Man vs the Origin

I don't exactly recall which comic was my first.  Two memories spring to mind.  One was a DC digest that had a team-up between the Justice League of America (whom I already mostly knew from the Superfriends on Saturday mornings) and the new-to-me Justice Society, as they raced through time to find a third group of heroes to fight an impossibly huge menace.  Bits of it stuck in my memory, like Batman using the phrase "an historic monument" or Johnny Thunder suddenly having hiccups.  Yes, a bit of 21st-century research turns up the answer quickly, and I now have more recent vintage reprint of that story, but for years, the nature of this story was lost in time, not unlike the scattered Seven Soldiers in the story.

That's a decent story and all, but I'd like to believe the other possibility.  My other "first comic" was my Dad's copy of Origins of Marvel Comics.  The 1974 edition, to be precise.  It printed the first appearance of several early Marvel characters, and another, more polished story from later in the '60s. This was in a whole different league than the DC digest.  Where the Justice League story had more heroes than I could shake a stick at, the Marvel book had... well, it had the Thing!

I instantly took to the Fantastic Four, who continued to be among my favorite Marvel characters for decades after.  (Their powers, to me, seemed exactly the kind of things that "cosmic rays" would do to you, never mind that I hadn't heard of cosmic rays beforehand.)  Then there was the Hulk.   Big, powerful, more than a little scary (I don't recall if I ever made it past the intro to the TV show.)  I'm afraid I didn't have an overwhelmingly positive reaction to Spider-Man or Thor (I was a bit too young to appreciate the soapy Romita-era Spidey and full-on Cosmic Kirby.)  Then there was Doctor Strange.  Who the heck was this guy, with his freaky eye-amulet and super-creepy art?  A future underdog favorite, that's who!

Oh!  I almost neglected one more character it introduced me to.  No, not the Sub-Mariner.  I'm talking about Stan Lee.  I'm not gonna lie, dear readers; I still love his brand of hucksterism.  All told, between Stan telling his story, and the characters I met inside, that book is probably the main reason why I've been mostly a Marvel reader.

Epilogue: 15 or so years later.  I found that book again, in worse condition than I remembered it.  The covers had fallen off, pages had been swallowed up by time, and a big chunk was torn out of "When Strikes the Silver Surfer", but reading what was left of it reminded me what I saw in it in the first place.  Unfortunately, even more time has passed since even then, and I believe the book was lost in a flood.  Of course, by then it had already taken root in my psyche.  So, even if it wasn't the one I read first, I'm still going to say that Origins of Marvel Comics was my first comic.  And to me, there couldn't be a better place to start.

Man vs the Inconsequential Anecdote

It's hard to figure out how to approach this, so I'll go right out and say it.  I like strange old stuff.  Records, books, and especially comics.  On occasion I'll go to the local used bookstore and just browse for some pop culture ephemera.  One time, I happened upon a grab-bag that had a few Archies from the '70s, a forgettably unreadable Charlton Flintstones, something called O. G. Whiz that mostly printed old Tubby stories, plus something that I had only heard about second-hand.  An issue of Millie the Model.  It was from late in the run, after the comic had gone from Stan Lee's version of an Archie-style humor book to a "romantic adventure" comic, and back to an even more Archie-styled book.  So, of course I bought the bundle, and that Millie was a jewel in my collection.

Now, flash-forward to that November, when a certain pop-culture-magazine-sponsored comic convention rolled into town.  Now, I hadn't been to a comic convention before, and this one was nowhere near San Diego levels of conventioneering, so I figured it would be a good place to check out for the day.  And, dear readers, I may have gone a little spend-crazy.  Several issues of Marvel Presents with Steve Gerber's rendition of the Guardians of the Galaxy, three randomly-selected silver/bronze-age Detective Comics, one copy of Avengers (vol. 1) #20 that someone wrote their name on, two Dazzlers with Bill Sienkiewicz covers and a Marvel Premiere featuring Tigra later, I saw it.  Another Millie the Model.  As it turns out, this was the first one after the style shift, but, after I got it home, I noticed something... familiar about it.  Most of the stories in this issue were reprinted... in the only other issue I had!

Of course, I should have known there'd be reprints.  The original X-Men comic was notoriously relegated to reprints before its original cancellation, and it looks like Millie was on her way there as well.  Heck, one of the Marvel Presents had an only-tangentially-related Silver Surfer reprint in there.  I only went to one other convention after that, and never saw another Millie.  Maybe I'll set my sights on finding old Josies instead. The next con for me is only a few months away, after all...

