Just for chuckles, I looked in on the current John Byrne Fan Site since, a few months ago, they couldn’t wait to dismiss “Fallen Angel” as a Buffy rip-off. Now that they could actually read it and comment upon it, I was wondering if anyone would do so.
One guy started a thread and was immediately jumped on for launching an “off topic” thread (despite the plethora of “off topic threads” already extant) with such an “obvious agenda” (because apparently bringing up my work constitutes an agenda). I could just feel the warmth radiating from my monitor.
The best, though, was the genius who (not having read the book, of course) declared he thought that “Bludhaven” was “a lousy name for a town,” but he never thought he “would see another even worse. Who would call a town “Bete Noir”?? Or “Bludhaven” for that matter??”
Well, gee. I could have gone for something even more obvious, like Hëll, but that’s a real city in Michigan. Or perhaps Panic or Fearnot, but those are both in Pennsylvania. Some believe that Bete Noire is where the dead reside, so I could have called it River Styx, but that’s in Ohio. Peculiar would’ve been good, but the folks in Peculiar, Missouri, might have objected. Maybe the sound makes when one is scared: Eek. But no, that’s in Alaska, the state that also gave us a town called Chicken. The population of Bete Noire is eclectic, but we’d probably hear from the mayor of Eclectic, Alabama, who might have been tipped off to it by the mayor of another Alabama locale, Muck City.
I could have gone for something ironic and called it Plain City, but that’s in Utah, or Boring, but that’s in Maryland. Or just plain No Name, but that’s in Colorado. My search for a city name built to a Climax…Climax, North Carolina, not to be confused with Climax, Pennsylvania, which is also not to be confused with Intercourse, Pennsylvania.
And shall we discuss Monkeys Elbow, Kentucky or the name of another city in Louisiana…Uncle Sam, LA? Nah.
Man, whenever my name comes up anywhere on a Byrne related board, it’s always good for some laughs. The current fan board says “All New, All Different.” Seems pretty same old/same old to me.
PAD
• 
Lets not forget about “Big Ugly” West Virginia
Well, if we’re going for street names, back at the start of the current Iraq war there were a bunch of protests in San Francisco. Most were along the main drag of Market Street, but police were initially surprised by a smaller, but still sizable one that wasn’t near the others.
Until they realized that it was at the intersection of Bush and Powell.
On fun city names, I’ve always liked Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, named after the radio and later tv pseudo-game show of the same name as part of a publicity stunt (the latter day version would be Half, OR renaming itself Half.com for a year).
The John Byrne Message Board: the most fascist comic book fan site on the internet! 🙂
And the really amusing thing is that it put the Warren Ellis Forum to shame, and Ellis used the nickname of Stalin. Okay, so that’s Communism, but it’s just as tyranical.
To be fair to the JB Board, it really was only two or three posters who thought “Fallen Angel” was a rip-off of Buffy, most everyone else who posted in the thread saw the obvious differences.
“Bet this guy HATED Kurt Busiek’s Astro City.”
Nah… Best name there is after Ottawa and Boston. 😉
Just checked the John Byrne forum, not sure why pepole here are bashing Byrne for the Bete Noire comment, he has nothing to do with that exept that someone decided to express himself on HIS forum.
One of my favorite fictional (?) place names was in a fantasy novel I read several years ago, and the town was called Pomme Du Terre (my French spelling from memory is not so good). Anyway, the translation is “apple of the earth,” or “potato,” and I think living in Potato, France would be pretty cool.
Not sure why some people feel like they have to bash John for something that I wrote.
I understand not liking the guy or the work he does, but bashing him for something he has nothing to do with makes no sense.
All he asked was that people lay off on the OT threads.
But it seems that it is enough of an invitation on this board to bash the dude. The very same thing you reproach the Byrne fans to do to your idol/god/whatever.
How sad.
In talking with the original poster at the Byrne Board, the comment in question is not so much “who would name a real-world city this”, but “who would name a fictional city this?” He just thought “Bete Noir” was a lousy sounding name. Which, incidently, is how I interpreted the comment when I first read it there.
That’s about the only comment (pro or con) that appears in the thread.
