tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post4638871039000048170..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: Shazam: Power of Hope, Part TwoDoughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-52479760658660390512013-12-23T23:05:20.975-06:002013-12-23T23:05:20.975-06:00In regards to comments on the first pic, while it&...In regards to comments on the first pic, while it's not as good as the rest of the art in the book I think what's happening here is really just a unintentional side effect of Ross keeping the Captains cartoony eyebrows which are very pointy and arched combined with the smile. There's also a bit of an odd thing going on with the lighting of his face in that one that isn't at all present in the book itself. <br /><br />Still I'll take Ross on bad day over a lot of artists on their best one ever. MattComixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14015552734150732758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-35452205025622838002013-12-23T21:41:10.789-06:002013-12-23T21:41:10.789-06:00All I gotta say is - Alex Ross is a freakin' g...All I gotta say is - Alex Ross is a freakin' genius!<br /><br />- Mike 'jingle bells' from Trinidad & Tobago.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-2169855890634235342013-12-23T20:49:12.698-06:002013-12-23T20:49:12.698-06:00You see, I think, the limits of Ross's process...You see, I think, the limits of Ross's process, his reliance on posed people. William Prestonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07896164917625191919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-15198432222870205072013-12-23T14:17:48.888-06:002013-12-23T14:17:48.888-06:00I don't think the angry Cap face works too wel...I don't think the angry Cap face works too well. Maybe a stern face is about as close to that as he should get.Doc Savagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08783244633195233970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-27401057003845471732013-12-23T13:07:57.834-06:002013-12-23T13:07:57.834-06:00Re: Ed's comment on the look on the Captain...Re: Ed's comment on the look on the Captain's face: It's the same creepy-as-hell grin he wears in Kingdom Come, when he's a soulless tool of Luthor. Horrible.William Prestonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07896164917625191919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-39907980944488128242013-12-23T12:36:19.291-06:002013-12-23T12:36:19.291-06:00The problem is comics readers being embarrassed by...The problem is comics readers being embarrassed by comic books and feeling the need to present them as "dark" and "serious" to compensate. It's a weird situation I'm not sure exists in other media. Does anyone feel embarrassed because they watch sitcoms and want a few decapitation and rape scenes thrown in to make it more "mature"? Doc Savagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08783244633195233970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-520209546970677052013-12-23T12:18:06.247-06:002013-12-23T12:18:06.247-06:00Yes placing a van of kids just down from a leaky d...Yes placing a van of kids just down from a leaky dam may not have been the best idea! But it's a fun surprise when we see with the Captain afterward that the kids loved it. <br /><br />With the abusive man, I like MattComix's explanation. There's also a simple satisfaction in seeing the hero stand up to the bully. My thought reading it was, that's great for the moment, but what happens when the boy gets home and Cap isn't there? But the last page handled that nicely by suggesting that Billy will be coming around to play with the boy and check up on how things are going. <br /><br />I think it's great that both Cap and Billy are heroes in this story. Billy's playful friendship is just as important as Cap's superheroics.<br /><br />I think Ross must like lightning bolt characters, as he's also a huge fan of the 1980 Flash Gordon movie. : ) I love the art in this book--who else in the history of comics could do something like this? Great face expressions as mentioned, and Cap's red outfit really stands out in the scenes. Garettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-74129329828145155422013-12-23T10:36:29.170-06:002013-12-23T10:36:29.170-06:00Last week, several commenters noted that the way R...Last week, several commenters noted that the way Ross draws Captain Marvel seems to really suit the character, and I'm inclined to agree in this case. However, that first image in today's post, from the book's back cover I assume, is hideous. Seriously, it gives me the creeps - he looks like a sex offender (i.e., there's no way I'd let someone with that look on his face put a bunch of kids in a van).<br /><br />And not to be entirely negative, I have to say that Dini's story in this book, like the Batman one you reviewed earlier, seems pretty solid, although I agree with your criticism of how that child abuse angle is handed.Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-47914849609664535252013-12-23T10:09:15.292-06:002013-12-23T10:09:15.292-06:00I don't think the problem there is "grown...I don't think the problem there is "grown-up Billy" much as it is the product of bad writers who can't rationalize a character like Captain Marvel with the requisite gratuitous grimdark that's become their stock and trade. MattComixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14015552734150732758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-65761712364851771362013-12-23T09:09:06.778-06:002013-12-23T09:09:06.778-06:00The original Cap was a separate being and personal...The original Cap was a separate being and personality. He was not childish and a "grown-up Billy" as we have seen in recent decades. They portray a man with the wisdom of Solomon as a naive dope. I hate the more recent portrayal. It also flies in the face of having seen them both exist simultaneously. I also wish they would go back to his other costume and lose that godawful button-up military look.Doc Savagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08783244633195233970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-4571441886590676072013-12-23T07:18:45.965-06:002013-12-23T07:18:45.965-06:00The Captain has been approached as a separate enti...The Captain has been approached as a separate entity who is essentially a being made up of all the attributes that comprise the acronym for the word Shazam with Billy switching places with him. I would rec' Jeff Smiths Monster Society of Evil as an example of this.<br /><br />Yet he has also been approached as Billy's mind in an adult body. The later is more of a modern approach and one that Dini and Ross have clearly adopted for this story.<br /><br />Basically he's Billy but with access to everything the magic word is made of such as the wisdom of Solomon. <br /><br />On the way the abusive father angle is handled. After trying to reason with him fails, Billy in the form of the Captain is to an extent handling the Dad the way he would any other thug. But rather than fly him off to jail he's giving him one chance to change for the better. It's not a case of Dini saying this is a practical application so much as a wish fulfillment moment which is part of what Captain Marvel is about. Billy wanted the Dad to feel as small and powerless as Bobby does as a way to make him realize what he was doing. Now some abusive Dads wouldn't even give a damn but Billy is clearly betting that Bobby's Dad does actually love his son somewhere underneath all that anger. <br /><br />The reaction on the Captain's face when he realizes who Shazam is talking about gets me every time. The scene with the dying girl was such an emotional punch but then this moment had me smiling where seconds before I was welling up. Even though he has the face of the Captain you totally see Billy in there.MattComixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14015552734150732758noreply@blogger.com