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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 18, 2023 8:41:35 GMT -5
Oh right, the 'Titans' team that had nothing to do with anyone else. They actually just killed off Risk in the last Nightwing book, so I guess that team still happened. Argent was mildly interesting, but I couldn't tell you who the others were.
Of course, I was a sucker and still bought it, hoping the real Titans were turn up at some point.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 18, 2023 8:35:32 GMT -5
I did quite like Triathlon. Good character, and his links to the Triune Understanding were compelling. Haven’t seen him since the Busiek Avengers run. I think you might be the only one Bloodlines was definitely supposed to do that yes... but Hitman was the only one worth anything, IMO. The rest were bad 90s image riffs
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 18, 2023 8:31:22 GMT -5
I think adding Triumph was Zero Hour too. To me, it was intended as a jumping on point. Most of the changes (other than the few things discussed) weren't that big a thing.
Also, I LOVED the 'Threeboot' Legion,that's MY Legion,and I still miss it.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 17, 2023 21:44:57 GMT -5
I definitely bought this new of the shelf.. one of the first comics I bought.... I didn't know that there was better for a while. I stuck with it until the 'Image of Tomorrow' promo where they printed issue 25 of a bunch of issues.. I hated the idea so much I dropped it off my list and never really looked at it again.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 17, 2023 21:33:01 GMT -5
I read all three far after they came out, as I wasn't really intoc comics until the early 90s. I disliked Killing Joke right away... I've never read it again and doubt I ever will. Dark Knight Returns I've read a couple times, It's good for what it is, and I definitely appreciate it's historical signifigance. I don't love Miller's art, though. Watchmen, when I read it, I felt the way I feel when I read alot of old sci fi.. I appreciated what it was trying to do, but it felt dated and old to me. Perhaps I should go back and read it more carefully (I'd have to buy it first)... it didn't really capture my imagination or make me think anything special about it.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 16, 2023 21:52:11 GMT -5
I appreciated the soap opera aspects of Harry PotterShe's become one of those people for whom I can't separate the art and the creator. So she's joined Orson Scott Card and a few others there. I try not to begrudge folks who grew up with Harry Potter as a formative part of their life, but I just can't bring myself to look beyond that at this point. That's fair... I definitely feel that way about Card (though I still love his books, I won't ever buy one again)... I never looked that hard into Rowling's views for me to get angry about them because I just don't like her enough to get to into it.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 16, 2023 8:42:09 GMT -5
I don't think they are.. I think they throw those pitches harder, and do things that cause more wear and tear to throw them, yes, but only slightly more pitches.
Baseball reference has an article from 2010, and they only has pitch data going back to 1988, but they say it's gone up 6.7% (3.59 pitches per PA to 3.87) in that time. That's a bit, but not anywhere near the same amount as the innings have gone down. During that same time, # of relief appearance has just about doubled (from 7331 to 14329)
So less pitches per appearance, but more appearance, meaning more warm ups, etc.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 16, 2023 8:03:02 GMT -5
Just a stat comparison... in 1998 the height of the steroid error, there were 5069 Home runs hit in MLB (just over 1 per team per game). There were 302 Complete Games (so about one every 16 games played
In 2021 (before they definitely didn't change the ball for 2022, except for Judge), there were 5944 Home runs hit (about 20% more) and 50 Complete games (so one every 80 games played)
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 16, 2023 7:45:27 GMT -5
I suspect I might be the only one, but, even though Harry Potter is far from my favorite franchise, I would take JK Rowling's writing over Moore most days.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 16, 2023 7:33:50 GMT -5
I agree with most of what Prince Hal says... baseball has definitely gotten harder to watch over time. I think the main culprit is rising salaries more than anything though. Pitchers are wrapped in bubble wrap these days so they can make sure they're healthy for the next contract... starters as recent as 20 years ago were still completing occasional games and pitching 200-250 innngs.. .go back to the 70s and 80s and 300 innings wasn't rare. Now 150 is a workhorse, and most teams assume that can't get through the season without 6 or 7 starters.. not the 4 with a 'spot' guy of the 70s and 80 or just a solid 5 in the 90s and 00s. Teams could have 10 pitchers on their staff and manage just fine.. now they need 13-14.
Even hitters get alot more days off now.
