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Post by berkley on Jul 5, 2020 22:20:28 GMT -5
I haven't read either one but that does seem like too many and too precise similarities to be conicidence. I'm not sure about the timeline but I understand that Morrison and Millar used to work together at one time so my guess would be that both stories arose out of something they had discussed together at some point in the past, whether it was one of them telling the other about a story idea he had or both of them talking about something they were thinking about doing together.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jul 6, 2020 12:53:57 GMT -5
I think Morrison claimed to have co-written all of Millar's pre-Kick Ass output.
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Post by rberman on Jul 6, 2020 13:57:56 GMT -5
I think Morrison claimed to have co-written all of Millar's pre-Kick Ass output. Morrison did say that the final reveal in Millar's "Red Son" (2003) was his idea. Kick-Ass was 2008. Morrison and Millar had some sort of falling out, which raises the question of who was copying whom between The Authority and New X-Men. As I was reading the super-fast scene changes in The Authority TPB I found myself thinking, "This is a lot like Grant Morrison's 'conceptual avalanche' style." With a huge dose of meta. Here's a scene from #28. Those "Millar" issues read very differently from the earlier Ellis issues of The Authority, which are in a much more traditional, expositional superhero style in which character sit around and talk about their powers and their backstories. Morrison told Rich Johnston that he was the ghost-author of The Authority #28: So maybe he had something to do with the previous Millar issues as well, behind the scenes.
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Post by spoon on Jul 6, 2020 20:52:49 GMT -5
I read the first 6 issues in the Silver Age Doom Patrol Omnibus this past weekend (My Greatest Adventure #80-85). I've read any issue here and there before, but this is my first time binging a bunch of issues. I'm very impressed. The writing by Arnold Drake (with Bob Haney co-writing on the first couple of stories) is most sophisticated than a lot of contemporaneous super-hero stories. All the members of the team have suffered loss and are considered freaks by some, but there's actually less melodrama than a lot of Stan Lee's scripting over at Marvel. I really get the message that the DP members are asserting themselves as human being, and not freaks.
In fact, they use each other's real names (as opposed to codenames) more one typically sees in super-hero comics. I believe Negative Man is the only one of the three team members who is referred to by his codename in the first issue, and that may be because there was a need to give a name to the entity that separate from Larry Trainor's body. In the second issue, the DP members read the codenames that have been bestowed upon them by the press. Cliff Steele refers to himself as "a robot man", but I think that's a description rather than a name. In fact, he's referred to as Automaton in a couple issues before he's ends up being called Robotman in #84. Rita Farr is original called Elasti-Woman, and actually gets the name Elasti-Girl the same issue that Cliff gets the Robotman name. The irony is that so far The Chief has only been referred to by his alias, rather than his real name (Niles Caulder).
Bruno Premiani is the perfect artist. A stylist but skilled at rendering at the same time. I like that his Robotman is lithe rather than bulky. And the action sequences are really creative. Drake and Premiani have thus far avoid getting stuck in ruts. They come up with fresh ways of using their heroes powers in concert. Something that also refreshing is how misunderstandings between the characters are worked out without twisting the knife too long. No super-dickery. They come across as friends. Having said that, there is a bit of verbal sparring between Cliff and Larry, as if Drake is toying with idea of a love triangle over Rita.
I'm really looking forward to reading more.
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Post by beccabear67 on Jul 7, 2020 0:02:49 GMT -5
I read three My Greatest Adventure: Doom Patrols, including the first one, and then something like 75% of the series from #86-121. There was the addition of Mento, the intro for Beast Boy, a Challengers cross-over, and the final issue where the main four are seemingly killed is what I remember. It seemed to go a bit stagnant with the same villains reappearing, it really needed someone to come in with new ideas to have kept going. I read Webspinners: Tales Of Spider-Man #1 circa 1999 written very well by J. M. DeMatteis set sometime after Amazing Spider-Man #38 and focusing on Mysterio with A Guy Named Joe also appearing. I have #2-6 on deck waiting over the next few nights. The art is very 'out there' (except for the back-up in #1 by John Romita Sr.) but the writing more than makes up for that. I like Mysterio more now I know he had a favorite teddy...
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Post by dbutler69 on Jul 7, 2020 15:42:11 GMT -5
I read two amusing superhero comics over the past couple of days: The Legion #31 (Chuck and Gates accidentally release an experimental nanite-swarm on the Legion Outpost, and chaos ensues as they try to corralle it) and Blue Devil Annual #1 (with a bunch of magical guest stars, plus the mysterious Black Orchid).
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Post by tartanphantom on Jul 7, 2020 22:17:58 GMT -5
I read two amusing superhero comics over the past couple of days: The Legion #31 (Chuck and Gates accidentally release an experimental nanite-swarm on the Legion Outpost, and chaos ensues as they try to corralle it) and Blue Devil Annual #1 (with a bunch of magical guest stars, plus the mysterious Black Orchid). Ya know, that Blue Devil annual can be loosely considered to be the prototype for "Justice League Dark".... Blue Devil is a fun title overall.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2020 22:25:39 GMT -5
I read two amusing superhero comics over the past couple of days: The Legion #31 (Chuck and Gates accidentally release an experimental nanite-swarm on the Legion Outpost, and chaos ensues as they try to corralle it) and Blue Devil Annual #1 (with a bunch of magical guest stars, plus the mysterious Black Orchid). Ya know, that Blue Devil annual can be loosely considered to be the prototype for "Justice League Dark".... Blue Devil is a fun title overall.