Man vs the Resurrection of Dead Television

Oh, there you are!  I'm afraid you're a bit early.  I'm not quite ready to start this thing just yet.  If you could hand me those vacuum tubes-- no, not the ones over by the Tesla coil, the ones on the bench, please.  See, I've decided to bring my blog back to life (or what passes for it) and I decided the best way was to go the full Frankenstein-- watch out you don't trip on that cable there.

Well, yes, of course I got distracted.  My Netflix queue isn't gonna watch itself, you know, and I did just spend last week re-reading the full run of iZombie (in finer comic shops everywhere!)  Still, I had topics to discuss, stories to share, and big ideas that needed their space, hence the Colin Clive act on this space here. And what better way to revive this corner of ideaspace than with a discussion on, well, revivals?

So, I read an article recently about WKRP in Cincinnati, which got me thinking about its lesser-known follow-up, aptly titled The New WKRP in Cincinnati.  Yes, they took the central premise and a few of the same characters and threw a bunch of new characters together to see if it worked.  It lasted about two seasons in syndication, which shows you what the first-run syndication market was like.  Actually, a lot of revival shows went straight into syndication.  You had your more recently deceased network programs that were given new life, like Charles in Charge, or It's a Living (which sparked my preteen crush on Ann Jillian), or the interminable Punky Brewster, which had me convinced that Chicago must've been one of the most depressing places to live.

Then there were the ones that you had to dig a little deeper to find.  Older programs that were given a kind of un-life.  The New Gidget shambled along the beaches for two seasons, and I watched it, with very little knowledge of the original.  What's Happening Now!! (don't forget those exclamation marks, kiddies) eluded death for 66 episodes, and I somehow conflated it with the original series.  The New Monkees (yes, this was a thing that existed!) defied the natural order for 13 keyboard-driven, ponytail-pompadoured, '80s-tastic episodes, and, God help me, I watched it.  The Munsters Today crawled from their tombs and somehow managed to stay on for three seasons compared to the original's two, and I... hang on, what?

Yes, The Munsters Today somehow lasted longer than The Munsters.  And you thought this Frankenstein bit was just for show.  No, I don't remember much about this show other than a pre-Boy Meets World Jason Marsden as Eddie doing a "hip" version of "Michael Row the Boat Ashore."  And John Schuck was no Fred Gwynne.  And I don't really care to spend any more words on it.  Look, okay, I misspent my youth watching far more television than is healthy.  And now, the TV landscape has changed and bastions of weird programming don't exist in the same capacity these days.

Besides, it wasn't all bad.  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the more successful revivals.  Yes, despite having none of the original cast (and an extremely rocky first season), Star Trek: The Next Generation led to new televised Star Trek in one form or another for 18 years (and probably kicked off the late '80s/early '90s TV revival craze in the first place), and the BBC Wales revival of Doctor Who is bigger now than it ever was during its original 26-year run.  Of course, they have their detractors, too, fans of the original, clashing with fans of the new.  Kirk vs. Picard.  Tom Baker vs. David Tennant.  Somehow I doubt there was ever an internet discussion of Andy Travis vs. Donovan Aderhold.

I don't have any lessons, morals, conclusions about this.  Now that I think about it, reviving my blog by talking about failed revivals is probably a risky thing in itself.  I guess the main thing to take away from this is, they tried something newish, and it didn't always work, but they gave it what they got, and the rest is history.

And Ann Jillian was a babe.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I've a giant wall switch to throw and laugh maniacally at.  Don't be a stranger, hmm?

Man vs Pop Culture Week 4/23-4/28

Another week, another pop culture roundup.

In light of recent events, I re-read the most recent arc of Chris Roberson and Mike Allred's monster mashup iZombie from Vertigo.  The story is, by necessity, ramping up to a conclusion (it's due to end with issue 28), and it's nice to see the various plot threads, including random throwaway bits from earlier issues, tying together.  Plus, there's a panel where guest artist J. Bone gets to draw Zombie Abraham Lincoln fighting Nazi werewolves.  I'm gonna miss this book when it's gone, but it's been a heck of a ride, and I'll be re-revisiting it after it wraps up.

After hearing about Kagan McLeod's Infinite Kung Fu on War Rocket Ajax a while back, I decided I'd check it out.  Finding out it was on sale last weekend only clinched the deal, and I spent a good chunk of the weekend blissed out in kung fu goodness.  Though I'm not familiar with many, many martial arts movies, I knew enough (would you beleive I heard about the Five Deadly Venoms in an old RPG sourcebook?) to appreciate the feel of what was going on.  For those who still need convincing, get a load of this trailer:

On the movie front, I got to check out Tucker and Dale vs Evil, which I had been meaning to see since I heard about it last year.  It's usually good to see Alan Tudyk in stuff, and Tyler Labine was fun in Reaper, and they had pretty good chemistry here, too.  The joke in the central premise had the potential to wear itself out, but it hit all the right story beats that I didn't mind.  By the time the college kids get the sheriff involved, you know what's going to happen next, but it's still funny as hell when it does.

Next week, I dig into a long-forgotten comic genre!

Man vs the Mobile Post

I'll make this quick as I'm typing this post from my phone.  For a long time I've resisted ebooks; now I have the Kindle app.  For a long time I resisted digital comics; now my weekly haul is through Comixology.  That doesn't mean I'll eschew paper entirely, but digital isn't so bad. So I'm only a little bit behind the curve.

Man vs Pop Culture Week 4/16-4/23

Better late than never, here goes...

I rewatched Christopher Guest's folk mockumentary A Mighty Wind.  I didn't realize that Guest, McKean, and Shearer actually performed as the Folksmen before the film by a couple of decades (and even had them perform as the opening act for their other alter egoes, Spinal Tap), but they fit right in here.  However, they take a back seat to Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara as the duo of Mitch and Mickey.  Levy especially sells his role as the perpetually shellshocked Mitch.   It doesn't hurt that the songs (all written for the film!) are catchy.  I had "Never Did No Wanderin'" stuck in my head for days after.

I also finished up the brief run of Hawkeye & Mockingbird.  I've been a Hawkeye fan since Kurt Busiek's run on Avengers, so I caught this series when it came out originally, but forgot most of it since, so it was nice to revisit this.  The two had something of a rocky relationship ever since their time on the West Coast Avengers, so it's good to see them back together, even though it doesn't last.  And, yes, it also ends with a teaser for the crossover with Black Widow that eventually just became the (sadly, unread by me) Widowmaker mini after both books were canceled.

I also re-acquainted myself with another avenging pair of super-spies: John Steed and Emma Peel.  I dug up the  DVDs of ITV's The Avengers.  These were some of the first DVDs I bought, back in 2000 (I got a DVD player for Christmas '99), thanks to some Barnes&Noble (or was it Borders?) gift cards.  These sets have gone out of print, I think, so I doubt I'll be able to continue the run.  (I only ended up with one and a half sets after all was said and done, thanks also to the newer-at-the-time Amazon.)  I watched a couple of episodes from the 1965 season, including a personal favorite, "A Surfeit of H2O." (Rain as a weapon!  A sinister winery!  Local eccentric builds an ark!  Young Geoffrey Palmer!)  Now, I don't even recall why I bought these, since I never actually watched the show before, but I'm glad I did.  The combination of wit and spy stuff reminds me of another ITV favorite that got a bit more airplay on one independent channel or another, The Saint.  Plus, 1960s vintage Diana Rigg?  More, please!

Man vs Pop Culture Week : 4/9-4/15

Now that I am mostly settled in the new apartment, I am ready for regular posting.  Taking a cue from Siskoid, I am posting various nerdy, genre, and pop-culture accomplishments from throughout the week.

Primarily, I watched the final two series of British sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Look.  Some of my favorite sketches poked fun at television, not as parodies of specific shows (which runs the risk of alienating overseas viewers), but of television in general.  Witness the Gift Shop Sketch, as (over)produced by the fictional "False Jeopardy Productions", or the increasingly desperate Quiz Broadcast, which shows that even after an unspecified apocalypse, television endures.

I also read the full, short run of Marvel's Black Widow series.  The first arc, by Marjorie Liu and Daniel Acuña, was pretty solid and atmospheric, but after the creative team changed, the second arc focused on a different PoV character and ended up with a cliffhanger tying into the Widowmaker mini, which was initially conceived as a crossover with the even-shorter-lived (but more fun in this blogger's opinion) Hawkeye and Mockingbird series.

More to come in weeks ahead!