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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 27, 2021 18:59:17 GMT -5
Green Lantern ends up written in a limited manner. Many years ago for the KLORDNY A.P.A. I wrote a 40-page article about the history of GREEN LANTERN (based on my relatively-limited experience & knowledge of it over a lot of years).
The gist of it was... DC had been SCREWING over the series for decades, and Denny O'Neil in particular had been SCREWING over Hal Jordan from the moment he first got involved... and that involvement wound up taking up decades, either as writer or editor.
For someone as anti-establishment as O'Neil was, and who had an open, admitted contempt for police, O'Neil had to be the LEAST-appropriate writer or editor imaginable to ever be involved in a series about a SPACE COP. From the word go, he set out to make Hal look bad, he had Ollie continually harp on how Hal was wrong about every single issue and situation, and as the years dragged on and on and on, he KEPT screwing the guy's life and both careers over relentlessly.
I lived thru the entire ACTION COMICS WEEKLY debacle as it was happening. As editor, O'Neil oversaw the senseless, pointless BRUTALLY-VIOLENT murder of Katma Tui... and it went downhill from there picking up speed as it went.
By the time Andy Helfer came back, it was a long, slow, painful uphill battle just trying to undo all that damage. And then Kevin Dooley, who I remember being a nice guy BEFORE he was ever hired by DC, let a promotion go to his head, and he turned into Denny O'Neil Jr. ON STEROIDS.
I swear, it wasn't until 15 years after that, with GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH and the subsequent GL CORPS spin-off that the whole concept of the GLC finally began to be portrayed as it had always deserved, but until then, NEVER had been. And even then, Geoff Johns, who seems to be schizophrenic when it comes to his writing (he's alternately "fixing" characters, or, causing MORE new damage than anyone ever imagined before him) kept things from getting as good as they might, particularly when he began his interminably never-ending "Sinestro Corps" storyline.
I never would have imagined it... but the 2011 Ryan Reynolds film is my FAVORITE version of GL I have ever, ever seen. For the most part, THEY got it "right"! How in the hell did something THAT good bomb at the box office?
I like the GL film too. I can’t say I’m surprised it didn’t do well. It didn’t take itself way too seriously.
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Post by spoon on Feb 27, 2021 19:39:44 GMT -5
Green Lantern ends up written in a limited manner. Many years ago for the KLORDNY A.P.A. I wrote a 40-page article about the history of GREEN LANTERN (based on my relatively-limited experience & knowledge of it over a lot of years).
The gist of it was... DC had been SCREWING over the series for decades, and Denny O'Neil in particular had been SCREWING over Hal Jordan from the moment he first got involved... and that involvement wound up taking up decades, either as writer or editor.
For someone as anti-establishment as O'Neil was, and who had an open, admitted contempt for police, O'Neil had to be the LEAST-appropriate writer or editor imaginable to ever be involved in a series about a SPACE COP. From the word go, he set out to make Hal look bad, he had Ollie continually harp on how Hal was wrong about every single issue and situation, and as the years dragged on and on and on, he KEPT screwing the guy's life and both careers over relentlessly.
I lived thru the entire ACTION COMICS WEEKLY debacle as it was happening. As editor, O'Neil oversaw the senseless, pointless BRUTALLY-VIOLENT murder of Katma Tui... and it went downhill from there picking up speed as it went.
I hadn't remembered that O'Neil was the editor at the beginning of the ACW Green Lantern run. That was really a scorched earth approach to the series. Let's grind what remains of the GLC cast into the ground.
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Post by spoon on Feb 27, 2021 19:43:07 GMT -5
I forgot to mention something in my Green Lantern post that may be of interest to CCF Podcast listeners. In the bunch of Green Lantern issues I just read, Professor Ojo, who is apparently a villain from Richard Dragon Kung Fu Fighter shows up. Also, there's an appearance by G.O.O.D. From what I recall listening to the podcast, they were also from the Richard Dragon series.
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Post by commond on Feb 28, 2021 6:03:44 GMT -5
I finished Machine Man. I wouldn't call the writing awful. It might have been a better story in another writer's hands, but it felt like standard Marvel writing. My biggest problem with it was the pacing. There were some nice elements like the relationship between Machine Man and Jocasta, but they weren't given time to fully resonate. Everything was rushed and the ending was underwhelming. The art was great, but the series as a whole wouldn't make any "Best of" lists.
