MANCHILD DISCUSSIONS: The Dark Knight Returns

Dave Herndon and David Komer discuss their personal relationships with the Frank Miller classic while awaiting the release of the animated movie.

MANCHILD REVIEWS: Green Lantern #0

A week after getting the chance to talk with creator Geoff Johns, I finally got a chance to read Green Lantern #0. It was everything I had hoped for, but still missing just a little something. I'm looking forward to the next issue though.

A case of the Thursdays ...

Many people claim to “hate Mondays,” well after the last few weeks, I hate Thursdays.

A recent Thursday started off great, I got to sleep in a bit because I had a 10:30 doctor’s appointment meaning that I wouldn’t be heading into work until after. Since my doctor’s office is only four miles from my house, I didn’t have to get up before 7 a.m. Like usual.

It was all downhill from there.

I woke up about 8 a.m. Only to discover that my ap-pointment hadn’t been logged by the doctor, so I wouldn’t be getting the “good” news in the form of test results from my doctor.

I decided to make the best of it, and made a quick ap-pointment for my border collie/chow mix at the veterinarian because she’s having skin issues.

The good news is that my vet was able to help me get her issue under control; the bad news is that I was out about $95 and now have to figure out how to get her to take pills multiple times a day.

Then it was time to head off to work, but first I needed gas. Of course, had I filed the tank the night before it would have been nearly 30 cents cheaper per gallon. When you drive 40 plus miles each way to work, those pennies add up quickly.

Thursdays are typically a late night at work for me, and starting off three hours late in the morning didn’t leave me thinking I’d be heading home anytime soon.

But wait, there’s more. I had forgotten that I had promised a colleague at the Dearborn Press & Guide that I would help him with doing play-by-play for the opening night of the high school football season, meaning that I had to take another three hours or so out of the evening.

It was the first time that the P&G had ever done a live Web stream of a sporting event, and he was nervous — though he’ll never admit it.

I have a background in radio, and I love football, so it was a good fit, but I had totally forgotten about it being that day.

On my way to the game, I received a call with news from the doctor. He told me that I have diabetes. Not a shock, but not something you want to hear on the phone either.

The broadcast went well, but that forced me to work until after 2 a.m. by the time I got the rest of my work done.

I don’t mind the late nights every now and again, so that wasn’t a negative.

Normally when I work late, I stay with my dad and step-mom. They live in Gibraltar, so it makes it nice to have a place to crash sometimes.

They hadn’t received my phone call that I’d be by really late, and locked the door. That wouldn’t have been an issue, but several months ago I misplaced my keys to their house.

Dad gets up early for work, so I decided to sit in the driveway for the two hours until he would get up rather than waking him early. He can be kind of cranky after all.

So I parked at the end of the drive, and fell asleep in the car. Apparently the next morning he didn’t notice me in the car and left for work, locking the door once again behind himself.

That left me heading off to a 9 a.m. meeting with the new principal at Arno Elementary School in fresh clothes, but sans a shower.

Fast forward a week … I was finally able to get in to see the doctor, but wasn’t made aware of the appointment until Wednesday night, so I hadn’t been able to plan for it.

The appointment went OK, though I had to wait about half an hour, which wasted most of my morning by the time we were done, and I got more pills to take for various medical issues.

I’ve always been relatively healthy other than my weight issues, so all of these pills are bothering me, but I’ll learn to manage.

After that, I ended up working until after midnight again, though this time I didn’t try to stay with my dad.

Problem was, I spent most of the rest of the normal work day waiting on people to call me back for stories, which never happened.

I didn’t get a single comment on the record all day.

Such is the life of a journalist, I suppose.

Contact Video Coordinator Dave Herndon at 1-734-246-0867 or dherndon@heritage.com. Follow him on Facebook and @NHDaveH on Twitter.

MANCHILD INTERVIEWS: Geoff Johns talks Simon Baz, the new Green Lantern

Geoff Johns returns home to promote new Arab-American comic book character

DEARBORN – Geoff Johns appears to be at home when he's telling stories, whether its helping a group of children create “Dr. Tomato” or telling a room full of people a story involving his mother and a Boba Fett action figure he is obviously very comfortable telling a story.
It's even more evident when you look at his career, Johns is the most prolific comic book writer in the modern age of comics. He also writes screenplays, video games and for several TV shows.
Johns told a lot of stories during a visit the Arab American National Museum Saturday.
He held a seminar on creating comic books for kids in the early afternoon and then hosted a question and answer session for the community at large in the late afternoon.
Johns, who grew up in Metro Detroit and graduated from Michigan State University, returned to his home state to promote the launch of his newest character in the DC Universe.
The character – Simon Baz, is the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps and the first Arab-American superhero from any of the major comic publishers.
Johns shares many similar traits to Baz, both have a strong Lebanese heritage. When asked how much of himself he put into the character, Johns said that he and the character are very different.

