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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 14, 2015 8:28:48 GMT -5
I can't stand Arcade. In his first appearance - late 1970s? - when I was still a teen, I remember thinking how annoying he was, and he was being treated like a big deal, like he was some kind of great idea for a villain when he was really very very meh. At best. And then it just got worst. He kept appearing. He kept failing on his biggest hits. He would have to charge ten million dollars? a hundred million dollars? per hit just to pay for MurderWorld. It made no sense. Plus he was boring and stupid and supposed to be brash and charming. And his appearance in that X-Men story with Dr. Doom made no sense. Was it the real Doom? Was it a Doom robot? Which explanation is less stupid? I wouldn't be able to choose. There. I said it. IF you're ever going to like Arcade, I'd recommend Avengers Arena. Now wait, it's not as bad as it looked! Arcade is actually the highlight.. and it's only like 20 issues that are probably in the $1 bin now  |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 14, 2015 8:30:21 GMT -5
Has anybody mentioned Terry Long yet? If not, I'll do it. Terry Long. No. Just, no. I read Teen Titans for a short time - around issues #20 to #30 - and I remember how the story would come to a crashing halt whenever Terry Long wandered in. Great art, and the stories were very exciting, and I could see what the fuss was about. (And I loved the Brotherhood of Evil! The Brain! Monsieur Mallah! Plasmus! Madame Rouge! Warp!) But Terry Long made me cringe. And then they started playing up Deathstroke, who is also horrible. And then along came Terra. Puke. It was a perfect storm of terrible characters. It was so easy to just stop at that point. There. I said it. I'm with you on Terry Long (how the heck could Donna Friggin' Troy not do better!!!), but that Terra/Deathstroke story is amazing.. I think the problem is once you know the ending, it's hard to appreciate it. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 14, 2015 9:43:36 GMT -5
The Vision hasn't been the same since Byrne took him apart. That was really really bad. And I'm not saying that because I hate change. I've never been that much of a Vision fan (aside from the early appearances, which are great) so mere changes wouldn't bother me. But that was bad. But then, after he ran out of good ideas partway through his FF run, he just kept writing anyway. That's how we got Alicia Storm, a toxic Wonder Woman run and the Big Bard Porn Star story. |
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Nov 14, 2015 12:32:28 GMT -5
I have to thank Prince Hal, Cei-U, Hoosier X, Slam, and anyone else for their real life experiences in discussing the social and political issues in the comics that have come up. I've really enjoyed the real life perspective and sheds a whole lot of a different light on just learning things about those times via history books. I've really enjoyed reading all your comments.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 14, 2015 13:29:42 GMT -5
Has anybody mentioned Terry Long yet? If not, I'll do it. Terry Long. No. Just, no. I read Teen Titans for a short time - around issues #20 to #30 - and I remember how the story would come to a crashing halt whenever Terry Long wandered in. Great art, and the stories were very exciting, and I could see what the fuss was about. (And I loved the Brotherhood of Evil! The Brain! Monsieur Mallah! Plasmus! Madame Rouge! Warp!) But Terry Long made me cringe. And then they started playing up Deathstroke, who is also horrible. And then along came Terra. Puke. It was a perfect storm of terrible characters. It was so easy to just stop at that point. There. I said it. I'm with you on Terry Long (how the heck could Donna Friggin' Troy not do better!!!), but that Terra/Deathstroke story is amazing.. I think the problem is once you know the ending, it's hard to appreciate it. Keep in mind that Terry Long is Marv Wolfman. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 14, 2015 14:40:43 GMT -5
I didn't say I wouldn't do the same thing if I was writing the comic, just that it's boring  Incidently, my teenager thinks 'Marv Wolfman' is the best name ever. When I gave her some NTT to read, she ran around the house saying it in her rendition of a radio announcer voice for days afterward. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 14, 2015 14:47:04 GMT -5
Has anybody mentioned Terry Long yet? If not, I'll do it. Terry Long. No. Just, no. I read Teen Titans for a short time - around issues #20 to #30 - and I remember how the story would come to a crashing halt whenever Terry Long wandered in. Great art, and the stories were very exciting, and I could see what the fuss was about. (And I loved the Brotherhood of Evil! The Brain! Monsieur Mallah! Plasmus! Madame Rouge! Warp!) But Terry Long made me cringe. And then they started playing up Deathstroke, who is also horrible. And then along came Terra. Puke. It was a perfect storm of terrible characters. It was so easy to just stop at that point. There. I said it. I'm with you on Terry Long (how the heck could Donna Friggin' Troy not do better!!!), but that Terra/Deathstroke story is amazing.. I think the problem is once you know the ending, it's hard to appreciate it. I know he's very popular, but I can't stand Deathstroke. I read Identity Crisis last year, and so much of it is terrible! (Sue Dibny gets fridged twice in one limited series! Yeah, that's a love letter to the "Silver Age.") But in the sweepstakes to win "Stupidest scene in Identity Crisis," you have to consider the scene where Deathstroke momentarily takes out the Justice League because of his "magic reflexes" (or whatever). So dumb. Chuck Dixon wrote the only Deathstroke story I've ever liked. In Detective Comics in the ... late 1990s, I think? |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 14, 2015 14:50:06 GMT -5
This is the Power Girl series with art by Amanda Connor that ran roughly 2009 to 2011? If so, it's great! A lot of fun, especially the first 12 issues or so. Then it kinda stumbled a bit with some cross-over issues, but I thought it ended strong. Yeah, that's the one. Did the Amanda Connor run go more than 12 issues? I stopped at what I thought was their last issue, somewhere around there. The book lasted 27 issues, but Connor didn't. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 14, 2015 15:53:34 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong, Deathstroke is a terrible character... in fact, I'd argue the only reason he became popular was BECAUSE the Judas contract is so amazing.
