Showing posts 1 - 3 of 3 matching: authority
Friday, June 26, 2020
On Whose Authority?
Not so long ago, Booster booster Fin called my attention to a comic I had long overlooked. It wasn't a missed Booster Gold appearance. Not quite, anyway.
Just see if this banter doesn't sound familiar:
art by David Williams and Kelsey Shannon
Those panels are from The Authority: The Lost Year, a series in which the Authority bounced from one alternate universe to another. (This was back in 2010, before the New 52 folded the Wildstorm Universe into the mainstream DCnU.)
Issues #8 and #9 were written by Grant Morrison, Keith Giffen, and J.M. DeMatteis and featured an alternate universe in which the local Authority looked and acted a lot like a particular, best-selling DC Comics team of the late 1980s.
The meta-textural take on the Justice League International by the JLI's original writing team is delightful, especially as contrasted with the modern, no-nonsense Authority concept (itself strongly reminiscent of the extreme 1990s love affair with "mature" sex and violence content).
As you can see, that's Blue Beetle in the role of the Authority's Midnighter (a Batman-like vigilante) and Booster Gold as Apollo (whose character is a riff on Superman — so fitting!) In their original continuity, Apollo and Midnighter are a homosexual couple, allowing the issue's writers to directly tackle the longstanding Boostle phenomenon 'shipping Blue and Gold into a romantic relationship.
I'm sorry I hadn't realized this book existed sooner. Thanks, Fin.
Comments (2) | Add a Comment | Tags: apollo authority blue beetle david williams fin grant morrison j.m. dematteis justice league international keith giffen kelsey shannon midnighter wildstorm
Monday, January 24, 2011
Not Your Father's Comic Code
In a statement released last week by co-Publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio, DC Comics will put ratings that are all but identical to the ESRB video game ratings system on all of its comic books. New issues of Booster Gold will be brought to you by the letter "T."
The Comics Code Authority seal was affixed to the cover of each issue of Booster Gold Volume 1. The preamble of the CCA at the time advised, "This seal of approval appears only on comics magazines which have been carefully reviewed, prior to publication, by the Comics Code Authority, and found to have met the high standards of morality and decency required by the code."
The DC "T" rating breaks it down a little differently by simply notifying, "Appropriate for readers age 12 and older. May contain mild violence, language and/or suggestive themes."
Which would you as a parent feel more comfortable handing your child? While the old code represented values, the new code only provides a content disclaimer. How American.
Comments (5) | Add a Comment | Tags: comics code authority
Friday, April 2, 2010
Booster Gold vs The Comics Code
Attentive readers may have noticed that in the most recent issue of Booster Gold, Cyborg Superman blows a huge hole in the Eradicator. My first thought was that that sort of thing wouldn't have been allowed if the new Booster Gold series had been submitted for Comic Code Authority approval as the original series was. But when I double-checked Superman #80, the scene is shown very graphically on the cover of the issue which also bears the Comics Code Stamp of Approval!
DC Comics still promotes the fact that their Johnny DC line is approved by the Comics Code Authority. But if the modern Code allows for the sort of graphic violence as one man shooting another in half, I can't imagine that the Code is really providing much assurance for parents looking for kid-friendly books. If that's the case, we might as well get the Code back on Booster Gold if it would encourage anybody to buy the book. Then maybe DC could start promoting the time-traveling adventures of Booster Gold as edutainment: a history lesson with staples!
Comments (0) | Add a Comment | Tags: comics code authority
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