|
Post by paulpogue on Jan 6, 2009 14:04:27 GMT -8
Agreed that it's only a complete clowning if they go back to the married status quo. However, even if they stay in flashback land, I think it should still get partial credit for clown points, as doing the strip as an endless flashback very pointedly and very specifically does NOT undo the marriage, nor does it involve the Devil in any way.
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Jan 5, 2009 14:42:16 GMT -8
Rumors state this is a one-storyline flashback, not a new status quo. In other words, Stan Lee has Punk'd the ENTIRE WORLD* ... just for the lulz. *at least the comics-page-reading world
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Jan 3, 2009 18:58:10 GMT -8
Meet Eleven, Matt Smith: Not even Sarah Jane (especially not Sarah Jane) should be "too old" for Eleven to look at in a romantic, or even sexual, way Heh. My first thought upon hearing the news (okay, the second thought after "WHAT?") was, "Wow, a Doctor actually born after Lis Sladen LEFT the show the first time, who could still plausibly hook up with Sarah Jane. Kirk's dream has at last reached its zenith." My second thought was "I'd bet my lucky Dalek toy that some enterprising Who fan has already cobbled together a fan video combining the announcement of Matt Smith with one of David Tennant's famous "What? What? WHAT?" takes."
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Jan 3, 2009 4:59:48 GMT -8
I'd love to see Pertwee or Eifojor, although Joseph still seems like the best choice to mee. Pertwee is an out-of-left-field pick, but given that his name is being floated by Craig "broke the original Tennant story" McGill, it needs to be taken quite seriously. Which reminds me again for you Paul, who's going to be the 11th Doctor's companion? Or do you think we might be looking forward to an entire season of no companions? No clue, really. I was DEAD certain we'd see Sarah Jane in the TARDIS by now, to be honest, so I'm no good at these guessing games . I'd lay heavy odds on a transition companion, though. NuWho is not known as a show that likes to take risks, especially with the BBC upper management (who, at one point, were convinced that the show's popularity was primarily due to Billie Piper.) I'll be absolutely stunned if they hit us with a new Doctor and a new sidekick all at once, on top of a new showrunner -- effectively rebooting the series from ground zero. That's a pretty big risk for BBC's cash cow. It's not inconceivable, but unlikely. ESPECIALLY if it's a black doctor, with the whole x-factor of how audiences will really deal with it. (I think they'll deal with it better than we expect, but there's going to be twice the usual griping -- endless bitching from fanboys who hate ANY change, combined with bitching from the racists.)
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Jan 2, 2009 20:23:02 GMT -8
I'd love to see Pertwee or Eifojor, although Joseph still seems like the best choice to mee.
Pertwee is an out-of-left-field pick, but given that his name is being floated by Craig "broke the original Tennant story" McGill, it needs to be taken quite seriously.
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Jan 1, 2009 7:48:49 GMT -8
Who's writing the daily Spider-Strip these days, anyway? (I refuse to believe that Stan Lee, who can barely manage one actual comic book every other year, and is uber-busy in Hollywood anyway, is actually turning out any sort of daily content.)
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Dec 27, 2008 7:47:26 GMT -8
MacFarlane does a great Lion-O -- to the point that right up until the end credits, I really thought it was Larry Kenny doing the voice -- but if there's a movie, don't you think Kenny really deserves first shot, assuming he's still got the chops? I mean, MacFarlane's primary qualification is "sounds exactly like Kenny," so why not go for the real deal?
It worked out well for "Transformers," after all; the script sucked balls, which is far from Peter Cullen's fault, but at least Optimus Prime sounded RIGHT.
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Dec 22, 2008 15:04:24 GMT -8
And the right wing is already -- ALREADY -- latching onto this as a sign of Obama's incredible "arrogance" and an attempt to upstage Bush.
I know these people will never, ever, ever let go of their hates, but DAMN, they really will dig into anything, won't they?
The only day I DIDN'T hear a right-winger bitch about Obama's many conferences was the day after the Blagojevich scandal, in which their talking point was -- naturally -- "why isn't Obama coming right out and telling us everything RIGHT NOW?"
