tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6339386808924606834.post3971025571106123701..comments2023-10-19T00:56:01.722-07:00Comments on Comic Book Rehab: A Comic Book Rehab Thanksgiving - Issue #1Comicbookrehabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09363501054869978524noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6339386808924606834.post-8698533133772626232011-11-25T08:09:48.742-08:002011-11-25T08:09:48.742-08:00One reason for the changes is that the Silver Age ...One reason for the changes is that the Silver Age incarnations are characters of the time period in which they were created - this is what stayed in my head after reading Grant Morrison's Supergods - scenes of Barry and Hal and Ray and Ralph and Sue and Jean and Iris and Carol and Carter and Shira - they were grounded in that early 60's optimism. There are obviously writers who found it hard to tell new stories with characters locked in to what was once a very contemporary view of adult living. Also, the modern take on Hal Jordan is playing off Dennis O'Neil's take and not where John Broome left off - only Gerard Jones seemed to remember what Hal was like before teaming with Ollie.<br /><br />Another problem - for every fan that loves the Silver Age takes on these heroes, there's another fan who thought they were cardboard cutouts. Compare them with Peter Parker or Ben Grimm and, side-by-side, it's like we're looking at comics from two different countries!<br /><br />Scrooge Mcduck ... I wouldn't say he was a good example - our imaginations didn't have to work so hard to define his character. <br /><br />Oh, I know as much about Blackhawk continuity as the current team seems to, but if I had to make them contemporary, I would model them after The Blue Angels - I have two mini-toy replicas of those F/A-18 Hornets and they are the coolest-looking aricraft...Comicbookrehabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09363501054869978524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6339386808924606834.post-85637421110377682132011-11-24T09:23:33.310-08:002011-11-24T09:23:33.310-08:00Great analysis here… and definitely a part of what...Great analysis here… and definitely a part of what I feel is wrong with today’s comics industry. <br /><br />I freely admit to bias per my age, but I believe that the best versions of nearly all the characters would be the “Silver / Bronze Age versions”. Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Hawkman, The Atom. This is when they got it most right, and these are the versions that remain the most iconic. <br /><br />Starting in the ‘80s thru today, it seemed to be an easy way out to change a character than rise to the challenge of telling good stories about that character as-is. And, no character suffered more from this than Hawkman. (And, yes… I preferred the Silver Age version to even the Golden Age version.)<br /><br />Of course, there ARE exceptions: Justice League International, Peter David’s Aquaman, Hawkman on Bruce Timm’s JUSTICE LEAGUE, and Aquaman on “BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD”, to name a few. <br /><br />I’m not necessarily advocating “stagnation”. If a character fails to work for a contemporary audience, retire that character -- and create something new, which may or may not succeed where the previous character failed. <br /><br />The new version of “The Blackhawks” is a prime example of this. Why are they redesigned to look like a (now also somewhat dated) Rob Liefeld / Jim Lee ‘90s Image comic? If they can’t exist outside the confines of WW II, then tell their stories as period pieces – our outright retire them and create a new “Bloodstrike”… or “Strikeblood”… or “Deathblood”… or “Blooddeath” or whatever it was they did. <br /><br />We still find ways to tell good Uncle Scrooge stories – using essentially the same characters as Carl Barks used in the fifties. Why can’t the major publishers find a way to do the same.Joe Torciviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00421096229407174474noreply@blogger.com