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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 19, 2017 6:53:06 GMT -5
I think that line about the hands of the clock was just a reference to last week's Puzzler. It doesn't seem to figure in to the answer: RAY: The question is, how many bouts have to be fought in order to determine one winner? One winner. So, you start off with 247 people. Divide that group in half, right? Half of them are gonna wrestle the other half. Then you're gonna lose half of those people. TOM: Right. RAY: And that half is gonna wrestle, right? You could go and do all this, but there's a simpler way to figure it out. TOM: There is? RAY: According to John LaTorre, who sent this to us, he claims that Albert Einstein used this as an example of elegant reasoning. That is, reaching a conclusion in the fewest number of steps in his math lectures. And here's the answer. Since you can't have any ties, every bout must have a winner and a loser. And since the thing is a single-elimination, everyone will lose once, and only once, except for whom? TOM: One guy! The winner. RAY: Therefore, how many losers are we gonna have? TOM: Two hundred and forty-six. RAY: How many matches are we gonna have? TOM: Two hundred and forty-six. And this week we have a car question: RAY: This puzzler was submitted by Shelly Payne. Here it is: Several years ago my father-in-law, who lives in Minnesota had trouble with his late model Cadillac DeVille. His battery kept dying every couple of days. He would get it jump started and it would run fine for a few days, but then would die again. So he took it to the dealership. They checked it out. They couldn't find anything wrong. One morning after there had been several inches of snow he went out and sure enough, what? The battery was dead. So he jump started it and went into town to get a cup of coffee at the local drug store. Now being that he lives in such a small town, he went and parked right in front of the drug store. And while he was drinking his coffee, he complained to the pharmacist about how his car was driving him nuts. The pharmacist asked, "Is that your car right out there?" And he said, "Why, yes, that is my car." And the pharmacist said, "I know why your battery is dying." What did the pharmacist notice? He probably noticed melted snow around the car, I guess?
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 11, 2017 4:16:28 GMT -5
Read Vol. 1-3 (collecting all 18 issues) of The Hinterkind, the Vertigo series by Ian Edginton and Francesco Trifogli. It is a post-apocalyptic fairy story, literally as in after mankind has been nearly wiped out the fey (i.e. the Hinterkind) reemerge form their hiding places and resume their dominant place in the world. The series focuses on the struggles of a few members of one of the last human settlements, the dynastic struggles of the Sidhe and a burgeoning war between the Sidhe and other faction in faeriekind led by the goblins. Overall it is really well done, it just never found an audience and got cut short so the final issue not only had to wrap up the war but address the B and C subplots that had been building in the background adding to the strife and tension of the war plot and had to be addressed in a 2 page epilogue in the form of a journal written by one of the main characters of her adventures (a la Mr. Baggins writing the Hobbit) which was unsatisfying, but unavoidable due to the cancellation of the series due to low sales. The characters are engaging, the story hooks you in and the art is very good but it suffered form not being a mainstream super-hero book and not coming out from Image by someone who made their name at the big 2 previously at a time when those are the only types of books able to find audiences in the direct market. Worth the read, I only wish the rest of the story had been able to be done. -M I liked the series as well, only disliking the final issue because it was clearly wrapping up 50 issues of material in 1 or 2 pages to tie up the story. The first issue did feel like "What are the most popular series right now? Saga and Walking Dead? Right, we'll throw those in a blender", but it quickly became its own thing. Post-Berger Vertigo just had a lot of problems to market their own series.
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 9, 2017 16:12:28 GMT -5
Forbes (yes Forbes dealing with comics, whodathunk?) has offered up their list of the 10 best graphic novels of 2017 (and they use GN to include trade collections). I am on my way out the door, and only glanced at the list, but there is some overlap with the AV club list and some I hadn't seen before. I'll look over the list in more detail after work. -M Important thing to know about the Forbes website: a lot of it is blogs that are not overseen by Forbes editorial, so anybody can basically post anything there without any tie to Forbes itself.
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 8, 2017 11:06:16 GMT -5
If you like her work, the current Humble Bundle (Riverdale) has several series she worked on.
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 6, 2017 1:41:19 GMT -5
Also in case of Image creator also gets payment for digital sales and trade paperback sales (see Jim Zub's story about Wayward's sales recently), so those might be enough to keep the title afloat.
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 4, 2017 4:40:13 GMT -5
So now President Trump's Lawyer is saying that he wrote the Tweet, "I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!" Dowd says it was just a sloppy Tweet and it wasn't meant to imply that the truth of what Flynn was known before he was fired, which is an excuse worthy of believing in a cover up as it is, but then he said that not only did he author the tweet but the President did not see a final version before it was posted...which is more troubling. We've been told time and time again that anything Trump states on Twitter is an official communication(which is again troubling on its own) but now we learn that in this case someone else posted for him and that person isn't sure if the President ever saw the final draft of the Tweet. So, if we take Mr. Dowd at his word we now learn that people are able to make official presidential announcements with out the will of the President which is so incredibly wrong, or we believe that Mr.Dowd is lying and this is a (very clumsy) cover up of the President. Either way you slice it this is a very worrying development, and worse if like past indiscretions by the President it does nothing to worry his base I have my doubts that anything will come of this. This the same lawyer that released a statement in Comic Sans?
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 1, 2017 10:54:07 GMT -5
Debating between posting this here or in the European comics thread (cross-posted from other board I visit):
Finally got around to reading Marini's Batman (The Dark Prince Charming, part 1 of 2). Definitely something you read for the art and not the writing. Marini is usually not a bad writer (once he had some experience), but his best series draw a lot on historical sources (one of the things that always draws me in) and in case of a fictional character like Batman, there are not many opportunities to do that (though you could use some of the lesser known villains perhaps). The writing is not bad, but it hits a lot of the usual notes: basically another Batman/Joker with Harley Quin and Catwoman playing parts.
I do like several things about this comic including the writing though (keep in mind, I'm reading this in dutch translation. I usually want the original language for comics, but I don't speak Italian. Translations can make a big difference.): Spoiler The good: - the sideplot with a woman claiming that Bruce Wayne is the father of her child works for me, because it's clear that Bruce wants to help the child without giving money to somebody that tries to con him. Joker kidnapping the kid gives him the chance to do something for the kid, but I'm interested if how they wrap up the sideplot. - The Joker's goal this time is to steal a necklace for Harley's birthday. I'm always happy when it's not the Joker's goal to kill everybody in Gotham *again*. He does kill a lot of people (usually henchmen.. the Joker kills more criminals than the Punisher the way he's usually written.) Also happy that their relationship is not the abusive relationship it is in some versions; Harley is pissed off at Joker for his failure, Joker wants to make it up for her. - Archie, Joker's henchman. Basically Marvin the Paranoid Android as Joker's henchman. I like this guy a lot. - The art.
The bad: - Not a fan of this Joker's design. Or Harley's for that matter. - So far a bit too much Batman vs Joker by numbers. - Gordon vaping instead of smoking and the resulting comments by Batman.
The confused: So a) Selina Kyle is dating Bruce Wayne (and they are actually dating as in she's staying the night over at Wayne Manor in the same bed, not the old school dumping-the-love-interest-at-the-end-of-the-date-to-fight-crime). b) Catwoman is still a criminal, she's trying to steal the same jewelry as the Joker. c) Catwoman knows Batman is Bruce Wayne. So... does Bruce in this version *not* know that she is Catwoman? Even when she is making catpuns right next to him as Selina? Or is he ok with her stealing jewelry as long as she does not hurt people on the way? Either way would have a lot of problems in my mind.
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 30, 2017 11:19:23 GMT -5
After reading the first volume of Warren Ellis' Wildstorm, I kind of got a bug to check out some more Wildstorm stuff, but wasn't sure if I wanted to revisit stuff I already read like Sleeper or try something new, but then I saw something interesting on Hoopla- a trade collection called Wildstorm: A Celebration of 25 Years-basically a review of Wildstorm's publishing history along with a collection of new stories featuring the characters by creative teams most associated with them, plus a few unused stories, concept art, etc. and a b&w reprint of WildCATS #1 (a book I had never read before). I enjoyed some of the stories (it was nice revisiting Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch on Authority for example) and disliked others (unused Mark Millar Authority stories for example), but it was a good sampler to scratch the particular Wildstorm itch I had. -M I was interested in it, but I didn't know how much would be reprints.
