PODCAST PROPS
Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men #101: I’m Not Bad, I’m
Drawn That Way click here to download
Jay and Miles look at the Gossamyr storyline from New
Mutants. This storyline I have a
particular relationship with because this was where my subscription to New
Mutants kicked in. After a few years of
getting the Sears Marvel packs for Christmas from the annual Sears Wish List
Christmas catalog, I asked for subscriptions one year to all of the X-books
running at the time. Honestly, it was a
bit of a letdown and led to some buyer’s remorse. Luckily it was followed by Inferno and a
great Asgard storyline. My recollection
and read of Gossamyr was different from Jay’s.
The take presented on the episode was one of a creature from a
manipulative society who couldn’t help but repeat learned behavior and didn’t
understand what was wrong. I think
Gossamyr was explicitly and propsefully playing the New Mutants against each
other and knew exactly what she was doing.
While I agree that it was tragic, I think there was some irony in
Gossamyr seeing her family fall prey to a physical manipulation and exploitation
to mirror the emotional manipulation she was bringing against the team.
The Fantasticast #195: Fantastic Four #155, Battle Royale click here to download
There is no such thing as a bad Fantasticast episode. Andy and Stephen are about 100 issues ahead
of my Marvel Silver Age reading, but I always make sure to listen when a new
episode drops. They touched a bit on how
underused Medusa feels during this period.
I think it is because of a fundamental problem with the character on
this particular team: She brings nothing
to the table except for gender. I don’t
mean that to come off as sexist, but once Reed stops keeping to the lab
worrying and agonizing over Sue she doesn’t have unique skillset. It’s like the tropes in RPGs and multi-player
videogames that themselves were influenced by comics. To make a workable unit and give everyone a
chance to shine, everyone needs a unique skillset. It’s normally some variation of the following:
strong person, technical person/utility player, stealthy person, skilled
fighter/stealth, long distance blaster, healing/defense. Now look at the FF: Strong person? Thing.
Technical person/utility player: Reed and to a lesser extent Sue and
Johnny with the versatile ways they use their powers. Skilled fighter? Ben Stealth? Sue Long
Distance Blaster? Johnny with Sue to a lesser extent Healing/Defense? Sue. Each is good at multiple things but stands
out in one thing. Medusa? She doesn’t replace the function Sue played
re: defense and stealth. She isn’t as
strong or as good of a fighter as Ben and she isn’t as versatile as Reed. Once Sue is reintroduced and Crystal marries
Quicksilver, she stops being the confidant of the male characters, and they do
nothing to make her relatable to any female readers that might exist. She has no relationships, no background other
than being an Inhuman [which never revolves around her], nothing. She is literally there just to fill a fourth
spot.
Oh, and Colorforms, sweet, glorious Colorforms, the little semi-magnetic clings you could create scenes with on a little easel. The easel would have a backdrop, and there would be clings of characters, props, and sound effects. Colorforms and Shrinkydinks made up a good bit of my childhood.
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