My grandmother watched her "programs" faithfully for years. In fact, when I visited their house, we often watched them together. When I was in college, she would catch me up over breaks when I went home.
Soap operas were something of a joke back then. Popular, but a joke. I remember one show had a story line where one of the main characters was possessed. In one of the shows my grandmother and I watched, several of the characters had married - and re-married - eachother multiple times in some twisted sort of round-robin. One of my favorite movies, Soap Dish, mocks how soap operas will bring characters back from the dead - no matter how unlikely the resurrection would be.
One by one, the soap operas that were prevalent in my childhood have gone off the air. There aren't many left. But I recently discovered a replacement.
Comic Books
Our family loves comics. My husband makes a weekly stop at one of our local comic shops. We love the Marvel movies like the Avengers. (I am less of a fan of the DC options). I read a few comic books, but not too many because I find it frustrating not to know the backstory of the characters.
Recently we have been watching the X-Men movies as a family. I decided to see if I could find some of the backstory I crave by doing some internet research. I started with the X-Men character, Jean Grey. I found this article online.
What struck me as I was reading through this was how much it sounded like the plot of a soap opera:
*exposed to radiation, changing her powers
*turns evil, and kills herself when she has a moment of clarity and sees what she has done
*resurrected because the evil version was only a copy (a twin - classic soap opera ploy)
*cloned and the clone married her husband (who thought Jean was dead) and now that Jean is back, the clone wants her dead
*loses her powers
Well, you get the idea. And this is just one character! So, if you are missing the soap operas of old, or if you are looking for some new stories that are just as intricate (and sometimes convoluted) as you can imagine, check out some comic books!
Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Fun Cross Stitch Finds from Etsy
[photo and pattern by weelittlestitches/Jacqueline - you can view the item here.]
[photo and pattern by pixelpowerdesign/Sergei Vozika - you can view the item here.]
I found these while tooling around Etsy and I fell in love. I can't begin to say how excited I am to start stitching these. The patterns were emailed to me, so I can get started as soon as I wrap up some of my other tasks. I love the "geeky"-ness of them. I think they will look great stitched up and framed on a wall in our house - they combine my love of cross stitch with the comic book/book/movie icons we love.
It you've never checked out Etsy and you like crafty and/or handmade things, set aside a couple hours and check it out. I did a search for "cross stitch" and there were 250 pages of responses (not all family-friendly, just by way of warning....). There's jewelry, hand bags, and all sorts of other treasures. I added a lot of pins to my Pinterest boards thanks to Etsy this Christmas break.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Not the Intended Audience
On Thursday, I talked a little about my comic book dilemma. I need back story. I need to understand where the character is coming from.
I thought I found the perfect solution the other day when my family walked into a local comic book shop (one in the town where we live, rather than our regular store near my husband's employer). On the shelf were two comic books (numbers one and three in a set) about the character, Black Widow, from the Avenger's movie.
First of all, I loved that movie! I could go on and on about all the things I loved in that movie (Tony's snark, Mark Ruffalo's brilliant portrayal of the layers of Bruce Banner, Hulk taking on the pompous Loki, etc.). I thought I could really get into a comic book series about a great, strong, female character like Black Widow.
My first clue that this series might not be all I'm looking for was the fight scene in the first book where Black Widow has to fight back during an attack in her underwear.
Seriously?
My first thought was, "This was obviously written by a man." I know - that is a completely unfair stereotype - for all I know, this is totally in keeping with that elusive back story I'm always looking for. But the questions started there.
Then, at our regular shop, Scott and I were talking about the missing second book in my set (I was waiting to read #3 until the other store had #2, which the owner said he would hold for me). The manager of that store seemed very eager to steer me toward some other Black Widow titles - any other titles. Feeling too shy to ask for more information, I took pictures of the other titles they had for future reference, but didn't buy any of them.
My absolutely fabulous husband then directed me here for a more helpful assessment of my options if I want to read more about Black Widow. The fact that the blogger dubbed the series I had picked up "quite terrible," I was not eager to pick up issue #2 and finish the series. But, as the owner had made a commitment to hold a copy for me, I picked it up and finished the series.
