Marvel Comics blabbery

This commentary is not disappointing. Thank u all.

I've learned that this painter also did the box art for the Genesis Punisher game:

http://r.mprd.se/media/images/38924-Punisher,_The_(USA)-1459831342.png

every picture by this guy has that same facial expression

https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/9/90/Thor_Vol_1_460.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20070405011804 https://78.media.tumblr.com/5f3140f0fa7bf7dc3342a536df8be6bf/tumblr_n8y3m3VMW31twdz6wo1_500.png

completely surprising that his work appeared in a marvel swimsuit specia

*special

And lo!, Thor did release a god-sized geyser of piss into his speedo on that day.

You
MUST
Buy
This
Issue!

um
http://i.pinimg.com/736x/a6/8b/2d/a68b2d55b91648645a419ed5024eae6e--marvel-villains-marvel-comics.jpg

https://78.media.tumblr.com/a2b75ed3e389d88dd624cd8b93491ed1/tumblr_inline_ordl9xl5vR1rvztey_540.gif

I'm enjoying these tributes to Whizzer and Chips mainstay Full O'Beans

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55d9a2ebe4b090d1642480e9/t/578bc3b6d2b85738b5d59cb6/1468777432235/

I desperately want to unsee the Blob's asscrack, and yet at the same time I keep scrolling up and looking at it....

it really follows you around the room huh

i'll go with scrote fold vs. asscrack

kickstarter to have Ed Luce redo that Blob painting

Looks like Disney is looking to buy Fox's movie and TV productions. I'm guessing this would include getting the Marvel movie rights back and is a big part of the deal.

Fiiiiiinally got around to reading Sean Howe's book, revealing how little I knew about what's gone on behind the curtain. I immediately followed it up with the newly released Slugfest!, which details Marvel and DC's decades-long rivalry. It's slight and covers some of the same ground as Howe's book but it's pretty entertaining. I think I'm going to check out Dan Raviv's Comic Wars next. Any other recommendations along those lines?

TCJ 1979 - 2005.

Assuming one already has a cache of scanz of TCJ 1979-2005 (and Amazing Heroes 1981-1992), what might be your follow-up recommendation?

I don't know if you're interested in British comics, but Pat Mills recently wrote a history of 2000AD that looks fun, and Chris Donald's book from a while back about setting up Viz Magazine is full of fun anecdotes and charmingly pedantic score-settling. There's also Grant Morrison's book, which I've never read as it was published around the time he stopped being interesting (which I'm still sad about) and sounded like it had some less-than-lightened views on creator rights.

I read Morrison's book. I don't recall being bowled over (even though I still generally rate him as my favorite mainstream comics writer).

I am interested in British comics (just bought the second in what surprisingly appears to be a series of Misty trades) but my engagement has been fairly slight. I intend to do a deep dive someday when Marvel deep diving doesn't consume quite as much of my comics reading time.

(The 'surprisingly' is because 2000AD/Rebellion doesn't reprint a whole lot of stuff for the US market, and Misty seems pretty niche in comparison to the more popular material that's been ignored stateside or allowed to go out of print ages ago.)

Morrison's book is woeful overall, not just for the go-go-sharecropper bits. Donald's is delightful, though preferable in hardcover so you get the original title. That said, it has perhaps slightly less of the history of Marvel & DC's publishing machinations than OL was asking for.

Morrison’s viewpoint always has this forced joy for the work, while the subtext (when it stays in there) seems like it’s suppressed fretting for the foundation the industry sits on. But the interplay between superhero trends and corporate control is integral to the work, at least when you’re writing about the history of comics plots.

It’s probably a viewpoint that keeps you sane if you’re trying to work in the system, but the detachment doesn’t lend well to writing a history

I recall enjoying Men of Tomorrow when I read it years ago, but given what has been revealed about that book's author since, I'm not sure if I could recommend it. Steal it maybe.

I am interested in British comics (just bought the second in what surprisingly appears to be a series of /Misty/ trades) but my engagement has been fairly slight. I intend to do a deep dive someday when Marvel deep diving doesn't consume quite as much of my comics reading time.

and then there’s the broons obv

I recall enjoying Men of Tomorrow when I read it years ago, but given what has been revealed about that book's author since, I'm not sure if I could recommend it. Steal it maybe.

*googles Gerard Jones*

Yikes. Did not see that coming.

This is a good fun companion read to the Howe book:

https://www.amazon.com/Stan-Rise-Fall-American-Comic/dp/1556525419

As for British Comics, I highly recommend this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-British-Comics-Paul-Gravett/dp/1845131703

Some time back, I (ahem) 'found' a lovingly-curated cache of 2000AD serials sorted chronologically and by subject, so I'm prepped when the time comes. It's just a bit intimidating to plow headlong into a publication which recently surpassed 2,000 issues, but I look forward to the endeavor (or 'endeavour', if you will).

Thank u all for the recommendations. Tangentially, there's a new tell-all book about the X-Men animated series that sounds like it could be pretty great.

Howe's Tumblr is fun - it's mostly images and Weird Marvel whatnot, but there's some fun stuff: http://seanhowe.tumblr.com/

erstwhile ilx presence Al Ewing wrote some fun 2000AD stuff so, uh, check it out if you enjoy his Marvel work

In other 2000AD news, I found out I missed the release of a Mega City Undercover collection at some point so I spent yesterday catching up.

Bummed that Al has abandoned these haunts (or has he...?!?) since becoming A Big Deal but pleased for his deserved success.

He is writing all of Marvel, that must take some time.

I enjoyed reading negative reviews of Howe's book by people who love Marvel at their worst, including one guy who was saying "what? Maximum Carnage was the greatest!"

Al's story in the Christmas 2000ad special is astonishing. Dredd gets called out to a guy whose life is a choose-your-own-adventure.

I'd been wondering if Al Ewing was maybe the writer of the Starlord strip in the current issue of 2000ad? (it's credited to 'Ken Niemand' which is presumably a pseudonym?) The style seemed similar, anyway

Which issue is that in, Aldo? I just bought the Christmas ish (prog 2061!) but couldn't find it

Ah wait, it was in Festive Thrillpower 2017 so might be old.

So I hear that (***SPOILER ALERT***) it turns out the Ultimate Universe is still around, after all?

This is getting ridiculous!

in which title are they delving into that topic?

afaik there’s still a Marvel multiverse, the new not-FF title might delve into that. post Secret Wars, the Richards family has been out there creating new universes and throwing them into the void so who knows what could exist

Here's the reveal: https://www.cbr.com/spider-men-ii-ultimate-universe/

I feel like that’s the weird canon trap that pedantic readers fall into, and try to lawyer around every time they see something that doesn’t fall into their conception. I caught myself arguing about the Runaways tv show, of all things, on io9 comments.

An editor, writer, whoever, saying a story falls into a comics universe, cinematic universe, whatever... it doesn’t matter to the work you’re reading until it actually ties into a story and matters in a way that affects the work. If I see something that seems like magic, and someone pipes in “oh they said this is the same universe as blah, so magic is like blah” it adds nothing to the work I’m watching unless magic being the same, or even connected, is part of the plot!

They kind of create artist ions in the fictional geology of the work, universe numbers, events explaining a link, but it’s all a workaround to make something more meaningful to readers. If Marvel has an ultimate universe maybe this one’s now the equivalent of 1611 or 1607 instead of 1610. The shitty ultimatum thing never happened, or the whole place is rewound a few years so what was contemporaneous never was.

The more I read different fictional works with their self-contained continuity the more clear it becomes that events fucking with that continuity, or tying disparate pieces together, are only good if they’re good stories. The fan service pedantic bits are just horrible. No-prizes all the way down for me.

the end of Secret Wars II had the Franklin kids rebuilding the multiverse so... but yeah, every time DC rebooted that would bring back the Earth-Xs pretty fast, so no surprise

I don't know if you're interested in British comics, but Pat Mills recently wrote a history of 2000AD that looks fun, and Chris Donald's book from a while back about setting up Viz Magazine is full of fun anecdotes and charmingly pedantic score-settling. There's also Grant Morrison's book, which I've never read as it was published around the time he stopped being interesting (which I'm still sad about) and sounded like it had some less-than-lightened views on creator rights.

― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, December 21, 2017 12:53 AM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have not read it yet but Steve McManus's recent autiobiog about his time in the UK comics biz had some decent reviews.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mighty-One-Inside-Nerve-Centre/dp/1781084750/

I discover these things late because I mail-order my monthly haul but apparently at least part of the reason Marvel engaged in their Legacy renumbering is so they could celebrate (warning: fake examples) issue 900 of Sleepwalker and issue 750 of NFL SuperPro with (drumroll please) lenticular covers! Do I smell a Clone Saga II around the corner? Perhaps the unnecessary purchase of a trading card company?

I'm cautiously optimistic about this Chip Zdarsky/Jim Cheung "Marvel Two-in-One" ploy, when it comes to the stealth number catching-up

In theory, I'm totally on board with restoring the original numbering. In practice, though, a) they seem to have fudged an awful lot of these numbers, and b) come on, is anyone under any illusions that we'll see every title revert to a Totally All-New All-Different For Real This Time #1 within the next couple of years?

As someone who only reads library trades periodically, all these events, series retitling and renumbering have effectively killed that Marvel interest, too. Not sure what that says, other than I'm easily confused, and the catalogs don't easily compile and sort different titles / authors / characters in date published order. If I was more OCD, I'd print off Wikipedia lists for guides. It is nice, though, not to be complaining about character deaths or revamps.

No, I totally get it. Those tendencies are a major barrier of entry for anyone with a casual interest. Renumbering seems to be only for the sake of short-term gains at the expense of any audience beyond the one that's already on the train. I'd love to see them stick with the Legacy numbering but I have approximately zero faith that they'll do so.