Doug: In case you just stumbled in and are wondering, "Wait, what?" here are some of the topics from the past couple of weeks:
- the passing of legend Joe Kubert
- the Olympics
- comic book conventions
- shopping lists/want lists
- meeting creators
- the lay-out of this blog and/or how it is created
- trying to find truth in our poll about the Greatest Story of the Bronze Age of Comics
Doug: There -- if you didn't come with an idea, that list should give you something to think about and make a comment on (always a great idea to think before commenting...). Have a good day, and we look forward to the conversation.
23 comments:
I like the recent comments feature.
Last I saw on the poll, it was about 40-40 in votes, and I was curious who was going to get the win. Then the next day the votes were in the 100s--something fishy!
Canada was robbed by the ref in Olympic soccer. 2 very biased calls at the end gave the Americans the game, and soured a 3-goal performance by Canada's Christine Sinclair. We still won the bronze, and Canada's very proud of the team.
I may have posted this before, but now's a good time for it--video of Joe Kubert drawing, along with Neal Adams and Moebius in 1972:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY3Rf0i9hgU
and another from the same French show Tac au Tac, with John Buscema, Hogarth and Druillet drawing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xTe7212GQc
When I attended the Detroit ComicCon, I must confess it was a bit overwhelming. Understandably, only attending for one day, it was daunting to say the least. Despite getting pics of all the cosplay folk (and a wedding ceremony there to boot, with a Thor character serving as bestman.) I know you all are seasoned veterans, but it was pretty cool to see all the seeming miles of booths with comic boxes, action figures, you name it.. I never went to any conventions as a kid, other than seeing George Takei, and Walter Koenig at a Trek con in Milwaukee back in '78. How to assess which booths had the best comic/TBP values, then wager whether the item you want would be there when you returned, it's beyond me. Still had a fun time, and if I saw a great deal, I'd drop cash immediately, but was just happy to see some celebrities.
Obviously the big national ComicCons are comparatively the same (but twice the size and on steroids), would love to take one in someday. Between some midwest scifi cons and Beatlecons, my wife would probably only have me attend one a year, so I have to choose accordingly.
Garrett --
The beauty of sport is how two people can watch the same game yet see the outcome in a totally different light. While I'll give you that the 6-second call on Canada's keeper was a bush-league play by Abby Wambach and never should have been made, I would take issue with the FACT that due to several takedowns of American players in the offensive box, the US should have shot at least (AT LEAST) 2 PKs.
What, you didn't see it that way...?
That was one of the greatest games played I have ever seen, in any sport. Both teams truly left it all on the field.
By the way, lest you think I'm totally biased, I rooted against our men's basketball team throughout the tournament. Not really a fan of today's coddled professional athlete, specifically in regard to the NBA.
Doug
I always get a bit sad when the Olympics end. But I was one of those who avoided spoilers in order to watch it at night. Now I don't have to worry about Olympics spoilers until February 7, 2014!
Bolt is one of the most amazing athletes I've ever seen, he is the walking definition of "Must See TV".
But now that it's over, I need to get back to reviewing Bronze Age reprint books, working on this one right now and I recommend the book:
http://www.talesofwonder.com/product-exec/product_id/69703/nm/Spider-Man+Return+Of+Burglar+Prem+HC
And I'm also looking forward to watching the Avengers episodes I missed to the London games.
Back to serious business:
The Poll.
Here's a question, do you think the resurrection of Jean Grey hurts the Dark Phoenix saga in retrospect? It doesn't negate it for me, but I can understand some who say the whole storyline was tainted when Jean showed up 5 years(in our time) after her "death".
JA --
Bob Costas had a great line on Bolt after Jamaica won the 4x100 relay: "It would be difficult for anyone to have a higher opinion of Usain Bolt than he apparently has of himself." You know, when it was just Muhammad Ali acting that way, there was a sort of fresh and funny aspect to his bravado. Now that even the sucky pros act that way, Bolt came off to me as just another conceited jerk.
But he can sure back it up, can't he? "Must see TV" indeed. He is an electric talent.
I avoided spoilers until the Games were about 3/4 over, then I forgot and flipped on ESPN one afternoon and saw their crawler at the bottom of the screen. Bummer. Being a teacher, I had the luxury of watching a lot of daytime programming, so that was fun. I always enjoy the evening broadcasts, and don't really get all the criticism NBC took here in the States.
However, leaving The Who out of the closing ceremonies? Duh.
I fondly recall that run of ASM leading up to issue #200, but the ending was definitely a "Bobby stepping out of the shower" moment, wasn't it? For me, ASM was never the same after that. Of course, that also roughly coincides with my departure from the hobby for 4 1/2 years.
Doug
Back to conventions:
I forgot to mention that I was next to Joe Jusko, also. I wish I'd had my Tarzan trade that collected the art from the ERB card series he did in the '90's, but I didn't take it along. Dude can draw muscles!
Regarding the massive grid that is the vendor floor -- how in the world does one attack that monster?? I always feel like I've missed something. This time we tried to weave up and down, but inevitably attention is drawn off the pattern and then it's like, "Now where was I??" And how about getting to the end and then trying to get back to that one guy who had something you want to buy? This year I was going to be really organized and make notes on the map of the floor we were handed when we arrived. Yeah -- tough when after 1/2 hour I forgot that I had the silly thing in my pocket!
