|
Post by humanbelly on Apr 13, 2015 7:55:27 GMT -5
I remember he repeated many times during that period of his life that he had become as strong as the Hulk. Interestingly, during that time the Hulk had become grey and wasn´t as strong as when he was green. Wellllllll, but how would Ben know, really? Even back then, some of the Hulk's prodigious feats of strength and survival over the years would seem to have been beyond what the upgraded Armor-Thing could have achieved or endured. (Surviving at the heart of a nuclear explosion; falling unprotected all the way to Earth from orbit; lifting entire castles/fortresses, and so on.) But of course, those things are awfully tricky to quantify-- and any direct strength trials Reed may have been able to run (say 'way back, circa HULK #122) would have been with a calm, Banner-controlled Hulk. Still, I imagine there could have been data on file that said "Hulk can bench-press x-amount of tons", and Ben could certainly use that as a basis for comparison. Y'know, I really did like the strength-boost of Armor-Thing, but I hated his complicated, messy, cluttered, spike-ified look. And it was further confused by the fact that Sharon Ventura was then a practically indistinguishable version of Ben's traditional form. 10-year-old HBSon at the time, though, thought it was the coolest look ever-- so who am I to judge? HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Apr 12, 2015 17:44:44 GMT -5
Inquiring minds need to know.... . . . Hmmm. . . how 'bout Mighty Mouse--? Boy, goin' with the back-to-our-roots, old-school fanboy type of conversation-igniter, aren'tcha there, Doc? This is a good one, though, since it's really been established since the late Silver Age that the Hulk himself is indeed officially stronger than Ben (the final letters-page pronouncement on the matter was that, pound-for-pound, Benjy & Greenskin were equal-- but the Hulk simply had quite a few more pounds to his advantage, PLUS he had the whole angrier/stronger thing workin' for him). Y'know, I was going to go with Ben, under the assumption that if the same proportionate equation held true for He and Jennifer, then he'd had have the advantage-- with Ben being shorter, but certainly bulkier. Buuut my curiosity was piqued, so I took side-trip over to the Marvel Wiki, and even those dubious "official" power/skill rankings give Jen a slight advantage. AND-- she is indeed the larger person of the two! Ben is "officially" 6' tall (which I like, and it makes me nuts when artists draw him as a towering behemoth), and weighs 500 lbs. Jen is 6'-7" tall (She was already 5'-10" in her human form!), and tips the scales at 650! So there's clearly not much of a platform for a Ben-is-stronger argument, I'd say. And while I LOVE the idea that She-Hulk may well be in the extreme upper echelons of strongest-mortals-- I feel like Ben maybe should never have been eclipsed as much as he has been over the years. He was, after all, the original Marvel Heavyweight Strongman Tank character, and simply hasn't had the benefit of perpetual power-inflation as much as other folks have (with the exception of when he became Armor Thing, perhaps--) HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Apr 11, 2015 16:58:32 GMT -5
It´s a generally accepted fact that the Batman is the greatest tactician of the DCU. But I´m not sure if there is someone at the MU who is so generally regarded as # 1. I guess we should allow one from the heroes side and one from the villains´. Surely it would be Nick Fury, yes? Heh-- and depending on one's opinion of him and just exactly how he's being written at the time, you might even make a case for him representing both sides--! But I can't think of anyone more adept at playing the long game and keeping track of all of the pieces on his game board. While keeping all of the juggled chainsaws in the air at once. I do seem to remember Cap being described as a master tactician a number of times-- but that's never been exactly a natural aspect of his skill set, to my mind. He's great at being a field-general and all-- but he's not by nature an "intrigue" sort of guy. Another runner-up might be Cyclops-- but again, that seems to have been a quality imposed upon him by writers rather than one we've directly seen. Wasn't it around X-MEN #150 that they'd all been de-powered on Magneto's island, and had to rely on their innate "human" skills to save the day? And Scott's big thing was that he was a brilliant strategist-? (I rather enjoyed that arc-- part of Cockrum's 2nd run, I believe). But again, like Cap, he's more of a field leader, rather than a long-game planner, yeah? The Villains? Geeze, ALL of 'em! It seems to be, like, a union-mandated skills test, or something. I'd. . . probably go with Kang in the long run, simply because he's supposedly conquered "a thousand thousand worlds" or something. . . and there's no getting around that he has to have some serious tactical aptitude to make that happen. . . HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Apr 6, 2015 20:07:35 GMT -5
