Comments on: What I bought - 29 August 2007

By: Sumerian Cry

Sumerian Cry — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:00:01 +0000

Sumerian Cry

news

By: Bully

Bully — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 02:30:36 +0000

My thoughts on the Last FF story is that it is an old-style FF narrative and dialogue expanded to fit into new-style decompressed visual storytelling. Look at all the ellipses and broken sentences that continue into the next balloons, making the dialogue read reallllllllllllly slowly, or even dialogue continuing across the next panels or next page. It looks like Stan's has written what would have been (in the old days) a fairly densely dialogued page, and JR Jr has spread that single page worth of material across two or three pages.

Both approaches have their value and can lead to great stories. But it looks odd, if not downright awkward, to have both in the same story.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 01:29:49 +0000

I can't remember Australian writers ever writing a convincing Australian accent.

By: Rohan Williams

Rohan Williams — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 02:29:33 +0000

Yeah, I've probably used 'Fair Dinkum' a maximum of once or twice in my entire life. And both times, I was probably just referring to the discount store 'Fair Dinkum Bargains', not actually, unironically using it in conversation. I don't hear it said by other people much, either. Honestly, I can't remember reading a non-Australian writer ever writing a convincing Australian accent. Anyone got any examples to the contrary?

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 04:43:49 +0000

I can wait, I tells ya! I will survive!

By: stealthwise

stealthwise — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 02:51:32 +0000

Dude, seriously, just read the LOCAL issues. The latest one (well, not this one, but the one before it), really gives you a bit more incite into her character, and maybe makes her a little bit less unlikeable.

By: Fascination Place » This Week’s Haul

Fascination Place » This Week’s Haul — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:20:14 +0000

[...] I think Greg Burgas nails it in his review of the Ex Machina special: It’s not a story of any great consequence, and the sentiment driving the plot doesn’t ring true. Plus, I’ve never warmed to John Paul Leon’s pencils, as the renderings aren’t to my taste, and his layouts never seem to really tell the story, they just sit there. The earlier 2-part special, drawn by Chris Sprouse, was much better than this one in every way. [...]

By: Apodaca

Apodaca — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:52:31 +0000

It in no way makes Stan any less awesome.

I don't think he could get any less awesome at this point.

By: Doug Atkinson

Doug Atkinson — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:56:04 +0000

I can't help but think of John Ostrander's comment about what happened when he started having Captain Boomerang use Australian slang in "Suicide Squad"; apparently an Australian friend called him up and said, "Yes, we do say those things...but not all in the same sentence."

By: BillyRay

BillyRay — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:05:14 +0000

"She just puts up with his poor behavior, and I donâ€™t like this Talia. She always seemed stronger than this. Come on, Talia!"

It's obvious that she's a Skrull.

By: s1rude

s1rude — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:42:09 +0000

Great point re: Mice Templar, Greg. The lack of any compelling reason these characters have to be mice was a big problem with it, and one I hadn't been able to articulate until your review. The problems I could articulate were: it's dull, plodding and trite. And I usually love Oeming's art, but I thought it was a bad fit for this. I never could tell the mice children apart, and had to spend way too much time with the fight scenes to determine who was a rat, who was a mouse, which mouse, etc. There was nothing inventive in the depiction of the mouse "city" or anything that made me think, "yeah, mice would live like that" - which was a highlight of the last issue of the book we're not comparing it to - it was just generic fantasy backdrop #3, etc. The ironic thing is that if they dropped the anthropomorphic angle and he drew it a la Hammer of the Gods, I'd probably keep buying it for the art despite the unoriginal story. As it is, I think one book about mice knights is good for me, and this ain't it (not that I'm comparing it to anything). Also had the same reaction to the Batman annual. It was fine (man, Milligan has no qualms about cashing paychecks, huh? Good for him - he deserves them and you can still count on him for the unusual & innovative in his less high-profile work), but definitely not spectacular or necessary. The Lopez's art looked great; one upside of this would be a greater appreciation for their always solid stuff. I'd hate to see them leave Catwoman (one of DC's best books), though. My recollections of Australia are (1)damn, you people can drink, and (2)the women are wholesomely "hawt". Given those two things, you can say whatever you want...

By: Matthew E

Matthew E — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:02:58 +0000

After all, itâ€™s not as if Mouse Guard is the first story in the mouse genre(Redwall, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH).

Mus of Kerbridge!

By: Russell H

Russell H — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:21:23 +0000

As an Englishman I feel I'd be cheating if I tried.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:34:22 +0000

This has been bugging me all morning actually. I had no idea I use gâ€™day so often. Iâ€™m on the phone a lot, and I start nearly every conversation with itâ€¦

I had a similar realisation a couple of years ago - since then I decided to embrace it. Oh, and for those curious, 'mate' really is said in every other sentence by Australians. And wanker. And any variation of 'piss' - 'on the piss', 'taking the piss', 'pissed off', 'what a pisser', 'pissing myself', 'totally pissed' etc. 1 Fair Dinkum point to anyone who's not ffrom Australia, and never spent more than a couple of months here, who can actually give me the meaning of all of those - not cheating allowed - it's just not cricket.

By: ninjawookie

ninjawookie — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:32:57 +0000

The Prime Minister uses it on occasion to try and relate to everyone over the age of 50 and the so called "aussie battler". Current Affair programs will also use it in manipulative ways as well, usually when there's an issue of race or there's a shady business or some crap like that. G'day is the only one that is widely used by all. It's always really distracting whenever the accent is played up in a comic book, or a writer tries to cram in every single known Australian colloquialism. Brian K Vaughan is almost guilty of it when he introduced that cycloptic 'sheila' in Y the Last Man, but i'm willing to forgive because he writes a neat story.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:42:33 +0000

Michael: I agree with your assessment of Lee's treatment of Shi, but it seemed like David was putting her in situations where she was outclassed and made to look silly. Lee seemed to do most of the heavy lifting in the issue (both literally and figuratively). I didn't mind Lee's attitude toward Shi, because I agree with your thought process. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. I don't think I ever heard "strewth" while I was in Australia, but everyone said "G'day." It was far more fun pointing out the subtle differences, like saying "whinging" instead of "whining" and when it was your "shout" when it was time to buy the beer. The use in the comic was amusing because I do think it was in there to make the Aussies sound "authentic."

By: Colossus 2000

Colossus 2000 — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:41:05 +0000

This has been bugging me all morning actually. I had no idea I use g'day so often. I'm on the phone a lot, and I start nearly every conversation with it... But it is the authenticity issue. Hell, if you wanted an authentic story involving someone who lives in the outback, just fill it full of explectives. "No f***in way mate, that s*** ain't mine, f***d if I know how it got there, probably fell outta the f****in sky..." Sounds more realistic than "Strewth cobber, them galah's are gonna go crazier than a bunyip when they find out who ate me lamington!"

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:22:48 +0000

Iâ€™ve never once heard anyone use the phrase â€˜fair dinkumâ€™ in conversationâ€¦ We just donâ€™t do it. Yes, we call everyone mate. But you donâ€™t often hear â€˜Gâ€™dayâ€™ or â€˜Strewthâ€™â€¦ Unless we are taking the piss out of touristsâ€¦ So if you ever hear an â€˜Aussieâ€™ talking like youâ€™d expect one to, heâ€™s laughing at you behind your back.

I've heard, and used, 'fair dinkum',on occasion, and use, and hear, 'g'day' all the time. 'Strewth' as well. And I'm a city boy, so I'd say that streth and g'day are extremely common, and fair dinkum wouldn't raise an eyebrow. I usually find 'fair dinkum' awkward when I read it, as even if used in correct context it sounds like the author is striving for authenticity.

By: Bill Reed

Bill Reed — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 01:40:51 +0000

Man, that Last Fantastic Four Story had an astonishingly terrible script, but the art was gorgeous. I was laughing all the way through.

It in no way makes Stan any less awesome.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:24:05 +0000

I think you are misreading Fallen Angel's treatment of Shi, Greg. While Lee doesn't think much of her, I think you have to remember that Lee is a fairly unreliable narrator, especially in issues of faith. I saw Shi's portrayal as a much-needed foil to Lee, pointing out how Lee's cynicism is a flaw in her character, and the inner peace she gives up by believing (however accurately) that everyone's a bastard and the world's the worst bastard of all. Remember that the last moment of their association is Shi, the avatar of hope, giving Lee, the avatar of cynicism, a well-deserved sock in the kisser.