DC's New 52: Reviews and Discussion (Spoilers welcolme and likely)

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by JD, Aug 30, 2011.

  1. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    Looks like it to me...
     
  2. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The key word being looks...but they can be deceiving. Not saying they aren't going to clobber each other but I wouldn't be surprised if it was some kind of swerve.
     
  3. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Good. To Hell with that.

    The truth is, for all that people fuss about reboots the only time that Supes has been interesting is in the early years of a reboot. When they change the status quo even a little bit, it requires the character to react in novel ways.

    The problem is, they rarely add anything to Superman's actual character. Byrne did, thank god, by thinking through and making clear who Clark Kent was and how that motivated Superman. The next guy to try it settled for bullshit about him "seeing auras" and therefore being a vegetarian - basically, substituting tacking on idiosyncrasies for developing personality traits. So after everybody gets used to how the reboot has rearranged the furniture, it's back to...meh.

    What would be nice would be for them to actually let him be a character with real human likes and dislikes, who faces frustrations and who has to make the occasional Hobson's choice. Someone who's surrounded by people who all have their own points-of-view, motivations and goals and therefore have impacts on his behavior that he can't just sweep aside by being awesome (you know, like working for a huge corporation that's pushing his values as a journalist to one side and finding himself losing his temper at this chick he digs who's more interested in climbing the corporate ladder than agreeing with him). Dealing with all of that, he might finally grow into being an individual himself.

    You know, like all those characters over at that little upstart comic company that seems to be getting some attention - Marvels, or something?

    Yeah, pretty much my take on it. It ought to be an in-universe joke at some point, though, that the name of the new TV network is a redundancy - Planet Global News (PGN). Guess they didn't want to just go with PNN? :lol:
     
  4. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I don't really think Superman has been cuddly and warm, that just sounds like a disgruntled fan's complaint about a perceived change in direction for the character. Also one has to understand that the Superman in "Action Comics" is young and naive and still learning and prone to making mistakes. In fact I think Morrison in one of his early interviews for "Action Comics" said that Clark kind of rushes in deals with the crisis and doesn't really think about the consequences afterwards yet. He's immature in that regards and not developed in his crime fighting ability.
     
  5. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    AC1 Superman is very early in his career and not even aware of his Kryptonian heritage yet, nor gone through "training" with Jor-El. What we see Superman do there is akin to Peter Parker letting the robber -who'll eventually kill his uncle- go into the elevator unscathed to get back at the fight guy stiffing him on his take on the winnings.

    He's yet to learn to "do things right."

    I liked the way Superman was shown in his self-titled issue. Action Comics remains to be seen as the character grows and the first arc ends how he'll be portrayed. (I can only assume it'd be similar to the Superman version.)

    I agree with the poster above the "Dark Knight" comic did little for me, I didn't like the overdone splash-page artwork in it. Particularly the huge Batman towering over the SWAT in from of Arkham and a very huge, overly beefy, Dent inside of Arkham.

    I mean, what the hell, comic?
     
  6. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Again glenmorgan wasn't simply a small businessmen...he was corrupt and as we found out in "Superman" Morgan Edge was his successor. I think it was also implied in Action that Luthor was behind him. Or at least I wouldn't be shocked if that is what is revealed.
     
  7. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    FWIW, what Clark does to GlenMorgan in Action #1 is a replay of what he did to a character named Greer in the original Action #1 - Greer was bribing a U.S. senator to get us involved in a European war(!) and Supes interrogated him by leaping high into the air and threatening to drop him or to touch a high-tension wire and electrocute him.
     
  8. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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  9. Broccoli

    Broccoli Vice Admiral Admiral

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    He has always been a dick!

    He terrorized a businessman in Action Comics (Vol. 1) #1. He also terrorized some businessman dude in the Byrne/Wolfman reboot constantly. Damn...what was his name? Lenny Luxor? This is nothing new.

    Just like when they first met in Man of Steel #3?

    Well, I bet the fire monster was pissed that Superman fought and beat him...

    Brian Buccellato (colorist on The Flash) for the win.
     
  10. JoeZhang

    JoeZhang Vice Admiral Admiral

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    They can simply make Kent the Planet's official Harry Potter Look-alike and forbid him to wear a suit:


     
  11. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Another(?) Morrison interview.

    He states that pretty clearly and matter-of-factly without copping an attitude one direction or the other.
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2011
  12. JoeZhang

    JoeZhang Vice Admiral Admiral

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    And then he said "oh yeah, and fuck Mark Millar".
     
  13. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'm reading this and I really want to quote the whole interview because he says so many observant and kind of out-of-school things. I must confess that having only picked up a few titles and done so really occasionally over the last ten years I don't know all the history and personalities of these writers, certainly don't know the majority of their work but everything I've seen of Morrison's I like. And I really like him as a personality and the way he thinks and the things he thinks about.

    Concerning the direct market:

     
  14. Broccoli

    Broccoli Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ::waiting until silver age fanboys comes in here to dispute Morrison's claims even though said fanboys never worked in the industry::

    Seriously though, I get what Morrison is saying and it makes sense (in regards to the lateness). Can still be frustrating though (the long waits). I wonder of DC went to publishing the issues every month and a half could improve things?
     
  15. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Well, Morrison's also suggesting that it's probably good for the industry to shift back toward the commercial from the artistic for a while - using two or more artists on a comic, sometimes in a single issue, may frustrate some fans but on the other hand making an effort to push comics back toward being a mass market phenomenon by keeping them on schedule and pushing harder into the digital medium is probably good on balance.

    I think some people who are really invested emotionally are afraid that if comics - or anything else - go off in a new direction they'll be nothing but what they're becoming right now forever, and really nothing is like that. The only thing that never changes is something that's dead, and dead is what everyone wants to avoid.
     
  16. Icemizer

    Icemizer Commodore Commodore

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    I applaud DC and the decision to have the books put out on time. There is no reason that they should not be out on time. Oh the artists are working harder today is such nonsense Morrison who are trying to lie to? The books have less pages and the pages are smaller. The production is much faster as pages can be submitted electronically through out the process. Siting the cost as another reason is also daft. The cost has nothing to do with how long it takes to produce a comic book, the two points are not even remotely connected.
    One of the biggest problems was that you lateness become an acceptable practice in the first place. It became no big deal if you didnt finish your work on time, the book would just be pushed back a month...or two... or three...say where is Pitt #10 anyway?
    I can think of no other industry where not getting your work done on time becomes acceptable. You know going in you have a month to get your work done. If you cant cut it, theres the door and there are dozens of guys and gals waiting on the other side for a chance.
     
  17. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    No one. Comparing the art in these comics to that of the comics I grew up with - sorry, Jack Kirby - or even a quarter century ago I'm just astonished at a lot of it. Reading a current comic like Supergirl #1 or Justice League #1 which somewhat younger or more sophisticated readers here have evaluated as short on story or artistically unimpressive is a qualitatively different experience for me than reading one in the 1970s - the newer are generally better all around. The detail and dimensionality of the imagery in a comic like Superman #1 - and I pick that example because I thought the art was the most crowded and old-fashioned of any I've read in the re-launch - is really amazing compared to old comics.
     
  18. TemporalFlux

    TemporalFlux Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    But then you have someone like Mark Bagley who is perfectly capable of producing great art on a monthly schedule. I don't think the guy is some kind of freak who can do things no one else can do; I think he's just one of the few, honest professionals left in comics. Most of the rest are varying degrees of Joe Madureira (who openly admitted he was too busy goofing off and playing video games to draw Battle Chasers).
     
  19. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    Guys, I was being facetious about my Superman thing earlier :lol:

    Holdasec!!! DC wants their comic books to come out monthly now?!!?! Those monsters!!! This flies in the face of everything we know and love about comic books!!!
     
  20. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You're right, and this may create more opportunities for more artists who aren't currently doing this work as well.

    I know nothing about how this stuff is priced, but I'd guess that in some instances DC is going to have to renegotiate what they pay some people in order to get what they want. That's another part of a changed business model: you make new demands, you learn that some people can deliver more reliably and with better quality under the new circumstances, you offer those people more because you need that reliability whereas before you didn't so much.