Meteorology? NO! Ororo Munroe? YES! We discuss Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men, Storm's physical and racial interpretations, the Claremont character guessing game, why does Storm talk so weird?, is she a missed opportunity?, Storm vs. Stevie Hunter, Storm's self-reflective internal monologue, Ross loves Marrow, where is Marrow now?, and what would Ross and Nick do with Storm nowadays? NEXT WEEK: We don't know.
Tag Archive for 'Chris Claremont'
Part 4 of INDECENT PROPOSAL begins in crisis as Ross Campbell and Nick Marino talk about Wet Moon casting, which quickly leads to the disastrous (and supervillainous) The Last Airbender casting and begs the question: is M Night Shyamalan a real-life supervillain? Things shift to Batman and Robin #1, All-Star Superman, We3, Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, buying comics because you can't stop, incredible creators who shouldn't work together, Astonishing X-Men, New X-Men and superhero fashion sense, X-Men Legacy, JRjr and Armor Wars II, and more.
Shove the AudioShocker podcast RSS feed into your favorite RSS reader. Review the AudioShocker on iTunes. Call the AudioShocker Comment Line at 412-567-7606 or have our comment line call you.
Following up on their X-Men movie debate, Ross Campbell and Nick Marino move into comics and talk about their favorite X-Men comic books. As an adult Ross loves the Grant Morrison run, and as a kid, Ross loved X-Force. And he loves Generation X, too. Nick loved X-Factor by Peter David and Howard Mackie as a kid, and the Chris Claremont and Paul Smith From the Ashes X-Men as an adult. Meanwhile, real-life supervillain Nik Neptune MySpaces his real-life superhero arch-nemesis. Then, as the episode closes, the King of the Evil Seas struggles to set his MySpace username.
Shove the AudioShocker podcast RSS feed into your favorite RSS reader. Review the AudioShocker on iTunes. Call the AudioShocker Comment Line at 412-567-7606 or have our comment line call you.
YES! YES, BABY, YES! This is what I've been missing!!!
I grew up on Chris Claremont's writing. I've always loved his technique (honestly, I think the drama and the dense prose of his work is part of what makes it so much fun). He's distilled his infamous Uncanny X-Men style down to its most engaging elements in X-Men Forever #1. If you've loved Claremont's work in the past, there's an excellent chance that you'll love this first issue.
Some out there have been heavily hating on Claremont for the past decade. Personally, I've loved some of his most recent writing. Though New Exiles wasn't my bag, I thought his latest run on Uncanny X-Men was just starting to pop with brilliance when he was shuffled off of the title (also, I think he suffered a heart attack around that time). While I found his collaboration with Alan Davis and Oliver Coipel to be decent, I found his work with Chris Bachalo and Billy Tan to be wonderful. Grey's End was a chilling few issues that used a fascinating interpretation of the passage of time to tell a riveting tale. As for other recent work, I was also moved by CC's issue of Excalibur that explored Nocturne's frustration with her paralysis.
And while those comics were near and dear to my inner Claremont fan, they weren't nearly as indulgent as X-Men Forever #1. When I say indulgent, I don't mean it in a bad way. I mean indulgent like rich ice cream or expensive chocolate - indulgent like a delicious desert. Working with Tom Grummet, who's been attached to Claremont for a couple of years now, seems to only deepen the indulgence. I've long been a fan of Grummet's work and this issue may be some of his most enjoyable pencils to date.
All in all, this feels like a rebirth of the X-Men to me. Maybe I'm just too old school to properly move on from the glory days of John Byrne, Paul Smith, and John Romita, Jr. But I don't care. X-Men Forever just feels right to me. Though I've vowed to shy away from as many $3.99 single issues as possible, I can't deny myself Forever (get it?). I await issue #2 with bated breath.
Ah, yes. I remember 1991 like it was yesterday...
Okay, not exactly like it was yesterday, but I still remember when those first few issues of X-Men came out. It was sweet.
