tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post2020503652129260730..comments2024-03-28T10:18:00.370-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: X-amining Uncanny X-Men #217Austin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-70451759297675733752014-01-15T23:31:45.551-06:002014-01-15T23:31:45.551-06:00// Jason Powell opens his post on this issue with ...<br><i>// Jason Powell opens his post on this issue with a fantastic defense of Claremont's captions and his propensity for purple prose //</i><br /><br />I agree. His post <i>and</i> comments are good stuff. For the second issue in a row, the words stood out to me in a net positive way. <br /><br />As much as I enjoy the pure visual poetry of silent comics and feel strongly that the medium is, strictly speaking, a merging of <i>story</i> and pictures (or, more precisely, story <i>in</i> pictures) rather than <i>words</i> and pictures, in practice the vast majority of comics made incorporates captions and dialogue, and in this era of serialized superhero sagas we're revisiting Claremont really does stand out among his peers.<br /><br /><i>// Dazzler charges herself up by absorbing all the ambient sound around, the end result being a globe of silence surrounding her. //</i><br /><br />I simultaneously admired that and felt like it was ginormously wrong. She uses sound to generate light, the louder or just plain more of the sound the more potent the light, but if she literally did turn the sound <i>into</i> light as she's doing here (well, storing it for later use, but same difference) then either her concerts would have been totally silent once she started up the visual effects or the sound engineer would have to constantly modulate her band's volume to an impossible degree for the music be heard at a consistent level. <br /><br />On another note, honestly no pun intended, just as I write this it dawns on me to hope that the natural pairing of Dazzler with either Siryn or Banshee (after he regained his abilities*) occurred at some point. <i>[*Banshee lost his powers due to injuries suffered in </i>X-Men<i> #119.]</i><br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-87586830352771075542014-01-15T22:06:18.448-06:002014-01-15T22:06:18.448-06:00Insanely stereotypical from me of course, but I ha...Insanely stereotypical from me of course, but I have always found Jugg's fanboyism towards pop star Dazzler to be completely in line with how Black Tom Cassidy was always introduced as his "partner".Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-47151662170582482212013-12-16T13:56:51.542-06:002013-12-16T13:56:51.542-06:00@wwk5d: It doesn't look that bad though when p...@wwk5d: <i>It doesn't look that bad though when placed next to many of his other ideas, I suppose. </i><br /><br />When it comes to Chuck Austen, the bar for "not a bad idea" is certainly incredibly low. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-47813188137962122872013-12-14T06:02:14.198-06:002013-12-14T06:02:14.198-06:00Chuck Austen having Juggernaut join the team and r...Chuck Austen having Juggernaut join the team and reform was a good idea. Just lousy execution. It doesn't look that bad though when placed next to many of his other ideas, I suppose. wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-27426801826273184342013-12-13T17:00:03.198-06:002013-12-13T17:00:03.198-06:00@Matt: And of course I'm glad to see Banshee p...@Matt: <i>And of course I'm glad to see Banshee pop up here, and even being useful rather than just captured/in bed/reading/etc.!</i><br /><br />I think this is a great use of Banshee, even before <i>Generation X</i> came along and made it a bit of fortuitous foreshadowing. <br /><br />@Dan: <i>His joining the team years later under Chuck Austen (the ONLY good idea Austen ever had) had so much potential and it bothered me quite a bit to see it squashed so quickly afterwords.</i><br /><br />100% with you on that, both the fact that having Juggernaut join the team was Austen's only good idea and the frustration at how quickly that idea was backed away from. <br /><br />I'd love to see him as a quasi-heroic gun-for-hire. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-24883229565621219532013-12-13T00:15:09.399-06:002013-12-13T00:15:09.399-06:00Juggernaut was such a great character. His joining...Juggernaut was such a great character. His joining the team years later under Chuck Austen (the ONLY good idea Austen ever had) had so much potential and it bothered me quite a bit to see it squashed so quickly afterwords. Not only that, but last I checked Juggernaut was back in outright villain mode, which doesn't really work with me. I think that at his worst, he's just kind of a son of a bitch. He shouldn't be an outright evil or malicious character who tries to kill people (even Xavier). That belongs in the Silver Age. In that regard, he and Magneto did have similar trajectories. Juggernaut's evil days should be long gone. Make him a reluctant member of the team (someone for Wolverine to bitch at) or maybe a gun for hire who occasionally aids the X-Men.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-17355193403987704962013-12-12T14:11:22.117-06:002013-12-12T14:11:22.117-06:00I agree with you; I've always loved the bit ab...I agree with you; I've always loved the bit about Juggernaut being a fan of Dazzler. It's one of those great Claremont humanizing elements. His development of Juggernaut is on of my favorite aspects of his time on the series. In fact, I suppose Claremont's Juggernaut is to me as his Magneto is to you and many other readers, because while he didn't outright reform Juggernaut, he certainly made him more relatable and interesting.<br /><br />And of course I'm glad to see Banshee pop up here, and even being useful rather than just captured/in bed/reading/etc.!Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-16257862793149201842013-12-12T12:35:09.123-06:002013-12-12T12:35:09.123-06:00@FuryofFirestorm: I liked this issue because it sh...@FuryofFirestorm: <i>I liked this issue because it showed that Dazzler is way more powerful and useful than most people giver her credit for.</i><br /><br />Agreed. Again, I don't want to unfairly credit Claremont if someone else came up with them during her solo series, but she uses her powers in some really clever ways in the course of her time on <i>Uncanny</i>, and it does a lot to show her as something more than just as disco-inspired cash-in character. <br /><br />@Michael: <i>Juggernaut is depicted in this issue something of a blue collar villain, as you pointed out. In the past, we've seen him in dive bars (picking fights with Colossus). Is this really the sort of guy who listens to disco music? I mean, really?</i><br /><br />I guess I've always just assumed that she stopped playing disco music earlier in her career and shifted over to more generic 80s pop/rock when everyone else did. Maybe her solo series explicitly beat the disco drum, but I just figured by the time she was done wearing her original outfit, she was done with disco. <br /><br />Then again, an argument could be made that Juggernaut being Dazzler fan, even of her disco stuff, is part of the charm of the idea: <i>of course</i> someone like Juggernaut shouldn't like her music, but he still does. How many "guilty pleasure" bands or music styles do we all have? Probably at least a few, and I could see this version of the more blue collar Juggernaut being similar. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-85702427788096973592013-12-12T11:20:23.753-06:002013-12-12T11:20:23.753-06:00Dazzler catches up to Juggernaut outside of town, ...<b>Dazzler catches up to Juggernaut outside of town, but Juggernaut becomes reluctant to fight her when he realizes who she is, as he's a fan.</b><br /><br />I fully understand how ridiculous a comment this is -- but it has always bothered me that Juggernaut is a Dazzler fan.<br /><br />Juggernaut is depicted in this issue something of a blue collar villain, as you pointed out. In the past, we've seen him in dive bars (picking fights with Colossus). Is this really the sort of guy who listens to disco music? I mean, really?<br /><br />@FuryOfFirestorm: I agree that fans brush off Dazzler too quickly, largely because I agree that issues like this prove that she's an effective solo hero. But the Galactus herald thing has always been too much for me.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03665503542091489778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-46547263487259565942013-12-12T00:00:33.094-06:002013-12-12T00:00:33.094-06:00I liked this issue because it showed that Dazzler ...I liked this issue because it showed that Dazzler is way more powerful and useful than most people giver her credit for. Too many comic fans think of her as the chick in the shiny disco outfit, and not the kick-ass woman who faced the Juggernaut solo and survived. <br /><br />Considering that she can shoot a laser through your skull from miles away and was sought by Galactus to become his Herald, people need to take Alison a lot more seriously.FuryOfFirestormhttp://furyoffirestorm.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-13288381546971997362013-12-11T16:21:28.506-06:002013-12-11T16:21:28.506-06:00@wwk5d: I'm noticing that this era doesn't...@wwk5d: <i>I'm noticing that this era doesn't just seem to have a trend of fill-in artists, but that many of the covers were being done by a different artist than the interior artist.</i><br /><br />Yeah, and that's one of those comic trends that has become almost common place in modern comics which drives me nuts. <br /><br /><i>I especially like Rogue's mini-tantrum; she hasn't been on the team long enough to be an "elder statesmen" like Storm and Wolverine, but has been on the long enough to resent being left behind with the "new kids"</i><br /><br />Good point. I do like that she reacts to being "the middle child" at this point. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-18523870072795318362013-12-11T13:58:08.136-06:002013-12-11T13:58:08.136-06:00I'm noticing that this era doesn't just se...I'm noticing that this era doesn't just seem to have a trend of fill-in artists, but that many of the covers were being done by a different artist than the interior artist.<br /><br />I always liked this issue. As per most issues from this era, there's lots of good character work. I especially like Rogue's mini-tantrum; she hasn't been on the team long enough to be an "elder statesmen" like Storm and Wolverine, but has been on the long enough to resent being left behind with the "new kids". and the fight scenes are fun.<br /><br />This is one of Guice's better looking issues from this era. Much better than the previous issue he did. I guess Steve Leialoha was a much better fit for him than Dan Green.wwk5dnoreply@blogger.com