I might be wrong, Belly, but I think the LMD technology at SHIELD´s disposal was Stark´s. There´s an early IM story where an LMD in Stark´s image gains sentience and plans to replace the real Tony. I tell ya, there seems to be a bit of a dearth of readily-available info on the subject. The more I've mulled it over, the more I my recollection becomes that there was actually a suggestion that the basis of LMD tech was adapted from some some captured alien technology, like the Kree or Shi'ar or someone. That (heh) rings a familiar bell for me, Bong. LMD's (and androids like the SuperAdaptoid) have always presented a problem for me, ethics-wise, because they were so poorly thought-out as a concept at first. They were simply too alive and self-aware to make a credible case for their being mere expendable "robots". Also, they're hopelessly like the Holodeck in ST:TNG (and subsequent series) in that they ALWAYS seem to have a glitch that makes them become "atypically" sentient, or self-directed, or whatever. If there's a highly visible LMD in a story, you KNOW that it's going to start thinking it's human before too long. . . HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Apr 5, 2015 6:15:01 GMT -5
It may also be a matter of perception. Hank's inventions and discoveries may be more 'amazing' (for lack of a better term) than Reed's work. Size-changing, the creation of a true AI, work with pocket universes, thought-control to an extent, these are wide-ranging 'fantastic' creations. Whereas Reed, whose genius work is admirable, follows more or less a traditional scientific path. It's also interesting to note, that of all the 'big brains' of the MU, Reed has suffered the least amount of trauma of them all, certainly nowhere near the level that Bruce and Hank have endured. But we could sum this up thusly: Hank created Ultron. Reed created Herbie. Actually, if you think about it, this doesn´t do Hank´s reputation any favors... . No, no-- actually, it does. It's just that you have to maintain an absolutely cold-blooded, objective point of view, and look at only the scientific achievement itself, and not pay any heed whatsoever to that achievement's consequences (even unintended ones). I guess it's sort of a Modern Prometheus situation. Reed's AI contributions, Herbie & Roberta the Receptionist, are solid, clever, products of problem-solving-- cut & dried science. Hank's Ultron would seem to be a product of that special "extra" leap of conceptual ingenuity that one associates with the achievements of. . . well. . . Mad Scientists. (In fact. . . aren't pretty much all of the most impressive sentient robot/android creatures in the MU the product of Mad Scientists of some sort? Didn't SHIELD's LMD technology have its origins somewhere other than SHIELD)? HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Mar 30, 2015 21:04:25 GMT -5
I vaguely recall there being some attempt in MIGHTY AVENGERS at the time to justify and explain why Hank Pym specifically was given the Scientist Supreme mantle, and not Reed (or Doom or Bruce or etc)-- but darned if I can remember the particulars. The one thing I might toss out-- and it certainly invites disagreement-- is that Hank's expertise may actually fan out across a wider range of disciplines and fields than Reed's actually does (although those limits may simply be a bi-product of what Reed does and doesn't have an interest in). Reed is first & foremost a time-space/quantum mechanics/theoretica&applied physics kinda guy. . . who does a lot of clever inventing as a sidebar. Hank has really branched across quite a range of fields and combined disciplines. The size-changing is. . . bio-physics, I guess? Huge amounts of work studying ants and other insects (entomology); artificial intelligence and robotics, of course; the usual bunch o' inventions; his own quantum/pocket-universe/time-space projects. I mean, do ya want yer Scientist Supreme to be a limited specialist, or a fully capable, dependable utility player, y'know?
HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Mar 30, 2015 8:26:23 GMT -5
My initial "thought" is that this very young-looking "Avengers" team reminds me of that NEXT AVENGERS DvD that came out a few years ago, and I had no interest in and avoided----- My next thought is I will ONLY be checking this book out if it is a freebie for FCBDay. And I'm left with a feeling of disappointment, another Avengers title I probably won't be interested in... I just want something SOMEWHAT reminiscent of Avengers volume 1 or 3, or West Coast Avengers. It's hard to get my Avengers fix these days. oh well, that movie in May looks pretty good...... The NEXT AVENGERS dvd was actually a decently amusing little diversion-- as it had a fairly legitimate M2-Universe feel to it--- a possible tale of the future that respected established continuity (at the time). It's hard to comment on the book from such a small amount of info-- but it surely does look an awful lot like "Sam Wilson and Avengers Academy", doesn't it? I'm all over the place, here, though, w/ speculation. Could this be a Disney-Editorial push to get content back to the youth-friendly roots of comic books? They would REALLLLLY need to change the overall tone and story-telling style, then. Here's the thing (and HBGirl astutely pointed this out to me), periodicals that feature 16 to 18 year-olds are actually read by 11 to 14 year olds. Capturing the 16-18 year-old market needs to feature characters in their early 20's. It's not so much a matter of "relating" to kids one's own age, as it is "aspiring" to becoming the cooler kids the next bracket up. Disney. . . may actually be savvy enough to get that; Marvel, I think, lost sight of that several decades ago. Won't matter, though--- the books are still too expensive. The. End. Ooh, but one other observation: I wonder if there's a bit of an attempt here to follow DC's path when they started the Silver Age by giving us new people in the identities of old, established heroes (namely, Flash and Green Lantern)? For some reason, in that context, I'm a little more open to the idea. . . HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Mar 12, 2015 7:55:42 GMT -5