“He's a very different type of character,” he said. “I never stole cars.”
Johns said the creative team behind DC Comics wanted diversify the universe, so it was the perfect time to introduce the first Arab-American character.
To their credit, DC Comics publishers, Dan Didio and Jim Lee never questioned the move.
Diversification isn't a new concept in the comic book world, in the 1970's several characters were created during the blaxploitation era that reach most of the decade's pop culture.
Most of comic characters of that era are looked upon poorly by modern audiences. Johns said that he doesn't think Baz will have that type of legacy.
“I'm working with the Arab American Musuem to make sure the scripts are as real and as made up as possible,” he said. “I I just don't think that is going to happen. I hope it doesn't happen.

Johns is looking forward to introducing his character to the rest of the DCU. One detail that he let out about the upcoming arc in the Green Lantern book is the first time that Baz meets the Justice League. According to Johns the meet-up doesn't go as smoothly as one might hope, culminating is a stand-off where the League must decide if he is friend or foe.
Johns also wrote the recent Justice League #12 which sees Superman and Wonder Woman start a fledgling relationship for the first official time in the DCU.
A relationship between two of the tent pole characters of the DCU is made possible due to some of the resets with the DC New 52. The New 52 was a universe wide reboot that happened just over a year ago that allowed the creators of the comics to reset pieces of continuity that as they saw fit.
Johns first broke into the entertainment field as an intern and later a personal assistant to film director Richard Donner.

Johns worked on both 1997's “Conspiracy Theory” and 1998's “Lethal Weapon 4” while working for Donner. During that time he also began selling stories to both DC and Marvel Comics.
The first character Johns sold to DC was Stargirl, whom he said was based largely on his sister.
All of Johns works from DC Comics were donated to the museum library to be included in permanent collection. The “Geoff Johns Collection” contains more than 600 pieces.
“Green Lantern #0” is available at comic books stores everywhere.
Contact Staff Writer Dave Herndon at 1-734-246-0867 or dherndon@heritage.com. Follow him on Facebook and @NHDaveH on Twitter.

SLIDESHOW: Labor Day Weekend @Granny's House

The slideshow had about 100 pictures from yesterday at my granny's house. Most of the family was there just hanging out.

If you want to see any of the photos individually check out the album on Facebook.

Best movies to watch for Labor Day

Labor Day is a day to celebrate the working men and women across the country.
Keeping in that theme, here are some of the best movies to watch about labor unions and the everyday working man and woman.
 •“9-to-5” (1980) — Originally a song by country music singer Dolly Parton, the movie, starring Parton in the role of Doralee Rhodes, is about three woman trying to turn the tables on their sexist boss. The other women are Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.
•“Hoffa” (1992) — The rise and disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa (Jack Nicholson) is documented in this story about the man who founded the Teamsters’ union.
•“The Grapes of Wrath” (1940) — Based on John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name. This is the story of a Depression-era family as they struggle to survive after being tossed out of their Oklahoma home.
• “F.I.S.T.” (1978) — Another movie based on Jimmy Hoffa, though this one won’t actually own up to it. Sylvester Stallone stars as Johnny Kovak, a man who joins the union in the 1930s and works his way to prominence.
•“Matewan” (1987) — James Earl Jones headlines this story about the struggle of a group of West Virginia miners who are striking against unfair labor conditions.
• “Roger & Me” (1989) — Michael Moore’s first film, this documentary is the story of Flint and the struggles the Michigan city went through after General Motors moved 30,000 jobs out.

•“Newsies” (1992) — This film, starring a young Christian Bale, was a box office flop when it came out. It tells the story of the newsboy strike against newspaper barons Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hurst.
•“Norma Ray” (1979) — Sally Field won the first of her two Academy Awards playing the titular character who struggles to bring better working conditions to the factory she works in.

• “Silkwood” (1983) — The story is of Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep), a woman who was subjected to psychological torture, purposely contaminated with uranium poisoning and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing her employers for providing poor working conditions.
• “The Insider” (1999) — Michael Mann directs Al Pacino and Russell Crowe in this tale of a research scientist who comes under fire after agreeing to appear on a televised expose about big tobacco.
Also, check out “Battleship Potemkin,” “Blue Collar,” “Gung-Ho” and “The Take”.