The story line was okay, having nothing to compare it to (yet), but finishing the series left me convinced that I was not the intended audience. The characterization was flat and shallow, but the cleavage was the opposite. I definitely need to do more research before wading into the vast sea of comic book options.
Do you read comics? Have any good recommendations for me?
I thought I found the perfect solution the other day when my family walked into a local comic book shop (one in the town where we live, rather than our regular store near my husband's employer). On the shelf were two comic books (numbers one and three in a set) about the character, Black Widow, from the Avenger's movie.
First of all, I loved that movie! I could go on and on about all the things I loved in that movie (Tony's snark, Mark Ruffalo's brilliant portrayal of the layers of Bruce Banner, Hulk taking on the pompous Loki, etc.). I thought I could really get into a comic book series about a great, strong, female character like Black Widow.
My first clue that this series might not be all I'm looking for was the fight scene in the first book where Black Widow has to fight back during an attack in her underwear.
Seriously?
My first thought was, "This was obviously written by a man." I know - that is a completely unfair stereotype - for all I know, this is totally in keeping with that elusive back story I'm always looking for. But the questions started there.
Then, at our regular shop, Scott and I were talking about the missing second book in my set (I was waiting to read #3 until the other store had #2, which the owner said he would hold for me). The manager of that store seemed very eager to steer me toward some other Black Widow titles - any other titles. Feeling too shy to ask for more information, I took pictures of the other titles they had for future reference, but didn't buy any of them.
My absolutely fabulous husband then directed me here for a more helpful assessment of my options if I want to read more about Black Widow. The fact that the blogger dubbed the series I had picked up "quite terrible," I was not eager to pick up issue #2 and finish the series. But, as the owner had made a commitment to hold a copy for me, I picked it up and finished the series.
The story line was okay, having nothing to compare it to (yet), but finishing the series left me convinced that I was not the intended audience. The characterization was flat and shallow, but the cleavage was the opposite. I definitely need to do more research before wading into the vast sea of comic book options.
Do you read comics? Have any good recommendations for me?
Thursday, July 5, 2012
The Search for Back Story
I mentioned on Tuesday that my drive to collect things is strong enough that I will buy the next book in a series, even if I am several books behind (or haven't read the first book yet), in order to keep the set/collection complete.
That desire for wholeness in stories even extends back before the first story in a series.
My husband has cultivated his love of comic books in the last couple years. In general, I like the genre, although I prefer the stories when they are compiled into a graphic novel (there's that drive for wholeness again) rather than serialized over weeks or months.
But I have also realized that I am reluctant to pick up a comic or graphic novel of a superhero I don't know well because I don't know the back story. I wonder where the character came from - what drives him or her? How did the character come to be in this place or in this predicament?
Unfortunately, I am enough of a novice that I'm even hesitant to ask a "professional" (like the great folks at our regular comic book shop) because I'm afraid I'm going to open myself up to too many choices ("Well, when character A started, he was this, but in 1985 they restarted the line and changed it to this."). I long for a clear, linear story line that I can dig into completely, understand thoroughly, and enjoy.
That desire for wholeness in stories even extends back before the first story in a series.
My husband has cultivated his love of comic books in the last couple years. In general, I like the genre, although I prefer the stories when they are compiled into a graphic novel (there's that drive for wholeness again) rather than serialized over weeks or months.
But I have also realized that I am reluctant to pick up a comic or graphic novel of a superhero I don't know well because I don't know the back story. I wonder where the character came from - what drives him or her? How did the character come to be in this place or in this predicament?
Unfortunately, I am enough of a novice that I'm even hesitant to ask a "professional" (like the great folks at our regular comic book shop) because I'm afraid I'm going to open myself up to too many choices ("Well, when character A started, he was this, but in 1985 they restarted the line and changed it to this."). I long for a clear, linear story line that I can dig into completely, understand thoroughly, and enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)