So its been a few months since i posted last. work and personal upheavals have kept me focused on the "real" world over my geek-nation. Every time i return from a sabbatical of geekery, the first way I check the pulse of geekdom: comic books.
Before video games, role playing games and parallel with anime was my childhood exposure to comic books. I've always had more than a love for comics. a devoted passion, with the leniency of a pussy whipped teenager dating the super model. i love comics.
but every now and the i grow a pair and put my foot down. in the early 90s i chose marvel over DC. in the lat 90s i choose image over both. i decided that batman was cooler than superman and that (while everyone else seems to love him) Hugh Jackman IS NOT wolverine.
I've come to that point once more. while we all know that there is an un-written rule that comic book characters can never stay dead, i believe that it doesn't apply necessarily to the one that holds a mantle or title yet instead to the title itself. granted prerequisites are necessary ( batman must be a solemn, intelligent, bad ass), but I'm realy getting tired of characters dieing and not staying dead.
the "alternate reality/clone/time travel/robot/resurrection" bit was stale in the 90's. now i just feel taken advantage of. as far back as Bucky Barnes, characters have been killed and brought back from the dead. i believe the dead deserve a little respect. if your going to resurrect everyone then it goes without question that their death meant nothing in the first place. and that i can not stand for. i love this medium too much to watch it become a bad cliche without respect for itself, only looking for its next payday.
I'm not against resurrecting characters though. the Jason Todd and Bucky Barnes Resurrections both meant something important that changed their respective landscapes. but consider this . . . everyone remembers the death of superman . . . who remembers his resurrection? reign of the supermen anyone? what about Batman's and Capt America's recent deaths and resurrections? now ill admit i missed final crisis, but civil war was my baby. few comics are as lauded as this one by myself. and when a resurrected character himself, Bucky Barnes donned cap's helm i couldn't have been more happy. then with Dick Greyson becoming the new batman all i could think was "its about damn time!" but unfortunately it appears like neither of these revamped super heroes will get their chance to shine.
as a side note, its almost a joke how often Jean Grey and Xavier have died, and how many flash's and Green Lanterns are we up to now? like 9 or something? give a character a little time to develop. even Jason Todd wasn't killed immediately and everyone hated him . . . . but 15 years later they resurrected him and now i cant see the DCU without him as a villain!
i would like to present this question to anyone that cares: if you could kill off any comic book character, who would be your top 5?
killing alfred would be like killing aunt may. really sucky at the time, but people would forget about it. the fact that bat is crazier than spidey, and the long term effect it would have is definitely up for discussion
ReplyDeletealso, legacy heroes liek the lantern and the flash make more sense than xavier. jean grey has her own reasons for coming back from the dead.
so, who am i tired of? who would i write out of existence?
spider-woman has never been interesting enough to me.
until joss got a hold of cyc, i could have dealt with less of him, but that has passed.
kill off all the kryptonians. i will count this as one even tho there are several. i hate the super-invincible, i can do anything concept behind supes. i much prefer heroes made out of men.(not a sexist remark. women are fine too. i just mean regular people)
wonder man. falls in the same category as spider-woman
storm... yeah. never liked her, and maybe thats the old xmen cartoon's fault.
deadpool... just kidding.
the whole fantastic four. never cared for the monsters killers. ask me to defend any of these.
if you killed off dead pool, he would brake the 4th wall and write himself back in. i think spider woman (all 4 of them) and wonderman are solid choices for the chopping block(i think they are good characters that are just un-utilised though).
ReplyDeleteive always been pro cyc. when everyone was on the wolverine band wagon, i liked the "leonardo" of the x-men. with out him i think the x-men are directionless. he is xaviers "muscle". do you realy think logan would listen to xavier? ... ignoring the fact that xaviers psychic ...
i actualy have beef with you outing the FF and Supe's. the FF as they stand are stale but the concept of a "super family" i think is essential to the marvel line up. not to mention still marketable(no ordinary family on ABC and the incredibles).
now i wont argue that kal el is over powered and needs to be nerfed back to level 3 but he-is-DC. he is the head of the holy trinity of comic books. not just DC. all comic-dom. is luthor an imposing villain to a god? i actualy think luthor would make a better hero against a villified boy in blue. but superman's gatta stay.
what's yer beef with storm?! i just dont understand that.
