tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post223487112499348812..comments2024-03-22T04:20:11.870-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: X-amining X-Men #94Austin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-32146915615502681522012-12-10T12:09:19.008-06:002012-12-10T12:09:19.008-06:00@Harry: I always thought that it sucked that Sunfi...@Harry: <i>I always thought that it sucked that Sunfire quit the team here, he has a fair bit of potential which I don't think he's ever really hit.</i><br /><br />Agreed. I remain surprised that no writer has ever thought to toss him back onto the team for an extended period of time. The closest we've ever got was AoA, and Milligan's run, when Sunfire was featured as Horsemen of Apocalypse. <br /><br />It'll be interesting to see how long he sticks around in <i>Uncanny Avengers</i>. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-76135484342184602542012-12-08T01:29:07.193-06:002012-12-08T01:29:07.193-06:00I always thought that it sucked that Sunfire quit ...I always thought that it sucked that Sunfire quit the team here, he has a fair bit of potential which I don't think he's ever really hit. Hopefully his upcoming joining of Uncanny Avengers will remedy that.Harry Sewalskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11886168494924203493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-10798391763803876232011-04-20T12:21:33.085-05:002011-04-20T12:21:33.085-05:00@Matt: I love Byrne and Austin, but I think Cockru...@Matt: <i>I love Byrne and Austin, but I think Cockrum does a lot to set the tone of what is to come in these early issues.</i><br /><br />I agree. I would never call Cockrum my favorite X-Men artist, but I wouldn't want to change what he did in these early issues as well. His work is just as important to the evolution of the X-Men as anything that came later.Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-85283522924234324472011-04-19T17:35:08.669-05:002011-04-19T17:35:08.669-05:00I love these early "All New, All Different&qu...I love these early "All New, All Different" issues. Chris Claremont is very raw in his writing style, and though I like his later work, there's something exciting about reading his scripts before he became the accomplished professional we would later know.<br /><br />Cockrum's art is also somewhat raw (possibly due to the various inkers mentioned in previous comments), but it really complements the similar nature of Claremont's scripts. I love Byrne and Austin, but I think Cockrum does a lot to set the tone of what is to come in these early issues.<br /><br />P.S.: Angel and Iceman didn't exactly leave the X-Men just to join the Champions. <i>Champions</i> establishes that they move to Los Angeles and enroll at UCLA, where they just sort of bump inot Hercules, Ghost Rider, and Black Widow, and form the team on the spur of the moment.Mattnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-10487594034010763512011-02-08T16:33:46.063-06:002011-02-08T16:33:46.063-06:00@Blam: So far Cockrum's pencils (under various...@Blam: <i>So far Cockrum's pencils (under various inkers) are very uneven — frankly, not always pretty</i><br /><br />Agreed. Cockrum's style has grown on me, but these early issues are very uneven. I find that I like his closeups far more than the detailed panels with multiple figures in them. <br /><br /><i>[Where has she been, apart from needling my blog on occasion (and, likely, drinking while shouting at passers-by from her windows)?]</i><br /><br />I dunno, but if you find her, tell her to put down the moonshine and come say hello! <br /><br /><i>during this period Cyclops' ruby-quartz visor isn't colored in solidly but rather depicted with two glowing red spots where his eyes are surrounded by black — rather defeating the idea behind the whole "Cyclops" moniker altogether. </i><br /><br />Frankly, the "Cyclops" moniker has always been a bit dodgy, though especially at this time. <br /><br /><i>Whoa. I know you're 10-12 years younger than I am, but I tend to forget what that means translated into pop-culture terms. 8^) So this "All-New, All-Different X-Men" era was history to you the way the launch of the first series was to me </i><br /><br />Indeed. I didn't start reading <i>X-Men</i> regularly until 1992, near the end of the Jim Lee era. Everything before that has been history to me. <br /><br />Though I definitely came to <i>X-Men</i> later than most. I'd read comics throughout my childhood, random issues of things I'd pick up here and there at newsstands or grocery stores, but it wasn't until I was almost a teenager that I started reading comics (and <i>X-Men</i> specifcally) regularly, so I came to it even later than my relative age would suggest. :) <br /><br /><i>So many of the advertisements in these issues are ridiculously nostalgic for me. When you re-read comics from your own youth, do you feel a pang when you see similar material, whereas older stuff just looks intriguingly bygone and newer stuff looks like junk?