News:

Rings of Reznor!

Main Menu

The DC Thread

Started by Talavar, February 20, 2009, 03:59:45 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Talavar

While I don't actually read that many DC comics (especially at the moment), I thought it was time the Distinguished Competition at least got its own thread.

This week for me was Birds of Prey 127, the final issue of the run.  Sadly, it ended with a total whimper.  Though the series hadn't been the same since Gail Simone left, I'd been holding out hope that it would improve again.

Podmark

ahh now I can't laugh about how there's a Marvel thread but not a DC one :(

No but it's about time we made one of these.
Get my skins at:
HeroForce
my Google page

marhawkman

So what do you guys think about the new Kandor story arc?

Talavar

Quote from: marhawkman on February 22, 2009, 11:57:08 AM
So what do you guys think about the new Kandor story arc?

I haven't actuallly been following it - can you give a quick run-down?

marhawkman

Um, the real Kandor was removed from Krypton before the planet was destroyed. It was and still is a city populated by Kryptonians. Superman rescued them from Brainiac and relocated the city to be next door to his fortress of Solitude in the Arctic. Now we have something like 1000 Kryptonians wandering around Earth.

bredon7777

A little behind the times: Its 100,000 Kryptonians.  After the murder of Supergirl's dad, they used Brainiac's technology to grow a New Krypton on the other side of the sun, where they have all relocated, since the UN banned all Kryptonians from Earth, save Superman.

I think the story is poorly thought out cheese, myself, and were I buying the Superman books, would make me sorely tempted to drop them.
"I can't wait to hear this guy's monologue. 'I am the Palindrome! Feel my power! Power my feel! Palindrome the am I!' Peter Piping weirdos." - The Middleman

Talavar

Yeah, I was actually reading Superman & Action Comics up until the Kandor arc was about to start, and that was it for me.  Kandor's always bugged me, and I think back fondly to when actually Superman was the last Kryptonian.

daglob

Quote from: Talavar on February 23, 2009, 05:23:40 PM
Yeah, I was actually reading Superman & Action Comics up until the Kandor arc was about to start, and that was it for me.  Kandor's always bugged me, and I think back fondly to when actually Superman was the last Kryptonian.

When was that... 1958? ;)

He's been the Last Son of Krypton before, he probably will be again.

Talavar

Superman was the last kryptonian for a big chunk of the 80s, 90s & early 2000s - for a lot of that time, even Supergirl either didn't exist, or she wasn't Kryptonian, let alone all these other Kryptonian hangers-on DC has floating around now.  The cartoon Superman TAS actually had to have their Supergirl be from a colony of Krypton, because it was editorial mandate at the time that Superman be the last Kryptonian.

It's only relatively recently that the original Supergirl was brought back, and the Kandorians, and Krypto, and a lot of those other relics of the Silver Age that I wish had stayed buried.

DrMike2000

Regarding Johns and Frank's Action Comics work -
I picked up the Superman and the Legion six parter retroactively, and read it in one big gulp and it was pretty good. Lovely artwork, a nice spin on the Legion as Superboy's childhood pals, and so I decided to keep an eye on Action Comics.

I got the Braniac story next, and to be honest, it was terrible. The big emotional impact at the end, Pa Kent's death, just fell totally flat. Braniac's been set up as this very cold, very alien entity, and he then tries to blow up Superman's parent's farmhouse for revenge??? How come he's suddenly got concepts of revenge, hate or parents after treating all other life forms like cells on a microscope slide?

I picked up the first New Krypton issue, and it looked like it was going to be equally ham-fisted, so I dropped the series at that point. I like John's intent - that he plans to show that Superman is more than just his powers - and that his heart and compassion are what separates him from the rest of Krypton. But it all looked like it was going to be a bit too spoon-fed and belaboured for my tastes.

To be honest, the existence of other Kryptonians doesn't bother me. I think Superman's at his best in a complex universe with as many fantastic elements slapped on top as you can handle. I'm glad all the Silver Age stuff is back. But I've seen Kandor used much better - Frank Miller's DK2 and Morrison's All Star Superman for example.
Stranger Than Fiction:
The Strangers, Tales of the Navigator and Freedom Force X
www.fundamentzero.com

marhawkman

*high fives Mike*

The basic concept for Superman was not "LAST Kryptonian" but "strange visitor from another world". Being the LAST was a rather contrived addition IMO.

as for brainiac.... his cold calculating demeanor is only when he's in charge of the situation. He acts like that when he thinks he can get whatever he wants. If he has to improvise he tends to react the same way everyone else does.

Talavar

The problem with lots of Kryptonians is that they're so very, very powerful.  When there's just Superman, that power is balanced by his uniqueness.  I mean, is there a problem in the DC universe that the city population of Kandor, all with Superman's powers couldn't fix?  100 000 Kryptonians make the dangers of a few thousand Yellow Lanterns, Red Lanterns, Black Lanterns, etc. look like chumps - they could beat them in time for dinner, then go conquer the universe tomorrow.  The only threat to a group of kryptonians is another group of kryptonians, that or writers contrive increasingly ridiculous ways to have their weaknesses commonly available.

Either way, it ends up watering down Superman.  Kryptonians are everywhere, reducing him to being special for being a good guy - well, what's so special about that for a superhero?  Most of them are pretty good people.  Or you have everything threatening somehow having a chunk of kryptonite, which makes Superman seem to be useless.

steamteck

Well said, Talavar. I agree completely.

yell0w_lantern

Kandor is fine with me as long as it is in the bottle. Once it gets big then it's lame. And I can't see a plausible way for DC to make it so Kandor can't be made big again so best to leave it out.
Yellow Lantern smash!

marhawkman

Quote from: Talavar on February 24, 2009, 07:47:17 PMThe problem with lots of Kryptonians is that they're so very, very powerful.  When there's just Superman, that power is balanced by his uniqueness.  I mean, is there a problem in the DC universe that the city population of Kandor, all with Superman's powers couldn't fix?  100 000 Kryptonians make the dangers of a few thousand Yellow Lanterns, Red Lanterns, Black Lanterns, etc. look like chumps - they could beat them in time for dinner, then go conquer the universe tomorrow.  The only threat to a group of kryptonians is another group of kryptonians, that or writers contrive increasingly ridiculous ways to have their weaknesses commonly available.

Either way, it ends up watering down Superman.  Kryptonians are everywhere, reducing him to being special for being a good guy - well, what's so special about that for a superhero?  Most of them are pretty good people.  Or you have everything threatening somehow having a chunk of kryptonite, which makes Superman seem to be useless.
Or have them fight people that actually can face them in hand to hand combat. What makes Superman Super? Sure being Kryptonian accounts for a lot, but he is more than just that. Average Kyptonians can't do what he does. Remember the arc with that lady who used to be a Kryptonian soldier? Superman made her look like a pathetic chump.

The Hitman

Quote from: marhawkman on February 25, 2009, 01:57:15 PM
... What makes Superman Super? Sure being Kryptonian accounts for a lot, but he is more than just that. Average Kyptonians can't do what he does. ...

I think that's what Johns is going for.

Talavar

Quote from: marhawkman on February 25, 2009, 01:57:15 PM
Quote from: Talavar on February 24, 2009, 07:47:17 PMThe problem with lots of Kryptonians is that they're so very, very powerful.  When there's just Superman, that power is balanced by his uniqueness.  I mean, is there a problem in the DC universe that the city population of Kandor, all with Superman's powers couldn't fix?  100 000 Kryptonians make the dangers of a few thousand Yellow Lanterns, Red Lanterns, Black Lanterns, etc. look like chumps - they could beat them in time for dinner, then go conquer the universe tomorrow.  The only threat to a group of kryptonians is another group of kryptonians, that or writers contrive increasingly ridiculous ways to have their weaknesses commonly available.

Either way, it ends up watering down Superman.  Kryptonians are everywhere, reducing him to being special for being a good guy - well, what's so special about that for a superhero?  Most of them are pretty good people.  Or you have everything threatening somehow having a chunk of kryptonite, which makes Superman seem to be useless.
Or have them fight people that actually can face them in hand to hand combat. What makes Superman Super? Sure being Kryptonian accounts for a lot, but he is more than just that. Average Kyptonians can't do what he does. Remember the arc with that lady who used to be a Kryptonian soldier? Superman made her look like a pathetic chump.

