Komiks get Kulture

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Inspired by talk on the SHIPping thread abt some new DC bs this week that ends w/ a Shakespeare quote - other examples pl of acquired/undeserved or even effective/surprising high cultural borrowing/tributing in good old dopey old mainstream superhero comics - eg roy thomas quoting Ozymandius for the Vision's origin, superheroes meeting eg charles dickens etc

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Thursday, 29 June 2006 19:17 (nineteen years ago)

John Byrne's Next Men began every issue w/ a quote from some piece of literature that, without failing (IIRC), was written prior to the 18th century.

Also: the Avengers once met David Letterman.

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 29 June 2006 19:20 (nineteen years ago)

Carl Sandburg teamed up with Batman in Brave & the Bold #132!

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 29 June 2006 19:22 (nineteen years ago)

Wonder Woman namechecks Sappho all the time! Why the hell haven't Greek Poetry departments taken Themiscyra by siege?!

― Richard Baez (Johnny Logic), Thursday, 29 June 2006 19:30 (nineteen years ago)

I would plotz if Hercules exclaimed "Hemmoraging Homer!" or "Obsequious Ovid!" while getting pummeled by Thor. I would also plotz if Hercules just used the word "obsequious."

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 29 June 2006 19:34 (nineteen years ago)

I got a kick out of the quotes in Simone's Atom story. It works in a short piece like that, and I liked the way it went from Einstein to Magnus (cuz really, compared to ACTUAL SENTIENT ROBOTS, the mere theory of relativity is no big whoop).

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 29 June 2006 19:39 (nineteen years ago)

Ben Grimm: "Shattering Shylocks!"

― Richard Baez (Johnny Logic), Thursday, 29 June 2006 19:42 (nineteen years ago)

Blue Beetle making casual Gogol/Melville references on JLI missions.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 29 June 2006 19:47 (nineteen years ago)

roy thomas again - tom wolfe in the incredible hulk!

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Thursday, 29 June 2006 19:49 (nineteen years ago)

guess league of xxxxtraordinary gents don't count huh?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 29 June 2006 20:03 (nineteen years ago)

i guess a lot of the loxg sources/texts are venerated - out of copyright (like john byrne's dictionary of quotations raiding that david mentions) - but not actually terribly readable or even 'respected' anymore - eg Allan Quatermain - i almost belongs to the anti-category - the pop culture desire to 'bring down' the snooty and superior, show that the emperor has no clothes etc - eg harvey kurtzman's entire career!

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Thursday, 29 June 2006 20:11 (nineteen years ago)

Tom Wolfe was also in the New Year's '69 issue of Dr. Strange, again written by Roy Thomas, I believe.

― barefoot manthing (Garrett Martin), Thursday, 29 June 2006 20:15 (nineteen years ago)

Omg the Sandman to thread whatf.

― sLeeeter Kinney (Leee), Thursday, 29 June 2006 20:55 (nineteen years ago)

Also Cerebus.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Thursday, 29 June 2006 22:39 (nineteen years ago)

More effectively (at least moreso than Sandman): Hellboy.

― sLeeeter Kinney (Leee), Thursday, 29 June 2006 22:40 (nineteen years ago)

Shade met Hemingway and Joyce.

― Amadeo (Amadeo G.), Thursday, 29 June 2006 23:33 (nineteen years ago)

Shade met Hemingway and Joyce.

IT'S A FACT: Within any given five issues of a series Peter Milligan is writing, Joyce will get at least one mention.

ALSO: Harold Bloom gets a cameo in the second or third issue of Milligan's X-Force.

― Richard Baez (Johnny Logic), Thursday, 29 June 2006 23:58 (nineteen years ago)

Not so much a cameo as a mention, if I'm not mistaken.

― sLeeeter Kinney (Leee), Friday, 30 June 2006 00:49 (nineteen years ago)

Didn't Milligan write that Tank Girl mini loosely based on Ulysses? My memory's crap, it was either him or Garth Ennis.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Friday, 30 June 2006 00:57 (nineteen years ago)

Dr Strange and Clea went back in time 200 years and she got plooked by Ben Franklin!

― I will commence to drop a knowledge bomb. (Rock Hardy), Friday, 30 June 2006 01:29 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, Milligan wrote Tank Girl: The Odyssey (because Alan Martin was so fucked off with the movie that he couldn't even be arsed taking the piss).

― kit brash (kit brash), Friday, 30 June 2006 03:20 (nineteen years ago)

Not so much a cameo as a mention, if I'm not mistaken.

Looking at my trade, I see you're right - but I maintain that DC should have put out a Deadman/Harold Bloom mini that tied into Infinite Crisis.

― Richard Baez (Johnny Logic), Friday, 30 June 2006 03:44 (nineteen years ago)

I remember highbrow-yet-obvious quotes being a pretty common thing with Marvel comics in the 90's. The most laughable example was this Punisher story about some Limbaughesque radio host: his radio station gets picketed by lots of angry gay/feminist/environmentalist protesters, some of whom I guess wish actual bodily harm on him or something (tho I don't think the story made that very explicit), so the Punisher shows up and kills them all. Cue everyone's fave not-actually-by-Voltaire quote: "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it." Uhm, yeah.

Nietzsche's abyss thing got a whole lotta play too of course, wasn't it in the Infinity Gauntlet skylarkings?

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Saturday, 1 July 2006 23:08 (nineteen years ago)

Speaking of Kulture, here's a link to yesterday's Graun essay on Tintin, which manages to include references Rabelais (groan), Faulkner (why?) and Barthes's theory of "proairetic code" (shoots self in mouth). BA Culture Studies a-gogo!

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Sunday, 2 July 2006 10:55 (nineteen years ago)

It functions as great literature, using all the tools of great literature, and should be studied for people interested in learning how great literature works, but we can't call it great literature, because then it's far more problematic for me to get a book deal. My thesis that it is great literature that is not great literature and that this is really fascinating, that is what's going to land me the book deal!

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 2 July 2006 14:03 (nineteen years ago)

yea that tintin extract was laughably bad, casuistry nails it

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Sunday, 2 July 2006 19:56 (nineteen years ago)

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