Whew, where has the time gone? I've taken an unplanned break. I'll get more into the why's wherefore's at the bottom so if you are only reading this for geeky goodness you can read the top and skip the bottom.
COMIC COMMENTARY
Golden Age Greats
- Action Comics #51
The Superman feature this issue contains the first appearance of The Prankster. It was a really good story. I know The Prankster is often viewed as lame in modern context because he is a non-powered motif villain against Superman who can move mountains. The thing is, most people forget that until the Silver Age, most of the foes super-heroes fought were plain, regular criminals. Superman, up to this point in his career, has spent probably 70% of his career going up against regular criminals. Its something important to consider also when running a Supers RPG. Yes, it feels right to give Superman a 50 Strength because my what a large number it is, but if everyone else normal is 2-3, then a 12-15 is probably sufficient. It' all about the scale. But I digress. The important thing about The Prankster is that he is the first Superman villain to break out of the pulp mode and be more of what we think of as prototypical super-villain in that he has a somewhat unique motif and a visual distinctive design. The loud plaid-checked suit, gapped teeth, and freckles set him apart from the thugs and generic criminals in leotards with a domino mask (I'm looking at you Archer.). The Puzzler from Action Comics #49 had the unique motif, but visually was no different than any other crooked academic we've seen to-date. I also found his plot to be complicated, but original. The Prankster and his men go through town staging mock hold-ups in bizarre attire, and it each one, they prove their guns are harmless and provide large sums to the patrons and bank presidents. They continue to do this, drawing larger crowds, until a particular bank is complacent enough to let them into their vault. This time, however, the weapons are real, and they steal 10 times the amount they've given away to-date. Due to the false sense of security they've installed in everyone else, this plan works, except for the presence of Superman who never falls for their schtick. The other features were enjoyable, but this was the highlight. The only negative was the Mr. America/Fat Man strip. Its well written, but we're entering a period where a lot of the masters of art of the golden age are hitting their stride: Jerry Robinson, Sheldon Moldoff, Jack Burnely, and Mort Meskin. Bernard Bailey's art was sufficient in the late 30's, but its really starting to suffer in comparison here in 1942.
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Adventure Comics # 77: I've only read the first two features so far (Starman and Hourman). The Starman strip is worth noting. In addition to great Jack Burnley art, the Mist escapes and preys on the greed of others. He leaves valuables for unsuspecting citizens to find, and when they keep them, he uses them to hypnotize them to commit crimes for him. Starman tumbles onto his scheme when an honest girl tries to take the valuable she finds to the police so they can find its rightful owner. The only quibble is it ends with Starman saying he has a couple of busted ribs, but we never see him take a shot to the chest in any of the fight panels. The Hourman story is a mess. Crooks steal run-down instruments from some kids (including Thorndyke, Hourman's sidekick) and replace them with new instruments in order to get a specific clarinet to open a specific safe in a museum rumored to have a vast treasure. One, I had a hard time believing that the slum kids wouldn't have been happier with their new instruments and left well enough alone, 2 wind instruments aren't tuned, string instruments are, and then its two make sure they have the right pitch. Any clarinet should have worked for opening the safe, if you knew which notes to play (which the criminals did).
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Captain Marvel Adventures #14
Two strips I wanted to comment on here. The first is a farce in which WHIZ Radio is broadcasting a local college play and Nazi fifth columnists kidnap the star (a man playing a grandmother in drag) in order to replace him with an agent who will use the opportunity to transmit instructions to a group waiting to sabotage a nearby naval fleet. Billy replaces the missing star AS Captain Marvel resulting in multiple instances of musclebound men dressed as a grandmother beating each other and others. The second features the return of Nippo the Nipponese who gets a really poor showing. Not only are the stereotypes abrasive because of the war context, but Nippo has gone from being a capable, albeit outmatched by Captain Marvel, to a bumbling fool who can't steal the correct plans for a ship (Okay, so he technically does steal the right plans but never notices that they are printed on the backside of old plans).
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Whiz Comics #33: Captain Marvel teams up with Spy Smasher to try and root out a spy on a naval ship that is at sea on a top secret mission. Instead of solo strips, they share a 29 page story. I stopped reading Spy Smasher due to the lack of variability in its stories. The presence of Spy Smasher dampens the whimsy and camp of Captain Marvel that has been his hallmark.
Silver Age Spotlights
-Amazing Spider-Man #38: Spider-Man fights a down on his luck loser named Joe, a failure as a boxer and a wrestler, who accidentally gains super-strength while jobbing as a monster extra on a sci-fi T.V. shoot. Many consider this to be the nadir of the Lee/Ditko run with it being Ditko's last issue. I tend to disagree. Joe is immensely likable and relatable, and while the fight isn't Ditko's finest, its been a while since we've had Spider-Man involved in a more pedestrian affair.
