Tuesday 15 November 2022

Speak Your Brain! Part 41. Pick a favourite!

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon
***

The Steve Does Comics Megaphone
Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay
Gadzooks! Can it be we've already reached the second half of a month?

No, it can't.

But we almost have.

And that means it's time to once more dust off the feature that's become a familiar hat and lay it upon our heads.

It's true, by crikey. It's the one in which the first person to comment gets to pick the topic of the day!

But what will it be?

For all I know, it could be art, films, flans, plans, books, bagels, cooks, nooks, crooks, ducks, drakes, pixies, rocks, socks, blocks, music, mucous, fairy tales, fairy lights, Fairy Liquid, fairy cakes, Eccles cakes, myth, moths, maths, magic, tragedy, comedy, dromedaries, murder, larders, Ladas, mystery, mayhem, molluscs, Moorcock, May Day, mangoes, bongos, drongoes, bingo, Ringo, Pingu, Ringu, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Doris Day, Marvin Gaye, Marvin the paranoid android, Brookside Close, Ramsay Street, Coronation Street, Albert Square, Scarlet Street, Dead End Street, chickenpox, the Equinox, parallelograms, rhomboids, androids, asteroids, The Good Life, the Next Life, pomegranates, raisins, grapes, currants, blackcurrants, figs, waves, granite, marble, marbles, maples, staples, fables, stables, sofas, eggs, pegs, legs, dregs, moons and supermoons, Supertramp, Supertrams, streetcars, desires, sodas, sausages, eggs, whisky, broth, Bath, baths, Garth Marenghi, Garth Brooks, Garth Crooks, Bruno Brookes, Bruno Mars, Mars Bars, wine bars, flip-flops, flim-flam, flapjacks, backpacks, see-saws, jigsaws, dominoes, draft excluders, blockheads, blackheads, dunderheads, deadheads, webheads, flowerpots, Bill and Ben, Ben and Jerry, Tom and Jerry, flour pots, bread bins, bin bags, body bags, body horror, shoddy horror, doggy bags, bean bags, coal sacks, cola, cocoa, dodos, Dido, Soho, Solo, silos, windows, day-glo, glue, Gloy, Bostik, pancakes, Eccles cakes, Bakewell Tarts, Fabulous Wealthy Tarts, Mr Kipling, Rudyard Kipling, pizzas, pastas, pastors, baking soda, sci-fi, Wi-Fi, Hi-Fi, sewage, saunas, suet, Tomorrow People, Forever People, Party People, Sheila Steafel, steeples, Silurians, Sontarans, Sea Devils, sins, suns, sans, sense, sludge, slumps, sumps, sunshine, slime, soup, sandwiches, servants, Sultanas, Santana, Sultans, grapes, grappling, grippling or sandcastles.

But what I know doesn't matter.

It's what you know that matters.

Or perhaps it's what you want to know that matters.

Whatever it is, feel free to post it in the comments section below and get that conversation off your chest.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...


Pick a Favorite:

JLA or Avengers?
X-Men or Teen Titans?
Ditko or Romita?
Gwen or Mary Jane?
Betty or Veronica?
Ginger or Mary Ann?
Beatles or Stones?
Ramones or Pistols?
Bobby Sherman or David Cassidy?
Cats or Dogs?
Coke or Pepsi?
Night Owl or Morning Person?

Follow-up Question:
Why?

b.t.

Anonymous said...

Avengers
X-Men
It depends
Gwen
Betty
(?)
Beatles
Neither
Neither
Cats in middle-age, dogs prior to that
Pepsi
Night Owl

First 2 - Marvel is better than DC - except for surrealism, where DC is an absolute master.
Ditko is better at some things, Romita better at others. If Spidey...that's a tough one, because the first stories had something special.
Mary Jane's annoying, so Gwen.
Betty Brant, or Rubble, or whatever other Betty, usually beats their opposite number - even in funny comics I don't read.
(?)
Obviously the Beatles.
Both rubbish.
Both rubbish.
In middle-age, cats are less hassle; well before middle-age, dogs preferred.
Coke is too "gassy" for my palate. Pepsi is less gassy, and has a "tingle" as it goes down.
Always been more of a night owl (reading in bed).

Phillip

Matthew McKinnon said...

Avengers
X-Men
Honestly no idea - never got into either
Mary Jane
?
?
Beatles (they split up, which is dignified)
Pistols
?
Cats cats cats
Coke Coke Coke
Morning person

I am 10-15 years too young for some of these questions. Sorry


Anonymous said...

The ‘Ginger or Mary Ann’ question is probably too USA- centric — they’re the two young ladies from GILLIGAN’S ISLAND.

