Bill Willingham has been a writer (and occasional illustrator) in the comic books field for more than twenty years, publishing stories through Marvel, DC and many other comics publishers. His best known comics series have included "Elementals," "Robin (and Batman)," "Shadowpact," "Pantheon," and the multiple award winning (as well as multiple award losing) series "Fables," a monthly series in its eighth year and still ongoing. His first major prose novel, Peter and Max, will be published on October 13th of 2009.
Bill Willingham
I’ve Seen the Future and It Is…Safe?
by Bill WillinghamThis is an awkward way to begin, but I must start off with two apologies. First I apologize for being too long absent from this site, due to many deadlines, too much travel to wonderful places, and a protracted bout with that deadly killer flu thing that is the current deadly killer flu thing going around. I intend not to stay away so long from now on.
Next I must apologize to the non-geek contingent of our readership. The essay which follows might not be your cup of tea Klingon blood wine. It hinges too much on a presumed knowledge of obscure science fictiony things that only those with a truly Jonah Goldbergian depth of geek arcana can fully appreciate. Then again, I might be underestimating the level to which the fantastical subdivision of pop culture has permeated the mainstream. You might grok this if you know at least two Vulcans other than Spock, who Tim Drake is (as opposed to Dick Grayson), what the Kzinti are, and where the word ‘grok’ came from. If not, you’re excused without penalty. (more…)
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The Choice: A One Act Play
by Bill WillinghamCharacters:
Possible: A well-spoken bit of biological material.
Mr. Patronus: Possible’s visitor.
The Setting: A warm, dark place.
(Curtain. Possible is alone on stage when Mr. Patronus enters.)
Possible: Who are you?
Patronus: My name is Mr. Pratronus. I’m sorry to suddenly intrude like this, but I’ve been assigned as your STO.
Possible: Stow?
Patronus: STO. Your Survival Training Officer. Your birth time is approaching and I’ve been sent in to train you in a few techniques that might increase your chances of surviving the next few days. (more…)
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A Few Watchmen-Eve Predictions
by Bill Willingham
Prepare for the ‘Gunga Diner’ lawsuit.
I’m not certain I have anything of worth to say about “Watchmen,” prior to actually seeing it tomorrow, when the rest of the world also gets its chance, but since I was very politely asked (as a comics books industry insider, albeit one who doesn’t rate an invitation to one of the six thousand, or so, advance screenings) to post something on Watchmen Eve, and since, as a professional writer, waiting until I actually had something of worth to share would be career suicide, I’ll venture a few predictions about the movie and how it will alter the American entertainment world in its wake. (more…)
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by Bill Willingham
This exercise in running commentary made the Oscars at least halfway bearable. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen for the interesting near conversation. I’ve still got a page of funnybooks script to finish before I pack it in for the night, so I’ll bid you goodnight.
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by Bill Willingham
Look at that. We get shame against the right, pro gay marriage, and a thank you to Obama all in one speech.
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by Bill Willingham
I think her eyebrows are just fine. Always liked that look. Never could take a plucked eyebrow.
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by Bill Willingham
The reason you can’t recall who said that about Meryl Streep is that everyone has said it. She is considered a great actress because you can always see her acting. Lesser talents just seem to disappear into roles, which isn’t a way to get noticed.
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by Bill Willingham
Can we please stop using terms like courageous and fearless when describing an actor in a role? Or if not, what new words do we need to construct for what men and women are doing right now in Iraq and Afghanistan?
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by Bill Willingham
I like Queen Latifa too, but I don’t she did all that well with the song. It’s just the song I think is near perfect. The noticeable muting of applause during the Charleton Heston sequence was indeed deplorable, but considering this group, the fact that there was no active booing was the hight of class. And yes, it would have been nice to see the actors being honored rather than zooming in and out on their stage mounted TV sets.
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by Bill Willingham
I’ll be seeing you is just about a perfect song.
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by Bill Willingham
Okay, another confession. I’m also a fan of Bollywood production numbers. My sins are manifest.
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by Bill Willingham
Okay the orchestra medley was well done. Good transitions between the different scores and more than four bars of a score before they move on.
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by Bill Willingham
Have I just missed it (I’m trying to get some work done during this — two pages to go to meet my deadline for the night) or has there been no references to Obama so far?
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by Bill Willingham
Will Smith is actually a personable and likable guy, even on stage in this venue, where so much importance is being lectured into us by important people on this very important night. Good actor too.
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by Bill Willingham
Several shots of actors trying desperately to conjure tears during the Heath Ledger award.
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by Bill Willingham
Joel Grey and Alan Arkin sharing a stage. Life has its occasional rewards.
Oh, now it just turned into another life lecture. Never mind.
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by Bill Willingham
As a general rule I don’t like medleys in song and dance numbers. Pick a song and commit to it, and then wring every atom of entertainment you can out of it. But I think Jackman has more song and dance chops than most think.
The musical is back? I wish it were true, but I don’t think so.
