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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 20, 2021 5:49:43 GMT -5
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Post by tingramretro on Oct 20, 2021 16:18:10 GMT -5
Never heard of him, and obscure characters are normally my thing. Still, definitely no connection to the original Ani-Men.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Oct 21, 2021 11:12:40 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 25, 2021 21:58:19 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #61"Why are the Fantastic Four trying to kill me?" "'cause........." Creative Team: Chris Claremont-writer, John Byrne-pencils, Dave Hunt-inks & colors, John Costanza-letters, Archie Goodwin-editor Synopsis: Spidey is cleaning up the mess from Equinox, when Thing takes a swing at him, Sue tries to bash him with an invisible battering ram and Reed tries to lasso him... Sue chokes him out with a bubble and Thing knocks him through a wall and out into the city. He's caught by Torch, who seems oblivious to what has happened and Spidey decides something is not kosher and snags a building with a web and Torch crashes. He's pretty hot under the collar, as well as above and asks Spidey, "WTF, dude?" Spidey says he was attacked by the FF and Torch says they aren't home and wouldn't attack him. Must be a phoney, then he realizes who could mimic their powers and heads back to the Baxter Building. He finds a clue.... Tigra brought the stick to the FF and Reed put it away, but Spidey's fight dumped it out. They still stand around like idiots and get ambushed by the Super Skrull, even though even Alicia saw it coming. Jean DeWolff is in her office, wrapping up paperwork from Equinox when the call comes in about trouble at the Baxter Building; it's her patch so she has tactical command. Oh, and SWAT is unavailable. She zips over, in her roadster and sees Torch and Skrull fighting, with Spidey popping in and out. Spidey gets knocked away and catches himself with a web and swings down to brief Capt. DeWolff. Spidey gets an idea and has the cops keep Skrull occupied. The cops have weapons designed by Reed. Spidey rigs up some electrodes, using a rail area and some cable. He pulls Torch out and the finish rigging the thing up . Then, we get some business of Carol Danvers witnessing things from a cruise ship and the Skrull homeworld monitoring the fight and adding power to Supie. Torch gets knocked goofy (er) and Spidey tries to sucker Supie into his electrical rig, but it doesn't work and Spidey makes like a chameleon and changes the color of his shorts... ...and then we get a "Tune in next time" for the next issue, with Ms Marvel. Thoughts: Lot of punching each other, not a lot of mystery or set-up. The electrical rig was inspired by The Thing From Another World. Too bad the plot wasn't. It's fine, but, we have to get next issue to finish things, which leaves me cold, when there isn't enough plot to justify things. 17 pages of story isn't enough to do much of anything and Claremont doesn't really try and 2 pages are spent referencing another comic I didn't read (or much care about, since it was Tigra, who has never done much for me). At least Byrne keeps the visuals lively, though, as before, his depiction of Jean DeWolff is rather masculine (apart from the obvious). Byrne got better with this; but, he's not an artist I would commission for cheesecake pin-ups. Claremont has some good issues in the works; but, he's having trouble getting going. We'll have to see if part two gives us more to work with or if it is going to be comic book pro wrestling, which is mostly what this was.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 25, 2021 22:41:03 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #61Thing and Starhawk! "The Coming of Her!" I think this will be useful for this.... Creative Team: Mark Gruenwald-writer, Jerry Bingham-pencils, Gene Day-inks, Joe Rosen-letters, Ben Sean-colors, Jim Salicrup-editor Synopsis: Someone has fished a rather large brown floating object out of the East River... Seriously need to do something about their sewage system. They look it over and then something breaks out of it. The figure flies off and heads for Soho, when Ben & Alicia are out on a date. they are interrupted by someone who uses too much bronzer.... Ben declares it "Clobberin' Time!", then gets blown across the room. Goldie tells Alicia she is there for her (Well, she's Her, but not She; Alicia is herself) and she (Her, not She) needs her help to find Him. Pronouns! Ben comes back and gets blasted across the room and outside the building. Goldie levitates Alicia and they fly away, as Ben climbs back up the building to find them (but not THEM) gone. They have gone to Riverside Park. Goldie relaters Her past and explains why she (Her) must find Him... Meanwhile, ben goes looking for help and no one is at the Baxter Building, nor at Avengers Mansion. Ben then uses some of Reed's gear to trace Her's cosmic trail. Then, Starhawk turns up, to add more pomposity... He