A Silver Lining to the Cancellation of Hannibal

I'll admit that I was slow to warm up to Bryan Fuller's Hannibal; I found it difficult to accept the show's interpretation of a character that I felt had already been adequately immortalized by Anthony Hopkins in three films (of admittedly varying quality).  This was mostly due to the fact that the Hannibal I was used to was, more or less, depicted in a realistic/naturalistic world. Fuller and company opted for a far more operatic environment to explore the character. Rather than taking the suspense/thriller route of the films, the show goes more for horror. It is romantic, not realistic.

 Once I finally came around, I fell in love with the show:  It is one of the most visually breathtaking shows on television (I really should get it on blu-ray). The plots are more far-fetched and convoluted than what we see in the original films and novels but, that's ok, this is high opera (seriously, look up the plots to some of those things). It's smart--- probably too smart for its own good; I still feel it takes itself a little to seriously from time to time myself.

And, like most shows that are a little too intellectually challenging for the average viewer, it had difficulty finding its viewership and, ultimately, found itself cancelled by NBC. However, this might not be as bad as it seems.

This was, more or less, Fuller's original plan for the show: seasons 1 -3 would be a 'prequel' to Red Dragon, 4 would have adapted Red Dragon itself, 5 would have taken on Silence of the Lambs, 6 would be Hannibal, and then the 7th season would have gone beyond Hannibal to resolve the fate of the titular character.

However, MGM would not release the rights to certain characters that they, somehow, hold exlusive rights to--- namely, Silence of the Lambs characters Clarice Starling, Jamie "Buffalo Bill" Gumb, and Barney Matthews (the orderly who manages to stay on Hannibal's good side). And, it would seem, the show sort of invented their own versions of these characters with Anna Chlumsky playing a 'Silence of the Lambs-era Clarice-like' character in Miriam Lass and with Gilian Anderson's Dr. Du Maurier filling the Hannibal/post-Hannibal role of the character.

Additionally, Hannibal and Hannibal Rising (the only novels that they have the total rights to) have both been mined heavily for plot throughout the 2nd and 3rd seasons.  The first half of season 3 was, in fact, very much this show's version of Hannibal; it covers Hannibal's escape to Italy, his pursuit by a corrupt police officer, and his capture by and escape from Mason Verger (in a twist, it is an unconscious Will Graham that Hannibal carries in his arms,  as he flees from the Verger estate--- in place of Clarice Starling; the show is kind of a really twisted bromance).

So, if the final episodes of this season are adapting Red Dragon, they will have effectively exhausted their source material. And, as much as it sucks that the show will be cut short, it is a good way to end the series.  The story of Red Dragon has always been about how Will Graham, traumatized by his previous experiences as a profiler and, in particular, his near death at the hands of Lecter, comes out of retirement confronts Lecter and his own Demons, and emerges triumphant and lives happily ever after (and, when one considers what the character has been through on the show, this resolution will be all the more poignant). Will's story is finished and, to continue it beyond this, would feel forced.

If nothing else, perhaps the additional time off will allow them to secure the rights to Clarice and Silence of the Lambs and return in a couple of years with a couple of new principals and a new sense of purpose on, presumably, a new medium....

Heroescon 2015: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love Comics Again

ABOVE: The famous Heroes Aren't Hard To Find; the tiny store that puts on the biggest private comic convention in the country.

This is the first post in a while and I hope to start doing 2 things: 1) Post more regularly 2) be more geeky.... I tended to concentrate too much on music and, while someone can certainly be a music geek, it is not considered as much a geeky pursuit as other things.

As hard as it is for many to believe, I attended my first major comic book convention this year (I had been to a couple of smaller, more local cons over the years). My choice was mostly Geographical; Heroescon is based out of Charlotte which is just a little over two hours from me.  It also just happens to be the biggest convention put on privately and one of the few comic conventions that manages to, more or less, focus on comics (rather than movies, TV shows, video games, etc.).

And, it is that latter feature, which has managed to have the most significant effect on me: I have fallen in love with comics again. So haven't I always loved comics?  Well, I have always liked comics but I don't always love them.  However, the experience of the convention, the opportunity to meet so many creators who are doing so much creative and interesting work has renewed my love for the art form and my admiration for those who practice it.

