tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post877938277588382758..comments2024-03-25T05:26:47.764-04:00Comments on The Peerless Power of Comics!: Game PenaltyComicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-69117738690314096292020-06-25T10:36:09.131-04:002020-06-25T10:36:09.131-04:00As far as DeVoor being a self admitted failure in ...As far as DeVoor being a self admitted failure in science, well, in the Marvel Univers, that could still mean having more inventions than our earth's Thomas Edison!<br /><br />Yeah, the whole Gaard thing is pretty bad, and pretty odd, but I find it interesting that someone from the Antipodes wouldn't recognize it as a hockey goalie and thus be more accepting of it.<br /><br />Roy Thomas is probably my favorite comic book writer, and this takes place just before I started collecting comics, and I've still never read these. I will have to rectify that soon!dbutler16https://www.blogger.com/profile/00046066729353639991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-77807711342155320152018-01-13T07:30:07.019-05:002018-01-13T07:30:07.019-05:00The Vietnam connection is rather a hard one to ign...The Vietnam connection is rather a hard one to ignore, Warren--particularly since that war wouldn't have necessarily taken place on the alternate world where Gaard was retrieved. It's certainly food for thought.<br /><br />B, I agree that this is vintage Thomas, and quite well handled by both himself and Buckler. I wasn't really on board with the whole mental-energy-piercing-the-dimensions contrivance pulled out of left field to move things along and allow the characters to hurdle over plot impediments, but it was a story where you either let yourself be swept along or become mired in the minutiae. :)<br /><br />M.P., it's possible your perspective on Gaard may be unique! But if the character played a part in allowing you to have fun with the story, so much the better. ;)<br />Comicsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-60164578428107284372018-01-12T23:47:26.990-05:002018-01-12T23:47:26.990-05:00I notice that an article on Gaard has brought fort...I notice that an article on Gaard has brought forth a rash of comments on this site.<br />For myself, it's hard not to think about The Cosmic Goalie and smile. Let's face it, it had to happen. If you can have a cosmic surfer, you should have a cosmic hockey player.<br />It makes sense, people.<br />Ah, Gaard, we hardly knew ye.<br /><br />M.P.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-90704570348825648002018-01-12T21:44:17.042-05:002018-01-12T21:44:17.042-05:00Thanks to the haphazard distribution comics had in...Thanks to the haphazard distribution comics had in these parts before comics shops appeared, this was the first issue of FF I picked up after #158. Confusing? You bet! It was years before I was able to lay my hands on the preceding issues in order to piece together the story - and yes, in retrospect it does seem overly convoluted. It's almost as if Roy decided he wanted a story with a galactic ice hockey goalie, and the Reed Richards introduced in #118, and if it meant a needlessly complicate story, then so be it.<br /><br />I have no problem with Gaard's appearance - ice hockey has such a low profile in the Antipodes that at the time I didn't actually recognise what he was supposed to resemble. And Kirby's Fourth World material was getting even less exposure hereabouts at the time, so I'd have never made any connection even if I'd the wits to do so. Even all the other inconsistencies you've mentioned went sailing clear over my young head (I probably assumed that Reed and Sue had had larger parts in the preceding issues). <br /><br />The thing is, I was really digging Roy's scripting in this period of the FF's history - I count it up there amongst the best work he's ever done. One bit that impressed me was that for once, instead of Ben kayoing Gaard with a mighty haymaker and winning the day, he simply managed to get that puck into the nexus, and expressed no desire to continue any battle....and Gaard meekly assented and exited quietly! All things considered, that was pretty radical for 1975, let alone at might Marvel, where action was often a byword for storytelling at times.B Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16618583443442543086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-12551752356216287152018-01-12T17:58:48.655-05:002018-01-12T17:58:48.655-05:00Heh! Thanks CF. And sorry about that - it was a bi...Heh! Thanks CF. And sorry about that - it was a bit of a daft question to bring up, a moment of idle curiosity.<br /><br />A more pertinent one might be about Gaard's get-up. Given the strange decision to go with an undisguised winter-sport theme for a cosmic character, do you think it might be an example of Roy Thomas - or higher-ups - trying to tap into what Jack Kirby was doing at the Distinguished Competition, specifically the Black Racer? A quick look at the font of all trivia (wikipedia) for the character even mentions the revivification of a Vietnam War casualty for the role.Warren JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11743987856127631574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-53375254705219593882018-01-12T14:29:34.335-05:002018-01-12T14:29:34.335-05:00I didn't spot him in the full-page assembly, W...I didn't spot him in the <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-better-man.html" rel="nofollow">full-page assembly</a>, Warren, but that may not have represented all of the Reeds in the Council. It's also possible that the Reed in question was never approached to join, as the Council appeared to seek out those Reeds who thought outside the box and envisioned ideas far beyond the scope of more conventional approaches--while the Reed-Thing sequestered himself and appeared to limit his field to robotics.<br />Comicsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-37460335720158487452018-01-12T09:54:12.460-05:002018-01-12T09:54:12.460-05:00Well that was odd.
I'll have to go back throu...Well that was odd.<br /><br />I'll have to go back through PPoC and peer at scans in the relevant entries, but did Thing-Reed ever show up in the multiversal Council of Reeds?Warren JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11743987856127631574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-50082351740006741822018-01-12T06:09:16.779-05:002018-01-12T06:09:16.779-05:00Tiboldt, I think part of Arkon's problem is th...Tiboldt, I think part of Arkon's problem is that he's been put in the difficult position of being both villain and sympathetic character--which is one reason why, as you say, he tends to forget those instances where others whom he initially made enemies of came to his aid. And that's really through no fault of his own. As we've seen, he indeed makes an excellent villain, snarling arrogant dictates and hurling energy bolts while riding one of his winged stallions. He's a warlike barbarian who comes from a <i>planet</i> of warlike barbarians, who use their weapons first and ask questions later--his vizier being solidly on the same page as Arkon when it comes to invading other worlds and ruthlessly seizing and interrogating captives in order to achieve their ends, consequences to the other world be damned. Yet if Arkon instead embraces cooperation, and seeks other means to solve his world's crises, methods his advanced technology is fully capable of supporting, Marvel then effectively pulls the rug out from underneath not only Arkon as a threat but his entire culture, as well, and his use as a villain is curtailed.<br /><br />You're also correct by indirectly pointing out that there are only so many times before his primary motivation for aggression--the deterioration of the energy rings which light his world--becomes tiresome and hackneyed.<br />Comicsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-51140081180722169162018-01-12T05:18:40.595-05:002018-01-12T05:18:40.595-05:00I've never heard of this story before but it d...I've never heard of this story before but it does go some way to reinforce my opinion that Arkon is a giant d**k.<br /><br />Honestly, it seems that every time something goes wrong his first thought is 'what attrocities can I commit in other dimensions that will solve the problem?' This is despite his world being saved a number of times by residents of these other dimensions. Ingratitude or what?<br /><br />His ice hockey-themed creation is pretty incongruous, not just for simply existing but for the position chosen. Let's face it, if Arkon played hockey, he'd be a goon.Tiboldthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03787761673589485012noreply@blogger.com