Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 25, 2024 9:24:31 GMT -5
I'd have loved to have been there, but I was out gigging this afternoon and early evening. Bet it was a fun session (as always). I was only able to join the chat for about 35 minutes. It would've been great to talk to you about X-Men topics that came up in the Read Lately thread though. Yeah, that would've been fun. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 24, 2024 20:24:17 GMT -5
Ahh, Scream! comic. Gone but not forgotten.
I absolutely loved that comic as a kid and still have tremendous fondness for its various strips. I own Rebellion's collections of the "Monster" and "Dracula File" strips from Scream! and really need to get the "Thirteenth Floor" volumes too.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 24, 2024 19:52:02 GMT -5
Murmer is a masterpiece of an album. It's ground zero for collage rock and the whole U.S. alternative rock scene (up to and including Grunge). You know, it was awarded Rolling Stone's album of the year 1983, over such massive sellers as Michael Jackson's Thriller, The Police's Synchronicity or David Bowie's Let's Dance. Rightly so, in my view. And Michael Stipe's lyrics aren't "unintelligible"; impressionistic or stream of consciousness, yes, but unintelligible, no. Well, I sure as heck can't understand what he's saying, and I don't think I'm alone on that account. I believe he has said the lyrics on Murmur were more about the way the words sounded together than any sort of discernable meaning. But hey, Perfect Circle is a beautiful song even if it sounds like drunken slurring! Oh, the lyrics are mostly impressionistic, rather than linear, for sure, but personally I've never felt they were unintelligible. Hard to discern on the first couple of listens, for sure, but the more you listen the clearer it gets. I've seen Stipe say in interviews that the first two or three R.E.M. albums didn't even have proper lyrics. That, however, is absolute bullsh*t. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 24, 2024 19:31:44 GMT -5
R.E.M.'s Murmur... I could never really figure out whether I like this record or not. I know I'm supposed to, but it's not a record I listen to a lot. I'm a huge jangle pop fan, so I wanna give it another listen soon and concentrate on the music and not Stipe's unintelligible lyrics. is a masterpiece of an album. It's ground zero for collage rock and the whole U.S. alternative rock scene (up to and including Grunge). You know, it was awarded Rolling Stone's album of the year 1983, over such massive sellers as Michael Jackson's Thriller, The Police's Synchronicity or David Bowie's Let's Dance. Rightly so, in my view. And Michael Stipe's lyrics aren't "unintelligible"; impressionistic or stream of consciousness, yes, but unintelligible, no. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 24, 2024 16:43:05 GMT -5
I'd have loved to have been there, but I was out gigging this afternoon and early evening. Bet it was a fun session (as always).
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 24, 2024 6:30:08 GMT -5
Yeah, I thought the same thing. There's nothing toxic about the relationship as shown in those panels at all. A bit corny, yes. Toxic, no. In a following issue he says she should close the shop because he has enough money for both and then he don't understand why she doesn't accept his offer and she wants to be financially independent. He really don't. For someone always portrayed as the "progressive" hero par excellence he has some ideas about gender roles firmly rooted in the 1950s. Which still doesn't make it a toxic relationship. Maybe GA is still a bit old fashioned (though in 1973, such ideas, with their chivalrous intent, would still have been fairly widespread), but that doesn't mean it's a toxic relationship. As for GA being "progressive", there was still plenty of good ol' fashioned sexism in even the most progressive corners of the 60s and 70s counterculture (feminist author Germaine Greer has written at length about this). But that doesn't mean that the men in that movement weren't also very progressive by the standards of their times. The civil rights movement, environmentalism, gay rights, second wave feminism, and animal rights activism all started with the (often maligned) Baby Boomer generation, but there would've still been plenty of cool, right on guys in that movement who would have assumed that their "chicks" would stay home and look after the kids. Societal norms die hard, I guess, even in an era of great progressiveness. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 23, 2024 17:22:22 GMT -5
