|
|
Post by berkley on Sept 10, 2023 22:55:15 GMT -5
I was more often than not a somewhat sporadic reader of Spider-Man - apart from the Len Wein/Ross Andru run in the mid-'70s, which I followed pretty regularly - so my impression of MJ might be a little off, but for all her good looks and self-confidence, I never saw her as a super-model type who would consider Peter Parker in any way beneath her level. I thought she was meant to be a kind of bohemian character and her awareness of her own attractiveness was more an aspect of her general lack of inhibition than anything else. I think that's what made her a uniquely attractive member of the Spider-Man supporting cast. (...) This. It always seemed to me, and in fact before the mid-1980s, seemed to be strongly suggested that MJ was not as successful as she pretended to be (so, say, her acting career probably consisted of bit TV roles and commercials and/or appearances in off-broadway stage productions, while she modeled for department store catalogs and so forth for extra cash). I think the powers that be at Marvel should have ran with that idea, as it makes her a sort of lovable loser - kind of like Peter.
Yeah, I pictured her as someone with unconventional attitudes and a lifestyle that went along with that - but I suspect this is an idea I picked up mostly from her mannerisms and speech patterns, I have no idea if it was ever shown or talked about explicitly. But I like the idea of MJ being such a character and your suggestion about her acting career makes perfect sense to me within that context. If nothing much along these lines was ever done with the character I'd see it as a bit of a missed opportunity.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2023 1:33:29 GMT -5
For my money, there will never be a better costume variation for Spider-Man than Paper Bag Man.  |
|
|
|
Post by impulse on Sept 11, 2023 8:02:38 GMT -5
Also good to know that "Supercat 2099" doesn't feature a goofy 90's foil or hologram cover! No, but it turns out the "original" Supercat was the clone and I'm the real one. And my apologies to wildfire2099 for any encroachment on the name, it all seemed so natural and good (a nod to the old and something fresh at the same time) until I saw our usernames together in the thread list. EDIT: And I just realized adamwarlock2099 as well...I'm more like "copycat2099" sheesh! Heeyyyy! Welcome back. You were missed. Glad to see you here again! |
|
|
|
Post by adamwarlock2099 on Sept 11, 2023 8:02:46 GMT -5
Actually outside of this forum (and a few other comic places) over the years I have been accused more times of being an actual warlock than I have someone from the year 2099. Not sure if that is a compliment or not.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Sept 11, 2023 20:37:23 GMT -5
Actually outside of this forum (and a few other comic places) over the years I have been accused more times of being an actual warlock than I have someone from the year 2099. Not sure if that is a compliment or not. Yes, but how many thought you were the son of Darren and Samantha Stevens? |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2023 7:11:47 GMT -5
I just want to say, Kingpin's green suit does not get enough love. The white one may be the classic, but he is positively STYLIN' with this look:  |
|
|
|
Post by driver1980 on Sept 16, 2023 7:24:46 GMT -5
I still think this guy does a green suit better:  |
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 19, 2023 8:21:53 GMT -5
Re-reading the early issues of Tomb of Dracula, I was struck by what a good character Rachel van Helsing was (under the pen of Marv Wolfman, mostly), and was again extremely annoyed by how totally wasted she was after the comic was cancelled.
Rachel was tough and self-reliant, not prone to fawn over her mandatory boyfriend (who was really out of his league) and she had literary legitimacy as the granddaughter of a character in Bram Stoker's novel. She grew through a lot of traumatic experiences in the mag, and ended up all the stronger for it. She gained a faint scar in an early adventure (nether overplayed nor forgotten), something to remind us that she was not superhuman even though she absolutely kicked @$$.
Instead of going on to her eventual comic (as did other alumni from the Dracula book, more than a decade later), she ended up in another book, where we learned that she had a bad romance, broke up, tried to reconstruct herself, and then fell under the spell of a villain ("body and soul", of course!) until she died a pointless death. I'll let you guess who wrote that.
What a sad, sad, sad waste.
There. I said it!
|
|
|
|
Post by Cei-U! on Sept 19, 2023 12:16:59 GMT -5
Re-reading the early issues of Tomb of Dracula, I was struck by what a good character Rachel van Helsing was (under the pen of Marv Wolfman, mostly), and was again extremely annoyed by how totally wasted she was after the comic was cancelled. Rachel was tough and self-reliant, not prone to fawn over her mandatory boyfriend (who was really out of his league) and she had literary legitimacy as the granddaughter of a character in Bram Stoker's novel. She grew through a lot of traumatic experiences in the mag, and ended up all the stronger for it. She gained a faint scar in an early adventure (nether overplayed nor forgotten), something to remind us that she was not superhuman even though she absolutely kicked @$$. Instead of going on to her eventual comic (as did other alumni from the Dracula book, more than a decade later), she ended up in another book, where we learned that she had a bad romance, broke up, tried to reconstruct herself, and then fell under the spell of a villain ("body and soul", of course!) until she died a pointless death. I'll let you guess who wrote that. What a sad, sad, sad waste. There. I said it! Boy, do I agree. Her death in that X-Men Annual really pissed me off, not only for its own sake but as part of a general trend of shitting all over characters associated with Marv Wolfman* after he left Marvel and had the unmitigated gall to co-create the first DC comic in a decade to challenge Marvel on the newsstands.
Cei-U! I summon the literal character assassination!
* See also Nova,Spider-Woman, et al
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 19, 2023 12:20:14 GMT -5
Re-reading the early issues of Tomb of Dracula, I was struck by what a good character Rachel van Helsing was (under the pen of Marv Wolfman, mostly), and was again extremely annoyed by how totally wasted she was after the comic was cancelled. Rachel was tough and self-reliant, not prone to fawn over her mandatory boyfriend (who was really out of his league) and she had literary legitimacy as the granddaughter of a character in Bram Stoker's novel. She grew through a lot of traumatic experiences in the mag, and ended up all the stronger for it. She gained a faint scar in an early adventure (nether overplayed nor forgotten), something to remind us that she was not superhuman even though she absolutely kicked @$$. Instead of going on to her eventual comic (as did other alumni from the Dracula book, more than a decade later), she ended up in another book, where we learned that she had a bad romance, broke up, tried to reconstruct herself, and then fell under the spell of a villain ("body and soul", of course!) until she died a pointless death. I'll let you guess who wrote that. What a sad, sad, sad waste. There. I said it! Boy, do I agree. Her death in that X-Men Annual really pissed me off, not only for its own sake but as part of a general trend of shitting all over characters associated with Marv Wolfman* after he left Marvel and had the unmitigated gall to co-create the first DC comic in a decade to challenge Marvel on the newsstands.
Cei-U! I summon the literal character assassination!
* See also Nova,Spider-Woman, et al
I had never made the connection, but you're right... there is a definite trend, there. Do you know if it was deliberate, or was it just because the fashion back then was to kill/maim/write off every character possible, and Marv wasn't there to defend his babies? |
|
|
|
Post by kirby101 on Sept 19, 2023 12:42:33 GMT -5
I did not remember that debacle, and I am not going to thank you guys for reminding me.  |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Sept 19, 2023 13:14:23 GMT -5
I wasn't familiar with Rachel Van Helsing, having not read Tomb of Dracula, at the time; but I hated that annual, especially after the much better previous year's book.
There was some real petty behavior at Marvel, after people left, either as EIC or just left the company. There was also some petty behavior when some people came back, like Gerry Conway taking books away from people, for himself, when he came in as EIC or the treatment of Kirby.
DC had its moments, too and most of the women who worked there have stories.
|
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Sept 19, 2023 13:26:48 GMT -5
Companies are made of people. People can be petty if not checked by someone in charge.
|
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Sept 19, 2023 13:31:28 GMT -5
I read that when Gerber was negotiating to come back to Howard the Duck , we wanted to discredit the previous stories , but Shooter told him he couldn’t. He chose not to come back. Same with Byrne, he was asked to come to the FF but he wanted to ignore all the stories that happened since he had left. They chose to have Defalco do the book instead. Lots of people that don’t play well with each other in this industry as well as other entertainment industries.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cei-U! on Sept 19, 2023 13:39:53 GMT -5
Boy, do I agree. Her death in that X-Men Annual really pissed me off, not only for its own sake but as part of a general trend of shitting all over characters associated with Marv Wolfman* after he left Marvel and had the unmitigated gall to co-create the first DC comic in a decade to challenge Marvel on the newsstands.
Cei-U! I summon the literal character assassination!
* See also Nova,Spider-Woman, et al
I had never made the connection, but you're right... there is a definite trend, there. Do you know if it was deliberate, or was it just because the fashion back then was to kill/maim/write off every character possible, and Marv wasn't there to defend his babies? It sure felt deliberate, especially considering what they did to Harold H. Harold, who was clearly Marv's self-created comic book counterpart, in Howard the Duck (the magazine) #5.
Cei-U! I summon the low blow!
|
|
