Martinex1:The fourth of July always seemed like the halfway point for Summer breaks when I was in school, so I guess in general we are on the Summer decline. But here at BitBA it is always up, up, and up. More to do and more to say, so let's kick off the week with reviews, previews and some other considerations. As always we appreciate your comments and recommendations (even on Sundays)!
LOOKING BACK:
If you missed any of the discussions this week you may want to scroll through the various topics as we seemed to have a great deal of conversation and debate along the way. Here is a recap...
Monday we looked at every red costume except Santa Claus's suit and discussed the best and worst dressed amongst them. Tuesday we explored independent comics from Jonny Quest to Nexus and a bunch in between. Wednesday we were led into a topic of comic book Annuals - good, bad, or something else. Thursday we dug into our collections and pulled out some awful runs and also learned a thing or two from the four-color world. Friday we hopped on the retro bus to the Summer of 1971. And yesterday we discussed the Wonder Woman movie without any filters.
One side note: In our Thursday discussion about "bad" comics, Marvel's The Thing from the early 80s was bantered about. While I recall not liking the title, I haven't read it in well over a decade. So I accept the challenge (a challenge that was not really uttered) and will find and re-read a run of the issues and at some later date will offer a new review of likes and dislikes around the title. I will keep you posted. Cheers!
Also, during the week our frequent commenter Charlie Horse 47 asked about The Song of Roland and any possible comic adaptations of the epic poem. While I have not read any of these to offer first-hand recommendations, I am aware of the following options. Who says this isn't the age of internet friendship?
The first is 1999's Roland, Days of Wrath; the four issue mini-series adaptation was created by Shane Amaya, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba. The second is Kid Beowulf and the Song of Roland by Alexis E. Fajardo which is used in schools as a teaching tool and has been well received. And there was also a Song of Roland comic strip that was published in Europe. Hope this helps.
LOOKING AHEAD:
A quick sampling of what is in store for you this week includes but is not limited to:a new $1 challenge of comic covers, a nostalgic trip through TV memories, a comic discussion through the prism of Game of Thrones, and of course a new Follow the Leader. Be here if you can. We appreciate the input.
Redartz: Well said, Marti! May I interrupt with a quick announcement? You all may recall a couple of months ago when we tried a post entitled "Show and Tell", in which we asked for photographic and verbal submissions from everyone? Well, coming in August is the second installment. We will be looking at 'fan art'; any artwork, drawings, paintings, etc. that any of you may have done. In past columns we've heard about some of you who have created your own characters, or even full comics. Some may have done sketches of your favorite existing characters. Now is your chance to show off your efforts! If you have any such artwork, please consider emailing it to us at backinthebronzeage@gmail.com. More details to come...and now, back to Martinex1...
SUNDAY FUNNIES:
Since we are at the height of baseball season (even if the Chicago teams are not at the height of play), here are a few strips that represent the national pastime.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Although I have seen Spider-Man: Homecoming, I am not ready to review it yet, but I will say that you may want to run out and see the movie. This 2017 Summer has had a really good run of super-hero movies and some say this one is amongst the best. For those of you who have seen it - do you rate it up or down? (Spoiler Free please)!
And have you seen the trailer for The Inhumans television show? Take a look below. If only for the rather respectful representation and appearance of Lockjaw, I am willing to give it a shot.
That is all we have today! Looking forward to tomorrow!
4 comments:
Gents, thanks for the "push" on Roland! Ever since I saw his sword Durandel stuck in the side of a cliff at Rocamadour, I've always been on the look out!
For those maybe not familiar with Roland, he was a beloved knight of King Charlemagne and led the King's rear guard when he withdrew from Spain about 1200 years ago. When withdrawing through a mountain pass in the Pyrenees, the guard was ambushed and destroyed. This led to the "famous" Song of Roland, an "epic" poem / song that started about 1000 years ago, the oldest piece of French literature (as Beowulf is to English).
Cheers All! Have a great Sunday.
Inhumans looks like something that I'd-- give a shot, at least. (Very much enjoyed seeing Lockjaw though, yes!). The ethnic diversity felt a bit. . . cursory?. . . I suppose? And I'm not sure we see it as represented in the crowd shots.
My biggest gripe-- and you guys are gonna roll your eyes at this-- is that the dominant voice in this trailer is Maximus'. . . and that actor (who I don't think I'm familiar with) has a thin, weak voice that he does not use to full effect at all. Absolutely vocally non-charismatic (a HUGE problem I have with so many "hot, young" stars these days). I already don't believe him, nor in that brief moment of mob rabble-rousing they show. Feh.
But maybe that's just this fellow. I credit the Marvel casting folks overall with extremely high marks on getting actors who can carry off these iconic characters both physically AND vocally--- recognizing the whole necessary package. Chris Evans made me somewhat nervous-- but his rather husky rasp actually works as a nice everyman touch for Cap, who could all too easily fall into cliche'd "hero-voice" territory.
HB
I agree with you on the casting HB. I just really am shocked that we are seeing a "live" version of Lockjaw. Regarding Maximus, unless he turns out to be an actor similar to Roddy McDowall at his sneaky conniving manipulating best i wonder how it will work. Some people are concerned with Medusa's hair and I too would have liked to see it in constant motion. I think it will be a hard show to find an audience, but Marvel has proven me wrong before.
CH47 thanks for the Roland background. Hope you find what you're looking for.
MX-- Medusa's very still hair caught my attention as well-- but that may be a well-considered choice. If her hair functions as a fully-engaged "limb", then it would almost certainly remain still and calm when she wasn't actively making it move. Figure, we don't have our arms or legs flailing about when we're not using them, right? Too much energy waste, for one thing-- and too much superfluous CGI expense for another!
Now, the couple of quick moments we caught Crystal's hair--- ugh, it looked like a Halloween spray-on product. ('Course, has it EVER been determined whether the "goggles" on the back of her head were her hair itself, or an aperture that she wears, or some extra organic part of her head-?? Most ill-defined character ever. . . )
Guy playing Black Bolt looks darned good for the role. Didn't take long for him to be forced to use his forbidden vocal-powers though, eh?
HB
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