I feel like the Batman stuff in Gotham is mostly just a tease used to get people to watch. I love the show and think it doesn't need all that stuff to make it interesting.
Blacklist. Definitely. But make sure to watch season 1 first. Sleepy Hollow jumped the shark in the first episode.
As for Gotham, I was impressed. But then again, I'm a fanboy from waaaaaay back. I'm personally thrilled that they're actually following the "established" story line/history, in addition to the villain teasers ... like Poison Ivy, Riddler, Penguin, and Joker Jada, on the other hand ... I'm liking the character but I'm still waiting and seeing where it goes.
Thanks so mush @Real & @Merlin, ok I'm going w/both.I originally only want to get invested timewise w/1 show but u guys convinced me .& yeah, I'm starting fr:pilot! :)
(Walls of text warning! Comic book history and theory inbound. You've been warned.)
Throughout the history of the Batman mythos, the most important character not named Batman has been Gotham City itself. It is a city built off of corruption and violence. This not only breeds the villainy of many of it's citizens, it also brings them in wanting their slice of the pie, so to speak.
Many people have surmised that Batman himself attracts the villains to Gotham, but it's more than that. The real people in control of Gotham, people like Carmine Falcone, use that myth as a way to take the heat off of them. If they can make the people think that Batman draws people like The Riddler or the Joker to Gotham, they won't look deeper and find that most of the crime that runs rampant in the streets is caused by him and other crime families.
The bleakness of the city, the lack of opportunities cause many of the citizens to turn to crime. Thomas Wayne was trying to stop this through his philanthropic dealings when he was killed. In my opinion this was done by one or all of the crime families that saw that this posed a threat to their way of life. (I believe they've retconned the identity of the killer from Joe Chill to now still being an unknown and faceless killer, which works much better for the Batman myth, how crime doesn't always have a single person who will face trial) Bruce, as he grew older, saw that while what his father was trying to do was good, there was more that needed to be done. Someone that could strike at the heart of the reasons why Gotham has become what it has.
He had to become something as bleak as the city he was trying to save. He couldn't be the sunshine and rainbows of Superman, he had to be able to blend into the darkness of Gotham. he had to be able to infiltrate the criminal underworld. He knew that the police were compromised, but he also knew that if he had just one ally he could trust on the force he could do more than just throw money at the problem, he could try to cut the head off of the snake that was wrapped around the city.
I liked the show. I think everyone did great in their roles. For a pilot episode, it was amazing. With more viewers and an even higher budget, it can be even greater.
@Roddy I loved what you wrote. I'm not really into the whole thing but my husband is a huge fanboy, and since I'm around this stuff all the time it helps a lot to know these kinds of things. You're pretty insightful!
@Cee Kay I pretty much co-owned a comic shop out of high school and have been reading them since I was 3. True story, I used to stay with my Grandma while my parents were working (she figured why pay a babysitter when she didn't work and loved having me there since I was the only one of her grand kids that lived in town) but I was so curious about everything it drove her nuts lol Especially when it came to me asking "What does that say?" and knowing that I liked the old Spider-Man and Batman shows from the 60's, she bought me a bunch of comic books and taught me to read using them. Every time my parents would complain about me buying comics or super hero stuff, I'd tell them it was their own fault for not wanting to pay for a babysitter lol
Well, one more thing about Batman, this time an idea I had after seeing The Dark Knight and how to incorporate the Riddler into the Nolanverse (since he's a character in Gotham it's fitting and would've been better than that craptacular Bane they used in The Dark Knight Rises):
There are a rash of high tech robberies in Gotham (it could be a minor character doing it or use it to introduce a new big bad) that is stumping not only Gordon but Batman himself. Gordon knows a private investigator that is known to be the best in the business and he and Batman go to him for help.
The P.I. is Edward Nigma. Guy has an incredibly high IQ, MENSA member, all of that. He notices a very small clue that went unnoticed by Bats and Gordon and ties it into the culprit. When the case is solved, the media gives all the credit to Gordon (and maybe Batman depending on how they interpret the ending to Dark Knight). This pisses off Nigma. He's the one who solved it, he should be getting the credit. He decides he will start getting the credit due to him.
