Wizardworld LA has come and gone and, as such, the column is bulked up with panels a-plenty. Besides that though, we have Stuart Moore, Andy Diggle, Rags Morales, and, of course, sell out news. Sit back and let the news pass over you. It’s just all so beautiful.
Oh and because I tend to steer clear of talking about DC’s film products in this column, but I have much love for Joss Whedon, let me just get it out of the way here: Joss on Wonder Woman, huh? Wow…cool.
But then I read Entertainment Weekly and he assured them that there would be no star spangled underwear (ala Lynda Carter (who was and remains very mmmmmmmmm) and/or ala most of Wondie’s comic appearance in the past 20 or so years). And I got nervous. Not because I am married to the idea of Wonder Woman in star spangled underwear, but rather because I know how purists hate costume alterations. I’m not a Wonder Woman purist so I don’t know how they’ll react. However, if organic webshooters, the “why is it leather” debates of Daredevil and X-Men, and the “why is it rubber” debates of Batman are any indication, it could get worse before it gets better.
How Do You Feel About Some Moore Firestorm?
When we last spoke to Stuart Moore, it was just after he had landed the gig as the regular writer of DC’s Firestorm. Now, the buzz of the announcement has faded, and the first issue is coming soon – June’s issue #14, to be specific.
We caught up with Moore again to talk about where his head is at about the character now, and what he’s got coming up in his first few issues.
Because Americans love excess (and everyone loves Americans) gorge yourself on Moore Firestorm at the buffet table called Newsarama
I have to take exception to the second sentence of this article: “Now, the buzz of the announcement has faded…” Not to be contrary or rude to Mr. Moore, but what buzz, exactly, are they talking about? Yeah, this had been announced, but…I think the folks at Newsarama protest too much, if you catch me.
Anyhoo, man, Ronnie does have his fans doesn’t he? Like really, really impassioned ones. I kind of missed Firestorm’s heyday, so that still surprises me. You’d think I would have learned by now that people love their Ronnie, but alas, I guess not. I am also impressed by their totality. The “it must be Ronnie and no one else…Jason must go” camp, if you will. It’s a bold position to take, one reminiscent of the HEAT fans of old, (who apparently have accepted that having Hal back is more important than the utter erasing of Kyle as they seem more or less placated by Rebirth), and while I wish them the best with it, I think a compromise is probably a more realistic position to take in the short term. Get Ronnie back in the book full time, then slowly push for his takeover. That sort of thing. But then, maybe I am just being too Zen of War about this whole thing.
Where, though, are all the Martin Stein fans, I wonder?
Sadly, Ronnie fans, it does not appear your fan will be top Firestorm dog anytime soon. This interview makes it clear that the book remains Jason’s and an offhand reference to his ability to combine with anyone would seem to indicate that Ronnie taking up residence in Jason’s head is a temporary state of things. However, how that will end up remains open ended. Will Ronnie come back to life? Will he simply fade away? If he is alive again, will he be a superhero once more or just a regular Joe? I know not and Moore does not appear to be letting much slip on the topic.
Oh, and after reading most of those talkbacks, it should be noted that the pro-Jason/anti-Ronnie fans are prone to be just as pigheaded and outrageous as those pro-Ronnie/anti-Jason hardliners.
Adam, Andy, Pascal, and a Sleeper Hit
It’s one of the sleeper stories at DC in the last year. While its numbers aren’t the greatest, still, who thought an Adam Strange miniseries would even sell in the first place?
Having not played a major role in well, much of anything in the DC Universe for years, Adam Strange was due for a revival, and at the same time, was pretty much blank slate for a creator to play with. Enter that creator, Andy Diggle.
The Zeta Beam to the bandwagon has gotten pretty full, but there might still be space for you if you check in at Newsarama now.