thought Korvac might have been at work, but that mess is over. Ben and Starhawk go off to track down Her and Alicia (my grammar teacher is rolling over in her grave). At the park, Moondragon has interrupted Her and Alicia, so this just gets better and better and the pompous meter just exploded. Moondragon relates the story from a better writer.... The boys turn up and, apparently, it's a No-Y Zone and Her zaps them from the sky. Her seals Ben in concrete, but Starhawk breaks him (not Him, who's dead, but he'll get better) and then Moondragon brings in her ship and she and Her and Alicia (and a dog named Boo) fly off. Well, they are about to, when Starhawk tries to interfere, but Her is more powerful than him and she (Her, not Ayesha) sends him (Starhawk, not Warlock) hurtling away, to meet up with Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla and Albert Andreas Armadillo, while the girls fly off in search of Him (no idea if Gabriella Rafaella Sarsaparilla was onboard). Ben fails to stop them and fishes Starhawk out of the drink and vows to hunt them across the galaxy. Thoughts: Well, Gruenwald isn't Jim Starlin; but, his tale beats Chris Claremont's issue, from this cycle. There is mystery here, which makes it intriguing and we still get the pro wrestling stuff; but, there is a reason for the fighting. It takes a while for Starhawk to make his entrance, probably to this song..... So, there is enough plot to make the story seem substantial; but enough action to keep it from being total exposition, making for a nice balanced issue. Jerry Bingham is an undersung artist (probably because he wasn't that prolific, probably because of his speed) but he handles this stuff extremely well and Gen Day makes it all look nice and slick an appropriate for cosmic heroes. Letters page has praise for Project Pegasus and some pointed comments about blowing up Deathlok. They do point out that Luther Manning is still alive, as a clone, in the future. Well, Deathlok will turn up alive, too; so, he will have that going for him. Next issue features Counter-Earth, which I think is built out of formica......
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Post by tingramretro on Oct 26, 2021 10:28:00 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #61Thing and Starhawk! "The Coming of Her!" I think this will be useful for this.... Creative Team: Mark Gruenwald-writer, Jerry Bingham-pencils, Gene Day-inks, Joe Rosen-letters, Ben Sean-colors, Jim Salicrup-editor Synopsis: Someone has fished a rather large brown floating object out of the East River... Seriously need to do something about their sewage system. They look it over and then something breaks out of it. The figure flies off and heads for Soho, when Ben & Alicia are out on a date. they are interrupted by someone who uses too much bronzer.... Ben declares it "Clobberin' Time!", then gets blown across the room. Goldie tells Alicia she is there for her (Well, she's Her, but not She; Alicia is herself) and she (Her, not She) needs her help to find Him. Pronouns! Ben comes back and gets blasted across the room and outside the building. Goldie levitates Alicia and they fly away, as Ben climbs back up the building to find them (but not THEM) gone. They have gone to Riverside Park. Goldie relaters Her past and explains why she (Her) must find Him... Meanwhile, ben goes looking for help and no one is at the Baxter Building, nor at Avengers Mansion. Ben then uses some of Reed's gear to trace Her's cosmic trail. Then, Starhawk turns up, to add more pomposity... He thought Korvac might have been at work, but that mess is over. Ben and Starhawk go off to track down Her and Alicia (my grammar teacher is rolling over in her grave). At the park, Moondragon has interrupted Her and Alicia, so this just gets better and better and the pompous meter just exploded. Moondragon relates the story from a better writer.... The boys turn up and, apparently, it's a No-Y Zone and Her zaps them from the sky. Her seals Ben in concrete, but Starhawk breaks him (not Him, who's dead, but he'll get better) and then Moondragon brings in her ship and she and Her and Alicia (and a dog named Boo) fly off. Well, they are about to, when Starhawk tries to interfere, but Her is more powerful than him and she (Her, not Ayesha) sends him (Starhawk, not Warlock) hurtling away, to meet up with Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla and Albert Andreas Armadillo, while the girls fly off in search of Him (no idea if Gabriella Rafaella Sarsaparilla was onboard). Ben fails to stop them and fishes Starhawk out of the drink and vows to hunt them across the galaxy. Thoughts: Well, Gruenwald isn't Jim Starlin; but, his tale beats Chris Claremont's issue, from this cycle. There is mystery here, which makes it intriguing and we still get the pro wrestling stuff; but, there is a reason for the fighting. It takes a while for Starhawk to make his entrance, probably to this song..... So, there is enough plot to make the story seem substantial; but enough action to keep it from being total exposition, making for a nice balanced issue. Jerry Bingham is an undersung artist (probably because he wasn't that prolific, probably because of his speed) but he handles this stuff extremely well and Gen Day makes it all look nice and slick an appropriate for cosmic heroes. Letters page has praise for Project Pegasus and some pointed comments about blowing up Deathlok. They do point out that Luther Manning is still alive, as a clone, in the future. Well, Deathlok will turn up alive, too; so, he will have that going for him. Next issue features Counter-Earth, which I think is built out of formica...... I seem to recall they actually state that the human parts of Luther Manning (including his brain), which were supposedly removed from the cyborg, could still exist. I don't recall the Manning clone being mentioned.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 26, 2021 11:09:48 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #61Thing and Starhawk! "The Coming of Her!" I think this will be useful for this.... Creative Team: Mark Gruenwald-writer, Jerry Bingham-pencils, Gene Day-inks, Joe Rosen-letters, Ben Sean-colors, Jim Salicrup-editor Synopsis: Someone has fished a rather large brown floating object out of the East River... Seriously need to do something about their sewage system. They look it over and then something breaks out of it. The figure flies off and heads for Soho, when Ben & Alicia are out on a date. they are interrupted by someone who uses too much bronzer.... Ben declares it "Clobberin' Time!", then gets blown across the room. Goldie tells Alicia she is there for her (Well, she's Her, but not She; Alicia is herself) and she (Her, not She) needs her help to find Him. Pronouns! Ben comes back and gets blasted across the room and outside the building. Goldie levitates Alicia and they fly away, as Ben climbs back up the building to find them (but not THEM) gone. They have gone to Riverside Park. Goldie relaters Her past and explains why she (Her) must find Him... Meanwhile, ben goes looking for help and no one is at the Baxter Building, nor at Avengers Mansion. Ben then uses some of Reed's gear to trace Her's cosmic trail. Then, Starhawk turns up, to add more pomposity... He thought Korvac might have been at work, but that mess is over. Ben and Starhawk go off to track down Her and Alicia (my grammar teacher is rolling over in her grave). At the park, Moondragon has interrupted Her and Alicia, so this just gets better and better and the pompous meter just exploded. Moondragon relates the story from a better writer.... The boys turn up and, apparently, it's a No-Y Zone and Her zaps them from the sky. Her seals Ben in concrete, but Starhawk breaks him (not Him, who's dead, but he'll get better) and then Moondragon brings in her ship and she and Her and Alicia (and a dog named Boo) fly off. Well, they are about to, when Starhawk tries to interfere, but Her is more powerful than him and she (Her, not Ayesha) sends him (Starhawk, not Warlock) hurtling away, to meet up with Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla and Albert Andreas Armadillo, while the girls fly off in search of Him (no idea if Gabriella Rafaella Sarsaparilla was onboard). Ben fails to stop them and fishes Starhawk out of the drink and vows to hunt them across the galaxy. Thoughts: Well, Gruenwald isn't Jim Starlin; but, his tale beats Chris Claremont's issue, from this cycle. There is mystery here, which makes it intriguing and we still get the pro wrestling stuff; but, there is a reason for the fighting. It takes a while for Starhawk to make his entrance, probably to this song..... So, there is enough plot to make the story seem substantial; but enough action to keep it from being total exposition, making for a nice balanced issue. Jerry Bingham is an undersung artist (probably because he wasn't that prolific, probably because of his speed) but he handles this stuff extremely well and Gen Day makes it all look nice and slick an appropriate for cosmic heroes. Letters page has praise for Project Pegasus and some pointed comments about blowing up Deathlok. They do point out that Luther Manning is still alive, as a clone, in the future. Well, Deathlok will turn up alive, too; so, he will have that going for him. Next issue features Counter-Earth, which I think is built out of formica...... I seem to recall they actually state that the human parts of Luther Manning (including his brain), which were supposedly removed from the cyborg, could still exist. I don't recall the Manning clone being mentioned. I'm talking about the letters page; a letter mentions the clone, which is reiterated by the editor.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Oct 26, 2021 11:17:30 GMT -5
Those few of us who purchased Marvel Chillers, which ended on something of a cliffhanger (also drawn by Byrne), at least appreciated the follow-up. MTU was probably the best medium-profile comic to do something like this (they way they later finished off Skull the Slayer in MTiO, but less satisfactorily to my eyes).
