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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 2, 2017 15:12:23 GMT -5
I think this was a pretty good adaptation of The Tower of the Elephant with the exception of the depiction of Yara. Smith draws him has a generic looking wizard, bald with gray hair, in a dull green robe. I always envisioned Yara looking more Asian in appearance, sorta of akin to the Mandarin from Marvel Comics.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 2, 2017 14:57:26 GMT -5
While it's not a superhero comic, the "weird western" The Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurt was an excellent series.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 2, 2017 14:53:22 GMT -5
I agree that outside of Starlin and a few other creators, I rarely think cosmic characters are done justice by creators. There has always been a sort of "wink wink" to the readers when some space god comes down to Earth and is somehow, miraculously, fending off. Realistically, Galactus could have waved his hand and turned the FF into amoebas and gone on about his merry way devouring the Earth. But he didn't.
Speaking of Thanos, I think Thanos had a great arc up till the end of the Infinity Gauntlet, but after that it does seem that Starlin has been spinning his wheels a bit with the character. Thanos was dead for a good decade before Starlin brought him back and I think at this point it would do the character some good to take a hiatus.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 1, 2017 8:26:23 GMT -5
Yeah, the Squadron Supreme really does come off as Roy Thomas' (who I generally love) ultimate fanboy moment. The problem with the Squadron in my eyes is that they are basically direct, non-satirical, JLA analog's. Characters like Quasar, Nova, Hawkeye, etc, while clearly inspired by Green Lantern and Green Arrow, were all very different characters, certainly as they evolved through the years.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 30, 2017 11:26:39 GMT -5
Brave and the Bold #134 A somewhat goofy false Green Lantern Soviet defection plot by Haney with typically excellent Jim Aparo art. There's an excellent scene in the story where Batman is being tortured by the Soviet chief of intelligence, Colonel Miklos Vakla. Valka has Batman submerged in a tank of water for days, with all of his senses deprived, with Batman only being provided oxygen. Batman keeps sane by muttering "Joe Chill" over and and over again to himself. That definitely comes off as a concept that would show up in a modern Batman comic.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 30, 2017 10:05:33 GMT -5
Count me in as a fan of Marvel's cosmic pantheon. I remember some of those late 80's Marvel annuals that would feature illustrated power rankings of the various cosmic beings with descriptions. Loved that stuff. Once I got into Silver Surfer around 1989, and later the Starlin Infinity stuff, I was hooked for life. I'm still miffed and confused at Hickman's rather lame version of the Beyonder's that still make little sense to me. How can a dimension exist OUTSIDE the multiverse and still be part of "the Marvel Universe?" It's always been my understanding that every published Marvel realm, dimension, pocket dimension, etc, by default, is part of the greater Marvel multiverse. If you were to include Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, Archie, etc, that would be an "omniverse" and only then would you beyond the scope of a multiverse. Eh. Having them kill the Living Tribunal was absurd. Having his corpse sprawled out on the moon was equally absurd seeing as how the Tribunal doesn't have a true form. I only browsed the story and read a synopsis, but am I on point in coming to the conclusion that modern Marvel writers don't really understand the cosmic characters? I would suggest that you look into Al Ewing's Ultimates and Ultimates2 titles. I've read some of the first series but from what I gather from other cosmic fans, Ewing is doing BIG IDEAS right. From the aftermath of Secret Wars, Ewing is re-establishing the proper Marvel cosmic canon while adding some mind-blowing additions. For example, in his first story arc, Ewing explores evolving Galactus into his true ultimate form, that how he is now, the devourer of worlds, isn't what he's meant to be in the cosmic order of things. It's sounds crazy but what he accomplishes here, what does happen to Galactus, makes you reconsider all of that and more. In relation to another thread here, Ewing actually addresses the idea of a sliding timescale and why one exists in-comic. It may not be your cup of tea but Ewing seems to be doing Marvel's cosmic side justice, with crazy concepts delivered with heart and characterization. That's the big difference for me between him and Hickman, Hickman can be so dry while he's expounding these big ideas. I find it nearly impossible to get into modern Marvel comics outside of their Star Wars comics. I browsed the first issue, but I take it that this Ultimates team are going to solve Galactus' problems for him? I couldn't help but eye-roll a bit and feel that this illustrates my problem with modern writers take on cosmic stories like this.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 30, 2017 9:56:30 GMT -5
Count me in as a fan of Marvel's cosmic pantheon. I remember some of those late 80's Marvel annuals that would feature illustrated power rankings of the various cosmic beings with descriptions. Loved that stuff. Once I got into Silver Surfer around 1989, and later the Starlin Infinity stuff, I was hooked for life. I'm still miffed and confused at Hickman's rather lame version of the Beyonder's that still make little sense to me. How can a dimension exist OUTSIDE the multiverse and still be part of "the Marvel Universe?" It's always been my understanding that every published Marvel realm, dimension, pocket dimension, etc, by default, is part of the greater Marvel multiverse. If you were to include Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, Archie, etc, that would be an "omniverse" and only then would you beyond the scope of a multiverse. Eh. Having them kill the Living Tribunal was absurd. Having his corpse sprawled out on the moon was equally absurd seeing as how the Tribunal doesn't have a true form. I only browsed the story and read a synopsis, but am I on point in coming to the conclusion that modern Marvel writers don't really understand the cosmic characters? Haven't read any of that stuff but in general I feel that writers are too eager to go for whatever immediate or short-term dramatic effect they're looking for and they don't think much about the implications for the characters involved or the fictional universe as a whole. I agree. I realize that most of these cosmic beings (with the exceptions of characters like Galactus) are little more than plot devices to most writers, but I think it's clear that they were a little better defined and handled with more care and respect in the 80's and early 90's, particularly during the period that Mark Gruenwald held editorial sway. To be fair this isn't really a new phenomena. Galactus was little more than a cosmic punching bag until John Byrne expanded on his character and restored him to the nuanced characterization that Lee/Kirby intended with his "beyond good and evil" persona.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 29, 2017 12:18:32 GMT -5
Count me in as a fan of Marvel's cosmic pantheon. I remember some of those late 80's Marvel annuals that would feature illustrated power rankings of the various cosmic beings with descriptions. Loved that stuff. Once I got into Silver Surfer around 1989, and later the Starlin Infinity stuff, I was hooked for life.