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 29, 2017 9:51:08 GMT -5
I just can't wrap my head around how they're going to make the story work. Scenario 1: They follow the basic premise of the comic, and Thanos already has all the gems (his obtaining them is told in flashback). In this circumstance, heroes like Spiderman and Black Panther would be absolutely worthless. You could spend two hours watching Cap coordinate attacks between Hulk and Thor that ultimately accomplish nothing, but not those guys. Scenario 2: Thanos is still attempting to acquire all the gems. Why are all of Earth's heroes there stopping him? Are all the remaining gems on Earth??? Way back when I was reviewing both Thanos Sagas ( here and here) I concluded that the only Thanos story that truly and completely worked was Thanos Quest, because that was the one time it was Thanos' story and not a bunch of heroes hopelessly attempting to thwart him for the millionth time when we knew they couldn't succeed. Maybe they'll just significantly de-power the Infinity Gems? From the trailer itself and some speculation (spoiler below is for Thor: Ragnarok): We see Thanos taking the Gem from Vision and we see him with 2 gems in the gauntlet at one point (Power and Space so to see), so he is still gathering them. Power is currently with the Nova Corps, so they look to be the first of his targets and the ones that will face him in the opening of the movie to establish him as an actual threat (so far he's just been sitting around in the movies.) Space was last seen in the vault in Asgard {Spoiler}and presumably taken by Loki when we see him in the vault at the end of Ragnarok. Loki will probably give the gem to Thanos in exchange for the safety of the Asgardians on the ship. . We know that there are two gems on Earth (Mind-gem with Vision, Time-gem with Strange). Reality is with the Collector and probably the one they want to save for last because it can make things very complicated. Soul's location is still unknown AFAIK. So Thanos coming to Earth for gem 3 and 4 and running into the heroes makes sense as two of them have the gems. (Probably with a warning from the Guardians after Thanos defeats the Nova Corps). They will fail, Thanos leaves for space to find the last gem(s), heroes follow to stop him before he has them all. cue part 2. So from that, I expect a scenario 2 and there are good reasons for Earth's heroes to try and stop him.
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 29, 2017 9:37:16 GMT -5
Wow, I think I've the absolute opposite response comparing Moore and Morrison. I find Moore's work far more optimistic and Morrison far more cynical.
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 29, 2017 7:08:48 GMT -5
Catching up on The Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I have a print subscription through Marvel for this, and I read the first 6 issue as they came out, but health issues and house projects led to issues piling up unread in my to read pile (same thing happened with Aaron's Doctor Strange and heavy Metal which I have subs too, not a reflection of my interest in any of the books, just life getting int he way of stuff), and I am trying to catch up. I reread 1-6 and finished the first long arc (The World Beneath our Feet) which ran through issue 11. Art is by Brian Stelfreeze and Chris Sprouse throughout the arc (Stelfreeze does the first part, then Sprouse does the next, and then they alternate issues or do jam issues for the rest once Stelfreeze returns). It took a couple of issues for Coates to get his feet under him, the early issues weren't bad by any means, but you could feel Coates trying to find his way in the comic format, but he was telling an interesting story with a very compelling voice, so I stuck with it and was rewarded. The story is thematically driven but is not short on dynamic action and compelling characters. I liked McGregor's run, adored Kirby's for what it was, but I loved Priest's run above all others (and never warmed to Hudlin's-mostly because it felt so different form Priest's which I had taken to so much- and hadn't read much after that), each has a different take and offered something different, and Coates is no exception. It's it's own thing, and stands on the shoulders of what came before, but isn't derivative of them, but also isn't beholden to them either. Having taught a lot of African history in my previous career, there was something which resonated of that in this take, and this Wakanda to me felt the most genuinely African of all the takes I have seen, without losing the super-science Vibranium driven gestalt that defines Wakanda in the Marvel Universe. There were a lot of layers to peel away in this take for me, and each one revealed something new. I still have 12-18 plus the 2 issues after the reversion to legacy numbering to get through, and I look forward to diving in to see what else is there. I did also pick up the first volume of the companion book, World of Wakanda form the library while I was there this afternoon, and will check that out too. -M I'm loving Coates Black Panther. I had the first issue of World of Wakanda, but dropped that as it didn't seem to add anything substantial to Black Panther. I generally dislike fictionalised countries because they never feel real (because creators usually don't think about history, culture, influences from neighbouring countries etc. that actually form a country). Coates is putting in the work with myths and bits of history between Wakanda and its neighbouring countries and gives us some different answers than just "Vibranium!" or "Panther God" when it comes to explaining why Wakanda is the way it is.
