#stargazer won't shut up about comics!

[mcalhenwrites]

Close enough to 2024 to ramble about this year and the coming one. I have goals.

Writing goals are first and foremost. Those will be the main focus of the year. It's my life and my career after all. If I couldn't find time for writing, I really wouldn't care about the rest. I love writing too much to want to do anything else more than that. XD - Publish Geckos, Automata. If it sells, that'd be great. I'm beginning to think it won't. Publishing it anyway, never shutting up about it, gonna keep spamming it until my followers either interact or just leave. - Tweaking the ending of That's... Not a Cat. Polishing cover. Putting it out there as an ebook. - Rewriting Stargazers' Hill. The thing I said I wouldn't do, but I have ideas on how to fix it, and I badly want to stay with those stupid characters even longer. (I get way too attached. My worst traits as an author, maybe? Don't care, I do what I want. :P ) I can't predict the rest because I don't trust my muses, but I suppose I'm going to work on a bunch of other things, from dragon universe stories to other things I've started. New stories are springing up, and I need to water them~ Really excited about developing Hervey/Algernon, but I think that one needs to steep a bit. :) I'm going to also at least finish one crocheted dragon. Probably Willow. Or Tessa's human form. Will post with writing so you can't have crochet without my writing content attached, bc honestly fuck all the pain crochet brings me. :) (Though I do want to finish my KHUX stained glass blanket, which I probably won't post when I'm done, bc I don't post my non-writing-related crochet 99% of the time. I just tell people I don't crochet so they stop asking for free patterns/gifts/tutorials/etc. So yeah. Don't crochet around here, fuck that shit.) Anyway. :) Money isn't great, so I probably won't play too many games, but I will be playing MISSING LINK when it comes out since it's F2P mobage (which is... ugh, but my favorite part of KH lore has been on the mobile games of all things). And Fantasy Life i, I saved already for that. ;A; This year, I did play some great games! Mostly on my switch. To no one's surprise, RF4 Special is here. Favorite game of all time. Harvestella is a rare treat, highly recommend. :D

And onto reading goals... thinking 90 books for my 2024 goal! My books this year are at 130 currently, and probably won't get much higher if at all unless I finish my re-read of Chobits, but here's that list:

Some of these are re-reads, many are not. Quite a few indie books, quite a bit of manga/comics in there... I re-read Loveless after deleting that I read it on Goodreads due to the controversy, but I have thoughts about how it explores abuse and think it's a really intriguing series for that matter alone. (It also has beautiful art and is taboo as hell, but you can find the block button if you need it, can't you? <3 ) Many amazing reads this year, hoping to read more from several of these authors! And some I realllllly love and clearly will continue to read (Yuhki Kamatani, Rin Chupeco, Nghi Vo, etc.) This isn't including all I read on AO3. Which is quite a bit.

[silver-stargazing]

I just realized that with Spidey and Doctor Strange meeting, we’ll finally have two heroes created by Steve Ditko on the big screen interacting with each other and Ditko is still alive to be curmudgeonly about the whole affair and my tiny nerd heart is just overwhelmed with joy!

[silver-stargazing]

Wait, why wasn’t this movie called “Batman & Superman: World’s Finest”?! It’s a relatively classic and recognizable comic book title, any actual fighting between our leads was manufactured and outside of their control. Plus, it avoids using the “Vs. in the title that has condemned so many other bad films (i.e. Predator vs. Aliens, Freddy vs. Jason, Aliens vs. Avatars....).

[silver-stargazing]

Do you prefer DC or marvel movies/comics?

Excellent question, Anon! (Sorry for the rambles in advance!)

I would say, in terms of overall comics, I prefer DC Comics. I like the overall more optimistic tone found in the DC Universe compared to Marvel, where the denizens of the universe are generally grateful to be saved rather than immediately jumping into fear and hate. I understand why the latter is compelling for some readers, but I prefer the former. I love how truly epic some of their crossovers are. When they say an event will be Universe-shattering, it often lives up to the declaration and more! My mind is still blown away by Crisis on Infinite Earths! I love the creativity in terms of world-building where nearly every city is original (please read Starman if you want to read some amazing world-building. I knew nothing about Opal City when I started and now I feel like I’ve known it all my life). Most importantly, I love just how weird DC Comics can get. Comics like Shade the Changing Man and Sandman offering amazing and wild visuals, Doom Patrol featuring a team that includes a literal street and where their main adversary is a brain in a jar and his lover, a gay french gorilla, those wild Silver Age comics where Jimmy Olsen would get five super powers over the course of two pages and every superhero had at least two themed animals. Just good fun all around.