The list of people who can hold their own against one Kryptonian is pretty short, let alone people who can stand getting dogpiled by Kryptonians - unless a writer suddenly invents a group of super-powerful, super-common enemies, which is just bad writing.

daglob

Quote from: Talavar on February 23, 2009, 08:53:34 PM
Superman was the last kryptonian for a big chunk of the 80s, 90s & early 2000s - for a lot of that time, even Supergirl either didn't exist, or she wasn't Kryptonian, let alone all these other Kryptonian hangers-on DC has floating around now.  The cartoon Superman TAS actually had to have their Supergirl be from a colony of Krypton, because it was editorial mandate at the time that Superman be the last Kryptonian.

It's only relatively recently that the original Supergirl was brought back, and the Kandorians, and Krypto, and a lot of those other relics of the Silver Age that I wish had stayed buried.

Um... Talavar, it was a joke.

I was trying to remember when Kandor was first introduced (according to Wikipedia I was right). It was at the dawn of the third age of man... wait a minute... The Silver Age that they introduced all the extra Kryptonians: Kandor, Phantom Zone, Supergirl, Krypto, Beppo... all in place by the time I started reading comics. I like the idea that Kal El is the last survivor of a doomed race, but it's nice to see him interact with his peers.

And it's highly likely that at some point someone will come along and decide that they need to "streamline" the series and all those Kryptonians will just dissapear into a puff of retrocontinuity.

And what about the Daxamites? They are just as powerful as Superman. But then neither is as powerful as they once were: I remember when Superman could move planets. Now THAT is too powerful.

thanoson

Long live Slaanesh, Prince of Pain!!!

daglob

Anybody else put a Superman skin on Male Tiny Cape so they could have a Superman Emergency Squad?

GhostMachine

Don't forget about Daxamites. They had a Daxamite GL as one of the heroes fighting Prime in Infinite Crisis.


marhawkman

Quote from: Talavar on February 25, 2009, 05:04:29 PMThe list of people who can hold their own against one Kryptonian is pretty short, let alone people who can stand getting dogpiled by Kryptonians - unless a writer suddenly invents a group of super-powerful, super-common enemies, which is just bad writing.
Like Darkseid and his flunkies? This does neatly explain why Superman fights them so often. Oh and the Blackrocks could return. They've always been able to give Superman a good fight.
Quote from: GhostMachine on February 25, 2009, 08:46:10 PMDon't forget about Daxamites. They had a Daxamite GL as one of the heroes fighting Prime in Infinite Crisis.
Sodam Yat Rocks! Oh and Daxam is still out there! Too bad the people have become insanely Xenophobic and totally unwilling to relocate to a yellow sun.... Oh and Mongul took over their planet....

The Hitman

Quickie Reviews:

Spoiler

Green Lantern #38- Treadding water. Big fighty fighty issue. Sinestro Corps gets Sinestro back. Red Lanterns can make constructs with their blood/energy with enough willpower. Hal's freed from the Red ring, but is now caught with a Green and Blue one, with the last page with Hal in a new costume for the second issue in a row. Wash, Rince, Repeat. Oh, and Carrol Ferris is the head Star Saphire now. It does have good art, and the "Omens & Origins" section was kinda good with Jon Stewert and Newly- Saphire'd Fatality.
2.5/5

Green Lantern Corps. #33- Mongul and Arkillo cage match on Daxam. The loser? Daxam. Kyle and Soranik Natu hook up. Guess which one'll end up in some sort of appliance? Kyle decides to paint a mural. The Lantern that can speak to the dead (can't remember his name) has a nice chat with a Star Saphire. Apparently, the only thing he loves is death. And Sodom Yat's mom crashes into the GL Citadel (despite it having serious force fields?), letting him know there's a problem on Daxam. Next issue will have something happen, I promise. "O&O" is a pretty funny bit about Kyle and Guy priming the walls where the mural will be, and a good chunk of the Corps comes to help.
3/5

Justice League of America #27-30- This is a prime example of a story that is good, but didn't need 4 issues to tell it. The whole thing revolves around Milestone Comics' Shadow Cabnet and Icon being retconned into the main DC line. Something big is going down, and the SC need all the light- based folks they can find. Apparently, they forgot about The Ray. They kidnap Dr. Light (the mean Japanese one), and storm the Watchtower (or Space Needle, or whatever the heck it is now) to steal the last mortal remains of the other Dr. Light. At one point, Icon punches Supes through the station, and into space. Fighty fighty in the Tower, and fighty fighty in Dr. Light's home. And Supes and Icon just sit and talk about how the fight is a ruse... what? Anyways, during the fight, Flash is trapped inside Twilight, who is a walking parallel dimention. This is important. SC's been beat down, and Hawkman busts through the teleporter, saying Shadow Theif is crazy powerful and coming this way!