‘Bobby or David’ : they were the two top ‘Teen Idols’ here in the States in the late 60s/early 70s. I remember girl classmates arguing over which guy was dreamier. Like, ANGRILY arguing. Also, Charlton published comics featuring each of them. FWIW.

b.t.

Anonymous said...

b.t. - Interesting. Gilligan's island gets referenced a lot, but I don't think it's ever been shown in the UK (unless before my time). Stewie Griffin even has 'Gilligan' as his middle name!

I'm familiar with David Cassidy. When I was little, girls used to rave about the Bay City Rollers (if you can believe that!)

Phillip

McSCOTTY said...

Avengers or JLA- The Avengers (just) but I loved the a late 60s to mid 70s JLA
X-Men or Teen Titans - The Teen TItans just for those early NIck Cardy issues
Ditko or Romita - Oh that a tough one but Romita as his style never really dropped the way that Ditkos did , but both are/were brillIiant
Gwen or Mary Jane - 100% Gwen - Im still gutted they l killed her off (more so that they brought her clone back etc}
Betty or Veronica - Veronica - money attitude and looks what more could a guy want
Ginger or Mary Ann- Huh?
Beatles or the Stones - Stones (both are great though) but Im more into blues/rock but Bowie everytime!
Ramones or Pistols - Pistols (just for God save the Queen)
Bobby Sherman or David Casidy - neither
Cats or Dogs - Dogs - cats are evil sleekit wee beasties
Coke or Pepsi - I dont really drink soda now but when I did i prefered Pepsi
Night owl or morning person - Night owl - cultivated over many years of listening to my radio at night trying to tune into Radio Luxenbourg and reading comics by torchlight

Charlie Horse 47 said...

JLA or Avengers - Toss up. But I definitely prefer mid 1960s Avengers

X-Men or Teen Titans - Toss up. But I definitely prefer mid 1960s X-Men.

Ditko or Romita? - Undecided. Different phases of Spidey and each were perfect for their time. But if, as Romita says, it was his idea to kill Gwen... hmmm....

Gwen or Mary Jane? Gwen. Duh.

Betty or Veronica? Betty - Veronica was very unethical, very often.

Ginger or Mary Ann? Mary Ann. Duh.

Beatles or Stones? Beatles forever. But since the Stones have all but faded from the public consciousness and market place, since 2000, I lately have found them very refreshing!

Ramones or Pistols? Geeze, I saw the Ramones so...

Bobby Sherman or David Cassidy? "I Think I Love You" by Cassidy still rocks the house, baby!

Cats or Dogs? Neither. Animals should be left in their natural state.

Coke or Pepsi? Either as long as its "Mexican" i.e., has real sugar and not amerikan corn syrup.

Night Owl or Morning Person? Never really read Watchman so don't know much about Hight Owl. Never heard of Morning Person!

Follow-up Question:
Why?

Charlie Horse 47 said...

b.t. - I was hoping someone would talk about Flan but your quiz was quite fun! LOL!

Colin Jones said...

bt, I've never heard of Bobby Sherman - here in the UK it was David Cassidy vs. Donny Osmond (Cassidy had two #1 hits and Osmond had three). A few years ago there was a BBC radio documentary about the early '70s Cassidy/Osmond rivalry.

We never saw Gilligan's Island in the UK but I've watched a few episodes on YouTube out of curiosity. British TV showed lots of American comedy shows so I don't know what happened with Gilligan's Island.

I've drunk both Coke and Pepsi but I can't taste any difference!

Let's face it - the Stones were much cooler than the Beatles. Can you imagine Mick Jagger singing Yellow Submarine or Octopus's Garden? I rest my case.

Colin Jones said...

Steve, you've dropped the Roman numerals - this is Speak Your Brain 41 not XLI.

Anonymous said...

Kamandi or Killraven?
Asterix or Tintin?
Miles or Monk?
Kraftwerk or the Human League?
Leeds or Sheffield?
Arsenal or Spurs?
Pepsi or Shirley?
Cricket or watching paint dry?
Trump or DeSanctimonious in '24?

-sean

Steve W. said...

Bt, thanks for the topic. I shall give my choices later in the day, once I've had the time to cogitate upon the issue. Sean, I shall also answer your list then.

Colin, tragically, I started to work on this post and suddenly realised I'd hit the limit of my ability to use Roman numerals without hurting my brain.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Steve, thats actually pretty good of you considering it was a bit cheeky of me to not answer b.t.'s questions, and I look forward to it.
Apologies b.t., but generally I wasn't too bothered either way.

-sean

Colin Jones said...

I look forward to The Orange Messiah and Ron DeSatanist ripping each other to shreds.

Colin Jones said...

Steve, maths lessons in Ancient Rome must have been a nightmare!

Anonymous said...

