Weekend link extravaganza plus gay Iceman

There have been no celebrity birthdays since my last post that I felt the need to comment about so I used the time to get rid of a lot of stuff that had accumulated on my laptop. You know how these things just pile up.

So I spent these last days doing that but also preparing the stuff for new posts and follow up on some stuff from previous posts. But to not leave my readers hanging without any new posts for the weekend I thought I could do one of these link posts I used to do. As usual I will go through the links in the order they appear on my toolbar which will not be the order in which they wind up in the post. So the first thing you will read as it first appears on the post may end up on the bottom and vice versa. But now without further ado let´s get to the things that have kept me busy.

TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A POP CULTURE ADDICTED COMIC BLOGGER

Now I have already mentioned a few times that with the amount of time it takes me to do these posts I often only get to read many of the links I include in the posts after the fact except for those I have to read to make the actual post. Some of the links I included in my post about Russ Meyer actress Haji are from Sam Tweedle´s CONFESSIONS OF A POP CULTURE ADDICT and I just had the chance to peruse the archive at more detail.

Besides more orbituaries for such pop culture legends like Leonard Nimoy , Patrick Macnee or Yvonne Craig he has a few comic related posts. He has two interviews with Ronn Sutton about his work on the Honey West and Elvira comics, an informative post about Peyo´s THE SMURFS comics ( Did you know that the Smurfs predated the Justice League of America and the entire Marvel Age of comics ? ) and a really funny post about why you should never tell superhero jokes to comic readers. For the fans of top Ten lists ( and we all are ) there are Comic´s 10 Greatest Dads and two lists about the Top Ten Lamest Superheroes Of All Time ( list 1 / list 2 ) which I´m happy to report doesn´t include the Avenger´s Gilgamesh.

Speaking about Top Ten lists, he lists his Top Ten Picks From The New 52 which was followed up one year later ( no pun intended ) with a post on what worked and what didn´t. And since we are on the subject of awful reboots he has a post on the most awful reboots in comic history in two parts ( part 1 / part 2 ) that includes such great ideas like Dracula, The Shadow and the Blackhawks as superheroes, the Metal Men getting human secret identities, Dick Tracy in Space and the Justice League of Detroit.

To close the book on DC´s NEW 52 there is a really interesting post about why DC made the wrong character gay when they decided to turn Alan Scott gay on EARTH 2. Which leads us directly to our next hot topic.

WOW ! BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS MUST REALLY HATE OTHER WRITERS

Out sheer curiosity I decided to find out whatever happened to gay Iceman after all the hullubaloo that was made about that on the internet.

I for one was not so sure that he would survive the SECRET WARS but apparently I was right in my decision to ditch ALL NEW X - MEN because after bullying the Iceman from the past into admitting he´s gay when he clearly is not now Jean Grey got him so brainwashed that he even teamed up with her to lie to the Iceman from the present and tell him that he´s secretly gay. Which shocked Iceman so much he actually believes it.

Yep, sounds ridiculous but that´s exactly what happened in UNCANNY X - MEN 600 ( way to celebrate an anniversary ) and it seems this " important story " will be " continued further " in the new ALL NEW X - MEN book that starts with a new number 1 and will not be written by Brain Michael Bendis who will leave the X - Men franchise altogether. So the question remains if Bendis was going to leave the x - books anyway, was this his version of a mikedrop or was he even giving all the other writers that come after him the finger, even if it´s only metaphorically ? Why was Iceman turned gay ?

While Disney, Bendis and all the other writers at Marvel insist it was only to tell a good story you have to question if the same story could not as easily have been told with a new character that is gay. After all if you are arguing that it would not have had the same impact with a new character you also imply that Bendis does not have the capability to write a new character and make him that compelling and interesting that it doesn´t matter it´s a new character. And if you say that´s not possible you might want to check out the original SPIDER - MAN 2099 series by Peter David.

I also have noticed that with all the reactions from the first " reveal " of Iceman being gay to now I haven´t heard one person mention the story at all. Not one person. There were a lot of comments about the importance of the story, how everybody who doesn´t like it is a homophobic and how we need more diversity in comics. Mind you, not real diversity OF comics meaning comics that appeal to all kind of readers which is more than just superhero comics but rather superhero comics that represent all kind of people and races and religions because that is what we all want to read about. And we can only identify with people who are the same as we because we don´t understand other people and we do not want to.

I mean let´s be honest here for a moment. Is it really necessary that someone has the same sexual orientation as yourself for you to identify with him ? Does he need to have the game racial background ? Must he have the same age, the same job or even the same sex ? There is this lie being repeated again and again ever since Robin was created that the younger readers couldn´t identify with Batman because - well, obviously he was much too old, duh ! Okay, newsflash, but in all the stories I read with Batman and Robin I always was Batman. Why ? Because he´s the boss and what many adults don´t seem to get into their head is that just because there is a sidekick around younger readers don´t automatically just identify with him because he´s young. It´s a fantasy and sorry, but in my fantasy I´m not the sidekick or the gopher, I´m the guy in charge.

