Title page of episode 1 of “The Private Eye”. Used with permission.

With the plethora of social media outlets combined with the ease of content creation brought on by mobile devices, faster networks and better cameras, it grows more difficult to keep one’s information private. Some people that I know (my college-age son included) have started a backlash by deleting their Facebook and other accounts, citing their distraction, invasion of privacy and questionable content as reasons not to invest time. And once your data and information is out there in the great wide Intrawebs that Al Gore invented, it is near impossible to retract it, or delete it. Thanks to Google et. al., it gets easier and easier for anyone to find it. The viral nature of the Internet can make anyone a celebrity, and the lack of privacy can make many wish they were not.
Read the rest of this entry

Any period of superhero comic addiction, such as I briefly enjoyed in my youth, leaves you with one or two favourite characters.  It’s kind of the point: these characters are immortal, corporately-owned properties, their value to their owners largely measured by the persistence and financial implications of the attachment they instil in readers.

For me, there were plenty of favoured characters back in the day, but there was only one true favourite: Daredevil.

So here comes a look at three different takes on Daredevil: one from the 1980s, one from the 2000s and one from right now.  I don’t let my nostalgic inner fanboy out to play in these columns very often, so just this once I thought I’d give him some air.

I could offer the further justification that it’s a simple little case study in the extended life of corporate superheroes, and the effect story-telling trends and gifted writers have on them.  It kind of is, but honestly I’m just a bit of a DD groupie.

Read the rest of this entry