This year at Wizard World Chicago I don't believe there were many companies represented. I think everything was on the vendor floor -- it blended right into the Artists' Alley and there was no separate room for publishers, etc. Pro and celebrity signings were smack in the middle of the floor, and those things were usually off to the side. The only companies I wanted to see were Hot Toys and/or Sideshow Collectibles -- some of the 12" Avengers action figures that are coming out are amazing. Expensive, yes -- I just wanted to look at them.
David, regarding when to buy -- always a tough call, particularly on a Sunday. Where is the best deal, and when you see something that's a decent deal, what are the chances you'll see it again, and for a better price? A little gambling does take place, doesn't it?
Doug
Having spent seven years confidently declaring I wouldn't be watching any of the London Olympics except for the Men's 100m final, I then ended up glued to it for night after night.
The opening ceremony was great. The closing ceremony was terrible. The sporting event that took place in between them was fabulous.
On this side of the pond, it really did seem like the nation was gripped by a strange madness as people no one had ever heard of before became instant national heroes, and the night when Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford won golds in the track and field, seemingly within minutes of each other, would've taken the roof off the country if it had had one.
The BBC's coverage was mostly superb but I can confirm that NBC's coverage got plenty of bad press on this side of the Atlantic too. Apart from all their other blunders, they cut a tribute to the London Underground terrorist bombings out of their broadcast of the opening ceremony, for not being American enough, which needless to say didn't go down well.
Hey, Steve --
Bet you Brits are looking forward to potentially dealing with Mitt Romney, huh? Wow -- three major stops on that trip, three major foot-in-the-mouth episodes.
Not that all politicians don't do that, but in this age of constant media coverage and instant transmission, those sorts of things just seem more glaring as gaffes.
And Americans could certainly broaden their cultural and historical horizons with stories like the one you mentioned, I'd suggest.
Doug
Olympics: since I'm now living in Croatia, the whole 'spoiler' thing was not an issue. Anyway, I watched quite a few of the track & field events, and enjoyed them immensely. And yes, Bolt is impressive (and yes, also quite annoyingly full of himself), but I enjoyed most of the other races just as much, both men's and women's. In fact, I think I enjoyed the women's 4x400 and 4x100 relays much more than the men's. And a personal favorite was the men's 1500 m, in which this long-legged Kenyan was just dominating through most of the race, and then in the last roughly 100 m an Algerian, American and Moroccan (and a few others) all basically sprinted and pulled ahead of him. Totally awesome. And Steve, yes, those three almost consecutive British track & field golds were quite impressive.
Doug - as for greatest game in any sport, I think I mentioned it before, but the final in women's volleyball at the 2004 games in Athens between China and Russia, when China came up from a two set deficit to win 3-2. Best game ever, in pretty much any sport.
The water polo tournament was quite enjoyable as well. of course, it was getting lots of coverage here because the Croatian team was so dominant: won the gold, and also won every match.
Man, I didn't think I would spend so much time talking about the Olympics; I'm really not that much of a sports fanatic at all. As for other topics, that poll: is there any way to find out what happened there? I get the impression that it may have just been one or two guys who found a way to override the block on multiple voting...
Doug, it's going to be great if Mitt Romney becomes president and - as seems likely - Ed Miliband becomes next prime minister. As Romney kept referring to Miliband as, "Mr Leader," on their recent meeting because he couldn't be bothered to find out what his name was, I suspect relations between our governments could become a little frosty.
As regards the NBC opening ceremony edit, in fairness, straight after it, Twitter was full of Americans expressing their outrage at what they'd done, so it's good to know NBC's attitude wasn't necessarily typical.
Hey Doug, I agree it was an amazing game! I didn't watch the whole thing, so I can't comment on your takedown observation. But rough play calls through the game can be debated... while pulling an oddball call out of a hat right at a key time at the end of a game--that's a stinker.
Great men's 100m final, and I also enjoyed watching wrestling.
Edo --
Water polo is huge in your part of the globe, isn't it? It seemed like most of the powers hail from eastern and southern Europe. It's played at the high school level here in Illinois, but I don't know to what extent it's popular in the NCAA -- I'll admit my other-than-every-4-years ignorance of the sport.
RE: the men's 4x100 -- Bolt was in the men-against-boys category when he took the baton, wasn't he? Wow.
Does anyone have any great stories along the lines of my 12 tpb/hc for $60 take at the comic convention?
Doug
Regarding J.A.'s question on Jean Grey: Yes, I feel that bringing her back devalues the whole Phoenix storyline. It's pointless to me to bring back characters from the dead. If there are no real consequences vis-a-vis life and death, why should I care if anyone lives or dies in the first place?
I do wonder who the worst offender between DC & Marvel is? At one time, weren't Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, and Oliver Queen at DC all irrevocably "dead"? And now they're all back because, ahem, they just weren't so easily replaced? I think that first of all, death is used far too indiscriminately in comics. And then, for every death, an eventual resurrection is a heartbeat away. Bucky's still dead, right? Well, how about Toro?
