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"Countdown to Infinite Crisis" spoiler

 
  

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Aertho
13:38 / 15.04.05
Boogy:

Day of Vengeance = Religious Right clobberin' all the alternative approaches to spirituality.
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
13:39 / 15.04.05
Plainly ludicrous? Subjective opinion as to which is the more entertaining of the two. Seaguy was very Silver age. We3 wasn't, sure. Vinamarama has Kirbyesque god men, that's well Silver age. JL:C was Silver age heroes vs modern age heroes, and the Silver age heroes win. Guardian #1 has Jack Kirby as a computer, the main hero fighting a Thing metatextual analouge thing and a troupe of kid sidekicks. Klarion, Frankentein, Mr Miracle... all spinning out of silver age characters and concepts. Flex fucking Mentallo, man! That's dead Silver Age!

Sure, We3 wasn't Silver Age. But most of his mainstream superhero stuff is, I think. A case can be made.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
13:40 / 15.04.05
Well, kidder, if you want not to be mocked for being like Comic Book guy when you tell us earnestly of the fate of Supergirl, maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't say that the people who do not like what you like are being like Comic Book Guy. Possibly you forgot that you did that above. You did. I think I've already tried to explain to you that insulting people is neither likely to end a discussion or elevate it, so I don't think I need to do it again.

Now, what was I saying about reading what other people write? Ah yes, that you don't do it. If you had, for example, you might have noticed that I said:

Or possibly that, because George Merriman likes to do Silver Age stuff, anyone who does not like Countdown to Infinite Crisis only dislikes it because they are unable to appreciate the value of anything not written by Gretchen Moripoll, because that is the only possible reason, making any opinion dissenting from yours snide fanboy dipshittery? Does anyone here actually expect everyone to be a Silver Age revivalist, now or at any time in the past? Has that expectation been mentioned before?

Did you read that bit before you wrote:

As for the Sliver Age revivalist comment, that seems to be a fairly good summary of the recent career of Bonny Grant Morrison, the very writer who inspired the very messageboard we're talking on now. Grant has been getting a lot of praise for his SA-type stuff around these parts. That's what I was refering to, not JLI. I can't tell if you've simply misunderstood me or you're deliberately trying to distort what I've written?

It doesn't seem so. However. So, not everyone has to write like George Megatron, and people who do not write like George Megatron can still be good. Is that your entire argument? I don't think that's very controversial, but is also not in any way interesting. Neither is saying "Barbelith was originally inspired by Grant Morrison" (actually, by the Invisibles). We know. We've got past that. People can express less-than-glowing opinions of his work and it is those who demand to know how they dare do so in a forum inspired by Grant Morrison who are told to calm down. You could express the belief that his work is not the be-all and end-all of comics without being shouted down. You just did. You seem to think that your forbearance in not expressing critical opinions in threads discussing Morrison's work has given you karma points that you can now use in calling people who don't think as you do about Infinite Crisis names. I don't think it works like that.

Again, you don't seem to have devoted much effort to reading what the other person has written.

On preview... ah. So the Florida suicide was brought in because it reminded you of Blue Beetle being shot in the head by Maxwell Lord. Well, kooky, but never mind. Nonetheless, in what sense are the "cabals, cabals, cabals" in the comics that do not involve the Spectre seeking to destroy all magic in the DC Universe reflecting a truth about the times in a way, that, say, Checkmate did not in the optimistic, carefree late 80s?
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
14:00 / 15.04.05
Insults not ending anything? What? When have I insulted anyone today? I'm trying to dial back on the abuse, dear Haus, but there's a new Profanisaurus update in Viz and the temptation to see just how many of the buggers I can fit into this post is maddening...

Anyway, full marks for being condescending about my percieved age with no justification for getting nastly. I won't be compairing you to a pedantic 45-year old accountant in this post, because there's just no need. Learn from my example, will you?

I wouldn't have had to post about Grunt Monsoon* if you hadn't deliberately or otherwise distorted my frame of reference, Haus. It's a positively Claremonesque peice of exposition, I know, but then I guess some people have to be lead every step of the way.

