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Post by berkley on Jun 8, 2020 13:41:55 GMT -5
Not liking the artwork samples on many of these - those BW ones look awful.
It was interesting to see how, when I image-searched Marvel Graphic Novel Siver Surfer, alongside the Homecoming samples there were also a lot of images for another Sufer GN, Enlsavers, with art by Keith Pollard. I had looked up the Pollard GN a few weeks back, as I like Pollard 's artwork when he inks himself, and thought it was good enough but not exceptional, but seeing it in juxtaposition to Homecoming it looks like a million bucks.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 8, 2020 20:53:03 GMT -5
Marvel was just so directionless after Shooter was ousted. there were still good books; but, DeFalco didn't really have a vision for the company and they just went with whatever was selling and then just beat you over the head with it. Having the McAndrews group as the bosses didn't help, by the 90s. Things weren't great by the time Shooter was shoved out; but, their batting average was better. DeFalco got a lot of people to come back (hence the Roy Thomas Conan books and such); but, I don'tr know that some of them were exactly brimming with great ideas. Then again, everyone was chasing the speculator dollars.
I think Marvel wasted an opportunity with their Graphic Novel line and the bulk of what they published in it was no different than their average comic. There is some really good stuff in there; but, you wade through a lot of average to get there. DC wasn't any better, though their sci-fi graphic novel line at least attempted to be something different.. Prestige Format books changed the dynamics, as you could do a graphic novel kind of thing in a package the size of your average comic, only thicker. They, trade collections kind of stole the thunder, to where the OGN is rarer.
First Comics did a good job, in my opinion, with both originals and their collected edition albums, for things like Elric and American Flagg. Love the Beowulf one that Jerry Bingham did. Eclipse had some good ones, too,.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 10, 2020 16:33:33 GMT -5
Marvel Super Special #23, Annie Um..................yeah. Audiences didn't quite agree with Burgess. It earned $57 million on a budget of 50 million. Creative Team: Tom DeFalco-writer/adapter, Win Mortimer-pencils, Vince Coletta-inks, George Roussos & Marie Severin-inks, Jim Salicrup-editor Synopsis: At The Hudson Street Orphanage, young Annie dreams of her lost parents, holding half a locket that was left with her. Another child cries out in a nightmare and a fight starts when others complain and in comes the evil Miss Hannigan, who runs the place and the whole thing is pretty F-ed up...  This stuff is pretty dark, without the music! It's pretty dark with the music; but, yeesh! Annie busts out of the joint, hidden in a laundry hamper (what, the kids can't do laundry, on top of everything else in the place?) and ends up on the streets, where she saves a stray dog from some punks who are terrorizing it. She goes off and tries to lose it, but ends up saving him from the dog catcher, naming him Sandy...  Arf! Finally, the cops nab her and drop her back in stir. Annie sneaks Sandy in, but Miss Hannigan catches it and is going to send him to the sausage factory (nah, dogs end up in baloney, not sausage. I heard it on the playground!) when she is interrupted, Grace Ferrel, secretary to Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks, munitions manufacturer, war profiteer, friend of the plutocrat and ardent Roosevet hater. He needs to shine up his image and she has suggested test driving an orphan.  Annie goes off to stay at Daddy Warbucks mansion, where she meets his exploited minority servants....  Warbucks arrives, demonstrates a lack or taste in art and misogyny, as he declares he wanted a boy. He rolls with it and harrumphs off. Later, Annie can't sleep and she and Sandy help rescue Daddy Warbucks from an evil Commie...  Annie then names 8 orphans with Communist sympathies and Sandy rats out the neighbor's cat. Annie makes herself a pest, while Warbucks profits on world unrest, then he takes her to the movies to get her out of his.....scalp? He was going to assign the task to Mis Ferrel, then Annie guilts him into doing it himself, while he orders his manservant to buy out the theater. They go watch the film at Radio City Music Hall, alone, with their own performance of the Roquettes. The next day, Mis Ferrel asks if they can keep Annie, like she is a cocker spaniel puppy. He ends up agreeing, because he has the hots for his secretary.  Warbucks goes to the orphanage and coerces Mis Hannigan in signing the adoption papers (uh...the court has to handle that). Daddy Warbucks then tells Annie and justifies being a money-grubbing SOB, who got rich exploiting the workers for low wages and adding to the misery of the world through instruments of death. At least Alfred Nobel had guilt and created the Nobel Prize to give something back.  He presents a new locket to Annie; but, she rejects it and speaks of her missing parents. Warbucks orders his minions to offer up a reward for info leading to Annie's parents. Miss Hannigan and her conniving brother and his wife plot a con to get the money. meanwhile, Annie meets FDR and Daddy Warbuck takes a cyanide pill, when FDR asks him to head a social program to house and feed the poor.  Leapin' Lizards! It turns out Annie's parent were killed in a fire and Miss Hannigan has the other half of the locket. She gives it to her brother, Rooster, to use. One of the orphans hears and plots to warn Annie. Rooster and his wife collect Annie and a fat check and she goes with them, then spots Miss Hannigan with them. The orphans bust out of the joint and go to squeal. They get to Warbucks who calls out the guard and they chase after Rooster and the gang. Annie tricks Rooster in pulling over the car, for a slash, then runs off with the check, climbs up bridge ghirders, with Rooster out to kill her. Miss Hannigan does a face turn and stops Rooster and Punjab rescues Annie, because Warbucks isn't going to get his hands dirty. They go home and have the big finale and John Huston yells "cut" and "That's a wrap," then gets drunk. The audience goes out to the lobby and the enarest restroom to give their opinion of the sap and sugar they just ingested. Thoughts: Nothing spectacular in the special, though Mortimer does a decent job with the story. He was experienced with lighthearted comics, at DC (and also ghosted Batman, in the 40s) and was also noted for doing art for coloring books, for Western/Whitman (he also drew Battle of the planets, for Western/Gold Key/Whitman). He isn't flashy; but, he gets the job done. Annie was a Broadway smash, adapting the popular comic strip for the stage, with built in commentary about creator Harold Gray's Hooverist ideology and the fact that Daddy Warbucks made his fortune selling and manufacturing arms. Gray was very conservative and felt all the poor needed was hard work and imagination. He despised FDR and the New Deal and killed off Warbucks, during the war, only to revive him after FDR's death, waking him from a coma, saying there is a "Change in the air." Will Eisner later lampooned him (and Al Capp and Chester Gould) in a Spirit strip, where the comic creators were drawn in the style of their strips (Gray had black dots for eyes). There was originally a Mrs Warbucks, who was a real nasty piece of work, who sent Annie back to her Dickensian orphanage a few times, before Daddy got rid of her (probably Punjab or Asp, at night, with a scarf to the neck). The strip was noted for lecturing readers about hard work, while massive unemployment crippled the nation, in between battles with pirates and commies. Gray never met a union activist he didn't like and the idea of Daddy Warbucks, his mouthpiece, working for FDR would have turned him into an axe-wielding homicidal maniac. So, some good came out of those awful songs! Okay, Andrea McCardle, the original Annie, on Broadway, did a pretty good on "Tomorrow;" but, Aileen Quinn was no Andrea McCardle and her wig was terrible. That sung was the bane of every parent's existence as some kid belted it out, without any concept of music. The film featured a pretty good cast, stuck with lousy material and a director who wasn't right for musicals. You can't get drunk with your lead, after shooting, when it's a kid. Edward Herrmann plays FDR, for the third time (he did two interrelated tv mini-series about FDR). Albert Finney makes the same mistake he did with Scrooge, by trying a musical. Tim Curry was there, as Carol Burnnett's brother, Rooster and Bernadette Peters was the wife. The film found a home on home video and cable, with little girls and women adoring it, while anyone without a tin ear ran screaming from the room. Okay, I confess....my sister liked it, which bears some influence on why I hate the film. Not because she liked it; but, I had to hear it...constantly. Once again, Marvel tries adapting a musical and finds that it doesn't work as well as a comic. Still can't understand why they didn't do a Super Special for Saturday Night Fever or Grease. Even Thank God It's Friday. Disco Stu would approve!
