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Articles by Gene Phillips
Godzilla Zero, Humans One: A Different Take on 'Godzilla Minus One'
First off, the title GODZILLA MINUS ONE. I assume that the English subtitle “Minus One” means roughly the same as the Japanese subtitle, “Zero.” Both are indicators that MINUS is a reboot of the Godzilla franchise, reworking even some aspects of the original 1954 template. The most important revision is a particular thematic element constant to every other Godzilla film ever made– but more on that later.
"V for Vapid Vendetta' Why Alan Moore is Giving BLM His Comics Royalties
On September 13, 2023, Alan Moore announced to the UK periodical The Telegraph that he was altering the conditions of his royalty arrangement with DC Comics. Prior to this announcement, Moore had refused any of the profits DC assessed as belonging to him due to DC’s earlier contracts with Moore for such properties as WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA.
On Superhero Movies and the Ethics of "Ethno-Bending"
In addition to all the other sins levied against the 2023 FLASH movie, I can now add the fact that it forces me to coin a clumsy new term: “ethno-bending.” Everyone familiar with modern pop culture is of course familiar with “gender-bending,” in which a character of one gender is changed to another (the male “Speedy” from GREEN ARROW comics becomes a female in the ARROW tele-series), and with the patently obvious “race-bending” (Heimdall of ancient Norse mythology and THOR comics becomes a...
Looking Back at Marvel's 'Great Inhumans Push'
I was barely reading any Marvel Comics in the 2010s, but I followed in a loose way the company’s bizarre decision to play down the successful X-Men franchise and promote that of the never-successful Inhumans. I’m not sure I knew that plans for an Inhumans film were initiated in 2014, but I certainly saw the result that same year in the AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. series.
Batman and the Two-Edged Sword of Authority
For the first forty years of the BATMAN feature, the Cowled Crusader followed the pattern of most comic-book heroes in that he never made injudicious usages of his great skills and resources. Then, as I chronicled in FROM BATMAN TO BAD DAD, the eighties began showing a hero capable of abusing his authority in various ways, whether a given writer believed that abuse justifiable or not. I also briefly referenced Frank Miller’s THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.
From Batman to Bat-Dad: Charting the Caped Crusader's 'Heel Turn'
In my essay about RENFIELD, I mentioned that Dracula’s only virtue was that he always knew that he wanted and went after it. This indicates an uncompromising will, unconcerned with the suffering of others. It’s a perfect attitude for a monster. But surely a superhero would never be such a self-obsessed control freak? In 2000, Mark Waid wrote a four-issue JUSTICE LEAGUE story entitled TOWER OF BABEL. In this tale, eco-freak Ra’s Al Ghul wants to eliminate half of Earth’s human population.
Review: What 'Renfield' Gets Wrong About Dracula
The 2023 film RENFIELD depicts the most famous vampire’s most well-known servant fighting his master for personal freedom. This potentially evocative story has already underperformed at the box office. Yet it did have some potential psychological themes that might have made the movie more popular. Some context: the 2023 Renfield, played by Nicholas Hoult, draws from the two best-known iterations of the fictional character. The first iteration is of course Bram Stoker’s 1897 DRACULA.
Fictional Realities
What are the realities of fiction, in this or any other time? Do they have to do with the reality of the author’s goals, the work of crafting something to realize those goals? Or the “realities” of the author’s world, which influence whatever he seeks to express? Or is the very phrase “realities of fiction” a contradiction in terms, since nothing in fiction is real?
PARADIGM SCHIFF
Possibly some Silver Age fans here will find this blog essay of interest, ______________________ On occasion I’ve found fault with the kind of criticism that concentrates only on the “firsts” or the “big events” in comic book history (or in any arena of fiction, genre or otherwise).
Any Opinions on the COMICS JOURNAL Magazine?
Well, that answers one of my questions; some people here do remember some of the ancient quarrels that informed the Journal's history. While going through my blog, I came across a satiric spoof-song I composed about some of the Journal's problematic moments. Since there are no JOURNAL people here, I would think that it doesn't violate any rules about flaming; it's meant as satire of people who took themselves a little too seriously.
Any Opinions on the COMICS JOURNAL Magazine?
Though I wrote for the zine somewhat, I'm not fishing for recognition. But I'm curious if the various brouhahas that involved the magazine ever impacted on your comics reading in any way.
FAVORITE VILLAIN CROSSOVER STORIES
I was going to say "villain teamup" stories, but some stories may bring in two villains and have them fight one another (and maybe the hero) for the whole story.
INSIGHT: Covid-Era Securities Litigation Calls for Experienced Counsel
In addition to the human toll, the Covid-19 pandemic will bring with it a flurry of litigation and listed companies will be among the chief targets of securities class actions by shareholder-investors. Guidance revisions will be scrutinized by injured shareholders. Now is the time to bring in strong legal teams who are equipped to tackle the complexities that come with crisis-era litigation. Crises like the pandemic tend to make shareholder class actions a trickier proposition.
INSIGHT: Covid-Era Securities Litigation Calls for Experienced Counsel
In addition to the human toll, the Covid-19 pandemic will bring with it a flurry of litigation and listed companies will be among the chief targets of securities class actions by shareholder-investors. Guidance revisions will be scrutinized by injured shareholders. Now is the time to bring in strong legal teams who are equipped to tackle the complexities that come with crisis-era litigation. Crises like the pandemic tend to make shareholder class actions a trickier proposition.
What Comic Books Have You Read Today?
STRANGE ADVENTURES #3: So far, this series has not captured my interest the way King's Mister Miracle did. (I'm sure the reason is partially due to the long gap between issues #1 and #2.) Although I enjoyed Mister Miracle on a month-to-month basis, I recently re-read the entire series (see above) and picked up on a lot I had missed the first time through. I am hopeful that will be the case with Strange Adventures as well.
What Comic Books Have You Read Today?
THE MISSING MAN: Coincidentally, that story was next on my list to read (and Raem, Maro and Roma wold certainly have made my lisy of unusual ditko names). "The Germ" is from Steve Ditko's 160-Page Package (the first in the Ditko "Package" series), and "Am I Maro, Roma or Raem?" is from Steve Ditko's 80-Page Package (the second). The second issue "packages" (pun intended) all of the previous "Missing Man" stories plus two new ones.
Clark Kent, Down on the Farm?
A friend of mine has been slowly foraging through the early SUPERBOYS thanks to the online site READ COMICS ONLINE, and I thought I would share his insights here, though he's only up to 1956. Many Silver Age fans will have heard that Pa and Ma Kent weren't fully realized in their earliest appearances as the Norman Rockwell oldsters we knew from that period.
Silver Sightings: Batman's Silver Age: What Took So Long?
I don't know that Uncle Joe was especially prominent in a Hooterville show with three young women who start the show naked (albeit behind a fence). (Actually, the girls were behind the rim of a water tower.)But as I remember (and it's been a few years), he tended to comment on the shenanigans going on around him, which made him kind of the viewer's POV character.
ONE HUNDRED BEST JUSTICE LEAGUE STORIES
Among the important JLA stories that built on O'Neil's "White Martian-Green Martian" mythology was the 1977 Steve Englehart-Dick Dillin tale "The Origin of the Justice League--Minus One." While the official origin-story of the Justice League had been re-told several times, Englehart decided to tell a "prequel-to-the-origin," which posits that a few dozen heroes rallied to prevent a Martian invasion but kept their activities quiet in order to prevent an eruption of mass hysteria.
ONE HUNDRED BEST JUSTICE LEAGUE STORIES
I found this DC "greatest hits" on markdown for $3, so even though I knew I wouldn't agree with its choices, I bought it. Robert Greenberger's text is pretty much what I expected: it's a list of touchstones for hardcore fans, discussing things like the different headquarters that the group used over time. My personal preference would've been for the "greatest moments" in terms of the stories that were best in terms of action, drama, mythical insight, or whatever.
Dark Knight III
What the actual frak?!?!? I'm trying to parse the Preview copy for the third Dark Knight mini series and it just sound like a spectacular orgy of overkill.
WHY ISN'T SILVER AGE MARVEL AS WACKY AS SILVER AGE DC?
They were aimed at roughly the same age group, though some DC titles skewed younger than others. Yet Marvel in the 60s only occasionally indulged in really oddball villains or cover concepts. For every Paste-Pot Pete type at Marvel, DC must have turned out twenty goofballs like Egg Fu, the Mod Gorilla Boss, or the Eraser. Julie Scwhartz used to get his jollies by mocking hardcore fans, talking about comics as things you read on the john.
Any SICKies here?
I never read any of the MAD magazine knockoffs of the sixties. However, in recent years I got a little curious about SICK, the magazine that provided most of Joe Simon's daily bread in that decade. It doesn't seem to have been really popular with comics people, if one can go by the fact that hardly any issues have been annotated on Grand Comics Database. To be sure, Simon was part of the problem. Just from looking through one back issue purchase, hardly anything is signed.
This 1951 Henry J Is Driven To The Dragstrip
The U.S. 30 Dragstrip is covered with waist-high weeds now, but for 30 years this AHRA strip near Gary, Indiana, was one of drag racing’s prominent tracks. As a kid in the late ’60s, Gene Phillips loved going to the drag races there, watching Gassers and early Funny Cars. He was racing as soon as he was old enough to drive and has owned numerous drag race cars and street rods since then.
Significant Comics Serials or Concepts since 2000
I should hold forth a little more on why the topic interests me: I've been giving some thought to the idea of "comic book ages," of what they would look in terms of the industry's marketing decisions during crucial periods: I've observed that most of the Ages as *I* reckon them are usually about 15-20 years, and that they go like this: GOLDEN AGE-- 1936 (or slightly earlier)-1955-- The form gets physically defined and is marketed mostly to kids even before the debut of SUPERMAN, though the...
Significant Comics Serials or Concepts since 2000
I quit buying comic books on a regular basis in 2005, having reasoned that I had so many that I could never reread even the ones I liked more than once. But of course the medium continued to develop, arguably becoming more "mainstream" than ever. What are the most significant serials or franchises to have developed since 2000? WALKING DEAD comes to mind, though I didn't care for the one I sampled. Tags: ▶ Reply to This
ELSEWORLDS (2018)
Here's my review of the recent ELSEWORLDS event. Anyone else have thoughts on it? _____ It's far beyond the scope of this blog to address the many successes and failures of the so-called "Arrowverse," overseen by producer Greg Berlanti.
ASGARD// EARTH X QUESTION
While re-reading Marvel's EARTH X collection, I noticed that writer Jim Krueger advanced the idea that originally the gods of Marvel-Earth were a race of shapeshifters who took on the personas of the gods and became "fixed" in those forms. I'm wondering if this is the first time anyone advanced this idea.
Is "Carol Marvel" Really Successful?
Because I have no life, I've been watching a number of cosplay videos on YouTube. It's interesting attempting to spot trends. In particular, while I've seen the occasional "Captain Marvel" I've seen many more "Warbird/Ms. Marvel" costumes. Some other thoughts: * Hands down, the most popular DC/Marvel hero for cosploay is Iron Man, which surprises me to some extent. It's an unwieldy costume, and making it look really good has to take a ton of work, but there are plenty of them.
Is "Carol Marvel" Really Successful?
I think the movie scripts for Iron Man did build upon aspects of Stark's personality from the comics, even as far as I recall most of the "daddy-issue" stuff was new. Even in the Silver Age, Stark was a bit more "driven" than a lot of Marvel heroes, which is something Micheline and Layton exploited in the "Demon in the Bottle" sequence. Allegedly there was some thought of using an alcoholic plotline for Movie #2, but they went with PTSD instead.
Is "Carol Marvel" Really Successful?
I think the movie scripts for Iron Man did build upon aspects of Stark's personality from the comics, even as far as I recall most of the "daddy-issue" stuff was new. Even in the Silver Age, Stark was a bit more "driven" than a lot of Marvel heroes, which is something Micheline and Layton exploited in the "Demon in the Bottle" sequence. Allegedly there was some thought of using an alcoholic plotline for Movie #2, but they went with PTSD instead.
Is "Carol Marvel" Really Successful?
Whatever deal DC may have once had in place with the Marstons has been defunct for at least two and a half decades now. I was aware that DC had bought out the estate since Legend of Wonder Woman, but thought of it as a relatively recent event. 25 years? Damn, I am old. All the dudes on the board have said she's not that popular, because her series keeps getting canceled. So my first thought is: You asked in the wrong place for an answer to that question.
Is "Carol Marvel" Really Successful?
I think you're reading bias into storytelling decisions where other motivations could be involved. I don't think Stark was seen as a bad guy for making weaponry to Fight the Commies (TM) until years later -- he was pretty heroic, through and through, at his inception. And with the Civil Wars, someone's gotta be right and someone's got to be wrong for the story to work.
Is "Carol Marvel" Really Successful?
I think you're reading bias into storytelling decisions where other motivations could be involved. I don't think Stark was seen as a bad guy for making weaponry to Fight the Commies (TM) until years later -- he was pretty heroic, through and through, at his inception. And with the Civil Wars, someone's gotta be right and someone's got to be wrong for the story to work.
Is "Carol Marvel" Really Successful?
Good points all, Luis, and I should have brought them up myself. As most people on this board know, Wonder Woman's creator got himself a sweet deal with National (or whoever DC was then) where if the publisher failed to publish a title headlined Wonder Woman for a calendar year, all rights reverted to the William Moulton Marston estate. Ergo, DC has never allowed a year to pass without a book titled Wonder Woman to hit the stands.
Is "Carol Marvel" Really Successful?
Marvel investing that much money isn't really a measure of her popularity. Let's face it: they made Ant-Man. They could do Speedball: The Movie and turn in a profit. It's virtually risk-free especially connecting her to the next Avengers movie. Publishing-wise, her initial run of Ms. Marvel (Ja'77-Ap'79) was just 23 issues, two less than Savage She-Hulk and less than half of Spider-Woman.
Is "Carol Marvel" Really Successful?
Over on the BEAT I wrote the following: "RM Rhoades said the new Cap Marvel was “a really popular female character among women.” I can’t claim it’s not true, since I don’t keep close tabs on sales these days. But have the three or four features starring Danvers in her current ID been super-impressive? And if so, how can one be sure that it’s because of the female fans?' I got no answer, so I decided to see if anyone here had any information about this subject.
WHO SAID WHAT?
For years I've been working on a Wiki-project involving superheroes and superhero-like characters, and one of the things I've been doing is collecting "cogent quotes" of particular characters. So I thought I'd toss out a few quotes and see if you can match them to their equivalent speakers.
Milos Forman Interview
In memory of Miloš Forman (1932–2018), we reprint an excerpt from Harriet Polt’s interview with the filmmaker from the Fall 1970 issue of Film Comment. This interview was done at the 1969 San Francisco Film Festival, as Forman was preparing to make Taking Off, his first American film. The Firemen’s Ball had been the closing night film of the 1968 New York Film Festival. Also in this issue Subscribe to the magazine What current American films do you admire?
The World's Strangest Heroes... The Doom Patrol!
A few random Doom Patrol thoughts that occurred to me: 1) People sometimes comment on Elasti-Girl getting the shaft as the distaff member of the group. Not outwardly a freak and the only one who "never" got revived even though she eventually did after the Vertigo run, and Negative Man was dead for nearly twenty years too. But she actually sort of dominated the team.
What are you blogging about today?
No flame wars. No trolls. But a lot of really smart people.The Captain Comics Round Table tries to be the friendliest and most accurate comics website on the Internet. TIPS ON USING THE BOARD
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