He starts small,committing small little things that go under the radar of Batman and Gordon and framing people he has a problem with but he starts enjoying the thrill of the crimes. So now he starts going bigger and framing the crime lords of Gotham and taking over the families, all the while working with Gordon and Batman.
He starts leaving clues that for some reason, only he can solve. Batman gets suspicious and during one investigation takes the clue that was left and substitutes it with one of his own. Gordon warns him that by doing that he's compromised a crime scene but Batman lets him know that he knows Nigma is behind all of the recent crimes. What he doesn't know is just how far up Nigma has gone in the Gotham underworld.
Nigma is stumped by the clue Batman left, he's also a bit shaken. Both Gordon and Batman notice it and that's when the second act starts.
Nigma has now teamed up with another crime lord, Oswald Cobblepot, known as the Penguin to his detractors to completely take control of Gotham. Cobblepot is a legit businessman on the surface, actually doing a lot of business with Wayne Industries. Having contacts with various people in all of the companies he does business with, he has received information from the guy from The Dark Knight that found the blueprints for the Tumbler and went to Luscious Fox with them (can't remember his name now) and so Cobblepot and Nigma use that info to basically destroy Wayne's companies, since he is providing weapons to a known vigilante (Nigma and Cobblepot know Bruce is Batman but keep that to themselves to have a little fun with him). Bruce finds himself almost bankrupt, losing everything except for his home which he had transferred to Alfred during Batman Begins.
With nothing to lose and the crime rate getting higher and higher thanks to Nigma and Cobblepot, Bruce spends most of his time in the Batcave. He might not have the tech he was used to having when he had Fox supplying him, but he does have his ingenuity. He redesigns his costume, removing all of the high tech parts (memory cloth, etc.) and what he is left with is more like the Batman costume from the comics, gray fabric with bullet proof chest padding and dark blue/black cowl and cape. The bat logo is also changed. It's now a black bat over a large yellow oval (Even have him use the line from The Dark Knight Returns "Give them a target, I can't bullet proof my head").
He hasn't been seen for a while so criminals start feeling more confident. Bruce starts using disguises to get in with them (using his "Matches" Malone identity) to get info. Basically, he becomes what Batman used to be in the comics, a detective. Finally, he gets the info he's been waiting for, the time and place Nigma and Cobblepot will be meeting.
So far, all anyone has seen of the "New Look Batman" is bits and pieces of the costume. When Riddler and Penguin are at their meeting, Batman is crouching in the rafters. He presses a button on his utility belt which is a signal for Gordon. They have repositioned the Bat Signal to shine through the window of where the meeting is taking place and standing tall, not 20 feet from them is Batman. Riddler and Penguin call for their goons but they have all been rounded up by the GCPD.
Yada, yada, good overcomes evil but to show how even the good guys in Gotham aren't necessarily whit knights, Gordon hands Batman a disc. He asks what it is and GOrdon explains that it's something he had his niece/daughter (however they want to play Barbara Gordon in the movies off) work on that will cover up the info CObblepot had and show that Wayne was framed and had nothing to do with supplying Batman since it's the least the city owes him.
(Then as an after credits thing, you see a gloved hand holding a paper reading something about the Joker being caught by Batman. It pans up to a purple sleeve then a completely white neck and chin with ruby red lips smiling- "No my dears...he caught A Joker. Not THE Joker! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" revealing that Ledger's Joker was just one of many members of The real Joker's "cult".)
It would've been fleshed out but you know, they would rather go with something written by people who don't care about the characters and would rather make a mob movie featuring Batman than a Batman movie featuring the mob.
I dug the spin on Gotham and though I do not like Jada she was okay (since she wasn't featured too much). It looks like they really went for broke with the budget. Ben M. Is excellent as Gordon. Hope it continues to be a quality show (there aren't enough out there).