I'm not talking about Karma points, either. I'm suggesting we tone down the speculation, creator abuse and hilarious one-liners and get to you know, arguing the points. Rather than trying to tear someone (be it creator or poster) down on a message board. It's what we're all here for, right?

Again, you haven't read what I've written. I never suggested that the cabal aspect is salient political commentary, I just said it reflects nicely on the time period it's being produced in. I'm not really bothered if that's the intent or not.

I never said the 80s were optimistic. Please, enough with the strawmen and the sarky attempts at putting me down, and let's just discuss this civily.


*Oh my sides they are splitting
 
 
The Falcon
14:08 / 15.04.05
I'd suggest that Flex Mentallo #2, 'The Silver Age' is well Silver Age.

It's patently obvious that Grant loves the silver age stuff, and that's to be expected, given that he is a child of said age; most of us here are of Dark Age birth (doesn't that sound ace?) and still don't like Countdown. That's because it was a godawful comicbook.

Did you read that, EB? The Pop Culture Bored review Finder posted says all I want to say, in better and funnier ways. (Here, for your reference. And because it ought to be read - watch out for the profanity though!) Did you see a lot of promise in it? Do share, instead of this incessant oppositional with largely imaginary/not-present-here figures. I liked the Jiminez art at the end.
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
14:08 / 15.04.05
Well, kidder, if you want not to be mocked for being like Comic Book guy when you tell us earnestly of the fate of Supergirl, maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't say that the people who do not like what you like are being like Comic Book Guy.

And again, I never said any of this. Supergirl died in an analogous storyline 20 years ago. Blue Beetle died in this one. People are not happy about this. What's so wrong with using facts to counter that?

I've never called anyone who disagrees with me comic book guy, either. I've suggested that there's a comic book guy mentality, sure. But that doesn't preclude someone expressing an opinion contrary to mine in an eloquent and agreeable way. You ought to try that some time, rather than fighting your battles (and this never needed to be a battle. We could have just discussed it politely) with armies of STRAW MEN.
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
14:13 / 15.04.05
Dunc, I'm not calling anyone names or jousting at windmils. That thing you linked me to... it's snarky fanboy crap, IMO. That's the kind of mentality that's getting me down. That's the kind of sarky crap people attacked NXM with.

I liked Countdown. Are you going to call me names and write snide blog posts, or are you going to explain why you didn't like it in a way that won't set my teeth on edge> I awfully wish you would, you're a pretty nifty writer.
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
14:19 / 15.04.05
And why did I like Countdown? It was 80 pages for as many pence and very well drawn. It made me think the Blue Beetle was aces, rather than a joke. I felt bad for Ted, almost enough that I want him to come back. I liked it because it had a gathering of the heroes, and I like it in comic books when you realise all the peices are about to start falling into place and the shit's about to hit the fan. Made me feel like that Judge Dredd storyline where all the lawgivers were rigged to explode. It was quick, fast entertainment with no pretence, and I like conspiracy storylines. Sure, people acted out of character, but the big bad has mind control sufficent to command the thoughts of Superman.
 
 
The Falcon
14:23 / 15.04.05
Well, uh, thanks. Nice of you to say.

I don't think the Abhay post is like the 'crit' (these scarequotes will come in handy in a moment)I read on NXM, because I doesn't contain the classic fanboy crutch-phrases of 'out of character' or 'ruining continuity', minus any explanation of the supposed error. Also, the spelling and grammar is pretty impeccable.

Did you not even like the bit where he posted Booster's face and went on about 'that's not even a human expression'? Come on!

I don't really want to read Countdown again, but I will do - just for you, okay?
 
 
Haus of Mystery
14:26 / 15.04.05
It made me think the Blue Beetle was aces, rather than a joke

So that his death would have more..(grits teeth)..impact. Cynical? Just a bit.
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
14:26 / 15.04.05
I got to the part where he was bitching about the chapter numbers and wanted to punch myself insensate. It reads like a comixfan poster on some primo speed, and probably is.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
14:27 / 15.04.05
When have I insulted anyone today?

All this snide fanboy dipshittery is really making me ill, and if finderwolf attempts to overcompensate for his inital review of Identity Crisis I'm going to be sick on my shoes.

