Comments on: Silverblade and Twenty Years Later… How Times Have Changed

By: James Schee

James Schee — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:14:00 +0000

Ah yes the Meanwhile columns. I remember when first encountering these a couple of years ago really finding them a great time capsule of what was going on at the time.

From talk about Alan Moore’s little project with the “Charlton characters,” to discussions about comic pricess going over $1. They were very interesting stuff.

By: Rob S.

Rob S. — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:47:58 +0000

I think the Alan Moore Swamp Thing has pretty much maintained its reputation, too.

But what I really wanted to say is that I was convinced you were setting up a Lucky Charms joke with that coloring description!

By: Alan Coil

Alan Coil — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 02:44:48 +0000

To me, the problem with Ronin was its ending. SPOILER !! !! DON’T READ FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT IT SPOILED. !! !!

SPOILER That it was a dream ruined it for me, just as those Imaginary Stories were “no good” because they weren’t real.

If you say they are all imaginary stories, my response is Oh. Shut. Up. ;)

END SPOILER

By: Bill D.

Bill D. — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 01:22:35 +0000

If Ronin had been written by someone who didn’t have Miller’s fanbase, it wouldn’t only be out of print, but mostly forgotten, probably mentioned whenever someone online talks about other mostly-forgotten DC minis from the 80s like Gilgamesh II or Tailgunner Jo.

As for Superman: The Earth Stealers, well, it wasn’t very good. Always nice to see Curt Swan artwork, but under Ordway’s inks and Wray’s colors, it looked more like an Ordway book than one done by Swan. And Ordway’s good and all, but if it says Curt Swan, you want it to look like Curt Swan.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:52:49 +0000

Sure, but have you ever heard anyone recommend it? I haven’t.

By: Leigh Walton

Leigh Walton — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:46:39 +0000

I haven’t read it, but RONIN is still in print, 20 years later…

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:09:30 +0000

True. I should have been clearer I was talking past tense, earlier in the 20-year period.

By: Chad Anderson

Chad Anderson — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:52:24 +0000

On the one hand, its length and spotty reprint history makes it difficult to push on people;

I’ll grant you the length — one volume with a beginning, middle and end is always easier to push on people — but the spotty reprint history’s a thing of the past: Moore’s entire run is now in TPB, and there are even a couple volumes collecting Rick Veitch’s terrific run on the character.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:10:29 +0000

Joel: The Colan art was very neat and distinctive, if a bit confusing at times.

Ford: I think that one’s arguable either way. On the one hand, its length and spotty reprint history makes it difficult to push on people; on the other, it’s still remembered, and there was a character movie. :)

T: I tend to think a little constraint, whether physical (format, price) or artistic (nine-panel grid, a good editor for feedback) can spur greater heights.

By: T Campbell

T Campbell — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:43:20 +0000

RONIN should not be seen as a cautionary tale. Auteurs doing whatever they want have given us most of our best comics.

By: Ford MF

Ford MF — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:36:37 +0000

“Only Watchmen and Dark Knight have held up this level of high reputation twenty years later.”

I think Swamp Thing has stood the test of time. Sure, it doesn’t get write-ups in Time magazine like Watchmen or Dark Knight, but what the fuck do those people know?

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:05:03 +0000

Wow… a Gene Colan comic I’ve never heard of! Whether or not the writing’s good, bad or indifferent, I want to own it so I can look at it.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:27:01 +0000

Oh, I’ve heard of that. Thanks for educating me!

By: Chad Anderson

Chad Anderson — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:07:23 +0000

A Superman one-shot by Byrne and Curt Swan. (What was this?) It was Superman: The Earth Stealers. Not bad, but not Earth-shattering, either.