Monday, July 2, 2012

Battle for Bludhaven #5-6




The battle is over, Bludhaven is silent... save for the angered cries of anyone who bought this miniseries.



85 comments:

Anonymous said...

Out of curiosity Linkara, are you going to cover the infamous "Rape of Ms. Marvel" Story?

Because if you do, you have to, HAVE to read Avengers Annual 10 after it.

Nick Michalak said...

I loved it! Made me laugh even more than the last two episodes. Also, nice sword. I liked the Monarch rant. It's really weird that DC tried to rectify an error from a storyline called "Armaggedon 2001" when "Battle For Blüdhaven" was published in 2006.

I can't wait to see where Linkara's journey takes him. Should be fun and interesting. Keep up the great work!

-NJM

Anonymous said...

...is Firebrand wearing red Pyrovision Goggles? That explains so much o.0

FugueforFrog said...

"Out of curiosity Linkara, are you going to cover the infamous "Rape of Ms. Marvel" Story?

Because if you do, you have to, HAVE to read Avengers Annual 10 after it."

Wasn't that the 200th issue of the Avengers? Yeah, way to celebrate 200 issues

And as for "Battle For Bludhaven"...all I can imagine is Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters showing up soon cause of how pathetic this is and whatever pathetic stuff they do in response. Though even if you said this lead to nothing, the fact this lead to the mess of Countdown does at least show that at least it had it's purpose...in creating an even worse comic, mind you, but a purpose. Let alone...wasn't Civil War pretty terrible in itself anyway? Sure Marvel at least has a history of mistrust between various factions of humans, mutants and "transformed meta-human things" but it just made things messy though at least there were one or two comics that did actually try to be mature about it. (again: read She-Hulk by Dan Slott!)

BTW: with the "my god, what have I done", I was expecting "Once in a Lifetime" by the Talking Heads...yeah "Love is a Battlefield" works here too but that was what came to me first.

Jen95 said...

Hilarious, as per usual, so worth the wait for the conclusion. In addition, as a non-comic book fan (just never got into it), I'm one of those unfamiliar with a large part of comic book history (I only know the 'women in refrigerators' bit from TVTropes), and I just wanted to say that I thought you did really well especially in these past three episodes with summarizing the relevant backstory for that part of your fanbase. Just, yeah, something that struck me during this episode.

As for the storyline...yep, whatever you say, Linkara. See you in a few weeks when the Holo-Linkara glitches out or Mechakara tries to take over the show. Again.

Lizard-Man said...

I think I understand their analogue at the end. Like you said it was all about connecting to that of the Civil War going on at Marvel. However they may have been trying to further the theme of the Government lying to people to further it aims. So it pretends it had nothing to do with the events of Bludhaven.

Except... it doesn't work. Unless you believe in 9/11 conspiracies. Even then it doesn't work. The people directly responsible weren't metahuman terrorists. They were two guys who, as you said, were working for you! Instead of declaring that all Metahumans are dangerous why didn't they just put out a manhunt on the one guy responsible they could still technically blame, Captain Atom.

I mean I get they're trying to cover up their black op and everything, but it only ever got to this point because they were stupid enough to conduct it in a disaster area! It just doesn't make any sense. Are we honestly supposed to buy that the Government would be stupid enough to do all this? Their conspiracy is equal parts dumb and overly complicatedly brillant. It can't be both! The plan makes no sense!

So this incident to create a metahuman task force? when every bit of evidence shows that making metahumans work for you ends in disaster? They honestly think this is smart? If they had just moved their operation AWAY from prying eyes in a disaster zone they could've avoided everything! An event like this would be more likely to push a president to shut a project down for fear of getting out of hand again! They got lucky this time no one figured it out! Are they really gonna risk this coming down on their heads all over again? Are they that stupid?

And why the fuck was Phantom Lady smiling at the fact her new leader was a mysoginistic murdering psychopath!?! The hell? That's not something you smirk and make a joke about! Not unless you yourself are deranged!

PS: Maybe this implies Lady Liberty survived Ravager's attack... or it was Retconned... I'm not entirely sure, but yeah, definetly seems like a major plot hole there.

BooRat said...

Well this was fun, but very short! I was expecting it to be a little bit longer of a review.
It'd been funny if you'd used that Robot Chicken skit for that one part with the SHADE people making a get away in their van with their name written across it! the one of COBRA from GIJOE where I think it was Doctor Mindbender talking about branding and how you gotta have your company's logo everywhere or else no one would know who you are and he's got like a desk covered in coffee mugs, pens, buttons, t-shirts, ect.
Yeah, I'm glad to finally hear you mention the whole Major Force and Women in the Fridge Syndrome thing! Yeah, when I flipped threw my copy of this trade I thought that thing looked kind of inappropriate within the story... It'd be like if Green Lantern ran into the guy that killed Batman's parents and beat the guy nearly to death in an alleyway with I a giant construct of a pistol! It'd made more sense if it was Kyle doing this as revenge more than Hal... And, worst part is from what I've read Major Force survived this some how... he's got some sort of immortality and a healing factor!
You know what I saw in that "evil" glimpse of the future!? An active police force! Now if it showed them beating a man to death i'd say yeah evil police state but no it looks like a future where there are plenty of cops and they're wearing goofier uniforms!
I think the actually character of Arnarky would have something to say to Firebitc... I mean Firebrand!!
So, what exactly made Captain Atom go all evil now? The fact they were using him or something more comic-book-y like his brains being all scrambled from interdiamentional traveling!?
So Kamandi is the offspring of the Atomic Knights?

So you're off to see the Wizard? A wonderful wizard you might say?

Anonymous said...

"Wasn't that the 200th issue of the Avengers? Yeah, way to celebrate 200 issues."

What happened was that Marvel's Editor in chief at the time really disliked Ms. Marvel, and wanted to write her out of the Marvel Universe in a way that wouldn't seem mean spirited.

Unfortunately, it involved a paranel dimension guy impregnating her through mind control, becoming reborn, marrying Ms. Marvel, who was still under the mind control, and the Avengers waving her off like it was a happy ending.

Honestly Linkara, it's a freaking Gold mind of material. Just make sure you do Avengers Annual 10 as the follow up where the writer Chris Claramont has Ms. Marvel go flat out ballistic against the Avengers for letting that happen.

ngrey651 said...

Yeah, I remember what happened to poor Alex in Green Lantern. Kyle was always "my" Green Lantern, but having Alex die that way...I point to that as the moment that the DC world really changed, the moment the whole mood went dark, man. This was when I people began to realize that "edgy" work was going to get popular.

I'm still unsure whether this is a good thing or not. But as for Battle for Bludhaven, I feel...gypped. This story COULD have been interesting. It could have been a sort of "fight for the soul of a city losing all hope". But...no such luck. Hell, even the "new identity for Captain Atom" thing could have been good, but the Monarch armor, as you've said, makes no sense. "Monarch as Captain Atom the future dictator in Armageddon 2001" DID make sense because as a future dictator you'd WANT something big and showy and impressive-looking. As a new containment suit to keep somebody comprised of energy from going kablooey? Ah...no.

And then...there's the whole "blow up the city thing". And the finale after.

...good god. Oh...GOD. That is a huge cop out. And that idea of passing a task force to hold meta-humans responsible reminds me of the crap from the stupid "Civil War" event series, which even YOU noticed at the end of your video. Have you ever considered looking at one of the stories?

BooRat said...

"Out of curiosity Linkara, are you going to cover the infamous "Rape of Ms. Marvel" Story?

Because if you do, you have to, HAVE to read Avengers Annual 10 after it."

Wasn't that the 200th issue of the Avengers? Yeah, way to celebrate 200 issues



I think I read a Cracked article on this is this the one with the fast growing kid?

Here's some similar articles I'd like to see Link do reviews of these stories... most are actually Silver Age strange enough... http://www.cracked.com/article_18957_the-8-most-awkward-sexual-moments-in-comic-book-history.html
http://www.cracked.com/article_17626_the-5-creepiest-sex-scenes-in-comics_p2.html yup, here it is and it's the 1st on the list!

Anonymous said...

Which Green Lantern Comic was it, with Hal Jordan wearing the rings? I'Ve been looking for it, but totally forgot the name!

Anonymous said...

There's even an essay online called the "Rape of Ms. Marvel."

If you haven't heard about it Linkara, you should honestly check it out. It's a pretty big feminist thing.

Falcovsleon20 said...

"Out of curiosity Linkara, are you going to cover the infamous "Rape of Ms. Marvel" Story?

Because if you do, you have to, HAVE to read Avengers Annual 10 after it."

Didn't MovieBob already tackle this scenario on his "The Big Picture" series?

"What happened was that Marvel's Editor in chief at the time really disliked Ms. Marvel, and wanted to write her out of the Marvel Universe in a way that wouldn't seem mean spirited."

She wouldn't be the only female to suffer that. Janet Pym anyone? (Seriously, I want to stab Bendis in the spine for that. Not only did he kill off a character I liked while the company makes no effort to retcon her death, it represents so many things wrong w/ the industry)

Also, The Black Baron never returns in a future DC story? Damn, there goes any future potential for MadWorld references. (C'mon, I had to mention that one last time. I'll stop now)

Anonymous said...

I like this, even through it felt faster than most of your reviews. Even with all those backstories.

Also, suggestion for possible review: this year's Venom #13 - terrible artwork, naive plot and pretty bad characters (Venom is drunk, Red Hulk caused unnecessary destruction for no reason, Ghost Rider is an idiot and X-23 talks about how having sample of her blood stolen feels like being raped)

Anonymous said...

" Anonymous said...
There's even an essay online called the "Rape of Ms. Marvel."

If you haven't heard about it Linkara, you should honestly check it out. It's a pretty big feminist thing.

July 2, 2012 5:10 PM
"


So I was reading this issue of Avengers, #200 to be precise. Ms. Marvel had suddenly become pregnant -- how she didn't know -- and the pregnancy had lasted only three days, but apparently this was full-term. In issue #200 we had the grand birth and the revelation of Marcus (the grown baby-no-more) who said he'd wooed Ms. Marvel and won her over and impregnated her with him and la-de-da, wasn't it romantic. All the Avengers said, "Ah!" and Ms. Marvel left with Marcus to a happily-ever-after ending.

But I didn't get it. Here Ms. Marvel had been kidnapped, held for "weeks," according to the narrative provided by Marcus himself, and not been won over even though Marcus had done the A-B-C of stereotypical male-mindset romance: given her nice clothes, serenaded her with history's best musicians. Why, I bet he even gave her candy and flowers. At no time is love or respect -- not even "like" -- mentioned. But apparently she hadn't been won over because he says, "with a boost from Immortus' [mind] machines" (which he had access to), Ms. Marvel finally became his (and we may think of this being the truly possessive use of the word). At which point he impregnated her using non-technical techniques without her knowledge of what he was truly doing.



Okay, class, anyone see anything wrong with this?

Apparently the guy wanted foreplay before he raped her. I don't know why he couldn't have artificially impregnated her if he just had to use her body. Maybe in some sick way he thought he was in love with Ms. M.

But the point is, it was rape and obvious rape at that. The writer had to go an extra, knowing step to add that line about mind control. If he'd just left that off, it would have merely been a fanboy romance, where the blonde and buxom heroine is swept off her feet by flowers and candy (no need for romance or love), and readily agrees to anything and everything the hero (or fanboy in clever disguise) wants.

But time went by and NO ONE said anything about the rape! Not one word besides how some readers were so happy that Ms. M had finally found a good man.

I wanted to barf.

Granted, I don't presently condone the very vehement tone of the article -- really, I don't know how many Cokes I'd had before writing this, but I bet you money I'd been reading a lot of feminist literature that had me all fired up -- but besides the tone I have to agree still with my sentiments of that January in 1980 within the pages of LoC #1...


The Rape of Ms. Marvel

by Carol A. Strickland

http://carolastrickland.com/comics/msmarvel/index.html

BooRat said...

"Anonymous said...
Which Green Lantern Comic was it, with Hal Jordan wearing the rings? I'Ve been looking for it, but totally forgot the name!
July 2, 2012 5:04 PM"

Emerald Twilight
Green Lantern (vol. 3) #50 (March 1994). Hal Jordan becomes Parallax.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Twilight

Jesse said...

You left off the part where Gail Simone went way too far into detail about the bad things happening to female characters on his list. I've seen it and it takes fare too many things that happened to female characters into account.

Wish someone would mention how often men get crap piled on top of them. Like when Green Arrow was RAPED and Black Canary had the GALL to slap him for it.

On the bright side Firebrand is dead now.

samson said...

now I'm completely going out on a limb here, but does your story line tie into the 4 year anniversary? Because that would be sweet

Turkish Proverb said...

That was...interesting.

So then, Holo-linkara is a hard-light hologram? Any risk of 90's kid eating the lightbee-erm.. I mean mobile emitter?

The Exiled One said...

Are you seriously telling me that blowing up Stanford, killing most of the really funny and likable New Warriors, and then runing an hilarous and lovable character such as Speedball by turning into pathetic emo "Penance", as well as turning beloved character Iron Man into a villain and then forgetting that he was turned into a villain once the whole things ends and "Secret Invasion" begins...you are telling me that those AREN'T ridiculous circumstances?