One of the coolest things about comics: everyone is so nice!  Sure, these are people whose names are renowned throughout the industry but they are hardly celebrities.  As a result, they are just as likely to be as enthusiastic about their work as you are!  They haven't heard it a millions times and done exhausting press junkets where they're sick of questions about their work; they actually want to talk to you about it. Along the same lines, they're also fans of comics themselves.  Comics is still not the most profitable of creative outlets (in comparison to,say, TV or movies).  These people work in the medium because they love it.

Another result was learning to appreciate the physical objects themselves:  the covers, the interior art, the layout of the pages (I had Klaus Janson sign one of his favorite pages from TDKR). I learned to love just flipping through the pages and looking at the art again. I learned to appreciate vintage comics and the work of artists past. The technique required to create an engaging cover that would fly off the shelves.  

Most important of all was this: hope for the future of comics.  First of all, the crowd itself was quite diverse with women easily representing 50% of the attendees--- not only that, but they were some of the most enthusiastic!  More ladies did cosplay than the gentlemen and their character choices were more esoteric and showed an even greater dedication and attention to detain than the guys.

Secondly, comics themselves have never been better; just as television has increased in its quality over the last few years so have comics.  Never have people been buzzing more about creator owned properties than right now; the hottest book of the con was Jason Aaron and Jason Latour's  Southern Bastards (the best way I can describe it is Southern Fried-Sopranos-meets-Friday-Night-Lights)--- there was nary a cape to be found and I'm not even sure much of anyone you could call a 'hero' in any traditional sense of the word.  Much like the recent televolution, people simply want stories that are well told--- and brilliant art doesn't hurt either.

And it's not just the indies that are tearing it up right now, the big boys seem to have finally found the balance between massive crossover events and just telling solid stand alone, character-driven stories.  They're more willing to let writers and artist flex their creative muscle on these properties and allow them to both make them their own and create great iconic representations of classic characters. Snyder has been killing it with Batman for four years now but Pak's current Superman story is finally delivering on the promise of Morrison's failed attempt to both strip the character to his basic/original form as well as reinvent him for a new era. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Waid's Daredevil and Fraction's Hawkeye along the same lines and  Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr have done the best thing that anyone has done with Batgirl in about 40 years.

On top of that, up and coming artist are taking up and coming characters and creating a whole new fan-base: Wilsons's Ms. Marvel, Latour and Rodriguez's Spider-Gwen, and North and Hendersons The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl are managing to appeal, not only to more women, also people who are tired of the 'muscles n' boobs in tights as usual' and are looking for something different (it's worth mentioning that, while guys all lined up for the old pros like Stan Lee, Klaus Janson, and Tim Sale; it was the ladies who were lining up for people like Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue Deconnick, and Babs Tarr). For the first time in years, I truly think comics has a chance of gaining a newer, younger, hipper, more diverse audience rather than the same old 'nerdy white dudes'.

I also have to give props to the guys from Heroes Aren't Hard to Find and its staff for creating one of the most open and inviting atmospheres for both the con and the store itself.  We're all familiar with the snooty, condescending type of comic store patron best represented by The Simpsons Comic Book Guy.  These types often create an intimidating atmosphere for the uninitiated, particularly women, that makes it difficult for them to feel comfortable even venturing into a comic shop.  The Heroes staff were some of the most friendly and welcoming  people at the con (which is a small miracle considering how stressful the whole operation must be for them to manage over the weekend); they didn't care if you wanted to read Squirrel-Girl, Southern Bastards, Teen Titans, Go! or Archie--- they were just glad you wanted to read comics and were always happy to help and offer suggestions. 

I have also found my collector's drive reinvigorated--- for the last ten years or so, I have been content with trades, only buying single issues when I felt like getting a sampling of what was going on at the moment (or, if someone was doing something really awesome---stuff like All Star Superman). Now, I find myself wanting to buy the comics, issue by issue to experience them 'live' so to speak, not to mention seeking out vintage back issues.... this might not be good for my wallet....