tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post1853767017616736210..comments2023-03-28T04:32:18.124-04:00Comments on Witless Prattle: Way Back When: AVENGERS FOREVER (1998-2000)Kazekagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-45448172876004513622010-08-06T17:10:24.185-04:002010-08-06T17:10:24.185-04:00Yeah, I think it's time to put it back on the ...Yeah, I think it's time to put it back on the shelf, all things considered, because dear GOD no one writing comics at the moment has any idea how to deploy it properly.Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-80712527574712152912010-08-06T16:25:11.767-04:002010-08-06T16:25:11.767-04:00Exactly. It's a sensitive subject, and it coul...Exactly. It's a sensitive subject, and it could <i>theoretically</i> be done properly, but I wouldn't trust Marvel or DC to handle the situation well. Or at all, to be honest. Way too many examples of rape being sensationalized or stereotyped or used as cheap backstory drama for me to believe that they could pull it off.<br /><br />Indeed. :)Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-5970979044659647862010-07-21T00:29:12.868-04:002010-07-21T00:29:12.868-04:00Yeah, the main problem I have is that when someone...Yeah, the main problem I have is that when someone mentions the idea of something that's being done and one considers the people responsible for carrying it off one can only see disaster and one would best prefer they just didn't bother rather than doing it, screwing it up, and proving me right. :)<br /><br />If "Good Times" taught us anything it's that JJ's are to be feared . . . :)Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-79723903724945878292010-07-10T12:26:58.882-04:002010-07-10T12:26:58.882-04:00It depends - if I squint a bit, I could perhaps se...It depends - if I squint a bit, I could <i>perhaps</i> see the merit in making Peter Parker a victim of molestation: not for the sake of the Drama, but because there's a message there about someone who's victimized in a very specific way and overcomes it. Of course, this being the House of Bad Ideas, I very much doubt they'd be capable of <i>not</i> sensationalizing it. Anyone who thinks putting Norman Osborn's O-Face on-panel needs to have his brain defragmented.<br /><br />Just another name to watch out for come pilot season, along with JJ Abrams...<br /><br />Quite. :)Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-53788262017383712692010-07-06T21:29:02.850-04:002010-07-06T21:29:02.850-04:00Yes, but it's part of a pattern of at-best que...Yes, but it's part of a pattern of at-best questionable judgment, innit?<br /><br />And yet, thanks to the Peter Principle, Jeph Loeb is now in charge of making dreck for ABC Family, which is just as well, since it's Disney's cable landfill anyways. Every man does rise to his or her level if mediocrity.<br /><br /> The first time two wrongs <i>ever</i> made a right, eh? ;)Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-90244515109182892432010-07-06T17:18:09.309-04:002010-07-06T17:18:09.309-04:00Trust me, you're not missing much. :)
They pr...Trust me, you're not missing much. :)<br /><br />They printed "Marville" too, doesn't mean we should take that at face value either. ;)<br /><br />Someone mentioned that a while back, actually - along with the more tangible fact that Loeb's TV resume doesn't exactly sparkle either, given that his last major project involved tanking perhaps the most promising bit of genre TV of the last decade...<br /><br />Unless they annihilate each other like two colliding Vortices of Doom, leaving the world a better place. :)Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-71736739903843780912010-06-26T00:04:27.362-04:002010-06-26T00:04:27.362-04:00Y'know, I've never seen it. It's one o...Y'know, I've never seen it. It's one of those things that seems to occur well out of my little bubble. :)<br /><br />It wouldn't be the first time someone's made that correlation, Diana. And Marvel <i>printed</i> it. :)<br /><br /> The thing is, I think in retrospect, most all that's down to Tim Sale, who at least made sure it all looked purdy even if it didn't make a lick of sense, which it didn't.<br /><br /> As to the winner between Jenkins and Austen, well obviously--whoever wins, we <i>all</i> lose. :)Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-90980280992781238132010-06-25T07:45:23.121-04:002010-06-25T07:45:23.121-04:00Oy, that show. Nice music, but the storylines seem...Oy, that show. Nice music, but the storylines seem to be written by Ozzy Osbourne for maximum WTF value.<br /><br />Boo-urns, good sir. Boo-urns. :)<br /><br />I think Loeb came off as more of a surprise, though - the general consensus is that he used to be, if not genuinely <i>good</i>, at least tolerable on some level. Of cuorse, the <i>real</i> Clash of the Titans is Paul Jenkins vs. Chuck Austen. Discuss. ;)Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-85284798457031653212010-06-11T22:10:25.896-04:002010-06-11T22:10:25.896-04:00"Tonight! On a Very Special Episode of Glee ...."Tonight! On a Very Special Episode of <i>Glee . . .