Wednesday 30 May 2007

Jim Shooter, You Messed Up My Mind...


Remember the New Universe? Back in the 80s it was Jim Shooter's big contribution to comics. A whole new super-hero universe set in the real world built from scratch by the Marvel's brightest and best writers of the time.

Most of the New Universe books that came out were - well - a little weird to say the least.

Don't believe me? I present Exhibit A: Star Brand #13.

This is the issue immediately following the one where the Star Brand accidentally nukes the city of Pittsburgh, turning it into a fifty mile wide smoking hole in the ground. Kenneth Connell the Star Brand bearer was killed along with about a million other unsuspecting innocent civilians.

In this issue his pregnant girlfriend, Maddie, is rushing to ground zero to see the carnage for herself. What a bad time to go into labor!Damn, that's just freaky. The weirdness doesn't stop there. The baby emerges from it's self made utero-emergency-exit and flies off leaving mommy's ruptured corpse behind.

Sick, sick, sick! Comics code how could you let this happen to me?

Hold on now, don't go rushing off to wash your eyes out just yet. You'll just have to go straight back to the bathroom after seeing this:
A scene written by Tom Cruise, sadly deleted from the final cut of Top Gun

Look on the bright side at least Jim Shooter and John Byrne never became a Pampers advertising executives - imagine the horror.

Flying babies, dead mommies and smoking craters that used to be cities. If the New Universe is based on the real world I'm just happy that I live right here in Never Never Land.

What say you glowing, disembodied baby head?

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