Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,200 
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Post by Confessor on Dec 27, 2014 14:16:32 GMT -5
Here's one that I've always wondered about -- Why is Silver Age Superman so fat?  I'm not 100% sure, but I think it might have something to do with this...  |
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Post by tolworthy on Dec 27, 2014 15:24:32 GMT -5
He wasn't fat, he was just barrel chested. Large ribcage and a big strong pelvis with a lot of muscle packed on. Same sorta thing as the Iron Sheik:  Looks kinda flabby but the strength in his core was massive. I prefer that look for Supes over the typical small pelvis'd bodybuilder look. I like it when Superman looks like a big burly farmer who wakes up and loads a half dozen eggs, a slab of bacon and a stick of butter into a big 14" cast iron skillet, then dumps the whole thing on a thick stack of high protein wheat cakes. I agree. Remember those incredibly narrow waists and inflated shoulders that Buscema used to do in the Avengers? I was always afraid they would snap. Real weight lifters have thick waists. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 28, 2014 10:52:05 GMT -5
The classic Superman doesn't look like a bodybuilder, but his heavyset look does remind me of the Farnese Hercules. Attachment Deleted |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2014 11:52:53 GMT -5
Lots of Rick Jones vitriol here but I've got to weigh in with my disdain over the concept of Robin, The Boy Wonder. What sort of grown man would take a pre-pubescent boy, dress him up in shorty pants, and thrust him into the night amidst killers, thieves and psychotic lunatics. The Batman stories from the 40s and 50s were psycho-sexually weird since Bruce Wayne had a reputation as a millionaire playboy but exhibited a fear of close contact with women. Robin would feel rejected at the mere thought of Bruce with another female. And way too many scenes of Bruce and Dick sleeping in the same bed. Vicki Vale, Catwoman, Kathy Kane and others never had a chance with Bruce and his obsession with his little boy assistant I...I never thought about it this way, and I DO NOT WANT TO. Thanks for that.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2014 12:30:42 GMT -5
Lots of Rick Jones vitriol here but I've got to weigh in with my disdain over the concept of Robin, The Boy Wonder. What sort of grown man would take a pre-pubescent boy, dress him up in shorty pants, and thrust him into the night amidst killers, thieves and psychotic lunatics. The Batman stories from the 40s and 50s were psycho-sexually weird since Bruce Wayne had a reputation as a millionaire playboy but exhibited a fear of close contact with women. Robin would feel rejected at the mere thought of Bruce with another female. And way too many scenes of Bruce and Dick sleeping in the same bed. Vicki Vale, Catwoman, Kathy Kane and others never had a chance with Bruce and his obsession with his little boy assistant Here's a perfect example of that ...  I can see where you are coming from Ish! |
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 28, 2014 12:43:04 GMT -5
That's one of the reasons I hate the Nolan Bat movies. They're every bit as silly as Batman '66 but desperately, pretentiously want to think they aren't. This is so true! And the Christopher Nolan cult gets REALLY MAD when you say this! And when you point out one or two or a hundred silly things, they get all defensive and change tactics and say "It's just a movie!" and you are just taking it too seriously.
There can be no criticism of Dear Leader!
Surrender! Comply! Assimilate!
All hail Dear Leader!
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 28, 2014 12:54:42 GMT -5
 (EDIT: I agree with the hulk fans who say the Omen story is a candidate for best Hulk story ever. I loved those Englehart/Trimpe Hulk stories. That one was republished in big hardcover British annual with thick paper... just superb.) The Herb Trimpe run on The Hulk is one of my favorite runs ever, and I agree that the Captain Omen story is a highlight of the series. Especially Aquon! He's so cool! |
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Post by crazyoldhermit on Dec 28, 2014 13:07:57 GMT -5
That's one of the reasons I hate the Nolan Bat movies. They're every bit as silly as Batman '66 but desperately, pretentiously want to think they aren't. This is so true! And the Christopher Nolan cult gets REALLY MAD when you say this! And when you point out one or two or a hundred silly things, they get all defensive and change tactics and say "It's just a movie!" and you are just taking it too seriously.
There can be no criticism of Dear Leader!
Surrender! Comply! Assimilate!
All hail Dear Leader!
