Website Tweaking

As noted in a recent post, I tweaked the WCG Comics website so that users can place orders right from the home page. The landing page immediately highlights the most recent and popular comics for sale, rather than news, announcements and promotion. While that latter content is still there—my website has also always served to document my comics activities—I realized that the sales buttons needed to be front and center.

On top of that, as part of the ongoing need to keep the site compliant with current web standards, I just migrated to a new payment processor. From the very start, I've used PayPal when my website was in simple html and, and later, css format, and have always been happy with it. My main concern has been that some users might believe a PayPal account was required to make a purchase (it isn't). However, PayPal recently began sending me notices that the protocol used at my site was out of date and should be upgraded. Unfortunately, I found the directions and requirements for PayPal's updated integration protocol to be beyond my technical abilities, so began exploring and testing other payment plugins that more seamlessly integrated with my WordPress website. 

Though it took me a little time to understand the whole ecosphere of the e-commerce process, I began by installing WooCommerce, a popular e-commerce plug-in for WordPress that works fairly seamlessly (WooCommerce is owned by the same parent company as WordPress). This turned out to be a no-brainer since WooCommerce works and partners almost universally with all the top payment processors. It was just a matter of determining which one worked best.

I first tried connecting WooCommerce to PayPal since I already had an existing account there, but surprisingly, the same obstacle related to the level of technical proficiency needed still existed, requiring a level of coding I wasn't comfortable with. I then tried WooCommerce's in-house WooPayments—without going too far into the weeds, I surprisingly found the verification process very complicated and frustrating. Though I understand the need to properly verify my business credentials, it seemed unnecessarily long and complicated, particularly given my experience easily getting approval from other processors and doing business online for more than 25 years. With all that—and even after exchanging some emails with the company (there was no chat or telephone option to speak with someone in person)—I felt caught in a loop with nothing to show for it. (To be fair, without going into the minute details, the delay was related to the need for the IRS to properly confirm my business status with paperwork I never needed before and that still needed to be processed.)

Frustrated by an exercise unlike my relatively straightforward and painless experience with other processors, I downloaded a plugin for Square, another prominent payment processor—indeed, I've used Square and have had an account with them for years to make sales at conventions with a credit card reader (and now with my mobile phone as a tap device). In contrast to PayPal and WooPayments, getting verified by Square nearly instantly turned out to be a very simple and straightforward.

So very long story short, after all that and some testing that went smoothly, the migration is done! (I should add that at one point in this process, when I was starting out and playing around, I somehow "broke" my website—fortunately, I had a backup—albeit not a recent one—that I was able to quickly restore. But it taught me a valuable lesson—to use the sandbox accounts I had created to test changes first and to back up my website more regularly!) 

While I don't believe the PayPal protocol was due to be retired or rendered obsolete anytime soon, the new plug-in processes orders all within the WCG Comics website umbrella rather than redirects users  to a third party website (PayPal) to complete a purchase. As a result, the process looks more seamless and professional. It's a change I actually wanted to make for awhile and I'm glad for once I was ahead of the curve in doing so when I had the luxury to figure it all out rather than under the gun because the protocol was being discontinued. 

Franklin: Nest of Spies!

I very much enjoyed the AppleTV+ series, Franklin—or what I like to call it, “Benjamin Franklin: Nest of Spies” (or “The Corruption of Temple Franklin,” Temple being Franklin’s grandson, who accompanied his grandfather to Paris as his secretary). 

While some people couldn’t get past Michael Douglas in the role, I found the series very entertaining and compelling, and appreciated its attention to the history and the complex friendships and relationships that made Franklin’s mission to procure French support for the American revolution a challenge. (My knowledge of this period is based on history books and study, including the excellent 2022 Ken Burns’ documentary on Franklin and, of course, multiple viewings of the musical 1776, both film and on stage, over the years!)

In the series, Franklin navigates the competing interests and political intrigue of the French court, as well as numerous spies and enemies in his midst (American, English and French—French figures were played by French actors and many scenes were entirely in French and subtitled). 