In terms of strange place names…please. I live in Newfoundland. I have to drive through Ðìldø (and South Ðìldø) to get to my grandparents who live in Heart’s Delight. If I want to see my aunt and uncle, I have to go through Heart’s Desire and Heart’s Content.
I also spent time working at a community newspaper that had the town of Come By Chance in its coverage area.
And that doesn’t include places such as Conception Bay, Placentia, Upper Gullies, Joe Batt’s Arm, Virgin’s Arm and Leading Tickles. Just to name a few.
Bete Noir? Kind of…blasse, isn’t it? …;)
Well, I live in Kentucky, a state with a town named Versailles, which isn’t pronounced like Louis XIV’s palace, but VER-SAILS. 🙂
I used to live on a Possum Trot ridge…and there’s a place nearby called Chicken Gizzard. *shrugs*
Bete Noir sounds kinda classy to me. So does Astro City. And Keystone City. Heck, even Leesburg. 🙂
Another bad Lousiana name: Westwego… pronounced West-We-Go.
Or How about the town of George in Washington
We also have a Martha, Washington.
…don’t forget Head-Bashed-In-Buffalo-Jump in Alberta.
Head-Smashed-In buffalo jump shouldn’t count, because it isn’t a town. It’s an archaeological site (a buffalo jump, naturally; http://www.head-smashed-in.com) near Fort Macleod (http://www.fortmacleod.com). Incidentally, for anyone in the southern Alberta area, Head-Smashed-In is well worth a visit.
>His Namor? Less than Medicore.
Um, did Byrne do the run of Namor in which it was “discovered” that his occasional berserk rampages were the result of a chemical imbalance and that he had to spend 1 hour of each day either in or out of water to keep the condition in remission? If so, I thought that the comic was pretty good.
Well, I didn’t care for the first issue personally, but the name Bete Noir was one of the things about it that I really liked. Although I didn’t know what “Bete” meant before reading this board, I understood that the name had dark French connotations on a par with New Orleans, and it sounded really classy and mysterious.
I can’t imagine why, of all the things to criticize about someone’s writing, someone would pick naming a city “Bludhaven” or “Bete Noir” because they’re supposedly “lousy” names. I mean, what kind of a rock are you living under? You’d think people could offer criticism that was at least somewhat more constructive.
I live in Kentucky as well, and I live near communities called Wax, Snap, Ready, Crow Holler, and Madrid (pronounced MAD (like crazy) – rid.
I like the name Bete Noir a lot.
The community PAD refers to in Kentucky is actually Monkey’s Eyebrow, and it figured into an Uncle Scrooge tale by Don Rosa a while back.
Incidentally, I like both PAD and JB, so I visit both websites on a regular basis.
Kentucky seems to have a monopoly on strange names. I grew up in a town called Paint Lick, which was only 20 minutes from Camp Ðìçk. The eastern part of the state includes a town called Love which is a hop, skip and a jump from Beauty. Egypt is also in the western part of the state. I’m not sure if they have any pyramids though… 🙂
And then there’s another town in Saskatchewan that — if it still exists — ought to be demanding royalties for use of its name by a TV show about a certain Warrior Princess, and I ain’t talking Marg Delahunty from the Royal Canadian Air Farce either…
Yours,
Dwight
Okay, I’m not bragging about it, exactly, but I used to live right next to Goosepimple Juction, Va.
There are some bizarre names in french too: Andouille, Poil (which gives chuckles to everyone who hears people say they were “n
I can’t believe nobody has mentioned the hometown of the Indiana Pacers (and formerly the Boston Celtics’) player Larry Bird:
French Lick, Indiana. It’s just down the road from (I-kid-you-not) Naked City; which really *IS* a nudist camp.
The translation of “Bete Noire” (and that is the correct spelling, too) means “Black beast” or “black animal”–but transliterates into either “Black Sheep”, a “scapegoat,” or a “Pet Peeve”, depending of the context.
“Bete Noire” is definitely the “Black Sheep” of the DCU’s towns; but I think “Pet Peeve” seems to better fit the spirit of the board here . . . . (Heh.)
