bran
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Post by bran on Mar 17, 2019 15:32:00 GMT -5
It’s not by Marvel, but rather than create multiple “Modern Conan” threads I thought I’d put this here. French publisher Glénat continues its adaptation of the Conan stories, with each book being a different vision by new creators. The Queen of the Black CoastScript by Jean-David Morvan Art by Pierre Alary Colours by Sergio Sedyas
Now this was fun - I was vaguely familiar with ~20% of it.
1. George RR Martin was picking up all kinds of raving reviews for his Ice and Fire series, and deservingly so. One particular praise was that he brought sex and politics to the Middle Earth. That one is not quite correct - REH did it first, even though Middle Earth did not exist yet (Hyborian World did). Consequently, and almost uniformly, in comic book adaptations sex (or sexuality rather, that's even bigger taboo) was omitted. That's understandable, but for some weird reason politics is considered boring (of course it's not boring or not boring, it's how you use it) and political aspects largely ignored as well. So out of 3 prominent themes, sexuality, politics and magic, we were left with magic only (often without the subtext whatsoever). That makes a huge difference.
2. Different authors/artists provide their own take on the material so it's different in that regard too.
3. Source material is extremely dense so the same writer can pick and choose expand in one aspect, compact in another, and have 2 different adaptations of the same story (Roy did at least 3 major stories twice.., it was lonely at the top..).
So reading this was entertaining. The art is not my cup of tea, and I don't think it's the best fit for Conan, but hey it's nice to have a different take on it. The quality is there, that I can't deny.
Intro, where Conan is narrator, then we switch to more recent events, then again as soon as he employees himself LOL (on the boat), we get to know to whom is he telling the story, is done really well.
Love the juxtaposition of ghost city-state and the jungle, exceptionally well done.
Not only did RR Martin learn from REH, so did RR Tolkien. In Lord of the Rings there are Orcs and Elves, right. Two humanoid but diametrically different species/races. Elves are these enlightened, elegant creatures, and Orcs are beastly. Once upon a time however, Orcs were in fact the Elves. Now we are talking.. yeah baby. The winged creature is the last citizen of once brilliant civilization.
Instead of comparing with other adaptations I'll just say this: If you like any of these, and don't have all of them: Incident in Argos/Death at the Black Coast arc [Marvel] Road of Kings [DH] Queen of the Black Coast [Glenat]
Apples and oranges, get 'em all!
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bran
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Post by bran on Mar 15, 2019 13:07:21 GMT -5
This coming up in 2019 (and 2 more):
[Reading Black Colossus now, it's spectacular. Made it in top 5 Conan comics of all times on my list.]
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Post by bran on Mar 10, 2019 5:45:59 GMT -5
Great analysis, bran ! Beyond the Black River is indeed one of Howard’s best tales.
Not to take anything away from these fine reviews.
But yeah I would love to see longer stories too. The source material has a lot of red meat and no fat, so cleaver writer could easily expand. Loosely based adaptations can be great too, Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now type of thing.
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Post by bran on Mar 9, 2019 10:54:16 GMT -5
Au-delà de la Rivière Noire ( Beyond the Black River) Adapted by Mathieu Gabella (script) and Anthony Jean (art).
Beyond the Black River provides a glimpse into what REH work would be like had he lived longer, and it's f**in awesome. It has maturity to it, it's layered, nuanced and yes - it introduces the unreliable narrator. The technique that he pioneered, at least in the context of popular culture/20th century. (In modern days George RR Martin is successfully using it in his Ice and Fire series.)
The first time I read this one I was puzzled by the abrupt end of the battle on the river. Story has phenomenal buildup up to that point and then - bang it's over. What? Let's rewind.
While on a reconnaissance mission, Conan meets young Balthus and we get to learn the environment, geo-political circumstances (which are rather grim), and their back stories. The peculiar thing about young Balthus is that he is like a modern day youngster (in Roy Thomas adaptation that would be 1970s, haircut and all) planted into the Hyboarian age. That's because he is, he is REH, or you or me. A civilized man, who even has a pet like we do. We can see right away that he is honorable, full of heroism and naivete. (He is like Jon Snow or Jim Holden from Expanse series aka Jon Snow in Space :-)) For the first time, interestingly, Conan appears like a father figure, and somewhat of a side character.
They get back to the fort, were we meet captain Valannus. We also learn about influential Pict leader Zogar Sag, and that they actually had him imprisoned at one time, but he slipped through their fingers (sounds familiar, right. That's because REH was a genius ;-)). Valannus makes a good assessment of the situation, and sends men on a mission: Go back there and terminate 'the wizard'. Send a clear message to the Picts... This territory is ours.
