This was a comic book in audio form, pretty much what I expected. It has no redeeming features save that it was mindless fun. It was actually 3 novellThis was a comic book in audio form, pretty much what I expected. It has no redeeming features save that it was mindless fun. It was actually 3 novellas plus a short story bonus, so longer than I expected. One story at a time as a palate cleanser between more serious books would have been fine.
It's set in the Judge Dredd universe, so I had no trouble visualizing it in my mind even though I've never read any of the comics, just saw 2 movies. It's about like them, but this Judge is part of the PSI branch. I find PSI abilities particularly well suited to comics which have a logic (or lack) all their own. Lots of neat elements including a cowboy robot, crazy inmates, terrorists, & an awful moral conundrum. While this was very well narrated, I expect artwork would have made it far better. Still, it was enjoyable....more
Not the correct book. The one I read seems to be the first 4 or 5 & ends on a terrible cliff hanger, but it was really good. Not as powerful as the X Not the correct book. The one I read seems to be the first 4 or 5 & ends on a terrible cliff hanger, but it was really good. Not as powerful as the X Men, but similar mutant powers. Set in Manchester, England. Fun situations & humor.
Perhaps a better librarian than I (easy to do) who is more familiar with the series can figure out what's going on & how to reconcile this with the current numbers of the series.
I'm not a real comic book fan, but I found this fascinating. The history & players of comics themselves were interesting with names of publishers, wriI'm not a real comic book fan, but I found this fascinating. The history & players of comics themselves were interesting with names of publishers, writers, & artists running together into the maelstrom of an emerging product. I recognized some, although not many. In a lot of ways, the early days of the Internet reads the same. A lot of big promises, bounced checks, fortunes made & lost, theft of ideas, & pretty wild characters. It was great to hear how many minorities were employed in the industry along with the ideas they came up with.
The main story, in gory detail, was the attempts to regulate them, especially the censorship of the 1940s & 1950s. The comics had gone too far. There was a lot of gore & their creators reveled in the free hand they had. Shock sells & there weren't any controls on who bought the product, like kids. Overlooked for years, some took notice & the worst examples tarred the rest with terrifying results, similar to the Salem Witch Trials.
This is a cautionary tale that we should apply to similar issues today whenever we think we need to make a law to make us safer or to stop others from doing something we don't like. Or, as Mark Twain said, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” I never knew just how badly so many books, movies, & other entertainments were censored. Freedom of the press, one of our founding principles, has been more of a joke than I like.
Many look back on the "Father Knows Best" era with nostalgia, but it was a terribly conservative & reactionary decade. Times were changing & too many feared that. Backed by Dr. Fredric Wertham, a shrink of the Dr. Oz & Andrew Wakefield stripe, plus an ability to ignore statistics, the problem of juvenile delinquency was blamed on comic books. That resulted in a lot of legislators looking into the problem, holding hearings that barely predated the similar ones that Joe McCarthy held. They were much in the same vein.
Parodies were taken seriously & many were completely misrepresented with just enough truth in the allegations to make any refutations sound lame in the choreographed venues. - Wonderwoman was bad because of the bondage illustrated by her lasso & cuffs. - Batman had homoerotic overtones due to his relationship with the Boy Wonder. (Who knew what they did together between frames!) - Superman might as well have had an SS on his chest since he so exemplified the ideal of a master race.
Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in the early 50s & it's point was obviously lost on parents, educators, & church groups who conned kids into participating in burning comics. They also forgot & didn't see how much they were like the despised Nazi's. Dissenting voices were few & often ignored. Of course, some of the kids realized they'd been conned & some who hadn't bothered with comics before became interested in them. Unfortunately, many comics were put out of business by draconian laws that scared their printers, distributors, & resellers from handling their product.
EC comics was one that closed its doors. Its main claim to fame is that it was founded by Max Gaines, one of the founders of modern comics, & reluctantly taken over by his son, William Gaines, the founder of Mad Magazine. He's also famous for tanking one of the Senate Subcommittee Investigations. EC's money making comics all had the words "Horror", "Terror", & "Crime" in their titles. These specific words were banned by the Comics Code Authority (CCA). Worse, EC started the committee, but lost control. Overseen by Judge Charles Murphy, the code criteria section was full of truly horrific restrictions that he saw enforced with no common sense.
