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COMICS! |OT| April 2016. I Think You're Fearless

Vyer

Member
Vader Down is great, but Vader is written way to badass for my taste. Nothing that would put me of the book, but I always saw him as a silent tactician and as no one who throw one liners away.

Really? I don't know. I feel like it kind of fits with the badass who is marching through the rebel ship his troops just ransacked and force choking smartass Imperials saying stuff like "I find your lack of faith disturbing."
 

GAMEPROFF

Banned
Really? I don't know. I feel like it kind of fits with the badass who is marching through the rebel ship his troops just ransacked and force choking smartass Imperials saying stuff like "I find your lack of faith disturbing."
Maybe its becaue the movies have a lot of other stuff going on and dont focus that much on Dart Vader like his own book does.

Go on bro, sniff it.
Smells good bro.
 

Aizo

Banned
There are a lot of PoC living in Japan in the book than white guys. The community as a whole is diverse if not mixed since this is the distant future and Japan is seen as the last safe haven for anyone around the world who wants to be free from technology. Debbie is the only female characters who wears a top and skirt but it just matches how she used to dress back in LA (crop top and short shorts). Debbie's sexual nature has some weight to it and doesn't feel cheap. It helps a lot that Murphy's art is able to convey that. She's far from a weak female character. She's THE main character next to Teddie. I won't defend the books use of the "white people go to foreign land to find themselves" trope. It's plainly there but I don't think Remender misrepresents Japan at all in fact I find it interesting that for a book that takes place in the future he decided that instead of Japan turning in Neo-Tokyo and have it be a technological cyberpunk city, a country that is always pointed to for advancing technology, Japan would revert back to it's past. Calling it Neo-Bushido is a little silly but hey comic books.

I recognize the community being more diverse than I recognized, but it's still just a Japan that appears to be largely taken over by foreigners. I do disagree with your argument that Japan is not misrepresented. Have you been to Japan in the last 400 years? Looks like he read a little bit about samurai and decided that was it. It's the ill-informed representation of Japan—it hardly relates to a real Japan that ever existed. The only things Japanese in the comic are a single woman, some swords, and some made up samurai code.


I think you're overplaying the number of topless shots and that aspect. I went back through the five issues we have and there's at most 2 or 3 panels in an issue of it, if that. Generally where there's a shot of breasts there's a shot of a penis followed closely after.

I agree with sillymonkey and frye, It's a fundamental misreading of the book to suggest Debbie's mostly there to get her tits out (I think you see Debbie's breasts in two panels over the five issues). She's the main driving force for them wanting to leave LA in search of a better life for themselves, she's the one that pushes for them to stay when they get to Tokyo but she does have problems of her own. She's the most fleshed out character we've met so far.

There aren't a lot of named female characters, so things definitely could be better there but the ones that are present have pivotal roles in the book e.g. Kazumi's role in Tokyo.

As for the appropriation aspect, I probably fall into the camp of not knowing enough that it doesn't bother me. It's definitely a shallow look at the culture though and I'm not sure he intends any deeper examination. It certainly does feel like this low tech zone could have been placed anywhere else in the world just as easily based on what we have so far.
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I was wondering if anyone would argue that there are penises, and that somehow balances out the breasts. I think that the shot that really bothered me most was showing a woman hooked up to a machine for testing with her breasts front and center. I just wonder why it is that in American comics, they still feel the need to throw that unnecessary shit around. Showing a curvy female character naked in positions that expose her body for the male gaze is not at all similar to showing this big, buff monster man with his tiny, flaccid penis.

Onto the bolded part.That's why I said it would probably not be easy to relate to me, because most people reading Tokyo Ghost don't really have any real knowledge of Japan, which appears to be the case with Remender, too. And your last sentence is a major thing I'm arguing: it could have been anywhere in the world. He chose Japan, though, so he should have done a little research. I'm not saying that it should bother you all to read this, or that you should be offended. I'm saying that this was a reason I found the comic very difficult to enjoy for my friend and I who live in Japan and read it. It's hard to find a representation of Japan from the West that is at all accurate, and that is honestly quite bothersome when you're trying to enjoy a piece of media that has major Japanese influences.
 

Mifune

Mehmber
Priest's Black Panther is very good but I agree with Ta-Nehisi Coates: needs more Black Panther and less bland narrator guy.
 
I recognize the community being more diverse than I recognized, but it's still just a Japan that appears to be largely taken over by foreigners. I do disagree with your argument that Japan is not misrepresented. Have you been to Japan in the last 400 years? Looks like he read a little bit about samurai and decided that was it. It's the ill-informed representation of Japan—it hardly relates to a real Japan that ever existed. The only things Japanese in the comic are a single woman, some swords, and some made up samurai code.



I was wondering if anyone would argue that there are penises, and that somehow balances out the breasts. I think that the shot that really bothered me most was showing a woman hooked up to a machine for testing with her breasts front and center. I just wonder why it is that in American comics, they still feel the need to throw that unnecessary shit around. Showing a curvy female character naked in positions that expose her body for the male gaze is not at all similar to showing this big, buff monster man with his tiny, flaccid penis.