---------------

"Out of curiosity Linkara, are you going to cover the infamous "Rape of Ms. Marvel" Story?"

Given what happened to Spoony, that would be an horrible mistake. The last thing I want is Obscurus Lupa breathing down Linkara's neck.


"I can't wait to see where Linkara's journey takes him. Should be fun and interesting. Keep up the great work!"

Is this gonna lead into the Anniversary Special ("To Boldly Flee")? We had confirmation at the TGWTG forum that the special will more more continuity-based and is aimed more at the loyal fans of TGWTG rather than the general public.

"...is Firebrand wearing red Pyrovision Goggles? That explains so much."

So, what bout the rest of his costume? How can you explain that?

"the fact this lead to the mess of Countdown does at least show that at least it had it's purpose...in creating an even worse comic"

Which is why, by the way, I still think that "Identity Crisis" sucks: despite all the symbolism and philosophical bullshit that readers tried to attach to it, all it was is yet ANOTHER tie-in to "Countdown" (its ONLY purpose was to send Ray Palmer to that other dimension where Donna and Kyle found him, and to give Jean Loring a reason to go insane so that Eclipso can possess her so that "Countdown" can happen).

"...wasn't Civil War pretty terrible in itself anyway? Sure Marvel at least has a history of mistrust between various factions of humans, mutants and "transformed meta-human things" but it just made things messy though at least there were one or two comics that did actually try to be mature about it."

"Civil War", "Secret Invasion", "Siege", "Avengers VS X-Men"...why does Marvel keep trying to pit heroes against each other? You are not running CBUB, you are running a comic book company, you don't need to have your superheroes fighting each other every damn month. Say what you will about the DC heroes, at last there's a sense of unity to them that the Marvel heroes can't maintain.

"or it was Retconned"

If it wasn't before, it is now, what with the reboot and everthing. I'm pretty sure the reboot erased this comic out of existance, so Lady Liberty is probably still alive.

"If you haven't heard about it Linkara, you should honestly check it out. It's a pretty big feminist thing."

I'm sorry, but the Spoony/Lupa fiasco turned me off feminist rants for a while.

"She wouldn't be the only female to suffer that. Janet Pym anyone?"

I still don't know why isn't the Wasp coming back to life. Stature I understand, she was always a D-list heroine (despite being my favorite Marvel heroine). But the Wasp? She's a major character, one of the most prominent female superheroines of the Marvel universe, and a mainstay in the Avengers team. She was just given a major role in "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" (and yeah, cancelling that was another stupid move). Major heroines like that always come back to life, so what's keeping Janet so long?

"Red Hulk caused unnecessary destruction for no reason."

All Red Hulk has ever done since his introduction was cause unnecessary destruction for no reason (unlike the Green Hulk, who often had reason to his rampages).

Master Control Cynic said...

Speaking as someone who wants his to start his OWN review show with a plot (cyber-punk, could you tell?) I would like to know where are you getting those props and how much do they run you?

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Given what happened to Spoony, that would be an horrible mistake. The last thing I want is Obscurus Lupa breathing down Linkara's neck."

Exiled One, I'm going to presume you haven't seen my post on the Fourth Anniversary Teaser. If you haven't, see it now. More or less: that topic is over. You will not bring it up again or the post will not go through.

"Is this gonna lead into the Anniversary Special ("To Boldly Flee")? We had confirmation at the TGWTG forum that the special will more more continuity-based and is aimed more at the loyal fans of TGWTG rather than the general public."

Nope. As far as AT4W continuity is concerned, the Fourth Year anniversary takes place before the current storyline.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Speaking as someone who wants his to start his OWN review show with a plot (cyber-punk, could you tell?) I would like to know where are you getting those props and how much do they run you?"

It varies from prop to prop. If I'm lucky, it's something I already have. If it isn't, something REALLY well-made, like, say, my tricorder, goes from anywhere from $400 to $800, though toy versions of it usually go for $20 to $50 on ebay.

Of course, you're probably on a budget, so you want to try to economize wherever possible. One way is prop-building, which will still cost you money, but the more skills you acquire while doing it will help you out along the way and there are lots of tutorials out there (like IndyMogul's old show Backyard FX) that explain how to make props and effects on the cheap.

In the end, it really comes down to how much you feel like you can spend on a certain prop, then trying to find a way to make it work within that budget.

The Exiled One said...

I hadn't, I posted that BEFORE I checked that comment you made and replied to it.

As I said before, I will do my best not to bring the issue again, so consider the matter closed.

Anonymous said...

"She wouldn't be the only female to suffer that. Janet Pym anyone? (Seriously, I want to stab Bendis in the spine for that. Not only did he kill off a character I liked while the company makes no effort to retcon her death, it represents so many things wrong w/ the industry)"

Wasp's death I think came across as a character people didn't really like dying. I mean, even Gail Simone was happy that Wasp died.

Sure, its sad that they treat her that way, but it seems that a lot of people, not just men, find her better off dead.

Besides, there are many more characters who got a worst death of late. (Like Stature. "What? You can go forward in time to save her? I'm sorry, but you can't do that!" Yeah, great going Cap. Now she's dead!)

Jarkes said...

"You left off the part where Gail Simone went way too far into detail about the bad things happening to female characters on his list. I've seen it and it takes fare too many things that happened to female characters into account.

Wish someone would mention how often men get crap piled on top of them. Like when Green Arrow was RAPED and Black Canary had the GALL to slap him for it."

Yeah, that's a double standard that, unfortunately, Linkara tends to use in his own reviews too. I applaud his feminism, but really, he does tend to forget that the "women in refrigerators" phenomenon tends to happen to men just as much.

Anonymous said...

"Are you seriously telling me that blowing up Stanford, killing most of the really funny and likable New Warriors, and then runing an hilarous and lovable character such as Speedball by turning into pathetic emo "Penance", as well as turning beloved character Iron Man into a villain and then forgetting that he was turned into a villain once the whole things ends and "Secret Invasion" begins...you are telling me that those AREN'T ridiculous circumstances?"

Hey now, Speedball is back as himself now, and Thunderbolts was pretty wild during Civil War. There's always a golden lining, such as Avengers the Initiative and Avengers Academy. Stop looking at the bigger heroes and look at the titles that rock!

"I still don't know why isn't the Wasp coming back to life. Stature I understand, she was always a D-list heroine (despite being my favorite Marvel heroine). But the Wasp? She's a major character, one of the most prominent female superheroines of the Marvel universe, and a mainstay in the Avengers team. She was just given a major role in "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" (and yeah, cancelling that was another stupid move). Major heroines like that always come back to life, so what's keeping Janet so long?"

I'm sorry, but A-List? Nope. Wasp was not A-List. She was an original Avenger, yes, but not A-lIst.

Losing Stature is a much bigger waste of a good character than Wasp, who's character got more annoying with her just being a dick to Pym all the time. Sure, in EMH's she's great, but Wasp in the comics was kinda an airhead. Then again, it was Bendis writing her.

Anonymous said...

""Civil War", "Secret Invasion", "Siege", "Avengers VS X-Men"...why does Marvel keep trying to pit heroes against each other? You are not running CBUB, you are running a comic book company, you don't need to have your superheroes fighting each other every damn month. Say what you will about the DC heroes, at last there's a sense of unity to them that the Marvel heroes can't maintain."

Only Civil War and AvX are hero vs. hero. Granted Secret Invasion was pretty awful, but Siege kicked ass until the last issue.

Eileen Gonzalez said...

As awesome as Monolith seems, I'm not sure I'd call saving Firebrand or otherwise protecting him from harm to be "noble," but I guess that's why I'm not a superhero.

Also, I'd like to second those who are requesting a review of that terrible, terrible Ms. Marvel storyline. And, while we're on the subject of horribly offensive and gratuitous rape scenes, I certainly wouldn't mind watching Nightwing #93 burn as well.

P.S. Bonus points for including a clip of one of my favorite Daily Show episodes. It makes me happy.

mogo_the_bat-ape said...

Wait, you said you thought the President's name was Rickard, as in Prez Rickard? The first teen President from that comic in the 70's? Is he really President in the DC Universe now?

BlackoutCreature said...

Why is Green Lantern in this?

Well it should be obvious, he's Hal Jordan and according to modern DC editorial, Hal Jordan is the most important person in DC comics and has to be in EVERYTHING.

Seriously, while it would've been just as random and stupid and tasteless, atleast if Kyle had shown up and started hitting Major Force over the head with a refridgerator it would've made some sense. Hal was only there so DC could glorify Hal some more.

Brian said...

Well, this series as whole was just.....trying to hard to be a anti-goverment/down with the man type of story (clearly who ever wrote it wanted to push there agenda in this series)

two things I was going add here.

1. Lewis, you know somewhere down the line somebody at DC going to get the idea to push the "Captain Atom is Monarch" angle again (just because of the reboot.

and 2. I would like DC to bring Alex Dewitt (Kyle Rayner Girlfriend who ended up in the fridge) back somehow. They did the Reboot and haven't addreassed it yet. and Who knows, she could make a intersting if not good character. :)

ShadowWing Tronix said...

Jarkes said...
Yeah, that's a double standard that, unfortunately, Linkara tends to use in his own reviews too. I applaud his feminism, but really, he does tend to forget that the "women in refrigerators" phenomenon tends to happen to men just as much.

I wouldn't say "just as much", because female characters tend to get the most of it. However, some male characters are killed off for the same reason.

Phantom Roxas said...

What was the Zero Punctuation quote a reference to, his inFamous review?

My favorite jokes were pointing out how fairly unthreatening the future Firebrand saw was and when you pointed out how writers probably think "My God. What have I done?"

As for why Hal was there, the only reason I can think of is because a Green Lantern's duty is to protect his sector. However, if that's the only excuse, then theoretically ANY hero could have been used in his place. If the idea was that it had to be a Green Lantern, then why not use Kyle Rayner? Was Kyle in some position at the time where he simply could not be used as a Green Lantern?

As for how every book you read ties into Kamandi, there are now two things I'd like to see you do. The first would be to have a storyline directly parodying Kamandi At Earth's End. The second would be to find Marvel's equivalent, where every bad Marvel book you read somehow ties back into one infamous book. Then again, that could easily just be The Clone Saga or One More Day.

Jarkes said...

Not every bad DC comic you've reviewed ties back into Kamandi. Cry for Justice and Rise of Arsenal didn't.

Ditko Gamer said...

"I think the actually character of Arnarky would have something to say to Firebitc... I mean Firebrand!!"

Amen to that. Anarky would serve up a philosophical beatdown on that punk! I do not agree with everything Lonnie has to say, but he is sure more grounded and moral than that loser.

lINKARA-
Awesome review as usual and only made more so by the ending. You are really getting good at this storyline stuff.

It was great to see a reference to my favorite Quality hero too. After this review, I am tempted to suggest reviewing Police Comics #1. I know... I know... don't suggest a comic unless you can donate it or have it available, but unfortunately the only copy I know of is in that lousy, yellowish microfiche format. But, Police #1 has the original Fireband story as well as the original Human Bomb story(though the new one was little more than a background character) and the first Plastic Man story! Yeah, I think it is a cool idea, but you probably have better resources and other ideas for Secret Origins Month. Oh well.. I should happy just to hear some of my favorite heroes mentioned.

Also, do not knock Doll Man. He was never a favorite of mine, but he was pretty neat in the original comics and was one of Quality's slightly more successful characters. But I will admit the original hero especially had an odd outfit and a silly name.

Jessica said...

My Goddess Linkara you are awesome. You explained Women in Refrigerators exactly like I do! How come ever male super hero needs to have at least one female that dies in their life for either pathos or to get their lazy butts into gear? Why are so many Heroines de-powered as a why to put them in danger or to out and out kill them off?

I saw that someone talked about the "Rape of Ms. Marvel" story and I believe it needs a good burning Linkara. That story alone stopped me from read comics for YEARS. YEARS!

Anonymous said...

No offense but why didn't you just add that ending to the last video?

It's just that I had a hard day at work and an even harder time finding an internet connection at the camp I'm working at, and that ending was so short, as was the last.

Anyway, I'm still looking forward to seeing the outcome. Keep up the awesomeness.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"No offense but why didn't you just add that ending to the last video?

It's just that I had a hard day at work and an even harder time finding an internet connection at the camp I'm working at, and that ending was so short, as was the last."

Because I only filmed it last night. My original concept for it was Linkara saying goodbye to everybody, but with Animinneapolis I was running out of time and I needed to get the episode over and done with. Thus it'd be easier to only say goodbye to one character and get the ball rolling that Linkara's quest starts here.

Falcovsleon20 said...

"Wasp's death I think came across as a character people didn't really like dying. I mean, even Gail Simone was happy that Wasp died."

Gail Simone just lost 500 points on my respect meter then.

That's a terrible reason to kill someone off. You don't do that to a character people hate, you try and find a way to make them engaging and have people change their minds and it's not like that's an impossible thing to do w/ Janet because EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES ALREADY SHOWED US THAT IT CAN BE DONE!

No its because Bendis is a biased hack of a writer that everyone praises for some reason and Marvel doesn't want to argue with someone who makes them money because they're run by monkeys.

And if that's really the load of pigcrap of a reason Marvel is trying to spoon-feed us then what the hell has been keeping them from killing off Red Hulk? A guy who was an interesting idea in theory but completely botched in execution, spent a few years as a villain sue, and pretty much no one I know likes or cares about?

Daniel2112 said...

Green Lantern was there primarily to drop a refrigerator on Major Farce (no, that wasn't a typo). If they'd wanted it to actually *mean* a damned thing, it should've been Rayner, but they didn't, so it was Jordan. Well, that, and he was there to keep Farce busy until Atom showed up. Farce is quite honestly out of the Titan's weight class, so it had to be *someone* and heaven forbid the newly-introduced Firebrand character get a chance to impress anyone with bravery, skill, and luck!

Sijo said...

Obviously, "Battle for Bludhaven" was just a tie-up series- a comic that existed just because DC had a bunch of hanging plotlines from certain comics (like Nightwing's) as well as some they wanted to set up (like Captain Atom finally becoming Monarch) and they decided to just put them all in one title and gave it to somebody to write saying "here, make sense out of it". And the guy obviously barely even tried. Sad to say, I've seen a lot of that from DC in recent years.

I know I sound sometimes as if I hate DC comics, but I don't. I love the DC universe, I literally have as far as I have been able to read. But ever since Identity Crisis, there's been a cynicism in the directions that it has been allowed to take, that make even Marvel's Civil War phase look almost OK by comparison. At least there you had the impression things were going to get better eventually (and they did) but in DC, the heroes win their fights but the World doesn't improve. I'm not asking for EVERY superhero story to be inspiring... just most of them (otherwise, are they really about heroes?)

Re: Linkara's Journey, still not sure what to make of it. I will wait a little more before I comment on it. But I trust Lewis, he's a good writer (and actor.)

RB said...

"Put that hand down right now!"

Okay, I admit it. I really did raise my hand. Man, you know us.

Gyre said...

Here's the problem. This clearly is just meant to be an attack on the Bush era. That actually breaks down into several more problems and missed opportunities so I'm going to go through them one by one, pardon my soapbox standing.

1. The entire mess is blamed on metahuman terrorists. There are multiple people of great fame who can, at any point in time, come forward and say 'this is actually what happened' and they can name names, specify dates and give details that any decent investigator could use to prove that what they were saying was the truth.

2. The excuse of terrorists doesn't do anything to explain the (very) well known Bludhaven refugees who were there for months (if not years) because of radiation stories. That's a long time for the U.S. military to search through an abandoned city for terrorists.

3. After all the other events in D.C.U. we are expected to believe that THIS was the event that led to reality ensuing and the U.S. government not putting up with more bull from metahumans? Isn't this the same universe where Superman gets brainwashed and turned evil every other week and where the Joker once threatened the U.N. with gas and nukes? This is supposed to be what spurs Congress to give the president a new army?

4. Why would they make a new force of metahumans for this? Why not simply increase recruitment of metahumans in the F.B.I.*? There's a reason why Bush only created an organization that was supposed to improve intelligence flow, the C.I.A., F.B.I., A.T.F. and similar agencies already existed.

5. This could have led to an excellent point on why superhero organizations wouldn't work. Lack of consistent funding, poor training, potential for allowing politics and personal opinions about society influence crime-stopping activities** and zero accountability to the public they claim to protect all mean that yes, there would be some kind of registration act and it would have taken places decades ago. However comic book franchises are deathly allergic to the idea of reality or change in their stories and so they always find a way to keep their heroes nice and private. Have fun the next time Superman refuses to stop people bombing abortion clinics citizens of D.C. America!

6. It's really just someone trying to put in then-current events with heavy handed political opinions. This fails in two ways. The first is that much like some of the more idiotic series from the 1980s many people won't have the faintest idea what's being referenced. The second, tied into the first, is that it's so heavy handed that the reader is not allowed to have opinions. The way it ties into being outdated is that while the reader isn't allowed to have opinions the reader also won't know what the heck the point is, making the series incomprehensible. There isn't real debate, just straw men to knock down.

*Incidentally the use of the U.S. military actually never makes sense because, by law regularly upheld by the Supreme Court, the U.S. military cannot take part in law enforcement activities. The best exception to this would be the poorly named National Guard who are state-specific and mostly only come out to help with disasters or riots.
** Since the Justice League doesn't seem to have much of an internal affairs section people sure are lucky that people like Batman isn't racist and inclined to ignore crimes on African Americans.

In re. to ShadowWing Tronix: Men do seem to get killed a good deal, often with far less drama attached than women. However I find it more distressing that there seems to be a trend of it being alright for women to sexually assault men in comics with the audience intended to find less weight in it than if it had happened to a woman.

Anonymous said...

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6kcz1xNZG1r9u466o1_500.jpg

No Marvel, you're now DC!

Anonymous said...

"And if that's really the load of pigcrap of a reason Marvel is trying to spoon-feed us then what the hell has been keeping them from killing off Red Hulk? A guy who was an interesting idea in theory but completely botched in execution, spent a few years as a villain sue, and pretty much no one I know likes or cares about?"

Red Hulk under Jeff Loeb is awful

Red Hulk under Parker is AMAZING. If you aren't reading the book now, you're missing out. Karma has caught up to the Red Hulk and the universe CRAPS on him completely. IT'S GLORIOUS!!!

Seriously, we get Wasp is your waifu, but that's how the dice fell.

Jaebird said...

Either you or someone else here should take that bit about Monarch and spam it over DC if they ever try to redo that concept in the New 52 stuff.

Anyway, great review, and I honestly dug the art while watching this, despite the inconsistencies.

Rabbi Joe said...

Best line must be Major Force's "You scream like a girl... like a one-armed girl."
I keep waiting for some evidence that DC has had any new ideas in this millennium, but so far... still rehashing. At least that means that the return of Snowflame is inevitable.

Craig said...

If memory serves, the President in this story is yet another of Father Time's plans that gets resolved in the Freedom Fighters mini that Linkara mentioned. He's actually a robot put in the position as part of Father Time's plan to get Uncle Sam back.

Said robot's name is Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard.

Anonymous said...

It seems like this series is the perfect opportunity for the clip from Billy Madison where the guy running the quiz says, "We're all dumber for listening to you," or something like that its been a while.

Thanks for taking a useless crap event and turning it into an amusing series of videos Linkara.

I'm guessing the summer heat is the reason why you decided to go with the vest that looks like your mirror counterpart's vest as apposed to your coat.

I do have a question about your current storyline though, if all the stuff that you enchanted doesn't work anymore, what's keeping Pyramid head in his Pokeball?

Ming said...

Unbelievable, looking back on this comic, this is an incredibly stupid comic with stupid characters and plot points and a really stupid ending. Overall, this serves no purpose other than to set up plot points in DC Countdown. I can think of a million ways to actually improve Battle for Bludhaven.

And why did they have to make Captain Atom Monarch? If they wanted to do Captain Atom as Monarch, they should have just kept the intended ending instead of just throwing out all logical clues and hints for some mean-spirited ending. It's like DC is obsessed with trying to fix that stupid mistake they did.

Great review on this incredibly stupid comic. Loved the little rants against the Monarch fiasco and the Women in Refrigerators trend.

Can't wait to see where your quest takes you.

weckar said...

Linkara, you keep saying it had to effect on anything. Unfortunately, this comic is COMPLETELY absorbed into the DC Universe Online continuity. Mind you that that is a separate universe with its own choices in canon, so that is indeed just as stupid as it sounds.

Angel Asylum said...

Ok, that ending had a frelling whiplash deja vu on me, where did you steal it from cause its almost word for word scene for scene from something else.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Ok, that ending had a frelling whiplash deja vu on me, where did you steal it from cause its almost word for word scene for scene from something else."

I honestly have no idea. If I stole it, it was unintentional and subconscious, since I wrote it up at 3 in the morning trying to get the episode completed because of the convention taking up so much of my time during the weekend.

Anonymous said...

Father Time also looks like Cardinal Richelieu from The Three Musketeers. Also Jeff Buckley died of an ACCIDENTAL drowning. Not suicide.

Advice with attitude said...

"The stories around ity are weak and moronic"...Sounds exactly like what was happening over at Marvel at the time to me then!

Angel Asylum said...

Sorry didn't mean to sound acussitory it's just the deja vu hit me so hard, I was shocked, just wish I could remember what it was.... I've seen to many Shows and Tv X_X I can't even remember which one.

The Exiled One said...

What's with all the Wasp hate here? I love the Wasp, she is one of my favorite Marvel superheroine! I don't get it, what's so bad about her.

Then again, I DO have a giantess fetish, so I'm kind of biased to like any superheroine who grows to giant size...

And as for Wasp being a whiny airhead...are we forgetting the time when Black Canary married Green Arrow and left the Birds of Prey? The time where Dinah was written as a whiny airhead? Are you telling me that, just because ONE writer wrote Dinah as a whiny airhead, it would justify another writer killing her? And that it wouldn't be a supremely dickish move to have people be glad that Dinah is dead, just because of that ONE run that depicted her as an airhead?

"Well it should be obvious, he's Hal Jordan and according to modern DC editorial, Hal Jordan is the most important person in DC comics and has to be in EVERYTHING."

Actually, according to current DC editorial, the most important person in the DC Universe, the one that has to be on everything is...Cyborg (Victor Stone, the black one from the Teen Titans). Why? Because he's a tech-based hero, and we use technology in our everyday lifes. *facepalm*

Oh, by the way: pointless deaths/ruinations of likable and fun superheroes doesn't stop at women. No, no, such a thinhg known no gender. I can make a more-or-less short list right here:

-they way "Civil War" fucked with Speedball that I mentioned before

-killing off Ryan Choi, which not only stuffed a lovable male superhero in the fridge, but also ruined Giganta's chances at a redemption

-killing off Jaime Reyes, and doing it shortly after Ryan's death

-kiling off both Bart Allen and Wally West just so they could bring Barry Allen back

-killing off Marvin White instead of actually reinventing him in an interesting and unique fashion (and since this kind of shit knows no species either, look at what they did to Wonder Dog)

-turning Iron Man into a villain during "Civil War", then turning him good again during "Secret Invasion" and then, in every single other book since that, pretending that he never turned evil to begin with

-stripping Johnny Blaze of his Ghost Rider powers and giving the mantle to some newbie instead of to Danny Ketch

-giving Connor Hawke (the other Green Arrow) amnesia and in the process removing him of both his unique skills and his interesting personality

-and don't even get me started on what they did to Roy Harper in "Rise of Arsenal" (by the way, am I the only one who remembers that, the FIRST time Roy Harper took the moniker "Arsenal", it DIDN'T involve character ruination? You know, back when he was with the 90s incarnation of the Titans?).

Dai said...

Anybody else think that the Hologram-Linkara will end up becoming evil somehow? Like Dr. Insano will reprogram it or something.

strafe said...

This comic just lookss.... pointless. I mean aside from the return of captain adam and that whole uncle sam thing, i dont really think this comic ever affected anything in the DCU.

Also, if the writer wanted to have a green lantern taking on major force, why didnt they use Kyle Rayner, since thats who the "Women in fridges event" happened too.

Anonymous said...

That analogy to Nazi Germany you made was actually more fitting than you probably intended
It really was a very nice tidy place to live in.
As long as, you know, you were of Germanic descend and agreed with the government.

I also disagree with you on the concepts
I think they were actually pretty awesome
The Force of July, while they may look goofy, are a pretty uncommon concept - patriots who are actually evil. Americans seem to idealize patriotism way too much, often ignoring the violent zealotry that comes with it.
And as for the Nuclear Family, they look like they would fit perfectly into Fallout.
I generally love it when they bring back old, goofy concepts in general.
Reminds me that there were times when comics weren't boring.

As for Firebrand, besides the fact that you are out of practice on you'r Superboy Prime voice , you can be pure of heart, and yet still be an anarchist and an idiot

I think that Kyle beating Major Force over the head with the refrigerator was pretty damn therapeutic, one day someone should just go all out and actually stuff him there completely
It's like beating the Joker over the head with a crowbar, you'll never get tired of it (seriously, Jason and Damian should get together one day, and make a contest out of it)

And speaking of the fridge
I always thought the term was pretty damn sexist, especially seeing as this sort of thing tends to happen to male characters as well, and actually more often (most recent example, Rocket Red in JLI)

Anonymous said...

"The people directly responsible weren't metahuman terrorists. They were two guys who, as you said, were working for you! Instead of declaring that all Metahumans are dangerous why didn't they just put out a manhunt on the one guy responsible they could still technically blame, Captain Atom."

You seriously believe that the US government (or ANY government for that matter), conspiracy or not, would ever admit something like this?

Falcovsleon20 said...

"Seriously, we get Wasp is your waifu, but that's how the dice fell."

It's not just a case of a character I care about dying though. Wasp's death also represents several problems with the industry today.

They still took a character that despite how popular they may or may not have been, still was a founding and long lasting member of the Avengers and has been around for decades and rather than kill her off in a blaze of glory and a way that honored her legacy, used her as nothing more than a throw-away plot device for shock value and a Baysplosion.

