|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 22, 2021 17:40:55 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #48Thing & Jack of Hearts Probably fighting over tarts...... Creative Team: Bill Mantlo-writer, Chic Stone-pencils, Tex Blaisdell-inks, Elaine Heinl-letters, Mario Sen-colors, Roger Stern-editor Synopsis: Thing has been captured by Machinesmith's robots, after he turned up to investigate a cry for help, from the Yancy Street Gang. Meanwhile, Jack of Hearts is working out, on his family estate... The workout is interrupted by a letter from the Corporation, who want the Zero Fluid that gave him his powers. it calls for a meeting and Jack tells his butler to alert SHIELD that he will be keeping the appointment. Meanwhile, Ben wakes up to find himself restrained on a St Andrew's Cross and an attempt to use force to free himself, creates pressure on the Yancy Street Gang prisoners there with him. Machinesmith turns up and puts a metal cap on Ben, which allows him to control his actions and he demonstrates it by making Ben smash a robot. Jack of Hearts turns up at the rendezvous and runs into robots, then a mind-controlled Thing and gets the crap knocked out of him, until he flies away, with a force bolt. Machinesmith is just testing Ben's control, as he plans to use him to destroy the FF. The YSG attack one of the goons, when no one is looking and free themselves and attack the rest of the guards. Machine smith watches as jack of Hearts blasts Thing into unconsciousness and then figures Jack of Hearts will do, when the YSG reach his chamber and bust up the joint. Later, Ben and Jack turn up and all is fine, but Machinesmith turns out to be a robot. Thoughts: satisfying conclusion, though Jack of Hearts serves no purpose, beyond punching bag. You might as well had Thing mind-controlled into fighting a robot, when the YSG break out. Machinesmith pulled this ga, a lot, as it was usually a robot, not the person.
|
|
Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,545
|
Post by Confessor on Jul 22, 2021 18:07:30 GMT -5
Thoughts: Here we first meet captain Jean DeWolff, NYPD, who will stick around a bit, in the pages of various Spider-Man comics, before being murdered, by Peter David (well, as writer of the story). The Faye dunaway look was a gimmick, as the character was obsessed with the 1930s and dressed like Bonnie Parker, as in Bonnie and Clyde. I'm a big fan of Captain Jean De Wolff. I thought she was a really great and very memorable supporting Spider-Man character during this era. I was genuinely gutted when she died. This isn't the first time Marvel swiped from The Spirit, as Dr Stranges funky window, on his brownstone, was swiped from Denny Colt's window, by Steve Ditko. I don't think it's fair to call it a "swipe". Ditko deliberately fashioned Dr. Strange's window as an obvious nod to Eisner and the Spirit. It was an affectionate Easter Egg (before the term existed). It's not like Ditko couldn't have designed his own weird window; he really didn't need to steal from Eisner.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 22, 2021 18:36:37 GMT -5
Thoughts: Here we first meet captain Jean DeWolff, NYPD, who will stick around a bit, in the pages of various Spider-Man comics, before being murdered, by Peter David (well, as writer of the story). The Faye dunaway look was a gimmick, as the character was obsessed with the 1930s and dressed like Bonnie Parker, as in Bonnie and Clyde. I'm a big fan of Captain Jean De Wolff. I thought she was a really great and very memorable supporting Spider-Man character during this era. I was genuinely gutted when she died. This isn't the first time Marvel swiped from The Spirit, as Dr Stranges funky window, on his brownstone, was swiped from Denny Colt's window, by Steve Ditko. I don't think it's fair to call it a "swipe". Ditko deliberately fashioned Dr. Strange's window as an obvious nod to Eisner and the Spirit. It was an affectionate Easter Egg (before the term existed). It's not like Ditko couldn't have designed his own weird window; he really didn't need to steal from Eisner. It's an old fashioned fan and industry term for borrowing an image from elsewhere. It's not to imply plagiarism, in and of itself. Old school artists copped to swiping all of the time, usually when they were rookies, starting out. The term used to be used as an endearment, unless it was someone like Rich Buckler or Rob Liefeld, where they were swiping whole pages of material and not just a pose or a design element. Jules Feiffer, in The Great Comic Book Heroes, wrote gleefully of swiping from newspaper strips and comics, as kids created their own comics and young pros started out aping their influences. So, if I'm saying "swipe," just substitute "homage," unless I'm obviously trashing the work as a cheap copy of something better (and I rarely review those kinds of comics, as they tended to come from the bottom feeders).
