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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 7, 2022 15:53:02 GMT -5
I don't understand why Claremont never did a "straight" BDSM comic. I mean, this is from one of his latest works. Furthermore, one of the problems is he uses BDSM imaginary and language, but it's never "straight" BDSM. There was always some bizzarre reason why the characters wore some fetish gears and behaved as textbook dom/dominatrix. At least more modern authors don't have the same problems in calling a spade a spade. I remember a story with the second Black Widow where she has to operate in a fetish club and she was very fascinated of what was happening here. So Chris, ask Marvel to write a story for the Max imprint and do your worst! I don't think Claremont was comfortable with his own sexual interests, in public, compared to someone like Howard Chaykin. Chaykin pretty much nails how repressed many comic book people are, fans or pros and how much tease vs real healthy sex goes on. Chaykin both put it out there and satirized it. Gray Morrow was pretty comfortable with it and could do real erotic art. Perez seemed comfortable with his quirks; but, working on superheroes meant using it symbolically. Mike Vosburg used Lori Lovecraft for his outlet and Marston had his on the page, with a lot of pseudo-philosophical and psychological mumbo-jumbo to obscure the fact that he was kinky and needed to justify it with convoluted theories. I get the feeling that Claremont wasn't very comfortable with sex, in general. I know the updated version of Gerard Jones & Will Jacobs The Comic Book Heroes made some insinuation about rumors, based on the fact he married relatively late in life, though I would suggest that any merit to rumors would be based more on comfort in romantic and sexual relationships rather than what Jones implied. By the same token, a lot of comic guys weren't about to openly admit to their own quirks and tastes, for fear of it costing them work. Chaykin was a rare one who didn't care and Morrow tread a lot of different markets. Tom Sutton did quite a bit, but also produced some erotic work, under the name Dementia, for the Eros line, at Fantagraphics. Don Simpson did the Anton Drek stuff there, though his style was so idiosyncratic that the Drek name didn't cover it. I can relate. I was pretty repressed, in adolescence and adult life, before becoming pretty comfortable in who I am and what appeals to me. My wife and I met, via online dating, in our 40s and were both pretty up front about things like that.
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Post by badwolf on Aug 7, 2022 16:34:07 GMT -5
I never understood why Spider-Woman had to lose that power to save Foster. Our blood, like any other cells in our body, is constantly regenerated. She probably doesn't even have the same blood she had when she acquired the power. She might lose her resistance temporarily, but it should have come back.
I don't think it was specified how Morgan le Fey killed Jessica, but I guess since her body appeared to be undamaged it could have been poison. I never made that connection before. Figure it was just magic.
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Post by zaku on Aug 7, 2022 16:59:03 GMT -5
I never understood why Spider-Woman had to lose that power to save Foster. Our blood, like any other cells in our body, is constantly regenerated. She probably doesn't even have the same blood she had when she acquired the power. She might lose her resistance temporarily, but it should have come back. I don't think it was specified how Morgan le Fey killed Jessica, but I guess since her body appeared to be undamaged it could have been poison. I never made that connection before. Figure it was just magic. Comics science! Comics magic! They doesn't have to make sense! ... By the way, I was thinking to write something how magic is used in Doctor Strange (and comics in general) and works like Harry Potter. While in the latter magicians have to follow precise rules of what they can do and can't, for the former, well, his powers depend only on who is writing him for that particular story.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 7, 2022 18:17:35 GMT -5
I never understood why Spider-Woman had to lose that power to save Foster. Our blood, like any other cells in our body, is constantly regenerated. She probably doesn't even have the same blood she had when she acquired the power. She might lose her resistance temporarily, but it should have come back. I don't think it was specified how Morgan le Fey killed Jessica, but I guess since her body appeared to be undamaged it could have been poison. I never made that connection before. Figure it was just magic. Comics science! Comics magic! They doesn't have to make sense! ... By the way, I was thinking to write something how magic is used in Doctor Strange (and comics in general) and works like Harry Potter. While in the latter magicians have to follow precise rules of what they can do and can't, for the former, well, his powers depend only on who is writing him for that particular story. Which is why I generally hate magic in fantasy works where rules are not established. Ursula LeGuin, in the Earthsea Trilogy, used real names of things giving power over them, which was a concept also used in Glen Cook's Black Company books (and many other works). Others required objects. Comic book magic was too often just plot convenience. It's why I never really got into magical characters, like Dr Strange.
