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Post by Prince Hal on May 24, 2023 9:19:09 GMT -5
Like the cosmic barrels the Silver Surfer rides. I'm beginning to think you guys are losing your sense of wonder I keep mine in a box with my lost innocence.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 24, 2023 9:26:08 GMT -5
Like the cosmic barrels the Silver Surfer rides. I'm beginning to think you guys are losing your sense of wonder I was wondering where that went.
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Post by tonebone on May 24, 2023 10:13:42 GMT -5
The point of kryptonite was that it was irradiated by the explosion of Krypton and was therefore mostly harmless to Kryptonians before the explosion. I think there was a story or two of specific types that existed on the planet before the calamity, that had effects on people. However, Green K was definitely a result of the explosion, as were red and gold, I think. Never actually saw a story with gold, other than Alan Moore's use, in the Pre-Crises finale, rather than just a reference to it. Same for jewel (amplifies psychic powers), white (kills plant life) and blue (which only affected Bizarro). Mostly knew them from trivia questions and Ask The Answer Man. Plaid Kryptonite was the really dangerous one, as it robbed you of your fashion sense. Like the cosmic barrels the Silver Surfer rides. I'm beginning to think you guys are losing your sense of wonder Maybe they were exposed to mauve Kryptonite.
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Post by tonebone on May 24, 2023 10:20:51 GMT -5
Where does the extra strength come from when a comic character becomes big like Giant-man, Colossal Boy or Goliath? Clint Barton becomes Goliath in Avengers 62 and all of a sudden displays strength we never knew he had. I think it's just a naive notion that "bigger people can lift bigger weights." It seems like that would be the case, so in comics, it is. If the character doesn't gain strength proportional to his increased size (and physics and human biology tell us they wouldn't, at least beyond the point where we actually see extreme height become disabling in real-life humans), we'd be reading a tragedy, not a superhero story. Like almost all superpowers, just one will probably get you killed pretty quickly. They all have to come with some built-in, often unspecified, augmentating superpower to be practical. How does a guy with super-strong muscles punch down a brick wall without ripping the flesh from his knuckles and shattering his bones? Muscle strength is a very different thing than skin durability or resistance of bone to impact. I used to love the Running Guy in The Tick... who was "faster than ten fast men". Same sort of logic.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 24, 2023 10:44:39 GMT -5
The point of kryptonite was that it was irradiated by the explosion of Krypton and was therefore mostly harmless to Kryptonians before the explosion. I think there was a story or two of specific types that existed on the planet before the calamity, that had effects on people. However, Green K was definitely a result of the explosion, as were red and gold, I think. Never actually saw a story with gold, other than Alan Moore's use, in the Pre-Crises finale, rather than just a reference to it. Same for jewel (amplifies psychic powers), white (kills plant life) and blue (which only affected Bizarro). Mostly knew them from trivia questions and Ask The Answer Man. Plaid Kryptonite was the really dangerous one, as it robbed you of your fashion sense. I'm reading the DC Wiki page about golden K, and it seems it has been actually used in some stories. For example, in the classic Action Comics #500 was used to remove the powers of a Superman's clone. Wasn't saying they didn't use it, just that I never read a story with it as the gimmick. Green & Red K were mostly the ones that appeared in stories and Green k was eliminated, when I first started reading comics, but eventually returned. I don't recall ever reading a Bronze Age Red K story; only Silver Age reprints.
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Post by velma on May 24, 2023 18:12:43 GMT -5
If we want to create an ugly and intimidating female character, with a highly realistic appearance, how should we make her mouth, nose, cheeks, eyes, and her other physical features, can you give me some existing examples from comics, animes, mangas etc?
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Post by codystarbuck on May 24, 2023 21:19:23 GMT -5
If we want to create an ugly and intimidating female character, with a highly realistic appearance, how should we make her mouth, nose, cheeks, eyes, and her other physical features, can you give me some existing examples from comics, animes, mangas etc? A dangerous subject, because you start talking about surface appearance, which can lead to offense; However, I think Kirby did it well, with Granny Goodness..... Her size is a bit on the exaggerated side of things; but, not excessively so; but, if you look at her features, they aren't stereotypically grotesque, no boils or scars, crooked noses or facial deformities. What makes her ugly is her expression, the pure evil and sadism that she would express, as she dished out punishment to the children she trained to be Darkseid's soldiers. Her body language.....those are the things that make people truly ugly, not their surface features. Genetics, nutrition and environment determine your physical looks and what some people call ugly can cover a beautiful person and that beauty will still come through. Back in the 60s and 70s, Ruth Buzzi was noted for playing wild and outwordly drab characters; yet, you strip away the character artifice and Ruth Buzzi was an attractive woman. She didn't have the features of a beauty queen; but, she had a joy and a love of what she was doing that came through and make-up clothes and lighting can do a lot to enhance someone, physically..... She had a bit of a prominent nose and a wide mouth and didn't look like a Miss America contestant; but, her expressions lit up her face and when she is made up to accentuate that, the beauty comes through. When she is made to look dour and drab and she turns her expression into a depressed and miserable state, she gives that character a negative appearance. It's the expressions, the attitude, the personality and mindset that make someone beautiful or ugly, not the outward features. Kirby understood this. By not exaggerating Granny's physical appearance, other than making her as large a presence as the other New Gods, it made her that much more evil. She looks like she should be a grandmotherly figure and carries the name, but she has a Dickensian evil soul, of a true sadist, who delights in the torment of others. her soul is so low and dark that she must drag others, kicking and screaming into that abyss, because she cannot rise up into the light. That is what real evil is and Kirby chose to put that into her words and deeds, the way she carried herself, her expressions of anger and torment. By contrast, Kirby also turned conventional ideas of beauty on their head. In The Eternals, he introduced the Deviants, a race of monsters and mutants, who were the source of monsters and villains in myth, just as the Eternals were the source of heroes and gods. However, he then gave Kro, the warlord of the Deviants, a romantic soul, as he is in love with Thena, the daughter of Zuras, leader of the Eternals. She even returns that affection, but they are parts of warring houses, like Romeo and Juliet. By her people's standards or our world, based on fairy tales and the like, she should hate him for being grotesque and part of her enemies; and, yet, she loves him and is torn by duty and her feelings. Beyond that, Kirby illustrates that what one person sees as ugly and hideous is just one perspective. he introduced a gladiator of the Deviants, who they find repulsive, who is revealed as Ransak, the Reject.... What a hideous monster he is. Kirby then gave us Karkas, a monstrous Deviant, by our standards..... ...but, he has the gentle soul, of a poet and is the more sophisticated of the pair. When creating characters, it is those kinds of details that make them beautiful or ugly, not the physical descriptions or illustrations.
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Post by badwolf on May 25, 2023 9:38:04 GMT -5
Any Kirby woman. *ducks*
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Post by zaku on May 25, 2023 10:47:21 GMT -5
Quick Recap: - Green K affects only powered Kryptonians
- Red Key affects even not-powered Kryptonians (Action Comics #300)
- There has never been an instance of someone being exposed to Gold K while (temporarily) not-powered, so we don't know if in this case it would remove definitely the powers
- The only example I could find of someone being exposed to Green K after losing his powers to Gold K was in the Pocket Universe saga, but I don't think it applies to the Pre-Crisis universe as well.
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Post by Calidore on May 25, 2023 20:24:56 GMT -5
Black Racer is an avatar of Death. Death being well known for its prowess in the giant slalom.
I thought of a joke!
The Black Racer is one example of a psychopomp, beings who escort the souls of the deceased to the afterlife. Two very early examples of this are the Chinese duo known as the White Guard, named Xie Bi'an, and the Black Guard, named Fan Wujiu. The latter was the source of quite a stir in archaeological circles in the mid-1960s, when a very old paper fragment was found which contained a drawing of Fan Wujiu astride an ox. This drawing of him was unofficially nicknamed the Black Rider, and after extensive study, it was dated to roughly the second century A.D., making it the earliest known drawing made on paper rather than silk. This of course was a Big Deal and so got some media attention at the time. Among those who found the story interesting were the members of a band called the Beatles, who were inspired to write a song about it, which ended up becoming one of their most popular and can still often be heard on classic rock and oldies stations. You will be familiar with it, of course; it's called "Paper Black Rider".
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Post by tartanphantom on May 25, 2023 22:27:16 GMT -5
I think it's really more dependent on what Kirby era you are talking about, and who inked his work. Both Simon and Colletta did enough to make Kirby's ladies look more than passable. But I get what you are saying. The late-'60s/early '70s Kirby style was not always as flattering to females.
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Post by MWGallaher on May 26, 2023 8:05:17 GMT -5
Hoping some New Gods fans can help me out here. I've been reading Secret Society of Super Villains, and on the cover of issue #4, it touts an appearance by The Black Racer. Now, he doesn't actually show up in the issue until the last panel, as Darkseid is punishing Mantis, The Power Parasite, and threatens him with The Black Racer, who Mantis seems legit frightened of. In the next issue, The Black Racer shows up in the background of two panels, then zips off to not be seen again, so... Who is The Black Racer, and why should anyone be afraid of a guy on floating skis, complete with matching ski poles and long flowing yellow cape, who doesn't actually seem to DO anything? Plenty have people have joked about The Black Racer, but in pondering writing an article closely associated to the topic, I realized that Kirby's design for this character was actually very, very clever. And yes, I'm totally serious here. As an innovator, Kirby found many ways to make his characters fly, ways that other superhero artists never thought of. Kirby's flying techniques, at their most effective, evoked unique physical sensations in the reader. We could "feel" the pull of Mjolnir guiding Thor across the sky. Even if we had never surfed, the Silver Surfer's board could be sensed as something that would allow us to immediately change direction with a subtle shift of our weight, unencumbered by the large momentum of a bulky space ship. So what does the Black Racer have going for him? Consider, say, Superman. The artist is drawing him flying. The artist is drawing him flying at top speed. Now, the artist is directed to draw Superman flying even faster. How does the artist convey that? How does the artist suggest even that Superman can fly even faster than he already is? That is the genius of The Black Racer. Even if the reader has, like me, never snow-skied, we know those poles are used to accelerate. We can feel it, just from the image of a skier: ram those poles down, thrust forward, go even faster. Furiously repeat the action...go faster, faster, faster! Even if we never consciously think about it, The Black Racer's equipment conveys the subtle, alarming sense that no matter how fast we try to outrun him, all he has to do is give it another push of the poles and he's gaining on us. Gliding through the air, not the snow, supernatural, unimpaired by physics and friction. The poles symbolize the potential for relentless pursuit, achieving speeds beyond any limit. It's a perfect symbol of Death: the faster we go, the farther we travel, Death is right behind us, always gaining on us, always getting closer. Every tick of the clock is a thrust of those ski-poles bringing The Black Racer closer and closer to overtaking us. The Black Racer. At a glance, we know one thing: no matter how fast he's coming at us, he can start coming even faster.
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Post by badwolf on May 26, 2023 8:44:50 GMT -5
I think it's really more dependent on what Kirby era you are talking about, and who inked his work. Both Simon and Colletta did enough to make Kirby's ladies look more than passable. But I get what you are saying. The late-'60s/early '70s Kirby style was not always as flattering to females.
Yeah those aren't bad at all. I would never have guessed they were by Kirby.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 26, 2023 11:16:32 GMT -5
I think it's really more dependent on what Kirby era you are talking about, and who inked his work. Both Simon and Colletta did enough to make Kirby's ladies look more than passable. But I get what you are saying. The late-'60s/early '70s Kirby style was not always as flattering to females.
Au contraire......
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Post by Ozymandias on May 26, 2023 12:12:14 GMT -5
Kirby's portrayal of women wasn't as good as Romita's, but it wasn't as bad as Ditko's.
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