No, just kidding.
It was Gears Of War #1 from Wildstorm.
Video game adaptations continue to be safe for me to review.
(flips through comic)
Ok, here's a question. Gears of War #1, Nightwing #149, both comparably violent comics.
Why does Gears get a "for mature readers" label on the cover and Nightwing doesn't?
It doesn't make sense.
Plus, you couldn't really say that Gears of War #1 is "torture porn." It has a bunch of big zombie alien guys getting their heads blown off. Not very sensual.
(flips through comic again)
Ok, maybe it's a little sensual.
You should have seen me ice skating in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteLovely.
The tone is set for Wednesday night.
I love that show. So much.
ReplyDeleteVal, I'm asking again here - WHAT TORTURE PORN? ^^; Are we reading the same comics here?
ReplyDeleteIt's all about the property, I guess. The Gears of War comic is based on a video game that's rated M (for mature) and contains a metric ton of blood, gore, and violence. Meanwhile, Nightwing is connected to Batman, a character that, from what I hear, can't star in a Mature Readers book, no matter how much the book may deserve it (sup, ASBAR?).
ReplyDeleteSigh...
This whole world's wild at heart and weird on top.
ReplyDeleteBit off topic here, but could someone help me define torture porn, or at least point me place that describes it? My own quick research showed one place (http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2007/09/06/on-torture-porn/) showed three conflicting definitions, and they were all related to film. I'm not saying those definitions couldn't easily be translated to other mediums, but I'm still trying to tack down a universal definition. There seems to be a sensual element to it, but for who? The reader, a character in the story, or both?
ReplyDeleteHmmm... may have jumped the gun with my question there, because I think some comments in that link I posted cleared some definitions up. "Torture porn" seems to be the lurid and sensationalized production of bringing torture to the forefront, while things like plot and characterization takes a backseat.
ReplyDeleteIf this is true, then could Nightwing #149 be considered torture porn? I'm starting to have my doubts. As much as "hero fights some headliner villains that aren't real" cliche is used in comics, this comic was part of a wider arc, and there was a reason Dick needed to be distracted.
Regardless of justifying the plot point, could torture porn work in a semantic sense here? Torture porn seems to me is a decidedly visual medium, and while Dick was certainly emotionally distraught throughout the comic, he wasn't being physically tortured. Since he is being excessively violent (Dick knows they're hallucinations and he's trying to end it fast, but still), perhaps calling it violence porn or inappropriately violent would fit this title more.
In the end, I'm surprised this thing got picked up by so many blogs. To me it was just a mediocre issue in dialogue, plot beats, and characterization of Two-Face. The violence in it... well, as mentioned before, this seems to be par for the course for DC, and I guess you just get desensitized to it after a bit.
I'm with Lewis...what on are are people talking about?! Can someone please clear this up, I'll accept that I'm too stupid to get it, so just explain what was the problem with Nightwing #149? I really want to know.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's because I've been reading Nightwing closely since Tomasi started writing and know the whole story and history behind the character...but I really don't see what the "torture porn" part of it is. Was it violent? yeah, but I saw it as more action-packed and trippy than violent. I dunno, it just seems unfair to define DC or even the current NIghtwing book by this ONE issue. O_o; Especially when there are non-mature labled books that are worse or more violent/gory on a monthly basis.