anarchist_nomad (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anarchist_nomad) wrote2007-06-24 03:11 am
anarchist_nomad) wrote2007-06-24 03:11 am
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No (More) Logo(s) (Please!)
Reading some comic books to end the day and unwind for bed. Just finished Bullet Points #4, which is an alternate history of the Marvel Universe written by J. Michael Straczynski. The basis for the series this: A critical bullet was fired one day early in 1940, killing the creator of the serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America before the transformation could take place. The rest of the series follows the ripples of this event forward.
At the end of issue four, we have basically reached Fantastic Four #48, with the arrival of the Silver Surfer and his master, Galactus, on Earth. This last-page appearance of the Surfer -- a long time favourite of mine -- made me think of the new Fantastic Four movie. This, in turn, made me think about my trip to London last weekend.
Here is last Sunday in brief: Mid-morning, I hopped the coach to London and met LS. We took a walk from the Victoria Rail Station and went past Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and Saint Steven's tower (where Big Ben is housed). Then we walked along the Thames -- stopping for lunch along the way -- strolled past the London Eye, and down to Southwark where we hopped on a boat and took a cruise along the river to Greenwich. We rode past Shakespeare's Globe, under the Tower Bridge, et cetera -- I do so like guided river cruises. After arriving in Greenwich, we explored the Royal Observatory, climbed the hill, and walked in the park. Finally, we got a snack and chatted for a couple of hours before she brought me to the DLR in the evening and I headed back to Oxford.
All in all, a very nice day out... but what do these two things have to do with one another? Well, as we walked past the London Eye -- basically a very large and expensive ferris wheel that I rode with Cheshcat on my birthday -- I noticed that there was a much larger than life drawing of the Silver Surfer in the center of the Eye. Feh. I expressed my annoyance and LS mentioned that this is the first time the Eye has been used as a canvas for advertising. Don't get me wrong: I've loved Norrin Radd[*] for years... but the continuous depletion of advert-free spaces is a pet peeve of mine. I'll probably avoid the new FF movie as a result. I hate advertising so much that it often repels me from the product that it is trying to sell.
It is the moments like this that make me wonder if we could possibly strike a compromise with Galactus, letting him eat part of the planet's population. Just so long as we make sure it is the right part...
[*] Norrin Radd is the birth name of the Zenn-Lavian who offered to become herald to Galactus the world devourer in order to spare his world. Galactus then endowed him with the Power Cosmic and transformed him into the Silver Surfer.
At the end of issue four, we have basically reached Fantastic Four #48, with the arrival of the Silver Surfer and his master, Galactus, on Earth. This last-page appearance of the Surfer -- a long time favourite of mine -- made me think of the new Fantastic Four movie. This, in turn, made me think about my trip to London last weekend.
Here is last Sunday in brief: Mid-morning, I hopped the coach to London and met LS. We took a walk from the Victoria Rail Station and went past Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and Saint Steven's tower (where Big Ben is housed). Then we walked along the Thames -- stopping for lunch along the way -- strolled past the London Eye, and down to Southwark where we hopped on a boat and took a cruise along the river to Greenwich. We rode past Shakespeare's Globe, under the Tower Bridge, et cetera -- I do so like guided river cruises. After arriving in Greenwich, we explored the Royal Observatory, climbed the hill, and walked in the park. Finally, we got a snack and chatted for a couple of hours before she brought me to the DLR in the evening and I headed back to Oxford.
All in all, a very nice day out... but what do these two things have to do with one another? Well, as we walked past the London Eye -- basically a very large and expensive ferris wheel that I rode with Cheshcat on my birthday -- I noticed that there was a much larger than life drawing of the Silver Surfer in the center of the Eye. Feh. I expressed my annoyance and LS mentioned that this is the first time the Eye has been used as a canvas for advertising. Don't get me wrong: I've loved Norrin Radd[*] for years... but the continuous depletion of advert-free spaces is a pet peeve of mine. I'll probably avoid the new FF movie as a result. I hate advertising so much that it often repels me from the product that it is trying to sell.
It is the moments like this that make me wonder if we could possibly strike a compromise with Galactus, letting him eat part of the planet's population. Just so long as we make sure it is the right part...
[*] Norrin Radd is the birth name of the Zenn-Lavian who offered to become herald to Galactus the world devourer in order to spare his world. Galactus then endowed him with the Power Cosmic and transformed him into the Silver Surfer.
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Somebody shoulda tol me.
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(Somebody should tell that to the folks in power in this world!)
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Hmm, sounds a lot like a DC comics Elseworlds that came out a while back: The Nail (link contains spoilers). The notion is that because of a flat tire, the Kents never find and raise Superman. Actually wasn't that good a story, as I recall. How is Bullet Points?
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Bullet Points is a good read. Not spectacular, but a good solid story. As I was reading it, I wondered what the effects of this bullet would be long term, as it couldn't affect Galactus's journey to Earth in FF #48. But, lo and behold, JMS realized the same and here is the G-man himself at the end of issue four.
One nitpicky point that amused me. The series starts in 1940 and, from what I understand, later issues take place in the 1960s. I deduce this from the way people have aged from earlier issues to later ones... as well as the fact that we are dealing with the period of origins for many Marvel heroes, which was in the 1960s. Only one problem with this, though: A researcher who leads the search for the Hulk (along with Dr. Bruce Banner) comes from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Which, as we both know, did not exist until the late 1960s (1967) and did not acquire the "Fermi" name until the 1970s (1974). A small slip-up on JMS's part, for sure... but one that caught my attention!