Friday, January 13, 2017

Paul Ryan Flash Friday : Heart and Souls

Once again I´m late with the FLASH FRIDAY but this time I have a good excuse, I mean reason. In fact there are various good reasons for this.


The first and most important reason was to make this post possible. You see, up to THE FLASH 128, the issue I posted last week, I had all issues prepared in advance. Which is one of the reasons why the FLASH FRIDAY posts - at least for a while - were the only posts that came out regularly.

The only problem had been the special posts which interrupted the series and finding the time to write the posts. So I went to the website where I found the other issues but I could not get issue 128 of THE FLASH there.

What to do ? Now some people might say that now that the original Wally West Flash has returned in the DC REBIRTH universe there is no more need for these FLASH FRIDAY posts. Which is only partially true. Yes, one of my crazy ideas when I started this series was that if enough people got on the Wally West is the best Flash ever bandwagon that could generate enough buzz on the internet for DC to realize what a great character they are wasting. I am not sure if I really made a difference here. But the thing is that I also wanted to make people aware of the great run Wally West as the Flash had - the stories, the artwork, the character, the world building.


Now some might argue that too has become obsolete as the success of the tv series has finally prompted DC to reprint more Flash material which includes the FLASH run by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar and a separate line for Mark Waid´s run. Which means that I may finally be able to close one of the gaps in my comic collection - FLASH issue 70 - in May if only in trade form. Issue 1 is included in the THE FLASH - A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS hardcover which I initially bought as a birthday present for my brother ( but he told me he has no interest in the character ) so I don´t know if I will still be on the lookout for the issue in single form. Anyway, while together with the SHOWCASE editions and the FLASH BY GEOFF JOHNS omnibus books this might now be the time that most of the FLASH lore is available in collected editions I do not feel that my work is done.


Last but not least one of the reasons for the series was to make people aware of Paul Ryan´s work so I will at least try to continue until I have posted all of his issues of THE FLASH. After that I don´t know. Maybe I will continue in numeric order or start again with number 1. As for Paul Ryan, there is that epic FANTASTIC FOUR run where I have only started to show the tip of the iceberg. Even before Paul Ryan passed away I had started to collect material for a DEATH IN COMICS : THE DEATH OF REED RICHARDS post and although I have not written the post yet because it is macabre it would be sad to let all that work go to waste. And it would be a way to keep featuring one of my favorite artists and prove not all comics that came out in the 90s were as bad as their reputation at the same time.


Anyway, now that my resolve to continue with the FLASH issues by Paul Ryan had been invigorated the question was what to do ? I could use the meager material I had on the rest of the issues to write up a summary - or a few of them. But so far I have always posted entire issues and I wanted to continue in that vein. To make a long story short ( or at least shorter ), I found another source for the issue and hopefully it will be smooth sailings from now on even if I have to reduce each page to post them.

Okay, that was the first reason why this post is late. The second one has to do with superstition so I don´t know if all my readers will agree on the validity of it. When I had finally finished preparing all the pages and stuff and bells and whistles I realized that it was already very late. Now I have been trying to go to bed earlier and also get up earlier and do more work during the day - and so far failing miserably at that - so that was another argument to wait one day with the post. As was that I would be posting on Friday, the 13th. Now I´m not sure if I really am that superstitious or cautious just in case but I decided it would be best not to tempt fate.

And finally reason number three is that I wanted to make some animated GIFs for the celebrity birthday section which was supposed to reduce the babe factor on the blog ( I am conscientious that people have commented that I need to dial things down in that regards ) but which - like always - has taken up more time than anticipated. But I think it was worth it. In any case, now I have finished with the preparations, I got all my ducks lined up, from all the FLASH pages of this issue to the celebrity birthdays and the corresponding animated GIFs and even all the videos. If nothing unexpected comes up at the last minute all I have to do is post the thing.


Now this is part two of Hell to Pay and you might go back to last weeks post and read that first if you have missed it. This story not only has Jay Garrick, my favorite second world war speedster, and the complete JLA with Zapp ! Superman and Kyle Rayner but also the Rogues ( of whom you might have seen the redneck version of Captain Boomerang in the Suicide Squad movie ) who have turned into demons ( I think ) after the fallout of the UNDERWORLD UNLEASHED crossover event. Yep, Flash´s Rogues kicked the bucket in that one but you just can´t keep a good villain down. Neron was ultimately punked by the Trickster and couldn´t get the pure soul he was after but he always has a plan b and now he has set his sights on the scarlet speedster. But enough recap, let´s follow the story in progress. 


So there you have it : Joe Quesada totally swiped the idea for BRAND NEW DAY from Mark Waid. Although he totally botched the story since he used it to undo 25 years of spider continuity. If you want to see how this kind of dilemma gets solved more elegantly by a good writer you will have to wait until our next FLASH FRIDAY because I don´t want to spoil things.

