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Post by MDG on Jun 13, 2014 9:03:15 GMT -5
My issue was two fold.. Hawkman should not be qualified to be an expert in Earth History after hanging in orbit and listening to a few radio broadcasts to learn the language... if he's that brilliant, he should show it, not fly around and whack things with a mace. Second, why did they get hired to an (assumedly) prestigious position with no resume or references, other the police commissioner (who they just met). Didn't they have the Absorbascon, that allowed them to absorb all earth knowledge? that would certainly help during a job interview. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jun 13, 2014 10:26:22 GMT -5
Who says they had no resumes or references? Remember, Carter replaced Commissioner Emmett's brother as curator. I always assumed they got the jobs on the strength of his reference, and that he would've advised them on what needed to be on their (admittedly fake) CVs. And the absorbascon didn't just teach the Halls Earth's languages but its entire history, human and otherwise. They don't retain all that knowledge consciously but can call data up through concentration. In JLA #41, for instance, Hawkman had to recall the absorbascon-provided secret identities of his teammates in order to overcome that issue's menace. By comparison, the random tidbit of archaeological or anthropological lore doesn't seem like much of a challenge. And with that, I'm bowing back out of this thread. This is wildfire's take on these books, not mine, and I should be saving my opinions for the article anyway.  Cei-U! I summon the resisted temptation! |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 13, 2014 14:09:36 GMT -5
LOL! I greatly appreciate your insight, actually. I was thinking they were just getting the language... I guess I missed that! That's a bit better  . Was there at some point some connection drawn between Thanagar and Earth? For them to have a doohickey with all Human knowledge, they'd need to know we exist and all... after all no Wikipedia to swipe and analyze in 1960. The job thing was really quick (it appeared), but I guess one could assume in the era before computers and background check you could throw something together in an evening and get away with it.... sometimes it's difficult to remember the era when there are space ships and things boosting the technology level! |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jun 13, 2014 14:32:53 GMT -5
LOL! I greatly appreciate your insight, actually. I was thinking they were just getting the language... I guess I missed that! That's a bit better . Was there at some point some connection drawn between Thanagar and Earth? For them to have a doohickey with all Human knowledge, they'd need to know we exist and all... after all no Wikipedia to swipe and analyze in 1960. If I understand how the absorbascon works correctly, it scans the memories of every single sentient being on a planet and records all the collective knowledge into the user's subconscious. The Hawks used it again when they first visited Rann in Mystery in Space #90 to learn all that planet's languages, customs, etc. God knows I could have used one of those back when I was trying to get through my high school physics class. Cei-U! I summon the ultimate cheat sheet! |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 13, 2014 14:54:55 GMT -5
That's quite a handy little gadget!
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Post by Rob Allen on Jun 13, 2014 15:23:28 GMT -5
Yeah, I wonder if the Absorbascon's technology is related to that of the Mother Box. With one of each, you wouldn't need much else.
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Post by foxley on Jun 14, 2014 4:53:13 GMT -5
One minor thing always bugged me about the Absorbacon. In one story from this period they are attempting to find the components of a magic spell that a villain is assembling. One of the components was 'sand from gat' (or words to that effect). Hawkgirl wonders what a 'gat' is and looks it up in a dictionary. In that educational way so common to silver age DC stories, the reader learns that a gat is channel between two sandbanks.
However, if the Absorbacon had imparted them with all of Earth's knowledge, shouldn't it have given them the dictionary definition of 'gat'?
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 14, 2014 7:18:05 GMT -5
Perhaps 'Gat' is a slang term, and got missed by the Absorbacon? Or maybe DC, in line with the trying to sneak bits of education into the comics, wanted kids to see a character looking something up in a dictionary? There are, of course, lots of ways around that (Mavis could have done it instead, for instance)... maybe the writer of that particular story didn't know about the Absorbacon? Or, it could just be they forgot... Silver Age comics aren't known for their consistency... that's the fun.. trying to make it all make sense  |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jun 14, 2014 10:04:51 GMT -5
Gardner Fox wrote all the Hawkman stories up through #21 of his solo title so it was likely just a brain fart on said writer's part. Or perhaps Hawkgirl didn't have time to assume the concentration necessary to retrieve a specific fact from storage. Either way, when you consider the deadline pressure these guys were under (Fox wrote an average of three comics a month and Schwartz co-plotted not only those stories but all of John Broome's as well), it's a miracle they hold together at all.
Cei-U!
I summon the glass half full!
