#ongoing set in earth-1969 or something

[oimoi-op]

Unfortunately, Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries isn't an ongoing series. It was made to be a 12-issue limited series, so that's the last issue. Likewise, Scooby-Doo Team-Up wasn't made to be an indefinite series; it was 50 team-ups for the 50th anniversary of the Scooby-Doo franchise.

Damn, so it's even shorter than Team-Up???? That sucks, I fucking loved the Rogues/Scooby-Doo crossover in particular.

[sciencespies]

These are 7 of the strangest experiments humans have ever done in space

https://sciencespies.com/space/these-are-7-of-the-strangest-experiments-humans-have-ever-done-in-space/

These are 7 of the strangest experiments humans have ever done in space

The way things behave in microgravity may seem obvious to us now, after humans have been venturing into space for over 50 years.

But we haven’t always been certain how space might affect certain things. Like fire. Or planarian worms. Or even plants. It’s only by conducting experiments that we can learn the answers to these burning questions.

That has led to some pretty fascinating, sometimes upsetting, and sometimes downright wacky experiments conducted in space.

A spacesuit gets shoved out an airlock

The video above plays out like something out of a nightmare. A spacesuit floats, untethered, away from the International Space Station ISS), the vast black void of space yawning before it.

You may be relieved to learn that no humans were harmed in the making of this experiment – there’s no one in the Russian Orlan spacesuit, nicknamed Ivan Ivanovitch or Mr Smith – it’s stuffed with a bunch of old clothes and a radio transmitter.

The idea was that old spacesuits could be used as satellites. SuitSat-1 – officially designated AMSAT-OSCAR 54 – was deployed on 3 February 2006, but the experiment was only partially successful; reports vary, with NASA claiming the transmitter had died shortly after release and Russia reporting a final transmission a whole fortnight later. The last confirmed signal was received on 18 February.

SuitSat-1 went on to spend several months in silent orbit, before entering Earth’s atmosphere and burning up on 7 September 2006.

The hammer and the feather

In the late 16th century, Galileo Galilei dropped two spheres of unequal mass from the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. When both arrived on the ground at the same time, he’d countered classically established views, by showing mass had no bearing on gravitational acceleration. All objects, no matter the mass, should fall at the same rate – even if it’s a feather and a hammer.

On Earth, this is tricky to demonstrate due to air resistance. But nearly 400 years later, a human standing on the Moon repeated the experiment.

On 2 August 1971, Commander David Scott of Apollo 15 took a geological hammer in one hand, and a falcon feather in the other. He raised them to a height of about 1.6 metres off the ground, and dropped them. Because the astronaut was essentially in a vacuum, without air resistance the two objects fell in sync.

“Within the accuracy of the simultaneous release, the objects were observed to undergo the same acceleration and strike the lunar surface simultaneously,” wrote NASA astronaut Joe Allen, “which was a result predicted by well-established theory, but a result nonetheless reassuring considering both the number of viewers that witnessed the experiment and the fact that the homeward journey was based critically on the validity of the particular theory being tested.”

The hammer and feather are both still up there.

Fizzy tablet in a water blob

In microgravity, if you squirt a bit of water out of a nozzle, it just hangs there, all blobby and wobbling.

This can result in a lot of fun. Experiments and demonstrations have included popping water balloons in the vomit comet (the plane that makes parabolic flights to create brief periods of free-fall) and the ISS, attaching a blob of water with a large bubble inside to a speaker to observe the vibrations, and putting a GoPro camera in a water blob to film it from the inside (you’ll want stereoscopic 3D glasses for that one).

In 2015, astronaut Scott Kelly coloured a water blob with food colouring, then inserted effervescent tablets, watching them dissolve and release gases into the water. It was filmed using the space station’s new 4K camera, so you can view the whole alien-algae-spawning… thing in gloriously crisp resolution.

Fire in space

(ESA/NASA)

Just as water behaves differently in microgravity, so too does fire. The Mir space station fire of 1997 has thankfully been a one-off event so far, but working out how fire behaves in microgravity can help plan for fire safety for future long-term missions such as the crewed mission to Mars, and the permanent Moon base. It can help to inform fire safety protocols down here on Earth, too.

To that end, a number of ongoing research projects have studied what happens to flames in space. The Burning and Suppression of Solids experiments aboard the ISS have investigated the burning and extinction characteristics of a broad range of fuel types in microgravity. Data from these experiments can be used to build more complex models to understand the finer details of combustion in Earth gravity.

Aboard the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, scientists investigated how flames behave under different spacecraft conditions in the Saffire experiments. And NASA’s Flame Design investigation – part of the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments – is exploring the production and control of soot.

All of which is very useful and interesting, sure. But it’s also insanely beautiful, and we bet there are some astronauts having an absolute blast playing with fire in space.

Space spiders

In 2011, scientists set about answering the burning question: Can spiders adapt to space travel? They sent two golden silk orb-weaver spiders (Trichonephila clavipes), Esmeralda and Gladys, for a 45-day sojourn aboard the ISS.

They were kept in a nice habitat (can you imagine spiders loose on a space station), with light conditions to simulate a night-day cycle, temperature and humidity control, and a healthy diet of juicy fruit flies.

Both spiders adapted beautifully, continuing to spin their webs and hunt their food. Orb weavers eat their webs at the end of each day to regain protein, and spin them again in the morning; this, too, the spiders continued to do right on schedule, which was interesting, since different orb weaver species on the ISS just spun their webs at any old time of day.

But not everything was totally normal. In microgravity, the spiders spun their webs differently – flatter and rounder, compared to the more three-dimensional, asymmetrical structures the orb-weavers spin on Earth.

The two spiders returned to Earth at the end of their stay in space. Esmeralda perished on the return journey, having lived a normal spider lifespan. Gladys returned home hale, but turned out to be a boy. He was renamed Gladstone.

Tortoises go round the Moon

Back in the 1960s, before humans had been to the Moon, it wasn’t clear exactly how – if at all – getting up close and personal with the Moon would affect us physically. So, in 1968, the Soviet space program sent two Russian tortoises (Agrionemys horsfieldii) up for a trip round Earth’s companion.

Actually, it wasn’t just tortoises. Included in the flight were wine flies, mealworms, seeds, plants, algae and bacteria. There was also a dummy fitted with radiation sensors, since none of the living organisms aboard were remotely analogous to humans. Tortoises, according to a 1969 report, seem to have been chosen because they’re relatively easy to strap down.

The two unnamed reptilian cosmonauts were placed onboard the Zond-5 spacecraft on 2 September 1968, at which point they were no longer fed. They were launched into space on 15 September 1968, returning back to Earth (in the Indian ocean) on 21 September. They finally returned to Moscow on 7 October.

Their journey included seven days of spaceflight, several days in tropical climates (including bobbing about in the ocean while they waited for retrieval) and transportation back to Russia. Ultimately, they spent 39 days without food. It would try anyone.

Control tortoises that remained on Earth were also deprived of food for the same time period. A comparison of the two sets of tortoises revealed that any changes in the space-faring reptiles were mostly the result of starvation, with a small contribution from spaceflight-related atrophy.

We’d like to say that no one ever sent tortoises to space again, but sadly, two more tortoise missions took place. Zond 7 in 1969 carried tortoises. In 1975, the Soyuz 20 spacecraft ferried a tortoise around for 90 days. And two tortoises flew on the Salyut-5 space station in 1976.

Moon Trees

Just as we once didn’t know how space would affect animals, so too were we unaware of its effects on plants. So when the Apollo 14 mission launched on 31 January 1971, its cargo contained something we might now consider a bit peculiar: roughly 500 seeds.

Scientists from the US Forest Service wanted to know if tree seeds that had flown in microgravity and been subjected to space radiation would sprout, grow and look the same as seeds that had never left Earth.

Five species of tree were included in the cannister: loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), California redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and American sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua). They accompanied command module pilot Stuart Roosa on 34 orbits of the Moon before returning to Earth.

The seeds were then planted and tended, and most of them survived to grow into saplings, alongside controls that had never left Earth. Unsurprisingly to us now, there was no discernible difference between the two.

By 1975, the Moon Trees, as they had come to be known, were large enough to be transplanted, and they were shipped all over America. According to this NASA website, less than 100 Moon Trees can be accounted for today, and of those, only 57 were living when the page was put together.

That means there could potentially be hundreds of Moon Trees hiding across the US, a lost relic of a time when our curiosity sent tiny seeds whizzing around space. And we think that’s beautiful.

#Space

[thecomicsnexus]

TOP 10 ARTISTS OF 2019′S REVIEWS

Believe it or not, it is harder to “rank” artists than writers, for comic-books. Most of the time, what you see is mostly a collaboration of many artists, and not always an ugly style is a bad thing. Art is subjective and that is why I am not doing a “bottom 10″ list of artists these years. It just wouldn’t make sense.

But because this year I took all sixty-something review that scored 10, while that is still a long list of artists, I was able to see which artists were more prominent in the material I read this year. This may or many not make sense to you, and it might not even make sense at all. But here it comes.

NUMBER TEN JERRY ORDWAY (1957 - PRESENT)

Jeremiah Ordway (born November 28, 1957) is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books.

He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986), his long run working on the Superman titles from 1986–1993, and for writing and painting the Captain Marvel original graphic novel The Power of Shazam! (1994), and writing the ongoing monthly series from 1995–1999. He has provided inks for artists such as Curt Swan, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, John Buscema, Steve Ditko, John Byrne, George Perez and others.

Jerry Ordway was inspired in his childhood by Marvel Comics, and dreamed of drawing Daredevil, Spider-Man, and the Avengers. To date he has only worked on the latter.

Ordway attended Milwaukee Technical High School, where he took a three-year commercial art course, before joining a commercial art studio as a typographer in 1976. He subsequently worked his way "from the ground floor up at the art studio" between 1978 and 1981.

Ordway is married to Peggy May Ordway (b. 1959).

While Ordway’s work this year that made him into the list is “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, I think that I am doing a special mention for him. He was inker for that series (And this year, I will be separating pencillers from the rest), but Ordway’s pencils have so much personality, that you sometimes forget he is just inking.

NUMBER NINE GARY FRANK (1969 - PRESENT)

Gary Frank (born 1969) is a British comics artist, notable for pencilling on Midnight Nation and Supreme Power, both written by J. Michael Straczynski. He has also worked with author Peter David on The Incredible Hulk and Supergirl. He had a creator-owned series, Kin, which he wrote himself, published by Top Cow Productions in 2000.

Writer Geoff Johns, who has collaborated with Frank, has opined that Frank's rendition of Superman is the best of his generation and that the only other artist in the same league with Frank in this regard is Curt Swan.

Gary Frank began his professional career in 1991, illustrating covers and interior short stories for publications such as Doctor Who Magazine and Toxic!. This led to a stint at Marvel UK in 1992 as regular series' artist on Motormouth & Killpower. It was on that series that he began a long-running collaboration with inker Cam Smith, who would continue to ink Frank's work for many years. In 1992, Frank was recruited by Marvel Comics to illustrate covers for The Incredible Hulk, beginning with issue No. 400. Shortly thereafter, he was hired as the series' ongoing artist beginning with issue No. 403 (March 1993) and ending with No. 425 (Jan. 1995).

During his initial time at Marvel, Frank contributed covers, interiors and pin-up illustrations for various series, such as X-Men Unlimited, the Sabretooth Special, X-Men Classic, X-Men Prime, and Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, among others. He drew covers for Acclaim Comics' Ninjak and Harris Comics' Vampirella.

In 1996, Frank and Smith were hired as the art team on DC Comics' new Supergirl ongoing series, which re-teamed Frank with writer Peter David. Frank's run as penciller ended with issue No. 9 (May 1997), although he continued to provide covers for the series until issue No. 21. Other assignments for DC included a Birds of Prey one-shot and the DC/Marvel Amalgam Comics one-shot, Bullets and Bracelets.

In 1997, Frank and Smith moved to Image Comics, where they, along with writer John Arcudi, were hired as the new creative team on the Wildstorm title Gen¹³, beginning with the epilogue story in issue No. 25. Their run on the series was praised for its dark, realistic style in both writing and art; however, the drastic change in tone and style alienated many longtime fans who had grown accustomed to the more fantastical and cartoonish approach of the Brandon Choi/J. Scott Campbell run. The Arcudi/Frank/Smith tenure on the series lasted two years, until issue No. 41 (July 1999). It was during this run, in 1998, that Wildstorm head Jim Lee moved his studio and all its properties to DC Comics. Therefore, issues No. 25–36 were published by Image and issues No. 37–41 were published by DC/Wildstorm.

Gary made it into the list because of his work with Geoff Johns on Justice League (including Shazam’s origin). But he could have been included for his work on Doomsday Clock as well.

NUMBER EIGHT DAVE GIBBONS (1949 - PRESENT)

David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything". He was an artist for 2000 AD, for which he contributed a large body of work from its first issue in 1977.

Gibbons was born at Forest Gate Hospital in London, to Chester, a town planner, and Gladys, a secretary. He began reading comic books at the age of seven. A self-taught artist, he illustrated his own comic strips. Gibbons became a building surveyor but eventually entered the UK comics industry as a letterer for IPC Media. He left his surveyor job to focus on his comics career.

Gibbons was one of the British comic talents identified by Len Wein in 1982 for American publisher DC Comics: he was hired primarily to draw "Green Lantern Corps" backup stories within the pages of Green Lantern. Gibbons' first DC work was on the Green Lantern Corps story in Green Lantern No. 161 (February 1983), with writer Todd Klein, as well as the concurrently released "Creeper" two-part backup story in The Flash #318–319. Gibbons drew the lead story in The Brave and the Bold No. 200 (July 1983) which featured a team-up of the Batmen of Earth-One and Earth-Two. With Green Lantern No. 172 (Jan. 1984), Gibbons joined writer Wein on the main feature while continuing to illustrate the backup features. In issue No. 182, Wein and Gibbons made architect John Stewart, who had been introduced previously in issue No. 87, the title's primary character. Ceding the "Tales of the Green Lantern Corps" backup features to various other individuals from No. 181, Gibbons last issue with Wein was issue No. 186 (March 1985). Gibbons returned to pencil the backup story "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" with Alan Moore in issue No. 188.

While Marvel Comics reprinted some of Gibbons' Marvel UK Doctor Who work, Eclipse Comics reprinted some of his Warrior work and Eagle reprinted various Judge Dredd tales, Gibbons continued to produce new work almost exclusively for DC throughout the 1980s. For the 1985 Superman Annual No. 11, Gibbons drew the main story "For the Man Who Has Everything", again written by Alan Moore.

During 1985 and 1986, Gibbons' artwork graced the pages of several issues of both DC's Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe and Marvel's The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition. He was one of the contributors to the DC Challenge limited series and in December 1986, he contributed to Harrier Comics' Brickman No. 1 alongside Kevin O'Neill, Lew Stringer and others. Between May and August 1988, he contributed covers to The Phantom miniseries, inked Kevin Maguire's pencilled contribution to Action Comics No. 600, and produced the cover to Action Comics Weekly No. 601.

He is best known in the US for collaborating with Alan Moore on the 12-issue limited series Watchmen, now one of the best-selling graphic novels of all time, and the only one to feature on Time's "Top 100 Novels" list. Gibbons' artwork in Watchmen is notable both for its stark utilisation of the formulaic comicbook nine-panel grid layout, as well as for its intense narrative and symbolic density with some symbolic background elements suggested by Moore, others by Gibbons.

Gibbons lettered Watchmen and it was his lettering style that later served as one of two reference sources used by Vincent Connare when creating the controversial font Comic Sans in 1994. Gibbons has commented that "It's just a shame they couldn't have used just the original font, because it's a real mess. I think it's a particularly ugly letter form."

Comics historian Les Daniels noted that Watchmen "called into question the basic assumptions on which the super hero genre is formulated". DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz observed in 2010 that "As with The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen set off a chain reaction of rethinking the nature of super heroes and heroism itself, and pushed the genre darker for more than a decade. The series won acclaim...and would continue to be regarded as one of the most important literary works the field ever produced."

Gibbons returned to Watchmen in 2008, producing the behind-the-scenes book Watching the Watchmen to tie into the release of the 2009 film. Watching the Watchmen is his take on the creation of the seminal work, and features a number of rarely seen pieces of artwork including sketches and character designs, as well as "stuff," he says "that I just don't know why I kept but I'm really pleased I did." Gibbons stated that "I'm basically thrilled with the movie, you know; it's been in the making for years. There have been proposals to make it – some I was excited about, some I was less excited about. But I think the way that it finally has been made is just great. I honestly can't imagine it being made much better."

Gibbons was present in many reviews this year, but he made it into the list because of his work on “Superman” and “Watchmen”.

NUMBER SEVEN BRIAN BOLLAND (1951 - PRESENT)

Brian Bolland (born 26 March 1951) is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in 1982 produced the artwork on Camelot 3000 (with author Mike W. Barr), which was DC Comics' first 12-issue comicbook maxiseries created for the direct market.

His rare forays into interior art also include Batman: The Killing Joke, with UK-based writer Alan Moore, and a self-penned Batman: Black and White story. Bolland remains in high demand as a cover artist, producing the vast majority of his work for DC Comics.

Brian Bolland was born in Butterwick, Lincolnshire, to parents Albert "A.J." John, a fenland farmer, and Lillie Bolland. He spent his "first 18 years" living "in a small village near Boston in the fens of Lincolnshire, England," but has "no memory of comics" much before the age of ten. When American comics began to be imported into England, c.1959, Bolland says that it "took a little while for me to discover them," but by 1960 he was intrigued by Dell Comics' Dinosaurus!, which fed into a childhood interest in dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. Comics including Turok, Son of Stone and DC Comics' Tomahawk soon followed, and it was this burgeoning comics collection that would help inspire the young Bolland to draw his own comics around the age of ten with ideas such as "Insect League." He recalls that "[s]uperheroes crept into my life by stealth," as he actively sought out covers featuring "any big creature that looked vaguely dinosaur-like, trampling puny humans." These adolescent criteria led from Dinosaurus! and Turok via House of Mystery to "Batman and Robin [who] were [often] being harassed by big weird things, as were Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman [etc]." Soon, family outings to Skegness became an excuse for the future artist to "trawl... round some of the more remote backstreet newsagents" for comics to store on an overflowing "bookcase I'd made in school woodwork especially."

As early as 1962, aged 11, Bolland remembers thinking that "Carmine Infantino's work on the Flash and Gil Kane's on Green Lantern and the Atom had a sophistication about it that I hadn't [previously] seen. The young Bolland did not rate Marvel Comics as highly as DC, feeling the covers cluttered and the paper quality crude. His appreciation of the artwork of Jack Kirby, he says, only materialised much later "through the eyes of a seasoned professional." Despite such a variety of inspirations, Bolland credits his eventual pursuance of art as a hobby and then vocation to a primary school art teacher, who "evidently said all the right things to me."

Growing up as "and only child in a house without culture," (Bolland says that his "mother and father had no use for art, literature or music"), he embraced the late 1960s pop culture explosion of "pirate radio stations, music (particularly Frank Zappa...), drug taking, psychedelia, "peace and love," "dropping out," the underground scene, Oz Magazine," and other aspects of hippy culture epitomised by underground comix such as Robert Crumb's Zap Comix. Having taken both O-Level and A-Level examinations in art, Bolland spent five years at art school (starting in 1969) learning graphic design and Art history. Learning to draw comics, however, was "more a self-taught thing," with Bolland eventually writing a 15,000-word dissertation in 1973 on Neal Adams – an "artist [his teachers] had never heard of." He would later recall:

It was during this time that I discovered the sheer range of comics and their history. All the British stuff I'd missed was there to be discovered. I found the American greats, Foster, Herriman, Alex Raymond and Winsor McCay... Noel Sickles, Milt Caniff, Roy Crane, had all, I discovered, put down the basic building blocks of our "Art form". And there were the Europeans... Moebius, Manara, Breccia. Later the Filipinos—Alex Niño, Nestor Redondo, Alfredo Alcala, all were inspirational. None of this stuff was to be found in the art schools. During my five years in three art schools I never learnt a single thing about comics from any of my tutors.

