Plastic man was definitely a strange comic, though the story telling and slapstick humor was very well done. i thought it was interesting at the very end of the segment how this superhero must somehow capture himself, though not an entirely new super hero dilemma. The difference for plastic man, was that his other identity was a criminal instead of a normal person. It makes me wonder what that kind of scenario means in relation to the horrible story of Jack Cole. Was is some kind of a hint for what the author was going through before he decided to commit suicide, if maybe this comic strip was really the suicide note that the police never found. In the comic, the sculpture very sneakily used Hansel and Gretel book with the pieces of clay as a way for Plastic Man to find him. The artist used his own medium to get send the message HELP, why wouldn't Jack Cole do the same thing?
Shazam!
The captain marvel comics were incredibly cute and imaginative. It almost reminds me of the kind of stories my little brother would make up as a kid when we could be playing with his superhero toys and blocks. There was a kind of innocence with this superhero was you do not find with batman or even superman. I know captain marvel is really an 8 year old kids who turns into a full grown man when the right word is said, but you'd think that his personality and maturity would be influenced by that change as well. Because of this, the introduction of the marvel family kind of confused me. Billy Baton still looks like a young kid when he's supposedly married to Mary, who looks fairly young herself.
Art out of Time: Stardust
I found this comic to be uninteresting and bland. The story wasn't very well written and the art was super flat and static. There were more comics from that same era that had a better sense of depth and interesting angles for the artwork in the panels. The way Stardust decided to punish his foe was pretty brutal, though the enlarging and shrinking of the superfiend seemed somewhat pointless. It was just a way for the comic artists to show that Stardust had more powers.
Supersnipe:
This was by far one of my favorite reads for the week. I thought the comic was absolutely adorable and stayed true to what a little kid his age would be thinking. It reminded me of Dennis the Menace, especially when the policeman was chasing after Supersnipe, grumbling and groaning when he couldn't keep up with the nimble little kid. This comic shows that younger kids were very influenced by the characters they read about in comics or saw in the movies and tv shows. My brother would run around wearing one glove all the time after the first time he saw Star Wars. It didn't help that he was also a blonde, blue eyed boy named Luke. What is important about this is that these kids have such a strong imagination that they live in the characters. They become part of them in a way where these kids like to act it out when they play games or get dressed for the day. I'm sure plenty of us have stories like this in one way or another and I like seeing this played out in a sweet little comic about a boy and his love for comic books.
Wonder Woman:
I have been on overload with this character lately because of the nature of my paper, but I enjoyed being able to read some of the early stories. The story telling and artwork for these comics have been stellar since the series first started. The early comics still had a very square layout, but the artist still manages to play around with the size of the frames and composition for each panel. I find it funny how Wonder Woman seems to be the female counter part of Superman, and how Steve Trevor, the lois lane of this comic, is constantly being saved.
(RECOMMENDATION)
I would suggest anyone to read something of Wonder Woman if they are into comics. While at a comic store trying to find some more "research", I happened to come across a 2007 Wonder Woman comic called Love and Murder. The artwork is lovely and the story is touching and hilariously funny. It makes plenty of references to old wonder woman comics. Batman, Superman, and Black Canary also have their appearances here. It was quite hard to put down.
Plastic man.. yah, I don't know what to say about it, besides it was a good parodying superhero logic by making it even more larger than life and ridiculous. I mean becoming a villainous guy for the alter-ego is really pushing what an alter ego can be. And pulling a sorceress out of a lake to 'save her' and get magic powers within what, three panels? It's just utterly ridiculous, and possibly far more entertaining than Superman or likes because pushing it so hard does make it a bit more unpredictable in ways.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Marvel in Shazam I found slightly irritating compared to Plastic Man. He is rather similar to Superman but way more artificial feeling. I mean he's suppose to be homeless but the linework and coloring of him is so clean that that fact seemed to be an outright lie. Also, the mytholigical gods that make up Shazam, aren't all gods and fit kind of awkwardly to their attribute in places. To me, at least, Shazam looks neater then some of the early Superman comics, but feels more flimsy that way. Like the sugary version of Superman.
Stardust was also just absurd. The morals just seemed really.. effed up. Supposedly Mars has inhabitants and the bad guy kills them all making it a giant flamming planet to then throw at Earth. The inhabitants of Mars don't even get to be seen alive, they are just skeletons the first time we see them. The whole genocide of martians happens and well the visual information seems to gloss over it, which is a bit shocking. And then you have to think the guy kind of stupid for not just setting the earth aflame, or knocking Mars into Earth without setting it aflame. Or, heck, all it takes is a decent sized meteor, so why bother with Mars?
Supersnipe had a very 'Leave it to Beaver' esthetic, and was kind of cute and charming in that mild humor sort of way. I don't think I could read a lot of it, because it has the vibe of getting obnoxiously repetitive in its cute misunderstanding boy thing. I do find it amusing to compare it to the modern Kickass character. Actually if you mix Kickass and Hitgirl, you kinda make Supersnipe. I wonder if Supersnipe was an inspiration to the Kickass comics?
Morphene, Murder, and Me was a beautiful comic. On one side its a really nice gangster story. And on the other for coming off strong at first, I can't help but repeat in my head how stupid and weak willed the woman is for going along with that asshole gangster. I know its sort of a trope in that genre for there to be a stupid broad, but still. I guess, though, that her stupidity and seeing the consequences as spun out and crazy as they get really drive the morality and the irony home. I always like ironic cyclical-esk stories too. They have that really finished feeling quality.
Who Dunnit? was also fairly enjoyable. I'm usually not very good at these things, but I managed to guess it before I finished reading the about all the evidence, so I wonder at how difficult it is. And, the characters were pretty flattish, especially the victims. Making the victims downright evil makes their deaths pretty trivial but also makes the motives much easier to formulate. Sometimes the pacing also felt awkward, but it was a decently entertaining read, especially if you like puzzles.
ReplyDeleteWonder Woman was really great actually. I like her a whole lot more in that first comic then I ever have the animated one. She's just a whole lot less serious, and much more of a trouble-maker, and it makes her so much more fun. Buying her alter egos identity off that nurse was a bit disconcerting, but the shopping scene, and the outrunning cars was just great. And by the way, she looks way better with a skirt then shorts, or the one pieced thing. She seemed more of a cohesive character I guess, where later she seems to be split between being a girl and being a heap-ton-big super hero.
Also, about the S & M bits... it's really painfully clear in them that its true. But it doesn't come off really as sexual but more so just as awkward and weird to me because there is so much and so many characters going on, and no one seems to have feelings towards one another but comrade and mother/daughter. It's just all very logical sounding thoughts at speech. The villain woman is a villain because that is what is what she does, that's what villains do, they want revenge. Basically, they are fairly flat sounding characters.
RECOMMENDATION: This is hard, I think Supersnipe is good to read for being the epitome child comic hero, and also Wonder Woman, but only the first comic really seems as important, for its insight to what she initially was compared to what she is now. Personally, I chose Wonder Woman. Logically I chose Supersnipe.
Art out of Time was my least favorite reading. Although it was short and simple, it left me more confused at the lack of story line and the jumpiness and simplified wording of the man speaking. Many of the frames were the same images drawn slightly different. I don't know if I could be able to read a whole comic issue of this because it does not seem like a interesting comic.
ReplyDeleteSupersnipe was another story. I enjoyed reading this comic about a little kid who pretends he is a superhero and the world needs him to help fight crime. He reminds me of my little brother who is 6. Kids that age are very easily influenced so the comic, Supersnipe, portrays the young boy very realistically. I also agree that this comic reminds me of Dennis the Menace too. They are both young boys who have vivid imaginations that always lead them into trouble.
Smash comics #48 was a good comic that showed multiple angles from frame to frame. This kept me interested in the picture. For me, thought, It was some what difficult to read because of the small type and the inability to blow the image up bigger with out it getting too blurry.
The Best Crime Stories was also another fun comic that I enjoyed reading. In Murder, Morphine, and Me I actually cringed at the frame that showed the needle about to be plunged into the girls eye. I think the artist does good about creating good before and after scenes that allow your mind to fill in the blanks. I also liked trying to figure out who dunnit in the comic Who Dunnit. It kept me interested in every detail rather in the comic, rather than just reading it and looking at the pictures. This comic also reminded me of the murder mystery game clue. It was the maid in the bedroom with the letter opener. :)
Because I have not had a chance to read Wonder Woman yet, I am recommending either Supersnipe or the Best Crime Stories for other groups to read.