In terms of movies, though, I prefer Marvel. DC has made some fine movies in the past (I will defend Superman 2 as the best live-action Superman movie ‘till the day I die), but Marvel seems to have perfected the formula for superhero movies. The heroes are engaging, the worlds always feel fleshed out (even in the stand alone movies), and I always have a good time even during the bad ones (Ghost Rider and The Punisher may be bad but darn if they aren’t still fun to watch with friends!). I also simply remember thing about the Marvel movies better as well. I can remember the goofiest of details from films like Fantastic Four 2 and X-Men Origins but I literally can’t remember a single detail about Green Lantern other than it was boring as heck and Parallax was the villain only he looked like Galactus from Fantastic Four 2 but worse. DC in non-comic media does better for me in a shorter format like television. Specifically, animated cartoons. Shows like Young Justice and especially the DCAU (Batman TAS, Justice League…) are absolute standouts and I personally find these to be some of the most compelling animated shows ever produced.

I will say that due to the evolving nature of comics, my opinions will probably always be changing. I say I prefer DC Comics now but I really am not a fan of some of their more recent output. I find that they can be unbearably bleak at times and needlessly gory (here’s looking at you, New52). I also really don’t like how much stock they seem to have placed into Batman and his surrounding characters. I love these characters but if you were looking at the listings of published DC Comics, you’d swear Batman was in five separate teams at the exact same time and the vast majority of important events took place in Gotham City. And that’s just…boring. There’s an entire universe out there and they’re restricting themselves to one tiny corner. If I read DC comics, it’s usually from the early 2000′s and earlier. But maybe that will change in the future. I’ve heard some OK things about DC Rebirth that have me curious enough to check it out.

IDK what I’m rambling towards but basically: I love DC Comics and I love Marvel Comics. Both are awesome and if you like the movies/tv shows, you should give these comics a try. Now I’m going to finish up Issue #11 of Hawkeye and then start another attempt at the New52 version of Animal Man.

[silver-stargazing]

I’ve been catching up a lot on back issues of various comics and I stumbled across this line:

and honestly this is such a constant mood.

Because it is so cool how much the iconography of comics has changed alongside society and likewise shaped parts of society itself. You see a telephone booth and you’re probably either going to think Doctor Who/time travel in general or you’re going to think Superman and that’s just amazing.

[silver-stargazing]

I just got back from seeing Spider-Man: Homecoming and I’m full of so much love right now! I ran around town for a whole hour to try and burn it off but I’m still doing a happy dance back at home.

I want to incoherently ramble about it so I’ll place that under the cut (spoilers and all that). But TL;DR: In my opinion, this is probably the best Spider-Man movie since Spider-Man 2 and the best overall piece of Spidey media since The Spectacular Spider-Man all the way back in 2008 (got so many vibes from that show in this film!).

Alright,  spoilers ahoy!

The intro music was literally an orchestral version of the 60s Spider-Man theme. Just fantastic.

I am in love with how relaxed the tone of the film is, especially near the beginning. The way Spidey was just shooting the breeze at some parts, it was kind of reminding me of my favorite parts of Deadpool (honestly, I would’ve liked Deadpool 100x more if it had just been a film about him just hanging around rather than having an actual plot or whatever).

While I will always defend Spider-Man 2 and personally consider it to be my favorite Spider-Man movie, even I will admit it’s not the most accurate depiction of Spider-Man (although it nailed Peter Parker down perfectly). The Amazing Spider-Man film series, meanwhile, had the reverse problem: got Spider-Man down but didn’t really understand Peter Parker. This film understands both aspects of the character brilliantly and uses it to great effect. Like Pete is kind of a dweeb but overall a pretty nice guy who wouldn’t break promises to dead people (still mad at you about that, ASM!) and Spider-Man’s chatty and way too conversational with dangerous people but can be serious in a heart-beat.

They kept on his mask for the vast majority of the film!!! And they usually had a valid reason for why he would take off the mask too!!!!

