In which Mike gets the sniffles and wusses out.
So usually on Mondays I try to put together some extended post, dissecting some old comic, or perhaps writing a long essay on some comics-related topic or another, because, hey, I get a lot of folks dropping by the site on Mondays, and I don’t want to disappoint.
Last Monday I cheesed out because, as I said yesterday, I’d been otherwise occupied that week. And this Monday I’m cheesing out because Sunday afternoon, I was suddenly stricken with flu symptoms that I’m still trying to shake. So, alas, no slaving over a hot scanner for you, my faithful readers. My apologies.
C’mon, baby, you know I still love you.
1. So I’ve been wondering for the last week or so whether or not this Supershadow Star Wars fan site is a hoax or not. I keep going back and forth on it, not being able to decide because, as I stated before, while portions of the site do seem like parodies of particular fannish attitudes and expectations, other portions of the site are just a little too elaborately obsessive (in ways that I’ve witnessed in real life for too many years) for someone just trying to prank folks.
But then I read something like this, in response to a particularly dumb reader-contributed plot idea for a theoretical not-actually-happening “Episode 7:”
“Supershadow: Utterly brilliant. This will be forwarded to Lucas pronto.”
…Man, that just reads like out-and-out mockery.
Or when I read proclamations like this:
“Is there anything extra that you could tell me about Luke Skywalker, after Episode 6? (SuperShadow: What I can tell you is to ignore all the novels and comic books written about Star Wars over the past 15 years. Lucas accepts none of it. Only SS.com has information about Luke after Return of the Jedi. Please read the Episode 7, 8 and 9 plot summaries at SS.com to get a glimpse of the future of Star Wars.)“
…I just get flummoxed. Either this is one of the greatest parody sites ever created, or it’s the very definition of “pathetisad.” The constant repeating of the idea that fan-submitted plot elements sent to Supershadow are forwarded to Lucas for possible inclusion in future features is…well, “cruel” seems a little strong, as who knows if the “fans” aren’t also creations of Supershadow himself (or “themselves,” as the case may be). But it certainly plays into the expectations that some certain kinds of fans have regarding their perceived “entitlement” over the material they enjoy (as opposed to the usual, and quite correct, reminders elsewhere that fan-created material is avoided for legal reasons).
1a. On a related note, Lucas (the real Lucas, not the one at Supershadow) has stated that there will be no Episodes 7, 8, or 9, taking place after the events in Return of the Jedi. I think he’s even claimed that he’s never said there would ever be a total of nine movies in the series, which doesn’t seem quite right to me, but I don’t have the material to back up my hunch, so, you know, whatever.
Anyway, I wonder if one of the reasons Lucas opted out of doing 7, 8, and 9 is due to the success of the “Expanded Universe” material…the novels and comics and other stuff…that already deal with the same period that (presumably) the third trilogy would have covered. Lucas has stated that he’s not obligated to follow the continuities of the various spin-off products, as he’s demonstrated by contradicting the elaborate Boba Fett “Expanded Universe” backstory with events in Episode 2. So, if films 7, 8, and 9 were produced, most likely they’d not incorporate ideas from any of the previously published “Expanded Universe” books and comics. And, if so, that would certainly make most of the “Expanded Universe” material moot, as it wouldn’t follow the “official” Star Wars continuity of the films, and thus possibly permanently cripple a multimillion dollar industry already in place perpetuating the Star Wars product line.
Okay, the kind of money the books and comics rake in ain’t a patch on movie money, but I’m guessing Lucas would rather not deal with more constant complaining from the fans who followed the Star Wars book line for the last twenty years, griping that Han and Leia’s twin children aren’t in the movies, or some darn thing. I know if I were Lucas, the thought of that would certainly make me think twice. “Ah, geez, not the fans again….”
1b. On a related related note, in the late ’70s Dynamite Magazine had an issue with several articles on the Star Wars saga, and included their theoretical outlines of all nine movies in the series (keeping in mind that Empire Strikes Back hadn’t been released yet). I’ve been trying to find a copy of this article for years, so if any of you folks out there have access to it, please let me know!
1c. If I were a member of Longbets.org, one of my bets would be “We will see the original Star Wars movie remade in our lifetimes.” (By someone other than Lucas, that is, as he seems intent on fixing his movies ’til they’re broken.) You know, I’m sure everyone thought no one would ever remake the original Planet of the Apes, and yet they did. I’m sure by the time I’m in my 70s (which is, what, ten, fifteen years from now) they’ll be touting a new fancy version of that hokey sci-fi “classic” with the crummy special effects.
2. Okay, that was a lot of Star Wars talk…so, here, I said I wasn’t going to, but let me show you a few panels from Mighty Mouse #73 (1957). To set up…cats were harassing mice, Mighty Mouse gave ’em the ol’ heave-ho, and the cats then proceed to enlist the services of the mighty cat wizard Purrlin the Powerful. When Purrlin casts a spell to turn Mighty Mouse into, of all things, a bowling ball, MM uses his girlfriend Mitzi’s compact mirror to reflect it:
CLICK FOR THE FULL HORROR
And now the cats are doomed, DOOMED to be bowling balls for ALL ETERNITY, since Purrlin no longer has his sexy Magic Hands. And is MM plunging his thumb into that poor cat’s mouth? Ew.
So there you go, another disturbing image from the Silver Age of Comics to take with you through your day. No need to thank me.
3. I still managed to type too much. Some sick day I’m taking.
