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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 133325
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 1:54pm | IP Logged | 1
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Watching THE ROCKETEER last night, I was reminded yet again of what great villains Nazis make. They were the closest to real world supervillains, with cool uniforms, murderous henchmen, fantastic weapons and world conquering schemes. When they were defeated, we turned our attention to the Communist Menace, which, while not so impressive as the Nazis overall, did have a kind of stick-to-it-ness that gave them quantity if not quality. And they also managed to include that old favorite of pulps and serials, the Yellow Peril. They all made pretty great comicbook villains, with no plan too wild, no deed to dire. And nobody cried foul if the good guys dropped mountains on them. But who, in the world today, has the same kind of OOMPH? Terrorists are mostly faceless. "Enemy nations" are mostly small -- and have stuff we want, so we tend to be forgiving. Don't get me wrong. I am not wishing for a global conflict to provide us with supervillains, but I do miss the good old days!
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Ariel Justel Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 August 2016 Location: Argentina Posts: 70
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 2:36pm | IP Logged | 2
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I always understood the danger to the world that was the Nazi regime.
But what was the danger of the "Communist Menace"? The world was divided into two factions/powers: communists and capitalists. Cold war. Ok. But why were the communists a menace for the capitalists (and viceversa)? Why couldn't all just live with their social and economical system without upsetting the other?
And you may be surprised if you ask to third-world people what they believe is the greatest danger to the world today...
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Robbie Parry Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2007 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 12186
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 3:09pm | IP Logged | 3
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But who, in the world today, has the same kind of OOMPH?
***
True.
Cyber threats are, according to the likes of MI5, one of the biggest threats now. But how do you make that visually exciting? Doesn't seem to be much mileage or excitement in Superman or Spider-Man flying through a window and detaining a cyber-hacker.
If that is one of the biggest threats, there's just no way (that I can see) to make it visually exciting.
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Bill Guerra Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 March 2012 Location: United States Posts: 1072
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 4:19pm | IP Logged | 4
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Nazis do make great villains and the fact that they still get dug up today to be used for such is telling.
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Doug Centers Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 February 2014 Location: United States Posts: 5598
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 4:31pm | IP Logged | 5
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Nothing on the scale of the Nazis or The Soviets, but if North Korea keeps advancing their nuclear program we may have our villain.They even have an over the top borderline loon dictator with the perfect super villain title; Supreme Leader.
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Marin Balabanov Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 June 2005 Location: Austria Posts: 195
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 4:43pm | IP Logged | 6
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So... Period pieces?
Edited by Marin Balabanov on 07 October 2016 at 4:45pm
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Michael Wolner Jr Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 September 2004 Location: United States Posts: 246
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 4:44pm | IP Logged | 7
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According to a disturbingly pleasant graphic from Information is Beautiful entitled simply 20th Century Death, communism was the leading ideological cause of death between 1900 and 2000. The 94 million that perished in China, the Soviet Union, North Korea, Afghanistan,and Eastern Europe
http://reason.com/blog/2013/03/13/communism-killed-94m-in-20 th-century
Edited by Michael Wolner Jr on 07 October 2016 at 4:45pm
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Eric Sofer Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 31 January 2014 Location: United States Posts: 4789
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 5:23pm | IP Logged | 8
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I get puzzled, most especially at Marvel, in that they have substituted Hydra for Nazis in the 40s (Captain America, etc.)
Who are they afraid of offending? Nobody associates the Germans today with Nazis. I can't think of too many people standing up for them these days... and those who are modern day Nazis probably deserve to be offended.
So why change it? Hydra does make a good villain group loaded with despicable targets, and they're pretty timeless... but I don't get messing with the Nazis.
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Mario Ribeiro Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 June 2016 Location: Brazil Posts: 474
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 8:24pm | IP Logged | 9
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Eric, I understand some parents have complained about having to tell their little ones about Nazis. Yeah, I know, it is stupid.
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Brian O'Neill Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 November 2013 Location: United States Posts: 1964
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 8:29pm | IP Logged | 10
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You can't show a swastika in comics because little kids...who don't read comics any more...OK, you know what? The whole logic of it is PC garbage.
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Robert Cosgrove Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 January 2005 Location: United States Posts: 1710
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 8:30pm | IP Logged | 11
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Having to tell their little ones about Nazis is certainly preferable to having their little ones grow up to be Nazis. "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history," etc.
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Bill Collins Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2005 Location: England Posts: 11296
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Posted: 07 October 2016 at 10:03pm | IP Logged | 12
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Regarding the `cool` uniforms,it was only in the last couple of years that i learned they were designed by Hugo Boss.
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