Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 28, 2023 11:50:31 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2023 # 75 - Just One Look - Doris Troy
The term "One Hit Wonder" is tossed around a lot. And it frequently is applied to folks who weren't actually one-hit wonders. Doris Troy is pretty close to qualifying for that position with Just One Look. The song was written by Troy and Gregory Carroll of The Orioles (who also produced the song). The song was a pretty big hit in the U.S. going to #3 on the R&B charts and #21 on the Hot 100. Troy did have a follow-up single "What'cha Gonna Do About It" that went to #21 on the R&B charts and #37 in the U.K., but that was it. This is a bit of an algorithm pick. It's not a song I seek out, but it shows up in a lot of the generated soul lists and it's not a song that I'll skip over. So here we are. Obviously the song has become a much bigger hit since it first came out in 1963 due to its use in movies, TV and in commercials. I primarily know The Hollies' 1964 version of this song, which was a massive hit over here in Britain (it got to #2, if memory serves). I think I have heard Doris Troy's original before, but not very often. Actually, The Hollies' recording is one of my all-time favourite non-Beatles, early '60s British beat group singles. It's a very fine version, but it really takes off when Graham Nash (later of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fame) comes in with the "I thought I was dreaming, but I was wrong..." bit.  Here's a clip of The Hollies miming to it on Top of the Pops...and just look at Nash's cheesy grin when he turns to the camera to sing his bit. Wonderful! |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 26, 2023 12:03:47 GMT -5
Eh, 15 year-olds weren't writing anything as good as the Vertigo books. And believe me, I tried. I'm not saying that the Dr. Destiny/diner massacre issue could've been written by a 15yo; just that it feels kinda like it's written for a 15yo who thinks this is oh-so-grown-up writing (as opposed to actual grown up writing). |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 26, 2023 7:14:28 GMT -5
That's a beautiful picture by Hergé; I had never seen it before. I'd assume it predates the Tintin weekly. It is a beautiful illustration, isn't it? I've no idea of its origin though. I just found it online. |
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Post by Confessor on Dec 25, 2023 2:39:18 GMT -5
Merry Christmas everybody. Have a good one!  |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 25, 2023 2:34:09 GMT -5
The Sandman: Volume 1 – Preludes & NocturnesOriginal publication: The Sandman #1–8 (January 1989 – August 1989) Script: Neil Gaiman Artwork: Sam Kieth (pencils)/Mike Dringenberg (pencils & inks)/Malcolm Jones III (inks)  I also didn't think much of the overly gory chapter involving Doctor Destiny sitting in a diner. I felt that it unfortunately read like a lot of other "for mature readers" comics from the 1990s, with some rather immature "oh-so-gritty" violence and mutilations randomly thrown in for no good reason. This chapter in particular made "Preludes & Nocturnes" seem more like what a 15-year-old boy would think of as mature writing, as opposed to what mature writing really is – something that a lot of 1990s "for mature readers" books suffer from, IMHO. This was a part that bugged me and I referred to in my Read Lately post. I like some horror and I dislike some. Sometimes it's hard to describe where the dividing line is, but I tend not to like works that feel like torture porn. Interestingly, it often feels the most distasteful if the victim is somewhere in the middle morally. If the victim is basically a good person, like the woman who Doctor Destiny forced to drive him to the diner at gunpoint, then the focus is on the evil of the villain. If the victims are really seems grievously and irredeemably bad, then it doesn't feel so sickening. The situation where it feels really prurient is like this seen in the diner, where it seems to have the tone of a comeuppance, but for peccadillos. It's like the writer wants a person to take pleasure in how deserved the suffering is, when the suffering is way, way, way out of proportion to the victims' supposed misdeeds. Yeah, I agree. I know this particular issue set in the diner has its fans in the forum, but for me it might well be my least favourite single issue of The Sandman. It just felt unnecessarily over-the-top brutal and gory, which lent it a rather pathetic "ooh, look...this is sooo edgy" vibe. It all felt rather puerile and childish to me, in all honesty. |
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Post by Confessor on Dec 25, 2023 2:17:25 GMT -5
Do you recommend checking out volume 2 even though 3 and 4 is where it really picks up? I do, yes, because although the series is still finding its feet, volume 2 is more consistent tonally than volume 1. It's also more ambitious, with Gaiman determined to write a comic series that can tell any kind of story, while still having it sit comfortably within the confines of the over-arching Sandman narrative. Another reason why volume 2 is important is because it introduces the reader to the extended Endless family and a number of key mortal -- and one immortal! -- characters who will make reappearances throughout the series. If you skip volume 2, you're going to be wondering what's happening and who these people are as you read through volumes 3, 4, 5 and beyond. |
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Post by Confessor on Dec 24, 2023 19:43:29 GMT -5
I read The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes TPB reprinting Sandman #1-8. Of course, it's written by Neil Gaiman throughout. It starts with Sam Kieth on pencils and Mike Dringenberg on inks, before Dringenberg moves over to pencils and Malcolm Jones III takes over the inking. This is the first I've ever read of Sandman. Both the Introduction by Karen Berger and the Afterword by Gaiman note that Gaiman was still finding his way in these early issues. This volume is enough to pique my curiosity on how the story develops, but not so much that I feel in a big rush to check out the later TPBs. There are lots of interesting aspects to the art. Sometimes images/faces are hidden in the shadows. One panel depicts a dog as a dream, dreaming of an apparently human past life. Kieth's pencils are more cartoony than Dringenberg's, but at times I actually like Kieth's renditions despite the horror themes. I had anticipated a little less horror in the horror/fantasy mix. Because it's so acclaimed, I expected more universal human insights, but it didn't have, for example, particularly resonant observations on the nature of dreams/imagining. "Dream a Little Dream" (Sandman #3) did have some bits on old loves. I also liked a twist in the Doctor Destiny story about whether there'd be a breakthrough for this guy who seems too far gone. But the appeal seems to be more directed to a particular goth/emo subculture. This TPB was specifically for people who like to sit at a particular high school lunch table. It feels like in certain stories/scenes the draw is that readers would get a thrill of depictions/descriptions of suffering. It reminds of the times I watched a few minutes of Criminal Minds. The appearances of existing DC Comics characters are a mixed bag. Now, I'm curious to see how the original Doctor Destiny story in Justice League of America played out. Also, while I'm not sure what the payoff of the Cain and Abel appearance was supposed to be, it does make me more interested to check out old House of Secrets or House of Mystery. But I do think the JLI appearance doesn't quite fit. If the JLI gives Dream some guidance in finding a gem contacted with dreams, how don't they show up later in the story when dreaming/sleep goes haywire around the world after? The first volume of Sandman is indeed a mixed bag. As much stuff works as doesn't and you kinda get the feeling that Gaiman is just throwing lots of stuff at the wall to see what sticks. But when it's good, it's superb; does your copy have the "Sound of Her Wings" story in it? I think I'm right in saying that some versions of volume 1 don't. But that issue would be the earliest example where everything in an issue of The Sandman clicked for me. Oh, and the series really does get much better. By volume 3 or 4 it's fantastic and then gets even better still! By the way, shameless plug, if you haven't already, feel free to check out my Sandman TPB review thread (like you, I came to the series decades after it began)... classiccomics.org/thread/6502/sandman-collected-editions-reviewed-confessor |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 24, 2023 7:06:50 GMT -5
#1 – Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. ( Strange Tales #135–168; 1965–68) + ( Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1–15, 1968–69)  I'm a little pressed for time today, so this will have to be brief, but... My #1 pick is the Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. stories from the Sixties – both the original Kirby/Lee stories and the later Jim Steranko ones. In fact, I'm also including the stories from Fury's solo title by the likes of Frank Springer and Barry Windsor-Smith because those are some hugely enjoyable spy/espionage stories too! Starting as a back-up strip in Strange Tales and eventually graduating to its own comic series, Fury's strip follows the tough-talking former leader of the Howling Commandoes in all-new 60's spy adventures, as he fights the espionage menaces of Hydra, A.I.M., Baron Strucker and others. Of course, the Steranko issues get singled out for special praise – and rightly so! – but the earlier Lee/Kirby stories are really great escapist fun too – and I say that as somebody who's not a particularly big Kirby fan. Chock full of crazy gadgets, gripping action and gorgeous femme fatales, these are some brilliantly imaginative '60s spy stories.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 23, 2023 8:26:49 GMT -5
#2 – Star Wars: Dark Times #1–33 [featuring Dass Jennir] (2006–13)  Set in the immediate aftermath of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, issues #79 and #80 of the Star Wars: Republic series told the story of several Jedi warriors who survived the initial few hours of the Emperor's Jedi purge. One of those was Dass Jennir, an everyman Jedi Knight who befriends the Nosaurian warrior Bomo Greenbark, though the two were actually fighting on opposite sides during the Clone Wars. Jennir proved so popular with readers that he was brought back to star in his own series, Star Wars: Dark Times. Though Jennir himself is a great character to follow as he tries to make his way through the galaxy, while always striving to hide that he is a former Jedi, it's really the ensemble cast of Bomo and the crew of the freighter Uhumele that made this such an enjoyable series. Randy Stradley's writing is really top notch and often as thought-provoking and moving as it is action-packed. As if that wasn't enough, artist Douglas Wheatley's work on the series is absolutely breathtaking: his pretty pictures alone are worth the price of admission. I've read an awful lot of Star Wars comics in my time, but I'd have to say that Dark Times really is one of the very best series ever from that franchise.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 22, 2023 11:08:01 GMT -5