I also remember finding hundreds of them strewn throughout backissue bins for the ensuing 18 or so years. Did Marvel Comics just overprint the issues or did people really wanted to forget X-Men #1-3 that bad?
Honestly, it doesn't matter anymore. Wednesday brought us X-Men Forever #1, a sort of revisionist X-Men #4 if you will. And here are the Top 9 things that Chris Claremont didn't write into X-Men Forever #1 (but he probably should have!):
9. Professor X renounces his mission of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants to pursue a career as a tranny stripper. Really, what's more popular these days than strippers? If you ask T-Pain, the answer would be: "Nothing!" To top it off, Charlie could also be a closet transvestite. So would all this make him the first tranny stripper in a floating wheelchair? The world may never know. Way to drop the ball on this one, Claremont.
8. Kitty Pryde confesses that she's in a sexual relationship with Lockheed. There's nothing very shocking about being gay nowadays. Stories have been there, done that. So the only truly shocking sexual plot twist left is the admission of inter-species and/or bestiality love. Luckily, Kitty would admit both of those when she owns up to getting it on with her pet dragon from outer space.
7. Magneto uses his powers to give Colossus a face lift. While this isn't truly shocking, it does make for a fascinating use of Magnetio's metal-bending abilities. It would go down like this: Piotr turns to metal, Mags gives him a little surgical tweak to tighten up the cheeks and blend away those pesky laugh lines, and then it's like Colossus is 10 years younger. Ahh, if only we could all be made out of metal... isn't that right, Ashlee Simpson?
6. Cassandra Nova moves into the X-Mansion disguised as a sexy nurse. Chris Claremont, deciding to combine two character concepts into one, tells his version of the Cassandra Nova story. But his Cassie Nova is mashed up with Nurse Annie from Chuck Austen's run on X-Men. Sexy Nurse Cassie begins a tumultuous relationship with Beast and decides that the new Sentinel invasion should feature furry mutant-killing robots in honor of her soon-to-be-deceased lover.
5. Professor X opens Xavier's School for the Un-Gifted. Growing dissatisfied with his preoccupation with the elitist concept of "gifted," Chuck decides to expand his mind and open his mansion doors to any and all interested students. Sooner than later, Xavier's school becomes just like any other poorly managed public high school. Within three months, Polaris has to check every student on their way in to see if they're carrying any guns or knives. (Hahahaha... it would be like Dangerous Minds starring Prof X! Get it? "Dangerous Minds"!!!)
4. Wolverine gets a Brazilian waxing. Yeah, he knows that the hair would only be gone for one night. But Logan has a secret date with Jean Grey and he's got to make sure that he's smooth like butter.
3. Sabretooth gets a Brazilian AND a manicure. Chasing after his mortal enemy, Victor Creed winds up inside the same beauty spa as Wolvie. Upon entering, he decides that his impending reunion date with Mystique would go a whole lot better if he was smoothed down and trimmed up. Imagine a great double page spread of Victor and Logan getting massages as they lay next to each other, giggling uncontrollably. That would be groundbreaking stuff right there.
2. Magneto uses his powers to give Colossus that extra length he's been seeking. Inundated by spam emails telling him that his dong needs to be longer if he wants to get in with the ladies, Piotr asks his Asteroid M director to stretch his member out a little bit. Excited with the promising results, Colossus quickly returns to Earth to share the goods with Kitty, only to find that his "Katya" is doing the nasty with a small purple alien dragon.
1. Jean Grey gets caught cheating on Cyclops thanks to Joey Greco and Cheaters. It's a dark night at the Salem Center harbor. Scott Summers meets up outside with Joey Greco after receiving a phone call that private investigators have finally gotten the evidence they need to prove that Jean Grey is in fact cheating on him with another mutant. Scott watches the small hand-held video player and cringes. He knows who Jean is cheating on him with - that goddamn Logan. Scott and the camera crew of Cheaters quickly head to Professor Xavier's yacht, currently docked at Pier 4. Scott charges onto the boat and confronts the scandalous lovers on their secret date. After getting up in Wolvie's face, Logan's adamantium-laced fist connects with Scott's jaw and sends Cyclops to the ground. Joey Greco picks up where Scott left off, confronting Wolvie about his infidelity with Jean. Pissed, Wolverine does what he does best and stabs Joey Greco in the gut. Two weeks later, Cyclops watches the episode on TV and promptly creates a profile on NoCheatersDate.com.
