{"id":1016,"date":"2006-07-03T07:21:02","date_gmt":"2006-07-03T12:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/i-was-a-marvel-zombie\/"},"modified":"2006-07-03T07:32:28","modified_gmt":"2006-07-03T12:32:28","slug":"i-was-a-marvel-zombie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/i-was-a-marvel-zombie","title":{"rendered":"I Was a Marvel Zombie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fun article at the Washington Post<\/em> on the differences between Marvel & DC comics<\/a>. I was a Marvel geek throughout my youth, as I found the DC books to be way too square.<\/p>\n

DC, back then: It’s your kid brother, wacked out on Pop-Tarts, still in his underpants at 10 a.m., insisting on “Super Friends” over “Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space.” Thinks he’s Batman at night, thinks he’s Aquaman in the tub. It’s make-believe, make-believe, make-believe. A hot dog is not a death ray, now sit down and eat. And who used all of the red and orange crayons? And why is Robin always in here naked with my Barbies?<\/p>\n

Marvel, back then: It’s your big sister’s boyfriend, already 18 and “kind of different, but nice,” your mother observes, although he rides a motorcycle with no helmet. He draws an Incredible Hulk for you on a sheet of paper, and that’s it, you’re hooked, he’s a god. From him you learn about Ghost Rider and Conan the Barbarian and Silver Surfer. He listens to Rush.<\/p>\n

DC, back then: Shlockarific television! “Batman” in the ’60s (Ka-pow! Wham!), “The New Adventures of Wonder Woman” in the ’70s. The toys, the cartoons, the read-along storybook LPs.<\/p>\n

Marvel, back then: Put out a comic book starring the rock band Kiss.<\/p>\n

DC: “Sgt. Rock.”<\/p>\n

Marvel: “Doctor Strange.”<\/p>\n

But look at DC now: It has become a retreat for grown-ups who’ve had it with the Marvel characters’ endless angst. When you weary of 22-year-old mutants, Batman can seem comfortably adult. Superman feels right. Green Lantern is a terribly interesting idea, a meditation on burden. Wonder Woman and Aquaman are filled with what seems like literature and history.<\/p>\n

And look at Marvel now: After decades of fawning over bad-boy Wolverine, everyone started paying a lot more attention to Captain America. He kind of rocks, in a way you never knew, and so does Iron Man. For years nobody except total Marvelheads read “Iron Man.” The World Trade Center collapsed and Marvel took it personally, bub, and started drawing firefighters and cops more. Started drawing flags and sunsets. Had a moment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All hail Tom Spurgeon<\/a> for linking to this.<\/p>\n

Tom also posted a link about the American Library Association’s annual meeting<\/a>, which was the first major event to be held in New Orleans since the flood. The report is written by a comics\/pop culture site<\/a>, but the content isn’t geek-specific.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fun article at the Washington Post on the differences between Marvel & DC comics. I was a Marvel geek throughout my youth, as I found the DC books to be way too square. DC, back then: It’s your kid brother, wacked out on Pop-Tarts, still in his underpants at 10 a.m., insisting on “Super Friends” … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “I Was a Marvel Zombie”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,8,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-literature","category-new-orleans","category-urban-issues"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-go","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7405,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-the-show-must-go-on","url_meta":{"origin":1016,"position":0},"title":"Podcast: The Show Must Go On","author":"Gil","date":"October 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories \u2013 season 3 episode 24 - The Show Must Go On \"We have to decide what sort of comics industry we want before we decide what sort of books we're going to work on.\" Roger Langridge\u00a0has\u00a0become the best all-ages cartoonist in the business, despite (or because of) starting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic books & strips"","block_context":{"text":"Comic books & strips","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&l=as2&o=1&a=1560972955","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5167,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/happy-chipday","url_meta":{"origin":1016,"position":1},"title":"Happy Chipday","author":"Gil","date":"April 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"April may or may not be the cruellest month, but at least it kicks off with the birthday of my pal Chip Delany! 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