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Post by Randle-El on Jul 30, 2014 10:17:36 GMT -5
Has anyone else found that video game playing and reading comics (and reading in general)can be at odds? I'm at the point where I'm considering scheduling when I'm going to focus on reading and when I'm going to set aside time to game. (Right now I'm thinking Mon-Thurs I'll read and Fri-Sun I'll game.) I've found that time for recreation in general has gone down a lot since I bought a home and had kids. Unfortunately, I have several interests outside of comics, most of which have had to take a back burner to life. Nowadays, the main things I make time for outside of work and home responsibilities are reading (which includes comics) and working out. I love playing video games, but at the end of the day I see it a purely frivolous luxury. It also has to do with the fact that I lack the self-control to play video games for only short periods of time. The games I most enjoy are usually single-player games with a long campaign -- anywhere from 10-40 hours to complete. With comics, it's a lot easier to read in small doses since everything is parceled out for you as single issues.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 29, 2014 21:31:02 GMT -5
Anyone else looking forward to the Arrow season 3 premiere? Yup, looks like a promising new season... although it seems to be continuing in copiously "borrowing" from Nolanverse Batman. I recently picked up issues 1-50 of Mike Grell's Green Arrow series for less than a buck each. I'm looking forward to sitting down and binge reading through those one of these days.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 29, 2014 21:26:26 GMT -5
Thanks for doing this Shaxper, as well as everything else that you do here. We appreciate your efforts at making this a great place for us.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 28, 2014 23:13:54 GMT -5
But Wrath of Khan is what set that template. The Motion Picture was high-minded and idea heavy, but most movie-goers found it slow and inaccessible, and even TOS fans generally point to Khan as being their favorite. What ideas were at the center of that film? I agree about Khan, and yet I'm more forgiving of the TOS/TNG movies when they decide to go more of the action movie route. For TOS/TNG, I see the TV shows as being primarily responsible for establishing the characters and the general tone of the franchise. The movies are more of a chance to cut loose every few years, have fun with a bigger budget, and do some crazier things that you normally wouldn't. The newer films lack that grounding in a more thoughtful, idea-driven space, so they come across as purely a big, summer action movie franchise. I think what bothers me is the possibility that these newer films will define Star Trek for a younger generation of viewers, who will grow up thinking of Star Trek as an action movie franchise rather than a morality play. If that were the end of the story, it would not be such a bad thing. But today's kids will grow up to be tomorrow's customers, and if the Star Trek they grew up with was an action movie franchise, who is to say that the folks in charge will not be forced to adapt accordingly in order stay "relevant"? Back to Khan -- while it was more action heavy that the first film, I still thought it did a decent job of exploring ideas. I liked the idea of the Kobayashi Maru test, Captain Kirk's "solution", and what it said about it him as a character -- both positive (his outside-the-box thinking) and negative (his inability to face impossible situations). I also liked the quieter moments, like when Kirk receives the glasses from Bones, and the emphasis on these characters having known each other for a long time and are, effectively, growing old together. I also thought Khan had the best soundtrack of all the movies.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 28, 2014 15:31:32 GMT -5
One of these days I'll have to get either an omnibus or essentials edition and re-read those stories to see how different they are. But I enjoyed the Classic X-men series and think it's still a good introduction. My X-Men collection is split half and half between Classic and Uncanny.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 28, 2014 13:45:01 GMT -5
I'm a long-time Star Trek fan. Started with TOS as kid when it was in syndication. The special effects were cheesy and dated even by 1980s standards, and the action sequences were pretty lame (I got into kung fu and ninja movies not long after which were way better for fight scenes), but the appeal (at least for me) was never about that. I liked the fact that the show was more about ideas. Later when TNG started, it took me a while to get into it. Season 1 was uneven, and I thought it was trying a little too hard to make sure we remembered that it was a sequel to TOS -- cameo by Dr. McCoy, a re-hash of an old TOS episode (The Naked Now), and a very obvious Spock replacement in Data. But later seasons definitely improved. The cliffhanger at the end of season 3 (Best of Both Worlds) left me slack-jawed.
