Desaad

February 2, 2012 3:41 am That was the Queen piece from chess that they were forming.

October 6, 2011 6:04 pm Rob3E - if you're struggling to remember what it reminded of you, you're looking for the lead up of American gothic, specially in the agents sent by the Brujeria http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e59/beatzosan/comics/st48/invunche1.gif http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e59/beatzosan/comics/st48/invunche2.gif http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Invunche_%28New_Earth%29

September 15, 2011 11:15 am Captain Marvel has been notoriously difficult for DC to get a hold of, in regards to putting out something of real relevance and power. But the possibilities of the character are really quite endless, I think, demonstrated not just by the franchise's popularity in the 50s, or by Alan Moore's successful play and reinvention of the concept in Marvel/Miracle Man, but also by the success of something like Harry Potter. Whatever one might say about median age or sophistication comic fans, the majority of the comic book reading public is still in it for the power fantasy and escapism. And Marvel satisfies that like few other characters. Why DC has been unable to really do something vital with this character has been the subject of debate for a while now -- and more informed men and minds than I have certainly hashed it out for a while -- but I suspect it has a lot to do with our habit to look backwards rather than forwards (and by 'we', I suppose I mean humanity, but most especially that small, spectacle-wearing, mushroom-fleshed segment of humanity that call ourselves comic book fans). Marvel has never been modernized, never been made complex, never really been made a character. So without further ado, I present... Story direction for Captain Marvel – Just as Captain Marvel is one big metaphor for growing up, the run follows a sort of lifecycle. First arc, birth– nod to miracle man, Dr. Sivana has trapped Captain Marvel in a universe he constructs, designed specifically to keep him pacified. Has an ideal life, with living parents, friends, family. He has dreams, more real than anything waking, stripped-wire phantasms crackling with a vitality missing from his day to day life, but filled with horror and tragedy as well. Outside, the lack of the earthly plane of existances’ chief magical protector causes all sorts of otherworldly magic to pop through. Billy has to ‘birth’ himself, leave the womb of his comfortable universe into the harsh reality of the real world. He’s not angry at Sivana, though. Grateful, even, maybe, for that brief time of happiness, that respite. He’s a child, still, and so he still knows how to enjoy what he has rather than dwell on what he’s lost. Second arc, learning to walk – Exploring the extent of his powers, his physical abilities in the new magical universe, what he’s capable of and what he isn’t. Add some new ones, take away some old ones. Put him up against some new physical threat. In his mortal life he struggles with establishing a life for himself, learning to ‘walk’ in the real world. Third arc, learning to talk – faces some magical/mystic threat – Mordru, Wotan, Warlock of Yz etc - has to learn about the magical aspect of his abilities, spells and perceptions and the rules of magic. Defeats the foe through exploitation of the rules of magic and some minor, minor spellcasting. In his personal life, he struggles to find a ‘voice’ for himself as a kid blogger. Fourth arc, family – in his personal life he deals with his own lack of family, the sense of lonliness and alienation that comes with that. As Captain Marvel, deals with a magical war of gods, finds that the conflicting sides are family. Family isn't flesh and bone, but what you make of it. You never get to choose your family - not even if you're an orphan - and none of them are perfect. fifth arc, struggling with love – in his Captain Marvel life, faces some sort of mystical god or demon of lust. In his personal life, begins to develop a relationship, his first girlfriend. The two 'stories' overlap in that he begins to see the difference between lust - what he feels for this girl when they are alone - and love - an emotion that comes with time and knowledge and real intimacy. He got into the relationship for lust, but in time it has developed into more. Armed with this distinction, he confronts this creature of Lust - a being who truly believes herself to be a Goddess of Love - and shows her her true nature, her true face - that she is nothing of the kind, that she had deluded herself, that she isn't making people fall in love, she's just unleashing their basic urges. Horrified, confronted by the truth of her emptiness, she kills herself, controlled by her PASSIONS to the bitter end. 6th arc, struggling to maintain his identity – In his superhero life, faces some new version of Mr. Mind, the thought parasite that spreads, invades, via sound.The idea of one giant being shattered, a fractal mind, a consciousness big enough to fill a multiverse, and he’s slowly trying to reclaim it, trying to rebuild his sentience. Each person contains one infinismal fraction of the grand whole. In his personal life, previously, he’s struggling to fight censorship, to stand up for the integrity of his work in the face of pragmatic pressures from people in authority, etc. 7th arc, learning to manipulate society rather than be manipulated by society – faces the internet God, the idea that it’s become the most powerful god of all, a patchwork god with unbelievable knowledge and unimaginable depravity. Has to somehow quell it. Fed by billions masturbating, eating, learning, etc in it's name. In his personal life, defeats the forces arrayed against him and the freedom of his expression in the last arc. A subplot, I guess you'd call it, with the last arc ending on his work being shut down, and this one ending with him having successfully out maneuvered them. 8th arc, Odyssey – an other dimensional tour around the various realms of magic. At least 5 or 6 issues, making up an Odyssey, sort of like “Prime Elements” in Hickman’s Fantastic Four. Realm of fiction (like in Cornell’s FF True Story), realm of faerie, etc etc. Allegory for the new sociologically recognized stage of development, Odyssey, where one travels to different countries and cultures and experiences new ideas. If I have time later I'll elucidate upon some of the worlds -- I've got a lot of fun ideas for this one. 9th arc, bringing it all together – Return of Dr. Sivana, another reference to Miracle Man where the rest of the run is ‘revealed’ to be another illusion, that he had never really escaped from the pocket universe at all, asking did he think it was coincidence that each challenge was such obvious allegory for growing up, etc. Captain Marvel might have fallen for it at one point, but his trials have taught him who he really is, have allowed him to see the world for what it really is, and he’s no longer to be fooled by corporate-generated illusions designed to prey upon his fears and desires.He knows that everything that happened has been real, is absolutely true. He defeats Sivana (who is armed with all manner of super science weapons and henchmen). And that is what I would do with Captain Marvel.

July 13, 2011 5:33 pm Super computer = Supreme Intelligence of the Kree, a composite/amalgam of all the greatest minds of the Kree race, traditional ruler of the Empire. The slaughter explains why there are only a few INhuman races rather than hundreds or thousands, not that it ever needed to be explained.

I thought it was crystal clear and done well enough, but it's not at all compelling, and nothing actually happens. NO characters exist here. Typical Hickman book - some creative concept, obviously the work of a razor sharp intellect, but devoid almost totally of characters and of plot.

July 13, 2011 5:33 pm Super computer = Supreme Intelligence of the Kree, a composite/amalgam of all the greatest minds of the Kree race, traditional ruler of the Empire. The slaughter explains why there are only a few INhuman races rather than hundreds or thousands, not that it ever needed to be explained.

I thought it was crystal clear and done well enough, but it's not at all compelling, and nothing actually happens. NO characters exist here. Typical Hickman book - some creative concept, obviously the work of a razor sharp intellect, but devoid almost totally of characters and of plot.

June 30, 2011 2:58 pm @glennism - I think what people are saying is that the 90s focus on gimmickry over quality drove fans away. A large portion of the buying public at that point wasn't reading the book, just buying them as an investment. The companies geared their practices towards that group, but it was an unsustainable base. When they realized their investments were useless and worthless, they left. But the people that had been reading the books themselves, they were disaffected by the downturn in quality of a lot of them, the focus on marketability rather than storytelling. And so they left to.

Not to say everything of the era was bad, but I think people are generally speaking to this when they say it drove fans away. No one was afraid of all the gimmicks, it's just that the gimmicks took precedence over story quality.

June 30, 2011 12:58 pm Speaking creatively, it feels less that DC is trying to 'recapture the 90s crowd' specifically and more that DC is targeting a lot of DIFFERENT crowds of lapsed readers, one of them being the 90s crowd.

I hate Rob Liefeld, and have largely negative feelings about Scott Lobdell's writing from the 90s. I think Jim Lee is badly overrated, his work passable at best. But their books sold a lot, and they have their fans. There are SOME people that those books are going to appeal to, and DC trying to attract those readers is SMART.

I, Vampire is not a book that conceptually appeals to me (though I will get it because Fialkov is a great writer). But Vampire Romance has an audience. DC trying to appeal to that group is SMART.

Diversity, for me, means very little in terms of my enjoyment of a book. But I am absolutely sure that for some readers, seeing someone that represents them a little better means a god damn lot. DC trying to attract those readers is SMART.

I love the old school Vertigo, and I love the current Vertigo. Those old books, especially, were massively successful in the 80s and early 90s, and brought a lot of different types of people into the comics fold. DC trying to recapture those people, or recreate that phenomenon of new readers with a desire for somewhat more sophisticated storytelling is SMART.

Wildstorm during the Ellis era was an extremely popular universe, doing things that were more 'adult' (which is very different to what Vertigo was doing, which was more 'mature'). Spy TV shows and  movies and fiction, war fiction, sci-fi fiction...there is a market for that. DC is smart to try to bring in those old school readers, smart to try to bring in new readers who aren't interested in superheroes.

They're diversifying their lineup, and what that means is that if you dont' like every book coming out of DC, they are doing their job. They're not gearing it towards you, or me, or any one person. They're not trying to breed a new generation of fans who will pick up every book in the DCU so they can get a full picture of the universe. They'd rather get 10 readers, each of whom picks up 2 books, than 2 readers who pick up 10. The latter is what has been killing the industry, the former is the only reasonable and sustainable way to grow it.

June 15, 2011 2:35 pm Only really gutted about Xombi, Batgirl and Secret Six.

THUNDER AGENTS started out strong, but Spencer has been phoning in the last couple of issues, I thought, and anyway the whole identity of that title was (for me) tied up with him. As soon as he became Marvel exclusive, I knew it was essentially just waiting for the dead body to fall down.

But Xombi was brilliant, the successor to Morrison's Doom Patrol (my personal favorite mainstream title of all time). Batgirl was better than it had any right to be, the successor to Blue Beetle. And while Blue Beetle is going to come back, I don't have nearly as much faith in Bedard to deliver that snarky, witty tone as I did with Miller (and Rogers). Still, if Miller gets work on some other DC title, I'll be happy enough, since Batgirl herself wasn't the draw, but Miller was.

And Secret Six is a damn travesty. Perfect issue after perfect issue. And I have no interest in Gail Simone's replacement title of Batgirl, so that is a bummer.

June 14, 2011 5:14 pm Generally speaking, Sinestro, because nothing bad ever really happened in his sector. Of course, this turned out because he had subjugated the planets in it, but still...

June 7, 2011 10:02 am No, just that they understand what makes those characters work is not going to be brought to the table by J T Krul and Eric Wallace.