Atop the Fourth Wall [Archive] - Comic Book Resources Forums

Linkara

02-19-2007, 09:54 PM

Rather than do a triple-post to my previous thread on the matter, I just wanted to announce that the comic review site Atop The Fourth Wall (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/) has now launched! Got ideas for the worst comics ever? Let me know and I'll eventually get to them!

Maybe someday J-Bolt may even release something and I'll get to it (albeit the chances of that happening are astronomical...).

Flamebird

02-19-2007, 10:00 PM

the4thpip

02-20-2007, 01:55 AM

I'll nominate this:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/32264604970.11.GIF

Linkara

02-20-2007, 07:09 AM

It's on the list now, too. ^^

Seems like a really inconvenient superpower. How much you want to bet that a sudden gust of wind sends that loser flying back, alerts Inspector Clouseau right there, and then riddles code name: Assassin with bullets?

the4thpip

02-20-2007, 07:14 AM

Not to mention the fact that with that particular codename, you'd expect the guy to, oh I don't know, kill somebody??

Linkara

02-20-2007, 12:35 PM

Here's a kicker for you - The title of the book is Codename: Assassin (with no other title anywhere to indicate this is a showcase issue or something), yet:

1. The top says "1st issue special" even though the side listing the month says it's "No. 11"

2. It's still got the comic code label on it, yet if it's to be believed, this must've come out in the '60s or '70s since they're using one of the older DC logos.

3. If he's an assassin, he's not a particularly stealthy one. After all, nothing says "assassin" quite like a bright orange "v" symbol or bright orange boots, belt, and gloves, all the easier to make you a visible target.

Night Swordsman

02-20-2007, 03:41 PM

Linkara

02-20-2007, 04:00 PM

I do not own,nor have i ever read this issue.

Despite this,i wish to say one thing: No such thing as a bad character,just one that has not found the right creators to bring the character to life,yet.

Grant Morrison seems to have made a career of saving bad characters and giving them a second chance,usually with decent results.

All i had was a cover to go on,but can you honestly say that the character could not be made into a decent supervillan?

Oh, I certainly believe that. One of the tennets I'm establishing in my webcomic is that there is no such thing as the second tier/z-listers/etc.

Doesn't stop me from making fun of it, though. ^_~

Your Imaginary Pal

02-20-2007, 04:16 PM

there is a such thing as a bad idea for a character.
they can have pointless motivations, or a powerset that makes the character laughable. Sometimes that is the very point of the character.
Some need to remain in supporting roles or just never be seen again

Not to say a good writer couldn't make them interesting, just saying sometimes it would be more work than it's worth.
edit:
Just so we're clear. Poorly Developed, ill conceived or intentionally gag characters.

Yonar

02-20-2007, 04:20 PM

Congrats on getting it up and running Linkara, glad you worked out the format.

I'll read it, just as soon as I get back to the states, and have unrestricted web access! :)

Night Swordsman

02-20-2007, 04:25 PM

there is a such thing as a bad idea for a character.
they can have pointless motivations, or a powerset that makes the character laughable. Sometimes that is the very point of the character.
Some need to remain in supporting roles or just never be seen again

Not to say a good writer couldn't make them interesting, just saying sometimes it would be more work than it's worth.

One person's work is another persons challenge,but i disagree with the never be seen again..waste of tools.

Linkara

02-20-2007, 04:31 PM

Congrats on getting it up and running Linkara, glad you worked out the format.

I'll read it, just as soon as I get back to the states, and have unrestricted web access! :)

Good to hear! ^_^ Hopefully I'll have my next review up by then, too.

MacQuarrie

02-20-2007, 06:42 PM

Here's a kicker for you - The title of the book is Codename: Assassin (with no other title anywhere to indicate this is a showcase issue or something), yet:

1. The top says "1st issue special" even though the side listing the month says it's "No. 11"
No, the title is "1st Issue Special." It was a Showcase-type book where each issue features the debut (or reappearance) of a different character or concept. Ideas that sold well might get a second appearance or a series of their own. The idea was that by calling it "1st Issue Special" they would fool some readers into buying it thinking it was a valuable first issue. The series lasted 13 issues, running from April 1975 to April 1976.

http://www.comics.org/covers.lasso?SeriesID=2212

2. It's still got the comic code label on it, yet if it's to be believed, this must've come out in the '60s or '70s since they're using one of the older DC logos.
Mid-'70s.

3. If he's an assassin, he's not a particularly stealthy one. After all, nothing says "assassin" quite like a bright orange "v" symbol or bright orange boots, belt, and gloves, all the easier to make you a visible target.
Makes about as much sense as making Robin dress in red and yellow.

the4thpip

02-21-2007, 01:53 AM

No, the title is "1st Issue Special." It was a Showcase-type book where each issue features the debut (or reappearance) of a different character or concept. Ideas that sold well might get a second appearance or a series of their own.

As far as I know, it only worked for Warlord, and with a delay the New Gods revival.

the4thpip

02-21-2007, 02:03 AM

Here is another candidate, if you can find it:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/46352484566.4.GIF

Writer Marty Pasko himself posted here on YABS a few weeks ago what went wrong with that book.
The series had been dogged by constantly changing artists anyway. The plot of this issue was clearly written only so they could use the purty Joe Kubert cover that was originally drawn for issue 1. The editorial page of the first issue had actually falsely said the cover was by Kubert, so I guess he must have just missed his deadline or something. But the plot that was written around this cover for issue 4 didn't really see print either, as neither-up-nor-coming fill-in-nobody penciler Pat Gabriele decided he could improve on the plot and drew something completely different. And did it so badly that the inker basically had to redraw everything again. Pat did not get much work in comics after that.

Linkara

02-21-2007, 07:57 PM

Well, while at the comic book store today I tried to find some of these. Sadly, while most issues of "1st Issue Spectacular" were there, they were missing Codename:Assassin. Still, the Kobra issue is there and I considered picking it up, I have a stack of Dark Age comics I'm dying to go through for material (I have Thunderstrike #1!).

Linkara

02-23-2007, 11:02 PM

Speaking of which, while I wait for my chance to obtain ASBAR #1, I wrote up and posted a review of Thunderstrike #1. ^_~

Linkara

03-03-2007, 09:52 PM

Sorry about the triple post, but a new review is up: Sultry Teenage Super-Foxes #1 (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2007/03/sultry-teenage-super-foxes-1.html).

Papergirl

03-03-2007, 10:32 PM

I have only one thing to suggest:

Codename: Knockout from Vertigo.

*twitch*

~Bev

Linkara

03-03-2007, 10:37 PM

I have only one thing to suggest:

Codename: Knockout from Vertigo.

*twitch*

~Bev

*Looks it up on wikipedia* Ooh, now there's a challenge. I'm going to save it for a bit later, though, since with my latest one I've now taken a plunge into sexist/bad humor comics and I need to get around to finally doing that ASBAR review.

...I just realized how redundant that statement was.

shanejayell

03-04-2007, 06:30 PM

Coolness. :)

Linkara

03-10-2007, 10:06 PM

New update! Based on reader suggestion, here's Uncanny X-Men #423! (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2007/03/uncanny-x-men-423.html)

Tobias March

03-11-2007, 07:59 AM

New update! Based on reader suggestion, here's Uncanny X-Men #423! (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2007/03/uncanny-x-men-423.html)

Wow. That's just frankly unbelievable.

Linkara

03-16-2007, 10:41 PM

New update: All-Star Batman and Robin #1! (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2007/03/all-star-batman-and-robin-1.html)

Infra-Man

03-17-2007, 06:43 AM

Maybe try to find an issue of Sonic Disruptors. I haven't read it, but I I saw an ad in a back issue of Young All-Stars and it looked kinda cheesey (in a cool way) and cool (in a cheesey way). I mean, the tagline was "The United States Army vs. The United States of Rock."

I asked about Sonic Disruptors in the DC forum last night and was warned to stay away from that series like the plague. Might be worth looking into.

Evan Waters

03-17-2007, 10:23 PM

One bit of constructive criticism- Blogger should allow you to host images for posts- you don't have to use Photobucket for all the covers. Having navigation links in a sidebar as opposed to the bottom of posts would help too.

Linkara

03-17-2007, 10:29 PM

Thanks, I always appreciate constructive feedback regarding the site. ^_^ I admit, I know how Blogger can host images, but the only one I've tried to host the title image and that experience didn't exactly make me inclined to try to hold more images there. Besides, Photobucket also allowed me to upload multiple images at a time, which was also a real time saver.

Not sure what you mean about the Navigation links, unless you mean the extra links to other sites. They were originally on the side, but in order to have images be the sizes I wanted them to be, I had to extend the allocated width of the blog text, so the links were pushed down. I've tried to move them to another location to make them more visible, but sadly the code for the blog is in an unfamiliar language to me and it was hell just trying to get the blog itself up to an acceptable form to me.

EDIT: Oh! Unless you mean the archive links in the blog. In that case, I have a solution coming as soon as I've made enough reviews that it pushes them off the main page - I have some webspace that I can use as an actual Archive button and will have listed in the Introductory post.

Evan Waters

03-17-2007, 11:17 PM

EDIT: Oh! Unless you mean the archive links in the blog. In that case, I have a solution coming as soon as I've made enough reviews that it pushes them off the main page - I have some webspace that I can use as an actual Archive button and will have listed in the Introductory post.

What I meant was more getting to the main page from a post, and so on- I assumed clicking the icon would do so, but since it's a Photobucket image it just links back to their website instead of your blog homepage. The link to the main site should be near the top of the page, however you choose to arrange it- something prominent so as to make navigation easier.

Regarding Blogger and Photobucket, it's kind of weird. Blogger hosts images for individual posts, but not, as far as I can tell, for the overall blog. For my user icon I've had to use Imageshack.

Linkara

03-23-2007, 01:55 PM

New update! All-Star Batman and Robin #2! (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2007/03/all-star-batman-and-robin-2.html)

Linkara

03-30-2007, 09:02 PM

Another new update in our continuing series on All-Star Batman and Robin: http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2007/03/all-star-batman-and-robin-3.html

Linkara

04-06-2007, 10:51 PM

Eek! Triple-post! Still, All-Star Goddamn Batman goodness! (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2007/04/all-star-batman-and-robin-4.html)

Linkara

04-14-2007, 01:18 AM

Gail's going to ban me for sure for making four posts in a row... New update:

Secret Defenders #9! (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2007/04/secret-defenders-9.html)

Linkara

04-21-2007, 07:01 PM

Okay, five updates in a row. If no one replies after this one, I'm just going to let people find out on their own from clicking the link in my sig.

Isaac Asimov's Ibots #1 (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2007/04/isaac-asimovs-ibots-1.html)