Although I am very bummed about no Assembled 3 in print, I did enjoy Doug's article. I personally don't enjoy extended reading on a computer screen...whenever I see a young person reading a "REAL" book I say, YAY!!! BOOKS!!! We'll miss them when they're gone (at least I will). I've never been a big Hank Pym fan, so it never phased me if he was treated (written) as a jerk, coward, hero, whatever....he was just part of the Marvel Universe for me. I DO like the fact that he was always re-inventing himself, not just with new costumes, but new powers, names, identities. Why not? Especially for a long-time super-hero. (DR PYM from WCA was pretty lame, though). Personally, the WORST treatment/writing of Hank wasn't his abuse of Jan (that had already happened when I started reading comics).... it was a few years back when he "honored" his "dead" ex-wife by taking up the mantle of...the WASP!!! BOOOOOOOO! STUPID IDEA! and I think it was Dan Abnett, one of my favorite "new" writers, who came up with that crappy idea. I get the motivation behind having Hank go "Wasp", and it wasn't really out of character, I suppose-- but for me, too, it was just a little too far down Creepy Avenue to see Hank effectively dressing up in his dead wife's clothes. Abnett also didn't have a particularly deft handle on Hank's "voice" as we know it--- had him coming off much more as his original Yellowjacket persona. But what's kind of cool about the good Dr Pym is that all of the inconsistent writerly whims that have been foisted upon him over the years created a rather unconventional and truly rich consistent character continuity all their own. A lot has been made of how Ultron-guilt and that initial mind-wipe (detailed in Avengers #58) are a major cause of Hank's instability. . . but he was definitely a temperamental & emotional loose cannon loooooong before Ultron was even a gleam in a photo-electric eye. There's an instance late in his TtA run (after the Hulk feature began) where his story opens with him raging-- raging-- as Giant-Man on the side of his apartment building at some fans or teenagers or someone that had been pestering him just a bit. It's all that Jan can do to calm him down and get him inside. And Avengers #14? Jan gets critically wounded and Hank loses his mind, and pretty much has a sustained hysterical mental breakdown even as he's in the midst of all of the issue's events. And. . . this is a pattern that we see repeated time & again over the intervening decades. A few months later, he gets "stuck" at a Goliath height of 10' (or 12'; or 15'-- depending on how Stan's memory was holding up on any given month), and becomes a predictably depressed, brooding, angry, ill-tempered figure on the team. And of course his whole story started with the awful death of his first wife, which is COMPOUNDED by the fact that this new girl in his life seems to be an almost-inappropriately too-young dead-ringer for her-- yeesh. I wonder if Stan & the other early writers really had in mind that they were going to perpetually yank out this character's mental rug, or if he was just an easy target, as he was always a fairly visible B-list character? Y'know, w/ the Dr Pym identity in WCA, even though I poke fun at it as well, I honestly did kind of like and admire the attempt, 'cause it was a COMPLETELY different approach to being a superhero in a team environment. It was quirky and brave and not at all cool, and I would have loved to see them stick with it, as it represented a truly remarkable change of of direction that (theoretically) should not have been able to be reversed. Ohhhh, that pocketed jumpsuit alone exhibited fashion courage that few could ever muster-! HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Mar 10, 2015 9:56:19 GMT -5
Heya Teammates--
Dare I say that it's worth starting a thread to cover the Assembled 3 material as Van avails us to it? Yeah? It was certainly heartwarming to see Doug's (dlw66's) Hank Pym essay finally get its time in the limelight. And I have to say that Hank is a character that I've come to care about more and more as the years have gone by. Like many others, he's been wildly and inconsistently mishandled in these last ugly 10 years or so, and was rather ungracefully handled by writers several times before that (In WCA it was often hard to recognize him as the same, familiar Henry Pym-- although his storyline was still one of the more interesting ones). What's kind of neat in Doug's article is that the coincidental way he was introduced to the character over different eras went hand-in-hand with Doug's personal light-bulb moment of realizing how truly cool and interconnected and far-reaching the Marvel continuity was. Thus, that association was gonna be strong for him forever, I just bet---!
Whatcha think? Anyone out there w/ two cents? Or even four? Anyone? Hmm?
HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Mar 1, 2015 19:31:18 GMT -5
Okay, here's a report for the 4 or 5 who still look at this site, ha-ha! Uncanny Avengers #2 -----the cover shows the Avengers battling a bunch of baddies----this DOES NOT happen in this issue!!!! I felt like this issue was heavy on Sabretooth (still a lame choice, IMO), and light on the other Avengers. The plots plods along VERY slowly, and I keep feeling like I know what the outcome (concerning Wanda and Pietro's origins)will be; I hope there's a twist or two to make it interesting. I also have never been a fan of the High Evolutionary as a villain. And I guess the final page is an intriguing surprise.....but one that will complicate things, I think! I know. . . I KNOW. . . that I'm opening a can of worms with this question, but I honestly don't understand the particulars: If the whole blinkin' MU is being re-booted/started-over from scratch (am I correct about that?) in a few weeks-- then what's the point of starting this book over again at this point? Or does the fact that I'm not reading anything now make it impossible to explain?? HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Feb 6, 2015 22:19:53 GMT -5
Yep, you're absolutely right-- you immediately had me thinking about how Gene Roddenberry had to pitch STAR TREK to the network execs as being a very straightforward, conventional "space western", 'cause that's what he knew the brass would want to hear. Producers, publishers, Executive Directors--- THAT, I daresay, is where yer most bountiful crop of cynicism is harvested from-! The name "Cary Grant" was fabricated to remind the ear of the name "Clark Gable"-- which was fabricated to remind the ear of "Gary Cooper"--- sheesh!
HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Feb 4, 2015 13:04:33 GMT -5
Well, if we are going to discuss "cynically conceived", it's worth noting that pretty much all comics are published to make money. According to Stan, Fantastic Four was just a cynical response to how well JLA was doing at DC. JLA was just a cynical response to how well JSA and All-Winners Squad had sold years before. And those books were just cynical attempts to cash in on how well books with more than one character sold. Very, very few comic books are published because of some Pure Artistic Vision, or a Need To Tell A Great Story. What's kind of cool is that the artistic vision ans Stories emerge from the cutthroat commercial world. Indeed, I've heard it said that most Great Art and Music and Literature was produced under near factory-like commercial conditions, belting out one commission after another. Dickens, Shakespeare, Michaelangelo, Mozart, all produced commercial work for pay, but all managed to crank out things many consider masterpeices. Of course, I'm not sure if Secret Wars or She-Hulk prove that theorem, I believe it incorporates a variety of Theodore Stugeon's 99% of everything is crap" rule, too... "Make a buck, make a buck. . . even in Brooklyn it's the same thing." (Who's got the quote? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?) Ohhhhh, I'm betting you're employing just a touch of hyperbole to make your point there, maybe, TomSp? "Cynical", of course, can't be the simple catch-all descriptor for every creative or artistic venture that's trying to turn a profit. And actually, the venue that comics provide would inevitably attract folks who, indeed, are driven by Pure Artistic Vision and Need To Tell A Great Story (interestingly, there's been an explosion of exactly that type of work, via graphic novels & small press series, in the last decade or so). But nah-- the vast majority of the work falls into a very wide, comfortable grey area in-between. Sometimes the balance goes 'waaaaay to the cynical/commercial. . . sometimes 'waaaaay to the artistically-indulgent. Jumping on a hot trend in an effort to suck fast money out of customers regardless of any true value. . . THAT'S cynical. Think: Multiple Foil-Embossed "Collectible" Covers of a single issue of any book. Think: cancelling and re-starting long-running series with "new" #1 issues (and no other relevant change). Think: Heroes Reborn (sort of-- a desperation play). But coming up with a product that the creator believes in, and that editors/publishers feel might find a popular audience and sell a lot of units? That's not cynical, that's just a happy coordination between artistic merit and market savvy-tude. Think: The New X-Men. Think: Walt Simonson's run on Thor. Think: The Death of Capt.Marvel (and the birth of the graphic novel). I think it's as simple as looking at what the likely initial question was. And when that question is something like, "What two likely title words test strongest for adolescent boys/"-- well, I think it's tippin' one's hand pretty clearly-- yep.. . HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Feb 1, 2015 23:11:14 GMT -5
That's hilarious, HB--the poor kid probably doesn't have the miles on him to get the joke about Spinal Tap! It's one of my favorite movies. "Giant mudflaps, my baby's got 'em!" Man they just don't write love ballads like that anymore! HB--I was really just giving myself crap about being naive. I enjoyed Secret Wars, cynically conceived or not! I also learned from that book that the only reason one of my favorite characters, the She-Hulk, was created in the first place was because Marvel thought the producers of "The Hulk" TV show were going to create a female version of the Hulk--and they'd therefore have the copyright! The guy who wrote the first issue remarked that the first She Hulk issue was "really nothing." I guess all legends have feet of clay! Oh, that guy was right about that first She-Hulk issue-- I don't disagree! I think the art was a John Buscema rush job that ultimately looked more like Sal B on dependable auto-pilot. It was probably the weakest issue of that whole original run (which wasn't always stellar, no mistake-- but it still kept me engaged, and I was sorry to see it come to an end). HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Feb 1, 2015 6:54:00 GMT -5
