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I can't for the life of me find the scans, but.... One of my friends as a kid had an aunt who worked in a pulbishing company, so she got him tons of comics that I got to skim. And one that -really- stuck with me was Kevin O'Neil's Marshal Law series. It seemed like the late 80s grimdark antihero fare, only MORE. Except it really wasn't. It was a weird thing, an early deconstruction of a deconstruction. A Punisher-like vigilante hunting heroes who have gone mad with PTSD and formed gangs after the metahuman version of the Vietnam War. Except...his secret-identity unemployed construction worker self is dating a poli-sci college student who hates superheroes and is writing a thesis on how the very concept of them in damaging and toxic. And she's not protrayed as a loony SJW caricature. Rash, for sure, but also very much on point. And the very last pages of the first series, when after a ton of INSANE poo poo goes down, he finally reads her work, even about his own superhero identity, and it just lays bare the core of the world, the recent events, and his own motivation. It's sad and touching, and also a strange contrast with the super-colorful art style that still some how works.
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May 15, 2019 02:45
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GrandpaPants posted:It looks like Mary Jane is back in Peter's life so that's at least a decent bargaining chip with Mephisto. "In order to save your aunt, this time I want...your friendship with benefits. Well, not -quite- benefits, just a chemistry, you know? Not gonna say your friendzone, that's dumb, but the will-they-or-won't-they vibe. That is what Mephisto desires!"
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Jun 13, 2019 20:04
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ImpAtom posted:I don't really agree with that. It's a power fantasy but the power fantasy is being able to stand up for your beliefs even in the face of people arguing they are implausible/unrealistic/childish. Yes, this can be twisted into horrible beliefs, but that compassion is at the center of why it works. It isn't 'great man' theory, it's the idea that you don't have to bend or compromise on what is right in favor of what is easy. I have to agree. The natural end of that line of 'heroism' lies in the Sword of Truth objectivist heroes. "See, I -have- to slaughter these pacifists! Otherwise the villain will take their lands and grow stronger! YOU are the hypocrite and fool for daring to tell me I should do otherwise!"
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Jun 15, 2019 18:16
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Wasn't Superman III the one where a computer eats a woman alive before Superman breaks it apart? Pretty much the high point of that movies and an oddly terrifying scene. Especially when I was, like, six.
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Nov 7, 2019 05:46
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Is there any established, happy relationship between major X-characters? I don't think even Professor X's thing with his bird alien lady lasted.
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Nov 28, 2019 17:37
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akulanization posted:they were a society based on the brutal repression of a massive slave underclass. you do not in fact have to hand it to them. Exactly. We have a dumb way of looking at things. "Well, the Athenians were all enlightened and their enemies were spartans, so the Spartans were the baddies, right?" "No." "Ohh. Then the Spartans were the good guys!" "No. They were both awful." "But that makes for boring movies!" Sparta only allowed spartiate women realtive freedom because 1- It was a way to retain all power in the structure of families even after most of the men died in wars), and 2- day-to-day drudgery and amangement was seem as menial, unworthy work for a male. It'd be like saying "Hey, we really value our latino population, they dominate 95% of the sanitation and recycling work! seems really egalitarian to me". And, as others said, that only applied to perhaps a couple thousand wives. The vast majority of slaves and pretty much everyone in their Messenian colony was viewed as human cattle. Oh, and even those 'liberated' spartiate women were bred against their will at the convenience of the military machine. "This guy has good shoulders, you have good hips. Your offspring will be a good soldier. Get to the rutting."
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Apr 23, 2020 00:28
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Android Blues posted:The venality and cruelty of the gods also reflected a more authoritarian worldview. If you read the Iliad, one of the central themes is, "the gods are tyrannical autocrats, and justly so - they are more powerful than us, and therefore it is folly to defy them". Hubris is the defining sin of ancient Greek narrative for a reason - because it reflects an ingrained social belief that trying to upset the social order and disobey your betters is dangerous and foolish. This. I can only suggest John Dolan's "War Nerd's Iliad", as it re-tells the story in a fun, pulpy, interesting fashion divorced from the classics wankery. The gods are like a quarrelsome mafia family, Zeus not smarter or wiser than anyone else, just -stronger-, and mortals both just and foul, are just excuses for them to do their thing. Apollo remembers that day very well. It is like a happy song in his heart, because now it will all be avenged. All these things work out, in the long run… for the gods. He remembers leaning into the wind that day, keening with the simple blood joy of a falcon, watching the Greeks run through the alleys of the town. He knew it was all to his advantage. The girl can’t see that, of course. There are always casualties. Apollo turns his falcon eye to her for a moment, as she watches her father approach Agamemnon’s tent. Her sorrow interests him, as a musician. What happened to her interests him, as a tactician. Otherwise—just another weeping woman.
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Jul 15, 2020 21:11
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Tall Tale Teller posted:Man that loving 9/11 comic. I think Doom cried in Doom 2099 when he didn't curb-stomp the megacorps quite hard enough and they melt Latveria with bioweapons. Was that even the real Doom? I don't remember. Hell, between Doom and Ghost Rider 2099, that universe had a rather cool and well-realized anti-megaplex vibe.
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Sep 14, 2020 16:25
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Dick Trauma posted:I remember Tony becoming an alcoholic back in the seventies so it's sad to see him still struggling with addiction. Depending on how it's done, it's a big plus. Having relapses and bad episodes if usually a part of recovery, and pretending that you can just close the book and saunter toward the sunset is not helpful, nor accurate.
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May 4, 2022 22:49
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I don't know what it says about the current cultural status of comics that I heard or saw nothing of this on Twitter or any media repercussions, but Superman's son kissing his boyfriend was all over the place. Is it a case of homophobia getting clicks, or people not giving a crap about the help?
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May 16, 2022 13:24
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drrockso20 posted:Rather appropriate that it's Piccolo waving at the end there considering he was Toriyama's favorite character You think he'd let him win, like, one fight. But yeah, it's a sweet, proper last offering.
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Mar 21, 2024 16:42
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