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Post by tingramretro on Feb 9, 2017 4:31:04 GMT -5
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 7, 2017 4:00:37 GMT -5
Farrar
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 6, 2017 10:24:09 GMT -5
Captain Britain #21 (March '77)Script: Gary Friedrich Art: Herb Trimpe/Fred Kida "They've Kidnapped the Prime Minister|"  Still unaware that our heroes are not, in fact, six feet under, the Red Skull finally makes his move-teleporting Prime Minister Jim Callaghan straight out of his office in Downing Street, and into his hidden base in Docklands, full of neo-Nazis! Meanwhile, our two heroes are wasting precious time trying to convince the seemingly terminally dim Jamie Braddock that they are, in fact, alive and not imposters, a problem only finally solved when Brian finally does his magic quick change routine and reveals his true identity to both Betsy and Captain America in the process. He's really not getting the hang of this secret identity thing-particularly since one of the Skull's henchmen is still in the room, and conscious! This fact doesn't even seem to register, in fact, when Captain America rather uncharacteristically roughs the bloke up in order to get the Skull's location from him. Cap tries to phone Nick Fury, but sadly the switchboard operator at S.T.R.I.K.E assumes he's a nutcase, so our heroes have to head for Docklands on their own, pausing only briefly to beat up some young thieves who've stopped by to loot the hospital. Captain America then commandeers a lorry to get them to London, leaving the surprisingly accepting driver to phone the authorities and tell them where they're heading. Sadly, things aren't really heading our heroes' way even now, though: Hunter and Fury receive word that if the British government doesn't surrender by 6.00PM, the Prime Minister will die...and at midnight, the Skull will detonate a "germ bomb" over London, which will wipe out the population in hours! And just to top it all off, the friendly lorry driver will never deliver Cap's message; he's about to go and phone it in when his mate unexpectedly shoots him in the back with a pistol of advanced design before burning the message. Damn that Red Skull, he has spies everywhere! The level of improbable coincidences in this story is rapidly becoming just slightly ridiculous...
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 6, 2017 9:19:31 GMT -5
Captain Britain #20 (Feb '77)Script: Gary Friedrich Art: Herb Trimpe/Fred Kida "While the World Gently Weeps!"  Issue #20 opens with the Red Skull gleefully reading in The Times about Britain mourning our two fallen heroes (oh, come on! Like half the country's ever heard of Captain Britain! He's been around for a few weeks and he pretty much never leaves London!) "I have succeeded! It is my greatest triumph! Captain America, the living symbol of the United States, is at last vanquished! And Captain Britain, fledgling symbol of the hated country which brought about the fuehrer's downfall, is also dead!" However, even as the Skull gloats and boasts to his subordinates that he can now proceed with his master plan to destroy both nations, Nick Fury and Lance Hunter are in a meeting with the Prime Minister, figuring out how to thwart him. And worse yet for our teutonic terror, "somewhere north of London", the decidedly not dead Captains Britain and America are trying to find a phone in order to let Fury know of their cunning plan to pretend to have croaked in order to take the villain by surprise! Why north of London? God knows. I've given up worrying about where all of this stuff is supposed to be happening. Let's just accept that Friedrich thinks everywhere in the UK is half an hour from London Bridge. Where have they been since issue #18, though? In the pub? Our scene shifts briefly to S.T.R.I.K.E command, where Hunter is explaining to Fury that there've been a lot of reports lately of Nazi activity in Docklands (I find it hard to believe this would be tolerated by the citizenry or the police, but never mind) and then, back to a hospital near "the bombed out ruins of Braddock Manor" (which is, therefore, now "north of London". sigh) where the two Captains' search for a phone has unexpectedly yielded the surprise bonus of them finding Jamie and Betsy Braddock, being guarded by the Skull's men! Some coincidence, eh? Our heroes quickly formulate a plan, and CB transforms himself into the non powered Brian Braddock in order to bluff his way inside, while CA takes advantage of the resulting distraction to simply burst in through the window! What's that? Why didn't they both burst in through the window? Stop overthinking this, it's more dramatic this way! Anyway, the Captains quickly overcome Jamie and Betsy's captors, but there's a problem: Jamie has heard on the radio that Captain Britain is dead, and now doesn't believe this masked man who has just rescued him is really his brother! Well, the BBC couldn't be wrong, could they?