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Post by Action Ace on Jun 14, 2014 10:47:54 GMT -5
One minor thing always bugged me about the Absorbacon. In one story from this period they are attempting to find the components of a magic spell that a villain is assembling. One of the components was 'sand from gat' (or words to that effect). Hawkgirl wonders what a 'gat' is and looks it up in a dictionary. In that educational way so common to silver age DC stories, the reader learns that a gat is channel between two sandbanks. However, if the Absorbacon had imparted them with all of Earth's knowledge, shouldn't it have given them the dictionary definition of 'gat'? Maybe they went with the 250 TB (terrabyte) Express download rather than the 5720 TB Full download due to time constraints. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 14, 2014 12:20:55 GMT -5
Perhaps 'Gat' is a slang term, and got missed by the Absorbacon? Or maybe DC, in line with the trying to sneak bits of education into the comics, wanted kids to see a character looking something up in a dictionary? There are, of course, lots of ways around that (Mavis could have done it instead, for instance)... maybe the writer of that particular story didn't know about the Absorbacon? Or, it could just be they forgot... Silver Age comics aren't known for their consistency... that's the fun.. trying to make it all make sense I think the Ultimate Nullifier was in that neighborhood and was momentarily turned on |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 14, 2014 23:17:50 GMT -5
Brave and the Bold #35  Two 12 page stories in this one, and it works alot better, IMO. The Matter Master has come to Midway City, and can do whatever the heck he wants! After two successful capers, he steals from the museum, and Hawkman uses his super sniffer to track him down! This was a really good one... I loved the meteor monsters, and the bit of 4th wall breaking when trees attacked an armored car. The guard says 'I know this is ridiculous, but what am I supposed to do?' as he empties a clip at the tree. The Hawks diving into wells was a great visual, even if that fact that there were two wells side by side doesn't make any sort of sense. Just two things that bugged me... carrier pigeon??? really? The museum doesn't have a phone/ Too much of the theme, that. And, while it's really neat they take random weapons from the museum, it'd be nice to get them right (a 'medieval hand cannon' is NOT a revolver, for instance). More importantly, though, they're just replacing them with duplicates?? That's supposed to make me feel BETTER? weird. In the 2nd story, Mavis goes out hunting for he Abominable snowman, and is captured by him and his sparkly club of Doom. Hawks to the rescue? Apparently the snowmen are really aliens stranded from long ago. Since this is DC, the sparkly club of doom works on 'vibrations'(would have been 'radiation' in Marvel), which Hawkman duplicates with his wings, and thus frees all the prisoners they've taken over the years... Including Mavis and Shayera(who still hasn't done much). The end! I like that they jump right into regular adventures, but still did a footnote or two. Of course, we learn about Siderites and Couloirs. Story: A- Historical Reference C (Matter Master 1st Appearance) |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jun 22, 2014 6:02:48 GMT -5
I'm currently doing a reading of Silver Age Marvel and DC comics (basically every superhero comic printed so far in DC Archives and Marvel Masterworks format) and it's interesting to note how good the art on Aquaman was throughout the Silver and early Bronze age. Ramona Fradon's stuff in Adventure Comics (I'm reading now) was fantastic and not soon after you get Nick Cardy and then Jim Aparo.
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Post by Action Ace on Jun 22, 2014 13:34:33 GMT -5
Silver Age Aquaman was one of my most pleasant surprises when I picked up his first Showcase volume.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 22, 2014 13:50:02 GMT -5
I just finished the first Aquaman Showcase a few days ago and it was a very pleasant surprise. I love most Silver Age DC, but reading a whole bunch them in a collected volume can get to be a drag. Even when I try to read just one a day. I struggled through the Batman Showcase volumes (and you have to read them because there are some good stories hidden in there) and I took Superman Family Showcase Volume One (It's mostly Jimmy Olsen stories) back to the library after I read a third of them.
I like those stories one at a time, but they can get tiresome.
But Aquaman was pretty easy (and fun) to get through. Aquaman and Aqualad (and Quisp!) are always so eager to venture out and fight crime on the high seas! And the art is great.
I never have any trouble with the Marvel Essentials collections. I'm finding X-Men #25 to #53 to be delightful (but when you hit a bad issue, you can count on it to be really bad!). Right now, I'm in the era where they thought Professor X was dead and it's kind of suspenseful wondering when he's coming back. And how are they going to defeat Magneto without Professor X!?!
I'm also enjoying Hulk, Volume #5 (lots of Trimpe art) and Dr. Strange, Volume 2 (Lots of Gene Colan and Tom Palmer).
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. Was there at some point some connection drawn between Thanagar and Earth? For them to have a doohickey with all Human knowledge, they'd need to know we exist and all... after all no Wikipedia to swipe and analyze in 1960. 