I'm still miffed and confused at Hickman's rather lame version of the Beyonder's that still make little sense to me. How can a dimension exist OUTSIDE the multiverse and still be part of "the Marvel Universe?" It's always been my understanding that every published Marvel realm, dimension, pocket dimension, etc, by default, is part of the greater Marvel multiverse. If you were to include Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, Archie, etc, that would be an "omniverse" and only then would you beyond the scope of a multiverse. Eh.
Having them kill the Living Tribunal was absurd. Having his corpse sprawled out on the moon was equally absurd seeing as how the Tribunal doesn't have a true form. I only browsed the story and read a synopsis, but am I on point in coming to the conclusion that modern Marvel writers don't really understand the cosmic characters?
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 28, 2017 19:51:50 GMT -5
All of these are creators that compel me to buy pricy collected editions of their work.
Artists: Hal Foster, Jack Kirby, John Buscema, Jim Aparo, Moebius, Neal Adams, Walt Simonson, John Byrne, Alan Davis, Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, George Perez
Writers: Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Roger Stern, Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 26, 2017 7:38:39 GMT -5
I bought all the GIT cd-roms with the exception of Ghost Rider. So that's Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers and X-Men. I coverted all of them to cbz format so I could read them with cdisplay, which is still my reader of choice. How did you convert them? I've been wanting to do that with mine for some time. Cei-U! I summon the intense curiosity! There are several free cbz file converters out there, but I recommend using ComicRack. First, it's a not just a reader it's a library that lets your organize your comics into folders and lists, second it will read pdf files, so if you didn't want to convert you wouldn't have to, and third it can convert pdf's to cbz fromat. It takes a long time to convert that many files, but I think it's worth it. Cbz format is MUCH smoother and faster, particularly with something like CDisplay which is what I use to read them. ComicRack allows your to use various scripts to add functionality to it like a Comic Vince scraper that fills in creator/publisher/month/year etc data into the comic info section and another that allows you to use other readers besides the default one provided (this is how I use CDisplay with it). These are the only scripts I use but there are many more.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 25, 2017 7:33:24 GMT -5
I bought all the GIT cd-roms with the exception of Ghost Rider. So that's Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Avengers and X-Men. I coverted all of them to cbz format so I could read them with cdisplay, which is still my reader of choice.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 24, 2017 12:34:58 GMT -5
Were the original Howard stories available to the masses before the 2003 Wandering Star/Del Rey editions that collected all of Howard's original Conan stories? I realize that this was the first time we got to read the unedited versions, but were there collections that featured the edited versions as they appeared in Weird Tales pre-de Camp and Carter?
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 24, 2017 12:00:08 GMT -5
I think the "loser comic nerd" sterotype, while it certainly does exist, is the exception and not the rule and always was. Women, doctors, scientists, athletes, etc, have been comics fans since day one. I've read old letters pages that proves it. There has always been a fascinating diversity to comics readership, particularly during the newsstand era, that I don't think most hardcore comics readers know much about or have thought much about to be honest. I'd like to learn more about all those casual, impulse buyers since everything has always been seen through the lens of the comic shop regulars and hardcore fans turned pro/writers when it comes to books and articles on comic fandom.
There is still and extreme amount of ignorance in America when it comes to comics as an art for, so it doesn't surprise me that a guy like Bill Maher (I do agree with him on religion but I have little doubt that he has any idea that a comic once won a Pulitzer) and that shallow and snobby fashion reporter would take one look at an overweight dude in a Green Lantern costume at a convention and use such sights as a validation for their ignorance. I don't get the appeal of dressing up in superhero costumes as an adult either, but if adults have fun doing so, and aren't harming or harassing anyone in the process, that's all that matters. Many, perhaps even most, of these people have families, decent jobs and don't live in their parents basement. Sorry, you simply don't get to label these people losers. Because they're not.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 24, 2017 11:46:44 GMT -5
Tales of Suspense #52 - "The Crimson Dynamo Strikes Again!" Strange Tales #119 - "The Torch Goes Wild!" and "Beyond the Purple Veil" (Dr. Strange) Conan the Barbarian #3 - "The Twilight of the Grim Grey God!"
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 13, 2017 7:26:39 GMT -5
I need to read Sheriff of Babylon and The Vision (both still in the queue) before I can make a judgement, but I share the sentiments of those in this thread that think Scott Snyder's Batman is overrated. I LOVED Capullo's art, and badly wanted to like the run, but I've read up to around issue 20 or so three times now (or the first few issues of Zero Year) and lost interest on all three attempts.
I get the sense from the hype around guys like Snyder and King that the industry desperately wants to promote someone as the next Alan Moore, but I've never come across a comic writer of his caliber. Taste is subjective (I love guys like Starlin, Claremont and Stern for different reasons), but point me to anything as well written as Swamp Thing, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell, etc, and I'll change my mind. I just don't see any writing even approaching that in the modern mainstream of comics.
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