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 21, 2020 14:25:04 GMT -5
Marvel Super Special #24, The Dark Crystal Creative Team: David Anthony Kraft-writer/adapter, Brett Blevins-pencils, Vince Coletta-figure inks, Rick Bryant & Richard Howell-background inks; Steve Oliff, Louise Jones (Simonson), Kate McQuaite, Deb Pedler, Eliot R Brown, John Morelli, Brett Blevins, & Patricia Blevins-colors; Janice Chiang-letters, Weezie-editor Lot of cooks in this one; but, then again, the movie had two directors: Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Synopsis: A weird looking dude, named Jen (a gelfling, which is like an elf crossed with a gelding, I guess...) is playing his Y-pipe when a creepy little dude tells him his master needs him. He runs into a cave and finds the old dude babbling about a crystal that Jen must make whole. He is sent to find a shard of the Dark Crystal, to restore it, but told that the evil Skeksis, who rule everything and have slaughtered the gelflings, will be after him. So, sucks to be you, boyo!  The master does a Yoda and fades out. Jen sets off, after being told that only he can do it and if he fails the world will descend into craptitude. No pressure... The Skeksis, a bunch of vulture-looking types, are gathered as their emperor is dying and the knives are being drawn to see who will rule. Skeksil has his sights set on it and grabs the sceptre when it falls out of the emperor's hand; but, he snatches it back and then dies. So, Skeksil isn't the chosen one; but, he is the ambitious one. At the gathering of the ruling 9, Skekung grabs the sceptre and claims rule, but is challenged...  He and his rival have three chances to shatter a stone, with their cutlasses. The one who does it wins. Skeksil doesn't win. The chamberlain becomes ruler and sees a vision of Jen, in the Dark crystal. He screeches for him to be killed. Jen heads to Aughra, to find the shard and meets up with yet another weird person and is shown into a planetarium...  Hope they do Laser Floyd! Jen has to figure out which of several is the right shard and plays a bit of music, which reveals it. Then, the place is attacked by crabs. Jen heads to the drugstore and gets some crabicide and escapes, but Aughra, the keeper of the place is captured. Jen runs into a forest and deals with deadly things, then meets Kira, a gelfling chick. He better hope I'm not right about the gelding part. They touch hands and get visions of each other's past. Kira extricates Jen from the swamp and they see other creatures and the Skeksis watch. She takes him to meet the Pop People, while Joel and the Bots look on and riff. The crabs return and the couple scatter. They whine through the forest, Jen tosses the shard and finds a hidden temple of the Ancient Ones, with a prophecy about a gelfling restoring the Dark Crystal and all that.  They run into a Skeksis who has aided them and says he is tired of the killing, but they run away from him. The other vulltures torture a fuzzy friend of Kira's for intel. The two travel by a camel with delusions of grandeur  rescue some people in a net, fall over the side and Kira reveals she has fairy wings, because she is a girl. They go spelunking and run into the Skeksis again, and argue. They don't trust them, so he buries Jen and captures Kyra, taking her back to the others. The outcast is Skeksil, who lost the challenge (hard to tell, at first). She gets tortured and her fuzzy friend wakes Jen, who receives psychic contact. Kyra awakens bugs and crawlies with her screams, which attack the vulture. Aughra tells her she is too late. She runs off to find Jen...  Jen heads for the Skeksis place, sneaks in, is reunited with Kyra and restores the shard to the crystal...  Kyra lays dying, but, some ethereal dudes tell Jen to carry her into the light. Thoughts: I skipped this when it was in theaters. Just didn't pull me in and everything looked a little too weird, for my tastes. I did later see Labyrinth, which was more of a fairy tale than a quest fantasy. The film has devoted fans, but got mixed reviews, on release. The story here is fine, if a bit convoluted and derivative. Blevins handles things well enough for what this is, though I doubt Coletta helps much. It's fine, but not rally my cup of tea. Production photos and articles follow. Characters and creatures were designed by Brian Froud, who made a career out of drawing weird creatures, and would work on Labyrinth. Next, Debbie Harry teams up with the studio that produced Strawberry Shortcake specials, animation for the Star Wars Holiday Special (with you know who introduced), For Better For Worse and would do the Care Bears Movie. Find out what happens when this Blondie meets Nelvana, for a film that neither rocked nor ruled.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 21, 2020 14:29:06 GMT -5
ps I've still got a little ways to go, before I hit the end of Marvel Super Special. After that, I will hit Amazing Adventures, since that had multiple features (though with longer runs) and then I will transition into the team-up books, Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-in-One. Though both featured the same lead, it had rotating guest stars, which made them misfit enough for me; plus, they had chapters of stories and finishes for stories; so, why not?
