Someone alluded to it… What’s going on with the Hulk?
DC was nuked in the Marvel universe? Who did that?
Supergirl 6 - The Nightwing and Flamebird costumes are…kinda scary, really. Interresting how the costumes are different from how they were to look on the solicit cover. Wonder if they changed the designs in between or if the solicit was deliberately designed as a hint. Onto the issue itself - interesting, but…some issues. 1) How do they have powers at all? Previous canon shows that Red Solar radiation actively displaces Yellow, so being in the red sun environment of Kandor should weaken them, no matter how much they ration it. 2) When Kara burns through Karen’s Nightwing costume, we see her wearing her Power Girl costume under it - apparently including her cape, since the braid holding the cape is visible in the hole. That can’t be comfortable. Also…someone got lazy with her tattoo…it looks the same in the mirror image, and when we see her back straight on. (The mirror image is the correct version. Or at least it seems to be. If you assume it is, it transliterates to ‘Hope’)
Action 838 - I wonder if Clark apparently fouling up the electronics around him has anything to do with his powers, or lack thereof. I can’t see HOW, though. Unless they’re planning on bringing him back to the Electric Superman. I do feel sorry for him at the end, though. He did seem to enjoy being absolutely average so.
Back to Infinite Crisis. Was discussing it with a friend and he brought up a theory concerning IC and the current Batman titles that…is interesting, in any case. Alex’s scarring after Joker and Luthor attack him is…reminiscent of someone else we know, isn’t it? Perhaps, the theory goes, Face the Face isn’t nearly as simple as it seems.
The Hulk is currently off-planet, during the Planet Hulk storyline. He’s been missing from earth for months.
Kang the Conqueror, towards the end of Kurt Busiek’s run on the title. They showed the entire city destroyed, but a few issues later claimed the destruction was limited to a few blocks.
That’s a good point–hell, Magneto destroyed…literally destroyed…about 50% of Manhattan a year or two back.
DC has stuff like that too: Coast City, some other countries. The Spectre destroyed two nations–literally obliterated every man woman and child. But the difference is the good guys try to stop it. In Marvel, about 1/4th of the time, the ‘good guys’ are doing it. I lost count of the number of times Thing was mind-controlled and went on a rampage in the Kirby FFs. No-one was willing to put a bullet through Banner’s head regardless of how many people the Hulk maimed/killed. Hell, they pal around with him. Namor’s invaded New York dozens of times and they made him an Avenger.
Yeah, I realize that there were all perfectly legit in-story reasons for those things to happen, but think of it from the POV of a normal Marvel resident. Frankly, they’d have to feel that they’re in a somewhat nicer version of Kingdom Come—there are some more-or-less unmitigated good-guys (Cap…well, except the time that he was impersonated by Skrulls, Space Phantoms, Batroc The Leaper, The psycho guy during the “The Captain” phase, maybe the FF…again if they’re not mind-controlled or shape-shifting aliens or clones) but overall, the heroes are a lot more ambiguous than in DC. I’m not making a value judgement here…I like both approaches. but if I was going to be transported from Earth-Prime* to either DC or Marvel, I’ll choose DC in a sec. It’s safer.
*I don’t care. “Earth-Real” sounds silly.
The Punisher #33. The story is violent, over-the-top, exhausting, entertaining–a Garth Ennis production down the line. I like it. I can see how other people might not. The big news on this book, though, is artist Goran Parlov. This guy is incredible! Reminiscent of Moebius’ “Lt. Blueberry” work, this is some of the most gorgeous artwork I’ve seen in years! And the way he draws the Enron-ish bad guy’s slutty wife just defies description. Parlov is Croation, and the last artist to make this big a ripple at Marvel, Alex Malleev, is from Bulgaria. Is eastern Europe the home to a slew of terrific artists now, the way the Phillipines were in the early 70s? I want to see a lot more of this guy’s work!
Ok, I had some time to kill and just reread the 7 issues of Infinite Crisis and the 4 “specials” that tied in.
And it leaves me with one big, honking, freaking HUGE question.
From the point of view of the characters*, why is Superboy Prime still alive? He personally is responsible for the deaths of trillions of people. I mean, we’re talking a body count that easily rivals Galactus (and he doesn’t even have that stupid “Galactus is beyond good and evil” excuse). When he was moving enough planets that he shifted where the center of the universe was, he killed trillions. Even if only one planet in a thousand had sentient life, we’re talking trillions. And if we assume that somehow NONE of them had sentient life, he still killed millions of Thanagarians. Not to mention his body-count on Earth, a few dozen Green Lanterns, etc. Hell, the Guardians even sanctioned lethal force against him. So why didn’t Guy Gardner simply squoosh him with a giant anvil, then scrape up the remains and put those inside the red sun-eater in the stasis field, etc?
This isn’t the “Why doesn’t Batman just kill the Joker” problem. Batman doesn’t kill the Joker because (like it or not) Batman doesn’t kill. But the Guardians do and they approved of doing it.
Can anyone give a plausible in-story reason?
*I understand why the editors of DC Comics did it: they want a really, REALLY tough bad-guy.
So Wonder Woman has her invisible jet again? Wasn’t that one of the stupider things in DC history?Is this maybe to synch up with the upcoming Wonder Woman movie?
She’s had it back for about 5 or 6 years–since the Byrne run. And actually, I always thought it was kinda cool.
But she can fly, right? What’s the point? Is her flight power short range maybe?
I haven’t read comics regularly in years, but I read a couple of books today and now I’m full of questions, so can someone get me up to speed on some things?
-
How did Peter Parker end up working for Stark? And what’s this about being “legally dead?”
-
Why is Daredevil in prison and beating the crap out of people?
Okie Dokey. Short version. In “The Other” storyline, a vampire that drained the life out of people with with animal-esque powers beat the dingy out of Spider Man,ripped out his eye, and ate it. He left Spidey to be taken to the hospital. When the dollar store dracula returned to finish the job, he decided to take a swing at MJ. Spidey wakes up, regrows his eye, sprouts a nifty couple of stingers out of his forearms, kills the vampire, and promptly falls over dead himself. But wait! He’s not dead. He just shed his skin like spiders do once in their lives. Now he’s stronger, faster, can cling to walls with any part of his body, detect vibrations in his webs (which thankfully still do not come out of his butt), and so forth. He became involved with Stark after his house got destroyed by an old high school friend. He moved into Stark Towers/Avengers HQ. Stark then gave him a shiny new costume (with extra arms and gold spats). Now he’s helping Stark in this time of civil war and such.
Yes. That is the short version.
This one I’m not solid on, but it seems that his secret identity (Matt Murdock) was outed. Now he’s liable for every crime that he has committed including rampant vigilantism, various whuppings, etc. Of course, now he’s having a simply grand time beating up criminals in prison. Hey, everyone needs a hobby.
Just to head off any confusion, there’s a pseudo-Daredevil running around while Matt’s in prison. That’s why you may see DD in other titles. We don’t know who this pseudo-Daredevil is, except that he’s athletic, a good fighter, and owes Matt something.
Once upon a time, she didn’t fly, she “glided on air currents”. How this meant she outflew Zeros and whateverthehell the German Planes were called and made 90 degree turns in mid-flight is an excercise best left to the reader.
Nowdays they just admit she can fly, but the advantage to having the jet is she can carry passengers. If Green Lantern isn’t around she’s the next best person to get a bunch of the non-flying people to the scene.
Plus it’s cool.
Don’t forget that even way back in her first appearance the Amazons had super-tech: the “Purple Healing Ray” for one. So given that, it’s not too much of a stretch for them to build her an invisible plane.
What I’ve always wondered is this: Ok, Thor “flies” by throwing his hammer and then catching it just as it leaves his hand so it drags him along behind. So how does he make turns? How does he land early? etc.
Ah, she’s like the poor shmuck who is the only person in their circle friends to get an SUV, and hence become the designated driver.
That’s not fair! Why shouldn’t Superman also have, say, an invisible bus to ferry around people like some kind of Kryptonian Ralph Kramden?
Because Superman’s tough enough to just scoop up the hunk of rock or the building they’re standing on and carry it.
“Gliding on air currents” is pretty good. It’s what birds do; birds don’t levitate. Don’t sell “gliding on air currents” short as a power.
Same reason Batman didn’t blow Alex Luthor’s brains out over the pavement.
Superheroes do not kill opponents that can be otherwise subdued. Some, like Batman and Superman, don’t even go that far. There’s a difference between authorizing lethal force and an execution.
Infinite Crisis was the culmination of a series of acts by the heroes that blurred the lines between good and evil. Heck, even the villains of the piece, from Max Lord down to Deathstroke, remained convinced that they were the moral superiors battling against a hopelessly corrupted world and its hypocritical “heroes”. “I’m like my father, the only hero on a world of villains.”
By the end of the story, the lines have become much clearer. Batman’s renouced his past misdeeds. Superman and Superboy have both found their inner strength. Wonder Woman is setting off on a quest of personal discovery. And they show mercy to their fallen foes. No more mindwipes and executions. They’ve seen what that sows.
Of course, the forces of evil, namely Lex Luthor and the Joker, demonstrate that while the heroes may have become more heroic, the villains are still free to be as brutal as they wanna be. Evil does have some advantages.
Nah, birds fly: the whole “wing-flapping” thing–if they glided they’d just jump off somplace high and waft downwards (think hang gliders). That was supposedly what she was doing.
Besides, birds (or hang-gliders) can’t out fly or out manuver fighter planes. Nor can they glide while carrying heavy objects.
