Fireintheskies

Ok, I'm new but I've read this forum and I know this question has more or less been asked already, but since its a couple years old, I'm going to raise the question again and maybe make it a little broader of a question... What is everyone's earliest memories for comic books... both the earliest thing you remember picking up period, and what got you into reading full time? Not know an exact timeline on the books, there are a couple things that stand out for me for earliest comic book, period...and its probably what has colored my taste in comics all around. I remember taking summer roadtrips with my parents and they'd stock up a few comics for me for the road...I was probably still first or second grade so it was more a matter of them grabbing a few issues off the shelf for me, rather then having me pick something out... As such, I got an early introduction to the Justice League of America...and since they pretty much timed their JLA/JSA crossovers for summer release, my parents quite accidentally got me those issues for our roadtrips. I never did get the full stories just whatever was on the stand when we were leaving, but they were always the annual JLA/JSA crossovers. When my parents separated for a year, I also remember my dad picking up Superboy issues with the Dial H for Hero as the background feature, for the weekends when I would visit. By the time 5th grade rolled around my parents were back together and we moved to Oregon...this was 1985. I didnt know anyone in the new place so I quickly latched onto comics on a full time basis and have been reading ever since. The first series on the stands that caught my eye were Who's Who....that laid out every comic book character in the known DC Universe, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Green Lantern Corps #201 (7 Green Lanterns all live in the same house on Earth ...holy crap, its "The Real World" in comics before the show ever started!), oh and the Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow and Byrne's relaunch of Superman. I guess that's why I've had a special fascination with DC....I started right at their relaunch. The JLA/JSA crossovers and Crisis on Infinite Earths formed the very basics of what I knew of super heroes...and my very first comics' leaps of faith or suspensions of disbeliefs were the idea that there were several worlds each with their own version of the same heroes. Plus, Who's Who, defined EVERYONE for me....at least everyone as of 1985. After that I learned who everyone was just by reading it myself. That said...I UNDERSTOOD what was happening in the Crisis...and though things have gotten a LITTLE hazier, I UNDERSTAND what's happening in Infinite Crisis as well. Heck, this is nostalgia at the very heart. At any rate, I know that I've covered more then just one or two titles here, but reply to this, however you think is appropriate. What are everybody's earliest memories for the comics....either in broad terms or in specifics.

Mike I think you've hit the very nail on the head why I never jumped into gaming in general... I know the cheat codes are out there and I know I'd use them if I had the game. I had the old Coleco and Super Nintendo systems while I was growing up and up until Super Mario Bros., they didnt do a whole lot of cheat codes. When Super Mario Bros came out as a game, I spent hours and hours getting good at the game and did so likewise with Legend of Zelda Then I discovered the cheat codes. After that there was never a challenge in the game. Sure I still played Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda, but the games no longer held the same sparkle. There was no challenge to it. Games after that, we knew of the cheat codes almost as soon as the games themselves came out. The last game I played on Super Nintendo was Super Mario Paint...little more then a stylized version of the paint programs that can be found as freeware on nearly every Windows-based computer now. I started projects there that I could be creative with...and discovered a patience there to go through pixel by pixel and get the exact look I was going for. When I was done, I discovered how to attach the Super Nintendo to the VCR and record my project for safekeeping. This was the kind of challenge I liked. Ever since cheat codes took over the gaming industry, I've been much more interested in games that rely on your creativity. I like playing the Sims just for the chance to put new things together. And yes, I know there are many many cheat codes for the Sims games...and yes, I will even admit to using them. When I know of them out there, I do use them freely. But the game still runs on creativity...you still choose how your characters will look and what they can do. Incidentally....I think I must have listened to WAY too many of your reviews on the net show, because I could HEAR every intonation and pitch you would make in this review if you were reading it!

:happy: Well I'm glad to hear that it DID get a chance. I still wish you'd give it a chance away from the Infinite Crisis crossover, which even the Power Girl trade is fairly connected to. I think the re-introduction of Hawkman was not to be missed, as well as most of the issues where they have dealt with Mordru and/or Obsidian. We also have the fall of Nuklon (a former JSA and JLAer). I like that one in particular because you can see the fall of someone who has Superman's ideals and see the repercussions of what happens when he crosses the line and takes a life in vengeance. While I enjoy crossovers a great deal, I dont usually think they are the best examples of someone's work within a series, simply because they have a greater responsibility to alter their stories so they are not contradicting what someone else has done. For example, Geoff Johns may have envisioned using Alan Scott Green Lantern in a specific way but because of the needs of the company cross-over, Alan Scott becomes unavailable because he has to fight in another area taking place at the same time. Like I said, I do understand that its harder to sympathize with the older characters because you may not be able to identify with them the same as you do with other younger characters, however the focus of the series is not specifically a young character or an old character, its about legacy and finding a middle ground between honoring those who have come before you while still being able to do your own thing. I like to think of it more in terms of the Karate Kid where you see the age and culture differences coming together in the story. You also mentioned in your article not finding the Stargirl's interaction with her father particularly interesting. I dont know if you read the Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E., but I do wonder if you would have felt differently about the story if had read that series, and seen the other subplots with her throughout the JSA run. At any rate, keep up the good work...I look forward to listening and reading more from Earth-2. I've just gotten into podcasts and such, listen to a number of them while I am at work (on the night shift). I downloaded all the available casts you had of Earth-2 and went through them in about 2-3 nights.