#3 – Death ( The High Cost of Living: 1993) + ( The Time of Your Life: 1996)  Plenty of other people have chosen Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series in this year's event, so there's probably not too much left for me to add. That said, I will say that of the two mini-series that focused on Death, I feel that the first, The High Cost of Living, is by far the best. The story centres around the idea that once every hundred years Death takes human form on Earth to better understand and relate to the humans that she eventually has to "reap". The thing with the character of Death is that Gaiman made a bit of a genius move in making her a kooky, perky, cheerful young goth woman, with a permanent smile on her lips. The fact that this depiction of "death" is so at odds with the depictions that we learn from our collective histories and social traditions, and yet is so believable and easily swallowed by the reader as something that makes perfect sense, is testament to Gaiman's writing skill. It's as if he has tapped into a hitherto unexplored collective need in us humans for death to be a kind, fun-loving young lady, rather than the skeletal, hooded, scythe-wielding figure that more readily comes to mind. Both of these mini-series are decent reads, but it's more due to my love of Death as a character that she's made number 3 on my list than for any intrinsic literary worth in the two mini-series themselves. Having said that, even slightly less than amazing Gaiman is still a better read than probably 90% of comics.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 21, 2023 11:06:53 GMT -5
#4 – Books of Doom #1–6 (2006)  I've always had a real soft spot for Dr. Doom, ever since I first encountered him in a reprint of Amazing Spider-Man #5 which appeared in an issue of Marvel Tales in the early '80s. Terrifying in his cruelty, magnificently skilled in magic, brilliantly clever and wearing a really cool costume, he might well be my favourite ever Marvel villain. Written by Ed Brubaker, the Books of Doom mini-series is a dark and sometimes sympathetic biographical journey through Doom's life. Framed by a rare contemporary interview that Doom has agreed to give to a journalist, the story of an innocent gypsy boy in Eastern Europe who grows up to become a cruel tyrant is told through flashbacks. We see Doom's idyllic childhood before his family is forced to flee Latveria because of an evil nobleman, which leads to tragedy. Then the boy's mother dabbles in black magic, resulting in yet more tragedy. This, in turn, leads young Victor to America where he encounters Reed Richards. Finally, he returns to Latveria to have his revenge on the nobleman who caused so much pain to his family and then assumes the throne of the country himself. The artwork by Pablo Raimondi is fantastic, but where this book really scores is in Brubaker's scripting: this is a fascinating, often rather moving tale that shows us exactly who Doom was, is, and how he came to be. Though fans of the Fantastic Four might think they know the ins and outs of Doom's story already, there are details and revelations aplenty in this brilliantly well-crafted biographic tale.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 20, 2023 12:15:12 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure winding a clock was never that guy's profession. |
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Post by Confessor on Dec 20, 2023 12:08:54 GMT -5
I liked the ending of Game of Thrones. It made a lot of sense to me.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 20, 2023 11:14:36 GMT -5
I have no underground comics....I'm still trying to differentiate between 'underground' and small-press, I mean would a book with a 200-issue print run for Patreon subscribers be considered underground? If so, then RAGS is underground hehe.... I'm sure there are others better qualified to answer this than I, but to me, underground comix are something that has always been linked to the counter-culture -- particularly the hippie counter-culture of the late '60s and '70s. While they are self-published or small press runs, that's not what defines them, as far as I'm concerned; it's more that they feature subversive, anti-establishment material, often alongside sexually explicit content and open drug use, which would never have been allowed under the watch of the Comics Code Authority. So, it's not just that they had small, self-published runs that defines underground comix; it's much more about the nature of their content and its presence outside the purview of the Comics Code Authority. Since the CCA no longer exists, I'm not really sure its possible today for underground comix as a genre to even exist. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Dec 20, 2023 10:59:48 GMT -5
#5 – Daughters of the Dragon #1–6 (2006)  Starring Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, the 2006 Daughters of the Dragon mini-series was the first time that this pair of private investigators had starred in their own series. The pair debuted separately in the Iron Fist strip in the pages of Marvel Premiere and then appeared as a team for the first time in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #32. This mini sees the duo working as bail-bond agents who apprehend minor supervillains to make sure they appear in court. Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, the plot of Daughters of the Dragon is well structured, with plenty of humour and action, and some rather cool appearances from Marvel's wackier and lesser-known supervillains. Artist Khari Evans does a pretty good job for the most part, but his depiction of Knight and Wing is rather "ogling", almost to the point of feeling a little sexist in its obvious objectification of the comic's two leads – but then this is supposed to be something of a pastiche of those old '70s exploitation flicks, I guess. Knight and Wing have long been two of my favourite Marvel supporting characters and I really like this mini-series just for focusing on them alone for the first time. Overall, it's a fun read and not a comic that is to be taken entirely seriously.
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