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Dec 19, 2008 22:07:02 GMT -8
Also of note, having recently re-read Ellis's T-Bolts run these last couple of days: Norman Osborn's secret weapon is Robbie Baldwin. In Caged Angels, there is a MAJOR scene where Moonstone is doing a major league hard sell to Norman, convincing him that she can turn Robbie Baldwin, formerly Speedball and now Penance into a Hulk-level powered enforcer for Norman's various schemes. And in the last couple of issues of T-Bolts, Moonstone seems to be carrying out said scheme, as far as drugging Robbie and taking him to a maximum security mental institution, which given who's Moonstone's teacher is (Dr. Faustus, the dude Red Skull used to brainwash half of SHIELD and made Sharon Carter kill Cap), things don't look too well for Robbie. Which in turn is why Doom is made to back down when Norman showed his ace in the hole, seeing as not only did Speedball FUCKING OWN Doom's ass in the Penance mini-series, but pretty much did so in Doom's own house. Much in the same way seeing Squirrel Girl makes Doom shit his pants, he probably now has a similar aversion to Penance. (Loki of course wouldn't be afraid, but Loki generally seems to be going along with Norman's plan out of boredom if anything so Robbie is a non-factor. And Emma scanning Robbie and seeing that he's now a brainwashed human suicider for Norman might keep her and the Hood at bay.) I would totally disagree with you except for one thing -- the Jenkins Penance miniseries does indeed show Robbie completely pwning the fuck out of Doom. I don't think it made a lot of sense, it's totally out of character for Doom, but it established without a sliver of doubt that as far as Marvel Editorial is concerned, Speedball trumps Doom like rock over scissors. And Namor would be likewise a bit worried, knowing as he does the extent of Robbie's power. I don't think Emma is actually that concerned about Robbie, but a lot of that has to do with the fact Emma's playing her own game here right now. And she's one of the few mind-game players out there who can slap Karla Sofen all over the room when it comes to messing with people's insecurities -- and unlike Karla, she's also capable of using that power for good. And, y'know, telepathy and all that. I still remain convinced that every time one of the Evilinati turned to Emma for telepathic "verification" of something they were saying, she just told them whatever they wanted to hear.
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Dec 19, 2008 22:02:21 GMT -8
And as for the Mr. Negative storyline line, given that said issue was written by Dan Slott, you honestly don't think he wrote/conceived of that line as a doube-shot of "Fuck you" to the fans of Spider-Man who LIKED the Baby May plotline/Spider-Girl? Truth be told? I don't think it was thought through that far. It was a little aside that they probably congratulated themselves on being very clever with. Marvel BND Era: The crew that can't get it together enough to say "fuck you" competently.
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Dec 19, 2008 21:02:08 GMT -8
P.S.: We are told, time and again, that NOTHING changed except Peter and MJ never got married. Which means the baby thing happened. Let us, for the moment, put aside the question of Norman and Alison Mongraine and Baby-May-that-we-all-know-is-still-out-there-somewhere. Rather, let's consider the story element that we have been UNQUESTIONABLY TOLD still happened and is still remembered: Mary Jane got pregnant with Peter's baby. In a tragic moment in the midst of the clone saga, she lost the baby. Neither she nor Peter talk very much about her, but they both know it happened.
Given that context -- DAMN, Peter's cavalier attitude about Mr. Negative and his killing-any-blood-relative-of-Parker blackmail scheme sure seems even more callow, doesn't it? "Good thing I don't have any blood relatives that he can go after!", which was delivered in a happy-go-lucky Stan Lee style, is really more like "Good thing I don't have any blood relatives .. ANYMORE, I suppose" Ellisian glumness. Because he still remembers MJ miscarrying the baby, and Quesada and Brevoort have SPECIFICALLY SAID THIS.
Why do I do this to myself -- keeping searching for order in the last several years of stories that so clearly completely lack it?
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Dec 19, 2008 20:54:29 GMT -8
New odds just based on random thoughts and finally reading Tom Brevoort's Q and A from October:
Brand New Day/One More Day is a "work," possibly the most elaborate such scheme in the history of comics: 25 percent. Still not the likeliest possibility, but still well within the realm of plausibility.
I'm not really sure why I'm starting to feel this way, but looking at the whole thing, looking at how it's all panned out, and looking at the absolute incompetence of the editorial staff's dealings with the public, I simply cannot accept that they actually BELIEVE the stuff they are saying. Hell, Brevoort, when talking about the deal with the devil, first denied Mephisto was the devil, and then asked "In this context, is Ghost Rider a hero?" (Uh, NO! Did Tom even READ the Johnny Blaze 1970s books? Ghost Rider was totally a villain who just happened to do good when really, really pushed by Blaze. Sometimes he got the right thing done, but the entire POINT of Ghost Rider is that Blaze was cursed by being possessed by a DEMON FROM HELL who would occasionally set his head on fire and then totally destroy shit. The Danny Ketch, quasi-heroic Spirit of Vengeance was another matter entirely. Plus, even IF you consider GR as a hero, there's not a single point in the story in which his deal with the devil is played off as a GOOD or SMART thing.)
