Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Tom King

Should we just have a Tom King thread? We should just have a Tom King thread.

First: Tom KIng showed art from a secret project. Apparently, the art looks like the work of Jason Fabok. An hour later, Jason Fabok posted a panel of a snowstorm from his secret project with no author named. People are drawing conclusions.

Since I haven't read a Fabok book, I looked him up. It looks like what would happen if Superboy's clonedaddies had been Jim Lee and Gary Frank. Plus a little Joe Quesada dark tint. It's not a style I would really associate with Tom King, but maybe it will mesh well. If the Kremlinologists are right.

Secondly, even though I was profoundly unhappy with the Batman Rebirth special, I felt like Tom King has written enough great stuff that I ought to give it at least a full arc, so I read "I Am Gotham." I can't say I fell in love, but it was an enjoyable read, much more than the special. I was a little surprised to see Duke take a secondary role, since his becoming the latest Bat-protege was pretty much the whole Rebirth special, and I'm getting a pretty strong Tim Drake vibe from him so far, but he has potential. Gotham Girl is an interesting addition to the Bat-universe. She should meet Kid Psycho.

Mostly, I'm just worried about how well Tom King's narrative style will marry the ongoing format. When he's doing a 12 issue maxi, he can be sure his ending will pay off. Gotham Girl talking about things that would happen years down the line smacks of the kind of desperation writers have used in the past to try to force marriages they write to stick. PAD had Death show up to make promises about Rick and Marlo, and Reggie Hudlin had Uatu show up to Black Panther and Storm's wedding to mark it as a Profound and Important Moment. Neither kept the marriages from being ripped apart in short order when they left. Getting invested in his foreshadowing here just seems like asking for heartbreak.

Still, I enjoyed it. I will probably continue on, without having made any long-term commitment.

I have to admit -- after multiple reads, Tom King's Omega Men has not held up well for me, at all. It's the sort of thing that dates instantly, because it's too derivative of styles that are in the midst of crossing over from the vanguard to the mainstream, but without any real personality of its own behind all the smoke & mirrors. Kinda like my opinion of the music of Beck and Green Day and Nirvana and Madonna and David Bowie.

Just my two cents.

I don't think the Vision was originally intended as only 12 issues, and early issues there also had a lot of foreshadowing.

Vision, I found spectacular, but I also had little invested in the character, so King's take didn't turn me off. Those more in tune with Marvel Comics may have a differing opinion, as the character certainly takes a dark turn.

Batman has been frustrating. For every great issue or scene, there's one I dislike. I also find his plotting incomprehensible at times. "I am Suicide", for instance starts off with a really strong issue, but too much of Batman's subsequent plan is utter nonsense. And while I appreciate that his overall story is that Batman is slowly having a nervous breakdown, and is only barely keeping it together (see the excellent Swamp Thing issue), I find his actual characterisation of Bruce leaves me cold.

Mister Miracle is only 2 issues in but it's my favourite book in a long, long, long time. I'm hoping he keeps up the quality and sticks the landing because the start is just so strong.

And as a timely addition to this thread, King's issue of Kamandi Challenge this week (#9) with Kevin Eastman was a real standout.

I'll also mention Batman/Elmer Fudd was a pretty great comic that had no right to be.

I admit King is my current favorite writer. Not the best or most consistent but above others as I’ve tried dipping my toes back into comics.

Guess I need to pick up Batman/Elmer Fudd. Keep hearing good things about it.

I can take or leave him, but as a Runaways fan what he did to Victor Mancha pissed me off and his handling of Saturn Girl makes me feel, feel, like, flames.

Flames

On the side of my face.

He can do whatever he wants with Batman and the New Gods but I don't want him anywhere NEAR the Legion.

...I did like the Gotham Girl solo issue though.

Oh my God I cannot believe how badly my reply aged since earlier this year.

It's amazing how strongly I can grow to hate someone. I hope Heroes in Crisis tanks his career the way Cry For Justice dented Robinson's.

Both Omega Men and Mister Miracle have been solid. King has added more personal, emotional beats as he's condensed the source material from previous works. Being able to close off character arcs (i.e. killing off the main cast) with some finality adds strength to the books. I wonder how he'd cope coming up with entirely new concepts, building on concepts without the depth of the original Omega Men or Fourth World, dealing with books not about war, or dealing with extended runs on characters he can't kill off. There's been lots of bloodshed in the issue of Heroes in Crisis I read, but the characterisation, concept and plot were all very poor.

So... apparently the Walmart comic King's written about Superman is loaded with pages of Lois Lane getting brutally murdered over and over again.

I'm saying it right now is this man okay?

I remember when she'd just have to get into mild peril to attract Superman's attention. Things have sure changed.

Sounds nasty. I'll have to have a look and see if the reaction is just hype or suitably critical.

Even the stuff I’ve liked has left me wondering if he’s okay. He writes a LOT of stories suicidal vets (with a loose definition of vets) with PTSD. Guy’s clearly got a lot of issues.