</i>"<br /><br />*ahem* Why do you think the web fluid is so sticky, Diana? ;)<br /><br />Hmm . . .maybe I spoke in haste. That said, I find page after page of Captain America being upbraided for not knowing what MySpace is, or She-Hulk coming on to the Hulk wearing a black fucking eye he gave her (yes, this did happen) or the Sentry having a tumble with Rogue despite that being a very big deal for her character . . .yeah, actually that's way more intellectually insulting to me than the Blob eating the Wasp, Thunderbolt Ross' vanishing Rulk mustche, or Superman acting all pedo over Supergirl. Because I <i>know</i> to expect utter shite from Jeph Loeb. :)You don't want to think that kind of stupidity and incompetence is contagious, honestly.Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-37449280568324901702010-06-11T15:53:46.039-04:002010-06-11T15:53:46.039-04:00I imagine we Marvel readers do that so often we...I imagine we Marvel readers do that so often we're mistaken for deaf show choirs...<br /><br />Wasn't that the moral of Spider-Man's rivalry with Skip Westcott? :) <br /><br />Hmm. I think we need to quantify that statement. Oh, Paul Jenkins is a horrible hack, no question there, but is he Romulus-bad? Hush-bad? I'm not sure. Of course, Loeb can at least lay claim to one or two stories that hold up (just barely) under scrutiny - I'm not sure Jenkins can say the same.Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-27121103888659071182010-05-29T19:06:19.477-04:002010-05-29T19:06:19.477-04:00I intend to have my fingers in my ears shouting &q...I intend to have my fingers in my ears shouting "LA LA LA LA" when that happens. :)<br /><br />I bet it'd go like this: "Don't stick it where it doesn't belong, True Beleiever! Excelsior!" ;)<br /><br />Yeah, that Hulk annual managed to do more damage to the whole Hulk concept than the two years of Jeph Loeb stories so far. I said it, and I mean it: <i>Paul Jenkins is worse than Jeph Loeb.</i>Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-44388330985017644782010-05-29T18:43:49.509-04:002010-05-29T18:43:49.509-04:00How's that approach working for you? Because t...How's that approach working for you? Because the Sentry's scheduled for a comeback any day now. ;)<br /><br />How Lee and Kirby refrained from turning it into a syphilis PSA, I'll never know. :)<br /><br />An ice floe's too kind. I say we book him a nice, long vacation at Annie Wilkes' house. Because dear God I didn't know about that Hulk annual, and I really wish I could be that person again...Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-13072056090294312512010-05-15T23:09:32.809-04:002010-05-15T23:09:32.809-04:00Sometimes I get in a good riposte!
I don't k...Sometimes I get in a good riposte! <br /><br />I don't know--I try to do a balance of both here at the Prattle in the name of not burning out and balancing it out in between the ripping to shreds of things.<br /><br />Hitler apparently thought running around with a purple pillowcase on his head would further the cause of National Socialism, which says a lot about his state of mind at the time . . .<br /><br />I think it's time we finally send Paul Jenkins out on an ice floe. Ever since that Hulk annual wherein She-Hulk had to stop Hulk from having sex with her, any good he's done is massively outweighed by the bad, bad, bad stories he's left in his wake.Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-55450760557686686182010-05-15T15:57:46.018-04:002010-05-15T15:57:46.018-04:00Ohh... touche, my friend. Touche. :)
I suppose th...Ohh... touche, my friend. Touche. :)<br /><br />I suppose there might be some academic merit to going over those old trainwrecks - breaking down the narrative to see <i>exactly</i> what doesn't work and why, that sort of thing - but I prefer to do those sorts of in-depth analyses with stories I actually <i>like</i>. :)<br /><br />Given the fact that Hitler was apparently running around as a supervillain in the Silver Age, you never know... <br /><br />Oh lord, let's not and say we did. <i>Please.</i> Only the Sentry could be so toxic a character that he continues to diminish others in his blasted <i>funeral issue</i>.Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-47338166973532041452010-05-11T21:14:19.442-04:002010-05-11T21:14:19.442-04:00Uhm . . . Batman: The Animated Series? ;)
Really,...Uhm . . . Batman: The Animated Series? ;)<br /><br />Really, no one has, at all, except if you really want to experience all the pre-Morrison floundering the X-Books were doing before he came along with a new paradigm that . . .they completely ignored after he left and went back to floundering again.<br /><br /> 50's Cap? Maybe so. OG Cap? I'm not sure--they may have had some vague memory there was a Captain America, but they probably didn't remember much beyond that. Besides--there wasn't any continuity to bring along--it didn't really work that way pre Silver Age.<br /><br /> . . .and that's why, despite the fact that the Sentry apparently dying pleases me greatly, I just know someone is passionate enough to bring him back later so he can tell The Ultimate Sentry Story.Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-47385975515672053162010-05-11T12:17:12.495-04:002010-05-11T12:17:12.495-04:00In our defense, it's Fox: how often are they r...In our defense, it's Fox: how often are they right? About anything? ;) <br /><br />Thankfully, "The Twelve" took place during my "leave of absence", and after seeing Paul's take on it at the old X-Axis, I'm quite secure in the knowledge that I have absolutely <i>no</i> reason to go bin-hunting for that story. :)<br /><br />I think that, at the time they reintroduced Cap, the character's pre-Marvel history was fresh enough to readers that it would've been imported wholesale in their heads anyway - might as well try to make use of it. <br /><br />Of course, in retrospect, given the Big Two's utter inability to do away with something and <i>not</i> pick it back up a little further down the line, perhaps they would've been better off just leaving well enough alone...Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-57286454213631369102010-05-01T22:12:58.397-04:002010-05-01T22:12:58.397-04:00Man, we shoulda listened! :) "The Twelve"...Man, we shoulda listened! :) "The Twelve" was one of the most godawful X-crossover stories I think I've ever read, even worse than "Fall of the Mutants" and "Onslaught" put together, and the damn thing seemed to drag on forever. This was only 4 episodes, and so was more tolerable by default. :)<br /><br />True, but there didn't necessarily have to be any bridge linking pre-Marvel and Marvel current, except for those thin strands that did--Cap and Sub-Mariner. Nothing of consequence really happened when Cap, the Torch and the Sub-Mariner were brought back in the 50's (I mean, Steve Englehart got a good story out of the 50's cap, but still) but once you opened that door, there was no closing it and then you have bloody Marvel Boy and Toro pestering the Fantastic Four. There's such a thing as going too far and treating every bit of past detritus as important, as DC has shown us . . .Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-45839143960870949972010-05-01T09:10:52.258-04:002010-05-01T09:10:52.258-04:00Actually, that's the interesting part: I'd...Actually, that's the interesting part: I'd always thought it was an attempt to adapt "The Twelve", but the episodes aired in 1995 and "The Twelve" only started in 2000. Fox was trying to warn us! :)<br /><br />The thing about the Roy Thomas era, though, was that there was a legitimate gap between the genesis of the Marvel Universe and everything that came before. I'd go so far as to say that might've been the <i>only</i> time those sorts of retcons were necessary, just for the sake of having a coherent pre-narrative history for Marvel. Of course, everything that came later just kept changing the past to suit the present rather than move forward.Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-83274829856395295342010-04-23T13:55:43.632-04:002010-04-23T13:55:43.632-04:00Yeah, that episode had some cool things, but tryin...Yeah, that episode had some cool things, but trying to follow the plot made my head nearly explode and probably explained better than anything why direct adaptations of what was going on in the comics weren't a great idea. <br /><br />Well, it's been a leitmotif since the 70's really, when the first group of fan-creators hit the scene--there are a LOT of stories which exist solely to fix other stories. It's been a problem ever since the Vision was a re-purposed Golden Age Human Torch, except he wasn't then he was and oh dear I've gone cross-eyed. Without a guiding hand to really rein that tendency in or make it feel a bit more organic in terms of story flow, it's gotten less gussied up as time has gone on.Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-89492862041164725102010-04-19T15:50:08.387-04:002010-04-19T15:50:08.387-04:00Yep. That was the one. Plot like an Escher paintin...Yep. That was the one. Plot like an Escher painting. :)<br /><br />Of course, now I'm wondering if that had a hand in reinforcing the use of Big Stories to wallpaper over <i>previous</i> Big Stories - Bendis started his Eternal Chain of Suck four years later, and with the Avengers yet again.Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-91284984324146969352010-04-10T21:56:10.821-04:002010-04-10T21:56:10.821-04:00Oh lord--was that that brain-busting one where Apo...Oh lord--was that that brain-busting one where Apocalypse was in the centre of time and was collecting telepaths? Because that may have been the most mind-boggling time travel story I've seen, and I can explain ontological paradoxes. :)<br /><br />Well, Pacheco's art is excellent, and there's some decent bits in there and good on him for sweeping away The Crossing (an awful, awful, fucking story) but yeah . . .really, Kang Dynasty is a more effective story.Kazekagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07499536996058174109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8207237618509440496.post-20465974178449328522010-04-10T16:08:32.291-04:002010-04-10T16:08:32.291-04:00My first exposure to Immortus/Kang/That Pharaoh Gu...My first exposure to Immortus/Kang/That Pharaoh Guy was in the '90s X-Men cartoon, that arc where Bishop, Cable and Apocalypse are time-traveling all over each other. Which pretty much set the tone for every Kang story I've ever read since. :)<br /><br />It's a noble effort on Busiek's part, but it's apparently remembered more for sweeping the Crossing under the rug (not an unworthy goal, of course) than for anything that was actually <i>done</i> with the characters or the plot...Diana Kingston-Gabaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606122690934557406noreply@blogger.com