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rockinlibrarian · 5 months ago

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My Current (again) Hyperfixation: The Legion Soundtrack

I read like three posts in a row-- and left an encouraging comment on one saying much the same thing-- saying GEEK OUT OVER WHAT YOU WANT TO GEEK OUT OVER UNABASHEDLY, PUT THAT LOVE IN THE WORLD EVEN IF ONLY YOU APPRECIATE IT-- just as "David Redux" was playing on my computer. Again. Because I have been hyperfixating on the Legion soundtrack for the past two-ish weeks and playing my playlist on repeat. In this case it was actually just part of my "Psychedelic and Prog Rock" playlist because I've been trying to branch out, but still, I feel the need to gush, but I've been RESTRAINING MYSELF BECAUSE WHO REALLY CARES... but this is a sign, isn't it? So allow me...

*ahem* Those of you who have been following me for any amount of time are probably aware that I'm a fan of the FX show from 2017-2019, Legion, a highly-mindtrippy, oft-problematic, X-Men spinoff about mentally-ill superpowered folks, for which I have written the vast majority of my fanfic. I first checked it out because showrunner Noah Hawley (whose Fargo I'd loved) crossed with the X-Men?! I stayed around because PSYCHEDELIC TRIPPINESS. Which includes the soundtrack. And honestly, maybe it's the soundtrack I love most of all.

There are two, possibly three, parts here. The needle-drops are A-PLUS, perfectly used in the storytelling, and just generally good songs, most of the time (yeah, a few I don't like. But then, sometimes that's what you need to tell the story). A lot of them are genuinely psychedelic or at least prog-rock, but even the ones that aren't are USED psychedelically: ironic in tone, simply capturing an odd fleeting emotional state, whatever. There are some well-known songs like "Speak To Me/Breathe" (more about the Pink Floyd connection in a bit), and a lot of rarer songs from lesser-known artists that I am ETERNALLY GRATEFUL to music supervisor Maggie Phillips for introducing me to. I ended up buying albums from The Beta Band and Secret Machines because of songs used in this show.

I feel like a lot of people had this reaction when "Undiscovered Firsts" by Feist played in Chapter Four of Legion, but this is one I immediately tracked down to purchase, like, after that episode. It might have been later than that. But it's definitely the first Legion-prompted music I purchased at SOME point:

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Yeah, looking at the comment section of that youtube video, it's pretty much all "Legion sent me here!"

But the needle-drop I've been most obsessed with during this current binge is Radiohead's "The Daily Mail":

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It is constantly in my head and I don't mind at all. It captures my underlying emotions lately (and I didn't even realize this until rewatching Chapter Five with closed-captions-- rewatching the show is another way I've tried to branch out from JUST relistening to my playlist over and over-- but the lyrics are eerily timely, too). It builds, and then it's over too soon, and I feel the need to start it from the beginning.

Here's a Spotify playlist I used for reference when building my own collection:

There are two three reasons I made my own playlist on my own computer out of my own collection. Probably the most important one that just occurred to me is because then I'm not reliant on Spotify. I own this music dangit! I can listen without commercials or supporting shady streaming services! Anyway, another is because there are a few songs on here I WOULD rather not listen to, thanks, why should I force myself? Thirdly, and originally most importantly before I remembered the "not reliant on Spotify" thing, is it only includes "songs," not OST instrumental background music, which is necessary!

I mean listen to this:

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That's basically the main musical theme of the series and sums up what it's all like and is also gorgeous.

Score writer Jeff Russo has stated many times in interviews that Pink Floyd is one of his biggest influences in general, and that he specifically leaned into that influence in the music for Legion. Well, whaddya know, my second-favorite band!--and for that matter, there's Beatles influence in there, too. Actually in the comments of the link I put to "David Redux" above, somebody said "This is literally I Want You(She’s so heavy) like just straight up that song." ...yeah so? No seriously it's not JUST straight up "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," but the influence is clearly there. There are definite bits of the score you can point to and say "Ah! Pink Floyd!" about, too, but mostly it's less blatant. But still-- the FEELING is there, that eerie, dreamy, sometimes disturbing feeling.

--Slight tangent about Pink Floyd and psychedelic music in general. It CAN be disturbing, and that's the POINT. It shakes you out of your comfort zone. Now, when I was a teenager and first getting into "Classic Rock," I HATED Pink Floyd. Not just meh, not just didn't care for, ACTIVELY HATED. And I was like, "Yeah, sorry, no way this is EVER going to grow on me." And I don't think it ever DID grow on me-- it just immediately flipped a switch-- from UTTER LOATHING to me buying a copy of Wish You Were Here at the used CD store and thinking, in that moment, oh darn, I think Pink Floyd has suddenly become my second-favorite band. Now, I wrote a whole long thing about my feelings about psychedelic music about 2/3s of the way into this article, so I'll leave you with the link and get back to the Legion soundtrack.

The Floyd influence extends across ALL of Legion, actually, not just the background music. The show's heroine is named after founding Floyd member Syd Barrett (who, notably for purposes of this show, had quit the band due to mental illness). I already mentioned the "Speak to Me/Breathe" needle-drop, and in Season Three there was a literal performance of "Mother":

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Admittedly, I have the original Floyd track on my playlist, not this performance.

But that brings us to the third part of the Legion music story: a lot of songs actually PERFORMED for the show. Often IN the show. Usually by the characters themselves, though once the band Superorganism actually appeared in the show to accost one of the characters with a performance of their song "Something for Your M.I.N.D.":

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In what is one of my favorite episodes of television ever, Chapter Seven (which when I opened up IMDB just now to make sure I was spelling Maggie Phillips' last name correctly, I noticed is ranked as the top episode there, 9.3 stars out of 10), Oliver Bird (whom you've probably heard me mention because he's one of my favorite characters ever--my third-favorite in this show only because the Loudermilks exist) conducts/wills into existence an eerie arrangement of "Bolero" that scores the frickin' amazing climax of the episode (cw for some creepy body horror and a bit o' gore if you watch this whole video):

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Oh oh oh the most amazing thing I've ever seen on TV is this mind-battle of "Behind Blue Eyes" from Chapter 19:

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But we were talking about the MUSIC, not so much the SHOW, and one of the other aspects of Performed for the Show is a whole series of covers Russo and showrunner Hawley recorded together as, technically, needle-drops, but often incorporating themes from the score, like the intro to their "Cornflake Girl":

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This makes for really unique covers that sometimes sound completely unlike the originals but actually are really friggin' good in and of themselves. I think my favorite is their "Fly Like an Eagle" which is WAY un-Steve-Miller-Band:

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Note that the intro is blatantly the intro to Pink Floyd's "Echoes"!

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Which is how I managed to branch out to my full "Psych and Prog Rock" playlist in the end-- "ooo, I really want to listen to 'Echoes' now"!

OKAY. RIGHT. So if anybody else gets hyperfixated on psychedelic music, let me know, because it's such a weird thing to hyperfixate on. But never mind. I HAVE NOW SHARED WITH YOU SOME AWESOMENESS. LISTEN WELL.

#legion fx #legion #music #psychedelia #hyperfixation #Youtube

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whatwouldyourbiasdo · 5 years ago

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Finding Cinderella | Series | Chapter Two

Title: Finding Cinderella

Pairings: Donghae x reader,(Primary) Heechul x reader (Secondary), Kyuhyun x reader (Secondary)

Author’s Note: I have been planning this story for a while but have been battling many writers’ blocks in doing so. This story will mainly focus on Donghae and the reader but will have branching stories between Heechul, Kyuhyun and two secondary OC characters.

Sidenote: Yes, this series will include Kangin and Sungmin. This was originally started back when the two of them were still active members and in my heart they will always be members so I will include them wherever I see fit.

SM Entertainment plans to host the event of the century and you are invited!

The news headline offered as click bait got a lot of people talking. It wasn’t a complete lie as SM Entertainment was gearing up to host what they believed to be the event of the century and even a handful of lucky fans were going to be granted access to this exclusive party. But there was a catch.

Only a few lucky fans were going to receive a V.I.P. invitation to the party, a chance to meet all their favorite artists and celebrities as well as experience the best food and music they had ever come across.

In order to be considered for an invitation, fans had to record a video message stating why they loved SM Entertainment, what they felt like the company’s artists changed their lives and why they should be one of the honorable guests for the party. SM Entertainment artists would judge the videos and each group would collectively vote on one fan to personally invite to the party.

Some netizens criticized the requirements, stating that they were basically begging for people to praise them on video so they could use that to their advantage later as part of a sneaky promotional stunt, while other netizens praised the company for including fans who helped the company gain so much success over the past year.

Videos came flocking in as soon as the signup had opened, people had to create a personal account on the official SM Entertainment event page, fill out their profile and personal information and upload the video. On the first night, the event page managed to crash due to the traffic from all over the world though many netizens claimed the company would end up picking fans within Korea as they always seemed favorable to their country.

Not all the applications were valid to the competition, however. Some people thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get their own rise to fame and uploaded a video of them dancing, singing or acting in a desperate attempt to get discovered. Paying tribute to their favorite artists they sang their hearts out and tried to mimic the complicated choreography for as much as possible to showcase their own talents and abilities. Unfortunately for them, SM Entertainment wasn’t looking for new trainees and took no heed of these desperate audition attempts. And then there were the desperate fans who were just grasping the chance of conveying their messages to their favorite idols, hoping that their love confession would set off a series of events only seen in dramas.

Some, however, took it to the extreme. This platform was also the perfect opportunity for the so-called “sasaengs” to come forth with extreme and desperate messages stating that their “oppa” needed to love them and whoever would love them instead would face serious consequences. Most of them would receive a message that their account had been disabled for not following the rules and the company even issued a warning that those would continue sending disturbing messages would face legal repercussions.

Lee Chanhee had hesitated several times about signing up and giving it a shot. She had been a big SM Entertainment fan for years, their artists and music ignited a light within her which sparked her passion for singing. There had even been people who told her she had actual star potential, the only thing that held her back was her fear. A fear to audition and get rejected. A fear of people who were supposed to be experts, rejecting her and crushing her dreams, killing the fire that fueled her passion. And the idea of the stress and demanding schedules she had heard about, it definitely made the idea of signing as an artist less favorable. Having all eyes on her, judging her every action and movement, commenting on anything she did or said or didn’t do or say, the pressure of being perfect… That was something she rather lived without. Instead, she decided to keep it low and sing for fun. Releasing online songs under a pseudonym to keep the mystery going, she gathered quite a fanbase of followers and viewers. And that was enough, for the time being.

But a chance to be invited inside SM Entertainment, to meet, greet and party with her favorite artists and get an idea of how the people she admired were in real life, without the cameras and the pressure to keep up their good image, that intrigued her. And so her mouse hovered over the signup button on the event page. But she didn’t click.

“Signing up means I have to record a video...” She let out a soft sigh as she considered her options. “Which means people will see my face… And they’ll judge my story...” They made it quite clear in the promotions that the artists were actually going to be reviewing the applications themselves and personally pick out a fan to invite. Which would mean she could have the chance to personally convey her feelings and experiences with her favorite artist, but that could also mean making a great fool out of herself. She could just imagine the groups watching her video, laughing at how ridiculously cringeworthy she looked.

