tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post5495631227827389001..comments2024-03-21T06:36:04.196-05:00Comments on The Idol-Head of Diabolu, a Martian Manhunter blog: SurVILEvor Island: FernusDiabolu Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04685199809207954223noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post-19367686785662580592012-09-01T12:44:38.769-05:002012-09-01T12:44:38.769-05:00Will, I was agreeing with you on the Guardians. Th...Will, I was agreeing with you on the Guardians. They were always busybodies, but nowadays they're as bad as anything they fight. I used to be a minor Green Lantern fan, but I avoid those books entirely today.<br /><br />As for the New 52, I'll take the jumble of possibilities we used to have ("Trial by Fire" included) over a streamlined void of editorial dictate. Although Anj sent me the neatest pages from the new Superman annual the other day...Diabolu Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04685199809207954223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post-46189984632685530612012-09-01T12:23:23.203-05:002012-09-01T12:23:23.203-05:00Frank, I know the Guardians could bossy secretive ...Frank, I know the Guardians could bossy secretive jerks but they have gone so far off their earlier benevolent role that they now have the same agenda as Darkseid: eliminate free will. Mind you, they justify it to themselves, but so does Darkseid. Darkseid may well see his role as imposing order on chaos, all for the greater glory of himself. Of course, considering that he was in current continuity beat up by the Justice League with a sword and a trident should mean that his neighbors finally realize he was bluffing about his immense power all these years and take him out -- and not for a hamburger either.<br /><br />I have associated H'ronmeer and Lord L'Zoril with the deities of Mars as there may be a connection. I confess to liking that connection,<br /><br />The Plastic Man thing is confusing. His taking on a version of J'Onn is kind of like Damian Wayne fighting Superman without Kryptonite, magic, red solar radiation or whatever else messes Kal-El up this week.<br /><br />Let's say that while I am not completely happy with the New 52, the previous continuity had its own set of problems.will_in_chicagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01468337654400802576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post-58910148618103688882012-09-01T02:11:05.215-05:002012-09-01T02:11:05.215-05:00Will, the Guardians were always bossy secretive je...Will, the Guardians were always bossy secretive jerks, but they were still benevolent. Like most characters these days, they've lost the script and gone bleak.<br /><br />I'm not sure H'ronmeer is one of the Endless. Just because Morpheus appeared as Lord L'Zoril once doesn't mean that he was in fact that deity. If true though, H'ronmeer wouldn't necessarily be Death, as Destruction was also an artist.<br /><br />I like and respect Plastic Man, but he needed a straight solo title to level jump like that. He spent too many years as the JLA's obnoxious goof to sell a face turn to readers, despite the explanation offered in "Obsidian Age."Diabolu Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04685199809207954223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post-13889698597344535942012-09-01T02:03:21.294-05:002012-09-01T02:03:21.294-05:00M.C., yeah, no. According to the assistant editor,...M.C., yeah, no. According to the assistant editor, "Trial by Fire" happened because Martian Manhunter was boring and needed the pizzazz of a girlfriend. It was Scorch because she was Joe Kelly's pet character from <i>Action Comics</i>. Kelly was also hot to make Plastic Man work as a serious character, so he got to be the main hero. Then there was the essence of Martians as we know them becoming dependent on Green Lantern lore. It was a cluster of agendas thrown together for a final wanky story arc before the flailing creative team was booted (with the <i>Elite</i> mini-series their severance package.)<br /><br /><i>JLA</i> happened because of Morrison and Porter. Waid and Hitch were the best shot at sustaining momentum, but both were lost to infighting and other publishers. Kelly/Mahnke failed in a pretty big way (shedding 13,000 readers in two years, a fifth of the former readership.) I don't think anyone with the profile to restore the book wanted it, and I don't think Mike Carlin was the kind of editor to take a real chance, so we ended up with two concurrent anthologies.Diabolu Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04685199809207954223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post-39585475999864955752012-08-31T18:15:39.852-05:002012-08-31T18:15:39.852-05:00I voted no on Fernus, as this story had a lot of h...I voted no on Fernus, as this story had a lot of holes in it. First, I have to confess that I am not an expert on the Green Lantern Corps, but the Guardians of the Universe seemed to start on their now current portrayal as tremendous jerks who are now fascists who deserve a visit from the Jim Corrigan version of the Spectre. (Now that the Guardians wish to eliminate free will, I suggest that the Spectre do to them what he did to a Mafia figure in a comic I read as a kid. Lights go out, we hear a scream and all we see are the skeletons of the self-proclaimed Guardians of the Universe. They Guardians may now be the greatest villains of the new DCnU -- not that it makes Hal Jordan all that more interesting or likeable as a character.) <br /><br />J'Onn wanting to overcome a weakness, a rather puzzling one, is understandable. However, I think he could do better than Scorch as someone to help him. He has a powerful figure that he can go to called H'ronmeer aka Death of the Endless. Hmm, so where would a character of J'Onn's intelligence turn to for help -- a slumming demon or someone his people worshiped as a god and predated the self proclaimed Guardians of the Universe. (I think that in current continuity, the Guardians are proving all J'Onn's doubts of them to be on target.)<br /><br />As for Plastic Man stopping J'Onn, give me a break. Plastic Man should have been a pile of melted and burnt flesh. Since when has Plastic Man been able to stand up to a Superman, a Captain Marvel, a Captain Atom or the Manhunter from Mars?<br /><br />So, this was an example of bad story telling all around and one of the reasons not to mourn the previous continuity. So, I think that Fernus may look cool visually, which may explain his prominence, but the story telling is more of a wreck than a 16 car pile up on the Dan Ryan expressway at rush hour.will_in_chicagohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01468337654400802576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620698560611640068.post-18721253832494601972012-08-31T13:01:48.612-05:002012-08-31T13:01:48.612-05:00I don't know that Kelly deserves this level of...I don't know that Kelly deserves this level of scorn; Trial By Fire may have broke it's own ground, largely ignoring established continuity, but I thought it did so in an interesting way.<br />Also, without doing any research at all, wouldn't the lack of a regular creative team be attributable to the general shift towards trade-friendly big name story arcs, and away from cohesive continuing story? Of the top of my head we have Byrne/Claremont, Ron Garney and Geoff Johns filling out the rest of the run.<br />Still, the Juggalo references were pretty funny... :)mathematicscorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15439579069513071094noreply@blogger.com