Though the current project started as a series of posts charting my grief journey after the death of my mother, I am no longer actively grieving. Now, the blog charts a conversation in living, mainly whatever I want it to be. This is an activity that goes well with the theme of this blog (updated 2018). The Sense of Doubt blog is dedicated to my motto: EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY. I promote questioning everything because just when I think I know something is concrete, I find out that it’s not.
Hey, Mom! The Explanation.
Here's the permanent dedicated link to my first Hey, Mom! post and the explanation of the feature it contains.
With exactly one month until the premiere of the most highly anticipated Walking Dead spinoff yet, AMC has released another trailer for the return of Rick and Michonne in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, which debuts Feb 25. And the network also has some fancy new key art to go with it.
“I lost someone years ago,” says Danai Gurira’s Michonne in the new trailer (which can be seen below). “Now I'm looking for him.”
From there, we get a collage of scenes showing Michonne on the hunt for her long lost love as well as shots of Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes in the seemingly forced employ of the Civic Republic Military.
“Why do you even think I'm going to go along with all of this?” Rick asks the CRM leader Major General Beale (played by Terry O’Quinn) — to which Beale replies, “Because everything will change.”
What that change entails has yet to be revealed, but we do see both Rick and Beale culling walkers in the teaser. Whether they can actually work together seems more unlikely. Rick’s exclamation at the end that “This isn't everything! You don’t get to choose for the world, you don't get to choose for me,” would seem to indicate the two lack a shared common vision.
As for Pollyanna McIntosh’s Jadis — who can be seen in an intense car chase — she makes her CRM allegiance clear, proclaiming “We are the last light of the world. You have to know that.” (Methinks Rick does not, in fact, know that.)
Check out the trailer for yourself, and also take a gander at the fiery new key art for the series below. May the dynamic duo’s passion for each other ignite that flame!
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2402.08 - 10:10
- Days ago = 3142 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
A Sense of Doubt blog post #1947 - On Comic Books: My Best Stuff
Hello reader,
I made this blog post in order to quickly and graphically share some of my best posts about comics, especially the ones that contain some actual and original writing by me rather than just sharing the writing of others, which I do a lot (with due credit).
Mainly, I made this page to share with people who may be interested with a job for which I am applying.
I have probably selected too many. I tried to order them with the very, very best listed first, though I am so biased and so fond of what I do here on this blog that I have zero objective perspective on what is actually good or not.
For what it's worth, at least, the top four seem indicative of what I have done so far, though I have little to fully show of what I am capable as often the posts are made in some haste (because of daily publication). That said, I have new things in the work with original content. Stay tuned.
The bee in the bonnet goes like this: so, I went to this game store on Christmas Eve in Longview. The store is GREAT, and I plan to go back. The owner was reading a hardcover collection of recent Aquaman comics by Geoff Johns, before DC's Rebirth. Good stuff. Some of my favorite stuff lately. But then he says, that "comics are going downhill" and that so many creators these days do not know "how to tell a good superhero story." I objected. I mentioned Image Comics, who is producing some truly great stuff and it's all creator owned. But then he says the thing about superhero stories, so I mention Dan Slott who takes a great deal of guff from fans as well as Bendis. There's more to unpack with that guy, but I have the bee there, stinging. Seems to me that there is more great material being published in the comic book world in the last few years than EVER BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF COMICS! Anyone who thinks the best days of comics are gone is not really paying attention to comic books these days.
Again, this connection works to make meaning on multiple levels.
The "Higher Judgement" is God, who is very much like Veidt, who has set himself up like a God, though Dr. Manhattan, greater still, may actually be a God, with the power of God.
Rorschach delivers himself to Veidt much as the "Marooned" narrator delivers himself to God.
Both seek vengeance. Both are uncompromising. Both take extreme actions to safeguard people and "do the right thing."
But what is the "shadow" Rorschach speaks of? Could this be Jung's shadow? Could this be the dark side, even farther into the belly of the whale than Rorschach went when he "became Rorschach" as he explains in chapter six?
But like Rorschach who delivers himself to the enemy, the narrator of "Marooned" ends up joining the Black Freighter in the end, becoming the horror he hoped to avert, becoming the evil he hoped to prevent.
This is a good start for the analysis I want my students to perform. I could go deeper and expand, but these passages I have written here show clearly the way these "connections" work in Watchmen.