Plus, Brevoort all but outright said they were going to be bringing back Kaine. KAINE? You're worried about this bogged-down continuity and screwed-up storylines and making Spidey seem old, and you're going to bring back KAINE? Don't get me wrong, I love Kaine to pieces, but seriously, people,
On top of that, they expect us to believe that Peter does a deal with the devil, fade to black, wakes up in a world where everything is different, and then they tell us with a straight face that all this stuff has nothing to do with the deal? Like hell. Just because there's an in-story reason for Harry to be alive -- and apparently for Spidey to have wiped the world's memory -- doesn't mean that it's still not Mephisto's fault.
And dammit, there are just too many back doors placed into this whole thing. Even if it's NOT a "work," I do not for one millisecond believe that there aren't at least three or four backup plans in place to get out of it. Heck, they even went well out of their way to both remind us of the existence of the Spider-Daughter AND to not COMPLETELY wipe her out of existence. They don't intend to bring her back -- much as I would prefer otherwise -- but they've sure got her, and Norman, and MJ's whispered secret, and Loki's debt to Spider-Man, and a whole lot else in the back pocket for the instant they need it.
Brevoort claimed this is a totally committed five-year plan, with the understanding that they might have bumps along the way. I seriously doubt that once those "bumps" include sales completely cratering that the five-year commitment will remain in place. As Kirk points out, not only is the book bleeding readers, it continues to HEMORRHAGE and shows no sign of stopping, not even after "New Ways to Die," which is by far the biggest bump they are ever going to get. Will this commitment survive to the 50,000-issue mark? 40,000? Less? There doesn't appear to be any bottom so far to the readership loss.
I don't know; maybe I'm too optimistic and just can't grasp that a bunch of writers who actively HATE the concept of heroism are running the show right now. I'm still stuck in the three-act storytelling mode, where it's always darkest before the dawn, and right now we're at the end of act two where the hero totally has his back against the wall, the Emperor is kicking Luke's ass, the Death Star is carving through the fleet, and the crew on Endor has just been captured ... and before long we get to the part where the heroes GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER and save the fucking day. Maybe I'm expecting too much by my hope that, deep down, Norman Osborn as the Marvel U's Lex Luthor will end the only way it ever can -- with Spider-Man giving him the ass-kicking of ten lifetimes and putting everything right.
No, I do not miss the irony of actually saying this about the writer who had LUKE CAGE deliver the coup de grace to Norman a few years back. Hope springs frakkin' eternal.
(Also recall: Every deal-with-the-devil story in the history of such stories ends in one of twp ways and ONLY one of these ways: The hero goes to hell, or the hero battles through the forces of hell and outwits the devil and wins the day while the devil heads back to hell with his tail between his legs. Spider-Man and Mephisto: WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?)
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Dec 18, 2008 20:35:16 GMT -8
Emma Frost joined the Evilinati specifically as a response to get back at Scott for his whole secret-team-of-killer-mutants thing, as predicted elsewhere: 100 percent as of Uncanny 505. Also pretty much sealing the idea that she's totally gaming Osborn.
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Dec 18, 2008 10:34:38 GMT -8
TELEVISION: Kinda sad that there’s not much to go with here, but that’s what a writer’s strike gets you. I’m hoping Heroes eventually brings us awesomeness on the level of Doctor Who/The Master/Sulu all arguing again, and 30 Rock is destined for nerdy greatness. Your thoughts? It occurs to me the Star Wars-themed episode of "Deal or no Deal" damn near comes close to nerdglee. Not only the Slave Leia models (seriously, you knew I'd be all about that, even if the costumes were only moderately decent), but also a pitch-perfect Darth Vader (even though I knew it was impossible, I was hard-pressed to believe it WASN'T James Earl Jones on the voice.) But the best part had to be, oddly enough, the Stormtrooper segment, in which Carrie Fisher is brought out for the obligatory "star who gives moral support" role, and not only does she look better than she has in years, she starts hanging all over the contestant's husband like he's her high school crush. I think if the lady would have turned around she would not have been happy with all the attention. It was just Carrie being Carrie -- to be honest, it wasn't even 1 percent flirtatious -- but damn, was it fun.
|
|
|
Post by paulpogue on Dec 14, 2008 7:44:21 GMT -8
Ignorance & Want (and to a lesser extent Tim himself) are scary-looking kids. Ignorance and Want are twins with sunken eyes. Tiny Tim has creepy little pebble teeth. All three appear genuinely emaciated, in a way that makes me think it wasn't entirely makeup. He throws Scrooge's quotes back at him with an ugly relish. Oh, god, I remember the extraordinary malice Woodward piles on "It'll just decrease the SURPLUS POPULATION" and Scott's genuinely heartbroken expression in response. I love this more than any other version of the Carol, for precisely the same reasons as you -- and it wasn't until many years later I recognized the deep nerdiness of it as well. I didn't even catch David Warner until the third time I saw it.
|
|