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 6, 2017 8:46:17 GMT -5
I'm probably one of the very few who actually prefers Brian's original "lion" costume over the "Union Jack Cannon-baller Suit" You are far far from the only one. I thought the redesigned suit was horrible. Missing out the amulet was also very disappointing. As for Hurricane: a great villain. An evil Iron Man that doesn't fire repulsors but hurricane-force jets from his wrists. I've no idea why he wasn't used more. There did seem to be a reluctance to have recurring bad guys in British comics back then, they tended to appear once and then get killed. |
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 3, 2017 13:33:16 GMT -5
We could dig up examples of artists we think improved with age, or vice-versa, whilst others would disagree and dig up different examples. It is all subjective, so no, there is not one definitive answer. That should really have been obvious from the start, besides whic, when it comes to art what is "better" or "worse" is often down to personal taste. |
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 2, 2017 4:23:48 GMT -5
In no real order (except the first one)
Alan Moore's Captain Britain
Infinity Inc
All-Star Squadron
Watchmen
Skizz (Alan Moore, 2000 AD)
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 2, 2017 3:45:33 GMT -5
He is actively trying to make enemies of every other country in the world, isn't he? |
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 1, 2017 11:48:21 GMT -5
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Post by tingramretro on Jan 31, 2017 14:26:19 GMT -5
JLA #140 and #149, both of which arrived today courtesy of ebay. I'm gradually building my collection of classic JLA; just 22 issues to go, including the first six (which I'll probably never get, but still).
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Post by tingramretro on Jan 31, 2017 9:31:11 GMT -5
hondobrode
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Post by tingramretro on Jan 31, 2017 8:22:40 GMT -5
I really, really hope they cast someone over forty again, not another pretty boy like David Tennant. Maybe Don Warrington or Ben Miller. Wouldn't get your hopes up. Younger sells and draws new and young viewers which is what BBC wants. What "sells" shouldn't matter to the BBC, the corporation does not exist to make a profit, and its charter requires it to "inform, educate and entertain" the whole of the British public, who fund it through the television licence fee. |
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Post by tingramretro on Jan 31, 2017 8:19:19 GMT -5
I just hope it's not another twenty-something. I too wish Capaldi would have stayed on so we/he could show what he is capable of with someone other than Moffatt at the helm. A "clean break" isn't always necessary. Capaldi also contradicts himself: stating he will do the show forever or until they throw him off and now leaving voluntarily, stating how much he loves Who and wanted/dreamed of doing it and then complain over the demands of the shows production schedules (which can be true) being difficult and tiring . But he wishes to leave and Who will survive as it always does. More than likely though it will be someone younger. Everything skews towards young viewers as they are the relentless spenders of merchandising revenue which companies seek. Capaldi was spectacular casting and carried the older cranky Who stylizing and now they can return to another young Doctor. But the BBC is not a commercial organization, and is specifically prohibited from acting like one, so regardess of the wishes of its merchandising arm, that can't (or shouldn't) really have any bearing on casting choices. |
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Post by tingramretro on Jan 31, 2017 7:56:03 GMT -5
I really, really hope they cast someone over forty again, not another pretty boy like David Tennant. Maybe Don Warrington or Ben Miller.
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Post by tingramretro on Jan 31, 2017 7:28:33 GMT -5
Peter Capaldi announced last night on Radio2 that he will be leaving Doctor Who at the end of this year, his last episode will be the Christmas Special. At one point, late last night, that was the #1 top story on the BBC News app. I had to chuckle; with everything else that's going on in the world at the moment, the BBC were essentially headlining with "Actor changes job."  Well, it's a big deal to a lot of people! To the more hardcore fans, it's more like a religion than a TV show... |
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