Yeah it's Avengers World--but I had to go look to figure out which of the 10,000 current Avengers titles it was. I like Valkyrie too--she is another character who has been criminally overlooked over the years. I agree that the art is pretty good, particularly the coloring. That one panel where Stingray dives into water is really beautifully colored. But who is this Bloodstone woman? I never heard of her before. HB--yes it is the Howe book.I just read the part about how Secret Wars was only concocted to sell action figures, and was named Secret Wars because some ad research agency discovered that the words "War" and "Secret" made kids go nuts! MY GOD I was naive-going-on-stupid as a kid! I had no idea how much of Marvel's output over the years was so cynically conceived! Aaaaa, we were all naive-going-on-stupid at that age, bobc. It's the nature of the beast. Around '92 or '93 we lived next door to a somewhat-troubled 12/13 year-old metalhead wannabe youth who was in absolute denial of the fact that Spinal Tap was not a "real" heavy metal group-- that they were indeed fabricated as part of a delightful satire of the genre. But hey, here's a thought to maybe ease your mind a bit: Just because something is cynically conceived, it's not at all a given that it will be cynically executed. Could anything have been more cynically conceived than The Monkees? And yet could anything have been more of an enduring hoot in the 45 years or so since? Or a more original piece of television? Some aspects of the original Secret Wars kind of grated on my nerves-- but I would be flat lying if I said I didn't enjoy it a heck of a lot back then--! Hmm-- the Bloodstone woman? I'm totally going to guess that she's the daughter of one Ulysses Bloodstone-- who appeared in the Rampaging Hulk Magazine 'way back when. Monster hunter, or something similar--- TRULY unimpressive character. I guess making Him a Her is edgy and forward-thinking. . . or something. (Being the name-claiming offspring of an obscure, ho-hum character cannot be regarded as an improvement, I dinnae think. . . ) HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Jan 29, 2015 21:55:18 GMT -5
Starry--I am at the point in "History of Marvel Comics" where Jim Shooter, in the mid/late 80's handed down a decree that he wanted all stories to be wrapped up in one or two issues--because he thought new readers were having trouble getting oriented to Marvel comics. What the hell happened? What's really strange to me, is that people today have the attention spans of hummingbirds and yet comics have gotten consistently longer, more drawn out, and complicated. Now Doctor Doom has his own NEW set of Avengers. Which History of Marvel Comics is that, that you're reading, there, bobc? The Sean Howe book, or someone else's? HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Jan 29, 2015 6:13:33 GMT -5
Objectively speaking, the voiceover for the trailer is rather engaging, but--- man, the whole thing seems so hackneyed and been-there-already. If it weren't for it being called FANTASTIC FOUR it looks like it could be just about any sci-fi film (let alone a superhero film). I'm not past the Ultimate FF youthful take on the characters (esp Ben), and I never will be, I'm afraid. The trailer is also woefully lacking in any engaging glimpses of the characters' interacting or their humanity. Bleah. "BIG EVENT"-- enough, already. Doesn't mean the kids in it will be bad, though, or even that it'll be a bad movie in itself, so I'll hold out for the reviews before making my decision on whether or not to catch it.
Gonna be some big hurdles to win my heart, though.
HB
PS- Am I thinking the Negative Zone may be playing a part in the plot? That seems to be what all the extra "explorers" are heading into. I think. . .
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Jan 24, 2015 20:41:00 GMT -5
That's always been one of my favorite Swordsman images, there, defdave! Good choice for an avatar. Van, it's great to have you pop in and give us a booster shot, eh? VERYVERYVERY much looking forward to seeing that AVENGERS 3 material appear for our perusal-- sort of bittersweet, but still much appreciated. It's sort of reminiscent of "The Greatest Film Never Made"-- an abandoned 1937 production of I,CLAUDIUS, starring Charles Laughton-- where one can still enjoy the surviving pieces, and fondly imagine how delightful the finished product might have been. A big ol' issue of "WHAT IF-?" for us to peruse, as it were. Goodness, a 90-minute podcast! I was able to catch the first 8 or 9 minutes before being whisked off to do something domestic-- definitely will have to be installment-style listening-! What's particularly delightful, of course, is to hear folks' real voices-- and there you guys all are: a collection of Southern Gentlemen, all charming and smooth. *sigh*-- yer probably totally chick-magnets with that, aren'tcha? HB (always missing the topic bullseye, it seems) ... and always confusing your sword wielding avengers, right...? You mean the Black Knight! lol OMG-- Thank You, Bong! Yes, I am happily corrected on my slip! (Hey, you're you again for a bit here-- how nice!) HB *There-- I went and fixed it in my original post, at least-! HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Jan 24, 2015 6:33:48 GMT -5
That's always been one of my favorite Black Knight images, there, defdave! Good choice for an avatar.
Van, it's great to have you pop in and give us a booster shot, eh? VERYVERYVERY much looking forward to seeing that AVENGERS 3 material appear for our perusal-- sort of bittersweet, but still much appreciated. It's sort of reminiscent of "The Greatest Film Never Made"-- an abandoned 1937 production of I,CLAUDIUS, starring Charles Laughton-- where one can still enjoy the surviving pieces, and fondly imagine how delightful the finished product might have been. A big ol' issue of "WHAT IF-?" for us to peruse, as it were.
