Swan Song for the Silver Age Fogey

[Eric L. Sofer]

I have decided to post this final item after replies I've received about some of my own posts - most recently from Dagwan, on the "Thor material published 2009-2011" and "Fear Itself."

My great sorrow is seeing things happening on this board that I wouldn't have countenanced when I was Admin... ah, but we all know that what's done is what's done, and "shut up and get out" was the order of the day.

 

Regarding my comments and Dagwan's:

 

Interesting that I haven't heard from any of the admins yet... well, except for Dagwan, of course.  (Still an admin, Dags?  I know that when I was leader of the band, we extended you an invite.)

 

ELS (from Fear Itself thread):  Another summer crossover event, to go with Avengers books crossing over into Avengers books, FF crossing into Spider-Man (at least), Spider Island, and all these books requiring mini-series...  Wow, I am SO glad I'm not collecting this crap anymore.  And from the look of the posted panels above, I'm obviously not cool enough to get them anyhow.  Good luck to Marvel Comics, the house of idea.

 

Dagwan:  You went out of your way to post in a thread about Fear Itself that you're not reading it, and that it's crap. If you want to read something and don't like it, that's fine. Post about how you didn't enjoy it. What didn't work for you. Calling something that others on this board enjoyed quite a bit crap -especially sight unseen- is not just a judgment on the comic but on the opinions of the other members of the board who did like it.

 

You're right.  I DID go out of my way to post something, because I didn't have to come to the Captain Comics board, didn't have to read that posting, and didn't have to comment on it.  Same as anyone else who posts anything on this board.

 

But so we get our facts straight:  I wasn't criticizing Fear Itself as I haven't read it (which you very accurately noted.)  And I criticized Spider Island, and the FF/Spider-Man crossover, and Marvel's general concept of company wide crossovers - which you obviously didn't infer.  Okay, that happens.  I was criticizing the trend of mini-series, and crossing  through several issues of several titles, requiring readers to pick them up as well. I have said the same thing about Secret Invasion, Seige, that Avengers junk, etc.  Shucks, I wasn't all that fond of it back in Secret Wars (and, to be fair, not so hot on it in Crisis on Infinite Earths either.)

 

As to the opinions of those who did like it - what, is it the rule now to not upset the sensibilities of other posters by disagreeing with them?  Then shame on me.

 

Dagwan:  On a related note, do you have anything nice to say about any comics anymore?

 

This was in response to a comic which I think would have failed the standards of a lot of comic book companies, and I thought I gave the reason - characters out of sync with the current continuity (and damn ME for a fool for expecting continuity, right?), art that I really think is little better than high school level... y'know, a critical observation instead of "It sucks because I say it sucks!"  But again, you might not have gotten that - it happens, and although not everyone is happy and pleased with comics today, it seems to be the mandate on this board anymore.

 

Is this mean?  Some people might think it's mean, and some people - like, y'know, those who used to post on these boards - consider it discussion.  I was posting strongly about it because I feel strongly about it... my opinion, and it used to be implicit that that included " YMMV".  But I guess Dagwan didn't get that - okay, that happens.

 

I could go on, but this is obviously a comment on my postings, and, I think, a comment on my presence on the board from Dagwan and, implicitly (even by their silence) from the Admins.  What I think, due to whatever is going on with me, is what I think, and people used to be able to post such around here.

 

Instead, when I asked for what I thought was a reasonable action - if you think I've gone over the line, get the Admins to contact me about it, and if it really upsets you, please ignore it - got a biting, sarcastic reply, and a "don't tell us, go tell the comic book publishers, and stop whining."

 

Nice.  I probably wasn't going to be able to post here for a lot longer anyhow, but this does make it a little easier to decide.

 

So, after everything that has happened to me on this board - Dagwan's comments, the Administrator crap, etc. etc. etc., I will go away with one last comment for the admins.

 

Good riddance to every last one of you.

 

I remain,

  VERY disappointendly,

Eric L. Sofer

The Silver Age Fogey

x<]:o){

[Figserello]

Detective 445 said:

Oh yeah.  I know all of that.  I'm just not obsessed with it.  Nor do I feel the need to discuss it ad nauseum or continually bring it up on message boards.  And I have little respect for someone who does.

Philip Portelli said:

The Golden Age Wonder Woman tales were filled with bondage, restraints, slavery, mental domination,torture and of course the Amazon philosophy of "submitting to loving authority". Her Amazonium bracelets were originally known as her bracelets of submission. Being in control was a major theme in her stories. She had a magic lasso that allowed her to command anyone encircled by it. Plus her creator, William Moulton Marston had a, shall we say, unique home life!

Far from "ad nauseum" or "continually", WE haven't talked about the "depraved" aspects of Wonder Woman bondage etc at all! Restricting the subject matter of posts is a very bad look, especially on a site where everyone is complaining about the paucity of posts and discussion. Restricting them here on the basis of what you've read on other sites is also poor form.

Thinking that we'd ONLY talk about Wonder Woman's indecent origins all day, every day once we start, rather than cover it intelligently and move on, doesn't reflect well on your opinion of the posters here.

(And putting dubious covers, and questionable attitudes to women and young girls on public display is no worse than Marvel and DC have been doing for decades. Cleanliness and decency haven't been high on the priority-list of the artform/industry that this board is devoted to, alas!)

Speaking of the paucity of discussion:

"Philip, I generally don't read your posts and don't know what you post about."

 

Wha? Considering Philip posts on all sorts of comics from the 1930's right up to those released last week, in a very knowledgable and respectful way, I have to ask what posts DO you read on this comics board?

The WILD CARDS threads, perhaps?

(These days its hard to read any thread that he hasn't added value to, so I'm wondering how anyone could use the board in any way without reading his posts.  Perhaps you have mixed Philip up with another poster?)

I'm just confused, I guess...

[ClarkKent_DC]

Figserello said:

Speaking of the paucity of discussion:

"Philip, I generally don't read your posts and don't know what you post about."

 

Wha? Considering Philip posts on all sorts of comics from the 1930's right up to those released last week, in a very knowledgable and respectful way, I have to ask what posts DO you read on this comics board?

The WILD CARDS threads, perhaps?

(These days its hard to read any thread that he hasn't added value to, so I'm wondering how anyone could use the board in any way without reading his posts.  Perhaps you have mixed Philip up with another poster?)

I'm just confused, I guess...

Yeah, really, you can't get away from the guy! He's everywhere I look!

... and he's been a wonderful addition to our merry band of misfits!

[Philip Portelli]

Thanks to Figs and Clark for the kind words but Detective 445 and I have PMed and everything is cool! Merely something started in jest (though not by me) that opened old wounds that I unknowingly poured salt in. But all is well! 

[Figserello]

Thanks for clarifying 'Tec.  This is a public forum after all, and we aren't all privy to the background details.  I wasn't the only one who mis-read your posts.  I think I understand some of the subtext of them - there are things I'm uncomfortable with too - but there were two or three direct statements you made in your posts that I couldn't let stand without comment.

 

It's funny how we're all flaring up here. 

 

I think a certain prickly, contentious and oversensitive ghost hangs over this thread! 

 

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

I think it's interesting that THIS is what got some real discussion going around here.

 

What's even more ironic is that this isn't the first time Silver Age Fogey has stormed off in a huff, nor is it likely to be his last. I imagine he'll eventually come skulking back, and then be back to his old self eventually, just to see the whole thing recycle itself once again. And, unless I've skimmed erroneously, this still hasn't been mentioned. Hrm...

 

Figserello said:

 

It's funny how we're all flaring up here. 

 

I think a certain prickly, contentious and oversensitive ghost hangs over this thread! 

 

[Figserello]

The Baron said:

Obviously, you're not an ECW fan.

And then I had to look up ECW...

[The Baron]

Glad to assist in your education. ;)

[ClarkKent_DC]

Okay, now I have to look up ECW ...

[The Baron]

ECW was "Extreme Championship Wrestling".  There was a wrestler there who called himself "Taz".  Claiming to be tired of not getting title shots, he created his own "championship", which he called the "FTW Championship", meaning "F*** The World".  This is where I first encountered the acronym "FTW". I was totally unaware of the "For The Win" interpretation. So when I first saw people posting  "Such-and-such FTW", I was confused, to say the least.

[John Dunbar]

I'm surprised that it did get as much discussion going as it has, as I'm sure that was not the intention.  I think a lot of people brought up some points that have been nagging at them for a while, which is a good thing.  I know for myself, a lot of my posts over the past year have been replies to "New comics for the week of ..." and I am resolved to being more active (you have been warned!).  The greatest thing about the Cave, in whatever incarnation it has been in, has been the Legionnaires themselves.  The hallmark of the board is we are civil to and respectful of one another.  This doesn't mean there can't be differences of opinion; indeed, some of the best threads contain great back and forth discussion.  As Rich Lane put it so well some time ago, it's a discussion board, not a nodding heads in agreement board.

JeffCarter said:

I think it's interesting that THIS is what got some real discussion going around here.

 

What's even more ironic is that this isn't the first time Silver Age Fogey has stormed off in a huff, nor is it likely to be his last. I imagine he'll eventually come skulking back, and then be back to his old self eventually, just to see the whole thing recycle itself once again. And, unless I've skimmed erroneously, this still hasn't been mentioned. Hrm...

 

Figserello said:

 

It's funny how we're all flaring up here. 

 

I think a certain prickly, contentious and oversensitive ghost hangs over this thread! 

 

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

(Nods my head in agreement.)

[John Dunbar]

Ha!