#2: Weird Comic-Con, Tom Cruise Is My Hero, And Nerd Music

Also, Joy Ride is great

Hello again, friends. I’m embarking with my lovely wife on our annual geek pilgrimage to San Diego Comic-Con. (I wrote this yesterday, we’ve already embarked, newsletters are lies.) It’s the chillest version of the convention in a long time thanks to both the writer and actor union strikes (even moreso than some of the pandemic era cons).

I admit to being a little bummed out not to get the chance to see my favorite comic book/wrestling icon Stephen Amell promoting season 2 of Heels, among the many other panels not happening this time around. But I’m also excited to discover cool, weird panels that blow my mind.

I always think back to a talk Matt Fraction gave (which he also delivered at W00tstock), titled “Batman Dreams of Hieronymus Machines.” He told the story of his history with comics, tying together his mom’s illness with what he chose to write throughout his career. And it was all ultimately about story, and was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

Here’s a recording of the W00tstock version of that talk:

While I’ve spent time preparing questions/topics, thinking through the surrounding issues, etc., I’m not doing anything nearly this elaborate for my panel. But I’d still love to see those of you attending Comic-Con there. It takes place this Saturday night at 7 p.m., in Grand 10 & 11 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. I’ve got a panel featuring TV writers, comic writers, and diverse people who care about making great pop culture while treating people well.

I hope my moderating doesn’t let them down. BRB, going to tell the voice inside my head to be quiet and stop negging me.

Tom Cruise is my hero

OK, that’s a slight exaggeration. I know people (including me) have had a lot of Big Feelings about his spiritual beliefs and what that organization may/may be doing to enable bad behavior, silence people who want to speak out, etc.

But I think it’s also pretty clear that he loves movies. Like, really loves movies. While I’m more of a TV guy, I deeply appreciate that enthusiasm. The tradition of geeks is about people who get too excited instead of playing it cool. It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.

On top of decades of banger movies and performances, from blockbusters to his Big Art Movies With Great Directors period, he’s reportedly a nice dude behind the scenes. I discovered recently that he also spent a couple semesters in seminary before being kicked out, and as someone who came quite close to attending seminary myself, I’m guessing that type of spiritual intensity may be a portion of what I’m connecting with.

Speaking of which, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One featurest Cruise at his Jesus-iest. As set up in the trailers, a big part of the movie is the idea that he’s putting the lives of others ahead of his own. It’s a classic hero motif, but the specific way it’s expressed in here feels like the kind of thing you get from someone who’s got some church in his background. The way the movie deals with how he can follow that ethic, and whether it’s always possible, makes for a compelling journey.

I always think back to when Cruise did a rare podcast appearance for a long interview, where he talked about his amazing home theaterand how he watched a movie every day. I saw more recently that he has seen every theatrically released movie, ever. While I’m not sure that this is how I’d want to spend my days (I’m obviously spending them binge rewatching The O.C.), I respect that deep dive into something you care about.

All my praise for pop thrills/joy isn’t to say that you can’t be critical. But when you love something, you don’t need to feel shame for that love. Just keep an open mind so that you can see the joy and the flaws and all the amazint complexities inside the things that inspire us.

Sincerely, both the dreamer and the journalist inside of me.

Nerd Music

I went to see one of the both nerd-nerd and music-nerdiest concerts I’ve ever seen: They Might Be Giants and Sparks at the Hollywood Bowl. They Might Be Giants came into popular consciousness through moments like having “Particle Man” and “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” immortalized in Tiny Toon Adventures music video segments, doing the theme song to Malcolm In The Middle, and producing a series of wildly popular kids' albums about the alphabet, numbers, and science. While Sparks was a real-heads-know band for decades, always staying just out of that world-conquering level that a more straightahead pop sensibility may have achieved.

They Might Be Giants became a thing in my life when my roommate at high school nerd summer camp played the Floodalbum somewhat regularly. I also quickly discovered it was popular with the other talented/gifted kids in this summer program, including its songs being absolute smashes at the awkward camp dance nights. Where a bunch of boys and girls who definitely had even less idea how to interact with one another than the broader population could put away that awkwardness for a few minutes of nerd joy with a song like “Twisting.”

I discovered Sparks pretty late as well, though ahead of the Edgar Wright documentary. I found out about them when they teamed up with Franz Ferdinand for collab project FFS, featuring such joyfully self-effacing songs as “Collaborations Don’t Work.”

The show was a delight, and you could feel the genuine thankfulness of Sparks in particular at what it meant for two brothers from Southern California to play in our legendary temple to musical greatness.

The event got me thinking about what makes something into nerd-appealing music. What’s behind the love for groups like these, or Jonathan Coulton, Weird Al, etc.? I think it’s a combination of wit and that most of their songs are less about romance than they are about ideas. They deliver songs that are fun to think about, more cenetered on wordplay than heartbreak — though there’s often plenty of that, too. They also rely less on telling stories of a complex life, and may be more relatable when you’re shy and can’t relate in the same ways to songs that may mean more when you’ve lived some life.

Or maybe I’m just projecting.

Next time

I’ll be back to talk how I probably didn’t actually fail with my Comic-Con panel, or maybe I did. Time’s a flat circle, so maybe it’s already happened, who knows.

Also, I went and saw the movie Joy Ride since writing the last newsletter, and it was dope and a movie that I’m glad exists. Go check it out.

Love y’all. Until next time: Get weird, change the world, and be kind.

Your pal,
Mike