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Post by chadwilliam on Jul 27, 2020 21:18:51 GMT -5
Shaxper has just touched upon DC's Armageddon: 2001 event from 1991 over at his wonderful Superman review thread and it has me wondering about two things:
1. Just how did Monarch's identity get spoiled to enough readers for DC to perceive this to be a problem? (Monarch was the big, bad guy whose true identity was intended to be revealed as Captain Atom at the close of the event, but since that info spilled out, it was hastily changed to Hank Hall since DC had promised a big reveal and had to pick someone who still remotely qualified). I've heard that there was a 1-900 number; that it was due to early internet message boards (no idea what this would have looked like in 1991); comic newsletters. I was twelve at the time and find it difficult that fandom could en masse learn such a secret even if they wanted to. I don't remember Comic's Buyer Guide or anything like that spoiling things and I certainly don't recall any pushback against any publications later on which I'd imagine would have stemmed from such a revelation being made against DC's wishes.
2. Did anyone here learn that Captain Atom would be revealed as The Monarch while the series was still being published? If so, how?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 27, 2020 21:30:52 GMT -5
Shaxper has just touched upon DC's Armageddon: 2001 event from 1991 over at his wonderful Superman review thread and it has me wondering about two things: 1. Just how did Monarch's identity get spoiled to enough readers for DC to perceive this to be a problem? (Monarch was the big, bad guy whose true identity was intended to be revealed as Captain Atom at the close of the event, but since that info spilled out, it was hastily changed to Hank Hall since DC had promised a big reveal and had to pick someone who still remotely qualified). I've heard that there was a 1-900 number; that it was due to early internet message boards (no idea what this would have looked like in 1991); comic newsletters. I was twelve at the time and find it difficult that fandom could en masse learn such a secret even if they wanted to. I don't remember Comic's Buyer Guide or anything like that spoiling things and I certainly don't recall any pushback against any publications later on which I'd imagine would have stemmed from such a revelation being made against DC's wishes. 2. Did anyone here learn that Captain Atom would be revealed as The Monarch while the series was still being published? If so, how? Some context, in '91 I was 22 freshly graduated from university. I had moved to a new town and started a pull list at a new lcs. I spent a few hours there every time I went in on a day off or after work to pick up my books and got to know the owner (who had a day job but was there nights) and the guy who ran the shop during the day fairly well. The Captain Atom rumor was mentioned by both of them several times over the course of shop talk with me and other regulars. Not sure where they got it from, but it was out there as shop talk at the time. The owner knew several creators, and some more context, this was in Connecticut where a number of creators and editors resided and frequented a number of different shops, and there was a network of info passed among a select group of shop owners in the area (i.e. the old guard shop owners vs. the upstarts starting to trickle in form other collectible hobbies and opening shops) so what one of the old guard found out most of them knew fairly soon and those owners would regularly chat with their regulars about that kind of stuff, mostly to drum up interest and boost sales, but it was there. So any of those creators or editors mentioning something in passing at a shop to an owner in that network might as well have been broadcasting it to the fan press. Things changed soon after with the advent of the web and the speculator bust creating a more cutthroat dog-eat-dog competitive marketplace for the surviving shops, but in '91 there was still an "old boys network" in a lot of areas that disseminated that kind of rumors, leaks and what have you. -M
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 27, 2020 22:31:14 GMT -5
Shaxper has just touched upon DC's Armageddon: 2001 event from 1991 over at his wonderful Superman review thread and it has me wondering about two things: 1. Just how did Monarch's identity get spoiled to enough readers for DC to perceive this to be a problem? (Monarch was the big, bad guy whose true identity was intended to be revealed as Captain Atom at the close of the event, but since that info spilled out, it was hastily changed to Hank Hall since DC had promised a big reveal and had to pick someone who still remotely qualified). I've heard that there was a 1-900 number; that it was due to early internet message boards (no idea what this would have looked like in 1991); comic newsletters. I was twelve at the time and find it difficult that fandom could en masse learn such a secret even if they wanted to. I don't remember Comic's Buyer Guide or anything like that spoiling things and I certainly don't recall any pushback against any publications later on which I'd imagine would have stemmed from such a revelation being made against DC's wishes. 2. Did anyone here learn that Captain Atom would be revealed as The Monarch while the series was still being published? If so, how? I can't answer to how the info was disseminated in this specific instance, but I would assume listserves, email chains, mailing lists, local dialup BBSes with internet gateways to other BBSes, chatrooms on AOL, Prodigy, and Compuserve, etc. But no, I can't personally verify that any of this is what happened. I DID have a classmate at Sunday school who had "heard" that it was Captain Atom, but I have no idea where he learned it from.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 27, 2020 23:57:57 GMT -5
At the time, there were fanzines like Comic Buyers guides and The Comic Journal and letters pages that had fans writing in physical letters with the answer to the mystery. I guess they chickened out and switched it. They just should have kept it as Captain Atom regardless.
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Post by shaxper on Jul 28, 2020 6:22:41 GMT -5
At the time, there were fanzines like Comic Buyers guides and The Comic Journal and letters pages that had fans writing in physical letters with the answer to the mystery. I guess they chickened out and switched it. They just should have kept it as Captain Atom regardless. We saw a lot of this kind of response from companies in the early days of the internet. As a huge Trek fan, I'm still disappointed that they had to do a massive rewrite on Star Trek: Generations (1994) because someone leaked an early script online.
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Post by Confessor on Jul 28, 2020 9:52:44 GMT -5
OK Elfquest fans, obviously the first story-arc, the original quest, which ran in the first 20 or so issues of the series from 1978 until 1984 is great, but I'm wondering whether the tales that come after that are worth reading? In particular, I'm wondering about the quality of the adventure that immediately followed the original quest, "Seige at Blue Mountain" (1986-1988).