But what exactly did she have to lose? None of them knew her and if her video was laughable at best, they wouldn’t invite her over which means that they would just as easily forget about her embarrassment. And if she did get invited then maybe, just maybe her video wasn’t as cringeworthy as she imagined it in her head.

“Yah! Chanhee-ah!” A voice called from the hallway as she heard the front door slam shut. Footsteps approached her bedroom door and a second later the door flung open revealing the dark haired girl that had burst into her apartment. Sometimes she regretted giving her the password. “Aish, there you are!”

“Oh, Miya-ah!” The curly haired girl nodded as she finally moved from her spot behind her computer and greeted her friend. Miya was a student at the Korean National University of Arts, majoring in vocal and dance courses whom Chanhee had met online right after she released her first ever song online under the pseudonym 월광 신데렐라 (moonlight cinderella). Miya was her first subscriber and commenter and had proceeded to comment, like and even promote every song she released after that. When Miya sent her a message asking if she was a student at her university and that she could introduce Chanhee to one of the music producer majors, she took the plunge and met up with Miya. And they have been friends ever since.

“Sorry, I’m late since the semester is ending they are killing us with exams and preparations,” The slightly shorter girl huffed as she dragged her bag over the floor.

“No problem!” Chanhee smiled as she inched closer to the girl with a curious gaze down on the bag she was dragging along. “So… You got the goods?”

“Ah?” Miya exclaimed, looking up at the taller curly haired girl with a somewhat confused gaze before realizing what she meant. “Oh! Yes! Miya's goody supplying service has done it again!” She grinned proudly as she crouched down and rummaged her bag until she pulled out the small USB stick. “Tadaa! I swear, Yunghwa was going to have a mental breakdown since his program kept crashing and it deleted his final project, you should have seen his face!” She mused, showing no signs of consideration towards her music producer friend she put in charge of helping produce and mix Chanhee’s releases.

“Aigoo, please thank him for me!” Chanhee humbled as she held her hands out for the USB stick, impatiently waiting to hear the final product. She had worked hard on this release, usually, she only produced covers of popular and lesser known songs, but this was the first re-write of a song she composed and she was eager to hear how it turned out before releasing it online.

She did feel sorry for putting so much pressure on Miya’s friend who she could imagine was under a lot of stress as was with finals creeping up. And to top it off, Yunghwa wasn’t even getting paid for the producing he did. Chanhee did offer, but Miya somehow found a way to have him do it without any reward. Chanhee decided not to ask questions.

“Psh, all he needs is a couple of cups of coffee and he’ll be good to go!” Miya smirked as she placed the USB in her hands. “So what were you up to?”

“I was wondering if I should sign up for the SM Entertainment event...” She muttered as she made her way back to her computer, playing with the USB in her hands.

“Oh, right… The fan event where they’re asking you to stick some feathers up their butts to make them feel good,” Miya hummed thoughtfully. She had heard about the event, not surprising since it was advertised everywhere and several of her fellow students had signed up. Not to mention her former roommate had been talking about all the things she had to arrange for it seeing as she found a full-time job at the company after dropping out of university.

Personally, she didn’t feel the appeal of the event, she highly doubted those lucky fans would even catch a glimpse of their idols and would most likely be stuffed in one corner of the venue. She could imagine most of the people that signed up merely did so to get to meet their wannabe husband or wife.

“It would be a chance of a lifetime to attend… Even if it’s just for the food.” Chanhee explained. “But I’m not sure if I’m so comfortable with recording a video message. Especially since the artists will hand pick the winners themselves.“

“Huh, you would think they’d have better things to do than to go through millions of fan videos.” Miya clicked her tongue as she brushed her fingers through her already messy hair. The thing about college students was that after a certain amount of time you stopped giving a crap about your appearance, the dress code was pajamas and dark eye circles most of the time anyway. “But these idols don’t know you, right? So what’s the worse that could happen? You’ll be one of a million rejected and they’ll probably not even remember your face or voice or anything.”

“See, that is what I was telling myself but still...” She bit the inside of her lip as she stared back at the signup screen.

“C’mon! Just do it, you know you want to or you wouldn’t be hesitating so much!” The smaller girl pressed her finger onto the curly haired girls to make her point. “Don’t think too much and just do it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!”

“Yes! Yes, you’re right! Let’s do it!” Chanhee encouraged herself as she finally clicked the sign-up button and filled out the information they requested. It also asked for a preferred group, seeing as they were going to divide the applications between all the groups to limit the amount of time their artist had to spent on watching and judging the videos. After thinking about it, she decided to sign up for Super Junior, reasoning that the group barely seemed to take themselves too seriously so if she ended up making a fool out of herself they would most like just brush it off as adorable at least. Or that’s what she kept telling herself as encouragement.

“Lemme know how the track sounds before releasing it and if you need anything changed hit me up and I will pester Yunghwa into fixing it!” Miya mentioned as she hoisted her bag over her shoulder again. She didn’t have enough time to stick around unfortunately, a student’s duty called and she had to get back to campus for a couple more classes.

“Thanks a lot, Miya!” Chanhee beamed as she turned to look at her friend. “I owe you a lot!”

“Aye, what kind of fan would I be if I didn’t go to the extreme for my precious unnie!” She flashed her a cheeky smile and winked as she finished her words before heading out. “Good luck!”

Chanhee waited for her friend to leave and the sound of the door falling back into its automated lock before opening her recording program and turning on her camera. She stared at her own reflection in the screen, huffing as she brushed her fingers through her soft curls trying to get them to twirl a way that would look decent on camera. Patting her cheeks she wondered if she needed to add some more makeup or if it were best to just go with the natural look to give them the right idea of the girl proclaiming her love to the company.

“Ok Chanhee,” She took a deep breath, her finger hovering over the record button. “It’s now or never, I can do this!” She cleared her throat and hit the red button.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Lee Chanhee imnida. Twenty-five years old, veterinary assistant... “ the curly haired girl introduced herself with a shy smile and soft voice. She was fidgeting with her curls as she seemed to try and think of the right words to say.

“I guess I should be answering some of these questions…” Her eyes darted off to the words on the screen for a moment as she mouthed the question first before turning back to the camera with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Um… How has SM Entertainment influenced my life? I guess I would say it has turned my world upside down...” A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she finished her words. “Ah, but not in a bad way! Not at all… It has shown me that music is so much more than a simple melody and some words. It’s about the feeling and message that it’s trying to convey. Connecting people with a mutual feeling, regardless of boundaries set by society… I think that’s what makes it beautiful.”

She seemed to really be contemplating her words as she no longer focused on the camera and as her mind wandered off to the message she was trying to convey, she seemed less nervous. “The first song from SM Entertainment that I had ever heard was sung by Super Junior, and it seemed to speak to me in a way I never expected music to do… In particular when Kyuhyun’s part came up. His voice managed to capture the words and the message, touching every heartstring by singing. It felt like he was conveying the message straight to my heart without ever having met. That’s the power of real talent, it says a lot about the artist's abilities.”

A soft hum escaped her lips as she let her own words sink in for a moment, hesitating whether or not she should keep speaking. It was clear that there was more to say, but she wasn’t sure if she could. “Music has saved my life in more ways than one. And to show gratitude I have always supported all the artists. If I ever had the chance to meet them, I would like to thank them for all the strength their music has given me…”

Her eyes moved up to the question on the screen again as she read the final question. “Ah… In all honesty, I’m not sure if I can answer the last question. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who would deserve being invited more than me. So I’m not going to answer why I think I’m more deserving or special than all the other fans, everyone has their own reasons for being and their own story to tell. So if I get chosen I will feel blessed and thankful, but if not then I will still be right here, supporting the artists to the best of my abilities, that’s the least I could do.”

As she spoke her final words the screen turned to black as the video had finished. The boys stared at the screen for a moment as they let the message sink in before speaking.

“Wow, that has to be the most genuine message we have seen so far...” Sungmin finally spoke up, breaking the silence filling the Super Junior office.

So far they had seen fans declaring their undying love to the company and them as artists draped in every single Super Junior merchandise they could find. Swinging lightsticks, screaming out their names, high on energy drinks and showing the posters that covered their bedroom walls.

But this girl seemed to really take the requirements seriously. She recorded a video and answered the questions diligently and genuinely. Judging by appearance compared with some of the other videos, you could hardly tell she was a fan. But listening to her words, it was clear she thought long and hard about what she wanted to say and she actually knew what she was talking about.

“Tch, unbelievable she chose Kyu’s voice over mine!” Heechul smirked as he nudged the younger male playfully. He had seemed flustered when the girl started speaking about his ability to convey a message. Sure, he had been praised for his voice and talent before but for some reason the way she praised him felt different.

“She knows her stuff, that’s for sure!” Ryeowook nodded in agreement, it wasn’t surprising that someone praised Kyuhyun’s voice. He was one of the main vocalists after all.

“Let’s just pick hers since I doubt there will be any other actual entries on this list!” Kangin stated as he pulled out his phone. They had been watching videos for several hours now, some more cringeworthy and loud than others. He could understand that people were excited to have a chance to meeting them, but after several hours of sitting in one spot and watching these videos, he was in dire need of some change of scenery.

“That wouldn’t be fair towards the other fans,” Leeteuk felt somewhat guilty about the idea of skipping the rest of the entries right away. “I’m sure all of them put a lot of thought and dedication into it.”

“Well, can we at least call in for some food and drinks then?” Shindong suggested, maybe if they had food to keep them busy, enduring these videos would seem a lot less tiring. It was nice to hear all the praise their fans had given them, it definitely made all of them feel grateful for having such a dedicated fanbase.

“Pizza?” Yesung suggested, feeling peckish himself.

“No, chicken!” Eunhyuk protested as he was craving the taste of juicy fried chicken a lot more at the moment, already licking his lips at the thought of it.

“Why not both?” Donghae shrugged, it wouldn’t be the first time they mix and matched their food preferences because honestly, trying to decide on what to eat with ten - thirteen different cravings wasn’t exactly the easiest task in the word.

“Pizza and chicken sound good to me!” Kyuhyun nodded, finally joining in on the conversation. His mind had been replaying the words of praise Chanhee had spoken before, wondering why those specific words seemed to get to him so much.

“I’ll be right back, you guys keep watching!” their manager nodded as he left the room and headed down the hallway. “Ah! Park-ssi!”

The girl stopped in her tracks as she heard her name being called, turning in the direction of the voice as her crimson locks danced around her face. She bowed in greeting as the manager approached her.

“Yes? How can I help you?”

“I need you to order a couple of pizzas and boxes of fried chicken,” the manager told her as he nudged his head back to the office behind him. “The boys are going through the applications and they’re starting to get restless so they need some food to tie them over.”

“The boys?” She arched a brow curiously as she glanced over at the door leading to the office, hearing muffled voices from the other side. “Ah, Super Junior right? Pizza and chicken? Sure, of course, I can arrange that for you.”

“Thank you, I knew I could count on you!” he smiled thankfully as he bowed his head in gratitude. “Don’t take too long, though. They still have a lot of applicants to review.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have them deliver in fifteen minutes,” Eunmi grinned as she nodded in understanding. “You know how persuasive I can be after all.”