The series goes beyond just Franklin and features bigger-than-life characters and matching performances. Among the best and most fun is the arrival in Paris of the puritanical, humorless and indignant John Adams, whose contempt for Franklin and his libertinism (as well as of the French) is a source of much humor. (Adams is played with great high dudgeon by Eddie Marsan, who apparently had also auditioned for the John Adams miniseries, a role that went to Paul Giamatti). But he is also far from one note and capable of surprise, as he gradually but grudgingly comes to see the craft of Franklin’s approach, after first believing him to be in France’s pocket. (The fractious American delegation becoming one voice—future Supreme Court Justice John Jay being the third in their triumvirate—to effectively negotiate a peace treaty with the British is another pleasant turn to watch.) Another standout is the figure of Lafayette, as the youthful and idealistic French nobleman eager for glory and battle.

I thought it was a wonderful series with a polished cinematic production design and a keen understanding of the political currents and complex personalities that Franklin had to deftly navigate and leverage to gain French support. Along with the recent Manhunt, about the search for John Wilkes Booth following the assassination of President Lincoln, Apple+ has become a source for some solid historical drama series.

Comic Con Revolution Wraps

See You at Comic Con Revolution!

I'm pleased o announce that I'll be at Comic Con Revolution this coming weekend, May 18–19, in Ontario, California, sharing space at the Comic Art Professional Society (CAPS) booth #307. Looks like it's going to be a big show, stop by and stay hi if you're there.

I'll also be debuting my new booth banner as well!

REVIEW: Elvis and The Offer

These reviews were originally intended for June 30, 2022, but were never published. I am posting them now though may later re-date them to place them in the proper chronology of the website.

Elvis

In Elvis, actor Austin Butler amazingly lives up to the bigger-than-life image of the legendary singer, uncannily capturing (or rather channeling) his electric stage presence and charisma down to the body movement, facial expressions and even his hand gestures, while also making him feel human. The film and Butler manage to strip away the campiness of the impersonators that have clouded the way the singer is perceived in our collective memory, and given us an Elvis who feels alive and vital. He’s ably supported, of course, by Luhrmann’s bravura filmmaking style that suits the subject.

Much of the film is told through the lens of a transparently unreliable and self-serving narrator—his notorious manager, “Colonel” Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks. No, you don’t really quite forget that it’s Hanks beneath the prosthetics, but he gives a solid, sly performance, showing again his willingness to stretch as an actor.

This isn’t a “greatest hits” of Elvis’s life (there’s no meeting with Nixon and his film career is very quickly glossed over)—instead, the story’s arc focuses on the singer’s complex personal and business relationship with Parker, his parents, and the demons that led him to his drug dependence, as well as the tension between Parker’s commercial exploitation of the singer and Elvis’s desire to be true to his his roots and ambitions.

The film also leans hard into acknowledging the Black singers and musicians who Elvis emulated or appropriated, depending on who talk to (the film clearly falls into the former camp), name checking and portraying many of these artists during the film.

Most importantly, the film doesn’t skimp on the music and some of Presley’s most memorable iconic performances, which feel fresh and exuberant, showing modern day audiences what made the singer so revolutionary and electric. It’s an engaging and energetic piece of filmmaking, worth it even solely on Butler's performance.

The Offer
Since its release, the Offer, a 10-part limited series about the making of The Godfather film, has received mixed to lukewarm reviews. Now having seen it, I’m not sure why—I thought it was terrific and entertaining. It’s a rich, well told ensemble piece with great production values, solid writing, complex characters, and great performances.

The story is about the intersection of art and big business—and, of course, organized crime. Miles Teller plays producer Al Ruddy who, after making his mark creating and successfully getting to air the tv show Hogan’s Heroes, gets a job after cornering Evans. After Evans gets the rights to The Godfather, not thinking the film to be particularly high profile or big budget at the time, he throws it into Ruddy’s lap. (Ruddy lied about having read the novel.)

