Arts ^Entertainment
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Gerry Beltz
Series pits
superheroes
in battles
As kids, many of us discussed
which comic book characters could
beat each other in a fair fight, but we
never had the chance to find out who
would win because Spider-Man and
Superman were from different comic
book worlds.
So much for that.
Over the last few months, in an ef
fort to pump up the comic book in
dustry again, Marvel and DC collabo
rated on a four-issue series of comics
devoted to looking at battles between
the best each universe had to offer.
Among others, Superman and the
Hulk go toe-to-toe, Batman and Cap
tain America square off and Wonder
Woman and Storm go at it.
In the latest issue, readers voted for
whom they thought would win in a set
of fights. Ballots could be entered by
mail, at comic book stores or via the
Internet.
1 he magnitude and extent oi this
series is an unprecedented move by
Marvel Comics and DC, and is some
thing a great deal of the public has
wanted to see for some time.
Too bad the battles — and the se
ries itself — sucks rocks thus far.
The people at DC and Marvel lim
ited themselves to four issues to en
capsulate fewer than a dozen battles,
with many of those battles taking up
fewer than two pages.
The Captain Marvel and Thor
matchup over within only two pages?
Puh-lease!
The best battle thus far would have
to be Aquaman fighting fins with Sub
Mariner because they both like to kick
butt.
Also because of the limited space,
classic matchups were sorely missed.
Green Arrow vs. Hawkeye, Hawkman
vs. Angel and Dr. Strange against Dr.
Fate are nowhere to be found.
Where is Daredevil during all of
this? Being an avid Marvel fan (but
growing into DC), I’m missing battles
featuring some of my favorite charac
ters, such as the Fantastic Four, Iron
Man and (my fave) Daredevil.
Also missed is an opportunity to
watch villains going at it, such as
Deathstroke vs. Bullseye and Joker vs.
Green Goblin.
it would be better to extend the se
ries to six issues (at least), put in some
battles with some beef to them and add
a few more.
One good thing going on is that the
characters don’t have to beat each
other into submission; just a 3-second
pin is required, similar to that in wres
tling. For the most part, however,
people have been getting knocked ou0
But interest will peak a week from
now, when the Amalgam issues come
out. 5
These will show what could havfe
happened if both universes existed in
the same time and space, utilizing such
titles as “Legends of the Dark Claw,”
“Bruce Wayne: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
and “Spider-Boy.”
Batman and Wolverine existing in
the same body? With combined abili
ties and scarred psyche?
Ewwwwwwww!
Each of these titles will be sold
separately from the four-issue mini
series, and hopefully, the quality lost
in the mini-series will be focused into
these one-shot issues. „ .
Beltz is a senior English education ma
jor and a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter.
Senses of humor
Scott Bruhn/DN
An actor from the National Theatre of the Deaf performs for area students Wednesday afternoon at the Lied Center.
National deaf troupe will perform farce
By Patrick Hambrecht
Senior Reporter
Audience members attending the
National Theatre of the Deaf’s per
formance of “An Italian Straw Hat”
shouldn’t just clap during the cur
tain call. They should wave.
The Theatre program recom
mends, “If you like the show, wave!
Deaf people applaud by waving their
hands overhead, so that they can be
seen by Deaf performers... or try the
two-in-one applause: Clap your
hands while raising them overhead,
so your applause can be seen and
heard.”
From visual applause to sign lan
guage dialogue, the performers will
deliver not just a new play, but a new
culture, said Norah George, Lied
Center marketing director.
The French farce tells the story
of a Fadinard, whose horse eats a
lady’s straw hat on his wedding day.
To avoid persecution, he must delay
the wedding and find the only other
identical hat in Paris, while still con
vincing his bride’s doubtful family
of his worth.
As in every farce, the plot
bounces from one “Three’s Com
pany” styled mix-up to the next, re
lying on the abilities of both sign and
spoken language to garble and twist
upon themselves. Fadinard is mis
taken for a celebrated abstract
painter, a hat shop clerk is mistaken
for the mayor and a policeman pro
nounces the whole wedding party to
be criminals.