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Post by badwolf on Oct 26, 2021 12:28:49 GMT -5
It's fine, but, we have to get next issue to finish things, which leaves me cold, when there isn't enough plot to justify things. 17 pages of story isn't enough to do much of anything and Claremont doesn't really try and 2 pages are spent referencing another comic I didn't read (or much care about, since it was Tigra, who has never done much for me). At least Byrne keeps the visuals lively, though, as before, his depiction of Jean DeWolff is rather masculine (apart from the obvious). Byrne got better with this; but, he's not an artist I would commission for cheesecake pin-ups. Tigra does a lot for me (rowr) but her Marvel Chillers run was so odd. Despite being (mostly) one story arc it had three writers and four artists and one issue seems to be a fill-in unrelated to the rest, so I imagine they had some trouble behind the scenes in producing it.
Personally I think this Claremont/Byrne run of MTU is a little overrated. I mean it is good, but it's not exceptional. There are other periods I like much better.
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Post by badwolf on Oct 26, 2021 12:40:26 GMT -5
Nice lighting in that scene. I like Jerry Bingham's art a lot too. I think I first noticed him on MTU circa issue #100. Also one part of the Serpent Crown Affair, coming up--an issue that for years I remembered as being drawn by George Perez (who did the other parts and also the cover.)
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 4, 2021 15:59:23 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #62Spidey & Miss Marvel! Sorry..... Ms Marvel! So, I guess Women's Liberation means she gets to take ownership of objectifying herself with revealing and impractical costuming? Or is it "empowering", like stripping, because she is in control of her own sexuality? Call it what you want, but it's still a boy's club. Creative Team: Chris Claremont-writer, John Byrne-pencils, Dave Hunt-inks & colors, John Costanza-letters, Archie Goodwin-editor Synopsis: When last we left them, The Human torch was down for the count and Spidey was left to face an amped up Super Skrull, alone. We join our fight, already in progress.... Capt. Jean DeWolff watches, as she is informed that no spandex-clad help is coming and Spidey is on his own. Spidey isn't exactly thrilled, himself. However, he notices that the Skrull's flamespray has petered out, before it nears him. He observes that his power seems to be reduced and the wire grid that he and Torch created has succeeded in at least interfering with the Skrull's power reception. Skrull notices it, too and blasts a generator and that is the end of the jammer. Spidey gets knocked unconscious and comes to as a reporter shoots his story at the battle site and interviews Jean DeWolff. She remarks that the Skrull made his escape, burning his way through her men. Spidey snags a ride from a passing helicopter and goes hunting. Elsewhere, a cruise ship, with "Woman" magazine writer carol danvers on board, is hit by the Skrull, who traces a signal on his Tri-scanner (so as not to get sued) to an antique dealer and a crystal, hidden inside a clay figurine. The crystal is the key to building a stardrive that would power a ship and get the Skrull off the planet. However, he soon runs into an enemy, in the red and blue form of Ms Marvel.... They fight and Ms Marvel hits him in the goolies! He reacts, as you would expect and hits her with a Thing rock fist punch, propelled by a Mr Fantastic elastic arm. He radiates hatred for her copy of the uniform of the Kree warrior Mar-Vell. MM gives as good as she gets and makes her fiery comeback (staple of every babyface) and knocks the crystal out of the Skrull's paw. She recognizes it as a Cavourite Crystal and HG Wells calls his lawyer. The distraction proves costly, as she gets knocked off the ship! She goes flying at the Statue of Liberty and barely escapes colliding, thanks to Spidey snaring her, thinking she is Mar-Vell, until he notices a fundamental difference.... no Nega-Bands! After being corrected on his nomenclature, the two compare notes. MM is intrigued by the description of the wire grid interference and has an idea, but needs Spidey to keep the Skrull busy while she sets it up. So, Spidey does his thing, while Ms Marvel does hers, while telling off the captain of the ship... Spidey and the Skrull fight in the ship's bilges, and then head