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Post by jessebaker on Jul 21, 2010 11:37:41 GMT -8
Downloaded OMIT part 1.
Oh boy.....
The Mephisto deal is retconned as Mephisto targetting MJ as his "victim" not Peter, as MJ's whisper reveals that she realized that the whole "deal with the devil to erase their marriage in exchange for saving May's life" was really all about making MJ making the deal, IE forcing MJ to make Peter sell out the marriage to save Aunt May. MJ's "side deal" is to make Mephisto promise he'll never, ever come near Peter again (leading to the meta-comment from Mephisto where he says "As far as I'm concerned, this never happened".
The rest of the issue has pages from the actual wedding issue mixed in with JQ's "preferred" vision of what happened, IE Mephisto's bird form freeing one of Electro's minions from a cop car, forcing Spidey to go after him (and falling off a tall building), which in turn causes him to miss his wedding.
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Post by jessebaker on Jul 1, 2010 22:47:45 GMT -8
The problem with Alpha Flight, IMHO, is that everyone obsesses over the wrong version of the team.
The Bill Mantlo version (a run I recently re-read) was the book and concept at it's zenith.
You had Heather as Guardian (James Hudson, let's face it, is a worthless character with ZERO redeeming value), her relationship with Madison Jeffries and her friendship with Puck (and Puck's unrequited love for Heather and the Fairy Tale secret about Puck's true nature), villains such as Scrambler/Omega/Roger Bauch/Pestillence, Aurora as a batshit crazy floozy who's sluttiness was a major source of problems with Northstar, Purple Girl as the rookie hero, the mystery of Laura and Goblin, Sasquatch dealing with being trapped in his female teammate Snowbird's body, and all of that which made the book the closest thing Marvel's ever come to putting out their own equivilant of Doom Patrol.
Sure there were some massive misteps (Mantlo wanting to kill off Northstar with AIDS comes to mind) but Mantlo gave the book a voice by aping the best elements of Doom Patrol as far as making it a family of freaks, deformed and cursed and insane and displaced in another's body. THAT is what I think of when I think of Alpha Flight, personally: a home for outcasts, led by Mama Bear Heather Hudson.
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Post by jessebaker on Jul 1, 2010 21:39:17 GMT -8
I'm not going to let it drop, because it's something that should be addressed.
In the case of "The Key to/of Time", it's one of the most well known stoies of the original series, one of the defining moments of the original series AND something that SHOULD be namedropped in the type of scenerio I've mentioned.
In the case of Dream Doctor/Valeyard, there is the notion that Moffatt would want to rename Valeyard if only because the Valeyard is a controversial character from a controversial period of the franchise (and IIRC there was even a BAN on writers using the characters during the 90s even).
But with the Key of Time, why not? I mean, if you can the Master name-dropping various adventures he had against the Doctor, why the fuck not have the Doctor make vague references to the Key to Time if and when the Black Guardian shows up?
You don't fucking have to explain EVERYTHING about the season, or mention Romana; just that the Black Guardian is a guy who wants the Doctor dead and shows up every so often to try and kill him, because of the fact that a long time ago, the Doctor kept him from getting his hands on the "Key of Time". Fans will be able to infer that the Key of Time is a McGuffin device of great power and that the Black Guardian wants the Doctor dead because he foiled his attempt to gain the device. And the "he shows up every couple of centuries" thing lets them handwave WHY we haven't seen him since the '80s, by saying that his war with the Doctor has been going on for a while and that they've fougth off-camera in the past, which lets them make up whatever info they want towards the Black Guardian's current status quo.
And again, if the show can make references to episodes involving the first version of the Master that aren't even on DVD yet, why not make a by-the-by reference to a story that's already BEEN released on DVD, not once but TWICE (as American fans got the set before Brits did)?
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 30, 2010 13:47:43 GMT -8
If you buy one comic of anything this year, make it Tick: The New Series #4. Strictly for the meta-commentary and the rather suspect timing of the metaphor. Local comic shop doesn't carry Tick comics, so care to spoil?
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 29, 2010 23:50:22 GMT -8
OK a topic of discussion for us all: How much do we spend online for porn websites/video these days?
Downloading porno videos can often be a risky thing, due to computer viruses so a lot of people would rather buy an official download rather than risk downloading a pirated version of a digital download of porn. Or can't even find a digital version of the porno version to download, meaning that the only way to get it is actually pay for it.
Similarly, there are a ton of porn websites that DON'T have their leaked passcodes floating around or have (in a bit of brilliant misdirection) have flooded the net with fake log-in information, effectively driving away those of us who live and die by logging into pay websites using other people's passwords.
So I ask of you my fellow K-Boxers, how much does one spend on porno on the net a month? Or am I the only one who pays for porn online, whereas the rest of you guys live off of the vast amount of free porn floating around and the borrowed passcodes to major websites?
At one point, I was spending about $100 a month online for porn. The last couple of months I've tried the freegan porn lifestyle but I'm probably going to go back to paying for porn given how most of the porn I like isn't available for free anywhere.
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 28, 2010 11:53:56 GMT -8
That reminds me; why didn't they use Black Guardian midway through the season instead of a "Valeyard but not really Valeyard, as we are using the name "Dream Doctor instead"? He would have made WAY more sense and they could have used the episode to reintroduce him via him trapping the trio in a "dream universe" scenerio and give plot exposition towards the notion that the Black Guardian's been trying to kill the Doctor for centuries after the Key of Time adventure.... The most obvious reason is that they have plans for the Dream Lord, considering that he is a manifestation of the Doctor's dark side. Another obvious reason is that the Black Guardian is probably too obscure and too deep in continuity. Face it: who but Who nerds know who he is (I for one don't -- and don't mistake this as a request for information, because if I want to know I can google it), and how many of those who know remember that he has a grudge against the Doctor? (If he even has a grudge, and it isn't just your own interpretation -- again, this is not a request for information). To be fair, introducing Black Guardian as a villain who has been trying to kill the Doctor on and off for centuries because of a past adventure (the Key of Time) would be the perfect way to introduce him. Old fans would get the info right away while it's vague enough to let the new fans get the gist of things: Black Guardian is an old enemy of the Doctor who comes out of the woodwork to try and kill him every couple of centuries, because of a past adventure involving something called "The Key of Time", which can easily be explained to them via googling the name and finding the box se for the season in question....
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 27, 2010 20:08:51 GMT -8
That reminds me; why didn't they use Black Guardian midway through the season instead of a "Valeyard but not really Valeyard, as we are using the name "Dream Doctor instead"?
He would have made WAY more sense and they could have used the episode to reintroduce him via him trapping the trio in a "dream universe" scenerio and give plot exposition towards the notion that the Black Guardian's been trying to kill the Doctor for centuries after the Key of Time adventure....
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 25, 2010 12:56:57 GMT -8
But Talia makes more sense IMHO. Especially since A.) You can have Damian come up with the idea (making Damian more sympathetic in the process) and B. get a massive Batman/Titans/JLA X-Over out of it.
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 25, 2010 11:06:44 GMT -8
If we are going that route of storylines where DC REALIZES that they fucked up and outright rushing a storyline to the newstands where the kid's death is overturned, why not have a Titans/Batman and Robin/JLA X-Over storyline (instead of the lame-ass JLA/JSA one currently going on) where the Titans, the Justice League, and Damian fight the League of Assassins to get access to one of Ra's Al Ghul's Lazerus Pits to resurrect her? Force Morrison to write it, delay the whole Deathstroke/Titans relaunch for a couple of months, and for added bonus points, blacklist Robinson from ever writing in DC again, complete with the bonus fuck you of having Jack Knight show up, completely evil-fied as far as murdering his two kids and his GF and basically running around the pages of "The Blackest Night" as Black Manta's throat slitting buddy? You know, to punish Robinson for thinking such a storyline would work, by ruining his Mary Sue and basically scorch earthing his work in Starman by making Jack Knight a mass murdering super-villain?
Why not do that while we are wishing for things?
(And Roy can't steal the time machine Booster is using even if he could; Rip Hunter would kill him, what with the way Hunter believes that time travel can't be used to help people, just cause misery and suffering)
As much as I would LIKE for DC to reverse the death, at the very least DC is avoiding making a bad situation WORSE by having Roy react in as normal fashion imaginable.
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 24, 2010 22:53:26 GMT -8
What's the alternative though? Roy stays in a perma coma? Acts like bendis has Wonder Man act in the wake of Wanda's breakdown, acting like a self-absorbed himbo who refuses to acknowledge his daughter's death because he'd rather be going out with his new fancy gold arm, fighting evil and being a fame whore?
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 24, 2010 19:58:25 GMT -8
Normally I'd call that the dumbest single comics moment of the year, but as it happens, thanks to "Rise of Arsenal" #4, it's not even the dumbest comics moment of the week. Bah..... I don't fucking get the hate Rise of Arsenal is getting. It's not supposed to be a feel-good, up-lifting comic. It's all about Roy Harper reacting like any NORMAL SINGLE PARENT WOULD at the revelation that his daughter has been murdered and his arm chopped off.
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 22, 2010 12:42:55 GMT -8
Just got off the phone with John Romita Jr. Very nice guy. If the PR woman hadn't stopped us, I think we would have talked a long time. Insert stalking joke here.....
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 19, 2010 22:30:12 GMT -8
Funny, but I'm thinking that it's Rani AND the Valeyard as the big twists. Redeeming two concepts for the price of one:
River Song IS Rani, having Chameleon Arched herself into a human form BUT without the memory erasing bit.
It's the real reason why she knows so much about the Doctor AND why she's following her around like she is. She sees the Doctor as something to protect as far as being an endangered species. The last of the Time Lords, since she has opted to stay genetically human.
(And I'll toss in the notion that Rani/River refuses to turn herself back into a Time Lord genetically BECAUSE of the fact that it ensures her literal freedom to go doing shit without the Doctor poking his nose into her business, assuming there is some sort of "Time Lord Radar System" out there).
It would let the writers keep using River while letting them be freed from the foreshadowing that the writers have set up regarding the character, IE her whole "Marriage" to the Doctor is one huge mindfuck she plays on him for her own amusement. It would keep the Doctor the last of the Time Lords, PLUS revamp the Rani into an interesting character as far as being a snarky action lady who has a soft spot for the Doctor as far as constantly sending him messages towards whatever it is she's up to.
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 18, 2010 13:51:22 GMT -8
Walt Simonson gets a pass from fandom regarding Beta Ray Bill, on account of:
1. Thor was a REALLY shit book before he took over. So shitty that people will give Walt Simonson a free pass on Bill being a Marty Stu
2. Bill, despite his bad-ass first appearance, quickly falls into the background of the book, all but outright disappearing after the Surtur Saga and Walt (as JK said) moving on to give other characters their own bad-ass moments, that quickly overshadow Bill's first appearance bad-ass antics.
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Post by jessebaker on Jun 3, 2010 19:30:18 GMT -8
That said; I would LOVE to see DC once again enact their "Joker can NEVER be portrayed as a mass murder" edict that they had from the 1950s and 1960s for about a decade. Make Joker be like the Batman the Animated Series version, where he's more about the grand caper and who only kills rarely if ever.
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