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Inspired by the page posted in the Chat thread, I've only read modern comics with the Spectre which have focused on his being the instrument of God's wrath. What was his character like in older comics? Was he actually running around doing "superhero" stuff?
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Jul 25, 2014 03:23
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 19:23 |
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muscles like this? posted:Inspired by the page posted in the Chat thread, I've only read modern comics with the Spectre which have focused on his being the instrument of God's wrath. What was his character like in older comics? Was he actually running around doing "superhero" stuff? In the Golden Age "superhero stuff" was mainly either killing or maiming gangsters so yeah.
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Jul 25, 2014 03:36
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He had a post-COIE series where he was kinda just a private eye who usually dealt with monster fights. It's pretty forgettable, with the longest arc being an interminable Invasion! crossover about a serial killer who gains the metahuman power to... To loving go inside the internet. I guess it's vaguely notable for setting up the idea that Jim Corrigan & the Spectre are completely distinct entities, but Ostrander is the one who capitalized on that idea by introducing the Wrath of God stuff.
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Jul 25, 2014 03:53
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muscles like this? posted:Inspired by the page posted in the Chat thread, I've only read modern comics with the Spectre which have focused on his being the instrument of God's wrath. What was his character like in older comics? Was he actually running around doing "superhero" stuff? The answer is that it's complicated. He wasn't the Wrath of God until Ostrander revamped him, but the Spectre has a really weird history. So you start with the Seigel run and like I posted, he just wills people to death. The stories at the beginning seem to be mainly, "Spectre encounters some gangsters, looks at them, and they're so frightened that they die." Occasionally he'd do something like turn giant and crush a car before throwing it past the horizon and he blew up a planet because someone on it was screwing with him, but that was the exception rather than the rule. Early on they seemed to realize that there was a power issue but working from the structure of the golden age comic story they didn't actually use that. Instead the Spectre would be drawn out of the universe by the voice that empowered him or other unexplained cosmic phenomenon at inconvenient moments. Toward the late golden age, though, they toned him down entirely. He got himself a sidekick and just went around punching out crooks. So the Spectre vanishes for about twenty years before being revived in the mid-sixties where he's almost used as a DC silver age response to Dr. Strange. He has the crazy adventures and his powers seemed to be do whatever he needed to, but occasionally he was weakened. Not great stories since they're your basic DC silver age stuff (not even the ones I'd point out as being entertainingly goofy) but there is some spectacular art in this era, particularly from Neal Adams. Toward the end of this period, there were stories that made the Spectre and Jim Corrigan separate individuals. This happened once or twice obliquely in the golden age (he'd split in half and talk to himself), but it's firmly established here. They were divided on the idea of whether or not the Spectre should kill and seemed like a retcon on why he started out really violent and then stopped. This also transitioned into a brief time when he hosted a horror comic. After two issues of that, Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo got their hands on the character. The previous issue ended with the Spectre jumping out to unmask a guy disguised as a ventriloquist dummy and then watching as the police put him in a jail cell. In their first issue, the Spectre makes a guy drive off a cliff, melts a guy's arms because he pulls a gun, and then turns out the lights and strips a guy to a skeleton before turning the lights back on. Their run lasts a year and is hugely influential. It's the key to the "Spectre does crazy things to get criminals" characterization. Also, the Spectre and Corrigan are back to being the same guy again. So once they leave, the Spectre goes into limbo (ha ha) for a few years doing occasional guest appearances and the like. The Phantom Stranger takes over the supernatural adventures role in the 1970's and he's sidelined until the post-Crisis series where Corrigan and the Spectre are separate again and he's just doing the standard superhero thing. This series is not worth checking out on any level. Finally we get to the Ostrander run where the idea that he's the Wrath of God comes up and most of the series is really about exploring the ethics and morality of the situation. This is the best Spectre stuff to read and it really cemented the portrayal of the character. After that there isn't much to say. Hal Jordan took over the role and J.M. DeMatteis tried to make him the Spirit of Redemption. Crispus Allen took on the role next but they didn't really do a lot with him before the new-52 hit.
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Jul 25, 2014 04:39
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So my little brother picked up some batarangs at a gun show last weekend (because where else would you find Batman stuff than at a gun show?) and we've been spending the past couple of days having fun just pitching them at a piece of plywood we set up against our garage and seeing how well we can get them to stick in/on target. Anyway, it occurred to me today, while going over to pull one out of the board, that "batarang" isn't really a proper term, is it? I mean, these days they're really more like bat-shuriken. In fact the only time I can ever really remember seeing Batman use a batarang like a boomerang is in the intro to Batman the Animated Series where he knocks the guns out of the guys' hands. So has Batman ever actuallly gotten a batarang to come back or does he call them that because Batman's actual Shameful Secret is that he loves a good pun?
