Watch this space, you poor doomed motherfuckers

Skip to content

Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

9 Comments

  1. Marionette
    August 7, 2014 @ 2:00 am

    I'd have said Moon Knight was more of a Shadow knock off with Batman toys. The multiple identities and use of agents was much more Shadow than Batman.

    Reply

  2. Heath
    August 7, 2014 @ 4:30 am

    Everything got at least at 'A' this week!?! Are you getting soft on us, or are you just in a good mood this week?

    Tho, granted I haven't hit up my LCS this week yet, but I'm still shocked. Bendis and Hickman both must have upped their game this month. Tho, I appreciate that She-Hulk seems to be returning to the form that makes it workable, but I question whether "I am Groot" is really all a book needs to get a passing grade here. I'll get my pull list and see if I agree with you.

    Thanks for doing these posts, by the way. I've been slowly pulling away from my fanboy obsession with comics, and I need a nudge back every so often to tell me, "stick around, there is still good stuff out there."

    Reply

  3. Matthew Blanchette
    August 7, 2014 @ 6:56 am

    Yo soy… GROOT.

    Reply

  4. Dave
    August 7, 2014 @ 7:38 am

    As enjoyable as Guardians was, the Spanish dub must be way better.

    Watashi wa… GURUUT.

    Reply

  5. David Anderson
    August 7, 2014 @ 8:12 am

    One feels that there's a difference in approach at the planning meetings at Warner Brothers and Marvel Studios.

    Warner:
    Why are we making this film?
    To make lots of money from our intellectual property.
    Ok.

    Marvel:
    Why are we making this film?
    To make lots of money from our intellectual property.
    Ok. Why else are we making this film?
    The world wants a superhero space opera with a talking raccoon; it just doesn't know it yet.

    (I'm not saying the answer Marvel Studios have given to the second question have always been entirely satisfactory, but there's generally evidence that the question has been asked.)

    Reply

  6. Elizabeth Sandifer
    August 7, 2014 @ 9:45 am

    It was a very good week. I got four comics into the reviews – I believe it was Uber, Miracleman, Moon Knight, and New Avengers – when I noticed I was giving a lot of As. I'd decided after being brutal to Hickman I wanted to be nice this week, because I really am interested in what Hickman is doing even as it infuriates me, and that's where I was with Bendis three years ago, so I'm really trying to overcome my frustrations there and see the writer that some of the most intelligent critics I know of see and enjoy. So I was a ways in and giving everything good reviews, and I decided to just lean into it. It was a really good week, and I figured, OK, let's enjoy that after a week where I was pissy and didn't give a "pick of the week" out.

    I'd also joked to Jill after seeing Guardians that I was just going to run "I am Groot" as my review for everything, with differing letter grades. I decided on a pared down version of the joke on the day – especially after Rocket Raccoon used the "I am Groot" joke a bunch of times and quite well, it seemed like the exact time to declare peak "I am Groot."

    And then with all good reviews, the joke of giving Pick of the Week to an overpriced ten page Alan Moore comic that is literally the most self-indulgent thing he's ever written was irresistible, because it absolutely is my pick of the week. So I gave it the bad review and then the A+ and pick of the week, because that seemed to complete the joke nicely.

    So, to answer your question, partially in a good mood, partially me deciding to play with the review column as a structure instead of as an actual guide, partially me just deciding to do some warm-ups on reviewing contemporary culture, since people are giving me $2k for my Peter Capaldi reviews, so I suppose I ought to try to give them a good show.

    Reply

  7. Unknown
    August 7, 2014 @ 1:31 pm

    It's got to be "Boku wa Guruuto" — depending on the kanji, 'boku' can mean either 'I' or 'wood', and no self-respecting Japanese translation can pass up wordplay that bad.

    Reply

  8. Jack
    August 7, 2014 @ 6:16 pm

    I saw someone on Tumblr sum up the differences between the Warner Bros. and Marvel Studios approaches like this:

    Warner: Well, Wonder Woman has just too complex an origin to support her own movie! No one would understand it! She's better suited starring in other people's movies and in a Justice League one!

    Marvel: Have a talking raccoon with a machine gun!

    And then Marvel makes the effort to make it work.

    Reply

  9. ferret
    August 7, 2014 @ 7:08 pm

    "A complex origin? Perfect! Sounds like we have a ready-made plot to fill a whole movie!" – I'm baffled.

    In fact, I'd say "Thor" is a pretty good touchstone for how to handle a first Wonder Woman movie – not to copy the plot or anything, but to see that it's possible to handle this sort of "not of yon society" character entering the world of humans without exactly giving an 'origin of my powers' story but a 'why I'm here kicking ass and where I came from' story.

    Perhaps in some ways the properties are too close in this regard, and such a film would risk treading similar territory for it to draw a crowd? I'm doubtful – I'm sure a Wonder Woman solo movie would do fine as an introduction to the character… unless they have in mind a really strong story for her first movie outing that doesn't want to be bogged down with introductory elements?

    Of course perhaps they're not intending to give her a solo movie at all unless she becomes a sort of Mark Ruffalo/Hulk breakout character in Batman v Superman.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from Eruditorum Press

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading