Kirby never kept his love for the...zoftig...type woman a secret. He loved the pleasantly plump female form, even modelling DC's anything but skinny Big Barda after his own wife Roz. Seeing Sersi in Avengers was a delight, considering the late Mark Gruenwald made sure here flirty, flighty nature carried over from Kirby's Eternals. It's interesting to note, however, that Byrne wanted her costume to have a metallic look to it, neither Paul Ryan or any of his successors on Avengers like Steve Epting ever seemed to take this into account.
WHile I will agree that Kirby did indeed seem to appreciate some larger-than-life women, BIG BARDA was modeled, not after his wife ROZ, but actress LAINIE KAZAN. This is a well-known fact that he himself stated. (She had appeared in a Playboy issue shortly before Jack created B.B.)
He HAS stated that the interplay between MR MIRACLE (who was based off of the exploits of artist/writer/magician JIM STERANKO) and BIG BARDA was in fact based on the interactions between Jack and his wife Roz.
Seeing this picture of Sersi reminds me of what I thought was the worst era of the Avengers...everything from around #300 up until the Gatherers showed up. I dunno, does anybody have any fondness for those stories. Gilgamesh, Super-Nova, The Crossing Line, The Brethren, Tetrarchs of Entropy...it just seemed so meh compared to what was happening in the other Marvel books at the time. It would be nice to see Sersi an active member again.
That's funny :-) I found the brief runs by Byrne, Larry Hama and Fabian Nicieza to be a breath of fresh air after the the convoluted mess Walt Simonson left behind. His hopelessly complicated Council of Crosstime Kangs/timebubble/Sleeping Celestial storyline destroyed one of the finest Avengers lineups of the decade.
Mind you, all of those guys might not even have gotten a shot at the book, if Roger Stern hadn't quit when Marvel editorial forced him to make Captain America teamleader again. It's a long story, but essentially that would have meant undermining Stern's pet character Captain Marvel who had actually been doing a fine job as leader. Stern flat out refused to participate, even though he had plans for the book at least up until # 300.
Guess that answers my Question Jef, some stories just aren't for everyone. But thanks for reminding me of Walt Simonson's run, that was a really rough patch. It really is too bad Stern couldn't complete his run, and it never seemed like Captain Marvel (Photon, Pulsar) ever really got back to where she should be, a regular Avenger.
Hubba hubba!
ReplyDeleteOne of my first favorites from the Avengers, and my favorite female Eternal.
ReplyDeleteKirby never kept his love for the...zoftig...type woman a secret. He loved the pleasantly plump female form, even modelling DC's anything but skinny Big Barda after his own wife Roz. Seeing Sersi in Avengers was a delight, considering the late Mark Gruenwald made sure here flirty, flighty nature carried over from Kirby's Eternals. It's interesting to note, however, that Byrne wanted her costume to have a metallic look to it, neither Paul Ryan or any of his successors on Avengers like Steve Epting ever seemed to take this into account.
ReplyDeleteJef,
ReplyDeleteWHile I will agree that Kirby did indeed seem to appreciate some larger-than-life women, BIG BARDA was modeled, not after his wife ROZ, but actress LAINIE KAZAN.
This is a well-known fact that he himself stated.
(She had appeared in a Playboy issue shortly before Jack created B.B.)
He HAS stated that the interplay between MR MIRACLE (who was based off of the exploits of artist/writer/magician JIM STERANKO) and BIG BARDA was in fact based on the interactions between Jack and his wife Roz.
But all that said, SERSI is one of my faves.
I stand corrected :)
ReplyDeleteSeeing this picture of Sersi reminds me of what I thought was the worst era of the Avengers...everything from around #300 up until the Gatherers showed up. I dunno, does anybody have any fondness for those stories. Gilgamesh, Super-Nova, The Crossing Line, The Brethren, Tetrarchs of Entropy...it just seemed so meh compared to what was happening in the other Marvel books at the time. It would be nice to see Sersi an active member again.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny :-) I found the brief runs by Byrne, Larry Hama and Fabian Nicieza to be a breath of fresh air after the the convoluted mess Walt Simonson left behind. His hopelessly complicated Council of Crosstime Kangs/timebubble/Sleeping Celestial storyline destroyed one of the finest Avengers lineups of the decade.
ReplyDeleteMind you, all of those guys might not even have gotten a shot at the book, if Roger Stern hadn't quit when Marvel editorial forced him to make Captain America teamleader again. It's a long story, but essentially that would have meant undermining Stern's pet character Captain Marvel who had actually been doing a fine job as leader. Stern flat out refused to participate, even though he had plans for the book at least up until # 300.
Guess that answers my Question Jef, some stories just aren't for everyone. But thanks for reminding me of Walt Simonson's run, that was a really rough patch. It really is too bad Stern couldn't complete his run, and it never seemed like Captain Marvel (Photon, Pulsar) ever really got back to where she should be, a regular Avenger.
ReplyDelete