I have a Wolverine question. In the opening pages of Giant-Size X-Men #1, when Wolverine first appears, one of Claremont's captions says "The agent cipher-known as Weapon X...but better known to us as -- The Wolverine!" My question is, would Wolverine actually have been that well known to your average Marvel reader or X-Men fan on 1975 when that comic came out? I know he had appeared in a couple of issues of The Hulk the year before (#180 and 181), but had he been seen anywhere else prior to Giant-Size X-Men #1? Wolverine's debut, in The Hulk, was promoted with a house ad, which is how I first saw him (in Thor #229); so. I knew who he was, without ever seeing that Hulk story, until a decade or so later, in a reprint.  Enough time had passed that I didn't recall that the mask was different, in X-Men. Do we think that Marvel were really pushing him because he was a Canadian superhero, which was a rarity at the time? Hence the "because you demanded it" hype blurb. But if that's the case, why not launch him in his own mag? |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 23, 2024 5:38:37 GMT -5
This week I'm going with Star Wars #38:  My favorite single issue of Marvel's Star Wars, and the only one I had to reaquire. It contains what can only peripherally be described as a Star Wars story (Luke and Leia accidentally hyperjump into a starless void, and then their ship gets sucked into some kind of glowing object that ends up being a living creature that's a bit insane). It's written by the regular SW scribe at the time, Archie Goodwin, but the art is by guest penciler and inker Michael Golden and Terry Austin. That's an interesting issue. The Golden/Austin artwork is excellent and, to my eyes at least, somewhat influenced by Japanese Manga artwork (which, if so, is really ahead of the curve for an American comic published in 1980). The story itself feels very much like filler, which of course is precisely what this issue was, but it's a weird enough story that it's certainly one of the more memorable comics from that series. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 23, 2024 4:29:08 GMT -5
I have a Wolverine question. In the opening pages of Giant-Size X-Men #1, when Wolverine first appears, one of Claremont's captions says "The agent cipher-known as Weapon X...but better known to us as -- The Wolverine!" (...) It's often forgotten and/or overlooked, but Len Wein wrote GS X-men #1. (He's also credited as co-plotter for issues 94 and 95.) Oops! Yep, you're right. My bad. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 23, 2024 2:48:12 GMT -5
I have a Wolverine question. In the opening pages of Giant-Size X-Men #1, when Wolverine first appears, one of Claremont's captions says "The agent cipher-known as Weapon X...but better known to us as -- The Wolverine!"
My question is, would Wolverine actually have been that well known to your average Marvel reader or X-Men fan on 1975 when that comic came out? I know he had appeared in a couple of issues of The Hulk the year before (#180 and 181), but had he been seen anywhere else prior to Giant-Size X-Men #1?
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 23, 2024 2:36:53 GMT -5
Just found a scan  You know, from a narrative standpoint it makes sense. He's probably never had a "real" job in his life. And he never gave me the impression that he was born to be an entrepreneur. At least Bruce Wayne gave the impression that he was at least a little involved in his business. Oliver was just happy as long as there was money to make boomerang arrows or boxing glove arrows. Edit: this seems to me a borderline toxic relationship... (Yes I know it was a different time etc etc) Call me a neanderthal; but I don't see what is "borderline toxic." They are a romantic couple, in a committed relationship and he shows some affection, while talking about how he could build a new career, by promoting her flower shop and improving her business. I would say the last panel shows a cowardice on DC's part to make it a deeper relationship, though, at the same time, having Dinah being a little wary of something involving a long term commitment, with a guy who fights criminals and super villains, is reasonable. Does he cause her to break a pot? Yep. Did he ask her if she wants him to try to promote her store? Nope. Could he stand to communicate better with her? Most certainly. That's probably part of her reservations. That's average relationship stuff. Toxic, to me, suggests being physically or mentally abusive, controlling, treating her as a possession, completely ignoring her desires at every turn. I wouldn't quite put Ollie's actions, within the context of these few panels, in that category, as much as he's being kind f self-centered here, though he is also thinking about using his idea of a career to help Dinah, with her business, which suggests he is giving her success thought, too. Ollie is caught up in a moment, The thing to do, if Dinah objects, is to have her lower the boom on him, later in the story and have him learn a lesson. She doesn't seem to have an objection, so much, as a reservation about their relationship, to admit to herself she loves this man, but there are issues. Superman and Lois, especially in the 50s, got pretty toxic. Hank and Jan were a volatile mix, every time they went to the "Hank has mental issues" well. Scott and Jean....I'd go there, long before Black Canary and Green Arrow. Yeah, I thought the same thing. There's nothing toxic about the relationship as shown in those panels at all. A bit corny, yes. Toxic, no. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 22, 2024 12:18:23 GMT -5
I love that Spider-Man/Human Torch mini-series (I think it was only sub-titled "I'm With Stupid" when it was reprinted in TPB form). It's a brilliant examination of how the Torch and Spidey's relationship has grown and developed over the years. I also really like the unashamedly retro artwork of Ty Templeton; it really suits the nostalgic vibe of the series. Dan Slott's script is lighthearted, action-packed, and littered with neat references to Marvel continuity. He also does a pretty nice job of writing dialogue that seems era-appropriate in each installment; so, for example, the earlier issues have somewhat old-fashioned, Silver Age-sounding dialogue, which becomes more modernised as the series progresses.
You know, this might just be the best thing Slott's ever written.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 21, 2024 11:48:41 GMT -5
Legend R.I.P: Prolific character actor M. Emmet Walsh, a go-to for decades when a seedy, morally questionable guy was needed, has died at 88. Harry Bryant from Blade Runner for me. Good actor. |
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Post by Confessor on Mar 20, 2024 18:17:04 GMT -5
I remember there was some controversy because Neal Adams did not like the new coloring that was done on the TPB. It sort of uses color to provide texture, like shading. Whether you're a purist on something like that is up to the individual. If it's like what I've seen in other reprinted editions I'm in full agreement with Adams on the colouring. I don't see it as being a purist, just a spontaneous reaction: I don't like the way it looks. I just meant that it's up to confessor how much he just wants to read the stories versus a certain version of coloring. Actually, revised modern colouring that differs considerably from the original comics is a bit of an annoyance for me. It's not the be all and end all, of course, but it is definitely a consideration. So, it's enough to make me think twice about possibly picking up the Visionaries collection. So thank you for flagging that guys. There's also an Epic Collection that covers #46-66. I'm speaking of what on the US market, as I don't know what's published in the UK versus what would be imported. All of the Epic collections are available over here in the UK. Not that I've bought that many, but I am in the process of replacing my Essential Daredevil TPBs with the Epic volumes. I really need that good old American comic colour! |
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Post by Confessor on Mar 20, 2024 11:14:05 GMT -5
Speaking as a fan of that era of X-men, God Loves, Man Kills is definitely worth a read, although it's an out-of-continuity story. The Marvel Chronology Project places Marvel Graphic Novel #5 in continuity after the first 21 pages of Uncanny X-Man #168. It's more like the latter - it seems to take place in the regular continuity of the time, although no references are made to it in the regular series or anywhere else.. God Loves, Man Kills is excellent. I highly recommend it. I consider it in continuity, and I think Marvel does as well, so I wouldn't worry about that. I'm not sure what the rationale of considering it out of continuity is, since it does contradict continuity. OK great. Consensus appears to be that it's in continuity, though doesn't reference any of the on-going series of the time. I think I probably do need to get this then. I think a collection of X-Men #50-59 would be an interesting read, but it's a bit of an arbitrary cutoff. It starts in the middle of an ongoing storyline, I guess because #49 doesn't have Steranko interior art and #50 does. Also, stopped in #59 just takes you a bit into the Neal Adams run, but it's around when one arc is wrapping just as another one is starting. Yeah, the selection of issues in that collection does sound a bit random. I am a big fan of Steranko's artwork though, so that's definitely a good reason to pick it up. Maybe I need to get this in conjunction with the X-Men Visionaries: Neal Adams collection that EdoBosnar mentioned, just to finish up the Adams part of the story. |
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