First off, thanks to Anj of Supergirl Comic Box Commentary for commemorating the resurrection of the Martian Manhunter with a synopsis/review of Adventure Comics #450. Of it, I commented...
...Your synopsis is much better than the actual comics story.
Since you gave Denny O'Neil the benefit of the doubt (not the way I'd go before the '80s, at least,) what was a flimsy excuse for a string a fight/team-ups takes on a mysterious, mise-en-scène quality. From the perspective of a Supergirl fan, the story's heroine is bright, empathetic, employs deductive reasoning, and more than hold her own in a fight. As a Martian Manhunter fan, this was the story where my hero is a hyper-reactive idiot manipulated into a bunch of stupid, near-suicidal/homicidal punch-outs with fellow good guys, who gets schooled by the Maid of Might.
So do read Anj's take on the story here, and if you'd like to compare, my brief take is here.
Meanwhile, I'm exhausted tonight, so I have nothing of real value to offer. I've struggled with all my blogging since the collapse on my end of the still unfinished DC Challenge crossover. That saw my once daily soft R-rated review/miscellanea blog ...nurgh... devolve into a "whatever, whenever" affair. The Atom: Mighty Mite blog I'd hoped to launch out of the event continues limp along with roughly weekly posting to fewer readers since its inception than I get here in a day. With regard to my efforts, the only blog to come out ahead on this thing was Justice League Detroit, which I learned after finally installing a hit counter gets a surprising amount of page views and followers for a place I only created and treated as an afterthought. It's gone from a few posts a month to several a week, and I'm actually getting decent material like semi-regular Batman story synopsizes, lengthy behind-the-scenes stuff like Amazing Heroes Preview Specials: Aquaman (1985-1986), and regular art postings like Zatanna Saturday. I sincerely expect to continuing making improvements there (I've got a ton of Vixen and Elongated Man material to sit down and write, for instance,) so I take some comfort in that bit of progress.
I've also been really happy with the Idol-Head of late. I never wanted my own club/cult, but I've got a steady group of followers and commentators who leave their decidedly worthwhile thoughts on most every post. I may not have time to reply to everyone, but part of the reason I moderate all comments is to insure I read every word ya'll write (plus the delay in approval keeps the trolling riff-raff out and insures folks the chance to consider their words well.) I really appreciate everyone here and am proud the blog has lured such a quality bunch into the fold.
As for the future of my blogging, I'm still working that out. Had the Martian Manhunter stayed dead, I would have jumped from the World War III coverage to Salvation Run to Requiem, but now I think we'll take a break this month, and do a more thorough look at every One Year Later story beginning in April. I also thought I'd use 2010 to look at the worst Martian Manhunter stories ever, but in light of his resurrection, that would seem to defeat the purpose of his return. Instead, we'll continue on our path this month to try to better define who the Martian Manhunter is, what his powers are, who his friends and foes are, and where he should go from here. I've also got a ton of partially finished material and delayed projects I'll strive to complete this year. For instance, I may not have the time or energy to complete the series of creator biographies in my queue (Jack Schiff, Mort Weisinger, Joe Certa, etc.) but I think I can cull a "Who Created the Martian Manhunter" piece out of that material this weekend. Long overdue Vile Menagerie entries will blamed well get done, and I'll try to better organize and present site contents as a whole. I haven't forgotten the results of the various polls I ran to gauge your opinions in 2009, and I welcome comments and requests for the remaining year. As for my other blogs, ...nurgh... remains in a limbo of unrealized intentions for the foreseeable future, but I'm going to really bare down on the Atom in coming weeks to get that joint closer to something I can enjoy.
Anyhow, there's where we are. Better work tomorrow...
5 comments:
When I saw "State of the Blog" in the post title I was a little worried thinking something bad was happening. Whew.
"I also thought I'd use 2010 to look at the worst Martian Manhunter stories ever" I actually think that could be interesting/fun/cathartic, but I see how it could give new readers the wrong idea about the Alien Atlas. Maybe sometime in the future you'll revisit that idea?
"we'll continue on our path this month to try to better define who the Martian Manhunter is, what his powers are, who his friends and foes are, and where he should go from here." Who-hoo! I've been waiting to hear your thoughts on this and to compare notes from my own meager contributions towards defining the Martian Manhunter.
I never wanted my own club/cult, but I've got a steady group of followers and commentators who leave their decidedly worthwhile thoughts on most every post." Just so you know, every Tuesday the Cult of Diabolu meets in the rec room of the nearest Elks Lodge and sacrifices a goat in your honor. I'm pretty psyched for next week 'cause it's Bingo Night and it's my turn to pull the numbers.
"but I'm going to really bare down on the Atom in coming weeks to get that joint closer to something I can enjoy." Looking forward to that, too. I was even hoping you walked away with some Atom-themed convention sketches...
Thanks for the hard work and regular updates, Frank. I always enjoy reading up on J'onn villains that I never knew about and hope some of them will make a resurgence in J'onn's life during/after Brightest Day.
I've also started checking out the JLD blog--wonderful!--and the Atom blog, which I hope you do get a chance to update more often. They're all great.
Yeah, I've got to get the Atom blog moving at a faster clip. I picked up a few more Atom comics at the show, but I was never exactly hurting for books or toys related to the Mighty Mite. I think a combination of not feeling it's "my" blog, getting sidetracked by b.s., the low attendance, and just plain focusing my energies on other blogs has to date crippled the poor old Ray Palmer shrine. I'll have to do better.
Ryan, I'm happy to hear you're down with the JLD. I'm going to try building up a nice batch of material there this weekend.
Liss, I truly love blogging, so it would take something catastrophic to make me stop. I've occasionally considered take this blog down from seven days a week, but there's just too much I still haven't covered for me to take that notion seriously. One of my promises from last year was to throw out more Ostrander/Mandrake coverage, which would serve as a solid "worst of" for a while. And remember, butcher those animals according to kashrut, or the law decrees I launch a month devoted to Bloodwynd.
I really like Idol Head, FWIW.
It's worth plenty, Rob.
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