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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 21, 2019 10:15:26 GMT -5
One of my favorite JSA/JLA crossovers. Me too! I have it digitally from Comixology. I think I'm about due to read it again! I bought it because I love the Debbie Domaine Cheetah so much, but it's so great all the way though!
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 21, 2019 11:21:58 GMT -5
I have it digitally from Comixology. I think I'm about due to read it again! I bought it because I love the Debbie Domaine Cheetah so much, but it's so great all the way though! I also love the George Perez art! Luckily I bought them all on the newsstand and still have those issues.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 21, 2019 12:45:04 GMT -5
Speaking of lovely art by George Perez: Sachs & Violens (tpb 2006, orig. pub. 1993/94) I seem to recall that this rather recently came up in another thread, possibly one of codystarbuck's review threads, but I can't seem to find it. Anyway, I enjoyed this well enough, but will freely admit that that's largely due to the gorgeous art by Perez, and I'm not just talking about the racy (hell, outright cheesecake) images of the various female characters. The art as a whole - figures, backgrounds, panel design etc. - is just top-notch, so the whole book is a visual treat. The story, though, is a solid, somewhat gritty (but not grim) action piece, but nothing groundbreaking or deep - even though David did touch on serious real-world issues like the exploitative nature of the darker corners of the porn industry and child trafficking. Basically, the overall tone is akin to one of those popcorn action films.
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 21, 2019 13:05:56 GMT -5
This might be a good place to ask if there is any basis to my suspicion that Starfire was based on Charo at all?
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 21, 2019 13:57:01 GMT -5
Maybe, if it's established somewhere that Kory/Starfire could play the guitar like nobody's business:
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 14:22:19 GMT -5
beccabear67 ... I have a friend that's think so and he told me so. However ... it is not confirmed. To me, I think so because he said that when we were talking about the Teen Titans as a group. Your hunch is an educated guess and it's a good one too.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 21, 2019 15:21:21 GMT -5
Speaking of lovely art by George Perez: Sachs & Violens (tpb 2006, orig. pub. 1993/94) I seem to recall that this rather recently came up in another thread, possibly one of codystarbuck 's review threads, but I can't seem to find it. Anyway, I enjoyed this well enough, but will freely admit that that's largely due to the gorgeous art by Perez, and I'm not just talking about the racy (hell, outright cheesecake) images of the various female characters. The art as a whole - figures, backgrounds, panel design etc. - is just top-notch, so the whole book is a visual treat. The story, though, is a solid, somewhat gritty (but not grim) action piece, but nothing groundbreaking or deep - even though David did touch on serious real-world issues like the exploitative nature of the darker corners of the porn industry and child trafficking. Basically, the overall tone is akin to one of those popcorn action films. I bought the original, because of Perez, in the 90s; but, was lukewarm on the story. It isn't bad but, David is a bit tame for the material. Not necessarily the subject matter; just the grittier, hard-boiled nature of things. I met David at Gen-Con after 1 or two issues had come out (and there was a delay in the series, at one point), and tried asking about the genesis of some of the ideas and in-jokes inserted; but, got a rather general answer, as it was in a signing line and he didn't have time to really talk. Over time, especially after learning of some of Perez's outside comics projects, I kind of figured out who likely contributed what. For instance, the satire of Barney is likely David's, as s a visual gag with speed dial notations for CBG, Betty & Veronica and Betty Page, on a phone (though both probably suggested names for it). The picture of Franco Saudelli's The Blonde (a comic book character of his whose stories were reprinted by fantagraphics Eros line), right above a receptionist who ends up tied up by JJ Sachs, is probably Perez, as probably is a reference to Darla Crane, a model for Olivia De Beradinis and a fetish model.
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 21, 2019 19:24:24 GMT -5
This might be a good place to ask if there is any basis to my suspicion that Starfire was based on Charo at all? I've never seen Perez mention it in an interview and he's usually pretty forthcoming about his influences. That said, it's not impossible. I never noticed the resemblance before but I can see how someone might come to that conclusion.
Cei-U! I summon the coockie coochie coochie!
