boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (09/27/84)
I've been busy lately, so I've got a lot of comments to get out of the way. This is the first set of them. Be it known, too, in case any of you which to send mail to me, that I will be unable to receive mail at my regular node this coming weekend. Please note the temporary address change at the end of this message. Thanks. ******************** > From: usceast!ted > Warlord 88 > A fairly entertaining issue, esp after the muddled time travel > plotline, but truth to tell this is one of the 2 (*) books I buy > for the backup strip : The Barren Earth. This is a swords,planets > and dessert type story set in the far future after the general > abandonment of Earth. The heroine is beautiful and competent > and the plot engaging, what more could you ask for? Well a > mini series for one thing, and this issue sets it up. You may be pleased to know that a Barren Earth mini-series is scheduled to begin in November. > From: dartvax!markv 18-Sep-1984 10:38:02 > Also, can anyone fill me on on this > Bolton guy--who he is, what he is drawing/has drawn? Well, he's done some work for the British Quality Comics --- the Dracula strip in HALLS OF HORROR and a couple of strips for WARRIOR. On this side of the Atlantic, check out some of the Bruce Jones Associates comics from PACIFIC --- ALIEN WORLDS, TWISTED TALES, and PATHWAYS TO FANTASY. Bolton also did some mag- nificent work for the Baxter-paper issues of KULL THE CONQUEROR, as well as the "Marada the She-Wolf" stories in EPIC ILLUSTRATED (with Chris Claremont). > From: nmtvax!horton 14-Sep-1984 11:28:44 > Could someone please tell me what's happening in X-MEN??? I've > heard talk of anti-mutant sympathy, but none of that is > happening in ALPHA FLIGHT. Also, I've seen these adds for DAZZLER > with the word "mutie" scrawled over her face. What is happening? Basicly, two things are happening. First, "mutant fear" (*sympathy* isn't really the word your looking for; I think you meant "anti-mutant sentiment") is taking hold of the American public at large, much like the witch-hunts of the past. Secondly, the government isn't helping matters by considering mutants as risks to national security, so they're trying to legislate "controls" on mutants. The result of all this is a movement toward the possible future of X-MEN #141/142 and Rachel's "flashforwards" in recent issues. The reason this hasn't shown up in ALPHA FLIGHT is simple and two-fold. (1) Alpha Flight isn't really well known to the public, and the government is has a benevolent attitude toward them (the government set them up, after all). (2) There are only two mutants so far in AF. Guardian was just a normal guy in a battlesuit; Heather doesn't have any powers; Puck really doesn't have any special powers; Shaman is a mystic; Sasquatch is a gamma-ray-altered human; Marrina is an alien; Snowbird is a hybrid. Only Northstar and Aurora are true mutants (and Langkowski has supposedly taken care of that for Aurora), as well as the new member, Talisman (any guesses as to who that will be?:-)) > From: fluke!moriarty 19-Sep-1984 07:59:46 >> Spectre - Does he do magic? He is by his nature supernatural, and he uses the >> powers which his supernatural form gives him, but I don't think he casts >> spells or draws on other powers. >> >> Post more ideas, please! Harry > > > Hmm... I don't believe his powers are "magic"; they might almost be > considered religious, as he seems to be the shade of a dead man with the > power to warp reality.... Anyway, I always figured that his > powers came from the Big Man or Woman Upstairs... It was pretty evident in The Spectre's own comic back in the late 60's and his guest appearances in DC COMICS PRESENT #29 (where he had to stop Superman from going beyond the Pale to rescue Supergirl) and the recent SWAMP THING ANNUAL that The Spectre does indeed work for the Big G., though the Boss is never specifically named (it's all right for Satan to appear in a comic, but not God; interesting, isn't it?). > From: milo!eric 25-Sep-1984 12:31:54 > This last week's batch of comics seems to emphasis a trend that I > have been seeing. DC is definitely pushing more sex and graphic violence. > What is unusual is that it is not in their limited distribution books, but > the mass market ones as well. ... > I find this a little disturbing. I can accept such things in > comics which are aimed at an older audience, such as Teen Titans, or > Swamp Thing. But "Jemm" and "Flash" have been marketed as books for > a younger audience, and as such I am not sure why these scenes are showing > up. Am I off base on this, or have others noticed this trend? Gee, I would've thought of TEEN TITANS as a comic aimed at a younger audience (of course, the Baxter book is different, but supposedly the more "adult" scenes in it will be edited for the Mando reprinting). As far as JEMM goes, though, you are definitely off base. It is *not* marketed for a younger audience. The fact that DC is publishing it (and SWAMP THING) without the Code seal is proof of that (or hadn't you noticed?). Just because it gets newstand distribution rather than being direct-only doesn't mean that it's aimed at a younger audience. I agree with your concerns, though, and have had them myself since the Elektra/Hand stories appeared in DAREDEVIL. I'm a supporter of the idea of rating comics like the movies. In many cases, it's not really a problem that I can see, at least as far as sex is concerned. Most of the time, with regard to sexual innuendos (such as, oh say, the issue of X-MEN during the Brood War in which Kitty roundaboutly asks Peter to hop in the sack with her), there is enough subtlety so that anyone who would be "too young" would be unlikely to understand just what the hell's going on anyway. Violence, however, is getting a bit too graphic these days for younger readers. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov75!boyajian ^^ ARPA: boyajian%akov75.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA ^^ **NOTE** akov68 changed to akov75 for the weekend of 28-Sep to 1-Oct. ^^ ^^
eric@milo.UUCP (09/29/84)
What I was trying to get across about "Jemm", and apparently failed,
was not how the content is presented, but rather how the series was
advertised. I had, in fact, noticed that there was no seal on the series.
I have no problem with comics that are geared towards an older audience,
in fact I generally prefer them. But two things stand out about "Jemm".
First, the initial advertising read like "the adventures of a boy and
his alien". Sounded suspiciously like a popular movie, and I was planning
on dropping it as soon as the kid feed the alien some Reeses Pieces (TM).
Second, there is no indication on the comic that it is for more adult
audiences. Most of the popular "older" comics are available only through
direct distribution. The few exceptions, such as "Swamp Thing", have some
kind of disclaimer on the cover ("sophisticated horror"). Now, I doubt
that anyone is going to grow up terribly warped from reading about
male subjugation at an early age (or at least, no worse off than reading
the "Gor" novels), but with the increasing trend by DC and Marvel, I wonder
where we will be five years down the road?
--
eric
...!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!milo!ericmoriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (10/03/84)
Regardless of how it is being handled, what is JEMM about/like? I, too,
assumed from the ads that this is more of a kid's story. I have yet (I
believe) to see any reviews of the comic itself around here. What say,
folks?
"The elder gods went to Suggoth and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
UUCP:
{cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsrgv}!uw-beaver \
{allegra,gatech!sb1,hplabs!lbl-csam,decwrl!sun,ssc-vax} -- !fluke!moriarty
ARPA:
fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPAeric@aplvax.UUCP (10/08/84)
Since I brought it up in the first place, I'll take a crack at the review. I don't quite know what to expect of Jemm. As I said, it is definitely not a "boy and his alien" plot. The first two issues were deeply tied up in Jemm wandering around a ghetto area, and meeting Luther, a young black boy. Seems Jemm is a "red" Saturnian (he thinks he is the last), a prince, and has a gem on his forehead that only the great ones have had (it was there at birth). Later, we learn that the Saturnians were divided into the "reds" and the "whites", and a great war decimated most of the population. The remaining "whites" are actively hunting Jemm down. All of this has a pretty gritty realism associated with it (hard to believe, isn't it). Well, then things get stranger. We have at least a couple of groups on Earth looking for Jemm, and one of them (definitely a bad one) contacts Superman to search him out (still with me?). That's about where the story is now. The "whites" have captured Jemm (which led to the scene that started all of this), Superman is starting to think the wool has been pulled over his eyes, and the story seems to be leaving the ghetto in favor of a space setting. I have no idea where it is headed next. Not a great story, but an intriguing one. Just one man's opinion. -- eric ...!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!eric
disc@houxz.UUCP (S.BERRY) (10/10/84)
I haven't been reading JEMM (only got the first issue), but after reading the synopsis of the first few issues I noticed something familiar. This whole thing about "red" and "white" Saturnians, a prince in exile, the "whites" winning the war and seeking out Jemm, etc.; doesn't that sound an awful lot like J'onn J'onzz? The "white" Martians, led by Blanx (sp?), beat the "green" Martians; the "prince" exiled on Earth, fighting the "whites" (with the help of the JLA, in # 72, I believe). Comments? As I say, I haven't been reading this book, so there may be differences (some vast?) I'm unaware of, but... SJBerry
boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (01/26/85)
> From: uokvax!lmaher (Carl Rigney) > My best guess is that after Storm teams up with Lady Daemon and > discovers her heritage in the village of African Shamenesses > (Shawomen??) she'll return to Forge for further tutoring in magic, > or possibly both of them will get taught by Naze. I don't see > Dr. Strange as her teacher but it's possible. Except that Naze was zapped by some mystic force in X-MEN #185 (?). > ...Doom is even older, since he's a contemporary of Reed Richards, > who fought in World War II. But revisionist Marvel History has it that that issue of SGT. FURY in which Reed Richards appears never happened, or that it wasn't *really* Reed Richards. Marvel doesn't want Reed to be 60+ years old. > From: dartvax!mwm (Mark Modrall) > i too share the concerns for the Av future... not only is deni leaving, but > she's taking the bulk of their titles with her... Cerebus has always been the > lead ship, but now it will be the only ship.... i worry about dave.. i really > do.... But, but, but.... CEREBUS was the "only ship" for five or more years before Aardvark-Vanaheim got uppity and started publishing other titles. I worry about A-V's future, too, but not because CEREBUS will be the only thing it publishes. More because it