The 90s saw a revival of the kind of tense, talky, swift-as-a-racehorse suspense movies that previously peaked in the paranoid 70s (Three Days of the Condor and All The President’s Men are good examples: one grade above James Bond and one below, I dunno, The Godfather Part II).
Author: Lane Talbot
My work has been listed as notable fiction in Best American Mystery Stories and published in Berkeley Fiction Review, ThugLit, Able Muse and elsewhere. I have an MFA from Southern Illinois University.
Raiders of Character
Watching Indiana Jones as a child changed me irrevocably and I realized it as it was happening. I was five years old when I sat on the carpet of my grandparent’s living room watching Raiders of the Lost Ark on their enormous screen. As the nightmarish boulder chased Indy down that famous cave throat, I… Continue reading Raiders of Character
The X-Men #6, July 1964
“Though I am prince of the deep, monarch of the sea, my titles are hollow… my kingdom is empty and meaningless!!”—Namor the Sub-Mariner, X-Men # 6, 1964
Central Conflict: Namor VS. The X-Men VS. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
The X-Men #5, May 1964
“Never have you, the reading public, been so instantly fascinated by a group of super-powerful villains as last issue, when you met Magneto’s evil mutants!”
Central Conflict: X-Men vs. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
The X-Men #4, March 1964
“I am wiring two bombs! One will be placed at this door, to booby-trap it and destroy them when they enter! As for the other, that one will be a nuclear bomb, capable of blowing up this entire nation!”
Central Conflict: X-Men vs. the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
Breakout Character: Quicksilver
The X-Men #3, November 1963
“Didn’t expect the flying Zamboobas to tackle you this way, did you?” Central conflict: The X-Men vs. The Blob and a cast of circus performers Elephant Abuse: At this point (Issue 3), the X-Men’s central purpose seems to be to detect and locate other mutants and absorb them into their team or battle them. When… Continue reading The X-Men #3, November 1963
The X-Men #2, October 1963
“Silence! No talking!! Not until I conclude this presentation!” Central conflict: The X-Men vs. The Vanisher Fictional Film listed on theater marquee in a background: “A Teen-Ager’s Tears.” Fresh from their initial victory, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman and Angel aren’t short on pride or teenage superheated enthusiasm for everything. Whether they’re bickering, rescuing construction… Continue reading The X-Men #2, October 1963
The X-Men #1, September 1963
“Wrong, General! I have all the time in the world! And now, I, the miraculous Magneto, claim this entire installation… in the name of Homo Superior!!”
The X-Men and I are trying to work some things out.
My mission here is revisit and study the X-Men and to learn about them, about 20th and 21st Century America, and fandom in general, issue by issue.