Following that up
Oct. 10th, 2006 12:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiMy takes on those characters:
Bucky: No fucking way. He died, and it was a given that he was one of the only characters capable of staying dead (although, to be fair, Peter David teased Bucky as a member of the Pantheon, but that was a visual joke). I like Brubaker, but The Winter Soldier turned out to be the first burst of what would turn out to be years of unmitigated suck in the Marvel Universe.
Jason Todd: Utter bullshit. The stories themselves have been half-decent, but the premise that created those stories is just awful. Here's a rule: If you set up a 900 number, and people vote to kill the kid, he should stay dead.
Rick Flag: Even worse than the last two. He died heroically, sacrificing himself for a great cause. His story was done. There is nothing good that can come of resurrecting him.
Kilowog: Sure, he died during one of the dumbest moments in DCU history (Emerald Twilight). But he really did die. No reason in the world he should still be up and walking around, much as I love the character.
Hal Jordan: Um, no. The story itself was damned fine (Geoff Johns being a damned good writer), but no matter how you play it with the mind-possession and the other stuff, he still killed thousands, and he'd been an uninteresting character for years before that. Like Barry Allen, he was much more interesting as a dead character inspiring others than as a live character usurping Kyle Raynor (who'd only recently become a good enough character to stand on his own).
Jean Grey: Her name has become practically synonymous with silly resurrections. It's gotten to the point that no fan takes her current death seriously.
Cluemaster: Had Stephanie not died (at the hands of Black Mask; any bullshit about Leslie Thompkins being involved is "clone saga" writing, stuff so bad that it simply needs to be ignored), I'd have had a problem with this. But with Stephanie dead, Arthur is an interesting character, and the non-death is acceptable.
Javelin: Why? A minor, pathetic villain. He was killed because he was useless, and the Suicide Squad was a great place to kill useless villains. Why would anyone waste time resurrecting him?
Iris West Allen: When she was first brought back, it was wonderful and harmless. Her resurrection provided closure to the pre-Crisis story of Barry Allen, and wasn't meant to have any ramifications in the DCU. Now, though, she's simply too involved, and the specter of her death that haunted Barry (and caused him to kill Zoom) was meaningless.
The Doom Patrol: John Byrne should just go blow himself instead of writing comics.
Donna Troy: The resurrection was silly (even if it was always a given). Then again, so was her "death." I just want her to team up with Power Girl and Hawkman and call themselves the "The Team with Fucked-up Origins."
Colossus: Yes, he died a heroic death. But it was a death that simply put to bed a longrunning and stupid plotline (the Legacy Virus). And the book featuring his resurrection has been one of the few bright spots in the Marvel Universe in recent years.
Magneto: See Jean Grey.
Iron Fist: Bad enough that he was killed by Captain Hero (insert whatever Drawn Together jokes you'd like here). But Skrulls are as bad as twins and clones. Plus, the guy's named Iron Fist, for god's sake. Let him die.
Psylocke. Boring the first time around, no matter how hot she was. Nothing's changed.
Others I could have mentioned:
Nemesis: His whole shtick is surviving and using disguises, and he's a great and underused character. Bringing him back is fine.
Guardian: Wouldn't it be neat if everyone who ever died in an explosion just ended up in another dimension, or on another planet, or whatever?
Superman: No one outside the national media thought he was dead. Doesn't count. Ditto for Mr. Fantastic, Hawkeye, Green Arrow, and plenty of others.
Elektra: Yeah, right.
Bucky: No fucking way. He died, and it was a given that he was one of the only characters capable of staying dead (although, to be fair, Peter David teased Bucky as a member of the Pantheon, but that was a visual joke). I like Brubaker, but The Winter Soldier turned out to be the first burst of what would turn out to be years of unmitigated suck in the Marvel Universe.
Jason Todd: Utter bullshit. The stories themselves have been half-decent, but the premise that created those stories is just awful. Here's a rule: If you set up a 900 number, and people vote to kill the kid, he should stay dead.
Rick Flag: Even worse than the last two. He died heroically, sacrificing himself for a great cause. His story was done. There is nothing good that can come of resurrecting him.
Kilowog: Sure, he died during one of the dumbest moments in DCU history (Emerald Twilight). But he really did die. No reason in the world he should still be up and walking around, much as I love the character.
Hal Jordan: Um, no. The story itself was damned fine (Geoff Johns being a damned good writer), but no matter how you play it with the mind-possession and the other stuff, he still killed thousands, and he'd been an uninteresting character for years before that. Like Barry Allen, he was much more interesting as a dead character inspiring others than as a live character usurping Kyle Raynor (who'd only recently become a good enough character to stand on his own).
Jean Grey: Her name has become practically synonymous with silly resurrections. It's gotten to the point that no fan takes her current death seriously.
Cluemaster: Had Stephanie not died (at the hands of Black Mask; any bullshit about Leslie Thompkins being involved is "clone saga" writing, stuff so bad that it simply needs to be ignored), I'd have had a problem with this. But with Stephanie dead, Arthur is an interesting character, and the non-death is acceptable.
Javelin: Why? A minor, pathetic villain. He was killed because he was useless, and the Suicide Squad was a great place to kill useless villains. Why would anyone waste time resurrecting him?
Iris West Allen: When she was first brought back, it was wonderful and harmless. Her resurrection provided closure to the pre-Crisis story of Barry Allen, and wasn't meant to have any ramifications in the DCU. Now, though, she's simply too involved, and the specter of her death that haunted Barry (and caused him to kill Zoom) was meaningless.
The Doom Patrol: John Byrne should just go blow himself instead of writing comics.
Donna Troy: The resurrection was silly (even if it was always a given). Then again, so was her "death." I just want her to team up with Power Girl and Hawkman and call themselves the "The Team with Fucked-up Origins."
Colossus: Yes, he died a heroic death. But it was a death that simply put to bed a longrunning and stupid plotline (the Legacy Virus). And the book featuring his resurrection has been one of the few bright spots in the Marvel Universe in recent years.
Magneto: See Jean Grey.
Iron Fist: Bad enough that he was killed by Captain Hero (insert whatever Drawn Together jokes you'd like here). But Skrulls are as bad as twins and clones. Plus, the guy's named Iron Fist, for god's sake. Let him die.
Psylocke. Boring the first time around, no matter how hot she was. Nothing's changed.
Others I could have mentioned:
Nemesis: His whole shtick is surviving and using disguises, and he's a great and underused character. Bringing him back is fine.
Guardian: Wouldn't it be neat if everyone who ever died in an explosion just ended up in another dimension, or on another planet, or whatever?
Superman: No one outside the national media thought he was dead. Doesn't count. Ditto for Mr. Fantastic, Hawkeye, Green Arrow, and plenty of others.
Elektra: Yeah, right.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 04:05 pm (UTC)Being as I don't read comics much lately, I missed this whole Rick Flag resurrection.
WHAT??
Also, WHAT?!
(When? Why? Where?)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 04:32 pm (UTC)The Jean Grey stuff doesn't bother me. In an infinite universe, you're going to have at least one person who can always come back from the dead. I'm okay with designating Jean Grey as that person and moving on.
I pretty much agree with you on all these other characters, to the extent that I've heard of them (and I haven't heard of several of them). I did like the "New Doom Patrol" series in the old Showcase comic, which posited that Cliff survived the explosion that killed Doc, Elastigirl and Negative Man, to be repaired by Doc Magnus of Metal Men fame. However improbable Cliff's survival, it made the deaths of the others more poignant.
But that didn't last, did it?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 05:20 pm (UTC)Although I loved what he did with Wonder Woman, Rucka's runs on Checkmate and OMAC have pretty much lowered him to Byrne levels in my book.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 05:22 pm (UTC)I see your point about Jean, but at this point, I think pretty much every Marvel character can always come back from the dead.
And agreed about CLiff. I'm even okay withe Grant Morrison's revival of The Chief and Negative Man, mainly because that book was so damned good.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 05:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 05:35 pm (UTC)But wasn't Rick Flag a costumed character pre-Suicide Squad? I never read much of Suicide Squad, but that name is naggingly familiar.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 05:38 pm (UTC)If a character has a great and dramatic ending, leave it as an ENDING.
Endings /can/ happen in comic books. Honest.
Yours,
A Semi Fan.
(I was eventually planning on picking up some issues of Checkmate... I mean, it has Amanda Waller...)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 07:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-10 11:07 pm (UTC)