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 27, 2017 13:16:04 GMT -5
And the final bit of the Humble Bundle:
Think Tank by Matt Hawkins and Rashan Ekedal: The first 3 trades are in B&W, the last 2 are coloured. This seems to be Matt Hawkins most personal project, he keeps returning to it and he has more plans with it. It's knee-deep in science references, which are his thing. Dr. David Loren is a genius, he works for the U.S. military to develop weapons and they make sure that Loren is kept under their control. Loren has had enough of his inventions killing people though and tries to escape. I liked the series more and more as it went on. Supergenius vs. military is a story we've seen before, but it's only the plot of the first story arc. Loren's intelligence comes with arrogance, sexism and a disregard for the feelings of the people around him and the story starts focusing on Loren's flaws and how his behaviour is absolutely not OK. The characters around him become more developed: for instance, at the start of the story, Dr. Manish Pavi, is shown as Loren's friend and only at the project because he can influence Loren, who usually is too stubborn to listen to others. As the story develops, Manish gets chances to prove his own intelligence and Loren starts to realise how smart his friend actually is, he just is intimidated by Loren's intelligence. On the other hand, Pavi can actually have normale human relationships and is far more reliable. Overal I like it, I don't love it.
Wildfire: Another Matt Hawkins, this time with Linda Sejic. While working on a genetically modified plant that can cure worldhunger, the experiment is not properly contained and the plant spreads and even cross-polinates other plants around it. The modification allows plants to grow at an accelerated speed and the new plants quicky overrun the city. The plot quickly turns to a disaster movie. Now full disclosure: I've studied Biotechnology (didn't went for the PhD afterwards), so I know quite a bit about the science behind this. Hawkins, as usual, did his research and a lot of the points he makes are correct. In the plot though, the consequences are massively accelerated and for me, you run into the same problem as movies like The Day After Tomorrow do (among others): you are trying to make warn about a valid risk, but by exaggerating the form the risk takes, you undermine the threat and how insidious the problem actually would be. May be a case of being too close to the source material to appreciate the fictionalized version. A realistic take would probably be very, very boring for somebody who is not wired to appreciate those (ie me). A Wildfire vol 2. is advertised at the end of the story, but I don't think it was published?
IX oneshots: These are a few, we have Cyberforce/Aphrodite IX, Artemis IX, Poseidon IX, Athena IX and Apollo IX (Hephaestos, Ares, Hermes and Hades are out of luck. Hephaestos, Ares and Hades at least get some development in IXth Generation, but poor Hermes is left out in the cold. And she is hinted to be actually pretty important according to IXth Generation). Cyberforce/Aphrodite IX link the Cyberforce stories to the Aphrodite IX stories (both in the Rebirth version of the Top Cow universe) and I like that Matt Hawkins, in a far more kinder way than I ever could, basically has the same problems with the original Aphrodite IX series as I have (it is "complex".) Hawkins also very kindly offers readers of Cyberforce/Aphrodite IX crossover to contact him if they don't get this crossover for some free Cyberforce and Aphrodite IX issues to make things readable. I had the opposite problems, I read Aphrodite IX and its sequel IXth Generation, but this issue here actually explains the link between both series. Not much of a story here in this crossover, it fills in the links between Cyberforce, Aphrodite IX and IXth Generation and is a lot of plotdump. The other oneshots are each about one of the IXth Generation and how they rule their respective kingdoms around the events of IXth Generation. Non-spoiler warning: They are all terrible people in their own way. Not recommended unless you are enjoying Cyberforce Rebirth and the Aphrodite IX/IXth Generation series for more than just Sejic's art and want a big more background.