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Jul 25, 2014 06:45
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TwoPair posted:So my little brother picked up some batarangs at a gun show last weekend Batman threw batarangs at your brother and started flexing. That's what I'm going to pretend happened.
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Jul 25, 2014 06:53
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Random Stranger posted:After that there isn't much to say. Hal Jordan took over the role and J.M. DeMatteis tried to make him the Spirit of Redemption. Crispus Allen took on the role next but they didn't really do a lot with him before the new-52 hit. I still see "Crispus Attucks" in my brain when I read that guy's name -- it's the only other Crispus I've heard of. (This is probably the point, but it's still distracting to me.)
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Jul 25, 2014 11:36
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Was the batarang from Batman 66? I remember an incarnation where they were used to hit people on the head and cut roots or something, and then come back, so Batman would leave no evidence and wouldn't have to get regular shipments of them to his cave. I could be making this up, but it makes sense
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Jul 25, 2014 14:17
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As I recall, the Batarang showed up in the first 10~20 issues of Batman ever, and was originally made for him by the guy who taught him how to throw boomerangs.
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Jul 25, 2014 15:00
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Yeah the Batarang appears in the first 4 issues or so. As far as i'm aware it's just effectively a boomerang until The Dark Knight Returns introduces using them as shurikens and the Burton Batman film introduces the Batarang/grappling gun.
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Jul 25, 2014 15:08
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TwoPair posted:So my little brother picked up some batarangs at a gun show last weekend (because where else would you find Batman stuff than at a gun show?) and we've been spending the past couple of days having fun just pitching them at a piece of plywood we set up against our garage and seeing how well we can get them to stick in/on target. Anyway, it occurred to me today, while going over to pull one out of the board, that "batarang" isn't really a proper term, is it? I mean, these days they're really more like bat-shuriken. In fact the only time I can ever really remember seeing Batman use a batarang like a boomerang is in the intro to Batman the Animated Series where he knocks the guns out of the guys' hands. So has Batman ever actuallly gotten a batarang to come back or does he call them that because Batman's actual Shameful Secret is that he loves a good pun? No joke, post 52 there was a Batman story that revealed that Batman had audio transmitters and GPS built into each and every Batarang. And that they were intentionally designed so they would end up all over Gotham city (on account of how often Batman or his sidekicks throw them around.) and would maybe overhear someone committing a crime. Batman's Shameful Secret is he wants to bug Gotham, but isn't actually motivated enough to do a comprehensive job.
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Jul 26, 2014 15:53
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Wouldn't this create a trade in black market batarangs?
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Jul 27, 2014 03:53
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hadji murad posted:Wouldn't this create a trade in black market batarangs? There's an amazing arc of Gotham Central that involves a discarded Batarang.
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Jul 27, 2014 04:03
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I'm taking advantage of Marvel Unlimited to catch up on some of the cosmic Marvel stuff I never caught on to the first time around. I'm noticing that Groot is kind of unexpectedly vocal in Annihilation: Conquest. When did the whole "I am Groot" thing start?
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Jul 28, 2014 02:55
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Archyduke posted:I'm taking advantage of Marvel Unlimited to catch up on some of the cosmic Marvel stuff I never caught on to the first time around. I'm noticing that Groot is kind of unexpectedly vocal in Annihilation: Conquest. When did the whole "I am Groot" thing start? Keeping reading, its about to come up.
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Jul 28, 2014 02:57
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Has any comic in 616 so far acknowledged the events in Ultimate Cataclysm? Is anyone aware that they are missing a Galactus? Did Valerie tell his dad about the visit of his parallel younger scarred evil self?
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Jul 28, 2014 08:10
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Wili posted:Has any comic in 616 so far acknowledged the events in Ultimate Cataclysm? Is anyone aware that they are missing a Galactus? Did Valerie tell his dad about the visit of his parallel younger scarred evil self? Galactus disappears all the time so that'd basically never come up but nobody has or likely will mention anything about it.
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Jul 28, 2014 09:47
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Terry McGinnis Batarangs definitely could also return. They also return in the various Arkham games.
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Jul 28, 2014 13:29
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muscles like this? posted:Keeping reading, its about to come up. It's actually never really explained though.
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Jul 28, 2014 16:19
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Why in hell were comics in the '80s just obsessed with making sure readers knew that the story continued after an ad page? Was there just that much confusion about such things back then?
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Jul 28, 2014 17:04
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redbackground posted:Why in hell were comics in the '80s just obsessed with making sure readers knew that the story continued after an ad page? Was there just that much confusion about such things back then? It's possible they were just worried that the readers might think the ad is part of the comic, which can be a legitimate concern if it's presented with a superhero strip or even features characters from the comic, which has happened.