Worth bothering with? Or do I already own the best of Elfquest with the Original Quest?
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Post by rberman on Jul 28, 2020 10:21:18 GMT -5
OK Elfquest fans, obviously the first story-arc, the original quest, which ran in the first 20 or so issues of the series from 1978 until 1984 is great, but I'm wondering whether the tales that come after that are worth reading? In particular, I'm wondering about the quality of the adventure that immediately followed the original quest, "Seige at Blue Mountain" (1986-1988). Worth bothering with? Or do I already own the best of Elfquest with the Original Quest? I have enjoyed everything through the fourth phone book. I have the fifth but haven't read it yet.
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Post by brutalis on Jul 28, 2020 10:41:38 GMT -5
OK Elfquest fans, obviously the first story-arc, the original quest, which ran in the first 20 or so issues of the series from 1978 until 1984 is great, but I'm wondering whether the tales that come after that are worth reading? In particular, I'm wondering about the quality of the adventure that immediately followed the original quest, "Seige at Blue Mountain" (1986-1988). Worth bothering with? Or do I already own the best of Elfquest with the Original Quest? Its Elquest, what's not to like? Even poorly done Elquest is shade and sweetwater better than most comics. Overall, this is a point where EQ had proven itself as a new concept that would sell. The Pini's were taking the big gamble to not just keep on repeating what made the Quest catch on with fans. They had a fully developed world and story they wanted to tell and were in the midst of capitalizing on the initial sales success while creating a company which will allow them continuing the story. The art from Wendy is still amazing as she is now finally fulfilling her potential. As to the story itself, it is more set up for things to come later and giving other elves a moment they might not have received in the 1st story. It is a large cast and will become even larger. The fun in this one is seeing Rayek's growth from jilted spoiled lover/jerk into full blown powerful asshole antagonist, later on hero and friend and ally, but for now still a ME GENERATION asshat. Winnowill is back and deliciously evil and sexy as ever. It is like a breather break giving everyone time to catch up, pick up any of the issues missed out on from the 1st series while still laying groundwork for the future. So, yes it is a lesser moment storywise but fun and entertaining if you like the world of the wolf riders.
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Post by beccabear67 on Jul 28, 2020 11:51:48 GMT -5
I thought Seige at Blue Mountain and some others were very cool to read and catch up with the characters... I remembered I ordered direct from WaRP... but, I resold the b&w collected volumes after one reading whereas I still have the four Starblaze books of the original #1-20. The main Wendy and Richard stories were definitely enjoyable and Winnowill underwater is very memorable. I'm kind of still hoping Larry Marder will actually do this though...
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2020 13:06:17 GMT -5
OK Elfquest fans, obviously the first story-arc, the original quest, which ran in the first 20 or so issues of the series from 1978 until 1984 is great, but I'm wondering whether the tales that come after that are worth reading? In particular, I'm wondering about the quality of the adventure that immediately followed the original quest, "Seige at Blue Mountain" (1986-1988). Worth bothering with? Or do I already own the best of Elfquest with the Original Quest? I believe you already own the best with the original quest, but I enjoyed Siege at Blue Mountain when I read it as it was being published. It was good, not as good as the original, but good. I haven't read beyond that except for the prose collections. -M
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2020 16:37:58 GMT -5
Anybody know why issues 19-24 aren't collected in the recent hardcover of the 70s Shazam series?
I'm considering grabbing the two hardcovers since O'Neil wrote about a dozen issues, but I'm not real familiar with the character outside of Johns' JSA and the recent film (enjoy both) Is it a good starting place/actually good?
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Post by brutalis on Jul 30, 2020 16:48:37 GMT -5
Anybody know why issues 19-24 aren't collected in the recent hardcover of the 70s Shazam series? I'm considering grabbing the two hardcovers since O'Neil wrote about a dozen issues, but I'm not real familiar with the character outside of Johns' JSA and the recent film (enjoy both) Is it a good starting place/actually good? If my faulty memory isn't malfunctionin I believe issues 21-24 were just reprint issues. Not sure about 19 & 20.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2020 16:49:25 GMT -5
@needs #21-24 were all reprint issues. #19 & 20 are included in Vol 2.
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Post by zaku on Jul 30, 2020 17:35:14 GMT -5
I repost here something I asked in the Superman in the Post-Crisis Era review thread: Much has been said about the decision of depowering Superman after Crisis. But he wasn't the only powerhouse in the DC Universe. For example, the Martian Manhunter was depicted, even in the PreCrisis universe, as one of the few beings whose strength level was comparable to Superman. By memory, other ones were: - Captain Marvel
- Daxamites (including Mon-El)
- Ultra Boy
- GeoForce
- Mongul
- Orion
and so on So, the question is: did the Superman Office's decision automatically depower all the other heavy hitters? And were all the other editors ok with that?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2020 17:40:12 GMT -5
Anybody know why issues 19-24 aren't collected in the recent hardcover of the 70s Shazam series? I'm considering grabbing the two hardcovers since O'Neil wrote about a dozen issues, but I'm not real familiar with the character outside of Johns' JSA and the recent film (enjoy both) Is it a good starting place/actually good? I bought both of them, but I don't know if they're really worth hardcover prices. I didn't want to take the chance that a paperback never comes out, and then the hardcovers soar out of my price range. I'm still glad I got them though, for a few stand-out issues in both collections at least. They aren't the kind comics I can read more than a few at a time, but I like the character and these fit well in my collection as a good representation for him (phooey to Johns, I say).
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