Big Effing DC Comics Spoiler
May. 29th, 2013 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
filkertomSo, I heard about this massive spoiler at the end of the just-released JLA#4: Catwoman gets shot in the head.
Catwoman.
Shot.
In the head.
Blood, bullet holes, lifeless eyes. Straight-up fridging. Ted Kord redux.
For those who haven't been following recent issues (like me), there are several possible explanations. But, y'know something? I simply don't care how they resolve it. It is enough to put me off buying DC Comics ever again.
OH NOES! They killed off Catwoman! They're so BOLD AND EDGY AND STUFF!
Just like they were when they killed Robin. Oh, wait, they brought him back. 'Sokay, though -- they did it again recently. A different Robin. Bruce Wayne's son. Did you know he had one? I didn't. Dude was killed off before I knew he was there.
Just like when they killed Batman.
And Superman.
And Green Lantern.
And Green Arrow.
And the Flash.
And Spider-Man. (Yes, of course I know he's with Marvel. We're not switching gears, just companies.)
And Aunt May.
And Captain America.
And Hawkeye.
And Mockingbird.
And Wonder Man.
And and and and and fucking and.
I actually can work with Phil Coulson being brought back. He was created for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he was such a great character that they really need him or someone like him, and they planted all kinds of possibilities for bringing him back (everything from the medical team getting there just in time to a Coulson LMD to, well, we'll find out later this fall). And, in the MCU, he's Tigger -- heeeeeee's the only one. So far, at least.
Did you ever read Jim Starlin's Thanos: The End miniseries? He actually tried to restore the normal flow of life and death to the Marvel Universe. (Well, okay, the Marvel 616 Universe. I know someone will call me on it.) And who better than Thanos, the mad Titan, the lover of Death?
Yeah, that shit got retconned faster than Matt Wagner's Demon miniseries.
There is a wrestling phrase, "hot-shotting". It means, "booking on the fly"; in other words, coming up with a plot twist without regard to its long-term consequences, so that you can grab the audience now. You hope.
This whole Catwoman thing feels like all the ones listed above: Hot-shotting. Doesn't matter that many of them had extensive plans, multi-month multi-book crossovers, plot clues left all over the place. It's cheap, tacky bullshit designed to sell comics with shock. The moment they announced Superman was going to die, I knew -- everybody knew -- he'd be back. But it was dutifully reported that DC Comics was killing off their flagship character. Same with Batman. I actually thought they were going to let Jason Todd go, but nah.
Some motherfuckers actually let Peter Parker sell his soul to the devil to get back Aunt May for the third or fourth time. Slightly OOC.
Here's what it comes down to: I find it insulting when a comic writer kills off a character he or she didn't create, especially when it's not the most important story of various characters' lives, but merely a kickoff -- or maybe only a sidebar! -- to The Next Big Summer Crossover Event. Insulting to me as a comic fan, insulting to however many years and creators put work into that character only to see it wiped out by someone who couldn't think of anything better to do with that character. Hey, shit-for-brains fucksticks who call themselves writers and editors, if you can't think of something to do with a character, don't use that character. Put him out of the way. Even superheroes and their supporting cast gotta take naps or vacations or second jobs on the far side of town.
Comic books are continuing stories. Killing off a character in them is lazy. Pretending to kill them off has to be done exactly right, or else it's obvious and pretty damn lame.
And doing it for the sake of shock value is pathetic.
Whoever is writing JLA, whoever in Editorial greenlit this, doesn't know what they're doing. If they did, they would either come up with a story, find another writer who could, or put the character -- a longtime, beloved, important character -- on the back burner.
Not shoot her in the head, To Be Continued.
Catwoman.
Shot.
In the head.
Blood, bullet holes, lifeless eyes. Straight-up fridging. Ted Kord redux.
For those who haven't been following recent issues (like me), there are several possible explanations. But, y'know something? I simply don't care how they resolve it. It is enough to put me off buying DC Comics ever again.
OH NOES! They killed off Catwoman! They're so BOLD AND EDGY AND STUFF!
Just like they were when they killed Robin. Oh, wait, they brought him back. 'Sokay, though -- they did it again recently. A different Robin. Bruce Wayne's son. Did you know he had one? I didn't. Dude was killed off before I knew he was there.
Just like when they killed Batman.
And Superman.
And Green Lantern.
And Green Arrow.
And the Flash.
And Spider-Man. (Yes, of course I know he's with Marvel. We're not switching gears, just companies.)
And Aunt May.
And Captain America.
And Hawkeye.
And Mockingbird.
And Wonder Man.
And and and and and fucking and.
I actually can work with Phil Coulson being brought back. He was created for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he was such a great character that they really need him or someone like him, and they planted all kinds of possibilities for bringing him back (everything from the medical team getting there just in time to a Coulson LMD to, well, we'll find out later this fall). And, in the MCU, he's Tigger -- heeeeeee's the only one. So far, at least.
Did you ever read Jim Starlin's Thanos: The End miniseries? He actually tried to restore the normal flow of life and death to the Marvel Universe. (Well, okay, the Marvel 616 Universe. I know someone will call me on it.) And who better than Thanos, the mad Titan, the lover of Death?
Yeah, that shit got retconned faster than Matt Wagner's Demon miniseries.
There is a wrestling phrase, "hot-shotting". It means, "booking on the fly"; in other words, coming up with a plot twist without regard to its long-term consequences, so that you can grab the audience now. You hope.
This whole Catwoman thing feels like all the ones listed above: Hot-shotting. Doesn't matter that many of them had extensive plans, multi-month multi-book crossovers, plot clues left all over the place. It's cheap, tacky bullshit designed to sell comics with shock. The moment they announced Superman was going to die, I knew -- everybody knew -- he'd be back. But it was dutifully reported that DC Comics was killing off their flagship character. Same with Batman. I actually thought they were going to let Jason Todd go, but nah.
Some motherfuckers actually let Peter Parker sell his soul to the devil to get back Aunt May for the third or fourth time. Slightly OOC.
Here's what it comes down to: I find it insulting when a comic writer kills off a character he or she didn't create, especially when it's not the most important story of various characters' lives, but merely a kickoff -- or maybe only a sidebar! -- to The Next Big Summer Crossover Event. Insulting to me as a comic fan, insulting to however many years and creators put work into that character only to see it wiped out by someone who couldn't think of anything better to do with that character. Hey, shit-for-brains fucksticks who call themselves writers and editors, if you can't think of something to do with a character, don't use that character. Put him out of the way. Even superheroes and their supporting cast gotta take naps or vacations or second jobs on the far side of town.
Comic books are continuing stories. Killing off a character in them is lazy. Pretending to kill them off has to be done exactly right, or else it's obvious and pretty damn lame.
And doing it for the sake of shock value is pathetic.
Whoever is writing JLA, whoever in Editorial greenlit this, doesn't know what they're doing. If they did, they would either come up with a story, find another writer who could, or put the character -- a longtime, beloved, important character -- on the back burner.
Not shoot her in the head, To Be Continued.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-05-30 03:16 am (UTC)