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Post by zaku on Aug 8, 2022 1:47:49 GMT -5
Comics science! Comics magic! They doesn't have to make sense! ... By the way, I was thinking to write something how magic is used in Doctor Strange (and comics in general) and works like Harry Potter. While in the latter magicians have to follow precise rules of what they can do and can't, for the former, well, his powers depend only on who is writing him for that particular story. Which is why I generally hate magic in fantasy works where rules are not established. Ursula LeGuin, in the Earthsea Trilogy, used real names of things giving power over them, which was a concept also used in Glen Cook's Black Company books (and many other works). Others required objects. Comic book magic was too often just plot convenience. It's why I never really got into magical characters, like Dr Strange. But even your average manga with magic characters has more defined rules than the majority of American "magic superheroes" (Doctor Strange, Zatanna, Doctor Fate etc). For example, as far as Doctor Strange is concerned, it always seemed to me that if he were to use a power he had never used before, he just had to say something like "Now I remember! There is a spell in a book that I read that would be right for us! " and poof, problem solved! If I were a new writer on a superhero like Spider-Man, even if I had never written a story of him, I would have a pretty clear idea of what he can do and can't do. He climbs walls, he can easily lift a car, with difficulty a truck, and absolutely not a building. Doctor Strange? I don't know where to start.
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Post by berkley on Aug 8, 2022 2:23:08 GMT -5
Which is why I generally hate magic in fantasy works where rules are not established. Ursula LeGuin, in the Earthsea Trilogy, used real names of things giving power over them, which was a concept also used in Glen Cook's Black Company books (and many other works). Others required objects. Comic book magic was too often just plot convenience. It's why I never really got into magical characters, like Dr Strange. But even your average manga with magic characters has more defined rules than the majority of American "magic superheroes" (Doctor Strange, Zatanna, Doctor Fate etc). For example, as far as Doctor Strange is concerned, it always seemed to me that if he were to use a power he had never used before, he just had to say something like "Now I remember! There is a spell in a book that I read that would be right for us! " and poof, problem solved! If I were a new writer on a superhero like Spider-Man, even if I had never written a story of him, I would have a pretty clear idea of what he can do and can't do. He climbs walls, he can easily lift a car, with difficulty a truck, and absolutely not a building. Doctor Strange? I don't know where to start.
This to me is one of the main reasons why Doctor Strange shouldn't have been a superhero character, even though he was one from pretty early on - guest-starring in Spider-Man (or was it the other way around? I forget), teaming up with the Avengers, and so on.
But in his own book, I think he was more of a supernatural/occult/ whatever you want to call it character. IOW, unlike, say Zatanna (I gather), he couldn't just do anything at all by invoking the appropriate spell or whatver. Atmospherically, the feeling I retain from those early Ditko comics is that there were vast, unknown forces at play all around us and the main thing that set Doctor Strange apart was that he was aware of them. That awareness and knowledge gave him some power, yes, but not the power to do anything at all. What was more significant was that this awareness set him apart by laying a heavy burden on him - he was the one guy on earth who had to deal with all this. Obviously I wouldnt have articulated all this to myself in these words as a kid, but I think that's the emotional impression the character gave me.
Thus, later on, the Doctor Strange comics that best captured or emulated or developed that idea were always my favourites - most obviously, the Englehart/Brunner and then Englehart/Colan DS but there were others as well. And for the same reasons, I never liked Doctor Strange much in superhero books - even favourite superhero series written by favourite writers, e.g. Gerber's Defenders.
I recently watched the first 20 minutes or so of the recent Doctor Strange movie and, for many reasons, don't feel like carrying on with right now. One of those reasons was that Strange's "magic" felt more like Green Lantern's power of coming up with some physical implement to solve his immediate problem, e.g. a giant pair of scissors, etc, etc. That totally killed the atmosphere for me - along with a lot of other things, like the dialogue, the characterisation of Strange, the increasing sameness of all the MCU films, etc.
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Post by MDG on Aug 8, 2022 9:01:55 GMT -5
Atmospherically, the feeling I retain from those early Ditko comics is that there were vast, unknown forces at play all around us and the main thing that set Doctor Strange apart was that he was aware of them. That awareness and knowledge gave him some power, yes, but not the power to do anything at all. What was more significant was that this awareness set him apart by laying a heavy burden on him - he was the one guy on earth who had to deal with all this. Obviously I wouldnt have articulated all this to myself in these words as a kid, but I think that's the emotional impression the character gave me.
