“Hey, we can’t all fit on this cover!”
Sonic The Hedgehog #75
Archie Comics Publications (October, 1999)
“I Am The Eggman!”
WRITER: Karl Bollers
PENCILER: Steven Butler
INKER: Pam Eklund
COLORIST: Frank Gagliardo
LETTERER: Jeff Powell
EDITOR: J.F. Gabrie
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Control the origin, control the character, even partially. It’s why we get “the real reason (X) happened”. There might be a story there, but really they just want the ego boost to be part of canon and something writers after them are forced or even willingly use. There’s a reason Joe Chill being a simple mugger on the wrong night has taken hold in iconography in comics and from the first time it left comics to today. It’s simple and clean. It makes Bruce the victim of crime in general, not one specifically targeted to his family. Sometime comics try to hard to be complex under the mistaken belief that complexity is… I don’t know, more sophisticated or mature, maybe. It can be silly but it can also be a mistake. Just let the random mugging origin stand. It works for a reason.
Of all the current Star Wars content coming out of Disney and Marvel, the only one I’ve found really watchable (granted The Mandalorian and The Book Of Boba Fett were necessarily in my wheelhouses, especially the latter) was the Disney Junior show Young Jedi Adventures. Given that it’s set in their original timeline of the “High Republic”, has a kid pilot (because Disney Junior) with two moms, and there isn’t a white boy to be seen if you see a white person at all, that’s kind of amazing. At least the episodes I’ve seen do teach how to be a good person and hero. Which is more than I can say for a lot of Star Wars content these days.
When I first heard of Skeleton Crew I was expecting something along the lines of Lower Decks without the animated comedy. (Actually, I thought it was animated.) Well, the new trailer is out and it reminds me more of Star Trek: Prodigy or Space Cases, maybe The Astronauts. Does that mean it’s any good? From the promotional page:
“Skeleton Crew” follows the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy, crossing paths with the likes of Jod Na Nawood, the mysterious character played by Law. Finding their way home—and meeting unlikely allies and enemies—will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.
The Executive Producers are Christopher Ford, Jon Watts, Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson and the Co-Executive Producers are Chris Buongiorno, Karen Gilchrist, and Carrie Beck.
Interesting concept, which as I noted has been done before. I didn’t list all of them just with kids as the main crew. It’s not even the first time for Disney if memory serves. Still, just because it has been done before, the idea can be revisited with a new perspective, perhaps a Star Wars makeover?
“That’s one fly down!”
Sarge Steel #2
Charlton Comics Group (February, 1965)
“Man Who Blackmailed The World”
CHARACTER CREATOR: Pat Masulli
WRITER: Joe Gill
ARTIST: Dick Giordano
So is this how we’re going to do this, going back and forth between Commie Op-Center and regular Op-Center? Last time we met Paul’s evil counterpart, and this time we’re back in D.C..
Paul’s still not here, and I don’t know if he’ll be coming back to take charge during these events. It seems, and I know I keep bringing this up but it’s a big issue out the gate, way too early to do this story at the second novel, and the third in-continuity assignment after the first one went terrible and the second was won almost in spite of Op-Center’s actions. At this point I’m sorry I bought this and the next book in the series before reading the first one. If I had I wouldn’t have bought another one.
This is the power of reputation. It’s a Tom Clancy project, as he co-created the series and his branding is on it. The games that came out were well received when I learned of this novel series. I wanted to know if his reputation was deserved, but since there’s evidence that he didn’t write these books, circumstantial as it is, I can’t really tell. Clancy came up with the idea of an international crisis response bureau of the US government, which sounds interesting in theory but we have so many bureaus that I don’t know if we can afford another one. Would explain why our debt keeps getting worse instead of better because nobody in Congress or the other branches are doing anything to deal with it. Sorry, but it’s just something that came up, this is a political book by nature, and I’m already running low of ways to intro these stories because so far very little has happened to discuss, even as a spoiler.
So let’s get back into the story and see if we get more than a bunch of people talking. My bet is “no”.
“At least put some pants on!” “Jealous?” “Hardly.”
The Solution #3
Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (November, 1993)
“The Hunted”
WRITER: James Hudnall
PENCILER: Darick Robertson
INKER: Barbara Kaalberg
COLORING: Tim Divar & Foodhammer!
LETTERER: Tim Eldred
EDITOR: Hank Kanalz
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
BW Media Spotlight 