posted
Universo has always been my favorite legion villain, so i am thrilled that he's back. i love Batista's outfit for him! and i like the idiosynchratic way of speaking that DnA are giving him. however, the "new" origin leaves me cold. one of the cool and interesting things about pre-boot universo was always his mysterious origin + motivations, and sneaky manueverings for power. his history kept being revealed in partial layers that kept getting more interesting...father of Rond Vidar; stolen hyno-gem; one-time green lantern; etc. now he's just another megalomaniac with super-mental powers. we have yet to see if DnA are totally embracing the dan jurgen's revamped origin as imra's cousin (Blecch), but they had Universo himself say that Titan has imprisoned him since he was a child. even he's not from Titan (i hope), it pretty much negates his interesting backstory. i think that's a waste. what do you all think?
-------------------- Gorilla Nebula
From: san francisco | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Agreed, his pre-boot connection to Rond Vidar was better, but I guess DnA felt compelled to adhere to his established post-boot origin, flaky as it may be, though they did a nice job depicting him as a retro B-movie villain. Frankly, I see Universo as a throw-away bad guy at this point, to be dispatched pretty definitively in the next issue -- just a foreshadowing of the more menacing heavy lurking in the background.
Before, it was just some guy who wanted power so he tried various means to get it.
Now it's this fellow who has a natural power that's very strong and he's exploring it and finding that one of the best things about it is controlling others. Plus he's been surpressed by society for so long--at least that gives him some motivation other than, "I want power."
True the pre-boot Universo had several side stories such as Rond and the Green Lanterns, but we only know that now because we have read all the issues. All sorts of layers could still be added to this Universo too.
All-in-all, I think he has good potential, but I never sank any money into Universe Ablaze, so I've no attached bitterness.
From: Portland, Oregon | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I liked the Rond Vidar/fallen Green Lantern connections for Universo in the pre-boot. We don't know that much for certain about the villain this time around (I missed the Titans X-over story). Maybe he broke out of prison before, had a son, got recaptured - he looks old enough for a few major events to have happened to him, which we may not know about. Maybe Titan covered up his first escape once he was recaptured.
A new twist to Universo (I think) is this hunger - the more minds he consumes, the more he wants. Maybe he started out with a motivation of revenge, self-preservation - and now he's going to be a mind-junkie. Will he overdose? Will he go after one mind too many (such as Darkseid's)? Or will he just meet his match in Imra?
(Perhaps he has a special weakness for shameless hussies, eh?)
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