Tuesday, January 23, 2007
why comics are dumb
This is Marvel comics character, Speedball:
Speedball was created by the artist (Steve Ditko) who drew the first appearance of Spider-Man. Speedball was a teen-aged superhero who's power was to build up kinetic energy in his body and bounce off stuff. He was conceived, to state the obvious, as a whimsical character.
Recently, Marvel has been producing a mini-series called Civil War in which a superhero battle in front of a school ends up killing a bunch of little kids. Speedball was involved in the battle. As a result of the little kids dying, the government enacts a registration act which makes being a superhero without government consent a crime. Some of the superheroes are okay with the act, some aren't. A civil war erupts between the two factions.
Off to the side of the civil war, Speedball is dealing with the guilt of being responsible for the deaths of the school children. So, he decides to atone for his sins, by putting on a costume covered with spikes ON THE INSIDE (one for every child that died) and changing his name to Penance (GET IT??!!). Here's what he looks like now:
So now, a once whimsical children's character is a grim spikey-costumed fetishist.
Trust me, I had no love for Speedball. He was kind of a silly character. And I don't mind dark stories. I read quite a few books that deal with dark subject matter. But this... this is like a Winnie The Pooh snuff film. It misses the point of it's source material so badly, and takes itself so seriously in the process. And for no real reason, as near as I can tell. It's not blazing any new ground. The nineties were chock full of dark comic book characters.
I know most kids don't read comics these days. I know it's the domain of nerdy adults with social problems, but good lord, could we at least try and imbue these things with a little fun and wonder?
That's why comics are dumb.
That's what you get for reading Civil War. I mean, come on...you losing your comic cred. What's on you list next week, Betty and Veronica. Wait...have you seen the new issue of Betty and Veronica w/ the new art? It looks pretty cool. Nevermind.
While I have picked up random issues of Civil War (and am ashamed) I have not picked up the peripheral series featuring the Speedball/Penance stuff - and won't. I've simply followed the stories on the internerd.
Also, I kinda thought the previews of the new Betty/Veronica stuff looked like of uninspired. But I've always been a big fan of the Dan DeCarlo style Archie and the gang. I don't read them - I just like DeCarlo's work.
Also, stop judging me!
he kinda looks like a horny Flash.
I think we all aready know what a horny Flash looks like. This is where I'd post a link to James' halloween costume if I weren't so lazy.
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Speedball was created by the artist (Steve Ditko) who drew the first appearance of Spider-Man. Speedball was a teen-aged superhero who's power was to build up kinetic energy in his body and bounce off stuff. He was conceived, to state the obvious, as a whimsical character.
Recently, Marvel has been producing a mini-series called Civil War in which a superhero battle in front of a school ends up killing a bunch of little kids. Speedball was involved in the battle. As a result of the little kids dying, the government enacts a registration act which makes being a superhero without government consent a crime. Some of the superheroes are okay with the act, some aren't. A civil war erupts between the two factions.
Off to the side of the civil war, Speedball is dealing with the guilt of being responsible for the deaths of the school children. So, he decides to atone for his sins, by putting on a costume covered with spikes ON THE INSIDE (one for every child that died) and changing his name to Penance (GET IT??!!). Here's what he looks like now:
So now, a once whimsical children's character is a grim spikey-costumed fetishist.
Trust me, I had no love for Speedball. He was kind of a silly character. And I don't mind dark stories. I read quite a few books that deal with dark subject matter. But this... this is like a Winnie The Pooh snuff film. It misses the point of it's source material so badly, and takes itself so seriously in the process. And for no real reason, as near as I can tell. It's not blazing any new ground. The nineties were chock full of dark comic book characters.
I know most kids don't read comics these days. I know it's the domain of nerdy adults with social problems, but good lord, could we at least try and imbue these things with a little fun and wonder?
That's why comics are dumb.
That's what you get for reading Civil War. I mean, come on...you losing your comic cred. What's on you list next week, Betty and Veronica. Wait...have you seen the new issue of Betty and Veronica w/ the new art? It looks pretty cool. Nevermind.
While I have picked up random issues of Civil War (and am ashamed) I have not picked up the peripheral series featuring the Speedball/Penance stuff - and won't. I've simply followed the stories on the internerd.
Also, I kinda thought the previews of the new Betty/Veronica stuff looked like of uninspired. But I've always been a big fan of the Dan DeCarlo style Archie and the gang. I don't read them - I just like DeCarlo's work.
Also, stop judging me!
he kinda looks like a horny Flash.
I think we all aready know what a horny Flash looks like. This is where I'd post a link to James' halloween costume if I weren't so lazy.
Post a Comment