Looking back, the comparison between Nazi Germany and comic books seems absurd as it and the whole witch hunt of the comic book industry seemed to my wife when she overheard me listening to David Hadju's The Ten Cent Plague. But these were serious allegations in the post-World War II era of the late 1940s and 1950s as Americans had to step lightly around accusations of Communist infiltration and influence as well as the mounting hysteria over the stalemate of the Cold War. The new Hitler was entirely invisible and far more insidious, and yet Americans wanted the same easy fix. Removing the Nazis and Hitler (as well as the fascist regimes of Italy and Japan) from Europe healed the world. But these were threats that were not just camped on the borders, they were invading and attacking. Hitler swept through Europe and the bombed England, before the Nazis were defeated. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and threatened the American Way from the other side of the world. With these threats eliminated, the protectors of the good, decent, and true spirit of freedom wanted another tangible and invading enemy to stamp out of existence. Like the "Communist Party," comic books became one of those enemies. And though comic books were not as crushed into defeat as the Nazis, the industry shrunk dramatically and one company, EC Comics, basically ceased all production.
One of the greatest strength of Gillen's writing is the many layers of each line of exposition, each line of dialogue, such as, in the initial conversation between Sol and his friends, we are treated to Ash's inner monologue: "This isn't a conversation. This is the sort of monologue you run in your head with lovers you'll never speak to again." Not only do the lines ring with truth, but there's layers more to unpack here as "Dominic Ash," presumably a man in the "real" world, is a woman in this world, who goes by "Ash," which makes those lines all the more pregnant with meaning.
Gillen picks up issue two where issue one left off and establishes Ash as the narrator: "I was the Dictator. I learned how to tell stories." Stephanie Hans art washes color like light swept water colours across a three-panel page, revealing the fantasy-rich milieu in which the characters find themselves. for his part, Gillen doles out information slowly. Sol is now Grandmaster (whatever that means) having killed the previous Grandmaster. Also, Ash reminds us that the Geas binding them all to silence has been lifted, and she can freely share "everything." And this "everything" is so much that this sharing will happen slowly, piecemeal, and with vast tracts of landscape left in abeyance, pinned in our minds for future expansion.
The Invisible Woman did not start out with “woman” as part of her name. From the inception of super heroism in the 1930s, with the notable exceptiob of Wonder Woman and a few others, most characters were labelled as “girls” – Supergirl and Batgirl – or as “lasses” – Light Lass and Shadow Lass. So it was not surprising that when new Marvel Comics creators Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created the Fantastic Four in 1961, they christened the group’s only female character as a “girl.” The Invisible Girl would remain a “girl” even after she married the team’s leader and gave birth to a child in what would become the new company’s First Family of superheroes.
Like most women in comics, the Invisible Girl’s powers were non-threatening and mainly meant for defense. If in a tight spot, she could hide by “disappearing,” turning invisible until the danger passed. Susan Storm (later Susan Richards) represented what society thought about women of the time: they were “girls” who needed to hide when it came time to fight the giant green monsters busting out of subterranean caverns.
Her force fields were an afterthought. (After all, she was called “Invisible Girl” not “Invisible Force Field Girl.”) She could shape giant shields or bubbles to protect herself and the members of her superhero family. Using her force fields wasn’t easy and caused her constant pain and anguish, much the same facially in the illustrations of the 1960s and 1970s as the depcitions of her giving birth. Unlike the men in the group whose powers did not cause them pain to maintain against the onslaught of their foes, The Invisible Girl would often show her “natural feminine” weakness by straining painfully to maintain the shield. When she couldn’t handle the stress of maintaining the force field, her male companions would need to save the day. For most of the first 100 issues of The Fantastic Four, The Invisible Girl would need more protecting from the threats that
Before the shamelessly stolen Good Reads TEXT, I will wax a bit on why. One thing I love about Private Eye is the smart way it allows the world's background to emerge. One difference between visual media such as films and comics is that the visuals can carry a great deal of information that would have to be described in prose and a reader will hold this visual information in abeyance until it is explained. So it is with Private Eye. Why does the guy have a fish head? Why is that woman wearing a a suit that makes her looking like a Tiger walking upright? Why do we see an ad that reads: "The LA Times: Your tax dollars at work!"? It's all explained eventually, but at first, it's all a strange and wonderful future that is fascinating and mysterious. When we finally get that street shot, shown above from page 10, and see all the different people, if we're not hooked by the story, we should be hooked by the visuals.
A Sense of Doubt blog post #1450 - About Scripts for Comic Books and Jack Kirby KIRBY SCREWED: I just read the first issue of a new magazine called Comic Book Creator. The issue can be read for free online. There is also a great blog article on Comic Book Justice: Taking Credit (Part One) about Jack Kirby. Though not directly related, but in keeping with my trend for recommending books, another book that I frequently recommend to my wife along with Pattern Recognition as "one of the best books on the shelves of this house" is Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which explores the ways in which comic book creators of yesteryear were not fairly compensated for all their creations. There may be no comic book creator as prolific and as poorly compensated as Jack "The King" Kirby.
Just for some quick perspective on this issue: Kirby created Captain America, the Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk, Doctor Doom, the Silver Surfer, and The X-Men among many, many more. The total movie revenue (just movies, not the merchandising or other related revenues) earned so far from just those creations listed is SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS ($7,310,655, 909). This figure does not include revenue from Iron Man 3 or any movie thereafter.
Jack Kirby died in 1994. The Marvel/Disney empire is reaping astronomical profits based on Kirby's creations. Kirby's family has received exactly zero compensation in profit sharing from the movies featuring these creations.
I liked the conceit of this story, and I like that the volume collects a self-contained story. I really like that there's a reason that these two women are dressed as exhibitionist, fan boy fantasy, dream girls, so that there's internal logic to comic. These two women are still stereotypes of the evil, manipulative, scheming sex vamp, femme fatales, but there's a new twist on what they scheme and how. It's clever and well done.
I am fascinated by the Crossed series. I read it originally, and then gave up on it because it was simply cheap, sensationalism as far as I could see. Take the zombie apocalypse a la 28 Days Later style but make the monsters cannibals AND sex-crazed rapists murderers with IQs equivalent to the Incredible Hulk of the 1970s. The premise fuels the Avatar mission for extreme blood and guts horror AND Nudity AND extreme sexual content. It's a brilliant way to merge all those goals in one comic. Also, the crossed mark is an obvious religious reference, which is satisfying as commentary. But I did not think the premise had enough to sustain the comic, so I cut it from my pull years ago. Since Alan Moore decided to take a run at what the Crossed apocalypse looks like in 100 years, I had renewed interest in the Crossed series and decided to slowly read the whole thing in trade paperbacks.
Surreal landscapes have always been a favourite of mine, and Steve Ditko's work in this arena is unparalleled in comics. Many great artists followed creating their own excellence with Doctor Strange, such as one of my all-time favorites: Gene Colan.
And yet, I could not include Steve Ditko, as much as I love his work, in the top five favourite 1960s comic artists, which I detailed in T-shirt #83. After Kirby, Kane, Adams, Colan, and Romita, I would surely place Ditko sixth.
So, I am recovering from this terrible virus that caught me in its jaws rather firmly.
Recuperation tactics: rest, fluids, and comic books. (Okay, also Motrin, Chinese Food, and puppies.)
It's not that I just read comic books when I am ill. I read them every day. Rarely does a day go by that I don't read at least one comic book. Today, in recovery, I re-read all the Revival trade paper backs and then read the new one before bed.
Anyway, comics make me feel good. They are part of a comforting world, despite problems I may have with their messages or depictions of people from different cultures or genders. Though, they are improving. I am working on a new post about Spider-Man's recent comment about racist messages in comics, but it's not ready yet, so, since I am a day behind, here's this post.
I have been working on this post for a while. I started collecting bits of the T-shirts blog that featured my oldest comic books (for which I made a category). I thought I could get this all in one post, but as I saw how huge it all grew, I trimmed. And then, I trimmed again to just this five entries: Batman (Detective Comics), the Fantastic Four, Flash, Superman, and Hawkman.
Enjoy. This is show and tell.
Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #651 - My Oldest - A collection of comic books - part two FLYING: One of the best things about Silver Surfer is his flying "surf" board. This is such a cool feature of the Silver Surfer that I made a new category called "flying" to track all the heroes with flying as a primary ability or TV shows/movies that in some way feature flying prominently. Flying is very important. It's fantasy related. You do know what the Freudians say about flying dreams, right?
Surfing through the air is another level of cool to the flying fantasy thing. Plus, the surf board makes a great weapon.
As you can see in one of the images, I have a little Silver Surfer toy. I also have a much larger Silver Surfer toy, but it's packed in a box somewhere. If I find it, I may update this blog. Be warned!
SILVER SURFER: I could write volumes about the Silver Surfer, as he is one of my all-time favorite superheroes. But time constraints both mine (how much time I can devote to writing) and yours (I know people want to see shorter entries) confine me somewhat, though be warned, I may update!
THE MAIN REASON THAT THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES IS SO ATTRACTIVE is that it fosters a sense of community. This idea of a group of teenagers from various planets, some human, some not, some humanoid, some not (though originally all were humanoid at least), all coming together for a club of kids with powers who all have fun adventures but also get to hang out with like-minded kids with similar issues was a genius idea. The idea clearly appealed to others because the Legion fandom is possibly the single most active fan group in comics.
