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Some questions about DK2

19:02 / 26.12.02

Finally read it. Some points:

(1) How come Black canary is this young babe when she should be in her fifties or sixties?

(2) When Batman tells Clark the reason he (Batman) can be seen and heard is that The atom has left a device in Superman's inner ear, how come Superman's daughter can hear and see him as well?

(3) How come Batman (through Carrie) punishes one of his 'sons of the batman' for killing a policeman, and then relishes in the slaughter of Lex Luthor, saying "it's a new ballgame"...?

(4) How come Batman talks to 'Alfred' when he died in the first series? (Could be a computer called 'Alfred', but why is this not explained then?)

(5) Did Lex Luthor (and Brainiac) take over America at some point in between the two books, or were they secretely behind the scenes in DK1 as well? Most stupid theme in whole book, this, explaining "the police state" with LL. Nearly as dumb as The matrix' answer to the (knicked from Invisibles) question What is this world?

(6) What did Green Lantern do with his big hand over the earth (and moon)??? When GM used this idea in JLA: Earth two, it was to trap the evil guys there. But here he just held it for a (short) while, and then -- left.

Guys?

Matthew Fluxington

19:53 / 26.12.02

Jake, here's the Dark Knight 2 thread, maybe you'll find what you're looking for there. I don't remember anyone here liking it at all, though... I would think that the answer to half of your questions is that Miller wrote the story outside of continuity, and made many of the decisions that you are questioning based on his own whims.

Also, please don't ignore the topic abstract field.

19:58 / 26.12.02

Um, that's really the thread for #1. Since there are at least five DK2 threads, I thought I'd just post a new one.

I thought the abstract field was obtional.

And I don't like DK2 either.

20:11 / 26.12.02

That might have sounded a bit rude. Sorry about that. I understand that Miller did DK2 outside of normal DC continuity, but thought he should be consistent with DK1 and, at least, within DK2.

And what the fuck did Lantern do with the earth?

21:51 / 26.12.02

The topic abstract is not really optional. The abstract is both the only part of barbelith that is searchable and the part that provides information for those viewing barbelith through rss feeds. Thus writing a topic abstract is both good ettiquette and makes for a smoother running barbelith. for more on this see the barbelith FAQ

23:23 / 26.12.02

These questions are fairly series-wide, so I'll address them here at the risk of contributing to a doomed thread...
I don't have the series with me, but from memory:

(1) The only Black Canary I can remember appearing in DK2 is the pop star girl version. There was a trio of pop stars, each patterned after a different hero.

(2) This was a hole in the plot for me as well. I'd imagine she could hear but not see the projection. Assuming she has super hearing.

(3) A security guard or policeman is paid to serve and protect. Lex Luthor gains power by subjugating others and murder. While seeing corrupt authority figures punished is a definite theme, the common man simply doing his job doesn't fall in this category.

(4) I believe a computer voice responded at some point. I don't think this was really a detail that needed to be fleshed out... he has a computer named Alfred. Pretty simple.

(5)They took over in the background between the two books. There's a nice Bruce and Clark conversation about the entire ordeal. It's a simple theme, really. Just another "Who Watches the Watchmen". If you don't keep an eye on the people who protect you, you stand the chance of being ruled by them.

(6) Green Lantern stops the nuclear missile satellites or whatever they were. Again, I don't have the books with me so I can't reference it, but that was Luthor's final attack. He was going to bomb most of the earth's surface from space; Green Lantern destroyed the satellites.

It might have been a crap book, but some of these are the really simple points of the plot. If you got through the series without picking up on them, it might merit a rereading.

23:26 / 27.12.02

It is ("a-hemmm!") extrapolated from pre-crisis DC continuity.

I really liked it a lot, and I'm sure one other person did. Quite Pop for Miller.

11:35 / 28.12.02

that was me. best art ever, learning to draw all over again..

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

13:36 / 28.12.02

I enjoied it as well, realizing that it was Frank Miller trying to make a comic about the joys of doing super-hero stories. I know some people disliked the art, but it seemed very "Free Hand" to me, going for energy and action rather than rendering skill, almost as if Miller were shaking off the Japanese influence and going for his own version of Kirby.

Everyone forgets that Dark Knight was thought to be crap when it first came out as well, with comics fans only liking it once the mainstream press started noticing it. I clearly remember Amazing Heroes and CBG trashing it when it came out.

Imaginary Mongoose Solutions

22:42 / 28.12.02

"I really liked it a lot, and I'm sure one other person did. Quite Pop for Miller."

Thatmake is three. And yeah, I loved seeing Frank Miller doing Pop Zanyness. I even liked the art for the most part. It had an energy that a lot of his stuff has been missing lately, even if it was a lot more free-form than one would expect. I'm not even a particularly big fan of the characters involved (not a fan would be more accurate) but I just loved this book.

It was sort of a schizophrenic book. With Miller at times channeling that Alan Moore/Grant Morrison/Mark Millar "everyone can be a superhero vibe" and at times falling back on old right-wing perspectives.

22:54 / 28.12.02

Nods of the head to right-wingness/Ditko - Green Arrow calling the Question "Mr. Atlas Shrugged-is-the-word-of-God."

I definitely thought it channeled Morrison's JLA in parts. More a JLA than a Batman project, actually.

I'm a fan of the characters inasmuch as I like seeing them being cool/done well. Like any characters, really.

The art was, yeah, totally, what everyone just said and the colouring was lunatic good.