tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post7978445429748353389..comments2024-03-28T10:18:00.370-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: X-amining Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Hearts of DarknessAustin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-71594645275699597992016-07-16T18:26:05.265-05:002016-07-16T18:26:05.265-05:00Was this Blackheart's second appearance, after...Was this Blackheart's second appearance, after he appeared in the Daredevil/Spider-Man crossover issue? That means in the space of only two comics, Blackheart managed to cross swords with five major Marvel superheroes.<br /><br />I mainly liked this comic because I had already read the other Blackheart issue, being a fan of Nocenti/JRJr.'s Daredevil. Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-45959466508377115812016-07-15T08:21:29.298-05:002016-07-15T08:21:29.298-05:00This issue is notable for me only for the fact tha...This issue is notable for me only for the fact that I bought it immediately after having my wisdom teeth pulled. "I'm going to need some comics!", I thought, still completely out of it from being knocked out and with a mouth still full of gauze. This was one of the ones I grabbed and mutely paid for, before heading home and sleeping the entire rest of the day on the couch.<br /><br />Other than that, I do have an appreciation for JR Jr.'s art, though I think I still mostly preferred his earlier X-Men work. And it's pretty much "how much more 90's can this be?" "None. None more 90's." At least they're all legacy characters. I suppose they could have crammed Cable in there.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11428939457863204851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-17229361238171582232016-07-15T08:20:18.531-05:002016-07-15T08:20:18.531-05:00This issue is notable for me only for the fact tha...This issue is notable for me only for the fact that I bought it immediately after having my wisdom teeth pulled. "I'm going to need some comics!", I thought, still completely out of it from being knocked out and with a mouth still full of gauze. This was one of the ones I grabbed and mutely paid for, before heading home and sleeping the entire rest of the day on the couch.<br /><br />Other than that, I do have an appreciation for JR Jr.'s art, though I think I still mostly preferred his earlier X-Men work. And it's pretty much "how much more 90's can this be?" "None. None more 90's." At least they're all legacy characters. I suppose they could have crammed Cable in there.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11428939457863204851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-60775726688170445952016-07-15T07:30:03.261-05:002016-07-15T07:30:03.261-05:00As Artistic Achievements go, the logo (I assume th...As Artistic Achievements go, the logo (I assume they used on the inner cover or somewhere) that incorporates Punisher's skull emblem with the top side of it on fire and three ripples as cut with adamantium claws for the lower part certainly is one.<br /><br />I tried to image googling for it but instead was shocked to learn that there was an actual "Hearts of Darkness" action figure series.<br /><br />I kind of awkwardly love the bit where Wolverine and the Punisher are stuck in the wall of brambles but then the Ghost Rider just mows through it clearing a path for them. It pretty much underlines the power discrepancy between GR and the two others.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-71405726917188955512016-07-14T20:52:17.663-05:002016-07-14T20:52:17.663-05:00I do like the art here much more than on JRJr.’s f...<br>I do like the art here much more than on JRJr.’s first <i>X-Men</i> run — and given what else I’ve seen of his work in this later style that’s clearly not due just to Dan Green making way for Janson, although I think most of said later work I’m familiar with was inked by Janson or Al Williamson.<br /><br /><i>// No mention is made of Wolverine and Ghost Rider's shared time together in the New Fantastic Four. //</i><br /><br />They didn’t want to make Punisher jealous?<br /><br />While I get putting Ghost Rider, Punisher, and Wolverine together based on them all being characters on that proverbial edge — and being hot for largely that reason — I really think we needed a scene within Blackheart’s visions of what the characters could gain by joining him of him souping up Wolverine and Punisher with mystical/demonic tactical gear to account for how they could possibly join him and Ghost Rider against Mephisto, which is a fairly well-worn trope but certainly no more of one than is the whole story around it.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-28264629271621563432016-07-14T14:35:03.416-05:002016-07-14T14:35:03.416-05:00I will credit JRJr with excellent storytelling ski...I will credit JRJr with excellent storytelling skills, but oh man do I not like his style. The bloc lines and weird faces rub me the wrong way. I bought this book at a big discount (my local store over ordered) and still didn't like it. I think it didn't sell as well as it could have in my area because of the art; we liked the Image guys and JR Jr's art didn't fit that aesthetic (I know it's superior once you get past the surface).<br /><br />Honestly, I would have snapped it up immediately if Ghost Rider, Punisher, and (later) Wolverine artist Mark Texiera had drawn it. We probably wouldn't have gotten the little moments and "acting" JR Jr put into the book, but it would hav been the kind of exaggerated artwork I'd have gone for.<br /><br />- Mike Loughlin Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-24935640311599659252016-07-14T04:02:06.529-05:002016-07-14T04:02:06.529-05:00It should really be Ghost Rider and Friends. The c...It should really be Ghost Rider and Friends. The connection of Mackie's story to the other guys' own books is passing and even contradictory, but for Ghost Rider we're deep in what's going on his own title(s): there's the ado about Zarathros, Johnny Blaze will soon enough adopt the other Ghost Rider bike premiering here for himself, and the 90's Mephisto will make good of his word to meet GR on some other day soon. <br /><br />I'm not such a big fan of this version of JRjr, but I still can appreciate the tan&ochre Wolverine Uncannily jumping at Blackheart in the boarding home. And whatever they say of the 90's Wolverine, of these guys he's the only one who has but one title to his name around this time.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-72550605634386140712016-07-13T20:55:01.692-05:002016-07-13T20:55:01.692-05:00Romita's figures just have a WEIGHT to them. ...Romita's figures just have a WEIGHT to them. I feel like they're actually three-dimensional figures that could conceivably exist at any angle. Romita also managed to find a balance between the '90s style of exaggeration and more traditional comics art. Little moments, like Wolverine lighting that cigarette in the panel above, just feel real. He's the perfect artist to draw all three of these characters.G. Kendallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12279461069684403792noreply@blogger.com