#super junior #super junior donghae #donghae #lee donghae #super junior scenario #super junior scenarios #super junior imagine #super junior story #donghae scenario #donghae scenarios #donghae imagine #donghae story #donghae x reader

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thecollegefootballguy · 5 years ago

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The Real Kings of California

Hello everybody, welcome back to our series outlining three-way rivalry games. Well, sort of. I’m adding a four-way rivalry to the mix now. Before we fully get started you might want to check out the previous posts in the series if you’re new here.

Follow the links: The Florida Cup, The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, the Beehive Boot, the Michigan MAC Trophy, Iowa-Minnesota-Wisconsin

The four California PAC-12 schools all consider each other significant rivals to some extent. Obviously the UCLA-USC and Cal-Stanford rivalries are the most important. However, UC Berkeley and UCLA both have a heated rivalry as the top two schools in the University of California program and Stanford and USC are major rivals as the two private universities in the PAC-12. Both of these rivalries also embody the Bay Area vs Los Angeles competition in the state. To a lesser extent, but still noteworthy, are the rivalries between Cal and USC as well as Stanford and UCLA, which completes the four-way rivalry.

Despite splitting the Bay Area and Los Angeles schools into the two divisions, the PAC-12 has seen fit to keep those rivalry games alive with permanent crossover games and it’s a good thing as well. Many of the league’s best games in the past decade have been in the crossover rivalries.

So today we’re looking at which school gets to claim the title of the Kings of California. It’s a hypothetical Trophy that goes to the best program in the state. Currently it exists only in the imaginations of fans, but trust me, the old school fans of all four universities absolutely value wins over their three brother rivals.

The rules I’m setting down are that the trophy goes to the team with the best record against all three others, ideally 3-0. In the event of a tie, the head to head winner will claim the trophy. If a three-way deadlock comes about, the team with the best overall conference record/Rose Bowl nominee will take the trophy. If a tie truly can’t be broken, the trophy stays with the previous owner. Believe me, we will have several controversial tiebreaking scenarios.

Let’s check it out.

College Football Comes to the Golden State: 1892-1905

The University of California and Stanford University were the first major college football programs in the state. Cal began play in 1886 and Stanford followed in 1891. Their first meeting was on March 19, 1892 and went to Stanford, who also won the second game played in the fall.

The Big Game, as it would come to be known, was the first big rivalry on the West Coast and was played in San Francisco for the first decade before transitioning to campus sites in 1904.

USC began their football program back in 1888, but they mostly played local LA schools while Stanford and Cal played Bay Area teams for the most part. Just when it seemed that the sport was growing to connect both NorCal and SoCal, Cal and Stanford shuttered their programs following the 1905 season. There was an outcry over the brutality of old school football, and many teams dropped the sport for a season or two until better protection and tactics made the sport safer. Unfortunately, Berkeley would go a decade before restarting their program, and Stanford wouldn’t field another team until 1919.

In the meantime, the Big Game would be contested in rugby.

Kings of California Record Stanford: 9 California: 5

Stanford won 7 outright to Cal’s 4, but tiebreakers boosted up the count to 9 against 5.

I’m honestly not sure I should be including these contests in the history of the rivalries because USC and UCLA aren’t even included. Stanford played SC once in 1905 but that was it before they shut down their program for 15 years. If you don’t want to count these early, non-LA contests be my guest.

The First Dynasties: 1915-1940

USC suspended their football program for a few years, but by 1914 the Trojans were back on the gridiron, and they only needed to wait one year before they were joined by California. The Golden Bears met SC for the first time in that same 1915 season, they played twice, with Southern California winning in Berkeley and the Bears returning the favor in Los Angeles. I can’t award a trophy for this split season, but this is the only exception.

Stanford brought their team back in 1919, the same year that the offshoot branch of the University of California in Los Angeles began to field a program. Stanford fell right back into their rivalry with Berkeley and would begin to regularly play USC as well, but it would be some time before UCLA was adopted into the group.

In 1916, Cal hired former Penn and Purdue coach Andy Smith to lead the team. Smith took little time turning the Golden Bears into the first real national powerhouse west of the Rockies. California was virtually untouchable from 1920 to 1923, recording a combined 36-0-2 record and four consecutive national championships.

An arms race swiftly began as Stanford and USC tried to keep up with Cal’s “Wonder Boys.” In 1924, Stanford managed to hire away the legendary Pop Warner from Pittsburgh and were immediately transformed into one of the top programs nationwide. Stanford attended three Rose Bowls in 4 years from 1924 to 1927, and claimed a national championship in the 1926 season with a 10-0-1 record.

Meanwhile, the Trojans recruited former Iowa head coach Howard Jones in 1925. Jones also managed to turn things around for Southern Cal. The late 20′s were a dogfight between Stanford and USC for the PCC championship. The Trojans won the league three years in a row from 1927-29, and claimed their first national title in 1928 with a 9-0-1 record. The tie was against Cal. From 1931 to 1933, Southern California went 30-2-1, and tacked on two more national titles in ‘31 and ‘32.

Each of the three dynasties petered out not long after they began. Andy Smith tragically died of pneumonia at the age of 42 following the 1926 season. His replacements kept Berkeley competitive but they couldn’t match up to Warner’s Stanford squad or Jones’ Trojans. Warner stayed in Palo Alto until 1932, but the newly minted Indians had mostly ceded the league over to USC by 1928. Jones remained in Los Angeles, but after 1933 the team entered hibernation in the mid-30′s before roaring back to life.

All this time, UCLA was an also-ran. The Bruins began playing Stanford in 1925 and were run off the field 82-0. Their annual rivalry started in 1928 but didn’t amount to much in the early days. USC didn’t play their crosstown opponents until 1929, a decade after the Bruins began playing football, and they wouldn’t play regularly until 1936. Cal refused to play their sister university until 1933.

The early dynasty period wasn’t yet over, because in the later 1930′s all three of the major California programs caught a second wind. Stanford experienced a surge under Claude Thornhill, who replaced Pop Warner in 1933. The Indians made three straight Rose Bowls from 1933-35 with a 25-4-2 combined record, but they fell off dramatically after that and Thornhill was fired after the ‘39 season.

Cal experienced their own revival under Stub Allison. The Bears won or tied for the PCC championship in three of the four years from 1935 to 1938, and claimed a national title in 1937, going 10-0-1 despite finishing second in the polls behind Pittsburgh. Much like Thornhill at Stanford, Allison wasn’t able to keep up his early momentum and California floundered in the War years.

Meanwhile, Howard Jones had one more rabbit to pull out of his hat. After winning the 1939 Rose Bowl, the Trojans went undefeated the next season and claimed a national championship despite an 8-0-2 record. Jones retired in 1940 with a 121-36-13 record at USC.

Rounding out the group was the surprise Stanford team in 1940. The Indians hired former Chicago head coach Clark Shaugnessey, whose revived T-formation turned Stanford back into champions. The Indians blazed through the season undefeated and untied, and finished 10-0 with a win over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl. Many selectors gave Stanford a share of the national championship despite finishing 2nd in the polls to Minnesota. Unfortunately, Shaugnessy would only stay one more year before moving on back East.

Kings of California Record Stanford: 16 California: 16 USC: 7

National Championships California: 5 USC: 4 Stanford: 2

Cal, Stanford, and USC were the titans of West Coast football in this era. All three programs featured world-beating teams and at least two of them could be considered legitimate dynasties.

You can chart out the success of each team as they tried to one up each other. Andy Smith’s Cal Bears had their glory period but gave way to Pop Warner’s Stanford and then Howard Jones’ Trojans. Fortunes returned to Stanford for a brief period under Claude Thornhill until Stub Allison brought the Bears back before USC’s resurgence under Jones. Clark Shaugnessey’s Wow Boys round out the quarter century which featured 11 national championships split between these three squads.

The Golden Bears won 11 state championships in this period compared to seven apiece from Stanford and USC. Cal arguably still has the best dynasty of this era with their four consecutive national titles. If Andy Smith hadn’t suddenly died at the young age of 42 it would be interesting to see how history would have changed in Berkeley and across the West Coast.

As for UCLA, the young Bruins were under the heel of their peers for most of this time. They only managed five total wins against their would-be rivals in this 25 year span, although for long stretches of it they didn’t play USC or Cal. But things were about to change.

Dogfight: 1941-1959

The title for King of California was most competitive in the roughly two decades from 1940 to 1960. There were still peaks and valleys for each team but overall there was a great leveling between the squads as Cal, Stanford, and USC took perhaps a step back while UCLA finally came into their own.

As World War II began, Stanford shut down their football program for three seasons from 1943-45, it was a pretty big setback that took the program years to recover from. In response, the Bears, Bruins, and Trojans began playing each other twice a year to fill out their schedules amid wartime travel restrictions.

UCLA won their first ever state championship in 1942, and attended their first ever Rose Bowl. However, it was their rival who became the most successful program in the 40′s. Jeff Cravath took over for Howard Jones in 1942 and reestablished the Trojans as the top team in the conference. Southern California nearly swept the PCC in the years 1943 to 1945 and went to the Rose Bowl three straight times and made it four of five in 1947.

The last great California run came about in the late 1940′s under Pappy Waldorf. The Golden Bears ran through the 1948 and 1949 seasons undefeated but lost the Rose Bowl both times to likely deny them a shares of national championships. In 1950, Cal went 9-0-1 with a tie in the Big Game but once again fell in Pasadena. Following these three consecutive seasons of top 5 play Waldorf stayed on as head coach for another six years, but the Bears’ star was already waning. Cal hasn’t been to the Rose Bowl since.

Stanford and USC had a couple good seasons in the early 50′s but UCLA finally managed to earn their place in the sun. The Bruins poached Vanderbilt coach Henry Sanders in 1949 and in a few years he’d turn UCLA into a real powerhouse. The Bruins won the PCC three years in a row from 1953-1955 and claimed a national championship for their undefeated 1954 season. UCLA went 49-10 from 1952 to 1957 and likely would have kept on rolling if not for the untimely death of Sanders before the 1958 season.

Kings of California Record California: 21 Stanford: 18 USC: 13 UCLA: 6

National Championships California: 5 USC: 4 Stanford: 2 UCLA: 1

The middle decades of the 20th Century were about as even as you could get in this statewide rivalry. UCLA led the pack with 6 wins, but were followed quickly by Cal and USC with five each. Stanford managed two trophy victories although one came from a tiebreaker scenario with UCLA.

The Bruins’s national title in 1954 rounded out the statewide run of success that saw all 4 PCC teams in California win championships from 1937-1954. If you go back to 1920, these four schools combined for 12 national titles in 34 years.

Trojan Empire (McKay and Robinson): 1960-1979

Following the 1959 regular season, USC head coach Don Clark resigned in favor of his assistant John McKay. It would turn out to be a momentous sea change in college football. McKay transformed the Trojans into the best program in college football outside of Bear Bryant’s Alabama for the next 20 years.

Southern California went undefeated in 1962, going 11-0 with a win over #2 Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl to claim their fifth national championship. SC won the AAWU (the successor to the PCC) in five of six years from 1964 to 1969 and attended four straight Rose Bowls from ‘66 to ‘68. Southern Cal won the national championship for the 1967 season. The banner year was capped by a win over Indiana in the Rose Bowl, but this was preceded by one of the Games of the Century against UCLA.

The 1967 Battle for Los Angeles featured the #1 undefeated Bruins against #4 USC. UCLA’s RB Gary Beban and SC’s OJ Simpson were both Heisman candidates, the game was won by Simpson’s electrifying 64 yard touchdown, which vaulted the Trojans into the Rose Bowl and on their way to the national championship.