What kind of an idiot cuts the Who?!? I would hope someone high up at NBC got a pink slip this week. No wonder Kieth Moon delcined his Olympic invitation.
R.I.P. Joe Kubert: My favorite artist for Tarzan & Hawkman, bar none. And that's just the tip of the iceberg compared to his many other accomplishments. Such a unique stylist.
James Chatterton
James --
Hard to tell electronically if some of your comments were tongue-in-cheek, so if I'm a dummy here, forgive me.
Bucky's alive and well, and he's Captain America now. Toro -- I think he's still dead.
And speaking of dead, I don't get what you meant about Keith Moon... ol' boy would have had to decline that Olympic invite some 30 years ago, huh?
Doug
Doug,
My tongue was planted firmly in my cheek while I was commenting (except about giving someone the pink slip at NBC for dissing the Who. Serious about that one). I think I need to fine-tune my ability to get that across while typing.
An invitation to participate in this year's Olympic celebration was actually sent to Keith Moon. He didn't get back to them in time, so...
Ummm, think I could get a job at Marvel if I thought up a way to resurrect Toro? I've got it...The Summer Soldier!
James Chatterton
James, I am feeling MUCH better now! I was thinking, "Now here's a brother who really needs to get out more!"
Whoo!
Doug :)
Musing on James' comments, I recall their was a discussion on the Revolving Door of Death in another comics related site a few years ago. Seems both Marvel & DC were crawling towards killing off or retiring the old civilian identities of many of their top characters but then chickened out and brought back Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, Oliver Queen, Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Thor Odinson, and Steve Rogers, just to name the most prominent who were "replaced" for a time.
I suppose if rock music was like comics, not only would Keith Moon & John Entwistle have come back to make sure the Who's performance wouldn't be cut off, but John Lennon & George Harrison would have come down from the sky to introduce their good buddy from beyond, Buddy Holly!
Now back to the real world ....
Doug and James
Unfortunately Marvel did resurrect Toro for a Torch mini series in 2009. I definitely agree that death is comics is meaningless. Remember when the unwritten rule at Marvel was that Bucky and Uncle Ben would stay dead ? Well Bucky has returned twice and the ghost of Uncle Ben ( if that counts ) visited Peter. The subject of death in comics and films like Star Trek 2 should be revisited in a future post. We could debate which, if any, resurrections were good and which did the most harm to either a character or a sacred story line.
RIP Joe Kubert. I believe I first got to look at Joe's artwork on an issue of Sargeant Rock many years ago. He certainly had a distinctive style. You just had to take one glance at any issue he drew to instantly recognize his handiwork. Farewell, Joe, you've gone to that great comics studio up in Heaven.
As for the Olympics .... Trinidad won its second GOLD medal ever! World Junior champion Keshorn Walcott bagged the precious gold in the javelin event. We've been waiting, oh, only 36 years for us to get another gold! The last time (and up to Saturday -only time)Trinidad had a gold medal was Hasely Crawford's 100 metres gold in Montreal 1976. Certain athletes, notably former 1997 World 200M champion Ato Boldon (he has 4 medals - silver/bronze) and George Bovell (bronze at Athens 2004) have kept the T & T flag flying high, but the gold has remained elusive - until last Saturday!
Would you believe, Walcott is only 19! He comes from a remote rural area in Trinidad called Toco. It sounds like a fairytale - a babyfaced country boy from a tiny Caribbean nation of 1.5 million people goes to his first ever Olympics, just happy to be there, soaking up the Olympic atmosphere, no medal aspirations, throws a doozy, realizes none of the other competitors comes close to his throw ..... and the realization he is now the new Olympic champion dawns on him! What a sight! I heard some old seasoned Trinidadian men cried like babies when our national anthem was played!
This was our best Olympic outing ever - 12 athletes making finals, 3 bronzes and a gold. Not bad for a small Caribbean nation, eh? Usain Bolt? I'll let the Jamaicans talk to you about him! :)
- Mike 'gold medal in sleeping' from Trinidad & Tobago.
"Horshack" from Welcome Back Kotter just passed away--"Epstein" also did earlier this year.
Looking around, I came across this great clip of Battle of the Network Stars, a show I loved in the '70s. "Epstein" appears, along with of course many other stars, but the draw is a 100m race between Robert Conrad and "Mr. Kotter" Gabe Kaplan. Great fun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqWU9huMMco
By the way, and this is totally random in the scheme of the comments above it --
While on our master post list writing some things for next week, I noticed that today's Open Forum is our 900th published post. That's a lot of posts! No wonder when Karen or I sit down to write we can't recall if we've already discussed it!
Doug
Now THAT'S an excellent idea for reminiscing..: 'Battle of the Network Stars'..!!
Awesome footage still aplenty on Youtube, and of course, Lynda Carter's brief swimsuit adjustment on the diving board was spectacular for healthy male hormones the world 'round.
LOVED the banter with Robert Conrad and all the other teams. Really made for great, fun TV.
Aw, man, just heard some more bad news: SF writer Harry Harrison died today. What a lousy week...
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