Goodness, a 90-minute podcast! I was able to catch the first 8 or 9 minutes before being whisked off to do something domestic-- definitely will have to be installment-style listening-! What's particularly delightful, of course, is to hear folks' real voices-- and there you guys all are: a collection of Southern Gentlemen, all charming and smooth. *sigh*-- yer probably totally chick-magnets with that, aren'tcha?
HB (always missing the topic bullseye, it seems)
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Jan 23, 2015 21:11:20 GMT -5
Where do you suppose that caliber of artist is going nowadays if they're not doing comics? Or-- are they maybe doing, like, independent/small-label comics? Are they working more with game animation, do you suppose? In the grand story of art history, being a comic book artist is still a fairly new-ish phenomenon, isn't it? There haven't been enough generations, really, to set a consistent pathway to success for it as a career-- or a standard throughline of influences or training.
But since there must still be equally talented artists out there someplace. . . where have they gone??
HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Jan 23, 2015 7:30:10 GMT -5
I know whatcha mean, HB. Lately I throw down 3 comics and the bill is about $15. The thing that rankles me is when I pay that kind of money and get art that looks like garbage. I mean I have seen some really, really bad art of late. There are times I seriously wonder if Marvel even cares about the quality of the product they are putting out but I will say lately it's been much better--at least in the Avengers. I know this is kind of OT/tangential to the thread, but-- is there any idea of who the target market is for comic books (at that price) at this point? I can't figure out what the industry's long-term strategy or goal is, because even accounting for inflation, etc, that price point becomes exclusionary rather than inclusive. Especially for a medium that manipulates its product relentlessly in order to get readers to buy multiple, multiple titles. Married adults? With kids? Unless they're solidly middle/upper-middle class at least, it's simply an unjustifiable expense. Kids/teens? Well, heck, the books aren't really geared toward them anymore-- and where in the world would they get that kind of regular disposable income? So-- young adult men? Not if they're struggling to get out on their own and make a living or build a life. So-- young adult men who live at home with their folks? Hmm-- not a great long-term market investment, y'know? And it's not whatcha'd call a "growth" sector, right? (I'm probably bordering on being offensive in my characterizations, aren't I? I do apologize. I mean, we very likely are gonna end up w/ our very own live-with-the-folks-for-awhile young male adult in a few short years!) HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Jan 21, 2015 20:48:09 GMT -5
F-f-f-f-five dollars an issue?? Is that what's on the horizon now? I will never come back. Nevernevernever, ever. It could be the best bleedin' comics ever printed, but I simply cannot justify that level of expense for something that I'll read in about 12 minutes.
Glad to hear that the art chores are back on track, though, bobc. You're definitely our guide in that department.
HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Jan 18, 2015 9:39:53 GMT -5
Ahh-hahaha-! AAAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!! Really, Bong?? REALLY???You. . . you are, like, a measurable demographic percentile of the membership roll here ALL BY YOURSELF!! Dude, you're Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man! You're an insidious replicoid collective entity, bent on board (and then world!) domination! You're the Pod People! You're the relentless TV promos for "Empire"--!! Y'know, our theater parted ways w/ our Artistic Director recently. . . you. . . you're going to be his replacement, aren't you- (I am being afraid. I am being very afraid!) HB Egad! You´re on to my subtle, yet well crafted plans for world domination! After all, the world´s a stage. I´m afraid you know too much now, friend. However, a theather company may well prove too much drama for my taste (horrible pun fully intended...). So I may be persuaded to let you live, for now (Black Forest Cake would be a suitable bribe, hint, hint...). And now, in the immortal words of Snagglepuss, "Exit, stage left!". Oooo-- Completely-- completely-- distracted by your mere mention of Black Forest Cake--- ! Now, my crew and I are very taken these days with the impossibly-delicious, life-span-shortening Chocolate Tuxedo Mousse Cake that Costco produces in their bakery. We'll fabricate special events just to have a reason to go and get one. . . (two larges slices, and your eyeballs start to spin around in their sockets. . . ) HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Jan 4, 2015 13:00:04 GMT -5
Thank you, pym! prodigalson (the non-artist formerly known as Doctor Bong Crosby...). Ahh-hahaha-! AAAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!! Really, Bong?? REALLY???You. . . you are, like, a measurable demographic percentile of the membership roll here ALL BY YOURSELF!! Dude, you're Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man! You're an insidious replicoid collective entity, bent on board (and then world!) domination! You're the Pod People! You're the relentless TV promos for "Empire"--!! Y'know, our theater parted ways w/ our Artistic Director recently. . . you. . . you're going to be his replacement, aren't you- (I am being afraid. I am being very afraid!) HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Dec 25, 2014 22:54:21 GMT -5
Why, thank ya kindly, Pym-!
Hoooo-boy, it's about 10:40 here in the Balt/Wash corridor in Maryland. HBWife & I just finished the massive amount of Christmas dinner dishes & china and all, and got the kitchen cleaned up and everything put away. A truly delightful day topped by a feast which included our next door neighbors who had no family on-hand at all. Sat around the table for over 2-1/2 hours, all told! Chatting, visiting, laughing, (eating). I must confess to eating an almost impossible amount of food over the last 24 hours. Huge Christmas Eve dinner; "early" muffins&fruit to go with opening our stockings; Big hefty brunch of omelets & sausage; chocolate-covered pot.chips (and other chocolate treats) throughout the day; and then a new big dinner tonight. Late in the day eating-stamina became an issue for me as dinnertime approached. If one has to think about pacing one's consumption, one may be seriously overeating!
What a fine day, though. Cannot believe what a great family I'm in. 'Course, that's a vote that's likely to end in a many-multiple tie, eh?
HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Dec 25, 2014 0:26:30 GMT -5
How did I meet the Art Director? I had a friend in college named Tom who was from NYC (I was from a small farm town in Upstate NY)and he had a female friend whose boyfriend worked for Marvel. Tom thought I was really good at drawing so he arranged a meeting, through his friend, with the art director whose name escapes me. I stayed with Tom for two weeks and went to the Marvel Offices in Manhattan a couple of times. What I recall most was Jim Shooter because he was really, really huge and seemed kind of nasty. The tension in that office was palpable. Everyone looked angry and the office seemed to be in chaos.I was led to believe I'd probably get to drawn Captain America, but when I went in to learn more it was like they didn't even remember I'd been there a few days prior. This was maybe 1987 or possibly '86. Anyhow, I was very young and naive and thought Marvel would be my dream job but the reality was a whole other story! Some guy just walked up to me and shoved a bunch of Fantastic Four pages that had been penciled by John Buscema (I'm wanting to say the She Hulk and Spiderman were in these pages)and informed me I'd be inking those if I wanted to, and didn't seem to know I was told I'd do Captain America. The whole thing was a mess and I hated NYC anyway--so I moved to Austin and worked for printers and ad firms before getting into video games and 3D in 1996. I still have those John B pages somewhere--they were photo copies. Ugh, Marvel in the 80s sounds very mixed-up! Wonder if the guy you met with was Don Perlin, who's written that "... Jim Shooter asked me to come up there and work as an art director. The senior art director at the time was John Romita, the executive art director. I was what you’d call the managing art director...They’d take three budding young cartoonists, who were a smidgen away from being professionals, pay them minimum wage, no benefits whatsoever, no sick leave or holidays. When you worked, you got paid. They stayed for a year to do the changes and corrections in the artwork. The editors would bring the pages and things that they wanted changed, corrected or fixed or whatever, and it was up to me to see that was done. I was training these young guys and after about a year they were ready to go out and get work. That was the primary purpose of that job. I was a teacher more or less..." www.adelaidecomicsandbooks.com/perlin.htmlNice that you still have the JB page copies, though. I had a similar experience with Electronic Arts in California.EA flew me out to San Mateo, CA to interview for the Lead Texture Artist on a James Bond game. The way it works at EA is that you interview all day long, with like 500 people all asking you the same dumb questions. By the end of the day I was practically a zombie from answering the same questions over and over and over. But here's the weird part--from the moment I got there, everybody was talking about Lord of the Rings Return of the King, NOT James Bond, and after about two hours I finally said to one of my interviewers that I thought there had been a mistake--that I was there to talk about working on James Bond. "No no no" the guy said, like I was crazy,and assured me I'd been contacted about working on ROTK. I explained that that wasn't possible, seeing that I didn't even know they were making a ROTK game. Then I caught myself and said to myself--you idiot, you're getting offered a job on a career making game and there I was arguing to be on James Bond. After that epiphany I was very docile and just went with the flow. I got the job, by the way.Ah, excellent! Thanks for the link, Bob (IIRC you provdied it some years ago on AA but good to have it handy again right here). So yes, I've seen your fantastic work before on your site, but for some reason I don't recall seeing these Marvel characters before. Now that I have, I have one question for you: Why the heck aren't you working for Marvel or DC or another comic book company? ?? Your work would fit right in with today's comics and looks better than most of the stuff that makes it into today's Marvel/DC. Man. . . Man! Bob,your whole experience with that non-process has such a ring of familiarity to it. I daresay that it's the kind of chaos which results when an artistic-folks type of organization is being run by. . . well, artistic folks, and not by managerial ones (for the most part). Lack of focus, lack of follow-through, unstructured chain of command and lines of communication. Ugh. I mean, I've been in the fine arts my entire adult life, but I really, really, REALLLLLLLY thrive in a structured, professional environment. There are are a ridiculous number of disorganized folks who insist (in a badly self-serving way) that a chaotic environment is the only legitimate incubator for proper creativity. This, of course, is UTTER bull***t--- and completely insulting to one's personal artistic process to boot. Y'know, your linear storytelling is not bad at all! Sorry to see Clint's head go all egg-shell a-la MUMMY'S REVENGE (I. . . think it was), though. Ooooooh you artists! You guys never saw a cheese ya couldn't cake, didja-? (Ha! I am ribbing you, of course---!) Were you much of a HEAVY METAL or 1984/94 reader in your youth? You definitely put me in mind of some of the better art and visuals produced by those periodicals. . . Hey, MERRY CHRISTMAS, one and all, eh? Been a VERY busy Eve here in the HB Household, and looking forward to a bouncy, fun XMas morn in. . . just a very few short hours. . . HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Dec 14, 2014 22:13:57 GMT -5
Ohhhhhh that nutty Rich Buckler. Never saw an artist whose work he couldn't happily swipe! Boy, and doesn't rumor have it that he totally BRISTLES at the suggestion of any artistic improprieties whatsoever?
