After a bit of an aimless feeling with the Malibu threads (mostly) over and done with I have no accumulated a few ideas for more stuff to talk about. There's a pretty decent variety of topics, everything from publisher deep dives to individual creator and character tributes. (1/)
I'd love to hear what you'd like me to talk about. I can't promise I will be able to do so, especially on topics that I'm very unfamiliar myself, but I'd love to see any and all suggestions for stuff, since a few threads I did only existed because of requests.
Seriously thank you so much for following me. I can't stress enough how much it means for me that people like to read what I put out there. Diving into less explored areas of comics (or anything) is something I feel you can never see too much of.
Any feedback at all is useful, of course!
And yes the final Malibu post is ready to go, covering a couple of imprints I skipped last time. Don't worry, it's coming.
Thanks again for reading!
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For our second obscure deep dive today I want to talk about something near and dear to my heart, a title most of you have not heard of but one I cannot help but love. This will be a thread focused on a single comic, a single canon. This is a thread about... WARP!
MAJOR DISCLAIMER:
This thread more than any I have done so far will deal with mature themes and EXPLICIT sexuality. Please do not read this with your kids or if you are underaged or feel like this might squick you. Beyond this point, there be mature content.
The story of WARP! has many beginnings.
This is one of them, the Marvel comics of Steve Ditko, especially Doctor Strange.
Good day. Today instead of one enormous thread I will be doing two smaller threads, the first of which being the promised Malibu addendum covering the "missing" comics I didn't cover previously.
First, the much-requested Bravura imprint. I will not go into each of these titles very far because I think they're all good to excellent and well worth seeking out and reading, but let's talk about it quickly.
Bravura began in 1994 with the Ultraverse and the Protectors already in full swing and consisted of entirely creator-owned titles, much like Image. One of them was a pre-existing popular comic in the space opera Dreadstar here done by Peter David and Ernie Colon.
Alright, it's time we go back once more to the tumultuous 90s and finally witness the fate of Malibu Comics.
It's time for the one most of you were waiting for.
Time for the Ultraverse.
The usual disclaimer: Sensitive topics will be discussed and this thread will especially touch on some creators who have done very bad things. There's simply no way to skirt around them in the case of the Ultraverse, so please be careful.
Last time we explored how Malibu reached unprecedented success through their role as distributor of Image comics in 1992 and how the company tried to prepare themselves for when Image became truly independent by creating their own superhero setting with the Protectors.
I'm not normally a movie news guy, but I watched Shang-Chi (And the Legend of the Ten Rings) on the always reliable advice of my good friend @TalkinLadyShiva and I want to share my thoughts below.
SPOILERS abound.
Overall? Great movie. I enjoyed it very much. Loved the tone, it's a movie that takes itself seriously with excellent casting and great performances.
The mythos was built up well and I think all the changes made from the comic version were valid. I was never a huge fan of some of the Master of Kung-Fu elements so this works for me. The great Tony Leung is a well-rounded, human antagonist (but not really a villain)
Let's continue our journey through the many, MANY titles of Malibu comics with part two.
This time! The superheroes are here! Genesis! And the US comics market changes forever as we go back in time to 1992...
First off let me start with this: In the previous thread I received some INVALUABLE corrections on the ins and outs of early Malibu from people who WERE THERE, so a huge thanks to all of you including David Lawrence, Roland Mann and many others!
I have further subdivided the remainder of these threads because my original write-up of the years 1992-1994 was unreadable gibberish. Instead I will cover one side of Malibu's publishing at once, with nods to what else was going on at the same time. hopefully it will read better
Alright everyone the time has finally come. I've put this off for so long because of reasons I will soon get into but now it's time for us to talk about Malibu Comics.
WARNING: This thread will contain discussion of sexual violence, theft, racism and other sensitive topics.
Why did I put off this retrospective? Many reasons.
Several of the people involved in the history of Malibu are very sordid or have very troubled histories.
The publishing history is a tangled mess.
And other things!
But now, strap in as we dive into the history of Malibu - the scandals, the allegations, the lawsuits... and the comics.