More: The Top 9 Greatest X-Men Pencilers of All Time
Why the Top 9? Because 10 is too many and 9 is better. 3 X 3 = Awesome. Now that’s what I call math.
Dynamo 5 #0 SPOILERS! Jay Faerber is here and we talk about Strong-Suit, Father Gideon, Tower City, War Chest, Maddie, how Scrap and Myriad get a new apartment together, and the future of the Dynamo 5 superheroes. And, as an added bonus, Dynamo 5 #20 hits stores tomorrow!
Then Justique returns to the AudioShocker podcast to celebrate our super nasty 69th anniversary by arguing with Neal about anime. Neal thinks anime is derivative, Justique thinks anime is awesome, and Nick thinks Ghost in the Shell is sweet. We also talk about Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, The Underneath, Betty Page, the historical porn collection of Franz Kafka, and too much more.
9. Luke Cage. New Avengers may feature Carl Lucas in the lead, but the big name heroes in the book limit his face time. I want a Cage solo series wherein our invulnerable heavy hitter from Harlem handles business on his downtime.
8. Havok. He's getting a big profile bump soon in the War of Kings event, so this would be the perfect time to spin him out into his own series again. Alex Summers has already carried Mutant X on his own and he headlined X-Factor for years. Just get him back in his classic duds before he launches his new solo book!
7. Zatanna. The Bat-books need some magic. Even with Bruce Wayne MIA right now, this classic JLA hero could interact in Gotham City in interesting ways. The Arkham Asylum crowd are used to fists and gadgets. But what if they had to fight spells instead?
6. Falcon. I had an awesome idea today -- a new Marvel Two-in-One or Marvel Team Up book featuring Falcon as the reoccurring hero. Sam Wilson can fly and talk to birds, but he needs a power upgrade to handle major threats. Solution? Use his Rolodex to boost his brawn on the battlefield.
5. Sasquatch. Marvel's Canadian heavy hitter needs a new lease on stardom. Put him in his own series where he's fighting the horror creatures of the Marvel Universe. His lighthearted attitude and love for science will contrast well with fantasy themed horror elements.
4. Psylocke. Betsy Braddock needs a new modus operandi. My suggestion? A classic kung fu street series. Have her hang with Iron Fist, fight alongside Shang-Chi, and buddy up with the Daughters of the Dragon. Bring in the X-Men now and then to boost sales.
3. Joker. A supervillain (or "super villain," as DC Comics would say) series is always a tricky thing. But the Joker is a tricky kind of guy, so it just might work. With Heath Ledger's star performance as the Clown Price of Crime, Joker's profile is higher than ever -- now just put him in his own comic book full of funny and twisted tales.
2. Storm. Lucky for me, she just finished up a mini series. But I would like to see another mini lined up, or better yet, an ongoing book for this mutant weather goddess. Give Chris Claremont the writing assignment and put Aaron Lopresti on art duties.
1. Aquaman. Plain and simple. The classic DC Comics water hero, Arthur Curry. He's one of the big guns and he needs to get his own title, even if it's just a mini series! Ride that seahorse, baby, ride!!!
More: The Top 9 Marvel Universe Characters That Have Stepped Up Since Civil War!
Why the Top 9? Because 10 is too many and 9 is better. 3 X 3 = Awesome. Now that’s what I call math.
