Michael Paciocco's Mind

[michaelpaciocco]

I normally don't post any of my picture-only posts, but just the same, I think this one merits a bit of attention.

pacioccosmind.blogspot.com/2010/12/pick-best-caption_10.html

Sorry for the light posting the last few weeks. I'm hoping to catch up and put up some longer stuff soon.

Oh, and again...the kid heroes and Mr. Kills-a-Lot there...I know we're supposed to get that Wolverine has a softer side and actually wants to improve, but you know? There actually have to be stories where he does that, and there should be a much more even ratio between those stories and "Wolverine kills a whole bunch of people" stories for that to work. It would also help if at some point Wolverine made a comment about not being that crazy about being on the Avengers just because he'll kill. I mean, that's kind of insulting to him if you think about it.

[michaelpaciocco]

Semi-Relevant post. For the record, most of you guys are friends not fellow fans. But you probably already knew that

pacioccosmind.blogspot.com/2010/12/of-fans-and-friends.html

A few people I know online occassionally ask why I don't post my opinions on such and such a forum/message board/community chat/whatever on a regular basis. This is flattering, but to me, it's not a big concern for a couple reasons.

The first is that I realize that some of my opinions are polarizing and deeply unpopular among the message board poster crowd - so be it. While this bothers me not in the least, I have neither the urge nor the disposable time in my life to spend arguing with people on the internet. Just getting posters made and semi-regular posts up is going to be a challenge in the coming months, nevermind trying to change people's opinions using only words on the internet - which has proven to be a path with very low likelihood of success on any given subject.



More importantly, it's because I've never really gotten a sense of community out of many of my fellow fans. I never had a click of my fellow nerds and geeks in school, so I'm rather used to sharing my fandoms very very selectively, if at all. The fact that you and another person like the same TV show or comic or movies or whatever doesn't make you friends or even mean you like each other that much - it's just a shared interest. It doesn't really matter that much because relationships of any endurance or quality are built on shared values and experience. The fact that you helped me moved into an apartment, or you really care about an issue that's important to me in the real world matters a hell of a lot more to me than the fact that we both really think Superman is Awesome. I'm increasingly disturbed that people seem to get mixed up by all this, both online and in real life.

We are all fellow fans, but it takes time and effort to become friends.

Let's work on that together, shall we?

[michaelpaciocco]

Probably one of my most personal posts

pacioccosmind.blogspot.com/2010/12/paths-i-have-chosen.html

OK, here's my biggest problem with "Superman: Earth One". Straczynski screws up, not because the origin isn't important, but because the concept is sort of backwards, at least to me. And it's kind of personal.

When I was a kid, and well into my teens, I gave serious consideration towards becoming a writer. Common enough, but I was fairly good at it, and had an idea of how to go about it. I'm not saying I would have made it or anything (in fact, I'm fairly certain I would not have) but the idea was certainly there.

But I chose engineering instead. Why might you ask?

I took a look around, and made a hard and sober assessment of myself. Yeah, I could write, and that's a great thing - a good talent that could be honed into something that hey, who knows? Might have been professional quality.

But I also knew I had a real talent for science and math, and that's something a fair bit rarer, in my experience.

Alright, so we're on the right track, but not quite to "Engineer" yet. After all, I could have gone into a theoretical or academic branch of science or math or computer programming. All great career choices I do not disparage in any way, shape or form, except that they weren't MY choice.

Again, it comes down to my experiences and beliefs. I looked at the world, and I felt then, as I feel now, that I want to make a difference - to make a direct and immediate impact on people using the gifts I was given, and that I was fortunate enough, by birth and fate, to have the opportunity to develop.

Now, where do you suppose I got that idea from?

Oh, right.

And that's the problem with Superman: Earth One. Sure, Clark could, COULD become an exceptional, even legendary scientist or athlete or businessman. He could do anything.

But only Clark Kent can be Superman. Anything else is hiding and denying his talents and where they are most needed. And that's something that really didn't require much exploration.

[michaelpaciocco]

Short Version: Real Life this year? Good. Fandoms? BLEEEHHH.

pacioccosmind.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-year-in-review.html

BLOGGING: Well, I manged to get in an average of one post per day, even if it was just a single poster. That's not too bad - but at the same time, it's probably not something I'm going to continue to do because I expect things to pick up for me in real life in the coming year, so I won't have as much time to devote to making and posting posters.





REAL LIFE: It's going pretty well and I'm happy, but I'm also going to be very busy in the coming year, and I'm looking forward to that.




COMICS AND FANDOM: Bleh. I'm sorry, but I can't be the only to have found this year to be pretty boring as far as that's concerned. Yes, there have been islands of good stuff in the "Big Two", but I think more than anything else, it's convinced me to start really weening myself off of that and devote more time to the action/adventure and superhero comics OUTSIDE Marvel and DC - because Marvel and DC don't OWN the concepts (much as they would like us all to think otherwise). Not that I won't continue to use the material for posters or to talk about it, but I think maybe it's time to start really looking at getting myself off this train in the next year. What do you think, would you like to see me refocus this blog to all the good super and action stuff outside the Marvel/DC ranches?




So, what were your thoughts on the year?

[jensaltmann]

I hope Michael won't mind, but some of these motivational posters at Scans Daily are simply awesome.

Like this one:



Brings a tear to my eye.

The link to the entire set:

scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/2557003.html

[michaelpaciocco]

I don't mind this at all, seeing as at least 1/10 of these posters are mine

[jarddavis]

I'm about to post a crap load of them on Facebook. These are good.

[michaelpaciocco]

Heh. Cool. Although, if possible Jard, if you use any of my posters, just throw a link to ye blog?

Thx.

[michaelpaciocco]

Kirk, Jard - I leave this to you to figure out. Jesse - I trust you to throw up a complete string of illogical ranting and indefensible ass-covering.

pacioccosmind.blogspot.com/2011/01/hal-jordan-criminal.html

Question for those of you with some knowledge of military law and justice - Exactly how many charges would get leveled against Hal Jordan because (thanks to Geoff Johns) he's back in the US Air Force?

Before we get too far into this, I just want to point out a couple of things. The reason I ask is that there have been stories told about the whole military/superhero conflict that is central to other military-inspired superheroes (i.e. Captain America, Captain Atom), but not so with Hal Jordan since his new status quo as an Air Force officer has been re-instated (and I'm still not even clear on how that works). I also want to draw particular attention to another major distinction between the common examples and Jordan: the fact that the Green Lantern Corps is an alien foreign power, of which Hal Jordan is an officer.



Now, this is the metaphor as I see it, and I may be wrong. Captain America and Captain Atom (depending on the status of continuity) are ex-military officers who act as independent vigilante operators with ties to organizations that co-operate with governmental bodies (most of the time). While there's definitely a certain level of bending/breaking the Posse Comitatus Act there (and I leave this to more studied experts in this field here), you could compare this to ex-military officers who join community actions groups, or even criminal cartels and gangs - not a good thing, but not quite the same as what Jordan does. In effect, when Jordan goes from U.S. Air Force captain to Green Lantern, he's putting on the uniform and assuming the office of a foreign power - there is a clear conflict of interest with regards to oaths of allegiance, priorities and standing. And, if I recall the current status quo correctly, his superior officer and several co-workers are co-operating in this endeavor - which definitely meets the definition of conspiracy.

So I leave this to you to discuss.

I'll have more in the days to come - sorry for taking so long with this.

[K-Box]

The thing is ... yeah, I can't even think of a comparable real-world analogy to this situation. With Captain America, even when he's gone rogue from the government, he's always ultimately been cleared because it's always turned out that a) he was still serving the best interests of America as a nation and as a people when he defied its laws and government, and b) all the people who were against him were not only ultimately revealed to be in the legal and moral wrong, but also brainwashed/shapeshifters/supervillains/aliens. Of course, this only makes Civil War that much more absurd, because by this point, even military intelligence would be forced to concede that, if Cap is defying the orders of a superior officer, then that superior officer MUST be a Skrull, or the SKULL, or whatever. In short, even when Cap commits what would technically qualify as TREASON, he's STILL the most patriotic man in America.

By contrast? Yeah, there's really no way around it; while American military officers can be assigned to support an allied foreign power, unless the officer in question is a SPY who's doing INSINCERELY, you really CAN'T swear an oath of allegiance to a foreign power that supersedes your duties to America while you're wearing an American military uniform. Not even an Air Force uniform, even though they call themselves "the country club of the services" (and my dad was Air Force, so I'm allowed to make that joke).

[michaelpaciocco]

There's no real equivalent because it would be like being an American officer in London who moonlights as one of the Buckingham Palace Guards...

The sad thing? There's actually the germ of a really great story in there HAL JORDAN: TRAITOR?

You can see in the first year of Johns' run in the title that he might have gone in that direction - the fact that Jordan deliberately doesn't wear his ring while flying was actually a plot point in the "One Year Later" post-IC storylines, but it (and much of the whole USAF angle) has been way on the back burner since the Sinestro Corps thing - which is to say over THREE YEARS NOW.

There's actually no other reason to have Hal in the USAF - he was always a test pilot for a private firm (Ferris). Even in New Frontier, Hal's military service was mostly a backstory thing to explain all his later issues - it's not central to the character in his history at all. But to put him in the Air Force (and really, the logic of how that happened is still questionable) created a pretty good engine for the inevitable conflict.

And as I said, the title of the story sells itself - so in my mind, it's clearly something Johns had planned, but the whole Emotional Spectrum thing has thrown it into the dumpster.

Edited to Add: Best comment about this subject was in a conversation I had over MSN

Friend: "Which of his two allegiances makes more stupid decisions? That's the one he should dump."

Me: "Man, that's tough, but I'm going to have to go with the Guardians. If the Guardians were in charge the US military, New York would have been nuked three times over by now."

[Anders]

Or they just make special allowances. Y'know, to have one of the GALACTIC GUARDIANS as part of their military forces.

Alien Invader #1: Hey, this can't be right.

Alien Invader #2: What?

#1: The Terran in that flying deathtrap seems to match the specs for the Green Lantern for this sector.

#2: Say what?

#1: Green. Lantern. (To self:) Man, you're thick.

#2: A Green Lantern? We don't need that kind of trouble.

#1: You've got that right.

#2: Better call off the invasion then.

#1: Ya think?! (To invasion fleet:) Okay, we've got a Green Lantern Corps on the battlefield. Break off and fall back.

#2: Boring planet anyway.

[jensaltmann]

I kind of see it like this:

The invasion armada, a fleet of 6,000 heavily armed warships, approaches the planet. Two admirals study the world they see on the screen. Admiral 1 frowns.

Admiral 1: This looks familiar. What's this planet's name again?

Admiral 2: Dirt.

Admiral 1: No, no, it has a different name... waitaminute, that's Soil!

Admiral 2: That's what I said. Dirt.

Admiral 1 (mutters under his breath): Damn translation software.

Admiral 1: This is Soil. Don't tell me you've never heard of Soil.

Admiral 2: Should I have?

Admiral 1 swallows.

Admiral 1: This is only the planet with the highest concentration of supernormal beings in the known universe. They have Kryptonians. Plural. They have four Green Lanters.

Admiral 2. Be serious. Kryptonians are extinct, and Green Lanterns are two per sector, and it's unlikely that any of them are here now.

Admiral 1: Check with Intel. They have four Green Lanterns, or six, I've heard two are reservists or something, native to this planet.

Admiral 2. I'd say that's preposterous if it weren't so ridiculous.

Admiral 1: They also have a Purple Lantern and a Red Lantern native to this planet, and probably stationed here. Rumors claim that the Orange Lantern made this world his home. Then there are the Martians. I've heard of a Daxamite who drops by every now and then. And that's just what we know about Soil. That's in addition to their native superbeings. We don't have much intel on those, except that they're known to have repelled several invasion attempts by Darkseid's forces, and a full-scale Black Lantern assault.

Admiral 2: We have 6,000 warships.

Admiral 1: Exactly. We should turn around, go home and pray they didn't notice us.

[paulpogue]

"Something about -- 'Rat-Man'? 'Rodent-Man'? Wait, wait, the universal translator says 'He who is like unto a small flying mammal.' Well, that's not one to worry about, at least. Attack his city."

[jarddavis]

Hal Jordan's involvement in both the USAF and the Guardians is problematic at best. If found out about, it's a court martial waiting to happen.

But that's not the interesting story. The interesting story is the one they've tried to tell off and on with Superman over the years, which would apply better to Hal.

"Captain Jordan, are you saying, as Green Lantern, that you halted an impeding meteor impact in the country of Qumar?"

"Yes Sir."

"At a time when we are in a state of war with terrorism, and Qumar has shown itself to be a financial backer of terrorism?"

"Well, yes Sir, but I hardly think my duties as a Green Lantern.."

"Captain Jordan, as far as the US Government is concerned, you have no other duties than what the US Government assigns to you, nor does it recognize the authority of this so-called Guardians of the Galaxy entity. And you yourself agreed to that when you accepted your commission. "

"... but sir, that was..."

"All other considerations are null and void, Captain. You are an officer in the United States Air Force. Period. At least, you will be until the impending courts martial for aiding and abetting the enemy in a time of war is resolved. After that, I highly doubt you'll be much of anything except a prisoner at Ft. Leavenworth. Guards! Take this man into custody, and be sure to remove and confiscate all jewelry in the process."

At which point, Hal had better run. Otherwise, he just handed over the most powerful weapon in the universe to the US Government.

No idea if Hal's ring is keyed only to Hal, like Kyle's is to him. But it'd be a better story if it weren't. New Green Lantern. The American Green Lantern. The one who fights for the country. And only the country. While Hal spends a good deal of time in prison. Of course, it wouldn't be long until the first Earth-Oan war....