| Author |
|
Kip Lewis
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 March 2011
Posts: 2880
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 7:03am | IP Logged | 1
|
|
|
The talk about Frankie Raye reminded me of Aunt Petunia. I
remember liking it but one of my best friends hated it. He
said that Aunt Petunia was one of those things that were
never supposed to be revealed on the comic book page. (I'm
not sure where he got that idea.). I on the other hand had
no problem with it and enjoyed the approach you used with
her. (I loved Johnny's reaction.)
What inspired this take on her?
(I haven't noticed writers using his Aunt Petunia quotes in
decades. Shame.)
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132286
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 7:07am | IP Logged | 2
|
|
|
What inspired this take on her?•• If I was starting up on the FF today, I most likely would not do that story. I sort of agree with your friend. Aunt Petunia was maybe one of those elements that should not have been seen. Back in the day, tho, I was a young man and knew no fear, so I figured it was perfectly fine to reveal Aunt Petunia if there was a way to overturn reader expectations without ruining the character.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Kip Lewis
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 March 2011
Posts: 2880
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 7:52am | IP Logged | 3
|
|
|
I think before that story I didn't imagine she was a real
person, but she was just some sort of saying he used.
To my teenage brain, turning expectations on its head was
inspired writing. But I can see the other side now, too.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Marc Cheek
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 June 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 1785
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 8:14am | IP Logged | 4
|
|
|
I loved seeing Aunt Petunia and the twist that she was young! I thought it was perfect.
Just an aside, but has she made any other appearances since those couple of issues of the FF?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Eric Sofer
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 31 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 4789
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 8:19am | IP Logged | 5
|
|
|
It was a brilliant turn, and she was - of course - drop dead gorgeous in that John Byrne "make the readers drool" style.
I had always pictured Aunt Petunia as very similar to Irving Forbush's Auntie Mayhem from Not Brand Echh. Thank you for readjusting my expectations, Mr. Byrne!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
David Allen Perrin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 15 April 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 3541
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 8:54am | IP Logged | 6
|
|
|
Aunt Petunia being revealed as a babe set my teenaged brain on fire!
You earned your stripes on that one in my book. I thought it was hysterical!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15797
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 10:24am | IP Logged | 7
|
|
|
I think featuring Aunt Petunia stays just the right side of the demarcation line between 'nice twist on a long-standing aspect' and 'adversely changes a long-standing aspect forever'.
It doesn't stop Ben quoting his Aunt Petunia and doesn't over-write anything we knew about her, just subverts expectations, so it felt OK to me -- especially as it was a one off.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Raj Dhami
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 March 2008
Posts: 232
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 2:11pm | IP Logged | 8
|
|
|
I just think it was a smart thing to do. And the twist that she was a relatively young woman made it all the smarter to me - albeit it as a 13 year old boy.I stayed with FF for the entire duration of your tenure on the book and eagerly awaited every new issue. You brought a tangible sense of excitement, grandeur and respect to a book that felt like it had become rather predictable.
Edited by Raj Dhami on 24 June 2015 at 2:12pm
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Greg Kirkman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 15775
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 3:20pm | IP Logged | 9
|
|
|
I think featuring Aunt Petunia stays just the right side of the
demarcation line between 'nice twist on a long-standing aspect' and
'adversely changes a long-standing aspect forever'.
It doesn't stop Ben quoting his Aunt Petunia and doesn't over-write
anything we knew about her, just subverts expectations, so it felt OK to
me -- especially as it was a one off.
++++++++
Exactly. It's not at the same level as, say showing what Doctor Doom
looks like under the mask.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Philippe Negrin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 August 2007
Location: France
Posts: 2644
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 3:33pm | IP Logged | 10
|
|
|
I didn't care much about the Aunt Petunia mystery. It was only the way our host did it that made me care. Another stroke of genius !
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132286
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 3:34pm | IP Logged | 11
|
|
|
Revealing Aunt Petunia kind of falls under the illusion if change. Although often mentioned, she was nothing like a major part of the FF'a canon. There was no ripple effect, such as comes from "revealing" that Quicksilver is an Inhuman, or that Tony Stark is an alcoholic.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 12438
|
| Posted: 24 June 2015 at 3:37pm | IP Logged | 12
|
|
|
It's definitely not like revealing Doctor Doom's face! But I don't agree that it was a good idea.
Greg, you note that it subverted expectations, and it did, and that means the joke did over-write what readers for, even back then, decades had always assumed. JB executed it in a very funny way, but that's not a good enough reason to do something, even tiny, that takes away the charm of the unknown that Lee-Kirby had created.
As a general rule, I don't think it's a good idea to change things long-established even in trivial ways. All the generations of FF readers before the Aunt Petunia reveal had exactly the same sense of fun in hearing Ben's catchphrase transformed over and over, and all those generations all assumed exactly what Johnny did, what we all did. It was not a good idea to change that to make a joke (even a good one) for the benefit of just one generation of readers.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Topic Closed)
