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Episode 1507 Talkback - Comic Talk
Pants
Posts: 567
Kiss structured discussion goodbye, 'cuz it's Comic Talk time! In this episode, we recap the recent Retro Con 2014; recommend some romance comics; run down the top ten spots in CBR's '75 Most Memorable Moments in Marvel Comics History' list; react to the second-season premiere of 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'; and do whatever else comes naturally. (1:25:40)
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Also, thank you for mentioning Alex + Ada, Murd. Excellent series that I don't hear enough people talk about.
I have good news.
That TV show you like is going to come back into style.
https://deadline.com/2014/10/twin-peaks-series-showtime-david-lynch-mark-frost-845804/
Firstly: Shane, you were very wise to keep those video game boxes. You will probably be shocked once you go on eBay and start looking into how much "complete in box" vintage video games sell for. I know I was.
Secondly: I'm glad Dani was there to rein you guys in, in regards to what constitutes a romance comic or what would likely appeal (or not appeal) to a woman who reads romance novels. Virtually everything you guys mentioned is decisively rooted in very violent fantasy worlds. I love Preacher, and yes it is in some sense a romance story. But thinking that something like Preacher, or even Saga, would likely appeal to a non-comic reader whose only known criteria is that she likes romance novels? Quite a risk there. I also think Strangers in Paradise is more about "relationships" than romance, as I think Dani said. I mean, I haven't read all of it but it seems to be more about pain and dysfunction and unresolved personality issues than it is about romance. And Scott Pilgrim is not a terrible choice, but the appeal of Scott Pilgrim is hipster-ish humor, magical realism, and storytelling innovation; the theme is romance, but on a page by page basis a reader is mostly dealing with very atypical storytelling. It's almost like saying "Oh you like romance? James Joyce's Ulysses has a husband and wife in it, so go read that." Not that your suggestions are as difficult to read as Ulysses, but you get my point that in all of these works the romance is not actually foregrounded or easily palatable, what with all the constant fantastical/violent/weird/dysfunctional/avant guard elements going on. You may as well suggest the wedding of Peter and Mary Jane, or the Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix... Probably not what a non-comic reader who likes romance novels is looking for.
I don't mean to take you guys to task. I probably wouldn't've been able to come up with any great suggestions myself. I've never read Blankets, but there again too it seems like the work is about relationships and DYSFUNCTION rather than romance and happy endings or whatever. It's actually quite an interesting topic to stop and consider why Western comics don't seem to offer any analogue to the experience of reading a romance novel or watching a Jennifer Aniston movie or whatever. I suppose the obvious answer is: "Well, because fewer women write comics." But the impression I get is that even within the field of comics written by women in the English-speaking world there are not a lot of straightforward romance stories.
So I don't think the Geeks were off the mark. Romance doesn't have to mean doves and sunsets. It can be any mixture of things.
Thanks for the support!
Best,
Chris, WP
www.wildpigcomics.com
To this day there are still fans who feel betrayed by the dissolution of Peter and Mary Jane's marriage. Personally, I always thought that their relationship was the best part of the comics when written by competent writers such as J.M. DeMatteis, Howard Mackie and J. Michael Straczynski.
Moving away from Spider-Man, Saga is most certainly a story that could not exist without it's more romantic elements, which serve as motivation for several characters. And anybody remember a little story from Astro City called "Dinner At Eight"?
Romance, just like any other genre, can be presented in an infinite number of ways. Just because it's combined with other genres doesn't diminish it's importance to the overall narrative. It's talented writers such as Brian K. Vaughan, Kurt Busiek and the aforementioned Spider-Man scribes who bring it to life on the pages by infusing their characters with the same qualities we encounter in every person we interact with every day of our lives.
Bottom line, if somebody came to me seeking comics with good romance in them, I would hand them anything I previously mentioned above. I certainly WOULDN'T hand them a copy of Trouble.
She said her students got a kick out of the covers, especially the older students (she taught at a community college after her TAing at UGA).
edit: 12 year old Matt would be embarassed by what 34 year old Matt has in his collection.
Also wanted to mention that the journal with my story - which, though in a literary journal, is set in a dystopian future and contains a bit of horror for your troubles - is now available digitally. It's issue #2. Here's a link.
chris
Really enjoyed hearing the 75th anniversary stuff from Marvel. I came up with one or two that were on the list that you guys didn't, but then you all came up with ones that I didn't even think of. I think in the end I guessed 5 that were on the list before hearing all of your guesses.
I believe it was this episode that Peter mentioned seeing toys from the 70s and 80s that he vaguely remembered but didn't realize that they had as much behind them as they did. That Sectaurs base was called The Hive. The figures were 6 inches in scale, so the base was huge for that reason...it was also pretty rare because not many people bought it back then. Adam was close in the description of the property. They were a blend of humanoid aliens and insects. They looked completely human except that they had antennae and somewhat bug eyes. They rode giant insects (which in the toys were hand puppets) and had large insect companions (which the toys did stuff like shoot water, had a grappling line, etc).
Sectaurs is one of my favorite obscure toy lines from the 80s, and many toy lines had a full treatment of comics, toys and cartoons to back them up. Sectaurs had a short lived 9 issue comic from Marvel and even had a short lived cartoon (which the cartoon is horrible). I would probably blow Peter's mind with all of the 80s obscure properties that were out there and what they had out when they were released.
A shameless plug here, I did a short solo episode for Star Joes where I reviewed the first mini-comic for Sectaurs (yes, some of the figures even came with mini-comics):
starjoes.podbean.com/e/episode-117-the-kessel-run/