|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'd love to issue a challenge to one of these young "IT" comic book writers: If your so damned good, try going an entire year writing nothing but one-shot issues on whatever hip, uber-popular series you work on.
I'd bet half of them couldn't do it. Probably more than half.
Coming in very late to comment on some of the above, but I started collecting comics 40+ years ago and like some others here, I have fond memories of:
JLA-JSA annual crossovers. I really liked the JSA and Earth-2 in general, and was not happy when The Huntress (Helena Wayne) was killed during Crisis On Infinite Earths...by having a wall fall on her. I never liked the Helena Bertinelli version as much.
Manhunter (Paul Kirk) I bought and read this as a back-up series in Detective but also picked up the reprint later on. Great character.
Moon Knight I remember a different Moon Knight escape, which did involve a larger group but may or may not have been the Defenders...West Coast Avengers, perhaps? Anyway, the villain was able to mentally dominate the heroes to immobilize them; Moon Knight/Marc Spector was frozen like the rest...until he decided he was Jake Lockley, then he could move again, and took a couple of steps toward the bad guy. So Lockey got dominated, at which point he said, "Okay, fine, I'm Steven Grant", moved up again and punched the bad guy out.
Walt Simonson's run on Thor Some of the best stuff ever written. Skurge's heroic solo stand at the bridge at Gjallerbru, wielding M-16s as clubs once they were out of ammo (Thor #362)...awesome. Little Katie Power absorbing energy from both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker to build up an energy blast strong enough to take out Kurse (Thor #363)...wow.
Crisis On Infinite Earths Supposedly written to clean up a confusing multiverse -- hey, I wasn't confused -- this was at the time one of the greatest events in comics history, and a really entertaining read. Unfortunately, DC almost immediately failed to deliver on its promise, introducing new contradictions within a few months, and later following up with so many event of similar scope that it's become tedious, and is now a much bigger mess than they started with. Taken on its own in 1986, Crisis was a great story. But DC didn't let us take it on its own for long. Zero Hour (1994), the introduction of Hypertime in Kingdom Come (1999), that whole LSH cluster -er- buck ending with Legion of Three Worlds (2007); plus Infinite Crisis, 52, Flashpoint, New52, New New52, Convergence...I still read comics, but these days it's almost all indies. DC pretty much killed their universe/multiverse for me over a decade ago.
I loved all incarnations of the legion.
|
JLA-JSA annual crossovers. I really liked the JSA and Earth-2 in general, and was not happy when The Huntress (Helena Wayne) was killed during Crisis On Infinite Earths...by having a wall fall on her. I never liked the Helena Bertinelli version as much.
Yes, to all! The idea of a world where Catwoman and Batman had a daughter, and she became the new line-swinging caped crimefighter of Gotham? So cool.
I don't dislike the Bertinelli version, but she'll always make me nostalgic for the Wayne version.
Manhunter (Paul Kirk) I bought and read this as a back-up series in Detective but also picked up the reprint later on. Great character.
He kinda/sorta appeared again in The Power Company, a very short lived team book by Kurt Busiek (IIRC), that included a few established characters (like one of several clones of Paul Kirk) and mostly new people.
Walt Simonson's run on Thor Some of the best stuff ever written. Skurge's heroic solo stand at the bridge at Gjallerbru, wielding M-16s as clubs once they were out of ammo (Thor #362)...awesome.
Nobody has done that sort of justice to Thor since, IMO. Instead of running away from Norse mythology ('60's and '70's Thor books occasionally had wonkiness like Asgardians flying around on mechanical speeders, and more explicitly made them seem alien), Simonson both embraced the heck out of it, and added his own fun elements, like the character of Malekith and the Casket of Ancient Winters.
Crisis On Infinite Earths Supposedly written to clean up a confusing multiverse -- hey, I wasn't confused -- this was at the time one of the greatest events in comics history, and a really entertaining read.
The death of the Flash, and how Wally grew into the mantle, really gave DC a unique feel of progression (which they'd already flirted with by introducing legacy characters of 'retired' heroes, with Infinity, Inc.), and I really liked that. In a genre where 'everything changes!' and, a year later, the status is quo'd, the fact that Barry Allen *stayed* dead (for like 25 years!) was pretty amazing. Wally had a good run as the Flash. And Bart seemed to be on the way into that role as well. It felt like things could change, that the stories had actual impact, and that was cool.