Southern California dominated the 60′s and 70′s, and with Stanford and Cal mostly irrelevant in this period, the end of season game with UCLA ended up being the most important matchup in this four-way series. The few times that the Bruins were able to defeat SC they’d usually end up winning the Kings of Californi aTrophy because the Indians and Bears were usually well behind in the standings.

Stanford experienced a slow building revival in the 1960′s under John Ralston. The Indians hired Ralston from Utah State following the 1963 season. Stanford was mediocre for most of the decade, well under the boot of both LA schools, but when the Trojans took a step back at the turn of the decade they pounced. The Indians managed to scrape together two consecutive PAC-8 championships in 1970 and 71, and beat massively favored Ohio State and Michigan squads in Pasadena respectively, likely spoiling two would-be national championships from those Big Ten blue bloods.

Ralston departed for the NFL following the ‘72 Rose Bowl and Stanford turned back into a pumpkin, which is just as well because USC came back with a vengeance. The Trojans’ 1972 squad is considered to be one of the best college football teams of all time. SC blew through the season undefeated and then mauled #3 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl 42-17 to cap their national championship campaign. Southern California lost the next Rose Bowl to the Buckeyes but turned around to beat OSU following the 1974 season, and were acclaimed national champs by the Coaches Poll.

John McKay left Los Angeles for the NFL following the 1975 season, he was replaced by his protege John Robinson, who quickly picked up where McKay left off. After losing to Missouri in his first game as head coach, SC won 11 straight in the 1976 season to finish 2nd in both polls with a win over Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

In 1978, the Trojans went 12-1 with a PAC-12 Championship and another Rose Bowl victory over Michigan. USC was voted the Coaches Poll champions while Alabama claimed the AP title despite the Tide losing head to head in the regular season. The 1979 SC team was considered one of the most talented of all time, but their season was ruined by Stanford, who tied the Trojans in the Coliseum to rob them of an all but assured national championship. Southern Cal was named a champion by one of the official selectors, but they don’t claim the title.

Kings of California Record USC: 27 California: 21 Stanford: 20 UCLA: 10

National Championships USC: 9 California: 5 Stanford: 2 UCLA: 1

Southern California completely dominated the 60′s and 70′s. This is the time when USC became the super blue blood program we know of them as today. The Trojans won five national championships from 1962 to 1978. In this 20 year span SC won eight Rose Bowls, and finished in the top two all of those seasons.

UCLA was the clear #2 program for most of this era, but the Bruins were rarely able to put everything together to contend for national championships outside of the 1967 season where they lost to their archrivals in the Game of the Century. Stanford tacked on two Trophy wins in 1970 and 1971 but for the most part the Indians (renamed Cardinals in ‘72) were mediocre at best and mostly just competed with Cal for the Axe.

The Donahue Era (sort of): 1980-2001

The 1980′s was a weird period in California football. For the first time since the 1910′s, the state really didn’t have any world beating teams. Stanford and especially Cal were still mired in a long depression, but USC began to fall off as well.

John Robinson’s hot streak ended following the 1979 season and he left to coach the Rams in the NFL in 1983. Ted Tollner took the Trojans one Rose Bowl in four years and was relieved in favor of Larry Smith. Smith took SC to three consecutive Rose Bowls from 1987-89 but again these teams weren’t quite national championship caliber.

UCLA once again rose to prominence while their rivals were on the down slope. Terry Donahue was hired as head coach in 1976 and maintained a high standard of play in Westwood for a good 20 years. When USC fell off as the 70′s turned to the 80′s, the Bruins filled the vacuum. From 1982 to 1987, UCLA won the PAC-10 four times and won three Rose Bowls. Their best year was probably in 1982 when the Bruins went 10-1-1 and finished 5th in the polls.

Both Stanford and Cal were treading water through much of the 80′s. As the LA schools duked it out for conference supremacy the Bay Area rivals had little to play for besides the Stanford Axe. Still, this era was one of the most highly contested periods in the history of the Big Game. The 1982 game is famous for “The Play,” one of the wildest finishes in all of college football that saw Berkeley win on a controversial multi-lateral play that saw the winning ball carrier bowl over a member of the Stanford band in the endzone. In 1990 there was the “Revenge of the Play” that saw the Cardinal top their archrivals thanks to several roughing the passer calls and a two point conversion in the final seconds of the game.

UCLA slid back towards mediocrity in the late 80′s, coinciding with USC’s Rose Bowl three-peat from ‘87 to ‘89. All four California programs were edged out by an ascendant Washington in the early 90′s. The Huskies under Don James broke through and wrested control of West Coast football away from the Golden State. While UW was dominating the top of the conference standings, Stanford had a brief breakthrough against their rivals in 1991-92.

UCLA again experienced a brief resurgence towards the tail end of Donahue’s tenure in the mid-90′s and his successor Bob Toledo in 1997-98. However, they were never championship caliber.

Stanford again took advantage of the LA schools while they were down. The Cardinal were never world-beaters under head coach Tyrone Willingham, but they did well against their rivals. Despite several losing seasons, Willingham never lost the Big Game in his seven year tenure. Stanford also turned the tables on USC and UCLA, and were able to claim four state championships from 1996 to 2001, including a Rose Bowl berth. The good times didn’t last. Willingham left Palo Alto for South Bend following the ‘01 season and the Cardinal collapsed.

Kings of California Record USC: 34 Stanford: 26 California: 21 UCLA: 19

National Championships USC: 9 California: 5 Stanford: 2 UCLA: 1

The 80′s and 90′s was certainly a low point for California football. It was the first time that no school in the state took home a national title since Andy Smith’s Wonder Boys. UCLA and USC each had several good seasons, but very rarely were either of the LA schools in competition for national championships. The Washington Huskies were the only national title squad to come from the PAC-10 in this era.

The Bruins claimed nine Trophies in this span, mostly under Terry Donahue. USC and Stanford both managed six championships. The Trojans had their peak in the late 80′s with three consecutive Rose Bowls. The Cardinal had two surprise peaks in 1991-92 and 1999-2001 where they more or less won the Trophy because the other teams were down.

Where was Cal this whole time? Well, they weren’t doing much. The Golden Bears did have quality teams in this span, but they never experienced that breakthrough season that put them atop of all their rivals. Quality football would return to Berkeley at the turn of the century, but the opportunities would still be lacking.

From Carroll to the Cardinal: 2002-2019

The 2000′s saw a return of true national championship caliber football to California. After all, USC can tolerate losing for only so long. The Trojans coasted along during John Robinson’s second tenure in the mid-90′s, but Paul Hackett’s 19-18 record over three years was a breaking point. Hackett was fired and replaced by fired New England Patriots coach Pete Carroll in 2001.

Carroll was considered a compromise hire who was set up to fail, but it didn’t turn out that way. After a lackluster 6-6 season in 2001, SC exploded. The Trojans stumbled early in 2002, but finished the season 11-2 with a win in the Orange Bowl. Southern Cal went 12-1 the next year and were awarded the national championship by the AP poll, eschewing the normal BCS championship selection process. The next year USC left no doubt, going a perfect 13-0 and annihilating Oklahoma in the BCS title game 55-19, earning a consensus title.

The Trojans were a bona fide dynasty and the best program of the 2000′s. In 2005, USC just barely failed to three-peat after falling to Texas in the Rose Bowl in the best title game of the BCS era. Though they never won another championship with Carroll, Southern California came close every year and would finish in the top five every season from 2002 to 2008 with a combined 82-9 record.

SC dominated the PAC-10 in the 2000′s which obscured Cal’s huge turnaround. The year after Pete Carroll came to Troy, the Golden Bears hired Jeff Tedford, who was able to shake Berkeley out of a half century of mediocrity. Cal had several very strong seasons in the mid-2000′s, but they were cursed by the bad luck of peaking exactly at the same time as USC. Though the Bears were finally able to take home a King of California Trophy in 2003 thanks to their upset against Southern Cal.

Carroll’s Trojans and Tedford’s Bears wouldn’t make the transition from the 2000′s to the 2010′s. Carroll resigned following the 2009 season and left for the NFL, likely anticipating severe NCAA sanctions about to hammer the program. Tedford was fired after Cal suffered two losing seasons in three years from 2009 to 2011.

Stanford rose to fill the gap left by the demise of USC and Cal. Since Ty Willingham left the program in 2001, the Cardinal had fallen off a cliff. Stanford suffered five agonizing losing seasons that saw them become one of the worst teams in major college football. There were talks of shuttering the program, instead, Jim Harbaugh was hired to turn things around.

Harbaugh proved his worth and turned Stanford back into a powerhouse. The Cardinal went from 1-11 to 12-1 with an Orange Bowl win in four years. Harbaugh followed Carroll to the NFL but left his OC David Shaw to take over the Farm. Shaw made sure that Stanford was the preeminent program in the state for the whole of the 2010′s. The Cardinal went to three Rose Bowls from 2012 to 2016 and won the PAC-12 North five times in seven years despite peaking at almost the same time as the Oregon Ducks under Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich.

Kings of California Record USC: 42 Stanford: 34 California: 22 UCLA: 20

National Championships USC: 11 California: 5 Stanford: 2 UCLA: 1

As you can see, the 2000′s belonged to USC while Stanford dominated the 2010′s. The Trojans tacked on two national titles in 2003 and 2004, though they could have won even more if it wasn’t for their in-state rivals. Southern Cal’s loss to Cal in 2003 probably kept them out of the BCS Championship Game and a consensus title. SC’s losses to UCLA in 2006 and Stanford in 2007 likely cost them two more berths in the national championship game.

Even while peaking, the Cardinal were never quite good enough to make a BCS Championship Game and they were already in a bit of a decline by the time that the Playoff came about. Still, Stanford surprisingly won 8 Trophies in 10 years from 2009 to 2018.

We also got to see the return of rematches in the in-state series. Stanford and UCLA met in the PAC-12 Championship in 2012, then the Cardinal and Trojans faced off in Santa Clara in 2015 and 2017. It was the first time there were two games in a year in the in-state rivalries since WWII.

The Bruins had a few good years under Jim Mora but they were never able to compete with Stanford or Oregon atop the league standings. For the most part Cal hasn’t been nationally relevant since Jeff Tedford’s departure.

Extras

Kings of California Record (1915-Present) USC: 42 Stanford: 25 UCLA: 20 California: 17

If we remove the early years of the series where only Stanford and Cal played each other, we get a more accurate picture for how things stand between the four rivals. In the all-time standings nobody is even close to catching USC, the Trojans have nearly double the number of Trophies as anybody else which shouldn’t be a surprise. Despite similar starts as the Bears and Cardinal in the 20′s and 30′s, only Southern California turned into one of the super-elite blue blood programs.

Not much room separates Stanford, UCLA, and California. The Bears did all of their work early on, having only won a single Kings of California Trophy in the past 60 years. UCLA was the most consistent winner outside of the Trojans from the 50′s to the 90′s, and they steadily climbed up to second place until Stanford vaulted over them in the past decade.