In spite of my long-time love for Star Trek, I've never really watched any of DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise. One of these days I might sit down and give those a viewing. I've enjoyed most of the films to varying degrees, though I generally find that the odd-even rule pretty much holds up (excepting Nemesis).
I have some mixed feelings on the reboot films. On the one hand, I found them to be entertaining, and I'm glad that they are successful enough to ensure that Star Trek will continue to have a future. On the other hand, they seem to be more like space opera action films dressed up in the trappings of Star Trek. For me, Star Trek was all about the ideas and issues, and the new movies just seem like an excuse to have lots of CG and blow things up in an attempt to appeal more to the mainstream crowd. Sure, you could level that criticism against some of the other films (First Contact comes to mind), but at least they had their foundations in a TV series that retained that more thoughtful base. The new movies don't have that foundation, and while I do enjoy them, I think that something has been lost in the translation.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 25, 2014 13:40:27 GMT -5
Love this. Captures exactly how I feel about the trendiness of claiming the "nerd" label. I love how people describe themselves as nerds or geeks these days when a lot of the social stigma against that label (or its associated behaviors) has vanished. Some of us were nerds when it wasn't cool to be one. What's that? No, I'm not bitter at all... I'm going to take a different stance on this. Sure, those of us who were nerds and geeks long before it became cool got picked on relentlessly in school and in the neighborhood, and that sucked. However, were it not for the general public embracing nerd culture in all its glory, we'd have never seen Iron Man 1-3, Thor 1-2, or Captain America 1-2, let along Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, etc. There would have been Superman and Batman and probably even Spider-Man movies, because they are cultural icons, but we certainly would have never seen a $200MM budget for an Avengers movie written and directed by Joss Whedon or a sequel that promises to be all sorts of awesome. We, the formerly-downtrodden losers who needed to keep our love of comics hidden or else face the wrath of wedgie-dealing jocks, are now living in a world that embraces the very things it once derided, reaping the benefits of this awakening to geek chic. Our childhood heroes are on the big screen, not just the small page, a place they seemed destined to sit after abominations such as the Corman Fantastic Four movie or the original Captain America movie with the Italian Red Skull or even the Dolph Lundgren Punisher. And if we really want to avoid those folks, just head to your LCS, because that is one place they'll never go. Too many real geeks in there. No, I agree with your sentiments as well. I wasn't being all that serious actually -- just remarking on the irony of how being a nerd is now cool. But on a quasi-serious/thoughtful note, I think a lot of what had to do with people embracing nerd culture was the realization that nerds have power. All those kids in school who were into comics, computers, gaming, etc etc often times were also pretty smart. It wasn't long before people realized that all those nerds turned out ok, and were often pretty successful. At that point a lot of the stigma goes away because people realized nerds have good jobs, make good money, live in nice houses, and generally have pretty nice lives.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 24, 2014 22:20:04 GMT -5
Just to chime in here...
I come here mainly for the comics discussion, though I might occasionally read or respond to an off-topic thread. The main reason is because, while I know many people "in real life" that I can talk with about TV shows, movies, sports, politics, religion, etc. etc., almost nobody I know actively reads comics (usually they *used* to read as a kid), or has a desire to discuss them to the depth that people do on this forum. I don't think I would terribly mind if the non-comics topics were split off into its own forum. At the same time, I don't think it's really that much of a bother to scroll past the threads you're less interested in and click on the ones you are.
I think one thing to consider might be the impression given to newcomers of having lots of off-topic threads within the general discussion forum. Assuming that the initial draw was comics discussion, someone could get the impression that the board is overrun with lots of off-topic chatter or that moderation is lax. For some that might be a good thing, but for others that could be a turn off.
I seem recall a few of the long-time posters saying that they don't even read comics anymore and come just to banter with folks. I could see why other long-time forum members might be against splitting out an off-topic subforum since it would isolate them. And I can certainly understand the fear that the community would become too fragmented with a variety of subforums. But perhaps it might not be the case with a limited number of sub-forums? Like "comics" and "everything else"?