There's romance and romantic storylines. When the Legion is done well, there's a great mix of high adventure, science fiction, space opera, and soap opera, romantic-based melodrama. The page above captures that spirit. Look at Dream Girl's pose: oh the angst produced by the burden of her powers. Ayla (Light Lass) and Jo Nah (Ultra Boy) are quick to draw appropriate conclusions and ready for action.
This issue of the 1968 series of Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is among one of the most iconic covers in Marvel Comics history. I have the pre-color original art above and the finished cover below. Steranko borrowed images and ideas from the art of Salvador Dali for this arresting and thought-provoking cover that also, for many at the time, may have tapped into the mind-expanding drug culture.
I am also blown away when I dig into comics history because I discover things I didn't know and wish I had known in the 1980s. This issue proves my case as it was written by Archie Goodwin, with whom I worked in Marvel's Epic Comics for my college internship. I did not take proper advantage of learning from a master like Archie and picking his brain for the stories of all the things he had done and written prior to helming Marvel's version of Heavy Metal.
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2006.17 - 10:10
- Days ago = 1811 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
A Sense of Doubt blog post #1608 - Walking Dead is Done! LLWD!
SPOILER ALERT!!
Only read on if you know what happened or don't care.
And, so it's over.
Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard and the whole Image Comics and Skybound teams of creators and editors and comic book magic makers have brought the most famous zombie-apocalypse series of all time to a conclusion.
Ding dong, The Walking Dead is dead.
Dead dead. Not like dead but still animate, as in walking: a roamer. But dead as in over, caput, finished, given an ending and closed to future business.
And they did it in a most awesome way, one that I dearly love, though one that may have infuriated many fans (though I haven't checked yet to verify that suspicion).
They didn't tell anyone.
No one knew that The Walking Dead issue 193 would be its last until it arrived at comic book stores. The company purposefully solicited future issues of the comic with already drawn cover art, even though the issues were neither being produced nor would they be published.
Holy CLIFF HANGER, Batman!!
That's right, chum.
Surprise! Your favorite comic is done.
Fans were shocked and outraged enough when -- in what has now become the penultimate issue of the comic series, issue #192 -- arguably the book's main character, Rick Grimes, was shot to death. People should have suspected that the book may not survive his death.
Kirkman teased Rick's death at the end of #191 as the assailant shot Rick, and Rick said "What have you done?" in the final panel, implying that like so many brushes with death and near misses, he would survive this, too, continuing his work to rebuild the world after the zombie apocalypse. After all, he's still talking.
But that was not to be. Issue #192 resumes the scene in Rick's bedroom in which Sebastian, the son of the former leader of the Commonwealth, the large, protected community that the band of survivors found in the last story arc of the comic book. More on why the execution (ugh - pun) of Rick's death and all of issue #192 brilliantly set up #193, the final issue.
And yet, despite Rick's death, all indications from Kirkman, Image, and Skybound suggested that the comic would continue without its main character much like the TV show will do. And though Kirkman insisted that Rick's death was a long term plan -- and surely it was -- fans still speculated that he killed off the character to bring the comic book in line with the TV show. (SIDENOTE: Apparently, Rick is not dead in the TV shows story but rather he left the storyline the show depicts, and the gossip indicates that he will star in a movie of The Walking Dead. I wouldn't know; I stopped watching the TV show; I am still trying to decide if and when I will catch up.)
Issue #192 provides an homage to Rick and his importance to the Walking Dead world including an all-cast funeral procession and a depiction of Carl's grief.
Issue #193 time jumps many years into the future. Carl is married with a daughter. He wears an eye patch so as not upset his daughter. He kills a roamer who escaped from a curio show, like Old West traveling "freak" shows. In this future world, the zombies are all but extinct and are considered valuable commodities and private property. Carl is arrested, charged with destruction of very valuable property.
His "killing" of the zombie (and then the others in the curio show owner's wagon) mirrors the killing of his own father, who he found dead but animated in Rick's bedroom: "I didn't even see him. I just saw the dead," Carl said of shooting his father in the head. He reacts the same way in the final issue, more motivated to protect his wife and daughter from the dangerous practice of putting these animated killing corpses on display for entertainment and thrills.
In killing the one that escapes and then killing the others in the collection, Carl is doing the "right" thing, much like his father, more homage to Rick Grimes.
The comic shows a court scene in which Carl is put on trial and wherein its decided that Carl is right and that the practice of putting the roamers on display be outlawed.
The comic ends with Carl reading to his daughter and talking about the importance of his father in creating the safer world that they now enjoy.
It's a good ending.
It's the ending they all deserve.
As a postscript, Kirkman writes about why the comic is not continuing and why he decided to surprise readers (actually trick readers) into thinking it would continue until the day issue #193 arrived in stores.
I am not going to take the time to scroll through the discussion (linked below) to chart if most readers liked this surprise end or not. Comic round up reports a critic rating of 8.7 and a user rating of 9.2, which shows me that most readers did like the comic. In fact, with a higher user rating, clearly, the readers REALLY liked the ending.
Could Kirkman have conceived a different ending or even executed this ending differently? Sure.
Could the final sequences be something other than a bedtime story, which, yes, some critical critics will find cliché? Sure.
Do I like the bedtime story ending? FUCK YEAH.
The Multiversity critic who gave the book and the bedtime ending a 3.0 fails to see the way the father and child bedtime shows the best of the life we enjoyed before the zombie apocalypse and the life that Rick Grimes ensured for the people he left behind, most importantly his son Carl. To dislike the ending is almost to dislike childhood, love, fatherhood, and happiness. I value those things most highly. For me, the ending was the perfect thing.
Those who castigate the ending as over maudlin either miss the point of such moments as the most precious things they are entirely or are just unhappy people. What? Should we have had Carl beheaded instead? Return home to find his family slaughtered by zombies? To have Carl himself become a zombie? Please. Lauding hope highly and deifying Rick Grimes seem to be the direction in which we have always been headed in this comic book. For me, it works. Strikes me that the Multiversity reviewer is just being contrary because most of his peers were not.
I liked it. Loved it, even.
Thanks for one of the best all around reads of my life in comics, Robert Kirkman. That's awesome. SERIES ROUND UP
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1907.16 - 10:10
- Days ago = 1473 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #273 - The Walking Dead finale - WHAT THE HELL?
Hi Mom,
I never inflicted The Walking Dead on you, Mom. Zombies were definitely not your thing. But for the last six years, Liesel and I have been avid viewers of the The Walking Dead TV program on AMC, and, of course, I am a huge fan of the comic book, which I have previously written about on this blog and my T-shirt blog, which is why I have category for it.
So, I am doubly invested in both the comic book and the TV show. The thing is that despite my criticisms, I am invested. I will keep watching. My criticisms are not an indication that I am giving up and will no longer watch the show or read the comic.
The season six finale aired Sunday, and I have some remarks. But first a massive spoiler alert.
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT If you plan to ever watch this show or are watching it and have not seen the finale yet, you may not want to scroll down and read on.
Not all fans of The Walking Dead TV show read the comic. But for those of us who do read the comic, we all know what happened in issue #100. And we all knew that the season six finale would play out the same story as in that issue. You can look at the link, but here's the skinny: after our main characters secure the community of Alexandria and meet the people of the Hilltop, they learn about the big bullies in the playground: The Saviors, led by someone named Negan. The Saviors use force to run a sweet protection racket: "give us half your stuff or we'll kill you." Rick Grimes and company said "screw that" when they heard about the bullying tactics of the Saviors and set about plans to take them out and protect both their community of Alexandria and the Hilltop.
There are differences between how this story played out in the comic book versus the TV show.
The TV show built up to what we all knew was coming, but the TV show provided a better impetus to give the survivors a reason to take a road trip to the Hilltop. In the comic, Glenn and Maggie simply want to move to the Hilltop because they think it will be safer, and so they would become ambassadors at the Hilltop for Alexandria. In the TV show, Maggie's pregnancy is in jeopardy and she needs a doctor. In the comic, it's Abraham who gets shot through the eye by Dwight, but in the TV show it's Denise, Alexandria's doctor, which, thus, compels the survivors to take Maggie to Hilltop to get her the medical attention she needs.
The end result is the same, both the comic and the TV show build to the eventual meeting with Negan and what happens in that scene. The TV show did do a much better job of building the tension as the Saviors block each road the survivors try to take to the Hilltop with increasing showings of force and savagery. The TV show had also done a good job of showing us Rick's over-confidence much better than in the comic, as he repeatedly expresses that together his crew can do anything and they will win out against the Saviors, he's sure of it. In the comic, there's just an ambush, and the survivors are outnumbered 10-1 or worse. Negan lines them up and picks one person to kill as punishment for all the people, his people, who Rick and company killed. He picks Glenn.
The scene rolls out almost verbatim in comparison to the scene in the comic with one vital difference.
In the comic, when Negan counts off his eeney-meaney-miney-moe routine, he selects Glenn and we see him beat Glenn to death. And then there's more of the scene through to the end of the issue. Rick vows to kill Negan, and Negan explains how things will work now (see image).
But this is not what happens in the TV show.
We don't know who Negan beats to death yet.
He chose someone. The screen went dark. And we heard the bat crushing and pulping a human body, but we don't know who Negan was beating.
This was just one of the many cheap stunts used in this and the previous episode to artificially engineer suspense and cliff hangers. This is not a good way to tell a story.
But then, maybe the people who helm The Walking Dead don't care. The choice they made has created a firestorm of Internet buzz. Fans are freaking out, just like with Game of Thrones last ending and the year-long question: "is Jon Snow really dead?" Now, TWD has the same kind of attention to deal with all year. Who did Negan kill?
But it's a cheap stunt and cheaper the way they executed (heh) it by going to dark screen with the sound playing through. Experiencing the story, I would have preferred to see the victim killed in this episode; however, I understand not showing the victim. It makes for a good season end cliff hanger. But why take such a cheap way out? Why not have him get to "it" in the pick-em chant and then go to credits? Going dark and having the bat sound when we can't see is a cheap stunt, which might not have been as bad if it had not followed several other cheap tricks of storytelling that diminish the quality of the story.
But then again, maybe the creators care more about generating Internet buzz than telling the story with cheap stunts.
For the record, I did not expect to actually see the character beaten to death as in the comic. I will be very surprised if we see that when the show returns in October. Though graphic for a TV show, thoug violent and somewhat hardcore, watching someone beaten to death would be very offensive to many people and difficult to achieve with the grisly realism shown in the comic book.
As I wrote, there had been other cheap stunts. The penultimate episode had ended with Daryl apparently killed. But the sequence was very weird. It was as if someone was watching Daryl through a scope and the watcher gets beaned so that blood splatters on the glass of the scope. Because that's what it looked like. It could also be explained as Daryl's blood splattering the camera lens. Whatever it was, I assumed it would be explained in the finale.
But it was not explained. Instead, we were treated to brief sequences of someone coming in and out of consciousness with some spotty lighting effects and voices in the background. It was obvious to assume this is Daryl's status, but the sequences were brief and ultimately unexplained. When hostages Daryl, Rosita, Michonne, and Glenn are brought together with the others, there is no explanation other than we see them being pulled out of a van. Everything else was just a series of cheap stunts to be tricky and coy in ratcheting up suspense at the expense of actual narrative and actual story-telling.
The good? Okay, sure, there's much to like about The Walking Dead Season Six finale. For fans of the comic book alone, seeing Negan brought to life by Jeffrey Dean Morgan in that scene with his bat, Lucille, played out nearly verbatim to the comic was fantastic.
For that matter, I have no quibbles with much of the episode. The way the Saviors showed their dominance and strength was very well done. The scenes with Carol and Morgan were very well done. The way Rick Grimes' over-confidence erodes and finally collapses in the final scene with Negan was probably the best thing about the entire season let alone the finale.
So, when working with such a great script, great acting, plenty of good story telling, why resort to cheap tricks? Aren't these cheap storytelling tricks the province of BAD stories? Bad creators? Something to cover for terrible acting? An awful script?
So, there. That's my problem.
And now, brace yourself for months of speculation on who Negan killed. It's not Rick, Carl, Michonne, Eugene, Rosita, or Maggie. I think it's unlikely to be Aaron as there's not much definition to his character , and he's too expendable. That's not dramatic enough. Abraham was killed instead of Denise in the comics. Given story with Sasha, his death would be poignant. Also, that's the argument for killing Sasha as there is no Sasha in the comics and her new relationship with Abraham would make this death more tragic. But when comparing to the comic, there is no Daryl in the comic books, and though he's a fan favorite on the TV show, it would be a major blow for him to die.
And then there's Glenn, obviously. Negan killed him in the comics, and it's very possible that he will be Negan's on the TV show. And yet, TWD creators have set us up all along by deviating from the TV show. Tyreese was killed differently and his story played out differently. Though still alive in the comic books, Andrea was killed in the TV show. Carol who is dead in the comics is alive on the TV show. And the show just killed off Denise in lieu of Abraham.
It all becomes a question of which way the creators intend to go with this current story line, either staying true to the comic (sorry Glenn) or subverting the expectations of many fans and killing someone else off.
Despite my criticisms, I will be back for the Season Seven premiere because I am loyal, and the creators, they know that about their fan base.
BTW, here's something neat. For those curious to see the differences, here's a frame-by-frame video of The Walking Dead comic issue #100.