This is an excellent portrayal of Ditko's Strange, which freaked me out as a kid on a steady diet of DCs. The danger and paranoia was very different
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 20, 2022 16:49:09 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #86Spidey & The Guardians of the Galaxy! The real ones! Creative Team: Chris Claremont-writer, Bob McLeod-art, Joe Rosen-letters, George Roussos-colors, Al Milgrom-editor Plot provided by Allyn Brodsky. Synopsis: Spidey looks in on the Deterence Research Corporation, the company started by Moses Magnum, who Claremont reminds us appeared in X-Men and Giant Size Spider-man, when he and the Punisher broke up a South American death camp. Spidey finds Lawrence Whittier Reynolds III, a student at Columbia University, poking around. He also finds a renegade NASA scientist and the current head f the company discussing an operation to launch a space shot to board Drydock, the space station base of the Guardians of the galaxy, which traveled back in time, from the 31st Century, as they got caught up with the Avengers, battling the mad god Korvac. The DRC wants to steal technology and Larry is trying to get it on tape. He is interrupted by Martinex, who is there with the Guardians, investigating what is going on. How did they know? because Starhawk is "One who knows." In other words, plot convenience! He tells the others that Larry got him on tape and they need to destroy it and Niki goes to take care of it. They don't want any records of Drydock or their resence in this century. Larry runs into a security guard, but is rescued by Spidey. Spidey asks why the goons are after him and Larry says he can't tell Spidey. Niki uses the distraction to grab the videotapes and run and Spidey pursues. The Starhawk appears and they fight. Then Niki suckers Spidey with a kick.... and Martinex puts a stop to things, because the rules of the cliched structure have to be obeyed. They make nice and Spidey helps. Meanwhile, we learn that the security guards are minor-league tech villains, who got their butts kicked by the Hulk, because they chained themselves together to try to attack him, as a team. Didn't you guys ever watch Wahoo McDaniel have a strap match? You're supposed to be chained to your opponent! They call themsellves Hammer & Anvil and they ambush Spidey and capture him, because he suddenly turned into a moron. Plot convenience. Say it with me, students....plottttt.....conveeeeeeeeeenienceeeee.............................. Spidey ends up chained tot he wall, and they are about to unmask him, when the cavalry arrives..... They kick posterior and write down nomenclature and hogtie the goons. They gets the evidence and bugger off back to Drydock and Spidey smacks around Larry, for being a jerk. Thoughts: Meh. Leave it to Claremont to suck the interesting out of the Guardians of the Galaxy. These guys always made a story better; but not Claremont's. This is so cookie cutter that it reads like a writing sample for perspective comic book writers, provided they have no intention of creating anything with depth. It's pretty much a sampler of what was to come, under the Shooter regime. The art is nothing special, but serviceable. Quite a come down, though, from the exciting stylings of Buscema and Leialoha. We are also missing half the team, as Yondu, Charlie-27 and Vance Astro are nowhere to be seen. Next issue sees Black Panther turn up, in a better story.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 20, 2022 17:30:51 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #86Ben and the Sandman! No? ?? ? Creative Team: Tom DeFalco-writer, Ron Wilson-pencils, Chic Stone-inks, Jim Novak-letters, George Roussos-colors, Jim Salicrup-editor. Synopsis: Ben is helping Reed do some spring cleaning and grouching the whole time. he mentions that he should be out stopping Dr Doom or the Sandman and Reed relates Sandy's recent history.... Meanwhile, at a police lab, the experiment with trying to recombine the molecules f the two crooks, with no sccess and just decide to dump them, which conveniently reconstitutes the pair. Hydro pisses off and Sandy is a bit lost. He goes to a bar to think and drown his sorrows. the bar tender recognizes him and calls the police, who laugh at him. So, he calls the Baxter Building and speaks to Ben. Ben isn't a believer, either, but has a hankering for a brew and heads over. Ben arrives and confirms it is Sandy and threatens him, but Sandy just placates him. ben sees he is at a crossroads and sits down and listens to his life story. His father deserted him and he wasn't a brain, but he was a star jock and petty criminal. He hid his activities from his mother. A girl had him ready to go straight. He got tossed in stir and came out to find her making time with one of the gang. He nearly killed the dude. he ends back in Ryker's, escape and has an accident that turns him into the Sandman. More crimes, more lost time, more disappointed mother. He is tired. Ben thanks him for the beer, buys the next few rounds and Tells Sandy that the police think he is dead, so let Sandman be dead and start over and do it right. he leaves him to think about it... In story 2 (yep, 2 stories), Ben babysits Franklin and the Impossible Man turns up, complete with bride and a brood of Impossible Kids.... Impy and the Mrs are reconstituting the Poppuppians and are looking for a new homeworld. They borrow some equipment; but, ben decides he needs to keep the kids distracted, before they get into mischief. He settles Franklin in front of the tv and reads to the Impossible kids, though one sneaks off to hang with Franklin. He witnesses tv and it affects the others, thanks to a shared consciousness.... Impy finds a new world, in Kree space and takes the family to go settle. Ben and Franklin say goodbye and Ben says he is sorry for them. Franklin thinks he means the Impossible Family; but, he is talking about the Kree. Thoughts: Pretty much just a filler issue, though a more pleasant one than MTU. The Sandman piece recounts his history, as he makes a face turn. After this, he will try being on the side of Justice, for a bit, before turning heel, again. A bit cliched, but is is enjoyable enough and gives him a bit of dimension. The Impossible Man part isn't as funny as it wants to be; but, it isn't awful. Nothing much; just agreeable.
