Al Franken, Superhero
14 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in Culture, Television and Movies Tags: Al Franken, Comics, Michael Cavna
Really.
According to the Minnesota Independent
As we reported this morning, Sen. Al Franken will be the subject of a new comic book that — unlike the one recently created about Rep. Michele Bachmann — is expected to be largely favorable. The maker of the new book, Bluewater Productions, sends artwork for the cover of the new comic, which is part of its Political Power line of biography comics.
According to Michael Cavna’s Comic Riffs blog in the Washington Post
For its line of political comic books, Bluewater Productions has featured such figures as Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. In May, the publisher will have an entirely new subject.Why? Because — as the old “Saturday Night Live” catchphrase went — he’s Al Franken.
Bluewater announces its bio-comic “Political Power: Al Franken” — to hit comic shops in May — will “trace the senator’s rise ‘from Saturday Night Live’ writer … to radio talk-show host to viable Senate candidate.”
The comic’s writer, Jerome Maida says his research gleaned just how multifaceted Franken is. Maida says he learned that Franken became smitten with comics at a young age and that Franken co-wrote the Meg Ryan/Andy Garcia film “When a Man Loves a Woman,” based it on his own wife’s alcoholism. Maida also notes that his digging showed Franken to be “a real person, a character instead of a caricature.”
Because he’s not just Stuart Smalley.
Paul Newman
28 Sep 2008 Leave a Comment
in Television and Movies Tags: Paul Newman
Paul Newman has long been one of my very favorite actors. While other may say The Sting or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are their favorite movies, I have always love Absence of Malice which I think is one of the great political movies. I also like that potboiler Exodus in which he was very miscast even though he was half Jewish. I’ve even seen what he called “the worst movie ever made,” The Silver Chalice. It was, as I recall, pretty bad.
Growing up, I loved the fact that my father went to the same college as Paul Newman – Kenyon College in Ohio. I have memories of trying to convince my father that he should go to a reunion and take my sister and me so we could maybe meet Mr. Newman. I also remember him in a Nation magazine ad and seeing his name as a supporter. I think my first hint that we shared a political viewpoint was when I heard that he was a Gene McCarthy delegate to the Democratic Convention in 1968.
I’m looking forward to seeing lots of Paul Newman movies over the next few weeks and months.