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by Bill Willingham
Just saw the add for Nathan Fillion’s new TV series, Castle. I hope it does well. He’s too good to be in another failed series.
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by Bill Willingham
The second guy in a two-person Oscar acceptance always gets screwed out of his “thank you” time, so that the first guy can belatedly remember to thank his wife.
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I played Barnaby too…
by Bill WillinghamWhen I was seventeen, in the Sunnyside community theatre production of Hello Dolly. Fun time.
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In Bruges was so good that…
by Bill WillinghamFor about a month after seeing it I didn’t want to speak to anyone who hadn’t seen it. And don’t get me started on those who’d seen it and didn’t like it. They might as well be sleeping with Luca Brazzi now.
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Best Screenplay
by Bill WillinghamI liked the bits of screenplay-over-filmed scenes. And I love the awards like best screenplay, where people who don’t get to be on stage (and perhaps shouldn’t be) get to think for a moment that this spectacle is about them.
And here’s the required equal marriage rights speech.
Too bad In Bruges didn’t win though. It was my favorite film of the year.
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by Bill Willingham
I thought the opening musical number did better than it should have. Hugh Jackman comes across as a personable guy.
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by Bill Willingham
The Australian joke didn’t work, but the New Zealand joke did.
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by Bill Willingham
No, Stage Right, I predict same sex marriage won’t be mentioned once. It’s called “freedom of marriage” now. Managing the language is the be all and end all of newspeak.
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Of course I like showtunes
by Bill WillinghamAre you kidding? I love musicals. I’m one of the eight people in the world who liked Cop Rock.
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And here we go…
by Bill WillinghamSo Bratt Pitt and Angelina Jolie have just collectively been called a Savior of mankind. Glad no one’s going overboard yet.
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New Attorney General: We’re A Nation of Cowards
by Bill Willingham
I haven’t been posting lately, because deadlines are well and truly on me. But here’s a quick note about something that caught my eye today.
According to the new Attorney General, Eric Holder, speaking today at the Justice Department, we’re a nation of cowards because we don’t talk about race enough. I have several responses to that grotesque statement, most of which aren’t printable. But I will say this much: If the past discussions about race in which I’d participated (voluntarily and otherwise) didn’t always – not often, not most of the time, but always – devolve into name calling, where I was denounced as a racist (usually as a starting point for said conversation), then I might today be more willing to continue to have discussions on the subject. I suspect I’m not alone in this. (more…)
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The Ozzie and Harriet Syndrome
by Bill WillinghamA few days ago, in the context of pointing out some of the excesses that typify superhero comic books being published today, I posted my personal mission statement, promising to no longer take part in the superhero decadence trend.
As surely as night follows day, the comics community reacted (here, and on comics-devoted news sites and message boards, far and wide), in a more or less even mix of pro and con, support and condemnation, leavened with the usual percentage of anonymous bomb throwing that’s impossible to avoid in our wonderful Internet culture. Some arguments (on both sides) were fairly and eloquently made, while others were… (let’s be charitable and say) less so.
I’m not going to rehash those matters here. I believe my original essay speaks for itself. What I’d like to do though is call attention to one of the arguments that kept popping up time and again, in response to my essay, and which always — one might say reflexively — come up in response to anything said or written stating a desire for better values, virtues and practices than those which are currently (and dominantly) portrayed in our entertainment.
There are a thousand variations, but the core argument goes something like this: “So you want to turn back the clock to 1950’s Ozzie and Harriet style American values, even though that was also a time of segregation, paranoia, nuclear proliferation, and cultural persecution?”
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Superheroes: Still Plenty of Super, But Losing Some of the Hero
by Bill WillinghamJust as all movies aren’t westerns, all comics aren’t superheroes. Far from it. But superheroes are still one of (if not the) dominant genres in the comic book industry, and by far comprise the major output of our two largest American comics publishers, Marvel and DC. More to the point, it’s the comic book genre I want to focus on here.
DC’s greatest icon, Superman, one of the handful of fictional characters known throughout the world, no longer seems to be too proud of America. He still finds occasion to mention he fights for truth and justice, but no longer finishes that famous line with, “…and the American way.” Then again, according to the most recent movie, he’s become a creepy stalker and a deadbeat dad, so maybe not openly linking himself to the American ideal isn’t such a bad thing.
Marvel’s legendary patriot Captain America, in a comic book story published shortly after 9/11 spent a good part of the issue apologizing to the super terrorist he was battling about all of the terrible things America did in its pursuit of the cold war against the Soviets. “(But) we’ve changed. We’ve learned,” he whines. “My people never knew!” Then again, at least ol’ Cap was fighting the bad guy, so maybe there’s still hope.
Except that In another later appearance, in a different title (same company) Captain America willingly goes along with a government cover-up of a incident that resulted in massive civilian casualties. He not only goes along with it, he doesn’t even bat an eye when asked to do so.
Then again Cap’s dead now, so problem solved, right?
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