topside, where MM signals Spidey to throw a switch. The ship lights up as it's electrical field (caused by rigging the cable to the ship's generators) interferes with the Skrull's power transmission. The Skrull punches MM and she goes to hit him with a car, but he blocks it. MM realizes what she needs is the crystal and a sudden burst of energy. She yells for Spidey to cut the switch and the pent up energy ray bombards the crystal, creating a space warp... The Skrull is pulled into Warpspace, which MM experienced in issue 8 of her magazine, with the same writer. We have to follow thing sup there, if we care (which, judging by sales, we didn't). Meanwhile, Spidey prepares to do some Kung fu fighting, next issue, as Claremont & Byrne are reunited with Iron Fist. Thoughts: Way better second half than the first, though it is still mostly pro wrestling. You get the feeling that Claremont didn't really want to write the Torch, but had to set up the super Skrull, so he could have his baby, Ms Marvel, take him out, as she is front and cent, here. Kind of makes this like a sidebar to her own series, much like Gerry Conway, in earlier issues, made MTU a sidebar for Spidey. My one real problem with this is that a ships' generators are not going to have the same power output as a land-based electrical sub station, as seen in the previous issue. As such, the electrical field should be weaker and interfere with the Skrull's power transmission less. While I always liked Carol Danvers as a character, the whole feminist magazine bit never quite worked for me, while she is running around in the equivalent of a bathing suit. Especially one derived from a male character. It isn't improved when she got the Cockrum make-over and Jean Grey's hand-me-down (or, at least, her courturier). It still reinforced that female characters were there to be sex symbols to the mostly male superhero readership. Yeah, male heroes had their physiques objectified, but to display power and strength, not emphasize sexuality. Spider-Woman goa practical costume that didn't show off cleavage or bare skin, making her look more like her male counterparts than their cheering section. Carol Danvers didn't get that until relatively recently. At least she didn't have to teeter on high heels, in combat! Byrne's drawing of women's faces is much improved in this issue; not sure if he got notes and refined things or Dave Hunt softened the tendency towards masculine faces. Jean DeWolff looks much better, though Byrne ignored her gimmick of dressing like Faye Dunaway, in 1967. She looks very "1977 Career Woman," even if that is off-model. Realistically, DeWolff would need to dress professionally to be taken seriously in her job, especially as a leader. The previous look is fine, for a comic book gimmick; but this is a bit more mature. One thing I will say about Byrne's handling of women is that he tends to get the basic lines of fashion correct, even if he tends more to the generic, than the specific (like Howard Chaykin, who not only gives the form, but also texture and pattern). The mass death of jean's men is handled off panel and her reaction seems rather subdued. That is quite a throwaway plot point, like they are just Star Trek Red Shirts, there for main characters to react. Kind of lazy writing; but, the team-up books kind of fostered lazy writing. Letters page discusses the Ghost Rider issue, which was a good one and that seems to be the consensus. One reader, whose father is a test pilot, praises the depiction of the F-14 Tomcat, in the story, which was revealed to have been drawn by Dave Cockrum, because Claremont wanted it to look authentic and asked Cockrum to draw that in the issue. Cockrum was an Air Force brat and lifelong aviation enthusiast, which makes his joining the US Navy a bit odd (he was a Yeoman, which is an administrative job, handling officer records). Cockrum got to indulge his love, occasionally, such as the Harrier, in X-Men #95 (not to mention the stylized SR-71 he put in, in GS X-Men #1), as well as Corsair's Mosquito (later on), the Blackhawks' Gruman Skyrockets and his adaptation of the Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" into the jet VSTOL aircraft of the Sky-Wolves, in Marvel Fanfare #16 (which was a Blackhawk homage). About the only thing he loved more was John Carter and the Tharks and he got to indulge that on Marvel's comic series, especially his iconic Dejah Thoris cover.... Next time, Danny Rand and Steel Serpent!