|
|
Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,545
|
Post by Confessor on Jul 23, 2021 12:45:12 GMT -5
I'm a big fan of Captain Jean De Wolff. I thought she was a really great and very memorable supporting Spider-Man character during this era. I was genuinely gutted when she died. I don't think it's fair to call it a "swipe". Ditko deliberately fashioned Dr. Strange's window as an obvious nod to Eisner and the Spirit. It was an affectionate Easter Egg (before the term existed). It's not like Ditko couldn't have designed his own weird window; he really didn't need to steal from Eisner. It's an old fashioned fan and industry term for borrowing an image from elsewhere. It's not to imply plagiarism, in and of itself. Old school artists copped to swiping all of the time, usually when they were rookies, starting out. The term used to be used as an endearment, unless it was someone like Rich Buckler or Rob Liefeld, where they were swiping whole pages of material and not just a pose or a design element. Jules Feiffer, in The Great Comic Book Heroes, wrote gleefully of swiping from newspaper strips and comics, as kids created their own comics and young pros started out aping their influences. So, if I'm saying "swipe," just substitute "homage," unless I'm obviously trashing the work as a cheap copy of something better (and I rarely review those kinds of comics, as they tended to come from the bottom feeders). I don’t know, I’ve always felt that there was a suggestion of plagiarism in the term “swipe”. Like, artists swipe from other artists to save themselves time… you know, copying a panel layout or character pose to save themselves time and make their lives easier. Ditko didn’t copy the Spirit’s window for Dr. Strange’s sanctum sanctorum to save himself time or make drawing the good Doctor’s pad easier. It was done as an affectionate nod to Eisner…kind of like a cheeky wink from one artist to another. For me, that’s not really a swipe. But maybe our definitions just vary. Anyway, it’s only a minor point. I’m enjoying your reviews.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 23, 2021 21:48:29 GMT -5
It's an old fashioned fan and industry term for borrowing an image from elsewhere. It's not to imply plagiarism, in and of itself. Old school artists copped to swiping all of the time, usually when they were rookies, starting out. The term used to be used as an endearment, unless it was someone like Rich Buckler or Rob Liefeld, where they were swiping whole pages of material and not just a pose or a design element. Jules Feiffer, in The Great Comic Book Heroes, wrote gleefully of swiping from newspaper strips and comics, as kids created their own comics and young pros started out aping their influences. So, if I'm saying "swipe," just substitute "homage," unless I'm obviously trashing the work as a cheap copy of something better (and I rarely review those kinds of comics, as they tended to come from the bottom feeders). I don’t know, I’ve always felt that there was a suggestion of plagiarism in the term “swipe”. Like, artists swipe from other artists to save themselves time… you know, copying a panel layout or character pose to save themselves time and make their lives easier. Ditko didn’t copy the Spirit’s window for Dr. Strange’s sanctum sanctorum to save himself time or make drawing the good Doctor’s pad easier. It was done as an affectionate nod to Eisner…kind of like a cheeky wink from one artist to another. For me, that’s not really a swipe. But maybe our definitions just vary. Anyway, it’s only a minor point. I’m enjoying your reviews. Generally, if I mean plagiarism, I will use "rip-off;" because, that's what it is.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 29, 2021 16:08:08 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #49Spidey & Iron Man! Double billing for two issues in a row! Creative Team: Bill Mantlo-writer, Sal Buscema-pencils, Mike Esposito-inks, John Costanza-letters, Phil Rachelson-colors, Archie Goodwin-editor Synopsis: When we last saw them, Iron Man and Spidey were dealing with a mad bomber (what bombs at midnight) and encountered the Wraith. Now, Iron man is busy doing interpretive dance, while Spidey is being used by the Wraith to do an impromptu puppet show... Shellhead climbs out of the crater and collapses, while a crowd tries to figure out how to get his helmet off and Wraith taunts Spidey and drops him. It looks like IM will catch him, until he turns into a devil and lets him fall. Then, Spidey wakes up, still held by the Wraith and finds out it was a mental illusion. Jean