And what impact came out of this loss? Did her death affect things in any big way? No we just got Hank taking up her mantle only to piss on her legacy five seconds later by lip-locking a copy of her which was really Ultron in disguise!

So no, the fact that I'm a fan of the Wasp was just salt in the wound. The real problem with it is that it sends a bad message to comic writers and readers alike. Namely: "Got a character people hate? Don't bother to try to make them likeable and relatable. Just kill them off in a fancy drawn explosion because comic readers are sheep that'll buy anything regardless of how bad the story is."

And that's why Bendis needs to be banned from writing in general. He's a hack on the level of Quesada.

Laughing Hyena said...

@Master Control Cynic

"In addition to what Linkara said":
Check online Halloween stores or ebay if you need to buy props, keep in mind that they are costly at times. Another way to save money is to check for Thrift stores in your area for spare parts or clothing you can alter.
Save newspapers for paper mache or plastic items in your house, you never know when you might need them for a project.

And: Stagecraft, stagecraft, stagecraft! I cannot emphasis that enough: Take stagecraft theater classes or if you can't do that: Find stagecraft books.
Try looking for Thurston James' books: Such as, "The Theatre Props Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Theater Properties, Materials and Construction".
There's also Andy Wilson's "Making Stage Props: A Practical Guide". And any of Ken Pitek's Halloween Propmaker's Handbook or Shawn Mitchell's Halloween Haunt books.

And lastly, there's a great community of Halloween prop builders online with links to sites showing how to make certain things or Make.com (Also a Magazine). Links:
http://www.halloweenmonsterlist.info/
http://makezine.com/
http://www.instructables.com/
http://www.hauntproject.com/projdetail.asp?category=Static%20Props

On-Topic: Great episode Linkara, I was laughing through the entire thing.

Werebunny said...

So, when in doubt, throw a Green Lantern in there?

Also, the foreboding level on Linkara's journey has risen dramatically. Worry has now been activated. Standby for tension.

Adam said...

"And speaking of the fridge
I always thought the term was pretty damn sexist, especially seeing as this sort of thing tends to happen to male characters as well, and actually more often (most recent example, Rocket Red in JLI)"

It's not just killing a character off, it's killing them off simply to give character development to someone else - Gwen Stacy, Alex, Wasp and many more. I can't think of many male examples, outside of Uncle Ben or Black Widow's husband but we only saw them for a few pages anyway. As for giving female characters a CMoA before going out in a blaze of glory? The last time I remember that happening was Supergirl back in the original Crisis, beating the crap out of the Anti-Monitor while letting everyone else escape. 27 years on, it's "Whoops, Janet was dumb enough to drink a mystery vial and now she's a Skrull bomb. It's her own fault for being an important female character while Bendis and Quesada were on a mission to wipe them all out."

Anonymous said...

"What's with all the Wasp hate here? I love the Wasp, she is one of my favorite Marvel superheroine! I don't get it, what's so bad about her.

Then again, I DO have a giantess fetish, so I'm kind of biased to like any superheroine who grows to giant size..."

Honestly, as bad as Wasp's death was, I thought Stature's was much worst. Especially since she was joining other teams and showing up in other books, but then OOPS, Dr. Doom blasts her, quick death (Rogue even says "See ya" to the team as she's lying dead?) Pissed me off!

"It's not just a case of a character I care about dying though. Wasp's death also represents several problems with the industry today.

They still took a character that despite how popular they may or may not have been, still was a founding and long lasting member of the Avengers and has been around for decades and rather than kill her off in a blaze of glory and a way that honored her legacy, used her as nothing more than a throw-away plot device for shock value and a Baysplosion.

And what impact came out of this loss? Did her death affect things in any big way? No we just got Hank taking up her mantle only to piss on her legacy five seconds later by lip-locking a copy of her which was really Ultron in disguise!

So no, the fact that I'm a fan of the Wasp was just salt in the wound. The real problem with it is that it sends a bad message to comic writers and readers alike. Namely: "Got a character people hate? Don't bother to try to make them likeable and relatable. Just kill them off in a fancy drawn explosion because comic readers are sheep that'll buy anything regardless of how bad the story is."

And that's why Bendis needs to be banned from writing in general. He's a hack on the level of Quesada."

Though, they did give her a sendoff funeral issue in Mighty Avengers, and Hank Pym could finally stop being a punching bag for other heroes to have Jan disagree with him. In fact, Hank Pym kinda got a huge boost in both Mighty Avengers and Avengers Academy because he wasn't resorted to as the "Bad guy who slapped Jan". He was able to show his other side.

And don't go on about Hank Pym being bad cause of the slap. Reed Richards and Peter Parker have both slapped their wives many times. Pym regrets it and is trying to become a better person. He even has Tigra's son that he is now the God Father of, and trying to look after the Avengers Academy kids. There was that whole arc about him almost finding his wife.

So I would say that other writers like Christos Gage are respecting the Wasp situation. Just not the bigger ones.

starofjustice said...

I loved your reaction to Reactron dying. Pretty much exactly how I felt about the death or possibility of death of any character when I was doing my Twilight reviews.

Anonymous said...

"It's not just killing a character off, it's killing them off simply to give character development to someone else - Gwen Stacy, Alex, Wasp and many more. I can't think of many male examples, outside of Uncle Ben or Black Widow's husband but we only saw them for a few pages anyway. As for giving female characters a CMoA before going out in a blaze of glory? The last time I remember that happening was Supergirl back in the original Crisis, beating the crap out of the Anti-Monitor while letting everyone else escape. 27 years on, it's "Whoops, Janet was dumb enough to drink a mystery vial and now she's a Skrull bomb. It's her own fault for being an important female character while Bendis and Quesada were on a mission to wipe them all out."

Well a few more male example are like Bruce Wayne's parents(well his dad at least), Dick Grayson's parents and in some cases older brother, Jason Todd, Jack Drake, in some canons Paw Kent, Matt Murdock's dad, Professor Broom, and it isn't ways a death used to drive a hero to act sometime it something bad that happens to a loved one to drive them. Like kidnapping the heroes' children!

Falcovsleon20 said...

"There was that whole arc about him almost finding his wife.

So I would say that other writers like Christos Gage are respecting the Wasp situation. Just not the bigger ones."

I consider that more of a tease. All that build up just for it to be Korvac's wife. And it doesn't look like Hank's still trying to remedy this either. I love Christos Gage's work and Avenger's Academy nonetheless but it still kinda frustrated me.

Anonymous said...

Honest question.

In what way would you be okay with a female character dying? Nobody is immuned to death, so how can a female die that wouldn't cause the ruckus of "REFRIGERATORS"

Gyre said...

In re. to Anonymous #71.