So can we please stop all this comic book guy crap

It seems that your posts are incomprehensible even to yourself.

Again, you haven't read what I've written. I never suggested that the cabal aspect is salient political commentary, I just said it reflects nicely on the time period it's being produced in. I'm not really bothered if that's the intent or not.

What you said was not it reflects nicely on the time period it's being produced in, but I said that I thought it isn't unreasonable that comics should reflect (conciously or not) the era they're made in. You have so far failed utterly to explain why the existence of bad things in the 1980s, and their reflection in the comic books of the time (like the original Checkmate, an example I provided which you appear not to have noticed, is so very different from the existence of bad things in 2005, and their reflection in the comic books of the time. Or why, if this is how it works, the bad things that were happening between 1987 and 1992, of which there were many, did not make JLI darker, if your contention is that there was nothing dark about JLI, which is IMHO incorrect. Or, indeed, why non-fun comics existed in what you have identified as an age nowhere near as pessimistic as ours (like, say, Watchmen) and why comics whackier than the JLI (like, say, Alpha Flight or Plastic Man) exist in our dark, pessimistic age. This question is key to your position, and it makes no sense. You can shout straw man as loud as you want, and that won't change until you stop saying "all I was saying was", actually read and understand what you were saying and got your head around how it might interact with reality.

It's an incomprehensible argument that depends on Infinite Crisis (a series that you talk about as if it already exists at times and at other times excoriate anyone for discussing or speculating about on the grounds that it has not been released yet) and the Justice League (Giffen/Dematteis) being the only sets of comics available for reference in their respective periods, just for starters.

So, although you appear to have learned the phrase "straw man" this week and been very excited by it, if you want to get back to the issues, and promise to try to make some sort of sense and to spend time reading what other people write, let's go for it. Let's start by establishing what you want to talk about: Countdown to Infinite Crisis or Infinite Crisis, the yet-to-exist comic-book crossover?

On preview: If Lord is using his boosted mind control powers to make everyone mean to Blue Beetle, why does he not just make Blue Beetle want to be on his side? Worked on Huntress...
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
14:28 / 15.04.05
So they should have made him an idiot first of all?

It was a heroic death, dude. He sort of has to be a hero to die a heroic death.
 
 
FinderWolf
14:32 / 15.04.05
True about Lord's mind control could have just forced Bettle to go along with it...

OK, I did some digging on Maxwell Lord. What a convoluted history this guy's got...

>> Maxwell Lord (Lord Havoc II) His body died in Justice League America #95 and he was reborn as Lord Havoc II; back again, Formerly Known as the Justice League #1

>> Years after JLA: Year One, while out on a spelunking expedition with his boss, Maxwell Lord was abducted by an alien supercomputer buried near the center of the Earth. This computer somehow managed to convince Max to establish a benevolent worldwide peace organization that the computer hoped to use as part of its own grandiose plot aimed at complete global domination. With the computer's help, Max was able to operate behind the scenes during the formation of the latest incarnation of the Justice League, seizing control of the League after he negotiated the agreement that led to its formal recognition by the United Nations. (Justice League Int’l #7)

>> The computer's owner, who turned out to be Metron of the New Gods, eventually returned to Earth to reclaim his equipment, prompting the computer to begin manipulating the Justice League into an epic conflict with Metron, in the hope that the heroes could destroy its former master, allowing the computer to remain on Earth to carry out its master plan. Of course, things didn't quite work out the way the computer had intended, and in the end, Lord personally destroyed the computer and begged the forgiveness of his heroic compatriots. (#12)

>> Max continueds to operate as the Justice League's benefactor and caretaker. Max's telepathic powers were heightened during the invasion of the Earth that was masterminded by the Dominators. (Invasion! #3, Justice League International #24) Max briefly considered using his powers as a costumed hero, but a nightmare in which he killed several people while dressed as a hero called "Maximum Force" convinced him that his role as the JLI's chief executive was best for him. (#41) This didn't stop him from using the powers to "push" the occasional person, as he did when he coerced the Huntress to join the JLI. (#30)
 
 
FinderWolf
14:32 / 15.04.05
and finally...