Modern Material
- Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #11: This series gives me fits and starts. I find the best friend character, Nancy, to be annoying 75% of the time, but this issue without Nancy involves Squirrel Girl defeating Nightmare through Computer Science. As a Comp. Sci major who understands and follows all of the binary speak and logic structures, I whole-heartedly approve.
-Uncanny Inhumans Annual #1: Another title I struggle with. If it focuses on Medusa, Black Bolt, Karnak, the Reader, or the detective (whose name I forget). It's generally enjoyable. Its sister title with Crystal, Gorgon, the Jubilee wardrobe reject, etc. traveling the world in a ship is drek. Why then do an annual under one title but focus on characters from the other? *facepalm*
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Venom Space Knight #11: I've enjoyed the adventures of Venom, Agent of the Cosmos and the reveal of the true purpose of the symbiotes. The idea of Flash trying to save a friend he left behind and in the process redeem his partner is great. Being interrupted as soon as he arrives on Earth by Spider-Man playing "Peter knows best" and not listening to a damn word Flash is saying? Not so much. Feels like padding with a gratuitous (and deceitful) cross-over heading.
TELEVISION TIDBITS
Doctor Who (1963) Season 2, Episode 2: A Dangerous Journey:
Planet of the Giants is the "one where they get shrunk" but its much more clever than its given credit.
- A Plot, the crew being shrunk and separated from the TARDIS is affected by, but completely separate from, the B Plot, Forrester covering up the tracks of the murder he committed so he can release DD6 to marker as scheduled.
- The design is pretty great for the era with all of the giant props being really well-realized. The only let down is the counter to which is the studio floor with a black backdrop. It would have been improved with a matte background. The sink set it stellar.
- The middle of the episode has a great dramatic turn from Jackie Hill as Barbara has picked up a seed coated with the pesticide and gets it on her hands. Ian never notices and off-handedly hands her a handkerchief then obliviously gives a lecture on how horrible it would be if they were to even touch the stuff to a Barbara who has a dawning horror of the consequence of her actions.
- A neat cliffhanger. The Doctor and Susan are in the drain pipe of the sink. Forrester and his accomplice plug the drain, then wash the blood from the hands. They pull the plug from the drain. Will the water wash away Doctor and Susan? Will they drown?
PODCAST PROPS
Views from the Longbox #244: The Killing Joke click here for episode
Michael Bailey and Andrew Leyland discuss The Killing Joke, its classic reputations, its current critical re-evaluation, and the recent animated adaptation.
Being of similar age to Michael and Andrew, I was the right age at the right time when Killing Joke came out (I was 13). I agree it is a deserved classic, and I agree with them that in and of itself it is not misogynistic. The gender of the child was irrelevant to the Joker's plot, and while it is easy to label it with the brush of 'fridging' when you are trying to get to a character through their loved ones, when said character is a single father of a daughter, your options for targets are extremely limited as a writer. It is uncomfortable reading what happens to Barbara, but I don't think I would feel "better" if it was replaced with more explicit scenes of the torture of Jim Gordon. The highlight for me is the climax and denouement of the story. Even after this latest round of violence, Batman still tries to reach out like he did in the beginning, and my reading is the Joker considers it, then says, nope I've gone too far, and they share a moment where the masks fall and they both empathize with each other, and the story ends on that moment. Too me, that is the power of the work. It humanizes them both, and for a brief moment, they share an understanding and a connection.
Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men #100 Unexpected Wonder with Chris Claremont click here for episode
Whew!, 27 more to go and I will be caught up. When I like a podcast, especially an index show like this, I like to try and catch up. I pick one show at a time to focus on while I maintain pace with the others. In this episode, Jay and Miles interview Chris Claremont. I admire Mr. Claremont, and I have never met or heard other interviews with him, so this episode is worth its weight in gold to me. There are a couple of contradictions: He speaks out against Warren Ellis trying to involve Kitty and Pete Wisdom in a relationship because of her age, but later said he had at one point wanted to put her and Gambit in one. I assume he meant once he had advanced her a few years in age, but it was never clear. His insight however into character and how to make characters matter and have the events in their lives be impactful was priceless.
BLOG BITS AND BOBBLES
So what happened to us here? Honestly, I hit a spate of books that I just didn't feel moved to talk about, then I got out of the habit of posting. However, we are back, and hopefully for the long haul this time. There will be quite a bit of changes. I always said this blog would cover more than just comics, and then proceeded to blog almost exclusively about them. There will be a dedicated effort to talk more about film and television, driven primarily by fires stoked thanks to Palace of Glittering Delights podcast and the Film and Water podcast. I'm still plugging through my reading lists. For the golden age reading, I've dropped everything except DC and Fawcett, I still am keeping up with my Marvel Silver Age reading, and for modern comics, I keep up with Marvel and DC, but have put indies on the back-burner for now. Please leave comments here or on whichever social media format you've discovered us. 'Till next time....