Yeah.. Agreed on the Spiderwoman and Wonderman. I just feel they aren't utilized and rather almost pointless.
ReplyDeleteAnd agreed on Spiderman. He's just not cool. And Superman thinks he is too cool.
And I like the green lantern.. the multiple emotion characters. Hahahahaa.
. . . . Samantha . . . . ?! you know about the lantern corps? you just gaind like, 5 million awesome points!!!!!! you actualy know comics? i thought it was a joke!
ReplyDeleteso whats your beef with spiderman?
Honestly: id like to see. fank castle die and someone else take the helm of punisher, likewise for ghost rider . . . maybe have a dead frank be the new spirit of vengance and johny blaze gets to finaly go to heaven? always hated green arrow and hawkman/hawk girl. i like the characters but i hate the concepts. they belong in a childs cartoon. not (what i deem to be) inteligent entertainment.
do i think logan would listen to xavier? no. does he listen to scott? no. anyway. we've had that discussion, and i see your point.
ReplyDeletei have never seen F4 as a family comic. mostly because i remember the day when she was sue storm and not richards. the only time i found them interesting was in 1602. so, yes. it took neil freakin gaiman to sell me the F4. reed causes as much trouble as he solves. might as well get rid of them. remember, this was from a writers perspective. not the publisher.
supes... never been sufficiently believable, too perfect, not enough weakness. if i want to read about Achilles. thats what ill read. the sentry is a more interesting character, and is still a solar powered badA. yes, if you took it back to the b&w tv days of faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotve, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.... then sure. i might buy that.
Storm. specifically 1992 xmen cartoon storm. i understand that we are talking about characters and not certain instances of characters. otherwise, dozens of characters from teh movies would have to get axed and in no way could you fault me for F4. but this ruined storm for me. she was never a mutant in the cartoon. she was a sorceress. her powers all has verbal components as if she were casting spells. to me, it didnt fit. at the time i didnt care for any of the magic users. theyve grown on me some since then, but mostly only as a means to combat evil magic users.
i will again defend spiderman. kill toby macguire. thats fine. spiderman is a normal guy who fate grinned wryly upon. and he is dealing with that. if Superman IS DC. then Spidey IS marvel.
interesting ideas for punisher and ghost rider. i have never really liked legacy characters. nor did it occur to me that ghost rider is in fact a legacy character. but for these. sure. replace them.
::brain explode::
nick fury as punisher... discuss.
5 million awesome points for knowing about the lantern corp? my awesome score must be on the order of 10^21.
not quite scurti. ur like 10 to 15 million. she jumped from 0 to 5 million cause i figured she was a n00b.
ReplyDeleteas far as the FF goes, your a little older than me so i'll give you that. storm was always corner stone character for me. "the" 2nd generation x-woman(wolverine aguably being the x-man along with colosus and kurt wagner). not to mention "the" token black x-man. considering she does have a mistical background (similar to Scarlet Witch), i dont see the problem. i agree her power should have deffined limitations and exicution, not just "she controls weather".
i dont think you should weaken superman. maybe strengthen or make more availabile his weakness (kryptonite).his omnipotence is its own weakness. he has to make judgment calls on what he should or shouldnt interfer in. i dont dislike his power. i dislike his boy scout take on power. spiderman is not nieve. he had his fair share of brushes with personaly negative choices. what personal mistakes has clark made? he has no personality. his personality is defined by those around him. Alan Moore. hit the nail on the head with dr.manhaton.
oddly enough i also dislike legacy characters deffined as "legacy characters". but i think every few generations to keep things fresh . . . idk, mix it up. im a little overwhelmed with the ever changing roster of x-men and avengers. rather then having new characters every year, switch up with differant characters filling absent roles. FURY AS PUNISHER IS BAD ASSS!!!!
yeah, i think fury as punisher is the single best comic idea i have ever had.
ReplyDeletefury and his secret warriors becoming the Punishers? nah, dont like it as much.
so you want the god-character having to make moral choices? interesting. kinda greek.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odU1bHaYNDQ&feature=related