Manhunter (Paul Kirk)He kinda/sorta appeared again in The Power Company, a very short lived team book by Kurt Busiek (IIRC), that included a few established characters (like one of several clones of Paul Kirk) and mostly new people.
I read Power Company. Felt like a big letdown for Manhunter. I also tried reading other Manhunter titles (Mark Shaw, Kate Spencer) and they were okay, but none of them ever touched those backup stories in Detective.
Crisis On Infinite EarthsThe death of the Flash, and how Wally grew into the mantle, really gave DC a unique feel of progression (which they'd already flirted with by introducing legacy characters of 'retired' heroes, with Infinity, Inc.), and I really liked that. In a...
Yeah, there was some good post-Crisis stuff, Wally included. Barry Allen and Supergirl got "good" deaths in Crisis, unlike Huntress (grumble, grumble.) And Barry got a worthy successor in Wally, while poor Supergirl got replaced by Matrix, and then Earth Angel...so sad. John Byrne and Peter David have much to answer for in this respect. "My" Supergirl is the one from the late '70's/early 80's. No others need apply.
|
|
The lesson to be drawn from Crisis and the aftermath is one that neither major company seems to have learned: Reboots don't work. Even getting rid of characters doesn't work. The reboots leave continuity even more confused and screwed up than it was. Someone always wants to bring their old favorite characters back.
It's not John Byrne's fault. It's not Peter David's fault. If they hadn't brought back Supergirl, someone else would have. All you can hope is that when they bring the character back, in one form or another, they can tell some good stories with them.
True.
A caveat I'd add, is that if nobody is all fired up with a good story to tell about a character, then maybe we don't need a book about that character (with a lackluster filler story in it) this month.
Maybe Spider-Man, Batman, whomever can take a breath for a few months, until someone shows up with a great Spider-Man/Batman/whatever story to tell.
I'm as guilty as the next guy of wanting to read stories about my personal favorite neglected/abandoned characters, but sometimes, I get my wish, and end up regretting it, because the favorite neglected/abandoned character was just being called off the bleachers to be put on a bus and blown up to add angst to someone else's story...
It's not John Byrne's or Peter David's fault that Supergirl was brought back. I just really hated their particular reimaginings.
Have to agree the major comics companies haven't learning anything regarding reboots. I had thought DC had thrown in the towel in '99 when they introduced Hypertime, a blanket excuse for any goofs in continuity, past or future. But they've gone one better in the post-Convergence Chaosverse: continuity is dead, anything and everything goes, no change ever made is meaningful.
I don't know what to think about Marvel. I'm probably one of the few grognards that put my hands over my ears years ago, went "la la la" and tried to pretend the Ultimate Universe never existed. That keeps getting harder to do, as more movies and TV shows seem to tap parts of Ultimate Marvel rather than the universe I grew up with.
And now "Secret Wars", which feels like a J.J. Abrams EXXXTREME reboot of the previous Secret Wars story, leading into a mish-mash of merged universes and just plain silliness. Spidergwen? Okay, not bad as an alternate universe Spidey. Did we really need Gwenpool? As on ongoing series?
If you have a couple of thousand comics, then I'm sure my collection - and knowledge - of comics is nothing compared to yours. But I just feel like chiming in with my agreement.
The idea of a world where Catwoman and Batman had a daughter, and she became the new line-swinging caped crimefighter of Gotham? So cool.
<snip>
The death of the Flash, and how Wally grew into the mantle, really gave DC a unique feel of progression (which they'd already flirted with by introducing legacy characters of 'retired' heroes, with Infinity, Inc.), and I really liked that. In a genre where 'everything changes!' and, a year later, the status is quo'd, the fact that Barry Allen *stayed* dead (for like 25 years!) was pretty amazing. Wally had a good run as the Flash. And Bart seemed to be on the way into that role as well. It felt like things could change, that the stories had actual impact, and that was cool.
Yup. And the Earth-2 Batman died... permanently! There was no nonsense about him coming back to life after that. The existence of Earth-2 made such things possible, which is what made it cool.
<blinks>
Wait. "Wally had a good run as the Flash." Was that joke intentional?
Yeah, there was some good post-Crisis stuff, Wally included. Barry Allen and Supergirl got "good" deaths in Crisis, unlike Huntress (grumble, grumble.) And Barry got a worthy successor in Wally, while poor Supergirl got replaced by Matrix, and then Earth Angel...so sad. John Byrne and Peter David have much to answer for in this respect. "My" Supergirl is the one from the late '70's/early 80's. No others need apply.
As I said, I have few comics, but I have the trade paperback of a Supergirl introductory story, reprinting issues 8 through 13 of the 2003-2011 Superman / Batman series. When my kids were very young, I read them issue 8 from that book many, many times. That book had the right idea to teach my kids: that Supergirl is Superman's cousin from Krypton.
If you have a couple of thousand comics, then I'm sure my collection - and knowledge - of comics is nothing compared to yours. But I just feel like chiming in with my agreement.
If Aberzombie has 20+ long boxes of comics, it should be well over a couple thousand. I think those boxes are 30" long, and even if the comics were individually bagged and boarded, a 30" box is going to hold a lot more than 100 issues.
I think after a cull several years back (and buying more since) I have 22-24 such boxes. No idea how many comics. It's time I went through them again and tried selling some to...maybe mycomicship.com, since none of the comic shops in town stock much in the way of back issues any more. The closest one that does is 40 miles away.
As far as comic knowledge goes, I can't speak for Aberzombie, but you could very easily have more knowledge than me about most anything that's happened, especially in DC/Marvel, in the last 10-15 years; and for periods before that, it's not like I read everything (or remember everything I read.) So jump right in!
|
Vendor - Fantasiapelit Tampere
|
Walt Simonson's run on Thor Some of the best stuff ever written. Skurge's heroic solo stand at the bridge at Gjallerbru, wielding M-16s as clubs once they were out of ammo (Thor #362)...awesome. Little Katie Power absorbing energy from both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker to build up an energy blast strong enough to take out Kurse (Thor #363)...wow.
This is one of the reasons why I have sometimes hard time liking the Thor movies. They lack the Simonson magic. Beta Ray Bill is one of the greatest comic book characters ever, and that whole saga was amazing. Surtur Saga was awesome, I really miss Balder from the movies since he was great during those times as well.
Now, I liked Jason Aaron's run on Thor, and the current Thor run with female Thor. It has some of that bombastic fantasy elements and lingo that was in Simonson's series. It's not nearly the same, but it has same elements.
Hey Aberzombie, have you read Supperman - Red Son yet? I borrowed it from the library and it was a fun read.
I read Superman: Red Son. That story kind of begged to be written, didn't it? I mean... I thought that "Truth, Justice and the Politically Correct Socialist Path" by John Varley started off OK, but lost its focus by the end of the story, and ultimately failed to make its point. At least Superman: Red Son came to a semi-satisfying conclusion. At least Red Son dealt with what a Soviet Communist Superman would mean, unlike Varley's story.
But still, Red Son got a little carried away sometimes, like when Lex...
I'm doing some reminiscing of my own, just because I feel like writing right now, and because I always wanted to say something about my favorite comic book.
I discovered it about 10 years ago. I was feeling curious about an entirely different comic book series, Legion of Superheroes, so I went to my local comic book store and bought some back issues to sample various eras of that series. I soon came to a conclusion about which eras of that super-team's history interested me, and in time, I would go on to buy about 140 Legion stories in various forms...
...but during that fateful trip to the comic book store, a certain trade paperback caught my eye. It was undoubtedly the prominent appearance of Dr. Fate on the cover that first grabbed my attention. He's cool looking; that helmet gives him a certain mystique, and magical characters can be fun, sometimes, depending on how they're handled. But Dr. Fate alone might not have intrigued me. There's something special about super-teams that somehow interest me more than individual heroes.
I'm talking - in my roundabout way - about the Justice Society of America - specifically, its 1999-2006 run.
Oh, I had seen the JSA before. I had read a bunch of their Golden Age stories, mostly thanks to the Archives edition. I had read a few of those JLA/JSA team-ups, and a few Infinity Inc stories. I had seen some stories with individual members of the Society. But at that point, in the store, I looked over the front and back covers of some of those JSA trade paperbacks, and felt intrigued. Jay Garrick was... old! Interesting! (At that time, I hadn't yet read anything from Zero Hour, nor any appearance of Garrick since then. Like I said, my knowledge of comics is pretty sparse.) Even Alan Scott had a certain old look in his eyes. In contrast, the new Star-Spangled Kid was... a kid! A super-team including three generations of heroes? I had never heard of one before!
But I'm a cheapskate, and I was already spending lots of money on other comics, and on D&D stuff. So I went to my local public library and took out the 8th trade paperback in that series, Black Reign. Most likely, I would, upon reading it, find it disappointing, like most comics. At best, it would be good enough to be worth reading, but not good enough to make me want to read more, and then I would quit the series, right?
Wrong! Black Reign was... breathtaking. I didn't fully understand it yet, not having read much recent JSA continuity, but the characters looked fascinating. Hawkman was Hawkman again, and he was badass again! Hector Hall and Nabu were... fighting over control of Dr Fate? Captain Marvel and Stargirl were in love and dating... and no one knew that Marvel was a kid himself? Black Adam had persuaded Nuklo-... er, I mean, Atom Smasher... to join a revolution in Kahndaq?!? How the heck could that have happened?!? I HAD to know more!
So I bought the first TPB reprinting that series, then the 2nd and 3rd, then the 4th, then the 5th... and after a while, I had collected all 12, and read them all again and again. Sand finally had cool powers, and he didn't have to be a monster to have them! Jakeem Thunder was a fascinating character. So were the new Mr Terrific and Dr Mid-Nite. Yet when I saw some of these characters in other series', they seemed so bland. Somehow, this JSA series even managed to make Wildcat interesting! I mean... Wildcat! (Okay, I still hated Hourman, but that's another story.) The series managed to give me such a sense of history with the JSA, but without staying slavishly true to the old JSA comics.
I went on to buy some of those older JSA comics, and related material, to get a better understanding of that history, even if they didn't make the characters as interesting as the 1999-2006 series. And the 2006-2011 series ruined the team by recruiting too many members. What was the idea, a plan to retire the old JSAers... again? And the stories just seemed bland and pointless.
But I kept re-reading that 1999-2006 series. I hadn't felt so impressed with a comic since before the turn of the century. I mean... the drama of it all! Sentinel telling Jade... that he couldn't save Obsidian! Jakeem first taking on a punk attitude, then deciding to try to be a better person... but having so little faith in himself, that Johnny could persuade him to turn over the pen! Flash angrily ripping off Hawkman's mask to find him... crying?! Atom Smasher going back in time, and finding that the Atom was tempted to do bad things too! ("Are you... my son?!" "No, but you'll have one." Classic!) Stargirl saying that she didn't care about her father's death... and then bursting into tears! I must have replayed that scene in my mind a thousand times, and it brings tears to my own eyes as well!
Plus Mr Terrific and Dr Mid-Nite give convincing demonstrations of their genius. We even get to see an ancient Egyptian version of the JSA... and it works, despite - or perhaps partly because of - the cultural difference. There are just so many great moments in that series! I could go on and on with more, but I just rambled on a lot longer than I had expected, and must have lost you by now.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
|
so he's okay as a pedophile? I'll take mass murderer over that any time.
I'd argue The Mad Hatter 'worked' in the Secret Six mini-series was a) Part of the draw of the book was the horribly broken members of the Six were contrasted with even worse people and b) Tetch was recruited because of Dr. Psycho, who was worse than all of them.
I don't know if it ruined him 'forever' or not.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Jakeem Thunder was a fascinating character. So were the new Mr Terrific and Dr Mid-Nite. Yet when I saw some of these characters in other series', they seemed so bland.
I absolutely LOVED the new Dr Mid-nite and I tend to HATE legacy characters. My main draw of the JSA was to see the 'orginials' in all their experienced glory, but that Dr. Midnite was one of the few I loved more then the original.
He was actually a DOCTOR. I mean... I know the original was too, but I never saw him ACT like it. This one, had med kits on him and special drug based weaponry and used medical knowledge to induce naseua and vertigo... It was REALLY cool.
Nobody else ever really did anything with him though... and eventually he shoved to side and ignored. He became 'The guy doing autopsies' or 'the guy in the lab all the time'. He rarely ever seemed to do any super-heroing. Not much after Black Canary dumped him and went back to Ollie. Then I think the writers interest in him faded.
...Dr. Midnite was one of the few I loved more then the original.
He was actually a DOCTOR. I mean... I know the original was too, but I never saw him ACT like it. This one, had med kits on him and special drug based weaponry and used medical knowledge to induce naseua and vertigo... It was REALLY cool.
Yeah, and it wasn't just offense. Maybe it's just the RPGer in me talking, but I think that EVERY super-team ought to have some kind of healer, to deal with battle injuries. Very few did. I mean... there was Raven of the Teen Titans, and... I can't think of any others, offhand.
Nobody else ever really did anything with him though... and eventually he shoved to side and ignored. He became 'The guy doing autopsies' or 'the guy in the lab all the time'. He rarely ever seemed to do any super-heroing. Not much after Black Canary dumped him and went back to Ollie. Then I think the writers interest in him faded.
Well... he played an important role in Black Reign.
Granted, it was the Atom who did the actual surgery, but Mid-Nite was in charge of that medical case.
I liked the new Mr Terrific.
When I have the cash I'm getting the jacket.
Hey Aberzombie. Have you watched Young Justice yet? If not, Netflix has both season 1 and season 2.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
THEY GOT SEASON 2?!?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Yes. Season two of Young Justice is now available to watch on Netflix.
I like it sorta kinda. I always felt dd needed a sidekick.
If you haven't read it yet, please check out the morlocks mini series. I loved it. Why isn't it on comixology....?
|
|
Picked up the first issue of the new Legends of Tomorrow anthology DC started putting out. It reminded my how much I love two of the characters they're showcasing - Firestorm and Metamorpho.
I collected Firestorm from back in the late 80's/early 90's, when they made him a fire elemental and all. That was a fun series. I wish he could earn back a regular series.
Metamorpho first came to my attention from some of the cross-over events back in the day. Later, they had him as a major player in Justice League Europe. I've also got a miniseries they did for him. He's cool, and probably one of the most underrated powerhouses of the DC universe.
Always like metamorpho but they always had trouble placing the character, and the constant rehashing of his backstory got old.
Was he ever with the outsiders?
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fables - which I've mentioned before, but never discussed in any detail.
The Fables series (along with its spin-offs), by Bill Willingham, was an entertaining mix of story characters from a multitude of countries and cultures. I’ve always admired a writer who can weave so many disparate tales into a cohesive whole (Gaiman is another one with this gift). I was reminded of my love for this series the other day while boarding and bagging my issues of the main series, as well as its two spin offs: Jack of Fables and Fairest.
In order, my favorite characters were:
Bigby Wolf and Cinderella (tied for first place) – The Big Bad Wolf and the hottie female version of James Bond. What’s not to love?
Boy Blue – an unassuming good guy who was a total badass. Not to mention, he saved the day even after his death.
Babe the Blue Ox – all those one page shots of him were hilarious
Bo Peep - sadly not seen as much in the comics, but she was showcased bigtime in the Fables novel. She was like a damned ninja.
Bufkin the Monkey – a hard drinking monkey, who read a s%$! ton and destroyed one of the most fearsome witches in all the worlds. Again, what’s not to love?
Frau Totenkinder – She could be a b#$+~, but I’ll be damned if she wasn’t just a complete badass.
Snow White – Another badass hottie. She was a great leader.
I could probably carry this list a lot further, especially since they had so many characters over the years of the series.
Of my least favorite characters:
Mr. Sunflower – his blame everyone for his own a@#~+%*-ness was really grating. I loved it when Rose Red did his ass in.
Jack – even though I loved his series, the dude was an a&@$+*% through and through.
Ozma – not really sure why, there was just something about her I didn’t like.
Prince Brandish – Ok, this dude was just a complete d$!@$ead.
All the Literals – because they all came across as kind of douchebags.
Mister Dark – f#$~er killed Fafrd and the Grey Mouser.
Brock Blueheart – F@$~ you Stinky Badger. F~*& you and your weird Boy Blue fetish.
Goldilocks – Commie b#!+@. I was so glad when Cinderella finally outsmarted (granted, not difficult) and killed you.
Some of my favorite story arcs from the main series were:
A Two-Part Caper – where they had to use Briar Rose in a plot to make some Mundy investigative reporter think they were all vampires.
Homelands – where Boy Blue invades the old worlds and the Adversary is finally revealed.
The Good Prince – a story about Flycatcher that truly surprised me with its awesomeness.
War and Pieces – the wat between Fabletown and the Adversary’s Empire.