While the story is primarily told from the vantage point of Ruddy and his efforts behind the scenes to give director Francis Ford Coppola the resources and space to fulfill his vision for the movie while insulating him from studio meddling and politics (as well as the mob), it doesn’t feel particularly self-serving—in fact, the story is generous in giving arcs to the many people who were involved in the production, particularly legendary producer Robert Evans and Ruddy’s assistant Bettye McCartt who later became a legendary Hollywood agent. The story encompasses several “heavies,” including Paramount executives Charles Bluhdorn (known in his day as “the Mad Austrian of Wall Street”) and Barry Lapidus—the latter being a composite of Parmount bean counters (played by the always solid Colin Hanks), as well as the real-life mobsters who initially tried to stop the film fearing it would slander and insult Italian Americans—the sole exception being mobster Joe Gallo, who apparently was too irredeemable and too much of a psychopath for even his mob bosses to stomach. 

The series captures the chaos (and politics) of mounting a Hollywood film—after bringing a girl he’s trying to impress to set who is unclear what role a producer plays, she later observes that he’s a problem-solver. And indeed he is, often putting out fires unbeknownst to his director or the studio, which also includes having to deal with and become cozy with—for better or worse—mobsters like Joseph Colombo and others in the criminal underworld.

But the story doesn’t skimp on some great story arcs which lead to great performances—for example, Juno Temple’s McCartt is not only Ruddy’s Girl Friday but in many ways the brains of the outfit who shows brilliance in navigating the politics and eccentricities of Hollywood, which Ruddy comes to quickly recognize and depend on. Dan Fogler, who I’d always thought of as a poor man’s Josh Gad, is terrific as Coppola. Even some of the actors from the film are portrayed in the series, such as James Caan, with Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as characters relatively prominent in the series. (Evans’ relationship with Ali McGraw is also pivotal.)

And while Teller admirably anchors the show, for my money, actor Matthew Goode steals every scene he’s in as the bigger-than-life Robert Evans, with Burn Gorman as Paramount head Bluhdorn coming a close second. While I’ve always been a fan of Goode, he’s got a role to sink his teeth into and takes full advantage of it. Like the real-life Evans, he is, by turn, threatening, charming, vulnerable and very much a character, as he was in real life. It’s one of those performances that are a joy to watch. But there are also genuine revealing character moments and turn of character that give the story an emotional punch—and not just of Evans, but virtually everyone in this ensemble piece, even the suits at Gulf and Western.

Anyway, it’s a great series, entertainingly told—given the nature to some of the comments, the story might have been better served had it opened with the quote from Evans about memory: “There are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth. And no one is lying. Memories shared serve each differently.” 

My Favorite Star Wars Comic

For this Star Wars celebration day, I thought I’d highlight one of my favorite single comic book issues of all time—Star Wars #38, drawn by the great Mike Golden and written by the legendary late Archie Goodwin.

Aside from the terrific art, I felt that Golden really cracked the code in drawing Star Wars. There already was great work in the series, but Golden’s work was less pulpish and more stylish and sleek—I especially dug the way he portrayed blaster fire and other crackle.

I know I’m not alone in admiring this issue—at WonderCon last month, when I went by Golden’s booth, this issue (bagged) was on display. I asked his assistant at the booth what it was going for—she said $100. I really don’t know the street value of the book, but I assume you’d get Golden’s signature on it too. I keep my copy of the issue sitting on a shelf nearby on its own (also bagged) just because I like having it closeby and readily accessible.

I recently re-read the issue for the first time in a long time. The story is a bit thin, though a solid science fiction tale. To be fair, however, it was literally a filler issue—I did not remember until I just re-read it that this issue was supposed to see the start of the adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back—but for some reason, Marvel had to delay it a month and published this one-off issue in place.

So the six-issue adaptation of Empire started next issue, drawn by the late Al Williamson (and adapted by Goodwin), who of course is considered one of the best and most definitive Star Wars artists—he’d go on to also draw the Star Wars syndicated comic strip and the adaptation of The Return of the Jedi as well.

May the 4th Be With You!

Returning to the Hollywood Bowl—Netflix is a Joke Fest