As for the future of these rivalries, I’ll just say that I’m very interested to see where things are going. I shouldn’t have to say it but we all know that West Coast football isn’t quite what it used to be since the USC glory days. The Trojans themselves appear to be in a state of flux, unable to return to prominence under Clay Helton despite having the talent to do so. Stanford seems to have fallen off in the past few years, but as long as Shaw is there the blueprint for success is still in play. UCLA is gambling on Chip Kelly to return them to glory after spending the better part of two decades outside of the top flight in the PAC-12. Cal appears to be building something under Justin Wilcox, it remains to be seen when they’ll hit their ceiling.

So that brings us up to present day. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I liked writing it. California is my home state and I have been endlessly fascinated by the in-state power dynamics in college football since I became a fan.

Unfortunately it looks like the Coronavirus is going to raise hell on the gridiron this year. As of right now the PAC-12 is still committed to playing a conference-only schedule. Let’s see how it plays out. Go Card.

-thecfbg

#college football #California Golden Bears #Stanford Cardinal #UCLA Bruins #USC Trojans

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karenxmenfan · 5 years ago

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(above: Jack Kirby, John Verpoorten, Glynis Oliver; John Paul Leon; Al Milgrom, Joe Sinnott, Julianna Ferriter; Daniel Acuña)

READING THE ETERNALS

Jack Kirby’s Gods return to the Marvel Universe

PART 1 — INTRODUCTION

“When two aggressive species share the same environment, evolution demands acceptance or dominance.” When Jonathan Hickman’s return to Marvel was first teased in 2019, I thought they might do something unexpected and announce a new Eternals series. Kevin Feige had revealed an Eternals movie not too long before, so it seems possible. I knew practically nothing about the characters, aside from Sersi being an Avenger, that it was Jack Kirby’s baby, and they were tied to the Celestials. I met these massive Space Gods in the beloved 1999 miniseries Earth X. That series includes a basic recap of the Eternals and Deviants in service of an epic plot surrounding the Celestials and their relationship to Earth.

The Hickman rumors sparked an interest in the characters, so I decided to read the original run from the beginning. What I found out is that there’s a lot of silly fun to these characters and I’m genuinely excited for the movie. The concept is weird and doesn’t quite have the same generative power as, say, the Fantastic Four, but it’s still enjoyable and Jack Kirby’s art is always a treat for the eyeballs. It’s easy to get caught up on all the essentials, since these characters are used so infrequently, but their presence is heavily seeded throughout the Marvel Universe. I’ve put together this reading guide to offer a roadmap for anyone wanting to take a deep-dive into THE ETERNALS!

WHO?

The Eternals are secretly one of three branches of the human race that were ENGINEERED BY ALIENS (a fact that gets reiterated nearly every time they appear in a comic). Yes, it’s that old urban legend that human evolution was kickstarted by extraterrestrial influence. In this case, massive space beings called the Celestials came to Earth and did experiments on apes, resulting in homo sapiens, but also the Eternals, powerful god-like beings, and Deviants, “monsters” who have unstable genes so no two are alike. Make of that what you will, it’s kind of messed up. Anyway, many thousands of years after their first visit, the Celestials return to Earth again to check up on their creations, and to see if the planet is worthy to survive.

PART 2 — KIRBY

The main draw of this series is Kirby’s art, weird ideas, and how funny all the characters are as they strut around exclaiming everything. What’s interesting here is that it’s not actually a part of the Marvel Universe - there’s an issue halfway through where they fight a robot Hulk, which is pretty explicitly based on a fictional character. The best characters in the whole book are Sersi, who is a hip, with-it party girl, Thena, and of course the Deviant leader Kro (the romance between the latter two is very good).

Entries in blue are favorites

The Eternals (1976) #1–6 — Where it all begins!! WHO ARE THE SPACE GODS? Some human archaeologists discover, with the help of a disguised Eternal, the big secret of the human race, and their relationship to Eternals, Deviants, and the Celestials who created them. This kicks off the series and the first arc where all the various Eternals are brought out of hiding as the Deviants, led by Kro, launch an effort to keep the Celestials from returning to judge their creations - this includes an attack on New York where the Deviants pose as demons from space hell. Meanwhile, the Fourth Celestial Host arrives on Earth…

The Eternals (1976) #7–13 — Picking up after the attack on New York, the human race is now formally introduced to its ancient siblings. This arc starts to get more into the relationships of the characters, with Sersi getting thirsty for a flummoxed, stuffed-shirt anthropologist, while Kro and Thena drop hints of a previous romance. Through their story, we see more of Deviant society, which introduces future BFFs The Reject and Karkas. Meanwhile, the Celestials are floating around the planet making observations like colossal roombas and freaking out humanity who start to get very worried. We also see the introduction of the Uni-Mind, where all the Eternals fly into a blue flame and emerge as one giant brain-thing. In this form, they leave Earth for a while.

The Eternals Annual (1977) #1 — A fun little adventure with Thena, The Reject, and Karkas (who has a human disguise in this) dealing with some Deviant menace who brings Jack the Ripper and Atilla the Hun to the present day to cause mayhem. The Eternals (1976) #14-17 - The momentum of the series comes to a halt - the Uni-Mind returns to Earth and the Eternals get swept up in a battle with a robotic Hulk who goes on the loose, and then a secret, all-powerful monster that Zuras was hiding in the basement.

The Eternals (1976) #18–19 — Probably with the knowledge that cancellation is nigh, the story picks up again. Druig becomes obsessed with uncovering the whereabouts of a secret weapon that is able to kill the Celestials (planting the seeds for the Dreaming Celestial). Ikaris tries his hardest to stop his cousin’s folly and avert the wrath of the Space Gods and I think it eventually comes to an end when the Celestials make Druig disappear? I guess this is when Jack Kirby peaced out of Marvel…

CREDITS* full series (Writing/Pencils - Jack Kirby; Inks - John Verpoorten, Mike Royer; Colors - Glynis Oliver; Lettering - Gaspar Saladino, John Costanza, Irving Watanabe, Mike Royer)

PART 3 — JOINING THE 616

Since the original series kind of was cut short with Kirby’s departure, the Eternals’ story gets picked up in other Marvel comics, where the heroes slowly learn about their existence.

Thor Annual (1976) #7 — Since the original series kind of was cut short with Kirby’s departure, the Eternals’ story gets picked up in other Marvel comics. This issue starts off a storyline where Thor recovers memories of the Celestials and some secret that Odin has been keeping from him.

(Writing - Roy Thomas; Pencils - Walter Simonson; Inks - Ernie Chan; Colors - Glynis Oliver; Lettering - Tom Orzechowski)

Thor (1966) #283-289, 291, 300-301 — Spurred on by his meeting of the Eternals, Thor takes the question to Odin. Odin won’t tell him anything, so this sets Thor off on a journey that takes him to the Eternals, the Deviants, and eventually the lead Celestial, The One Above All, who shows him hints of a deal between Celestials, Odin, Zeus, Zuras, and the other deities of Earth. Joining forces with the Eternals, Thor tries to stop the Fourth Hosts’ judgement of Earth which puts them at odds with the Norse and Greek gods. Thor finally learns the whole truth just in time to stand against the Celestials on the Day of Judgement. This is the big culmination of everything that started in The Eternals #1!

(Writing - Roy Thomas, Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio; Pencils - John Buscema, Keith Pollard; Inks - Chic Stone, Gene Day; Colors - George Roussos, Glynis Oliver, Marie Severin, Bob Sharen, Carl Gafford; Lettering - Joe Rosen, Tom Orzechowski)

Iron Man Annual (1970) #6 — Rhodey is flying around and accidentally happens upon the Eternals’ city, but it’s overrun by Deviants! They’ve incapacitated all the Eternals and are trying to steal their power source or something.

(Writing - Peter Gillis; Pencils - Luke McDonnell; Inks - Roy Richardson; Colors - Carl Gafford; Lettering - Diana Albers)

Eternals: Secrets from the Marvel Universe (2019) #1 — This one-shot collects a series of backup stories that ran in What If? through the early 1980s. This covers the established origin of the Eternals and Deviants, but also goes into more detail about the branch of Eternals who left Earth to populate the solar system. It also ties in the Inhumans and creates a relationship between these two very similar groups of characters.

(Writing - Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, Peter Gillis; Pencils - Ron Wilson, Rich Buckler, Bruce Patterson; Inks - Chic Stone, Alan Kupperberg, Bruce Patterson, Joe Sinnott; Colors - Carl Gafford, Ed Hannigan, Nel Yomtov, Glynis Oliver; Lettering - Michael Higgins, John Morelli, Tom Orzechowski)

Avengers (1963) #246-248 — The Avengers crash one of Sersi’s parties and get dragged with her back to Olympia for some Eternals business. There we find out about the Eternals who went to Titan, and everyone finds out Starfox is an Eternal. The main plot involves a supervillain infiltrating Olympia to steal the power of the Uni-Mind. At the end of this story, the majority of lesser-known Eternals decide to leave Earth in a Uni-Mind for good, greatly narrowing their cast to just the essentials.

(Writing - Roger Stern; Pencils - Al Milgrom; Inks - Joe Sinnott; Colors - Christie Scheele, Julianna Ferriter; Lettering - Jim Novak, Diana Albers)

The Eternals (1985) #1-12 — This is actually a solid series, and does a huge amount to introduce new concepts and characters into the Eternals. It’s more of a standard Marvel superhero comic than Kirby’s weirdness, which perhaps allows it to fit more neatly into the greater shared universe. The best thing is that it features a lot of Kro and Thena as the latter becomes leader of the Eternals despite them not taking her seriously, and the former becoming embroiled in a sectarian power struggle with Ghuar (that guy from “Atlantis Attacks”) to lead the Deviants. The two find their love rekindled, putting them at odds with the other Eternals (Ikaris is a big asshole in this). Meanwhile, Sersi collects more human pets, including a guy she saves from suicide and tries to show that life is worth living. Central to everyone’s machinations is a plot to harness the power of the Celestials, playing off of the hints left by Kirby about the Celestial who was killed during the Second Host (this is the continuing foundation for the Dreaming Celestial idea).

(Writing - Peter Gillis, Walter Simonson; Pencils - Sal Buscema, Keith Pollard, Paul Ryan; Inks - Al Gordon, Keith Williams, Danny Bulanadi, Sam de la Rosa, Al Williamson, Tom Morgan, Geof Isherwood; Colors - George Roussos, Bob Sharen; Lettering - Joe Rosen, John Morelli, Rick Parker)

The Eternals: Herod Factor (1991) #1 — A little one-shot that is fun largely because it ultimately is about Thena and Kro. It’s written by Roy Thomas so doesn’t stray too far from established canon.

(Writing - Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas; Pencils - Mark Texiera; Inks - Bob McLeod, Christopher Ivy, Mark McKenna, Ian Akin, Sam de la Rosa; Colors - Mike Thomas, Dana Moreshead; Lettering - Jean Simek)

PART 4 — SERSI & THE AVENGERS

Despite the Forgotten One (aka Gilgamesh) joining the Avengers in issue #300, he doesn’t seem to have ever made much of an impression. His tenure does little more than to lead the team to another, more famous Eternal - the cosmopolitan Sersi! She definitely makes her mark on the team in the early 90’s. For better or worse!

Avengers (1963) #307-310, 325 — Gilgamesh is injured in battle, leading the Avengers to seek out the aid of his fellow Eternals - except Sprite has transported all of Olympia to the Negative Zone. After helping fend off Blastaar, Sersi joins the team in Gilgamesh’s stead. At this point she becomes a series regular and fans can start reading Avengers from here for more. Issue #325 is a great fill-in by Mark Gruenwald that features Sersi at her best – throwing a party and hitting on stymied squares.

(Writing - John Byrne; Pencils - Paul Ryan; Inks - Tom Palmer; Colors - Christie Scheele, Tom Fine; Lettering - Bill Oakley, Rick Parker)

Avengers (1963) #325 — A great fill-in by Mark Gruenwald that features Sersi at her best — throwing a party and hitting on stymied squares.

(Writing - Mark Gruenwald; Pencils - Rick Levins; Inks - Fred Fredericks [et al]; Colors - Ed Lazellari; Lettering - Brad K. Joyce)

Avengers (1963) #370-371 — Kro works at the Pentagon and has an outreach database for Deviants, which he uses to form Delta-Force! This team includes his kids with Thena who have the ability to merge into a grotesque fusion, and they need to save the Avengers from Ghaur.

(Writing - Glenn Herdling; Pencils - Geof Irsherwood, Mike Gustovich; Inks - Al Milgrom, Kevin Yates, Tom Palmer; Colors - Chris Matthys; Lettering - Bill Oakley)

Avengers (1963) #339, 344-347, 355-366, 372-375 — This is Bob Harras’ grand epic to ruin Sersi. After Sersi forms a version of the Uni-Mind with a bacteria-based group of Eternals (it’s… a thing), her behavior becomes erratic, presumably some Eternals mind-sickness. She begins to fawn all over Black Knight, linking to him in a soulmate ritual against his consent (he’s falling in love with Crystal). It’s all because of an alternate-reality Black Knight who wants to get revenge on Sersi because his version broke his heart. When everything is finally resolved, Sersi and Black Knight enter a wormhole and leave the dimension. At least Sersi has a cool costume.

(Writing - Bob Harras; Pencils - Steve Epting, Gordon Purcell; Inks - Tom Palmer, Steve Alexandrov, Fred Fredericks; Colors - Kevin Tinsley, Sarra Mossoff, Scott Marshall, Evan Skolnick, Tom Palmer, Gina Going, John Kalisz; Lettering - Bill Oakley, Michael Higgins, Rick Parker)

Heroes for Hire (1997) #5-7 — Sersi returns to a post-Onslaught 616 universe to warn about another plot by Ghaur to form an “Anti-Mind.” He’s been resurrected as a giant gold statue and is controlling all the Deviants. Once the day is saved, Sersi goes off on her separate way, with her bond to Black Knight severed at last.

(Writing - John Ostrander; Pencils - Pasqual Ferry; Inks - Jaime Mendoza; Colors - Joe Rosas; Lettering - Jonathan Babcock)

PART 5 — REBIRTH & DEATH / THE MODERN ERA

Having exhausted the story potential of the Eternals throughout the 80s and 90s, Marvel decided to pull in a ringer to give the franchise a reboot.

The Eternals (2006) #1-7 — the Eternals have all forgotten who they are thanks to Sprite, and the return of the Dreaming Celestial forces them to wake up… I am not a big fan of this run, and hold a bit of a grudge against it. John Romita Jr’s art is good though, especially when he’s drawing big bulky things. The biggest shame is that the Deviants are pretty generic here, and Kro is nowhere to be found. I mostly recommend reading this because it reintroduces the Eternals in the modern era and sets up the scenario for the next volume, with Makkari taking center stage and arranging Druig and Tiamet, the Dreaming Celestial on the board.

(Writing - Neil Gaiman; Pencils - John Romita Jr; Inks - Danny Miki, Tim Townsend, Tom Palmer, Jesse Delperdang, Klaus Janson; Colors - Matt Hollingsworth, Dean White, Paul Mounts; Lettering - Todd Klein)

The Eternals (2008) #1-6 — Druig is brainwashing as many Eternals as possible to his cause as Thena and Ikaris race against him. The heart of the story, though, is how Makkari is being used as a megaphone/alarm system by the Dreaming Celestial to warn about an intergalactic menace called the Horde that is coming to consumer Earth - a role that is overtaking his personality like an addiction. Sersi gets some good scenes in this but her character is kind of diminished in favor of Makkari. The story is actually pretty interesting, and salvages a lot of the ideas that Gaiman brought to the table. There’s a three issue X-Men crossover after this but I don’t have much to recommend it - Acuña’s not even drawing it.

(Writing - Charles Knauf, Daniel Knauf; Art - Daniel Acuña; Lettering - Todd Klein)

Thor: The Deviants Saga (2011) #1-5 — A little romp with Thor that takes the newer elements established by Gaiman and the Knaufs and brings them more in line with the previous depictions of the mythos. It does include a lot of details and references that Eternals fans should get a kick out of – Karkas and Ransak play a large role, Deviant Ereshkigal makes a return as does Ikaris’ dad Virako, there’s a lot of Kro – but it’s kind of meandering and doesn’t amount to that much. It ends with the entire cast essentially writing themselves out of future appearances.

(Writing - Robert Rodi; Pencils - Stephen Segovia; Inks - Jason Paz, Jeff Huet; Colors - Andy Troy, Will Quintana; Lettering - Jeff Eckleberry, John Rauch)

The Ultimates 2 (2017) #4, 6, 100 — Overall this is an amazing series, but as it pertains to this reading list, these issues shed light on the origins of the Marvel Universe, and thus, the Celestials. Created in the very first iteration of the cosmos, they not only have survived the many subsequent deaths and rebirths of the Multiverse, but they stand in opposition to a host of opposite, evil Celestials, known as the Aspirants. The Aspirants lay waste to the Celestials, who manage to live on through the surviving One Above All (this is even after the Celestials were seemingly all killed by the Beyonders in New Avengers [2013] #30).

(Writing - Al Ewing; Art - Travel Foreman, Filipe Andrade, Marco Lorenzana, Scott Hanna [Inks]; Colors - Dan Brown, Matt Yackey; Lettering - Joe Sabino)

Avengers (2018) #1-6, 8 — This series combines with Aspirants with the Horde of the last Eternals series to introduce the Dark Celestials, retconning the Celestial’s origin even further. The evil Dark Celestials have killed off their more colorful brethren and are coming to destroy Earth. Meanwhile, the Eternals are found to have all killed each other for some related reason. Ikaris holds out long enough to give Iron Man the power to make a Uni-Mind, which saves the day. The Celestials return and are cured of their Horde sickness – in return, they give the Avengers an ancient Celestial corpse to live in. Not my favorite, but as of this writing, it is the last time any of these concepts have appeared in the comics.

(Writing - Jason Aaron; Pencils - Ed McGuiness, Paco Medina, David Marquez; Inks - Mark Morales, Jay Leisten, Juan Vlasco, Karl Story; Colors - David Curiel, Justin Ponsor; Lettering - Cory Petit)

The History of the Marvel Universe (2019) #1 — As the name implies, this is a straightforward and beautiful explanation of the MU’s origins and the role the Celestials play, told from today’s vantage point with all the retcons and retrofitting that have happened over the years. Includes the obligatory origin of the Eternals and Deviants and the first three Hosts of the Celestials.

(Writing - Mark Waid; Pencils/Inks - Javier Rodriguez; Colors - Álvaro López; Lettering - Joe Caramagna)

PART 6 — XTRA-CREDIT

Being an X-Men fan, it's worth noting the times when the Eternals, Deviants, and Celestials have run into the mutants.

X-Factor (1986) #43-50 — Judgement War! X-Factor ends up on another planet which is visited by its own Celestial Host. The team gets involved between a set of Eternals and Deviant-type sects, trying to stop the Celestials from judging them unworthy.

(Writing - Louise Simonson; Pencils - Paul Smith, Rich Buckler; Inks - Al Milgrom; Colors - Tom Vincent; Lettering - Joe Rosen)

X-Force (1991) #77, 79, 82-90, 96-97 — X-Force starts running into people associated with the Damocles Foundation - a group of Deviants, Eternals, and Humans.

(Writing - Joseph Harris, John Francis Moore; Pencils - Adam Pollina, Jim Cheung, Angel Unzueta, Terry Shoemaker, Anthony Williams; Inks - Mark Morales, Rob Stull, Ray McCarthy, Bud LaRosa, Harry Candelario, Scott Koblish, Derek Mei, Scott Elmer; Colors - Marie Javins, Steve Buccellato, Mike Thomas; Lettering - Comicraft, Chris Eliopoulos)

Earth X (1999) #0-X — Issue 0 is basically Uatu explaining the history of the Marvel Universe to X-51, with a heavy emphasis on the role of the Celestials. This includes a very brief discussion of the Eternals and Deviants, but mostly focuses on the creation of humanity and the birth of super heroes, as the various Celestial Hosts visit Earth. By issue 9, the Celestials return for their Fifth and final Host, and more of their relationship to earth and Uatu is revealed as the remaining heroes defend their planet. Really really good and a must-read in general, even if the Eternals themselves are just footnotes. John Paul Leon makes the Celestials look like the coolest things the Marvel Universe has ever produced. The Reject does get to play a role in the sequel Universe X, though.

(Writing - Jim Krueger, Alex Ross; Pencils - John Paul Leon; Inks - Bill Reinhold; Colors - Matt Hollingsworth, James Sinclair, Melissa Edwards; Lettering - Todd Klein)

New Eternals: Apocalypse Now (2000) #1 — Apocalypse is behind some ill-defined plot that involves destroying Lemuria and turning Karkas into a kaiju. Ikaris’ father Virako is brought back, and they have some quarrels over leadership. This is another good one for Eternals fans but it’s kind of incomprehensible. At the end, the Eternals adopt new superhero identities as “the New Breed,” but this is never mentioned again.

(Writing - Karl Bollers, Mike Higgins; Pencils - Joe Bennett; Inks - Scott Hanna; Colors - John Kalisz; Lettering - Benchmark)

Uncanny X-Men (2012) #1-3 — Mr. Sinister messes with the Dreaming Celestial and it’s bad news for the planet. Magneto comes in handy.

(Writing - Kieron Gillen; Pencils - Carlos Pacheco, Jorge Molina, Rodney Buchemi, Paco Diaz; Inks - Cam Smith, Roger Bonet, Walden Wong; Colors - Frank D'armata, Rachelle Rosenberg, Jim Charalampidis, Dono Sánchez-Almara, Rex Lokus; Lettering - Joe Caramagna)

There’s more stuff with Eternals in it throughout the Marvel Universe, and even more with the Celestials, but this is pretty foundational and focused on the Eternals of Earth. Most of this stuff is on Marvel Unlimited, and the stuff that isn’t is looking like it will be included in a new Omnibus - ”The Complete Saga” - (currently scheduled for December, 2020), like the 1985 series and the “Herod Factor” one-shot. With the MCU movie scheduled for February 2021, it’s highly likely we may be seeing a new series before too long. I recently came across this fascinating bit of research on the behind-the-scenes of Jack Kirby’s work on the The Eternals -- check it out! Four Color Primer: Sersi & The Eternals Part 1

*issue credits gathered from marvel.fandom.com

#eternals #celestials #marvel #deviants #comics reading list #eternals reading list

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piratedx · 7 years ago

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PRANKS !

Again, the point of our PRANKS! book was to stimulate everyday people in everyday life to use the most neglected organ in the human body: THE IMAGINATION. When advertising does its job, millions of people fall for ad campaigns and blithely purchase “whatever”—whether or not they need it—if the item is promoted powerfully enough. Thrift stores are full discarded impulse purchases. What PRANKS! tries to do is give you tools and methods to fight these “controls.” FOR EXAMPLE: Whenever you see ANY kind of advertising (a billboard or bus ad or magazine ad or TV commercial): IMMEDIATELY think how you can “PRANK” it to change the message to something you find either useful or amusing. Decades ago in San Francisco, individuals started modifying billboards under the name of “SRL” or “Billboard Liberation Front” or no name whatsoever. In the SOMA area, I remember seeing a golden Coppertone billboard featuring a beautifully-suntanned-blonde-in-a-yellow-bikini smiling invitingly (or was she smirking?) under a caption: “Let them think it was FUCK.” Obviously, someone had replaced an “L” with an “F”! Nobody took credit, the modifier/artist just did what everyone was thinking. Historically, the first billboard alteration I remember seeing was back in the early San Francisco punk rock days,1977. Before he did the SRL (Survival Research Laboratories) block-long huge machine-art-war performances, Mark Pauline climbed a hundred feet up in the air wearing a plain jumpsuit, and modified a gigantic Telly Savalas Black Velvet whiskey-advertisement from saying “Feel the Velvet” to “Feel The Pain,” also giving Telly Savalas a huge distorted mouth full of teeth. This pranked-ad was seen by literally millions of commuters pouring into San Francisco over the Bay Bridge, and read about by millions more readers of the San Francisco Chronicle (pre-internet—people read the paper). Mark Pauline (SRL) was featured as the lead article in our yellow PRANKS! book, which documented his first big billboard blast, lesser billboard modifications promoting amusingly surrealist messages, as well as other pranks he may have done of questionable legality, such as pouring stinky acid into an ATM receptable. Then Mark Pauline launched a series of gi-normous “machine performance art” spectacles, which took up a whole city block (or more) and featured the loudest shows on earth: sudden super-shattering explosions, long jets of red-yellow fire, shocking imagery being destroyed, obscured by waves of smoke, various acts of multi-axis mayhem and overall crescendoing chaos. Earplugs and shooting-range headsets were recommended. ALSO you wouldn't wear your best clothes! Those were the days when San Francisco’s SOMA district boasted long-abandoned, dark city blocks that were available for spontaneous and innovative performance art. The SRL shows were somehow secretly promoted, mostly through word-of-mouth and posters on telephone poles, and this guerrilla publicity worked. Hundreds showed up. But finally, police and firemen began showing up—about an hour into the show, resulting in a big clampdown: no more SRL shows within city limits. However, there have been shows in Seattle, New York, Amsterdam, Japan, San Jose and probably more locations—all over the world, essentially. Surveillance technology everywhere has probably made these shows impossible today! Amazingly, SRL is now planning to do a (smaller, scaled-down) show in “first week August” (we’re guessing Sat Aug 4 or Sun Aug 5) in Seattle! To us at RE/Search, it seems worthwhile going to Seattle just to see this rare show (book your tickets soon, when the date of the show has been “nailed down”!). After all, Survival Research Laboratories is the single-handededly most ORIGINAL art medium ever invented in the Bay Area: block-long machine-art performances incorporating thunderous explosions, blinding flame-throwing, and much more (the show’s “incredibly strange music” soundtracks have been somewhat overlooked, and the sometimes incredibly-horrifying graphic imagery equally underrated, from the standpoint of "visual curatorial originality”. Hey, not to mention the unique and original posters and promotional language written by Mr. Pauline). Yes, it would definitely be worthwhile to get to Seattle for an SRL Show (we will endeavor to keep you posted as to precise date). Now many readers who loved the first PRANKS! book have never known that the sequel PRANKS 2 was ever published… But we think that PRANKS! (and its sequel, PRANKS 2) are essential reading to SURVIVE today’s baffling media landscape—which daily bombards and overloads our poor brains with their “logical” marketing campaigns. Make no mistake; all “news” and “politics" is a branch of the advertising industry, as J.G. Ballard so casually remarked fifty years ago. To quote Ballard, “PRANKS! is a wonderful, marvelous book. It’s much more than a book about practical jokes—it’s profoundly subversive, because it’s a whole new way of looking at reality. It’s amazing." RE/Search printed only 500 copies of the PRANKS! book in deluxe HARDBACK (with yellow endpapers) on superior glossy paper for sharper photographic reproduction. PRANKS 2 was printed—in paperback only but on the same superior glossy paper. The PRANKS! HARDBACK is normally $60 (PRANKS 2 $20), but for a limited time you can acquire both rare volumes for $70, and V. Vale will autograph both books upon request. Also, we will include a color photographic print of an SRL show taken and autographed by photographer V. Vale. Take a look at this to find out more: https://www.researchpubs.com/shop/pranks-bundle/

#reserchpubs #reserchbooks #pranks #pranksters #prangsta #plunderphonics #pirated #culture jamming #remix culture #Remixology

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ramajmedia · 6 years ago

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Who Is Thena? Angelina Jolie’s Eternals Movie Character Explained

Acclaimed actress Angelina Jolie is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe next year in Eternals - but who exactly is her character, Thena? As Eternals is a lesser-known property in Marvel Comics, most of the heroes and villains in Eternals comics are extremely obscure characters, and Thena is no exception.

Confirmed at SDCC 2019 with a November 2020 release date, Eternals is the second film in Marvel’s Phase 4 slate. Alongside Jolie, the film’s star-studded cast includes Salma Hayek as Ajak, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Kit Harington as Black Knight, and more. Directed by Chloe Zhao, the movie will give the MCU its third big-screen superhero team by introducing the Eternals, a race of immortal aliens created by the Celestials and sent to Earth to fight the Deviants.

Related: MCU Theory: Eternals Explains Why So Many Infinity Stones Were On Earth

The characters and concepts from the film originate from the legendary Marvel Comics writer and artist Jack Kirby. The team debuted in Kirby’s Eternals comic book series in 1976. Thena made her first appearance in the comic’s fifth issue, and has been a central character in nearly every Eternals story published since. She was later retconned to be the Timely Comics character Minerva, who debuted in 1940. This means that, in a way, Thena is one of the MCU’s oldest heroes. Here’s everything you need to know about the Eternals character Thena.

Thena's Origin Story In Marvel Comics

A long time ago, the Celestials created two offshoots of the human race: the immortal and god-like Eternals and the hideously deformed Deviants. The Eternals were born on Earth, but some branched off and settled in other areas of the universe. One Eternal, Zuras, became the leader of the Earth-based Eternals and founded the city of Olympia in the mountains of Greece. He fathered a daughter, Azura, who he later renamed Thena. In time, Thena became a trusted member of the Eternals and second-in-command to Zuras.

Some of Thena’s actions in human history have become a part of Greek and Roman mythology, with Thena often being mistaken for the goddesses Athena and Minerva. During her early years, Thena became discontent with relations between the Eternals, the Deviants, and the humans, as well as the “balance” that her father sought to maintain between them all. Thena longed to have the Deviants destroyed and make the humans equal with Eternals. Things changed for Thena when she entered into a forbidden, doomed romance with the evil Deviant, Warlord Kro. Their love story, which has spanned two thousand years, is responsible for much of the heartache that Thena has experienced in her long life.

Thena's Powers & Abilities Explained

All Eternals are fueled with cosmic energy, giving them access to a vast number of abilities. So like all other members of her race, Thena's powers include flight through levitation, shooting beams of energy from her eyes and hands, manipulating matter, telepathy, and teleportation. She also possesses superhuman strength, speed, and agility. And as an immortal, Thena is nigh-invincible and nearly impossible to kill. Eternals are able to use their cosmic energy to train their abilities, which is why some Eternals are more powerful than others. Thena has honed many of her powers over the thousands of years, thus making her one of the most formidable members of her race.

Thena doesn’t just rely on her natural-born powers to win her battles, though; she is also highly skilled in weaponry. Since the Eternals possess advanced technology, Thena occasionally carries a special crossbow that fires bolts of cold energy into combat. Her signature weapon, however, is actually a spear. Thena is rarely seen without her golden spear, which can emit heat energy and deploy an anti-gravity field when thrown.

Related: Kit Harington’s MCU Character Is Older Than Marvel Itself

Thena's Most Important Comic Book Stories

During the 1980s, a 12-issue Eternals miniseries put considerable focus on Thena, who had just lost her father. After Zuras’ death, Thena assumed the role of Prime Eternal to become their new leader. Her brief stint as leader was marred by an accusation of treason from Ikaris, who believed that she had let her relationship with Kro prevent her from leading the Eternals into war with his people, the Deviants. Ikaris’ accusation turned out to be correct. Thena tried to stop the two races from fighting, even though the Deviants, led by her former lover, were conspiring against them.

Thena and Kro even had children after the two crossed paths in the Vietnam War, but this was kept a secret from both of their species. Her romance with Kro is the crux of Thena‘s story in the comics. Thena has always loved Kro, despite his evil intentions for the Eternals and humans. It was Thena’s long-held belief that Kro was different from the rest of his kind, and on rare occasions, Kro has indeed displayed noble qualities.

Neil Gaiman's 2006 Eternals miniseries reimagined the core characters, including Thena, by erasing their memories and providing them with new lives in the world of humans. With Thena's old persona washed away, she was an employee of Tony Stark, as well as a wife and a mother to a human child. After her memories were restored, however, Thena decided to keep the child, even though her fellow Eternals disapproved.

Related: Doctor Strange Was Going To Tease Black Knight (But Marvel Cut It)

Angelina Jolie Will Play Thena In The MCU

In March 2019, it was reported that A-list actress Angelina Jolie had been cast as Sersi in Eternals. This was proven incorrect when the movie and cast was officially announced at SDCC 2019, with Jolie playing Thena instead. It was later confirmed that Captain Marvel's Gemma Chan is playing Sersi in the Eternals film. At Disney’s D23 Expo, Jolie stepped onto the stage with the rest of the cast, with concept art behind each of the stars revealing their characters’ costumes. Jolie’s Thena will don the character’s classic gold outfit and will even sport her long blond hair.

While the cast of Eternals features several well-known actors, Angelina Jolie is, of course, the most recognizable. Among the films Jolie has starred in include Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Maleficent, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Salt, and The Tourist. Her work in Changeling and Girl, Interrupted earned her Academy Awards for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. The casting of Angelia Jolie as Thena in Eternals certainly adds a great deal of star power to Marvel’s next big cosmic team-up movie.

Next: Every Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie

source https://screenrant.com/thena-eternals-angelina-jolie-character-powers-origin-explained/

#screenrant

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ruthsulivan · 6 years ago

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JAC Vapour Series-S22 Starter Kit Review

The JAC Vapour Series S22 is a straightforward device that is perfect for taking on the go, especially for those just branching out.

JAC Vapour is a lesser known brand in the states, but they’re well-loved across the pond for their intuitive and affordable devices. Their Series-S22 Starter Kit is basically a hybrid vape pen and box mod, making it ideal for anyone looking to upgrade their vaping without jumping in head first. The durable and ergonomic design is exceptional, especially for a device in its price range. As such, it’s quickly growing a reputation among different groups of vapers for fulfilling their various needs, such as ease of use, or exceptional battery life. But don’t let the beginner label fool you, the Series-S22 still has plenty to offer more advanced vapers as a fantastic on-the-go device. So let’s break down precisely what makes the JAC Vapour Series S22 such a useful device for so many different types of vapers.

