8FOLD/META: About the Author # 1: Tom Russell

[martinphipps2 at yahoo.com]

Tom Russell wrote:
> >
> > Anyway, did you actually read any of the LNHY stuff?  There were
> > analogues of Lethal Lawyer and Exclamation Master and there was a
> > mention of a Sister State-the-Obvious analogue but otherwise it's a
> > completely separate universe.  I think the name "LNHY" is
misleading.
>
> I'm trying to catch up on all RACC stuff, having been offline for
quite
> some time.  My little rant on alternate universes wasn't intended as
a
> slight on LNHY or LNH2 or anything else.

Well, given that the options "alternate LNH future" and "alternate LNH
reality" are both available I was thinking "Oookay".

> I wasn't specifically
> singling out any writer or series, and I certainly wouldn't do that
to
> you, Martin-- I have quite a bit of respect for you and I really
click
> with your sense of humour.

Thanks. :)

> I guess it breaks down like this: I hate the general idea behind
stuff
> like Marvel's 2099, or Batman Beyond, but good things came out of
both.
>  Personally, I'd rather see those characters or stories worked into
the
> fabric of the universe, in-continuity, which, unfortunately, it
can't.
> Because if you do anything to change Spider-Man, the fans will kill
> you.  (Hell, I just about killed a few people during the clone saga.)
> So, you have a different sort of story to tell, you have to tell it
on
> the side, in another pocket of reality-- where it doesn't "count".
> That's what irks me about "future" imprints, alternate imprints, and
> the like.  This Ultimate line from Marvel is a really retarded idea,
> but, from what little I've read, a good story comes out of it here
and
> there.

I think the Ultimate Line was a way to try to tell "What If...?" style
stories but let them have consequnce.  It is funny that most "What
If...?" stories ended with major characters dying. :D

> Perhaps I was a little harsh in my denouncement of alternate
universes
> -- again, I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular and I wasn't
trying
> to hurt anybody.  Perhaps what I should have gone into more detail
> about how it didn't count, at least within the universe proper, and
how
> that irks me.  A story without consequences is the bane of serial
> literature-- a story without consequences means that Spidey will
never
> really be hurt, no matter what situation he's in.  It's supremely
> emasculating.

Except that given Marvel's sliding time scale you could argue that M2
and Marvel 2099 really _were_ the future but that the future will never
arrive because that would mean current characters getting old and dying
and young children actually growing up and becoming adults (without
first travelling into the future and returning).

> And that's what the alternate universe always struck me as: a story
> without consequences.  But, as you said, everything is an alternate
> universe, so it doesn't really have a consequence, does it?

Unless you consider emotional impact to be a consequence, no.

> Maybe it's just a personal preference, a bit of nit-picking: I like
to
> have my universe nice and tidy, and I like to know that the story I'm
> telling has a bearing on others.

I know.  Unfortunately, I wouldn't be likely to use zombies or a
walking fetus in a standard LNH story.

> So, anyway-- those are my thoughts.  Again, I didn't mean to slight
> anyone, and I'm sorry if it came out that way.

No problem. :)

Martin