Prelude to Infinite Crisis
—Overview
—Back to Comix Index
If you’re like me and have just re-entered the DC Universe after a protracted absence, Prelude to Infinite Crisis may be exactly what the doctor ordered. It’s doubtful this title will ever become a collector’s item, seeing as it is merely a reprint of key moments in the DC Universe over the last few years. But if you are reading Countdown to Infinite Crisis or any of the mini-series it has spawned (Villains United, Day of Vengeance, The OMAC Project, and The Rann-Thanagar War) and don’t know what the heck is going on, this book serves as a welcome guide to the characters and events that have created today’s tenuous situation.
Packed into Prelude’s whopping 96 pages are three full-length stories from pivotal, sold-out issues (Superman Secret Files 2004, Flash #219, and Wonder Woman #214), select pages from over two-dozen other comics, and a running commentary that contextualizes and connects each excerpt. Prelude begins with the disturbance at the heart of the universe that lead the Spectre—generally a force of order—to team up with Eclipso, the universe’s agent of retribution and vengeance. It then recounts key moments in the lives of Donna Troy, Superman, Lex Luthor, Batman, the Flash, Adam Strange, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Black Adam, and countless other famous and not-so-famous DC heroes and villains. Although readers may not have realized it at the time, every incident recounted in Prelude planted a sinister seed, one that would eventually blossom into a cataclysm of universal proportions. You can trace the development of each seed through Countdown as well as the four spin-off series mentioned above. However, the ultimate outcome of each event will only be answered in full when Infinite Crisis—DC’s premiere publishing event of 2005—is launched this fall.
Thematically, the entire crisis hinges on the issue of choices. As the opening commentary of Prelude states, “Consequences of past actions will forever change the shape of the world.� It turns out some of DC’s heroes have made some bad choices indeed—not least of which was the decision of the “Secret Pact� within the Justice League (Green Arrow, Green Lantern, the Flash, Black Canary, Hawkman, the Atom, and Zatanna) to lobotomize Dr. Light for raping Sue Dibny. Other heroes, such as Superman and Wonder Woman, have acted in good conscience but have nonetheless exacerbated the very forces of antagonism they sought to defeat. Collectively, DC’s heroes are discovering that even though their actions may have silenced the voices of evil for a time, a day of reckoning will come. They are also learning that the fine line separating the good guys from the bad guys is becoming increasingly blurred. Even though they call themselves “super,� the title of “hero� is neither assured nor, in some cases, deserved. This fact has not gone unnoticed by DC’s villains, who have decided enough is enough. It is time to form a strategic alliance, to defeat the “plague� of heroes once and for all.
While the consequences of our choices are not nearly as immediate or pronounced as those of DC’s heroes and villains, the outcomes of our decisions are no less significant or universal. In some cases, we are like the members of the Secret Pact—knowingly committing evil while continuing to masquerade as the “good guys,� as heroes, even. In other cases, we are like Superman: well intentioned but often serving to destabilize the world rather than helping to restore it, all because we have not bothered to consider the full impact of our decisions. Whether we commit wrong intentionally or unintentionally, sooner or later we will all have to face up to the consequences of our choices. And on that day, we won’t be able to hide behind titles like “hero� either. The true heroes will be identified through their deeds, not mere words, and the choice as to which title we receive—hero or villain—will be completely out of our hands.
The good news is, rather than serve as a prelude to crisis, our choices can lead to peace, fulfillment, and transformation instead. Even though the blurry line that separates hero from villain runs straight down the center of our souls, we can all refrain from crossing over to the "Dark Side." Here’s how:
1) Say “No!� to secret sin: We’ve all got them: bad habits, addictions, hateful thoughts, fears, dirty little secrets hiding out in the closets of our lives. We may think we have them under control, but such things are like a cancer silently eating away at our being. If they aren’t stopped, sooner or later they will leap out of the closet and take over completely, unleashing forces of antagonism we never knew existed. In my experience, turning away from such closet-dwellers (which are often so darn appealing) is impossible on my own. Only with the help of Jesus can I find the strength to choose what is good. If it feels like your closet is about to burst, I encourage you to ask Jesus for help as well.
2) Consider the consequences of your actions: On our rapidly shrinking planet, if we are not careful, even our best intentioned choices can have an adverse effect on someone, somewhere in the world. Therefore, it is our responsibility to ensure that the ripple effect of our lives is positive, not negative. When things like pollution or deforestation reach a point where life in a particular region is no longer sustainable, for example, it will do no good to say, “I didn’t know.� I encourage you to reflect on the full consequences of your lifestyle and consider whether you are having a positive impact on the world or if you are unintentionally contributing to a truly global crisis.
3) Never take the title of “hero� for granted: As Rachel Dawes says to Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, “It’s not who you are underneath but what you do that defines you.� Character is defined by action—by choices—not mere words. Even though we may think of ourselves as one of the good guys (or girls)—and even though we may have taken on a title, such as “Christian,� that affirms our inner belief—ultimately, our character is defined moment by moment, day by day as we slug it out in the trenches of everyday life. Don’t hide behind fancy words and titles. If you truly want to be known as a hero, let your actions do the talking.
—Overview
—Back to Comix Index
—Back to Comix Index
If you’re like me and have just re-entered the DC Universe after a protracted absence, Prelude to Infinite Crisis may be exactly what the doctor ordered. It’s doubtful this title will ever become a collector’s item, seeing as it is merely a reprint of key moments in the DC Universe over the last few years. But if you are reading Countdown to Infinite Crisis or any of the mini-series it has spawned (Villains United, Day of Vengeance, The OMAC Project, and The Rann-Thanagar War) and don’t know what the heck is going on, this book serves as a welcome guide to the characters and events that have created today’s tenuous situation.Packed into Prelude’s whopping 96 pages are three full-length stories from pivotal, sold-out issues (Superman Secret Files 2004, Flash #219, and Wonder Woman #214), select pages from over two-dozen other comics, and a running commentary that contextualizes and connects each excerpt. Prelude begins with the disturbance at the heart of the universe that lead the Spectre—generally a force of order—to team up with Eclipso, the universe’s agent of retribution and vengeance. It then recounts key moments in the lives of Donna Troy, Superman, Lex Luthor, Batman, the Flash, Adam Strange, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Black Adam, and countless other famous and not-so-famous DC heroes and villains. Although readers may not have realized it at the time, every incident recounted in Prelude planted a sinister seed, one that would eventually blossom into a cataclysm of universal proportions. You can trace the development of each seed through Countdown as well as the four spin-off series mentioned above. However, the ultimate outcome of each event will only be answered in full when Infinite Crisis—DC’s premiere publishing event of 2005—is launched this fall.
Thematically, the entire crisis hinges on the issue of choices. As the opening commentary of Prelude states, “Consequences of past actions will forever change the shape of the world.� It turns out some of DC’s heroes have made some bad choices indeed—not least of which was the decision of the “Secret Pact� within the Justice League (Green Arrow, Green Lantern, the Flash, Black Canary, Hawkman, the Atom, and Zatanna) to lobotomize Dr. Light for raping Sue Dibny. Other heroes, such as Superman and Wonder Woman, have acted in good conscience but have nonetheless exacerbated the very forces of antagonism they sought to defeat. Collectively, DC’s heroes are discovering that even though their actions may have silenced the voices of evil for a time, a day of reckoning will come. They are also learning that the fine line separating the good guys from the bad guys is becoming increasingly blurred. Even though they call themselves “super,� the title of “hero� is neither assured nor, in some cases, deserved. This fact has not gone unnoticed by DC’s villains, who have decided enough is enough. It is time to form a strategic alliance, to defeat the “plague� of heroes once and for all.
While the consequences of our choices are not nearly as immediate or pronounced as those of DC’s heroes and villains, the outcomes of our decisions are no less significant or universal. In some cases, we are like the members of the Secret Pact—knowingly committing evil while continuing to masquerade as the “good guys,� as heroes, even. In other cases, we are like Superman: well intentioned but often serving to destabilize the world rather than helping to restore it, all because we have not bothered to consider the full impact of our decisions. Whether we commit wrong intentionally or unintentionally, sooner or later we will all have to face up to the consequences of our choices. And on that day, we won’t be able to hide behind titles like “hero� either. The true heroes will be identified through their deeds, not mere words, and the choice as to which title we receive—hero or villain—will be completely out of our hands.
The good news is, rather than serve as a prelude to crisis, our choices can lead to peace, fulfillment, and transformation instead. Even though the blurry line that separates hero from villain runs straight down the center of our souls, we can all refrain from crossing over to the "Dark Side." Here’s how:
1) Say “No!� to secret sin: We’ve all got them: bad habits, addictions, hateful thoughts, fears, dirty little secrets hiding out in the closets of our lives. We may think we have them under control, but such things are like a cancer silently eating away at our being. If they aren’t stopped, sooner or later they will leap out of the closet and take over completely, unleashing forces of antagonism we never knew existed. In my experience, turning away from such closet-dwellers (which are often so darn appealing) is impossible on my own. Only with the help of Jesus can I find the strength to choose what is good. If it feels like your closet is about to burst, I encourage you to ask Jesus for help as well.
2) Consider the consequences of your actions: On our rapidly shrinking planet, if we are not careful, even our best intentioned choices can have an adverse effect on someone, somewhere in the world. Therefore, it is our responsibility to ensure that the ripple effect of our lives is positive, not negative. When things like pollution or deforestation reach a point where life in a particular region is no longer sustainable, for example, it will do no good to say, “I didn’t know.� I encourage you to reflect on the full consequences of your lifestyle and consider whether you are having a positive impact on the world or if you are unintentionally contributing to a truly global crisis.
3) Never take the title of “hero� for granted: As Rachel Dawes says to Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, “It’s not who you are underneath but what you do that defines you.� Character is defined by action—by choices—not mere words. Even though we may think of ourselves as one of the good guys (or girls)—and even though we may have taken on a title, such as “Christian,� that affirms our inner belief—ultimately, our character is defined moment by moment, day by day as we slug it out in the trenches of everyday life. Don’t hide behind fancy words and titles. If you truly want to be known as a hero, let your actions do the talking.
—Overview
—Back to Comix Index
10 Comments:
"Let your actions do the talking"... not bad advice, Kevin! For any man or woman, hero or villain, Christian or pagan.
I have different ideas concerning the Dark Side than you do, Kevin! I have discovered that you can actually use it as a little battery (there was something very like this in a plot on the old Star Trek series, where Captain Kirk turns into his two opposite sides)... You run off it like a battery, and it spurs you onward... without, NECESSARILY, it causing you to do any really evil things... (That's if you can harness it and keep it in a little room/box and under wraps for most of the time, as I have always liked to do! Only sometimes do I blaze forth!)
Witches call their familiars, Kevin! They know all kinds of spirits (real, archetypal and imaginary) who will do all kinds of (very useful) things for them depending on the situation. We know no good nor bad... not really.. only the - practical. It's all that Mother Gaia wants!
Our "spirits" do what we tell them - and the more command and mastery you have, over what you can make them DO... the stronger you are.
"Good" is something that results in a practical good - for the tribe, in the old sense. The tribe - well it depends on how you define your tribe - but for me, the Tribe I serve is both humanity as a whole and its most neglected, oppressed sections - namely the working class and the underclass, the female, the ethnic and the outcast.
The individual and the collective. Just thought I'd say it!
Don't some black writers (Maya Angelou or someone) say some things somewhere about the power of righteous hatred, of righteous anger?? Against oppression? I think they do!
As does Milton's Satan - after his fashion.
So one has one's little battery... And that battery does run... I like having a secret battery! Have you never made a secret sin into a battery! Ah! In that case, you do not have my alchemy!
(I'd better not tell you too much about how I get my strength! There's a Russian folk tale about it, though, which is dirty, a bit sexist but funny, that I wish I could make a comic strip of!)
I gave up trying to define myself as a hero/heroine a LONG time ago, Kevin, though! Hence my obsession with villains!
Do I find them more honest? Probably!
Look at it this way, though: if one does NOT consider oneself a hero, if one tells everybody at any opportunity that presents - like discussions such as this one - that one is actually a bad guy, the "least of all", the whatever... If one admits to EVERY bad thought.... at least to oneself... Is one not likely to be more - well, a weird kind of state of being - I mean to say, WARPED but mentally healthy, ie, expressing one's true emotions - than one is if one tries to hold to some impossible ideal??
Just testing you on that one!!
Ie, if I say that I'm more Milton's Satan or the Joker than I am Jesus or Batman... am I not less likely to be disappointing myself?? (And others?)
And don't these rebellious villains get really to the POINT, though?? Don't they say simply: "We don't like the status quo - so we'll smash it!"?
And if the VILLAINS DO sometimes do something extra special good - ie, altruistic, that's not merely for their own narrow interests or their sect's interests or whatever... like if Two-Face Harvey Dent does something good when the coin comes up the right way... or if Lex Luthor does something good for a change - he DOES in some of the stories, he does, I'm sure... In one or two! Older ones, somewhere. And the "young Lex" portrayed in "Smallville" wasn't all bad, at all... I used to really like watching that, before they moved it purely onto E4, which is digital and I can't get...
Well if they do THAT... it's just a bonus, isn't it?
Heroes set the bar too high and therefore plan to fail, I think!!
(And if the Joker did something good once - that would REALLY be the day, it would!
Actually I have the suspicion he does, sorta, maybe (And if he doesn't, Yours Truly would make him!) - but it's in an Elsewheres book called "Dark Joker Wild", which sounds imaginative going by the review, which book I haven't got yet. It's from 1994, and nobody told me about it... think I read about it on IMdB. Still, those Elsewhere books... something tells me I should have collected them!)
Actually, most people lack the opportunity (and the courage) to "make a difference". In any way, so's you'd notice it.
THAT's the pity, in my view.
Oh, by the way... I don't think all witches, Wiccans and pagans think of themselves as "bad guys", far from it.... Some Satanists probably do, but for the record, I HATE Satanists - so if there ARE any lurking here - GO AWAY!! Most witches think you're crap anyway. You try to pervert the power of the female; that's why you wear the pentagram (Venus' sign) reversed.
No, that's just simply my way... "Go among the outcasts", said the Great Shaman, your Jesus... So I did, and I started identifying with comic book villains and real-life bank robbers.
Hey, maybe villains are heroes to themselves, though! I'm sure Milton's Satan is... though he's also very tormented because he doesn't want to let down his "gang"... and thereby lose face...
"Prelude to Infinite Crisis" - sounds like another of these "brilliant" ways DC Comics have of tying themselves in knots, if you don't mind my saying so... (Their continuity is CRAP anyway, and doesn't make sense, I decided irrevocably by the end of 1988... so WHY do they attempt these highly complicated flights of fancy that just try to reconcile a million irreconcilable factors?)
Not that I'm not saying that it couldn't be entertaining... it's just that it's a recipe for more mess, as far as I can see!
("Countdown to Infinite Bumthreat", Maurice said it was... I kid you not... at least, this anarchist British comics writer I never heard of before, whose site he links to, said it was!)
Did the villains REALLY get fed up, and join together, though, as I have always been advocating that they do, merely in the "Batman" comics?? Did they really say "enough is enough"!! Screw you, superheroes - you're not as perfect as you make out, anyway!!!
(Sounds like the terrorists coming to get the Great White Superhero - the U.S.A.!!)
Is that what that "Villains United" was about - I might just buy it, then!! Who was in it: Lex Luthor, obviously... Was the Joker in it, then??
I'd like to know...
Oh, and WHAT is the comics-by-mail outfit you use? Didn't you promise to tell me?
Did the heroes really lobotomize a Dr. Light for raping a Sue Dibny! Sounds like an extreme storyline!! Don't know the characters at all; why did he rape her, (just because he fancied it?) what was the aftermath (ie a kid, abortion, suicide, you know what I mean!) And who got to do the lobotomy... and isn't that a very antiquated procedure ANYWAY? I'm sure Doc Savage back in the 30s pulps could do better... And what effect did it produce.. another useless zombie??
(Why didn't they chemically/literally castrate him?? Sorry for all these questions, I just feel morbidly curious!)
I'm sure an enlightened fanboy such as yourself can fill me in.
One further question: are they allowed to write stories featuring abortions in mainstream American comics?!?
Kevin - WHERE are you, and Maurice?? I thought you'd respond to my "Batman Begins" post for sure!
Liz: Forgive me for being so slow to respond. However, I'm at the point with your comments that I simply do not know where to begin. There are just too many--and so long, Liz! I barely have time to respond thoroughly to even one of them! Let me remind you again about the 500-word limit for the comments section. We simply have to impose some boundaries here to ensure that the comments section of this blog is useful for everyone, not just a few. It also ensures that they are small enough for me to wrap my head around and respond to.
E-mail me instead, then, Kevin!
Some people are actually interested in long discussions about comics, Kevin.
Where are the "everyone"? Just asking!
RESPONSE TO LIZ: COMMENTS IN CAPS.
"Let your actions do the talking"... not bad advice, Kevin! For any man or woman, hero or villain, Christian or pagan.
I have different ideas concerning the Dark Side than you do, Kevin! I have discovered that you can actually use it as a little battery (there was something very like this in a plot on the old Star Trek series, where Captain Kirk turns into his two opposite sides)... You run off it like a battery, and it spurs you onward... without, NECESSARILY, it causing you to do any really evil things... (That's if you can harness it and keep it in a little room/box and under wraps for most of the time, as I have always liked to do! Only sometimes do I blaze forth!) I’LL HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH YOU HERE, LIZ. ANY TIME I’VE TRIED TO USE THE DARK SIDE AS A BATTERY, IT HAS CONSUMED ME IN THE SAME WAY IT CONSUMED ANAKIN.
Witches call their familiars, Kevin! They know all kinds of spirits (real, archetypal and imaginary) who will do all kinds of (very useful) things for them depending on the situation. We know no good nor bad... not really.. only the - practical. It's all that Mother Gaia wants!
Our "spirits" do what we tell them - and the more command and mastery you have, over what you can make them DO... the stronger you are. SO BEING STRONG IS A ‘GOOD.’
"Good" is something that results in a practical good - for the tribe, in the old sense. WHO DECIDES WHAT THIS PRACTICAL GOOD IS? YOU? OR GAIA? IF SO, WHERE HAS GAIA WRITTEN DOWN HER MORAL CODE? FOR HITLER, EXTERMINATION OF THE JEWS WAS A PRACTICAL GOOD IN HIS EYES. WAS HE RIGHT? WHO GETS TO DECIDE THESE THINGS? The tribe - well it depends on how you define your tribe - but for me, the Tribe I serve is both humanity as a whole and its most neglected, oppressed sections - namely the working class and the underclass, the female, the ethnic and the outcast. THIS IS VERY NOBLE. THESE ARE THE SAME PEOPLE CHRIST CAME TO SERVE.
The individual and the collective. Just thought I'd say it!
Don't some black writers (Maya Angelou or someone) say some things somewhere about the power of righteous hatred, of righteous anger?? Against oppression? I think they do! I’M NOT CERTAIN. BUT I DO KNOW THAT GOD EXPRESSED A LOT OF RIGHTEOUS ANGER THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE.
As does Milton's Satan - after his fashion.
So one has one's little battery... And that battery does run... I like having a secret battery! Have you never made a secret sin into a battery! Ah! In that case, you do not have my alchemy! THERE’S A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHTEOUS ANGER AND A SECRET SIN LIKE GREED OR AVARICE.
(I'd better not tell you too much about how I get my strength! There's a Russian folk tale about it, though, which is dirty, a bit sexist but funny, that I wish I could make a comic strip of!)
I gave up trying to define myself as a hero/heroine a LONG time ago, Kevin, though! Hence my obsession with villains! I THINK YOUR SELF-PERCEPTION IS A SIGN OF HUMILITY.
Do I find them more honest? Probably! PROBABLY.
Look at it this way, though: if one does NOT consider oneself a hero, if one tells everybody at any opportunity that presents - like discussions such as this one - that one is actually a bad guy, the "least of all", the whatever... If one admits to EVERY bad thought.... at least to oneself... Is one not likely to be more - well, a weird kind of state of being - I mean to say, WARPED but mentally healthy, ie, expressing one's true emotions - than one is if one tries to hold to some impossible ideal?? I AGREE. HONESTY IS IMPORTANT. HOWEVER, DON’T WE ALL TEND TO SEE OURSELVES AS THE HEROES OF OUR LIVES? EVEN THOUGH THE FAULTS ARE VISIBLE TO US AND OTHERS, WE ALL WANT TO SEE OURSELVES SUCCEED, SAVE THE DAY, ETC. WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR OWN HEROIC JOURNEY, ARE WE NOT? I DON’T SEE HOW IT CAN BE ANY OTHER WAY. HOWEVER, A TRUE HERO IS HUMBLE, NOT SELF-CENTERED.
Just testing you on that one!!
Ie, if I say that I'm more Milton's Satan or the Joker than I am Jesus or Batman... am I not less likely to be disappointing myself?? (And others?) WE ALL STRIVE FOR THE IDEAL, KNOWING WE WILL NEVER ATTAIN IT ON OUR OWN. THAT’S WHY GOD’S GRACE COMES IN—WE CAN’T BECOME LIKE JESUS ON OUR OWN. ULTIMATELY, ONLY GOD CAN DO THAT IN OUR LIVES. BUT WE HAVE TO BE WILLING TO LET HIM TAKE CONTROL. I THINK THAT’S WHERE MOST PEOPLE (INCLUDING SELF-PROCLAIMED CHRISTIANS LIKE ME) OFTEN CHECK OUT.
And don't these rebellious villains get really to the POINT, though?? Don't they say simply: "We don't like the status quo - so we'll smash it!"? I AGREE WITH THE FIRST PART—VILLAINS OFTEN SEE WHAT IS WRONG WITH SOCIETY, BUT THEIR IDEA FOR HOW TO FIX IT OFTEN CAUSES MORE HARM THAN GOOD. THAT SAID, I THINK MANY HEROES TODAY—BOTH FICTIONAL AND REAL—MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE.
And if the VILLAINS DO sometimes do something extra special good - ie, altruistic, that's not merely for their own narrow interests or their sect's interests or whatever... like if Two-Face Harvey Dent does something good when the coin comes up the right way... or if Lex Luthor does something good for a change - he DOES in some of the stories, he does, I'm sure... In one or two! Older ones, somewhere. And the "young Lex" portrayed in "Smallville" wasn't all bad, at all... I used to really like watching that, before they moved it purely onto E4, which is digital and I can't get...
Well if they do THAT... it's just a bonus, isn't it?
Heroes set the bar too high and therefore plan to fail, I think!! NOT ALWAYS. SEE MY COMMENT ABOVE.
(And if the Joker did something good once - that would REALLY be the day, it would!
Actually I have the suspicion he does, sorta, maybe (And if he doesn't, Yours Truly would make him!) - but it's in an Elsewheres book called "Dark Joker Wild", which sounds imaginative going by the review, which book I haven't got yet. It's from 1994, and nobody told me about it... think I read about it on IMdB. Still, those Elsewhere books... something tells me I should have collected them!)
Actually, most people lack the opportunity (and the courage) to "make a difference". In any way, so's you'd notice it.
THAT's the pity, in my view.
Oh, by the way... I don't think all witches, Wiccans and pagans think of themselves as "bad guys", far from it.... Some Satanists probably do, but for the record, I HATE Satanists - so if there ARE any lurking here - GO AWAY!! Most witches think you're crap anyway. You try to pervert the power of the female; that's why you wear the pentagram (Venus' sign) reversed.
No, that's just simply my way... "Go among the outcasts", said the Great Shaman, your Jesus... So I did, and I started identifying with comic book villains and real-life bank robbers.
Hey, maybe villains are heroes to themselves, though! I'm sure Milton's Satan is... though he's also very tormented because he doesn't want to let down his "gang"... and thereby lose face... I AM CERTAIN ALL VILLAINS ARE HEROES TO THEMSELVES.
"Prelude to Infinite Crisis" - sounds like another of these "brilliant" ways DC Comics have of tying themselves in knots, if you don't mind my saying so... (Their continuity is CRAP anyway, and doesn't make sense, I decided irrevocably by the end of 1988... so WHY do they attempt these highly complicated flights of fancy that just try to reconcile a million irreconcilable factors?) THIS IS ALL ABOUT MARKETING.
Not that I'm not saying that it couldn't be entertaining... it's just that it's a recipe for more mess, as far as I can see! THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN. CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS DEFINITELY SIMPLIFIED THINGS. DID IT MAKE THEM BETTER THOUGH—THAT IS THE QUESTION.
("Countdown to Infinite Bumthreat", Maurice said it was... I kid you not... at least, this anarchist British comics writer I never heard of before, whose site he links to, said it was!) I LOVE THIS TITLE. I CHECKED OUT ELLIS’S WEB SITE. COOL. NEVER READ HIS STUFF.
Did the villains REALLY get fed up, and join together, though, as I have always been advocating that they do, merely in the "Batman" comics?? Did they really say "enough is enough"!! Screw you, superheroes - you're not as perfect as you make out, anyway!!! SOME VILLAINS ARE AFTER THE JLA, OTHERS ARE TAKING ON THOSE VILLAINS. NOT A BAD MINI-SERIES OVERALL.
(Sounds like the terrorists coming to get the Great White Superhero - the U.S.A.!!)
Is that what that "Villains United" was about - I might just buy it, then!! Who was in it: Lex Luthor, obviously... Was the Joker in it, then?? HAVEN’T SEEN THE JOKER YET FOR SOME REASON. LUTHOR IS AT THE HEAD.
I'd like to know...
Oh, and WHAT is the comics-by-mail outfit you use? Didn't you promise to tell me? YOU HAVE ME CONFUSED WITH SOMEONE ELSE. I BUY AT THE LOCAL STORE. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU FIND OUT THOUGH.
Did the heroes really lobotomize a Dr. Light for raping a Sue Dibny! YES, MAGICALLY. READ ALL ABOUT IT ON WIKIPEDIA. Sounds like an extreme storyline!! Don't know the characters at all; why did he rape her, (just because he fancied it?) what was the aftermath (ie a kid, abortion, suicide, you know what I mean!) And who got to do the lobotomy... and isn't that a very antiquated procedure ANYWAY? I'm sure Doc Savage back in the 30s pulps could do better... And what effect did it produce.. another useless zombie?? ONCE AGAIN, READ ALL ABOUT IT ON WIKIPEDIA.
(Why didn't they chemically/literally castrate him?? Sorry for all these questions, I just feel morbidly curious!)
I'm sure an enlightened fanboy such as yourself can fill me in.
One further question: are they allowed to write stories featuring abortions in mainstream American comics?!? YES, BUT ONLY THOSE SOLD TO THE DIRECT MARKET, NOT THE ONES GOING TO GROCERY STORES, ETC. INCIDENTALLY, I JUST GOT A COPY OF A BOOK THAT TELLS THE HISTORY OF THE COMICS CODE AND ITS EFFECT ON THE INDUSTRY. SHOULD BE INTERESTING STUFF.
(Yeah... but I try not to run off the anger TOO often... I can harness secret resentment, nasty humour or "unrequited sex" just as well! You have to know how to keep a LID on it Kevin... bind those genies in chains... I can do it, I can do it....!)
....I gave up trying to define myself as a hero/heroine a LONG time ago, Kevin, though! Hence my obsession with villains! I THINK YOUR SELF-PERCEPTION IS A SIGN OF HUMILITY. [Nice to know!]
Do I find them more honest? Probably! PROBABLY.
Look at it this way, though: if one does NOT consider oneself a hero, if one tells everybody at any opportunity that presents - like discussions such as this one - that one is actually a bad guy, the "least of all", the whatever... If one admits to EVERY bad thought.... at least to oneself... Is one not likely to be more - well, a weird kind of state of being - I mean to say, WARPED but mentally healthy, ie, expressing one's true emotions - than one is if one tries to hold to some impossible ideal?? I AGREE. HONESTY IS IMPORTANT. HOWEVER, DON’T WE ALL TEND TO SEE OURSELVES AS THE HEROES OF OUR LIVES? EVEN THOUGH THE FAULTS ARE VISIBLE TO US AND OTHERS, WE ALL WANT TO SEE OURSELVES SUCCEED, SAVE THE DAY, ETC. WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR OWN HEROIC JOURNEY, ARE WE NOT? I DON’T SEE HOW IT CAN BE ANY OTHER WAY. [You know, I guess so! For any person or fictional character!! Whether their name is Batman or Joker, Frodo or Gollum, Luke or Darth!] HOWEVER, A TRUE HERO IS HUMBLE, NOT SELF-CENTERED. [yeah... let's hope Bale's/Nolan's Batman remembers that... Miller's sure didn't!!]
Just testing you on that one!! [Of COURSE, if I were a 100%, unreconstructed pagan, with NO outside influences... I probably wouldn't have much of ANY kind of a sense of guilt. People in the pagan world DIDN'T. It WAS a world largely based on power... and on pleasing the gods/spirits. (Until the rationalism/aestheticism of the Greek thinkers entered the equation, moving things a bit more "upmarket" - but still basically patriarchal.) Particularly, I think, what we call the "ancient" world, antiquity, Greeks/Romans etc. The world had already moved very much on to patriarchy then. In fact, I think this started at about the same time as the growth of agriculture. Read novelist Jean M Auel. Actually, read her if you want to know all about matriarchal cave people. (I love "prehistoric" fiction!)
But there you are. As C.S. Lewis described himself as a natural pagan and classicist turned Christian; I have to describe myself as a Christian turned pagan! Ie, I still have guilt complexes.... good job I'm a bit of a masochist, at least I can enjoy them! Oh,and they're never about sex. So that makes me a straight-off pagan there... I NEVER could see much that was wrong with sex... the only thing that is wrong with it for me, is that it's very involved with my emotions and I'm afraid I have to love/trust the guy... which narrows my options GREATLY.]
Ie, if I say that I'm more Milton's Satan or the Joker than I am Jesus or Batman... am I not less likely to be disappointing myself?? (And others?) WE ALL STRIVE FOR THE IDEAL, KNOWING WE WILL NEVER ATTAIN IT ON OUR OWN. THAT’S WHY GOD’S GRACE COMES IN—WE CAN’T BECOME LIKE JESUS ON OUR OWN. ULTIMATELY, ONLY GOD CAN DO THAT IN OUR LIVES. BUT WE HAVE TO BE WILLING TO LET HIM TAKE CONTROL. I THINK THAT’S WHERE MOST PEOPLE (INCLUDING SELF-PROCLAIMED CHRISTIANS LIKE ME) OFTEN CHECK OUT. [Gosh, brave admission!}
And don't these rebellious villains get really to the POINT, though?? Don't they say simply: "We don't like the status quo - so we'll smash it!"? I AGREE WITH THE FIRST PART—VILLAINS OFTEN SEE WHAT IS WRONG WITH SOCIETY, BUT THEIR IDEA FOR HOW TO FIX IT OFTEN CAUSES MORE HARM THAN GOOD. [Yeah... mebbe... they DO tend to be criminals - OR violent revolutionaries, which CAN, can can, go wrong!!]THAT SAID, I THINK MANY HEROES TODAY—BOTH FICTIONAL AND REAL—MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE. [Telling me! Well, if they all wanna be VILLAINS, these days, as Maurice has it: if we're not SUPPOSED TO HAVE ideals/idols any more... Which is what Maurice said on his site; he said it just like it was they had "gone out of fashion", for NO reason, you know, ho-hum.... JUST that's the way it is... I attempted to link this to the decay of capitalism and the tendency of post-50s society to start a systematic DESTRUCTION of anyone good... I linked it to the assassination of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King... ie, it's really the ELITE who don't want US to have HEROES... that's why THEY kill them, as they do... Maurice just greeted this with one big yawn of disinterest, I think... So I didn't bring the matter up again on either of your blogs. THEN.... day before yesterday, I see a guy running a completely different site, quite sympathetic to Christianity, but not to "fundamentalism", making PRECISELY the same point!
("Get rid of those who are Influential or have leadership potential -- Kill them or help them have a fatal accident before they become powerful. Again, here are some of our American success stories: John Kennedy Jr., John Denver, John Lennon.
4) Topple All Heroes and Positive Role Models -- Leave no hero standing. Leave no reputation untarnished, except, of course, our heroes, such as "Resident" Bush. Pete Rose is an example here. We'd like to also claim Martha Stewart as a success story, but she's still standing. Be careful not to be too cocky. She, like Larry Flint could survive and come back to kick us in the ass. Remember, it was Flint who dethroned one of our most valuable players, Newt Gingrich"....!http://www.choice101.com/15-con-artist-basic-rules.html ... the name of the site page tells it all!! Well worth a read but WARNING, this site, which I think is suggested by its name, and the other address it uses, pro-truth.net, is a PRO-CHOICE SITE.... and it makes some very good arguments for same, and ways to defeat the fundamentalist "con-men" in America... all of which I suppose I'd really better not mention on a U.S. Christian-based site...)
