Self Parody
March 22nd, 2020 by Proprietor
At some point, when you try to pander to smaller and smaller groups in order to boost sales, your company becomes a parody of itself. Marvel has done just that.
The “New” New Warriors comic is an eye rolling, agenda driven, pamphlet of propaganda. Already people on both sides are complaining, but for different reasons. Those whom are tired of being attacked as everything evil point to these two characters and say, this is why we stopped buying comics. The continued shaming, blaming, and destroying of iconic characters due to some social justice agenda has turned off major comic fans – white males. The “progressive” crowd is complaining that the characters feel like an insult. An attempt to attack or make fun of “progressive” views. Unfortunately this unintended parody is the whole reason why people of all walks of life have stopped buying comics. It is also why groups comic book companies are trying to court won’t buy comics. In an attempt to be “diverse” comic companies create characters that are cliched and pander, rather than create characters whom are original and engrossing.
Sadly a hobby I had enjoyed for nearly four decades is coming to a close. Comic companies were able to continually reinvent themselves in creative ways, update characters in ways to make those characters not only more appealing to new people, but satisfy older fans. The creativity is gone.
The whole method of producing comics and distributing them is also bloated and antiquated, thus would eventually collapse under its own weight. The take over of comics by the current regime of agenda driven nitwits was the introduction of sand into the gears of a machine that was breaking down.
Why would I buy a pamphlet that is designed to propagandize hate and bigotry against me disguised as “progress” or “inclusive”? Why would I buy something that insults me?
The central concept of heroes was altruism. The heroes fought for the good of all people, not for some misguided ideals or values. Superman fought for truth, justice, and the American way. Unfortunately the American way has become distorted and viewed as wrong. If you look at the actual origins of Superman, and the origin of Superman’s creators, things become very clear. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were children of immigrants whom sought and achieved a better life in America. Spider-Man fought crime because he did not want others to suffer tragedy he suffered as Peter Parker. Uncle Ben was killed because Spider Man refused to stop a thief. With great power, comes great responsibility.
Creators of comics tend to be influenced by their own world view. Creators put themselves into their creation. Villains reflect the creators perception of evil. The hero fights against that evil. Superman’s greatest villain was Lex Luthor. The origins of Lex Luthor have changed throughout time, but Superman’s goals have not. Lex Luthor was a genius whom used his intelligence to commit criminal acts. Then Luthor became the CEO of a global corporation. A ruthless businessman intent on furthering his own goals. Spider Man’s rogues gallery is filled with villains whom represented the misuse of science for personal gain or misused their powers.
At some point comic book companies in the attempt to prove themselves as being pleasing to all people and inclusive, end up displeasing everyone and alienated those whom were fans.
Thanks for stopping by.
Pardon The Exposition
February 2nd, 2020 by Proprietor
I am the soul person writing, drawing, coloring, and haphazardly editing Teen Spider Adventures, and before that Gorilla Fish. That is why I release a comic once a week. At that pace, it would have been ten years before Gorilla Fish covered the entire story arcs, I had outlined to cover. So I switched to Kid Spider Adventures, changed some story arcs, and aged him to Teen Spider.
When I first wrote, and still writing, the Universe Zero storyline, it was intended to be a Gorilla Fish endeavor. It still technically is a Gorilla Fish story, but I have graphed it onto Teen Spider Adventures.
A lot would have had to happen before I would release Universe Zero. Gorilla Fish would have travelled to multiple universes, there would be some familiarity to some of the characters introduced, etc.
Bagboy was intended to be a main character in the Universe Zero story. Now it is Teen Spider. When I rewrote Universe Zero, there was going to be some exposition. Since the plans that would have played out in Gorilla Fish did not happen. Gorilla Fish’s Evolution would have been a few panels, and it would have taken place in the BagBoy Universe. At that time, the villains would have separated into their own smaller alliances, and things would have been slightly different.
