#prestor john
Text
The Defenders by Michael Lark
#defenders#doctor strange#red she hulk#iron fist#wong#prestor john#michael lark#marvel comics#modern age#matt fraction
14 notes
·
View notes
Text
Always wanna mention how goofy Prestor John looks till I realize that he isn't too terribly different from Thor...
7 notes
·
View notes
Photo
”Prester John” as the Emperor of Ethiopia, enthroned on a map of East Africa. From an atlas by the Portuguese cartographer Diogo Homem for Queen Mary, c. 1555–1559.
#prestor john#moorish#hebrew#king#emperor#ethiopia#axum#abyssinia#east africa#atlas#maps#portguese#cartography#queen mary#mary tudor#mary i of england#16th century
44 notes
·
View notes
Note
Wait isn’t “christo-tengri shit” like a legitimately historically significant belief…like wasn’t there some significant guys in crusades times who believed there was a secret kingdom of mongolian christians who would be important in the conquest of the holy land or something? there’s definitely something there keep cooking
Tengriism and Christianity absolutely interacted historically. As for the secret Mongolian Christians, you might be thinking of the legend of Prestor John.
"Judeo-Tengriism" is a reference to a historical occurrence that's a bit of a favorite among theology students, the correspondence between Rabbi Hasdai ibn Shaprut, and Joseph King of the Khazars. Through traditionally a Tengriist people, the king convened a council of the three leading faiths, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, to choose which religion his empire would convert to. The rabbi won the debate, and King Joseph converted to Judaism, though it seems that most of the empire kept doing whatever they were already doing.
Thus, speculation on Judeo-Tengriist syncretism is a bit of a meme in theology circles. It's a fascinating historical moment, but also one so niche and scarcely documented that it's easy for speculation to leave the realm of the reasonable. Before long you end up with wild legends of armored Rabbi-Shamans astride mongol armies, and conspiratorial theories of Secret Jewish Khazarian Mafias.
In reality, King Joseph's motives were likely genuine, but political. It's unlikely that Judaism and Tengri ever seriously syncretized. Hence jokes about this theoretical folk syncretism of Judeo-Tengriism being the Ultimate Based One True Religion.
603 notes
·
View notes
Text
What if Prestor John is real but he's just not as big a deal as people made him out to be. Somewhere in China there's an immortal Catholic who's just sorta hanging out and not making a fuss.
153 notes
·
View notes
Text
Okay new post to not hijack Healed's but as far as failings in Baru Cormorant's representation of empire (aside from 'going by the geopolitics and historical references, Hesychast should be going on about fucking finding Prestor John and hermetic alchemy, not scientific racism and eugenics') it's a - well, it's absolutely a strength of the book as, like, drama, on an aesthetic level no notes, needless complexity rarely a good move for plot momentum, but as far as representation of colonialism and the process of imperialism goes the fact that Fallcrest is the only colonialist is kind of fatal.
Europe imperialism wasn't a conscious unified project carried out by a single entity - it was a brutal competition between a bunch of players that spent half the time trying to invade each other and the other half collapsing into civil wars (at least until very late in the game). The competition is pretty core to the logic of it!
31 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Hammer, the Cross and the Eye
Thor Annual #17
Dull.
Eric meets Prestor John after being sent back in time to 911 A.D.
The first chapter did some heavy lifting and set up a mystery. This second chapter covers a lot of the same ground and adds very few details that are new. Mostly, it's just Thor whisked around in time without rhyme or reason. The villain is boring and so is most of what the characters are saying and doing. It's not particularly engaging and some of what happens, like the way Eric gets free from captivity, is too contrived to convince.
On Sale Date: July 14, 1992.
Wizard Top 100: #69.
5/10
0 notes
Text
Guys someone gets crowned captain prestor john in WHAP today. Will tell you who
0 notes
Text
2022 Boner Jamz
Honorable Mentions:
Spoon - Lucifer on the Sofa
Toberlin - I don’t know who needs to hear this...
Sharon Van Etten - We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong
Mitski - Laurel Hell
Pinegrove - 11:11
Pedro the Lion - Havasu
Niulfer Yanya - PAINLESS
Band of Horses - Things Are Great
Panda Bear - Reset
2020:
#30
Pianos Become the Teeth - Drift
Favorite Song: "Buckley”
#29
Angel Olsen - Big Time
Favorite Song: “Dream Thing”
#28
Smidley - Here Comes the Devil
Favorite Song: “In Poor Taste”
#27
Animal Collective - Time Skiffs
Favorite Song: “Prestor John”
#26
Gang of Youths - angel in realtime.
Favorite Song: "spirit boy”
#25
Arcade Fire - WE
Favorite Song: “The Lightning I&II”
#24
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool It Down
Favorite Song: “Blacktop”
#23
Father John Misty - Chlöe and the 21st Century
Favorite Song: “Q4”
#22
Anxious - Little Green House
Favorite Song: “You When You’re Gone”
#21
Prince Daddy & The Hyenda - Prince Daddy & The Hyenda
Favorite Song: “Keep Up That Talk”
#20
Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind
Favorite Song: “A Disappearing Act”
#19
Soccer Mommy - Sometimes, Forever
Favorite Song: “Bones”
#18
The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention
Favorite Song: “Skirting on the Surface”
#17
Caracara - New Preoccupations
Favorite Song: "Monoculture”
#16
Joyce Manor - 40 oz. to Fresno
Favorite Song: “Don’t Try”
#15
Arm’s Length - Never Before Seen, Never Again Found
Favorite Song: “Family and Friends”
#14
Wet Leg - Wet Leg
Favorite Song: “Too Late Now”
#13
Camp Trash - The Long Way, The Slow Way
Favorite Song: “Mind Yr Own”
#12
Beach House - Once Twice Melody
Favorite Song: “Hurts to Love”
#11
Death Cab for Cutie - Asphalt Meadows
Favorite Song: “I Don’t Know How to Survive”
#10
Bartees Strange - Farm to Table
Favorite Song: “Escape the Circus”
#9
The Wonder Years - The Hum Goes on Forever
Favorite Song: “You’re the Reason I Don’t Want the World to End”
#8
Oso Oso - sore thumb
Favorite Song: “Describe You”
#7
Alvvays - Blue Rev
Favorite Song: “Belind Says”
#6
Wild Pink - ILYSM
Favorite Song: “Sucking on the Birdshot”
#5
PUP - THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND
Favorite Song: “Totally Fine”
#4
The 1975 - Being Funny In a Foreign Language
Favorite Song: "The 1975″
#3
Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
Favorite Song: “Snow Globes”
#2
Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
Favorite Song: “Simulation Swarm”
#1
Alex G - God Save the Animals
Favorite Song: “Immunity”
0 notes
Text
Uncharted waters online map investigation
The tragedy resulted in House Franco being stripped of their rank. Descended from a line of noble explorers, Leons family fell in destitution after his great-grandfather died trying to locate the fabled kingdom of Prestor John. His flagship is called 'Hermes' by default. Most directions aré unclear as tó where (location) ór what (NPC fIeet) you should áttack and plunder. Leon Franco (, Leon Ferrero) is the canonical name for the main protagonist of Uncharted Waters. Progress through the Quest you received in order to make a ' Folklore Discovery. Tools Ultimate Sb Tool Nanban Wizard EX Equipments GVONavi World Maps Aide Search Bluebird Sb tool Skill Slot Planning Jobs Adventurer Jobs Merchant Jobs Maritimer Jobs New Jobs Trade Goods Foodstuff Seasonings Livestock Medicine Sundries Alcohol Dyes Ores Wares Luxury Fibres Fabrics Arms Firearms Crafts Artwork Spices Precious Metals Perfume Precious Stones Comic Bugs Cities Towns Equipments Head Equipment Body Equipment Hand Equipment Weapon Equipment Accessory Equipment Foot Equipment Foods Consumables Mysterious Boxes Tickets Aides About. That is why you would need to investigate and make a ' Folklore Discovery ' to make the legend crystal clear Once you obtain the ' Folklore Information ', you can start your investigation by receiving the Quest from Prince Henrique in Sagres. PERSONAL LOANS Our Local Lenders are ready to help you. CELEBRATING 50 YEARS Gulf Coast Bank celebrates 50 years in business. Please do také the time tó read our néw, more informative, éasier to read ánd easier to undérstand, Privacy Notice.Ĭasting Handicrafts Séwing UWC and néw Ship Párts FS Párts FS Gunpórt FS SaiIs FS Armaménts FS Hulls ConsumabIes SSIP OSP SSlR (Mod réset) SGR (Grade réset) FS Parts thát boost. Access your accounts 24/7 with online banking and our mobile app. To learn moré about how wé use the cookiés, please see óur Cookies policy.
0 notes
Photo
Mareko Fana Berbere Pepper Long, slender brown cayenne chiles with medium heat from the Mareko region of Ethiopia. These peppers are most well-known for their use in Berbere, a traditional spice blend used in Ethiopian cuisine for centuries, and Mareko is particularly famous for its berbere peppers. This variety is a genetically diverse population with occasional red peppers, though seeds are only saved from the brown ones. Most of the fruits are thick-fleshed, but some are thinner. This variety was originally selected by an agricultural extension agent and researcher named Fana Woldegiorgis who studied at Haramaya University in the Harrar region. Menkir Tamrat is an Ethiopian tech-worker turned farmer who introduced these seeds and other Ethiopian varieties to Fred Hempel, who shared this variety with us, and who runs Artisan Seeds (@artisan.seeds) in Sunol, CA,. Menkir adds: "It's believed the original ancestors of Mareko peppers came to Ethiopia at the dawn of the seventeenth century from Goa, India, courtesy of Jesuit missionaries (mostly Portuguese and Spanish) who were in Ethiopia trying to convert the country to Catholicism and to find out about the fables of Prestor John". Berbere refers both to the dried pepper pods AND the powder. Thank you Fana, Menkir, and Fred! Also known as the Ethiopian Brown Pepper, Ethiopian Brown Chile Pepper, and Ethiopian Berbere. Photos by Artisan Seeds. #berbere #berberepepper #marekofana #marekofanapepper #seedkeeping https://www.instagram.com/p/CZxuse5rfmv/?utm_medium=tumblr
29 notes
·
View notes
Quote
To listen is to become like the moon, silent and full of light, a witness in the dark.
Catherynne Valente, The Habitation of the Blessed: A Dirge For Prestor John
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
100 Re-Envisioned Stories
Let’s take a classic tale or story or legend and recreate it - which one would you write?
From the Envisioner,
A fusion of the legend of Ilmarinen and the tale of William Tell envisioned as a cyberpunk tale.
A fusion of the legend of Jack O'Lantern and the story of the little Dutch boy envisioned as a modern-day slapstick comedy tale.
A fusion of the legend of Morgan Le Faye and the legend of Ikaros and Deadelus.
A fusion of the legend of Orion and the story of 'A Christmas Carol'.
A fusion of the legend of Persephone and the legend of Merlin, set in Atlantis after it sank.
A fusion of the legend of Roland and the legend of Persephone envisioned as a horror tale.
A fusion of the legend of Spring-Heeled Jack and the legend of the Golem, set at a truckstop.
A fusion of the legend of the Wandering Jew and the tale of Lady Godiva.
A fusion of the story of Dante and the legend of King Solomon envisioned as a adventure tale.
A fusion of the story of Faust and the legend of King Midas envisioned as a slasher horror tale.
A fusion of the story of Frankenstein and the legend of Ben-Hur envisioned as a gender-bending tale.
A fusion of the story of 'Gulliver's Travels' and the story of the Odyssey, set on a spaceship.
A fusion of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and the story of Dante.
A fusion of the story of 'Journey to the East' and the tale of Joan of Arc.
A fusion of the story of Moses and the story of Rumplestiltskin.
A fusion of the story of Moses and the tale of the Princess and the Pea, set inside a dream.
A fusion of the story of Pinocchio and the story of Ivanhoe.
A fusion of the story of Pygmalion and Galataea and the tale of Joan of Arc.
A fusion of the story of Snow White and the story 'The Prince and the Pauper' envisioned as a natural disaster tale.
A fusion of the story of Snow White and the story 'The Prince and the Pauper' envisioned as a political slasher horror tale.
A fusion of the story of Talesin and the legend of King Midas that concerns a group of gladiators.
A fusion of the story of Tannhauser and the story of Ivanhoe.
A fusion of the story of Tannhauser and the story of the little Dutch boy envisioned as a gross-out comedy tale.
A fusion of the story of the 3 Musketeers and the legend of Oedipus.
A fusion of the story of 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' and the legend of Gilgamesh that concerns a group of biologists.
A fusion of the story of 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' and the story of Moby Dick.
A fusion of the story of The Man in the Iron Mask and the legend of Oedipus.
A fusion of the story of The Man in the Iron Mask and the legend of the Golem envisioned as a college comedy tale.
A fusion of the story of the Pilgrim's Progress and the story of Snow White that concerns a group of necromancers.
A fusion of the story of the Shui Hu Zhuan and the legend of Prestor John envisioned as a supernatural tale.
A fusion of the tale of Casey Jones and the tale of Joan of Arc.
A fusion of the tale of Joan of Arc and the legend of Orion, set at an alpine resort.
A fusion of the tale of Rip Van Winkle and the story of Frankenstein.
A fusion of the tale of Rip Van Winkle and the tale of the Good Samaritan.
A fusion of the tale of the Good Samaritan and the legend of Pecos Bill envisioned as a period piece tale.
The legend of Ben-Hur envisioned as a superheroic costume drama tale.
The legend of Beowulf being about a group of songwriters.
The legend of Beowulf envisioned as a class comedy tale.
The legend of Cassandra being about a group of seers.
The legend of Cassandra envisioned as a western costume drama tale.
The legend of Electra being about a group of football players.
The legend of Gilgamesh envisioned as a escape-from-prison tale.
The legend of Hiawatha envisioned as a character study tale.
The legend of Ilmarinen envisioned as a fish-out-of-water tale.
The legend of Jack O'Lantern envisioned as a swashbuckling tale.
The legend of Johnny Appleseed being about a group of zoologists.
The legend of King Midas set in the ruins of a city.
The legend of Lemminkainen envisioned as a superheroic vengeance tale.
The legend of Oedipus being about a group of counterfeiters.
The legend of Paul Bunyan envisioned as a costume drama tale.
The legend of Paul Bunyan envisioned as a swashbuckling drama tale.
The legend of Pecos Bill set at a shopping mall.
The legend of Persephone being about a group of tennis players.
The legend of Prestor John envisioned as a historical reinactment tale.
The legend of Romulus and Remus envisioned as a costume drama tale.
The legend of Romulus and Remus envisioned as a near-future romance tale.
The legend of Romulus and Remus envisioned as a religious tale.
The legend of Samson envisioned as a psychological supernatural tale.
The legend of the Flying Dutchman set inside a computer.
The legend of the Phantom Hitchiker envisioned as a metaphorical horror tale.
The legend of Theseus and the Minotaur envisioned as a blaxploitation autobiographical tale.
The legend of Theseus and the Minotaur set a government agency.
The legend of Theseus and the Minotaur set at a strip club.
The story of Alice in Wonderland set in an alternate universe.
The story of Cain and Abel set at an elementary school.
The story of Chicken Little envisioned as a supernatural road trip tale.
The story of Christian Rosenkreuz being about a group of henchmen.
The story of Cinderella envisioned as a adventure tale.
The story of Don Quixote being about a group of virtual reality programmers.
The story of Don Quixote envisioned as a comedy of manners tale.
The story of Don Quixote envisioned as a martial arts tale.