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Post by kirby101 on Feb 28, 2021 9:17:55 GMT -5
I read Kirby's The Demon from an Omnibus sale at Comixology. What a fun series. After the Fourth World was cancelled, Kirby came up with this series while out at dinner with his family (true story). Maybe the simpler nature of the concept allowed him to play more. Lots of Kirby Kreatures and more self contained stories. I liked some more than others. The Phantom of the Opera riff was too long, but the Frankenstein and werewolf issues were good. And maybe the most underrated character he created, the delightfully evil Klarion the Witch Boy with his cat Teekl (and their relationship is a little unwholesome) . All in all a good read with some top 70s Kirby art. Especially those two page spreads that were becoming his signature.
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Post by Batflunkie on Feb 28, 2021 10:43:55 GMT -5
I read Kirby's The Demon from an Omnibus sale at Comixology. What a fun series. After the Fourth World was cancelled, Kirby came up with this series while out at dinner with his family (true story). Maybe the simpler nature of the concept allowed him to play more. Lots of Kirby Kreatures and more self contained stories. I liked some more than others. The Phantom of the Opera riff was too long, but the Frankenstein and werewolf issues were good. And maybe the most underrated character he created, the delightfully evil Klarion the Witch Boy with his cat Teekl (and their relationship is a little unwholesome) . All in all a good read with some top 70s Kirby art. Especially those two page spreads that were becoming his signature. Like I said when I bought the paperback collection of it, I drank it up like a man dying of thirst. Kirby may not have enjoyed writing it as much as his other works, but man if it isn't an enjoyable romp. Can't wait for the re-release of OMAC in August either, love that series
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Post by profh0011 on Feb 28, 2021 13:46:25 GMT -5
Make sure you read the English fanzine OMAC #9 for the conclusion of the 3-PART STORY. DC should have licensed it to include it in collections, but apparently haven't. To me, it's BETTER than EVERY botched attempt at a revival done since. All of them. link
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 1, 2021 10:15:03 GMT -5
I read Tarzan #15-24 from the 1977 Marvel series, a ten-part "Blood Money and Human Bondage" story. It was excellent, in spite of the fact that it starts with one creative team (David Kraft, John Buscema, and Klaus Jansen with Bob Hall as editor) and finishes with a completely different team (Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, and Pablo Marcos/Bob Hall with Al Migrom as editor). I finished the whole Marvel run. It was pretty good, though it did go through a lot of creators and editors in just 29 issues. I've just read the first issue from DC's 1972 Tarzan series. It's a fairly faithful retelling of Tarzan's origin, or at least the first part of that story. As a bonus, there's the first part an adaptation of the first John Carter, Warlord of Mars story, A Princess of Mars. I have to say, I prefer John Buscema's Tarzan (Marvel) to Joe Kubert's (DC) in terms of the art, anyway.
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 1, 2021 10:20:39 GMT -5
I also finished reading Star Trek #9-16 from DC's 1984 series. This was a really good 8-parter ("The Mirror Universe Saga")where Kirk and the Enterprise from the Mirror Universe (from the Star Trek: TOS episode "Mirror, Mirror") are the vanguard of an invasion of the mirror universe into "our" universe, and it's up to the "real" Kirk and crew of the Enterprise to stop them!
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Post by EdoBosnar on Mar 1, 2021 12:01:19 GMT -5
(...) I have to say, I prefer John Buscema's Tarzan (Marvel) to Joe Kubert's (DC) in terms of the art, anyway. Agree 100%. I consider John Buscema's version the definitive comic-book Tarzan, followed by his kid brother, Sal. Everyone else comes after those two. I thought the stories were well done, too, despite the frequent changes to the creative teams. Those are my favorite Tarzan comics - it's too bad the omnibus announced a few years ago was cancelled.
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 1, 2021 13:05:50 GMT -5
(...) I have to say, I prefer John Buscema's Tarzan (Marvel) to Joe Kubert's (DC) in terms of the art, anyway. Agree 100%. I consider John Buscema's version the definitive comic-book Tarzan, followed by his kid brother, Sal. Everyone else comes after those two. I thought the stories were well done, too, despite the frequent changes to the creative teams. Those are my favorite Tarzan comics - it's too bad the omnibus announced a few years ago was cancelled.