Then... a break for the "Face of Evil" tie- in issue? Apparently, an old villian, Starbreaker, gave some power to Shadow Theif. Now back to the story.

Shadow Theif shows up, looking like he did in JLU, which is cool. JLA fights their animated shadows, which is pretty neat, Shadow Theif is defeated. That took 2 pages. Then, someone notices that the moon's shadow is going to crash into earth. Pretty neat idea, I'll admit. It then takes 3 pages of both teams going "What are we going to do?"... then Superman just goes out there and punches it. And Dr. Light got her groove back. The end. Oh, you finally see Icon's employer, Dharma, who sets himself up as a villian pretty quick, and says we don't need to worry about Bats, and then projects a "vision of the future" i.e. Final Crisis.

It should've been done in 2 issues. Otherwise, it's a pretty good story. I would give it 3.75/5, but there's something I don't like at all. In issue 30, first page, we see the Flash. Halfway through the book, the Flash escapes Twilight! Art continuity doesn't come up much, but it drives me crazy when it does.
2/5

Reign in Hell #1-8- Blaze is the new leader of Hell. Yeah, Shazam's demon daughter. I had to look her up on Wikipedia too. Blue Devil is back to being a devil, Black Mary doesn't have powers, Ibis won't fight anymore, Zaurel is a bad guy now (!), Jason Blood is no longer bound to Etrigan, for the time being, Sargon has his head on a pike in Hell, Zatanna's in shellshock because her dad died... again, Neron's vaporized, and Dr. Fate is finally getting the hang of his magic stuff. And the Shadowpact book is STILL not coming back.There, I just saved youalls $32.
1.75/5

Booster Gold #17- Jurgens is trying to kill this book, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. This plot is too convoluted to explain, and this is coming from a guy who likes time- travel stories.
1/5

Teen Titans #68- I like Kid Eternity. This issue kinda rehashes his backstory a little, including a bit of the Vertigo stories. Anyways, KE takes a depowered Kid Devil to newly- revamped Hell to find the contract KD signed to get his powers. Apparently, All Neron did was unlock KD's metagene (giving an easy loophole for him to get his powers back, but shhh, don't tell anyone!), then Blaze shows up. She offers KD the same deal Neron did, and he almost takes it. KE channels his aunt, and she convinces him to not take the deal. They go back to Earth, and pretty much say "What's Next?" Next issue will have the new team (which will consist of Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle, Kid Eternity, Kid Devil... eventually, Bombshell, Miss Martian, Aquagirl, and Static). And the "O&O" page shows BB hooking up with Wondy, a very pregnant Wondy, and a dead KD.
3.5/5

That's about it for now. Next Quickie Reviews in a month, I don't get to my shop that often.

(See Prev, I can write reviews too!)

marhawkman

I like where the GL stuff is going and I REALLY want to know what Yrra Cynril is gonna do now. Become Yrra Stewart perhaps? :D Nah, as much as I wish that John had the moxy for that... I just can't visualize the editors finally putting her "tortured soul" story to rest for good.

I wanna see just how far they'll go before Amy quits acting like a thrall and decides that like it or nor she's on the team.(even though she's not a teen)

detourne_me

It's confirmed!!! Morrison and Quitely on Batman and Robin! Amazing!!!

bat1987

New Morrison interview at IGN
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=20487

Spoiler
Since Bruce is obviously comming back sooner than expected I`m willing to give the new series a chance.

marhawkman

Aw... Dead=temproraily retired more than ever I guess. Though I suppose they could explain it away as part of Superman's use of the Miracle machine.

bat1987

Well the thing is, it was always planned as a temporary thing, hence the last page in Final Crisis. He is just trapped in the Omega Sanction which was escaped from before.

Cyber Burn

A bit off current subjects, but still DC related I guess. Has anyone heard if/when/where the Crusaders Characters (Shield, Comet, etc.) are going to be reintroduced?

thanoson

Speaking of Final Crisis, what happened with the Specter being the dog to Kain? I never saw the ending result.
Long live Slaanesh, Prince of Pain!!!