You do know that Edgar Allan Poe was American even though Dupin was not, right? And I’m sorry, but the raping-and-getting-girls pregnant story line is repulsive, repellent and ridiculous. This might explain why I’ve never enjoyed any comic book ever?

MadCarlotta - 10 August 2007 02:05 PM

Thanks, now I suddenly want to go out and buy a bunch of Jules Verne novels, as I am currently without any.

I always preferred Robur to Nemo (from Master of the World and Robur the Conqueror) and remember the old Vincent Price film of the former that I have been able to find on video or DVD.

Kathleen - 10 August 2007 02:12 PM

I’m sorry, but the raping-and-getting-girls pregnant story line is repulsive, repellent and ridiculous. This might explain why I’ve never enjoyed any comic book ever?

Because that stuff never occurs in real literature, I suppose.

Yes, and in regular literature it is also repulsive and repellent, though it is also, if you don’t mind my saying so, not usually quite as ridiculous.

Comic books are by their very nature ridiculousness and exaggerated—superheroes and all that. I’m sorry if you don’t like those words, but I do think they are accurate. That’s what comic book fans enjoy, right? They don’t want reality and subtle drama, do they? They want Spiderman, et. al., and various evil arch nemeses (nemesises?), don’t they? Including an Invisible Man who slinks about doing horrible things in the dark of night.

I did not mean to imply that I’m just too refined for comic books. I like plenty of things that are just as ridiculous and exaggerated, but not in the way that comic books are. I just don’t enjoy that, and I don’t think I should have to pretend I do. This is just an exaggerated example of the ridiculousness that that I don’t enjoy about comic books.

And anyway, who says “real” literature can’t be repulsive, repellent and ridiculous? Certainly not me.

Kathleen - 10 August 2007 02:35 PM

Including an Invisible Man who slinks about doing horrible things in the dark of night.

Actually, Wells’ Invisible Man did evil things in the night, too.  And from what I’ve heard here, all the “superheros” from that particular comic are really just character plucked out of what’s pretty much considered classic literature (although I can’t say with what accuracy their character was carried over).

Oh, I quite agree! Where else but in comic books are you going to find mad science wizards and their homebuilt submarines, vampire women, invisible men, supernaturally able hunters, men turning into uncontrollable beasts and invaders from Mars.

Actually give my comic books any day.

Prose books are by their very nature shallow and unrealistic - heaving bodices and all that. I

Kathleen - 10 August 2007 02:12 PM

You do know that Edgar Allan Poe was American even though Dupin was not, right? And I’m sorry, but the raping-and-getting-girls pregnant story line is repulsive, repellent and ridiculous. This might explain why I’ve never enjoyed any comic book ever?

If you want an evil character then you have to make sure he does bad things. If he stole lollipops from babies you wouldn’t hate him as a character would you?

And it doesn’t matter if Poe was American (born to a Scots-Irish family and went to school in Scotland for a while so there. You lot keep trying to claim the telephone was an American invention when Alex Graham Bell was born and raised in Scotland, we can claim Edgar Allen Poe and we’ve got his ancestry on our side so there), Dupin is a Frenchman, a Parisean. There are no American characters in the comic (except Ishmale who’s Nemo’s first mate on the Nautilus but he’s got one line).

Accipiter - 10 August 2007 02:38 PM

Kathleen - 10 August 2007 02:35 PM

Including an Invisible Man who slinks about doing horrible things in the dark of night.

Actually, Wells’ Invisible Man did evil things in the night, too.  And from what I’ve heard here, all the “superheros” from that particular comic are really just character plucked out of what’s pretty much considered classic literature (although I can’t say with what accuracy their character was carried over).

They are, and they’re all pretty damn close to their original characters and personalities. All their quirks and flaws intact, it’s really a lot more high-brow reading then, say, Harry Potter

There’s no superheroes in LXG, or any of Alan Moore’s stuff. He’s a really good writer, he just likes pictures to accompany the stories.

I don’t quite understand, David, why you think I am putting down your favored form of recreation. I’m not. I just said that I don’t like it. The reason is simple: It is constructed in a way that does not attract me. That’s it. It’s as basic as that.

Which is why I would enjoy reading H.G. Wells’ novels and short stories directly rather than reading comic books based on them.  The comic books would be constructed in a way that does not attract me. That’s it. Sheesh.

By all means, enjoy comic books if you want to. I’m not one of those who are trying to ban them or anything. I just don’t want to read them. I’ve got plenty of things that I do enjoy reading, so don’t you think it’s better that I concentrate on them during my free time?

And I don’t like books with “heaving bodices” either, by the way. Good try, though. I’m sure I like plenty of things you dislike, and if I bring them up, by all means, feel free to generalize about them as much as you like. Mysteries, for example. They tend to be formulaic, the characters are usually two-dimensional, and oftentimes the endings are pat. But I like them, so if you want to say bad things about them, feel free. You won’t hurt my feelings, and you probably won’t say anything about them that I haven’t said myself, but you’re welcome to try. Something doesn’t have to be perfect to be enjoyable, as all you comic book fans ought to know…

Kidding! Well, sort of.

And I agree with Charybdis that think Scaramanga is a c-o-o-o-o-l last name. Sorry the actual owner doesn’t enjoy it, though.

Renquist - 10 August 2007 02:56 PM

They are, and they’re all pretty damn close to their original characters and personalities. All their quirks and flaws intact, it’s really a lot more high-brow reading then, say, Harry Potter

There’s no superheroes in LXG, or any of Alan Moore’s stuff. He’s a really good writer, he just likes pictures to accompany the stories.

But the pictures look like comic book pictures—just can’t get into it. You either like that kind of artwork, or you don’t. You either like every couple of lines of dialogue to be represented by a drawing, or you don’t. (There’s no such thing as a semi-comic book, is there?) And I don’t. I don’t think Wells needs the help—I’d rather imagine the characters for myself, and I’d rather read the whole book rather than a summary, even a lavishly illustrated summary—but that’s me.