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Steven McCauley
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 23 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1431
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 6:45am | IP Logged | 1
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And let's not forget that Sword of the Atom eventually led to Identity Crisis and a bat-shit crazy Jean Loring!
I have to agree with Pascal, I love the Gil Kane artwork in Sword of the Atom.
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Rik Levins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 191
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 8:16am | IP Logged | 2
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The first Sword Of The Atom story also included the sequence in which Ray catches Jean cheating on him with another man. And during the subsequent confrontation, she tells him to "grow up" and quit that silly costumed hero stuff.
A lot of fan mail seemed to hate that part, saying it was totally out of character for Jean, while raving about how great the adventures among the tiny aliens was.
I had the opposite reaction. I thought Jean had been established as a selfish bitch who treated Ray like a doormat from the very first story in Showcase #34. So her having an affair didn't seem at all surprising. Neither did the fact that she had apparently forgotten why Ray took up the "super-hero" persona in the first place--to help her get established as a successful lawyer, which was her excuse for repeatedly turning down Ray's proposals of marriage in the early stories.
On the other hand, my reaction to the tiny aliens was much the same as JB's. I'm a big fan of John Carter of Mars, but trying to make the Atom into a sword-wielding "Earthman-among-the-aliens" hero just seemed pointless.
But as Pascal said, the Gil Kane art made up for a lot. Dayum, that man could draw.
Edited by Rik Levins on 24 April 2009 at 8:17am
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Josh Goldberg
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 October 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 2080
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 8:33am | IP Logged | 3
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Well, anyone who is interested in "Sword of The Atom" (even if only for the Gil Kane artwork) should check out what I'm offering on eBay: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/joshuag6868
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 8:44am | IP Logged | 4
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I'm a big fan of John Carter of Mars, but trying to make the Atom into a
sword-wielding "Earthman-among-the-aliens" hero just seemed pointless.
••
A classic example of both shoe-horning and tailcoating. Take an
established character, with an established rep (tailcoating) and shove
him/her into a story that has nothing to do with who or what that character
is all about (shoehorning).
And just for good meansure, throw in a heaping helping of DC's pathological
need to de-unique their characters.
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Paul Greer
Byrne Robotics Security
Joined: 18 August 2004
Posts: 14191
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 8:58am | IP Logged | 5
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Sword of the Atom would have been a total disappointment… if not for Gil Kane's art.
*********************************
I feel the same could be said for almost all of the early Atom stories. The Gil Kane art is the only draw.
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Ed Love
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 October 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2712
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 9:02am | IP Logged | 6
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I enjoyed "Sword of the Atom" more than I thought I would. I'm sure a big part was Gil Kane who does the sword & sorcery thing very well.
I never really cared for Sid Greene's inks, leastways not with the faces as most of the men came out looking like the actor Martin Milner.
The Atom fought a Man in the Iron Mask? A strange coincidence as there was a very similar Dollman villain.
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Geoff Gibson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 5741
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 9:03am | IP Logged | 7
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Love, Love, Love Gil Kane's art. As you continue to progress JB, I see his influence more and more in your art -- specifically the anatomical elegance, the "movement" (or I guess illusion of a moving figure) seen in a static drawing, of which he was a master. In your commisions of late and your work in the Angel series I think your figures have had a "natural" quality -- they look so "unposed."
I hope you take the comparision to Kane as the compliment its intended to be!
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Steven McCauley
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 23 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1431
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 9:06am | IP Logged | 8
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Sorry to thread-drift, but. . .
DC had a title called Wanted about super-villains?
How was Millar able to call his mini-series Wanted? Especially since it was an obvious take off on DC's villains?
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Ed Love
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 October 2004
Location: United States
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 9:22am | IP Logged | 9
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Well, DC hadn't used the term for a title in around 30 years and its source is the generally public "FBI's Most Wanted List" so DC would have had no argument for any kind of trademark claim. They might have been able to make a copyright infringement claim although DC's title was one of unrelated reprints.
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Robert Bradley
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 September 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 4880
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 9:26am | IP Logged | 10
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Gil Kane has to be considered one of a handful of the finest artists of the Silver Age - the only ones in the same ball park are Adams, Kirby, Romita, Infantino, Ditko, Wood and Swan. It's something of a shame that although Ditko and Kirby are often mentioned for their being part of the creation of some terrific characters, Kane gets ovelooked.
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Wayde Murray
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 October 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 3115
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 9:27am | IP Logged | 11
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Paul wrote:
The Gil Kane art is the only draw.
*groan*
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Robert Bradley
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 24 April 2009 at 9:29am | IP Logged | 12
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Topic Closed)
