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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 26, 2014 20:19:30 GMT -5
Jon, I agree that there may too much emphasis to connecting Wonder Woman to the rest of the DCU, so the stand-alone Sensation Comics could be the saving grace in all this!! I guess I'll ask this here as I'm surprised there's no Wonder Woman dedicated thread, but I have been trying SO hard to find a great Wonder Woman story. Unfortunately all the recomendations I get are the same old great idea, great story but no closure as it leads into a creative team change or event or something. I guess its not fair to compare, but are there any singular Wonder Woman stories on the same lines the other big 2 like Year One, Long Halloween, DKR or Birthright, All Star Superman and Superman For All Seasons? The closest thing I've come to is Trinity by Matt Wagner. Also just keeping in mind, I've tried the Greg Rucka books. They're good. But once again, suffer from HAVING to end rather than wanting to end. Benjamin, Of the more recent stuff, I might suggest the Gail Simone arc (#26 to #33) that's collected as the trade "Rise of the Olympian". It (obviously)features tons of mythology and great usage of the Amazons, plus some creepy super-villainy countered by great heroism from Diana...and some surprises that I won't spoil. In the older stuff, in George Perez's run, issues #1 to #14 of the post-Crisis re-boot (collected as "Gods and Mortals" and "Challenge of the Gods" are the "gold standard", and in Phil Jimenez's run #164 to #177 ("Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Found") are also excellent arcs. For a quick "study guide", you might want to take a look at a piece that I posted entitled Wonder Woman: Milestones
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 26, 2014 19:06:07 GMT -5
It makes no sense for her costume to be the exact red/white/blue colours when this is likely an introduction to her character into the universe. Why would an Amazon Princess be wearing American Flag colours. She'll probably adopt a more colour costume in the Justice League. Armour is armour, not a flag. As for the heels, she's worn them in a lot of the comics, and in the cartoons. Bruce Timm drew her in them. So if the argument is that this costume is taking too much inspiration from all the various Wonder Woman depictions, then you'd be right. Whats funny is this style of armour is what male soldiers use to wear in actual history. So saying its too revealing is just ridiculous. This makes more sense than a JMS leather jacket Benjamin, I'm not unhappy with it on the whole, but the color pallete is awfully drab, and I think that the whole enterprise could use some "brighter bulbs", so to speak. ps) In the comics from the Forties that presented her origin, Wonder Woman dons the colors of the American flag as a matter of respect (and to identify herself as a "good guy" to a world that didn't know her!) when she's returning Steve Trevor to the US to begin her mission to help save humanity from the spectre of fascist rule.
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 26, 2014 18:44:46 GMT -5
I'm OK with most of the "nuts'n'bolts" design elements, but would using a little color have killed anyone? Excepting that we know that it's Wonder Woman, in those earth tones there's very little to mark Ms. Gadot as the Amazon Princess.
Perhaps in the actual film the costume will be a bit more color-saturated?
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 26, 2014 7:59:47 GMT -5
Hey everybody, I absolutely love the podcast. My budget keeps me from buying a whole bunch of comics, but I get to live vicariously through all of you. I'm excited to be able to start talking about comics and other nerd related topics with people who really care about it. Name: Nathan Where I'm From: Atlanta How I Got Into Comics: I got into superheroes through the Batman, X-Men, and Spiderman animated series from the early 90s, but I really fell in love with comics when I was 9-10. I got a collected edition of the first Secret Wars, and I read through that probably 8-9 times and really got a feeling for all of the characters. From there I really got into the Ultimate universe, and then eventually the 616 universe, the DC universe, and a bunch of Image comics. I fell out of it in high school, but just recently have been catching up on what I've missed. What I'm Reading: Like I said, my budget keeps me from reading a bunch of current stuff, but thanks to Marvel Unlimited I get to read a bunch of back issues and are about 6 months behind on everything that's coming out. For my DC and Image stuff I just read the trades: Snyder's Batman, Saga, Swamp Thing, etc... Prized Geek Possession: Not much of a collector, but I still have my original Secret Wars collection. Read it over a bunch. It's not in good shape. Wrote my name in it when I was a kid, cracked the binding, hole in the back cover. This is why I can't have nice things. Nathan, Welcome to the Forums! So many in our community have similar "origin stories" regarding those animated series, which is only natural, because they were darn good! (I keep waiting for someone to cite "Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse" or "The Herculoids", though!) I believe that Marvel is going to begin re-printing their Star Wars series fairly soon, so you'll have a second chance to keep them pristine!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 26, 2014 7:52:34 GMT -5
As in an old prison movie, this does feel like getting a last-minute stay of execution from the Governor whilst strapped into the electric chair!
Al Ewing has already had The Falcon guest star to great effect in this series, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing how makes this all work, particularly Sam's interaction with Luke!
Thanks for the great news!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 25, 2014 13:53:38 GMT -5
Here's mine Name: Call me Frank or The Punisher Where that is classified How I Got Into Comics: I collected x- men, mostly , before high-school, Then in High school I collected The Punisher and Kitchen's Sinks The Crow Because I saw the 1990 Punisher movie with Dolph & I saw The crow with Brandon Lee What I'm Reading: The Punisher books and IDW's The crow series Prized Geek Possession: That is Classified Welcome to the Forums, Frank! I have a soft spot for the Dolph Lundgren "Punisher" film (and still own it on laserdisc!), and it was one of my Dad's go-to movies on a rainy afternoon!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 24, 2014 22:09:06 GMT -5
Brandon, I guess I'll go first...probably to no one's surprise...but to everyone's shock, I'm going to be positive! At least Wonder Woman isn't wearing a thong as in the Mike Deodato issues. Now that that bit of jocularity is out of the way... We obviously can't tell anything about the story from the un-lettered sample pages, but to my eye at least, the ludicrous pose for Wonder Woman in the main panel (made worse by an awful "camera angle"!), and Diana's vacuous facial expression in the inset are exactly the sort of illustrative flourishes that I feared this book would be receiving. Thankfully, Sensation Comics will be starting soon, and I can always dive into the Archives and re-read the Wonder Woman runs of Perez, Jimenez, Byrne, Simone, and Rucka, or the originals by Marston & Peter...heck, the de-powered "Emma Peel" Diana of Denny O'Neil and Kanigher's "Wonder Woman Harlequin Romances" are starting to look better by the moment! Heyo, You are of course entitled to your opinion but it kinda seems to me like you had your mind made up already. You see her expression as vacuous - I see it as emblematic of 90% of the super hero expressions on their faces. Someone is forever charging forward with an open mouthed goofy facial expression, it's hardly limited to female characters. Now if you are against all open mouthed faces for all super heroes then I am 100% in your corner! As for her pose... I showed it to my 12 yr old son and asked him what he thought was going on in the picture. His response, "Wonder Woman was doing a jumping sidekick to the bad guys face." Both of us hold black belts in taekwondo and honestly I had thought the same thing. It's a picture perfect jump sidekick. To label it as ludicrous, well I think that's a pretty big stretch and more than a bit of seeing what you expected to see. Just some thoughts from the other side of the coin... Regards, - Beau Ps - I forgot to me took that in that photo her hips, waist, and chest look very much in proportion which I would have thought would have made you happy. Beau, The fact that Wonder Woman doesn't look like the new Wonder Girl is scant praise considering. Sadly, that facial expression is the SOP of the DC house style at this point, of which Mr. Finch is a prime proponent, so yes, I knew once he was announced what was coming, hence my dismay which you heard on-air. As to what martial arts move Diana is executing, I bow to your wisdom, but I respectfully disagree that a drawing where your eye's entry point into the action is centered upon Wonder Woman's splayed legs and crotch is anything but "ludicrous". How many other "camera angles" could this shot have been taken from that would have been more respectful to the character, her history, and her audience? Perhaps I am "seeing what I expected to see", but I like to consider myself sensitized to this issue, yet not overly-sensitive. There are excesses in lots of super-hero art, it goes without saying, but to my eye at least, once you present a female character as an "object" instead of a "subject", as Diana is shown here, that's where I take exception. Wouldn't DC better serve their business, the marketplace, and the character by having a new Wonder Woman creative team mount a re-launch on the order of the female- and new-reader-friendly Batgirl? Or by this choice, are they tipping their hand that on this book, they're still "playing to their base" of 25-to-45 year old men, which strikes me as very short-sighted when there are oceans of little girls running around in Wonder Woman tee-shirts who don't have an comic book on the stands featuring the character that is appropriate for them to read...besides Scooby-Doo Team-Up, which seems a sad state of affairs. We'll have to agree to disagree.
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 24, 2014 16:04:49 GMT -5
Have to agree, that art doesn't float my boat, I will forgive it though if the writings good. I've loved the current run, and the fact that it's set apart from the rest of the DCU, have a horrible feeling that Wonder Woman could be the new Bat Girl in the sense it'll be hampered by crossovers. Still, at least there will be the Sensational title to fall back on if this isn't up to scratch. Jon, I agree that there may too much emphasis to connecting Wonder Woman to the rest of the DCU, so the stand-alone Sensation Comics could be the saving grace in all this!!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 24, 2014 14:57:19 GMT -5
Nikki, I hadn't thought about that book in years, but I came across it going through the "JSA box" whilst looking for Stargirl stuff for Stephanie. I never bought the rest of the event, but I'll be on the hunt now, thanks to your imprimatur!Did a review/write-up on this trade on my blog because I had so much nostalgia for this story arc! iamasianbatgirl.tumblr.com/post/92747158508/childhood-trades-young-justice-sins-of-youthIt includes the reading order because Comixology doesn't have one and the story arc page is missing two important issues :/ Nikki, Another great post! Your joy at re-discovering a treasure of your youth fairly leapt from the page! As you can imagine, I'm constantly bumping into bits of my past as I prepare for the show, sometimes to the point where I find hours have gone by whilst sitting between boxes reading old books! You make a marvelous point about the dark direction DC has taken over the last decade or so, but it seems that with Gotham Academy and the new Batgirl team, at least part of the DC universe will have the spirit of fun that this connected series of stories did!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 24, 2014 11:00:58 GMT -5
Courtney, Mike Wallace himself couldn't have asked a better question! I hope that more people take a chance on Silver Surfer; I think a lot of folks are worried about his deep back-story, but as you've seen, all you need is the barest hint of knowledge about the character to have a great time! Ha ha, thanks! I hope people pick up Silver Surfer too, it's a book that definitely deserves to be read. I've recommended it to a friend who, like me, is a MCU fan who's just getting into the comics - she's a Doctor Who fan as well and I think she will like that tone to the story. So I'm doing my best to recruit new readers! Courtney, That's great news...keep up the good work! It seems I've been saying it a lot recently, but those of us who love these smaller titles have to beat the drum about them so as to be heard over the din of a million "events" all going off at once!"
