Yes, though I must emphasise that Cope’s reconstruction is perhaps one of the most notorious/famous errors in palaeontology; he put the head on the tail (which was relatively short) and aligned the body and limbs the wrong way of course)
Cope’s arch rival in the “Bone Wars”, Yale Peabody Palaeontologist (and wealthy recluse) Othniel Charles Marsh, once publicly humiliated E.D Cope when he took his reconstruction to display on public at a ceremony and talk to scientists and the general public. Rather than kindly and politely take Cope to one side and explain why his reconstruction was unfortunately amusingly wrong, he loudly addressed Cope in an oratorical manner to openly mock him. This is speculated by some to have happened, or that it was Joseph Leidy who was rude to insult Cope in public, with Marsh using it in publications to further undermine Cope. Nobody really knows as far as I’m aware (my Vertebrate Palaeontology tutor on my course, one of several palaeontologists in variable divisions of the subject, seemed to think that it was true about Marsh badmouthing Cope’s work in public, its what I was taught anyway.
Whatever the case, we do know for sure that this mess blighted Cope’s career and got under Cope’s skin for the rest of his life - the two fighting furiously to become the most prolific American Palaeontologist. Scientists can be horrible to one another on the down low (and back then, it wasn’t even on the down low just outright obvious)
Between them, dozens score of new species were found. Sadly for the more impoverished and unconnected E.D Cope - who didn’t have a huge inheritance fund to rely on like O.C Marsh did - it is reasonable to say Marsh got the better of it. Poor old Cope.
My boss’s first language isn’t English. However, she loves giving inspirational speeches to everyone. I think today she was trying to tell us “don’t just stand around looking pretty”, but what she actually said was “WE DONT HAVE TIME TO BE SEXY”.
It reminds me of my Russian boss at the bakery. I didn’t wrap the bread correctly so she told me to “Snuggle like baby. Bread is your baby, Shelly. It’s sweet and gentle. Fragile, Italian.”
As a response to the
9/11 terrorist assault on America’s freedom, President George W. Bush ordered
the creation of a top secret team of foreign service agents: THE TERROR
ASSAULTERS. Operating with a license to kill and a single mission – defeat
terror – one such agent, codename: O.M.W.O.T (One Man War On Terror) will do
anything to accomplish his goals. Is the price he pays too high? Lets just say…
“No.”
By Benjamin Marra. Published by Fantagraphics.
NSFW!
What’s the one major thing missing from all action movies
these days? Full penetration. Benjamin Marra’s Terror Assaulter is an 80s action movie taken to its logical
extreme. It combines the kind of gratuitous action than is commonplace in
movies such as Rambo and Robocop and juxtaposes it with
incredibly pornographic sex scenes. In doing so Marra comments on the
connection between sex and violence and how the two are portrayed differently in the media. He also makes you laugh so much you have to put
the book down every couple of pages.
The plot synopsis provided at the start of Terror Assaulter provides some
indication of the kind of world Marra has created. While planting itself firmly
in reality, by namedropping George W. Bush and 9/11, it divorces
itself from that reality basically immediately by introducing a main character whose name is
O.M.W.O.T. (One Man War On Terror). The lead character is your quintessential
action hero. He represents the type of male masculinity found in 1980s action
movies (and indeed comic books) albeit ratcheted to the nth degree. He has no
discernible personality traits apart from his omnipresent sunglasses and his
need to kick ass. Despite his lack of charisma he is
nevertheless adored by women and men alike. In short, he is every character
ever played by Steven Seagal.
Beyond the initial premise the plot of Terror Assaulter is threadbare. Most issues open with O.M.W.O.T.
mid-mission, stopping some form of vaguely defined terrorist threat with
unparalleled bloodthirstiness. This involves a bunch of action movie clichés
including fighting ninjas and drug lords. Marra also peppers the story with
absurd little touches such as O.M.W.O.T. fighting a panther and the plot of the
movie Red Dawn happening completely
off-panel between issues 2 and 3. The fight scenes are gloriously depicted and
riotously funny. Much of this is due to the general stiffness Marra imbues O.M.W.O.T.
with, which gives the impression he is barely even trying to fight, despite his
martial arts skills often entirely defying the laws of physics.
The dialogue is beyond stilted, and deliberately so.
Characters essentially narrate what they are doing when they are doing it,
despite the fact that Marra’s art makes it brazenly clear what is happening in
each panel. For example a panel depicting O.M.W.O.T. chopping a terrorist in
the neck will feature said terrorist saying “You chopped my neck”. This absurd
stylistic choice is initially funny, then quickly becomes unfunny. Then it
becomes funny again through sheer repetition. Then it reaches a comedic peak
during the sex scenes.
Sex is a massive part of Terror
Assaulter. The violence on display isn’t especially surprising (the cover
shows O.M.W.O.T. decapitating a He-Manesque chainsaw-wielding thug) but when
issue one transitions into an extended sex scene it comes as a surprise. The
graphic (like, medically graphic) sex on display is the kind of thing that
would never appear in the kind of action films that Terror Assaulter is parodying. Audiences can handle heroes gruesomely
murdering terrorists (and in O.M.W.O.T. ‘s case the occasional civilian) but a
scene in which a protagonist has sex with a male air steward, whilst piloting a crashing plane, is
something that no studio executive and no censorship board would ever allow.
This is the kind of scene that can only be seen in the pages of a comic book.
By the final issue, in which O.M.W.O.T. is forced to settle
down and marry his gender swapped former archenemny, the trademark violence has
given way almost entirely to scene after scene of O.M.W.O.T.’s sexual
escapades, all of which are mined for maximum comic effect. Marra draws a clear
connection between O.M.W.O.T.’s sexual desire and his appetite for violence. In
the end, despite engaging in as much sex as he can to fill the void, O.M.W.O.T.
can’t fight his violent nature leading to the final page which is perfect in
its absurdity. And that’s Terror
Assaulter in a nutshell. Perfectly absurd.
Stray Thoughts
The book isn’t completely devoid of political commentary. O.M.W.O.T.’s
gung-ho attitude towards collateral damage could easily be seen as a comment on
the US’s approach to the War on Terror. Also the government of Terror Assaulter is controlled by a sinister
Illuminati who want to keep the War on Terror going perpetually in order to
better control the world drug trade. It’s probably the least absurd element of
the story.
The colouring of the book is excellent in achieving the look
of a cheap exploitation comic. Using risograph printing, Terror Assaulter is depicted solely in red, yellow, blue and black.
Despite these limitations the colouring is beautifully deployed.
For the record, I bought this comic sight unseen based on
the name alone.
What’s Ghost of a Chance all about? To put it briefly, one woman (Marlene) will do her best through telling ghost stories to convince her husband (Matt) that ghosts are indeed real.
In our introductory zero episode, we talk all about how the idea for the show came together, other title ideas and big plans for how Marlene will convince Matt ghosts are real!
This blog started as a means to share sexy pictures between partners during a long distance relationship, but has become something completely different. Mostly.