I like this chap's phrase that the Bush gang (neocons) are "Christian-talking, atheist-acting", as well. Also his ideas about "Strange Bedfellows": the coalition between "Christian fundamentalists" and "ego-atheists" (a special type of selfish atheist who are the opposite to socialists!!). He also, interestingly, seems to think that the fundies are the "Brownshirts" in this coalition, and that they're going to be purged by the "ego-atheists" (the true neocons - he calls them "war-shippers of the Great God Money"!) once they have served their political purpose! Good theory; but without the religious wackjobs, how are the neocons going to CONTINUE controlling the "peasants"?? Anyway: http://www.pro-truth.net/72b-christian-america.html#November2004Update
Yeah, I DID read about this "Infinite Crisis" stuff on Wikipedia now... it was quite interesting! There's quite a LOT about comics and their plots on Wikipedia... I wonder who puts it on there? I bet a lot of it is DC Comics staff themselves; plus "fanboys".
(One thing about Wiki I DON'T like is that NONE of the major articles are ever attributed; unlike those on "proper" mainstream enclylopedias, like Compton's, Britannica... I only REALLY trust sth. if someone is prepared to put their rep on the line.)
Anyway, they DON'T always get everything right... EXAMPLE: THEY GOT THE DATE OF ARKHAM ASYLUM'S FIRST APPEARANCE IN THE BATMAN COMICS WRONG!! I've always wondered precisely what it was myself; it's not in my only favourite encyclopedia... which is, as I said, my only TRULY trusted source on Batman... but my real trusted source is myself.
But anyway. Wiki says it's 1974, right? Date of Arkham's "invention". WRONG... that's the date when Denny O'Neil REINTRODUCED it... he didn't use it at first, when he REVAMPED the comics; he said at first that the Joker etc were put into the "criminally insane wing" of a max security prison.... well, I'm sure the Joker didn't like it there!
(Has anyone ever thought, BTW, that he actually LIKES Arkham, he has no intention of really harming any of its staff (unlike what was shown in later comics. Jim Starlin, sigh!!), gets on quite well with MOST of them (they might get the odd authoritarian male shrink who the Joker takes a dislike to! But criminals NEVER murder liberal shrinks, you see... (again, UNLIKE what Miller and co portray!) they know who loves them, (we ALL know who loves us!) they only murder the Hitler-like ones!! (In my stories they do!)
Anyway, I think that for the Joker, Arkham is the equivalent of "the school that will NEVER expel you" - ie, in addition to the Batman, (and sweet Harley who he has his problems with doesn't he... anyway, I haven't read that many comics with her in... so I thought that she wasn't really accepted in the "main" comics... I don't know, their continuity is these days shot to HELL as I've long been saying) the ONLY security in his (Joker's) chaotic life!
Whadda you think here??)
Anyway. Back to the Arkham question. This idea that the Batman criminals were mad rather than bad, was taking stronger and stronger hold in the comics of the 1960s... as you might expect!! (Though the Joker is shown to be... FLIRTING... with insanity in the comics as early as the 1940s... the Batman unequivocally states that he is not mad... just very clever.)
But ANYWAY. A lunatic asylum for the criminals makes its appearance sometime in the mid-60s. And by 1966 (I think this was in a special comics series - one of those "villain one-offs" that we all know they've had for decades, entitled "The Joker"... but anyway, I actually bought a comic in this series, an original 1960s one (worse luck I think my mother threw it away! She threw away my stuff! It wasn't that expensive, because it wasn't a mint copy, but it wasn't dirt-cheap either.) And there he was!! In the loony bin, in this 1960s comic... he had the most gonzo escape plan which really made me laugh... shall I tell you what it was? Simple like all the best plans. He pulled up green grass while he was in the grounds, and put it on his pillow to look like his hair, while he sloped off... beats building prosthetic heads like in that Alcatraz movie!!
Anyway, the Joker was doing his thing, by arsing around, being very cheeky and making me howl with laughter! (Which is all I ever asked of a good comic book villain!)
Anyway, it WAS a loony bin (but not a very serious or gothic one!) in that 1960s comic, that was where the Joker was feeling at home by 1966, AND I am ALMOST 100% sure, that the name "Arkham" was given to it... so almost sure!!
But I didn't have the exact title number or date, so I just made a note at the end of the Wikipedia article, giving the year of the comic and the storyline, telling them to check it out with DC - and basically saying the editors were jerks!
I thought they might EDIT my submission (the Wiki "editors", whoever those stupid clowns are) - but they just deleted it! After about 48 hours! Either them or the pathetic "fanboys" did! (NOW do you see why I want to kill all fanboys - except you and Maurice!)
So then I went back and made another brief note in square brackets, saying I'm right, or at least I'm onto something; PLEASE CHECK IT WITH DC!!
I don't know if they've done anything to that effect. Idiot pricks.
I don't like people who pretend to knowledge and don't have any - ie, rewrite history. Which would apply to Frank Miller and to fanboys all over. But you'll find that truth is one of the least interesting things, to these types... when it contradicts their convenient - and crap - "theories".
I don't think I really mind "event" comics! But the only factor which would REALLY persuade me to buy sth. like "Villains United" would be the appearance of my old mucker the Joker... THEN it would be worth it for me, however pointless, contrived or confusing the storyline... (As long as it isn't Frank Miller's or Jim Starlin's Joker.)
I want him to come and do something bad together with Lex Luthor... for those two to bond together in fiendish alliance.. they did in previous comics, ie 1950s... Yes, I do go back!!
I like the idea of the Joker and Lex Luthor in concert.
(Yes, and we who believe we are connected to archetypes, ie, me and the Trickster/Divine Fool... and you'll have to ask me if you want to know how I know it truly is mine, how I worked it out, how I can see again and again the signs from a very early age that IT was there...it was exacerbated by teen experiences, they always are, but it wasn't caused by my suffering... it was there, as I believe were ALL the Batman villains' "archetypes"... you might be interested, but I'll only tell if you ask, try e-mail... well we have a terrible need to see other characters who suffer from the same "disease"!!)
Who bear the same archetype. Which, incidentally, in this culture at least, I think is VERY rare for females; I've never met another like myself of the same gender. Yet!!
Why can't I see the Joker doing something supremely cheeky and anarchic, to please ME??? (And he can slyly make eyes at Lex while he's at it, if he wants to be even MORE annoying to "fanboys" - and more pleasing to me!)
I want to be pleased again by comics!
Anyway, isn't the writer of at least one of these series, a woman, Gail Simone??
Maurice didn't tell me about her!!
Hey, though, a couple of days ago I remembered I DID read sth. by Warren Ellis before.... and I know why I found him annoying back then; apparently he got this ace chance to "drop out of university and become a comics writer" in the early 90s, and he took it with both hands, and that was just before the time when I qualified as a journalist (it was an intensive course, almost 2 years worth of UNIVERSITY-STYLE LEARNING, packed into just 1 year of technical college!!)... and I couldn't get a job!! (In 1992, '93, '94... you gotta give up sometime! Yeah, of COURSE, everything I tried just HAD to coincide with the worst British depression since the 1930s, didn't it... Yes, it makes you bitter; it certainly does me!!)
Anyway. I don't like people who get jobs largely on the strength that they "know" somebody in media... HATE that sort of nepotism.
(No, and I've got it in my mind to THOROUGHLY punish all these people, and RUIN their nepotic little "reputations", if I ever get the chance... and I can feel it approaching slowly but surely... never underestimate an underdog with the most thorough sense of bitterness, Kevin!!
No, I DON'T like them. Ellis. Moore. Miller. Morons. Because - I think they recieved economic and "influential" power in the media, that I should have had; that other people I can think of should have had; that ALL KINDS OF POOR YET TALENTED PEOPLE IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA SHOULD HAVE HAD... and I want to punish them! That truly IS the long and short of it!
I do NOT, I do NOT, I do NOT like, undeserved success.
As for people who DO provide something that I can see why millions like it... eg. J. K. Rowling.... well that's DESERVED success, by contrast... (and she came from next to nothing) and I'll never diss that lady, except that I wish that her capitalistic publishers wouldn't do stupid things like slap injunctions on people not to read books that they already bought -and were allowed to buy, because of a slip-up!! If you buy it you can read it; common law, and NOBODY can set themselves above common law and common sense... at least they didn't when Canute was on the throne!!)
THIS is why I don't like Ellis... it's all coming back to me now... I had truly FORGOTTEN it... power of the mind to blank painful experience!!!
Anyway, I KNOW he didn't get that "offer" (it MUST have been some kind of a lucrative deal, for him to drop uni, I mean, not just a bit of part-time storywriting)... Ellis DIDN'T get that offer through "talent"?
How do I KNOW??
a) Because he worked on Judge Dredd comics, ALL of which, without exception, are pants, and swastika-printed pants at that!! I NEVER want to work for Fleetway in my life (I'll melt concerning DC if you can get me in, by contrast) and I think they are the crappest comics company and certainly the shittiest British company - Fleetway - in all of existence.
b) Because he worked on (either Part I or Part II) of the most PATHETIC comic I read in the 90s, with I think the exception of.... God where do I start?!
Namely, "Democracy Now", in that "2000AD" series... most pathetic story about "democracy" and elections I EVER read... (nothing in it about conspiracy or rigged machines in it, either!) Ie, the "pro-democracy" hero and heroine knuckle under to Dredd in the end, saying sth. like "Only he can control this city" and "At least we've got each other".
PATHETIC!! PATHETIC!!! PATHETICER AND PATHETICER!!!
Hitler and Himmler and Goebbels could have written THAT, and probably did.
Well, I was never fooled by the British comics "left" - and, incidentally, you can tell Maurice to put that in his pipe and smoke it. Maybe I'll tell him.
(Because the "comics left", self-styled, SO annoy me... they are a representative of NO kind of socialism on the planet, and are just out to CONFUSE people like Maurice, is the short of it!)
I want to figuratively firebomb it all!!
All I have to do is to THINK about people like that, and I am in a mood. And I wasn't going to write much on here today!
Yeah, Warren Ellis. Alan Moore. Grant Morrisson. I'm going to FIREBOMB ALL YOUR REPUTATIONS!!
Just you wait lads, just you wait....
You're going to get yours, all of you. (People, ya heard it here first!)
(Actually, I TRIED, early in the 90s, but there wasn't any web then!! (No web publishing companies either!!) Wait wait... wait and see what you get now. When I DO it, I shall be SO thorough, I shall leave not ONE blade of grass, nor not ONE (British, anyway), MALE, useless comics scripter standing... You shall ALL perish and shrivel from the fire spirit!!! (Lux, Lucifer, Loki, enLIGHTenment... we HAVE discussed this, Kevin!)
There's only so long you can annoy a thoroughly embittered and offended female trickster archetype... she'll get you in the end!
Anyway, that's the basic difference between you and me, Kevin. I can (and do) love.. but when I hate, I mean business.
Just call it flashbacks...
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