Episode 1493 Talkback - Comic Talk
Adam_Murdough
Posts: 506
Matt's in the studio for this episode, so the topic inevitably veers toward movies, in particular the latest 'Batfleck' tidbits. Also, Chris provides a retailer's perspective on conventions; Peter describes his first exposure to the old 'limited animation' Marvel cartoons of the '60s; and Pants and Shane indulge in a two-man discussion of the latest Doctor Who comics series from Titan Comics. (1:25:13)
Listen here.
Listen here.
Comments
I wouldn't sell Batman/Superman short of making a billion. I'm not saying it will but with the international market especially China it's a strong possibilty
I'm going to Cap 3 before Justice League, just not into the DC characters as much as am with Marvel's. But what I'm hoping for is for one of the three drive-in's to have them as a double feature.
Transformers 4 wasn't bad, I enjoyed it much more than the previous three. It still had it's flaws but I felt it was more solid than the others.
Those 60's Marvel cartoons are what got me into comics back in the mid 70's. I love those, despite how bad they were even for the time.
I grew up in the 60's, so those Marvel cartoons - and especially the Filmation Superman cartoons - were a huge part of my childhood influence with these characters. Consequently, it's hard for me to watch them completely objectively, as I have a tremendous amount of nostalgia for them. To many of your listeners, I'm sure The Super Friends were a big part of their formative years. These Marvel Heroes and Filmation Superman cartoons were my "Super Friends".
To understand their significance, it's important to view them in the context of the era. Note that the Filmation Superman cartoons were some of the first original-material cartoons produced exclusively for Saturday morning. Other fare (The Flinstones, Johnny Quest, etc.) were produced for prime time and a different audience, most certainly with a different budget, and then re-run on Saturday mornings.
If you were a fan of Superman - as I was - there were the comics. And, in the decade of the 60's, that was pretty much all there was.
Keep in mind, too, that the Silver Age was in full swing -- those cartoons may seem hilarious today, but they were in keeping with what was happening on the printed page. If you were a pre-teen (as I was), those stories made perfect sense.
Frankly, even though the 60's were an explosive time for Marvel comics, it still was a tough time to be a super hero fan. Outside of comics and the Batman tv series, there just wasn't much in the offering; so the cartoons were a very welcome addition. Of course, there was no VCR/Blu-Ray/NetFlix at the time, so if you missed the broadcast, you were out of luck. There were no action figures (the Aurora models were cool, but not much "action" to them), video games, or movies to sate one's super hero addiction - the Mego figures wouldn't premiere until the next decade, tv was still black and white (for most of us), and the closest thing to a video game was a Batman board game that was the rough equivalent of Candy Land (href=http://tinyurl.com/ooz6b7g).
So yeah, by today's standards those cartoons are pretty lame. But to a young kid in the 60's, they were everything. Now get off my lawn.
I actually got emotionally attached while watching Spider-man 3 then I did ASM. Not digging any of the cast except for Stone & Leary, I did not even bother with ASM2. I'm sure at some point it'll be on FX & I'll see it...but nothing I've heard squashed any of the concerns I had about the movie.
As I mentioned before, though; to each his own.
M
It's not a shot at the movie, but I think some fanboys have way too high of expectations this'll be bigger then Avatar. In my experience, the bigger the expectations, the bigger then let down. I just want it to be entertaining.
M
As for the new Superman/Batman movie, I'm looking forward to it. As with all things with previous continuity, fan people can be a little annoying. There have been alternate storylines before and I think that's what these movies should be. I also enjoyed Man of Steel. Yes, to each is own.
Oh I agree no way this will be as big as Avatar. I'm not sure Avatar 2 will be as big as Avatar.
But if that horrible Alice in Wonderland can make a billion then anything is possible.
And I'm also just hoping for a good movie
Okay, now seeing it in black and white (as opposed to hearing the little voice in my head say it) it's definitely more "weird" than "funny."
Regarding Harlan Ellison - I am looking forward to this new Batman '66 comic. It's a script that never got produced, which will introduce Two-Face (if my memory isn't failing me, and I apologize if Pete offered this information in the episode). To Chris's point, I do not believe there was any animus surrounding this unfilmed episode, unlike "City on the Edge of Forever," where Ellison felt the changes made to his script sucked much of the emotion from that episode, including what would have been the very first time where Spock would have called Kirk by his first name, signifying the strong friendship growing between these two different characters.
Yes, Ellison is known for his ire and vitriol and litigiousness, but that is far too simplistic a characterization that belittles a man who is still writing at the age of 80, is one of the most-honored and awarded writers in multiple genres/formats (I believe he's still the only writer to win the Writer's Guild Award for best teleplay 4 times, for solo work, which includes the previously mentioned Star Trek episode). His litigation has not only been to protect his own name, but has also been to protect authors, in general, from entities/corporations that feel it is all right to share authors' works without proper recompense - all of this, at Ellison's own, personal expense.
And, having met the man and spoken to him on the phone as recently as last week, I can say that he is incredibly generous with his time. Yes, he's known for his strong opinions, which can rub people the wrong way, especially if they disagree with him (see: Alan Moore, Steve Ditko, Dave Sim,), but I'll take his no-bullshit approach any day. (yeah, it helps that I am a big fan of his writing and generally agree with many of his opinions).
I'm just saying, the man is deserving of a bit more respect than the quick "he's an angry old crazy-man." And, I should add, I'm a big fan of Mr. Eberlee on the show. Not trying to denigrate him, or beat him down metaphorically, just trying to even the playing field a bit.
Keep up the great work, and thanks,
chris
Have you noticed that when Matt is on the show, he’s driving the discussion with interesting questions? Much appreciated Matt.
Will the superhero genre fade? Sure it will, just like disaster movies, westerns and detective films, but it won’t disappear. The entertainment market is fickle. Producers are always looking for the next new thing and right now, they’re riding the superhero wave.
The trend to watch is the creation of new venues for films and series. Netflix’s Orange is the new Black proved you can create an inexpensive show and make money by attracting new subscribers. An analogue would be a killer app that is only available on one OS, or the video game The Last of Us, which is only available on the Playstation. Hell, I considered buying a PS4 just to play that game.
This trend is driven by the high cost of making block-buster films (A $1 billion return is now the standard of success for these films and those cost more than $100 million to make) and the desire by web-based entertainment distributors and cable-based networks to grab a larger part of the pie. That’s good because they’ll have to focus on good stories and acting and not just movie stars and special effects.
I have to believe that most of those smaller superhero shows will stink. Look at Agents of Shield. Big name director associated with the show but the stories and characters put me to sleep. What a missed opportunity.
Also, I could never get into Harlan Ellison’s scifi but I did hear him speak once and he is an amazing personality. The problem with novelists writing for TV or film is that they don’t understand the constraints of the medium. Budgets, stars (as Peter noted) and other limitations force producers to rewrite scripts. Roddenberry rewrote every script when he was showrunning the original Star Trek.
M