I Think They're Making Out Like Bandits
I find the whole "DiDio has a vendetta against the Giffen Justice League" idea a little silly. I mean, has anyone actually taken a good hard look at what most of the characters are doing now? Sure, some of them are dead. But how did the end up that way?
Sue Dibny: Was murdered by Ray Palmer's nutty ex-wife.
Ralph Dibny: Was a major player in the biggest DC event ever. Went out with one hell of a bang, outsmarting the freakin' Devil in the process. Well played, Mr. Dibny.
Blue Beete: Was shot in the head by Max Lord, which kicked off the countdown to Infinite Crisis.
Max Lord: Shot Blue Beetle in the head, then got his head twisted around by Wonder Woman.
Guy Gardner: Is currently headlining an ongoing series.
Booster God: Is a major player in the biggest DC event ever. Is slated to headline an ongoing series after that event comes to a close.
Fire: Is a major supporting character in an ongoing series.
Captain Atom: Is shaping up to be an extremely pivotal character in the things that DC has planned.
Martian Manhunter: Just wrapped up a solo miniseries.
Batman: Is still the goddamn Batman.
So yeah, it seems to me that the vast majority of the Giffen League is making out pretty well. I mean, they're getting more play now than they were before Dan DiDio started running the show.
Am I forgetting anyone?
Labels: 52, Countdown, JLA, Keith Giffen
posted by Diamondrock @ 8:46 AM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Captain Marvel, who is freakin' everywhere nowadays...
Grumble, grumble, grumble...I suppose you are right. Except that Ice is dead, so is Dmitri, Sue, Ralph and Ted. I miss Ted. How can Booster have a series without Ted? Oh, and Max. And where's Scott Free and Oberon and L-Ron?
Crab, crab, crab.
Captain Atom has turned EVIL!
Fire may be unrecognizible.
Martian Manhunter's mini sucked.
The Cass Cain fandom has basically proven that Batman is being mind-controlled, or THAT'S NOT BRUCE!
Oh, he hates the Giffen League, alright.
"Getting more play" isn't the same as "positive exposure" or "being treated with respect".
As far as I understand it, people's complaints stem from the fact that the characters' fun and happy natures are being destroyed through a series of grizzly murders.
Seems like a vendetta to me.
As for the list:
I'm not sure Batman should count because he's the goddamn Batman.
Martian Manhunter did get a series. A series in which he was transformed to be a darker, grittier superhero (which may be stepping on Marvel's trademark of dark, gritty characters).
Ditto Captain Marvel.
Captain Atom, I haven't heard anything about at all, so I'll keep quiet about him. Except to say that the fact I haven't heard anything about him seems somewhat telling.
Fire is in Checkmate, supposedly. I've been reading every issue of Checkmate since it came out and can only think of one scene to remind me Fire is a "major supporting character". And that scene involves her being blackmailed by Waller, so there must have been some more "darkening" with her character.
Guy and Booster, I will agree, are doing quite well. I'm not certain how much I care about Booster as a headlining character, but I'll be checking out his series anyway.
The rest: dead. Murdered, actually. No going quietly into the sweet night or heroically sacrificing themselves for the greater good or anything like that.
So, yeah. I've never even read the JLI series, but I can definitely see some sort of vendetta at work.
Ok lets break out "A New Beginning" and "Formerly Known as the Justice League" and see how everyone is doing...
Guy: High exposure in GL Corps book
Black Canary: semi-retired and possibly marrying Ollie. I stopped reading Winnick's DC books so I don't know how much exposure she's getting
Mr.Miracle/Oberon: No idea. But more stuff is planned with the New Gods in the future from what I understand, so thats hopeful
Captain Marvel: Well in continuity you've got the Winnick book. Which I haven't read because it seems to be almost universally panned by those critics I respect. And the GOOD book is definately non-continuity
Martian Manhunter: Got another mini-series
Blue Beetle: Murdered as part of the IC set-up
Max Lord: Character ENTIRELY retconned into utter nonsense as part of set-up for IC. Killed by Wonder Woman
Dr. Fate: MIA with various one-shots exploring bringing him/it back
Batman: Is the fucking Batman, no more can be said
Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi/Dr. Light: Powers stolen by evil Dr. Light. May have gotten powers back at some point. Popped up briefly in 52
The Gray Man: Destroyed waaaay back in the initial JSA relaunch by Mordu IIRC
The Nukebusters/Bialya/Colonel Rumaan Harjavti: No idea
Rocket Red Brigade: Well the one who actually joined is dead, sacrificed trying to stop OMAC units in the IC build-up. No idea about the rest
Booster Gold: Major push in 52. Looks to be getting own series
Royal Flush Gang: Recreated in newer, edgier version during IC build-up
The Creeper: Nothing I can remember recently
Captain Atom: Aren't they turning him into the Monarch again or something? I vaguely recall him being the Wildstorm universe for a bit
Elognated Man/Sue Dibney: Both dead. Sue murdered by a friend for reasons even crazy people would look at and go "thats just stupid". Plus of course the retconned in rape. Ralph self-sacrificed to take out Faust and Neron. Which I've heard has already been rendered moot somewhere recentlly. But I'm not sure on that
Fire: Secondary character in Checkmate
G'nort/L-ron: No idea
Mary Marvel: In a coma. Soon to be darkafied and made edgier
Manga Khan: No idea
I wouldn't go so far as to claim Didio has some kind of agenda against the Giffen JLAers. But I wouldn't say that the majority are being handled WELL. What with the several deaths and what not...
I'm going to have to agree with the majority, here.
Being treated well doesn't mean, IMHO, getting a lot of play.
As stated, many of the Bwah-ha-ha Leaguers are dead, dark as hell, or enroute to one or the other (poor Mary Marvel, for one).
Does DiDio have an actual grudge? Not sure that he does, but seeing how terribly they've been treated as opposed to, say, the "original" Perez-Wolfman Titans (the bulk of which are still alive and not nearly as dark, except Grayson), does lend credence to the view.
Take it and run.
Oh, SallyP...
make sure you buy "Birds of Prey" tomorrow...!
Ohhhhh....! Scipio, I love you.
I think what's being targeted isn't specifically JLA/JLI characters, but C-list characters. That series was all about pushing C-listers up into the Big Leagues, but only a few have remained there, and the rest have fallen back into "easy target" territory.
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