Onto the bolded part.That's why I said it would probably not be easy to relate to me, because most people reading Tokyo Ghost don't really have any real knowledge of Japan, which appears to be the case with Remender, too. And your last sentence is a major thing I'm arguing: it could have been anywhere in the world. He chose Japan, though, so he should have done a little research. I'm not saying that it should bother you all to read this, or that you should be offended. I'm saying that this was a reason I found the comic very difficult to enjoy for my friend and I who live in Japan and read it. It's hard to find a representation of Japan from the West that is at all accurate, and that is honestly quite bothersome when you're trying to enjoy a piece of media that has major Japanese influences.
You should check out Jim Zub's Wayward. I don't read it but I hear it does a decent job at representing Japan and it's culture.
 

Mifune

Mehmber
So Aizo is not only an expert on Japanese culture but on Japanese culture hundreds of years from now.

I think Tokyo Ghost is merely a sci-fi fable. Its Los Angeles has like nothing to do with Los Angeles today, nor is there any hint of today's LA in its version of LA. Much like its Tokyo. I think that's kinda the point.
 
So Aizo is not only an expert on Japanese culture but on Japanese culture hundreds of years from now.

I think Tokyo Ghost is merely a sci-fi fable. Its Los Angeles has like nothing to do with Los Angeles today, nor is there any hint of today's LA in its version of LA. Much like its Tokyo. I think that's kinda the point.
The point is that in the world of Tokyo Ghost Flak is running a business that wipes out cultures and traditions and replaces them with consumable goods.

And getting his dick sucked by his followers.
 
Should I merge my Amazon and Comixology accounts? Is there any reason not to? Any benefits?
Don't do it until they force you to sometime later (it's coming but no date set so who knows how long it'll be)

While if you bought kindle versions of comics, you'll get those on CMX you'll love the ability to pay with PayPal.
 
So Aizo is not only an expert on Japanese culture but on Japanese culture hundreds of years from now.

Bravo.

29XYmgE.gif
 
I never pulled Red Wolf. That book looked like a dead cert for cancellation before it launched.

Red Wolf is the reason we didn't do a Marvel cancellation pool or something. Everyone would have picked it. Only Starbrand & Nightmask looked as certain for the axe.
 
Could be...

Oooooh, Phyla Vell

How many characters with that symbol do they have?

Quasar isn't one person, it's more like a mantle that gets passed down. Like Thor.

I love how good the Wonder Woman Earth One Cover feels

The Marvel NOW hardcovers were basically the same.

I just wonder why it is that in American comics, they still feel the need to throw that unnecessary shit around. Showing a curvy female character naked in positions that expose her body for the male gaze is not at all similar to showing this big, buff monster man with his tiny, flaccid penis.

I'm sorry, have you seen three-quarters of the manga series out there today? Big anime girl boobs flopping all over the place. Have you seen Milo Manara's Borgia? Skydoll? Over-sexualization of female characters is hardly limited to American comics. It's literally everywhere. The comic industry has always been a boys club, and it was built on things like this. Change isn't going to come overnight. I don't think it's fair to single out comics originating in one particular country being guilty of this.
 
Black Knight only, right?

Howling Commandos of SHIELD
Guardians of Infinity
Angela
Star-Lord (trade only goes to #8, bulked out with reprints, likely because Sam Humphries has gone to DC)

On the bubble:
Web Warriors (2nd trade only goes to 11)
Drax (same, I think)
Nova (same again)
 

mreddie

Member
Howling Commandos of SHIELD
Guardians of Infinity
Angela
Star-Lord (trade only goes to #8, bulked out with reprints, likely because Sam Humphries has gone to DC)

On the bubble:
Web Warriors (2nd trade only goes to 11)
Drax (same, I think)
Nova (same again)

Nova down? Wow, Duggan saved it last time, it needs someone to match that now.
 
Another lengthy one, but aren't they all?

Decimation: Son of M

So this book is way heavier than I expected. I was expecting a tale of desperation, but this...this is a whole new level of scumbaggery.

For those who don't know, this is a story about Quicksilver after the events of M-Day -- an event that wiped out most of the mutant race, leaving behind only 198 with their powers intact. Some died as a result of their power loss, however most just simply lost their powers. Quicksilver in particular is one of these mutants and boy, is he desperate to change that.

The book starts off with Quicksilver making his way through the day, simply attempting to go about his life. A shitty apartment in a shitty neighborhood, he's having a hard time functioning. To the point where he's even having difficulty buying groceries, which begs the question as to what he even does for money, but I digress. Eventually he gets the bright idea to use an old distress signal given to him by the Royal Family. During the time in which he's waiting -- revealed to be because Crystal had to debate with Medusa and Black Bolt in order to get permission to go -- he attempts to defend a still active mutant (who has a sarlaac pit in his chest for a power) from some muggers. Does not go well for him. Luckily Spider-Man shows up and beats them. He then proceeds to give Pietro a verbal beatdown die to the ending of the House of M since Peter had a perfect life with a wife and baby. It wasn't with Mary Jane, though, which is why he's so upset and on patrol. It's rough when your current wife wasn't your perfect fantasy wife in another reality #Marvelproblems.