@rolo @Sherry Thanks. I'd love to write comics but with the way the industry is now, you have to have worked in Hollywood or be friends with the editors.
(Rant incoming) Which is what I think is part of what is killing the industry. Had it not been for the comic book movie taking off, we probably wouldn't have Marvel and DC, let alone the smaller indie publishers as they are now.
Not only are the writers they use now basically using their books to push a certain political agenda, they are regurgitating the same tripe we get on the small and big screen on a weekly basis. The "friends" (parenthesis because I've heard that many of the editors are more than friends with the writers they hire, CoughBendisandQuesadaCough,) they hire are usually indie comic creators who, chip on their shoulder from being "ignored" by the big boys for so long, seem to hate Super Heroes and if they don't hate Super Heroes, they think they can do better with them than what has been going on for the better part of 3/4 of a century and they need to change them for the sake of change.
Take the recent Marvel hubbub of making Thor a woman. This was done solely so they could appease feminists that say there aren't enough female Super Heroes and to drum up interest in, what is really a boring character (aside from the Walter and Louise Simonson run, that was nothing but awesome fun). The trying to drum up interest is fine, I have no problem with trying to get publicity. What I do have a problem with is trying to appease a certain group by changing an established character to fit what that group wants. It takes no imagination or talent, honestly, to take a character and just change them. It should honestly upset the feminists who they are trying to appease that they did this instead of creating a NEW female character that is well written, strong and a positive role model. The only times I can remember comic book writers changing characters to appeal to the non white male demographic was when Jon Stewart (No, not the Daily Show guy lol) became Green Lantern and when Jim Rhodes became Iron Man.
In fact, the Jim Rhodes Iron Man was involved in one of the greatest exchanges about race ever in comic books. It was during the mini series, Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars written by Jim Shooter (probably the last GOOD Editor-In-Chief Marvel has had). In it a character named The Beyonder brought a lot of the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe together to battle it out to try and learn about good and evil. The heroes had a mountain dropped on them (literally, it's a long story how it happened) and the Hulk, the Thing and the other powerhouses were barely keeping it from crushing them. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic 4) had an idea to create a laser to blast through it. (continued)
(part 2) He needed parts from different characters technological weapons. A few of Hawkeyes explosive arrows, Spider-Man's web shooters and finally the repulser from Iron Man's gauntlets. Here's where the exchange between two comic book characters that has always stuck with me comes in. Nobody knew that Rhodes had taken over the role of Iron Man while Stark dealt with his alcoholism and as he takes off the gauntlet, he remarks to Reed, "I'll bet your surprised to see a black man under this suit of armor." and Reed casually remarks, "No, I just always knew there was a man."
To an 8 year old kid reading that, especially one living in the south, it did more to reinforce the fact that it's not the color of a person that makes them who they are, it is what they do, how they are as a person that makes them who they are than all the speeches, very special episodes or long winded books ever could.
It wasn't billed as something important, it was just a couple of lines of dialogue in the middle of a bigger crisis in the context of the story. But it always stuck with me.
Today, the catalog that advertises the upcoming comics (creatively called "Previews") would have six pages of ads talking about the important message in the book and half a dozen articles on Yahoo. (Continued and ending one last time)
(3) There was an issue of Spider-Man with the title "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man", that I encourage everyone to find (torrent it if you have to) and read. You aren't human if you don't have to wipe your eyes at least once.
But "creators" now can't create NEW female or minority characters. It's too much work for them. They find it easier to just take an existing character and change them to fit the wants of the differing groups.
That exchange between Iron Man and Reed Richards and that issue of Spider-Man is why I want to write comic books. I want to have the opportunity to make a difference in that 8 year old's life the way Jim Shooter changed mine. I want to tell stories that make people feel something, be it happiness, excitement, sadness or fear. Comics have the ability to provide all of these feelings and more but they can only do that if the writers and artists care about the medium, the characters and most importantly the readers.
I believe that the readers deserve more for their ever increasing dollars the books cost than what they are getting. The readers deserve more than to be inundated with political messages or stories that go on for months only for the status quo to be returned the next month and their time and money wasted.
I'm sorry for this rant and if I offended anyone by any part of it I also apologize for that. I know I can be verbose but I am passionate about very few things and comic books and what is OUR modern mythology is very important to me for various reasons. I have learned a lot over the years from comic books, be it reading, what heroism can by or that a person is more than the sum of his/her parts. I have also met friends and spent countless hours with them and family bonding over them. I just wish I had an opportunity to help create something that even one person can look back at years from now with found memories like I've had.
Thanks for reading the ramblings of a freak, geek, nerd, whatever you want to call me.
The only times I can remember comic book writers changing characters to appeal to the non white male demographic was when Jon Stewart (No, not the Daily Show guy lol) became Green Lantern and when Jim Rhodes became Iron Man.
Should have read: The only times I can remember comic book writers changing characters to appeal to the non white male demographic THAT WORKED was when Jon Stewart (No, not the Daily Show guy lol) became Green Lantern and when Jim Rhodes became Iron Man.
I liked it. Jada was not so good, but everyone else was very good....
ReplyDeleteWell it's cal Gotham They gotta show little bit of Batman.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the pilot yet cause i work all week but i hope it was awesome. Ugh I missed Sleepy Hallow too.
It was moody and dark….I liked it
ReplyDeleteThen write your own show and write all that stuff out. But make sure you use a different title, because it is a part of all that stuff.
ReplyDeleteMoron.
Ben Mckenzie is so fine.
ReplyDeleteIt's on my dvr, so I will check it out. McPhee's new show kinda sucked but I think it was mostly because her character was so unbelievable.
ReplyDelete@Real Dragon, so,You recommend Sleepy Hollow? I was debating starting either that or The Blacklist- I havnt seen either.
ReplyDelete@Rolotomassi I so recommend especially for that fione lead actor. If you like Supernatural stuff I think you will like it.
Delete@rolotomassi:
ReplyDeleteBlacklist. Definitely.
But make sure to watch season 1 first.
Sleepy Hollow jumped the shark in the first episode.
As for Gotham, I was impressed. But then again, I'm a fanboy from waaaaaay back. I'm personally thrilled that they're actually following the "established" story line/history, in addition to the villain teasers ... like Poison Ivy, Riddler, Penguin, and Joker
Jada, on the other hand ... I'm liking the character but I'm still waiting and seeing where it goes.
I take it the jokester in the police station is the future Riddler, and the guy auditioning at Fish's club was The Joker?
ReplyDeleteThanks so mush @Real & @Merlin, ok I'm going w/both.I originally only want to get invested timewise w/1 show but u guys convinced me .& yeah, I'm starting fr:pilot! :)
ReplyDeleteGotham is about the origins of the Batman universe. Kind of rude to leave him out Enty. Don't you think?
ReplyDeleteThe guy who played the Penguin stole the show.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch anything "Batman" unless it features Robin/Dick Grayson/Nightwing and his tights. Fuck this show.
ReplyDelete(Walls of text warning! Comic book history and theory inbound. You've been warned.)
ReplyDeleteThroughout the history of the Batman mythos, the most important character not named Batman has been Gotham City itself. It is a city built off of corruption and violence. This not only breeds the villainy of many of it's citizens, it also brings them in wanting their slice of the pie, so to speak.
Many people have surmised that Batman himself attracts the villains to Gotham, but it's more than that. The real people in control of Gotham, people like Carmine Falcone, use that myth as a way to take the heat off of them. If they can make the people think that Batman draws people like The Riddler or the Joker to Gotham, they won't look deeper and find that most of the crime that runs rampant in the streets is caused by him and other crime families.
The bleakness of the city, the lack of opportunities cause many of the citizens to turn to crime. Thomas Wayne was trying to stop this through his philanthropic dealings when he was killed. In my opinion this was done by one or all of the crime families that saw that this posed a threat to their way of life. (I believe they've retconned the identity of the killer from Joe Chill to now still being an unknown and faceless killer, which works much better for the Batman myth, how crime doesn't always have a single person who will face trial) Bruce, as he grew older, saw that while what his father was trying to do was good, there was more that needed to be done. Someone that could strike at the heart of the reasons why Gotham has become what it has.
He had to become something as bleak as the city he was trying to save. He couldn't be the sunshine and rainbows of Superman, he had to be able to blend into the darkness of Gotham. he had to be able to infiltrate the criminal underworld. He knew that the police were compromised, but he also knew that if he had just one ally he could trust on the force he could do more than just throw money at the problem, he could try to cut the head off of the snake that was wrapped around the city.
There's a lot more I was going to write but I figure everyone would get bored and say stuff like "It's just a show, who cares?"
ReplyDeleteI liked the show. I think everyone did great in their roles. For a pilot episode, it was amazing. With more viewers and an even higher budget, it can be even greater.
ReplyDeleteReally? I thought the writing and acting was pretty bland. I'm going to give it a few more episodes, though.
ReplyDelete@Roddy I loved what you wrote. I'm not really into the whole thing but my husband is a huge fanboy, and since I'm around this stuff all the time it helps a lot to know these kinds of things. You're pretty insightful!
ReplyDelete@Cee Kay I pretty much co-owned a comic shop out of high school and have been reading them since I was 3. True story, I used to stay with my Grandma while my parents were working (she figured why pay a babysitter when she didn't work and loved having me there since I was the only one of her grand kids that lived in town) but I was so curious about everything it drove her nuts lol Especially when it came to me asking "What does that say?" and knowing that I liked the old Spider-Man and Batman shows from the 60's, she bought me a bunch of comic books and taught me to read using them. Every time my parents would complain about me buying comics or super hero stuff, I'd tell them it was their own fault for not wanting to pay for a babysitter lol
ReplyDeleteWell, one more thing about Batman, this time an idea I had after seeing The Dark Knight and how to incorporate the Riddler into the Nolanverse (since he's a character in Gotham it's fitting and would've been better than that craptacular Bane they used in The Dark Knight Rises):
ReplyDeleteThere are a rash of high tech robberies in Gotham (it could be a minor character doing it or use it to introduce a new big bad) that is stumping not only Gordon but Batman himself. Gordon knows a private investigator that is known to be the best in the business and he and Batman go to him for help.
The P.I. is Edward Nigma. Guy has an incredibly high IQ, MENSA member, all of that. He notices a very small clue that went unnoticed by Bats and Gordon and ties it into the culprit. When the case is solved, the media gives all the credit to Gordon (and maybe Batman depending on how they interpret the ending to Dark Knight). This pisses off Nigma. He's the one who solved it, he should be getting the credit. He decides he will start getting the credit due to him.
He starts small,committing small little things that go under the radar of Batman and Gordon and framing people he has a problem with but he starts enjoying the thrill of the crimes. So now he starts going bigger and framing the crime lords of Gotham and taking over the families, all the while working with Gordon and Batman.
He starts leaving clues that for some reason, only he can solve. Batman gets suspicious and during one investigation takes the clue that was left and substitutes it with one of his own. Gordon warns him that by doing that he's compromised a crime scene but Batman lets him know that he knows Nigma is behind all of the recent crimes. What he doesn't know is just how far up Nigma has gone in the Gotham underworld.
Nigma is stumped by the clue Batman left, he's also a bit shaken. Both Gordon and Batman notice it and that's when the second act starts.
Nigma has now teamed up with another crime lord, Oswald Cobblepot, known as the Penguin to his detractors to completely take control of Gotham. Cobblepot is a legit businessman on the surface, actually doing a lot of business with Wayne Industries. Having contacts with various people in all of the companies he does business with, he has received information from the guy from The Dark Knight that found the blueprints for the Tumbler and went to Luscious Fox with them (can't remember his name now) and so Cobblepot and Nigma use that info to basically destroy Wayne's companies, since he is providing weapons to a known vigilante (Nigma and Cobblepot know Bruce is Batman but keep that to themselves to have a little fun with him). Bruce finds himself almost bankrupt, losing everything except for his home which he had transferred to Alfred during Batman Begins.