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Jul 28, 2014 17:25
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poo poo, that happens to me sometimes now. I turn the page of an X-Men comic and wonder what Iron Man is doing there. And why he's trying to sell me a car.
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Jul 28, 2014 17:44
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redbackground posted:Why in hell were comics in the '80s just obsessed with making sure readers knew that the story continued after an ad page? Was there just that much confusion about such things back then? It might be because comics back then would often feature multiple short stories, so they wanted to make sure you didn't think it was ending on a cliffhanger or something.
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Jul 28, 2014 17:47
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redbackground posted:Why in hell were comics in the '80s just obsessed with making sure readers knew that the story continued after an ad page? Was there just that much confusion about such things back then? That stuff was mainly gone by the 1980's. The sixties and seventies had a lot of it, though.
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Jul 28, 2014 21:37
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Skwirl posted:It might be because comics back then would often feature multiple short stories, so they wanted to make sure you didn't think it was ending on a cliffhanger or something. Yeah, that'd be my assumption as well.
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Jul 28, 2014 22:28
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Didn't the old american tv and radio shows of the 59's and 60's also had a voice-over guy going "the so and so show will be back after this messages"? I thought the ones in the comics were kinda like a continuation of that.
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Jul 28, 2014 23:06
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Incidentally, I'd pay a dollar extra per comic if it meant they didn't have stupid ads in them. Oh wait, I already am paying a dollar extra per comic...
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Jul 28, 2014 23:08
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I'd pay an extra five dollars to see a movie without trailers. Oh wait, I already am paying an extra five dollars per movie.
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Jul 29, 2014 03:16
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Edge & Christian posted:I'd pay an extra five dollars to see a movie without trailers. Oh wait, I already am paying an extra five dollars per movie. Walk in late?
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Jul 29, 2014 03:27
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Rhyno posted:Walk in late? But then you'd miss the trailers!
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Jul 29, 2014 03:48
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Rhyno posted:Walk in late? When my local theater remodeled and put in the recliners, they also started to do assigned seating when you purchase tickets. You can buy your awesome seats days before the movie, walk in 20 minutes after it starts and take your seats right as the film starts.
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Jul 29, 2014 04:11
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Soonmot posted:When my local theater remodeled and put in the recliners, they also started to do assigned seating when you purchase tickets. You can buy your awesome seats days before the movie, walk in 20 minutes after it starts and take your seats right as the film starts. Can you also buy alcohol and get a waiter to your seat? If not, your theater's not as good as mine. 
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Jul 29, 2014 06:29
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The only "perk" my local theater has is that it's severely understaffed and no one working there gives a poo poo, so despite the "no outside food" policy you could bring an entire glazed ham with you and you wouldn't get in trouble.
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Jul 29, 2014 07:49
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Was Taters posted:Can you also buy alcohol and get a waiter to your seat? If not, your theater's not as good as mine. Yes and no. They have a bar in the theater, but no one brings it to your seat. That said, ticket prices are the same as non-fancy theaters. They also have the self serve Space-Coke machine with a billion different flavors. I bring a pint of rum in with me and mix it with raspberry coke.
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Jul 29, 2014 09:59
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The regular theater chain around here also has a "VIP" cinema that's 18+ and has comfy chairs and alcohol and food service to your seat.
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Jul 29, 2014 14:35
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Alamo Drafthouse y'all. They even have assigned seats so you don't have to show up obscenely early to avoid sitting in the front row.
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Jul 29, 2014 15:29
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One theater here is like the one Soonmot described, also after a remodel, but I don't think they have alcohol. More important they are not showing GotG, so I'm going to a regular theater that doesn't seem to have a midnight showing, but has 10 PM one on Thursday, but since buses end at midnightish on weekdays, I will have to drive which is disappointing. (I guess I could walk, but it's a bit of a hike and entirely uphill.)
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Jul 29, 2014 15:56
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Aphrodite posted:The regular theater chain around here also has a "VIP" cinema that's 18+ and has comfy chairs and alcohol and food service to your seat. 
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Jul 29, 2014 15:59
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When I lived in South Africa we had assigned seating for movie theatres since forever....AND IT DIDN'T COST EXTRA! Here in Canada you can pay to see a movie without assigned seating and line up like a chump (for a movie ticket that already costs you $12.95) or you can go see a movie with special assigned seating and reclining chairs for $18.95.
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Jul 29, 2014 16:36
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Madkal posted:(for a movie ticket that already costs you $12.95) EDIT: I guess that's what an evening non-3D movie costs here, but start adding 3D and IMAX and you get an $18 ticket I paid for GotG. I'm hooked on a feeling that this movie better be awesome.
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Jul 29, 2014 16:38
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