So everything is set up: We have a background buildup, high stakes and 'men on a mission' type of situation. Men are Conan, a dozen soldiers and Balthus (who volunteered of course). Now soldiers are Aquilonians hardened by the battle and the environment, they are like half-savages. Conan is much like the Picts, he even participated in similar raids in his youth (raids were led by his uncle). They are approached by camouflaged Picts, we have Balthus's POW and - cut!
For civilized man the battle was over before it even started, that's why we don't get to see a damn thing. Balthus was the first to go (lost the consciousness but didn't die). Soldiers were second. They probably put some resistance. As for Conan, well if you want to assume that instinctively, like the savage that he is, he ran for his life and didn't even engage in the battle, you certainly can.
Excellent REH story now has a second good adaptation. I would rate the first one higher overall, but this one is worthy addition to Hyborian shelf.
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bran
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Post by bran on Mar 3, 2019 2:36:25 GMT -5
It's a speculative article, they'll probably just re-organize.
Sure Disney's video games and Marvel-comics lines are losing money but consider the scale - comics are cheep (money-wise and time-wise too). If for no other reason they can keep Marvel since their lucrative movie properties were originated there. They have no reason however to burn money on failed concept of 'unlimited series' and committee-led assembly-line comics. Entertainment and art just don't glue well with assembly-line. Sure enough - every now and then there will be some guy, a big fan of Silver Surfer, who wants to do a Silver Surfer story - that's legit. To enshrine however, any successful comic book or series and expect it to generate profit for ever and ever, just because of the title-recognition and that original series, is insanity.
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Post by bran on Feb 28, 2019 12:59:20 GMT -5
He did Elephantmen story some time ago, it was great.
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Post by bran on Feb 19, 2019 17:38:47 GMT -5
Marvel was actually pretty good steward of Conan and Star Wars back in the 70s. That was Roy Thomas, now there is a committee. The worst thing about committees is not their dumb decisions - it's that there is no singular person responsible. Bunch of schemers, Marvel World 101, Marvel World 102.. please! That type of useless rationalizing won't help - You have a name recognition + interesting and comprehensive Hyboarian world - just go on and make good comics. There is a question of name/brand recognition for Conan though-how many under the age of 30 (i.e. your prime 18-35 demographic that all entertainment companies seek) know Conan as a barbarian and fantasy character and don't immediately think of a red-haired late night talk show host or an anime character first? How many in that demographic have seen or read a Conan story outside of the Momoa movie that was a box office flop. The Dark Horse books were selling under 10K copies (closer to 5K), so weren't reaching a very large (or broad audience). Maybe (though doubtful) the know the Arnie movies, but likely view them as camp comedies that run on cable every so often, not serious adventure films. So what kind of name recognition does Conan really have outside of the hardcore fanbase that has been following it for decades and is aging out of relevance as customers for an entertainment company? As a business, they want to increase awareness of the Conan brand by putting new eyes on it. Crossovers with better known properties are a way to do that. As a Conan fan, I don't like it. Buy when I take off my Howard purist and fan rose colored glasses, I can understand it from a business and marketing perspective. I don't like it, I am not going to buy it, but I see why they might feel the need to do it. -M
So presumably they want to popularize Conan among children/teenagers? Well in you infantilize Conan then you loose adult audience, they can't have it both ways. All we know they play safe, they want affirmations for their own properties. Conan/Hyborian Age was not created by Marvel or Disney anyway so it can be discarded down the line if it doesn't work. No idea why it would thought, bare-chested guy, a womanizer, a thief, with no super-powers, no costume, no World-saving intentions. Say they succeed, for the sake of the argument - that character will be Conan in name only. It's like Hollywood rose-colored glasses version of [you fill the blank here].
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bran
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Post by bran on Feb 19, 2019 13:37:07 GMT -5
Marvel was actually pretty good steward of Conan and Star Wars back in the 70s. That was Roy Thomas, now there is a committee. The worst thing about committees is not their dumb decisions - it's that there is no singular person responsible. Bunch of schemers, Marvel World 101, Marvel World 102.. please! That type of useless rationalizing won't help - You have a name recognition + interesting and comprehensive Hyboarian world - just go on and make good comics.
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bran
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Post by bran on Feb 13, 2019 16:32:02 GMT -5
Ex Machina, it's brilliant. It's a long read too. The Boys. Slightly satirical, smart and it plays with conventions of the genre big time. By far the best super-hero origin story period (how super-heroes came to be in that World). See worshiping of super-humans and demi-gods was really the thing of the late 30s. It was everywhere, culture, art, entertainment and politics. Most prominent in Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, but western World was not immune too - in the west it manifested in more benign form (super-hero comic books). Now connect that with tremendous advances in military of that era and Hitler's maniacal magical thinking - enter the very 1st super soldier (intended to turn on the tide in favor of Wehrmacht) - Stormfront!