>> When Wonder Woman reformed the League outside the U.N., Max tried one last time to wiggle his way into their graces. But the League had had enough of him and he soon discovered that he had brain cancer. (#93) Also at this time, details about his private life surfaced which cast serious doubts on Lord's sincerity. It seems Max was a member of the Arcana, a new (or secret) incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang. (#93-94) It is possible that his ties to this organization are nearly as old as his involvement with the JLA. He was known to have staged the Royal Flush Gang's attack with the purpose of admitting Booster Gold to the JLA. (Justice League #4). Perhaps this was a trial, as he is known to have officially joined the Arcana soon after this. (JLA Annual #9) When he learned about his cancer, he was a junior member of the Arcana.

>> To cheat death, Max stole the power of the Kilg%re (a techno-organic being who'd brought him back to life) and called himself Lord Havoc (II) (#98-99). Subsequently, a funeral was held for him. (#95). The Arcana's Queen of Spades was sent to try to stop him, (JLA #108) but Max was too powerful and he assumed leadership of the Arcana (JLA #111). In the end, Max's agent, Judgment, killed the Aracana's ruling "four Aces." Max and the Arcana haven't been heard from since, but the JLA did trace some of their communications to Lord Enterprises. (JLA #113)

>> Although his intentions are usually honorable, Max is a sly manipulator who is well accustomed to using people in order to accomplish his goals. Most of the Justice League members keep a suspicious eye on Max at all times.
 
 
The Falcon
14:41 / 15.04.05
Of further interest, The Casey/Fraction Basement Tape, which suggests possible return to happy, fun DCU/possible tie-in with All-Star post-this.

I don't think so, though; there's very little evidence of time-manip shenanigans thus far - apart from Jason Todd being alive, and the Red Hood, but when did you ever need chrono-craziness for such things before?

That's my potential problem; that this will be crushingly down to earth - I think a series called 'Infinite Crisis' ought to involve the infinite somehow, and it's doesn't look like it so far.
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
14:46 / 15.04.05
I don't think any of those things count as insults. Finderwolf aside, I was refering to the zeitgeist surrounding Countdown, and I don't think it's unreasonable to give Finder a nudge in the hopes he'll dial it back a bit. If I'd have called him a fuckface or a cocksucker, that would have been a personal insult. I didn't, because he's not a fuckface or a cocksucker. He's just overcompensating to try and fit into an atmosphere of glib one-liners and snarkiness. You, on the other hand, seem to relish making things personal.

Haus, I've made no claims about the darkness or otherwise of JLI or Checkmate. That's because I didn't have access to DC in the 1980s - I was 7 as the decade closed. The only comic books I've had the chance to read from the 1980s are Doom Patrol and 2000ad, although I've read up on the trends of the decade.

I didn't say anything about Checkmate or JLI and I never said a comic HAS to reflect the age it was published it to be good or valid. Please, stop this. The 1980s were pessemistic. I was the first person in the thread to use that word to describe the 1980s. Please, stop this, and we might get somewhere other than what someone described to me as "7 pages of conversation about opinions and speculation".

(note for your records: Alpha Flight doesn't exist anymore. It didn't sell. I blame Scott Lobdell, for what it's worth)

Since I don't hold this position, how can it be key to my position? Are you huffing paint (oops! personal insult. Sorree! )?

Didn't limit the discussion to JLI, either. I've already leaned on Doom Patrol, for starters. Come on.

(second note: I'm counting Countdown and the minis in with InfC, in the same way you might lump Block Mania with The Apocolypse War. Different names for parts of the same story.)

Now. Are you going to be civil and adress the points I've actually made, or the points I've made inside your head? I kind of need to know if'n I'm going to stay around for seven more pages of this.
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
14:50 / 15.04.05
Dunc: I quite like the idea of a straight up blockbuster Crisis as a change from time-fucking japes, which happened the last two times. Infinite signifying HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS IS BAD NEWS, I like that use of the word.
 
 
John Octave
15:28 / 15.04.05
Thanks for posting that info about Lord, Finder. It was...educational. Having only read a handful of the original JLI issues, I was baffled as hell the first time I read FORMERLY KNOWN AS. Finding out the shady businessman I had read about was actually a cyborg with the power of mental influence was jarring at first, but luckily all this complex backstory did absolutely nothing to detract from my FORMERLY KNOWN AS experience.

Point of consideration, likely with no real relevance: so if Max has been a member of the Royal Flush Gang and of Checkmate...he has an affinity for joining secret societies with names relating to games?
 
 
Benny the Ball
16:01 / 15.04.05
All will be revealed in the Countdown to Infinite Trivial Persuits mini-series due in the fall...
 
 
Spaniel
16:01 / 15.04.05
I dunno, I think the title's fucking awkward and verges on self-parody. The use of infinite here, if not referencing yer achal infinite, is a tad too hyperbolic, IMO.

But, I've been wondering, why is all the shit hitting the fan now? So far nothing seems to tie all the mini-crises events together, but I think it's pretty safe to assume the unifying factor won't be random chance, so maybe something cosmic is afoot.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
16:07 / 15.04.05
If I'd have called him a fuckface or a cocksucker, that would have been a personal insult

Ah. So only rude words are personal insults? Except that clearly is not what you believe because "are you huffing paint?" is identified by you as a personal insult further down. Once again, you're incapable of explaining your own incomprehensible assertions.

(Incidentally, there isn't a zeitgeist around Infinite Crisis. At best there's a geist. Big words to supplement flannel not impressive when misused. Stop being wildly wrong and I will stop having to be pedantic by correcting you)

So, here's the thing. You say that the 80s were a pessimistic period, and that's why comics went grim and gritty. However, at the same time as they were grim and gritty, other comics were not grim and gritty. Now, we are in a pessimistic period (presumably) and you're asssuming that Infinte Crisis will respond to that by making the DC Universe grim and gritty. So far so good, although if we're speculating I'm not sure that war between Thanagar and Rann is necessarily going to be a rich source of grimness, they being two of the campest planets going. Except, again, there are comics which are not grim and gritty and will probably continue to be so - most obviously, the continuity-defying ICBINTJL. So, the conclusion? That at times of pessimism, however one gauges that, some comics are grim and gritty, and others are not. It's unassailable, but again not very productive as psephology or criticism.

I didn't say anything about Checkmate or JLI and I never said a comic HAS to reflect the age it was published it to be good or valid

No. You said:

I said that I thought it isn't unreasonable that comics should reflect (conciously or not) the era they're made in.

Is that "should" as in "may" or "should" as in "ought to"? It seems as in "may". In which case again, we're back to "comics may reflect the era they are made in. Or they may not". Unassailable but not very informative.

So, I'm happy to address the points you've made, but I don't really see what can be said. You think that Countdown and Infinite Crisis, inasmuch as one can speculate about something that has not been released yet, reflect a pessimistic tone you see in the world more generally. This may happen in comics, and may be a good thing when it does. People who did not like Countdown - it is harder to comment on Infinite Crisis because it has not yet been released - are either contributing to or being pulled along by a wave of comic book guy fanboy sniping, or might be so conditioned to acclaiming whatever Grant Morrison does that anything not similar to what Grant Morrison does will not be liked by them. The whole 80s thing seems oddly like your confident contention that the Strokes sounded just like the Stooges, despite not having heard the Stooges. If you've never read any comics from the 80s, how exactly can you be so sure about, say:

And that Blue Beetle and Booster weren't intended as "funny" characters, they just happened to be the only characters available to a writer who wanted to write a funny book?

and write any viewpoint not yours, say from people who have read comics from the last period Blue Beetle and Booster Gold were around much as snide fanboy dipshittery?

Keen intuition? With the utmost respect, given that some people here have read not just about comics from the 80s but also comics from the 80s, is it possible you might not have a complete picture?

