“Yesterday’s” Comic> Mega Morphs #4

Is it just me or is that one Doombot actually scared of Captain America?

Mega Morphs #4

FINAL ISSUE

Marvel Comics (December, 2005)

“The Pawns And The Power”

WRITER: Sean McKeever

PENCILER: Lou Kang

INKER: Pat Davidson

COLORING: HiFi

COVER COLORIST: Ramil Sunga

LETTERER: Dave Sharpe

PRODUCTION: Deborah Weinstein

EDITOR: John Barber

Continue reading →

Advertising And Interracial Marriage

A little preview for you MCU Netflix viewers, if they keep on track.

Back in 2009 I wrote a commentary about how interracial marriage or even just relationships are treated by the storytelling world, and it was not a show of applause. Sure you have Luke Cage and Jessica Jones up there, but given comics’ approach to marriage as a whole these days I still see the ticking clock. (Right Peter Parker, Storm and Black Panther, Oliver Queen and Black Canary, and a whole host of others? Clark and Lois had to fight to keep their marriage while the Richards clan are the only ones who have somehow kept their marriage strong…Civil War not withstanding because that event ruins everything. And who’s surprised the Batman/Catwoman wedding didn’t happen despite the build-up?) Cloak and Dagger have had an on again-off again romance based on their circumstances at any one time while their TV counterparts can’t even high-five each other without flying like Jazz on Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.

Even Star Trek, a franchise that takes place in a time when racism is thankfully dead, has had plenty of interspecies relationships but only two even close interracial encounters, one in progress on Discovery and the other in the original series that deserves an asterisk by modern standards (it was a barrier breaker at the time mind you) because it was a forced kiss and I have yet to see a black person and white person or any other mixed Earth racial make-up kiss each other since. Then again both Voyager and Enterprise lost my interest and I only know Discovery through SF Debris reviews because even if I had money coming in I wouldn’t waste it on CBS All Access even if the pilot had wowed me. Apparently you’re only allowed to kiss a different color if it would only work in space or Equestria Girls.

And while Hollywood fails us again, their advertisers haven’t. You know, those 30 second skits you guys fast forward past because you can’t handle a break from the story. (I on the other hand gained some of my storytelling skills from those breaks as I tried to figure out how He-Man would survive a 50 foot drop without wings.) While the movie studios continue to have gay relationships treated as normal (I don’t care what you’re views on homosexuality or gay marriage are–agree or disagree you have to admit it’s been a huge part of normalizing such things with the general public) on the rare occasion you see an interracial couple, especially a white person and a black person, the story usually revolves around shock and at best reluctant acceptance. I think The Loud House gets away with it because they’re gay but I don’t watch the show. And I’m not commenting on Hollywood’s acceptance of gay relations, just asking them to treat interracial romances the same way. Again, like their advertisers.

Tonight I want to look at a surprising trend among the commercials to willingly feature interracial couples, usually black and white but if I find one with a white and Latino or something you’ll see it here, and actually think this will sell their product. And our first one drew out all the racists because let’s be honest, luring out diehard racists is easier than calling a well-trained dog. Or possibly a rat for a proper analog.

Continue reading →

“Yesterday’s” Comic> Iron Man vol. 3 #11

I think this was me in high school. Or at least it felt like it.

Iron Man vol. 3 #11

Marvel Comics (December, 1998)

“Schedule Conflicts”

WRITER: Kurt Busiek

PENCILER: Sean Chen

INKERS: Larry Stucker & Eric Cannon

COLORIST: Steve Oliff

LETTERING: someone at Comicraft who ALSO doesn’t know not to use dark-colored lettering on dark-colored backgrounds. Is this going to be a trend this week?

EDITOR: Bobbie Chase

Continue reading →

BW’s Morning Article Link: An Uncharted Movie

image source: Wiki Commons

I haven’t played Uncharted because I don’t have the right game system and time has been my enemy. So has the heat, which is why this isn’t a Worldbuilding Project update and I’m rather upset about it. So instead check out this article on what one fan of the game would like to see in a movie based on the adventures of Indiana Jones wanna-be Nathan Drake.

By the way, if you’re a WordPress user when you click like or subscribe my email suggests articles from your site. If one of them meets BW parameters like this one it could end up a Morning Article Link. But don’t do that unless you actually like the content I create because I like to know how well I’m actually doing. That’s how I get better and frankly my self-esteem needs it.

Chapter By Chapter: The Death And Life Of Superman ch. 16

Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

It appears the mourning phase is pretty much done for section two of this book. There may still be some, but Stern seems to be setting up the final arc of this comic event he’s adapting. In the past two chapters we’ve seen the origins of Steel and Superboy, but there’s still Eradicator and Cyborg Superman left to be introduced. Who will show up today? Apparently nobody, but we do see more of the events that will lead to the creation of Superboy, so there’s that. There is other stuff to see so let’s get right to it.

Chapter 16: Funeral For A Friend part 6

Continue reading →

“Yesterday’s” Comic> Steel #41

And this was before they started clamping down on cable theft.

Steel #41

DC Comics (August, 1997)

“Rage”

WRITER: Christopher Priest

LAYOUTS: Denys Cowan

FINISHES: Tom Palmer

COLORIST: John Kalisz

LETTERER: Pat Brosseau (who shouldn’t put dark red lettering on a black background like he did in these credits)

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Maureen McTigue

EDITOR: Mike McAvennie

Continue reading →

BW’s Worldbuilding Project Day 19: Returning To The Project

I didn’t mention this in Sunday’s update/comic because I wasn’t sure I could pull it off given the current heat wave but I did, so here we go!