</i><br /><br />Absolutely; there are ads from comics that fall within a group of issues (the stuff around the time I started reading regularly and the issues a few years before them, which are the back issues I acquired first and read the most often) which trigger almost as much nostalgic affection as the stories themselves do. <br /><br />But there are some great ads in these issues as well. I took screen caps of five or six from this issue alone, to get sprinkled in throughout the next few posts.Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-85185074711128033182011-02-07T23:16:27.216-06:002011-02-07T23:16:27.216-06:00And PS to Teebore (or anyone who cares to reply): ...<br>And PS to Teebore (or anyone who cares to reply): So many of the advertisements in these issues are ridiculously nostalgic for me. When you re-read comics from your own youth, do you feel a pang when you see similar material, whereas older stuff just looks intriguingly bygone and newer stuff looks like junk?<br /><br />VW: <i>eurth — n.</i> [yurth] The ground bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, Asia, and Antarctica.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-19226861965138096012011-02-07T23:09:27.987-06:002011-02-07T23:09:27.987-06:00I'm just seeing some of the later comments now...<br>I'm just seeing some of the later comments now, because I originally wrote up mine a while back and couldn't post them.<br /><br /><i>Teebore: I think the idea is supposed to be that if you're hungry and a werewolf, you'll just feast on man-flesh, but if you're hungry and NOT a werewolf, well, then, a Slim Jim is for you.</i><br /><br />You said it better than I did.<br /><br /><i>Teebore: To be fair, Beast is now an Avenger, and thus, because the general populace of the Marvel Universe is stupid, beloved despite being a mutant.</i><br /><br />Also well said and something I commented upon in the previous X-Men post, which I just realized I have even more to say about if the WiFi holds up...<br /><br />PS to Hannah: I always love a good <i>Young Frankenstein</i> reference, and that's one of my favorites.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-2462497600408696812011-02-07T23:03:44.889-06:002011-02-07T23:03:44.889-06:00Teebore: It might be because when I first started ...<br><i>Teebore: It might be because when I first started reading X-Men comics, Nightcrawler was firmly entrenched in </i>Excalibur<i> so that's become my default way of thinking about him.</i><br /><br />Whoa. I know you're 10-12 years younger than I am, but I tend to forget what that means translated into pop-culture terms. 8^) So this "All-New, All-Different X-Men" era was history to you the way the launch of the first series was to me — except actually more significant in the scheme of things in every other way than actually introducing the original concept. <br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-45500020348021428832011-02-07T22:55:16.005-06:002011-02-07T22:55:16.005-06:00I've had this bi-monthly / bi-weekly conversat...<br>I've had this bi-monthly / bi-weekly conversation before. While the terms are both defined in both directions, as Teebore says periodicals publishers in my experience tend to use them in the "less frequent" senses: <i>Bi-monthly</i> pretty exclusively means every other month. <i>Bi-weekly</i> used to be seen as more confusing, and often replaced with <i>twice monthly</i> or even the archaic <i>fortnightly</i>; if you really mean <i>twice per week</i>, you tend to say that.<br /><br />I can't argue with you over The Champions as "a hodgepodge team of random characters," Teebore, but they're in the sweet spot of my personal Golden Age of Comics where rationality and even quality have nothing to do with my affections.<br /><br />The cover to this issue, penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Dave Cockrum, deserves mention, by the way, not only for the curious lack of Thunderbird among the head shots — and the in-retrospect-hilarious absence of Wolverine from the main figures, given that he'll be the breakout selling-point character in decades to come — but for the sheer dynamism that surely parted many kids from their allowance at the spinner rack even if they'd never heard of the X-Men before.<br /><br />VW: <i>antick — n.</i> [<i>an</i> tik] 1. Ye olde foolish behaviour. 2. Half ant, half tick.