There were many more unwritten restrictions. For instance, Judge Murphy wouldn't let them print "Judgement Day" since the main character, an astronaut, was black & was drawn with sweat droplets on his face. Yes, sweat droplets were bad, no matter what race shed them. The fact that changing the astronaut's race eviscerated the story wasn't a problem. Murphy's censors often made stories incomprehensible by cutting out words or demanding frames be redrawn. Women were no longer allowed to have much or any curves & had to be in skirts, but it was OK for men to be drawn in an overblown fashion.
Gaines threw up his hands, shut down EC, wound up changing Mad into a magazine to get around the Comics Code Authority, & remained the publisher until his death, although he did sell the magazine in the early 60s.
Unfortunately, the book pretty much ended there. I would have liked to hear more about how comics reemerged from the depths, but not much was mentioned. The CCA is now defunct, but not until 2011.
I highly recommend this to one & all. If you're not a comics fan, get the print edition & skim those parts, but read just how bad censorship & mass panic can be....more
A quicky autobiography by Stan Lee. I wish he'd narrated more than the intro, but the other narrators were good. There were a lot of sound effects & sA quicky autobiography by Stan Lee. I wish he'd narrated more than the intro, but the other narrators were good. There were a lot of sound effects & some explanation to make up for the lack of graphics, so a good production.
It's very much from Stan's side of the fence. I've never paid too much attention to his falling out with Jack Kirby, but heard a couple of versions. This one was very brief. Stan claims ignorance & agrees that he & all the other artists are co-creators. Says he's made a lot of statements & even written a letter to that effect. His overview of the creative process certainly bears this out. Apparently he'd come up with a rough idea, tell them to draw it, & then go back & write the dialog afterward. I would have been interested in more details.
He mentioned his cameos & I agree that they're fun & have become expected. He briefly mentioned Stripperlla, although not the law suit & that it only lasted one season. That was a shame. It's a great cartoon - basically secret agent Pamela Anderson who hides her identity behind her pole dancing. What's not to love about that?
I hadn't realized all the fuss with corporate buy-outs, name changes, & the rest. Sounds like a real mess, but he paints a fast, rosy picture. He was born in 1922, so is now 96 years old, but seems to be going strong, thankfully. It will be a sad day when we lose him.
I'd guess that the paper version would be better, but this was fun....more
While I have this on my comic shelf, it isn't a comic book. It's a novel that could easily be made into one, though. I could practically see the graphWhile I have this on my comic shelf, it isn't a comic book. It's a novel that could easily be made into one, though. I could practically see the graphic art as he thundered his way through this twisty murder mystery (noir detective) full of super heroes & villains (white & black capes). Dane isn't one of the big league, but even they have trouble stopping him when he's on a mission. Besides being incredibly strong, tough, & determined, he has some good friends & some awesome bits of hardware.
This was a lot of fun. Highly recommended. ...more
Very well read comic book from two points of view that of Dr. Impossible, the super villain, & a young super hero in alternate chapters. The voice of Very well read comic book from two points of view that of Dr. Impossible, the super villain, & a young super hero in alternate chapters. The voice of Dr. Impossible is especially good. Instead of avoiding tropes, this book embraces them all, gives us the origins & motivations of each with a fairly twisty ending including a real shocker, but one that made sense. It was a lot of fun & perfect in this format. I don't think it would have read as well in paper, even graphic format, for me....more
I've read this numerous times & it still makes me chuckle all the way through. It's a book about kids & their hunter/jumper ponies. Each page is a carI've read this numerous times & it still makes me chuckle all the way through. It's a book about kids & their hunter/jumper ponies. Each page is a cartoon, usually just one frame, that is absolutely perfect. I grew up & raised my 3 kids with ponies like this, so it really speaks to me. It would probably be a great way for authors to learn a bit more about horse life, too....more
Not bad for a horror comic. Interesting ideas & fun ending. Pretty good drawing, too. Very reminiscent of one of the stories from a Creepy, Eerie or VNot bad for a horror comic. Interesting ideas & fun ending. Pretty good drawing, too. Very reminiscent of one of the stories from a Creepy, Eerie or Vamperella, except all in color, like Heavy Metal. ...more
Loading...