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 24, 2014 10:23:05 GMT -5
Great podcast guys, and pretty good interview!Nathan Edmondson sounds like a nice guy. As for the new Cap, i'm of two minds on it, on one hand i don't like it because i rather have Steve Rogers as Cap and i think this kind of thing happens too much with the character, but on the other hand i think that Sam Wilson is a good choice to be a temporary replacement and i like that the character will get a chance to shine now. And i also thought that Seconds book sounded pretty interesting, might check it out one day. Dave, As always, thanks for the "Thumbs up!" Nathan Edmondson was very cool, and one of those guests that just fell right into our rhythms, so it made for a great conversation (We may have to ask him back when that "Faux-tastic Four" movie opens though, as we were running too short of time for what could have been a nice discussion!) As you heard, I'm in the same dual mind-set regarding the Sam-as-Cap news, although with slightly different reasons, but if as you say, it increases Falcon's profile enough that he becomes a break-out star in comics, too, it's all good!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 24, 2014 6:10:38 GMT -5
Bob, It doesn't suprise me that you were the first one to reply. I agree with your opinion of the camera angle and with the way it is drawn i can't think a way it can be good. Also it saddens me to see the Justice League and Swamp Thing as it means she will be more connected with the DCU. Batman, Superman have their own books where they have the spotlight. Even GL and Flash have there own books and if Wonder Woman is to be with the rest of the DCU that is what Justice League and Superman/Wonder Woman is for. Brandon, No matter the things I didn't care for in the current run, Cliff Chiang's art was always stylish and respectful, albeit a bit bloody. Looked at from one angle (and not the one in the promo piece, thank you very much!), this change is the inverse of the one that took place when the art went from the "pin-up" drawings of the young Mike Deodato to the classic style of John Byrne. As to the "guest stars", a little bit of interconnectivity wouldn't be awful, but it does seem that Wonder Woman's "home book" is turning into a frat house.
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 24, 2014 3:00:40 GMT -5
Great interview (I thought the question asked by listener Courtney Key was particularly incisive ) and it was awesome to have Stephanie back! Really intrigued by the concept of Seconds. Re: other books discussed on the show, I agree Ms. Marvel continues to be fantastic, and I have been enjoying the Thor & Loki Original Sin tie-in a lot after grumbling a bit about it taking away two of my favorite books for a few months. The biggest surprise for me that was mentioned in the lightning round has been Silver Surfer - I started reading it knowing almost nothing about the character and have been utterly charmed by the book every month. I've put it on my pull list and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Courtney, Mike Wallace himself couldn't have asked a better question! I hope that more people take a chance on Silver Surfer; I think a lot of folks are worried about his deep back-story, but as you've seen, all you need is the barest hint of knowledge about the character to have a great time!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 24, 2014 2:48:16 GMT -5
Brandon, I guess I'll go first...probably to no one's surprise...but to everyone's shock, I'm going to be positive! At least Wonder Woman isn't wearing a thong as in the Mike Deodato issues. Now that that bit of jocularity is out of the way... We obviously can't tell anything about the story from the un-lettered sample pages, but to my eye at least, the ludicrous pose for Wonder Woman in the main panel (made worse by an awful "camera angle"!), and Diana's vacuous facial expression in the inset are exactly the sort of illustrative flourishes that I feared this book would be receiving. Thankfully, Sensation Comics will be starting soon, and I can always dive into the Archives and re-read the Wonder Woman runs of Perez, Jimenez, Byrne, Simone, and Rucka, or the originals by Marston & Peter...heck, the de-powered "Emma Peel" Diana of Denny O'Neil and Kanigher's "Wonder Woman Harlequin Romances" are starting to look better by the moment!
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Post by Bob Reyer on Jul 23, 2014 19:55:20 GMT -5
Because Bob mentioned the JSA jr. issue I had to dig up my old copy of the trade. I loved this story arc so much when I was a kid! My copy is beat up and crinkled, a tell-tale sign that it was a beloved and well-read book in my childhood collection. Nikki, I hadn't thought about that book in years, but I came across it going through the "JSA box" whilst looking for Stargirl stuff for Stephanie. I never bought the rest of the event, but I'll be on the hunt now, thanks to your imprimatur!
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