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 or people could actually talk about Black History and comics or something, but maybe that's just me being a dreamer.
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Feb 1, 2017 21:23
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In honor of Black History Month I'd like to make a long and thoughtful post about the contributions of Christopher Priest (fka Jim Owsley) and Trevor von Eeden to the history of comic books an LMAO NAHHHHHHHHHHHH      
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Feb 2, 2017 05:39
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Fun fact about the Lois Lane "I Am Curious Black" issue: It was part of a deeply odd run on Lois Lane by Robert Kanigher, generally more remembered for creating the lion's share of DC's war titles: Sgt. Rock, Losers, Haunted Tank, Enemy Ace, Suicide Squad. But he did a lot more than that, including about a decade on Wonder Woman, co-creating the Metal Men, etc. He was put on Lois Lane at the same time as Jack Kirby took over Jimmy Olsen, sort of as a last-ditch shake-up of two failing books. Where Kirby took Jimmy into the realm of Kirby-ish high cosmic adventure, Kanigher tried to do some socially relevant "real world" stories with Lois. As cringe-y as the idea of using a Kryptonian device to "live a day as a black woman" is on the surface, the issue was an extremely earnest attempt from a fiftysomething white guy to promote civil rights and equality. And it doesn't even end in that issue! She befriends a black doctor in that issue, and after very briefly entertaining the idea of having him be a romantic interest, introduce his girlfriend Tina Ames. Lois then becomes roommates with Tina, and the series has two significant black supporting characters for the remainder of Kanigher's run. This is years before there are any black people on the Justice League or the Legion of Superheroes, before John Stewart, Ron Troupe, Lucius Fox, just about any black characters period at DC. The only real exceptions are Flipper Dipper/Vykin the Black/a couple other minor Kirby characters, and Mal Duncan in Teen Titans, who was co-created by... Robert Kanigher. It's also a weird run because the focus of Kanigher's Lois Lane run is her investigating slumlords, protest marches, pollution, and conditions on Indian reservations, but for cross-brand synergy the force behind these social ills is frequently Intergang, supported by Desaad, Mokkarri, and Darkseid himself. Basically, it's just kind of weird that all this run (and sort of by extension, Kanigher) is best known by 21C fans on the internet as THAT BLACK LOIS LANE COVER. Sorry, everyone can go back to calling me a racist and posting like that one time that Superman wore a black outfit. Edge & Christian fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Feb 2, 2017 |
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Feb 2, 2017 06:34
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Teenage Fansub posted:Interesting that he was in his 50's and referencing a hip arthouse/porno movie for the kids. He might be even more Don Draper than the last time that cover got me wanting a Mad Men set in 60's-70's comic studios. Due to its scandalousness, it made a ton of money, and was the all-time biggest grossing foreign film (adjusted for inflation) in the US up until around the turn of the century (or later, depending on what estimates/inflation figures you look at). It also was the subject of a bunch of obscenity trials that went all the way to the Supreme Court (which judged it not obscene) therefore putting it even more in the public eye, and also making it the reason Doctor Manhattan and countless others can safely hang dong on the screen and on the page. All of this made it the fodder for all sorts of Johnny Carson monologue jokes, headline puns, and yes comic book covers. Though yeah, it would also be the sort of thing that an older guy might use as shorthand for "HEY HIP YOUNGSTERS, CHECK THIS OUT", not unlike Mark Waid's Champions.
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Feb 2, 2017 07:03
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X-O posted:There was a Punisher one in the '90s right? I can't imagine that was any good but who knows. Anyone know the story on that? Basically Punisher gets arrested and Jigsaw gets his goons to slice up Punisher's face almost as badly as his own. Punisher breaks out of prison and since he's on the lam finds a hooker he knows who used to be a combat medic or something equally insane and tells her to make it so no one will ever recognize him. Why he's never done this prior is not really discussed, nor why Punisher knows hookers who used to be combat medics who also know plastic surgery AND how to turn a white guy's skin black. The issue ends with Punisher taking off bandages and HE'S BLACK! Where was this going? Good question, because Mike Baron leaves after this issue, and Marcus McLaurin (who I believe was Marvel's second black editor after Priest, and the guy who pushed to make Marvels happen back when Kurt Busiek was a peripheral dude and Alex Ross was busy doing like, Clive Barker comics for him at Epic) had to come in and wrap up the story, tying it into the Cage series he was writing at the time and basically handwaving it away as "well um whatever that doctor did to you, it's going to wear off in a week or so". And it did! I don't believe anyone involved (Baron, McLaurin, editor Don Daley) are still actively involved in comics, but I'd love to see an interview with any of them about this. WickedHate posted:Darkseid is metaphorically evil incarnate so while I usually find him overused and dumb I think this works when you're dealing with "real" issues in a comic book universe; Darkseid may not be a living breathing person pulling the strings of humanity, but he and his minions are an effective stand in for the abstract concept of evil. Teenage Fansub posted:edit: For social issues, I'm guessing that Lois run was kind of a precursor to Dennis O'Neil's GL/GA https://www.amazon.com/Green-Lantern-Arrow-Various/dp/1401235174 And yeah, in terms of Milestone I'd say pretty much every single one of their books has a lot going for them, at least for the first few years. I haven't read some of them since they came out, but I'd roughly say the pecking order goes: TOP TIER: Static Year 1 (Washington/Leon), Blood Syndicate, Icon, Xombi STILL REALLY GOOD: Static Year 2 (Velez/various), Hardware (until McDuffie's run stops), My Name is Holocaust, Shadow Cabinet Almost literally everything else is worth giving a read if you enjoy the stuff above. Even when it occasionally gets rough craftwise or super 1990s, if nothing else a lot of the missable stuff gives you a chance to see protean work from people like JH Williams III, Tommy Lee Edwards, Shawn Martinborough, Humberto Ramos, Kurt Busiek, etc.
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Feb 2, 2017 07:45
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Rhyno posted:I have been told by more than one of my black customers that I probably shouldn't be reading it since "it's not for you."
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Feb 2, 2017 08:05
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KaosMachina posted:Is Locke and Key the only book that can really go on a list of "If you liked Stranger Things, try this next"? Because I know it probably isn't, yet it's the only one that comes to mind immediately. Teenage Fansub posted:For the group of kids getting into trouble/solving mysteries angle, you could go Gotham Academy, Plutona, Paper Girls and 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank (that one without the supernatural part.) Madkal posted:Something in a similar style, but less horror orientated than ST, is Paper Girls. Rhyno posted:One of my customers got a He-Man symbol tattoo but it looks like an Iron Cross instead and not in the good kind in the "this guy looks like a Nazi now" way. Also I mean if you're a real piece of poo poo and reading things other than Nextwave after Nextwaving Stranger Things, it may depend on what they really like about Stranger Things, like is it the supernatural stuff or the 1980s vibe or the heavy Stephen King pastiche and like is this someone who has already read/watched all of the stuff Stranger Things is riffing on and if they have then yeah, I guess it's finding other retro Stephen King pastiches to read?
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Feb 6, 2017 15:48
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 00:52 |
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Rhyno posted:Terrible people? You'd be horrified. We have a dude who asks every time he comes in if Captain America is done being an N***** yet.
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Feb 7, 2017 03:40
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