I disagree that the Nolan movies are as silly as the 66 show on the basis of one being a drama and the other being a comedy. But Nolan's failing is that by making it so serious and so realistic the wacky and stupid parts stick out way too much. The perfect example is Two-Face. Even though it's a "realistic" facial burn rather than a green acid mutation or whatever, it's still hugely out of place in a world where the Joker needs to wear face paint. And don't forget Batman Begins spending a huge amount of time justifying every single element of Batman's costume. He wears a Bat costume because theatricality is a powerful tool (and gets called on it by R'as al Ghul). He has little pointy ears because thats where the antenna for his ear piece goes. His cape is actually a glider. And so on. Then in Dark Knight Rises Catwoman shows up wearing ridiculous heels and she deflects criticism of them with a stupid joke. Hows that for internal consistency? Maybe it's just me, but in the Burton movies I never wondered what miracle chemical made Joker look like that and I never cared about the ridiculously huge and dangerous Batcave. The fictional world was constructed in a way so those things make sense. I didn't need Nolan to hold my hand and reassure me, through dialog, that The Joker wears makeup specifically for the intimidation factor (you know, like war paint!). |
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 29, 2014 4:38:57 GMT -5
Sentient World Observation and Response Department They had H.A.M.M.E.R., too. I don't think they ever came up with words for it. I always like to read the characters as spelling out the letters. There actually is a S.P.E.A.R. (it's the Chinese version of S.H.I.E.L.D. Don't ask me why there acronym forms an english word.) Apparently there is also a W.A.N.D. (the magic related department of S.H.I.E.L.D.) |
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Post by berkley on Dec 29, 2014 5:01:22 GMT -5
The thing about SHIELD that I find a bit bothersome is that nowadays it's described as a United Nations operation. I find it extremely hard to believe that most nations would allow such an outfit to operate on their soil. I prefered the days where SHIELD was essentially an advanced American spy agency, or at most some kind of NATO-derived department. Yeah - and also, "International Espionage" doesn't make a lot of sense for an international organisation, from one POV - "Our mandate: we all spy on each other!" I can picture the SHIELD complex as an insane beehive of internally directed activity, while the outside world falls to pieces. OK, OK, they actually spy on criminal or terrorist organisations or other threats from entities other than nation-states - which is actually more realistic today than it was back in the 60s. |
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Post by berkley on Dec 29, 2014 5:05:30 GMT -5
The classic Superman doesn't look like a bodybuilder, but his heavyset look does remind me of the Farnese Hercules. I'm trying to think of a comics artist, past or present, who could have produced an image of physical strength of this kind, so very different from the usual superhero image (I don't agree that the classic Superman is an example). Maybe Frazetta? |
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Post by crazyoldhermit on Dec 29, 2014 6:21:28 GMT -5
The classic Superman doesn't look like a bodybuilder, but his heavyset look does remind me of the Farnese Hercules. I'm trying to think of a comics artist, past or present, who could have produced an image of physical strength of this kind, so very different from the usual superhero image (I don't agree that the classic Superman is an example). Maybe Frazetta? That sort of look was definitely Frazetta's forte. Obviously the statue has the advantage of actually having physical mass to it but Frazetta was a master at drawing figures with weight. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 29, 2014 10:04:28 GMT -5
The classic Superman doesn't look like a bodybuilder, but his heavyset look does remind me of the Farnese Hercules. I'm trying to think of a comics artist, past or present, who could have produced an image of physical strength of this kind, so very different from the usual superhero image (I don't agree that the classic Superman is an example). Maybe Frazetta? Frazetta, certainly; I think Alex Raymond could also have done it. Although Flash Gordon himself was more of a pentathlete as far as his physique went, there were quite a few heavier strong men in Raymond's masterful series. (But then, Raymond like using live models for his figures, so he probably relied on diffeent body types). *edit* I just remembered that Dave Gibbons used to draw heroes with middle parts thicker than usual in the 80s. Not plump men in tights, necessarily, but people who didn't fit in the standard bodybuilder look typical of comics. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 29, 2014 10:08:29 GMT -5
Sentient World Observation and Response Department They had H.A.M.M.E.R., too. I don't think they ever came up with words for it. I always like to read the characters as spelling out the letters. There actually is a S.P.E.A.R. (it's the Chinese version of S.H.I.E.L.D. Don't ask me why there acronym forms an english word.) Apparently there is also a W.A.N.D. (the magic related department of S.H.I.E.L.D.) I find the idea quite suitable for the Marvel Universe. Kind of like The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross: a bureau that studies magic as it would any other technique, trying to keep the world safe from things that go bump in the night (with tentacles). Maybe that's where Brother Voodoo went to work when he "died". |
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Post by Randle-El on Dec 29, 2014 11:24:40 GMT -5
I get what people are saying about a barrel-chested Superman... but I also think that it's possible to draw a Superman who doesn't necessarily look like a bodybuilder with more convincing "heroic proportions" than the Silver Age Superman. I think Alex Ross's rendering of Superman strikes a good balance of heroic proportions and somewhat-plausible musculature.  Ross's version clearly looks like a big guy, but more svelte than Silver Supes, but not as rippled with muscles as, say, a George Perez or Jim Lee Superman. |
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