FWIW:
Avengers
X-Men
Romita
MJ
Betty
Mary Ann
Beatles
Pistols
David Cassidy
Cats
Coke
Night Owl
Killmandi
Tintin
Miles
Human League
Uh…
…hmm.
Laverne
Watching Paint Dry
Flan

b.t.

Anonymous said...

Romans didnt have a “zero.” No wonder their society collapsed!

Steve W. said...

Right. Now to tackle Bt's question:

Avengers. Marvel heroes are groovier.

X-Men. Marvel heroes are groovier.

Romita. He instantly brought Spider-Man into the swinging '60s.

Mary Jane. By far the livelier of the two.

I am too unknowledgeable about Betty and Veronica to make a choice.

I am totally unfamiliar with Ginger and Mary Ann.

The Beatles. Two musical geniuses, a handy third songwriter, and the perfect drummer for all three of them. Plus, a great producer and team of engineers.

Ramones or Pistols? It's a draw.

David Cassidy because I don't know who Bobby Sherman is.

Cats. They don't threaten to kill me every time I pass their house.

Coke. Somehow, Pepsi has never had the same iconic status. Also, Coke cans have a better colour scheme.

Night Owl. All my best thinking is done after 10 PM.

Steve W. said...

And now to tackle Sean's list:

Killraven. Kamandi's comics are more readable but Killraven's have Martians in them.

Asterix. Tintin was always a bit too clean-cut for my liking.

Miles or Monk? I am in no way qualified to express an opinion.

The Human League. They had better tunes. And dancing.

Sheffield.

Arsenal. Purely because their kits have a better colour scheme.

Shirlie. Because a toss of a coin has just told me she's the one to pick.

Watching paint dry. At least you can get high on the fumes while you're doing it.

Trump. He's really old and there's always the hope that he'll die during the campaign.

Anonymous said...

I've never read Kamandi. But I have read Killraven. So can't compare.

Asterix had a catchier theme tune, plus a better side-kick (Obelix, if memory serves) than Captain Haddock (or Snowy).

Devon doesn't solve crimes as ingeniously as Monk does. As to Davis & Thelonious, I only remember the latter name from a tangential 6th form discussion of Larkin's 'For Sidney Bechet'. But I can't remember what the discussion was about (so, can't compare.)

The Human League. Kraftwerk are good, but a one-trick pony.

The old Leeds I liked has been ruined by change, & redevelopment. I never liked Sheffield city, but only the parks, & villages, etc, further out. So, it's now a tie.

Don't like football clubs.

Pepsi did a halfway decent rendition of a Mike Oldfield song, so gets my vote.

It's a tie.

I don't know much about the new GOP guy, but Trump won't be re-elected. So, maybe he's the lesser of two evils.

Phillip

Redartz said...

Ok, lot of ground to cover:

Avengers; especially the mid 70's lineup with the Beast.
X-men, No contest. But I did like both.
Toss up- I love both Ditko and Romita. Like choosing between your parents.
Mary Jane (sorry Charlie). Really liked her character development through the Bronze age. And that last page of ASM 122 was a game changer.
Betty, my original 11 year old crush.
Mary Ann, but Ginger is fine too
Beatles forever, but the Stones are great too.
Ramones
David Cassidy, only because I enjoyed the Partridge Family.
Dogs, any day. Dogs are indispensable to my mental health.
Coke, especially with Cherry added.
Night Owl, particularly if I can sleep in.

Killraven, because I've actually never read a Kamandi story.
Asterix, but Tintin holds a fond place in my memory. First encountered his stories in Cub Scouts.
Miles, but it's a tough call.
Kraftwerk, but I am fanatic about both groups.
Have to pass on Leeds vs Sheffield, due to my shameful ignorance.
Same with Arsenal and Spurs.
Pepsi, I guess.......
Cricket, but preferably Baseball.
As for the last choice, Trump or Desantis- neither, oh please God...


Anonymous said...

Its only fair for me to answer b.t.s questions after all -

JLA. Come on people - its Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
X-Men. Because Chris Claremont is not as bad as Marv Wolfman (a low bar to clear I know, but it wasn't my question).
Ditko.
Gwen, Mary Jane? Eh. Everyone knows the coolest superhero girl friend was Leila Taylor.
The Stones, but I'm not that bothered either way.
Pistols, but ditto.
I don't knew who Bobby Sherman is, and refuse to think about David Cassidy.
Cats.
No sugary drinks for me.

The correct answers to the second round were: Kamandi, Asterix, Miles, Kraftwerk (bonus point for Redartz as the only one here to get that right), Sheffield, Arsenal, I can't actually remember anything about Pepsi and Shirley (It was a trick question), watching paint dry.
I suspect Phillip is right about Trump being the lesser of two evils (he didn't even get more votes than the other idiot in 2016).

-sean