Once Upon A Geek – Blue Devil #5 (Oct 1984)

8 responses to “Once Upon A Geek – Blue Devil #5 (Oct 1984)”

1. Another great episode but if there is any show begging for a ‘supplemental’ post it’s this one. As I was listening in the car to how great the art was I kept thinking ‘can’t wait to go home and look’ … only to be left hanging. All is well. I bet it is on the app.

   A few comments.

   I also thought slaking meant something dirty. Particularly because in an early episode of MASH (cue Rob to remind me which one) Hawkeye says to Radar that the best way to woo a girl is with poetry and gives him some to read. Radar says “I can’t read these to her! It talks about things like ‘slaking’!”

   As for the studio photos. I thought for sure it was Stephanie Powers but now hearing Frank say Jeanette Kahn, that has to be right. Incredible.

   Lastly, the Nebiros gets more power when he picks up the staff he imbued with power makes complete sense from a Lord of the Rings view. Sauron made the one ring with his own power. But I think it makes him even more powerful than he was. Perhaps the other magics utilized to form the weapon augments the power put into it?

   I first got into Cullins with his work on the Blue Beetle book and always thought Bruce Patterson was the perfect inker for his stuff.

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   1. Nah, it’s Stefanie Powers with James Garner. In jokes are great but it makes no sense for the story. And Dick Giordano always had the moustache.

      These sausages are just sausages.

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2. Fantastic episode!

   Random thoughts:

   The word “slaked” sounding like a dirty word was a joke on a M*A*S*H episode too.

   I also thought Dick Giordano for the male picture. I have no idea what Jeanette Kahn looks like. But that sounds completely plausible!

   I’m ambivalent about magic in comics. I think that magic offset by science (“circuits and sorcery”) can be fun, however, and it is in Blue Devil. I don’t like things like “Greek/Norse myths are actually real” because it just taxes my suspension of disbelief too much.

   “Exploding bubbles” sounds like an animation from a detergent ad. But yeah, cool power they keep using. It’s different.

   Lyla acting like an adolescent in her reaction to Blue Devil’s muscles? Maybe Lyla rapidly aged (like Alex Luthor) and was not yet mature at this point?

   I hadn’t realized that Zatanna was routinely sidelined. But it makes sense, otherwise she’d be way too powerful for most situations. Kind of like a certain nuclear man around the same time.

   I love the 80s costume too… but it is quite 80s. I think I get why they don’t use the Blue Devil iconic costume today. It’s a little dated.

   That said, the less said about what “modern” writers did to Dan Cassidy’s character (or his alleged lack thereof), the better.

   Tim Curry is not a letdown after Bobcat Goldthwait. Not at all!

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3. Hot take: Dr. Fate’s half-mask look is actually better when it comes to Golden Age JSA stories. The art at the time wasn’t as great at making the full helm expressive. Also, The Atom and Hawkman were already doing the full mask thing. Full helm is clearly the way to go from the Silver Age forward.

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4. That introduction when Frank was reading it I kept imagining the muppet show with special guest the blue devil . Now I want a muppet version of the blue devil .

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5. What a treat to have another episode of this show, I’m sad to hear that we’re having the number of episodes halved to make room in the schedule for Star Wars, but if Star Wars is more of a bringer of joy than Dan Cassidy and co, what can you do?

   Anyway, meanwhile we have this episode and it was great, love the banter as ever. The issue itself was a lot of fun, you cannot go wrong with Dan and Zatanna together.

   It’s weird, our favourite backwards magician is totally in that Summer Fun Annual in my memory, I am soooo brain-dead.

   I disagree that it was bad form on the part of the cover colourist to make the soldiers in the background all grey – look at the rest of the colours on the cover, if the wee fellas were coloured in full as well it would just be one enormous guddle. As Frank intimated, there’d be nowhere for the eyes to land. I don’t think Paris Cullins put THAT much work into this area, all we get is a little bit of rubble or machinery and five titchy soldiers, not much to lose.

   I was amused by the comments on Lyla, someone should address her weirdness in a podcast.

   Frank, you’re right I am out of my mind… but not when it comes to Blue Devil’s costume. And I didn’t even mention those appalling old man bushy eyebrows – how can anyone possibly fancy him looking like that? I do think he looked rather smart in his Shadowpact black T-shirt and jeans affair.

   As Frank says, it’s Seamus, not ‘See-mus’, but some of the names on this side of the pond are indeed a little strange – have you ever tried to pronounce ‘Cholmondely’ or ‘Feathstonehaugh’? They’re sounded as ‘Chumley’ and ‘Fanshaw’.

   Tim Curry is a great idea for Nebiros. As for Norm, any comedic US chap would do.

   Finally Shag, congratulations and thank you for JSApril.

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6. Fun, as always, although I’m solidly with Frank on the five-month wait thing. 😉

   Seriously, though, when you guys were fan-casting, I was conscious of your criteria that Nebiros voice actors needed to bring a combination of gravitas and craziness to the role. When Shag suggested Tim Curry, I was reminded of my own fan-casting in the 90s, whereby I always thought that Curry would make a great version of The Master from Doctor Who, for exactly those reasons.

   It’s hard to beat Frank’s suggestion of Bobcat Goldthwait for Nebiros, though!

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7. I tend to think Bruce Campbell for Neibros. As for Zatanna, Serinda Swan was good as her on Smallville, but I think Camilla Mendes from Riverdale would mwork too.

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