Goosepimple Junction?!? I looooove it!
Right here, in my home county, we also have Moutardier (which is pronounced MOODY-DEER), Tar Hill, and Bloody Ridge.
…and my favourite town for the comedy clubs: St-Louis-du-Ha!-Ha!, Quebec.
Yolande
I use to live in Kalamazoo, MI ( a funny name all it’s own), which is near Climax, MI on I94. We always had a blast driving that way, the signs reading “Climax 15 miles” etc. It was kinda like a countdown….
Another joke was that there is a Heaven and a Hëll, Michigan, so you could go from Heaven to Hëll and hit Climax in between.
There is also a Gay, Michigan. The bar in town (which is a straight bar) sells t-shirts that say “Go straight to the Gay Bar” in Gay, Michigan.
Suburban Maryland has a Scaggsville, but the residents are trying to get it changed. The Scaggs family was apparently one of the early settlers in that area.
Also, the road signs around Climax weren’t made of metal but wood because they are so frequently stolen.
To be fair to the JB Board, it really was only two or three posters who thought “Fallen Angel” was a rip-off of Buffy, most everyone else who posted in the thread saw the obvious differences.
Yes, but one of the posters was Byrne himself. Repeatedly. And when the “Fallen Angel” thread was begun on his current board, he was the first one to respond with a terse questioning of why it was there at all. Now I’ve no idea whether he challenges all off topic threads (although considering the mandate of the board is to discuss the comics field in general, I’m not sure how anything could be considered off topic), but I doubt it.
John sets the tone. So when people respond to that tone, it’s not all that surprising when people over here take him to task for it.
Me, I was just making an observation about a mindset that pervades any John Byrne board. I wasn’t out to pillory his body of work. I was, and remain, a fan of much of what he has produced.
PAD
Some intresting names I’ve come across in Alabama and Georgia- Gay, GA, Rooster, GA, Slapout, Al.
Kalamazoo, Michigan, has a great sub-sandwich shop called Galley Subs. Yum, yum.
I’m now really getting more of a sense for what all those jokes mean: “…When John Bryne was good…”
Whatever his sensibilities these days, I still very much enjoy his old work. His X-Men run, of course, Fantastic Four, and I’m planning on even getting the “Man of Steel” TPBs coming out this October, of his past stories.
But really, in truth, when I look at his past work I almost consider him a long dead creator. Honestly, it’s as if he’s dead to me – regardless of the fact he’s still breathing.
Any possibility of a Zombie/Undead senario?
Oh well. His stuff was still good back then. But his comments do sound like he’s extremely bitter about the carrer he’s in.
Most artists usually improve over the years. John Rotima Jr’s art has changed tremedously over the years – and very much for the better. But just from the (ugh) Generations covers, he looks like he could still be drawing back in the 70s. Maybe thats a good thing, maybe it’s a bad thing. Just doesn’t look like my taste in art or story.
Oh – does anybody know whats happening with these JLA issues he’s doing with Chris Claremont? If Joe Kelly being bumped off the book, or is their issues just going to be a short stint.
Most of all: does anybody know when this JLA story might start. What issues? I was sort of looking forward to what Joe Kelly had planned for issues coming up to #100 of the JLA. Why the sudden new creative team?
Over here in Britain we’ve got some pretty good place names too… Beer is pretty good (It’s in Devon), Twatt, Pratt’s Bottom (once almost divided into Lower Pratt’s Bottom and Upper Pratt’s Bottom), Westward Ho!, Pie Corner, No Man’s Land, Noah’s Ark, Nobottle, North Curry… and the favourite of autocensors net-wide: Sçûņŧhorpe.
I think that Byrne takes personal offense to Peter way too much. I love both writers and collect their work equally. but I have never seen Peter go out of his way to attack Byrne…but I cant say the same the other way. The problem is that the people who just wanna bash Peter cause Byrne dont like him..thats sad
Peter:
On a related topic, loved the first issue of “Fallen Angel”. Won’t bother you with a whole bunch of questions right now because I’m sure most of them will be answered in the issues to come.