The shots recreating classic comic book frames...they were gorgeous. The shot of Spider-Man lifting up the rubble on top of him like in ASM #33 and the half Spider-Man/half Peter Parker imagery especially were well handled.

Again I say, so many Spectacular Spider-Man vibes. The diversity of the cast, the wonderful handling of characters relationships, sneaking in more comic book characters than you can shake a stick at, using Coney Island as part of an action set piece (OK every Spider-Man media uses that place but still)!

They kept up the long and proud tradition of having Spider-Man villains, no matter how odd it may seem, always having some close personal connection with Spider-Man. Ditko would be so mad but I love it!

Adding to that, they averted a trope that needs to die anyway: Superhero movie villains always die. Michael Keaton made it out alive and I am so grateful! I kept eyeing those turbines on the plane and getting Incredibles flashbacks. Like you can’t do this to me, movie. Not after all we’ve been through.

Michael Keaton really needs that Oscar. He was intimidating as heck in some scenes and yet I still cared so much that his character made it out alive. And he didn’t even need to be too over-the-top like William Dafoe or Topher Grace when playing the villain. It all felt very natural and thus way more creepy.

The use of lighting and sound during those scenes right before homecoming. That was like something out of an indie gang movie or something. One wrong move and Pete would’ve gotten his face smashed in by Ryan Gosling from Drive!

The comedy. oh my lord the comedy was amazing! Spider-Man running through a golf course at night and subverting the normal trope of Spidey running in an alley and ripping open his shirt to reveal the Spidey suit by having Peter very awkwardly strip down. The line deliveries by Tom Holland especially made some jokes that would’ve otherwise been duds work so well.

Tony Stark ends this film way too happy. I’m very worried about his future in Infinity War.

Chris Evans gives a beautiful send-up to phoning it in with those PSAs (even more hilarious as at one point RDJ literally phones in his performance). You can tell everyone involved had a blast making those PSAs and this whole film in general.

The gym teacher who has stopped giving any cares about everything. “I guess he’s a war criminal now but the state requires I show you this video anyway”. Where is this man’s spin-off? I want to follow this teacher around on his misadventures.

Only 3 complaints: 1) music wasn’t incredibly memorable. Not bad, just kind of forgettable 2) I really did like the character of Michelle. She had funny quips, was pretty charming and the reveal of who her character was is handled nicely. But at the end of the day, what did she contribute to the plot? She was just kind of there at every bad situation, made a quip about Peter and Ned being losers and then would disappear until further quipping was required. Sure, she helped win the decathlon but that ended up not mattering too much at the end of the day. And to be fair, making jokes and doing art and generally not doing much else isn’t too far off from original MJ’s characterization but still I hope they involve her more with the plot next time. and 3) Is there a specific reason why they can’t mention Uncle Ben? Is he banned from canon? Are they afraid people will say this is an origin story again if they so much as say the word “Uncle”? Because you can mention him movie. We all remember Spider-Man’s origins. It’s OK to mention Ben Parker in passing.

I’m just so grateful for how overall light this movie was. While it did a lot to recreate some of the darker themes from the earlier Lee/Ditko era of Spider-Man, I felt like I was also getting a more lighter and fluffier Lee/Romita comic as well (I love the Silver Age of Comics! Can you tell?) and I loved the great mix of the light and dark parts of Spider-Man’s history.

Hey I just realized they used The Ramones a lot through out the movie and Joey Ramone did the theme song to the 1990′s animated show! Coincidence???? Probably

I love being reminded of why I love this character and his world so much and I need to stop rambling but this is a really great film and a wonderful Spider-Man movie!

[silver-stargazing]

Infinity War ramble under the cut!

I guess I’m just confused why the term “grimdark” keeps being applied to Infinity War. IDK maybe I’ve just read/seen way too many comics/comic adaptations but this was not grimdark. Depressing? yes but grimdark?

When I think of things that are grimdark, I think “sewing Deadpool’s mouth closed because he’ll look more evil and thus cooler” or “murdering some complete rando character then quickly revealing said rando was actually classic Superman character Jimmy Olsen and then never discussing it again” or “Roy Harper brutally losing his daughter and his arm just so that he can go into some spin-off story about falling back on drugs and then never following up on any of this again and pretending it never happened.”