DeWolff takes a pot shot or two, then Wraith tries to mind-whammy her. It distracts him enough for Spidey to swing over his head and kick him in the mush. he's unable to make a follow-up attack, as Wraith is prepared and Fs with his head. Jean still tries to arrest him, from a window in another building, and he forces her aim towards Spidey. While this goes on, IM finally wakes up and tells some dude to stop pulling on his head. He gets up, wobbly, and flies up to intercept DeWolff's bullets. Wraith then disappears and leaves the pair of heroes to crash into a brick wall, when they leap at him. He turns up above them, and fires a smoke gun and then buggers off completely. Down in the precinct house, they are recovering from bombs and ex-Commissioner DeWolff turns up to berate his daughter and destroy her self esteem... He then hands Jean a note, in her dead brother's handwriting, demanding the job (Jean's captaincy) that should have been his, signed by the Wraith.... Phillip DeWolff leaves and then Spidey and Iron Man turn up, hear the story & read the note, and ask if it could be true? Jean says no way and recounts the circumstances of Brian DeWolff's death... Jean graduated from the academy and was assigned to the case, over her father's protests, but no body was ever found, no ransom or any other evidence and the case was closed. Jean leaves, shaken. Spidey and Shellhead confer and decide they need a specialist to help and put in a call to Dr Strange, as the issue ends. Thoughts: I first read this years ago, a little after it came out. heck of a story going on, as long as you don't start asking questions. The Wraith is a formidable baddie that can mentally alter people's perceptions, and seems rather strong, since Spidey is no lightweight in the strength department. The really interesting elements revolve around Jean DeWolff and this issue gets away from the love of the 30s gimmick and into the heart of family dynamics. Jean's father was a powerful man, the police commissioner, who is out of a job and bitter. He cared less for his daughter than his son, which seems to drive Jean's need to succeed and be tougher than her male colleagues. Last issue and this one have her belittling subordinates, in front of others, which is a sign of poor leadership. It would seem to be her drive to be the toughest of the tough has blinded her as to the leadership role she carries, as a precinct captain. either that, or it illustrates that Mantlo only knows from shouty lieutenants and captains on police shows, rather than actual police officers. More the latter than the former, really. His ignorance further shows when Jean says she was assigned to her brother's case, when that is the last thing that would happen, a), because she is a rookie); and, b) (and more importantly) she is family and has a personal bias that could cloud her judgement. most police departments will not assign a case to an officer who is involved with someone under investigation or with a personal connection to the crime, despite what you see on tv. In other words, Mantlo needed to stop watching Starsky & Hutch and actually go on a ride along, if he wanted to write about cops. Fat chance under a comic writer's deadline and page rate. Leaving that aside, the Wraith appears to be aptly named, as he may be the ghost of Brian DeWolff, or else someone wants to convince Jean that he is. Whatever he is, he is dangerous.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 29, 2021 16:29:15 GMT -5
ps Just want to say, if you wonder why comics were dropping in sales, one of the reasons is value. For 30 cents, DC and Marvel, in their average title, was delivering less than 20 pages of story! Inflation is a factor, as they were trying to hold off on price increases by more ad space; but, it just wasn't worth it, unless you were invested the characters or story. For a comparison, that same year, you could buy a 119 page Star Trek novel, for $1.25, with no advertising in it; or, an issue of Mad Magazine, for 50 cents, with about 44 pages of actual content, and the rest consisting of internal subscription adds, content pages and letters.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 29, 2021 17:20:45 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #49Thing & Dr Strange! Creative Team: Mary Jo Duffy-writer, Alan Kupperberg-pencils, Gene day-inks, Mike Higgins-letters, Carl Gafford-colors, Roger Stern-editor This would probably be an early story, for Jo Duffy. Looks like this year, 1979, is the period for her earliest writing credits. Synopsis: Ben is somewhere off the New England coast, doing a bit of fishing with an in-joke... (the boat is called Olive and the owner's name is Doyle. Think about it.) The fish aren't biting, so they head back in. Ben asks what there is to do, besides fish and is told "twiddle your thumbs." Nothing ever happens in Crawlinsport, which means something is about to happen, because....comics! Sure enough, something lurks under the water (getting ready to crawl in to port and let the town live up to its name). Ben spots a lady in distress, as she tries to fix a flat, with a broken jack. Ben obliges by lifting the car, so she can change the spare, without smudging her pink dress. While Ben chats with the woman, Jane Crawlins (cousin to the owners of the inn, where Ben is planning on staying), a limo pulls up and a man who looks like Dr Strange gets out. Ben calls to him, but he doesn't answer and Ben is sure it is him. he follows and misses the man, but runs into the creepy old woman at the reception desk and checks in, while some Uncle Fester type asks to take his bags... Ben takes his own bags upstairs and we see Doc Strange in his room, after registering as Stephen Smith (oh, must be a rendezvous with Clea) and learn that he is there incognito (yeah, a limo is the way to travel inconspicuously) and is investigating something weird. he believes Ben answered his mystic summons, but didn't acknowledge him so as to keep his cover. After dinner, ben enquires where Jane is and is told she is out walking on the beach. She runs into something and cries out, Ben hears here and runs to her aid, through the walls... Ben smashes the thing in the face, but all he finds is a pile of driftwood. Ben thinks they must have been tricked by a shadow or something, but the girl swears it was moving. The old lady creeps up, out of nowhere and says the girl has roused everyone over successive nights, with unfounded fears. She takes her back inside and Ben thinks the whole family is nots. Dr Strange sense the happenings and we get some backstory out of a gothic horror novel or a Blue Oyster Cult song... Doc thinks ancient magic is aligning with the stars to unleash some Lovecraftian horror, or a cheap tourist stunt, whichever comes first. Sure enough, some golme looking dude crashes through the wall (somehow, no one has hit a load bearing wall, yet) and Doc psychically alerts Ben, who goes after the dude. Ben battles Kemo, the golem dude, before he takes on Royce Gracie (early UFC joke), but isn't getting anywhere and Doc is in his astral form and unable to render advice. Jane tries to help, with a vase to the back of Kemo's head, but that just makes him mad. Suddenly, Doc can talk to ben and renders advice, but is distracted by the wizard, Tremellyn, who is free, since the stars have aligned. Doc goes and does the Ditko-y bit, while Ben punches monsters. The monster nears Strange's physical form. ben punches the stone amulet, which smashes, releasing the hold the wizard had on it. Kemo is freed to go off to eternity and Doc sees that he was pretty useless in all of this, since Ben found the solution by punching things. Thoughts: Nice little tale of weirdness, borrowing heavily from Lovecraft and his ilk and copycats, and a bunch of gothic horror novels and movies. Duffy does a pretty good job with ben, though Doc is kind of wasted here. Kupperberg draws a pretty healthy Jane, if you catch my drift, depending on the angle. She sure loves pink! (or Carl Gafford does). Next up, Thing meets The Thing! Or possibly Fred and Barney.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jul 29, 2021 17:42:56 GMT -5
ps Re: the UFC joke. In UFC #3, a fighter, by the name of Kimo Leopoldo, went up against 2-time tournament winner Royce Gracie (whose family co-promoted the thing and had a hand in selecting fighters, setting rules and setting up a battleground that favored Gracie Jiu-jitsu, since the whole purpose of the UFC was to promote the family business, in America). Gracie won the fight, but was so exhausted he didn't continue in the tournament and Kimo and his manager, Joe Son, came out to the Octagon and celebrated. They ignored the fact that Kimo still tapped out to Royce, despite outweighing him by a significant amount and being heavily roided.
Kimo stayed away from UFC and fought in Japan, in K-1 and another MMA promotion, gaining wins over kickboxers, while claiming a tae kwon do background, but pretty much using a size advantage and an obvious wrestling background to win. he then fought Ken Shamrock in UFC 8, in a single match (for the Super Fight title) and was submitted by Shamrock.