ReplyDeleteWith nothing to lose and the crime rate getting higher and higher thanks to Nigma and Cobblepot, Bruce spends most of his time in the Batcave. He might not have the tech he was used to having when he had Fox supplying him, but he does have his ingenuity. He redesigns his costume, removing all of the high tech parts (memory cloth, etc.) and what he is left with is more like the Batman costume from the comics, gray fabric with bullet proof chest padding and dark blue/black cowl and cape. The bat logo is also changed. It's now a black bat over a large yellow oval (Even have him use the line from The Dark Knight Returns "Give them a target, I can't bullet proof my head").
He hasn't been seen for a while so criminals start feeling more confident. Bruce starts using disguises to get in with them (using his "Matches" Malone identity) to get info. Basically, he becomes what Batman used to be in the comics, a detective. Finally, he gets the info he's been waiting for, the time and place Nigma and Cobblepot will be meeting.
So far, all anyone has seen of the "New Look Batman" is bits and pieces of the costume. When Riddler and Penguin are at their meeting, Batman is crouching in the rafters. He presses a button on his utility belt which is a signal for Gordon. They have repositioned the Bat Signal to shine through the window of where the meeting is taking place and standing tall, not 20 feet from them is Batman. Riddler and Penguin call for their goons but they have all been rounded up by the GCPD.
Yada, yada, good overcomes evil but to show how even the good guys in Gotham aren't necessarily whit knights, Gordon hands Batman a disc. He asks what it is and GOrdon explains that it's something he had his niece/daughter (however they want to play Barbara Gordon in the movies off) work on that will cover up the info CObblepot had and show that Wayne was framed and had nothing to do with supplying Batman since it's the least the city owes him.
(Then as an after credits thing, you see a gloved hand holding a paper reading something about the Joker being caught by Batman. It pans up to a purple sleeve then a completely white neck and chin with ruby red lips smiling- "No my dears...he caught A Joker. Not THE Joker! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" revealing that Ledger's Joker was just one of many members of The real Joker's "cult".)
It would've been fleshed out but you know, they would rather go with something written by people who don't care about the characters and would rather make a mob movie featuring Batman than a Batman movie featuring the mob.
I dug the spin on Gotham and though I do not like Jada she was okay (since she wasn't featured too much). It looks like they really went for broke with the budget. Ben M. Is excellent as Gordon. Hope it continues to be a quality show (there aren't enough out there).
ReplyDelete@Rowdy, Awesome-i'll just read your chapters & to hell w/'Gotham' ;)
ReplyDeleteSame her Rolo. Rowdy your story was awesome!!
ReplyDelete@rolo @Sherry Thanks. I'd love to write comics but with the way the industry is now, you have to have worked in Hollywood or be friends with the editors.
ReplyDelete(Rant incoming)
Which is what I think is part of what is killing the industry. Had it not been for the comic book movie taking off, we probably wouldn't have Marvel and DC, let alone the smaller indie publishers as they are now.
Not only are the writers they use now basically using their books to push a certain political agenda, they are regurgitating the same tripe we get on the small and big screen on a weekly basis. The "friends" (parenthesis because I've heard that many of the editors are more than friends with the writers they hire, CoughBendisandQuesadaCough,) they hire are usually indie comic creators who, chip on their shoulder from being "ignored" by the big boys for so long, seem to hate Super Heroes and if they don't hate Super Heroes, they think they can do better with them than what has been going on for the better part of 3/4 of a century and they need to change them for the sake of change.
