kind of a minor point wrt SGA 4x09

[ratcreature]

No meta, but I know I'm not the only one whom it has been driving nuts trying to figure out what Sheppard is reading in this episode, and I finally managed.

It drove me crazy trying to figure out what comic Sheppard is reading, but the file I initially downloaded wasn't high-res enough, and I could just recognize an older (i.e. pre mid-2005) DC logo and the general layout. Then after I wasted almost three hours (!) on a brute force method last night, going through a DC cover database month by month from 2005 backwards until I got to the late 1990s but still had no success, I gave up on that with he suspicion tht this might not be a real comic, and downloaded a larger version of the episode.

And indeed I don't think this is an actual DC comic. However you can read the text, and apparently Sheppard is a fan of a comic called "Cosmic Capers", that on his cover has both a DC logo and something that looks a bit like the Spidey logo Marvel put on its comics for a while, but it could be something else, also I think I can read "Marvelous Comics Inc. -- Comix Presents -- Cosmic Capers" on the cover, but you can judge for yourself. I also made two screencaps where you can see part of the interior pages.

Comments

I knew the comics geeks would come through!

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

You rule! What dedication, what compulsiveness!

derryderrydown thinks they got the cover (http://thete1.livejournal.com/641095.html?thread=11344455#t11344455) from an old Batman, flipped and cropped (http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/batman/613-1.jpg).

Now, I wonder why they went to that much trouble? Stoopid legal reasons, or something tricksy & meaningful?

Re: I knew the comics geeks would come through!

[ratcreature]

But that Batman cover doesn't look anything like this cover, there are dozens that come much closer, including elements like the white border and just one guy on it reaching out or grabbing towards the reader. I'm very aware of that, having spent hours looking at nearly every cover DC published from 1998-2005 yesterday.

I can't really imagine how it could be legal reasons with a DC logo they're using, but who knows. I think it's kind of funny that it reads "Cosmic Capers" though.

[brownbetty]

Man, I'm not entirely sure why this apparently is so fascinating to me, but, blowing it up in GIMP and fiddling with the contrast and such, we see:







Which is to say, the girl's profile does look like Harley, but there also seems to be some dude in sunglasses who looks a bit like Joe Flannigan, and the title seems to be "Amazing" something

[brownbetty]

Amazing Avengers, maybe?

[ratcreature]

Could be. I never even noticed that there's more than one person on the cover, I just noticed the creepy guy reaching out, but you're right, it's some kind of kiss on the lower left.

[ratcreature]

A commenter below pointed out that it is "Amazing Avenger" and was originally a made for the SG-1 episode 7x09 "Avenger 2.0" and that it shows someone looking like Maritn Wood. It also appeared in the SGA episode 1x18 The Gift in Fords quarters:
http://www.stargatecaps.com/sga/s1/118/html/gift006.html

[brownbetty]

Oh man. I like being right.

[sizequeen.livejournal.com]

The greenness of the covers, though, reminds me of The Green lantern. it looks like thaey took a bunch of comic book charaters, put 'em in a blender, and pushed the chop button.

[ratcreature]

Yeah. Because of the green and the guy on the cover my first association was The Spectre, because he's fairly often alone on the covers, also with the dark and creepy feel. But they did mix and match.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

This is so awesome! Wow, thank you -- I'd been wondering, and this is so cool.

I love this whole scene. How Rodney just barges right in to John's room, where John is reading comic books in bed. Oh, boys. :-)

[ratcreature]

Glad to be of help. I loved that scene and that John brings comic books to another galaxy, but ever since I watched I was wondering about what comic that was, because I didn't recognize it. And I looked in a bunch of other reviews, hoping someone had watched it in larger (I normally don't get the eps so big, because it's not like I vid or anything like that), but I didn't see anything, just a couple of other fans wondering too.

[lilac-way.livejournal.com]

And he's drinking a bottle of Evian and eating... they look like Goldfish crackers! Eeee!

[ratcreature]

Heh yeah, surprising what they'll ship to other galaxies... (though I really wish they'd get rid of the bottled water, or just used non-labelled bottles that you could at least believe were refilled)

[rustler.livejournal.com]

I applaud your dedication to the cause! :-)

[ratcreature]

Some measure of compulsiveness is what distinguishes the fan from the casual viewer. *grins*

[girlwithoutfear.livejournal.com]

The inside of the book looks like an ad for a Spiderman toy with 37 articulating points of motion. The outside looks like it's a composite of Marvel on the top line, then DC pasted in for good measure. *grins*

[ratcreature]

Heh, I knew that that Spider-Man page layout seemed familiar! The interior page before that shows a guy in a red cape with a hood though, kind of like The Spectre in red, so I suspect that could be a hero of the Cosmic Capers...

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

YAY! Thank you! I am forever in your debt, 'cause that had been driving me nuts.

It's a bit odd that they actually mocked up a cover rather than use a real comic, however! Especially since they refer to real comics in the dialogue occasionally. But at least now we don't have to wonder.

I also love the implication that he's just been to Earth, so he had to hit the comic shop and pick up a big pile of all the issues he'd missed. *g*

I really adore how they've worked John's comic geek-ism into the show, because he's so totally the antithesis of the stereotypical comics nerd, and I love seeing a character who's obviously a comics fan and also a cool action hero. How rare is THAT? (And it's realistic, too! I live in an army base town, and lots of the guys from the base are regular patrons of our local comics store. Apparently comics, especially the superhero and military-action ones, are very popular with soldiers.)

[ratcreature]

Yeah, it's a bit odd, especially since when you watch a fuzzier screen version the DC logo is just about the only recognizable thing on the cover, so it's not like it's a trademark or product placement problem. But I'm really amused by the "Cosmic Capers" bit.

I also love the implication that he's just been to Earth, so he had to hit the comic shop and pick up a big pile of all the issues he'd missed. *g*

What would be kind of cool though would be for him to encounter some Pegasus Galaxy comics from one of those 1940s level tech planets. I mean, he probably couldn't read the foreign script, but I know that I've bought some comics I can't read as travel souvenir for my collection, like I have some Czech comics, which I don't speak or read at all.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Upon further staring ...

Does anybody else think the guy on the cover looks vaguely like Joe Flanigan?

You know, I have never in my life wanted a prop before, but if that actually IS a comics cover they mocked up for the episode using JoeF as the model, I WANT IT.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, it does look a bit like JF. brown_betty remarked upon that as well.

[kensieg.livejournal.com]

who is that in the picture on John's night table?

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

it's little!Joe and Evel Knievel at a fair. (you can just see the top of little!Joe's head)

[ratcreature]

Seriously? Huh. Cool.

[kensieg.livejournal.com]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

[ratcreature]

I have no idea.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I was wondering what he was reading. I figured it was a comic book due to the size and sheer thinness of the publication. guess he's given up on WAR AND PEACE ;)

[ratcreature]

Well, I assume the massive tome on his nightstand might be War and Peace? Unless the edition he was seen reading previously had a different color?

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

hmm, must go back and check. wonder how far he's into it...

[tmz-cori.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for that!

But does that mean Sheppard is finished with War and Peace? :O *g*

[ratcreature]

I think not, unless the thick book on his nightstand is another epic he started. I suspect with the more regular contact to earth his reading material is just not limited to the one ultra-long thing that might last him for years while stranded.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I think my mind was distracted by the Evian water bottle (geez, importing water to another galaxyis just too lame) and the Evel Knievel photo...

[minnow1212.livejournal.com]

Woot! Thank you.

[ratcreature]

Not knowing kind of haunted me, especially since I felt it as a bit of a blow to my DC comic geek pride that I couldn't place it. But no wonder with it not being a real DC comic in the first place. *g*

[lurkmuch.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU! Wondering about this has been driving me completely insane! When I watched, the glimpse that I caught of the Spidey figure looked a tiny bit like the Earth glyph, and I'd wondered if they hadn't used (at least for the interior) one of the SG-1 or SGA comics.

[ratcreature]

You're welcome. Interesting image guess the glyph. Besides the DC logo I thought the lower writing was a dagger at first.

I could have just ignored it if I hadn't been able to make out anything, but even the fuzzier version gave tantalizing glimpses that made it *almost* able to see, and that drove me crazy.

[lurkmuch.livejournal.com]

Someone on my flist suggested Hellblazer, which I thought would be an interesting thematic choice. And I'd sort of wondered about Batman, since he gets mentioned like, every other episode. But I don't read any superhero books, so I couldn't tell just from looking at it.

But seriously, I have been dying to know!

[ladyclio16.livejournal.com]

You know I did a little searching on Google and I found out that when comics is spelled comix (with and "x" instead of a "c") it means it's an underground comic. So that might not be DC at all of at least not the official DC comics, it could be someone using the logo in mocking. Sheppard could be reading an underground comix.

I did find an old underground comix called Cosmic Capers from the 70's at this website (http://www.undergroundcollectibles.com/index.cfm), but it didn't have the same cover.

[ratcreature]

Underground comics from that period would not look like this. First they wouldn't be in color on the inside, because color printing was even more expensive then (an most small press comics are still b/w for that reason), and the coloring wouldn't be anything like the you can see on the cover and the interior, which clearly is done with modern coloring and printing technique with computer aided printing technology. Also it's unlikely that there would be a Spider-Man toy ad.

[cupidsbow.livejournal.com]

Brilliant! Thank you. I wonder if John's been reading the Cosmic Capers since he was a kid -- he might have daydreamed himself as the space hero, out fighting space scum and saving the day!

[ratcreature]

Heh, he could have. I'm fairly sure he must have read some comics. Few adults read comics if they haven't as kids.

[sobsister.livejournal.com]

This is neat, I was curious what he was reading. Thanks for putting this up.

[ratcreature]

I'm glad to hear others wondered too, and that I could be of service.

[kyriacarlisle.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I was thinking, "well, it'd make sense if he were reading Fantastic Four, but that's Marvel..."

[ratcreature]

Yeah, that or a Batman title would have made sense. Still, Cosmic Capers is funny at least.

[aretria.livejournal.com]

Well, you got me interested and I found this: http://database.stargate-sg1.hu/characterpage.php?ID=1009

Unfortunately I don't remember anything much of the SG-1 episode in question (7x09 Avenger 2.0).

[ratcreature]

That is neat! I didn't know that it appeared in SG-1 as well.

[ratcreature]

Actually now that you told me this, I found that this is the comic appeared in SGA before in the episode The Gift in Ford's quarters:
http://www.stargatecaps.com/sga/s1/118/html/gift006.html

[aretria.livejournal.com]

Custom made for the series, so to speak? ;) The next cameo of Martin Wood, now with his own comic book? ;p