seems that A-V's success was due to Deni's business acumen as much as Dave's talent. > From: fluke!moriarty (Jeff Meyer) > there is an ad in the Bud Plant catalog for a book written by someone > called... Jerry Moriarty? Gee, maybe we merge... Firestorm, the Nuclear > Comics Critic! SSSHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Now, look whatcha done, ya jerkface! Ya went and spoiled it! We were supposed to wait to see if anyone *noticed*! > From: sdcc7!ma155abl (Nick Flor) > Lets all give a hand to Jerry Boyajian for the way he handled > that question. It seems that in other newsgroups if such a question > was asked, the poster would get the flaming toaster. Aw, shucks. Thanks. > From: watcgl!drforsey (The Gray Mouser) >> Speaking of old Ditko stuff.... >> >> Does anyone remember/admits to having seen Killjoy? >> > > Not only did I *read* Killjoy, I **enjoyed** it!!! > It was *so* **BAD**!! The exquisite idiocy, the > *pointlessness* of it all! I couldn't believe anyone > would actually want to *create* such a comic, let > alone *publish* it. Yet there it was! There was something > almost surreal about holding Killjoy stories before my > eyes, reality warped by the comic's very existence. > People think that the Batman TV show is inspiredly stupid: > they obviously never saw Killjoy..... Now let's not get carried away here! I remember reading "Killjoy", too. While I can't deny it was awful, I should point out that it wasn't a comic of its own, but only an occasional back-up feature (only appeared 2 or 3 times, if I remember correctly) in one of the Charlton comics (or was it Gold Key?). The other back-ups that I can remember were: "The Rook" or something like that, in which the characters worked for some secret agency and were all called by chess-piece names, and "Liberty Bell", another Ditko piece that wasn't all that bad (though not all that good, either). > From: Pucc-H:pur-phy!dub (Dwight Bartholomew) > Everytime I read the above definition of the Moriarity scale > I think to myself "What was this Starlord by Byrne/Claremont?" I'd > hate to think that I've missed reading one of the all time best stories > so I was wondering just what is Starlord? When was it published? > Who published it? Is it hard to get a hold of? Well, the easy part first: STARLORD was published by Marvel. The feature was created by Steve Englehart, as a mystical/astrological sort of strip. The first episode appeared in the black-and-white magazine MARVEL PREVIEW (later re-titled BIZARRE ADVENTURES) #4, circa 1976. While Marvel waited to see how well the feature was received, Englehart got pissed at Marvel for other reasons and left to join DC. The Starlord ball was tossed to Claremont, Byrne, and Terry Austin, whose story appeared in MARVEL PREVIEW #11. Unlike Englehart, they chose to present Starlord as a grand space opera, complete with references to all sorts of classic sf books by Poul Anderson, Jack Vance, Robert Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey, Jerry Pournelle, Ed Bryant, et al. It stands as one of the best things the Claremont/Byrne/Austin team ever did. Claremont did another Starlord story or two with, if memory serves, Carmine Infantino, and Doug Moench did some stories after that. None of these later ones were nearly as good. That Claremont/Byrne/Austin story had the honor of being Marvel's first Baxter reprint (one-shot) book, and for awhile, the deluxe comics were referred to as being in the "Starlord format". In the reprint, there was also a framing sequence (that certainly did the central story justice) by Claremont, Michael Golden, and Austin. Either MARVEL PREVIEW #11 or STARLORD, THE SPECIAL EDITION should be reasonably available. It would be worth your while to look it up. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
paul@oddjob.UChicago.UUCP (Paul Schinder) (01/28/85)
>> ...Doom is even older, since he's a contemporary of Reed Richards, >> who fought in World War II. > >But revisionist Marvel History has it that that issue of SGT. FURY in >which Reed Richards appears never happened, or that it wasn't *really* >Reed Richards. Marvel doesn't want Reed to be 60+ years old. > How can they help it? I remember an old FF where Ben and Reed were reminiscing about their war days. Ben was a fighter pilot in the Pacific, and Reed was with the OSS in Europe. I even think there was a Two-in-One a few years ago teaming up Ben Grimm and the Howling Commandos. I don't *think* that that was just a dream, although I could be wrong. The fact that Ben and Reed were in WWII seems to be too ingrained in the FF saga for Marvel to arbitrarily dump it. On the same note, does anyone remember the issue of the X-men a few years back where Wolverine, in a tough situation, says something like "this reminds me of that night on Monte Casino". Seems like he was in WWII too (and who knows how many *other* wars he was in. That mutant healing factor might give longevity, as others on the net have suggested.) Charles Xavier, I believe, also served in WWII. -- Paul Schinder Astronomy and Astrophysics Center University of Chicago uucp: ..!ihnp4!oddjob!paul
ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP (Mike Ciaraldi) (01/30/85)
> >> ...Doom is even older, since he's a contemporary of Reed Richards, > >> who fought in World War II. > > > >But revisionist Marvel History has it that that issue of SGT. FURY in > >which Reed Richards appears never happened, or that it wasn't *really* > >Reed Richards. Marvel doesn't want Reed to be 60+ years old. > > > > How can they help it? I remember an old FF where Ben and Reed were > reminiscing about their war days. Ben was a fighter pilot in the Pacific, > and Reed was with the OSS in Europe. I even think there was a Two-in-One a > few years ago teaming up Ben Grimm and the Howling Commandos. I don't > *think* that that was just a dream, although I could be wrong. The fact > that Ben and Reed were in WWII seems to be too ingrained in the FF saga for > Marvel to arbitrarily dump it. > When the origin of the FF was reprinted in the ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS trade paperback, around 1970, Stan Lee had a comment on this. He quoted Reed as saying Sue was "the girl I left behind when I went to war", and then Stan wrote something like, "It must have been the Korean War. Sue isn't THAT old!" Also, there have been occasional references to the gamma radiation slowing down the FF's aging processes. > On the same note, does anyone remember the issue of the X-men a few years > back where Wolverine, in a tough situation, says something like "this > reminds me of that night on Monte Casino". Seems like he was in WWII too > (and who knows how many *other* wars he was in. That mutant healing factor > might give longevity, as others on the net have suggested.) Charles Xavier, > I believe, also served in WWII. Again, Chris Claremont has said in interviews, but never in an official X-Men publication, that Wolverine is quite old and did serve in WWII. His mutant healing factor is what gives him such long life. Xavier is a little different. He has always appeared older because of his bald head, but recent X-Men stories say he was only in maybe his late twenties when he founded the X-Men. I think the confrontation with the bad guy who crippled Prof. X's legs has been set at 1960. I heard recently that Puck from Alpha Flight is supposed to be about 100 years old, and there will be stories of his early exploits published soon. He used to be known as The Dwarf. I agree, this is all very hard to keep consistent. John Byrne seems determined to single-handedly construct a time line that makes the origin of the FF about 8 years back from the present day. This shows up in, for example, the origin of Guardian/Vindicator, when he is shown working on the suit when the news of the FF's trip to space is announced. Flashbacks in the FF indicate that theirs was the first STARSHIP, not the first SPACESHIP, and that the original goal of reaching the moon (as quoted in FF #1) seems to have mysteriously turned into a trip to the stars. On the other hand, I am not crazy about the DC way of doing things, as it has changed recently. Earth-1 and Earth-2 I can accept, and I would even support a migration to a new Earth-n which would have all brand-new heroes (slthough this is not what the CRISIS series seems to be moving toward). What bothers me is the piecemeal way that longevity is being added to some of the characters. e.g. The JSA gets a portion of time energy added to their lives in the "Case the World Isn't Ready For", so they don't age as fast, but the Black Canary gets replaced by her daughter. Mike Ciaraldi ciaraldi@rochester seismo!rochester!ciaraldi
oz@rlgvax.UUCP (THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ) (01/31/85)
> > On the other hand, I am not crazy about the DC way of doing things, > as it has changed recently. Earth-1 and Earth-2 I can accept, > and I would even support a migration to a new Earth-n which > would have all brand-new heroes (slthough this is not what > the CRISIS series seems to be moving toward). > What bothers me is the piecemeal way that longevity is being > added to some of the characters. > e.g. The JSA gets a portion of time energy added to their lives > in the "Case the World Isn't Ready For", so they don't age > as fast, but the Black Canary gets replaced by her daughter. Actually my least favorite bit of retro-fitting came from DC. It was when they decided to explain why no one ever noticed how much Clark Kent looked like Superman. The explanation said the Supes subconciously hypnotized people into thinking the Clark was frail. Give me a break guys! I can remember at least 4 times that Lois Lane (THE most fickle girl in the entire comics universe! I mean that girl will go for any man in tights that can lift a tank) fell in love with Clark Kent look alikes ("Why, I've never seen Clark so manly. I always liked him, but now I think I could love him...") Alright, I know that it is old news, but it REALLY bothered me. "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred." OZ seismo!rlgvax!oz
