Article: Interview - John Calimee

[Ben]

You can view the page at http://alphaflight.net/content.php?137

[Flightpath07]

Wow.

Some of his comments shocked me, awed me, impressed me, and almost made me weep.

"Heroes and villains are blurred for thrill points."

"And the reader -or viewer- is left with the feeling they've seen this plot point a million times over. And they have. This is not the sort of thing that gets a wide audience chomping at the bit for the next instalment."

"The more important challenge, and the challenge most neglected in popular media is that stories exist for one reason: to tell us something about the human condition. To do less than that is to create product that is emotionally vapid. And yet popular media -driven to protect investment- constructs stories based on pushing stimulus buttons. Make things explode. Drive fast. Shoot guns. All these things provide energy but they say nothing about the human condition."

"I'm not saying a hero must be a boy scout or the hero cannot be wrong. The human under the costume can be frail but the hero wearing the suit cannot. It is along the lines of this conflict that most good stories are born. The hero has to believe that he's doing the right thing. If he's wrong, he is wrong because he's lacking all the necessary information to come to a better conclusion. This core nobility is not boring, but to contradict it goes against a long history of good writing."

"Stan Lee and Jack Kirby told more in 3 panels than these books do in 12 pages. And more importantly, they made you care."

After reading what he had to say (after years of gagging over his art), I can now say, with pride, that I am a fan of John Calimee. Oh, don't get me wrong, I hate his art; but I like the ways he thinks and the way he sees things.

A good interview; thanx for sharing it with us.

[PWalk]

I never really minded his art? Was I the only one?

[weaponAlpha]

I never really minded his art? Was I the only one?

no you're not, I really liked his run the Scorcerer, Dreemqueen, Gamma Fight, that shadow world where they fought the X-men and Avengers, China Force all that was cool and his art reminds me of how nexus was drawn and i thought he was dynamic and had a lot of movement in it

[Le Messor]

Thing is, during discussions with him (that I'm not proud of, and they're still available somewhere on this forum) he got the impression that I disagreed with his views about heroism - but I really, really don't. (Came up because I like Serenity and he doesn't.)

Even he minds his art on Alpha Flight.

- Le Messor
Xander: What do you feel?
Anya: Upset, afraid of being without you, and a little hungry.
Xander: I meant about the house.
Anya: Oh, still haunted.

[bigbloo]

no you're not, I really liked his run the Scorcerer, Dreemqueen, Gamma Fight, that shadow world where they fought the X-men and Avengers, China Force all that was cool and his art reminds me of how nexus was drawn and i thought he was dynamic and had a lot of movement in it

His figure drawings were pretty awful, but I did like his storytelling. And I have to agree, I like the way this guy thinks.

[DIGGER]

I was never a fan of his work on Alpha but after reading this interview, I must say that I have respect for him and his opinion on things.

DIGGER

[Flightpath07]

Thing is, during discussions with him (that I'm not proud of, and they're still available somewhere on this forum) he got the impression that I disagreed with his views about heroism - but I really, really don't. (Came up because I like Serenity and he doesn't.)

I loved Serenity (the series, Firefly, a bit more than the movie, but both were great). As far as the character Mal goes, I never saw him as a hero; he was a war veteran whose side had lost, he was bitter and wounded inside, and he spent most of his time in hiding. Not much of a hero, really. But still a great character.

[DelBubs]

Further discussion here

[Flightpath07]

Further discussion here

Fantastic Four is on the edge of 'good movies' for me; the very bottom rung of a comic book movie I'd actually own (and do) on purpose.

Mik, the original Fantastic Four, without all the super effects and whatnot, was WAY better storytelling. That is this one; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109770/

[Le Messor]

Mik, the original Fantastic Four, without all the super effects and whatnot, was WAY better storytelling.

It's the Roger Corman one I mentioned somewhere else in that thread. Yep, it had far more potential as a story.

- LM
"I’d love to, but I never go out on days that end in “Y”."

[Flightpath07]

It's the Roger Corman one I mentioned somewhere else in that thread. Yep, it had far more potential as a story.

- LM
"I’d love to, but I never go out on days that end in “Y”."

Sorry, must not have gone far enough back in the thread; my bad.

[Le Messor]

Sorry, must not have gone far enough back in the thread; my bad.

Meh. It was a long thread, I rambled - I can't expect you to read it all.

All the talk about heroism on that thread reminds me of my big problem with v2 -
They shoved the actual heroics into the background, making it about a team being brainwashed. Why, what for, what's the ulterior motive?
Meh. Just general brainwashing. Nothing specific.
It was all political.
You know how much I care about politics?
I once was getting off a plane, and a passed near a woman being greeted by a man. I walked around the man, just to be polite and not get between them. Then my parents told me the woman was the deputy prime minister of my country (she's now the prime minister - I'd recognise her now). I didn't even know. That's how much I care about politics.

That's all there was in v2; Civil Servant infighting politics.
They were never heroic; or, if they were, it was shoved into the background.
In v1, there were always high stakes (will Tundra destroy Canada? Will the Master take over the world?); even if they were for one or two people (will Aurora be killed with a single touch? Will Puck take down those drug dealers?) but v2 never had that - it was just 'will a bunch of civil servants get out from under a government department that wants to...
uh...
So there! ?'

That's just not compelling to me. I'd rather see people trying to save the world; or save one or two lives; not just a bunch of civil servant infighting.
Or politics.

- Le Messor
"They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth."
~ Paul Kocak, Syracuse NY (Bullwer-Lytton competition)