I love surprises and this mini’s success certainly fits the bill. Much like Firestorm, I had no clue that Adam Strange had a fan base of any size waiting to be tapped. I mean, I’m sure some of the credit goes to Diggle and Ferry, but I think it has a lot to do with a lot of fans coming back to a character that they haven’t seen headline a book in a long while. And that, I think, is pretty damn cool.
With the Ability to Tap into The Speed Force and Hermes, Is This Really a Surprise?
THE FLASH #219 (DEC040258) and WONDER WOMAN #214 (JAN050325), featuring the 2-part “Truth or Dare” story, have sold out at DC Comics.
Ready, set…..go! to Newsarama
Well I didn’t love the storyline (see my review of WW below) but hey, any time an issue of Flash sells out, color me pleased. And now…ROGUE WAR!!!!!!!!!!! BOOYAKA!
And Speaking of Wonder Woman…
What can top working on Identity Crisis, one of the biggest stories ever to hit the DC Universe? For artist Rags Morales, it was the chance to work on one of comics biggest icons, Wonder Woman. Morales and Identity Crisis inker Michael Bair are re-teaming to work with writer Greg Rucka on a six-part arc that begins this May.
Come down off the Mount and welcome the new team with a goblet of mead at The Pulse
Huh…I thought Morales/Bair were the new art team on Wonder Woman for the semi-long haul. The art looks very good, so it’s a shame that it is only 6 issues.
On the other hand, there is that, “Geoff Johns and I want to do a project …” tease at the end, so…I guess it is not that much of a shame after all.
Will the Real Countdown Cover Please Stand Up?
DC teased and hinted that the cover that has been released for DC Countdown #1 isn’t the actual cover that will be released when the issue ships on March 30th. Well, they weren’t lying.
Check out the big reveal at Newsarama
That’s it? That’s it?! That’s the big difference?! The logo?! Well, at least all those months of random speculation haven’t gone to waste, right?
I Englehart Batman
Ask almost anyone about what some of the best Batman stories from the ’70s were and, chances are, more than a few will say the run of Detective Comics from Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers, and Terry Austin. Those creators are teaming up again this summer for a six issue biweekly comic miniseries called Batman: Dark Detective. The series features the return of Silver St. Cloud, the villainous Joker, Scarecrow, and … Dr. Double X! No. Really. Dr. Double X! Englehart has a ton planned for the Dark Knight and gave THE PULSE some idea of what to expect from their return.
I also Englehart The Pulse
And I also Englehart Dr. Double X. Or…wait…who the hell is he?
Well, I found out for you. From The Obscure DCU Guide I bring you this bio:
“This villain is really Simon Ecks, a scientist with an energy duplicate. The energy duplicate is Double X, while Ecks himself is referred to as Dr. X. They have the same outfit, but the solid human form of Ecks wears one X, to the crackling energy form’s two. In his first appearance, Dr. X is a well meaning guy, while Double X is the evil, repressed side of his personality given shape and form. (DETECTIVE #261, Nov.1958).
Dr. X is dominated by Double X, and forced to commit crimes, which X has no recall of afterwards. He turns resentful when he is captured by Batman and Robin for a crime he has no knowledge of. He appears next in DETECTIVE #316, Jan 1963, and this time Dr. X is portrayed as an evil mastermind, who suffers no dizziness or forgetfulness. Batman invents his own energy duplicate, Double Batman, to defeat Dr. Double X.
Appearances after this are sparse, until he is persuaded by a Prof. Andrea Wye to switch foes with the Rainbow Raider, to attempt to defeat the second Flash, Barry Allen. This ends in defeat also. (BRAVE AND BOLD #194, 1982).
Double X has electrical powers, and can ‘fly’ and turn intangible.”
And I think that synopsis there makes it pretty clear why Englehart would want to use him. Especially that Double Batman thing. That does not sound like Silver Age wackiness to me at all.
Okay, sarcasm aside, it’ll be interesting to see what on earth Englehart could have planned for young master Ecks. Plus that comparison to Deadshot is intriguing, considering how Englehart remade that character (I guarantee, right now, without Englehart’s take on him, there would be no Deadshot in Suicide Squad and sure as hell no Deadshot mini now).
By the way, I think Englehart made a mistake when he mentioned Kim Basinger in reference to Silver St. Cloud as she played Vicki Vale. Perhaps his point was that she came across more like St. Cloud?
Nostalgia: Part 2
I don’t feel nostalgia when I read my older comics. Nostalgia involves yearning and longing, and I just don’t feel that way. When I read older comics, say, Justice League of America #101 and Detective Comics #429, both published in 1972, I experience memories from that time. The memories are sparked by the comics themselves, and then it becomes something so much more: they take me back as if I never left, it feels once again like 1972.
Read a really good column at Silver Bullet Comic Books
In wake of last week’s articles and the discussion on the message board about nostalgia (and the new Englehart article above) I thought finding this column was a little bit of kismet. So I threw it in. It Doesn’t hurt that it is well written either.
The fella who wrote it is older than I. In 1972 I was still nine years away from being born, my father was only 16, my mom 14 and they wouldn’t meet for about four more years. That being said, I “get” a lot of what he talks about here. Granted, I am probably a bit too young to look back on my pre-adolescence and sigh in wonder of it, but then, I was always a bit of introspective kid. For me, it’s old issues of Spider-Man (Web of in particular as my father had purchased a few of them for me and they remained the only comics I personally owned until sometime around 12 years old) and Paul Simon’s Graceland. If I do it in summer with my bedroom windows open, I swear to God I can close my eyes and feel my old house. I haven’t lived there in almost 15 years and to be honest, the place was a bit crap, but in moments like that I can still “feel” it. The hideous plaid wallpaper from the previous owners, the sound of insects buzzing outside the window that was so high on the wall that I could barely reach it when I stood on my bed, the coolness of my He-Man sheets, and the deadly deadly smell cut grass in the air (I was and remain, ridiculously allergic to that innocuous plant), it’s all there. So yeah, I get what this guy is saying. And, I suspect, that most of you do too.
ENOUGH WITH THE PAST! HERE IS THE FUTURE!
Here we go people. Strap in, take a deep breathe, and prepare to enter the Wizardworld zone. As always, my comments are random and purely stream of consciousness. To try to understand them is madness, but I do hope you’ll at least enjoy them.
Welcome to DCU Proper, Home of the Countdown Burger
DC Comics held the second of its two panels of the day at Wizardworld LA, attended by a phalanx of representatives and creators, including VP-Editorial Dan Didio, VP Sales & Marketing Bob Wayne, writer’s Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, Bill Willingham, Gail Simone, Grant Morrison, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Marc Andreyko, Allen Heinberg and Geoff Johns.
Joining then on the dais was the kitchen sink. Here are some highlights…
Please drive up to the second window at Newsarama
When DC Met Wizard
With considerable difficulty, DC’s marketing mastermind Bob Wayne tried to maintain order over a veritable swarm of DC creative talent crowding the dais (“Sell five thousand more copies,” he said to Jimmy Palmiotti, sitting in a makeshift second row of chairs, before the panel started, “and you can move up front!”) to discuss a lot of what’s coming out from DC this year. He did take time to say that just because a project wasn’t discussed here didn’t mean it was cancelled, and took time to berate another comics news website for spreading such information (that site was the target of numerous jabs during the panel). The panel was attended by Dan Didio, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, Amanda Connor, Bill Willingham, Gail Simone, Grant Morrison, Mark Verheiden (in the audience), Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Marc Andreyko, Allen Heinberg and Geoff Johns. To all the audience members assembled, it seemed like a really enthusiastic group of people who loved working together, and loved cracking jokes on one another more.
Find out if Wizard can fake its…umm…climaxes at your local Cineplex, Comic Book Resources
– Good news on this not being a continuity “fixing” event.
– Detective Chimp is cool and all, don’t get me wrong, but Ragman needs to be shown more love in the promos for Day of Vengeance. A lot more love.
– Three of the 6 villain holdouts included the “new” and/or “improved” Catman? That’s cool. But what the people really want to know is which side of the aisle Crazy Quilt is going to end up on. That’s what’s important.
– “It starts at the dawn of time, ends at the end of the universe, and everything that happens in between is in it …and the good guys win.”
Ahh, Grant…you beguile us so.
– Finally, a Manhunter trade. I hope this means DC is gearing up to give the book a nice push during the summer season.
– Wait…there will be a new ongoing creative team in JLA? Does that mean the idea of bringing back Busiek has fallen by the wayside? That’s too bad. I mean, I was not impressed with his current CSA arc, but I figured once the title was his without having to worry about hiatuses (for the other rotating creator stories), that his JLA would be as quality as his other work. Now, I guess, I’ll never know. That is really too bad.
– Waid back on the Flash in someway? That could be good…or very, very bad (Chain Lighting anyone?)
– Ahh, Metal Men…will they never find you a match?
– Aha, found it in the talkbacks. Nope, Busiek will not be the permanent writer. Looks like the hobgoblin of his health derailed his plans again. God… I can’t even imagine how frustrating that must be.
– Good…nice to hear the DC staffers are having fun this year. That was the thing about the DC panels in San Diego. In comparison with the Marvel ones, DC’s seemed so…formal. Like they had to be there as opposed to wanted to. I hope this is a change that continues.
– “It’s the most ‘ultimate’ story I could come up with,” Loeb quipped, “and I think you’ll find these guys are just ‘marvelous’ heroes.”
Oh Loeb, you’re such a cutup.
– “But you could say it’s like the son of ‘Identity Crisis?'”
Seriously, Loeb, you’re just…hysterical.
– “Sell five thousand more copies,” he said to Jimmy Palmiotti, sitting in a makeshift second row of chairs, before the panel started, “and you can move up front!”
Poor Jimmy Palmiotti. Why’s Wayne gotta ride him all the time?
Truth, Justice, and…the LA Way?!
Although he arrived a few minutes late to the panel, Contributor Brian J. Apodaca was still able to get some details about what’s coming up in the Superman family of titles. Attending the panel today at Wizard World LA were: Grant Morrison, Jeph Loeb, Eddie Berganza, Gail Simone, and Greg Rucka. Apodaca has highlights from the panel that include news of Captain Marvel, Batman, Superman, and Smallville.
Did LaLa Land corrupt Supes? Find out at The Pulse
Big Blue and the Men and Women that Love Him
DC Comics kicked off their Wizardworld LA programming weekend with the first major comic book panel of the con day, an hour-long presentation/Q&A, Superman: Beyond the Man of Tomorrow. Panelists included DC VP – Executive Dan Didio, Superman Group Editor Eddie Berganza, and Superman writers Gail (Action Comics) Simone, Greg (Adventures of Superman) Rucka, Grant (All-Star Superman) Morrison, Jeph (Superman/Batman Loeb, Mark (Superman) Verheiden and Adventures artist Karl Kerschl.
Here are some of the highlights…
Join the support group at Newsarama
Where’s the Jimmy Olsen Panel?
Saturday at Wizard World Los Angeles Eddie Berganza, Superman Group Editor, started off the “Superman: Beyond the Man of Tomorrow” which took a look at the immediate future of the Superman titles, with a quick introduction of creators who joined him on the dais. Among the Superman scribes were Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, Jeph Loeb, Karl Kerschl, Mark Verheiden, and a late arriving but nattily dressed Grant Morrison.
Poor Jimmy, I guess the Spin Doctors were onto something after all. Express your sympathies for Superman’s pal at Comic Book Resources
– I like Simone’s amendment to the Truth, Justice, and the American Way slogan (the right way) but apparently, a talkback fella does not. Because god forbid someone put the right way above the American Way, right? Or is it just that slogans are never allowed to evolve?
– “Superman will also be exploring his “alienness”, how that impacts people on Earth and how they feel about living with an alien among them.”
That sounds an awful lot like Burton/Cage’s take on Superman…and that makes me nervous.
– I always just assumed that it was Nightwing that shot Lois. You know, since he was the Identity Crisis killer and all.
And no, I will not let that joke die, thank you.
– I hope Simone can make Lois well rounded. If for no other reason than I can stop hearing from Tim Sheridan how Wonder Woman and Superman are “meant for each other” and the Lois is “vindictive, mean, and boring.”
– But All Stars isn’t like the Ultimate line? Again, someone explain to me how exactly it is different. I mean, beyond the different names. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still excited about it. I just wish we could all get over the “they did it first mentality” and just say, “Yeah, it would be the DC equivalent of the Ultimate line. It was a good idea for them and it is a good idea for us.”
– Wait…Superman’s only 29?!
– No love for the movie from Rucka. Ah well, I suppose that really isn’t his concern anyway.
– Is more connectedness just a nice way of telling people like me that they are returning to the triangle days of old? Oh goodness, I hope not.
– So does DC not like Supreme Power, or is it just Rucka and Loeb, or is it just some “good natured” ribbing?
Beyond DC’s Borders
Wrapping up their WizardWorld LA programming weekend, DC held their Outside the Universe – Vertigo and Wildstorm panel Sunday afternoon, attended by creators Joshua Dysart, Bill Willingham, Marcia Chen, Joe Benitez and Tim Bradstreet, Vertigo editor Jon Vankin, Wildstorm editors Ben Abernathy and Alex Sinclair, and DC VP – Sales and Marketing Bob Wayne.
A defective slide projector put a crimp on the usual DC mix of slide-show presentation featuring some new and some previously announced projects followed by fan/creator Q&A, which led to the panel turning to Q&A a little sooner.
Do not confuse this Beyond Borders with the article in question, found here at Newsarama
– I like the idea of the other non-European Fables showing up and interacting with the characters we already know. Very immigration allegory. Good stuff.
– Yay! for more Doom Patrol trades. You can’t just leave me hanging at two DC, you can’t. Very not cool.
Wraithborn? No, I think it was a C-Section
Anyone passed over for a promotion at work knows it can be a maddening experience.
Here’s one even worse — how’s about getting snubbed on the superpowers you were promised? Superpowers you had trained for since birth to possess?
Oh, and the person that did get those superpowers? A timid, five-foot-nothing high school girl.
Welcome to “The Wraithborn.”
Because who does not like five foot nothing high school girls, troll the hallways and look in all the lockers at Comic Book Resources
Boy, am I going to regret that high school girl comment tomorrow.
This sounds like it could be a concept that is a bit Buffy-esque (if Giles was supposed to be the slayer in the first place). And that not necessarily a bad thing. However, the fact that I am more interested in the writer/artist squabbles that were hinted in this art is probably not the best thing. Then again, it could just be my enjoyment of human misery overwhelming my enjoyment of a rippin’ good yarn. We’ll see.
Absolutely!
Announced at today’s “Beyond the DC Universe” panel at WizardWorld LA was the next addition to DC’s very successful “Absolute” line this fall: Absolute Watchmen. The new edition of the classic Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons story is currently being adapted to the larger, “Absolute” format and recolored by original colorist John Higgins. The edition is being produced with the blessing of Alan Moore.
The edition will run 464 pages (and will also double as a blunt object if need be), and will be a complete reprinting not of the original series as published by DC, but of the Graphitti edition, a collection published by Graphitti in the late ’80s that included 48 pages of extra material.
Speaking of the artist, we spoke with Gibbons briefly about the forthcoming collection. As many already confess to be, Gibbons is also a fan of the publisher’s “Absolute” format, and was thrilled when he learned that DC wanted top present Watchmen in this manner.
Prepare to watch the Watchmen at Newsarama
I am so very excited for this, but I am suppressing that excitement. Why, you ask? Well, about three or four years ago, for the 15 year anniversary of Watchmen, DC was planning a whole series of releases in celebration, including, I believe, a special edition of the story. I waited for it and it was derailed by DC/Moore disputes. So, I waited some more for them to clear it up. And some more. And finally, I got tired of waiting and gave up.
But now… are they teasing me again or is this real this time?
If they’re for real……SWEET!
If not…I’m not sure my mighty heart can take it.
Okay, it’s official. The Nexus has finally added an editor who as either read or actually likes The Watchmen. Will you all stop sending Chris, Ben and I hateful – I can’t believe you’ve never read Watchman – emails (especially Ben, the poor guy doesn’t even work here anymore…). All rejoice in the Tim Stevens…All rejoice. – Daron
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Goodness, it is a small week release-wise for DC this coming Wednesday. I think I’m only picking up 3 DC/ DC related books total. The spotlight unquestionably falls on:
SEVEN SOLDIERS GUARDIAN #1
It’s true, Shining Knight did not rock me at the level I would have hoped. I don’t care. I was more excited for this Seven Soldiers offering than that one in the first place and one mediocre issue is hardly enough for me to toss my hands up and walk away. Cameron Stewart’s art is on this one and the sample pages look great and his previous work suggests that they’ll prove to be no fluke. Plus, Subway Pirates?! Come on, you just know it’s going to be great.
OPINIONS ON THE WORK OF PEOPLE FAR MORE TALENTED THAN I
I’ve covered both BIRDS OF PREY #80 and HUMAN TARGET #20 this week, more in depth, in the reviews section. Check out how I feel about Huntress’s abrupt change in manner in BoP and what it’s like to have Mathan stick you with his views week after week while I talk about Human Target (coming Thursday) and crazy, crazy Tom McFadden. Good times people, good times.
MANHUNTER #8
Kate continues to take to the superhero business like a (brutal) duck to water, going head to head with Chesire and walking away (barely). She’s also showing some growth, however resistant she may be to it, in the moral category as she does not off Shadow Thief when she has the chance. On the court side of things, she succeeds in one upping the defense attorney who kind of handed it to her last issue, proving her intelligence and gift for tactics once more.
Meanwhile, the twin subplots of the slain former Manhunter and the curious freelance investigators deepen.
Best part, as Tim Sheridan puts it, is getting about halfway through the issue before realizing that it is a guest artist. It’s always great when someone can slip in and do such an excellent job with the art that you do not even think to check the issue’s credits.
Another great issue of a great book.
TEEN TITANS #22
Take one look at the double page splash just before the end of the book and tell me that you aren’t going to miss McKone when he leaves. Go ahead, try it. Reis is going to be great, no doubt, but McKone…he’s excellent.
Johns also provides us with a sweet fanboy moment at the end as Nightwing gathers the troops for the last full measure (possibly…unlikely…still, it sounds great, right?).
WONDER WOMAN #214
Heh…a month ago I complained that Justiniano’s art was too alien to do the story justice. This time around, I have the opposite problem, Johnson’s art is too plain, too normal. Rather than a spooky constant flutter of yellow and black (the highlight of Justiniano’s work in the first issue of this crossover) Zoom comes across as just a rather thin fella in a banana yellow suit. Cheetah is lacking a certain ferile ferocity necessary to make her scary as well. Instead, she looks so almost normal that she isn’t a monster, just a very lascivious man-crazy woman in a catsuit. Somehow not the hoped for effect, I’d guess. On the superhero side of it, I think Johnson does a better job, although Wally does spend most of the issue on his back.
On the story side of thing…this still feels like a somewhat unnecessary diversion from the storylines that both characters’ books are enmeshed in. We get a brief glimpse of the Gods this issue, but it is just a moment. I suppose it does serve to show us that the Villains are Uniting, but two issues to accomplish that? While both books (Flash in particular) are roaring towards much more interesting events? I like Zoom a lot, but I really could have done without this crossover.
