Remember the days when Marvel heroes still fought supervillains? Good times. Good times.
Thunderbolts #25
Marvel Comics (April, 1999)
“Saving The World!”
WRITER: Kurt Busiek
PENCILER: Mark Bagley
INKERS: Bob Wiacek & Al Vey
COLORIST: Joe Rosas
LETTERER: Saida Temofonte
EDITOR: Tom Brevoort
Marketers love to classify us as a series of demographics, usually one so vague as to not understand how humans work and think. This is worse when it comes to children since they seem to think all kids are exactly the same and are all into the same things no question. No, wait, we used to think boys and girls were into different things but now we blame that on brainwashing or something. Kids are individuals just like people. You may find a group with similar tastes but how do you define that. Usually marketers don’t even try. So give Turner Junior credit for actually trying to figure out what different kids are into before marketing to them. They may still be getting things wrong, but it’s more effort than usual.
Here we are, the penultimate chapter of this book. That means this should be the final battle between the real Superman and his cybernetic fake. I wish more writers understood what made this special beyond the superficial “it’s where Superman died and it was a big deal”, but it was just another point where they diverted from good storytelling because they didn’t understand why this storyline worked. And that’s really a shame for comics.
But that’s something I’ll discuss in greater detail once we’re done with the novelization. So let’s get back into it and see if this story continues on the positive trend it’s had thus far.
Alan throws the biggest barbecues.
Green Lantern/Sentinel: Heart Of Darkness #2
DC Comics (April, 1998)
“Like Father, Like Son”
WRITER: Ron Marz
PENCILER: Paul Pelletier
INKER: Dan Davis
COLORIST: Jason Wright
LETTERER: Chris Eliopoulous
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Dana Kurtin
EDITOR: Kevin Dooley
I don’t have DC’s streaming service. It’s a paid service. However, this review of the first episode of Titans makes it sound like the same dark and gritty not-DC universe I have no interest in.
It may be more sciency but it’s not as fun. Then again it would make it easier on the wife.
Over at The Clutter Reports this week I organized some of my audio and video cables. They’re not all exciting projects but they are needed ones.
In comic reviews this week I’ll be checking out two #25s issues and they’re both double-sided comics. The Thunderbolts will face the Masters Of Evil while we Return To Macross for the conclusion to the War Of The Believers. Plus we have the penultimate chapter of the Superman novel we’re looking at for Chapter By Chapter, an interesting debate on plot holes and my finally seeing what the latest Doctor Who showrunner and Doctor brings to the series. I’m still not really into new Who and I gave it years. But I’m curious what Chris Chibnall’s theme is. I’ll get into that on Wednesday, because that’s when I do the Doctor Who old comic reviews. As for Thursday…I’m not sure yet. Hope you have a good week!
So I showed you last week’s installment to show you this week’s. You’ll see why later.
Although Danger Man was actually a successfully show, Patrick McGoohan wanted to do something else. He had a surreal sci-fi-ish show in mind that he and George Markstein has put together. Leaving a successful show is quite the gamble to jump into a brand new series. Lucky for McGoohan the gamble paid off in one of the most popular shows to come out of the UK and one that still finds its way into pop culture. That show was The Prisoner, a show that actually started airing in Canada before hitting the UK.
While still playing a secret agent we never learn the real name of Number Six, as he tries to escape the Village. The Village is a place where former agents are brought to be debriefed in a rather odd manner. Are they from his government, curious why one of their best agents suddenly up and quits? (That’s something else we’re never told.) Or is it a foreign power hoping to steal a bunch of secrets that he’s privy too? That’s one of the questions he has to answer as well as figuring out who, if anyone, he can trust.
And it all starts with the first episode, as we see how Number Six first arrives in the Village and a basic idea of what he’s up against.
Atop The Fourth Wall Comics Are Great Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery
Bully Says “Comics Oughta Be Fun” The Clutter Reports (my other site) Slay, Monstrobot of the Deep Crisis On Earth Prime Four Color Media Monitor Spacebooger
