RIP Marty Pasko

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It's a sad day for comics and media fans, as we learn that Marty Pasko has died, of natural casues, aged just 65.

Starting out, as happened back in the day, as one of the more prolific letter writers to comics, he started a fanzine when those were a new thing, and moved on to a sort of intern position with DC in the early 70's, where he worked for Julie Schwartz

His output as a writer, and editor, was prolific (comics.org lists hundreds of stories and articles), and he worked on fltitles like Justice League of America, Doctor Fate, Metal Men and Wonder Woman (in the period just after she lost the mod street clothes look, and returned to her classic costume (He answers some questions about the experience (and the cross section of comics and media and inherent problems over the years) here, in his typically frank manner. though it ends with a comment which is terribly sad in light of today's news)

He is, though, perhaps best known for his prodigious output on Superman titles, where he set the tone for much of the 70's.

He also wrote an often, and unfairly, overlooked run on Swamp Thing, just before Alan Moore took over, which is going to overshadow pretty much everything that came before it I guess.

He also wrote perhaps the greatest Batman movie ever, "The Mask of the Phantasm", and if that had been all he'd achieved he would still be lauded for it, but he really did contribute so many stories over such a long period of time and that should not be forgotten either.

Mark Evanier posts an obituary here, and Bleeding Cool has a list of commemorative comments from pro's about him here,

Mod Post: Off-Topic Tuesday

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In the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like. Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.

Corona virus continues to dominate pretty much everything of course.

France lifted some of it's restrictions as of yesterday, so you no longer need a certificate to be outdoors.

Germany has seen a slight increase in cases as restrictions have been lifted.

In the UK, Boris Johnson managed to inspire confidence in pretty much nobody with his waffling explanation of how things might open up again (or might not, or might, if you don't use public transport, or can't work from home, unless you can....), to the extent that the devolved Assemblies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (all of which have pretty much stayed in tune do far) all (socially) distanced themselves from his plans, which included a change of focus from "Save Lives" to "Stay Alert" which, when you're dealing with a virus, is a pretty weird thing to focus on. We shall see how this pans out, but it's unlikely to be pretty.

Speaking of not pretty, as for the US, well, if you live there, you know what's happening better than I do, and if you don't, well you maybe don't want to know. It is perhaps summarised by the statement that the 9th of May saw more cases of Covid-19 being confirmed inside the White House than within the entire country of New Zealand.

The BBC has posted instructions on how to make a number of different masks which some might find handy.

The world mourned the passing of Little Richard at the age of 87. He may be best known for the likes of "Tutti-Frutti" and "Good Golly Miss Molly", but his incredible vocals, limitless energy and sheer STYLE set him apart for seven decades, and it seems fair to say there has not been a single rock star of note since then who wouldn't freely admit to owing him an incredible debt; The Roling Stones, The Beatles, Elton John, David Bowie all counted him as influences.

That being said, one has to acknowledge his later anti-LGBTQA+ statements, stemming one suspects from his complicated relationship with his own identity and his later religious beliefs, which conflicted with his earlier queerness (Such as having spent time as a drag queen in his youth, or the fact Tutti-Frutti's original lyrics, which Richards wrote, were about gay sex, or describing himself as "omnisexual" for a while, though he later rejected the term). People are messy and complicated, even the geniuses.

Today is International Nurses Day (and the 200th Anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth) and especially at the moment, that seems like a thing to celebrate and be INCREDIBLY grateful for! So a big "Thank You!" to any nurses or carers in the community!

"The Hollow" had it's second season released on Netflix. I enjoyed the first one, the second one had some interesting ideas but ended up not quite as satisfying for reasons I can't elaborate on without spoiling it. I will give it credit for confirming that one of the three main characters as being gay, and a second has gay parents, without it being a big deal in either case.

In terms of gayness in animation on Netflix though, nothing can quite compare with She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the fifth and final season of which will be being released this week. A new clip just dropped. Noelle Stevenson confirmed that they have always known how many episodes they woudl have to tell their story, so there will be no rushed wrap-ups or the the like. A genuine shame that this will be the last though

My Little Pony's crossover madness continues.. with annoucements of a Dungeons and Dragons set with Wizard, Druid, Barbarian, Rogue and Bard (not an Ogres and Oubliette's set, that seems a shame) and a Ghostbusters release featuring a pony named Plasmane

For a change I tried a Torchwood release from Big Finish, but one without most of the TV characters, who I never remotely liked. This is set before the fall of Torchwood One, and features Yvonne Hartman (Tracy Ann Oberman returning to her TV role) and Ianto Jones. It does very nicely highlight how terrific and awful a character Yvonne Hartman was and how much of a shame it was we didn't see more of her as she'd have been a terrific recurring baddie; charming, friendly, funny and witty, someone with connections everywhere, who can wheedle a favour of you and who knows everything about your life and that, given that she is also driven, arrogant, and redefines "ruthlessly cold blooded", should worry the hell out of you. But at the same time, there would be situations were you'd probably want someone like that fighting on your side. however guilty such a thought might make you feel. 

New Mutants D&D: Chapter 4: Cave of Bones

[iamrman]

This is the last chapter of my New Mutants Dungeons and Dragon story for now. I am hoping to continue with it soon.

( Read more... )