Bolland was among the first British comics creators 'discovered' by the American comics industry, spearheading the so-called "British Invasion" in 1979/80. Bolland recalls that his big break came when Joe Staton attended the Summer 1979 Comicon, and, needing somewhere to work (on Green Lantern) while in the UK, arranged to stay with the Bollands. Staton called his editor Jack Harris and told him that Bolland, a big Green Lantern fan, would like to draw a Green Lantern cover; Harris agreed. He drew several covers for DC Comics, starting with Green Lantern No. 127 (April 1980), as well as some fill-in stories. These stories included, in 1980-1981, "Certified Safe" in Mystery in Space and "Falling Down to Heaven" in Madame Xanadu, DC's first attempt at marketing comics specifically to the "direct market" of fans and collectors. For editor Julius Schwartz, Bolland drew covers around which writers would craft stories, which included two Starro covers for Justice League of America No. 189 and 190 and Superman No. 422 (Aug. 1986).

Among his earliest interior work for DC was a chapter in Justice League of America No. 200 (March 1982) alongside artistic heroes Joe Kubert, Carmine Infantino and Gil Kane, as well as Jim Aparo, George Pérez and Dick Giordano. This gave the artist his "first stab at drawing Batman." Bolland felt that "after my cover [GL #127] worked out the people at DC turned their gaze on London... and particularly on the group of artists at 2000AD who had been weaned on the DC characters." He recalled that, "after I was settled in at DC, scouts from that company came to our "Society of Strip Illustration" meetings to win over a few more of us," making a "formal invitation" at an SSI meeting, which saw "Dave Gibbons, Kevin O'Neill... [t]hen Alan Davis and Mark Farmer," following the artists "Alan Grant "went across" and, at some point, a certain tall hairy writer from the Midlands."

In 1982, DC editor Len Wein chose Bolland to be the artist on DC's Camelot 3000 12-issue maxi-series, with writer Mike W. Barr. The story, dealing with the return of King Arthur to save England from an alien invasion in the year 3000, not only "represents the single biggest body of work" by Bolland – and his only attempt to draw a monthly title – but was also the "first example of a DC (or otherwise) maxi-series." Bolland was not familiar with the Arthurian legends, and initially conceived Merlin as a comical character. The series was graced with considerable media hype, and Bolland found himself "whisked off to San Diego and places and made a fuss of." Bolland was allowed to pick between two inkers, but opted to ink his covers himself. Bolland was uncomfortable with having a third party ink his pencils, and later admitted that he put a high level of detail into his art for the series to leave as little room as possible for the inker to creatively reinterpret his work. However, "by the end I was quite pleased with the results." Reacting indignantly to being presented with Ross Andru layouts for the first two Camelot 3000 covers, he chose to ignore [the Andru design] completely and come up with my own unapproved design. Len Wein rejected it and told me to do the Ross Andru one. Grudgingly I drew the number one cover that made it onto the issue – but as a protest I reversed the letter N in my signature as a code to remind myself that my "artistic integrity" had been despoiled. I liked the backwards N enough to keep it from that day on.

Camelot 3000 had lengthy delays between its final issues. Bolland recalled that he and DC "talked quite a bit about how long it would take me to do the series," and because the series was inked by other artists, he started off "churning the pages out with great enthusiasm." As the series continued, however, Bolland became increasingly meticulous, "trying to make the pages look better and better". The added details he introduced into his artwork caused significant delays in the final issues of the limited series, causing issues #8–11 to be released on a quarterly rather than monthly status, and the final issue to be cover dated nine months later than the penultimate issue.

Bolland married his girlfriend, illustrator and sometime-collaborator Rachel Birkett in 1981. She later gave up illustration "to become a cook in a vegetarian restaurant, although she has since assisted her husband with his work, acting as colourist, inker, co-artist and ghost. The two have a son, Harry.

The Camelot 3000 limited series, which he created with Mike W. Barr, was nominated for the 1985 Kirby Award for Best Finite Series, narrowly losing to Marv Wolfman and George Pérez's Crisis on Infinite Earths. In 2002, he placed second behind Jack Kirby for the title of "Best Artist Ever" in the short-lived National Comics Awards.

Brian Bolland made it to the list because of... you probably guessed it... “Camelot 3000″ and “Batman: The Killing Joke”.

NUMBER SIX FRANK MILLER (1957 - PRESENT)

Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer best known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Sin City, and 300.

He is in both, Writer and Artist list, and, surpise, surprise, for pretty much the same stuff (”The Dark Knight Returns”, “Ronin” and also “Wolverine”).

NUMBER FIVE MIKE DRINGENBERG (1965 - PRESENT)

Mike Dringenberg (born c. 1965) is an American comics artist best known for his work on DC Comics/Vertigo's Sandman series with writer Neil Gaiman. Mike Dringenberg was born in Laon, France.

Dringenberg first work in the comics industry was the story "A Tale Of... Lenny's Casino & Grill" in Kelvin Mace #1 (Dec. 1985) published by Vortex Comics. His other early work in the 1980s for publishers such as Eclipse Comics included Alien Worlds, Enchanter, and Total Eclipse. He worked on Adolescent Radioactive Blackbelt Hamsters, a parody of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which itself was a parody of many then-current comic books, and Shock the Monkey. His mainstream work includes DC's Doom Patrol with writer Grant Morrison, where he co-created Flex Mentallo; the fantasy card game Magic: The Gathering; and White Wolf Publishing's card game Vampire: The Eternal Struggle.

Mike is in this list because of his work on “The Sandman”.

NUMBER FOUR RICK VEITCH (1951 - PRESENT)

Richard Veitch (born May 7, 1951) is an American comics artist and writer who has worked in mainstream, underground, and alternative comics. Rick Veitch is from a large Catholic family of six children. He was raised in Bellows Falls, Vermont.

Veitch made his publishing debut in 1972, illustrating the underground comix horror parody Two-Fisted Zombies published by Last Gasp and written by his brother Tom Veitch. This one-shot was excerpted in Mark Estren's History of Underground Comix. It also, according to Veitch, proved to be his ticket to admission to Joe Kubert School.

Veitch then studied cartooning at The Kubert School, and was in the first class to graduate from the school in 1978, along with his future long-time collaborators Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben.

Veitch's next major project was an adaptation of the film 1941 with Bissette.

During the 1980s, Veitch became known as a distinctive fantasy artist and writer for Marvel Comics' Epic Comics line, for which he created three graphic novels, Abraxas and the Earthman serialized in Epic Illustrated; Heartburst published as a standalone graphic novel; and The One originally published as a six-issue comic book limited series. Heartburst was straightforward science fiction, while The One was an ambitious and bizarre fantasy-adventure involving monstrous superheroes, the Cold War, and spiritual evolution. During this period Veitch also contributed numerous self-contained comics short stories to Epic Illustrated.

Veitch's highest-profile title was DC Comics' Swamp Thing. His friends Totleben and Bissette had both illustrated the series since Alan Moore took over as writer. Veitch joined the team for issue #37 (cover dated June 1985), in which Moore's popular character John Constantine was introduced, and appeared regularly after issue #50. He also worked with Moore on Miracleman, illustrating the story that graphically depicted the birth of Miracleman's child published by Eclipse Comics in Miracleman #9 (July 1986).

When Moore left the Swamp Thing series after issue #64, Veitch took over as writer, dividing art duties between himself and Alfredo Alcala. His Swamp Thing stories took a similar approach to Moore's, combining horror-fantasy, ecological concerns, and an encyclopedic knowledge of DC Comics fantasy characters; he gradually turned his attention from the DC Universe to history and mythology, using time travel to introduce his hero to a variety of legendary figures. This was to conclude in issue #91. Difficulties arose after Veitch's plan for issue #88, a story in which Swamp Thing met Jesus Christ, was scrapped by DC President Jenette Kahn. Although DC had approved Veitch's initial script for the Jesus story, the topic was later deemed too inflammatory and was cancelled at the last minute. The publisher and writer were unable to reach a compromise; Veitch quit, and vowed never to work for DC until the story saw print. Though the story arc has still never been printed, Veitch eventually did return to DC.

After leaving DC, Veitch turned to the alternative comics field, where the success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had provided the impetus for a black-and-white independent comics boom. After doing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles storyline for Mirage Studios, "The River", he began creating his own titles again, published by the Mirage spin-off Tundra Publishing.

Rick is one of the “revelations” of this year, to me. He was included in this list because of his work in both, “Swamp Thing” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. His TMNT story is one of my favorite TMNT stories of all time (even though it may or may not be canon).

NUMBER THREE JOHN TOTLEBEN (1958 - PRESENT)

John Thomas Totleben (born February 16, 1958 in Erie, Pennsylvania) is an American illustrator working mostly in comic books.

After studying art at Tech Memorial in Erie, Totleben attended The Kubert School for one year. He then spent several years working for comics editor Harry "A" Chesler, producing illustrations for the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam; which never saw print. His first published work appeared in Heavy Metal in January 1979.

His first success in American comics, and still his best-known work, was as the inker of pencilled art by Stephen R. Bissette for the DC Comics title Swamp Thing, when the series was being written and reinvented by Alan Moore. Totleben and Bissette joined the series in 1983 shortly before Moore. Totleben's style was unusual for the time, and is still distinctive among U.S. comics artists, for its fluid layouts and heavily detailed rendering using a combination of stippling and hatching. He also painted covers for the series in oils and acrylic. Totleben inked the story in Swamp Thing #37 (June 1985) which introduced the John Constantine character.

As with most cases in this list, these artists can ink, color and pencil their own art. Totleben is another artists that made it into this list thanks to his work on “Swamp Thing”.

NUMBER TWO STEPHEN R. BISSETTE (1955 - PRESENT)

Stephen R. "Steve" Bissette (born March 14, 1955) is an American comics artist, editor, and publisher with a focus on the horror genre. He is known for working with writer Alan Moore and inker John Totleben on the DC Comics series Swamp Thing in the 1980s.

Bissette was born and raised in Vermont, where he still lives, and was raised Catholic.

Shortly after the publication of his first work, Abyss (1976), Bissette enrolled in the first class of The Kubert School. Before his first year was completed, his work was being published professionally in the pages of Sojourn, Sgt. Rock, and Heavy Metal. In 1978, Bissette was among the Kubert School's first graduating class, along with classmates Rick Veitch, Tom Yeates, and others.

While still enrolled at The Kubert School, Bissette executed the logo for early New Jersey synth-pop band WKGB and drew the cover for the band's 1979 single "Non-Stop/Ultramarine" on Fetish Records.

His early work appeared in the pages of Heavy Metal, Epic Illustrated, Bizarre Adventures, Scholastic Corporation's Weird Worlds and Bananas illustrating stories written by Goosebumps founder and author R. L. Stine, and he worked with Rick Veitch on the graphic novelization of Steven Spielberg's motion picture.

Bissette is best known for his multiple award-winning collaboration with writer Alan Moore and inker John Totleben on DC Comics' Saga of the Swamp Thing (1983–1987).

Under the company name of Spiderbaby Grafix, he later published the horror anthology Taboo, the original home of Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell and Tim Lucas' Throat Sprockets illustrated by Mike Hoffman and David Lloyd. He created Tyrant, a comic book biography of a Tyrannosaurus rex, which lasted four issues. During this period, he edited the horror anthology Gore Shriek, published by FantaCo Enterprises.

Since 1991, Bissette has presented a lecture series on horror comics called "Journeys into Fear". Having since grown in scope into a five-part series, "Journeys into Fear" identifies 12th century Japanese ghost scrolls and the 16th Century Mixtec codices as early ancestors, and traces the genre from its roots in Winsor McCay's work such as Dream of the Rarebit Fiend. In 1996–1997, Bissette contributed five covers for a comic book series about another swamp monster, Hall of Heroes' Bog Swamp Demon.

Bissette subsequently worked with Moore, Totleben, and Rick Veitch on the Image Comics' limited series 1963, their final creative collaborative effort. From 1963, Bissette owns the characters Hypernaut, N-Man, and the Fury.

Scott McCloud's 24-hour comic project began as a dare to Bissette in 1990. Each created a 24-page comic in 24 hours. The 24-hour comics project evolved into a challenge taken up by numerous hopeful contributors, with several published collections, and inspired other time-limited creative projects. Bissette published the story A Life in black and white in his own comic book anthology SpiderBaby Comix #2 (SpiderBaby Graphix, 1997).

In 1993, Bissette and Stanley Wiater co-edited Comic Book Rebels: Conversations with the Creators of the New Comics, which featured interviews with such notable comics creators as Scott McCloud, Harvey Pekar, Dave Sim, Howard Cruse, Will Eisner, Peter Laird, Kevin Eastman, and Robert Crumb.

Bissette retired from the comics industry in 1999, alluding to what he termed a "generational shift." He teaches courses in Comic Art History, Drawing, and Film at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont

Since 2005, Bissette has also edited and published Green Mountain Cinema, a trade paperback journal devoted to the independent cinema scene in his home state of Vermont, as well as five volumes of Blur, collecting his film reviews and criticism.

The Stephen R. Bissette Collection at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, houses Bissette's works and memorabilia.

Bissette is in this list because of his work on “Swamp Thing”.

NUMBER ONE GEORGE PÉREZ (1954 - PRESENT)

George Pérez (born June 9, 1954) is a retired American comic book artist and writer, whose titles include The Avengers, Teen Titans, and Wonder Woman. Writer Peter David has named Pérez his favorite artistic collaborator.

George Pérez was born in the South Bronx, New York City, on June 9, 1954, to Jorge Guzman Pérez and Luz Maria Izquierdo, who were both from Caguas, Puerto Rico, but who did not meet until approximately 1949 or 1950, after both had settled in New Jersey while searching for job opportunities. They married in October 26, 1954 and subsequently moved to New York, where Jorge worked in the meat packing industry while Luz was a homemaker. George's younger brother David was born May 28, 1955. Both brothers aspired at a young age to be artists. with George Pérez beginning to draw at the age of five.

Pérez's first involvement with the professional comics industry was as artist Rich Buckler's assistant in 1973, and he made his professional debut in Marvel Comics' Astonishing Tales No. 25 (Aug. 1974) as penciler of an untitled two-page satire of Buckler's character Deathlok, star of that comic's main feature. Soon Pérez became a Marvel regular, penciling a run of "Sons of the Tiger", a serialized action-adventure strip published in Marvel's long-running Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine and authored by Bill Mantlo. He and Mantlo co-created the White Tiger (comics' first Puerto Rican superhero), a character that soon appeared in Marvel's color comics, most notably the Spider-Man titles.

Pérez came to prominence with Marvel's superhero-team comic The Avengers, starting with issue No. 141. In the 1970s, Pérez illustrated several other Marvel titles, including Creatures on the Loose, featuring the Man-Wolf; The Inhumans; and Fantastic Four. Writer Roy Thomas and Pérez crafted a metafictional story for Fantastic Four No. 176 (Nov. 1976) in which the Impossible Man visited the offices of Marvel Comics and met numerous comics creators. Whilst most of Pérez' Fantastic Four issues were written by Roy Thomas or Len Wein, it would be a Fantastic Four Annual where he would have his first major collaboration with writer Marv Wolfman. Pérez drew the first part of writer Jim Shooter's "The Korvac Saga", which featured nearly every Avenger who joined the team up to that point. Shooter and Pérez introduced the character of Henry Peter Gyrich, the Avengers' liaison to the United States National Security Council in the second chapter of that same storyline. Writer David Michelinie and Pérez created the Taskmaster in The Avengers No. 195 (May 1980).

In 1980, while still drawing The Avengers for Marvel, Pérez began working for their rival DC Comics. Offered the art chores for the launch of The New Teen Titans, written by Wolfman, Pérez' real incentive was the opportunity to draw Justice League of America (an ambition of Pérez's which "seemed like a natural progress from the Avengers"). Long-time Justice League artist Dick Dillin died right around that time, providing an opportunity for Pérez to step in as regular artist. While Pérez's stint on the JLA was popular with fans, his career took off with the New Teen Titans. The New Teen Titans was launched in a special preview in DC Comics Presents No. 26 (October 1980). This incarnation of the Titans was intended to be DC's answer to Marvel's increasingly popular X-Men comic, and Wolfman and Pérez indeed struck gold. A New Teen Titans drug awareness comic book sponsored by the Keebler Company, and drawn by Pérez was published in cooperation with The President's Drug Awareness Campaign in 1983. In August 1984, a second series of The New Teen Titans was launched by Wolfman and Pérez. Moreover, Pérez's facility with layouts, details, and faces improved enormously during his four years on the book, making him one of the most popular artists in comics as evidenced by the numerous industry awards he would receive during this time.

Pérez took a leave of absence from The New Teen Titans in 1984 to focus on his next project with Marv Wolfman, DC's 1985 50th-anniversary event, Crisis on Infinite Earths. Crisis purportedly featured every single character DC owned, in a story which radically restructured the DC universe's continuity. Pérez was inked on the series by Dick Giordano, Mike DeCarlo, and Jerry Ordway. After Crisis, Pérez inked the final issue of Superman (issue #423) in September 1986, over Curt Swan's pencils for part one of the two-part story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" by writer Alan Moore. The following month, Pérez was one of the artists on Batman No. 400 (October 1986) Wolfman and Pérez teamed again to produce the History of the DC Universe limited series to summarize the company's new history. Pérez drew the cover for the DC Heroes roleplaying game (1985) from Mayfair Games:167 as well as the cover for the fourth edition of the Champions roleplaying game (1989) from Hero Games.

Pérez is married to Carol Flynn. He has no children. He has a brother, David, and a niece and nephew. He is diabetic, and has undergone surgery for diabetic retinopathy. In May 2017, Pérez was admitted to a hospital with chest pains and was diagnosed as having had a heart attack while travelling to New Jersey for a convention. He was subsequently released from the hospital after having a coronary stent fitted.

George was already in last year’s TOP 10 and he made it again this year, thanks to his work on “New Teen Titans”, “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” and “Tales of the Teen Titans”, including “The Judas Contract”.

As I said before, most of these artists are pencillers, but most of them can do anything. Now, I have another list of artists coming up, that have a bit more “rigid” in what they do, but they also excel at it.

The artists in this list are only a small group, among all the other artists that could have made it into this list, some of them being: A. C. Farley, Bruce Timm, Bryan Hitch, Chris Allan, Jim Lawson, Chris Sprouse, Curt Swan, Dave McKean, Denys Cowan, Frank Quitely, Gene Colan, Jesus Merino, Emanuela Lupacchino, Jim Aparo, Jim Lee, Joe Quinones, Keith Pollard, Marcos Martin, Matt Hollingsworth, Paul Gulacy, Richard Pace, Leonard Kirk, Dan Jurgens, Sam Keith, Shawn McManus, Stephen Byrne, The Dodsons, Tony Harris, Stan Sakai and Bob Burden. Thank you all, and thank you to the artists of this list for making 2019 a better year for me.

[samotchkaficrecs]

Heyo, I've been having some nostalgia, so do you know of any good Percy Jackson fanfictions? (If there even are any?) Thank youuuu!!!

Oui oui mon ami, i have actually been rereading a few of my favourite fics for the pjo fandom sooo your in luck!

As always fic with a ‘★’ next to is are my highly reccomended.

★ somebody’s old friend - byRosyredlipstick

The night began with wine and dinner, cake and champagne. It began with boring conversation, tense smiles, and eyes that should not have been lingering. A gathering, with known names and too-sweet comments. This was a party of politics, and everyone there knew it. This is where it began.But the night of October 23rd 1969, a date that would later go down in Chicago city history, truly started with a murder. But even before that - a scream.-The PJO Murder Mystery AU

(complete)

★ The Sandwich Thief - byboombashkas

Someone at work has started stealing Jason’s lunch every day.

And leaving stupid letters behind in its place.

(complete)

Saving Grace - bybrittneynr96

“He’s so perfect, and damn, he looks good in those tights. I wanna meet him,”

“You like him?”

“Like him? I love him! He’s perfect! Have you seen him in action? He’s like superman!”

“Well maybe you’ll get too meet him one day..”

“I hope your right.”

Or the one in which a comic book nerd who loves superheroes a little too much falls for a superhero who’s just his bro in disguise.

(ongoing)

Disney Adventures - byRayvnAshes (IronScript)

Percy Jackson and Co. manage to convince Chiron to let them go on a (well-deserved) vacation after the war, and where else would they choose to go but the Happiest Place on Earth?

(complete)

Is There Something On My Face? - bybuoyantsaturn

5 times Will has something on his face and 1 time Nico has something on his.

(complete)

★ summers of stars - byteasockschocolate 

“Percy studied the constellations -– the ones Annabeth had taught him so many years ago.”-snapshots of baby percabeth + stars across the PJO series inspired from that house of hades quote

(complete)

Leo Valdez & the Inescapable Curse - byMermaidMarie

Leo has never been one to give up, whether it be on machines or on people. As far as he’s concerned, if someone says a problem can’t be fixed, they just haven’t met Leo Valdez yet. After hearing some of the worst news of his entire life, Leo decides to set off on a quest that could very well get him killed. What else is new?

Following the events of The Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze. Major spoilers.

(ongoing)

Not Quite Famous - byjasonsmclean

The kids of celebrities are their own breed. They aren’t known for their abilities or talents, but they are well-known by association. Their pictures are coveted, their social media accounts with thousands, if not millions, of followers, and all of their friends are suddenly scrutinized as well.

When Jason Grace, son of famous actress Beryl Grace, returns to the spotlight for the first time in years, the media is desperate for any scrap of information about him. Even if it means creating rumors of a relationship with Tristan McLean’s daughter, Piper.

(ongoing)

I hope these will suffice, i tried to pick ones for different ships so not to overload on any particular one. SOOO enjoyyy

Au revoir~ 

[ntrending]

The moon is quaking (and shrinking like a raisin)

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/the-moon-is-quaking-and-shrinking-like-a-raisin/

The moon is quaking (and shrinking like a raisin)

The moon might look like a dry, dead wasteland, but there’s a lot more activity happening on the gray, 4.5-billion-year-old rock than we give it credit for. In a study published this week in Nature Geoscience, a team of researchers illustrate how the moon is, in fact, shrinking—getting ever so smaller as its insides continue to cool down bit by bit, shriveling up and leaving behind geophysical faults. It’s along these lines scientists are now able to gauge how active the moon’s interior really is, and see evidence of moonquakes persisting even today.

“The story really starts with Apollo,” says Thomas Watters, lead author of the research paper and a senior scientist at the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. NASA astronauts installed five seismic data collection stations on the moon during Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16. From 1969 to 1977, the stations recorded four different types of seismic activity on the moon ranging from magnitude 2 to 5: quakes that occurred from thermal expansion, quakes from meteorite impacts, deep moonquakes due to tidal stresses created from the orbit around the Earth, and shallow moonquakes that didn’t have a discernible cause.

It’s the shallow moonquakes that Watters and his team were most intrigued by, and they were spurred to see whether there might be some relation to another set of data that encapsulated its own set of mysteries: huge cliff-like fault scarps that thrust out of the ground and dotted the lunar surface.

Since the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter launched in 2009, we have finally seen how prevalent these features are globally, and what they looked like in finer detail, allowing Watters and his team to map the distributions, patterns, and orientations of the fault population. And they noticed those patterns were indirectly pointing to the sources of the scarps: global contraction.

Most scientists think that as the moon’s interior cooled down long ago, the crust began shriveling up like a raisin, encouraging crustal material to thrust upward in several locations and resulting in the fault scarps. The problem is, that process should result in a very unspecific fault scarp pattern. “That’s exactly not what we were seeing,” says Watters. “They were very organized in a specific way. Which meant something else was going on.”

The team took the Apollo seismic data for 28 moonquakes recorded from 1969 to 1977, and superimposed the location data onto the LRO imagery of the fault scarps. Through some computer modeling, Watters and his team found eight of the quakes had been produced from true tectonic activity occurring below the surface, right along the faults. The modeling suggests the epicenters were within 19 miles of the faults themselves, meaning the slippage along the faults likely created the quakes.

This means the scarps are effectively hotspots for geological stress, and are signs that the moon is still shrinking even today. It reinforces previous suggestions that the interior of the moon is still active, and still cooling down after billions of years.

This mechanism also explained why the scarp morphologies looked so young (tens of millions of years old), still looked crisp, and hadn’t been eroded away over time from meteorite impacts and other disturbances—the shrinking and quaking of the moon is an ongoing process, and it’s influenced by the thousands of scarps we’ve found so far.

“To me, the most interesting and enigmatic suggestions of the study is the whole notion that somehow, a silicate body or a rocky body the size of the moon has managed to retain its interior heat for 4.51 billion years,” says Watters. Conventional wisdom has always suggested a small body will quickly lose its heat and become fairly inactive. “The moon just hasn’t followed that path at all.”

“It’s all starting to make sense now,” says Nathan Williams, a postdoc at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California who recently authored a different study published in Icarus examining the lunar surface features created by the shrinking of the moon. “We’re putting the different pieces together now to look at this process globally, and it looks like everything has been shrinking, even fairly recently. And it looks like it’s still active thanks to the moonquakes.”

Besides helping us better understand the evolution of rocky celestial bodies in the solar system, the findings raise practical considerations as we ramp up for a return to the moon in the next decade. “We don’t really want to build anywhere that’s been found to be stressful” and exhibiting averse tectonic activity, says lunar scientist Clive Neal from the University of Notre Dame, who was not involved with the study. There are still plenty of questions surrounding how to accurately pinpoint the epicenter of these bits of activity, but like many others, Neal emphasizes the need to be cognizant about where we plan to situate infrastructure for a permanent outpost. You don’t want your moonbase to fall in on itself.

“The results of this paper, I hope, punctuate the need for a modern lunar geophysical network,” says Watters. “Many countries on the planet are interested in going to the moon, and interested in staying there. It’s important data for our long term goals on the moon.”

Not everyone is convinced the fault scarps explain these type of shallow moonquakes. “This is just one of those hypotheses that try to explain what really is causing the shallow moonquakes,” says Yosio Nakamura, a professor emeritus in geophysics at the University of Texas at Austin. “I appreciate their effort, but I am not convinced that this hypothesis is a valid one. I may be wrong, of course, but there are many problems with what they are presenting as evidence,” including the depth of the shallow moonquake hypocenters and the temporal distribution of the quakes. “We need to wait till we get more real data with further observations to find out what really is causing these enigmatic seismic events,” he says.

We might get those observations very soon, if NASA can meet its 2024 goal to return astronauts to the lunar surface. There’s certainly plenty for us to study when we get back, and it seems the moon is not nearly as lifeless as we once thought.

“I think there’s a general perception the moon is a dead, boring, place,” says Williams. “And that’s not entirely true. We have been to the moon and we’ve done some great science, but there is still a lot we don’t know. The moon is shrinking—we didn’t really realize that until recently. That’s huge. It’s a much more active and interesting place that we thought.”

Written By Neel V. Patel

[aion-rsa]

Black Panther: Complete Marvel Universe Easter Eggs and Comic Reference Guide

http://bit.ly/2IhFb2n

We're tracking down every Marvel reference and easter egg we can find in the Black Panther movie.

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Mike Cecchini Jim Dandy

Black Panther

Feb 15, 2019

Marvel

Marvel's historic big screen adaptation of Black Panther is true to the spirit of the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's creation, but draws heavy inspiration from creators like Christopher Priest, Reginald Hudlin, Mark Texiera, Ta-Nehisi Coates, John Romita, Brian Stelfreeze, Trevor Hairsine, and others. Black Panther's Marvel Universe history stretches back over 50 years, and the movie does his legacy justice in ways big and small. Oh, and it earned itself a place in history as the first superhero movie to ever land a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars.

So here's how this works. We've compiled everything we could find on our first viewing. There's bound to be stuff we missed. So if you spot something, drop it in the comments, or hit us up on Twitter, and if it checks out, we'll add it to the guide with some additional context!

When Does Black Panther Take Place in the Marvel Timeline?

One quick note about when Black Panther takes place. For quite some time it felt like the Marvel movies were basically operating on a timeline along when they were actually released. That's no longer the case. The events of Black Panther seem to take place about a week after the events of Captain America: Civil War, which would put it before the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming (which was released in 2017) and Doctor Strange (which was released in 2016). Don't think about it too hard, as you'll get a headache.

- Black Panther first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Panther's debut came right in the sweet spot of what is absolutely the pinnacle of the Lee/Kirby collaboration on that book, and he was by far the most high profile black comic book character ever created at the time. T'Challa has since become an essential piece of greater Marvel mythology, and we wrote more about some of the amazing work Jack Kirby did with the character right here.

- The "heart-shaped herb" is right out of the comics, too. What's interesting to me is how heavily they lean on the "Black Panther communing with the dead" element in the process of this transformation. During Jonathan Hickman's time as Fantastic Four (and later Avengers) writer, they really went hard on the idea that Black Panther isn't just king of the living in Wakanda, he's also the king of the realm of the dead. So all those trips to the ancestral plane (and how Killmonger seemingly rejected that entire element of the responsibility of that role) seem to fit in with this. They make reference to Bast throughout the movie, generally known as an Egyptian god, but one who has a place in the Panther legacy, and who decreed that Black Panthers also rule the dead of Wakanda.

read more: The Black Panther Movie That Never Was

- The title of Black Panther is one that is passed down, and we met T'Challa's father, T'Chaka in Captain America: Civil War. Interestingly enough, while T'Challa did indeed don the mantle of Black Panther in that movie, he wasn't officially THE Black Panther until what we see in this movie.

- T'Challa makes the choice between the gold or white necklace, but throughout his comics career, he has worn both.

What is Vibranium?

Black Panther's suit is made of woven vibranium, an incredibly strong, valuable metal found only in a meteor that crashed in Wakanda a long time ago. Wakanda is the only source of vibranium on Earth, and it’s the source of their tremendous technological advancements.

That whole Wakandan creation myth we get at the beginning of the movie touches on the extraterrestrial element of vibranium's origin, which is a nice touch.

Interestingly enough, in the comics, Captain America's shield is made of an adamantium/vibranium alloy, which helps make it so durable. The fact that Cap got some new gear from T'Challa in Avengers: Infinity War feels like a nod to that.

What About Wakanda?

Please let us know if we have any of this wrong. The five tribes of Wakanda they talk about in the intro sequence seem to be more in line with how the comics laid out the five religions of the region (there are 18 total tribes out there). Anyway, I say this because one of the nations they mention is the Jabari, who are, of course, M'Baku's White Gorilla army.

- The visuals seem to draw strong influence from Ta-Nehisi Coates’ time as writer on Black Panther (which have set the status quo for Wakanda in the rest of the Marvel Universe).

- Coates has spent a lot of time delving into Wakandan geography and society. It’s a hyper-advanced, with diverse cultures and a deep connection to the geography. It’s also generally hidden from the rest of the world, something we saw in the post-credits scene in Civil War.

- Let's not forget that the Panther and his world have the great Jack Kirby's fingerprints all over them. You can see hints of Kirby's love of insanely hi-tech designs in everything from the engines of the Wakandan aircraft to the tech on display in the hospitals. There's a pretty cool looking "black light poster" in the infirmary that faintly reminds me of work Kirby did in the '70s, as well.

- According to Vulture (and with a hat tip to Marshall Hopkins for pointing it out), the Wakandan language in the movie is Xhosa, "a Bantu language spoken in South Africa." Expect interest in Xhosa courses to skyrocket.

They nailed so much of the look of Wakanda and Black Panther’s world here, it’s incredible, particularly with Angela Bassett as Ramonda, T’Challa’s stepmother and Queen Mother of Wakanda. She looks like Brian Stelfreeze drew her. Ramonda married T'Chaka (T'Challa's father) after N'Yami passed away in childbirth. Her relationship with T'Challa as he grew into the Black Panther role is being examined in the excellent Rise of the Black Panther.

Who is Shuri?

T’Challa’s sister (and eventual Black Panther herself) was created by Reggie Hudlin and John Romita, Jr. in 2005, became Panther in 2009, and has had quite a ride all in all. In the comics, she died at the hands of Proxima Midnight and the Cabal in the lead up to Secret Wars. Her spirit then migrated to the Djalia, the collective plane of memory for all of Wakanda, and T'Challa went in after her in the pages of the current Black Panther ongoing.

- Also...was Shuri making a Back to the Future II self-lacing sneakers joke when she talked about the old American movies their father watched in relation to T'Challa's "sneakers?"

- Of course, her crack about "another broken white boy for us to fix" was absolutely about Bucky Barnes, who ended up in Wakanda after the events of Captain America: Civil War. We see him again during the post-credits scenes, with the Wakandan children referring to him as "White Wolf" rather than "Winter Soldier."

We interviewed Letitia Wright about the character, and you can read that right here if you want.

W'Kabi

Daniel Kaluuya's W'Kabi, the head of the Wakandan military, is, along with T'Challa and Klaw, one of the oldest characters in the movie, having first appeared back in Avengers #62 in 1969.

Who is Everrett Ross?

- Martin Freeman's Everett Ross made his MCU debut in Captain America: Civil War. But he was first created by Christopher Priest and Kenny Martinez in Ka-Zar, and brought back in the pages of Priest’s legendary run as writer on Black Panther in 1999.

In the comics, Ross is a medium level State Department employee given the responsibility of guiding T’Challa around New York, where he then gets roped into fights with Mephisto, Atlantis, Man Ape, and Iron Man, and sits in on a diplomatic meeting between Black Panther, Dr. Doom, Namor, and Magneto. Needless to say, Priest’s run, which seems to have heavily influenced this movie, was awesome.

Ross' nonplussed reactions in the movie to increasingly weird situations feels like it came right out of the comics.

Hey you know how badass Michonne is on The Walking Dead? Multiply that by a million and you have Danai Gurira as Okoye in this movie. 

Okoye is a member of the Dora Milaje, the King’s all-woman royal guard. 

Okoye and the rest of the Dora Milaje were created by Priest and Mark Texiera in 1998, and have been focal characters in Coates' current run, where two of them go rogue early in the series. 

Who is Nakia?

Lupita Nyong'o is brilliant as Nakia in this movie, isn't she? Nakia has been around since 1998, and she was created during Christopher Priest's time as Black Panther comics writer, a creative period which, as we keep saying, heavily informs this movie.

Here's what she looks like in the comics...

Things aren't always easy for T'Challa and Nakia, so things might get interesting when we finally get Black Panther 2.

Forest Whitaker is Zuri, who in the comics was a warrior ally of T’Chaka (T’Challa’s father and predecessor as Black Panther). They took a slightly different take on him here, but it was effective. Here's how he looks in the comics...

The Villains

- Andy Serkis is here as all-around skeev, Ulysses Klaue. In the comics, his nom-du-douchebag is the more on-the-nose, "Klaw."

read more: The Villains We Want to See in Black Panther 2

Why do they call him Klaw? Well...why do you think he got his arm conveniently removed by Ultron? It's so that he can have a vibranium-powered soundwave cannon attached to it to give Black Panther a migraine!

It's cool that they found a way to incorporate his sound cannon/hand here. What's more, turning Klaue into a villain who primarily menaced the previous Black Panther, T'Chaka, rather than T'Challa, is something that's right in line with how the Marvel Cinematic Universe has occasionally tweaked the timeline in order to give everything a little bit more history. So just as we learned in the first Ant-Man movie how Hank Pym was operating during the 1980s, we now know that T'Chaka and Klaw were fighting at least as far back as 1992...probably earlier.

Serkis previously played Klaw in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four #53, where he stole vibranium from Wakanda, murdered T’Challa’s father, and got his hand chopped off. 

Klaw's obsession with Vibranium is right out of his early comic book appearances, though, and yes, you can spot the Jack Kirby influence there, too. Honestly, I felt like the tattoos on the back of his neck are kind of a nod to his comic book design, too.

We have lots more info about Klaw right here.

Killmonger

Erik Killmonger first showed up in Don McGregor and Rich Buckler’s Jungle Action in 1973, where it was revealed that his father was forced to help Klaw in his initial raid on Wakanda, and he and his family were exiled for it. You can see echoes of that in the movie, too. He developed a hatred of the Black Panther, and turned himself into evil Batman - peak physical condition, genius strategist, science-ey guy - to fight him.

The fact that Killmonger is breaking Klaw out of jail when we first meet him in the movie feels like a nod to that old Jungle Action story.

Also, Erik is occasionally fond of masks in the comics, so when he swipes that one from the British Museum, that seems pretty on-brand, too. I feel like I'm doing Killmonger a disservice in this guide, but this is one of those very rare occasions where Marvel actually improved on one of their comics villains in the process of bringing him to the screen.

read more: Why Killmonger is Marvel's Best Villain

The fight between Killmonger and T'Challa on top of the waterfall (and Panther's defeat and subsequent toss down that waterfall) comes from one of the very best Black Panther stories, "Panther's Rage" by Don McGregor, Rich Buckler, and Klaus Janson.

Note that the Killmonger of the comics does have a similar origin, although he grew up in Harlem not Oakland, and he isn't T'Challa's cousin.

M'Baku

In the comics, M'Baku was originally an Avengers villain known as Man-Ape, created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema. He’s super fast and super strong, and has tried to lead many a coup against the throne.

It's pretty cool how they managed to include elements of that comic design, notably with the masks and the white body paint, without going the full "Man-Ape" route.

We spoke with Winston Duke about bringing M'Baku to life, and you can read all about it right here.

The Post-Credits Scenes

Remarkably, these aren't that heavy on Marvel mythology. Instead, we see Wakanda offering a pointed message to the United Nations as they get ready to take a more active and visible role in the world. Of course, the world is going to need Wakandan technology to fight what's coming in Avengers: Infinity War. And speaking of which...

read more: Black Panther Post-Credits Scenes Explained

...we do get to see the other "broken white boy" that Shuri was referring to, with the return of Bucky Barnes. The "white wolf" nickname the kids give him does have a little comics history, as a minor character associated primarily with King T'Chaka, but that doesn't seem to be really be of particular significance here. If we assume the events of Black Panther started a week or so after Captain America: Civil War, and that the movie itself takes place over the span of a few weeks, there might be another brief time jump before Bucky wakes up. 

from Books http://bit.ly/2GsI6DU

[siphen0]

Long overdue history in the making! Dynamite’s two flagship heroines are teaming up in a new ongoing series starting in September, written by the multitalented and Eisner-winning Jordie Bellaire (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Redlands) with art by Drew Moss (Star Wars).

The story starts in 1969, the genesis of Vampirella – timed perfectly with her 50th Anniversary now being celebrated in 2019. Vampi’s new to Earth and still adapting to our world. She finds herself attracted to the supernatural and paranormal mysteries of the world. When suddenly she runs across a young Red Sonja, plucked out of time and clueless. The two women set forth on an adventure, collaborating as both detectives and warriors to find out what has happened… only for more space-time shenanigans to befall them! Do not expect any cliché misunderstanding fights, these two Women of Dynamite are working together, no holds barred.

This series marks Jordie Bellaire further flexing her skills as a writer, following widespread acclaim for her smash hit Buffy The Vampire Slayer relaunch and her Eisner-nominated creator-owned series Redlands. This is on top of her prolific continuing career as a colorist on the best selling and most critically acclaimed comics in the industry, including Batman, Deadpool, Vision, Pretty Deadly and countless more. Her unparalleled skill and reputation have so far garnered two Eisner Awards.

Joining Bellaire and Moss are Rebecca Nalty (Xena Warrior Princess, GLOW) on colors and Becca Carey (Planet of the Apes) on letters. The first issue will feature a range of talented cover artists. Terry and Rachel Dodson (Wonder Woman, Mr. and Mrs. X) lead the pack. Julian Totino Tedesco (Daredevil, Captain Marvel) contributes a fun cover. Babs Tarr (Batgirl, Motor Crush) joins the crew. Jordie herself will color fan-favorite artist Leonardo Romero’s (Captain America, Shuri) piece. While interior artist Drew Moss will be doing “Then and Now” covers, depicting his modern style superimposed alongside classic art of the characters such as by Frank Frazetta. Watch out for covers from other huge names on future issues, as creators jump at the opportunity to draw these two characters side by side.

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“Vampirella and Red Sonja are like the buddy cop team we never realized we wanted or could have. We’re hoping to stick the landing on something funny, upbeat and mysterious,” said writer Jordie Bellaire. “Vampirella and Red Sonja will begin as strangers but soon become fast friends that look to support and encourage the other, all while being comical and maybe slightly murderous. This book has been a pleasure to write and I’m delighted with the team – everyone is bringing something awesome to the story! I’m so happy to be here with them.”

Artist Drew Moss adds, “It has been a joy working with such a talented group of people, from the writing, colors, letters and editorial, they are the best. When I was first offered this book I was intimidated by the characters but when I was told we were just going to tell the best story we could, I knew I had to be a part of it. Every time a script, colors, covers or pages come in, the excitement builds inside me. I just hope people will be as excited as I am.”

“This is the first time Vampirella and Red Sonja will be together in an ongoing series, and it’s been CRAZY cool to see what Jordie’s got planned for the long haul here, and how Drew, Rebecca and Becca are visualizing it,” said editor Nate Cosby. “We’re delving deep into character and personality with both V and RS, creating a truly special dynamic. And there’s no “VS.” in the title…these two are joining forces to kick the ass of anything and everything that comes their way!”

“This series has been a long time coming. We’ve had many fun crossovers over the years, but needed the right voice to have our two most beloved characters in an ongoing series, and Jordie is just the one! Couple that with Drew Moss and the entire creative team, and this is a winner! An all-star team for our all-star characters,” said Nick Barrucci, Dynamite CEO and Publisher. “We’re incredibly proud to have Jordie on this and watch with fans as she continues to blow everyone’s socks off with her writing!”

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VAMPIRELLA/RED SONJA #1 will be solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ July 2019 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in September 2019. Comic book fans are encouraged to preorder copies with their local comic book retailers. It will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Kindle, iBooks, Google Play, Dynamite Digital, ComicsPlus, and more!

Jordie Bellaire Writes Vampirella & Red Sonja In Historic First Ongoing Series! Long overdue history in the making! Dynamite's two flagship heroines are teaming up in a new ongoing series starting in September, written by the multitalented and Eisner-winning Jordie Bellaire (

[swipestream]

Sensor Sweep: Lin Carter, Tolkien, and Modiphius Conan

Fiction (Tolkien and Fantasy blog): “The Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, which published some 70-odd books from 1969-1974, is justly renowned, and Lin Carter (1930-1988) is often acclaimed as the editor of the series, but he was not the editor.  Look at the footer of every single one of his introductions to books in the series: his title is given as “Editorial Consultant, The Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series.”  The Editor of the series was actually Betty Ballantine.  What titles Carter suggested for the series had to have her approval, and since Carter’s own taste was known to reach pretty low, we can be grateful to Betty Ballantine for holding the reins and keeping the standards higher.”

Gaming (Pulsipher Game Design): “I make games that are models of something, or are “pure” abstract games, that is, games that are very simple in conception.  But there is an opposite philosophy of making a puzzle-like game more complex so that the puzzle is harder to solve. Simplification is quite a different matter in that situation, and something I can’t address specifically both because it’s the opposite of my philosophy and because I dislike that kind of so-called ‘game’.”

 Fiction (American Conservative): “In the 20th century, as noted above, the greatest expression of a proper romanticism can be found in the works of Tolkien as well as in the works of the other Inklings, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, and Lord David Cecil. In terms of sales and influence, however, Tolkien has far exceeded that of his closest friends. For almost anyone under the age of 70, Tolkien is a champion of great art and high imagination. For an older generation—in general—he still, unfortunately, represents decadent hippiness, magic mushrooms, and psychedelic tuning out.”

Media (Bradford Walker Blog): “With the bad news about Justice League coming out over the weekend (taking in only $94M when it needed twice that to have a shot at breaking even, and needing to hit $1B domestic to be profitable), you know it’s going to mean bad reactions from all of the trustworthy folks. Midnight’s Edge had their say the other day. Today it’s time for the World Class Bullshitters.”

Fiction (The Weekly Standard): “In 1882, a Minnesota writer and politician named Ignatius Donnelly published Atlantis: The Antediluvian World, perhaps the most popular work of pseudo-science of the 19th century. Its opening pages confidently set forth 13 propositions about the legendary island kingdom—notably that Atlantis was real, that it was an advanced civilization with colonies in ancient Egypt and South America, and that it invented the alphabet and writing, practiced monotheistic sun-worship, and possessed sophisticated scientific know-how. Regrettably, as Donnelly wrote, ‘Atlantis perished in a terrible convulsion of nature, in which the whole island sunk into the ocean, with nearly all its inhabitants.’ “

Gaming (Tales to Astound): “The ‘Edge of Night’ sector includes over 400 star systems and marks the furthest spinward expansion of humanity from The Earth Before. The name refers to “The Night”; a vast of rift of dust and gas, devoid of star systems, and much too wide to cross with existing jump technology. No one knows what lies beyond ‘The Night’; likewise, many of the sectors’ inhabited systems are largely unknown to those in more civilized space.”

Gaming (Modiphius): “London 14 Nov 2017: Modiphius Entertainment is pleased to announce a fresh set of releases from its Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of RPG, with a Gamesmaster Screen, four exciting tile sets, a double poster map and the limited edition Conqueror’s Bag, a wealth of goodies to fuel gamers’ adventures in the Hyborian Age.

The Conan Gamesmaster’s Screen & GM’s toolkit is available for the first time in physical form, and features a sturdy four-panel build has four portrait-oriented panels, contains all of the useful tables and charts from the core rulebook, as well as rules summaries for quick reference. May also double as a shield from arrows, thrown tankards or ale horns, and even hatchets!”

Fiction (DMR Books): “As with most things, I find myself being exposed to the classics late in life, rather than during my formative years where most people seem to encounter them. As such, I’ve never read Jack Vance until now, “The Dying Earth” being my first. I was immediately enthralled by this collection of loosely-related short stories set in the distant future when our civilization is but a forgotten memory, machinery has been replaced by sorcery, and the sun is on the verge of being extinguished.

The stories in “The Dying Earth” are based on fantasy concepts that have become familiar to most of us over the decades, and yet here, they remain fresh. Plot devices that have become somewhat trite over the years are implemented in such a way that it feels like the first time I’m encountering them. This makes for a very thoughtful and enjoyable read that never fails to spark imagination. This is all well and good, but it takes more than just imagination for me to finish a book. “The Dying Earth” is unique because of the nature of the ambition of Vance’s characters, made evident in three ways:

Unabashed self-interest 2.  Ongoing pursuit for perfection 3.  Determination to find independence from the collective.”

    Sensor Sweep: Lin Carter, Tolkien, and Modiphius Conan published first on http://ift.tt/2zdiasi

[critdecomp]

Listening #2: on violent human/computer/nature interactions

Ryoji Ikeda - 0 C (1998, Touch records)

Ikeda (born 1966) is interested in machines. Recordings of the human voice return a couple of times in these tracks, and the track c7: continuum builds around what might be a heartbeat; but on this record he is mostly working from the sounds of clicks, skips, bursts, drones and impulses. Processing is secondary to arrangement and dynamics, with two major sound classes emerging: drawn out textures, and rhythmic events. The magic is in their interaction, how the absence of one emphasizes the ruthlessness of the other, how a high frequency squeal makes you long for, of all things, the click of jack being plugged in or the low thump of a heartbeat.

The first set of pieces, pre-fixed C1 through C0, show you what Ikeda can do with this barren set of sounds: never dull, never quite giving you what you expect. By the time you get to the closing track, Zero Degreees (3) and its brutally minimal techno beat sounds like it would top the pop charts.

Alvin Lucier - Sferics (1988, Lovely Music 1017)

Short for atmospherics, Lucier (born 1931) presents to us the electromagnetic utterances of the earth’s atmosphere. Sferics, in its sub-9 minute glory, appears to be the raw output of antennas aimed at picking up the stray fields from our ionosphere.

(from http://www.desertunit.org/deserting-the-site/performance-alvin-luciers-sferics/)

I find the crackle and pop of our “natural” electric environment to be increasingly relevant today - Douglas Kahn wrote most of Earth Sound, Earth Signal (MIT Press, 2013) about it. As human use of the radio spectrum becomes denser and more efficiently used because of digital multiplexing, There is something relaxing about knowing that some of the airwaves are just popping and fizzing along, not caring at all of what we might be doing to the lower strata of the atmosphere. That you can tune into this with some strange looking wood and wire contraptions is something that seems underappreciated.

Conversely, there is compositional capital to be found in having designed, assembled, refined and performed technological systems as the focus of a sonic work. More specifically, that a raw recording of a machine justifies both a listening and the machine itself is an accomplishment, with legitimacy grounded in both engineering and sound. To borrow language from economics, there is value created from transferring knowledge from a technical domain an applying it in creative one. Lucier, working in his classic position as the musician of the electronic age, presents here a physical phenomena through his usual medium of electrons and sound. Just like his classics I am Sitting In a Room or Vespers, you learn about him, about what is around him, and about the technology that connects you to them through listening. There has not been enough credit given to recordings as wordless science lessons, and to science lessons as art.

Steve Reich - Pulse Music (never recorded, performed 1969)

http://www.allmusic.com/composition/pulse-music-for-phase-shifting-pulse-gate-mc0002501034

Reich (born 1936) and his Pulse Music (for phase shifting pulse gates) is a work I’ll probably never hear. It, and the underlying technology, is effectively what pushed Reich away from the mostly-electronic works of Come Out and It’s Gonna Rain and into the acoustic works inspired by electric processes he is getting performed and known for today. 

A collaboration with engineers from Bell Labs, this piece is arguably Reich’s work most dependent on electronics. Reflecting on his two performances:

... the “perfection” of rhythmic execution of the gate (or any electronic sequencer or rhythmic device) was stiff and unmusical. In any music that depends on a steady pulse, as my music does, it is actually tiny micro-variations of that pulse created by human beings, playing instruments or singing, that gives life to the music. Last, the experience of performing by simply twisting dials instead of using my hands and body to actively create the music was not satisfying. All in all, I felt that the basic musical ideas underlying the gate were sound, but that they were not properly realized in an electronic device.

Reich, Steve. Writings on music, 1965-2000. Oxford University Press, 2002. p. 44

It’s easy to imagine Reich, faced with a mess of cables and devices that would make David Tudor proud, decide that this system might not be for him.

Yet to me, this basically non-existent work constitutes the crux of Reich’s work as an experimental composer. He has rarely come so close to the synthesis of human-scale phase difference (that is, phase differences resulting from musicians working at slightly different tempos, but operating at human times scales, favored in pieces made after Pulse Music) and electronics-scale phase differences, which is a complex value relating to the frequency of the signal, usually consisting of thousandths of a second-delays and which can only be detected by humans as a varying timbre when contrasted with a signal of fixed phase through the destructive and constructive interferences that result from these two signals overlapping (the classic “woosh” sound of a phaser guitar pedal). Before him, no one had really come so close to making those two phenomena - one mostly relevant to engineers, the other mostly to musicians - work together. In never really liking what came of this, Reich picked his camp, contemporary electronic musicians came to understand phase as mostly his post-pulse music conception of it, and audio engineers continue to be confused by the vagueness with which this term is used in the context of avant-garde concerts: “phase? as in degrees of phase difference?”

Yet electronic phase - present in Reich’s early tape works, the performance work of Nic Collins, Alvin Lucier and many others, continues to fascinate musicians with circuit inclinations. It’s often there, either unintentionally implemented by circuit benders or as an early assignment for those figuring out the mechanics of digital filter design (in which phase issues become almost as important as linear responses) - one could write a decent history of experimental electronic music through a history of uses and misuse of phase in either of its conceptions.

The technological and cultural politics of Reich’s early career still deserve to be unpacked: they are clearly related. After reneging on electronic experiments of that scale with Pulse Music, Reich wrote a short piece predicting some potential futures of modern music, in which he states:

“Electronic  music  as  such  will  gradually  die  and  be  absorbed  into  the  ongoing music of people singing and playing instruments.”

immediately followed by:

“ Non-Western music in general and African, Indonesian, and Indian music in particular will serve as new structural models for Western musicians. Not as new models of sound. (That’s the old exoticism trip.) Those of us who love the sounds will hopefully just go and learn how to play these musics. ”

This is a man who in Come Out and It’s Gonna Rain had used audio recordings of minorities. Arguably, he had done so as part of an effort to reflect and amplify the racial and political conflicts of the 1960′s (as a benefit for the Harlem Six and in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, respectively) but his work as a white artist working from audio recordings of black men seems to deserve a more pointed address than that made in those Optimistic Predictions (1970). Even more than that, his addressing of the undertones of appropriation in the second quote above seems somewhat vague. How is using non-Western musics as a structural template rather than sonic template less exoticizing, exactly? 

By reneging on addressing phase technologically and instead falling back on a hyper-referential practice of patterns which extend the complex polyrhythms of non-Western musics, Reich isn’t simply making a technological choice due to convenience. He is making a culturally charged decision, one I believe he never fully addressed when he was clearly willing to write and find a platform for his writing. He regularly acknowledges the individual concepts as being adapted from another tradition, or referenced in his work, but if you know of any writing commenting on the ethics of his multiculturally-inspired practice, please do let me know.

http://www.allmusic.com/composition/pulse-music-for-phase-shifting-pulse-gate-mc0002501034

http://www.allmusic.com/composition/its-gonna-rain-for-tape-mc0002360349

http://www.keepmywords.com/2010/02/13/when-it-rains-it-pours-%E2%80%9Cit%E2%80%99s-gonna-rain%E2%80%9D/

https://www.oddballfilms.com/clip/13170_41296_union_square_sunday2

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/arts/music/steve-reich-at-80-still-plugged-in-still-plugging-away.html?mcubz=3

Gavin Bryars - Sinking of the Titanic (1975, Obscure Records #1)

I absolutely adore this piece. I’ve listened to the Obscure recording of it at least a hundred times, and yet, I must confess I’d never read about it in much detail. I had assumed something along the lines of a procedural score with the simple melodic lines to be played and the overall pattern of the piece, guessing that Eno and Bryars probably added the British chatter, and probably some tape loop processing, during mixing. This is what I listen to when I’m sick, what I listen to when I need to calm my brain. I suspect some of it might be consonant to my tinnnitus. You can listen to it quietly, you can listen to it loudly - there are no sharp edges and you can fall asleep to it but it is also fantastically satisfying to listen to attentively.

Prompted by the question of what the string quartet on the Titanic must have sounded like as it sunk down to the bottom of the Atlantic, Bryars got a (living) string quartet to play a piece that probably played as the original quartet was going down:

My initial speculations centered on what happens to music as it is played in water.  On a purely physical level, of course, it simply stops since the strings would fail to produce much of a sound (it was a string sextet that played at the end, since the two pianists with the band had no instruments available on the Boat Deck).  On a poetic level, however, the music, once generated in water, would continue to reverberate for long periods of time in the more sound-efficient medium of water.  The music would then descend with the ship to the ocean bed and remain there, repeating over and over until the ship returns to the surface and the sounds re-emerge.

(program notes from a 2013 performance in vancouver, https://vimeo.com/57017267)

I’ve had a hard time understanding exactly the amount of tape loop processing used in the original recording, but modern video recordings show that the piece maintain much of its effect with minimal processing (https://youtu.be/SkfJVTPV-Ps). A particularly satisfying aspect of the piece is that is has been updated as new information about the titanic’s demise is published by researchers, and as Bryars develops more sophisticated methods of rendering the original idea. As a performance, it often takes advantage of pools and other aquatic and reverberant spaces, offering listeners the possibility of listening from in the water. He’s added turntablist John Jeck to the regular cast of performers, for added effect - and I will admit to loving the vinyl crackle from the direct rip of the original Obscure record I listen to. As a recording, the speculations regarding what the orchestra actually played on the boat are a also big part of this piece’s mythology.

It is telling that one of the best pieces - it prompted Eno to start his record label just to make sure it was released - to come out of this era of British experimental music is clearly related to the tape loop work of the time (Discreet Music, Come Out, etc.) but doesn’t clearly depend on any clever uses of new technology. Bryars was agile in his negotiation of traditional instrumentation and how it could be augmented by considering acoustics and electronics. Furthermore, he’s not been afraid of changing the overall nature of the piece as contexts for its consumption (recorded or live) changed.

http://thequietus.com/articles/08491-gavin-bryars-interview

http://www.gavinbryars.com/Pages/titanic_point.html

Phillip Glass - 1+1 (composed 1968)

http://philipglass.com/compositions/one_plus_one/

http://www.ubu.com/aspen/aspen8/onePlusOne.html

http://www.allmusic.com/composition/1-1-for-1-player-and-amplified-table-top-mc0002584691

This piece appears somewhat as Reich’s Pendulum Music: powered by something that borders on gimmick, yet offers a surprising amount of fun for both the performer and their audience. What pendulum gives up to the action of gravity, though, is here very much performed by a human, as such, the setup is a bit easier (a table, contact mic and amplifier) but the performance is a bit more robust on the human side (see score notes). Because feebdack seem to be more of a unifying phenomena, recordings of 1+1 also seem to vary quite a bit whereas Pendulum sounds more consistent across iterations.

I’d argue that from a mechanical perspective it is this slightly more active agency on the part of the performer that really differentiates these otherwise very accessible pieces (in addition to their sonic output being completely different). The world needs both: it is important to have precedents for either, and I regularly think of the almost idiot-savant richness of Pendulum Music and its painful, comical unfolding in live contexts.

1+1 shares some of this: a solo performer playing on a piece of amplified wood is funny. Glass’ serious set of instructions makes it fun: this is a good example of the tightrope of humor in experimental music being fairly well handled.

It doesn’t take much for 1+1 to go into parody: the second video above involves a heavy use of the phaser effect built in to the amplifier, which just appears as overkill. The demonstrative simplicity of Glass’ work isn’t lost, but it’s hazed up in a sound that anyone who’s ever dreamed of starting space rock band as a teenager is neither interested in nor amused by. One gimmick per piece is enough.

Merzbow - Promotion Man, off of the album Merzbeat (2002)

This is one of Merzbow’s beat-full albums. It is also about the sounds of machines, but musical machines. It also plays of the humor in absurd repetition and gimmicky processing, but with the knowledge of a thousand harsh noise albums that make you happy it’s not “something a lot more aggressive.”

“Promotion Man” is only a story if you consider it’s title. The uplifting beat serves as the grid for various, almost pleasant, synthesizer stabs that might be motorcycle samples and the occasional high pitch squeal. It eventually gets revealed as a straight drum loop when the distortion wears off, only to be compounded into chaos by slowly adding delayed and speed-warped versions of itself.

I tend to gravitate to this album, like Tortoise’s Millions Now Living Will Never Die because it shows what an extensive knowledge and experience with electronic music can sound like in a popular music context (or, here, as close to that as Merzbow will ever get). Compared with his recent collaboration as the noise person in hardcore bands (see his work with Full of Hell), I would almost say there is more value in making Merzbow pop than making Merzbow be yet another noise artist in a sludge / metal / scream band.

“Promotion Man,” then, is perhaps not the story of the beat used in the track and its transformations from fuzz to clean to delay, but perhaps about the alternate future where Merzbow’s violent consumption and production of music and its parallels with the regular world are not underlying, but celebrated. 

Overall, these pieces reflect on how technology can mediate relationships between humans, machines and their environment through sound. The documentarian, or descriptive approach taken by some (”here are all the ways I like sine waves”) is contrasted with the more context-aware production of say, Merzbow playing with popular music tropes. Most of these include or refer to some sort of violence: pure 12k and over sine waves, repetitively hitting a piece of wood, the aggression of hyperdistorted, bassy loops, the commemoration of a tragic event or conflict. With each piece, the technologies being used offer commentary on these violences: it might be more muted than the visceral description of pieces like Come Out, with the narrator describing he had to “push some the bruise blood, so it could come out, to show them,” but the modes of propagation of these messages are also charged with their own politics.