Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login
The John Byrne Forum
Byrne Robotics > The John Byrne Forum << Prev Page of 4 Next >>
Topic: Aunt Petunia (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
Author
Message
Kip Lewis
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 01 March 2011
Posts: 2880
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 4:11pm | IP Logged | 1  

When was the last time anyone heard Ben quote his Aunt
Petunia?
Back to Top profile | search
 
Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 15775
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 4:18pm | IP Logged | 2  

Greg, you note that it subverted expectations, and it did, and that
means the joke did over-write what readers for, even back then,
decades had always assumed. JB executed it in a very funny way, but
that's not a good enough reason to do something, even tiny, that takes
away the charm of the unknown that Lee-Kirby had created.
++++++++

Credit where credit is due--Peter said it, not me.
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Shaun Barry
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 08 December 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 6934
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 4:31pm | IP Logged | 3  


Give NuMarvel time... I'm sure they'll dig up the character again and turn her into the new She-Thing...

a.k.a The Aunthing



Edited by Shaun Barry on 24 June 2015 at 5:23pm
Back to Top profile | search
 
Andrew Hess
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 9846
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 6:19pm | IP Logged | 4  

waitaminute...Quicksilver is an Inhuman..?!?
Back to Top profile | search | www
 
Lance Hill
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 22 April 2005
Posts: 991
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 7:37pm | IP Logged | 5  

I'm not a fan of the Aunt Petunia reveal. Better left to the readers' imaginations.


 QUOTE:
waitaminute...Quicksilver is an Inhuman..?!?


No.

Although it was recently revealed that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch aren't really mutants and Magneto isn't really their father. The Maximoffs are their biological parents. The High Evolutionary kidnapped them as babies and his experiments gave them their powers.
Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133563
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 8:00pm | IP Logged | 6  

Although it was recently revealed that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch aren't really mutants and Magneto isn't really their father. The Maximoffs are their biological parents. The High Evolutionary kidnapped them as babies and his experiments gave them their powers.

•••

Rule 1: Don't make things MORE complicated!

Back to Top profile | search
 
Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 15775
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 8:43pm | IP Logged | 7  

By the way--

This morning, in a great coincidence, I was talking to a friend about this
very topic. We'd been talking about the negative effects of growth and
change in comics, and how modern writers come along and often do
whatever they want, without considering the consequences. Talk of the
Spider-Man marriage and the aging of Dick Grayson to adulthood led to
talk about doing things that should never be done. I mentioned the
absurdity of revealing Doom's face, and I countered that the reveal of
Aunt Petunia was an example of how to do it right.

And, really, I don't think it's a big deal. It was a case of taking a
longstanding assumption--ASSUMPTION, not established canon--and turning it on its head. Ben Grimm
playfully talking about his beloved Aunt as if she were a senior citizen
feels very much in-character, to me. It's in the same vein as giving a loved one a
reverse nickname, like calling a tall person "shorty". I do that sort of
thing myself, from time to time. It adds an extra layer of characterization and
realism to Aunt Petunia's bashful, blue-eyed nephew.

It also alters nothing of importance about any of the characters. And, it
doesn't ruin something that should be left to the readers' imagination,
like Doom's face. I'd categorize the introduction of Aunt Petunia as a
funny reveal, not a retcon.

I mean, was there a decades-long clamoring for Aunt Petunia to appear
in a story, with major expectations tied to that appearance? No. The
character was a running joke, and JB turned her into a real
character...but in a way that was still really funny!

Edited by Greg Kirkman on 24 June 2015 at 8:48pm
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 15775
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 8:56pm | IP Logged | 8  

By the way, a quick search reveals that Petunia Grimm was brutally
killed off in a 2009 FF comic.

Sigh.
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Bill Guerra
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 29 March 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 1072
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 8:56pm | IP Logged | 9  

Personally, I loved aunt Petunia's reveal. I thought it was funny and like many have already said, it didn't alter or contradict anything, so no harm done in the long term.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Michael Roberts
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 20 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 14864
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | 10  

Give NuMarvel time... I'm sure they'll dig up the character again and turn her into the new She-Thing...

----

Aunt Petunia was killed off during Millar's FF run by Doom's secret mentor. Even Millar fans hated that storyline. 
Back to Top profile | search
 
Matt Hawes
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 16505
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | 11  

 Lance Hill wrote:
...Although it was recently revealed that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch aren't really mutants and Magneto isn't really their father. The Maximoffs are their biological parents. The High Evolutionary kidnapped them as babies and his experiments gave them their powers..


Ugh. I'm sure this had nothing whatsoever to do with the FOX and Marvel Studio movies.
Back to Top profile | search | www
 
Tim O Neill
Byrne Robotics Security


Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 10942
Posted: 24 June 2015 at 11:43pm | IP Logged | 12  


I thought Aunt Petunia was a great reveal - you added just the right dose of humor to your FF run that set it apart from every title at Marvel that time.  You certainly had cosmic action and gut wrenching drama, but moments like Aunt Petunia are a big part of why it was my favorite book, and why I still revisit it today.  

Another gem -- Ben dressed as Indiana Jones!


Back to Top profile | search
 

<< Prev Page of 4 Next >>
  Post ReplyPost New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login