The Second Annual Great Moments in Irish Super-Heroics Special!
Top o' the evenin' to ye! Yes, as you can tell by my Claremontian salutation, it's St. Patrick's Day again! And that means that today, we celebrate the time that Dum-Dum Dugan chased the Serpent Society from the Emerald Shores of Oul Eire.
Or something like that. I still don't have a good handle on it, but, well, I was raised Zoroastrian.
Point being, today, as you may have heard from someone's t-shirt, everybody's Irish! And that means that it's time once again to highlight our occasional heritage by celebrating the three defining aspects of Irish life, as learned from a lifetime of reading comic books:
Wee Folk!
Alcoholism!
And of course...
Merle Haggard!
Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody!
I've mentioned it before, but it always bears repeating: The Question #2 is awesome.
posted by Chris Sims at 3/17/2007 11:47:00 PM
18 Comments:
Marvel is sadly short on Irish themed super-humans. It made creating Avengers: MA difficult. Banshee got blown up and Black Tom got eaten by Xorn or something. And Siryn is with X-Factor...
You know who that leaves? Shamrock. Thats it!
3/18/2007 1:35 AM
The Question kicks ass right there, kicks ass HARD!
Anyone else think Banshees looks like Ron Pearlman in Beauty and the Beast in that panel... only with fruitier boots.
Merry St Patrick's day everybody, I've been drinking Guinness all weekend even though I have no Irish Heritage whatsoever.
3/18/2007 2:24 AM
, I've been drinking Guinness all weekend even though I have no Irish Heritage whatsoever.
Thats ok, neither do the people who own the Guiness Bottling Co...
3/18/2007 4:31 AM
Great post as always. But this reminded me I have to thank you:
Ever since you mention how awesome The Question's 1987 series is, I had been dying to read it. So I got my hands on the old issues, and Dear Lord you didn't exaggerate. If anything, you didn't come close enough to capturing the awesome. Thanks for your comic evangelism.
3/18/2007 6:10 AM
Speaking of which... which real city is the corrupt city in THE QUESTION (the 1987 series) based on?
A) Detroit?
B) Chicago?
C) Pittsburgh?
D) All of the above?
:-S
3/18/2007 6:19 AM
She would not be pouting if she had several inches of lumpy, scaly, cancer ridden merc-with-a-mouth up inside of her.
3/18/2007 6:42 AM
Ah Jack O'Lantern... the Irish superhero who's costume included a balaclava hood and who's power was to throw explosive devices. How the hell did they get away with creating that?
3/18/2007 8:11 AM
That Question sequence makes Warren Ellis look like a real Johnny-Come-Lately as far as decompression goes.
3/18/2007 11:17 AM
Is that Banshee panel real? Was he really buying concert tickets in costume?
3/18/2007 12:03 PM
The 80's Question series rocked.
I've heard that Hub City was based on East St. Louis; but I can't remember exactly where other than it was more than one place.
3/18/2007 12:14 PM
You forgot to include "Potato Eating" in there, but otherwise, you'ver pretty much got it summed up nicely.
(And while we're on the subject, why do the Irish heroes always wear green? Where are the orange-wearing Protestant Irish heroes, I ask? Why aren't my people represented? Waaaaah.)
As for Banshee, was he always written as a huge C&W fan? Is that why Professor X recruited him for the All New All Different X-Men at the Grand Ole Opry? I always kinda wondered.
3/18/2007 2:57 PM
That Banshee panel is what made a young Matt T. a fan of the wailing Irishman. As Barbara Mandrell said (with George Jones' help) I was country when country wasn't cool (before every hipster on the planet suddenly decided Johnny Cash was cool), and the world of pop culture has never had much love for the Nashville cats. Still doesn't, though I can understand the sentiment given how dull modern country radio is. But right there, a real super hero, though calling him "B-List" would be generous, scoring some tickets for the Hag. It was just neat.
And it made perfect sense, given the character. For one, Ireland is the Hillbilly Motherland. Furthermore, Banshee was a tough, hard-ass ex-cop with a big heart who got enjoyment out of the simpler things in life. The Hag's whole deal is about having to live a hard life and just wanting a soft place to fall. Life isn't fair and it's particularly unfair to him, but the Hag sang about having to keep on going and working for a day when he doesn't have to work so hard.
Merle Haggard is awesome. Met him once, too; he's a cool old dude, but he's really into the whole Art Bell thing. He talked about chemtrails and the HAARP Project, and this is the guy who sang "Oakie From Muskogee", so that was kind of weird.
3/18/2007 3:52 PM
Just to clarify here, Captain America #147 revolves entirely around Cap and the Falcon heading down to Nashville and running across the Banshee while he's hiding out from the Secret Empire.
Said "hiding" involves scoring Merle Haggard tickets and displaying some of the most grotesque faces of Sal Buscema's career.
3/18/2007 4:10 PM
Oh, yeah.
Mr. Sims, my brother and I watched Karate Bearfighter last night. Words fail me. I have not been this moved by a piece of cinema since probably Mr. Vampire. All hail Netflix and all hail you, my good sir, for the recommendation. I'd hug you neck if I could.
Unfortunately, I'll not have a decent night's rest until I've seen GI Samurai.
3/18/2007 4:40 PM
You forgot the other Irish-in-comics staple: namely, THINKING in an Irish accent.
Seriously, how many people think to themselves in cod versions of their own national accent? How many Irish superheroes REALLY think "sure an' I weren't expectin' that metal laddie to move so fast and all, now"* instead of "shit, robot!"?
*re-enactment not based on actual incident
3/18/2007 8:37 PM
The Union Of Irish Comic Bloggers (i.e. me and PJ Holden, and uh, that's it) declare this entry... RIGHTEOUS!
3/18/2007 8:53 PM
As to being Irish and Country and Western music, there are six words which clinch it-"Philomena Begley and her Rambling Men." Do not misuse this dread knowledge...
3/20/2007 5:30 AM
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