Take the recent Marvel hubbub of making Thor a woman. This was done solely so they could appease feminists that say there aren't enough female Super Heroes and to drum up interest in, what is really a boring character (aside from the Walter and Louise Simonson run, that was nothing but awesome fun). The trying to drum up interest is fine, I have no problem with trying to get publicity. What I do have a problem with is trying to appease a certain group by changing an established character to fit what that group wants. It takes no imagination or talent, honestly, to take a character and just change them. It should honestly upset the feminists who they are trying to appease that they did this instead of creating a NEW female character that is well written, strong and a positive role model. The only times I can remember comic book writers changing characters to appeal to the non white male demographic was when Jon Stewart (No, not the Daily Show guy lol) became Green Lantern and when Jim Rhodes became Iron Man.
In fact, the Jim Rhodes Iron Man was involved in one of the greatest exchanges about race ever in comic books. It was during the mini series, Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars written by Jim Shooter (probably the last GOOD Editor-In-Chief Marvel has had). In it a character named The Beyonder brought a lot of the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe together to battle it out to try and learn about good and evil. The heroes had a mountain dropped on them (literally, it's a long story how it happened) and the Hulk, the Thing and the other powerhouses were barely keeping it from crushing them. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic 4) had an idea to create a laser to blast through it. (continued)
(part 2)
ReplyDeleteHe needed parts from different characters technological weapons. A few of Hawkeyes explosive arrows, Spider-Man's web shooters and finally the repulser from Iron Man's gauntlets. Here's where the exchange between two comic book characters that has always stuck with me comes in. Nobody knew that Rhodes had taken over the role of Iron Man while Stark dealt with his alcoholism and as he takes off the gauntlet, he remarks to Reed, "I'll bet your surprised to see a black man under this suit of armor." and Reed casually remarks, "No, I just always knew there was a man."
To an 8 year old kid reading that, especially one living in the south, it did more to reinforce the fact that it's not the color of a person that makes them who they are, it is what they do, how they are as a person that makes them who they are than all the speeches, very special episodes or long winded books ever could.
It wasn't billed as something important, it was just a couple of lines of dialogue in the middle of a bigger crisis in the context of the story. But it always stuck with me.
Today, the catalog that advertises the upcoming comics (creatively called "Previews") would have six pages of ads talking about the important message in the book and half a dozen articles on Yahoo. (Continued and ending one last time)
(3)
ReplyDeleteThere was an issue of Spider-Man with the title "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man", that I encourage everyone to find (torrent it if you have to) and read. You aren't human if you don't have to wipe your eyes at least once.
But "creators" now can't create NEW female or minority characters. It's too much work for them. They find it easier to just take an existing character and change them to fit the wants of the differing groups.
That exchange between Iron Man and Reed Richards and that issue of Spider-Man is why I want to write comic books. I want to have the opportunity to make a difference in that 8 year old's life the way Jim Shooter changed mine. I want to tell stories that make people feel something, be it happiness, excitement, sadness or fear. Comics have the ability to provide all of these feelings and more but they can only do that if the writers and artists care about the medium, the characters and most importantly the readers.
I believe that the readers deserve more for their ever increasing dollars the books cost than what they are getting. The readers deserve more than to be inundated with political messages or stories that go on for months only for the status quo to be returned the next month and their time and money wasted.
I'm sorry for this rant and if I offended anyone by any part of it I also apologize for that. I know I can be verbose but I am passionate about very few things and comic books and what is OUR modern mythology is very important to me for various reasons. I have learned a lot over the years from comic books, be it reading, what heroism can by or that a person is more than the sum of his/her parts. I have also met friends and spent countless hours with them and family bonding over them. I just wish I had an opportunity to help create something that even one person can look back at years from now with found memories like I've had.
Thanks for reading the ramblings of a freak, geek, nerd, whatever you want to call me.
The part in the first part of my rant that said:
ReplyDeleteThe only times I can remember comic book writers changing characters to appeal to the non white male demographic was when Jon Stewart (No, not the Daily Show guy lol) became Green Lantern and when Jim Rhodes became Iron Man.
Should have read:
The only times I can remember comic book writers changing characters to appeal to the non white male demographic THAT WORKED was when Jon Stewart (No, not the Daily Show guy lol) became Green Lantern and when Jim Rhodes became Iron Man.
Sorry for the mistake- RR