Anyways, Peter basically maybe accidentally convinces Pietro to commit suicide. Peter attempts to save him, however Crystal shows up and takes Pietro to Attilan (since he is actually dying). At this point it's pretty much revealed that Pietro's plan was to attempt to go through Terrigenesis, which BB and Medusa refuse to allow. They explain that humans have never been allowed to do it, and that Inhumans are highly regulated due to the last time restrictions were lifted, some shit happened and the gene pool was severely damaged. So Quicksilver is allowed to remain in Attilan so long as he doesn't do dumb shit. Then he proceeds to do dumb shit by sneaking into the Terrigenesis chamber, undergoing Terrigenesis, and learning that he has time travel powers that also allowed him to create Speed For-I mean time doubles.

He uses this to steal crystals and convince Luna to come back to Earth with him, where he also has her go through Terrigenesis despite her being both too young and also half human. Luna gains the ability to see people's emotions via colors. It's found out that Quicksilver and Luna have to inhale the mists repeatedly in order to maintain their powers. Quicksilver uses his power to get some cash money (in a very smart way, I might add) and then goes to Genosha to restore powers to mutants. This bombs, however, because their abilities go out of control and Magneto basically hates Pietro even more now. The U.S. government and the Royal Family learn about this from Callisto being sent to a hospital by Magneto as a result of her restored powers going out of control and putting her into a coma. The Royal Family learns this info via the Fantastic Four.

Anyways, everybody goes to Genosha where it becomes a clusterfuck. Pietro and Luna (whose powers have developed into straight up empathy, being able to control people's emotion telepathically) escape with the T-Crystals via Lockjaw. However Pietro sends Luna back to her mother. Pietro didn't get all of the crystals, however, and the U.S. Government acquires them. Medusa and BB ask nicely for them back, however the government refuses, with BB giving a response: Blowing up all their forces and declaring war. The Royal Family gets one last piece of info from the FF, and then bids them farewell since BB's declaration means they can't be buds for awhile. The book ends with Pietro sitting in a room getting high on Terrigen and nothing else. He then leaves, deciding to become a walking source of T-Mists, restoring mutant powers; an idea that fucked everything to begin with.

So, this was a pretty good story. It really gets into not only the aftermath of the House of M, but also builds up to Silent War. A few things caused some questions: Why the hell can Pietro control his new powers so well, but the other mutants can't? He's not Inhuman. Luna makes sense since she's half Inhuman, but Pietro doesn't. Though, I suppose the anomaly could be written off as the result of the fairly recent retcon of him and Wanda being failed experiments of the High Evolutionary -- though that doesn't answer why M-Day affected him at all. Unless he has an X-gene as a result of the High Evolutionary's experiments as well? It might also explain how Pietro was affected so differently. The other mutants gained their powers with brutal side-effects, but Pietro got a brand new power set. Another question I have is when By Right of Birth takes place. It takes place before Atlantis Rising, since Medusa and Black Bolt are called out by Crystal saying, "If you had a child you'd understand," which doesn't make sense since Ahura has been born at this point. Atlantis Rising takes place well before this story, so what the fuck? It's still not understood as to when Attilan's society was completely rebuilt, either. The only answer is that some of the Inhumans went back to the moon, and that there was always the old Attilan that didn't go to Atlantis. This means that there's another Attilan floating around in space? Something is missing from the timeline, and it's bugging the shit out of me. One more nod to continuity before I wrap up is the inclusion of the Young Inhumans. Though, it's really only Jolen who has any actual involvement and just a mention of San, which bugs me because one of the covers consists of the Young Inhumans and Crystal confronting Pietro.

When all is said and done, it's a pretty good story that covers both the mutant after effects of M-Day and adds to the storyline of the Inhumans throughout Marvel. It has solid writing, though nothing to write home about in terms of dialogue. Roy Allen Martinez does a good job of conveying a lot of the emotional moments and powerful scenes that David Hine's writes however, which greatly helps. I can't really recommend this book to anyone unless you're interested in the aforementioned plot threads. Overall a good and enjoyable book, though I can't see myself revisitng unless I'm craving a good Inhumans or mutant story.

 

GAMEPROFF

Banned
Howling Commandos of SHIELD
Guardians of Infinity
Angela
Star-Lord (trade only goes to #8, bulked out with reprints, likely because Sam Humphries has gone to DC)

On the bubble:
Web Warriors (2nd trade only goes to 11)
Drax (same, I think)
Nova (same again)
Star Lord is coming back, gets a new writer when IRC
 

Owzers

Member
Season five of Game of Thrones watched, time well spent as i avoided many comics.

I'm thinking about making a dust cover for Wonder Woman Earth one out of a brown paper bag like i did for grade school textbooks back in the day.
 

Owzers

Member
definitely. I decided that GoT is the only tv show i actually like but i don't have HBO. Plan: hbo now finally arrives on ps4 or Wii U by mid-season and i subscribe fore a month and watch all of season 6. That was plan for season five but it didn't hit it.

Last Man on Earth and Walking Dead are disappointments that i still watch and nothing more, i barely even talk to them when they are on.
 
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