PinBot was going to be the main villain in Universe Zero to begin with, so I decided to have him explain how the multiverses work, and how he discovered a way to execute his nefarious schemes. Gorilla Fish was going to be the foil. I had to alter some of the story points a bit, but the overall story comes to a similar conclusion.
Please keep reading, thanks for the support. Thanks for stopping by.
Collecting Something
January 26th, 2020 by Proprietor
As stated in a previous post, I am essentially done with comic books. For over three decades of my life, nearly four decades, I collected comics. Changes in creative directions, and ultimately the cancelling of the one series I read, Walking Dead, ended my comic collecting.
Throughout my entire life, I have collected many things. Action figures, sports cards, none sport cards, gaming cards (magic the gathering), blackjack chips, and many other things. I have sold off most of those other collections completely or to a point where there is very little left. Comic books were the one constant. Even after selling off nearly ninety percent of my collection, I was still collecting. Now I am done with that. The comics I want to keep are in small boxes in a closet. The comics I do not care about are in small boxes on a pallet in the basement. I will eventually get rid of them.
Collecting can be an odd obsession or quirk. At this point, I am collecting video games. Since I play video games as a hobby, and record my play for posting on my YouTube channel (link in the upper bar of this website), it makes some sense. I have an Xbox 360, since a new Xbox system is coming out at the end of 2020, I will skip to that system. It will be backward compatible.
Another little collection is my Funko Pops. I started with Davos Seaworth and Tormund Giantsbane, two characters I liked in Game of Thrones. Suddenly I have fifteen. Seven of which are Brady Bunch related. I did an unboxing of getting the six figures a while back (video below). I did find the Jan figure with George Glass.
Due to streaming services not always carrying certain movies or television shows, as well as possible editing of digital content, I have started collecting DVD & Blu-Rays of shows. Do not get rid of your physical media folks. It may be the only way to watch some shows or movies in the future. Companies will often repackage movies or television shows, which are edited or missing.
Thanks for stopping by.
Updated Characters Page
December 1st, 2019 by Proprietor
Updated the characters page to include Antenna Girl and Dark Hammer. They are under the Universe Zero listing.
Done With Star Wars
November 3rd, 2019 by Proprietor
In a previous post, I explained I was done with comics. After forty years enjoying comic books, my heart was no longer into the whole hobby. Sadly the same goes for a hobby I had invested more time and effort. Star Wars is over for me. After nearly fifty years of being a fan, I cannot go to the movie theater and see a Star Wars movie. The new “Star Wars Holiday Special”, i.e. “The Last Jedi” almost killed the love for the brand. It would not have been as hard or bad, I could forgive Disney for making a bad Star Wars movie, except, reaction to the angst by fans really killed things for me.
Calling Star Wars fans racist, misogynistic, and all sorts of nasty things for not appreciating what had been done to the beloved franchise was bad karma. Lando Calrissian was black. Star Wars fans loved him. Princess Leia was a strong woman, fans adored her. Throughout the entire four decades of Star Wars lore, there was plenty of none white, human characters fans loved. Now suddenly, the new Star Wars movies were introducing black and female characters, people not liking the story were doing so because of race or sex? Did a “Back To The Future” time travel happen, and all the past movies were not valid. Actually, that is how Disney does view the past movies. When a company spends 4.2 Billion to acquire a built in fan base, and franchise, that company will want to take control and start making the money back. Look at the ambitious plans to have two Star Wars movies a year? At least one a year.
When I saw “Force Awakens”, I was excited and happy. Star Wars has returned! Yes, the movie was a deviation, some say rip off, of “A New Hope”. New Empire, the First Order. New Rebels, The Resistance. New Death Star, Star Killer Base. Essentially the “Force Awakens” was sort of like the New Coke of Star Wars. I did not care. The original cast was coming back, how would the original cast fit into the movie?
I had a new hope, Star Wars was going to be revised a bit, new characters added, and the old characters would pass the torch. Luke would train Rey, then become a force ghost. The new villain, Kylo Ren or Ben Solo, would die being redeemed. The New Emperor, Snoke, would die. The First Order would fail, and then a New Star Wars setting would be established. One problem. Star Wars needs bad guys to exist. Rehashing the old tropes would not do after the current rehashing. What new dangers were going to be brought forward from the furthest reaches of the Star Wars galaxy?
