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Post by berkley on Feb 21, 2019 18:32:39 GMT -5
Squadron SupremeI just having a hard time looking at this group because... I'm having a hard time parsing the contents of some of those ballons. Arcanna and Lady Lark in particular seem to be suffering from brain trauma. What's the context here? Looks like a misguided attempt at humour, to be charitable - the lines give to those two in particular seem to be pretty questionable, and I'm having a difficult time imagining any context that would make them acceptable. Who was the writer, I wonder? It almost reads like some bad fan-written thing done online, rather than anything from a professional. Could it have been one of those write-the-caption contests or something?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2019 18:35:46 GMT -5
I'm having a hard time parsing the contents of some of those ballons. Arcanna and Lady Lark in particular seem to be suffering from brain trauma. What's the context here? Looks like a misguided attempt at humour, to be charitable - the lines give to those two in particular seem to be pretty questionable, and I'm having a difficult time imagining any context that would make them acceptable. Who was the writer, I wonder? It almost reads like some bad fan-written thing done online, rather than anything from a professional. Could it have been one of those write-the-caption contests or something? I'm pretty sure someone took a piece of art from a handbook somewhere and added captions via photoshop or something similar. -M
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2019 18:49:31 GMT -5
Squadron SupremeI just having a hard time looking at this group because... I'm having a hard time parsing the contents of some of those ballons. Arcanna and Lady Lark in particular seem to be suffering from brain trauma. What's the context here? Ignore them completely ... enough said here.mrp got the right answer here ...
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Post by Phil Maurice on Feb 21, 2019 18:59:12 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure someone took a piece of art from a handbook somewhere and added captions via photoshop or something similar. -M In hindsight, Amphibion's line should have tipped me off. At least Golden Archer has a funny (and era-appropriate) line.
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Post by Batflunkie on Feb 21, 2019 20:25:29 GMT -5
Gambit. Can't see the appeal. Have tried reading various stories, but his popularity baffles me. I don't think he's particularly fun to draw (I have tried that, too), and he's somewhere between dull and ordinary. As stupid as this sounds, one of the reasons why I liked Gambit was that he was from New Orleans, where I grew up. We unfortunately don't get a lot of superheroes down south Hal Jordan Let's give the ring to the most uptight un-imaginative, dull as dishwater character. Yeah, he's Paul Newman but man he is vapid as hell. Hal's a clear-cut Maverick archetype. He's got a problem with authority, rules, confines of any possible kind and he prefers to fly in blind than to actually think about stuff......and usually I enjoy characters like that. Han Solo, Kirk, etc. But with Hal......it often feels like he's just a huge idiot who can barely function as an adult. He doesn't strike me as a free spirit as much as someone trying to avoid being accountable for his own actions. I've always seen Hal as more of an avatar for the reader. I like the guy because I grew up with Silver Age reprints of him, but I'll be the last to come to his defense For me, it's Punisher Let's start with the fact that he is a cheap rip-off of Mack Bolan, from Don Pendleton's Executioner series of novels; pretty much a carbon copy, with a skull on his shirt. Next, add the fact that he was so poorly written, for so long. I read a chunk of the Executioner series and the subsequent revamp that was done (working for the government as a counter-terrorist agent); and, Pendleton and the other writers had better plots and wrote a more realistic, if fantasized character. Also, although Bolan took on armies of mob hoods, he did it with military strategy and weapons and Pendleton, at least, worked out the gun battles to give them some semblance of logic and possibility. Punisher just randomly sprays bullets and gets saved by magic kevlar armor. For what artists depict, he would be carrying around 200lbs of trauma plating and kevlar fiber, to the point he'd be bulkier than the Hulk. He started out as a Marine, then was turned into a special warfare god, by writers who can't even identify correct service uniforms, let alone have any knowledge. You don't need to have first-hand experience, if