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-76030761837474406542011-02-07T22:48:25.592-06:002011-02-07T22:48:25.592-06:00It's so great to see Orz's lettering. For ...<br>It's so great to see Orz's lettering. For me it's as much a part of the neo-classic X-Men era as the Cockrum, and later Byrne/Austin, artwork. So far Cockrum's pencils (under various inkers) are very uneven — frankly, not always pretty — but even though Nightcrawler has yet to evolve into his more familiar, less demonic look, so many of the dynamic Cockrum poses are there and the looks of the other characters are pretty consistently established.<br /><br />Joan calling Cyclops "Orbo" is a hoot. [Where has she been, apart from needling my blog on occasion (and, likely, drinking while shouting at passers-by from her windows)?] I always find Thunderbird and others calling him "One-Eye" annoying, though, because during this period Cyclops' ruby-quartz visor isn't colored in solidly but rather depicted with two glowing red spots where his eyes are surrounded by black — rather defeating the idea behind the whole "Cyclops" moniker altogether.<br /><br />I used to love me the meaty Slim Jim goodness. [You can't resist that one, Joanie!] The idea behind the werewolf reference, Hannah, is that if you <i>are</i> a werewolf you have other things to bite — but when the rest of us get cravings for a chewy, meat snack, not being indiscriminately violent creatures of the night, well, thankfully we have Slim Jims. At some point there were more ads actually depicting rather friendly-looking werewolves (vampires, too) drawn by famed <i>Mad</i> artist Jack Davis.<br /><br />My favorite moment in the issue, paraphrased: <br />"You are in restricted airspace."<br />"We're good guys."<br />"Okey-doke!"<br /><br />VW: <i>tudier — adj.</i> [<i>too</i> dee ur] 1. Having more sass. 2. (<i>cap.</i>, Tudier) More like the line of Henry VII.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-57835657590723423312011-02-07T13:58:10.786-06:002011-02-07T13:58:10.786-06:00@Falen: I love nightcrawler
I feel bad for Nightc...@Falen: <i>I love nightcrawler</i><br /><br />I feel bad for Nightcrawler, cuz whenever I think of the "new X-Men" I always think of Storm, Wolverine and Colossus long before I get to Nightcrawler, even though I like Nightcrawler, as a character, far more than Storm or Colossus, at least in these early goings. <br /><br />It might be because when I first started reading X-Men comics, Nightcrawler was firmly entrenched in <i>Excalibur</i> so that's become my default way of thinking about him.Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-41517612525946666582011-02-07T08:32:45.317-06:002011-02-07T08:32:45.317-06:00I love nightcrawler. Fact. Man, i am SO excited ab...I love nightcrawler. Fact. Man, i am SO excited about the future of these posts!Sarah Ahiershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02795455714801965956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-81266374264312457072011-02-05T08:08:32.156-06:002011-02-05T08:08:32.156-06:00ha! true about Beast AND Nightcrawlerha! true about Beast AND NightcrawlerAnne Ahiershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04695186823472404436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-15916032895579485422011-02-04T10:00:55.127-06:002011-02-04T10:00:55.127-06:00@Hannah: I don't get the Slim Jim advertisemen...@Hannah: <i>I don't get the Slim Jim advertisement. Why does it matter if you're a werewolf?? I'm so confused.</i><br /><br />Ha! I was hoping someone would comment on that. <br /><br />I think the idea is supposed to be that if you're hungry and a werewolf, you'll just feast on man-flesh, but if you're hungry and NOT a werewolf, well, then, a Slim Jim is for you. <br /><br />@Anne: <i>Beast trumps your eyes</i><br /><br />To be fair, Beast is now an Avenger, and thus, because the general populace of the Marvel Universe is stupid, beloved despite being a mutant. <br /><br />Which makes Cyclops, by default, the freakiest X-Man. <br /><br />At least of the old ones. Cuz, you know, Nightcawler...Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-25742899456388830642011-02-04T07:34:39.298-06:002011-02-04T07:34:39.298-06:00man cyke needs to get over himself
i love his whol...man cyke needs to get over himself<br />i love his whole 'i'm the only one who can't pass as human because of these damn eyes!'<br />1- quartz glasses<br />2- Beast trumps your eyesAnne Ahiershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04695186823472404436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-91046110357585048732011-02-03T12:33:45.309-06:002011-02-03T12:33:45.309-06:00DAMN YOUR EYES!!!
Too late.
