“Awww, my collection of international ketchup packets.”
Hardcase #5
Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (October, 1993)
“Friends & Enemies” part one: “The First Cut”
WRITER: James Hudnall
PENCILER: Scott Benefiel
INKER: Mike Christian
COLORIST: Moose Baumann
LETTERER: Tim Eldred
EDITOR: Hank Kanalz
I haven’t had the best sleep this week. With any luck, the nap I took yesterday afternoon was able to fix things, but as I write this the day before you read it, I don’t know what shape I’m in. I also got a haircut and saw the eye doctor. I need new glasses, and I haven’t seen the eye doctor in years…mostly because of all the other doctors I’ve had to visit the past few years, but also not having money for new glasses. It’s cheaper to go through them so unlike going to Lenscrafters I’m going to have to wait a couple of weeks to get my glasses, but these work for now and I really need the money.
My sleep cycle also affected what I could do for decluttering, so I hoped this week’s Clutter Report would be a big win in clearing RSS feeds. I was not as successful as I’d like but I did a fair job. As to this week’s intended Jake & Leon comic, I’m not too bothered with missing it this week, because the best I could come up with is the various female Batman villains harassing Bruce Timm for saying they weren’t good villains. Of course he also put down the male villains in his attempt to defend the gender-swapped Penguin, but if that’s the best I could come up with, the only advantage to making the comic would be drawing practice. I could actually use that, but the end result otherwise really wouldn’t have been worth it for you guys. Hopefully I come up with something better this week. I am having some ideas of another “Herodude And Enemies” storyline that will finally use Doctor Monkeyface.
As I work that story out, this week is the official first chapter of Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image for Chapter By Chapter. The Friday Blue Beetle comic reviews will be jumping ahead in Charlton’s Captain Atom comics in case we get the origin of Ted Kord’s Blue Beetle there. Like with Mystery Men Comics, we’ll return to that series in the full public domain retro comic reviews, but I do want to complete this series on pre-DC Blue Beetle comics that started when the movie came out. Plus we’ll continue the regular comic reviews and whatever topics work for the feature article of the day.
Have a great week, everyone!
When Japan is threatened by evil giant monsters and robots, a larger than life hero comes to save the day. No, not those guys. Tonight we’re talking about Big X!
Based on the manga by Osamu Tezuka…you know, Astro Boy’s creator…this is the first anime produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, or TMS for short. While a number of the episodes have been lost to time, TMS has managed to recover some of their 59 episodes and this week they started releasing them with subtitles on their official YouTube channel. So let’s check out an early anime, which definitely shows in all the artifacts on screen. On the plus side for us English speakers, the first episode is available with subtitles, and you don’t even have to turn on closed captions to see them.
Akira Asagumo’s grandfather created a formula for the Axis during the war, but the war ended before he could perfect it. (Before you show this to your kids, the exposition flashback includes Hitler shooting himself in the head. Always fun to see, but maybe not for younger audiences.) Years later, a poor excuse for Neo Nazis, the “Nazi Alliance”, finds out that Akira’s dad was implanted with a card carrying the formula to Big X, which can make the user superdurable, super strong, super sized, and somehow his clothes turn into a costume with a cape and a helmet with little wings on them. That was some formula. In this somewhat goofy action show, Akira must use Big X himself to fight the Nazi Alliance and keep the formula safe despite being a small boy. And you thought child endangerment laws were too strict. Enjoy.
I swear I’m not trying to turn this into Star Wars month. Blame Caroline again, because she linked to this on her site and I thought you guys might want to read it. Maybe she’s doing Star Wars month?
Every Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day we honor those who sacrificed that we might live free. In war and other tragedies both manmade and nature created those who sacrifice for others should be honored for it, even if they managed to survive and return. Writer Kathryn Zurmehly points out that one of the failings of Star Wars under Disney’s ownership of LucasFilm is that all the sacrifices of the previous media still in canon was basically for nothing and now the Star Wars Galaxy is worse off than it was when we were first introduced to it. It’s another reason the franchise is failing under the current regime.
Well, if Tony Stark is Doctor Doom now, someone has to be Iron Man.
Using Artificial Intelligence, or AI, to make art is a very controversial thing at the moment. I think it could help with references or a quick image for a post or something, but the odds of replacing real artists with AI are low given the problems. There have been talk about AI scripts, but most of them are pretty obvious and kind of silly.
The current debate is over localization of anime and manga. A few Japanese publishers in manga and “light novels” have opted to have the translation done through an AI program. Not surprisingly, human localizers are ripping mad. It’s their jobs, after all, but they also claim it will ruin the artistic integrity of the original work.
A statement that elicits laughter from anime fans, especially the purists, who will point out that their translations of late has done exactly that, altering the work not for the local culture but the local perspective, aka “modern audiences”. This is one area where the fans may actually be in favor of AI over humans given some changes made by English localizers that were overt changes done for sociopolitical reasons rather than cultural differences between Japan and the West. So who’s right here?
Well, the various Dan Garret(t)s have been everywhere else. Why not Middle Earth?
Blue Beetle #54
Charlton Comics Group (February-March, 1966)
“The Eye Of Horus”
WRITER: Roy Thomas
ARTISTS: Fraccio & Tallarico
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 