Quantum of Solace would be better on valium, James Bond seriously needs some gadgets, the Bond girls are boring, All I Want is pathetic but it has typewriters, even T-Pain's top hat can't ruin the Ludacris video "One More Drink," the new Star Trek trailer makes Neal excited, and he wraps up his half with a review of a WSJ review of Slumdog Millionaire.
Then Nick takes over to discuss Uncanny X-Men #165-#175, the "From the Ashes" run by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith. Nick dissects their work, identifying the artistic nuances that make Smith's pencils so incredible while noting how Claremont introduced so many classic X-Men elements in such a short space of time.
I was reading about how Larry Hama is joining up with IDW to reboot the G.I. Joe franchise in time for the new movie, and I had a realization -- three of the biggest entertainment and merchandising franchises of the past 25 years have have each had a single person with creative vision that acted as a driving force behind the mythology of the brand.
That's not to say that these three individuals are the sole contributors. Countless editors, producers, writers, artists, and others have made invaluable contributions to the X-Men, Transformers, and G.I. Joe over the years. But none can take a massive amount of credit quite like these three gentlemen can.
For the vast majority of comic book readers this is a no brainer. CC has been shepherding the X-Men in one way or another for the past 30 years (and then some, really). He didn't create all of the core X-Men icons from scratch, but he imbued the personalities and character traits that have made Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, and the rest of the crew famous.
The X-Men franchise was ready to die over at Marvel Comics in the mid-70s when it was relaunched with a new international cast. Chris wasn't part of the infamous Giant-Size X-Men #1, but he took over shortly thereafter and stayed until the early 1990s (from Uncanny X-Men #94-279). That includes the legendary Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past with John Byrne. He also wrote X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, a short graphic novel that inspired Bryan Singer's x2.
He's launched new X-titles and helped to expand the role of mutants in the Marvel Universe far beyond Salem Center, New York. He's also revisited the main series for a couple short runs. In this decade, Chris has dedicated most (but not all) of his creative efforts to pushing the X-Men franchise into the future with X-Men: The End and GeNext (GeNext #3 hits comic book stores today).
Larry does it all when it comes to comic books. I primarily know him as an editor, starting at DC Comics in the late 70s and moving over to Marvel in 80s. But he began as an artist, penciling a bunch of different series in the 70s before making the move to editorial. However, the Larry Hama we're going to talk about here is a writer.
Specifically, he's the writer of the file cards on the back of the G.I. Joe action figures, the influence of which cannot be overstated. Larry also wrote the 155 issue G.I. Joe comic book series from Marvel Comics, which (as is the case with Transformers as well) was really just a birthplace for ideas that would inform the TV series and the overall mythology of the Joe Universe.
Larry's been a huge part of comics for the better part of 30 years now, including notable work on Wolverine and Bucky O'Hare. Let me say for the record that Bucky O'Hare -- an okay comic, a decent cartoon, and an even better line of action figures -- has impacted my life immensely thru the Bucky O'Hare NES video game. Beating that ludicrously difficult game took my cousins and I a good ten years.
Simon Furman - Transformers
I don't know nearly as much about Simon Furman as I do about Claremont and Hama. I've been reading X-Men comics since before I could actually read the words, and I caught G.I. Joe fever as an 11-year-old (when the series was in heavy repeats on the USA Network). But the only Transformers I ever latched onto were the characters in Beast Machines, a sacrilegious cartoon for most TF fans.
But despite practically avoiding Transformers all my life, I couldn't avoid the impact of Simon Furman. He's been writing TF comics since the mid-80s, and his contributions to the Transformers Universe are legendary. I don't know which characters Furman created, but I know that his origin for the Transformers is generally preferred by hardcore fans.
Last I checked, Furman is still writing TF stories with IDW, the same publisher that's bringing back Larry Hama for their newly acquired G.I. Joe publishing license. He's also the creator of Death's Head, a character that was conceived for the Transformers Universe (but officially owned by Marvel Comics). Death's Head was most recently revamped in the Amazing Fantasy redux series and carried over (sorta) into Planet Hulk.
Recent Comments