“The bread’s still warm if you want some.”
Fate #0
DC Comics (October, 1994)
“Twisted Fate”
WRITER: John Francis Moore
PENCILER: Anthony Williams
INKER: Andy Lanning
COLORIST: Mike Danza
LETTERER: Clem Robins
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Chuck Lim
EDITOR: Archie Goodwin
Ned Leeds (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Spider-Man: Homecoming has been getting a lot of positive reviews, with the only negatives being some altered origins (Flash Thompson isn’t a bully so much as a jerk, Ned Leeds being an overweight teen and Peter’s confidant, STILL having Peter and Harry meet in high school rather than college) and one “blink and you’ll miss it” political comment that may not even be factual. (Did slaves really build the Washington Monument? Luckily commentor Sean is a history buff.) But before the movie came out we saw a whole lot of rumors that turned out to be false. Screen Crush collected a few of those but since I haven’t seen the movie yet I didn’t read the article.
For me that would be the addition of Street Fighter characters.
Yes, this really existed. I’ve been trying to catch up with articles and videos by other people pretty much since I got sick last year (which is why I didn’t have a Saturday Night Showcase last night…I was almost there and wanted to finally get caught up with my favorite YouTube shows) and came across this article on Dinosaur Dracula showcasing old commercials. The joke came to me, and we got a comic.
Over at The Clutter Reports I did some mild clean-up after two weeks of being too tired to do any cleaning. It was the first and second time I’ve been to a big family gathering since my recovery and it wore me out. I also had to go shopping alone and that was draining. I need to rebuild my stamina.
This week the Phantom continues his time at DC Comics with the few issues I have of the ongoing series from the 1980s, and we’ll be saying good-bye to Dragon Ball Z. I had decided I wanted to get the collected versions (hopefully flipped because I’m too used to the American style of left to right) and then never did, so when they ended part one to start part two (the fight with the Saiyans) I ended up not collecting it. Viz took so long between the final issue and the collection that I would forget about them. I got lucky with Bio-Booster Armor Guyver on that front. As for the main articles this week…take a guess. Take a wild guess what will probably dominate the discussion this week. This book is not as easy to review as I thought, so I won’t mind pity support on Patreon. (hint hint–I even started doing the Clutter Reports for $5+ supporters in addition to the BW feature article, but $1 still have comic reviews and I’m going to add the Morning Article Link starting with what’s going up Monday.) But this book needs to be challenge. And Wertham was right about the racial depictions, so maybe he’ll get something else right. Won’t he? Please?
“I’ve seen what he does to his action figures! Run for it!”
Adventures In The DC Universe #12
DC Comics (March, 1998)
“Cipher Rules!”
WRITER: Steve Vance
PENCILER: John Delaney
INKER: Ron Boyd
COLORIST: Tom McCraw
LETTERER: Tim Harkins
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Frank Berrios
EDITOR: KC Carlson
I don’t know how much this is stretching things but I need something other than Fredrick Wertham to talk about, so we’re going swimming. Actually, I can’t swim, but I do like going into the water and letting it flow around me. A Jacuzzi is better but a pool or the lake works when you can’t afford such things. Of course they also don’t have missiles coming out of them, which can just ruin your whole day. Especially if you’re the ones in the path of it.
I’m sure even Wertham doesn’t mind violence against missiles.
“Dog Days” round 4″
“Kit, I think they’re behind us.”
The Phantom #4
FINAL ISSUE
DC Comics (August, 1988)
“The Phantom Strikes Back!”
WRITER: Peter David
PENCILER: Joe Orlando
INKER: Dennis Janke
COLORIST: Anthony Tollin
LETTERER: Tod Klein
EDITORS: Mike Gold & Robert Breenberger
The Clutter Reports (my other site) Atop The Fourth Wall Crisis On Earth Prime Lean Into Artcast Bully Says “Comics Oughta Be Fun” Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery
Cartoon Hero’s Lair SF Debris Four Million Years Later
Chapter By Chapter Special> Seduction Of The Innocent ch. 5 part 1
Normally, Chapter By Chapter is me reading a fictional book one chapter at a time to study each part of the story. In this special review series however we are looking at Seduction Of The Innocent, a non-fiction book as the writer, Dr. Fredric Wertham, tries to make the case that comics were a bad thing for kids in the 1950s. The book had a huge impact on the comic industry and fans. We will examine what he is saying not exclusively by today’s standards, but the time in which the book was made to see where Wertham was right, and where he was horribly wrong.
The Influence of Comic Books on Reading
Reading maketh a full man
– Bacon
Well for once Wertham chose a single topic for a chapter. This whole chapter is about comics as a source of illiteracy. I didn’t say it was a GOOD topic, but considering how he’s gone multiple topics that barely link together previously it’s a step up. Oh, he still sneaks in a bit about comics turning kids into criminals of course, and his bias against a relatively new medium as literature is still painfully obvious but at least they all go together, discussing comics as reading material or the lack thereof. At this point I’ll take what I can get because Wertham isn’t the best writer out there, and I’ve read enough non-fiction commentary books to know it can be written well.
I want to remind people going into this that I love comics but I also love books. This article series is usually one article per chapter, but also about non-fiction books, maybe even ones Wertham would approve of. I am all in favor of convincing kids to read books, but unlike Wertham I am also aware that not every kid wants to read, and not just because of the reading disabilities we’ll be discussing before this week is out. My dad can read just fine. He reads articles in newspapers and online, posts on Facebook, instruction manuals, and TV guides (although now just the grid on the TV) without any problem. When it comes to reading books for entertainment however, that was more my mother’s domain and most likely where I got it from. Wertham is highly biased to his own childhood reading experiences. Before this week is up we won’t just be going over Wertham’s comments but just how the comic reading experience differs from other mediums like books and magazine and why Wertham should be teaching how to read a comic versus writing them off…as well as a few good points he actually makes in this chapter. This is his least frustrating chapter thus far…but it’s not without facepalm moments I’m afraid. Click the link below and follow along because reading is fundamental.
Chapter 5: Retooling For Illiteracy
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on July 10, 2017 in Comic Spotlight, Seduction Of The Innocent and tagged book review, books, Chapter By Chapter, comics, commentary, Dr. Fredric Wertham, Seduction Of The Innocent.
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