He's almost like the truly brilliant art forgers from the last century who could copy masterpieces down to the brushstrokes. . . but didn't quite have whatever initial spark of creative inspiration that's required to elevate them to the level of a Master in their own right. Not only could Buckler copy Kirby's style, he could copy it from different Kirby eras, even. And I can't think of how many times I thought I was looking at a John Buscema image only to discover that it was Buckler after all.
And daggone it, he's such a good artist on his own-! Deathlok is one of my favorite under-the-radar runs. And his work on FF (esp. w/ Joe Sinnott inks) had a great, hearty "Marvel" feel to it-- the group looked great in his hands.
HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Dec 7, 2014 8:06:46 GMT -5
Holy cats, I'm way, way, way, WAAAY behind at checking in on this board-! Pym, thanks so much for keeping track, and a belated happy b-day right back atcha-! Bobc, Happy Birthday to both of us once again this year, eh?
My Mom had called a couple of weeks ago to ask "What do you want for your birthday?". She has a life-long history of mis-hearing or mis-remembering gift suggestions, or ( worse by far) finding things that are "just as good" that are remainders, damaged, or cheap imitations. "Mom, write this down: Marvel Treasury Edition #13- Holiday Grab Bag. I've been strongly hinting about it to for a couple of years, but it never makes the cut here at home. And it won't cost you a mint, truly. I promise you, I will love it." And lo & behold- my good ol' Mom came through! I fully expected to receive something like a tin Marvel "Treasure Box". . . or #12 or #14 (if #13 weren't available), but by golly, my comics-disdaining Mom sent me a really surprisingly nice, clean copy-- god bless 'er!
(The back cover, which is a beautifully rendered and colored Christmas Card, is one of my favorite super-hero themed holiday images ever. . . )
On the home front, several new Christmas music CD's, a terrific new Avengers T-Shirt, and the 6th volume of Fantagraphic's ongoing Prince Valiant collections. And a hilarious Broadway card/booklet created by HBGirl.
We also had a small solo & ensemble performance/recital for the Baltimore Gamers Symphony Orchestra that evening (HBSon's a co-founder; I'm in the choir), and went to the most hipster/kitschy diner on the planet to celebrate afterwards. "The Paper Diner" in Baltimore-- I'd recommend the food and the overwhelming ambience-- but the unusual soviet-collective inspired service model leaves something to be desired, perhaps. "When EVERYONE is your waiter, NO ONE is your waiter-!"-- to make a familiar paraphrase--!
HB-- (one year older!)
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Oct 21, 2014 11:13:58 GMT -5
Man, something seems to have gone wildly wrong with the way ProBoards is functioning, here. Can't pull up recent posts. . . mis-directed to other threads. . . recent posts not showing up in their threads. . . yeesh, what's goin' on?
One of my particular Favorite "Male" moments is near the end of #58. Preceding the superb "Even an android can cry" panel, we have an all-too-rare scene where the guys have taken there masks off in order to extend their heartfelt invitation to Vizh. It's such a small detail, in a way, but it conveys the perfect sense of an easy camaraderie among brothers.
HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Sept 1, 2014 6:24:59 GMT -5
Oh, that cfb. Quietly lurking away. Watching us all, w/ his eyebrow raised. Ha-- Uatu should be yer avatar, there, cfb! Or. . . perhaps Mt Rushmore, eh? (That would be kinda cool, actually. . . )
Hey, but hope you're enjoying your combined Birthday/Labor Day weekend. Perhaps. . . perhaps an experimental grilled birthday cake would be worth a try, hmm?
HB
|
|
|
Post by humanbelly on Aug 27, 2014 21:19:11 GMT -5
For a significant lasting change, everyone knows all you really need is a bomber jacket. The bomber jacket look would TOTALLY work on Starfox! Man, he could carry it off because he's an alien anyhow, and not particularly well-versed with any contemporary fashion trends here on earth--!! And his pheremone/charm power could convince all of the nay-sayers that they actually love that distinctive fashion choice! HB
|
|