It's too late however and allied forces get hold of the scientists (and Stormfront himself). Now both USA and USSR can have them, and so they do. When things however go out of control you need someone to watch the watchmen - that's where The Boys come into the picture. When I mentioned it - Alan Moore's Watchmen. Of course it's technically DC. Superman and Batman exist in that World much like they do in reality - as super-hero comic books. These books inspired some of the characters to put on the tights and become masked vigilantes.
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bran
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Post by bran on Feb 13, 2019 10:35:06 GMT -5
And there is new Savage Sword:
THE ANCIENT CULT OF KOGA THUN. A MYSTICAL TREASURE. AND THE ONLY MAN WHO CAN SAVE THE HYBORIAN AGE!
Nice Buscema perspective, look at that guy at the lower right, he's looking at you kid :-). Hope they are not serious about Conan the Savior thought. (Conan is usually not into the World-saving business.)
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bran
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Post by bran on Feb 13, 2019 5:49:43 GMT -5
If I were Marvel/Disney I would do the anthology series. Kind of like what Dynamite and DC did with Spirit series. "A-listers", and some talented young guns, contribute a short story, single-issue story or several-issues story (no rules there). Sort of a tribute to REH's work, but the stories can be brand new (not necessarily adaptations).
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bran
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Post by bran on Feb 10, 2019 12:21:59 GMT -5
Excellent tactical/action/survival series, from start to finish 24 issues straight. Michael Alan Nelson knocked it out of the park, and so did most of the artists.
The hyper-production is giving a bad name to 'action/tactical' comics and movies, this one is an exception. I would recommend to the fans of Walking Dead and movies such as Fury Road, The Omega Man and of course 28 Days Later.
28 Days Later
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Post by bran on Feb 8, 2019 16:06:23 GMT -5
Here is one police-procedural or rather police-non-procedural. In a sentence - it's a masked-vigilante story done right.
Red Team There is tremendous amount of movies and comic books about virtue-signaling avengers running around in colorful spandex and self-righteous delirium, and some of it is good fiction, but most of it is extremely unrealistic and cheesy. This is more in tradition of Wire and Training Day. Garth Ennis covered this topic in his Marvel Knights Punisher run (in humorous way), here is realistic take on it. Good stuff.
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Post by bran on Jan 31, 2019 16:34:39 GMT -5
I don't know this as a fact but it appears Lone Wolf and Cub and Samurai Executioner were created with the western layout. I mean re-arranging _that_ is, besides being daunting task, like adding larger breasts to Mona Lisa.
Other, later Kazuo Koike's sagas New Lone Wolf and Cub and Path of the Assassin are in traditional Japanese layout, while just the order of pages is reversed in Dark Horse releases - so you turn from left to right, but _one the page_ you read from right to left.
That's interesting, bran, but I remain puzzled. Why would Samurai Executioner have been originally designed as a western strip, since it was to be serialized in a Japanese magazine? I also don't get why Japanese covers such as we can see here do have the orientation I would expect, with scabbards on the left side and the left side of the kimono over the right side. (Also, in the Dark Horse reprints, characters seem to be left-handed most of the time. While by no mean impossible, it is still a little unlikely). Finding some original art or would resolve the issue, but I can't seem to find any! Anyhoo... great series, either way!
Perhaps he wanted to conquer the western market from the get-go. Kurosawa's 'samurai movies', which hugely influenced his work were smash-hits in the west, while his other contemporary/non historical fiction went mostly unnoticed.
Now I am reading Lone Wolf and Cub for the first time, and the first volume is basically a collection of short stories, perfect for western-publications (where short story was the king; things are different now with Saga and Walking Dead of course).
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Post by bran on Jan 31, 2019 14:39:05 GMT -5
I’ve bought vol.4 of Samurai executioner, by the same creators as the famous Lone wolf and cub. I have a question that the internet doesn’t seem to have an easy answer to: in the process of “turning the story around”, so to speak, so that pages can be read from left to right instead of the original right to left design, is it possible that Dark Horse just flipped them? I ask because almost everyone in the book wears their clothes with the right side of the kimono over the left, which I believe is quite a fashion faux pas. All samurai also seem to carry their swords on the right side. On the covers, however, everything seems normal: left side of the kimono over the right side, and scabbards on the left. I tried findind examples of the original japanese pages online but haven’t managed it. (Great series, by the way).
I don't know this as a fact but it appears Lone Wolf and Cub and Samurai Executioner were created with the western layout. I mean re-arranging _that_ is, besides being daunting task, like adding larger breasts to Mona Lisa.
Other, later Kazuo Koike's sagas New Lone Wolf and Cub and Path of the Assassin are in traditional Japanese layout, while just the order of pages is reversed in Dark Horse releases - so you turn from left to right, but _on the page_ you read from right to left.
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