But there is one inquiry I must voice right now: “Is there/will there be some connection between ‘Fallen Angel’ and ‘Supergirl’, or was this belief just a fandom wish/rumor?”
Thanks for the enjoyable reading, and keep up the great work.
Also in North Carolina we have a town called Conetoe. This is strange in itself, but it’s pronounced co-neet-a.
Regarding the ‘bad blood’ between Byrne and PAD (this is only my opinion from my pbservations):
Byrne says there is no bad blood, simply that he thinks PAD makes “bad, bad comics.” Obviously, that’s not true. He gets to angry at the mere mention of PAD’s name for that to be true.
I think Byrne’s animosity toward PAD dates back to when he thought PAD had spoiled the ending of Alpha Flight #12 way back when at some convention. Seeing PAD become a big name writer afterwards probably torqued him a LOT.
In my observations, PAD has been put in the position of having to defend himself from false accusations from Byrne over and over. (Byrne accused PAD of not having the title character in SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1, accused him of encouraging the killing of cops, and several other misrepresentations.) Byrne likes to snipe at PAD, and gets angry when PAD posts rebuttals. Because Byrne doesn’t like having his words challenged.
Over the years the debates over style between them bubble up every so often, a little nastier every time.
We have beautiful Sugar Tit, South Carolina, home of the annual Bubba Fest. Y’all come on down now, ya hear?
In Illinois not only do we have Normal as was posted earlier, but Gays and Dix which are way too close for anyone’s comfort:)
Lest we forget Bald Knob, and Devil’s Backbone both in IL, and the classy Cooter, MO.
I’m out:)
In England, there’s a town called Ipswich, if you’re looking for more weird names from outside the USA.
As a resident of California, I once thought that Placerville, the name of the town in the Homer Price books was a pretty weird name for a town, but it sure made for a good setting for the books!
But there is one inquiry I must voice right now: “Is there/will there be some connection between ‘Fallen Angel’ and ‘Supergirl’, or was this belief just a fandom wish/rumor?”
Some of both. The new series had its origins in directions I was planning to take “Supergirl” before I learned the book wouldn’t continue past #80. So it evolved from there. Now whether the protagonist is indeed Linda…I leave that to individual readers.
PAD
Pennsylvania definitely has all other states beat with weird place names. In addition to the ones already mentioned like Intercourse, Blue Ball, and Climax we have Bird-in-Hand.
Not to mention Jersey Shore, which is no where near the shore or New Jersey.
Sandy Beach, which has no beach.
Hempfield: Lots of people there have a chronic case of the munchies.
King of Prussia and Dauphin, two towns named not after people, but royal titles.
We also have a peninsula juting into Lake Erie that the French named “Presque Isle,” which mean “almost an island.”
OK, so someone has already notice teh fact that Climax and Horneytown NC were close to each other, but they forgot to add in the last of that particular triangle (which are really within 20 miles of each other). It goes, Horneytown, High Point, and then Climax, NC. Living near there growing up sometimes was a teenagers demented dream come true.
Well, Bette Noir is a stupid name for Byrne fans, but surely for Byrne fans Basin City(or Sin City) isn’t a stupid name, of course, Miller and Byrne are pals, aren’t they?
Not implying that this is significant… but it is somewhat amusing:
Weren’t Byrne’s first few or three issues of Next Men set in a town called “Climax”?
And when the “Fallen Angel” thread was begun on his current board, he was the first one to respond with a terse questioning of why it was there at all. Now I’ve no idea whether he challenges all off topic threads (although considering the mandate of the board is to discuss the comics field in general, I’m not sure how anything could be considered off topic), but I doubt it.
The current board is a fair bit more civil, mostly because they don’t have to deal with the same three trolls clogging the board with crap because they *finally* have a banning function. And having a good bit of experience with the last board, starting a post about your work was usually some troll trying to get Byrne started… which is usually pretty easy when the subject is you.
I’ll score him some points on this one by not taking the bait. His comments seemed (at least to me) a statement of annoyance at someone going “let you and he fight”–as based on past experience with such threads.
Trust me, I know what he’s like. I’m just saying in this situation he didn’t live down to type.