Given this, what exactly would you like to discuss? As I understand it, you enjoyed Countdown (fair enough) and think Infinite Crisis is interesting (fair enough). You think that what DC are doing with Infinite/Identity Crisis is exactly equivalent to what Grant Morrison did with New X-Men (not true: most obviously, Morrison is a writer, not an editorial committee; the similarity appears to be that some fans of both the X-Men and the DCU are not happy with the direction being taken). You believe further that all instances of rape or sexual assault in comics are precisely equivalent - therefore, if you were not happy with the treatment of Sue Dibney's rape, you must ipso facto also not be happy with its treatment in Doom Patrol and Zatanna (and also by extension any other comic or piece of media ever? Not sure how far this has been thought through). You believe further that people who want to read Identity Crisis should be "left alone" to do it (I wasn't aware of the existence of brute squads tearing copies from their cherubic fingers, but YMMV), although how that tallies with the existence and concept of discussion boards I know not.

Now, the tricky part is accepting that it is possible for somebody to disagree with any of those in some cases subjective and in other cases unintentionally hilarious positions without a) ascribing it to fanboy weakness or b) losing your shit totally. If that's not within your gift to yourself, then the next seven pages are not likely to be much fun, and I would suggest you stay out of them. Barbelith, as you say, is better than that.
 
 
Aertho
16:09 / 15.04.05
Hmmm... Crisis on Infinite Earths was a thick smash up of all the Silver Age concepts, mess, and fluff that had occurred in the previous two decades.

Grains of salt, and a readthrough of Boogaloo, Boboss, Mac, and etc =
Infinite Crisis might be a thick smash up of all the Modern Age concepts, mess and fluff that occurred in the most recent two decades?

We ARE ahead of the curve, being who we are. Maybe Infinite Crisis isn't so much a parody — but an actual account of the mainstream meaninglessness of the previous two decades. Perhaps we'll get a shiny new meaningful and integrated world when this is over with...

I'm an optimist?
 
 
Haus of Mystery
16:18 / 15.04.05
So they should have made him an idiot first of all?

It was a heroic death, dude. He sort of has to be a hero to die a heroic death.


But Blue Beetle, in Giffen and DeMatteis' run was heroic. He was also flawed, funny and lazy, on the lookout for an easy life. He wasn't 'just an idiot', and that's what bothers me about this current story which attempts to explain away anything whimsical or lighthearted in the DCU. Why apologise for this stuff?
So: we get BB uncovering a great conspiracy. This is 'heroic'. Then he's shot in the head. A 'hero's death'. Whoopy doo. You have no affection for Blue Beetle. I do. I'm not a slavering fanboy up in arms at changes to my beloved fictional universes. I am however not a big fan of lazy, mean-spirited one dimensional stories that kill off a character for shock.
 
 
Spaniel
16:35 / 15.04.05
Whilst I'm no continuity freak - far fucking from it - I do think the Giffen era Beetle was a lot more interesting than the CDtIC version. He was a complex, involving character.
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
16:42 / 15.04.05
Did I say only rude words were personal insults? Yet again you're showing an awesome affinity for misrepresentation, pendantry, and anal retentiveness. All the while refusing so much as try and engage with any kind of civil debate. I guess we can cross Selfawaria off your list of holiday destinations this year.

What, if anything, have you gotten out of this? Two pages of banal stalemate and a semi-on? You've wasted all this time trying to make me your whipping boy by attacking positions I haven't supported and dude, I'm fucking bored of treating you like anything near a reasonable person.

So, in an attempt to salvage anything constructive out of this, I'll be starting two new, virgin* threads threads: one on comics by comittee, and one on the influence of crime and television writers on comic book genre conventions. And if you want to keep attacking me because you think I'm an idiot, please keep it to PM where no other poor bastard has to endure the ensuing trainwreck. Barbelith does not need a Green Lantern, nor does it need a White Knight.


*My parting gift - the ideal chance to make a snotty joke about someone you've never met on the internet!
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
16:45 / 15.04.05
You have no affection for Blue Beetle

Oh, but I do. I think he was rad. And Countdown was the first book I ever read him in. I want to read more about his past adventures. Because of Countdown.
 
 
Benny the Ball
17:00 / 15.04.05
EB - glad you liked BB. As I said earlier, one of the things that conflicted me with the book was that it was great to see Ted leading a story for a change - and it isn't fan-boy nonsense, he really was amazingly rounded as a character, he talked about his favourite books with Black Canary as they flew into international crisis, not because he was stupid or slow, but because he got that he shouldn't be there HIM, not everyone else, and not in a self depreciating way, in a genuine, I'm surrounded by the big boys here way, yet he held his own and won a lot of respect (more than most JLIers). If you get the chance, get the second and third years of JL/I where he really came into his own (his own series wasn't great, good simple fun, but struggled a little to find its feet).

It's also worth remembering that he was part of the original crisis on infinite earths.

For the record, his favourite book is The Brothers Karamazov
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
17:24 / 15.04.05
One thing I'm wondering - if we are going to see a return to the pre-crisis multiverse like the crazy rumours say, will Ted rise from the dead on a renewed Charlton-Earth?

That would be a beautiful end to the series.

Is any of JLI in trade?
 
 
Benny the Ball
17:32 / 15.04.05
The first seven issues are available in the New Begining trade (which is good, but juggles a lot of stuff - still it works well) and then I think that the next five or seven or so issues were available in another collection, but the first is very easy to get, the second, I've never seen a copy, just know that it's there.

New Begining is quite cheap, so worth getting as a taster.

It is an interesting idea that the crisis worked to sort out bad continuity, but now there are other methods to deal with this, so a splitting of worlds would be fun (Earth 2 is already back in JLA though, and the Legion seem to exist in a number of worlds).
 
 
Benny the Ball
17:38 / 15.04.05
see here;

JLI
 
 
This Sunday
18:17 / 15.04.05
Y'know, I've been thinking - since doing an unusual spate of spate of posting on this - about why this was annoying me. And I nailed it. One word: Entertainment. These stories just aren't entertaining me. In fact, 'Identity Crisis' did start to entertain... I liked the first issue or so to a degree, not great stuff but passable, and then it just got insultingly bad by the end.
I liked 'Dark Knight Strikes Again and Again and Something's Gone Wrong Again...' for Crom's sake! I enjoyed parts of the mid-nineties X-Men (Further Advent. of Cyke and Phoenix was nigh the best thing Marvel did that year), I laugh at what're pretty much the same jokes over and over, nearly every day in 'Get Fuzzy' or Cthulu knows how many webcomics.
Dark and fucked doesn't bother me. I thought some of the 'Boiled Angel' stuff was right-effin-on, 'Ichi the Killer' and 'Battle Royale' are great comics (and movies), and 'The Exorcist' does get funnier every time you see it. That's not the problem. 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' or 'Audition' or 'The Crow' are not the problem.
Killing and torturing beloved characters is not the problem. I still have a comic I drew back in junior high, where a serial killer murders by disguising himself as various superheroes and copping their powers. Spidey-strength and magick-sticky-hands - place palms flat to sides of someone's head - pull hands apart. That was fun for me, then, and still now.
'Count Me Out of Infinite Crossover Crises to Come' is just starting out badly written. Annoyingly badly, uninterestingly and unentertainingly written. And I can't just look at the pretty pictures, 'cause the art really wasn't my thing this go 'round.
If Phil Bond drew the whole issue... I'd buy two and make other people in the shop purchase at gunpoint if necessary.
And, even then, it might just be crap. Robinson wrote that super-excellent 'Starman' run, but he also did the 'League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - but, not' movie, yeah? For that matter, I loved LoeG (1 & 2) and can't be bothered to ever read 'Watchmen' or 'Promethea' again.
I'm not pissed that Blue Beetle bought it - I'm annoyed that it was done so pathetically and unentertainingly with shit characterization and fuck-all logic so far presented. Maybe they'll salvage it by the end and in retrospect I'll look like a total self-blind fanboy (Which, y'know, if I cut my hair a bit shorter and grew a beard, I'd be the spitting image of in and out) and everyone can feel free to point and laugh and occasionally hurl stones, but... nah, I don't think it's gonna work out.
Even if this were 'The Torture of Ted Kord' and we got nothing for thirty-two pages of Beetle strapped to a wooden horse with his feet nailed to the floor getting worked over by spiney, red-hot metal strap-ons while he blubbered out cheesey comedy lines in a desperate attempt to entertain enough the villain's would feel sympathetic for a moment and then put the bullet in his brain... if done right, it could be gold.
But not when you make Max Lord the supervillain to beat all supervillains. I mean, even in retrospect, there's no way they're going to explain that one satisfactorily. Surely, somebody using the Whirlagogamagogapocalypso... Philospher's Stone, would have had their cosmosis pinging like a motherbox over mass-brainwashing worldwide, right? Did Max stupid-ray the New Gods, too? You can't stupid-ray Scott Free!
The only way to pull this off is to make the big reveal in the last issue that the true culprit is... drumroll please... Batman! Batman can do anything and outwit everybody, 'cause that's what bats do, right? Bats are invincible super-planners what migrate to Pluto, yes. I'd believe Batman could pull one over on everybody, even the New Gods and the Guardians and all.
More than I believe Max Lord could.
This is long and whiny; I'll shut up, now.
 