Yeah, Batman was older than me but so what ? I was going to be older some day and that was my example to aspire. In all the comics I read with Superman, Spider - Man or Thor that inspired me I never thought " Gee, I wish there was a young guy around I could relate to because the main character is much too old to identify with. " Maybe that´s a generational thing. I grew up reading a lot of francobelgian comics like ASTERIX, LUCKY LUKE and TINTIN and all these comics were a huge success with kids even if the heroes were all grown ups. So is Today´s comic reading generation unable to relate to people outside of their own small group ?

Okay, back to the topic of gay Iceman, some people say that the change was just made to have diversity for diversities sake , some people tried to make an argument that Iceman already was written as a gay character in the comics which doesn´t make any sense because if you HAVE dated women and are now interested in men, I think people used to call that bi - sexual in my day and age. So understandably the bi - sexual people are not happy that the gay have shanghaied their new break out character.

Another factor here is the movies because they are the real cash makers for Disney so they don´t care what happens in the comics as long as they get a good movie out of the deal. And if you still don´t believe that after they just flushed over fifty years of continuity down the toilet I can´t help you. So actor Shawn Ashmore was asked about this and he said he´s ready to play Iceman as gay . Which in plain english means " Yes, I like to eat and I´m not that stupid that I want to ruin my chances of being in any further Disney movies. " I mean, there´s an old german saying that whose bread you eat their song you´ll sing. And if Disney decides that Iceman is gay that´s how you play him if you want to get paid. Also for an actor who has already played that part a few times it can get boring and so he has a new challenge. Especially since they have already established that he had romantic involvements with Rogue and Kitty Pryde. I wish they had put only half as much effort into finding challenging things for Oscar winning actress Halle Berry to do as they put in finding a way to make Iceman gay.

Of course Stan Lee has also been asked what he thinks about Iceman being gay but I think the interviewer Kit Simpson Browne mistakes Stan Lee´s - let´s say carefully diplomatic - answer as actual approval.

He´s not going to say anything negative about Marvel because he doesn´t want to pee off Disney. All he´s saying is that as long as it´s a good story it´s okay with him. And I think that is as good of a closing argument as any because I think if it had been a really good story nobody would have complained. I mean we swallowed Sue Dibny being retroactivly raped and killed and Tim Drake´s father and the original Captain Boomerang biting the big one in one comic because it was such a good story. So if there was so much fuzz about Iceman being gay . . . you draw your own conclusions.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE OLD ( OR HAVE TASTE ) WHEN YOU LIKE THIS

Among the many bookmarks that have amassed over the last year are many from fellow link partner DIVERSIONS OF THE GROOVY KIND and since putting them all here would bust the size and purpose of this post I´m doing a small selection of everything I have saved for future posts.

I´m a huge Sal Buscema fan and one of his best - if not THE best - series is ROM, SPACEKNIGHT where he collaborated with the great Bill Mantlo.

Sadly Marvel doesn´t have the rights to the series anymore but who knows ? If the MASTER OF KUNG - FU omnibus books are a financial success maybe Disney will get the license back. In the meantime you can haed over to Old Groove´s blog to read A House Is Not A Home from ROM 5 ,  Dog Day Afternoon from ROM issue 6, As I lay Dying from ROM issue 7,  Deathwing from ROM 8 and The Stalker In The Night from ROM 9.

It´s a series I can´t recommend high enough that should be easily found in dollar bins especially since there are no plans to bring it to the movies.

Of course Sal Buscema did more than just ROM and you can also find Kill ! Cried The Raven ! from SUB - MARINER 26, When Wakes The Kraken from SUB - MARINER 27 and this collection of splash pages from the series on the blog as well as  and another collection of splash pages from his run on INCREDIBLE HULK with inker Joe Staton ( we will return to him later on ).

Also worth reading is a four part saga by Chris Claremont, Sal Buscema and Steve Leiola that started in MARVEL TEAM UP 82 with No Way To Treat A Lady guest starring the Black Widow and Nick Fury, continued in MARVEL TEAM UP 83 Slaughter on 10th Avenue and went on in MARVEL TEAM UP 84 Catch A Falling Hero where we added Shang Chi to the mix which finally concluded in MARVEL TEAM UP 85 with The Woman Who Never Was . I couldn´t find any reprint information but I remember reading at least part of it somewhere in a spanish or german translation.

To end the Marvel section of this part and as a call back to my post on John Romita´s birthday there´s also a post that features the complete six page SATANA story from VAMPIRE TALES 2 along with some other stuff.

