From the comic book world came the big reveal this week that DC Comics will be producing a new set of graphic novels about the early years of both Superman and Batman. Called the “Earth One” series, the books will attempt to modernize these iconic superheroes’ backstories for a contemporary audience, and series writers are encouraged to take liberties and not rely on any previously established story arcs. ComicCon is going to be ablaze next year when these books hit.
Newscom
It doesn’t take much for a celebrity to ink a book deal these days, but this is one we are actually intrigued to read: Controversial singer R. Kelly (he of the many sex scandals, “I Believe I Can Fly,” “Ignition,” and the “Trapped in the Closet” opus) will write a memoir for SmileyBooks, the publishing imprint from television host Tavis Smiley. Smiley says that “He has earned the right to tell his story his own way,” and that Kelly’s musings will appear in 2011. “I'm writing this book as Robert, not R. Kelly," the singer said of the deal. "I'm tired of being misunderstood. I will show you the tears, fears, and sweat. I will open my heart and reveal the good in my life as well as all the drama. I want to tell it like it is."
Michael N. Todaro / Getty Images
That’s right, this week a woman showed off the world’s first bionic fingers, and they are a miracle. But moreover, a cultural miracle! Maria Antonia Iglesias, a former concert pianist from Spain, lost her fingers in 2003 from a health problem, and was more than happy to lend herself to Touch Bionics to try to get her ivory ticklers back. While her new hands, which cost around $70,000, do not yet allow her to play a piano, she can pick up a fork, write, and do a lot of other manual tasks, and scientists are working on a way for her to get back to playing music. Brava, technology.
Press Association via AP Images
Some scary news this week on the rock music front: Alternative band Weezer experienced a terrible bus crash on Sunday morning in upstate New York, going over a railing into a ditch. Though no band members died in the accident, lead singer Rivers Cuomo was in critical condition until Wednesday. The remainder of Weezer’s December Raditude tour has been canceled for the group’s recovery, which Cuomo’s assistant Sarah Kim told Rolling Stone would be at least a “frustrating and painful 3-4 weeks.”
David Atlas / Retna Ltd.
After weeks of protesting, vision-impaired activists have made headway in their campaign against Abigail Breslin’s casting as Helen Keller in the upcoming Broadway show, The Miracle Worker. A partially blind girl, Kyra Ynez Siegel, age 10, has been cast as Breslin’s understudy, appeasing those protesters who wanted to see a blind person in the role. Siegel is blind in one eye after an injury, and told The New York Times, “It is very challenging to use both my eyes together. It makes me sad sometimes, but I don’t care because I try not to think about it. Sometimes your dreams get crushed but you just keep going.” Now we really want to see Siegel’s dreams come true in January.
AP Photos
The Los Angeles Opera is so strapped for cash these days that this week, Los Angeles County invested in a $14 million bond to keep the institution alive through the middle of 2010. The LAO has come under some scrutiny for its costly, $32 million production of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle this year, with some city officials decrying the opera for bad budgeting. But come on, the divas need their crystal embellished gowns, and the stage needs to be made of gold! It’s just not opera without it.
AP Photo
Dining critics may have to stay ruthlessly anonymous, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be stars. Take Sam Sifton, who twitters constantly and drops hints about future reviews, or The Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema, who this week debuted his new Web series, Tom Sietsema’s TV Dinners, a show about the life of a food writer that never shows Sietsema’s face. We get his shoes, his hands, and the inside of his fridge, but never his visage—and somehow it makes for compulsive watching.
Gary Lee / Newscom
Big news for all those who work in the arts this week—the National Endowment for the Arts finally announced their state-by-state grants, totaling nearly $27 million. California alone received $4 million. Visit the NEA here to see how your state’s creative people stack up against the others.
Stan Honda, AFP / Getty Images
Because there aren’t enough arts prizes in the world, yet another launched this week. The Future Generation Prize, created by Ukrainian billionaire and arts collector Victor Pinchuk, will award $100,000 and a mentorship with a big artist (Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, etc) to an artist from anywhere in the world, granted he or she is under 35 years old. Pinchuk already has some high-wattage names to add to his honor: Elton John and designer Miuccia Prada will judge in the first year.
Lynne Sladky / AP Photo