but then wouldn't the gathering of those heroes in Moore's Swamp Thing story in Swamp Thing Annual 2 predate that as the first prototype for JLD? Swampy Annual went on sale in Oct 84 as an '85 annual, Blue Devil wasn't until Aug '85 (using on sale date's at Mike's Amazing site). -M
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Post by tartanphantom on Jul 7, 2020 22:44:59 GMT -5
but then wouldn't the gathering of those heroes in Moore's Swamp Thing story in Swamp Thing Annual 2 predate that as the first prototype for JLD? Swampy Annual went on sale in Oct 84 as an '85 annual, Blue Devil wasn't until Aug '85 (using on sale date's at Mike's Amazing site). -M Excellent point... but don't tell the speculators and flippers that-- apparently they're spec'ing on that BD annual as a JLD prototype appearance. Hey, I don't speculate, just telling you what I've seen fairly recently. It's kind of like the "first" Teen Titans appearance in Brave and the Bold #54 isn't really the Teen Titans at that point-- but that doesn't stop folks from jacking the price, claiming that it is, on a "retcon" basis.
Personally, I think retconning is a ridiculously lazy way for a modern writer to make their story "fit" continuity.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2020 22:57:03 GMT -5
but then wouldn't the gathering of those heroes in Moore's Swamp Thing story in Swamp Thing Annual 2 predate that as the first prototype for JLD? Swampy Annual went on sale in Oct 84 as an '85 annual, Blue Devil wasn't until Aug '85 (using on sale date's at Mike's Amazing site). -M Excellent point... but don't tell the speculators and flippers that-- apparently they're spec'ing on that BD annual as a JLD prototype appearance. Hey, I don't speculate, just telling you what I've seen fairly recently. It's kind of like the "first" Teen Titans appearance in Brave and the Bold #54 isn't really the Teen Titans at that point-- but that doesn't stop folks from jacking the price, claiming that it is, on a "retcon" basis. Personally, I think retconning is a ridiculously lazy way for a modern writer to make their story "fit" continuity.
eh tell that to Stan and Jack with Avengers #4 and Cap, or Subby the stumblebum in FF, the first two major retcons of the MU, or Julie Shwartz with Earth-2, another major retcon. I still believe retcon is a label fans throw on changes they don't like to denigrate it, but avoid using the label on changes they like even when they are retcons because they don't want to admit they are. And thanks for the heads up of a sort on the Blue Devil annual. I "collect" PhantomStranger appearances and that i one I don't have, so I will have to grab a copy before prices become stupid. -M
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Post by dbutler69 on Jul 8, 2020 8:58:39 GMT -5
Excellent point... but don't tell the speculators and flippers that-- apparently they're spec'ing on that BD annual as a JLD prototype appearance. Hey, I don't speculate, just telling you what I've seen fairly recently. It's kind of like the "first" Teen Titans appearance in Brave and the Bold #54 isn't really the Teen Titans at that point-- but that doesn't stop folks from jacking the price, claiming that it is, on a "retcon" basis. Personally, I think retconning is a ridiculously lazy way for a modern writer to make their story "fit" continuity.
eh tell that to Stan and Jack with Avengers #4 and Cap, or Subby the stumblebum in FF, the first two major retcons of the MU, or Julie Shwartz with Earth-2, another major retcon. I still believe retcon is a label fans throw on changes they don't like to denigrate it, but avoid using the label on changes they like even when they are retcons because they don't want to admit they are. And thanks for the heads up of a sort on the Blue Devil annual. I "collect" PhantomStranger appearances and that i one I don't have, so I will have to grab a copy before prices become stupid. -M I guess I'm lucky. I got it in a dollar bin (along with a bunch of other Blue Devils) 5 or so years ago.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jul 8, 2020 13:17:22 GMT -5
I read Unseen Peanuts, which is a collection of Peanuts comics never (or very rarely) reproduced. It was interesting. The strips come with a little introduction often speculating as to why each particular strip hadn't been reproduced. Sometimes because of some out of date reference, some because, frankly, they weren't very good, and a variety of other reasons.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jul 8, 2020 14:11:06 GMT -5
I read Batman #404 (Batman: Year One part 1) and Sub-Mariner #30. Batman's a classic, of course. I'm not actually a huge fan of the art here, but the story is very well done. Sub-Mariner's a fairly standard Silver Age Marvel tale. Not that that's a bad thing, though. A little tussle between Nammy & Marv, then they team up to tackle some rich, evil dude who want's to pollute the oceans. By the way, Namor and Captain Marvel both fly into space to toss a bomb. I didn't know Namor could do that? I wasn't even 100% sure that Marv could either, for that matter.
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Post by MDG on Jul 8, 2020 15:45:26 GMT -5
I read Batman #404 (Batman: Year One part 1) ... Batman's a classic, of course. I'm not actually a huge fan of the art here, but the story is very well done..... Wow--the art's all I remember from that story 'cause I liked it so much.
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Post by earl on Jul 8, 2020 20:04:49 GMT -5
I like Grant Morrison's comics, but there are a few of these. I know Alan Moore and Michael Moorcock think it is a bit more than a nod or homage.
The whole thrown back through time while everything thinks they are dead element of Batman RIP is pretty much what happens to Captain America in Brubaker's run.
There are quite a few elements of Annhilator that seem pretty much similar to the whole thing that happened to Philip K Dick that informed a couple of his novels (and a cool story done by Robert Crumb about the episode).
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