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Aug 22, 2019 8:56:56 GMT -5
I finished volume 2 of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman last weekend. My long-awaited read through of The Sandman continues... The first thing to say about The Doll's House is that it's definitely a lot more consistent than the previous volume, Preludes & Nocturnes. Gaiman really seems to be finding his groove now, when it comes to the tone of this series. However, while this volume might be overall a more consistent read than its predecessor, I don't think that the highs of this volume are anywhere near as high as the beautiful "The Sound of her Wings" chapter from the previous volume. So, while it might be a more consistent book, I wouldn't say it's necessarily a better one. The main thrust of the story in this volume concerns a young lady named Rose Walker, who we learn is a dream "vortex", which means that her existence erodes the barriers between dreams and threatens to destroy all dreamers minds. So, Morpheus must kill Rose, or else every dreamer will be destroyed by her. In the end, this doesn't happen and Morpheus spares her, but I won't spoil exactly what does occur. We also find out in this volume that Morpheus doesn't perpetually look like a pale, spikey-haired Goth: that's just his then-current (i.e. early '90s) look. He changes his appearance to fit whatever era he happens to be manifesting in, as illustrated in the "Men of Good Fortune" interlude, in which we see Morpheus visit a number of different decades, to meet up with an immortal human named Hob Gadling. Having shown us Dream and Death in the last volume, Gaiman here introduces us to Desire and Despair. Desire seems to be androgynous or non-gendered, and is clearly laying a trap for Morpheus, though we the readers aren't quite sure what he/she is up to yet. Actually, Morpheus doesn't play as large a part in this book as he does in the previous one, with Gaiman instead focusing on the journey of Rose Walker through America in search of her brother. And there's a nice Little Nemo homage in the depictions of her brother's dreams. Along the way, Rose encounters a convention for serial killers, which, while providing an entertaining set piece, does seem like a bit of immature, oh-so-edgy 1990s "adult" writing on the author's part. Gaiman is also still trying to shoehorn elements of DC's superhero continuity into the book, which I could kinda do without. Here we get a dream appearance by the Bronze Age-era superhero Sandman, who I personally know little or nothing about. We also meet his wife, Lyta, who has been pregnant for many years, without ever giving birth. Apparently Sandman is actually dead and has been living in the dream world on borrowed time. Morpheus released him, leaving Lyta angry and grieving. Morpheus then tells the expectant mother, "the child you have carried so long in dreams. That child is mine. Take good care of it. One day I will come for it." This, I assume, is something that will play a big part in future instalments of the series. All in all, I enjoyed this graphic novel, although their were parts of volume 1 that I enjoyed more. I'm still hooked on the story though, and am eager to begin reading volume 3, Dream Country. Gaiman seems to be setting up a lot of stuff for future story arcs in The Doll's House and I'm interested to see how this all works out and comes together. So yeah, The Doll's House is a good read, but, for me at least, The Sandman still hasn't really delivered anything to justify its towering reputation. Hopefully, it will before long.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 22, 2019 10:24:44 GMT -5
I finished volume 2 of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman last weekend. So, my long-awaited read through of The Sandman continues... The first thing to say about The Doll's House is that it's definitely a lot more consistent than the previous volume, Preludes & Nocturnes. Gaiman really seems to be finding his groove now, when it comes to the tone of this series. However, while this volume might be overall a more consistent read than its predecessor, I don't think that the highs of this volume are anywhere near as high as the beautiful "The Sound of her Wings" chapter from the previous volume. So, while it might be a more consistent book, I wouldn't say it's necessarily a better one. The main thrust of the story in this volume concerns a young lady named Rose Walker, who we learn is a dream "vortex", which means that her existence erodes the barriers between dreams and threatens to destroy all dreamers minds. So, Morpheus must kill Rose, or else every dreamer will be destroyed by her. In the end, this doesn't happen and Morpheus spares her, but I won't spoil exactly what does occur. We also find out in this volume that Morpheus doesn't perpetually look like a pale, spikey-haired Goth: that's just his then-current (i.e. early '90s) look. He changes his appearance to fit whatever era he happens to be manifesting in, as illustrated in the "Men of Good Fortune" interlude, in which we see Morpheus visit a number of different decades, to meet up with an immortal human named Hob Gadling. Having shown us Dream and Death in the last volume, Gaiman here introduces us to Desire and Despair. Desire seems to be androgynous or non-gendered, and is clearly laying a trap for Morpheus, though we the readers aren't quite sure what he/she is up to yet. Actually, Morpheus doesn't play as large a part in this book as he does in the previous one, with Gaiman instead focusing on the journey of Rose Walker through America in search of her brother. And there's a nice Little Nemo homage in the depictions of her brother's dreams. Along the way, Rose encounters a convention for serial killers, which, while providing an entertaining set piece, does seem like a bit of immature, oh-so-edgy 1990s "adult" writing on the author's part. Gaiman is also still trying to shoehorn elements of DC's superhero continuity into the book, which I could kinda do without. Here we get a dream appearance by the Bronze Age-era superhero Sandman, who I personally know little or nothing about. We also meet his wife, Lyta, who has been pregnant for many years, without ever giving birth. Apparently Sandman is actually dead and has been living in the dream world on borrowed time. Morpheus released him, leaving Lyta angry and grieving. Morpheus then tells the expectant mother, "the child you have carried so long in dreams. That child is mine. Take good care of it. One day I will come for it." This, I assume, is something that will play a big part in future instalments of the series. All in all, I enjoyed this graphic novel, although their were parts of volume 1 that I enjoyed more. I'm still hooked on the story though, and am eager to begin reading volume 3, Dream Country. Gaiman