In “Force Awakens”, my heart stopped and I wanted to cry, but cheered, when Han Solo entered the Millennium Falcon, and stated “Chewie, We’re Home.” OK. My first thoughts were Han would bring Rey to Luke for training. When the First Order tries to kill or arrest Han, Chewie, Finn and Rey, then the Resistance saves the day. It was great. Everyone knew Leia would be arriving. Leia shows up and hugs Han, and seems to have some affection for Rey. That implied that there might have been familiarity. Rey was rumored to be of possible Skywalker lineage. Maybe Luke’s unknown child. Maybe Leia had met Rey when she was a young child. Leia realized Rey had the same force potential as her son, even more so, understood somehow Ben was being corrupted by Snoke. Leia informs Rey’s mother about her daughter’s potential, and tried to get Rey to be sent to Luke’s Jedi training school. “She needs to be with her father.” Rey’s mother knew what could happen, and did not want her daughter being a Jedi or potential Sith. Rather than take Rey to be trained, Rey is abandoned on Jakuu.
When Han was killed, I was fine with the situation. Harrison Ford made it one hundred percent clear, he was not going to do another Star Wars movie after “Force Awakens”. Killing Han set up several potential plot points. Ben Solo killed his father, and thus became Kylo Ren. Anakin die to save his son. Han died hoping to save his son. Which made the movie somewhat antithesis to the other Star Wars movies.
There were several valid points made by YouTube channels revolving around Star Wars. With Han dead, why did Rey get the Falcon, and not Chewie? This could be a reenforcement of the concept that Rey was Luke’s daughter. Han’s niece get’s the ship.
The disappointment was Luke did not show up until the end of the movie. Mark Hamill talked about how he expected Luke to show up during the battle in the forest. The lightsaber flying into Luke’s hand. Luke faces down Ben, whom flees, to fight another day. Luke sees his daughter, now a young woman. Though the cliff hanger ending of Rey holding out the lightsaber wanting to learn about the force was brilliant.
Then along came “The Last Jedi”. The first moments were the whole foreshadowing of what Disney intended to do with the old Star Wars. Toss it aside. Maybe Han being killed was foreshadowing? Rian Johnson essentially created his own strong female leads, sent the strongest, most developed female lead in science fiction, into space, like trash. Instead of a Poe and Finn team up. Rose Tico went with Finn to Space Vegas, trashed the place with bunny-lama hybrids, then ended up being sold out to the First Order.
Meanwhile Rey had to make her own way and train herself. When Luke finally decided to train Rey, he boiled things down to three steps. Congratulations, Rey is a Jedi. Luke astral projects himself to the planet where the Resistance was hold up, and confronts his nephew. Big lightsaber battle, Luke dies. It sucked. One of the most powerful, well developed characters, Luke Skywalker, turned into a bitter old man who yells at kids to stay off his lawn. Rey saves the day. The handful of Resistance survivors party on the Falcon.
From the trailers put out for “Rise of Skywalker” so far, it is a MUST NOT SEE, until Blu-Ray movie for me. Space Horses? What the fuck? Did the guys from “Game of Thrones” get some early input? Guys on horses with lances charging tanks are not going to win. Then again, a bunch of teddy bears with primitive weapons beat the empire.
Thanks for stopping by.
PS: I went to Walmart before I posted this. It is less than two months before Christmas. Normally the toy aisles would be packed with Star Wars merchandise, especially before a new movie. There was not even a half a dozen pegs full of Star Wars figures. There were the “retro” figures, all of which were Lando as Jabba Palace Guard or whatever. Out of the half dozen black figures, none really tickled my Star Wars fancy. The glee is gone. Apparently Hasbro is not putting any effort, nor is Walmart to even push the toys for Christmas. Looks like there is no more Star Wars Holiday Special of sorts.
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