Linkara mentioned Supergirl's death a while back and how that was well handled.
Personally I don't think everyone needs an epic scene, indeed if I wrote my own comic I probably would use quick deaths to show that death doesn't come nicely to make you look better*. However I'd take the time properly develop characters before their death and make sure that their deaths had real impact beyond making someone angry**. Also I would try to avoid making a big scene by killing people in a universe where logically it's not that hard to resurrect them***. Killing someone and then not bringing them back to life doesn't make much sense in a series where heroes, convicts, sacrifices and little old women are brought back every other week.

*Of course any comic book I wrote would be fairly cynical and unpleasant for anyone unfortunate enough to be in it.
**Which is something that often fails to happen leading to the suspicion that the writer simply wanted someone to die.
*** Seriously Magneto throws a fit and tries to wipe out all life because his daughter was killed when he could have just asked Dr. Strange to bring her back?

Rhodoferax said...

Regarding Firebrand's silly description of what went down, I was under the impression that such events were a daily occurrence in the DC Universe.

As for the cursing, I take the view that censoring it with symbols shouldn't be done. If you want to have a character curse, write out the curse. If you don't want to have a curse printed in the comic, don't have the character cursing - use other words instead.

Garguax said...

Awesome video Linkara!
Hey did you know that Lian Harper is back in the animated Young Justice show?

Sekele said...

"So no, the fact that I'm a fan of the Wasp was just salt in the wound. The real problem with it is that it sends a bad message to comic writers and readers alike. Namely: "Got a character people hate? Don't bother to try to make them likeable and relatable. Just kill them off in a fancy drawn explosion because comic readers are sheep that'll buy anything regardless of how bad the story is." "

And this is why I want to slap Linkara every time he suggest they should kill-off Jason Todd again
It's just naked hypocrisy

It is also the reason why I love Red Hood and the Outlaws, seeing how making the character more likable is one of the goals it set out to achieve, and as far as I'm concerned, succeeded at

" "And speaking of the fridge
I always thought the term was pretty damn sexist, especially seeing as this sort of thing tends to happen to male characters as well, and actually more often (most recent example, Rocket Red in JLI)"

It's not just killing a character off, it's killing them off simply to give character development to someone else - Gwen Stacy, Alex, Wasp and many more. "

Which is EXACTLY the case with Rocket Red
He was killed in a completely pointless and undignified manner (dying off-panel during a random terrorist bombing), and the only purpose it served was to make everyone else on the team all mopey, but otherwise not affecting the plot in the slightest

As for other male characters stuffed into the fridge:
Jason Todd, Superboy, Bart Allen, Bucky, Tim Drake's father, Sean
and the list would go on, but I don't have the time

DefectiveType40 said...

Regarding the pronounciation of Bluedhaven:

While I did take German in high school, I don't mind that much that you aren't pronouncing the umlaut--I doubt DC was actually thinking about the pronunciation when they created the city. Seems to me like they were thinking from a "poor literacy is cool" standpoint. And, quite frankly, if you were to actually pronounce it as if it were German (sounding more like bloohd-haffen) I would probably be laughing much harder than I should be.

Anyway, excellent episode, greatly looking forward to where this storyline is going.

Oh, and happy Force of July!

Anonymous said...

Nooo! Black Baron!
Now who shall teach us the wisdom of our lord and savior - Pimp Jesus?

Oh well, at least we still have A pimp named Slickback
May God bless him http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6_zN5Lh2yQ

Anonymous said...

Which is EXACTLY the case with Rocket Red
He was killed in a completely pointless and undignified manner (dying off-panel during a random terrorist bombing), and the only purpose it served was to make everyone else on the team all mopey, but otherwise not affecting the plot in the slightest

As for other male characters stuffed into the fridge:
Jason Todd, Superboy, Bart Allen, Bucky, Tim Drake's father, Sean
and the list would go on, but I don't have the time


I agree with Red Rocket, but none of the examples you posted, except maybe Tim Drakes father, were fridging. All of that were heroic and character driven deaths. And aside from TIms father, all of them came back better then before, in terms of powers, character development or relevence to readers. That's not fridging.

Scott Tibbs said...

I realize that it's fairly commonplace in storytelling for the government to hire some sort of character of questionable morals and/or mental stability who turns on them leading to questions about why this person was hired and/or given powers/training/weapons etc. in the first place, and that's where they're going with Major Force, but...

This character has long since proven he can't be trusted and is far too dangerous to be on any sort of government team. He has a long record of this stuff.

I could see Luthor or the Joker bringing him in - Luthor because he's so power-hungry he doesn't care or Joker because he's insane - but there's no way the government would hire Major Force again.

By the way, love the "MF" logo for Major Force. Describes the character perfectly.

The refrigerator thing is 100% inappropriate. Turning the savage murder of a civilian woman into a joke is sick. And as many folks before this comment said, it should have been Rayner, not Jordan.

J.C. said...

My only problem with Woman in a Fridge is that it's often linked to sexism, I often see it as lazy writing.
It is so often used that a main character's loved ones are hurt and harmed in some way to provide motivation for the main character. If the character is old enough, late teens, etc, it is a lover. With the predominance of straight male leading characters in comics, that means the predominance of female side characters dying increases.
Woman in the Fridge is more a by-product of lazy and unimaginative writing than any inborn sexism.
I suppose I should state that some horrible things are done to women in comics. It's pretty cringing, and they can be Woman in the fridge moments, but, at least from my perspective, it's roots are more in lazy writing.

Falcovsleon20 said...

"Nooo! Black Baron!
Now who shall teach us the wisdom of our lord and savior - Pimp Jesus?"

Oh but you forget. The Black Baron, stop staring, never stays dead for long as evidenced here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ov04Ut9BNA

And here too for that matter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpUO68xpcOU&feature=related

Arianne said...

The Comic mini series really sucked. I hope We see Linkara's journey somewhat . What would really suck if that other Magic gun user decides to pop up while Linkara is out.But, than again I know Pollo and Co would've done something if that happen. I just know it.

Nerd Blog said...

@Falcovsleon21

Um, Janet hasn't come back because not many people want her back. Red Hulk has been winning people's fandom for quite some time. Also, Bendis is a hack writer? Someone hasn't read ultimate spider-man, his run on daredevil,his run on ultimate x-men, and anything non event related he's written.

Cryptix said...

I'm going back and re-watching this arc for my own nefarious purposes, and I had to comment on this one because that last line... that last line is so bittersweet considering the arcs that followed the return.

I just... augh. Feels. That's what the kids are calling it these days, right? All the feels.

Anonymous said...

Marvel's super human registration was stupid, and DC's following the example and makes it even worse by taking politics even further by saying the government is evil and will do evil for no reason.