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 4, 2021 17:24:18 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #62Thing & Moondragon! Oh..........joy......... Creative Team: Mark Gruenwald-writer, Jerry Bingham-pencils, Gene Day-inks, Joe Rosen-letters, George Roussos-colors, Jim Salicrup-editor Synopsis: Ben helps Starhawk stagger back to the Baxter Building, as we are reminded of the events of the previous issue, as Moondragon helped Her fly away into space, with Alicia. They take the private elevator up to the FF floors and to the hangar deck, at the top, where ben shows Starhawk the saucer that the FF stole from the Skrulls, back in FF #2... They take it to the Far Side of The Sun, where Counter-Earth orbits, as the ladies avoid colliding with Roy Thinnes... Moondragon brings the ship in for a landing on CE's moon, since they can't find the planet, inside a docking bay, inside a crater. They wait for Hal to open the Pod Bay Doors, then remember that Hal wasn't on the Moon, just Heywood Floyd. They go exploring, when they trigger the alarm system and are hit by a stasis ray. her flips out and blasts her way free and trashes the ray projector, so they can continue. They come to the command center, where they find the inert form of the High Evolutionary... That's High as in "above," not as in doobage! They are disturbed by Ben and Starhawk, who have caught up and then Her and One Who Knows go at it, cosmic style, while ben and Moondragon square of for some hand-to(rocky) hand. The cosmic battle starts to trigger the transformation of Starhawk into Aleta, the female form of the hybrid of Stakar and Aleta, who were unified into Starhawk, way back in the day. Moondragon tries her kung-shrew on Ben, but rocky hide beats whiny canine euphemism any day! Starhawk completes his Bonnie Tyler transformation and Aleta tackles Her. Meanwhile, Ben has had enough and goes all John Wayne on Moondragon's backside.... ...until Alicia puts a stop to it. She tells Ben that he is a macho idiot and they turn their attention to the Baked Evolutionary. His brain is missing, but MD senses his spirit and they pull it back into his body... He then tells them that Warlock returned, after the events of FF #175 (Galactus nearly consumed Counter-Earth) and Warlock #14 (Warlock returned to the area) and Warlock attacked him believing that he had destroyed the population of the world, even though they still lived... Warlock whooped his hide then ran off in anguish, a prophecy fulfilled. However, CE is gone and HE has no idea what happened. HE fiddles some nobs, throws some switches and confirms that someone has hijacked Counter-Earth and pulled it away. The assembled bunch has to find out who. Thoughts: This gets a bit confusing, by the tail end and you had to be pretty steeped in FF and Warlock lore. That is a problem with fan writers, like Gruenwald, sometimes. They have immersed themselves in these stories and want to reference old storylines; but, they are writing for a new audience who probably isn't steeped in all of this. You spend a lot of time playing catch up. As such, this installments plot is kind of a mess, compared to last issue. We have to wait for next issue to sort it all out. We are reminded that Starhawk is a composite being, made up of Stakar and Aleta, lovers who were combined by the Hawkgod, on Arcturus. Starhawk is usually presented in the Stakar masculine form, but would occasionally transform into the female Aleta. At rare occurrences, they could manifest separately and had children together, who were slain during the battle with the Reavers, led by Aleta's father. This element was introduced by Steve Gerber, in his Guardians of the Galaxy run, in Defenders & Marvel Presents. This was not wholly an original idea, as the villain Berg Katse (in Science Ninja Team Gatchaman), aka Zoltar (in BOTP) was eventually revealed to be a mutant composite of two twins, male and female, and would transform between them and had been driven insane by situation. Also, Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human featured a being that was a composite of six people (a gestalt entity). Most Marvel writers seemed uncomfortable with this. Jim Shooter had Aleta come to Michael Korvac's house and face off with him, as Starhawk, but Korvac destroys Starhawk, first by destroying Aleta, reinforcing the rather misogynist tone in that saga, for my money. The GOTG had been absent, since the end of the Korvac Saga and this would lead into their return, before heading back tot he 30th Century. Jim Valentino split the two up so he could have another woman on the team and a hot chick, at that (Niki was more of the "cute girl"). Gruenwald handles it better; but, he also, later, retcons Starhawk's origins, in Quasar, where he played in Marvel's cosmic sandbox. He's better at it than many of Marvel's writers, but he wasn't in the same league as Jim Starlin or Steve Gerber. Now, the uncomfortable bit. This isn't the first spanking scene in comics (the Spirit had them, Lois lane got paddled frequently); however, this is 1980. I can't stand Moondragon and never could; just a thoroughly unlikeable and unredeeming character (and, no, I didn't like her in the Peter Gillis defenders, even though he softened her a bit). I don't mind a character who is there to just be a b@#$%, provided she is a fun b@#$%, in the best