tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post2335631202200499215..comments2024-03-28T07:08:58.221-04:00Comments on Todd Seavey: Wolverine Kicks Off "Month of the Nerd II"Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-70939367265443632722009-05-01T15:14:00.000-04:002009-05-01T15:14:00.000-04:00Like many fogeys, I shifted from being a Marvel re...Like many fogeys, I shifted from being a Marvel reader circa the 80s to being a DC loyalist circa the 90s (the former getting too Wolverine-wannabe with all its fanged and armored characters and the latter developing a somewhat healthier balance between its hokey/retro past and mature present) — and as a result, I wasn’t reading X-Men comics when one of the biggest changes to Wolverine was introduced: the idea that many elements of his past are not only complicated, scattered across decades, mysterious, and at times seemingly contradictory but indeed are _mere hallucinations_, or rather “memory implants” stuck in his brain around the time of his metal-plating operation. <br><br>That’s probably when they should have (quite understandably) said, “Move along, folks, nothing more (coherent) to be seen here,” but on the contrary, they launched a whole _ongoing_ monthly series detailing elements of his semi-real and semi-hallucinatory past. <br><br>Add to that the more recent idea that he had memory problems _even before the operation_, apparently induced by the trauma of his powers first manifesting in childhood in a way that led to tragedy (which we’ll see in the film, it appears). That’s another example of the kind of redundancy I find annoying: How many memory-problem explanations do we need? <br><br>On the bright side, that means that no matter how much they simplify things in the movie, I’ll be rooting for the simplification rather than whining that they left stuff out. Not knowing or caring about half his history at this point also helps, of course. <br><br>But things could be worse: Whenever I worry that a comics character isn’t simple/coherent enough to have a clear dramatic “purpose,” I remember the time I read the Wiki. entry for the X-Men character Psylocke — and then I imagine trying to pitch _her_ as a concept to Hollywood execs. It’s like beholding Cthulhu’s extra-dimensional tomb.Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-4538279090905585672009-05-01T14:45:00.000-04:002009-05-01T14:45:00.000-04:00Carlton Harago of Creative Loafing had a great obs...Carlton Harago of Creative Loafing had a great observation about Wolverine at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/dn4bum" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/dn4bum</a> where he realized that:<br><br>“The big problem with Wolverine comics is that they usually don’t focus on the things that make the guy cool….He’s a tough, ruthless, mysterious loner with metal bones (seriously) and mixes the best aspects of Han Solo, James Dean and Hannibal Lecter (minus the propensity to eat flesh). But, unfortunately, most of the comics that star Wolvie focus on the fact that, as seen in those previously mentioned X-Men films, the character has no memory of his past; consequently most books show him trying to uncover his lost history. And, for a hero who’s been in print since 1974, that search for identity can get kind of boring and hampered with decades of confusing people, places and things.”<br><br>In essence, Wolverine is interesting because he’s a guy with a mysterious past who kicks ass. To many (myself, I think, included) the more fundamental aspect is the the latter, but others seem compelled to investigate the former. Which can get tedious, boring, and familiar.<br><br>To we old fogeys, at least…Ali Kokmennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-33115228961326594972009-05-01T14:13:00.000-04:002009-05-01T14:13:00.000-04:00I gots ta represent.I gots ta represent.Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-19480726933755054842009-05-01T14:08:00.000-04:002009-05-01T14:08:00.000-04:00Let me get this straight: you DON’T want to come a...Let me get this straight: you DON’T want to come across as a well adjusted man with an attractive girlfriend, you want to maintain credibility as a maladjusted loner who hangs out in comic book stores? The latter is preferable to the former? The former does damage to your image as the latter?Davidnoreply@blogger.com