Links du Jour: The real message of Watchmen, Wonder Woman revealed, and Peter Parker: Wife Beater?

Horror

• Ben Templesmith, the original 30 Days of Night artist, has really proven his storytelling ability on books like Singularity 7 and Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse. So I haven't the slightest amount of fear that his solo take on 30 Days (called 30 Days of Night: Red Snow) will be anything short of spectacular.

Science Fiction

• I don't know if it's going to be any good or not, but I like the idea behind Zenoscope's upcoming Dyno Force comic. Basically, it's about alien dinosaurs trying to take over the world. Unfortunately, the introductory issue that was supposed to be ready for Free Comic Book Day has been delayed by what Zenoscope is calling "undisclosed legal reasons," but I'm reading as "we couldn't get our act together." The fact that Zenoscope's website makes no mention of Dyno Force doesn't bode well either.
• Somebody made a Darth Vader hot air balloon, which is cool on a couple of different levels.

Superheroes

• It's been years and years since I've read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's Watchmen, but my memory of it is that -- like most of the rest of comics fans -- I missed the point. I figured that it was some sort of maturation milestone that superhero comics had finally met. Something we could all point to and say, "See? Now you have to take superheroes seriously." When, as Dirk Deppey so insightfully points out, "Watchmen is a critique of the ludicrous end results awaiting attempts to import 'realism' to superhero funnybooks." Dirk's also right when he says that not only did comics fans miss the point, but Marvel and DC did too, which is why we have events like Civil War and World War III that try to import that realism and in doing so, "(render) it less enjoyable a reading experience in the process." Not that I think the realistic themes aren't worth exploring, but all the darkness and despair and punching through ribcages is making me tired and I don't think that's the intended result.
• As much as I may like Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, the Hulk himself disagrees.
• I'm not enough of an Avengers fan to have read the original story, but I've never heard anyone challenge the general opinion that Hank Pym was at one point a wife-beating jerk. I thought it was something that everyone just accepted. So, I'm a little curious about whether or not this is true: did Peter Parker really hit Mary Jane? Why does he get a free pass and not Hank Pym?
• I'm gaining a greater and greater appreciation for Jim Steranko, so I think it's very cool that buried in this Captain America retrospective, he hints that he's in talks with Marvel about "the possibility of generating a new Captain America series." Just so long as there's room for him and Ed Brubaker's current, excellent run, that's great news.

Other Comics

• I've been unable to become a manga fan. I like some manga series, but I haven't fallen in love with it as a whole. Sort of like I don't like all American comics either. That's why lists like this that make connections between manga and stuff I already know and like are helpful to me.
• Michael Chabon will be at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul on May 22nd. He'll be discussing his latest book The Yiddish Policeman's Union as part of Minnesota Public Radio and The Loft Literary Center's Talking Volumes book discussion series. Tickets are $15, but there are discounts available.

Writing is Hard

• Looks like Dust to Dust isn't going to be the only aging-cowboy-meets-young-gangster story in town.
• I've expressed before my frustration over not being able to get a handle on Wonder Woman. Ragnell explains her perfectly, even while lamenting that the current writer doesn't get it (something I haven't talked about, but agree with). It makes sense to me that it's Wonder Woman's confidence that I find attractive (beyond the obvious physical reasons) and in light of Ragnell's observation about how women are generally portrayed in fiction ("Every woman's story in fiction seems to be a coming into herself ... Wonder Woman is not supposed to be like that. Wonder Woman is supposed to already be the woman other women in fiction learn to be. She's at the point where you are done working on your inside and ready to work on the outside world."), I can see why she's an attractive character for women too. Makes me want to write a character like that. Makes me want to read some well-done Wonder Woman too.