I said we were going to come back to Joe Staton and he is one of the artists on THE METAL MEN from the good old times before they got human secret identities. The artist on issues 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 and 49 is Walter Simonson though and Joe Staton does the issues 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 and 56 of the series with Jim Aparo providing the covers for the last 4 issues ( Walter Simonson did the previous covers of these issues ).

Joe Staton was also the artist on A Choice of Destinies from BATMAN FAMILY 18, Gotham Town Is Burning Down ! from BATMAN FAMILY 19 and Trial By Fire from BATMAN FAMILY 20 which introduced the Huntress.

And speaking about Earth 2 bombshells her bff Power Girl was front and center in All Star Super Squad and Brainwave Blows Up ! written by Gerry Conway and art by Ric Estrada ( not to be confused with Erik " Ponch " Estrada from CHiPs ) and Wally Wood from ALL STAR COMICS 58 and 59. In most articles about how artist Wally Wood made Power Girl´s breasts bigger in each subsequent issue you will see art from these stories.

Coming from a parallel earth to the far future one of my favorite series has always been the Legion of Super - Heroes and you can read The One Shot Hero from SUPERBOY 195 which introduced Wildfire, Timber Wolf . . . . Dead Hero, Live Executioner ! from SUPERBOY 197 by Cary Bates and Dave Cockrum and The Legionnaires Who Haunted Superboy ! from SUPERBOY 206 by Cary Bates and Mike Grell on Old Groove´s blog.

Apart from the Legion Mike Grell did a long and beloved stint on the Green Lantern book ( check out The Revenge Of The Renegade from GREEN LANTERN / GREEN ARROW 91 ) but his big opus as a writer / artist was WARLORD. I have been a bit lax with continuing to put the links on my blog so here is Arena Of Death from WARLORD 2, War Gods Of Skartaris from WARLORD 3, Duel Of The Titans from WARLORD 4, The Secret Of Skartaris from WARLORD 5, Home Is A Four - Letter Word from WARLORD 6, The Iron Devil from WARLORD 7, The City In The Sky from WARLORD 8, Lair Of The Snowbeast from WARLORD 9, Tower Of Fear from WARLORD 10 ( WARLORD 11 was a reprint of Travis Morgan´s first appearance in 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL 8 ), Trilogy from WARLORD 12 and The Hunter from WARLORD 13. This is a must read for all true comic fans.

COSPLAY LINKS : THE YAYA AND THE NIGRI ( NO UGLY ONES HERE )

One thing I have the feeling I´m always preparing is my upcoming big Yaya Han post which keeps getting delayed because I always get too worked up. Still I try to find the best stuff about her in the meantime which includes animated GIFs some of which I try to make myself.

And this is what I have been trying to make the last two days. Now despite my lack of success I have found some online and since I´m not sure when I can do my Yaya Han post I want to include them so readers can check them out and don´t have to wait until I can make the post.

The DR OCTOCAT tumblr has a few animated GIFs of Yaya Han cosplaying as the Red Queen which are actually borrowed from COSPLAY SLEEP EAT PLAY where you can find another post with GIFs of Yaya Han in her incredible Dark Elf costume , DARKNESS169 has some nice Gifs of Yaya Han ( cosplaying as Carmilla ) and Jessica Nigri ( cosplaying as New 52 Supergirl ) fighting and speaking about Jessica Nigri : H. Q. Roosevelt on THE ROOSEVELTS has 18 Reasons Why Jessica Nigri Is Better In Gif Form , NERD NINJA has 14 more Jessica Nigri GIFs and there´s the obligatory FUCKYEAHJESSICANIGRI tumblr where you can find all the latest Jessica Nigri GIFs, pictures and videos you will ever need. Never miss one.

And that´s all I have time for Today. I wanted to include a few more links but I got carried away by the whole topic of gay Iceman. Which I hopefully could outbalance a bit with the GIFs of Yaya and Jessica. I hope there is something interesting for you and I hope you have a good weekend.

Since I mentioned Batman in this post and I have bookmarked more Batman videos than I can post here´s Shades Of The Bat about the evolution of his animated series. It has been split into two parts.



I also wanted to add an Elvira video but because most of them on YouTube are of a really bad quality it took me quite some time to find this one.



One of the things I also mentioned in this post is that there are other comics besides super heroes ( and thanks to the efforts of Disney I will be checking out more of these soon ) but for all those readers out there who have no idea what I´m talking about here is a video of Amy Dallen´s visit to Portland, the mysterious town where independent comics thrive.



And speaking about diversity I also wanted to post something different with my music video so I chose this clip from Alisia. I have no idea to which lucky accident I owe finding it in the first place and I couldn´t tell you the title of the song or even from which part of the world she hails. All I know is that she´s hot and has great taste in choosing her outfits.



Last but not least here is the video from which I tried to make a GIF for the last two days without having any success. If somebody can do one of Yaya Han´s opening bit as Chun Li for me it would be greatly appreciated.



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