Challenge: Rescript Adventure Comics #267... - 04/04/13 06:19 AM
Okay, the consensus in the Archive v1 reread thread seems to be that Adventure #267 is a bit of a dog.
But Fat Cramer had an interesting post on it...
So could it be salvaged? Could, in fact, YOU salvage it?
Here's the pages, with the lettering removed. It'd be easy to parody it, but could you fix it? Lesse...
But Fat Cramer had an interesting post on it...
Originally Posted by Fat Cramer
I've wondered if you could take one of these early stories and rewrite the dialogue for contemporary readers. Even without changing the basic story, #267 has a lot of elements which could make it a modern fable of homeland security and the decline of the rule of law.
Superboy is set up by three self-appointed judges, based on crimes which he has yet to commit, for which there is no proof and for which he is given no fair trial. In fact, he is held in an off-planet prison, initially with no idea of what charges he faces. His parents and neighbours have all been subjected to Saturn Girl's telepathic propaganda depicting Superboy as a worthless failure. He is informed that checking on his activities with the Futurescope is a routine procedure.
Fortunately for Superboy, he is allowed by the President to revoke his "security oath" and reveal the cover-up in which he participated (destroying a poison gas factory and supply chain), which clears him of the alleged future crimes. Well, the Geneva Convention of 1925 only prohibited the first use of poison gas, not its production or storage, so it's not a war crime, but it was all very hush-hush. Was there a localized disaster which compelled the President to order the eradication of evidence?
There is also the theme of the broken machine used as evidence. A common challenge to breathalyzer results is to show that the machine might have been malfunctioning or wasn't properly calibrated. Certainly trying to get one's name off the no-fly list once it's in the computer system is supposed to be virtually impossible. Machines screw up.
Superboy is set up by three self-appointed judges, based on crimes which he has yet to commit, for which there is no proof and for which he is given no fair trial. In fact, he is held in an off-planet prison, initially with no idea of what charges he faces. His parents and neighbours have all been subjected to Saturn Girl's telepathic propaganda depicting Superboy as a worthless failure. He is informed that checking on his activities with the Futurescope is a routine procedure.
Fortunately for Superboy, he is allowed by the President to revoke his "security oath" and reveal the cover-up in which he participated (destroying a poison gas factory and supply chain), which clears him of the alleged future crimes. Well, the Geneva Convention of 1925 only prohibited the first use of poison gas, not its production or storage, so it's not a war crime, but it was all very hush-hush. Was there a localized disaster which compelled the President to order the eradication of evidence?
There is also the theme of the broken machine used as evidence. A common challenge to breathalyzer results is to show that the machine might have been malfunctioning or wasn't properly calibrated. Certainly trying to get one's name off the no-fly list once it's in the computer system is supposed to be virtually impossible. Machines screw up.
So could it be salvaged? Could, in fact, YOU salvage it?
Here's the pages, with the lettering removed. It'd be easy to parody it, but could you fix it? Lesse...