I'm not quite sure what that Star Wars page is implying.
Is it shocking to some because Han's wife is black?
I don't think there's much race shock in the Star Wars U these days. The outrage is that it makes the whole romance with Leia an infidelity situation, not a dashing attachless rogue situation. Or maybe just the marriage dimension on its own overcomplicates the character...? I don't know. All I say is, think for a moment if you want to be someone still being upset by something dumb happening in Star Wars.Quoting D_Davis (view post)
Is Moore's Miracle Man any good?
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Anyone else read Snyder's The Wake?
That got real weird.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
To answer to both of those:
Yes, it is. Mostly for its brilliant illustration, though, in my opinion. We are currently in an age where the superhero ideal has been effectively deconstructed so many times over that the angle has lost its novelty. It's still well-written, and gets pretty fantastical, which is fun, but it is not as earth-shattering as I assume it once was.
And yes, it did. But aside from Murphy igniting that book with his abundantly imaginative renderings, I thought its concepts were overexplained and undercooked. Pretty much Snyder's stock and trade.
Thanks for the feedback!
Re: The Wake. I felt it was very exposition heavy. I loved the turn from horror to existential sci fi (the most exciting modern genre work is the stuff that turns genres on their heads), but it would have been more affecting had it been more emotionally resonant and vague in its conceptualization, rather than what we got which was the exact opposite.
Loved the concept, could have had a more unique and thoughtful approach. Don't explain it all to me, give me a beautiful skeleton and let me build my own flesh.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
The first half of the Wake was such good, effective horror, I found the sci-fi half purely laughable though. The last issue in particular was just utter gibberish. Beyond half-baked, the concepts were just thrown out there in the clumsiest possible fashion. Artless and unsatisfying as either a story, a parable, or a character piece, and especially disappointing given how good Murphy's art was throughout. Snyder is so frustrating. He can be good, especially when he's doing something in a pure horror vein (Severed, American Vampire, the first half of the Wake) or a pulpy genre tale (The Black Mirror). But his strengths seem to be overpowered by his excesses more and more often of late, as seen especially in his incredibly inconsistent Batman run, which like the Wake squanders some frequently jaw-dropping art with badly undeveloped concepts.
Miracleman is great. Sven's right that it probably doesn't seem as novel today as it once did but I think it holds up quite well. As far as superhero deconstruction goes, it takes its ideas further and to ultimately bolder places than the much more famous Watchmen. The coloring in the new Marvel reprints leaves a lot to be desired unfortunately, I've been waiting a long time to see this collected and now I'm not even sure I want these books.
Think I'm going to tackle Moore's Neonomicon next.
Still in a horror comic mood.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Speaking of, the first issue of Providence was quite good.
Movie Theater Diary
Read the introductory 2-issue story "The Courtyard" from Moore's Neonomicon.
That was something else. Hope the rest of it keeps this up. Could be one of the best pieces of mythos fiction I've ever read.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Having a heck of a time finding any lists or publications with recommendations for other (available) horror comics to check out.
I didn't think the genre was that...niche?
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
You should read the rest of the book on a bus or somewhere crowded so that random people can eavesdrop the images. I swear to you it enhances the experience.
Wow. Ya. That was...umm...explicit.
Still a great story, but I think I liked The Courtyard more than the actual Neonomicon piece. It also becomes much more a "you must be a Lovecraft fan to get anything out of this" type of deal.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Started Strange Embrace.
Very cool so far. Great set up.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Ambled to the bookstore to pick up the Pistolwhip collection today, strolling around in a sunny post-nap grog, listening to Welch-era Fleetwood Mac in my earphones. Read 80% of the book while sipping on some afternoon beer, eating a delicious chicken pasta salad/spam slider luncheon. Think I might go take another nap.
And that's what I've been doing today.
A cool book. Definitely had me on edge, every chapter leaving me worried about how much more messed up things were gonna get.
The last two issues I read of Strange Embrace, I did with tears in my eyes.
The themes of sexual shame, suppression and confusion are bringing about a lot of deep emotions and even memories for me.
Hitting very close to home.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I always read them as one single story and only found out later that they were originally published apart. But I disagree with you, I think Neonomicon is perfect for both hardcore Lovecraft fans and people who know nothing about the Mythos. It's fairly self-explanatory, has lots of carefully concealed exposition and it also expands the legend of the coming of Cthulhu in ways no other author I know of has attempted.
Will check out Strange Embrace. Looks all sorts of different.
Last edited by Grouchy; 06-16-2015 at 03:37 PM.
So yeah Strange Embrace was something else. Tragic, perverse, and deeply affecting.
Just to clarify regarding my previous post - I was never sexually abused in any way. I just had (and in many ways have) a significant amount of sexual shame and even confusion. I found that part of the story quite visceral, and it hit me hard.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
After spending nearly 3 hours browsing the deepest corners of the inter webs, I now have a list as long as my arm of horror comics I'm dying to check out.
I've also decided that if I ever win the lottery, I would like to have all of the hardcover archives of Creepy, Eerie, Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Is Ennis's Caliban on that list?
Also, I'm a fan of anything Bruce Jones. Picked up a prestige that he and Wrightson did called Freak Show (I believe). It was gnarly. The Vertigo series Flinch features a short that he and Frank Quitely did that seriously messed me up.
Yes, Caliban is on the list
Thanks for the other recc's. I have added them!
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Read the first volume of Uzumaki today. I've had the three trade volumes on my shelf for years, and have seen the film a few times (it's great), but never actually read it.
This is impressive stuff. Each story has its own feel and themes - a mother's mental deterioration after the death of her spouse; a young woman's need to feel lusted after by every man she meets; another young woman's psychotic desire for attention; a horrific retelling of Romeo and Juliet.
Similar to the EC comics of 50 years ago, they are morality tales steeped in the macabre.
Some horrific artwork accentuates a brilliant premise, that gets weirder and deeper with every passing issue.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I finally got around to catching up with and really digging into IDW's current Ninja Turtles reboot after checking out the first arc a couple of years ago. No offense to Valiant's valiant effort that I've been a huge fan of, but I'm convinced that this is the best and most well thought out concept reboot of all time. It's comparable to Timm and Dini's work on Batman. This might be my idealized version of the Turtles.
Movie Theater Diary
That's the Tom Waltz run, right? IDW has some great stuff going. Some of their Transformers comics are really good.
You once recommended Transformers vs GI Joe to me. Was it a specific run/writer/artist? Or is it a great title in general?
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Posting Permissions
forum
Reply With Quote