk. I'm afraid I haven't read much work by Roberson - my favourite thing he wrote was his statement about leaving DC Comics - it influenced my own decision to leave Marvel Comics. Sadly, I haven't been interested in Roberson's stories as of yet. The art by Kowalchuk is evocative of Bruce Timm/Mike Mignola. The series is set in the 1960s and follows a mysterious trio of operatives called "the Strangers" who possess superhuman powers. It doesn't focus on plot or character, but is instead mostly action - which is kind of refreshing in an age where most super hero books are ashamed to attempt an action scene (because so few of today's artists can render one effectively). There's not much to say in terms of the character or plot, but it's told with considerable skill - this might be one to watch.

Finally, New England Comics presented the Tick with an all-new story by Jeff McClelland & Duane Redhead, with two short back-up tales. Strangely, although I enjoyed the Tick's 1990s animated series, the only Tick comics I own are the various Free Comic Book Day editions. This was a decent enough tale where the Tick's sidekick Arthur is badly sunburned on the beach, but must come to the rescue of the Tick and their friends when lobster-men invade the surface world. As soon as the lobster-men appear, it becomes clear Arthur will be the one to resolve the problem, but it's told with a lot of charm. The brief back-up tales are also fun.

Free Comic Book Day is over; starting tomorrow, we have to pay for them again.