I guess my encapsulated response would be: I would probably lean towards having a general-purpose off-topic forum and a comics forum, but if it didn't happen I could live with it.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 24, 2014 17:08:28 GMT -5
Just noticed this today... Comixology now offering DRM-free backups of selected books, in both PDF and CBZ formats: www.comixology.com/drm-free-backupRight now it looks like it's limited to Image, Thrillbent, and Monkeybrain -- no Marvel or DC -- so it's less of a game-changer than it looks like. I believe Image was already offering DRM-downloads anyway. Still, I think it's a step in the right direction and one less criticism to be leveled against digital comics if this gains traction with other publishers.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 23, 2014 22:44:09 GMT -5
80s shows that overlapped the 90s Star Trek TNG The Wonder Years
Guilty pleasure: teen dramas My So-Called Life Smallville Gossip Girl
Guilty pleasure: shows of uneven quality that I still followed religiously Lost Heroes (Smallville fits in here too)
Criminally underrated shows Friday Night Lights
Food and cooking related shows Man vs Food Good Eats Iron Chef/Iron Chef America Kitchen Nightmares MasterChef
Others that I couldn't think of a heading for Battlestar Galactica 30 Rock The Office
Currently running shows Arrow Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Walking Dead
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 22, 2014 23:29:44 GMT -5
Wasn't there a thread on the previous incarnation of this forum where people could share pictures of their comic room, similar to the Shelf Porn feature on the CBR site? That would be another great thread to resurrect.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 22, 2014 23:27:37 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestion. Since I still have most of my old X-Men comics, I think I'll just look for the appropriate issues of that Classic X-men reprint series someone mentioned to fill in the gaps. The Classic X-Men issues are a fantastic curiosity for the same reason that they don't necessarily make good run fillers -- many of the stories have been heavily revised by Claremont, the new pages done by inferior artists with visuals that don't really mesh with the rest of the story. It's an inexpensive solution for filling a run, but it has its drawbacks. I was under the impression that the revisions solely consisted of additional pages to fill in certain plot points -- I didn't think they actually changed the previously published pages. But then again, I don't own the original issues to compare so I've never done a side-by-side.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 22, 2014 11:17:58 GMT -5
Having lived in New York when I was younger, I was always wary of shops that had branches. Some of them felt quite soulless and prefabricated. I like my shop to have personality, and it matters to me to be able to talk to someone behind the counter who gives a damn about my patronage and isn't just some underpaid guy getting 30% off on his pull list. My preference would also be for smaller shops with more personal service. But if feeling "soulless" or "prefabricated" is the worst thing I can say about it, then I'd take that over the typical LCS with its usual unfriendly denizens. Right now, I'm not completely happy with any of the shops in my area -- and there are actually quite a few. The one where I currently have my pull list is mostly due to price and convenience. I get a 15-20% discount, which is above the standard 10% that most shops in my area give, and it's a 5 minute drive from my house. The guy who works there is friendly and knows who I am, and the service is generally good. The main reason why I'm not totally happy with it is because it seems to be more of a sports card shop, with comics as a side business. They have a lot of signings with pro athletes, and do a lot things to push the sports card side. If you check their Facebook page, all the events are for the sports cards. As a result, the actual comic space in the shop is rather small -- the selection of back issues is OK, not really much in the way of TPBs. I used to keep a pull list at another store that was really nice -- very bright, clean, and "professsional-looking". They had great selection, and the occasional sale or signing. But it was a bit far for me, and the pull list discounts weren't that great (8-10%). While the staff was friendly enough, it was in that emotionally detached manner -- "soulless" or "prefabricated" as you might say. In fact, the whole store looks like they are taking cues from the big-box stores. It's a nice store, and would definitely not be intimidating to non-comics people, but in the end the positives didn't make up for the smallish discounts and distance for me to keep my pull list there.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 22, 2014 10:57:18 GMT -5
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 22, 2014 10:52:21 GMT -5
Also make it 2 weeks. One week for films and TV crap that the nerd-come-latelys go down to see and then the comic convention the following. My last SDCC was 2009... it's not fun anymore.
Love this. Captures exactly how I feel about the trendiness of claiming the "nerd" label. I love how people describe themselves as nerds or geeks these days when a lot of the social stigma against that label (or its associated behaviors) has vanished. Some of us were nerds when it wasn't cool to be one. What's that? No, I'm not bitter at all...
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