My favourite is the girl firing the Maxim MG in "For Valor." The artist has captured small details of the gun and does a good job on the tripod (although the cloth ammo belt is a bit of a miss). The girl, however? Despite kneeling beside a fully clothed soldier, she has barely got a stitch of clothes on. Where did they go? Judging by the picture, she ripped them off herself to kneel on. I guess she didn't want to get her shoes muddy.
Considering the racial profiling on the rest of the covers, this may even be "Johnny Turk!"
You know, it's kind of funny. In modern interpretations of the Pulps, the Nazis, everyone's favourite bad-guys, get trotted out again and again. And that's cool, I mean ... Nazis. Who doesn't want to get all two-fisted justice on them? But I wonder how much this has to do with the unacceptable image of the strong white man beating up cowardly non-white men, who were just threatening the helpless white woman? Sort of a collective "Phew, at least we don't have to show Hellboy beating the heck out of Asians, Africans, Amerinds, Australians ... and anything else that starts with an A."
Although my introduction to the moustachioed Mandarin was in Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu, which I collected spottily throughout the late 70's and early 80's.
Thus my original exposure to the books, as a teen-ager, was somewhat disappointing .. I was expecting high-flying kung-fu action!
Since then, I've gained a appreciation for books that feature neither high-flying nor martial arts, and I seem to be recovering nicely.
As a current employee (Henchman #29) of the Sinister Sheik of Shadows it would at least be Conflict of Interests, if not full-blown Professional Misconduct under the code of conduct for the Henchman's Union (Local #392) to include Arabs on that list.
I know this is a side thought, but while looking at those covers I remembered the Sci-Fi Pulps that I own and their covers. They had something in common with "Spiceworld" but many of the stories inside were early classics from great writers. I wonder if there is any good writing buried under these bodice-ripped beauties...
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Date: 2007-08-14 01:50 pm (UTC)They're not supposed to be "classy"... they're...
...wait for it...
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Date: 2007-08-14 09:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-14 09:22 pm (UTC)It was nice, yeah.
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Date: 2007-08-14 02:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-14 02:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-14 09:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-14 02:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-14 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-14 02:55 pm (UTC)You know, it's kind of funny. In modern interpretations of the Pulps, the Nazis, everyone's favourite bad-guys, get trotted out again and again. And that's cool, I mean ... Nazis. Who doesn't want to get all two-fisted justice on them? But I wonder how much this has to do with the unacceptable image of the strong white man beating up cowardly non-white men, who were just threatening the helpless white woman? Sort of a collective "Phew, at least we don't have to show Hellboy beating the heck out of Asians, Africans, Amerinds, Australians ... and anything else that starts with an A."
Doug.
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Date: 2007-08-14 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-14 03:11 pm (UTC)Thus my original exposure to the books, as a teen-ager, was somewhat disappointing .. I was expecting high-flying kung-fu action!
Since then, I've gained a appreciation for books that feature neither high-flying nor martial arts, and I seem to be recovering nicely.
Doug.
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Date: 2007-08-14 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-14 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-14 09:24 pm (UTC)He did say "...anything else that starts with an A"
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Date: 2007-08-14 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-14 09:06 pm (UTC)