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1604.05 - 10:10
NOTE on time: When I post late, I had been posting at 7:10 a.m. because Google is on Pacific Time, and so this is really 10:10 EDT. However, it still shows up on the blog in Pacific time. So, I am going to start posting at 10:10 a.m. Pacific time, intending this to be 10:10 Eastern time. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom. But I am not going back and changing all the 7:10 a.m. times. But I will run this note for a while. Mom, you know that I am posting at 10:10 a.m. often because this is the time of your death.
Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #119 - All life is precious - Aikido
Hi Mom,
Liesel and I have a ritual each week of watching The Walking Dead on Sunday nights. But sometimes (most times), we're too exhausted, so we either start watching and fall asleep (Liesel almost always falls asleep first) or we just decide not to watch until the next day. I proposed this plan with last night's episode because it was 90 minutes long and we had just changed times for daylight savings, so a 10:30 end time would feel like 11:30, and we are rarely (almost never) awake at 11:30 p.m. Initially, Liesel rejected my idea, but by about 8:30, she was done in, turned out her light, and promptly fell asleep. She's been working non-stop lately between hours on GSU and in her clinicals, so the poor sweetie was totally whipped. As a result, I watched some of the World Series, but even so, I could not stay awake much past 9:30.
I know this is not really your kind of show, Mom, but I am going to tell you about it anyway. Though it strikes me that, from where you are in the after-life, you know that this zombie thing as depicted in The Walking Dead could not actually happen.
When we watched the episode Monday, I was struck by one central theme: "all life is precious." It was repeated throughout the episode like a mantra, and the main character, Morgan, had to learn how to stop killing just to satisfy his need to "clear," meaning to clear his area of threats, which is how he stayed alive, or so he thought.
The episode, which is name "Here's Not Here,' (season 6, episode 4 **spoilers ahead**), sidetracked from the story line of our favorite characters in peril and revealed the journey of another character who recently joined the cast, Morgan, and exactly how he "found" himself.
As Morgan made his way from where Rick met him in season one to rejoin the cast, he encountered a man by the name of Eastman. Eastman taught Morgan the practice of "Aikido." Aikido is a Japanese form of self-defense and a martial art that uses locks, holds, throws, and the opponent's own movements to "re-direct" aggression or hostility.
In Eastman's handwritten words, as found in book titled The Art of Peace book that he offered to Morgan, "Aikido means not to kill. Although nearly all creeds have a commandment against taking life, most of them justify killing for one reason or another. In Aikido, however, we try to completely avoid killing, even the most evil person."
It's all about being "tapped into the Source," which is something that Liesel and I talk about all the time, as she is "tapped in." You are in union with the Source now, Mom, I know.
Recently, something happened close to me, an evil thing, a terrible betrayal, a mean thing, a heartless thing, and I felt rage. I wanted to lash out. I wanted to return evil for evil. I wanted to protect the one targeted by the evil. But I did not lash out. I did not return the evil. I sheltered and gave positive energy to the one wronged by the evil, and then I took the higher road. No good would have come from me lashing out. No benefit for anyone. And by doing so, I would have sunk to the evil person's level. Better to take the high road because all life IS precious, and such a motto has never been more apparent to me than now in these months since your death, Mom. Never have those words from the Benediction always used in our Presbyterian church been more true and resonated more profoundly with me:
"Go forth into the world in peace; hold fast that which is good; do not return evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honour all people and things; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen." - Cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:13-22
I know you are proud of me, Mom. I rewrote most of that from memory but checked the text online to make sure I had the text right. I am not sure this is EXACTLY as it was always recited in our church, but it's close and the important parts are there.
As you taught me, Mom, I will continue to go forth into the world in peace and re-direct evil.
Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.
My father liked the Hulk, too. Maybe it was the science fiction flavors of some of those early 1960s sagas. Or maybe it was just the new take on the Jekyll-Hyde split personality of the good gamma irradiated doctor, all that good pathos, the suffering. David Bruce Banner finds himself doomed to a solitary and nomadic existence, never able to have a normal life whereas the Hulk seems a simpleton but is actually complex. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? What does he want? And how many ways are there to position him against adversaries in which he ends up being a force for good.
The Incredible Hulk was one of our favorite comics to read in those bed times of my long ago youth along with Fantastic Four and Batman. The Hulk had so much to teach us about the internal conflict of mankind, the desire to be left alone, the need for peace and serenity, something denied the Hulk as trouble and battles would always find him. After all, in those early days, it was a style guide requirement that each comic feature at least one battle.