The story of Don Quixote envisioned as a western character study tale.
The story of Don Quixote set at a football stadium.
The story of Faust set on a cartoon show.
The story of Hamlet being about a group of doctors.
The story of Hamlet envisioned as a autobiographical tale.
The story of Hansel and Gretel set at a graveyard.
The story of Hansel and Gretel set at a graveyard.
The story of Ivanhoe being about a group of nature spirits.
The story of Jesus envisioned as a realistic buddy tale.
The story of Moby Dick envisioned as a period erotic tale.
The story of Noah envisioned as a for-the-ladies tale.
The story of Noah envisioned as a gross-out comedy tale.
The story of Oliver Twist envisioned as a musical slasher horror tale.
The story of Oliver Twist envisioned as a thriller tale.
The story of Pygmalion and Galataea envisioned as a for-the-ladies tale.
The story of Snow White envisioned as a natural disaster tale.
The story of Tannhauser being about a group of merchants.
The story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame envisioned as a detective tale.
The story of Thumbellina set on a luxury yacht.
The story of Tom Sawyer envisioned as a modern-day action tale.
The story of Tom Thumb set on another planet.
The story of 'Treasure Island' envisioned as a post-apocalyptic tale.
The story of 'Treasure Island' envisioned as a psychological coming-of-age tale.
The story of 'Treasure Island' set at a bar.
The tale of Juan Bobo envisioned as a detective tale.
The tale of Lady Godiva set on an uncharted island.
The tale of the Princess and the Pea being about a group of watchmen.
The tale of the Princess and the Pea set on a floating city.
The tale of William Tell envisioned as a action tale.
14 notes
·
View notes
Text
Team Titans #19
Team Titans is an anagram of Steam Taint.
I never learned the proper use of prepositions, or what they even are, because it's the most unlistenable to Schoolhouse Rock song.
Hmm, that was more of a tweet than the opening line to (of?) a review of (for?) a comic book from (in?) 1994. But then again, it's also a good example of how my reviews work. A thought strikes me based on something I just read or wrote, I have six thoughts more as the pinball in my brain bounces off of several bumpers, until I finally get control of the ball by resting it on an upraised flipper. Then I aim the ball and shoot it up the "Schoolhouse Rock Song" ramp and score the jackpot. I'm left feeling satisfied while everybody who just walked in and missed all the bumper action that lit up the jackpot are left thinking, "What the fuck is this asshole talking about?"
From now on, I'm only going to speak in pinball analogies. Or is the lesson actually, "Write more of your process, dumbie!"? Schoolhouse Rock also never did a song about punctuation inside and outside quotation marks so I'm never going to be any good that that shit either.
Avengers: Endgame has a good example of how I just write stuff that makes me happy without explaining why I'm writing that stuff. Without actually spoiling anything, there's a scene where some Avengers go to pick up Thor at his house in New Asgard. Taika Waititi's alien character lives with him and he's playing Fortnite. He begins to complain that some guy named SlutBanger called him a dick or something. At that moment, being a huge fan of Liz Lemon's terrible ex-boyfriend Dennis Duffy whose Xbox username is SlutBanger on 30 Rock, I now can't not think of 30 Rock as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So instead of going on Twitter and explaining my theory on how 30 Rock has been incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and providing the SlutBanger evidence, I simply began tweeting things based on the assumption that everybody now understands it to be true. I could probably benefit from making my process more transparent.
War Devil's secret identity is Ward Evil.
Getting around to the comic book, a Team Titans team called Spectrum have arrived from the future to return the central-to-the-plot Team Titans back to 2001. I hate them immediately. One of them is all, "You deserve answers! But let's start with introductions!" Then instead of introducing herself as a person would when they say something like, "Let's start with introductions," she tells Terra that she's Terra, and Prester Jon that he's Prester Jon. And then when Terry is all, "Wait a second! That's not how introductions are done! What's your name?", she's all, "I don't have a name — I'm a color!" Well how about I just call refer to you as Fuck Off, You Stupid Puke Green Piece of Shit? Not that Terry Long would ever say anything like that! He's a wuss! Remember an issue or two ago when he was crushed by a grandfather clock? Hilarious!
Later, one of the Spectrum refers to one of the other Spectrum as "Green." So I think they indeed have names! Jerks.
I don't want to embarrass anybody who worked on this comic book but one of the creative team might be an idiot.
Spectrum have been traveling through time collecting all of the members of the Team Titans (that's like thousands and thousands of characters!). Now, to prove that they're not lying about working for the mysterious leader, they need to bring all of the Team Titans together. Hopefully these characters will be more creative than what the writers of Bloodlines came up with. Let's see, there's Carpet Boy, Lapidus, Wonder Boy, The Enforcer, Murder Master, and Hero X. So, um, nope. No more creative.
All of the Titans from throughout time head off to battle Lazarium, Lord Chaos's spy who has become the DC Universe's version of Rupert Murdoch. He's kidnapped Killowat to steal some of his power so that he can time travel back to 2001 and take over Lord Chaos's throne.
This whole Lazarium plot exemplifies why I can rarely identify with the bad guy (unless it's Lobo because I was also super cool and had long hair and looked hot in jeans and wanted to kill my entire species. Representation matters!). Lazarium's ambition has garnered him a life full of money and power. He could just build an evil lair and retire to play video games when he's not getting adult massages from in-house professionals. Instead, he's created this life so that he can accomplish some other stupid fucking thing that doesn't seem any better than the life he currently has. Why would he want to take over Lord Chaos's role in a future where everybody rebels against Lord Chaos? Who are these people who need to constantly introduce more drama into their lives? You're living the life, Lazarium! Take it fucking down a notch now and enjoy it!
Lazarium explains his plans like a good villain while Battalion, Redwing, Donna, and a comatose Nightrider have been detained by the government. It's a good thing Prestor Jon and his nearly infinite new powers is coming to rescue them.
Prestor Jon has spent every panel since he returned exclaiming how he needs to find his sister, Redwing. He loves her so much and he wants to make sure she's safe and he'd do anything for her and he'll destroy anybody who gets in his way! It's all been so touching and he's been so passionate and it's all been one big fucking batch of twaddle.
"Ew! Your ears and fingernails got pointy! Gross! Get away from me!"
Prestor Jon has an elastic body that's actually disgusting and he's over here judging Redwing's cute new affectations? Hell, even if he wasn't elastic, he'd be a hypocrite for finding Carrie gross now. He does realize he's a ginger in his new body, right?!
I should apologize to people with red hair and fair complexions but right now I'm drunk with the power of judging people on superficial differences! Is this what it feels like to be an incel online?! "Oh, nobody will fuck me, hunh?! Well, I wouldn't fuck you! Even if I had the choice! Which I don't! It's right their in my embraced nomenclature: involuntary celibate! But that's beside the point! People who are good looking enough to get fucked are shallow garbage monsters! What must it feel like to be just the other side of totally disgusting?! If only I were marginally less repugnant than I am! But it's impossible! In this society, there's no way a 1 or a 2 can pretty themselves up to a slightly fuckable 3! And don't encourage me to fuck other 1s and 2s! Gross!"
Hmm. Maybe I need to apologize to both incels and gingers now. Although my mocking incel rant was just encouragement! Don't accept being unfuckable! Do something about it! And that something isn't read a book about how you need to trick women into sleeping with you! That something is doing the best you can at cleaning up, dressing, acting like a civilized person, and just enjoying things you enjoy around other people. You also have to, in some way, prove that you're a responsible person who has something to offer. I once flirted with a woman all weekend at a party in some remote location without anything more than friendly banter. Then on the way home, the car I was driving home (a friend's girlfriend's car because she probably knew it was a deathtrap!) got a flat and we wound up stranded on 580 all night (because she had a spare in the car but no jack). In the morning, I got out of the car with the tire and flagged down a helpful man. His jack was the kind you slide under and the car was a low Camaro that it wouldn't fit under. The guy explained he had to get to work but since he was the only person to stop, I was all, "Please! We'll get this!" I then got my other friend there to lift one side of the front of the car as I lifted the other and we were able to get the jack under. I then preceded to change the tire in a few minutes and we were on our way. My friend said X (the woman I'd been flirting with!) didn't take her eyes off me the rest of the drive home. I dropped her off first and she practically forced her phone number on me. That's what impresses people you might want to impress: doing things that aren't meant to impress them. You just have to prove you're a capable human being who can get shit done when that shit needs getting done. She probably thought, "Look at the way he took control of the situation! Look at how he lifted up that car's front end and changed the tire so smoothly and quickly! I bet he fucks!"
I mean, she was wrong. I was terrible at fucking then! Really, really terrible! But that's a story I don't want to talk about! Even though it's a really short story.
Team Titans #19 Rating:: C-. It got boring again!
The final page of this comic book has a TV Guide mock-up for DC Comics if they were shows. Here are the actors the editors at DC thought should be playing their characters in 1994:
Aquaman: Keifer Sutherland
Atom: Michael Madsen
Blue Beetle: Jason Patric
Nightshade: Madeline Stowe
Batman: Brad Pitt or Cary Elwes or Peter Horton
Joker: Aidan Quinn
Lobo: Bill Paxton
Guy Gardner: Christian Slater
Ice: Meg Ryan
Hal Jordan: Dennis Quaid
Sinestro: Raul Julia
Kilowog: John Goodman
Ganthet: Paul Williams
Kyle Rayner: Andrew Shue
0 notes
Text
John Buchan’s “Prestor John”
For those of you still not convinced that the old pulp magazines have far more to offer than second rate writing by hacks and literary shysters, allow me to present to you the grossly unheralded John Buchan. A Scottish author whose work mainly appeared in the British Magazine Blackwood’s Magazine, John Buchan’s novel Prester John was serialized in Adventure Magazine in 1910.
You probably know him better as His Excellency the Right Honourable the Lord Tweedsmuir, the 15th Governor General of Canada.
A lawyer, politician, and diplomat, he spent most of his time pursuing his true passion – writing adventure fiction. And what a writer he was. Perhaps his best-known work is The Thirty-Nine Steps, a pre-WWI spy-adventure featuring Richard Hannay, a stiff-upper lipped action hero suspiciously like that of Ian Fleming’s creation, albeit one active in the years prior to WWII rather than after them. John Buchan frequently drew on his experiences in various British colonies in the south of African to lend his adventure tales a striking air of verisimilitude.
The Lord Tweedsmuir himself – with duds like these, probably not an author given to cosplay.
After languishing in my reading queue for over a year, I can finally report with confidence that John Buchan’s stories are as fun and exciting as the rest of its pulp contemporaries. The story starts out with three rambunctious young boys on a cold, windswept and rocky Scottish shore, but moves in short order to the vast and trackless expanses of southern Africa. The setting came as a complete surprise to me – knowing the legend of Prestor John as a mythical Christian King the Crusaders believed would one day open up a southern front against the rapacious Saracens, I had expected a tale of knights and castles. Instead, I got a tale of a square jawed adventurer racing about the veldt in an effort to stop an African warlord from uniting the African tribes under his command and then using his might to conquer the world. A pleasant surprise, but not wholly unwelcome.
David Crawfurd’s first meeting with the African warlord, Laputa, occurs in Crawfurd’s hometown when he is just a young boy. Surprising the African who had been posing as a Christian preacher, an early-20th Century Purse Puppy who takes advantage of Anglo kindness to secure the small fortune in donations necessary to begin his conquest of the world. Crawfurd and his friends interrupt the African as he practices a heathen rite on a cold Scottish beach, and we get our first glimpse of Crawfurd’s selflessness as he leads the pursuing Laputa away from his friends, buying them time to escape from the strange African priest though it likely means his own capture. As it happens, Crawfurd escapes the night with nothing more than a beating from his father for tearing his Sunday best and losing his best hat.
Flash forward several years, and Crawfurd finds himself appointed as assistant store clerk in the remote village of Blaauwildebeestefontein where he soon encounters Laputa once again, this time in the company of a devious Portuguese smuggler, Henriques, and a small cabal of native agents. Through some careful sleuthing, Crawfurd and his only friend within a hundred miles, the timid schoolmaster of Blaauwildebeestefontein, learn that Laputa has discovered the location of a fabulous treasure that will convince the local Zulu and Swazi tribes that he is the second coming of the titular Prester John. With their combined might, Laputa has planned a sneak attack on the Colonial forces certain to drive the white devil from the land and restore African rule to the continent once and for all. What follows is a breakneck tale of miraculous escapes, races back and forth across the savannah, two-fisted action, betrayals, fabulous treasures found and lost, strange and ancient rites that marry European and African traditions, cavern complexes full of secret doors and unseen traps, and huge armies on the march.
One aspect of Prestor John certain to surprise modern day readers fed a steady diet of lies about the literature of the early twentieth century is how racist it is NOT. To be sure, the protagonist never once apologizes for his maleness, his whiteness, nor his heterosexuality, nor even questions whether Africa would be better off if it were ruled by the men who had depopulated it through tribal genocide after tribal genocide. Crawfurd takes the improvements to the land’s productivity and the presence of a schoolhouse and military garrison preventing all out war as so obviously beneficial that he never stops to consider whether Laputa should be allowed to carry out his plan to conquer the world under his own boot. All flaws by today’s standard measure, to be sure, but Buchan himself never passes judgement over Laputa.
In fact, Buchan paints Laputa as a magnificent and noble creature. The worst villains of the piece are the traitorous Portuguese agent and the drunken (British) manager of Crawfurd’s store. Buchan never misses a chance to describe Laputa as a man of regal and noble bearing. The first clear description given lays the groundwork:
“For myself I was intensely curious, and not a little impressed. The man’s face was as commanding as his figure, and his voice was the most wonderful thing that ever came out of human mouth. It was full and rich, and gentle, with the tones of a great organ. He had none of the squat and preposterous negro lineaments, but a hawk nose like an Arab, dark flashing eyes, and a cruel and resolute mouth. He was black as my hat, but for the rest he might have sat for a figure of a Crusader.”
But Laputa is not just impressive physically. The man has the bearing of an Emperor, the strategic genius of a Caesar, and the oratory genius of a Williams Jennings Bryant:
“I had heard him on board the liner, and had thought his voice the most wonderful I had ever met with. But now in that great resonant hall the magic of it was doubled. He played upon the souls of his hearers as on a musical instrument. At will he struck the chords of pride, fury, hate, and mad joy. Now they would be hushed in breathless quiet, and now the place would echo with savage assent. I remember noticing that the face of my neighbour, ‘Mwanga, was running with tears.”
Not only that, but Laputa’s aims are not presented as dastardly or untoward – they are simply at odds with those of Crawfurd and his people. Crawfurd and his allies might see little to recommend the typical African tribesman of the time, but they recognize the greatness in Laputa himself. At several points, Crawfurd even laments that he should be the instrument of Laputa’s undoing. The portrayal of this African warlord is at once stirring and poignant, and demonstrates a depth to Buchan’s view of the African natives at odds with the modern portrayal of men like Buchan.
Politics aside, Prestor John serves as yet another example of how much our culture has lost by consigning the pulp stories of the early twentieth century to the dustbin based on lies and half-truths about both the authors who wrote them and the tales themselves. If you’re looking for a solid Indiana Jones style pulp adventure story in a real world setting, John Buchan is an author to add to your own reading queue.
And you can read Prestor John for free, thanks to Project Gutenberg.
John Buchan’s “Prestor John” published first on http://ift.tt/2zdiasi
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
larp-singer
LaRP-SinGeR
deadlycreations
𝖽𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗂𝖽𝖾
kabirm063
Untitled
sweatofalamb
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑤𝑒 𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠
gravectify
Gravectify's Blog