I didn't know an omnibus was planned. Yes, it's a shame that it was cancelled!
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Post by EdoBosnar on Mar 1, 2021 13:27:42 GMT -5
I didn't know an omnibus was planned. Yes, it's a shame that it was cancelled! Yes, it was announced a few years ago by Dynamite and it had the working title Tarzan: The Buscema Years. It would have collected the entire Marvel series, including the three annuals. There was even an Amazon listing. I had it on preorder for about 2 years, but the publication date kept getting pushed back, and then in mid-2019 I received notification from Amazon that they had cancelled the order "due to lack of availability," which I took to mean that the publisher decided to scrap the project.
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bran
Full Member
Posts: 223
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Post by bran on Mar 2, 2021 9:15:16 GMT -5
Last year I collected Akira again (that's what happens when you borrow), and that called for the 2nd read, nearly 20 years after the 1st read. It was absolutely worth to keep, and I can recommend Akira not just for reading but owning as well. Here are couple of comments: - Intro scene/exposition, first few pages (that were added to TPB issues) are somewhat misleading, but makes sense considering the big picture/later chapters. WWIII is over and done with, years past by, state, civilization and everything else is restored - except there are still some big sites where nothing was rebuilt (just a rubble) and there are other sites where new, huge military-scientific complexes were built, mostly underground (presumably on several levels in depth). Gang of juvenile delinquents that we follow does not care much about the past, just like their predecessors - the youth in 1930s (after WWI), and 1960s (after WWII); They are however drawn, you can guess, to only 2 places where they are not allowed to be - destroyed sites and military sites (which are in some cases one of the same). Otomo of course grew up in the 1960s, so he is familiar with all that. - Second volume takes place almost entirely in one of those humongous underground complexes, our characters are sneaking through ventilator shafts, elevators, side corridors, you've seen it in video games. The only things is - these games drew from Akira, we are talking 3rd generation of first person shooters, those that came in the 90s (Half-Life comes to mind, I'm sure many other, very iconic scenery). - Central character in Akira is not the guy from the cover (Kaneda; Kaneda is more like vessel for us to use, someone to identify with with) and it ain't the guy from a title (Akira), it's Tetsuo! - Action is done exceptionally well and in samurai tradition - everything is a weapon - standard guns, automatic rifles, huge laser guns, craw bars, doors, tanks, even the puke LOL. Weapons - Another aspect widely adapted, or just coincidentally developed as well, in FPSs, except for the puke.
Here are our ESPN-like commentators, but for comics, and they are spot on:
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Post by profh0011 on Mar 2, 2021 10:36:25 GMT -5
CLASSIC ADVENTURE STRIPS #10(Dragon Lady Press / Apr'87) Some years back, I read one of the 2 different large hardbound BUCK ROGERS collections I have, which covered huge swaths of continuity from early in the run, a bit later in the run, and the end of the original run (1930s, 40s & 60s). I remember at the time being actually annoyed with the early part of the run, which focused, in my mind, far too much on "post-apocalyptic" storytelling. It was almost like " AXA" without the hot half-naked babe. The 40s stuff was a lot more interesting and fun, but both suffered, in my eyes, from rather CRUDE, and dare I say, excessively "old-fashion" art. For a "futuristic science fiction" series, it looked like something out of the 19th Century. Imagine my shock when the 60s strips, with art by GEORGE TUSKA, turned out to be the best-looking and best-written part of the collection. There was no doubt in my mind from that moment that nearly-nothing Tuska did for Marvel was even HALF as good as what he did in the newspaper comics. So a few months back, I re-read the Western BUCK ROGERS tv-movie-pilot comic for the first time in 40 years. Not bad. The 3 chapters were done by 3 different artists (not a way to go, but I suppose it was their way of getting such a big story out FAST without the art being rushed). Although the writing was on the STIFF side, ironically, big chunks of the story made FAR MORE SENSE than either the feature film or re-edited TV versions of the pilot were. I continue to wonder if there ever was an earlier cut of that film, before it was relentlessly tampered with, and had several chunks of the story CUT OUT for one reason or another. If