As I've said before, the arrival of the ipad triggered a sea change in regards to how I use the internet. I won't bore you with my app choices for the most part, but I would like to talk about some of the stuff I've been consuming.
First lets talk about comics:
Most of what I'm looking at comes from the Marvel Unlimited service, and is not, strictly speaking free. However, when it comes to comics, I can read a fuckton in an evening, so at this point, I'm in pennies on the dollar territory, which is close enough to free for me.
The most interesting thing I've read lately is Jim Starlin's early marvel work, in the form of his runs on Captain Marvel and Warlock respectively. I liked both of these comics, and Starlin's art and writing are pretty much at their peak here.
The character arc in Captain Marvel takes a standrd hero and leaves him as a sort of messiah figure by the time things wrap up. Warlock starts as a messiah figure and ends as a sort of nutjob waiting for his own preordained death. The best stories in both collections involve Thanos, of course. He is Marvel's adversary and and Warlock's ally.
In regards to supporting characters, Rick Jones is an over emotional tool and I'm pretty sure Pip the troll is not smoking tobacco.
Read these.
The worst thing about Starlin's comics is they led me to read the Kree- Skrull War (Avengers 89-97 1972-1973). To put it as bluntly as possible: these comics suck. The only good things that can be said about them is both Sal and John Buscema bring their A game in regards to the art. Neal Adams, however, turns in a slick but soulless performance. Even given Adams shit-art, however, the real blame for the unbearable banality of these comics must be laid at the door of Roy Thomas.
Thomas, is at least in this case, the very definition of a hack. He draws out what could have been a two issue story and makes it last forever. Nothing happens in most of these issues. Nothing. I think maybe the Vision cries once.
The writing reminds me of the weaker parts of some old Republic serials in a lot of ways. But those writers had a certain amount of time to fill and very limited budgets to work with. Roy could have had the artists draw whatever he could think of, space battles, alien landscapes, ands whatever, and although there is a little bit of that stuff in there, it is all in the last issue or so and none of it really pops. Thomas, instead relies on hackneyed soap opera shit, and a long drawn out and fucking boring subplot wherein the Skrulls are impersonating a powerful american politician, who is gunning for the Avengers. You keep reading thinking something is going to happen, but every time, nothing happens instead.
Thomas is also responsible for the single worst thing about these comics. Clint Fucking Barton, AKA Hawkeye AKA Goliath (in this arc). He is a fucking horrible sexist, accusing the Wasp of "thinking with her hairdo" and a God botherer, taking time out from important conversations to remind everyone to stop and pray, and also... Thor isn't reeeeealy a god.. Okay? Clint is also a whiner. I think he may have been RT's favorite character.
Anyway, I'm begging you, do not read these comics. They are D&D movie bad.
I was going to get into radio shows, today, but that will have to wait, I've gone on long enough and I want to cook a tortilla now.
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