His manager, Joe Son, is a real piece of work, who fought in UFC 4, losing to kenpo stylist Keith Hackney, who he outweighed by 30 pounds and he demonstrated an obvious wrestling background, but that didn't help against repeated legal groin punches. Son appeared in the first Austin Powers movie, as an Oddjob parody, who throws a shoe at Powers, then goes down to an ironic groin hit. he is currently serving a life sentence for a 1990 gang rape and torture of a woman and a later murder of his cellmate.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 4, 2021 17:17:09 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #50Spidey & Dr Strange! And Iron Man..... Creative Team: Bill Mantlo-story, Sal Buscema-pencils, Mike Esposito-inks, Karen Mantlo-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Archie Goodwin-editor Synopsis: Spidey has come to Dr Strange's Sanctum to consult, though first, he needs to wake him up. Just like a doctor to keep you waiting... Meanwhile, Iron man and Jean DeWolff splitup, as Iron man heads for Stark's labs, for some equipment. Jean contemplates her belief that the Wraith is none other than her own father, Phillip DeWolf, the former commissioner, with whom she has a fractured relationship. he resents her position, which should have gone to her brother, who was killed in the line of duty. Or was he? Spidey asks for doc's help to find out if Brian DeWolff was killed, since no body was found. Jean believes her father's obsession with Brian has led to this, while Spidey isn't so sure that Brian is dead, but wants to find out, if possible. The Wraith descends a staircase, into a chamber where large machinery sits below model airplanes, suspended from the ceiling. He is bathed in light and freezes and a figure speaks to him from the shadows. outside, we see Jean DeWolff in a cemetery, approaching the door to a mausoleum, which hoses the DeWolff family crypt. Spidey and Doc Strange arrive at the scene of Brian's ambush and the Eye of Agamoto shows what happened there, as we see Brian gunned down. we also see Phillip come on the scene and carry off his son's body. Dr Strange cannot determine if he carries off a living or dead body. Elsewhere, Iron man examines the note from the Wraith and finds a fingerprint on it, from the original stationery, which belongs to Phillip DeWolf. That proves he was involved in creating the note and IM believes he is the Wraith. At the mausoleum, the Wraith starts to remove his mask, until Jean enters and interrupts and speaks to him as if he were her father, until he steps out of the shadows and the Wraith truly reveals himself... Doc and Spidey turn up at the mausoleum and hear Jean scream. They rush in and Phillip sees them on a closed-circuit monitor. he dispatches the Wraith. As they descend the stairs, the walls come alive and grab them, but it is more mental illusions, created by the Wraith. He disables the pair and they are taken prisoner. When Jean regains consciousness, they are held in stasis, by some kind of energy and her father reveals the identity of the Wraith... It is Brian DeWolff, who is alive, but has no guiding mind. Meanwhile, Tony Stark finishes a helmet, designed to jam Wraith's mental powers. he dons his own Iron man Helmet and takes off with the Jammer. At the crypt, Spidey and Doc independently try to break free of the controlling beam. Spidey is able to shoot a web and activate a model plane, while Doc is able to manipulate his cloak, to block the beam. As this goes on, Phillip details how he found Brian near death and worked to save him, with the help of some money men. They create the cavern below the crypt and equip it, including an experimental device to restore Brian's mind. However,t he money men want to use Brian's new abilities to serve their own greedy interests, while DeWollf wants him to become and avenger, targeting crime. There is a fight and DeWolf is knocked back, activiating the machine, that links Brian's damaged mind with Phillip's. he finds that Brian will mimic his actions... Meanwhile, Doc is free and uses his cloak to block the beam holding Spidey, freeing him. They attack, but Phillip sicks Brian on them. Jean tries to stop her father and he has Brian turn his mental powers on her, giving her a psychic lobotomy. Iron man turns up and slaps the jammer on Phillip's head, as Spidey wraps Brian's head in webbing and Brian collapses. Thoughts: Excellent issue, climaxing the story, though it isn't done yet, as we have a trial, next issue. This is the first time that Mantlo has really crafted an interesting tale, spread over issues. Jean DeWolff livens things up and the mystery of the Wraith's identity is a good mcguffin. Portions are a bit under-developed, like where all this technology is coming from; but, other than that, it's a good mystery/adventure. It has some horrific touches, which work towards Sal Buscema's strengths. Mantlo's character personalities are a bit cliched, at times, which is down to lack of experience, more than anything. A definite step up from the interminable time travel saga.