Here are two of my absolute favorite characters in all of comics. Unfortunately, I can't say that I am thrilled to see the way they have been treated lately. I was very glad to hear that The Beast would finally be losing the cat-like appearance that he has had since the Grant Morrison run on the X-Men titles, as that look never worked for me. But instead of reverting back to his classic look from the 80's, his new redesign is even less appealing. In an interview, new writer Brian Michael Bendis said that they didn't even consider going back to his classic look because it would have been "too nostalgic". What? What's wrong with being nostalgic once in a while, and besides - isn't Bendis the one who brought back the original first class in their classic looks in the very same title? His reasoning doesn't make much sense to me.
Still, at least Hank McCoy is still around! Rex Mason is nowhere to be found, and has been replaced in the New 52 with Element Woman. She's like Metamorpho... but she's sexy! is that any way to treat Bob Haney's greatest creation?
dont count the element man out yet remember sept should possibly see more old dc rear its pressence known i hope due to trinity war, failures of some new 52s maybey theyll mix both old dc and new 52 ya never know
ReplyDeleteDave sez,
ReplyDeleteBendis is expressing the basic, common comic book logic. Only by going forward do we ever really go back.
We revisit our nostalgia in a way that makes it a better memory than it actually was.
It's a shame that we can't actually have stories told the way they used to be told. I miss when comics were fun and goofy and silly.
I don't want my comics to remind me of what the world is like. I want to be able to escape into my comics from the world.
Considering the current regime's record of gratuitous violence on female characters and wholesale slaughter of minor characters generally it really should surprise me that they would resurrect one of the few female second stringers best remembered for being allowed to die gracefully.
ReplyDeletethe original element girl was killed by either a super vllian daughter of the mist or died from cancer from smoking
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: I think you're confusing Emily Sung (Flashpoint) for Urania Blackwell (both pre-Crisis and pre-Infinite Crisis). Urania couldn't die and was being driven insane by that. She was released from her condition by the sun god Ra (whose Orb of Ra was what gave her and Rex their power/condition), and turned to ash. That happened in Sandman #20, after the Gene Bomb was set off in "Invasion" and before "War Of The Gods". Because it happened to be the next issue after the "Midsummer Night's Dream" story in #19, it had an enormous audience, eventually international when they were collected into the same trade. At the time, she was a character no one had wanted to use for over twenty years. The only other time she's appeared pre-Flashpoint was in the story in "Wednesday Comics" that takes place in the 60's. She may have been in a flashback in the 90's "Metamorpho" mini-series, but I haven't read that in years.
ReplyDeleteI started collected comics (primarily DC) as a child in the 80's, so I was always "playing catchup" with all of DC's heroes through either Brave&theBold and DC Comics Presents (by the mid 80's, those were the only teamup books left for some reason). Characters like Metamorpho, Martian Manhunter, and Starman were MIA for the longest time, heroes I heard about, or saw old comics, but never used. Finally, Mike W Barr put out Batman & The Outsiders, and I FINALLY got to see who this Metamorpho was (and Black Lightning to boot). It was awesome. I have NOT been pleased with how they handled him post-Crisis. Its been a long sad descent, frankly.
ReplyDelete