there were, I'd sure like to see it. I feel certain that earlier version of the pilot would be BETTER than either of the ones audiences actually got to see. So while re-filing a pile of magazines and TPBs, I ran across this oddity, the only issue of this anthology (which apparently only ran for 12 installments) to feature BUCK ROGERS. And, it's a chunk of the newspaper strip oddly NOT even touched on in either of the 2 large hardbound collection. The writing is by someone named Bob Barton. The art is by MURPHY ANDERSON. Whoa!!!!! Here's a rare instance where someone who worked in the papers and later worked in the comic-books actually got WAY BETTER when he worked for the comic-books. But what I see here is already WAY better than the artists he replaced, and arguably a bit better (or at least on a similar level) with George Tuska later on. This is apparently near the beginning of Anderson's run on the strip, but the earliest episodes were missing. Also, the story, which goes on and on and on in the manner of many newspaper serials or BAD movie serials, is like a non-non-non-stop obstacle course of dangers with the bad guys (who are really VISCIOUS, BLOODTHIRTSY MURDEROUS megalomaniacs planning to kill MILLIONS of people just to enslave whoever's left alive after) constantly having the upper hand. That can get tiresome after awhile. I just sat thru the JACK ARMSTRONG, ALL-AMERICAN BOY movie serial, and got extremely annoyed at the rampant stupidity of the "heroes" less than a third of the way in, and it almost never got any better. I'm sure some might say, " Well, that's just how newspaper adventure strips were", but see, I've read enough in my lifetime to know that not all of them were created equal. I've read enough stories of MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN, THE PHANTOM, BUZZ SAWYER, and in more recent decades, AXA, JAMES BOND 007 and even better, MODESTY BLAISE to know the difference between REALLY GOOD writing, somebody who's just phoning it in. Before I re-read this, I was pondering the possibility of somebody, just for once, adapting a comic-strip ACCURATELY, including who the main characters are, what they look like, their costumes, their weapons, their spaceships and even the architecture. Yet here I've just plowed thru this Murphy Anderson story (which, maddeningly, was cut off before we found out the fate of the 2 main baddies, who we saw escaping with Buck in hot pursuit), and I'm not so sure. Funny thing... military General Pierce looks an AWFUL lot like actor William Gould, who played "Air Marshal Kragg" in the 1939 BUCK ROGERS serial.
Main villain "Dr. Modor" and his henchmen had weird eyes that almost reminded me of "Kanjar Ro" from DC, but his daughter "Futura" looked human. She also reminded me of the "Ardala" from the TV series, particularly her 2nd appearance there, where she was planning to murder everyone on Earth (except for Buck). As for looks, she reminded me of some of the "bad girls" from the 1958 MIKE HAMMER TV series.
This comic had me wondering why the 1979-80 TV series had Dr. Huer in charge of the military, instead of merely being the chief scientist, with someone else in charge of the military, as in the comics and movie serial.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 2, 2021 14:50:17 GMT -5
Edge of Chaos #1-3
Entertaining little mini-series by Gray Morrow, in which a hairy-chested self-made businessman from our epoch is yanked away from his sailboat and sent far into the past by the power of exiled space aliens who were clearly the inspiration for the Greek gods!
Eric Cleese (Hercules? Get it? So subtle!) is supposed to act as the aliens' champion, the latest in a series of unfortunate would-be heroes who are no longer among us on the grounds of premature departure from this mortal coil. His mission? To stop the shenanigans of one Moloch, a renegade alien scientist obsessed with bringing his wife back to life. As long as Moloch continues his immoral biological experiments and seeds chaos of the Earth of long ago, the aliens won't be allowed to go back to their planet (their bosses being quite strict when it comes to the Prime Directive).
The story has the joyful and tongue in cheek quality of an old Hercules movie, and Eric Cleese really looks like Steve Reeves. I wouldn't say that the plot makes a lot of sense, but I don't think that's what we expected from it.
This being a Pacific Comics book, Morrow doesn't have to heed the comics code; he doesn't shy away from partial or complete nudity and his dialog is often quite colourful.
The colouring on my copy of issue #3 is off; it seems extremely pale and very yellow. But apart from that glitch, this is a trio of issues that looks pretty good.
Pacific Comics had a lot of good stuff, didn't it?
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