Every single issue story – just because so few comic writers these days seem to have the talent for doing a story in a single issue.
Also - the larger, self-contained books Wolves of the Heartland and 1001 Nights of Snowfall were both pretty damned awesome.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
One of my favorite villains of all time is Gorilla Grodd. He was used a lot in the old Wally West Flash series, which is where I really came to like him. That combo of savagery and genius megalomaniac was what I think made him a really cool villain.
Sadly, I think he was also the power behind one of the more ridiculous crossover stories: JLApe, Gorilla Warfare. That series ran several annuals (the Justice League and it's individual members). The plot, from what I recall, involved Grodd trying to turn humans into gorillas, all the better to harness their mental energy to make himself more powerful.
It was rather silly.
I loved it. Because Grodd.
Gothic: A Romance (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #’s 6-10, April to August 1990)
Just six months earlier, DC had launched a brand new solo Batman series – the first since 1940. Every couple of issues would feature a new creative team and a new story arc. And while the first story arc, Shaman, was pretty damned cool, the next one would blow my mind. Gothic was the first time I had heard of the name Grant Morrison. And while I’ve come to have mixed feelings about his work over the years, this first experience with his writing has ensured that I will forever consider him one of the better writers to exist.
While it was subtitled “A Romance”, Gothic was far more than that. Written by Morrison and drawn by the magnificent Klaus Janson, this is a story of revenge, memory, supernatural horror, ghosts, and immutable fate. Led by his dreams (and an inverted Bat signal), Batman is drawn into a conspiracy to save crime lords from an old enemy long thought vanquished – a man with no shadow, and with a connection to Bruce Wayne’s past – Mr. Whisper. Over the course of the series, Batman learns that some legends may indeed hold a kernel (or more of truth), while battling to save Gotham from a terrible plan centuries in the making.
The story is poetic, action packed, and even allows for Batman to show off his not inconsiderable detective skills. There is an eerie inevitability about the main antagonist, Mr. Whisper. He is terrifying, yet terrified. Violent, yet extraordinarily refined. In essence, he is one of the most fascinating opponents I’ve ever witnessed Batman facing.
Janson’s artwork is incredible. Dynamic when it needs to be, subdued and spectral at other times, it truly conveys (to me at least) a sense of the gothic. There is one full page shot, closing out the end of issue 6 (part 1), which is one of the most quintessential Batman images. Throughout the entire story, his art never fails to impress.
I’ve been purposefully vague on plot details on this one. I hope people will go...
Gothic. I LOVE that one. Everything about it works so well.
And that one line...
"Your time is at an end, old friend. Come to Hell and die forever."
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Since he's so much in the days talking points...
My first intro to Captain America was around the time of #350, back in '89. I think I started just a month or so before that big anniversary issue.
What a cool intro it was.
Steve Rogers not being Cap at the time. Instead it was John Walker. He was being manipulated and slowly driven mad by the mysterious John Smith, soon to be revealed as the resurrected Red Skull, now living in the cloned body of his greatest enemy - Steve Rogers.
Rogers and a Walker eventually do battle, with the original Cap defeating his successor. Skull comes to gloat, reveals his survival and most recent fiendish actions, then gets a face full of his own red dust. Throughout it all, Rogers showed what a calm, experienced and determined hero he was.
One of the things I loved most about this was the art by Kieron Dwyer and Al Milgrom. It was dynamic and made Cap seem larger than life. The cover was simply awesome!
Another thing I liked about it was the insidiousness of the Red Skull. All the clever machinations against Rogers and Walker. Tricking them into attacking each other. Here was a villain at his best.
It was also, I think, a good way to evolve the character. Much as his body was "evolved" by science to give him the same Super Soldier Serum as his enemy, so he evolved his mind to embrace new ways (capitalism and democracy) to achieve an old goal (power). As well, they had him talking about how he would no longer go from one grand scheme to the next, instead having multiple plans in place all at once.
These things made a big impression on me as to what a good villain should be like.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I started bagging and boarding my Nightwing comics, and came to two realizations:
(1) I really want to see Richard Greyson and Barbara Gordon get married. They are the power couple of the Bat Universe. There's Superman and Lois Lane. There's Barry Allen and Iris West. And then there's Dick and Babs. Those two deserve to be happy with each other.
(2) One of the other reasons I despise Damien Wayne is that, in my mind, he has taken Dick Greyson's rightful place as Bruce Wayne's son. For that, I shall never forgive Morrison.
I was hoping he'd adopt Tim, myself.
|
Vendor - Fantasiapelit Tampere
|
I have to agree with Aber, I reealllyy despise Damian as well. And Jason. And I get mad when people involve him the Bat family.
Speaking of Tim, I actually really liked the idea way back when the idea about Ted Kord training Tim to be the next Blue Beetle. They never of course went with it but the idea itself intrigued me. Does the sidekick need to follow the path of his master? Not everyone does, Nightwing was born from that idea but to adopt another superhero's legacy title instead of the one that trained you? That's kinda fun idea.
Tim as the next blue beetle?
Much better than jaime.
|
Vendor - Fantasiapelit Tampere
|
Tim as the next blue beetle?
Much better than jaime.
I LOVED the pre-new 52 Blue Beetle with Jaime!
I was hoping he'd adopt Tim, myself.I remember they finally killed Tim's dad during the Blackest Night story. Wasn't sure if they ever brought him back.
I forget when they had Bruce officially adopt Dick, but it's been awhile.
Actually Brad Meltzer killed him in Identity Crisis.
I LOVED the pre-new 52 Blue Beetle with JaimeTim as the next blue beetle?
Much better than jaime.
|
Vendor - Fantasiapelit Tampere
|
I can't help it! It's fun, light hearted superhero action with likable main character, wide array of interesting sice characters and Guy Gardner. It was not perfect and it kinda faded to boring at the end but it had some really fun and great moment. TO be fair I DID read it before old Blue Beetle stories, which ultimately affected my view of it. I really liked the Len Wein's Blue Beetle series after crisis when I finally managed to get my hands on it.
|
|
I found Ted Kord kind of boring, and from what little I've seen of Jaime Reyes (and his supporting cast), he's much more interesting. (Granted, I've seen him mostly as a Teen Titans supporting character, or during the Young Justice cartoon.)
That said, I want Ted Kord back if they ever get around to reviving the old Booster and Beetle duo, but I'm not sure that would even make sense, since Booster has changed so much as a person since those days, and it would be a character regression of the sort they did to Scott, Bobby, Hank and Warren in the attempt to re-unite the original X-Men as X-Factor after Jean's resurrection.
On the other, other hand, I was not a fan of the attempts to turn Ted Kord into the Nite-Owl character from Watchman (or Captain Atom into a Dr. Manhattan 'homage'), fattening him up and turning him into a has-been, out of his depth and kind of the 'anti-Batman.'
I suppose that's my problem with Ted Kord, he's been so badly written in the past. Someone, perhaps Giffen, left him as a 'bwa-ha' joke of a character, and later writers discarded him entirely.
I found Ted Kord kind of boring, and from what little I've seen of Jaime Reyes (and his supporting cast), he's much more interesting. (Granted, I've seen him mostly as a Teen Titans supporting character, or during the Young Justice cartoon.)
That said, I want Ted Kord back if they ever get around to reviving the old Booster and Beetle duo, but I'm not sure that would even make sense, since Booster has changed so much as a person since those days, and it would be a character regression of the sort they did to Scott, Bobby, Hank and Warren in the attempt to re-unite the original X-Men as X-Factor after Jean's resurrection.
On the other, other hand, I was not a fan of the attempts to turn Ted Kord into the Nite-Owl character from Watchman (or Captain Atom into a Dr. Manhattan 'homage'), fattening him up and turning him into a has-been, out of his depth and kind of the 'anti-Batman.'
I suppose that's my problem with Ted Kord, he's been so badly written in the past. Someone, perhaps Giffen, left him as a 'bwa-ha' joke of a character, and later writers discarded him entirely.
I really hate the silly ridiculous characters like Blue Beetle/Booster Gold were. Especially in a shared universe with people like Joker and Batman... It just makes heroes that aren't taking things seriously.
That said I do not like all grim and gritty either. I like a compromise. I like heroes who'll crack a little wise at the villains, but still take the job serious. So yeah... I really heated the Giffen BWAhahahaha years.
I really think the best Blue Beetle I ever read was that Countdown to Infinite Crisis issue. He was cool and competetant. Dude had skills and gear. I was REALLY impressed with how cool that character could be... then BAM.
Sigh.....