Under The Hood

The Series-S22 is powered by an internal 2600 mAh battery, which offers an output range between 3.1V and 4.2V, all while functioning with resistance as low as 0.50 ohms. Charged via micro USB, the Series-S22 features all the necessary safety features such as a locking mechanism, overcharge and short circuit protection, as well as battery vents. You can even use your S22 while it’s charging thanks to the pass-through functionality. The included S22 top-fill tank is built to cater to a wide range of vaping styles. JAC Vapour offers coils specifically designed for mouth-to-lung, direct lung, and temperature control vaping. The stainless-steel tank has a decently sized 2ml capacity, with a 510 mouth tip adapter available for separate purchase.

With your purchase of the Series-S22 Starter Kit, you’ll receive one S22 Battery and one S22 Tank, along with your charging cable and user manual. But you can upgrade your kit to include a five pack of JAC Vapour high-quality coils, or one of their premium UK-made e-liquids. In addition to the Series-S22, I also got some extra replacement coils and a few of their premium e-liquids, including my personal favorite Blackcurrant Squash. Their wide variety of pre-mixed e-liquids, as well as their selection of PG-VG bases and flavorings, give JAC Vapour a leg up on other brands only offering one or the other.

My Experience With The Series-S22

The JAC Vapour Series-S22 makes an excellent addition for lots of different types of vapers. As mentioned, the battery life is exceptional only needing to be charged every couple of days. It was only after two full days of moderate/heavy use the JAC Vapour Series S22 even started to prompt me that the battery would soon need to be charged. You can tell a lot of time and effort was put into the design of this vape once you hold it in your hands. It’s small enough to take with you wherever you go, but it’s also big enough to fit comfortably in your hand. Built from a high-quality steel alloy, the Series-S22 also employs a rubber finish to improve its durability further.

It’s nice to see a simpler device like the JAC Vapour Series S22 employ swappable tanks. However, while it’s nice you can swap out tanks, the inability to adjust the wattage of the Series-S22 does significantly reduce the number of compatible atomizers. That being said, a small set of options could help beginners get used to the idea of swapping out their tank. Normally when vapers first switch from a pen to a mod, they’re overwhelmed by the massive number of different type of tanks and atomizers out there.

JAC Vapour’s menthol e-liquid was exceptional. In fact, it’s one of the best menthol e-liquids I’ve ever had. Not only was the flavor powerful and robust, but it was insanely satisfying. The other flavors I tried also had great flavor profiles, but I found they were less well rounded. For example, with the menthol, I got fantastic flavor on the inhale and exhale, while with the other flavors I didn’t get much on the intake at all. This isn’t a huge dealbreaker, especially given the quality of the taste provided, but it may be worth exploring your options further if menthol isn’t your preferred flavor.

Conclusion

Overall the JAC Vapour Series S22 is a great little vaporizer for anyone just starting with mods, or anyone who wants a vape specifically for on the go. The lack of adjustable wattage limits its appeal to more advanced vapers, but that said the battery life, portability, and price point still make it an attractive backup option. You can purchase the Series-S22 Starter Kit from JAC Vapour today for just $34.99, so it’s a tremendous budget-conscious option as well. So if you’re looking for an easy to use vape with incredible battery life, or just want to upgrade your vaping without committing to an advanced mod, be sure to check out the JAC Vapour Series S22 Starter Kit.

The post JAC Vapour Series-S22 Starter Kit Review appeared first on ChurnMag.

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oddsfiche · 8 years ago

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So, Die Deutsch Rock Szene, we’ve covered it before, discussed it, referenced it and even become a part of it but what is it and how did it affect the whole Prog Rock movement or at least a good part of it?

Personally I love, LOVE it because it’s so avant-garde and beyond left field at times you don’t know where you will end up and sometimes just be let off the cosmic bus somewhere to wander on your own. In the late 60’s music was too pop and bubble gum for a lot of German musicians and Berlin, Hamburg et al had had its fill of the Beatles playing and rehearsing. The Reeperbahn in St. Pauli’s district in Hamburg where the nightlife and red-light services collide and bands like the Beatles and Tony Sheridan made a name for themselves and in the late 60’s and early 70’s bands like Black Sabbath and The Pink Floyd began to start to wander over from the island and blast their monstrous sounds to the unknowing Deutsch publik. This was all well and good but the German music scene was still in it’s embryonic stages and fast evolving in to a cult underground scene that was growing out of control and with good cause to it as well. Bands like: Amon Düül, Can, Embryo, Faust & Kraftwerk were creeping through the vines of streets and playing clubs and venues bringing the people the “Die deutsche Rockszene” to life. Crowned as Krautrock by the English, the moniker stuck and that’s what it’s been since. ‘Kraut’ being a derogatory term for a German and just for the record, I’m not a big fan of the term “Krautrock”, a moniker invented by the U.S. and U.K. to reference the German bands that were evolving out of the 60’s and 70’s and was a slanderous term the US Army gave the Germans in WWII so yeah not liking that title at all. The German Rock groups weren’t the first to pull out the experimental card but they made it more well known and out there where musician artists like Iannis Xenakis from Greece was doing this type of music in the 50’s and American artists, Pauline Oliveros was expanding the musical spectrum in the early to mid 60’s but it was fashionable and hip to be German in the 70’s now that the whole Third Reich thing was long behind them and they were once again cool to hang out with according to the world and wars were being fought 10,000 miles away in Vietnam, so Germany, why not?!

A good number of German artists had by now left Berlin as it was becomming too much of a hot zone for commercialism and their identity was being lost to it so they moved out and scattered to other cities like Dusseldorf, Cologne, Hamburg etc to harness their raw energy and power of sound. Berlin was a touristy town for English bands and caravaning hippies to converge upon and take in the sites, sounds and smells of the great city of Berlin. Bands like Kraftwerk were hard at werk(!) designing their sound that would later become the grandfather of techno and electronica industrial music decades later through their genius and ingenuity of creation. Thought their first album when they were known as Organisation and the subsequent pylon albums referred to as Kraftwerk one and two (two, green pylon album is still my all time favourite record by them) were played with guitars, drums flute and keyboards and it wasn’t until 1973 where the two founding members Ralf and Florian branched off keeping the Kraftwerk name and the remaining members forming NEU! releasing several albums that was pretty much where KW would have gone musically had they stayed together as a band.

Most people associate the German rock scene with Kraftwerk because they became a household name by the mid 70’s with the huge impact that 1974’s Autobahn Lp made and they toured more extensively than other bands aside from Tangerine Dream throughout both Europe and North America. Tangerine Dream brought us the hypnotic sounds of what synthesizers can do and by having a massive rig to set up they brought forth an all encompassing sound that would have audiences in rapt attention with their looping riffs of four or five notes that were swallowed up by the swirling synthscapes that would go on for the entire performance making it in to one long piece for each show. No two shows are really alike and the bootleg series Tangerine Leaves is proof enough of just how different the band could be live every time. Very much like UK band, Gentle Giant, Tangerine Dream did release albums but they were a live band as opposed to a studio record experience but their albums were still a joy to listen to and escape in to the world of fantasy and make believe. Bands like Can and Amon Düül were tripping minds with their unique style of sound that had a variety of members and different musician styles brought in to one format creating music that was not even thought of overseas. Damo Suzuki was busking on the streets of Berlin when he was found by the band Can and asked to join them and for a few albums Can had some pretty notorious sounds to compete with and their iconic 1971 album Tago Mago is a perfect example of what it’s like to have a band stretch the limits and beyond of the conventional record you brought home from the shoppes. What also gave Can an edge was that Damo is Japanese and in those times it wasn’t very common to see a Japanese person in Germany let alone the lead singer of a band and he’s even mentioned it in several interviews over time how comical it was for people to stare at him whilst on stage because well he looked pretty different to them I guess! By the mid 70’s Damo had left the group and they petered in and out but didn’t have the same grip on sales and the audiences as they did in the early 70’s. but for German bands it was more about the music and not so much about the sales of albums they could do. The listening experience was what it was all about and not Ch’Ching! Though that did help along the way I’m sure.

Some bands never left their home turf like Kraan, a free form jazzy Prog band that again like a good number of their counterparts was more of a live act than an album’s band. They did do some minor travelling to Denmark and once to the USA for NEARfest in New Jersey in 2001 to much acclaim but it’s in their homeland of Germany that the band found their solace and stride. Being a four to three piece over the years they decided to call it quits last year but that was short lived and the band was back playing live again. Once you get bitten by the touring bug you can’t give up the ghost on it, it’s a part of you, in your blood and soul to the very core forever. As a musician I know that feeling of not wanting to stop playing even if it means playing the same thing twice which has happened a couple of times for me because people arrive late and wanted to hear a particular song so the audience was fine with hearing it again and you do that for your listeners when you can. Kraan pretty much is not a household name over here in North America aside from small clusters of people who venture outside the Top40 clap trap that plagues the airwaves. Speaking of Cluster, there’s another band that flew under the radar of North America and is relatively unknown but they released albums right in to the 80’s and one of them collaborating with Brian Eno which is no surprise as he is truly one of the more well known experimental musicians out there who has released albums on his own and with Robert Fripp as well as many other artists throughout the last few decades.

Some of the other lesser known bands like Eiliff that not a single live bootleg album can be found anywhere and all we have to go on is stories and two studio and two official live albums to their legacy leaves us thirsting for more of the band as they were that German Jazz Prog sound that was a blending of everything under the sun as far as song structure and style, sound and experimentation. Their albums are definitely well worth seeking out and played on a regular basis!

We could write an entire book on this of which there is a great one called Krautrock, Cosmic Rock and its Legacy which is worth seeking out! Of course the German Prog scene has continued to evolve and develop with bands like Traumhaus and Rotor to name a couple and still a lot of bands like Kraan still pack in places and give you your money’s worth in a show despite the fact that they tried to call it a day the other year but just couldn’t stay away and will play until they all drop dead on stage or something because once you’ve played live you can’t get off that stage, trust me I know! So many of the German bands tend to have to take a back seat to their UK and US counterparts globally I find but yet they still play and put out some amazing albums that you just cannot deny their brilliance and have last tried and true over the years.

Ideally I would love to see the remergence of the German Rock scene in North America like it partially had in the 70’s but sadly due to over saturated pop culture music making it more difficult for new and up and coming bands to get any headway through the market over here but at least in Europe and Asia bands have the ability to explore the masses and expose their music to a wider and more attentive audience base. Here there are of course the fan base that has allowed a small portion of the album sales to get through to our living rooms and with sites like Bandcamp helping artists, including yours truly, get exposure and albums and songs out there has been a great advantage to musicians.

Explore the world of German Rock and Prog Rock bands and discover what the Germanic countries have to offer because they’re well made, beautifully crafted musicianship and music that continues to take Deutsch Rock to new levels and keep the Old Guard well held high! ~Enjoy

~fin

DEUTSCH ROCK and The Birth of Experimental Sound So, Die Deutsch Rock Szene, we've covered it before, discussed it, referenced it and even become a part of it but what is it and how did it affect the whole Prog Rock movement or at least a good part of it?

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