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Post by berkley on Aug 20, 2022 18:24:38 GMT -5
The Sandman and the Thing sitting at the bar and having a few beers is an idea I like. OTOH, there's the Impossible Man, a character that's always annoyed me
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 20, 2022 19:09:46 GMT -5
The Sandman and the Thing sitting at the bar and having a few beers is an idea I like. OTOH, there's the Impossible Man, a character that's always annoyed me Yeah, I thought DeFalco could have extended Ben and Sandman into the entire issue and really do something; but, I guess he wasn't up to the task.
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Post by berkley on Aug 21, 2022 0:05:39 GMT -5
The Sandman and the Thing sitting at the bar and having a few beers is an idea I like. OTOH, there's the Impossible Man, a character that's always annoyed me Yeah, I thought DeFalco could have extended Ben and Sandman into the entire issue and really do something; but, I guess he wasn't up to the task.
yeah, I was wondering about that - was the two-stories per issue format always meant to be just a one-off or could it have been intended as a semi-permanent thing but then dropped?
Anyway, I still would give him credit just for coming up with the scenario of the Sandman telling his life-story to the Thing over a few drinks at a bar, even if he didn't do as much with it as he might have (and how much could be done with it in 10 pages or whatever?). I haven't read the comic yet, I should make clear, but it's one of only a handful of things I've heard about that came after my time as a regular Mrvel reader (in this case, very shortly after) that I look forward to reading.
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Post by badwolf on Aug 21, 2022 18:23:29 GMT -5
The multi-panel walkaway ending by Ron again. I wonder if anyone has ever counted these?
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 28, 2022 15:08:37 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #87Spidey & Black Panther! Creative Team: Steven Grant-writer, Gene Colan-pencils, Frank Springer-inks, Clem Robins-letters, Glynnis Wein-colors, Al Milgrom-editor Synopsis: Outside a Federal courthouse, photographer Peter Parker takes shots of Thomas Agar, a dealer in precious metals who is accused of fraud in a deal with the government of Wakanda. He claims innocence and says the Feds are kissing up to Wakanda for their Vibranium and he doesn't like people trying to push him around. The Black Panther observes from a tree, then strikes, knocking aside Parker and others and kidnapping Agar, whisking him away in a helicopter... Parker changes into Spdey's work clothes and follows the helicopter, but is spotted and Black Panther fires a weapon, which shoots razor-edged projectiles, that sever his web line. Spidey is forced to arrest his fall and loses the trail. He heads to the Wakandan Consulate and overhears Prince T'Challa talk about taking steps against Agar. Spidey can't believe his antenna... Spidey breaks in and confronts T'Challa, likening him to Dr Doom, committing criminal acts under the cover of diplomatic immunity. T'Challa tells him to bring it and they fight. They smash up the office, then T'Challa takes Spidey down, ECW-style..... i.postimg.cc/26jB4BTh/3.jpgThat is one of the reasons why several of these guys are dead and most of them are practically crippled, in their 40s, with a history of substance abuse! T'Challa claims to have only asked for UN intervention with Agar and knows nothing of the kidnap. They are interrupted by troops (police SWAT team, actually) outside the Consulate, (which Marvel repeatedly calls an embassy, which is incorrect) and are blocked by a State Department official, Aubrey Pearson. They are further interrupted by someone called Hellrazor, who looks nothing like Pinhead or Clive Barker, but does look like someone from a bad 80s hair metal band (or possibly 70s Glam Rock wannabe)... He claims to be there to stop the Black Panther and T'Challa comes out to have a face off. Panther attacks, the cops move in and Spidey spots the razor darts that Hellrazor fires and knows he is involved. he interferes on BP's behalf and the ref allows it. HR uses foreign objects (razor darts) and fires them into Spidey's mid-section, and he goes down.... HR turns to attack BP and discovers his wrist launchers missing and Spidey stands there, holding them, while displaying a bundle of webbing on his chest and abdomen, which absorbed the razor darts. Panther then kayos Hellrazor. We then see a figure in a suit turn off a tv report, then turn when he hears voices, as Spidey and Black Panther confront Thomas Agar..... He set up the whole thing to discredit Black Panther and Wakanda. However, he wasn't the true architect of things... Thoughts: Nice little issue; good plot, nice misdirection and a logical reason for a confrontation. Hellrazor is a pretty decent gimmick villain, perfect hired muscle type, although the costume is terrible. This makes for a nice change of pace and Steven Grant brings a bit of fresh air to things, after Claremont. Gene Colan shows why he is a master of such things, as his fight scenes and cinematic shots help elevate this into something entertaining. I have a quibble with the police, as no officer in charge is going to sanction an attempt to storm a foreign consulate, as they would be well versed in the legalities. More than likely, they might seal off the area as Federal officials attempt to negotiate an end to things. Comics tends to get diplomatic immunity wrong, anyway (Hollywood, too) as that doesn't mean there aren't measures you can take against foreign representatives, starting with expelling them from the country, not to mention breaking off diplomatic relations with the country. Peter David once did a But I Digress column about Dr Doom and diplomatic immunity and questions who would have diplomatic relations with Latveria (anyone who would want the technology that Doom likely sold internationally, to raise currency, for a start) and you don't extend such things to hostile nations. Spidey overhearing T'Challa and his statements is a bit contrived; but, a bit more logical than Spidey just attacking Panther, as would have been the old standby. The other quibble is the constant error of referring to embassies, in New York City. Those are consulates. Embassies are established in the capital city of a nation, for the purpose of representing a foreign government in their relations with the host country. A consulate is an extension of that, in another city, usually for the purposes of trade. New York City has multiple foreign consulates; but, the embassies are in and around Washington DC. Other than that, this is a very good stand alone story, which also plants a seed for future stories, with the ever-present Roxxon threat.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 28, 2022 15:38:48 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #87Thing & Ant-Man! Creative Team:Tom DeFalco-writer, Ron Wilson-pencils, Chic Stone-inks, Rick Parker & Michael Higgins-letters, Christie Scheele-colors, Jim Salicrup-editor Synopsis: Reed is conducting experiments with a metal that can change density with electromagnetic energy. Soon after ending the experiment, which involved ben holding a sphere of the metal, he suddenly shrinks down and disappears and Reed thinks he might have passed into the Microworld... An ant overhears and summons Ant-Man, because........plot convenience. Meanwhile, Scott Lang is yelling at daughter Cassie to clean up her room, or no joining friends at the movies. He ruins a perfectly good lesson in self-discipline by helping her, then she notices a horde of ants. He lets her skip out without finishing the job, thereby assuring that she will continue to thwart his non-existent authority, while he sees what the ants want. Scott arranges a post-movie babysitter, then runs off to play superhero. The ants lead him to the Baxter Building and he consults with Reed. he is then sent into the Microworld, because why would Reed or Johnny go after Ben, when there is cannon fodder , I mean expert help available? Scott is shrunk down to the Microworld, where he finds a medieval castle and guards, with whom he fights, then finds Thing with what is best described as a lady of negotiable affection, if I am any judge.... The madam of the "maison de chat" turns up and says Ben is their protector from lizard dudes.... Ant-Man is escorted to a room, to spend the night (but no female companionship) and finds a heck of a video set up, which is actually a surveillance set-up. Joke is on the bouncers, as Scott Lang is an electronics expert... Ant-Man sneaks out in the boot of a guard and checks the place out. He finds Madam Pearla (Princess, madam...whatever!), who reveals she put the snatch on Ben and brainwashed him with drugged fruit to believe the lizard guys are invaders, when she is secretly planning on conquering them. Ben goes off to face the lizard champion, in a gladiatorial fight. The champion, Zorak (how original), is whooping Ben, who is too messed up in the head to fight properly. Scott interferes and Ben comes out of it and it is Clobberin' Time! Ben busts heads, then tears apart attack ships, before brokering a truce (with the threat of a sock in the jaw to get both sides to agree to terms). Ben and Scott then leave in a three panel fade out. Thoughts: Kind of lightweight, but enjoyable characterizations. The plot is pretty hokey and full of conveniences and Ant-Man isn't exactly a major player in all of this. He ends up being the reader's viewpoint into the Microworld, then wakes Ben up so he can clobber things. Anyone could have filled that role.
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