Witchblade Manga: C'mon Top Cow. This was published in 2008. At that time Marz and Sejic were doing their best to change Witchblade from the title that was known as "that title with the half-naked woman on the cover" to one that had actual writing and give Sara a better look. So Top Cow publishes a manga with the main character whose outfit is 98% gloves and boots. As a manga, it's basically all the worst preconceptions people have about manga: blood, extreme violence, tentacles, sexualized teenagers, short skirts and low camera angles. Storywise there are some weird things as well: The Witchblade here is the hand of a demon, cut off by Japanese demon hunters. It's found abroad by the mother of the protagonist (but the hand was kept for ages in the temple in Japan the story takes place in) who warns that it should be kept away from her daughter. (Granma later realises that keeping it in the same temple the girl works in, might not have been smart.) Upside: they published this version (coloured, US comic format and method of reading) and traditional manga version (B&W, manga format, right-to-left reading). Multiple publishing options always get a plus.
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 27, 2017 6:05:48 GMT -5
I think I mostly agree with your list, I definitely think you have all the essential reading material there. My sugestions (all subjective): Maybe add Marvel Team-Up #150 as a ** ? It's an X-Men Story, but it has no influence on continuity (then again same goes for other ** stories), but it's more relevant to the ongoing X-men story than Firestar or Longshot mini's. I would add the New Mutants to the Inferno crossover, because Colossus pretty much disappears from the story in X-Men and shows up there. Maybe added as *** ? The original Excalibur mini as recommended reading to get closure to Rachel's fate, a plotline started in Uncanny? (I'm trying to remember if anything else comes up, though you always run into defining what's essential. Is the story of an active X-Men essential, even if it's just meeting up with Spider-Man or another superhero? Is the fate of a former X-Men essential? In case of Wolverine this can become a real mess though.) Barry Windsor Smith's Wolverine story as it gives Wolverine a backstory? Mm... how do you feel about the backup stories added in the Classic X-Men reprints? Edit: bit more explanation, some of these are just short stories about X-Men, but some add some history, relationships and so on that Claremont would later refer to. Examples: #2 has Storm and Jean becoming friends, something which is later referred to, but never shown on page in the original comics. #10 establishes that Wolverine and Sabretooth have a long history together. #19 has Magneto's origin, how he lost his daughter. That one comes back a lot. /Edit This is another resource by the way that I've found useful: www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/ (Historical significance rating for issues, though subjective, gives some indication whether an appearance is just a guest appearance or has some more impact).
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 22, 2017 4:21:00 GMT -5
The new issue of Doctor Strange showed up in my mailbox this afternooen, #381, the start of the Loki: Sorcerer Supreme storyline, and the first of the Legacy numbering for the title. It was also the start of a new creative team of Donny Cates, Gabriel Hernandez Walta with colors by Jodie Bellaire. Walta and Bellaire doa fantastic job and I liked what Cates was doing well enough to see where it goes. As a side note, Doc and Loki both mentioned that there wa sa contest where the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme was lost by Doc and gained by Loki, it didn't happen in the ongoing Doc Strange series, anyone know where it did take place? -M As far as I know the battle between Loki and Strange has not been shown yet and will probably be told in a flashback within the title itself.
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Post by Dizzy D on Nov 20, 2017 20:15:28 GMT -5
63 miles driven that day (21 on the trip towards the dealer, then both cars are moved 21 miles home), 20 miles walked (he doesn't need to walk the last mile back), but it's late so I may miscalculate
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