traditions of Phoebe Tyler Wallingford, Endora, Erika Kane, Alexis Carrington Colby and the other great soap opera villainesses. They delighted in being agents of chaos, which gave them a satirical edge. Mondragon is just a pain in the tuchus. Still, that doesn't justify resorting to a misogynistic and violent response, like a spanking. One, it undervalues Ben's intellect, that he can't just tell her off and has to resort to physical violence and humiliation. Two, it is neanderthal stuff and we were beyond this, by the 1980s (not that it stopped the same thing from occurring in other media). Three, it was done for a cheap joke. Four, Ben is in the wrong, as he has jumped to the conclusion that Moondragon and Her kidnapped Alicia. And, yet, there are no consequences for ben. He apologizes to Alicia but not to Moondragon, so there isn't even an atonement to the injured party. Leaving out scenes from 1930s Cagney movies (or John Wayne films from multiple periods), this is still a pretty good multi-parter, though this section is kind of muddled. Next issue is the climax. The letters page confirms that Mark & Ralph aren't done with Thundra; so, we might finally get her motivation for working with Roxxon/Nth Command. I was going to include the video to explain the Bonnie Tyler reference; but, it doesn't appear on Youtube or any other platform I could find, anymore (including Tyler's own channel, despite her other official videos being there). The song has a level of androgyny in it (intentionally), but the video took it to a whole new level, as it presents a sci-fi dystopia of gender wars and other elements of division. Tyler appears as a singer in a nightclub, doing the title song, as a Rambo character zips in and is transformed into a woman and there are some other gender swaps, as I recall (it's been a while). The video was provocative and MTV only showed it for a short time and the record company didn't support the single, so it didn't rise very high on the charts. My memory is hazy as to whether it was attacked for the gender swap issues, by any LGBT advocacy groups or any other organizations; but, it might have been. Whatever the reason, it was pulled from Youtube and other platforms. Maybe I'm a bit naive; but, I always liked the song as presenting an idea that people are all the same, period. The video was deliberately provocative; but, that seemed more like an opportunity for discussion about gender stereotypes and conformity, rather than an attack on any group or negative stereotyping. RuPaul actually covered the song, which suggests that at least some parts of the Trans community didn't have an issue with it. The song is fitting theme music for Starhawk and I don't really feel that Marvel (even Gerber) really did the gestalt element of the character justice, nor really examined the gender elements deeply, either.
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Post by badwolf on Nov 4, 2021 17:54:36 GMT -5
What Bonnie Tyler song are you talking about? I can only remember two videos.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 4, 2021 18:30:13 GMT -5
What Bonnie Tyler song are you talking about? I can only remember two videos. "If You Were a Woman (and I Was a Man)" I referenced a tv lip sync performance of it, in the preview of issue #61, since that is all I could find. MTV played "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (directed by Russell Mulcahey, future director of Highlander) and "Holding Out for a hero" in heavy rotation. The first because it was early days MTV and they played anything they could get and didn't have a deep enough catalog not to have things in heavy rotation. The second was in relatively heavy rotation, because of Footloose and its use as the theme to the tv series Cover-Up (which co-starred John Eric Hexum, who accidentally killed himself while fooling around with a blank gun, on set). This song was from the album "Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fires," from 1986, the follow-up to her massively successful 1983 album, "Faster Than The Speed of Night" (which featured "Total Eclipse of the Heart.") It was her third collaboration with Jim Steinman (famous for his collaborations with Meatloaf), after the other two hit singles. The original video was over 5 minutes long; but, MTV played the shorter version. However, they didn't play it much, as they seemed to be squeamish about the gender bending. The video has moments where a figure has a bright light burst out of their body and they emerge as a new gender. Some images from it.... The video is blocked on Youtube, saying the uploader has made it unavailable in the US. The video was from Vevo, on Bonnie Tyler's channel. Prior to it being yanked, comments had been turned off. If I were to hazard a guess, it was likely pulled due to trans and homophobic or misogynistic comments.
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Post by badwolf on Nov 4, 2021 19:28:20 GMT -5
Ah, I should have guessed. I do know that song, but I don't think I ever saw a video. I remember the other two.
I had those two albums on cassette as a kid. I've listened to them recently via streaming, and there are still a few songs I like (including "Holding Out for a Hero."
Russell Mulcahy did some great videos -- most well known for Duran Duran.
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