****REVIEWS FROM THE FUTURE****
TRIGGER #4
To quote the wonderful Mr. Reeves, “Whoa…” This issue reveals a whole lot more a whole lot quicker than I expected. I figured this book for a slow building mystery, but clearly I was mistaken. Carter’s memory gaps are definitively resolved, Vi’s mastery of martial arts is explained, and Deidre’s investigation takes a huge jump forward. Clearly there is still much more of Ethicorp’s actions to be investigated and exposed, but I thought they would mysteries that were revealed through the leads’ questions. With the exception of Deidre, it would appear that I was wrong on this front. That’s a twist I didn’t see coming and I do enjoy a good literature surprise.
WELCOME TO THE REVAMPING
Welcome to the birth of (yet) another new feature. This one is semi-regular. That essentially means that it will appear whenever I wish it to and not appear whenever I don’t wish it to.
The purpose of this feature is pretty simple. Take one dormant/dead/ignored DC character and offer up a revamp that can place them once again on the map with DC. My ideas will reflect the continuity I know/remember but as I have done no research for this piece, there may be some gaps. I apologize in advance for those gaffes.
Now, I’m not one to not meet a challenge head on so this time I am going straight to one of my favorite DC punching bags…
GUNFIRE
As you no doubt recall, Andrew Van Horn, better known as Gunfire to the world at large, was one of a crop of new heroes created accidentally by a race of parasitic aliens who were looking to conquer Earth. In his hands, anything and everything could be used as a firearm. As Gunfire, Van Horn clashed with his father’s legacy and set about to make amends for the crimes that his father had committed as an arms dealer. Since Gunfire’s own series ended at issue #13, little to nothing has been heard from him. It is now that we pick up with our hero.
Van Horn is listless and frustrated. He is an anachronism, a gun (sort of) wielding hero in world where the pendulum has returned to the more classic superheroics of Batman, Superman, Flash and the like. He knows he no longer belongs to their world but can find no purpose in an “ordinary” life. Eventually, he acknowledges the inevitable and hangs up his purple and green ensemble and goes back to civilian life.
As he expected, his life rapidly becomes one of crippling boredom. At his wits end, Van Horn joins the local police academy and trains to be an officer of the law. The monotony of his life is solved…temporarily. Sadly, soon Van Horn again finds himself growing bored with his second shift, spend all the time cruising the highway, position with the police. Seriously considering quitting, a call for backup to the scene of a hostage situation comes across the police band. The man who was once Gunfire rushes to the scene in time to see the hostage negotiator go down with a heart attack. Reacting without thinking, Van Horn seized control of the walkie and talkie and began to talk the criminals into giving up hostages. And the man has found a new destiny for himself. Beyond a gift for gab, Van Horn was able to offer himself up as a trade for the hostages. Seemingly unarmed, he could then use his “talents” from within the situation to end it.
In my grand sweeping vision of Gunfire’s future, this would be an ongoing role in the DCU, but not an ongoing series. I think that Gunfire inserting himself into hostage situations month after month would get a bit old hat. However, in a sort of Chase/DEO way, this would carve out a niche for Gunfire allowing him to make appearances from time to time without inducing giggles from comic fans everywhere. By establishing him as a hero, just not a spandex and tights set hero, it allows the more silly and out of step aspects of the character to be sublimated.
So there you have it, the first edition of Welcome to The Revamp. I hope you kind of dug the idea of it, even if you think my specific idea for Gunfire sucks. As I said, this will be a semi-regular feature, basically occurring whenever I have an idea for a character. If you’ve got a character you’d like me to tackle, why not tell me about it on the message board or e-mail it to me. You should also stop by the message board to let me know what you thought of this particular revamp and this week’s column. Thanks in advance for the feedback and have a truly excellent week.
Un Gajje: Bolding Showing Gunfire A Bit of Love