Mike, I've been enjoying for the most part listening to your show and I finally signed up to the forum. I have to say though, being an avid JSA fan, and hearing your thoughts about the legacy and importance of the JSA on your show, I was disappointed to see you didnt care for the issue you read and more that you were unlikely to give it a second chance. I'll admit that the issue you read, wasn't the best but that said, it was still better then 80% of what either company is putting out right now. I think the biggest problem that JSA suffered with the issue that you read was that Geoff Johns wasn't able to put his normal level of attention to the book given what's happening with Infinite Crisis. Although I've been enjoying IC for the most part, I think with the number of books he is putting out right now, he can't keep them all top notch while a huge milepost event is taking place. I can understand your thought about not being able to identify with characters that are so much older like the original Flash and Green Lantern, but as you said on the show...these guys are the ones who inspired everyone else to come and these are only three out of a couple of dozen characters that show up regularly in JSA's pages. I really think, for the reasons you said on the show, should at least give JSA one more chance...but dont take that second chance from an ongoing issue until after 52 is over. Where you SHOULD give JSA a second chance is from one of the trade paperbacks. Im not the best at recalling the names of the story arcs for the trade paperbacks, but I'd suggest starting with the beginning and checking out some of Robinson and Goyer's run especially where they first face off against Mordru. If you liked what they did with Starman, you should enjoy their run on JSA as well. Its not as mature as Starman was, but they had the same style of action with the same level of twists and turns. If you really want to focus on Johns' work, then I would suggest maybe the trade paperback dealing with reintroducing Hawkman. Give the book another chance away from a company wide event!

I'm with you Ragnerok...while I never saw Punisher, I DID like Fantastic 4 and Daredevil. Catwoman and Elektra did suck something fierce. The X-Men and Spider-Man franchises all focused on something fairly deep. They managed to strike a chord with the audience and those are great comic book adaptions. Fantastic 4 and Daredevil may not have been deep in the same way, but that doesn't mean they weren't good. I don't expect every comic book movie to make me think, but I do hope that Captain America will be a movie that DOES make us think. But there are some movies or franchises where I know it is ust going to be pure popcorn. It doesn't always have to have hidden depth. F4 and Daredevil, I think would both do quite well as sequels if for no other reason then they dont have to rehash the origin for the audience again. I disliked the Hulk mainly because it felt like it WANTED us to think in a similar way to Spiderman or X-Men but didnt want to put in the same effort. They spent over half the movie working on the origin....which I COULD be okay with, but then once he DID change into the Hulk, we practically never saw Bruce Banner again. The emotional resonance to the Hulk...where we see him become a 3 dimensional character is when we see Banner dealing with his guilt and remorse. At any rate, with three plus years of planning, I hope they boost Captain America into the same level as SM and XM. If its only the level of Daredevil or F4, I'm sure I'll enjoy it regardless but it will have been a waste on their part, because that's too much effort to put into a movie that is only good, instead of great.

I'm new to these boards but this thread caught my eye yesterday. I think there are two different concepts of what makes a strong female character here. Certainly Willow wasn't a strong female character in the sense that she was flawless or didnt need help, etc. She wasn't what we would think of as a Lara Croft or Wonder Woman type character. She was, however, a strong female character in that she was fleshed out and given more depth. Some of that was Hannigan's acting ability but it was Whedon and staff's writing as well that contributed to this. Season six brought out a lot of depth to Willow's character that identified her as a lot more then just Buffy's sidekick or a lesbian. I also think that the first couple seasons WEREN"T Joss's strongest....certainly not the first season at any rate. I think most of the first season was extremely weak but then that is natural for most series especially in the science fiction/fantasy realm as we are still seeing the writers and actors getting their feet. IMHO, the two weakest seasons...for all the characters.... were Season 1 for the reasons above...and Season 4, where the writers and actors once again must find their feet since they are no longer high school students. Sure we had a couple of great episodes like Hush but the season as a whole was rather weak and directionless. I'm personally looking forward to Whedon's take on Wonder Woman but I hope he plays up the Greek myth aspects of WW's character