But there are so many iterations of Bruce Banner-Hulk now as well as other Hulks (though Hulk, now Doc Green, is eliminating the other gamma powered beings in the current story line) the question of loving the Hulk causes consideration of a fractal. Which Hulk?
The Hulk has been re-imagined many times. He is in the middle of that re-imagining now as "Doc Green," in which he has Banner's intelligence and the Hulk's strength, but has supposedly eliminated Banner. Doc Green is also more cunning and ruthless that previous smart Hulks. Though this new version of the Hulk keeps the character fresh, there's a loss to the pathos for the eternal wandering monster, the misunderstood creature, who continually finds himself helping a world that hates and fears him.
That's all for now in the front matter. My blog output has slowed. I need to pick it up.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
RE: SPOILERS: I don't have to explain that you read at your own risk, right?
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So, given the comments above, I am Hulk fan, which reminds me of the classic Marvel maniacs T-shirts sold via in-house ads in the comics of my youth, such as this one to the left.
I wondered if the old style T-shirts are still for sale somewhere. I do not own a T-shirt for the Hulk, and I would like some of these others, too, like Captain Marvel, the Thing, and Thor. I wanted these shirts when I was a kid, especially the Fantastic Four T-shirt, but I never owned any of them.
Look at those prices!! $1.60? $3.15? Those were "expensive" shirts. Remember that comics are 12 cents at this time. This ad is from a comic in 1969. I was seven years old.
Hulk may have been feared and hated by those in the world of the comics, but he was much loved by those READING the comics. He is still loved today, though maybe less so in his current incarnation.
There are images posted of those old T-shirts, but I have yet to find anyone selling them.
Ah... but this ad brings back memories. I spent a lot of time staring at it. I can still be sucked in by it.
All this Hulk content made me buy a Hulk drinking glass, though the item will not appear in my lists for many weeks as it is 1501.30 as I type this, and I just fetched comics from 1501.28 today, Friday.
As I cobble together thoughts on comics, just to be busy doing some writing of words rather than C code, I am reminded that I had this bright idea to write about comic books many years ago as a young boy, about seventh grade, when I first was given a typewriter. But this is a story for another time.
Back to the HULK. I am disappointed to see that this week's issue of the Hulk received such median reviews from the comic book "Bloggonistirati" (I just made up that word).
Here's a guy who gave it a 10/10 at COMIC BOOKED BUT other reviews, much lower, like this one at Newsarama, evened out the average to 7.6 for Hulk #005.
For me the book gets extra points for Mark Bagley's art, which I have always loved despite his angular figures reminiscent of Cubism.
Despite my comments earlier, this new iteration of the Hulk is very fun. The great thing about comics is that new iterations do not OVERWRITE the old ones. The original Hulk (the grey more villain like one) and the main green behemoth best known for the late 1960s and 1970s work, especially my favorite the Rampaging Hulk magazine with its dynamic SF story line, still exist and may be as close as a digital download away if not a trip to the local comic book shop.
Hey, when I was a kid, there were no comic book shops in Kalamazoo let alone prevalently nationwide.
Despite my comments about the Hulk, the ongoing destruction of the Fantastic Four takes top spot this week, and the penultimate Original Sin takes the third slot, mostly on the strength of Mike Deodato's art and the characters involved, namely Doctor Strange and The Black Panther, two of my favorites.
Now looking at this list, I am puzzled as to why the excellent Batman comic, that I have written of frequently hereabouts, feel so low. But I promised I would not feature every cover nor write long diatribes about all comics in this week or this week in general. But I do think that if I did not re-order these comics as I read them, I surely would re-order them now.
Other comics of excellence like Sex Criminals and The Walking Dead, I have discussed before and will again. So that's all for now.
I will add that the revenge of the Black Cat featured in Amazing Spider-Man: Original Sin #5 was just as good as the Superior Spider-Man issue in which his Doc Ock possessed self punches her out and has her arrested.
If nothing else, each of the big two companies is working hard to keep the stories and characters in these franchises fresh and dynamic.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm ... second use of "dynamic" today. Time to stop.
RANKED COMICS from AUGUST 13, 2014
Fantastic Four #8 Hulk #005 Original Sin #7 of 8 The Walking Dead #130 Sex Criminals #7 Amazing Spider-Man: Original Sin #5 All New X-men #030 Justice League United #4 Starlight #5 Batman #34 Batgirl #34 Red Sonja #11 Captain America #023 Spider-Man 2099 #002 Avengers World #011 Captain Marvel #006
BACK LOG
The New 52: Futures End #15 Batman Eternal #19 Superman/ Wonder Woman: Doomed #11 World's Finest: Huntress and Power Girl #26
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