Even the stuff I’ve liked has left me wondering if he’s okay. He writes a LOT of stories suicidal vets (with a loose definition of vets) with PTSD. Guy’s clearly got a lot of issues.

It's amazing how hard King is using Heroes in Crisis to say nothing about NOTHING. Six issues in, 2/3rds over and nothing's happened.

I've peeked at a few of the issues when I've been in the shop and that was my impression* of the book too.


Actually, me shouting "Look, I'm a Heroes In Crisis Issue. Zzzzzzz" would be my impression of it, but you know what I mean.

Yeah. Not outraged like some, but super bored like most. Can't wait for it to end to free him up to do something better.

Totally agree. WHAT THE HECK IS THIS EVEN ABOUT?

Issue six should have worked. It’s entirely character beats of the sort Tom King usually excels in. But even this somehow falls flat. I wish I knew how to quit you, Heroes in Crisis.

Dan Didio's raging desire to destroy anything that might age Barry Allen and Bruce Wayne so he doesn't have to admit to himself the aging process is real and he's not a kid anymore.

Or his inability to admit he's a moron.

So... Issue #8. Yeah. Ok then. I've never been a Didio defender per se, but have always felt that he had passion for the properties and was a nice enough guy who's sensibilities just didn't gel with mine. He's really challenging that view here.

King's getting death threats again because of that issue.

Yuck. Just yuck.

I was one of those few who thought that Hal Jordan losing it and becoming Parallax was well done and interesting drama and was a a bit disappointed with the Parallax entity retcon, but this one seems too much. Not only that but it still seems a mess. The character's motivations and reasons don't make sense to me. Not how the "accident" happened, that's understandable, but what was done to "fix" it after.

Perhaps the last issue will make it clearer and better somehow. We can hope.

Well, it appears my attempts to wean myself off of fan rage have paid off. Agreed, the deaths themselves were actually not as bad as I had feared. But all of the actions taken after that... no thanks. I guess at this point I'm going to finish out the mini no matter what.

At this point, I'm just basically waiting a year or two for all of this to be swept under the rug by the next new direction, and even if it is technically still continuity, to edit it out of my personal head canon.

Like Doomsday Clock, there's no shortage of all issues (except 1) still in the shop. I had a quick skim through as I had some time to kill.

It's going to read a little better as a trade, as the decompression used really doesn't lend itself to a monthly book. Another way of saying this is that it's slow and has a lack of credible end of issue cliff hangers, that are a staple for this kind of book. That's not to say that there has to be an all-action, epoch shattering cliffhanger. Just something that pushes the plot forward. The lack plot in the issues themselves could be a reason why there's not much at the end either.

The core concepts behind the likes of Sanctuary remind of other Trinity obsessed ideas DC have foisted on us before. Meltzer's Justice League where they had "the kitchen" brings a cringe. Like Meltzer's Identity Crisis, Heroes in Crisis echoes ideas DC had back in the '80s. That Crisis of the Soul led to Legends in the way Alan Moore's ideas led to Kingdom Come. Nothing sits around forever at DC, without getting churned into something.

Another reminder of Identity Crisis, and again this was a skim, are the plot holes. One, spoilerish-free example has Barry Allan race around every continent except the one around the crime scene. Central City forensics must be useless.

The inciting incident for the series, one that has taken 8 ponderous issues to explain where a decent two-parter of earlier times would have things wrapped up, comes out of left field. Unless things have changed in the last few reboots, as I've not bought them, this doesn't match the power set of the character. If it did, it wouldn't be worth the risk of having such people active. The reasons why the character needs counselling make sense. But not the concept of Sanctuary to cure them nor for the powers to act as they do.

But it's the ridiculously convoluted explanation behind the actions that followed the incident, that sink the plot. I half expected a lunatic Joker or Riddler to appear and take notes for their next nonsense scheme. The one plus point, as it speeds away across the horizon of credibility, is that it's revealed to the reader in the same format as all the other counselling sessions.

The final issue that may unleash some truths to the people of the DCU about their heroes. It may get some media push (through DC connections rather than independent acclaim) in the same way Identity Crisis did. There's lots you could spin off from such a finale in terms of Legends-like reaction. Also, at its basic level, the idea of DC characters having to come to terms with their lives and actions is fine. It's just in the execution of the story itself where things fall flat.

Agreed. The basic concept is intriguing but the plot that has been presented I find not only repulsive (which is a personal thing) but nonsensical. Issue 8 seems to be intended to explain how everything caqme about. I guess it does that in terms of the how, but it certainly doesn't in terms of the why. Even reading the character's own thoughts doesn't explain why they chose to act the way they did after the "accident", only what they did. It also feels like King has written himself into a corner. The actions taken are pretty much non-changeable, even if he wanted to. I still hold out some hope of a decent ending, but more because I don't want to give up hope than because I really believe it's going to happen.