The Comic book

Some spoilers but, hell, you can read the damn thing on line...






Well I just read Issue #10 of the new, improved comic.

I have come to the decision that it's not an improvement. The universe is
dark, b ut that's not unexpected, but the heroes cast no light. Statesman
(the hero) is depicted as uniformly arrogant and imperious. He has all of
superman's ideals OK, but he enforces them with a mailed fist. For the
second time we see Manticor turning on fellow heroes with some ulterior
motive that we will only find out about after we go through half the book
with people wondering whose side he's on or ready to deck him for it.

Since he's been the star of the comic to date, I wonder if anyone will ever
remeber he can warp his arrows around obstacles?


The only bright spot for me was Manticore's musings on Ms. Liberty, Mynx and
Swan, how each has become a hero in their own right after coming up the
ranks as sidekicks. My second, Rolling Thunder spends 90% of her screen
time sidekicked to RL friends' heroes who are larger (Drop Kick and Fermium
Man are currently 42s).

Rolling came into her own when she left her 20's behind. I think it was
when I learned what Hurricane was for. She was a fresh-minted level 2 when
she went Winter Lord hunting in Galaxy City with RL friends' characters Drop
Kick and Fermium Man, who were close to level 20 and wanted to Winter-Lord
their way over the hump. 2 hours later, she was level 15 and short on
influence and contacts. She sat on the shelf for a while before re-joining
her mentors, learning how to keep Gale from blowing bad guys away from Drop
Kick (DK is a scrapper) and them having to schedule missions around her
being too small for Striga Island.

Now she's going through mid-30's missions I remember going through before as
a sidekick. Working independently of her mentors, she was the foundation of
a successful run at the Founder's Falls respec trial. Nothing defends a
fixed position like a storm defender.

But, yeah, the comic is very much not my thing. I'll give it one more issue
to lure me back.


--
John Trauger,
Vorlonagent


"Methane martini.
Shaken, not stirred."


Vorlonagent (M), level 36 Blaster (Electric/Energy), Guardian
RolIing Thunder (F), Level 35 Defender (Storm/Electric), Infinity
Lemon Tree (F), Level 31 Scrapper (Spine/Invuln), Liberty
Pulsar Staraven (F), Level 23 Controller (Grav/Rad), Liberty
NightfalI (M), Level 19 Defender (Dark/Dark), Pinnacle
Steel Night (M), Level 18 Tanker (Invulnerable/Super-Strength), Virtue
lmpact (F), Level 18 Blaster (Gun/Energy), Virtue
Faraday Facade (F), Level 18 Controller (Illusion/Forcefield), Justice
L33t M4str (M), Level 17 Blaster (Gun/Devices), Liberty
Luminant (F), Level 17 Defender (Rad/Rad), Victory
Girl at the Bar (F), Level 17 Controller (Mind/Empthy), Triumph

Vorlonagent wrote:
> Some spoilers but, hell, you can read the damn thing on line...
>
> Well I just read Issue #10 of the new, improved comic.
>
> I have come to the decision that it's not an improvement. The universe is
> dark, b ut that's not unexpected, but the heroes cast no light. Statesman
> (the hero) is depicted as uniformly arrogant and imperious. He has all of
> superman's ideals OK, but he enforces them with a mailed fist. For the
> second time we see Manticor turning on fellow heroes with some ulterior
> motive that we will only find out about after we go through half the book
> with people wondering whose side he's on or ready to deck him for it.
>
> Since he's been the star of the comic to date, I wonder if anyone will ever
> remeber he can warp his arrows around obstacles?
>
> The only bright spot for me was Manticore's musings on Ms. Liberty, Mynx and
> Swan, how each has become a hero in their own right after coming up the
> ranks as sidekicks. My second, Rolling Thunder spends 90% of her screen
> time sidekicked to RL friends' heroes who are larger (Drop Kick and Fermium
> Man are currently 42s).

[snip]

> But, yeah, the comic is very much not my thing. I'll give it one more issue
> to lure me back.

I much preferred the first series. I liked War Witch and Apex and
Horus, mostly because it showed some of the behind-the-scenes dynamics
of being a hero. Heroes as roommates (with a little sister temporarily
crashing) interested me much more than the splendid isolation of the
Batcave.
The new series takes itself too seriously, I think. Yeah, gritty is
good, and I understand the writers are using Statesman to illustrate the
arrogance of power, but... he comes off as a completely unlikeable
self-righteous jackass. Charisma is as important to leadership as
intelligence and competence. I am also getting tired of the "Manticore
as the maverick who appears to be a traitor but who is actually doing
something clever and unexpected" shtick, since this will be the second
time they've used it in half a dozen issues... unless, of course,
Manticore really IS doing a heel turn, which would be pretty damned cool...
--
[The address listed is a spam trap. To reply, take off every zig.]
Richard Clayton
"During wars laws are silent." -- Cicero