Books About Comic and Video Game Creators
May. 16th, 2023 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroDirect Conversations by Paul Kupperberg – With the appropriate disclaimers that my dad is one of the interviewees and he’s known “Kupps” since before I was born. This is less “interviews” and more reminiscing, because Kupperberg’s own stories get interwoven into the chapters. It felt like being at a series of comic con panels where the topic was specifically how they broke into the comic business and the arcs of their careers, focusing on the “Bronze Age” of the 70s and 80s. I already knew a bunch of the stories (either the originals, or them from different perspectives), but there were plenty I didn’t. I was also entertained that the last two interviews were with Tony Isabella, who is very clearly bitter about his treatment at DC during those years; and Mike Uslan, who jumped ship from comics to movies very early and is very cheerful about that.
Direct Comments by Paul Kupperberg – An earlier book that was available as a bonus with the Direct Conversations Kickstarter, this collects transcripts of a series of earlier interviews Kupperberg did for DC’s Direct Currents columns (1989-1991), generally written up as essays. The Julie Schwartz chapter is the best, though anyone familiar with Julie’s storytelling ability (and accomplishments!) should not be surprised. Honestly, they get pretty repetitive, because everyone told their life story about being a comics fan as a kid, and how they met their heroes and got into the business. I actually found the really old guys (who had somewhat different stories) and the “what I’m doing right now” bits to be most interesting, because it’s a snapshot circa 1990, right around the time I was getting into superhero comics. Both books are fun for DC comics fans of my generation (or older), but if you aren’t coming in with interest and knowledge of the Silver and Bronze ages of comics and the big-name creators, you’re not going to care.
Gamemaster Classified by Howard Phillips and Matthew Taranto - Howard Phillips was Nintendo’s official “Gamemaster” in the 80s and many of us early Nintendo Power readers knew him (and his iconic bowtie) from the Howard & Nester comics. This Kickstarter-funded book was his memoir of that era, though it’s mostly discussing the games that were coming out and the reviews he gave them—the personal anecdotes are actually fewer and farther between than you might imagine. There are a bunch of fun stories and some cute comic strips, but it all stays pretty light and it gets repetitive in a bunch of places. I would have preferred fewer comments on why Mother didn’t get localized (a topic covered in much more depth elsewhere) or why he loves Super Mario Brothers (we all do); and more details on the day-to-day life of a “Gamemaster”, the making of Nintendo Power, the various publicity tours, and similar things that he mentions happening but doesn’t actually go into depth about. Fun for the classic Nintendo Power fanboys, but not a lot of revelations here.
Ask Iwata by Satoru Iwata - I received this as part of an Ixo-Box, and it’s a lightly edited (and translated) collection of blog posts by the late Satoru Iwata, who was president of HAL Laboratories and later President of Nintendo, and whose accomplishments include overseeing the creation of Kirby, Smash Bros, the Wii, and the DS. A lot of it is decent, if fairly generic, management advice; and there are a bunch of fun insider Nintendo bits. The book is rounded out with memories from a few other Nintendo luminaries he worked with; he seems like a smart guy and a decent boss. Again, nothing to go out of your way for, but an interesting curiosity for the Nintendo fan. (Though it did make me think about Super Power, Spoony Bards and Silverware and how it railed at the SNES for basically just being a fancier NES; and the contrast with Iwata’s era at Nintendo trying to do things radically different from what came before.)
Bea Wolf by Zack Weinersmith – A retelling of Beowulf in a similar style to the original, only starring kids, a treehouse, and a grumpy old man. It’s very cute and very clever (especially if you’re familiar with the original), and it only covers the first third of the original, through the battle with Grendel; where most modern retellings ignore the building of the hall and the side-stories and try to cram in Grendel, Grendel’s mom and the Dragon all into one mess. (I appreciated them including the bit where Bea Wulf defeats nine krakens as kind of a footnote in a story about a swimming contest.) And ARR enjoyed it too, which means it works as a kids book.
Direct Comments by Paul Kupperberg – An earlier book that was available as a bonus with the Direct Conversations Kickstarter, this collects transcripts of a series of earlier interviews Kupperberg did for DC’s Direct Currents columns (1989-1991), generally written up as essays. The Julie Schwartz chapter is the best, though anyone familiar with Julie’s storytelling ability (and accomplishments!) should not be surprised. Honestly, they get pretty repetitive, because everyone told their life story about being a comics fan as a kid, and how they met their heroes and got into the business. I actually found the really old guys (who had somewhat different stories) and the “what I’m doing right now” bits to be most interesting, because it’s a snapshot circa 1990, right around the time I was getting into superhero comics. Both books are fun for DC comics fans of my generation (or older), but if you aren’t coming in with interest and knowledge of the Silver and Bronze ages of comics and the big-name creators, you’re not going to care.
Gamemaster Classified by Howard Phillips and Matthew Taranto - Howard Phillips was Nintendo’s official “Gamemaster” in the 80s and many of us early Nintendo Power readers knew him (and his iconic bowtie) from the Howard & Nester comics. This Kickstarter-funded book was his memoir of that era, though it’s mostly discussing the games that were coming out and the reviews he gave them—the personal anecdotes are actually fewer and farther between than you might imagine. There are a bunch of fun stories and some cute comic strips, but it all stays pretty light and it gets repetitive in a bunch of places. I would have preferred fewer comments on why Mother didn’t get localized (a topic covered in much more depth elsewhere) or why he loves Super Mario Brothers (we all do); and more details on the day-to-day life of a “Gamemaster”, the making of Nintendo Power, the various publicity tours, and similar things that he mentions happening but doesn’t actually go into depth about. Fun for the classic Nintendo Power fanboys, but not a lot of revelations here.
Ask Iwata by Satoru Iwata - I received this as part of an Ixo-Box, and it’s a lightly edited (and translated) collection of blog posts by the late Satoru Iwata, who was president of HAL Laboratories and later President of Nintendo, and whose accomplishments include overseeing the creation of Kirby, Smash Bros, the Wii, and the DS. A lot of it is decent, if fairly generic, management advice; and there are a bunch of fun insider Nintendo bits. The book is rounded out with memories from a few other Nintendo luminaries he worked with; he seems like a smart guy and a decent boss. Again, nothing to go out of your way for, but an interesting curiosity for the Nintendo fan. (Though it did make me think about Super Power, Spoony Bards and Silverware and how it railed at the SNES for basically just being a fancier NES; and the contrast with Iwata’s era at Nintendo trying to do things radically different from what came before.)
Bea Wolf by Zack Weinersmith – A retelling of Beowulf in a similar style to the original, only starring kids, a treehouse, and a grumpy old man. It’s very cute and very clever (especially if you’re familiar with the original), and it only covers the first third of the original, through the battle with Grendel; where most modern retellings ignore the building of the hall and the side-stories and try to cram in Grendel, Grendel’s mom and the Dragon all into one mess. (I appreciated them including the bit where Bea Wulf defeats nine krakens as kind of a footnote in a story about a swimming contest.) And ARR enjoyed it too, which means it works as a kids book.