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (02/05/85)
> ... Xavier is a little different. He has always appeared > older because of his bald head, but recent X-Men stories say he was > only in maybe his late twenties when he founded the X-Men. > I think the confrontation with the bad guy who crippled Prof. X's > legs has been set at 1960. Unfortunately, I'm not sure this can be reconciled with the Gabrielle Haller business. Her original trauma was very firmly tied to WW2. It is difficult to realistically put her birthdate later than perhaps 1935, and it should probably be a bit earlier. And she was definitely still a young woman when Xavier cured her. Furthermore, their contact was relatively brief, and resulted in a child who is now an adolescent. Unless one makes *some* kind of strange assumption somewhere, Charles Xavier must have been a young adult not too long after WW2, and the current year in the Marvel universe cannot be much later than 1970. -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry
hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (02/09/85)
In article <5012@utzoo.UUCP> henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) writes: >> ... Xavier is a little different. He has always appeared >> older because of his bald head, but recent X-Men stories say he was >> only in maybe his late twenties when he founded the X-Men. >> I think the confrontation with the bad guy who crippled Prof. X's >> legs has been set at 1960. > >Unfortunately, I'm not sure this can be reconciled with the Gabrielle >Haller business. Her original trauma was very firmly tied to WW2. >It is difficult to realistically put her birthdate later than perhaps >1935, and it should probably be a bit earlier. And she was definitely >still a young woman when Xavier cured her. Furthermore, their contact >was relatively brief, and resulted in a child who is now an adolescent. > >Unless one makes *some* kind of strange assumption somewhere, Charles >Xavier must have been a young adult not too long after WW2, and the >current year in the Marvel universe cannot be much later than 1970. >-- > Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology > {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry Ummmmmm. Lest we forget, folks, Xavier's body is younger now than any of his pupils' .... Remember, he was cloned and mind-transplanted at the end of the Sleazoid Wars? They force-grew his recipient body to a comfortable level of maturity (like, about 22) and then did the transplant. Still, he is literally less than a year old. Continuity, anyone? -Hutch
dub@pur-phy.UUCP (Dwight) (02/18/85)
> ...Doom is even older, since he's a contemporary of Reed Richards, > who fought in World War Two. For all those faithful readers of the Fantastic Four mag, I can explain why Reed is younger than he appears. Somewhere in the early 200's a Skrull used an aging ray on Sue, Ben and Reed; Johnny was not affected. Therefore Johnny was instructed to find the aging ray. For a while things looked bad until Reed examined this "ray gun". He found a way to reverse the beam's effect. When Sue, Ben and Reed awoke from their sleep it seems a side effect was increased abilities. Reed might in fact be the same age as Doom, but actually (or biologically) he is younger than Doom is presently. I would also like to point out that Doom was restored to a youthful vigor on two separate occasions. The first was when he stole the powers of the Silver Surfer. The other was when he obtained all of the Beyonder's powers. Now the struggle between Reed and Doom can continue far into the future. -Paul- "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim."
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (02/24/85)
> Ummmmmm. Lest we forget, folks, Xavier's body is younger now than > any of his pupils' .... Remember, he was cloned and mind-transplanted > at the end of the Sleazoid Wars? This is true, but irrelevant to the point I was making. The conclusion that Xavier must have been a young adult not long after WW2 is based on his encounter with Gabrielle Haller, which cannot possibly have happened too long after the war. (She was still a young woman at the time of the encounter, remember, and she wasn't a child at the time of her trauma, which was during the war.) The conclusion that the year in the Marvel universe cannot be later than about 1970 is based on Haller's son, born as a result of that not-too-long-postwar encounter, being an adolescent now. Charles Xavier's current apparent age doesn't figure into either line of reasoning. -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry