Once Upon A Geek – Blue Devil #6 (Nov 1984)

10 responses to “Once Upon A Geek – Blue Devil #6 (Nov 1984)”

1. Nick Offerman would make a great Norm.

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2. Seems off-topic to be talking about 1980s video gaming instead of Blue Devil properly, but you *did* ask….

   I’m nowhere near as much of a gamer as my brother, but I did very much enjoy our family’s Atari 2600 (and, later, the Nintendo Entertainment System/NES) back in the day, and since the release of “plus” systems (that is, the currently-available Atari 2600+ and the Atari 7800+, which are both very similar in functionality despite the differing form factors), I’ve had occasion to build up my cartridge collection beyond what I even had back in the day (I’ve also been building up a collection of NES and especially Famicom games… turns out the Japanese Famicom cartridges, which need an adaptor to play on American systems, can be had much more cheaply than NES cartridges. Who’d have guessed?).

   Which brings me to Mario Bros. This isn’t a game I myself had back in the day, but I did play the 2600 version on a friend’s system a fair bit back then, and it’s definitely a game I’ve come back to since the beginning of what I now call “the ‘plus’ era.” While the 2600 version of Mario Bros. was only superficially similar to the arcade game that it attempts to replicate, I’ve become accustomed to its controls… so much so that when I play the Famicom version (which MUCH more closely replicates the arcade game, being made by the same company, and with much more similar hardware capabilities) I find myself struggling to compensate. It’s not just that the Famicom game is harder, but that I’d gotten so used to the game mechanics of the 2600 version.

   The other anecdote I have to share about the Atari 2600 version of Mario Bros actually came from another podcast. GenXGrownUp featured *Super* Mario Bros. recently on the occasion of its 40th anniversary this year, but played this old commercial for Atari’s Mario Bros. games (https://youtu.be/dduvx-dEySY?si=6m-DJlCVD-NHklK_) as they closed out one of the podcast’s own commercial breaks. For additional retro nostalgia, the commercial parodies the classic sitcom “Car 54, Where Are You?”, which I absolutely wouldn’t have known back in the 1980s, having only been introduced to that program when it began airing as part of Nick at Nite’s line-up in the 1990s. But I imagine some of the parents who would be most likely to BUY the games for their kids took notice!

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3. Ernie didn’t just ink that book. A LOT of the pencil work was his finishes over very rough Paris layouts.

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4. Yes, The Loony Toons bits were ALSO riffing off OF MICE AND MEN–the 1940 version with Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney, Jr.

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5. For norm Robin Williams mork and Mindy era and for the trickster Andy Kaufman

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6. I picked Robin Williams for norm because I think
   Because he can be the goofy guy and the action guy going in for the shot you see that with his characters like genie from Aladdin or mork or even the dad in misses doubt fire .
   And as for Andy Kaufman for the trickster he was was some one who always wanted to play the bad guy and the one time he did in Memphis wrestling he was really good at I think would thoroughly enjoy and respect and bring a new style to character watch my breakfast with blassie and his tv special and some of stuff from Memphis n wrestling I think the midnight special episode he hosted would explained why I chose him as the trickster.

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7. What a treat to have a new episode of my favourite Blue Devil podcast. You know, could we try our FW Network manifest power to get a DC’s Finest collection of our big blue boy’s book? It’s nuts that these gems have never been collected.

   It was a shame not to have Gary Martin inking, but Ernie Colon, unsurprisingly, does a bang-up job. (Incidentally, did you know Gary Martin moved the letters of his name around a tad, moved to the UK and, nah… forget it.) ((Then again, check out the credits of issue 13!))

   Count me in as a non-video game player, I’ve not tried anything since Binatone Tennis, it was too fast and intimidating for me.

   Shaaaa-ag, you never mentioned the argument-settling pics I tweeted re: Stefanie Powers and James Garner, honestly!

   Frank’s comments on the loss of the shared Canon was the smartest thing I’ve heard on a podcast in ages, it’s a rotten shame books don’t get the love they once did – here in Scotland kids can graduate high school these days without having even read a novel, never minds a Scottish one. And Shag, don’t undersell yourself for enjoying Doctor Who books etc.

   A young Alan Tudyk would likely make a great Trickster, as boringly obvious as that is!

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   1. I new I should have refreshed the page before I posted – I missed you had also suggested Alan Tudyk!

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      1. I know the feeling, I never dare post anything until I’ve checked everyone else out.

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8. Both Frank and Shag are right (I’m not sure that sentence has ever been typed before and I fear I might have broken the internet typing it out) – someone should do a Crisis podcast and talk about Lyla however since my timeline/earth has been wiped out by a anti matter wave I’m not sure who. Maybe DC Dave will have survived all this. Actually I’m not even sure how I’m typing this out since I’m technically wiped from memory but at least that means that my statement that both Frank and Shag are right will also be wiped from existence once the crisis wave catches up.

   But while I’m here I’m also going to mention my casting suggestion for Norm and it’s maybe a bit out there – But Idris Elba I know he’s probably too big name for the role but it’s fan casting and its not like there’s a Blue Devil Movie or TV show on the air right now is there? Unless the Magic of F&W will strike if you finish the fan casting stick it on Social Media have James Gunn see it and then… well anyway…. Idris Elba has as we know some acting and action chops. I think having him Cameo in a BD film would be right up his alley.

   But this episode is actually fan casting The Trickster and while if we were in the 80s Mark Hamill is perfect casting for a modern era thats more tricky (I know I know but sometimes the puns write themselves). The Trick (I know that’s strike 2) to casting James Jesse is that you want someone charming enough to a con man but at the same time smart enough to build the tricks he uses. My default for this would likely be Alan Tudyk however he’s a busy guy so it might be a difficult get. But modern Day BD show/film – he’s my top choice for Trickster.

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