TITANS VILLAINS FOR HIRE SPECIAL #1
Review by: Quinn
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Art and cover by FABRIZIO FIORENTINO
Variant cover by FABRIZIO FIORENTINO
Size: 56 pages
Price: 4.99
This review contains spoilers, click here to read
I've heard the criticisms of Johns and DiDio, the comments about their desire to bring back the Silver Age, even if it means sidelining or killing off interesting characters to do it. I've heard and I've ignored them. Sure, bringing Barry Allen back undoes two decades of Wally West as the Flash and any character advancement he might have undergone, in order to bring back a character who was never that interesting to begin with. I heard that, and I let it go because I really enjoy Johns and I trust his direction.
Then they killed the Ryan Choi Atom and announced a Ray Palmer "co-feature," on the same day. If there is a clearer way to send the message "we want to whitewash our universe," I'm not sure what it is. "Don't worry, middle-aged white men," this comic seems to say, "it's okay for you to stay with comics. We're killing off the scary Asian character and bringing back the Atom you grew up with. Comics are safe for you!" Not only is that offensive, it wastes the potential that this character had in order to return to the happy, lily-white, comfortable past of our youth.
As if that weren't enough, his murder is assisted by two non-white characters, Tattooed Man and Osiris, who had the potential for interesting story arcs in which they struggled with the difficulties of being noble in a complex world. instead, they helped kill a hero. That's not grey. That's not "road to redemption." That's irredeemable and it wastes the potential these characters had, as well.
To add to the insult, the "Villains for Hire" team consists of those two, Cheshire and a new character whose name is "Carla Moretti," led by Deathstroke. in other words, the Vietnamese character, the Italian character, the African-American character and the Middle Eastern character are assembled to do villainy, and will be ordered around by the Old White Dude. (Cheshire, who has been beaten and has had both of her children kidnapped or killed in the last six months. If the beating and kidnapping hadn't been done by Gail Simone, she'd belong up on the Women in Refrigerators page, which is run by... um... Gail Simone.)
I've been a big Eric Wallace fan. I enjoyed "Eureka," one of the few shows on television with a fully integrated cast that went beyond stereotypes. I read "Ink," and stuck with it until the end. He claims, in interviews, that there is "a good reason" for cutting off any future story potential the Ryan Choi Atom had, and enabling DC's return to the Silver Age, when characters like Ryan Choi had tertiary roles and racist nicknames, but there can be no "good reason" worth putting out a book this racist. If you had to kill an Atom, why not Ray Palmer? Why not? Because, it's the order of the day at DC to kill off the non-white, non-male characters to make room for the ones that we remember from the 60's and 70's (just ask the women who were killed to allow Ronnie Raymond and Hank Hall to come back).
Could it have been worse? Sure, Deathstroke could have put on blackface and done a soft shoe. Barring that, this is the most offensive thing I've read in a long time, and it has single-handedly caused me to drop Brightest Day, because I can't support this white-washing anymore, and has convinced me to avoid everything that Eric Wallace writes, from Titans to future seasons of Eureka.
Story: 1 - Poor
Art: 1 - Poor
Art: 1 - Poor
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I think your review is absurd. I don’t think killing Ryan Choi had anything to do with his race, it was just to clear room for the Ray Palmer Atom. I’m all for diversity in comics, but I’d rather see new minority characters instead of replacements for existing characters so the fan base isn’t divided. To me Firestorm will always be Ronnie. It seems to me if they had just killed Ray Palmer you wouldn’t have gone off on your rant. Lame.
I didn’t see racism at all. I simply read a great story . . .
So what is racist? DC only has minorities as villains? That’s not true.
DC should never kill minority characters? Only white characters should be killed from now on.
How about the Rogues? They racists? Should DC replace a few of them with minorities . . . oh wait, that would be racist to make any minorities villains.
See, my problem here is that DC is simply trying to tell good stories with good characters.
To start censoring or altering the status quo does not help tell good stories – it does the opposite. DC doesn’t need to restrict their creative people with such nonsense.
It’s business. Great characters tend to sell books. Characters like Ryan Choi, that fail to sell issues or generate any interest, tend to be fodder – not matter what race they are . . .
(It mean, he flew around on that lame particle rod thingie!)
To me Firestorm will always be Ronnie.
Did you ever read the Jason Rauch Firestorm? Did you get him a chance to be interesting? Because this is exactly my point. It’s all about a return to the safe, comfortable characters we loved as children. The quality of the stories doesn’t matter, and the characters don’t even really matter. What matters is that they make us feel safe and happy. Chinese characters taking jobs from American characters (like Ray Palmer)? We can’t have that.
That said, I don’t blame DC for this. I kind of blame Geoff Johns (an author whose work I love, and who I have enjoyed since Stars and STRIPE, a series no one bought because it starred a teenaged girl without a bat on her chest). Mostly, though, I blame the fans for infantilizing the industry so that the characters we loved as children will never grow up or change; if they don’t, it’s okay if we don’t.
I didn’t see racism at all. I simply read a great story . . .
We must have read different books, then, because what I read was a crap story that tried to hide the fact that there was no plot, no character development and weak dialogue by sensationalizing the murder of a perfectly good character. It’s cliche to make a villain feel dangerous by having them kill off a minority character.
Here’s a partial list: Prometheus killed Freedom Beast, Lian, who was half-Vietnamese, Tasmanian Devil, who was gay, and a number of other Global Guardians. The Mist killed Amazing Man. Superboy Prme killed Pantha. Kid Carnevil killed Mr. Terrific. (That Michael Holt returned from the dead makes him almost entirely unique; unlike Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, Bart Allen, Superboy, Batgirl and all but one of the Brightest Day resurrections, non-white character don’t get to come back from the dead.) Looking at that list now, I think James Robinson ought to be off my pull-list, too.
I never said that it was racist to make minorities villains (though it is suspect, given our cultural stereotype of the Dangerous Black Man), just that in this case, in order to make them villains, Eric Wallace had to shit all over their character development, and have them led around, Neo-Inperialist style, by a British guy. Slade’s battle cry may as well be "Kill for me, my darkie henchmen."
Look through the racks. Find one DC title that is headlined by a non-white character. I’ll save you the trip: there isn’t one. Now, look me in the eye and tell me that the Ryan Choi Atom book (or the recent Blue Beetle title) was worse than Magog or The Web.
I don’t want to censor the writers. I want them to make non-racist choices, and to help with that I choose to vote with my wallet (just as other comics fans can vote for racist choices with their wallets). It’s the difference between there being a law against punching people in the face and choosing not to punch people in the face. Choosing not to do it, whether there are rules in place or not, makes you not-a-jackass. "Don’t be racist," isn’t "nonsense," it’s the mark of being a rational being in the 21st century and a functional member of society. I’m sorry that you think not being a racist is nonsense. That’s kind of sad, actually.
Why does this bother me? Why don’t I go enjoy a more mature hobby? Because I love the art form, and this kind of reactionary shit (by which I mean the comic, not the posters, who I respect as individuals) really pisses me off. It’s looking backwards, and that way lies obsolescence.
Few Comments:
• Yes, DC is going back to the basics of the Silver age – as is Marvel with their Heroic Age.
But the main reason they are doing this – is because there is a popular demand for it.
• I understand your point that minorities are not currently headliners now – but there were plenty titles available:
Blue Beetle had a great run and was a fun series.
Checkmate was a fantastic series with Holt as the leader (also was leader of JSA too.)
Batgirl, aka Cassandra Cain’s series was a strong title (loved those damn covers!)
And as you mentioned, Firestorm . . .
Those books all had a few years on the market, but in the long run their numbers just weren’t enough to keep the books afloat. (Think Rucka leaving Checkmate was the true reason that book died.)
The current Great Ten (which I don’t read and I’m guessing this is soon to be cancel’d.)
There’s still have John Stewart in the GL titles. Several embers in the JLA and JSA.
One of my favorite DC characters, Amanda Waller, often seen in Suicide Squad and other titles.
There’s recent Mini-series: Black Lightening 1st Year, Ink, Final Crisis:Dance, Vixen:Return of the Lion.
AND let’s not forget that DC carried the Milestone line for years: Hardware, Static, Icon, Blood Syndicate, etc. All of those were excellent titles (except for Xombi.) There have been several recent appearances by the old Milestone characters; Like the recent Black Lightening & Static Shock tale in Brave & the Bold #24.
• None of the characters you mentioned getting killed off were ever important characters; They weren’t even C-List characters. I’ll agree those characters were just wasted fodder for shock value.
(I’m still upset over the way the Freedom Fighters were just wiped out during 52)
But business is business. Weak characters will always be wiped out . . .
• As for Magog and The Web, those titles won’t last long – I’m betting the "New" Atom series lasted longer than those two titles will. I’m also betting Magog will be killed off within 2-3 years too; I think that series is just being marketed to build up the character’s recognition for an upcoming Kingdom Come-like event. (Just my opinion – no proof that will ever happen.)
• James Robinson‘s totally off his game. Gone are his quality tales that made Starman, Golden Age and Firearm such a joy to read. (His skinning of Tasmanian Devil was unforgivable.) I’ve taken him off my pull list after the JLA: Cry for Justice mess.
• RE:Ryan Choi
Personally, I felt they just slapped the costume on this character. He had no true connection to Ray Palmer nor did he have any reason to be a superhero. He seemed like a fish-out-of-water . . . nothing really happening.
After reading Identity Crisis, seeing and feeling the characters and the relationships and conflicts that book brought back – that’s was when I felt that Ray Palmer needed to return as the Atom.
It’s been years – and that’s what made this one shot special so entertaining for me:
It’s the beginning of Ray Palmer Atom returning . . .
I wasnt aware that Supes Prime and the Mist only killed minorites.
Also I prefer Vic Sage to Renee and really want him to come back. I guess that makes me racist, sexist and homophobic. Damn me to hell!