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Post by michaelpaciocco on Jan 16, 2010 15:52:35 GMT -8
Agreed on Lobdell and Davis - their FF run was innovative and it would have been interesting to see what it could have been.
24 issues? In a row? That ought to take about 12 years or so.
Seriously, when was the last time Warren did 24 issues straight of anything? Transmet?
Don't get me wrong - I still think as a writer he does more good than bad, but the man is succumbing to ADD.
Michael
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Post by jensaltmann on Jan 17, 2010 3:35:48 GMT -8
I think, if there's one team right now who could do the FF the way it should be done outside of Byrne? Scott Lobdell and Alan Davis. That three issues they did wasn't enough. I wanted more. Me too. When they had those two on the FF Heroes Return relaunch, that was the first time in I have no idea how long that I looked forward to the FF. Lobdell really got them. Lobdell and Davis were really on fire there. I dropped the book two or three issues after Claremont took over, and haven't read an issue since. |
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Post by jbhelfrich on Jan 17, 2010 18:42:26 GMT -8
To be fair, even Cassaday admits that the massive Planetary delays were mostly his fault, particularly with the last few issues. Fell was a hard drive failure (and yes, shame on Warren for not having proper backups) and Desolation Jones is more art problems.
Everything else, he may not be churning out 12 issues a year, but he's probably getting 8-10.
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Post by michaelpaciocco on Jan 17, 2010 20:40:02 GMT -8
To be fair, even Cassaday admits that the massive Planetary delays were mostly his fault, particularly with the last few issues. Fell was a hard drive failure (and yes, shame on Warren for not having proper backups) and Desolation Jones is more art problems. Everything else, he may not be churning out 12 issues a year, but he's probably getting 8-10. Fair enough (and I think you forgot Newuniversal in there), but it doesn't change the fact that it's been years since he's spent more than 12 issues on a project. |
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Post by michaelpaciocco on Jan 19, 2010 8:22:47 GMT -8
The three day waiting period has past, so I'm now re-issuing questions to Jard:
1) Reboot the Star Trek franchise your way - how do you do it and who do you get to help?
2) Your absolute, all-time favorite "not a classic" comic story - meaning it can't be Watchmen or other big name, constantly lauded comic, but it has a huge personal meaning to you - what is it and why?
3) You can cure one great comic professional of his biggest character flaw - Dave Sim's sexism, Neal Adams or John Byrne's crazy, Miller's...uh, whatever he's got - who do you pick and why?
4) What one real world thing do you wish comics would tackle more of?
5) What non-Big-Two comics brings you the most joy?
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Post by jarddavis on Jan 19, 2010 15:10:04 GMT -8
Reboot as in a BSG style reboot?
No five year missions. Six month deployments. No massive fleets, and a reduction in the amount of techno-babble.
I'd severly limit two things, making them a tad more realistic. There would be limits on speed and distance, not to mention the amount of races in the UFP. I'd actively point out the the UFP, although a NATO style alliance, does not, in fact have control over the individual governments of it's member planets.
Midway through the 22nd century, Earth finally developed FTL travel, and began it's expansion throughout the stars. So Earth has already colonized and terraformed a few planets in some of it's closest stellar neighbors. The UFP also contains a few other member races, the Vulcans, the Andorians, The Tellarites. And it has already fought a WWII style war against the Romulans, who are trying to conquer thier homeworld, the planet Vulcan. (The Romulans were an Australian style Penal colony at one time, and as Vulcan moved more towards the philosophical concept of IDIC, the Romulans, being just as intelligent, moved towards a war footing. They are now similar to Ze Germans in that respect. And even then, they couldn't defeat the combind forces of what became the UFP. (The Vulcans are located in Epsilon Eridani, and the Romulans are in the Tau Ceti starsystem, making them both fairly close to Earth.
Earth has colonized Alpha Centauri, and Barnard's Star but has decided to persue an aggressive exploration program, in both an effort to secure other colony systems, as well as to further the limits of human understanding.
They are, because of this, developing a fleet of vessels for this purpose. Capable of months at a time of extended exploration, faster than anything previously made and due to the need to occasionally defend themselves, armed. They are also well equipped in scientific and sensory equipment.
The second of these ships is the USS Enterprise, CE-1701. It is the second ship of the Constellation class of Exploration Cruisers.
Heavily automated, the total crew of these ships, roughly the size of a late 20th century wet navy Aegis Cruiser, is around 80 people.
60% of that crew are experts in various sciences, whilst the other 40% are geared towards operation and maintience of the ship itself. Because of this, the sciences crew members are expected to work alongside the normal crew in not only the maintinence and more subtle operation of the ship itself, but also care and well being of the crew. Most of the crew are polymaths of some type.
The Commanding Officer is a man by the name of James Tiberius Kirk, and it is his first command. A vetran of the romulan War, Kirk, is a military man. He came up through the ranks, worked on patrol ships and sar boats, and known as an "up and comer" who got the job done. He has a (mostly) impecable record. A natural leader of men, he has particular skills in diplomacy, and shows natural apptitude for both abstract and tactical thinking.
His Executive Officer is a Vulcan by the name of Spock. Spock note only acts as the Executive Officer of the ship, but department head for the Sciences division. (In short, the majority of the main cast mostly report to him directly.) Spock is half-vulcan, half-human and is the first representative of Vulan to volunteer for the exploration missions. His primary reason for wanting to go on the mission, besides the general scientific discovery to be found, is Anthropological. He is fascinated by Human behavious having grown up on a wolrd were his own mother was human, but very few stay for long.
Montgomery Scott, the Chief Engineer, is third in command. A typical engineer, with a bit of the rogue in him. Scottish, and a huge fan of Football. HUGE fan of Football. Loves being the ship's engineer as well. Would rather do that than anything else.
Dr. Leonard Mccoy, or Bones, is an old school southern gentleman throwback and something of a cantankerous luddite, except when it comes to Medical Science. He reports to Spock, but is not actually military. He And he and Kirk immediately take a liking to each other, with him acting as a sort of father figure to the Co. (More of a Book-Mal Firefly relationship than the previous good friends on equal terms thing)
And of course, the supporting cast would not only include Checkov, Sulu, Uhura, abut a few others. Checkov would be the astronomy and navigation guy, Uhura would be the communicatins and liguistics, Sulu would be Military, dealing with shipboard operations of both helm and weaponry. You'd also have a few LaSalle's, Riley's, Mumbata's, Chen's and Pederson's making a far more culturally diverse cast of males and females, to reflect the more obvious paths humanity is taking.
The ship itself would still look the same basic design, and have particle beam weaponry as well as anti-matter weaponry. (Still capable of taking out an Empire Star Destroyer) but it would be a lot more Nostromo and a lot less TNG. Cargo Space is an issue. As are living quarters, labs, Food stores, water, etc. The Upper deck of the saucer section is shipboard ops (And sub-light engineering), the middle deck sciences and sensors, the lower deck is living spaces. The secondary hull is primary engineering, food and cargo stores. The Engineering Nacelles are FTL propulsion and fuel stores. The ship collects fuels as it goes via hydrogen in take.
As I said before, there is no five year mission. Six month deployments on the ever increasing fringes of Federation Territory. The first season would have them eventually encounter the warrior race known as the Klingon. But it would not result in a war. More of a Cold War, as both Humans and Klingon immediately find things to respect about the other, but are having political disputes due to Territory. (There would be the occasional skirmish) But in the end, the show would be about the following:
Space. The Final Frontier.
These are the Voyages of the Starship Enterprise...
etc, etc.
The big thing though is that the series would focus on action, adventure and such, but also on dealing with "The Big Question." The morals and ethics of Expansion into the galaxy There would eventually be an enemy. It would not be Romulans, however. It would be The Andromedans. An advanced guard so to speak.
Certain Stories would be off limits. No Time Travel. Except for one, which would be one of the third or forth season's primary focus's as something happens at then end of season 3 for instance, and season four being an attempt to go back in time and fix the problem.
The comic graphic novel adaptation of the movie Alien by Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson. I saw Simonson's art and was hooked.
Rob Liefeld and the belief that he can actually produce comics competantly.
I don't. I want them to start dealing with things that don't apply with the real world at the moment.
One of the reasons the idea behind Civil War appealed to me was because of the possibilities involved that were squandered away with four pages in the first issue, and the longer term ones which were squandered away over the remaining four years. And they still never came as close to dealing as well with it as DC did during the Ostrander Suicide Squad/Checkmate days from the '90's, or that one season of JLU did.
I want to see full blown wars with lasting effects. I want to see the real effects of a World War Hulk style event on the Marvel Universe. I don't want "Well, the Hulk pretty much destroyed huge chunks of New York City, we'll have it rebuilt by next week."
Curently being published? Ex Machina and The Red Star (Not sure if that counts though as it's going digital.)
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Post by jarddavis on Jan 19, 2010 15:11:11 GMT -8
And, for help on the first question... hmmnn. Have to think about that one.
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Post by jarddavis on Jan 19, 2010 22:39:32 GMT -8
Joe Helfrich... come on down... You're the next contestant on...
1.) What's the Graphic Novel of the last 30 years that everyone thinks is the best thing ever written, that you think is crap.
2.) You've got this great new idea to reboot Logan's Run as a feature film. What is it?
3.) What's the biggest mistake Marvel's made in the last five years, and why?
4.) Girl Genius or Buck Godot. You Decide.
5.) Who is the single most underrated non-"superstar" writer in comics history?
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Post by jensaltmann on Jan 24, 2010 4:40:02 GMT -8
Three day threshold is crossed. Jard, you get to pick a new victim.
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Post by jbhelfrich on Jan 24, 2010 18:08:40 GMT -8
Nah, I'm here. Sorry, comp was mostly offline for repairs. Will get to them shortly.
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Post by jbhelfrich on Jan 24, 2010 22:01:41 GMT -8
1.) What's the Graphic Novel of the last 30 years that everyone thinks is the best thing ever written, that you think is crap. *sigh* This one's going to annoy someone. Crisis on Infinite Earths. Now, keep in mind, I was a late comer to comics--aside from a misdirected mail subscription of West Coast Avengers when I was a little kid (it was, ironically enough, the issue in which Scarlet Witch's kids were revealed to be anything but) I got into comics with as Amazing Spider Man Sinister Six storyline (I think it was part four of six) and then jumped into X-Men with Uncanny 297. I didn't read Crisis until I picked up the Ultimate edition a few years ago. So I had no history with the characters or the storyline, or even the DCU of the story, and the major plot points had all long since been spoiled for me. Still...it is the most horribly overwritten piece of crap that I've ever read. Everything that's bad about silver and golden age style storytelling? In this book. Omniscient (and melodramatic) narrator, check. Characters with massive monologues in .6 seconds of story time? Check. Characters railroaded by hamfisted plotting? Check. I can't even go on about what's wrong with it, as I have tried to block the actual experience of reading it out of my mind. I forced myself to finish it because I was writing a column on comic books at the time, and I thought it was the sort of historical piece of work that I should at least be familiar with. But its sat on the shelf and hasn't been open since. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for a different question 2. I have never read or seen any variation of Logan's Run. Indeed, it wasn't until I had to pull it for an order at Mile High one day that I realized it wasn't a particularly obscure Wolverine miniseries. I want to say ending Strazynski's run on Spiderman in general, and OMD in particular. I honestly think that his work with JRjr are some of the best comics put out in the modern era. (I know it's not the popular opinion, but I liked the spider totem stories, which really struck me as rather meta-fictional, in a lot of ways talking more about how the founders of the Marvel Universe (Kirby, Lee, Ditko, et al), consciously or not, designed the major characters and their rogue's galleries.) I want to say that, but really it's just a symptom of the larger problem. I want to say it's creating a situation in Civil War that mirrored the political situation in the country at the time, (and still does now to some extent) with polarized sides and the fear of the TERRORIST, and then, instead of using that to tell stories that highlight the complexities of the real world (as Battlestar Galactica did in seasons 2 and 3, with its stolen elections and terror campaigns and questioning the basic humanity (for lack of a better term) of your opponent) they actually went and chose a side (and from my view, the wrong side at that), saying that the pro-registration folks were largely in the right. But again, it's just a symptom. Ultimately, I think it's believing their own hype. They honestly believe that they are telling the best comic stories ever, that their every decision for the characters is taking them to new, better developments, or casts off dead wood that has weighted characters down. They are their own biggest fans, and so, as always with the worst comic fans, those who disagree with them don't know as much about the characters, don't understand the characters, don't love the characters as much as they do, and so are inherently flawed, unworthy, and ultimately (in their view) completely incorrect when they find anything to criticize about the work. They cannot respond to criticism not because the don't listen to it, but because they don't acknowledge it as even potentially valid. Girl Genius, easy. The art and storytelling ability has come so far in recent years that what they're doing is leaps and bounds above almost everything they've done before. OK, yes, it's a bit glacially paced in story development (Agatha entered the castle at the end of 2007, and it's been what, 48 hours in story time since then? Maybe?) but a lot has happened in those hours. Now, Girl Genius over Xxxenophile? That's a harder question. Hmm. That depends on how you define Superstar, doesn't it. I'd say Rucka doesn't get the credit he deserves, but a lot of that is because his creator owned output has suffered while he works on DC's stuff, and he's really better doing stuff like Whiteout and Q&C. I love Carla Speed McNeil, but Finder is such a richly detailed world (and often, not enough of that detail makes it out of her head and onto the page) that it's intimidating for a lot of folks. I'd say Paul Chadwick. Concrete is an amazing body of work, that too few people have read. |
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Post by jessebaker on Jan 25, 2010 1:22:24 GMT -8
Crisis On Infinite Earths is one of those stories that you either love or hate. On the love side, it's one of the best damn super-hero apocalyptic stories ever written, in large part because at the time, NOTHING like it had ever been written. And in a lot of ways, it's the perfect send-off to the old school DCU as far as the best possible armaggedon storyline imaginable without actually using Darkseid.
On the downside, it's steeped in Pre-Crisis status quo and 90% of the characters who are given prominent roles in the storyline were killed off/shunted off into Limbo by the early 90s to make way for newer second-third string characters. Also, amongst the Batman Fandumb crowd, they tend to frown upon the fact that Batman doesn't just solve the whole Crisis by beating the Anti-Monitor while everyone else impotently stand on the sidelines ala every JLA issue to come out since the 1996 relaunch.
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Post by Anders on Jan 25, 2010 8:51:37 GMT -8
I'd say Paul Chadwick. Concrete is an amazing body of work, that too few people have read. I heartily agree. |
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Post by jarddavis on Jan 25, 2010 15:16:36 GMT -8
Joe Helfrich and I are probably the only two people on the Board who love the JMS run on Spider-Man and the PSider-Totem story, by the by.
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Post by jbhelfrich on Jan 25, 2010 17:19:59 GMT -8
You going to ask me another question 2, or should I move on?
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