Saturday, June 16, 2007
Comic Art
About the Fantastic Four movie:
It is tons and tons of fun. I have been getting enormous traffic on these two old posts on the Surfer and Galactus. There seems to be a great deal of interest in the movie, that's good.
The movie has three weaknesses. It fails to achieve a sufficient level of pathos with regards to the Surfer. The character was beatifully realized visually, but it is not the Surfer's amazing appearance that accounts for his popularity. As in the first film, Doom is pointless, and he really should have been left out of this one. He is a huge plot hinge, but could easily have been eliminated and would not have been missed. I'm betting he was there for purely contractural reasons. Finally, I truly hate the fact that Galactus, as presented in this movie, is not anthropomorphic. I'm certain the budget did not allow otherwise, but it changes the whole character of the story so much. I think this really ties into the first criticism. If the Surfer was defying a character instead of merely a force the pathos would have been so much more real.
Now all that being said, it was well worth the price of admission and very much fun for this comic fan. The FF movies, more than any of the comic films capture the essence of the comic medium - fun and they should not be missed.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled comic programming -
You just have to love Red Trinity - Da Tovarisch - Red Trinity. Scientifically developed speedsters, initially in service to the Soviet Union, this trio proved a thorn in the flesh of Flash, but really never amounted to much. And yet, this entry in the continuing bi-weekly series on comic book speedsters holds a special place in my heart.
No characters in comics have better captured the difficult, faulting, currently failing efforts of the former Soviet to transform in to a free, democratic, and capitalistic society. For you see, upon defection to the west, the Red Trinity became the Kapitalist Kouriers in an effort to capitalize on their abilities and make a buck. Often they never quite figured out the whole freedom and capitalism thing which is quite true about the former Soviet.
You have got to love the blatantness of those costumes with the dollar signs. I've often thought a mini-series on these characters, written by real Soviet emigres or people struggling now in Russia would make a fascinating bit of publication history. Sadly, I am not sure it would sell well so I may simply have to dream.
Related Tags: comics, comic books, comic art, speedsters, Flash, Red Trinity, Kapitalist Kouriers
It is tons and tons of fun. I have been getting enormous traffic on these two old posts on the Surfer and Galactus. There seems to be a great deal of interest in the movie, that's good.
The movie has three weaknesses. It fails to achieve a sufficient level of pathos with regards to the Surfer. The character was beatifully realized visually, but it is not the Surfer's amazing appearance that accounts for his popularity. As in the first film, Doom is pointless, and he really should have been left out of this one. He is a huge plot hinge, but could easily have been eliminated and would not have been missed. I'm betting he was there for purely contractural reasons. Finally, I truly hate the fact that Galactus, as presented in this movie, is not anthropomorphic. I'm certain the budget did not allow otherwise, but it changes the whole character of the story so much. I think this really ties into the first criticism. If the Surfer was defying a character instead of merely a force the pathos would have been so much more real.
Now all that being said, it was well worth the price of admission and very much fun for this comic fan. The FF movies, more than any of the comic films capture the essence of the comic medium - fun and they should not be missed.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled comic programming -
You just have to love Red Trinity - Da Tovarisch - Red Trinity. Scientifically developed speedsters, initially in service to the Soviet Union, this trio proved a thorn in the flesh of Flash, but really never amounted to much. And yet, this entry in the continuing bi-weekly series on comic book speedsters holds a special place in my heart.
No characters in comics have better captured the difficult, faulting, currently failing efforts of the former Soviet to transform in to a free, democratic, and capitalistic society. For you see, upon defection to the west, the Red Trinity became the Kapitalist Kouriers in an effort to capitalize on their abilities and make a buck. Often they never quite figured out the whole freedom and capitalism thing which is quite true about the former Soviet.You have got to love the blatantness of those costumes with the dollar signs. I've often thought a mini-series on these characters, written by real Soviet emigres or people struggling now in Russia would make a fascinating bit of publication history. Sadly, I am not sure it would sell well so I may simply have to dream.
Related Tags: comics, comic books, comic art, speedsters, Flash, Red Trinity, Kapitalist Kouriers