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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 14, 2015 17:53:03 GMT -5
I'm with you on Terry Long (how the heck could Donna Friggin' Troy not do better!!!), but that Terra/Deathstroke story is amazing.. I think the problem is once you know the ending, it's hard to appreciate it. Keep in mind that Terry Long is Marv Wolfman. Yeah, I read it was a Marysue character. But the concept of a college professor hitting on his student was perverted, and probably against college policy. Yeah, he was unlikeable. Kind of feel ripped off that he died off panel. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Nov 14, 2015 17:54:19 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong, Deathstroke is a terrible character... in fact, I'd argue the only reason he became popular was BECAUSE the Judas contract is so amazing. Death stroke is one of the most important characters created in the 80's. I don't know who this new guy is. |
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Post by Calamas on Nov 15, 2015 12:48:18 GMT -5
. . . Incidently, my teenager thinks 'Marv Wolfman' is the best name ever. The name has power. In the horror section of a used bookstore I once found the novelization of Superman Returns--written by Marv Wolfman. How often does the Wolfman trump Superman? |
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Post by chadwilliam on Nov 15, 2015 15:22:43 GMT -5
The Vision hasn't been the same since Byrne took him apart.
Nor has Superman. As far as I'm concerned, Superman was cancelled in 1986 and hasn't returned.
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Post by gothos on Nov 15, 2015 15:45:54 GMT -5
You heard Marshall McLuhan? You were in a room with him and got to hear him speak? Tell us more! I love Marshall McLuhan! Understanding Media is one of my favorite books! I think of Marshall McLuhan all the time! Two days ago, I saw the 1996 Disney version of Hunchback of Notre Dame. The 1939 version is one of my favorite movies, and I'm currently reading the book. I was thinking of McLuhan most of the time while noting the differences between the versions. Just a coincidence. Long story short, I was in Dallas in 1978 attending a Radio and Records (magazine) convention helping a friend who was hawking a syndicated radio program. One of the offerings that virtually nobody attended was a talk by McLuhan. I have to confess that what I wrote about earlier is all that has stuck with me, but those thoughts have resonated over the years and I have applied them to so many other aspects of culture. Don't know if those remarks had sprung from something he'd written then or if they were later put into one of his books. I should look into that. Of course, I've always gotten a huge kick out of his appearance in Annie Hall, too! I LOVE the 1939 Hunchback (that sounds odd): O'Hara is fiery; Laughton, heart-wrenching. The set, the acting, love it all! Come to thnk of it, Edmond O'Brien's character sounds like Green Arrow in the GL series! McLuhan did an essay or two on comic book / strip characters in his collection THE MECHANICAL BRIDE. I read what he had to say; wasn't hugely impressed. Here's a writeup. |
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Post by gothos on Nov 15, 2015 15:55:57 GMT -5
Has anybody mentioned Terry Long yet? If not, I'll do it. Terry Long. No. Just, no. I read Teen Titans for a short time - around issues #20 to #30 - and I remember how the story would come to a crashing halt whenever Terry Long wandered in. Great art, and the stories were very exciting, and I could see what the fuss was about. (And I loved the Brotherhood of Evil! The Brain! Monsieur Mallah! Plasmus! Madame Rouge! Warp!) But Terry Long made me cringe. And then they started playing up Deathstroke, who is also horrible. And then along came Terra. Puke. It was a perfect storm of terrible characters. It was so easy to just stop at that point. There. I said it. I agree that TL was an awful character, particularly when he'd grouse about not being able to finish his term paper (or whatever) because his girlfriend was busy saving the world instead of making him coffee, etc. That said, I was never ecstatic about the NEW TEEN TITANS, even the definitive Wolfman-Perez stuff. Some issues grabbed me, like the long deferred resolution of the story of the Doom Patrol's demise, but more because I'd been a DP fan than because of the story's execution. Perez's character designs were great but they were often wasted on one-note characters (Trigon's never been better than he is on TEEN TITANS GO!) And Wolfman's dialogue is often rife with cliches and phony emoting. |
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