Since you can't really put the genie back in the bottle for the reasons why these changes have happened, I think the rule changes are the best shot at making things better. I'm hoping with the shift being illegal and the bigger bases things will lean back towards actually playing baseball and not just trying to hit it out of the park. Home Runs are great, but not when that's all there is.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 16, 2023 7:18:10 GMT -5
Thank you. Although I follow baseball (one of those rare Brits who does), it’s rare to see baseball stats published here, but I do like stats and have books devoted to stats for football, cricket, etc. You want baseball stats, mate? Here you go: www.baseball-reference.com/This is a main reason why the beloved Baseball Encyclopedia vanished into the sunset. May I recommend everything, but please seek out the SABR (Society for Baseball Research) biographies. Not a dud in the bunch. Enjoy! SABR is great.. I've read through a bunch of their newsletters as well.. some great stuff. I used to have a gigantic paperback encyclopedia of baseball stats when I was a kid... it was through like 1984 or so, nicely indexed with all the basic stats. Definitely doesn't hold a candle to baseball-reference though. Sure, they have some ads, but every bit of info you could possible want is there. Alot of the people on the APBA forum like Retrosheet alot to for lineups and whatnot.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 14, 2023 21:22:04 GMT -5
I feel like it hasn't been coming out very regularly with IDW, but the that story was quite good.
I read Spy x Family today.. 1st two volumes. I've been hearing alot about it, and pulled the trigger today when there was a buy 1 get 1 50% off at Newbury Comics (where I was getting my dad a b-day present) Pretty fun stuff.. a bit silly and over the top, but that's definitely the point. It'll be interesting to see where its heading (hopefully I can get the next two next sale)
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 14, 2023 10:32:03 GMT -5
The Strange Case of the Alchemists Daughter Theodora Goss
I grabbed this to read for the Goodeads Hugo/Nebula book club, but have deifnitely also seen it somewhere before. I realized after entering my review it was here, as Slam read it a while back.
It's a bit odd it was nominated for a sci-fi award, not because it's not a good book, but because it's a Sherlock Holmes patische, which also creates 'the Athena Club', whom surely are the subject of future books. They are a sort of a YA girl version of the League of Extraordinary Gentelmen.. daughters of a variety of literary Victorian scientists that (almost) all have some sort of special powers.
Goss writes an excellent Holmes... her characterization seems most like the Benedict Cumberbach version, but a nicer, more gentlemanly one (I guess to fit in with his having to interact regularly with a group of single young women, even if they are.. unusual).
The book gives us a decidedly different take on the Whitechapel Murders (which is the case being solved here), one which fits grandly into the Victorian lit theme of the book. The characters are a bit too successful against the bad guys for my taste, and Watson (who is clearly extraneous to the story when you're creating your own Holmes assistance) is the only casualty (and a minor wound at that), but it works for the story.
One note on the style, the author writes the story as if the main characters are writing it, and at various points she steps out of the story to show them arguing/bickering/commenting on it. I can see why, it definitely added to the characterizations, but it lead to a bit of self-spoiling in the story and definitely takes one out of the narrative, overal I could have done without them.
I am far from a Victorian lit expert (I had to look up who Rappachini was) But I certainly know the obvious ones.. I suspect a few of the the background character would probably jump out at others more versed in the era.
Definitely a good book overall, I suspect the sequel(s) may leave Holmes out, which is a shame, but might be worth reading at some point anyway.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 14, 2023 7:17:53 GMT -5
Couple of random 90s DC books I liked that didn't go far... fun, unique stuff that just didn't find an audience. They even tried a Titans crossover, if I recall, to no avail. I don't think the characters have ever shown up anywhere again... seems like they could have been used a few times.. like Agent of Shade, but I don't think they did. I was never clear if this one was meant to be in the DCU or not, but it was fun. I half-suspect DC doesn't never own the rights.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 13, 2023 21:48:36 GMT -5
I definitely thought New Warriors would be the the Marvel version of the Titans in the early 90s. I was also a big fan for Force Works, and Century in particular, though I don't think I ever really thought they would be the next big thing.
I think the thing I thought would work the best that never caught on was Hal Jordan as the Spectre. I also definitely thought Stormwatch would be huge.. I guess it morphed into things that did pretty well, but the original team, not so much.
I was also super excited about the Helix Line... that fizzled sadly very quickly other than Transmet.
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