Well, Bette Noir is a stupid name for Byrne fans, but surely for Byrne fans Basin City(or Sin City) isn’t a stupid name, of course, Miller and Byrne are pals, aren’t they?
Let’s not blow it out of proportion, it’s *one* fan. The closest anyone came to agreeing with him was when *I* said I thought the name was ok, but could have used a little more thought. No one else expressed an opinion on the matter.
>>Weren’t Byrne’s first few or three issues of Next Men set in a town called “Climax”?
i can’t quite remember now, but his run on Wonder Woman happened on a city called Gateway
Boy, invoke the name of John Byrne and watch the number of posts rise!!
BTW, Steven, if you feel JB’s board is so fascist, why do you bother to participate on it?
PAD, don’t fret a few posters on JB’s board that knock your stuff. There are others like me who enjoy the works of both of you guys.
I thought “Fallen Angel” looked promising, and I ordered a good amount to make certain that customers have a shot at checking the series out.
Matt Hawes
654-B E. Diamond Ave.
Evansville, IN. 47711
Steven, I just reread some of the threads and I realize that it was not actually you that called JB’s board “fascist.” In that case, I withdraw my remark and say I’m sorry about the confusion. (Heck, this is a lengthy thread!)
Matt Hawes
654-B E. Diamond Ave.
Evansville, IN. 47711
Steven, I just reread some of the threads and I realize that it was not actually you that called JB’s board “fascist.”
I did sort of go along with the joke.
I don’t have a problem with the Board (rather enjoy talking with quite a number of them), although there are a couple of posters that I tend to avoid. And the present board is a much nicer place than the last one. Remove the trolls, and people’s defensiveness levels go waaaaay down. Even JB seems to have mellowed quite a bit.
And now for something completely different.
I’ve been hoping that Fallen Anglel is Peter’s new “Buffy” book.
I’ve been a fan of Peter’s work since his great and lenghty run on The Hulk. But somehow Supergirl never got on my buy list, for whatever reason. Recently a local comic shop had packaged several issues together at a great price. I picked it, and I’m sure that store is greatful, since I’m now buying other Supergirl back issues.
I had recently started readin the PAD board and noticed that Peter spent a lot of time writing about the Buffy series. I had never watched any of the shows, and had no interest in it, so I skipped all of those posts. But it made me think…
I had really been enjoying the Supergirl books, and Peter’s Captain Marvel series was highly entertaining, as well as Spyboy, and…
Well, if I enjoyed Peter David’s stuff and he seemed to be in love with Buffy…I decided this was a show I should check out. So as this hit series was coming to an end, I bought the first season on dvd. Within three episodes, I was hooked and I just finished watching season 3.
So I’m a Buffy convert based on liking Peter’s work and thinking that if he’s spending so much time writing about it, that there much be something to it.
And as I watched the first few seasons, I know why he liked it. Obviously, the creators of Buffy share a similar writing sensibility as Peter…well-crafted stories, strong female characters, deep supporting cast, an ability to mix serious stories/issues with a sense of humor, frequent pop culture references, interesting villians, an willingness to shake up the status quo if it aids the storytelling, and, frankly, just being dámņ entertaining.
And he did all of this way before Buffy came on the air. Once again, just check out that Hulk run. No wonder he was drawn to the Buffy series, and I would personally like to thank Peter for turning me onto Buffy, which has provided me with hours and hours of enjoyment.
So, when I first saw the Fallen Angel preview, I didn’t think, “Oh, another Buffy rip-off,” I thought, “Wow, Peter’s new Buffy book!”
If you say that Peter is ripping off Buffy, you may as well say that he is ripping off Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarentino, Howard Hawkes, Dorothy Parker, Roman Polanski, David Mamet, Rod Serling, Shakespeare, and the guys who wrote Caddyshack (Harold Ramis and Brian-Doyle Murray)…
The same basic stories have been told since the beginning of time; it takes a good story-teller to make you want to hear them again…
-dj
From a french guy:
In french, to be someone’s bete noire is to be someone’s pet peeve. There are worse names for a town, even in France; try Montcuq for instance (phonetically ‘my @$$’). No kidding.
JC