Blog

Month: July 2012

  • July 30th, 2012 11:15pm

    In defense of Scott Lobdell

    fuckyeahdc-comics:

    So, there’s a lot of hate going to Lobdell, which is very understandable. He’s a plague on a lot of things he touches. However, I would like to respond by pointing out some good he’s done for the world of comics.

    -He’s the guy who finally acknowledged Northstar as gay. That big gay wedding could not have happened without him. While Jim Shooter was editor at Marvel, he kept a “No openly gay character” rule. Shooter’s run (From 78-87) had many positives; books were on schedule, new writers developed, and many books had their best runs (Including Frank Miller’s time on Daredevil, one of my favorite Marvel characters). However, sensitivity was not one of Shooter’s hallmarks. In 1992, Lobdell finally was allowed to have Northstar announce his sexuality, in an attempt to bring light to AIDS. Royalties were donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. In addition, he created the first gay character of the new 52, Bunker of the Teen Titans (One of the best reasons to be reading that book). He is the first gay titan since Hero Cruz (Who lasted one issue).

    -He spearheaded a period of comics that I adored; the 90s X-Men. With almost 100 issues under his belt, he wrote many of the X stories you and I fell in love with.

    Granted, he may now be out of touch. But let’s not forget what Lobdell has done for comics; he was a major part of the X-Men boom of the 90s (X-Cutioner’s Song, Phalanx Covenant, Age of Apocalypse, and Onslaught come to mind immediately), and he helped pave the way for heterosexuality in comics, making the universes a little more diverse.

    He did some great stuff for Marvel, but he’s fucked up everything he’s touched over at DC. Which makes me scratch my head. His destruction of Roy and Starfire is something I can’t get over though. He’s pretty much raped both characters, and he’s about to do the same to Tim.

  • July 30th, 2012 7:39pm

    fuckyeahdc-comics:

    The Elongated Man

    Ralph Dibny

    5/12/1960-8/31/2011

    Ralph Dibny was a guy who seemed to peak overnight. One moment, no one really cared about him all that much. One day later, he was the most tragic figure in DCU. I blame the single panel of his face melting, unable to hold himself together after the death of Sue (Which, can I point out that in both Marvel and DC, the guy with stretching powers marries a woman named Sue? Is that just a thing?) 

    Initially, he debuted as a sidekick of sorts to The Flash, but was widely popular. Eventually, he would gain back up featured in Detective Comics, which ran through the early 70s. He and Sue would travel America searching for strange mysteries. In 1973, he joined the Justice League, where he would stay a member through to 1995. 

    Readers liked him because he challenged them. Elongated Man stories weren’t superhero stories, they were mysteries in a comic book. As he unraveled the case, the reader was asked to do the same, much like in an Agatha Christie story (Note: I am in no way comparing any EM mystery to any Christie mystery). 

    In 52, Ralph dies in order to trap Faust and Neron in Fate’s Tower, which failed. His remains would stay there for some time, though his spirit would join Sue’s to resume their detecting.

    His ability for deductive reasoning is comparable only to Batman, though their thought processes tend to work differently.

    So here’s to you Ralph. One big glass of Gingold.