OM
2008-07-13 13:53:42 UTC
...Ok, let's look at the other end of the spectrum What, in your
opinion, was your least favorite Legion story you've ever read? Before
you answer, I'll make two quick points:
1) "least favorite" does not necessarily equal "worst". Some serial or
sequential works have particular segments that, while not of poor
quality, arguably do not measure up against the other segments. The
best example I can give right off the top of my head were two episodes
of Tom Hanks' excellent "From The Earth To The Moon" miniseries for
HBO. The Apollo 13 episode did a very different take on that mission
by showing just how news coverage of the mishap and the efforts to get
the crew back safely was arguably the turning point where broadcast
journalism embraced sensationalism over journalistic integrity and
professionalism, while the episode regarding the ordeals and stresses
the wives of the Astronauts provided a *very* accurate(*) look at the
toll the Space Race took upon the families. In both cases, however,
despite the accuracy of the subject matter, the very nature of the
subject matter also triggered a bit of negative reaction; the story of
how hype journalism triumphed over professionalism hit far too many
raw nerves with many viewers, especially those who were alive when the
events actually occurred. The "Astronaut Wives Club" episode, despite
its accuracy, also had the tendency to come across as the "June
Cleaver On The Rag" episode, and even devout feminists commented that
the tone that director Sally Field tried to set was unnecessarily
overexaggerated.
...Still, both episodes were very good when appreciated when looked at
on an individual level. It's only when compared to the other episodes
in the series that they appear to be inferior. By that same token,
there are clearly a few Legion stories that suffer the same quality
issues, and not all of them were written by Gerry Conway, or drawn by
John Forte or Ol' Scratchy.
2) The "Dr. Mayavale" story is automatically exempt from this non-poll
simply because that's just too damn easy a target. If a poll were
taken as to who the worst Nazi was, you'd have to add "besides Hitler"
in order to actually get some sort of diversity of opinion. The Legion
has five decades of history behind it, and this is a good opportunity
for us to see just how into that history we are, as well as giving
each other some idea of where our tastes lie.
OM
(*) With one exception: Pat White, wife of Ed White, was portrayed in
a quite negative light intended to bias the viewer into believing her
death through an accidental overdose was in fact a suicide brought on
by depression over the death of her husband in the Apollo 1 fire. Most
space historians, as well as those who knew Pat personally, felt that
this was unacceptably inaccurate, and essentially smeared Pat's memory
in the same way Tom Wolfe did to Gus Grissom over the loss of Liberty
Bell 7.
OM
opinion, was your least favorite Legion story you've ever read? Before
you answer, I'll make two quick points:
1) "least favorite" does not necessarily equal "worst". Some serial or
sequential works have particular segments that, while not of poor
quality, arguably do not measure up against the other segments. The
best example I can give right off the top of my head were two episodes
of Tom Hanks' excellent "From The Earth To The Moon" miniseries for
HBO. The Apollo 13 episode did a very different take on that mission
by showing just how news coverage of the mishap and the efforts to get
the crew back safely was arguably the turning point where broadcast
journalism embraced sensationalism over journalistic integrity and
professionalism, while the episode regarding the ordeals and stresses
the wives of the Astronauts provided a *very* accurate(*) look at the
toll the Space Race took upon the families. In both cases, however,
despite the accuracy of the subject matter, the very nature of the
subject matter also triggered a bit of negative reaction; the story of
how hype journalism triumphed over professionalism hit far too many
raw nerves with many viewers, especially those who were alive when the
events actually occurred. The "Astronaut Wives Club" episode, despite
its accuracy, also had the tendency to come across as the "June
Cleaver On The Rag" episode, and even devout feminists commented that
the tone that director Sally Field tried to set was unnecessarily
overexaggerated.
...Still, both episodes were very good when appreciated when looked at
on an individual level. It's only when compared to the other episodes
in the series that they appear to be inferior. By that same token,
there are clearly a few Legion stories that suffer the same quality
issues, and not all of them were written by Gerry Conway, or drawn by
John Forte or Ol' Scratchy.
2) The "Dr. Mayavale" story is automatically exempt from this non-poll
simply because that's just too damn easy a target. If a poll were
taken as to who the worst Nazi was, you'd have to add "besides Hitler"
in order to actually get some sort of diversity of opinion. The Legion
has five decades of history behind it, and this is a good opportunity
for us to see just how into that history we are, as well as giving
each other some idea of where our tastes lie.
OM
(*) With one exception: Pat White, wife of Ed White, was portrayed in
a quite negative light intended to bias the viewer into believing her
death through an accidental overdose was in fact a suicide brought on
by depression over the death of her husband in the Apollo 1 fire. Most
space historians, as well as those who knew Pat personally, felt that
this was unacceptably inaccurate, and essentially smeared Pat's memory
in the same way Tom Wolfe did to Gus Grissom over the loss of Liberty
Bell 7.
OM
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