you do even basic research; but, no one ever did. Don't get me started on those excremental Nam issues with that s@#$-bird! Totally ruined what was still a pretty decent comic (though it was a shade of the first year and a ghost of Vietnam Journal). It was okay when he made occasional appearances, like in Captain America (the one with the Miller cover), where Cap still thinks he is scum, but they work together against a common foe. Then, thanks to the 80s cinematic fascination with automatic weapons an vigilante heroes, he got what pro wrestling calls "a push." Next thing you know, he's got two regular series, all kinds of specials and guest appearances and never so much as changes a magazine. Anybody causing that much carnage is going to be facing a government task force (Bolan did, by his third novel), let alone a superhero posse that has had enough. To sum up: UUUuuggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!! Punisher has only really rubbed me the right way when he's over exaggerated like in the early Garth Ennis Punisher, Punisher 2099 or Space Punisher If you want to read a more interesting interpretation of the character, I implore you to seek out Valiant's Bloodshot USAgent. That midpoint between tough guy antihero and insufferable ass. Just an awful character. John Walker/Super Patriot/USAgent is a guilty pleasure of mine and I really can't think of a legitimate reason as to why other than he provides an interesting couterpoint to Steve's more liberal approach to the country as a whole Also kind of surprised no one has mentioned Nomad or Azazel yet. Love 'em both as I'm kind of sucker for a journeyman wanderer/ loner
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Post by berkley on Feb 22, 2019 2:21:44 GMT -5
I can think of two general classes of superheroes that I will almost always dislike on sight:
1. those characters habitually written in such a way as to downgrade other characters, no matter which, in order to make them more impressive.
2. those derived from a previously established character, usually with a slight variation in name and/or costume, often with a change in gender (usually from male to female, given the nature of superhero comics as a genre).
In the first category I include what might seem a surprisingly diverse set, in other respects: e.g. Superman, Batman, Wolverine, the Hulk, Thanos, Lobo. But any character can be written this way by a bad (or lazy or tired or deadline-pressured, etc) writer and while I might dislike that particular version or appearance (and probably the entire story it appears in), it won't turn me against the character unless it's repeated ad nauseum over a number of years..
The second category is obviously comprised for the most part of all those female knock-offs of popular male characters, e.g. She-Hulk, Thor-Girl, 'She-Thor', Ms. Marvel, Captain 'She-Marvel', Spider-Woman, the various Bat- and Super-women/girls, and so on.
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Post by tarkintino on Feb 22, 2019 5:27:11 GMT -5
I can think of two general classes of superheroes that I will almost always dislike on sight: 1. those characters habitually written in such a way as to downgrade other characters, no matter which, in order to make them more impressive. 2. those derived from a previously established character, usually with a slight variation in name and/or costume, often with a change in gender (usually from male to female, given the nature of superhero comics as a genre). In the first category I include what might seem a surprisingly diverse set, in other respects: e.g. Superman, Batman, Wolverine, the Hulk, Thanos, Lobo. But any character can be written this way by a bad (or lazy or tired or deadline-pressured, etc) writer and while I might dislike that particular version or appearance (and probably the entire story it appears in), it won't turn me against the character unless it's repeated ad nauseum over a number of years.. The second category is obviously comprised for the most part of all those female knock-offs of popular male characters, e.g. She-Hulk, Thor-Girl, 'She-Thor', Ms. Marvel, Captain 'She-Marvel', Spider-Woman, the various Bat- and Super-women/girls, and so on. Fascinating. Some might say your first category actually applies to your second. That's what some are saying about the forthcoming movie version of Captain Marvel.
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Post by elcadejo on Feb 28, 2019 12:33:49 GMT -5
The second category is obviously comprised for the most part of all those female knock-offs of popular male characters, e.g. She-Hulk, Thor-Girl, 'She-Thor', Ms. Marvel, Captain 'She-Marvel', Spider-Woman, the various Bat- and Super-women/girls, and so on.
I mainly agree with you, although some of these knock-offs (not all) have gone on to become worthy characters in their own right. I thought Ms Marvel was a waste of space, but given that Mar-Vell is deceased and given Carol's long history, she's filled his boots admirably (and better than all the other "Mar-Vell Junior" types who preceded her).
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Post by Duragizer on Feb 28, 2019 13:20:01 GMT -5
For too long a time, I was a "plainclothes superheroes are best" kind of guy. This guy's atrocious outfit didn't help alleviate that condition.
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Post by rberman on Feb 28, 2019 13:26:09 GMT -5
For too long a time, I was a "plainclothes superheroes are best" kind of guy. This guy's atrocious outfit didn't help alleviate that condition. Supervillain furries need a support group.
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Post by Rob Allen on Feb 28, 2019 13:39:27 GMT -5
Charlton's 1964 version of Blue Beetle, by Joe Gill and Tony Tallarico. He wasn't annoying, just really bad - dull, hackneyed and uninteresting. It was so bad that I avoided all Charlton comics for almost a decade. That mummy might as well have been dead.
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Post by badwolf on Feb 28, 2019 14:21:44 GMT -5
The second category is obviously comprised for the most part of all those female knock-offs of popular male characters, e.g. She-Hulk, Thor-Girl, 'She-Thor', Ms. Marvel, Captain 'She-Marvel', Spider-Woman, the various Bat- and Super-women/girls, and so on. Generally I agree with you, but Spider-Woman is a completely different character, totally unrelated. I never felt like she was a knock-off.
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Post by james on Mar 1, 2019 5:39:43 GMT -5
Angel. He flies. Big deal so do 90% of all heroes. Even as Archangel the only thing new that i can remember is he was able to shoot razor sharp "feathers" from his wings. He wasnt remotely interesting to me. Only thing I ever liked was his costume in the 80's especially drawn by Byrne. Did I miss something? Second on the list Iceman. Boring!
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Mar 1, 2019 6:12:22 GMT -5
I can think of two general classes of superheroes that I will almost always dislike on sight: 1. those characters habitually written in such a way as to downgrade other characters, no matter which, in order to make them more impressive. 2. those derived from a previously established character, usually with a slight variation in name and/or costume, often with a change in gender (usually from male to female, given the nature of superhero comics as a genre). In the first category I include what might seem a surprisingly diverse set, in other respects: e.g. Superman, Batman, Wolverine, the Hulk, Thanos, Lobo. But any character can be written this way by a bad (or lazy or tired or deadline-pressured, etc) writer and while I might dislike that particular version or appearance (and probably the entire story it appears in), it won't turn me against the character unless it's repeated ad nauseum over a number of years.. The second category is obviously comprised for the most part of all those female knock-offs of popular male characters, e.g. She-Hulk, Thor-Girl, 'She-Thor', Ms. Marvel, Captain 'She-Marvel', Spider-Woman, the various Bat- and Super-women/girls, and so on. Fascinating. Some might say your first category actually applies to your second. That's what some are saying about the forthcoming movie version of Captain Marvel. "This movie I haven't seen totally sucks!" Comic fans are the worst. I dunno, berkley, I kinda feel like every character is derivative of someone. Batman was one of dozens of costumed crime-fighters of the '30s and there wasn't much that made him unique 'till Robin came along. The Lee and Kirby Thor started as an (honestly pretty bad) mash-up of Superman and the Fawcett Marvel Family. Although there's only one Captain Marvel who headlined the best-selling superhero comic of all time*. and all these Marvel copyright placeholders trying to steal his name are a poor reflection. I give that SPLIT guy a pass, though. He was hilarious. * On an ongoing issue by issue basis, not counting '90s speculator bait #1s with 6 variant covers that nobody ever read.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Mar 1, 2019 6:16:41 GMT -5
For too long a time, I was a "plainclothes superheroes are best" kind of guy. This guy's atrocious outfit didn't help alleviate that condition. Supervillain furries need a support group. Razorback is a hero, Razorback is awesome, he's got a beautiful convoy, rockin' through the night!
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