seems to be setting up a lot of stuff for future story arcs in The Doll's House and I'm interested to see how this all works out and comes together. So yeah, The Doll's House is a good read, but, for me at least, The Sandman still hasn't really delivered anything to justify its towering reputation. Hopefully, it will before long. Hob Gadling is one of my favorite comic characters of all time. One thing to keep in mind is that those books that became a part of the first Vertigo imprint (Sandman, Hellblazer, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing) were all intimately connected to the DCU. One of the earliest ads for the incipient imprint described it as a place to explore the dark weird corners of the DC Universe. So Gaiman felt like the needed to deal with the various Sandmans (Sandmen?) that went before. That's why we see Wes Dodds in the very early issue and why, here, we get him dealing with both Garrett Sanford (the second Simon & Kirby Sandman) and Hector Hall, who took Sanford's place. Hall had been the Silver Scarab, the son of the Earth-2 Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Hall had seemingly died in Infinity Inc. but Roy Thomas brought him back through comic book magic as Sandman (it was Roy who created the Garrett Sanford persona, S&K intended that the second Sandman be the mythological being). Lyta, his wife, was originally the daughter of Earth-2's Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor, but Crisis left her origin in tatters. You're absolutely right that both Lyta and the unborn child will become very important later on. Jed Walker, Rose's brother, was the Garrett Sandford Sandman's sidekick. So much to love in this storyline. Hob Gadling and Morpheus' meetings. The Cereal Convention. Nada's tale. Fiddler's Green.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2019 11:16:04 GMT -5
The New Teen Titans #1I've got a huge stack of these comics starting with Number 1 and work my way through.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Aug 22, 2019 11:41:13 GMT -5
One thing to keep in mind is that those books that became a part of the first Vertigo imprint (Sandman, Hellblazer, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing) were all intimately connected to the DCU. One of the earliest ads for the incipient imprint described it as a place to explore the dark weird corners of the DC Universe. So Gaiman felt like the needed to deal with the various Sandmans (Sandmen?) that went before. Ah, I see. OK, that makes a lot of sense. The appearances of various minor DC characters does seem out of place to me, but this at least justifies it somewhat. You're absolutely right that both Lyta and the unborn child will become very important later on. I thought so. I look forward to seeing how this story thread progresses. Jed Walker, Rose's brother, was the Garrett Sandford Sandman's sidekick. Right, I had no idea, but that makes sense too, givemn the red-and-yellow Sandman's appearances in Jed's "Little Nemo-esque" dream sequences. So much to love in this storyline. Hob Gadling and Morpheus' meetings. The Cereal Convention. Nada's tale. Fiddler's Green. Nada's tale in particular is very intriguing. Not least because the tribal elder who recounts the tale states that there are two versions of it -- one that the men folk tell, and one that the women folk tell. Obviously, we only get to hear the men's version of the story, since it's a man in the book who recounts it to a younger man. But I couldn't help thinking that Gaiman was also -- on a meta level -- making some kind of comment on the predominantly male readership of comics (especially back then!). Like, the book assumes that the reader will also be a male.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 22, 2019 11:51:37 GMT -5
So much to love in this storyline. Hob Gadling and Morpheus' meetings. The Cereal Convention. Nada's tale. Fiddler's Green. Nada's tale in particular is very intriguing. Not least because the tribal elder who recounts the tale states that there are two versions of it -- one that the men folk tell, and one that the women folk tell. Obviously, we only get to hear the men's version of the story, since it's a man in the book who recounts it to a younger man. But I couldn't help thinking that Gaiman was also -- on a meta level -- making some kind of comment on the predominantly male readership of comics (especially back then!). Like, the book assumes that the reader will also be a male. I don't want to spoil anything...and I don't think that I will. Gaiman tended to write arcs in the book that were more male-oriented and ones that were more female-oriented. For example "A Game of You" is considered to be a female arc while "Seasons of the Mist" is a male arc. I'm not sure that Gaiman necessarily planned it that way (I just can't recall at this point) but that's the response from fandom and critics. Sandman, as a comic, had what would be considered a large female following for the time. It was also one of the first comics that really took off in collected editions and thus with a broader audience than the "Wednesday Warriors" contingent. I do think that Gaiman tended, even from the get-go, to write stronger female characters than most of his peers, though I know that he would admit that he was not without fault in a number of his characters over the years.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 22, 2019 13:11:33 GMT -5
So blaming Confessor, I re-read Sandman #1 while semi-working. I've read the entire run of Sandman at least ten times. But I know I've read the earliest issues probably close to twenty. I've also read the Sandman Companion a couple times, various annotations and dozens of interviews with Gaiman and his collaborators. And I still find things I hadn't noticed before. In this case it is that Morpheus' word balloons (brilliantly lettered by Todd Klein) almost never actually point to his mouth. In fact his mouth is almost always closed while he's talking, whereas everyone else has the standard comic book open mouth with a word balloon tail pointing to it. And now I have to see if this continues through the series. Because if it's a conscious choice then Morpheus is likely projecting his voice without normal human talking. And that's super cool.
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 22, 2019 22:33:01 GMT -5
I finally made it to the finale for the '70s War Of the Worlds (aka Killraven) series. Very weird comic... not sure if it's a masterpiece or the best they could do to wrap things before cancellation. I do like how what seems a threat for most of the story turns out to be, well, whatever it is. Lovely to look at! I guess my next stop would be the '80s graphic novel? Or should I reread this after getting some medicinal herb from Maui?
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