Grimdark, to me at least, is being pointlessly cruel and harsh to the characters not to move forward the plot but to be “edgy” and “gritty” which will somehow make your film/comic more “adult”. And it just didn’t feel like that was the case in Infinity War because as depressing as the events were, they did still move forward the plot and they still made logical sense within the context of the narrative

And honestly, all things considered, the film is still a bit more upbeat than the comic it’s based off of. At least this time a) the superheroes actually know wtf is going on and are actively working to stop Thanos rather than half of the universe disappears and then they finally know and space-Jesus Adam Warlock ends up doing most of the work anyway and b) pretty much everyone ended up dying in Infinity Gauntlet (and many in really anti-climatic ways at that) and the only reason they all came back was Thanos got careless and they had Adam Warlock on their side (who, again, was pretty much the main character in that comic to the point where most of the Earth superheroes kind of feel like an after thought).

IDK what the heck I’m rambling to but I guess I just don’t understand why people are attacking the film for its level of angst when I honestly thought it ended pretty hopeful with the whole message to Cap’n Marvel. Then again, I read comics. I’m very used to superheroes dying left and right. Honestly, I’m more surprised it didn’t end with the Universe being destroyed like in Crisis on Infinite Earths or Secret Wars

[silver-stargazing]

Dag nabbit! I just found out they are making a Justice League Dark animated film (which is cool btw)...but there’s no Shade the Changing Man! Is the universe conspiring to keep Shade out of DC Comics films?

[silver-stargazing]

Comics on the brain all day so here are my headcanons for what comics the Pines Family would have read:

Ford: Grew up during the Silver Age of Comic Books (1956-1970ish) so probably was a fan of the Superheroes who got their powers through Science™ like Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk. Also, while he probably liked X-Men just fine due to relating to fears of being considered different, he actually preferred DC Comics’ Doom Patrol due to its wild visual style and odd villains (seriously: look up Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man. You will not be disappointed). He would spend hours trying to recreate the art on the panels, drawing inspiration from the likes of Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby along the way (Ford’s depiction of the Nightmare Realm had some Kirby Krackle in there)

Stan: Also grew up during the Silver Age of Comics. Probably kept reading even into his homeless days. He would read a lot of the same comics as Ford, but would often use those comics as covers for what he was actually reading: lots of Archie comics, Millie the Model, and Romance comics. He would get very invested in the soap opera comics and laugh especially loud at every bad joke, even if he didn’t understand it. He would then go on to repeat said jokes to Ford until Ford would be laughing just as hard as Stan was. Would have also probably read Classics Illustrated and devoured any adaptation that involved adventures at sea like Treasure Island and Mutiny on the Bounty.

Both the Stan Twins: Lots of anthology comics like Strange Tales and Amazing Fantasy that had horror, fantasy, science fiction, comedy, romance, etc...Probably read Disney comic books as those were fairly popular in general. Got kicked out of plenty of stores for simply browsing and reading entire comics without buying anything.

Dipper: Born in 1999 so was raised during the Modern Age of Comic Books. First superhero movie he saw in theaters was The Incredibles. Probably got into web comics for a little bit the semester before heading up to Gravity Falls. Still reads newspaper comics and laughs at political cartoons, even though he doesn’t think they’re very funny. Has a collection of Calvin and Hobbes books that he introduces Ford to while trying to catch him up with modern culture.

Mabel: Also raised during the Modern Age of Comic Books. Her favorite superhero is Squirrel Girl and she cosplayed as her once at a convention. Like her Grunkle Stan, she too read plenty of Archie Comics, especially those cheap digest copies they sell at supermarkets. They’re filled with old eighties-era Archie that often have the kind of “rad” and “fresh” lingo that’s right up Mabel’s alley. The darkest comic she’s read was when The Punisher crossed over with Archie (go read that if you haven’t. It’s actually pretty good!).

[silver-stargazing]

In hindsight, I suppose it was fairly obvious I would get a little obsessed with Doctor Strange. He is, after all, partially created by Steve Ditko. Despite my own personal feelings towards the man and some of his more soapbox characters (here’s looking at you, Mr. A!), I have always loved the characters he’s helped create: Spider-Man, The Question, Shade the Changing Man, Squirrel Girl, etc... And I always wind up getting a little obsessed over them so yeah, me loving Doctor Strange makes complete sense.