 
Mr Tricks
18:50 / 15.04.05
well, the recent upsurge of activity on this thred has certainly been entertaining. Perhaps moreso than the actual book we're ment to be discussing... but that's just MY opinion.

I had some points to make but seem to have forgotten them. Instead, I'll restate that Countdown has failed to interest me in any of its spin-off series. That in and of itself seems to demonstrate a major flaw in this book's execution.

Now, I may pick up an initial 1st issue if it hits the stands on a "light week." After checking the preview of OMAC I'm slightly interested. Rucka's setting out to revisit a character he introduced during his very enjoyable run on Detective, so that might be readable.

I'm still betting that Blue Beetle will become the new Spectre. If he's blue & humorous that would be Dandy! If he's mean & green, well that's just more of the same... so no big deal.

Personally I found the LEX LUTHOR as President storyline of a few years ago, to more effectively parrallel current affairs then Countdown. On the other hand, aren't comics supposed to be a bit escapist? I guess different folks read 'em for different reasons.

On Rape. As a topic for a comic it shouldn't be Taboo, however this is more a matter of how, when and why it's done. At best it seems like a questionable decision to have it graphicly played out in a piece of fiction ostensibly aimed at an "all ages" audience (identity Crisis).

If the "rape" of Crazy Jane appeared in the recently presented TPBs I didn't find it remotely graphic. If it appeared in an issue of DOOM PATROL that hasn't been collected then I can only wonder if that issue had a mature readers label on it and if she was left with a set of torn leotards.

I don't quite see the coment made by GIMMIX as being played for laughs. It read as very character driven and, as I mentioned in the Zatanna thred, may well stem from a much older storyline. The scene in IdC just read as utterly exploitive, as was the revelation that Sue was pregnant. SO... after issue #1 I stopped buying it.

Along those lines I wouldn't pick up a Countdown #2 based on the weaknesses of #1. Seemed like the 80 pages for a dollor was a major factor in getting this issue to a larger audience, buuuuut, again the graphic depection of the lead character's head being vented seemed like a poor choice for an "all ages" audience.

On a minor note that death didn't seem at all heroic either. BB would have read as a greater hero (to me) had he set his moral postering aside and agreed to join the Black King for the sake of either undermining him, sabotaging the project or warning others. Of the 80 pages this could easily have been done with a page or 2, there was plenty of stuff that could easily have been left out instead. Hell, he could even have been caught and then killed anyway, THAT would've been more Heroic and BB could still have ended up dead.

It's this sort of thing that makes Countdown a weak comic. Compairing it with other comics that other people may or may not have thought was weak doesn't really make this one any less so. But, by all means everyone should read what they enjoy. Otherwise why spend the money?

There's plenty of stuff I pick up that is widely panned on this board. That hasn't kept me from enjoying them, nor has it inspired me to deal out broad statements about why they are wrong in disliking Y the last man or whatever.

But y'know that's just me.
 
 
I'm Rick Jones, bitch
19:02 / 15.04.05
Jane's second (adult) rape doesn't get shown until near the end and it is very, very nasty to read. Absolutely heartbreaking bittersweet story.
 
 
Mr Tricks
19:18 / 15.04.05
Was there a "Mature Readers" warning on the cover?
 
  

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