All the while, the hat remains just
out of the groom’s grasp, much like
Big Bird in the film “Follow That
Bird.”
All dialogue will be spoken and
signed, with live off-stage dubbing
for non-speaking deaf performers.
One of the most multi-talented
actors in the cast. Darby Jared Leigh,
will play the bride’s rural cousin,
Bobby.
Before joining the deaf theater,
Leigh was a member of the Wild
Zappers, an all-deaf hip-hop troupe.
He’s also performed as a New York
spoken-word artist and magician.
“An Italian Straj& Hat” will be
gin at 8 p.m. Fridayih the Lied Cen
ter. Tickets are $22, $18 and $14,
with' a half-price discount for stu
dents of UNL, Wesleyan and Doanc.
Couple touring once again
Duo proves
opposites
do attract
By Cherie Krueger
Staff Reporter
Barry and Holly Tashian are on
the road again.
After taking time off to put to
gether a book
Pnnrort about ,ifc on
uunceri the road with
Preview the Beatles,
the Tashians
are returning
to the road as
a couple.
Half of the
country/blue
grass duet,
Barry Tashian
first received
national attention when his rock
group, Barry and the Remains,
opened for the Beatles on its 1966
North American tour.
For 18 days his band took the
stage before the legends of rock ‘n’
roll. It played in front of thousands
of screaming teen-agers in baseball
stadiums in 14 cities. Thirty years
later Barry Tashian is writing about
the experience.
“I kept a journal during the 18
days, and it’s based on that. It goes
chapter by chapter, city by city,
through the 14 cities,” he said. “It
consists of journal entries, photos
and other fans’ recollections.”
He is nearing completion of the
book and hopes to have it out by
mid-July or August. The Tashians
have taken some time off because
of the book, but the time off has been
worth it to the couple.
“For the last three months, we
haven’t done much touring, but now
we are slowly starting up again since
most of the work on the book is
done,” Barry Tashian said.
Although he performed in Lin
coln once in the 1980s when he
played with Emmy Lou Harris’ Hot
Band, this will be Tashian’s first ap
pearance here with his wife.
The Tashians, who hail from
Nashville, Tenn., come from two
very different and impressive musi
cal backgrounds to form a duet that
has won them respect in their field.
“We’ve been married for 20
years. We met in the eighth grade,”
Holly Tashian said. “He had a popu
lar rock ‘n’ roll band in high school.
“His girlfriend was my best
friend in high school. We went to a
lot of the parties and dances that he
played at, so we’ve known each
other for a long time.”
She grew up in a softer, classical
musical background, a strong con
trast to her husband’s rock back
ground. Her mother was a classical
music instructor.
Holly Tashian said the couple’s
differences in background really did
not affect their tastes in music. De
spite the differences, their tastes
were actually very similar, she said.
“He has a sense of beat, and I
have a sense of lyrics. It doesn’t nec
essarily come from my classical
side. It’s just what I take an interest
in,” Holly Tashian said.
Barry and Holly Tashian will be
performing Friday night at 7:30 at
the United Church of Christ, 13th
and F streets. The concert is spon
sored by the Lincoln Association For
Traditional Arts. Tickets are $7 and
$6 for LAFTA members and are
available at the door.
Indian
to recite
poetry
Maidu poet Janice Gould
will read selections from her
forthcoming book “Earth
quake Weather” this Friday in
the Nebraska Union ballroom
at 3:30 p.m.
Gould, a Maidu Indian, is
the author of the 1992 book
“Beneath My Heart ” She was
also the recipient of the 1992
ASTREA Foundation Poetry
Award.
The reading is designed to
familiarize people with
Gould’s work, said Tisha
Gilreath Mullen, a graduate
student in English.
The reading is sponsored
by Native American Studies,
the Women’s Studies Depart
ment, the Department of En
glish, the Affirmative Action
and Diversity Office and the
Prairie Schooner.
A reception and book sign
ing will follow the reading.
— Brian Priesman