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 21, 2020 14:42:50 GMT -5
Loved The Dark Crystal when I was younger (the Garthim haunted my dreams). It's main issue is that it's a very simple story, much like Labyrinth and Legend. Age Of Resistance is a better experience overall, but the original still has a really great style and atmosphere
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 21, 2020 16:28:45 GMT -5
Loved The Dark Crystal when I was younger (the Garthim haunted my dreams). It's main issue is that it's a very simple story, much like Labyrinth and Legend. Age Of Resistance is a better experience overall, but the original still has a really great style and atmosphere Yeah, I have nothing against the film, but was in high school and it seemed more of a kid's film, with weird looking puppets. In 1982, I was more interested in things like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Blade Runner (though I wouldn't see that until several years later), Conan, and Tron. Just one of those films I never sat down and watched, later, like The Neverending Story and similar films. I'm more of the Escape to Witch Mountain and Golden Voyage of Sinbad era of children's films, plus the Star Wars generation. Dark Crystal wasn't Muppety enough looking for me or heroic adventure enough seeming for my teenage tastes. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 21, 2020 16:42:12 GMT -5
ps I've still got a little ways to go, before I hit the end of Marvel Super Special. After that, I will hit Amazing Adventures, since that had multiple features (though with longer runs) and then I will transition into the team-up books, Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-in-One. Though both featured the same lead, it had rotating guest stars, which made them misfit enough for me; plus, they had chapters of stories and finishes for stories; so, why not? I'm looking forward to those team-up books! |
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 21, 2020 17:55:45 GMT -5
Yeah, I have nothing against the film, but was in high school and it seemed more of a kid's film, with weird looking puppets. In 1982, I was more interested in things like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Blade Runner (though I wouldn't see that until several years later), Conan, and Tron. Just one of those films I never sat down and watched, later, like The Neverending Story and similar films. I'm more of the Escape to Witch Mountain and Golden Voyage of Sinbad era of children's films, plus the Star Wars generation. Dark Crystal wasn't Muppety enough looking for me or heroic adventure enough seeming for my teenage tastes. I think the biggest draw of it was and still is the sheer breadth of accomplishment when it came to the puppetry. To my knowledge, The Dark Crystal was the first instance of animatronics |
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Post by badwolf on Jun 22, 2020 8:32:43 GMT -5
Was the Dark Crystal Super Special recolored from the comic book (or vice versa)?
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 22, 2020 21:17:13 GMT -5
Was the Dark Crystal Super Special recolored from the comic book (or vice versa)? Far as I know, the story was done specifically for the Super Special magazine format, on better paper. I never saw it in the wild and the examples I posted are from a digital source, scanned from the magazine. I wouldn't think they would mess with recoloring, though the newsprint for the 2 issue adaptation might have altered the appearance of the colors. Newsprint has a greyness built into it (then, anyway) and the magazine stuff (for the Super Specials) was a white paper. Can't recall if they used a gloss or a matte white, as I have no examples anymore. I seem to recall it appearing flatter, in the For Your Eyes Only and Raiders adaptations, which I had, which would be a matte paper. |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jun 23, 2020 16:50:06 GMT -5
Was the Dark Crystal Super Special recolored from the comic book (or vice versa)? GCD credits George Roussos with the colouring on the comic book reprints of Dark Crystal. |
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Post by badwolf on Jun 23, 2020 17:41:01 GMT -5
Was the Dark Crystal Super Special recolored from the comic book (or vice versa)? GCD credits George Roussos with the colouring on the comic book reprints of Dark Crystal. Ah thanks, I knew it looked different than the comics I remembered having. You don't see the above type of coloring in the newsprint mags. |
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Post by MDG on Jun 23, 2020 17:59:27 GMT -5
GCD credits George Roussos with the colouring on the comic book reprints of Dark Crystal. Ah thanks, I knew it looked different than the comics I remembered having. You don't see the above type of coloring in the newsprint mags. Well, the magazine was probably photo-separated while the regular book was still hand-cut seps |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 28, 2020 15:31:48 GMT -5