"As Cyclops m...DAMN YOUR EYES!!! <br /><br />Too late. <br /><br />"As Cyclops muses over whether to leave the X-Men or stay behind, he curses his power and clenches his fists with angst."<br /><br />Tee-hee! I love it. <br /><br />I often curse my own powers of procrastination and clench my fists with...meh, forget it, too much work.<br /><br /><br />I don't get the Slim Jim advertisement. Why does it matter if you're a werewolf?? I'm so confused.Hannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16915603693944523761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-8440696193716738022011-02-02T11:39:48.205-06:002011-02-02T11:39:48.205-06:00@Dr. Bitz: You'll notice Merriam-Webster oh-so...@Dr. Bitz: You'll notice Merriam-Webster oh-so-helpfully lists two completely different definitions for bimonthly. <br /><br />The definitions for bimonthly and biweekly that I gave are how comic book publishing (and, I think, magazine publishing as a whole) use the words, Merriam-Webster be damned, apparently.Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-80663179603515442312011-02-02T11:33:19.518-06:002011-02-02T11:33:19.518-06:00Not according to Merriam-Webster:
http://www.merri...Not according to Merriam-Webster:<br />http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bimonthlyDr. Bitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13568570859981368717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-2971740958410605382011-02-02T11:12:22.499-06:002011-02-02T11:12:22.499-06:00@Falen: Do you think cyke feels like a dick later,...@Falen: <i>Do you think cyke feels like a dick later, scolding Thunderbird, when he bites it?</i><br /><br />Or maybe, if he's scolded him MORE, he wouldn't have died. <br /><br />Either way, there's angst ahead. <br /><br /><i>Also, i think that is the most angsty panel from Scott ever. Or at least so far.</i><br /><br />It's a close second to the time his angst woke up the Super Adaptoid. That second panel especially is like the quintessential comic book angst panel. <br /><br /><i>And why would you leave the x-men just to join another superhero team? Lame-o</i><br /><br />To be fair, when they left the X-Men, they didn't know Marvel was going to want to shortly assemble a hodgepodge team of random characters. <br /><br />@Dr. Bitz: <i>I think it's weird that they have Sunfire join the team in one issue and then he leaves in the very next. </i><br /><br />Yeah, it is weird, and I've never read anything about the thought process behind it. I mean, the death of Thunderbird, which we'll get to next issue, was something they had in mind from the beginning to serve a clear purpose, and is well documented. But I have no idea why they decided to add Sunfire to the team then write him off immediately thereafter. It's not like he had another comic to get back to...<br /><br /><i>It's like the reverse of the first Defenders issue where the rest of the Defenders wanted to recruit Silver Surfer but he had accidentally knocked himself unconscious</i><br /><br />Man, that still cracks me the hell up. <br /><br /><i>Were you saying that the X-Men comic was being published twice a month or every other month?</i><br /><br />Bi-monthly: once every two months<br />Bi-weekly: once every two weeks<br /><br />One of those things comics taught me, but it confused the hell out of me when I was a kid.Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-68916707911028379022011-02-02T10:53:14.704-06:002011-02-02T10:53:14.704-06:00I think it's weird that they have Sunfire join...I think it's weird that they have Sunfire join the team in one issue and then he leaves in the very next. (I feel like Marvel did a lot of that stuff in the old days, but I could be wrong.)<br /><br />It's like the reverse of the first Defenders issue where the rest of the Defenders wanted to recruit Silver Surfer but he had accidentally knocked himself unconscious (not kidding). Of course, a few issues later Silver Surfer was a Defender.<br /><br />Also, I hate the English language. Were you saying that the X-Men comic was being published twice a month or every other month?Dr. Bitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13568570859981368717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-38993213794202349732011-02-02T09:53:24.425-06:002011-02-02T09:53:24.425-06:00Ha! Orbo.
Do you think cyke feels like a dick lat...Ha! Orbo.<br /><br />Do you think cyke feels like a dick later, scolding Thunderbird, when he bites it?<br /><br />Also, i think that is the most angsty panel from Scott ever. Or at least so far.<br /><br />And why would you leave the x-men just to join another superhero team? Lame-oSarah Ahiershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02795455714801965956noreply@blogger.com