tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post2758642815980068839..comments2024-03-28T10:18:00.370-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: X-amining New Mutants Summer Special #1Austin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-71977924199913143112015-07-07T09:48:47.481-05:002015-07-07T09:48:47.481-05:00@G. Kendall: So this is the story Nocenti referenc...@G. Kendall: <i>So this is the story Nocenti referenced forever ago in this interview</i><br /><br />Well, as Mela said, that explains why this book flew under the radar/rarely gets mentioned. A slashed print run and suppression by the publisher'll do that. <br /><br />@Mela: <i>While this sounds like one of the occasions when I kind of agree with Nocenti's overall point, it still feels like one of her "message" stories - someone barging into a random room and shouting "I've got something to say!" regardless of the mood of this proverbial room. </i><br /><br />That's pretty much it in a nutshell. I mean, I don't disagree with what she's saying, more the way she's saying it, in that it can't be the most effective way of making her point. <br /><br />@Jason: <i>Never heard of this. It looks like something I would like. Screw subtlety!</i><br /><br />If you ever do read it, let me know what you think. The lack of subtlety is probably one of its lesser problems. <br /><br />@Blam: <i>Whew... I got seized by a sudden fear while reading the issue that you might actually try to synopsize it in the style of Nocenti’s breathless captions. So thanks for avoiding that.</i><br /><br />Heh. Yeah, about halfway through the issue I realized this was definitely going to get more of a high level summary. <br /><br /><i> The kids being depicted in black-and-white until the end confused me, too, since contrary to what I assumed for most of the story they didn’t turn out to be aliens or psychic manifestations or something like that.</i><br /><br />That was an odd choice. It definitely created the impression there was more to the kids than what we were seeing. <br /><br /><i>Nocenti isn’t wrong but she’s awfully earnest.</i><br /><br />Well said. That earnestness is very grating. <br /><br />@Ben: <i>Why are the New Mutants even in it? (ARE the New Mutants even in it?)</i><br /><br />That's one of the big problems. Other than being teenagers, there's really no reason to use the New Mutants in this story. And even in the story, all they really do is run from one of Nocenti's thinly-veiled metaphors to another. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-82102703055855457902015-06-29T23:03:15.858-05:002015-06-29T23:03:15.858-05:00I've read some Noam Chomsky in my day, but New...I've read some Noam Chomsky in my day, but New Mutants Summer Special #1 still blows pretty hard. Why are the New Mutants even in it? (ARE the New Mutants even in it?)Bennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-42932804332574496512015-06-29T14:44:03.212-05:002015-06-29T14:44:03.212-05:00Whew... I got seized by a sudden fear while readin...<br>Whew... I got seized by a sudden fear while reading the issue that you might actually try to synopsize it in the style of Nocenti’s breathless captions. So thanks for avoiding that.<br /><br /><i>// chased by Boom-Boom //</i><br /><br />After she blows up a fly right in front of her wide-eyed face. Not sure I’d want to do that if I were Boom-Boom — I wouldn’t really want to blow up a TV, either, but I think at least that’s more in character for her.<br /><br /><i>// a group of local children resolve to clean up the river //</i><br /><br />Oy. I know this was allegorical ’n’ stuff, but the New Mutants’ otherdimensional excursion lasted only an instant yet the kids on Earth got the river unpolluted by drawing the media’s attention. The kids being depicted in black-and-white until the end confused me, too, since contrary to what I assumed for most of the story they didn’t turn out to be aliens or psychic manifestations or something like that.<br /><br /><i>// Warlock picks up what he believes to be a new TV channel //</i><br /><br />His antenna limb is strong enough to shoot straight through several floors of the mansion and long enough to rise well past Earth’s atmosphere with not just little apparent effort but unbelievable speed.<br /><br /><i>// Roberto apparently sleeps in his New Mutants uniform. //</i><br /><br />I guess unstable molecules are pretty darned comfy if you can flop down in your mask, gloves, and boots for a nap.<br /><br /><i>// A dash (or more) subtlety would have been nice //</i><br /><br />Nocenti isn’t wrong but she’s awfully earnest. I am curious what I’d have thought of this had I read it when published.<br /><br /><i>// for all the dated pop culture references in this issue, the criticisms about media and politics that Nocenti is putting out there are, sadly, as relevant today as they were in 1990 //</i><br /><br />Yeah. The opening captions, while a bit too… something, are sadly remarkable — or sadly unremarkable, maybe — in that they don’t really get anachronistic until the words “rock video”.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-35256231702395802692015-06-26T11:17:25.714-05:002015-06-26T11:17:25.714-05:00Never heard of this. It looks like something I wo...Never heard of this. It looks like something I would like. Screw subtlety!Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-15807451139527176682015-06-26T05:13:25.207-05:002015-06-26T05:13:25.207-05:00I guess that print run cut explains why this never...I guess that print run cut explains why this never hit my radar. While this sounds like one of the occasions when I kind of agree with Nocenti's overall point, it still feels like one of her "message" stories - someone barging into a random room and shouting "I've got something to say!" regardless of the mood of this proverbial room. Melahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05539894845356203447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-71473844515003097772015-06-25T20:53:41.413-05:002015-06-25T20:53:41.413-05:00So this is the story Nocenti referenced forever ag...So this is the story Nocenti referenced forever ago in this interview:<br /><br /><br />http://www.manwithoutfear.com/daredevil-interviews/Nocenti<br /> Richard Meyer: Did you ever get in trouble for being such a liberal (again for the record, I'm pretty conservative but I still loved your stuff)?<br /><br />Ann Nocenti: I remember after a Captain America story we got a letter that said, "Get the commie off the book." We had a big laugh about that one. Luckily, I had an enlightened editor, Ralph Macchio, so while we had lots of fun conversation about the issues, and he often disagreed with my politics, he let me do what I wanted. He was an extremely supportive and intelligent editor. I also remember once I wrote a New Mutants story about media conglomerates, and the higher powers at Marvel got wind of it before it went to press and cut the print run (uncomfortable with the fact that they were the very thing I was critiquing). So the story was suppressed and not seen by many, but I did get a wonderful letter from Noam Chomsky, the great writer and guru of media analysis, so I was thrilled.G. Kendallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12279461069684403792noreply@blogger.com