What I always found a bit strange is the lengths to which Joe Quesada went to eradicate every positive developments had happened in Peter Parker´s life going as far as bringing a possible future offspring of Peter and Mary Jane into the story only to tell people that this would not be happening in the future. Without commenting on the offspring Peter and Mary Jane already had in the present. Yes, most people forgot about it but it happened during the Clone Saga : they had a girl which was switched with a dead fetus and they were told that it was stillborn. Which is the story of Mayday Parker a.k.a. Spider - Girl. It seems everyone but me has totally forgotten this and if I could write one Spider - Man story that was what I would write. There would be a mysterious vigilante with spider powers and Peter would find out that this is his daughter. Although after the whole Marvel universe was destroyed in SECRET WARS III and then recreated by the Silver Surfer - and the whole Spider - Verse mischmasch - I don´t know if there still is a 616 Spider - Girl out there. Or any Spider - Girl. Or any trace of the 616 universe. Thank God the ALL - NEW, ALL - DIFFERENT Disney NOW universe has made things so much easier for us.

In any case, if you haven´t done so already your assignment is to go to your local comic shop or the internet and get EVERY issue you can of the one, true, MC2 Spider - Girl. This has my utmost recommendation !


Today´s birthday roll starts with Baywatch babes Nicole Eggert who turns 45 and Traci Bingham who turns 49. As longtime readers of this blog know I have done numerous re - posts of my Traci Bingham post and I thought this year I would just mention it in this post and then link to last year´s post .


Which would have worked if I hadn´t made new GIFs of Traci Bingham. Because after going over the old Traci Bingham posts I realized that not only would now my best GIFs of her not be on any of her posts the GIFs of all the other hot Baywatch babes were scattered all over the blog. So to make things easier I made a new post which naturally got completely out of hand and you can find it here . The good news is that I succeeded in not having so much stuff about Traci Bingham and Baywatch on this post. The bad news is that because of the new GIFs this post was delayed and the content of hot babes has not diminished on the blog. Aw, who cares ? I already said that I might make a new one if something tickled my fancy.

Originally I wanted to add the second Baywatch Special of Family Feud but I couldn´t find it for the life of me. Maybe I already posted it but after going through my bookmark list five times the point is moot. Now with every Traci Bingham re - post I come back to the subject of John Byrne´s X - Men run which after a few days prompts another X - Men post. Maybe this year I can finally find the time to do DEATH IN COMICS : THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION AND DEATH OF JEAN GREY a.k.a. The Dark Phoenix Saga. Which a lot of people think they know but they don´t. And since the Traci Bingham post is so packed I don´t want to add another video : 9 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About The X - Men which has in part to do with comics being complicated but also with people getting their knowledge from movies and cartoons instead of reading the comic books.



But even without Nicole Eggert and Traci Bingham we have no shortage of bikini clad beachbodies as Michael Worth celebrates his 52nd birthday who starred in a few martial arts movies but who is most famous for starring in the almost ( but not quite ) Andy Sidaris like tv series Acapulco H.E.A.T. 


Although not to slight Michael Worth but he was not the main reason for me to watch the series. And I´m not talking about Fabio here either.


Especially playmate Alison Armitage made me watch more episodes than was healthy and I never understood why she didn´t get more screen time than Catherine Oxenberg. I mean, the producers had to pay her anyway and to just have her in a few short bits in most of the episodes must have been a waste of money. Maybe I am naiive but to me that sounds like you got two weapons - a pointed stick and a gun - and always use the stick. If it was me after a few times I´d say f - word the stick and go for the gun right away. But that is probably one of the things that are done because they have always been done that way and therefore nobody questions.


Because of that it was extremely difficult to find an episode with Alison Armitage doing more than just a short appearance ( I can´t believe how many episodes of Acapulco H.E.A.T. are on YouTube - which probaly won´t last very long ) and also with Michael Worth getting some exposure.



We are staying with 90s tv series but we get from the lower level to the top with Julia Louis Dreyfus who turns 56. To Today´s audiences she´s best known as Vice President Selina Meyer on the comedy show Veep but I saw her first as the funny and sexy Elaine Bennet on cult show Seinfeld.


Even though it was not shown to the general public in Germany ( they always aired it when most people were asleep ) I managed to catch a few with Elaine´s best scenes. Seinfeld has been in amazon´s bargain section a few times now but as always I didn´t have the money to spend.


So far I haven´t seen an episode of Veep which also is a frequent guest in amazon´s 3 tv seasons on DVD for only 25 Euros bargain deals section.



Michael Worth is also the connection to our next birthday since he was in an episode of The John Laroquette Show. Which brings us to Richard Moll who celebrates his 74th birthday has starred in The Flintstones, Jingle All The Way but is best known for playing Nostradamus " Bull " Shannon on Night Court alongside John Laroquette and 80s Power Girl Markie Post .


Now usually I don´t like to post two similar videos in one post and we already have a complete episode from a tv series but as I could not find an episode of Night Court I could not pass up the chance to post another episode of The Fall Guy. This is one of the episodes I vividly remember because Markie´s character Terri Michaels is constantly interrupted by Colt while trying to make out with a guy. Anyway, I also count this as the music video as the story takes place in Nashville and we get so see a few country star perform. As does Colt when he loses a bet with Howie and has to perform his ballad of the unknown stunt man before an audience. So for everyone who wanted to know who wrote the title song : Howie did it.



As always we end the post with a Flash video and as there are less and less left Today´s video is about the alternate versions of the Scarlet Speedster.



New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN : top ten posts / more posts of interest / best of the best


When millionaire industrialist Tony Stark, inventor extraordinaire, discards the solar charged steel - mesh armor of Iron Man he becomes one of a million alcoholics who refuse to admit their weakness ... the tragic Tony Stark.

No comments: