Agents of SHIELD. Season 1 Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Trekker4747, Sep 25, 2013.

  1. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

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    The father of professional association football players Gary Neville and Phil Neville is former league cricketer, football agent and director Neville Neville...
     
  2. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    Then there's the LL's revolving around the superman world.

    Lori Lemar.

    Lana Lang

    Lois Lane

    Lex Luthor

    Lara El (pretty close that one.)
     
  3. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I once wrote a story that postulated that Clark suffered from a Super-Oedipal Complex, hence Lois, Lana, Lori, etc.

    Not surprisingly, it never sold! :)
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Closer than you think. Her name was actually Lara Lor-Van. (Kryptonian women's surnames are their fathers' full names, e.g. Kara Zor-El.)
     
  5. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    And she was still Lara of the House of El . . . .

    Seems pretty Freudian to me! :)
     
  6. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    So you didn't write the episode of Smallville where Lionel Luthor swapped bodies with Clark and tried to nail his mum?

    Martha was not amused.
     
  7. bbjeg

    bbjeg Admiral Admiral

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    Right here buddy.
    ^I remember that 'wtf' look on her face.
     
  8. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    I find that hanging out on internet message boards helps me to remember the names on a new show....

    Which actually led to them establishing that Banner's full name was Robert Bruce Banner...not to mention that the alliterative approach didn't stop the Hulk's best friend, Rick Jones, from mentioning that his then-secret identity was Donald Blake in Avengers #2...!
     
  9. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    When did the "Robert Bruce Banner" retcon get established? Was it before or after the 1977 debut of the Bill Bixby TV series, which renamed him David Bruce Banner? I know they changed his name to David because somebody didn't like the name Bruce, but then, why not just call him Robert? Unless that hadn't yet been established in the comics as his real first name.
     
  10. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I think it was way before the TV show, possibly in the letter column of the comic book.

    'Nuff said, True Believers!
     
  11. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Hm. Odd, then.

    Okay, related question: I know that Alfred the butler in the '66 Batman series was never called Alfred Pennyworth because that name wasn't coined until 1969, a few months after the series went off the air. But Commissioner Gordon was never given a first name in the show either. So when was Commissioner Gordon given his first name of James in the comics?
     
  12. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    ^^ I don't know much about the DC characters, but the Robert Bruce Banner retcon goes back to the 60s. I think it was first used in that epic 2-parter in the FF with the Hulk and the Avengers.

    Yeah, that was the system they used probably at least through the 80s, but I have a feeling that guys like Englehart and Gerber went into a bit more detail. :D
     
  13. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    My Batman is weak.

    Although as far as "Bob" Banner was concerned, there was a full page apology the following month, followed by a "You thought we frakked up but we didn't" cover up.

    In the late 80s, I heard that Hollywood sidelined "Bruce" because it sounded "too gay", which at the time wasn't offensive (Yes it was, well no one knew it was offensive, the gays did... Shut up!), when putting the Hulk project together.

    Short answer: Homophobia.
     
  14. DWF

    DWF Admiral Admiral

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    It happened in Fantastic Four #25, the reason for the change on the TV series was some kind of homophobia, they didn't want to call him Bruce.
     
  15. Sto-Vo-Kory

    Sto-Vo-Kory Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    This is true but it happened much earlier and for the TV show.
     
  16. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    The earliest mention of it I've been able to find is in "The Private Life of Commissioner Gordon" from World's Finest #53, which came out in August 1951. He was referred to there as "Jim W. Gordon."
    Not to mention all the Jons. Jon Snow, Jon Arryn, Jon Connington, two Jon Umbers (the Greatjon and the Smalljon)... :p
     
  17. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    ^This, to the best of my knowledge. Pretty sure it was first established as a letter column rationalization after the initial mistake, then it wound up sticking in-story, though I couldn't say when exactly the full name was first used deliberately in-story.

    If it had been after the TV series, then I imagine that they just would have established at that point that his actual first name was David. I do specifically recall one instance, in an early 80s story in which a then-intelligent Hulk was granted presidential amnesty for any past actions, that they showed Reagan signing a formal document that identified his as "David Bruce Banner"...and that immediately jumped out to me at the time as a total foul-up as far as comics continuity was concerned.
     
  18. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    That's a popular myth, but it isn't really true. (After all, Bruce Jenner had won Olympic gold the year before, so it's hard to believe people would've considered the name unmanly at the time.) According to Kenneth Johnson, he wanted to avoid using an alliterative name because it sounded too comic-booky, and he chose David instead because it was his son's name. And that explanation makes sense, because Johnson clearly tried to get as far from the comic as possible in every respect. His Hulk didn't talk, he wasn't being chased by the military, he didn't battle supervillains, there was no Rick Jones or Betty Ross, etc. Johnson didn't even want the Hulk to be green -- he preferred red, the color of rage -- but Stan Lee was adamant on that point. (I mean, whoever heard of a Red Hulk?) Basically Johnson hated anything to do with the comics and preferred to draw on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Les Miserables as his referents.


    Okay, thanks. I guess the show never used his first name because that's the kind of show it was. It rarely used the real names of any of its villains either -- Penguin was always just Penguin (even running for mayor under that name), Catwoman was just Catwoman, etc. (There were a few exceptions, though, e.g. Mad Hatter was Jervis Tetch and Mr. Freeze was Dr. Shivel.) Chief O'Hara never got a first name either, and he was an original creation. (He was apparently later named Clancy O'Hara in the comics, although Wikipedia calls him Miles O'Hara -- perhaps by confusion with Chief O'Brien?)
     
  19. LaxScrutiny

    LaxScrutiny Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    You get the No Prize!
     
  20. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Though with today's Bruce Jenner...

    I've even heard Lou Ferrigno repeat that story.