tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8302487761596456689.post8275867157523925600..comments2024-03-27T11:04:31.390-04:00Comments on From the Sorcerer's Skull: Wednesday Comics: DC, February 1980 (part 1)Treyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04647628467658839351noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8302487761596456689.post-10312034395223001162021-03-03T20:11:41.402-05:002021-03-03T20:11:41.402-05:00I’ve only recently begun to connect the similariti...I’ve only recently begun to connect the similarities between RT and Vision now that I’ve been watching Marvel’s WandaVision shows. Never read much Vision (or Avengers) back in the day, but I had a few comics with Tornado. My daughter even saw an old RT comic recently and said “oh, look: Vision!”<br /><br />We’re there comics in 1880? Wow!JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8302487761596456689.post-82423208110069776482021-03-03T11:51:28.027-05:002021-03-03T11:51:28.027-05:00Oh, I wouldn't be at all surprised if DC calle...Oh, I wouldn't be at all surprised if DC called them ostriches in Wonder Woman. Comics in that era weren't exactly noted for rigorous scientific accuracy - always so important when deciding what species of robotic bird to use in a story about a South American cattleman-become-roboticist-supervillain. :)<br /><br />Red Tornado and Vision make me wonder if maybe a few of the staffers from each company were sharing a table for lunch at some restaurant sometime in 1968 and a general concept just kind of cross-pollinated. I seem to recall that happening other times if the apocrypha is to be believed.<br /><br />FWIW, I don't recall DC becoming less goofy as the Eighties went by, perhaps peaking in the Crisis reboot - or just before it, depending on how seriously you take the event. Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8302487761596456689.post-56899470544060337492021-03-03T09:01:58.202-05:002021-03-03T09:01:58.202-05:00Well, the 80s were a whole decade, and these comic...Well, the 80s were a whole decade, and these comics were actually published in 1979. After two months worth of titles, I am fairly confident this is exactly how goofy DC was at the tail-end of '79.<br /><br />Could be rheas, you're right. I didn't actually re-read the issue for this since I had read it a few months ago. I just flipped through the pages and saw the birds.<br /><br />Yeah, I'm aware of the racial slur "spook," but I don't know that's what tanked him, given (as you point out) that would have been more of an issue in the 80s. Today I would say "intelligence agency operative" is the context I hear the term used the most these days, but it's pretty rare in any context. Still, the unfortunate associations are certainly enough to keep him in a low profile.<br /><br />I feel like Red Tornado and Vision are just a coincidence given how close they were temporally. As I alluded to in the post, I do feel like this facet of RT characterization was borrowed from the Vision. The title of the issue even echoes "Can An Android Cry?"Treyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04647628467658839351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8302487761596456689.post-34440066829304931672021-03-03T08:44:17.107-05:002021-03-03T08:44:17.107-05:00Going by the descriptions this crop seems goofier ...Going by the descriptions this crop seems goofier than average even for DC in 1980, which is saying something. A few specific thoughts:<br /><br />Surely those were rheas (which are native to South America) in Wonder Woman rather than ostriches (which are found in Africa). I mean, if you're going to make robotic ratites in the first place you don't want them to look out of place. That would be silly.<br /><br />Red Tornado getting angsty about not being human always reminds me of Vison at Marvel, or maybe vice-versa. It is a very strange coincidence that two different red-skinned android characters both appeared for the first time in 1968. Hard to be sure who was copycatting who.<br /><br />I think we're going have to agree to disagree on Zatanna's costumes there. I prefer the fishnets, and the one here always makes me think she's Lois with yet another set of temporary superpowers and a costume to match.<br /><br />I'm guessing the Spook isn't going to be seeing much page time any more, given the word's usage as a racial slur - which was, if anything, more prevalent in 1980 than it is today. The origins of its use as a slur are interesting in an awful way. Only dates back to WW2 and the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen, so a relatively recent piece of bigotry. Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.com