And no one plays more roles than Madrox the Multiple Man from X-Factor.
I've said this many times, but I really believe that even readers who normally avoid Marvel would enjoy Peter David's second X-Factor run. With its mix of humor and characterization, I think it would certainly appeal to JLI fans. I personally like it better than JLI, because PAD's sense of humor is closer to my own than Giffen/DeMatteis' sense of humor.
I think I picked up PADs first X-Factor run, or rather part of it. Not bad for a title I hadn't been following in a mutant drenched universe. The quality was consistent. I don't think I've read a huge amount of his other work though.
can't believe my strategy of making everyone too miserable to come to the thread didn't work....
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
For a while, from the mid-80s to the mid-90s, PAD had a Golden Touch: Spider-Man, Hulk, Dreadstar, The Atlantis Chronicles, X-Factor Mark 1, Star Trek, Aquaman...
Then his Marvel work suffered badly, but I think that had a lot to do with the company's editorial direction or lack thereof. Aquaman declined during the final 21 issues of his run because DC began micro-managing the book and sending PAD mixed signals.
Supergirl and Young Justice might be his most underrated runs. Fallen Angel was great for quite a while. X-Factor Mark 2 suffered from a revolving door of editors with contradictory agendas, but I've been re-reading it recently, and a lot of it is better than I gave it credit for at the time. All-New X-Factor got good after an awkward start, but Marvel wouldn't support it.
The Future Imperfect mini-series tying into Secret Wars had a surprisingly strong first issue.
But, in the end, since this is a DC-centric board, we must hold out hope that whoever replaces the current DC regime will welcome back PAD with open arms.
Paul: Yay! We've got Star Trek! Another DC comic embracing futuristic utopian idealism. Everything we're known best for. Jenette: Yeah, but Dark Horse have Aliens and Marvel are well into Star Wars. Paul: So? Jenette: So, how do we Marvelise Star Trek? Paul. uh, I dunno... bring in a mutant? Jenette: Yes! Who do we have? Paul: Captain Comet joins the Enterprise for more utopian idealism...of the future! Jenette: we're doomed! >hits head on desk<
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
The 80s DC Star Trek series had a lot of great stories. One of my favorite writers, Mike W. Barr (of Outsiders fame) wrote the earliest DC Star Trek arcs.
My feeling about the ST: TNG show is that it started out mediocre, then got good, but then the cast and the writers let the success of the show go to their heads, and the acting and writing got unbearably smug, self-conscious, and self-referential. When I (reluctantly) watched First Contact, I was sickened by the way the actors were winking and smirking even more than they had been doing on the TV show. I was very happy to see the TNG sub-franchise end after the box office failure of Nemesis.
My feeling about the ST: TNG show is that it started out mediocre, then got good, but then the cast and the writers let the success of the show go to their heads, and the acting and writing got unbearably smug, self-conscious, and self-referential. When I (reluctantly) watched First Contact, I was sickened by the way the actors were winking and smirking even more than they had been doing on the TV show. I was very happy to see the TNG sub-franchise end after the box office failure of Nemesis.
I agree, Fanfie. I think all the Next Generation films, especially ST: Generations, were absolute crap.
I never even watched Generations, I was outraged because I thought The Undiscovered Country should have been the last time we saw any of the ST: TOS cast members.
The Undiscovered Country should have been the last time we saw any of the ST: TOS cast members.
If only...
I hated how callously the moviemakers killed Kirk off and had Picard just leave him buried under a pile of rocks in a barren wasteland. That's no way to honor the greatest captain who ever lived.
I'm a Trekkie from 'way back. The only Trek TV series I never could get into was Voyager. It was like Gilligan's Island in space--except that had already been done:
The only character in all of literature who has been described as "badnass" while using the phrase "vile miscreant."
I liked Janeway all right. I found Chakotay insufferable. I stopped watching with the episode where B'elanna Torres was split into a human half and a Klingon half. Not only was it a retread of the original series episode "The Enemy Within", but it also, with its portrayal of human B'elanna as weak and helpless, tried to set space feminism back 200 years.
The only character in all of literature who has been described as "badnass" while using the phrase "vile miscreant."