Joining the search for backgrounds for the Tangent covers. (Hey, they offered me a way to continue the gag. I took it.)
Tangent Comics/The Joker
DC Comics (December, 1997)
“Laugh ‘Till It Hurts!”
CONCEPT: Dan Jurgens
WRITER: Karl Kesel
PENCILER: Matt Haley
INKER: Tom Simmons
COLORIST: Moose Baumann
SEPARATIONS: Jamison
LETTERER: Chris Eliopoulos
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Frank Berrios
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Dana Kurtin
EDITOR: Eddie Berganza
From what I could tell Baccano! is a story about immortal gangsters in the prohibition era, focusing on the mob. This did not interest me, which is odd because the setting itself isn’t a turn off. However the show is rather violent and that does turn me off. Looking up the full story didn’t help when I learned the immortals can absorb each other, which is somehow more gross than lopping their heads off like in the Highlander franchise. Apparently it’s only the anime that is stuck in prohibition era America.
Created by Ryohgo Narita, and note that this link goes to a wiki that of this writing seems to be more for fans of the franchise than anything usable for research or for anyone simply curious so I had to use regular and questionable regular Wikipedia to learn a darn thing, the light novel series follows a group of alchemists who asked a demon for immortality. It granted it to them plus an elixir in the care of one man, while another wants to give out like crazy or something. The story has at least reached 2002 while the one season anime never made it out of the early 1930s. Even when I follow this series I don’t follow it. It’s not a show I’d really be interested in. I do however find the debate between subtitles and dubbing when it comes to anime interesting, and I do need to get back on schedule because March 2023 continues to throw distractions aplenty at me.
So I’m going to sit back and let the folks at Cartoon Cypher compare the US dub to the original subtitle. They say in the video that this dub is usually more accepted because 1930s America is the main setting but the debate between Japanese and English continues. Note that the following video contains animated violence and bloodshed as well as swearing by the characters and the guest co-host CDawgVA. With that warning out of the way, curious what people think.
“Wait, who are we attacking again?”
Niko And The Sword Of Light #1
Amazon Content Services (2017)
CONCEPT: Kei Acedera, Jim Bryson, Bobby Chiu, & Adam Jeffcoat; developed by Rob Hoegee
WRITERS: Rob Hoegee, Ernie Altbacker, & Matt Wayne
ARTIST: Barry J. Kelley
COLORIST: Andy Brinkman
COVER ART: Jim Bryson & Bobby Chiu
LETTERER/PRODUCTION: Thomas Mauer
EDITOR: Elliot Blake
When it comes to bad adaptations, and so many of them have been lately, we put the blame on directors, showrunners, and writers. Also actors but we really shouldn’t do that. It’s not like they care about the source material unless it’s Henry Cavill, and even then we only have evidence of that with The Witcher rather than Superman, no matter how much he says he likes Superman, looks the part, and built his own gaming computer to show off nerd cred before announcing wanting to work on a Warhammer movie. Actors are only playing a role they want to play or just trying to earn that paycheck. I’ve given up on their caring about the source material versus what they care about…themselves.
There should definitely be some blame placed on the people in charge of the stories. While She-Hulk‘s creators have admitted they were trolling comic fans for not liking Captain Marvel and many are more interested in political standings than adaptation, this isn’t the complete issue with bad adaptations. We’ve had bad adaptations going back to the black and white days. Go watch the Captain America serials from 1944 if you don’t believe me. I really enjoyed The Adventures Of Captain Marvel but Republic too as much liberties with the future Shazam as they did with Captain America. (Maybe it’s a captain thing?). The recent Shazam movies are more accurate…if you take into account they’re based on Geoff Johns’ annoying reimagining of Billy Batson and his life. Heck, just go to the Masters Of The Universe or Super Mario Brothers live-action movies if you want something recent but before the current sociopolitical nonsense.
No, I put most of the blame on the studios and distributors for the failings of adaptations, and it’s only gotten worse in more recent years. Some of the reasons I’m going to cite may be obvious and some won’t. Either way it’s time to give all the devils their due.
Mobius’ version of Uber is not a great service.
Sonic The Hedgehog #40
Archie Comics Publications (November, 1996)
“Court-Martial”
WRITER: Mike Gallagher
PENCILER: Dave Manak
INKER: Rick Koslowski
COLORIST: Barry Grossman
LETTERER: Mindy Eisman
EDITOR: Justin Gabrie
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 
BW’s Daily Video> The Problem With Today’s Comic Book Villains
Catch more from Comics By Perch on YouTube
Yes, I know did one of his at the start of the week. It’s been a crazy month, remember. It came up, I used it.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on March 31, 2023 in Comic Spotlight and tagged Comics By Perch, commentary, supervillains, Villain.
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