So What Are you Reading?: Generations

[Allyn Gibson]

I don't get it. They just stay in the hero business as they get older?

Essentially, yeah.

The fun of doing something like this, as in Generations, is to explore the passing of the torch, to invent legacy heroes that take over for the originals. Heck, that used to happen a lot in Marvel, at least with the Avengers and X-Men. If it's just the same heroes getting really old, that seems to squander the potential of the premise.

Tony Stark mentions that there are younger heroes during the Civil War chapter, and he talks about how they differ from Peter and Steve Rogers, but we don't ever see them in this story. Events generally conform to 616 history, except with characters aging in real time, with a few exceptions. Carol Danvers appears to have adopted the Captain Marvel title in this universe than she did in the 616. Something weird happens to Vision. (Given the time period of that part, it feels like a reference to the Distinguished Competition.) But the story isn't about the other heroes or about their legacies. It's about Peter Parker and why he carries this burden (both physical and emotional) of being Spider-Man from his teens into his seventies.

Let me add, I agree with you -- one of the best things about Generations was seeing the mantles passed, the next generation taking the place of their forebears. But that's also a fundamental DC idea; they leaned into the heroic legacies for a long, long time. Marvel historically hasn't been as big on doing the heroic legacy. When they do pass a mantle, it's going to return to its original owner pretty quickly.

 

[Christopher]

But that's also a fundamental DC idea; they leaned into the heroic legacies for a long, long time. Marvel historically hasn't been as big on doing the heroic legacy. When they do pass a mantle, it's going to return to its original owner pretty quickly.

What about the All-New, All-Different X-Men? Or the New Mutants? Or the ever-changing Avengers roster? Even the Fantastic Four went through membership changes that lasted a long time, as well as other changes like Reed and Sue getting married and having kids. And in the solo books, even without the mantle getting passed, there was still real growth and change that didn't get reset every few years, like Peter Parker going from high school to college to grad school to postgrad, and getting married. Marvel used to have a real sense of permanent progress and change in its comics, of the characters advancing through time in a real, meaningful way. That went away in the '90s or so when you ended up with creators who'd grown up as fans and insisted on resetting everything to the way it was when they were kids. That's when the era of the illusion of change began.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Leviticus.

Numbers.

Spoiler

It's not a mathematical treatise.

 

[Ron M]

Have been reading Planiverse, a 1984 book by A. K. Dewdney about life in a two-dimensional universe. The concept is similar to the more famous Flatland by Edwin Abbott, but done from a hard-sci-fi perspective--and Dewdney's speculations about 2-D science and technology are quite fascinating.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Have been reading Planiverse, a 1984 book by A. K. Dewdney about life in a two-dimensional universe. The concept is similar to the more famous Flatland by Edwin Abbott, but done from a hard-sci-fi perspective--and Dewdney's speculations about 2-D science and technology are quite fascinating.

I thought I was the only person who'd ever read this! I was probably 12 when I read it. There are odd things I remember about it, like the different periodic table in the 2-D universe.

 

[Ron M]

I thought I was the only person who'd ever read this! I was probably 12 when I read it. There are odd things I remember about it, like the different periodic table in the 2-D universe.

Yeah, there are lots of things I'd never considered before, like how the "inverse square law" works differently (meaning gravity and light dissipate more slowly than in 3D) and how that would pose unique challenges for 2D technology: for example, a 2D rocket can never achieve escape velocity. And Dewdney's thoughts on how you might build something like a steam engine or airplane in only two dimensions are intriguing. He even delves into what music and visual arts might be like in a 2D society. Fascinating stuff, and he does a decent job of balancing the story with the science.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Deuteronomy.

Spoiler

Moses dies.

 

[Reanok]

I've been reading Deadly Editions by Paige Shelton .I like the back story of Robert Louis Stevenson writing his novel about Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the historical context in Scotland that it was based on a real murder case has been really interesting so far.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Deuteronomy.

Spoiler

Moses dies.

Not sure you need to spoiler-code four thousand year-old Abrahamic mythology.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Joshua

Spoiler

Rahab the whore hides Joshua's spies, and helps them escape.

Spoiler

The walls of Jericho fall.

 

[Christopher]

Spoiler

The walls of Jericho fall.

Was Shaka there?

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Was Shaka there?

Well, somebody's gotta do it. (And that's a really obscure allusion to a movie I've actually seen.)

 

[John Clark]

Invisible Sun by Charles Stross. I've liked the series so far.

 

[Reanok]

Batter off dead by Maddie Day

 

[Damian]

Oblivion's Gate, the 3rd Coda book.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

First Samuel.

Ran through Judges

Spoiler

Not a treatise on jurisprudence

and Ruth

Spoiler

Not about Kirk's old flame

last night.

 

[TrickyDickie]

Star Trek 2009 by Alan Dean Foster. I didn't read it when it came out, because I didn't feel like shelling out $15 and tax for a larger format paperback. Now they are dirt cheap, especially when bundled with others in lots on ebay.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Second Samuel
First Kings
Second Kings

Spoiler

Things keep getting worse for the ancient Hebrews.

 

[Bryan Levy]

Second Samuel
First Kings
Second Kings

Spoiler

Things keep getting worse for the ancient Hebrews.

But surely it’s smooth sailing for the Jews after that, right? RIGHT?

 

[Reanok]

Star trek Tos That Which divides by Dayton ward