posted
It's odd that, after reading IC, I headed here. Nice that there's a thread :)
My overwhelming reaction to IC #1 is: eh.
Bats, Diana, and Supes at each other's throats. I was tired of that by 1988 or so. I thought one of the very few good things to come out of Crisis was Perez's Wonder Woman. I haven't followed her title for years now - good to know that Perez's Diana is completely gone now. I only buy a couple of titles every month these days, so I'm not current on the DCU. I take it Conner is still gnashing his teeth over being a clone? Great. Was Ratcatcher an existing character, or was he created specifically to kill? The Rann-Thanagar War - another concept that leaves me thoroughly uninterested. Even the possibility of a L.E.G.I.O.N. appearance couldn't get me to buy this. The Spectre run amok - been done before, and done better.
And I have to mention that the improbable location of Diana's sword with respect to Supe's body has bothered since my first glance at that panel. I'm pretty sure it couldn't get to where it is without passing through Supes' body. Even using comic book physics.
Gratuitous deaths (some only referenced from other mini's): Max Lord, Ratcatcher, the Wizard Shazam & the Rock of Eternity (though Marvin and Adam both still conveniently have their powers), Uncle Sam, the Human Bomb, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, Dr. Polaris. Yeah, body count always makes me feel that a story is more important.
By the time the splash page with Mr. and Mrs. Superman, Superboy Prime, and Alexander Luthor rolled around I was too disaffected to care. The only way that could have seemed hopeful to me after the preceding carnage was if we saw the multiple earths in the background.
Prediction - the multiple earths aren't coming back, but unless they're killed in the course of the series we have opened up that last few pre-Crisis characters to eventual, inevitable grim & gritty reinterpretation. Judging from the cover to #2 though, this series will finally cure me of my irrational love of the Power Girl character.
Looking back over my post, I know it sounds negative, but I don't really feel negative about it - I just don't really care. About the fate of the DCU, the individual characters, the deaths, the return of much beloved icons, the multiverse tease - nothing.
I'll pick up the rest of the series (probabably), because it is going to set some rules going forward. As of issue #1 though, it's just solidified my opinion that the Legion needs to be as isolated as possible from the mainstream DCU. Even aside from the continuity messes that are always created, there are way too many characters from Legion history that are just recognizable enough to make it worth some writers' while to kill to make their story "important".
Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by KidChaos: some quick questions/comments after reading the issue:
(SPOLIERS!)
Did Damage die in the big villain battle? I couldn't tell.
It didn't look like it to me. I was disappointed to see Black Condor die but glad the Ray made it.
quote:I know who the others at the end of the issue are, but is the Superboy the SA Superboy or what?
The Superboy of Earth-Prime. He was introduced in an issue of DC Comics Presents shortly before CoIE began.
quote:Did it seem to anyone else that the earth-three Lex (Alexi) is manipulating the earth-2 Superman? I know he was a good guy back in COIE, but maybe all those years languishing in lombo, just watching things messed with his head.
Alexi is dead. Alex is alive and a good guy from what I've seen. He has no reason to go bad since the sum total of his life was: birth, sent off to the Monitor as his universe dies, rapid aging, working to save the remaining universes, trapped in "paradise" with Superboy, Superman, and Lois Kent. Also, I didn't see evidence of any sort of Lex-related manipulation outside of Villains United.
-------------------- Dan
From: Newburgh, NY | Registered: May 2004
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quote: As for the rest of the FF? Doesn't look good dos it. Phantom Lady was so damn hot.
Well, a few are definitely out. But Ray and Damage appear to have survived and I think that Uncle Sam is immortal. Human Bomb is probably dead but unlike CoIE, they just show him being severly beaten and not dead from a shadow demon or somesuch.
Jamie
From: Wood River, IL | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Bats, Diana, and Supes at each other's throats. I was tired of that by 1988 or so. I thought one of the very few good things to come out of Crisis was Perez's Wonder Woman. I haven't followed her title for years now - good to know that Perez's Diana is completely gone now. I only buy a couple of titles every month these days, so I'm not current on the DCU. I take it Conner is still gnashing his teeth over being a clone? Great. Was Ratcatcher an existing character, or was he created specifically to kill? The Rann-Thanagar War - another concept that leaves me thoroughly uninterested. Even the possibility of a L.E.G.I.O.N. appearance couldn't get me to buy this. The Spectre run amok - been done before, and done better.
Conner's problem is that he has to get over the fact that Luthor created him to be his weapon. Now he's afraid that he's more Luthor than Kent. It'll come in time, I think.
Geoff Johns said in his Q&A that issue one sets up the status quo of the series and that issue 2 things will be explained.
Jamie
From: Wood River, IL | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I came late to the DCU, so I read CoIE only in hc form a few years ago. Maybe I misunderstood the ending. But the returning characters weren't coming from an alternate Earth were they? They came from somewhere outside the time stream (ugh this is going to hurt.) They even said the sacrifice they made has been wasted; that sort of implies the lack of a multiverse.
So their return doesn't guarantee a returne of multiple Earths does it?
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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Great start to the series. I liked the way they blended the FF storyline with the Trinity storyline. It was a weird sort of synchronicity that was demonstrated when I watched LOST laster that night.
So many questions I have to ask right now, and I'm guessing in one month's time, I will only have more.
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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posted
i just read this...i am a bit confused and feel like...its trying to do too much. multiverse returning or not...i just want to read good stories.
if this were an "elseworlds" i might enjoy it a lot more, but it seems like it has too much on its shoulders to ever live up to. even if i thought it was spectacular.
why do they return now, how is the dc universe worse than it ever has been before since crisis? i confess i havent been keeping up and am not a huge dc fan. or get amny of their books...
well i will have to wait until issue two or three to see if any of the jaded things i think about events like this are true. i wnat to like it, i hope its good....
From: Ninja Land | Registered: Nov 2004
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Just read it, gotta respond then read this thread.
The 2-page spreads with Nightwing and the OMACs and especially the villains facing the Freedom Fighters were exceptional. I knew when I saw Bizarro that they were goners. A damned scary image.
I don't believe Damage and Uncle Sam are dead, and we know Ray isn't. But even though this wasn't the Black Condor and Phantom Lady I loved in the 70s, it was rough watching their namesakes die.
That was the original Human Bomb, though. Man, that was not fun to watch.
The Bat/Super/Wonder drama is interesting.
So far, so good.
Is anyone keeping a IC DEATH LIST?
Heroes
BLACK CONDOR PHANTOM LADY HUMAN BOMB (the jury's out on Uncle Sam and Damage)
quote:Originally posted by disaster boy: my understanding is that psycho pirate wanted damage alive for some reason. "luthor needs you alive" maybe alex luthor?
That was the Ray, BTW.
From: San Diego, CA | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by ferroboy: Nah. We're not Earth-Prime because our world was never visited by super-heroes and doesn't feature *any* super-powered beings.