|
Post by Cei-U! on Jul 22, 2014 13:11:33 GMT -5
I saw Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe in a local book store the other day and had a quick flick through it. It looked to be pretty well written and the excerpts I read definitely grabbed my interest straight away. I'm seriously thinking about picking it up, but I wanted to get some opinions on it first from the folks here. I'm sure a few of you must've read it...is it worth buying? It's not a bad read, especially when dealing with the business aspects of Marvel's history, but I'd approach it with a fair bit of skepticism. Most of his creator quotes are culled from 30-year-old fanzine interviews and I caught him in more than one misstatement about character histories. That said, I think Howe treats the parties in opposing various controversies with a reasonably even hand. If he has an axe to grind, he hides it well. Cei-U! I summon the cautious recommendation!
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jul 22, 2014 13:26:30 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Jul 22, 2014 13:37:13 GMT -5
Sean Howe is a member of one or more mailing lists that I'm on, and he seems pleasant enough. He also has a tumblr: seanhowe.tumblr.com/ which has a way to communicate with him if you want.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 22, 2014 16:55:12 GMT -5
Supergods is unreadable tripe. The Sean Howard book is generally pretty good. probably could have used another round of editing...there are some obvious mistakes, but it's very readable and interesting.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Jul 22, 2014 17:00:20 GMT -5
I always like to compare Jim Shooter to Mussolini, because the main thing his supporters seem to bring up in his defence is that he made the trains run - er, I mean, the comics come out - on time.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,760
|
Post by shaxper on Jul 22, 2014 19:07:13 GMT -5
My two cents on Shooter has always been as follows:
He's brilliant in many respects and is a favorite writer of mine, but he makes for a terrible editor. At virtually every job he's ever had, he's managed to piss off all his colleagues and alienate himself. I think the problem is that Shooter often does know best and doesn't know how not to say so. Even the editorial mandates of his that didn't work out probably would have worked out if Shooter had been writing those titles, but he was a micro-manager and didn't afford creators the freedom and dignity they needed with which to be productive (even if Shooter's ideas often were good ones). Even the oft-mocked grounding of Thor mandate, making him abandon the whole Norse mythology bit in order to be a Manhattan superhero, COULD have worked under the right writer. In many ways, it could have been akin to what Kirby tried to do by grounding the Silver Surfer, but it doesn't work when you're imposing it upon a writer who doesn't share your vision.
|
|
|
Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jul 22, 2014 19:08:32 GMT -5
Lewis Black is a very funny man. I am not politically affiliated with either side, but like John Stweart I like how he takes neither side and roasts them both.
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 22, 2014 19:19:32 GMT -5
The big mystery in New York City this morning was who and why did someone plant white flags on the Brooklyn Bridge towers,replacing the American flags.And with permanent security men at the Bridge,who fell asleep and let it happen.Security cameras might reveal something Did we surrender Brooklyn today? Or are these homing signals for visiting time travellers?
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,760
|
Post by shaxper on Jul 22, 2014 19:21:32 GMT -5
The big mystery in New York City this morning was who and why did someone plant white flags on the Brooklyn Bridge towers,replacing the American flags.And with permanent security men at the Bridge,who fell asleep and let it happen.Security cameras might reveal something Did we surrender Brooklyn today? Or are these homing signals for visiting time travellers? That's actually really unsettling. I couldn't imagine living in NYC these days, knowing that you're the prime target for any given terrorist attack on the US. Something like this, probably done as a stupid prank, would freak me out for sure.
|
|
|
Post by zryson on Jul 22, 2014 20:15:28 GMT -5
Donated a big stack of comic books to charity earlier this week alongside some toys. I also gave away my old digital camera since I have upgraded to a newer model. One of my friends isn't too happy with me donating. He thinks its silly. But he doesnt understand. When I was growing up, we were poor. So we relied heavily upon charity. It was also secondhand bookstores which played a big influence upon my early comic books days. It helped me to get more into a hobby I otherwise could not have afforded.
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Jul 22, 2014 20:30:10 GMT -5
Donated a big stack of comic books to charity earlier this week alongside some toys. I also gave away my old digital camera since I have upgraded to a newer model. One of my friends isn't too happy with me donating. He thinks its silly. But he doesnt understand. When I was growing up, we were poor. So we relied heavily upon charity. It was also secondhand bookstores which played a big influence upon my early comic books days. It helped me to get more into a hobby I otherwise could not have afforded. You're awesome, my friend.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,760
|
Post by shaxper on Jul 22, 2014 21:39:12 GMT -5
Donated a big stack of comic books to charity earlier this week alongside some toys. I also gave away my old digital camera since I have upgraded to a newer model. One of my friends isn't too happy with me donating. He thinks its silly. But he doesnt understand. When I was growing up, we were poor. So we relied heavily upon charity. It was also secondhand bookstores which played a big influence upon my early comic books days. It helped me to get more into a hobby I otherwise could not have afforded. Amazing way to pay it forward, Z.
|
|
|
Post by Action Ace on Jul 22, 2014 22:10:14 GMT -5
Donated a big stack of comic books to charity earlier this week alongside some toys. I also gave away my old digital camera since I have upgraded to a newer model. One of my friends isn't too happy with me donating. He thinks its silly. But he doesnt understand. When I was growing up, we were poor. So we relied heavily upon charity. It was also secondhand bookstores which played a big influence upon my early comic books days. It helped me to get more into a hobby I otherwise could not have afforded. This reminds me that I need to start shopping around for great sales on school supplies to give to local charities.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2014 22:39:39 GMT -5
After reading Supergods I finally understood why Morrison went from being one of my favorite writers during his Animal Man-Doom Patrol-early Invisibles period to someone really didn't care to read any more afterwards. The switch coincided with his discovery he was an avatar of the dimensional fictions gods while having a near death experience in Asia after a bad trip, and his work went from telling stories to conducting metafiction experiments...or some such. Pretty much around that point in time I found his rich character work on characters like Danny the Street, Buddy Baker, Lord Fanny, Crazy Mary and the like disappeared to be replaced with stuff that resembled plot puppets in the service of his big ideas...
I know a lot of people still adore his work, but almost everything he has done post-Invisibles has left me cold.
As for the Howe book, I see it getting a lot of good reactions generally, and I have only skimmed through sections, when I borrowed it form the library, but it seemed quite readable prose (something some non-fiction writers haven't mastered) and interesitng, I just haven't had time to go back and read it in full.
-M
|
|
|
Post by hondobrode on Jul 22, 2014 23:07:32 GMT -5
Supergods is unreadable tripe. The Sean Howard book is generally pretty good. probably could have used another round of editing...there are some obvious mistakes, but it's very readable and interesting. Haven't read Supergods. I have read Howe's book, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Slam, what inaccuracies were in the book ? It's seemed pretty solid to me.
|
|