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 4, 2021 18:23:01 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #50The Thing & The Thing? Creative Team: John Byrne-story & pencils, Joe Sinnott-inks, Jim Novak-letters, Francoise Mouly-colors, Roger Stern-editor An artist writing the book? That can't go well..... Synopsis: Reed Richards is studying Ben's physiology to once again try to effect a cure for his condition. he remarks that Ben's body has evolved since it first transformed, which has been an issue in developing a cure. He remarks that his current work would have cured Ben, at that early stage, but not now... Ben thinks about what Reed said and hits upon an idea. The cure he has developed would work in the past, and not the present; so, why not go back to the past? He snatches up the vial with the concoction and heads over to Dr Doom's captured time machine. he sets the Wayback dial and the floor rises up and ben finds himself in the past, on the empty floor of the upper levels of the Baxter Building, before the FF moved in. Ben hears the elevator and ducks out of sight, as Reed steps off, with the landlord. While they are distracted, Ben hops on the elevator and leaves, before Reed can stop it, wen he hears it activate. Ben goes out to the street, but runs into a couple who react to him like he is a monster and the woman faints away. Past Ben sits in darkness and anger, hating what he has become, but he hears the scream and goes to help. On the street, Present Ben tries tor evive the woman, while hubby yells at him to take his hands off of her, calling him a monster. Then, Ben hears a deeper voice, telling him to let the woman go... Ben tries to talk to his past self and gets slugged for his trouble. Ben is shocked by his own anger and bitterness and disregard for people around him. He tries to talk sense into his past self, saying he is the same person as Past Ben. The Past self doesn't believe it and attacks again. He rolls Ben up in rubble, pinning his arms. Ben tries to reason and says he came back from the future in "Doc Doom's Time Machine" and Past Ben laughs at the "conrball name." Ben realizes they haven't faced Dr Doom yet. Finally, Ben has enough and he breaks free of the rubble and punches his past self, but gets hurled into a construction site. now he's really ticked off and he lets himself have it. however, Past Ben grabs a fire hydrant and rips up the connecting pipe and blasts the stream of water at Present Ben, deluging him with water. Present Ben says "Right!" and punches through the pavement, finds the other end of the piping and then "cracks the whip" on himself... He grabs a nearby street sweeper (after the operator runs off in terror) and is about to brain his past self, when he realizes what he is doing and stops. he puts down the vehicle and moves in to fight himself at close range. they duke it out, but Present Ben lands the knockout... He takes out the vial and pours the serum into unconscious Past ben's mouth and waits and it works.... Present Ben sees his past self revert to human form and waits for it to happen to him, when the time platform descends. Past Ben awakens and realizes Present ben was telling him the truth and regrets not being able to thank him. Ben returns to the present and gets a lecture from Reed about what could have happened. ben doesn't care, but when he sees no change in himself, Reed tells him that he can't change his past and all he did was create an alternate reality where he was cured and that Ben lived a different life, separate from this Ben's own. Ben isn't too depressed as he feels he looks far better than he used to; and, deep inside, he knows he has helped a version of himself have a normal life. Thoughts: This gets a bit heavy into ben punching things, from both ends, which shows that Byrne's plot wasn't too sophisticated; but, it is an intriguing idea. ben goes back to try to change his past self, with a cure that should work. however, he finds that he isn't the Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Idol of Millions; but, rather, a bitter man, who can't accept what has happened and not let it define him. It kind of gets at the development of the Thing, over time, from the bitter "monster" he started out as, to the lighter adventurer he became, once he accepted that this was how he was going to appear. One of the things that aided that was Alicia, who couldn't see the outside, but could sense to tender, sensitive man inside. That is an element that I think Byrne really neglected, in this. This opens up a whole debate about the theoretical nature of time and whether or not you could affect your past. I have never seen a convincing argument for any premise and it seems to boil down to whether you believe the past is unalterable or not, regardless of whether time travel is possible. In fiction, it depends on what suits the story. For Marvel, alternate timelines developed as a cop out for series set in the future that they didn't want to be the future of the Marvel Universe, as it exists "now." It's the "having your cake and eating it, too" syndrome. marvel wants everything to be linked and count, as a big planned continuity, until they don't want this part to be included. Dc solved that with parallel worlds; but, Marvel didn't want that. Until they did; and, now they do. Essentially, this is a big What If? story, with Ben getting to be an active participant. Funny enough, later on, it will be established that the reason Reed's cures never work is not because of the evolution of Ben's body or a lack of technology or resources; it's that Ben has accepted who he is and is happy with it and mentally blocks change from occurring. The Thing is his appearance; but, he is still Ben Grimm, just as he was before the space flight that changed his physical form. As we see, it took time for him to find that part of him, that was always there. When he did, his outward appearance became less angry and violent and more closely reflected his inner self. The Thing is just a stage name, a call sign; he is, was, and ever shall be Benjamin J Grimm.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Aug 4, 2021 18:52:16 GMT -5
I don't know what it is, but for some reason Sinnott's inks over certain pencillers make them look less like themselves to me - whereas with others, e.g. Kirby, John Buscema - I don't get the same impression. Anyway, Byrne doesn't look as Byrne-like here as he usually does to me with other inkers, e.g. Austin, Chiaramonte, Marcos. Same thing happened with Perez when inked by Sinnott on the FF.
Regardless, I don't like Byrne's rendition of the old-style, "lumpy" Thing and I think that's down to Byrne, not Sinnott.
|
|
|
Post by badwolf on Aug 5, 2021 9:19:58 GMT -5
I don't know what it is, but for some reason Sinnott's inks over certain pencillers make them look less like themselves to me - whereas with others, e.g. Kirby, John Buscema - I don't get the same impression. Anyway, Byrne doesn't look as Byrne-like here as he usually does to me with other inkers, e.g. Austin, Chiaramonte, Marcos. Same thing happened with Perez when inked by Sinnott on the FF. Regardless, I don't like Byrne's rendition of the old-style, "lumpy" Thing and I think that's down to Byrne, not Sinnott. Byrne did a nice lumpy thing in the FF book when he was on it. I agree about Sinnott; he seemed to have a "normalizing" effect on artwork, removing any sense of individual style. I can't think of an inker I liked less on Byrne.
|
|
|
Post by badwolf on Aug 5, 2021 9:24:31 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #50 I read the follow-up to this story, in MTIO #100, long before I read the original. I don't think I read this issue until it was collected in Byrne's FF omnibus. I like the fact that the story addressed not only Ben's change in appearance, but also his personality, which we sometimes forget about.
|
|
|
Post by MDG on Aug 5, 2021 11:17:41 GMT -5
I don't know what it is, but for some reason Sinnott's inks over certain pencillers make them look less like themselves to me - whereas with others, e.g. Kirby, John Buscema - I don't get the same impression. Anyway, Byrne doesn't look as Byrne-like here as he usually does to me with other inkers, e.g. Austin, Chiaramonte, Marcos. Same thing happened with Perez when inked by Sinnott on the FF. Regardless, I don't like Byrne's rendition of the old-style, "lumpy" Thing and I think that's down to Byrne, not Sinnott. Byrne did a nice lumpy thing in the FF book when he was on it. I agree about Sinnott; he seemed to have a "normalizing" effect on artwork, removing any sense of individual style. I can't think of an inker I liked less on Byrne. I think Marvel liked to use Sinnott as the "house style" inker, especially when they wanted to hearken back to Kirby.
How to portray "Lumpy Thing" after the fact seemed to be a problem. Kirby's original conception, IIRC, was "a gorilla with dinosaur skin," but I don't know if this was ever communicated to the early FF inkers who just did the best they could with the pencils. When they wanted to show him in the Bronze age, it had to be clear how he was different than "model sheet Thing."
|
|