Literary highlights of Comic-Con

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Literary highlights of Comic-ConJuly 25, 2011 |  1:17pm

By now most everyone has packed up and left San Diego in the wake of Comic-Con, which wrapped up its four-day run Sunday. The conference is a gigantic celebration of comics, movies and fan culture; this year, there were a few particularly bookish highlights.

John Cusack talked about playing Edgar Allan Poe in "The Raven." The 2012 film, named after the author's famous poem, focuses on the mysterious last days of Poe's life -- he died at age 40 in 1849 in Baltimore, possibly from overindulgence in alcohol. "I saw some of Hunter S. Thompson in Poe -- his unflinching ability to delve into the abyss and come back. He reminded me of Hunter in that way," Cusack said at his panel, where he called the author "the godfather of Goth." Hero Complex reports that to amp up the story of the writer's final days, the filmmakers have thrown in a serial killer plot. Oh, Hollywood.

Poe was seen elsewhere at the convention, specifically, on the faces of the audience at the preview of Francis Ford Coppola's movie "Twixt." The film is an original script by Coppola, and is about a horror writer (played by Val Kilmer, who also attended) whose career is in decline and who begins having dreams of orphan girls and a certain long-dead author. The movie is partially -- only partially -- in 3-D, and the Poe masks served as 3-D glasses. Coppola told Hero Complex:

[W]e were in Constantinople and I was meeting with a Turkish lawyer whose sister shows up at dinner and they start giving me this beverage called raki, which is very alcoholic, and I went home to my hotel, fell asleep and had this vivid dream. It was all this Edgar Allan Poe imagery and the scary forest and this little girl with braces saying, “You’re looking at my teeth! You’re looking at my teeth!” and children coming out of a grave in the floor, and then Edgar Allan Poe shows up and I was saying, “This is a gift. I’m being given a story” and I said to Poe, “Guide me.”

If that's not enough Poe for you, stay tuned for a possible Poe television show. In January, ABC picked up a pilot for "a crime procedural" that stars Poe, "the world's very first detective, as he uses unconventional methods to investigate dark mysteries in 1840s Boston." Right.

But back to Comic-Con. For the first time the top prize at the Eisner Awards ended in a tie. Both "Wilson" by Daniel Clowes and "Return of the Dapper Men" by Jim McCann and Janet Lee were awarded the Best Graphic Album-New prize, the top graphic novel award at the Eisners. Other winners included writer Joe Hill for his work on "Locke and Key"; Hill is the son of novelist Stephen King.

Another first: Steven Spielberg made his first ever Comic-Con appearance, with his adaptation of Hergé's classic comic series, "The Adventures of Tintin." The well-loved series launched in 1929 and has been published in 80 languages. Before Spielberg began showing footage from his motion-capture film, he asked, "How many here have ever read a Tintin book?" and recieved a cheer in response, Hero Complex reports. "That makes my job easier," Spielberg said. 

Another literary adaptation discussed at Comic-Con was "Paradise Lost," an adaptation of John Milton's epic poem. Star Bradley Cooper, who read the classic work as an undergrad at Georgetown University, appeared on a panel where he talked about taking on the role of Lucifer. Cooper's take: It's an "intimate family story" and he'll be giving the devil his own sympathetic spin.

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-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photos, from top: John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe on the set of "The Raven" in Budapest in 2010; Poe masks at Comic-Con. Credits: Bea Kallos / European Pressphoto Agency; Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

 

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Rare Highlights of Music, Art and Literature at the Morgan Library, New York

Art, history and literature lovers spend days at the Morgan Library and Museum exploring the most amazing collection of manuscripts, paintings and books - featuring a compilation of important, rare and priceless pieces covering Egyptian art, the Renaissance, manuscripts, rare books, and even the earliest evidence of writing.

Founded in 1906 to house the private collection and library of John Pierpont Morgan, which includes a rare collection of prints and drawings, the library was designed by Charles McKim. In 1924 it was made a public institution by Morgan's son John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., and the building is now a National Historic Landmark.

Today the complex of buildings housing the Library and Museum also serve as a scholarly research centre. The library boasts many illuminated manuscripts as well as original manuscripts by famous authors. A few interesting and unusual items include, Sri Walter Scott's 'Ivanhoe', and Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. Manuscripts by Charlotte Bronte, Lord Byron and original poems by Robert Burns are other popular items on display.

The collection also boasts a large compilation of incunabula, prints and drawings of European artists. The collection covers Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Gainsborough, Dürer, and Picasso. The incunabula include early printed Bibles, which includes the Biblia Latina, the first good example of European 'moveable metal type' and two other Gutenberg Bibles and Old Testament Miniatures with Latin, Persian, and Judeo-Persian inscriptions. The collection of printed books and bindings extends to cover important first editions from the 20th century, highlighted by first editions of classical authors. The vast Bindings Collection of about a thousand volumes represents English, French and Italian bindings of the 16th through the 19th century.

Most literary and history scholars are attracted to the material from Ancient Egypt and medieval Liturgical objects. Original drawing for the edition of the Book of Job by William Blake and Antoine de Saint Exupery's concept drawings for The Little Prince are also on display.

The Morgan Library & Museum also houses a fine collection of music manuscripts, first editions of scores and librettos, some 1700 items spanning six centuries and covering many countries. The collection's highlights include autograph manuscript of Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Sonata no. 10 in G, and Mozart's "Haffner" Symphony, again an autograph manuscript. Apart from The Library also houses an impressive collection of manuscripts by Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Schubert, and Richard Strauss.

The collection of drawings and paintings spans the 14th through 21st centuries, mainly focusing on European drawings before 1825. The collection includes 16th and 18th century Italian drawings; works by Raphael, Michelangelo and da Vinci, France represented by Claude, Watteau and Fragonard, and covers the works of Rembrandt, with the largest collection of Rembrandt etchings in the United State, Rubens and van Dyck.

Exploring Morgan's vast collection would definitely take a couple of days and the best option would be to find lodging in the vicinity. For lodging close by try the Shelburne Murray Hill Hotel in New York. Located in Midtown Manhattan, the hotel also provides easy access to Fifth Avenue shopping, The UN Headquarters and other interesting attractions and museums.

Larry Austin is a freelance journalist who writes on travel related topics such as on hotels like the Shelburne Murray Hill Hotel New York and worldwide destination reviews etc. He is currently working for roomsnet.com which offers visitors the option of world wide hotel bookings.

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