Floyd Lawton? I’m supposed to be Floyd Lawton? This is an outrage! I demand a recount!! Granted I never miss, especially with the ladies (*wink), but Floyd Lawton? Is there no justice in the world? I’d rather be an invisible mother of two (but aren’t all mothers of two invisible, at least to their husbands? (HEYOOOOO!!) B, this really feels like a “Monday” are you sure this is Wednesday?
If you’re wondering what in the holy hell M is talking about, I refer you to the message board thread in which readers and staff create character analogs for their favorite Nexus writers and John Babos’ Herculean Suicide Squad effort. I am very pleased to be the ultra-cool Nemesis who, in case you were wondering, is not dead because HE IS A MASTER OF DISGUISE!! –B
Linkage
DOL is like fam.
is like the Brainiac 5 of movies.
Joe is like Ray Palmer of movies.
The DC vs Marvel tourney begins anew.
TV deals with “reality” like none other.
Games are fun to play and read.
Sports rocks, and I’m not talking about Huey Lewis.
Figures isn’t about numbers, contrary to popular belief.
Music sounds good but reads better.
B do you have anything to link that reads as a news report and a soap opera at the same time?
If you haven’t yet read Marvel News & Views, you’re not only missing out on all the info you could want about the House of Ideas, but also the most riveting story this side of Watchmen (which I finally bought, get off my case, M). I’d also be remiss in not linking Alex Lucard’s excellent Daily Pulse eulogy for Mr. Clint Barton. -B
Read (past tense) Last Week
Let me preface by saying that I only picked up six books last week, but it was one of the best weeks in recent memory. Everything was outstanding.
So true; last week was one of the best weeks for comics in near memory. –B
Plastic Man #9 Review forthcoming, but buy the book already.
Ex Machina #4 The story is moving nicely. It’s a cool concept, with great writing and amazing art. You should be reading this book.
Manhunter #2 This book is really impressing me on every level. The first issue I thought it was like “that guy in the rated R movie, the guy you’re not sure whether or not you like.” But now I’m completely won over.
Flash #214 Oh my goodness, this book was way good. Read my review.
Quite simply one of the best single issues of a regular comic book I have read in many years. There was so much going on it would be impossible to do it justice in such a short forum. Geoff Johns just redefined the way crossover issues are to be done. –B
H-E-R-O #20 This book brings it’s “A” game to close the series out. Read my review.
Teen Titans #16 Wow, Geoff really makes up for last week’s outing. I loved this issue. It was everything the Titans should be about. Perfect issue.
Great issue that was made all the better by the little touches, from Superboy’s X-Ray vision moment to the Power Company joke. –B
Chase fired off a quick email correctly placing the lyric, so he goes first.
I once read there was a Daredevil/Batman team up… what was that like, and was it any good?
Let me state that I’m not really a big fan of company crossovers. I’ve also turned in my key to the Batcave. There were two books that featured team ups with Batman and Daredevil, and I didn’t pick up either.
I’m really not that interested in Matt Murdock, and the recent movie of his exploits did nothing to alter my view. Generally crossover books are overpriced and contrived. Plus they don’t really “matter” in terms of continuity. The only people who pick up these books are the fans of the characters, and I wasn’t a fan of either.
(JLA/Avengers is the exception to the rule, because it had about 20 years of hype and apparently Busiek is going to make it matter.)
Based on what I’ve read, fans didn’t like the books. But there have been some recent developments in that area. And for that I turn things over to B. (B, wake me when you’re through.)
You’re referring to the Brian Michael Bendis/Bob Wayne debacle? I’m sure that most folks reading this know what happened: Bendis wanted to write Daredevil/Batman, Paul Levitz doesn’t want to do crossovers with Marvel while Joey Q is in charge, Bendis tried to rally support at WizardWorld Chicago and ended up getting into a shouting match with DC’s Bob Wayne. As of now, it looks like the project will not happen anytime soon, but that’s what they said about JLA/Avengers. As for the original Daredevil/Batman, Tim Stevens owns the one with Two-Face and Mr. Hyde, I’ve read it, and yes, it was terrible. –B
I’m up, I’m up! Speaking of stories that didn’t happen”¦
Joshua Hoskins also placed the lyric.
With all the hoopla regarding Identity Crisis, my thoughts turned back to the original Crisis and the impact it had. So my question this week is: What do you think the state of the DCU would be today if there had been no Crisis on Infinite Earths? What impact would this have had on not just the “big guns”, but players such as the JSA, Infinity Inc., the Legion, the Qwardians, and the Crime Syndicate of Amerika? Also, as a tag along question what would the state of DC Comics as a company?
Well that’s an interesting question. I guess that DC would be a much more jumbled mess than it is now. And for those of you who think the DCU is confusing now, you have no idea about how messed up the Pre Crisis DCU was.
Superman wouldn’t be married. He’d still be trying to keep Lois from discovering his secret ID. He would also be an on air news reporter as opposed to an actual journalist (zing!)
There would be loads of Super-Pets floating around including; Bleepy the Super Tamogatchi and Mee-Maw the Super Furbyâ„¢.
That Black Kryptoniteâ„¢ (don’t want to get in trouble) you saw on Smallville last week, would have appeared in the comics first, as well as the Pink Kryptonite that appeared over in Peter David’s Supergirl. I bet there would have been Bling Kryptonite, which causes Kryptonians to behave like stereotypical rappers, and Fuchsia Kryptonite, which causes Kryptonians to become metrosexual.
If there were no Crisis DC probably wouldn’t have tried to kill the JSA, they would have been left to live on Earth 2 with that Superman with the funky looking “S.”
The Legion wouldn’t be re-launching again in December. They would be the same novel concept from the 1950’s. Their membership would have grown hugely, but they would still basically be teenagers. While we might not have to suffer another re-launch, we would have missed out on those great stories from the early 90’s.
I don’t think Crisis would have affected the Qwardians much. My train of thought is that Crisis should have boosted the threat of the Qwardians, since the Anti Monitor was from their universe. But they didn’t really capitalize on that threat they posed. DC dropped the ball with them. So they would still be the redheaded stepchildren”¦from the anti matter universe.
Now the Crime Syndicate probably would have gotten more burn. They actually died in Crisis. If it hadn’t happened they could have become major threats. Particularly if someone really played up the “evil” aspect of the team.
I think that the DCU would really be a cluttered mess, with dozens of nearly identical earths. Not only did Crisis streamline the DCU, but it allowed the universe to grow. Could you imagine the JLI taking place in the Pre Crisis DCU? Maybe on Earth 17, but not on Earth 1.
When I actually thought about this question I realized that the Crisis did both things equally. It streamlined a Mulitverse into a Universe, but it also laid a foundation for a universe to grow. Without the Crisis all those silver age stories, plus the last 20 years worth of stories would have to fit in what amounts to a 15 year continuity, which is really asking for a lot.
Writers also had more freedom with writing. They didn’t have to deal with all those other stories. Imagine if you had to write a story for a universe where Lois Lane had actual heroic adventures and so did Jimmy Olsen?
Everything that we have now would be gone. The state of the DCU would be chaos. There’s a chance that DC would have done an Earth 1a, where new Batman and Superman stories took place. It would could have been like what the Ultimate Universe is the Marvel U. I’m sure that would have happened at some point.
As far as the company, I bet it wouldn’t be as stable as it is now. Man of Steel had a huge media blitz. It was amazing at it’s time. It made comics cool again. Without Crisis that wouldn’t have happened until later. Sure older fans would have been happier, but there would have been far fewer new fans. B, what would the DCU look like without Crisis?
I agree with most everything you said, M. Crisis made DC the “it” place to work in the late 80s with creators able to take old concepts and give them radical new faces. It reinvigorated dynamics like the one between the JLA and JSA without completely throwing out all the old stories; the generational aspect of the DCU is one of the reasons I prefer it to Marvel (JSA to JLA to Titans and so on). Crisis certainly had its casualties (Infinity Inc. became redundant, Hawkman’s origin became a mess, etc.) but all in all it paved the way for some excellent stories. –B
Wait B, I forgot one of the worst things to come out of Crisis is the demise of Bizarro World. B, don’t you miss Bizarro World?
I miss Bizarro M (remember when he filled in that one time? Or was that M from Earth 2?). –B
Nalydpsycho do you have a related question?
Has there ever been a Bizarro Batman? And, if so, what was he like?
Poor Bizarro Batman, we barely got to know you. Way back in the pre Crisis DCU there was a being known as Bizarro Batman. He was your typical Bizarro he was kind of like the opposite of Batman. He was slow, like all Bizarros. He didn’t have a utility belt, he had a “useless belt.” In his belt he had gum that had already been chewed, bottle caps and cigarette butts. So basically he was like the homeless guy you passed on your way home from work yesterday. B, aren’t you missing Bizarro World even more now?
Bizarro World also had Yellow Lantern, the world’s biggest coward and thus Bizarro World’s greatest hero, and a version of The Flash that was really slow. Ah, memories”¦-B
Parallax2814, still on his impressive streak also go the lyric.
We all know that Superman is also called the Man of Steel and Batman the Caped Crusader. But what are some other names that any of the characters in the DCU are called.
Batman – Dark Knight Detective, Caped Crusader, The Terror That Flaps In the Night
The Flying Rodent
Superman – Man of Steel, Man of Tomorrow, Milquetoast Avenger
Big Blue Boy Scout, Smallville
Wonder Woman – Amazing Amazon, Va Va Voom Lass,
The Amazon Warrior, The Amazon Princess, The Amazon”¦um”¦Amazon
Aquaman – King of the Seven Seas, Rodney Dangerfield of Super Heroes
Useless, Hey You
Speedy – Viscount of Bad Decisions
Double Entendre Waiting To Happen
Robin- Boy Wonder, Captain Smooth Legs
Teen Wonder, Scourge of the Color Blind
Green Lantern – Emerald Knight, Emerald Crusader, Ring-a-mabob,
Polariser of the Internet
Green Arrow – Emerald Archer, Dr. Likes To Sleep Around Esq.
Battling Bowman, Really Terrified of Brian Michael Bendis Ever Taking Over JLA Guy
Flash – Fastest Man Alive, Scarlet Speedster, Fleet Feet, Speed Vice Chancellor (which caused quite a bit of confusion with Speedy.)
Speedy”¦no, really, sometimes villains call him Speedy
Troia – Continuity Nightmare
Wonder Chick, Wonder Babe, Reba Retcon
Martian Manhunter – The Manhunter From Mars, Colonel Thank Your Lucky Stars They Didn’t Have G-Strings In The 1950’s
Mr. Get Me Some Pants, Dr. They Have No Dignity On Mars
Firestorm – Nuclear Man, Emperor Puffy Sleeves
Most Likely To Get Sprayed by a Fire Extinguisher
Gunfire – General Bad @$$
The World’s Greatest Hero
Wild Dog – Archduke of Crappiness
Can’t Believe He Never Got Killed in Suicide Squad
B, I think that I covered everyone I could think of, did I leave any out?
The Atom – The Mighty Mite
Hawkman – The Winged Wonder, The Winged Warrior
Elongated Man – The Ductile Detective, The Stretchable Sleuth
Captain Marvel – The Big Red Cheese, The World’s Mightiest Mortal
Guy Gardner – The Man
Cyborg – Rustbucket
Beast Boy – Salad Head
Starfire – Balloon Bod
The Spectre – The Spirit of Vengeance
Power Girl – Power Peach
Stargirl – Stars
Lobo – The Main Man
Aztek – Dead
Nic B, do you need some help?
I was wondering… I’m just now getting back into comics after being out for so long and I was wondering if you’d be willing to post your favorite TPB’s from the DC universe and why you like them. I’d like to pick up some good reads. So far I’ve picked up Kingdom Come (Awesome to the 10th power), Dark Knight Returns (Totally cool) and Arkham Asylum: Living Hell (My favorite so far I think.) Can you recommend any others?? Personally, I’m a Batman fan so if you could think of anything totally awesome Batman TPB’s I’d run out and get them post-haste.
Great trades? Well since I know that B has been writing about trades I’ll leave him to do the DCU, while I venture off into other areas.
Thanks, M. My personal favorite DC TPBs:
Crisis On Infinite Earths: Beautiful art and the greatest epic ever told.
The Flash: Born to Run The best origin story ever told.
The Flash: Rogues Excellent collection of Geoff Johns Flash tales.
Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and The Bold Great old school story.
The Final Night Terribly underrated.
JLA: Year One See above.
JLA/JSA Virtue & Vice: A modern day version of the greatest team up in history.
JSA: Justice Be Done The beginning of one of the best series currently on the shelves.
Legends Another great storyline with tremendous impact on the DCU.
Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga Best Legion story ever, great Keith Giffen art.
Superman: The Man of Steel All three volumes currently available are gold.
The Return of Superman A lot of story for your buck.
Underworld Unleashed Great crossover from a poor period in comics history.
You mentioned DKR and Kingdom Come, so I’ll go off on a tangent of other books that you should try that aren’t necessarily “DCU” Books.
Fallen Angel This is one of the bet written books out. You should give it a shot. The first trade is out and it’s full of goodness.
Human Target You can pick up any of the three trades out, but “Strike Zones” is absolutely amazing. I highly recommend it.
Hard Time This is one of the most underrated books out. Trust me if you pick up the first trade you will be hooked.
Plastic Man This is a critically acclaimed title that’s won some pretty prestigious awards. But most importantly it’s an all ages book, that’s really “all ages” it’s like the Simpsons, there’s something for everyone.
Ok I lied here are some of my favorite DCU trades for you to get reacquainted with the universe.
Aquaman – Time and Tide This is like Aquaman Year One. It works so well. It’s a great tale. Pick it up.
Batman Year One This was the first trade that I ever got. It’s like a first print from Warner Books or something. It’s way good. It could possibly be one of my favorite stories of all time.
Robin Year One You like Batman, the you’ll love this. It is a great thematic follow up Batman Year One. It’s similar in tone and style. I love it.
Batgirl Year One Ditto. This was my favorite miniseries last year. This book was at the top of my reading list every week it came out. If you dig any of the other Bat Year One books then you’ve got to get this one? It’s a cool coming of age tale.
Starman You can pick up any trade of this great series, but you should probably start at the beginning. Rumor has it the series will be completely “traded” really soon. You will really enjoy this book.
Um yeah, that’s about it. I can’t think of any other books that I’d recommend. But lets talk to Mathan from the past.
From the 4/26/03 column.
1) The Watchmen- This is classic material. I’m not even going to give anything away. But read it already.
2) Crisis on Infinite Earths- This was the first major company cross over, and the best. World and heroes die. The DCU will never be the same. Seriously.
3) Golden Age- The Elseworlds that should actually be in the regular DC canon. This superb JSA tale is a killer. All I’m saying is they saved Hitle’s brain.
4) JSA –The Liberty Files- Another killer JSA elseworlds. Tony Harris’s art is worth the price of the book. But the story is great as well.
5) Any Milestone TPB- I am pretty sure that only Icon and Static have trades out, but pick them up. There are some cool stories, amazing art, and interesting concepts and twists.
Nalydpsycho wanna play follow up again?
Whatever happened to the Milestone line? There was some really good stuff there. (from the issue I have Static seems like a better teen superhero book than Ultimate Spiderman, and yet it gets heeped with praise.)
The Milestone Media books all fell by the wayside. They were one of the toughest to accept tragedies of the mid 90’s comic book bubble burst. In the 90’s comic book companies started popping up everywhere. Image, Malibu, and Milestone Media were some of the more prominent companies.
Milestone Media featured a largely minority (Black, Latino, Asian) cast of heroes set in a world that, to some of us, was much more recognizable than the DCU. The books dealt with “real world” issues, like teen-age pregnancy, gangs, school violence and homosexuality. It really was some pretty groundbreaking material that was being published.
Some pretty big name in the industry were involved in the line, including Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Christopher Priest, M.D. Bright, Prentis Rolins, J.P. Leon and some new talent like Chriscross and Humberto Ramos.
Sadly great writing and great art weren’t really selling in the mid 90’s. The books that were shipped consistently (a novelty for a startup back then) started getting canceled. Just as the Milestone Universe set in Dakota was expanding the books were ending.
Some argued that race played a role. Not in a primary way but a secondary way. Retailers who didn’t think that their readers would buy the Milestone books (i.e. Black Super Heroes), didn’t push them or inform their patrons of their presence. So while the books were critically lauded, they didn’t sell as well as expected.
Static could have been the “Spider-Man” of this generation. It fit the mold that “Spider-Man” had created, yet gave it a definitively modern telling. Evidence of this is the success of the “Static Shock” cartoon, ten years after the character debuted.
Before the current Teen Titans book launched, there were rumors that Geoff Johns was trying to incorporate Static into the team, but that clearly hasn’t happened.
As a comic fan I really enjoyed the Milestone line. The books had some great stories that felt a bit more real than what was happening in the DCU. As a Black guy I really appreciated seeing characters that looked like my friends and I did. It was cool, and everyone involved did an amazing and genuine job of dealing with the nuance of race, within a superhero setting.
Two of my favorite books from the Milestone Line were Wise Son and My Name is Holocaust. They were both miniseries so if you see them you should give them a try. All of the books really were well put together.
B, you talk to Geoff Johns, has he given up on Static in the Titans?
Do you have to play that card every week? Geoff has not mentioned anything about Static lately, but I know he loves the character, so we’ll see. I dug the Milestone books a lot after being introduced to them via the Worlds Collide crossover with the Superman titles. Static, Rocket and Hardware were among my favorite characters and the Blood Syndicate was a visual treat. –B
InsidePulse’s own fan favorite Aaron Cameron do you have a perfect follow up?
While I gave up comics for good (for the most part) in 1993, I still carry a torch for a few characters. My son has one of those 12-inch high John Stewart ‘Justice League’ figures waiting for his fourth birthday (unless, I crack it open first). So, here’s my question: Do you think the comics world/buying public/fanboys could ever get behind an African-American character in his own title for more than a year or two? When Mosaic was out there, it had great writing, characters and plots, but the industry was swept up in all that holographic, six alternate covers nonsense and the fact that Mosaic had such a short run borders on criminal. (And, we’ll leave Spawn out of this discussion…assuming his alter ego is still Michael Jai White)…heh.
(enter Mathan from 411Mania’s Hodgepodgeatorium fame)
Comic Mathan, allow me to answer this one. Aaron the answer is a plain and simple “no.” Comics are about escapism. Comics are about what you wish you could do or be. Nobody wants to be Black. Not Tiger Woods, not Mariah Carey, not Derek Jeter. Fanboys won’t get behind a Black superhero because of that, but not that alone.
Lets look at some recent attempt. Firestorm. Now you may say “but that doesn’t have to do with race. The same thing happened with Kyle too over after Hal went crazy. ” That’s true, but look at how way too many of the threads on the Firestorm board over at DC deal with race. Sure Firestorm fans are upset that Ronnie being replaced, but the fact that a Black guy is replacing him is like lemon juice in the wound, and they let it be known.
Don’t like that example, how about John Stewart? Here is a guy who once had the powers of a Guardian of the Universe, yet some comic fans don’t think that he’s a worth G.L. They attack his role in the Justice League cartoon (and selecting him was the right decision to make.) Some fans really don’t think that he should be wearing a ring right now. It’s a shame. (Of course some of that blame falls on comic writers for not portraying his character properly, making him look and act like a novice.)
Lets look at some books with Black leads.
Mosaic – lasted 18 issues.
Black Lightning – 13 issues
Steel ran for a while, but mostly due to his affiliation with Superman.
Even over at Marvel things are bleak.
The Crew – 6 issues
Black Panther had a decent run, but ended up canceled (while Spider-Girl lives on.)
Marvel didn’t even launch a Blade book to capitalize off the success of the Blade sequel. If they don’t think they can sell a book with an audience and a Black character then things are bleak.
If I may interject, I think you are being overly pessimistic. You are completely discounting Mr. Terrific over in the JSA. He’s a Black character; he’s the Chairman of the JSA. Certainly fans have gotten behind him.
Oh really, I didn’t realize that he had his own title? That’s right, he doesn’t. Firestorm is in a firestorm and John is the next possible Black hero to get a title in the DCU, but that’s not happening. Right now DC is all about legacy characters. They figure “new concept = not a great chance of success (see the Focus Line), but rehashed concept = better chance for success.” But if you look at “original character = not a great chance of success, and original Black character = even less chance of success” then DC’s idea inserting a Black character into a heroic identity formerly inhabited by a white hero makes better sense. Unfortunately it causes fandom to become enraged (see the Firestorm thread.)
Comics aren’t about diversity. While names like Chiang, Perez, Jimenez, and Saiz may grace the covers when was the last time you saw an Asian or Latino hero? Exactly.
And don’t even get me started on females. Birds of Prey, Batgirl and Catwoman are basically Bat-titles and Wonder Woman is published for greed. Manhunter is another example of legacy and Fallen Angel is struggling despite a fan favorite creator. Comic’s aren’t a bastion of diversity
I guess, but don’t you think that a discriminating readership is mature enough to branch outside safe territories? Look at the Vertigo Line, they aren’t traditional “super hero” books, but they’re being published. They don’t appeal to the traditional comic fan, yet they are successful enough to sustain themselves. Don’t you think that if Milestone Media were launched today it would succeed?
If you want to get into hypothetical, sure it could succeed if it were launched today. Or it fail like the Focus Line. The Milestone books would have the added advantage and selling point of adding diversity onto the comic shelf, but that still doesn’t mean that retailers would support them.
So you don’t think that Milestone Media could ride the success of Static Shock and the mainstream acceptance of Hip Hop?
They would have to have a huge push. What about Legion? That book was hyped on The O.C. and didn’t the last issue ship last month?
But I suppose if all the stars lined up, there was a major celebrity supporter and retailers were receptive then the Milestone Line could be successful.
So there’s your answer Aaron. A Black hero could be successful it garnered success from outside fandom. For instance if a huge celebrity name checked the book or even wrote it, fanboys would support a Black hero.
B, why do you think that books with Black leads aren’t successful?
As intimidating as it is to enter into a discussion with not one but two Ms, I’ll give my two cents: if you look at most characters that carry their own books, they were created prior to the 60s. It’s been very hard to launch characters that are capable of sustaining popularity beyond those left over from the Silver Age; Wolverine and The Punisher are probably the most recently created characters that can be considered safe bets as far as always having their own books. There weren’t many if any black lead characters created in the 60s, thus there are none with their own books. If you look at the number of quality cancelled titles that have been created since the 70s, you’ll find pile upon pile of characters of every gender, race and whatever else you care to categorize by. –B
I’m all tuckered out. Send me your questions, post them on the Forum, whatever. My question for you this week is; Does anyone know where I can find issues of Flex Mentallo? Seriously, I’m putting a bounty on that miniseries. Anyone points me in the right direction will be rewarded.
“I buy you champagne and roses put diamonds on your finger.”