Marvel Super Special #25, Rock & Rule Ha, ha.....I get it, it's a take off of rock and roll....ha,ha...... Based on that, I have no idea what this film is about, except cartoon bondage, Heavy Metal wannabe imagery, and something about Cocteau and discos. Creative Team: Adapted by Bob Budiansky and Clive Smith, script by Bill Mantlo, Michael Higgins-letters, Budiansky edits. Oh, Kirby; this does not sound good...... Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic future, the world is populated by mutants, evolved from the animals that survived the holocaust (cats, dogs, rats, etc...). One of them, Mok, is a rock star who is on the downslide and is looking for a comeback. His computers seek to decode the link between dimensions, so he can summon a demon and the key seems to be a unique voice. He will search for that voice. Apparently, it is the girl singer, Angel, who is part of a small band playing small clubs. Omar is the other singer and huitarist, while Stretch and Diz make up the rest of the band...  Mok hears Angel and invites the band to his place, to woo Angel. He introduces them to his goons, The Rollerskating Schlepper Brothers...  Omar seems less than impressed and Mok passes out drugs so he can be alone with Angel and make his pitch. The band wakes up to find Angel gone with Mok, to Nuke York and go after. Mok learns that another force can send the demon back, but doesn't know who the singer of the song is. Angel meets up with a Schlepper Sister. Mok fools Omar into believing Angel is now his girl and she refuses to sing with him. He then forces the issue...  Mok does a number, then Angel is chained up and wired into a synthesizer and plays Fay Wray...  The boys turn up and Omar & Angel sing the song that sends the demon back and one of the Schlepepr's does a Vader toss of Mok down into the pit. The end. Thoughts: Meh..... Pretty derivative story, art is based on the animation and looks like Don Bluth meets Ralph Bakshi, as rendered in Heavy Metal. It doesn't amount to much on the page. I've never seen the film, so I can't really comment, but the trailer doesn't make me want to watch. One of the versions is on Youtube. The film was the product of Nelvana, the Canadian animation studio that was responsible for some tv specials based on the comic strip For Better For Worse, the Boba Fett segment of the Star Wars Holiday Special (the guy who voiced Boba Fett does Mok and also did voices for Heavy Metal), the Droids and Ewoks series and a bunch more (including a rather good Cadillacs & Dinosaurs). It started out as a sequel to their tv special The Devil and Daniel Mouse. Funding came from the CBC, in exchange for tv rights and United Artists made a deal to distribute it. Their merger with MGM led the project getting pretty much dumped, after they insisted on a better known actor voicing Omar and Paul LeMat (American Graffiti) redubbed the dialogue. Debbie Harry and Chris Stein did a song and Harry sang, Cheap Trick did 3 songs and Lou Reed and Iggy Pop did songs. No one got to see them, as it got a limited release...in Boston. The CBC showed it with a pre-show warning and it got re-edited for a second release attempt, then was released on VHS and laserdisc and was shown on HBO and other cable movie channels. Like Heavy Metal, it was a favorite of bootleg video dealers, as the VHS went out of print quickly (you could find it in some Blockbuster and other video rental stores) and eventually got a dvd and Blu-ray release, after achieing cult status. I can't understand why, looking at the trailer and reading this; but, maybe it played better than was shown. Or maybe I haven't done enough drugs (Drugs are bad, m'kay?) I'm talking about the comic and the story isn't much. I've seen this sort of thing before and done with far more style and wit. Michael Higgins claimed it sold well, despite the film not getting a wide release, which I have to question. Maybe it did in places where Heavy Metal sold well or that audience picked it up because there wasn't much else. It looks like they copied the animation cells, in the art, which does lend it a more unique look; so, I can see, maybe, that a HM crowd or stoners might go for it. The script is what you would expect from Mantlo, on something he didn't originate. Nothing inspired, nothing horrible....just nothing particularly intriguing. Looking at this and the trailer, I still think I will stick with American Pop and I thought that was too long and never set up the ending. Next time, Bond is back, with a title that will get me in trouble if I make a joke, but will remark that Fleming created it and he was a rather kinky fellow.
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